ALLEN 13
LAVI 17
LENALEE 16
KANDA 18
…
"Hm…" Cross rubs his chin thoughtfully. Allen just stares up at him.
"What?" Allen crosses his arms, tired of watching the man.
"That does sound like a problem." Cross says.
"And that doesn't sound helpful." Allen retorts. "Neah said that you could help."
"I'm getting to that, brat." Cross sighs. "Look, for now, there's not much that can be done."
"That doesn't sound like you." Allen notes. "What, we're just going to sit around?"
"Anything but." Cross scoffs. "Look, it may not look like it, but the Order has a lot more information about what's going on."
"What's going on?" Allen asks.
"They haven't told anyone yet, but the Noah are apparently stealing Innocence of people."
"Stealing?" Allen repeats, confused.
"Oh, that's interesting." Neah hums.
"Shut up." Allen mutters before turning back to Cross. "Why?"
"Beats me." Cross scowls. "But, I'm sure that it's nothing good."
"Isn't that what we always assume?" Allen frowns.
"Oi, Neah!" Cross sends Allen, or Neah, a glare. "I ain't gonna let you be either, you got it?"
"Ah, I thought so." Neah sighs. "Tell him that I don't know either, but I can look into it."
"How?" Allen asks, ignoring Cross.
"Trust me."
"As if."
"Aw, that's not nice. Just give me a day? Yeah, that might be okay."
"…I guess." Allen nods.
"And, tell Cross to keep digging, although I doubt he needs to be told twice."
"Neah said that you need to keep looking, but isn't sure that he really needs to tell you." Allen relays.
"Yeah, yeah." Cross nods. "Nothing, then, eh?"
"Not yet." Allen shrugs. "Give him a day."
"Fine then." Cross reaches out to the door. "Now, I'm sick of you. Get out."
"Gladly." Allen huffs, awkwardly wheeling himself towards the exit. Just as he reaches the threshold, however, he pauses and looks back at Cross. "One more thing."
"Spit it out." Cross says.
"About, uh, this." Allen gestures to himself and then to Cross. "Do you know what happened?"
"No clue." Cross shrugs. "I suppose it's just the same with you. I woke up in 1982 in the maternity ward of a dumb british hospital."
"Only once?" Allen asks, frowning.
"Once?" Cross repeats. "Yeah, why?"
"It's only you four, then." Neah says. "Tell him."
"Later." Allen shakes his head. "Never mind." He says louder, turning way from Cross. "See you tomorrow, I guess."
Cross stares at him, calculative, but eventually just lets out a loud sigh. "Fine."
…
"Hi, guys." Allen ends up back at the library, where Lavi, Lenalee, and Kanda sit around the same desk.
"Yo." Lavi grins as he approaches. 'What was that all about?"
"About, uh-" Allen points to his head and then to his chair. "Also, he told me something weird."
"What kind of weird?" Lavi asks.
"Did something happen?" Lenalee leans across the table.
"Seems like it, sort of." Allen nods. "The Noah are stealing Innocence, apparently."
"Stealing?" Lavi frowns. "Why?"
Allen just shrugs. "Neah doesn't have a clue neither, nor Cross, actually."
"Maybe that's part of why we're still all stuck here." Lenalee adds. "Why haven't they told us?"
"No idea." Allen shakes his head. "But, it seems serious."
"They never did anything like that before, right?" Lenalee asks. "I mean, they usually just shatter it."
"It must be another one of their crazy plans." Lavi says. "But, I can't think of why they're use Innocence, they're meant to be mortal enemies, right?"
"Well, I can't claim to understand how to Noah work." Allen says. He pauses. "I don't even know what Neah's thinking half of the time, and I can hear his thoughts."
"Let's just… stay alert." Lenalee decides.
"Hopefully, Cross'll get back to us." Allen adds.
"Did you talk about anything else?" Lavi rests his head on his hand thoughtfully. "Though, I guess Cross is a man of few words."
