Hahaha!! I'm slow at updating. Sorry if I take long. Please bear with me!! . But I do have a few legitimate excuses. From 7/20-8/8, I was out of town at a summer program. I was also sick and I've also been reading Breaking Dawn and a whole bunch of other things. I also needed to catch up on all the newly released manga chapters that I didn't get a chance to read while I was gone. And I also need to get ready for school and go to school. And I also am not allowed to do the computer sometimes so that takes off time too. And lately I've had a lot of homework in general. You also have to take into account my chronic laziness. So there are my excuses. So don't bother me.
If you want to complain about legal issues about this fic, see the beginning disclaimer note in chapter one.
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Chapter Start/
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September 1 – 5:12 AM
Kanda was getting impatient. Not only was he stuck on a mission with the Moyashi, but he also was anxious because he had a strange feeling of foreboding about the mission. Currently, they were on the first train towards their destination. They needed to jump two more trains until they got to their destination.
So far, the service was pretty good on their first train. Sometimes on other missions they were faced with snobby attendants, but they were lucky so far and had one that was polite and friendly. The Finder that was with them, Tokuda, sat outside of their cabin on a vacant seat meant for bodyguards and was relatively quiet. The three of the ordered drinks and sipped them quietly to occupy their hands while they examined their mission files carefully. Kanda ordered some green tea, Allen chose a glass of apple juice, and Tokuda asked for some water.
The mission file had many details, but there were some holes information-wise. There weren't any completely reliable sources of information, but most of what was said was generally agreed on. There were reports of unusual plant growth, sightings of unknown species of animals, and strange stick-bearing, robed people who often disappeared upon sight. Allen wasn't sure what the stick business was about, but it definitely seemed suspicious. Maybe these sticks were Anti-Akuma weapons...
It also talked about the strange sightings of ghosts. Ghosts were a prominent superstition in this area. They believed that people had a choice of moving on to the after-life when they died, or staying in the living world forever as a transparent being. Allen didn't quite believe in ghosts, but those horror movies were pretty convincing.
The train putted along until it came to a slow stop.
"We've arrived at Rockwell Station. Please watch your step when getting off the train," announced the conductor from the loudspeaker. Allen and Kanda stood up and gathered their things while Tokuda opened the door. They stepped out of the cabin and walked down the hall until they came to the first class entrance. Stepping out, Allen read the sign on top of the station's entrance. It read "Rockwell Station". The three members of the Black Order strode over to the other side of the station to get to their next train.
Stepping on a train once again, they were on their way to the first class cabins. A rude attendant came up to them for their non-existent tickets.
"Excuse me," he said in a snobby voice. He held out his hand, gesturing to them. Tokuda cleared his throat and pointed to the Black Order crest on Allen's coat. The attendant didn't seem to understand for a moment. Another attendant came up to the group to see what was the matter. He quickly identified the Black Order uniform and elbowed the rude attendant.
"These people are from the Black Order, you bloody dimwit!" he whispered frantically. The more experienced attendant turned to the exorcists.
"I'm terribly sorry for his rudeness. He's new here and I'll guarantee to put forward proper punishment for his impudence," he said. Kanda shrugged and turned away.
"See to it," Kanda grunted simply. The first attendant paled slightly at the mention of punishment and Allen couldn't help but to feel smug at the attendant's expense.
Well, he deserved it.
The Exorcist group was led to their cabin, which was of even better quality than the last train. The two Exorcists sank down into the fluffy seats while Tokuda was offered a comfortable chair outside. The train started up and moved along as smoothly as a train could go.
A few hours later, they were at the last station before they would arrive at their destination. King's Cross Station was larger than Allen had expected. Walking along, he, Kanda, and Tokuda glanced around for their correct train at Platform 9.
As they neared their gate, they saw from a distance the figures of several people dressed in normal clothes. They were talking loudly and were holding onto several large carts full of old fashioned trunks and bags. Most of them had flaming red hair, but one of them had bushy chocolate-brown hair while another had messy jet-black hair. The whole group stood out what with their loud speech and strange conversation, not to mention the snow white owl that was hooting its heart out.
