Story : A Touch of Color in the Gray

Book 1 : Shading the black

Date : January 25, 2018, corrected on 01/12/2021

Beta: Lyra (2017) and Nouilleverte (2021)

Fandom : D Gray Man

Disclaimer: No, I do not own D Gray Man and I am not making any profit from this story.

Summary : Estelle wakes up in the 19th century without really knowing how. Following the movement, she finds herself working as a housekeeper for the Kamelots but this fact spotted by the hostess and becomes her companion, learning in the process that she is in DGM.

Triger of the chapter : uh… little demonic girls in pink? Dolls too I guess ...

Chapter 4: Agent of Chaos

Thursday January 22, 1885

Over a week and a half later, I still hadn't returned the fountain pen to Sheryl and was on my way to keeping it for quite a while. Indeed, a sudden storm had erupted shortly after our return from mass, leaving more snow in its path than I had ever seen. It easily went up to my waist! Another week later, periodic snowfall had consistently kept it far too high for me to hope of making it into town. I could have gone with John since he had to go every day to get fresh produce anyway, but… well it was cold. If I wasn't obliged to go out… Besides, because of the bad weather, Tricia was bedridden, to her dismay. Sheryl's birthday had come and gone and they hadn't been able to go to the Opera for the occasion, as they had previously planned. Instead, they had a little dinner together, followed by some fun in their room. I had to sleep somewhere else that evening, as the old mansion wasn't very soundproof ... I had tried the adjoining room next door but it was so cold that I preferred to hang out at the library where a fire was still burning. I could have lighted one in the abandoned bedroom, you will tell me, but I had never been too comfortable with fire ... Unless I'm at a certain distance from it, but otherwise ... Anyways, the library was comfortable enough and even my delay the next day was okay because anyway Tricia took her morning to recover from her hectic night. I guess, being with a Noah was quite sporty, hu ...

But even with all of that, I should never have prayed for entertainment.

Never.

Because chaos, happy to answer my call, had sent one of its most devoted agents.

That day, Tricia had felt well enough that we were going to eat in the small living room. In the middle of a soup of seasonal vegetables, she began asking me a few uncomfortable questions. "I was wondering, Eve…" She began softly, almost cautiously. "Sheryl told me that you lost your memory after the fire in your village but I was thinking, maybe after a month… do you remember anything?"

I almost choked on my soup, put down my spoon and swallowed hard. Despite almost a month spent in this world (a month!) I still hadn't thought of a story about my story family. Yes, stupid, and I would bang my head against a wall later, but in the meantime… "Just my name, that's all… I don't remember much else…" I replied. before looking down. It was too hard to lie to Tricia when she looked at me with such compassion… What I was about to say made it worse. "I think that, deep down… I don't want to remember…" I whispered, my eyes glued to my spoon. Oh Merlin, there was no way to tell something more teary-eyed than that… Please change the subject!

"Oh, Eve ..." Tricia said sadly, taking my hand and I shriveled a little more in my chair, being too ashamed to tell her stories… But what, I couldn't really tell her: "So yes in fact, I come from another world or I am ma, what suit your fancy. Ah, and your husband, your daughter and all their family are superhumans who want to destroy humanity, that's it! "

Meh, even in my head it sounded bad ...

"It's okay, Tricia" I smiled at her and she squeezed my hand a little tighter. There was an uncomfortable silence between us, only cut off by the loud noises I made while drinking my soup. I hated drinking it with a spoon but, "In Rome, you have to do like the Romans" and all that. At least I already knew a few rules of etiquette thanks to my Grandmother… But even that was treacherous because 'there were differences between the French and English etiquette. Fortunately, Tricia had the patience of a saint and did not hesitate to gently correct me. Although, not currently, as she was still in shock, but she quickly livened up. Too fast to my taste, I didn't want to lie to her again, I needed an excuse… More time to stand up and she would start questioning me about my family… that's it! "By the way Tricia, I wanted to ask you … You have a daughter, do you? I never saw her at the mansion. "

