God's Lyricist (DGM x OC)

by Grace-chan101

Whatever

2. Meet and Greet

Grace faintly noticed that Lavi had left them, but decided to say nothing. She stopped with Allen at a door as he politely knocked on it.
The door was soon opened by a girl. She was slightly taller than Allen, and wore glittering red heels with matching hoops around her ankles. Her eyes were a deep purple, and she had emerald hair pulled up in ribbons.
She was beautiful.
She and Allen exchanged a smile.
"Welcome back, Allen," she said. Her eyes turned to Grace.
"And you must be the Accomodator he was sent to find. I'm Lenalee, Chief Komui's assistant. It's nice to meet you."
Grace glanced at Allen, who nodded encouragingly. The girl hesitantly took Lenalee's offered hand.
"Grace Blüdhaven. Allen told me about you."
The girls shook hands, and Lenalee stepped aside to allow them to enter.
Lenalee faintly noticed how Grace moved closer to Allen as they took their seats on the couch. Timcanpy curled up onto the girl's lap, nipping Grace's fingertips affectionately as she cupped his round golden face.
Allen and Grace watched as Lenalee retreated into the next room, supposedly to wake her slumbering older brother.
The Crown Clown placed his hand over Grace's fidgeting ones.
"It's okay if you're nervous. Komui is a pretty...eccentric guy. But you can trust him, I promise."
She smiled weakly, though she didn't look very reassured.
"He's a lot more likeable than Master," Allen supplied amusedly.
This earned him a smile and a soft laugh.
She grasped Allen's hand, relaxing ever so slightly.
Lenalee returned, trying to support a slumped over man.
"Come on, brother, I know you're tired, but you need to stand up! You're too heavy!" Lenalee said.
Without thinking, Grace allowed her Innocence to thrum to life within her throat.
"Wake up," she urged softly.
As if doused in cold water, Komui stood straight, eyes wide and devoid of any traces of drowsiness.
Lenalee backed up reflexively, staring at her brother in alarm.
Komui sat in his office chair, appearing rather shaken himself.
"What just happened?" He asked.
Grace's hand flew to her throat.
"O-oh! Forgive me, I-" she cut herself off, shrinking in shame.
Allen watched her for a moment, his eyes questioning.
"How long have you been able to do that?" He gently inquired.
"Do...what?" Lenalee asked.
Grace briefly glanced at the Chinese girl, then back at Allen.
"How do you think I managed to stop your sword wielding colleague from brutally decapitating me?" She said, more to Allen than to the brother and sister.
Komui sat up straight, his eyes sharp.
"Kanda did what?" He exclaimed, annoyance rising.
Grace laughed sheepishly.
"Oh, no, it's fine. I'm used to it." She paused.
"But if you want an answer, the only reason why he didn't lob off my head is because I told him not to."
Komui rested his chin in his hands.
"So, if I'm hearing this correctly, you have the ability to control people's minds?"
She shook her head.
"Not exactly. I can command them to do things, but it is only effective for a limited amount of time. For example, I gave you the command to wake up, Chief Komui. My power has temporarily made you think you are not tired in the slightest, but, sooner or later, it'll wear off and your exhaustion will return."
"That's... incredible," Lenalee murmured.
Grace shrugged dismissively.
"It has its uses. However, it is harder to use on Akuma and the Noah, as Akumas have an artificial will and Noahs are...fickle creatures."
Komui walked over to take her hand gently.
"It is a wonderful gift, at any rate. Is it alright if I perform some tests on your Innocence? They would be perfectly safe. And, at your soonest convenience, of course."
She turned to Allen. He nodded calmly.
"Allen can be right next to you, if you'd prefer."
Grace hesitated, then nodded.
"Okay. Just the tests I'm okay with."
The scientist smiled.
"Of course. Now, you should go off to bed. Unfortunately, we weren't expecting you so soon, so I digress that there isn't a room set up for you right now."
"She can share with me," Allen offered. "I just hope Link will like you."
"Link...?" Grace repeated, confused.
"Very well. Good night."
They turned to leave. Komui reached out to place a light hand on Grace's shoulder.
"Welcome to the Order, by the way. We're glad you could join us."
She smiled shyly.
"Thank you. The spell will wear off very soon. I think you should rest too."
He chuckled.
"I'll keep that in mind."

