Path Built On Graves: Chapter Seven: All Roads Lead to Home
AN: One day we will get to Allen's arrival and it will be hilarious, because I just know that Maria's going to hate him when she doesn't know who he is, simply because he willingly joins the Order.
If there was one thing that could be said about Maria, it was that she was a big believer in 'if you're stupid enough to do something that will get you killed, then you deserve to get killed'. In short, she was an excellent teacher, and maybe Central didn't like that line of thinking, but it was something that Kanda could get behind, standing with her and watching all those wanting to collect the bounty ride off towards the colosseum.
"If the idiots want to die, so be it," Maria sneered, her disdain clear to see. "Gamble your life, you've got to be willing to lose."
Kanda grunted in agreement before glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She'd been annoyed in that house with the man who was engaged to the missing girl (that was still completely gross to Kanda and you'd never be able to change his mind about that) and now she was a cross between that and being completely and utterly tired.
"You don't like it when people bring up your husband," he'd noticed.
Maria flinched hard like Kanda did when other people reminded him of Alma, and she clenched her fist tight, making light dance over the wedding band on her finger. Then she relaxed it. Control meant more than most to Maria, Kanda had come to realize, but she'd been dealing with the Black Order since she was twelve, she would've had to develop a thick skin dealing with those assholes.
"No," she said finally, "I don't."
Kanda had a million questions -the first of which was, what was even her husband's fucking name because she hadn't said that one once-, but he liked Maria and he respected Maria.
"Okay," was all he said and her lips twitched faintly.
"Come along, darling, we'll take the scenic route. Let's see how many piles of ash we find before we reach the akuma."
Kanda followed quickly after her, taking his katana out of its sheath with a murmur of "Mugen, activate!" Maria didn't need to speak for the symbols to spread across her throat. All Kanda heard was a soft hum, and then there was a weapon in her hands, a heavy crossbow that Kanda had never seen before.
He'd seen a swinging pendulum on a chain that she said had been inspired by her former master ("The one you hate?" Kanda asked. Maria's smile was impossibly sharp. "That's the one."), a katana to match Kanda's during training, and occasionally a gun. Kanda thought that Maria liked to change it up so that she didn't get too used to how one weapon worked.
It was a long way round, so Kanda asked a question that had been burning in his mind for quite some time. "If akuma look like normal people, then how do you tell regular humans from akuma?"
"Oh, that's easy," Maria assured him with a shrug, "just assume that everyone around you is an akuma."
Kanda stared. That wasn't the answer he was expecting. Honestly, he thought it would be something along the lines of a faint vibration or sound that she could pick up on -since sound was how her Innocence worked- but just the assumption that she was always dealing with akuma seemed a bit…daunting.
"Okay," he said.
Maria shrugged. "Sorry, kid, I don't have a better answer for you. But wearing that symbol on your chest is going to draw out the akuma no matter what." She tapped the cross that was golden on her uniform where it was silver on his.
"Is that why you always wear that coat?"
Kanda didn't think he'd yet seen her without that trench coat of hers that was made for someone with broader shoulders. He was guessing it was made for the mysterious husband.
Maria's eyes flickered towards him out of the corner of her eye. "Sometimes," she admitted. "I have no love for the Order and I'm a big believer in that you don't have to be an exorcist and a part of it in order to do some good in the world. The Exorcists that willingly conscript aren't people I wish to associate with; signing your life over because it's the 'right thing to do' is a cause I stopped believing in a long time ago." She rubbed at the back of the ring on her finger with her thumb, her opposite hand holding the crossbow, leaving only one hand free. "No, I don't like the Order or what it stands for. I think if someone killed everyone in power, we'd be all the better for it."
It was a dark thought, Kanda couldn't deny it, but he thought if he'd spent twelve years forcibly working for an organization that chained her up and experimented on her growing baby, he'd wish them dead too.
Kanda thought of Alma and the death and destruction he'd left behind. He did feel the same.
"It's easy to be completely apathetic after all the shit I've had to deal with," Maria admitted, "in fact, I think after…" She struggled briefly and Kanda was silent, knowing it wasn't best to probe about a subject she had a hard time talking about. "…after Allen was taken from me, it was like a light went out inside me. I completed missions, but if I'd died on them that would've been fine too." She dropped a hand onto Kanda's head suddenly. "Actually, you were the first person to inspire me to be better."
Kanda scoffed loudly, but his cheeks still flooded with heat.
"It's not a bad thing to be," she assured him, ignoring the sound of yells and screams as they approached the colosseum, "but never be someone's anchor that they're lost without you."
Kanda got the feeling she was talking about her husband but all he could think of was bright and warm Alma who made the world seem lighter just by smiling. Without him, the world was dark by comparison.
