D . Gray-man is owned by Katsura Hoshino, meaning it does not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original D . Gray-man storyline (such as Gracia) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
"Your 'Earl' was… the Millennium Earl? !"
Lulu Bell's water form bristled, her several hands clenching into fists.
Goddamn it! ! She cursed loudly, one of her watery hands shooting towards Gracia, Why did it have to be you? !
"Shit!" Cross growled, barely having time to tighten his grip on Gracia and dodge.
Lau Jimin suddenly leapt between Lulu Bell's fist, Cross and Gracia, Klaud, on the monster simian's back, throwing her arm forward. Lau Jimin threw his forward at the same time and punched through Lulu Bell's arm, the water spattering.
Taking advantage of the momentary offered protection, Cross landed and skidded back a few feet across the ground before he dropped Gracia.
Gracia slid away from him a bit before she managed to stop herself, looking up at Cross through her hair as he held Judgment forward.
"Judgment Load!"
He grabbed at the back of the gun and drew his hand back, as if he were drawing a knocked arrow in a bow.
"Arrow of Original Sin!"
Gracia pressed herself to the ground and covered her head as Cross 'let go,' the strange light that formed around Judgment in the shape of a bow snapping forward, a beam of light shooting from Judgment's tip and flying at Lulu Bell.
Gracia tensed as Lulu shrieked in pain.
That creature… wasn't an Akuma. It didn't feel like an Akuma.
And the only other thing that fought with Akuma…
…Noah.
Lulu… No… Lulu Bell was a Noah.
Gracia covered her head.
This couldn't be happening… Lulu, one of the only friends she had had while she had been married… She couldn't be a Noah.
"GRACIA!"
She jolted and looked up, her eyes widening when she saw Cross looking at her in anger.
"DO SOMETHING TO SLOW HER DOWN!" He roared at her before he had to jump out of the way and leave her behind as one of Lulu Bell's arms threw a large slab of cement at him.
Gracia watched, biting her lip harshly when Lau Jimin received a harsh blow.
She… she couldn't…
As soon as she thought that, though, a sharp pain pierced Gracia's wrist and she cried out in pain, pushing herself into kneeling and looking down at Sleep in shock as it tightened around her wrist.
She didn't have a choice. Komui had hinted that something… bad would happen if she put Sleep on without a firm resolve… She didn't know what it was, but…
"Tup! No! !"
A separate cry, one away from the battle, caught Gracia's attention, and her head snapped towards it, her eyes widening when she saw Johnny throw himself at a strange, dark skull-like creature, tackling it.
"Tup…" Johnny sobbed, hugging the creature close, "Tup, no…"
Gracia watched with wide eyes.
…Oh… that was right… There were still humans in the room… Reever was still in the room somewhere, along with several other scientists.
And… Johnny and Tup? Was that skull thing really Tup?
…This wasn't about her and Lulu. This was far bigger than her and some… past connection with a Noah.
'A Noah… A Noah… Lulu is a Noah.' Gracia continued to remind herself as she stumbled to her feet, clenching her hands.
Sleep was no longer pinching her wrist, now burning hotly as it always did when it was on the verge of being used.
Gracia swallowed, then started running towards the still slowly sinking Egg, Lulu Bell hovering over it protectively and fending off the Generals and Miranda floating around, unconscious and face a pale blue, in the Noah's watery chest.
Several thin wires that were attached to the Egg's containment shell started to snap, and somewhere overhead Marie shouted, "It's no use! I can't stop it!"
"We have to destroy the Egg!" Gracia heard Klaud shout, "But we might kill Miranda…"
Gracia ground her teeth, her boots slamming into a puddle of Akuma blood and splashing her legs as she continued running towards the Egg and Lulu. Her lungs burned; she was still really, really out of shape…
"Miranda's an Exorcist!" Socalo barked, "She knows the risks!"
