Chapter Text
"C'mon, Yuu, what's your problem?" Lavi stretched his arms up over his head, inhaling deeply. "It's gorgeous out here. Pretty flowers coming up, birds singing in the distance, spring sun shining down through the branches. What more could you ask for?"
The redhead was right that the forest was beautiful. If not for the loudmouth accompanying him, Kanda might have been quite enjoying himself. But it was hard to appreciate the quiet zen of a forest when you were travelling with someone who didn't know how to shut up. "I just think this is a massive waste of time," he replied sourly. "We're only distracting ourselves from getting back to the Order with the Innocence we retrieved. The chances of this woman actually being able to tell true fortunes are unbelievably low."
"Not if she's using Innocence," Lavi pointed out. "According to the Finder Bookman spoke to, this woman has been giving accurate predictions and selling spells that actually seem to work for years. Plus there have been Akuma sighted in every area she's travelled through recently. It all adds up. Admit it, you're just worried she'll cast a love spell on you or predict some kinda horrible fortune that'll actually come true."
Glaring at Lavi never had much effect, but it did make Kanda feel marginally better. "These people are Gypsies, Lavi. From everything I've ever heard about them, they're lying, swindling thieves. This woman is probably about as much of a real witch as I am."
Lavi made a 'tsk' sound and wagged his finger at Kanda. "Honestly, Yuu, judging a book by its cover like that. The Bookmen have had more than a few encounters with the Romany over the years, and they're not always what they seem to be. If there is such a thing as a real fortune-teller, I'd believe it would be one of them."
That made Kanda pause, because he had to admit that the history of the Bookmen went back further and was a great deal more accurate than the folktales and gossip that were all he had to go by. The prospect that this woman might be for real actually made it worse. The last thing he wanted to do was get mixed up with that sort of power. "In which case it still has nothing to do with Innocence," he said. "You probably just want to get her to give you a love spell or something ridiculous like that."
"Yeah, and Bookman would so agree to taking a day out of our trip for that. What are you so freaked about anyway, Yuu? Don't tell me you're afraid of a little old fortune-teller?" Lavi was grinning at him like an idiot, apparently delighted to have found a perceived weak spot. Kanda ground his teeth and refused to answer, swatting an overhanging branch out of his way and hoping it would strike the moron trailing after him.
No such luck, unfortunately. Laughing, Lavi ducked the branch and came up beside him, walking on the other side of the deeply rutted track they were following into the forest. "C'mon, she's probably some harmless old broad whose bark is worse than her bite. What's the big deal?"
"Big words from someone who's afraid of vampires," Kanda snapped, losing his patience. "I just want to get back to headquarters and get this mission over with, not go chasing after wild geese." And if he had to threaten Komui to get the man to assign him a new partner for his next mission, he wouldn't hesitate to do it. Kanda was rapidly reaching his limit for how much of Lavi he could stand at a stretch.
"Hey, that was a totally different situation," Lavi protested. "Vampires are not known for being friendly to visitors, unlike the Romany. The worst a Rom'll do to you is cheat you out of some money, but a vam... hold it." He flung his arm out abruptly, barring Kanda's path, and stopped in the middle of the road. Baffled, Kanda watched as Lavi stared blankly into the distance.
"Hear that?" the redhead asked, all laughter suddenly gone from his voice. Kanda strained his ears, and finally made out the distinctive whine of an Akuma's bullets.
"Fuck," he swore, and put a hand on Mugen's hilt. "It's got to be at least a mile ahead. We'll never get there in time."
"Oh, ye of little faith," Lavi said, a fierce smile lighting his face that was nothing like his usual carefree grin. He drew his hammer, expanding it so quickly Kanda didn't even see the shift. Planting the head firmly on the rutted trail, he gripped the shaft and beckoned to Kanda. "Hang on tight, Yuu, it's gonna be a bumpy ride."
Kanda grabbed the shaft of the hammer and moved closer beside Lavi. "Oodzuchi Kodzuchi, extend!" the redhead shouted almost cheerfully, and the hammer shaft shot up and out along the trail.
Kanda had never actually travelled via Lavi's hammer before, though he'd heard Allen's story and seen Lavi do it several times. It took him a second to reposition himself, scrambling to sit on the shaft behind Lavi. He was forced to grip the other man's jacket with his free hand to keep from being blown off by the wind created by their passage. He couldn't believe how fast they were moving.
