There we are! I figured Exorcist General Froi Tiedoll had gotten shortchanged on his screentime so far, so hopefully this will pay some of that down. Thanks again so much to everyone who reads, I hope it's going well.

At least he had his attention. Though Daisya had the sneaking feeling that Tiedoll always paid too much attention to everything, even if he kept mumbling and sighing all over the place.

"Of course I'm getting into fights. We're in a war," he thought out loud.

They watched each other for a tense second. The unease rolling off the old man in waves wasn't a foreign concept, but it wasn't something that Daisya ever expected from him. Kanda was more like this. Was he going to snap back at him? Just say something calming and tousle the one small tuft of hair he'd grown back?

It took a while for Daisya to realize he still had the floor. For all Tiedoll was staring like a prey animal, he wasn't about to run away or butt in.

"You're a general, aren't you? General Tiedoll. That means you can lead an army."

Breaking at last, Tiedoll turned to watch the scenery while Daisya tried to find his point.

"I don't lead anybody. I guess I'm a soldier. Maybe the Finders are the soldiers. Then I'm the artillery. Yeah," Daisya finished. "I guess it makes sense. I never thought about it like that before."

Daisya crossed his arms where he stood. HQ was set right in the hills up north on this island, with the towers poking up out over the tops of them. Yeager said the kings had cut all the trees down from here years ago. Across the peaks all you could see was flat grass. The old man couldn't be looking at that with so much interest.

"You just hate it that I'm acting like a soldier."

There weren't even any birds out today. He just squinted through his glasses to avoid looking at him.

"Are you listening to me?" Daisya wanted to take it back as soon as he said it. That sounded just like mom!

Too late. The old man dragged his head back to face him, and Daisya flinched. His eyes looked huge and clear behind those taped-up frames that he'd just cleaned. Why wasn't he saying anything? All Daisya wanted to do was just complain. It was what he did! The world was so full of wonders, it was a pain to sit there and listen to the same lecture over and over. Just, whatever he'd wanted to say, it dried up in the face of that sunny stare.

"I am, my boy. Please go on," Tiedoll sighed.

Daisya could feel his sweat cool down to freezing over the next minute. The wind came straight in over the ramparts with nothing to cut it, and even the warm old coat left too much room around him. Funny, how he'd thought he'd get as big as Tiedoll one day. Right now he knew he must be shorter than mom and dad both.

"That's it," said Daisya. "I'm done."

"All right."

For a while, all he could hear was the whistling around the stone corners of the battlements. Then Tiedoll spoke.

"Do you blame me for…this, Daisya?"

His master put a calloused hand on his shoulder, cold through the padded leather. The coat's huge collar sagged down in the front, which meant that anyone looking at him could see the criss-crossing bandages around Daisya's neck. He didn't try to hide them even in his own clothes. There were too many to bother.

"I didn't get flamed by an akuma. It was just a house fire," Daisya grumbled.

The old man seemed to deflate. "The other injuries you've had, then. You've suffered broken limbs. I'm told your body is…healed, in such a way that you should not have survived. You may not grow taller even if you were supposed to."

He'd frozen staring at the old man's kindly face. How did he know that? Kanda. Or the nurse. Or—

"You cannot leave your own rooms without hiding your skin, and Marie has told me that you needed treatment long after I thought you had healed. How long has it been, since you gave up your medicine?"

"It's been more than a year!"

"With all this," the old man went on as if he'd said nothing, "Do you regret coming to the Order?"

Everyone asked him! Did nobody share notes? Marie, Lenalee, Kanda, they never shut up about it.

Daisya stepped out of Tiedoll's grip with a shake of the head, edging away along the boardwalk. This was exactly the same lecture he'd been trying to avoid. Now the rush from a good match was cooling off, just like his hands, but his head was heating up. Why did Tiedoll have to bring everything back up like yesterday's curry?

He backed away until he felt the chill on his back taper and found himself right at the door to the tower. If he didn't know it was locked on the other side, it'd make a tempting escape.

"I do what I want!" he protested. "Everyone at the Order keeps telling me to be careful. If I was at home I'd be diving."

