Story: A Touch of Colour in the Gray
Book 1: Shading the Black.
Date: October 25, 2020, corrected May 2023
Beta: Fluffyluffy(2020) and Nobody (2023)
Fandom: D Gray Man
Disclaimer: No, I don't own D Gray Man, and I'm not making any money on this story.
Summary: After landing in the 19th century, Estelle, taking the name Eve, becomes Tricia Kamelott's lady-in-waiting. Eve quickly becomes aware of the social and gender differences of the time and begins to fear for her future, especially when Road, the twins, Tyki and even Allen arrive. But the exorcist leaves for India and the twins are sent to boarding school. She meets Baroness Lucie Belle, the twins' older sister and her feline counterpart. Unfortunately Tyki and Eve have a big fight but once they sort it out they became closer than ever.
Chapter trigger: Talk about an epidemic
And it's October again! For the third year running, that means there'll be stories in addition to UAPV, NlN and STB! Like one-shots in French AND English, bonuses, our usual Vagabond Vacation chap and all that. In spite of inktober and real life, because really, what's the point of sleeping?
Also, just like the last two years, you can take part too! Now's the time to send me your fan art (which I'll repost/reblog on tumblr with your consent so that all readers can enjoy it) or your most ardent reviews :3
Enjoy your reading !
Shading the Black Chapter 37: Letters and Strolls
Wednesday 13th October 1886
It's funny how, given time, you can get used to anything.
It's a thought that's been running through my head a lot lately, but it was particularly persistent today. Sitting at the dining room table, nibbling on toast with Tyki next to me, Road and Tricia opposite and the Earl presiding over the table, it all seemed very... domestic. But it had become my reality. Something that had been bloody unrealistic just two years earlier.
"Can I have the honey, Road?" I asked and the girl grimaced at me as she pushed the jar towards my hand with a single finger.
"I don't understand how you can eat that." She said in disgust. "Bees spit this stuff out, you know?" She added afterwards, as if that would change my mind.
"And I don't understand how you can eat milk that's so rotten it's become hard, mushrooms are all over it and you can even find worms in it." I replied lightly, letting the honey drip onto my buttered toast with all the seriousness in the world. "Unfortunately, it takes all kinds of peoples to make a world." I smiled at her, glancing down at her plate where a piece of smelly cheese lay.
"Road, Eve." Tricia scolded without looking up from her stack of letters as Tyki discreetly pushed the cheese away from him (and therefore me) to my amusement.
"Sorry, Tricia." I replied obligingly.
"Sorry, mother." Road also said before sticking her tongue out at me, forcing me, of course, to give her my best grimace yet. You know, the one with one eyebrow higher than the other, the white eyes and the shifted jaw. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought it was gorgeous, because an amused snort could be heard coming from behind the newspaper at the end of the table. However, before I could pray that the floor would swallow me, my cheeks flushed that the Earl had seen me, Tricia let out a cheerful sound.
"Another letter, Eve!" She exclaimed with a smile before handing it to me over the table.
"From Allen?" Tyki asked lazily, leaning over to look over my shoulder.
"From Arthur?!" Road exclaimed at the same time, almost crawling on the table to get a better look at the letter.
"Given the lack of stamps, I'd say Arthur." I replied, taking the knife Tyki was handing me to open the letter.
"Eve, Tyki..." sighed Tricia and we gave her an innocent look even as the butter knife peeled away the paper. Frankly, it was clean and did the job very well, I don't see why it was absolutely necessary to use a special letter opener.
"Two suitors?" Asked the Earl curiously and, yes, I supposed that despite our few joint breakfasts over the past year, I had never received any letters at that time. It must be said, I normally only received one a month, my second correspondence was quite new, barely three weeks old and just as many letters to our credit.
"Not at all." I hastened to answer. If we could avoid another discussion about marriage, I was all for it. "Arthur is writing a novel which I have no doubt has potential. We've started a correspondence to discuss it." I added, showing him the thin folded sheet I had taken out of the envelope, before hesitating slightly. Call me paranoid, but I didn't feel right telling the Earl about Allen, even though he hadn't had any particular reaction when Tyki had said his name. "And Allen is like a little brother to me."
"He's apprenticing in India." Tyki added with a strange pride, and I mentally begged him to be quiet.
