Prima Materia
Nine.| For Whom the Bell Tolls
|China.|
There was an eerie quiet to cemeteries that Celia abhorred. No matter the time of day or the visitors the dead may or may not have, there was a quietude that could not be shaken off. Almost like the silence of their last breath lingered forever in the space of their resting place.
In spite of this, here she stood upon the house of the dead. The port city's diminutive cemetery stood under the brightness of the sun with a multitude of headstones standing to greet her in their joint silence. The mixture of dead grass and growing weeds was easily crushed under her heels as she traversed beaten paths that although unfamiliar, she swore she might as well be blind from how easily she was walking them.
Those days on end after Red's death where she did nothing but visit her gravesite were beaten as deeply into her soul as the packed dirt under her heels. It was that same muscle memory that brought her where she stood now. Brittle stone held strong even after all these years with only some scattered cracks showing its age, leavingthe name engraved legible.
Carmine Valentine.
Crouching near it, Celia folded her arms on her lap and stared openly at the grave with a quiet longing only matched by her surroundings and the mighty yearn to break it.
"It's been a while…Madame." The small crack of her voice hid behind a choked-out cough as she stared up at the sky to distract herself. So beautifully blue. Sickeningly so. "I'm sorry I haven't come in so long. I haven't exactly had the time to do so, y'know? Been a little busy."
Amethyst eyes fell down once more and she waited for a split second, wishing for a reprimand about her manners before the loving smile that always followed. Except there was nothing to meet her. Only the cold cobblestone.
Celia thought about forgoing the sentimentality, but a part of her just couldn't do so. The much louder part of her that loved the woman buried six feet underneath that slab of stone wouldn't allow her to do so. So instead of bickering with that part of herself, Celia decided to breach a different topic. One of Red's favorites.
"That mangy priest…" A soft chuckle escaped her at remembering the many reprimands about calling a certain someone with the supposed dignity they deserved. Not willing to bend on that argument even now, Celia chose the lesser of two evils. "Father Cross has been giving me some trouble lately. He still comes and goes as he pleases and I sort of have to find him. Soon. You…wouldn't know where he could've gone, right?"
The quiet that answered her was as expected as it was sullen.
Bowing her head, a low mumble escaped through her lips. "Didn't think so."
"The dead don't talk."
"Quiet." A stern command rumbled through her chest when she spoke it. Yet it continued, its tone derisive and mocking even as she pushed it as far as it could possibly go in the back of her mind.
"Especially not a woman who cared so much for a man and children that it drove her to die a sad and pathetic death."
"I said SHUT UP!"
Emerald sparks flew wildly as her hands drew into tight fists by her sides. Her shout flew into the air along with the remaining sparks. The way it reverberated within her own head silenced the woman's voice, though something told her that it did so voluntarily and in spite of her protests.
Groaning, Celia shook the excess strain from her hands to unwind, sensing the slight jerking of her muscles as the last of the electricity dissipated. Navi, shaking awake from the sudden disturbance, wriggled out of its place under her coat and wrapped her tail around her neck with the puffier end striking her cheek.
"I know," Celia quietly agreed, reaching upwards to pet the golem's head and letting the soothing tinkling of her wings calm her racing mind.
Happy thoughts.
Letting her chest expand and fall with that deep breath allowed her to somehow regain some semblance of peace of mind.
"Um…excuse me?"
The sudden words sprung on her—Chinese at that, which she was rather rusty in—had Celia turning about to find a woman standing behind her. Young by the looks of it, though not as young as she; certainly somewhere in her early to late thirties if she had to guess. There was no mistaking her beauty even in her late years that resembled the gentle and pure kind of prettiness only a flower could have in full bloom. Something she could easily compare when said woman held a full bouquet of soft pink peonies wrapped in a rough patch of brown paper tied off with a simple string. Despite its simplicity, there was no denying their beauty or hers.
Pretty round eyes that matched the soft color of the flowers in her hand blinked a few times before turning down into a deep v.
"No way," came her hushed words before she raised her voice for Celia to hear as well. "Little Celia?"
Amethyst eyes blinked back with more astonishment than confusion. Her lips parted but for a good second, her brain had no clue what to respond with. "Um…I'm sorry. Have we met before?"
"My goodness! It is you!" The outcry was pitched and soaked in amazement mixed with giddiness. A brightness came to those round eyes as she pointed at herself and claimed, "It's me, Meimei!"
Mei—oh!
The name did ring a bell now that she gave it some thought. And a face. A young lady, one of Madame Red's many courtesans, that had been bought out of her services. One of the few. She hadn't been well liked amongst the courtesans but very highly requested by the customers. Being born from a foreign father gave her those pretty eyes that had attracted the curiosity of so many clients and the ire of many courtesans alike. They had even caught Celia's curious eye back then, too, though for different reasons.
Aside from Madame Red, very few courtesans had colored eyes like hers and even fewer of those that deemed her important enough to talk to. Celia remembered Meimei being one of the nicer ones, always welcoming her with a full smile and tired eyes despite the long night. It was that same grand smile she was giving her now, except her eyes weren't as tired-looking nor as sunken.
"Jiejie Mei?" The words felt rough as they passed her lips and also bitterly familiar.
A squeal erupted from the older woman, Meimei, as she sprung forward and without warning caught Celia in a tight embrace in one arm while holding the peony bouquet in the other. Caught off guard as she was, Celia couldn't do much else except stand awkwardly with her arms to her sides as the realization that someone else from Madame's house—someone familiar—stood before her dawned on her. Meimei didn't allow her the time to recover as she pulled out of their embrace and simply took Celia in and continuously gushed about how wonderfully she'd grown up and how glad she was to see her again.
Celia couldn't do much of anything against the boisterous excitement her older sister exuded, but her own did quell slightly at the reminder of that bouquet and where exactly they stood.
Her tone morose and soft cut through the happy reunion. "Are those for…?"
Round eyes lowered to the floor as her lips drew into a line before lifting and gazing upon the gravestone behind her. Meimei nodded. A small smile wanted to pull at the corners of Celia's lips but she forced it back as she stepped to the side for Meimei to come forth. Celia watched silently by her side as Meimei placed the bouquet at the foot of the epithet and offered a silent prayer.
