I've been in a very foul mood, while doing part of this chapter. I hope this does not reflect in my writing… sweat drop How unprofessional... lolz
The title of this chapter doesn't make much sense if you look at it on its own, but if you try to interpret it with what is being said and done in this chapter it might turn out to be more than just me running out of ideas… XD
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino!
Kapitel 24: Cheating in Good Company
After freeing themselves of whatever carnivorous plant was left, Rabi, Baron Crowley and Ellen searched themselves a relatively safe place in the battered dance hall.
"Aaaah! I'm all drenched!", Rabi said and got out of his exorcist's jacket to hang it over the railing.
"Yes. We should better hang our clothes out to dry", Ellen suggested. Rabi, being the gentleman he considered him to be, helped her out of the coat. "Thank you, Rabi", Ellen said, but then the other two perceived a high pitched scream that originated from a very pale Rabi.
"What – What happened?", Crowley asked in a frightened tone. Rabi was trembling and pointing at Ellen.
"H… Ha… Hair!", he spluttered. Ellen just shot him an uncomprehending look.
"What is the matter?", she wondered.
"HAIR! Your hair!!", Rabi wailed, grabbing Ellen by the shoulder and turning her around, "Oh no!! Your divine hair!!". Ellen finally started to understand and felt her neck, where her hair was now rather short.
"Oh…"
"Don't say Oh!! Yu told me to watch over you! And now your hair got chopped off!", Rabi shouted, grabbing his head in frustration, "Her divine haaaaaaaiiiiir!!", he wailed sounding a lot like Komui did when he was sobbing for his sister. Ellen sighed and rubbed her neck. Her hair had never been this short, and it did pain her a bit to know it lost now, especially as it had grown back a little.
"I… I guess that was me", Crowley spoke up with a timid voice. Rabi stopped shouting nonsense and blinked at him.
"You?", he asked and the baron nodded. Rabi started howling, grabbing the vampire's collar and shaking him. "Then you take responsibility! Yu's going to KILL me for letting his future wife be harmed in such a way!". Ellen frowned.
"Shut up, Rabi", she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Rabi looked over at her and uttered a defeated sigh, letting go of the baron.
"Yu's is going to kill me. I tell you… He won't accept my failure to protect your divine hair", he mumbled and a lot of other random complaints followed. Ellen just shook her head and sat down on the floor, because she started to feel a bit dizzy again. She had had relatively little trouble while fighting this time, even though she was quite injured. Well, it let her hope that… things would turn out for the better.
"I think we have not been introduced properly", Ellen said, picking at her vest, before she looked up at Crowley, smiling, "My name is Ellen Walker!"
"And I'm Rabi!", the red-head added, suddenly being able to grin again after getting over the fact that he had failed protecting Ellen. The baron smiled thinly.
"I'm Aleister Crowley the third… Nice to meet to you two", he said, "and I am sorry that I wasn't listening to you… And… of course I regret damaging your hair… I will take the blame, tell that to your fiancé". Rabi grinned, but Ellen just put on a nice smile after frowning.
"Ah, no. You misunderstood this, Baron. I am not engaged yet", she corrected him. Rabi just nudged her.
"Don't be so stiff, Miss Walker!", he chirped, then he looked to Crowley, "you will surely meet him later on. Let's just hope that her hair will have grown back a little until then…"
"Kanda is also an exorcist", Ellen explained ignoring Rabi, "You will accompany us and become an exorcist, will you not?", she wondered and Crowley nodded after hesitating for some moments.
"Ah! I remembered something!", Rabi exclaimed and went to his jacket, getting out piece of paper. "Do you know this man?", he asked showing Crowley the mayor's picture of General Cross.
"Oh. Yes, he has been here, I can assure you", Crowley said, nodding.
"Ah?!", Rabi exclaimed, feeling that they were really on the right track.
"What did he want?", Ellen asked. The Baron rubbed his chin.
