The First Step Forward
'It's already been a week and a half since I joined the Order. Time sure flies, huh? I really can't wait to go on a mission. I'm starting to get bored. It really stinks that I can't write to Shishou. I want to tell him everything… But still… I want to keep him safe. I don't want to make the same mistake twice.' Teal shook her head trying to dismiss her thoughts.
'I'm gonna head down to the cafeteria. The others might be already down there.'
After breakfast, Lavi challenged Teal to a match. Lenalee went to the Science Department to help out her brother and Allen wouldn't use his full strength against a girl but he came to watch. Lavi challenged her so she could get used to fighting with her Innocence. When Lavi and Teal entered the 3rd floor arena, Lavi started to explain the rules.
"Okay, first, this arena is jinxed. Both of our weapons are set at hit points when we enter it and there's a force field so we don't damage anything outside the battle field by accident. Whoever has the most hit points before or when time runs out, wins. You lose hit points when the other person hits you. And when the match is over, all injuries will be healed like nothing happened. Second, you can't heal yourself by any thing you have. With me so far?"
"Yeah, piece of cake. Best man wins and you can't heal yourself."
"Okay, good. Don't think I'll take it easy on you just because you are a girl."
Lavi activated his hammer, Teal activated her elemental blades. Lavi made the first move. 'Heaven stamp!' Lavi's stamp caused a lightning bolt to hurtle itself towards Teal.
'Spell of Wind, Sonic Steps' Teal's blades split in two and two green rings formed around Teal's ankles.
'From what I've learned about my Innocence, I can only fly quickly on the condition that waves are in the air or on the ground. Waves are created by sound and movements. Even the tiniest waves present will allow me to stand on the air. The more waves are present, the more speed I will have. The rest is up to my personal agility. ' She waited until the bolt was near her where the waves were at its strongest and dodged it.
'He can't hit me if he can't see me clearly.' Teal thought as she was in midair. 'Alright, time to change spells.'
'Spell of Water, Bubble Mask' Teal crossed her blades and created a thick fog around the arena. When she landed, the rings around her ankles vanished and reconnected with her blades as the edges turned a deep blue.
"Heh, pretty smart Teal. I wonder what other tricks you've got up your sleeve." Lavi said out loud. Teal pretended to run in a direction so Lavi would direct his attention in that direction and that his backside would be open.
"Nice try." Lavi said. Teal was going to strike him from behind and he blocked it and he sent her across the arena.
"Time out for a second, Teal. Striking from behind is a powerful move if it hits, however that's gonna give you serious damage on the front. It would work on enemies who are not very sharp, such as level one akuma, but with level twos, they'll assume that you'll strike from the back first thing if you disappear."
"Alright. Thanks for the tip Lavi." Teal replied.
"Resume the fight! Wood stamp! Remove the fog!" Lavi circled his finger and the fog was swirling around in the same direction until it vanished.
"Wow. You guys never cease to amaze me." Lavi's hammer came down and Teal dodged it and ran up to Lavi so she could use close combat. Lavi had trouble blocking her but he was finally able to send her into a wall with a big injury that was on par with Lavi's injuries Teal gave him.
"I see. You're specialty is close combat that's good." Lavi said as Teal was standing herself up.
"You think I need to work on that?" She asked when she got her breath back.
"No, you've been taught very well. I'm pretty sure that you can take down akuma with your skills. However, don't always rely on close combat. You have to use your Innocence's abilities as well. It'll take some getting used to but now's a good time to practice. From here on out, you have to fight with your Innocence's abilities, okay?"
"Alright." Teal mumbled. 'I'm so gonna die.' Lavi summoned a fire snake again and Teal used her Sonic Steps technique to avoid it. The snake struck at her almost instantly after she stopped somewhere giving her no time to strike back.
'This is really annoying. How am I supposed to attack it with my Innocence's abilities if I don't know what even half of them are? The only spell I got the hang of was my Water Spell. But I can't attack unless there's some sort of water present.' She noticed that when the snake was striking, moisture was starting to return and the fog is slightly coming back. She dove before the snake struck the wall and made sure the snake was following her when she was going to land.
