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Here is Chapter 10, a bit longer this time with heaps of flashbacks XD.
As I mentioned before, some of you may not be able to review on this chapter. A solution is to go back and find a chapter you haven't reviewed and review on that. If you think that's too troublesome, just PM me. X3 I love messages.
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"Bidelia! Merry Christmas!" Mony said with a large smile, a large bouquet of white flowers in her hand. Bidelia, a 29 year old circus performer, turned away from her trunk of costumes that she was tidying and smiled warmly at the 8 year old girl.
Bidelia saw the bouquet of flowers and smiled even wider. She gladly took the flowers by the stems and smelled them. "They smell really nice. Where did you find them?" She said to the little girl in front of her. The girl beamed, "I found this field of flowers to the East. They smell really good! So I picked them for you as a Christmas gift!"
Bidelia frowned, "Just near here? But wasn't it snowing all last week?"
Mony smiled cheekily, "Not telling you."
Bidelia smiled at Mony and bent down to hug the little girl. In Bidelia's embrace, Mony felt extremely warm, even on such a cold Christmas day like today. Mony hugged Bidelia back.
"Mony, hold them for a while." Bidelia gave the flowers back to the girl. Mony took them back and watched as Bidelia knelt down to get something from beneath her bed. After a few seconds, Bidelia drew out a porcelain vase.
"Ah!" Mony suddenly said, "Bidelia! I'll help you put water in it! Wait a second!" The girl took the vase from Bidelia's hands and exchanged the flowers. She rushed out of their tent, heading for the tent where the food is prepared.
She ran as fast as possible, only the task at hand in her mind. Just as she turned a corner, she bumped into something and fell down on her bottom.
Her first reaction was the vase. She used her free hand to feel over the vase and was relieved when there were no cracks. She let out a breath.
"Hey, you all right?"
Mony looked up to the voice. Standing there, scratching the back of his head, was the errand boy. She nodded.
He felt her stare and glanced at the girl. She was still sitting on the cold ground. He sighed and offered a hand.
Mony watched as he extended a hand, offering to help her up. She was about to take it when she realized he was offering his left hand, the hand others call 'cursed'. She hesitated and looked at it. At this distance, she could see the details clearly. The flesh was red and the nails were black, the joints looked mechanical. He seemed to notice her hesitation and realized that he accidentally used his left hand. The boy quickly withdrew his hand and put it in his pocket to hide.
The girl watched the boy's reaction. His hand may be cursed but it's not his fault, right? She stood up, dusted her own pants off and bowed, "Thank you." She looked up to see the boy staring at her strangely. Mony smiled and ran past him to do what she set out to do.
The boy turned and followed the girl with his eyes. He scratched his head in confusion. "Tch." He rolled his eyes and continued walking in the direction he was going before…
With a small smile on his face.
Desdemona sat on the train to Primorsky. She looked out the window and sighed.
The other three didn't make it on time, which meant that she would have to look for General Klaud alone. It was already two days; they should have got on the next train already. The girl moved her left arm around, the cut at her ribs was pretty deep, she might need some stitches. Luckily she brought with her a change of bandages, so she replaced her blood-soaked ones.
The train stopped at a small town. Desdemona saw a telephone box on the side of the platform. She got off the train and walked towards the box. Just as she opened the door, her golem buzzed. So convenient…
She attached her golem to the phone line and waited for it to connect.
"DEM! ARE YOU ALIVE?" Reever screeched, nearly making Desdemona's ear burst. She held the handset away from her head. "DEM! DEM!"
"Why wouldn't I be?" She questioned back. Reever audibly sighed.
"To tell you the truth, a lot of people died." He said gravely.
"A lot of people?" Desdemona frowned at the sudden news.
"Yeah, I called you to make sure you are alive. The rest of your team…"
Desdemona frowned. "What happened to them?"
"They…they…" Reever seemed unable to continue. "They…we found them in a forest in Moscow a day ago. Their bodies were quite strange. There were no physical injuries on their bodies but they each had an organ missing. We have no idea how that is possible. It was the same cause of death as General Yeegar. We think that it was the work of a Noa-"
"I understand." Desdemona cut in. She looked up. "You said lots of others, who else?"
Reever sighed over the phone. "Deesha Barry from the Tiedoll unit; Katherna Reed and Chalker Laboun from the Sakaro unit and a lot of finders. On total, there were six exorcists and 142 finders confirmed dead."
