"This is a rather interesting new development," Ofelia sighed to herself, watching from a high vantage point over the atrium. The giant monster was a rather pleasant surprise. At first she'd thought they were retreating early, but this was better for their group over all. The colossus had been so efficient in taking out several of the lead fighters, those 'Exorcists' as Lulu called them. Ofelia honestly didn't care about them, or the ones in the tan clothes, or the ones who were wearing regular attire. All she cared about was that people died.
It was fascinating to watch a person die. She always thought that if she lingered long enough to watch the life drain out of a person, she could see the very moment when the soul left the body, but always it went by so fast she didn't have time to catch that split second of schism. Even if she didn't see that fateful, deciding event, she still enjoyed the thrill of looking into a person's eyes and watching that fear on the cusp of death. She herself had felt it many times before when she was younger.
Her heart fluttered at the memory, and she pushed it down. Fear had no place on the battlefield. Bloodlust and eerie curiosity was all she really needed.
The new group of fighters that had appeared came dramatically, and Ofelia almost scoffed. Such a lewd and childish entrance. There were better ways, surely, to come on to a battlefield without such fanfare. Nevertheless, after that blustering moment was over the group charged onto the field and began hacking and sawing at the Giant Akuma's legs, several people crushed under its massive feet as they got in the way. Ofelia leaned against the banister, watching intently. She could imagine souls flying from this great building, headed towards heaven on high, only to be called back into a different form like this one the dying had been fighting.
"What do we do about the girl in the coat? Do you want me to kill her? I've already taken out quite a few of those uniformed ones," Ofelia said, her tone almost bored. She hadn't had the chance to take out her frustration on any other members of the Order for the past thirty minutes, and she was beginning to tire of this game. She'd been promised justice, but they were leaving the redhead intact. In fact, there'd been specific orders to keep the redhead alive throughout the battle. Ofelia had been shadowing him for a while, always on the fringes of sight. He'd never known she was there, but then again he was preoccupied. He looked relieved now that others had come to help bring down the massive abomination in the atrium.
"Be my guest. She's unnecessary," Lulu Bell stated in her ear, and Ofelia giggled into her hand. Finally! A break from the monotony has come through. Ofelia took her gun and leveled it at the girl in the bright coat. She was an awfully good target, with all those colors around her. It was easy to pick her out. Now if she could just stay still for a moment...
Ofelia realized that she no longer had any bullets left. She flicked open her revolver in disgust. A good marksman was nothing if she didn't have bullets in her gun. She just had a useless piece of metal in her hand. Of course, with the right bit of imagination, she could do anything she needed. Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she grinned from ear to ear.
There was more than one way to skin a cat. And bullets weren't the only things that killed people.
The thunderstorm had abated to nothing more than drizzle, and that sort of favorable weather was just right. Lavi could see the inside of the atrium brightening, and it was easier to tell what he was hitting at and where. Esperanza, no longer incapacitated by fear, had joined in the fight with her new Innocence, though she did so stiffly and recklessly. It was obvious that she hadn't recovered completely from the reintegration, but from the help she was getting from her fellow Finders, it didn't make too much of a difference. Still, Lavi felt a small inch of worry tack on to the long line of fears.
"It's about time you got here!" Lavi shouted, giving Esperanza a leg up onto the Giant Akuma's leg. He jettisoned after her with a quick extension of Little Hammer's handle, and Esperanza quipped back shakily, "Better late than never." Esperanza's coat suddenly morphed around a single hand, and claws took the place of her fingers. She slashed at the Akuma, and a rent opened in its hip. The Akuma swatted towards Esperanza, and she almost didn't get out of the way. Lavi yanked her back with the head of his hammer, catching her with a single arm as he swung down on top of the Akuma's hand. It shattered and cracked, several fingers falling off.
"Careful," he breathed peevishly in Esperanza's ear, and she chuckled deep in her chest.
"I can try," she said, obviously joking. 'Careful' was hardly in her vocabulary now that she was unleashed and weaponized. Esperanza went on the rampage again, and the two of them worked in tandem while the Finders below tangled rope around the legs of the massive behemoth. Bookman led that front easily as the sword-wielding Exorcist came back to finish what he'd started, and with all participants it seemed the battle would be over within a few minutes. Now if Lavi could just ignore the mental ghost tailing him...
