Miranda and Krory did get that nap.
It was the most glorious nap the two had ever had. The drama was done for now, tired bodies finally resting, and they were together with their baby girl named Amy.
Amy had the eyes of her mother and the goofy smile of her father, as predicted she also inherited her father's white bangs which was brushed to the left side of her hair, to hopefully avoid it sticking out in front like his did, although Amy did enjoy playing with his hair when she as a child.
As promised, the officials did come by for random visits throughout the year, watching her grow within the walls of the Black Order Head Quarters from afar. Much to their disappointment, she showed no signs of strange behavior or abilities.
Surprisingly she was rather normal for a young girl being raised by two exorcist parents.
Even more surprising, Krory and Miranda seemed to transform overnight into parents.
Krory was firm with her as she caused some chaos within the lab, something along the lines of tripping over something, causing a table to be flipped over, spilling whatever was on it onto the scientists who have been turned into cats and dogs. But secretly laughed with her outside the lab as the others tried chased the animals around, trying to capture them.
Miranda was a force to reckoned with when her orders went disobeyed, as the young girl discovered when staying up too late playing with her gadgets and toys. But the woman was a smothering mess when she had just the smallest cut on her palms.
Perhaps not exactly completely transformed.
Needless to say they were doing rather well as parents, considering where they had come from when this whole journey began.
But the adventures never stop.
"Um…are you sure about this?"
"Are you nervous?"
"About the mission? Not really, you haven't told me much about it. I'm more worried about when I get home…"
"I'll talk to your mother when we get home, now just relax and do your job" Krory smiled sincerely and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder "Ok?"
"Sure thing Dad" Amy smiled back and nodded.
"Oh, and you might want to hide this" he leaned forward, just enough to reach her from where he was sitting across from her in a private train cabin, taking hold of the hood of her jacket and placing it over her head. He gently pulled it down enough for her white bangs to be covered.
"Um sure but…why?"
Amy watched him carefully as she placed a small clip to her hair, securing her bangs as requested.
Krory leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his golden trimmed uniform while looking out the window, watching the world fly by as the train moved. Slowly he began to recognize the hills and tree he had once seen everyday for what felt like forever.
"We are taking a trip to your roots. We're going to Romania"
"You? A monster vampire? You're kidding" she laughed, adjusting her large backpack as the stepped out of the train.
"I'm very serious, ask your uncle Lavi or Allen"
Amy shook her head, not exactly convinced, "So let's see here…according to the file this town is being attacked by an enemy that resembles you…" she trailed over, flipping with the file that was given to her by Supervisor Komui before they started their mission together.
"So you think it's an Akuma using old memories?"
"I've seen it before, they recreate the fears of the people, and apparently that's me despite it being many years ago" he sighed, gently scratching the peach fuzz beginning to grow on his chin.
"But why go back? I thought you said you hated this place, at least that what I was told"
"I do, but I feel like it's my responsibility to fix this problem. Besides, it's a perfect opportunity for us to work together" he turned and put an arm around her shoulder, holding her close.
She frowned at his big smile, "Dad…" blushing in embarrassment.
"Hey, I'm your Dad and today I'm your boss too, so deal with it." He laughed, gently placing a kiss on top of her head and letting her go.
"Yeah yeah ok come on, tough guy" she huffed, smoothing out her Finder's uniform as the two went on their way.
Luckily it didn't take long, even after all this time Krory still knew where everything was, including the village the despised his very existence.
As the two followed the path through the forest, and caught sight of the walls of their destination, screams of terror were heard from within.
"Wow we have awesome timing" Amy commented before taking off after her father who jumped at the first sign of trouble.
He stopped in his tracks the moment he entered the village and looked around only to find madness. People running all over, screaming and crying, even a few house fires were beginning to take over.
"Interesting…" Krory silently mumbled.
Amy looked up at him dumbfounded.
"Hell just broke loose here and all you can say is 'Interesting'?"
"Look up there" he nodded into the distance; Amy followed his gaze and found a large castle standing strong on a cliff overlooking the entire forest surrounding the village.
"A castle?"
"Last time I checked, I destroyed it before I left…" he huffed, finding no answers if he just stood there and made his way into the madness with his Finder close behind.
