Chapter 8
The High Priestess, Heart Apostle General
The alarm sounded one morning and everyone was sent into a panic mode. Someone had came into the protective barrier of the Black Order, and that someone is either an Akuma or a Noah.
"Laia!" Kanda called, banging the door to her room open and came in and scoop her into his arms. "Get out of this room and get to the fight! Someone is intruding the Black Order!"
"What intrudes the Black Order? Noah? Or Akuma?" Laia asks, bouncing in Kanda's arms as he carried her through a flight of staircases.
"I don't know, but know this Laia. The entrance to the Lab has been closed off. None of us could penetrate it with everything and all the power we have. There is the gateway however, and we will put you through there and save the researchers. You are one of the lesser ones who could fight a Level 3 Akuma on par and you are one of our only hopes of ever salvaging what is left of all the Exorcists and Black Order. Moyashi is inside already, so be safe, and come back. We will all be waiting. Be our new hope, Laia! You are the Heart! Be our new hope!"
"It's Allen, Yuu!" Laia said to him, angry that he always uses that nickname to call Allen. Kanda smirks and with that, Kanda hurled Laia into the open gates and she screams, her last sight being Kanda and she screams at him in a shrill shocked voice at being hurled suddenly into the air, who stares at her with a victorious smile, encouraging her to win the war alongside their fighting comrades.
"For us, Laia, fight!" Kanda said, and with that, he ran to the other door and enters it, grabbing whatever weapon that he could reach with his hands.
Laia saw a nightmare upon entering the gate with a crash. All of the scientists are being caught and one by one, examined and destroyed if they are useless by blowing up their heads. Laia's tears fell, and her Innocence's activated, covering her in a luminous glow of power.
"Now, let's see who has a nice brain here?" the Earl's minions marked another 'X' on a researcher, and his head is blown up after he moves away from the researcher.
"Alright! Next one," the Earl's minions said happily, moving onto the next one and examining their brains.
"The Plant Egg!" Laia exclaims silently, staring as Lulubell aims to submerge the Egg into another gate. In a fit of moment, Laia summons her powers and before she could do so, Bookman came spiraling in front of her and called his Innocence.
"Heaven Compass!" he exclaims, and needles erupted around the Akumas, killing them with a blast.
"Did I make it?" the old man said, his body slowly turning into stone, which had protected Allen with his Innocence. "It seems that I have been affected by the Akuma's ability… This is the end, I can't move…"
Upon seeing this, Laia uses her Innocences to kill all the Akumas surrounding Allen and the old man. Moments later, all the Akumas erupted and lied down in a pile, appearing to be dead.
Laia rushes to save the researches, but in the rush to save them, three Level 3 akumas surrounded her, all with their weapons on her neck.
"Kill the remaining person," Lulubell said to the akumas, who submerged her into the gate with the Egg.
Before they could do so, a talisman is erupted before the remaining exorcists, saving them from the onslaught of the akumas attack.
"A talisman!?" one akuma said, angry that someone had ruined his great business with the exorcists.
"You'd think we'd just let you take them?!" Bak said angrily, shining the talisman at the akumas and blocking their attacks, rendering them useless in a way.
"Time Record! Activate!" Miranda exclaims, bringing the Plant Egg back from being submerged. The rest of the Exorcists and Generals arrived in time to save the rest of the Researchers.
"It feels pretty good riding the Arc, huh?" one of the Generals said. "Let's hear how you intend to escape, akumas!"
"Effigy of Eden! Embracing Garden!"General Tiedoll exclaims, a garden of silver roses erupted from his staff and covers the researchers in a safe embracing garden.
Kanda came out of nowhere and slashed on some chains and saves Chaoji's life. Throwing the brittle weapon away, Kanda mumbles, "Che! Useless weapons…"
It was then everyone heard Lulubell screams, "DAMN YOU! ALLEN WALKER!"
Out of nowhere, a loud crying sound sounded through the lab. Everyone had to close their eyes and ears due to the loud crying noise that hurts their ears.
