Chapter Twenty five- A Little Fun with the Exorcists
Lulubell bounded towards the exorcists, who were looking around in hopes of finding a place to stay in at such a late time.
Her paws touched the wet ground brought about by the rain with a soft plop, and accidentally she stepped on a deep puddle and sent dirty rain water splashing on herself.
She gave a little groan to help suppress the deep temptation to stop right there and shake her now lithe body to get rid of the clingy water, but she knew that if she stopped for as much as a few seconds she could easily lose sight of the exorcists and lose her chance to put her plan into action as well.
Allen was the right person to be with on a mission, and Lulubell and Tyki knew that most.
It was Allen who usually came up with the better plans, and most of the time everything went on smoothly if one listened and went by Allen's orders. So Lulubell knew better than to fail her task.
Even though she was a little uncomfortable with it.
She was, after all, taking orders from a fifteen year old with old man hair.
But she didn't dare say that out loud in front of the boy, unless she wanted to have another fight with him. That was Tyki's bonding time with Allen, but not hers.
So she just went on, and finally she caught up with the exorcists who had stopped in front of an empty alley.
The youngest among the five was coughing madly, as if she was trying to get rid of hairballs, and Lulubell found herself watching and waiting in anticipation for the blood to come.
But no, her recurrent coughing was only due to her exposure to rain. And soon enough, the coughs became so sharp to the ears that Lulubell resisted the temptation again to use her paws to cover her ears.
"We've got to find an inn quickly," The female exorcist who had dark green hair said as she rubbed the couging girl's back. "Elin seems to be extremely potent to coughs and colds. We haven't even been under the rain for more than thirty minutes. Let's hurry up. Even Krory looks like he's caught a cold too."
Lulubell looked up and saw the tall and pale exorcist with black hair sniff to keep his snot from running down as if to prove his friend's point.
It was Lulubell's cue.
As the one called Elin bent down and clutched her knees to help with her excessive coughing, Lulubell walked to her side and circled her leg, using her fur to touch the exorcist's skin with fake affection.
Like she expected, Lulubell looked up to see Elin looking down at her with an affectionate look. She had caught the exorcist's attention.
Elin bent down even further to grab the cat in front of her and clutch it in her chest, but Lulubell jumped away before Elin's hands could make contact with her.
The girl gave her a questioning look, but she purred and flicked her tail to show that her action was not of hostility, and she started walking away slowly towards the only inn in that town which was quite a distance away from their location.
When Lulubell looked over her furry shoulder, she was pleased to see that Elin was still following her with outstretched hands.
"Elin, where are you going? We musn't separate!" the girl with the dark green hair said again as she and the others jogged to catch up with Elin.
Lulubell wanted to snap at her and say shut up, but she knew that once she talked she would blow her cover and fail to do what she was supposed to.
"Do you see the cat? I think she wants us to follow her." Elin said, her eyes not leaving the cat's bobbing head as it walked.
"Oh, so that's how we pass the time. We follow a cat." The exorcist with red hair spoke this time with unreadable tone of voice, but he just put his arms behind his head and proceeded to walk beside Elin.
"I swear, Lavi, she wants us to follow. I read it from a book somewhere, that cats circle people's legs when they want attention. And when that black cat had mine, she walked in that direction as if to lead me somewhere."
"Yeah, and I hope that 'somewhere' is a place where I can crash down and sleep."
Oh, I assure you, it is. Lulubell spoke in her thoughts. She walked a little faster, and the exorcists followed and quickened their pace as well.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the edge of the town, where only small houses resided surrounding a small building as well. Lulubell stopped in front of the only building, and started licking her paws on the carpet. The exorcists stopped in front of her as well and looked up at the sign that said "INN".
"Finally!" Krory, the tall and pale exorcist, spoke before he sneezed for the nth time. The five of them entered quickly, just glad to be out of the rain, and inquired for a room. To their relief, a room was left unoccupied, and they immediately asked to be placed inside it.
As the other four went up the stairs following the innkeeper towards the room, Elin coughed once and opened the door again to look outside and thank the cat for its help.
But when she looked at the carpet and at the surrounding area, the cat was nowhere to be seen and had disappeared in thin air.
