Chapter One
The war was over and the Earl, dead. Although several members of the Clan of Noah still existed out in the world, they had little purpose, and so they lived on as extraordinarily powerful and immortal humans. Most of them now were disbanded, trying to gain back the lives that they once had before they became Noahs, but finding it difficult to integrate back into society. Especially for Road, who was the oldest Noah, and who had become a Noah during the time of the Black Death, she knew very little about getting on in average modern society. After all, she had only needed to follow the Earl's lead for centuries, now, and now that she had nobody to follow, she wondered what she was really supposed to do.
Road had managed to pick up a job as a waitress in a bar. She hated her job, though. The men there were pigs, not like the Allen, who was a gentleman through and through. Always polite, always gentle and kind. She wondered what would happen if she followed Allen's request and sought him out now that the war was over. Had he really meant what he said about them being together after the war ended? But she didn't even know where he lived. It was probably too much to expect that he hadn't moved on with his life, and that he was still living in London. That would be optimistic to the point of idiocy. However, she still prayed every night, to any god that would listen to a degenerate human such as her, that she would one day run into Allen.
She thought back to how she was before the war ended. She was a monster in the truest sense of the word. Allen hadn't been exaggerating when he called her a monster. She had been a sadistic, vile menace, and she had deserved to be killed, along with all of the Noahs. She still deserved to die, and though she had not yet had reason to fight, she wouldn't even if given a reason. She figured that her life couldn't get much worse. She had no friends, no family, and she was stuck serving disgusting drunks dinner and beer so that they could get more drunk and become more disgusting. She couldn't count the number of times that someone had tried to grab her while she was trying to carry a goddamn tray! And then when she dropped the tray in shock, they would just laugh! Now she knew how it felt to be completely humiliated. She had humiliated exorcists dozens of times before she finally killed them, toying with them, making sure that their spirits were broken before she finally did them the favor of putting them out of their misery.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a man walked in, one arm covered in bandages and wearing a heavy black trench coat with a hood that had a fancy silver cross and silver buttons on it. Road looked up in shock, and tried to identify who it was beneath those heavy black cowls, but she could only see shadow across the face of the person. He looked over at her and waved, and she was sure that he smiled at her politely, but she couldn't tell because of how big the hood was. Just as another waitress was about to go over to him, Road ran over to her and pulled her aside.
"Can I please take this one?"
"What? No… Wait? Why?"
"N-no reason…" Road said, blushing slightly, her blue eyes darting away.
"Oh, I think I get it… This is one of those things in your past that you won't talk about, right? Sure. You can take him. I was about to go on a break, anyhow. I need a cigarette like nobody's business!"
"Those things'll kill you, Julie…" Road said with a wistful sigh. Julie smirked and said, "I'm counting on it. Now hurry up, before he gets impatient. And try not to flirt too much!"
Road turned bright red again, but nodded and turned away, walking over to the man and greeting him politely, and bringing him over to a table, putting a menu down in front of him.
"Would you like anything to drink?" She asked with a smile. The man smiled back and asked for some tea. Road nodded and hurried off.
She had no idea that she was going to run into Allen that day. If she had known, she would have at least tried to make herself look better. She had always glowed with a strange passion when she was a Noah, but now that she was just a regular human again, her aura was much dimmer, and seemed to be becoming downright dingy.
A few minutes later she walked back over to Allen's table, and put the tea down. Then she stood there for a moment, collecting herself before she said, "I don't think anyone has ever kept their hood up indoors like you are…" She didn't call him sir like she usually would with customers, but she also didn't call him by his name. She didn't really want to draw overmuch attention to the fact that she knew him already.
"And I don't think I've ever been stood up by a more beautiful woman…" Allen said politely, but with a definite air of coldness in it. Road was slightly taken aback at the hostility in his voice as he pulled back his hood and revealed his snow white hair, which had grown longer and messy since the war had ended. Allen was otherwise well groomed, but his face was slightly sunken, and he looked like he hadn't been eating well, and he had dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't been sleeping well either.
"You look a mess, Allen, and you're getting kind of skinny."
"Didn't you hear what I said, Road? I'm not interested in you pretending to be my friend! After the war ended, my reason for living just seemed to vanish, and so I moved out of HQ and into a small house nearby! I've been expecting a visit, a call, or even a damn letter from you to let me know that you haven't just completely forgotten about me! I was worried that you had been killed or something, but then I heard a rumor that a girl of your description had taken a job in some dumpy bar (apparently, you're pretty popular here), and I decided I should at least check it out, and then here you are, and you act like nothing happened! Like we can just act as though a whole year hasn't gone by since we last saw each other?" Suddenly, Allen picked up the tea violently and drank it in one gulp, standing up and storming out.