Suddenly, Tricia lit up. " Yes. She is currently staying with a friend of ours with her uncle but she should be back this weekend. She wanted to stay longer with the Duke, but school having started again, we cannot let her stay any longer, it wouldn't be correct. " This week-end ?! Ho no, no, no, I was not at all ready to see her! Sheryl was enough already! But no one was asking my opinion… Holding back a sigh, Tricia startled me by suddenly taking my hand between her delicate fingers. "Ho, I'm sure you will get along very well!" Unfortunately, I don't have enough strength to share playtime with her … But you could, Eve! "

Hmm ... do I have the right to tell her it's not in my contract? Besides, it wasn't even sure, it's not like I'm doing much exercise here, just walking up the stairs to the great hall makes me gasp… Well, anyway, I didn't know if this world was the canon version of -Man, considering I didn't have a lot to compare, but even if it was, it wouldn't change much. Because everyone agrees on one point whether in the manga, the fanfics or the anime: you should never play with Road.

Never.

But hey, it's not as if the person in questionwas present and I had lied enough to Tricia today so… "I would be delighted." I replied with a smile. She gave me a beaming smile in response and before she could ask me anything else, I asked her about the uncle she had mentioned, a little curious to learn more about the famous Noah of Pleasure.

"Oh, yes Tyki. He's Sheryl's little brother, we talked about him last Sunday I think? I don't know when we'll see him though… He's taking care of our friend… especially now that Road is coming back here… The poor duke lost a loved one not long ago and he is in mourning… » She said sadly. "And to think that his son-in-law also passed away last week… I'm worried about him. "

So there I was lost. If the friend they were talking about, Duke Campbell, was the Earl… then who was the loved one in question? A Noah? Urgh, it pissed me off not having the info! I was racking my brains, theorizing who it may be, but in vain… Suddenly, before I could answer, we heard a door slam. Then another and yet another, closer and closer. In the distance, a half-stifled cry of "Young Mistress!" Reached us and I suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"Mother ! A young voice shouted from behind the door before it was opened as well. Without even being able to make out what it was, something pink ran in front of me before pounding in front of Tricia's seat and gently hugging her. "I missed you! Said the one I assumed was Road. But a Road much more… younger than in the manga. She couldn't be more than eight years old. But that wasn't possible, when Wisely's Noah memory awakened, he said she hadn't changed, right? So even now she should look like a twelve-year-old, right?

"Road, my dear, it's been too long!" Are you doing well ? Tricia asked, kissing the little girl who had nestled in her lap. Road nodded. "What about Duke Campbell?" Whispered Tricia.

When hearing those words, Road looked sad. "He's better, but… Well, Uncle Tyki stayed with him." And then she pouted, crossing her arms. "I wanted to stay too, but Grandpa didn't want to, because school has started again and he doesn't want me to fall behind. She mumbled, frowning before noticing me and staring at me curiously. Tricia, noticing her daughter's interest, put her on the floor so she could sit on one of the empty seats and introduced me. "Road, this is Eve Campbell. Sheryl hired herto keep me company. Eve, this is my daughter, Rhodiola Kamelott. "

"But call me Road!" The Noah chirped immediately. Rhodiola? Rhodiola ?! But the little girl didn't even give me the courtesy of panicking over her name, which she was already chaining "Thank you for taking care of mother."

"With pleasure ? I'm happy to meet you too, I've been told many things about you, I… uh… almost have the impression that I already know you. Ah, and, uh, call me Eve too." I told her, my voice a little too high, pushing all the images of Road's "games" manga on exorcists at the back of my mind. It helped a bit that she looked like a really well done cosplay of herself and not a manga character. Even though I would have liked to see what I would look like in a manga… Oh yeah, I can't remember if I ever said that, but the people here looked like normal humans, not manga characters. This is why it is a little difficult to recognize someone. But recognizing Sheryl with his haircut and his monocle or Road with her frilly pink dress and her messy hair wasn't too complicated. Especially if they are introduced to you by name as well.