"Ready?" Bookman shouted to Lavi and Esperanza. The two of them scrambled off of the Akuma, and it flailed as the ropes around its leg tightened. When the two Exorcists were finally on the ground, Lavi situated himself away from the battle. He gagged as he slid in a pile of bodies, tripping over a corpse. He looked up and tried ignore the smell (and the memories accompanying said smell). Despite his best efforts mental images of dead, decaying things kept popping up in his mind, upsetting his already unhappy stomach. Through sheer will, he tamped it down. He shouted back to Bookman, "Ready!"
"PULL!" Bookman shouted, gesturing from afar to the Finders. With a single, great heave all of the Finders pulled in two directions, and the Akuma began to topple. Lavi ran to Bookman, and the elderly fighter said, "There's not enough rope. We need another shove, or else it won't fall." Lavi scratched his head as he watched, and he suddenly smiled.
"Just a shove?" Bookman raised one, non-existent eyebrow at the redhead as he took off, Esperanza hot on his trail and already guessing at his intentions. Esperanza took up three of the ropes, wrapping them around her arms and pulling back with all of her might. Lavi ran past with a quick salute, and she nodded as she strained. The Finders, emboldened by the Exorcist's help, tugged even harder, and the sword-wielder took up the same stance as Esperanza, taking on five ropes rather than three.
Lavi put himself behind the Akuma, looking up at the massive knee joint, and he sighed. He focused intently before finally invoking his second seal.
"Goka Kai Jin: Hi Ban!" he chanted, and a massive snake of flame hurtled as he slammed his hammer into the Fire seal. The Finders almost fled in fear, but they held their ground, and Lavi directed the snake to slam into the backs of the knees of the Akuma. The joints charred at the bit of the flame snake, and it made popping noises as the Dark Matter disintegrated at the heat of Innocence. It roared and fell with a great reverberating crash, and the entire entourage cheered with a mighty sound. This colossus had been the last of the Akuma - the others had been seen to and defeated, albeit at a high cost. Lavi recalled his fire snake, and it dissipated to smoke. Suddenly exhausted, Lavi smiled wearily at the Finders swarming around him and the other Exorcists who'd participated in bringing down the behemoth that lay at their feet. It was already being finished off by the sword-wielder, the head quickly being cut off to ensure that it didn't suddenly get back up and resume its attack.
"Good work," Bookman said gruffly as people patted Lavi on the back. He glanced up, a smile stretching on his face as he swayed on his feet, and a compassionate Finder drew away the crowd gently.
"Come on, come on, let the man breathe," the tan-suited Finder suggested, pushing them back, and Lavi nodded in thanks to the man. The Finder flashed him a slightly gap-toothed smile, and he nodded in response. The crowd started to scatter as the men and few women began to work. There was much to be done. The dead had to be identified, whether by the tags left behind by those who'd been dusted or the corpses in piles around the atrium. The debris had to be cleared away. Most of all, this floor needed a good scrub, though it'd take a fortune to find anyone willing to get rid of all this bacon grease and corpse-dust.
"I'm going to check on Alonzo. You stay here and document. I better not be finding you taking a nap," Bookman warned, pointing a finger at Lavi. The redhead held up his hands innocently, and he asked, "Now, when have I ever done that?" Bookman shook his head, and he began to hobble towards a hallway, skirting the heaps of dust, ash, and rubble. Lavi watched the old man go fondly, noticing that Bookman was walking with an ever-so-slight limp. He wasn't a spring chicken any more, that was for sure.
Lavi walked towards Esperanza, who was getting her fair share of praise. She must've led most of the Finders out of the lower levels from the looks of it, along with Teo who stood only a bit of a ways off from her. No doubt they'd been at each other's throats the entire way, but they'd managed to make it, and that was all that mattered. Lavi took a deep sigh, regretting the action as bruises around his rib cage stretched. He might have even bruised a few ribs in the fighting itself. He made a mental note to get that checked out. For now, he just wanted to lay back and do nothing, but an idle mind was dangerous.