Maria raised her crossbow, aimed, and fired a single bolt at a Level One that had been hiding in the trees, waiting for anyone that tried to leave.
"Oh, Maria Walker~!" sang a Level Two and Maria's back stiffened. "The Earl's looking for—" A crossbow bolt buried itself in its face and it screamed as it exploded.
"Yu," she said, "take the low ground, I've got the high ground." And Yu took off without a second thought, activating his sword with a mutter and slicing into the first Level One he saw.
He wasn't as quick or as efficient was Maria, though. He could see her moving out of the corner of his eye, firing off crossbow bolts faster than he could blink and with deadly accuracy.
Kanda was only just catching his breath when he heard a trilling note ring through the air and directly behind his head was the sound of metal clashing against metal. He tensed, shifting just slightly to look over his shoulder.
The man certainly looked like some centurion, with a helmet and armor covering his chest, holding a curved and heavy broadsword, aimed at Kanda's head, only stopped by an equally massive broadsword that was black and white with the black forming into a cross, it seemed far too heavy to be held by one arm alone, yet she wielded it with ease.
"Back off!" Maria snarled, throwing her hips forward to separate them. "You want the kid? You're gonna have to go through me, literally!"
"That won't be a problem," the man said and a dark and dangerous smirk formed on Maria's face.
"You think so?" She bared her teeth. "You wouldn't be the first to make that mistake." And then she raced forward to collide their blades again, leaving Kanda standing there, holding his katana and feeling a bit nonplussed.
He knew Maria was fond of him, he liked her -though he'd never admit it out loud- too, but liking someone was different than being willing to step between them and certain death.
"You're a kid," she'd told him once after training, "you're allowed to stumble and fall, I'm just here to catch you and make the fallout less damaging."
She'd smiled then, brightly and it had made Kanda think of the word 'Mom'. He'd never had one; he'd been grown in a pod and had only learned the word in regards to Tui Chang. But he'd like to imagine that if he'd ever had a mother, she would've been like Maria; tough and harsh but with kindness and understanding and patience.
Allen Campbell would've had no reason to wish for more, if he'd survived.
"What'm I supposed to do?" he bellowed after her, wincing as she almost lost her head, ducking and lodging her heel into her opponent's stomach, sending him flying.
"Watch my back!" she roared back, cartwheeling out of the way. "Kill any new akuma that shows up!"
Easier said than done. Kanda grumbled to himself in annoyance about the whole thing; he was really starting to hate Italy. He got the feeling he was going to hate everywhere he went for the Order.
Luckily, it wasn't looking like there were any more akuma to destroy, so Kanda could watch their duel with interest.
He'd known that Maria was good with the sword, -she kinda had to be since she was training him and his Innocence was a katana- but the way she handled that broadsword…there was a familiar ease to it and Kanda couldn't help but think that was a weapon that she'd used a lot in the past.
She twisted and twirled and battered and swung the blade.
"Stop," there was a whisper in the air, but Kanda couldn't focus on that as Maria kicked the gladiator back.
"You're weaker than my dead husband!" she snarled.
And then she did something strange.
She slowed down, just enough to be a target. But she was just an ordinary human and ordinary humans couldn't survive being struck with something like his broadsword.
"Master!"
It was shouted too late and all Kanda could see was the flash of blood as the sword lodged into her shoulder. But Maria barely winced, undoubtedly far too used to pain at this point, trilling another note into the air, shifting her own broadsword into a simple but fatally sharp blade, which she used to rip through the arm holding the broadsword.
Vittorio roared in pain and it was echoed by a young woman who streaked forward, reaching out for him, but the second he'd lost the broadsword, he'd faded away entirely and she was left clutching at the ground where he'd stood.
"No!" Claudia wailed. "How could you?!"
Maria pulled the broadsword out of her body with great difficulty, tugging until it fell wetly onto the ground, her blood staining it red, humming another song of hers that stitched her shoulder before bandages melded out of nothing and nowhere. She ignored Claudia.
"Why couldn't you kill me, too!?"
She turned to give Claudia a flat stare. "If you want to die, do it yourself. I kill monsters for a living…I'd rather not add innocent sixteen-year-old girls to the mix." She winced as she pressed a hand lightly against her shoulder. Her arm was pale and shaky and if Kanda had to guess, she'd lost a good portion of her blood. "Yu, pick up that broadsword for me."
Kanda complied with a frown, mostly because he thought if she leaned over to grab it, she'd just end up on her ass and with that injury it was probably best that she didn't make such a fool out of herself.
She took it and held it out to Claudia. "Vittorio was only real because you wanted him to be. You wished to rescued from a marriage you never wanted, so you brought a story to life to defend you with a blade made for you."
"I-I don't—" She looked absolutely terrified as she stared at the sword Maria was holding out to her.
