Gonna try to release the next few chapters as soon as I write them! I'm going on vacation later, but I'll still be writing when I can XD Working on chapter 12 right now, so chapter 11 should be out as soon as I get some free time! :3
Once again, thank you to jokerose and my other readers for the support!
Anonymous: You really should make an account so it'll be easier for me to talk to you XD And yes, Evan's eyes are red. Evan = Red eyes, blond hair. Seph = green eyes, black hair. Maria = blue eyes, ash blond hair. Just so you know XD I'll make sure to write more scenes of them together in the future! :3
Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man
*Edit* This chapter has been revamped!
Chapter 10: Did You Miss Me?
"Are you alright, little lady?" A playful voice asked her. Maria slowly opened her eyes to see a man in his early thirties holding her like a princess. The man had long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail and vibrant green eyes that had a hint of danger in them. The scars on his face told her many stories of his life, and not all of them were good ones.
"Ugh," she groaned. The man who had saved her used his large greatsword to take the brunt of the blow but looked fairly unharmed while she had been mostly unscathed from the blow, except for a few scratches. "Who are you?" she asked her mysterious savior.
"The name's Lupin. Lupin Xenohart," Lupin winked. Maria inwardly groaned; she could tell that Lupin was a sucker for the pretty ladies.
"Oh!" Tyki exclaimed, squinting his eyes. "I spotted an Exorcist! And look who decided to show his face," he added with disdain.
"I'd thought he'd never show up~" the Earl grinned widely. "Now the fun can begin~"
Seph groaned as he rubbed his head. He looked around for Maria and saw her with some strange man with an extremely long sword stabbed into the ground behind him. 'Who in the world…?'
Beside him, Evan was barely able to stand up. He glanced at the man that Maria was with and images suddenly flashed in his mind as he recognized the man. The brown hair, the venomous green eyes, even the sword was the same! Evan fingered the scar hidden beneath his Exorcist uniform as his eyes burned with murderous rage.
Seph glanced at Evan's glare aimed at the man. Confusion flashed through his face before it was replaced with a smirk. If Evan absolutely hated the man, then he had no reason to like him. He quickly threw a knife at the pair, and Lupin took his sword out and blocked it, his attention now focused on the two boys. Maria stared at them in confusion until the man beside her spoke.
"Well, well, if it isn't you," Lupin sneered. "I thought I dealt with you back in Switzerland. You must really be a 'Child of Misfortune', being the sole survivor of that poor village. Tell me boy, how does it feel to be the one who will cause the death of your little friends here, just like how you caused the death of sweet little Nana?" he taunted, bringing up secrets that even Seph didn't know of.
"Lupin Xenohart." The name was filled with years of rage that Evan didn't know he had.
"I must say, boy. You've gotten yourself quite the nice young lady here," Lupin chuckled. "How many years has it been, boy? I remember when you were just about this tall." Lupin brought his hand to his waist level.
"Shut up!" Evan pulled out Oblivion.
"Interesting sword you have there, boy," Lupin observed. "Are you finally good enough to stand a chance against me? Or am I going to kill you like I killed all of those people?"
"Humph! I'd like to see you try," Evan smirked as he raised his sword and pointed at Lupin, who raised his own sword as well. "Die!" both swordsmen ran towards each other as steel met steel. Maria and Seph could only watch as both swordsmen seemed evenly matched, except Lupin had a bored look on his face while Evan had a look of rage. The man wasn't even trying, she realized.
A luminous green light illuminated the area as Lenalee's Innocence once again protected her from the attack. Glancing over, Maria realized that the Earl was making his way towards the crystal. "Seph!" she called as she pointed towards Lenalee. Both Lavi and Kanda were currently busy with the Noah and couldn't protect Lenalee, leaving her unguarded. Seph started to head towards the girl, aiming to protect her from the Earl.
"Foolish Exorcists," a voice spoke from behind Seph. "Disappear."
