Day: 008 as a comrade

I awoke in me bed, wait scratch that. Not my bed, but if not then where was I? I didn't remember the room I was in. Where was I? All of a sudden my senses returned to me. This was my room, this was my bed. This was my home, the Black order. A very, very, very far away place from my family, like I mean across the world far. I got out of bed and my feet touched the cold ground. When I was on my feet I somehow lost my balance and toppled to the hard ground below. A loud groan escaped my throat. That hurt! What in the world did I slip on? I looked under me and saw the black golem like toy that my sister had given back to me before I left. I picked it up, "how did this get on the floor?" I got back up and began to place the toy back on the table until I saw a small key on the back of it. I'd never noticed it before. I flipped the toy over and wound the key on the back of the toy. All of a sudden a man's voice came from the toy and I jumped in surprise. "Hello Sephiria Liang, this is Cross Marian. I was the original owner of Lux and the man that gave this to you. The truth is that this toy named Lux is something named a Golem." It was a recording, all the man did was explain to me what a golem was. When the voice came to a stop the toy's wings began to flutter rapidly, and it opened it's large mouth like it was yawning. A holographic halo shone right on top of it's head. Lux wasn't a toy, it was like that man had said. Lux was a golem. She flew up to my face and rubbed her body on my cheek like a pet that hadn't seen it's owner in a very long time.

I was confused, all this time I had a golem with me and a I had always thought that it was a toy. I got changed in to some jeans and a hoodies and left my room with Lux flapping along with me. A couple doors down the floor I saw Lenalee get out of her own room. She spotted me and smiled. "Hey Sephiria!" She called as she approached me. "Good morning," I waved. "Do you have any idea where the washroom is?" "Oh of course! I was just heading there myself. Follow me." Lenalee said. I followed her like she told me to, and Lux flew quickly behind me. Lenalee looked back at me and saw the small fluttering black ball, her face looked as confused as mine when I found out that Lux was a golem. "Hey Sephiria… isn't that the toy your sister gave to you before you left?" "Yeah actually," I laughed.

"Uhm is it supposed to fly like that?"

I paused for a moment wondering if she would even believe me if I told her that Lux was actually a golem.

"Uh she's actually a golem," I told her.

"How do you have a golem?" Lenalee sounded shocked.

"Well there was a mini voice clop telling me that Lux was a golem. The one who was speaking, I think his name was Cross Marian,"

Lenalee's eyes widened two times their actual size, "Wait Cross Marian! As in General Cross Marian! Are you freaking kidding me! You said you've had it since you were a baby so that would mean that…"

"Means what?" I asked curiously.

"It means that Cross Marian knew about your innocence since you were a baby. He knew you existed all this time and it also means that you were born with innocence and he found you special! But I wonder, why didn't he ever tell the order about you?" Lenalee's face looked somewhat troubled. She just couldn't figure it out.

Finally, we reached the washroom on the second floor. "Well here we are," Lenalee said. The washroom was huge, it had a long row of white sinks, and on the other wall was a row of toilet stalls. The wall with the sink had an opening in the wall shaped to a fit a door, though there was no door. Everything was very clean, which most people wouldn't expect from a building made of stone walls.

"Ah!" I said remembering that I didn't have a toothbrush packed in my bag. "What's wrong?" Lenalee asked. "Oh, I forgot my toothbrush and toothpaste," I laughed nervously. "No problem, I have a spare!" She said with a smile. Then she reached in to the pocket of her black Chinese dress and took out a small toothbrush that was still wrapped in plastic. "I haven't used it yet so it should be fine." she handed it to me. "Thanks! But uhm why do have an extra toothbrush in your pocket?" I asked curiously. Her face flushed a little bit, "well you know, you never know when you're going to need it, right?" "Yeah, I guess," I shrugged my shoulders not completely understanding what she was saying.

There weren't many other people in the girls washroom. Just me, Lenalee, and a lady wearing a long white lab coat which indicated that she worked in the science department. "There aren't a lot of girls in the order huh Lenalee?" I said putting some of Lenalee's toothpaste on my (Lenalee's toothbrush that she gave me) toothbrush.

"Yeah working at headquarters there are four female exorcists, you, me, General Cloud Nyne, and Miranda Lotto. Plus one female science department worker. So in all there are five girls at Headquarters. The rest are all men."

"Why is the bathroom so huge then?" I asked looking around at the spacious washroom.

