"Why are we on a boat? What happened to the ship?" Devina asked, but she was met by a roaring silence, one she understood very well. "We failed." She nodded absentmindedly.
"You didn't fail," Miranda whispered, shaking her head, "you and Lenalee-chan… you defeated the Level Three Akuma. But I… I…"
Devina closed her hands around Miranda's mouth. "Enough, Miranda," she shook her head, "enough." The older woman's eyes widened, before softening with impending tears. "I never got the chance to introduce myself to you properly," Devina started, withdrawing both hands to place one behind her neck. "I'm Devina," she offered Miranda her free hand. "Sorry I was so busy being a selfish, self-absorbed, grief-stricken, insolent bitch."
Miranda whimpered, "I-I-I,"
"Miranda, I'm kidding," Devina touched her hand to the woman's cheek, caressing it before she stood up. "Please, don't carry the burden all on your own. We're in this together," Devina said quietly, before she ruffled Miranda's hair.
She looked around her, and grinned at the surprised stares she got from everyone else. "Ahh, Lenalee… your hair…" she trailed as she noticed how Lenalee's thick hair had been burnt or cut away somehow, leaving her with a pixie haircut. "Are you okay now?" Devina asked hesitantly.
"I'm better, Devina. Thank you," Lenalee smiled, and for some reason Devina could really feel her gratitude. She noticed three new faces among her Exorcist friends and assumed they were the only survivors from the ship. Devina's chest tightened but she refrained from letting any indication of pity slip on her face. She knew they'd hate her for it.
"Hi guys, I'm Devina," she waved at them instead.
"Hello, Devina-sama," they chorused and introduced themselves as Chaoji, Maosa and Kei. Devina grinned at them, before she turned to her friends.
"So, what's the plan?" she had wanted to ask another question entirely, regarding her rescue, but she thought the atmosphere was already glum without her interference.
"We're going to Edo," Bookman spoke, and Devina's gaze swept quickly over the silent redhead next to him. He has failed to say a single word since she opened her eyes and she wondered if it had anything to do with her.
"We're going ahead with the original plan?" she asked, failing to mask her surprise. She was surprised they were crazy enough to pursue Cross Marian even after they lost the ship and its crew, minus the three that stood behind her.
"Well, a little bird has brought us some news," Bookman answered, gesturing behind her.
Devina turned, and she screamed, her bones seeping out of her in insurmountable liquid without her consent. There was a giant yellow Akuma pushing the boat forward at high speed. She heard herself make a sound, trapped between a cry and a mewl, so unidentifiable to her; for the first time in her life, her Innocence's emergence was physically hurting her.
"Devina, that's Chomesuke, she's not a bad Akuma. She's been helping us for a while now. Please deactivate your Innocence," Lavi spoke urgently. She pivoted, panic-stricken, meeting his gaze.
"I can't stop it, Lavi, I can't." She didn't know why she didn't even question his words; she always took whatever he said at face value. "Lavi, tell it to run away, now," she nearly shouted as the liquid began to solidify.
"Devina, you've trained so hard with General Klaud, and you've been doing great. Are you gonna let some stubborn Innocence deprive you of the pride of succeeding now?" Lavi asked, not unkindly, and Devina suppressed a sob.
"I can't control it. It's been so hectic, ever since… A-allen," she didn't let the name resound inside her head, she didn't give it chance to stain her tongue. "It's not listening to me, at all!"
"Devina, please," Lavi pleaded with an urgency she thought him incapable of, and towards an Akuma, nevertheless. She wondered what it was about the Akuma that made him so compassionate towards it.
She closed her eyes and focused, searching within her for her leaking energy. Once she found it, she tried to hold on to it, and pull it back into her being, instead of it seeping out.
"D-devina," she heard Lenalee gasp but she couldn't stop now, or the link would break and her Innocence would be unleashed. "Lavi, tell Chomesuke to go. Make her stop, make her stop,"
But it was working. Her Innocence was gradually retreating into its cocoon, but not without great effort. Devina's eyes flew open, but she regretted the action almost immediately. Her head spun and she was falling, but Miranda caught her below the arms and steadied her. She realized Lenalee had shouted at Lavi to make her stop now that she tasted blood on her lips. Her nose bled from the exertion.
"Are you alright?" Lavi asked.
"Just peachy," she grumbled, wiping her nose, and he laughed.
"Lie down," he suggested.
"I'm perfectly capable of staying perched on my own two feet, thank you very much," Devina scowled.
"Miranda, drop her," Lavi quipped and for some unexplainable reason, Miranda listened to him. Devina was sitting flat on the boat's surface, her butt throbbing.
"Oww, not very nice of you, Miranda," Devina chided perching herself on her two arms.
"I-I'm so s-s-sorry, Lavi scared m-me and I dropped you, I'm really, really s-sorry."
Devina frowned, "don't worry about it, and please stop apologizing to me," Devina's words didn't match her frown however, and they were unconvincing to Miranda, who felt guiltier by the second.
