Hello, wonderful readers and welcome to the not-very-good-quality chapter 11! I'm sorry about this chapter, really -.-
The Black Order has found the location of the Noah, but while they make plans to attack, the unexpected happens...?
D Gray-man belongs to Hoshino Katsura~
Broken Moonlight
Chapter 11: Demise
Kanda's figure tensed abruptly as he turned to stare at the redhead, his dark gaze narrowed, careful to not betray any emotion that may have slipped into his gaze which had become unusually expressive as of late whether he desired it or not.
"Yeah - he says he wants you to know since he used your golem to track down their hideout."
That sounded false, Kanda deduced, a frown curled onto his pale lips. It was probably because of the words that he had permitted out of his his mouth earlier. However, the rabbit did not need to know that and therefore he would not speak of it.
"Che." The characteristic sound left Kanda's lips thoughtlessly as he grabbed Mugen once again, strapping the sword to his hip. Turning stiffly, he strode out of his room, the redheaded usagi following in close suit.
Directing his steps to where the Supervisor's disorderly office was situated, he spared a glance at Lavi, who was watching him both silently and intently. The sight was somewhat unsettling to see firsthand, but Kanda made no comment upon it, not desiring to strike up a conversation with the Bookman Junior.
"Hey, Yuu, are you mad because he used your golem?" Lavi questioned, his ebullient tone not matching the calculating expression within his one visible emerald eye.
"It's just a device," Kanda dismissed, pointedly shifting, Mugen tangling between Lavi's legs and nearly causing him to fall flat upon his face. Lavi frowned, as if disappointed with the response that he had received. Kanda ignored the expression. If the rabbit was unsatisfied, he could find someone else to bother. Better yet, he could leave Kanda alone.
His eyes drifted out of the window. The weeping of the sky had ceased, resulting in mellow greys to overshadow the sky. It did remind him of a certain moyashi, as much as he didn't wish to admit it. A scowl spread over his features.
Opening the door to the office, his ears were met by the sound of a familiar voice. His eyes drifted over to Komui, who was seated and staring at a screen.
"-ill despise all you exorcists and your Innocence, but I can't let you gather more information on where I am right now, so I'll have to end there."
Whatever had been said prior to those words, Kanda didn't quite catch, but it was enough for him to recognize the familiar tone that he had been acquainted with when they had attempted to retrieve the innocence prior. It was, without a doubt, the 14th.
The Chief Officer glanced up at the two who had taken the liberty to enter his office without caring to fulfill the common courtesy of knocking before entering. He cleared his throat. "I take it you heard at least some of that?"
"Che."
"Wonderful! That means I don't have to say so much." His pentagon framed glasses were pushed up the bridge of his nose as he stood up. "However, he did say a few strange things. And in particular, he told you-!" A finger abruptly pointed at Kanda. "To hurry up. He didn't say what for though."
"Hey - didn't he say something like that last time too?" Lavi ventured, head tilted.
Kanda clucked his tongue. "That doesn't matter. Where is he?" he questioned abruptly, his expression and tone inscrutable.
He could feel the one and a half gazes that were fixed on his figure, as if trying to see into his mind and decipher all that was running through his head. Thankfully, being a genius or a Bookman Junior did not mean one was endowed with the ability to read Kanda's expressions when he set his face to stone.
"Where is he?" he repeated, wishing to depart from the headquarters as soon as the circumstances allowed. He caught the vague look that was exchanged upon the features of the scientist and the rabbit, and immediately realized that the situation may not turn in his favour. A "Che," passed his lips as he wordlessly awaited his response.
"I'm afraid we won't necessarily be able to do that," Komui stated regrettably. Kanda frowned. He had assumed that would be the answer he received.
"Why not?" he inquired brusquely. Komui cleared his throat.
"For one, this is their ark. We must have a proper strategy before running into their domain, otherwise we won't be as fortunate as we were last time. We don't have anyone who can control the ark on our side. You and the rest were almost destroyed along with the ark."
The Branch Chief fell silent, staring at him as though attempting to convey his purpose to the second exorcist. The few seconds of silence that progressed between them were soon broken as Komui's glasses flashed and a comical expression of indignation stole over his features. Standing up from where he sat behind his desk, he slammed his fist atop the wooden furnishing.
"You almost killed my precious Lenalee and I won't let you do it again!"
"Che. I was intending to go alone," Kanda snapped, glaring at the Supervisor. His dark gaze did not grow lighter at the antics of Komui.