"In India? You told me he was in China." Road accused with an annoyed pout.
"He was in China, he's in India now." I defended myself, not really wanting to wake up with a pointy candle stuck in my pillow. It had happened before. An accident, no doubt...
"Speaking about the young man, you also have a letter from him." Tricia said as she leafed through the rest of the letters.
"Isn't he early? We only received his last letter a fortnight ago, so he wouldn't have had time to receive ours and reply." Tyki said and we exchanged a worried look.
Grabbing the second letter and leaving Arthur's for later, I cut open the envelope and took out the two little sheets. One for me, one for Tyki. It was much less than usual.
Now clearly worried, I gave Tyki his and scanned through my paper at the speed of light, or at least as fast as I could while deciphering Allen's clumsy handwriting.
Oh.
Mina is the name of Narein's sister.
She was dead after all.
Biting my lower lip, I reread the choppy words a little more slowly. As far as I could make out, Narein's sister Mina had died in an accident. However, Allen said with palpable relief that Narein was now fine. Did this mean that Narein had not become an Akuma? Allen didn't know that I knew about akumas and the Earl, but surely if he didn't announce Narein's death as well, he was still fully human? I hoped that his next letter would tell us more...
"Well?" Road asked curiously.
"Everything's fine, he's just changing location sooner than expected, he's sent us the new address where we can write to him." Tyki replied, taking one last look at his letter before folding it.
"Really? But Eve looks worried!" Road replied and I gasped at the sound of my name.
"Ah, it's just... his best friend's sister passed away, I'm worried about him." I explained with a nervous smile. Hard to talk about these things when the cause of said best friend's possible death was at the end of the table.
"Oh dear, the poor boy." Tricia exclaimed with a sympathetic look. "And he has to go so soon too..."
I made a small, meaningless sound in reply, looking thoughtful.
"Speaking of leaving, we shouldn't delay more." Tyki declared as he put his cutlery down properly, getting ready to stand up.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tricia asked, looking worried. "Why don't you go with Sheryl when he gets home? Or even Lucie, I'm sure she wouldn't mind..."
"Tricia, I'm an adult, and this isn't the first time the three of us have gone out." Tyki replied patiently as Road muttered a "Yes, only the first time we've asked permission." which everyone was careful to ignore. "Two servants are already coming with us, and it will just be a short walk." He added as if this wasn't already the third time we'd had this conversation.
"I trust you, Tyki, but there's been so much trouble in London lately with this workers' revolt and the outbreak of pneumonia... What if Road fell ill? Or you get attacked?" And there lay the crux of the matter. For the past two weeks, the paper had been filled with fatalistic news about the ongoing epidemic and the workers' revolt that had followed. As a result, Tricia, completely panicked, had limited outings from the manor to the bare minimum... for the whole family. Even for Mass, they had gone (I had long been exempted, little mercies) to the nearest village instead of one of the big London churches that Tricia favoured when she was feeling well enough.
But two weeks was a long time. Especially when the problems didn't stop in the meantime.
The twins had returned to the manor one weekend, even though it hadn't been long since they'd left for boarding school. But Tricia was desperate to see them again to check they were all right, and Sheryl wasn't one to refuse his wife these little requests. So the twins visited us, but of course Tricia was so worried that she fell ill. It fell to me to find something to amuse the two devils so that they'd let her rest, and let me tell you, it was a lot less simple than before. Excited to be back at school, none of my old tactics had worked and I'd had to rack my brains to come up with new ones. Fortunately, on this occasion, they had helped me, bringing back a leather ball from school which they were quite happy to kick around. But not alone, though, and the five of us - the twins, Tyki, Road and me - ended up in a match on the lawn behind the manor. Well, they were kicking, and I was more or less standing on the sidelines, too scared to go near them. I'd had, what I thought was, the good idea of taking up the position of goalkeeper while Tyki and Road took on Jasdero and Devit. The problem was that the Noahs were competitive, and they ran and kicked so fast and hard that I was afraid they'd break my arm if I tried to catch the slightest ball. So I was the least effective goalkeeper in the world, moaning like a strangled pig and jumping as far away from the ball as possible every time it flew at me.
