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Summary: After a mission gone horribly wrong, Allen wakes up in an alternate universe where the Exorcists and the Noahs are close allies. However, instead of being his sixteen-year old self, he is now . . . a twelve-year old child whose adoptive father is Marian Cross? And wait . . . What's this about Kanda being his grouchy, over-protective older brother? Hold on a second, what?!
Disclaimer: DGM does not belong to me, no sirree!
Chapter I: "Then the boy fell asleep―"
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.
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He was panting, but that was not something surprising. Right now, Allen was exhausted.
His aching feet slammed into the floor as they ran down the long hall with him leading the way. Sweat-drenched silver hair fell limply against his eyes ―one normal and one cursed― as he willed his legs to go faster . . . just a tiny bit faster. But even his adrenaline could not completely block out his fear. The air was stifling with the smell of decaying flesh and the dull pain of his wounds pounded throughout his body.
. . . But they had to keep going. They needed to go, they needed to―
A loud thump echoed into the air and Allen could vaguely make out some pained groans from his red-haired friend. He immediately slowed to a stop and whipped around, heart thundering in his chest.
This was no place to stop.
"Lavi! Get up, we need to keep moving―"
A strong arm ―injured though, Allen noted with a sharp pang― reached down to lift their fallen comrade. The teen's long hair was out of its usual ponytail, and was instead messily strewn around his shoulders. And although he looked relatively composed, Allen could still see the slight clench in his team-mate's jaw.
Even Kanda was tired.
Their final comrade slowed to a stop beside the samurai, panting harshly as she took the chance to try and regain some of her strength. Her legs were bleeding profusely, rivulets of blood flowing down like rivers and completely handicapping her Innocence's full potential.
They were also shaking. Lenalee's legs were trembling like a leaf in the wind. Thus, it wasn't a surprise when Lenalee dropped to her knees and swayed, a puddle of bright red gathering around her feet. Kanda immediately cursed as he knelt beside her, already looking strained from the addition of Lavi on his back.
As if it hadn't been before, their situation now was obviously quite dire.
Allen gritted his teeth and hurried over to his comrades. His vision wavered slightly at the sharp movement, and immediately Allen bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. No, he couldn't fall unconscious, not here or now. He couldn't leave Kanda by himself.
Although it would for sure come back to bite him in the butt later ―if there was a later― Allen activated Crown Clown, his Innocence's white cowl immediately supporting him as he felt some of his pain fade away. Picking Lenalee up bridal style and ignoring her weak protests, Allen nodded at Kanda in an attempt to alleviate the shred of concern just barely visible in the older teen's eyes.
Kanda scowled, readjusting his surprisingly gentle grip on Lavi as he began to run once more. Following suit, Allen quickly pulled ahead of him and Kanda obliged his unspoken request. After all, he was the one with the activated Innocence.
By this point, they were all breathing heavily. Both Lenalee and Lavi were unconscious now, their wounds becoming too much for them to bear. Kanda's breathing was also becoming increasingly labored, and Allen was pretty sure that the added toll of Lavi was too much for him. He wouldn't be able to last long . . . not at their current pace. But going at their pace was their only chance of survival.
. . . It was all so useless.
Sure enough, it was only a measly ten minutes later when Allen stopped hearing the thundering footsteps behind him. With a deep breath to brace himself for the probably damning sight, Allen turned around.
Kanda was on his knees, his face a pale ashen grey. Blood pooled around him, and Allen couldn't tell if it was all Kanda's or if Lavi's had also added to the bright red. But one thing was for sure; Kanda couldn't go on any further.
Allen couldn't hold it against him, though. After all, out of the four of them, Kanda had been injured the worst. So it was already a miracle the teen had lasted as long as he did.
But even a miracle could not save them all now.
Quickly hurrying over to the fallen samurai, Allen resisted the urge to cry. It was all over. Even if Allen could carry all three of them, he wouldn't be able to last long either. At least, not nearly as long as they would have needed to escape.
Allen knelt beside Kanda, his eyes straying to the older's pale face. Kanda stared back firmly, mouth in a tight grimace and his eyes dark and unreadable.
And then Allen's cursed eye activated.
The akuma appeared immediately, laughing as it flew at the battered Exorcists. Allen, to his credit, reacted pretty well in his completely exhausted state. His sword swiped at the akuma, cutting it in half without hesitation.
But then the akuma exploded. In white.
It was absolutely blinding, and for a few heart-stopping moments, Allen drowned in the sea of white. The younger boy could hear Kanda yelling his name, yelling, yelling, yelling . . .
And then the blinding brightness disappeared.
But so did Lenalee.
Allen could feel his mouth dropping open in shock, his mind becoming numb from the sudden fear. Lenalee's battered body had turned faint and translucent, before it completely disappeared.
Allen was left grabbing thin air.
His head whipped around to Kanda, who watched in silent horror as Lavi slowly faded away as well. As if the ginger had never been there in the first place.
