Author's Notes:
Okies, another chapter... I've been asked to skip those manga chapters we've already seen (I guess various times already) and I know I already whined about how boring they were to write lol. However, I guess I still have to do it. Fortunately the Crowley arc is the second to last arc that will follow the Manga that closely (after the Crowley arc we have the journey to China until that fateful encounter with Tyki). Things will change once Ellen is in the Asia Branch - not that much but it will change. Trust me amused
I hope that you will bear with me for some more chapters! :3
Without further ado I present you the first chapter of the Crowley arc!
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsure Hoshino
P.S. It's Aleister Crowley in the German edition. I know that this is wrong shakes fist at Tokyopop and should be Arystar Krory according to the fanbook...
Kapitel 22 – Following General Cross
Ellen Walker was sitting on a wooden bank outside a German railway station. She had woken a few moments ago, to find herself alone on the bank. She put her hands on her forearms, rubbing them a bit through the fabric of her uniform. It was pretty cold this early in the year and the fact that they were making their way East didn't really help much.
"It will get even colder", Ellen thought to herself, "I do hope winter passes by fast…".
"Ellen?", Rabi called and Ellen saw him come out of the station, "Ellen are you spacing out? The train is here!". Ellen looked up and saw the steaming train which now came to a screeching halt.
"Oh. Excuse me", Ellen said and let herself be pulled up by the grinning Rabi.
"Come on you two!", the white haired girl could hear Linali calling, "Get on the train. If we miss it we have to wait until tomorrow to catch another one!". With this she disappeared inside and Rabi and Ellen hurried after her.
"By the way, beansprout", Rabi said once they were in the corridor, Linali and Bookman out of sight, and Ellen glared at him.
"Oh please, do not call me that", she reminded him and Rabi laughed amusedly.
"Don't look so darkly! You're pretty cute when you try to glare"
"Stop making fun of me, Rabi", Ellen pouted and Rabi patted her head.
"But I must do that, you're my little sister!". Ellen frowned up at him, "Well not really, but we're family, right?". Ellen had to laugh and nodded with a smile.
"It seems that we are. At least it sure would be nice", she answered and Rabi grinned, "but what did you want to tell me?"
"Oh, right!", Rabi said, "Yu called"
"He did?", Ellen asked, after translating Yu to Kanda, quite surprised.
"Yes, he wanted to know how you're doing. Unfortunately, you were sleeping and he didn't want me to wake you up", the red-head said.
"Has he returned to the order?", Ellen wondered, but Rabi shook his head.
"No, he's crossing France at the moment. He has to join his General as well. But he has a message for you"
"A message?", Ellen repeated, quite confused.
"He said that you should remember your promise", Rabi reported and looked at Ellen expectantly, "mind telling me what that promise is?". The girl was silent for a while fumbling with her fingers and looking down at her shoes.
"When we parted I promised him that I would take care of me… Actually I promised not to die", she answered and Rabi frowned.
"Kind of obvious that you won't die, right? I was hoping for something more romantic…", he said with a sigh.
"Such as?", Ellen wondered. Rabi grinned, folding his arms behind his head and leant against the wall of the corridor.
"Something like promise to marry me when we are reunited for example", he suggested and Ellen blushed, hitting him gently. Rabi guessed that the red cheeks were probably caused by anger and not by embarrassment as he had guessed. "Come on. There's someone who loves you. Why are you so cold?"
"I am not cold, Rabi", Ellen told him, pronouncing each word carefully, which should probably make Rabi think that Ellen was in full control of the situation, "but as things are right now, I do not want to waste my time on this right now"
"Now that was cold!", Rabi shouted, quite surprised.
"It was not!", Ellen replied, equally as loud, "It is just that I… That I cannot accept it just like that. This is not what I was meant to do, meant to be!". Rabi raised his eyebrow at her, studying her down turned face. "It will not… go away", she continued, frustration audible in her whisper and Rabi was left to guess what she wanted to say by that.
