A Missing Piece

"Thank you, sir, we'll take care of her here."

'Where… am I?' I felt my head turning and I see a man covered in shadows, like that woman, walking into a silver storm.

"So, what's your name?" The woman came to my eye level. She was dressed in black and looked elderly.

'My name is Teal.' I hear myself think. Nothing came out, my throat hurt from crying so much. This woman is a stranger. This whole world is strange. What is the world? I thought for a while and there was nothing.

"Shy are you? I bet once you make a friend, you'll feel better. And you can always come to me if you need anything."

*bzzzt*

'Something's over here. Something is telling me it's good. Is it that person leading me somewhere?'

"Sweetheart, you can't go there. That's the boy's dormitory." There is a light at the end of the hall. There's some kind of chatter that is echoing throughout the hall even though everyone's in the play room or getting something to eat. I pushed the door a little bit out of curiosity. There were two boys sitting on a rug. Their faces were covered in shadows. One of them turned to me and was startled.

"Who's there?"

"Get lost!" The other one shouted as he opened the door then his anger suddenly faded. The boy standing in front of me had black hair.

I was scared and I wanted to run but another feeling was overwhelming and it swallowed my fear and I stayed. I started going in the room to get a look at the other boy. This one had blond hair.

"What're you doing here? No girls are allowed here."

"Sorry, boys." The elderly lady was standing in the door. "This girl arrived a few hours ago and she's very curious. Dear, this is *bzzt* and that is *bzzt*"

*bzzt*

"EEEKKK!" 'It's like that woman. Creatures like that woman'

Teal woke up with a start. She was in her room at the Black Order. It was fairly large but it had very little furniture in it. There was a dresser, her bed and a closet. Teal had a window right above her dresser with stained glass and blinds. Above all, she had a pretty good view of the area that the Order overlooked.
It was hardly even dawn.

"That dream again." She was panting. 'Those shadows are so like that woman. Why can't I see past them? Perhaps she's angry that I'm an exorcist. Well, that's good enough for me. I will become a strong exorcist and I'll defeat her once and for all. Nothing else matters than that.' She went to her dresser and looked at the clock.

'Wow, it's like 5 in the morning. I went to bed at 7 ish? That is the best sleep I had in a long time. I think I'll explore, train and then get some breakfast."

After Teal did her morning routine, she started to wander around the Order. 'I wonder if anyone else is up. It's like 5 so I better not wake them.'

She wandered into the forest outside the Order. "Heh, pretty cool." She tripped on a big root. The forest suddenly disappeared and Teal saw someone moving around blind folded, slicing his sword at leaves in the spot she was at. The forest suddenly came back.

She climbed up one of the trees. Less than a minute later, the guy she saw in her vision was blindfolded, slicing his sword at leaves and jumping over the big root she just tripped on.

'This has GOT to be a coincidence. I guess my ability can activate by touching items too.' She said to herself. The guy stopped for a second and looked her way, and just said 'che' and went on. 'He's a grouch.' Teal stretched a bit and activated her Innocence. 'What other spells can I do?'

Later that morning…

"Hey Allen, did ya hear? There's a new exorcist that came in yesterday. I got in late from a mission and I didn't see him," Lavi excitedly exclaimed. Lavi was an 18 year old boy who has red hair and an eye patch on his right eye.

"Her, you didn't see 'her' Lavi," corrected Allen.

"A new female exorcist? Sweet! What's she like?"

"You'll see for yourself. Right now, I'm starving."

"Aw, c'mon Allen!"

"I'm hungry. Which way is the cafeteria again?" 'That felt good. It feels weird having these things on my arms but they're swords and that is my specialty.'

"Morning Teal!" Lenalee was walking down the hallway. Teal turned and waved to Lenalee.

"Morning Lenalee! How are you?"

"Fine, did you sleep well?"

"Yes. Um, you know which way is the cafeteria? I get lost easily and I can't remember where everything was on that tour."