Gracia focused on Miranda. The generals were contemplating killing her to destroy the Egg. Maybe if she could…
"Wait, General!" Marie called out as Gracia, as of yet unnoticed, vaulted over the arm of one of the dead Akuma, starting to clamber up the hunk of floor the Egg was perched on. "What are you going to—"
Gracia ran into a problem, frowning. The black edge of the portal was in the way… If she touched it, she'd fall through. Just then, one of Lulu's arms swept by. She grabbed onto it, holding on as it jerked her into the air.
Any other talking that might have been going on was drowned out by the wind in her ears, the speed of Lulu's arm making it deafening as she struggled to hold on and keep an eye on the watery body below.
And then… once she was angled directly above Lulu's back… she let go, falling towards the Noah.
Because she remembered one thing very well from her last water battle…
Sleep's effects were amplified by water.
The water that made up Lulu Bell's body was freezing, and unnaturally so. Gracia had a hard time staying conscious as shock from the temperature halted her mind, and it was only when Sleep scalded her wrist that she was able to focus on it.
She couldn't focus on any specific commands, but Sleep didn't need her to. It just needed her to focus.
And Sleep acted as Sleep had before, when Gracia had been captured by the Trip in Iceland; Sleep flared hotly around her right middle finger. Hot enough to boil the water around her hand.
Gracia passed out from Sleep before the lack of oxygen overtook her completely, and as she did Sleep pulsed around her finger, sending out a strong wave through the water.
The temperature of Lulu Bell's water body became unstable, first rising, then falling, then spiking hotly before it fell again, and Lulu Bell thrashed, screaming.
The urge to fall asleep was overwhelming, but her Noah side wouldn't allow it.
Goddamn you, Gracia Amberley! Lulu Bell screamed, the air around her vibrating, Stay out of this! !
One of Lulu's hands dove into her body to grab Gracia, pulling her out and throwing her upwards as another hand pulled Miranda out and slammed her down against the Akuma Egg.
As Lulu Bell threatened Miranda, Gracia flew through the white Ark Gate that was still jutting out of the ceiling, Lulu having thrown her out of harm's way… For now.
Komui looked over at the Ark Gate as something flew through it, flinching and struggling to keep from collapsing as the Generals unleashed a power so great the entire building felt like it was suffering an earthquake.
"General? !" He shouted into the mouthpiece of his headset, panicking, "Marie? ! Miranda! !"
"We just lost power!"
"Switch to auxiliary power!"
"Get casualty reports from unit leaders!"
"Supervisor! From the portal just now!"
Komui turned around quickly, his eyes widening when he saw what had come through the Ark Gate.
Gracia had landed on her back, auburn hair splayed out wetly around her head and a dark crimson from the water that had soaked her entire body.
She was unconscious.
She wasn't breathing…
"Medic!" Komui shouted, running to Gracia and shouting into his headpiece at the same time, "Cross! Froi! ! Klaud! Marie! Someone answer! !"
Without thinking about it, Komui flipped Gracia onto her back and tipped her head back, leaning forward and pressing his mouth to hers. He pinched her nose shut and breathed into her mouth, briefly relieved when her chest inflated and showed there was no blockage.
Komui numbly went through the steps of CPR, shouting out for some sort of confirmation or returned answer from the laboratory whenever he was compressing her chest, only to have to fall silent whenever he pressed his mouth to hers again to breathe for her.
All he heard over his headpiece was silence and the occasional burst of static, and with Gracia right in front of him, he found himself swaying more towards being focused on her; resuscitation was an absorbing task, especially when he started to panic over whether or not she even had a pulse.
When Gracia coughed into his mouth, though, he quickly turned her onto her side and was unable to keep from shuddering out a brief flash of relief when she started coughing up water and gasping for air.
His relief was short-lived when he heard voices over his headset, Komui turning his attention back to that while never removing his hand from Gracia's arm.
"Hello? ! Who is this? ! Hello!"
"T-The… A… ku… ma…" A voice that hardly sounded human anymore croaked into his ear, making the hair on the back of his neck stand, "E… vol…ved…"
Komui's eyes widened and his brain shuddered to a halt.
Reports had that room filled with Level 3s and giant Akuma… What in the hell could they have evolved into? !
U…Unless…
His brain spiraling into the dark depths of dangerous, fathomless territory that shocked him immobile, Komui didn't notice that Gracia was now conscious and kneeling in front of him.