"We did good, eh?" Lavi said, sticking out a hand towards Esperanza. It'd been such a long time since they'd fought together. It was refreshing to know that they could still accomplish something as a team. Esperanza eyed Lavi's hand suspiciously as if he'd snatch it back the minute she grasped for it, but nevertheless she took it in a firm grip. Her mouth stretched into a smile as she nodded. That was enough for her. Words weren't needed.
Lavi saw it a moment too late. Esperanza had moved after hearing her name called, shifting her stance so that she was leaning away from Lavi. Had she stayed in that position, she might not have survived.
The Bookman Junior watched it all happen in slow motion, unable to react fast enough. First, the metal tip penetrated the cloth with a razor sharp tip before slicing through the skin. It broke and splintered the sternum, pushing its way into the chest cavity. The point punctured the left wall of the heart, nearly slicing through one of the arteries as it tore a lung. The tip blasted through the scapula, breaking off a part of it, before exiting through his back.
All this damage in a matter of seconds. In a way, Lavi could appreciate it. It was beautiful and terrible. An artwork of destruction.
Tchok.
The sick noise of something solid going through flesh went largely unnoticed in the atrium. Esperanza, oblivious, walked right past Lavi as he stared at the long piece of wood jutting out of his chest. She jabbered away in Spanish at someone as Lavi touched the spear with a look of astonishment, idly wondering if this was another hallucination. After several seconds, it became very apparent that this was not a hallucination. The redhead breathed in, and a rasping, rattling noise echoed in his lungs before he coughed blood, spraying red over his chin and falling over sideways. Pain lanced through his chest in a burning forest fire of epic proportions. Blackness crept upon his vision in smoky rings.
Esperanza heard the sound of a body hitting the floor, and she looked back casually before staring at the downed Exorcist. It dawned on her that something was wrong before she glimpsed the shaft of a spear poking through his clothes.
"LAVI!"
Bookman heard his apprentice's name, or what there was of one, and he turned around with a frown. That was not an angry tone of voice. If anything, it had been panic -
The old warrior was struck stupid by the sight of his student on the ground, a spear sticking out of his back. He moved faster than he had in years, racing between people and rubble to reach his target. Esperanza was already enlisting the help of several people as she tried to pull herself together. Bookman assessed the damage with an acute, serious eye. This was going to be messy to fix, and it would probably resort to magical procedures as well as medical. The more time they spent just standing here doing nothing was time wasted, Lavi's time. Bookman pushed away the terror and blind, animal confusion, trying to reach clarity. He had to get this straightened out. He pointed to several Finders and the sword-wielder.
"You, you, you, and you. Carry him. We need to go to the chapel. Be careful with him, don't drop him, and don't you dare touch that spear. Esperanza, keep his head and back straight if you can. Ready - heave!"
As a single unit, they began the long, almost eternal journey to the chapel. Almost immediately, Lavi let loose a blood-chilling scream, but the old man motioned for them to keep moving regardless. They ignored his moaning and crying as they shuffled through the battlefield. Bookman took Lavi's pulse, checked his dilation, and tested his cognition with simple questions. He had treated worse wounds, but the prognosis wasn't good. Even after just a few moments, Lavi's blood pressure was dropping from internal bleeding. His eyes were still dilating, which meant he had no brain injuries, but that could very well change if he lost too much blood. They'd need to get a transfusion going before long. The poor boy could hardly answer questions about his own name. They were going to lose him if they didn't act fast.
They disappeared into the entrance of the chapel, blessed and cursed with a sort of silence that allowed them to hear every single labored breath and pained shout issuing from the dying man, and Bookman fell behind as the full weight of what had happened settled on him.
He kept going, glancing up at the stained glass window as if to ask God for mercy. They were going to need all the help they could get.
They laid him down on the altar on his side, and the sword-wielding Exorcist, a young man only a few years older than Lavi, cut both ends off the spear at Bookman's behest. The elderly scholar sent off several more Finders to get bandages, water, thread, and any anesthetic they could scrounge up from the Infirmary. Now that they were in good lighting, or as good as lighting could get coming from the stain glass windows, Bookman took a real look at the wound. Esperanza and the sword-wielder held Lavi down under Bookman's instruction, though it appeared that both were so tired that they themselves might end up moaning at the altar as well.