Fortunately (?) Road spared me a second glance and immediately turned to Tricia. It was obvious that she was already done with me… it's funny, even though theoretically I knew I didn't want Road's attention, I still felt a little disappointed that she was ignoring me that fast ? It still had to be the manga VS reality effect… I knew this person was dangerous but since I had loved the character since I was a child, the two principles did not coexist well together.

"But mother, I'm sure Eve is very capable, but why didn't you take Rosina or Marie for this job?" You've known each other for years, wouldn't it have been nicer? The girl asked and I tilted my head at that, it was something I had already wondered without daring to ask the question. I was far from the only one interested in the answer, however, as the employee who had followed Road also turned her attention to the both of them. It must have been the previously mentioned Marie, I concluded, Road's personal servant like Rosina was to Tricia.

"Oh, it happened like that. You know your father is getting busier and busier with the next election, he was afraid that I would be bored without him and Eve had just been hired at the mansion. We seemed to get along well and he made her an offer to become my full time companion." Tricia replied, giving me a soft smile that made me blush with happiness . It was always nice to feel loved. "What's more, Rosina is so good at her current job and you love Marie, don't you? I wasn't going to take her away from you." And ouch, to say that right in front of said Marie… who could've taken it badly. And she did, pinching her lips before she noticed my gaze on her and looked away. Poor girl…

"Awww, daddy is so considerate!" Road chuckled under the loving gaze of her mother. You could tell that Tricia had missed her daughter. I wondered if the opposite was also true ...

"So, Road, what have you been doing with your uncle for the past few weeks? It's been so long since I last saw you! I want to know everything!" Tricia smiled and Road began to tweet about all her adventures during her absence. Tricia was a picture of a loving mother, nodding and listening intently to her daughter. But quickly, despite her valiant efforts, she began to feel tired and apologized to us with a sorry look. As I got up to accompany her to her room, she raised her hand to stop me. "I can go on my own. Eve, why don't you stay with Road until tea time? I'm sure you have a lot in common. »She said with a smile before slipping away without even giving me time to answer her.

Holding back a moan, I turned slowly to Road who was watching me steadily. "I think your mom is worried about you." I finally let go of her gaze. "It's already the third time she's tried to get me to spend time with you. You haven't… uhh ... lots of friends? "I asked, uncomfortable but mostly curious. That's not really how I would have spoken to an eight-year-old, but it's Road, she must have been something like 40 years of mental age, right?

Road blinked in surprise. "No, the other kids are dumb." She replied simply.

"I can understand…" I mumbled, trying to imagine Road in the middle of a group of children without trying to slaughter them with sharp candles. Um .. "So what do you want to play?" I asked.

" You want to play with me ? She asked, intrigued, as she swung her legs under the table.

" Why not ? I really have nothing else to do and I'm sure it will be more fun than reading Maupassant again." I told her, shrugging my shoulders. I couldn't stop myself from thinking "Careful, this is Road!". But surprisingly, the way she acted made me feel, maybe not comfortable but… relaxed? However I couldn't let my guard down.

"OK. Do you have an idea of games to play? She asked, smiling at me for the first time.

"Hmm, I feel like moving a bit, it's been a long time since I've done some exercise so… You're the cat!" I told her, touching her on the arm and running the other way.

It's a hit or a miss. Either she gets caught up in the game and there's a chance we can have a good afternoon, or she lets me run like crazy and I'll hide in my room to draw. On the other hand, if ends up being the second option, the afternoon tea would frankly be very uncomfortable.

Wait a minute ... Did the cat game exist back then? Worse, even if it existed, it seems to me that it had another name in English… I had it on the tip of my tongue… It! Yes that's it ! But then, did Road get the game, or did I just embarrass myself? Oh no… Maybe I should come back and explain it to her? I stopped in the middle of the hallway, bit my lip and turned around towards the living room when something small and light suddenly pinned me to the floor. Road. She had been silent for the entirety of her chase and while I was just gasping for air from my run, she just sat there on my stomach, without a single messy hair on her head.

