I am so sorry its taken me so long to update, I don't really have an excuse other than that I haven't really had a lot of inspiration for my stories recently.
And yes I did realise that Kanda can't swim, its going to make the second task very interesting.
Any way, here's the new chapter sorry again for how long its taken for me to update.
Hope you enjoy reading.
"Anyone would think you were competing instead of Kanda with how you're carrying that egg around all the time," Yana pointed out to Lavi while the two of them were walking around the lake.
The exorcists had decided that waiting for something to happen would be incredibly stupid and that it would be much safer for everyone if they took turns patrolling the grounds to make sure no Akuma showed up without warning, they really didn't like the idea of having to explain what Akuma were to the curious students at the school. On the other hand it was the middle of winter and absolutely freezing outside, Yana and Lavi had drawn the short straw literally when they drew lots as to who would patrol today.
"I can't help it!" he protested. "If you saw how often Kanda has tried to destroy it you'd carry it round all the time too!" He lifted the golden egg out of his bag and tossed it into the air lightly. "He doesn't seem to really care if he solves it or not either." She rolled her eyes at him and sighed.
"Lavi, he didn't want to enter the tournament, he doesn't care about anything except destroying Akuma most of the time," she told him. "Of course he doesn't care about solving a clue that just screeches at him!"He jumped in surprise at her sudden shout and the golden egg went flying into the lake coming down hard enough the break through the ice.
The two exorcists stared in silence for a minute before whimpering.
"We are so dead," whined Lavi pulling at his hair.
"We? You're the one that threw it!" Yana exclaimed pointing at him accusingly. "You go get it back."
"Are you kidding? That water has to be freezing, there's no way I'm going in there." He pushed her towards the water. "You startled me, you go get it." She looked out over the ice and winced, this was not going to be pretty.
"Fine, but I give permission for Kanda to kick your sorry ass."
It was with mixed feelings that people watched Lavi run through the school up to the Gryffindor tower carrying a sopping wet Yana who was so cold her lips were turning an unhealthy shade of blue.
Most people were worried about her health although wondering why on earth Lavi wasn't running towards the hospital wing, some people were wondering what crazy thing they'd gotten up to now, some people really didn't want to know for the sake of their own health and sanity, the smart people were wondering who was going to start yelling first and how far away they'd have to be to escape unscathed from the aftermath.
One enterprising student even set up a quick betting pool about which of the other exorcists would be the one to break first although he later suffered a slight mental breakdown when said exorcist found him and 'lectured' him on the evils of gambling.
Meanwhile the Gryffindors were startled when Lavi burst into the common room and shoved everyone away from the fire so he could lay Yana down.
"Move it people! Someone get me some blankets!" he yelled removing as many clothes from her as possible without completely stripping her. Lenalee hurried ran up to their dorm room to drag down the duvets while the others crowded round her worriedly.
"Is she going to be ok?" asked Hermione worriedly. "You should really take her to Madame Pomfrey."
"No, we just need to get her warmed up," said Lavi wrapping a blanket around her. "She hates hospitals, she'd kill me if she woke up there." The wizards turned imploringly to Allen but he grimaced and shook his head.
"You do not want to be on the receiving end of her temper if she wakes up in the hospital wing," he explained. "She'll just make herself more ill trying to get away."
Lenalee came thundering back down the stairs carrying two duvets and Lavi lifting Yana up so she could place one on the floor before placing her on top and putting the other duvet over the top of her.
"What happened anyway?" asked Ron. "Why is she so wet?" Lavi winced and backed away from everyone slightly.
"Err…"
"For heaven's sake spit it out Lavi!" cried Lenalee.
"Well the egg fell in the lake and she went to get it back," he explained in a rush.
"And you just let her!" exclaimed Allen furiously.
