Chapter 8
Synchronization
Previously:
I removed the comfortingly cool Innocence from its intricate case and slipped the katana out from the cloth. Hoping for the best, I touched the Innocence against the uncovered katana, whose silvery blade began to glow the lightest shade of green.
At first, there was nothing. Then I felt a sort of swelling inside me, a sensation that I could not identify until I realized that it was my soul that was pulsing along with the Innocence. Quivering in the same rhythm, the Innocence-katana pair began to meld together as though the Innocence itself had melted away into the metal of the sword. The green glow grew more intense. I gripped the katana more tightly, willing the phenomenon to continue, willing the blade to absorb my Innocence and turned it into a temporary weapon I could use right now to destroy those Akuma.
A final pulse. Then the phenomenon completed itself in a final swoosh and a final flash of emerald before I found myself standing the middle of the cluttered room, holding out a glowing katana with sleek, black markings.
I did it.
Allowing a momentary victory grin to pass over my face, I turned to the window and shot out towards the open. The blank face of an Akuma stared at my sudden entrance into the battlefield.
Raise your blade.
I held up the katana and glared right back at the monster.
Now slice it!
I obeyed, savoring the immense satisfaction of cutting into the steel body of the Akuma. Then an explosion. In midair, I nimbly wheeled out of the way and landed lightly on the mast of the ship.
"Wha—" Daisya gasped from below, on the deck. "Yu—I mean—Kanda! How did you get that weapon?"
"I merged my Innocence with my katana," I replied before jumping up to slash at another incoming Akuma.
"You show-off!" Daisya laughed, having wiped away his surprise. "I can't let you have all the fun. Go, Charity Bell!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the glowing, ringing ball fly upwards and shoot through the metal bodies of several Akuma in one shot. They immediately began to shudder and cringe in pain at a bell-like sound before all exploding.
"Hm, not bad," I muttered.
I jumped off the mast to destroy another two Akuma near me before narrowing dodging a glowing white vine.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, Yuu-kun," Tiedoll called out apologetically while giving me a bright smile. "I didn't expect you to be there!"
"That's shishou's Innocence, Maker of Eden. It's quite powerful," Daisya explained while kicking his Charity Bell towards another group of Akuma.
I stared at a massive giant, also glowing in the same white shade, that suddenly emerged from the depths of the dark waters. This was probably also part of the Maker of Eden.
Such a frightening power this silly old man wields, I mused in a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"Better avoid it while you can!" the Turkish boy continued, dodging another fling of the vines.
I followed his lead by ducking, feeling the wind of the snaking plant fly past over me. My eyes followed the progress of the vines that were flailing around higher and higher… in the skies! I grinned, an idea having formed in my mind. Springing to my feet, I swiftly climbed onto one of the vines and ran my way to the top. The effort proved to be quite exhausting; it was difficult enough just to grip with one hand and find a good footing on the spikes, but my right shoulder was also beginning to throb from when the woman fell against me as I was heading towards my room below the deck. Sensing the presence of an Akuma behind me, I whipped around and cut it quickly, already accustomed to the feel of slashing through its steel body.
Then came the horrible sound of a cackling voice.
Chills ran down my spine. I snapped my head to the right and saw a gray gargantuan bird with an elongated neck, charcoal gray wings of rock-hard feathers, red gleaming eyes, and a beak like the muzzle of a snarling dog. On its chest was a staring face with a star on the forehead, just like one on an ordinary Akuma.
I froze. It couldn't be what I thought it was… right—?
"Kanda!" Daisya yelled from far down below, panic instilled in his voice. "Get back down here. That's a Level Two Akuma! You can't handle it."
The bird Akuma turned its cold crimson gaze—the color of blood!—on me and laughed.
"Aww, what a cute little boy," it cooed in a mechanical voice. "Are you a new Exorcist? I'll give you a tutorial on how to be a good one!"