"On the danger of sounding like an ignorant idiot, but you're not Romeo and Juliet you know?", Rabi told her and Ellen turned towards the wall, looking out of the window, "I know that – no, I can imagine, that you're a bit confused. And I understand that", he said and put his hand on Ellen's shoulder, "having a predestined path to walk can be hard, even if you accepted it and even approve of it…". The girl raised her head and looked up into Rabi's smiling face, "Until things happen and you question yourself: am I doing the right thing?"
"Rabi…", Ellen said, quite surprised to hear what he was speaking.
"But trust me dear beansprout", he said, "you're a girl and you're in love. And the guy you're loving is not some kind of shady gang leader. Yu is very responsible. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it".
"Rabi! What are you doing out there?", the Bookman's voice called from inside a compartment.
"Just a second, gramps. I'm giving brotherly advice here!", Rabi replied loudly, to which he just heard a disapproving "Hn". The red-head grinned and turned back to Ellen, who was now wiping the corners of her eyes. "As you said before… You shouldn't be wasting time. Don't ponder about these things. Wait and see… And". Rabi poked her in the chest, "follow your heart". Ellen looked down at his finger, then she had to smile.
"You read too many novels, Rabi", she answered, then she sighed dramatically, closing her eyes, "Follow your heart. You should not say that to a young woman, we can use our heads as well as you men do"
"Don't be an old lady, Ellen! Don't use your head that much! It will give you headaches!"
"I am starting to believe that you wear that headband so that your intellect cannot dissolve into thin air", Ellen retorted, while Rabi walked over to the compartment. Rabi roared with laughter.
"Now you're trying your best to be mean to me. I'm sure that a certain someone would be shocked to hear his fair lady being so cheeky!". This made Ellen frown.
"He probably would, but he also said that I should stop behaving like a girl"
"Probably back when he still thought that you were a guy, this doesn't apply to you any more, dear Ellen. Or do you want to behave like a boy?", Rabi wondered and the two in the compartment looked up at them in confusion, not having heard the rest of the conversation.
"Of course not. I still feel best when I am wearing a dress, playing piano and reading", Ellen replied, sitting down with Rabi, facing Bookman and Linali. Rabi grinned at Ellen.
"That was to be expected, you are a little princess after all", he said and Ellen grimaced.
"What kind of stupid conversations are you two having?", Bookman chided, then he brought out a map. "We should concentrate on finding General Cross now".
"We don't have that many clues", Rabi commented, looking at the map of Europe, "how are we supposed to find him with Timcampy's help alone?". The little golem was flying over Ellen's head facing in one direction.
"As things stand right now, we are on our way through Germany. Always eastwards", Bookman said and Linali looked at the map.
"Timcampy hasn't changed the direction until now"
"Master Cross is probably too far away and Sir Tim can only give us a vague direction", Ellen mused. Rabi had to snicker.
"You call the golem Sir Tim? Cute pet name! I wonder how you call Yu!", he said behind his hand, only halfway trying to hide his cheeky grin.
"Be silent please!", Ellen hissed, pretty much aware of the puzzled expression she earned from Linali.
"Be quiet you two!", Bookman shouted, silencing the younger two, "honestly", he sighed, looking back on the map. "Finding General Cross really seems to be more difficult than we and Komui had hoped. We have no clues at all. No letters, no reports, not even bills he sent us to cover his expenses"
"Really? Then how does he live? Is he that rich?", Rabi wondered and Ellen had to frown, remembering the short time they had travelled together.
"No. He is not rich at all", she said, "at least his behaviour let me assume that much. Back when I was travelling with him, he used to buy stuff, leaving the bills for me to pay. I was lucky that my mother gave me some money for emergencies, I would have been awful if I had needed to come up with different ways to afford that man", she said and all of the other people present somehow got the feeling that Ellen was not that fond of Cross. And Rabi tried to figure out what "different ways" might be.
"He let you pay for everything?", he wondered.
