Thank you to jokerose and MusicianWish for your support! Also thank you to those who've read up till now! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man
And now on with the show~
Chapter 8: A Song of Farewell
"Maria!" Seph shouted as he ran towards the edge of the boat and prepared to jump in.
"No Seph!" Lavi's firm grip held him back. "She's strong. She can handle this on her own." Although he said those words confidently, Lavi's mind filled with worry. Maria…please be safe. Glancing up, Lavi noticed a bullet headed straight for Seph. Acting on instinct, Lavi pushed away the boy as he was struck by the Akuma's bullet instead.
Krory reacted first, diving into the water and sucked out the poison in Lavi's blood. When both exorcists emerged, Lavi blinked. "Eh? Didn't I just get shot…?"
Krory stood up, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Thanks for the meal," he smirked and Lavi paled as he touched his throat.
Just then, Bookman began yelling to them about some sort of Wood Seal and complained about the idiot Lavi was. The red-haired exorcist promptly formulated a plan with Krory. Soon after, the gravitational chains around the boat disappeared and the tides turned in the exorcists' favor.
"Let's do this!" Lavi shouted. "Seal: Round Wood. Tenchi Pakai!" He pointed his index finger towards the sky. "Hey, you clouds recede!" A bright bolt of electricity shot out towards the clouds, suddenly dispersing them. Krory jumped up high as Lavi swung his hammer. "Go get 'em Krory-kins!"
Seph looked up at the sky curiously as he held out his hand. "Red snow…?"
Suddenly, next to the boat, the water shot up to reveal an extremely large sea monster-like Akuma flying through the air before exploding into a cloud of smoke. Coughing slightly, the five Exorcists stared with wide eyes at the figure that had emerged from the water just as fast as the Akuma had flown through the air.
Above on the yard of the ship, with one hand on the main topmast stood Maria. Looped around her hip was a ebony black sheath in which one sword hung by her right hip. The sword was a deep shade of blue and seemed to melt into the shadow of the wood. In her other hand was another blade with an otherworldly hue of purple and black. Instead of the blue sword's straight blade, this sword had a crooked blade that seemed to make it appear more sinister.
Maria's long bangs covered her eyes but underneath there was a near maniacal smirk that was illuminated by the moonlight as she looked towards the sky. "At last..." she breathed quietly. 'I'm back.'
"...Maria?" A voice from below made her look down to see the crowd of crew and Exorcists below her.
Maria swiftly jumped to each level below her until she had reached the ground, where all but Seph took a step back once they saw her eyes. He remained still, but his eyes widened when he saw her now blood red eyes. They had the same color as his right eye. Those eyes calmly stared at him and he felt that the person behind those eyes was staring down at him. This was not her. This wasn't Maria.
"Who..." he began quietly, but his voice rose louder as he finished his question. "Who are you?"
Maria didn't seem very surprised at the question. In fact, she let loose a short laugh before smirking evilly. "Someone from the dark."
Behind Seph, Bookman's eyes widened slightly when he saw her eyes. "Ragnarok," he mumbled quietly to himself. Lavi glanced at him curiously. 'Ragnarok?'
Maria's eyes swiveled to the small old man behind Seph, and she smiled menacingly. "So you know," she sneered while everyone stared at him in confusion.
Bookman ignored their stares as he continued to glare at her. "What is your purpose here?" he demanded. "I thought beings from the darkness could not exist in this world."
"We can't," Maria admitted. "But I believe that you're forgetting a little something~"
Bookman's eyes grew wide in realization. "A host..."
"Correct you are~!" Maria snickered as she crossed her arms across her chest. She suddenly leaned an inch to the side as a black needle zoomed past her ear. "Oh?" the air around her grew colder as her eyes flashed a bright crimson. Her smirk grew wider as she anticipated another attack from the old man.
"Be gone Ragnarok." Bookman ordered. "Leave now or suffer the consequences."
"And if I refuse...?" A manic smile tugged on the corners of her lips.
"..." Bookman remained silent, but she noticed that he was still holding his needles underneath his long sleeves.
Maria heaved a long sigh and raised both hands in a carefree gesture of defeat. "Hmm I was hoping for something exciting," she pouted slightly. "Meh. Since I'm tired right now, I'll let you go free." She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and then turned around in a circle to look at the rest of the crew, making eye contact with each one.