"I know all about warping reality to suit your needs," Maria said seriously. "You're an exorcist. This sword is your weapon and it's the reason the akuma came after you. There's a target on your back that you'll never be rid of. My advice? Leave town before you can be forced to marry and avoid anyone that wears this crest." She patted her chest over the golden cross with her good arm. "They aren't your allies, they will lock you up and force you to work for them until you expire, stay out of the system if you want to stay alive."
"I don't understand!" Claudia finally forced out. "Who are you? Do you work for my father?"
"I'm Maria Walker, that's Kanda—" Kanda didn't bother to acknowledge her with a wave. "—no, we were sent to investigate Vittorio and I plan on telling my higher ups that the story was just a story and the akuma we killed here were drawn, foolishly, by the same story."
"Why?" Kanda asked bluntly, looking between the girl and his master. Why did she get to remain hidden while Kanda suffered?
Maria's lips twisted in the corner. "Because we'll never attain freedom doesn't mean that others shouldn't." She patted his head and he shoved off her hand.
"I still don't understand," Claudia pressed.
"Maybe not, but you will," Maria said with certainty, "but right now I need to head to a hospital. I'm still losing blood."
"Why're you fucking saying it like that?!" Kanda demanded, incensed by her bland tone, trying to stabilize her side with his whole body.
But he was small and Maria's amusement wasn't helping things.
"That looks painful," Kanda winced when the bandage was removed from her shoulder, staring at the way her skin was stitched together before a new bandage was pasted over it.
"Miss Walker, I really must recommend another few nights stay," the doctor insisted, crossing his arms.
"I respect that, but there's somewhere I need to be," Maria said and Kanda turned away slightly as she pulled her shirt and waist coat slowly over the injured shoulder, stiffening just slightly before beginning to slowly do up her buttons. Somehow, she seemed less imposing out of that uniform of hers, but the shoulder had been shredded pretty badly by that broadsword; it was going to need to be repaired before she could wear it again, though Kanda didn't think she was really disappointed by that.
He watched her sign a paper saying she was leaving against medical advice. "Why don't you want to stay? You're still injured."
"It's Christmas," she said, like that explained everything.
"So what?"
Her eyes met his. "It's Allen's birthday."
Kanda paused. "Oh." She didn't talk about her dead son hardly at all, perhaps because it was too painful to.
She placed her arm carefully in a sling. "What happened to Claudia?"
"She went home," Kanda shrugged, "got her stuff and left again…I think her dad's decided not to look for her."
Maria snorted. "Good call."
"Are we going back to HQ?" Kanda asked as she pulled on her boots with difficulty before grabbing her trench coat.
"No," she said, her eyes growing distant briefly, "there's one place I want us to stop first."
People rarely ventured onto the Kamelot property, mostly because of the rumors it was cursed or haunted…teenagers did like to press their luck on occasion, but it never seemed to end well for them. Usually, Sheril was pretty understanding, but from the kitchen window he could see a tall figure with a short figure…like a mother with a child, and his patience wore thin, though it being Christmas certainly didn't help.
He grabbed his coat and boots and strode out the door to tell them off and it was only when he got close enough to hear them that he reconsidered.
"See? That's where he carved our initials," the woman was saying, smoothing her hand across the great oak tree. Road wanted a swing there on the lowest branch, but Sheril hadn't gotten around to it yet.
"Your husband's name starts with an N?" the child with her asked.
"Yes, and that's as close as you'll ever get to hearing his name," she said dryly. The boy huffed with annoyance.
Sheril had seen the names on the tree before, countless times. They'd been there long before his father had bought the place, only a year after the tragedy that had killed its previous occupants. He used to come out to the tree to get away from his father and his brother and the rest of their staff, when he needed to. N.D.C. + M.W. had been on that tree the first time he'd seen it.
Kids snooping onto his property was one thing, but this woman must've been the M.W., so the property must've been quite familiar to her.
Sheril cleared his throat and the pair tensed, the woman spinning around and shifting slightly so she was positioned almost protectively in front of the boy. A mother's instinct, he was sure.
His tongue failed him, though, once he got a look at her face.
He'd seen it before. In that picture in the file that his father had on his unknown half-sister.
Maria Walker looked far more like their father in real life than her picture ever had and it was almost hard to believe that they shared the same father.
"My apologies," he said quickly, "I thought at first you were some trespassing troublemakers."
Realization dawned across her face and she relaxed slightly. "I hadn't realized the Campbell Manor had gained new ownership…I hear enough stories even now about it being haunted."
Sheril gave a conceding sort of shrug, but it wasn't like he could put any doubts to that. The rumor was that the previous occupants, the Lady Katarina Campbell and her brother, Lord Cyrus Campbell, had been slaughtered in their beds by someone that had been searching for the twin heirs just reaching adulthood who had been traveling at the time.
