Hope In The Midst Of Destruction (D. Gray-man Fanfic)

Chapter 26

The woman who summoned my soul was beautiful; maybe that was why I was so obsessed with beauty and such. I had fun and with my beauty, and all the men around me praised and appreciated me.

But then when I got hungry, I killed, and then those same men would die oh so very easily. And when I killed, I always looked ugly. I hated killing because of that.

There was something I wanted to try, but because I was an Akuma, it was something that would forever be out of my reach. I couldn't disobey the Millennium Earl, my creator and master, so I evolved as I killed more and more.

And then I met him, whose fangs could kill me just as easily as I could kill the men prostrating themselves to me.

How I so dearly love and fear those fangs of his.

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Eliade didn't spare a single second. The moment she realized Krory saw who—what—she really was, she transformed and attacked.

"Ah, my plan is ruined!! Now that you realized the truth, I'll have to kill you!! I won't let you become an exorcist!!!" Eliade screamed in frustration as she charged forward.

Lavi cursed. "Shoot, Kro-chan's still hurt from fighting me earlier! Allen, we gotta help—!!" And then the carnivorous plants from earlier broke through the floor and captured the two exorcists.

'This is quite an...unexpecting turn of events.'

'Holy hell, there were still some of these alive?!?! They're persistent!! And they're molesting my Allen!!!!'

'Our Allen. And yes, that is quite the problem...'

Allen, this time, didn't bother holding back her sigh as her body was swung back and forth by the flowers. She glanced toward Eliade and Krory, the latter whom finally found the motivation to fight, licking up the blood on his glove to give him a power boost.

'Now that I think about it, didn't these plants have sort of equivalent exchange trait?'

'Huh, don't tell me it was something like be nice to them and they won't eat you?' Neah remarked sarcastically.

'...Actually, that was it, I believe.'

'Wait, seriously—'

'And I thought your memory was getting better, old man. Seems it was a fluke.'

'How am I the old man when you—!?!'

Ignoring everything else going on in her head, Allen calmly informed, "Lavi, I just remembered something about these plants. I have...prior experience with tending to them with Shishou."

"Really what?!?" Lavi cried out, desperately preventing the flowers from swallowing him whole.

"If you show them love and affection, they won't attack," Allen said straightforwardly. Without question, Lavi proceeded to scream "I love you," towards the plants at the top of his lungs.

'Well, that works,' Allen sweatdropped, and just proceeded to show more physical affection instead, such as gentle pats and rubs (she wasn't going to throw away her dignity like Lavi (if he still had any to begin with)). When she was let down back onto the ground, she turned back toward Krory and Eliade.

It was chaos. Eliade kept sending out bubbles that stole and stored all the water of anything it touched, including the flowers. Krory dodged most of them, but one managed to hit his arm, turning it into a paper-like form.

"How dare you destroy all of grandfather's flowers like that, Eliade!" Krory glared as he held his damaged arm ("Wait, does that idiot vampire care more about freaking flowers than his d*mn arm—")

Eliade laughed mockingly. "So what? Like you actually care about those stupid plants!! You blame that man for never allowing you out of the castle when it's just because you're a coward whose too afraid of getting hurt!! Rotting in here is a fitting ending for a coward like you!!"

Krory's expression softened just slightly. "That was an end I didn't mind, as long as you were by my side."

'No matter what form you were in, or what you were, I have and will always love you Eliade.'

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My grandfather, Aleister Krory the First, was a man who enjoyed collecting unique objects. Whether it were artifacts or a type of rare plant species, he spent all his years collecting whatever he enjoyed.

But because of the nature of some of these objects, the people residing in the nearby village soon labeled us as vampires, fearing us as a result.

And it was only after my grandfather's death, after experiencing the villager's scorn, did I realize I was no different than another one of grandfather's possession. Nothing in this castle I inherited belonged to me. There was nothing that proved I was alive, that I existed.

And then I met Eliade for the first time, who stayed for me and only me.

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As if reading his thoughts, Eliade hesitated but that didn't deter Krory as he charged to attack once more.

"I wish I didn't have to see you like this. That's why I'll destroy you!!"

"G-get away!!" As if snapping out of a trance, Eliade sent out a flurry of bubbles, an amount that put the earlier wave to shame. It completely enveloped Krory, and rendered him something resembling a dried-up zombie.

"Kro-chan!!" Lavi called out, who in the midst of the battle was able to free himself from the plants soon after Allen. Lavi tried to run toward the duo, but Allen raised her arm to stop him. Confused, Lavi looked toward Allen in question.

"Krory isn't dead yet." Was Allen's answer.

Eliade, seeing the fight over, reverted back to her human form and stood before Krory with a sad expression. She looked down onto the remains of Krory.

"Seems like this is goodbye—"

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Because I am an Akuma, I kill all the men that flock to me. Because I am an Akuma, that one thing I wanted to do would be something unattainable.

That one thing that made every woman, no matter how inferior they were, more beautiful than me.

And then I met Aleister Krory, a man I could not kill. And because I could not kill him...

...He could kill me.

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"—Aleister-sama," Eliade's eyes widened at the feeling of her blood being sucked out; Krory used his remaining strength to launch his head—his fangs—toward Eliade's neck. But then she smiled.

"I'm sorry..." With each drop of blood drained from her, Krory's body slowly restored itself.

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Despite our first meeting, Eliade did not hate me like the villagers. She did not run or scream at me in fear. Even though I had done nothing worthy of her, she stayed.

She became the only thing I could to call mine, because I was the reason she stayed in this castle, where nothing else was mine.

And for that, I love Eliade deeply. And that is why...

...Even at the cost of my life, I must protect her.

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"...I love you, Aleister." And with her last drop gone from her body, Eliade turned to ash in Krory's arms.