Clearing his throat, the Head Officer sat down once again and clasped his hands together in front of his face. His dark eyes met Kanda's calmly and he shook his head once again. "I already told you earlier, Kanda. I can't let you go."
"Then I'll go of my own volition!" Kanda responded almost immediately. "Now tell me where he is."
"I'll tell you once we've formulated a plan to overpower them," Komui stated simply.
Kanda stared at the Supervisor, thickly veiled desperation cowering behind the thick blanket of ire that swathed his gaze. He uttered no verbal response, instead turning an about-face and stalking out of the office without a word.
His dark gaze narrowed. Whatever the case, he could feel the urgency of the Noah's words, although what they implied, he could not be certain. Why he felt inclined to heed them was beyond him as well, taking into consideration that the one who had spoken them was a Noah.
The 14th must be an unnaturally gifted actor if his words were a mere hoax to induce Kanda's undoing. Regardless of how little he wished to listen to the exhortations of the Noah, they had ingrained themselves into his mind, constantly troubling him with their ambiguity.
His eyes narrowed as he made his way to his room, his gaze fixated upon the ground as though wishing that it would open up and swallow all of them whole. His stance grew guarded with each step he took, as he deliberated on the current circumstances.
Why he desired to make haste and fulfill the request of the Noah when it would doubtless mean he would have to carry out his task of killing the possessor and the possessed, he did not know. Silently, he wondered if the 14th was aware of the current occurrences, and merely wished to hasten the inevitable spectacle.
If that were the case, he was certain that he would have nothing left to lose any longer. With Alma's fading, he had lost the one thing that he had lived out this cursed existence for. If he were to take the life of both the 14th and the beansprout, there was no fixation remaining for him to follow. If he died at the hands of the Noah, which he would not allow, then he would regain his liberty of being at Alma's side once again.
Somehow, the thought did not appeal to him as much as he would have expected. The more he considered joining Alma in hell, most likely, the less he wished for it to happen. He needed to live. His eyes slid to a close as he mentally apologized to the late brunet, harbouring too much pride to allow it from his lips.
Kanda frowned. The already weighty atmosphere around the Headquarters seemed to have grown much heavier, although he was not sure whether it was merely his own foreboding that provoked the aura, or whether it truly was more languorous than what could be deemed normal.
His gaze drifted out one of the many windows that were hewn into the walls of the Headquarters. The sight that met his eyes shocked him, enough to break his taciturn shell and provoke his eyes to widen. Turning abruptly, he near ran for the Supervisor's office once again.
Slamming open the door without any announcement, he stared at the Branch Head and the apprentice Bookman. The two turned to stare at him in vague surprise, but he shook off the sensation of judgement that flooded over him, sourced by the two.
"West," he hissed sharply.
Noting the urgency in his tone, Lavi dashed out of the office to fire a brief glance out one of the windows that faced the west. His hands, which had steadied him with the help of the windowsill, clenched around the stone blocks.
Tearing his gaze and his grip away, his feet carried him back to Komui's office, his typically cheery features razed by an uncharacteristically grim expression. He burst into the office with an equal disregard for courtesy that had previously been exhibited by the long-haired second exorcist.
"Akuma," he stated, his voice tight and even somewhat strained.
A frown stole over Komui's features as he stood to his feet. "How many?"
"Look," Kanda stated tersely, his head jerking towards the east-facing window built into the office.
The sight would be enough to cause the morale of even seasoned exorcists to diminish. Indeed, it would have not been an exaggeration to claim that the godforsaken creatures nearly blocked the sight of the sky due to their numbers.
Fortunately for them, the akuma were still a considerable distance away, although the thought only served to lessen the enthusiasm of the beholder at the realization of the quantity of dark-matter controlled souls were advancing towards the Headquarters.
"Call everyone," the Branch Chief stated bleakly. "It appears as though they've chosen to make the first move."
"No kidding," Lavi sighed, stepping towards the door once again.
Kanda could hear the loud cries of "Akuma!" ring through the air long after the redhead had taken his leave. His dark gaze drifted over to the Supervisor, whose eyes remained fixated upon the virtual swarms of the creatures that were gradually growing closer to the island.
His eyes scanned the sky, tracing over each figure sharply until they landed upon the source of the sudden impending invasion. His hand wrapped itself about Mugen's hilt in a purposeful manner as the shapeshifting Noah of lust stared at him with inscrutable golden eyes.
Even from a distance, Kanda could easily see that she had the intention of razing their abode to the ground once again. He was aware that such blunt tactics were not her style, leading him to wonder if this was merely the opening act of the production.
