Alright, and now we're back to the main plotline. XD I want to give thanks to I'm too lazy to log in for reviewing… I'm sure you know who you are. XD As for your question, I am intending to follow the story line as closely as possible (I had to do a bunch of math and research on old technology to figure it out). That's why I'll occasionally use quotes from the manga. Thank you to WillowC1 for reviewing and putting this story on her alert list, too! Also thanks to CrescentSnow for the favorite and kagehi for the favoriting the story and putting it on her alert list!
Oh dear... accidentally uploaded this to my Harry Potter story first. XD
Disclaimer: Nein.
Part Ten: Täuschung
"I see a flickering guiding light
To left and right, now here, now there.
I'll follow this light, though I know
It will mislead and tease me."
Wilhelm Müller
Cross decided not to think back upon the meeting under the willow tree for quite some time. First off, he didn't want to become too involved in Neah's affairs. The boy was, after all, officially part of the Clan of Noah. He had had enough of those weirdoes for a lifetime. Second, he didn't want those damn Bookmen looking for him again. It was bad enough that they'd found him once. All he really wanted was to be uninvolved in the messed up lives of the Clan and all their associates.
It was too bad that the other side caught up with him: The Black Order.
oOo
After four months of not hearing anything from Neah or seeing anything related to the Clan, Cross finally felt the sense of impending doom lift from his shoulders. They had been pretty lucky, perhaps too lucky. He knew from seeing Lord Adam's guise as the Millennium Earl that most people did not survive a meeting with a Noah. The circus had left Berlin long ago to move onto a Sicily. There were rumors flying among the performers about Mr. Ziegler considering offers abroad, most likely in Egypt or the United States. Cross really didn't care where they went as long as increased the distance between the circus and his childhood residence tenfold. He thought it might even be fun to get out of Europe. Ziegler's Circus had toured every country at least once if not twice. A new locale might be all he needed to forget all about Neah. He'd have to write Mana, of course, but he was sure the boy would understand. Cross thought that Mana would possibly consider coming. He was sure that Mana would get a kick out of trading in a bazaar or flirting with some American girl.
It would be hard getting in touch with Mana early, though. He knew that he was meeting a circus in Greece, but he didn't even know the name of the troupe. His best bet would be searching through every newspaper he could find and hope that the circus put an add out before leaving.
It wasn't a very good strategy in the end. He found nothing, so he moved on to looking at international newspapers. Cross knew the basics of many languages- he could only speak a handful semi-fluently- but one he never bothered to learn was Greek. Sure, Ziegler's Circus had toured there before, but the stay had not been that long. Plus Greece was under control of the Great Powers after gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire, so speaking English, French, or Russian was just as good when dealing with the city officials. He couldn't read the Greek script, and the pictures surely were not helping.
One day as he sat in a café grumbling over a copy of EMPROS he saw a picture that looked like a tent. A large paragraph of text was next to it containing details for the advertisement. It came from a late January issue of the newspaper, which would have placed it in the correct window of time. There was still the language barrier issue.
"Shit," he mumbled. His only possible lead was sitting in front of him on the tiny round café table, and he couldn't even understand it. He doubted that anyone in the café would be able to help him either.
"I take it that you don't read Greek," said a man's voice. Cross was about to speak up when the newspaper slid off the table. He looked up to see someone sitting across from him at the table with his face hidden behind the paper. Cross thought that this guy had some nerve. "It was the advertisement with the tent, yes?"
"Yes," replied Cross. After thinking for a moment he realized that he was in the middle of Sicily speaking English with some stranger. "How did you-"
"Auburn hair is practically nonexistent in these parts. You stick out like a sore thumb," interrupted the man. "I'm afraid I don't fare much better in that aspect. By the way it's a circus advertisement for Cirque d'Gravois. They should be in the countryside around Venice now."
"Thanks," responded Cross reluctantly.
He wanted to take it back when the man folded up the newspaper. He recognized the red hair and heavy-lidded eyes immediately.
"What are you doing here?" he growled at Bookman Jr.
"Keep it down. You'll just attract attention speaking like that," stated Junior. "Your enemies could very well be around."
"Well, if they see you sitting here talking to me, wouldn't that make them your enemies too, Junior?" he inquired quietly but bitterly. He had been pretty sure he'd finally lost those Bookmen.
"First off, call me Sanjiv when we're out in normal society," lectured the red-head. A waiter came up to the table with some sort of coffee drink and Sanjiv- damn him- addressed the man in flawless Sicilian. The waiter smiled and walked away. "Not many people know about Bookmen, and you are to keep it that way. Second, I'm the only one here. Not even Bookman knows that I'm in Sicily right now."
"If no one knows, how did you manage to come here?" asked Cross. "I would have thought that Neah dropped you off."
