Chapter 4 Part 2 AKA Chapter 8

Getting to know you, Getting Worried About You: Aka Getting to know our Main Character

It was with no small amount of surprise that Ellen found a familiar blue haired girl leaning against a car outside her hotel room Friday afternoon, talking animatedly on her cell phone. The moment those bright eyes spotted her, the phone was hung up and a blue haired blue was causing her to stumble back from the weight of the younger girl hanging off of her.

"Well, hello Rhode, this is a surprise." Ellen intoned drily, "Why are you hanging outside my motel room?" she asked amusedly as she guided the younger girl to stand on her own two feet.

"I'm here to pick you up for my party." Rhode said with a huge grin, bouncing on her heels.

"Party?" even just saying the word made the red head feel tired. She was not up to dealing with people anymore today. Not after the day she just had.

"Yah, I'm throwing another party at the curator's house and want you to come." Rhode explained as she began to lead the way across the parking lot.

"Tonight?" Ellen hemmed, heedful of the youngers reaction as she followed after. "I don't think I would be good company tonight."

"Why, is something wrong?" Rhode asked, turning a concerned gaze up at the elder girl, carefully examining her countenance.

Avoiding the curious gaze, Ellen assured her, "Just a bad day is all Rhode."

"Do I have to beat someone up?" Rhode asked, hands on her hips as she stared down the taller girl, trying and failing to look imposing.

"I don't know if you could, being so short and all." The red-haired girl joked, ruffling blue hair playfully.

"Hey!" at the protest from the younger Ellen chuckled, holding her hands up in a faux surrender.

"I'm really not up for a party tonight Rhode." She informed her friend with a self-deprecatory smile, trying to brush it off with as little fuss as possible.

"Do you wanna do something else instead?" was the return question, interested dark eyes staring up at her as the younger latched on to her hand. "Do you wanna come to the store with me, help me get some last minute supplies?"

"I don't know, I think I just want to blow off some steam…" trailing off the scarred girl looked over the car parked in front of her motel room. "Where are the twins, how come they aren't driving you around?" the car was too nice to belong to the other teens, and she could see a glimpse of sunglasses and blonde hair in the front seat, probably Lulubell if Ellen had to guess.

"The twins were supposed to be picking up stuff, but who knows if they are actually doing their job." Rhode muttered peevishly, then seemingly brushing off the bad mood she grinned up at Ellen. "Come on, come with me!"

"I don't want to Rhode-"

"Well I want you too, so you are." Rhode said cheerfully, skipping along and dragging the other girl towards the car.

"Can't we just hang here at the motel?" Ellen whined, tugging back on the others hold, to no avail.

"No, no motel room." was the quick proclamation from the other. Too quick, oddly enough…but before the red-head could ask what Rhode had against the motel, she found herself shoved into the backseat and her escape closed and locked behind her.

"Rhode!" Ellen cried as she tried opening the door, "Just let me stay here!" she begged as the younger climbed in to the front seat.

"Nope, nope, nope," Rhode wagged a finger at her as she leaned over the center console "you need to have some fun once and awhile!"

Pouting Ellen leaned back in her seat, casting an irritated glare at her supposed friend before turning her gaze out the window. "Couldn't I have at least changed out of my uniform?"

"No, cause I think it looks cute!"

"Rhode." Ellen groaned, covering her face with her hands, but not before the other saw the light dusting of pink across her face and jumped on the chance to tease her for it. No matter how much Ellen insisted, the other continued to point out that short skirts and tight shirts were quite flattering on her. Since she couldn't win the argument, knowing next to nothing about what was flattering or not flattering on her, Ellen let the other chatter away about outfits and costumes she would love to see the red-head try out.

An hour later the two girls were finally dropped off at the cemetery where they had first met, bags of snack food and a few party supplies in hand, a newly introduced Timcampy fluttering around their heads now that he was freed from the confines of a school bag.

Energy fully spent, Ellen could barely handle the twins as they came bouncing out to meet the girls, excited in their own ways to see that Rhode had convinced the scarred girl to come along.