"I'm heading to the cafeteria so I'll show you."

-
"Seriously Allen, I don't know how you manage to eat that much." Lavi said with slight disgust.

"Guys like me need a lot of energy and therefore, we have a big appetite. Plus what I don't eat, Timcanpy will eat." Allen pointed his fork at his golden golem that was flying by his head.

"Morning Allen, Lavi!" called Lenalee. Before Lavi could respond, the other girl with Lenalee was the only person he could see. Lavi gets excited when he sees any girl. She looked like she was taller than Allen but slightly shorter than himself.

"Hi, my name's Lavi." He grinned at her.

"Uh, nice to meet you, I'm Teal. I'll be right back." She said nervously. She wasn't used to being around people. It was something she had to get used to pretty quick because she would be living here for who knows how long.

"Here you go Lenalee, who's next? Ah, a newcomer." As Teal came to the counter, she met Jerry the cook and couldn't tell if he was male or female.

"Nice to meet you." She replied politely.

"I can make you anything you want. Just name it."

"Ok." 'Anything?' "Um… I would like fruit salad, scrambled eggs, spring rolls, hash browns, pancakes, 2 rice balls and um… mango juice please."

"Done!" That was the fastest time anyone has made food that Teal has ever seen.

"And Teal, right? If there's any 'female' stuff you want to talk about, I'm your guy."

" Uh, thanks." She took her plate and sat down with the other exorcists. 'What kind of female stuff does he mean? I'm not so sure he's a guy.' She noticed that Lavi and Lenalee were gesturing her to come sit with them. Allen was buried behind a mountain of plates.

'Oh boy. My favorite part: Interrogation.'

"So, where you from Teal?" asked Lavi as she sat down. 'Doesn't even let me eat a bit first. How annoying.'

"I'm from a town in France that's not too far from the Italian border. I think it's… Menton… or something like that."

"You lived there your whole life?"

"No… Only for five years. After I quit my gang, my father and I moved there."

"A gang? You mean you were a yanki?" Lavi asked.

"Yeah. But I've changed most of my ways." 'I just blew it.' Allen was hacking up something and banging on his chest. Teal narrowed her eyes slightly at him and stabbed her scrambled eggs with her fork. So what, she was a criminal once, big deal.

"Well, that's good. The Order's not that picky about backgrounds." Lenalee smiled.

"Allen, are you okay?" Allen was still hacking on his food. "Geez, don't wolf down food so quickly." Lavi said to him.

'Oh. I wasn't me, I guess.'

"I'll go and get him some water." Teal volunteered. Teal wasn't looking where she was going and she ran into someone. Next thing she knew Allen stopped hacking and everyone was backing off except Lenalee.

Teal cautiously turned her head and there was this tall person right in front of her and she never seen anyone this angry in her life. He unsheathed a sword that was on his belt before she could blink and it was extremely close to her face.

"Watch who're you're messing with, newbie." The person growled.

"Look, I'm sorry, it was an accident." She said passively, not looking the person in the eye.

"Accidents don't happen. It was stupidity that happened. Watch where you are going."

"Hey, who're you calling stupid?" She shot back. Teal kind of has a temper and the consequences are disastrous if she lets it get too far. Just seeing this person somehow made her more irritated.

"Who do you think newbie? Watch who you're messing with." He growled and didn't lower his sword.

"I should say- never mind. You win." She could feel her anger rising but she dropped the argument with this person before it got out of hand. She grabbed her last rice ball and excused herself from the hall.

'Note to self: Work on anger management. The second they find out about her, they'll throw me out.' She thought as she jumped on the balcony railing. 'Not that I don't really want to be. I don't need more trouble as it is already.'

"Hey," Teal jumped as Allen came out of nowhere. "Something wrong? You just took off."

"It's nothing. It's one of those situations where it's better to avoid the fight, y'know?" She smiled nervously. Even though Allen was just talking to her casually, she was still somehow irritated.