"Neah is preoccupied at the moment, as are all of the Noah," said Sanjiv. "I was in Reggio di Calabria to deliver something for Bookman when I saw an advertisement for Ziegler's Circus, so I thought I'd come see you."
"Why?" questioned Cross, honestly curious.
"Because you're much more interesting than the Noah," replied Sanjiv. Cross raised an eyebrow at this comment. "I already know pretty much everything there is to know about them, you and Mana, on the other hand, are a new addition to my log."
"Your log?" inquired Cross.
"My job is to document the war. Weren't you paying attention to Neah? Bookman pretty much has the entire Noah family down. It would be boring if I just kept repeating his logs. I may only be his apprentice, but I can tell that it's more important to watch you and Mana," stated the red-head. "You two are part of this war."
Cross gripped the tiny table between him and leaned forward to look Sanjiv directly in the eyes. "I am not part of whatever crazy game that they are trying to play," he seethed. "You can forget about writing about me in your books because I don't want to be involved nor am I going to become more involved than I already am. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going."
He stood up and began to walk out of the café. "Suit yourself," he heard Sanjiv mutter under his breath. "No matter what you do, Cross, this war will find Gitano. It's much too late for anyone to leave the stage."
Cross had half a mind to go back and punch the red-head in the teeth, but decided it would be better to take a leaf out of his book and show no reaction. He left the café.
oOo
When we returned to the circus grounds he found Jacqueline and Matilda gossiping with great enthusiasm. He almost made it past them without them noticing, but the creaky door on his trailer alerted them to his presence. Cross decided immediately that he was buying oil for the stupid door whenever he next went to town.
"Cross!" shouted Jacqueline, waving him over. He put on his most polite smile, shut the creaky door behind him, and walked over to the two ladies. "Did you see them?"
"Who?" he asked. He honestly had no idea what Jacqueline was talking about.
"You really are unobservant," said Matilda. "They were all over the main square."
"I didn't go through the main square," replied Cross. "It's market day- way too many people for my tastes."
"Well, it's better that you didn't go there then," stated Jacqueline, eyes alight with excitement. "They shut the market down and everything! I couldn't even go to the liquor store!"
"Who is they?" he inquired once again, truly curious now. "I can't read minds."
"That's a shame," responded Matilda.
"It would add more to your act," remarked Jacqueline.
Cross groaned and began to walk away. He didn't have time for guessing games or other nonsense. The show was starting in an hour, and he was pretty early in the line-up. "It was more of those fellows from the Black Order," Matilda finally elaborated.
He stopped in his tracks. "Really? Do you have any idea why?" he questioned. Cross really hoped it was something trivial like they were just passing through, but the damn red-head brat's words kept going through his brain. No matter what you do, Cross, this war will find Gitano. He vaguely wondered if Sanjiv knew that the Order was there. Was it possible they were looking for him? Cross was pretty sure he'd done just about everything to stay off their radar after the akuma incident in Austria. Though it was possible they had found out about his life before, about Gitano's life…
He really hoped they hadn't found out about his childhood.
His fears were put to rest when Jacqueline elaborated. "They're looking for some special substance. I can't remember what it's called. Anyhow this guy in a long khaki coat came and asked us if we had seen anything weird occurring, so we told him that we were from out of town," she said. "He seemed disappointed, but he told us to look out because it could be that special-substance thingy."
"Oh," he replied. "Well I'm sure it's none of our business anyways. If you two don't mind I need to prepare for the show. See you both afterwards."
"Knock 'em dead!" they shouted at his retreating back.
oOo
When he was walking around later that night, he heard loud voices coming from Mr. Ziegler's trailer. Cross was about to walk away when he notices that there were a lot of people in tan coats around the trailer. He recognized them instantly from Jacqueline's description earlier in the day. These men were with the Black Order. Much like other occasions, he went against his better judgment and hid in the shadows of the trailer.
"According to all the reports we've gathered in town, there were no odd incidents before Ziegler's Circus came to town," said a low, gruff voice.
"If zat ist true, zen it ist entirely a coincidence," snapped Mr. Ziegler. "I'm not letting you tear through my performers' personal property, Herr Khanna."
"I don't think you understand, Mr Ziegler," replied the man. Cross was pretty sure the man was the very condescending. He couldn't even see the guy's face, but he hated him already. "If the townspeople think that your circus is behind the strange creature tracks that appeared in town recently, then I'm required to investigate. I could get an official warrant from the local police or the Pope if you'd like."
Mr. Ziegler began cursing under his breath in German. "Verdammt! Fine, you may search, but I require zat I may address my performers before you begin," spat Mr. Ziegler.
"Alright, I'll give you half an hour," stated Khanna. "I begin my search after that."
oOo
"There is no way I'm allowing them into my trailer," said Latham blankly. The entire troupe was gathered in the big top, many people still wearing their costumes from the show. "They'll just go messing things up!"
