Disclaimer - I do not own DGM or any of it's wonderful characters.

Chapter Fourteen - The Nature of the Beast

For the next several days Lyssa found herself completely at the mercy of her memories. She couldn't seem to get that night in the rain with Nicholas out of her mind, not that she was trying overly hard. Thinking about the kiss that the two of them had shared under the stars make Lyssa feel positively giddy. A feeling that was wholly unfamiliar to the young woman.

But one that she liked none the less.

"I knew that there was a good person buried within," she thought to herself as she recalled the tender way that Nicholas had held her while the storm had raged. The soothing words that he had whispered, telling her that everything was alright.

That she was safe in his arms.

And she had definitely felt safe in his arms, perhaps for the first time since the loss of her family. Which was utterly laughable since she had been in the arms of someone who was technically an enemy to everything that she stood for.

Someone allied with the Millennium Earl.

A shiver ran down the young woman's spine as Lyssa's thoughts went back to the fateful night that she had met the Earl. A storm much like the one from that night with Nicholas had been raging when the policeman had delivered the news that her family was gone, never to return to her. That news had devastated the young girl and she had fled into the storm.

Only to be approached by a stranger that she only later learned was the Earl.

The Earl had been seeking to turn her into an Akuma however some internal force had seemed to push Lyssa away from that spot. And she had fled. Which she later learned was the best choice that she could have made and one that so few others chose. Most feel victim to the man with the fake smile and the cold, calculating eyes.

Lyssa was brought back to earth by the sound of someone banging on her door rather loudly. Glancing at the clock that was positioned on the mantel the young woman groaned. It was five o'clock in the morning so who on earth could possibly want to talk to her at such an unholy hour?

She knew by the ferocity of the knock that it wasn't Timcanpy.

The girl didn't have much time to debate who the unwelcome visitor was because they once again began to bang on the door as though their goal was to knock it from it's hinges. Getting to her feet Lyssa grabbed for the nearest article of clothing to cover up her nightgown. Shrugging on her Exorcist's coat Lyssa quickly padded across the room and pulled the door open.

"Get your stuff together girl," Cross snapped, barely sparing Lyssa a glance. "You have two minutes starting now."

"Master Cross what's…"

But Cross interrupted the question before Lyssa even had the chance to fully ask it. "You don't have time for questions girl… you have a minute and a half to meet Maria and I outside. And we're leaving whether or not you're dressed." And, without so much as another word to the young woman, Cross turned and walked away.

Lyssa growled low in her throat in annoyance but none the less turned and quickly began to gather up her things. She quickly threw everything except for the clothes that she would wear into her shoulder bag before setting a new record for rapid dressing. With a look of utter contempt Lyssa shoved her nightgown into the bag and then stalked outside to meet up with her master and Maria.

Maria offered Lyssa a sympathetic expression while Cross merely glared. "You just barely made it girl," the red haired man snapped before turned and beginning to walk away from the inn where they had spent the night.

"Um excuse me…" Lyssa obediently followed along behind her master but she simply couldn't bring herself to do so without protest. "But would one of you care to let me in on what exactly is going on?"

Cross pretty much ignored the question however Maria took pity on the young girl. Gazing at Lyssa over her shoulder she said, "We've received word of a large number of Akuma in the neighboring town… and you can bet that they're up to no good."

"That's probably a pretty safe assumption," Lyssa said, absently playing with the pendant that she wore around her neck. "So do you think that there's Innocence involved?"

"I don't know what else would bring so many of them together in one group," Maria said, noticing the young woman's nervous gesture. "They aren't exactly social creatures."

Lyssa knew that Maria had a point and she felt some of her earlier anger toward Cross begin to dissipate. While it was true that he could have explained the situation to her Lyssa fully understood why they had to move quickly. The Akuma would no doubt be attacking innocent people and had to be stopped as soon as possible. And if there really was Innocence involved they couldn't allow it to fall into the hands of the enemies who would destroy it.

Plus there was the souls of the Akuma to think of… they had to be set free from their pain.

"Don't worry… you'll be free from your suffering soon." As this thought ran through her mind Lyssa continued to clutch the pendant that represented her Innocence.

