Chapter 2

Let me see the beauty of corruption

And the chaos and destruction

That is the true symphony

For there is no need for any sympathy

Allen followed behind Cross as they walked through the snow covered streets, crystal snowflakes dancing in the wind and giving the appearance that he'd thrown glitter into his white hair. His warm breath causing a cloud to appear in front of his face as he struggled to keep up with Cross' strides, though he didn't say anything as he narrowed his eye at the man's back, his pale lips turning a faint blue as he shivered from the cold.

They had been traveling all day in the snow, and poor Allen even though being use to the harsh weather still wanted a warm place to stay in or at least warm up. As if reading Allen's mind Cross made his way to a rundown looking bar, the broken sign reading 'The Drunken Huntsman'. Allen stepped into the bar, behind Cross, the strong smell of alcohol and smoke entered his nose. He scrunched up his nose in disgust as Cross made his way over to the bar tender, handing him some money, taking a key and ushering Allen to follow him.

Allen stood behind Cross as he watched as the older man unlocked the door, pushing it opened and walking into the darkened room. Allen sighed faintly as he walked into the room and sat the heavy bags down near the queen sized bed, looking around the room as Cross headed back out, slamming the door and going to drink himself silly.

Allen flinched when he heard the door slam shut, his singular mercury eye looked around the dark room that's light source was a dying lamp in the ceiling. The flickering of the light caused shadows and shapes over every source in the room, one even of himself as it flickered to an older looking figure before flicking back to his own. Allen's eyes widened in shock and fear as he slowly made his way over to a worn arm chair in the corner, a small sheet of dust covering it as Allen sat on the ragged chair, disturbing it. He curled up on it and pulled his knees to his chest, folding his arms on his knees and putting his head in between his legs, blocking the out the shadows as the warm room felt like it dropped in several degrees. A shiver worked its way down Allen's spine as he scrunched his eyes shut, a faint voice in the back of his head telling him to open his eyes and face what hides in the shadows.

Allen's small body shook as he fought back the tears that burned in the corner off his eyes, his chest tightening in fear as the clock in the room slowly ticked down the seconds of Cross being away and leaving Allen by himself.

'Be strong sukoshi hitsuji.'

Allen's head snapped up suddenly, his eye darting around the room as he tried to find the owner of the soothing voice. His brows scrunched together in confusion as he saw no one in the dark room, pressing his back to the armchair as he shrunk down and placed his head back between his legs, his eye closing as he steadies out his slightly harsh breathing. His heart slowing down as his eye drooped, the bags under his eyes still noticeable as a yawn parted his lips.

…

"Oi brat! Get over here!" The shout of a clown that could barely stand up and had alcohol radiating from his breath, grabbed Allen – Red in this time frame – by his hair and pushed him to the ground. Red grunted he landed on the hard ground, glaring up at the clown – Cosimo – as he aimed a kick to his chest.

Red gasping as it knocked all the air from his lungs, another kick being directed at his chest as he continued to do this a couple more times before he directed one at Red's face causing black dots to appear in his vision. Cosimo then decided he had his fun stumbled away from Red's beaten and bruised form, who rolled onto his stomach and spat blood into the dirt beneath him.

Red slowly pushed himself off the ground as he fell back down to the ground, dirt covering his cheek as he rested his head on the ground. A small cloud of dirt swirled around his figure as he fell once more before finding the strength to push himself into a standing position. A groan leaving his lips as he slowly limped towards the animal cages, pain striking him in the chest every time he breathed in.

The animal carriages, the only real safe area from Cosimo, who for a clown hated animals quiet a lot, thinking that they were below him when it was the other way around for him. Animals have always sense what humans could not, for their senses are heightened.