When she landed, the snake immediately swallowed her and she was surrounded by heat that was worse than any place she's ever been and it started to burn her a bit.
'C'mon, just bear with it. Concentrate…' Teal closed her eyes and held her hands close to her face in a meditative position. 'If I can stand through this long enough, I'll strike back when it disappears.' Some instructions came to her head. It was telling her how to use a Fire Spell.
'Fire Wall: A defensive spell that will protect you from enemy flames and will unleash a wall to protect yourself from nearby enemies if wished upon.'
"Here goes nothing." Teal gasped. The heat was really starting to become unbearable and she didn't hesitate to use her spell. 'Spell of Fire, Fire Wall!' Her body started to glow red but she didn't notice any fire other than the snake. The heat was non-existent and all she had to do was wait until Lavi called it off.
'Spell of Water, stand by.' The edges of her blades started to glow a faint blue and her heat shield was wearing off and the heat was starting to get uncomfortable again. Her patience finally paid off and as soon as the snake was gone, there was more than enough moisture to use her other water attack.
'Spell of Water: Magic Wave.' The moisture condensed into water and the wave surrounded Lavi. The current that was created was too fast for him to escape through it but the top was still open.
"Little Hammer Big Hammer, extend!" Lavi positioned his hammer so he could escape from above. Teal motioned the top to cave in then stopped moving her arms to let it freeze Lavi. When Lavi's hammer deactivated, there was a faint light around them which lower the force field and the ice block melted.
"Nice fight, Lavi." Teal said as she helped him up.
"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself. You nervous about going on to the field?"
"Yes. I wasn't expecting our fight to be anything like this. I thought it was just regular sparring. I don't even want to imagine what its like out there."
"You'll do fine. And you just got called in for a mission." Lavi kept on encouraging her. Teal turned and one of the Science Department members was calling to her. She followed the Science Department member to Komui's office. She noticed that Allen was sitting on the couch waiting to be briefed. Lenalee just entered with Komui and she gave both Allen and Teal the documents they need.
"Ah, good Teal you're here. For this mission, you two are to locate a missing person."
"That's not really an exorcist's job, is it Komui?" Allen asked. As he and Teal received the documents from Lenalee and immediately opened it.
"True but this person has been missing for a while and we'd like you to…" Before Komui was finished, Allen went white and tried to make a run for it and was screaming 'Nonononono!' but was stopped by Lenalee and Komui.
"Eh? What's gotten into you Allen?" Teal carefully opened her documents and there was a picture of the man who gave Teal her weapon.
"Um… Komui, he was the one who gave me my Innocence. He was in England not that long ago."
"Yes, Teal, our finders have spotted him briefly in Southern England but he boarded a train towards Germany. Then we lost track of him."
"Oh."
"Nonono! I don't wanna see Master!"
"Good luck!" Lenalee gave Allen a confident smile.
"Ah, Exorcists, there you are." A man dressed in a white uniform greeted them by the train station. "I was beginning to worry."
"Sorry, we got lost." Allen and Teal said at the same time.
"You better hurry. The train is on platform four. The next one won't be for another few hours."
"Alright. Thank you." Allen said. He was running towards the platform and Teal was trailing behind him. Just before they were getting on, Teal held Allen back for a moment.
"I think we're gonna have to ride in a cargo car or something because I know for a fact that they won't allow anyone on without tickets."
"Don't worry its fine. Because we're with the Black Order, we get access to most transportation and a few other places." Allen smiled at her.
"Okay." Teal followed Allen on the train and kept on thinking 'We are so busted.'
"Ah, you two are with the Black Order, correct?" As soon as they walked on the train, a conductor was right in front of them. "Follow me."
Before Teal knew it, she and Allen were in an extremely comfortable room with a large amount of space and with blankets and a pillow on each seat. The seats were more like lounging chairs.
