Author's Notes: Stupid me forgot to mention the title in the prolog. "Ivory Tales" doesn't really have a connection to the content of the story (well, if you use your imagination it does). The title was suggested to me by a friend of mine, Esmerod. Thank you:3
The story has 13 chapters written, but I kept them rather short; which required me to decide whether to upload one (shorter) chapter on a weekly basis (until I run out of my chapters) or to publish them en masse (maybe two or three, depending on the size etc) and update sporadically. Which doesn't sound very nice... So first have one chapter. :3 We'll see if it's too short.
And a note on Ellen; I don't really know how a aristrocratic girl in the late 1880s (for this is the time I set D.Gray-Man for various reasons) would talk or behave. Probalby not how I depicted her... But that's for you to judge. :3
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino
Kapitel 1: General Cross' valuable lessons
The young Ellen Bermont just had as much time to get ready and make a servant pack her suitcase as the exorcist General Marian Cross needed to drink a glass of her mother's wine. Ellen was shaking while she put on a very fine white dress her mother had bought in Italy, but she was also very excited for some unknown reason. Her arm hurt, it has done so ever since Mana's death, as if it longed to take hold over her body again. Ellen shook her head, making her servant - who was brushing her hair - protest a little bit.
"I do not want to remember this", she said to herself and looked at her face where this ugly red scar stood out on her china doll like skin. "I do not want to be faced with such terror and sadness ever again". To let her body be controlled by a monster and to be forced to kill was the worst and most hurtful disgrace Ellen could think of. But maybe Cross would help her or even save her from this dark creature.
Oh, what a strange man this priest was, he did not seem like the other priests in the church at all. An exorcist he said and she was to become one too. What did he expect of her? Did she have to recite psalms out of the Holy Bible to free humans of their curses, even though she herself seemed to be kissed by the Devil? Her hand she was born with and now this scar; Mana's punishment for calling him back to life, for making him a - how did the priest call it? - Akuma. The thought brought tears back to her eyes and she intently stared at her face, framed with the curtains of silky white. Her pale brown hair she had been so fond of had become white in the last two weeks. The family's doctor called it the consequences of shock over Mana's loss, but sent her to the local priest anyway, just in case the Devil tried to take hold of her once again. He mother kept trying to tell her that God loved her for sending her so many tests to prove her faith, but Ellen's faith had disappeared along with Mana Walker.
Before the young girl could start to grieve again she heard her mother calling her from downstairs:
"Ellen, it is time to go. Please child, do hurry up". Ellen thought that the wine must have probably run out – a priest drinking so much wine, this seemed quite strange to her, but she would not question the exorcist, after all he must know what he is doing, or so she hoped.
Cross eyed the girl and her travel suitcase and the box which held her makeup and her summer hat.
"Brat, you're not going on holidays, you're going to join our order", he told her and got an angry look from Charlene, "away with all that stuff! And now, follow me!", he ordered. Confused, Ellen let go of the package she was holding and went to her mother to kiss her good-bye.
"Oh my darling, pray pay attention to your health. Remember your good manners in all situations. It makes my troubled heart rest a bit to know that you join an order of the church, so I do not have to worry about men, which could taint you... Write me letters will you?". For the first time the stern face of the woman showed concern as she hugged her daughter.
"Yes mother. General Cross will surely have a watchful eye over me", she tried to calm her mother, but she didn't even need to hear Cross' snort to know she did not believe her own words. She let go of her mother and followed Cross out into the morning air. There was a carriage waiting for them which was going to get them to the station. Cross didn't help her in, which Ellen accepted, she kind of thought that he was not a gentleman but she still was not used to be treated with so little respect.
"So how old are you, anyway?", Cross asked as the carriage started to move.
"I will be turning 15 this winter, Sir", she answered politely and Cross rolled his eyes.
"Well, there have been younger people to join the order, but we don't get many aristocratic brats who don't even know how to use their legs to run", he grunted.
"I do know how to run, spending time with Mana always gave me much possibility to try myself at different sports", she replied calmly, "Sir".
