Disclaimer - I do not own DGM.
Chapter Fifteen - Innocence and Innocents
Lyssa watched as Nicholas departed and then she placed her hand once more on the soft fur of Sorana's head. She idly scratched at a spot behind the dog's left ear as she waited for Master Cross to meet up with her. It was difficult to just stand around and wait for him, feeling slightly like she was waiting for her own execution, but there wasn't anything else to do. The young Exorcist had the Innocence in the palm of her hand so all there was to do was wait.
And hope that he didn't go too ballistic when he laid eyes on her new furry companion. Not that she really thought this scenario likely; it was more believable that Cross would shout until he was red in the face.
"We could be in for a bit of yelling Sorana," Lyssa whispered to the dog, her voice reassuring as she strengthened her resolve so that it would stand up to whatever Master Cross chose to dish out. "But don't worry, Master's bark is worse than his bite… at least I think it is."
In truth Lyssa had never really had to face Cross' wrath; Maria had always been around to smooth things over. And to stick up for the younger woman. But the young Exorcist got the distinct impression that the red haired general wouldn't be overly happy about her decision to take in the dog.
"But I can't just leave you here so he's just going to have to deal," Lyssa thought as she continued to run her hand through Sorana's silky fur.
The gray husky whined, raising her head to gaze up at Lyssa through clear blue eyes. It was as though she understood the young woman's words and her tail beat out a pattern on the ground.
Lyssa smiled at her new friend but didn't get the opportunity to say anything further to the dog. She saw a familiar mop of flaming red hair round the corner and within minutes Cross and Maria were standing in front of her. And, as expected, Cross was eying the dog that stood at Lyssa's side with a rather hostile expression.
"What is that?" Cross growled, glaring down at the dog.
"She's a dog," Lyssa said, fighting hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. It irritated her that her Master asked such an obvious question and the young woman couldn't manage to keep her tone completely emotionless. But she tried, she really did. "And her name's Sorana."
Cross arched a brow at that statement. His apprentice was pushing it. "Why the hell would you feel the need to name a stray?"
"Because I'm keeping her," Lyssa stated in a matter of fact tone. "Which makes her not a stray."
"Excuse me?" Cross glared at the girl, unable to believe what she'd just told him. This was beyond pushing it and he wasn't at all happy about it. "There must be something wrong with my hearing because I thought that you said you were keeping the damn mutt."
"She's not a damn mutt," Lyssa said, her own voice rising slightly. It was rare for her to openly defy her master but this wasn't something that she was willing to back down on. Sorana was alone and needed someone to save her and that was exactly what Lyssa intended to do.
Whether or not she had Master Cross' approval on the matter.
Sorana easily picked up on the emotions of the two humans and, pinning her ears back, she began to growl at Cross. It was low and menacing and the meaning was not lost on the red haired general. It was a warning; stating as plain as words that she would protect Lyssa should he make a move to harm the girl.
Which didn't serve to improve the man's mood any.
"When exactly did you get so mouthy girl?" Cross said, his one visible red eye containing an irritated look.
"Must be from hanging around with you," Lyssa shot back, her voice beginning to calm somewhat.
"That mutt is your responsibility… which means if you don't earn the money to feed it then it doesn't eat."
"That won't be a problem Master," Lyssa said with a snort. After all she earned enough money to pay for most of the food and lodgings for the entire group so the young woman was fairly certain that she could afford to feed Sorana.
Maria offered the younger woman a smile, deciding to intervene in this argument before it escalated. Because the dog was still growling at her husband and the blond Exorcist shuddered to think what would happen if the dog decided to display it's displeasure in a more physical manner. "I think it's time we got back to the mission at hand…" As she said this Maria cast a meaningful gaze first to Cross and then to Lyssa. "We didn't find the Innocence."
"Oh!" Holding out her hand Lyssa revealed the fact that she had been holding the piece of Innocence the entire time. "That's not a problem. I have it right here."
