Bookman was not pleased with Lavi and Lavi could sense it the moment his feet landed onto the ship with Devina in his arms.
"Lavi!" everyone was yelling his name but he was looking around, trying to find Lenalee. She was slumped to the side of the ship, still inside that crystal, and Lavi felt relief wash over him.
"You found her!" Miranda gasped and he nodded silently. It seemed odd to keep carrying her, so he placed her gently on the ground, his eye betraying him, stealing a last glance at her lips before he turned to Anita.
"Can someone find her a blanket or something? She's freezing," Anita nodded, issuing the order before Mahoja wrapped two blankets around Devina and she held Devina to her chest.
"What happened?" Bookman was the first to break the silence afterward. "How can this be?" His questions diverted everyone's attention back to Lenalee's crystalized form.
"Lenalee-chan!" Anita cried out, running towards Lenalee. The Innocence disliked that; it seemed to be repelling her because Anita was on the floor, tears stinging her eyes.
Bookman intervened, dragging Anita back. "Unless you're an Exorcist, being near the Innocence is harmful so please stay back."
"Gramps, what's going on?" Lavi managed to utter. "Is this a recap of what happened with Devina? The Innocence protecting its host…"
"That's not what matters right now. What matters is that it's an Equipment type and it's acting on its own," Bookman paused. "An Innocence saving its user, that is indeed odd, and for it to unravel twice before us, like this… If such a phenomena is possible, why didn't the other fragments of Innocence protect the disciples who have died in this war? A Parasitic isn't very unusual, but this… Is it because it's Lenalee, or is this something that will be noted down in history?"
Lavi was staring at Bookman intently. He realized what Bookman was hinting at. Lenalee could be-
"Maybe she's the Heart?" the yellow Akuma suddenly popped out of thin air and Lavi immediately thrust his hammer at its big yellow face, the tip of it between its eyes. "What is your problem? I told you I was on your side and I brought that Innocence all the way here and you still don't trust me? Sheesh,"
"How could I trust an Akuma like you? You say you're an Akuma used by Cross Marian, but what proof have you got?" Lavi argued.
"I told you, I was modified by Cross!"
"It's too hard to trust something like you," and Lavi went back to assaulting the Akuma.
"Let it go, Lavi. Cross Marian is the only one capable of modifying Akuma; no one in the Black Order knows about his ability, except for me." Bookman explained. The Akuma taunted Lavi and stuck its tongue out at him. "Since Tim can't leave his side, you can rest assured."
"You guys should be thanking me instead of poking your weapons in my face. I was the one who made sure your ship wouldn't sink after all. Now, let me hear it, say thank you!"
"No way!" Lavi retorted but changed his mind at the Akuma's unrelenting glare. "Thank you very much."
"I still don't understand why the ship was sinking, though," Miranda interjected.
"It was probably that Level Three's ability, it must've had something to do with controlling gravity. Say, if a modified Level Two went up against a Level Three, would the result be the same as when a normal Level Two faces a Level Three?" Bookman questioned.
"Yup, being modified won't help me defeat a Level Three or boost me up to be able to do anything about its abilities," the Akuma answered. "You have them to thank for beating that Level Three," it pointed at Lenalee and Devina, and the entire ship turned to look at the green crystal, and the girl slumped against Mahoja, who was treating her mistress as well. "Anyway, there's not much time left. I'm supposed to relay a message from Marian. He's not dead and he's made it to Japan to complete his mission."
"A mission?" Lavi asked, while Mahoja briefed her mistress on Cross Marian's survival, who in return seemed very grateful and relieved. "Has the General made it to Edo?"
"He's almost there," at Lavi's questioning look, the Akuma resumed, "but he can't get any closer."
"Why Edo?"
"There's an egg there, a very big one; it's the Akuma's factory and his mission is to destroy it."
"So… the General's actually doing his job?" Miranda, Bookman and Lavi murmured in surprise.
The Akuma continued as if it hadn't been interrupted. "He's been struggling with this mission and it's been harder than he'd anticipated. So when he heard you were after him, he sent me here to you,"
Lavi chuckled, "well, we've been busy ourselves, defeating Akuma, dealing with the Noah and possible Heart candidates… Has he sent you to ask for our help?"
"Nope, he's sent me to deliver a warning. If you believe you'll be a hindrance after you hear this, please head back home." The Akuma was met by the Exorcists' shocked faces.
"So, what did the General say?" Bookman inquired.
"Japan has fallen under the Earl's control, and Edo is home to countless Akuma stronger than the Level Three you've encountered. The chances of making it out alive are extremely low."
At the end of the Akuma's message delivery, a beam of light shot toward the sky from within Lenalee's Innocence. She descended slowly as it dwindled.
Lavi jerked forward, catching her and then he held her head up, "Lenalee! Lenalee!" He noticed her right arm fall, palm opening and out came a golden hair clip.
