Chapter 54- Arisa Lane- Different

Arisa

I looked at the map once more before looking up at the giant cliff that loomed over me. I squeaked as I remembered the memory of falling. How I survived that fall, I had no clue. If I was going to fall again, then I doubted I would survive.

"Well, here goes nothing," I muttered. I started to climb the cliff. When I was close to the top, my hands slipped, and I started to fall. I activated my weapon, and lashed it forwards. I felt it wrap around something large. I guessed it was a tree.

Why does this seem so familiar? I thought. I ignored the question, and whispered. "Shrink! Shrink now!"

I felt myself flying upwards. I grabbed the edge of the cliff, and fell on my back on the solid ground. I through my arms into the air. "Beat that, cliff!"

A sudden vision on the boy who died in my dream popped into my head. He was lying on the ground in Athens, with his arms in the air, yelling, "Beat that, Earl!"

I laughed at the memory. My arms cam down to my sides, and I sighed. I sat up, and looked at the giant building that towered over me. It looked abandoned, but I had the feeling that it always looked like that.

Hope, joy, and a feeling that I had come to know as familiarity fluttered through my heart. I stood up, and ran along the path up to the giant face that was staring blankly at the air.

For some reason, I was ready for it to start talking. However, it stayed quiet. How could a stone face talk anyways?

"Hello?" I called. "Is anyone here? I'm looking for the Black Order! I wish to speak to someone known as Lenalee!"

No one answered.

"Oh, please don't tell me the Order's not here!" I said. "HELLO? Anyone?"

There was still no answer. I sighed, and sat down on a giant rock. I started to cry. Here I was, finally at the Black Order, and no one was there.

"What am I going to do?" I asked myself.

"You can start by telling us who you are," A deep voice said.

Lenalee

Ten minutes before

I entered Komui's office, to see that all of the other Exorcists, Rever, my brother, and Leverrier were all staring at a holographic screen. I walked over to General Klaud.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"That girl seems to know that we used to be there," Klaud whispered.

"I'm looking for the Black Order!" The girl called. I realized that she was the girl from my dreams. "I wish to speak with someone called Lenalee!" She called.

Everyone looked at me. I shook my head. "I have no clue who she is."

"Well go find out," Leverrier said. "Timothy, General Socalo, you go with her."

"Yes, sir," They both said at the same time. We all exited the office.

"'Well go find out'," General Socalo said in a mocking voice. "Why doesn't he start pulling some weight every once in a while?"

I agreed with the general, but I said nothing. How did the girl know about me? Who was she? A bunch of questions were swirling through my mind, making it impossible to think.

We reached the gate that lead to the older building. This gate was always closed unless someone had specific reasons to go. Only the generals and high officials had the password to enter. This time, it was open. The guard asked for the password, and the General gave it to him.

We walked through the gate, and into the older building. I felt safer there than anywhere else- despite everything that had happened only months before.

We walked out of the building, to see that the girl was crying on a rock. "What am I supposed to do now?" She sobbed.

"You can start by telling us who you are," The general said.

The girl tensed, and she looked up at us. Our eyes locked, and I couldn't break the contact. Her eyes were a beautiful blue- gray color. However, they had a tint of black in them. That was what always happened to Arisa when she got upset.

Stop thinking about her! I scolded myself. This isn't the time to think about her!

The girl opened her mouth to speak, breaking eye contact with me, when Timothy squealed. "Ari!" He ran to the girl, tackling her with a hug.

The girl laughed. It was full or relief and happiness. "Timothy? What are you doing here?"

General Socalo and I looked at each other, a confused vibe passing between us, then back at the girl and Timothy.

"Timmy, What are you doing here?" The girl asked. Did she just call him Timmy?

"I work here," Timothy said. "What about you?"

"I'm in search of the Black Order," She said. There was something about her voice that was so familiar.

"Why are you looking for the Order?" General Socalo asked.

The girl stood. "This is going to sound really strange, but it's true. Timmy can vouch for part of the explanation. My name is Ari. I would tell you my last name if I knew it. You see, for almost three years now, I haven't been able to remember anything from my past. However, I just started to get me memories back, and the person who adopted me told me that she though I was part of a organization that saves the world known as the Black Order. She gave me a black and white uniform that apparently proves that I'm an exorcist, as she calls it." The girl reached into her bag and pulled out a little, metal thing. "This was on the uniform.

The general took it, and I saw that it was the Order's symbol. General Socalo looked at it, puzzled. He opened it up, and pulled out a picture. He looked at me.

"Are you sure you don't know her?" He asked, showing me the picture. It was of Arisa, Daisya, and me.

My eyes widened, and I looked at the girl. "Arisa?" It was no wonder why she looked familiar. But… how was she alive?

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" The girl asked. "I don't know an Arisa!"

General Socalo took a step forwards. "What's your innocence, girl?"

"I'm still confused on what innocence is, but I think my necklace can turn into a whip." She took a black and red chocker necklace off her neck, and handed it to the general.

General Socalo studied the necklace before handing it back to the girl. He crossed his arms.

"It definitely has innocence," He said. "I can feel its power with just one touch. Seems like it's pretty powerful. What can it do?"
"It can turn into a whip that crackles with lightning," She said.

"Show us," The general ordered.

Ari closed her eyes, and mumbled something. She held her hand out, and the necklace grew into a large whip. It started to crackle with lightning.

I gasped and took a step backwards, and the general and Timothy looked at me. I felt like crying, but whether it was because I was upset or happy, I had no clue. Was this really Arisa?

