"You know, despite the fact that you humans tend to be cruel and unreservedly harsh to one another, you are absolutely horrible at attempting to kill one another," Lulu said in a slightly peeved voice. It was the first time that Dominguez had ever heard the woman anything less than pleasantly cool, and frankly it unnerved him as well as relieved him. He at least knew she was capable of emotion, but he'd rather not have that emotion turn out to be annoyance. The platoon of men that Dominguez had sent to kill the two clergyman were standing in front of Lulu at present, sweating under the early morning sunshine and wondering what this woman was prattling on about as she was speaking English. She turned her head in their direction, and her stare caused them to wither and feel faint. She was an incredibly beautiful woman... but beautiful in that way that should not be admired up close. She was beautiful in the way of blossoming, poisonous flowers or the explosion of a volcano. It was destructive as well as aesthetic.
Suddenly, several of their own men morphed before their eyes into the monsters they'd worked with when they'd been dispatched to take care of two pesky working people near the river where they'd been sent to confiscate dead cattle. The men shouted and broke their sloppy formation as the Akuma rounded them up, staring down at them with eyes shielded and guarded by masks made of dark-plated metal. Lulu sighed to herself and said, "Es una lastima. Si solo lo habian hecho bien el primero vez." Dominguez's eyes widened as he realized what she planned. It's a shame. If only they'd done it right the first time. Dominguez was a drug lord and a monopolizer, but he cared about his men.
"Senora, please. They were fooled. Those clergyman are crafty sorts," he said hastily in English, and Lulu looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Those gold disks seemed to be just as cold as the real thing, and he felt his skin dry up under her gaze despite the sun. She thought for a moment... and then she said, "Very well."
Dominguez sighed with relief, though he was sure to make it discreet. Lulu had somehow found out that both of the church members were still alive and somewhere around Rio Seco, though how she was sure, he didn't know. He himself had never seen either of them, and he'd sent his men after two people who would either be wearing a black-and-white uniform with an emblem on it, or a woman with black hair and three scars across her face and her companion. The men had said that they'd drowned, but their bodies couldn't be found and had probably been dragged downstream by the current. It was apparent they had lived and kept hidden for the past few days.
Lulu addressed the frightened, milling men. "Silencio! Estoy yendo hacer a tú un oferta. Permitá a tu intentar una vez más. No desilusionar. Si ellos todavia estan respirando en el mes que viene, vosotros estaró muertos." The men stood still as statues, staring at the woman who'd spoken. I am going to make you an offer. I will allow you to try once again. Do not disappoint me. If they are still breathing in the month to come, you will be killed. The men all stood there, all young and hopeful and reckless and knowing that this woman very much meant what she said. Dominguez watched as a hush fell over them, and he swallowed.
"Por que estais esperas? Vaya!" The men scattered at the command to go, all of them grabbing guns and whatnot. They had all of a month to track those two down and kill them. Otherwise, their own lives were forfeit. Dominguez watched them go with bitterness, hoping that they learned from this encounter.
"All things are a chasing after the wind," Dominguez said as the men dispersed out into the countryside, shouting to one another. The Akuma only stared, waiting for their lady's command.
"Why do you say that?" Lulu asked, and Dominguez said, "Because no matter what, their lives are forfeit. I hope they realize just how useless their struggling in this world is. It does no good." He stared at Lulu and asked, "Am I right, Senora?" Lulu smiled.
"You Argentinians are wise," she stated.
The day was already hot and dry. There were no clouds in the sky, and the scrubland looked deader than ever. A single, lone tumbleweed of the usual stock rolled past Lavi's foot, and he picked it up idly, staring at it with blatant curiosity.
"I honestly didn't think these things actually existed," he said, dropping it and kicking it along its merry way. He looked over his shoulder to Esperanza. She was saddling up both of their horses, the donkeys, and the one mule that Darrin, their very American and very stubborn guide, had stated would come with them whether or not they liked it. Esperanza hadn't been too happy about it, considering she'd had to buy extra feed just in case the grazing on the mountain was sparse, but she'd allowed him to take it anyways. Lavi himself knew nothing of traveling up Andean mountains, and he'd decided that he'd just go along with Esperanza and Darrin decided. After all, they knew what they were doing, right?
