Reckoning
Chapter 12
illusions and heartbeats

Now, only five minutes later, I was standing in front of the door I knew to be the twins'. It had to be; they were the only two who would decorate their door black with red X's all over the wood. I sighed. They were still the morons they always had been, even when we were all ten. Opening the door, I noticed the two were sitting at their desks, Jasdero scribbling away in a notepad with his gun next to him and Debitto was polishing his gun.

Debitto was the first to look up. "Jas, look who's back," he said calmly, a small smile suddenly forming on his gray face.

The blonde twin did so, dropping his pencil. A wide grin spread over his lips, which were threaded shut, though he could still talk. "Akicho!" he exclaimed happily. He and his punk twin exchanged a look and leapt on me, wrapping their arms around me in a hug. "You're back, you're back, you're back!" Jasdero kept repeating over and over, nuzzling my face with his.

"Great to see you again, huh? Happy to be home?" Debitto looked down at my coat in curiosity. "Geez, when Tyki said he saw 'Akicho the Exorcist,' I thought he was joking. Unfortunately, he wasn't, was he?"

I shook my head, returning their embraces. "Yeah, I know. But we're family, right?" I asked, smiling. Jas looked down and his eyes widened. When he looked back up, his face looked like he'd just been hit. Shock was the only registered emotion on his face.

He squeaked, "But-but… we were gonna kill the Exorcists and destroy the stupid Black Order! Why'd you join their side?" I could see that the blond twin was about to cry. Jasdero was never good with controlling his emotions like the other Noah. He wasn't the best at hiding what he was feeling. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and let his emotions control him.

Patting his head, I sadly replied, "I'm not against you. I'm against the Earl. He's ruined my life, you know that." Debitto nodded, but Jas still looked upset. "I won't fight you guys. No matter what, I'm your sister."

"Forever?" Jas asked hopefully.

I nodded. "Forever, Jas. I love you." Debitto cleared his throat, raising one eyebrow expectantly. "You too, Debitto."

Debitto and Jasdero came forward and both hugged me again. Not a minute later, with a mischievous look on his face, Debitto suddenly pulled away and asked, "You came here for a reason, right? What did you come to ask, dear sister of ours?" Smirking, I looked from one twin to the other.

-YU KANDA-

Kanda was almost to the damn exit when his stupid legs gave out. He'd taken too much damage from the battle against Skin. He couldn't even move his left hand. He figured it was because he used too much of his life in the fight. That was a big mistake of his. If he didn't get out soon, he was sure that Akicho would kick his ass. Or at least attempt to.

He heard explosions in the background and as he looked to the exit, his vision went blurry. Sticking his sword into the snow, he remembered the bean sprout, Lenalee, and Akicho. Especially the look Akicho gave him before she fell. Using Mugen to stand he thought, I'm remembering stupid shit. I'm not going to die in a place like this. No damn way.

Using Mugen as a crutch, he kept limping closer to the exit. Closer to seeing those other annoying Exorcists, closer to hearing the bean sprout complain, closer to having to listen to the stupid rabbit call him by his first name, and closer to finding his teammate. He couldn't give up now.

-AKICHO LAMURIA-

Debitto opened the door to the next group of stairs, which was behind his bookshelf. That made a lot more sense, seeing as neither of the twins ever read. Jasdero didn't even know how to read. Debitto knew… somewhat… but he certainly didn't read anything like the books that were on the shelves.

What was behind the door wasn't the usual stairs. It was a staircase that led right into a maze. It looked like it was set up using giant dominos. "What the hell is this?" I demanded, looking around at the room the three of us had stepped into.

The black-haired twin laughed sheepishly. "Well, whenever we're stuck here without anything else to do, we had a lot of time on our hands, and we decided to make another room. It was meant as a challenge for us. You see, not even we know how to get through, since the maze changes every time we come into the room."

The blond twin cheered and added, "So we'll take you through! The basic design is always the same, so we'll be just fine! You'll see!"

I laughed. They would be the ones to get bored and make another room for kicks. "Let's go." It was then that the maze started to shake, just like the first floor had. "Oh, shit," I cursed quietly, watching a few of the dominos fall. One was all it took to set the rest of them off. They really were dominos. Every other one of the blocks began to fall.

The twins both looked like they were going to freak out any second. "The one aspect that never changes is that if all of the dominos collapse, you've got to restart the maze! We've got to go, before you're trapped in here!" Debitto grabbed my left hand and Jasdero, my right, and they began to lead me through the maze.

Chunks of the ceiling were falling, just barely missing us. I gasped as Jasdero nimbly jumped out of the way of one of the dominos. Debitto had a determined look on his face. "The exit's on the other side of the room! We've been going straight, but don't forget that this is a maze!" he shouted over the crumbling and the shaking of the room.

