Lavi and Krory were persistently blocking the Akuma's continuous thunderous attacks, saving countless members of the crew in the process. Lavi had just blocked a thunderbolt, keeping it away from three crewmembers and they thanked him afterward. He spared a glance in the direction the girls had disappeared to, and breathed in sharply.
The ship was being destroyed, thunderstruck, and Miranda didn't understand why. She then looked at her Time Record and found it completely surrounded by the Akuma's illuminated chain. She gasped, unable to rewind the time, to heal her friends, or repair the ship. She could hardly keep from breaking down. The ship was sinking, filled with holes enough to bring it to the bottom of the ocean.
The entire crew was taking more damage than Time Recovery could keep up with. A few thunderbolts were threatening to land on Anita and Mahoja, missing the two females when Krory landed before them to take the hit. He was fatigued and worn out. It had been a while since he's sustained Akuma blood. The thunderbolts did not stop, and they realized the Akuma responsible for them was not the one Lenalee was fighting, but others obscured high in the sky, behind a cloud.
Lavi was busy on one of the masts, trying to block each attack his hammer could get to, when he saw Krory plop down a sail. "Kuro-chan, are you okay?"
The vampire Exorcist sighed, defeated, "I've run out of Akuma blood, Lavi."
Lavi was trying to get to him, running atop the mast's shaft when his foot slipped and he toppled, falling over. He was falling outside the ship's range and heading towards the ocean when a thunderbolt struck him, filling his blood with Akuma poison, and Lavi realized he was irrevocably doomed. He splashed into the water, too shocked to fight the currents and the waves and the rage of the ocean.
Krory had followed him into the waters, and he gripped his wrist, leaning into his neck before he bit and sucked. Krory's energy was restored as he sucked out the Akuma's venom out of Lavi's veins. He pulled at Lavi's wrist, and he was swimming upwards, resurfacing and landing on the ship, tossing Lavi on the floor.
Lavi perked up, eyes opening. "Wasn't I shot?"
"Yes, and luckily, you've helped me feed," Krory answered smugly.
Lavi's face paled, "feed? Off what?" and then he noticed the blood trickling down the two puncture wounds to the side of his neck. He squealed, panicky. "I can't believe you, Kuro-chan!"
"It seems I can extract the poison of the Akuma before it spreads completely. Thanks for the meal, Lavi,"
Lavi shuddered, before he heard Bookman's scolding. "For how long do you plan on standing over there and talking, you idiots?" Lavi and Krory were startled to hear him, and Krory muttered something about being spoken to in such a manner, before Bookman spoke again, "Why aren't you using your wood seal, Lavi?"
The redhead felt like slapping himself across the face. How could he forget he had such an attack? He felt like such an idiot. He leaned into Krory and whispered in his ear the contents of a plan that he'd just formed on the spot.
"I see, but with this kind of footing…" Krory trailed.
"Yup, if we fail, we'll be saying goodbye," Lavi concurred.
"I won't go down so easily," Krory argued, his eyes narrowing.
"That's right, think how sad Lenalee would be if she came back and the ship was gone," Lavi mused. He couldn't bring himself to even think about Devina and her uncooperative Innocence. He shook his head, and braced himself to execute his plan.
Lavi was sent flying, landing on his butt when the ship shook and was pulled back out of the water, its sinking half now horizontal and afloat. He looked around him, trying to make out what it was that stirred the ship.
"It's now or never, Lavi," Krory stood with his feet apart, holding onto his cape.
"Go now, Lavi!" Bookman shouted and Lavi rotated his hammer above himself, hitting the seals he had created.
"Moku Ban: Tenchi Bankai," Lavi called and slammed his hammer onto the ship, shooting a saber of light into the sky. This seal was not meant for offensive strategies, it solely allowed Lavi to control natural elements and the atmosphere. The saber he'd shot, caused the clouds to manifest and thunder struck all over them, nullifying the clouds the Akuma hid within. Lavi and Krory spotted them at last, tumbling down the sky at high speed, three measly Level Twos. The two Exorcists jumped up, using the masts for support, trying to meet the Akuma halfway. "You ready, Kuro-chan?"
The vampire nodded and Lavi rammed him with his hammer, sending him flying toward the Akuma. Krory sneakily landed atop an Akuma and proceeded to bite into it, before jumping onto the next, contaminating their blood by giving them some of his own.
