If you pay attention to the blog related to this story, you'll know that there was a... mishap about two weeks ago.

If you don't, well... I was almost finished with chapter 25 when my cat deleted the document, so I was forced to start over. :/ But here we are, and it's still good.

D. Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino.

"Brave" belongs to Riley Pearce.

Brave
"Are you scared? Because I am, too
This fear in my head has been there for too long
We sleep now with the lights on
Shadows make shapes in the light
And I don't know what they might be"
-Riley Pearce

A soft thump cut through her dreams, sweeping aside flickering, fleeting tendrils of imagined shapes with the quiet beating of wings. The sound faded a few moments later, and she started to slip back into her slumber, only to be startled awake when something suddenly landed on the edge of her bed.

A loud, familiar screech filled the air, making her jolt in surprise. Her eyes snapped open just as a blinding flash of white light filled the room, making her squeeze her eyes shut again.

A deafening boom rolled through the air moments later, just as soft feathers brushed across her arms.

Hesitantly, she opened her eyes again. Her gaze settled on the window and as she took in the falling rain, she hummed.

Pax leaned into her line of sight, pumping his wings and screeching. 'Mother?' he questioned.

She peered at him. "You don't want to fly in that, do you?" she asked.

Pax tilted his head. 'You cried out in your sleep,' he said.

Taryn furrowed her brow and raised a hand, running it through her loose hair. "I don't remember a dream," she mumbled.

'You sounded hurt,' Pax revealed.

"Huh. Then I'm glad I don't remember it." Taryn held out a strand of her brown hair. "Speaking of things I don't remember, when was the last time I cut my hair?"

'Since we travelled with Master Jian Li.'

For a moment, everything was illuminated in white as another bolt of lightning struck. Thunder followed almost immediately, signalling that the storm was right on top of them.

Taryn grumbled, sitting up. She glanced at Pax as he leaped onto the headboard. Then she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood, stretching languidly. "Do you think I need to cut it?" she hummed.

Pax twitched his wings in an approximation of a shrug. 'No,' he said. 'It looks fine to me.'

She smiled, turning to him. She knelt, kissing the top of his head. "I love you, Pax," she said.

He pressed his beak against her nose. 'I love you, too, Mother,' he answered.

Taryn ran her fingers through his feathers for several long minutes. Then she stopped and stepped back, turning her head to watch the storm for a while.

After a long silence passed between them, Taryn sighed, "Hevlaska is going to check our synchronization today. I don't want to."

'Why not?'

"It feels weird."

Pax flapped his wings. 'It does.'

The wind outside began to howl, making her window rattle noisily.

She turned to look, frowning as she watched the panes shaking. That was odd. She'd have to report it; she was fairly certain panes weren't supposed to be so loose in their lead caming. Regardless, if they kept shaking, they might break.

As Taryn walked towards the window, Pax glided to the dresser beside it, where he leaned forward, head tilted to peer through the rattling panes.

Taryn stared through the diamond-shaped panes and out into the storm that raged outside, carefully pressing her hand to the window. Then she sighed tiredly and stepped back. "We better get ready before they send someone to find us," she murmured.

Pax sat up to watch her for a moment. Then he began preening his feathers.

Taryn hummed quietly as she got dressed, occasionally glancing towards Pax or towards the door, worried that someone would come to retrieve her. She had a feeling the Order hated sending for her, even if they'd never voiced it.

As soon as she was dressed, she grabbed one of her jackets and hurried to the door, pausing only to call to Pax, who glided over to land on her outstretched arm, careful not to grab too tightly with his talons. She smiled at him as she stepped through the door and then glanced sideways.

Charlotte was just leaving her room, as well. The archer paused, eyeing her, and offered a small smile. "Morning," she said sleepily. "Storm wake you up, too?"

"Pax, actually."

The gyrfalcon screeched indignantly.

Charlotte snorted. "Noisy bird," she huffed.

Taryn simply shrugged. "Are you ready?"

"No. Are you?"

The young falconer shook her head. "I don't want to. It feels… weird."

Charlotte nodded in agreement. "Breakfast first?" she proposed.

Taryn nodded. "Sounds good."

Pax gave a loud, excited call, voicing his own agreement.

-X-

Naz glanced up at the girls as they joined her, offering a small, dainty little smile that looked so out of place given the copious amounts of food the woman ate.

"Welcome home, Naz," Taryn said.

