The morning sunlight shone through the windows in golden slats that washed over the faces of my siblings as I went from room to room. As I looked in on their peaceful faces, I felt my heart break. I'd be leaving them. They'd be leaving me. Our separation was suddenly so apparent, it seemed to loom like some sort of thundercloud over my head. I wasn't sure how I'd handle it. My family... they were my life. All my time and all my energies were directed towards keeping them fed, clothed, safe, and happy. If it wasn't for them...
I steered my thoughts in another direction. I had long put a roadblock up in that portion of my mind. It was too easily accessible- and it was too easy to become lost. There were all sorts of ills I could name, but as long as I could direct all my focus towards one point, one goal, I would be fine. Unfortunately for me, the main focus that had driven over five years of my life was about to disappear. I knew how all of my siblings would take the separation. After all, I knew them better than I knew myself.
Lily was self-sufficient. She could take care of herself, if she could get that scatterbrained head of hers to focus on anything for a few minutes at a time. The only thing I worried about from her is that she would watch a bird in the sky, fawn over it, and walk off a cliff as she went. However, Noise Marie would be with her, and I'm sure he'd take good care of her. He had, after all, worked with the infamous Kanda Yuu. He had to be good if he could stand that stiff, cold excuse for a human. I was going to definitely miss her sometimes stupid, sometimes scarily wise bits of advice. In fact, I'd probably starve in her absence- she was our cook, for the most part. I couldn't boil water to save my life. I could ruin ice if I ever took my hand to it.
I had no doubt that Violet would do absolutely fine without me. We were in mutual agreement that I was the oppressor, and she, the oppressed. My absence was probably equivalent to freedom. She'd be breaking out the maracas and the sombreros to call out for a fiesta. I didn't doubt that she would miss me- she just wouldn't miss me much. I trusted Allen and Lenalee enough with her; it was the two mentors that I was most worried about. Violet could get herself into all sorts of trouble. Most days, she intentionally committed some mischief, just to do something worthwhile that day. That didn't mean that she was a bad person- she just happened to succumb to boredom a lot easier than the rest of us, and her methods of relieve that boredom tended to be unorthodox and messy.
The twins- oh, the twins. Those two were like the bane of my existence and the fruit of my triumph. I loved them dearly, but if they didn't know how to push my buttons. I didn't fight with them ever.They didn't rise to bait, they always told the truth, and they never got into arguments with each other. They were just two young boys trying to have a little fun once in a while. Sixteen year olds will be sixteen year olds, I guess. They would probably take my separation as just another obstacle they could get over in a matter of days. When they were stressed, they tended to stick together and refuse to come apart. As long as they were together, they could tackle anything. It was a gift of unity that Violet, Lily, nor I could even dream of having.
And Ava.
I walked over to a chair and pulled it out, sitting down in it. My nose prickled as tears threatened to overcome me, but I swallowed them. I didn't know why it hurt so much to think that Ava was leaving with Lily, too. Perhaps it was her age. Maybe it was because I'd brought her into the world with my own hands. I'd been my mother's midwife during her very last birth, and I couldn't think of a more proud moment than when I held Ava in my arms for the first time. She'd been so small.
But the fact that I would be absent would not matter to her in the least. She would forget me, just like she forgot the mother that birthed her. The next time we'd meet, she would be a little older and a little wiser, and perhaps a bit more torn and raggedy than she was now. I would be a stranger to her.
A nose nudged my leg, and a whine sounded from next to me. I looked down at Tipsy. The dog whined again, putting a paw on my leg. I smiled at him, scratching behind his ears. The dog seemed to smile as his tongue lolled out of his mouth, his eyes closed and his head pressed against my hand. Little mooch, he was always doing this. Somehow, this stupid dog could manage to make me smile no matter what. I realized that I wasn't sure exactly how we were going to split the pests- I mean, pets between us.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and I just about fell out of my chair. I scrambled to the door, and I looked through the hole.
I nearly died right on the spot. Kanda, Allen, and Lavi were standing there in the hallway. Does no one listen to me when I speak? I said for them to wait in the lobby! I looked out of the corner of my eye at the reflection in the mirror, and I could've choked.