Bookman began the gruesome work of exposing the wound. The shaft had not splintered, thankfully. It would come out clean. It was a small spear, only a few centimeters in diameter. Still, pulling it out would be dangerous. It was more than likely Lavi was only alive because it was jammed all the way through. His body's blood pressure was kept as level as possible because it blocked the arteries from bleeding out. The thing that was killing him was also saving him.
The Finders came back after Bookman deliberated how best to go about the problem of fixing his young student, and he had the feeling that he'd have to send away the more squeamish. He looked up at the people surrounding the altar, and he asked seriously, "How many of you have weak stomachs?" Two or three raised their hands.
"Leave." They immediately went, not needing to be told twice. The remaining looked nervous now, but they stood their ground. Bookman pointed at one of the Finders, a young man with a mustache and a black eye that he recognized as the messenger Lavi had received.
"Hold his head and calm him down. Once I give him anesthetic, it will be easier," Bookman commanded, and the man did as he'd instructed. Esperanza and the sword-wielder continued to hold Lavi down as the redhead began panicking. Bookman delegated another Finder to help keep him still. By now a veritable ensemble of people were gathering at the fringes of the steps the altar was built atop, perplexed at what all the hubbub was about while so many others were also dying. Bookman ignored them, wiping sweat off his brow.
"I'm going to pull this shaft out of him, and he will immediately buck and scream. Whatever you do, I want you to hold him down and ignore it best you can. If you're not up to it, get out of here. I need that needle and thread handed to me quickly, and I need someone to plug whatever arteries and veins that may have been pierced while I tie them off. We need to work fast, very fast," Bookman said. He recounted the spells he knew in his head, trying to pick the right incantations that would keep the wound free of blood, dust, and debris. It would be a shame if Lavi survived a spear through the chest only to die of infection a few days later.
Finally feeling like he'd never be more ready than he was now, Bookman took the anesthetic they had on hand. It was a small vial of morphine, and Bookman sighed with relief. He had thought they'd only had smaller types of painkillers on hand, but this would more than do the job. It would take several minutes, almost thirty minutes, for it to absorb, though, and that was what worried Bookman. They might not be able to wait that long for it to kick in.
He took a needle and injected the opiate into the man's arm. He took a deep breath, muttering incantations under his breath. He felt a shift in the air, and he knew that the magic was taking effect. That would take care of infection, major heart problems, and other more serious medical issues while Bookman did his work. The magic would only stay so long, though, and Bookman was old - he wasn't sure how long he could keep up spells like this. Cracking his knuckles, Bookman began to count.
"One...two...three." In contrast to his calm countdown, Bookman yanked the entire shaft out of the Exorcist's chest, and some of the Finders almost broke away and screamed as blood followed. The blood magically stemmed, but there was still quite a bit that was flowing from the broken artery. The heart was exposed, now, but it was dark and hard to see. On top of that, Lavi was now kicking and screaming as Bookman had predicted. Esperanza was clocked in the face with a knee, and the sword-wielder slammed himself on top of the other man to keep him from flailing.
Bookman went off at a lightning fast pace, binding the pierced artery with string before moving on to something else within the body, knitting the flesh together as he went with more spells. Magic could only do so much, though, and Bookman winced as he realized that he'd need someone to pinch off the artery he'd just tied while he worked on Lavi's heart. If they didn't finish soon, he'd go into shock. Already he was paler than the white sheet on top of the altar.
"Esperanza, hold this," Bookman commanded, nodding to the artery. The young woman looked up, completely surprised, before becoming apprehensive for all of a second. Fear and uncertainty flashed on her face, and Bookman was momentarily afraid she'd bolt. Instead, she came over and did as Bookman told her, biting her lip as she visibly began to turn green underneath her dark complexion.
