Author's Notes:
Sorry for the delay people! The AnimagiC kept me busy! X3 But now I'm back and inspired and whatnot.
So, have the next chapter of Ivory Tales, now finally finished with Volume 4! lol This whole Romania Arc takes longer than expected! Part two!
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino
Kapitel 23: Of Love and Darkness
The people of the small Romanian village were all hiding behind the trees, while Ellen recovered from the shock of the previous encounter. She still looked at her throbbing finger, inspecting the markings were the vampire sank his teeth into her Innocence. There was no blood, but Ellen knew that her Innocence hand didn't seem to be filled with any substance resembling blood.
"Continue like this, black monks, and kill Crowley!", the mayor shouted from behind a tree, while the others also urged them to go on fighting. Ellen looked over at them and frowned.
"Excuse me, but why are you that far away from us?", she wondered, not without a hunch to what the answer could be.
"Don't worry about it!", the major shouted and Ellen dropped her head.
"They're just afraid that you could also become a vampire now that you've been bitten by Crowley", Ellen heard Rabi say. She raised her head and turned to him, somewhat glad, that he hadn't run off as well.
"Rabi", she started, but then she froze.
"So, don't worry about it", he repeated, wearing a necklace of garlic and holding on to a wooden stake. Ellen had no clue where he got them that fast, but it still annoyed her.
"But I do worry!", she thought, "I cannot stop thinking about it!". She clicked her tongue indignantly, and almost sprang to her feet.
"Let us go the castle now!", she shouted and started walking off.
"Aww, Ellen! What's wrong? I was just joking!", Rabi said, waving at her and took off the garlic. "Why are you so motivated all of a sudden?"
"Baron Crowley took one of the villagers into the castle. We cannot know if he is already dead. Maybe we manage to save him", Ellen answered, still a bit irritated, and pulled up the hood of her coat.
"Crowley takes his prey into his castle so he can eat it quietly. He does that with all of his victims!", the major shouted and Rabi shivered.
"Whaaaat?", he asked and turned towards Ellen, walking up to her, "he eats them…?" The young girl didn't seem to be grossed out by the idea, probably not believing what they were saying and Rabi found that somewhat admirable.
"Mister major! Please stay here with the others! Mister Rabi and I will go to the castle!", she called out to the people from the village.
"Well, that goes without saying!! We humans would risk our lives if we were present at this fight between monsters! Good luck!"
"So we're monsters as well?", Rabi mumbled, putting his hand on Ellen's back. The girl stayed silent, lifting her hands to her chest.
"Monster…", she mumbled.
"Don't listen to them, Ellen", Rabi whispered and the young girl sighed.
"Let us go, we have a mission", she said after a while and they continued walking through the strange labyrinth of sculptures leading up to Crowley's castle.
"You no longer seem to be afraid, Ellen", Rabi said, catching up to the girl, who was making her way up to the huge door of the castle.
"Afraid? Oh, I am afraid, but not of a vampire, Rabi", she said and looked over her shoulder. The red-haired exorcist wasn't sure if she was angry, sad or worried. Probably something in-between.
"Then what? Of this old castle? Of the dangerous lurking in the shadows?", Rabi asked, but Ellen shook her head.
"I have been called monster before…", she said after a while, looking at the approaching door. Rabi stopped walking, clearly taken by surprise. As Ellen stopped at the gates he sped up again.
"What? Why?"
"Not directly…", Ellen said, pushing at the doors, which wouldn't move at first, but then she just used her left hand and it opened up wide enough for them to enter. "People did not dare, I am from a noble house after all. But they were talking, whispering when they thought I was not listening…"
"Ellen…", Rabi said, not sure what he should answer. The girl disappeared inside and he followed.
"I guess that I am afraid to become what they say I am… It has nothing to do with this mission, but somehow this castle and what the people say…", Ellen stopped and closed the door after Rabi, then she looked at him, "monsters, Rabi, do not exist. I continue believing that. There are Akuma and there are humans. Baron Crowley is either an Akuma or a human, but not a monster". Rabi smiled at her, patting her head.
