Lavi was fast asleep on the mattress Dea had laid out for him. His breathing was soft and steady.
Dea was standing at the doorway with her arms folded at her chest. She was looking down at Lavi, watching him sleep. Her hair was braided down her back and she wore a light, white nightgown.
As she stood watching Lavi he stirred in his sleep and mumbled something that was only just inaudible.
Interested to know what he was dreaming about, Dea knelt beside his head and placed a steady palm on his forehead. His skin was warm and smooth beneath her hand.
She closed her eyes and searched deep into Lavi's mind.
Here, I did it!
There was a young Lavi standing before her. He looked only about eight or nine. His hair was shorter but still the same flaming red. He also still had the dark eyepatch over his eye.
"You are the successor to the next Bookman."
Dea was startled by the voice. It was clearly an old man's voice. She looked around and saw him standing only a few feet away from Lavi.
His face was dark and he had black makeup around his eyes. He had a small amount of hair on his head gathered in the middle. Truthfully he looked old and brittle.
Who is this old man? Does Lavi know him from somewhere? I wonder how they are connected.
Younger Lavi was looking in awe at the old mans back.
"The buried parts of history are handed down from person to person and are excluded from historical fact."
The old man turned a little to look at the young boy.
"From now on, you are to record these, understand?"
"Yes," said the younger Lavi.
He looked up at the sky and smiled. Thinking to himself he thought, 'To understand things others don't know, that's why I want to become a Bookman.'
What's a Bookman? What are they talking about?
Lavi's mind went black and then changed to a more recent time.
Lavi was leaning up against the side of a building. It was night but the sky was bright with the full moon shining down on the little town. He rested his head back on his hands and looked up at the moon as thoughts ran through his head. Dea could hear them all.
"Don't be caught up in the war. You are the successor of Bookman. Nothing else. I told you to remain an observer at all times. We are merely on the side of the order to record what happens. Don't forget your goal, Lavi"
Lavi's own thoughts clouded the vision Dea was seeing.
"Only to record history. I have no need of a heart. Emotions are unnecessary. Everyone I meet is just ink on paper."
Dea's head was thoroughly confused now. The scene around her faded to black and stayed black. She came back to her own mind.
Lavi was still lying on the bed but now he was awake.
Dea looked into his eye. His beautiful green eye. When she first saw him it was blank and uncaring. Right now it was deep in mixed emotions. He was suffering inside with who he really is. She understood what his dream was about now.
"So you know what I am?" whispered Lavi. "What I do?"
Dea stared at his eye and shook her head. "You record history, what's wrong with that?"
"I record history, yes. But I give up my heart to do so. A Bookman doesn't feel emotions. I don't interfere with things that don't concern me."
"But you stopped that monster didn't you?"
"Could I have just stood there and let it kill you?"
Dea closed her moist eyes and calmed herself by breathing deeply.
"If I could help save someone's life I would be willing to risk mine to do so."
He reached up and brushed the tears that were running down Dea's face. When she looked at him, he smiled.
"Oh yeah, what happened to that Akuma I was facing? I know I didn't kill it."
"Huh?...Oh it exploded!"
Lavi's brow creased. How could it have exploded when it wasn't killed by innocence? Unless…it might have self-destructed. But what Level 2 Akuma would do that to himself, unless someone ordered him to.
Like before, Lavi felt as though someone was watching him. He glanced up at the window just as a cloud passed by and saw a black cat jump down from the sill.
In a rush, Lavi jumped up and ran to the window. He stared out after the cat but it was gone.
"You're coming with me?"
Dea flinched at Lavi's abrupt words. "Only if you don't mind."
Lavi blushed slightly, "of course not."
Dea was dressed in a long blue coat with a white shirt underneath and a short brown skirt. Her hair was tied loosely over her shoulder.
All in all, Lavi thought she looked very attractive.
They set off early in the morning before the sun began to really shine. The silence between them was awkward at first but slowly grew more bearable as the day progressed.
Dea, who hadn't spoken a word the entire time, was lost in thought.
Lavi could easily guess what she was thinking about. She was easy to read, like an open book.
She's thinking about what she had seen last night in my dreams. How could I have been so careless as to let her see that?
They stopped for a break in an old wheat field. For the first time that morning the silence was broken.
"Where exactly are we going?" It was Dea who had asked the question.
Lavi considered what she said for a moment then replied assertively, "That black cat last night. I'm sure I've seen it before. If I'm right and I have then we only need to wander because there will be no need to look for it."
"What do you mean?"
"It will come to us."
"By 'come to us' do you mean attack us or…"
Lavi laughed, "Well we definitely won't be sitting down having a cup of tea."
"What do you mean?"
Lavi didn't respond to her last question but instead asked her one. "That Akuma last night, are you sure it self-destructed or did someone destroy it?"
"There was no one else there. It definitely self-destructed."
"Then I'm sure of it."
Dea sighed in exasperation. 'Sure of what?"
"Oh, sorry Dea I keep thinking that your already an exorcist and assume you know all this. Akuma would only self-destruct if they are ordered to. But, that black cat..."
