Reunion With Lost Family [Claec Stronghold]

Aemi walked down the hallways slowly as she looked out into the foggy windows. It was nighttime and she could hear the thunder crash from the distance. The storm was coming closer. Because of it being the night hours, a lot of the exorcists were either away on missions or sleeping in their dorms. She sighed as she looked around for a long moment. There was no one in the flickering hallways at all. It made her feel slightly apprehensive as she looked into the darkness, hearing the sounds of sudden movement.

Narrowing her eyes, she took a step back as she then moved her hands toward her neck out of habit, grabbing onto the small necklace that was around her neck. She remembered everything so clearly. When she had just arrived to the order, Josiah had handed her the necklace within an envelope.

"It was yours while you lived in Edo. It has a picture of yourself and your brother..." he smiled as he handed it to her.

Aemi sighed as he looked around, wondering what she was going to do. She often would walk around the order at night because of her inability to sleep. It was hard for her when she was alone, and Devi was on a mission that kept her away from the order for a while.

Around this time at night, the typical exorcist would have ether finished a book and decided to retire for tonight, but Claec had other tasks at hands. Since he was a child he had been training himself in the ways of the sword, spending countless hours waving and swinging his sword around as if in a sort of dance. Nearly everyone he had met, especially those who had seen him practice, thought of him as a blood thirsty beast with no emotions, thus he had been branded as Destroyer. Like any person, he felt offended by this but didn't care, only 2 in the past had ever grown close enough to him to know his true motives, all of which were now deceased, so truly he was alone.

As the night progressed, and the full moon shone down upon the head quarters of order, Claec stood breathing heavily over a pile of splinters and scrap metal, all of which were previously training dummies. He stood thee a good five minutes before leaving the training room and heading down the halls and into his room. It had become a habit of his, to shower immediately after his training session, so as soon as he had entered he had begun to take up his towel and toiletries, along with a change of clothes. However, these clothes were simply his exorcists outfit, rather than pajamas. For a while now he had grown to be somewhat of an insomniac, so he knew he wouldn't have any sleep once more.

Once he had taken all of his essentials, he removed all of his necklaces and placed them over his bed, with exception of a small gold locket in the shape of a book. With this one, he hesitantly removed it and held it closely to his forehead before setting it down beside his lamp and leaving the room. In his hurry to get out and shower, he had forgotten to close the door and had thus left it open, allowing for a small crack of light to shine into his darkened room and onto the locket.

Aemi was continuing to walk through the darkened hallways, wondering what she would do next. She sighed as she headed back toward the third floor, trying to find her way back to her own bedroom. She could barely see at this point since this hallway was particularly dark. She could see a small light shining from one of the doorways and it was curious to her. Was someone else up as well? It wasn't normal for someone to leave their door open.

She slowly crept over toward the door to see if anyone was there and peaked inside cautiously. She didn't want to intrude on them, but from what she saw, it seemed that no one was even inside of the room. She slowly opened the door and looked around, and still, there was no sign of anyone.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she narrowed her eyes. It was a bit odd for someone to just leave their room unlocked, let alone completely opened. She then looked toward the nightstand where a lamp was and saw a very familiar locket there, which made her eyes widened. She felt her own locket quickly, the engravements being distinct with the trace of her thumb... the engravements were the same as those on the locket on the nightstand. She wondered if the person's room she was in was from Edo, just as she was.

As Aemi had entered his Room, Claec had been half way through with his shower, and was no washing his hair for the second time to assure that he was clean. After a few minutes had passed, Claec rinsed and then turned off the water to step out of the shower. Once he was out he dried up with a white towel, then began to dress, placing on each article of clothes at a time. From there he brushed his teeth and then rinsed his mouth with mouth wash, spat it out and left the bathroom.

On his way back, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was going to occur. On most occasions it was a good thing, but in this one it simply felt unwanted. His experience had been that most things that happened within the Order itself were bad. Such as being over worked, having to fend for your life, or being attacked by enemies. However, in the end it truly didn't matter, it had been the price to pay so that he could be reunited with his sister one day. Only problem was, there were too many members to go through to find her. Not to mention that every time he checked she was off on a mission. In the end it didn't matter as well, he was around her and could protect her if need be. All he had to do was protect everyone.

Once he had reached his door, he noticed immediately that someone had entered, as the door was pushed in, and got on the defensive. Very carefully then, he stopped outside and peered in, finding the black haired Aemi standing in front of his lamp. He cleared his throat then, and pushed the door all the way in, stepping in from behind her and speaking. "Can I help you with something?"

Aemi continued to stare at the locket until she heard the sound of someone's voice speaking out to her. She was startled by his voice as she jumped back slightly. She breathed in and watched him with her bright blue eyes. She didn't look like her normal exorcist appearance at the moment. Her hair was down and brushed out while she wore nightgown that was cropped like a short dress. She was barefoot and was wearing the locket around her neck. She looked much like herself when she had first arrived to the order just after been separated from her brother, but with a more matured body and face.

She narrowed her eyes at the sight of him, thinking he looked slightly familiar, but she could easily recognize the Japanese decent in his appearance. She knew that he must have been from Edo. She had not known who he was though and she couldn't put her finger on it. Not even the thought of her brother crossed her mind when thinking about this because she knew that it was very rare for siblings to be both compatible with innocence.

"I--I'm sorry, I was just curious to see who was up at this time..." she looked back at the locket before looking back at him. She wanted to ask if he was from Edo, but she was afraid to say anything. She breathed in before trying to turn around. She knew she was probably annoying him. She was much different at night than during the day. Her usual rude and antisocial attitude had always disappeared when fear of being alone had taken over.