"I'm Level Fouuuuur!" one little baby akuma said. Everyone stares at it with fearful eyes, knowing that it was an evolved akuma.
For 100 years, the Bookmen have logged everything about the war between akuma and the Black Order. Even in 100 years of records, the final form of akuma is still unknown and only evolutions of up to number 3 have been confirmed. In other words, now, in this instant, for the Bookman, this is our first contact with a Level 4.
Laia looked around the ruined domain. It was all in a mess, and smokes and steams were rising from the grounds in random places, suggesting that a gas pipe might have been damaged, and leaking toxic around the places. She is greatly saddened by the attack, feeling extremely guilty for the amount of dying exorcist and finders and the people living within the walls of the Black Order's Headquarters. The Noah's attack could partly be her fault, for both living and fighting for humankind, the race that has once abandoned and sold her soul to the devil. She was supposed to help the Noahs achieving their dreams, and yet here she was, defending the kind that has betrayed her. She stood her ground, and in return for that, she is abandoned by both races, Noahs and Humankind alike, being a mix of both races but belonging to neither one. To atone for that, she herself needs to sacrifice what's left of her soul.
Winter winds have gone and faded
I told the skies of thoughts of gray
And to do that, she must be prepared to die.
Turning around, Laia observed the tired and badly injured Kanda Yuu. Such a beautiful man with such an agonizing past and origins. She knew what it was to be like him, for she herself were once experimental subjects for the Earl of Millennium. The results were marvelous, with her gaining several powerful mind powers apart from her original power, telekinesis, and yet, at the same time, he had successfully made her feel like less of a human. She's no longer a full, normal human being. She cannot bear to live a life like that, and yet, to take her own life away would means that she is ungrateful for the life her adopted pianist brother, the 14th, had saved and salvaged from her own kind. The only way to repay her debt towards the kind musician is to protect what he wanted to protect from the start; the humankind, the Black Order, and the ones she loves.
Placing both palms on his face, Laia kisses his lips softly, remembering the feeling of his warm lips and his taste. Possibly, this could be her last kiss to him, and possibly, this could be the last time she could touch or see him.
Tears upon my pillow laying
A child lost to pain
I pray for better days
Kanda's eyes widened in surprise; his first instinct is to push her away, but he finds his current situation sadly pitiful, unable to move any of his limbs due to numbness. She had always acted recklessly, regardless of the outcome and stubbornly stayed on her decision, but this time, this kiss felt like a goodbye kiss, and it send his heart on a skip. Could it be…he thought. She couldn't possibly thought about doing that?
Breaking away, her eyes greeted his, and she immediately regretted her decision of looking into his eyes. The look in his eyes purely reflected shock and surprise, and she knew he knew what she is going to do.
Knowing that it is useless to try and talk him to it just by judging the power he had poured with all his might to make her stay; gripping her hand as tightly as his numbed limbs allowed, she leaned in once more.
"Stay safe," she whispered to him by his ear, fighting back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, "and I love you."
Turning her eyes away from his, she strode away from Kanda, struggling to not look back or turn around when he called her. She had made her decision, and she's going to held onto that even if her life is on the stake. She is going to put her life onto the gamble, and this is possibly the last.
"INNOCENCES!" Laia exclaimed as loudly as she could towards Hevlaska admits the loud sounds of weapons clashing against each other. "I SUMMONE YOU AS YOUR LADY! GIVE ME LIFE!"
Lift me up
Lead me from this place
Let your love be mercy on my face
A burst of light came from under Laia's feet, and all the Innocence's that has been collected and safely stored within Hevlaska spiraled around her, her hair dances in unseen wind and raw power from the Innocence. The Innocence's lifted her from her feet, transforming her current Innocence's into something more powerful. Throwing one of her hand into the air, Laia whispered softly, palming a particularly bright Innocence, a tear escaping from her eyelids before the Innocence's light enveloped her completely. "Let me protect the others..."
