When one loses sight, one can finally see...
* At the train station. At the railroads. *
Allen, Lavi, and Lacie finally destroyed every single Akuma in the area. The three Exorcists practically destroyed the area, leaving the area in ruins. The three Exorcists, tired after destroying so much Akuma, laid on the pieces of rubble.
"How many did you destroy?" Lavi asked Allen.
"About... 30." Allen answered.
"Ah, I won! I got 37." Lavi said. "What about Lacie?"
"I don't know..." Lacie answered.
"So there were 70 all together... a simple attack just aimed at us. They must be targeting you two and Lenalee while you three are still injured..." Lavi said as he fixed his bandana. "Or maybe they have an ulterior move...?"
Allen slowly tried to get up while using his left arm as a support.
"I wonder if the hospital's okay..." Allen said, but grunted as his bones cracked in his left arm. "OW!"
"You okay?" Lacie asked as she stood up.
"Sort of... my left arm hasn't healed yet." Allen answered. "I wish I had a weapon like you and the others have, Lavi... Parasitic type is SO inconvenient..."
"... The hospital is that way, right?" Lacie asked as she staggered her way to where Allen and Lavi are.
"Eh... Yeah... Probably." Lavi answered. "You all right, Lacie?"
"Yeah... Just a bit light-headed..." Lacie answered. "Let's go..."
"All right, but if you need a hand just let me know." Lacie nodded. Lavi then held Big Hammer, Little Hammer up with a handle side up. "Hold onto this." Lavi said.
Lacie and Allen grabbed onto the handle.
"Size shifting hammer... JUMP!"
"UGH!?" Allen grunted.
Big Hammer, Little Hammer's handle launched up high into the sky.
"UWAAAAA!? DOWAAAAA!" Allen cried.
Lacie shut her eyes tight.
"TO THE HOSPITAL, JUMP! JUMP! JU~~MP!" Lavi shouted.
Allen continued screaming.
As the three Exorcists headed towards the hospital, Baseball (Akuma) stood beside a building then disappeared.
* In the hospital. *
Komui was holding Lenalee in his arms. Bookman stood on the corpses of the Akuma.
"Spit it out." Bookman demanded. "Why did you come here?"
"He... hehehehe..." Akuma laughed. "The Earl of the Millenium has a message for you..." Akuma added."'Time is up~ The 1000 year prologue is over. Now the drama will unfold~ When you hear the bell for the curtain call, don't run! You Exorcists are our performers!'" Akuma delivered.
Suddenly, a piece of the trapped Akuma detaches from the main body and lunged at Komui.
"An easy kill!" Akuma shouted, but it exploded.
Komui and Bookman's eyes widened from what they saw. The Akuma that was headed for Komui was destroyed swiftly by none other than Lenalee. She activated Dark Boots and destroyed the Akuma.
"Le..." Komui said with shock. "Lenalee..."
Lenalee smiled at her brother.
"You woke up..." Bookman said.
"UWWAAAAAAAAAHH!" Someone screamed.
Suddenly, the three Exorcists that were on Big Hammer, Little Hammer came crashing through the wall and into where Bookman stood. Lenalee and Komui looked that the pile of crumbled debris with shock. Komui was lost for words.
"You used that to fly again, Lavi..." Lenalee said.
Then Lavi popped out of the pile with a huge, smile on his face. Lacie came out as well.
I'm not going to ride something like that for a while... Lacie thought.
"Ahahaha... my bad! You all right, Lacie?" Lavi said. Lacie nodded. "This thing is really convenient, but its damn hard to break! But it feels real good, right Allen?" No answer from Allen.
"Allen...?" Lavi called.
Then something emerged behind Lavi from the rubble and had a really dark aura. Lavi turned around to see a terrifying person and his face went white. The 'terrifying person' was Bookman with a scary aura and Allen unconscious on Bookman's head.
"You damn brats...!" Bookman snarled.
"Alle...!?" Lavi called but stopped as he felt Bookman's wrath.
* In a carriage. *
Lavi and Allen were sitting in the carriage in Seiza (a form of punishment). Lacie was excused from the punishment by Bookman. Lacie and Lenalee sat beside the two Seiza Exorcists, while Bookman and Komui sat on the opposite side of them. Timcampy rested on Lacie's head.
"Now then, let's talk about the mission." Komui said. "Okay, you two?" He said to Lavi and Allen.
"Yes..." They replied.
"A few days ago..." Komui began. "A General was murdered." Everyone's eyes widened. "The one assassinated was General Kevin Yeegar. Even though he was the eldest of the Five Generals, he was always the type to fight on the front lines."
"What happened to him...!?" Lenalee asked as she covered her mouth from shock.
"He was found in Belgium, nailed backwards to a cross. The words 'God Hunt' was carved onto his back."
"'God Hunt'...!?" Allen and Lacie said together.
"Komui, does that mean the Innocence-!?" Lavi guessed.
"Looks like it. The General was involved in a search for people who are compatible with Innocence. He carried a variety of Innocence with him. General Yeegar had eight of them in his possession." Komui explained. "Including the one powering the General's own Anti-Akuma Weapon, nine were stolen in total."
Nine... Lacie thought.
"He was crucified and suffered from multiple fatal wounds. On the verge of dying... he kept singing until he took his last breath."
~ General Yeegar's Death ~
"The Millennium Count... Is searching... Searching for the precious heart... It wasn't me... Next who'll it be..." General Yeegar sang.
"'The Millennium Count'?" Lavi said confused.
"Looks like it's the Count's nickname..." Lacie told Lavi.
"The Noah that Lenalee, Allen, and Lacie encountered called him that too." Komui added.
"Komui." Lacie called and Komui looked at her. "What is the 'precious heart'?" She asked.
Komui closed his eyes. "One of the 109 Innocence that we're searching for. The core of all Innocence, it's called 'The Heart'." Komui explained. "It is the root of all the power of Innocence, and can return all Innocence to nothingness. If we have it in our possession, it will be the first time that we can gain the power to stop the end. Thatis the Earl's target." He finished.
"And where is that Innocence?" Allen asked.
"Dunno." Komui answered.
"Huh?"
"Actually it's very annoying. The cube had nothing noted in it about what kind of Innocence it is, nothing about signs or distinctions, nothing~~~ No matter how brilliant I am, there aren't just any clues! It's a real problem you know. I'm really busy too. These ancients should consider that and at least write a hint in there... They're so stingy. You know, we've already tried to get Helva to look at the Innocence in our possession, and considered it from many angles... It may even be that we've already collected it, or maybe someone might have been its Apostle already..." Komui said. "The General is the only victim. The Earl probably thinks that of all the Innocence compatible people there are, there is a good chance that 'The Heart' resides in people with the most power. The appearance of the Akuma, and now Noah's Family and the heightened military strength, are all probably because of that." He explained. "The Exorcist Generals have become their targets. That is probably the meaning of the message as well. It is very likely that the same message was sent to the other Exorcists too."
"At any rate, the Apostle for that Innocence would almost certainly have as much strength as a General..." Lacie said.
"Still, a simultaneous assault by Noah's Family and the Akuma would be too much, even for a General." Komui concluded. "Exorcists from all over are being recalled and divided into four groups. The mission this time is to guard the Generals. You lot will guard General Cross."
Allen's and Lacie's eyes widened at Komui's order.
