Path Built On Graves: Chapter Three: Sought After
AN: Kanda and Maria's relationship is gonna be so interesting to write
"Nea D. Campbell…who's that again?"
Tyki scratched at the stigmata at the edge of his temple as he looked down at the picture. He couldn't deny there was some likeness there. As a general note, Noah didn't tend to look very alike; Tyki looked very different from Road and the Earl in his human form.
Maybe Tyki should grow out his hair…
"I forgot you've still got memory loss," Road sighed, "reincarnating is such a hassle."
Tyki choked on his cigarette. "Eh?"
"There are fourteen Noah, well, there were," she had to correct herself with a grimace, "Nea was the Fourteenth Noah, the Musician, and six years ago, for some unknown reason, he went berserk and killed most of the Noah…it's probably better that you don't remember how he killed you in your previous life, Joyd."
"So, he's a traitor, then."
"Well…" Road made a so-so gesture, her face full of doubt.
Tyki arched an eyebrow. "He massacred us and you don't know?"
"There's some debate about what happened and if he was in the right mind…but he vanished and so did his twin brother."
Tyki held up the marriage certificate, reading the names listed. "So, you think this Maria Walker knows something since she married him?"
"Husbands and wives keep no secrets, right?" Road's eyes gleamed.
"I suppose." Tyki had never been married so he wouldn't have known either way. "But how exactly does the Earl expect us to find her?"
Road sighed. "If Wisely was awake, we would be able to find her without any trouble." Wisely, aptly named the Noah of Wisdom, was a telepath, but like most of the Noah Clan, he hadn't been reincarnated yet. "So, it's the old-fashioned way."
"Hunting down the priest that married them and getting some clues?" Tyki offered helpfully and the impressed look Road gave him for the suggestion soured his mood. "Hey! I'm not the one still in school!"
Road glared back. "Find the priest."
"Why me?"
"What else are you doing?" Road sniffed. "It's got to be more interesting than mining."
Tyki glowered at her. He didn't think she really considered how enjoyable it was that he had two different sides of himself, two that were so different from each other. He might've been the Noah of Pleasure, but his pleasure came from those aspects rather than any act he could perform.
He looked down to the marriage certificate. "Father Clark Ogden of Chichester, hm?"
The Earl wouldn't mind if Tyki let out his dark side to play completely, not if he got him the information he wanted. Tyki hadn't killed anyone lately, so it would be fun to let loose a little, and if the human knew anything about his brother and his sister-in-law, then all the more reason to.
"I'll just take this with me." Tyki folded the marriage certificate and placed it in his pocket. "Have fun with your homework!"
"Fuck you!" Road called after him with a pout in her voice, looking all of twelve years and not at all like the eldest of the Noah that she was.
Tyki smoothed his hair back, exposing the stigmata across his brow as he replaced the top hat on his head.
Well, this was sure to be interesting.
Maria hadn't meant to make the broadsword it just…sort of happened, and then it almost sent her into a panic attack. The last time she'd seen it had been in Nea's hand, the weapon of the Millennium Earl; she'd never known if it was the genuine article or simply if he'd replicated the weapon.
She held it in one hand, a mix of black and white, a cross down the center, and she tried to focus on the carnage around her and not how it felt to hold the thing that might very well've killed her husband.
Kanda was red in the face, his hands shaking where they gripped his katana tightly, from strain, she knew; he was the boy that had killed his closest friend before he could transform into an akuma after killing all in sight.
She should've waited, she recognized belatedly. Kanda was half-trained, though very skilled, which she couldn't deny, but his use of the sword was clumsy.
Maria was already doing such a bad job and she'd barely been a master for three days. How on earth was she supposed to do this for a year?
Muncanpy fluttered by her as she stepped through destroyed remains of akuma to reach Kanda's side. "You all right, darling?"
He'd gotten used to her endearments to the point where he didn't even blink at them applied to him anymore (the first day had been full of growls).
"Fine," Kanda gasped, stabbing his sword into the ground to keep himself upright. "I can take it."
Amusement crept up across Maria's face, amusement tinged with pain. It was like looking in a mirror into the past, to the thirteen-year-old Maria still trying to find her place in the world after her life had been uprooted, so determined to prove herself.