They zipped along through the trees, and the sound of the bullets grew rapidly nearer. It was soon joined by the sound of screaming and shouting, and he felt Lavi tense in front of him. "Here we go," the redhead warned, and a moment later they burst into a clearing where a dozen horse-drawn wagons had been gathered together.
Lavi had slowed their pace just enough that Kanda was willing to risk jumping free. As he pushed off the shaft he was already drawing Mugen, launching himself towards the nearest Akuma. He caught the monster completely by surprise, slicing through it and the one behind it before any of them realized they were under attack. On the other side of the camp he heard more explosions accompanied by Lavi's bright laughter.
More bullets rained down around him, and Kanda ducked and dodged through the hail. One powerful jump took him up to the roof of one of the wagons, and a second got him up into the air above the clearing where most of the Akuma were hovering. "Innocence, activate!" he shouted, drawing two fingers down the length of Mugen's blade and leaving shining silver fire in his wake.
He made short work of three more of the monsters, using each one to leap off and strike at the next. Lavi's hammer shot past him as he jumped between the second and third, narrowly missing him and smashing into a fourth that had been trying to sneak up behind him. Kanda didn't bother to offer thanks, too busy carving the Akuma before him to pieces.
Unfortunately the third Akuma was too far from any of the others for him to cross the distance in the air, so he was forced to land again. He hit the ground running, already focused on his next target. There was a second level Akuma hovering above everything, its oblong form easy to spot among the grotesque spheres of the first levels. It looked like some kind of animated playing card, but with a design unlike anything Kanda had ever seen before.
"Kaichuu: Ichigen," Kanda called, and the blade of his sword burst into a dozen pieces. The Hell's Insects swarmed up towards the second level, passing right through two other Akuma that exploded in their wake.
Unfortunately that slowed them marginally and gave the second level warning that they were coming. "Exorcists," it snarled, and flew higher in an attempt to outrun the Insects.
"Oh, no you don't!" Kanda and Lavi spoke on the same breath, and the flaming snake of Lavi's Fire Seal soared into the air from the other side of the camp. The Insects and snake twined around each other, almost seeming to urge each other on as they raced for the Akuma.
"Wheel of Fate!" The second level spun in place, and when it stopped the picture on its flat side had changed to a circle of the zodiac that slowly rotated in place. "Up becomes down, and all things must fall after rising."
"You've got to be kidding me," Lavi exclaimed. The fire snake and Insects, working harmoniously just moments before, suddenly seemed to turn on each other. Startled, Kanda tried to direct the Insects away, but they struck the Akuma in an extremely weakened state. Lavi's fire roared past the Akuma in a showy flash that did very little actual damage, far less than it should have.
"What the hell?" Kanda dodged the bullets from another of the first levels. When he turned the Insects on it, they barely made an impact. "What did it do?"
"It turned the Wheel," Lavi called back, an answer that did absolutely nothing to enlighten Kanda. "Just use Mugen, it should work fine."
He was following his own advice, having released the flame snake and gone back to attacking the Akuma directly with his hammer. It was doing damage as it was supposed to, slamming right through a pair of first levels.
Snarling, Kanda called the Hell's Insects back to him, and let them reform into Mugen's blade. The first levels had converged on him again, though there were noticeably fewer than there had been in the beginning of the battle. Pushing off the ground, he slashed at the nearest one, intending to repeat his earlier aerobatics and clear himself enough space to go after the second level again.
When he heard the second level laugh, he had a sinking feeling he was about to be in trouble. "Judgement!" it crowed, and light flashed from it to every first level in the air. "Let the sword of justice balance the scales."
Hearing the way Lavi started swearing creatively didn't make Kanda feel any better about the situation. Somehow he wasn't surprised when Mugen was deflected by the surface of the next Akuma, as if it had suddenly grown a coat of armour even his Innocence couldn't penetrate. It had also developed new weapons, as he discovered when a massive metal blade swung at him out of nowhere. He barely managed to dodge; he felt the sharp blade catch on the hem of his jacket, and when he looked there was a slice halfway up his thigh.
All of the first levels had sprouted swords, and they were converging on him and Lavi with obvious murderous intent. Kanda blocked one and parried another, and this time he succeeded in landing a hit. Mugen cut into the Akuma, but a blow that would have utterly destroyed it a minute ago now only carved a chunk out of its side. It was damaged, but still capable of fighting.