Now Daisya was on firmer ground. Tiedoll was one of the only ones who really knew what home was like.

"Actually, this year I'm old enough to join the army." He stuck his chin out. "It's got nothing to do with you."

There. His last defense. If the old man came in for a hug, there was nothing left to do but retreat back to the courtyard and go pick a fight with Marie or something to let off some steam. Daisya put one hand on the ice-cold stonework to brace for it.

Tiedoll didn't approach though. He stayed put where he was, a few feet away in his braces and shirt. Right. Daisya had his jacket. Even at this small distance he was frighteningly clear to see.

"Daisya," he said, "I'm so sorry."

Two huge tears welled up behind the glasses that made Daisya's chest hurt too. There wasn't any reason to get mad at his master for a fight that he didn't want to have. He only wanted to avoid talking about this stuff in the first place. Didn't change that he was.

Daisya grumbled. "What? I just said it's not your fault."

"You asked whether I understood that I put you in danger. I did. Knowingly."

While the old man spoke, Daisya's eye caught for one second, breaking the stare. Was that snow? When'd it get that cold today? Sure, he was shivering, but it was rain season!

"You're right to think of the Order as an army at war. Each and every—every student I take on, I know that it is—you all are in terrible danger. You saw what happened to your friends here. You should have been dead," Tiedoll said, suddenly quiet.

No. Sure enough, there were flakes coming from the white sky and bouncing off the stones here and there. The further-off hills did look a little lighter than made sense for mist. Thinking about it, he got all the way to wondering if he should give Tiedoll his coat back.

"I try—well, you know who I teach already. Kevin has a class of twenty. I have taken on two students. Did you ever think about that? You're a bright one," his master said matter-of-factly. "Though sometimes you focus too much on what is obvious to you. Marie, he was already trained and working for some time before he came to me. As for young Kanda…you know him by now. You are the other. You must have noticed."

"Sure," Daisya said absently.

It had just been the usual grey cloud when they first came out on the field, but the storm had come in fast. Daisya could barely make out the landscape any more. They were all alone up here, trapped at the top of a tower that was going to be engulfed in fog soon, and driving snow.

As quickly as he'd looked away, he focused back on the problem. His master was speaking to him. He should be paying attention. It was weird that Tiedoll had his students one-on-one. He should be talking a few more of the European apprentices. Cross didn't have students. Nine only taught Parasitic-types. What was with that?

"My students are only those who have nowhere else to go," the old man answered. "I gave up recruiting by my eighth year as general. I don't know why I decided you should come with me. I remember it well. Yes, oh dear, I really had to argue you into it."

"You say that like I actually was listening," Daisya cut in. "I thought you were just a con artist."

Tiedoll squinted at him, then crouched suddenly, like he'd decided to take a picnic up here. Daisy watched him lean back against the battlements as he nodded to the bare wood beside him. Did he think Daisya was going to just sit down for a longer talk in this weather?

"Do mind your language, please, but yes. Yes, you're right."

"Duh." Tucking his hands into his sleeves, Daisya slumped down on the walkway as well. Just over here, not over there. At least it gave him a windbreak.

"That's the difference. You see?" said Tiedoll. "Even if you did come running when you heard the akuma, I tried to take you away first. I saw you had that spark in you. I don't know what came over me, to take you from your parents even though you were their oldest. I still can't—"

He trailed off suddenly. That was something the old man did, but even after waiting, Daisya didn't hear a whisper from him. It was like he'd forgotten any words he could think of to say.

"What? Quit making me wait!"

"I'm sorry." His master sighed ruefully. "I fear I've forgotten your question. 'Why do I worry over you', was it?"

Daisya snuggled further into his jacket. He could probably wind things down now. He should. Otherwise they'd be up here all afternoon going on and on and on. It was hard, though. The old man never acted like this before. Who knew what kind of stuff he might wind up knowing? There had to be some juicy secrets that the Generals kept hidden from them.