Desdemona was wordless, it hasn't even been a week and so many… Nevertheless, she was the only one left to search for Master, so she mustn't fail.
"Hai~" Reever sighed for the millionth time, "The other exorcists all had the same autopsy results as General Yeegar. It was puzzling."
ChooChoo ChooChoo
Desdemona turned slightly, the train was about to leave. Reever also heard the whistling of the train. "Go, Dem. Don't miss the train."
"Hm." The girl replied. She hung up the handset, disconnected golem and hurried onto the train. She returned to her seat and stared out the window blankly.
Only if she went with them that night…
And what?
A voice sounded in Desdemona's head. Was she imagining things? She shook her head. The voice seemed vaguely familiar, but where….
And what?
Maybe…I could have made a difference. Desdemona thought to herself.
The only difference would be that there will be four dead, not three.
Then…what could I have done?
Nothing. No matter what you do, you can't change the past.
What about the future?
That…is up to fate.
Fate…if everything is already planned out, what's the point of living?
That's for you to find out.
My answer is that fate doesn't exist. I'll control my own life.
When the time comes, you will realize fate isn't as you think it is...
Desdemona shook her head, the voice is gone. Maybe she was too tired and was imagining things…Probably.
Farewell. Tina, Gwen, Sol.
Dark blue meeting light blue at an everlasting line, the horizon. The dark blue water shimmered under the sunlight, reflecting the white amongst the light blue of the sky upon its surface. Dark silhouettes of small islands isolated at sea dotted the view. In the sky, birds flew freely, riding the gentle breeze. Behind them, the clouds floated leisurely in the wind. A man walked along the shoreline, he lifted his head and admired the scenery in front of him. Behind him, an array of oddly positioned rocks stood high.
The man wore a black coat with gold linings. On his chest, he bore the Rose of the Order. He had wild, unruly grey hair tied in a low ponytail. On his back, he carried a sack of artistic equipments and scrolls of drawings. A clipboard hung at his neck. The base of the clipboard was resting on his stomach, allowing the board to tilt up without sliding off. On the clipboard was a sheet of paper, the man was sketching on it the scenery in front of him. He chewed the bubble gum in his mouth and blew a bubble.
"General Teidoll." A familiar voice called out from behind. He turned his head slightly. The bubble at his mouth popped.
"Oh. Long time no see." Tiedoll replied. Standing behind him was two of his apprentices, Kanda Yuu and Noise Marie.
~x.X.x~
"Hic, hic..hic." Sniffing sounds were heard from within a town of ruined buildings. The constructions were barely standing. There were no other life forms around other than three exorcists.
"I see…so Deesha…Deesha is dead." General Tiedoll said between sniffs. He sat on a fallen pillar. His glasses were taken off so that he could wipe the falling tears from his eyes. "It…it's so sad…"
The General lowered his head and wiped his whole face with his sleeve. "That kid…always loved to play pranks on me, using the charity bell to crack my glasses. He was such a good kid."
"The body was shipped to Headquarters yesterday." Marie informed.
"The charity bell had been taken as well." Added Kanda.
Tiedoll put his glasses back on but he continued to cry.
"General Tiedoll, I humbly request that you return with us." Kanda said softly - something that he would rarely, if not never, do.
"If I recall correctly, Deesha's hometown was Bodrum, right?" Tiedoll asked, completely ignoring Kanda's plead. "It's a beautiful town, next to the sea." He mumbled to himself. He pulled out a piece of blank paper and his clipboard, and began sketching.
Kanda and Marie watched impatiently. Kanda frowned, "General, the enemy is targeting you and the Innocence you possess."
"This is just an illustration of the town from my memories, so it's probably not accurate…" Tiedoll said. The General sketched. A few minutes later, he held up a sketch of a beautiful port next to the sea. The General stood up and looked up to the sky. "Deesha, I'm sorry it's just a drawing, but I'm sending your hometown to you. May you rest in peace…" He lit a match and held it beneath the sketch. The paper caught alight and burned, turning into ask.
Tiedoll sighed, "I can't return," he answered his students' plead, "We are in the middle of a war now. I will live up to my responsibilities as a General. Moreover, I need to find new exorcists."
The ash rose into the air, where the wind carried them up and away higher and higher into the sky. Seems like the ashes were flying to heaven.
"If God hasn't abandoned us, I am certain he will yet again send us new disciples."