"He said that he was a friend of my late grandfather and that he had heard of his death. He wanted to return something that my grandfather had owned and he had kept in safe custody", Crowley explained.
"He kept something that belonged to your grandfather?", Ellen repeated with wonder. Rabi next to her was sneezing and Ellen frowned at him. "Bless you".
"It was a flower", Crowley answered once Ellen turned back to him, "the man-eating flower, as baby".
"Wh… What?! He was carrying that thing around?", Ellen wondered. Cross truly was a strange man. What did he want with such a flower?
"Oh? And this was all? He just returned it?", Rabi asked And Crowley nodded again.
"Yes. Although this flower was a pretty peculiar thing… Once it bit me out of the blue and withered shortly after", he said, "I thought that it had poisoned me, as my whole body felt as if it was on fire. And then all of my teeth fell out and the ones I have now formed". Rabi and Ellen listened in amazement and Crowley looked up thoughtfully. "If I think about it, then this flower must have held the Innocence. Because from that moment on I started attacking Akuma…"
"Well…", Rabi said after Crowley had stopped talking, "we're looking for that guy. Do you have and idea where he could have gone to?".
"Hm… Now that you mention it, I remember him saying that he wanted to go to the East and that I, as grandson of his friend, should lend him some money for the journey. To tell the truth, it was actually a lot of money…", Crowley replied. Ellen and Rabi looked at each other and sighed. The baron rose to his feet and Ellen looked up at him.
"Would you wait for me outside? I still need to do a few things". Ellen and Rabi smiled.
"Of course". Rabi helped the girl up and they left the building. Ellen looked up into the dark sky, but there was a faint light coming from the east.
"It is dawning. Morning should not be far away now", Ellen said. Rabi stretched, trying to get the ache out of his back.
"We had quite a harsh night, right?", Rabi asked. Ellen laughed and nodded.
"But we found a lead to my master's whereabouts. With the amount of money the baron handed him, I am sure that he was able to travel to China".
"China…", Rabi said and grinned, then he looked at Ellen. The girl was looking at the sky again, a melancholic expression on her face. He studied her for some time, but then he closed his eyes and smiled.
"Don't pull such a face, Ellen. You look as if you've done something terrible. Sure thing, you didn't spread happiness and optimism. But Crowley just needed a reason to continue in this situation…", Rabi said, turning towards Ellen, "It'll be okay…". Just as he said that there was a huge explosion behind them. The two exorcists turned around and saw the castle standing in flames, crumbling bit by bit.
"The castle?!", Rabi shouted, "he didn't…". But before they could go looking for Crowley, a shape appeared out of the flames. Crowley smiled at them.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Did you think I had died?", he asked, "I'm fine", he said and smiled as if a huge burden has been lifted off his heart.
After going back to the village to unsuccessfully try to convince the villagers that Crowley had done nothing wrong, they walked back to the train station.
"Do not worry about what they said… We exorcists face a lot of similar hardships. However, what we do will save humans and even though we will not be rewarded or thanked, I think that we are doing something good… That is why we put up with it", Ellen said with a smile, as the baron was walking next to them with his head lowered.
"Aaaah. Ellen, you're so mature", Rabi said with a wide grin. Ellen frowned at him, "I'm not trying to wind you up! I'm praising you! You're a noble girl after all, we can still see that! Even your short hair will not change the fact that you're a lady".
"You're from a noble family?", the baron asked and Ellen nodded at him.
"Yes… Maybe my mother knew your grandfather. She had a lot of noble friends all over the world".
"The only noble woman my grandfather knew in Britain was Lady Bermont", the baron answered, "as far as I can tell she is the head of the most prestigious family in London". Ellen looked up at him in surprise and smiled brightly.
"Yes, she is. She is a good woman, is she not?"
"Ellen has connections", Rabi commented and Ellen had to laugh. She would have liked to tell them that Lady Bermont was her mother, but she didn't dare to do it. She was a Walker now, even though if only in the order. General Cross had told her that she should change her name in order to protect her mother. In the end it didn't really matter. Ellen was quite comfortable by being just Ellen Walker.
