Author's Notes:
Back for the next chapter. I'll have to update less frequently from now on, because I have something like a small writer's block, thanks to - uh, no idea what. I've just finished chapter 14, but have no real motivation for chapter 15... But I'll continue writing, I promise! X3
Anyway, here we go, next chapter!
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino
Kapitel 8: Prophecy
When Kanda arrived at the science department, hands still loaded with two trails packed with food, the scientists were very surprised.
"Are you looking for Komui?", River asked him and eyed the food suspiciously.
"No", Kanda replied, "I am looking for the beansprout". River raised his eyebrow quizzically. "Beansprout? Could you possibly mean Ellen Walker?", he wanted to know. Kanda nodded wordlessly, the looks he was getting for standing there with the trays were at the same time annoying and embarrassing. "Therefore all the food?". Another nod and River chuckled.
"Annoying", Kanda hissed and wanted to stalk off, leaving the beansprout to starve, but River called him back.
---
"Ellen and Komui went down to meet Hebraska, why don't you wait at the entrance to the Innocence Sanctuary?". Kanda didn't like it, he wasn't Ellen's servant after all and his responsibility to train her did not include carrying food after her, but he still went there.
"So, you say that you fear the Innocence taking you over?", Komui repeated what Ellen just told him on their way down to this so-called Hebraska Person.
"Yes...", Ellen replied, eyes fixed on her feet.
"It does not take you over, Ellen. Innocence does not have its own will", he told her and she raised her head to meet his eyes. "But it is a common phenomenon that parasitic innocence reacts according to its host's emotions. If you feel angry it will be fuelled by your anger and get stronger. At least our past records say so. Parasite types are rare after all". The strange hovering platform they were on came to a halt, probably many miles underground Ellen guessed. "Here we are, hello Hebraska!". Ellen wondered whom Komui was talking to and turned to look in the direction he was facing. But instead of a "nice to meet you" she could only manage a startled cry. In front of her was a huge white creature with the face of a human, though Ellen could not see its eyes, which were covered by strands of white… flesh or hair or some other substance which Ellen could not name. It was frightening, just like her invocated claw.
"Hello Komui", the creature said.
"This is Hebraska, she guards the Innocence and the order since the time it had been built 100 years ago". Ellen tried to get over her shock, but it was quite hard.
"P… Pleased to meet you", Ellen managed to say, but instead of giving an answer, a dozen of thin, white hands slid around her and lifted her up in the air.
"Do not be afraid, I want to get to know your Innocence", Hebraska told Ellen and the little hands connected to her Innocence. Ellen forced down a scream because the hands were getting under her skin and it felt as if they were searching through her entire body. It was clearly a very unpleasant feeling, but as abruptly as it had started it was over again. Hebraska put her down on her two feet again. The creature remained silent and Komui put his hands on the girl's shoulders.
"And? What do you have to say about Ellen Walker?"
"Ellen Walker, as you call her, has a synchronization rate which lies at 83 ", she informed the two.
"What does that mean?", Ellen wanted to know.
"The synchronization rate basically reflects the lifespan of the Innocence and the bond between you and your weapon… The lower the rate the harder it becomes for an exorcist to invocate his or her weapon", Komui explained.
"It can be very dangerous to try to invocate if your rate is low…", Hebraska further informed Ellen, "but listen Ellen Walker". And Ellen turned her head back to the strange creature.
"In a dark future your Innocence might bring forth a tremendous Destroyer of Time. This is what I have seen…". Ellen stared at her, but could not make sense of what had just been said. But Komui clapped.
"Impressive, Ellen! We have great things to expect from you! Hebraska's prophecies have high accuracy! Very impressive indeed!", he told her and she just nodded. "It's a good thing to have you here with us. It's been some time since a new Exorcist was added to our ranks, we now have 19 all over the world. Hebraska is an exorcist too, by the way", he explained and Ellen turned her head to the strange creature with wide eyes.
"Of course I am of an entirely different type…", was all the explanation she would provide.
"Ellen Walker, welcome again to the Dark Order", Komui told her and held out his hand. Ellen smiled and shook his hand.
"It is good to be here".
---
When they got back Ellen was surprised to find Kanda standing at the door, food trays in his hands.
"Oh Kanda, what are you doing here?", Komui wanted to know.