"Have a good life, Road! Just leave me out of it!" He yelled from across the room, throwing his hood back up and slamming the door behind him. For a minute, Road stood transfixed to the spot that she was standing, tears flooding her eyes, then she ran over to the owner and asked if she could leave a little bit early… Well, quite a bit early. She wasn't due to leave for another hour. The man nodded, though, and Road ran out after Allen. Even though it was dark, and raining, Road could still see him. She ran after him, calling his name, not caring that she was getting soaked, or that it was freezing cold out.
"Didn't I just tell you to leave me out of your life! I had faith in you! I believed in you, that you weren't as evil and manipulative as you were made out to be! But you had everything planned with the Earl, didn't you! Capture me, gain my trust to give the Noahs an advantage in the war! I LOVED YOU! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME! THAT ISN'T THE KIND OF THING YOU LIE ABOUT!" Allen screamed at her, resisting the urge to hit her. He knew that if he hit her once, he wouldn't be able to stop. He wasn't normally a violent person, but she had really hurt him.
"That's really despicable, Road! Even for you! But I guess I was stupid to believe that the spawn of the devil could possibly feel an emotion like love!"
"It wasn't a lie! I do love you!" Road cried, rain mingling with tears. Her entire body was soaked, now, and she took a step toward Allen and grabbed his arm, refusing to let go until he listened to her.
"Let go of me, Road!" He said forcefully. The anger in his voice almost made her comply, but she didn't let go.
"No. Not until you listen to me! You don't understand!"
"What is there to understand! I thought that we had shared something special, but apparently, it was only another way for you to get what you wanted!"
"But I didn't get what I wanted, Allen. When the Earl fell, the Noahs all had to go into hiding separately, covering up our pasts, and creating new identities, pretending that we were normal people when we knew we were not. I took a job in this restaurant because I knew that it would be the last place that anyone from the church would look for me. I searched all over for you, but to no avail. I asked all over for someone of your description, but you look so different, now, I'm not too surprised that nobody responded positively to my inquiries. I stayed in London because that was the last place you were known to be, and I hoped that one day we would see each other again. I never forgot about you, though."
"Why the hell should I believe you?" Allen shouted. Road cringed at his harsh tone, completely different from his usually gentle and kind voice.
"I-I still have a picture of you in my wallet. I managed to hold onto it. Granted, it's from your personnel file at the Dark Order, please don't get mad at me for stealing your file…"
"Fine… Whatever. Where the hell do you live anyhow! You must live nearby!" Allen said harshly, although his tone was much kinder than it had been a moment ago, showing more concern than anger.
"In an apartment on Haberdashery Street1." Road said quietly. Allen raised an eyebrow for a moment and then shook his head.
"You're living in that dump of a neighborhood! It isn't safe for a sixteen year old girl to be living there alone!" Allen yelled, looking at Road, who was now shivering in the rain. He sighed in resignation. He couldn't stay angry at her for long, and she looked like she was freezing. He hung his head, defeated, and removed his coat, handing it to her. Road looked at it for a moment and scowled.
"I'm not sixteen, Allen! I'm over 500 years old, and I can take care of myself!"
"It doesn't matter how old you really are! You reside in the body of a sixteen year old girl, and as far as anyone is concerned, that's how old you are! Do you think some creep is gonna care whether you're sixteen or five hundred sixteen when he tries to rape you! Just put on my damn coat and come stay at my place for a while!" He said. Then, his face softened and he actually smiled. "I promised you that if the day came when philosophy no longer drove us apart, that we could be together. I intend to follow through on that…" He said, kissing Road on the lips as she put the jacket on hesitantly, noticing that now Allen was getting soaked. She did feel better, though. She looked back at her coworker, who was looking out at them, and stuck her tongue out, giving her the finger and grinning widely as she walked away with Allen.
Allen dug in his vest pocket for a key, rooting around among the many small pieces of junk that his pockets carried. Finally, he found the brass key, though, and put it into the keyhole, twisting it and pushing the door in. As the two got inside, though, they heard a sound coming from the kitchen. Road pulled out a dagger that she had hidden up her sleeve, and Allen looked around, turning on the light. When they got into the kitchen, though, it was merely Lenalee, Miranda, Crowley, Timothy, Tyki, Lulu Bell, Wisely, and Cyril, all sitting around the table, the exorcists all glaring at the former Noahs… Except for Timothy, who was grinning cockily at Lulu Bell and blushing slightly. Needless to say, Lulu had no idea how to handle this. Allen groaned and Road sighed, half in relief, and half in annoyance.
