Devina didn't really like dreams because lately whenever she had one, she realized she was in a dream instantly. Everything about the place she was in made no sense. There were toys floating in the air, teddy bears and wide-eyed Lolita dolls; there were tables that were upside down, with teapots pouring tea down broken cups, and it would end up trickling by her feet. She was wandering around aimlessly, trying to make sense of a single thing in this land of dreams.
She froze, mid step, when her bare feet skidded across water. She was standing before a stretching river and she could see a bridge draping over it. She was about to look into the water, a strange impulse urging her to do so, when she heard her name being called.
She turned to the right and was so relieved to see Lavi. He was standing so close, she wondered how she hadn't felt him creep up on her. Her relief washed away when she noticed how dull his green eye was, and she realized it was doing anything but face her.
"Lavi?" she began, her voice shaky. She wondered if Bookman had just scolded him. She'd chanced upon many of those rebukes and knew it wasn't easy for the redhead to brush them off. "Lavi, are you okay?" she asked, her hand tangling into his hair without her realizing what she was doing.
Lavi's head shook and he turned to face away from her. "Devina," he sighed, "you have to stop this. You have to stop trying to break through my barriers, you need to stop trying to get too close to me,"
Devina knew this was a dream, but she couldn't help but struggle at swallowing all the bile down her throat. "Wh-what?"
"A Bookman-"
"-has no need for a heart," she interjected, "I know," she said stubbornly after he finally looked at her with mild shock. "I heard everything; everything Bookman has told you on the ship and everything you were saying when you thought no one was looking and… I saw your face, Lavi, you… care for us, for all of us. You're not heartless. You don't want to be; at least that's how it seemed to me."
"You're wrong!" Lavi gritted his teeth, taking her cheek in his hand. He was so hurt, so upset.
Devina's breaths were coming out short; they were standing so close now, and Lavi's form was bent forward so he'd be closer to her, his breaths tickling her nose. Her hand shakily traveled up his hair, a little to the left and it landed on the eye-patch covering his right eye. Her fingers slid underneath it and slowly lifted the black circular material. She could hear Lavi's breath catching, and then he gulped.
The eye-patch was off, and Devina stared mesmerized at the magnetizing case of heterochromia. She'd heard of such cases, of people born with two different eye colors, but she'd never really seen one so real, so beautiful. Lavi's green eye had a golden twin, just as sharp and piercing.
"L-lavi…"
He's a Noah, a voice said and she jerked back, not before catching a flash of hurt on Lavi's face. She pivoted, trying to confront him, but he was gone in a flash, as if he'd never been there in the first place.
Devina's head began to throb and the next thing she knew she was down on all fours, moaning in pain as her eyes forced themselves shut. Once they fluttered open and the swirling water settled, she caught her reflection in the water. Instead of her usual chocolate browns, Devina's eyes were glittering gold and her tanned skin turned into a grayish brown. She screamed.
"What the hell…" she heard herself groan as her eyes flew open. She was greeted by a pair of golden eyes and dark skin. Devina studied the face before her, not recognizing the smiling female.
The girl was petite and small, almost the same size as her. Her forehead was marked with several crosses and her hair was spiked up in every direction, purplish blue. At the sight of the new Noah, Devina's hands flew to her own face and she gulped nervously, looking around her for a mirror. It then hit her that her friends were nowhere in sight, and that she had been nearly blind and handicapped before she passed out. "What happened? Why am I not blind?"
"Ah, Tyki's right. You're absolutely stunning," the girl ignored her while she continues to study her intently. She sat across from her on a lush, blood red armchair, which was set against a wall with a small open window. The girl seemed to have been staring out of it until Devina came to, and she sat now with her arms resting on the chair's golden armrests. Her knees were perched underneath her, her thighs visible through her short frizzy miniskirt. She wore long striped knee-high pink and purple tights and a white frilly shirt underneath a black jacket.
"Oi, tell me what happened?" Devina was sitting on a similar armchair. She scanned the room with its walls adorned with various portraits of all sizes with faces she didn't recognize. There was a round black metal coffee table between the two of them and a wall shelved with a variety of books behind the Noah.
"Your Innocence saved you once again," the girl answered simply, as if it were the most obvious thing, and Devina was an idiot for not realizing that everything that's ever happened to her revolved around her Innocence.
"But… I couldn't move my body, I couldn't see…" Devina trailed, lifting up her arms to look at them. She noticed they were their normal tanned color.
"Yes, that was because your Innocence shut you down. You really overworked that tiny little body of yours but luckily your Innocence restored everything to its previous state; your sight included," the girl explained. Devina's hands rested on the armrest and she tried to stand. "I wouldn't really recommend that," Devina's knees wobbled and she ended up plopping down on the chair.
"Who are you?" Devina asked, finally facing the Noah with all seriousness. "What am I doing here?"
"I'm Road, the Noah of Dreams. You're here because Tyki brought you here," Tyki, again.