"Why do they even think we're connected to whatever creature this is?" inquired one of the acrobats. "Sure we've got all these animals, but I think we'd notice if one of the elephants went for a stroll."
"Let me have a look at the tracks," demanded Bjorn the animal tamer. "I'd be able to recognize them in a heartbeat if they belonged to one of ours."
"Herr Khanna already had a team of scientists here to look at ze tracks," responded Mr. Ziegler. "He said zey don't belong to any normal creature."
"Well we don't have any of those," stated Jacqueline. "How is this even related to their search for watchamacallit?"
"Innocence?" inquired Mr. Ziegler. Cross recognized the term from all the dinner conversations back at Walker Manor and from the exorcist Kevin Yeegar's swinging pendulums during the akuma attack in Austria. "I have heard many stories from my Oma as a small child about zis Innocence. It's said to be a powerful substance zat can vanquish evil spirits. Innocence generally takes on strange forms. In this case it appears to transform into some sort of creature."
"So one of our animals?" asked Matilda.
Mr. Ziegler mumbled something under his breath and turned a bright shade of pink. The performers looked at him inquisitively as he removed his cap and began ringing the fabric in his hands. "Ze Innocence normally takes on two forms: one ist of a veapon und ze ozer ist of some sort of attachment to a body part," he continued.
Cross suddenly thought of Rory and his misshapen, bright red arm. It had been a while since the small missing child had come to the forefront of his mind. True, he kept his ears open for any news, but it was hard to spend time actively looking for the child. He was, however, quite certain of the point Mr. Ziegler was trying to make. "They think one of us is transforming into this creature," he said.
Mr. Ziegler nodded his head sadly. "Zat ist right," he stated.
There was a great uproar amongst the troupe. "This is ridiculous!" shouted Jacqueline.
"Sure, we might be freaky, but that doesn't mean we're actually animals," hollered Bjorn, his face turning red.
"Those stupid, superstitious townspeople!" snapped Latham. "It could just as easily be one of them."
The manager put two fingers in his mouth and gave a loud whistle, causing the troupe to settle down. "I know zat you are all very upset right now, und you have every reason to be so," remarked Mr. Ziegler. "However, I zink it ist best zat ve comply by zeir vishes. Ze sooner ve let zem search, ze sooner zey vill go away. Zen zey can search ze town, und ve vill see who's right."
The performers grumbled, but agreed in the end to allow the search. Cross went back to his trailer to prepare it, though he was sure any preparations would be thrown against the wall or on the floor or just made a complete mess. He made sure to secure several potions he had made for practice. It would be bad if Khanna and whatever search team he had started throwing those on the floor. Then again, it might be funny to see what they would say once they sprouted feathers or rabbits came out of their ears.
He ended up being very lucky, for one of the men in the khaki coats came to search his trailer. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," apologized the man. He was short, olive-skinned, and wore a clean gauze patch on his left cheek.
"Not at all. Just cleaning up a bit," replied Cross. He moved aside to let the man in.
"There wasn't anything out of the ordinary that you were cleaning up, was there?" questioned the man.
"No," responded Cross, doing his best to remain civil. "I was just putting away a few chemicals. Didn't want the search team to hurt themselves." He kind of wished that they would at this point.
"Alright," said the man. "What's your name?"
"People just call me Cross," he stated. He'd keep Gitano to himself.
"Just Cross?"
"Just Cross."
"Odd name," remarked the man. "I'm called Lazzaro."
They sat for a while in silence as Lazzaro searched through a couple trunks. "So they said some kind of tracks keep appearing around town," said Cross. He was hoping to glean some more information from this guy.
"Yes," responded Lazzaro. "A local priest called them in. My team responded after we heard that the creature broke through a ship's hold to steal some food. The door had been ripped off after the creature warped the padlock."
"Has anyone actually seen the creature?" inquired Cross.
"No," sighed Lazzaro. "All we know is that it has five digits on each appendage. That's why we thought it might be someone transforming. Now where were you earlier this afternoon before the show?"
"In a café," Cross said. "And no, I didn't have any lapses in memory. I can give you the receipt if you'd like."
"Khanna might wish to see it," admitted Lazzaro. "He always doubts things until there's no other explanation."
Cross gave him the receipt. "Will that be all?" he asked.
"Yes, it proves that you were not in the market earlier today," replied Lazzaro. "Some poor baker had his storehouse broken into during the time you were in the café. I'll be going now. Thank you for complying with our search." Lazzaro gave a cheery little wave and left his trailer. As soon as Cross couldn't hear the man's footprints he pulled on his coat and left out the back door.
oOo
It didn't take long to find the storehouse. The crime scene was roped off, but there were no police surrounding the building. Cross ducked under the rope to look around the storehouse. There were bags of flour spilled all over the floor. This normally would have meant that there would be plenty of tracks, but appeared as if the local police and the Black order had effectively erased all evidence with their own footprints.
