Spoiler Warning: Lots of 'em. Particularly the ones about Allen. Up to date with manga chapter 178.
Disclaimer: -man, Tyki and Miranda all belong to Katsura Hoshino. I get nothing from this but the fun of playing in her world and the pleasure of sharing my odd ideas with other awesome fans of this series.
A/N: It's been another long wait but then this chapter is a particularly long one, with a lot of info... whether or not that means I need to edit better remains to be seen. Thanks all once again for patience and your lovely reviews. I hope all of you will join me in sending out best wishes for Hoshino sensei to get better very soon.
WORLD ENOUGH AND TIME...
His native home deep imag'd in his soul.
- Homer
Sadness is always the legacy of the past;
regrets are the pain of the memory.
- Anonymous
It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly and took the edge of chill from the spring air, still...
Miranda drew her shawl closer about her shoulders as she picked up her pace to match Tyki's stride.
Once again she was following the Noah, but this time the journey was far more pleasant. The achingly beautiful forest track was a far cry from the horrors of London, and their destination, the little village of Piódão, was a far more pleasant prospect than the previous encounter with the Earl.
Her thoughts had also changed. Before her mind had been spinning in endless circles of trust and betrayal and choice. Now...
She sighed. The worry could not stay in her head.
Miranda took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air. It was sweet, due no doubt to the white blossoming trees scattered among the pine and oak that surrounded them.
The past few weeks were like a nightmare burned away in the light of day.
For herself, physically at least, Miranda felt better than she had in ages, well rested, clean, and, amazingly, comfortably dressed.
It surprised her that Tyki had thought to provide more than just dresses. Besides the shawl he'd also, apparently, ransacked the Noah of Lust's wardrobe for a pair of sensible boots and snug leather gloves. He'd even, she reflected, with a sort of dazed embarrassment, arranged the appropriate undergarments.
Of course, those, she noted wryly, were less sensible than frilly.
At least he'd been circumspect enough to avoid any leather and black lace concoctions. Unlike that horrible dress that he'd somehow left behind on the floor of her room.
She'd kicked the atrocity firmly under the bed. What hadLulubelle been thinking?
Of course, she herself was trying very hard not to think about what Tyki had done, or, she blushed, not done.
She was also trying not to think about how her traitorous body had responded to him. He was handsome... but he was... he...
"... don't you think?"
Miranda started and stopped, looking up. Tyki had paused and was peering back at her, a wide grin spread across his face.
She grew flustered. "I... I'm sorry... I wasn't..."
Tyki chuckled. "You weren't paying attention. Never mind..."
With a squeak of surprise Miranda suddenly found Tyki's arm around her waist and he was hoisting her up and over a particularly muddy patch of ground. He released her with a wink and strode on ahead, lighting a cigarette as his long black coat flared out behind him.
Miranda stared after him a long moment before picking up her skirts and scrambling to catch up.
One of the most significant differences between yesterday and today seemed to be Tyki himself.
Before, Tyki had been elegant, beautiful but dark and cold. He had been like a polished knife with sharp neat edges. He had been Noah. Now...
His long legs easily carried him over the rough and uneven ground, smoke curled about his head, and wisped away in his wake. He had the air of a country gentleman with his finely tailored trousers, crisp white shirt and vest beneath the riding coat. However, the pants were tucked into sturdy boots, the vest was unbuttoned, his tie was askew and his hair unruly. If the Noah Tyki had been like a breath tightly held in, the human was an exhalation into comfortable disarray.
She watched as he climbed onto a fall of rocks to reach an ancient looking tree, slapping his hand familiarly against the thick trunk. He threw his head back, looking up into the canopy of twisted branches, bare but for those delicate white blossoms.
His eyes grew soft and his smile warmed.
Miranda's breath caught.
He seemed so happy like this. So human.
She could almost forget he was a monster.
"What kind of tree is it?"
"Hmmm?" Tyki looked down at her, blinking as though he'd forgotten she was even there.
Oh. Miranda bit her lower lip, she hadn't meant to speak aloud.
"The tree..." she ventured again, nervously. "What is it?"
"Ah." He jumped from his perch with an easy grace. "This is an almond tree."
He gestured around them. "Usually they don't grow in the mountains, it's too cold, but these," He looked up again and smiled fondly, "are stubborn survivors. Some years there won't be anything, but if the spring is early and warm they have a chance to bloom."
He looked towards her again. "Almond blossoms are a symbol of hope you know."
Miranda felt a soft fluttering in her chest. "That's lovely," she murmured.
Tyki's warm expression slid into a wicked smirk as he caught her hand and and pulled it to his chest. Miranda gasped and stumbled forward slightly. Tyki tapped the reticule bound about her wrist.
"Ah, my Lady," he purred, "What do you need with flowers when you carry your 'hope' right here?"
Miranda took a sharp, nervous breath. She hadn't told Tyki specifically that she was carrying the Heart, but he seemed to know it just the same.
"I didn't think it was safe to leave it behind," she said defensively.
Tyki chuckled and released her.
"I wasn't implying otherwise." Tucking his hands carelessly into his pockets, he turned on his heel and strode away, leaving Miranda feeling unbalanced and a bit...
"Come along, Miranda." Tyki kept going, not even bothering to look back.
She hesitated, confused, attempting to place an unfamiliar twitch of emotion that narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Could she possibly...?
Far ahead, Tyki began to whistle in a way that wasn't so much jaunty as... provoking.
Ah, that was the feeling, irritation.
With a long, heartfelt sigh, Miranda Lotto started after the Noah once more.
Tyki was in excellent spirits.
