Alicia woke up to the sound of an explosion.
"Miss! Miss!"
Young Alicia pushed off her bed covers, trembling when another explosion came by. Her eyes widened when she saw flashes of red and yellow just outside her bedroom window. She felt her heart race, and she frantically rushed out of her room to escape the booming sounds that seemed to be coming closer. A low rumble vibrated under Alicia's feet all of a sudden, and she soon collapsed on the floor as a crash ringed in her ears.
Her right eye throbbed painfully. She slapped a hand over it, whimpering. It had been happening for a few months now. It thrummed and throbbed more and more these days. Alicia had tried to tell her parents, but whenever she was sent to the doctor, he would say that she and her eye were perfectly fine. But the feeling of her eye stretching in and out by some cruel person proved to Alicia otherwise.
"Miss Alicia! Get up, get up!" a maid shrieked over the booms and crashes. Alicia scrambled up to her feet and was then dragged by the hand by the maid. They rushed out of the mansion, barely escaping with their lives when a ball of fire crashed over the roof. Her breathing hoarse from swallowing the thick smoke, Alicia barely had time to register what was going on before an inhuman howl filled the cold air.
"That voice," Alicia murmured to herself. The flames surrounded her home greedily, licking down every piece of wood and fabric. Again, she heard a pained howl inside the house. She flinched, but knew that it had to be some poor farm animal being engulfed by the flames that was supposed to be part of tomorrow's dinner party.
"Miss Alicia! That voice screaming in there – it's your mother!" the maid exclaimed.
"What?" Alicia gasped. She was about to bolt for the house, but the flames were too burning hot for her to get near. Then, the front doors burning, a man and a fiery figure leaped out. The enflamed person shrieked and yelled words nobody could really understand except Alicia:
"Help! Help! Help me!"
"Mama!" Alicia screamed, and she rushed towards her burning mother. Alicia's father ran towards his flailing wife and shoved her down to the ground. He rolled and rolled his wife, with tears in his eyes, on the dirt ground. Alicia leaned forward to help, but then, as if irony wished to come along and see what was going on, rain poured down in light drops, watering out the last of the flames on her mother. Then, it fell down in heavy torrents, and the maid that saved Alicia bent down on her knees and uttered a silent prayer of thanks.
The young fourteen year old looked up at the stormy sky, relieved and confused at the same time. She was so happy the rain came, because it would kill off the fire in the house and her home would be restored and saved. But she was flustered on why her house suddenly went up in flames. How did it happen? Why did it happen?
Her shoulders tensed and her eyes bugged out when she heard a pained moan. Alicia, only fourteen years of age and living an almost completely isolated life since birth, never knew the horrors of reality. Until now. Slowly, she shifted her weight and turned herself around, her body shaking for no apparent reason.
"M-Mama?" Alicia whispered.
Her father sobbed in answer. He was sitting next to the burnt and malformed figure of her mother. Alicia's mother was beautiful – soft blond hair in corkscrew curls, light skin, and bright green eyes with a big smile. Now, all Alicia saw was a monster. She saw muscle in places that were not to show, skin melted off and peeling, and her mother's bright green eyes sparkling in agony. And so much more.
"Alicia," his father sobbed, "get a doctor."
The maid took this as her job, though. She sprinted away from the horrible scene, glad to be gone from it as she searched for a doctor. Alicia simply stood there, clutching the sides of her night gown; her hair knotted and messed up from a restless night, along with her feet, dirty thanks to stomping on the ground. She was so afraid, and, so scared that she was ready to break down and cry.
Her mother was dead. She was dead. She had to be. How could anyone escape from such horrible burns? No one, she told herself. She clenched the fabric of her night gown so much her knuckles turned white.
Then, as if irony wanted to peek its head out again to see how far things had gone, Alicia's mother wheezed in a breath. Her right arm, the only part of her body saved from the fire, twitched. Slowly, it reached up to touch her face. Alicia's mother seemed to suddenly turn to stone.
