Lavi barely managed to deflect Tyki's attack by extending his hammer. Devina had pushed herself closer to the scene, a butterfly grazing her side, tearing at her suit. She gripped her wound and continued to run. "Lavi? Lavi, are you okay?" She gripped his shoulder and shook him.
Lavi looked up. He seemed uninjured except for a cut bellow his eye. "I-I'm okay. What about you?"
"I'm fine," but Lavi was looking at her abdomen with such intensity. "Don't worry about it, it's already healing,"
"Ahh, you parasites," he joked, smiling a little.
She grinned, "yes, we're despicable, now get up." The two stood up straight and turned to face the Noah.
He was clapping his hands, "how marvelous, this is absolutely romantic."
Devina glared at him, "would you please stop setting me up with every male Exorcist I speak with?"
That seemed to make the Noah laugh, "very well, very well, can I ask you a question, though, Devi?"
Devina groaned, frustrated. "I already told you-"
"Not to call you Devi, yes, yes, I recall," he smirked. "Have you remembered yet?"
Devina blinked. "What?" She knew exactly what he meant but she would rather die than admit she had a dream about him.
"Mmm, you know, you need to drop the innocent act, it doesn't suit you." Tyki touched a hand to his face, as if in thought. "I'll ask again, have you remembered?"
"I- I don't know what you're talking about,"
"What's he talking about?" Lenalee asked from the side and Devina gave her a puzzled look.
"See, it's either you haven't remembered yet, or you're in denial," Tyki mulled over the two prospects. "Don't act dumb, now, or I'll admit to everything," he warned, an edge to his voice.
"I still don't know what you're talking about," Devina said stubbornly, tapping her foot.
"I had Road conjure me up into one of your dreams, does this ring any bells?" he asked, highly entertained by holding everyone's attention.
"No," Devina lied.
"You're a terrible liar, love,"
"I still don't understand," Devina grumbled, becoming increasingly annoyed with all his guessing games.
"I had asked you to remember why you can destroy the Innocence by the time we next meet, have you figured it out yet?" Devina was certain that when the world was created, Tyki had taken half its patience because he was talking to her with such delicacy she didn't know he possessed.
"No… I haven't remembered. And wait a second, how am I to remember something I totally don't understand?" Devina asked, her killing intent almost forgotten.
Tyki sighed, "It can't be helped, if you haven't remembered then you haven't remembered," she was surprised to see he seemed saddened by that fact.
"I want to know, though," Devina argued, "I'm sick of not knowing what you're insinuating. Why doesn't the Earl want me killed? I'm an Exorcist, his sworn enemy. This doesn't make any sense." She hadn't realized she'd been bottling all this pent up frustration inside of her, and once she'd let go, things she didn't realize she was worried about spilled out of her mouth. Tyki only lowered his gaze to the ground, "Answer me, Tyki!"
He glanced back up at her, golden irises conflicted. "Not yet, you're not ready."
"That's not your choice to make," she took a few strides toward him and grabbed a hold of his white dress shirt. "Besides, you're the one who's been so incessant on me learning what I am."
"Devina, stay away from him," Lavi's hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her away.
"Lavi, I need to know," her head snapped in his direction; her eyes sharp and dangerous. "Let me go,"
"He's toying with you, just like he did with me." Lavi's grip loosened, and as Devina turned back to face Tyki, Lavi took the chance to release a mixture of Fire and Heaven seals.
"Ack!" Tyki snatched himself away from Devina in order to avoid Lavi's attack.
"I realize your ability allows you to pass through almost anything, Noah, but the Innocence is an exception, isn't it?" Lavi challenged. "You're not so different from the Akuma; your weakness is the Innocence."
Tyki managed to avoid the attack by having Tease devour the dragon of fire and heaven sent his way. The remaining butterflies went after Lavi.
"Lavi, be careful," Devina snapped as she noticed one of the large Akuma almost stepping over him. Lavi flew on his hammer, landing onto one of the roofs but the Tease were following him like moth drawn to a flame.
"There's no end to them, che!" she heard him shout.
"You should really watch your back," Tyki reappeared behind him, sending a blast of Dark Matter straight at Lavi's chest.
