Dunno if anyone liked this much but here is the 2nd chapter,

"Ugh, I'm so hungry. I should have eaten before I left."

Lavi was on the very outskirts of Toulouse. He'd been walking all day and it was almost night.

The road was bordered by old farmhouses and barns. He hadn't seen anyone yet and so thought that perhaps they were all abandoned.

Damn it. I don't even know where I'm going. I'm in the middle of an abandoned area with no guide, and no food. What now?

Looking around Lavi spotted a girl about his own age hiding half behind the front door of the oldest looking farmhouse around.

Lavi was shocked to actually see someone living in the old house. Out of options he started towards her.

The girl, seeing him coming, hastily stepped back and went to shut the door.

"Wait," Lavi cried out to her.

The girl stopped and opened the door a fraction. "What do you want?"

"Sorry if I startled you," Lavi began. "My name is Lavi. What's yours?"

The girl looked around but only moving her eyes, not her whole head, as if someone unwanted might be eavesdropping on them.

"My name is Dea. I live here in this farmhouse with my uncle," she hesitated for a moment but sensing no danger continued. "I'm sorry if everyone in town was rude to you. There have been a few rumors and…well…no one knows exactly who you can trust these days."

"You were in town yesterday?"

Dea beckoned Lavi to come closer before continuing. "Yes, my uncle sent me to buy some food for the table. All the farms you see around you," she gestured with her hand to the farms across the road. "They have all dried up. No one knows why, but the crops just died away as though the air was poisoned or something."

"The crops won't grow? Is that why most of these farms are abandoned?"

Dea dropped her voice even further. "Yes. Once the land stopped producing all the other farmers just packed up what little belongings they had and left."

Lavi scratched his head in frustration. Something has to be causing this unusual incident. Could it be Innocence?

Dea started talking again. "My uncle is very sick, you see. So we had to stay. He is not well enough to travel, even to make it into town."

"I see."

Dea opened the door a little more and looked Lavi in the face earnestly. Her brown eyes were questioning. "They say you're from the Dark Order. If that's true then you must be an exorcist. Right?"

"Huh?" Lavi was surprised a little at her words. He honestly thought that she would be afraid of him like everyone else seemed to be. "Yeah, that's right."

"Then, would you be able to help us? I mean my uncle and me."

"Why? What's wrong?"

Dea waved her hand for Lavi to come inside. Lavi did so cautiously. Bookman's teachings rang in his mind. "Do not trust anyone, no matter who they say they are."

"Have a seat." Dea offered Lavi a comfortable looking armchair. Lavi sat down and Dea, satisfied that he was not a foe, turned on the light and sat down opposite him in another chair.

"It all started two months ago."

Two months? That's when Komui said the amount of Akuma here started increasing. Does what she's saying have some connection?

"Two months ago, I was plowing in the back paddocks late in the afternoon. The sun was setting and it was getting difficult to see. Anyway, as I was plowing I spotted something sparkle in the soil. So I dug it up."

Dea touched her hand to her neck as she said this. Lavi noticed that a beautiful, old necklace hung there. It was a fine golden chain with a bright red ruby hanging in the middle of it and two smaller diamonds on either side.

"When I finally unburied it and cleaned it off I realized that it was a beautiful necklace, as you can see."

Lavi nodded, "Yes it is remarkably beautiful. But what was it doing in your field?"

"I don't know but about a week after I found it the fields started drying up and the herds of animals started to die off."

This necklace. Could this be the innocence that's causing the strange phenomenon?

"Then the monsters started attacking everyone. That's also the reason why they left."

Lavi thought through what she had said so far. "Well people probably reasoned that with no crops there is nothing to keep them from leaving."

"Yes, but then something strange happened."

"You mean something strange other than what's been happening?"

Dea shuddered before speaking. Her voice was very quiet now. "I…I started seeing things. Hearing things. In my dreams. And all too often they come true."

"The future? Or maybe…"

Wait, this girl…could she actually be a compatible user for this innocence? First I need to determine whether or not it is innocence.

"In the end…I…I…" Dea stuttered. Her breathing was short of hard. Her heart was beating very loudly. "It happened yesterday. After I came back from the town. Uncle was asleep. I brushed back his hair and…and…I saw his mind. I could see what he was thinking. When I finally left his mind I was so weak I could barely walk."

No doubt about it. This girl is a compatible user, which means that this necklace of hers is innocence. That would explain everything. It all fits, the Akuma, the visions. But what is this feeling? As though someone is watching us.

"Lavi."

Lavi jumped at his own name. It seemed almost odd for someone he just met to be saying his name as though they were old friends.

"What I saw, Lavi…what I saw in my uncle's head was…was…"

Something glinted silver in the corner of Lavi's eye. Before he could react, however, a sharp blade was pressed up against his throat and a vice like hand gripped his arm.

"Uncle, what are you doing?" gasped Dea in shock.

Lavi strained against the hand holding him firmly in his chair.

"This man, Dea…this man is not someone you need to trust."

"Uncle I…"

Exasperated Dea's uncle shook Lavi. As Lavi was being shaken his neck came frightfully close to the point of the blade.

