Thanks for the reviews, and all the wonderful support that people have given me in my writing. Please continue to do so! I will be very happy if you do. :) Time to give a special thanks to Mesonoxian who has reviewed faithfully to me with every chapter! :)
I felt my world around me begin to crumble as I whirled around to face the bodies of the two girls. Two people that I knew as my friends... my family. Two people that were going to leave me.
Chéri and Minerva.
My eyes were trained on their broken forms and after a moment of shock something rushed past my guard, clawing at my throat, begging to be released into the air.
I couldn't help it, I didn't even know that I had even started. I found myself screaming, screaming until my voice was breaking and then continuing. I did not take note of the tears that were rushing through my eyes. I felt my mind breaking away from reality, I could only scream into the empty air.
~.~.~0~.~.~
Al awoke with a start to a desperate cry that came from the darkness. His entire body numbed with strange pain that was running through his spine and halting at his left leg. Dread filled him as he attempted to move his left ankle. He felt in horror as his foot refused to come to life no matter how many times he willed it. Even as mind-numbing pain filled his mind, fogging it. Oh God.
His train of thoughts began to wander away from him to the house that he knew that his family awaited for both Elena and his return which should be happening any minute. Wait... shit: Elena!
"Elena!" He called out hoarsely, struggling up to his feet, only to collapse to one side the moment that he placed weight on his left foot.
"Elena!" Terror filled his being: where was she? Had she woken up alone as well? Al hoped so... he didn't want to face the other option: that she was fighting someone, the devil that ruled this land of nightmares, all alone and most likely injured or~ no he couldn't think like that.
But still what was he supposed to do: he didn't even know where he was! He took a deep breath trying to calm himself.
Then clearness filled his mind and an all too familiar melody entered in place of fear.
And the boy falls asleep ,
The flame inside the breathing ashes.
One, then two,
The floating swelling, the dear profile.
Thousands of dreams, dreams that pour upon this earth.
One the night when the silver eyes swing,
The shining you, who was born.
Millions of years,
No matter how many millions of years,
Return prayers to this earth.
I continue praying,
Love for the last.
He remembered that song: it was the one that Elena always attempted to sing along when he tried to play the melody that she had given him as a birthday present one year when they were kids.
He looked down at his leg, which he found to be bleeding. He might not be able to go to her, though perhaps she would be able to~
His hands floated fluidly over the violin case opening it with callused fingers that were, all the same, gentle as one could be.
The music sheet became pictured in his mind as he lifted the instrument and rested it against he chin.
If he couldn't go to her, then by the power of God allow for her to hear the music.
~.~.~0~.~.~
I felt my whole body shake as that girl's voice came back to me laughing hysterically, "Do you feel the pain? The pain of losing someone that you care about? Hehe... HA HA HA!"
I turned to look at her with fury burning in my veins, "Where's Alistair? Who are you?" I demanded.
She attempted to control herself from laughing, and looked at me with bright golden eyes that were laced with malice, her left hand hiding the smirk that she had plastered across her face while enjoying my pain.
"Does it matter were the boy is? Does he really matter all that much to you?" I bit my tongue at her tone which was a mixture of false concern and bitterness. What had I done to get this girl mad?
"You're probably wondering A. where you are, or B. why I brought you here. The answer is simple, of course. You are in my world of dreams, like it? The reason that I brought you here is also quite obvious: I'm just wanted to show you what this pathway has in store for you dare you continue to trek it. We, the people of your nightmares, will be your downfall."
Her skin darkened to liquid amber, and her eyes grew an impossibly brighter gold. Smirking she pulled up her black bangs, revealing a neat row of crosses that were embedded into her forehead.
"Do you remember these? Come on, you've already seen them once." she hinted her eyes glowing, and then it hit me.
"Y-You were one of the people that attacked the house!" I cried out in outrage, summoning my Innocence before pointing the blade tip at her.
"Hehe, you really do act just like him! When he was younger that is." Something in her creepy smile was not as murderous as before, and she might have been able to pass off as a little girl once again.
"Why did you show me that memory?" I realized that she was in her own way, aiding me while still seeming to be one of the antagonists.
She threw her head back and let out a laugh, then looked back at me, "Because I owed Allen-chan a lot for multiple things. Now I have done all that I needed to in paying him back. That doesn't mean that I won't kill you if you try to do something stupid."
She seemed like she was half joking and at the same time entirely serious, "You're really creepy." I muttered under my breath and she snorted.
"Thank you, my name, if you want to know, is Roade." She said lightly, and something told me that this conversation was not going to last very long.
Then Roade rested her hand on her chin, thinking, tilting her head to the darkness of the long room.
"What is that noise?" She muttered murderous and annoyed, and suddenly my ears caught a hold of the sound as well: violin music that would most likely have been played better on the piano.
"That song..." she sounded astonished, and I nodded, "AL!"
My voice bounced off the walls, causing the melody to halt in its tracks, and then restart after a moment.
Something whipped past my ear and I jerked around to look back at the girl, her face murderous once again.
"Do you have anger-management problems or something?" I yelled angered, though all that she did was laugh, and the candles that had been floating around dimly lighting the room suddenly sharpened to having a point that rivaled steak knives.
"So now you're going to try and kill me?" I asked, rolling my eyes at the un-creativity of the unfolding events. Roade gave me another shot of that annoying smile before sending another candle at me, then another.
"I never said that I wouldn't kill you." she defended as I split one of her light sources in half before blocking another one.
