This is a D Gray Man Fanfiction only.
Well, I for one don't understand why did we have to go to the docks and take a rowboat of all things to where we were going, the other thing is Lenalee was pressing herself close to me while we road on the boat, well it's not like the clothes that we have to wear are in any way designed to flatter or accentuate the body of the wearer, they were designed with combat in mind.
Thanks to my training I got quite a bit of experience operating a rowboat so it didn't take me long to get us to land, even though it was quite an ordeal having to do that while being asked question after question about my mentor, honestly, I think Lenalee has an unhealthy crush on that devil everyone simply calls General Marian Cross. Honestly, I don't ever remember him being in a committed relationship with any woman or that woman being happy by the end of it.
As we walked along the roads that lead to the town where we were headed, I saw a familiar face, it was the finder that was trying to use his cards to predict the future, and once again he is sitting right by the gate that marks an entrance to the two trying to use his fortune telling once again.
"Sorry to interrupt your game, but mind telling us what the deal is with this town?" The finder began to shake his head and looked at me, "I am trying to use this to tell what is happening here, but so far no luck, and no Allen I am not crazy enough to make a bet with you. You are one of the most ruthless poker players I have ever met." He spent three weeks but for some strange reason no one was able to enter or leave the town, every town nearby knows of the town and even some of the people there, but for some strange reason nobody can enter, the minute they do, they end up walking out of another gate, something is keeping the town sealed it seems, and since the phone order has happened every single day, the same way, headquarters figured this was something to do with the activity of an Innocence.
Lenalee asked what sort of information did he manage to get, which was not much at all, it was the location information such as dimensions of the interior of the town, streets, and other things that some might consider in a tourist guide of the place. He did, however, tell Lenalee that the town is known in other towns for having great-tasting food, and cheap booze, and according to what one person told him, a circus was supposed to have opened a tent in the town. "We got it, don't worry, I think two people of the order were already in town before all this started so we will have some help on this one, now do me a favor and eat something, you look like you haven't had anything to eat in days, that can't be good for your health."
He laughed and said that it was not a major problem, once we go into the town, and if we manage to enter, he plans to catch himself some fish from the nearby river so there is nothing to worry about. He even plans to put up a shelter there in case we need any medical support by the end of the mission. As we entered the gate we began to see many people living in this quiet, provincial town, people were going on like it was any other ordinary day, until we heard a young woman scream, thinking something bad had happened we ran towards the place where the scream came from, that is when we saw something rather odd, a young woman was on the ground crying about something and muttering something that sounded like she was counting minutes.
That is when we saw two men whom we met before as they were telling some brats to shut the hell up and get lost or they would tan their stupid hides in the way the guy named Hiro said that their parents neglected to do that. "So you two finally made it here, great. The young woman you heard about is Miranda, Miranda Lotto. We asked some of the shops around about her she is quite infamous it is said that at one point in her life, she had done every job there can be in the town, except she always ends up getting fired for some reason or another. Those fucking brats make fun of her by singing a mocking song about her and her bad luck."
Hector looked at Hiro before he decided to say something, "This place is temporally locked, everything seems fine until the end of the day where time flows backward and the day restarts from the very beginning, that is why Miranda is counting the minutes, she remembers everything that happens and since it always repeats by counting minutes she knows exactly what will happen and what to expect. The only thing is our possessions are also affected, if you start eating an apple and finish it by the end of the day, the same apple will be back the way it was before you took a single bite of it when the time cycle restarts. Stuff that is placed inside one of our seals however is not affected, considering a certain jackass has been buying roasted chickens, pies, and all other sorts of treats with the same money over and over again for nearly a month, he should have enough to feed the entire order in that storage seal of his."
Lenalee immediately asked how long have they been watching and studying the situation, that is when Hiro told her that they have been in town before the incident happened so to the current day it has been over a month. "Allen you should be extra careful, your sister is in town. I think she is looking for that innocence and we both know that we can't let her either get it or keep that innocence since we all know what will happen to it. We don't have your eye so we can't tell but we know that by the smell that she is accompanied by a few level two Akuma. We will be here in case you need our help, don't worry I brought some of the good stuff, and thanks to me getting so much food in the storage seal you and Lenalee don't have to worry about going hungry, see, just being prepared."