A shadow suddenly appeared over me. Looking up, I gasped and jumped out of the way at the last second, pushing both of the twins away from me as a piece of the ceiling almost hit all of us. I landed safely, but when I tried to stand from where I had landed, a sharp pain in my ankle forced me back down as I winced in pain.

Jasdero looked back and cursed, "Shit!" He and Debitto rushed back, pulling out their guns and aiming toward each other. There was a loud bang. I looked up and saw that in the place of the twins was a tall figure that I recognized quite easily. It was Jasdevi, the true form of Jasdero and Debitto. He had a small smile on his face as he flexed his fingers. He looked back towards me.

Running forward, Jasdevi pulled me up and slung me onto his back, running fast as he said, "We're halfway through the room! The second half of the maze isn't going to be as easy or as straightforward as this one!"

He was right. There were two paths, one that I knew lead to a dead end while the other would lead to more splits. Jasdevi's eyes narrowed and he veered left, causing me to shriek a bit. "Are you absolutely sure that we're going the right way?" I asked, trying to be heard over the rumbling.

Shaking his head, he replied, "No clue. I'm just winging it!" I sent him an incredulous look as he approached another fork, veering left again. "Besides, this is our maze. It has to do what we tell it! Right?"

Jasdevi had a point. The maze was the twins' creation, and they had the power to control it. At least, we hoped. Me more than them, I think. "Let's just get to the exit. If I'm right, then when the Ark is finished downloading, these rooms will all be destroyed. We don't have much time left. Let's go!"

The Noah seemed to understand the hidden message: "If you don't get me out of here, I swear, I'll castrate you if you're not already dead." He sped up, dodging more debris and dominos, turning left and right along the way. I could see the door. We were almost home free! But a shadow covered the door and a mass of the dominos fell before it, blocking off the path that we were going to take to get out and still be alive. The room shook more violently, and the rock of the ceiling fell on top of the dominos, sealing the only way to the exit. Jasdevi looked shocked and almost dropped me.

"No!" I cried. Jasdevi backed up, almost slamming me into another one of the dominos before running and leaping over the debris. He landed, but when he put me down, he noticed something. Another chunk of rock was falling.

Pushing me out of the way, he yelled, "Get out of the way, Akicho!" I landed on my side. Smoke was everywhere. I gaped at the gray fog covering the ground. Jasdevi hadn't gotten out in time. I heard a gasp of pain and then a scream.

I rushed into the fog. "Jasdevi!" The smoke cleared and I saw that Jasdevi was stuck under the rock, his legs being crushed underneath the boulder. He was sitting up and using his skinny arms to try and push the rock off of him. "Oh my God…" I didn't know what to do. Using my Innocence was the first thing that popped into my mind, but I couldn't destroy; only create. "Hang on, I'm going to try and get you out." My voice was calm, but my brain wasn't.

It had gone into overdrive. I had to help Jasdevi. If only Lavi was here. Then he could push the stone off or crush it with his Innocence. Everything ran through my mind, every possible way I could save Jasdevi before the room collapsed.

He opened his eyes and moaned, "Go, Akicho. You'll be trapped if you stay here…" I shook my head firmly and tried to push the stone. Clearly it only made it worse, as Jasdevi cried out for me to stop. "It's okay. We'll be fine."

I sunk back into my thoughts, grabbing Jasdevi's hand and beginning to cry. There was one way I could help them. I placed my hand on a giant rock and it shattered to form what was almost a carbon copy of Lavi's hammer. Only thing was, it wasn't made of metal. That thought didn't occur to me as I swung the hammer with all my strength and watching as it slammed into the side of oversized boulder on Jasdevi.

It rolled a little, and I swung again. "Don't scream. It's going to hurt a little," I tried to reassure the Noah. Every time I swung, I saw the Noah of Bonds' face contort a little in pain, but the boulder was moving. Just as I thought I was going to collapse, I swung one last time and the boulder cracked, rolling off of his legs.

Dropping the hammer, I grabbed Jasdevi's hand and dragged him up to the door and grabbed the key from around his neck, jamming it into the keyhole. Twisting the key, I slammed open the door and pulled Jasdevi with me.

It was a copy of their room, but it was a mirror image. Pulling at Jasdevi's arms, I hauled him up and onto the bed. Rolling his pants legs up, I winced at the bruising. I didn't listen as his voice tried to assure me that he was going to be okay. Frantically rushing around the room, I pulled open drawers and cabinets in search of bandages. Finally, I found some in the bathroom, on the top shelf. They were black, of course.