With the rapid pace that Cross set it didn't take long for the group of Exorcists to arrive in the next town. And they were attacked by Akuma almost the instant that they entered the small village. The creatures seemed fiercely protective of something, which only served to raise the guard of the group of Exorcists.

"Salvation, Innocence Activate!"

Lyssa grasped the pendant firmly and watched as it grew into a full sized violin. The familiar bow formed and the young Exorcist began to play a haunting tune, lulling the Akuma and bringing them to their demise. And to their salvation.

Not even bothering to pay attention to what his two companions were doing Cross drew the large firearm that he wore holstered at his side and began firing. It was true that there was a large number of Akuma but it didn't seem to be anything that he couldn't have handled on his own.

So why had the brat insisted that he bring the two women along?

"If he's planning something I swear I'll…"

However the red haired general didn't get the chance to complete the muttered threat. A demonic sounding laugh rang out from overhead, causing Cross to shift his attention to the sky.

A level three Akuma was hovering overhead, offering up maniacal laughter to the world.

Which of course only served to infuriate Cross. With a sneer the man aimed the barrel of Judgment at the Akuma, deciding to leave the lower levels to the two girls. They were more than a match for the pitiful excuses for Akuma and the red haired general was now well aware of the reason why the brat had insisted that entire group come along. And he grudgingly admitted that this would have been a little more than difficult had he been forced to do it by himself.

But that didn't mean that he wouldn't have been successful. It just meant that it would have been harder.

Lyssa noticed that her master was fighting an Akuma the likes of which she'd never seen before. The thing was very strange looking but unfortunately the young Exorcist didn't get the opportunity to dwell on this fact. Or to help her master out with his battle. Having noticed that the girl was distracted one of the Akuma rushed forward, guns aimed in Lyssa's direction.

"Not a chance!" Quickly turning her attention toward the Akuma that had it's sights set on Lyssa, Maria opened her mouth and began to sing. Which served two different purposes; the first to seize control of the mind of the Akuma and the second to snap Lyssa out of the daze.

"Sorry Maria!" the young woman quickly apologized before pulling the bow across the strings of the violin and sending the soul of the Akuma to it's well deserved rest. "Guess I should worry less about Master and more about myself."

Maria offered the younger woman an encouraging smile before turning her attention back to the Akuma that remained.

Before long all of the Akuma had fallen at the hands of the three Exorcists and Lyssa, Maria and Cross briefly regrouped. "Alright," the red haired leader of the group barked out, his voice gruff as usual. "Let's split up and track down the Innocence… assuming there is any."

"Right," the two women said.

Walking away from the other two Exorcists, Lyssa quickly made her way to the outskirts of town. The young woman kept her eyes open for anything out of the ordinary that might reflect the presence of Innocence. And as she walked Lyssa hummed a light tune to herself.

"Looking for this…"

Lyssa jumped at the sound of the calm voice and whirled around to find Nicholas standing behind her. The Noah of Praise was holding out his hand, palm up, with a smirk on his face. And sitting in the palm of his hand was a fragment of Innocence. The young man was in his white persona save for his eyes, which were a tawny gold.

"How are you… managing to hold that?" As she posed this question Lyssa stepped over to the spot where Nicholas was standing.

The young Noah's smirk grew wider as his gaze shifted to the object that he held in his hand. The inner voice was screaming out for the destruction of the Innocence that he held but Nicholas found that he was able to push the voice to the back of his mind. He couldn't make it go away entirely but he could ignore it. "It doesn't burn or anything," Nicholas said with a shrug of his shoulders, not sure what if anything she knew about his Noah genes. "I just have the in-born desire to crush it."

"Well I applaud you for ignoring that particular impulse," Lyssa said, offering him a smile.

The bright smile that appeared on her face caused Nicholas' thoughts to return to that night in the forest when he had first tasted her lips. That night had haunted his dreams in the nights that had passed since then and Nicholas found himself yearning for another stolen moment with the young woman.

"Walk with me?" he asked, offering his arm to Lyssa.

It wasn't the smartest move that she could make, what with Master Cross in such close proximity, however Lyssa accepted the arm that he held out to her. Looping her own arm within his Lyssa allowed the young Noah to lead her along, not really even caring where it was that they were going. Or for that matter if her master caught the two of them together. Of course if she'd paused to give thought to that scenario then the young woman would more than likely have kept her distance from Nicholas. Because she was more than a little sure that Master Cross wouldn't be at all happy if he were to see the two of them together.