"Uh, guys, I'm just gonna… you don't need me to help set up, right?" Ellen stuttered out, taking a few steps back from the rambunxious teens.

"Well, no," Rhode drew out the words, studying the other girl, "Are you all right?" She asked, concerned.

"Yah, sure, I just need some time to myself, that's all." Ellen mumbled, looking away from the other's intense gaze.

"Okay!" Snagging the bags from her hands Rhode shoved them at the twins, "Let's go set up." She led the way towards the front door of the curators home. "Don't be late, or I'll come drag you back!" she called out merrily as she disappeared inside.

"Yah, yah, I got it." The muttered words weren't loud enough to be heard, but Ellen brushed that off, sure Rhode was going to keep checking up on her one way or another.

Taking a deep breath in, her eyes fluttered closed and she let herself sink into the feeling of being outside- the sounds of the leaves rustling from the wind, a few bird calls singing out from the trees, the smell of dirt and that autumn air, let it all surround her.

Silver eyes blinked open once again, zeroing in on shadows that only she could see, clinging to graves.

Time to get some work done.

/Rhodes POV

Placing the last of the silver ware into one of the red solo cups, Rhode's movements were arrested by a very familiar feeling washing over her.

Glancing around the room she saw her cousins in the same place they were five minutes ago, still fiddling with the speakers and stereo they had dragged from their house. Really, if they used it so much at home, why was it taking them so long to set the music up?

But that wasn't the issue right now.

See, if her cousins weren't the ones messing with the spirit world, then who else could be? The party wasn't going to start for another half an hour, and no one was ever early to this little revelry. So who…

Wait, Ellen hadn't come back from her walk yet, and the feeling was coming from somewhere out in the graveyard, but what could that girl be doing that it felt like a door was opening?

"Jasdevi," Rhode began slowly, taking a few steps over to the window. The twins didn't hear her, but it didn't really matter either. "I'm going to get Ellen. Remember not to set up the usual trap, all right."

"You can't leave, help us!" Jasdero whined, holding out the cords beseechingly.

"If you had stopped arguing over the stereo when I first told you off, you would have gotten it working already." The dark haired girl pointed out as she started for the door.

"Rhode!" Jasdero wailed, but it was his brother who cut him off this time.

"Stop Jas, shes obviously worried about something." Devit said as he hit his brother on the head, snagging the wires from his hands and working on untangling them.

"I'm not worried, per se," stopping with a hand on the doorframe the girl looked over at the twins she had grown up with, who were watching her curious and confused, "I have a feeling I'm about to learn something new about Ellen." She said with a self-satisfied grin before removing herself from the doorway and stepping out into the night.

Rounding the house she kept her eyes open for any sign of the other girl, hoping she hadn't gone too far into the graveyard. Rhode didn't exactly know her way around the farther parts, since she rarely left the comfort of the curators house. Usually there wasn't a need to- they preferred their prey to come to them after all.

With nothing catching her eye Rhode decided to choose a random direction and go. At least if she kept the house in her sight she could tell how far she had walked.

Walking out of the light of the house and into the shadows reminded her of something… oh, right It felt like the first time they met Ellen. Though it had been less than a fortnight since that night, she had never asked her new friend what exactly she had been doing among the graves where they found her. Or what had made her so tired that she had slept for hours beneath the trees. It hadn't been for lack of trying though: it was almost a game now, the twins and Rhode asking what business the red head had in graveyards so late at night. Whenever she called she slipped a hint into the conversation at least once, and when the twins managed to drag her out for that one trip to get pizza together, they had been less than subtle about their own questions. Ellen was good at keeping her secrets though- too good sometimes.

By now Rhode had begun to wonder if she would find her friend anywhere near the house. She had walked the circumference of the graves lit up by the porch lights and hadn't felt or seen any hint of the other girl. In all honesty, she had expected to find the red head lying under the branches of the trees again, but when she reached the end of the light shining from the party, she realized she had already passed that point.