"Ellen, you are wiser than I expected. You might be a new exorcist, but you're tough", he said, "no wonder-"
"Oh, don't bring Kanda up now!", Ellen called, stomping her foot in a very childish manner. Rabi blinked at her and started laughing.
"I guess I take it back, you're still a child after all! And you said don't!!"
"Silence now. We should do what we are meant to do", she told him with a frown and pink cheeks, then she looked around. They were in a entrance hall with a very high ceiling and huge stairs leading upwards.
"Hm. I wonder why we exorcist should go fighting a vampire. Don't you thing that it's strange?"
"As I said, maybe he is an Akuma", Ellen said, looking at a sculpture that stood next to the door.
"If he were, then Cross would have killed him before", Rabi said and pointed to the stairs, "let's go up". Ellen nodded and followed him
"Well, you are right, but there must be a reason for this"
"So you believe that everything Cross does has a meaning?", Rabi asked with a grin and Ellen huffed.
"I am sure that he does pretty useless things, but not concerning his work as an exorcist. Or at least I hope that I am not misjudging him", she said, walking upwards, "this has to be connected to my master, why else should he have come here?"
"Yes… There weren't any nice women around, were there?", Rabi wondered, and only earned himself a "stop joking" from Ellen, "Well, he did tell the villagers that we would destroy the vampire. That's pretty strange. What did he mean by that? Why did we…", he said and then he suddenly fell to the floor. Ellen gave a startled shriek.
"Rabi?!", she shouted, turning around only to find him sleeping and the floor covered by some strange fog. Ellen put her hand over her mouth and nose, but still dropped to the floor.
"This sweet scent! It smells like…", she thought, but then she felt something tugging at her shoulder. Without being able to do anything, she was hauled up into the air and suddenly faced something which looked like a huge flower. She was hanging legs up into mid-air, being held by something like robust cobwebs. "Goodness, what is that?! A flower?". The thing opened its petals and it seemed like a mouth to Ellen. More and more appeared in the big entrance hall, Rabi and Ellen hanging among them, nearly defenceless. "What is happening here?!". Ellen started struggling, but couldn't free herself. A flower caught her arm in its mouth and the young girl whirled around, activating her innocence and shot. The flower exploded and Ellen was free for the moment. "Man eating plants! What are they doing in this castle?". She wondered and looked around. Rabi was still unconscious and the flowers were approaching him.
"Rabi!!", Ellen shouted and continued shooting so that her friend didn't land in any flower's mouth, also making holes in the wall. "Rabi! Please wake up!". She pulled at the strings and continued shouting, but it took her quite some efforts to wake the red-head.
"Huh…?", was the first thing he mumbled and Ellen was pretty relieved. Then she became aware of the hole and that a human was standing in it.
"Hey! You two humans there!", the woman shouted and Rabi turned his head towards her. "Was are you doing?! Those are Master Aleister's beloved flowers!".
"How is she dressed…?", Ellen wondered quietly, but Rabi seemed to be totally captivated by this woman.
"Strike!!", he shouted, staring at her.
"What?!", Ellen replied to that, "Rabi?". The girl didn't get a reaction from her friend, as he was focussing on the woman, who now started flirting with him. "Rabi!! Now… Look at me!!". The girl started to get furious with him and changed her Innocence to a claw, banging it on Rabi's head, "Listen already!!", she shouted.
"Why are you doing that?", Rabi asked, a big bump on his head. Ellen couldn't believe her ears.
"We are nearly being eaten! Why are you all exited over the likes of her?!", Ellen shrieked, wanting to hit him even more.
"You're still a child Ellen, you wouldn't understand how a man's heart works!", Rabi retorted.
"What?!", Ellen called, still furious and ignoring the woman completely, "why would I want to understand that?!".
"I am Eliade!", the woman introduced herself and Ellen turned towards her, "Master Aleister's assistant. What are you doing here?"
"We want to destroy the vampire!", Rabi said in a sing-song voice, still looking at her with a stupid face.