"Actually, I did ask him one more thing." Allen remembers. "About, uh, us being here?"
"And?" Lavi perks up at that.
"Nothing." Allen shakes his head. "But, he did say that this was his first time, like Daisya."
"So, it's only us still." Lenalee frowns. "Why?"
"It's probably got something to do with the stuff we don't remember." Lavi looks over the others. "Or is that just me?"
"You mean about the first time we died, right?" Lenalee says quietly. "I don't really remember much of it."
"It's a bit jumbled." Allen agrees. "I, uh, I remember stuff about the Earl, but after that it wasn't great."
"When we saw those plaques, the ones with the dates on them?" Lavi says. "Just by looking at them, it felt weird."
"Weird?" Allen echoes. "I mean, yeah, I think I get felt it too."
"So, none of us properly remember?" Lenalee asks. She sends Kanda a glance, but the teen just shakes his head. "…Why?"
"I remember all the other times." Allen says. "It's just the first one."
"But, that day, the one, uh you know? We all remember that right?" Lavi asks.
"Of course." Allen nods.
"Actually, I think it's right after that that things start getting fuzzy." Lenalee frowns.
"Well, there's no point brooding over it." Lavi tries for a smile. "First things first, we need to think about what the hell the Noah are up to."
"I guess." Allen grins. "So, any ideas?"
…
"I still don't get this." Tyki gingerly holds the glowing green pen. It's old-fashioned looking, with the nib a shining gold.
"Stop whining." Road gives the man a light smack. "We still gotta get the other one."
"I thought that all the exorcists were locked up at headquarters." Tyki says. "That old guy was the only one, right?"
"Not quite." Road giggles. "Ya know, that dumb Order isn't as quick as they think."
"You found one?" Tyki raises an eyebrow. "Where?"
"I'll show you!" Road raises her hands in the air, grinning widely, and a door pops up behind her. "Come on!" She reaches out to grab Tyki's hand, pulling him forward.
"Yeah, yeah." Tyki lets himself get dragged to the door. "Let's just get this done quickly."
…
"Hm?" Bailey grabs at the ringing phone and brings it to his ear. "…Hello?"
"S-Supervisor!" A distressed women answers. "Emergency!"
"What?" Bailey snaps upright, grabbing a stray piece of paper. "What is it?" he grabs a pen and prepares to write. "Who is this?"
"A-Andrea McFarlane, s-sir, a Finder! I- We're in France right now! In Nice!"
"What's going on over there?" Bailey scribbles as he speaks.
"We- We think that there's a new exorcist here, sir! B-But just now Vernon, m-my friend. he thinks he saw a Noah!"
"Shit." Bailey freezes. "Hold on, I'll send help!"
"T-Thank you sir!" The Finder breathes a sigh of relief.
""Is the exorcist with you?" Bailey asks.
"Yes, s-she's here!" Andrea says.
"Are you somewhere safe?" Bailey asks.
"F-For now, sir." Andrea says.
"Stay there for now, then." Bailey says. "I'll send some help now."
The phone hits the receiver and Bailey is already punching in another number.
"Asher!" Bailey picks up the phone again. "Are you there?"
"Lexer?" Asher's tired voice answers. "What's up now?"
"Trouble." Bailey says. "A new exorcist in Nice. I- Who should I send? Who's available?"
"I'm not really the best person to ask about this…" Asher mutters. "But, uh, I saw Tasha drinking this morning so probably not her.."
"What about Robert, have you seen him?" Bailey asks as he grasps for the golem sitting by his desk. "Never mind, I'll call him. Can you check up on the status of Nice?"
"Aye aye." Asher replies.
"Robert?" Bailey's black golem hovers in front of him. After a second, the projection of a man's face appears in front of him.
"Bailey?" Robert Corra turns to Bailey in surprise. "What is it?"
"A new exorcist." Bailey relays. "And possibly some Noah. I was hoping you could go and bring her back."
"Where?" The camera angel shifts as Robert starts to move. The corridor passes behind him at a swift pace.