The cool clean air, the sun, the soft white flowers and the rich permanent green of the pine. It was glorious.
It was as if he had stepped out of a deep dark place and was embracing the light for the first time in ages.
He knew this forest, knew these paths. If he did not dwell on the memories of his past here, it was still etched into his soul so deeply not even the blackness of the Noah could wipe it out.
He was home.
That he even had a home outside of the clan was, among the Noah, a significant exception.
When a Noah awoke, the usual process was the complete erasure of their human past and everyone associated with it. Their lives were to begin then. Those of the clan were to know nothing of the others previous lives and would not have dared even to inquire.
Of course that didn't mean there wasn't enthusiastic gossip on the matter. Skinn's awakening, according to Road, was accompanied by a pair of particularly spectacular fires, a dock yard and a catholic church. There were no survivors. He also recalled Sherrill mentioning some small, isolated town in the Americas disappearing without a trace the night Jasdebi were welcomed into fold.
The rest of the Noah had similar experiences, though he'd yet to hear even a whisper of Road's past.
Tyki's situation was, by all accounts, unique, possessed, as he was, of a widely well known social position, if not a title, not to mention a rather extensive fortune.
The Duke had found both to be of use and so Tyki 's history, and Piódão, remained intact.
To be perfectly honest he felt it was the only good those things had ever been to him. He didn't give a damn about the money and, really, he could happily spend the rest of his life avoiding the various high society parties the Duke and Sherrill seemed determined to drag him to every few weeks.
He shuddered. Most certainly he could do without the marriage minded mamas who pursued him across the dance floors, young unmarried daughters bobbing in their wakes. It seemed to occur with more frequency now that Brother Sherrill had decided he ought to have a wife. A rather fruitless notion, Tyki thought, as it seemed the Duke's scenario would be coming to a climax in the next few months.
The end of the world.
He shook away the dark turn of his thoughts. This place was worth more to him than any of that. This place was his own.
He was very clear about it's position in his life. It lay between his vagabond and Noah worlds. In this place he could simply be. Since awakening as Noah eight years previous he had returned, at least once or twice a year for a few days at a time. It felt... cleansing, somehow.
When he thought about such things, which was not often, Tyki wondered if perhaps it was how he was able to hold onto his humanity longer than the others.
If this was the reason that he now wavered.
Well, what it afforded him now was a place to play his game beyond the watchful eyes of the Duke.
A place to hide his precious trump card.
Tyki looked back over his shoulder. Miranda trailed a ways behind him. In his distraction he'd ranged farther ahead than he thought.
Pausing, he lit another cigarette and waited for her to catch up.
He watched her tread carefully over the uneven ground, occasionally picking up her skirts to avoid stumbling over roots growing across the trail. Tyki smirked. She did look better in a dress.
Of course, she had picked the most somber of the dresses, a long sleeved, high necked, unrelieved black. It's only consolation was that it flattered her figure perfectly with it's snug bodice, tapered waist and flaring skirt.
He wondered if the choice of the black had been a conscious one. If she were in mourning for her fallen comrades. She didn't seem to be very upset at the moment, but then, he supposed she was in a sort of shock
At least her shawl, a brightly patterned thing that reminded him pleasantly of the gypsy style, added some colour. As he had hoped, it lent her pale complexion a bit of warmth and she desperately needed that.
He frowned.
Despite her sleep and the bit of food and coffee she'd managed to keep down, she still looked weary. The dark circles beneath her eyes bore mute testimony to the hardships she'd endured while being hunted by his clan. She was also far too thin. When he'd lifted her earlier he was shocked at how little she had weighed. The feel of her ribs beneath his hands had irritated him for some reason.
The hunt had also bruised and battered her. He supposed that was another reason for her choice in dresses. The scratch across her face was her only really visible injury, a rough red line stretching beneath her right eye and over her cheek. He wondered idly if it would scar. She might draw a bit of attention in the village, but he supposed her obvious clumsiness would keep the inevitable speculation on a more innocent track.
He sighed again and fidgeted. For some reason she had slowed considerably. Perhaps she was reluctant to join him again. He frowned, the thought was... irksome. Then again... As he watched her he noted her attention fixed on the ground in front of her. Tyki narrowed his eyes, attempting to pick out what had fascinated her so...
Tyki chuckled. Ahead of her on the path, a small, brown speckled quail skittered along.
The woman was positively entranced by the thing.
Bemused, Tyki watched her follow the little creature off the path and into a thicket. There was a hunting trail most likely...
"What are you doing, Lady Exorcist?"
She looked up, startled.
"These are the mountains, you know." He called lazily, dropping the spent cigarette to the ground and grinding it beneath his heel. "It really isn't safe to wander off the main trails like that."
Even from this distance Tyki could tell she was blushing again. He grinned. He rather enjoyed the constant stain on her cheeks.
"I'm sorry!" she wailed. "I'll come back around."
She took a step forward and there was an echoing crack like a gunshot as her foot apparently found a dead branch.
A whole covey of quail exploded from scrub around her, filling the air with clouds of brown speckled feather and the thunder of wing-beats, muffling the shriek that escaped her lips.
Within seconds they were gone... and so was Miranda.
Tyki blinked. Well, she'd been there a moment ago.
Tyki entered the thicket at a run, allowing his body to phase unfettered through the tangling underbrush.
He skidded to a halt. Where Miranda had stood there was now only a bush with a distinctly rumpled air about it. Shifting his feet cautiously he sensed a definite dip along it's roots. He wrenched the branches aside.
And looked down.
Of course there was a hill. The trees and shrubbery that grew from it were quite tall and created the illusion of flat ground.
Miranda lay at the bottom in a disheveled heap, flailing madly.