I knew he was going to say that. Thought Kanda. Marie seemed to guess what his fellow exorcist was thinking, Right, typical of the Master.
The two exorcists sighed and arrived at the same answer, "We will accompany you, General Tiedoll."
A middle-aged Chinese man with a white bandana stood behind a steamed bun stall. He smiled, winked and raised his thumb at Allen, all the while saying things that were nonsense to the boy. "那个人我看过。红发的外国人，对吧？" said the man. Allen stared dumbfounded, Chinese makes no sense.
The boy stood at the stall, a steamed bun in his mouth and in his right hand, he held a poster with a drawing of General Cross and a line of Chinese that Lenalee wrote and said, "Have you seen this person?"
Allen tried to talk with the stall-keeper, but through the bun in his mouth, everything came out as "Muhn? Muhn?"
The Chinese man smiled widely, he continued winking and offered Allen a whole steamer full of steamed buns. "小弟弟，如果你再买一个馒头，我就把所有我知道的都告诉你。" he said.
Allen panicked. He quickly swallowed the bun in his mouth, "Wait, Chinese makes no sense to me." He turned around and shouted down the street, "Lenalee! Lenalee! Seems like this guy knows something!"
~x.X.x~
The moon rose high in the air, but it was not the only thing illuminating the paths tonight. The exorcists stood in front of a large construction. It was a typical Chinese building but the amount of light coming from it was not normal. Bright light came from within every single window and at least five bright lanterns hung from every single ledge.
"Wow, this is flashy." Lavi commented.
"They say that this is the number 1 brothel in port…" Lenalee informed.
"The man at the steamed bun shop said that General Cross is the new lover of the mistress of this brothel." Crowley recalled.
"Well, that is a typical rumor of Master." Allen said, sarcastically.
Crowley and Lavi cheered. "Yeah! After so long, we've finally found General Cross!" "It took so long, and we traveled so much. I thought we would never find him."
Of all the excitement, Allen sulked in the corner. Damn…we found him.
" 等一下！" A booming voice came from the front door of the brothel. A large, bold man stepped out. His face was menacing. "这里不是小孩来的地方！" He said, cracking his knuckles while looming over Lavi and Allen.
"Wow! He's huge!" Allen said, not knowing what is going on. But according to the man's behavior, it's nothing good.
"Eh? No way! He has BOOBS?" Lavi exclaimed. Truth seemed to dawn upon Lavi, "NO WAY! HE'S A SHE?"
Allen, who at least could understand body language, freaked out, "We-We're sorry! I don't understand what's going on, but…SORRY!"
The large woman ignored Allen's apologies, she grabbed both Lavi and Allen by their collars and lifted them off the ground. The two exorcists flailed around wildly, trying to free themselves. "Waaa! Lenalee!" Allen shouted, asking for help.
"放了我的朋友！我们不是来这里做客的！" Lenalee said. Allen assumed that she told the woman that they are not dangerous…or something.
The woman leaned her face closer to the exorcists and whispered, "Please go around the back door. You can't get through to the mistress' room from here."
Allen, surprised by the fact that the woman spoke English, stopped flailing around.
The woman extended her tongue where a black cross was tattooed. "We are supporters of the church." She explained. The woman then pretended to throw the two out while leading them to the back of the brothel and then into the mistress' room.
A beautiful woman sat in the center of the large room. She had long, silky black hair ornamented with exotic pins and clips. She wore a stunning red dress with a lot of decorations. The exorcists stared at the woman's face, she was extremely beautiful.
"Welcome, exorcists," even her voice was so beautiful, "I am Anita, the owner of this shop. How do you do?" She slowly stood up, "my apologies for being blunt but…Master Cross is no longer here. Eight days ago, he left to go on a journey."
"EH?" All exorcists said in unison, in disbelief.
"And…" Anita continued, she lowered her head sadly. "Just now…"
Allen frowned, what happened to Cross?
"The ship that Master Cross was on…has been sunk at sea."
Allen froze, Cross…dead?
"Where is the proof?" Bookman asked.
"We sent aid to ships from which we received S.O.S. signals." Anita continued, "But neither ship nor man could be found. There were eerie remains of the ships and a sea of poison spread from it."
The room went silent, digesting the information they had just been given. Could it be…that General Cross really died?
"Where was the Master headed?" Allen asked, "Where was the sunken ship headed?"
Everyone turned to look at Allen, wide eyed.