"I really didn't mean to drop you," the older woman reproached.
"I absolutely believe you, Miranda. I'm not upset with you, I'm upset my butt hurts so much," Devina heard the Akuma laugh.
"You're quite a lively bunch." It chuckled while propelling them forward.
Devina was the first to step onto the pier, and she watched her comrades pull up the hoods of their matching green capes.
"Welcome to Japan," the Akuma – Chomesuke, according to Lavi – said, flying above the boat and landing onto the pier, standing behind Devina.
Devina began helping her comrades step down the boat; she held Bookman's arm as he jumped, and nearly hauled Miranda entirely out, until she felt certain the woman had her footing under control. She saw Lavi jump, landing a few feet away from her and he turned back around to grab Lenalee's waist, lifting her up, away from the boat and onto the pier.
Devina felt herself puff her cheeks and pout, before Miranda nudged her. "Here, you better put this on,"
Devina blinked several times before grabbing the green cloak, similar to the one they were all wearing and wrapped it around herself, then pulled the hood up to hide her face. She was grateful for Miranda's constant attempts to distract her; she felt her head clear, and she walked over to Lenalee.
"Lenalee, let me give you a piggyback," she offered, and Lenalee broke into a dazzling smile.
"That's okay, really, I'll just-"
"I have her, Devina-sama, don't worry," Chaoji said out of the blue, before stepping between Devina and Lenalee and bending down to allow the girl to get onto his back. Devina helped her keep her cloak in place.
The two stood still, however, when Chomesuke transformed back into her human vessel: a cute brown haired and doe-eyed girl in a pink kimono, with Tim still resting atop her head.
"Wh-who are you?" Krory asked, mystified.
"What are you talking about?" the girl asked, pointing at herself. "It's me, Cho!"
"You… You're Chomesuke?!" Lavi asked, disbelief coloring his face. Here we go, thought Devina, another Strike. And she was right, the redhead was absolutely taken by the Akuma's human form, he was practically drooling.
Devina sighed, "for the love of god," and she was about to smack him on the back of the head when Bookman's boot ended up ramming the side of Lavi's face; Devina smiled gleefully.
"Immature brat," the old man complained, before he turned to Devina. "Do you know why the Earl chose Japan?" he asked her, and she shook her head in response. "He chose Japan because it's been isolated from every other place in the world for the past three hundred years. No one has been able to come into Japan or leave it for centuries now,"
"Bookman is right," Chomesuke nodded, as she turned around and began to lead the way up a stone stairway, holding a lantern in her hand. "The Earl uses Japan as a base, and since ninety percent of the city's population are all Akuma, no one does anything about it anymore. The government is run by the Earl,"
Devina felt herself block out the rest of the conversation involuntarily. Something was calling to her, drawing her in to this place but she didn't know what it was. Her chest felt heavy, her entire body weighed down by an invisible burden, and she was finding it harder and harder to breathe. Her limbs were drawn forward by invisible strings, forcing her ahead of the group.
A hand snatched her wrist, "Devi," and she jerked backwards, as if her soul had somehow burst back into her as well.
"What the-" but she couldn't finish her sentence because Lavi was dragging her to the side, everyone was rushing toward them, and the whole group huddled close, in hiding.
"Be quiet and try not to breathe," Chomesuke whispered, fear nearly dismantling her.
Devina wanted to ask what was happening but she complied with the Akuma's wishes, keeping her mouth shut. Internally, she was panicking hard. Her body - not her Innocence - had just acted on its own, and she wasn't sure which is worse. When she finally came to, she realized how close she was to Lavi, her face against his chest, his nose on her forehead, his hands on each of her shoulders. Her breath caught in her throat and she wanted to pull back, she wanted to pull away. That was when she heard the footsteps.
There were three approaching Level Three Akuma, three demons similar to the sole one that nearly destroyed her and Lenalee; three Akuma of the same caliber of the one that had stripped Lenalee's Innocence away from her.
Devina could only feel her panic rising.
"Devina," she heard him whisper in her ear. "I need you to breathe," but she was gasping.
"Make her stop, Lavi," Chomesuke hissed.
"Devina," Lavi cupped her cheeks. "Hey, hey, you're with me? You need to calm down… Listen to my voice," and she did, and it was soothing because he was speaking so softly and so smoothly and he sounded like honey.
"L-lavi," she whispered back.
"I'm right here," his hands were still cupping her face. "Are you afraid?" he mouthed, careful that no one else would see his mouth moving but her. She nodded once, and one of his hands slid down her cheek to her upper arm, gripping it before he pulled her into him. He was so warm and so cold at the same time and she let him hold her. He pulled back slightly, "I need you to hold it together, okay? You're good at that," he ordered, and she nodded mechanically.
She was never sure with Lavi, whether he was sincere or acting, whether he cared or just did things to make sure no one collapsed. "Right, you're right, I'm good at that…" she trailed, drawing away from him.