"N-No . . ."
A sob made its way up Allen's throat as he fell to his knees and crawled to the only comrade he had left. In the end, Allen was only just that. A young child. A young child . . . forced to play soldier in a cruel world forsaken by God. In that world, there was no happily ever after.
Grabbing Kanda's hand and squeezing it, Allen prayed to the God he did not believe in, pleading that Kanda wouldn't disappear as well. Not Kanda. Not Kanda, not him when Allen held his hand so tightly.
For once, Kanda didn't pull away or yell at him. He let the younger boy slump against him, the cowl of Allen's Innocence enveloping both in a warming atmosphere. Tears made their way down the younger boy's face. Allen knew he wouldn't be the one who went first. And he was right.
Not even five minutes later, the battered samurai started fading as well. Kanda lifted his other hand, staring at his rapidly fading fingers as he turned to the last member of their team. The boy was almost hiccuping, choking over his sobs as he stared at his fading comrade in pure fear.
Kanda almost felt as though it was Allen himself who was disappearing, with the way he was acting. In a final act of kindness, the older lifted his rapidly fading hand to Allen's face as he wiped away some of his tears.
"Oi, Beansprout, it's too childish to cry. In the end, you really are nothing but a beansprout."
And then Kanda blinked out of existence as well.
Allen cried out as he curled up into a ball, screaming for his lost friends. Screaming desperately. It wasn't fair that he had to be the last one standing, again, again, again. Why did they have to disappear? They wouldn't leave Allen alone, would they?
But of course, nobody came for him. Nobody came to put him out of his misery. Nobody at all.
Allen was almost glad when the darkness came to swallow him up.
"We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."
―Orson Welles
His eyelids were heavy and his body felt as though it had weighed tonnes. Yet Allen was completely comfortable and at ease. His body was enveloped in soft warmth and for once, nothing hurt.
That was always a good sign.
Allen slumped back into the welcoming darkness, time seemingly stopped. It was almost relaxing, this lull in space, and for once Allen couldn't think of anything that was wrong. For once, everything was at peace. He drifted in and out of consciousness, his troubled mind finally at rest.
And then a loud creak echoed into the room. A door ―his door, perhaps?― was opened, and sounds of soft, padding footsteps quickly filled Allen's ears. Someone, more than just someone, actually, walked into the room and stopped beside his bed.
A female voice, startling familiar, began to gently speak.
"Allen, it's Saturday again. We had a very amusing week―"
Another voice; childish, happy, and distinctively male, butted in. "Yup! Today I managed to play a prank on Komui and it was HILARIOUS. Oh, and on Thursday I also managed to dye the ends of Yuu-chan's hair pink!"
A loud crash. Colourful swearing from another boy ―teen?― and a quick, hasty shush from the first voice. She immediately reprimanded them.
"Kanda, we're talking to Allen right now! Go kill Lavi later!"
"Aww, Lenalee, you don't mean that!"
"Che . . ."
These voices were all so familiar to Allen; his mind was almost throbbing with pain as he tried to figure out who they were. Who they were to him. Even the hilarious bickering they were doing at the moment sounded nostalgic, familiar, and completely right.
Wait a minute . . . weren't their names mentioned?
If Allen was right, then the three intruders to his peaceful state were . . . Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda, right?
Lenalee . . . Lavi . . . Kanda . . .
Lenalee . . . Lavi . . . Kanda . . .
. . . Lenalee . . . Lavi . . . Kanda . . .
He was left grabbing air as Lenalee's body completely disappeared.
Lavi also faded away, as if he had never been there in the first place.
Kanda's fading hand on his cheek, wiping away some tears as he told Allen in his own way to stop crying.
Painful memories erupted suddenly in his mind and Allen finally found the will to move his body again. He jerked up, silver eyes snapping open as he remembered all of his friends' demises.
They were gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone―
His face slackened at the three people who were in front of his bedside. In return, they jumped and stared at him, shock evident in all of their faces.
Lenalee had longer hair than what Allen had remembered. It was put in her usual pig-tails, and she was wearing what looked like a comfortable t-shirt and a skirt. No uniform…
Lavi also looked the same, yet . . . not. Red hair was tied back with a bandanna and a black eye patch was placed over his left eye. Lavi wore a white shirt with some denim jeans, the uniform for the Black Order no where in sight. Lavi's face looked rather comical as well, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Allen with pure shock.
And finally, Kanda. His long hair was put in a neat pony-tail, completely at odds with Allen's last memory of the boy. Like the others, he sported casual clothes and not his Black Order uniform. Kanda had frozen as well, halfway through a curse as he stared at Allen.
.
.
.
What?
Immediately, the spell that had settled over everyone was broken as Lenalee sniffed. Tears gathered in her eyes as she stared at the child in front of her, the child that was staring at her, the child that was awake―
And then she realized that said child looked completely scared to death.