Ari opened her eyes, and her innocence deactivated. "Is that proof that I am an exorcist?"
General Socalo nodded. "There are a few questions I'd like to ask you first."
"Okay," Ari said. "Go ahead."

"One, how do you have an exorcist outfit if you just now got here?"

"I really don't know," Ari said. "The woman who adopted me two years back told me that she found me wearing it. The uniform was all torn up and I was surrounded in my own blood."

"Do you know where she found you?"

Ari nodded. "It was at the bottom of a valley in Asia."

I felt my heat leap. "Do you know how you got there?" I asked quickly.

General Socalo glared at me. I guessed that he was going to ask the same question.

"I'm still a little fuzzy on the details, but I think that I fell," Ari said. "This seems to be the only thing I can remember. I was talking to a boy at the edge of a cliff. Well, it was more like yelling. I still can't remember what we were saying, but I keep seeing it like an out of body experience. The boy said something really mean, and suddenly, I kissed him. He pushed me away, I slipped, and I fell."

I took a step towards her. "Please forgive me for asking this, but do you have a little scar on your right hand?"

Ari's eyes grew wide. She nodded. "How did you know?"

"It was just a little guess," I said. "Can I see it?"

Ari held out her hand to me. Sure enough, there was a little scar going from the bottom of her middle finger, to her wrist. It was in a straight line, and it looked exactly like the one Arisa had.

I brought my hand to my mouth, and took a step back. I felt like crying, but I knew that it would be foolish of me.

"Is everything all right, Lenalee?" Timothy asked.

"Wait, you're Lenalee?" The girl asked.

I nodded, unable to speak.

"I was hoping you could help me get a few of my memories back," She said.

I looked her in the eyes. "The boy that pushed you, what did he look like?"

"He had really long, black hair, dark eyes, and a sword on his hip. I think the sword was a katana," She said.

"That sounds like Kanda," General Socalo said. "Of course, the only other person who would know you is gone."

"He's not the only one," I said. "Komui, Rever, a lot of the scientists, and Marie knew her."

"Who?" Ari asked, "Are you talking about this Arisa girl again? I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm her."

"Maybe you really are Arisa," Timothy said. "Ari, you said that the name Ari didn't feel very right, and you thought that your name was longer. What if your name really is Arisa? Plus, two yeas is a long time, those purple and pink stripe in your hair were cut once you hair started to grow, right? "

"Yes," Ari said. "But how would my pink and purple hair say anything about me being an exorcist?"

"Arisa had short, pink and purple hair," I told General Socalo. "I really do think it's here.
Ari sighed, and started to twirl her bangs around her finger. It was the same thing Arisa used to do when she got really agitated.

"How did Arisa die?" General Socalo asked.

"Wait, the Arisa your talking about is dead?" Timothy asked. "Then Ari can't be her!"

"We never found the body," I said. "She died when she fell off a cliff on her way to the Asian Branch. Kanda was with her."

"And just when we thought our lives couldn't get any stranger, she show up," The general muttered. He turned around, and stared to walk away. "Let's go. The science department will figure out who you are with a blood sample."
Ari looked worried. "Why do I get a bad feeling that the science department are a bunch of crazy men who need to be locked up because they make strange things that turn people into cats?"

"Probably because that's true," Timothy said. "However, I haven't heard of someone being turned into a cat before."

"That happened to Kanda," I told them. I looked at Ari, trying to make sense of what was happening. How could Arisa be alive after a fall like that? The finders said that they had found bloodstains on the ground, but no body. Surely Arisa couldn't be able to get up and walk around after a fall like that?

Ari smiled. "I really don't know how I survived the fall. That cliff was huge, and somehow I lived. I don't know how I did that though." Was she reading my mind?

"Are you three coming?" General Socalo asked. "Honestly, getting children to follow you is like herding cats!"
"We're coming!" I said. We all ran up to the general, obviously afraid that he might attack us if we were slow.

We entered the building, and saw that Rever was standing next to the gate. He was smiling, but I could see confusion in his eyes.

"Hello, Ms. Ari," He said. "Do you mind if I take a ample of your blood for DNA testing?"

"Sure…" Ari seemed a little cautious about saying yes. She eyed the syringe like it was a gun aimed fro her head.

Rever stuck the syringe into her arm, and took some blood from Ari. When he was done, he smiled at her. "Thank you." He walked through the gate into the other building.

All of us followed him. When we got to the other location, the gate closed, and everyone walking around stopped to look at us. I felt self-conscious with all the eyes on us.

General Socalo just walked away, ignoring all the whispers and stairs.

"Do they always do this?" Ari whispered to me.

I shook my head. "They hardly ever say 'hi' when someone comes back."

"So why are we different?"
"I think its because a lot of them think you're Arisa," Timothy said.

"Was this Arisa someone really important?" Ari asked,

"Well, it's very rare for an exorcist to return after years of everyone thinking that they were dead," I explained. "When one does return, then everyone stares at them, trying to figure out how they're alive."

We walked away from the crowd, and into Komui's office, which wasn't any better. All of the exorcists were still in there, and they were all staring at us when we entered.

I sighed, and stood in the corner, trying to ignore all of the stares.

"Welcome to the Black Order… Ari," Komui said. I could tell that it was hard on him to have to say her name instead of Arisa's.

"Thank you," Ari said. I'm just glad I'm finally here."

Rever entered, carrying a few pieces of paper. "Well, that was a quick test."

"I thought that you said the blood test would take a few days until it was confirmed," Leverrier said.

"I thought it would, but turns out we had her blood in the system already," Rever said.

"You what?" Ari asked.

"So does that prove that she was one of us before?" Timothy asked.

Rever nodded. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce to Arisa Lane."