Kenna exhaled as her and Krory reached the entrance of their obstacle. Her feet were throbbing in pain due to how long they've been walking, so she tried her best to ignore the pain that was calling out to her. What she tried to focus on was her friends, how her and Krory had to sacrifice themselves in order for them to move on. She felt bad for doing so, and she sensed that Krory did too. But deep inside they both knew that was the only choice they could choose, or otherwise perish together.
Her eyebrows furrowed in sorrow as she thought more about it, but then decided for that oppressing thought to not nag at her mind anymore by thinking of Kanda. She remembered how he had stood up for her when the Noah Twins became one, and when he did so, he ended up getting kicked in the stomach, injuring his ribs. The brunette sure hoped that he was alright, since he was with the others.
The vampire exorcist saw Kenna's expression sadden, and rested a hand upon her shoulder, catching the female exorcist's attention. "Light up, Kenna." he reassuringly smiled, then nodded to the entrance before them. "Besides, we're here."
Kenna allowed her eyelashes to flutter before she casted her eyes upon the huge, blinding light. She had to shield her eyes as they stepped through, only to find that they had to still walk more. The stairs before them looked kind of odd, they seemed to resemble that of a realistic Mc Esher painting. The brunette sighed as her and Krory made their way up them. Krory tried his best not to look down due to the space between the stairs.
The stairs seemed to go on for a while, and Kenna felt like she was about to collapse. But then she happened to see three figures before her, which looked oddly familiar. But as they got closer, they saw it was no other than Lavi, Allen, and Lenalee.
Seeming to notice their presence, the three turned around. Lenalee's face brightened. "Kenna! Krory! I'm so glad that you guys made it!" She took a minute to hug the two exorcists. "We were worried about you guys."
Kenna smiled, "The same goes for you guys as well, Lenalee." She then flashed her eyes upon the two male exorcists. As she hugged them both, her mind drifted off into the distance again, once more thinking about Kanda. The white-haired boy seemed to notice her expression sadden, so he put a hand on Kenna's shoulder. "If you're wondering about Kanda, Kenna, I'm sorry to say this, but he couldn't make it. He wasn't able to come along with us."
Kenna's eyes widened as she clapsed her hands over her mouth, soon feeling tears form in her eyes. "D-Don't tell me he's..."
No one else said a word, they just nodded in response. Lavi walked up to Kenna, and reassuringly smiled. "He did what he had to do, Kenna. He had to sacrifice himself so we could move on and get out of this wretched place. We have to learn to believe in each other and sacrifice ourselves when something bad occurs. So have faith, Kenna, and be strong."
The brunette allowed her eyelashes to flutter before she went to say that she agreed with the orange haired man, but he interrupted her. "Besides, you will never get a boyfriend if you don't start acting tough...OWWWWW!" Both sides of his face were now throbbing due to Kenna and Allen kicking him in the face.
"And what business is that of yours?" Kenna and Allen asked in unision. Lavi rubbed one of his bruised cheeks before speaking. "I...It's none of my business. I was just letting Kenna know that." He then looked at the brunette. "...Anyways, what are you going to do when we get back, Kenna?"
Kenna's eyebrows creased as she rested her hand upon the bottom of her chin. "Eat, since I usually have an appetite after missions. And second, train." She made a fist with one of her hands, and grinned. "I'm going to eat all the dango Jerry can cook!"
Allen, Lavi, and Krory all knew what that meant. Kenna would be bouncing off the walls, and it would be hard for them to stop her. Sharing nervous glances, they decided not to say anything and switch back to the problem at hand.
"Anyways, we've been standing here for a while now." The white-haired boy spoke up, locking his eyes on the door before them. "We've tried to get through there many times, even with using our Innocence. It won't let us in for some reason."
The brunette's face shaped into that of confusion, "Well, that's odd. Let me see what the problem is." She then looked at the door, and stuck out her hand. A sharp exhale escaped her throat when she saw ripples appear and outline the edges of her hand. Surprised, she stepped through, and ended up on the other side. She then turned to face the group. "...That pretty much solved it. Come on!"
Sharing confused looks, Lavi, Allen, and Krory followed Kenna into the last obstacle of the ark. Kenna and the others made sure to activate their Innocence if anything happens to pounce on them when they're not looking.
The young woman could only hear the sound of her shoes and the other's tapping against the floor as they walked in, but then a row of footsteps that seemed to be not in the group were heard. Kenna went to face the owner of the sound, but ended up getting a huge hug instead.
