az: Been too long since I wrote on any anime or manga fandom. And I had wanted to write about Neah. And somehow it suddenly turned into a sort of songfic. Yep, Tsunaida te ni Kiss wo got that affect to me. And this piece went all over, sorry beforehand if it makes no sense. My thoughts went on a loop.

Prayers

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izzu

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"Watch over Mana for me. If you do that, I'll promise I would return..."

It was strange. To have one's self reborn yet retaining the past self's memories. Even if it should be better said as this existence of his being just a memory that has been implanted into this lamb of god. In a sense this child was him and yet not him. His soul was his and not his own. This child, who was fated to be a Noah; still a human yet also one who has the ability to harness the power of god. Allen's existence was in itself a contradiction. To be both a part of both sides of the sad existences, what kind of fate was that? Even if he did choose Allen to keep his memory, wonder if it was fate that led them to each other?

And thus the small child had fallen asleep...
Sighing softly, like the embers in the ashes

Inside this child, exists two opposite powers that could destroy each other. Yet, it might as well provide salvation to both. Wonder if god heard his prayers and fated him to return to this mortal world through this child?

First there was one and another
Floating like a breeze, forming the face of the loved one
Thousands of dreams, scattered across the earth.
Thousands of dreams

All this time he had watched over Allen. How the child had lived in his early life, how the child was abandoned because of his supposedly deformed left arm. The arm that was actually a form that had become of the Innocence, that the child had been born with. An irony that this Innocence was also a direct opposite of that of the Earl's powers. Fate, did seemed to be one mysterious thing.

On the night where a pair of silver eyes had flickered open
You were born into this world, you who is shining brightly

The wheel of Fate works in a mysterious way, he had to agree. When Allen ended up being taken in by the circus people, he surprised himself how easily it had been for him to be able to meet Mana again. It was strange. He did said during his existence from before that he would find his way back to Mana, but in truth he had no power to control fate as to unite Allen with Mana. Yet, there it was. And Allen could get along with Mana too.

As time flows, across millions of years...
How many times, have the prayers returned to earth and into the dust?

In a way, he was relieved. Cross did keep his words. Mana indeed had managed to live well after his death. Therefore, they could meet again. It was a relief, even if this feeling was only felt by him and not Allen. Because he could not imagine returning to this world as an Akuma. That... would be something like a cruel joke.

Still I will keep on praying to you...
So please, for the love this child has
I will hold my hands, sealed with a kiss

Perhaps Mana felt something as well about Allen, for him to take Allen as his foster child. Though about that, perhaps in the future the child Allen would question this decision. Since as much as Allen was now a part of Neah and Neah was to Allen, Neah and Allen were still a different existence. Even if Mana did loved them equally the same; inevitably, both of them would be hurt.

A cruel fate was cruel, wonder if Millennium Earl himself was bound to it as well. He had come after Mana for his connection to him, but had he known about Allen? Had he known that Allen had the Innocence and wanted to corrupt the one who was fated to harness its powers? Did he sensed his presence or did he not? To have spared Allen's life, yet spared nothing of Neah's. As it was, would Allen in the end become the Earl's puppet again?

And thus, the small child had fallen to sleep
Sighing softly, like the embers in the ashes...

A curse; for the sin of the one who had done the unforgivable deed. Yet, because of that curse; Allen could see things that other people could not see. In some twisted fate, Mana had protected Allen; protected him. Because of the eye, Allen could reach towards the souls of the fallen. Because of it, Allen could see the reality on the other side of the world.

There was one, and another
Floating in the breeze, forming the face of the beloved
Across the land, there were thousand of dreams.
Thousand of dreams

Perhaps all of them were trapped inside this big cycle of karma. Each of them; fighting for what they believed, fighting to protect the ones important to them. Who was in the right, who was it in the wrong. How would they find the answers to those things they have been fighting for?

The Innocence had protected Allen, despite the existence of him inside the child. Has the Innocence accepted him as well? Else, why would it continue protecting him—a child chosen to wield the power of the Innocence, yet also carrying the Fourteenth memory? Perhaps this was also... fate?

A pair of silver eyes flickered open, that one night
You who had been shining, was brought into this world

Allen, during his path as an exorcist had seen and learned many things. He had seen the side of the humans; and the exorcists who fought to protect them from the Akuma and the Millennium Earl. He had also seen the side of the Akuma; saw the souls of those bound to those machines of destruction and felt the sadness of the existence of those weapons. Without realizing, Allen too had felt the way Neah had. And surprising as it was, the Innocence had accepted Allen. That should hold true, as it returned once Allen make an oath to protect the ones that needed to be protected and the ones that had fallen.

How time has passed, into millions of years
How many times, have these prayers returned to earth, crumbling to dusts?

Allen's path, would lead him to a direction that was neither one or the other. Allen's choice, may lead to the path that he could not manage to tread on. Whether or not Allen could reach towards that goal, one could only hope. Would the world be saved or would it face destruction again, it was something Allen would need to gamble on.

Still I would keep on praying to you
So please, for the sake of this child's love
I will hold my hands, sealed with a kiss...

The Fourteenth closed his eyes as he placed his hands over his heart. Allen had chosen to walk towards a destiny that he himself had not managed to reach. A destiny, that was as uncertain as an unwritten page. Would Allen be able to grasp on that yearned wish that he did not manage to get? Would this hope that he held in his heart, finally bloomed into a fond wish that he had yearned for so long?

Would this long and dreadful war finally comes to an end? Could Allen grasp on the truth of all and bring about that long awaited salvation? Would everyone finally stop fighting?

So I would keep on praying to you
O please, for this beloved child's sake
I would hold my hand, sealed with a kiss

Thus, the Fourteenth continued to wish...