Fortunately, this had only happened twice so far, the four of them being surprisingly well-balanced. Nevertheless, I kept looking towards the terrace, desperately trying to catch Clarisse's eye so that she would replace me. Of course, she avoided me, and it was on one of these occasions that Jasdero's cry of "look out" made me throw myself to the ground by reflex. Well done, because the ball flew over me at the speed of light before bouncing off the terrace behind and into the air. Of course, it didn't stop here, flying into Sheryl's office window, shattering it into a thousand sharp pieces with a terrifying noise.
Immediately there was a loud startled scream and, yep, Sheryl had taken the ball right in the head.
We were absolutely, irrevocably dead.
Suddenly, an arm slipped under my stomach and I felt myself being pulled up into the air like a recalcitrant cat before seeing the grass rush past before my eyes. I looked up reflexively to see Tyki and, in front of us, Road and the twins sprinting away like rabbits. Wow, they... they'd taken me with them on their escape! I was expecting to be thrown to the wolves, but I was incredibly touched. In less than a second, we had passed the corner of the manor and our little band of mischief-makers stopped dead in their tracks, now out of Sheryl's sight. Even Clarisse had followed us, water tray in hand and not a hair out of place despite what must have been a mad dash. Because I was pretty sure they'd run a bit faster than what had to be strictly human. Tyki put me back on my feet with an apology, but I waved my hand vaguely in what I hoped was a sign that all was well, thank you. I was too breathless to say anything else. I might as well say that we hadn't played ball all weekend after that, none of the boys and I being brave enough to go and retrieve the ball from Sheryl's office and Road not wanting to.
I'd also spent a lot of time with my employee friends once the twins had left. Not that I hadn't seen them before, just that we'd seen even more of each other this week. With Sheryl having taken Tyki on a business trip for a few days (without surprise, against his will) and Tricia still bedridden, they and I had had more free time, which we'd happily taken advantage of. On one occasion, for example, we went for a picnic near the horse pastures to enjoy the last rays of invigorating sunshine at the beginning of October. The picnic was particularly great because I was able to enjoy my first tarte tatin since arriving in this world. Not that I didn't love apple tart, but it was Berthe's default dessert and it had been a while since I'd been longing for a little piece of home. With kind eyes, Berthe had finally agreed to let us be the queens of the kitchen for an afternoon, and I had shown Louise how to do it. In any case, I'd really needed her to help me with the dough and the oven, which was quite different from what I was used to. It was with our fingers still sticky with caramel that we made our way to the meadow before proudly presenting our creations to the older two. It was also a way of congratulating John on his promotion. After a lot of hard work, and since one of the former footmen had left to get married, he had gone from handyman to footman. It was strange to see him walking around in a suit instead of running around in his brown jacket and postman's cap. He himself wasn't sure whether he was happy about the promotion or not. On the one hand, he appreciated being able to send more money to his mother, but on the other, the reinforced etiquette and the greater contact with householders or guests made him very uncomfortable.
"I'm not surprised, that's hard for you. I'm quite glad I don't have to interact with the guests most of the time." I grinned, patting him on the shoulder. The point of being the Kamelott family's weird little secret, I smiled mentally.
"I don't understand why it bothers you so much." Louise replied, shaking her head. "It sounds incredible to be able to take care of the beautiful Lady instead of scrubbing pots and pans, I'm looking forward to it!" she exclaimed before glancing at Clarisse. I could have bet that the young head maid was too busy sipping her tea to notice, but as if she had eyes in the back of her head, Clarisse replied immediately.
"Not until the New Year." She promised calmly as she put down her cup. Louise looked disappointed for a second, but soon recovered. At the same time, I understood her. I'd known Louise for almost two years now and she'd certainly grown up a lot. From a frail fourteen-year-old, she'd lost her chubby cheeks and was almost the same height as me at just sixteen. OK, she was still very shy around other people, but the young girl had blossomed in our little motley crew. The proof was that it had only taken a few days after Clarisse's promotion to Head Maid for Louise to give up her shy looks and beg for a promotion too. For as long as Eve had known her, Louise had only dreamed of being a servant, fantasising about the uniform and the chance to wander around the beautiful rooms of the manor. I found it hard to understand why, though. Sure, it was better than being a kitchen maid, but it still wasn't a prospect for the future that excited me very much. But hey, that was probably still a product of my twenty-one century upbringing.
