(Nothing But) The Darkness Overhead
Originally: "Augen Auf".
Prologue
A straight oar looks bent in the water. What matters is not merely that we see things but how we see them.
- Michel de Montaigne
A gentle breeze swept through the dark corridors of the building, floating through the cracks under the doors and tickling the ears of the people snug inside their beds. Upon its airy wings it carried the faint but haunting sounds of a piano melody that drifted into the dreams of those slumbering and interrupted them with its eerie charm. Deeper into the dark maze of corridors the breeze progressed until it came upon a set of huge, intricately carved wooden doors and crept underneath them. Inside, a man with crimson hair sat in a large and over-stuffed red arm chair, silently reading an old brown leather journal. Beyond him, a dark haired man sat at a bay window seat, contemplating the inky sky through the tall, arched window. Drawn to the open window and the crisp night air on the other side, the breeze slowly drifted across the room and out, but not before gracing the room's occupants with the notes it carried. The red-haired figure tilted his head slightly at the new noise but continued to read the journal. The raven, on the other hand, moved his gaze from the window and across the dusty old room to stare intently at the door. His eyes strained to make out the carvings on the door, but it was too dark - the only light in the room was from the flickering candle precariously balanced on a high-reaching stack of books and the faint glow of the moon.
"Do you think that's Allen playing?"
He looked across at the other occupant, his fellow comrade in arms, Lavi, and let out an audible sigh. How was he supposed to know who it was? A lot of people at the Black Order played the piano other than the 'moyashi'; it could have been any of them! Though... he did suppose that none of them would really play something so dark. The younger boy had been steadily drawing more and more away from the world as Central had slowly tightened their hold on him. Kanda could have laughed if he was the sort to; who would honestly think that the kid would try and destroy the Order, the Fourteenth or not? Ridiculous. The street urchin turned exorcist viewed this building as his home and its occupants his family.
"Humph. Probably." He finally said aloud after being sent a questioning look from Lavi.
"Are you alright, Yuu?" he returned.
Kanda twitched at the use of his given name but turned back to the window, his will to argue near non-existent. Something just wasn't sitting well with him tonight, and he was sure the other man felt the same. It was just -
A blood-curdling scream pierced the cold air, ripping open eyes sewn closed with the grit of sleep and sending bodies tumbling out of bed and rushing out of warm rooms into the cold in various states of undress.
Kanda startled, a little unbelieving that his feelings were actually valid, before standing up and rushing to the door. Down the other end of the hallway was the main corridor that connected the Exorcists' rooms and led to the huge winding staircase. From his position just outside the door, Kanda could hear shots being fired amongst other sounds of fighting as it began to filter down the hallway. He felt someone grip his shoulder and dazedly turned to see Lavi, his face just as pale as he imagined his own to look.
"That scream..." Lavi said shakily and stopped himself there. Kanda looked so pale, he vaguely noticed before the scream came again. It was loud, so terribly loud. A horrifyingly pain-drenched scream. It cut through the sounds coming from what he realised must be the others fighting – how could they just fight on and ignore the screaming?! Almost in tandem, Lavi realised, he and Kanda began running towards the noises and the screaming. Upon reaching the end of the hallway and exiting into the main corridor, they could both see some of the damage already wrought – fallen walls and shadowy bodies. Lavi couldn't even tell if they were Exorcists, Finders or even Akuma. And blood, blood was splattered everywhere. It looked like someone had decided the blackness of the corridor needed some festive colouring but had gone grossly overboard. Again the scream came and again he started running - the supposedly smart apprentice realised belatedly that he was being drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Something was tugging at him, pulling him towards and down a terrifyingly familiar path – and he just hoped that unlike a moth, he would not meet the flame (and consequently his death) at the end of it.
.
Lavi slowly picked up speed and with him, Kanda too. Soon the sound of their bare feet slapping down the stone corridor became loud enough to rival the distant sounds of battle but the red-head paid no attention to it, for the force that was pulling him was becoming more urgent; like something important to him was in terrible danger and he was perilously close to losing it.