"You get real upset when something happens to me. I'm not a kid. I can handle it, so: I want to know, why do you keep being like this?" Daisya would've laughed, if it weren't so stupid. "I told you last time, when I got my ribs all chewed up. You know? I'm just doing the mission."

"Oh dear. I was harsh on you, wasn't I?" Tiedoll muttered. "Yes. Well."

"Well?"

The old man coughed first. Cleared his throat. Then he took off his glasses again. The brown eyes that stared out of the wrinkles like a bloodhound's shrank, flatter, and cold. They looked over Daisya in a way he hadn't seen except for when they were hunting akuma that first year. And the day Tiedoll found him. He was sizing him up.

"One exorcist will save two, five, even fifty lives on a mission. Those are the casualties that akuma cause. Murders, illnesses, and disappearances, to those who don't know the truth. Just by walking through the world with Innocence. This great service comes at a cost. For every five of you that passes through our doorways, one will be dead within five years. Three within ten. Your mother taught you all your numbers before I even found you. I'm sure you understand what that means."

"Yeah. Kanda says the same thing."

"He does?" Tiedoll seemed surprised. More than surprised, disturbed.

"Exorcists have to keep fighting. It sucks for us, but a lot more people are going to get hurt otherwise." Daisya left out that Kanda didn't care about most people. He cared about the other accommodators that were going to get snatched up in their place.

"Young Kanda learns quickly, doesn't he. Please, remind him to come find me later?"

Daisya started tapping his foot on the wooden slats. Kanda wouldn't like that, no, he'd be cranky about it all week. Even with what he put up with from Tiedoll, it was sometimes hard to tell whether he even liked the old man. Sometimes. Other times, he was snapping Daisya's head off just for touching some trinket he got from him. He smiled to himself. That was Kanda. You never knew what he was thinking until you did, and then you could trust that forever.

"Daisya?"

His attention came back with a jolt. "Huh? Yeah. Keep talking."

Tiedoll shot him another inscrutable look down the rampart. How was he not freezing cold? He didn't even have an overshirt.

"I am trying to give you an answer. You must know that all of us here, every grown-up you know, will do anything we can to keep you young ones alive. There are also many with the Order who think we have no choice but to take on any accommodator by any means."

"That's what they did to Lenalee," Daisya said bitterly.

"I know." The old man sighed again. "She was not our least willing."

A feeling shot through Daisya like he was heatsick on a summer day, even with the snow landing on his eyelashes. He turned to Tiedoll in a scrabble on the boardwalk.

"What are you talking about? They—the research department cut her open!"

"Yes," his master said. "Yes, Lenalee has been very badly hurt. Badly, but not the most. I can't tell you of the other exorcists. It wouldn't help."

Now he did get up to standing. Maybe it'd do something to cool off his head, because Daisya's eyes were starting to lose focus. Other exorcists? Marie was blinded. Anyone he knew was murdered. You couldn't go worse than that, but if that's what the old man meant, he would've told him. He knew that Marie was his teacher now.

Something deep down in him twinged with recognition. Daisya pushed it aside. He couldn't see anything any more except the rest of the HQ buildings.

"Go on."

"We rely on these methods because even I thought that they were right. Letting akuma and Noah run rampant seemed too high of a price to pay. The Order is losing, Daisya." Tiedoll laughed. "I knew this, and still some time ago I decided I would not sacrifice another person in this war. It is far better for us to do good than kill evil."

"Doesn't make a difference," Daisya spat.

"It does, Daisya. You know it. You've given your life up for Kanda's."

He flinched before he could control himself. The old man did understand him. How much? Kanda was the least chatty person he ever knew, but Daisya knew he'd go behind his back to their teacher. He just hoped there were some secrets that he'd keep for them. Not that Daisya had secrets. Just things. There were some stories that would just be like looking at someone's diary and then telling them that you'd read it. Please, even if Tiedoll knew him that well, Daisya wanted to talk on his own terms.

"Don't look at me like that," the old man said gently. "There's no shame in it. That is what is most valuable. The protection of life. The love of it."

Trailing off, Daisya struggled not to fill in the blanks. This was a side to his master that he never saw when he was a kid. It must have always been there. The old man thought far ahead of him, so whatever Daisya was wondering about now, he'd already considered.