My hair was a complete and utter disaster. My eyes had bags under them. My clothes were rumpled, and I wasn't wearing much underneath my nightdress. I couldn't be seen like this! In a panic, I ran for the bathroom, but in the process, I managed to trip over the dog, land on my back, knock the breath out of me, and let out a choked half-scream, half-cry. I lay on the floor for several more seconds before the knocking started up again. I groaned, unwilling to get up. I wasn't surprised that nobody else woke up. Everyone in my family sleeps like they've been put six feet under.
Tip, deciding this was a good time to annoy the hell out of me, traipsed over from where he'd been laying and sat on my chest. I coughed again as his weight just about crushed my ribcage to splinters. I flailed around as he started to lick my face. So, to add to the fact I was in my nightdress and my hair was a wreck, I had a dog sitting on me and licking me to within an inch of my life.
"Eugh, get off of me!" I grunted as I shoved the dog off.
Wiping off what slobber I could, I decided that they'd have to deal with Mag the Hag and screw it if they didn't like how I looked. I threw open the door, and stared at them. As their mouths fell open, I rolled my eyes and said, "I don't normally look like this and, God help me, if you say a word, I'll shove your head in the toilet and see how long it takes you to drown."
I don't know if it was the scare-hair or the crypt-keeper get-up, but none of them said anything, not even Mr. Sourpuss. I stepped out of the doorway, and I let them in, hoping that their sense of smell had somehow been ruined by years of huffing Akuma blood.
"Shoooo wee, what died in here?"
That hope just died like a lame duck in open season.
I slapped my face, rubbing my temples in an effort to try and get a grip on my sanity. This was just a fabulous way to start the morning.
Violet poked her bedhead out of the door long enough to see Allen and squeal.
"You guys are here! That's fantastic!" Violet bounced out of her room, and it suddenly occurred to me that whenever I happened to be slumping somewhere in a stew, she was about bright-eyed and full of get-up-and-go. She stood in all her hardly-clad glory, short-shorts and all. I could see that Allen was probably at a loss for words, considering the fact that he'd never met an American before. Not that all Americans are completely crazy- just the ones that I know, which included Violet. Ne'er there was such a lass with her hair cropped shorter or her shorts hiked higher.
"So, when're we leaving? Now?" Violet asked.
I stared at her with a dubious expression. Seeing that I was less than amused, she stared at me innocently and asked, "What?"
Lily yawned out of her room, her hair in snarls.
"What's going on? Oh, you guys are he- Oh my God! I'm not dressed! Why didn't you tell me people were coming?"
I frowned and threw up my hands. Nobody listens to me!
"I did tell yo-"
"What the hell? Can't we get some slee- Holy crap, that was today wasn't it?" Sebastian said, looking at the three Exorcists with awe.
Erastus stuck his head out, peering at the three before he said, "Huh. That's new. Are these your boyfriends? I didn't think you could hook three at once."
I threw the nearest thing I could find, but he was prepared to duck. Tittering and laughing, they escaped to the sanctity of their little, snotty, stinky room. Ava was last to see what the commotion was about, and I was surprised the rest of the hotel hadn't come to see the Exorcists. I stared down at her, and she pulled on my nightie.
"What?" I asked tiredly.
Amazingly enough, I almost sounded like I was pleading. Ava reached up her hands and made grabby motions, so I picked her up. Suddenly, there was a crack in my back, and I stopped dead for a minute. That... didn't sound good. I tried to stand up straight, and found out that I couldn't. Crap. Not again.
I've had my back stuck this way several times. I don't know how I do it, or why it happens, but it always does at the worst possible time, such as when I'm carrying a heavy, forty-pound little girl and I can't bend over to put her back down. This was a problem women over sixty should experience, not eighteen-year-old sisters. I hobbled over to the couch.
"This place is-"
"Crazy?" I answered for Allen. "Yeah, I know."
I tried to pop my back into place without a lot of luck. I was stuck in a weird position with my top half leaning back.
"I was going to say busy, but..." Allen trailed off.
"Eh, if it wasn't busy, this would be boring! We need a little excitement!"
Lavi enthusiastically started to look into the rooms until Violet let out a rather indignant 'HEY! I'M CHANGING IN HERE! PERVERT!' before slamming the door right on his nose.
