Author's Notes:
Time for a new chapter! :3 I'm a bit tired, that's why I haven't done a proper revision of this chapter, I hope you will forgive me!! But I thought I'd be nice and update now, because reviewers ask for faster updates and it's nice reviews that make me continue this story when I'm at the point of being tempted to stop writing! Thank you! :D (That doesn't imply that I will actually stop, but there's still such a long way to go and I'm getting frustrated from time to time)
Well, this chapter contains a short scene from volume 8 which I decided to include now. Other than that this chapter is also the start for the next filler mission (which will probably last another chapter).
The letter is written in italics! Enjoy! :3
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino
Kapitel 25: Nightmares and a Letter
Ellen was very happy once they left the train to rejoin Bookman, Linali and Timcampy. It just took a few explanatory words and the new exorcist Baron Aleister Crowley, became a part of their travelling group.
"Well, this encounter was unexpected, but we should make the best of it", Bookman suggested after they had been introduced. "It's no point trying to go any farther today, there are no more trains at this hour". Ellen looked up into the sky; night was falling and the first few stars appeared over their heads.
"Please accept our apologies", Crowley said, lowering his head.
"That's not your fault", Bookman said after a while. Rabi patted him on the back and grinned.
"Well, it was Ellen's actually", he started and the young girl looked up in surprise, "because she missed the train"
"It was not on purpose!", Ellen tried to defend herself, but Rabi just continued without listening to her.
"But thanks to her we were able to meet you. And we finally were able to get a small hint to Cross' whereabouts! I guess that's something as well, right?", he wondered and Crowley managed to smile.
"Yes… Yes, thank you very much…", he replied silently.
"Now… Let's find ourselves a place to sleep", Bookman suggested and started walking ahead without waiting for an answer.
-
The village they were resting in wasn't a place that travellers frequented. There was a restaurant (albeit a very small one that didn't really serve anything appealing) but it could not be used to spend the night in.
"It would be best to resort to the local monastery", Bookman suggested, leading them out of the village.
"You seem to know where you are going", Linali commented, while Ellen looked around to take in the scenery.
"We Bookman travel a lot and we remember the places we have seen", the old man replied and Ellen saw a simple monastery not too far away from them.
"And we can stay there?", Crowley wondered as he had never stayed outside of his own castle.
"Of course. Monasteries usually have a place to rest for travellers and on top of that we are part of the church as well", Rabi explained to him, "I sure hope that their beds are nice and warm… I'm still pretty sore…". They reached the monastery and were let in without any troubles. After having something to eat they went up to their rooms. The girls got their own little chamber and Ellen stood by the window looking out again. Linali dressed in her nightgown and climbed into bed.
"Don't you want to sleep?", she asked sleepily. Ellen turned her head and smiled at her.
"I just want to stay up a little bit longer…", she replied and Linali looked at her.
"Okay. Good Night", she whispered and closed her eyes. Ellen sighed and looked out again. She actually couldn't sleep right now, there were too many thought going around in her head. Her eye had changed, but why? She alone was able to see the souls of Akuma, something that had frightened her on one hand but also reassured her on the other. She was no longer afraid of the chained souls right now, but the curse still troubled her. She could locate the Akuma from far away, it was useful, but since she first got this strange upgrade, her eye had pained her. Numbly, without the strange monocle appearing, but it was getting stronger now. The problem was that she didn't dare to confide this in her friends. Rabi had been pretty troubled when he had first seen the soul of an Akuma and she didn't want to show them this black and white world again. She tried to control the eye and while she was able to see master its use, the fact that she didn't know why she received it and what it really could do troubled her. And then there was this pain… Ellen felt that the monocle was appearing again and she decided to leave the room as not to wake Linali.
"Sir Tim?", Ellen asked as Timcampy settled himself on her head, as if he had decided to watch over her when she was worried. She appreciated his presence, so she sneaked out of the room and down into the simple stone church. When she saw that she was alone she let out a shaky breath of relief. The monocle appeared and it started to hurt again.
