A Semblance of Virtue
By Zeida of Zeida and Maria
Disclaimer: I do not own D. Grey-Man or any of it's characters.
'Darkness feeds darkness, and destruction only fuels further destruction. In order to improve, you must improvise, using a different approach, because the one thing the enemy can not fight, is kindness.'
This is what I've decided to call 'the younger twin' of a twin series I'm doing. The reason for the younger being posted first, along with why it has been named as it has, will be explained in the following note.
NOTE: This is part 2 of the twin series. The twin series is two Completely Unrelated stories, which I came up with at almost the exact same time, and share a prologue. The prologue has been altered ever-so slightly in the editing, to better fit the context of the separate stories, but they sprouted from the same base. This story is being posted first, because it happens to be the first one I started. The urge to post it was there, so I did so. However, the 'Younger-Older' thing is referring only to the order of which I thought of the stores.
Dedication: I would say this is dedicated to the first two stories I've read of D Grey-Man, 'Mana' and 'In Cold Embraces' both of which are phenomenal stories, and will have likely effected this one in one way or another. The same will go for my other one, whenever it happens to come to life.
Warnings: AU, angst, violence, depression, and mentions of murder.
Thank you for reading my ramblings, Now, onto the Prologue…
Semblance: An outward or token appearance: A fake form of, or covering of, that which has something else hidden beneath
Virtue: Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness.
Prologue: Mana
It was dark. Everything was so dark, and he couldn't move. Every bone ached, every muscle moaned. He couldn't move from his spot, standing, frozen before the grave. The world was black, even as the soft, light snow covered the ground, his surroundings were white, but the world was black, dark, empty. It hadn't sunk in, until that moment, hadn't registered in his mind until the moment he was standing before the grave, staring at the tomb stone, the words 'Mana Walker' etched into it. Mana was gone. His father was gone. He had nothing left; he was all alone again...
He was completely alone.
There was nothing left.
He fell to his knees before the grave staring at it for a long moment. He couldn't seem to find anymore tears. He had finally run out of tears to shed. He was spent. Used, empty.
And he always would be, from now on, he would be just a shell, because his one person was gone, would never come back. "Ma...na..." He managed to croak. He crawled closer to the miniature stone wall the marked his father's final resting place.
He cuddled up to the cold stone, it's cool, rough surface ignored, as he rested on it, as he used to with Mana, imagining the man's old, strong arms enveloping him. "..Ma…na… Mana... Mana... Mana Mana Mana Mana Mana Mana Mana Mana..." He repeated over and over again, using his voice more in that minute than he had since the accident. Eventually, he quieted, unable to say anything more. What else could they do? What more could that which people called 'god' do to him? His parents had discarded him. He had lived, for so long... on the streets, barely surviving, before Mana had taken him in... Now he was gone to...
Hadn't god cursed him enough by giving him this reached arm? Wasn't that enough? Or did he really enjoy fucking with people's lives that much?
He didn't know how long he sat there, just staring off, ahead of him into the pure white blackness, before he heard the voice.
It was a pleasant voice, almost sing-song, as it spoke, obviously an adult but... childish, as well. He wouldn't realize it, at that moment, but those words would change his meaningless life, forever...
"Do you want to revive Mana Walker?"
The dam seemed to break then, and tears flowed freely down his cheeks, he was too drained to stop them. He looked up, to the source of the voice. The man was tall. Or, he looked tall, from Allen's point of view. His ears were odd, going out to the side, like that of fairy tale elves. He had a winter coat on, and a tall top hat adorned his head. Glasses obscured his eyes in the dim light, and Allen couldn't seem to focus. He had a huge, intimidating grin of his face, as he cocked his head to the side. "Hmmmmm?"
He continued to stare up at the strange man, tears leaving wet tracks down his face. The man stared back, grin not wavering. Allen slowly nodded.
He would do anything to bring Mana back.
The man clapped his hands happily. "Great!" He said gleefully, "I'm the Millennium Earl, who are you?"