"You're the cat ~" She whispered in my ear. Uh. At least she understood what the game was. But I couldn't help but flinch. Hertone was distinctly predatory. This game was not a good idea at all. We had to change. Now.

"You're too fast, Road! I could never catch up with you!" I then suggested a game of hide & seek but I pulled a face when I realized it would be even worse.

Too late, Road agreed with a smile that was a little too broad and told me to count to 30 before running down the hall. I counted down nervously before I got up to look for her. A good 10 minutes later, I found her under the dining room table and we swapped roles after another failed attempt at playing another game. I was trotting down a hallway, searching, in vain, for a hiding place - when I heard a voice say "I'm coming!", which was too close for my comfort. I dropped the search and hurried to the room closest to me ...

... to greet me with a raised eyebrow. Out of all the rooms in that house I had found a way, to end up in Sheryl's office. Merde. Great, it was great. I had done my best to avoid him so far... However, before I could justify myself in any way, Road was heard screaming not far from us.

"Eve ~ wheeeere are youuuu?" I grimaced. Road had a knack for freaking you out with just the slightest sentence. Coming back to the present moment, Sheryl sighed and pointed to a door next to the library before getting back to his work. I blanked for a few seconds, and he had to raise an eyebrow in my direction for me to understand he meant to indicate "go and hide over there". Stammering a thank you without really believing it, I rushed into the small private library and I crammed myself behind an ideally placed cupboard. I did well by the way, because just a few seconds later, I heard the office door swing open and Road talking with her father. "Dad, have you seen Eve? You know, mother's new helper?"

"This is not the time dearest, I am busy." Sheryl said in a decidedly tired but gentle tone.

"But daddy…" Road grumbled. "Okay, okay, I'll look elsewhere. I then heard the sound of footsteps get gradually further away and a door slam.

I waited another good minute before coming out of my hiding spot and opened the door slightly . I peeked through the door crack, "Um, is she gone?" Sheryl, who was still focused on his work, simply nodded at me without looking. I opened the door wider and eased myself into the study before walking towards the office door. With my arms dangling, I waited for him to say something, but he didn't care about much else than his paperwork so I turned to the door to leave. However, as I put my hand on the doorknob, Sheryl casually observed : "It's nice of you to play with her."

"Oh, that makes me happy. It's been a long time since I've taken care of children … "I mumbled before pushing open the door to get away from Sheryl. I really didn't like it when he asked me questions, it felt like he ...

"WHAAAA! Road shouted, jumping on top of me.

"AH! I screamed, falling to the ground. "Merde Road, tu m'as fais peur! "

"Was it French?" Road asked and I noticed that, yes, in my surprise, I had sworn in French.

"I don't know those words…" Sheryl muttered with a curious frown.

I'm surprised that they don't know these words… they were pretty common even then, weren't they? I guess I can imagine that these are not words that nobles are taught, even when they are learning French.

"Um, sorry you surprised me, that was um…" How were we supposed to say dialect in English? "... Sub-language? I don't know the word in English…" The two Noahs looked at each other quickly before Road held out her hands towards me, a giant smile on her face.

"Anyway, I found you, I won!" Road said happily as she helped me up.

"Yes, bravo Road" I said, patting her on the head before freezing in place, realizing that damn! I had just patted Road on the head! I swiftly pulled my hand away, and resumed as if nothing had happened. "... but if you could refrain from jumping on me every time you win I would really appreciate it." I told her, rubbing my lower back excessively.

" What ?! But it's not funny otherwise! Road said, crossing her arms, with a pout on her lips .

"Okay well let's play some calmer games then, or I will not last until tea time." I told her, and turned to Sheryl. "Thank you for allowing me to hide there and my sincerest apologies for barging in." I told him a little embarrassed before rushing off, following Road. Sheryl really gave me goosebumps! Oh, by the way ... "How did you know I was hiding in the office?" I asked Road, genuinely curious, as we walked towards the family rooms.

"Dad always has time for me and he never lies to me! So when he told me he was too busy to give me attention, I figured it was because he saw you and you had to still be there somewhere, but he didn't want to tell." She replied, smiling before grabbing my arm and hastily pulling me out into the hallway. "Come on, let's go play in my room!"

