Act 2 | Scene 1
So I'm following the road to where you are
(Meet you tonight, on top of)
The streetlights, they will guide me to the stars
That's where you are
(On Top Of The World / Boys Like Girls)
26 July, 1455hrs, Medical Bay, Europa, Xak-3
Lavi sat on the white bed of the medical bay, eyes turned downwards. There was a steady beeping coming from his neighbouring bed, housing one Kanda Yuu. How they had made it back to the ship at all was a mystery to him, as he had supposedly concussed halfway on the journey back. That had been three to four days ago; he had been slipping in and out of unfocused consciousness ever since he woke up the day before and gave the Head Nurse a scare when he reached out for her from behind.
He looked over at Kanda. The other pilot was lying prone on his back, unmoving except for the slight rise and fall of his chest. His skin was pallor, even more than usual. There were bandages wrapped around his forehead and across his body. Lavi had seldom, if ever, seen Kanda injured to the extent that he was placed in the medical bay – the other pilot normally just brushed off his injuries. There had been rumours that Kanda had supernatural healing and regenerative abilities, and they had not seemed unfounded. As Lavi observed him, he noticed a large tattoo right on top of Kanda's heart. It was partially blocked by the bandages that mummified his chest, but it looked to be a strange character from some old language. Lavi filed it away in his head to ask Kanda about it when the latter finally woke up.
Meanwhile, he gingerly tested his feet. Staying cooped up in a room was just not his cup of tea – and now that he thought about it, since he was now done with the Xak-1 mission, he was free to go save Lenalee. That sent a wave of newfound strength surging through him as he took one step – only for his legs to crumple under him and him to let out a yelp that was part surprise, part shock. The Head Nurse rushed in, a deep frown etched on her face that could easily rival Kanda's. "And just what do you think you're doing, young man?" Her hands were on the hips of her starched white uniform, hair tied up into a tight bun. "You're not going anywhere with your body in this state!"
Lavi groaned, whined and wheedled, but the Head Nurse was firm. "No. Until I discharge you, you are staying here. Do I need to restrain you?"
He gave in. He was in a worse state than he'd actually expected himself to be in. He nodded, uncharacteristically mild. The Head Nurse huffed and left the room, telling him she would bring food.
Left to his own devices, his gaze drifted to the digital clock, which showed 1500hrs, then to the helmet that perched on Kanda's bedside table. It was dark blue, the colour of Mugen's armour, and the visor had a large spiderweb crack across its left side. Exactly what kind of injury had Kanda suffered, if even his visor had been wrecked? Lavi shuddered at the thought.
The door slid open, revealing Reever Wenham's tall form.
"Chief Commander," Lavi saluted weakly. Reever waved the gesture off as he sat down next to Lavi's bed.
"The Head Nurse told me you were lucid and awake. I thought it would be necessary to update you with the situation, seeing how you have missed five days on the ship. And as you would expect, the Captain can't be bothered so here I am."
"Five days?!" Lavi echoed. He hadn't realized that between his slipping in and out of consciousness, two days had passed.
Reever nodded and pulled out a file. "The pictures and readings that you took in the warehouse have been analyzed by Komui and his Science Team, and they have agreed that they are indicative of cryogenics. I believe you have not submitted your report due to the rushed evacuation we ordered. I hate to do this especially since you have just woken up, but the Order wishes to have the report as soon as possible. What were your observations and predictions?"
Lavi swallowed and thought back to the warehouse. Fifty-two Crests, being preserved in cylinders in an abandoned warehouse. Thinking back even further, the experiment we saw at Point X. Conversion of a human – possibly a Crest – into a distorted anomaly by consumption of a purple substance. Overheard the two NOAH members who said something about the activation still being perfected. A name – Lulubell.
The Head Nurse arrived at this moment, with a tray of food and a glass of water. He took the glass gratefully, gulping it down. The Chief Commander was scrolling through his own Cyndal, reading the report Lavi had filed after the meeting with Trout. Lavi took a ravenous bite, while placing the pieces of the puzzle together.