I charge the girl in front of me and slashed at her, successfully splitting her arm from the rest of her body. She only smirked at my horror as the arm quickly was regenerated, "No fair." I spat, though she only shrugged.
"It depends on which side you're rooting for, in my point of view it is perfectly fair." She reasoned, and I marveled at the amount of time that it took her to switch from being happy to being angered. Did it have something to do with the melody?
She charged me, I blocked. I charged, she easily ducked out of the way. We often clashed together, wrecking havoc in the already-demolished room. We both took the time to size one another up, trying to figure out just how powerful the other was.
The melody was in the back of my mind, seeming to get louder by the second, filling me with a strange hate. The way that the tune seemed to flow simply made me nauseous. I wanted to make it stop, though at the same time that fury at it gave me strength that, at the time, I didn't know that I possessed.
"Death Ball!" The words flew past my lips with ease, creating a number of explosions, sending smoke rushing into the air, blinding the eyes from anything more than a foot away. Something fluttered around my shoulders, and looking down I noted the white material that surrounded my body as a shield. Now it was my turn to smirk.
"Crown Belt!" White ribbons flew from the cloak wrapping themselves around Roade's arms as she attempted to conjure another squad of candles to come and attack me.
A flurry of blood lust flew through my veins and my sword arm moved in a strike to the point where the side of the broad sword rested threateningly on the side of the young-looking girl's neck.
I looked into honey-colored irises, and something within my mind snapped. My left arm jerked back, and then brought itself foreword at a break-neck speed.
There was the sound of steel cutting across air, and a coal-colored lock fluttered softly to the ground. The warning lay thick in the air as Roade looked at me hauntingly her face twisted in an uncharacteristic frown.
"Why didn't you try kill me?" her voice was cool but carried the hint of a shaken child, "This was a warning, tell your leader, who ever he is, that dare he take one more step toward attacking the people that I call my family I will not hesitate in being the bane of yours."
"Why would I be your messenger?" Her voice was now angered at the thought of being a lackey, of an Exorcist no less. I only responded with a small smile, "Because, I spared your life, did I not?"
Her eyes grew wide, and then boiled with anger. The air stilled and the shadows began to once again shift into an illusion. Though just as soon as it started, a male's voice called out, "Heaven's Tune: Soul's Duet! Maker of Eden: Activate!"
A shadow soon loomed over me, and a tangle of vines covered the space around me, making it impossible to attack or to be attacked. It reminded me of Fluer de Morte somewhat, though more peaceful and much more powerful.
"What?" I asked myself, and for a brief moment I thought that I saw a shadow of a man in his forties, his weepy eyes covered by thick glasses, and his curly, mouse-brown hair tied into a loose ponytail. There was a low glow in his hands and while in a flash of bright light he was gone, the glimmer was still there resting on the ground.
A green cube-like object with two rings hovering around it: Innocence. Holding the glowing item close I got to my feet. I placed it in my pocket, hoping that it would be cushioned enough.
"AL!" I called out, and was relieved to hear the desperate call of, "Elena! Is that you?" There he was, grasping his musical instrument with a white-knuckled grip. His face washed over with relief, and he attempted to come over to me, only to knell over the moment that he did.
I rushed to his side, "What's the matter, are you hurt?" I clucked worriedly, though all that he did was give me a small smile, and shakily explain, "It's just my ankle, I think that I landed on it wrong when I fell down here." He was soon bowled over as I attempted to hug the last drop of life out of him.
"Elena?" He asked confused, and I looked around, "Where are we?"
He scratched the back of his head, wondering the exact same question, though he still attempted to explain, "One of the attacks that Heaven's Tune releases is an attack that wills one exorcist that has died in the past to return for a slight amount of time and aid me with their Innocence's abilities. I've never used it before, so I really don't know who's this is." He pointed to the vine ceiling.
Tiedoll. The name rang in my head, and I tucked it away in my memory. "The question is: how do we get out of here." Al wondered to himself, though as if to comply to his question, the floor cracked and split open and we were soon falling into blackness.
~.~.~0~.~.~
Minnie looked outside the kitchen window at the sun set over the beautiful city of Paris. Where were they? They had never taken this long before, then again she had never been all alone like this since she could remember. A part of her really wished that she had also gotten Innocence, maybe then she wouldn't be so left out.
No, she couldn't think that way, she had to stay positive. Still... she wouldn't have minded going shopping with her two best friends.
Wait, she tilted her head so that she had a better view of the road, where two figures limped down the road, one battle-worn, the other resting on the other not using his left leg. Oh God.
She darted out of the house with a shocked, "WHAT HAPPENED?"
Okay people, I AM OUT OF SCHOOL! SUMMER'S HERE BABY! THANK THE LORD AND ALL THE OTHER GODS AND GODDESSES THAT MADE THE WONDERFUL THING THAT IS SUMMER! I can't wait to be able to sleep in until noon and do absolutely nothing except type and work on how to write battle scenes! (They are so hard to write!)
It's time to relax and have the time of my life! I have no worries, I love being a teen with no life. :)
And yes, the song is the same melody that Allen played on the piano. I had my friend play it on his violin, and it actually sound pretty nice!
Translations:
"Tarjetas Santas: Reina de Corazones," Holy Cards, Queen of Hearts, Spanish
'Ōzuchi Kozuchi' Little Hammer, Big Hammer, Japanese
'-Chan' a term of endearment for girls-informal Japanese
Please Read and Review! :)
Marine :)