It sure is hell didn't take that bastard long to want to hunt down Innocence, probably wants to corrupt it to expand his puppet army, hate that stupid brother of mine, I looked at Hiro and told him that I appreciate the help, but mainly thing we need to worry about right this moment is finding out about this person that keeps repeating the same day, somehow I get the feeling she is tied or connected to the innocence that is causing the time loop.
"Allen, what makes you think so, why would she be connected to the innocence, you are not thinking that she is the innocence accommodator, are you?" I looked at her and couldn't help but nod my head, from what these two told me most people in the city do not have a memory of the time loop or what happens in it, but Miranda remembers everything she has seen and heard through multiple time loops. This to me screams that she is acting as if she was an exorcist and has her innocence with her, like we do.
"The main problem will be that we are complete and utter strangers to her, so it will seem like we are like those brats trying to make fun of her, or she will not trust us, but to find out more about her and find what we are looking for we need to earn her trust so that she will be open to us. Hence the problem, we need to get her to trust us and after a month of ridicule and insults from people in a town she has lived in, that is going to be one major hurdle to get over."
So we need to try and follow her covertly, try to save her from the attacks of Akuma since they are not the most subtle, and somehow get her to become friends with us, that is when I simply told her that maybe we can just be direct and tell her what the hell is going on. Be direct, to the point, with little chance of misunderstanding, to which I got a hit on the back of my head by Hiro who simply began to laugh, "You do that Allen and the only thing that will change is that she will try to avoid you because she will think you are either a lying conman or a psycho. Slow and steady wins the race, I think Lenalee has a better idea of how to get close to her."
As much as I hate to admit it, they are right, for some reason, the very idea that one of my siblings is probably going to show up sort of made me wish to end this entire mission as quickly as possible to avoid meeting that sibling, thanks to that backstabbing brother of mine they blame me for their deaths, so I am not expecting this to be a happy reunion, no matter what Lulu or Hiro say, for all I know Lulu could still be blaming me and the entire thing she said was just a pack of lies.
I know most people would consider this to be borderline or paranoid, but we represent some of the worst aspects of humanity, and considering what my brother did, I can't rule out the possibility. "Alright, fine, we will do stakeouts and follow her around like a pair of creepers if that will make things easier, but I still believe honesty is the best policy. Like I can honestly say I am shocked and amazed that apparently, Hiro here has eaten an entire chocolate cake by himself each day that he has been in this town, and doesn't look like the millennium earl. I am both amazed and envious of this fact."
Hiro quickly said that is the pot calling the kettle black since I eat more than the entire Black Order combined. The only thing I could say is that at least this shows that the chocolate cake in the local bakery is good if he still eating it after this long, to which Hiro simply smiled and said that indeed, it is sweet, fluffy, and delicious. Lenalee slapped me on my back as she told me we need to go and follow Miranda, as she joked that at least she knew what she was going to have for dessert.
Miranda went to apply for one job, she was doing fine, and everything looked alright until the end of the day when for some strange reason she did something or failed to do something that caused her to make a big mess of the place, and naturally, her boss fired her on the spot, from the way she reacted something tells me this has happened to her plenty of times because I get the feeling that she is used to this happening which threw a lot of red flags for me in my mind.
The way she dresses looks like she is going to a funeral, she is dressed like someone who is morning the loss of a family member or loved one, yet I get the feeling she never actually applied to work at the local funeral parlor, he eyes had these rather deep circles which to me means a lack of sleep, and she looked like she would faint any second since I honestly doubt she had a healthy meal in a long time. Which to me is ironic since I can imagine her putting on happier color clothes, some light makeup, and a better sleeping schedule, some light makeup and I don't think anyone would dare to say that she isn't a rather pretty young woman.