Another ten minutes went by, and Bookman had Lavi sewed up entirely. The entire ordeal had lasted all of half an hour. The Finders and Exorcists looked at each other, realizing there was nothing more to do other than drug up the man as much as they could without killing him and pray as hard as they could manage.
Esperanza immediately shuddered and began to walk away with a slight sway. Two other Finders staggered off with shell-shocked faces while the sword-wielder collapsed to his knees in front of the altar, leaning against it despite the blood and dust. Bookman wiped his face, smearing it with blood as he listened to Lavi moan. He'd be in intense pain for quite a while longer, but the morphine was beginning to set in. Hopefully Morpheus was kind enough to give him good dreams.
What was done was done. It was in God's hands.
"I missed," Ofelia said as she skidded down the rooftop. She'd come out through the rafters before they could realize what had happened. For a moment she'd been afraid she might not make it, but then she'd remembered a secret passageway meant to cart important bishops away from harm. Funny how it had been used by a murderess intent on destroying the very people the passageway was meant to protect.
"You missed? What do you mean, 'you missed'?" Ofelia bit her lip to keep herself from smiling. Oh, it had been exhilarating! She hadn't had such a difficult and creative problem since that Frenchman who lived in Buenos Aires with the attack dogs throughout his property.
It had been deceptively simple to remedy her problem. All she'd had to do was take a spear off of a dead Finder, dress in his clothes, and waltz as close as she could manage. The spear throw had been difficult, and she'd meant to spear the bright-coated woman as well as the man in front of her, the redhead who'd killed her father, but she was more than happy to have just the redhead. Justice was meted out to the wicked, and those good souls were rewarded for their efforts. She'd bopped a poor other Finders on the head who was in plainclothes, stripped him, and dressed him in the clothes she'd stolen. Voila!
She tried not to chuckle as she said, "I was aiming for the woman in the coat, but I ended up hitting the person in front of her. I couldn't find another spear, and if I'd stayed any longer I would've been found out. And you'd told me to keep an eye on the redhead anyways."
"Yes, because I'd wanted him alive." She'd already guessed that.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love with the kid," Ofelia said with a slight laugh. She dropped onto another roof, and she began down the fire escape on the side of the building. The earring crackled before Lulu said, " Hardly. We needed him, though. I'm disappointed. I guess this means more work for us. There was only one of him, after all. There is the off-chance that he didn't die, and I'm hoping that is the truth. You, on the other hand, may not be able to repeat your mistake twice." Ofelia narrowed her eyes. She knew all too well what that phrase meant. However, the young girl wasn't without her merits. She had been digging a bit, and she knew just why they wanted that little mite with his brain intact.
"Well, that's too bad then. I was hoping to get that old man, too," Ofelia said. There was a pause.
"I wasn't aware an old man had arrived. Are you talking about a robed scholar with a ponytail?" Ofelia smiled. Snakes knew how to survive.
"Oh, yes, that's the one. He was hauling off the redhead along with some other goons," Ofelia stated offhand. Lulu Bell chuckled.
"You think you're clever. Congratulations - you might actually be useful for a while longer. After all, I need eyes to keep a firm watch on them, and I recall you telling me that you had a fondness for redheads. I trust you'd keep a very keen gaze on the boy if he survives."Ofelia laughed at that. If he survived, yes, that was true. Ofelia had a thing for survivors. They almost always had a dark, troubled past, and more than that, they could outlast her. Still, she wouldn't be too disappointed if he died. She touched down on the ground, and she whipped her hair out of her face as briny air rose to meet her. She suddenly felt her heart flutter in her chest, and Ofelia's eyes widened. She leaned against the wall, taking shallow breaths. Shaking, she took a small box of pills out of her pocket and hastily popped a white circle into her mouth. Her heart continued to dance arrhythmically in her chest.
"Oh, and another thing. Remember..." Ofelia was suddenly aware that there was someone behind her.
"You only live once," Lulu Bell said in her ear, walking past the girl. The assassin's eyes widened as she watched the woman walk off. She hadn't even heard her footsteps. There'd been no indication that Lulu Bell should've been there, and yet she appeared as if she'd been whisked from the very air itself. Suddenly much more reluctant, Ofelia followed behind the Noah, looking back.