When she turned around, her back so close to his chest, she saw that the Level Three Akuma were devouring a Level Two Akuma. A moment later, the blue Akuma turned in their direction, and her blood went cold, before the Akuma turned back to eat.
"Cannibalism?" Bookman whispered.
"Yes, this has been going on for as long as we remember, and us Level Twos can't do anything about it." Chomesuke shivered and Devina couldn't blame her. The group managed to hold on until the Akuma finished feeding on the Level Two and disappeared. Devina felt hesitant as Lavi and Chomesuke made their way forward, and she wanted to stop them but instead she followed.
The sight of the Level Two's leftovers was appalling, and Devina wasn't the only one diverting her gaze away from the remains of various Level Two corpses. "This is… absolutely cruel."
"You said it… I think I'm gonna be sick," Lavi complained, sounding strained.
Lenalee was coughing atop Chaoji's back. "Are you alright? Would you like some water?" he inquired.
"No, I'm alright, Chaoji. Thank you,"
"What are we gonna do now, Sachiko?" Lavi asked the Akuma, and Devina was puzzled as to why he was calling her that.
The girl seemed agitated and nervous as she gulped down whatever snide comment she had wanted to hurl at him. "Chomesuke is fine," the Akuma murmured. "I'll have to take you to Edo myself," she walked forward before stepping around to look back at Lavi and then she yelped.
Chomesuke had been caught in the invisible web left by one of the Akuma, which now became visible, holding Chomesuke in place. The webs clung to her middle and dragged her back, hurling her to the ground before the blue Level Three.
No, no, no, no. Devina couldn't see anything nor could she hear what the Akuma was saying. Instead, she was fully concentrated on solidifying her bones into a sharp fixed long blade and she was running at the Akuma, thrusting the sword into its middle. The Akuma seemed surprised by her speed as it gasped, trying to push the blade out.
Devina's comrades seemed just as surprised by her speedy act. "We need to hide. His friends will come looking for him soon," she informed, extending a hand to Chomesuke; the web around her had disintegrated when the Akuma did.
"She's right, he probably came here alone to eat humans all by himself." Chomesuke nodded, holding onto Devina's arm before she ran at Lavi, wrapping her arms around him. "Lavi! I thought I was a goner," she sobbed.
"Hey, you're hurting me," Lavi complained.
Devina kept trying to ignore the feeling growing at the pit of her stomach, stretching all over her ribcage, like the branches of a tree. She felt nostalgia wash over her, nostalgia she couldn't comprehend nor explain. She's never been to Japan and she never even considered visiting it before. She was too preoccupied by these indecipherable feelings to be annoyed with Chomesuke and Lavi.
"Devina, are you okay?" Lenalee's voice broke her trance and she blinked at the shorthaired girl.
"Yes, yes,"
"Are you pushing yourself too hard?" Lenalee asked.
"No, I think I'm fine now," Devina forced on a smile. "Let's just keep moving…"
The group seemed fairly complacent allowing Chomesuke to lead them further into a forest of Sakura trees and into a narrow path set between two mountains. Everyone was questioning Chomesuke's sense of direction when Krory tripped over a small rock.
"Isn't there a better road to get to Edo than this one?" he whined.
Devina didn't like how childish they were all being. "Would you all just stop?" she said quietly but with enough force. "Chomesuke is probably taking us along this very annoying route in order to avoid having us face off a thousand Level Three Akuma. Now, I don't know about you but I, personally, would like to avoid that at all costs since we're basically helpless in our current state."
Krory's lips trembled but he said nothing, while Chomesuke gave Devina a grateful nod.
As if listening in on their conversation, a long mace came flying at Lavi, who managed to block it with his Iron Hammer. Chomesuke took matters into her hands as she slid open a rock on the mountain's edge, revealing an opening to a cave, everyone rushed in except for Devina and Lavi, who was busy fighting off the second Akuma.
"Lavi, go in, quick," Devina shouted.
"And leave you behind? Again?" Devina hated that she heard his voice shake at the end.
"Lavi, go, the gate's closing. I'll be fine, I killed one of those before. Go, save them,"
"No, there's no way I'm leaving you again," he spoke with conviction, and she knew there was no way to change his mind.
Devina had to act fast; she released her liquefied bones toward him and they solidified around him, latching around his ankles and wrists, and forcing him into the cave. She heard him shout her name as the boulder closed.
"Right, then," she huffed as she turned to face the two Akuma.
"You can have her, I'm going after the feast," the pink armored Akuma addressed the green one, before it flew towards the mountain, trying to break into the cave that currently hid her friends. Devina had a plank floating underneath her in an instant before she followed the pink armored Akuma.
"She gripped its orange hair, so similar to Isshi's, and dragged the Akuma back, holding on strongly while she elicited a small blade and drove it through the Akuma's arm. She was aiming for its head, but the second Akuma had come flying at full speed, landing a kick into her side, messing up her aim. Devina was thrown into the mountain, causing it to tumble underneath her weight and she was forced inside the cave, allowing passage to the two Akuma as well.