Her skirts over her head.
Tyki's mouth quirked involuntarily and he resisted the urge to sink to the ground in a fit of ungentlemanly laughter. Swiftly, he climbed down to her side.
At the sound of his approach she stilled. Tyki's gaze swept her trembling form and lingered on her legs. While the skirt of the dress had gone over her head, her petticoat bunched practically around her hips, affording him a very good look indeed.
They were very nice legs, encased in tight black stockings and, luckily, uninjured.
Reluctantly he dragged his gaze away and crouched next to her. He twitched the skirt from her face and grinned widely down at the panting woman. Her face had gone an intriguing shade of red.
Tyki chuckled. "Are you alright?"
Miranda grabbed at the fabric and pulled it as if to cover her face again, before apparently realizing it was her skirt, and desperately scrambled to cover her legs.
Tyki watched with amusement.
"Quê pena," he sighed, "hiding those lovely legs."
"Don't look!" she wailed.
"Well," he purred, "if you don't want me to look..."
Swiftly his hand caught her ankle. She squeaked in shock as he leaned over her, dragging his hand up her leg and over her thigh. Reluctantly he shifted his hand away, caught the hem of her petticoat and pulled it firmly into place, promptly followed by her skirt.
His hand tingling slightly from the rather enjoyable warmth, Tyki grinned as he took in her wide eyes and soft mouth parted in an 'O' of surprise. She was still flat on her back in the grass and, with a chuckle, the Noah caught up one of her hands, slid his own beneath her back and pulled her upright.
Myriad emotions flickered across her face, settling finally, intriguingly, into recognition. How odd. He released her and sat back on his heels. She cocked her head slightly as a frown creased her brow.
Tyki began to laugh.
Miranda's expression returned to her earlier irritation as her eyes narrowed.
"Stop laughing at me,"she said, failing entirely to sound stern. She flushed again.
"You look like a haystack," he managed.
A look of horror swept her face and her hands flew to her hair.
Tyki laughed even harder. Her hair stuck out at all angles, decorated with leaves and bits of twig. The ribbon that had been holding her hair in place now dangled sadly from one errant lock.
"Stop that," she moaned, covering her face with her hands to hide the deepening colour of her cheeks.
Biting back his amusement, Tyki leaned close and pulled her hands away. She looked absolutely miserable. He smirked.
"May I...?" He murmured. He slid around until he sat behind her. She leaned instinctively away from him. He grasped her hair and tugged her back.
"Ow...!"
"Sit still," he ordered. She trembled but kept her place as he pulled the black ribbon out and held it in his teeth.
She gasped as he stroked through her soft brown curls. He felt her shudder under his touch as his fingers slid through her hair, gently untangling it from the debris. Tyki focused on the pleasure of the silky strands against his skin.
He was reminded suddenly of their fall into the past. Catching at the strands of her mind. He could taste the emotion, the colour of her character. The vibrations of inarticulate thought, sliding against his own. The exquisite sensation of it.
The heat began to rise in him and he imagined pulling her hair aside. He would lower his head and slide his lips along the curve of her jaw. He imagined slipping his hand beneath her skirts and dragging it up her leg again, not stopping this time, making her writhe under his touch...
He hummed lightly, pressing his fingers gently against her scalp. His thumbs danced along the nape of her neck as he caught up her hair to tie the ribbon in place.
She shivered, sighing, and unconsciously leaned back, almost against him.
The character of his desire darkened.
He tamped down a sudden urge to twist his fingers and pull at her hair painfully. Wrenching her head back. Exposing that tempting white throat... He took a deep breath. Her prey-like movements were tempting the predator within him. Somewhere in the recesses of his soul the Noah whined...
He released her abruptly and stood in one fluid motion. She started and twisted to look up at him.
"It's getting late," he said, roughly. He grabbed her arms and hauled her to her feet. There was still a light flush to her cheeks. Tyki ignored it and turned away. He gestured vaguely downwards.
"We can head down to the main road from here."
He sighed.
"It would have been faster had we taken this route in the first place but I thought a walk in the forest would be pleasant. I should have realized you require the flattest of surfaces to keep upright."
The silence was deafening. Tyki chanced a look. Miranda's gaze was cast down. She was biting her bottom lip again. He felt his temperature rise once more and suppressed a growl.
Damn it. The game had only just begun and he was already reconsidering his decision not to seduce her.
In this case the future prize was more desirable than the present pleasure... wasn't it?
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I've spoiled your day."
Tyki blinked at her.
"You seemed very happy."
Tyki felt a sudden swift affection for the woman, slightly different from the heat of a moment ago. This was one of the reasons he liked humans so much. They were so completely unpredictable. He expected the apology, the woman was constantly apologizing, but her concern for his happiness... that was a pleasant surprise.
"Never mind," he said cheerfully, his mood abruptly reversed, "we would have had to make our way to the road eventually." He chuckled. "Your shortcut might actually save some time."
She was blushing again. Lovely.
She looked one way and then the other, avoiding his gaze.
"Which... which way?"
He waved vaguely at the thick tangled undergrowth.
"But..." She stared at it. "There isn't a path."
He gave her a long look. "And what do I need with a path?"
Tyki watched with amusement as irritation flickered across her face.
"Well, yes, you won't, but I..."
"Just how limited," he interrupted with a purr. "Do you think my power is?"
"What do you... Was!" Tyki scooped her up into his arms like a bride.
She was frozen in shock and Tyki took a moment to enjoy the warmth of the woman pressed against him.
"What are you doing?," she moaned.
"Ah, my Lady, this way neither of us needs a path." Her face paled as she seemed to catch on.