"Jerry forced me to bring food, for the Beansprout", Kanda replied with a very annoyed face.
"You waited here, all the time?", the scientist asked, trying to hold back his grin.
"Che. Come Beansprout, or the food will freeze over!", he ordered her and walked off.
"Komui! I will see you later! Good bye!", Ellen told him, waving, and rushed off after Kanda.
"You need not have done it, Kanda", she told him, "here, please let me take the trays", she offered but Kanda refused, still angry.
"If I knew it would take you so long I wouldn't have done it, idiot!"
"I am very sorry", Ellen apologized, "where are we going?"
"I'll get you the food to your room, you can bring the trays down later", he announced and they got to the living quarters.
"Kanda, would you eat with me?", Ellen offered, as he stopped at his own room, "if… You have not eaten yet?". Kanda wanted to refuse, but just hissed something Ellen could not understand and followed her to her room. Ellen opened the door and let him in. The room looked entirely different than his own. The floor was covered in rugs, the bed had white covers, the walls were decorated with pictures, the drawer had some flowers on it, the writing desk was organized and she had a small table with two chairs near the window. Ellen noticed his critical look.
"I asked around if I was allowed to decorate the room and get more furniture and decorations. And they said I could. It makes it seem a little bit more like home", she explained and Kanda just shrugged. He really did not care about it. "Please, take a seat", she offered and pointed at the table. Kanda put the plates down and Ellen moved trays to the empty space of her writing desk.
They started eating in silence, Kanda was still in deep thoughts concerning Ellen Walker. But he also realized that the girl was very silent while eating.
"Does Hebraska always give out prophecies?", Ellen suddenly asked.
"Yes. Why do you ask?", Kanda wanted to know putting his chopsticks down.
"She… told me I am to be a "Destroyer of Time"… This… Scares me…", she admitted nibbling listlessly at her Dango.
"Destroyer of Time?", Kanda repeated, "well… Sounds like a rather glorious title for someone as naïve and inexperienced as you are…", he mocked, though he was kind of intrigued by the meaning this could have.
"What did Hebraska tell you?", she wanted to know, but Kanda's glare made her sigh. "Never mind. I do not need to know…". There was some silence until Ellen thought of something else. "This synchronization rate… Hebraska told me it was 83 ". Kanda's eyes widened at once.
"What?"
"83 . I do not really know what to make of it", she admitted, but was slightly confused by the surprised look on Kanda's face.
"You should be highly surprised! For someone who invocated for the first time just a few days ago, this is a very high rate", he told her, "but you are a parasitic innocence wielder. Your innocence is located inside your body, a higher synchronization rate is to be expected"
"What… Is your rate?", Ellen wanted to ask, fearing that it might be a too personal question.
"91… But the synchronization rate, generally, can go over 100. If you break the 100 limit it puts you up on General level"
"You aim to get there?", Ellen wondered, but Kanda ignored the question.
"The rate can go up and down as you and your weapon evolve. I repeat: Keep control of it. If not you could fall down very easily". Ellen nodded and handed him one of the Dango sticks, without him asking for it. He took it wordlessly.
"This whole matter is frightening…", she told him as she was eating the last of her dessert.
"Don't be such a girl", he mocked her, but now it was up to her to ignore him. He sighed, then stood up.
"Do you intent do leave?", she wondered and got up herself.
"Yes. There is nothing to talk about. I will see you tomorrow morning". He took the trays and left the room without another word. Ellen watched Kanda retreat and close the door, then she turned her gaze to the window. It must have been around 4 in the after-noon and Ellen still had time left until she was to meet Linali. With nothing much to do and being very tired, she lay down on her bed fully clothed and let her thoughts turn to Mana.
"Dear Mana… I have heard this frightening prediction… What should I do with it? Is this another burden on my shoulders? The only thing I fight for is…", Ellen turned her face into the pillow, "I do not even know anymore. Fighting because of hatred and thoughts of revenge is starting to become a poor reason… I want to be forgiven, just forgiven for what I did to you… I want to be able to look into the mirror and see just an ordinary woman, no white hair, no scar, no red arm. I want to have a future in which I can be safe. I do not want to destroy, Mana…"
---
When Ellen woke again, her room had already turned dark as the last light of the day shone faintly through her window. She sat up and looked at the pocket watch on her bedside table. It was already past 7.