"What exactly is an Akuma?"
Lavi smile at her unawareness. "An Akuma. There killing machines created by the Millennium Earl. When someone dies, that loss would give rise to unbearable grief. The Millennium Earl takes advantage of that grief and a doll is created. The Earl then uses it to kill humans and evolve. That is an Akuma."
Dea stared at Lavi blankly.
Lavi's smile grew, "Of course you wouldn't know anything about that either."
The sky rumbled and Lavi saw the dark clouds in the distance slowly rolling through the sky towards them. It hummed dully like a swarm of bees.
"I suppose it can't hurt to pitch camp here. If were lucky the storm will pass as we sleep," he said while digging through the backpack they brought with them.
Dea looked up at the sky in response to what Lavi had said. Nodding she knelt down beside him and help pull out the two man tent.
Lavi took the tent from her hands. "I'll do it."
Dea blushed as his hand made contact with hers. "Oh, umm…I…I'll get some food ready then," she stuttered.
"Right," Lavi smiled at her flushed cheeks.
Looks like she's falling for me. Heh, guess I can't talk.
The tent was harder to put up then it looked. In the end the instructions lay discarded at Lavi's feet and he was tangled up in the rope while holding half of it up as the other half was already falling apart.
Dea was in hysterics. She helped untangle the rope that was strangling Lavi and put up the tent herself. Lavi thanked her profusely while she was at work stringing the rope through the loops.
They sat outside in the cool breeze as they ate a quick meal and unpacked their bags. As the wind picked up speed they moved into their shelter. The sky grew darker and the rain set in.
Dea fell asleep within the hour; Lavi on the other hand could not sleep for something was in the back of his mind irritating him.
The wind was howling around them as the night moved slowly on. In the downpour of rain Lavi herd a faint voice in the air.
He sat bolt upright and looked to see if Dea had heard it. But of course, Dea was asleep.
He closed his eyes and strained his ears. He heard it again. A faint scream.
Acting impulsively Lavi crept out of the tent and into the freezing cold air. The night was pitch black, the moon obstructed by clouds. Rain steadily poured down as Lavi listened for any slight noise that was out of place.
"Help?"
Lavi turned and followed the sound of the voice. He passed by a tree that had fallen in the wind and took a mental note on it so he'd know how to find his way back to the tent.
Another scream split the air, it was closer this time and Lavi was so sure of where it was coming from he started to run.
An old barn came into view. Half of the wall was destroyed and the roof had been completely ripped off.
Lavi ran to the broken wall and glanced around inside. His eyes had become more focused to the dark but he could still only see just ten meters around him. Hesitantly, Lavi stumbled into the barn. The wind didn't reach him as forcefully here as it did outside. The old barn creaked loudly under the strain of the wind.
"Hello?" Lavi called out into the darkness. "Is anyone there?"
Lavi could here a shallow breathing over the howls of the wind. He squinted through the darkness to see the source of the noise.
Curled up in the corner of the barn was a small girl. She held her head in her arms, protecting it from the wind.
Lavi ran towards her and picked her up in his arms. She was tiny, thin and pale in the moonlight. He guessed she could be no older than ten. He pulled of his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.
"Who are you?" The girl's voice was very faint and shaky. Lavi pulled her closer to him. She was freezing.
"Don't talk," he said to her comfortingly. "I'll get you out of the wind."
He turned and ran out of the old barn as it gave another loud crack. When he was a safe distance from the barn he heard another louder snap and looked back to see the barn slowly collapse on itself.
Sighing with relief at how close they were to being squashed Lavi picked his way carefully back to the tent.
As he passed the fallen tree something smashed into his face. Disorientated Lavi fell back, the girl in his arms with him. He looked up to see Dea standing above him in shock.
"Oh, Lavi, I'm so sorry." She gasped. "I woke up and you weren't there so I thought I should go looking for you. But when I got outside it was so dark I couldn't see where I was going. I'm sorry."
In her babble of apologizing she had realized that Lavi was holding something. "Who's that?"
"Oh, I found this small girl in one of the old barns. She was freezing cold."
Dea looked slightly irritated at the small girl. Something about her wasn't quite right.
Lavi took the girl into the tent and covered her over with his blanket. When he exited the tent he strolled over to where Dea sat on the fallen tree. Her expression was not friendly.
Lavi sat next to her. "What's wrong?"
Dea folded her arms and her brow creased. "That girl. There's something about her. I don't like it."
"What are you talking about? She's just a helpless child!"
"That's what worries me."
Lavi didn't understand. "And that worries you because…?"
"Well, what was a helpless child doing in a deserted barn in the first place?"
Lavi sighed. "I guess you've got a point there.
Dea yawned. "I'm going back to sleep."
Dea stood up and stretched her arms above her head. Lavi watched her as she crept back into the tent and closed the flap.
He didn't follow her. He wasn't tired anymore.
So please tell me what you think again! im keen as a bean to read some comments/reviews! so if you've got something to say, by all means dont hold back, step right out and say it!