Prologue
The battle had dragged on for so many years now, but, finally three from each side stepped forth, ready to fight with all of their might. Allen Walker, Apocryphos and the Millennium Earl raised their weapons and as they struck each other a powerful force, destroying all, leaving only their clothes behind. That shockwave of power even reached the other Exorcist, Black Order operatives and Noah, erasing their existence. All that remained were the akuma and normal humans.
Thousands of people were slaughtered by the akuma until new Exorcists became aware of their abilities and a new Black Order was formed. The creators even called it the Black Order because of reports about the lac k of action from the previous Black Order. But, everything changed. New Exorcists, new members, different rules, unknown knowledge, and this was all because no one knew the location of the real Black Order headquarters.
Their new headquarters was built half beneath a city and half beneath a forest, spanning 500 kilometres squared. Perfect for tailoring to an Exorcists needs.
100 years later
The rain soaked through his white locks, mixing with the crimson snow sitting on his frozen shoulders. He sat there, atop dozens of dismembered corpses, the boy with no memories. His face scared strangely on his left side, and left paralysed arm dyed red. All he wore was a ripped over-sized dress shirt that looked to be previously white, but now splattered with black and red blood. Everything was silent.
The boy's face, too, was splattered with blood, his eyes unseeing, staring at nothing. Then a woman rushes round the corner and saw everything. The boy, the blood, the corpses.
And so, that was his very first memory, crimson snow with piercing screams ringing throughout the streets.
Then, he grinned.
About 10 and a half years later
I wake up covered in slick sweat, breathing heavily. The dream, no, memory, still fresh in my mind. Quickly, I shove my head under the kitchen tap to bring me back to reality. Letting the freezing water wash over me.
Every few weeks I dream of that day, the day I first remember opening my eyes and all of those fragments of pictures and sounds that go along with it. Pulling my face up to stare into the small mirror that adorns the wall, I swear that I can still faintly see the splatters of blood on my face.
Chapter one
Kanda, Lenalee and Lavi stood in Chief Komui's office, waiting for the procrastinating man to finally tell them their orders. Eventually, Reever managed to haul Komui in front of the trio. With a hmpf he adjusts his crooked collar. "As you know, Exorcists are sent with Finders to cities to search for Innocence and exterminate akuma. Recently, in this very city above us, London, large numbers of people have been found torn to pieces. Now this could be the work of humans, but it may not. Your job is to look into the matter." When he finishes he turns his gaze to Lenalee, throwing his arms around her. "But you don't have to go if you don't want to, Lenalee! You can spend more time with your big brother if you want!"
Reever wacks the chief across the head. "Yes they all have to go; the rule is three Exorcists to a town. It's safer that way." He sighs and then smiles at the threesome. "Don't do anything dangerous, you guys. The part of the city where all the murders are taking place is on the other side of London so you'll have to find your own lodgings, that is unless you want to travel back and forth every day."
"Noooo, my Lenalee isn't sleeping anywhere near those dirty men!" Komui cries, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Lenalee pats her brother's head. "It's okay, brother. We'll get different rooms." Anyone could hear the impatiens in her voice, that is, everyone except Komui.
After seven failed attempts, Reever manages to drag the flailing Komui away.
"Okay, let's book some reservations somewhere and party till sunrise!" Lavi fists the air excitedly. "Let's pick up some chicks too!" he quickly adds, causing Lenalee to roll her eyes.
She marches out, waving her hand. "I'll pack my things; you should do it too, unless you want to wear the same thing the whole time." Her smile is heard through her voice.
The others rush off for their preparations for departure. Kanda, stops, turns and stares at nothingness, he can't quite shake that feeling of something being wrong.
Damn Cross, I just remembered that he lowered my salary, again. My rent needs to be paid tomorrow, too. I sigh heavily. Guess this means that I'll have to beat some poor and unfortunate gangster in poker.
I hope that my hand doesn't act up, though. Recently my left hand would start twitching and causing me pain. But, it always happens when I see them. The monster's souls. Terrifying things that only I can see. Others call me crazy if I tell them what I see so for the past ten years I haven't spoken of this to anybody.
I wander outside then, when I'm sure that no one's looking, I climb onto the roof. Hmmm, let's see, house, house, shop, house, another house, pub, open square, shop, ooh, food store, wait, get back on track here, Allen, I mentally scold myself. There it is, an abandoned, dirty factory.
Those gangsters really do need to change where they like to play, sorry, where they like to chill. Mentally sighing at the fact that they like to stick to what normal people stereotypically think of them, I climb down and head off in that direction.
Lavi ran in front of the group, swinging his arms like a child. The sky was starting to get quite dark; therefore many lanterns were lit, shining through the light fog that had taken hold of the city.
"Baka Usagi, stop attracting so much attention." Orders Kanda.
Lavi pouts. "Fiiiine, Yu." He sighs.