Lavi was sent soaring, almost hitting the ground when Devina sent a barrier of bones for him to latch onto, and she directed it to land besides her group of friends.
"Should I do the same to you?" She twisted around at the sound and was about to attack when Tyki raised his two arms in surrender. "I want to tell you something,"
"I'm tired of chatting with you, Tyki," and she was, her patience was stretching thinner than it'd ever been. "What do you want?"
"Hmm, well, you heard your friend's little explanation about the Innocence being able to harm us Noah, and all of that?" Devina didn't answer and waited for him to continue. It took him some time to realize she wasn't going to say anything, and then he proceeded. "Don't you think it's weird? How you stabbed me with your Innocence, yet it passed right through me?"
Devina couldn't help it. She punched him; straight across the same jaw she'd kicked earlier. "I told you to stop tossing riddles at me, I told you I'm sick of it! If you have any answers to give me then fucking do it, just don't give me more things to question, you bastard!"
Tyki laughed, holding a hand to his jaw. "You don't punch like a girl, damn it."
Devina was furious, "are you even listening to me?" she growled.
"Yes, yes, yes. Please, a lady shouldn't shout so much. I'll give you a hint," the older man smirked, "what if, on some level, your Innocence, for a reason unbeknownst to you, couldn't fathom the prospect of hurting me, and so it didn't. Harm me, I mean."
Devina blinked. Once, twice. "What?" This is ridiculous. "Are you out of your mind? You were butchering my friend," she was shouting, now, her hands doing crazy gestures in the air and she was out of control. "Why the fuck wouldn't I want to bloody murder you?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I told you. A young lady shouldn't shout, nor curse so much, if you ask me,"
"I didn't!" she grumbled, before she charged at him, her bones nullified, pooling around her right arm and then hardening around it to form a sharp-edged shield. She was attacking with the intent to kill, but Tyki's next move made her freeze. He wrapped an arm around her middle and pushed her forward, drawing her out of the way from the Akuma's blast, with her sharp shield seconds away from his neck.
The two landed two inches away from the blow; Devina was panting heavily, but Tyki was calm and collected. He was staring at her face, his golden irises transfixed into her dull browns and she was so confused.
"What was that?" she demanded, "Why- why'd you save me?" she gasped.
Tyki didn't answer at first, choosing to convey whatever he wanted to say through his eyes but Devina felt like she wasn't on the same page, and she looked down. "I don't know why I did that," Tyki spoke softly, "force of habit," she almost missed the last part, and she had no idea what it meant, like everything else he ever said to her. His arms brought her closer to him, and she felt her chest tighten at the closeness. This felt so familiar to her, she couldn't tell why. "Hold on tight," he said.
"Wh-what?" and they were off, skidding from one building to the next, avoiding several explosions. The Akuma were going all out. "Tyki, let me go," Devina asked once she noticed Lavi, Bookman and Krory atop Chomesuke, who was flying them to meet the larger Akuma's head. "I have to go help them."
"Are you out of your mind?" He asked her, his tone raised for the first time. "Why should I let you help the Exorcists?"
"Tyki, they're my friends. I'm an Exorcist, too. You and your precious Earl can't seem to get that through your think skulls, can you?"
Tyki only chuckled, amused. "We do; believe me, we do,"
"Will you please take me seriously? I will hurt you if you don't let me help my friends," Devina threatened but she didn't sound convincing at all.
"No, you won't. Not now, that I've saved your life,"
Devina startled, "is that why you did it then? So that I'd stop trying to kill you?"
"It was worth a shot," he answered meekly.
"Tyki!"
"I will not willingly let you run off to get yourself killed." He sounded frightening, so serious all of a sudden; she nearly didn't recognize him.
"Then I'll fight you," her shield still intact, she wrung up her arm, landing a hit into his ribs. It didn't go through him this time, and Devina didn't know whether she ought to be happy or upset because it did. His hold on her slipped and she made a run for it, dashing toward her friends. "Did you get it? Did you get the Akuma?"
"No," Krory was the first to pay her any attention, "but look, with Chomesuke's help, the head has become quite low and we can continue to hammer it until it's destroyed."
He was right; Devina could see the several-faced Akuma, its countless eyes glaring at them. "What happened to Chomesuke? I saw her a few seconds ago, she was just with you…" she trailed, realization dawning on her slowly. "Oh."