Lenalee's eyes slowly opened, tears forming and falling down her cheeks. "Lavi… Am I… Am I really still a part of this world?"
Lavi wasn't aware of the tear that rolled down his cheek, "you idiot…" He grabbed her closer and held her.
"Lavi," Lenalee jerked, "where's Devina?"
Something inside of Lavi cracked because he's been worried sick about Lenalee that he forgot Devina was unconscious somewhere, and his eye was immediately looking for her, the other stupid girl who had rushed to save his friend while he stood there helpless. He gulped down the scream that was threatening to rip out of his throat and instead nodded toward Devina, whose head was laid atop Mahoja's thigh. "She's unconscious."
Lenalee sat up, drawing away from Lavi, and he let her. "She's… insane," Lenalee fumed angrily, "I told her to leave me and get back to the ship but she wouldn't listen, like some stubborn little child-"
"Would you have left her behind, Lenalee?" Lavi interrupted.
"What? What does that have to do with anything?"
"It has everything to do with everything. Would you have left her behind even though your Innocence was acting up?" Lavi repeated his question; Lenalee shook her head, silently. "Right. Then how can you expect to protect your friends but not have them protect you back? How is that fair?"
Lenalee's eyes were filled to the brim with tears unshed. "But…"
"I know," he nodded, "but she's stronger than we know. She'll wake up when she's ready." Lavi was not sure whether he was saying that to make Lenalee feel better or to patch the stretching crack in his heart. He made his way to the three women on the side and picked Devina up.
"We need to sort this out now," Bookman's voice boomed, "do we go forward, or go back?"
"We go forward." Lenalee answered at once. "If we stop here, we'd be throwing away all the lives and sacrifices that have been made till now." She tried to stand up but her legs were not cooperating, so she sat herself down, pretending nothing was wrong, calculating how to move.
"I think I agree with Lenalee," Lavi said, helping her to her feet with the arm he wasn't using to carry Devina, while Krory took Lenalee's other arm and helped her stand.
"I agree, too," Miranda and Krory chorused, and it was settled. They were going to move forward.
Devina was running, her surroundings hazy and foggy and somewhat shiny, and she realized she must be dreaming because her life had been anything but glittery lately. She was climbing a massive staircase, she realized once her eyes focused and at the end of the first landing, she came across a furnished table, ornamented with all sorts of haute cuisine. Devina paused as her stomach reacted to the sight, and she trudged forward but froze mid-step when several shadows crept in from the corners of the room. They were all obscure, except for one handsome familiar stranger.
Devina gasped in recognition. "You? What do you want?"
"Welcome back, Devina," the Noah greeted her, eyes golden and glinting in the darkness; he offered her a hand.
Devina blinked at him disbelievingly, but she took his hand in order to be done with this silly dream. He led her toward the highest chair at the top of the table, and held back her seat before she sat down awkwardly and he pushed in her chair to help seat her.
Devina didn't understand why this Noah was acting like her live-in butler, and why she was tolerating it, and why she was having a dream about a Noah to begin with. Her heart began to race and she thrummed her fingers along the edge of the chair.
"What do you want, Noah?" she asked impatiently.
"Please, call me Tyki," the Noah replied with a smirk. She wanted to bash his perfect white teeth in.
"Tyki, then, what can I do for you?"
"Oh," and he was suddenly inches from her face, "plenty, dear Devina," his face was inches away; his nose almost touching hers. "But, for the time being, I'm here to serve you," his gloved hand touched her cheek and she recoiled, away from his touch. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, this is not what we've talked about, love. You shouldn't fight me."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Devina demanded. "When did I ever speak to you?"
Tyki seemed to raise an eyebrow at her, "hmm, you really don't remember?"
Devina huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "No. I don't. Now, tell me what you want."
He seemed to muse, "Nothing much for now, just try to remember, love. This is important." Devina has never been this confused. "You need to remember,"
"Remember what, you arrogant dipshit?" she yelled.
Tyki froze. His chest erupted in gales of laughter. "Yes, that's more like it," he leaned in and patted her head. "We'll meet again, soon, Devina. You better remember everything by then, or things will be so very complicated-"
"Tell me what I'm supposed to remember."
"How you're going to end up on our side," he answered, smiling widely, and Devina gasped.
"I could never end up on your side, you-"
"We will see about that." Tyki's grin was wide and menacing.
Her eyes shot open, and she was breathing in frantically. Devina was met with Miranda's concerned gaze, who immediately chanted, "you're okay, you're okay."
"Where are we?" Devina croaked, immediately realizing they were no longer on the ship. She sat up, nearly bumping Miranda's head and was greeted with Krory's kind smile.
"We're on a boat." He answered.
Author's Note: I was almost ready to give this up, when I came across the news of Hoshino's return on Instagram. I have to persevere, I guess.