"Nein, nein!," she wailed. Tyki grinned, pleased. He'd managed to frighten her into her native tongue. She balled up her fists and beat ineffectually at his chest, as he strode forward into the bush. His grin grew wider.
Oh, yes. This game was fun.
It was perhaps one of the most disturbing experiences of her life. That was saying a lot as her life had been full of disturbing experiences ever since her first encounter with the Innocence.
She trailed along behind Tyki again, trying very hard not to think about it.
Miranda had stopped struggling quickly when they entered the trees. When she felt the first of the branches sliding through her body she realized she desperately did not want Tyki to let go and so she clung to him tightly, pressing her face against his shoulder. His low laughter had reverberated through her body.
It was horrible, she felt like a ghost. Tyki was the only thing that seemed solid to her. She concentrated entirely on him. His warmth, the beat of his heart. Then they'd reached the road and he'd set her down swiftly and unceremoniously and started off again without saying a word.
She felt a familiar tug in her memory, as she did when he'd helped her sit up.
It was like the dream, except she didn't feel the same sense of safety she had then.
It was... troubling.
She remembered the dream now but she couldn't focus on it.
She remembered everything really. Yesterday and the days before that, but her mind seemed to shy away whenever she tried to think too deeply of them.
Miranda was confused and frustrated. What was this? Whenever she tried to wrap her thoughts around what was happening to her, her mind would just... slide.
And so she noticed the way the air moved slightly around her, the taste of it. The blue of the sky. The mountain stretching away above them on one side of the road, and the breaks in the trees on the other that revealed sheer, dangerous dizzying drops.
She shivered at the thought of driving a carriage at any speed along the curving narrow road.
And she noticed Tyki, striding away in front of her with more purpose than he had before. Not even smoking now. The long lean muscles of his back shifting beneath his coat as he moved.
She trembled at the memory of his fingers in her hair, the heat of his body behind her...
What was wrong with her?
She tried to pull her thoughts back to the dream, to her friends, but Tyki had slowed and now they were passing the tree line.
Piódão clung to the side of the mountain below them, a tumbled mass of rock that seemed bleak until one drew close enough to see the walls of the houses were made up of stones in varying shades of brown and rust and gray. All of them had bright blue doors and window frames.
She adored the little village at once.
The road they were walking seemed to eventually end up in the main square but Tyki led her off onto one of the side streets that took them into the village proper.
Miranda followed Tyki down the narrow stairs that wove between the closer built houses while laundry strung high above their heads fluttered in the brisk spring air.
Tyki navigated the labyrinth of streets without hesitation and eventually stopped before one of the large blue doors that looked like any of the other blue doors around it.
He stepped up and rapped smartly.
After a few moments a young woman, apron and nose dusted lightly with flour, opened the door and started in surprise.
"Bom dia." Tyki said pleasantly. "É a Sra. Diaz no repouso?"
He offered her a dazzling smile, and she coloured.
"Sim, sim," she stuttered. "Apenas um momento..."
She turned and fled into the house leaving the door to swing wide. Tyki winked at Miranda and ushered her in, shutting the door behind them. With casual familiarity, he led her into a room off of the narrow hallway.
Miranda shook at the idea of entering someone's home uninvited, but Tyki seemed confident enough... She almost laughed aloud when she realized she was trusting a Noah to observe proper etiquette.
There was a low murmur of voices in the room beyond. Within moments a small, older woman appeared in the doorway. She wore a gray stuff dress and wisps of silvered and black hair escaped from the scarf tied about her head. She stared at Tyki in delight.
"Tyki! Isso não é meu Tyzito!"
"Olá, Tia."
With a grin Tyki stepped forward and caught the woman in a massive hug. She laughed and kissed his cheeks.
They spoke in rapid Portuguese and Miranda held herself quietly next to the wall. She felt as though she were intruding. The woman was familiar to her and it took her a moment realize where.
Tyki's past.
She had been younger then but she had appeared to be fixture in Tyki's life. There had been a man as well. Not the iron haired creature that seemed to cause him pain, but a sturdy, powerful man who wore a kind face, the match to this woman. She could picture them together and... Oh!
The little house Tyki had brought her to. That was where she placed them.
How strange it was, remembering a past that was not her own...
"Você fala o português?"
Miranda started, the woman was eying her curiously.
Shocked at the unexpected attention, Miranda floundered a moment, trying to make sense of the question. Tyki chuckled and apparently answered for her.
"Não, realmente."
The woman gave Tyki a long look, then swiftly boxed his ear . He yelped.
"That is rude Tyzito," she said crisply in perfect, accented English. "Allowing me to speak on when she does not understand..."
Tyki rubbed at the side of his head.
"You say that as though I had a chance to get a word in."
She pursed her lips. "Would you like me to do the other...?"
The Noah sighed, though Miranda noted a spark of amusement in his eyes, and drew himself up.
"Tia, this is Fräulein Miranda Lotto. My housekeeper."
She blinked. Housekeeper?
"And this, Miranda," he murmured, catching up the older woman's hand and kissing it soundly, " is Senhora Maria Ana Diaz. She's been taking care of the house in my absence." He clutched his hand to his chest theatrically. "She's also spurned my most heartfelt declarations of love and broken my heart on several occasions."
There was a sudden clamor of feminine laughter from the room beyond, swiftly silenced. Sra. Diaz sighed at Tyki's pleased smirk.
"Must you do that Tyki?"
He gave the woman a wide eyed, innocent look. "Is it my fault your daughters-in-law eavesdrop?"
She scowled. "You have a very bad effect on them." The Noah grinned wolfishly at her and she rolled her eyes. "You're not as handsome as all that, Tyzito."
