sparky555: You are really reading this without having watched/read D. Gray-man? Holy cow! This wasn't geared for that, but if you can follow along, then good on you. Wow... Well, um, I recommend it. The only heads-up I can give is that the anime finishes like halfway through the manga, so look out for that if you do watch it.

Book Thief101: 'Twas Lulubell transformed to look like Rhode.


Requiem of Time: Chapter Thirteen - Lavi


The invasion was laughable, really.

"Exorcists, our scouts have caught sight of Akuma approaching the south gate."

Lavi, Miranda, and Lenalee smiled at each other as they moved to do their duty along with Bookman. They arrived with just enough time to see the Talismans working their magic.

Lenalee dropped Lavi and Bookman off on the wall before a white boom signaled her entrance to the fight. Explosions in the ranks of the Akuma followed.

Lavi gave a single nod to Bookman before pulling out his hammer. "Ozuchi Kozuchi! Fire Seal: Conflagration of Ashes!" And then there was sweet, beautiful fire in Lavi's eye, and he watched the darting from of Lenalee weave and twist her way through his flames. It was too easy.

"The Akuma are coming from underground!" one of the Finders reported in a panicked voice as dozens of Akuma appeared behind the wall, already tearing through the unsupported Finders there.

"Time Record. Time Stop!" Miranda commanded from her place. On queue, the tan band around her arm broke down into grains of sand before slithering up her arm to form its real self. A wave of its power slammed into the ground before her, and all there went still. Akuma had frozen mid-rise, rock fragments mid-fall, and Finders mid-dissolving. Bookman had the honor of destroying those.

Lavi had moved away from the southern wall once additional teams of Akuma broke through on other sides, but once Yu-chan, Marie, and Daisya joined even that became a minimal threat.

"Come on, Akuma!" Lavi shouted from the roof of a building. "I'm right here!" The group of Finder's about to be attacked sighed in relief. One of the Akuma was a Level Two… Lavi grinned as his hammer crushed them all in one swing. Who knew rewriting history could be so satisfying?

Less than an hour into the night, it was done. Only seven Finders lost their lives, Lavi was glad to hear. Much better than the over one hundred that had happened the first time. But then, there was that one little problem with Daisya…

Lavi landed on the ground from his flying (almost) hammer next to the downed Exorcist and cursed loudly. Placing a hand over the man's heart, Lavi could feel the Tease swarming around and eating. It was too late without Allen here.

Lavi moved to stand but was surprised when a hand caught his wrist. He looked and saw the pained eyes of Daisya. Lavi hardened himself; he hated having to be the one to help someone through death. "It's going to be-"

"Why!" Daisya barked out, wheezing afterwards. "Why… do I… remember th-this… twice?!" His teeth were grit, and his death was close.

Lavi blinked at him, kneeling again. "What do you mean, Daisya?"

"Twice!" Daisya groaned. "He killed… me twice!" His eyes were glazing, no longer staring at Lavi, and he managed to repeat that once more before he released his final breath.

Lavi had been left to think about that as Lenalee and Miranda greeted him. Daisya had been killed twice, to Lavi at least, but the Exorcist couldn't have known about that. So what did he mean?

Lavi snapped out of his daze when he heard Lenalee's warm voice. "We did it." Her smile, as always, managed to lift his spirits.

"Yeah," Lavi agreed. "Now we just need to get to China to meet up with Allen and Cross." He blinked when Miranda and Lenalee sent not-so-friendly looks at each other. "Something wrong with that?"

Both girls shook their heads a little too quickly and forcibly, but he didn't pursuit the topic. "Lenalee-chan, you can take us there, right?"

"Are you going to see Marshal Walker?" a voice asked from the side. The group turned to see a Finder standing there, one that Lenalee and Miranda recognized.

"Finder Kevin?" Lenalee asked, at the same time Miranda shouted, "Oh no, your arm!"

Kevin gave a pained grin at that, with one hand trying to cover the bandaged stump of his left arm. "It's nothing, really. It would have been much worse if you guys weren't here."

"What happened?" Miranda asked, clinically examining the limb by the chance this more powerful Time Record could do something. She sighed when she found there was nothing she could do.

