Lavi couldn't believe his eyes as he stood before Kenna. He didn't know why Road did this to her when she got out of that realm, but it need to stop.
"What did you do to her?" Lavi growled, facing Road, who was happily humming to herself.
"And why would a puny exorcist like you want to know, hm?" Road smirked. "Besides, Kenna deserved to be like that, after what happened when she was younger. She was completely different back then."
"What do you mean?" Allen spoke up, getting the spiky-haired Noah's attention. "She didn't deserve that at all. Kenna is a very kind person, and I think she was the exact same person in her childhood."
Road blinked, and chuckled. "Oh, Allen, you don't seem to understand, do you? Kenna had a difficult past when she was younger, and is still struggling with it. I would love to tell you all, but I'm afraid it will break your little hearts."
"Why, you-!" Lavi growled, and activated his hammer, ready to swing it right at Road's head. But Road lifting up her hand stopped him from doing so.
"...Now. Let's stop talking about the redhead and get to the battle, shall we?" Road snapped her fingers, and Kenna charged towards Lavi.
Lavi, who had his back turned, gasped. He saw a a row of bolts coming right at him, so he swung it his hammer, deflecting it.
Kenna saw it coming, and got rid of it with a swipe of her hand. She then formed two huge orbs in her hands, shifting them into bolts. Lavi saw as Kenna multiplied them, holding 4 in each hand. He tried his best to dodge all of them as they were thrown towards him with a powerful force. He missed three, but the remaining five signed part of his body. Thankfully, they were only bruises, and not blood.
He gritted his teeth in anger as he rested his hand on his shoulder, where the last bolt had ripped a small portion of his uniform off and bruised it. He got his hammer ready once more to see what Road had in store for Kenna to do next. But when Kenna suddenly formed two large bolts in her hands and directed them towards herself, Road and the others gasped.
Kenna stood idle for quite a few minutes, which Allen and the other exorcists worried. "What are you doing, Road?" he locked his eyes on the female Noah floating next to the die they were in. "Is this part of your plan?"
"To be honest, Allen, it's not." Road replied, shocked. "This is not part of the plan I had in mind-!" Her sentence was cut off by a loud, quick gasp when Kenna suddenly moved, causing the bolts to make contact with her skin.
A blood-curdling scream came out of Kenna's throat as the bolts electrocuted through her body. She could feel her old self coming back, breaking free of the possession, little by little. When the pain finally stopped, Kenna fell to her knees, then hit her palms onto the ground, her breath coming out in short bursts of air.
Lavi and the others, especially the Noah, were surprised. They all didn't expect that Kenna was able to break through that possession so quickly. She was only under it for what seemed like 10 minutes, maybe 20. The redheaded Bookman gasped when Kenna looked up, straightened her balance, and dusted herself off.
"Well, that was a real pain to go through," Kenna spoke up, sighing. She then saw everyone's confused and shocked faces, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "What?"
Lavi couldn't find any words to let out of his mouth at first. "...You..how were you able to get out of that spell Road had you in?"
Kenna smirked, and shrugged. "Well, it was simple. My mind was still conscious when Road had possessed me, so when she was using her mind to control my arms and powers, that's when it kicked into gear and started waking up my whole body slowly. So that's why I turned the tables on Road and made it so she directed the bolts towards me and I had used them to speed up the progress faster than it was going."
Lavi blinked. "Alright then."
Kenna nodded to that response, then looked at Tyki. She then focused her eyes back on Lavi. "So what do we do now?"
Lavi looked at Kenna. "I'd say that we focus on fighting Tyki here. After all, he and his idiot of a niece wouldn't spill out the beans of why Road put you in that realm."
"True." Kenna could sense that, since that was part of the Noah's nature to not say anything. She then closed her eyes, turning into her ultimate form. "Alright, let's do this."
Lavi activated his hammer, yelling its name a few times before it was three times its original size. As flames caught onto the end of the hammer, Kenna smirked, and the two redheads nodded at each other. They then looked at Tyki.