"There must be an Akuma not all too far away… It seems as if it's calling to me…", Ellen thought, looking at the window where she could see her reflection. Such a metallic, foreign thing looked strange in her face. Just as if a part of her was a machine. "Why did Mana give me such a curse?", she wondered and covered her eye with her hand.
"Ellen?". The girl flinched because of the voice calling through the absolutely quiet hall. She turned around, pretty distressed, and found Linali hurrying towards her. She wore a black coat over her gown. "What are you doing here…?", she asked and Ellen noticed that the Chinese girl seemed pretty breathless.
"Li… Linali?", she wondered and Timcampy flew around her. Ellen turned around, not wanting to face her and tried to hide her eye with her hand and her discomfort with smiles. "Ah… I could ask you the same! Were you not sleeping? Did you get hungry?"
"Idiot! Of course not!", Linali called with a frown, but then she noticed how Ellen covered her eye with her hand. "What is wrong with your eye?".
"Ah… Ah well… Everything is fine!", she said, taking a step back, out of the light that shone through the long window. "You can go back to sleep". But Linali rushed forward, grabbing her by her hand.
"If you don't want me to see, then I won't look", she called, turning her face downwards. Ellen just looked at her in wonder. "But don't go further into the dark!", she said, her hands on Ellen's trembling, "Don't disappear in the dark…!", she breathed and Ellen widened her eyes.
"What is troubling you, Linali?", she asked in a concerned tone, "You have seemed pretty restless ever since we came back from the baron's castle…", she said, "did something happen?", she wondered in a gentle voice. "Did you have a nightmare?". Linali raised her head, but as she did Ellen saw that the girl was trying hard to hold back her tears. Then Linali threw herself forward, embracing Ellen tightly. "Linali…", the white haired girl whispered, pretty surprised by the older girl's actions. But she let her cry, patting her back and her hair. She realized, now that Linali was holding her, that she had grown quite a bit and was now taller than Linali.
"I… I have dreamt of the end of the world…", Linali whispered.
"That is a strange dream…", Ellen answered, quite surprised.
"I've been dreaming it every night… And it's so real that it scares me…", Linali said, talking into Ellen's coat, "and when I woke up, you were gone from our room… I got scared because of it and came to find you." Ellen looked at her and sighed. "Forgive me…", Linali continued, hiccupping slightly, "I'm so glad that you are well". Ellen smiled and patted her back again.
"You worry too much, Linali! I will look after myself".
"I'm sorry", the other girl replied laughing now, "Must be the difference in age". Ellen had to laugh as well and the two girls continued holding on to each other, while Linali tried to stop her tears from flowing.
"You know… There are a lot of people trying to protect me… You as well, Linali, but I think that I am now strong enough to return some of that protection", Ellen said after a while and Linali let go of her, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. Linali looked at her and smiled.
"I know…", she replied gently. The two of them looked out of the window in silence, while Ellen tried to get the monocle to disappear again, which it eventually did. "Now that we are alone…", Linali started again and Ellen turned to look at her, "I always wanted to ask you about something".
"Yes?", Ellen wondered.
"What is really going on between you and Kanda?", she asked and Ellen widened her eyes in surprise.
"Nothing new has happened. You know that I have not met him for quite some time. There was no chance in our relationship", Ellen tried to explain, feeling a bit trapped by Linali's gentle smile.
"But there is a relationship?", Linali asked curiously. Ellen dared to groan and shook her head, holding her neck. "Oh, Ellen! You talk with Rabi about Kanda! Why won't you talk with me?"
"Because it is a bit embarrassing!", Ellen justified herself, holding her hands in front of her face.
"Oh rubbish, Ellen! Maybe I can help you", Linali suggested. Ellen lowered her hands and studied Ellen with a raised eyebrow.
"Why help me?", she wondered and Linali shrugged.
"You seemed to be a bit troubled because of it. When you returned from your mission you were very happy. But on the journey to Germany you suddenly no longer wanted to talk about Kanda that much and now on the journey to Romania you talked to Rabi about it and it seemed pretty serious", the Chinese girl said and Ellen was pretty amazed to hear that.
