Eternal Twilight
"Dialogue"
Thoughts, emphasis, etc.
/ Flashbacks /
*sounds, actions*
Formal attack names
"Akuma (in their true forms) speech"
[Time passing]
- The Rewinding Town -
Raven fiddled with the bottom of his new mask. The really nice Science Division member Johnny had helpfully designed some clothes for him. His exorcist coat was a specially designed vest with a low back to accommodate both his wingspans. The new black shawl had an additional Rose Cross at the upper left side and a silver raven on the back. Johnny even gave him a new white mask similar to one worn by theater actors, and some gloves that could stand the wear and tear of the life of an exorcist better.
Lenalee, Allen, and he were sitting in a booth and discussing the strange woman whom the brothers rescued the other day.
"Allen, that is not a helpful picture," observed Raven with a click of his tongue. The younger Walker grabbed it and began to draw on the back of it. The picture gave a reasonable resemblance of the woman rather than the distorted caricature his brother drew.
"Sorry."
"Sorry? Allen, Raven! Why did you lose her?"
"The lady was quite fast," defended Raven. "I'm lucky I remember her face as well as I did."
"She probably is key to solving the mystery of the town," suggested Allen.
Lenalee sighed, exasperated. "That akuma did say "Innocence," right? At least we're on the right track."
They arrived to the rewinding town the other day. They tried to escape via the gate, the whole in the wall, even by Raven flying over the wall. They all ended up back into town. Well, Raven somehow flew up to only end up crashing down into the exorcists waiting below.
*Sssssss* Raven turned his head from the conversation between his fellow exorcists to the snake golem wrapped around his neck. His eyes, even behind the screen of the mask's eyeholes, could see through any illusion, so he could see Shade fine, albeit covered in a faintly grey aura. Shade pointed his head.
"Isn't that the woman?"
After Allen grabbed her as she made her escape through the window, they all sat down to talk.
Miranda Lotte was her name. The whole rewinding thing didn't affect her memory was both a blessing, a curse, and a huge clue. Raven showed no reaction when Allen's left eye changed, even as his own began to emit a faint light.
"Lenalee, if you would please escort Miss Lotte from here at once."
"Dark Boots should allow you to escape from our friends here fine," added Raven. The back of his shawl parted as his wings extended outward to their 14-foot span.
"Miranda's different reaction from the townspeople is a clue to the mystery of the Innocence. She probably had contract with it," explained Allen as the two Walkers prepared for battle.
Four level 2 akumas emerged from the four men seated at the bar. Allen dispatched one, but another began to scream.
"Voice of Pain!"
Raven let out a pained hiss, his body beginning to seize up.
"No you don't," he gritted between his teeth. "Silver Guardian." He wrapped his wings around himself and Allen to block off the agonizing wavelengths of sound.
Another akuma sliced the air. The impacts didn't break through Silver Guardian, but they pressed the two into the wall. Both exorcists recovered but were fairly bruised. They abruptly separated as the last akuma pounced on them. White flames spread out from his punch.
"Kukuku, Ice Fire is hotter than regular old fire. One touch will ravage your flesh."
"Come on, let's tear them to pieces!"
"No, no, I want to use my voice to scramble their brains. Wouldn't that look nice?"
The idiots tried to settle their argument with a rock-paper-scissors match. They of course didn't let the akumas finish. Allen fired his cannon arm.
"AAaahhhhh!"
"What the hell? Why'd you go and attack us while we were playing rock-paper-scissors?!"
"As if we'd let you finish deciding our fates," disparaged Raven. The exorcists ready themselves for a brawl, but the three akuma suddenly froze. Raven clutched his head in sudden pain. He could hear a deep echo, the voice too distorted to understand. The akumas then flew off.
"Raven? Raven! Are you okay?" Raven blinked uncomprehendingly. The pain had vanished. He saw Allen leaning over him in concern. When did I fall to the ground…? Raven smiled assuredly. He took his brother's hand and stood.
Miranda most definitely had something to do with the Innocence. One moment they were talking with her, next thing the three exorcists knew, she was tucked into bed and her clock began to glow. Raven already spotted the telltale green aura of Innocence, but he only tilted his head toward the clock as the only indication when they first came into the apartment.
Note to self: never imply harm towards Miranda's clock. Her haggard appearance, darkly marked eyes, and the scary knife didn't not bode well. Once things calmed down and the three explained their thoughts, they agreed upon Miranda's status as a probably compatible with the clock's Innocence fragment. They concluded after the dismal first attempt to have Miranda command the clock to try and cheer her up. Maybe if they could get her to succeed for once at a job, Miranda's Innocence would restore time.
[Five failed jobs and three days later…]
"Come one, come all, for the horror play "The Pumpkin and the Witch"!"
Allen balanced on a striped ball while juggling a variety of things. Miranda collected the money and passed tickets among the crowd. Raven wore a blackbird eye mask instead of his usual white one and had a little silver flute out. He played several haunting tunes, drawing the children in like a pied piper.