Then, without anymore dialogue, they charged at the said Noah. Tyki smirked, and summoned a huge star shield. Lavi and Kenna started sending a numerous amount of attacks, with the shield suffering only a few cracks. Tyki deactivated the shield and charged towards Lavi. Lavi went to summon a fire dragon, but ending up getting hit in the stomach by Tyki, causing him to fly back.
Kenna looked in the corner of her eyes to see that Lavi was almost going off the edge, about to fall down into the very depths below. Closing her eyes to concentrate, the violet haired exorcist used her powers to create a rope-like aura, tying it around his leg. Then, with all her might, she pulled him back, but he ended up hitting face first when he landed next to Kenna.
Kenna smiled sheepishly. "Oops...didn't mean to do that." She heard Lavi groaning and holding his head as he struggled to get up, but a smile from Kenna told him she has this all under control. Deep inside her mind, she had something planned to get revenge on Tyki once and for all. She felt like her payback on him for attempting to kill her once was postponed. So now would be a good time to do so. Kenna thought, then smirked.
She dug her feet into the pavement, then threw herself with all her might at Tyki. Tyki went to guard himself by activating his star shield, but due to Kenna summoning her sword, the star shield only broke into pieces. Tyki gasped, and went to conjure an aura in his hands, but a stab of Kenna's sword stopped him from doing so. The sword went clean through the chest, piercing any flesh in its path, including the heart.
Tyki started to lose his balance, and fell backward. A huge amount of blood expelled from his chest, and a tiny amount came from out of his mouth. When his body finally hit the floor hard, he started coughing up more blood. He was trying his best to catch his breath, which was slowly escaping from his grasp.
Road gasped, and stood up with a jolt. Lero could feel the pressure being put on him from Road's shoes. Road then thrust herself forward by digging her feet into the handle of the talking umbrella golem, and then flying down to the ground.
"Mistress Road! What are you doing?" Lero called out.
"Tyki's injured. He's about to-" her tone was cut short when Tyki lifted up a hand, which was trembling.
"You..." he coughed up blood before continuing his sentence, "need to stay back, Road. I don't want you to get hurt."
"But, Tyki...you're..." she went to say, but her golden eyes caught a glimpse of Kenna's multi-element sword aimed right at Tyki's chest. She exhaled sharply, and did what her uncle told her to do. She then watched as Kenna rotated her sword so the sword appeared more flatter and thicker, then took a deep breath.
"You will pay for what you've done, you sick, twisted, freak!" Kenna yelled, and thrust the sword right at Tyki's chest. Tyki's eyes widened as he took the blow. His life was starting to deteriorate, and his golden eyes started to close. He allowed the rest of the process to take over him . He then lied motionless on the floor. Only a smirk and a soft "I'm sorry, Road..." left his throat before falling silent.
A loud gasp came from Road. She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes widened in horror. She could feel tears running down from her eyes and running over her hands. Without a word, she ran over to her uncle, and got down on both knees. Carefully resting one hand under his back and one on the back of his head.
"Tyki..." Road muttered to herself, choking between tears. She remained quiet afterwards as she looked down at the huge cross wound on his chest. Tears were staining Tyki's tuxedo.
Road locked her golden eyes on Kenna, which were now glowing with anger. "H...How could you?!" Road yelled. "How could you do this? Allen tried to get rid of him once, but it didn't work. And with you...you actually killing him..." Road took a minute to breathe, gritting her teeth. "...Tyki...was my uncle. He was basically family to me, and so was Lulu Bell, the other Noah you killed."
Kenna exhaled sharply. She...had killed Lulu Bell? Kenna couldn't believe it. Kenna knew that when her unleashed form of her Innocence had been revealed, that she took her anger out on that female Noah. But finally realizing that she actually killed Lulu Bell left her shocked. ...Well, she had to pay for what she did, which was fooling me by disguising herself as Kanda, then luring me into a trap... The redheaded exorcist gritted her teeth in anger just thinking about it.
She took a step forward, so she could speak up. But seeing candles pointing in every which direction towards her and the rest of her fellow exorcists stopped her from doing so.
"Don't move. If you do so, I'll kill you." Road told the woman, her tone cold as ice. Her eyes were still fixed on Kenna's. "Well, except for Allen. But you will have to pay for what you did, redhead." She then sighed. "I don't feel like you're much of a sister to me anymore."