"Nice, France." Bailey answers. "There are some Finders are there already, just go and get the exorcists and come right back."
"I can manage that." Robert nods. "I'm right by your office, see you in a minute."
…
"The Supervisor is ending an exorcist here." Andrea turns to the three other Finders. "Soon."
"We're kind of far from the gate." A large stocky man, Vernon, speaks up. "And the Noah was near there."
"We just need to stay here." Andrea insists. "It-It's going to be fine."
"This is stupid." Vernon scowls, kicking at the wooden ground. Around them the abandoned ceramics shop trembles from far off blasts. "Shit. They're coming."
"J-Just a few more minutes." Andrea says, mostly to herself.
"Come on." Beside her, her friend Garret, takes her hand. "Let's at least head further inside."
…
"Quickly." Bailey almost runs into Robert as he heads out of his office.
"Now?" Robert follows the man back into the hall.
"It sounded pretty bad." Bailey frowns. "The faster you're out there, the better."
"If you're sure." Robert nods. "You said Nice?"
"They were investigating an anomaly there." Bailey explains. "Something about time flowing strangely."
…
"Miss?" Andrea watches the nervous woman cautiously.
"A-Ah!" She almost jumps at the sudden voice. "S-Sorry."
"There's someone coming." Andrea says, letting the others file in behind her. "W-We're going to be okay."
"W-W-Who's coming?" The woman says, slightly hopeful.
"An exorcist, miss." Andrea says. "Didn't we already explain?"
"Y-Yeah, y-you did." She drops her head, suddenly solemn. And then, to herself. "Oh, what'll I do?"
…
"Huh?" Lavi looks up at the sudden rush of footsteps outside.
"What's going on?" Allen twists to look.
"Who knows?" Lavi pushes himself up and heads out to the door. It swings open easily, revealing the tail end of Bailey heading in the opposite direction. "…Huh?"
"Hello!" Suddenly, Asher appears in front of the teen, causing him to jump.
"Asher?" Lavi takes a step back. "What's going on?"
"New exorcist." Asher says. Her grin is wide but it doesn't quite reach her nervous eyes. "Robert's off to go grab 'em."
"By himself?" Lavi leans back in.
"Yup." Asher says. "And, no. It's just a pick up. Bailey doesn't want anyone else out of here."
"Fine, then." Lavi huffs, glancing back at his friends.
"Where are they?" Lenalee gets up too.
"Nice, France." Asher answers. "The Finders heard of an anomaly down there."
"Sounds nice." Lavi winks at no one in particular.
"Well, I hope that, whoever it is, they come back safely." Lenalee says.
"That's the plan." Asher smiles. "On that note, I should head off." Asher points down the hall to where Bailey had disappeared. "I'll check back in if anything exciting happens."
"Please do." Lavi watches her run off, a slight skip in her step. He looks back at Lenalee. "Think it's one of us?"
"Could be." Lenalee agrees. "I mean, first us, Daisya, and now this? There's hardly ever so many new exorcists at once."
"I heard my name. What're ya'll talking about?" Out of nowhere, Daisya approaches the still open door. He eyes Allen in the corner before looking over at Lavi.
"Apparently a new exorcist just turned up." Lenalee answers. "We were wondering if we know them."
"Oh." Daisya nods thoughtfully. "If you say so." He shrugs and steps inside. "Is that where everyone was running of to?"
"That's it." Lavi grins, leading the others back to the table. "But, I guess we'll just have to wait an see."
...
hahahhahahhaha Anyway, thanks to everyone who's sticking by this, I appreciate you beyond words.
imagine that, I'm not dead!yeah so, i'd liked to have written this faster and probably updated all my other stories, but it's been a really bad month honestly.
good news was that now I'm 17! it's prettyweird, actually. bad news is that since year 12 is ending, there are like 50 exams and projects and practice stuff that i need to go to and im swamped with work and my mental health is really taking it badly. -.-
Thanks for reading!
Love from,
Cheese Wizzard