"We came to look for the villager that the baron took", Ellen corrected him, regaining her composure.
"Villager?", the woman asked with a disapproving frown. "Oh, you mean this here?", she askes, lifting up a human's body by the ankle. "I actually wanted to bury him right now". Ellen widened her eyes. "but if you want to have him…", she continued and threw him away and into the hall. "Then here you can have him!". Ellen gave a surprised start.
"Mister Franz…?!", she called but before she could react, the flowers caught him and started tearing him apart. "Why…?!", Ellen shouted, but the woman just glared at the whole scene, then she turned around and disappeared. The flowers in turn finished eating, but suddenly they started sprouting black stars. And soon after that they exploded, destroying a part of the castle. Ellen grabbed Rabi with her claw and shielded themselves against the explosion. She didn't see much, but they were trust forward by the force of the explosion. The young girl was able to grab a wall as they were blown outside and the two could save themselves.
"Uff!! We… We are demons!! I thought we wouldn't survive that!", Rabi panted. Ellen, who had stopped her invocation, pressed her hand to her chest.
"We got away with only a few scraps. Our uniforms are really something special", she said and sat up. Rabi didn't seem that fine because he excused himself and threw up.
"I got a hit to the stomach", he said.
"Rabi!", Ellen called, as she saw something on the other side of the wall.
"Y… Yes?", the young man asked, wiping his mouth. They stood up and looked at what lay bellow them
"A graveyard", Ellen said and they started climbing down the wall. The rough stone floor had been broken open at various parts and bare, old trees with huge roots grew out of the soil. Somewhere in the middle of the square, in the muddy earth, little hills with wooden crosses had been pilled up.
"Those are very simple graves", Rabi commented, "maybe for pets?", he suggested, while Ellen walked around, studying them. "Aren't you afraid?"
"No, I have often visited graveyards to honour my ancestors… There is nothing scary about graves", Ellen said, counting the wooden crosses. Rabi showed her an unsure grin.
"You're one tough lady, Miss Ellen", he told her. Ellen didn't react to that, but was thinking things through.
"I think that these are the graves of the villagers that the baron took with himself"
"What?", Rabi wondered and Ellen walked into the middle of the small grave circle where Rabi was standing.
"This woman, Miss Eliade… She said that she wanted to bury Mister Franz. And there is another thing… Look". She raised her hand and pointed at the graves, "there are eight graves.This matches the number of victims the major talked about".
"But didn't Crowley kill nine…?", Rabi wondered, crossing his hands in front of his chest.
"One of his victims dissolved, right?", Ellen asked and touched the nearest cross, that cracked and crumbled into small pieces. "Oh!"
"Argh! It broke!"
"Oh no! And I only touched it lightly! Forgive me!", Ellen apologizes and dropped to her knees looking if she could save the broken cross. As she looked down she saw some strange symbol in the earth. "Rabi! Look at this!", she called
"Hmm?", he hummed and bend over the girl, who started digging in the mud.
"This here…! The ground is covered by pentacles!", she said pointing at the black stars.
"The virus from the Akuma blood… That can't be…", the red-head commented with a frown.
"Are Akuma in these graves…?", Ellen asked and Rabi walked over to the next grave.
"Here are more of them, Ellen", he said, then he turned to look at her, "I just remembered… The flowers that ate Franz…Weren't there pentacles as well? Could this mean that…". Ellen started at him, finishing his sentence:
"That they ate an Akuma?!". The two of them were silent after Ellen voiced their suspicion, looking at the graves in confusion. "Maybe we should start digging a bit, Rabi?", Ellen suggested after a while.
"We have no choice, have we? We need to be sure about it…", the red-head replied with a sigh, scratching his head uncomfortably.
"Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding…", Ellen said, then she looked around, spotting a shovel. The young girl took a hair tie out of her pocket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Meanwhile Rabi pulled up his scarf around his mouth and nose, then he took the nearest wooden stick he could find and started digging with Ellen. It took them quite some time but then the metal tip of the shovel touched something solid.