"I warn you, senor, I have no idea what I am doing with this mountain journey," Esperanza grunted as she pulled her saddle's strap under her horse and pulled up on it through the buckle. Lavi's face fell. That was oddly too appropriate a time for her to say that. He stared at her and asked, "And what brought that on?" She loaded another saddlebag on to Relampago's rump, and she said without looking at him, "You have been investing in my knowledge all this time. I apologize if I led you to believe that I actually know about mountain travel. I have never been very far up the mountain and never for long. I am going on past experiences." Lavi winced. In that case, he was probably better suited at this sort of traversing. He'd helped Bookman cart thirty-something crates of books up a Himalayan mountain to a temple. Then again, this was Argentina - mountains tended to change from country to country.
"Eh, that's fine. As long as you've got an idea, I'm perfectly okay with it," Lavi said. Eh, okay, that was a bit of a fib. He was a little apprehensive now about going up the mountain with no experience except for the word of an Argentinian girl and an old American fogey. He sat down on an unloaded crate, and he looked out towards the mountains again. Up there somewhere was the key to all the issues that plagued them. The death-dealing water, the sick cows, the Akuma, all of that would disappear if they could figure out what was going on at the source of the river. He sighed to himself as Esperanza bustled back and forth, carrying crates of food and supplies. He got up and decided to be useful. As much as he hated work, at least he'd be doing something productive.
"Hey, Esperanza, need a hand...?"
He regretted this action several hours later while riding on the back of a horse, sweating to death under a noontime sun and weary beyond belief. He hadn't realized just how heavy a few weeks of food could be. It had taken them nearly an hour and a half to get the food packed, the tents and supplies sufficiently stowed, and the crates loaded onto the backs of the donkeys. Lavi immediately disliked the animals, given their stubborn natures and their braying behavior, but resigned to working with them seeing as there wasn't much they could do otherwise. However, this mentality immediately took a u-turn after they reached Darrin's camp at the creek.
"Can't take donkeys up the mountain," Darrin said simply as he cleaned out his pot of gruel. Esperanza's face turned blank as she asked, "Que?" Darrin spit into the dirt, and he said, "Told ya. Can't take donkeys. Too stubborn and they ain't gon' survive that far up the mountain." He pointed to the peak of the mountain they'd be traversing, and Lavi said, "Wait, so you're telling me we just paid for donkeys...and we don't need them?" Darrin cackled.
"Didn't say you ain't gonna need 'em. I'm just sayin', donkeys're too much hassle. Easier to go with llamas. They know what they're doin' up there, but it'll be a ways a'fore you get to anyone with llamas. They don't come down here," Darrin said. "We'll take 'em as far as a llama ranch I know, and then we'll drop 'em off there." Lavi and Esperanza looked at each other. It seemed they may end up paying for their cheapness. They had discussed taking llamas instead, but the transportation issue of getting to them in the first place had stopped them from attempting.
"They owe me a favor anyways," Darrin said, grinning. Three of his teeth were missing, and a fourth was a rotting stump. Lavi tried hard to smile back as he walked over to his mule, patting its rump.
"And your mule? Will it survive?" Lavi asked, and Darrin said, "Shew boy, you bet yer bottom dollar she will. This mule's been up mountains longer 'n you've been born, young'n." With this bizarre change of plan, they started off with a few donkeys, two horses, and a mule. The donkeys went off at a lumbersome lope, while the horses yearned for a faster pace, and the mule tottered behind the entire entourage.
"Okay, so first we head off to get llamas, and then...?" Lavi asked, turning to Esperanza. The Argentinian shrugged, and she stated, "I have one thing to do before we get to the mountain. My family lives near the foothills, and I wish to meet them. It is not often I am in the position to stop and say hello." Lavi nodded.
"And then up the mountain, right?" Esperanza lifted both eyebrows at Lavi, and she nodded.
"And then up the mountain."
