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Chapter Three - Haunted Eyes

After the departure of the Fourteenth, Cross and his group wasted no time leaving the scene of their meeting. It was best to distance themselves as quickly as possible, just to be on the safe side. Although they weren't afraid to fight, should members of the Clan of Noah arrive, they knew that they would be out gunned so to speak. And it important to pick your battles well, especially in this war.

For awhile the trio walked on in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. But, after awhile, Maria decided that a little conversation was needed to lighten the mood. "So Lyssa," she spoke up, addressing the young girl whom her husband was training in the ways of the Exorcists. "We're taking the day off tomorrow so what do you plan to do with your free time?"

The blond Exorcist gazed at her young companion for a few moments and it soon became obvious that Lyssa hadn't heard a word that had been spoken to her. There was a far off look in her eyes that said, plain as words would have, that her thoughts were focused elsewhere.

"You seem somewhat distracted Lyssa," Maria commented as the three Exorcists made their way back toward the inn where they had been staying.

Lyssa hadn't realized that she was being distant but as she realized that her friend had been speaking to her and she hadn't heard a word of what was said she supposed that it must be true. She offered the older woman a smile by way of apology.

"Please tell me that you aren't thinking about that Noah brat," Cross growled from his location at the head of their rather weird looking procession.

Lyssa had to bite back the urge to mutter a swear word under her breath as she heard these words from her master. Despite what the people at the Black Order had said about him being a drunken fool she had found Master Cross to be remarkably perceptive. A fact that was currently the bane of her existence.

The girl's silence was enough of an answer as far as Cross was concerned. Glancing over his shoulder he glared at the young woman. "Have you completely lost your mind girl?"

"What?" Lyssa snapped, suddenly irritated over Master Cross' harsh words. She had done absolutely nothing to earn that tone and the fact that he chose to use it anyway annoyed her slightly. "It's not like I just told you that I'm in love with the guy or something. So I was thinking about him, what's the harm in that? I mean you're allied with him."

"I'm keeping him close because it would be foolish not to," Cross said, thinking of the Noah whom he had came across purely by accident.

The Noah who had flat out refused to fight him when they met that first time, by a raging river. There was definitely something off about that particular brat and Cross wanted to find out exactly what it was.

And whether he could use it to his advantage.

"Well Master," Lyssa said, trying hard to keep her voice calm despite her irritation. Although why his words bothered her so much the young woman really couldn't say. "If it concerns you then it concerns me since I'm stuck with you as per orders from the top brass."

Although he cast a glaring warning in the girl's direction Cross couldn't help but respect the girl slightly. Few men had the balls to stand up to him and yet here was this little girl going toe to toe with him. Which was laughable because Lyssa was a third his size and not yet completely adept at using her Innocence.

"What exactly is bothering you about this young Noah?" Maria asked, completely ignoring the fact that her husband was growling at her not to press the issue.

A thoughtful expression appeared in Lyssa's large brown eyes as she gave some thought to this question.

"Is it because he's handsome?" Maria pressed, causing Cross to snort.

Lyssa shook her head as she thought back to the brief time that she had spent in the presence of the Noah of Praise. Thought back to that brief moment when their eyes had met. And it was in this instant that Lyssa realized why exactly it was that her thoughts seemed so focused on the young man named Nicholas. "It was his eyes."

Maria was somewhat taken aback by this response and she gazed at the younger woman, one eyebrow raised. "His eyes?"

"He had such a sad expression in his eyes," Lyssa said, once again thinking back to that brief moment when their eyes had met. "Haunted eyes."

"Considering the things that he's undoubtedly done in the service of that fat ass it comes as no surprise," Cross said, his voice hard.

"It seemed like more than that," Lyssa said, not really sure where this thought had came from.

"I hope that you're not thinking that you can save the brat," Cross grumbled from his position at the head of the group. They were approaching the inn where they had rented two rooms and the red haired general wanted to bring this conversation to an end. "He's a Noah."