It was then that his analytical mind deduced something and like someone had just thrown a bucket of icy water in his face, a few things clicked into place. He was running towards the scream, a familiar scream – yet one that he'd never heard before and never wished to hear again. He was running along a familiar path towards the room of a fellow exorcist. He was running towards Allen's room. The scream belonged to Allen. His heart plummeted, his breath was ragged. Allen was screaming in pain. Allen was in pain. Allen. The Bookman Jr. had thought he was running quickly before, but now he was practically soaring down the corridor, barely avoiding crashing into walls whenever he took a sharp turn around a corner and down a hallway. He felt like cursing! Those idiots at Central had Allen moved to a room further away from the other Exorcists in case of 'betrayal'. Lavi inappropriately snorted.
.
Kanda's feet barely touched the floor as they moved past the other Exorcists' rooms and they finally began catching up to the fighting. In his mind, he became vaguely aware of the fact that it was Akuma his fellow comrades were fighting, but thoughts of Allen filled his mind and clouded it. So together with Lavi, they dodged, leapt and sometimes even fought their way through the pockets of fighting that quickly sprung up like weeds here and there and then just as quickly died with the winning side rushing off to fight elsewhere. Many times they were stopped by Akuma standing over the fallen bodies of Finders and possibly other Exorcists. They'd quickly cut them down and help any of their own that were outnumbered but still on they would run.
At one point when they were again fighting their way through, Kanda turned to Lavi and asked -
"Do you think he's okay?"
Kanda vaguely realised that the question was out of character for him but he was worried; he felt the same tug as Lavi, pulling him towards Allen's room.
Not really wanting to hear an answer he was fairly sure he already knew, Kanda sliced through the remaining level one Akuma and turned to the last Akuma – a level two.
Though most people would call the two enemies, Kanda considered Allen his friend in some strange way, maybe even something close to a best friend - though he'd never admit the last to anyone – and he was genuinely worried for the 'moyashi'. Kanda and Allen had a strange bond, they were friends but they just had a different way of showing it. He let out an inaudible huff as they finally took it down and wiped the sweat that sprung up on his forehead away with the sleeve of his shirt.
"I-I don't know." Lavi had faltered a step and looked at Kanda.
Unintentionally the two picked up the pace with a sudden burst of speed as unbidden thoughts of what could be happening to Allen rushed through their heads. Kanda knew that unlike himself, 'Lavi' had no qualms with admitting he and Allen were close, in fact he was fairly certain Lavi too, thought of Allen as his best and possibly even closest friend. They both tried to block out the pictures their minds conjured of their mutual friend, but it was hard with all the once living carnage around them.
Kanda began to run surprisingly even faster as he realised the left turn at the end of the hallway would take them to the last corridor and closer to the one they were worried about. They ran around the corner...
.
Lavi's heart raced. His stomach plummeted. He stared in horror. Standing there, he let his eyes take in the gruesome sight they fell upon. He could hear Kanda slightly gagging. As harden as the man thought he was, seeing what had once been people, littered all over the corridor was enough to turn a veteran soldier's stomach. It was a grisly, macabre scene; like an artist's dark painting, the pieces of body were placed harmoniously throughout the corridor, bloody walls providing a deep backdrop to this new scene. Lavi nearly retched when he saw a cleanly cut leg casually laying less than a metre in front of him, its owner nowhere to be seen.
.
It was then that the whimpers Allen had been reduced to fell silent.
The silence pierced deeper than any scream ever could.
.
They both charged down the corridor as one, deftly avoiding the fleshy remains of their comrades. Allen's door grew closer. The force from before was pulling them along harder; the sheer weight of it caused both men to gasp aloud. Lavi barely slowed when he saw Allen's door was ajar. Dread filled him and near froze him as Kanda pushed on ahead. They crashed into the room. Lavi stopped next to Kanda. His blood froze in his veins and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Both eyes stared at the unconscious and bloody body cradled in the arms of the Noah Tyki Mikk. Golden eyes studied the shocked pair standing in front of him, and a rich, deep voice laughed before saying -
"Good evening my dear exorcists, but you're much too late!" Tyki flashed a feral grin.