Allen blinked slowly up at him; still not moving from his position huddled against Mana's headstone. "Allen... I'm Allen Walker..." He answered.
The Earl nodded happily, before reaching behind him, and pulling out a life-sized skeleton, like the ones in some schools, except made with metal. It looked sinister, scary. Allen wanted to move away, but couldn't. His left arm throbbed painfully. "It works like a kit," The Earl explained. "All you have to do is put the pieces together." Allen tried to force his body to move away. Or was his body trying to force him to move away? Something on the skeleton made him pause. A single word on the forehead of the monstrosity caught his eye.
'Mana'
It was written there. But it was not Mana yet... "...What do I have to do?" He asked.
If possible, the Earl's grin seemed to widen. He placed the large metal frame before Allen, then started to speak. Allen hung onto every word. "This is a special body I built. It will bring your father back to you, but it's not complete. It still needs one last thing…"
Allen stared at the Earl, eyes wide, a spark of hope shone in their depths. "What do I do?" He demanded. "I'll do anything!"
The Earl seemed to understand his desperation, and nodded solemnly, though he was still grinning. "He needs to be called back. Call him to you, Allen walker, and resurrect your father."
"Mana?" Allen called, mustering the energy to come closer to the metal body. "Mana? Can you hear me? Are you there?"
He heard a Giggle, and a small 'pop' but did not turn. The body was starting to glow. A black star seemed to seep into the fore-head of the frame, just above his father's name. "Mana?!" He said again, more desperately this time, as the body sat up before him. "Mana!"
"A...llen..." It said. Allen's heart skipped a beat. That was Mana's voice! "...Y-you... you made me into an Akuma, Allen!"
Everything seemed to freeze in that moment. Allen stared in horror, unable to move, as some sort of mechanical wire tied him up. The hands of the skeleton were no longer hands, but knives, poised above him.
He was unaware of this, however, his mind still trying to wrap around the words his previously deceased father had just screamed from inside the metal suit. 'You've turned me into a demon, Allen...' It repeated inside of his mind, over and over, he was unable to shake it off, unable to move.
'You've turned me into an Akuma, Allen!'
'An Akuma'
'A Demon'
A Sharp, unbearable pain shot through him, and he screamed. At the same moment, the 'Akuma' began to shriek again, still in his beloved father's voice.
"Allen, how could you, Allen! You've made me any Akuma!" The knifed hands were waving wildly, and his bindings slackened on him. "I'll curse you!" The Akuma screamed, Allen feeling the hot trail of the tears making their way down his chilled cheeks. Why was it like this? Why? "I'll curse you!" Something else joined the tear's journey down his face. It was all over his left side, his eye stung, and his arm throbbed again. A coppery taste entered his mouth, startling him. Terrifying him.
Mana...
"I'll curse you, Allen!"
Something was wrong with Mana...
Allen could feel consciousness slip away from him, slowly, an eternity passed, and he was falling, falling into the dark hole again, the dark hole with no exit. There was no way out.
And it was his fault.
Then everything faded to black.
He couldn't have been unconscious for more than a few moments, but he was rattled awake by a horrible pain in his arm. His eyes fluttered open, just as the Mana-Akuma lunged towards him. Just in time to see a glowing white, claw like hand, twice his size, engulf Mana, making him scream. It took a moment for Allen to realize it was his arm, his hand, which was attacking Mana. He snatched it away.
"W-what the Hell-" He gasped, his hand seemed to be fighting against him, fighting to get towards Mana, who was broken and battered in the snow a few feet from him. "M-my hand! It's- it's moving on its own..." Mana was trying to get back up.
The hand was coming at Mana.
Allen was powerless, as tears continued to spill down his face. "No! Mana, Mana! Run; don't do this to me again! Please!" He couldn't stop the arm, is had a mind of its own. It was going to kill Mana again, and leave him all alone again. Everything would be as it was, again.