"Come to think about it… I am no longer the same girl I have been when Master picked me up… I cannot go back to being Ellen Bermont that easily…", she thought and touched her hair, "I have changed a lot… Outside and inside…". She sighed what her two companions observed with confusion. "Oh… I cannot possibly face my mother right now. What would she think?".
"Is she alright?", Crowley whispered to Rabi as the girl just continued uttering small, defeated sighs. Rabi grinned.
"Ignore her. I bet she's thinking about the burden of her family name again. Maybe I should cheer her up a bit", he answered and slung his arm around Ellen's shoulders. "Yo, beansprout! Now that we have finished so successfully, maybe Komui cuts us some slack!". Ellen furrowed her brows and looked up at the red-head.
"What do you mean? And my name is Ellen", she said.
"Well… Maybe we can team up with Yu? Wouldn't it be great to meet him??".
"I don't want to see him right now!!", Ellen shrieked, forgetting her manners again and clamping her hands over her short hair. Rabi had to laugh and Ellen punched his upper arm.
"You're so cute when you're flustered!", he said and Ellen huffed.
"Why are you so keen on meeting Kanda anyway? Are you not worried that he will be angry at you for failing to protect my hair?". Rabi paled, half of his grin slipping.
"Don't remind me!", he wailed and Ellen and Crowley had to laugh at that. "Oh! There's the train station! Let's make a call to Komui! And keep quiet about the loss of your divine hair!".
"Of course", Crowley said and Ellen smiled at him, nodding in agreement.
"Fine! I'll go call him! You can go and find yourself a seat!", the red-head said and then he disappeared to find himself a telephone. He found an old one and plugged his golem in.
"Connect me to Komui", he said once his golem got a connection to the headquarters. It didn't take long for Komui's cheerful voice to answer.
"Yes??", Rabi heard him say and leant against the wall, seeing the train from the windows of the small cabin he was in. "Linali told me that our dear Ellen got lost in Romania, have you found her?"
"Yes I have and we've made a major discovery!", Rabi said and started telling the supervisor of the unplanned mission, careful as not to mention the loss of Ellen's divine hair, for he feared that it could leak to Kanda.
"Yes. I understand. That is more than we could have hoped for. A compatible and an upgrade of Ellen's eye…", Komui replied, sounding thoughtful.
"Hm. And how should we go on from here? Should one of us guide him back to the order? I'm sure Ellen wouldn't mind returning once in a while", Rabi mused. Komui stayed silent for a while, but then he sighed.
"I can understand that she does… It's all still very new to her and I'm sure she misses home"
"I guess she misses Kanda more", Rabi muttered and heard Komui laugh silently.
"Yes… And he misses her as well… But I don't think that it is necessary to send Crowley to headquarters. He doesn't seem to need fighting practice. And I am sure that he would add well to your fighting strength in battle…", he said and Rabi listened without interrupting, "You will take him along and continue your search for Cross. In the current situation I am not very keen on dividing your forces… I…"
"Yes, what?", Rabi wondered.
"I promised Kanda that I would let him meet her once he's found General Tiedoll… But seeing as he hasn't and that you can't continue your search for Cross without Ellen and Timcampy I don't see any sense in sending her back home. I am sorry if this sounds harsh, but she is an indispensable part of the Cross team…", Komui said. Rabi closed his eyes and nodded to himself.
"I am sure she understands. She's a fighter after all…", he answered.
"There is another thing", Komui continued after a while and Rabi opened his eyes.
"And what would that be?"
"Ellen's left eye… It worries me… Maybe it irritates the Earl… It could endanger you…", Komui said and Rabi lowered his eyes.
