Lookit that, we're back. I swear I have more time to write this story than I do to type it up, so things'll be moving a bit fast for the first set of chapters. I don't do deadlines, so don't PM me all "hurry hurry I wanna know what happens next" cuz I'm not gonna go any faster.

Many thanks to ranmyaku-neko, Kyurengo, MysticMaiden 18, -Kuroi Momo-, Wolfie559933, , ThisUsernameIsVeryCreative, uniFsky, Yume Li, cally-666, crimsonphoenix13, xmystorytime, Michi-chan2, SeikaDragon, Yuna-The-Exorcist (my best bud and Beta-er), Amiri, and Nusku!

Now, for the reviews!

xXJustAnotherFangirlXx: Oh, well. Uh. I think it was when I was watching DeathNote.. and I was like "..Shinigami.. . Um. Hm." And it somehow turned into my pen name. Yeah. Lame. I don't even remember. Sorry. XD

Exorcist-Miranda: I'm sorry! Really. I'll put in a short summary of Chapter 1 after the replies! ;

SeikaDragon: I believe you have it backwards... maybe. .;

simply anonymous, Wolfie559933, xmystorytime, Nusku: Thanks! :D

Well, since it seems like some people aren't really understanding what's happening in Chapter 1, I'll take some time to Recap!

Kanda is called into Komui's office to go on a mission with one of the new Exorcists, Allen Walker. That's basically all that happens. If you're confused, it's probably because the lines are from the manga from when Allen and Kanda first meet. It's supposed to be like that.. just not as confusing. XD It'll be a bit less confusing as the story goes on. Mostly it's because of my tendency to start a conversation, then ramble on about their thoughts and go back to the conversation when you're thoroughly confused, so I'm partly to blame, too.

I forgot to say that this story is a Semi-AU in the first chapter, so I'll let loose SOME plotline; Allen is 16 in the manga, so this story takes place 2 years later.

What happened in those two years is unknown, since it seems like everyone has forgotten, and Allen is seen as a new Exorcist to everyone in the Order when he arrives. Some of the members seem to remember Allen in one way or another, but soon forget. The reason why is not going be revealed, but I hope you'll figure it out soon! :D

Chapter 2 takes place before Chapter 1 timeline-wise, meaning that this happens before Kanda is called up. This is only here to clear up some stuff, so it's short as well. Yeah. Next one will be longer, I'm hoping.

I'm not going to promise a chapter in Allen's POV until, like, the very, very end. For plot purposes. So sue me if you don't get to read about Allen's turmoiling thoughts and feelings and shit.

Warnings: Um. None? Yeah. Kanda's not in here, so it's perfectly PG-13. Probably even G if 'hell' wasn't so bad, but there's also me. Ha.

This one was a pain to write. It was so much shorter than the first chapter that I had to elaborate on the first part... and it's still uneven. Eugh. Oh well. Enjoy.

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Chapter 2: Bookman Jr. and Linali Li

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The Science Department is unusually empty when Linali walks in bearing coffee one morning. Instead of the noise and clamor of tired workers and her dead-exhausted brother complaining about work and then praising the gods when she arrived, the room is completely silent.

The large screen that usually shows the Gatekeeper is blank and disconnected and the cleaning robot Komui had invented was missing, yet the room is still dirty and cluttered as usual.

Her brother's desk is clean, however, and there's no paperwork left undone that she can see. His 'Komui' stamp is put away, pens and pencils tucked neatly in the desk drawers. All the other desks in the room are just as clean, if not cleaner, and she wonders how long they all stayed up to get all the work done.

Trying not to make too much of it, Linali sets a cup of coffee down on her brother's desk for when he returned, if ever, only to pause when the screen flashed a few times.

The golem fluttering above the Gatekeeper is suddenly turned on remotely and shows a person approaching it. Linali can make out the faint shape and coloring of Timcanpy, General Cross Marian's custom golem, which eases her fears slightly. Behind the stranger is a more familiar sight. A Finder.