But, after five minutes more of walking in a random direction, she was surprised as she felt a fading flicker of a spirit nearby. How in the world were there so few entities in a graveyard? Turning in a circle dark eyes gazed over the shadows of the cemetery, opening her mind to any hint of a door to the other world. An inkling of suspicion towards her red-haired friend was beginning to seep into her mind. The other was an exorcist after all- it wouldn't be a far cry to think she had something to do with the decrease in the presence of the spirits. If it was her innocence though, Rhode knew she would have-ah wait, there!

To her left Rhode finally caught another trace of that feeling that first caught her attention. It was similar to the way her doors felt, but pure, much purer; she could imagine it as a glow rather than the seeping shadows that her own powers brought up. It was almost drowned out by a presence Rhode did expect, but not so thick and concentrated; if she didn't know better, she would say it was like a gathering of spirits. But that couldn't be…though honestly this wouldn't be the first time Rhode came across the other girl surrounded by shadows.

Quickening her footsteps the dark haired girl swung her way through the graves, looking all around for any glimpse of another person. Unfortunately, she didn't see the red-head, but she did trip over her.

"Oomph."

"Ah!"

Surprised to hear a sound she hadn't made Rhode scrambled to push herself up on her knees, looking around for whatever made the noise. It was kind of hard to make out the other person in the rather thick darkness, but pulling out her phone and shaking the flashlight on certainly helped a great deal.

"Rhode, what are you doing out here?" the anxious exclamation sounded out as soon as the phone screens glow lit up her face, and the dark haired girl was quick to turn the light towards the voice.

"Ellen, why are you sitting against that grave?" Rhode asked, figuring the question from the other girl was more rhetorical than anything, since the answer was pretty obvious.

Holding up a hand to block the sudden glaring light, Ellen grimaced, "it was convenient." She said quickly.

Well, Rhode definitely didn't believe that for one second.

Placing her phone on the ground between them to keep the space lit up, Rhode was able to take a second to observe her friend. Ellen probably hadn't realized it, but she was trembling hard enough that the dark haired girl noticed even in the dark. Even as she watched, the other was slowly spreading out again, having retreated to a fetal position apparently when her solitude was disturbed. That, together with her hasty response to Rhodes questions, made her worry all the more about what was going on with her red-headed friend.

Rhode placed her hands on her hips in what she hoped was an intimidating stance. "Ellen Walker, you will tell me what you are doing out here or so help me I will make you play spin the bottle this time."

For a moment the other girl seemed completely thrown off by this declaration, but then she dissolved into giggles, trying to smother the sound with a hand over her mouth.

"I mean it Walker, I will drag you back to the house this instant to play if you-"

"But no one is here yet Rhode, who would play?" Ellen asked amidst giggles.

Smiling herself now, Rhode dropped the act, deciding on a new tactic. Crawling across the grass she got right up in the other girls face, studying her carefully. Ellen didn't seem alarmed or wary of this closeness, though she was obviously curious, tilting her head to the side in a cute manner. So she must not have been trying to hide anything. She did seem a bit more tired though, but maybe that was just the late hour? And she was still trembling, though it was much more faint than a few moments before; was she just exhausted?

Deciding to go with a soft approach, Rhode sat back on her heels, not taking her eyes from her friend. "You okay?" she asked softly.

The other girls feature's softened in turn and she shared a warm smile with her friend.

"I'm fine Rhode, I was just taking care of some stuff." Ellen assured her, pushing herself to sit up straighter, having been slouching against the grave.

"Taking care of how?" Rhode asked, curious now. What could Ellen have been doing to make her so tired?

"By, uh, doing some, um," the next word was mumbled as the other girl glanced down at her hands, seemingly fascinated by her gloves.

"Ellen, why are you so reluctant to tell me what you were doing?" Rhode asked, trying not to let her hurt at this avoidance color her words.

