Author's Notes:
Ahaha, I am back with a quite short transition chapter! I am so happy that DGM returned that I thought I must share my happines! But somehow this chapter is not the best I could have done. It has both Jasdevi (Jasdebi whatever they are called! Grr) and a lot of talk about relationships*lol*. But as I said, it's very short... but yeah, in exchange the wait between last chapter and this update was shorter, right?
I hope you can enjoy this :D
Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino.
Kapitel 34: On the Stairway
Ellen knew very well that now was not the time to be worrying about Kanda. Ellen did trust in his abilities as an exorcist, but she was still very afraid. Both for his and her sake.
"Ellen you shouldn't look so gloomy. Yu will do fine, he's incredibly strong. Even a Noah won't bring him down," Rabi said, trying to cheer her up.
"I do not doubt his strength… But what if he runs out of time?" Ellen asked, turning back to look into the dark corridor. Rabi's grin slipped and he fell in thoughtful silence.
"We have been walking in this corridor for more than half an hour, I wonder when we'll see the exit," Crowley said.
"We have less than two hours left before the Ark will get swallowed up…" Linali said and Lelo affirmed this. Ellen continued to walk after them, always casting a look behind her, but after a while she stopped.
"Mylady? What is it?" Crowley wondered when he heard her stop and the others turned around as well.
"I thought I heard something…" she said, staring into the darkness.
"You heard something? And what could it be?", Crowley asked and Ellen frowned.
"As if… something was breaking apart…" she said and indeed the noise was to be heard loudly. And suddenly the ground started to break. They all screamed in fright and ran, which didn't prove very helpful as the path just crumbled after them in a higher speed than they managed to get away from it. Crowley took the matters into his hands, grabbing all the exorcists and dashing off with his power augmented by the Akuma blood he had taken with him. With his help they actually arrived at the end of the corridor and sped through a wide window-like opening that led to a huge room filled with book-shelves. The Romanian exorcist let the others down and they were free to take in their new surroundings.
"This must be a place of the Ark that has not been downloaded yet…" Ellen mused and Lelo – who had held on to Crowley – confirmed that once again.
"It looks like a huge library!" Rabi observed and looked around. In the middle of the strange room stood a big monument and from there came a loud noise. Upon looking up the exorcists found two young adults sitting there.
"Hey you exorcists!" shouted the dark haired boy, "I'm Devit!"
"Jasdero!" the long haired blonde added loudly, "together we are Jasdevi!". Ellen widened her eyes when she beheld them and the strange clothes they wore. It was clear though that those two must be Noahs, therefore she was on her guard.
"Allen Walker!" they shouted and Ellen looked at them in wonder.
"We have absolutely nothing against you! But we have something against Cross! And as his pupil you will pay for that!!" they shouted and pointed their guns at her, shooting at her. She evaded rather clumsily because she was confused by what the two just said.
"One moment please! You are talking about my master?" But the two Noahs wouldn't listen to her and continued attacking her with strange magical bullets. She managed well to evade and even counter, but it was getting tedious to run around like that.
"If they speak about my master then this means that he is alive and well I presume," Ellen concluded while readying herself to block yet another attack. However, she did not have to as Rabi and Crowley stepped in front of her, fending off the attack.
"Always attacking Ellen! I won't allow that!!" Rabi shouted in anger and they send the attack straight back at the twins.
"Nobody is allowed to harm Miss Walker!" Crowley added.
"Thank you…" Ellen said with a smile at her two saviours. The Noahs just made the attack disappear and studied their opponents.
"Miss Walker then!" Devit roared, "you look rather plain for a girl!"
"Plain! Hee! Yes!" Jasdero added with laughter. Ellen, despite not being vain, did get angry at that.
"Plain you say!? Who are you to talk about outward appearances?!" Rabi had to laugh at that and the flustered looks of both the Noah boys and Ellen.
"Now, now… Don't get angry about this…!" he said and she frowned at him, pouting slightly.
"Jasdevi! What are you even doing here! Shouldn't you be looking for Cross, lelo?!" the umbrella spoke up which earned it a rain of bullets from the twins.
"Idiot! We have looked everywhere for this Cross, you stupid umbrella! He is nowhere to be found!!" Jasdero said.