"Now what?" he demanded when he ended up back to back with Lavi, both of them struggling just to keep the Akuma from chopping them to pieces. Kanda was absolutely humiliated to find himself unable to handle half a dozen first levels.
"Now we try something different, and hope the Wheel only affected my Fire Seal," Lavi replied. The familiar ring of seals formed around him. "Raitei Kaiten!" He slammed his hammer into the seal for 'heaven', and an unbelievable amount of lightning crashed down around them.
Too late, Kanda tried to shield his eyes. The noise was deafening, and his eyes were watering from all the light. At that, he still fared better than the Akuma. When he was finally able to make out anything through the phantom lights dancing in his vision, he saw that the sky around them was clear.
"Try this on for size, big guy," Lavi shouted, and aimed another massive burst of lightning at the second level.
"Chariot! The journey is the destination." The Akuma spun in place again and vanished just before the attack would have reached it, and the lightning spent itself harmlessly in the sky.
"Shit. Where'd it go?" Lavi said, twisting to try to see more of the area. Kanda did the same, scanning the sky and the trees around them, his whole body tense as he waited for the Akuma to pop out at them again.
When nothing had happened for a full two minutes, Kanda cautiously relaxed and lowered Mugen. "Apparently it didn't like the idea of facing us directly. Why didn't it just use the same ability as the first time?"
"Because if it'd spun the Wheel again, the Insects and the Fire Seal would've been back up on top," Lavi said as if that should have explained everything. "I can't believe there's an Akuma that uses tarot attacks, for crying out loud."
"It was one of the Rom, not so long ago," a low, sultry voice replied. Kanda looked around and saw that people were cautiously climbing out from beneath the wagons, where they'd apparently taken shelter from the bullets of the Akuma.
The speaker was a woman, and she matched the implied promise of her voice. She was older than them, perhaps in her thirties, with the lithely muscled body of a dancer. Kanda was certain of it, because the colourful skirts and scarves she wore revealed a shocking amount of her body. She was beautiful, but in a darkly exotic way that made Kanda feel apprehension rather than attraction.
The same could not be said of his comrade, of course. "Strike!" Lavi exclaimed, and Kanda could practically see the hearts in the redhead's eye. "Wow, you are so my type! I don't s'ppose you'd consider..."
"No." The rejection was delivered calmly, but there was a sense of power behind the word that made even Lavi falter in his puppy-love. Kanda felt as if he was being watched and weighed by some kind of higher being, and it put him instantly on edge.
Scowling, he deactivated Mugen and sheathed the blade, just to give himself something else to think about for a moment. "Let me guess. You're the woman we're looking for," he said, not a doubt in his mind. He was no kind of sensitive, and even he could sense the power this woman wielded.
"If you are looking for the 'Gypsy witch', then aye, you've found her," the woman acknowledged, her expression cool. "But I wonder if I should thank you for saving us, or question the extreme convenience of your arrival on the heels of the monsters."
Kanda stiffened, offended by the implication thinly veiled by her words. "How dare you suggest we would have anything to do with Akuma," he spat, hand clenching on Mugen's hilt again.
Lavi's hand snapped out and closed over the top of the saya before he could draw the blade, forcing him to either keep Mugen in the sheath or risk cutting right through the other man's fingers. "Easy, Yuu," he murmured. "I got it covered."
He flashed a friendly smile at the woman - only friendly this time, not worshipful or lustful - and said something in a language completely foreign to Kanda. Judging by the startled and shocked reactions of the people around them, it was probably the Gypsy tongue.
The woman said something in reply, and Lavi shook his head ruefully. " 'Fraid I pretty much exhausted my fluency with that first bit, lady. I still got a lot of studying to do; I don't know nearly as many languages as my master the Bookman yet."
"Indeed. Your accent is horrid," she agreed, but her expression was much more open and her tone was welcoming. "I know of the Bookmen, though I never expected to meet one." She laughed at Lavi's surprised look. "Did you think you were the only keepers of secrets? The wisemen and women of the Romany know many things hidden to the rest of the world. Well met then, my friends. We owe you our lives. Why have you come in search of me? Did you wish to have your fortunes told?" She raised an eyebrow, looking dubious.
Releasing his grip on the hilt, Kanda forced himself to relax again. "We heard rumours about your power, and thought it might be related to Innocence," he said. "The attack by the Akuma confirms it. You must be an Accommodator."