"I first thought that this eye of hers would be pretty useful…But then I saw the soul of this Akuma… It's really heavy! I've been feeling sick for quite some time! I still think that I can't eat anything for now…". Komui didn't say anything and Rabi looked out of the cabin. "The world that she has in front of her eyes is hell!".
"Rabi!!", the read-head turned around and saw Ellen standing in the train's door. The vehicle was already steaming. "Hurry up! The train is departing!!", she called.
"Damn! I have to leave, Komui!!", Rabi called and unplugged the golem before the supervisor could answer him. He ran to the train and just made it inside. "Damn. This station has a habit of keeping passengers from getting on their trains or what?", he asked and Ellen laughed at him. He studied her smiling face for a while.
"How does she cope with seeing these things all of the time? She is…", Rabi thought and Ellen nodded at him and turned around. He looked at her small back, disappearing inside the train. "… really brave…".
--
Once Rabi, after contacting Bookman and Linali, sat down next to Ellen, he became aware of the dark aura that Crowley was seething.
"You're still thinking about what those stupid people said?", Rabi wondered after he studied the man. He sat on his bench, knees drawn up against his chest and sobbing every now and then.
"Well. I can relate to how you feel, Baron Crowley", Ellen said, looking annoyed even though she smiled, "They called me a monster as well and they were quite angry at me…".
"Heh! Who cares about them anyway?", Rabi spoke up, pointing his thumb at his own chest, "A real man carries his home in his heart". Ellen just frowned at him and then she shook her head with a smile.
"What a corny quip!", she thought and looked at her hands, "Home is where… Where mother is… Where Mana was… Home is where those I love are waiting for my return…"
"Why don't you have a look around the train? Maybe it will distract you a bit", Rabi suggested and Ellen looked at the man in front of them with a smile.
"This is the first time you are one a train, are you not?", she wondered and Crowley looked up. He blushed and lowered his head.
"Indeed… I… I might just do that", he said timidly and rose from his seat before leaving them.
"He's such a different person when he hasn't activated his Innocence", Rabi said and Ellen agreed, waving at the baron.
"Well, what did Mister Li say?", Ellen wondered and Rabi turned towards her.
"Ah right. I got distracted!", he said, grinning, "He told us to continue. Crowley doesn't need the training. It's best to take him with us on our mission to find General Cross. And I told gramps that he and Linali should wait for us at the next station they can get out. Are you okay with that?". Ellen looked at him in surprise.
"Yes, of course. That is fine with me. Why should it not?", she asked.
"Well… Because I thought that you would like to go to headquarters…You've gone through quite a lot recently", Rabi replied.
"It cannot be helped, it is our mission to find the General and he is quite a difficult person to trace…", Ellen answered him, folding her hands in her lap.
"You're quite responsible for such a young girl… And somehow I had expected you to want to return to Yu's side as fast as possible". Rabi observed how Ellen lifted her head and rested it against the wooden wall behind her.
"You obsess over Kanda way too much", she commented and Rabi grinned at her.
"We're friends after all and you're my friend's girl-friend, and also a friend of mine! Linali too! We are all a happy family!", he said, putting his arm around Ellen's shoulder. "You can stop being so uptight with your big brother!"
"Rabi, you are making a fool out of yourself", Ellen replied, but she was laughing. "But I will be honest with you right now…"
"Yes? I like honesty, it makes me feel all warm inside", Rabi commented and earned himself a pair of rolled eyes.
"I might have told you before, but the thought of meeting Kanda again is rather unsettling for me…"
"Yes, I remember that you felt uneasy about it… I'm sure he doesn't want to pester you, he isn't that kind of person. You're troubled because you're a noblewoman and you're pretty old-fashioned and your mother is old-fashioned…"
"Being old-fashioned has its merits, Rabi", Ellen said with a slight pout, but then she sighed, "I… know that he wants to marry me… And I appreciate how thoughtful and responsible he is… But… I might sound very arrogant now, but Kanda is not a suitable husband for me, because he lacks certain attributes that my mother would want him to have", she said meekly. Rabi looked at her and then she sighed.
