Book Thief101: Um, it's kind of really random, but yes I do live in California. o.O Southern California. And by how you said it was raining non-stop for you when we had our storms, I'm guessing you do too. Hmm, maybe it's because I said California law is 18 in the almost-lemon. o.O
Requiem of Time: Chapter Thirty-Six - Lavi
"You have traveled traveled much faster than I ever thought you could, Lavi," Bookman said, eyes narrowed as he took in the girl on his apprentice's arm. "Much faster than I thought possible, save Lenalee's Dark Boots."
"Why are you here?" Lavi asked quietly.
"Because I have invested too much time in the training of you," the man muttered just as softly, yet with an unmistakable edge, "and you've known since day one that once started, your life as a bookman does not end."
Lavi could hear the labors of the dockworkers behind him, the cry of sea birds and the splashing of waves at the water, lapping at the sides of ships and small fishing watercrafts alike. Somewhere back there would be the captain who might be able to take them up the Red Sea. So close, yet with Bookman here the captain might as well not have existed.
He was very aware of Chomesuke on his arm though, and he clutched her closer to him, though he didn't really fear Bookman would try anything with her.
Lifting his chin, Lavi said a bit louder, "I know that very well, and I shall never forget it. Despite how this looks, I am not a renegade." No, he knew very well what the bookman society did with renegades. Trembling, he knew very well what they did.
"I have not labeled you as such," Bookman rasped as he also raised his voice to a normal tone, taking a step closer to Lavi. "You are young and foolish, but not that foolish. Tell me, then, why are you here Alias Forty-Nine: Lavi?"
Bookman knew. Maybe not everything, but the man was the cleverest Lavi had ever met; he knew enough to make that question unnecessary, but there were advantages to hearing what the person in question said about it, or what he left out. Advantages. Advantages that Bookman had taught Lavi to see, and look for.
Lavi drew himself up. He and Bookman had had this argument before, in another life. It had taken much to long to conclude, and when it finally did...
People are no more than ink on paper.
Lavi, twenty-one years old, could only stare. Too messy for an Akuma. Blood splattered all over the walls, the body mangled almost unrecognizably. The only reason he knew who it was was because of the severed head hanging from the ceiling by a meathook. The scent of rot, blood, and death were so strong he almost gagged, but he couldn't find it in himself to cover his nose. He could only stare.
Bookman... dead?
People are just ink on paper, another death was just another mark.
First Marshal Winters, and now Bookman.
Ink. Paper.
Lavi covered his face with his hand. He wanted to cry. He wanted to cry so bad. He had cried for Winters. Why couldn't he cry? His shoulders shook, but no tears came.
Ink on paper.
Lavi howled.
He was ready to start it up again, the argument that had set the two bookmen aside, and hopefully end it sooner. "I have taken up Lavi as my true name. I am an Exorcist, a soldier in the war against the Millennium Earl. As a bookman, I record all that I see in this war as part of the hidden histories of this war, but I do it as an Exorcist. I will see this war to its end, from the side of the Order – a side that I myself chose; not of chance."
Strangely, that simple phrase took more out of the Lavi than he thought it would, and he let out a breath, nearly sagging afterward.
Bookman was good at hiding his expression and thoughts, but right now his face creased with wrinkles as he frowned. He most certainly was not happy by that. "I warned you, 'Lavi,' not to be taken in by this war. I warned you, and you didn't listen. You are a bookman; everything after that is only to assist your primary goal as a bookman. I will not allow you to endanger the hidden histories I have passed on to you because of a foolish desire to play hero."
Chomesuke's face was torn between confused and displeased, and she looked like she really wanted to say something – probably to defend Lavi – but this was for the two bookmen to resolve, and Lavi conveyed that with a squeeze of her hand and a look.
But none of the softness he showed her carried to the man he called master. Lavi's free hand came up to rip off his eye patch. A scarred hole was revealed, pink skin pinched to the side over an eyeless gap. It was a hideous sight. "Our lives endanger the histories, even excluding the fact that we are hired soldiers right now. Look at this! This is proof that we aren't safe. Proof that we, too, are humans, no better than the rest! You know that any of countless other variables, from wind to bullet destination to angle of gun, changed would have resulted in my death."
Lavi's scowl looked much more fierce with his scar exposed like that. "If we are to do things this way, however, I won't do it the cowardly way, the bastardly way, where I back out every time it seems like there's trouble brewing. Instead, I'll fight for what I agreed to fight towards, like any soldier, but also holding true as a bookman."
Bookman shook his head. "You of all people know that this is wrong. All wars are foolish and senseless, but they shape the world. There is no need to assist in that shaping, not when it won't mean anything. One soldier can't change anything. And yes there is always danger in our lives, yet devoting yourself to it like this only adds unnecessary risks. Unnecessary risks to the hidden histories we have recorded, the histories unique to you and what I have passed to you."
"I don't take part of this to shape the war," Lavi replied coolly, while his blood raged hotly. "I take part because it is what I feel is right. I don't just fight so I can continue watching, I fight so I can watch my friends reach their goal."
"We don't have friends," Bookman snapped. It wasn't a thing of inspired cruelty, but a simple fact. To have friends meant to be attached, when as bookmen you needed to be detached.
They could bicker for hours, they had bickered for hours, days, weeks, but Lavi didn't have time at the moment, and there were more important things to discuss. However, the seed had been planted; he was now alienated from Bookman.
His blood was still hot, his face heated, one hand clenched, but he put himself past that. "There is something I need to tell you."
Bookman's narrowed eyes watched him for a second, noting the diversion from the argument and checking to see if Lavi thought him swayed or if Lavi himself was swayed, and upon finding neither, he asked, "Is this about how you know Lenalee Lee, Miranda Lotto, Allen Walker, and Yu Kanda without ever having met them prior to entering the Order?"
Lavi nodded stiffly. He opened his mouth to start when Chomesuke reminded him of her presence by squeezing his hand. He turned to her, seeing an encouraging smile, one that said 'I'm here for you,' and he smiled back. Turning to Bookman, he started with a question, "You are aware of the strange abilities Level Two's can acquire?"
"I am."
"Like how Miranda may relatively bend the laws of Time, imagine a Level Two gaining its own version of that. One that can send people back through the timestream."
Bookman's eyes widened in understanding, and he did not doubt. "Explain."
And Lavi did.
After a quicker version of what he had already told Chomesuke, Lavi moved into his other topic. "Last time around, however, something happened that did not happen this time. Allen Walker, upon his inspection by Hevlaska, was deemed..." Lavi stopped and scratched his head, grinning sheepishly. He then snapped his fingers. "Exact phrasing here: Allen Walker, sometime in the black future, your Innocence will create an extraordinary "Time Destroyer.""
Bookman's eyes widened at that, as they had the first time he heard it. However, at the same instant, something else occurred to Lavi, something turned his blood to ice.
Thoughts whirled with sudden possibilities, examining said occurrence. The more he thought about it, the more he puzzled out, the greater his sense of dread grew. By the time his analysis was winding done, all in the matter of a second or so, a sweat was starting to break out despite the cool sea breeze. Chomesuke picked up on his sudden change, probably because of his body tensing up, and she held his arm tighter, squeezing his hand in encouragement again.
By then, Bookman had also picked up Lavi's change, and his startled look deepened into a frown and narrowed panda eyes. "What is it, Lavi?"
Lavi opened his mouth, but he could only manage to gasp, "Oh God."
It's not just Exorcist and Noah!