"Smart move." Allen smiled. "If there's one person here you don't want to mess with, it's Kanda."

"Hey! Allen! I'm heading to the library, you comin'?" Lavi called.

"I'll be right there. Hey, you wanna come along?" Allen turned his head to Teal.

"Sure. I don't have anything better to do." As she was following Allen, she couldn't help but stare at his hair.

"Hey Allen,"

"What is it?"

"Are you an albino?" The question just came out of her mouth. She was curious but she couldn't think of a more polite way to ask him why he has white hair when he's so young. 'Ah great, I think I just offended him.' "Actually, never mind." She said quickly.

"It's alright. I get that sometimes. It's actually a curse." He smiled at her.

"A curse?"

"Yeah, that's right. Curses do exist. And humans are the only beings in this world that can get cursed. So how'd this come up, Allen?" Lavi put his elbow on Allen's shoulder in a friendly manner.

"My fault. Word vomit. I apologize." Teal barely raised her hand.

"Wow. A whole explanation less than ten words. I'm starting to think that one of us is making you nervous." He grinned.

"Well… Yeah. This is nothing compared to what I'm used to, I hardly know anyone, and that's all I can think of."

"Okay then, what are you used to?" Lavi asked as he gestured Allen and Teal to follow him.

"Traveling a lot, small living space, keeping- Oh crap."

"What?"

"I forgot to write to my master that-"

"You can't write to anyone, letting them know you're an exorcist." Lavi interrupted her and his tone of voice was very cold and serious. "Unless if they support the Order or plan to, you can't tell your family or your friends that you are an exorcist or anything about the war that you are fighting in."

"What? Why?"

"It can make them vulnerable to becoming the Earl's victims." When they arrived at the library, a short elderly man in an exorcist uniform was standing in front of them.

"You're late." He glared at Lavi.

"Ehehe, sorry Panda."

"You idiot! When I tell you to be here on time, be here on time!" He hit Lavi so hard that Lavi was knocked off his feet.

'He's scary for an old guy.'

"Excuse me, but how would that make them more vulnerable? Is it that big of a deal?"

"Yes it is. You're the newest exorcist, correct?"

"Yes sir. My name is Teal."

"I am Bookman. You have a lot to learn, Miss Teal. Do you know exactly what an akuma is?"

"A monster in human form?" 'That's basically how I understand it.'

"Partially. They are born of tragedy, and if one's sorrow becomes too great, the maker, the Millennium Earl will bring a departed soul back in this world forever and it will kill endlessly unless if it is stopped by an exorcist. Unfortunately, there are many in this world and they all wear human skins as disguises so it is not easy to tell them apart from ordinary humans."

"So what you're saying is that if I told my friend that I was in this war, an ally of the Earl may come and kill them?"

"It could happen." Allen said. "However, the main purpose is to protect the members of the Order from becoming akuma. If their families receive word that a member died, they may create an akuma out of you and vice versa."

"Oh." Teal gave a sigh. "But if I kept my mouth shut about this, would it be alright to see them?"

"If you know what you are doing, then yes." Bookman said.

'I think I've underestimated the position I'm in. From what I've heard this is not an ordinary war. I don't want Shishou involved in anything like this. So, I'll fight to protect them. Oh yeah, I almost forgot.'

"Hey, Bookman. Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" They walked to a corner away from Allen and Lavi's earshot.

"What is it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Uh… Well… I've had these visions."

"What sort of visions and do they happen often?"

"I'm not exactly sure. The first one I had is when I bumped into that guy and that's how I knew about the bomb. It was like I was reading his mind when he was preparing it. And this morning, when I tripped over a root, someone was training nearby and a minute or two later, the guy came by."

"Memory dimension." Bookman said bluntly.

"Come again?"

"It's an ability that allows a user to see past or future events using 'memories'. You may not know this but there are more to memories than you think. Everything has a memory. Memories of past events and memories that are yet to come are in everything. Learn how to use this ability and it'll be great value to you."