Kenna's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Road disabled the candles around the group. She also disabled the box Krory was in and the die Allen and Lenalee were in. As they landed safely on their feet and maintained their balance, they felt the ground beneath them rumble. Kenna felt it as well, and looked down. The ground was starting to split in half, with crumbles of the floor falling into the depths below.
Kenna felt a lump in her throat as she tried her best to maintain her balance, but failed to do so. Her balance went backward, and she was getting ready to fall down. Thankfully, she reacted just in time, using her hand to hang onto the edge of the cliff, hoping that her fingers will hang on for a couple of minutes or so.
She took a quick glance at her left, then right, and saw that Allen and the others weren't as lucky. They were already falling into the darkness, screaming. Kenna gasped in horror. She could then feel her hands giving out on her. ...Dang it...I thought they would hold for about 5 minutes... Kenna sighed.
"...You won't be able to hold on for much longer." Road spoke up, getting Kenna's attention. "You will have to let go and fall into the depths below." Road then smirked, her expression going from anger to insanity. "I hope you don't survive."
"Why, you little-!" Kenna went to say, but it was interrupted by a sharp exhale. Kenna's left hand was already hanging, and her right hand was still holding on. So, with a deep breath, Kenna released her right hand, and fell into the darkness.
All Kenna could see as she fell down was Road staring at her, and the top of the tower. After they were completely out of sight, her vision was pitch-black.
_
Kenna felt her body collide with the ground as she landed into another realm, which is what she assumed when she sat up. Holding her head due to it throbbing a bit, she scanned the perimeter around here, and she saw that she was correct. The realm was dark, but streams of light were coming out in every which direction of it, and stretched out to eternity. She then scanned the perimeter once more for her friends, and saw them getting up, dusting themselves off.
"Allen! Krory! Lenalee! Lavi!" She called out all four of their names, getting their attention. "I thought you guys were dead after falling from that crack in the ground."
Allen sighed, straightening out his white hair. "Yeah, same here. I don't know why Road got so mad. I mean, I had saved Tyki from the Noah inside of him last time we were here. And now, with it being back and you killing him, I think he might be able to finally rest in peace."
Kenna exhaled. "Yeah, I know. But Road had already told me that. And I can see that she loves you, as a crush. But she thinks of me as a sister...which I don't even want to think about..." she muttered the last sentence to herself before continuing. "...And I believe Road doesn't think of me as her sister because of me killing Tyki, and I have to agree with what you said. But the main part of me killing him was get back at him for almost killing me."
Allen's expression saddened as Kenna said that. He remembered what had happened that day, when he saw Tyki face to face again after so many years. Tyki had attacked Kenna when she had her guard down, and took out her heart, destroying her Innocence in the process. But, thankfully, Kenna's Innocence came back into particles and it saved her life. If she wasn't still here, Allen and the other wouldn't know what to think right now.
Kenna was thinking the same thing as well, but it soon went away when Allen rested a hand on her shoulder. "...I know that you killed him for that purpose, Kenna." Allen spoke up, smiling reassuringly. "But all that is in the past now. And don't let Road think that you're her sister. She's not even related to you at all, now is she?"
Kenna took that into consideration for a moment, then laughed. "Yeah, you're right, Allen. And Road is not my sister. Even if she says she is, she is not related to me." She sighed. "But I'm glad Road is starting to think that I'm not her sister. It finally hit her."
Allen smiled. "Yep."
"Long time, no see, Kenna!" A female voice boomed, catching the exorcists' attention. They all sharply turned around, seeing a familiar figure before them. When Kenna saw the long, blonde hair, and the dog ears, she knew who it was instantly.
"Tiaoshi!" Kenna exclaimed, and ran up to hug her. Tiaoshi smiled, and returned the hug. "What are you doing here? And how were you able to find us all by yourself?"
"Oh, I didn't come here by myself. I had some assistance." She nodded her head over to an emerging figure.