Rising up, I changed before your eyes
Out of darkness, standing in the light
Kanda stared as he witnesses the evolvement of Laia Elfreya; he could feel the raw power emanating from her. It was so raw and so powerful. He could practically feel his skin ripping from his face by the sheer brute wind of the power. If he was a normal human being, he could have long died.
All the other Exorcists felt a rise in their own Innocence power, feeling it growing to a degree and feeling the fullness of the power enveloping them for unknown reasons. Their Innocence glows with a brightness never before seen, and shines radiantly like the moon and stars.
And of hope.
A bright white staff appears in her hand, and she hits the ground with the staff, forming a loud booming sound that thunders in Hevlaska's domain. A silvery white rose grows out of nowhere beside injured people and Exorcists alike, and begun to emit a strange lily like scent that no one had ever smelled it before. It emits pollen of sort that glows and enters the Exorcists and injured people's wounds, healing them before their very eyes.
Heaven hoped you'd come and change me
Out of that, just make me whole
Lift me up and recreate me
Then, he suddenly felt lighter. Strangely rejuvenated, he looked down to his injuries and found them gone, as if there are no wounds to begin with. Laia had healed him with her Innocence.
The white light suddenly ceased to exist, leaving the residual power to slowly set Laia back to her feet. She is now completely covered with a soft glow of white light, and within both of her hands she held a long sword that is completely white, its hilt hung a crystal bell that ringed constantly with the amount of akumas around. There was a silver-hair like diadem on her forehead, and a white mirror mask that seemed to reflect the presence of the akumas. Her long hair danced around her like tendrils of fire licking her skin, the spirals of Innocence's returned to Hevlaska.
Lullubell swished her hideous sword-like arm around, trying to slash the hopping Exorcist. She laughed out loud in their vain attempts to escape her.
"You will die, Exorcist! Especially you, Allen Walker!" she screeched loudly, eyes widened madly.
And help me overcome myself
Lead me from hell
Giving Kanda a last glance, Laia run towards the edge of the railings and hurled herself into the air, seemingly falling through such a high and suddenly somersaulting once before spiraling upward in a silvery white flash, defying gravity and kicked Lulubell from the railing, upsetting her balance.
Lift me up
Lead me from this place
Let your love be mercy on my face
Rising up, I changed before your eyes
Out of darkness, standing in the light
Lenalee and Allen were surprised by the sudden appearance of someone masked in a white mask, which could float and fly at will and the white mask's surface reflected Lulubell's true form occasionally, giving the mask a pearl-like sheen. The masked figure briefly turned its head towards them, giving them a polite node and in a wave of her hand; she had jumped from the unstable railing, bulleting fast towards the falling Noah, leaving a trail of silvery white comet behind her.
Both of the exhausted Exorcists did not notice that their wounds have healed completely due to Laia's one wave of her hand.
Falling through the air, the Noah shape shifted into something else that looked more hideous than her previous appearance. She seemed to vomit a pile of sticky strings, sending it spiraling into the air before a second later, Laia came to slash it, it's useless and shortened tendrils falling right back into her face. The Noah couldn't remember ever seeing an Exorcist with a full mask on, jumping into conclusion that she might be a new one.
A new exorcist fighting on par with a Noah at General's level… no… more than a General's Level… the legendary and mythical highest and most powerful status an apostle could reach… the High Priestess Queen, also known as the Heart Apostle General…
Bringing one of her twin swords down, the masked Exorcist's attack is blocked by Lulubell's hardened arm, not realizing that the other sword is diving right into her abdomen. The Noah screeched in pain before she knocked the masked figure towards a wall. The masked figure stopped inches before she could hit the wall with her ability of flight and spiraled directly back towards the Noah, stopping one of her rising arm's movement with her mind power with one glance and slashed at her mercilessly.
Lulubell is surprised that this particular Exorcist's weapon could wound her so deeply and hideously. Before, the other Exorcist's including the Generals have not been able to hit her when she is in liquid form, and yet, this sword, which does not differs between the other Exorcist's weapons, have been able to hit her. The sword, upon coming into contact with her, burns her up and practically melts her strange skin in her new form. It was like acid, and it hurts.