She should've known better that the Black Order would chew her up and spit her out, and it had taken her far too long to figure it out.
And Maria couldn't provide absolution anymore.
"You can't," she countered. "And that's okay. Yu, you're nine years old. No one's expecting you to be perfect just starting out. You're going to mess up, we all mess up, and you're going to end up completely drained. It happens to all of us."
Kanda's expression soured and he looked away from her.
"But there's a good training area at the European Branch," Maria continued, "and we're going to spend an awful lot of time there until you're proficient enough that you aren't struggling so terribly."
An embarrassed flush spread across Kanda's face at that, his eyes falling to the broadsword she had constructed with a bit of confusion, but it faded when she deactivated her Innocence.
"That's my fault," she continued, "I didn't think about how well you could handle the blade before we left. I should've been more attentive. Next time will be better."
Kanda looked up and she smiled wryly. "But you didn't get shot, which is a relief…there will probably be less akuma as get further away from Asia…they do tend to congregate here for some unknown reason."
She frowned suddenly, shaking the thought off before the pain could bloom in her eyes. "Injured anywhere, Yu?"
Can you walk was the question she hadn't voiced.
"No," Kanda almost sulked but he still needed her help with righting himself.
"Well, then, come along, it's a good long walk to the station."
Kanda picked up his suitcase where it had fallen and hurried quickly over to her side in case she decided to leave without him.
"It's likely we'll end up doing a lot of train hopping, so you'll be able to catch up on some sleep, if you can actually get some sleep, that is."
Kanda hadn't been about to admit that he was tired, but it was a relief to know that he would be able to rest soon.
"What did Marie mean by 'the long way'?" Kanda finally asked when they made their way onto paved ground once more.
"Ah." Maria's mouth twisted. "I helped create something that allows for instantaneous travel between one area and the other."
Now that sounded interesting. "Why aren't we using that?"
"Because, the Order isn't strictly aware that I have access to it," Maria gave a half sort of smirk at that. "And the Earl has access to it as well, so I have to tread carefully when I use it."
"Why does the Earl have it if you helped make it?" Kanda almost formed a pout in his confusion, but he still noticed Maria's pained smile.
"That is a story for another day," she decided, dropping a hand onto the top of his head, chuckling when he shrugged it off.
The town was very busy after they'd disembarked one train in Moscow, having an hour before the next one departed, and somehow Maria and Kanda had managed to grab some food before heading over to the train station, but Maria had gotten sidetracked when she saw something that made her heart stop in her chest.
Nea…no…not quite.
The young man bore a likeness to him, there was no denying it, but there were a few differences. His dark hair was curlier and his cheekbones sharper, but the umber of his eyes was the same color as Nea's, as any Noah were.
What was a Noah doing here?
Maria narrowed her eyes as they walked past him. His skin had been a warm brown at first glance but now she could see it leeching into the grey of the Noah, almost subconsciously. He had to be newly awakened, then, because she remembered fighting Nea at fifteen and how flustered he'd been about not keeping his Noah side under control, even in the middle of a fight.
"Master?" Kanda frowned curiously ahead of her, Mun perched on his shoulder.
"It's nothing," she said, shaking her thoughts off, picking up the pace to reach his side before they boarded the train. This one was an overnight one, so there were bunk beds in the compartments and Kanda quietly claimed the top bunk, flopping tiredly onto the mattress. He passed out in a matter of moments.
He hadn't been getting much sleep having to go between train after train that finding out they would be staying on one overnight had been such an immense relief to him.
Maria's lips curved slightly as his breathing evened out. His face was more relaxed asleep than it ever had been when he was awake, a frown more often creasing his face than anything else.
She sat down on the lower bunk, pulling her hair out of her ponytail and letting it tumble loose, a hand massaging at the back of her head where it had been tied tight. Mun bumped affectionately against her forehead and she spared him a smile that had him grinning widely.
Her smile faltered. She'd seen the Noah board the train out of the corner of her eye…what were the chances that an exorcist and a Noah ended up on the same train? Particularly if the exorcist had a bit of a history with the Noah Clan to the point of actually marrying one? She figured they were slim to none.