Not wanting to intrude on the privacy of the moment, amethyst eyes wandered the horizon of the cemetery with a distant thought in mind. The rest of the house—those that passed away in the makeshift pyre—were not here. There was nothing to bury, after all. Their ashes and everything they were had risen to the cold winds of that night long before it ended.
"Those untouched by the Akuma anyway."
Celia smacked her left hand, wrapping her fingers around her wrist and squeezing it, welcoming the numbness that the cutting of her circulation was starting to cause.
"Say, Celia?" Her amethyst eyes shot upward to meet Meimei's face as the latter stood from her place in front of the tombstone. "Would you care to accompany me for a meal?"
Incredible.
The way the Red Light District almost seemed to be encapsulated in time was astounding and terrifying in equal measures. It made it strange for Celia to walk amidst the bustling crowd as nostalgia and melancholy surged through her, along with a tinge of sadness as her feet walked beaten paths she knew by heart. Despite having been following behind Meimei, it didn't surprise her that they ended up passing down one particular street. It simply made her heart ache a little.
I suppose this was bound to be different.
Celia wondered who bought off the plot of land after Madame Red's brothel burned down. After all that happened there, she thought they would simply leave the lot by itself for good. But life went on for everybody else, she supposed.
Even when a part of mine burnt down with it.
A new brothel stood where the old one had. This one appeared just as luxurious as Red's had been and appeared to appeal to a more Oriental crowd rather than western like Red's had. From the edifice itself to the women offering their services, it had changed. In all aspects, it was far different from her old home. Time moved on everywhere it seemed.
Meimei's hand slipping into her own surprised her to the point that she jumped in her skin at the sudden warmth that gave away just how cold she'd been. Amethyst eyes turned upward to meet the tender smile on Meimei's face before she gently pulled her away from that plot of land and the past. The crimson scenery shifted before her eyes as the daytime of the brothels and courtesans instead became the bustling marketplace. Stands and stores were opening now that the sun was fully in the sky and the earliest of birds took advantage of the morning.
Her sister Meimei ended up bringing her to a small shop with a single table for outdoor sitting that remained empty in the slightly cool morning air. Sitting her there, Meimei left and returned some minutes later with a wooden tray full of dishes. Celia's mouth watered a little at the sight of native delicacies she hadn't had the chance of having for the longest time. Don't get her wrong, Jerry's cooking was undeniably out of this world, but nothing beat the kind of nostalgic deliciousness that food from her hometown had.
Before even daring to dig in, however, Celia brought out her purse intent on paying in full for the food until Meimei shook her head. "Hubby and I own this store, Celia. And no little sister of mine is paying for her stay here, so feel free to eat up!"
"Thank you so much, jiejie!"
Celia grabbed the closest plate of pork buns and devoured one after another with fascinating ease. As the first one went down her throat, though, the tightness of Navi's tail wrapped around it made her uncomfortable. Deftly with one hand, she undid the golem's tail and placed Navi on the table while continuing to stuff her face with the other. Sniffing around the table, Navi's mouth opened wide as she dove into the platter of mooncakes.
"Knock it off, Navi!" She reprimanded, pushing the golem back as she swallowed a whole platter of the deserts down whole. "Leave some for me, too!"
Meimei chuckled across from them, enjoying her own green tea and dumplings along with their company. "What a curious pet you have."
The thought of correcting Meimei about Navi's actual purpose crossed her mind before she opted for the usual lie she dished out to those outside the Order to sidestep that problem.
"She's an exotic bird I bought during my travels. From somewhere in the Americas, I think," she offered before stuffing her face with the leftover mooncakes.
"Travels?" she repeated. "My, how exciting. Have you been to that many places during the years you've been away?"
Something about the plain curiosity that Meimei exuded had Celia relaxed enough to talk about those travels. About the countries she's visited, the people she's met, the things she's seen. Nothing overly specific, of course. Nothing about the reason for visiting those places, nothing about the reason for meeting those people, nothing about the horrible things she'd discovered.
Meanwhile, Meimei reciprocated Celia's own curiosity and told her of her life since she was bought out. About how life after working for a brothel had shifted and changed so drastically that it had given her nothing short of a whiplash. But the man who had bought her and was now her husband had held her hand through all the confusion. From learning a new way of life with him and working in this quaint little house-restaurant they called home. Despite the difficulties she proclaimed, Meimei appeared happier than ever, even more so than she'd ever appeared to be at Madame's home, which brought a smile to Celia.
"I'm glad things turned out so well for you, jiejie."
"And you, too." Amethyst eyes slid to the side to avoid her gaze and the telltale sign of disagreement. Thankfully, her sister didn't seem to notice and instead continued on with her endless inquiries. "What brings you here, anyway?"
"Oh!" Right! "Actually, I'm here looking for someone. Do you remember Madame Red's special guest?" When Meimei repeated the last word in slight confusion, Celia pursed her lips, abhorring having to sing any praises to the mangy priest yet knowing the effectiveness of it. Swallowing her pride, Celia added, "The red headed priest she doted on so much."
"Oh, him…" The fact that the mere mention of Cross had Meimei swooning sent a chill down Celia's spine. There was no way she'd ever understand what this infatuation everybody had with the guy was about. "I'd completely forgotten about him after I left."
"Good," Celia grumbled before taking a bite of another bun to mask her chagrin. "Anyway, I received word that he was spotted around these parts and came looking for him. Have you heard anything, by chance?"
"Sorry. I can't say I have."
Well, not really surprising there.
The chances of Meimei meeting the mangy priest anywhere outside of the red light district would have been nothing short of a miracle. Seeing as she was now a wife and business owner, it'd be more of a miracle if she had. Just as she was about to tell her as much, Celia was the one to be caught off guard when Meimei suddenly lifted a finger to pouty lips.
"But I think I know someone who might."
Eyes grew wide in an instant with growing anticipation. Wanting nothing more than to follow that lead no matter how miniscule the chance of it turning out anything was, Celia wolfed down all the remaining food in sight in the span of a minute before downing the tea Meimei had served her and standing from the table.
"Could you bring me to that person, jiejie?"
"Of course, the house should be closed at this hour but I think she might be able to make a minute or two to speak to us if I ask her."
Celia chased after Meimei like a puppy's enthusiasm as the older woman guided her through the now fully running marketplace and back into the colorful sights of the brothels. Meimei told her more about this certain person she'd referred to back at the shop. Apparently it was another courtesan—a madame who had inherited the house after her mother's passing and who Meimei had known during her working days. They'd been friends before Meimei had found permanent work at Red's and even then oftimes visited her.