Somewhat relieved, the Chinese Exorcist sets down the tray of coffee and meant to go greet the two who returned but she finds herself using the nearest golem flying around the room to contact the gate. She can hear herself speaking, but it's not her who's talking; it's more like she's being controlled, and the words don't correspond with her thoughts of panic at the prospect of being manipulated from afar.

"Gatekeeper-san," she announces, watching as the gate pauses in the X-Ray examination. "Let them in. There's no need for an examination."

"Let him… in? No examination?! But he's--!"

"He is a friend of the Order," 'she' reassures, feeling as though they've already gone through this before. "There is a Finder and Timcanpy, General Cross's golem, with them. They are not enemies. Please, open the gate and let them enter."

The golem disconnects after that and Linali is spared of listening to the gate's grumbling as it opens. Tray of coffee forgotten, she picks up a clipboard and exits the science department, her legs moving with minds of their own. It's as though her Dark Boots are controlling them.

And it's scaring her.

Stranger still, no one has made contact via golem to object to her actions.

She only hops the two strangers weren't Akuma, because she has no idea why she ordered for their admittance without a proper examination.

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Lavi was furious with the Gatekeeper incident, when he bumped into Linali coming down the hall from the Science Department, and he's hell bent on getting answers.

"Linali! Why did you let them in like that?! They could have been Akuma!" he hisses, lest Komui's 'my-Linali-chan-is-being-harassed' senses go off. Linali, however, has a pleasantly distant look in her eyes.

"What do you mean, Lavi? General Cross's Timcanpy is with them. They're not enemies." She states, smiling. There's truth behind her words, Lavi can tell, as well as confusion. She's been that way ever since he left. They've all been like that.

A few years ago, one of their Exorcists became a General and vanished like all Generals did. Since then, Lavi has experienced frequent lapses in his memories, one such example being he couldn't remember who the Exorcist was. Bookman said the same thing, and that worried him, but neither knew what was going on.

It may have been his imagination, but everyone in the Order seemed to be drinking a lot more coffee after the leave of their newest General, possibly to stay awake and overwork themselves. But then Linali, who tended to shy away from the blackish liquid, drowned hers in milk and cream until it resembled melted toffee to make it palatable.

Lavi had managed to stop falling to the urge for caffeine a few weeks ago, and he found his mind faring better than before. Though the memory lapses still happened, he could now retain information for days as opposed to the usual 24 and some hours.

"But, Linali! This is serious. None of the Generals have contacted us for months! And it's been a year since we lost contact with General Cross. Who knows what he's planning by sending that person with Timcanpy!"

"Lavi! Are you accusing General Cross of betraying the Order?" Linali gasps, but the shock in her voice never reached her confused eyes.

Lavi blanchs. Had he meant to say it like that? He opens his mouth to reply but pauses as a faint sound reached his ears. It's a piano, and the tune is painfully familiar.

"Lavi?"

"Shh!" He hisses, holding up a hand as if it would get her to quiet down. "..Do you hear that, Linali?"

"Hear what? Lavi.. are you feeling okay?"

He shuts his eyes and strains his ears to listen. A soothing melody drifts into the hall, loud and clear, and Linali still shows no sign of hearing it. The tune is so familiar, Lavi is sure he's heard it somewhere before and he definitely has. After all, he's the successor to Bookman! His memory extended beyond words and images.

"I.. I think it's coming from.. the Ark."

"Huh? What Ark? That one doesn't work anymore, Lavi. General Cross said so himself, it's broken. I don't hear anything."

Lavi stares at her for a few moments, trying to concentrate on recording the music, only to find that whatever familiarity it held was fading away quickly, and then he blinks and there is only silence.

"..Huh. It's gone.." He mutters, looking in the direction of the Ark. Maybe I'm not feeling that well after all…

There's someone walking out of the room. Or rather, gliding. Something white, gold, silver, and black. White dimmed to silvery locks, silver to a black coat, and black to a dull red scar. The gold separated from the original form and fluttered around the head of a Finder.