It opened its canine jaws and fired out a blue energy ball. Startled, I managed to dodge it in time but nearly lost my grip on the vine's spike I was holding onto. Through the sizzling of the Akuma's attacks and the sounds of battle, I could hear the crash of the ocean waves churning below me. My heart throbbed wildly, echoing in my eardrums. I felt my hands growing clammy and slippery with perspiration.
"Ah, not too shabby, are you?" the Akuma sneered. "How about this one?"
It spread its gray wings and flapped once. A large slice of hardened air flew towards me. In a moment of fear mingled with indecision, I remained frozen and merely stared at the attack, my mind utterly screaming, screaming, screaming—I'm going to die, I'm going to die—I began to lose my grip—I don't want to die yet—!!!
In the nick of time, another white vine blocked the air's progress, even flicking it away with ease. The force of shoving away the hardened air pushed me off the vine. My hands wildly snatched at thin air, my heart still pounding quickly at the recent prospect of actually dying, my mouth wide open in a silent scream, my hand still holding onto the katana with dear life—
I landed on something soft.
"Yuu," Tiedoll said from somewhere near me.
I glanced at him, to the left. Cold sweat dripped down my face. I was shivering. My hands, clammy and pale, couldn't stop trembling.
"I'll take care of this one," he said with rare sternness, his eyes glinting with quiet anger. "Just sit tight and don't move."
I could only nod and glance weakly around me. As the sounds of battle clashed above me and the cluster of vines I was sitting on, I set my gaze on a familiar-looking man sitting against a pole. He looked sickly, with black stars dotting his arms, neck, face…
Lambert, I realized with a start.
Scrambling off the bed of vines—nearly slipping on the debris of the deck—legs feeling shaky and seemingly unable to support my own weight though I was clearly walking—knowing deep inside that something was wrong and yet denying it at the same time—I called out his name. I kneeled next to him and dropped my katana to the ground. The man slowly turned his head to face me.
"Ah, Kanda-kun," he smiled. "It's a pity I couldn't teach you more Japanese."
"No, no…" I muttered. "It was good… I learned a lot…"
Lambert retained his sad smile and glistening eyes.
"I suppose this is farewell, Kanda-kun," he whispered. "Perhaps I wasn't meant to traverse the entire world, after all.
"Make sure you do it for me!"
His laugh was hollow, nearly devoid of life.
"No, no…" I continued, my arms quivering and tears beginning to stream down my face. "You can't die… Don't…"
Don't leave me too!! I screamed silently. I don't want to lose you!!!!
"Sayonara, Kanda-kun."
With that said, Lambert's body softened and dissolved into a pile of dust.
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I was still in my state of shock when Tiedoll destroyed the Level Two Akuma and returned to my side.
"Are you alright, Yuu?" he said, still in his serious tone.
I could only nod. And stare. Just stare and stare. Gone. Lambert was gone. No longer existent, in this world. My heart pounded as hollowly as his laugh had been. Lifeless. Empty. Gone. I felt tired, heavy, oh so heavy, like a weight had been imposed on me. I felt like sinking, dispersing into nothingness just like he had. He was gone.
"This is what happens to people hit by Akuma bullets?" I muttered.
Tiedoll's silence answered my question. I lowered my head.
Suddenly, like the sweeping flow of a river, the power I had felt all this time leaked out and back into the Innocence. I shivered and collapsed, suddenly left without any strength, onto the deck on my back. Meekly, I watched the katana shudder before it expelled the Innocence from its depths. In a single instant, the blade reverted to its original silvery state and then shattered, wearily dispersing its many shards upon the debris-covered deck. Vaguely, through my fatigue, I heard Daisya ooh-ing and ahh-ing and Tiedoll not saying anything, remaining unusually silent, while Bookman—when did he get here?—expressed a sense of surprise and admiration.
"Amazing," the old history recorder was saying in a hushed voice, filled with awe. "A young child such as himself is capable of successfully activating his Innocence without proper Exorcist training!"
Through my darkening sight, I saw Brann merely look at me with his single bright, calm green eye before I fell to the exhaustion and into my mind's dark seas of unconsciousness, still ringing faintly with the stream of distant, admiring voices and the saddening images of the broken katana… and the pile of dust that had once been Lambert.