Lenalee holds out her map. "There's a short cut through here." She points to an alley way.
Nearly to the end of the passageway, thinking that they were about to be attacked, Kanda unsheathes his sword, swinging it out in front of himself, very nearly running through the person dashing past.
"Whoa!" The person ducks at the last second.
His black hood falls back as he falls face first onto the ground groaning. Lenalee hurry's forward. "SORRY SIR! I don't know what came over Kanda! Are you all right?!"
She tries to help him up thinking that because of his white hair he is an old man. Though she stops seconds before touching him when he turns and she sees his young age. And the scar marring the left side of his face. The boy blushes, scrambles up quickly and bows. "Sorry for nearly running into you guys, I was in a hurry." He apologises, and then pauses to listen for something.
After his eyes widen he races of again. Just as he disappears three gangsters appear. "WHERE THE HELL DID THAT LITTLE BRAT GO?!" The leader shouts.
Lenalee and Lavi think the same thing. What did that kid do?! Kanda just stares off into the distance as if he couldn't care less.
All of a sudden the three thugs go flying past them, slamming into the wall, leaving a crater. The boy pokes his head around the corner. "I'm really sorry about that, but if you guys didn't want to lose all that money then you shouldn't have played poker with me." He calls out.
Lavi is the first to speak. "That kid sure has inhuman strength, let's investigate him!" He says energetically.
Shaking her head, Lenalee consults her map. "We're to find the hotel, find out if there are any akuma here, destroy them then go back to headquarters. We can't get distracted, Lavi."
"And anyway, I think I just found the place." She stands in front of a black two story building, acting proud as if it was her expertise which had led them there, because it was.
The large sign above the door stood out, as its wording was written in large red letters. Lavi strokes his chin like a detective. "This place looks suspicious."
Kanda wacks him over the back of his head. "These are our lodgings, Baka Usagi."
Stepping forward, Lenalee pushes the door open then strides through. She rings the bell sitting on the front desk. The room is only decorate by two pale cream couches, a large desk and two wooden doors, one leaving tho the left and the other to the right.
A white haired youth appears from behind the right door labelled lodgings. He bows slightly from the waist. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, what can I do for you today?" He politely asks, a wide smile already on his face.
Raising his eyes, his smile falters for a split second as he sees the customer's faces. The Exorcists, too, are surprised. Lavi points at the boy. "You're that kid from before! How did you beat those gangsters and get here so fast?" He wonders.
The boy gives an awkward laugh and steps up behind the desk. "I'm used to running from people like that; normally I don't fight because I don't want to have to deal with their hospital bills, but this time I couldn't help it." He shrugs his shoulders indifferently.
Oh god, this is bad. These people saw me fighting those thugs from earlier today; I hope they don't ask too many more questions. Just smile, it'll be fine. "Now, what is it that I can do for you?" I ask again, trying to steer the conversation away from me.
The young girl clothed in a long-sleeved ankle-length dress steps in front of the other two. "My name is Lenalee Lee, our organisation, the Black Order, has made reservations for us here." She informs me.
Checking through all of the paper work left in the filing cabinets, I come across a file. Hmm, it's from the Black Order, two bedrooms, one of our large suits. The name Lenalee Lee sands out at the bottom of the page. I push the file forward. "Your rooms have been prepared for you, just sign here please."
While she signs the paper I rifle through the cabinet until I find the compartment for the keys. I hand over the key to room 29 with my smile still pasted on my face, this is going to be a long week, with any luck they'll leave soon.
When the three finally disappear through the door I relax, letting out all of my tension is one large sigh. Just as I think that everything is fine I hear a large voice booming from the kitchen. "Walker!" My boss summons.
Kanda grunts as the trio arrive at their rooms. "That kid changed the topic too quickly."
"What's wrong with Yu? When I tried saying something was odd about that kid Yu just ignored me!" Wines Lavi.
Kanda narrows his eyes at the stupid pun that Lavi had managed to slip into the conversation. "Don't call me Yu."
"What do Yu mean, Yu? I didn't call Yu Yu." The usagi grins cheekily.
He speedily dodges the fierce onslaught of Mugen directed at him by the annoyed Japanese man, only to be distracted by his growling stomach. "Timeout, I'm hungry."
"Alright." Lenalee shuts off the door to her separate room. "This place has a restaurant built into it, we'll eat there." Inwardly she sighs, knowing that those two are the most imperfect match if you want something done without a large commotion.
The two others follow after her to the restaurant downstairs, though the opposite door. Seating themselves down, they each take their menus and pick out their foods.
Cross hold his hand out to the twenty-something man beside him. "I've sacked your co-workers; we got into a disagreement, well, one of 'em was killed by someone yesterday. Now, besides you and the cook, this guy will be the only other person working here, so you'll have to step up your game."