"—mui! Komui!"
Komui jerked slightly, his eyes locking with hers as he stared, mouth agape, into her pale face as her hands held his face.
"Komui, we have to get you somewhere safe now!" Gracia was shouting at him, "Get up!"
"The Science Department!" Someone screamed in his ear, "Oh my god, the Science Department is gone! ! It took out the entire floor!"
"Komui, now!"
Komui let himself get pulled to his feet, his brain slowly starting to catch up again as Gracia took his hand and started pulling him along.
Was… Was she shouting orders now? He couldn't really hear or understand her, but she was turning her head from side to side and her mouth opened widely as she used her entire mouth to form words…
…She was shouting, and people were responding; Komui was quickly finding himself surrounded by more and more people with ballistic shield-type talismans.
Then, pain bloomed across his face and he blinked, slowly pressing a hand to his cheek and looking back down at Gracia as she glared up at him, her eyes watering from more than just the Noah water she was covered in and her hand still up and out from slapping him.
"You need to wake up. NOW!"
Komui jerked, then nodded, "Right." He pressed a hand to his headpiece to turn the receiver on, shouting, "An enemy has just destroyed Lab Five and is now somewhere inside of the building! It's a single Akuma that appears to have evolved into a Level 4!" Komui had to work hard to keep himself from stuttering, "The status of the Exorcists inside of Lab 5 is currently unknown! I repeat…. A Level 4 has destroyed Lab 5!"
And at that moment, Gracia was the only active Exorcist in reach.
Fortunately… she appeared to be more awake than ever.
Gracia stood between Komui and the white form that was moving its way towards them in quick bursts.
One second it was thirty feet away, then it was twenty feet away and all of the men that had stood in the middle, holding SWAT-like, ballistic shields that worked as talismans all sliced cleanly into sections.
Their wounds had happened so quickly it actually took them a moment to bleed…
The creature crouched ten feet away from Komui, walking towards him slowly with its knuckles dragging the ground and its wings spread.
Panic gripped Gracia's chest as she met its eyes and she threw her hand forward, Sleep heating.
"Supervisor!" Someone shouted from behind Komui.
The Level 4 paused slightly at that, twitching, "…Supervisor?"
Gracia couldn't even blink and the thing was in front of her, grabbing her Innocence-bearing hand and twisting her arm around behind her back, making her crouch and scream. Pain flooded her mind so swiftly she couldn't localize it, and the sound of her bones grinding filled her ears and made her teeth rattle, a coppery taste strong on her tongue.
Blood sprayed and soaked her back as two guards bearing talismans attempted to shield Komui and were decapitated.
"You're in charge of the Black Order?" The Level 4 asked, its voice almost… disgustingly childlike in its inquisitiveness but the pitch far to… inhuman… "So, is your head worth as much as hers?"
"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" She couldn't remember the last time she'd screamed…
Gracia felt a new presence appear behind her and suddenly the Akuma wasn't holding her wrist anymore, though something did tear loudly as it moved away and Komui shouted out in pain.
"Son of a bitch, Komui!" Kanda's voice snapped over Gracia's shoulder, "You need to make better weapons!"
Gracia shuddered and quickly pressed her good hand to the ground as she felt the urge to collapse, afraid to look at her arm. What did skin sound like when it tore? And why couldn't she feel her hand…? !
"G-Gracia…" Komui rasped right to her left, and she looked over at him and smiled when she saw he just had a gash on his shoulder. He was collapsed and blood was quickly soaking his jacket, but he could move and no limbs were missing.
"Next time, wake up and run a bit faster when I tell you to, dumbass." She smiled at him, shuddering and forcing herself to bring her right arm around to look at it. She nearly passed out in relief when she saw she still had her hand; the tearing she heard hadn't been her skin, just her sleeve.
Her wrist bore a horrible, black, hand-shaped bruise and her shoulder was bruised in a ring around the joint where her arm and been twisted too far. She still couldn't feel it, but it was there and she could use it.
"Gracia, get the hell up." Kanda growled.