It was just her imagination, but she couldn't help thinking that for a moment Death had breathed in her ear and only by grace had she been spared.
He'd sat there for more than seven hours. Once a steady supply of morphine had begun flowing through the chapel, Lavi had gotten first priority as an Exorcist. Bookman knew that the young apprentice would've protested this decision, but seeing as he was in no shape to complain Bookman had taken advantage of it. For the first three or four hours, Lavi had writhed on the altar while Bookman had made him comfortable as possible. Bookman felt helpless watching him plead to make the pain go away, and he did the best he could to alleviate what agonies he could. They'd given him several blood transfusions, and they were beginning to run out of donors. Even Esperanza had volunteered, but she'd already been so injured as it was from the integration process she'd undergone that it was more likely to kill her.
Lavi was currently in a comatose state, and he'd been that way for the past half-day. Bookman knew that the longer he stayed asleep, the lower his chances of survival became. He stood up from his chair next to the altar, and he stood over the young man. He took a single gnarled hand and brushed some of the hair out of his student's face.
He'd known Lavi since the day he'd been chosen. Every step of the way, he'd been there to lead and guide him. He'd shaped Lavi into the man he was today, and he could say that he hadn't done half bad. He just wished that he'd shown it better. Bookman lightly brushed a thumb over Lavi's forehead, feeling the dry, cool skin. At the least he didn't have a fever. That was a good sign.
Bookman found himself going over all of Lavi's features as the young man slept. He knew every pock, scar, and bump on the boy's face. He remembered where every single mar had come from, be it a hoof to the face from an ornery mule or a piece of shrapnel that hit him when he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tracing a single scratch on his forehead, Bookman bit his lip as he felt a lump build in his throat. The story of his life was on his face, even if on paper Lavi technically didn't exist. It didn't seem possible that Bookman could lose yet another apprentice. Yet the possibility loomed like a dark sail over them, furthered by the passage of time.
A tear threatened the border of his eyelid, and Bookman blinked it away. He wouldn't cry. Tears would do nothing to wake or heal the man on the altar. Despite this, it was hard to keep from letting the tears gathering in his throat spill over. In a rare moment of affection, the elderly scholar took Lavi's hand, gripping it tightly. He ran his thumb over the back of the inert Exorcist's hand, and memories flooded him like a bright spotlight.
Age 7. The boy continues to carry that blasted book. Bookman made a mental note to take it from him and hide it. The redhead seemed to have some sort of supernatural ability to predict when he was about to take it, though, and he hides it so well that Bookman could turn the entire place upside down and never figure out where he put it. He was growing taller, too. Pretty soon Bookman was going to have to buy him new clothes. He grew like a weed! Still, Bookman couldn't say that he wasn't progressing. He was awfully good with memorization, even if he was a lazy little git in the mornings. Feh, children.
Age 9. He's actually doing well. So far he's already started on the histories of Russia and France, and he already has England, Ireland, and India under his belt. Bookman harrumphed as Phillipe flipped through his latest history text. So maybe the scouts weren't such idiots after all. He still has problems with attachment, though he's doing better. Those bombs are a good deterrent, seeing as that child from the next apartment died just last night from an explosion. After witnessing that woman's torture he'd mellowed out, too. In fact, he was a lot quieter now than he had been previously. Bookman felt a moment of sympathy, but he shrugged it off. Better the kid learn to separate himself from what he was seeing now than try and do it later. Phillipe turned another page, and he looked up. The empty green eye watched Bookman, and the elderly teacher walked out of the room.
Age 12. He's finally gotten taller. Bookman sighed. It figured. He couldn't keep using his ponytail as leverage forever, after all. Solomon's gotten good at playing the part of the happy-go-lucky, flippant airheaded child, too. He's definitely good playing ball. Dodging those bullets had really taught him a thing or two. Bookman chuckled darkly at his own gallows humor. With that smile on his face, no one would think there was anything wrong with the kid. He was learning fast, too, making analyses on wars and battles that even older apprentices had trouble with. Dare he say it, Bookman might actually be proud.