"Don't even ask. I have no idea in hell," Lenalee spat in to the sink.

The door opened and in walked a medium tall lady. She had wavy black hair that reached her shoulders. "Good morning Miranda!" Lenalee gave her warm smile. "Good morning Lenalee," the woman smiled back, she had a German accent. She looked quite young, probably in her mid twenties (she's actually 25 currently in my story). She looked at me, "good morning- wait I've never seen you before." She cocked her head like I child " My name is Sephiria Liang, I'm the new exorcist," I told her. "I see, nice to meet you, my name is Miranda Lotto," she reached out her hand and I shook it. "Nice to meet you too Miranda," Miranda wore a tight black long sleeved shirt with tan pants and combat boots. On her right arm was a strap holding down a circular disc with the hands of a clock on the face. Black gloves hung out of her pant pocket.

Soon Lenalee and I left the washroom and headed for the cafeteria. We saw Allen pushing a cart of food to a table. It was filled with all kinds of meat. I pointed a the cart, "Are you seriously going to eat all of that?"

He nodded with a extremely happy look on his face. It was clear to me now why he was Jerry's favorite. If I ate half of the stuff on the cart I would be throwing up big time.

Nest to Allen was Link holding plates of cake stacked up high. They were a very odd pair, both loving to eat. Lenalee, and I got our food and sat down next to Allen, Link, and Lavi. "Yo' Sephiria," Lavi smiled giving me a small salute. "Hi," I waved. "Lavi, you already met Sephiria?" Lenalee asked. "Yeah, we ate dinner together yesterday, how could I forget a girl like her?" He grinned. "You make it seem like it's a date or sumthin'," Allen pointed a drumstick at Lavi's face, his mouth stuffed. Lavi ignored Allen, and turned to me. "So Sephiria, you got any spare time today? Maybe you and I could go to the training grounds together." "You're still making it sound like a date," Allen groaned, ignored. "Uhm actually I have to go to Komui's office today so I don't really know," I told him. "Well then let me walk you!" Lavi suggested. "Sure!" I smiled. "So when do you have to go?" Lavi asked. "After lunch."

"Hey Allen what time is it?"

"Don't look at me! Timcanpy's with my Master right now!" Allen said.

Lenalee looked at me, "Hey guys check this out! Sephiria show them your golem!"

"Golem What!" Allen and Lavi said in perfect unison.

I nodded and lifted up the back of my hair and out flew Lux. Allen and Lavi gaped at the black version of Timcanpy. All of a sudden Lux flew straight back in to my hair as if she were scared. "W-wait was that really a golem!" Allen cried. I nodded, "hey Lux can you come back out? It's okay you can come out!" Lux peered out of my hair and then came out again. "She looks like Tim!" Allen said. "Or the exact opposite," Lavi said also.

Lenalee nudged my shoulder, "her name's Lux am I right?" I nodded and Lenalee turned towards the golem, "Lux, what time is it?" The golem's face turned towards the ceiling and a hologram digital clock shot out of her mouth. 11:48 it read. "They're probably expecting you sometime around twelve." Allen told me. "You've got a couple of minutes. "Well as you all know walking her to the chief's office is my job, I called it," Lavi beamed. "you're such a child Lavi," Allen groaned. "Oh bean sprout, do I sense jealousy in your voice?" Lavi teased. "It's ALLEN! And of course not!" Allen snapped defensively.

"And anyways, I'm older than you by three years so you can hardly call me a child." Lavi said.

"That may be so, but I can guarantee that I'm ten times more mature than you are. On the outside you're 18 but at heart you're still I child."

Lavi and Allen shot each other death glares.

Lenalee let out a sigh, "Don't worry Sephiria, you'll get used to this. They might act like enemies sometimes, but they're really actually like best friends. Kanda's the one that Allen truly hates, wait you probably don't even know what I'm talking about."

"No, I know who you're talking about. He was with Lavi when I met him yesterday."

"Oh, I see, was he mean to you?"

I gave the question some thought, "well maybe he was a little rude you know?"

"Sorry about him, he's always like that. I don't know why but he's always rude to everyone," Lenalee played with her spoon.

"To you too?"

"Eh, occasionally. He's not that mean to me, we're kinda like friends." She shrugged her shoulders. "Trust me Sephiria, he's actually a good guy at heart. He just tends to block everyone out. He never tells anyone what's bothering him. He puts a wall between himself and everyone else and always acts grumpy."

