After posting the last chapter I realized I had a hundred-some words to spare that would be better in that one than in this one, so reread it to see if you missed something. Also forgive the change in writing style, but I was probably reading a book with a different writing style when I was writing this. Otherwise, read and review. Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter (I think it was karina001, lostinmusation, and waterlit), and please read and review. Preferably criticism, too.
Daisya had grabbed a few pieces of toast and some dried sausage, and was stuffing them into a pocket of his backpack.
"You certainly have quite the appetite today," commented Tiedoll, amused.
"Yeah," said Daisya, a hint of defense in his voice, "Well we have to fight soon. Kanda's stupid to waste energy."
He tied the pocket shut, and slung the bag over his back. The morefing or morphing or whatever was working again, so it didn't hurt. Much.
Once Marie had fetched Kanda, who apparently was feeling sick (Daisya didn't buy it), they made their way to where Tiedoll had said there was a coach for hire. People didn't travel much here, but this town and their destination were pretty big for the area.
At least it was a break from trains, though they did stay pretty exciting for a while.
...
The coachman in question, when they arrived, was a timid-looking youth in a shabby hat. He nearly blended in with the road. They really seemed to like brown out here, for some reason that escaped Daisya. It was boring.
"I have it ready, General," the guy said in passable German, "But are you still sure you want to go? My grandmother says you really should stay here for the circus, at least."
Tiedoll waved a hand reassuringly.
"We have relatives to visit, so I don't really have a choice. My mother-in-law, you know. And the circus is going where we're headed, isn't it?"
He chuckled to put the kid at ease, but he still looked worried.
"People don't really go there anymore. At least, they don't come back."
He was fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve.
"My granny says she really thinks you should stay here."
Tiedoll decided to forestall the next protest by stepping towards the coach — or rather, cart.
"Then I'll give your granny my regards when we get back."
He patted the youth on the back jovially, then climbed into the cart. The three in tow followed, with Kanda throwing a customary glare at the teenager as he passed.
Tiedoll felt a bit sorry for him — Kanda had been in a worse mood than usual, with his sickness. He suspected it was just a reaction to the fire. Kanda, for all his complaining, had quite the saviour complex. In addition, of course, to everything else.
Tiedoll didn't know the whole story, but what he knew was enough to know that a year and a few months was only barely enough for the memories to scab over, ready to bleed at a moment's notice.
And so a farm cart (whose days were certainly numbered, the way the wheels squeaked) full of exorcists — one old, one blind, one angry, and one terminally giggle-prone — rattled down the rutted road.
Daisya ran the sentence through his mind again. Yeah, that was good. Alliteration, the old man had said it was.
…
Daisya had gotten out the toast, offered some to Kanda, and began to dig in rather messily when the gift was refused.
"Now," said the General quietly, "We may have a little more difficult of a situation on our hands than with Innocence."
"Like what?" asked Kanda, leaning as far away from Daisya as possible.
"Well, as you know, finders can normally hold their own for a while against a few akuma. So it's a little mysterious that they got wiped out this quickly. I had my suspicions, but Marie and I paid a visit to an acquaintance of mine while we were in Budapest. Just to be sure, of course."
An unspoken, almost tangible sentiment rippled between Kanda and Daisya.
So that's where you were.
"Anyway, we went over a few possibilities. We're probably dealing with a town of akuma."
Kanda sat up straighter.
"How is that possible?" he asked suspiciously, "Akuma just seek out the closest Innocence. You can't create that many akuma in one area in that amount of time."
The General and Marie glanced at each other, almost to quickly for him to notice.
"There have been…some instances. In any case, it's more likely than some of the other possibilities. And it could happen if someone was brokering the souls."
"Mmf–"
Daisya had to swallow before trying to talk again.
"Brokering souls? Aren't they already broken?"
The General laughed. Daisya was talented with languages, but he still made the occasional mistake. Or perhaps it was because he was nigh-on drugged into a stupor — it wasn't quite morphine, as he had said, but something he'd had on him for emergencies. The scientists had warned him about using it on the less sharp.
"No, no. 'Brokering' is sort of a way of saying 'selling'. The Earl sometimes uses human agents to create more akuma. They convince people to call back souls in exchange for money."
"That's terrible. It's smart, though. Sure you don't want any?"
Kanda leaned away again.
"I already told you, I'm not hungry."
"You've eaten, like, half a potato and some cabbage since lunch yesterday."
"I'm sick."
"My mother always said you should eat more when you're sick to help heal."
"Yeah, right."
"Well, it makes sense."
"Shut up."
"Eat the damn toast."
"Shut up."
The two seemed to have take a few seconds to continue their semi-permanent argument about everything.
"Daisya–"
The pitch in the General's voice wasn't strict, but it did hint that there were matters of slightly more import at hand than the state of Kanda's appetite and Daisya's tact, regardless of chemical stimulants or otherwise.
"Regardless of how it happened, we are, in all likelihood, going to a town full of akuma. The Order has not considered it, but there may not even be any Innocence if the Earl has any motive for creating the situation. Which means that we may have no way out after we enter the town. In that case, we have to kill enough akuma to escape."
The General finished the sentence, then looked to Marie, as if prompting further explanation.
"We thought–"
"You thought–"
"Sorry, I thought that we could try to interrogate the akuma first. If there isn't a broker and there isn't any Innocence, that means that there was some reason the Earl ordered this. It could be something different…"
He trailed off awkwardly, and the General stepped in.
"See, that wasn't so hard! I had just thought about going all-out at first, but Marie thought that, seeing as you two need some experience, we might as well collect some information."
Marie, for all his six-some feet and broad shoulders, managed to look sheepish.
The General smiled, and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"So, for your part, just act like the adorable children you are. And please don't wear your exorcist cloaks unless I ask you to."
"We're not adorable," muttered Kanda darkly.
I imagine Tiedoll would be trying to get stereotypically-nervous-teenager Marie to start speaking more assertively. Also Kanda's odd behaviour is a combination of low-level ptsd triggered by events that mirrored some things he'd rather just forget.