Kevin rolled his yellow sleeve down to hide the missing limb while he answered quickly. "An Akuma bullet hit it. A friend of mine had the idea earlier that you could cut off the limb before the poison spread if you're quick enough. Turns out he was right."

Miranda winced at the sight of the axe Kevin had sheathed into his backpack. Giving him a sympathetic smile, she asked, "So where is this friend now?"

Kevin was quiet for a moment before looking down. "Down with the caskets… He wasn't fast enough for himself." He changed the subject. "May I please go with you to Marshal Walker? I was assigned to him, and now that this invasion is over I hope to return to him, if he'll have me."

"Of course," Lenalee agreed, at the same moment Lavi simply said, "No." Kevin blinked and looked between them. With a glare at Lavi, Lenalee clarified, "Of course you may go, so long as you don't mind the method of transportation."

Kevin grew enthusiastic at that. "What might that be?"

"Flying."

****

Kevin's one arm squeezed Miranda tighter than Miranda was squeezing Lenalee as they flew at ungodly speeds over Europe. His eyes were wide, breathing ragged, and he was dead cold at the wind battering them.

Even Lavi was having a hard time with their current movement. "Lenalee-chan, please don't break the sound-" BOOM barrier…

****

"Well, here we are: China!" Lenalee said pleasantly, gesturing with one arm after landing. As one, her passengers threw up, except Bookman who looked like a human icicle, completely frozen in place as he hit the ground. Lenalee laughed. "Oh, you guys…"

****

"Meilin, you are like us, an Exorcist. You can use your power to help the world, to help us fight Akuma and the Millennium Earl. With your power you can help save lives, like I do." Miranda went down and bowed fully. "Please, I beg you to reconsider."

And Kevin watched as again, the Exorcists found an Innocence compatible person without any foresight or help from other Finders… Just like Allen Walker did with this Miranda Lotto.

They were the group assigned by Headquarters to find and protect Marshal Allen Walker (Miranda and Lavi) and Marshal Cross Marian (Bookman and Lenalee). Kevin was glad to be along, all things considered, as he could now do his duty, especially since Marshal Walker would be receiving this Meilin as an apprentice. He liked working with Allen; the youth was kind and interesting (woe to those who worked with Kanda Yu or Marshal Winters Sokaro).

With this Meilin in tow, the group began the final leg of their journey, thankfully by walking. The entire trip had been smooth, with no real Akuma interference, and the speed had been swift enough for them to almost have caught up with the two Marshals. 'Almost' being the key word, which is why Lavi was surprised to see the black cloaked figure with gold lining walking towards Anita's brothel.

Next to what had to be Allen - he could make out the small form of Timcampy flitting around - was a woman, and knowing his friend, Lavi didn't know whether to be surprised or not. He could see long, brown hair and perhaps a white dress dirtied by travel. He guessed her to be around eighteen or so. Even at the distance, he made note of her gloved hands and suspected her reason for being there, smiling as he puzzled it out.

The duo before them let out a rather loud pair of sighs, one that spoke of a certain hardship and stress on their journey here. Lavi grinned at that, knowing the trouble Allen could attract.

"Marshal Walker!" Kevin called out, one hand cupped to extend his voice in the busy street. They search had finally come to an end.

Allen turned, and he smiled when he caught sight of them. Lavi grinned back. Allen already knew, history be damned, so Lavi had no qualms against revealing himself anymore.

Once close enough, he greeted in a rather old manner. "Yo, Beansprout."


AN: Well, in spite of myself I have four short chapters ready for the posting...

It's a shame most of my readers are female. I don't have a problem with that, for obvious reasons (for example I was glomped last chapter), it's just that a lot of you might not like the final pairing. Well (cough), I'm just doing my part in reducing the endless spam of Yullen. Guy readers out there have to have something to look foreward to, eh? (And I'm not trying to be sexist. Forgive me if it sounds that way! I'm just a guy with a guy mind.)

For you late stragglers who didn't read the thing at the top of the first chapter or the AN's I've annouced it, the ending pairing is Rhobellen (Allen/Rhode/Lulubell).