"Wow. I didn't think you meant we'd get access to First Class." Teal looked around their cabin admiringly. "A little too rich for my taste," She jumped on the seat out of excitement. "But way better than the cargo car." She gave a smug expression.
"Yeah, that's one of the advantages of being an exorcist." Allen smiled in agreement. "So, how do you like your new life so far?"
"Oh, uh… It's good. Everyone seems to be… get along able. But I really think it's gonna get some getting used to still." She said as she twiddled her thumbs.
"That's good. Teal, I don't mean to pry but is there something bothering you? You seem to be tense about something." Teal hesitated for a while. She was debating whether or not she should talk to him. He was friendly and he looked trusting. In addition, if she started to come out of her corner, she would be one step closer on getting stronger.
"Well… Believe it or not, I'm still getting used to being around people. You know I was a yanki right?" Allen nodded. "After I changed, I knew that my actions would have consequences. The way I saw it, I wasn't really welcome anywhere. It's kind of a mental thing. This is the weird thing, I actually care about others even though they're strangers and I don't know how they see me. I want to do some good for people instead of hurting them."
"We're here for you. We see you as part of our family and we couldn't be happier when you joined us." Allen gave her a reassuring smile.
"By 'we' who do you mean?"
"I mean everyone in the Order. We help each other out, like a family. And if you ask me, I don't think that is weird, trying to protect strangers just the same as you protect your loved ones. It just shows how much heart you have."
"Oh." Teal smiled at Allen. "So technically, you say that we're like a family as in siblings?"
"More or less."
"So what does that make Kanda? The twentieth cousin-I-don't-know-how-many-times removed? I mean he doesn't seem to be like any person in the Order."
"Yeah, he isn't very sociable. Definitely an odd one out of all of us. But he's a valuable teammate, I'll give him that much."
Something golden shot out of the back of Allen's head and was fluttering in between Allen and Teal.
"There you are, Tim." Allen said.
"You gave your golem a name?" Teal received a star shape golem but it was nothing like this one. She doubted hers developed a sense of will like this one.
"No, my master did. This is Timcanpy." Teal held out her hand as for Tim to land on it.
"So can I ask what you're master is like? So far, my impression of him is not very good."
"Well, he's an alright mentor when it came to fighting akuma, but everything else was…" Allen hesitated and shuddered. "He was a complete jerk." That was all he could utter out.
"Okay. I think we can leave it at that if you want to."
"You read my mind. So mind telling me about your master or where you used to live?"
"Shishou is really kind." Teal gave an excited smile. "When I first met him, I thought he was going to let me have it because I was an outlaw. Turns out, he was pretty calm and when he offered me a home and to be educated, I thought it was impossible. He was a miracle worker and he taught me martial arts, and in my opinion, he's the best of the best!" Teal said quickly and very proudly.
"Wow, you really are talkative when it comes to your master. Why do you call him 'Shishou'?"
"Shishou means 'master' in Japanese. His grandparents or parents, can't remember which, somehow emigrated from Japan and he speaks Japanese often and he offered to teach me Japanese. It's kind of a code language between either me, Shishou or my friend who traveled along with us. Oh, and he also taught me French since we traveled around France, Italy and… maybe Austria?"
"Sounds very much like a father." They extended the conversation about their previous lives. Teal learned that Allen was in the circus and like her, he had a foster father. Allen also mentioned that he was an excellent gambler. Before long, the conductor came to their cabin announcing that they were just arriving at their destination. When they got off, they were supposedly in a market. There were many stands and buildings in the area and there was a well in the middle of the square.
"It's practically a ghost town. Why in the world would your master want to come here?"
"I dunno. Hey, look, there's someone. Excuse me," Allen called out to a man who was standing behind a food stand. He was very elderly and looked like he was scared to death or had no sleep. There was something about him that made Allen and Teal shiver. He looked like he would scare anyone. The man looked up and smiled at them.
