Inspiration hit me, and I really wanted to upload since I had enough for another chapter. I'm sorry for the slow progress but I really want to develop a certain 'mood' before any big plot changes. The third chapter may not be up for a while - busy these days with life and all.
I just realized I'd been spelling Timcanpy's name with an 'm' not an 'n' but I'll fix it from this point onwards!
Thank you for the reviews! I hope you all like this chapter as much as the first!
Also, I am in desperate need of a beta reader! Please contact me if you'd like to beta this story~
Allen, and all other -man characters, ideas and themes belong to Katsura Hoshino and all other characters, ideas and themes belong to me.
Review critically!
It took a moment for Allen to grasp the situation, and he jumped up, looking like a deer in headlights, backed up against the wall of the alley. He eyed the young girl warily; she didn't look like a threat, just an unexpected presence.
She was staring at him, and now that he looked carefully, there was a ghost of a smile playing on the sides of her big lips.
She was trying not to laugh! At him!
Allen was offended. Here he was, desperate for food and some answers, and here is some random girl laughing at his misery. How nice.
Allen scoffed as he released his hold on the bricks. He paid the girl no heed as he scanned the alley, looking for his golem. All he had to do was find Timcampy and get out of that town. Hopefully after finding some scraps of food somewhere. He was starving, and his stomach made this fact most obvious. He turned back to the girl when her barely there smile broke out into full-out laughter. He frowned, his situation wasn't really all that funny. He had to hide, and then try to find out what he was. All before that weirdo Apocryphos thing found him and tried again to 'unite' with him.
The war against the Earl wouldn't take a time-out to wait for him. Neither would the 14th Noah, waiting for his chance to take over. Allen could feel his presence, waiting, mocking. He faced the girl, still sitting where she was before, only now she was taking deep breaths, trying to recover from her episode of laughter.
"Look. I don't know who you are, but can you not laugh at me like that? What's so funny, anyway?" he stated, impatient and as tired as one can be.
He knew he was being rude, saying things he'd never say to a young woman. But this was a special circumstance. She got up, dusted her pants off, and stretched out her hand.
"Hey," she said, a genuine smile spreading across her face, "My name's Jess. Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend you or anything, you just looked funny with that expression on your face. Are you looking for something? Where are you from?"
Allen observed her and realized he wasn't like Kanda. He wasn't about to be rude to a girl who was waiting for his hand to shake. Remembering Mana's advice on manners, he took her hand and smiled back.
"No, its fine. My name's Allen Walker. I'm..uhh..just..travelling around I guess. It's nice to meet you."
Allen noticed something flutter into the alley, and chuckled as Timcanpy, in his compact size, settled on Jess' shoulder. Her eyes widened as she observed the bird-like thing, inches away from her face.
"What is it? It's so cute!", she cried out, attempting to catch Timcanpy.
Allen snickered at her expression, "He's a golem. Uhh..I guess you can say he's a ...well, to be honest, I'm not too sure of what he is myself."
Jess tried once more to catch Timcanpy and succeeded this time, until he slipped out of her hands and fluttered up around her. She was fascinated. And not just by the little bird-like thing, but it's master as well.
She turned back to face Allen, "So obviously you walked here right?" she asked, referring to his extremely worn out sandals.
Allen's face turned red, and he nodded slowly. "Yeah, I've just been trying to figure some things out and before I knew it I was walking into this town", he fessed up.
He was surprised she didn't comment on his strange looks yet. Usually, that was the first thing people talked to him about; his old-man like hair or the strange evil-looking mark on his face.
Jess was about to reply, when Allen's stomach let out a loud growl.
Jess laughed, "When was the last time you had a meal? Come on, I was on my way home for some dinner."
She took his hand in hers and proceeded to pull him with impressive force out of the alley.
He could do nothing but follow, and slowly took in the vibrant atmosphere as the townspeople continued on in their dialy lives, uninterrupted. He noticed her greet many people along the way, referring to him as a 'guest' when questioned. They all seemed very friendly, and to Allen, who for the past few months had experienced nothing but pain and agony, this was very refreshing. He felt a real smile creep up on his lips, and he gathered up the energy to walk in stride with this stranger who had found him. She seemed very confident, but Allen could sense a certain loneliness about her. She almost reminded him of himself, but he couldn't be sure why. And now, as they neared a building that the construction team seemed to have given up on, he started to see why.