Kenna stumbled, almost losing her balance.
"Kenna!" The young girl exclaimed, her voice was that of joy of seeing the female exorcist. Kenna's eyes widened when she heard the girl's voice, but then remembered who it was when she saw the spiky, dark blue hair, purple eyes, and lacy school uniform. Her expression quickly transitioned to that of anger, and she slid her teeth together.
"Get off of me, Road. Now." "But I haven't seen my sister since forever!" Road exclaimed, but feel silent when she saw Kenna's multi-colored eyes, which were fuming with fire, flashed upon hers. "I said get off, or I'll slit your throat." Kenna growled. A lump appeared in the Noah's throat and she backed away, releasing her hold around Kenna's neck.
Kenna then looked around the room, and saw that it looked different than the other ones. The floor was concrete, it didn't seem to be tiled like the library was. Pillars surrounded the room, exposing the bright blue sky outside. In front of Kenna and the others was a huge table, covered with a scarlet tablecloth that had a huge white cross in the middle of it. There was food set across the table, and plates were already set out. It seemed to Kenna that they were freshly baked, but she was a tad suspicious. But she felt her stomach rumbling and drool starting to drip down from her mouth.
"Feel free to sit down." A masculine voice spoke up, causing the group to jump and face him. It took a minute for Kenna to make him out, but her eyes then widened when she saw who it was. It was no other than Tyki Mikk, the Noah that had supposedly killed her. Flashbacks started to play in her head as her eyes stared into his golden eyes. She remembered back when she was still new to the Black Order, when Allen and Tiaoshi went along with her. Unfortunately, it didn't go well. Kenna had gotten knocked out when Tyki Mikk slammed her into a tree and then stuck his hand through her chest, thus causing the unspeakable pain and loss of her Innocence. Kenna felt tears emerge in her eyes, and then gritted her teeth.
She then locked her eyes back on Tyki. "I...It can't be. You're...the Noah that killed me." The Noah smirked, and took a sip from his drink, "Yes, yes, I am." He then wiped his mouth with a napkin and set down his cup. The sounds of his shoes were heard as he slowly walked over to the group, which seemed to take a while due to how long the table was. When he finally got over there, he stood right in front of Kenna, his gold eyes flashing upon hers.
He allowed a smirk to run across his lips as he gazed into Kenna's eyes. "...And you're the exorcist that was supposed to be dead, am I not right?"
Kenna gasped, but then let a growl emanate from her throat. She didn't like how Tyki worded that question.
"Well?" Tyki raised up an eyebrow, apparently waiting for an answer from the female exorcist. Kenna felt her anger boiling up inside of her. She clenched her fists to the point that her nails made crescent-shaped wounds on her palms. Small amounts of her Innocence surged through her hands.
"...What makes you think I'm going to listen to someone as twisted and unruly as you are?" was all Kenna could let escape her mouth. Tyki's eyes widened at her response, but he pushed that away with a hearty laugh, then smirked. He fell silent as he slowly lifted up his hand, and rested it upon the brunette's face, the texture of the glove rubbing against her skin. He then moved his hand towards the bottom of her chin. Then with a chuckle, he leaned in and planted a kiss on her left cheek. Kenna's eyes widened as her cheeks turned a rosy pigment. Allen and the others-except for Road-gasped.
Infuriated, Kenna went to punch Tyki and send him flying out the tower, but he stopped that from happening by lifting up his hand, causing Kenna's fist to hit it. A laugh escaped his throat, "And what makes you think that someone as beautiful and gorgeous as you is allowed to say that?" Kenna fell silent, and went to say "Why, you little-" but he lifted up a finger, letting her know to be quiet.
"Let's put that aside and dine, shall we?" Tyki questioned, and he focused his attention on the rest of the exorcists. "Or are you exorcists afraid?"
The five exorcists didn't say a word, their eyes just followed Tyki's as he went to sit back down, and continue eating his meal. The group then exchanged nervous glances, then sat down. Allen and Lenalee sat across from each other in the first row, with Lavi and Krory in the second row. Since there wasn't any other chairs, Kenna had to sit down on the one exactly across from Tyki's.
The female exorcist then glanced down at the food, at the different varieties. There was rolls, candy, meatloaf, anything that you can imagine. Kenna rested a finger upon her lips, trying to decide which one to choose. Her stomach rumbled once again, letting her know that her choosing was limited. With a sigh, she decided to get a few rolls, and a piece of meatloaf.