That is when she finally knew that this Exorcist is something that would endanger the Noah's clan.
She caught the masked figure's eyes when it dived straight towards her; it was a pearly sheen, as if her eyes were mirrors instead of normal pupils. She saw herself within her eyes, and the worse is that she saw her true form reflecting back the exorcist's mirror-like mask. Angered by being forced to stare into her hideous true form, Lulubell screams at her and attacks her.
The masked figure slashed at Lulubell, who had no ways to protect herself from the fall and the onslaught of the poisonous Innocence's attack. Throwing her left arm in the air, the masked figure's hand wrapped around the instant appearance of Allen's abandoned sword. The sword seemed to know who she is, and in response, formed a large glowing ball of Innocence power, something that Allen Walker had not had the chance to learn and do. Slashing the sword down away from her body, the masked figure sends the ball of destructive power towards Lulubell, who could do nothing to stop it.
I'm rising up, I'm moving on
Give me strength to carry on
I feel the light upon my face
I hear the angels' words of grace
My broken wings will never fly
Lift me up and justify
I'm standing up, I'm standing out
I feel the warmth come crashing down
The Noah's scream echoed in the vast space of Hevlaska's Domain when the power finally hit her, a large gust of wind erupted from where the Noah had fallen deep within.
The masked figure seemed to know that the sword in her hand belonged to whom, as she threw it right at Allen's direction, which barely caught it in his hand before it slammed into the wall.
Lift me up
Lead me from this place
Let your love be mercy on my face
Rising up, I've changed before your eyes
Out of darkness, standing in the light
Throwing both of her swords into the air, it glowed the familiar whiteness of the Innocence's light and merged into one, forming a staff with a swirling silver crystal, akin to the silver crystal ball that hung from the end of the hilt of her sword. The masked figure caught the silver staff in her hands and with a hop, dives right back to the bottom of Hevlaska's domain. Reaching the rubbles where it buried Lulubell, the masked figure summoned a wave of throne silver roses with her silvery-white staff, where it pierced where the Noah is lying and proceeded to suck up the blood of the Noah, turning the roses blood red. The Noah screamed for the last time before all is quiet. It was the one way to ensure the death of a Noah.
"Is that… Laia-san?" Lenalee said, curious with the new outer appearance of what seems obviously is an exorcist. Allen nodded his head.
"It is her. I can feel it. Did she increase her synchro rate by will with Hevlaska's remaining Innocences?" Allen asked, and Lenalee shakes her head.
"I don't know…" Lenalee said. "I don't even know that an exorcist can do this… and she seems to be standing in the light. Look at her, she is glowing!"
"She is not just an exorcist Lenalee. You've forgotten haven't you? She is the Heart. Our Heart. The one who shall fight with me to defeat the Earl of Millennium…" Allen said to her and both starts as she starts to float slowly down to the ground, her light feet touching the ground once more.
Her outer appearance faded out, and all of her Innocence coat fell off in chipped pieces of glowing pieces. On closer inspection, they realize that they are in fact large scales that have the texture of a shellfish with mother of pearl sheen around them.
"Laia!" Allen calls her, and went up to her. When she saw him, she closes her eyes and let's herself fell back. Allen barely had time to catch her in his arms before she hits the floor. "Laia!"
"Laia-san?" Lenalee called her, trying to wake her up. It would seems that after her rapid transformation, she has become tired, and falls asleep on first opportunity to regain her strength. Kanda and the rest came up to her.
"Let me carry her," Kanda started, pushing Allen out of the way.
"Hey!" Allen chided him. "I got here first!"
"She's mine!" Kanda said to him angrily, and hisses at anyone who tries to come closer. "She is mine!"
"It's not like nobody knows about it, duh?" Lavi said, mumbling to himself quietly.
With that, the war with Lulubell is over. Allen went over to cry for his lost friend, and the rest collapses onto the ground, fast asleep with fatigue overtaking them. The rest of the generals lets go of their power, and they went back to take a long bath and rest.