"Ah, it's rare to see travelers here. That… That crest on your jacket!" He gasped.
"Hi, we were wondering if you could help…" The man bolted towards town and was out of sight before Allen was finished talking.
"Well, he was helpful." Teal sighed. "More work for us." There was a loud rumbling that seemed very close but there was nothing in sight. Teal checked the sky and there were very little clouds and it didn't seem it was going to rain soon.
"Please tell me that was your stomach." Teal said.
"No. Uh oh. I think we've got a problem." The rumbling was getting louder and louder and a mob of villagers emerged from a giant cloud of dust with pitchforks and other weapons.
"Run for it!" Teal grabbed Allen's arm and was going to use a tarp so they could get to the roof but they were surrounded quickly with no way out. They noticed that the elderly man was also in the circle.
"Wait, we don't want any trouble." Allen tried to convince the mob that they were no threat but before the exorcists blinked, they were being dragged off to some building with more villagers with weapons.
"Our prayers have been answered!" The elderly man cried joyfully. The mob that surrounded them spread out a little bit only to have more people surround them and apparently, they were all crying for joy. As quickly as the exorcists were brought in, they were tied up to chairs.
"You think that these guys might be akuma?" Teal whispered to Allen.
"No, I don't think so."
"Priests of the Black Order please help us." The elderly man confronted Allen and Teal once more. "My apologies, but we are in great need of your help. My name is George and I'm the mayor of this village. You see, a vampire has been terrorizing this village for many years."
'Vampire?' Teal and Allen glanced at each other with disbelief.
"I didn't even think that vampires were on our extermination list." Teal whispered.
"They're not."
"His name is Count Krory. He never shows himself by day, but the screams of his victims echo from his castle each and every night. People say that no one who sets foot in that castle is ever seen again." Allen and Teal shivered.
"A vampire in this day and age?" Allen was hoping this would be some sort of ruse or there could be some other explanation. The mayor gave them a gruesome death glare and he was not joking whatsoever.
"You were saying?" Teal shuddered as she saw the mayor's expression.
"As long as no one would go near his castle, Krory would leave our village in peace. Then one night, the first victim was an old woman who lived alone for years. Krory drained her until her body completely evaporated. Since then, he's killed eight others; nine victims in total. We were about to risk our lives and slay the Count, but the Lord has answered our prayers and has sent you two." Everyone was bowing in front of them.
"We're not here because of this vampire you speak of." Teal said nervously.
"We're looking for someone." Allen finished.
"No, that can't be right, tell us Monk, why else would you come here?" The mayor was extremely close to Allen and gave him another gruesome glare. While he was distracted with Allen, Teal managed to pull out a knife and started sawing through her ropes.
"We're looking for someone." Allen repeated.
"Oh, I see."
"I'll show you." Allen already cut his ropes and walked over to his suitcase on a stool where the villagers placed it. He pulled out a drawing of his master and gave it to the mayor. Teal was free of her ropes and joined Allen.
"Have you seen anyone who looks similar to him?" Teal asked. "Any information would be useful."
The mayor suddenly burst out into tears again and hugged Allen tightly.
"The prophecy… The prophecy came true!"
"Calm down, please." Allen looked very uncomfortable and confused. "Please stop crying." Teal intervened and pulled Allen away from the mayor. She turned her head to the mayor in confusion.
"A prophecy? What do you mean?"
"A while ago, a traveler who claimed to be a priest came to our village and asked for directions to Castle Krory. We warned him of the danger but he just laughed and continued on his journey. Three days passed and I thought the traveler was dead for sure but he returned as if nothing happened. Before he left, he said that if the Count started acting up, we were to inform someone with uniforms like yours."
"So your master did come here to see the castle, but what for?" Teal turned to Allen.
"Beats me. Must be something important though. Either way, I think we're gonna end up facing the vampire." Allen shivered.
"I was afraid of that." Teal hung her head.
"We'll help you." Allen sighed. Everyone cheered at their decision. What the exorcists didn't see was that there was something lurking in the shadows, and they were watching them very carefully.