First, the recurring issue they had discovered was the experiment to activate a gene. As he chewed the food, he thought of all the times "activation" had been mentioned – the Section Leader of LA-1 had told Trout the NOAH were trying to activate a gene. The NOAH members had spoken of how more time was needed to perfect the activation, though they had not said of what. Then there had been that report, about the Heart gene which could activate superior attributes.
That was it!
"The NOAH are trying to activate the Heart gene," he said slowly. "The Captain gave me a report on the NOAH carrying out experiments on people. It was more or less correct. They are carrying out experiments on Crests, hoping to create the perfect sub-race that can overwhelm the Sectors. We witnessed an experiment at Xak-1 which involved a captive who was turned into what the NOAH called an Akuma after she was forcibly drugged and then made to consume a purple…thing. The NOAH members said it was a failure and that they had been creating Akuma for a month, because the … Earl?" Lavi paused. "I think they called him the Earl. They said he still needs time to perfect the activation."
Reever's lip was upturned into a disgusted snarl. "I can't wait to put bullets through all of them. Captain's going to have a field day out there when the day comes. How do these Akuma look like?"
"Blackened skin, featureless faces. The NOAH – Lulubell – gave the Akuma a black laboratory coat to wear. It seemed that they already expected the Akuma to be formed and had made necessary preparations. If what Kanda and I have assumed is correct, then they have carried out thirteen experiments on Crests at this point which have all failed and yielded Akuma."
Reever nodded. "Your perfect memory is a blessing in times like this, Lavi.
"Trout and Peck, our planted informants in Xak-1, have given testimony on the NOAH's appearances in LA-1. The day after your meeting with Trout, he sought the help of Peck to hide a camera inside LA-1. They recorded the experiments carried out by the NOAH on that day and sent them to the Europa."
Reever pressed something on the Cyndal, and a video came up. It showed a jovial, rotund man holding a test tube filled with blood, and then mixing it with an unknown solution. "We suspect the blood comes from a regular Crest, and the unknown is the isolated gene in a carrier substance."
The mixture produced a purple substance, which Lavi recognized – to his horror – from the experiment that had been carried out at Point X.
27 July, Unknown time, Prison Cell #08-21, Xak-4
"Ne~ Princess~" Road Kamelot's sing-song voice came through the other side of the door. The NOAH member had been in an unusually good mood for the past few days, humming to herself and acting like a little child who had discovered a hidden stash of candy.
"Guess what happened~" the girl entered the cell, which was essentially an empty room with bright lights, with a devious grin plastered on her face. Lenalee felt like gagging.
"Tyki-kun said he ran into two~ Innocence pilots~ on Xak-1~ He told me they got ambushed~ And he shot one of them down~ He said one of them~ Had red hair~ As bright as fire on the mountainside~"
Lenalee's heart stopped.
No. It couldn't be. Lavi had to be – had to be fine, he had to be alive!
The paling of her face must have been evident in the brightness of the room as Road's smirk widened, moving towards her. "What happened, Princess~ Did you eat something bad?~"
"Get the hell away from me!" Lenalee swatted the NOAH girl's hand away from her. "Why're you keeping me in here anyway?!"
Road's smirk never faded. "Aa, you mean they never told you? Geez, they keep leaving me to do the dirty work!"
Lenalee had no idea who they referred to, as she had only ever seen Road and the Akuma in her time as a captive.
"You~ little lady~ have something special~" she sang, almost like a nursery rhyme except it was horrendously off-tune. "You~ little lady~ have lots of power~ And the Earl~ Our Earl~ He needs your help~ Why don't you help him~"
"Where's Allen?" was Lenalee's first reaction, dropping the honorific she used to address him with. After she had landed in this horrible place, she had vowed to murder him with her bare hands. Whatever Road was singing sounded like absolute bull to her, if it could even be considered singing. It sounded more like a cat yowling in the middle of the night.