"Where did you find that girl?" Cross demanded as he took the piece of Innocence from her hand. His gaze briefly shifted to the shard before his one visible red eye returned to the face of his apprentice.
"Sorana found it." Lyssa decided to omit the fact that Nicholas had been there, since it would seem odd that the Noah had disappeared without speaking to Cross. And the young woman rationalized that what she said wasn't exactly a lie. The husky had found Nicholas, who had been in possession of the piece of Innocence at the time. So, in a very round about way, Sorana really had found the Innocence.
"Let me get this straight… you're saying that the dog found the piece of Innocence?" Cross sounded incredulous.
"Uh huh." The great thing about it was that Lyssa had became adept at lying to the man with a straight face. So much so that Maria had once told her that she should learn to play poker because she had the perfect expression for it.
"Whatever." Cross really wasn't in the mood to debate the absurdity of that statement with his apprentice. "Let's just get the hell out of here."
Lyssa was more than happy to agree with that grumpy order. Glancing down at the dog who was still standing at her side, keeping a watchful eye on Cross, the young woman gave a short whistle. Sorana's ears immediately perked up and she offered her new mistress a tail wag. "Come on Sorana… let's go."
Sorana immediately leapt to her feet and fell into step at Lyssa's side. The dog seemed absolutely delighted to follow the young woman, which brought a small smile to Lyssa's face.
"I knew that you were worth it," the young woman thought to herself as she and Sorana fell into step behind Cross and Maria.
After his little meeting with Lyssa, not to mention her new furry friend, Nicholas made his way back to the Ark. And as the young Noah walked along his gaze shifted downward, a scowl appearing on his face as his gaze surveyed the torn cuff of his trousers.
"Stupid mutt," he muttered darkly as he walked along. He had been perfectly content to enjoy a few stolen moments with Lyssa and the dog had to interfere with this plan.
And the young Noah was not happy about that fact.
"And of course she wants to keep it," Nicholas thought to himself, shoving his hands into his pockets. That was more than likely going to make his life more difficult than it needed to be. The one consolation was the fact that he wasn't going to be the only one suffering due to Lyssa's decision. A smirk appeared on his face at this point. "I'm sure Marian was thrilled."
That was probably putting it mildly and Nicholas did have the decency to feel bad for Lyssa. But for some reason that didn't make him find the situation less amusing.
"Marian's going to be pissed."
And that was the best part of the entire situation as far as Nicholas was concerned. The young man chuckled to himself as he imagined the red haired Exorcist fighting with the dog.
"I really wish I could have been around to see that," he thought to himself. And perhaps have Timcanpy record it so that they could all relive it over and over.
"Nicky-pet!"
The Noah of Praise stiffened as he heard this all to familiar voice calling out to him. And it made his pulse rate quicken that she had discovered him so close to the location of the Exorcists. That was something that the young man knew he needed to remedy. Which meant that he had to find a way to get Road to go somewhere else. Before she discovered Lyssa and the others.
Shifting his gaze in the direction that the voice had radiated from his gray eyes fell upon Road, skipping toward him and casually swinging Lero.
"Stop, Lero!" the umbrella cried out it's protests.
Which of course went completely unheeded by the girl.
A smile spread across Road's face as she skipped over to stand beside the Musician. "I was wondering where you'd ran off to Nicky-pet," she practically purred. "I wanted to play and no one was around."
"They were probably hiding," Nicholas said casually, shifting into his Noah persona. He always made it a point to maintain this appearance while around his so called family. Because, for whatever reason, it was easier to hide his emotions while in his Noah form. "After all the others aren't really fond of your 'games'."
"You never seem to have a problem with them," Road said, her smile turning into a slight pout.
"Yea, well I'm a special kind of crazy," Nicholas said, his words having a double meaning that he was certain she wouldn't be able to identify. The young man arched one brow as he continued to gaze down at his sadistic little 'sister'. "So I take it that you'd like to play one of those games?"