"But remember...I'll be back~"
Maria looked up at the sky and closed her eyes. When she reopened them, the crimson eyes were gone, replaced by her regular ice blue eyes. "Eh?" She looked around at the crew innocently. "How did I get here?" She suddenly felt arms around her, restricting her movement as well as breathing. "Who...!"
"Maria..." A familiar voice murmured into her ear. Seph. She relaxed at once and returned his embrace as the familiar scent of cinnamon filled her nostrils. Before she could reply, everything grew extremely bright. His skin appeared to blind her and the fabric of his Exorcist uniform grew darker, making a stark contrast between the two. Stars appeared in her vision and Maria's eyes rolled up as her knees buckled.
As she was embraced by the darkness, she thought she heard someone faintly call out her name. Deep inside her mind, Maria called out to a certain being.
'Hey…Brother…did I…make you proud…?'
She could feel him smile faintly as he spoke.
You always have.
"Lemme go!" Maria's eyes slowly opened as she heard shouting from the ship deck. Slowly sitting up, she noticed that Seph's jacket had been placed on top of her as she slept. Gingerly getting up, Maria carefully folded it before she exited the cabin. When she opened the door, she saw Lavi being restrained by the sailors as he attempted to use his hammer to get off the boat. "Lemme go!"
"What are you, an idiot?" Seph asked, becoming increasingly annoyed by his shouting. "They said we're gonna get to her!"
"Why wait when I can get to her faster?" Lavi retorted. "Let…me…go!" His hammer increased its size so that the sailors couldn't hold on anymore.
Lavi's shadow suddenly wrapped around him at the same time Miranda's arms did as well. "Lavi, stop!" she cried. "Please, don't be so harsh to the crew. They protected me while on the ship…!" She began to fret over his wounds.
Lavi gritted his teeth, tense with worry and Miranda's fussing was making him reach his limit. Finally, he snapped. "Damn it, how can you be so calm!? Aren't you worried about Lenalee? She's human just like you!"
Miranda flinched, stunned by his harsh words. "Aren't you human as well?" Lavi clenched his fist. "Am I wrong?"
Maria watched calmly as Miranda's words did not make him change his decision. She sighed and made eye-contact with him. "Oi! Take me with you."
Lavi nearly fell off of his hammer when he heard what she said. "Wh-what?" he stuttered.
"Take me with you," Maria repeated, climbing up onto the handle of hammer without waiting for an answer. "If you end up collapsing because of your wounds, who's gonna be there to catch you if you fall?" She smirked knowing that he couldn't refuse.
The two set off towards the direction of the light Lavi had seen earlier. Soon they reached the limits of Miranda's Innocence, and their old wounds came back to them. Lavi nearly fainted from the pain he received all at the same time. He nearly fell, except his hands remained continued to clutch the handle through sheer willpower and Maria, who held onto his waist with one arm in order to balance both him and herself, her other arm holding her ribs that had been broken during her struggle with Cetus.
"Lenalee," Lavi muttered, his eyes frantically scanning the horizon. "Where are you?"
Maria looked at him with worried eyes. 'Lavi…'
"This is a bad joke." He looked down at the water. "You're making me remember bad things…" Looking forward again, Lavi shouted, "Lenalee!"
A sudden explosion from the water made the both of them look up in shock. "…Huh?" An Akuma emerged from the water, holding an enormous crystal that shined with greenish light.
"Are ya Junior and Tsukiyomi?" It asked.
Both exorcists stared dumbfounded at the Akuma that seemed to know their names. "Huh?" they repeated stupidly, still in shock.
"Are ya Bookman's Junior and Florence's disciple?" It asked impatiently. "M' hands are killin' me y'know. Could ya help me out?"
Lavi stared dumbly at the Akuma until he saw who was inside the giant crystal. "L-Lenalee!?" He gasped.
Maria's mind was reeling as Lavi began accusing the Akuma for things it didn't do. 'Lenalee's innocence protected her... Is it just like mine?'
Something golden flashed by her and hit the Akuma dead on. As it began communicating with the golem, the pieces finally clicked together in Maria's mind. "Lavi, that's General Cross's Akuma." She pointed to the being that Tim was now sitting on happily.
"Yep! Oira is that guy's messenger so even if an Akuma is still an Akuma, Oira was converted by Cross Marian, don't y'know? So help me out already." Oira confirmed, happy that at least one person understood it.
"Eh..okay," Lavi rubbed the back of his head as he stared at the odd duo before them. 'That Cross has too many surprises up his sleeve.'
. . . . .