As he began to laugh, Sra. Diaz turned her back on him and smiled warmly at Miranda.
"Fräulein Lotto? You're German then?"
"Ja, but please call me Miranda, Senhora Diaz."
The woman laughed and clasped her hands between her own. "None of that, you must call me Tia."
"Tia." Miranda whispered.
She peered at the woman shyly from beneath her lashes, and wondered how long the woman's kindness would last. Miranda was far too used to this sort of thing.
The wives of her employers, the older women she would work with, she always began well with them.
They would be patient as they taught her, but, as she failed time and again, as she revealed the true extent of her incompetence, patience swiftly became frustration and finally anger. It was as though they felt she had deliberately deceived them. That they had wasted both their time and affection on her.
It was always hard to lose a job but losing those friendships, that was the even more painful.
The woman nodded at her and continued. "And how do you like the cottage?"
"Oh very much," she stammered, still trying to reconcile the normal conversation with the surreal situation. "It's lovely."
Tia Diaz sighed. "That was my home long ago, when my Jorges was the grounds keeper for Tyki's grandfather, Senhor Galhardo."
Well that explained her memories of Tyki's past, this woman and her husband in that place. Then, that cruel man with the iron hair must have been... She glanced at Tyki whose face had become expressionless. She felt a sudden stab of compassion. Yes, she could understand very well how hard one's own family could be...
She started as the woman suddenly cupped her chin, and lifted her face, studying her intently.
"Goodness, you're very thin aren't you? And that's quite the nasty cut there..."
"I found her in the street." Tyki interrupted smoothly. "She'd just lost her job. She was so forlorn I ended up hiring her on the spot." He offered Miranda a wicked grin. "She's proven to be most charming company."
She felt an unexpected shock of pain. The Black Order, her friends. Tia Diaz's expression was one of infinite gentleness and sympathy. Without warning tears began to bead in the corners of Miranda's eyes.
Instantly the woman was embracing her as she sobbed into her shoulder.
"There, there. It sounds as though you've had a rough time of it. Don't worry, everything is fine now." She patted her back reassuringly as her tears swiftly faded. "Tyki is a good man. He will be an excellent employer."
Miranda's eyes flickered to Tyki's face. His expression hovered somewhere between a smirk and a frown, as if his feelings were conflicted on the subject of Miranda's pain.
Embarrassed, she disentangled herself from the older woman's arms. "I – I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"Don't worry, caro. Moving to such an isolated place must seem very overwhelming. Tears are going to be a part of it." She turned back to Tyki. "I take it that, since you've hired a housekeeper, you're staying on?"
Tyki smiled at her warmly. "It looks like it, Tia."
She reached out and patted his cheek with affection. "That's good, Tyzito. I've missed you."
"Yes, well..." Miranda stared in amazement as the Noah's face coloured slightly, as if he were now the one embarrassed.
"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about... Miranda's perfectly capable of looking after things through the week, but if you'd like to come in Saturdays to help with the heavy cleaning I can double what I pay..."
"Don't you dare, you pay me far too much as it is."
He shrugged. "It's only money."
Tia sniffed. "I don't care what sort of patronage you receive from that Duke of yours, money is like water, the slightest change in the weather and it dries up."
"Yes, Tia caro." He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes.
"I'll do it, however..."
Miranda didn't hear the rest of the exchange. The Duke. That was the Earl. That was what the Noah called the Earl.
But this woman knew him, or knew of him at least. How was that possible? The Earl belonged to the shadows didn't he? If not, then he... Her eyes flickered up and over the easy and amused face of Tyki Mikk as he allowed himself to be scolded by Sra. Diaz.
Tyki didn't hide in the shadows. Nor did the other Noah. Did the Earl wear a human face too? Did he walk in the light of the world he wanted to cleanse, walk among the people he sought to consume? Did the humans he meet smile at him? Talk to him? Did they shake hands with a creature who wanted to tear their souls away from God?
Though the little house was warm she shivered.
Had she met him unawares, would she have liked that human Duke as much as she liked the human Tyki Mikk?
Tia's warm hands suddenly covering her own dragged her from her darkening thoughts.
"It's been a pleasure Miranda. I will see you later. Now..." She released her hands and began to shoo her and Tyki towards the door, "I have work to do, and you're disrupting my household..." She shot a swift glare towards the doorway at the back of the room where a flurry of activity and stifled giggles announced the swift dispersal of her daughters-in-law.
Within minutes they had been ushered back outside, and they were alone.
Without a word, Tyki turned and made his way down the narrow street and Miranda stumbled after him, more confused than ever before...
An hour's reflection later, Miranda still did not know what to think. She sat, huddled under her shawl, watching Tyki at a distance as he made arrangements in the market. He chatted animatedly, the center of attention, the prodigal son.
Miranda's mind was spinning. Now that she was alone, out of Tyki's mesmerizing orbit, she couldn't stop thinking. Slowly, the mist that had been protecting her from her pain, obscuring her memories through most of the day, was drifting away.
Allen had mentioned the very dangerous Tyki Mikk lived two lives. They'd all assumed the human life had merely been a mask for the Noah, a whim.
But Tyki seemed happy to be here, and for Tia Diaz he seemed to have a genuine affection. It did not feel like a mask. But it must be! Miranda wanted to scream, she did not understand!
How could he live among humans, how could he care about humans and still take part in the Earl's scenario?
...if you and your Innocence die, then the Earl's scenario will be the only future.
Of course, he did waver, that was the point of her survival wasn't it? There was something there, something that couldn't succumb completely to the dark.