She nodded and swallowed, standing and turning to face the Akuma as it watched them with a bored look on its face.
Then, there was a bright flash and the Akuma was suddenly trapped in twin cubes of light, dozens of guards quickly falling into formation around it and adding the power of their talisman-producing shields to the force.
"Are you alright, Supervisor? !" One of the men shouted.
"I'm fine!" Komui shouted back, moving to kneel as someone Gracia didn't recognize knelt beside him to help him get back upright, "Focus on the Akuma! Surround it quickly!"
Gracia kept most of her focus on the Akuma, flinchingly flexing her hand before holding it up and at the ready.
And the Akuma… grinned… and started to laugh.
Gracia felt a chill run down her spine, the hair on the back of her neck standing and a gripping, icy feeling in her chest.
"Komui, stay back." Kanda growled, dropping the broken sword in his hand and drawing another, "Gracia, get Sleep working again. Now."
"Kanda, stop!" The young man Gracia didn't recognize, who was still at Komui's side, gasped.
"You don't have your Innocence!" Komui insisted.
"I'll make do, don't worry." Kanda growled, "Besides, we have a support unit here, too, as soon as she gets her head back in the game."
Gracia felt a bit of… relief at Kanda's very, very bad attempt at assurance. Even if he hadn't meant it like that, it was nice to know that, even if just a little, he depended on her, and that she, in turn, could depend on him. Even if she didn't like the idea of him fighting without Mugen…
"Kanda…" Gracia mumbled, "We have to get Komui out of here."
"Hn." Kanda grunted.
Komui twitched, hissing, "I can't just let you—"
"Komui!" Gracia heard Hevlaska's voice over Komui's headpiece, "Can you hear me? Come to me, Komui, I will distract the Level 4. Take the Innocence from inside of my body and flee with the others!"
Gracia's eyes widened slightly and she glanced back at Komui.
Komui ground his teeth, "Hevlaska…"
"The Ark still has a portal that connects to Asian Branch. Lead the people there! This position is no longer secure! As long as you have the Innocence you can rebuild!"
"Hevlaska, we still have Lenalee and her power!" Lvellie's voice interrupted.
The rest of the conversation was lost to Gracia as the Level 4 started struggling loudly, playfully against the barrier holding it.
Gracia snapped her attention back to it and held out her hand, only to flinch and bite her lip to keep from screaming in pain when Kanda grabbed her wrist.
"Don't try unless you're sure you can do something." Kanda growled, standing close to her so he could, hopefully, speak without the Level 4 hearing him, "It's screwing around right now, but if you piss it off it'll just break right through."
"Right…" Gracia nodded, hissing in pain when he let her heavily bruised wrist go.
What could she use? Alucinari wasn't any good; it required more energy, energy she probably didn't have, not to mention she didn't need the damned thing to hallucinate or sleepwalk.
Sopor might work, but higher levels woke up faster and she didn't know if it would break apart or not when the effect wore off, so it probably wouldn't even be worth the effort.
Confusio, however… Confusio would buy them time, not to mention that, if she could put enough energy into it, it just might keep it from using some of its special abilities, if it had any…
Her mind made up, Gracia inhaled slowly before exhaling, slowly lifting her hands. She kept her palms down, her right hand hovering over her left as she narrowed her focus on the Akuma.
The Level 4, which had started watching her as soon as she had started moving, smiled amusedly at her, tipping its head.
"Drow Poison…"
The Akuma bore its teeth at her as it grinned.
Gracia tensed, her mouth going dry.
"Confusio!"
Gracia could have fallen to her knees right there and cried in relief when she saw the Akuma's pupil's dilate, a far-off look crossing its face and its lips parting as its jaw went slack.
A noticeable feeling of relief washed through the room.
"…We have time…" Komui muttered. He then raised his voice, sounding a bit more urgent, "We have time!" He then started speaking into his headpiece.
Gracia was so relieved it took her a moment to realize what he was saying.
"—re evacuating! You have your orders, now go!"
The Akuma shuddered, and even though it was clearly impaired, it grinned at Komui, "Don't think you can escape… 'Supervisor'…"