I knew that she was telling me to give him some time, but I never had any intention of hating him in the first place. What she said had just made me pity him. "Well there's got to be at least one person he opens up to right?"

"Well there's Marie," Lenalee looked like she was giving it a lot of thought.

"Marie? A girl?"

"Oh! No! Marie's a boy! His name's actually Noise, but like Kanda we call him by his last name."

"I see," I replied, "they must be good friends."

"Yeah, they are." Lenalee smiled.

"Hey, Sephiria shouldn't you be going now?" Allen asked. Finally Allen and Lavi had stopped arguing with each other. "Oh yeah I should, shouldn't I," I got up and waved. "I'm coming," Lavi stood up with me. "Here Sephiria come here," Lavi waved me towards him and he led me away.

"Sephiria, let me give you some info on the generals."

"Sure, I don't mind, but why?"

"Well if the chief is calling you to his office and you're a newbie, you've got to be meeting with the generals," he explained to me.

"Okay so let's start with general Cross, well he's a total alcoholic, and a womanizer. He almost never comes to the order and always seems to fall off the face to the earth. The people in Cross's group is Allen, me Lenalee, Bookman, and Miranda."

"Wait what do you mean by group?"

"Oh, each general gets their own group of lower ranking exorcists."

"Sounds so military."

"Pretty much is. Okay, and there is general Tiedoll, he's a caring general that loves art. He thinks of all his pupils as his children, Yuu, Marie, and Chaoji are in his group. Then there's general Cloud Nyne who may I mention is sooo gorgeous. Her whole team was killed b the Noah clan though, and last but not least is general Zokalo. He's a little scary and usually wears a mask. His team was also killed by the Noah clan."

We finally arrived at tall fancy double doors. Lavi pushed them open and smiled at me. "Tell Cross that Allen told him to go to hell." I laughed, "don't count on it." I walked in to the huge office, papers scattered the floor. This room was definitely a safety hazard, it was just so east to slip and fall on all of the papers! A long red seat sat in front of a wooden office desk piled with papers. On the seat were four adults, three males, one female.

Komui popped out from behind all the papers on his desk. "Ah! Sephiria you made it!" "Yeah I did." I smiled nervously. "Here let me introduce you," he pointed to the couch. "General Cross, General Cloud, General Zokalo, and General Tiedoll." When Cross's name came up Lux popped out of my hair and immediately fluttered to him. He grinned through his cigarette, he was smoking. He had long red hair that spiked out on the ends, and wore a white mask that only covered half of his face. As Lavi said, General Cloud was beautiful. A layer of her long blonde hair fell to her waist, while the rest was pinned up with a large clip. Her only flaw was a long scar that went diagonal down her face. General Tiedoll looked fairly old, though his hair still had some color in it. Finally, General Zokalo. He had a really scary dark aura around him. Completely different from the other generals. A small pint sized white monkey jumped on to general Cloud's shoulder and began chirping away at Zokalo.

I did a quick bow, and looked at the four of them. "I'm Sephiria Liang, nice to meet you!" "I see that you've received the golem that I gave to you as a child," Cross spoke. I nodded, "thank you very much." "Ordinarily we would put you in the group of the general that first found you, which would be general Cross but it seems that Cross's team is a bit full at the moment. I could also place you in team Tiedoll, but the generals most in need of a team right now are generals Cloud and Zokalo." Komui told me. Well there goes my hope of being in the same team as Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi. "Why me?" Zokalo groaned irritated. "Because the Earl getting stronger by the minute, you need to start gathering up a new team." Cloud explained in a cool calm voice. "Tch!" was all of Zokalo's reply.

"If you don't want her I'd be glad to take her for my own team," she looked at me. Her eyes were filled with resolve. "Go ahead, I don't need some weak exorcist in my team dragging me down anyways." He snapped at Cloud. I bit down hard on my lip. He was so getting on my nerves, and how could he call me weak! I was a lot of things but weak was definitely not one of them. I looked straight at the masked general, "I'm not weak at all! And I'll be a part of your team to prove it to you!" The room got deathly quiet all of a sudden. My guess was that no one had ever stood up to Zokalo in his whole entire life. A snicker left his mask, he arose from his seat and began walking over to me. It wasn't until he stood right before me that I realized that he was taller than me by more than a whole foot (Zokalo is 6'8, tall huh?). I understood why people found him so intimidating and scary, but not me. Not after he had just called me weak. "So you think that you're strong enough to be in my team huh?" I looked him straight in the eyes, those cold bloodshot eyes that you could barely see from behind his mask and nodded. "I like your guts girl, but you've still got to prove it to me. Tomorrow on the training grounds at 4:30 pm, we'll see if you're any good there." he snickered again and walked out of the office. The rest of the generals soon followed and Lux returned to my hair. I was left standing there in silence wondering what I had just gotten myself in to.