Allen looked around rapidly, his eyes betraying the distress he felt as he took in the details of the room. His complete confusion felt almost tangible in the air. If anything, the room he was currently in looked to be a regular hospital room in the Order.
But for some reason . . . it looked completely wrong. It felt wrong too. It was all wrong, all weird.
And then Kanda whipped out his black golem, immediately muttering some quiet words to it before watching it fly off.
So. Allen was more than a little confused as he watched his . . . friends. But no, that was it. They didn't feel like his friends. They felt . . . it felt . . . as though they knew Allen very well, judging by the looks on their faces.
. . . But . . .
. . . It felt as though Allen didn't know them at all.
So despite himself, despite his initial happiness, Allen pressed himself as far away as he could from them as possible, completely flattening himself against the wall. It wasn't right. Who were they? Why did they look like his friends? Where were all his friends? Were they really dead and gone?
Allen flinched from just the thought.
But . . . But Allen was alive, wasn't he? So . . . So they should be okay too . . .
Tears of pure stress made their way down his cheeks as he stared at the three people before him; the people who were his friends yet not his friends. To his surprise, all three looked extremely concerned; even the usually emotionless Kanda. Lenalee edged forward slowly, murmuring soothing words to the younger child as he whimpered pitifully.
"It's okay, shh, we won't hurt you."
It seemed to do the trick, for Allen felt himself relaxing as the familiarity of Lenalee's concern filtered through his mind. The girl eventually managed to get close enough to wrap her arms around the trembling form of her friend as she sent a pointed look to the other occupants in the room. For his part, Allen buried his wet face into Lenalee's shoulder, finally breaking down in complete sobs.
Lavi seemed to get the hint as he sat beside the girl. He started to rub the frightened boy's back in slow, soothing circles. Kanda stood rigidly, glaring at them and sometimes at the wall beside them.
For a moment, everything felt normal. Kanda was glaring at him, Lavi and Lenalee were hugging him. Against his wishes, Allen slowly felt himself relax even further, the tension and his hazy and dark thoughts slowly dissipating . . .
And then the door flew open, showing the face of a man Allen never thought he would ever see again.
All hell broke loose as Cross Marian flew into the room. Allen immediately stiffened again, silver eyes widening to the size of saucers as he stared at his ex-master who was suppose to be dead.
Yup, he had a feeling now that he wasn't in his own world. Maybe the Ark had sensed his distress and sent him to another dimension or something? As crazy as it sounded, it seemed to be the most probable conclusion at the time. Allen thought hard as he tried to remember if he had heard the musical notes of the Ark before he had lost himself to the darkness.
However, all thoughts literally went out the window as his Master pushed both Lenalee and Lavi to the side and . . .
Hugged him.
Oh. Master ―Cross Marian― was actually hugging him.
Allen almost fainted again from the shock alone.
The man had looked almost exactly as how he had remembered him; dazzling red hair, white mask, everything. But for some reason, he looked utterly relieved. It almost made Allen believe that his Master had actually been worried about him.
Pftt. That was impossible. But . . .
Lenalee finally started crying herself as she started to rub her purple eyes furiously. Lavi's one green eye looked a bit too bright and shiny. And even Kanda looked away, his long hair hiding his face.
What happened . . . ? Allen felt his heart clench.
Beside him, Master started to talk, his voice slightly hoarse but still strong. It was almost nostalgic to listen to him, Allen thought. His devil of a Master really left an impact on him . . .
And then Allen froze when he finally processed the words his Master had said.
"You're awake. Allen, you're awake . . . you were in a coma for an entire year. We thought you'll never wake up again . . ."
An entire year. That was how long he had spent at the Order. A year.
"These . . . idiot friends . . . of yours came to talk to you every week to try and wake you up. Even when they had missions, one of them would make it back before the week was up just to talk with you."
A year. He had been asleep for a year. A year.
"You've just woken up, so I can see that you're confused, and it'll take time getting used to everything―"
The door flew open again, this time opening to admit a gasping Komui. His red face completely lit up at the sight of the boy on the bed, and he broke out into a grin.
Komui. Master.
Lenalee. Lavi. Kanda.
They were all the same.
But . . . Allen had been asleep for an entire year.
A year.
A year.
A whole, complete, year.
. . . Did that mean . . . that all his memories of the Order, and everything that had happened in his life so far . . .
. . . Were fake?
Chapter I END
(last edited 11/30/2016)
AN: Hi there! This is Sakhyu speaking. After Hoshino came back and all that jazz (yay!), she unfortunately tore what little plot I had to itty bitty pieces. Which meant I now have to restart. Thankfully, I didn't have much of a plot anyway.
Anyway, I came back to this story and realized that it's pretty horrible. Grammar and all, I mean. So I decided to clean it up a bit. After I clean all the chapters, I'll start on the next one! Thank you for being so awesome and patient, my dear readers!