Seph's eyes widened as he ducked just in time to not have his head decapitated. Quickly turning around, Seph activated Echo and tried to attack Lupin with his daggers. When his ploy failed, he activated Noise but even with his enhanced speed and claws, not one of his attacks could land on the man. 'Just what is this man...?' Seph gritted his teeth.
"Your worst nightmare," Lupin appeared in front of Seph and kicked him in the gut as he sent the boy flying. Seph hit the ground and lay there stunned. The strength of Lupin's kick was a lot stronger than he thought. Seph winced, holding his side. Some of his ribs might've broken from the force of the kick.
Glancing around, he spotted Evan lying down as well with wounds covering his body. The older boy moaned in pain, knowing that the convict had at broken at least one thing in his body. Evan tried to sit up but couldn't as pain shot up from his wounds.
Maria was the only one left in Lupin's way, both Evan and Seph having been defeated. She activated her Innocence, pulling two swords out of her shadow. "Interesting Innocence you have there," Lupin remarked as he turned to face her. "It's quite…dark."
"Save it," Maria retorted, readying her swords. "I won't let you get to Lenalee."
"Oh but you will," Lupin grinned darkly. "You're simply a human, and humans are weak."
Maria leaped towards him, using both swords to attack all out. "So what if I'm human?" she grunted while attacking. "Humans may be weak, yet through hopes and dreams, they achieve the impossible!" She knocked him away and darkness surrounded the two. Lupin was disorientated as he felt a faint breeze move around him. Suddenly, he was attacked from all around by numerous slashes as Maria mercilessly used one of her abilities on him: Darkness Tornado.
Once the darkness receded from around the two, Maria stood there panting heavily as she rested her hands on her knees. On the other hand, Lupin looked perfectly fine apart from a few scratches on his skin. "What!?" she gasped, staring at his near perfect condition. "How did you…!?"
"Didn't I tell you already?" Lupin's voice was calm, as if he were simply chiding a small child. "Humans are weak." He ran up to her and began attacking her relentlessly. Maria couldn't keep up with his attacks and could only block a few of them. "You're weak."
"Tch!" she grunted as another one of his attacks reached its mark.
Suddenly a blinding light came from Lenalee's crystal as the sky split open. Lupin was momentarily blinded and he paused, staring at the source of the light. Standing face to face with the Earl was a familiar white clown, and Maria squinted at the figure.
"Good evening~" the Earl grinned happily. "So we meet again, Allen Walker~"
"Allen?" Disbelief shone on Maria's face as she lowered her swords.
"I was sure the Mistress had some sort of use for you Tsukiyomi..."
"Maria!" Evan warned her as Lupin once again launched an attack on the girl. Maria had barely raised her swords in time to block Lupin's powerful attack. Evan picked up his sword once again and tried to rush in once again as a cloud of smoke blew up from the Earl's attack.
Using the smoke as a cover, Lupin attacked Maria once again. As he felt his sword meet flesh, he quickly jumped away and paused before cackling, "But I'm afraid that you're too weak to suit her purposes."
Maria tried to look for Lupin, but the man was nowhere to be seen in the smoke. She felt a presence to her right and swiftly approached it. When she saw the figure kneeling on the ground, she suddenly gasped, "Evan?"
"Tch! Where'd he go?" Evan asked her, holding his bleeding arm.
"I don't know," she looked around as she inspected his wounds. "He just attacked me and then suddenly disappeared." Maria then noticed a certain white haired figure arguing with Kanda. "Is that…Allen!?"
Allen glanced around, hearing his name. His eyes then fell upon a certain ash blond exorcist. "M-Maria?" he stuttered.
"Oi, Moyashi," Kanda unsheathed his sword. "Don't ignore me!" Allen panicked as Kanda swung the katana at him.
Maria blocked Kanda's blow with one of her swords as she supported Evan with one arm. "Now, now Kanda," she chided. "Don't say that to Moyashi." She had already taken a liking to the nickname Kanda had created for Allen.
"Che! I can say whatever I want to the Beansprout," Kanda scoffed.
"It's Allen," Allen corrected as he pointedly looked at the two.