Once they brought Lenalee's crystal back to the ship, Anita ran up to it, but was nearly killed by the Innocence.
"Those of you who aren't exorcists, keep your distance!" Bookman warned the crew. "Watch out! You'll be hit with the power of the Innocence!" He then began explaining what was bothering him about Lenalee's Innocence protecting her. 'This kind of thing just isn't possible,' he thought.
Maria rubbed her hand absentmindedly as she stood off to the side. When she had tried to help Lavi and Oira carry Lenalee's crystal back to the boat, as soon as she touched it black electricity sparked and jolted her hand. When she examined it, she was surprised to find a black tattoo etched onto the back of her hand.
"What's going on?" Seph asked her in a low voice.
"Oira is an Akuma converted by Cross, and it found Lenalee from underneath the ocean and brought her to us." She answered, still watching the scene before her as she swiftly put on her gloves in order to hide the tattoo.
"It's her 'heart' isn't it?" Oira spoke from behind Lavi, who turned around and hit him. Bookman then explained that Oira was indeed an Akuma that General Cross had converted, that he had been telling the truth.
"We've got no time," It spoke as it looked into the sky. "I have word from Cross Marian."
"A message?" Anita gasped off to the side. She began to cry tears of joy.
"Marian is not dead," It continued. "He landed and is on a mission in the direction of Edo."
"A mission?" Lavi asked.
'The general was actually doing his job? That's a first,' they all thought.
Lavi then began to mock Cross for requiring their help on his mission when Oira interrupted him. "No. Oira came after being told to deliver this message to you. Marian said: 'If you are to become a hindrance, go home'."
Just then, Lenalee's crystal began to give off a pillar of light. When she emerged from it, Lavi ran over to her and picked her up. Miranda's Time Record also set her wounds back.
Maria and Seph only stood back and watched the touching reunion. Lenalee opened her eyes as tears fell out. "Lavi… Am…am I…still in the…world…?" Lavi's tears soon emerged as well as he hugged the girl.
"Idiot," he muttered.
Maria smiled kindly at Lavi's show of affection. 'This feeling in my heart... Is this what they call love? I'm pretty sure I don't love him like that, but...we're like family, right?'
"Should we continue? Or shouldn't we… You guys choose…"
"Let's go on," Lenalee answered for them. "We can't just go back from here. If we turn back now, we'd just be trampling down on the lives that got us this far." She attempted to get up but her legs wouldn't move. Not even Miranda's Innocence could undo the effects of her limit break completely.
Lavi picked her up on one side. "Lenalee's approval," the red haired exorcist started.
"We got it!" Krory finished as he picked her up from the other, supporting her.
"Even though we're all worn out, we can't stop here," Lavi said cheerfully.
"Let's go to Edo!"
Maria watched as Lavi talked with the Akuma now named Chomesuke. The boy seemed to adapt to situations quickly and took a liking to the Akuma he gave a nickname for. On the couch, Miranda leaned against Lenalee with a cloth on her forehead.
"I'm sorry," the woman breathed. "I don't think I can keep this up until we reach Edo."
Lavi ruffled Miranda's head. "Don't worry."
Seph finally spoke up. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect your Innocence Miranda." The others looked at him in shock. It was rare for him to apologize much less talk seriously.
"No no...it's my fault..." Miranda continued sobbing words of apology to them.
"Miranda," Lenalee hugged her closer. "Don't bear the burden alone, okay? We are all in this together." Lavi stared wide eyed as her words sunk into him. "We…are all walking this road with you."
At that moment, Mahoja knocked on the door, carrying raincoats with her. "Exorcists," she began. "My mistress has called for you on deck.
. . . . .
Maria looked around the deck, searching for any sign of the sailors. "What the…" She only saw Anita, Mahoja, and three other sailors.
"Um, I don't see any of the crew," Krory tentatively observed.
"Yeah," Lavi turned around in a circle. "Where are they…?"
Lenalee was the last to realize. "Don't tell me…!" she gasped.
"I'm sorry," Anita apologized. "I told the crew they need not send you off."
One of the sailors spoke up. "Right now they are having a feast below."
"Please forgive me," Anita apologized again. "I wanted them to spend their last moments as they wished."
Lenalee's tears started to fall again, mingling with the rain. "So you were the only ones that survived!?" Miranda hung her head low, trying to hide her tears of remorse.