"Well we were arguing over who would get it but she gave in pretty quickly. The water wasn't that deep where it was but the ice cracked and she fell in." He went silent for a moment. "I really panicked then because she took longer than she should have to come back up, she mumbled something when she came back up but then she collapsed and I just wanted to get her warmed up."
"That stupid egg isn't worth your health," said Allen. "You-"
Allen didn't have time to finish his sentence because Kanda drew Mugen and started chasing Lavi around the common room.
"Baka usagi! I'm going to kill you!" he growled.
Soon only Allen and Lenalee remained in the common room as all the wizards left in an effort not to get caught in the crossfire. The noise woke up Yana who struggled slightly to move under the weight of the duvet and Allen.
"Yana!" he gasped once he noticed that she was awake, the other three quickly gathered round.
"Well that was refreshing," she said smiling up at them ignoring their gaping looks.
"Refreshing? You could have gone in to shock!" exclaimed Allen. She shrugged and struggled into a sitting position.
"Oh well no harm done," she replied as they all spluttered at her response. "I solved the clue by the way." There was an awkward silence for a moment.
"WHAT?"
"Tell me it again," said Lavi for the fourth time. The younger exorcists sighed heavily dropping their heads to the table while Kanda just scowled and poked the fire.
"This is the last time," insisted Yana glaring.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour- the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back"
"So we're looking for something that lives in water and Kanda will have to go back get back something they've taken," mused the red head.
"Yes finally!" cried Lenalee, Lavi just smirked at her mischievously.
"Oh I worked it out on the first try," he said. "It was just funny watching you all get annoyed." They all glared at him and Kanda flicked Mugen out of its sheath slightly.
"So what lives in the lake?" wondered Allen. "It can't be that hard to tell what would make a sound like that."
"Mermaids," Yana replied bluntly. They all stared at her.
"How do you know that?"
"Miranda managed to read quite a lot of books before she was banned from the library," she told them adjusting her blanket. "She was fascinated with the magical creatures especially."
"So you're going to have to steal something back from mermaids huh?" mused Lavi. "It sounds like a fairy tale… although I don't envy you having to go in the lake in February."
Kanda glared at him and moved slightly closer to Yana to give her some body heat. She still hadn't fully recovered from her dunk in the lake and Lavi had been forgiven since it had been her decision to get the egg back, although Kanda seemed to be having fun holding a grudge about it.
"Erm… that might be a problem," muttered Lenalee glancing at Kanda worriedly. "Kanda can't swim." Cue deathly silence.
"WHAT!"
"What do you mean you can't swim?" cried Allen turning to the Japanese teen.
"I don't like water," he growled. "I've nearly drowned before."
"And that didn't encourage you to learn to swim?" the white haired exorcist asked incredulously.
"Shush!" hissed Yana making them all fall silent. They strained their ears to try figure out what she'd heard, then Allen and Yana's curses reacted.
"Akuma!"
Harry, Ron and Hermione were only trying to sneak out to see Hagrid under the invisibility cloak, ok it was a bit late at night but it meant there was less chance of them getting caught.
They never expected to walk into a nightmare. They heard the explosions first, being the curious students they were they ran straight towards the noise to see what was going on. These… machines were firing at the school, they looked horrific with blank faces on the fronts and large cannons firing. It took them a moment to realise that something was returning fire, it shocked them even more when they recognised just whom where fighting back.
Professor Cross was shooting at them, Kanda was slicing them in half with his sword, Allen was attacking with a larger sword. Lavi was beating them to the ground with a huge hammer while Lenalee seemed to be flying around and kicking them through the air, Yana appeared to be slashing them with an armoured arm while Miss Lott seemed to be providing support, to their shock Mr Krowley was biting the monsters. They were easily beating them back and it seemed no time at all before they were all gone and they were left staring at the remains of a battlefield.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" exclaimed Ron in shock forgetting that they weren't supposed to be there and making the exorcists jump in shock except for Cross who just lit up a cigarette.
"We could ask the same of you," he drawled. "Curfew has long since passed."