"My face, Will! My face is ruined!" she screamed. Alicia fell backwards and crawled away, fear overtaking her mind.
"Please don't shout, love. One of the maids is searching for a doctor. You will be all right," he told her through his tears. But his wife kept hollering on;
"We never should have taken her in! We never should have adopted Alicia! They came for her! They came for her and burned down the house! All because of her!" Rage burned in the burned woman's eyes as she cried out to Alicia –
"You should have been killed the moment you were born!"
ONE YEAR LATER . . .
"Move it, Moyashi."
"Eh? My name is Allen!" I yelled back. Kanda simply went "Che!" and strolled ahead of me. I growled at him, and he swiveled around and growled back. Lavi and Lenalee, along with Timothy, tried their best to stay out of our way.
"Guys, please," Lenalee sighed. "Big Brother is being kind enough to let us have a few days off. Can we spend them without you two trying to kill each other?"
"Yeah, I want to flirt with older girls!" Timothy loudly said to us all. Lavi tipped his head back and roared with laughter.
"Jeez, Timothy, you're only a kid. Leave the older women to me," Lavi said.
"Like I'll let a little competition get in my way!" Timothy exclaimed.
"Fine! First one to get the most dates by the end of the week is the winner," Lavi replied, putting out his hand for Timothy to shake. Lenalee slapped his hand away, ending the deal prematurely. Both boys groaned.
"For goodness sakes, can we please get along? Generals Cloud and Tiedoll were so kind enough to lead Alma away from everyone, and the Science Department worked their butts off to save the Third Exorcists. Even more, Allen . . ." Lenalee stopped her rant short. Lavi looked down in shame, Timothy turned his head away from showing tears, and I actually caught in Kanda's eyes a glimmer of self loathing.
I hunched my shoulders. What happened back a few months ago in the North American Branch had become a . . . bad memory for us all. I remembered seeing Kanda lying on the floor; Tokusa falling out of a coffin with his limbs broken; Alma Karma awakening and becoming an akuma; Tokusa and the other Third Exorcists slowly becoming monsters; and then, the Earl approaching me, saying –
"Pie! I totally forgot about that! Lavi, you said you would take us to the pie bakery in Paris one day. Well here we are – show us the way." I marched off with Lavi dumbly following after me. The rest of the gang joined us, a little bit more quiet than usual. I hummed a little tune to fill up the silence, soon having Timothy and Lavi yell out to a group of girls, "Strike!"
"Honestly!" Lenalee groaned, only to giggle afterwards.
"Che!" Kanda replied.
"Pie~ We are in search for pie~," Lavi and I sang, along with Timothy, whose stomach was growling as the chorus. We kept repeating the mantra over and over again, totally lost, until one man angrily pointed out directions for us and told us to get lost.
"Morons," Kanda muttered under his breath.
"But we got the job done, Yu – Waah!" Lavi exclaimed, a lock of his red hair sliced off from him. Mugen glinted once more before being sheathed.
"Don't say my first name!" Kanda threatened.
"Eh, but we're friends!" Lavi protested.
"Yeah, when Hell freezes over," Timothy remarked.
"Come on, the pie bakery is just around the corner," I said, being led by my hunger.
"Shut it, Moyashi!" Kanda snapped.
"I will when you do, Bakanda!" I snapped right back. Lenalee sighed and went ahead, too tired to deal with us boys. All of us snapped our heads towards her leave.
"L-Lenalee, where are you going?" I asked.
"I am going to the pie bakery without you. Come when you finished bickering," Lenalee retorted. Then with a flip of her hair, she huffed herself away. My stomach growled, making me wince. I was so hungry. I needed to eat, or I would die from starvation!
"Lenalee, wait up!" I called out, and sprinted after her.
I was chasing after Lenalee, just turning around the corner, when all of a sudden I saw a flash of white. I craned my neck to the side, thinking that I just saw a white bird swoop down. But birds don't sky dive to the ground for no reason, right? I slowed down my run long enough to catch a glimpse of that flashing white.