Anita placed a hand on the kind woman's shoulder. "It's okay." She smiled kindly at them. "All of us became supporters because we lost our families to Akuma. We could live only for the sake of revenge. None of our comrades have anything to regret."
"You told us that you would go to Edo," Mahoja added, smiling at them. "That you would not retreat on the path we made. That made us very happy."
"Please win, Sir Exorcists!" They turned towards the sound of voices coming from the loudspeakers. "For our sake, please go on! Keep going!" Many voices joined together as they spoke into the speakers. "Use our lives to make a better future!"
"The crew…!?" Lenalee gasped, holding her hands up to her mouth.
"You guys…" Anita's own tears started to fall as she was touched by their encouragement.
"I can't believe it…!" Seph looked down at the ground, trying to restrain his tears.
"Please take care of our comrades that survived! We want them to live!" The other three sailors stared in shock at the words of their fellow sailors. "We want them to live, even if for a while, in a peaceful future!" Lavi kept his head up, eyes wide open."Please win Sir Exorcists!"
"Gramps," Lavi mumbled in a hoarse voice. "This is too painful…"
"We're still a bit far from Edo, so I'll be taking you guys to Izu," Chomesuke explained as he held a small lifeboat up. "Watch your footsteps!"
Lenalee reached a hand out to the last two people. "Come Miss Anita and Miss Mahoja."
Instead of taking her hand, Anita simply cupped the girl's cheek. "Your hair… Grow it long again," she whispered tenderly. "You have very beautiful black hair. You mustn't let the war get the better of you, okay?" Lenalee's eyes widened in shock. "Goodbye…"
"What… No!" Lenalee exclaimed. "No…it can't be…!" She could only reach out as she watched the two people get smaller and smaller.
"I can't…believe it…" Maria's tears started to form in her eyes as she watched the two continue smiling as they waved goodbye. "This isn't…this isn't fair…!"
Miranda let go of her Innocence's time and the ship began to sink and destroy itself. The survivors stared numbly where the once grand ship had been only seconds before.
"We will…" Lenalee mumbled to the souls of the ship. "We will definitely win…! I swear."
Seph looked at Maria's tears that were now flowing freely down her face. He touched his face, realizing that his own tears had come as well. He looked up at the sky, faintly recalling a song Ryou had sung when his and Maria's parents had passed away. "May it be an evening star," he began, unsure of the melody. "Shines down upon you."
Maria quickly glanced at him. She didn't expect him to recall something so long ago. Leaning against him, she sang, adding to the melody.
May it be when darkness falls your heart will be true
Seph and Maria sang side by side as the rain washed away their tears. Both individuals made the song shine in a different way, and their voices resonated in the quiet moment.
You walk a lonely road
Oh how far you are from home
Mornié Utúlië
Believe and you will find your way
Mornié Alantië
A promise lives within you now
The other exorcists stared at them in awe as their voices flowed and complemented each other. Maria's voice had a rich quality to it while Seph's voice was clear and deep. "Maria…" Lavi murmured.
May it be the shadow's call will fly away
May it be you journey on to light their day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun
Mornié Utúlië
Believe and you will find your way
Mornié Alantië
A promise lives within you now
A promise lives within you now
Their voices melded into a complete harmony as the two childhood friends sang out their sadness, letting out their emotions in that one song. The others simply sat there listening to them fade out just as quietly as they started.
"Seph… What was that song…?" Lenalee asked him.
"It's supposed to guide the souls of the dead to their destination," he answered. Looking away, he continued to stare out into the distance. "Maria's brother taught it to us when her parent's died."
Maria leaned her head against his shoulder. Her tears were falling freely now, but the rain masked them. "And where is her brother now…?" Lenalee tentatively asked.
"He's dead." Maria answered blandly.
Lenalee and the others looked at her abruptly before finally understanding the girl. Lenalee knew what it was like to lose a family member so dear to her, even though she had only lost her brother for a short time. She couldn't imagine a life without him now. Lenalee sat next to Maria and hugged her. Too absorbed in memories, Maria didn't react.
"I believe," Maria spoke quietly. "I believe that Brother's song definitely helped them get to where they were going. I believe that they'll be much happier where they are, watching us as we work to build the world they gave their lives for."
'Together, we'll build a better future for all of us. Isn't that right, Brother…?'
For those of you who wish to know, the song that Maria and Seph sing is 'May it Be' by Enya from Lord of the Rings.
Please review~! :3
*Edit: Releasing 2 chapters as a Christmas gift! Merry Christmas y'all~*