He stood there for a moment before turning back and saying, "She's not a morning person, is she?"
I shook my head incredulously. Violet? A morning person? That was like trying to imagine an elephant tap dancing on a tomato. It wasn't going to happen. Cheery, yes, but morning person... I started to back up towards the couch, dropping Ava on to it as she looked at me with a mournful look. I quivered under that shaking lip, and I groaned as I picked her up again. She was back to her passive, happy self, of course, but my back probably wasn't going to be realigning itself any time soon. At least it wasn't painful... yet.
"What got you guys up so late, anyways?" Allen asked with a concerned expression.
Lily poked her head out of her room, black hair a nest on top of her head as she said, "Well, I'm sure you know about the twins, and their collective idiocy-"
"Hey!"
Lily rolled her eyes and plowed straight on.
"They practically stink bombed the place, and it kept us up all night long."
I nodded in affirmation with her, carrying Ava over to the kitchen where I could put her on the counter (a place she likes and won't make a fuss about) while discreetly putting all of my vertebrae back in their right order. Kanda had yet to say anything, Lavi looked awfully fascinated with our ice chest, which seemed to be exhibiting sentience considering the mass of colorful mold that was inside of it, and Allen was trying to be polite by not covering his nose from the stench. I could already feel the humiliation I was going to get back at the Order waiting for me. Knowing Violet, she'd blow the whole thing out of proportion, but you never knew-
My back suddenly made a disgruntled popping noise, and I let out a rather high squeak. With a pained expression, I rubbed my lower back, which was currently threatening to secede from the rest of my spine. Suddenly, a shoe flew through the air, and I only had enough time to dodge it before it smashed into the wall behind me and landed on the table. Seeing that it was a boot without a heel, I knew automatically who to scream my head off at.
"SEBASTIAN! ERASTUS! WHAT HAVE I SAID ABOUT THROWING SHOES IN HOTELS?"
Both boys poked their heads out of their room and said in unison, "Our bad, Mum."
I rolled my eyes at their sarcastic and less than sincere answer. Allen's eyes were wide as dinner plates as Violet screamed in the bathroom, and Lily rushed to investigate. This was a usual morning. No doubt, Violet probably found-
"There's dog hair on my toothbrush! I'm going to kill that thing if it's the last thing I do before I die!"
-that Tip's hair gets absolutely everywhere. This is the reason why I keep my toothbrush in my bag where it's completely hair free.
Kanda raised an eyebrow as Lily ran out of her room in nothing but a towel. She brushed her hair out of her face and ran up to me, rambling, "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod-!"
Slapping a hand to my forehead, I kneaded the bridge of my nose as I groaned, "Spit it out, Lils, I'm sort of busy at the moment."
She finally took a breath and whispered conspiratorially, "There's a man next door, and he keeps looking over at our window! I'm serious, it's really creepy!"
I frowned, attempting to bend over and put Ava down, but apparently my lumbar vertebrae were still having Congress with the rest of me, considering it couldn't agree on whether it wanted to bend or not. I handed off Ava with a sigh, not even looking to the lucky recipient, and I rushed off to see what exactly she was talking about.
As I passed by the three guys standing awkwardly in the main living room, I told them, "Sit down, make yourselves at home. Of course, whatever you do, don't feed Tip anything out of the ice chest, no matter how clean it looks. Be careful with the parrot, he likes to bite, and if he swears at you, try to top him. It might just shut him up. And the cat loves to play with hair, so you might want to, um..." I motioned to Kanda to put his hair where it wouldn't end up shredded.
I walked into the bathroom where a small window with a curtain stood. As usual with our luck, we happened to get the only bathroom with a window facing the shower. Thai bathrooms most usually have a window above the shower rather than below it for one simple reason- privacy. We apparently didn't need it because we were teenagers who liked to show everything - mostly because of something Violet whispered under her breath discreetly (in her mind) about the receptionist's lazy eye. I've learned two things about hotels in the past few years: Always bring your own water and don't insult your receptionist. She has yet to understand these two pearls of wisdom.
I looked out the bathroom window to the street across where there was a little shop with an upstairs floor. I looked for the aforementioned man, but didn't find anything other than a-
I stopped dead in my tracks and felt myself deflate like a balloon.