Strangely enough, no one else besides Allen and Kanda seemed to notice their strange behavior. Not even Tokuda spared a second glance in the group's direction. In fact, Tokuda seemed to be focused on not looking there. Finding it quite strange, Allen inquired about it to Tokuda.
"A group of red-headed people?" asked Tokuda.
He looked around him. Allen and Kanda both looked at Tokuda carefully as he turned his head. They noticed that as soon as Tokuda's eyes met the group in question, they slid over them as if they weren't there.
"I don't see who you're talking about," said Tokuda. Kanda narrowed his eyes and exchanged glances with Allen, who nodded.
"Well then, where is the train? The mission should proceed as planned, but actually, I'll be making an investigation here. Tokuda, you should go on with Kanda. I'm going to contact Komui and explain the situation so don't worry about me," said Allen.
"And why should I leave this investigation to you, Moyashi?" demanded Kanda. Allen merely gave him a Cheshire smile.
"Because I figure you might not be able to handle these British people as well as I in the case that you are discovered," replied Allen as he dashed away from the angry Mugen-weilding man.
"Don't forget to check in with Komui, Allen-dono!" shouted Tokuda after Allen. Allen merely waved his hand in acknowledgement as he disappeared around a corner. Kanda merely sniffed in distaste and turned on his heel.
"Let's go," he grunted gruffly. Tokuda followed Kanda silently and made no further comment.
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September 1 – 5:26 AM
Allen quickly found a place where he could spy on the strange group without being seen. From that location, he took Tim from his pocket and proceeded to hook him up to the nearby phone booth.
"This is Exorcist Allen Walker speaking from King's Cross station through the golden golem, Timcanpi. May I speak with Supervisor Komui?" asked Allen to the Black Order operator.
"May I ask the urgency of this call?" replied the operator.
"Tell him it's a level one occurrence for an investigation request on a suspicious group of people," said Allen.
"Wait one moment please," said the operator. The line went silent for a few moments before Komui's voice came onto the other side.
"Komui speaking; what seems to be the problem, Allen?" asked Komui. And so, Allen went into a brief description of the people while keeping a watchful eye on them. In the middle of his explanation, however, one of the younger redheads of the group appeared to be preparing to break away from the group along with his cart. Allen broke off his train of thought as the boy started to walk casually towards the wall that stood between platforms nine and ten.
"Allen? Allen? Are you still there?" called Komui from the phone.
"Y-y-yeah! Sorry, I just got a bit distracted. So these people seem to be going to-"
Allen stopped speaking completely as the boy walked straight into the wall without stopping and disappeared through the wall.
What the heck just happened?!?!
His eyes widened in shock as he beheld the scene. He looked around him for anyone who saw, but it seemed that the only ones who noticed were him and the rest of the group. He glanced behind the wall to see if it had been just a hologram, but there wasn't anything or anyone behind it. His mind raced to find an answer, but he could only gape speechlessly at the remaining group still assembled in front of the wall. Komui's voice floated up from the receiver.
"Allen? Allen! Seriously! What is going on now?!" demanded Komui. Allen regained his composure.
"Ah, I'm sorry about that. The weirdest thing just happened. One of the redheaded boys of the group just walked into the wall with his luggage cart and disappeared. It seems like the two non-redheads are preparing to go through the wall too. They're lining themselves up as if to go in. Oh, Lord! They've gone through! What should I do? Should I follow after them?" said Allen frantically.
"Calm down for a second. I'm sending Lavi to Gate 4 Entry. Get a gate set up at your location quickly. This will be an investigation only mission. Attack only to defend and don't take unnecessary risks. Mission level is one, but with the current situation, it'll probably escalate up that scale. Make sure you keep track of the progress of your original mission and look out for any signs of connections, though I doubt there will be any.