When it finally came into view, the exorcists saw that it was a tall, redheaded man. He had one white eye patch over his left eye, and a red beard under his chin. Unlike the other exorcists, the man wore a long, black coat, which looked like a lot like the first exorcist uniform...but a tad longer. It was embedded with gold, and not silver like the original exorcist outfits were. And the last thing to finish off the attire was a cigarette in the man's mouth.
When Allen locked eyes with him, he felt like he was about to gag. "M-Master Cross!"
Cross looked at him and smirked. "Long time, no see, idiot pupil." He exhaled and took the cigarette out of his mouth and let it fall to the floor. He then crushed it with his foot.
"W-What are you doing here, and with Tiaoshi no less?" Allen questioned.
"What do you think?" The redheaded general crossed his arms. "Tiaoshi and I are here to save you and your friends."
"Oh, thank God!" Kenna beamed before Allen could say anything else. Her expression, however, soon changed to concern. "But how? This place is about to crumble soon thanks to Road causing an earthquake in the tower."
Cross thought about that for a minute, then looked around. "Well, I don't see an exit here-wait. There's one over there." Cross directed his index finger to a shiny, white rift just a few feet away from the exorcists. It seemed to make the whole realm shine, its ray of light spilling onto the realm and covering the exorcists.
"Whoa..." Lenalee's mouth was dropped open in surprise. "Why wasn't that there before?"
"Who knows?" Kenna shrugged. "But at least we have a rift to escape this wretched place." The group then made their way to the rift, but failed to do so. The group tried again, and failed. So by getting into a circle and discussing a plan, they decided to try one by one. Allen went, and was thrown back. The same thing happened to Lenalee and the others. Kenna was the last to go, so she walked forward. And, to everyone's surprise, she was able to pass through the rift without being sent back.
A quick gasp escaped her throat as she stepped back from the rift. She fell silent, then stuck her arm through the rift, just to make sure that this was actually happening. Her arm went right through the rift. Okay...Kenna looked a tad confused as she stepped a tad further into the rift, then looked back at her comrades.
"I think this rift might require me to pass through first." Kenna spoke up. "But if it doesn't, there might be something on the other line that is going to help us out of this Ark..." And without another word, she went into the rift, sheltering her vision with her arms.
_
Kenna moved her arms away from her eyes as she stepped into the weird realm. After doing so, she scanned the perimeter around her. The room was completely white, except for a big, lavender couch and a microphone, of which Kenna didn't know why that was there.
The redhead felt a lump appear in her throat as she looked around once more. She felt that the room was suspicious, let alone eerie. So, to calm her nerves, she went to walk over to the microphone.
"Sit down." A voice ordered, its tone surprisingly calm.
Kenna sharply turned around to see the owner of the voice in front of her. To her surprise, it was just a silhouette, but it looked...exactly like Kenna. The hair was at the same level of hers. Unlike Kenna, the silhouette wore a long dress, with the huge white cross glowing brightly. Same went for the eyes and mouth, which made Kenna feel a bit uneasy.
Kenna then looked behind herself, seeing the couch behind her. After sitting down, which is what the silhouette told her to do, she looked up at the said girl.
"...W-Who are you?" Kenna stammered, surprised. "You look...just like me...but how...?"
"I'm Noena." The girl responded, then shooed away the rest of Kenna's sentence with her hand. "Save the questions for later. I'm here to save you and your friends from the ark."
Kenna's eyes widened. "You're...going to save me and my fellow comrades from this ark?" She then felt her voice crack, so she cleared her throat. "But how will you do that? I assume you don't have any powers."
"I do," Noena replied, "but they're disabled in this realm for some odd reason. Besides that, though, this will help you out." She motioned her hand over to the microphone, which was sitting perfectly on its stand.
Kenna quickly gasped, then fell silent to think. How in the world would this microphone help us? Does it hold some type of special power...? Kenna thought those over, then shook her head. No, that can't be it. If that means that someone needs to use the microphone to sing, then I certainly hope it's not me. I tried singing when I was younger...but I was really bad.
Kenna laughed nervously, rubbing her left arm with her right hand. Noena sensed it, and smiled warmly. "...Don't worry so much, Kenna. I will be singing first."