Red found his usual resting place, which was between two crates near the lion's cage. He slowly got down onto his knees, crawling in between the two crates and curling up in a small ball, his small right hand curling into a fist as he grits his teeth and narrowed his eyes towards the ground. Behind his mercury eyes began to burn as his vision blurred and tears gather in the corners of his eyes, a faint sob escaping his split lips as he bit on his knuckle to stop the sobs being heard by anyone. Tears began to slowly roll down Red's cheeks as his body shook with the struggle of trying to hold back sobs. He moved his hand away from his mouth and tried to wipe away the tears, rather harshly might I add.

The small amount of dirt on Red's cheeks was smudged due to the tears running down his cheeks, his breath was shaky as he tried to control his breathing because at the moment his harsh breathing was hurting his – maybe – broken ribs. He took a deep breath in as he mumbled under his breath, resting his head against one of the crates, closing his now puffy red eyes. "I hate being weak…"

Red slowly fade from consciousness but was shortly awoken to someone knocking his injured ribs and to someone carrying him, Red cracked open his eyes as he groaned quietly, a quiet chuckle being heard from the man carrying him. Red tried to look up at the man's face but wasn't able to because of the hand on the back of his head keeping his head on the man's chest. The man holding him hummed faintly as he held Red close to his chest, speaking in a smooth melodic tone.

"A lost sheep is always meant to find his shepherd or that sheep will get lost and eaten by the hunter or hunters of which who want's its head. Beware my little white sheep, for you are lost and only have two options. And always remember what I said to you last time you were here."

The area around Red – Allen - began to darken as the man slowly turned into a dark mist that slowly began to absorb Allen. Allen panicked as he struggled to get away from it, gasping as the mist wrapped his misty wisps around him and covered his entire being.

…

Allen's eyes snapped open as he looked around the room, gasping for breath as a figure – Cross – laying in the bed and sleeping peacefully. Allen raised his left hand, holding it up to his face and slowly running it through his messy white hair, releasing a shaky breath. The paranoia and fear coursing through his veins nearly made it feel like they were going to burst or that his heart would jump out of his chest or stop all together.

Allen slowly uncurled himself, his limps and body stiff from being in his curled position all night, them admitting loud popping noises as he stretched. His right hand shaking uncontrollably as he as he slowly pushed himself from the worn chair, the floor boards creaking under his weight as he slowly made his way to the bathroom, quickly glancing at the closed curtains and not seeing any light through them. He stood on his tip-toes to look into the mirror, he raised a hand to gently run his fingers underneath his eye, touching the dark circle.

A frown twitched his lips further down as he looked away from the mirror, irritation causing his brows to knit themselves together. His little hands clenching as a faint growl left his lips, he needed to get some fresh air. He need to distract himself and doing that would.

Allen quietly made his way over to the door, looking back at the snoring Cross before silently opening the door and sliding out of the room. Allen stood outside the door for a second before heading down the dark hall, glancing back at the door before heading into the pub area.

When Allen arrived, he scrunched up his nose at the smell of alcohol and smoke, it bringing back unpleasant memories. He looked down at his red limb before scowling and shoving it into his pocket, walking out of the pub and trying to tune out the loud noise of talking and laughing. The loud bustling on the street was no improvement but was still quieter, though that was due how early it was.

Storm coloured eyes looked to the grey sky, it slowly becoming lighter as little Allen began his walk down the street, quickening his pace when he walked past a church. Bad memories only ever lurked in churches for him.

As Allen walked past he didn't notice the man in front of him, which cause him to fall back and onto the snow covered ground. Allen rest his hands behind them as the man, who was a priest, held out a hand to help him, smiling kindly down to him as he spoke. "Oh, be careful little one. Always watch where you're going."

Allen nodded numbly, his brain not having recovered from the fall as he reached up and clasped the priest hand with his left. The grip on his left hand releasing and gasping as the older man whispered, "…Devil child."

Allen's singular eye widened as he scurried to his feet, turning on his heel and running from the priest, the priest following him as he turned a corner. He dodged through the people that were on the street, trying his best to get away from the grown man chasing him. Allen glanced back as he turned a corner and looked back to where he was running, fear fogging his mind and his running making his lungs burn and his legs sting.