"There is something!", she exclaimed and they unearthed a simple wooden coffin.
"There it is…"
"Indeed…", Ellen commented and the two looked at each other, "will you not open it?". Rabi blinked at her.
"Why me? I don't want to!", he protested and earned himself a put off frown.
"I am a lady, and not a grave robber!", Ellen shouted and Rabi shook his head. The girl groaned and kneeled down. "You are such a coward for a boy! I am sure Kanda would not have hesitated!"
"Well, I'm not Yu, am I? I don't want some ghost to curse me for disturbing his slumber!", Rabi reasoned and Ellen just shook her head in annoyance. With her gloved hands she tried to pull off the cover. The wood was pretty rotten and she managed to tear it off. She looked at it, feeling a bit sick and Rabi looked over her shoulder calmly.
"The skin has rotten away…", Rabi said and looked at the corpse, "an Akuma". The coffin was covered by dark stars and the rest of the stinking flesh hung on a metallic body.
"Let us unearth the others as well", Ellen suggested and the pair started working, just to see the same picture all over again; all of the coffins held Akuma.
"All of them were Akuma… The flesh has rotten away and the blood has seeped into the earth, that's the reason there are pentacles on the ground…", Rabi said, studying a coffin, "Urgh. Ellen, this stinks! Aren't you feeling sick?"
"No… I smell them yes, but I am not affected… Maybe because I have been cursed by an Akuma?", Ellen wondered and thought about their discovery. "So… The baron attacked Akuma… What if he only attacked Akuma…?". Rabi stood up, rolling down his sleeves.
„Then we wouldn't be going after a vampire. Then this Crowley would be…". Ellen looked up at him and froze. A dark shape was looming behind her friend. Without hesitating she started shouting:
"Ra… Rabi!!". The man knew at once that something was wrong and turned around, but not fast enough. He was hit by the baron, smashing into the nearest wall and lost conscious.
"So it is you…", the Baron hissed with a scary grin. Ellen looked over to where Rabi lay, still shocked. "Now I'm angry!"
"This no longer is a vampire hunt", Ellen thought and slowly turned towards Crowley, "The vampire Aleister Crowley… Maybe he is one of us?". She looked at him with a steady gaze and made a short bow.
"Baron!", she said and he grinned at her.
"Die! Exorcists!". Without hesitating he came at her, giving Ellen just enough time to invocate her weapon, thus blocking his attack. But he was just too fast for her, hitting her into the face. She was thrown at the wall, where she could regain her balance before falling down. But she barely had enough time to jump away before he smashed his fist into the ground she had been standing on just seconds before.
"He is so fast!", Ellen thought, landing on the roots of an old tree. "Mister Crowley!", she shouted, "we do not intend to kill you, Baron!". The man came at her again and she tried to block as well as she could. She was reminded of all the hours spent in the training room, boxing against Kanda. She never thought that she would be this glad of his harsh training, but still, he was faster than her. "Please do listen to me!"
"Save your breath! You probably got scared because you had to witness the death of your friend!", the vampire said with a malicious grin and Ellen grit her teeth. She saw that Rabi was still lying on the debris of the fallen wall, he was injured, she could see that, but she just knew that he was too strong to die that easily. At least she feverishly believed in him. The baron and her landed on the ground and before Crowley could attack her again, Ellen forcefully stopped her invocation, resulting in a fountain of blood gushing out of her left shoulder, where her Innocence met her normal flesh. But she just pulled herself together and faced Crowley with a determined face.
"Please listen to me!", she demanded and Crowley raised and eyebrow in confusion. "All the villagers that were buried in your garden were Akuma. Were you aware of that? Aleister Crowley!", Ellen shouted, "are you really a vampire?". He just stared at her dumbfounded and disbelieving, but then he started glaring at her angrily.
"You ask if I really am a vampire…?", he wondered and faster than Ellen's eyes could see, he was behind her, grabbing the left side of her face with one hand. She reacted as fast as she could, but he still managed to sink his teeth into his prey. Ellen touched her bleeding neck, droplets of fresh blood hitting the dirty floor. Ellen panted loudly, watching Crowley laugh.