"No, not everything", Ellen said, hiding her irritation behind a polite smile, "he uses to visit acquaintances when he needs a place to stay for the night. Needless to say that these women were more than happy to let him stay in their houses", Ellen said now with a frown, "quite reckless for a priest".
"Dear Ellen, you had it rough", Rabi said and Ellen laughed embarrassedly.
"Oh, excuse me. I should not have said such things about my master...", she said, while Rabi just commented that he wouldn't mind spending the nights in a house of a good-looking female. Ellen looked to Linali, but when their eyes met the Chinese girl just turned her head, ignoring her friend. Ellen was pretty confused.
"What is wrong with her?", she wondered, but then she remembered the incident back at the German town, "oh... Probably because of what I did back then... We have not spoken about it yet... She must be angry at me...", Ellen thought, pretty depressed.
"By the way, Ellen", Bookman said and the noble girl turned her head away from Linali.
"Yes, Sir?", she asked.
"You still cannot open your left eye, is that correct?". Ellen nodded, touching her hand to the patch covering her eye. It no longer hurt her, but she wasn't able to see anything with it yet. "I do hope that your eye heals fast. You need to observe our surroundings. From what I have heard I conclude that the Akuma will try to stop us and prevent us from finding General Cross", he continued, "It would cost us even more time to get to Cross if we were constantly pestered by Akuma. On top of that I do not want civilians to be hurt. That's why we need the ability of your left eye".
"Yes, I understand...", Ellen answered quietly, looking at Linali. The Chinese girl didn't seem happy at all and stared out of the window.
"Linali...", Ellen thought but didn't dare saying anything and so they continued their train journey in silence.
- - -
After some hours, their train made a short stop at a small town in Romania.
"I saw a vendor outside. I'll go buy something to eat", Linali suggested and got up from her seat. Ellen watched her uncertainly.
"What's wrong?", Rabi asked as she saw the young girl's face.
"Oh… It is because… of an incident on our last mission", she answered, "Maybe I should go talk to her"
"It seems that you should, but you're still hesitating?", Rabi wondered, pulling the girl to her feet, "come on, you're friends, aren't you?"
"Y… Yes we are. At least I hope we still are…", the white haired girl mumbled and earned herself a gentle smile from Rabi, which soon turned into a grin.
"Stop worrying so much! Go, go!", he pushed her out of the compartment and blocked the way back in. Ellen looked at him and sighed.
"Yes… I will, thank you Rabi", she said and even though she was a bit nervous, she made her way out of the train. Linali was standing at the vendor's little stand. "Linali!", Ellen called and Linali turned around. She just looked at her, studying her face without saying anything. "Well", Ellen started, fidgeting with her hair, which had grown past her shoulders now, "I realized that we never really talked about what had happened on our last mission", she said. Linali continued watching her and Ellen did the only thing she thought fit in this situation, she bowed. "I am truly sorry for what I have said. Please accept my apologies", she said loudly and clearly, hoping that all the guilt she was feeling was audible to Linali. For quite some time Linali remained silent, but then Ellen felt a weight being put on her head and she was sure that it was the bag with food Linali had bought.
"Don't look up!!", Linali called.
"What? Yes…", Ellen replied uncertainly, keeping her head down.
"Because I have not forgiven you yet!", Linali shouted and Ellen could hear how sad she sounded. She raised her eyes slightly and waited for her to continue. "You only think about yourself, Ellen! Because you're the only one that can see the souls of the Akuma you burden yourself with everything and want to sacrifice yourself to the war! Wasn't it you who said that we are fighting for this war to stop? Didn't you gave me courage to think about the time after the war?! And now you try to blindly throw away your life!" Ellen lowered her gaze again, looking at the snow covered ground. She understood that she was angry – angry like Kanda had been back in the ghost city of Matel. About blindly sacrificing herself for people she didn't even know. "For what reason are we friends? Don't be so stupid!", Linali hissed with suppressed tears, her voice shaking. Ellen felt guilty and sad. "Why don't you fight with us? Why don't you let us help you? Don't you trust us?". Linali let go of the bag and Ellen's hand shot up to keep it from falling down, while Linali dropped to her knees, sobbing. "I hate it… Your left eye! I hate it!".