Naz paused for a moment. Then she replied pleasantly, "Thank you, Taryn." Her expression suddenly turned more serious. "I heard England was rough. Are you both okay?"

For a moment neither answered.

Then Charlotte nodded, "We'll be okay."

Naz pursed her lips, focusing on Taryn. "How is your friend?"

Taryn cocked her head to one side, surprised. She'd expected Naz to mention Horace, not Mana, but part of her was grateful that the Turk had avoided the question. "I don't know," she murmured. "He was still sick when we left."

Naz offered a comforting smile. "I'm sure he'll be okay."

Taryn nodded. "I hope so."

Naz opened her mouth to say more when an eerie sound suddenly rose above the normal noise of the dining hall.

The trio of exorcists turned their heads towards the source, startled, and focused on a single Finder.

As the watched, the man slipped from his eat, crumpling to the floor as a slip of folded paper slid from his fingers. He threw his head back, wailing with pure sorrow.

Taryn shifted slightly, tempted to hurry to the man's side, but Naz held up a hand to stop her. "Naz?" she whispered, confused.

Naz glanced towards them and shook her head. "He's been placed on watch," she murmured. "His daughter was aboard a ship bound for the United States. The ship sank, and there were no survivors."

"Watch?" Charlotte echoed.

"How do you know that?" Taryn added.

Naz hummed, "When a member of the Order loses a family member, exorcists are assigned to monitor them to ensure they don't become an akuma, and if they should become an akuma, we're to dispatch them immediately. I'm one of the exorcists set to monitor him."

Taryn's eyes widened. "But why would he do that if he's seen the akuma before? He must know!" she whispered urgently.

"Love makes us do strange things,"

Charlotte snorted, "I thought the Order didn't let its members have contact with family."

Naz sighed tiredly. "Finders are a different story. The survival rate for Finders is very low. It doesn't really incentivize people to join the Order, so they're kept up to date on their loved ones as a… reminder of what they're here for. Why they decided to join the Order in the first place."

Charlotte leaned forward, frowning. "If they don't want to risk them turning into akuma, why tell them when anyone dies?" she grumbled flatly, staring at the Finder.

"Lottie!" Taryn whispered quietly, regarding her sister with wide eyes.

Naz clicked her tongue. "She does have a point," she hummed quietly. "If the Order is willing to go to such great lengths to keep Finders here in the first place, they shouldn't risk losing them like that—especially not in the middle of headquarters, where they could end many of their own comrades' lives if they do become akuma."

Taryn looked at the woman with surprise. "So you think the Order should lie to the Finders about their families?"

Naz sighed, shaking her head. "It's a complicated situation," she said, and turned back to the weeping Finder, watching as other tan-coated figures crowded around him with gentle condolences.

As the other Finders gathered the grieving man and guided him from the mess hall, Naz started to shift, as if moving to follow him, but she stopped, gaze locking on Conrad when the Prussian waved her off. She settled back into her seat a moment later, watching as the swordsman stood and followed the group at a distance.

"Is he watching, too?" Taryn murmured.

Naz nodded.

Charlotte poked idly at her breakfast, brooding.

None of the exorcists spoke for some time.

Then Charlotte looked up from her breakfast. "Have you ever had to destroy any of them?"

Naz glanced over the rim of her coffee mug, sighed, and lowered it to the table. "It happens."

"Have you ever been close to any of them?"

Naz shrugged. "A few."

Charlotte made a face and looked down. "The Order thinks they're just disposable, don't they?" she grumbled. "That's why they don't bother lying to them. The Order thinks they're easy to replace. Like… like Hydra, one goes and more will take its place. They…. the Order… tells us we're supposed to save humanity, tells us that God chose us for this task specifically, to fight the Millennium Earl and stop him from destroying humanity, and then… then they just throw away human lives like worthless garbage. Because… because they can't be bothered to try and preserve just one life."

Naz sighed heavily. "The Order is… a place of hypocrisy," she admitted softly.

Taryn bowed her head. "Then what makes the Order any better than the Earl?" she murmured. "Doesn't that make us monsters, too, if we don't at least try?"

"I… don't know, Taryn."

-X-

After saying their goodbyes to Naz, the girls finally—begrudgingly—headed to the supervisor's office to meet with Heilig.

Heilig was busy analyzing the latest prototype of the golems when they arrived. He glanced up, nodding for them to come in, and then looked at the little black box—hadn't they been round before?—that was staring up at him through one apparent "eye." He turned it curiously before nodding to the scientist standing in front of his desk. "We'll send them out on the next mission to see if they function," he said. "If they do well, make more. We'll assign one to every exorcist and Finder."