Now that friend of hers ran the most famous brothel house this side of China.
The fact that it was very much plausible such a person would know of Cross' whereabouts better than anyone else had her hopping her way through the streets.
Just as they were reaching the edges of the brothel where the sounds of crashing waves against the pier were becoming more audible, a sudden involuntary jerk of her fingers stopped her in her tracks. Amethyst eyes stared at her own left hand as the unpleasant sensation of something crawling underneath her skin began. Along with it, tendrils of emerald energy whisked from underneath her fingernail beds, sprouting outward and up in short spurts as if wanting to be noticed. Meimei stopped ahead of her and voiced her confusion which Celia ignored as the sparks grew quicker and longer until erupting up towards the sky without warning with a loud crack.
The instant her eyes turned upward they widened at the immense wave of Akuma that rushed through the sky.
Damn.
"W-What—What are those things?" A warm hand wrapped around her forearm bringing it closer to their body that was just as warm; alive. Celia intended for her to remain that way. Catching her attention with her hand on Meimei's, Celia offered a kind, reassuring smile. The type of smile she recalled being given by her and Madame. "Celia?"
"Get your husband and find a safe place to hide. Preferably somewhere underground." Her fingers deftly undid the tight grip of a few fingers but before they were all fully undone, Meimei's hands gripped into her arm with ferocious strength as she glared back.
"Run? But then what about you? You need to come with us and hide, too!"
If only.
Celia only squeezed her hand before undoing her grip on her arm and reaching behind her head for her hairpin. With ease from practice, the glow enveloped it before the glaive appeared in her hand. Without losing her smile, Celia twirled her weapon before brandishing it out towards the way they came from. Towards Meimei's shop.
"Go, Meimei."
Those round eyes… Celia never thought they could turn that big. There was a mix of fleeting emotions she caught in the span of a second. Astonishment, confusion, then the thing that forced her to step back and run away. Fear was alway easiest to make out.
"Now then. Let's see what the ruckus is about."
Amber? A small surge of movement from her forearm came as the eye moved underneath her skin in response. I'll allow it.
The amber eye on her forearm snapped open with the single thought, its control spreading across her forearms and darkening them in obsidian skin and intricate golden patters. With a small head start and a hop, a pillar of amber shot out from the ground beneath where she would've landed and propelled her up onto the higher rooftops. Though still far, the height gave her a somewhat better vantage point. Still there wasn't much to see amidst the hordes of Akuma bustling around whatever they were after, shadowing it.
Just as she was about to head its way, a sound stopped her in her tracks. Not because she could hear it amidst all this chaos, but because she could only hear it in her head. It was soft and it reminded her of the humming of the amber eye, but it was eerie in its frailty.
Then it started singing in hauntingly dissonant notes that blended together and distorted apart in equal measures. Almost as if splitting in its indecision in whether to remain united or fall apart completely.
The vocalizing seemed to part ways through the mass of darkness that kept it hidden as beams of white light tore through the Akuma and gave her a clearer view of what they were after. Celia could make out the vague shape of what looked to be an armless and headless human torso. Its strange appearance was the least of things, too, judging by the power it shot out from its arms, top and bottom, as it twirled to amass a greater area. That it was obliterating a large amount of enemies was undeniable, but it was also undeniably causing just as much collateral damage to the city and mountains around it.
That thing needs to be stopped—
Twinkle.
The sound of quiet chimes stopped her then. It was distinctive and snappy, like wind chimes being hit by a sharp gust of wind and it reverberated in her head as it seemed to rush by above her. Instinctively, she turned skyward and just barely caught sight of the disturbance in the air amidst the chaos. An echo of sound as it cut through the air.
Only one Innocence she knew made that distinctive noise.
"LENALEE!"
But the call was futile. No sound would get through the destructive power or deafening noise of Lenalee's Dark Boots. Less so if those were her second form, too. So instead, Celia kept it in sight until it stopped at the edge of a brothel before chasing after her. With every soul in town either leaving or gone, there was no one there to stop her barging into the place after Lenalee.
It was inside that she found the young Chinese doing what she made out as first aid to a little girl. Mind racing but hands steady, Celia strode forward with purpose, kneeling down and taking over Lenalee. The kid wasn't breathing, and there was no pulse to be found in her neck.
Shit.
"Celia?" Her voice was small, perplexed; it almost sounded lost or faraway. "Why are you…?"
She shook her head, the movement lost as it bobbed up and down with each timed compression she gave, counting each in her head before tilting the girl's head back and breathing twice into her. The girl hacked into her face but Celia paid it no mind, simply wiping the saliva away as she helped the little girl onto her side to throw up.
There was so much Celia wanted to ask too. For now, though, there was just one question that mattered at that exact moment. "What's happening out there?"
Lenalee's dark eyes widened with a distinctive edge to them that Celia hadn't seen since they were kids: despair. It was gone as quickly as it came before Lenalee turned away from her. Celia wanted to ask again despite the obvious discomfort the question brought on, but held off when she remembered the little patient in her care.
The kid was chilled to the bone. The chattering of her teeth alone was so hard that she swore she'd break them if it continued. Something told her that not even wrapping her coat around her would bring the warmth to her tiny body quickly enough. Still, it was all she had. Doing so and sitting her on the lounge nearest to where Lenalee was currently otherwise preoccupied, Celia rushed around the place searching for anything to help her keep warm. Luckily, this brothel kept things in abundance, including blankets.
Perfect.
"I'm…cold…" The little girl mumbled through the incessant chattering of her teeth as Celia wrapped a whole bunch of blankets around her tiny body.
"This should help, sweetie," she reassured. But even as she did her best to smile, there wasn't any hiding how divided her attention became when a muffled yet intelligible voice came through the eerily quiet room.
"Once you begin 'the fall', you can't be helped."
The fall?
What caught her attention more than the strangely familiar word was recognizing Komui's voice in the room. Finally paying some attention to what Lenalee was doing gave her the answer to the 'how'. The younger Chinese had connected her golem to the telephone in the room and contacted Headquarters. What she saw out there—that huge thing ravaging through Akuma and humans alike—must've been as much of an enigma to Lenalee as it was to her. Forgoing interrupting them, Celia listened instead, standing behind Lenalee in silence to do so.
