Hello, back again. I never forgot about this story. So, please, enjoy~ Velvet
Shortly after reuniting with Star, Mahoja and Jump found themselves pitched into a holding cell in Order's headquarter.
"Star's probably wolfing down half the food in the dining hall while from a soft comfy bed while they put us in here," Jump grumbled, kicking the the cell's door loudly with his booted foots.
Mahoja nodded. "Gaining her strength back. She has the full power of the [bLaNk]. The only thing we can do is trust her to work this out. Once her strength has returned, she'll fix this."
"The fight with the Noah Family drained her. Bad. And she's always loved this world and that Tyki guy—"
"Are you saying Star is going to let this universe go void and blink out of existence because she has a crush on Tyki Mikk and wants to spend some alone time with him before the end of the world?" Mahoja shook her head. "No way. Star would never do that."
Both Finders quieted as someone walked out from the shadows of their prison. Old man Bookman regarded them solemnly. He stopped a few feet from them, clasping hands hidden in his long sleeves behind his back. They uttered words of respect the respect to Lavi's teacher and a fellow master of the passages of history that must be recorded.
"I have never actually met an Exiled One before," said Bookman, regarding them quietly. "It seems that I can only access the knowledge I possess that details your kind when one or more of you physically enters this world." Bookman thought about this for a moment. It was a sensation like suddenly remembering something that was lost to time. A light abruptly switching on in a forgotten dark corner. "Are you here to pass judgment on this world?"
"As Bookman, we are not here to alter your world," explained Mahoja. "We exist only to correct this reality, returning it to it's original state before outside forces altered it, and then leave. Leave…and be forgotten." The alterations to the history of your world will be erased. When that happens, we too will once again be erased from your world and your history. They existed outside of the world, entering only to stop outside forces from interfering in it. Whether they were called Bookman or Exiled Ones or something else, they were in the world but not of it. Mahoja gave Bookman as solemn a gaze as he gave them, imploring him to see truth and reason. "We don't have much more time."
If Bookman had any doubts of the truth or suspicions of the Exiled Ones, he now only nodded. He said, "As it should be… We must move quickly and carefully. Central is planning something. I will aid you in whatever way that I can."
Jump smirked darkly. "Bookman first, huh?"
"We must," said Bookman.
"Thank you, Master." Jump and Mahoja bowed to him.
Then their escape from the Order's lockup began.
"You can't!" Lenalee cried as the Headquarters' guards drug Star from bed and held her up between them.
Chief Komui watched on grimly as they removed Star from the room, not even allowing her to dress first. She was taken away dressed only in nude-colored slip Mahoja had gotten out for her.
"Brother! What's going on? Why are they taking Star, she needs rest and—"
Komui closed his eyes and looked away, shamefaced.
"Orders from above. Lenalee…I'm sorry."
Tearfully, Lenalee followed after the guards, wondering where Mahoja and jump had gone. She had to find them and tell them what was happening.
Hevlaska shook her head slowly at Komui.
"You can't do this!" Allen Walker wrestled with guards at the door to Hevlaska's chamber, wadded up between other Exorcists who had come to protest.
Star stood weakly in the grip of the guards. She had regained some strength while resting but not much. "Its okay, Hevlaska. Everyone. Just do what they say."
Inspector Lvellie entered the chamber, instructing everyone other than Chief Komui be removed. Star spoke to him.
"My only purpose is to preserve your world. My presence will have no lasting effect except to keep this world in the order it was made to be in. In fact, when my job is through, I will be erased as though I was never here and return to my own reality."
"That can't happen," Lvellie said. "Do you have any idea what The Order could do with Innocence like yours."
"I'll tell you what I told the Earl of Millennium: When I enter your world my Innocence splits and divides. Half remains inside of me and the other half leaves my body and hides, acting as a beacon and attracting foreign anomalies that don't belong in your universe towards it. That brilliant bright shooting star everyone saw that night was the other half of my Innocence. My Finders, Jump and Mahoja, are exclusively for searching for the errant half. We are not here to help you win the holy war." She frowned. "You know."
"Yes. Yes I know about you and your mission." Ambition glittered in Lvellie's eyes. "Your Innocence will do something much more useful than correct an error. It will remain a part of this world, one way or another. Even if you don't."
"It won't work," Star protested. He knew the truth and he didn't care. Inspector Lvellie knew why she and the others were here, yet he was still trying to find a way to use their power to win the war against the Earl and the Noah. He would try to alter his world by using a power that didn't belong in it. If Lvellie kept her here… if he tried to forcibly make her power part of this world, everything could be lost. They need to restore this world! Not alter it.
"You must know some way to use that Innocence to win the holy war. We'll get that information out of you before we extract the Innocence."
"You have to stop!"
"Hevlaska, begin," Lvellie ordered.
Star slowly ascended up, up. Light as feather, lifted by Hevlaska's tendrils into the air as the Exorcist reluctantly and tearfully prepared to extract her Innocence.