Final Melody

Chapter 3

Innocence

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"There, good as new." The matron said, tying a little bow on the back of his bandaged hands. He wiggled his fingers, testing the manoeuvrability. The old woman slapped his hand. "Don't stretch them right now, the cuts are barely healed and I don't want you coming back here in an hour begging for new bandages."

Despite himself, Lavi smiled. "Yes ma'am." He slid off the bed and hurried from the ward, making sure to push the door open with his shoulder and not his aching hands.

The hallways were fairly empty, most exorcists, finders and scientists either out on missions or locked away in laboratories. The few people he saw would hurry away the minute they caught a glimpse of him. Obviously, no one wanted to been seen with the 'half-crazed Bookman.' Lavi didn't mind. He have wouldn't do to well in company right now. He had found himself more frequently locked up in his room, devouring the Bookman's collection than chatting.

"Lavi! Lavi!" He turned around at the sound of his voice and stepped aside just in time to avoid Miranda barrelling into him. She managed to right herself by catching onto the railing, "Sorry! I was told to hurry; Komui wants to see you in his laboratory."

Lavi's face hardened. He had been pointedly avoiding the Chief, eating at irregular times and quickly hiding at every hint of white he saw. Now, with a formal invitation –more like order-, he couldn't exactly say he had suddenly become deaf and couldn't understand Miranda.

"I'll go right now."

Miranda took a hesitative step towards him. "Komui said I should accompany you. You know to make sure you…" Her explination faded as the green eye glared at her.

"To make sure I what? Not run away like some kid?" He stomped away without another word, leaving a fretting Miranda to hover uncertainly on the spot.

The doors to the laboratory flew open. Komui adjusted his glasses and took a fortifying sip of his coffee. "Here we go…"

"Surprised I showed up?" Lavi demanded, poking Komui in the chest.

Komui shook his head. "Not at all. Now if you'll come with me…" He walked away and Lavi trailed behind him, glowering; he wasn't done with the Chief.

"The process of putting your Innocence back in your body is still a complicated and experimental one. We're still running tests on Lenalee and still can't quite figure out how it works." Komui explained as they made their way towards the elevator, "I wouldn't recommend this. You're one of most valuable exorcists, if we lost you to your own Innocence-"

"I will be fine." Lavi interrupted, stepping onto the elevator. "Let's go."

Komui hesitated, and then followed the young exorcist. His hands moved over the controls and the small platform floated upwards. Lavi tilted his head upwards, watching the darkened ceiling slowly grow closer. Hevlaska appeared above them, her white strands floating down towards them. Komui took a step backwards, sipping from his coffee cup, eyes never leaving Lavi.

Gently tendrils of white curled around him, wrapping around his wrists and legs. He watched them grow into large rolls, lifting him up. The world is slowly engulfed in the white wisps. He squeezing his eyes shut, letting them adjust to the sudden lightness.

"Lavi…" the voice echoed through his head. "You don't have to do this. The Order is not in any immediate danger. You sacrifice is not needed. If we lose you, no amount of peace will heal the wound." He is unsure if the voice was his own, or Hevlaska's.

The green eye opened. "I'm ready."

A black square bloomed from the white. The air started to hum, throbbing through ever inch of his body. The black cube, riding on the wave of the white, pressed into his chest. White exploded around him, revealing the darkness. His arms and legs were unravelling from Hevlaska's grasp and he was falling.

All around him the white and black clashed, mixed with a red that seemed to stream from his own body. The white was trying to catch him, trying to bring him back, but the black was already closing around him, it's coldness numbing. He wanted nothing more than to sink into the black, to let the deadening feeling take over. His breathing was slowing as the ice sunk into his lungs, freezing his very core.

"Lavi..." He stopped falling. The white stretched above him, the limitless sky. Below him, the dark was cool comforting, it's dark fingers tracing along his skin, coaxing him into a doze. "Lavi…" The Bookman groaned. The voice was more annoying than the brilliant white.

His Innocence drifted down from the white. It was still humming, though its intensity had lessened to a dull beat. "Lavi…" He realized that the voice was issuing from the Innocence itself. As it came closer, his hand reached up, breaking free of the black strands. Red floated from the hand, hanging suspended in the air.

Pale fingers gently touched the Innocence. The humming grew even quieter, but now it pierced to his centre, melting his core. The white was growing larger, suppressing the blackness under it's sweeping wings.

He sat up, the darkness flowing away as he brought his Innocence close to his chest. Blood still streamed from his cuts, coating the small cube. As the red touched the black, the Innocence also began to melt, mixing in with his blood. The cube dissipated into his palms. The coolness in his chest was gone, replaced by the hot sear of pain. He cried out, back arching as he fell back to the ground, twitching. His bleeding hands scrabbled at the white, determined to tear through it, determined to find the cool black.

Crimson ran freely from his hands, engulfing the white. Lavi was curled into a ball. He was going to die. He knew it. The pain was in every nerve, burning his skin; his heart was pumping furiously, pounding his chest.

