So sorry! This chapter is so short compared to others, I feel so bad... *cries anime tears*
Answer: I've got one vote for Magi (awesome, I've got to admit) and one for another D. Gray-Man! And yes, yes I am willing to write another *hides the nine or ten other D. Gray-Man fic in the back with an angelic smile*
Also, thank you CherryTree230, I'm glad you like it so much!
Enjoy!
A week passed without anything more. Krory had recovered from his injuries, his right palm now carved in the same fashion as Lenalee's, and it had been decided that the two wouldn't leave the Ark until further advance in our quest. Seeing as the Noahs might very well be hiding in the shadows, just waiting to grab them, it would have been unwise to send them outside.
However, as said sooner, a week had passed since we came back. A week without any memory or even some sort of instinct to guide our next step.
Which annoyed me greatly.
It'll come, Ary. You just have to be patient.
Is it because you built back some of the barriers?
No. The ones Wisely brought down were created by the memory-spell and therefore only blocked the memories. The ones I lifted are protecting all of your mind, yet aren't as strong.
I sighed, playing with my food. I had quickly found back my appetite, but I wasn't in the mood right now.
I gazed around. I could tell that, despite everyone's cheery faces, they were wary too.
Tense, insecure, waiting for the next sign.
We had already faced the most dangerous jungle in the world and the hottest desert on the planet. What would come next?
"So, how're you feeling, sweetie? Not to your liking?" Jeryy popped in with a frown.
"It's delicious as always" I assured with a slight smile. "I'm just a little tired, that's all"
"Then get back your strength!" he replied, posing another bowl of porridge before me. "Eating it the solution to all of your problems, no matter what people say!"
I chuckled, and dig in despite the twisting of my stomach.
"You're right. Thanks, Gusto"
"Any time, Ary-chan!" he beamed at me.
With that, he went back to the kitchen. As soon as he turned his back, though, I eclipsed myself from the dinning hall and decided to take a turn to the library.
When I got there, Tewaku was already deep in The Complete Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen.
"Hey"
She hummed quietly in greeting, turning a page, deep in her lecture. I smiled a little, before heading for the shelves. The first time we came here, I wanted to explore the place, but Jasdevi popped in and I never had the chance after that.
"Have you tried The Three Musketeers?" she asked, never looking away from her book.
"Yeah, it was a good one, but I preferred Oliver Twist" I answered. "Anything else to recommend?"
"The Time Machine by H.G Wells" she replied without missing a beat.
Knowing I'd only find it on the higher shelves, I climbed the ladder not far from there before searching for the author.
"H.G… H.G…" I searched for the name. "Ah! Got-"
::
It was cold.
I couldn't make out the sun through the snow storm.
The wind was getting wild, pushing me around like some sort of ragdoll as I struggled to keep my balance on the ice surface. Pulling higher my collar to cover my red nose, I leaned on the stick I had found sooner and gazed at the road ahead of me.
Rare were those who tried this difficult task, but I was determined.
For a moment, the wind died down, revealing the mountain I was heading for. The top was still hidden, though, and all disappeared the next second in the swirling snow, like a mirage.
But I was determined. So, I started walking.
The ice cracked, and my breath caught in my throat as I started falling an-
::
"Ary!"
The snowflakes still dancing furiously before my eyes, I barely realized I truly was falling. Everything seemed kind of hazy, my head was spinning as I felt the ground come closer by the second.
Then, something –or rather someone- caught me, and green replaced white.
Blinking hard to get back to reality, I pinched my arm as harshly as I could. The sting made its work, and I finally got back control over my crazy senses.
"Ary! Are you okay?"
I tilted my head at Tewaku, who was standing next to me with wide eyes.
Wait. Standing? But I was lying down...
I blinked in surprised at Madarao, who had apparently caught me.
"Hey, Mystère" I recognized. "Fancy seeing you here. Nice catch, by the way"
He nodded slightly, and put me down carefully, as if I was about to break or something. However, the effects of the vision I just had were already gone.
"I'm fine" I assured the blonde girl with a smile. "It's just another memory that came up"
"You know where the Third Case is?" asked her brother in his usual calm demeanor.
"Well…"
Trickster?
You won't like it.
Shoot.
… Everest.
… I beg your pardon?
Mount Everest.
"Damn it"
"So, the Third Case has been located on top of Mount Everest, in Tibet" informed Reever.
This time, everyone knew what he was talking about, and I could tell all thought the same thing.
Fuck?
You really want us to come back as corpses, don't you?
Hey, in my defense, I wasn't exactly expecting to go back for these, alright? Plus, the natural protection got worse through the millenniums, not really something I can control.
"Mind telling Gab he's an ass?" deadpanned Lavi.