"My Master wouldn't have drowned so easily." The boy said with certainty.
Anita stared at the boy, surprised. She narrowed her eyes as tears started welling up. "You think so?" Allen looked back at Anita, determination in his eyes. Anita smiled.
Lavi and Bookman took everything in but none of them said a word.
"Mahoja," Anita addressed the large woman who greeted the exorcists at the front door. "Prepare my ship." She commanded.
She then turned back to the exorcists. "Since my mother's generation, we have been supporters of the Church. If you will pursue Master Cross, we are at your service. Our destination is Japan. Edo."
Desdemona stretched. She leaned back her head and looked at the light blue sky from between her uplifted arms. There wasn't a cloud in sight. She lowered her arms and sighed. Nature seemed to be unaffected by the happenings in this world. So many lost their lives and yet the sun still shines so brightly. It's so much unlike the scenes in novels, when even the sky cries for the death of a character.
Desdemona lowered her head. Exorcists. They aren't much of a noble character anyway. The trail of destruction they leave behind is no better than that of the akuma. Both ways bring pain, both ways bring grief. In a sense, the actions of exorcists may be the exact reason some akumas exist. Irony.
The girl looked around the small platform. The whistling of the train behind her sounded and the train slowly pulled out from the station. She stared after it until it turned and disappeared into a patch of foliage. Too lazy to move, Desdemona continued to stare at the train tracks. Those machines…how long do they have to run before their bodies give out and then get discarded by humans? Machines. Humans make machines to make life better. To make one person's life better, another person will suffer. Machines were then created by humans to hurt humans, machines became weapons.
Exorcists wield weapons. But the more she thinks about it, the more exorcists are like weapons themselves. None of them wanted to save the world, none of them asked to be compatible. They are just simply machines used by the Church in the name of God to fight against the Earl. Huh. God. Desdemona doesn't believe in that crap. Those are all excuses made up by humans to justify their actions.
She looked down at her left hand and sighed. Since when did she start thinking about these troublesome things again?
Oh well, she shouldn't waste any more time. Better start searching for Master. She looked around the station. It was a small station so what she was looking for was not found. Instead, Desdemona walked out of the station and headed down the street. The town was quite small and not many people were around.
Desdemona spotted a woman minding a fruit stall and she headed towards her. The woman saw the approaching exorcist and stood up from her stool. "Good morning, would you like to buy some fruit?"
"No it's ok." replied Desdemona.
"Then, is there anything I can help you with?" The woman offered.
Desdemona nodded, "Have you seen a tall, blond woman with a monkey on her shoulder around here? She usually wears a uniform similar to this one," Desdemona pointed to her coat, "but it's lined with gold instead of silver."
The woman pointed to her cheek and thought for a while. "Do you mean…the American woman with a huge scar on her face?"
Desdemona nodded. She saw hope.
"Ah! That woman. She might be staying at the town's inn, I think. I see her coming in and out from the inn often. The Inn is just down the street."
"Thank you." Desdemona thanked the woman and walked further down the street.
The girl looked around, trying to locate the Inn. Just a few miles in front, a large sign with the words 'INN' dangled above a wooden door. Desdemona deep breathed. She suddenly grew nervous. The last time she saw Master was two years ago. Ever since Master told her she was ready and sent her back to Headquarters by herself, she never saw the General again. General Klaud is a respectable woman, though also fearsome in some situations.
She stopped in front of the wooden door, beneath the large sign. The girl looked up. There was a silhouette behind the curtain of a window on the second floor. It was the silhouette of a monkey.
Desdemona pushed the handle on the wooden door and it opened. The small doorbell on the door frame rang. Desdemona stepped into the Inn. At the service desk, an old man sat there reading the newspaper with his feet resting at the top of the desk.
Upon seeing the exorcist, he slowly lowered his legs and put down his newspaper. He leaned forward at the desk and smiled, "Hello there. May I help you?"
Desdemona stepped up to the desk. She looked around, there was a set of stairs to the left leading to the second floor. On the first floor, there were four closed doors on each side, meaning four rooms. She looked back to the man at the desk, "I am looking for a woman with a white monkey, wearing a uniform similar to this coat." She pointed to her coat.
The man narrowed his eyes, "May I ask for your name and why are you looking for her?"
"Desdemona Beast. I am her student."
"Sorry for my rudeness. Miss Klaud has asked me to confirm the identity of her visitors and consult her before letting anyone in. Please wait a minute."