After a bit, the two exorcists took a break. They sat down with Lenalee.
"Think we'll finally succeed "today"?" asked Raven.
"I hope so," answered Lenalee. Allen was balancing on the ball again. Raven began to play a little tune on his flute. "Wow, you two are really good!" she applauded. Raven stopped and blushed slightly beneath the eye mask.
"The two of worked in a circus when we were kids," explained Allen. "Our parents were performers, so we had to perform with them a lot to make a living."
"Allen worked as a clown, and I used to draw in people by playing the flute in the towns we visited."
"You guys must have seen a lot of places and lived in many different countries. What an interesting life!"
"Maybe in when we talk about it, but we did struggle to live by… Lenalee, when did you join the Church?"
Lenalee smiled gently, but two orphans like Allen and Raven could spot the shadows in her eyes easily.
"I've been with the Church for as long as I can remember. My brother and I were orphaned when akuma killed our parents. The Church discovered my compatibilities with these Dark Boots and took me away. I wasn't allowed to be with my brother, my last relative, for years nor could I leave. The Black Order became a prison. For three years, they kept my brother and I separate. Then Komui-niisan joined the Church for my sake, and he succeeded as the Science Group's supervisor."
"Mmm, I'm glad things worked out for you," Raven smiled. "Komui is such a good brother. A bit overbearing, but he does have your best interests in mind."
"Komui is so cool," added Allen. "I can't imagine being separated from Raven for so long."
"Yeah. By the way, not be rude or prying, but the two of you don't look much alike, do you?"
Allen and Raven were silent. Their eyes were downcast or looking off to the distance.
Finally, Raven answered, "We don't look alike. I'm surprise these past few months went by without anyone asking. Allen's pale where I'm a bit tan. He has straight white hair, and mine is curly blue-black with white bangs. Allen has an English accent, where mine has a lilt. Only our facial structures are similar, and it might be because we take after our mothers, perhaps. Truth be told, Allen and I aren't brothers by blood. We were both orphans picked up by the circus. That's where we met our foster father."
"But it doesn't change that we are brothers, no matter what!" affirmed Allen.
"Hey! - That pumpkin… Do any of you know where you can a ticket for "The Pumpkin and the Witch?"
Allen happily got up to show her, but Raven remained a stiff statue next to Lenalee.
"Raven…?"
The girl…she had an aura unlike anything the young man has ever seen. To anyone else, including his brother, the girl would just be that – a spiky, blue haired girl dressed in a Lolita-styled dress. Normally, Raven faintly perceived a small glow around living things, the more sentience the brighter the glow. The only exception would be in times of great emotion. Nonliving things seldom had a glow unless they had ties to the supernatural, such as Innocence or taint from the akuma blood virus. But she was altogether different. Deep purple, almost black in color, swirled chaotically around her. A supernatural aura independent of an object. In other words, the power came from within her. And it was powerful. Raven's head ached more harshly than ever.
He flinched when Lenalee leaned over to shake him lightly. "Ah, sorry, did I space out?"
Shouting interrupted them. Lenalee gave him another concerned look before running off to catch the thief. Raven yelled at Allen that he would keep an eye on Miranda.
"There, there." Raven was a bit of a lost. Miranda wept in the young teen's arms.
"I-I'm useless. I can't do anything right," she sobbed.
"Miranda, you can do plenty of things right," soothed the young man. "You just need someone to keep your head up and your smile bright. Don't worry, Allen and Lenalee will be back soon."
"Why? Why does my clock have to have the Innocence…?!"
"Your clock has the Innocence?" Raven's head jerked up. Black streaks joined the purple haze of the girl's aura.
"Miranda…" He activated his Innocence.
- The Noah Clan –
"…aven! Wake up!"
The exorcist abruptly woke up, banging his head against the wall in the process. He groaned in pain. He could faintly remember a sadistic laugh and the world twisting around him. He looked around him. Candles pinned his wings against the wall. Allen was in a similar state with his left arm nailed to the wall. The cruel akumas and strange girl had candles embedded into Miranda's hands, too!
"How pretty! Yes, black is definitely her color."
"Mistress Road, why are you dressing up the exorcist?"
"Hush. Weapons like you would never understand. Exorcists dolls are quite collectible, don't you think?"
The girl from earlier stood by Lenalee. Judging by her faint aura, the akumas must have done some internal damage since he couldn't see any visible damage to cause such a barely perceptible glow.
"Lenalee!" both Walkers cried.
"Now, now, don't you be mean to Mistress Road. She's her doll, now."
"Lenalee? What a cute name for my doll," giggled the girl Road.
"She fought so hard to try and protect you," mentioned the pumpkin headed akuma.
"Allen, you alright there?" called out Raven. He tried to pull his wings out, but the motion sent streaks of agony through his nervous system. He barely concealed his moans of pain.
"Not really," he replied.
"Be careful of Road. I don't think she's normal. She took me down without hardly trying. I have never seen anything like her before."