"Does anyone else have this ability?"

"There is one person who was somewhat infamous for that ability that I can think of, however she died a very long time ago. Psychics and seers might have acquired that ability but true seers and psychics are extremely rare."

'Well, THAT'S reassuring.' "Thanks Bookman." Bookman nodded in acknowledgement as Teal walked back to Allen and Lavi.

"You done?" Lavi asked. Teal nodded.

"The library's a lot more crowded than I'd expected it to be." Teal changed the subject. "Although, it seems a little gloomy." She was looking at the exhausted Science Department workers.

"Heh, yeah things move a little slowly around here but occasionally Komui shakes things up with his crazy inventions. Just like- OW!" Lavi got his ear pulled and was being dragged off by Bookman.

"You know what he was about to say?" Teal turned her head to Allen.

"I dunno. My best guess would be Sir Komlin."

"Do I even want to know what happened?"

"No. But you should just in case Komui makes another one. Anyway, Komui made this robot that specializes in working in the Science Department and helping exorcists and it went berserk and last time it destroyed half the castle."

"Yikes. That's worse than what I pictured." Teal muttered.

"What are you guys talking about?" Lenalee came into the Science Department with a tray of coffee that she was about to give to the scientists.

"I was just telling Teal about our encounter with Komlin."

"Oh, my brother's invention." Lenalee sighed. "I don't know what Allen told you, but please don't think badly of him. He has good intentions; honest. But it can go overboard sometimes."

"Heh, he kind of sounds like my master." Teal gave a short laugh. "Well… Personality wise but he's not a scientist."

"My master is a scientist. Or at least he was." Allen said grimly.

"You have a master too? What did he teach you?" Teal asked excitedly.

"He didn't really teach me anything. Sent me out into the battlefield and made me fend for myself. I'd really rather not talk about him."

"Oh, Teal! There you are." Teal turned and a Science member who had a perm was calling her. "Come here please so we can measure your uniform."

"'Kay." Teal followed the person into a medical room with height charts on the wall.

"Okay, just stand against the wall with your arm spread out and try to keep very still." Teal obeyed and stood against the wall for a while as the scientist was taking her measurements.

"Alright, I'm finished." He said as he was scribbling the last measurements on his clipboard. "Actually what's left is what kind of uniform you'd prefer."

"Aren't the uniforms here the same?"

"They do slightly vary due to what kind of weapons the exorcists carry and what is comfortable. What's your weapon again?"

"Swords on my arms. I'll wear what's required."

"Alright. Here, take a look at these designs and let me know which one you like and if you want to add anything to it." He showed Teal the uniform designs. The men's uniform was either a long cloak and pants or a short jacket with pants. The female uniform was a small dress with long boots or it was a jumpsuit. All the uniforms came with pouches on the waist for supplies.

"I'll go with the dress. It's similar to my part time job uniform so I'm fine with this design."

"Okay. And would you like to have anything to go with it? Like a poncho or something that you may want to use to cover yourself?"

"No thanks. I have a black coat that should work."

"Great. We'll have it ready in a few days." He smiled and dismissed Teal.

'Wow, really is something else. I didn't expect people to be this kind.' Teal smiled to herself.

"Hey Teal! We're heading to town, you want to come?" Lavi ran up to her and Teal could also see Allen and Lenalee who were also ready to go.

"Sure, why not?"

"Hey, you know what this means?" Lavi grinned. "We're going on a double date."

"Eh?" Teal had a blank expression on her face. When she blinked, Lavi was on the floor with a bruise on his head.

"Idiot." Allen muttered. Lenalee had her palm against her face and didn't say anything.

"Geez, I was only kidding." Lavi still had his grin.

'I really wasn't expecting anyone to be anything like this. I think I can adjust to living here.' Teal thought as she was trailing behind the other three as they were leaving the Order. 'However, I don't want to be too close. I just may lose sight of what is important to me.'