The man turned around and picked up a phone. He waited for a few seconds, dialed a few numbers and waited a few more seconds. "Sorry to disturb, Miss Klaud."
Desdemona perked up at her Master's name. She tried to hear what the other side was saying but failed.
"You have a visitor." The man continued. "Desdemona Beast. Says she's your student." The man listened. "Yes. Ok. I'll bring her." He hung up and turned to Desdemona. "Miss Beast, please follow me."
The man stood up and came out from behind the desk. He noticed the suitcase in Desdemona's hand. "Miss Beast, I'll help you carry that." He extended a hand and offered to carry it.
"It's ok. I'll carry it myself." Desdemona declined.
The Innkeeper nodded. He turned and headed up the stairs. Desdemona followed. As she placed her foot on the bottom step, the wooden boards creaked loudly. She tensed and lifted her weight off the step. The man half-turned and smiled apologetically. "Don't worry about it. These boards are old, but they are not old enough to break yet."
Desdemona nodded. But…can they support 150kg pushing down on them within an area of about 105 square centimeters? She looked down at her foot and put her entire weight on it. The boards creaked, they even bent downwards but they didn't break. She was relieved.
The Innkeeper smiled and continued up the stairs. Desdemona followed with caution.
Upstairs, there was a long corridor. At either side of the corridor, two rows of doors lines the walls. At the end of the corridor, a small table with a small vase of flower stood under the large window. The Innkeeper walked down the corridor and stopped at the third door on the right. "This is Miss Klaud's room. I'll head downstairs for now. If you need anything, feel free to call me."
The Eurasian girl nodded and the man headed down the stairs. She stood before the door. Tina, Gwen and Sol…it'd be better if they were here.
She lifted a hand and knocked on the door. Faint footsteps were heard from the inside.
The door opened. Desdemona stood up straight and looked at the woman who opened the door.
"Master…"
~x.X.x~
"So Tina and Sol…Gwen too…" Klaud breathed. Two streams of tears rolled down her cheeks. Lau sat on Klaud's shoulder and lowered its head sadly.
Desdemona sat opposite her Master. She explained the whole thing to the General. She sighed. In this situation, a normal person should cry.
The General put her elbow on the window ledge beside her and supported her forehead with her hand. She cried silently. Lau, with his puffed cheeks, frowned and wiped the tears off the General's face with its tail. The General sat there, unmoving. Lau whined sadly. It hopped off Klaud's shoulder and hopped onto Desdemona's lap. Desdemona looked down at Lau, it waved its tail and stared up at her. She smiled gently.
"So…" General Klaud began. Lau hoped back onto its Master's shoulder.
"Master. Come back to Headquarters with me. Please." Desdemona begged.
"That was what I was planning. But…the war has begun, there's a lot I need to do. I just can't return to the safety of the Headquarters. The Earl is out there to get us Generals but running away isn't the solution either."
Desdemona wanted to object. "Master-" She quickly stood up. A sharp pain shot up from the left side of her ribs, where the injury was. She held a hand to her injury and fell back onto the chair. Reopened the wound? Unlikely, she was just standing up…
"You're injured?" Her Master asked, concern in her voice.
"No, no. It's fine. Just a scratch." Desdemona forced a smile while shaking her free hand in front of her in denial.
General Klaud looked to the place Desdemona put a hand to. The girl's hand tightened, as if trying to stop the pain.
"Let me see the wound." The General said.
Desdemona lowered her head and obeyed. She took off her uniform as her Master had instructed. Klaud frowned. The shirt hasn't been changed after the fight with the akuma so the place she was slashed left a hole. Around the hole, dramatic blood stains extended to the middle of her back. Really, it isn't that bad, just the shirt…
She then took her shirt off. Inside, she wore a white tank top. Klaud noticed the unfamiliar black patterns that sat on the girl's now exposed left shoulder and upper arm.
As the shirt, the tank top was cut through and through the hole, the bandages she had around her chest were seen. Even though Desdemona re-bandaged her wound after it stopped bleeding, not they are soaked with fresh blood.
Klaud frowned deeper. "Is that what you call 'a scratch'?" She said accusingly.
Desdemona didn't respond.
The General sighed. "Looks like I'll have to treat that properly. You need to change bandages too." Klaud said. She went over the window and drew the curtains.
Desdemona then proceeded to remove her top and the bandages.
Klaud examined the wound. "It's doesn't look good. When did you get that injury?"