"Allen-kun~? He's gone and left us behind~ he comes and goes like the night~ I'll tell him his Princess misses him~"
"Stop calling me that," Lenalee spat. "He's the biggest douchebag I've ever known. Tell him I hope I never have to see him again or he will die a miserable death."
"Ah~ Princess is angry~ Road's gonna leave~ Anyway~ The Earl wanted me to tell you~ Thank you~" Road still had that annoying smile on her face even as she stood up and made for (more like pranced towards) the door.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lenalee asked, not understanding anything and getting exasperated, but the door had closed behind Road. Outside she could hear a man saying, "Road, that was quite a chorus you had going on in there," and Road giggled.
Lenalee buried her head in her hands.
27 July, 1820hrs, Medical Bay, Europa, Xak-3
"…suffered from third-degree burns on the left side of his body and some head trauma due to the direct impact of the shot and would have died if not for his maneuvering," the Head Nurse's voice slowly formed distinct words as Lavi regained consciousness. He was still incredibly lethargic, to his frustration and irritation. Keeping his eye shut, he continued listening to her analysis of someone's - Kanda's - injuries. "He has been warded for less than a week, but his injuries are already recovering at incredibly fast speeds. I have no idea what to make of it."
"Kanda's just like that. He's fast at recovering," the tone of voice was amused, and Lavi could make it out to be one of the other Officers, Officer Tiedoll, who had been Kanda's instructor. "And your other patient?"
"Lavi had a very bad bullet in his waist. I have no idea how he could do battle with that embedded in him." Said patient could imagine the Head Nurse shaking her head. "He had a pretty bad concussion from a photon explosion, which apparently he had no idea he was nursing until he passed out on the way back to the ship. The one in his cockpit – Trout – was mildly injured because of that same explosion."
"Seems that they got into quite a pickle back there," Tiedoll observed. "None of us expected the NOAH to send out their Dark Matter suits so quickly."
"That was a Dark Matter suit?" Lavi asked, eye shooting open then blinking at his accidental revelation of his eavesdropping.
Tiedoll let out a laugh, like he had been expecting it. "Yes, that was a Dark Matter suit. It had purple and black particles, right? We analyzed what we could salvage from Mugen and Hammer's video recordings. That's a Dark Matter and we expect the NOAH to have more of them. They were designed specifically to counter Innocence, so don't get too close. Those particles are poisonous."
"And they are powerful," Lavi said. "I've never seen anyone take out Kanda so badly."
There was a grunt from the adjourning bed. The two standing figures – the Officer and Head Nurse – rushed over to the patient. Lavi lay on his own, turning over to look at Kanda's bed.
One cobalt eyebrow twitched, then another. Kanda was frowning, like he was trying to open his eyes but had weights for eyelids. Lavi knew that feeling all too well.
"Yuu!" Tiedoll made to reach out for the pilot, but his hand was stayed by the Head Nurse.
"Let him wake up by himself. His system has taken a hit and he needs to recover on his own."
Tiedoll nodded in understanding, but then there was an annoyed hiss and a pale hand grabbed his wrist.
"What the fuck happened to my eyes?"
The Head Nurse, Tiedoll and Lavi all blinked.
"I can't open them, what the hell?"
Lavi and Tiedoll sucked in a breath. Kanda couldn't have been blinded – not by a stupid NOAH –
The Head Nurse took out some medical instruments, then said, "Wait up a moment, Kanda. "
She checked various parts of Kanda's vitals, then smiled in relief. "It's probably your body not waking up at the same time as your mind. Your eyesight should be perfectly fine in a few hours, but until then you can't open your eyes because they are able to. I'd wager your body is still in some shock because of the trauma you received from the battle."*
"You got yourself half-roasted, and Mugen half-fried," Lavi helpfully supplemented, answering the question Kanda wanted to ask. "I heard something about you getting third degree burns on your right side, and something about head trauma."
"What the fuck," Kanda snorted. "How long have I been here?"
"Six days, Yuu! Six days!" Lavi was more than a bit amused to see the usually serene and calm Officer start wailing as he leaned on Kanda's bed. He had always been closer to Kanda than Kanda liked to admit.
