A/N: Italic parts that aren't in '_' are the mission briefing with Komui and are in 3rd person POV. The rest is in 1st person. Also, just for timeline purposes, this mission takes place about a month before the Rewinding City.
"You four are to go to Paris. There have been reports of an abnormally large gathering of akuma. We lost contact with the Finders that were sent there within 24 hours of their arrival."
A blood bullet was shot at our group as soon as we stepped out of our inn, narrowly missing my hooded head by a few inches thanks to Allen's quick reflexes.
"Be careful. The reports were right; there are a lot of them here," he warned, helping me to my feet.
I thanked him and brushed the dust and debris off my Exorcist uniform. It was a hooded ankle-length coat. My szabla, its sheath, and two pouches were attached to my black and silver belt, which had two chains attached to another 'belt' underneath the coat. The removable sleeves were attached by black ribbons. Under the silver symbol on the top of the right sleeve, a variant Korwin coat of arms patched on; on the left sleeve, the Rola coat of arms. Black pants were visible from the opening in the bottom of the coat. They were tucked into black boots with three small metal plates on the top and two plates around the ankle. [1]
"It seems like they were expecting us. There must've been some watching the trains for incoming Exorcists," Lavi concluded.
"Then why didn't Allen's eye react?" I asked. "He should've been able to notice the Akuma lurking around. The station was relatively small...Unless-"
"Be wary. There have also been numerous reports of couples going missing there and in nearby towns, most likely the Earl's doing. A good number of them must have evolved at this rate."
"Most likely," Lavi agreed. "Look, there's a few right there. And two level 3 akuma there." He pointed out the level 2 akuma making their way through the mass of level 1s then the pair of level three akuma.
A sadistic grin spread across my face as an idea formed in my head. "Hey boys, how about having a little friendly competition? There's plenty to go around!" Not giving them any time to answer, I leapt off into the heap of akuma. The other three saw my sadistic grin and involuntarily shivered.
Kasia strode out of the room quickly when Komui dismissed them to go pack. "Lavi, Allen, Kanda, wait a minute," Komui called out to the three remaining Exorcists before too they left. "I feel that I have to warn you since none of you have ever been in this situation before. There will most likely be a very large number of akuma and in such circumstances…"
"Man, Komui was right. She is really scary around lots of akuma! She really was trained by General Socalo!" Lavi shrieked, hiding behind Kanda, earning him a whack upside the head. [2] "Ah, but she got a head start. No fair!"
"Too bad!" I giggled, slicing one of the akuma in half. "I got 7 already!"
And just like that our group split up into the mass of Level 1s that surrounded us.
Almost all of the level one akuma were destroyed, with the remaining few shooting their toxic bullets nonstop at us as we fought off the higher-leveled akuma.
'But having to dodge them just adds more fun to this mission,' I thought giddily, running backwards on a rooftop from a tall anthropomorphic saber-tooth tiger-like akuma.
My back met short chimney so I flipped backwards onto it. The akuma swiped its claws. I kicked off of the chimney and landed behind the akuma. Rubble lied where the chimney once stood.
The akuma swiveled around and swung its claws at me. I parried its swipes with my szabla. I was not very strong physically so the akuma's heavy and swift strikes were pushing me backwards.
When my foot nearly slipped off the edge of the rooftop, I decided to take action. The akuma halted in its assault to change tactics. With a howl, it slashed its claws at my stomach. Its pause left me with enough of an opening to jump up into the air.
As I descended, I pressed a foot down on its head. Using the momentum, I kicked off its head and landed back on the roof. The akuma, having lost its balance, teetered for a moment before falling off the roof.
The many remains of the destroyed akuma were emitting toxic gas. With the rare suspension in attacks directed at me, I took the handkerchief I kept in one pouch out and wrapped it around my nose and mouth.
I heard Allen gasp and shout, "Kasia, watch out!"
"Huh?" A level one akuma quite a distance away had shot a bullet at Kanda but he had dodged it. Now it was coming towards me, though it was too close to dodge. The bullet slammed into my chest. It had just enough force to knock me off the roof and into a brick wall across from the building I was on.
Allen and Lavi called out to me, making their way towards where I was buried under rubble.