"Uh, Seen-yoreeta 'n Seen-yor, I think it'd be best if ya looked back here fer a minute," Darrin said in a worried tone, pointing back over his shoulder. The caravan drew to a stop in the desert dirt, looking back in curiosity to a rising dust cloud.
"I don't think its sandstorm season yet," Lavi stated. He squinted, staring, and his eyes widened as he suddenly spurred his horse on.
"Senor!" Esperanza shouted as she spurred Relampago after him, and Darrin started whipping the donkeys to go faster in order to keep up. They brayed at the abuse, but nevertheless heightened their pace in order to catch up.
Esperanza finally rode level with Lavi and asked him, "What is it? What's going on?" Her voice was nearly drowned out by the pounding of hooves on hard-packed dirt, and Lavi shouted back, "There are men in that dust cloud! There must be fifty or more! They're coming after us!" Esperanza's eyes widened, and she urged her horse on. She looked behind her and shouted to Darrin, "Senor Darrin, turn back now! Head off in a different direction! We are being followed!"
Darrin shouted back, "No shit, Sherlock, I know that now!" The little old man suddenly grabbed the shot gun off the back of his mule and aimed it behind him. He leveled it to shoot at the nearest speck, but his hat suddenly flew off his head as he shouted 'WHOA!' Lavi ducked as he heard more bullets, and he realized that Akuma would be in the attack party as well. There was nothing but open desert in front of them, perfect for picking off two Exorcists and their old companion. Lavi activated his hammer and turned around.
"I'll hold them off! Get to the mountain and the source!" Lavi shouted. He was well-aware he was outnumbered, but it wasn't like it hadn't happened before. However, Lavi had underestimated Esperanza's resourcefulness as she turned back around with a bottle of lamp oil. He stared at her in confusion, but followed her as she started to douse the dirt with the flammable liquid. Lavi suddenly got the idea, and he shouted, "Stand back! Get the donkeys out of here!" She wanted to make a big bang. Lavi bet he could make a bigger one than she bargained for.
Esperanza followed his orders as he dismounted and shooed off Chuleta. The horse nickered as he was led away by Esperanza, the caravan of donkeys and horses now at least a good sixty feet away. Lavi stood ten feet from the line of kerosene, and Lavi thought of how pitifully tiny a barrier that made between them and the fifty or so men headed in their direction. Lavi finally decided to get it over with, and the redhead summoned his seals.
"Hi Ban: Goka Kaijin!" A massive pillar of flame suddenly roared as he smashed his hammer into the seal and slammed the seal into the ground. The inferno swept across the quick-catching kerosene, and the air was suddenly filled with foul smoke and heat. The men on their horses fought to stop as they headed towards the wall of fire, and Lavi stood there as he watched them head towards their demise. Lavi had never intended to use his Innocence to harm human life, but it seemed now he had no choice. Several Akuma revealed themselves as they surged towards the flames, and he knew he was going to need a bit more than this temporary defense. Several of the men fell off their horses as Esperanza shot at them, hitting them in the legs and arms. She was a good shot... The men flew past Lavi, none of them attempting a hit
"Konbo Ban: Gouraiten," he said quietly. He stared at the men, all suddenly retreating, and the Akuma that were relentlessly heading towards the trio. Lavi swiftly used both Fire and Heaven seals, and a colossal snake of iron and fire erupted from the ground like a serpent from hell. It ran the length of the makeshift battlefield, and those few men who were desperate enough to risk the flames turned back in fear. The snake spit and hissed as it headed towards the Level Three Akuma, and the battle began.
Like so many other battles, there was always some sort of collateral damage. Faces flashing past, all the people who'd died in those wars, the ones he'd let die, the ones that could've been saved, the ones that were only so much ink on so much paper -
"Senor, we must go," Esperanza said to Darrin, and the old man nodded as he watched the destruction of several monsters going down in flames, Lavi calmly standing in front of it without a single scratch.
"Yeah. Let's go. He can take care o' himself," Darrin stated, spurring on his old mule.
Thirty minutes later, the ground was scarred with scorch marks and even glass skids where fire had burned so hot it had metamorphosed the sand. Lavi walked towards both Esperanza and Darrin, mounting his horse and looking out towards the mountains.