"Lavi is entering the Ark right now. Is the gate ready?" asked Komui. Allen made sure that no one was looking in his little corner. There weren't that many people to begin with, but he didn't want to catch any attention, especially that of the suspicious group.
"Gate 15 is ready. It should be the red, wooden door with the roses carved in it on the right," replied Allen. After about three minutes, Allen finally spotted the edges of Lavi's coat appear before Lavi himself appeared in front of Allen. Glancing around, Lavi gained his bearings and stepped away from the gate as Allen closed it before anyone could see. Allen looked back at the strange group to check how many people were left.
"That's the group we're tailing," said Allen. "It looks like there's only three of the original eight that were there. They all disappeared behind that brick wall in between Platforms Nine and Ten," Allen informed. Lavi sighed.
"It seems like this investigation will be harder than I thought. I wish it didn't include disappearing maniacs. I'd almost rather be on the same mission as Kanda, though I'm sure he wouldn't have liked that. Oh well, it's time to get going," sighed Lavi as he gestured towards the only remaining member of the group. The adult redhead was already walking swiftly towards the wall.
"We'd better get a move on if we want to keep track of these guys," said Lavi as he stepped towards the mysterious wall. Allen quickly finished unhooking Tim and followed behind Lavi. The man had already disappeared by the time they got close, so they quickly approached the wall without hesitation. Three feet away from the wall, a strange sensation came over Allen and Lavi. It was as if they'd walked into a warm bubble full of cold air.
The cold air felt like ice on Allen's face. He could see that Lavi was in a similar situation. They glanced at each other to confirm their suspicions and proceeded with caution to the mysterious wall.
Slowly, they approached the wall.
They were almost there.
There were only three more feet.
It was getting really close.
Finally… they were two feet away.
When they got to the wall, they first studied it. There didn't seem to be anything out-of-the-ordinary about it. It was a fading brick wall full of small scratches. There didn't seem to be a distinguishing area that might be the right spot to disappear through. Carefully, Allen reached with his left hand for the wall. Instead of landing on the wall like what would normally happen, his hand slipped through and disappeared. Surprise enveloped Allen and Lavi as Allen quickly withdrew his hand in shock.
They both stood in silence for a second before Allen tried it again. This time, he didn't withdraw. He slowly slid his hand through…
…then his wrist…
…then his arm…
…then his shoulder…
…and then…
……
…nothing.
That's right. Nothing past his shoulder would go through. Slamming his body against the wall with only his arm through, Allen tried to get more of his body across, but failed. Frustrated, he stopped and drew back his arm.
"Jeez, what is this?" said Allen. He turned to Lavi. "You try," he said. With a grunt, Lavi tried his luck. He went up to the wall and prepared to touch it. He closed his hand on the wall and met resistance. The wall wouldn't even accept his finger. Puzzled, he turned to Allen. As he turned, his hammer brushed against the wall and fell through.
"Ah! That must be it! It'll only allow our Innocence to go through!" exclaimed Allen. That only served to confuse Lavi more.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked Lavi. Allen pointed to his hammer, which was still half in the wall from where it was hanging on his uniform.
"Ah! That makes sense," said Lavi. He took it out. "So, how's that going to help us? Those people might be long gone already so we have to hurry," said Lavi. Allen thought hard.
"Umm… maybe… uh…"
"Hmm... Maybe if we somehow have our innocence to surround us… Allen! Use Crown Clown. Maybe if we can get your cloak to envelop us, we can get through," said Lavi.
"Good idea," replied Allen. He put his arm out in front of him. "Crown Clown, activate!" His left arm changed form and his cloak came out behind him. Determined, he wrapped it around Lavi and himself. They stepped cautiously to the wall and made it through.
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End Chapter
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Okay, I know that was an unnecessarily huge update time for such a puny chappie, but at least it's only been months and not years. I'm finally starting to get a better idea of where I'm going with this so hopefully there won't be so much delay. I do need to work on my school stuff so don't complain too much.
Questions? Comments? Ah, whatever. Just review! ^^