"And the Earl says that he might plan to take the Ark, that's why we're here!" the dark haired youth added, then they both pointed at Ellen.
"And during the time we are waiting we spend our time with his pupil!! And while we're at it she can pay her master's debts!!", the shouted in irritation.
"Debts? What are they talking about?" Ellen wondered aloud but neither Rabi nor Crowley had an idea what the two meant.
"This stupid bastard has left us bills everywhere we went, expecting us to pay them!" Devit said and Ellen frowned, "and now YOU have to pay for him!". They pointed their guns at Ellen for another round of attacks but she was rather calm now.
"Oh. I see..." she said and the twins glared at her, not yet attacking.
"You see?! That's not just some inanities we are talking about!! All in all his debts are more than 4000 pounds!! And you will pay every penny of it little Miss! And if you can't pay with money you will pay with blood!". Ellen sighed. It's been months since she left Cross, but what he had said to her back then (that she would need to sell her body if her money wasn't enough) still was firmly set in her memories. Fortunately she did not have to do that yet. But this situation seemed almost comical. It was no surprise to her that Cross would dump his bills on everybody else – but to go as far as make the enemy pay…? That really was something.
"That master… How terrible of him…" she said, but then she looked up at the two Noahs, "but I will pay all of it. You will not need to worry about it. Hand me the bills and I will take care of it." Not only the boys but also her fellow exorcists where simply amazed at what she said.
"What? You'll just pay 4000 pounds?! That's a fortune! Even for a rich girl such as you" Rabi shouted but Ellen laughed lightly.
"My family is wealthy. It is no problem. So hand me these bills," Ellen said and held out her hands to the Noah boys.
"You're quite a haughty girl!" Devit said, but he tossed her the bills, "but take them! And pay them or else!!" Ellen rolled her eyes and put them inside of her pocket.
"Fine. Now, let us continue, we cannot afford to waste time here!" Rabi urged them on, but was stopped by a bullet just hitting the ground next to his feet.
"No, you go no where. The young lady may go on for we need her to pay that crap, but nobody said anything about you!" Devit shouted.
"Exactly! Hee! We don't want to be bored, so we'll kill you while we wait!!" Jasdero said.
"No! I will not allow that!" Ellen shouted and wanted to attack them, but Crowley stopped her.
"I will engage them in battle. You go ahead," he said and Ellen looked up at him in surprise.
"Baron! That is not necessary!"
"It is necessary! We don't have time to waste on them!" Crowley argued and squeezed her shoulder, "you must go!". At that moment the ground shook and the floor started to crack.
"Ellen! The download of this room has started!!" Rabi shouted. Ellen looked at him, then up at Crowley.
"Please, let me do you this favour," the exorcist pleaded and Ellen lowered her head.
"Ellen!" Rabi urged and grabbed Linali who was also resisting.
"As if we would let you get away!" the twins shouted and started attacking, but Crowley sheltered his friends.
"Go now!" Ellen hesitated, but then she nodded and ran off, up to the monument which had a key hole.
"No! We can't let Crowley fight on his own! There are two opponents!" Linali protested as Ellen turned the key in the lock and the door opened. "Ellen!" The girl pressed her lips together, but then she grabbed Linali's wrist and jumped into the door, Rabi, Chao Zhi and Lelo following.
"Ellen! Why?! We can't leave Crowley alone! The room is breaking apart! We have to help him!" Linali shouted on the verge of tears, "we have to stick together!"
"Linali!" Ellen replied loudly, putting both of her hands on Linali's shoulders. When the other girl stopped struggling Ellen let out a sigh of relief. "Listen to me. We have to continue now. Everything will be fine. We will all return home together."
"E… Ellen…" the girl whispered and Ellen smiled kindly.
"You have to believe… Of course it is hard to let them fight by themselves. You can imagine how I felt when I had to leave Kanda. And it was the same with the baron. But we have to accept their decision to fight. They fight to give us time, to protect us…"
"Yes, because we all want to make it out of here – together!" Rabi spoke up and Linali sniffed slightly but then she nodded. Ellen wiped away the tears on her friend's face.
"You are usually strong Linali. Right now we need you to hold on to your strength. We need all our capacities!"
"Yes… Thank you… All of you…" she said and the others nodded. They looked around and made their way through the darkness up to a path of light that looked like stairs.