"Lily! Get over here!"
The girl came flopping into the bathroom, towel and all, as I pointed out the window across the street. It was a street window, one that everyone could see from ground level. Lily's eyes widened as she started to point furiously and say, "That's him! That's the guy who keeps staring at me!"
I looked behind her and said, "Yeah, uh huh. You know what that is Lils?"
Lily frowned, obviously confused now.
"It's a mannequin.A mannequin. It's not watching you, stupid, it's made of wood and plaster."
Lily, taking offense, bristled and huffed, turning her back to me.
She retorted, "Hey, it was an honest mistake! Sheesh."
She stomped out of the bathroom, and I just leaned on the counter waiting for her.
Lily rushed in and grabbed her clothes as well as the rest of her beauty kit before scurrying off to her room.
This was my life, ordered chaos. I turned to look behind me at the window, and suddenly my back seemed to agree that it was better if it was in a straight line rather than a bunch of different sections. It cracked, and I let out a sigh of relief as I realized that I could actually move without looking like some creepy artist's modelling doll. As I walked out, though, I noticed something on the ceiling of the bathroom. My shoulders drooped as I realized that this was probably some graffiti Violet had inscribed on the wall. She called it 'art.' I called it 'vandalism-fees-waiting-to-happen.' Taking a rag, I stood on the edge of the tub as I started to scrub the ceiling of ink. I leaned a bit more forwards to get at a tough spot...
Suddenly, air was under my feet, and there was a bright flashing pain above my eyebrow, and the world turned absurdly dark.
When I woke up, everyone was leaning over me, and I frowned. My head felt as if someone had done a bit of demolition work using pickaxes and dynamite inside of my skull. My back gave the impression of being twisted into a pretzel. And I was pretty sure I broke my pinkie, considering it was on fire from the pain radiating off of it.
Lavi held up three fingers and said, "Okay, Mag, how many fingers?"
I focused for a minute as they sort of swirled around, and I answered in a bit of a groggy tone, "Three."
Everyone let go of a breath, and I scanned the faces around me. Sitting up slowly, I winced as my back cracked loudly.
"Hey, hey, not so fast," Lavi said.
Allen came by with a glass of water, but I refused it considering the fact that I'd had enough to do with this place's water treatment.
Violet gushed out, "Man, I don't know how you did it, but that was awesome!"
The twins smiled and high-fived her.
Lily smiled and said, "Yeah, we thought you were dead for a minute. I didn't know it was possible to bend a shower rod that way..."
I frowned. Wait, what? Ava suddenly came by and hung on my arm, looking at me with her soulful big eyes. She blinked once, and I looked up at the rest of them.
"Okay, someone had better explain this to me. What about a shower rod?"
Lavi scratched the back of his head as he said, "Well, you see, you sort of slipped in the bathroom-"
"You grabbed the shower rod, cracked your head on a wall, pulled the shower rod down and got your leg snagged on it-" Violet input, numbering everything off on her fingers. With every detail, I could feel my face go slack with mortification. "-bent the rod, pulled down several other shower products, scratch up the wall, take out the window with a shoe-" That explains why my left foot felt curiously different from my right. "-and bled all over the wall."
I stared in disbelief. There was a period of silence as Violet smiled as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with me smashing my head in a shower and breaking a window.
". . . what?"
This time, I did sit up, and it didn't take long for me to figure out that was a bad idea. My eyes suddenly processed the image of a polar bear in a snowstorm instead of a hotel room. I swallowed as nausea rolled around in my stomach, and I tried my hardest not to throw up. This was definitely putting a dent in my day. I stumbled to the bathroom, but, somehow, my entire family managed to gravitate to the bathroom door before I could get there. They had that look on their face that made me think of the time they accidentally dyed Tip blue. My eye twitched as they shook their heads with that stricken look, and I palmed my face.
"Is it really that bad?" I asked.
All of them looked at each other, and they nodded all at the same time. Even the dog nodded.
The parrot flew in and landed on Erastus' shoulder and squawked, "Krawk, she's gonna die. Krawk, lotsa blood. Krawk, damage bill!"