"Um…two days ago?"
The Master shook her head. "It's a very deep slash. And you just reopened it. You need stitches."
"Oh." Came the student's simple answer.
The General got up, picked up the phone and ailed a few numbers. "Hello, yes. Could you please bring me some alcohol, bandages, some thread and needle for treating injuries. Oh yes, and could I please have a candle with some match sticks. Thank you." She then hung up.
A few minutes later, the Innkeeper knocked on the door. "Just leave those by the door. I'll get them by myself." Klaud said to the Innkeeper.
"Yes, madam." Replied the man. Footsteps were then heard heading down the stairs.
Klaud went over to the door, opened it and collected the items she requested in a tray. She closed the door and came next to the girl, lowering the tray on the table next to the girl. The General then took a small towel from the bathroom and filled a cup of warm water. She also lit the candle. She moved her chair closer to Desdemona and sat down on it. The General soaked part of the towel with water.
"Lift your left arm up."
Desdemona did so obediently.
Klaud used the towel to clean away the blood around the wound. Then she soaked another part of the towel with the alcohol. She dabbed at the wound, disinfecting it. Desdemona sat there silently, feeling the sting of the alcohol but did not wince.
"You know…" The General began. She held the metal needle over the fire of the candle. "You should have got the stitches on as soon as possible."
"Hm."
Klaud threaded the thread through the small needle. She lifted the needle to Desdemona's skin and pierced the pale skin. Desdemona tightened her jaws. Klaud pulled the thread tight and tied a knot, she then continued to close the rest of the wound.
"It will leave a scar." Klaud said quietly.
"I don't mind."
"…"
The needle pierced her skin again and again. She endured in silence.
"Talking about scars. When did you get that?" Klaud asked, gesturing to the black patterns tattooed onto the girl's left shoulder and down to the upperarm.
"One and a half years ago, I think."
"Hm. Why?"
"That is the only scar I cannot stand seeing."
Finally, Klaud finished the last stitch and tied a knot. She removed the needle from the thread and wiped it with the towel. Desdemona reached for the bandages, intending to put them on herself. Klaud slapped her hand away and raised her eyebrows. "I saw your old bandages. They were so poorly wrapped that I won't ever consider allowing you to bandage anything else for that matter."
"But…I was in a hurry."
"No excuses. I'll do it."
Desdemona sighed and obeyed. She let her Master help her put on the bandages.
"Master…" She began, "Come back to the Headquarters. Please."
Klaud sighed. "I guess there's no other way, then."
Allen stood on the mast of Anita's ship. Timcampy fluttered beside him. Both of them looked to the horizon, facing East.
"Timcampy," Allen said, "Master is beyond this ocean?"
Timcampy only answered by staring straight East.
Allen smiled and lowered his head. "Stupid Master. If you died, I'll hate you for it." After standing for a few minutes, he bent his legs and sat down on the wooden pole. He leaned his head on the mast and stared at the ocean.
Suddenly, his left eye reacted and the two gear like spectacles appeared. This form of the eye, it only became like this after it healed from Road's attack. Allen quickly stood up. Akuma? He thought to himself in alert. Still far away. But where?
Allen looked around him, all he could see was the vast ocean and the blue sky with white clouds. He looked further into the sky and narrowed his eyes.
As a large cloud drifted past, a black line appeared in the blue sky. The black line was made up by thousands of small dots. Allen looked closer, the line was heading towards them, fast. The akuma!
"EVERYONE!" Allen shouted down onto the deck, "AKUMA ARE COMING!"
~x.X.x~
Lenalee looked up to the sky. She had been walking from Anita's shop to the port. Just now, a huge swarm of akumas passed over the sky. "What a swarm…" She said to herself.
Suddenly, something gold smashed into her head. Timcampy flew backwards to face Lenalee. Lenalee touched her head where Timcampy smashed into. "Timcampy! You surprised me."
Timcampy lifted a small hand and pointed to the sky. Lenalee followed its tiny little finger with her eyes. Her eyes widened as she saw the small explosions that signified battling in the air.
"GYYAAA!" An angered akuma screeched. In its hand, he held Allen by the leg. "Destroy this God damned exorci-"
It was cut off as Allen fired at it, reducing it to dust. Allen started falling. Another akuma came up from below the exorcist and took him in its large hand. "Now you're mine!"
"Tch." Allen frowned. There's no way of escaping this akuma. He struggled, but the akuma's grip was like an iron vice.