"Oh, I'm telling him alright" I grunted, rubbing my temples. "So, mind briefing us on the place, so that we know what to avoid?"
Johnny stepped forward, his eternal notepad in hands.
"The weather will be your primordial enemy" he started, clearing his throat. "It can reach the -16F°, maybe more if the wind is in the game. As for said wind, well, you'll have to be careful, seeing as it's speed can get passed 100mph"
"You also have the crevices too look out for" pursued Dap. "They're practically invisible due to snow bridge building above and covering it's entrance, but don't be fooled: too much weight and it'll open again. They can be as deep as the length of a football pitch, so you really ought to watch your step"
"Then comes the avalanches" added Reever, checking his notes. "And rock or ice falls. Deadly, as you can imagine. Usually easy to avoid if you take the right path. Also, other climbers can very well be your downfall –no pun intended-. If the group is too big, only one has to slip and all the others fall with him, or her"
"Gabriel really chooses the most welcoming places, uh?" huffed Allen. "Oh, and Nea's calling him an idiot"
What!? He's the fucking idiot! He's the one who proposed that hideout in the first place!
"He's pointing fingers at Nea" I replied.
The others laughed a little at that.
"We have to choose a team as small as possible" remarked Klaud, bringing back the conversation on tracks.
"So, it's still me, Kiddo and Bookboy" I recalled. "Marie, seeing as you can hear the avalanches and these sorts of things-"
"Of course"
"Wait, wait, who said I wanted to come?" drawled the redhead. "Why don't the old panda go? He's a Bookman too…"
"It's bad for my hair" simply answered his grandfather.
I snorted at that while Lavi cried in despair.
"Kanda, you were sent there to retrieve an Innocence fragment once, were you not?" remembered Komui.
"Fine" he grunted.
"I'll go to" informed Tiedoll with a smile. "Maker Of Eden should be able to protect us from the snowstorms and such if the need ever comes up"
"That'll be it, then" cut Jiji. "Any more and you'll run unnecessary risks"
I sighed, a little annoyed.
First a jungle… then a fucking volcano… and now the Mount Everest.
Oi, Nea proposed that one.
You're still the one who brought it there, though. Please, tell me we won't actually have to go to the top.
Eh, I know as much as you do.
Otherwise said, you don't actually know anything. Just great.
Seeing as Allen had taken us to Baghmati –was I glad he visited almost the whole world because of Cross now?-, we easily found more warm clothes.
Lots of them.
We also had a special bodysuit made by our dear scientists that would keep the body warmth too.
So, it's heavily clothed but ready for the grand mountain that we started climbing the Everest.
None of us was talking, too occupied to keep our breath regular. Tiedoll didn't seem too faze by all of this, even though I knew he only wanted to sit and draw something –which is why we put him in the middle-. I could tell Lavi was tempted to use Hiban to melt some of the snow, but that'd just be a really bad idea. Marie was keeping his ear out for any sign of an oncoming avalanche, just behind me as I lead the group once more. Kanda was the last one, easily keeping up despite Allen just before him, who I could tell was shuddering rather violently.
All in all… it was a long walk.
God, I hate walking. I hate climbing. I hate the cold too. And I'm hungry.
Stop whining, would you?
How about you take over, uh? Then we'll see who's whining.
No thanks.
"Asshole" I muttered through my teeth.
I could barely feel the tip of my fingers anymore, the only thing assuring me they were still there being the warmth emitted by the bodysuit.
"Lavi, don't move!"
We all stopped, and I looked back at the redhead. He was frozen in spot, a feet in the air, barely daring to breath.
"There's a crevice under you" warned Marie. "Very deep. You have to walk around"
All in all… it was a very stressing and tiring walk.
I gritted my teeth, fists clenched so tightly I don't think the blood was passing anymore.
We were all under Maker of Eden as a damn avalanche crashed upon us. The whole thing was shaking, but still standing, but I was worried it wouldn't last, seeing as we were now closer to the Third Case. Already, Allen couldn't call forth a gate, and I had let go of my aura-sensing not so long ago.
There was another shake, and I closed my eyes.
"Shit!"
Jumping to the right, I managed to avoid the oncoming block of ice, but my foot slipped and I started falling.
The rope around my wait was the sole thing that kept me from dying, and it's with a heart beating way too fast that the others managed to pull me up.
"Never… again…" It was hard to breath.
"You okay? I forgot you were afraid of heights…" Lavi scratched the back of his head, and I could tell he was grinning sheepishly despite his whole face being covered.
"A bird scared of heights? That's pathetic" taunted Kanda.
"Shut it, Jerkface"
"Freeze!"
