Disclaimer - I do not own DGM
Chapter Eighteen - Forming a Plan
"So what are we going to do about this 'unfortunate' turn of events?" Cross taunted, his one visible red eye focused on the Musician. He absolutely hated the fact that he couldn't read the boy's expressions, which made it impossible to tell when he was lying and when he wasn't. So of course there was always the possibility that this was all a part of some alternate plan that the brat had dreamed up. Because, despite the fact that they were in a supposed alliance, the fact remained that Cross didn't trust the young Noah. "You're supposed to be the mastermind of this alliance after all."
"And you're an idiot," Nicholas stated calmly, the only outward sign of his irritation the harsh look that had appeared in his eyes. Despite his uncanny knack at keeping his emotions in check and generally hiding them from the world the fact remained that he was growing frustrated. This conversation wasn't really getting them anywhere and it was coming dangerously close to forcing the Musician to lose his composure.
Which would not be a good thing for anyone involved. And least of all for Cross.
"Why you little…" Cross snarled, a harsh light shining in his one visible eye as well. His hands were clenched into fists, as though he desperately wanted to punch the arrogant Noah in the face. For his part the Musician looked less than concerned by Cross' threatening air. In fact the light shining in his eyes made it almost appear as though he wanted the Exorcist general to attack him. Perhaps so that he would have the opportunity to vent some frustrations.
"Enough," Maria said, an edge in her voice that threatened violence toward both of the males if they didn't stop their argument immediately.
Both Cross and Nicholas simultaneously shifted their gazes toward the blond Exorcist but at this point Lyssa joined in on the argument. She had heard all of their posturing that she cared to listen to and was all for putting a stop to it. "I swear, could the two of you maybe grow up for ten minutes? This is a serious problem and the two of you are fighting like a couple of immature school boys."
Both Cross and Nicholas gawked at Lyssa, neither able to believe that she had just spoken to them in such a manner.
"What was that girl?" Cross demanded, taking a step toward his apprentice, a dangerous look in his eye.
Lyssa refused to back down. Normally she would show her master at least a little more respect and keep her mouth shut but today they had pushed her over the edge. "I told you to grow up Master. I can't believe that with all that's at stake all the two of you can do is focus on your differences. Damnable male egos."
General Cross was fairly certain that he had never been spoken to in such a manner and was equally sure that he didn't like it. He glared at the girl through his one visible red eye but even this dark look didn't cause her to back down.
"I think you've been a bad influence on her Marian," Nicholas commented, a smirk on his face despite his growing irritation with the Exorcist general. Listening to Lyssa tell the man off had gone a long way toward improving his mood. "She's starting to get an attitude."
"That's enough out of you as well," Lyssa said, whirling around and focusing an equally dark glare on the Noah. "We have a serious issue that we need to deal with so could the two of you focus for a little while? I know it's hard but at least try and make the effort."
Now it was Nicholas' turn to be taken aback by the words of the young woman. For a moment all he could do was stare at her through shocked gray eyes, blinking a couple of times in disbelief. "Did you seriously just…"
"Yes I did," Lyssa said, interrupting him before he even had the chance to finish the question. Placing her hands on her hips she gazed around at the group, making sure that she had their attention. And, much to her amusement, despite the fact that they all looked annoyed they were none the less looking in her direction. "Now I actually have an idea that might help us get out of this mess without serious bodily harm…"
Noticing the pause Nicholas arched one brow. "I'm sensing a that there is going to be a 'however' in this statement."
"And you would be right," Lyssa said, absently playing with a lock of her hair as she thought about how to word her plan so that it didn't sound as bad. Unfortunately there wasn't really a way to make it sound better so she just took a deep breath and blurted it out. "The two of you are going to have to fight, there's no way around it. But I was thinking that if Maria and I were to 'interfere' then Nicholas could withdraw without arousing suspicion."
Both Cross and Nicholas narrowed their eyes on the girl. "Are you out of your mind?"
But surprisingly enough Maria was nodding her head in approval. "That's actually not a bad idea… it's less likely to draw attention if the two of them actually fight."
"Not that I wouldn't love to break a few of Marian's bones I don't think that this is a good idea," Nicholas said, trying not to dwell on the fact that he and Cross had been on the same wavelength there for a moment.
"Why not?" Lyssa demanded, once again turning and focusing her gaze on the Noah. It was obvious, by the furrowing of her brow, that she wasn't happy with this proclamation.
"Because someone from my family could show up," Nicholas replied, choosing to completely ignore the fact that she seemed angry with him. He'd find a way to gain her forgiveness later if that were possible. But even if it wasn't it would still be worth it if he kept her safe. "And that would be decidedly bad for the three of you… me as well for that matter."
"And why exactly would it be bad for you brat?" Cross demanded. After all the other Noah were on his side.
"Because I'd have to save your ass," the Musician said, finally annoyed enough to resort to vulgar language. "And that would effectively blow my cover don't you think?"
"I have serious doubts as to where you would actually save us," Cross countered harshly, not really liking this topic of conversation. Everything about this day was irritating him to no end and making him want to go and have a drink in the worst kind of way.
"Scratch that," Nicholas said, not really all that happy with the situation himself. He gestured toward the two women. "I'll save the two ladies but you're on your own."
"Why you little…" Cross took a couple of menacing steps toward the Noah but was forced to halt his progress as Maria stepped in front of him. Placing her hands on her hips the blond woman glared at her husband, actually causing him to take a step back.
While Nicholas merely stood around and smirked.
"Alright," the blond Exorcist said, her voice instantly alerting the two males to the fact that she wasn't about to take any of their crap. "If the two of you don't want to go with Lyssa's plan then I want to hear you come up with something better."
