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Chapter Seventeen - Mission
"Nicholas my dear boy…"
Seated at the piano the young Noah was forced to glance over his shoulder in order to gaze at the man who had spoken to him. Standing at the entrance to the parlor the large man was staring at the boy seated at the piano, his perpetual grin in place. Nicholas' fingers continued to find the correct notes in perfect rhythm even as he said, "Yes Lord Millennium?"
"I have a mission for you," the Earl said, his voice practically a purr as he eyed the extra member of the Clan of Noah. It was true that there should have been only thirteen descendants but that didn't diminish the fact that this boy's powers exceeded those of the others, perhaps even rivaling his own. Of course the others were not aware of this fact as the Musician kept his true powers a closely guarded secret, even from his siblings. "And it's one that I'm convinced only you can succeed at."
Abruptly ceasing to play the piano the Musician whirled around on the piano stool, turning so that he could face the Earl. The words of the fat man had served to capture the boy's interest. Out of all the members of his surrogate family the Earl was the only one who had even the slightest clue as to his true powers which made him wonder exactly what kind of mission the man had in mind. Because aside from the occassional hunt for Innocence he was mainly used to move the Ark and nothing more. "And what mission might that be Lord Millennium?"
"As you are aware I've ordered that the members of the Clan of Noah are not to engage the Exorcists in battle because I want their existence to remain a secret."
Nicholas nodded; he was well aware of this order. Of course he'd disobeyed it on more occasions than he cared to count but that wasn't something that the Earl needed to know. "I am aware."
"Well," the Earl said, his voice still practically a purr. "I'm going to make an exception that that rule in the case of one Noah and one Exorcist."
Nicholas nodded. "It's safe to assume that I'm the Noah of which you speak. So exactly which Exorcist is it that you wish for me to eliminate?"
"His name is Cross Marian," the Earl replied, his customary wide grin still in place, even as his eyes narrowed at the very mention of this nuisance. "He's a red haired general who is causing me no end of trouble. I want you to take care of this problem my boy."
The young Noah's heart actually skipped a beat at this pronouncement. He prided himself on being fairly efficient at anticipating snags in his plan but had to admit that this was something that he hadn't foreseen. Fortunately for Nicholas he was adept at hiding his reactions and his facial expression remained impassive. Getting to his feet and placing one hand over his stomach the young man offered the Earl a slight bow. "As you wish Lord Millennium."
With this the young man quickly made his way to the door that led out of the parlor. Striding quickly down the corridor Nicholas made his way to the front door of the manor, wanting the Earl to believe that he was off to fulfill the mission that he had been given.
When in truth the Noah of Praise was just seeking a quiet place in which to figure out what his next move should be. This unforeseen turn of events had thrown a wrench into his plans and he needed to find a way to avoid killing Cross while at the same time preserving his credibility with his family.
The Musician's thoughts were briefly deflected from this dilemma as he caught sight of a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye. Turning he watched as Timcanpy joined him. "What am I going to do about this little turn of events Tim?"
The golem shook his body as though to say, 'don't look at me'. Not that Nicholas had really expected for Timcanpy to be able to offer him any advice.
"Looks as though this round goes to the opposition," the young man muttered, referring to the fact that he had taken to looking at his little rebellion as a chess game. And at this point, he was at a decided disadvantage. But Nicholas was determined that he would prevail, whatever the cost.
"This isn't a game that I'm going to lose," Nicholas muttered to himself as he grasped the door handle and stepped outside. The Musician quickly left the Ark, gazing around as he stepped outside. It seemed somewhat strange to him to actually be emerging in daylight, since most of his trips were taken after dark.
When he was less likely to be caught with the Exorcists.
But of course that wasn't an issue at the moment given the mission that he had just been assigned by the Earl. His siblings would think nothing of seeing him with the group of Exorcists, granted if that were to happen then he would be forced to fight Cross. Not that this would grieve him since he wasn't overly fond of the red haired general. But there was always the possibility that Lyssa would be dragged into the battle and that was something that he absolutely refused to allow.