Allen looked utterly flabbergasted. "You fought Raven?! Why…? Why are you working with the akuma? You're not one of them…"
"Oh? I'm a human." Allen and Raven wore identical stricken expressions. What kind of human has such an inhuman aura? I can practically feel the waves of malice. Not even those level 2s have such darkness.
"What's with that face? Don't you believe me? Can't humans and akuma be friends?"
"Akuma are weapons of the Earl used to kill humans." Raven wasn't liking where the conversation was going.
"Ah, but don't humans use weapons to kill other humans? The Millennium Earl is a part of my family. We are the chosen ones of God." Raven drew back unconsciously as her skin turned gray and black crosses crowned her forehead. "Exorcists are chosen ones of a false god, but we are the true apostles. We are the Clan of Noah."
Allen didn't take that very well. He ripped his arm from the wall. Road only mocked him. She embraced him, tore apart her own face, and then impaled Allen's cursed left eye.
"Allen!" he cried. He sent Road a glare. "I could tell you're not just human. No human has such a malicious and dark aura. You wouldn't even bat an eye if you scatter out life's blood across the walls."
Road hummed. "Why should I? Humans are such worthless things. I just haaate his world full of such insects~. It would be best if they all just disappeared." Road leaned in until she was Raven's face. "Don't you think?"
"Hmm." Road's smirk turned darker as she regarded the winged exorcist. "You two are brothers, right? Let's see if your eyes would look as good in crimson, too!"
More candles hovered at Road's command. They shot out to blind the trapped exorcist. But instead of hitting their targets, pieces of the ceiling miraculously fell just in time to knock them off course.
Road's eyes went wide in puzzlement. "Huh? Aren't you the charmed one?" Raven couldn't let the pain faze him any longer. He pulled until his wings tore free of the wall. Blood splattered from the gaping wounds. Allen had gotten up, too, the shock finally wearing off.
Road shook her fingers patronizingly. "Ttch, you know, God wants this world to end, too. This is why he gave the Millennium Earl the power of the akuma," she mocked.
"God's will? No. That is the agenda of the devil!" Allen brandished his newly improved anti-akuma weapon.
"Who care? God or the devil, evil or good, I'm fine with either."
The akumas ran to guard the Noah girl. Raven and Allen stood side-by-side.
The two exorcists had taken far too much damage already. Blood stained their clothes and the Ice Fire burned. More pointed candles flew up.
"Awww, are the poor exorcists tired from just fighting three measly akumas? Maybe I should finish this now?"
Both Allen and Raven leaped to cover the unprotected Miranda. Raven could feel his consciousness slipping.
Light. There was light everywhere. Raven blinked. He couldn't feel any pain. All around the two exorcists and accommodator, a barrier of clocks glowed brightly.
"Miranda," he whispered. "Your Innocence…it took away our time, didn't it?"
"Amazing," breathed Allen. The two exorcists exchanged determined looks. Allen's arm dragged Lenalee into the barrier. She healed just like they did.
The three exorcist tore through one of the akumas.
"Hahaha," chortled the little Noah girl. "My, my, aren't you exorcists something."
She wrote out Allen and his names. "Allen Walker. Raven Walker. The Earl of the Millennium told me a bit about the two of you. One bears a cursed left eye able to see the souls of the akumas. But the other one has the more bothersome ability. Raven can see supernatural energies and the "truth" of this world. Disguises, people's masks, the souls of the akuma, even able to recognize the dark matter given off by us, of the Noah Clan it seems.
The two of you make for some interesting players. The two of you became exorcist to save the souls of the akuma, right? Because one was cursed by his beloved father, and the other one was born cursed. I decided if anyone would be worth getting involved with, it would with one of the two of you. I've decided then! I choose Allen Walker~"
Cue sweat drop. Raven blinked in utter bewilderment at the last statement. "Okay…?"
"You," she pointed to the last akuma, "self-destruct."
"EEeehhh!?"
Once the ten-second countdown ended, the akuma exploded. Lenalee and Raven pulled Allen back barely in time.
Raven couldn't stop his tears. Amidst the explosion, he saw the blackish purple aura consume the soul within it. Then the energy dispersed.
Road sent the last akuma out. Lenalee and Raven easily rent it into two.
The Noah left with an ominous farewell. The world returned to normal. An illusion? No. No illusion has ever been able to affect me. What did she do to us? Raven looked over to the crumpled body of Miranda Lotte.
"Miranda, you really should relax," warned the wearied exorcist. "Your energy is depleting too quickly. Any longer, and you'll pass out on us."
Miranda shook her head in denial. "No, no! If I do that, all the lost time would return! And your injuries…"
Allen knelt down. "It's okay. We're still alive. You've done enough for us. Release your activation."
Lenalee nodded. "We'll be fine. It's part of being an exorcist."
"You can probably go and fetch a doctor, if it's not too much trouble," advised Raven with a small grin. All three exorcists gave the new accommodator smiles filled with how confident they felt about Miranda's abilities.
The Innocence returned the lost time. Raven could feel all his past pain return, including a sudden surge of head pain just before he fell back into unconsciousness.