The Fallen. That was what that thing outside was and all its focus was on destroying everything in its path. Only its death from within or by outside forces would stop it. And there was no saving one who had 'fallen'.
The word kept swirling in her head making it ache. Fallen this, Fallen that. What did it even mean to be a 'Fallen' one, anyway?
"You know." The voice was sickly sweet. Mocking her. "What you almost saw that day."
Sharp static and a high-pitched noise pierced her head as in her mind the blurry memory of her first night at the Order rushed by. The night she snuck out of her room to that godforsaken hallway and almost saw something she shouldn't have. Yet the sensation of something being awfully wrong had never quite left her.
A soft giggle rang through her head making it all disappear in a flash and returning her to the present.
"The Fall is what happens to accommodators who have relinquished their supposed heavenly duty. Betraying the Innocence, and by extension your God, is an offence punishable by a death."
Death? Whose?
"Once the 'fall' ends, Suman's Innocence will return to its natural state. Retrieve the Innocence before the Akuma do."
Wait… Suman? Emerald sparks jolted through her muscles forcing her fingers to twitch in response. That meant that what she heard, that dissonant vocalizing, had been his Innocence. All that discord in its singing must've been from him Falling. But…if that was true then…
"Are you telling me to watch him die?!"
Lenalee's sudden yell snapped her out of her own head. Her own heart thundered at the order given to them by Komui: to wait and watch one of their own die. Her brain attempted to downplay the pain that grew at the mere thought of that by telling her that what Komui was saying was true. If there was even the slightest possibility that Suman's Innocence was the Heart, they couldn't let it fall into the hands of the Earl.
But…he's our friend.
"Suman might not think that way anymore."
"What do you mean…?"
For a brief, painful second there was silence on the other end of the line. "This is confidential, but…there's a possibility that Suman betrayed the Church."
Static so loud and harsh cut through her hearing and vision for a split moment. The pain it caused had her grasping at her temple as it pulsated with the information Komui dropped on them.
One hundred deaths. All from an information leak in which all evidence pointed to Suman as the culprit. The night at Barcelona rushed to mind in that instant and suddenly it made sense. The reason they'd been ambushed by so many Akuma, the reason Daisya died, was because they had been given that information.
By Suman.
Electricity sprung to life clinging to the blood vessels underneath her skin and surged through her veins like the fury that rose within her. Fury intermixed with sorrow.
"What a pitiful man. Yet the most pitiable is such a God that would scorn such a human response."
"He's not pitiful." The softness of her whispers cut through the quiet room yet no one but she heard her own words.
There was nothing pitiable about Suman. Despite how furious it made her to know he was the reason for the death of Daisya and so many others, she could also see the other side of that coin. Komui's theory about Suman asking for mercy proved it to her. The man she remembered Suman being—so kind and nice and fatherly—wasn't the kind of person to do something out of greed. He wasn't like those people—those other humans—who served the Earl for their own self interest. All Suman ever wanted with that much fervor was to return home. To be with his wife and cure his daughter.
To be with his family.
A man like that would only plead for mercy because he wouldn't have wanted to die. He would've sold them out for what truly mattered to him.
Living to see them.
Suddenly, a new found fury rolled over her at the unfairness of it all. He was being punished with death for wanting to live. A sentence given by a God that was supposed to be all-loving and understanding. And by Innocence supposedly made by said God to protect humankind.
Amethyst eyes suddenly widened as a realization dawned on her. A realization that had her moving before she knew it and snatching the receiver from Lenalee's hand to speak the one thing she knew to be true.
"If it's his Innocence, then I can stop it." Komui's astonishment at hearing her so suddenly was cut short by the bewildered 'what?' he offered. All the same, she didn't allow him to interject. "If I extract the Innocence from his body using Hand of God, I can stop his Falling altogether."
His outburst was instantaneous; even through the receiver she could hear the ruckus from the other side as piles of paper fell and other voices rose in objection. His being the loudest.
"Don't be ridiculous!" he reprimanded, his voice reaching heights of severity she seldom heard from him. "What you speak of doing is what Hevlaska would do to you a hundred times over. There's no way he can survive that and no way you will come out the other end unharmed with how unstable his Innocence is!"
Her brain urged her to listen. Her heart told her to act.
"All that's conjecture." Sound conjecture! Her brain shouted, yet she quieted it by force. "And all conjectures can be wrong until proven otherwise which is exactly what I intend to do."
"Do you honestly believe that will change the outcome of anything? Have you the slightest idea what they'll do to him if he does survive?"
"He'll pay for his mistakes." It was almost indiscernible but Celia didn't imagine the slight catch of Komui's breath at her honest words. "If what you said is correct and he sold all of us out to save his own skin, then he deserves to pay for the damage he's done. And there'll be no such penance for him if he dies."
The softness of Lenalee's voice calling her name punched her in the gut. She hadn't expected to say those things herself and mean them, but here she was.
And I'm standing by them.
"I promise I'll restore Suman and bring him and his Innocence in myself if I have to. Alive."
Conviction burning through her entire body, Celia dropped the receiver on the table before running out of the brothel and back out into the street despite Lenalee's fervent calls. It mustn't have been longer than ten minutes that she spent in there, but that short timespan was enough for it to cause immense amounts of damage. Suman was running amok further away now than he'd been to start with and Celia cursed herself for the loss of time. That mattered little now. What did was getting a hold of that Innocence and ripping it right out of him to stop all of this.
The humming that usually stayed calm and collected in the back of her mind grew louder at sensing the urgency that coursed through her. It pulsed underneath her obsidian skin and through the amber veins that grew from the eye on her left forearm. Wide as could be, it turned upward to look at her and waited.
Let's do this.
Running for a head start, Celia propelled herself using amber pillar after pillar to travel faster. It wasn't anything compared to Dark Boots but it would be enough—it has to be—to reach Suman. It was in a valley now, hovering over it and shooting off attacks with abandon. Quickly, she screamed in her head as the eye in her forearm pulsated with the command, before it's gone!
Determined to reach it before it made its way elsewhere, Celia landed with a bit of a tumble and bated breath before jumping and catching another pillar to launch her directly at the Fallen's chest where a huge hole was clearly visible.