"I have no clue what Akuma are supposed to be", he said, Ellen's ripped off ponytail in his mouth, "I just rejoice in the feeling of lust!". He spit the hair out, grinning at her. "One wants to have fun in life!! I want to follow my instinct freely without anybody hindering me! I refuse to lead a life that others decided for me!", he shouted and Ellen pulled her hand away from her neck and short hair, her eyes set on Crowley. "That's why I kill, and you're the next one!". He dashed at Ellen and she could barely block his attack. The force smashed her into the castle.
"Mmpf. That was all apparently", Crowley snorted, but then an explosion nearby let him look up. Rabi appeared with his Innocence transformed into a huge hammer
"Bleh! You can't just forget about me that easily!", Rabi hissed, his face down and sticking his tongue out to Crowley. His face was bloody and he pushed his bandana up. When he raised his head he was grinning but he was very angry. "You can't just do that to Ellen, not when I'm in charge of her. Now I am a little bit pissed! We will talk about the whole matter quietly after I knocked you out!", he spat out and earned himself a delighted, dark grin from Crowley.
"How funny!"
Meanwhile Ellen woke up again with a huge headache. She sat up and nearly threw up because of her dizziness. Blood was dripping from her chin and she could feel I running down her face sticky and warm and coppery.
"Oh my… This hit I took to my head was a bit too much…", she moaned, standing up on shacking feet, holding on to the wall. "Just like when my master knocked me out some months ago…". She slowly made her way along the corridor, not knowing where she was going. She could hear loud sounds coming from somewhere outside. "I… have to hurry!", she told herself, but then her hand sank into the wall, as she had unintentionally pushed at a brick. A door suddenly opened in the wall and she fell into a hidden room. "A secret door! But where am I!", she whispered, holding on to her throbbing head.
"Uuuh…", she heard someone moan and straightened up immediately. She saw a huge shadow of some unknown creature thrown at the far off wall. Ellen was pretty surprised and then the door behind her snapped shut with a loud bang. Then she heard the clacking of heels on a stone floor and looked to her side. But there was nothing and the shape was gone as well.
"There is nobody here?", she whispered, but then she was suddenly attacked from behind and smashed into the book shelves. Looking over her shoulder she could see the woman Eliade, holding on to her. "What?"
"Look what we have here! The white haired lad! Even though Aleiseter said that he would get rid of you… Really…". Ellen saw bite marks on her shoulder. The same she had on her finger, where the baron bit her. Eliade pushed Ellen further against the shelf, crushing her. "Well, that's how it has to be. I will take care of you. I have wanted to taste it long ago; an exorcist's blood!", she shrieked, "you will be very sorry to have ever come to this castle!". Eliade turned Ellen around, her hand dissolving into something that looked like white cobwebs. She crushed Ellen's chest, cracking some of her ribs and squeezing the air out her lungs. Ellen started coughing violently, spitting blood as well.
"Oh? What is that? You're a girl?", Eliade asked with a mock surprised face, still crushing Ellen's chest under her transformed hand, "And what about your breathing? Until some minutes ago you were just doing fine! If you do nothing then I'll just squash you!". Ellen panted, sweat dripping from her face.
"What is that…? It is so hot… I am getting dizzy… It seems to me as if something would suck all my energy out of my body. My senses are getting weaker… I… am tired…". Eliade hit her as her eyelids dropped.
"What? No reaction? Or are you just not in the mood? Maybe Aleister was too much for such a dumb little girl? Hmmm".
"No… I… must not fall asleep", Ellen thought to herself, "I feel no pain… I feel nothing at all… My senses are numbed… But if I fall asleep now she will kill me… Say something!", Ellen urged herself, "Get your brain running!".
"I… Do not plan to… kill Aleister Crowley…", Ellen whispered, "And I have no reason to fight against you…".
"Oh? She can still speak?", Ellen heard Eliade say.