"We should leave," Lavi said quietly. Neither said a word as the caravan once more began to move. Esperanza stared at her partner with blatant questions writ on her face, but she dared not ask anything. Even she knew that the man had limits, and it seemed that he'd reached one with this last battle. He was deep in thought, and she wondered what was going on his head. That same look... The night they had shared their scars, their cicatrices, she had seen that same look, the one that said he was lost in his own head, wandering somewhere she could not see.
"We will be there in the next thirty minutes," she stated, and Lavi nodded without a word.
The house was an old farm type nestled in foothills of amber and emerald. A white fence encircled the entire premise, and the sun was beginning to set, leaving a gold layer over the house and its cheerful colors. Chickens pecked at the ground in front of the house, and several toys littered the yard. It was a quaint place removed from the urban society only an hour and a half away. Small, tea colored faces pressed up to the windows in anticipation as they watched a caravan approach. Donkeys, horses, and a single mule entered the sanctuary of the fields around the house, and an old man stepped out the door, a grand smile on his face.
Esperanza dismounted Relampago and, for the first time since Lavi had met her, smiled wide as she walked towards the house. Several children ran out of the house, and Lavi watched as Esperanza rejoined her family. She held several of the smaller ones out at arms length, and Lavi felt suddenly very distant from that scene of happy rejoicing and reunion. He climbed off his horse and watched for several minutes as Esperanza was swamped with the multitudes of relatives. He wanted to smile at it, but he found he was drained of all feeling.
Another family reunited, and he couldn't participate. The man ran to his wife crying, and he lifted her up as Esperanza was lifting up a small boy, spinning him around and around and around. Family was not something he understood. It was a bond he had never quite made. Not something he could make, not without a guilty conscience. He would leave them one day, and leave them heartbroken. He would-
"Quien eres? Eres de Europe?" a small voice said beside him, and Lavi stared into the liquid eyes of a small boy with black, messy hair and gap-teeth. He found himself speechless for a moment, but the little boy was much quicker than the redhead. He grabbed his hand and started to drag the man, running, and shouted, "Esperanza! Esperanza! Es mi hermano? Esperanza! Esperanza!" Lavi found himself in the middle of the proceeding as in the distance he heard Darrin cackle. Lavi was dumbfounded as the children bombarded him with questions, the older boys looking him up and down as if assessing him while the old man asked something of Esperanza with a mischievous look in his eye.
"No, no, no, no es tu hermano, Nacio, es mi amigo. Ahora, te necesito tocar mis caballos," Esperanza ordered, sending the little boy scampering towards the horses. The other children followed, whining about how they didn't get to take care of the horses, and Esperanza gave that small ghost of a smile as she watched them. The older boys, in their early teens, shook their heads as they headed inside the house. Esperanza nodded towards the house and said, "Amigo, this is where I live, sometimes. It is run down and old, but it is home. Come inside, have something to eat and drink. Mi papa is very interested in meeting you." Everything was happening so fast, Lavi could only put himself on autopilot as he was led inside the house and handed a plate with some saffron rice and a few simple burritos along with a glass of water. He gave a suspicious glance to the water, but Esperanza said, "It is safe. We do not drink from the main river. The family gets their water from a small lake lower down the mountain. It has a creek that runs near here." Lavi at the food with gusto, amazed at just how ravenous he was.
Soon, other small children ran into the house, excitedly chattering with one another. Lavi counted them all, with their dark hair and dark eyes, all white smiles and bare feet. Their clothes were frayed, but in good condition. They looked healthy, and they were very interested in Lavi himself. They asked him questions in Spanish, and he answered the best that he could. He even wrestled with the boys on the floor for a bit, and Lavi began to feel like himself again-
But what was himself? Was this who he was, or was Lavi a person at all?