It looked like the creature had turned the entire place inside out. Every bin was upturned with its contents on the floor mixed amongst the flour. The damage seemed to stop at the floor level. All the windows were intact as well as the front door. He couldn't say the same for the back. There was a huge hole in the back wall that stood approximately four meters high. Either the creature could pack a powerful punch, or it was gigantic. Cross was afraid that he would have to assume the latter. This punch, however, seemed to be directed outside, for all the debris from the wall laid on the back lawn.
Seeing as he could find no foot prints here he decided to move his search outside to the debris-laden yard. He was about to leave the storehouse when he noticed something strange. Despite the place being a storehouse for a bakery, it appeared that the creature had left most of the bread related products. The only empty bins he found were those for dried fruits.
He left through the hole in the wall and immediately found what he was looking for: the tracks. Cross had almost been hoping that they were human tracks. It wasn't that he wanted it to be one of his fellow performers or the townspeople. He was hoping the prints would belong to a small seven-year old boy…
These prints, however, were much too large to be human. They appeared to be about a meter wide with each digit being as thick as the length of his feet. Lazzaro was right about them having five digits. He walked along the trail to examine how the creature walked. After a couple repetitions, Cross could tell that the creature walked on four feet- sort of. The front feet were not shaped quite right. If he had to guess, he'd have to say that the tracks left by the front feet looked like the imprints of fists.
The last thing he knew, Rory walked on two feet. This appearance of Innocence was not him either. Slightly disappointed, Cross returned to the circus grounds.
Khanna and his men were nowhere in sight, so he assumed that they must have finished their search. It seemed that everyone was staying inside tonight, perhaps out of fear of not having an alibi tomorrow morning. The only noise came from around the animal pens. When Cross walked past, he saw Bjorn sitting on a barrel feeding a tiny monkey.
"You've got quite the appetite, little fellow," said the animal trainer. The monkey finished gnawing on a piece of apple. "Alright, now in you get." Bjorn walked back inside the monkey tent to put the tiny monkey to bed for the night.
Cross continued walking towards his trailer. As he walked past Mr. Ziegler's trailer, the door banged open. A tall dark-haired Indian man walked out of the trailer. He wore a long black coat with silver trim bearing the rose cross on the front, white gloves, and carried a curved sword. The man stormed past Cross without a word. Lazzaro exited the trailer and started to run to catch up with the man. He stopped when he saw Cross.
"Hello again," stated Lazzaro. "I suppose you've seen Khanna now."
"Friendly fellow," drawled Cross sarcastically. "Absolutely charming. I suppose you didn't find anything."
"That's correct," sighed Lazzaro. "We must get back to town now so that we can start searching there."
"I'm sure the townspeople will be happy," said Cross. "Good luck with that."
"Lazzaro," commanded Khanna. "We don't have time to be wasting here."
"Of course! Sorry sir!" apologized Lazzaro. He ran off to where the exorcist was waiting. The man turned back to yell at Cross. "If you see anything odd, then let us know."
Cross gave a wave and then returned to his trailer. It was just as he left it- a mess thanks to Lazzaro's search. He began to pick things up to restore some sense of order. Cross thought about what he had seen that day. Even if they did find the creature, it would be hard to catch, considering its size. He wondered if Khanna, Lazzaro, and the others had thought of that. Then again, they might have been preoccupied with the common knowledge that Innocence attracts akuma. He knew that quite well from the stories Lord Adam had told at the dinner table. Cross really didn't want any more encounters with akuma.
There was one big problem: the debris from the hole in the storehouse wall was sprawled outside, which meant the creature created the hole escaping the premises. That meant that it somehow got inside without creating another entrance. The thing sure must have been small to get in without being noticed…
It hit him suddenly. The idea was crazy, but there was a slight possibility. He ran outside to go look for Khanna and Lazzaro. They were just outside the entrance when he got within earshot.
"Hey!" he hollered. The two men turned back.
"What do you want kid?" asked the exorcist.
He had half the mind to turn back, but decided to continue being helpful. It would get the Black Order people to leave sooner, and he sure didn't want them hanging around. "Monkeys," he breathed. "Did you take a look at the monkeys?"
"I'm not here to look at the petting zoo," replied Khanna coolly.
"Your creature walks on four legs, has five digits, eats fruit, and is very small when not transformed," stated Cross. Lazzaro seemed surprised that he knew all this stuff. "It also leans on its front appendages when walking. I'm not an expert, but to me it sounds like a monkey."
"But monkeys are not accommodators or equipment," trailed Lazzaro.
"Maybe this time is the exception," responded Cross.