Tiedoll went on with a piercing look. "You have that love. No other exorcist in twelve years could be as good as you, or that's what I thought, back then—already halfway a general. You came towards me driven by curiosity, you run to danger and not away, you never risk your safety out of fear, you stayed loyal to your family even as you tried to run away."

"I didn't," said Daisya. It must not have reached Tiedoll over the stifling snow. The old man just droned on, and on, and on, though Daisya wasn't feeling bored.

"This has always been a part of you. I wanted to give you some way to use it. At least, that is what I had been convinced of. It was wrong. I told myself that I would do no more harm. I broke that promise when I took you away. Do you understand what I've done?" Tiedoll's voice finally cracked. "I chose you for a sacrifice."

The snowstorm buffeted Daisya, coming down in white whirls on either side of his sheltered spot. Huh. He'd stopped feeling the cold some time ago as the blood ran back out to his skin. The bandages probably helped. A general, was he? Kanda still came ahead of him in sync tests. Distantly, he could hear the old man hiccup. He must be trying not to cry. Daisya had to give him points for effort.

"Thanks," he said.

No response again. His master was half whited-out even as close as they were. His hearing must be going in his old age.

"Thank you!" he shouted.

Hah, that shocked him well enough.

"Daisya! Please be serious," called Tiedoll.

"I mean it! You're saying, you thought I was good enough to survive. You bet on it. Makes me look pretty good, doesn't it?"

After staring for a few minutes, the old man scrambled to his feet and came to stand over him like a schoolmarm. Daisya met his eyes. Didn't seem so scary as it did a while before.

"Did anyone tell you that you have a talent for twisting whatever I say?" asked Tiedoll.

"Nah," he said smugly. He'd finally got to him. "But I know it."

"I want you to be safe and well. Please, Daisya, leave if you can't. I will take you out of the Order myself."

Daisya considered the offer. Clearly Tiedoll wanted him to be as upset as he was. Didn't he get it? Daisya told him outright, he didn't care what happened to him, he just didn't want it to get dull.

"Nope, I'm staying. Just stop nagging me, all right? I get it," he said.

Eve now when he thought they were out of it, his master knelt down right in front of him. It was getting really tempting just to run off back to the kitchen.

"Do you?" asked the old man.

Daisya nodded. "Yeah. I'll make general someday. Watch me."

He'd braced for it, so his master's hug didn't quite re-crack his ribs. It was a pretty close thing. Most of the air got squeeze out of him as he patted the cold linen shirt on the old man's back.

"You've done so well, Daisya."

"There, there. Stop crying. Geez."

Tiedoll at least let him go after that. He wiped his eyes on the back of his hand before the tears froze into place, then replaced his glasses so he was right back to normal.

"Whatever may happen, know that I couldn't be more proud," he told him.

"Okay."

The old man nodded. Then he got to his feet, pulling Daisya up after him. They started down the platform back towards the stairs. Neither one of them really led. Daisya just walked faster.

"Make sure to tell your parents how you're doing, I know they worry."

"I just sent my letters."

"I know. Still, if you have decided not to return to your home, it may be harder to remember that we all want to hear from you."

"Fine," Daisya groaned. "Are you going away again?"

"Not too soon, I hope."

"Good."

"Oh, and do tell Kanda he should visit on his own."

"You already said that."

"Did I?"

"Yeah."

"Very good."

"Why d'you need me to tell him anyway?"

"Kanda listens to you."

"Someone should tell him that."

The voices trailed off into the woolly cloud. Long after the two exorcists disappeared inside, the snow built up on the roofs and platforms of the Black Order's castle. Winter had started early this year.

Let it not be said that DGM has the best worldbuilding! The Black Order organization is insane to me, but it does stand out that Tiedoll canonically has very few students. Cross has none, Nine and Sokalo take the adult Parasitic-types and Equipment-types respectively, Yeager apparently would have taught all the kids at HQ (including Lenalee), but Tiedoll gets a very small, very random assortment that have nothing to do with his own technique.