He couldn't have said it better. I went back and sat down, the rest of my family dispersing to go to different locations to go and get their bags. Mine was already packed and ready to go, but then again, I always had my bag packed. During one of the rare missions where I was split from my family, I ended up rooming with a pyromaniac in a hotel. I learned the hard way to always wear socks while sleeping, keep your bag next to your bed fully packed, and never, ever, ever leave out matches where someone can play with them. Luckily, Komui footed that bill, seeing as the entire thing was in cinders by the end of the night. I didn't think that'd happen here, considering the humidity, amazing amount of rain, and lack of candles, but knowing my luck...
After cleaning up my head and checking if I had a concussion, we left the hotel room. It didn't seem like there were going to be any mishaps. True, there was a pretty big bill for the missing bottles of champagne (Violet's doing), and I had a gratuitous amount of glaring from the receptionist with his lazy eye (also Violet's doing), but all in all, this was a particularly uneventful trip.
I shook my head as I went outside, getting slightly dizzy as the humidity slammed me in the face like a dead fish. Lavi sighed happily, and I stared at him, along with Lily. Both her and my hair had exploded almost the minute we stepped outside. We were several inches taller now that our hair added to our height. As we called a rickshaw, I noticed that Allen looked especially tense.
"Hey... Allen, what's wrong? You look kind of..." Violet searched for the word, biting her lip in concentration.
Sebastian finished for her. "Jumpy?"
"Hey, shut up! I was getting to that!"
"It's not my fault you have the processing power of a turtle."
"I do not have the processing power of a turtle."
"Do too."
"Do not."
"Do too."
"Do not."
"Do-"
Allen sighed and said, "I think they forgot what their original question was."
He must've meant to say it under his breath, but Violet ,with her amazing ability to hear anything that pertains to herself, managed to catch it. She cocked her head to the side sweetly, shoving Sebastian over his bag.
"Ouch! That hurt, you little-"
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" I asked quickly.
I kept an ear out, seeing as I knew that Allen had the innate ability to sense Akuma coming near. I'd witnessed it firsthand, and it was... well, pretty strange. Though strange is something I've long gotten used to, it still never failed to surprise me whenever I heard that high-pitched whining sound and a gasp. Though Kanda was looking off, probably watching for our rickshaw, I could see that he was listening, too. Lavi was too busy talking to a vendor about some sweets, and Ava was playing with Parley. Mr. Fluffins twitched his tail back and forth, eyeing the sky with intent. Tip was nosing around in the garbage, but suddenly his ears perked up out of nowhere, and he stood at attention, completely tense. I could almost feel the air get thicker.
"I... I don't know, it just... This place kind of doesn't feel right," Allen said, looking around nervously.
I understood what he meant. The tension here was building, and senior Exorcists were able to feel the calm before the storm. My siblings were all new, junior Exorcists who'd been on a grand total of two missions, while I'd been on five or six. True, I'd dragged them along with me, but nevertheless...
Kanda put a hand on his sword's hilt, and I noticed it. My own hands were itching at the wire coiled at my waist.
Allen's eye suddenly reacted, and he said, "There are probably two to the left, one to the right, three behind the building. That's usually how they do things. With such a big group of us, they won't miss out on where we're at."
Lavi, finally back with several bags of different Thai candies and jelly desserts noticed just how uptight we were being, but he had already been on guard, too. He was holding everything in his left hand, his right dangling near the holster where he kept his hammer.
"Lily, Violet, you know what I want you to do. Guard Ava if you can, team up and run otherwise. Sebastian, Erastus-"
"Gotcha, Mum," they said in unison.
They figured they'd go with our normal plan, too, which was divide and conquer. With the help of three senior Exorcists, this shouldn't be too difficult, but I still felt the hair on my arms stand up in apprehension. Tip, Mr. Fluffins, and Parley had all run off already, falling into routine whenever they felt that the air was about to abruptly become full of metal and blood. They didn't like to be around, and we didn't like them underfoot anyways. I swallowed thickly, and Allen said, "Now there are twenty. Six to the left, five to the right, four to the front, and five coming from behind." The street kept bustling with activity, elephants carrying loads while rickshaws attached to bikes ran up and down the street. Vendors continued to hawk their goods, oblivious to the fight that was about to fill up the avenue.