His eyes scanned the akuma-infested sky once again in attempts to see if any other Noah were present, namely a certain white-haired one, but to his dismay, he found none. Clucking his tongue in aggravation, his gaze drifted over to Komui.
The Branch Head remained fixated upon the akuma, his gaze thoughtful. How anyone could appear so calm at this time, Kanda didn't know. He supposed it was only to be expected of the man that had been appointed Supervisor of the Science Department, Chief Officer of the Black Order, and Branch Head of the European Branch.
For once, he admitted some degree of respect for the man despite refusing to voice it. He breathed out a sigh and closed his eyes, allowing his tense body to calm itself. After a few moments, his dark orbs unlidded themselves and turned to stare expressionlessly at Komui.
"Orders?"
Komui turned to look at him, a weary smile crossing his features. "Once you're all gathered, eliminate them," he stated simply.
Kanda merely nodded and turned to stride out of the office. His mind whirled. If only the Noah of lust was present, that meant they would be facing akuma alone while she herself advanced for a different purpose. Thankfully, the Noah of desires was not present quite yet; it would be troublesome to deal with not only akuma, but being manipulated to the will of the self-proclaimed sadist.
His eyes narrowed at the sight of the flames that had begun to spring up from the ground by employment of the usagi's Gouraiten, creating a wall of sorts to segregate the Headquarters from the akuma. He was well aware that the shield would not be sufficient to prevent the advance, but it bought them some time, even if only a few minutes.
Trailing to his room, he caught sight of the scientists running for Komui's office, most likely to utilize some machine or the other for the purpose of attack or defence. His eyes drifted around the hall, the din of attempted organization flooding his ears.
Disregarding the calls, he made his way to his room. Locking himself within it, he let his hair down, allowing it to cascade down his back. His dark gaze drifted to the blossoms upon his table. Three more of the buds had opened, leaving only three remaining. His own lotus continued to shrivel at a sedate pace, the petals dulling and clinging to whatever remained.
Setting down his typical hair tie, he pulled the scarlet ribbon that had served the purpose of binding the arrangement of flora that he had removed from Allen's room out of his black and silver exorcist uniform. Closing his eyes, he listened to the animated yells of the inhabitants of the Headquarters that rung mutedly outside the door of his room.
Pulling his hair up once again, he secured it in place with the scarlet ribbon, his eyes opening to stare out the window of his room. His gaze landed upon the exorcists that had already broken out into the field, prepared to annihilate the lower level akuma that had breached the shield.
His gaze drifted up into the sky to catch sight of the hideously leering faces of the level fours as they commenced their blitz from the sky. The beams of dark matter would have brought about the near immediate destruction of the Headquarters, but the pale green shield surrounding the monument ensured that it would stand for the duration of the incursion at the very least.
Kanda's eyes drifted along the sky as he stood upon the windowsill in silence, eyes searching the sky for the Noah. After all, the simplest, albeit perhaps the most difficult tactic to end a battle was to destroy the head. In this case, he was well aware that it was the Noah of lust.
Drawing Mugen, he invoked his innocence near soundlessly, his voice barely a whisper. His gaze raked the sky for the Noah, who he was aware would not be partaking in the main confrontations with the exorcists unless completely necessary.
"Kaichuu: Ichigen!" He hissed, buying himself time as he threw himself from the window, taking to the ground to aid his fellow exorcists in the vanquishing of the level two and three akuma. The parasitic creatures began their assault upon the akuma within the sky as he engaged in battle upon the ground.
This development was only unexpected and did not come parallel with any plans he had constructed within his mind. He did loathe when things did not go according to plan, and this was very much included in that.
However, he could not afford to spend his life force just yet. Catching sight of Lavi and Lenalee taking to the sky, he clucked his tongue. He would join the two soon, he decided. However, he could not exert himself truly until the true enemy appeared: the ones that governed the akuma.
In the face of the destruction that was being wreaked, Kanda underwent an anomalous sense of calm. His ears fully registered the cries as his comrades had begun to fall, but his movements remained unaffected by the happenings. His eyes were partially lidded as he continued to eradicate the akuma before him with a graceful ease.
The sensation of peace was bizarre; after all, this was a battle that the Order could not afford to lose. After having been demolished once and rebuilt once more, the Headquarters was facing a dire situation in which the same could potentially occur once again.