He could shrug off the loss of the general as a casualty of war, collateral damage so to speak, but knew that he would literally die if anything were to happen to Lyssa. It was true that the two of them hadn't really known each other all that long but in that short period of time Nicholas had grown very attached to her. And he was determined to make absolutely certain that nothing happened to Lyssa, even if something did happen to Cross.
"Damn," the young man swore, removing his top hat and running a hand through his mahogany hair. This was a rather vexing situation all the way around. "Alright Tim, I need for you to lead me to Cross."
The golden creature once again nodded it's body, in acknowledgement of the command from his master. With a flap of his wings Timcanpy soared into the air, shifting it's body this way and that before finally settling on a location. Nicholas fell into step behind the golem, perfectly content to allow Timcanpy to lead the way. He once again congratulated himself on the invention of the tracking device since without it his task would have been decidedly more difficult.
Timcanpy led the way to a fairly nice inn and, as they approached, Nicholas' gray eyed gaze fell upon the group of Exorcists. It appeared as though they were leaving and the young Noah briefly found himself wondering if Cross was skipping out on the bill again.
"Did you make sure to pay your debts before leaving Marian?" Nicholas called out as he made his way toward the group.
"Shut the hell up brat," Cross retorted, his gaze shifting toward the traitor Noah. It was obvious, by the expression on his face, that he wasn't the slightest bit pleased to see his reluctant partner in crime. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I was sent out on a mission by Lord Millennium," Nicholas replied, his voice devoid of emotion. He pointedly avoided glancing in Lyssa's direction, since this was almost guaranteed to break his calm façade.
Cross motioned for the Noah to accompany him and together the group began making their way down a trail, leading away from the inn. The red haired Exorcist general didn't want anyone to overhear what the brat had to say.
For that matter he wasn't entirely sure that HE wanted to hear what the brat had to say. Because it seemed strange to him that the Noah was given a mission and chose to come to him about it. That screamed out strange and the Exorcist general wasn't eager to find out exactly how strange it was.
But he had no choice.
"So what 'mission' does the fat ass want you to accomplish?" the red head questioned the moment that he was certain they were out of ear shot of everyone.
"He wants me to kill you," Nicholas replied, his gaze focused on the man's face. Desperately wanting to see his reaction to his news.
And he was not disappointed.
General Cross Marian actually seemed somewhat stunned by this pronouncement and his gaze quickly returned to the face of the young Noah. "Stop joking around brat," he said after recovering. "Because this shit isn't funny."
"I assure you that I'm speaking the truth," Nicholas stated calmly, enjoying this more than he should have given the circumstances. It was just that it was so much fun to rattle the man's cage a little.
"You can't be serious…"
Nicholas' smirk of enjoyment faltered as he heard Lyssa's voice and his head shifted in her direction seemingly of it's own volition. There was a horrified expression on her face as she walked over to Nicholas.
"That was the order that I was given," Nicholas said, his tone changing completely as he spoke to Lyssa. "But I have no intention of actually following through with it." At this point the Musician turned his attention back to Cross. "Which is why I came to speak with you."
"You wanted to make sure that I knew you were out to kill me?" Cross demanded, glaring at the boy.
"No you pompous ass," Nicholas snarled, losing his composure for the briefest of moments before the mask descended once more. "I came to see if you had any ideas as to how I can AVOID killing you and not arouse suspicions."
At this point a smirk spread across the red haired Exorcist's face. "I could always kick your scrawny little ass," he suggested.
"I said NOT arouse suspicion," Nicholas reminded the man, a matching smirk appearing on his face. "That's the one thing that would definitely make them suspicious."
Cross growled low in his throat, more than a little bit annoyed by the words of the Musician. However since he wasn't exactly sure which of them would win in an actual fight he chose not to comment. What he did do was to take a menacing step toward the young Noah, who held his ground with his smirk still resolutely in place.
"So what are we going to do about this?" Lyssa asked, stepping between the two males before the proverbial fur began to fly.