He paused at a crucial moment, allowing the boys to overtake him in a tackling tumble, and Esperanza finally shooed them off. Lavi sat up, rubbing his arm as he suddenly felt a chill pass over him. There was just... something wrong with all this. Lavi suddenly felt as if he should not be here at all. He looked up, searching for Esperanza only to find her disappearing through a door. Lavi stood up and followed her quietly, the sound of children playing in the background as his steps seemed to echo through the now-empty house. He peered inside, finding Esperanza sitting between two twin beds. She was talking quietly to two pale, sickly looking children, no older than twelve. Lavi realized that these were the two that had come down with the flu. They looked very much like Esperanza with the same high cheek bones, rounded chin, and wide eyes. She was whispering to them both, holding their hands.
A hand fell on his shoulder, and he nearly jumped. He looked over his shoulder. Esperanza's father, he presumed at least, motioned for him to follow him, and he did. They stood outside in the light of the sinking sun, and the old man said in a dignified tone, "You work with Esperanza, yes?" His English was heavily accented, but still understandable. Lavi nodded. He'd hardly spoken this entire time, only to answer the children and play with them.
"Good. Much good. But, uh... you protect, yes? Protect Esperanza?" he asked, and Lavi suddenly realized where this was going.
"Si. Hago." The old man slumped with relief, and he said, "Much worry. I much worry of Esperanza. She... she hurt much all time. She is... is... word is independiente. Not like help. Not like protect." Lavi frowned, and he asked, "Why are you telling me this?" The old man struggled to translate, and he said, "I tell of warn. Tienes cuidado. She hurt Esperanza y she hurt you tambien. Not good. No bueno. I no want hurt of you or Esperanza." Lavi tried to piece everything together. He was being warned... Esperanza was very independent and didn't like help. He'd already seen that once or twice, but he didn't think that it was debilitating just yet. She seemed pretty good about not letting pride be an issue.
"Oh! And Esperanza... she is not like... not like relampago," the old man said, waving a finger in front of Lavi's nose. Lavi backed up, confused.
"She doesn't like her horse? I don't know, she's pretty loving towards him," Lavi stated, and the old man froze. He suddenly shook his head and stated in frustration, "No el caballo, el relampago y truenos, mentecato!" Before Lavi could even bother with translating, Esperanza walked towards him and shouted, "Amigo! We are leaving soon! We only stopped to water the horses and donkeys. Darrin said that the llama ranch is only a few miles from here, and it will not take us long to switch." Lavi walked off, deciding to get a jump on things, but the old man tried to follow him. Esperanza intercepted him and said, "Papi, you need to leave the ranch. I am afraid that you may be hurt by things that are after us." The two had a short argument while Lavi and Darrin got the horses ready, and she came back not long after with a concerned look.
"My family should be moving to my Uncle Ortega's. We will continue on," she said, looking to the horizon behind them. She could see specks, and she stated, "That is not good. We will need to hurry. I did not think we would evade them for very long." Lavi saw that this indeed was true. Akuma were a long way off, but still near enough to cause a bit of discomfort. He hoped that the Castillo family had fast horses.
"I bet I can do something to shield them for a while," Lavi said, looking towards Esperanza and Darrin. The old man shrugged and said, "I'll get us started towards that ol' llama ranch. Meetcha there. Y'know the way, right?" Lavi nodded.
"I shouldn't take long anyhow," he stated, and the two began riding off. Lavi cracked his fingers as he watched the children suddenly begin bustling and packing their belongings. He walked to the very edge of the Castillo property and whipped out his hammer.
"All rightie, then, let's see what old Lavi can remember, huh?" he muttered. He used a Heaven seal, and suddenly clouds began to suffuse the air above. Lavi watched for several moments, and then drops of rain fell on his face. He smiled at his handiwork. Not bad. Not bad at all. He began to follow Esperanza and Darrin, not realizing what damage he had just done.
Esperanza heard a crack of lightning, and her shoulders suddenly tensed. A drop of rain smacked her on the nose, and Darrin looked up.
"Shoot, that feller was pretty darn smart. He kin do all sorts a' stuff. I want wanna them hammers, dagnabbit!" Darrin complained, urging on his mule. He dug around in his saddlebag for a rain poncho, throwing it over his head as he rode towards the farm not more than twenty minutes away. Esperanza looked over her shoulder, spying Lavi at the crest of a sparsely grassed hill. She swallowed as a peal of thunder broke out, and she turned her horse to face Lavi. She didn't know that he had the power to create a thunderstorm. That was a very, very unique thing. Along with fire snakes and iron snakes and all sorts of other things. Suddenly, Esperanza felt a bit outclassed.