Kanda saw Lavi flinch in his peripherals and began to charge towards the Noah but before he could go more than a few steps, the Noah quickly darted to the window. Kanda could do nothing as Tyki Mikk smashed through the glass and out into the freezing air, disappearing with the silver-haired exorcist's limp body. The force that had led them to Allen unexpectedly snapped, leaving both exorcists feeling cold and lost.
-xxx-
"He's gone?" spat Leverrier. He glared around at the occupants of the room as if they had had a hand in his abduction.
"Yes. The Noah Tyki Mikk took him." Lavi said unbiasedly.
"And you let him take Allen Walker?! Walker let himself be taken!?"
"No. We did not have enough time to react, sir. The Noah jumped out the window with Allen before we could move and Allen could not fight back or struggle because he was unconscious."
"It was a good thing he was." Kanda said emotionlessly, though he wanted to yell. To hell with Leverrier and his accusations! "The sprout must have put up one hell of a good fight. He was practically drenched in his own blood. I'm surprised he was still alive, there was that much."
"Walker probably went willing." Leverrier sneered. "Komui!" he snapped suddenly, "Call everyone to a meeting immediately! Let it be known Walker has fled. The next time he is spotted he is to be executed on site -no mercy is to be shown."
"NO!" Lenalee screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You can't!"
"But I can." Leverrier replied coldly. "It is for the safety of the Order that I do this."
"But she's right sir, Allen has only been kidnapped!" Komui said, agreeing with his sister. "He didn't willing go to the enemies side! He's no traitor until he turns-"
"Idiot!" Leverrier snapped. "He has turned! Why do you think my men were there in the corridor? Having a tea party?" He snorted mockingly. "To protect that abomination?! The Noah in Walker awoke last night around 2100hrs, after the CROW, Howard Link, returned from the cafeteria to deliver food to the traitor. You can ask Mr Link himself. He was the one who warned me Walker was awakening. I ordered extra wards placed around Walker's room and CROW members stationed out the front of it, in case the Noah managed to slip through them. He probably killed them all himself before he made his escape with that Noah."
Everyone in the room stared at Leverrier, shocked into silence. Leverrier curled his lips in disgust.
"He is a traitor - an enemy! And he is to be treated like one." He emphasised each word as he spoke, making sure everything he said was perfectly clear. "But, admittedly he was your friend, and if I recall correctly, did he not ask you all something? When you were first told about the Noah within him and given the order to kill him should it awaken, did he not say 'If that should happen, please kill me.'?"
Lenalee's eyes widened and she choked back a sob before she rushed to Komui and flung herself into his chest, sobbing pitifully.
Lavi glanced around the room, taking in everyone's reactions as he was trained to do. Kanda was angry but doing a good job at hiding it. His eyes were pressed together, his brows slightly lowered and his upper eyelids tensed. Lenalee was still crying and obviously distraught and Komui wore an open look of disbelief on his face. There were four cloaked figures flanking Leverrier and he himself just looked pissed that Allen had escaped.
"Komui, call that meeting immediately and have anyone who can not physically make it there themselves be told the message."
.
All throughout the Black Order, the same message played through the speakers:
"...and by order of The Pope himself, if spotted, the Noah once known as Allen Walker must be killed immediately. This man is not the Allen we all knew. Kill him or be killed yourself. He will not show you any mercy, so don't show any to him."
The pairing is ALLEN / LAVI / KANDA together - as in all three of them together in a single relationship. Just not yet... they're a bit oblivious and so, so slow. Give them some time... they'll slowly get there.
I honestly don't know how often this will be updated; I really don't – probably really sporadically.