"You pay pretty close attention to those around you! I am impressed!", she had to say, but then she sighed, "but my problems with Kanda are nothing that you can help me with"
"Are you sure of that? If he's not nice to you then I will beat some sense into him!", Linali promised and Ellen had to laugh.
"No. No he is a wonderful man… It is something that I need to do some serious thinking about, because only I can solve my self-made problems…", Ellen told her and smiled, "there is no need for you to concern yourself over it…". Linali studied Ellen's face, but then she lowered her head and sighed.
"Fine… But if you need my help, then don't hesitate to ask me. I promise that I will help you"
"Thank you, Linali".
-
Next morning they wanted to leave the monastery to travel further east, but while they were preparing to depart, a group of finders just returned. They seemed pretty surprising to find a group of exorcist.
"You heard about the rumour?", a finder asked, but the others shook their heads, "what coincidence! We were investigating a rumour and wanted to contact headquarters from here!"
"You investigated? Did you find Innocence?", the Bookman wondered. The finders looked pretty fresh, they apparently didn't get in any fight with an Akuma.
"We are not sure, but there is something in this village… Something eerie…", a young finder replied quite enthusiastically.
"We were planning to ask headquarters for an exorcist in the vicinity, just to be sure… Even if there is no Innocence, the people in the village do need help", a man, probably the leader of the small group, explained, "if you're free for a while then I would be glad if you had a look into this".
"We are on or way to China, looking for General Cross, but if it's not too much of a detour we'd be glad to help", Bookman replied, speaking for the group.
"You're the Cross team then?", the young finder spoke up again, "is his apprentice with you?". Ellen frowned but nodded and stepped forward, making a curtsey.
"This would be me, Ellen Walker", she asked and smiled.
"I have a letter with me, it's been given to me by Toma, because he knew that you'd be heading east. And what luck! I actually found you!", he said and took a letter out of the suitcase he wore on his back.
"You're receiving letters? Via finders?", Rabi wondered in surprise, "I bet it's from Yu!"
"It came straight from London. There are a lot of other things waiting for you at headquarters, but Toma received it in person".
"How peculiar… It must be from my mother", Ellen replied, "I do not think that Kanda would send a letter this way".
"Well, this can wait until later. We should be on our way now as we have no time to lose", Bookman said with a stern face, then he turned towards the finders, "we'll have a look at the village".
"Thank you! This saves us a lot of time!", the leader said, smiling, "we will lead you to the village and instruct you on what has been happening there".
"Your first mission Crowley, aren't you excited?", Rabi wondered and Crowley tried to laugh, but he seemed a bit uneasy thinking about it.
"Is it really okay for us to take on another mission without informing my brother?", Linali wondered.
"I guess that this will be done swiftly. If there is no Innocence we don't have to do anything and leave it to other exorcists. If there is Innocence then we retrieve it. Even if there are Akuma this will probably be not too troublesome, we are five after all and it might also be useful to see what Ellen's eye can do", the old man replied and looked at Ellen. She smiled and nodded, but then she lowered her head and covered her eye. Linali sighed after looking at her distressed friend, but then she put on a smile.
"Why don't you open the letter? The finders have to get ready first before we can depart", she suggested and pointed over to the finders who were checking their equipment. Ellen hesitated, but then she nodded and turned it around. It had the seal of the Bermont family on it, no doubt that it was from her mother. The girl broke it and opened the envelope. It had only one parchment inside and it was probably just a short note Ellen mused.
"I wonder how she gave it to Toma, in person even. Maybe Toma was delivering a letter? She cannot have gone to the order… I hope…", Ellen thought with a frown and unfolded the piece of paper.
"Dearest child
I hope that you are well. I reckon that you are busy, but remember to write a letter every now and then or else I might get the suspicion that you do not want to talk to your old mother again. It has been nearly three months that you have left London, I hope that you have settled in well. However, I do hope that you will soon return to my side.