Maria simply stuck out her tongue at him, "Your point is?" Lavi walked up to them and joked about how it was supposed to be a happy reunion. Maria stood there watching the reunion until she finally saw Bookman tending the wounded. Once she brought Evan over to him to be treated, Maria looked around to find Seph lying down on the ground. "Seph?" she asked him as she ran over to help him up. "Are you okay?"
"Ah!" Seph winced in pain as he placed a hand over his ribs.
Quickly glancing down, Maria noticed large bruises covering his abdomen. Her eyes widened in horror as she imagined the damage that was done to him. She clenched her fist. "Damn it Lupin," she cursed under her breath. Maria looked around for someone to help her carry Seph. She soon spotted Lavi with nothing to do. "Lavi!" she called. Lavi glanced over in her direction. "I need your help!" Her worried eyes made him run over quickly and soon the two brought the now unconscious boy over to Bookman as gently as possible.
Finally receiving the affirmation that both of her childhood friends would be alright, Maria leaned against the wall and listened to the others talk. They were safe, for now.
"Achoo!" Lupin's sudden sneeze startled the Noahs around him.
"Someone must be talking about you," Road giggled as she sat on the Earl's shoulder.
"Speaking about someone," Tyki recalled. "I can't believe our dear sister hasn't awoken yet."
"Oh! You mean Euphie?" Road looked at him excitedly. "I can't wait till she joins us~!" She then pouted a little as she realized what Tyki had just said, "You mean she still doesn't remember anything yet?"
"Now, now children," the Earl smiled as he pulled Tyki and Skinn. "Euphemia will awaken very, very soon."
"Good, because life's a bore without her," Road continued sulking when she noticed a scratch on Lupin's cheek. "What's this? The almighty Lupin Xenohart has a scratch on him? Who's the lucky guy who got close enough to scratch you, huh? Who is it?" She pestered him with endless questions.
"Shut up and leave me alone, you Noah," Lupin growled. "Your 'dear sister' only got lucky. It won't happen again." With that said he shut his mouth and refused to say anything else.
"By the way Millenies," Road looked around. "Where's Lero?"
"I knew you'd be here," Evan spoke from behind her. Maria didn't react as he sat next to her. "Something on your mind?"
Maria looked at him, contemplating whether or not to tell him. She sighed, "I was just thinking about what I'd do if something happened to the both of you." She glanced at Seph, who still lay unconscious under the careful eye of Bookman. "Meeting Lupin and being defeated by him so easily made me realize…we're only human. Exorcists aren't immortal! What if you two died out there? I'd be…all alone." Her tears began to form as she leaned on the older boy's shoulder.
Evan placed a comforting arm around her, squeezing her shoulder like an older brother. "Don't worry, Maria," he murmured. "No matter what happens, I will be beside you. You can depend on me."
"…Thank you," she whispered. Wiping her tears, she stood up, "I'm going to go check on Seph. Wanna come with me?" Evan took her offer and stood up as well. Walking over towards the others, she saw Lenalee wide awake. She was about to go towards the girl when she noticed Allen sitting beside her holding her hand on his cheek as he cried a single tear. Maria's heart filled with pain as she stared at the two. 'Just what is this feeling…?'
Evan noticed the girl's stare and he ruffled her hair. "Don't worry about it," he smiled. "When the time comes, everything will make sense. You'll see." Maria gave him a small smile before sitting down next to Seph, who lay down beside Lenalee, still unconscious.
Soon, Seph let out a small groan and groggily opened his eyes, slowly taking in his surroundings. Maria's eyes widened when she saw him sit up and she immediately hugged him tightly. "Seph!" she cried.
"Hey!" he laughed softly.
"You're alright," she smiled sadly as a tear escaped her eye.
Seph took her face in his hands and wiped the tear gently. "Of course I am! What would you do without me brightening up your day?" he joked.
"Touché," she laughed as he ruffled her hair.
Evan smiled kindly at him and raised a fist. "Welcome back."
Seph grinned and raised his own fist as they bumped each other. "Yeah...I'm back."