"Oh is that so? What did he teach you then? Surely not how to survive if attacked", he thought about this for a moment and his gaze wandered to her left arm, "then again… you didn't need this in the end… He taught you how to kill". With this the girl froze, but tried to reply anyway:
"By no means do I ever intent to kill, Master Cross. But he did teach me some things I appreciate to know"
"For example?"
"I can gamble", she told him with a serious expression on her face and Cross started to laugh.
"At least one useful thing… Whatever, we will now take you to the station and as soon as we can leave the train we'll buy you some other clothes". Ellen eyed him suspiciously.
"Will I not get clothes at the church?", she wanted to know and Cross nodded, pointing at his cloak.
"One like this, but you will need more comfortable clothes to reach the order, with this silky white dress you won't get very far". The girl thought about this and nodded. Probably they had to walk a little bit, but she did not mind at all. Mana and she had always made long tours through different cities.
They reached the station which was quite busy even though it was still early morning, Cross led her to a train and went in, Ellen following him. As they reached their seats, quite comfortable ones Ellen noted, Cross started to snore. Ellen was not disappointed that she didn't have his company; all he seemed to want was making fun of her noble upbringing. It seemed quite normal to Ellen that aristocratic women joined an order to become nuns, and they also were not used to the work of lower classes, why should they? This was not necessary in a church, was it? But then again, he said she was going to be an exorcist. She didn't really know what exorcists did, but she had read books. She imagined them to be travelling from village to village, freeing their possessed and cursed inhabitants from the Devil's clutches.
"Akuma", Ellen thought suddenly, "The Earl of Millennium…". If this strange man was their opponent and the Akuma his fiendish creatures, what would that mean for General Cross' order?
"The souls brought back from the dead by foolish humans are trapped into the machines of the Earl, the so-called Akuma…", Cross said and startled Ellen for she thought he had been sleeping.
"Machines?", she asked and Cross nodded his head lazily, as if he was still too sleepy to give a decent answer.
"The Earl is the manufacturer of the Akuma, he acts as soon as people who have lost someone dear to them forsake God in their misery". Ellen remained quiet, but Cross didn't expect her to say anything, so he continued: "He traps their souls in those machine bodies, forcing them to kill the person who had called them back to life. They are nothing more than pitiful weapons. It is our duty as exorcist to kill these weapons and free the souls trapped inside."
"This sounds like out of a grotesque horror novel, Master Cross", Ellen quietly said and Cross studied her face.
"And yet you know that I spoke nothing but the truth; you have seen it with your own eyes, you have killed an Akuma with your own hands before he could kill you, take over your body and destroy all the people close to you. You were lucky; most people don't survive a midnight meeting with the Earl."
"Lucky indeed", Ellen whispered, "to know the pain of a second loss and to be cursed by my dear Mana". Cross moaned as he saw the tears shining in Ellen's silver-blue eyes.
"You are a whiny brat, stupid pupil!", Cross roared and Ellen looked up with wide eyes.
"When have I become your pupil?", she demanded calmly, eyes still watery.
"Ever since you've started calling me 'Master'. Were you only a little bit more useful I could just drop you off at the Black Order, but you are an useless, spoiled princess, dressed in her Sunday's best! I have to teach you an awful lot of lessons! You have to learn to use that Innocence of yours", he pointed to Ellen's left hand, which she instantly hid behind her back, as if just pointing at it would provoke the monster to break free.
"I told you, I will not-"
"You have to kill! Or do you want to die, Ellen Walker?!" Ellen froze in mid-sentence., upon which Cross grinned and leaned over to her, "You will take up Mana's name, like this you can protect your mother, if ever someone chooses to go after Ellen Bermont. I will not take you to the order to be a good virgin, to pray and to recite the Bible. No such crap! I'm going to release you to the world's hidden battlefield so you can protect humans, free the Akuma's soul and take revenge on that fat Earl of Millennium! I will not accept your crying any longer, princess, or I'll just kick you out of the train so you can find your way to the black order – ALONE!" Ellen sure had a sour look on her face and tried her best not to pout – for this was not appropriate for a young lady – and kept quiet. But Cross knew that she would be a good girl and do just what he said – stop whining that is, he could imagine that she would still refuse to kill an Akuma until it would be nearly too late. But there's one good thing in having a well-mannered lady as a pupil, Cross mused; she would not dare to contradict him.