"You are?" Kenna questioned, then smiled. She had to admit she was curious about Noena going first.
Noena nodded, then walked over to the microphone. She gently rested her hands on the handle of the microphone as she took a deep breath, then exhaled.
The redhead watched as Noena began to sing the lyrics, her lips moving smoothly to them. Kenna was surprised at how beautiful her voice was...but what she was more shocked at was the lyrics themselves. They were sad, heartbreaking...and Kenna had a painful feeling that the lyrics were directed towards her.
Kenna could feel tears coming up to the tip of her eyelids, then run slowly down her face. But Kenna was able to get rid of them with a simple swipe of her hands.
After Noena was done, she stepped away from the microphone, and motioned for Kenna to go. "It's your turn now, Kenna."
Kenna blinked, and looked up. "...It's my turn?"
Noena nodded. "Yes." She then noticed the sudden moment of silence emerge from Kenna. "Come on, don't be shy." she reassured.
Kenna took a deep breath, and walked over to the microphone. As she rested her hands upon the microphone, she could feel the adrenaline kick up in her body. Her hands were shaking with fear. Kenna didn't want to sing the strange, depressing lyrics that Noena seemed calm with. But Kenna knew that if she didn't do so, that she and her comrades will collapse with the disintegrating ark. So, with another deep breath, Kenna began to sing the lyrics.
It shocked her how her voice sounded exactly like Noena's, how her lips flowed smoothly with the lyrics. After she was done, Kenna took a sigh of relief. But then she felt something pierce her head like a needle being hammered into it. Kenna almost fell down to her knees due to the unspeakable pain going through her head. Kenna then felt something strange emerge...almost like she was about to snap...but it slowly went away as fast it as it appeared.
"...Don't worry." Noena laughed. "That happened to me too when I first did that." She then clapped her hands, getting Kenna's attention. "But congratulations! That was the song of the 15th, 'Lament'."
Lament...? Kenna thought. What would the song be called that, let alone it being called song of the 15th? Was there supposed to be some kind of meaning behind that number?
Before the female exorcist could ask all those questions, the room started to crumble, and Kenna's body was levitated up into the air, glowing with a white aura.
"It was nice seeing you!" Noena smiled, waving as Kenna's body was forced towards the entrance. "I hope to meet you again soon!"
The last part of Noena's sentence was hard for Kenna to hear, but she was able to piece it all together. But before Kenna could think anything about it, she felt her body being forced back into reality.
Allen and the other exorcists jumped when they saw Kenna fall to the ground after returning to the pitch-black realm. They went to ask what happened and what caused it to go by so fast. But the crumpling of the realm got their attention, signaling that they needed to get out of that place...and fast.
So, without another word, they made their way out of the tower.
The six exorcists slammed the door behind them as they set foot into the beginning of the ark. Kenna looked around, surprised that this part of the ark was still remaining, and that the tower they were just in was almost gone. But she didn't want to nag at her mind.
"...I'm sure glad all of that is over." Allen spoke up, sighing in relief. "Those Noah were a real pain."
"Tell me about it." Kenna sighed as well. "Especially Road. She was the one that caused all that trouble in that realm I was captured in."
"What?" Allen asked, confused of what she was talking about.
Kenna shooed it off with her hand. "It's a long story." She then looked around. "Besides that, where is Kanda? I hope he's not dead."
Right as she finished that sentence, the said man came barging through the doors that had led into Skin Boric's room. His dark blue hair was loose from its ponytail, and part of his third exorcist uniform suit was ruined.
"What took you guys so long?" Kanda growled, surprising the group.
Kenna and the others looked at each other, then apologized. Kenna then put her frown aside with a smile, and ran over to Kanda. "Kanda! You're alive!"
Before she could give the young man a hug, he stopped her with his palm. "I don't want any hugs right now." he said to her. Kenna could see that he was frowning when he said that, but deep inside she knew that he was hiding a smile. He must be relieved to be back with Kenna and the others. As for Allen, not so much.
Kenna sighed. "Okay then. Anyways, what happened to you?" She scanned his tattered uniform once more. "You look beaten up and exhausted."
"I am," he replied, "but I don't want to talk about it right now. I would like to get back to the Order, nubs."