Meanwhile, Lavi had located his mentor.
"You're back," Bookman stated.
He nodded.
"Old man, I was wondering if you could help me with a side project."
Bookman frowned.
"Side project," he repeated slowly.
Lavi hummed.
"The Accommodator Allen and I were sent to find? Turns out they've got history with Allen. Childhood history."
Bookman set down the pen in his hand.
"Go on."
"Her name's Grace Blüdhaven, a half-pint of a girl around Allen's age. From what I gather, she trained under General Cross too. Her Innocence is pretty powerful too, I'm not gonna lie. Makes sense how she caught the General's eye."
Bookman eyed his apprentice.
"I take it that there's a catch to this story?"
Lavi stared at the ground, deep in thought.
"There's no records whatsoever on this girl. She's a blank page in the Order's eyes. And yet, Allen acts around her as if they were brother and sister."
"So he knows her more than he appears to. Allen Walker has his secrets, you know that."
Lavi sighed, lacing his arms behind his head.
"Yeah. It's just a bit weird how he's never mentioned her before. The General never piped up either. Odd, right?"
Bookman scoffed.
"If I allow you to investigate, will you stop rambling?"
The junior Bookman grinned.
"That's all I needed to hear."

Grace followed Allen through the halls once more.
They entered a room, one with two beds on each wall.
A fair-haired man not much younger than the Chief sat upon one of them, thumbing through a small book.
"Hey, Link," Allen greeted.
The man looked up, his expression that of barely concealed annoyance.
"Walker. You know that you aren't allowed to go missions unsupervised."
Allen rolled his eyes.
"Well, I wasn't about to waste an hour trying to wake you up, sleeping beauty."
Link closed his book with an irritable snap. He opened his mouth to retort, but closed it, the anger dissipating from his face as he noticed Grace.
"And you are...?"
Grace straightened.
"My name is Grace Blüdhaven. I'm the one Allen was sent out to find."
Link stood, and bowed slightly.
"Forgive me if I came off a bit hostile. I'm Howard Link, acting supervisor of Allen Walker."
Her eyebrow rose.
"Supervisor?"
She frowned.
"Allen..." the girl began slowly. He recoiled, sensing the anger in her voice.
"When were you going to tell me that Neah came into the picture?"
Allen stuttered, unable to form an answer. Grace looked away sadly.
"I see that your secret-keeping tendencies haven't gone away," she said quietly.
"Neah?" Link repeated, puzzled.
She sat down on the armchair in their room, hugging her arms.
"The Fourteenth, the Pianist, whatever you want to call him, the Noah who is inside Allen has an actual name: Neah Campbell. My Master told me this a long time ago."
Grace glanced at the Crown Clown apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Allen. Master made me swear that I'd keep it a secret. I've known all this time."
She could tell that Allen was mad, but whom at was another matter entirely.
He smiled.
"It's alright. If Master made you do it then I can't really complain."
Allen walked over to his dresser and fished out a bundle of clothes. He handed them to her.
"C'mon. It's late, and you should get to bed. You can borrow some of my clothes for the night."
Grace took the bundle with a slight nod. She went into the adjacent bathroom and closed the door.
Link faced Allen, arms crossed.
"You two appear to be very close. How do you know her?"
Allen sat on the edge of his bed with a heavy sigh.
"She was also an apprentice of my Master. I've known her ever since we were kids."
The Crow's eyebrows rose.
"If that is true, then how is it Cross Marian never mentioned her? Why are there no official records of her?" The Crown Clown shrugged dejectedly.
"How should I know? Everyone knows that that worthless Master of mine keeps his secrets closer than his habits."
Link sat on his own bed.
"She seems to have a few secrets of her own. What else can you tell me about her, Allen?"
Grace opened the door. She was now dressed in one of Allen's tank tops and sweatpants, an outfit that hung a bit loosely on her slight frame. However, the getup distinctly showed the muscles under her fair skin.
"For starters, Allen can tell you that I am perfectly capable of speaking for myself,Link."
She took a seat next to Allen.
"Master didn't talk about me to any of your people because I specifically told him not to. For the few times I got sick, and when Allen called a doctor, I made sure that they'd never make any records of me. I told them to forget me as soon as I was well again."
Link sat quietly, motionless and stunned.
"I've been keeping under the Order's radar for years, training myself when my Master was absent. All of this to avoid the Earl and his crazy family. I destroyed as little Akuma as possible, and avoided people as much as possible."
Allen appeared distressed by her tale.
She dismissively waved the story away.
"On another note, everyone keeps telling me to go to bed, so..." Allen nodded dazedly. She awkwardly slid beneath the covers and turned away from them. Allen followed suit, smiling at Link's suspicious glare.
"Calm down. She's a good friend, like a sister. Believe me, she could kill me if I did anything."
"You got that right," Grace murmured sleepily.
Link exhaled shortly, not convinced in the slightest.
And with that, the Crow and the two exorcists turned in for the evening.