"Lavi, that's the Exorcist who just returned. See, that's General Cross's golem." Linali smiles again and starts walking to them. "Come on!"

"Huh? Cross's… yeah.." Lavi sighs, and turns, unable to figure out what he was going to say about Cross. "I'll go get Bookman. He might want to see this."

Linali smiles and nods in reply, and Lavi takes off in the opposite direction, arriving at the door to his and Bookman's room without any recollection of how he navigated the tower so quickly. He decides that it doesn't matter and opens the door.

"Bookman! Hey, grandpa!"

There's a shuffle, but nothing else, and Lavi walks in, moving books around to make a path to walk on.

"..Panda!"

A swift kick to his head leaves him sprawling on the ground, yelping in pain and holding his head.

"Who's a panda?!" The stout elder rebukes, hands hidden in his sleeves as Lavi sits up.

"Whatever, grandpa. There's a new Exorcist! Came with General Cross's golem!" Lavi says, waving his arms excitedly. New? Wasn't he the one that just returned? No, Lavi had never seen him before, so he had to be new. Yeah. New.

"Then at least try being useful and go! Don't bother me, I'm working!" Bookman rasped before he kicked his grandson out of the room and left him grumbling about mean pandas.

Lavi finds himself in front of the door to the Science Department, and before he realizes what he's doing, it's like he's on autopilot and he's opening the door without knocking like he should and usually does.

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"Lavi-kun!" Komui exclaims, unusually happy. "How nice of you to join us! Come, sit, have some coffee!"

"Uh, no thanks, I—" Lavi protests as he sits down and a cup of lukewarm black liquid is shoved into his hands. Maybe he could say he was tired and needed sleep and that caffeine would just keep him up later.

"The coffee's really good!"

Lavi looked up and emerald eyes met with gray ones. The man, not much more than a boy, smils at him.

"Er.. yeah, I guess." Lavi mutters and raises the cup. Where has he seen this person before? White hair, friendly gray eyes, a red eye scar, golden golem… He takes a sip and tries not to voice his distaste of the bitter sting.

"You're from the Bookman clan, right?" The man asks, setting down his half-empty cup. "Master Cross told me about you guys. You're supposed to have really good memory, right? That's so cool! Is it true? Can you really remember anything?"

Being bombarded with questions sets him on edge, but Linali and Komui don't seem to notice, instead choosing to continue drinking.

"Uh.. yeah! Every little thing!" Lavi grins, downing the rest of the liquid despite his body's refusal. Again, his mind is hazy and he hates it, not being able to recall the important things. "So, Linali and Komui may have already said this, but.. Welcome to the Black Order! I'm Lavi. Nice to meet you!"

"A pleasure to meet you too, Lavi." The way his name rolls off the young man's tongue scares him a bit, as though he's so used to saying it, but Lavi manages to keep on a grin and tries to ignore the glint in those gray eyes.

"I'm Allen Walker, and my Finder is Myria. Please take care of us!"

And since when does an Exorcist have a personal Finder?

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Sooooo... I'm hoping I got Allen's character down. Kanda's easy to write, and Lavi and Linali aren't too hard.. but Allen.. eugh. D: I'm not cheery and British enough for Allen.

I is hoping there be no character bashing in this fic, though. So I'll try to treat every character fairly. Especially if they're your favorite. Er, my favorite. Whatev'.

There will be OCs later on, for the sake of PLOT, so start expecting my messed up characters (including Myria from Chap 1) sometime around Chapters 4 and 5.

I've just realized that the titles for chapters one and two are redundant. But I was too lazy to use anything else... D: Meh. Review. Flame. Feed my inner fanficcer. Melt Kanda's heart. Liquify his room. Fear his wrath.

Amen. May God save you from the terror that is Yuu Kanda.

PS: My best bud, Yuna-the-Exorcist, is writing a CloudxOC fanfic, so go read that too. It's not up yet, but start expecting! ;D Luv ya, hon.

Edit (January 17, 2009): Changed everything (or tried to) to present tense.