There was a slight feeling of Nostalgia as his eyes met with hers, as he recalled his younger sister for some reason unknown to him. It was unusual, especially since he had never seen the female before, but he couldn't sake it off. Memories began to flood his mind until he found himself incapable of being mad at her, mainly because she resembled his sister greatly.

For a brief moment, he remained there, keeping silent and still before taking another step towards her and reaching out to her. At first it appeared as if eh was going to caress her cheek, but his hand quickly lowered onto her own and removed his locket from her hand. Without a single exchange of words, he opened it and looks down into it, feeling a bit depressed from the reminder. However, he quickly snapped out of it and closed the locket, placing it around his neck and into his shirt. Afterwards, he sis the same with the rest of his necklaces, and finally looked back at her with a slightly dull and emotionless look about him. "Your locket, you must have gotten it from Edo, my neighborhood was the only place where you could find these. An old Women who use to look out for me and my sister actually gave me this, said they only came two in a pair, and once you put them on the two people would be blessed and bound to cross paths countless times. So far I'm yet to see that happen."

With that spoken, he made his bed and simply sat on the edge, closing his eyes to avoid eye contact. At this point, his gaze would have betrayed him and shown all the sadness in his heart and mind. Already his voice was beginning to falter him, dimming down to a near whisper which was always his fatal flaw. Unlike most people, he didn't stutter, he simply grew quieter.

Aemi's eyes widened when he had stepped closer and reached his hand out. Her face went red as she looked away for a brief moment, but she then felt his hand take the locket from her pocket. She then looked back up to hear him speak about his neighborhood's custom. Her eyes watched him, more curious than ever as she listened to him. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

She felt a part of her completely burst with excitement as he finished his story and her heart began racing heavily. She thought she was going to be on the verge of tears, but she tried to hide it. She only smiled under her breath -- too little for Claec to even notice. She only knew it to herself. She then began to speak, at which point her voice began cracking as a tear fell down her cheek.

"C-Claec...?" she was very quiet, "...Niisan?"

Upon hearing his name and the honorific she had used, he nearly choked on a breathe of air and shot open his eyes as if someone had stabbed him in the gut. His thoughts began to suddenly stop, as he felt himself freeze in that moment for what seemed to be like a million years, but really was only a few seconds He struggled to snap from it but was unable to, simply from the emotional shock and irony of meeting her once more, just as he had given up hope.

Slowly then, he began to raise his gaze from her feet up to her face, his neck feeling rusty and old from shock. For a few seconds his vision went dull and blurry, but then snapped back into focus on her tear. His brotherly instincts kicked in at that point, as all the pain and shock seemed to vanish. He rose from his bed and stepped closely to her, wiping away her tears before nodding and wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulders, his right hand resting on the back of her head as he pulled her into his chest for an embracing hug.

His heart was racing, thumping wildly against his chest one moment, then calm and relaxed another, which reflected his own internal conflicts now. But now he found himself doing what he had been waiting to do in a long time, the simply joy of embracing his beloved sister. For the first few moments he remained silent, then he simply began to stoke her back and forced a smile, speaking to her once more. "You've grown....but you're still shorter than me..."

When Claec had wrapped his arms around Aemi, she immediately did the same and dug her face into his chest, crying heavily. She had been waiting to find her brother for over a decade. She breathed in and realized that her hands were shaking against his back. She felt his one hand against the back of her head, and the other against her back, stroking it gently. She heard him speak as she listened, trying to stifle her breathing and tears.

"You look a lot different than I l-last remember..." she stuttered as she continued to burry herself in his chest. She felt a moment of comfort mix in with anxiety at the same time, but she didn't want this to end. She felt peace for knowing she was with her brother, but at the same time she felt apprehensive because she knew he may have to go away again, which she didn't want.

A very pleasant chuckle escaped him as he heard this, forcing him to tighten his hold a little more around her to show her just how much he had been waiting to do so. But then he found himself thinking of how he had changed. He had grown approximately 2 feet. rather muscular and slim, and his eyes had also been changed to a luminous crimson red, apposed to the light blue he had been born with. Not to mention his hair was no longer wavy and had straightened out. Perhaps the only thing that hadn't changed about him was his memories of the past.

After a few more moments of holding her, he took a half step backwards and distanced himself from her to wipe her tears once more. "You know I already showered, no need to give me another rinse." He smiled as he said this, then removed his locket and placed it against her forehead. "Aemi....imoto-chan....I can only imagine the hardships you've been forced to endure since we parted... Well either way I'm here now alright? Stronghold's reunited. Looks like I'll keep my promise after all. Though I can't say you haven't changed a lot as well."

Aemi nodded as she watched him pull away from her and wipe her tears once more. She breathed in to calm herself down as she listened to what he had to say. She tried to understand what he had meant and closed her eyes as she sighed.

"I'm still the same... just not as social," she sighed, "I hate all of the Exorcists here who were forced to watch over me. General Cross being one of them. They all treated me like I was a cursed child... the only one who actually treated me like a human was Josiah," she looked up at him. She wasn't sure if Claec knew who he was, but Josiah was her guardian exorcist who watched over her as she trained. He was very kind and gentle. He was also the blonde exorcist who had retrieved her from Edo when she first disappeared.

She then looked around for a moment when questions rushed to her head. She tilted it in curiosity and then narrowed her eyes when she looked to her brother once more. "Niisan... how did you get here? You're... innocence compatible?"