Dodging random people who ran for their lives and into hiding, it didn't take long for the two to find the root of the problem.
At the very center of the village stood a tall cloaked figure, with black eyes and shark like fangs deep inside a young man's throat, sucking him dry of blood.
Krory stood there for a moment, frozen as he looked upon the Akuma who was copying him.
For a moment, he was looking into a mirror of who he once was.
"…I take back not believing you, you're pretty damn scary…" Amy gulped, stepping away slowly from the copy, though he seemed to be in an eye lock with the original.
"Amy, no foul language please" Krory mumbled, staying calm as the copy dropped the man from his grip and faced him, looking hungry for more as he licked up the blood that dripping from his mouth.
"S-sorry Dad…"
Suddenly without warning the copy Akuma let out a growl as it lunged forward, teeth barred and ready for another meal. Amy yelped and hid behind her Father as he grabbed the Akuma by the throat just before he swiped at her.
It growled, clawed and snarled at Krory, trying to break free but his grip was tight, not at all bothered by its feeble attempts to escape. His General uniform was untouched by the copy's sharp claws, those science guys just think of everything don't they?
Krory stood there for a moment, holding onto his metaphorical past life in his grasp with sad eyes. This is what he once was but no longer.
Instead he laughed and hoisted the copy up into the air, like he was trying to get a better look at it.
"Do I really look this ugly when I'm angry?"
Amy peaked over her Father's shoulder and laughed nervously, "Why else do you think I can't get a date?"
"Point taken and I apologize" with that, he let the copy go and watched it hit the ground hard.
"N-no problem" Amy backed up, away from the fight that was to begin, Finders are always ordered to leave when the Exorcists begin their work, although being the daughter of General Arystar Krory she was entitled to stay and watch from a reasonable distance. Of course that's what she declared as of now as she hid behind a stack of barrels a few yards away.
But the fight she had been wanting to see, a General fight an Akuma out on the battlefield was not as expected.
The Akuma growled fiercely and lunged at him again, too predictable. Krory didn't bother moving; he instead brought out his right wing and folded it just to make it just sharp enough to go straight though the akuma's fake body as it ran right into its own demise.
"Farewell" he said, as the copy became its true form for a few moments before bursting into ash.
"Well that was anticlimactic!" Amy huffed, stepping out of her makeshift shelter, rather disappointed that it ended so soon.
Krory turned to his daughter crossing his arms, folding his wings behind him, "Amy this isn't a General level mission, what did you expect?"
"More…something! Oh well…I'll just have to wait until I get promoted…"
"So what? You can be in more dangerous mission? This isn't a game you know"
"I know I know…come on let's get a move on, the people are staring…" she mumbled under her breath, gently tugging her hood further forward in case her hair could be seen as the people kept their eyes on Krory, unsure if he was an enemy despite having seen everything.
Amy turned on her heel and began looking around until she caught sight of an older man with a cane and strange tall hat covered in candles and other vampire repellents on his person.
Without a doubt she concluded that this man was the mayor of the village and quickly made her way towards him, "We'll be right back, we'll find the source of the problem and be on our way thank you!"
She smiled sweetly before turning back and running off to catch up Krory who had already began his trek towards the castle.
Leaving the townspeople old enough to remember him completely dumbfounded at the original vampire's return.
"Whatever is doing this is pretty good. Everything is as it was before I burned it down. Even the squeaky gates" Krory commented as he pushed open said gates that led into the main courtyard.
"You know, when you told me you lived in a castle…I wasn't expecting it to be this…creepy" Amy stayed close behind as she looked around at the strange statues that appeared to be in no decorative order or even theme, just random figures of stone in random areas and from different nations.
"This was an old life, a life that wasn't mine. My grandfather had odd tastes" he chuckled softly gently patting a gargoyle statue as he passed by. Amy laughed at the similar wings the two shared.
"Actually, yours isn't any better…"
"Hey be nic-"
Krory's words died on his lips and he stopped in his tracks suddenly Amy nearly bumped into him.
She gulped and peaked over his shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, "…Dad…?"
"Amy go inside for a bit, and stay out of sight" he remained as he was, unmoving as he gave out his orders.
"A-are you sure?"
