Obscurity's Undertone: Prologue (A meeting at dusk)

"Arigatou." said Tyki. As he turned away from the old lady and her apple stand, he took a generous bite out of his apple. He smirked a little bit. They really were as delicious as they had looked.

One thing that Tyki always loved about these situations was the absolute beauty that surrounded him. That calm before the storm was nice and quiet; the ominous hush enforced throughout the city was music to his ears. The fear in the air was palpable, and it was even so strong at this moment it was unbearable intoxication. He twitched as he thought of the killing that would soon commence in this dump of a town.

As he turned another street corner, he heard a voice call out to him and say, "Oi, Tyki. Over here."

Tyki looked across the street to his right, where a familiar person was waving towards him. The person was dressed sharply in a black suit, and motioned for Tyki to follow him. They walked down an alley, and after a minute long walk in silence, they came upon a courtyard.

This courtyard was crowded between four older mansions of Barcelona. In the center stood an ornate fountain, its water currently flowing over its stone makeup. Stone tables and benches were placed in a random manner throughout. A stone 'bar' and several stone chairs were placed to one side.

The sky was aflame with color, and Tyki took a moment to pause and revel in the hour of dusk. These times of day were a foretelling for what would happen to the weaker persons of the human race. Their light would slowly diminish, and would be eventually swallowed up in an all-encompassing darkness. He closed his eyes and smiled lightly.

'Ah, tis a beautiful thought, isn't it?' thought Tyki.

The person that Tyki was following calmly walked behind the bar. Reaching down beneath the counter, the other man pulled out a bottle of wine and two wine glasses. Pouring a generous amount in both glasses, he pushed one of them towards Tyki.

Tyki reached for the glass and took a large gulp of the ruby red liquid. He smacked his lips and sighed in contentment. He glanced at the man leaning against the counter from him and asked, "So, brother, what did you want to discuss?" He stared at his 'brother' over the rim of his crystal goblet, confusion written on his face. "Furthermore, why are you even here? I thought the Earl had sent you after that new general. What's her name again? You know her, she's the hot one." A smirk was faintly visible on his lips, and his hat was slightly cocked to the side. He absently reached up a hand to straighten it, keeping silent as he waited for his companion to answer his question.

The other man chuckled, "Well, you are right about that, Tyki. He did send me after her, but since I was already in the area, I thought I would take care of one or two of the others on my hit list. As for what I want to discuss, I have heard some distressing information about one of the ones that you were sent to 'delete'."

Tyki raised an eyebrow, "Ohh?"

The other smiled a little bit apologetically, "I believe her name was Ellen Walker. You know the one I am talking about, right?"

Tyki took off his top hat and placed it on the bar in front of him, while he sat down in one of the chairs lining the bar. He made a small hand gesture at his wine glass.

The other man straightened and walked a few feet to Tyke's right in order to retrieve the bottle of wine. He walked slowly back, the bottle balanced in the palm of his hand as he used the other to wipe off some of the countertop. Once he got over to where Tyki was, he made a small motion with his hand, and the rag suddenly disappeared. Calmly taking Tyki's glass in hand, he poured Tyki even more of the ruby red liquid.

Tyki took a small sip of the wine. Smacking his lips in appreciation, he leaned back slightly in the chair stool. He swirled the wine in the wineglass as he finally replied, "Yes, I do believe I know who she is. She is the girl pretending to be a boy, right?"

The other man had hopped up on the counter behind the main bar one, and was sitting down with his left leg crossed over his right knee. He held his wine glass in both hands, making sure not to spill any of its precious liquid. He nodded at Tyki's question, "Yes, she is the one who bears the cursed eye that let's her see the soul's of the Akuma."

Tyki held up his wine glass to his lips in order to hide his smile, "Ah, she is the one Road talked so animatedly about, isn't she?" He laughed a little bit, "Evidently she is quite fun to play with, at least according to Road."

The other raised an eyebrow, "What else do you know about her, Tyki?"

Tyki set his glass down on the counter beside his hat. He placed one elbow down beside them both and rested his head on his hand. He tapped his chin in thought, "Let's see, she was born with her innocence. Her full name is Sarah Ellen Walker, and she was trained by General Cross Marian. She is around fifteen or sixteen years old, and there are not many within the order that know that she is really a female. She has them thinking that her real name is Allen Walker." He smiled a sadistic smile, "And according to some well founded rumors, she has a bit of a crush on the Bookman's Apprentice, Lavi."

The other man nodded again, before quickly finishing off the rest of his wine in one last gulp. Tossing it in the air, he jumped up off the counter he was on. Just as the glass was about to shatter on the counter top that Tyki was resting on, he placed his palm out. The glass hit his hand and disappeared in a light mist. The other man's expression had turned deadly serious. "Do you know why the Earl specifically want's a Noah to kill her, Tyki?"

Tyki shrugged, "I assume it has something to do with her annoying little eye."

The other man straightened his overcoat, "Well, that is part of the reason, but the main reason is this, the Earl has strong suspicions that this girl had the abilities of the musician passed to her."

Tyki sat up quickly in alarm, "You mean-"

The other was quick to respond, "Yes, Tyki, she is the adopted daughter of that filthy traitorous sheep, Mana the musician." He grinned maniacally, "He was the one that she called back as an Akuma, which is why her eye is so efficient in ferreting out our little Akuma pets. That is why it so important to kill her as soon as possible, in order for her to have no contact whatsoever with the ark. Though I wouldn't really worry too much, you have plenty of time to intercept her before she reaches a place that connects with the ark."

Tyki paused while he was placing his hat back on his head. He tilted his head to the side slightly, one of his eyebrows doing its best to touch his hairline. "Ooh? And why is that, Shonen?"

The other licked his lips, "Lullubell-chan has been ordered to waylay the Cross recovery team." He shuddered a little bit in excitement, "I hope she uses that whip of hers to keep the humans in line."

Tyki backed away from the other man slightly in alarm. 'Is he purring?!!!' thought Tyki.

He shuddered a little bit himself, but not for quite the same reasons as the other. "You've become quite the Ladies man, haven't you, Shonen?"

"You may still think I am still quite the boy, or Shonen, Tyki, but in the ways that really matter, several ladies have found I am quite the opposite." said the other man, wagging his eyebrows suggestively at the same time.

Tyki just sighed in annoyance, "Whatever. I really should be going. I have somewhere I have to be, and you have a pair of twin exorcists to eliminate." He sighed again, this time with envy, "Lucky bastard, why are you the one that gets to have your way with those twin hotties?"

The other man smiled at Tyki and replied, "It's because I am just that awesome."

Tyki then pushed his chair stool back straightened the hat on top of his head, "I sort of doubt that, Shonen. Anyway, I guess I won't being seeing you anytime soon then."

As he started to disappear into the side of one of the buildings, he waved a hand in the air in a gesture of farewell, "Sayonara, Allen."

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AN: I have gone through and hopefully fixed all of the spelling and grammatical errors in this chapter.