"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Kanda grumbled. "Wouldn't have wanted to meet you in the afterlife."
"That actually hurt," Tiedoll clutched at his heart but Lavi noted how he was now beaming. Kanda had, after all, just consoled him in a very Kanda way, which did not just happen every day.
It took two more days before Kanda could actually open his eyes, which meant he could only begin moving his sore and grumpy body around two days later. He was not pleased at all and made a fuss out of everything, but most of the crew on board the Europa were used to his temper and simply kept away from the Medical Bay.
The two days were however too long for Lavi, who was simply raring to go to Xak-4 and save Lenalee. Either way, he was still confined to the reaches of the Medical Bay (within reach of Kanda Yuu's tyrannical rule) because he, unlike Kanda, had no superhuman regenerative abilities. Speaking of which…
"Say, Yuu, what is that tattoo on your chest for?"
"Who's Lenalee?"
Kanda's flat voice gave nothing away. Lavi's head whipped around to face him, remembering what he had promised to tell Kanda when his tongue slipped.
"She… was my girlfriend."
"And where is she now?"
"She's supposedly been abducted by the NOAH and held captive in Xak-4. She sent me a coded message ten days ago."
"Was she a long haired girl who smiled too much?"
Kanda's voice was still devoid of any emotion, and he was not looking at Lavi. Lavi blinked and swallowed, chills running down his spine. That was way too close to the bulls' eye for his liking. He could probably shut up and stop talking, but he didn't want to. Once he'd started it was like a floodgate that couldn't be stopped. "Not too much for me, but probably too much for you. I was the third person she knew who'd gone into space, but she never told me who the other two were, just told me they were two very important people to her before they left."
"I was one of the other two." Kanda turned to look at him, onyx into emerald. His gaze had a flicker of emotion, something Lavi wasn't used to seeing.
Lavi's head jerked up. "What?"
"Don't make me repeat myself, idiot usagi. I was one of the other two."
Lavi's throat suddenly felt like sandpaper, scratching with every word. "You…knew her?"
"Are you seriously that stupid? We were raised in the same village. You know, not in the city."
"Then who's the third one?"
"She never told you?" Kanda rolled his eyes. "The third one was her brother. They were separated when she was barely ten, and from what I last heard they hadn't had a chance to meet since she was fourteen when the NOAH began to turn hostile."
"She's twenty-one now," Lavi said.
Kanda nodded. "Seven years without seeing her only family. You have to hand it to her for being such a tough nut."
Lavi looked away. There as so much he hadn't known about Lenalee, and still did not know. So long together and it was like he'd barely known her. He sighed, then the question he had asked Kanda at the start popped back into his mind.
"You haven't told me about your tattoo. I told you about Lenalee, now tell me about it."
"It's… difficult to explain." Kanda frowned. "Basically it ties my life force to my Innocence."
"Why? How?" Lavi's head was cocked to one side, eyes bulging out. He looked very much like a curious child. Kanda rolled his eyes. Why he had been unlucky enough to deal with such an annoying person as a fellow pilot was beyond his understanding.
"It's a complicated story, but something happened when I was synchronizing with Mugen. Head honchos of the Black Order used me as a guinea pig, my life force got tied to Mugen. Tch, why am I even telling you all this?" Kanda scowled, looking more irritated than ever.
"Is that why you hate the Order so much?" Lavi asked. It was no secret that Kanda hated the Black Order and their ways; he was renowned for once spitting at the feet of one of the Officers. It had been quite a sight to see, with Lavi's first ever impression of the dark-haired pilot being one of rebellion. There had been rumours, of course, that Kanda was a valuable asset (read: extremely capable pilot) of the Order and that was how he got away with such actions.
"None of your business," the other grumbled. "Now shut up."
"But Yuu!"
Lavi's protests were met with silence from his neighboring bed. Kanda's back was facing him, so he had no idea whether the latter was simply tired or just wanted to kill the conversation.