Huh, HE DID WHAT?! "Sir, we're already understaffed as it is and now you've fired the others?! What are we supposed to do now?!" I basically explode.
My boss looks at me uninterestedly. "I told you, work harder."
Why that damn bastard! How are three people supposed to cook, clean, wait tables, sort through files, buy the food and work the front desk? Well, knowing Cross he'll be expecting me to fix everything again. He always does. That's why no matter how many arguments we get into he just laughs it off and cruelly makes my life harder. God help me, why am I still even working for this guy? He's the devil incarnate. If I took any more than two days off this place would fall to ruin.
I take another look at my new colleague and freeze at what I see. Above him, just hovering there, it's one of those things. But this one seems worse, uglier than the normal ones. I gasp and take a step back.
Cross doesn't appear to notice my reaction, and for that I'm grateful. May as well ignore the thing, if I do then maybe he won't notice that I know what he is. My boss claps his hands together. "Now get out there and work, you two!" His voice is so damn loud.
There's nothing I can do know. The thing places his hand in front of himself. "Nice to meet you, Allen Walker. My name is Charles Alexander; I've been told that I'll work from seven to four while you and the other man work other hours so we won't get to see another often. I was wondering if you could show me the ropes."
He's polite for a monster; the first few I met tried to eat me. Hang on, how did he know my name?
"S-sure. I don't have the time now but tomorrow morning is fine. Someone has to re-create the roster." I manage to say, desperate to get away from this monster calling itself Charles Alexander.
Hurrying, I manage to escape without seeming too rude. I lean against the wall, letting my head loll back as I release the breath that I had been holding. It'll be fine, it'll be fine, it'll be fine. Repeating that doesn't help one bit.
No use worrying about this now, I have to prioritise. Work, find new employees, freak out over the monster, and then find some way to get rid of it. There, that should work out fine.
I glance over the kitchen counter and notice the three people dressed in black. They are all sitting down, staring at menus. Throwing an apron around my waist and taking hold of a writing pad and pen, I head off towards them.
"Can I get you anything?" My smile is only slightly here now.
The redheaded one with an eye patch narrows his eyes somewhat. "You sure have a lot of jobs."
My gloved, disfigured left fist tightens on the note pad. "Most of them were fired."
Good, my answer was short and to the point. Something about these people makes me feel uneasy.
The female speaks up. "I'll have one cup of Earl Grey tea and six sushi rolls sided with salmon, then I'd like some chocolate pudding for desert."
Next the dark-haired one orders. "Soba noodles and Oolong tea."
Finally the redhead orders. "Curry rice and pork cutlets."
After quickly writing it down on the note pad I rip of the paper and hand it to the chef.
Someone pushes open the door. He's dressed in a police's uniform. Now I feel tense, what is he doing here? Police never come to this side of town unless they're on official business.
He sits himself down at an empty booth near the other customers then motions over to me. He's talking as soon as I'm in range of his voice. "Allen Walker I presume?"
I nod my head. "Do you need something from me or my boss?"
The cop smirks. "I just want to ask you a few questions."
He pulls out a stack of files. "You have a pretty big file for someone of your age. That's only natural after the kind of life you've had, it's that right? Like with that incident around ten-and-a-half years ago. How many people died, thirty, forty? Sorry, I meant to ask how many you killed."
This guy doesn't mince words. I grit my teeth, barely managing to answer. "I thought that it was decided that I never actually killed those people. After all, how could a five-year-old boy kill that many people three times his size?"
"But you don't have any memories from before that, correct? And from this picture, it sure looks like it was you." He slides something towards me.
This is….no… My hands quiver. My whole body shakes.
This picture….. is my nightmare.
While the three Exorcists wait for their meals, they listen to the white-haired boy's conversation with interest. Lavi widens his smile. "See, I told you that kid was suspicious."
Kanda glares at him balefully. Then he turns is head as the boy hurries off in the direction of the kitchen, clearly distressed. The cop smiles once again then, leaving the picture, leaves.
Lenalee, checks her surroundings then stands, seizes the picture and sits back down again. She stares at it first. Her eyes widen and she gasps. It shows a young boy with white hair dirtied by mud and blood. His clothing only consists of a large ripped dress shirt, that too gritted with the blood of the things behind him. Mounds of bloodied corpses sit there. And the boy stands there, mouth slightly open and holding out a mutilated arm towards the photographer. His face shows no emotion. His silver-grey eyes hold nothing.
Lavi whistles when he sees it. "Who votes that we stay on guard around this kid?"
Lenalee stuffs the picture into her pocket as the boy appears, carrying their food. He lays out the food swiftly. This time not even a smile is present on his face. Instead his eyes lined with grief. He disappears as quickly as he appeared.
With a sigh, Lenalee picks up her cutlery. "We'll talk to the boy later, let's not mention this photo. Kanda, can you check out his place later on?"
With that they all dig into their meals.