Seems she wasn't so successful because alarmed silver eyes met blue immediately, "No Rhode, it's not like that," Ellen hurried to assure her, "it's just- Cross always says to keep it secret, and that it's not good for me, but, well I…" trailing off into silence, Ellen met the dark haired girls gaze, ostensibly at a loss for words.

"If it's not good for you, why are you doing it?" Rhode asked, worried even more now. What exactly had the red head been doing out here?

"Uh, well, just, I have to do something, but it's not…" Stumbling over the words silver eyes finally looked away from dark blue and a frown worked its way onto Rhode's face.

"Don't you trust me?" the words slipped from Rhode's lips before she could think them over and it was definitely a moment of déjà vu for both girls, and they both reflected on that for a moment, identical soft smiles turning their lips.

When both pairs of eyes met again, Rhode giggled and a deeper smile descended on Ellen's face.

"I do Rhode." Ellen assured the other softly, glancing down at her hands momentarily before looking back at her friend warily. "Do you think you could keep a secret for me?" She asked delicately, fingering the glove on her left hand nervously.

"Of course." Rhode readily agreed, laying a hand over her friends.

Turning her hand up to clasp the offered sign of support, a trembling smile settled on Ellen's lips.

"This, isn't something that people are supposed to know," her gloved hand flexed around Rhodes, tightening and loosening their grip, "and really," Ellen's voice picked up the same trembling as her hands as she began to descend into rambling, eyes dropping to their clasped hands, "it's part of why we came back here and Cross never knew anyone else who could do this, and he thinks it is unsafe but I'm-" abruptly the other girl halted her tirade as Rhode completed the pile of limbs in her lap, cupping their clasped hands in hers and giving a squeeze of encouragement. Looking up with a sharp breath, silver eyes met dark blue steadily, "I'm helping them Rhode, and I-it just feels right, to help them in a way that only I can."

"How?" Rhode asked softly when it seemed Ellen didn't know where to continue from there, gaze downturned and focused despondently on their connected hands.

"I," another pause, and this time the silence was utilized to separate, Ellen shaking off the others touch. "I cleanse them." The red-head explained simply, working at the glove on her left hand until it slid off, before holding up that hand, palm facing herself.

Already knowing that the other had something to hide, Rhode couldn't remember what it was she had been expecting when she finally saw what was underneath. Red skin, reminiscent of burns but oh so much thicker and damaged, revealed itself, disappearing under the edge of the sleeve of her school jacket. It must have gone up her arm quite a ways, as there seemed to be no break in the mutilation, no sign of smooth, clear skin on the bit of the limb that was in view.

The obvious questions sat on the edge of her tongue, waiting to roll off into the silence of the graveyard, but Rhode couldn't let them be said. Not when she knew that her own curiosity was answer enough for why Ellen hadn't shown her before. Who would ever want to face all those questions?

Dragging her eyes away from that sight, Rhode met shimmering, trembling, silver pupils; Ellen was anticipating her reaction, waiting for the blows or the abandonment. It was obvious in how anxious she was and how she was tensed, ready to flinch at the slightest movement.

Damn humans and their despicable behavior.

How many times had Ellen been judged for a deformity that she didn't choose?

Because Rhode knew from one look that this wasn't something that happened to her friend, no fire did this, or weird experiment. The glowing cross in her hand, that speck of innocence that she had felt the first time they met, that is what made her hand this way.

Squishing all that anger and indignation together into a ball and shoving it to the back of her mind, Rhode leaned on her determination to comfort her friend.

Wordlessly she reached out and grasped her innocence infected left hand, never looking away from Ellen's tumultuous gaze.

"Rhode," Ellen began, trying to pull her hand away. Before the other girl could say something demeaning about her hand, she tightened her grip and kept a smile on her face.

"This is your innocence, right?" she asked; simultaneously accepting and disregarding any notions Ellen may have that Rhode was disgusted by her innocence.

Immediately she was met with the question of "You know what innocence is?"