That was something else Allen said, when he'd talked about the Ark, about Tyki's transformation when he'd tried to exorcise him. When the Earl had carried away the defeated Tyki, he'd said Tyki had been trying to suppress the Noah, to suppress it's full power. Allen had believed there was some part of Tyki fighting very hard against what he was becoming.
Allen had wanted to save the Noah. With the knowledge of hindsight Miranda wondered if Allen had sensed the Noah within himself. Perhaps he was hoping to be saved as well.
What was the Noah, that it could twist a good soul into darkness? Even Allen, the kindest, most gentle boy she had known...
She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut against the dazzling sunlight, still the bright chatter of the market assailed her. She needed a quiet place to think...
She twisted and looked up. The church. It dominated the square, an odd looking thing, walls a blinding white and accented with the same blue as the doors and windows of the village. Really, it looked as though it belonged in some seaside Greek town. Among the rich earthy colours of the mountains it was distinctly out of place.
She glanced back across the square. Tyki was thoroughly engaged.
She rose slowly and made her way carefully up the stairs. She pressed against the door and despite it's size and weight it swung open smoothly.
Leaving the heavy thing ajar behind her, she stepped quietly down the aisle towards the nave.
She had been educated in a catholic school, though she was protestant. It was yet another way she had never fit in, still...
She loved the quiet of a church, the dark wood, everything hushed, the scent of incense...
It had been a comfort to her... should be a comfort now but...
St. Paul's.
So many people had died, were dying yet in London. She possessed the Heart of Innocence but she hadn't saved them. Instead she had allied herself with one of those who'd destroyed it... a murderer...
The weight of it caused her knees to buckle and she sat heavily in one of the pews before she could collapse onto the floor.
This pain was overwhelming. She clutched at the pew in front of her and leaned her forehead on her trembling hands. She would have prayed if she thought God might actually listen.
She sat alone in the blessed stillness for a long while, not praying.
She slid one hand to her wrist and traced the outline of the Heart of Innocence in her reticule. It was warm to the touch and pulsed slightly. Why had it chosen her? What had she to offer it except guilt and incompetence? Allen had been so much stronger than she was, or Lenalee. Any other exorcist would have been better, would not have had to depend on the enemy for their chance to succeed.
She groaned quietly, she didn't even have the strength to hate the enemy that bound her...
"Miss, are you all right?"
Miranda jerked upright.
A young man was crouched next to her. A young man in a long black cassock.
A priest.
He looked less like a priest than an errant schoolboy with his tousled dirty blond hair and pale blue eyes. His face was warm and kind and creased with concern.
An ally.
"Miss?"
His expression was open and honest and innocent of any knowledge of the darkness descending swiftly upon them all...
"Ah, this is where you went."
Miranda jerked around guiltily. Tyki stood at the threshold of the church.
For a wild, confused moment Miranda though he wouldn't be able to enter. That the holy sanctity of the church would sense the evil in him and bar the way.
He stepped inside.
Miranda stumbled to her feet, the priest standing with her.
In a few easy strides Tyki was at Miranda's side, watching the other man with interest. The priest inclined his head with respect.
"Senhor Galhardo."
"It's Lord Mikk actually." Tyki smiled easily but his eyes glittered. "Bastards tend to take the mother's name, and the title was arranged by my patron."
The priest looked flustered. "Ah forgive me. When I was first assigned to this parish I did research on the area..."
"Ah yes," Tyki murmured in a bored sort of voice, "All the official records are under the name my grandfather hung on me." He cocked his head thoughtfully. "And you are the new Padre,
Rafael Valente." His mouth curved into a cruel smile. "After the Vatican burned I thought the Church had finally collapsed in on itself."
Padre Valente flinched, then sighed and smiled sadly.
"There has been some breakdown it is true, some heretical splits from the main, but the foundations are strong. The Holy Mother Church will rise again."
Tyki eyed him lazily. "That's a pretty speech but you'll forgive me if I don't cheer you on... Miranda!"
Miranda stiffened to automatic attention.
"The arrangements have been completed. We're leaving now."
Without waiting for a response, Tyki turned on his heel and strode out.
Miranda glanced at the Padre. The shadows flickered across his face, creating an impression of black fury, then it was gone. He turned a kind smile to Miranda.
"I hope we shall get along at least, Miss Miranda."
"Yes... I... thank you... for your kindness. And I'm sorry about..."
He shook his head. "It's all right. Go on, I wouldn't want to get you into trouble."
Miranda nodded and, embarrassed, turned and fled the church.
Tyki was waiting for her outside, staring down into the village square as a wagon was being loaded with wood and crates. Miranda stood next to him nervously, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.
"Were you going to ask him for help?" he murmured. He said it casually but Miranda sensed the dangerous edge to his voice.
"Yes," she whispered.
Tyki gave her a sharp look. She took a deep breath and continued.
"But then I realized he wouldn't know about the Order, the Noah, anything. He'd think I was mad and... and even if he didn't... even if he believed... what could he do? I would only put him in danger..."
Tyki chuckled darkly. "You're right about that. I have no great love for priests as it is."
Miranda swallowed nervously. "I... I... think the only way is this way... if... if I have any chance at all, it's only with you."
The Noah smiled, pleased. "Sherrill was right, you are a smart girl." He clutched her upper arm possessively. "You're mine Lady Exorcist..." He turned his gaze on her and she shivered as his eyes flickered gold. "Don't ever forget that."
He released her and trotted down the stairs. She stepped down after.
"You just missed Tia you know, while you were hiding away with God." He grinned boyishly at her, the Noah gone as if it had never been. "She brought us a cataplana. A good thing," he sighed. "I have no interest in cooking tonight..."