"That was a really brave thing to do," Komui laughed. I looked at him, "huh?" "You may be the first person to ever stand up to Winters Zokalo. No wonder why he thought you were worth challenging."

"Why?" I asked. "Other exorcists at the order seem really strong."

"Not in Zokalo's eyes. To him they're just all weaklings."

I looked at the floor disagreeing whole heartedly.

"Oh, Sephiria. Here," Komui handed me a stack of neatly folded black clothes. Immediately I knew what it was. The silver rose cross that was plated on the chest, my uniform. "You might be needing this." "Thanks." I replied with a smile taking it off of his hands. "Don't thank me thank Johnny," Komui told me. "I'll make sure to do that once I see him," I replied leaving the office.

I wanted to try on the uniform as soon as possible. I held on to my uniform very tightly almost as if it were a life or death situation. On my way to my room I spotted Lavi talking to an old man. The skin around the old man's eyes were stained black like on a panda. I ran up to the both of them, "Lavi!" he turned his head in my direction and spotted me. "Oh Sephiria!" He sounded surprised. "Nice to see you! How'd the meeting go?" "Eh, it was okay," I told him. "But look at what I have!" I showed him my new uniform. "That's great! So now you can train with me right?" Lavi grinned.

All of a sudden the old man forced a cough telling us to notice him. Lavi jumped and quickly turned to the old man. "Sephiria, this is my old panda, old panda this is Sephiria, the new exorcist." The old man's leg flew in to Lavi's shin and Lavi cursed audibly. "Dammit old man! What's wrong with you!" he ignored Lavi completely and walked over to me. He was very short (or maybe it was just because I was tall for my age), the top of his head just reached my shoulders, not counting his tall and funky hair style. He reached out his hand, "my name is Bookman, nice to meet you miss Sephiria." "Nice to meet you too Bookman," I shook his hand.

"C'mon Sephiria, let's ditch the old man already, I wanna' train now!" Lavi whined. Then he began to walk away. I followed after him waving to Bookman one last time. "Is that your grandpa?" I asked Lavi when I finally caught up to him. "You could call him that I guess, but I consider him to be more of a trainer y'know? Since he's Bookman and I'm Bookman Jr.?" He replied. I noticed a black coat that was tied around his waist, "Is that your uniform?" I asked him. "Yeah, just the coat though, I'm too lazy to put on the pants." Lavi told me, "Where's your room?" I pointed up, "It's on the third floor."

We went to the third floor and I walker over to my room, almost forgetting were it was since all of the doors looked exactly the same as the other. "Here, I'll wait outside," Lavi offered when I finally found the right room. I nodded and walked in to the room. It was quite dark inside so I opened the lights. I laid my uniform on my bed and figured out what order I was supposed to put it on in. A black tank top, then an exorcist's coat that cut off at my stomach, black leather capris, and combat boots that rose up a few inches past my ankles. (Which I had trouble putting on, because of my red rings.) Lux flew out of my hair, when I reached for a black ribbon with crosses at each end, I assumed it was hair tie.

I left my room and met Lavi outside. My hair was tied up with the hair ribbon, and swung around when I walked. Since Lux couldn't hide in my hair anymore, she sat comfortable on my shoulder. Lavi's eyes grew wide, "Wow! You look really good in it." I felt my cheeks burn up, "Uh is it supposed to look good?" "Yeah, actually Johnny makes sure the uniform will look good on the exorcist, isn't the fabric light?" He asked. "Yeah, but it seems incredibly durable," I replied. "It is. You're lucky that you're starting off with the uniform now, the old ones were really heavy," he said back. I laughed.

