Disclaimer: I do not own -man. I wish I did but wishes aren't reality now are they? Anyway, hope you enjoy this. The idea came to me when I was reading the manga (can't remember which chapter though... oh well) And I've been working on this for a while trying to get it just right and so far all I have is a basic story line (which I will be fleshing out as I go, don't worry) and this prologue. But still, this should be fun! So once again, enjoy!
"Allen…" The wind chimes that were a woman's voice ghosted through the corridors of the Black Order. Even though the tone was merely a whisper, Allen was sure that everyone else had heard it. He silently prayed that no one would come looking for him since it was his name that was called. No one so much as stirred in their rooms. The hypnotizing sound drew the silver haired male from his own room and towards the source.
The walls of the Order began to close in around him. His breathing seemed to become shallower the closer he got to the voice.
"Allen…" the chimes rang against each other, echoing his name over and over. The effect was dizzying. Allen looked up from trying to gain his balance again to find himself staring at a woman who was in the middle of hallways.
"Allen…" she whispered. He could see her face. Despite his curiosity of the woman's appearance, he knew he shouldn't look into her eyes. She sank to the ground moments later, her pure white hair spreading across the floor around her. Allen rushed up to her despite his burning lungs and desire to run away. He moved the woman's shoulder towards him to lay her on her back. The grinning face of the Millennium Earl reached his own, cutting off what little air supply Allen had.
Allen shot up from his pillow, a scream catching in his throat. He looked around hastily, trying to take in his surroundings. Slowly, his blood pressure and his breathing slowed back to normal as he realized that he was in his own room at the Black Order. The silence surrounding him was thick and unnerving. Allen laid back on his pillow and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on keeping his body steady and gain the color back into his face.
Who was that woman? What had she wanted? What does she have to do with the Millennium Earl? And finally, why did she look the way she did? She seemed familiar to Allen: as if he had seen her before whether in another dream or in life. He couldn't quiet put his finger on it and it was driving him insane.
Morning came all too early for the young exorcist. He had fallen asleep and had the same dream yet again. For the rest of the night, he stayed awake, trying to work out where he had seen the woman before. Perhaps it was just another victim of the Earl's tricks that had made an impression on Allen's subconscious and made her way into his dreams.
"Good morning, Allen." Lenalee fell into step with the white haired exorcist. Allen smiled tiredly at the girl.
"Good morning, Lenalee. Did you sleep well last night?" he asked. Lenalee nodded.
"Very well, thank you. And you?" she continued.
"Well enough." Allen didn't want to explain further so he widened his smile, hoping that she would catch the hint. Apparently, she did because she didn't pursue the topic. They walked the rest of the way to the cafeteria in silence and ordered their meals. They made pointless, mindless small talk with the surrounding exorcists and finders. Allen was grateful for Lenalee taking the lead in the conversations because he gave him the chance to think. He couldn't get the image of the woman from his dream out of his head. He also couldn't help but feel that she had something to do with him: whether it be he had saved her soul from being bound inside an akuma for the rest of eternity or something more intimate.
Suddenly, Allen froze, his fork dropping to the ground in the process. The entire cafeteria went silent and looked at Allen. The boy with a bottomless pit for a stomach had dropped his fork and stopped eating. There was definitely something wrong.
"Allen?" Lenalee looked at her friend, worried. The younger man didn't move as she waved her hand in front of his face. His entire body trembled as he came to a realization.
He knew who the white haired woman was.
"M-m-my… mother."
"Allen, are you alright?" Lenalee waved her hand in front of the white haired, pale face exorcist, trying to catch his attention.
"Yo, Allen." Lavi looked concerned at Allen's expression. "What happened?" he asked as Allen pulled out of his trance, shaking his head.
"Uh, nothing. I'm fine. Just a little tired is all." He tried to shrug it off as nothing. This didn't fool Lavi or Lenalee in the slightest.
"Well, then, what was that about your mother? I thought you never knew your parents." Lenalee questioned.
"I didn't. That's why I said it was nothing. I'm just tired." Allen pushed back from his spot at the table and got up. He needed to take a walk and get some fresh air or something. Without another word, he left. Lavi and Lenalee gave each other questioning looks. Allen was acting strange and it only worried them even more when they looked down and saw that only half of his first plate of food was gone.
Allen continued down the halls of the Black Order blatantly ignoring the low rumble in his stomach. Of course he was hungry but there was no way he could think about that right now. First he had to figure out how he knew that the woman in his dreams was his mother. He prayed that Lavi and Lenalee would take his hint and leave him alone until he could.
Going off of the assumption that this silver haired mystery woman was, in fact, his mother, how did he know that? The tone of her voice had held a motherly affection to it. But could he have been mistaking it for something else? After all, he had never experienced a mother's love before. But he had heard the other children's mothers' calling to them in that same tone while he was growing up around Mana. It could have been his memories of those times that seeped their way into his dream. Even so, that didn't explain where he had seen the woman before. Perhaps she was one of the women who had been turned into an akuma that he had saved. That would explain why the Millennium Earl was present at the end of the dream. But that assumption didn't seem right. He couldn't place her face as one of the many souls redeemed or even destroyed. She had something to do with Mana. Wait! That was it! Mana had had a picture of her in his suitcase. He had seen it once when his guardian snapped the case shut. When Allen asked him who the woman was, he was told to keep his nose out of other people's business and to pack his bags for the next destination. The next time Allen had seen the picture was with his master, Cross. The eccentric man found the photo in the same suitcase after Mana's death and placed it in his coat pocket. Once again, he asked who the woman was but Cross simply ignored him and threw him into a nearby river, testing his swimming abilities.
A small weight landing on his shoulder jolted Allen out of his stupor. Timcampy had decided to comfort his master in what appeared to be a time of distress. Allen smiled at the golem and continued on his walk, feeling somewhat satisfied that he had found part of the answer to his original question. Now, he would question as many people as he could to find the information needed on who he now assumed to be his parents.
Hey Hey! Hope you liked it so far. I will be continuing this soon. I just hope to get a few reviews before I do though. Say about... 2? That's not so hard now is it? You can even put little two word things in there. (Just use proper grammar please. I can't stand otherwise.) Chapter 1 coming out soon! Thanks for reading! :)