Kenna's eyes widened when he called her by the nickname he gave her when she was at the Asian part of the Order.
"I hate that nickname!" the redhead growled. "I've had my hands back for quite some time, so that won't work on me."
Kanda frowned, and took a minute to think. He then smirked. "Then what about dango? You like it so much you want to marry it..."
"That's it." Kenna growled, and went to hit Kanda in the face. But Cross stopped her from doing so by speaking up.
"Enough, you two." he sighed, even though Kenna and the others could tell he was hiding a smile behind that annoyed frown. "You two can argue later at the Order. We have to focus on getting out of here as soon as possible." He then looked up at the sky. "Sooner or later this small town will start to crumble as well."
Kenna fell silent, then nodded. The rest of the exorcists followed suit.
"Right." Kenna responded, then raised an eyebrow. "But how are we going to get out of here? There's no shortcut, let alone an actual door to exit through."
"...Well, there actually is a shortcut, Kenna." Cross corrected her, then motioned his hand over to the beginning of the ark. "And it is over there."
Kenna looked over in the direction the general's hand was pointing, and quickly gasped when she saw what it was. It was a floating dark coffin, with small coffins surrounding it. It was the same exact rift that Kanda and Kenna walked through to join the group in Edo!
"...We're going to go through that?" Kenna questioned Cross, in which she received a nod from him.
"Let's not make haste, Kenna." he replied to her, then nodded over to the other exorcists to see if they understood.
"Okay." Kenna said. "...When we get there, I have some questions to ask Komui."
The group was safely back at the Order. Kenna, Lenalee, and Allen, as Komui observed, were the ones that were less injured, so he put bandages around the minimum number of wounds on their arms and face. As for Lavi, Kanda, and Krory, they were in the hospital beds. They had suffered more injuries than the other three did.
Lenalee and Kenna were taking turns explaining to Komui about what happened in the ark. Allen had helped them as well on some parts. Komui was glad to hear that they all made it through the ark safely, but he was mostly concerned about Kenna.
So when Kenna was making her way out the emergency room, he called her name, getting her attention. "Say, Kenna, I need to talk to you in the hallway, if you don't mind."
Kenna looked confused for a minute, but when it hit her, she smiled. "Sure. I don't mind."
"Okay then." Komui responded, and then the two headed into the hallway.
Once they were in the hallway, Kenna could hear the hushed voices between other exorcists disappear as they made their way to the mess hall. She then looked at Komui. "So what is it you want to ask me, Komui?"
Komui looked a little uneasy at first when Kenna asked him, but he calmed down after clearing his throat. "Well, I was thinking about what Lenalee, Allen, and you were telling me in the emergency room, about the ark. I was glad to hear that all of you made it back alive, but the one thing that bothered me is when you were in that realm Road trapped you in. Lenalee told me about that, but she didn't tell me what exactly happened in that realm." He took a second to breathe."So would you like to tell me what Road did to you?"
Kenna's eyes widened when she heard Komui ask that question. She could feel her adrenaline kick up in her body. She knew she wasn't t in trouble, but she knew that Komui was worried about her. So, with a deep breath, she explained to him what had happened in vivid detail. Explaining it in that type of detail was the best she could remember it.
Komui looked shocked after she explained it. "...Oh my god. You really went through that as a kid?"
Kenna nodded ,feeling tears emerge in her eyes. "Yes. And Road had made it worse by making me seeing it again, let alone making it look like Tiaoshi killed me, when she didn't. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."
"...I see." Komui replied, nodding his head. "And I guess you were afraid to tell Allen and the others?"
"Correct." Kenna answered, trying her best to wipe the tears from her eyes, but they kept on running down. "I was afraid that Allen and the others would start worrying about me, so I didn't tell them. I didn't want to get them distracted from the mission beforehand."
Komui fell silent for a couple of seconds, then smiled reassuringly, resting a hand on Kenna's shoulder. "Well, I can see that. But for right now, you'll need to get some rest, to get your mind off of that. I have to go back to take care of Kanda, Lavi, and Krory."