That is when I felt someone pinch my side rather rough, I guess the green monster is alive and well. "Focus Allen, no time for you to fantasize over some girl that you met, we got to find out everything we can about her if we are ever going to figure out what her connection with the time loop is. I looked at her and as I watched Miranda leave the cafe that just fired her I looked at Lenalee, "Actually what we need to do is do something about the three Akuma that just caused that mess and got her fired. These idiots can hide from most people, but never from this eye of mine.
The three Akuma suddenly hearing this got up from their seats and walked up to them, glaring almost in sheer hatred that some humans managed to figure out what they were and that they knew these two were exorcists from the order that wanted to kill their master and his family, almost like it was an illusion every person in the cafe vanished, there one of the Akuma punched the table so hard it broke into pieces and another one with a scream tried to deafen them or disorient them, too bad that I could tell immediately what sort of Akuma this was from the way he talked in his human form, he whispered everything he spoke almost afraid to speak in a normal tone after the Akuna used the sonic attack it was clear why, had he spoken in a normal volume his disguise would have fallen apart.
The minute the three Akuma began to say what they wanted to do, one said he wanted to freeze him, another said that he wanted to make rot his skin, and the last said he wanted to cut him apart seeing that each wanted to do something different to Allen they all decided that they need to decide this before anything else, and so they would decide traditionally with a game of rock paper scissors.
I honestly thought that these three were nuts, stupid, or both, did these bastards think I am going to sit here and wait till they finish their little game so they can decide how they want to kill me, are they fucking kidding me? As they began their game I activated my innocence and began to blast at them, one glared at me, "How uncivilized, how dare you interrupt a game of rock paper scissors!" He tried to blast me with ice that he claimed was so cold it actually would burn me to ashes.
One blast and the ice was destroyed, the one that had blades was next and I blasted him through a window, which left me with the one that talked to me, as Lenalee quickly activated her innocence and kicked that Akuma through the ceiling of the cafe. Little did I know that eventually the three Akuma managed to run away and were hiding before a voice was heard by the three of them, "Well looks like you three were having fun without me, how mean of you, didn't I tell you we need to find the innocence? Here you are slacking off and enjoying baked treats instead, I think I should punish you three."
Ice spoke and with almost dread in his voice told Road that they were trying to find the innocent but two Exorcists showed up, one a girl named Lenalee, and a guy who was very rude by the name of Allen, Allen Walker. "Honestly we were going to do a game of rock paper scissors to decide what to do, and that rude bastard tried to kill us all, and those of the order think we are the monsters, I never got to finish my piece of pie!" Road was not expecting that last part of hearing a Level Two Akuma cry because he didn't get the chance to finish his dessert.
"I see, I see, that changes everything, alright here is what you will do, keep an eye on that Allen guy from a distance, don't let him see you, and follow him around, if you do this correctly he will lead us to the person who has that innocence and then it will be easy for us to take it with us. Don't you fucking dare to touch a hair on his head, he is mine to deal with or I will simply get rid of you, we don't need Akuma that fails to obey orders after all."
Back in the wreck of the cafe, Lenalee looked a little worried that this would cause some problems, it was technically a crime and the owner of the cafe would not be happy with the way their cafe was damaged. "Relax, Lenalee, think about what is happening in this town, if we are right the day restarts each night, so chances are when the day restarts again all the damage would either disappear or it would be like nothing bad happened the place looked at the beginning of the time loop."
Upon hearing this she began to feel a little less guilty about it, they both began to look around and finally found the woman they were looking for but she somehow managed to trip and fall, both Lenalee and Allen helped her stand up, and asked her if she was feeling any pain? Miranda asked if her feeling of pain in her heart counts.
As Miranda guided them to her apartment building, they heard a person fall and grunt in pain, Miranda was quick to mention to them that there was no need to worry about the man merely tripping on something and falling on his living room carpet, he would be fine by the next day.
As she reached her apartment and opened the door both Lenalee and Allen could swear they heard the chimes of an old grandfather clock, upon hearing the clock Miranda almost in a trance ignored her two guests and immediately walked up to the clock, after taking a key from inside her bra, she began to whine up the clock, saying that she is sorry that she is late, and placed the key on the clock and began to turn it, she promised that she would get done soon and everything would be perfectly normal. Allen could swear had that clock had a face it would be smiling right at that moment and it was when she was done that she realized she completely ignored her guests.