Lyssa didn't think that the fact that he was a Noah meant he was any less worthy of salvation but she didn't lend voice to this particular thought. She was well aware of the fact that Master Cross was often irritated with her persistent desire to save people but she couldn't help it.

Everyone deserved a second chance.

Even the young Noah with the haunted eyes.

By this time the group of Exorcists had arrived back at the inn where they were staying. Their rooms were side by side and so they parted ways at the door, with Cross and Maria entering one room while Lyssa entered the other.

"Good night Lyssa."

"Night," Lyssa said as she opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door of her room Lyssa heaved a sigh as she thought back to the inquisition that she had just endured.

And all because of some stranger that she had only just met.

"For crying out loud," Lyssa muttered as she removed her long Exorcist's coat and hung it on the back of the single chair that occupied the small space, along with the bed and small dresser. Unlike the other female Exorcists Lyssa flat out refused to wear the skirt that was included in the uniform, along with a short coat.

She chose instead to wear the same coat as the male Exorcists, along with a pair of loose black trousers and white blouse.

If not for her long chestnut hair and obviously feminine facial features it would almost have been possible to mistake her for a young boy. Not that Lyssa really minded this fact. She was a member of the Black Order so that she could save people from the Akuma.

The Akuma and the Millennium Earl.

The young woman's blood ran cold as she thought about the evil man that few Exorcists had ever encountered and lived to talk about. Lyssa was among that group although she hadn't been an Exorcist when she had met the Millennium Earl.

He had appeared to her after both of her parents, along with her younger sister, were killed in a carriage accident. Lyssa had been the only surviving member of her family and that was only because she had been home ill the day that the rest of her family had set out on a picnic.

A trip from which they had never returned.

FLASHBACK

The sound of crashing thunder awakened Lyssa from the kind deep slumber that you can only achieve when ill. The young girl groggily gazed around her room and gasped slightly as the room was bathed in light by the flashing lightening.

The girl was embarrassed to admit that, at the age of twelve, she was afraid of thunder but the pounding of her heart made that fact impossible to deny. Another clap of thunder sounded, causing the girl to jump and bury her head beneath the covers. Unfortunately she was forced to get out of bed when she heard the sound of someone pounding on the front door. Thinking that perhaps her parents had forgotten their keys and were stuck out in the storm the girl got to her feet and padded out of her room and down the hall toward the front door.

Reaching out Lyssa unlocked the door and then pulled it open, shuddering as yet another clap of thunder sounded.

"Good evening."

Lyssa's eyes widened as her gaze fell upon a strange man. She would have been afraid had the stranger not been clad in the uniform of a policeman.

"May I help you?" Lyssa asked in a somewhat timid voice.

"Are you acquainted with Edward Wolfe?" the officer began, his gaze focused on the small girl who stood before him.

"He's my father," Lyssa replied, gazing up at the policeman with confused brown eyes. What could the police possibly want with her father? "But he's not here right now."

"I am aware," the policeman said after clearing his throat somewhat nervously. "Young lady I'm afraid that your family was involved in a carriage accident earlier today."

Lyssa gasped, eyes widening even further as she received this news. "Are… are they alright?"

Lyssa could tell, by the look that appeared in the man's eyes, that she wasn't going to like the answer she was about to receive. "Don't say it…" the young girl silently begged. "Please don't say it."

"The carriage plunged from a ravine after the horses were spooked," the policeman said, his voice calm and emotionless. But his eyes showed sympathy for the child who was standing before him. "I'm afraid that there were no survivors."

"No," Lyssa gasped, barely able to lend voice to her horror.

The policeman reached out his hand to the girl. "Come with me miss. I'll take you somewhere to stay until arrangements can be made."

"No!" Lyssa exclaimed, feeling as though her entire world was collapsing around her. She pulled away from the man's grasp, ducked around him and dashed out the door and into the raging storm.

The thunder rumbled and the lightening flashed but for once Lyssa felt nothing in response. Her world had ended and in her eyes there was nothing left to fear.

"Come back!"

Lyssa heard the voice of the policeman calling out to her but she paid him no heed. She didn't even so much as glance over her shoulder as she ran through the pouring rain. Seeking even the tiniest measure of comfort Lyssa made her way to a river that flowed a short distance from her house.

This was where she ran to whenever she was upset over something and to this place she was drawn like a magnet even as her heart was breaking.

Sinking to her knees Lyssa allowed herself to lend voice to her sorrow and cried for the family that she had lost. Cried for the injustice of never being able to see her mother, father or sister ever again.

Cried out from the very depths of her soul.

"Poor child…"

Lyssa jumped at the sound of the voice that was calling out to her and as she slowly turned her head her gaze fell upon a strange looking gentleman with an impossibly large smile.

"Such a tragedy to be visited upon someone so young," the man said in a voice that sounded both sweet and the slightest bit scary. "How would you like for me to bring your family back from the clutches of your detestable God?"

Lyssa's eyes widened as she heard these words but there was something about the look in the man's eyes that she didn't trust. And even in her grief stricken state the child instinctively knew that this man was dangerous.

Jumping to her feet Lyssa dashed away from the river and the man as fast as her slender legs could carry her.

END FLASHBACK

It was only later that Lyssa learned that she had been visited by the Millennium Earl, after joining the Black Order. And once she learned the identity of the man who had offered to revive her family, as well as what would have happened had she not fled, Lyssa was grateful that she had survived that night.

Even then she'd had the uncanny ability to read people's emotions and the young woman gasped as she realized, possibly for the first time, why she recognized the haunted look in the young Noah's eyes, even thought he was trying to hide it. It was the very same look that she had seen in her own brown eyes for years after the loss of her family.

With this knowledge came an increased desire to learn what exactly had caused such a sad expression to shine in the eyes of a Noah. They weren't supposed to have feelings to the same degree as normal humans and yet the look in Nicholas' eyes had been unmistakable.

"So what brought that haunted light to those stormy eyes?" Lyssa thought to herself as she prepared to retire for the night.

Master Cross had warned her against constantly trying to save people who could not be saved but Lyssa knew that she would ignore this advice again, as she had so many times in the past. She was well aware of the fact that the Noah were supposedly evil, the powerful pawns of the Millennium Earl, but the young woman refused to believe that anyone was irredeemable.

Everyone, the Noah included, were the masters of their own destinies and if Nicholas chose to change his fate then he could.

That was what she chose to believe, despite the fact that Master Cross was continuously telling her that her naiveté was going to end up getting her killed. If it did then that was simply the price that she would have to pay in order to keep her humanity.

"I want to see the light," Lyssa murmured as she changed into her nightgown and settled down to read a book. She always read before going to bed; it gave a brief moment of normalcy to her life. "I want to see the light that I know is shining behind those haunted eyes."

Meanwhile, in the room next door, Cross and Maria were also preparing for bed. And the red haired Exorcist was lamenting the day that he had taken on an apprentice. "She's going to do something stupid," he muttered to himself, pouring a healthy measure of wine into a glass. "I know she is."

"She wants to save him," Maria said in her musical voice, gazing at her husband fondly. "And you can deny it all you want but I don't think that you believe the boy's beyond hope."

"He hasn't been with them long," Cross admitted grudgingly. "But he has the same hardened look in his eyes that they all have."

"That doesn't mean that he's beyond all hope," Maria reminded him as he walked across the room and lay down beside her. "It just means that he's seen things that no child should ever have to see."

Cross was forced to give some thought to this comment from his wife; both sides recruited the chosen, no matter the age. This war knew no age limit.

In fact the Noah brat couldn't be much older than Lyssa herself; but the fact remained that the Millennium Earl had gotten to him. And, despite their supposed alliance, Cross didn't trust him.

"You're just going to have to trust that things will all work out for the best," Maria said as she reached up and began to massage Cross' shoulders. "Have a little faith."

A/N - and there's the end of chapter three, this time Lyssa-centric. Hope that you enjoyed, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.