"Thanks, Komui." Kenna smiled, and went to walk to the mess hall, since she was planning to eat before resting, but something stopped her in her tracks. "Oh, and one more thing, Komui."
Komui was about to open the door to the emergency room. "Hm? What is it?"
Kenna slowly turned around and walked towards Komui. "...Well, um, something else has been bothering me as well. When we were all sent down into a pitch-black realm by Road, I came across this other realm that was completely white. I was then ordered calmly by a weird girl...who looked exactly like me. Most of her features were invisible, leaving only her eyes, white cross, and mouth glowing. She said the only way for us exorcists to get out of the ark is through singing." Kenna then went in more detail about it after taking a deep breath.
Komui's eyes widened as he thought that over. "...Well, that is very odd. I'll have to look it up in one of my books later on." He then shooed the subject away with his hand. "But never mind that right now. You and the others will need to relax after all you've gone through."
"I know." Kenna smiled. "But first, I need to feed my complaining stomach."
Kenna was lying down in her bed later that night, her body resting above the sheets. She was wide awake for some odd reason, and she didn't know why. She knew that that encounter with the silhouette was nagging at her mind, so she assumed that was keeping her from having a peaceful night's sleep.
All of a sudden, she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." Her eyes widened when she saw the person, who was the owner of the rapping, come in.
"...Lenalee!" Kenna gasped, sitting up and rotating her legs around so they hung over the edge of the bed. "What are you doing here at a time like this?"
"I just want to visit you." Lenalee smiled, and sat down next to Kenna. "Also, I was wondering how you're doing after we got out of the ark."
Kenna blinked, and grinned. "Oh, I'm fine! But there's one thing that's bothering me, though. It's about what happened in that white realm I was in, not the realm Road captured me in."
"White realm?" Lenalee tilted her head, which signaled to Kenna that she had to explain the story to Lenalee.
After Kenna did so, Lenalee's lavender eyes widened. She took her focus away from Kenna's face to stare at the floor. Her expression slowly went from shock to concern as she thought it over.
The young woman pursed her lips. "This is peculiar...very peculiar indeed." Her voice came out in mutter, in which she directed it towards herself, but Kenna seemed to hear it.
"W-What is it, Lenalee?" Kenna questioned her. She thought that telling Lenalee about the white realm would make Lenalee worry.
"Oh, no, it's nothing." Lenalee smiled reassuringly, locking her eyes on Kenna. Her smile then transitioned to a frown as she made her way to the door, her back now facing the redhead. "I will have to inform Komui about this."
Kenna stood up with a jolt. "But I've already told Komui, Lenalee! He knows what had happened, and said he's going to research up on it."
Lenalee stopped in her tracks, and looked at Kenna, surprised. She allowed her eyelashes to flutter before speaking up. "...Alright then, but I feel that I need to talk to Brother about this. He must be worried about this silhouette appearing and helping you out." Then, without another word, she said her goodnights to Kenna, and Kenna did the same.
The redhead watched as Lenalee carefully closed the door behind her as she entered the hallway. After the tapping of Lenalee's boots going down the said place were out of hearing distance, Kenna sighed, and put herself under the sheets and covers. Her body was instantly covered with warmth, making her feel a little better.
The redhead could feel herself starting to get sleepy, so she decided to let the conversation with Lenalee slide out of her mind for the night. Not wanting to stay awake any longer, Kenna fell asleep.
Kenna covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her throat the next morning. She was making her way to Komui's office since he told her that he has a special surprise waiting for her there. Kenna couldn't wait to see what it was, and she pondered about it, wondering what it might be.
She kept wearing that grin on her face as she reached the door. But it soon faded when she heard hushed conversations. Kenna could make out the voices, which she recognized were Komui and Lenalee. But what were they talking about, let alone in a lowered tone? Kenna didn't know why, and wanted to find out. She had to admit that she hated eavesdropping, but that talk with Lenalee last night made her think that Lenalee was telling Komui about it.
So right when she went to open the door slightly to hear, Komui was the one to open the door instead. Kenna almost lost her balance, so she had to straighten herself up.