The smile returned, brighter than before. "I'm so bored but you and I could have a lot of fun together."
"Why not…" Nicholas said with a shrug, adding to himself, "After all, my tuxedo's already ruined thanks to that dog."
Practically dancing in delight Road summoned the door that led to her own personal domain. Once again swinging Lero in a circle in front of her the young girl stepped through the door. Nicholas followed along behind her, although he did so at a much slower pace. His thoughts were otherwise occupied, although he was doing his best to remedy that problem.
Because it could prove fatal if he didn't get his concentration under control before he started Road's little 'game'.
Nicholas knew from experience that his sibling wouldn't go easy on him and the young man forced his attention to the 'game' that he had agreed to play. "I really am a special kind of crazy," he thought to himself as he followed along behind Road.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Road exclaimed, raising a hand and summoning a large amount of brightly colored candles.
Nicholas was once again forced to wonder why exactly she was so fond of the candles… as well as why her domain looked like something out of a child's birthday party. These thoughts were short lived however as Road directed the pointy candles toward him. The Noah of Praise
The young man had only agreed to play this game as a distraction so that Road wouldn't discover the group of Exorcists that he was allied with. But that didn't make his situation any less serious. Despite the fact that she was constantly saying how much she loved her family, when it came to her games Road didn't pull any punches with anyone.
Not that he really needed her to.
An arrogant smirk appeared on Nicholas' face as he allowed the candles to sail toward him. For a moment it looked as though he were going to be stabbed by all of them but then Nicholas began humming a soft little tune. Which caused the candles to freeze in mid-air, as thought they had came into contact with an invisible barrier.
The candles hovered in the air for a few moments before falling harmlessly to the ground.
"That wasn't fair Nicky-pet!" Road whined, her gaze focused on her favorite sibling. It still irritated her that she was rarely able to get the best of the Noah of Praise. His particular talents were really useful in fending off her candles.
"No such thing as not fair," Nicholas countered, offering the girl a roguish smile.
"I don't know why I even bother playing with you," Road said petulantly. The girl turned her back on her brother but Nicholas wasn't fool. He remained on guard, which paid off. Which a grin spread across her face the Noah of Dreams suddenly whirled around, launching yet another volley of candles in Nicholas' direction.
And this group was dealt with in the same manner as the first.
"Nice try," Nicholas said, the slightest hint of sarcasm contained in his voice.
"So where have you been all day Nicky-pet?" Road questioned, walking toward her brother.
"Just out for a leisurely stroll," Nicholas replied, not dropping his guard as Road walked toward him. Because he didn't put it past her to use this question as a diversion so that she could attack from close range. "And searching for Innocence."
"Which you didn't find," Road stated more than asked.
Nicholas shrugged. "I guess the reports were inaccurate."
Road shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well. I suppose it's no surprise that we get a few bad leads."
"Only natural," Nicholas said, his voice completely devoid of emotion. It really was a bonus that he'd learned to hide his emotions so well. And it came in handy now that he had decided to betray his family.
For Lyssa.
She was convinced that he was someone worth saving and now, opposed to proving her wrong, Nicholas was desperate to prove her right. More than anything he wanted to be someone that she could love.
Because his most fervent desire was to spend the rest of his life with her secure in his arms.
The young man smiled as this image appeared in his head, even as his inner Noah screamed out in protest.
Nicholas was lost in thought for a brief moment and that was all that it took for Road to notice a strange expression on his face. The young girl's eyes narrowed however she forced her features to be impassive as Nicholas shifted his gaze back to her.
"So," Nicholas said, offering his arm. "Shall we go?"
Road nodded, looping her arm in his. "You're no fun anyway."
But even as the 'siblings' left her special room Road was trying to figure out what had him so preoccupied. "What are you hiding my dear brother?" she thought to herself as the two of them made their way to the Ark.
A/N - Hope that you enjoyed this newest chapter. Please be kind enough to leave a review as you leave. 'puppy-dog eyes' Til next we meet!