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The innkeeper was a lonely looking woman in her seventies, with graying hair and saggy skin tucked into layers of Victorian clothing. She spoke in a monotonous tone of voice, and the exorcists couldn't help but almost drift to sleep while talking to her. She handed them the key to their room with shaky hands, which ultimately led to the key falling on the ground.
Lavi, sighing, picked up the key and automatically went up the stairs to their room on the second floor without waiting for the old woman, as his companions followed. They entered the room, and immediately crashed down on the beds even without removing their wet clothes.
"Ah…I'm so tired." Lenalee remarked as she hugged herself tighter.
"Yeah…" Lavi put his hands behind his head. "Hey, did you guys see the innkeeper? Man, she looked like she was going to topple over. I miss the innkeeper in Rosanna's village."
"Lavi, you can't expect every innkeeper to be as pretty as her."
"I know, Lenalee. I'm not saying I want every innkeeper to be like her, I'm just saying that I miss her. Doesn't her blond hair and blue eyes remind you of Eliade, Krorykins?"
"No, absolutely not. First of all, the woman had brown hair and gray eyes. Are you sure we're all talking about the same person?" Krory glanced at his friends.
Lavi, on the other hand, returned Krory's gaze as Lenalee chuckled. "Oh, I forgot. My memory can be a bit cloudy, you know. But she DOES actually look like Eliade, right Elin?"
"Elin?" The four of them, including Bookman, glanced at the girl as no reply was returned.
Elin was cuddled up among her wet clothes and sheets, hugging herself tightly and shivering from the cold. She looked sick, and occasionally she would give a little wheeze and she would suddenly jerk like an unseen force was making her do so.
Lenalee, ever the caring friend, approached the girl and touched her forehead to check her temperature. Lenalee gave a little start as her hands felt Elin's burning skin.
"She has fever! I should have known since she started coughing uncontrollably."
"But…weren't we only under the rain for less than an hour?"
"Lavi, it was still more than thirty minutes. That's still a long time. And maybe Elin's immune system is not that strong to fight illnesses."
Lenalee helped Elin up and guided the girl to the washroom to help her change out of her wet clothes. Even from outside, Lavi and the others heard Elin's loud wheezing and couldn't help but freeze for each time. When she and Lenalee finished, Elin was back in the clothes that she wore before her uniform. Sluggishly, she returned to her bed after Lenalee changed the wet sheets into dry ones.
Wow, Lavi thought. Lenalee's good at this. She could've been Elin's mother.
"She's so sick. What should we do?" Lenalee said as she rubbed her friend's back.
At this, Lavi put his hands behind his head again and smiled.
"Nah, that's nothing Grandpa's needles won't fix."
Elin, the sick and dizzy Elin, suddenly jerked forward which almost gave Lenalee a heart attack.
"Needles? What needles?"
"You know, his acupunctu–"
"NO!" Elin jumped up on her bed and squeezed herself in the space where the walls met as quick as lightning. "No needles for me!"
At this, Lenalee sighed as she remembered that Elin still was a child even under her seemingly strong personality and desire to fight.
Lenalee's thoughts were interrupted when Lavi chuckled loudly.
"Lenalee, check her temperature again. I think she was already cured by the mention of needles."
The dark-green haired exorcist obediently stood beside the cowering Elin and checked whether the girl's fever was gone.
"Nope. Not a chance." She called back to Lavi. "Looks like we have to use Bookman's needles after all."
The innkeeper jumped after being awaken from her sleep by a shrill scream coming from the room that was recently rented by the five suspicious looking people clothed in black.
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"Must we rent a room in the same inn as them?" Lulubell asked Allen as the two of them went further into the back of the inn to look for the room the old innkeeper had given them.
She was still in her cat form, and she was in the arms of Allen who was scratching the back of her head per her request. They were in the very inn where the exorcists where residing, and Lulubell was very much disturbed by that.
Allen entered a room, and all Lulubell saw were walls painted in a now undistinguishable color because of the dust, with torn red curtains hanging here and there, and a single bed amidst all of the glum material in the room.
Lulubell jumped out of Allen's arms, and looked around.
"Would you like to have the bed, Lulubell?"
Lulubell turned her head towards the epitome of a gentleman standing beside her, and she shook her head lightly to refuse his offer.