"My power comes to me from my bloodline, as my mother's did before me," she told them. "For now, my people are hurt and I must tend to them before we talk of this further." She turned on her heel and disappeared behind one of the wagons before either of them could say anything to stop her.
"Well." Lavi grinned at Kanda, and the hearts were back in his eyes - albeit somewhat dimmed. "She's certainly gonna make an interesting addition to the Order. Hope she gets assigned to our branch."
"You're an idiot," Kanda retorted. That was all that needed to be said, really. It covered pretty much everything where Lavi was concerned.
"And you love me for it," Lavi agreed cheerfully, slapping him on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's make sure the Akuma didn't leave any unpleasant surprises behind."
They split up, prowling around the devastated campsite in opposite directions. Kanda caught a glimpse of the fortune-teller bent over a man who'd been impaled by a broken bit of wood from one of the destroyed wagons. The injured were all a result of indirect damage like that; anyone actually struck by an Akuma bullet was dust already. Far more numerous than the injured were the people weeping over lost loved ones. Kanda kept a wary eye out. Where there was one Akuma there could always be more, and without Allen there was no way to tell them apart from ordinary people.
He reached the opposite side of the clearing well ahead of Lavi, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. All Kanda had to do was look around to spot the redhead flirting with another pretty Gypsy girl. Even as he watched a burly man came up and put his hand on the girl's shoulder possessively, glaring at Lavi. The Exorcist backed off with a nervous laugh and his hands raised in a gesture of surrender. Growling, Kanda turned away, afraid he would snap and say something he'd regret if he kept watching the idiot's antics.
Well, maybe 'regret' was too strong a word.
"How was I s'pposed to know she was married?" Lavi complained as he came up beside Kanda. The redhead leaned against a tree and crossed his arms behind his head. "She looked a bit too young."
"I suppose I should be grateful you have enough self-preservation instinct to back off at all," Kanda said, glaring at him. "Can't you keep it in your pants for five minutes?"
"Hey, I was just tryin' to offer comfort and consolation," Lavi said, an exaggerated hurt look on his face. "Can I help it if the guy took it the wrong way?"
"One of these days you're going to offend the wrong husband or father or brother, and I'm not going to bail you out when it happens," Kanda declared. At least Lavi's incredibly heavy-handed flirting style meant he never got anywhere with women, or they'd probably never get him to focus on the damn job. Kanda had to wonder how a man who otherwise seemed quite socially adept could possibly believe women would appreciate his approach. And he never learned from his failures, either.
Slowly the caravan was put back to rights again, at least as much as it could be. The injured were laid out by the relit campfire in the centre, the wagons circled around it and the surviving horses gathered from the surrounding forest where they'd fled. Darkness was falling rapidly, and Kanda sighed as he realized they were going to have to spend the night with the Gypsies. At least it would give them more time to convince the fortune-teller to go with them back to the Order.
Someone had set up a stewpot over the fire, and the smell of it was making Kanda hungry. He hadn't eaten since they'd left the town that morning. To his surprise, an old crone made her way over to them, carrying two bowls filled with the rich stew. She said something incomprehensible in their language as she offered the bowls to them, grinning up at Lavi.
"I think they noticed your tendency to flirt with anything in a skirt," Kanda remarked, amused. He took the bowl politely with both hands and nodded his thanks, since she didn't seem to speak any language he knew. "Maybe they're testing to see how far it goes. Or maybe she's just that desperate."
"Ha ha, very funny," Lavi replied, rolling his eyes. "I wouldn't assume she can't understand you, if I were you. Thank you," he added to the woman, accepting his bowl and scooping a big spoonful into his mouth. The look that crossed his face a moment later was comically dismayed. "Ow, shit, that's hot," he exclaimed around the mouthful, fanning himself like that would somehow help.
"Idiot," Kanda repeated yet again. Maybe one of these days it would sink in, though he wasn't holding his breath.
"What? I'm hungry," Lavi said, blowing on the next spoonful to cool it first.
The old lady cackled and moved away, leaving them to their dinner. Actually, everyone was steering clear of them, Kanda realized. There was a wide circle around them where nobody was venturing, even to cross from one place to another. Apparently they'd earned their supper, but not company.
"Sure recover fast, don't they?" Lavi observed as someone began beating a drum. Several couples formed to dance around the fire, and shortly a fiddle and pipes had joined the drum.