Urgh, Road's bedroom - packed with millions of killer dolls and slaughtered toys…. I shivered and my face turned a little pale . Well, I was the one who said I didn't want to play hide and seek anymore… I guess it was my fault. "Are you French ? Road asked abruptly, with a curious look on her face. "I noticed you had an accent, but I couldn't figure out which country you were from… Ah! I know ! You traveled a lot, didn't you, is that why? "

Hmm, I had visited a few countries with my family but just for a week or two… It surely wasn't the reason why I had that "weird" accent… It hit me hard anyways, me who had always believed that I had a good English accent… "I traveled a bit, that's true, maybe you're right…" I answered not really convinced myself. Could it also be the evolution of language that had this effect? I could manage very well to speak in classic 19th century French, but for English… It was made of half-school, half-fanfic English filled in with ready-made sentences and weird expressions. Of course, I had recently read Old English books, like Shakespeare, from the manor library, but the turns of language hadn't sunk in yet. It is true that all of this must have given a rather confusing result… Before we could continue the conversation any further however, we arrived at Road's bedroom and she hastened to kick the door open and to run inside

The room was… pink.

And surprisingly tidy. I imagined a colorful torture room with bits of dolls lying around here and there… But I'm stupid, the cleaning ladies had to tidy up the room! Tricia and the employees were human, Road couldn't possibly have had a torture chamber in her bedroom ... No, instead, a large four-poster bed with a matching desk was pushed into the left corner of the room, with a huge cupboard taking up the other corner on the same side, leaving all the right side of the room, near the fireplace, occupied by imposing toy chests arranged on a soft carpet. Road had just knelt down in front of one of the chests. She rummaged through it excitedly, forming a pile of toys she was throwing over her shoulder until she suddenly let out a cry of victory while raising her hands in the air which held a small wooden box. The image vaguely reminded me of Link and… Oh Merlin! It finally dawned on me that being stuck here, I would never be able to play Breath of the Wild! Nor Kingdom Hearts III! Is that for real? I had been expecting them for so long… Somewhat depressed by my sudden realization, I dragged my feet into the room before stopping dead in my tracks beside the bed. There was an absolute mountain of stuffed toys on it and I wondered vaguely how Road could manage to sleep in it. I grabbed a White Rabbit with long fluffy ears and a little blue bow around its neck, to take a closer look at it.

"That's Mr Fluffy!" Road exclaimed and I turned to see her sitting patiently on the carpet. "Uncle Tyki gifted it to me for my birthday last year." She smiled at the mention of his name, and I put down the toy, while confirming how cute he indeed was. I sat down in front of Road, being careful not to wrinkle my dress out of nervousness, and the child placed the wooden box from before between the two of us.

"I wanted to have a tea party, but since we will soon be joining Mother to do exactly that… we are going to play toy soldiers instead!" She said, opening the box to show me the little figures.

"Isn't that a boy's game?" I asked in surprise, taking one of the little soldiers between my thumb and forefinger. Personally, I preferred that to dolls, but it was kind of weird considering the extremely gendered era… I didn't think Tricia would approve of that. Besides, I wouldn't have thought Road would be interested in it because of how ... girly she was.

Actually, she liked to have akumas blow themselves up and to kill humans so scrap that ….

"I don't see why it would be just for boys!" We girls have the right to have fun too. She said, pouting. I blinked at that, before smiling happily.

" You are quite right. I would play such games sometimes with my brother and my sister" Although, to be right; it was with legos, and we fought over who was going to have the bathtub and the toilets, but I imagine that it is somewhat similar …

She gave me a beaming smile and began to split the soldiers between two sides , happily telling me how we were going to fight with our teams. Since there was nothing to tell them apart and I really didn't want Road to take me for an enemy, especially for a game, I suggested that we team up. Seeing her puzzled gaze, I smiled and grabbed two soldiers to which I tied a purple ribbon and a pink one. "We're going to create a story um, look, we're two generals of the "Rose" army going from the "City of the Vaults" to the "City of Bed" to bring… hum… precious stones !. I started to explain as I stood up to show her the two 'Cities' and our precious load of stones which looked a lot like small lead balls.

