Requiem of Time: Chapter Thirty-Four - Lavi


"Eh, you know so many different languages, cho!"

Lavi grinned back at Chomesuke sheepishly. "I had to learn them in my training." Although she could speak English because of Cross's modification, they spoke to each other in Japanese for convenience. She was, after all, formerly a Japanese resurrected soul.

They were currently located at the southern tip of India, far away from any Dark Order headquarters and especially the Millennium Earl. They were in a port town, looking for a ship that would take them from there to somewhere in the Middle East. As far up the Red Sea as possible, though too many sailors declined because of Bab el Mandeb, recommending instead the Persian Gulf... And the same people who recommended it also mentioned that they only traveled to the Gulf of Aden.

They would find someone eventually, though...

Chomesuke could have flown them around, of course, though Lavi had been quick to find that labor intensive acts like that required a great deal of energy for her, and ever since Allen did... whatever he did, she harvested that energy in the way of food. A great deal of energy meant a great deal of food. Like, parasitic-Innocence amount of food. Lavi swore he could hear his wallet crying the first night they had tried flying from China, westward. Now, they walked.

Lavi turned away from her to glance back at the sea. The darkening sky painted the water red and orange with the dripping sun, while the low clouds remained as pink as Chomesuke's kimono. A beautiful, peaceful sunset. He noticed that Chomesuke's hand was in his own, and he smiled at her. Beautiful... Suddenly, he wasn't sure if he was talking about the sunset anymore.

Shaking his head, Lavi said, "It's getting late. We should find a hotel for the night." Getting directions, Lavi lead the way. Soon, they were in a small, one bed room, in a building that looked like it had seen better days. Neither complained.

****

The next day, Lavi and Chomesuke enjoyed a nice, quiet breakfast together.

After, Chomesuke hooked herself on his arm, and again they headed out to look for a ship that would take them closest to their destination – the pyramids of Egypt. Was there a specific reason he wanted to head there? Slightly. There were no Innocence candidates or even fragments there that he knew of, and it was closer to both Noah and the Dark Order – not to mention Central – than other places further south would be, but there was a reason. Allen had emergency gates that he had opened for friends who were separated or lost. Lavi had memorized them all, and the pyramids contained the only gate not involved in direct contact with the enemy. It was the furthest from everything.

As always, thoughts of Allen drew Lavi's gaze to the north and west.

For the longest time, the direction had been directly west, towards Edo and Japan, where he knew his friend to be. Recently though, north and west had been the exact direction. Lavi knew Allen to be back at the Headquarters now. That wasn't all, though. Lavi had an urging inside to follow that direction, to head towards Allen and help him. As always, he tightened his grip on Chomesuke's arm and forced himself to turn away.

Like Crowley, he was out of the war now. Keeping Chomesuke safe for as long as possible was what mattered now. However, unlike Crowley, Lavi knew he could and would come back to the war when needed. Which was why he was going to Egypt, so he could return to the Ark and the others in a heartbeat.

"The Red Sea?" the scarred captain replied hesitantly in Malayalam, one finger scratching his strong jaw. "I've only sailed Bab el Mandeb twice, and nearly lost my ship the second time."

"Please, my wife and I would very much appreciate it. I can work under you the entire voyage and pay you besides," Lavi pleaded.

The captain eyed them both, a red haired foreigner in drab black clothing and a cute foreign girl in an exotic pink dress he had never seen before. He sighed, running a hand through long hair. "Maybe I can give the Gate of Tears another run. Maybe. I'm going to see what the rest of my crew says about it. Come back in an hour."

Lavi grinned a crooked smile and clasped the man on the back. "Thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet," the captain admonished. "Those men had hell to pay from their wives the last time we ran it. It's not something they'll want to go through again." He swaggered away from the duo.

Chomesuke spun Lavi to face her, doe eyes childishly gleaming with hope. In Japanese, she asked, "He's going to take us, cho?"

"He said he's going to ask his crew, but they've done it before," Lavi replied, hands behind his head. "That's better than yesterday."

Chomesuke gave a cheer and hugged him. Lavi blushed, but returned the gesture.

After, he sheepishly scratched his head. "Oh yeah, and there's this little thing about him thinking we're married."

"Cho?" she asked, blinking in surprise. Then she blushed and latched onto his arm again as they began moving up from the docks, grinning mischievously. "Well then, we are just going to have to make it believable, cho."

Lavi stumbled, and she laughed.

****

"We don't really have to start now," Lavi mumbled. "Just when we're near the captain."

Chomesuke, seated next to him, offered another bite of food. She was feeding him, of all things! "You have a problem with this, cho?"

Lavi blinked. Actually, he didn't. He opened his mouth and took the offered food.

Chomesuke smiled and patted his head. "Good boy."

"I'm not a dog..." he grumbled around his food.

Chomesuke waved the fork at him. "Don't talk with your mouth full, cho!"

He swallowed. "Yes, mam."

She patted his head again, smiling. He groaned.

****

After their lunch, the two headed out for the docks again. However, they never quite made it there.

"There you are," Lavi heard from behind them... in English.

He froze up, also stopping Chomesuke, and she looked at him curiously. Lavi then turned slowly, and she saw why.

Short in size, but not in stature. He was getting old, yet his years had taught him more than perhaps anyone else in the world. Pointed ears each held a small hoop earring, and the last of his hair was tied together in a topknot. Black spots over his eyes gave birth to his nickname: Panda. The man had had a thousand other names too, but his latest, the one he would reply to, was...

"Bookman."


AN: Short, I know. The next will more than make up for it, though. In other news, I finally know how the rest of this story will pan out. I'm not exactly stoked about it, it's a little too expected for my tastes, but it'll have to do. That means, however, my writer's block is gone, and I've already outlined several more chapters. Knowing me, this story will be finished in about a month or two given my update rate.