"Damn it!" I roared, shoving pieces of the collapsed wall off of me.
"H-how? How are you still alive? You took a direct hit from an akuma bullet!" Allen fretted, looking over my person to make sure I was okay.
Lavi sighed and rubbed at the back of his head. "Ah, I forgot about that armor you insist on wearing."
"Armor?" Allen inquired, looking back at me for an answer. By now I was standing up and looking at the hole in my uniform, blood from a head wound streaming into my eye and down my face.
"Also, try to make sure she doesn't ruin her uniform again. It seems like every other mission she comes back with a rag rather than a coat. Lenalee didn't go into detail, but she said to be wary when Kasia's uniform first gets ruined."
"You…" I uttered, bangs shadowing my eyes as I slid off my coat.
Underneath the coat, I wore a white short-sleeved blouse, an open-breast, tailed black corset top, and a green zincite crystal necklace. The back of the corset narrowed at the top, allowing better mobility for my shoulders and arms. Black fingerless, elbow-length gloves were covered partially by tough leather demi-gauntlets.
A grey breastplate covered my chest with a small dent where the akuma's bullet hit. A metal 'belt' wrapped around my waist. Three segmented tassets hung off it on both sides. Two short chains attached this 'belt' to the black and silver belt that was around my Exorcist uniform. With my coat off, the belt hung an inch below my metal 'belt'.
Two empty sheaths were attached on the right of the metal 'belt' and had the same design as my black sheath. However, one was violet with indigo accents and ripple design on middle accent; the other was a pale yellow sheath with white accents and a prism design on middle accent.
Allen took caution and backed away when he saw that my shoulders were trembling slightly. Lavi followed his example. Neither knew exactly what Lenalee's warning meant.
"You dented my armor! Innocence, activate!" I threw my coat high into the air, simultaneously pulling at the ribbons to release my sleeve and slipping them into a pouch on my belt. In the blink of an eye, I was floating before the akuma that had shot me and carved through it. It blew up and I reappeared back where I was in time to catch my coat. The blade of my szabla was now completely black.
"How'd she do that?" Allen asked, looking back and forth from me and where the akuma had been.
"It's one of Celestial Quasar's abilities. [3] It has three, hence the three sheaths. She likes that one the best so she uses the black sheath the most. That one gives her gravity control. She must've lowered the gravitation pull around her to get over there that fast. Or maybe she increased the gravitational pull of the akuma to pull herself towards it. Though with how fast she went, it was probably both," Lavi explained, smashing his hammer into one of the akuma attacking him.
"Get moving moyashi!" Kanda shouted, destroying an akuma that appeared behind Allen while he was distracted, to which Allen violently reacted.
"This is all you're fault. Komui's gonna have my head for ruining another coat," I accused, glaring at the tiger akuma I had been fighting. It had jumped over the roof and was standing across from me. I was pointedly ignoring the arguing idiots in favor of getting even with this akuma.
"Me? How is it my fault, stupid exorcist?" The akuma demanded, though it didn't seem to care for the answer. Instead of answering, I sheathed my anti-akuma weapon in the violet sheath. It glowed for a brief moment.
The akuma, seeing this as an opportunity to strike, ran at me with claws ready to hack at me. It was caught off guard when I threw my coat at its head, obscuring its sight. The akuma tried to rip the coat off its face, but its long claws prevented it from getting a grip.
I swiftly drew my szabla, revealing the blade to be the same violet color of the sheath with the black streak still there. I stabbed through the akuma's chest while it was still distracted.
"Did you know, akuma, that the color violet has the highest frequency in the visible spectrum?" I chuckled, once again in a cheery mood. "Grand Tremor: Ethereal Burst!"
A flash of purple. The akuma's hollow screech echoed. It was now nothing but an empty shell.
Seeing Allen's questioning gaze, I silently vowed to explain everything to him on the train ride back. At the same time, I noticed a level 3 akuma with elongated arms and armadillo-based armor lunging at me. I ripped my sword out of the level two's remains and dodged the incoming akuma's kick.