Just as she did, a grand, powerful light engulfed the whole thing and threw her off her trajectory. Her hands scrambled for purchase and thankfully found the edge of the hole. Even with so much emerald electricity sparking out like crazy around her hands upon contact, she pulled herself fully up only for her shoulders to tense at the mere sight of what was there. A torso hung from it like an exposed heart and though it was discernible as a human, there was nothing characteristic about it. Yet a part of her knew exactly who it was.
"Suman?"
Dark eyes turned to her and for a split second Celia saw in them a flicker of recognition. It spoke in a hoarse and broken voice as from its eyes tears freely flowed down his cheeks.
"Ce…lia…"
There was a sense of ease in her at hearing him speak her name. A gentle smile plucked the edges of her lips as she stepped away from the edge of the circle and came closer.
"It's me, Suman," she said as the hint of a smile curled the edges of her lips at his recognition. "I came to take you home."
There was a split second of nothing in those dark eyes before horror took over and he began shaking his head over and over. "You cannot stop this. It's already at its end."
As if responding to his words, the footing underneath her shook and further down the body he'd taken as a Fallen was beginning to tilt and disintegrate in the light that engulfed it.
No, not yet.
"I may be able to stop it." Another glint. This time it was one that, despite seeming to disappear at first glance, stuck around as a quiet 'what do you mean?' rushed out of what was left of his lips. "I'll use my Innocence to rip yours from your body by force." A horrible grimace came to her lips but she wasn't about to lie about what that entailed, either. "I won't lie, it'll hurt like hell. It'll hurt as bad as if you were dying, but you won't."
Even if you wish you could. She kept that detail to herself.
Those dark eyes grew at her honesty. Celia still remembered what it felt like when Hevlaska ripped an Innocence from her body. The pain, so vivid and pungent, was like a limb being torn apart so meticulously sinew by sinew that it felt eternal. And that had only been for one that had sought refuge in her body for a few hours. If that was what it felt like for an Innocence that hadn't even assimilated to her like the amber eye had, the mere thought of separating an Innocence from its chosen accommodator was wracking her brain with what Komui said to her.
"There's no way he can survive that and no way you will come out the other end unharmed with how unstable his Innocence is!"
Even if that came to be the outcome, she wouldn't just stand around and let the alternative happen.
"I can't assure you that it will work, but we have to try something, Suman." Her throat tightened at the emotions that rose from her chest and fed the energy that only continued its uncontrolled flurry around her. "You have to come home. You have to."
For a second, Celia hoped that the small smidgen of hope she saw flicker in his eyes would win over, but the instant they went dark again, her heart sank.
"No," he refused, his voice soft and dejected. "I cannot hope for such a thing. All I've done…the hurt I've caused to our comrades… There's no mending the mistakes I've made."
"That's not—"
"Suman!"
The familiarity of the voice that rang through the thrashing wind behind her spun her head faster than she thought possible. The little bit of despair tightened around her throat, keeping her from calling his name, but there was no mistaking Allen. Nor was there anyway he missed her from how close she was standing to Suman. As he clung some feet below the hole, Celia let herself crouch and reached out her right hand as she herself clung to the heart of the Fallen with her left.
Silver eyes fleeted between her own and her hand before taking the chance and leaping upward. Celia grunted through having to lean down to actually catch him, but the moment his hand clasped around hers, she hauled him up onto the hole where Suman was.
Suman didn't recognize him, calling him Exorcist instead of his name, which is when it dawned on her that Suman and Allen had never met. This would be the first time.
I'll make damn sure it's not the last.
Resonating with her resolve, the emerald energy surged in power as it now danced around her entire body, emboldened by such proximity to raw Innocence. Beside her, Allen calmly introduced himself. Suman's response only tore her heart to pieces.
"My life…will end soon. I'm going to die. This monster will probably disappear, too." New tears sprung from his eyes as he repented to them and to her surprise warm tears also began to pool at the edges of hers. There was hope; there was still hope for this to end well. But despite how much her heart cried out with that small bit of hope, her mind couldn't help but agree with Suman. "I'm sorry… I wanted to see my family. Forgive me."
The instant she saw that faint smile that resembled the one he had shared with her so many times as a child her resolve hardened anew.
No. This is not how this ends. I won't allow it!
It was Allen that beat her to the punch as he called upon him once more with resolve of his own. One that had him saying he would amputate his right arm to separate his Innocence from him and telling him to bite down on his arm and not let go. Amputation; if he could manage that and if she could lock that rogue Innocence within her body and not let it cause further havoc, they could somehow manage to do it.
Those silver eyes only briefly spared her a glance after he smiled at Suman. That quiet courage that pushed him forward staring her dead in the eye told her everything he didn't say.
We can save Suman. Together.
Because he knew what Hand of God was capable of. And she knew what lengths he was willing to go for what mattered to him.
Without hesitation, Allen pierced through the hole over Suman's shoulder with his left hand. Delayed only from having to rip her glove off, Celia held onto Suman's other shoulder as an anchor before plunging her own hand into the mass of cells that made up the hole of his heart. The inside of this thing was vast; it was like trying to reach into an emptiness so big that it felt like touching nothing at all. That was until she heard it, the dissonant singing. It was an odd sensation. Almost as if she could hear it by what her hand felt from within the Fallen, and it guided her straight to what she was looking for.
His Innocence.
There was some kind of energy around it. Something that was keeping Allen from going any further and causing immense pain to course through his already beaten body. But it didn't stop Celia. Strangely enough, her fingers simply pressed against the barrier and like breaking through the surface of a bubble, they passed through and further than Allen's hand could.
Suddenly, they snagged at the edge of something. Metal. No, a shoulder. Grabbing hold of it, Celia braced herself for what was to come next. For whatever would happen once she gave Hand of God the command she'd never given it.
One of the few that it always pleaded for her to do.
I allow you.
"Take it!"
The mass of energy that suddenly surged through her body tensed every fiber of her being instantly. Her nails dug into Suman's pale shoulder as she pressed her jaw shut, afraid that if she opened it her teeth would shatter from the sheer force. Then it changed. Instead of that energy that was filling her body to the brim, intense heat boiled her from the inside as what felt like lava started seeping under her skin from the cross on her wrist.
The barrier surrounding the Innocence faltered as that heat further entered her arm burning its way through her veins until the distant singing voice hitched a breath. With that one breath—that one small pause in her wails—Allen found the strength to shatter the barrier and reach where her hand was.