"...So is there anything that needs to be discussed, Tyki Mikk?" Kenna questioned. "If so, I don't want it to end up with my friends or I getting killed."
Tyki smirked, "Of course it is." He sunk his teeth into a piece of meat. "But don't worry. Your fellow exorcists are not going to have their lives taken away from them. Trust me."
Kenna's eyebrows twitched in annoyance at his last sentence. She knew he was lying about that; she could tell just by the look on his face. The female exorcist then cleared her throat, and waited for what the Noah of Pleasure had to say.
"...To start off, this dining will give us time to chat before we get on with the battle." He said, excusing himself when he belched. "Second, I'm guessing you guys are wondering about the ark."
The exorcists got quiet when he said that, but they nodded, not knowing how Tyki would've know that. "I guess you guys are wondering about your friends that you left behind, and how much the rest of the ark is left."
Lenalee's heart sank as her expression transitioned to that of concern, "Y-You don't mean how much of the ark remains standing...?"
"Take a look outside." Road said, sitting down at one of the edges of the table. Kenna and the others rushed to one of the sides of the room to see what they were talking about. "The scenery is breath-taking."
It took a minute for them to scan the perimeter, but Kenna felt her heartbeat decrease when she saw that the library was gone, including the whole town. Rubbles from it fell down into the darkness, never to be seen again. Oh my god... was all Kenna could think. She then looked down, and dug her hands into her hair, small strands of it peeking out between her fingers. No! No no no! This can't be! It just can't!
"This tower is all that remains." The Noah of Dreams spoke up. "I've destroyed everything else." "Originally, this ark was going to remain if any exorcists were pulled into it." Tyki added. "But since we already have a new version of it, we're going to destroy this one once and for all!"
Kenna flashed her eyes upon Tyki's, her expression changing to that of anger. She didn't like the sound of that. "Oh, don't you dare!"
"Oi!" Tyki rose up his hands in protest, pretending to be scared. "The little girl is getting angry! Everybody run away!"
Kenna slid her teeth together, she could feel the chanting from the Noah and anger rise up inside of her. She unfolded one of her hands, and a orb that was mixed with fire and water emerged from her hands. She then closes her eyes, allowing the orb to transform into a sword. The sound of her shoes were heard as she came closer to Tyki and aimed the sword at his throat. "Nice try, idiot, but that failed."
The jet black haired man scoffed. "You say it failed?" He took a minute to get into his fighting stance and opened his hands, butterfly-like golems soon appearing from them. "Well, let's see you and your friends try to succeed at that!"
Without letting Kenna or the other exorcists make their first move, Tyki charged at them, a huge star soon emerging in front of him. Kenna's eyes widened when he headed straight for them, and used her sword to block off the attack, which partially worked. Small amounts of dust emerged from under Kenna's feet as she was being pulled backward by the force of the star. She looked behind her, and saw that she was being lead right to one of the edges of the room, so she quickly turned around, slicing the star in half. Tyki went to block the attack, but ended up getting cut across the chest. Tyki howled in pain and almost lost his balance.
The other exorcists decided to join in, and started fighting Tyki. Road just stood there, scanning their every movements. She had her eyes mostly focused on Kenna, and an evil smirk crept across her face. She placed two of her fingers upon her lips,tapping them against the surface of the bottom part of the lip. An evil plot was emerging in her head as her purple eyes gleamed, seeming to turn a lighter hue due to the sunlight coming in. She looked over it a couple of times, proofreading it to make sure that parts of the plan will work and not fail. Then, when the group of exorcists gathered up on Tyki, she stuck her hand out, and snapped her fingers together.
Sharp exhales came from both Lenalee and Allen as they were captured inside a box, which looked like a huge die on the outside. Krory almost lost his footing when a huge, long box captured him as well. Lavi and Kenna were the only ones that were not captive, they were able to move without any limited space. All five of them looked around. Allen then flashed his eyes upon Road, infuriated, "Hey! What gives?"
He only got a devilish giggle from the female Noah, then a sigh before the laughter died off. "You don't have to get so mad, Allen. I'm just keeping you from wounding my Uncle more than he is now." Lenalee's purple eyes radiated with anger, "That's not true! There has to be a specific reason why you're doing this! Last time you did it was to keep us from helping Allen defeat Tyki's Noah!" "Oh, so the dark haired girl still remembers that, eh?" Road laughed. "How cute. But I'm not going to tell you, you'll just have to find out yourself."