Age 14. He's begun to fill out now. He's still pretty awkward, too, seeing as he just had his growth spurt. It came a bit late, and Bookman sighed as he watched Cory wink at some pretty girls. Not only was he a good actor, he was a flirt, too. He should've guessed that. All those hormones all at once - it was a cocktail for disaster. This was the hardest part of the training. His mind would definitely be on other things. "Bookman! Hey, could you hand me that book over there? Yeah, the one with the numbers. Thanks." Bookman noncommittally shrugged. Or, perhaps, maybe not. "Alright, alright, but don't use your smarts just to pick up girls. We've got work to do." That groan of his was just so endearing. Bookman rolled his eyes as he sarcastically smacked Cory up the back of the head.
Something snapped the old man out of his reverie. Someone was standing next to him, hesitant and afraid. He looked back, recognizing the stink of fear as Esperanza looked down with blank, listless eyes at the man on the table. She'd thrown up three times already. Bookman couldn't blame her. It wasn't every day that a woman pinched shut her partner's arteries. She liked to make off she was made of steel, but that was far from the truth. If anything, she was a piece of flimsy tin. Still, she'd lasted this long, and Lavi liked her. She'd stuck by him and helped. Tin wasn't always useless.
"I...I'm sorry," Esperanza hesitantly said, rushing through the last words in heavily accented English. Her voice was thick as she stared at Lavi, almost as if she were at a casket viewing. Bookman sighed to himself, refraining from making a facetious comment. He continued to hold Lavi's hand, pensively running his thumb over each of the digits and storing the feeling away in his own memory manifestation. He wanted every scrap of information about Lavi now, about every feature and sense possible. He'd done that with... well, with the last one, too. He could pull up that one's face easily, like whipping out a photograph from a wallet. If he were a better artist, Bookman would've drawn a sketch of him by now.
"Is there anything I can do?" Esperanza asked, looking awkward and strangely a bit sweet all at once. She was out of place here - it was obvious that mayhem and destruction was her usual locale. The quietude of the chapel fit her like a too-tight suit. Bookman met her eyes, and he looked back at Lavi, half-hoping that he'd open an eye and crack a joke about Bookman getting old and his sewing work being sloppy.
"Not that I know of," Bookman said gruffly. Esperanza pulled up a chair, and she sat next to Bookman. The two of them had gotten along alright, but Bookman had mixed feelings about the girl. She was obviously causing division in Lavi's mind, but at the same time she was helping him with his mental problem. It wasn't an easy decision to make on whether to keep her or not. She also apparently cared for Lavi's well-being, enough to stick her hands in his chest and help Bookman out. That took some guts, pardoning the pun.
"I feel... selfish," Esperanza said quietly, and Bookman looked over at her. The edges of her eyes were tired. Lines were drawn on her face like thin pencil marks dragged through clay. She stared over Lavi's inert form to some far away point. She hadn't cried at all this whole time, and Bookman wondered what was going on in her head. Blue eyes turned like a lighthouse's beam to Bookman, and she said, "All I could think about when we were carrying him was 'that could've been me... that could've been me... that could've been me...' And I couldn't let go of the fact that I could be on that altar instead. That entire time, I was thinking about myself."
Bookman let loose a bark of a chuckle. "That is selfish."
Esperanza lifted an eyebrow, and she took a deep breath.
"Is that why you tried so hard?" Bookman asked, turning away. Esperanza was quiet for a moment, and she fooled around with the edge of her shirt hem.
"Yeah. I guess. After a while I couldn't stand to hear him scream. I had half a brain -"
"Half a mind," Bookman corrected with a mutter.
" - Half a mind to put him out of his misery. You put him back together again, though." She gestured to Lavi, and Bookman felt his heart drop to his stomach.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch. He's far from out of the woods. A million and one things could go wrong," Bookman mumbled, half to himself. He couldn't get his hopes up too high. It was quiet for a long while as the two of the watched Lavi's chest rise and fall, almost seeming to hold their own breath every time he exhaled as they wondered if it would rise again. They'd almost lost him early on when he'd very abruptly started turning blue due to a heart problem. Bookman had fixed it in time with a bit of work, but it had scared them all. A nurse had already brought up a crude version of an IV tube and bag.