We made our way downstairs, (using the elevator) and Lavi led me to the other end of the order. "Hey Lavi! Where are you going?" a man shouted on our way. We both turned back to see a light brown haired man. His hair was spiked and he had a small goatee. He wore a white lab coat. "Hey! Section chief Reever!" Lavi grinned. He gave the man a high five. "Hey Sephiria! This is Reever. He's the chief of the science department." "Nice to meet you!" I smiled. "Nice to meet you too," he said. Then he turned to Lavi again, "So where are you two going?" "On a date!" Lavi grinned. I kicked him as hard as I could. "You're such a dirty liar." He clutched his leg where I kicked him. "Training," I told Reever, "We're going training." "Well that's great," Reever laughed, "But I don't know if Lavi can train anymore." I looked at Lavi, who was still clutching his leg, cursing to himself. "He deserved it, " I mumbled.

"Hey Section Chief Reever! Can you come here for a sec?" A man shouted. "Okay!" Reever rushed towards the general direction of the man. "Damn Sephiria! This is my second day knowing you and you're already kicking me?" Lavi groaned as he finally released his leg. I shot him a deadly glare. "Okay. Okay. Sorry." He laughed nervously, "let's just go train now okay?" I nodded, once again. He led me away to the training grounds.

The training grounds were huge. Large white stone pillars separated all the different courts. The grounds were split in half. Hand to hand combat and innocence training and the split courts split further down to square shaped courts. We went to the innocence training half and found ourselves a court. The hand to hand and innocence training grounds differentiated in only one way. The pillars for hand to hand had a large cover up that stretched from pillar to pillar like a large tarp. The innocence grounds did not. I was curious as to why this was so. I stood there curious for awhile until my concentration was interrupted by a huge black shadow that suddenly appeared where I was standing.

I turned my head around slowly to see a huge black and white striped hammer with an iron handle as tall as five full grown men. I immediately recognized it as Lavi's small circus hammer that Lavi had strapped on his leg and I remembered that it was his innoc-. I didn't have time to think or more like I couldn't think. The hammer dropped down towards me and I stood there like an idiot, too frightened to do anything. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for my head to get crushed in by a big as hell hammer being swung directly at me. Nothing happened though. I slowly opened my eyes again and looked up. I stumbled back in surprise when I saw that the hammer had only stopped an inch away from my head.

The hammer drew back and finally I saw Lavi's stupid face looking finally serious about something. "Don't let your guard down," Lavi smirked. "You're a jerk!" I snapped at him. "So, word is that you're fighting Zokalo tomorrow, " Lavi grinned. "Maybe; He told me that he wanted me at the training grounds at 4:30PM," I replied, getting back up. "So you are," Lavi's green eyes seemed to change for a moment, but immediately changed back to normal. Wait a sec, I thought, "How did you know about-," I asked out loud. "I'm a bookman." Lavi replied, "and since you're fighting Zokalo tomorrow, I will not go easy on you." "I didn't ask you to," I said, invocating my innocence. Long silvery blades grew from my arms again and the red rings around my wrists disappeared.

I cam at him as fast as I could, but he already had his one ton hammer up in the air. (My first thought was, how can he even hold that thing?) As it came down on me, I knew I couldn't be almost killed by that thing again. I made a sharp turn, thinking that he wouldn't be able to swing the heavy thing fast enough to hit me before I hit him, but I was completely wrong. The hammer lunged towards me even faster than the time before. It hit the ground beside me and I was stopped by a ring of fire that sealed me in the middle. I cursed, not knowing what to do. All of a sudden, the tower of flames grew even taller, then shot up into the air, becoming a pillar of fire that touched the sky.

I was dead this time, definitely dead. I was going to be burned to death. I had been shot up into the air, almost more than 50 meters off the ground and now I laid in a bed of flames. There was something wrong though, the flames weren't hot. I was sure it was fire but it wasn't hot. It wasn't even cold. It just felt like nothing. It was hard to breathe though. I couldn't breathe. My vision was blurry and all I could see was orange's red flames. Maybe that was why I didn't notice Lavi come up to pull me out of the flames.

Lavi's arm wrapped around my stomach and pulled me out from the flames. His face was still a bit blurry, but I could spot that fiery red hair spiked up in a bandana any day. "Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to beat you in there for that long. You okay?" "Been better," my voice cracked, it really hurts to breathe right now." "Sorry," Lavi apologized once again.

I finally felt Lavi's feet touch the ground. He laid me on the ground and waited for me to get better. My vision began to clear up and I saw Lavi standing above me. "You're a jerk," I croaked. "Sorry, maybe I did push it too far, just a bit. The flames weren't hot though." Lavi said. "Still, it was suffocating." I replied with my crackly voice. "Your voice sounds weird." Lavi teased. "And who's fault is that?" I snapped back.