The town they stopped in was very calm, on the long cobble-stone streets vendors were selling their goods and small shop followed small shop in the long row of houses. Ellen sure wished she would be here with her mother and her aunt, not with the General, who had for the rest of the journey bothered her nose with smoking a disgusting pipe. Despite this she was still happy that he brought her here, she was getting bored on the train without anything to do, for Cross proved to be of little entertainment and he surely did not know how to amuse a young lady. Even when she asked him, out of polite curiosity, where he was from, he managed to steer a nice conversation about India into a gross tale of money, liquor and disgraceful women. Ellen shuddered at the thought and wondered whether all men of this strange order were like him, because if they were she would have to fear for her mind's and body's innocence.
"Are you daydreaming?", Cross asked as he got out of a liquor store with half a dozen of bottles in his arms.
"Ah, yes?", she asked to show him she was paying attention. The red-haired man nodded his head in the direction of the store.
"Go in and pay the man", the General ordered with a stern face and started to walk away.
"Excuse me?", Ellen stuttered unbelievingly, "you cannot be serious!"
"Sell your dress if you're short on money, or your body if it's not enough!", she heard him shouting from the other side of the street. She just stared at him, like some people who had heard him, then – remembering her manners – went into the store to pay for her Master. Lucky for her that her mother gave her a good sum, but she had actually planned to save it for emergencies. It seemed that travelling with Cross was an emergency.
"What a mean man", she mumbled to herself as she followed him into the next store; a tailor.
"Get her a pair of trousers, a shirt, a vest and a jacket", Cross told the lady who just starred at him.
"Ah, yes Sir. I will only be a moment", she answered and took the shocked Ellen by the hand.
"I will not be wearing trousers! This is disgraceful Master Cross!", she shouted.
"Shut your trap!", Cross roared and went out, "I'm going to get you a pair of shoes". Ellen huffed and looked at the lady.
"Please excuse this improper argument. We will just do as the gentleman pleases, but could you also get me something nice to wear? Something that can be used for walking, but does not include pants, please?". The woman started to chuckle but nodded her head.
An hour later Cross came back into the small shop – he had met a good looking woman on he way and could not resist temptation – only to find Ellen absent.
"Where is the brat?!", he wanted to know and the shop-owner appeared from behind a curtain.
"Please, do not shout in here, dear customer. The young lady is here, as she did not want herself exposed in this unusual attire". Cross rolled his eyes and ordered Ellen to come out. She did, only very slowly, her bare feet touching the cold floor lightly with the toes, like a Ballerina would have done. She did wear black trousers, a white shirt and a black jacket, just as Cross had ordered, and her hair was tied back with a green ribbon.
"Now that's better. Put these on and we'll leave", he threw her a pair of black boots. She inspected them, not pleased at all, but slipped in anyways just as Cross went out.
"Master Cross, I hope this is not a silly joke of yours", Ellen said as she caught up with him. "I look like a boy and this is highly disgraceful for me. If my mother knew of this-"
"Ah, we're here", Cross announced without listening to one word of Ellen's complaints. Ellen took a look at the building in front of them; it was a barbershop.
"Here? Do you want to get your beard cut? I must say it is highly unsightly to see a young, good looking man such as yourself not only with half his face hidden by a mask but also unshaved", Ellen said, but was roughly shoved into the barber's shop.
"Do not get out before that silly white hair of yours is half its length!", he ordered and closed the door, much to the astonishment of the young lady and the people inside.
"You cannot be serious! Why do you do this to me?!", Ellen asked and tried to open the door Cross blocked. She took care as not to raise her voice too much, because people were already considering Cross to be everything else than well-behaved.
"It's part of my teachings; it'll be a pain to clean white hair of all the blood", he replied and Ellen froze, "my hair is already red, I must be lucky, but white is like a blank canvas demanding to be painted". Ellen sighed and turned around to get rid of her beloved hair - she would be complaining and crying later, now Cross was trying to give her a hard time.