"This is completely ridiculous," grumbled Khanna, running gloved fingers through his hair. He walked back towards Cross. "This better be worth my time. Take me to those stupid monkeys."
oOo
He was almost sorry that he took them to the monkeys. First off, Bjorn was very reluctant to let them see his precious animals. Second, Khanna seemed to be in an even fouler mood because of the chattering mammals. Third, he had to admit, the idea seemed dumb at the moment. Ziegler's Circus didn't even have a gorilla. They only had tiny trained monkeys that rode around on scooters and tricycles while wearing bright tiny clown suits. He kind of doubted that any of them could actually grow large enough to make a four meter tall hole.
"How many monkeys are there?" asked Lazzaro wearily.
"Bjorn said there were thirty," stated Cross.
It was a good thing that the animal trainer stayed outside, for Khanna started poking at the animals with a twig. "Well we better start looking," he said.
"We?" inquired Cross.
"It was your stupid idea, so you might as well help," snapped the dark-haired exorcist. "Now start bothering them. If one of them is truly the Innocence, then it will probably transform under pressure."
"That might not be a good idea, sir," mumbled Lazzaro.
"What was that?" questioned Khanna.
"I'm on it, sir," replied the short man.
It took a while to work through the cages. After several scratches and even more bites, they had gone through all the monkeys.
"What a joke," grumbled Khanna, shooting Cross a bitter look. "I suggest going back to your day job. We're leaving Lazzaro."
Cross decided that he really hated the condescending dark-haired exorcist. It probably wasn't even his fault. When was prodding monkeys ever a good idea? The method was what was wrong, not the theory. He was about to shout at the exorcist, when he heard a loud explosion in the distance followed by several gunshots. Everyone in the tent stiffened up.
Khanna was the first to run outside to examine the scene. Everyone else in the troupe had opened their doors to see what was happening. Over the town hovered what must have been fifteen akuma, all firing bullets down towards the fleeing townspeople. "Lazzaro, get in touch with the unit," barked Khanna. "I want them to get as close to the town as possible without getting hit. Tell them to activate their Talismans. Once you've finished, start evacuating this circus and the townspeople that come out this way. I'm going ahead."
"Yes, sir!" replied Lazzaro. He immediately reached for a small portable lamp in his large bag and began flashing it in the sky in some sort of pattern. Khanna ran off through the woods. Mr. Ziegler began to bark out orders for the evacuation. He wanted to take anything highly portable along. The big top, unfortunately, would be left behind. He sent the animal trainers to start preparing the elephants.
"Cross!" shouted Bjorn. "Do you have room in your trailer to keep a couple of the monkeys?"
He really didn't want to be travelling with a couple noisy, smelly monkeys, but he really didn't have much choice. "A bit," he admitted.
"Could you take five of them then?" asked the animal trainer. "Jacqueline will lend you one of her horses to move the trailer."
"Alright," said Cross. He doubted that they would let him take his trailer if he didn't carry the damned monkeys that failed him earlier. He went inside the tent holding the monkey cages.
The monkeys were all chattering wildly, clutching the bars, and gnashing their teeth, trying desperately to escape. He picked up a couple small cages and began the moving process. He made it back with four of the cages, but when he came back for the fifth one… something weird happened.
The fifth cage held the smallest monkey in the circus. Bjorn had recently acquired the little fellow on a visit to the mainland. When Cross reached out to pick up the cage, he saw that the door was already open and the monkey was not in sight.
"Great," he groaned as he spun around, looking for the tiny monkey. He finally spotted the little guy hiding in one of the back corners of the tent eating an apricot. "Come on! This isn't time for eating."
The monkey seemed to disagree. Once it finished its snack it began to glow a bright shade of white. Cross stumbled backwards into some crates. He heard fabric rip around him. "What the fu-" he began to shout, but stopped once he realized that the tiny monkey was no longer tiny. In fact, it was rather large and menacing at the moment. Thankfully, the monstrous monkey was not hungry for man-flesh, and it ran off towards the akuma battle.
Lazzaro ran into the now ruined tent. "What happened?" he inquired, helping Cross to his feet.
"T-the monkey just grew and ran off towards the town!" he exclaimed.
"The monkey is the Innocence?" questioned Lazzaro incredulously. "Why didn't it activate earlier?"
"It probably didn't want to," replied Cross. He grabbed a different cage- one he hoped held your everyday standard performing monkey- and turned to leave. "Well, there you have it. Good luck with your mission."
"Wait Mr. Cross!" called Lazzaro. Cross stopped, not because he wanted to listen, but because he'd been called Mr. Cross. He'd never been Mr. anyone before. "The Innocence is still in great danger."
"Not my problem," he said. He did not turn to face Lazzaro. "Why don't you ask Khanna to help you? He seems like an obliging fellow."
"You see that he's no good with animals," sighed Lazzaro.
"And I'm not either," stated Cross. "Ask Bjorn then." An explosion sounded, even closer than the first one.