"He… He is no vampire… And he certainly is not a monster… Maybe he is… one of us…", she could see how Eliade stared at her and then she started hitting her, laughing loudly.
"One of you?! Are you mad?! He is a vampire!!", Eliade shrieked with a grin, then she approached Ellen's face and she could finally see her face. The expression she wore surprised Ellen; she seemed troubled, pained and scared. "I will not allow you to take him away from me!". Ellen widened her eyes, at a loss of words.
"Miss… Eliade…", she whispered, but the woman just glared at her.
"That is why I will kill you!", she shouted and threw Ellen at the opposite wall, where she dropped to the floor. Eliade walked up to her, an axe in her hand. "I will just chop off your head and then suck out all of your blood and smear it at the front gate! They will no longer dare to approach this castle!", Eliade said and kicked Ellen, so that she rolled on her back. The blonde woman put the sharp end of her axe to Ellen's white throat. "Bye, bye sweet little girl!". She let her axe smash down, put before it could harm Ellen, it was stopped by her hand. Eliade struggled against Ellen's firm hold on the weapon.
"Moving again?!", she asked with a grin, but then she had to realize that Ellen wasn't even conscious. But Eliade had no time to do anything about it, as Ellen destroyed the axe and invocated the hand to a huge claw, which soared down at Eliade on its own accord. The woman was able to escape, but still got a bit hurt. She was breathing loudly, watching as the claw smashed itself into the floor, pulling Ellen up with it.
"Who is that girl?! Her left arm moves on its own?!", she wondered with wide eyes.
Ellen had her eyes closed, feeling how the strange electricity of her Innocence ran through her left arm. Her cursed eye felt hot and strange. She didn't feel that much, neither did she see anything. But something came out of her left eye and she heard a whisper in her head. She felt so far away, trapped in a black world. She hear the clacking of heels on a hard floor. Ellen suddenly felt very young and very alone again, just like she had felt when Mana had died. And she felt his presence, just behind her. She was the young girl of 14 again, with the long hair that turned white and the bleeding scar of her uncle's curse forever burned into the left side of her pale face. "Mana…?" She felt herself ask, but she didn't even turn to look around. Had she died? No, that couldn't be… "Even if my eye had turned blind… I'm determined to stay an exorcist. I have decided, just like my friends", she said, but nobody replied to her. Mana was standing behind her, watching, listening, but staying silent. Ellen started crying. "Mana…" Ellen felt a presence wrapping around her.
"Then dive deeper into this world that divides black and white even stronger than your old. Trust yourself into it!!"
Ellen opened her eyes. Then she suddenly saw Eliade and above her the soul of an Akuma.
"Ellen… I've returned. The darkness is back…", she heard someone say and then her feelings returned to her. She opened her eyes slowly, a strange monocle like gear formed over her eye.
"You are an Akuma", Ellen said, looking at Eliade.
"And you're a very strange girl", the Akuma woman commented, grinning despite the bad situation she was in. Ellen ignored her for the moment.
"It is back… The black and white world", Ellen thought, looking at Eliade. "Welcome back". She transformed her Innocence into her gun and looked up at Eliade. "I take back what I said. Now I have a reason to fight you!"
"You're pretty annoying. You destroyed my clothes!", the Akuma complained while Ellen just studied her.
"Do you not want to change your appearance?", she asked and Eliade just grinned at her.
"You're quite cheeky! I don't like myself when I become so ugly. I like this human body better. But considering the situation we find ourselves into, I can hardly be so picky", she answered and then she puller her face off, transforming into a huge plant like Akuma.
"I agree", Ellen said, pulling up her hood, preparing herself to fight the level two on her own. She shot at Eliade with her gun, managing to hit and breaking yet another wall. The Akuma shrieked and used the hole to get itself more space to move in. Ellen ran to it and stopped at the whole. It led into a big hall with high ceilings. The Akuma had the advantage that it could fly, while Ellen would have to fight her either from her high position where she could hide or from the floor. She actually wanted to avoid risking anything, but she had a feeling that she had no other choice than to fire. She changed her Innocence into a claw and attached herself to the Akuma, pulling herself into the air, so that she was near enough to get a few shots at Eliade. The Akuma shrieked again, cursing her.