"I am sorry…", Ellen whispered, "Linali. Thank you for saving me". The Chinese girl wiped her tears and then she looked up suddenly, startling Ellen.
"And just so you know! I'll always save you! If you like it or not!", with these words she got back up on her feet, grabbed the bag and stomped off. Ellen was left standing on at the platform.
"Does that mean that she forgave me?", Ellen wondered in surprise, but then she smiled sadly. She made everyone worry because of the way she behaved. Maybe Linali was right, maybe she was selfish. She didn't mean any harm by it, she just wanted to save whoever needed her help – that couldn't be so wrong could it? But somehow Ellen understood both Kanda and Linali. Suddenly she heard the whistle of the train announcing its departure. Ellen turned around frantically, but before she could run off, someone grabbed her sleeve.
"Is that a cross on your chest?", a man, which Ellen recognized as the vendor from before, asked her quite breathlessly in accented English.
"Pardon me?", Ellen asked but then the train's whistle was blown another time, "I need to get on that train!", she said. The man grabbed both of her hands and pushed her on the floor. Ellen couldn't help shrieking. Was he an Akuma?! Ellen wanted to free herself, but then the train started rolling and with the loud sound of the wheels moving on the railroads the train left. Ellen gasped, hand outstretched unbelievingly.
"My… my train", she managed to breathe, tears forming in her eyes, "it left… Oh no…"
"My deepest apologies honorable monk", the old man said, letting go of Ellen, "but you must understand that I cannot wait". The old man bowed, touching his forehead to the snow covered ground. "Black monk! I humbly beg you to save our village!". Ellen, still shocked, propped herself up on her elbows, looking at him.
"What?", Ellen asked, wiping away her tears, "black monk…?". The man got up on his feet and dragged Ellen up as well.
"You certainly must wonder how I am", the man said and Ellen looked at him, "I'm Georg. The mayor of this village. I also sell food at the railway station". He said, dragging Ellen with himself. Ellen didn't even try to resist that much, because she didn't really know what to do or where to go now that the train and her friends left without her. She wondered how long it would take for the others to notice her absence and what they would do. She didn't even have Timcampy with herself, how should they find her? Ellen let her head drop and the man still pulled her into the direction of the village. Ellen still wondered if maybe she let herself be caught by an Akuma, because there was no way of telling right now. But he had said something about saving a village. But why did he call her black monk? Georg pushed the door of a bigger house open, shoving Ellen inside.
"Listen everybody!", he shouted, "God has heard our prayers! A black monk has arrived!!". Ellen stumbled inside and then she looked around. The big room (it looked like an inn) was filled with men dressed in black clothes, holding all kind of weapons.
"Listen, I am not a black monk…", Ellen tried to tell them, but nobody seemed to listen to her anymore. All the men started shouting in relief, running towards her.
"It's a miracle! A miracle!! A black monk!!", they shouted and pushed Ellen on a chair, tying her to it with a rope. Ellen blinked in confusion, not really sure what was happening around her.
"May I ask what this is all about?", she wondered, as politely as she could.
"It is because of a vampire", the mayor replied with an eerie voice, silencing everybody in the room at once.
"Vampire?", Ellen replied, recalling all the scary books she had read before.
"Yes", Georg affirmed, "He has been living among us for a very long time already. His name is Baron Crowley. By day he never lets himself be seen in the village, but during the night the horrendous screams of his human victims can be heard from his castle. They say that nobody who sets foot into his castle ever comes back out". Ellen looked at him in surprise.
"A vampire? Pardon me, mayor, but those creatures do not exist", she tried telling him, laughing slightly, even though she was worried a bit. They mayor just shot her a dark glare. "Excuse me, please do continue", Ellen said and sighed in defeat.