"Oh dear. When did I fall asleep?", Ellen wondered and got up, "In my clothes even!". She went to the dresser and opened it. She could see her reflection in a small mirror and tried to comb her hair with her fingers. In the dresser she found the new clothes Komui had promised her. She put on new black trousers, a white blouse and the new shoes. They were very fashionable, ankle high and black.
"They are perfect", Ellen thought to herself. If she hadn't feared to meet Kanda on the way she would have put on the black skirt she got from the tailor some days ago. But Kanda did not have to know just yet. She really didn't like to hide it but she feared his reaction. "This is so silly. I wish for him to know, but I do not want him to push me away! It is highly probable that he will think that I was trying to deceive him. And I do not want that", she thought as she left her room, but she didn't have the courage to tell him, but the likelihood of him not finding out very soon was quite small. She decided to talk to Linali about this matter and hurried to get to the library.
Linali was sitting near a window, with an electric lamp giving her enough light to read.
"I am sorry that I am late", Ellen told her and took the seat across form her. Linali looked up and smiled.
"Don't worry, I haven't been here for long! But you weren't at dinner, right?". Ellen shook her head.
"No, I had a late lunch with Kanda after I visited your brother", she explained. Linali looked at her for some moments.
"You really are getting close to Kanda", the girl remarked nonchalantly. Ellen just furrowed her brows.
"Well. I would not know. He is the first man I have made better acquaintance with", she admitted, "But I do not think that we are getting 'close' just because we are having lunch together". Linali laughed and patted Ellen's hand.
"I was just joking! But I guess he has been nicer to you, did you tell him?"
"No I did not… And I do not really intend to", the girl said, looking out of the window, "I really do enjoy training with Kanda. He has something about him, some… charm, which I cannot quite put my finger on… But I yearn to have his respect as an exorcist before I can tell him that I am a woman, in fear of him pushing me away"
"So you basically want to be his friend and equal?", Linali asked, "that's quite difficult with Kanda… He doesn't like to involve himself with people… And he probably will never praise you to show his respect…". Ellen looked up.
"Well… He already did praise me…", she told Linali, who widened her eyes, "I… got a bit angry for not being able to hit him in boxing training, so my innocence showed on its own and smashed him against the wall. I found it terrible, but he praised me…"
"Now, that's something! It seems he already respects you to some extend. I have never heard him praise anyone! Come on, Ellen! You should tell him!", Linali tried to convince her friend.
"But you and Komui told me that he does not approve of women on the battle field! And I will go to the battle field!", Ellen argued and put her head into her hands. "Oh, Linali, I am confused". When she raised her head again she could see an understanding smile on Linali's face. "The gap between what I have been before and what I am going to be is just too great…"
"Oh Ellen… Everything will work out, you're such a good person", Linali told her, patting her hands, "and now… Would you like to do some athletic exercises with me? We should get some other thoughts inside your head. We could do some stretching and ball sports in the sports hall!". Ellen nodded with a smile and the girls went to spend the rest of the evening enjoying themselves.
---
Linali and Ellen were just returning, quite exhausted, from the sport's hall.
"Did you like the clothes Komui got you?", Linali wanted to know, "you do seem to like the shoes!"
"Oh yes. They are fantastic! I always was very fond of clothes and am quite happy to have a wardrobe to choose from again!", Ellen replied and looked down at her, still trouser-clad, legs. "But I must admit… I have gotten used to trousers… If my mother knew, oh! She would be outraged". Linali had to laugh at that remark and Ellen's troubled face.
"Your mother seems to be strict", the Chinese girl mused, "I remember you telling me of your concern about marriage, now I understand why you were worrying".
"Yes. Yes, my mother is very traditional and as strict as an army official, that she is…", Ellen agreed with a thoughtful look in her eyes.
"I am very impressed that you are able to keep up with training as well as you do! I can't imagine that such a strict woman would let you out in the open that much".
"It was my uncle, Mana, who did. He was always travelling and he seemed to enjoy my company. He never had children of his own and as my father died, when I was merely two years old, he decided that he would take it upon himself to be my father", Ellen explained, "Mother did agree, because she was very fond of her brother, even though he had abandoned our family's tradition. She never knew what kind of interesting things Mana taught me".