Back facing the noisy rabbit, Kanda silently fumed to himself. What in the world had possessed him to tell Lavi all that? He was probably the first person in all the years of Kanda's time at the Order to find out about the bond from Kanda himself.
He placed one hand over his tattoo, the warmth of the bond thrumming under his touch. The blasted NOAH suit had done some serious damage to Mugen, which had resulted in himself being seriously injured as well. Usually he would have recovered quickly enough, but the bond had been adversely affected by Mugen being downed, which resulted in the extended trauma he had experienced.
Though…what he had found out from Lavi had been equal parts worrying and comforting. It was good to know that Lenalee had been safe and well, but bad that it was a had been and that she was now potentially a hostage of the NOAH.
He would not put it past the redhead to want to go on a crazy mission to save her.
"If you are going to save her," he said to the open air in front of him, knowing that Lavi could hear him full well, "I'm coming as well."
To her at least he owed the promise of bringing Komui back.
31 July, Unknown Time, Prison Cell #08-21, Xak-4
Once again alone in her prison cell after an interrogation and a few tests by a large man who seemed to be more interested in the lollipop he was eating than the questions he was asking her, Lenalee found herself staring into blank space. She was no stranger to loneliness, or being left alone for long periods; in fact she liked to have her alone time and this was no different.
Her thoughts were beginning to drift, back into the distant past, as they had become prone to doing ever since she had been locked up here.
A gentle beeping on her mobile phone, as she lay sprawled on her bed. She was inside her junior high dormitory, and her final Grade Eight exams had just ended. Her holidays were just beginning. She reached over to her bedside table and grabbed her phone.
"New Message from Contact: Nii-san"
Her eyes lit up. She opened the message, eagerly awaiting the news he had for her. He never messaged her unless he was planning to come back to Earth to visit her, because he could not afford to frequently send messages from space.
"Dear Lenalee,
Sorry for not contacting you earlier. Your school term should be ending soon, if I recall correctly? I will hopefully be able to return to Earth to see you in two weeks. I will contact you again when I get the exact details.
Take good care of yourself, I miss you."
His message was short and to the point, but at that moment she missed him more than ever.
Skipping to a week later, she received another message from him.
"Lenalee, I am really very sorry. The higher-ups have not confirmed when I can return as the project I am working on has just met with some complications and they need me around to fix it. I will try to make it back as fast as I can."
Her heart had dropped, down to the hollow pits of her soul.
Two weeks later, he sent a third message.
"Lenalee, I cannot begin to apologize to you. I cannot leave the Order as we are currently in the midst of conflict with the NOAH which is expected to develop into long-term warfare. I cannot give you a date or a time when I can come back home, but I will come back for you. I miss you with all my heart."
She had buried her head into her pillow, hot tears finding their home in the soft material there.
A loud sigh of annoyance, then a rustle of fabric from her right. She looked up. The taller boy had stood up, and was now towering over her, his long hair swaying in the light breeze. "I'm going to find him, and I'm going to kill him."
"What do you -?"
"I got the call today. They said my body stats were exceeding those they had expected from a mixed-blood Sector like myself. They want me to leave for space in five days." He turned to her, eyes flaming with a determination she was familiar with. "If I meet him, I'll drag him back to you and kill him afterwards."
She nodded, lips curving into a weak smile. He was going to bring nii-san back, but that meant she would be losing him as well. "Take care, Kanda. I will be praying for you."
* Author's note: Head trauma can really lead to temporary/permanent blindness but I had no idea how to dump all the medical jargon in here therefore! (I think, therefore I am.) (Wrong context? It's okay.) This is something the author of this story came up with because she is not a medical student. Please do not use this as a medical reference. It is all purely fiction!
Belated update, just like before. The story is actually going into darker realms than I have ever written before, so I am quite anxious and would like your feedback on how it is progressing.
Please leave a review and let me know - what do you like/dislike about the story? I would love to improve my writing and give this story new ways to grow and I can only do that if my readers help me out.
Much love!