A girl had her hair put in a loose low bun with a short brimmed hat to cover it all up, barely revealing her hair. However, a few locks of hair tumbled down from the back from the hastily made bun, bouncing up and down her back. Her hair was white, just like mine. I put myself to a complete stop.
The girl looked so much like me; silver eyes, white hair, and to top it all off, she even was grabbing her stomach just like I was from hunger. She was petite and looked jittery like Miranda, as if she was in a big hurry. Her hands were covered up with silk white gloves, reaching up to her elbows.
Suddenly, my left eye throbbed. I slapped a hand over it, feeling it pulse like a heart. Time around me slowed, and for many long moments I could keep staring at the white haired girl. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Cautiously, I stepped forward, my left eye twitching like crazy.
I was now in front of her. She really did look like me, just more feminine and without my cursed eye and Innocence. I placed a hand on her shoulder, and suddenly, time ripped itself back to normal. The girl crashed into me, and we collapsed to the floor.
"Ow," we both said. Then realizing what position we were in, we got to our feet quickly and bowed our heads. "Sorry!" we both said to each other. We tipped our faces up in astonishment – jeez! We almost sounded like each other!
"Oh, your eye. Is it okay?" she asked.
"I-I," I started, babbling crazy stuff about pies and time stopping all of a sudden. The girl took a step back, very freaked out.
"Um, never mind what I said. Good bye," she said quickly, about to turn around. My arm snatched out and grabbed her shoulder.
"Wait!" I exclaimed. "Please hold on, miss. I think I know you."
She turned around, probably about to scream for help, when she finally took a good look at me. Her jaw dropped as she poked my cursed eye.
"You look-," she started.
"Just like me? I know," I said, chuckling awkwardly afterwards. She stared for a few seconds. Then rolled her eyes back and fell backwards. I knelt to her side, panicking and waving my arms around like a chicken.
"Please wake up, miss! I didn't mean to scare you! Or to make you faint! Eh, what have I done?" I cried out, pulling at my hair.
"Allen, why are you shouting?" Lenalee asked, joining me. She stopped her tracks when she saw the unconscious girl.
"Um, Lenalee, could you ask the pie bakery to give us reservations? I think we need to sort a few things out first," I told her.
SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF GERMANY . . .
Generals Cloud and Tiedoll heaved in deep breaths as they hid behind a dilapidated building. They were so tired from being on the run and fighting at the same time. General Cloud's pet monkey had been sent back to the Order after he received severe injuries, making them one Innocence short. Their uniforms were torn and dirty from near fatal attacks and sliding out of the enemy's fury at the last second.
"We need to retreat," General Cloud whispered to Tiedoll.
"Just . . . a little longer," Tiedoll panted, clutching his side in pain.
"No, we will retreat now. We couldn't stop him at all in America, only slow him down. Look how far he has gotten by just using Yu Kanda's scent for reference. We won't make it another day if we keep pushing ourselves, Tiedoll," Cloud whispered back angrily.
"Then once we retreat he can simply skip his merry way to the kids and Yu. I won't allow that," Tiedoll gasped. He bit his mouth as he slid down from the wall and sat down on a piece of rubble. He let go of the side he had been holding on to, showing his bloody palm. General Cloud bent down and examined the wound.
"You idiot," she hissed. "You are too injured. I'm calling the Order to pick us up-"
"No," Tiedoll hissed back with fervor in his voice. "We must keep fighting. Yu can only go so far in fighting his once close friend, and Allen Walker only has a few more weeks. We can distract him a little longer, Cloud."
"Oh, yes, Tiedoll. Just follow the red brick road," General Cloud remarked, hinting at the other general's injuries.
"One more day, Cloud," he insisted.