The scientist nodded. "Yes, sir," he agreed as he picked up the golem and departed. As he passed between the girls, he hardly spared them a glance, as though he hadn't noticed that he'd almost knocked them both over on his way.

Charlotte turned, preparing a biting mark to spit after the hurried man, but Taryn stopped her by tapping her shoulder.

For his own part, Pax gave a loud, irritated squawk, glaring after the scientist.

"Pax, Retribution," Heilig spoke.

They turned to face him.

The supervisor stood, peering at them over his glasses before he looked down at his desk again and opened a file. "Pax, your synchronization was at fifty-seven percent last time it was checked," he began matter-of-factly. "It wasn't a notable improve." He flipped to a different page, skimming it with one finger before tapping the paper. "By contrast, Retribution's synchronization had risen to fifty-three percent from forty-seven. While still unacceptable, it was a greater improvement than yours, Pax."

Taryn glanced at her sister, nudging her when she saw the archer seething. Then she refocused on the supervisor.

Heilig studied them. "You've been training your synchronization for some time now," he said. "Do you feel any improvement?"

Taryn pursed her lips. "We can keep our weapons active longer now, sir," she told him. "We don't get tired as quickly."

"Yes, I would consider that an improvement," Heilig said, looking back at the file and making a quick note. "Is it any easier to activate your weapons, though?"

Charlotte grumbled, "It doesn't feel easier to me."

Heilig's eyes narrowed as he continued writing. "If, by the time you two reach fourteen, there is not an acceptable degree of improvement, an alternative method has been devised."

Charlotte's frown deepened. "What method?" she asked.

He looked at them blankly. "We will force your synchronization to improve."

Taryn drew in a sharp breath, her eyes widening. "Can you do that?" she breathed.

Heilig snapped the file shut, picked it up, and strode past them. "We've no idea yet," he said. "You'll be the ones telling us. Come along."

Taryn shot a quick, frightened glance at her sister before she scurried after Heilig.

Charlotte sneered, "So we're going to be… lab rats?"

"Better to try it on exorcists rather than average humans," Heilig stated curtly. "We don't want to create any Fallen Ones if it doesn't work."

Taryn shivered. She'd heard the term before, but she hadn't ever heard much about them aside from the fact that they were rejected accommodators. "Have you ever seen a Fallen One, Supervisor?"

"No."

"Oh." She frowned. "How do we become Fallen Ones, then?"

"If your synchronization drops to zero percent or lower, you will Fall."

Taryn winced, glancing at her sister again. Then she looked up. "Has there been one since you came here?"

"No." He looked down at her. "You need to learn the value of silence, Pax."

"Not her name," Charlotte bit out instantly.

Heilig raised his eyebrows as he peered at the archer. "Would you care to repeat that, Retribution?"

"I said—"

"Sorry, Supervisor Heilig," Taryn interrupted, elbowing her sister in the side.

Pax gave a loud screech, glaring at the man.

Charlotte shot Taryn an irritated look, but fortunately said nothing else to Heilig about the situation.

Heilig narrowed his eyes, studying the twins for several long seconds. Finally he turned away, saying nothing else.

They walked in silence after that, broken only by Pax's occasional grumbled insults that only Taryn could hear.

As they walked, Taryn hung her head, trying to tune out Pax. A sense of dread settled in the pit of her stomach, nestling there like a chunk of ice. The chill began to seep through her body, but she tried to ignore the feeling.

A deafening clap of thunder shook the building, reminding them of the storm raging outside.

Heilig glanced up, frowning, and then looked ahead again as they descended further into the darkness that would lead them to where the old quasi-exorcist, Hevlaska, stayed.

When they finally reached the platform, Heilig stopped, letting the twins pass before following them. "Hevlaska," he called, tone clipped as usual. "There are two exorcists here for you to inspect."

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then a faint glow appeared in the darkness, startling them.

As it grew rapidly and steadily brighter, Taryn squinted, her eyes aching as they tried to acclimate to the sudden influx of light. When she was ready, she opened her eyes and peered up into the blinding face of Hevlaska, who loomed above them.

"Hello, Taryn," the woman greeted in her soft voice. "Hello, Charlotte."

"Hello, Hevlaska," Taryn answered politely.