"I don't think that you're being arrogant. However, I do think that you just repeat whatever your mother has taught you…"
"Well yes. I am – ", Ellen started but Rabi interrupted her.
"Ellen. I've seen that you're mature for your age… But maybe it would be time now to be also mature in this aspect. Love and relationship is something you have to decide for yourself. You're free to do it. Don't think in the patterns your family provides you. It's not your mother who will have to marry Yu...", he told her, taking his arm from Ellen's shoulder to put his hands over hers. Ellen looked down at their hands and then she looked up into Rabi's face, surprised by his words, but also flustered.
"Rabi…"
"Tell me. Does Yu lack any attributes that you would wish your husband to have? And forget money and reputation – you have enough of that to share some with Yu", he continued and Ellen lowered her eyes.
"Uhm… Well… He… He is not as learned as I am… Or as you are", Ellen mumbled.
"What? Do you think he's stupid because of that?", Rabi wondered and Ellen shook her head.
"NO! No, I do not think that!". Rabi had to laugh, "Stop laughing!"
"Sorry Ellen…", the red-head said with a grin. Ellen uttered an indignant huff.
"You do not understand what I am going through, Rabi… This is much more difficult than you think… I do not regret getting involved with Kanda… But this does nothing to change the fact that it was a mistake… And mistakes always have consequences, especially for me, because…"
"Because of what?", Rabi wondered and Ellen lowered her head.
"Because of obligation…", she whispered and Rabi widened his eyes, but he remained silent. Because he understood her perfectly well. It wasn't all that different to what troubled him; whether it was obligation to the family or obligation to the clan… It was very difficult to go against it and one was bound to get hurt… The two exorcists remained silent, each of them lost in thoughts.
--
Quite some time later Rabi became aware of the fact that their travel companion had not returned yet.
"Do you have an idea where Crowley disappeared to?", he asked and Ellen looked at him.
"No. Do you think we should go looking for him?", she wondered and Rabi sighed. He stood up and Ellen did the same.
"Well. We've got nothing better to do anyway". They walked through the train, looking for him.
"He must be around here somewhere", Ellen said and pulled open the door to the next wagon. As she did, she did indeed find Crowley – naked to his underwear, sitting at the floor next to some men. One of them, a guy with unruly and unwashed hair and a cigarette between his lips, looked up at them, his eyes barely visible behind his thick glasses.
"Mmh?", he asked, lowering his cards a bit, "Sorry guys! But children are not admitted in here!", he said. Ellen and Rabi were too surprised to even answer. Three men were sitting on the floor between the rows of benches, a child behind them, playing cards on a suitcase with Crowley. "Well, mister! Let's continue our game! What will be your bid this time?"
"No… Please, I…". Ellen closed the door behind Rabi and walked to the shivering and sobbing Crowley.
"What are you doing, Baron? Half-naked even!".
"These gentlemen have invited me to a game called poker… And then everything went too fast…". Ellen let her head drop.
"They ripped him off…", Rabi commented.
"Hey, you don't want to flee, do you?", one of the guys asked.
"You agreed to the game! Be a man and stay to the end!", the curly haired man added, while the other just continued grinning. Ellen sighed and took of her exorcist's jacket, holding it out in front of the man with the thick glasses. She smiled at him as he just looked at it in confusion.
"There is pure silver on this coat. Do you want to risk a game against me? I bid this coat in exchange for all of the clothes you took from the gentleman", Ellen offered.
"Hey! Ellen! You can't just-", Rabi protested, but got interrupted by the laughter of the smoking man.
"Agreed!", he said. Ellen sat down on the floor, taking Crowley's place. She continued smiling, even though Rabi wanted to persuade her to stop doing such nonsense.
"Just let me deal with this Rabi. This seems pretty funny", she replied, still with her well-mannered daughter smile. "Let us play".
--
Rabi was no expert when it came to poker, but once the men and Ellen had played for some time, he was sure that something was not going as it should be.