"Hey, Mr. Mayor. I have a question. The victims that Krory killed, did they have anything in common?"
"No, I don't believe so. Follow me, Priests and I will show you to your rooms so you can prepare for tomorrow." The light in the gathering room was the most light they were going to get for a while. The pressure of all of the villagers depending on them couldn't be ignored and the image of a monster that could potentially be as dangerous as an akuma or worse made everything sink deeper into darkness.
"Here we are. I hope you are well rested for your fight tomorrow, and I bid you good night." The exorcists were left alone once more.
"Hey, Allen, I was thinking… Maybe this vampire could be an akuma?"
"I've never heard of a blood sucking akuma before. Speaking of, I haven't seen any akuma around either."
"Don't akuma look like humans? I mean, I know there's a possibility that there might be a few around but they wouldn't be stupid enough to expose themselves in front of a huge crowd when we're around, right?"
"Yeah but I can see the souls of akuma. It's part of my curse."
"Oh. I didn't even know that such a thing was possible. Well, let's do our best tomorrow. Night Allen." Teal smiled and went to her room.
'I don't like the idea of hunting this vampire. Somehow it makes me feel guilty. It makes me feel guilty both ways. I don't want to run,' Teal's throat started to tighten as she thought of a memory from a few years back. 'I'll fight with Allen, and I'll do what I can. But… the thought of fighting makes me feel worse than the thought of running away.'
'Don't…*bzzt* Come closer…' *Bzzt*
'This is why we were hated! This is why we were stuck in that place! This is why no one cares about us!' I could hear a boy's cries. His voice is exactly the same as the boys in the memory that I see so often but it appears to be one voice. It's odd to see, or right now, hear a boy cry. This memory, it's different from the one before but it still is unclear. I still feel my fear, I'm paralyzed, unable to do anything.
I want to run but this boy… There's something about him that makes me want to hold him. However, I saw something terrible in him, I saw the same horrifying creatures as that woman. My child self won't do anything. I'm stuck in between mixed emotions. I want to run. I want nothing to do with creatures like her. But he sounds so fragile; he'll break if something isn't done. I want to go and comfort him.
I will myself to go. He shouldn't suffer like this. Soon, I got my wish. I was almost there, I had to hang on to him, I didn't want him to leave. Before I could reach him, I hear an eerie voice behind me.
"Why? Why didn't you stay for me? Why did you run?" A boy whose face was covered in blood and his body horribly torn apart was standing in front of me. I looked down and I was no longer a child. I was myself. A monster appeared behind him, I have no weapon, no sword, no Innocence and I was the next target. I had no choice but to run. Before I started to run I noticed something in his chest, something that went through to his heart. I didn't see who did it. I have to force myself to wake up now, or else I'll be faced with this agonizing terror that could last for hours and I may not wake up to fight with Allen.
Teal forced herself to wake up and escape the dream. She wanted to get away from the horror, the monster. She wanted to get back to sleep in hope for that memory would return and it would be clearer. She wanted to see the boy once more and get him to feel that he was cared about. But the thought of seeing him, the older boy, kept her awake. She didn't want to see him in that form.
Teal pulled out a watch from her pack and checked the time.
'It's really early. I don't think I should wake up Allen just yet. Maybe I can look around a bit for anything that could help us.' She walked over to the window and was about to open it but she noticed it was nailed shut.
'Okay, these villagers are really desperate. Hold on,' Something shiny was in the corner of her eye and it was a pitchfork.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not polite to barge in a girl's room?" This person wielded his pitchfork as if he was ready to kill her. His body started twitching and his eyes turned red, spike like objects emerged from his back and his legs were starting to disappear.
"Innocence, Activate! I don't need anyone to tell me you're an akuma." Teal sliced the akuma in half before it finished transforming. She headed for the door so she could warn Allen. She knew he could see akuma beforehand but how far can he see them?