"Why you!!", it said, glaring at the girl. Ellen landed on one part of Eliade's body, hoping to finish it before she dropped to the far away floor. But just in that moment another explosion shook the already battered castle and tore yet another hole into the stone wall. Both of them looked down to find an unconscious Aleister Crowley lying on the floor. Eliade reacted and transformed herself back into human, taking away the ground Ellen had been standing on. She was too surprised to scream, but before she hurt herself, Rabi – sitting on the pole of his Innocence – grabbed her.
"Hi Ellen!"
"Rabi!! You are well!", the girl exclaimed. Rabi grinned, but then he noticed her left eye.
"Has it healed? You've opened it!", he said but then something else seemed to catch his attention. "Ellen! Look, this woman!". He didn't tell her what it was that seemed so special about Eliade, who now sat by the unconscious Crowley. Rabi lowered them to the ground instead. Crowley opened his eyes and widened them shortly afterwards.
"Eliade… This thing… coming out of your body. What is it?", he breathed. Ellen watched them, holding on to her throbbing shoulder. "What is this?!", he repeated pointing at the soul connected to Eliade. Eliade looked over her shoulder, seeing it as well.
"The soul of an Akuma. Called back from the world of the dead. Chained, to be used as energy source for the weapon", Rabi breathed and he shivered, not really able to uphold his grin. "This? Is this it, Ellen?". Ellen turned towards him in surprise. "Incredible! Why can I see it as well?!". Rabi looked at her. "Is that the fault of your left eye?". Ellen widened her eyes, but then she lowered her head, covering her cursed eye with her hand.
"Has… Mana's curse gotten stronger?", she asked herself, "are the souls of the Akuma, only my left eye could perceive, now visible to the humans around me?". Ellen lowered her head. Her left eye… It seemed to be a burden, if not for her then for the people around her.
"Crowley!", Rabi shouted, "that girl is an Akuma! I explained it, right! She is our enemy and yours as well!!". Crowley, still sitting at the floor with Eliade beside him, flinched, then he stared at her.
"Eliade… What… Are you…?", he asked and she just looked at him with a calm expression.
"You know? I…", she pulled herself up and sighed, "I will tear you apart!!", she shouted, transforming herself into an Akuma. She kicked him off and Rabi shouted.
"Oh no! This will be dangerous! Crowley is still pretty weak because we've been fighting!! We have to help him!!", he said.
"Well. Yes of course", Ellen began, but before she could finish her sentence, the floor started to crack and more of the man-eating flowers broke through, catching Ellen and Rabi with their vines.
"What?! The flowers just broke through the floor?!", Ellen shouted.
"Again!! Despicable weed!", Rabi wailed, "and they're getting more and more!", he said as the whole hall resembled a field of these giant flowers. "You crappy flowers! What do you want?! I can't reach Crowley!!". Rabi tried to free himself, shouting and trashing, while Ellen just stayed quiet, listening to the sounds that came from beyond the flowers.
"What is happening over there?", Ellen wondered, while Rabi complained that he lost his hammer. "Are they fighting?". The next thing Ellen saw was Rabi being swallowed by a flower and only his hand sticking out.
"ARGH!!", Rabi shrieked and continued trashing.
"Rabi! Stay calm and do what I tell you!", Ellen shouted.
"Are you crazy?! If I calm down this thing will eat me!!", Ellen heard Rabi reply.
"Listen to me, Rabi! I have tried it myself just now, or why do you think that I have not been eaten yet?!", she tried to reason with him.
"So you've got a plan?!", Rabi sounded pretty desperate and Ellen could understand why.
"Yes! It is common knowledge that plants grow better when you talk to them and care for them"
"Stupid, girly wish-wash!!", Rabi complained from inside and Ellen groaned.