The reason why I write this letter is to report something very interesting to you. Last week I have been to a party, I am sure you would have greatly enjoyed it. However, as you have not been able to attend I have taken it upon myself to observe the guests. And one of the male guests has caught my eye. It was the new minister who introduced him to me. I doubt that you know him yet, because you have missed the recent elections, but I dare say that the minister is a very fine man, even of noble birth. The man he introduced to me was a very fine young man, I would say in his late twenties, unmarried and delightfully charming. I feel a bit silly to confess that I cannot recall his name at the moment as it had a very foreign ring to it, Lord Mitt or Mikk. It seems that he grew up in the south judging from his complexion, but he is the minister's brother and a nobleman.
I know that you probably do not think about marriage prospects right now, being completely taken in by your ecclesial education and duties, but why don't you consider your old mother's suggestion? He seems pretty intelligent, is a beautiful man and is very charming. You know that I am very careful with the selection of suitable men, but this Lord convinced me, he would be a perfect match. I told him that I had a daughter that I wanted to get married soon and he was quite interested. The name Bermont is not to be taken lightly after all.
I still regret not remembering his name right now, but I will ask the minister, I have invited him to have tea with me next month and he gladly accepted.
Well, my dearest daughter, apart from this nothing exceptional happened in London. I hope you will return soon.
With love,
Your Mother"
Ellen read the letter with surprise.
"So what does it say?", Linali wondered and Ellen folded it up before the girl could take a look at it.
"My mother informed me that a new minister has been elected in London and that she invited him over to tea", she replied, leaving out the essential part.
"I'm impressed, your family does have connections", Rabi, who had apparently been listening, spoke up. Ellen laughed uneasily.
"Yes. Yes we do entertain a network of good relationships with the other important houses", she replied and put the letter in her coat pocket.
"Ahhh, being nobility sure is nice", Rabi commented, crossing his arms behind his head.
"We are set, let us depart", the leader of the finders said, "it's a two hour march through the forest to the village". They started walking away from the village and the monastery and made their way into the forest.
"Well, I am sure there come a lot of restrictions with being born into a noble family", Linali argued and Crowley nodded.
"Yes, I can confirm that", he said, bur Rabi shook his head.
"I am sure the good things outweigh the bad things!", he replied and the three of them started discussion of the up- and downsides of being of noble birth. Ellen was glad about it, because it left her to ponder her mother's letter.
"A Lord… Brother of our recent minister…", Ellen thought to herself, "it would be a good match…". She sighed and raised her arm and pushed back the sleeve of her coat. The armband that Kanda had given her was shining faintly in the winter morning sun. "Surely a better match than Kanda… I am quite surprised that mother actually approved of someone… He must really be a special man". She moved her wrist and watched the little glass balls. "But Kanda is a special as well… If I was to decide between one who loves me and one my mother deems fit for me…", she mused, but sighed and shook her head, letting her hand drop to her side. "Anyway, I need to write a reply later on".
"Stop chatting you brats!", Bookman called and the three that were now arguing about gardening (Ellen wondered how they had come from nobility to gardening) shut up instantly, "Explain the situation to us", the old man said, turning towards one of the finders.
"Well, we have received notice that something was going on in the village. We had heard that babies were being abducted. We didn't really believe that it had something to do with Innocence, but it's a common rumour to say that very young children have a higher affinity towards Innocence – which has yet to be proven. Anyway, we decided to investigate, but we were not able to confirm a connection to Innocence".
"How exactly were the babies abducted?", Rabi wanted to know, "maybe it's just a lie to cover up something"
"Like what?", Crowley wondered and Rabi frowned.
"Well, maybe human sacrifice rituals, or a disease that befalls small children. Or, depending on the number of missing children, it's to cover up for child murder"
"Child murder?", Linali wondered and Ellen listened as well.
"It's a common phenomenon", Rabi spoke up, "Women kill their children after birth because they were not wanted… Mostly the women will be prosecuted and sentenced because of it…"
"This sounds quite awful", Ellen said with a frown, "but I do not think that this would happen that often in a small village, at least not often enough to make finders investigate".
"It's exactly as he says", the finder said, nodding at Ellen, "this is not to cover up something… Babies disappeared", he turned back and looked at the exorcists, "out of their mother's wombs". The group widened their eyes and Linali put her hands in front of her mouth.