"This must be another curse", she thought as the barber cut off her hair just above her shoulders, "oh dear Mother, dear Mana in heaven… I will not loose to either one of them"
"Dear Mother. I hope you are well. I must say that journeying with Master Cross sure gives me a lot of new and unexpected experiences. I would say he does teach me a few things, although his way of doing so might just seem very unconventional and even outrageous to some. I do have to tell you, dearest Mother, that sometimes I really had to try my best to keep up my good manners. He is just a really hard person to live with. You would not believe what he already did in this short span of time. But rest assured, I am physically unharmed and will remain so; although General Cross might be a strange fellow, he would not dare to lay hand on your daughter, dear Mother. I have to hurry up my letter writing now, my Master calls me at this unearthly hour. I guess it is time to move on, we have stayed in this town for long enough. I wish you all the best.
With Love,
Your daughter Ellen"
Ellen put the parchment into the envelope and closed it. She did enjoy writing letters, it was a very pleasant way to spend the day – in conversation with friends. She already did miss the long hours she spent in her room writing, reading and replying to the letters she got from her friends in far away places. Her mother made sure she kept up all those nice acquaintances, for they might prove favourable in the future, but Ellen just regarded the correspondence as a nice pastime activity. As Cross called again, his patience clearly running short, she hurried down and handed the letter to her Master.
"Can you please post this if given time?", she asked with a bright smile, but only earned herself a raised eyebrow, "it is a letter to my Mother, she surely will want to know how I am doing. I assure you, I only say nice things about you"
"Oh, I don't doubt that. I'm always nice", Cross said and shoved the letter in one of his coat's pockets.
"But do not forget to post it, will you?", Ellen asked him, unsure whether the letter will reach her mother unharmed.
"Now hurry up! Take this", he said and shoved a small suitcase in Ellen's arms.
"What is it?", she wanted to know and eyed the black suitcase suspiciously.
"You'll want it. That's all I'll ever give you, so keep it close to you", Cross told her and she nodded, a little bit unsure of what to do with it. "Now follow me, it's only a two days walk to the Black Order now"
"You can refer to this as 'only'? You know I am not used to walking long distances", Ellen said, shaking her head from side to side.
"Are you called Ellen Walker or not?", he shouted and she flinched but nodded, "so you will walk, walk all the way to the order, to all the destinations your missions will lead you, right up to where the Earl is waiting for you to kill him"
"Oh I guess he just might be…", Ellen mumbled and was hit by Cross' large hat. "Very well… I will walk", she agreed without further complaints.
"Good girl. Now follow me… Take Timcampy", he ordered and the golden Golem, which Cross was carrying with him, flew on Ellen's head. She still was very uneasy in the golem's presence, because she could not identify what he was supposed to be; some strange invention? Or an animal brought my merchants from the Far East? But the golem was just munching her white hair without biting her ear, as Cross ordered him to do as soon as Ellen was not following Cross' orders.
"Why do you give him to me?", the girl asked as Cross was leading her out of town, where the wide flower fields began.
"He will keep an eye on you", was the only answer Cross gave her, "you heard me. Two days on your two feet, got it?". Ellen nodded with uneasiness starting to build up in her stomach.
"You will be coming with me, right?", she asked, as Cross produced a mallet from somewhere and she widened her eyes, "Master…?"
"Sweet dreams, Ellen Walker!", the last thing poor Ellen saw was the mallet rushing down and then everything went black.
To be continued...
Notes: I've never planned to have Ellen stay with Cross for long, you'll see why later on. Allen's life with Cross was a very important experience and certainly partly made him what he is today. Ellen lacks this aspect, but has different qualities (I hope).
I wasn't sure about Ellen's age. I didn't want to specify a birthday, because we don't know Allen's. Winter seemed like a good choice, but then again, I had to decide if she should be 14 turning 15 or 15 turning 16. As it's already autumn in the fic the first option sounded better... And we don't really know how old Allen is...
If you find more strangeness, writing mistakes or whatever just tell me. :3