"I am a cat right now. I would prefer sleeping on the ground near the window to watch the rain."
The Noah of Lust did just that, and she reclined near the only window which was opposite the bed while she licked her paws clean.
The room wasn't exactly what you'd call luxurious, and was far from Lulubell's taste, but it would do.
"Come to think of it," Allen suddenly spoke and her attention was brought to him. "You actually helped the exorcists."
"Hmph, weren't you the one who told me to lure them here? I was just doing what you told me to."
"It was necessary, remember? We have to help them for the meantime."
"Are you completely nuts? Just a few days ago you were so bent on killing the exorcists, and now you just want to help them. What is it, really?"
"As much as I want to kill them, I am sensible enough to know that one must never do anything against the Earl's wishes. And if we do, who knows how long my next punishment will last? You know very well that the Earl loves grounding people for no apparent reason. Or if there is, then it should be very shallow. Although when the time comes, or should I say when Cross comes, I WILL be very happy to defeat the exorcists one by one. But I was thinking about it earlier, and I guess we CAN have a little fun with them."
Lulubell almost jumped out of her skin when suddenly a loud thump came from the room above them, followed by a muffled scream, and something audible enough to be deciphered as "THE NEEDLES!"
"Was that–?" Mimi, who had come in earlier through the window while Lulubell and Allen were talking, spoke as she went closer to her mistress.
"Yes," Allen confirmed with a glum face. "It's one of the exorcists."
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Krory cringed in a corner as Elin screamed for the nth time.
He was staring at her now porcupine-like form, not knowing how he should react, and he would writhe every time she did whenever Bookman would introduce another needle to her skin.
She must've wanted badly to kick and thrash around, but she was unable to do so since Lavi and Lenalee were pinning her arms and legs down on the bed. As a result, she could only jerk and writhe as if she was actually sitting on an electric chair.
"I—I thought…" Elin said under her clenched teeth as she stared blankly at the walls. "I thought it was only supposed to be a fever? How come there's needles all over my body?"
"It's not only supposed to cure you from your fever, Miss Elin." Bookman spoke as he brandished another set of needles which made Elin whimper at the sight. "It's also supposed to make you relax."
The needles made loud clanging sounds as Bookman laid them on the bedside table. And instead of making Elin relax, her fear of needles made the opposite effect.
"Yeah, Elin, relax." Lenalee said, and when Lavi looked in her direction he accidentaly let go of Elin's foot at the same time Bookman inserted a needle into her skin. And then the inevitable happened.
Elin's two inch heels on her boots made contact with Lavi's face, and Lavi tried to control his man tears as blood flowed down from his nose.
"Oh my—I'm sorry!" Elin said, still as a stick on the bed as she tried to read the atmosphere in case Lavi was so mad he could summon his fire seal on her.
"I'm fine." Lavi said, his voice mumbled as well as he covered his nose with his hands. "I've experienced worse with panda-jiji's pu—"
Lavi gave a shrill scream as well as Bookman stuck a needle in his arm as well, leaving it there for his pupil to snatch out.
Lavi has learnt his lesson.
Never mess with Bookman when he's holding his needles.
And don't ever do anything while you're holding Elin's foot.
It really looks like he's the subject of pain these days.
Lavi sighed as plucked the needle out of his arm, and dropped it into the floor.
"Uhm, Krory, can you lend us a hand, please?" Lenalee beckoned for Krory to come over.
But while all of them where preoccupied, Elin stood up with all her force and walked away, robot-style since the needles were restricting her movements. The rest of her companions sighed and pulled her back on the bed and kept her restrained until finally, Bookman started removing the needles one by one.
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While the five of them were sleeping in their room, Lavi was awakened by a loud, banging sound.
At first, there were long intervals. But then suddenly it became a steady beat, continuous and louder than before.
Then Lavi realized, that it was the dreaded sound he had been forced to hear over and over again ever since he became an exorcist.
"Lenalee, Bookman, Elin, Krory!" he shouted to wake his companions. "There's an akuma attack!"
Immediately, the other four exorcists rose from their beds, grabbed their little belongings, and rushed out the door. When they were about to run down the stairs, a dark purplish light came from below and reduced the stairs to a pile of smithereens. Lavi activated his innocence and gave it to his companions for them to use to slide down. Elin, still unexperienced and a bit scared, accidentally let go before it was time and hurt her foot because of her bad landing.