"What?", she asked, "how is that possible?"
"What exactly do you mean by out of the womb?". The finders remained silent for a while, but then the leader cleared his throat.
"We are not sure if it's really caused by Innocence or a mad person… Whatever the cause, the unborn children are cut out of their mother's body…", he explained.
"That is gross!!", Rabi shouted in disbelief.
"Why would Innocence do something like that? It must have been done by a human!", Crowley protested, "Isn't Innocence supposed to be good?". Linali lowered her head because the thought of something or someone stealing children right out of the mother's body seemed pretty grotesque. Ellen wasn't thrilled by the thought either, be it Innocence caused or done by human hand.
"What happened to the women?", she asked and the finder turned towards her.
"Most of them survived somehow and this is what makes us think that it could be caused by something supernatural like Innocence…"
"But why did some die and others didn't? How were the children taken out of the body?", the Bookman wanted to know. "Were the bodies cut?"
"Hm, the ones we've seen were not cut, now, but there were marks on the bodies, like they had been stabbed… We don't know the culprit took out the unborn children…", the leader of the finders explained.
"Maybe these stabs initiated a miscarriage?", Ellen suggested and the finder sighed and shook his head.
"Maybe sometimes, but a child due to be born soon cannot just disappear like that", he replied.
"Well… It doesn't help us if we think about. We should hurry and go have a look at the situation", the Bookman suggested and the others agreed to this.
"How do the villagers react to these occurrences?", Rabi wanted to know, "did they try to find the culprit?"
"The villagers are highly superstitious… They do not believe that it was done by a human and frankly, I can't imagine it either", the younger finder commented, "this is just too gross and impossible for a human to do! No, they think it was done by a devil"
"Has anybody ever scene this thing? Maybe the women?", Linali wondered, "maybe it was an Akuma, they feed on death and suffering, right?". Crowley used this moment to utter a dramatic "Eliade" which went ignored by the others because they had gotten used to it.
"They were not talking to us about it… But the villagers are sure of one thing; the evil comes out of the well"
"The well?", Ellen asked in surprise, "where they get their water supplies?". The finder nodded and the girl frowned, "maybe it is in fact some kind of disease…"
"You mean one infects itself through the water? Like cholera?", Rabi wondered and shuddered, "I've seen a whole village wiped out because of cholera…"
"But why should such a disease only affect women?"
"Because it could be indeed Innocence or Akuma poison… Both of them could cause such things…", the Bookman suggested, but Linali was not convinced by that.
"Why should the superstitious people know that it could be transmitted by water? If they say that the evil comes out of the well then there must be something that does indeed come out of the well", she argued and Rabi shivered.
"I would like the disease better… I don't like such occult things", he said and Ellen rolled her eyes.
"If it is an Akuma I will know. But truth to be told I do not really believe in a disease either now that I have heard Linali's argument", she turned away from Rabi and looked at the finder, "have any babies been found?"
"Ellen is really brave... even though she's afraid as well", Rabi commented and Linali had to laugh.
"Maybe you're just a coward", she said and smiled at him. Rabi grinned and shrugged.
"No children have been found… We had a look into the well, but it's really deep… However, we have not found any clues that there is something inside…", the finder explained and Ellen sighed.
"Maybe Bookman is right; we have to see for ourselves. If this is connected to Innocence and Akuma, then we are the only ones who can solve this mystery", the white haired girl said after a while.
"This seems like a good idea to me", Linali nodded, "Let's hurry up and find out what's going on!"
To be continued
Notes:
I've planned to include a filler mission, but the nature of the mission is due to sudden inspiration to include a dark, semi-horror episode. I'm not a genius when it comes to horror (because I'm too afraid to watch horror movies lol) but I hope that you're at least somewhat interested! X3
Feedback would be nice! I'd be interested to find out what you think! :3
P.S Thank you esmerod for the inspiration! grin
P.P.S Ah, it's no mistake I made, the Finder does think that Ellen's a boy (she still wears a male uniform and has quite short hair now) and I don't know why I decided to make Ellen taller than Linali... Must have been a strange impulse... XD