Miranda had no idea what a cataplana was, food of some sort, and she was sorry to have missed Tia Diaz but she could feel herself drowning again. While the encounter with the priest had been distracting, in the end it only made the guilt within her rip that much more deeply.
Distantly she watched a man approach Tyki and hand him the reins of a large dappled gray horse. He leaned towards it and murmured soothingly, stroking his had along it's neck. It's muscles rippled under his touch. After a moment he stepped into the stirrup and swung himself over it's back.
Then Tyki leaned over and held out his hand to her.
Miranda studied him a moment, then the impatiently pawing mount. She shook her head and stepped back.
The Noah quirked a smile at her. "Are you afraid of me or the horse?"
"Both I think."
Tyki laughed.
Miranda wrapped her arms about her shoulders and tried to keep from shivering as the wind picked up.
"Are you cold?" Without waiting for a reply Tyki dismounted, shrugged off his coat and threw it about her shoulders.
The coat smelled like Tyki but it wasn't... unpleasant. There was some heavy scent that was distinctly male and the sweet, smoky scent of expensive cigarettes. She trembled and she realized she had expected it to smell like dried blood.
"Thank you," she murmured.
There was a light pressure on her back as Tyki guided her silently to the wagon and helped her up.
She huddled down into a clear space between the crates and within minutes they were on their way.
The trip was slow and the wagon jolted violently over the rough road. Tyki rode ahead but occasionally, he would drop back. He would keep pace awhile as he gazed thoughtfully at Miranda, then he would canter ahead once more. She was aware of these things but it was as if it was all happening at a distance.
The flood gates had opened now. Before, her memories had slipped through her fingers like water, like dust... like the time of her dearest companions. Now she could not wrench her mind away. The dream, the deaths of her friends, the horrors of the past few months, the vision in St. Paul's. Even the strange pronouncement of the Noah twins about Tyki's sudden reluctance to kill. All of it spun about her head, beating at the inside of her skull.
She only came out of it long enough to notice the driver scowl and spit as they passed a long disused road, blocked with felled trees. She lifted her head slightly, trying to see what lay at the end but it was twilight now and the long shadows obscured everything.
"What was up there?"
The driver started at her unexpected question. He was silent so long Miranda didn't think he would answer her.
"That's the old villa," he muttered finally, in thickly accented English. "It burned 8 years ago. Many people died." His scowl grew deeper. "Just a fire they said, but you feel too, sim?" He spat again. "Evil thing happen there." He fell silent after that . Miranda glanced back at the gaping maw where the overgrown road disappeared into the trees. She shuddered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.
Only a few minutes later they turned into the trees and shortly they stopped before the little cottage that was now her home.
Her home.
Immediately Tyki was there, helping her from the wagon and pushing her towards the the front door.
"Go lie down," he ordered. "I'll call you later for supper."
In a daze Miranda made her way into the house, up the stairs and into the room.
She collapsed on the bed, clutched at her head and thought she might scream.
Maybe her screaming could drown out the screaming in her mind.
It was too much.
Explosions wracking the Black Order as they fled.
Her friends falling one by one as the Noah and their Akuma hunted them, the threads of energy that represented their lives fading from her Time Record.
Each death was seared into her consciousness. All deaths but three.
As painful as her memories were, not knowing was worse.
What had happened to them? To Lenalee, to Cross?
What had happened to Allen?
How long she lay there she didn't know. A few moments, a few hours, as Hell played out in her mind, the room grew black.
There was a light rap on her door.
"Miranda, come eat."
Somehow Miranda made it downstairs.
Tyki was in a good mood, seating her, chatting about nothing, playing the perfect host.
People in London were dying.
She stared at the food in front of her. It was a sort of stew. She was vaguely aware it smelled good. That she was hungry.
Somewhere in the rubble of London were the bodies of her three friends.
Tyki sat across from her, eating with enthusiasm as he continued to chatter about nothing.
"I think I'll take you up the mountain tomorrow..."
"Stop...," she whispered.
"It should be a mild day, if you like we could pack a lunch...."
"Please just stop it." She was a little louder this time but Tyki pressed on, unheeding.
"There's a plateau up there, overlooking the valley, it really is a lovely..."
"STOP IT!"
Miranda was somehow on her feet, shaking. Tyki watched her, his face empty of expression.
"I am not your guest! I'm a prisoner! Stop treating this like some sort of... of... holiday!"
"I'm assuming," he drawled. "There's a reason for this outburst."
Miranda stared into his cold eyes. She felt nauseous. Her mind was shrieking at her to stop, to leave well enough alone but she couldn't.
If she stopped now she would go mad.
"What... what happened to them? To General Cross, to Lenalee, to Allen? How..." she swallowed convulsively, painfully. "How did they die?"
Tyki sighed heavily and pushed his own plate away. "Now you've spoiled my appetite." With a scowl he picked up his wine glass and took a long drink. Miranda stared at the table in front of her and bit her lip to prevent her automatic apology. There was a sharp clink as the glass was set violently down. She looked up to find him watching her, eyes dark. He growled and stood abruptly, snapping the napkin from his lap and dropping it on the table.
"I'm turning in. I'll leave you to clean up. Try not to break too many plates..." He turned away. Without thought, Miranda lunged after him. She caught his arm and dragged him to a halt.
"You can't..." she panted. Both hands grasped at his arm like a lifeline. She stared at the floor, afraid to look at him. She was terrified but... but...
"I can't go to bed?" He sounded almost amused but his body remained stiff.
"Tell me what happened," she choked.
He was silent a long moment.
"Road trapped that Lee girl in one of her nightmares." He said abruptly. " She killed her with her own fears."