Chew~
Something flew past and the akuma exploded. Allen was pushed away by the air waves. He fell down.
Allen looked up. Lenalee was above him, extending a hand towards him. Allen willingly took the hand.
As they fell, a loud bang came from the North. Both of them turned their head to the sound. They widened their eyes at the sight.
In the Northern forest, a bizarre figure rose out from the foliage. It looked like a body without the limps and the head.
The akumas screamed. "Yearrrg! It has appeared!"
Mony walked leisurely around the campus with her hands folded behind her head. She strolled around the empty spaces and the paths between tents. There wasn't much to do today, only she and Chase had to serve dinner later because the old errand boy was sick. Knowing their troop leader, Mony predicted that Cosmo wouldn't let that boy off so easily.
Nevertheless, she's got free time from now until dinner. Bidelia was off today too, since Cosmo told her that she needn't perform on tonight's show. Kugar, Bidelia's partner in performance and also the audience's favourite tiger, was also sick. Cosmo never liked Bidelia, the audience liked her much better than him. He also muttered something about the errand boy passing the flu to the tiger…sounds like the errand boy is in for some serious beating when he gets better, or maybe something worse.
What to do now? There's nothing to do. She should look for Chase…or something. She paced the brown dirt ground, kicking a small rock along with her feet. Where is Bidelia? Sigh…so bored.
She suddenly remembered the old storage tent. She could explore there. The circus puts all the old props and equipments in there. Maybe she can find something interesting in there. She winded through the many colourful tents until she spotted an old fainted one. Bidelia told her that Cosmo don't like people going in there. But who cares? Cosmo can't throw her out, Cosmo can't stop her pay since she wasn't paid anyway, Cosmo can't do anything to her other than giving her a few more bruises and cuts.
She walked boldly up to the entrance but stopped short to look around her to make sure no one saw her. She quietly swept aside the fabric hanging at the entrance and sneaked in. The tent smells like old stuff, from old smelly shoes to old soggy wood. The air wasn't so fresh in here, not at all. The girl looked around her. There was a pile of broken wood on her right, stacked messily upon each other. She recognized the shape of several of the broken wood, it looked like the pillar they used to secure the cage-lifting contraption. Maybe the people before her used that pillar too, and maybe that pillar bore the weight of so many cages that it finally gave out. It was then thrown away, thrown here, and watched as a new, younger one replaced its own role.
Poor pillar…
Mony slapped herself inside, she's pitying a broken pillar?
The girl went deeper inside the tent. Trunks of old costumes were discarded on her left. Several of the costumes stuck out from the heavy lids of the trunks, some of them had patches of different coloured fabric stitched all over the original colour but some of them looked brand new, without a hole, without an extra stitch. Those must be Cosmo's. Thought the girl instinctively. There exists a negativity in everyone's mind each time Cosmo was mentioned, and vice versa, once something negative presents itself, Mony instinctively relates it back to Cosmo. Well, it's not unlike Cosmo to throw away perfectly good costumes. He's the leader after all, he must be the best, so therefore, he mustn't wear the same costume too many times. He said that's what the audience would pick on.
And when someone else is significantly better than him, he would try and pull them down until they are lower than him. He never ever had tried to elevate himself, just pulling others down.
His act sucks, his act had always sucked, his act will continue to suck.
Mony sighed at the costumes. If only he'd use them more…it wouldn't be such a waste. She proceeded further into the tent. It was like a museum. In some ways, it showed how the people before her had lived and survived with the circus. Most of them left because they can't take Cosmo anymore.
Those who are now here are here because they have no choice. Bidelia's here because there's nowhere else to go, Chase and herself are here because Bidelia is here. All the Masters are here for the money. The errand boys are here because they are orphans. Who wanted to come here? No one. Mony had been thinking about it for a long time.
If she or Chase had the ability, they would leave this place with Bidelia. She wished she had the ability, the power to be able to not depend on this circus, these people, so that her own family wouldn't depend on them either. They can depend on her instead.
Chase is closer to that dream than her, though. He can do a lot of things that Mony can't. He can fix mechanisms easily, all those extra contraptions at the backstage were designed and made by him. Cosmo even thought Chase was useful.