The two men thought for awhile but were eventually forced to concede, much to their mutual chagrin, that Lyssa's plan, although dangerous, did give them the best change for fooling the Earl and the other members of the Clan of Noah.
Maria could tell, simply by the expressions that were mirrored on both of their faces, that the two of them knew they were defeated. Nodding her head in satisfaction she turned her attention to Nicholas. "I think that we should wait a few days at least before putting this plan into motion. After all it would look rather odd if you were able to find Cross so quickly."
Actually agreeing with this part Nicholas nodded his head. It would look suspicious if he were to find the general without much effort, seeing as how no one in his family was aware of Timcanpy's special ability. They all simply thought that he kept the golem around as a mere companion. "You have a very valid point. We'll postpone this meeting for a few days and I shall withdraw until then."
This said the Musician offered the two ladies a polite bow, glared in Cross' direction for a moment, then turned and walked away. He would have liked nothing better than to hang around and attempt to dispel some of the anger that Lyssa was no doubt harboring against him but that was something that would have to wait until the two of them were alone. Mainly because the young Noah was fairly certain that he'd already betrayed some measure of his feelings for the girl in front of Cross.
A thought that made him visibly shudder.
Cross managed to maintain what was left of his composure until after the brat had disappeared. But, the moment that he was out of sight and hopefully out of earshot, Cross turned his attention to his apprentice. He was above and beyond furious with her and wanted answers. Answers that he fully intended to get. Glaring at the girl he snarled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Despite her earlier bravado Lyssa flinched as she heard the harshness that was contained in his voice. "I was just looking for a way to help," she said, her voice quiet but still filled with determination.
And a refusal to completely back down.
"I'm not talking about that plan of yours," Cross said, his voice low and somewhat menacing. "That was stupid but surprisingly enough not the stupidest thing that I observed today."
Slightly confused about how she'd managed to incur his wrath if it hadn't been by standing up to him and coming up with a solution to their problem, all the girl could do was stare. "Master I don't understand."
"I'm referring to your relationship with that brat of a Noah," Cross growled.
Lyssa was taken aback by his words but managed to hide her true feelings behind a quickly resurrected mask. "I don't know what you're talking about Master… aside from this alliance of yours I don't have a relationship with him."
"The hell you don't," Cross countered, not even the slightest bit convinced by her words. "I saw the way that he looked at you… not to mention the fact that you're the only one I've ever seen who could actually put the brat in his place. And neither of those things happened by accident."
Unable to banish the thoughts that she'd massively screwed up Lyssa shook her head in denial. "I think you're under too much stress Master Cross… you're starting to hallucinate."
Cross didn't look even remotely convinced by her words, in fact he seemed even more annoyed than he had before, but he dropped the subject none the less. "Let's get back to the inn," he snarled, turning toward a rather worn trail. It was obvious that he was in a hurry, owing to the fact that he didn't even wait around to see if the two women were going to follow him. He had other things on his mind. "I need a drink."
Maria immediately fell into step behind her husband and, after heaving a small sigh of relief, Lyssa followed suit. "I can't believe that I let that happen," the young woman internally mused as she followed along behind the two older Exorcists. Honestly she should have expected her master to pick up on the fact that she and the Musician were hiding something but the thought had never even entered into her mind. "That was so unbelievably stupid."
For his part the Musician was having similar thoughts as he made his way back toward the Ark. It was obvious that they had decided upon Lyssa's plan but the young Noah couldn't help but wish that a better option had presented its self. Because putting her in danger was the last thing in the world that he wanted to do. "I can't believe that this is happening… just when I found something in life that might actually make me happy."
Of course Nicholas knew that this should have been his first clue that it was doomed to failure. He'd never been able to find happiness in life, no matter how hard he tried, so why should things be any different now?
The short answer to that was that they shouldn't. But for a brief moment he'd held out hope that perhaps his luck had changed.
"I should have known better," he mused as he summoned the entrance to the Ark. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with any of his 'siblings' at the moment so the moment that he entered the Ark, Nicholas immediately made his way to his secret room. All he wanted was a few moments of peace and quiet and this was the only place where he was likely to find that rare treat. And only then because none of the others could enter this room… or even knew of it's existence.
Striding across the room the Musician sat down on the white sofa, for once opting not to take a seat at the piano. His thoughts were to focused on his meeting with the Exorcists for even the piano's soothing music to entice him. "I lost my composure," he growled, removing his top hat and running a hand through his mahogany hair. "I can't believe I allowed something like that to happen."
He'd never had a problem in the past concealing his feelings for Lyssa when the others were around but he'd failed miserably today. Not even stopping to think that this could be a result of the fact that his feelings for the girl had grown all the Noah could do was berate himself.
In his eyes it was an unforgivable failure and one that was likely to come back to haunt him.
"Just like everything else…" he muttered, shaking his head as he fell over on the couch. Lying on his side all the young man wanted to do was sink into the blissful nothingness of sleep but the voice that was screaming inside his mind wouldn't allow it. The inner Noah was restless due to his frequent contact with the Exorcists and that fact was making it much more difficult for Nicholas to suppress the voice.
It was screaming out for the destruction of the Innocence that he had came into contact with and wouldn't be appeased until that became a reality. Which ensured that the young man wouldn't know a moment's peace.
"So tired…" Nicholas muttered, making every attempt to ignore his inner demon. Closing his eyes his thoughts shifted, unbidden, back to the young girl with the doe eyes. Despite himself the Noah felt a smile spread across his face.
"She's worth any measure of suffering that I have to endure," he thought to himself, steeling his resolve and once again vowing that he would do whatever it took to both keep her safe and become the kind of person that she deserved.
"Only you, my love," he whispered, emotion thick in his voice.
A/N - End of another chapter and they've came up with a plan. Hope that you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.