"Please!" begged Lazzaro. "You were the one to notice it first!"
"And what makes you think I'll be any more help than the next guy?" asked Cross. He finally turned to face Lazzaro and glowered. "I just want to take these monkeys and get the hell out of here."
"I don't know," admitted Lazzaro. "I've just got this gut feeling that you can help. I have a Talisman, so if we get into any trouble I can activate it. I'll even ask someone to take care of whatever job you'd been given for the evacuation! Please, just help me this once!"
Cross cursed under his breath. This guy was not making his life any easier, plus he kept hearing that damned Sanjiv's voice floating through his mind, telling him he couldn't escape the war. "Fine!" he snapped. "I'll go."
"Thank you!" exclaimed Lazzaro. He ran off to find someone else to rescue the monkeys. Cross went to examine the escaped monkey's cage. The name plate read Lau Jimin. At least he knew what to call the monster monkey now.
He then ran to Latham's trailer. The door was open, and the sharpshooter was nowhere in sight. Cross quickly scribbled down a message on a scrap of paper and grabbed the revolver he'd taken earlier that year when meeting Neah outside Berlin. He ran into Lazzaro at the front gate. The man was waving at several townspeople to direct them into the circus grounds.
"Everyone please remain calm!" he hollered. "Move as far back as you can in the circus grounds. A caravan will soon be leaving for the evacuation. Until then please form groups of twenty people so that the organization will be easier."
Another man in a khaki coat ran up to them. "You called me, Lazzaro?" inquired the man.
"Yes, David," said Lazzaro. "The Innocence has run off towards the battle. Seeing as Khanna is busy, I'm going after it. I need you to head the evacuation."
"Yes, sir!" replied David. He took the small lamp from Lazzaro and began directing the crowd.
Lazzaro ran off into the woods, Cross following close behind. It wasn't hard to find the path left by the giant monkey Lau Jimin. They hurtled over fallen trees and leaped over the giant footprints. Cross felt his coat snag a couple times but paid it no attention. Pretty soon they had reached the town. Cross was instantly reminded of the night of Pierrot's death. Almost every building in the town was ablaze and crumbling upon impact from akuma bullets. He raised his arm to cover his nose and mouth due to all the smoke billowing through the streets.
Lau Jimin was not hard to spot. Standing in the middle of the market square, the shrieking monkey threw one Level One akuma into another, causing them to explode. "What the hell?" Cross muttered under his breath. He could here Lazzaro muttering a prayer hurriedly under his breath in Latin.
"What are you two doing here?" demanded a low voice behind them. Cross turned to see Khanna standing behind them holding a scimitar. "I told you to head the evacuation, Lazzaro."
"We're after the monkey," said Cross before Lazzaro could bow down to his commander and apologize. "It's the giant one throwing akuma around right now."
Khanna glared at him. Any other man would have shivered, but Cross refused to give the exorcist that sort of satisfaction. "I can see, thank you," replied Khanna in a clipped tone. "I'm headed out there to take care of the rest of the akuma. As soon as the monkey shrinks, catch it. It should run out of energy soon, and then it will deactivate." The exorcist ran off, the curved blade of his sword beginning to glow. Cross lost sight of him as he ran around a corner, but pretty soon a long slash mark appear across one of the akuma, causing it to explode.
"Come on!" yelled Lazzaro over the noise. They ran through the smokey streets ducking for cover whenever an akuma floated by overhead. At last they reached the market square. Lau Jimin continued to smash akuma to bits, but not with as much gusto as before. Thankfully there were not as many akuma around, probably due to the monkey. Cross didn't want to give Costagna any credit in that front.
They crossed the market square to stand close to the monkey. "What do we do now?" inquired Cross.
"We wait," responded Lazzaro. "I don't exactly carry cages of this size." The man fished something else out of his giant bag. He pressed some buttons on the back of the glass and metal object. "Hold onto this. It's a Talisman. In case an akuma comes and tries to attack us we can freeze it with this."
Cross had to admit that it sounded very useful. There was one slight problem. Khanna was right about the monkey running out of energy and deactivating. They just had not expected it to be when there were several akuma still around. A Talisman could only capure one akuma at a time. When Lau Jimin returned to normal size, he looked around frightfully and then scampered behind Cross, grabbing his ankle tightly.
"Shit," he muttered. The akuma above them began to close in on them. Cross would say that they were almost smiling.
Lazzaro tensed up beside him and began to mumble what sounded like seven Hail Marys per minute. Cross, however, wasn't going to let Lazzaro, the now scared little monkey, or a Hail Mary decide whether he would live or not. He turned the knob on the Talisman up to what looked like full power and set it down in front of them. A warm cube of light expanded around them as the akuma began to fire.