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The rest of the journey proved uneventful; in any case, I was unconscious for the better part of it. Tiedoll explained that was due to my pre-training synchronization with my Innocence. Without having undergone the proper procedures, my body had been unable to take the burden of yielding the Innocence for too long. The shattered katana, said Tiedoll, was the result of the unsuitable pairing of an Innocence and a weapon. Although I knew a sword that had been smashed into pieces was virtually useless, I insisted on wrapping it in a little sack. Despite the ironies and knowing how silly it sounded, I wanted to keep the only memory of my homeland close to me; it was the only physical link I had to shishou now.
We reached the shores of China during the afternoon of a fair autumn day, yet the harbor was bustling with activity: the shouts of the workers unloading cargo, the joyful cries of reunited families, the clattering of rickshaws and carriages upon the bumpy roads. The rays of the sun in the dusty blue sky casted slanted shadows of the voyagers and workers.
Having stepped down from the ship, I watched my own elongated shadow on the wooden plank of the harbor. In the nebulous gray form that was my head's shadow, a patch of white appeared. It twisted and bent itself until it separated into three parts and formed a grinning face with two eyes. I jumped at the familiar sight and nearly toppled Daisya over, who had come up from behind me. Ignoring his yelps, I glanced back at the ground where my shadow was, heart beating fast, but the face did not appear again. Perhaps I had been hallucinating…
Pushing the thought out of my mind, I joined Tiedoll and Daisya, who was giving me dirty looks, in the plain-looking wooden carriage that was waiting for us. Before stepping up, I noted that a silvery, ornate cross (the crest, or the Rose Cross, of the Black Order, Daisya grumpily informed me when I asked) was painted on the sides of the carriage. Apparently, the Black Order simply had to add a touch of its own on an ordinary carriage for the purposes of differentiating it from the other ones.
"Will you be heading towards the Asia Headquarters?" Bookman inquired, looking up at Tiedoll with Brann standing next to the former man.
"Yes," the said general nodded in affirmation, "Kanda" —I stared at Tiedoll for his use of my family name— "needs formal training and a weapon of sorts. And you?"
"We'll head north to Shanghai," Bookman replied. "There appears to be some new developments in the city."
"Best wishes and safe travelling," Tiedoll said.
Bookman turned his steady gaze on me.
"This one seems to be very promising," he stated. "Take good care of him, General Tiedoll."
"Of course," Tiedoll cried, suddenly grabbing me in another tight embrace, "I have to look after my dear son while he becomes an official Exorcist! Oh, this makes me so proud!"
"Oi," I growled, "I'm not your son!"
Daisya placed a hand on my shoulder, his anger having disappeared at seeing my suffering.
"Don't worry, Kanda," he grinned, "shishou is always like this. You just have to bear with it."
"…che."
Smiling, the hooded driver, who was dressed in beige robes, turned away from the horrid spectacle and prepared for departure. I finally managed to loosen myself from Tiedoll's embrace and proceeded to grouchily sit as far away from the man as possible with my arms crossed. Though I did not turn around, I knew that Bookman and Brann were silently watching us. I wondered if I would ever see them—these recorders of unwritten history—again.
The driver flicked the reins, and the two horses pulling the carriage went into a trot, leaving behind the harbor and heading towards the Asia Branch of the Black Order.
To be continued
A/N: I must say, I had a difficult time writing out the battle scene aboard the ship; I hope it was satisfactory. Additionally, as a forewarning, I see life becoming burdensome in the near future, so expect slightly slower updates ): KANDA IS AWESOME NONETHELESS.
Special thanks to: coolgirl200, or-chan, Everystep, Valitiel, pika318, SeptemberSweetness, and pizzaslices. As a side note, feel free to leave reviews that include not only effusive compliments -nudge nudge- but also criticisms. It's also nice to read about where I could improve in regards to character and plot development. See you in the virtual world of review replies!
Disclaimer: DGM belongs to Hoshino Katsura
.moose