"What are they celebrating?" Kanda asked, incredulous. They'd just lost a significant portion of their families, yet they were acting as if it was some kind of festival.
"Life, s'far as I can tell," Lavi replied. "Not a bad way to handle it, really. Give thanks for those who survived, rather than brooding over everything they lost. Maybe if more people thought that way, the Earl wouldn't have such an easy time creating new Akuma." He shrugged. "Think I'll go give back the bowl and see if they'll let me join in."
"What? We're not here to have a party, Lavi, we've got a job to do," Kanda said.
"Yeah, and we can't do it 'til the hot lady comes back to talk to us, so there's no sense standin' around like lumps in the meantime," Lavi insisted, his grin widening. "C'mon, Yuu, lighten up. Maybe if you let yourself have a little fun once in a while you wouldn't have such a big stick up your ass."
"One of us has to pay attention to the mission," Kanda retorted. "You certainly don't seem inclined to." Lavi just waved at him and headed off towards the campfire, obviously not caring in the least what Kanda's estimation of his professionalism was.
Seething, Kanda found a spot that was out of the way where he could see the whole camp, and kept an eye on their surroundings. That second level was still out there, and probably wouldn't give up this easily. He, at least, refused to be caught by surprise.
He wasn't sure how much time passed, but it had been fully dark for quite a while when a soft voice spoke at his shoulder. "I am ready." Startled, Kanda whirled, one hand on Mugen. How the hell had someone snuck up on him like that?
For a moment he didn't see anyone. Then the fortune-teller seemed to melt out of the shadows, appearing out of nowhere. The hairs on the back of Kanda's neck rose, and he shivered. He was truly starting to dislike this woman. Lavi's wishes to the contrary, he really hoped she wasn't assigned to their branch.
"Your friend certainly seems to be enjoying himself," she observed, looking towards the campfire with a small smile. Lavi had managed to make friends with the Gypsies after all, and one of the girls was teaching him the steps to their dance. He was laughing, clearly having a ball.
"Lavi's good at that," Kanda said, unable to keep the sourness out of his voice. "It's about the only thing he really seems to dedicate himself to."
"Indeed?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and he felt suddenly like a bug pinned to a board for study. Kanda had a definite sense that he'd just been found wanting in some way. He fought the urge to squirm, scowling. "And you, the ever-vigilant one, disapprove?"
"You make it sound like I'm the one in the wrong," he snapped, shifting his weight uneasily. "Do you want your people attacked again while we're not paying attention?"
"Of course not," she answered. "Come, both of you. We will talk in my vardo."
Turning to call Lavi over, Kanda was startled into jumping for a second time that night. The redhead was already right there behind him, somewhat winded from the dancing but with his grin firmly in place and the hearts back in his eye. When had he come over, and why hadn't Kanda noticed?
"Geez, Yuu, you're way too wired," Lavi informed him. "Toldja you need to relax. Should've come and danced, it was fun. Lead the way, lady."
"My name is Marda," she said as she turned and led them towards one of the wagons. "And you are Lavi and Yuu?"
"Kanda," Kanda corrected her hastily, glaring at Lavi. "My name is Kanda. Someday I'll cram it into the idiot's head."
"I'm the same age as you, I'm allowed to call you by given name," Lavi said, the same stupid argument he always used when Kanda made another futile attempt to get the man to stop calling him Yuu.
"Kanda, then," Marda conceded. "Come." She opened the door to her wagon and preceded them inside. Lavi followed right behind her, and Kanda was left standing outside. For some reason he felt horribly uneasy about going into that wagon. Maybe it was just that he didn't want to be inside in case the Akuma took the opportunity to attack again. Or maybe his intuition was smarter than he was, insisting he didn't want to be trapped in a small space with that woman. Especially not one of her choosing.
"Y'coming, Yuu?" Lavi called back, and that finally got him moving. There was no way in hell Kanda was going to give the idiot any excuse to say he was slacking in his duties this time. The redhead would undoubtedly milk it for everything it was worth, and then some.
Stepping up into the wagon, he was surprised to find it was more spacious than he'd expected. Part of it was curtained off, presumably a private area, but the front was an open space with brightly coloured cushions everywhere and a low round table in the centre. Lavi was already seated cross-legged to one side, and Marda sat across the table from the entrance. Kanda knelt on a third cushion, Mugen set to one side of him as he settled into proper seiza. He felt rather at home sitting like this, and some of his unreasonable distress eased.