Sitting back at Jasdevi's side, I began to wrap his legs, praying to whatever God that they believed in that they would get well enough in time to make it out of this Ark alive.

I gently stroked Jasdevi's hair and told him, "We're safe. I'm going to leave the key on your bookshelf, so you guys had better make sure you get out, too."

Jasdevi reached out and grabbed my hand. "You saved us. Thanks, Akicho." A weak smile overtook his face. It was clear how hurt he was. "At least we heal fast, right?"

I nodded happily. "It was no problem. I'd do anything for family." I smiled and squeezed his hand before doing what I said I would and running out the door to the staircase. I knew who I had to find next. He was the only person who knew what happened to my friends. He knew where Road was, and Road could help me find my friends. I had to find him before time ran out.

Tyki Mikk.

-YU KANDA-

A bolt of lightning hit the body of Skin, catching Kanda's eye. "You're shitting me," he growled as Skin's legs allowed him to stand. "How the hell is he still alive? Damn." With Mugen rendered useless, Kanda had no weapon to defend himself with. His legs were weak, and he could barely feel his left hand at all. On top of that, his vision was getting blurry. Kanda raised the melted sword and ran towards the attacking Noah, just barely dodging Skin's first bolt of lightning. "Mugen, Activate!" he ordered, not stopping. He ran right into another bolt of lightning, and was hit. "Just die already!" he yelled at Skin as he was hit and blown back again.

Even with the hits that Skin had taken, he was still sparking with rage. The purple light was covering every inch of visible skin as Kanda struggled to his feet again. Finally, it struck Kanda. Skin was being completely controlled by his hate for the Exorcists. But Mugen was at its limit, too. Kanda looked at the exit once. Maybe he could make a break for it.

No… that wasn't his style.

Instead, he activated Twin Illusion Blades. "You have to hold out, Mugen," he ordered his sword quietly, activating Three Illusions. The blades grew to an enormous size and it took the shape of wings. The power radiating from when the two powers combining lashed out and destroyed several remaining walls of the room. Kanda faltered, and struggled to hold out when he felt the increase in the power that Skin had.

The Noah's hatred had fully taken over his body.

"I won't die. I won't die until I find that person."

But Mugen couldn't last. The sword began to crack, and after a long battle, Kanda's trusted blade shattered. A huge explosion overtook the room and when it was over, Skin was still standing. Kanda had been slammed into a nearby rock, looking dead to the world.

In fact, he had probably died again.

But Skin hadn't destroyed Kanda's Innocence like he thought. A line of blue light appeared under the Noah's feet. Kanda had used some of whatever life force he had left to use Mugen's power one last time. The light was connecting Mugen's fragments to each other. One by one, they all restored the blade and Kanda, who was anything but dead, slashed at Skin. The Noah was quiet for a moment, then he laughed. He still believed he was immortal.

Apparently, even the Noah could be wrong. Skin exploded into green mist, leaving no trace he was ever even there.

Kanda looked up. He knew that there were still petals on the lotus. He wouldn't die. But the room was collapsing, and fast. More petals were falling. Maybe they did fall, huh… Kanda stood, but his legs wouldn't allow him to.

"I can still…"

His efforts were futile. Even Kanda knew that he wouldn't be able to get to the exit in time. Smirking, he remarked, "Well, they're gonna be pissed. And she's probably going to spit on my grave." By she, Kanda meant-

Crash.

-AKICHO LAMURIA-

Two consecutive shivers ran up my spine, one after the other.

I stopped mid-climb and sank to my knees in horror. They were gone… Skin and Kanda. Those damned idiots! How could they do that to me? They went and got their dumb selves killed. Well, I wasn't going to forgive them at all this time. Damn you Kanda… why'd you have to go and get your stupid ass killed?

I felt a warm liquid streaming from my eyes and down my face. I was crying. I sighed and shakily put one foot in front of the other, continuing to climb the stairs.

No matter what, I had to keep moving.

And so ends Reckoning, with the death of our male lead, Yu Kanda...

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Nah, I'm only kidding, haha! Sorry, did I scare you there? I wouldn't end it there, there's still so much to do!

Omo, but this story is almost halfway over. That makes me kind of sad, haha.

So, since "Lost in the Dark" is going to be a huge work in progress, and probably won't end any time soon, please go to my profile and vote for a shorter series that I'll be doing!

I have five series that I have lined up - Durarara!, K/K Project, Kuroko no Basuke/Kuroko's Basketball, Psycho-Pass, or Zetsuen no Tempest/Blast of Tempest. Please vote for your three favorites, and I'll be sure to hurry up with those. d=(´▽｀)=b

Thanks guys~!