They arrived at her 'home' and Allen realized why she reminded him of himself so much. She was an orphan. Like he was, before Mana found him. Allen felt a tiny tinge of respect for this young woman, who was able to face her everyday life to the point of inviting a stranger over to dinner, when she clearly may not even have enough to feed herself. Cute, and selfless, but stupid. It made him angry, the prospect of her offering what she did not own. Maybe it was because of what he'd been through, but he found it hard to believe there was someone this good out there.
Allen stopped at the doorway to study the tiny space. The walls were unpainted, and there were no windows, just big holes in the walls, where the windows should be. There was a small oven hooked up to an extension cord which connected to someplace outside the actual structure, and a mattress laid on the ground with a thin pillow and worn out sheets. Jess walked past him and threw her backpack on the floor beside a pair of steel-toe boots and walked up to a cabinet near what appeared to be a shabby version of a kitchen sink. He went to a ripped up sofa near one of the 'windows' and sat down. She followed shortly, holding on to two cups.
"Orange juice? You look like you need the Vitamin C." She chuckled and sat down next to him, handing him one of the cups.
"Thanks," Allen answered, truly grateful as he gulped down the orange fluid.
Jess set her cup down on the floor beside them since there was no table, and turned to face him. "So. What's the game plan? You seem like a nice guy, yet you seem to have gotten yourself in quite the mess."
Allen turned to face her, he had no idea what to say.
Obviously he can't tell her about what he does, or who the Noah are, or the fact that he is; according to Tykki and his own new revelation, two horrible monsters in one body. He was a hypocrite, and it took a Noah for him to figure that out.
He remembered Tykki's words to him, "You are the worst one out of all of us, Allen".
Reality had punched him in the face, with a good dose of irony to boot. How could he not notice that he was judging the Noah for being evil when he himself was about to turn into something worse. Or was he already worse? He wasn't sure anymore. He was an exorcist that wields innocence, and now he's also turning into a Noah.
Surely there was someone out there, having all the goodluck while he himself had been screwed over by Karma. The essence of who he is was now in question. Which of these three was he truly supposed to be? God had given him innocence, yet due to some unfortunate occurences he has also become the enemy of the innocence.
And the church, instead of helping him get through this, had decided to lock him up and deem him dangerous. He had overheard the announcements in the moments before his departure with Tykki and Road. Those damn golems were everywhere. Allen, by order of the pope himself, was now officially a Noah, and his rights as an exorcist – well, there are none anymore.
He started to laugh, and Jess could only stare at him. His situation was hopeless, how on earth can he figure things out now? Who was going to give him answers? Mana was dead, Cross had disappeared, Link...was hopefully going to be alright.
He bit his lip, staring out the windowless hole in the wall, and remembered Link putting a seal around the Apocryphos as Allen escaped with Tykki and Road. Link had ended up alone with that thing, and Allen was sick with worry. His frustration was building up; he had no idea where he was meant to be! It was like that feeling that one has forgotten something so important that very bad things would happen if he did not remember. And yet, he could not remember no matter how much he tried. He thanked Jess again for the orange juice and stood up.
"You're right about me being in a mess. And I'm not sure how on earth it happened, but I'm afraid I won't find any answers here. Thanks for the refreshment but I've got to get going now", he stated and started to walk toward the door.
Jess stood up and followed him.
"Whoa. Hold on there! You're hungry and tired. At least eat something, or sleep for a while! Listen, you've got nowhere to go, right? So why are you in such a hurry?", she asked.
He stopped walking. She was right, there was no need for him to hurry.
But then Tykki's words disrupted his thoughts yet again, and he thought of how he sows chaos and conflict wherever he goes. He turned to look at the young girl, obviously working hard to survive. How could he be sure that she wouldn't be the next victim of his bad luck? He had to leave, soon.
"No, I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere, but I'm not going to gain anything by staying right? Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, I'm a strong guy! I've actually just remembered some people I knew from a while back, so I'm thinking of going to see them" he laughed.
His smile was big and it truly was genuine, but his words were not. Although he did think of the circus folk from his time with Mana, he did not consider himself close to them, nor would he bother searching for them. They wouldn't have known anything. After all, he wasn't sure if even Mana knew enough to answer the questions haunting his mind.
And so he said his goodbyes, and stepped out, feeling like it would not be the last he saw of the young woman.