Hand of God's iron grip suddenly went limp as Allen took Suman's arm and ripped him entirely out from the Fallen body.
Light blindingly white struck her eyes as a blast of energy swept across. Celia couldn't do much else except cover her eyes as, all at once, everything turned on its head. Her mind was lost, unable to discern what was up and down, or sky from ground, until her body hit against a trunk, cracking it, and falling down onto the dirt. Vision spotty, she could only discern the bright light of the explosion before it darkened back into night.
Once dark again, the only thing she managed to discern were the bright tendrils of her Innocence skulking around aimlessly as she fought to keep conscious. The pain from having crashed down so brusquely was helping, its ebbing and flowing starting to bring back some semblance of awareness.
"Up…little…aster."
You... Despite her hearing having been shot from how close she'd been to the explosion and only being a muffled mess of high-pitched noises, Celia still recognized that voice. The gentle voice of that man—whoever he was—that called her a flower.
A little aster.
"Up you go."
Her mind forced her body to obey, pushing herself upright despite the burning pain coursing through her left arm. Once her sight returned to her, she took a gander at what was causing her so much pain. The sight froze her in place. The obsidian skin from the amber eye protected her from the worst of what Suman's Innocence had been doing to keep from being taken. It hadn't been enough to save her hand where most of the direct contact had been though.
The skin of her hand…it was burned off. Ripped to shreds.
Exposed muscle felt the bite of the fresh breeze that passed through and fresh blood seeped through her fingers unto the dirt ground beneath her. The cross on her wrist and the amber eye remained intact, but from just above her elbow down it was nothing but bloody sinew. The rest of it up to her shoulder remained covered in the obsidian skin of the amber eye as it slowly reformed thread after thread of dark skin around the burnt and missing skin.
The deep hum sounded at the back of her mind as the second skin finished reforming around her left hand. Though hard to move it as tightly wrapped as it was, Celia maintained some mobility through the pain. This would be good enough until she found the time to actually treat her wounds.
"Thank you." The voice hummed with a hint of contentment in its tone. A sudden child's cry blurbed up from beneath the surface as the eye on her right palm forced itself open underneath her gloved hand. "Chari?"
Peeling the glove off and pocketing it, Celia watched as the eye containing Charity Bell wept actual tears. Something that startled her fully awake as she scrambled away until hitting the trunk of a tree and keeping her right hand as far away from her. Still, that eye brimming with actual tears could only weep—both inside her head and out in the open—at what it saw. Celia mistook its cries for its usual weeping at first, until she paid a bit more attention. Enough to realize that it wasn't crying from grief.
It was crying from relief.
Because I'm…okay.
"I…" The little bit of embarrassment that arose in her rosied up her pale cheeks a bit at the thought of Innocence being concerned for her. But the fact that it wouldn't stop crying, didn't really give her any other option. "I'm sorry, Chari. It's alright now. I'm…I'll be okay."
Its weeping lessened into sobs as the eye closed with the last of its tears slipping down the sides of her hand and down her arm. Closing it into a fist and leaning on it for support, Celia rose to her feet and took a gander at her surroundings. There was no telltale sign of where she could be. Every which way she looked it was nothing but damn trees that were easily four times her height. Not to mention that it was dark as could be without even the little light of the crescent moon helping her see any way out.
Thankfully, there was no need for her to panic. It's not like she hadn't gotten lost plenty of times before this during her travels alone. The very reason Navi was made were for times like these, after all.
"Navs, I need some direction towards Allen. Tim's surely with him so just follow his…" Her voice trailed off as she patted at her neck and shoulders to find them empty. "Eh?" Panic bubbling through her calm facade, her hands furiously patted every nook and cranny there was to her and even searched around the area only to find no trace of the white golem.
Well, I'm screwed.
No, she needed to remain calm. Not having Navi was not the end of the world. A moment to think gave her an idea and had her glancing upward at the thick canopy above. If she could get up high enough, that canopy wouldn't matter and she'd be able to at least grasp some sense of where she should go to reach other people. Just as the thought crossed her mind, however, the deep humming of the amber eye caught her attention as it dissented her idea.
"Right," she mumbled as she glanced down at the amber eye on her forearm. With it keeping her exposed arm covered, it was already taking away plenty of energy. Creating a pillar while also keeping the obsidian skin covering her like a second skin would put too much strain on her. And since it was already close to the limit as things stood, it was a no go.
The amber eye flickered to the right and had amethyst eyes turning to her right hand.
That's an option.
"Chari?" The slit on her hand parted and opened to the sparkling eye in it as it turned down to look at her. "You think you could help me get up there?"
The eye turned upward before it upturned a bit, almost reminding her of a smile, before opening wide. The light of its iris shone a beautiful silver as tears of the same color pooled around its edges and fell down to her wrist. There, the silver tears joined and circled her wrist before droplets popped from it and formed into a bracelet with a number of silver bells arranged around it.
Celia lifted it curiously to eye level, the little jingling gentle to her ears. Despite not knowing what exactly to do with it, her instinct had her raising it above her head and giving it one good, forceful shake downward. The bells jingled and clinked together as a couple of silver rings bounced out of her bracelet and burst out a loud sound wave towards the floor.
Completely caught unawares, Celia couldn't do much except try to not flail too much as her body was launched into the air from the sheer force of the noise. Her back hit branch after branch, tearing at her clothes and back, until at last she broke through the canopy. But a peek from her shut eyes sent her into a new frenzy as she found herself much higher up than she'd planned.
Chari's noise was powerful. Back during the runaway train fiasco was only a taste of what it could do. Now that she was purposely using it, it was clear as day that it was much too powerful. Even that simple flick of her wrist had sent off a mighty enough wave to propel her up to heights almost peaking at the level of mountains.
It wasn't until her eyesight settled on the horizon, however, that something caught her eye. The Akuma. A whole wave of them heading straight to her. No, wait. Not to her. Towards her. They were chasing something.
The sight of wings brought a pigeon to mind, but then the glint of gold reminiscent of the sun came into view.
"Timcanpy!"
The golden golem flew straight into her chest at spotting her and Celia held onto the little guy as it cried on her.
"That there! That's an Exorcist!"
"Get her!"
Celia didn't have time to wonder which of the horde of Akuma had spotted her first. What she did notice instantly was the sound of ammo being fired at her. She didn't need to see what, only from where. Feeling gravity finally take its hold, her right hand grasped the hairpin as she summoned her glaive and gave her hand still equipped with Charity Bell a swing.