Miranda's heart ached fiercely.
"Cross," he continued, sounding as though he were merely discussing the weather. "Now Cross beat the twins quite handily, but Sherrill managed to catch him unawares and shattered his Innocence. Even without it that man fought on until Sherrill dealt him the killing blow."
Miranda could feel the tears pooling in her eyes. Her poor Lenalee... General Cross.
Still, her mind filled with shining white hair and a gentle smile.
Stay here Miranda, please.
The boy that had saved her.
"Allen... what happened to Allen?"
"He died."
"But how?" she groaned. "How did he die?"
"Dead is dead, what does it matter now?"
"Please..." she moaned.
Tyki' mouth stretched in a cruel smile.
"You care a great deal for someone so fickle. You know it was Allen's fault the Black Order was destroyed. Had he not betrayed the Earl..."
Miranda closed her eyes in pain.
"Of course," he continued relentlessly, "Allen betrayed the Order first."
She knew that, of course she knew that but...
"But he fought it," she whispered miserably, "He came back..."
"Precisely my point. He hurt the Duke terribly you know, and for what? The Order wasn't about to trust him again, his betrayal, as I understand it, was rather... spectacular."
Miranda winced at the memory.
"That foolish boy wanted to save everyone, and, because he couldn't choose a side, no-one was saved."
Tyki eyed her thoughtfully. "Except you my Lady..."
She pressed her hand over her mouth.
He leaned closer, eyes sliding from brown to gold. "Only you, in fact."
She felt sick, but instead of distracting her as it seemed he'd intended, it only clarified the question in her mind.
Her life, the Heart of Innocence, the world was in this man's hands.
"Did you... did you kill Allen?"
He stared at her.
"No," he said.
Miranda's expression must have betrayed some relief because Tyki's voice grew cold.
"Do not mistake me my dear, I certainly didn't spare him from any misguided sense of compassion."
He bared his teeth in a vicious snarl.
"I was prepared to pull out his beating heart with my own hand."
Miranda flinched at the savagery in Tyki's voice.
"You hated him that much?" she whispered
"I LOVED HIM!"
Miranda started at the sudden explosion of raw pain.
"We all loved him," he groaned. "He was Noah... he was family!"
"And then he betrayed us. I'll tell you a secret, my Lady, nothing turns to hate faster than love, if the loved one proves untrue."
Miranda sighed wearily. "Then I don't understand..."
"Understand what?"
Miranda was distracted and entirely missed Tyki's dangerous tone. "This... this scheme of yours. Aren't you betraying your family like Allen betrayed...?"
She cried out in sudden pain as she was slammed against the wall. He pinned her there, his hands pressing sharply into her shoulders, his eyes glittering gold with fury. He leaned in close but, unlike before, there was nothing seductive in the movement. Now, he was nothing less than terrifying.
"Do not say such things to me!" he hissed. "My family is everything! We are meant to be the Duke's precious sacrifices. In the final act of his scenario, when he calls, we will go meekly like lambs to the slaughter!"
He released her and turned away with a shaking hysterical laugh.
"I don't even know what that means. In the end the world is meant to be cleansed... what will be left after that? The Duke ruling alone in the void, with the Memories of Noah? The Pleasure, the Dream, the Bond," he chuckled darkly and turned back to her. "Somehow I don't think that means Tyki, Road or Jasdebi..."
"I thought you believed this was God's design..." she whispered.
"What god? There is only the Earl..."
Tyki snapped his arm out suddenly then, catching her wrist and dragging her against his chest. Miranda tried to push away but his grip on her was like a vise.
He leaned into her, his cheek almost touching her own and she shivered as his heated breath danced along her ear.
"You ought to be more grateful, my dear. After all this 'scheme' of mine, as you call it, is the reason you still live."
There was a moment's hesitation, a moment's silence broken only by their uneven breaths. He pressed her tight against his body and when he sighed deeply, she trembled.
"Remember, my Lady," he said heavily, "you begged me to tell you."
He pulled his head back and caught her chin. He held it roughly in place, forcing her to look at him.
He stared at her, golden eyes cold and empty but still burning into her own. "The only reason I did not take his life with my own two hands was that, at the end of it all, the boy stopped fighting..."
Miranda swayed and tried to pull away but the Noah's grip was like iron. No, please, I don't want to know this, but it was already too late. Her eyes were locked on Tyki's as his lip curled into a mocking sneer.
"At the end of it all, my Lady, Allen Walker... killed himself."
Portuguese
Quê pena – What a pity.
Bom dia. É a Sra. Diaz no repouso?-Good day/morning. Is Mrs. Diaz at home?
Sim, sim, Apenas um momento... -Yes, yes, just a moment.
Isso não é meu Tyzito!- It isn't my little Tyki!(Zito roughly translates to little and replaces the last part of a persons name to become a term of affection.)
Olá, Tia – Hello, Aunt (Aunt is the direct translation for Tia but it is also a term of affection for an older woman.)
Você fala o português? - Do you speak Portuguese?
Não, realmente. - She doesn't, actually.
Caro – Dear
Senhora/Sra. - Missus/Mrs.
Senhor/Sr. - Mister/Mr.
Padre – Father(as in priest)
German
Was -What?
Nein – No
Ja – Yes
Fräulein - Miss
Music: Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron and Wine (One for Tyki), What Can I Say– Brandi Carlisle (One for Miranda), Trouble Is A Friend – Lenka (Tyki and Miranda)
A/N: Piódão is a real town in northern Portugal, if anyone is interested pics can be found here – trekearth dot com /gallery/Europe/Portugal/North/Coimbra/Piodao/ Enjoy!