"Stop behaving like an idiot! These plants will not harm those that offer them love", Ellen said and added on an afterthought: "at least it seems so…"
"Stop speculating!!", Rabi wailed.
"Then pull yourself together and love this plant from the bottom of your heart!!", Ellen replied, unsure if one could just love a thing without actually being in love (no matter with whom, it was the emotion that counted). But she heard an affirmative reply from inside the flower.
"I LOVE YOU!!", Rabi shouted and really, the flower opened its mouth and Rabi could jump out, even though the vines were still holding on to him. "Ellen! You genius!!"
"Oh right. And before I was just babbling girly wish-wash", she snorted, earning a grin from Rabi.
"Come on, we have to get out of here so we can help Crowley!", Rabi shouted, turning towards the flowers. "I love you, I love you!". He turned towards Ellen who just stayed silent, "huh? Why aren't you doing anything?". Ellen huffed.
"Because I am a girl. And every girl loves flowers", she said and Rabi grinned at her.
"Even man eating ones… I see. You've got a pretty wicked taste, Ellen!".
"Hmpf. Just continue declaring your love, will you!", the white haired girl spat irritably.
"Fine, fine! I love you, I love you, I love you!", he said, looking at the flowers, "well? Getting better? They stopped trying to bite us".
"Yes and their hold on us is getting weaker as well", Ellen noticed. Suddenly it started dribbling and the two exorcists looked up in surprise.
"Brr…", Rabi commented as the rain got stronger.
"Rain? Here in the castle?", Ellen wondered. They freed themselves of the flowers, Rabi still chanting "I love you" just in case some flower hadn't been convinced yet. They walked through the hall, looking around, but Eliade and Crowley ere no longer fighting. They fond the baron sitting on a flower in the shape of a gigantic rose. The two younger ones climbed up, Rabi heaving a relieved sigh. "Finally free…"
"Baron?", Ellen asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Those stupid flowers…", he mumbled, but then he started screaming: "Ugly flowers! Damned flowers! Despicable flowers! Crappy flowers!!". And as expected, the rose under their feet opened up its mouth and bit them. Half of their bodies was still free, while the other was trapped.
"What are you doing to us, Crowley?!", Rabi shouted.
"Silence!!", the baron yelled and Ellen turned to look at him.
"I have destroyed Eliade… What reason do I still have to live…", he asked, tears streaming down his face.
"Suicide?", the two younger ones wondered, staring at the other.
"So kill me, you ghastly flower!!", Crowley wailed.
"Stop that, you idiot!!", Rabi called and Ellen clamped her hand over Crowley's mouth in irritation.
"Please calm down!", she called and looked at his left arm, that resembled nothing more than thin paper. "You are hurt!!"
"Oh… This is nothing. It will heal as soon as I drink Akuma blood", Crowley said when Ellen took away her hands to inspect his arm. The baron continued crying, raising his eyes to the ceiling. "Haaah. What kind of monster I've become…", he said and Ellen froze, "I killed what I loved the most". She stared at him and how he continued sobbing: "I want to die…". The young girl reacted and grabbed him by collar, staring at him
"If you suffer that much, then become an exorcist!", she said loudly. "Exorcists destroy the Akuma! And you've destroyed the Akuma called Eliade! If you continue destroying them, then there is also a reason why you had to destroy Eliade…". Rabi just looked at her in surprise, not having expected such harsh words, but somehow he could understand it.
"If there is a reason to, then one can continue living…", she whispered, but looked at Crowley with determination shining in her eyes, "you can live for this reason! You too are an apostle of the Innocence". Rabi studied her back with a calm gaze, remembering everything she has said before.
"This", he concluded to himself, watching how Ellen embraced the baron, "must be hard for you as well. Ellen Walker, the girl that killed her most precious person".
To be continued
Notes:
I added some dialogues and left other scenes (Eliade - Crowley fight for example) out. I also needed another reason for Ellen to know how to deal with the plants. Thankies to Esmerod here! lol
Next chapter; oh my God, Rabi failed and yay, Hobo!Tyki! rofl
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