"We you're here too," Ron blustered.
"Yes we're here, saving the school from attack, doing our job," replied the general. "We have every right to be here, you on the other hand are going to be in a bit of trouble." The three wizards flinched as he levelled his gun at them.
"Now, now Cross," said Dumbledore appearing from behind the three students. "Perhaps we'd best move this conversation to my office."
The three Gryffindors gladly followed the Headmaster only glancing behind briefly to look at the five exorcists that they had been sharing Gryffindor tower with. They didn't think they'd seen any of them look as serious as they did now, they all travelled in silence until they reached the Headmaster's office and Dumbledore sat down and motioned one of them to start speaking.
"Professor Dumbledore maybe it's time we properly explained to these three who we are," suggested Krowley. The other exorcists sighed.
"Fine by me," muttered Kanda. "It'll stop them from snooping around, next time they're only going to get killed." Allen and Lenalee glared at him.
"Kanda!"
"I never said I would kill them."
Lavi grinned half-heartedly. "Who wants to explain?" he asked.
They all turned to Yana who scowled.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
"Because you're the best at explaining things," they said in unison. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She turned to Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Well for starters you three are the nosiest bunch of kids I have ever met."
"Hey, we're the same age as you!" yelled Harry. "Don't call us kids!" She stared at him blankly.
"We're classed as adults because of what we are," she said. "Besides you three have never killed anyone so in my opinion you're still kids." They paled.
"You've killed people?" squeaked Hermione. "But…"
"Well I wouldn't say people, Akuma aren't exactly human anymore so I don't know if they count as people."
Cross rolled his eyes. "Just tell them who we are and what we're doing here."
"Fine, we're exorcists. We have weapons called anti-Akuma weapons and obviously we use them to kill Akuma."
"What's an Akuma?" asked Ron hesitantly.
"An Akuma is born of three things, a tragedy, a human soul and a machine. It's basically a machine with a soul trapped inside it, the more it kills the more it evolves and the more powerful it gets," said Yana with a raised finger. "Our anti-Akuma weapons allow the soul to break free from the machine and move on to rest in peace."
"What are your weapons?" asked Harry with a frown. "The only weapon I see is Kanda's sword."
"It's a katana," he said bluntly. "It's made of Innocence, that's what all our weapons are made of." Yana nodded.
"Lenalee has Dark Boots." Lenalee stuck out her feet to show them. "Lavi has a hammer." He twirled it around. "Master has a gun, the one he's been shooting us with in class actually and 'The Grave of Maria', don't ask what that is, it's slightly creepy. Miranda has her 'Time Record' which allows her to turn back time and Krory has his teeth which is why he's often mistaken for a vampire."
Hermione pointed to Allen and Yana.
"What about you two?" They exchanged glances.
"An arm each." They still looked puzzled. "Allen's weapon is his left arm and mine is my right one."
They took off their gloves to show them the disfigured skin and the cross embedded in Allen's hand while Yana moved her shirt so they could see the cross on the upper part of her arm. The wizard trio gasped.
There was a loud crash from somewhere in the castle, the exorcists all exchanged glances as Allen and Yana's eyes reacted.
"We'll sort it out," said Allen and Yana together. "You can finish explaining." The two ran out of the office quickly, Lavi punched the wall in frustration once they'd left.
"I hate that they do that!"
"Of course they do it, it's their mentality," said Cross puffing out smoke. "They're right little martyrs." Lenalee looked upset.
"But it isn't fair! It's not like they've ever been given a choice!" she cried. Harry frowned.
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Kanda snorted.
"Not all exorcists are the same. They're mostly either equipment type or parasite although equipment type is the most common." Miranda nodded.
"Most exorcists are equipment types which means our Innocence is separate from our body, it's changed into an item we can use," she explained softly. "Parasite types are rare because they are born with their Innocence and its part of their body, like Krowley's teeth and their arms."