She gripped her Innocence in her hand, and she sighed. It would take a while for her amigo to catch up, but catch up they would. The sun had already set, and the storm was not yet roaring at full pace. Could he control its intensity in its duration as well? Lavi sidled up to the Argentinian teenager, and he said, "All set. We should have gale force winds and sheets of rain in the next three hours. We'll probably need to hike up as far as we can before the rain starts, so I'll probably scout ahead for a camping spot. How does that sound?" Esperanza sighed, and stated, "That sounds... feasible. I believe Darrin is envious of your Innocence. He very much wants to have that magic hammer of yours." Lavi shrugged modestly.
"It's only for once-in-a-blue-moon occasions I'll try a storm," Lavi stated, staring at the darkening sky. He smiled, relishing the fact that he'd actually created this force of nature with the help of his Seals. Esperanza noted the mood shift, and she asked, "You are feeling better, si?" Lavi looked back at her, and he nodded.
"Yeah. I was, uh... I was having some issues. I don't like having to kill people," Lavi stated. Esperanza shrugged.
"It was you or them, amigo. It was you or them. That is how life is out in the desert," she sighed. Darrin came back very fast with newly loaded llamas. Their soft facial features and fluffy bodies made them look completely docile and deceptively weak. No wonder they were used as pack animals.
"You sure these things will survive up the mountain?" Lavi asked skeptically. Darrin laughed.
"Yer a funny one. Course they will! They been bred to live up in them mountains since them Inca lived up there with 'em! Then again, they outlived the Inca by a good hunnerd years or so." They lit storm lanterns, readying themselves for the ensuing trek.
"Is there a path to the source of the Rio Seco?" Esperanza asked, and Darrin gave a contemplative noise. He scratched his ever-present stubble, and he said, "Y'know, I think there is. It's an old road built by them Incans, but it's overgrown and ain't nobody used it since Adam got up outta the dirt. We kin follow that for a ways a'fore we get to the actual river itself." He pointed up the mountain, the massive thing looming over them, and said, "I think the source is in some ruins waaaaaay up there. Ain't no snow up there right now, it's all melted 'cept for the tippy-top, but it sure gets mighty chilly. Hope ye don't mind sleeping with a geezer like me if ye fergot yer sleepin' pouch." He cackled as they entered the dark beginning of the mountain.
Lavi scouted ahead for nearly two hours before deciding they'd better stop for the night. It was misting already, and down the mountain near the house Esperanza's family lived in, it was already dumping sheets of gray rain. They were already sore from riding, and they made camp on a large slab of rock covered in the thinnest of dirt and grass. Cacti grew, but not much else, and the horses found it hard to eat their fill.
"Don't worry, Chuleta. You'll get some grass once we get to the tree line," Lavi said, looking far above. The tree line was another day's trek away. He almost groaned at the thought.
The camp was set up simply, with Darrin sleeping in his own tent with his mule, Churro, while Lavi and Esperanza would share a tent divided by a sheet in the middle. Esperanza had said tents, especially ones with good sticks, were hard to find, and that she was only going to get one for the both of them. Lavi hadn't complained. There was a cook fire ten paces from the front of the tent, and a small stream bubbled and gurgled three hundred feet away into the underbrush. Lavi soon found it to be incredibly cold, inhospitable given the open environment, and infested with fish that liked to bite his toes. Esperanza didn't find it much better.
They soon decided to get some shut-eye for the night, and as they were retreating to their tents, the raining began in earnest. Tomorrow was going to be very, very wet.
A/N: Yet another chapter, yet another day in the life of Exorcists. For those who do not know any of the Spanish, I encourage you to go ahead and try to translate it using a translator. I think you will find most of the names and some of the phrases very interesting. (;
Thanks again to St. Iggy for reviewing on the birthday special!
Remember, reviews are like candy to me! I greatly appreciate them!