Meanwhile, Komui say in his office, finding it much easier to work thanks to Grace's ability.
He heard the door open. Kanda strode in, clearly unhappy.
"What?" He asked.
Komui offered him a terse smile.
"You know exactly why I summoned you here, Kanda"
A moment of silence.
So far so good, Komui thought dryly.
"What exactly did she do that made it necessary to put Mugen at her throat?" The Chief inquired calmly.
Kanda crossed his arms, refusing to reply.
The Chief smiled knowingly.
"Reflex? She caught you off guard and you reacted?"
"Shut up."
Komui suppressed the urge to laugh. He leaned back in his chair.
"Her name is Grace," Komui said thoughtfully.
"I know it isn't in your best interest, but it might do you well to apologize to the poor girl. You know, for nearly killing her."
Kanda scoffed and turned on his heel, muttering a few colorful curses as he stalked out of the office.
Komui watched the exorcist, a bemused smile playing at his lips.
"Intriguing," he thought aloud, and collapsed on his desk, sound asleep.

Grace was the first to rise the following morning. She shook off her lingering drowsiness, and glanced down at Allen.
He looked rather peaceful; as peaceful as one could be with the threat of a Noah possessing them.
She smiled sadly, brushing his messy white bangs aside affectionately. He'd grown his hair out; longer than she'd seen him with, but a look that suited him nonetheless.
She nimbly hopped over him and onto the floor.
The Crow had not risen yet. She darted into the bathroom and showered quickly. With a final glance at Allen, Grace snuck out of the room.
She wore more of Allen's clothes; this time, it was a simple t-shirt and shorts.
She ventured into the seemingly endless corridors, faintly recalling the path they'd taken the night before. Allen had said that there was a large dining hall somewhere...
She heard footsteps.
A tall, pale man with a large shock of white hair on his temple approached her. The rest of his hair was dark, and drawn back in a neat ponytail. She could see his canines poking out like ivory daggers.
He noticed her at last. Grace shrunk under his eyes, his brow wrinkling in confusion.
"You smell like Allen," he noted.
She flushed darkly.
"Y-yes. I am...um...wearing his clothes. That's...why."
Grace stuttered embarrassedly as his eyebrows rose.
"I-it's not like that! I didn't have anything else to wear, and we're around the same size, and he's been my best friend since we were kids and-ignore me please."
She ducked into the collar of the borrowed shirt, mortified.
"Forgive me, young lady. I didn't mean to embarrass you."
Grace peeked at the man from between her fingers.
He looked just as awkward as she felt.
Slowly, Grace uncovered her face and offered her hand to him.
"I'm Grace, by the way. Grace Blüdhaven. I am an exorcist."
He stared at her hand, bewildered. Slowly, gently, he took it.
"Count Arystar Krory the third. Most here seem to have taken to calling me Krory."
Grace smiled weakly.
"I've never gotten to meet a Count before. I'm not really one for formalities, so you can just call me Grace."
The Count smiled.
"Alright. Say, why don't you come have breakfast with us?"
She found herself being ushered along by his hand politely placed at her shoulder.
"Us...?"
They entered a massive space of a dining hall. Finders were scattered around the room, and made up a majority of the population of the place.
Black-clad exorcists gathered around a singular table. They varied in age, though most seemed to be in their youth to mid-adulthood.
Lavi ran up to them, grinning widely.
"Allen's clothes, huh? That's quite a look, half-pint!"
Grace's eye twitched.
Allen had told her about this.
Every exorcist seemed to have been dubbed with a specific nickname.
She pouted.
"That's not my name, Junior."
He cringed at her withering glare.
"P-point made. Well, g'morning anyhow. Where's Al and the Crow?"
"The dead sleep lighter than those two do."
He laughed.
"Good. You have a sense of humor. For a second, I thought we'd be given another Yuu."
She sombered at the mention of the cranky swordsman.
"Aw, don't get so down about what happened. Yuu's just really, really bad with people. It wasn't personal."
