Chapter 4

"Alyce, are you alright? Where is Tyki?" asked Lilia.

"Never mention his name again, Lilia, especially at the order. Promise me this. Please promise me that you will never mention his name again to me and to the people at the order."

Lilia sensed that there was anger and sorrow in her voice.

'Alyce is upset. She and Tyki probably had a fight,' thought Lilia.

"I promise, Alyce."

"Pack your things then. We're heading out to the order. I'll explain to you on the way."

Lilia did as said but she didn't pack much to give room for her doll. She didn't want it to get dirty while traveling and Alyce had told her that she will probably get a new uniform so a few clothes will do.

After packing and fixing things, they walked to the train station.

The order was far from where they were so it took two days before they reached the place where it was.

While heading there, they met two exorcists. One of them was a red head with an eye patch named Lavi while the other was named Krory.

Lilia thought that the red head was really weird since he suddenly started acting crazy or strange after saying, 'strike' when he saw Alyce.

He then called Alyce pretty. I guess people react differently depending on the personality. I've heard other people compliment her but in a different way. I remember that Tyki often described her as a beautiful lady even if he knew that she doesn't like being called a lady. It was amusing whenever they fight because of that. I miss those times. I miss Tyki. I want him to return even if he was the reason Alyce became so upset. I want them to get along again like the usual but I can't do a thing unless I found out why they fought in the first place. I know it had something to do with what Tyki told her after I left the room. I only heard one word though and I wonder what it was. Noah.

The two exorcists kindly accompanied Alyce and Lilia to the order. They passed through the gate and then went straight to Komui's office except for Krory who went somewhere else.

When they came in, Komui was asleep. Lavi whispered something to his ear and then Komui suddenly woke up and shouted while bringing out a very big drill and other things people don't even want to know what. He then dropped it when he came back to his senses and finally noticed who was there.

"Alyce!" said a surprised and confused Komui. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here."

"You worked here."

"She did?" asked Lavi.

"I did work here … for around two years."

"And then you disappeared after that."

"You don't need to cover that up Komui by saying I disappeared. I left on my own. Nobody took me by force or made me leave. You could say I ran away. That is much closer to the truth."

"Why did you run away?" asked Komui.

"Is it that unusual for someone who was practically forced here to not run away?"

"Well she has a point. She wasn't the only one who ran away from the order, General Cross did try many times to avoid the order," said Lavi.

"He still did his job and he's back now," said Komui.

"When I said I ran away, it's only from the place. I still did my job as an exorcist. And look I came back as an exorcist with innocence and a new recruit," said Alyce as she showed them two innocence that came from her pocket.

"Welcome back then, Alyce! It's nice to have you back as an ally."

"So if I were an enemy, I'm not welcomed."

"Naturally, but it is really nice to have you back. I'm sure Lenalee would be happy to know that you're here. I'm not sure about Kanda though."

"He won't be."

"Who's the new recruit you brought?"

"I'm Lilia Wynne, Alyce's sister."

"Is that so?" said Komui.

"You were here when?" asked Lavi who finally had the chance to join in the conversation.

"I left more than three years ago and I worked here then for two years."

"Why did you come back?"

"Aren't you glad that two exorcists at least joined the battle? Stop with the questions. I want to go to sleep. Komui-san, is my room still vacant?"

"No, it was destroyed."

"Why?"

"It was either destroyed in one of Komui's experiments or during the battle with akuma," said Lavi.

"You can have new rooms," said Komui.

"Can mine be next to my sister's?" asked Lilia.

"I can fix that," said Komui. "You can rest after I take the innocence and the two of you to Hevlaska."

"Fine."

"Who's that?" asked Lilia.

"You'll see," said Komui.

"I'll come too," said Lavi.