The purplish smoke, courtesy of fallen akuma had begun to create an acrid smog in the air. Kanda cast a quick glance around himself at his fellow exorcists. Many did not seem to be gravely injured, much to his unwanted relief. His eyes trailed up to the sky where the ones combating the level ones and fours were not faring so well.
Even from the ground, Kanda could see the red falling from Lavi's eyepatch that was not his hair. The redhead's teeth were gritted as the serpentine sentience fabricated from fire disappeared. Within the span of a few seconds, it was replaced by bright flashing of energy that emitted from the clouded sky, directed at the akuma.
Faring not much better, Lenalee was never in one place for more than a few seconds, forced to leap from one akuma to the other as the mindless evils had no difficulty destroying their own. Of course they would not, considering more were emerging from thin air courtesy of the Noah.
As for her, Kanda had yet to sight her position. Half-consciously, he tore through whatever akuma assaulted him while keeping a constant gaze upon the sky where he had last caught sight of her. His attention was abruptly torn away by a voice that sounded out shockingly close to his ear.
"You won't find her, you know."
Abruptly jumping back, Kanda threw a haphazard slash at the white-haired male who watched him with faint amusement. His state of calmness was abruptly broken as he realized just how much of the area was stained by crimson and not sinister purple.
"I can see why he has such a fixation with you," Wisely nearly yawned, lowering himself into a cross-legged position upon the latest corpse he had created. Kanda could not identify the body due to the mutilation of its face following by the sinewy residue of the brain. His jaw tightened.
Stepping forward, he grabbed hold of his sheath in his left hand, the cry of "Nigentou: Hakka Tourou!" leaving his lips. He could not afford to let the Noah of wisdom have his way upon the field. However, the sight of the white-haired male had triggered a sense of alarm within him upon the realization that others would soon appear upon the battlefield.
"Smart - you're right-!" the Noah confirmed, barely evading the slashes and standing a small distance away from him out of the immediate range of Mugen.
"Che."
"You seem to be the only one that thinks of things other than the Order," Wisely drawled, shrugging slightly. Kanda scowled openly at the Noah, not troubling himself to hide the open resentment in his gaze. It would be something he regretted, he realized, but he could not bridle himself the liberty.
"Neah will be here soon enough once someone alerts him," the Noah continued, his aloof features twisting into yet another yawn. "I don't know why I have to be here though… I'd rather not be fighting," he complained loosely. Kanda frowned and lunged at him once again, his body twisting as one of his two blades of energy aimed to lacerate the male's body.
"Shouka: Sangenshiki!"
Flying once again for the white-haired teen, his blades moved with a swiftness that provoked the Noah to utilize effort into dodging the rapid blows that targeted him. One managed to catch his arm, ripping a vicious gash into the white sleeve of his clothing, cutting through skin and flesh and dying the limb in crimson.
"Troublesome…" the Noah sighed, a hiss of pain eliciting from his lips as the blade of energy caught him once again, rending his exposed side. Finally catching his ground, Wisely's eyes narrowed before he ran towards the long-haired second exorcist.
Kanda's stance abruptly tensed as the Noah quickly moved, near vanishing from his sight before an arm wrapped loosely around his neck from behind him, a hand resting upon the side of his face. His pale, three-pupiled gaze, surrounded by protruding veins, trailed back a few moments too late as the Noah chuckled languidly.
"Oops."
Kanda's body grew rigid as an excruciating pain lanced through his head. His eyes grew partially lidded as they dulled. The darkness left his gaze and it cleared to a blank, pale slate-blue. His gaze slid from where it had once glared at Wisely to stare blankly at nothing that was before him.
As the Noah released his form, it crumbled to the ground and lay there. Crimson bloomed like a flower from his ears, spilling from the depressions at his head and colouring the ground. Kanda's celeste gaze possessed a hollow lifelessness as it stared blankly at nothing.
With a sigh, Wisely ran a bloodstained hand through his white locks, smearing the substance over his hair unwittingly. "People these days have no patience…"
Casting a glance at the already torn up battlefield, he leaned down and lifted Kanda's rapidly cooling form into his grip. Turning, he began to bolt from the battlefield, headed for the stretch of forest that separated the Headquarters from the small township at the opposite end of the island.
Upon reaching a secluded clearing within the densely packed foliage, he set the second exorcist's body upon the damp grass, sliding down into a cross-legged position at his side. Closing his eyes, Wisely breathed out a weary sigh.
"We can't let you fight, exorcist," he stated simply to Kanda's lifeless form. "Not until 'he' arrives."
I'm sorry...I blew up Kanda's brains again. -.-