But she can't do anything. She can't cook, like the chef; she can't make people laugh, like the clown-Mana; she can't even operate the simplest of machinery Chase made. The only things she can do…are things like feeding the animals, getting buckets of water from the well, help serve dinner and help tending the wounded (who were mostly victims of Cosmo's beatings). She was Bidelia's daughter, but her ability with animals were only a millionth of what Bidelia could do. The animals only comes close to her when she was holding the buckets of food for them, other than that, they just ignore her.
The closest she ever got to learning from Bidelia was playing with her whip when she wasn't using it. She always sits beneath the old tree in the centre of the campus with three rocks balanced on the large log opposite her. Then she would try to hit the rocks off the log one by one with the whip. It was fun, that was the only reason she did it.
She walked deeper and deeper into the tent. She looked up and down, left and right. Those 'rubbish' were quite interesting to look at. Suddenly, at the corner of her eye, she spotted something. Something large, it's dark brown with tiny specs of white and black. She turned her head to the object. There, at the very back of the tent, was an old piano.
A piano, it was the first time she saw one. She always heard from the others how wonderful or awful an instrument it is. She approached the piano. The lid for the keyboard was broken off and it lay on the ground behind the giant instrument. Mony placed a hand on the neatly arranged keyboard. The pattern of black and white keys were placed so orderly along the piano. She pressed a key and a note came from the instrument. She was curious, so she pressed several other notes.
The sound of the piano. It sounds really good.
She pressed a few more keys, several other notes sounded.
Just then, she felt a shadow fall across her. Uh-oh…
She turned around quickly, ready to apologize. She wasn't supposed to be there. The worst possibility would be that the person is Cosmo, if it were the other masters or any of the backstage workers it'll be fine as long as she does something for them. But to her relief, it was none of these people. Instead, standing before her was Bidelia.
She let out a breath.
"You know Cosmo will get angry if he knew you came in here." The woman said with a gentle smile.
Mony nodded and lowered her head.
To the girl's surprise, Bidelia laughed. "Oh, silly girl. Don't look so nervous. No one knew you came here anyway."
Mony looked at the older woman, puzzled. "Bidelia, you aren't angry? You are the one who told me not to come here."
"Oh, no. Why would I be angry when my daughter acts so much like myself."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Bidelia smiled. She pulled out a bench from behind the piano and placed it in front of the keyboard. She sat on one end of the bench and gestured for Mony to sit beside her. The girl obeyed. "Well," Bidelia explained, "When I was young, I used to live in a household that was quite rich. My parents always restricted where I can go and where I can't. I was quite rebellious and curious so I'd always visit the places they told me not to when they aren't watching."
"So you mean I am like you because I'm rebellious?"
"No." Bidelia answered firmly, "Not because you are rebellious, as such. But your unwillingness to let others govern your actions, even fate."
"What?" the 9-year-old girl frowned in confusion.
"Haha," Bidelia laughed, "Don't worry about it." She lifted a finger and played a note. "Hey, Mony. Why, out of all things in this tent, do you take an interest in this piano?"
"Um…" Mony thought for a bit, "I don't know. I saw it and I wanted to touch it. I pressed some keys and sounds came from it. Those sounds sounded nice too, as if it was talking."
Bidelia's eyes widened for a moment. Then they softened into a slightly sad smile. Even though the girl saw those expressions, her young, inexperienced mind was not able to comprehend them. Bidelia lifted both of her hands. She placed them gently on the keys and started playing a song.
Mony listened, she never knew Bidelia could play the piano.
The tune was slightly sad but for some reason, the girl felt extremely peaceful. She listened as Bidelia played. From the way the piano sang, it seemed like Bidelia missed something, remembered something…nostalgia.
As Bidelia finished playing, she looked to the side to see the girl staring at the keys. "Do you want to learn the piano?"
Mony nodded enthusiastically.
Allen: Now, I finally get some screen time.
Desdemona: Psh, yeah. My screen time is still more than yours.
Allen: Well, it's not the quantity but the quality that counts. All of my scenes were good scenes that either have me fighting epically or acting cool.
Desdemona: Yeah. Having a bun in your mouth, causing you not being able to talk is totally cool. Oh, and visiting a brothel is such an honourable thing too.
Allen: Well...that was...Well... ... ... Ahem. Then tell me what do you have in your scenes that you believe to be better than mine.
Desdemona: One of my scenes had me sitting there half-naked.
Allen: … … *blush*
Desdemona: Hey, Kami. Don't you reckon that is enough to beat this bean sprout?
Kami: *stare*
Review, review, review!
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