Knowing it wasn't just a really bad pun, we all obeyed Marie's command.
"We're currently standing above a very bid crevice" he announced calmly. "I couldn't hear it until our weight made some of the snow fall inside. We have to be very careful and not make any rash move or-"
"Atchoo!"
Allen's sneeze made the ground actually crack.
He fucking sneeze.
"Putain!" (T: Fuck!)
We plummeted in the abyss of the snowy earth.
Hime, wake up.
At Gabriel voice, I frowned a little. Waking up? But I was-
Oh, my eyes were closed.
Opening them slowly, I was very well aware of the headache hammering my skull. Slowly sitting up, I then realized that everyone had fallen upon one another, me being at the very bottom of the damn pile.
"Get off!"
Crawling out of there, the boys all rolled off, groaning and cursing.
"Damn it, Beansprout" spat Kanda. "You just had to sneeze there and then, uh?"
"Hey, it's not like I could control it, Ba-Kanda!" protested the white-haired boy.
"Take it down a notch, would ya?" I snapped. "Damn, I've got a nasty headache…"
Taking care of it.
Bless you.
"Everyone alive?" I then asked, getting back on my feet and dusting off the snow.
"I think so" confirmed Tiedoll, looking around.
"I think I dislocated my shoulder" grunted Lavi.
"Let me see"
Crouching next to him, I grabbed his shoulder and examined for a second.
Then, I popped it back.
"Fuck!"
"There, all healed"
"You're merciless, Tenshi" he whimpered, cradling his now non-injured arm.
I just patted his head.
"It would seem we are in some sort of cave" remarked Marie.
Looking around, the familiarity only got worse all at once.
::
The ice cracked, and my breath caught in my throat as I started falling and everything turned black for a moment.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying on the cold floor of some sort of cave.
I found it.
I finally found the perfect spot. Placing the fragment inside the ice wall, I then climbed back out.
::
"It's here" I breathed out, gazing around frenetically as the pulled suddenly became stronger. "It's in there, in one of the walls!"
My call seemed to bring some relief, but then, they realized it meant no more Innocence. So, we started searching.
After minutes that were more than probably hours, there was finally a gasp from Lavi.
"Found it!"
We quickly gathered around and, looking closer, I realized with annoyance that, over the years, more ice had formed upon the fragment, trapping it under many layers of solidified water.
"I'll take care of it!" grinned the redhead.
Pulling out his hammer, he hit the surface.
The earth practically growled, making us still in spot.
He quickly put it back to his belt.
"Or not" I deadpanned.
"Step away" huffed Kanda, pushing us behind.
Taking Mugen, he started hitting the wall. The hit, more gentle and fine than Lavi's hammer, didn't provoke any sort of mountain wrath.
"I think we're going to be here for a while" remarked Allen, settling down. "Anyone hungry?"
We passed a whole day down there, Kanda stopping his digging only to rest for a few hours, eat some or go take a leak farther in the cave.
You truly have an awful tongue, you know that?
You're not exactly a role model.
True, true.
I scrubbed my hands together to gather some more warmth in the bodysuit. I was feeling really tired, but we agreed not to sleep more than a few hours, for any more could send us in some sort of cryogenic state and we might die in our very sleep.
Charming.
Isn't it?
I stifled a yawn. What I wouldn't give for a warm bed right now…
My heart throbbed, and I jumped on my feet. My sudden movement startled the others and Lavi, who I was leaning on, gave a frightened yelp. Ignoring them, I went to Kanda's side. He was still digging, but he was more close than ever. A few more hits and-
The ice cracked, and the gem finally appeared.
"Finally" I breathed out.
The he-she samurai extended his hand to take it but, at the same time, the whole cave started shaking even more violently than before.
"Avalanche!" warned Marie. "We'll be buried!"
"Kanda, the Case!" I exclaimed.
Not really thinking, he grabbed the fragment. There was a flash of light, and Maker of Eden was suddenly upon us, stopping the snow from falling onto our head.
"Allen, a gate!"
"Right!"
We jumped through as soon as the door appeared, and some snow landed on the pavement next to us.
But… we did it.
We had the Third Case.
When we say that it's Nea's idea, it simply means that when Gabriel hid the Heart and the four fragments of the Case, Nea was still forming a plan to become the new Millennium Earl -which only took place 45 years or so before the original storyline, if you recall-. Nea and Gab are friends, after all, so he was bound to help at some point.
Also, to clear things up: Nea doesn't know where the Cases are hidden. He just gave some ideas and advices here and there, so only Gabriel, AKA Ary, knows where they are, more or less.
Question: Who do you think will be the Host of the last Piece?
Also, the poll for my next story is still up!
Reviews, pretty please!