It took a few minutes for me to heal but afterwards, I felt better than ever before. I got back up, "I'm going to kill you, you jerk." "Might want to reactivate your innocence again before you start," Lavi grinned. I looked at my hands, they were normal, with two bright red rings around my wrist. My innocence deactivated itself. "How-" I began to question. "If your innocence touches my flames, it'll deactivate itself," Lavi explained. "Damn," I cursed, reactivating my innocence. I had to try my best to keep away from his flames.

The "battle" started up again and I did my best to avoid his hammer. I had to plan everything I was going to do while I was fighting. I figured out that I couldn't do a widespread dodge, I could only jump to the side enough so that the hammer would swing right next to me, barely scraping my body. Any more than that, and the hammer could swing to the side and crush me. I ran in a straight line, towards Lavi and soon I was in front of the hammer. I couldn't hit me anymore. Or that's what I thought. I ran towards Lavi at full force now. All of a sudden, I heard a loud noise, a lot like slapping of wind. I turned my head and saw the hammer a couple of yards from me, chasing me. "What the hell?" I cursed. The long black metal iron handle was shrinking in length. I jumped out of the way without thinking and went too far. The hammer came crashing into me and I slammed into one of the stone white pillars.

Pain rippled through my body. Nothing was broken, but I was covered in bruises. It reminded me of the time the demon threw me into a wooden railing, breaking through it and hitting the outside of the portables. Back then, I was able to get up again, so I believed that I would be able to this time also. I used my arm and the pillar to get me back on my feet. I staggered forward. I felt warm blood run down my left arm. A chip of the pillar must've cut me. Forgetting about my aching arm and the pain rippling through my body, I ran forward again.

This time, I dodged the hammer without mistakes. As I got closer to Lavi, the attacks seemed to get more rapid. The hammer came rushing towards me from behind again and I dove to the ground, the hammer missing me by an inch. I quickly stumbled to my feet again, this time with even more cuts than before from the rough, jagged ground. There was no time to congratulate myself for dodging that attack though because an attack from the side came towards me. I saw it from my peripheral vision and had to think fast. Quickly, I switched the weapon in my arm into a huge iron shield, as tall as myself.

A huge "gong" sounded out as the hammer hit my shield. My feet skidded back a few inches, but I mostly stood my ground. As the hammer retreated, I changed the shield back into my normal weapon. I continued to dodge Lavi's attacks and finally got right under his chin. I turned to stop, my back facing him, then I swung my blade at his neck and stopped right before it hit flesh. "Instant death." I said, catching my breath. "Well played." replied Lavi.

Lavi wasn't the only one that was congratulating me though. I heard someone clapping from behind us. I looked and saw Allen, clapping away. I turned a deeper red than the flush I already had on my face from the battle. I was so into fighting that I didn't even notice his presence. Behind him was Kanda, once again looking quite grumpy and like he wanted to kill Allen. "She's quite good at fighting, isn't she Lavi?" Allen stated. "Yeah, very good. She's got a lot of energy, this girl. No matter how hurt she is, she still manages to get back up," Lavi retorted. "Just like a true exorcist." Allen smirked.

At that moment though, I could barely hear what they were saying. Something about me being strong? I didn't feel so strong at that moment though. I felt completely weak. Pain was coursing through my body. I had hit that pillar so hard that there was a small crack on it's otherwise, flawless surface. White I was fighting, I didn't pay attention or feel much of the pain but now I was getting the full impact. My legs felt like jelly and my arms felt like they were going to fall off. My body felt like it was torn and ripped apart. Damn that Lavi, did he really need to hit me that hard? I thought before my legs finally gave in.

I collapsed to the ground and I heard worried voices all around me. "Hey is that girl okay?" "Get her to the infirmary!" "You're so stupid Lavi, going so tough on her!" Someone picked me up and carried me away. Their arms were warm, I felt good. Comfortable. So, I fell asleep and another fragment of memory engulfed me.

t

I sat in a cold dark alleyway. People passed me, swarms of them. Those lucky people that got everything they wanted. I was freezing. My clothes were tattered and at its seams. The only thing to keep me warm was a moth eaten blanket that was covered in dirt. My hair was in a mess. A little girl and her mother walked by and she stared at me. Her mother noticed and quickly dragged her away. "Don't look at those kinds of people Amelia!" I heard her say in a scolding tone.