Suddenly a dark purple circle sucked Lenalee into the ground.
"Lenalee!" Allen grabbed her hand as he fell down as well.
"Allen!" Lavi shouted before he grabbed the nearest person: Seph.
"Huh?" Was all he said before he was dragged into the portal.
"Seph!" She grabbed arm as she, too, fell down. Evan fell next and then came Chaoji, Kanda and Krory as all of them fell down the hole.
Maria felt wind rush by her face as she fell, landing on something soft as she felt something crush her from her above. "Oof!"
"You guys are squishing me!" Allen yelled as he tried to keep the weight of six other people off of Lenalee's body.
Maria blinked and realized what had happened after they fell. Lenalee was on the ground while Allen and Lavi were back to back. Seph had landed on Lavi but was facing Maria, who had landed on his chest. Evan was directly above her, squishing her even closer to Seph's body. Lavi had been knocked unconscious, but the same could not be said for Seph. If he had been sleepy earlier, he was definitely wide awake right now as he could feel Maria's soft chest on his own. Both Exorcists blushed furiously and Seph tried to look anywhere but at her, saving her from even more embarrassment. Evan had been trying to keep the weight of the others off of her, but when his strength failed he ended up crushing her against Seph, making the two's blushes turn even redder. Seph tried hard not to think about how soft and squishy Maria's chest felt on his own but failed to do so and he felt some of his blood rush to a certain part of his body.
Once the Exorcists finally untangled themselves, Lavi noticed something odd. "H-Hey! There's a strange pumpkin underneath Lenalee!" Allen and Kanda looked ready to slice the poor pumpkin umbrella into pieces.
"Isn't that thing..." Maria started, noticing something familiar about the pumpkin.
"What the Earl had with him?" Evan finished for her, having noticed the same thing as well.
"Ne Mr. Pumpkin~" Maria smiled dangerously at the thing. "Would you happen to know where the exit is?"
Lero sensed that the lady in front of him was far more dangerous than the two Exorcists that held him. He gulped. "Exit doesn't-t-t," he stuttered. "Exist-relo!" The Earl's booming voice soon came from his mouth as a projection of the Earl appeared.
"After long years the boat has completed its role and come to a stop." The Earl grinned. "Well done Lero. Time to depart, dear Exorcists~! It's time to depart with this boat to hell~"
"What?" Lavi mumbled shocked.
"The fuck do you mean…!" Kanda growled.
"This boat will momentarily be absorbed between dimensions and disappear~" the Earl explained. "If I must say at your level of science, three more hours. That is the amount of time you have left to exist in this world. Pretty girl…you have been blessed with wonderful friends. Look how many have come for you~! You will go together with everybody, so you will not be lonely~"
"Earl…!" Lenalee gritted her teeth.
"Not to worry though," he continued. "I won't let anyone feel sad. I will stop the tears of those left in a world without you~" The Earl paused and glanced in Maria's direction. "And my most sincere apologies to you, Euphemia."
"Euphemia?" she whispered. That name felt so…nostalgic. But why?
"But you've been a bad girl lately, and you must be punished~"
The Earl's projection disappeared as the place began to crumble. Allen and the others tried to look for an exit, but Lero continued to say that there was no exit, making Allen, Lavi, Kanda, and Chaozi extremely close to killing the pumpkin. "You guys are going to die here-relo," Lero cackled.
Suddenly Maria felt the ground beneath them give way. "Shit!"
"Watch out!" Lenalee cried out as they all backed away from the crumbling sides.
"It doesn't exist-relo…really," Lero kept on saying. "You can't escape from this boat. You guys are going to die here."
"There is…" a voice spoke from behind Allen, holding out a key. The voice brought out a deep hatred from within Maria as she realized who it belonged to. "But it is…just an exit."
And it's almost time for me to leave, so that's it for now! I gotta wake up my parents now...XD
Please review~! :3
*Edit* Only a few more rewrites to go~ I added in Seph to this section of the story because he has a more important role in the upcoming chapters that I'm rewriting ! :3