Allen's mind was elsewhere as he tried his best to fight off the memories that were threatening to resurface, closing his eyes and pushing himself to run faster down the street. Allen stumbled slightly due to the snow covered streets as he struggled to regain his balance, distracting him from the man he was going to run into.

"Hey Kid! Watch where you're- are you alright kid?" Came the shout of a man in his late teens, his eyes narrowing at the boy before widening slightly. The older man glanced over the deathly pale boy, his singular grey eye darting everywhere as he scurried to get back to his feet and to keep running. The taller teen with slicked back purple-black curly hair, watched as the little boy bowed slightly before looking up at him.

"I-I'm sorry! But I have to go!" The boy wasn't able to get far when the angry shout of a preacher came running in this direction, grabbing the boy but his left arm and shouting at the top of his lungs. "OH GOD, PLEASE GRANT ME THE ABILTY TO CLEANSE THIS CHILD OF WHAT THE DEVIL HAS GAVE HIM! FOR THE DEVIL HAS MARKED THIS CHILD, PLEASE GOD CLEANSE HIM OF HIS SINS! CLEANS THE DEVIL CHILD!"

The boy struggled and fought to get his arm free, kicking at the priest before he let go and stumbled back into the taller teen, who caught him before he fell to the snow covered ground. The teen with purple tinted hair brows knitted together as he listened to the priest, he looked down at the boy, looking over his appearance before looking back at the man. The boy scrambled to get out of his hold, fear flashing in his one visible eye as Allen tried with his might to push him away with his creamy white and crimson red arm.

The teen's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the arm, the glowing green cross on the back of the red scaly hand and the long black nails on his hand. The boy nearly to be at tears as the teen's eyes softened towards the kid before hardening when he looked up at the priest because of what he said next. "Please hand over the Devil child so I cleanse him of his sin. He must be cleansed!"

"He's just a child and you're not taking him away. He hasn't done anything wrong," The teen's eyes narrowed into slits as he spat, "So piss off and go feed holy crap to someone else, priest."

Allen's silver eye widened as he looked up at the teen before moving over to the priest, whose face was turning bright red in anger. The priest glared at Allen before turning sharply on his heel and walking away from Allen and the mysterious teen.

Allen stared up at the teen dumfounded as he struggled to form words of gratitude for him. Allen bowed as he closed his eye tightly and clenched his fists shut, speaking quickly. "Thank you for helping me, mister."

"No need for such formalities kid," The teen placed a hand on Allen's head and ruffled his messy white locks, "What's your name kid?"

"I-I'm Allen Walker, m-mister." Allen looked up towards the teen, his soften features letting him get better look. He had chestnut brown eyes, olive skin, messy purple tinted hair, large circular glass that just hid a mole that was under his left eye. He wore a dirty white shirt, faded brown long-coat, blue slacks that looked too big for him with overalls and a pair of brown worn boots.

He chuckled as he seemed amused by Allen's behaviour, running a hand through his messy locks. "Kid, stop calling me mister, call me Tyki."

Good Evening My Lovely Readers~!

Now, I have a Poll on my home page because I'm not sure if I want a pairing in this and if I want one what should it be. So, I created a Poll for you guys to vote on the future pairing for this story. Now, I'd like to thank the people who Follow, Favourite and Review my story.

Now, lets answer some questions:

jy24: 'Who would it be that made Allen run away from Cross? The Millennium Earl?'

Now, you aren't going to find that out until later, perhaps...

Ryuakilover: 'One question though are there any pairing in the future?'

As I said before, you vote if you want this story to have a pairing and if you want a different one then tell me. Oh, I almost forgot, I'm only going to have the poll open for a month because that's most likely the next time I'll update.

Don't forget to Review, Favourite and/or Follow~!

KillerAkuma Destroying Her Way Outer Here~