Maria interlocked her fingers together, bracing her elbows on her knees. The Earl had never known about her and Nea, only Mana had. There was no reason to think they were looking for her, and yet, she was still the one that had the most contact with the Noah.
Mun perched on her joined hands, reminding her to breathe. She took in a shaky breath.
"You're right," she muttered to the golem so as not to awaken Kanda while he slept. "I'm just overreacting. It's probably just a coincidence…he never told anyone about me."
Mun's wings flapped against her hands as Maria tried to regulate her breathing.
It took ten minutes, but she managed it, twisting her ring around on her finger before she finally decided the room was too oppressive. Her room in Central had been larger but she'd been restrained in the bed for months upon months and Maria had never done very well in close quarters after that.
"Stay with Yu, Mun," she told the golem. "I'm going to get some fresh air."
The golem bobbed in understanding, fluttering up to nestle beside Kanda, growing slightly in size so that he might've been a teddy-bear to sleep with. Maria slid the door open and shut as quietly as she could manage, looking up the hall to see the smartly dressed Noah heading in the opposite direction, towards the compartment where they served food and beverage.
Maria narrowed her eyes and sighed. She just knew she was going to regret this, but…
She followed after the Noah.
Tyki had ordered a late dinner, he knew it, but that didn't change the fact that he was fucking starving.
"Can I get some Earl Grey tea?" came a voice behind him.
"Of course, miss."
"Thanks."
Tyki took off his top hat, setting it beside him, cutting a piece of juicy steak and chewing on it when the voice came close.
"You need to be more careful."
Tyki looked up in time for a woman to sit opposite him. Her eyes were slate grey, hair falling over her shoulders in loose chestnut locks, kinked slightly like they'd been tied back for the longest time. The woman was wearing the Black Order's general uniform and for a moment Tyki tensed, but surely the Order wasn't aware of his clan.
"I beg your pardon?" he asked politely, knowing that he sounded annoyingly like his brother, Sheril.
"So…which one are you?" the woman asked archly. "You're not Road, because I know what she looks like…not Adam, because the Earl would be smarter."
Tyki's blood froze in his veins.
"Your tea, miss." The cup slid in front of the woman and she smiled and thanked the waitress before returning her eyes to Tyki.
"Not Musica, either," she considered, taking a sip of her tea. "Bondom generally travel together since they're at half-strength without the other…Mightra is more behind the scenes…" She cocked her head slightly, eyes narrowed. "I'm between Desires and Joyd, to be honest."
His Noah name stirred something deep inside him, something dark and dangerous and uncontrollable, and Tyki gripped the edge of the table tightly.
"Joyd, then…you're the one that can phase through anything, right?" the woman prompted. "You can 'choose' what you wish to touch?"
Tyki had barely been a Noah a month and had barely realized that ability a week ago…how did she—?
"Who are you?" he demanded and it was almost too loud.
The woman took a sip of her tea once more. "Colette," she said once she'd set it down.
"And an exorcist knows so much about Noah, because…?"
Colette shrugged. "Call it a vested interest…and if you're worried about the Order knowing what I do, don't be, what I know about the Noah are secrets I don't intend to share with the Order."
That had Tyki frowning in confusion. She twisted a ring around on her finger. Exorcists, as far as he knew, weren't allowed to be married, but it looked an awful lot like a wedding band.
She took another drink of her tea.
"Why not?" That was an odd view for an exorcist to take.
Colette snorted, amusement lightening her eyes. "Do you know how most exorcists become exorcists, Joyd?" He shook his head, curious, now. "They're dragged, kicking and screaming. Some join up out of a sense of duty, sure, but most are like me, jaded and angry."
She glanced to his hand and he followed her eyes, noticing the warm brown shifting into solid grey. Ah, shit. "Like I said, you need to be more careful, or people are going to notice that you're not entirely human."
"A bit ironic, isn't it? An exorcist giving a Noah advice," he retorted with a snort of his own and Colette smiled thinly.
Colette drank from her teacup again. "I give advice to a lot of people," she said, unconcerned.
Tyki looked at his hand again and focused hard. The grey faded away and he sighed.
She probably wouldn't tell him, but he couldn't help but ask "How do you know so much about us?"