There was another man outside the door with an axe and two more men broke through the window and transformed into Level 1 akuma.
'They're like balls with cannons?' They started firing at her and it was difficult dodging the bullets.
'Spell of Wind, Sonic Steps' The sound of the bullets created so many waves and it allowed Teal to move faster than the speed of sound and she destroyed all the akuma in her room before they could fire again then ran out to the hall. She found out that Allen was already fighting akuma as well. They started to flood the hall left right and centre. The only way out was the window at the other end of the hall.
Teal kicked one akuma into another, destroying the akuma and allowing her and Allen a brief exit route. If they could lead the akuma outside, the fight might be easier and any others in the building would be out of harm's way. The light was suddenly fading and another figure appeared in front of the window. Bubbles shattered and were flying everywhere as some akuma were retreating.
"What is that?" Teal shouted as she dodged and sliced the bubbles.
"That's a Level Two! Gah!" A bubble hit Allen's left eye and he couldn't see out of it. He crouched down because it was stinging like crazy. The figure at the window retreated and some level one akuma came back.
"You alright?" The cannons started to glow and Teal and Allen were sitting ducks. When they blinked, two of the akuma were destroyed. They whipped their heads around Lavi and Bookman were standing behind them.
"Hey guys, wha'cha gawking at?" Lavi greeted them.
"Your guard is down." Bookman said seriously. More akuma showed up to replace the ones that were destroyed and started firing at the exorcists.
"This isn't fair!" Allen growled as he was blocking the shots with his arm.
"What's not fair?" Bookman shouted. All the exorcists attacked and all akuma were destroyed.
"C'mon, there's another one out there!" Allen led the party downstairs towards the exit. The ceiling had caved in some places and ruble was almost everywhere. Bookman stopped everyone at the bottom of the stairs and found a man was underneath barely moving.
Allen moved the extremely large ceiling piece off of him and Bookman pulled him out.
"We should treat him and look around to see if there are others."
After a few hours, the exorcists turned up empty handed. No other villagers were harmed, and there was no sign of any more akuma. Allen and Teal returned to the room where Bookman was treating the man. They were soon joined by the mayor and other villagers.
"Oh look." The mayor's smile grew bigger and bigger when he saw Bookman and Lavi. "There are two more monks now. This is very assuring. You all defended us against the attack against the… um"
"Akuma?" Lavi shifted his eye to the mayor.
"Oh yes. They were akuma. So you deal with demons and vampires?"
"Actually, we deal exclusively with akuma." Allen smiled at the mayor. Bookman was finished treating the man who was injured during the night and started to observe Allen's eye.
"That's funny. Your eye is as dry as a bone."
"Is that bad?" Allen asked.
"I'm not quite sure."
"So what should we do now?" Teal turned her head to Lavi and Bookman.
"Continue the search for answers of course. In order to do so, you must confront the vampire." Both Allen and Teal swallowed hard.
"Don't sweat it. You two are going to be fine."
"You're going with them Lavi." Bookman said bluntly.
"Say what?" Lavi's jaw dropped.
"Heh heh. Looks like you have to suffer with us." Teal grinned.
"Hey! This is not funny!"
"But before you three depart, I bring some very serious news from headquarters. Will you give us a moment, please?" The mayor and the other citizens left the room as Bookman turned back to Allen and Teal.
"This news came to us just after you departed. A few days ago, General Yeegar was killed."
"A General?" Allen was stunned.
"Wait, one of the guys that we first met at the Order when we were about to see Hevlaska was killed?"
"Those are the Grand Generals, Teal." Lavi said. "A General is an exorcist whose synchronization rate is over 100% and they are the most powerful exorcists in the Order."
"I see, so why would the akuma attack a General? Wouldn't that be plain stupid on their part?"
"Not exactly. Apparently, there's no doubt that the Earl is on the move. And the Earl and his forces are after the Heart of Innocence. It is the source of power for all the Innocence in the world and it has the power to destroy every single fragment. On top of that, it is extremely powerful."