"Sorry I didn't mean to ignore you, even after I invited you to come to my apartment, it's just that I never meet new people, and I've been stuck reliving the same days for nearly a month, people would think I am nuts if I told them, but maybe you two can help me end this because I think this situation is going to make me lose my mind!"
Lenalee feeling compassion and sympathy for her placed a hand on her shoulder as Miranda looked at her, "I am Lenalee Lee, and this is Allen Walker, we are exorcists from the Black Order, we became aware of the time loop that is happening in this town so we came to both resolve this situation and find out the cause, so you don't need to worry, we came to help you. But we need to know everything that has happened even before you noticed the day repeating so we know what is the cause of it."
Miranda sat down on her living room chair and began to think hard, "Well the day before all this happened I just got fired yet again from my job, and I was feeling a bit depressed, thinking something new in my life would make my dark days seem a little brighter, so I visited an old friend and he was having problems getting rid of an old grandfather clock, but the thing is that no matter who used the key to wound up the clock the clock didn't move, it was dead, so seeing that he wanted to throw it away I felt like it was like me, a failure that nobody wants or needs, so I asked if I could take it back home with me, my friend gave me the key and after I wound up the clock it started to work, this clock is my only company and to me, it's a precious friend."
Well, that is when I decided to tell her something that will help her relax, "I know exactly what you mean, my very first friend was a golem my master left with me, Timcanpy I've been friends with him for so long you could say its a life long friend. Now relax, we know how much you love your clock and everything, but we do have to tell you something we need to know exactly what happened after you got your clock back here, and from that moment on."
Miranda looked a bit embarrassed, as she looked at the clock and at Allen, "I always had a tendency to fail at everything I tried to do, but no matter how many times I fail, I do not let it get to me and will always keep trying to do it right, but it is kind of hard to be fired one hundred times, so I felt rather depressed, as soon as I got home with my clock here, I couldn't help it I was so miserable so sad, that I screamed to the heavens that life was not fair and that I wished to never see tomorrow. I know foolish, but then this happened and I have been living the same day over and over again without a clue what the hell is going on, and it's driving me insane."
Lenalee was quietly hearing what she said and that is when both of us had an idea, she made a wish to never see tomorrow, right in front of her clock, that is it, she is an accommodator, and her innocence is the clock, the clock has the power to rewind time, every time the day is about to end her innocence activates and causes time to rewind to the beginning of that day, over and over, it is so obvious that it is not even funny.
I looked at Miranda and then at Lenalee who had this look that she too had the same idea, "Sorry to tell you this Miranda, but I guess we figured out what caused this town to be frozen in time like it is, and you are not going to like it, we are members of the Black Order, we are a group trying to oppose the evil plans of a madman who calls himself the Millenium Earl, this madman creates monsters using the souls of the desperate for the sole goal of destroying all life so he can eat it and he thinks this will make him a god."
I showed her my hand and flipped it so she could see the crystals cross on it, "We are called exorcists we fight those monsters and free the souls that are tormented in them, but we use this, it's innocence, a metal that god sent to us to fight against the evil plans of the Earl, and sorry to tell you Miranda but we believe your clock is a piece of innocence, and the only reason why the day repeats as it does is that you are the person whom the innocence bonded to, and the reason why it happens is that you wished to never see tomorrow. So your innocence keeps this entire town repeating the same day so tomorrow never comes."
This was not something she was expecting, "Wait I heard of innocence before this monster came and tried to attack me after he demanded that I give him my innocence, some strange guy I never met before killed it and saved me, I wished I could tell you who it was, but I was so scared that I ran for my life thinking I would be next." That must have happened when this situation started and when both of them arrived in this town.
"So do you have any idea how in the world can I get this town the way it was?" Lenalee simply said that she could try and talking with her clock, make a wish that everything returned back to normal, but somehow I didn't think it would be something that simple, I told her that more than likely we will have to work on her confidence because in order to get this to happen, she has to be able to actually believe in herself that she can do this, and somehow I still feel self-doubt from her.