And that was putting it mildly.

Nicholas noticed the various emotions that were playing out across Lyssa's face. He could tell that she was concerned with the possibility of Cross seeing them together and he opened his mouth to offer her a few words of comfort.

But never got the opportunity.

A low growl issued from underneath a grove of bushes a split second before something rushed from said shrubbery and latched onto the cuff of his pant's leg.

"What the…" the Noah yelped in surprise. Glancing down Nicholas was soon painfully aware of the dog that had latched its self onto the cuff of his trousers. He was grateful that the beast had seized fabric and not skin but annoyed none the less.

Lyssa covered her mouth with her hand as she watched Nicholas fighting to free the cuff of his trousers from the jaws of a dog. A beautiful dog, she observed as the two of them danced around. Each trying to get the better of the other. The majority of the dog's fur was a light gray, about three shades lighter than that of a timber wolf, but it's chest, paws and part of it's face were white. And at the tips of it's ears and the very tip of it's tail were patches of purest black.

"So beautiful," Lyssa breathed.

"I can't believe you're actually admiring the creature that's currently trying to tear my leg off," Nicholas commented, still attempting to pull free. He glared down at the dog, his eyes shifting to golden. "Let go…" he growled, his tone slightly menacing.

In response the dog merely tightened it's grip and increased the volume of it's growls. It didn't seem even the slightest bit intimidated by the Noah.

"I don't think you scare her," Lyssa said with a smile, walking over to the spot where they were struggling. "Hey!" she called out, gazing at the dog… which immediately ceased growling and turned to gaze up at the woman. "Release him," Lyssa said firmly once she was certain that she had captured the dog's attention. She knew that the secret to dealing with dogs was that you had to show them who the Alpha was... and Nicholas certainly wasn't doing a good job of that.

"Like that's really going to work," Nicholas muttered as he listened to Lyssa give this command to the dog.

The gray dog tilted her head to one side for a brief moment before releasing her grip on the cuff of Nicholas' trousers. The creature gave the Noah one final look of disdain before she trotted over and sat down at Lyssa's side.

"What exactly was it you were saying about it not going to work Nicky?" Lyssa asked, one hand reaching down to rub the soft fur of the dog's head. Upon closer inspction Lyssa could tell that the dog was thin, much too thin, which gave her the impression that no one was taking care of the poor thing. "She really is a sweet thing, I think that maybe I'll keep her."

"W… what?" Nicholas sputtered, his gaze shifting back and forth between Lyssa and the dog that had tried to maul him. His gaze absently shifted to his torn trousers and this only served to irritated him more.

"I said I'm keeping her," Lyssa repeated, her hand still resting on the dog's head. The husky raised it's head to stare up at Lyssa, as though she understood the words of the young Exorcist. And Lyssa found herself gazing into eyes of the purest pale blue that she'd ever seen. "I shall call you Sorana and you shall be mine."

"Of course she has to adopt it," Nicholas thought to himself as he continued to eye the dog warily. "Because she has this desire to save everything."

Nicholas was fairly certain that the dog was going to make his life miserable but it wasn't as though he could stop Lyssa from keeping it. And, if it made her happy, then he didn't really want to.

"Lyssa!"

"Here…" Nicholas quickly stepped over to Lyssa and, ignoring the soft growls of the dog, placed the fragment of Innocence in her hand. "I've been attacked enough for one day so I'm going to take my leave. Good luck explaining furball there to Marian."

And with those parting words Nicholas stepped into a nearby grove of trees and was gone. Leaving Lyssa alone to explain to her master the fact that she was going to adopt the dog that was sitting at her side.

"This could be fun," she muttered to Sorana, absently running a hand through the dog's silky fur. "But I'm sure that you're worth it." Having said this the young Exorcist thought back to the sight of Nicholas attempting to remove the dog's teeth from the leg of his trousers. "Definitely worth it."

A/N - End of another chapter and two updates in two days, I'm really on a roll. Hope that you enjoyed and for anyone who's curious the dog's name means of the sky. And this chapter is dedicated to PeanutAngel, who gave me the idea and who came up with the character design for the dog. Thanks a bunch my friend, you have been a tremendous help in this process.