"I don't sense anything in there, now go quickly" his voice raised slightly, just enough to signal danger.
"Be careful" she whispered before taking off towards the castle, Krory watched her and waited until she opened the massive front doors to his old home and nervously stepped inside.
Once the doors shut behind her, he sighed and turned around.
"Good evening" he started, looking up at the two unexpected visitors who silently watched him from on top of a tall statue of a broken angel.
"Good evening General Krory, it's been awhile" Tyki replied politely, gently tipping his hat to the exorcist.
"Ah Road. Long time no see" Krory added, finding the young girl sitting on the angel's shoulder. .
"Oh he remembers. Good to see you too vampire" she smiled sweetly.
"Are you responsible for this little mess?" Krory crossed his arms, watching the two carefully but still keeping his manners.
"Who me? No, not at all. I wouldn't have done such a half assed illusion, if it were me I would've done the entire town" she scoffed, now watching him.
"Hm. I thought it was rather well put together" he shrugged, looking at his surroundings, confirming his opinion.
Road raised a curious eyebrow, true it had been years since she had last seen the vampire but it was almost as if he were a completely different person. At one point he would panic and fear would take over anytime he laid eyes on her on the battlefield. Yet here they are having a nice conversation.
"I'm not sure if I like you being so comfortable with us" she spat, now glaring at him.
Without a second thought he replied, "I think you don't like me not being afraid of you"
"Don't be so rude Road…" Tyki shook his head, ashamed of his little sister's attitude. Personally he found this whole situation rather amusing," So where's the girl?"
Krory's face fell into a scowl, "Touch her and you're dead" he snarled.
"Hm…normally I would test that theory but after what you did to Tyki the last time you two met in Italy…"Road giggled, being one of the first to see Tyki's face in complete shambles.
"Road…be silent" he silently mumbled, for a moment nearly loosing his polite composure.
Krory held in his anxiousness, he normally didn't last this long with a Noah without his Innocence getting involved, "So why are you here? Not to kill me, you would've done so already"
"We are here to deliver a message. To not just you but to all Generals" the male Noah cleared his throat, preparing himself for the message from the Millennium Earl himself.
"'It's almost time for the show to begin' "
Krory was unimpressed, "Last time I checked, the Earl promised that years ago"
"We have to keep you Exorcists on your toes somehow" Road laughed.
"Point taken, I shall pass along the message. Now if you excuse me, I have a job to finish…" Krory only had enough time to take a step back before Road shook her finger at him.
"Not without a little amusement on our end!"
She stood up on the angel statue's shoulder and promptly kicked off its head, giving herself a better foot hold as a swarm of Akuma appeared behind her, ready to fight on her command.
Krory fought the urge to sigh, "I apologize for thinking otherwise…"
While Krory was getting his workout for the day, Amy had her own problems.
Her imagination.
She struck a match and found a candle hiding among the dark walls of the main hall, illuminating a small portion of her surroundings. Amy gulped and stretched out her arm as far as she could, hoping to see into the darkness.
The large gloomy castle was dead silent, leaving her to her own inventions of the mind to put her nerves on edge. She put faith in her father's words and moved on, as he claimed nothing was within the walls to attack her.
Nearly tripping as her foot suddenly hit the first step of a small flight of stairs, she carefully followed the steps upwards until something on the wall where the stairs ended caught her by complete surprise.
"…what…the…" as she walked forward with her small candle, the darkness faded away revealing a small portrait of someone, though she didn't recognize them at all, bore the same family heirloom.
Amy subconsciously reached up and stroked her white bangs as she stared at this person, whom she could safely assume was some kind of family member.
She whipped around frantically, hoping to solve this strange mystery or find more of her lost family, and quickly spotted more candles adjacent to the stairs she just climbed.
Wasting no time she carefully lit each one and watched as light began to reclaim the main hall and reveal not just one or two but nearly fifty different portraits all over the wall before her.
All members of the Krory family and all with the silly white bangs.
That being said, she swiftly pulled her hood back, feeling in almost disrespect the hide her hair that apparently had been passed down for years.
"W-wow…"
Keeping her candle close she walked from one end of the wall to the other, carefully inspecting each one, or at least that was the plan until a much larger portrait came into view.