"We can't allow it to stand up again," Lavi finally said, bracing himself for an attack.
"Can you do that, really?" Tyki's voice rang as his body emerged out of thin air before them. "Shall we continue, then, young man?" Tyki was smiling, and Devina was certain his smile only meant more mischief.
Tyki was on the move, targeting Lavi out of spite. "Tyki, leave him be! Fight me instead!" Devina shouted and tried to get between them, but Lavi seemed to cast her a glare that made her stop in her tracks. "Lavi, Lavi, listen to me-"
"No," the redhead replied stubbornly, dodging another blast of Dark Matter from Tyki, but barely. "I don't know what is going on between you and this Noah," he seemed to frown, "but you need to stay away from him. He's our enemy, remember? He nearly killed Allen! He made you destroy his Innocence!"
Devina could feel her heart shatter into insurmountable fragments, each one aching as it landed on the ground. Allen…
"Oi, are you sure you're her friend?" Tyki was asking, "I don't think that's a favorable expression she's wearing right now. Devi, are you alright?"
"Why do you keep calling her that, huh?" Lavi demanded, thrusting his hammer right into the Noah's shielded arm, pushing him back a few feet.
Tyki planted his feet firmly on the ground and pushed Lavi's hammer back with tremendous force, sending the Bookman Jr. back, landing on his behind.
"L-lavi!" Devina snapped out of it and helped him up but he snatched his arm out of her grasp.
"Tell me what's going on?" he asked, desperately. Every little doubt he'd harbored about her was resurfacing, and he felt as though he was drowning.
"I don't know! I don't know, Lavi, I don't know what's happening!" she snapped. "I keep asking him to explain things but he says I'm not ready and I don't know what anything means. Please, you have to believe me."
Lavi seemed to see something on her face; some genuinity and sincerity to the tears threatening to fall down her face, and he nodded solemnly. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to his chest. "It's alright, we'll figure it out," he tried to soothe her.
Devina's head rested against his chest, his scent washing over her; she'd grown so accustomed to Lavi's little snippets of comfort and a part of her was yelling at her to draw back, to not give in, to not get used to his warmth. So she did; she drew back, albeit reluctantly and she kept her eyes locked on her boots. She heard Tyki make a throaty sound and she glanced up to look at him; she couldn't really tell what expression it was that flashed upon his face but it made her chest tighten. He tried to kill Allen. Her face hardened, and so did her heart.
"I don't get it, Devina," Tyki began, smiling wryly, "are you with Cheating Boy A or Eye-Patch-kun?"
Devina rolled her eyes, "enough of that, Tyki. Aren't you gonna try and kill us or what?"
Tyki smirked while Lavi set out with another Fire Seal. "I'm growing tired of that move. Don't you have any other?" Tyki disappeared and materialized behind Lavi. "What is it? Have you lost the will to avenge your friend?" Lavi attacked him with the hammer but Tyki disappeared through the rooftop and appeared on another. Lavi sent another Fire and Heaven Seal at Tyki, but he missed. "Can't you be a bit more entertaining? Otherwise, I'll just kill you now." Tyki surmised, the Tease in his palm shifting back into its overgrown shield form. He immediately launched at Lavi, the friction between both shield and hammer sent Lavi wafting into the air.
Lavi ended up on the ground, a little way off from Krory, who seemed to be asking him for help. Lavi created another Fire and Heaven Seal and Krory jumped at the right time to combine himself with the iced dragon. The two accumulated and bashed into the Akuma's head. Krory's teeth didn't seem to be able to pierce through the Akuma's skin, however, and he tumbled down to the ground.
"Devina!" Lavi called, "help me back up there!"
Devina did as she was told, not used to Lavi being so disconcerted; he could've used his hammer, but he was more unfocused than she'd ever seen him.
She sent her unshaped bones to land at his feet; he jumped and they materialized in the form of a circular plank underneath him, carrying him up. The plank began to disintegrate as Lavi neared the roof where she and Tyki stood, and she rushed to grab his hand before he'd fall. Her right hand gripped onto his wrist and she groaned at the effort of holding onto him without tipping over herself.
"Climb up, climb up!" she gasped out.