Everything exploded in a rush of dust. I could hear the snick sound of a gun cocking back as they took turns firing. I ducked into the building, screaming as I went. Sebastian and Erastus were long gone, having run off for the rooftops where the air was clearer. It was less dangerous for the rest of us. Both twins usually gassed out most of the airborn Akuma above us, but their abilities affected humans as much as Akuma.
Ava was already weaving in and out of the dust.. Lily was nowhere to be seen, and Violet was already gone. I headed back out into the street, muttering curses under my breath as I looked left, then right, then-
I ducked a hail of bullets, one of them nearly racing across my head as I hit the pavement. I tried to untangle Wire from my belt, but it wasn't coming free. Who knew that my fumble fingers would probably kill me? I managed to get it free, and I muttered, "Come on, come on, come on, this would be a nice time to activate right now..."
I could see the Akuma now. Most of them were Level Ones, which were basically small fries. There were probably three Level Twos out of the entire bunch, and Lavi, Allen, and Kanda were already dealing with them. Something flew over my head, and I saw Ava streaking down the street on wings of gossamer. Her skin was shiny green from the tiny scales that covered her body, and her eyes were an intense yellow. She hovered for a minute, looking for me, before suddenly breathing fire at an Akuma. I ducked as it singed my hair, and I deadpanned.
"AVA! CAREFUL!"
The little girl shrugged before ducking away, dodging bullets. Despite the strange image, I'd gotten used to it.
My sanity is in jeopardy.
I whipped out Wire, the length of it cascading out as I whipped its length around in a circle, cutting Akuma like cheese. Pieces of guns and metal fell away around me, and I ducked. The metal whip was hair-thin and near invisible, which was a bit of a problem considering I couldn't see it either.
I ran out from under the raining pieces as an Akuma above me started firing on its comrades, a small music note glowing on the back of it. I could see Lily far off, playing her flute and controlling the Akuma from afar. Violet was busy skating across surfaces, her skates gleaming solid black and electric blue as she raced past, whipping my hair into a frenzy around my head. She cut apart several with the razor edge of her skates, but she clumsily fell over, rolling in the dirt. I felt my heart fly up in my throat as Akuma frenzied around her, but Lavi was already covering her with his massive hammer.
I gulped as I stared at the thing. It was immense. I could only really process one thing about it- something that big shouldn't be able to move that fast. Ever.
"Heads up, Mag!"
I just barely missed being turned into Swiss cheese as I snapped Wire around again. Luckily, they basically missed me. These Akuma had some pretty bad aim, which was surprising. Then again...
I looked up to see that there was a strange cloud of gray-purple hanging around, and the Akuma were lazily smashing into each other. I watched in dull horror as one of them actually giggled and started to twirl like a ballerina. I stared at the twins, who were hopping from rooftop to rooftop.
I shouted at them, "What did you do?"
The twins looked down at me, and one of them smiled as they high fived each other.
"Nothin'!"
"Oh, yeah, ri-"
"HEADS UP, MAG!"
I ducked underneath another barrage of metal, pavement, and various other things I didn't think I wanted to know about. The battlefield was moving towards the wharfs (which was oddly convenient), and Violet whizzed past me again, skidding to a stop almost five feet away. She made a face and shouted, "Damn it, almost had it!"
I glared at her and shouted back, "Language, young lady!" Violet looked up and blinked in surprise, before going 'oh!' and skidding off on her skates.
"Hey, Mag, what was that about keeping your eyes peeled again?" Sebastian (or Erastus, I couldn't tell) said from the rooftops, and I winced in chagrin. I'd tried to beat that into them, to be attentive, but I couldn't say that I did too well in that area either. I was too easily distracted by flying debris, dead bodies, and dust in my eyes. I whipped Wire around me again, creating a swirling tornado of metal. I heard laughing as my brothers went around swinging their Censers and letting loose their noxious fumes (from both hind end and Innocence, knowing them). I rolled my eyes as I heard the distinctive noise of flatulence.
"Ha! Your brothers are a riot, Mag," Lavi said cheerfully as he blocked a barrage of bullets with his hammer. I nearly stumbled to the side as he seemed to magically pop up next to me.