He convulsed again. His world was red. Tears coursed down his cheeks. He wanted nothing more than to die. To end it all. To let the blackness take his pain away. His heartbeat grew fainter. The red was growing darker. Finally, he would be free of the pain.

His eyes open, the world blurry and dark. Something emerged from the darkness, glowing dully. A scythe floated before him, daring him to take it. His hand reaches forward of it's own accord. His mind was already blacking out, but his hand kept moving forward. "Just a bit farther…"

The pale fingers touched the cold onyx stone. Cool tendrils laced down his fingers and into the rest of his body, soothing his pain. He no longer wanted to die, but rather, to sleep.

And sleep he did.

Komui glanced up from his paperwork –or a pile of paper he was supposed to be processing-. The exorcist on his couch had just moaned, shifting slightly. Lavi had collapsed after his Innocence had melded into his chest. They could only watch in horror as he twitched and moaned, not daring to touch him. Once he had stopped moving they carried him to Komui's office, leaving him on the couch.

The Matron had already checked him out and –in a completely nonplussed voice- determined that he has no ailments and that all his wounds had healed. The only indication that he had been hurt was the twin cross scars that now graced his palms.

He moaned again, this time turning to face Komui, arms tucked underneath his head. The black bracelets glinted at him, the same stone that his sister's Innocence had formed.

Komui stood up, moving over to the couch to stand over Lavi, sipping his coffee pensively. When Lenalee's Innocence had merged with her, the boots had appeared not long after. While Lavi's Innocence had merged successfully, it had still not taken a weapon form, merely appearing as the bracelets. When Lavi woke up, the testing would have to start immediately.

As if he could hear this thought, Lavi groaned, his eye blinking awake. Komui moved back to his desk, taking his seat. The exorcist sat up, rubbing his eye. "What happened?" He asked groggily. The bracelet bumped against his cheek and he lowered his hand, staring at them. Cautiously, his fingers brushed against them.

"You collapsed. "Komui said. "The procedure was a success. Do you remember anything?"

"All I remember was Hevlaska picking me up… after that…" He cleared his throat. "How long have I been out?"

"Just an hour. How are you feeling?"

Lavi stretched, back cracking satisfyingly. "I feel great actually."

They stared at each other, Komui still sipping his coffee and Lavi fidgeting under his gaze. "I'll just… go to my room then." He stood, running a hand through his mess red hair.

"I want you to summon your Innocence." Komui said suddenly.

"My Innocence?" Lavi's hand touched his leg where his hammer had once been. Realizing his mistake, he held up his left arm so that the armlet was at chest height.

"Yes. We need to make sure that the merging procedure will allow you to summon you Innocence. If not, well… we'll deal with that later." Komui said his eyes also fixed on the stone.

Lavi hesitated, taking a step backwards. Something in his chest was pressing on him, looming. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the feeling. "Okay." He had no idea what was going to happen. The constricting feeling in his chest grew, making his breathing harder. He closed his eyes, imagining the hammer appearing in his hands.

Nothing happened. No familiar feeling of the long shaft graced his hands. Feeling foolish, he opened his eye, looking down at his hands. The twin scars gleamed up at him, pearly white in the florescent light.

With new resolve, Lavi concentrated with every fibre of his being, willing his Innocence to appear. The pressure mounting in his chest was still mounting, making him grit his teeth.

Slowly, the dark stone began to dissipate, turning into a black powder. It started to mould back together two-feet above his head. It was hardening, not into the round head of his hammer but an elegantly curved blade. The dust continued to work its way down, forming a haft.

Lavi watched in amazement as a scythe materialized into his hands. The dark blade was carved with elegant script that coursed down the handle, silver in the light but as he moved them, they would blend into the black.

He looked up to see Komui staring at him, his coffee cup suspended halfway to his slack jaw. "Little more impressive than a hammer." Lavi said, grinning at the Chief. He noted that the pressure in his chest and lessened significantly and his teeth had unclenched.

The weapon hummed, it's blade gleaming wickedly in the light. The exorcist swung it, watching it sing through the air.

Komui moved back out of instinct, spilling coffee on his white uniform. Lavi was grinning, completing the swing and slamming the staff into the ground, leaning on it.

A handkerchief was pulled from beneath a pile of papers that tumbled to the ground. "The Bookman would be proud." Komui commented, dabbing at the brown stains.

Immediately, the heaviness returned, crushing his chest, a hundreds times more painful that before. Lavi cried out, doubled over. The scythe remained standing but cracks were appearing along the shaft. It shattered, the pieces turning to the black sand. Lavi righted, panting for breath and the bracelets appeared back on his wrists.

Without a word, Lavi left, hands clenched into fists.

Komui sagged forward, head in his hands as the door slam echoed into silence.

Author's Note

Sorry for the super late chapter, had some issues D: