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Chapter Seven - Surveillance
Once the threat of the Earl had been dealt with the two groups of Exorcists parted ways. General Cross led the way back to the town where they had first met up with Klaud and, once they arrived, he quickly located an inn where they could stay. This particular inn wasn't exactly up to his usual standards but unfortunately it was the best that this poor excuse for a town had to offer. Which meant that it would just have to suffice. He needed a drink and had absolutely no intentions of going anywhere at this current moment in time.
And the girls would just have to deal with that.
Whether they wanted to or not and at this point Cross didn't really care which happened to be the case. He had already been deprived of alcohol for far too long and the red haired general fully intended to remedy this problem the moment he entered his room.
Both Maria and Lyssa knew from experience that it wouldn't do any good for them to complain about their situation and both chose to just accept it gracefully.
"I guess we'll see you in the morning Lyssa dear," Maria said as they parted ways, each going to their own room. The two rooms were side by side, for convenience sake, but far enough apart so that there was no way that the occupants could disturb one another.
"Right," Lyssa said, nodding her head. The young woman wasn't entirely certain how she was going to occupy herself until they left this town but knew that she had to find something to keep her busy.
Opening the door the young Exorcist entered the sparsely furnished room, gazing around and hoping that this wasn't an expensive establishment. Because she knew that Master Cross would expect her to reimburse him for the money that he had spent for it.
"Of course that's the way it's going to be," Lyssa thought to herself with a sigh, walking over to the window and forcing it open a small degree. It seemed as though the window hadn't been opened for years but the room was too stuffy and the young woman wanted some fresh air.
Once she had finished her fight with the window Lyssa pulled off her Exorcist's coat and hung it on the back of a chair that was positioned near the room's single window. "Looks like I'm going to be working as a waitress in the next town that we visit," she thought to herself as she walked over to the bed and threw herself upon it.
This had became a regular occurrence since she had became Master Cross' apprentice and the young woman had accepted it as par for the course. But in this particular moment in time Lyssa found herself slightly annoyed by the thoughts of her forced labor. After all she was well aware that they all received a monthly stipend from the Black Order for living expenses and such and yet Master Cross still forced her to work whenever they spent more than one day in a town.
Taking a deep breath Lyssa forced these thoughts from her mind before she lost her temper and broke something. Something that she would then be forced to pay for.
Placing her hands behind her head Lyssa gazed absently up at the ceiling, not really taking in what her eyes were seeing. Her thoughts were squarely focused elsewhere. They wandered back to the battle that she and her comrades had fought and the young Exorcist couldn't keep a small smile from spreading across her face. The young Noah had been telling the truth about the Earl's intentions which went a long way toward earning her trust.
"He was telling the truth…"
Lyssa's thoughts were brought away from the Noah of Praise when she heard the sound of something crashing into the wooden door. A few seconds passed and then she heard the sound again.
"What in the world…"
Getting to her feet Lyssa made her way across the room, pulling the door open warily lest there be an enemy on the other side. And there, hovering at eye level, was a strange little golden creature that vaguely resembled the golem's used by the Black Order.
"So you're the one who was following us," Lyssa said, eyeing the little creature.
As though in response to this Timcanpy quickly darted around Lyssa and entered the room.
"Please, come in," Lyssa said, a hint of sarcasm in her soft edged voice as she closed the door and then turned to face the little creature. "Okay… so what exactly are you doing here?"
Timcanpy merely continued to hover in the air at eye level, looking almost as though he were sizing the young Exorcist up.
"He sent you didn't he?" Lyssa said quietly, walking across the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed. She knew the only reason for the little creature to be there was because the young Noah had ordered the golem to follow them.
The only thing even remotely debatable about the situation was exactly why the Musician had felt the need to send his golem out to follow them.
Timcanpy wasn't really capable of answering the questions posed to him however the little golem glided gracefully through the air, landing in the young woman's lap.