"Why, you-!" Lavi growled, but then fell silent when he saw Road get off of the table and walk towards Kenna.
Everything seemed to be brought to a halt as Road walked towards the purple-haired exorcist. She then stood on her tippy-toes so she can look directly into Kenna's eyes as a smirk was harbored upon her face. All she received from Kenna was a glare and a frown, as Kenna could see what Road is up to, what evil plot she is thinking about. The silence was sliced in half when Road put a hand on Kenna's shoulder. Kenna growled and slapped her hand off, but it didn't work. Road just put her hand on there again, followed by the other one. Her hands laid across the crosses engraved on Kenna's shoulder.
She lowered her tone to a whisper to the point that the junior Bookman and the others couldn't hear her, "...I've been wondering, Kenna Vikasa, about why you came to the Black Order. It's not just about trying to destroy the Earl's partner in crime, but about something else?" Kenna's heart sank when Road brought that up. Sweat started to run from her temple, some of the residue started to stick to her skin. How can Road know about this? Kenna knows that she is the Noah of Dreams, that unlike the other Noah in the family, that she can go through other dimensions that the other Noah cannot. But this bothered her. Was Road able to look into Kenna's past and pull out something horrible that Kenna's been wanting to forget since she was just a little kid...?
Kenna's multicolored eyes slowly locked on Road's, "W-What are you talking about..." She was interrupted by Road wrapping her arms around Kenna's neck. She then rested her chin on the arm that was going under the other one. Both the girl's ears were at an equal length so Kenna could hear every single word that Road said.
"I know what I'm talking about, Kenna. Your past, the horrible things you went through after you lost your parents, and became an orphan. It sure was hard to cope with that, wasn't it?" Kenna didn't know what to say, she only felt her heart racing at a faster pace then before. "Well, if you're thinking of objecting, then too bad." Road's face then changed to that of a deranged person. "You're going to relive it anyway, whether you like it or not."
Kenna went to say something but then gasped when she saw a huge, dark aura appear from behind Road. Kenna froze, not knowing what to do.
The other exorcists watched as Kenna's eyes slowly started to close and her hair flew up into the sky, falling down when she landed on her knees.
"Kenna...?" Lavi called to the female exorcist. "Kenna!" There was no response, Kenna just lied there, motionless, not animated at all. "KENNA!" All four of the exorcists shouted, hoping to get her attention, but failed to no prevail.
Meanwhile, Kenna shielded her eyes from the blinding light, which quickly died off. She then blinked once, then twice, to get used to the dark area around her. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she scanned the perimeter, seeing black and grey checkered circles scattered everywhere across the realm...or was it a different world? The brunette was not sure to make that assumption.
"Where...am I?" she said, realizing that her voice echoed as she spoke. "This place seems unfamiliar to me, a place that I haven't been before." She then sheltered her eyes with her arm to look out into the horizon. "Seems that there's no one around here, since Road teleported me here-wait a second." She looked around again. "This isn't a place! It's another dimension!"
"That is correct, my dear friend." a voice suddenly popped out, almost scaring the young woman to death. She turned around to face the figure, only to see it coming out of the circle, embedded with the same exact pattern. But as more of its body came out of it, Kenna was able to make it out. It was Road, but she was in a different form...kind of like that of a doll. Her eyes were gone, and she had stitches on her head. Her hands were covered by the laces of her sleeves.
Kenna took a minute to retain herself from being surprised, then spoke, "And why would I be correct...?" "Because this is a realm. I have teleported you to another dimension that's not of this world. It's separate from reality, and it's own individual being." She then smirked. "And guess what I'm going to use it for?" "What?" "To look into your past."
Kenna's eyes widened. "But how...? Are you just going to pull up a huge screen and play it like a normal video, hoping to destroy me?" Road took a minute to think that over, "Nope, better than that. You're going to be living it, not seeing it just on a screen."
She didn't allow Kenna to say a word as she stood up. "Remember that I am the Noah of Dreams. I am the sheep in their dreams, that I can change whatever I like." She made a soft sheep noise while jumping around. "And you, Kenna Vikasa, are the sheep in mine."
The brunette's face went grim, and her jaw dropped. She was speechless.
"But enough with the talk!" Road said happily. "Let's begin the game now, shall we...?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for not uploading this chapter! I've been meaning to do that, but haven't found the time to. But I hope you guys like this chapter!