"You mind repeating that, stupid rabbit?"
Grace spun to find Kanda himself suddenly standing behind them, threateningly tapping his sheathed sword against the back of his shoulder.
Lavi chuckled nervously.
"H-hey, didn't see you come in, Yuu!"
Kanda scowled, but didn't reply. His icy blue eyes turned to Grace.
She faced him, trying to steel her nerve in order to keep their eyes locked.
"W-what now? Are you going to lob off my head for real this time?"
His grip tightened on the sword.
"Geez. Stop being so dramatic," he grumbled. He relaxed slightly.
"Look. That sister complex of a chief is on my case. He's a persistent bastard, I'll give him that."
Grace crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
"Is there a point to this?" She demanded.
"The Chief said I have to apologize, okay?!"
She stared at him, stunned.
"And are you? Are you...apologizing?"
The hall had gone deathly quiet.
He was silent.
But Kanda didn't deny it.
Grace blinked owlishly.
"Okay. Well, then I'm sorry I used my Innocence on you. Is that fair?"
Kanda huffed and strode past her.
"Fine. Whatever."
She nodded and followed him to acquire her own breakfast.
Conversation hesitantly resumed. Grace stood alongside Kanda. She was tense; what was supposed to happen now?
The cook, Jerry, appeared, and handed him a box with a knowing smile at Kanda.
"Here's the usual. Enjoy!"
Kanda inclined his head to the cook and left.
Grace jumped as Jerry grinned at her from behind his glasses.
"So you're the newest addition! Grace, was it? Goodness, you're even cuter than Allen said!"
Grace blushed.
"Th-thank you," she replied meekly, and quietly gave him her order.
Grace held her tray, facing the tables uneasily.
Lavi waved to her with an encouraging grin. She slowly made her way to him, sitting next to the red haired Bookman.
She was surrounded by the other exorcists. A young boy with electric blue hair came to her side, beaming up at her.
"I can't believe you stood up to Kanda!" He exclaimed.
"This is Timothy," Lavi offered. "He joined us not too long ago."
Grace smiled weakly.
"It's nice to meet you. I like your gem."
The boy's grin grew impossibly wider. "You really don't think it's weird?"
She shook her head. "I was born with tattoos and Innocence in my throat. I can't really judge what's weird." She tugged down the shirt collar in the back, allowing her tattoos to peek out.
"What do they do?" He asked, breathlessly intrigued.
She smiled and stood. Jumping high, she soumersaulted in the air and stayed airborne as her wings formed and held her weight. Timothy's jaw dropped.
"You can fly?!" He exclaimed. Shouts of surprise and turned heads gazed up at the girl in awe.
"It seems she can," Krory confirmed bemusedly.
Grace hovered, trying to answer the bombardment of questions led by Timothy.
"What else can you do? Was it hard, learning how to fly? How high can you go?"
Grace smiled weakly.
"The flying is an...accessory, if you will, to my actual Innocence. It was hard to fly at first. I had to watch birds a lot to be able to will my own wings to work and keep me from falling. As for how high I can go, I'm not sure."
She stared at her hands.
"If I am being honest, there are things that I can do that I don't quite understand how I can do them."
Lavi watched her curiously, faintly noticing the dark, hallow, fearful look she'd gained in her eyes.
As a Bookman, Lavi had learned to school his expressions, the manner in which he observed the world around him, and, in this case, making deductions about the subtlest, simplest tics in humans.
Grace had presented herself to the redhead as an oddity, an enigma, a puzzle for him to piece together. She intrigued him much like Allen did.
But there was something else; something Lavi couldn't quite categorize no matter how much his cunning mind tried.
Well, that was the point of a puzzle, right? To find the answer, to uncover the picture that the puzzle was intended to create?
At any rate, Lavi knew that he liked her; and in what sense was something he needed to find out.
Thus began Lavi's plight to understand Grace, a girl with the voice of a goddess, the fragility of a glass statuette, and the mystique of an uncharted galaxy.