My eye twitched, and I stuttered, "D-don't do th-that!"
Suddenly, I was dive bombed by a three year old, and I had to duck as she lay waste to the street. I opened my eyes cautiously, the smell of burning hair in my nose. I touched my eyebrows... and they fell into powder at my fingertips. The twitch in my eye was getting worse.
"AVA!"
Lavi laughed at me, which was followed by a yelp as I whipped him in the butt. Somehow I actually hit my target without snapping myself in the process. I was proud, for at least a moment. That was, of course, before another wave of Akuma engulfed the street with their mayhem, screeching, and overall terror-mongering. Not my best day ever, of course, but a girl had to do what a girl had to do.
We made pretty short work of them, surprisingly. Yes, there were a few close scrapes- Violet just about fell off the roof of a building, and Lily's hair nearly caught fire because Ava's aim wasn't exactly the best. The twins, as always, got into trouble together by accidentally wrapping themselves up in the chains from their Innocence, and then getting tangled together and falling into a trashcan headfirst. Kanda lost about a quarter of his hair. He wasn't happy about that. Lavi... didn't suffer anything at all, other than maybe a bruise on his hind end considering me and my vengeful tactics. Lucky. Allen came out none the worse for wear except maybe a new perspective on the dauntless young woman he would now have to help monitor and teach.
At the very least, we were not covered in green slime that smelled slightly like funky shoes, rotten eggs, and oregano. It's happened before. The only person I have to blame is Violet, because she had the yen to attempt drowning an Akuma in a vat of rotten tomato sauce. That was the last time I let her plan a method of attack.
"Where's Mr. Fluffins?" Lily moaned. "Where did my baby go? Ohmigodohmigodohmigod, he was killed, and now he's in the rubble somewhere - we have to go find him, AND-"
Violet delivered a sharp slap to Lily's face as she went into histrionics. Normal routine for our family. She did this every time the cat disappeared.
"Calm down, idiot, he's fine like always. See, there he is now," Violet said calmly, as emotional as a teaspoon. The cat sauntered over and rubbed her leg, no doubt shedding black and white fur all over her pants. Lily snatched him up and rubbed her face in his fur while making baby words and cooing noises, to which Violet made a face. She was more of a dog person. Kanda only let out a 'tch' while the rest of the vendors ventured out onto the streets again cautiously, no doubt wondering if that was the most exciting thing they'd see that day. They probably thought they could live with a little less excitement, because the Akuma happened to be scaring off customers.
"Here, could I have about seventy of those?" Allen's voice piped up from behind me, going to one of the coconut dessert carts. The guy looked like he'd just won the lotto, became the king of England, and received a free trip around the world.
So maybe business was better than usual. Exorcists happened to get pretty hungry after a fight.
I rubbed the sweat off my forehead, the dirt already soaking into my pores. No doubt, my hair was a massive cloud around my head. My face would break out tomorrow. I probably forgot to bring underwear with me on this trip. But hey, that didn't matter, considering I was alive and in one piece. Ava played in the dirt, clapping her hands and making dust clouds. She promptly lit them on fire, and I made a disapproving noise at her. She looked up at me innocently, and I lifted an eyebrow menacingly. She rolled her eyes and crossed her pudgy little arms. I've got to stop leaving her with Violet.
"Are we ready to go yet?" Sebastian asked. Erastus whined, "Yeah, it's hot, and I wanna go to the boats already."
"There are supposed to be smokin' babes on Phuket!"
"Yeah, dude, seriously. Like, smokin' so bad, the fire department's on call because of them."
At this mention, Lavi's eyes lit up, and I couldn't help but deadpan. Boys will be boys, I guess.
An hour later, we were all piled onto the ferry, sharing it with about a dozen other people trying to get to the island. Only thirty minutes into the journey, I'd already thrown up twice. I hadn't even eaten anything.
"Is she always like this on boat trips?" Lavi whispered to Erastus. Yeah, like I couldn't hear him two feet to my left.
"Uh, yeah, actually. She can't stand boat trips. They make her woozy. It goes away after a few days, but she throws up for the first day or two."
"Oh, really? Our first mission happens to be on a boat trip, actually."
Oh, joy.