"Why did he bring me here?" she asked. She could feel the panic rising within her, and her breaths came out sharp and heavy.
Road grinned, "you still haven't awakened so you don't remember, hmm…"
Devina's teeth gritted in annoyance. What was it that she couldn't remember? The thing the Noah wanted her to remember so badly?
Devina felt so wary. She could tell this girl wasn't as nice as Tyki. There was something about the way she smiled and the dullness behind her grinning eyes that seemed… out of it. She didn't feel like questioning her any further and decided to try and hold her tongue until someone else showed up.
"Can I ask you a question?" the Noah of Dreams had moved and was now inches away from Devina.
Devina gulped, "sure?"
"Has Tyki told you yet? Has he?" she asked enthusiastically.
"Told me what?" Devina asked, incredulous, and a tad bit annoyed at the girl's childish antics.
"Road, stop pestering our guest." Tyki entered through the white door and Devina's chest swelled with relief. You dumbass. He's just as bad as she is.
"Oh, he hasn't told you? Oh, oh, this is just… Tyki, you're not being too soft with her, are you?" Tyki sent a glare in her direction, but the younger girl did not relent. "Has he not mentioned that the little tragic incident where all your friends died had actually been staged by our gracious Millennium Earl?"
Devina's world stopped. "What?"
"Road," Tyki said threateningly.
"No, what the hell is she talking about?" Devina stared up at him. He was standing to the side of the door, arms crossed, back resting against the wall. His face was unreadable and his golden eyes were slanted, memorizing every inch of the tiled floor.
"Our dear Millennium Earl sent Tyki, here, to hunt down your little friends-"
"No, they died at the hands of Talzone and Marco, I saw them there and I killed them after-"
"That's what you saw, but not what actually happened," Road interrupted.
"What the hell are you saying?" Devina stood up abruptly, her head spinning.
"Tyki ordered some Akuma to go after your friends, Talzone and Marco were there to collect their debt money but they couldn't actually kill little children, could they? The Akuma devoured your friends and you only got there to see their dust on the ground, didn't you?"
Devina was still as a statue. Her tears were blurring her vision and she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're a monster! You're a monster!" she heard herself shout and couldn't seem to stop from rushing at Tyki. She jumped at him, barely managing to wrap her hands around his neck. He caught her around the waist as she strangled him.
What the hell is wrong with him? Her hands fell and stopped at his chest; she could feel his heart beating beneath his shiny white shirt. "Why'd you stop?"
"Put me down," she demanded.
"But you want to kill me," he commented, smiling slightly.
"Why are you so dementedly contradictive? You go on a killing spree and stage my friends' death and then you pick me up to make it easier for me to kill you? What the hell is wrong with you?" she shouted. Tyki chuckled, highly amused. "Stop laughing at me!"
"I was following the Earl's orders," he answered, quietly.
Devina frowned, still hanging in midair. "You'd do anything the Earl asks you to, huh?"
His answer was immediate, his voice unflinching. "Anything,"
"Put me down, then," Devina said calmly.
Tyki met her eyes and held her gaze for a moment, "Okay," he set her gently down on her feet, and she staggered, so his hand wound around her waist to still her. "Will you sit down?"
"Okay," Devina answered glumly. "So, why did the Earl kill my friends but not me? Why doesn't he want me dead? Why don't you want me dead?" Devina questioned.
Tyki sighed, running a hand through his dark curls. "The Earl wants to isolate you," his free hand went inside his pant pocket and he picked out a cigarette pack and a matchbox. He placed the cigarette between his full lips, lit a match and connected the end of his cigarette with the fire, then he inhaled deeply. "But you lost some friends and ran off to make really annoying new ones, didn't you?" He asked, cigarette dangling between his teeth.
Devina thought for a moment. "Why does he want to isolate me?"
"Because you-"
"Road," Tyki interjected in a manner so dangerously low and authoritive, it instantly shut up the petite girl. Devina had almost forgotten she was in the room. She looked between Road and Tyki and knew Tyki was bent on keeping some secret from her.
"So, you two… are you like, what? An item?" Devina decided to beat around the bush.
Road began to cackle. "What? No, Tyki's my adoptive uncle,"
"Oh, you're really an old man, after all," Devina faked a smile and addressed it toward the Noah.
"Ahh, don't bruise my ego, I'm only twenty-six."
"Tyki," Road began, her tone solemn and completely different from her cheery cackle just seconds ago.
"What is it?" he asked, concerned.
"Skin," she answered, tears beginning to stream down her cheek. "He's dead."
Devina saw that Tyki seemed to be crying, too, and only then did she feel the wetness on her skin. She touched a hand to her cheek and realized that she, too, was crying.
Author's Note: So, I received a lovely review today, and it turned me into this determined creature who wouldn't go to bed without updating, so I hope you like the update, MusicOfMadness!