"You three have been very, very bad. I would've loved to feed on you, but you've murdered too many of my comrades for me to be merciful. Now, you can taste their suffering." The Akuma's expressions twisted in pain as their skin turned into black scales, disintegrating, before vanishing completely.
Krory landed back on the ship, crimson particles of Akuma falling alongside him, like red snow. As soon as his feet hit the ship's floor, he collapsed. The crewmen and Miranda closed in around him.
"Haven't you had any Akuma blood?" Miranda asked, anxiously lifting his head and placing it on her lap. "He looks really pale!"
Their worries had to be put aside, however, when they noticed the collision a long way off from the ship. Lavi leaned against the rail, holding onto one of the ropes that helped holding the sails up. "Is that where… Lenalee… Devina…" and the explosion shook the ocean and the ship along with it. Once the light disappeared from the sky, Miranda's Time Record was set free, healing everyone on the ship and fixing its interior.
The men of the ship were busy setting the sails, fixing the ship, helping each other and trying to see if anyone's fallen over into the ocean. Lavi though, was sitting on the floor, knees pulled forward and his arms resting on his legs; his fists were drawn into his mouth. He couldn't stop seeing Lenalee and Devina, each running off to face that Level Three Akuma. His chest was tight and he felt as though his lungs were him. Why haven't they returned to the ship yet?
Lavi made his way to the side of the ship facing the explosion's direction; he slammed his hammer down, headfirst. "Shin,"
"Okay, everyone, now," the blonde captain, Yan, nodded to his crew before they all fell upon Lavi, holding him and Iron Hammer in place.
"Let go of me! Let me go!" Lavi fought back against the hold of at least thirty crewmembers.
"Are you out of your mind, kid?" Yan shouted back, "you've been severely injured and stepping away from the ship right now is dangerous for you. We'll sail to where they are now, just sit tight and leave this to us,"
"Why should I wait at all? I'll fly there faster on my own." Lavi hung on to the handle of his hammer, "I said let go," and he extended his hammer, members of the crew falling as it severed their way.
He was frozen in place when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, keeping him still. "Lavi-kun, please, stop!" Miranda begged.
"Miranda…" Lavi turned around to look at her.
"Don't hurt these men, they've been protecting me and the ship… Please…" Miranda fought back the tears fogging away her vision.
"I'm sorry," Lavi muttered, before he turned back around, making his way to the rail again.
"Are you sure you're not seriously injured?" Miranda asked and Lavi's head spun in circles because who gives a damn. Did no one care at all about what's become of their comrades? About what's happened to Lenalee and Devina? Miranda gripped his wrist.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Don't worry about me, Miranda."
"At least tell me where you've been hurt the most so we can wrap you up before-"
Lavi turned back around to face her; anger pulsed through his blood. He was unable to contain it or restrain himself. "None of that matters right now! Aren't you a little bit concerned about Lenalee? About Devina? Aren't they our friends?" Lavi was about to go on when he realized Miranda's lips were quivering.
She hiccupped before she said, "Aren't you our friend, too, or am I wrong?"
Lavi's lungs crashed; his eyes wide and disbelieving, his hands forming shaking fists. He was on his Iron Hammer in an instant, and then he was off.
The farther Lavi got away from the ship, the more wounds it opened up and injuries it unveiled, and Lavi was biting back screams, but he refused to stop. He had to find them. They were both in poor physical and mental shape. They were probably barely able to fight off such a strong Akuma and yet he'd let them go. It was eating at him and he couldn't really believe he'd be able to forgive himself if something had happened to either one of them.
Lavi pressed on, trying to ignore the throbbing in his arms and the stinging in his abdomen and the ache in his heart. He couldn't help remembering how each one looked while they sat there, getting reprimanded by him. How Devina did nothing but scream after she woke up, and god, he could still hear echoes of her shrieks, of her pain, reverberating through his skull. He could still hear Lenalee's questions, all the whys he hadn't dared to utter. He was going completely insane and he hated both girls for making him think the way he's been thinking, for making him remember their excruciating pain, and then feeling it, too.
"WHERE ARE YOU? LENALEE! DEVINA!" and then something splashed out of the water, yellow and enormous and flying. And it was carrying a gigantic jade crystal.
He tensed as he comprehended that the yellow thing carrying the crystal was an Akuma, but he didn't have many options. He couldn't fly around and walk on water like Lenalee, nor did he have bone-made planks and air mats to fly around like Devina.
"Are you Junior?" Lavi's face fell. "Bookman Junior, right? My hands are hurting. Can't you give me a hand, here?" the Akuma pointed at how the crystal was electrifying it. "This thing probably doesn't like me because I'm an Akuma."