She reached into her jacket, then, and Tyki almost prepared for her to bring out a weapon, only to be pleasantly surprised to see it was flask. She glanced surreptitiously towards the waitress and bartender of the compartment before unscrewing the top and pouring some of the alcohol into her tea before replacing it in her jacket once more.
Colette took a sip. "Ah, that's the good stuff." Tyki never thought he would appreciate an exorcist, but pouring alcohol into tea was something that he certainly could, and had done several times when Sheril's back was turned. "But it was my husband, he was the one that told me all about you lot."
"And your husband is…?"
Colette smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Master?"
She looked over his shoulder and softened. "Give me a second, darling." And then her attention was back on Tyki. "Tread carefully, Joyd, or the Order will find out about your family, and it won't be from me, it'll be from you, being sloppy."
And then she downed her cup, dropped a few coins onto the table. "Congrats on the reincarnation…reminds me a bit of Musica, though."
Tyki started in his seat, staring in surprise, but she was already sliding away and he turned around in his seat to follow her to where she'd dropped a hand on top of the head of a young boy in almost the same uniform.
"Having a tough time sleeping, Yu?" was all he heard as the door slid shut behind him.
There was a compartment with a single phone on the train, rarely used because it cost more money that it did to use a regular pay phone, but unfortunately, Tyki needed someone to scream at.
By someone, he meant Road.
"Don't tell me you give up already?" she giggled on the other end and Tyki restrained himself from rolling his eyes, though why he really bothered was up for debate.
"Tell me, what are the chances that an exorcist -a general- knows something like our Noah names yet hasn't told the Order about it?" Tyki decided against beating around the bush and Road had to pause on the other end.
"What?" she asked slowly, astounded. "There's an exorcist that knows your Noah name?"
"She told me I couldn't be you because she knew what you looked like, or the Earl -Adam-, or Musica…that Mightra worked behind the scenes and Bondom always traveled together, so she figured I was either Desires or Joyd," Tyki told her, his fingers playing across the rim of his top hat.
None of that was common knowledge, it was almost intimate knowledge, and Tyki knew that the Earl was keeping the names of the other Noah and their history close to his chest since the massacre several years ago. He and Road were the ones that knew everything; they were the only ones that had survived.
Tyki couldn't even remember what had happened during the massacre, even reincarnated, those memories eluded him. Supposedly, Wrathra had been destroyed so thoroughly that they weren't even sure if he ever could be reincarnated.
But now there was an exorcist who had spoken so many of their Noah names with such familiarity that it had Tyki curious.
"What was her name?" Road asked.
"Colette."
"Colette what?"
"I don't know," Tyki retorted, "she just told me her name was Colette!"
"And you didn't ask what her last name was?" Road's annoyance was clear.
"I was dealing with some shit!"
"Road, are you yelling at your uncle on the phone again?" Tyki could faintly hear his sister-in-law's voice in the background. "Remember that Papa wants to talk to him when you're done."
"Yes, Mama ̴," Road sang, ever the perfect princess. Tyki wondered if it was chance or on purpose that she'd found herself adopted into the family that had birthed one Noah.
Kamelot was Sheril's name, Tyki's was Mikk. They shared the same father but different mothers, and though they'd been raised together with the same noble upbringing, Tyki had preferred to remain out of the spotlight that his brother had made his home in.
Really, he doubted Road even needed to be adopted, she was the eldest of the Noah, after all.
"Tell Sheril I say hi," Tyki said, "I'll see if I can get her name, but no promises."
"She sounds intriguing," Road admitted, "I'd want to find out what she really knows, if she knows that much about the Noah…but Maria Walker is the priority. Once we've found her, we'll deal with this Colette."
Tyki wasn't surprised by that verdict.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk to Papa?" she asked. "He misses you."
Tyki had been avoiding his brother since he awakened as a Noah, he just didn't know what to do or say. Their relationship had never been strained, they trusted each other, loved each other, but what did you do when you saw your younger brother with skin ashen grey and a ring of stigmata around his brow? Tyki wasn't sure.
"I've got sleep to catch up on," he said with an exaggerated yawn, "you have fun, all right, Road?"