Charlotte grumbled something under her breath, turning her head to stare past Hevlaska' looming form. Her green eyes were darker than usual.

Taryn sighed at her sister before returning her attention to Hevlaska.

The glowing exorcist seemed to lean closer, extending her tendril-like limbs.

Taryn hesitated, wary of the inspection to come—and of what the results could yield.

But while she wavered with uncertainty, Charlotte stepped forward without hesitation, allowing Hevlaska to gently take Retribution from her before lifting her into the air as well. It seemed to be over in seconds, because moments later, Charlotte was back at her side, the sleek, wooden frame of Retribution firmly in her hands again.

"Fifty-five percent," Hevlaska spoke gently.

Heilig's eyebrows rose. "Hardly any improvement at all," he noted, looking at the file in his hand again. As he jotted a quick note on one of the pages, he glanced up at Hevlaska again. "And Pax? Has her synchronization improved at all?"

Hevlaska hesitated. Then she tipped her head forward slightly, giving Taryn the distinct feeling that she was now focused entirely on her. As her tendril-hands extended once more, Taryn wavered.

Pax's feathers rose. Then he leaped from Taryn's wrist and glided forward to land on one of Hevlaska's outstretched limbs.

Taryn took a few hesitant steps forward and allowed those cool fingers to lift her from the comfort of solid ground. She shivered, the dread hanging over her worsening with each passing second.

It felt like she hung there for hours, Hevlaska's forehead touching her own ever so lightly, a strange chill seeping through her limbs and setting her mind racing as it stretched across her mental link with Pax.

And suddenly Hevlaska's murmuring stopped, although the sensation of her intrusive presence never left.

"Is something wrong?" Heilig called after a few seconds had passed in silence.

Hevlaska remained silent for several long moments. Then she answered quietly, "Fifty-six percent."

"Her synchronization dropped." The sound of a quill pen scratching furiously across paper suddenly filled the air.

"Yes." But Hevlaska's voice was distracted, and she didn't draw away from Taryn yet.

A strange sensation suddenly ran through Taryn, like a flash of lightning, sharp, blinding, and quick.

Pax promptly started to tear at Hevlaska's arm with his beak, screeching in obvious displeasure. His wings slapped noisily against her limb, beak clicking between each attempted bite or peck.

Hevlaska finally drew back, the sensation of her presence fading from Taryn's mind, and Pax settled down immediately. She lowered the girl to the ground gently.

Taryn immediately bolted to her sister's side, shaken, and Pax followed her closely.

Charlotte leaned closer to whisper, "Are you okay?"

Taryn nodded silently.

The twins looked up as Heilig stepped closer to Hevlaska.

"Pax's synchronization dropped," he stated. "What happened?"

Hevlaska answered coolly, "It dropped and has been increasing again. I would even say their bond is stronger for the experience."

Heilig's eyes narrowed. "What happened?" he repeated, turning to focus on Taryn with a cold stare.

"I don't know, sir," Taryn squeaked nervously, shying away from him.

Heilig frowned. He looked back at Hevlaska. "That will be all, Hevlaska," he bit out curtly. Then the supervisor refocused on the twins. "We cannot afford this type of failure, Pax. This is war, and victory depends on how well you perform in battle."

"It's not her—" Charlotte began to snarl, but Taryn slapped a hand over her sister's mouth to silence her.

"Yes, sir," the falconer answered meekly. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll train harder. Maybe that will help?"

Heilig practically scowled. "Sixty percent by the time you're both fourteen," he stated simply. "Or we'll begin trying another method."

"Yes, sir," Taryn said.

Without waiting for further response, the German spun and swept away into the darkness, his footsteps fading rapidly.

Hevlaska began to draw back, whispering quietly, "I'm sorry."

And just like that the sisters were left in total darkness.

Are we having fun yet? I'm having fun.

Next chapter may be a bit of timeskip chapter.

Reviews:

Bella: I shared the original document for chapter 25 with Bella aaand she's the one who told me it got deleted and spent two hours trying to help me recover it.
Thanks, Bella. Also thanks for screaming at me about the last chapter. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Savage Kill: Mmmh... sort of. Depends on what kind of strength you mean. Can't say anything more than that.
Sorry for the late update. I meant to have this done weeks ago.

Procrastinatingismyforte: It's definitely not a bother! I know already answered you in a PM, but I'm going to add this here for anyone else.

Taryn's name is pronounced tear-inn, with 'tear' pronounced like tearing a piece of paper. :D