"I realize that you are annoyed that we are here, Road. However, we simply had to confirm for ourselves that a real live Romeo and Juliet situation had arisen right in 19th century London." Wisely said, showing his usual lack of regard for the privacy of others' thoughts. Cyril grinned and then looked venomously at Allen.
"So, Mr. Walker…" He said dangerously. "My little Road is quite smitten with you. Perhaps we ought to have one of those little 'talks' that a father is supposed to have with his daughter's boyfriend…"
"Right! Like we'd leave this sadist alone with Allen for ten seconds!" Lenalee said angrily. Cyril looked over at Lenalee and then smiled placatingly and rather flirtatiously,
"Hello, beautiful young lady. I don't believe that I've ever properly introduced myself." He said, bowing to Lenalee and kissing her hand. "I'm Cyril Kamelot. I was the minister of Portugal until just last year. Interestingly, the end of my term coincided with the final battle. I have to say, I don't think much of my successor, but he gets the job done, I suppose."
"Cyril! Must you really flirt with every remotely attractive woman in your line of sight!" Tyki snapped angrily, dragging Cyril away from Lenalee and apologizing to her.
"I apologize for my older, and much less intelligent brother's actions. He may be a flirt, but he's mostly harmless, Miss Lee…"
"Sometimes I wondered why I hated the Noah Family, and now I realize that it's more than just differing philosophy. You guys are the rudest sacks of crap I've ever had the displeasure of meeting! Remotely attractive am I!" Lenalee shrieked, activating her Innocence and jumping over the table, kicking both Cyril and Tyki at the same time. Then she kicked them each once more while they were on the ground and snorted. She would have left it at that, had Cyril not opened his big mouth.
"Hey, Lenalee-chan. Could you stay like that for a moment? I've got a great view of your panties from down here…"
In the next moment, Lenalee went from crimson red to enraged and shrieking bloody murder, kicking the crap out of Cyril, stomping on every available inch of his body. With each heavy stomp of her Dark Boots (which could attack with a force of over 44,000 tons), the entire group could hear Cyril's grunts of pain, until finally, Lenalee stopped, and Cyril sat up, groaning and complaining about a pain in his ribs. Once again, Lenalee snorted, and turned away from him disdainfully. She then went over and looked at Road carefully.
"Do the Noahs still have their powers?"
"Oh, yes… Although, our powers are tripled when the Noah Family is complete, including the Earl. That was why the Earl wanted the complete Noah Family before he attacked. Unfortunately, you managed to kill several of our brethren, and without the Earl as Adam, we are unable to find the Noahs. Although, Allen, you were the one who killed the Earl, right?" Tyki said with a smirk. Allen nodded suspiciously and looked around as the Noahs all bowed down to him… Well, all of the Noahs except for Road, who backed away slightly, apparently at a loss for words.
"Well, My Lord, it would seem then, if the Earl's own theory is correct, that the moment you killed the Earl with your Crown Clown, that you gained all of the Earl's powers. They may not yet have awakened, however, they are latent inside of you."
"So, d-does this mean that I have some telepathic connection with all of you?"
"To a degree. We can't actually read each other's thoughts. However, we do know where you are, as you know where we are. At least, you will when that power awakens. That's really all that I came to tell you. Cyril, come! We are leaving! I have no power over the rest of the Noahs, however, I suggest that you leave. If Allen was strong enough to defeat the Earl, he's easily strong enough to defeat you." Tyki said commandingly, grabbing Cyril and dragging him out.
"Miss Lee! Miss Lotto! Call meeeeee!" Cyril said as he was dragged out through the door into the muddy streets. Lenalee and Miranda looked at the other Noahs, who all walked out one by one, until only Wisely was left. Wisely smirked at Allen and narrowed his eyes.
"I understand. You don't want the responsibility of being the leader of the Noah Family. It's understandable. After all, even the Earl sometimes had trouble controlling all of us. What chance does a sixteen year old boy have? However, you are now the Millennium Earl, and you will eventually take up his mantle… Because sooner… or later… the darkness always wins2."
A/N: There are a few things that I wish to discuss in this chapter. If you already know about them, please don't be insulted. If not, then you've learned something new.
A haberdashery is a shop that sells hats, buttons, ribbons, thread. However, it can also be used to describe a men's outfit shop.
"Sooner or later, the darkness always wins" is a spoof on a recurring theme in the Blade series, in which they say, "Sooner or later, the thirst always wins".