Lavi growled. "It's because they're parasite types, they always throw themselves into every fight. They always risk their own lives!"
"Lavi you know that's not all of it!" scolded Lenalee. "Their cursed eyes allow them to see the souls trapped in the Akumas. They promised to save them all, that's why they do it." Cross laughed. They turned all turned to stare at him.
"You brats have really got them figured out pretty well but you forgot one thing," he said puffing out smoke. "Parasite types have shorter life spans."
"But that horrible-" gasped Hermione covering her mouth.
"It's not like they have a choice remember!" snarled Lavi. "They were born that way. They know that even if we all survive the war they will still likely die before us."
He glared angrily at the floor, and there was an awkward silence before the door opened and Allen and Yana walked back in grinning.
"That wasn't so hard was it?" asked Allen.
"Nope, only a few level ones and no damage done to the school. No one was hurt either so that's good, we must have missed them before," said Yana nodding. They stared at the others.
"What?" they asked in unison. Lavi turned away scowling.
"You two don't have to take all the risks," he muttered, they blinked then smiled.
"We know, but we can't break our promises either," they said holding hands, everyone stared at them. "If we can help as much as possible before we die then that's good enough for us. Besides we're happy doing this," they said grinning. "We have a purpose in life and it's doing good for others." Cross snorted. "Master you were the one that said when we first met, that we're soldiers of life doomed to fate. Well that sounds morbid so, we're soldiers of life that chose the path we're walking on."
Lavi wiped his eye quickly and hung his head, Allen came up to him.
"Lavi? Are you crying?"
The red head's arms suddenly shot out and grabbed Allen pulling him into a tight hug.
"You're such an idiot bean sprout," he muttered, Allen smiled softly. "It may be the path that you've chosen but it doesn't mean you're walking it alone."
Allen's eyes widened and he hugged Lavi back just letting him hold him. Lenalee, Miranda and Krory sniffed wiping their eyes. Kanda rolled his eyes.
"Are we done with the water works now?" he asked. Yana hit him over the head.
"That was really insensitive Kanda. Just because you hardly show emotion other than being pissed off doesn't mean everyone else does," she said. He snorted.
"I know that. Cross acts like everyone is beneath him, Miranda is apologetic, Krowley is cautious, Lenalee tries to be happy, the rabbit is too happy, the bean sprout is too emotional and you are indifferent unless something amuses you." They all stared at him.
"Wow… Kanda said a speech!" cried Lavi, happy again. "I'm so proud of him, he's growing up so fast!" The exorcists laughed.
"So that explains what you are," said Hermione. "But not why you're here."
"Oh, well we're here to stop the Akuma from harming anyone," explained Lenalee. "Only innocence can harm them so we had to come but we also think there might be a piece of innocence in the castle, it would explain why the Akuma showed up here in the first place." Yana frowned at the wizards.
"But seriously, you guys are really nosey," she complained. "This has nothing to do with you but you act like you have the right to know everything."
"But it is-" protested Harry.
"No it isn't," interrupted Yana. "You can't use the Innocence unless you're an accommodator, the only reason the Akuma are attacking is because of the Innocence, so it has nothing to do with you guys. The only way you're involved is because the Innocence just happens to be in your school. So you really shouldn't try to interfere," she said. "It's more troublesome for us if we have to worry about you getting involved while we're in the middle of fighting."
That said the exorcists left the office and the three Gryffindors walked in silence back to their common room. Ron and Harry exchanged glances when they saw Kanda, Lavi and Allen appeared to be already asleep when they arrived at their dorm.
Depending on what happened next this could become very awkward.
Ha bet you thought it was going to be the second task. I didn't want to write that yet since I'm still trying to figure out how to make it work.
Hope you enjoyed the new chapter please review especially if you have any ideas about how Kanda can do the second task, at the minute if I don't get a better idea he'll be using gillyweed and I'd rather he do something different.
Please review.