"In the past Crowley never harmed those who stayed away from his castle. Quietly he lived in his old castle. But that changed, because one night…", he broke off and sucked in air. "His first victim was an old, unmarried woman. He sucked the blood out of her body until it turned to dust! That's how he killed her!"
"Unbelievable", a voice called and Ellen saw Rabi appearing from inside a barrel. All of the people present gave out startled cries. How and when had he appeared?!
"Rabi! What are you doing here? And why are you coming out of that barrel?!", Ellen called and the red head looked at her.
"I've come to get you. And I could as well ask you what you're doing here", he said but before they could continue talking the other people became aware of the fact that he was also wearing one of the crosses.
"Another black monk! Seize him!", the people called and jumped at Rabi, also tying him to a chair, next to Ellen.
"Could you please explain what is going on? What do you mean by black monk?", Ellen asked patiently, keeping her irritation at bay while Rabi just kept muttering that he had a bad feeling about all that.
"Some time before Crowley started killing people a traveler came to our village", the mayor started, "He introduced himself as a priest and wanted to know the way to Crowley's castle. We told him that he puts his life on the line and have tried stopping him. But he only laughed and departed in the direction of the castle. For three days we haven't seen him and we were sure that he had been killed by Crowley. But then he returned. Unhurt. I couldn't believe my eyes. Before he left he told me that if Crowley should ever cause us trouble we should look out for people with the cross. They would help us!". Ellen wondered what that was supposed to mean. Why should the exorcists help out with a vampire? "Shortly after, Crowley started killing people. Until today nine have died because of him. We planned on killing him this night. But then you came!", he said and threw himself at the floor, "God has not forsaken us! Honorable monks! Please kill Crowley and save us from our suffering!"
"But this is not what we usually do", Rabi protested, but the people didn't intend to listen to him.
"There is no sense in trying to convince them, Rabi", Ellen said and turned to look at the major with a frown, "how did this traveler look like?"
"Just a moment, honorable monks, I will draw you a picture", the mayor said, asking the men to get him a paper and a pen. Half a minute later he held up a sloppy drawing of a man both of the exorcist thought to know well enough.
"The order's uniform, the unruly hair, the hat and that mask…", Rabi mumbled and Ellen had to sigh. Somehow she had expected it, it sounded like him to make other people deal with problems.
"We know him. His name is Marian Cross", Ellen said, turning to the mayor who rolled the picture up, nodding eagerly.
"How good! I'm so glad to hear that! And now you will help us!!", he announced and the two exorcist were untied from the chairs.
"We will try our best", Ellen answered and Rabi frowned at her, "there is no other way", she whispered in his direction.
"Well, at least we might get a clue to Cross' whereabouts", the red-head said and they were led outside.
"We will now go into the forest!", the mayor said and the townspeople shouted, lifting their weapons.
"What will we do about Linali and Bookman? Will they not worry about us?", Ellen wondered as they were led out of the village. It was cold and the air was crisp. The snow was crunching under their boots and the moon illuminated their path into the forest. In the distance Ellen could make out the shape of a towering cliff and a castle built on it. Ellen guessed that this was the castle of Baron Crowley.
"I'll just contact her, no problem", Rabi said and his golem appeared from underneath his scarf. "Connect to Linali's golem!", he ordered and turned to look at Ellen, "we are lucky that we aren't that far away from them, or the golem wouldn't work without connecting to a telephone"
"I see…", Ellen said, still walking on, surrounded by the people from the village.
"Rabi!!", Ellen could hear Linali call, "have you found Ellen?!"
"Yes, yes don't worry. But we have a small problem here", the red-head confessed, "it seems that General Cross has been in this village before"
"Really? We're moving in the right direction then!", Linali said and Rabi scratched his head, "so what is the problem?"
"You see… There seems to be a vampire in this town. And General Cross said, before he left, that exorcist would investigate as soon as there were problems… And the townspeople won't let us go before we haven't dealt with it…"
"Oh… I understand. So you actually want to do what Cross ordered", Linali said, sounding worried.