My birthday from another life came and went last week and brought with it, as it did the first time, a good little depression. Not as violent, fortunately, but it had taken its toll nonetheless. Perhaps it was partly due to that or also to the fact that Tyki was starting to get seriously annoyed, not having been out of the manor for nearly a month, other than with Sheryl, but Road suggested organising a stroll around town.
Legitimate this time.
All this worry had certainly made Tricia tired, but it had also given her a kind of insomnia that didn't let her sleep for much longer than an hour at a time. Suffice to say that it severely restricted any activity, especially those bordering on the reprehensible.
"Don't worry Tricia, all three of them have a good head on their shoulders and it's not as worrying as the papers make it sound, they'll be just fine... as long as they stay in the nicer parts of town, of course." The Earl reassured her and my smile turned a little fixed at his last words. How did he know?!
"Monsieur Doyle is not..." hesitated Tricia, turning back to me at the Earl's words.
"He's a doctor in a office, we'll just pass by and say hello if he has a bit of time." I replied to Tricia without really answering her. Still, she seemed reassured, and I mentally tapped myself on the shoulder for a job well done.
In fact, we weren't really going to see Arthur. Well, we were, but very quickly. No, the purpose of our visit was... Eeze.
Yes, Eeze, because life was a troll and I'd potentially destroyed part of canon history without even looking for it.
Sunday 10th October 1886
It had all started some three days earlier when, huddled together in Tyki's room on the bed (which, by some twist of fate, had become our HQ) Road had mooted the idea of a trip into town. Tricia's problem solved, I asked what they wanted to do.
"We could go and see Eeze? You've never met him, have you Road?" Tyki asked, bringing a beautiful :
"Eeze?" questioned both of us.
"Yes, Eeze, the boy you asked me to find a job for? The one apprenticing at the bakery?" Tyki said slowly, his gaze fixed, as if I were stupid.
"You don't have to look at me like that! I know who you're talking about, I just didn't know his name." I mumbled, annoyed as my brain spun in panic in my head. Eeze! Eeze! That was totally the name of the kid on the train when Tyki first appeared in the manga, wasn't it?
"He didn't tell you after all this time?" Tyki asked, blinking in surprise. And, yeah, I admit, it'd been almost a year, it was a pain in the arse... "He refused to say his name so I gave him a new one when he started his apprenticeship." He added with a shrug, which sent me into a new cycle of crisis. Could this mean that he wasn't Eeze from the manga? Tyki could have named any kid Eeze and without a recognisable name or characteristic, I had no idea!
"Wow, you really are the worst with names." Hissed, the youngest/oldest Noah.
"Shut up, Road." Tyki snapped with red cheekbones, and Road gave him a death-dealing flick on the arm for all answer. It must have been a bit more violent than it looked, because Tyki almost flew off the bed and fell with a painful thud to the floor. Oh Merlin, they weren't even careful to hide their powers any more, I groaned inwardly, trying not to show anything on the outside.
Wednesday 13th October 1886
It had been a long night, but well spent, and a few days later we were walking quietly towards the bakery after a quick hello to Arthur, who unfortunately couldn't see us for long because of a patient. It's a shame, I would have liked to discuss the notes he had sent me...
"Are we there yet?" moaned Road as she leaned on Tyki's arm, practically letting him carry her.
"No." Tyki said matter-of-factly as he dragged the little Noah off without further ado.
Road pouted, but didn't add anything for a full minute before opening her mouth again. "What if we go through the back alleys? We'll be quicker there, won't we?" she asked, and I looked at her incredulously. Admittedly, the two servants with us were ones I suspected of being akumas, but still...
"Tricia will never let us out again if we do that." Tyki replied, glancing at me, and I nodded furiously in response. Tricia's threat may not have been much for two Noahs, but personally I took it very seriously.
"What she doesn't know can't hurt her." Road crooned, swaying a little. "Besides, I've been in worse places than this." She said as if bragging. "Skin didn't live in a very nice area, you know."
…
Skin?
"Skin?" I asked automatically before I could restrain myself.
"Hmmm, Skin Bolic, Grandad's new bodyguard," Road replied distractedly. Needless to say, I didn't point out any more holes in her story. Silence was good too. It avoided sudden deaths.