But large wasn't quite the word for it, Amy had to step back and find more candles to clearly see the monstrously large portrait of an older man, who looked a lot like her father…with his tongue sticking out.
"…seriously?" she let out a small laugh as she looked over the picture before finally looking down at the name plate.
BARON VON ARYSTAR KRORY
The first.
"You must be my great grandfather…Guess Dad was right…you were a weird guy" she chuckled.
Far too amused with the silly picture, Amy didn't notice the figure standing in the darkness, silently watching her.
"How strange…" the figure finally spoke up.
Amy's heart jumped out of her chest, she yelped and put the candle in front of her as she turned towards the direction of the mysterious voice.
"Whose there?"
"…very strange" the figure continued, ignoring Amy's questions.
"S-show yourself!" Amy gulped, doing her best to stop her hands from shaking in fear.
Footsteps were heard from the darkness; slowly making their way towards the frightened girl, naturally she stepped back, keeping her distance.
Much to young Amy's misfortune, she had inherited her mother's clumsiness.
As she stepped back, her foot somehow found it self tangled within the red velvet carpet and the poor girl promptly fell over right on her rear, "Gyah!"
Her candle fell out of her grasp and smoked itself out as the figure now stood directly before her.
"She…wasn't pretty…not pretty at all" the voice continued.
She? Who is she talking about?
The candles Amy had just lit were still strong, and were just enough to finally see a face as the figure crouched down to be in some what an eye level with her.
Amy's day just couldn't have any more surprises.
The figure belonged to not just any woman, but a gorgeous blonde in a small purple dress with piercing blue eyes that looked upon Amy with…jealousy?
As the woman reached forward, Amy shut her eyes in fear, awaiting whatever the woman wanted with her in the first place. Although, a ghostly touch to her hair was the last thing she expected.
"….I-I-I…u-um…c-can I help you?" Amy squeaked, taking a peak to make sure death or pain was not coming.
"You're beautiful"
Amy blushed at the compliment, despite being utterly confused.
"Who…"
"Take this to him" the woman held out her fist to Amy, gracefully opening her hand to reveal a small glowing crystal.
The Innocence.
"U-um…Thank you…" Amy gently took the crystal, though kept an eye lock with the woman.
It was unexplainable, completely unlogical to have someone just give you Innocence, especially with enemies just outside the doors, yet Amy couldn't help but feel like she could trust this person.
"Who are you?" she finally asked.
But the figure only smiled sadly.
"Amy? Amy!"
The young girl's head snapped in the direction of her father's voice, more than happy to hear he was fine.
"I'm here Dad!" she called out, but when she turned back to where the blonde woman was, she found herself alone.
She had disappeared.
"Wow, you found it already? Great job!" Krory smiled big as he reached the top of the stairs and noticed the glowing innocence in her grasp.
Amy didn't hear him, she was flabbergasted, "I…um…"
"…What's wrong you look like you've seen a ghost" Krory commented, offering his hand to help her stand up, it took a moment for her to snap back into reality. She blinked and took his hand, hoisting herself up.
"There was a woman here and-"Just as she was beginning to tell her ghost story, Krory's face fell.
"Dad…? Are you ok? Now you look pale…paler…"
"…we should leave" he spoke quietly.
Despite her curiosity killing her, she kept her mouth shut and left the questions for later. She watched as Krory stood before the painting of his Grandfather and his family one last time before leaving with his daughter. This time for good.
The walk was silent, Amy still replaying her little adventure of the day in her mind while Krory was off in his own thoughts.
Unable to take it anymore, Amy ran forward and spun around, now walking backwards, facing her Father with questions.
"…So who was she?"
Krory blushed for a moment, thinking quietly for a moment on the proper way to approach his baby girl with an answer, "Would you believe me if I said an old girlfriend?"
Amy stopped in her tracks.
"Bullshit"
"Amy, the language please" Krory grumbled, making a quick turn to avoid walking into her as she stood there in complete shock.
"She was smoking hot! No way a girl like that went out with you!" Amy cried out, running after him.
"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?"
THE END
-falls over dead-
Finally the "Can I Call You..." epic is complete!
I'll be doing more one shots in honor of KroryxMiranda month (Dec 1-Jan 1)
Thank you for reading! ^_^
~SWD