"It does make sense that akuma would target a General because they would be a most likely candidate to control something that powerful. So the four of us, and Lenalee have been asked to search for General Cross. She's on assignment but she'll meet us at the next station once we leave this place." Lavi finished everything off.
At nightfall, many villagers gathered in the square awaiting the exorcist's arrival. The glow of the torches in the square was almost equivalent to the glow of a few dozen street lamps in a city.
"Well, are you guys ready?" Teal asked.
"Yeah. Might as well get this over and done with." Allen sighed.
"Bookman is gonna stay here. So we're on our own."
All three of them remained silent during most of the walk to the Castle. They were all alert and kept their eyes on what lay ahead.
"Hey, you guys," Lavi broke the silence after the castle was almost in sight. "Did you hear about this: If you get bite by a vampire, you turn into one. If that happens, our friendship is over."
"That goes both ways." Allen said.
"It'd kinda fun to be a vampire. Night vision, invincible strength," Lavi and Allen turned their heads to Teal with uncomfortable and disapproving looks on their faces. They heard a growl behind her and the mayor gave her a death glare that was worse than before.
"Kidding, kidding." Teal waved her hand dismissively. Teal suddenly noticed that the mayor and several other villagers were wearing candles, garlic and carrying wooden stakes.
'Now I'm afraid.'
"Everyone, stop." The mayor ordered. They were in front of a very large and ugly looking gate. It was supposedly was a sculptured person's head and the massive wooden doors were the mouth.
"No one who crosses this door ever comes out. Beyond these doors is the Count's lair." There was an echo of horrible wrenching screams that sent shivers down the exorcists' spines. None of them were too impressed.
"Lead the way." The mayor hissed as the gigantic doors moaned. There was still a fair bit of distance to the castle and on the sides of the path were more statues that were extremely bizarre. They were ugly and worn out. They were anything from gargoyles to mythical creatures from around the world. The echoes that were heard at the gate were getting louder and louder.
"Hey Allen, you took off your glove. Is there something we should know about?" Lavi whispered to Allen. Teal turned her head and Allen was starting to shake and his blood red hand was clearly visible. "Or are you scared?" He smiled devilishly.
"Scared? Hahaha."
"You're the one to talk, Lavi. Look's like your hand's getting twitchy."
"I'm carefree as a bird." Lavi laughed. "How 'bout you Teal? You know one of us can protect or comfort you."
"Hmph. You think just because I'm a girl I can't take care of myself?"
"He's kidding, Teal." Allen tried to settle the situation a bit.
"Oh." Teal's expression softened a bit. She wasn't used to these kinds of jokes let alone understands them.
"You better keep your guard up," Lavi swiftly moved behind Teal. "Cause you never know when he's coming." He hissed in her ear.
"Daahh!" She hit Lavi in the stomach as a reaction. "Dammit, Lavi." She wheezed. "Do that again and I'll aim for your head." Allen and Lavi both started laughing.
"What is so funny?"
"Your face." Lavi snorted. "Lighten up, Teal. We might as well have a little fun along the way."
"Grr…"
"Hold it." Allen was picking up something. "You hear that?" Lavi and Teal stopped and listened carefully. It sounded like rapid gusts of wind like a tornado was near. They couldn't see anything. The wind went past but still there was nothing.
"Whatever it was, its fast." Lavi had his hammer in his hand and scanned the area.
"Hey, something smells sweet." Teal noticed. They heard a shriek behind them.
"Franz!" One man cried. "He got Franz!" The exorcists ran to the man who was on the ground and looked to where he was pointing. A fair bit of distance away, the moonlight unveiled their target: Arystar Krory. All three of the exorcists were frozen in fear. The vampire had already bit Franz, his fangs were bared and his hair was sticking up like demon horns.
"So he's not an akuma." Teal shivered.
"Oh yeah. That'd be a vampire." Lavi uttered.
"Agreed. He's a vampire. THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO SEE MASTER!"