The skeleton with the word 'Mana' written on it looked at him. "...Allen... I- I love you, Allen... Please... Destroy me..."
Pain ripped through his skull, and he could open his left eye again. A strange sensation took hold of him then, his arm attacking -killing- Mana in slow motion, in the background. He felt as if he were having an out-of body experience. The world had seriously gone black and white. And he could see Mana.
Not the metal figure with the name, but Mana, honest, good, human, Mana.
And he was in pain.
Allen found himself screaming, the pain overcoming him, as well, as the arm slashed through Mana, and the other Mana.
Then, for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, the world went black.
-----------
When he next came to, he was in a bed. It was not a particularly comfortable bed; the sheets were thin, and smelled of Anesthesia. He was wearing a hospital gown. A soft groan escaped his lips, as he forced himself to sit up. The pain in his left arm was unbearable. What had happened? Where was Mana?
The memories of his last conscious event came flooding back, all in one abrupt moment. "Mana..." He whispered, eyes filling up with tears once more. The words floated to the front of his mind. "I love you, Allen..." The monster had said. It had been Mana. It real was.
And he destroyed it.
He had killed Mana.
Again...
Before he knew what he was doing, he had slipped out of the bed he was in and made his way to where his clothes where hanging neatly in the closet, clean and also smelling of Anesthesia. He changed quickly, listening carefully for the sound of foot steps cooing towards the room. There were none, and he slipped out to the room un-noticed.
He was in no big hurry. The mild throbbing in his left arm had subsided slightly, and he just needed to walk. To go somewhere. Anywhere but there. He needed to move foreword. He needed to get away from the white washed walls, and blue tinted sheets. He passes a mirror in the hall, and froze. Doubling back, he stared at the boy reflected in the glass. The boy had purest white hair, and large circles under his eyes. His left eye was slashed, in a jagged pattern that looked quit deliberate, and ended with a Star-like symbol, almost obscured by the bangs.
He gulped, and moved on. There was nothing to be down...
The fist month after Mana's resurrection went by in a blur of hunger and pain. Allen had kept walking, he left the town, left the area, and he kept walking. There was no where else to go. He had to keep moving foreword, as Mana had taught him to. He would keep going. Keep living. At least this time, he could say goodbye.
He didn't realize he was sitting, staring into space again, until he heard the sounds of snow being crushed beneath someone's boots. He only looked up when the shadow had fallen completely over him, at which point, he stared blankly at the man.
"...Who are you?"
The man crouched down closer to Allen, and smiled, just slightly, before he began to speak.
Thank you for reading the prologue, I hope you keep reading when the first chapter comes out, it's already almost finished. To those wondering, 'I this just another story she will never finish?' I will say, I can't guarantee anything. It's just too complicated, how my mind works for me to tell if I'll be able to, especially because this one is actually more of an epic than it's older sibling. I will however, try, and am bursting with ideas for the story.
If any comments, or constructive criticism are given, I would greatly appreciate it. This, as you may have guessed, my first D Grey-Man fic, and though I have read all there is to read at the moment, (Up to chapter 129) I do not believe myself an expert on their personalities, or habits. I would love any help people are willing to give me, along with a beta to bug me, if anyone is willing, my reviewers are the ones that will have to keep this story alive, though, because Maria is reluctant to read the series, let alone support my fan story for it.
I will say, though, that you do not HAVE to review. I will try and be good even without reviews, I don't want to force people to write them. However, any and all you DO write would be greatly appreciated, and I will also admit that I LOVE long reviews filled with comments, ideas, and guesses as to where this is going.
Also, as a final note, if anyone has requests for pairings, I may or may not have them in this story, depending on if readers want. So, if you want a certain grouping, Het. Or Yaoi, or even Yuri, if you can think of something plausible, are all excepted, and I will likely be taking a vote, later on. THESE PAIRINGS ARE NOT JUST FOR ALLEN! I want ideas for anyone and everyone's love lives.