Komui blinked, then smiled. "Ah, Kenna. You're just in time. Come in." He motioned his hand over to the couch, in which Kenna sat down. She saw Lenalee next to her with her legs crossed. When their eyes met, Lenalee smiled and waved. Kenna followed suit.
"So what is the big surprise, Komui?" Kenna questioned, kicking her feet back and forth. A grin was spread across her face, making her feel like she was going into her childish state. As a child, she always loved big surprises, and didn't care about changes...well, except for the death of her parents.
"Well," Komui spoke up, distracting Kenna from the slowly depressing thought she had, "You have worn your 2nd exorcist uniform outfit for quite some time, so Lenalee and I thought that you would be fine with an update."
Kenna's eyes beamed, and clapped her hands together. "An update? Oh my gosh! What does it look like?"
Komui laughed. "Hold on. I'll show it to you in a minute, Kenna." He then exhaled as he walked over to the back of his desk. "I need to find it first..."
The redhead and the pigtail-haired woman watched as Komui threw a numerous amount of paper into the air, making sure it wasn't in the way of the white box Kenna saw peeking out. Her excitement only increased more and more as Komui continued to dig it out. It seemed that he was having trouble, since the papers he threw up into the air only fell off the desk and onto the box. So when he finally managed to get the box out of the huge pile of papers, he exhaled.
"Finally." he said, his hair a tad messed up and his beret tilted. "Here you go." He handed it to Kenna, who took it from him with a huge smile on her face. As she slowly lifted up the lid to the box, she gasped.
The shirt of the uniform was black and red. Red stripes wrapped around the shoulders, and the middle part of the uniform, which including the upside down U- shape and buttons, not to mention the collar at the top. There were two buttons on the shoulders of the shirt; one being a white button, the other being a red button. Below the left shoulder, there was two gold chains running along down until it meet with a crimson colored medal in the right center of the shirt. Kenna saw that there was a little black "E" engraved in it, and Kenna assumed it stood for exorcist. Three silver metals hung down from under it, dangling along with the movement as Kenna was scanning over the uniform. There was red stripes at the ends of the sleeves, and black stripes on the top sides of the red skirt, which Kenna had to admit was a nice addition to the uniform. The red boots, which were under the suit, finished it off.
Komui and Lenalee saw the big smile on Kenna's face as she gazed at it. "Oh my gosh...I love this!" Kenna remarked, looking at the uniform, then back at the female exorcist and chief. "I'm going to put this on right now."
Lenalee giggled. "Go right ahead." She and Komui then watched as Kenna left the room, skipping happily to her room.
Kenna was humming to herself as she was about done getting dressed into her third exorcist uniform. She was happy that she was finally wearing the same uniform Allen and the others were wearing, since she admired them a lot. Kenna felt that the design of it fit her, that it showed her personality. Kenna laughed at that thought, then frowned. Something had come into her head again, and she knew exactly what it was. It was that silhouette, that replica of her she saw in that realm!
Kenna slid her teeth together. This was really starting to get annoying. Ever since she had encountered Noena, that girl has been on her mind constantly. She remembered Noena saying that she hoped to see Kenna soon...and thought the constant pondering of her was the cause of that.
No, it can't be...the redhead thought, shaking her head. That can't be it. There must be something that's causing me to think about her...could it be the weird form she took? Or that this so-called Noena is hiding a secret beneath that smile of hers?
Kenna took a deep breath, then exhaled as she finished putting the last button on her shirt through its hole. "Well," she spoke up to herself, her tone full of determination, "I'm going to find out right now."
Lenalee and Komui heard the sounds of Kenna walking down the hallway, but her footsteps seemed to be at a faster, more rushed pace than before she left the office. They were concerned that she might not like the suit, but they doubted it was that when Kenna slammed the door open, making them jump.
"I would like to know about that silhouette." Kenna's tone was demanding, but they could sense the concern in it as well. "I know it is going to be researched, but it's been bugging my mind like crazy, almost like a migraine that won't disappear! So if this is going to be a bad thing that will eventually put my life or one of your lives in danger, I need to know. Tell me now!"
Author's Note: Finally! I was able to submit this. I had some major difficulties trying to finish up the rest after accidentally deleting it.