"Lay open your cards", Ellen said and put her five cards on the suitcase that served as their table. The men, now only in their underwear, just remained silent, staring at her cards.
"Royal… Straight Flash…".
"I won again", she announced innocently, a pile of things she had won from them behind her.
"Argh!! Damn it!!". The men started consulting with each other, all of them looking pretty troubled that things were progressing this way. Meanwhile Ellen was shuffling the cards like a professional, still wearing her disarming smile.
"This works perfectly well", she thinks to herself.
"Damn it! Another game!!", the man with the glasses announced.
"It would be my pleasure", Ellen replied and handed them the cards.
"Ellen! Splendid!", Crowley said, but Rabi just stared at the scene.
"What is the meaning of this? Why are you this good?", he whispered.
"I am cheating a little bit", she replied, still smiling, while looking at her cards.
"WHAT?! An aristocrat like you?!"
"They started this. I will not loose with cards, it is an art I acquired while on my travels with Mana"
"Art…?"
"They are three after all, I still think that this is fair", Ellen justified, holding the cards up to cover her mouth.
"Ellen can be pretty dark… I wonder if Yu has seen this side of her…", he wondered, watching the young lady mercilessly beat the three adults.
Not much later they arrived at the station where these people had to get off. Shivering in nothing but their underwear they left the train. Ellen put her exorcist coat back on and looked out of the window.
"Here", she said holding out the suitcases and clothes. "I got back the clothes of my friend. You can have your things back. It would be a bit cold without clothes this time of the year", she said, smiling gently.
"Boy…", the guy with the glasses said, "We have not sunk that low. We don't need pity".
"But you have your hands on your baggage", Ellen commented, smiling at the others as they took their stuff back.
"Oh… Well…". They put their clothes back on. "Ah, lucky us! We're starting to work at these mines, you know"
"And where are you coming from?", Ellen asked, still smiling at them.
"From everywhere! We're orphans and vagabonds without education", he replied cheerfully. The young boy that accompanied them held up his hand towards Ellen, holding something in it.
"As thank you gift", he said.
"Eaze! This is your treasure! Keep it!", the dark haired man protested, pushing his hands into his pockets.
"This is not necessary at all", Ellen said, smiling gently, hand on the boy's head, patting his unruly hair. The train started rolling and Ellen withdrew her head. The man finally found something in the depth of his pockets and tossed it at Ellen. She managed to catch it and found a deck of cards in her hand.
"That's enough, right?", he called and Ellen smiled at him, then the train rolled into a tunnel and she lost sight of him.
"Man... Ellen you never fail to surprise me…", Rabi commented as Ellen sat back down.
"Just do not tell my mother", she said, smiling amusedly. The red-head grinned and nodded. Ellen looked back to the window, now that they had left the tunnel. "Those people were strange… But nice… I hope they will manage"
"This kind of people always manages to get around. Don't worry about them", Rabi commented and grinned at her, "You've been smiling an awful lot at this smoking guy with the thick glasses. I never knew that you fancy the unshaved and smelly type! I must tell Yu about this, maybe he'll grow himself a beard!". Ellen stared at Rabi and shuddered.
"Please. Promise me to never suggest such a thing to Kanda!". The exorcist had to laugh.
"Fine. I promise!". Ellen grinned and then she looked out at the scenery. Unshaved and a bit worn down… Yes… This reminded her of Mana…
"It would be nice to meet him again. He seemed like a funny person…", Ellen though to herself and smiled, "maybe we could play again…". She looked at the cards the stranger had offered her and put them safely into a pocket of her coat, "until then I will treasure these".
To be continued
Notes:
Tyki-Pon's part is pretty small and unspectacular…. But am I foreshadowing again? Lol
There's a lot of Kanda-talk in this chapter even though Kanda doesn't even appear. I hope that counts as Yullen content for the moment. X3
Any thoughts on this chapter? :3