Her voice broke Lavi out of his shock and he closed his fingers tightly around her wrist. He then used his free hand to push himself onto the roof, while Devina dragged him, as well, closing both hands around his arm and pulling him up. The two clustered onto the roof, chests heaving and arms aching.
"You're so fat, Lavi," Devina complained, barely able to catch her breath.
"Shut up. You're too skinny and you have no muscle." She giggled, breathlessly and sat up sharply when she heard Tyki's approaching footsteps.
"Lavi," Devina began. She understood Lavi's urge to fight Tyki, to avenge his friend, and she wanted to grant him that chance now. She decided she'd be able to interfere if things were to go bad. "Krory and Bookman are struggling on their own. We need to get our act together so we can help them. We need to protect Lenalee the others,"
Lavi nodded in understanding, forming two Fire Seals, one missing Tyki but the second almost had him. "Did I get him?"
Tyki reemerged a few inches away from Lavi's hammer. "You managed to scratch me," he said, jovially.
"Stop joking around," Lavi snapped, slamming his hammer at Tyki who deflected with his Tease. Lavi was sent flying into another roof once again.
Tyki looked around him, and Devina followed his gaze as it landed upon a golden stretching light that spread skyward; it was slowly fading. Tyki gave Devina a devious grin before he made his way towards it, and she had to follow him.
"Hey, hey! Stop! Where do you think you're going? Get back here and fight me!" Devina yelled after him. She would've tried to stop him by piercing him with one of her blades or arrows, but he kept disappearing and reappearing all over the place to divert her attention.
She found him on the roof where the light had vanished, his arm closed around Lenalee's neck.
"Tyki, let her go! Lenalee!"
"It seems like the Order has its share of lady Exorcists. This is my first time meeting one," Tyki mused.
"You've met me," Devina hissed, but Tyki seemed to ignore her comment.
Devina's rage was building up. She was recalling a night she didn't want to remember and everything she'd felt was bubbling up inside her chest. She was ready to launch everything she had at him when she felt something inside of her snap shut, like a thread finally ripping after holding on for so long. Every molecule, every inch of her body hurt; her bones were aching so severely, she ended up a tangled mess on the floor.
"Oh, no. Did you overdo it, love?" she heard Tyki ask and her throat made a sharp noise to retort. She was heaving, as if she'd been running an entire day and she knew her heart would stop any minute. This is it. This is it. This is it. The pain was so surreal, so immense and much stronger than anything she'd ever experienced; the sounds she was making were completely foreign to her.
She heard her name being called several times but her eyes were glued shut and she wouldn't even dare force them open. She could hear Chaoji shouting something about monsters and demons and Lenalee-sama. And then she heard it. It was unmistakably harsh and cold and humorless, but it filled her up with life and warmth, regardless. "For how long do you plan on playing dead while your comrades are being slaughtered, Devina?"
Her eyes snapped open and her heart restarted. "K-kanda!" she squeaked, still unable to move. Her face immediately reddened because the last time she'd seen the young swordsman, she'd nearly killed him; he ended up yelling at her and she never had the chance to apologize. And of course, the gods would have him chance upon her there and then, when she thought she was practically as good as dead, only for him to scold her for being unable to move at all.
"How unsightly; these Exorcists surely don't know a thing or two about being a gentleman," Tyki complained, his Tease and Mugen slamming.
Devina decided it was time to join her comrades again, but her limbs were not moving. Nothing below her neck seemed to be responsive at all and that made her breaths come out in sharp gasps. "Wh-what's happening to me?" she managed to breathe out in between gasps. Her vision was growing blurry and her sight was glazing but she could see someone approaching her and standing over her; she couldn't tell who it was. Instinctively, her arms outstretched and her palms met the person's cheeks, warm and smiling. It hit her at once, her eyes were open but she was met with nothing but blackness. "Why- why can't I see?"
She felt herself being picked up and then quite roughly thrown over someone's shoulder. She grunted in protest but couldn't physically reject whoever was carrying her. She could faintly hear someone shouting her name again, and then the person carrying her saying something soothing, their voice so unpleasantly familiar, before she finally lost consciousness.
Author's Note: Enjoy the looong chapter! Thanks to those who've previously reviewed!