"Well you seem harmless enough," Lyssa mused as she absently touched one of the golem's little golden wings. "What about your master, how harmless is he?"
At this point Lyssa began laughing softly to herself. It was absolutely unbelievable that she was actually interrogating this little golem and she felt slightly foolish at this point. But that didn't stop her from continuing to speak to the little creature. After all, it wasn't as though the situation could get any more ridiculous at this point.
"I'll tell you what I think," Lyssa said in a whisper, as though she were imparting some great secret to the golem. "I think that there's a good person buried in there somewhere… someone who's worth saving."
It was barely perceptible, and had Lyssa chosen to blink at the wrong moment she would have missed it, but it seemed that the little creature nodded ever so slightly at these words.
"You think so too huh?" Lyssa said as she continued to gaze down at this little creature who had appeared unexpectedly at her door. "Well we'll have to see if we can't turn him into a respectable member of society."
This thought brought a smile to her face as Lyssa released her hold on Timcanpy and allowed the little creature to resume his hovering. The young woman once again fell back on the bed and placed her hands behind her head. As she gazed up at the ceiling, her thoughts were focused squarely on the young man with the mahogany hair and the stormy gray eyes.
The Noah of Praise whom she was now determined to save.
When Lyssa dozed off, a small smile still on her face, Timcanpy flitted into the air and hovered there for a few moments. Then the little golem whirled around and left the hotel room, squeezing out of the slightly open window. Traveling as fast as his little wings could take him the golem made his way back to the Ark, intent upon reuniting with his master as soon as possible. He hadn't been given any specific orders about when to return but the mission seemed complete.
Nicholas was sitting in the parlor of the Earl's manor, absently playing some inane song on the piano, when he suddenly felt something strike the back of his head. Reaching back the young Noah's fingers wrapped around a familiar form and Nicholas opened his clenched hand to reveal Timcanpy.
"I see that you're back," the Musician said, his voice quiet as he got to his feet and left the parlor.
Now that his golem had returned the young Noah was anxious to make his way to his special room, so that he could find out exactly what Timcanpy had witnessed. He needed to know that his plans were unfolding the way that he had intended and he didn't want to waste any time finding out.
But of course he couldn't risk watching this footage in a room where his 'siblings' could show up at any given time. It would be decidedly bad should any of them learn of his plans involving the Exorcists.
With these thoughts running through his mind the Musician absently made his way toward his secret room, following along behind Timcanpy. He had missed having the little golem around and it wasn't entirely due to the fact that he hadn't been able to get into his secret room.
The little golem was his constant companion, the only one whose company he could stand for extended periods of time. He could only handle his Noah siblings in small doses since they were annoying at the best of times and downright obnoxious every other time.
Timcanpy seemed to be his link to maintaining his sanity and he didn't like for the golem to be gone for extended periods of time.
Which was why he only sent the little golden creature out on missions when it was absolutely necessary.
Upon entering the hidden room Nicholas made his way not to the sofa but instead chose a seat on the piano stool. He didn't play, although he did run his fingers along the keys, but merely chose to sit there.
"Alright Tim," Nicholas said, turning his golden eyes toward the little golem who was hovering in the air a few feet away. "Show me what you recorded."
Timcanpy opened his mouth wide to display a very irritated looking General Cross. Not that this look was all that unusual for the man. Nicholas wasn't entirely certain that he could make any other face. The man's words served to prove to the young Noah that the general didn't trust him but that wasn't the part that shocked him.
No, the part that shocked him and caused his jaw to drop was hearing Lyssa stand up for him.
"What kind of Exorcist is this girl?" Nicholas muttered to himself as he continued to watch the footage that Timcanpy had recorded.
The gleam in the Noah's golden eyes became more intense as Timcanpy got to the part where the Exorcists had battled the Akuma. He was somewhat distracted by the rather unusual Innocence that belonged to Lyssa but managed to corral his thoughts enough to focus on the important aspects of the battle. And he could tell that his plans had been successful when he saw the look of disbelief on Cross' face.
