CAUTION: CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS

Summary: He'd been in there the whole time, so what was he thinking when the only thing he had left in the world died?

Notes: This story takes place while Allen is locked up in the Black Order. It's not my best work, but I think having insight on what Neah was thinking about Mana's death would be something nice to know in the story. I hope a version of this story is given in the manga. I can only hope that more background will be revealed. ^.^

"Allen, you don't need to cry for me. I'll always be there for you. Keep me in your heart and keep walking forward."

"Mana…"

"Even though I'll be gone you can still keep going. I promise I'll always be there to help when you need me most."

"Mana, don't leave me…"

"Where is he going? Mana's not dying is he? Let me out! I need to see my brother one last time before he disappears! He was supposed to live until you were old enough to know about me!"

"Goodbye, ….."

"My name's not…,it's Allen."

"He called out my name. He remembered me after all this time."

"He's gone. My Mana left me. What do I do?"

"Do what he told you to do, kid." No response came from the child when this voice came over. Allen was completely unaware this man was talking.

Many years had gone by since the traitor Noah had died. Allen now sat in the headquarters of the Black Order, the Noah clan's enemy.

"Funny," the mysterious man thought to himself inside Allen's mind, "I never thought I'd pick an Exorcist as my host. It's rather ironic but at least I can fight the Earl on equal terms again. Still I can't help but remember the past and I don't mean my quarrel with the clan. My plans were ruined the day Mana died."

The thought of his foster father trickling through his mind put Allen in an uneasy state. He didn't care to think about that fateful day, but the same question seemed to pop up in his mind a lot since Cross had told him of Mana's status as the 14th's brother: what had this Neah thought about that? What was he doing the night Mana died, or the night Allen turned him into an Akuma?

As the question finally reached its target, the former Noah gave his answer, though he was not strong enough to reach Allen when the boy wasn't injured.

"Yes, I was aware of what was going on with Mana. I'd been mourning since his death just as he had for mine. I was dormant in the child's mind at that point, not yet strong enough to do anything but still unable to sit quietly when the Earl appeared in that cemetery.

I'd been sitting silently in the boy's mind, which was blank from grief and couldn't (rather selfishly I might add) let go of the fact that my plans were going down the drain with the death of my brother. He was supposed to tell Allen about me when he was old enough to choose a side. As I stewed angrily I felt a very familiar presence in the air and, though Allen would not respond to my actions, I grew very uneasy and my temper rose as the very person responsible for all of this appeared before my very eyes.

Thirty years of anger had served to make my attitude towards the Earl much more dangerous than the mere ten years before my death could ever do. I still kicked myself for making Cross put me into a child. I should've chosen an older successor. There would be nothing I could do until the boy came into contact with my old friend. I watched and waited, knowing full well what was about to happen. Despite my knowledge that creating an akuma would be the death of the boy and thus myself, I couldn't reach Allen to tell him not to do it. His mind was much too fragile to be dealing with inside forces at the moment.

The Earl's usual cheery voice drew the child in. Allen was soothed by the fact that his loved one could be returned to him. I screamed from inside his mind to stop but my words fell on deaf ears. The emotions he felt grew happier as he began to fall for the trick. I could only push myself harder to stop him.

I ended up being forced to sit idly by and watch as my protégé turn my brother into an akuma. My only hope rested with the thought of Cross eventually showing up. I knew he'd been sending Tim to watch over Mana and I felt that the little golem would be able to tell him that we were all in trouble.

The strange part came soon after. I knew that the Earl would command the akuma to kill and assume the creator. That would not only kill Allen and me, but destroy the boy's body as the Innocence residing in him (yes, I knew it was there. I WAS a Noah) would surely work to destroy the akuma and vice versa. My surprise started when the Earl, instead of staying to watch his handiwork unfold, disappeared into the abyss and left Allen and Mana there alone.

Mana cursed at Allen. I could hear him sling angry words to the boy and I could feel Allen's confusion well up inside his mind. He had no idea what was going on. I watched in terror as Mana, knowing full well that I was here but still could not resist his akuma traits, attacked us. His bladed arm landed a hit on the boy's face. Pain seared through my head as I could feel everything Allen could. I hated feeling so helpless as I watched as my host was attacked by an akuma and my older brother become that akuma. I yelled as loudly as I possibly could and tried to push myself out into the open where Mana could see me.

Then it was over. Mana lay in pieces on the ground in front of me and Allen was face down with his activated Innocence pulsing violently through me. It was aware of my existence and wouldn't allow me near its host. I was pushed back, but that was the least of my worries. Mana was done this time. He couldn't be brought back again. Something in me was happy that he would finally reach undisturbed peace, but another part was sad that he was gone. The akuma was destroyed and my brother's soul sent to salvation."

Allen sat in silence as he finally started to hear what his rather unwelcome guest had to say. Sadness overwhelmed him as he realized that the pain he'd felt back then wasn't just his own, but the 14th's emotions had been coming across to him as well. A tear fell from his eye as he drifted off to sleep in his cell.