Sighing and stepping away from Cross, the Musician removed his top hat and once again ran a hand through his hair. "I honestly don't know… I wasn't expecting this. The Noah have standing orders not to engage Exorcists in battle but it appears that your master is such a nuisance that Lord Millennium decided to bend his own rule."
"Damn it," Cross growled.
"There has to be something that we can do," Lyssa said, her doe eyes shifting back and forth between her master and the man that she desperately cared for.
"I'm going to think of something Lyssa," Nicholas said, his voice turning gentle as he gazed at the young woman. "It's… it's just going to take a little time."
Cross' gaze remained locked on the two of them and, for the first time, the suspicions that he had long harbored were substantiated. It was obvious, by the tone of the Musician's voice, that there was something between the boy and his apprentice.
"I knew the girl was going to do something stupid," he growled to himself, clenching his hands into fists.
"What was that Master Cross?" Lyssa asked, having heard his muttered complaint but not having picked up on the actual words.
"It's nothing girl," Cross said, his voice laced with irritation. "And it has absolutely no bearing on the issue at hand."
"You should go into hiding until I can come up with a suitable solution to this problem," Nicholas said, his advice aimed toward the entire group.
"The hell I will," Cross snarled, his one visible red eye flashing fire. "I'm not running away from the Earl and I'm damn sure not running away from you."
Nicholas' gray eyes flashed gold as he whirled around, his glaring gaze focused on the infuriating man. "Your stubbornness is going to get you killed, you fool."
Cross made a move to grab the young man but Lyssa stepped between them, knocking her master's hand away and glaring at him. "Stop it, both of you! Now isn't the time for you to be fighting."
Cross merely glared at his apprentice but Nicholas instantly looked apologetic. "I'm sorry," he muttered.
And that was what cemented in Cross' mind the fact that there was something more going on than the two of them simply being on the same side in a war. He had no idea when exactly it had taken root but he was fairly certain that Lyssa had gotten herself into more trouble than she could get out of.
"It's alright Nicholas," Lyssa said, trying her best to keep her voice devoid of emotion. "Now what are we going to do about this situation?"
"I haven't a clue," Nicholas admitted, rubbing the back of his neck absently. "But I'm going to come up with something." At this point he turned his attention back to Cross, who was scowling resolutely. "And it would be easier if Marian would stop being stubborn and help me."
"Shut your mouth brat," Cross snapped, his one visible eye flashing fire. "We've already established the fact that I'm not afraid of you."
"I could have killed you," Nicholas snarled, referring to the day that they had met.
"And if you were going to then you should have done it then," Cross retorted. "You've now lost your opportunity."
"Men," Lyssa growled, rolling her eyes in their direction. This uncalled for posturing on the part of her master and the Musician was starting to irritate her. She had half a mind to call for Sorana and sic the dog on the both of them.
"Would you both stop it?"
Cross whirled around as he heard the irritated feminine voice that had called out to him and the Noah. Maria was standing a few feet away with her hands on her hips, looking decidedly annoyed.
"This is a problem and we are going to address it," the blond Exorcist glaring at both males through narrowed blue eyes. "Without fighting. You got that?"
This last question seemed to be directed mostly at Cross and, after a few moments, the general nodded his head. "I got it."
Nicholas smirked as he witnessed this little interaction between the two Exorcists. It amused him greatly that the red haired man seemed to be under the control of his subordinate. Of course since the two of them were married it was to be expected that he would defer to her wishes.
"Alright brat," Cross growled, turning his attention away from Maria and focusing it on the Noah once more. "Let's figure out what we're going to do about this little inconvenience."
Nicholas' smirk grew wider as he heard these words. Inwardly he was grateful that Maria had been able to knock some sense into the man, so to speak, but outwardly he presented an indifferent façade. "It's a good thing that one of you has some common sense."
A/N - Well this is a decidedly inconvenient turn of events for our little alliance. How will they get out of this mess without making the Earl suspicious? Stay tuned to find out and please leave a review!