Her whole body spun from the force of the sound wave and, with her glaive held outward, pierced through the missiles coming straight at her. Propelled by the sound again, Celia couldn't maneuver herself after that, flailing around with Timcanpy flapping its wings in a useless attempt to help her.
"No matter how many you destroy, so long as there are some remaining—" a whirring sound behind her made her turn back, eyes growing wide at the missiles that turned and once again were aimed at her. "My heat-seeking missiles will hunt you down!"
Too exhausted and sensing her limits closer than ever, Celia curved inward to protect Timcanpy, her hands clutching the little golem. It wriggled in her hold until it stopped and something warm touched her left hand. Whatever it was caused a sudden burst of heat to surge through her entire body that wrenched a scream out of her. But with so much happening at once, the pain became only secondary despite how all-encompassing it was becoming.
Then, just as the missiles were to hit her however, a forceful chiming tore through the noise before the missiles exploded a few feet short of hitting her. It was as the smoke dissipated that she caught wind of what or more like who had saved them.
"Celia! Timcanpy!"
"Lena—LEE!" Gravity once again won over her that split second later. Her friend was quick on her feet as she propelled herself forward to catch her and then kicked off again to fly upwards.
Celia felt her head spinning with so much jerking around but at least now Lenalee's hands were around her torso holding her close to keep gravity from taking a hold again. Before she knew it, her feet were touching solid ground.
"Celia!" Lenalee cried as her hands held onto her shoulders tighter than she cared to admit. "You—you have Tim! Then Allen! Where's Allen?"
"Al?" she mumbled not understanding at all were Lenalee's questions were coming from. "No, I—I just found Tim. Allen—I was with him when we tried saving Suman but that explosion… It separated us. I…I don't know where Al is."
But surely.
Yanking Timcanpy from out of the safety of her chest, Celia held it up by its tail as it struggled to stay afloat high enough for her grip not to hurt him. "Spit it out, Tim." With no hesitation, she began shaking the golem around like a yo-yo.
"C-Celia! What are you—"
"Little jerk's always recording," she clarified. Celia found that little tidbit out after a sick prank Cross pulled on her and Allen that year they had traveled together. Bastard hadn't stopped watching that particular record for weeks. "Now show it, Timcanpy. Where's Al?"
It took nothing but that good shake down for the gold golem to spill the beans as it opened its mouth and showed them the beginning of the recording. There wasn't much to go by. At least not to them.
"Those bamboo thickets. They're east of here." Amethyst eyes turned behind her to find the one who'd spoken. A young man, maybe older than her, with a familiar face.
It's the redhead from Turkey!
Those green eyes stopped only briefly to take her in before turning and nodding in the direction he mentioned. "Come on, let's go find him."
Celia felt lost amongst the thick bamboo shoots that were just as high as the trees she had encountered before. And yet somehow the redhead could guide them simply by comparing Tim's memory to what he himself remembered from their travels.
Tim's memories weren't much to go by for her to find a place like he could, but they were definitely enough to tell them what had happened to Allen during the few hours they'd been apart.
Allen had encountered a Noah, and that Noah had destroyed his left arm—his Innocence. And all that idiot was preoccupied with was saving Suman's. Even when he laid bleeding out from God's knew what, all he cared about was someone else.
But even finding that dried path of spilled blood now was useless when there was no sign of Allen anywhere. Its emptiness only made her heart sink deep into her stomach with dread and unease.
Celia pressed her left hand against her chest, willing her heart to not beat out of her chest—in vain— as her eyes never parted from the stained ground. It suddenly dawned on her that it wasn't just her apprehension causing her heart to beat so radically.
Exhaustion was creeping closer and closer the longer the amber eye remained activated but she couldn't well undo it. Leaving her arm exposed like that was only inviting trouble. But leaving it fully activated as it was wasn't a viable option either. After a brief discussion between the amber eye, they came to a more or less common ground. The obsidian skin and golden veins receding from the right side of her body and lessened the burden on her body as much as humanly possible. It peeled off from her right arm and shoulder and stopped shy of her left shoulder. As she opened her fist to test its mobility, however, a strange sensation came over her.
Heat; it was boiling somewhere beneath the surface. She'd noticed it ever since Lenalee the redhead found her and Tim. This heat was growing, festering beneath her skin. Smoldering yet sparking here and there with a need to burn again. What was worse is that she could sense where it was amassing itself. The telltale was the pinprick of that heat growing steadily between her shoulder blades.
It wasn't a completely foreign sensation. Just one she would rather not have. Knowing what it was and adding to it her reencounter with Tim and the new information of what he's escaped with suddenly brought everything into focus.
"Tim, did you give me—"
But as she turned to face Tim who'd been by the redhead's side, she found herself stopping in her tracks at said golden golem already inches away from her face. His wings flapped as he flew against her cheek and nuzzled against it. The wetness against her cheek stopped her in her tracks.
He was scared. He hadn't wanted to leave Allen behind. And yet he did so, following his order to save an Innocence he had no power to defend. No way to safeguard it. Until he found her.
You placed it in my hand on purpose.
Her hand reached upward and cradled the little guy against her. Timcanpy simply continued to weep into her cheek.
"Can you hear me, Lavi?"
Celia turned up at the black golem that held its place by the redhead's side. Lavi? Was that his name? She frankly didn't recall many details about the day they met two years ago. Now that she gave it a bit of a fleeting thought, though, she did recall the old man he was with introducing him as Junior.
"What is it?" Lavi said, his voice monotone as he held something in his hand.
"Come back. A messenger is here."
They brought her along. Or she followed them. One or the other. Frankly, there was no point in being apart now after finding them. She had hoped it would've been in better circumstances than these, though.
The instant Celia set foot on the port, she knew where they were headed. That ship that was barely hanging on to dear life told her enough. As they approached the group waiting at the end of the dock, there was no mistaking that this was indeed the unit that had been sent to find the mangy old priest.
Five of them. With Allen it would have been five, anyway.
There was an old man; he was the first one she noticed. Mostly because he was the only one she recognized. He was the old man she remembered being with Junior when she discovered they were both accommodators of Innocence. Bookman, she believed his name was if memory served. There was also another man, not as old as Bookman but still older than her. The fact he wore a uniform with the Rose Cross told her he was another in the unit. Two other women awaited at the dock; the fact they lacked a uniform gave her an idea or two of who they were. Either civilian supporters of the Order or Finders who'd been accompanying them; her vote was on the former.