"Look at his eyes," shouted Dea's Uncle. "His eyes say it all."

Lavi looked at Dea who looked back and saw the nothing reflected in his eyes. She saw the emotionless youth in front of her and as she looked deeper into his eyes, she saw how little he cared.

"No…I won't believe it. Uncle, this person, Lavi, is good. He wants to help us. Right Lavi?"

A deep growl started emitting deep from the back of the old man's throat. His hand wavered a little and Lavi took his chance to push himself away from the sharp blade.

He spun across the room to where Dea was and grabbed her hand to pull her further away from her Uncle.

"Dea, your Uncle…he…"

Dea's Uncle leaped forward and brought the blade swinging down towards Lavi who effortlessly dodged it. The old man jumped back and prepared himself for another attack.

I get it now. What Dea saw in her Uncle's dream. What she was so afraid of was…death. She saw her Uncle as he really is. He is a…

He attacked again this time aiming for Dea's neck. Lavi threw himself in front of her and blocked the attack with the shaft of his hammer.

Dea's Uncle is…an Akuma!

Dea's Uncle leaped back away from the two of them. His body started to writhe and split. Sure enough, as Lavi had said, an Akuma shot up out of the old man's skin.

Lavi was surprised to see that it was the same Akuma as the one that attacked him in the town.

So it had run away and killed this old man to disguise itself in his skin.

The big wolf smashed the wall behind Lavi and Dea and jumped out into the dark night. Lavi ran out after him. Dea stood paralyzed by shock at what her Uncle had just turned into.

Lavi swung his hammer down onto the wolf's head but it dodged to the right and shot at Lavi with its gun. Lavi quickly brought his hammer up over his head to protect himself.

"Found it," cried out the Akuma. "You're weakness that is."

Lavi brought the hammer back down and shouted, "Grow, grow, grow."

The hammer tripled in size and Lavi whirled it around to hit the side of the Akuma's head. He missed it by inches.

The Akuma spun around and fired another round of bullets at Lavi who mechanically brought his hammer up to block the attack.

At this point, when Lavi's hammer was obscuring his view, the Akuma swept its hand underneath Lavi's hammer and snatched at his legs.

Lavi, caught off guard, was easily plucked up off the ground. He dropped his hammer which shrunk back to its normal size.

"How did you survive yesterday, kid?" the Akuma's voice was dark and grating. "I thought I'd finished you off for sure with that last attack! Hehehe, not that it matters. You're gonna die right here. Right NOW!"

The Akuma grabbed Lavi's body with its hand and forced all the air out of his lungs. Lavi gasped as his body was squeezed tighter.

Dea was watching the fight from inside the house. Now, as she was watching Lavi die in front of her, she ran out and in the direction of Lavi's hammer.

Picking it up she spun to face her Uncle who was now an Akuma.

"Stop," gasped Lavi. "It won't work. It only…'gasp'…only works for me…its user."

Dea's brown eyes were brimming with tears. Although she had only met this youth not too long ago she had grown attached to him. He was a nice, reliable person. Seeing him now, in so much pain and so helpless, it troubled her.

There was only one thing she could do.

Running as close to the body of the Akuma as she could she grabbed the shaft of the hammer.

Lavi was out of breath. His head was spinning and his vision was fading. He was losing consciousness.

"LAVI!"

Lavi's eye snapped open as he tried to seek out Dea, but he could not see her anywhere in the night.

"HERE!" she screamed and she threw his hammer high into the air where Lavi reached out his hand and snatched it from its path.

"Grow!" gasped Lavi as his hand closed over the shaft of his hammer. He felt its familiar weight that never changed for him as big as it got.

He brought the hammer down on the Akuma's head. The wolf howled in pain. Lavi brought the hammer back for another hit. He felt it make impact and the Akuma released his body.

Lavi fell from the air and landed with a thump on the ground. The Akuma was badly injured but not destroyed. Dea ran to where Lavi was. As she reached him she knelt to the ground beside him calling his name but Lavi would not budge.

The Akuma was getting ready to strike at her.

Its hand was raised high, talons spiked.

Please wake up, Lavi!

Its growl vibrated deep inside its chest.

Wake up!

It bared its teeth, rising for the killing blow.

LAVI!

An explosion shook the ground. The wind whipped around Dea's face blowing her mass of brown hair about her shoulders. She crouched over Lavi, who was still unmoving on the ground, and shielded him from the stinging wind.

As the forceful wind died down Dea slowly picked herself up from the ground and shook Lavi.

Lavi was not moving. Tears were falling down Dea's face. Please don't be dead. You can't be dead. Not now.

Lavi breathed in a large gulp of air and continued to breathe solidly.

Asleep? He's just asleep?

Dea laughed shakily. She turned back to where the Akuma was before and thought about what had happened.

How did it explode? Lavi didn't hit him. I certainly didn't do anything. Maybe it was just the wind. Anyway I need to get Lavi inside.

Please Review if you read this, makes me sad if no one does! Look forward to the next chappie! XD