A.N

This is my take on what happened after Allen ran away from the Order. It takes place near the last chapters end. A big thank you to Liza for being my wonderful beta.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY.

Rhythm of the War Drums

White. Everywhere he looked, there was white. Everything was just so…pure. Except for him. He wasn't pure. He was tainted. His mind and body were tainted. His body was at war with his mind. His Innocence was at war with the Noah in him. Allen Walker…the Destroyer of Time. Everything he touched was doomed to a fate of oblivion. Even himself. Exiled and lost, Allen Walker had nothing left. Those he called his friends were meant to be against him. Those who called him family had blood staining their hands. He was doomed to a fate as a wanderer. That was his life now. After all, he had promised his foster father that he would never stop, that he would keep walking. So that's what he did. He walked until his feet bled.

Allen Walker was truly God's Clown. Pure white hair covered his silver eyes and luckily hid his grotesque mark that rested over his left eye. An upside pentacle that trailed down to hook on his cheek, with a line running parallel to his eye, giving him a distrustful look. Who would want to trust their life to someone who looked like him? To add more to his appearance, his left arm was a smooth black, while his hand was deep black with a green cross imbedded in his hand. Further up his arm, the arm was normal, with a black band. Up where the shoulder and arm joined, a circular tattoo with arrow pointing outwards. Luckily, that was the end of his physical deformity.

According to Neah, Allen had become nothing but a mad puppet. His strings were being pulled by some unseen force, a force that took great pleasure out of torturing him. He was nothing but a puppet, playing his part.

Allen had been so lost in his thoughts that he was unaware of his surroundings. The only thing that pulled him out of his mind was the brief flash of pain that was followed by the sound of gears spinning. Allen tensed his body and looked around, searching for the Akuma that activated his eye. Finally, his silver right eye and his now black with a red target in it left eye landed on what it searched for.

"Innocence, Activate!" Allen yelled as a bright flash of light lit up the street. When the light faded, it revealed Allen with a white cloak resting on his shoulder. Resting on the hood of the cloak was a gray masquerade mask. Allen's once black arm was now a large claw with a crown laid on his wrist. Running up to the Level 3 Akuma, Allen jumped at the enemy, running his claws through the Akuma. Landing in a crouch, the white-haired male turned his head. Standing less than 100 feet away stood the Noah of Dreams, Road.

The child-like Noah giggled before she ran at Allen, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "Allen-kun!" She yelled happily. The Noah of Dreams may have a child-like appearance but Allen knew better than to think that she was a child. In reality, she was the oldest Noah besides the Earl. They were the only two that had survived Neah's attack. "Road, please release me." Allen commanded softly. Road pouted but complied with Allen's request. "Allen-kun, can we go home together this time?" She questioned, ignoring the sigh that escaped from Allen. "You know the answer. It won't change, so stop asking. I'm Allen Walker, an exorcist! I will die before I become anything else!" The white-haired male yelled to Road.

Expecting this answer, Road shrugged and vanished from view. In her wake, she left behind several Level 3 Akuma. Eyeing them, Allen stood and a sad smile spread on his lips. Within the blink of an eye, Allen was on top of one of the Akuma and slashed their chest. As the Akuma exploded into dust, Allen angled his body towards the Akuma. "Crown Edge!" The exorcist yelled as a barrage of crown-shaped rings flew from the claws of Crown Clown.

Once all the Akuma were disposed of, Allen deactivated his Innocence and glanced around the town. In his wake, several buildings were destroyed or damaged. "I guess Kanda was right. I'm no savior. I'm a destroyer." Allen whispered to himself as he turned around and kept walking forward, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head.

Allen hated nights like this. When he woke up, he felt as if he wasn't in control of his own body. Most likely, he wasn't. He had fought with Neah over control of his body and finally, the 14th Noah gave into his request. "Don't be that way, dear nephew. I only wanted to play." Neah defended himself from within Allen's thoughts. "Last time I let you play, I woke up covered in blood and the town were staying in was in ruins. I was counting the bodies like sheep in a field." The white-haired exorcist snapped, talking aloud.

Feeling Neah withdraw deeper in his mind, Allen allowed himself to relax. His mind wandered to his friends. What were they doing? Lenalee would most likely be handing coffee to Koumi, one of her smiles present on her face. Lavi would be with Bookman, reading some books. Kanda would be in the training room, meditating with Mugen resting beside him. Timothy would be running around on those rollerblades of his, denying how much he missed Allen if anyone asked him. Reever would be in Koumi's office, threatening and/or coxing Koumi to do his paperwork. Johnny would invest himself in his work, trying to not let his mind wander to Allen.

Shaking his head, Allen tried to kill the thoughts that plagued him. The Order was meant to be his enemy, regardless of the memories he had there. Allen was and will be a wanderer. Just himself and the voice inside his head. Even though he was no longer part of the Order, he will continue fighting in the war. He had lost too much to not fight.

In the end, it would be Allen against the Millennium Earl. He wasn't sure on the details though. Would he have succumbed to Neah? Would Neah be willing to go up against Adam once again? Would Neah be on his side, willing to lend his power? All of those questions kept Allen up at night and he refused to listen when Neah tried to convince that he will be on his side. Neah had already taken forceful control of his body and that experience wasn't pleasant.

In the end, he gave up on thinking about the future. Pushing himself off the bed, Allen walked out of the room and to the dining room. Ordering as much food as he wanted was a luxury Allen no longer had. Now, he had to order an average sized amount, eat it, then go to another place and repeat the process. He wished at moments like these that he was back at the Order, eating around the table with his friends. At a moment like these, he hated his uncle, Neah. However, Allen knew that it wasn't truly Neah's fault. It was his. He was the one who accepted Neah 35 years ago, regardless of not remembering this. He was to blame for everything.

Allen Walker was truly nothing more than God's Clown. He was truly a mad puppet, with some unknown presence pulling his strings. He was nothing more than… "Allen…?" A voice rang out, the voice familiar to him. It was someone he had left behind in the Order. "Allen… is that really you?" The voice asked, a wide range of emotions rang from the voice.

That's the first chapter! If you loved it or even if you hated it, leave a review. Any questions or comments, you can either leave a review and I'll answer it in the next chapter or you can send me a PM. Anyways, thanks for reading.

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-Shattered Crowns