"Well, it seems these things were very useful! Because you are quite strong and stubborn for a fine young lady!", Linali joked and Ellen had to smile.
"You too, Linali! You are an admirable young woman!".
"We will surely have a great time here at the order! We could be like sisters! I never had a sister", Linali told her and Ellen nodded.
"Me neither. I would like that very much!"
"So it is agreed! You and I, we will help each other out whenever we are in trouble! Promise?", Linali asked and Ellen smiled honestly.
"I promise". The two girls shook hands as if they had signed a formal contract and started to laugh just after it.
" Here we are Ellen!", Linali told her when they arrived at the stairs near the living quarters. "I wish you a good night!"
"Good Night Linali!", Ellen repeated and went into the corridor. Just when she arrived at Kanda's door it opened and Kanda looked at her.
"Oh", the girl started, but he just opened the door a bit wider.
"Come in", he ordered, confusing the girl, "hurry up beansprout". The girl just raised her eyebrows but nodded and got into his room. Ellen noticed at once that it was cold and dark. It had basically the same furniture as her room – a bed, a drawer and a writing table – but all was bare and looked abandoned. The huge window of stained glass was cracked and threw coloured moonlight onto a strange reflecting object. Kanda let her examine the room without doing anything. The object was a big glass container, shaped like an hourglass, with a frame of dark wood, but inside was no sand but water and on its surface floated a beautiful flower. Ellen did not dare to ask about it and Kanda did not say anything.
"Your room… Is a bit cold…", the girl said, shivering.
"Stop whining", Kanda snapped.
"Would you like me to help you bring a little bit more life into it?", she offered but Kanda just frowned at her, "was that not the reason why you let me in here?"
"Of course not, you idiot. I don't want my room to look like a girl lives inside it"
"You are just being mean, Kanda", Ellen remarked, which Kanda simply ignored. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I just heard you two talking, I did not particularly want to talk to you", he told her with a frown.
"But you are talking now, which I enjoy", Ellen said with a smile and Kanda just rolled his eyes.
"Listen, idiot beansprout; if you do not want to fight with me seriously I can't train you"
"What? Why do you bring this up now?", Ellen wondered, fearing for a second that he might know that he was a girl. Which he did, but just chose to not talk about right now.
"Because you were supposed to be training with Linali. And because of the prophecy you told me. I do not want to be playing around for an eternity. We are exorcists and we need to accept missions. I get tired of training and then having to stop when it's getting better just because you decide to whine about the success you are having", he explained rather coldly.
"Then we should finish this week and you can then take me on a mission", Ellen proposed, "If you will still be with me then, it will be something like a test… Yes, a test to see if I learned enough to be able to go on further missions", she told him, surprisingly confident. Kanda was silent at first, but he then sighed.
"If you die…"
"I will not die", she assured him before he could go on. He looked down at her, examined her face, but nodded.
"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow morning in practise", he told her and opened the door for her. Ellen nodded and went out.
"Good Night, Kanda"
"Good Night…", he mumbled and let her go without having asked her the question he had intended do, but he now thought that it was superfluous to ask whether she really was a girl...
"Like it mattered. The beansprout is the beansprout…", Kanda told himself while closing the door. "When it comes down to exorcist, things like these do not matter anymore… Whether the beansprout survives or not… it lies in her own hands…"
To be continued
Notes:
Yes, I guess you're still waiting for the real confrontation between Kanda and Ellen, but I hope you still liked the chapter hopes
Some things: I decided to give Ellen the same synch percentage as in the Manga even though this might seem unrealistic. I'm a bit unsure about the prophecy, I just translated (more or less freely) from the German vol.1 - for everyone knowing a bit of German: "Vielleicht wird dein Innocence einmal in dunkler Zukunft einen giagantischen "Zeit-Zerstörer" hervorbringen...". Ellen and Kanda (and I guess most of the people) interpret this as him being the "destroyer of time" in the future, but I wonder about the "bring forth" (sorry if that's not the way it's put in the English version) part... wonders But I don't want to speculate right now lol.
About Kanda's 91 ; there's no indication how high it is, so I just guessed. lol
Then there is the girly talk between Linali and Ellen. sigh The "Let us be like sisters" might be a bit strange X3
Any thoughts or tomatos you want to throw at me? (translates as: review?)