"Yes", Ellen replied, "you and Bookman can continue your journey, we will follow you once we have dealt with this".
"Understood. But please pay attention you two! If you are bitten by a vampire you will turn into a vampire as well! I've read that in a book!". Ellen frowned and Rabi did as well, "don't become vampires!!"
"No… We won't", Rabi said after a while. Linali, who was obviously pleased by their answer but still worried, terminated the connection with a "good luck".
"Linali really does believe in vampires", Ellen stated and Rabi had to laugh.
"Kind of funny that people still believe in vampires today!", he whispered to Ellen.
"Yes, it is truly peculiar", Ellen answered, laughing slightly.
"Stop you two! We're here!", the mayor announced. Ellen looked ahead, seeing a huge gate in front of her. The stone was shaped into a grotesque face of a demon, the huge wooden doors were built into the stone figure's mouth.
"This looks terrible…", Rabi commented and Ellen had to agree, even though the gatekeeper at the Black Order was scary as well (and still was very skeptical when having to open up for Ellen).
"If one already has the reputation of being a vampire, then why does he make his door so uninviting?", Ellen wondered, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Well, maybe he enjoys scaring other people and doesn't mind seeming like a freak… It somehow reminds me of Yu", Rabi said and Ellen turned to look at him.
"Why are you saying that?", she wondered and Rabi had to laugh despite the very scary sounds and screams that could be heard from past the gate.
"Well, he seems very scary and lets other people think that he is a cold person. But he's quite nice, isn't he?"
"Well, yes. You are right. He can be quite nice…", Ellen confessed and thought how it would be to have Kanda now here with her. She certainly wouldn't be as scared as she was now, even though she did not believe in vampires. He would just snap at her for being such a coward, but he would protect her. It sure would be nice to have him with her. Ellen shook her head, making the thought go away.
"No! What am I thinking! I need to focus on the mission! I can do this alone, I do not need his help!", she told herself, looking at the door. "Let us continue. There is no sense in standing in front of closed doors", she suggested and Rabi, not that happy with her determination to go inside, helped her push the heavy gates open.
The sight that greeted them after they passed the doors was not any better than what the gate and the awful screaming had already promised; the wide space they had to cross before reaching the castle, was a maze of fir trees, old gravestones, crosses and ugly sculptures resembling gargoyles and other fiendish shapes. The fog that was creeping over the moist, earthy ground seemed as it was alive as it wound itself around the statues and their small group. It reminded Ellen of the fog in London, the fog she had seen in the run down and impoverished parts she had visited with Mana.
"This baron must be really creepy for his garden to look like this", Rabi whispered, not daring to raise his voice, as if it might wake up monsters slumbering in the foggy shadows of the sculptures and behind the trees. "Oh? You've already taken off your glove?", he asked, as he a took a glimpse at Ellen, "are you scared??". Ellen forced herself to laugh lightly.
"Oh, of course not!", she lied, "what about you? You have been touching your weapon for quite some time now"
"Me and scared? How ridiculous! Haha!", Rabi said, laughing as well, as if it might make the fear go away. Fighting Akuma he was used to, but a vampire in this creepy environment?
"Vampires do not exist", Ellen reminded Rabi, but somehow it sounded as she wasn't that sure about it anymore. What if they did after all…? It was not a very welcome thought. Before they could continue their little game of chasing away the fear, a cold feeling seized both of them and they knew that there was something with them, observing them from the shadows.
"What… is the matter?", Georg asked, seeing how tense the exorcist were all of a sudden.
"Shh! Someone is here!", Rabi hissed.
"And it is coming nearer", Ellen added, taking the patch over her eye off, but she still couldn't open it nor see anything with it. But the feeling was similar to what she was used to. The slight shiver that was caused by Akuma or Innocence being near them. A cold wind started to blow, swallowing all sounds of anybody approaching them, and then Rabi and Ellen felt it; somebody rushed passed them at a speed that made it impossible to see anything.