The one that called most of her attention, however, was the man that stood at the end of the dock. Not so much because she recognized him or anything but because of a little white golem whose tinkling wings kept calling attention back to it.
"Navi."
The golem, upon hearing her voice, stopped its circling around the man's head and sprinted towards Celia. Her little body hit Timcanpy point blank, removing him from the spot he'd taken on top of her head, and took the spot for herself as her tail wrapped around her neck and her wings fell to either side of her head as she snuggled against her hair.
"Where have you been all this time?" she questioned under her breath.
Apparently, it was loud enough for the mystery guest to find it in himself to reply. "The golem sent word to the nearest branch, Valentine-sama. A sound idea given all that happened, so do not be cross with it."
Her eyes narrowed at hearing her name from a complete stranger. It appeared that at least someone recognized him, however, as Lenalee mentioned in passing that the man was from the Asian Branch. And indeed, he was. Introducing himself as Wong, he had come to them to pass along a couple of messages from their branch leader.
"We have found one of your forces, Allen Walker," he declared, "and have taken charge of him."
Celia's heart felt ready to pound out of her chest from the shock of hearing those words. Stunned as she was, Lenalee's reaction was enough for the both of them as she inquired about Allen. But Wong gave her no such answers. Only the command given to them.
"You must set sail immediately. You must leave Allen Walker here in China."
Leave him here? Why would they even humor the thought—
"Lenalee." Junior's voice from behind her had her stiffening up at the dreadful tone hidden under the call of Lenalee's name. "You saw Tim's memories as well. He's lost his Innocence. There's no path he can take to continue being an Exorcist."
This time when her heart took a beat, it pounded against her ears. It was so forceful that it had blood rushing through them making it hard to hear, hard to think. It hadn't occurred to her for a second that having lost his arm…meant the end of the line for Allen as an Exorcist. What mattered was whether he was alive or not. Whether he was still in this world and whether she'd ever get to see him again.
Yet hearing that now brought a new sting to the loss they'd just suffered.
"And as for Valentine-sama." Hearing her name once more, her amethyst eyes opened and rose to meet Wong's stern expression as the man spoke the latter half of the message seemingly intended for her. "She is to accompany me back to the Asian Branch."
"What?" The question had come from others other than herself. In fact, she didn't even know if she'd spoken it or not. The bewilderment was there, though, and must've been more than obvious as it had Wong clarifying the reason for such a decision.
"As per orders of Headquarters, you have been hereby barred from joining either your original unit or General Cross' unit any further."
Indignation had her in a chokehold for a split second before she barked out the very question she hadn't said. "WHAT?! WHY?!"
"This unit's already missing one Exorcist." This time the one who came to her apparent defense was the old man, Bookman. Or at least to logic's defense anyway.
Having lost Allen was all the more reason to let her leave with them and yet here they were doing the exact opposite. Wong had an answer for everything, though. It was something that was seriously starting to get on her nerves as well.
"The chief himself gave the order, Valentine-sama. You are in too much of a volatile state to continue."
"Volatile state? Don't give me that bullshit. I'm more than capable off continu—"
This time when her heart pounded, Celia felt it all across her body. Warmth spilled from her nose and down her eyes as she felt that same warmth coat her throat. Hacking up the blood that was pooling inside her, Celia fell to her knees as the pounding in her chest and head grew louder by the second. Through it she heard them, too, the humming and the wailing pleading with her to stop.
To rest. But she refused to.
After seeing what happened to Allen, she couldn't just let this be. He'd risk so much—everything!—to find the bastard of a priest they called their teacher and master. She wasn't about to let all he sacrificed go to waste.
Adamant in her stand, Celia spat a mix of saliva and fresh blood across the dock and glared up at Wong who, along with others, had approached her in the midst of her fit.
"I'll be damned if I go with you," she spat back through gritted teeth with fervor and ferociousness that bloomed from grief.
"It is not a decision for you to make anymore," he declared.
"Like hell—"
"Celia!"
Her whole body tensed at Lenalee's sudden cry. Amethyst eyes turned up as the young Chinese girl knelt by her side and suddenly held her in her arms. Struggling against even her weak hold, Celia was about to protest verbally if she had to against this blatant disregard for the mission when a sudden drop fell on her forehead. Then another and another.
Tears. Those held a stronger hold over her than anything else ever could have.
"Go with him, Celia," she whispered against the top of her head. "Take care of yourself, recover, then…then you can join us."
"But Lena…" Her grip tightened.
"Please," she said through sobs and a tremulous grip. "Please."
Celia was frozen at first, caught between what her heart urged her to do and what this tiny little girl wanted of her. Her silent crying made her chest tighten further and further until she couldn't think of any other option to stop the tears from falling from her dear friend.
"Okay," she mumbled, her hand reaching up and weakly gripping the arm Lenalee had wrapped across her chest. "...okay."
Lenalee tightened her hold. Suddenly, the idea of remaining behind suddenly made her mind and body reconnect and allow the entirety of her exhaustion to take over. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, the last words she spoke were done so in the hopes of reassuring her friend.
To reassure her that she wouldn't lose anybody else.
"I'll stay."
A/N:
Hello! First of, yay i'm back! I'm finding it harder these days to find inspo or time to write but I'm trying to push through this block and get in the mood of doing this again. I know it's been a couple of years since I last updated so I wanted to get this out before anything else. Tbh there's not much else I have a need to write for at the moment.
Also announcing in this chapter as well that I'll be permanently moving to AO3 from now on. I love since its where I started but with all the bots posting reviews and dming, i think I'll stick to the archive instead. I'll continue updating the stories I already have in FF so don't worry about that. I might forget to update both from time to time so if you guys want to be sure to catch updates head over to my AO3. It's there where I'll post any new stories from now on as well. You can find me by the same username of xeveningx too for an easier find.
Anyway, this one took especially longer when I got back to it because I wasn't entirely certain where I wanted to go with this new branch of the story since it diverges from the original fic. But I opted for her to remain in the asian branch for a reason that those who've read the og story might catch.
So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know it's been a long time so give a little pass for things I might have forgotten about the old chapters hehe. Stay tuned for the next chapter!