What a lucky little brat, she probably had everything in the world. How I envied that little girl so much. I was probably much older though, probably around 13 years old. I didn't know. I barely knew how I looked like. That was what was to be expected though considering I hadn't looked in a mirror in years. The last time I'd seen myself was the day my parents died and the day my twin sister lost her memory. We were both brought to orphanages and were kept away from each other. I had snuck over to see her once. We caught glimpses of each other. I still remembered her shocked face, seeing someone that she didn't know with the same face as her own must've been shocking. I was caught and thrown out by that stupid grumpy female director. How I hated her.

I would love to see my sister tough. Tears escaped my eyes. My sister, Reina. I couldn't remember our last name though and I couldn't remember my name either. I was nameless to everyone anyway, so it didn't really matter. I sat there stupidly, wallowing in self-pity. That's why I jumped when I saw a boy standing above me. "Are you okay? Why are you crying?" He asked sweetly. "Why do you want to know? I don't even know you. " I replied, wiping my tears away with my dirty sleeve. The boy got to his knees. He was very good looking. Brown hair laid down to the name of his neck, a pale white face to the point it border lined gray. "Here, use this," the boy took out a handkerchief and wiped my face. He smiled softly but somehow, even while smiling, he looked extremely sad. "What's your name?" he asked. "Don't got one." I replied. "Age?" "I dunno." "Birthday?" "If only I knew." "We should be friends," he smiled again. "How random are y-" I began. "Okay, no objections? Let's get you cleaned up." "Wait just one sec-!" But he had already taken my hand and we were running. Running away from my old life and into a new one. One that later on, I would regret falling into.

That was the first time I met Aaron. I was a child. We were still kids. He was 15 years old and he decided my age for me. He said, "From now on, you're also 15!" Throughout the years though, I could tell I was definitely not the same age as him. He bought me clothes, got me into school, and taught me about music. Aaron played the piano beautifully but he hated it so much. There was one song that stood out to me though. He called it the 14th's Song and it was the one he hated the most. The song was as unique as the music score itself, for the score wasn't made of notes, but dashes. Each one different than the other, all written in a circle swirling in like a lollipop. He also taught me the lyrics and I always sang to it.

Then the boy went to sleep

And one or two embers alive in the ashes flared up in the shape

Of your beloved face

Thousands of dreams spread over the land

Stars like silver eyes twinkling in the bright

You shining ones fell to earth

Even though the eons turn many prayers to dust

I will keep praying

Please love this child

And kiss the hand you're holding

Such a beautiful tone. How I would love to hear it again. My eyes began to open. I was in a white room. I had been in a room like this one before. "Hey! She's awake!" I heard a girl say. My cheeks were tear soaked. Had I been crying in my sleep? "Hey Sephiria! You okay?" Lenalee's voice? "I'm fine," I mumbled. I slowly sat up, and realized my arms and legs were bandaged. My clothes had been changed and I wore hospital like clothes. "You're finally awake," Allen sat in the corner of the room, looking relieved. "Rise and shine Sephiria! You've been asleep for hours!" Lavi grinned from the opposite side of the room where Allen sat. "You're one to talk. You're the one that did this to her," Allen snapped. "She's going to be worse shape tomorrow, after Zokalo is through with her. I showed her mercy. Zokalo won't. He's the merciless general. I mean, you guys have seen him fight! He laughs while killing demons! He thinks of it as entertainment!" Allen and Lenalee were silent.

"Well never mind that! Let's get you cleaned up! C'mon!" Lenalee smiled, breaking the silence. I nodded and got out of bed. All of a sudden, my leg stung and I fell back. Allen reached out his arm and caught me. "You okay? I can walk you." "No" I replied, "I can walk." I was amazed by the resemblance of Allen and Aaron. They looked too alike and every time I looked at him, I could feel Solara stirring, finding anyway not to look at him. I could hear her soul scream out in pain. She couldn't bare to look, so I wouldn't make her, even though I wanted to see Aaron and Allen's face.

Lenalee and I walked to the washrooms with her help occasionally. "I brought your uniform back to your room after washing it. It looks good as new. You're going to need it tomorrow." I nodded, "I know." I was going to die tomorrow. Zokalo was going to kill me. I shook my head. I couldn't be so negative before anything happened. "You can borrow something to wear from me after the bath." I nodded. I didn't know if I could fit her clothes though. It was probably going to be too small. It might have been weird for me to think this since I was four years younger than her, but Lenalee was very skinny. She had the body every girl would kill for and I was sure it made many other girls feel very insecure when they were around her.