"You'll probably meet him soon. He was still... in training, but Adam's taken him on full time now." Tyki said, probably mistaking my surprise for curiosity.
"I can't wait..." I murmured, taking note of his hesitation. If I remembered correctly, Skin wasn't the most mentally stable of Noahs, perhaps he'd had trouble acclimatising to waking up? I had no idea when it happened, though... I vaguely remembered it being mentioned in the manga, but I hadn't reread the first volumes since I was at least twelve and my knowledge wasn't what it used to be. I was pretty sure that this was the only Noah's wake-up we'd seen. It was the most recent Noah, wasn't it? Pre-manga, anyway. Did that mean we were getting dangerously close to the canon?
I really didn't know what to think.
My life could not have been more pleasant at the moment... did I wanted to end up in the upheaval of the canon? Where I would surely be forced to... make choices? I had no doubt that I wouldn't be able to escape it, but how many years did I have left? A year? Two years? Three years? And what would happen when we finally got there? Should I choose to...
"M'lady!" Shouted a voice to my left as something grabbed my arm, knocking me onto the cold cobbles painfully. Thankfully, my wrist was fine, but I couldn't say the same for my tailbone, which resonated with a throbbing pain. "M'Lady, 'lp me! I need money... the doctor... please... my little ones..." began the hysterical woman who had knocked me over, pausing only to cough, and only now did I notice that she couldn't have been much older than me. "My children! Have mercy! Are ill! They..." she cried, leaning more and more against me, her eyes wild. Suddenly, she was cut off mid-word when the two chaperones accompanying us grabbed the woman, pulling her violently away from me.
Remaining prostrate on the pavement, eyes wide, totally confused by the speed of the whole affair, it was only when Tyki grabbed my arm in turn and pulled me up that I thought of getting up.
"Are you all right?" Road asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Yes, yes... I'm fine..." I replied before looking around, but there was no one left in the alley except Tyki, Road and me. "Where are they...?" I started to ask, but Road was quicker.
"Don't worry, they've taken her away." Road said calmly, which only made me worry even more. "I didn't think anyone would approach us like that... can you believe it! We're not even in East End yet!" Road complained as she turned her head towards Tyki, starting to walk again as if nothing had happened.
"She seemed totally desperate... attacking like that, she wasn't even afraid of the police in her condition any more. The epidemic, you think?" Tyki replied in the same curious tone, but not in the least involved.
"Probably." Road replied before moving on to a new flavour of sweet she'd discovered. As for me, I was still far too confused to do anything other than follow them slowly. It was terrifying to be jumped on like that, I hadn't even been able to open my lips. Anyway, what would I have done? Give her money and go on my merry way? Maybe, but...
The question wouldn't leave me, and for days after that meeting, I couldn't stop thinking about that woman, wondering what had happened to her. My head was ringing with the thought, and my hands were shaking and wouldn't stop. Had the servants simply pushed her aside? Or had they…? And if so, had she been able to look after her children? She herself didn't look very well and...
"Eve?" Tricia worried as I stumbled for at least the third time in an hour, catching myself on the wall, sweat dripping down my forehead.
"Everything's fine Tricia, I'm just a little... tired." I say, forcing a smile even as my chest tightens with pain.
"You should go to bed, sweetie, your face looks so pale." Tricia worried and for once I didn't make a fuss, nodding easily as I turned towards my room, my legs wobbling.
I didn't like leaving Tricia alone like that, but I wasn't feeling well and it would be even worse if I gave her something. Although, could it be my period? Sometimes I fell ill a few days before... but no, I wasn't good at remembering the exact days and calculating, but it couldn't have been two weeks since my last one, it couldn't be that... Tiredness, yes, just tiredness...
But when, after taking just three more steps towards my room, I collapsed like a pancake on the carpet, my forehead burning and my throat tightening, I had to face the facts: if I hadn't caught the epidemic ravaging London, I'd eaten my figurative hat.
That's it, guys, we're getting into the serious chapters! Ivy's going to suffer a bit, but she'll be fine after that, I promise :) I mean, it'll get better... Meh?
It's October! The month when I spoil you with translations and bonus OS! It's also the time to send me your fanarts (which I'll reblog or repost (with your consent) on tumblr for all readers to enjoy) or, failing that, your most ardent reviews :3 see you on the 25th of next month!