"I know a lot of things Ellen." Rhode stated sincerely, an air of solemnity around her. Letting her gaze drop to the hand in hers, the dark-haired girl ran her fingers lightly over the skin, marveling at the odd texture. Of course, she made sure to avoid direct contact with the glowing cross on the back of Ellen's hand. So far it hadn't reacted to Rhode's presence, but she didn't want to tempt fate.

During this lull in the conversation, the flapping of wings drew both girl's attention to Timcampy's appearance as he settled onto Ellen's head.

"What did you say his name was again?" Rhode asked congenially, her free hand rising to poke at the golem.

"Timcampy, but he also responds to Tim." Ellen explained, tilted her head back slightly to smile at the balancing little ball. Flapping his wings the golem seemed quite content to make a nest out of the red locks he perched on.

"Anyway," Ellen began confidently, seeming to be more comfortable now (probably had something to do with the golem but Rhode would like to think it was her easy acceptance as well), "This is why I'm at the Black Order." She declared, carefully freeing her hand from the other girls grip. "And if you know about innocence you probably know about how it's used against akuma," a pause and Rhode nodded that this was a correct assumption, "but unlike others, at least as far as I know, Cross never found someone who was also able to…" she trailed off with a sheepish smile as she realized she was rambling again, "Um, well, anyway I purify, um, other…" Gnawing at her lip Ellen seemed at a loss for how to explain herself further, fiddling with her glove.

"Ellen," Rhode leaned forward on her knees to put a hand on the other girls shoulder comfortingly, "You're too tired to explain this right now, we can talk about this later."

"Yah but I need to- I'll just show you." Ellen suddenly asserted, brushing off Rhode's touch.

Pushing her hands against the ground she straightened her back, sitting up tall. Taking a deep breath, silver eyes closed and her trembling left hand rose to lay on her breast, right over her heart.

"Awaken innocence, dispel the darkness on this soul." She chanted, her voice steadier than it had been for the past few minutes, but so soft.

Rhode could only watch as a green glow began at her hand, emitting from the cross the innocence inhabited. It spread from there, sweeping out from her arm and out through her body. If Rhode hadn't been so familiar with the different sides of the supernatural she would have missed the clockwise motion of the cleansing, circling out from feet to brow until it returned to the hand over her heart.

A few blinks later and the glow had faded, leaving an imprint on her vision like sun spots. Even so, Rhode was alarmed as the red head slumped forward, curling over herself.

"Ellen, are you okay?" the anxious question wasn't answered at first, but when the dark haired girl reached out worriedly to her friend she unintentionally drew even closer, enough to hear her whispered assurances.

"I'm ok Rho, I'm ok, it's just tiring." Ellen huffed out, patting the hand griping her shoulder.

"Then why do it?" Was the uneasy question that fell from Rhode's tongue- she didn't like this reminder that her friend possessed a weapon that would make any family member consider her their enemy, and maybe she spoke before thinking, but the other girl's reaction was worrying. Wasn't the innocence supposed to support her? How was tiring her out like this a good thing?

Of course sweet, amiable Ellen didn't take offense to the question, lifting her head enough so Rhode could see her smile, soft and reassuring.

"Because it helps them," the self-assured words made the other teen bite her tongue on the retort just waiting to be voiced, and waited for her friend to continue, "and I can't help them if I don't clear the negative energy from myself."

"You," Rhode paused, studying the red head; she wanted to argue with her friend, make her realize how harmful this practice was, but did she really have the right too?

Anyway, it seemed any lecture would have to wait. Ellen was finally getting her breath back, but she was leaning against the blue haired girl more with each moment, eyes fluttering with exhaustion.

"Hey, no falling asleep out here, I can't carry you back." Rhode said with forced levity to her voice, lightly shaking her friends shoulder.

"Sorry Rhode, I'm good." Ellen assured her, pushing herself to a sitting position and rubbing at her eyes. "It's just," the red head huffed a sigh, "been a long day." She muttered,

"Well then, lets get back to the shack and get one of the twins to give you a ride back to the motel, sound good?" Rhode asked,

"Sounds good." Ellen agreed with a weary smile.

/:/