"It's fast!", Rabi hissed, turning towards the town's people among which their enemy had disappeared. A peculiar smell reached Ellen's and the other's nose. Then somebody's scream tore through the strained silence.
"Franz! He has… He has killed Franz!!", a man shouted, making Ellen and Rabi look up in alarm. And there, behind the people, his black and slightly torn cape moving around him like living shadows, the shape of a man was standing hunched over.
"That is… It's Aleister Crowley!!", the people screamed and Ellen froze. The shape turned its face towards them and a she saw what she never had expected to see: a man with dark eyes, his teeth sunk into the throat of a poor human.
"A vampire!", Ellen shouted in her mind. The young girl couldn't help shrieking and Rabi took a surprised step backwards, pulling Ellen with himself protectively.
"Impossible! That can't be!", he said with a unsure sided grin, not believing his eyes. The man turned towards them, not bothered by the people staring at him. He continued drinking the blood of the human, making disgusting, loud sounds, which made Ellen nearly sick. Some of the townspeople started to scream and ran off.
"We have to do something!", Ellen shouted, awakening from her daze, "we cannot let this man harm them anymore than he already did!"
"Right, dear beansprout!", Rabi agreed, and both invocated their weapons.
"What should we do?", Ellen wondered, aiming at the vampire as he approached them, still holding on to his victim.
"Well, I've got no clue. We just have to make sure that he doesn't bite us or Linali will be angry at us", Rabi replied. Ellen slammed her claw into the ground, whirling up earth, dust and stone plates, forcing the vampire to stop. Meanwhile Rabi made his hammer grow remarkably in seize and then he slammed it down, hoping to hit the enemy.
"Take that!!", he shouted, but once the dust has settled he and Ellen saw that the vampire had caught the small cross at the tip of the hammer between his teeth. Rabi had to laugh, even though it was no longer funny. "Quite some strong teeth you have there…!", he said. The baron turned around, making Rabi and his Innocence crash into the floor. Ellen took this moment and surprised the man by seizing him in her claw, one of her fingers close to his throat.
"Stop this madness at once!", she shouted, the fear of the vampire subsided as she fell into her newly acquired routine of battling Akuma. "Hold still", she continued, and the man became aware of the dangerous claw. But instead of being intimidated he started roaring with menacing laughter.
"You two are quite some strange brats! That I waste my precious time with you two! Are you monsters or what? Well?", he answered, grinning widely.
"We are exorcists", Ellen replied as politely as the situation allowed her two. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rabi picking himself up from the ground.
"A good evening to you! I'm a bit busy as you can see, so…", the baron continued, still grinning. "LET ME GO!!", he roared, baring his sharp teeth and his face was distorted into a scary grimace. Before Ellen could react the baron sank his teeth into her claw, sending pain through the young girl.
"What?!", she shouted, "He pierced the Anti Akuma weapon with his teeth?! Impossible!"
"On no! Ellen!!", Rabi shouted, running towards his friend, while the vampire continued drinking loudly. Ellen was too shocked to even react, but she didn't have to. The baron suddenly stopped, letting go of her.
"Blergh! What is that?! It's bitter!!"; he shouted, freeing himself from the claw and running off, while trying to spit out what he drank. Ellen dropped to the floor, staring after the retreating figure of the vampire, Rabi doing the same. After she stopped her invocation Ellen raised her finger, seeing the bite marks of the vampire on her swollen index finger.
"Just don't let Linali know, Ellen…", Rabi whispered and Ellen dropped her head in defeat.
To be continued
Notes:
Well yes, somehow this is a bad moment to stop, but it was getting rather long... Now there are some things to think about - what about those stupid flowers even though a friend of mine already gave me a brilliant idea snicker and whether Crowley mistakes Ellen for a boy as well... Stuff like this.
P.S. Ellen's starting to become cheeky. Poor Rabi. But I bet he likes it (even though Kanda probably wouldn't be thrilled)