And he ended the call before she could say anything more, smoothing his hair back and replacing the top hat, standing up swiftly and leaving the room. He didn't know about Road, but he thought it was a bit…concerning that some exorcist knew more about his family than he did. Tyki only knew the Noah names of the awakened Noah, of which, there were only three. He'd assumed that it was bad form to ask, and it probably was.
Mightra, Bondom, Desires, Musica…none of those names he knew, yet they still rang with familiarity.
And she'd known them…it was enough to make Tyki curious.
He rubbed at his chin, walking down the empty aisle, pausing at the sound of a soft, lilting song.
"…that moment you shined pure, born anew into this world
Across a million years, time has brought us here,
Our prayers burn, into the earth
Back where they shall return to time
I will never stop this prayer leaving my lips
Someone please show this child what love is
Take those tiny hands and leave a kiss…"
The song lulled Tyki almost to sleep where he stood, before he shook it off with a yawn, making for his compartment. Only when he was about to fall asleep did he wonder if that might've been an effect of the exorcist's Innocence, and when he awakened, he'd forgotten all about it.
It had been reckless and foolish and Maria had practically been goading the Noah. She had never succeeded in a fight against a Noah; she and Nea had always ended in a stalemate when they'd been determined enemies and knowing there were more just like him, just as strong, if not stronger, had always made her uneasy. The Millennium Earl being the head of the family gave her enough reason to be fearful.
She just knew that it was going to come back to bite her in the ass, but at this point she didn't think she cared too much.
Maria rubbed at her stomach, her old wounds aching. An akuma had almost completely bisected her when she was seventeen and repairing that damage had almost been beyond her and Nea had wreaked havoc on the akuma in the general area in retribution. Maria had been laid up in the local hospital for weeks afterwards, her abdomen heavily scarred; Maria had been more surprised that she'd managed to carry Allen to term, she'd thought it was impossible with her previous injuries.
But Allen had been her -their- little miracle, until the Order had gone and tainted it.
"Sleep well, darling?" she asked out loud.
"Shaddup," Kanda grumbled from the top bunk, descending the ladder to land on his feet, fixing his boots and his hair; Maria tried to help him with his hair, but he swatted her hands away. "How many trains we still have?"
"Two more." Maria smiled at the annoyance that crossed his face. "There's a bit of a walk once we're done, though."
The train jolted to a stop as it came into the station.
"But, luckily, the European Branch has plenty of beds, so once we get in, you can pass out on a bed that doesn't rock while you're sleeping."
Kanda redid his buttons. "Who was that man you were talking to yesterday?"
"Hm?" Maria looked up from tying her hair back, surprise coloring her face briefly. "An ally of the Earl."
Kanda frowned, trying to figure out if he looked like an akuma, but it was so hard to tell.
"He wasn't an akuma, though I can understand the confusion." Kanda waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't.
"Colette, wait!"
Maria paused as she shut the door to their compartment, holding back the inadvertent shudder at the use of her old name, the one that she'd hated in the orphanage and in the circus. Why she told Joyd that name remained to be seen, but she couldn't deny that it was better than using her own.
She'd rather not make it a habit, telling Noah her name.
Kanda's face creased with confusion at the name.
"Yu, go up the aisle, will you?" It wasn't really a suggestion, but Kanda complied, moving away, listening hard, but the only thing he really heard was "Joyd, if I gave you all the answers, what would be the point?"
From what Kanda could see, there was an annoyed frown under his top hat.
"But best of luck in this incarnation," she smiled in a way that was sickeningly sweet, "I hear the last one didn't reach thirty."
And then she pushed Yu towards the exit before the man could respond.
"What kinda name is Joyd?" Yu asked once they'd made it out onto the street.
"The kind that you must never speak of," Maria told him flatly, hand tightening on his shoulder, "understand?"
Kanda wanted to question it, to question her, but when he looked up, all he saw was pain and fear.
"I understand."
AN: Tyki and Maria are going to have a fun dynamic in this fic, that's for sure, and you guys are gonna see a lot of family moments with the Noah, because, ironically, the Earl isn't the major baddie of the fic, and Allen being Nea's son changes the relationships with the Noah a bit.
Very little of canon is happening, and, as you can see, Wrathra and the twins are still destroyed unlike in the manga. Desires will probably awaken before they do, but we'll see. Wisely was personally one of my favorites.
As always: Review!