Lavi's breath caught when he noticed someone was inside it, and he felt both fear and relief when he realized that the short haired, half-naked girl was Lenalee. "Lenalee!"
"She's not dead, you know?" the Akuma said.
"You piece of… what did you do to her?" Lavi demanded.
"Me? I didn't do anything; this is how I found her! This is the result of her Innocence. When she fought Ishi, her Innocence turned into this to keep her safe."
What? Again? Lavi was speechless. An Equipment type Innocence never acts of its own accord. The Akuma was begging for help again, seeming to almost drop Lenalee's crystalized form when Timcanpy flew straight at it, hitting it square in the head. "Timcanpy! Wait, Tim, aren't you on the wrong head there, buddy?" Lavi was beyond confused.
"Aha! You're Cross Marian's golem, Timcanpy."
"What did you just say? Marian?"
"I wonder if it senses its Master's scent on me, since he's using me. I know Akuma are evil, but I've been remodeled by Cross Marian, which is why I'm helping." The Akuma explained.
Lavi's shoulders slumped, having no choice but to trust the Akuma for the time being and asking it for further help. "Have you seen another Exorcist?" he asked, his voice lower than he'd intended. "The two were supposed to be fighting together…" he trailed.
The Akuma was silent, seeming to think. "I think I saw something a few miles from here," it finally answered.
"What? Can you take me?"
"I don't think I can manage to move at all," the Akuma whined, pointing once again to its electrocuted hands.
"Okay, okay. How about you head back to the ship and I'll look for Devina," Lavi compromised.
"But you don't trust me," the Akuma argued.
"Yes, but if I don't start trusting you, Lenalee will end up at the bottom of the ocean and I can't carry that crystal." Lavi countered. The Akuma's eyes teared up before it nodded vigorously and whirled towards the ship.
Lavi sighed before he began scanning the surface of the ocean for any sign of life. He regretted not asking the Akuma which direction it had seen her, but he couldn't do anything about it now and going back to the ship would be a waste of time. His eye worked speedily, trying to locate Devina. He sat back on his hammer's handle and moved forward.
It took him several minutes before he spotted a mass of wavy black hair, and he was beside her in less than a second. Her upper half was bent in on her stomach over a large plank of bones, creamy and shiny, reflecting the fluorescent light of the moon. Her lower half was underwater. Lavi leaned in and draped an arm around her waist, flinching at the contact with the icy water. He drew her into his side, her head resting on his chest, her forehead meeting his neck, and he leaned his ear close to her mouth. She was not breathing.
Lavi's heart was thumping loudly in panic, and he didn't know what to do because his heart had always been steady. "Devina?" he called to her, clinging to a sliver of hope that she was still alive. "Devina, wake up, Devina." He was surprised at how calm he sounded, how his voice completely contrasted his emotions because they were raw and fresh and edgy. "Devina, you've got to open your eyes. You've got to breathe, come on. Come on." He leaned against the handle of his hammer, using his left arm to support his weight. He turned Devina, cradling her against his left arm, barely holding on and he used his right hand to ram it into her chest, trying to resuscitate her. But it was not working; she was still limp in his arms, her face paler than he'd ever seen it.
It couldn't be helped. Lavi pinched the bridge of her nose and tilted her head back, bringing his face closer to hers. He hesitated, only briefly, before he sealed her lips with his, exhaling into her mouth. Her lips tasted of salt and ash and something sweet.
He pulled back, pressed his hand against her chest thirty times before he inhaled, and then exhaled into her mouth again. "Come on, Devina, don't die on me."
And somehow, she seemed to have heard him because water sputtered out of her plump lips in ounces and she coughed so hard, he thought her lungs were going to come out of her. But her eyes did not open.
"Alright. Alright. I can live with that for now," Lavi nodded, smiling slightly as he pulled her against him again, and his smile stretched once he felt her soft breaths tickling his collarbone.
Author's Note: Hey guys! I know I'm late again and I seem to be making up a lot of excuses lately but I started work this week and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing. I didn't have enough time to post on Wednesday, but I am here now. Expect upcoming updates during the weekends from now on. Weekdays are busier for me now.
On a happy note, there's some action at the end of this one. I hope you enjoy that.
Please, leave me your thoughts and opinions. I haven't written in ages, and I still have enough written material to last me up to chapter 20 or 20something. But if you don't want this to be abandoned, please review! xox