The baths were huge. They were more like hot springs. The pools of water were steaming. I got into the bath and sighed. It felt so good. The baths were definitely not made for only one person. It was the women's washroom though and there were hardly any women working at headquarters. In fact, there were only five including myself. I dunked my head into the warm water and resurfaced. I could feel the dirt washing off my body and seeping into the water. The design of the bath was really like a natural hot spring found in the outdoors. The design was beautiful.. Rocks lined the rims of the bath. I sighed again. The locket my family gave me sat on one of the rocks. I reached an arm out of the water and picked it up. I opened it up and looked at the small photograph inside. I was already homesick. My brother now had my cellphone. I gave it to him after Lenalee and Allen told me that I wasn't allowed to be in contact with anyone. I wondered how long it would be until I saw my family again. If I could ever see them again.

I got out of the bath and into the normal bathroom. There stood Lenalee holding a white Chinese top with a black skirt. "Here, I got this for you. You can borrow it." She tossed me the clothes and pointed me towards a dressing room. I went in and got changed. To my surprise, the clothes actually fit. I came out and she smiled. "It's so cute, Sephiria!" "I'm surprised it fit me," I laughed, "I thought I was going to be too fat." "You're not fat." Lenalee said. "Compared to you, I am." I said back. "Well think of it Sephiria, I've been training and fighting every single day of my life. Of course I would be in shape. An exorcist's physical form is very important." "Yeah, I guess," I replied. "After a while, you'll be in even better shape than me. Especially if you serve under Zokalo. He's set out on all the hard missions," Lenalee told me. "I'm going to die tomorrow," I sighed. "Maybe, maybe not. But I think you're going to do just fine." I smiled at Lenalee. She was a very good person. A very good friend.

"Let's have dinner, Sephiria!" Lenalee said. "Agreed, I'm starving," I sighed. Lenalee laughed. We headed off to the cafeteria and asked Jerry for the food we wanted. "Hey, new girl! That you?" I heard someone say, as Lenalee and I got our meal. I turned around and saw Kanda sitting with a big squinty-eyed man, who wore earphones. (He was buff and pale.) "Ah, Kanda1 Hey!" Lenalee said. He ignored her and looked at me, "New girl, this your golem?" I looked where he pointed and saw Lux flapping her wings next to Kanda. "She's been following me around since you collapsed." "Oh I'm sorry," I said. "Try not to lose her anymore. I can't always baby-sit your golem," Kanda said with a face like thunder.

Although his face showed anger, his voice said otherwise. It sounded amused. Amused that a newbie had the guts to challenge Zokalo. I could tell. His eyes stared at me like I was competition. He couldn't wait to fight me. To me, I would be a nice pawn in his game. This war was a game to him and everyone else was his pawns. He was smart and planned out his every move.

"Let's site with him," Lenalee whispered in me ear. I looked at her awkwardly and quickly wiped off my expression before she noticed. "Sure, of course," I said. We sat down at the table and I heard a whisper ripple through the cafeteria. "That new exorcist! She's sitting with Kanda!" "Poor girl, she better not be tricked by his pretty face or she's going to get her heart broken." "That Kanda's cold as stone." Through all the whispers, Kanda seemed to just ignore it, showing no interest in the petty gossip circulating around about him. Until the comment about him being cold, I saw a small smirk cross his face and as fast as it had come, it had gone. I ended up sitting across from him, noticing the whole table was empty besides him, the earphones guy, Lenalee, and me. It must've been lonely having everyone being afraid of him and being alone. "You really okay Sephiria? You seem kinda out of it," Lenalee said taking a good look at me. "Yeah, I'm just kinda tired still. I'm just going to finish up and go to bed," I replied

t

I headed towards my room. Lux followed closely behind me, obviously glad that she had found me. As I closed the door behind me, I slipped out of Lenalee's clothes and changed into pajamas. I would return her clothes to her tomorrow. I fell onto my bed and stared at the plaster on the ceiling. Day two at the Black Order. It was a great place filled with great people. I hoped I would just survive the next day, so I could get to know more of those people.

Solara/ Sephiria crying before Aaron found them