News of the murders must've reached them wherever they were, or the monster that had killed their family had gotten to them before they could return. Either way, it was a terrible story and Sheril had gone through pains to make sure it was not uttered anywhere close to his daughter.
"Your name is…Maria Walker, isn't it?" Sheril asked, and he got the feeling that was the wrong thing to ask, because her shoulders tightened up instantly, eyes narrowing. Even the boy at her side was scowling deeply. "Sorry," he said quickly, "that was a bit forward…my name is Sheril Kamelot."
Maria arched an eyebrow, but she took his hand, giving a swift shake. "Charmed, I'm sure…where did you hear my name?"
"I found it actually. My father had a file on you, and that sounds so much worse than I thought it did," he blurted out in retrospect and Maria was so startled by that, that a laugh parted from her lips.
"That's all right," she said with a bit of wry amusement. "My employers have one listing all my transgressions against the god they love so much, I'm sure yours is a step-up from that."
Sheril gave her a bit of a confused smile. "I guess I'm not really explaining very well—"
"You're not," Maria tilted her head wryly, "but I look forward to you trying."
The boy at her side snorted.
"I guess it's better to just say it," Sheril sighed, "my father was looking for you because you're his daughter and my half-sister."
If she'd been expecting something like that, she certainly didn't look it. Both eyebrows rose high on her forehead and she stared at him for the longest time before the smile on her lips faded. "You're serious?" she asked cautiously. "The man who just so happens to be living in my dead husband's house is my half-brother?"
"Dead husband?" Sheril was briefly startled before shaking it off, it wasn't high on his priority list. "I can show you the file, if you want. It's in the house. It has…a lot on you, including your birth certificate and how you were named Cole—"
"Don't call me Colette," Maria said stonily and Sheril stopped sharply. "I'd like to see this file myself."
She shifted and it was only then that Sheril saw the sling under her coat and the purpling bruises curling over her collar. She must've been in a fight recently…she was a fighter. And he was guessing that sword at the boy's side wasn't just for show.
"Of course," he said, "please come inside."
He led them back towards the manor, coming through the garden with the covered tea table that they only used during the summer or spring, or even occasionally during the autumn when it was unfavorably nice.
It was quiet, but most of the staff was working on preparations for the dinner that night. Tyki had promised he'd be back in town, despite ducking out on so many of Sheril's calls; the only one he would really take the time to talk to was Road, which left Sheril a bit miffed.
"Daddy?" Road peaked her head out her room, frowning in confusion at the unknown pair and then zeroing in on Maria in complete surprise. "Who're they?"
Sheril bent to ruffle her hair. "I'll tell you later, sweetheart, I promise." He winked and she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, leading the pair away, not noticing how Maria turned her head to fix Road with a hard, unblinking stare.
"It's in here, pardon the mess—"
"Don't worry, our supervisor hasn't had an effective filing system in decades," came Maria's dry response and the last thing Road heard before the door slid shut behind them.
"I'm late, I'm late, yes, I know," Tyki was harried and out of breath as he shrugged off his coat, practically tossing it at his brother's butler, who, to his credit, didn't even blink as he didn't even bother greeting him in favor of running off and throwing open the dining room doors. "I'm late, but I'm here!"
"Isn't that the truth," came an amused voice that haunted Tyki since the day she'd vanished into an Ark gate.
His eyes focused on her, gaping at the sight of Maria Walker, just sitting at his brother's table, on Christmas, her apprentice at her side -looking a bit befuddled and annoyed and coming off slightly constipated-, a glass of wine in what appeared to be her good hand.
"You!" he snarled, jabbing a finger at her, making her smirk and drink a sip of wine. "What the hell're you doing here!"
"Tyki!" Sheril sounded appalled by his behavior.
"How pissed was Adam when you told him you lost me in England?" Maria asked with an arched eyebrow.
Tyki ignored that. "I tracked you to Italy and back! Do you know how much of a hassle it is to track someone to Italy and back?"
"A gate could've shortened your journey." Maria was remarkably unconcerned and Tyki wanted to strangle her.
"I can't open gates!" he seethed and it was like everyone else in the room had fallen away.
"Could've asked the Dreamer," Maria rested her cheek in her hand and Tyki struggled not to flick his eyes towards Road. "I hear that's a skill of hers, opening portals between dimensions."
"How did you—how is it that you know everything?" he nearly growled.
The smirk on Maria's face was positively demonic. "Pillow talk with a Noah can be enlightening."
Tyki choked and gagged before turning to face his brother, pointing aggressively at Maria. "What's she doing here?!"
Sheril smiled sheepishly. "I guess you've already met our half-sister!"
Tyki gaped, eyes flicking back to Maria, who waved brightly.
"SHE'S OUR WHAT?!"