"Ellen… you…" Linali spoke up after a while and the white haired girl looked over her shoulder. Linali blushed slightly when she saw Ellen's attentive gaze on her.
"What is it?"
"I… I am a bit embarrassed to ask… But…"
"Why would you need to be embarrassed over something?" Ellen laughed lightly while following Rabi and Chao Zhi. Linali hesitated a bit, but then she mustered her courage to ask:
"You and Kanda… Are you really lovers?" Ellen blinked at her and coloured as well.
"Linali!" Ellen muttered and looked ahead.
"There is no need to get embarrassed over something like this. Of course they are lovers Linali! I bet you must have noticed from the start!"
"From the start!" Linali exclaimed somewhat indignant. "Unfortunately Ellen must have forgotten to tell me that they tightened their relationship! Ellen did tell me about Kanda's confession but she also claimed that they were not a couple!" Ellen, visibly uneasy about the sudden topic, coughed slightly. "Are there other things that you did not tell me?"
"I am sorry for being a bad friend, Linali. But there are certain things that I am not really comfortable with. And I was not lying – Kanda and I never decided to be lovers!" Linali frowned, but she was not as angry as Ellen thought she was. "Please, dear Linali, do not be cross with me!"
"But I am cross, Ellen! You are my friend and we even promised that we will be as sisters! Why don't you tell me such important things! If I had a boyfriend, I would tell you immediately!" Ellen was still quite flustered and there was no distraction to be found. They still continued walking ahead undisturbed and everybody (even Chao Zhi who didn't really know what this was all about) was keen on talking about Ellen and Kanda's relationship.
"Really, you people! Can we not talk about something different now that Kanda and Crowley are fighting? This really does not feel like the right moment to discuss my relationship!"
"What? Don't say such things! Would you rather just walk in silence? This place is creepy enough!" Rabi exclaimed and looked around. They were still walking in darkness, on white stairs that seemed suspended in nothing. Truth to be told, Ellen really wasn't so keen to walk around here, especially not in grave silence.
"No, but –" she tried to argue and let out a little wail, "not about Kanda and me!!"
"But that's what interests us," Linali told her, "everything else seems to be depressing, why not talk about love?" Ellen looked slightly crestfallen when she heard that, which Linali did notice. "Ellen?"
"Uhm… I do not want to disappoint you, Linali, but for me it is slightly depressing to think about it…" she said silently.
"Huh? How come?" the Chinese girl asked in wonder. Rabi, knowing well enough what it was about did not try to vex her with questions of his own.
"It is not as if I did not like Kanda. He is a good man but…" she sighed and continued in a mumble "he does not match me…". Linali frowned at that while Rabi wrinkled his nose in slight irritation.
"What are you talking about? Of course he matches you! You complement each other! What he lacks you have and what you lack he makes up for!" Linali argued, but Ellen refused to reply.
"It's not about personality," Rabi finally spoke up and Linali turned to look at him, "it's about status." Ellen heard his scornful tone and look at him both with surprise and worry. "Don't look at me like that Ellen. You know I support you in whatever you do, but I have to take Yu's side as well! You're too stiff about your whole relationship –stiff enough to follow rules but now that it's time that you accept responsibility you want to back down?"
"Rabi…" Ellen said in a slightly hurt voice, but she was more surprised that Rabi actually seemed to know. Linali and Chao Zhi were quite puzzled and Lelo politely kept out of the whole matter.
"Please. Let us not talk about it now," Ellen asked and shook her head, "I want to keep my spirits up, there is still some fighting to do…" Rabi snorted, but he agreed. Ellen held out her hand to Linali, who looked at her in wonder.
"Give me your hand, to walk seems to give you trouble…," she said kindly and Linali accepted it. But when Ellen closed her fingers around Linali's palm the older girl noticed the slight tremble of her friend's hand.
"Oh Ellen… What is it that you just cannot tell me about?" she wondered sadly, but she respected Ellen's wish to stop talking about it for the moment and silently followed the younger exorcist. Rabi watched the two girls walking ahead. Of course he was both angry and disappointed with Ellen but he still felt very sorry for her. She was incredibly troubled because she had to apply the rules of her class and her mother to a situation she was not yet prepared for. But because she never openly talked about her problems and only alluded to them and stopped talking once it got too private, nobody would be able to help her.