"The second ability of Celestial Quasar revolves around vibration. The blade vibrates at a rapid rate. If you listen closely, you can hear a hum emitting from it. If it pierces an akuma, I can send vibration waves throughout their body. Friction from vibrating particles can build up a lot of heat. I basically just melted the inner mechanisms of the akuma," I clarified, taking a swing at the akuma. The vibrating blade clanged against the armor, barely leaving a scratch.
"Uh oh," I piped. The akuma grabbed my ankle, swung me around, and then released me. I let out a squeak and was sent crashing into Allen.
"Oooof…Hey, Allen. I'll share my point with you. Help me out for a second," I insisted, helping the boy up. "Hold him still for a moment."
Allen nodded, extending his innocence arm to grab the troublesome akuma. The akuma struggled. Allen was quickly losing grip on it. "Hurry!" He shouted.
"Got it!" I threw my szabla at the akuma, piercing through a small opening in its armor. "Grand Tremor: Ethereal Burst!"
There was a flash but the akuma acted as if nothing happened and pulled loose from Allen's grasp. The akuma ignored the blade protruding from just inches below its neck and ran at us, arms at the ready.
"Damn. It didn't return my szabla…Okay then, improv time! Allen, go distract it!" I kicked the boy forward then jumped up to a rooftop.
Allen grappled with the akuma, eventually seizing one of its long arms with his Cross. Though, the other arm was still free and ready to strike.
Seeing the perfect opportunity, I jumped off my spot on the roof towards the two. "Duck Allen!"
His eyes widened comically when he saw me falling towards them. He ducked just in time, my kick just whizzing past his head. My kick pinned the akuma's other arm to the ground before it managed to hit Allen.
Using the brief distraction my abrupt action caused, I leapt off its arm and landed on top of my szabla's hilt, throwing my weight down on it. The blade cut upwards through the akuma's neck and most of its head. With the szabla now almost horizontal in its body, I landed on the ground in front of the akuma.
Rebounding with the momentum from the fall, I thrust the blade upwards further, cutting completely through its head. The akuma faltered for a second, but continued to move. I back kicked it away from us before Allen even got back up. Once again, I tossed my szabla at it, pinning the akuma to the wall behind it.
"Your turn Allen." I said and rolled out of the way. His innocence arm morphed into a cannon. With me out of the way, he opened fire.
A clang echoed in the distance. "Aha! Thanks Lavi! The dent's all gone! That hammer sure comes in handy sometimes." I cooed, slipping the armor back on and patting it for good measure.
Allen crossed his arms. "Judging by how many akuma there were, I think that this was a trap. The Earl must be planning something big," Allen acknowledged gravely. Kanda and Lavi mused about that statement, wondering what kind of plan the Earl could possibly be hatching.
"Hehe. Those akuma made this mission too easy-coming after us like that. We can leave by tomorrow afternoon after we make sure we got them all," I cheered, shattering the solemn atmosphere, and skipped ahead. I still felt energetic and bubbly from the fight. "In fact, I'll go get started on that right now. You guys look exhausted, so why don't you head back to the inn and rest." I carelessly tossed my tattered coat at Kanda's face.
"What! You still have energy after that?" Lavi gawked as I continued to prance through the streets of Paris.
[1] Coat of arms are pretty much symbols of a family's identity, typically within the nobles and royalty. They're like family crests and have been passed down through generations. The Rola coat of arms is Kasia's mother's family crest (Rola being her maiden name). The Kwiatkowski family (Kasia's father's family) can use the Korwin coat of arms.
I'm not very familiar with the all the details behind coat of arms so I may have made some mistakes. I only know what I was able to find when I researched about them when I designed her uniform.
It looks similar to Kanda's second uniform. For the boots, refer to Kanda's original uniform boots. They look a little similar but with metal plates instead. You can find the designs of her uniform and outfit on my deviantart, which is linked on my profile.
[2] Yes, General Winters Socalo was the one who found Kasia to be an accommodator. And so she trained as his apprentice. Clearly, she took on some of his sadistic battle tendencies.
[3] I realized I never named the innocence. So, after a very long internal debate, I came up with that. It's subject to change if I can come up with a better one.
Celestial Quasar's Powers:
- Gravity control (black sheath with gold accents)
- Vibration waves (violet sheath with indigo accents; ripple design on middle accent)
- Light projection/manipulation (pale yellow sheath with white accents; prism design on middle accent)