Cross was pleasantly surprised to find that this Talisman held out against three akuma. Lazzaro looked up from his prayers and began to cry with joy, discovering that they were safe for the moment. All they had to do was wait for Khanna to come and fight the remaining akuma.
The exorcist, however, seemed to take his good old time arriving there. Cross was sure it must have been at least half an hour before three slash marks announced Khanna's arrival. The akuma exploded upon impact, showering oil all over the burning town, making to fires grow even larger. Khanna looked worse for wear. He was covered in scorch marks and specks of oil and blood. His shoulder-length hair was falling out of the short pony-tail he kept it in. He quirked an eyebrow when he saw their current arrangement.
"You used the Talisman on yourselves?" he inquired. Cross had a hard time deciding if the exorcist was amused or just being condescending like always.
"It can't exactly trap more than one akuma at a time," replied Cross. "That's a pretty serious technical flaw. It was much easier to trap our group inside than to run and trap various akuma while risking being shot."
"I thought it was a good idea," chimed in Lazzaro.
"Well, give me the deactivation code, Lazzaro," said Khanna. It appeared he also did not wish to acknowledge Cross' contributions to the battle. Cross decided that was fair, considering he'd only admit that Khanna destroyed the four akuma he had seen the exorcist destroy. He would credit the rest to Lau Jimin.
"Hail Mary," stated Lazzaro. Cross rolled his eyes. If any akuma had digits or was smart enough to listen, it would have been very easy to deactivate the Talisman. As soon as they were free from the Talisman, Lau Jimin tried to make a run for it. Cross grabbed the monkey by the tail to stop it.
"Here's your monkey," he said while handing it to Khanna. "If you both don't mind now, I'm going back to the circus."
He began to stalk off. "Wait!" shouted Khanna. Cross really hoped they were not going to ask him to take the monkey to Canada or some outrageous thing next. He'd had just about enough of the Black Order to last for the rest of his life. However, when he turned to address the exorcist, he was surprised to see the man looking somewhat… ashamed. "We're going back with you."
"Why would you-" Cross began to ask, but the exorcist grabbed his left arm with his free hand and dragged him along.
oOo
Cross didn't even recognize the Ziegler's Circus when he returned to the circus ground. The most striking thing was that there was hardly anything left of the circus- just a couple of poles where the big top used to stand and about four trailers. He could hear monkeys screaming in one of them and recognized it immediately as his own. "Another group of akuma came over the hill just as the first caravan was leaving," explained Khanna. "I'm afraid I didn't arrive in time."
There was a small group of about fifty survivors. He was dismayed to see that they were all unfamiliar faces. Cross assumed that Mr. Ziegler, Matilda, Jacqueline, Latham, Bjorn, and the rest of the troupe were among the many piles of ashes littering the ground. At least he now knew what had taken Khanna so long to arrive in the town square.
Several of the men in khaki coats were administering medical treatment to the injured. A little boy nearby Cross cried out as a man wiped out a severe burn on his cheek. Cross remembered the burn cream he had made recently. He carried it around in his right boot so that he'd have it ready if he were to need it after a show or while practicing. Kneeling down, he reached into his boot to find the cream still there.
Cross walked over to the little boy and the man in the khaki coat. "Allow me," he said. The man moved aside so that Cross could kneel in front of the little boy. He squeezed some of the cream onto his hand and began applying it to the boy's cheek. The boy stopped sobbing but continued to sniffle a bit. "Now don't touch it. This should help it heal more quickly." The child nodded and gave a tiny smile. Cross found himself administering more of the cream on many of the other survivors. In the end it was all gone, but the people looked a bit happier.
He went inside his trailer and removed the monkeys that had stopped screaming by now. As soon as they were outside Cross locked the door to keep out anyone who might bother him (mostly Khanna and Lazzaro). Not even caring enough to remove his clothes or wash up, he collapsed on the bed falling into a fitful slumber.
oOo
He surprisingly didn't dream of his now dead troupe, but of the damn dead golden wheat growing behind Walker Manor. It was odd since he was much taller now, though the wheat still reached to just above his waist. Cross heard a child laugh behind him. He turned but saw no one there.
"Who are you?" giggle the voice.
Cross tried to respond, but found that he had no voice.
"Are you Gitano? I'm waiting for him, but you don't look like him," stated the child.
Finally he found he could speak. "Rory?" he asked.
The voice giggled again. "Come find me, Gitano!" the child called
Cross tried to step forward, but felt himself hit an invisible wall. "Not you!" taunted Rory. "Rhian sent my brother and Gitano. They are the ones who can find me. Only Mana and Gitano."
"But I am Gitano!" protested Cross. He had great difficulty saying this.
"I'm going to look for Mana," said Rory. "Let me know when you make up your mind on who you are." Cross heard little feet running through the wheat although no ripples were made.
"Rory!" he cried out. Cross pounded his hands against the invisible wall. "Rory come back! Don't leave me here alone."