"Unfortunately, the road isn't without danger ! Our two generals have to go through uh…. The Goron Mountains." I say, placing several books against each other to form "mountains". "But also by the marshes of Bionis" I added, grabbing a pink beret that was lying on a chest near me. "And finally, by the Oblivion mansion, in which roams a terrifying creature - the Big Heartless Villain!" I concluded by putting a large porcelain doll in front of an assembly of wooden cubes that vaguely resembled a house.

"And along their way, they can be attacked by evil wild animals!" Road added suddenly, going to look for wooden animals in one of the chests and starting to place them all over the path.

"Exactly !" I replied, relieved to see her happily playing along. I noticed a dice, and grabbed it: "To fight animals, you have to do four or more with the dice, otherwise they take two life points from us." So we have, uh, twenty health points each, and the Heartless has forty. "

Road nodded, intrigued by this way of playing and we started. The beginning was a bit laborious, she hadn't understood the life point system well, but after three evil toy animals were slaughtered, she really started having fun and I added challenges here and there, not being too sure if I had given too many or not enough life points.

" Oh no ! The mountain is so steep that our soldiers advance half as fast and the wild animals catch up with us! I said, looking at our poor tin soldiers desperately before turning to Road. "What can we do, General Road ?!" "

"Um, we have no choice, we have to bring these materials to the city of Bed… Let's place all the horsemen carrying the precious stones in the middle, the infantrymen will surround them and fight the wild animals!" She said in a deep voice as she moved the little soldiers.

After many adventures and the death of many brave soldiers in the pink swamp ("General Road, this color is not natural, it takes away our life points!" "Let's hurry, General Eve!") The troop finally arrived in front of the doll Maleficent. Grabbing it, I got behind the cube house and made it move in a twangy wicked voice. "Generals of the Rose Army, you've made it this far despite my obstacles, but you won't get any further! Suffer, you poor mortals, I am the demonic doll Muahahaha! "

"We won't let you, Maleficent doll! We, the Rose Army, will arrive in Bed Town with our load!" Road shouted, waving the little generals with her hands.

"It is all bravado, you are almost out of life!" I shouted, pointing at the small group of soldiers with the doll's hand.

And it was true.

Road gritted her teeth. Her brow furrowed, she grabbed the dice forcefully and threw it at the doll. It landed on the doll's face and scored an honorable 5, which was deducted from the boss's life points. Road let out another cry of victory. I smiled, and in turn grabbed the dice to throw it, while being cheered on by Road, but someone knocked on the door.

"What is it, Marie?" Road asked, annoyed, when her employee that I just meeted this morning, walked in. Without any reaction to Road's less than cordial tone, Marie told us that Lady Tricia had been waiting for us in the small living room for ten minutes already. Road grumbled at the unfairness of it all, and she ditched her dolls, making her way to the small living room. I followed her into the room and I was pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by a Tricia in a much better state already.

We were then served tea and Road began to tell her mother animatedly about our party, she was like a frenzied little soldier. Hearing everything I had done from Road's mouth, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous about Tricia's judgment and hid my red cheeks in my cup of tea. "But we didn't beat the demonic doll…" Road complained, her lips forming a pout . Tricia chuckled lightly as she wiped a crumb from Road's cheek under my troubled gaze. A look that quickly faded when the girl turned to me with a hopeful smile. "But we'll continue another time, won't we Eve?" "

Without hesitation, I assured her that we would finish the game another time. I guess I had fun, and Road was not that scary ...

Isn't she ?

The arrival of Road, ta-ta-taaaaaa…

And so, Happy New Year! My predictions for 2017? I will have my baccalaureat with honors thanks to an unexpected 14 in math :) (Edit2021: wow, look like I had a perfect score in divination too XD)

Think about reviews and see you on the twenty-five of next month!