"We are leaving," Cloud answered back. She tugged Tiedoll away from the rubble and began helping him leave the battlefield. Tiedoll, although seemingly heavy, was quite light, maybe because he had lost so much blood. Cloud for once felt scared – she and the Order couldn't bear to lose another general, not at a worse time than this. Having Tiedoll come back to the Order alive and defeated was much better than dead and defeated. Tiedoll groaned loudly, his Innocence deactivating.
"Just hold on, we'll make it. Allen Walker will understand. So will Yu Kanda," Cloud whispered reassuringly to her defeated partner.
"Yu? Is he here?" a voice asked beside Cloud. She whipped her head around, seeing the reawakened Alma Karma. Alma tapped one of his feet impatiently, expecting an answer. Cloud simply stared back, too proud and scared to tell him anything.
"Oi! Are you deaf? Is! Yu! Kanda! Here!" Alma yelled out, making Cloud lose a few nerves.
"Why do you want to know, akuma?" Cloud stalled back quietly.
"Because I have to find him!" Alma retorted. "Yu and I need to have a talk, and I have to find him, but you and that man keep slowing me down," Alma growled.
"Sorry to hear about that," Cloud spat. Suddenly Tiedoll's weight was becoming heavy. Alma's good eye narrowed. He grabbed General Cloud's neck as quick as a snake, forcing her to release Tiedoll. He flopped to the ground like a rock.
ENGLAND, NINE O'CLOCK . . .
"Tyki~," Road drawled. "Hey, Tyki, where are you?"
Road Camelot had just come back from an errand the Earl gave her. She was smiling, since her mission was a success, and when her missions went well, she got to have candy! She hummed herself a tune as she skipped down the hallway, calling out for any Noah.
"Tyki! Lulu! Wisely! Jas . . . devi?" Road stopped in front of the double doors that were slightly open. Curiosity got the best of her and she slipped into the room. Nobody was in it except her, giving it a sense of dead silence.
The walls were white. Actually, everything was white, save for the brown piano at the corner. A bed was off to the side, and curtains blew on their hinges softly as the open window let in fresh cool air. Road, curious again, skipped towards the window, and saw people standing at the balcony.
"Earl and Tyki!" Road exclaimed. "There you are. I thought you all left me."
She glomped the Earl, who was in his human form at the moment. He smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek, even though his back made a disturbing sound. Road then stared at him intently, and the Earl sighed and brought out of his pocket a handful of candy. Road squealed and snatched the goods out of his hand and gobbled down.
"Road, one candy at a time. You'll get a stomach ache," Tyki warned.
"Mmm," Road replied with bubble gum in her mouth. Tyki sighed at her.
"Do you like the room that was prepared, Road?" Earl asked with a grin.
"Mmm! It looks great! He's going to love it, Earl! Hee hee!" Road said while unwrapping some taffy.
"I just wonder how he will adjust to his new home, Earl. Remember, this is Walker. He and the rest of us have been on bad terms for a while. I think the boy is going to have a hard time here," Tyki remarked, lighting up a cigarette. He winced all of a sudden – his scars were causing problems again. He ignored the pain, though. He did not want Road to start playing doctor again on him.
"He has a few weeks left. He will live. Now, it's about time to call everyone down and have dinner. Road, hide your candy before Wisely finds out and steals it from you," Earl said with a constant grin.
"All right, Earl," Road said with a sulky frown. She slipped back into the white room and hid her stash inside the piano. Tyki chuckled and stepped out of the balcony and into the white room. A comforting hand landed on one of his shoulders.
"Tyki," Earl said, his eyes lighting up excitedly, "don't forget to pick Allen up after his three weeks are up."
"Yes, Millennium Earl," Tyki replied. "Would it be all right if I visit him in a few days?"
"Of course, Tyki. You are his new guardian. Bring those cards of yours to the young man. I know how much he enjoys playing with you, even if he doesn't want to admit it."
Tyki smiled, bringing out of his front pocket a pack of cards.
"I am one step ahead of you, Earl."