"Dadgum, can't hardly move with all this goin' on," a familiar voice said as Darrin clambered up the stairs. He looked up at Lavi and the two people sitting beyond him, and the old guide whistled low.
"Doggonit, he don't look good. Gramps, ya got some mighty fine embroidery right there," the man said, scratching his stubble while he leaned against a long, candle lighter he was using as a makeshift cane. The cylinder on Darrin's back winked in the dying light of the candles around the chapel.
"Thank you," Bookman said gruffly. He put Lavi's hand gently on his chest before sitting down wearily. Darrin sighed through his nose as he watched the young man sleep, and he shook his head.
"Y'know, he done remind me of m'own sons," Darrin said quietly, drumming his fingers against the altar. Bookman gave the impression of being mildly surprise while Esperanza asked incredulously, "Some woman was willing to have children with you?" Darrin made a face at Esperanza. He cast his gaze back on Lavi, and he said, "Yeeep. Got twelve of 'em, though half're dead 'cause a some of the stupid stuff they done. The other half... shew, this'n reminds me of the other half. Sharp as a tack, clean as a whistle, and handsome to boot. They get it from their daddy, y'know?" Esperanza and Bookman simultaneously rolled their eyes heavenward at this comment.
"You done good, raisin' him. He's as fine a feller I ever met. Near 'bout cried seein' him in that much pain. Bookman, you ain't did half-baked with this'n. Be a right shame to see him go off to the Maker," Darrin said after a moment, looking up at Bookman. Ah, so he'd figured it out already, the relationship between Bookman and the redhead. It appeared his brain wasn't thirty percent alcohol. Bookman felt a small glimmer of pride in his chest. Yes, Lavi was a good apprentice. On some counts, he'd been more than just a good apprentice - he'd been a good person. No... he was a good apprentice, and he wasa good person. Bookman couldn't help nursing that hope like a small, single spark. He wasn't dead yet.
"I enjoyed raising him. He's like my own son," Bookman stated almost inaudibly, his face taking on a serious and dark cast as he stared at Lavi. A tear slipped from underneath Lavi's eyelid as the young man subconsciously scrunched his face in pain. Bookman stood up and checked his IV before realizing that they couldn't give him any more morphine without risking either overdose or dependency. Shaking his head, Bookman wiped away the teardrop from Lavi's face, letting his fingers linger. He put in a different painkiller, this one less potent, and he took his seat again by the altar.
The three of them eventually sat down next to the altar and talked the time away. Several people came up to see Lavi and offer help or materials, including the sword-wielder and Teo. Ricardo joined the three with shaking hands and his own chair, and the four seemed to keep a vigil over the redhead until all of them succumbed to sleep.
All the while, the Exorcist on the altar merely breathed, the only sign of life.
A/N: I've been on a writing spree lately, now that I've finally moved on with the plot! Hopefully it continues this way for as long as possible. I've enjoyed writing these last few chapters (which is kind of worrying, considering the content). I'm sorry if anything on the medical detail for the story has been unrealistic or false - I'm going off my knowledge of first aid, what I know about the human body, and good old bullpuckey.
Thank you, thank you to KHFFROKSMISOKS XD for reviewing on the last chapter.
And big thanks to Athena Keating-Thomas for subscribing. Unless... wait, was that last chapter or this chapter? Oh, darn it, I can never remember. The old lady brain is getting to me.
Now for your favorite part: Discussion! Were these scenes too graphic, too intense, or just plain horrible? What sort of feelings did this chapter evoke? Are you enjoying the suspense? Most of this portion of the story is told from Bookman's point of view - how interesting is it from his view point? Describe the relationship between Lavi and Bookman within the context of this story. Let's make you think - why did the Noah attack the HQ in the first place, as it's not a main base and honestly did not have any strategical value? What did you enjoy about this chapter, if indeed there was anything you enjoyed at all? Would you like to see more of any of the smaller, not-named characters in this chapter show up later in the story? From greatest to least, list off your favorite characters thus far in the story.
That's all I've got for you this week. Happy reading, and God bless you!