Lenalee helped her up and tried to check whether her foot was broken, but Elin walked away before she could do so.
The five of them were met by a couple of level one akumas in the hall, but Lavi was quick to get rid of them by using his fire seal. Krory jumped out the window to deal with the other akumas outside, and the four left went to where the old innkeeper had been to protect her and bring her to a safe place, but they were too late and all that was left of her was a pile of ashes scattered among her clothes.
When they exited the inn, Krory was already draining the akumas in the air, and they joined him in fighting the enemies.
As always, Bookman used his heaven compass and gigantic needles that was sure to give Elin a heart attack, and with a flick of his wrist he was able to kill three level one akumas at once. His apprentice, with his deadly fire seals, was an extremely useful fighter as well. But Lavi couldn't help but kill a few trees or so around the area. He just knew he was going to get another punch from Bookman when all of this was over.
But he couldn't do anything about it, right?
He had been using all of his seals for a long time now, and the fire seal was the deadliest for the akumas. But that wind seal would a be a great idea as well…
Krory could only kill one akuma at a time, but his fangs proved to be very efficient and never failed to eliminate an akuma. A light growl from him was also enough to make an akuma drift slightly away.
Lenalee, meanwhile, could deal with a number of the enemies in a matter of seconds with a single kick of her dark boots, and sent another big number of them tumbling away. The wind was in favor of her, and would help send her towards any direction she would pick.
Elin, who was actually a bit more replenished due to Bookman's needles more than she would admit it did, was having an easier time summoning frozen water spikes that she used to pierce the enemies. She used the old rain water from yesterday that lay on the streets, and she was getting the hang of it. Sure, she still got tired more and more for every ounce of water, but still even she could tell that she had improved a bit.
She was going to have to ask for another one of that acupuncture sessions, it would seem.
But Elin couldn't help but wonder how that could relate to her battling skills.
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When Lenalee skimmed the area for any more akumas, she saw a young couple screaming and trying to protect each other as the two of them ran out of the inn and into the plain sight of the predators. Lenalee dove towards them at the same time a level two akuma did, and they rolled into the ground where each of them started punching and kicking the other.
The level two akuma, who looked like a brown plant with thorns and a few leaves sticking out of it with chains surrounding its body, tried to wrap its chains around Lenalee but only succeeded to do so on her hands. Lenalee tried with all her might to get away from the akuma's grasp, but she could only keep kicking its face. She mustered all her powers, and kicked hard enough to send a sharp gust of wind that cut through the akuma's body which immediately destroyed it. Lenalee unwound the chains from her hand, and got back up to continue fighting.
Soon, all of the akumas were defeated, and the exorcists were left panting and gasping for breath. All except for Bookman, who was just standing with his hands in his sleeves and looking at the rising sun.
"We were awoken at the right moment," he said. "It's time that we continue travelling."
Bookman walked away and his fellow exorcists were forced to follow him sluggishly.
"Ca—can't we…rest, Panda-jiji?" Lavi said between pants.
"NO!"
"OW!"
Lavi was left with another needle sticking out of his arm.
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"It would've been better if we ourselves fought them."Lulubell said, who could've been crossing her arms if she were already in her human or Noah form.
As if a cat crossing her arms would look weirder than a talking one.
"I know, but you know as well that we can't blow our cover." Allen replied steadily. "But still, it was a bit of a form of an entertainment while watching them fight. It's better than nothing."
"Just they wait when the Earl allows us to touch them. I won't hold out anymore. Come on, let's proceed following them before we lose them in our sight."
Wicken 25: Thanks! :D
Witchsoul35: Hope it stays as one of your faves! :D
Darkspirit18: The scene with Elin often happens with me, although my mother is the one acting up like Lenalee. I DO hate skirts. They make me uncomfortable. It's what made me include it, since I thought it would add character to Elin. She's a stubborn one, no? Somehow like her creator... :)
gold phantom: Sure! I'll put that somewhere. :))
Aika-tan: I don't mind the short review. It's the thought that counts! :D
So guys, know that this isn't THAT long, but I was just excited to update! :D Anyways, keep reading, and please review and tell me your thoughts! :D