"Don't be sad, Gitano," stated Rory. "I am coming back. I might look a little different, but you'll know it's me. Until then, please look out for Mana for me. He has always kind of been a loner. Also, don't forget to smile."
He woke up suddenly after that and could still feel the tears coming out of his eyes. He slammed a fist against the bed and finally let himself weep for the friends he had lost.
oOo
Cross went outside early the next morning to see what could be salvaged on the circus grounds. The townspeople had already collected many things to set up camp nearby his trailer. He walked to where the big top used to be. Standing on the broken center platform he could see wisps of smoke rising from the town through the trees in the forest. The fires must have tapered out in the middle of the night.
"Not much you can do with a broken stage," said a voice behind him. Cross turned to see Khanna standing on the other side of the platform.
"I suppose not," agreed Cross. He was too tired to argue with the exorcist.
"What do you plan to do after this?" inquired Khanna, walking over to him.
"I don't know," replied Cross truthfully. "I'll start looking for another troupe to work for-"
"And wait for another akuma attack?" interrupted the exorcist. "You've been pretty lucky kid. I heard about this troupe from General Yeegar. You guys came under attack four years ago in Austria. You're a magnet for trouble."
Cross glowered at the floor. "What else would I do?" he asked. "I'm only good at wandering."
They stood there for a while in silence, watching the sun crawl its way over the horizon. "The salve you gave out for the burns last night worked very well," stated Khanna. "For a performer you make a fair scientist."
"Thanks," he muttered. Cross began to walk away. He wasn't really in the mood for chatting.
"How about joining the Black Order?" questioned Khanna. Cross stopped walking. "We're always looking for more scientists. It would be much more worthwhile than traipsing around the globe."
Oh hell no. There was no way he was going to join the Black Order. He had made it clear to Sanjiv just the other day that he had no intentions of becoming more involved with this war. "No thanks," he replied. "I'm fine with being your every day normal civilian."
Khanna frowned at him. "Trying to play difficult?" he questioned. "How about I put it this way: I saw you the other day in a café talking to a man from the Bookmen Clan. Only you and I know what this implies. The Black Order doesn't have to know about this either. Unless you want to be put in front of the Vatican court on trial for conspiracy with the enemy, I suggest you come."
Cross felt his mouth drop open. This man knew about the Bookmen and their current affiliation. He thought about it, looking for any possible loophole, but found none. He was screwed and that stupid exorcist knew it.
Khanna cracked a smile at him and then turned his back on Cross. "Lazzaro! Grab his things! The kid agreed to come with us!" he hollered. "Call ahead to Amaranta to let her know we're bringing a new recruit!"
"Hey! I didn't agree to anything yet!" bellowed Cross.
"But you don't have much of a choice, so just give in quietly now," remarked Khanna, grabbing him by the left arm again.
"Why do you want me to join so badly?" asked Cross.
"You're not a dimwit or a bigot like most of our recruits, plus you know the streets. I can't stand the university types," explained Khanna. "So much knowledge and they have no idea how to apply it."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" inquired Cross. "You can't just go blackmailing people into doing what you want."
Khanna stepped in front of him, looking him directly in the eyes. "I'm Indivar Khanna," said the exorcist, "and I don't care what you think about this war or the Black Order. You're coming with me to Rome either as a recruit, a prisoner, or a dead man. Take you pick."
Later in the day he boarded a boat bound for Rome with Khanna and the men he now knew were called Finders. It was in such a way that Cross found himself blackmailed into joining the science disvision of the Black Order's Central Headquarters. He could practically see Sanjiv dancing emotionlessly in front of his eyes saying "I told you so." Cross was determined to punch the guy in the teeth if he ever saw him again.
Poor Cross. Too bad fate (and the manga) says that you have to become involved. That chapter lasted much longer than a I thought… I had to split the last part off because I spent too much time on the Innocence mission. XD Anyhow, now you guys know a bit more about Sanjiv. He'll definitely be back. Will Cross finally get any sort of reaction out of him or punch him in the teeth? We'll see later on…
Normally I update on Friday, but I didn't finish this until now… so Happy Memorial Day to those of you in the United States. Most of this was due to research for the chapter (no telephones in this era, so I researched walkie talkies and other communication devices- no dice. I ended up giving them a lamp to pass Morse code.) and watching clips of Ouran High School Host Club. If you want to know why (besides that the show is hilarious) please feel free to send me and the Polka-Dotted Sock a Private Message. Really it will explain our updating habits. XD
Anyhow, another part of the delay was that I invented about three different characters before I settled on Indivar Khanna. Him and his blackmailing ways kind of grew on me. Let me know what you guys think about him! He may also play a bigger role later in the story. The name of the Greek newspaper Cross was reading in the café came from a site with newspaper archives from the nineteenth century. Please review!