Marda smiled at him, and he shivered again at the sense that she could see right through him and read his thoughts. "Be welcome in my home," she said formally. "Now, we may speak freely. The creature that attacked us, you wondered why it used such a power. It was once one of my people, a very powerful wisewoman who led a clan distantly related to mine." Her expression was one of regret. "I had heard she went mad with grief when her lover was killed by Gaujo who accused him of being a thief. I could sense both their souls in that monster."
Lavi nodded, for once being serious. "That's what Akuma are," he said. "Monsters created out of grief and desperation. Only Innocence can destroy them."
"And you think I have such a thing." She shook her head, her dark eyes glittering in the candlelight. "I am sorry you have travelled so far for nothing, but I am not what you seek. My power is not like yours in any way."
"But the Akuma are drawn..." Kanda started, but she lifted a hand to stop him.
"That monster has been cutting a swath through the Romany clans for weeks," she said. "She started with her own, then went after the nearest clan. I've been able to hide our trail until today, but her magic is now more powerful than mine. I fear for my people, all of them. She will not stop until all the Rom are dead."
"We'll destroy it as soon as it shows itself again," Kanda assured her, his eyes narrowed. "That's our job as Exorcists."
"I think she will likely withdraw for the time being, to regather her forces," Marda said. "I intend to be gone from this place before then, and I will use my strongest magic to hide us for as long as I can. I wish you luck in finding it, but I think it will not be soon."
"Maybe sooner than you think," Lavi warned her. "The Earl has a lot of Akuma available. If all it's after is reinforcements, it won't take long."
"I am sorry that I can not be of more help to you in this matter," Marda told them, and she seemed genuinely apologetic. So why was all the hair on the back of Kanda's neck standing up again? "My people and I still owe you a life debt, however, and I would not leave such unpaid if I have the choice."
The power around her suddenly surged, growing until the air was suffocating with it. Kanda would be ashamed to admit it later, but he frankly panicked. He snatched at Mugen, his only thought that he had to protect himself somehow. "Shit, shit, shit!" he heard Lavi swear beside him, and the redhead was scrambling for his Innocence as well.
Invisible hands gripped Kanda's body and held him still. No, it was more like he'd lost control of his body entirely, and no matter how much he struggled he couldn't so much as twitch. He could still see and hear, though, and the sound of rapid, ragged breathing to his right told him Lavi wasn't faring any better.
She stood over them, and Kanda would almost swear he could see the power gathered around her like a cloak of shadows. "Both of you are young, and have much to learn," she said, her voice low and thrumming with something far bigger than any human should be able to control. "Like swords not properly tempered, you each have flaws that could shatter you if not mended. Yet those same flaws could become your strengths, if you let them. The world has not given you the time you require to mature to your full potential; you are needed now. So I will play the blacksmith and temper them for you."
She looked at Lavi. "Objectivity is a virtue, but you are not meant for true neutrality. Stop fighting against your heart and learn to embrace it. Destiny has another role in mind for you, and you are badly needed in it. You will accomplish nothing while torn in two." She turned to Kanda. "The path you have chosen is a difficult one, and you rightly give everything you have to it. But you are mistaken in believing that shutting out others hastens you along your way. Learn to rely on the strengths of others, or you will not reach your goal before the last petal falls."
If he could have, Kanda would have gone rigid with shock. How could she possibly know...? But her words were ridiculous. Other people only weighed him down, distracted him from his goal. That had always been true, and always would be. Just look at how useless Lavi had been on this mission.
Staring helplessly into her eyes, for a moment Kanda thought he could see all of the night sky in her dark irises. Stars and planets whirled in dizzying patterns, the whole universe spread out for him to see. It was so vast that he couldn't encompass it, yet it was oddly almost comforting.
Then the pain swallowed him. Kanda screamed, or tried to. He couldn't hear his own voice; couldn't hear anything, see anything, feel anything but pain. He was being crushed, as if a giant was trying to squash him into a box half his size. The pressure was unbearable, and it was going to flatten him completely.
"Open yourselves to what other people can give you. Or you will be lost, and the war lost with you." Her voice reached him past the pain, searing a line of agony through him like a spear driven through his body.
It was too much, and darkness overwhelmed him as his mind shut down in a futile effort to protect him. Kanda's last thought was one of bitter vindication. He'd known it was a bad idea to go hunting for a witch.