"Dance Marian," the young man muttered, thinking that this would be the end of the footage. Nicholas made a move to turn his attention to the piano but paused when he realized that Timcanpy had more to share with him.
Which came as something of a shock.
Turning back to the golem Nicholas watched as the trio made their way to a rather shabby looking inn. The young Noah had been under the impression that Cross liked the finer things in life but, judging by this place, that assumption had been wrong.
"What exactly were you doing Tim?" Nicholas questioned as the strange footage continued to roll.
He completely lost track of that line of thought when the door of one of the rooms opened to reveal Lyssa, wearing a pair of slim fitting trousers and a ruffled white blouse.
"Tim!" Nicholas snapped, unable to tear his gaze away from this sight or, for that matter, to make his voice sound as angry as he had intended.
The golem wasn't supposed to show himself; he was just supposed to watch the Exorcists and report back with his findings.
But alas it appeared as though Timcanpy had gone completely off script with this one, going so far as to enter the room of one of the Exorcists. And it just had to be the young woman whose image Nicholas was already plagued with.
Removing his top hat Nicholas ran his hand through his hair, his gaze still glued to the image of the young woman.
"Well you seem harmless enough… What about your master, how harmless is he?"
Nicholas was completely taken aback by this question that the young Exorcist had posed to his golem. Was she still suspicious of his motives? But wait, that didn't make sense. After all she had defended him against her own master.
That didn't seem to be an action that someone who didn't trust him would have taken.
"I'll tell you what I think…. I think that there's a good person buried in there somewhere. Someone who's worth saving."
The image ended at this point and Timcanpy closed his mouth with an audible snap and then flew to his favorite perch on the piano.
"So she thinks that I need to be saved huh?" Nicholas said, jumping to his feet and beginning to pace around the room in an irritated manner. This girl wasn't like anyone that he'd ever met before, Exorcist or otherwise.
Who in their right mind would even think something like that, let alone speak the words aloud? It seemed as though she didn't entirely trust him but had chosen to act as though she did in front of matter.
And all for the purposes of saving him.
"There's no way to save you…"
Nicholas listened as this familiar voice echoed in his mind and he knew that the memory of Noah was speaking the truth. He couldn't be saved… nor did he want to be.
"She's in for somewhat of a shock," Nicholas commented, in what was supposed to be a calm and collected tone. But this time his voice betrayed him and the words came out sounding slightly forced.
Taking a deep breath, in an effort to calm his emotions, Nicholas ceased his pacing and sat down at the piano once more. The Noah of Praise was completely detached but at this moment in time Nicholas found that he couldn't even feign indifference.
And that fact only caused his irritation over the situation to mount. The young man once again ran his fingers through his hair before turning and beginning to play the piano.
But even that couldn't drive the face of the young Exorcist from his mind.
As the notes swirled to envelope him Nicholas found himself imagining what the song would sound like with a violin accompaniment. Found himself imagining Lyssa standing beside him as the two of them played the song together.
"Like that's ever likely to happen," Nicholas muttered as he continued to play, opting to change songs at this point.
For his part Timcanpy merely fluttered in the air, keeping an eye on his master. He could tell that the young man was agitated and knew that it was best to stay out of the way. The Musician didn't lose his temper often but it was never a good idea to get in his way when he did.
Knowing this Timcanpy chose to perch on the sofa and watch his master from a safe distance.
No matter what song Nicholas chose to play, nor how fierce his concentration, the young Noah found himself completely unable to rid himself of the image of Lyssa. He could still vividly imagine her standing beside him, playing the violin while he played the piano.
And, although he refused to admit it out loud, there was a part of him that relished this image.
What beautiful music the two of them could make together if only they weren't from two different worlds. Two worlds who were absolutely forbidden to meet, polar opposites of one another.
A/N - and here's chapter five and the two are starting to develop some feelings for one another. Although neither of them is going to admit to it. Hope that you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. Til next time the music has ended but it shall continue.