"You're such a fool, Ellen…" Rabi thought, "you have so many friends to help you, yet you refuse to be helped…". He shook his head and looked at Linali whose steps were getting slower and wobbly. "Linali? Are you okay? Do your legs hurt?"
"I… am a bit out of breath but it will be okay. I'll manage – after all you took me by the hand, Ellen," she said with a smile and Ellen returned it.
"Being a girl sure is nice… You can hold Linali's hand all you want without worrying about Komui!" Rabi exclaimed and Ellen had to laugh at that, "why don't we exchange places!" Linali didn't really hear much of what the two said because she was absorbed in her own troubling thoughts. But all of them were so brave, she too, even if she could no longer control her Innocence, cannot give up now!
"I must pull through!" she said and blushed when she realized that she had spoken it aloud.
"Pull through? You are in pain then Linali!" Ellen said and Rabi, who just wanted to exchange places with Ellen put both of his hands around Linali's.
"Let me carry you!" he said and Linali backed off slightly.
"N… No! You got it all wrong! I was just thinking that I would need to train again once we're back home!" she tried to explain but it only earned her a frown from Rabi.
"What kind of things are you thinking! There's no sense in filling your mind with worries!" Linali wanted to agree in order to appease Rabi, but he continued: "you have to think more sexy thoughts or you'll never get yourself a boyfriend!!"
"Rabi!!" Both of the girls shouted. Ellen stomped her foot on Rabi's boot.
"Don't be so cheeky!" she said and Linali grabbed Rabi's collar.
"That's none of your concern!"
"Ouch! Girls! Stop!" Rabi wailed and blushed when he looked at Linali. "I… I know that it's not my business... who your boyfriend is I mean. Or actually if you… have any. You know…" He was quite flustered and Linali looked at him in wonder. Ellen on her part raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Uh… Ellen! What will you do when we get back??" Seeing as Rabi was quite uncomfortable, the girl accepted the change of topic.
"Eating of course," she replied, "everything that Mister Jerry has to offer!". While Rabi and Linali stared at her, Chao Zhi suddenly stared laughing.
"Oh! I… I am sorry! But I never thought that you exorcists would quarrel like ordinary humans do…" he said with an uneasy smile, "how you're joking with each other… But… but what about fear…? Don't you know fear…?" He was still smiling but he trembled. Ellen looked at him and walked up to him, taking his hands into hers.
"We will get home…" she said with a smile and looked to the side where the end of the stairs was visible: it was a huge archway which emitted bright light. "This seems to be our last obstacle. And we will also overcome this." She turned back to Chao Zhi. "If we are afraid we think of something funny to cheer us up. Everything will turn out fine…" She squeezed his hands and he nodded, crying slightly. Upon hearing that Lelo couldn't keep silent anymore.
"You are always happy it seems! Don't you understand that you stand no chance, lelo?!"
"You are mistaken, Lelo" Ellen said and the umbrella was surprised to be addressed by her. "I wish for us all to go home," she continued and then her smile changed into a look of determination, "And no matter how hopeless it seems, I will not give up! Never!" And after she had said that she smiled again – and it was a smile that convinced Lelo that she meant everything she said, that this girl was someone everybody could trust in. She really was strong. There was something about her that even Lelo admired.
Rabi watched Ellen climb the last steps. He worried about her. She had changed. Her willpower was nearly intimidating. Had so much changed because she regained her clown like Innocence? The girl invocated and stepped into the light and Rabi had to hold up his hand in front of his eye. She was dazzling in her power, determination and beauty.
"But it seems that you, Ellen, could vanish – like the light…" Rabi thought and they all followed her into the uncertainty of what lay beyond the door.
To be continued
Notes:
I had to stop here because the next scene would be too long! The next chapter will probably be longer because it deals with the Ghostly Banquet scene with Tyki and Rhode. :3 Let's see what I can make of it!
I was unsure about making Rabi angry with Ellen - but I was glad I wrote it because it's time for Ellen to get some second opinions. But I still feel bad for Linali to be left out. Ellen, Ellen *shakes head*
P.S. I don't like the twins – yet. Sorry for their short appearance. X3