Hello dears.

Here's the next installment…don't have much to say other than that, honestly.

Thanks for the favorites, follows, and reviews I've gotten so far! How nice of you guys, and it's only the first chapter!

Hope you enjoy this next one~

-JD

Disclaimer: Just letting off some inspirational steam, no copyright intended.

The next morning found Allen and Lavi sitting on the couch in the main office, Komui looking at them seriously from his desk.

"This mission isn't too far away, considering Allen's current restraint, but it may turn out to be harder than originally anticipated. You both are going to Lincoln, England, where it appears that an innocence might be present. For some reason, no one can enter the Cathedral. Rather, it's not that they cannot enter, but they feel the inclination to do the opposite, regardless of what they were thinking upon getting there. Even the Finders have found themselves heading in the opposite direction of the Cathedral when they came out of their haze.

"I expect this one to be particularly tricky, unfortunately. It seems that there's an AKUMA who is guarding the place as well, not able to reach the innocence, but also keeping others away from it so someone can come retrieve it."

"Perhaps waiting for a Noah?" Lavi asked, eyes narrowing.

"Perhaps. We'd like for you two to retrieve the innocence before they can arrive and return as soon as you can. From what we can gather, the AKUMA is a Level 2 for now, thought that might have changed. Its previous abilities involved freezing a person in time, though that's all that could be gathered for now."

"We'll figure the rest out, Komui," Allen smiled, looking through his papers.

The man nodded at them, a fond look on his face, "We'll be leaving this to you two. You have a few minutes to pack, then you should be on your way."

The two exorcists stood to their feet and nodded, "Yes sir."

"An AKUMA that can stop someone's time, huh? Sounds freaky," Lavi said, standing out on the small boat's deck as they sailed out to England.

"It sort of makes me think of that one Level 2 that could disguise themselves as anything as long as it was symmetrical," Allen replied, looking out over the lightly rolling waves.

"Eugh. Just hearing that makes me queasy."

"Yeah. It had disguised as Toma at one point and Kanda couldn't tell the difference."

"Even Kanda couldn't tell? Well…huh, Tomato's pretty symmetrical, now that I think about it."

"Hmmmh," Allen opted to ignore the nickname.

"…Do you see it yet? I mean, does your eye see that far?"

Allen glanced over to him, "No, not yet. We're not in range. I should be able to by the time we're outside of Lincoln."

"Hmm…do you ever…y'know…get tired of seeing those souls?"

Allen looked over at him, not sure what he meant.

"I mean…that time I saw the soul when we were retrieving Kuro-chan, I kinda…" Lavi shrugged, "It was pretty creepy, seeing a soul like that, y'know."

He shook his head, "No, I don't get tired of seeing them."

"Really? How do you deal with it? Cause I guarantee you I'd probably be trying to gouge my eye out."

"Well…I figure this. It's a useful thing to see them, and I'm able to help many more get released because of my skill. I also save a lot of living people by keeping them from being killed by an AKUMA. So, no matter how painful it is to see them sometimes, it's more beneficial to have it than to not."

Lavi frowned a bit sadly, "But you're the one taking the brunt of everything, from trying to protect people to seeing decrepit souls."

Allen seemed to think for a second before smiling over to Lavi, "Well, it's been gifted to me. It'd be rude to not accept it."

The red-head closed his eyes with a shrug, "Would never ask you to not. Just wondering how you deal with it."

"…Steadily, I suppose."

"Heh, it's all we can do."

Allen smiled, "True."

Once they reached Skegness, they began a ride in a carriage to Lincoln. They didn't meet any finders until they reached a city closer to their destination, the two greeting them respectfully as they told them what they could.

"It's been really hard to get close to the Cathedral with this AKUMA around. A few finders are still stuck in time, it seems…" the shorter one began.

"We presume the effect will stop once one of you kill it. Anyway, we've noted that it seems to have a weakness toward bright lights, and it has the tendency to protect its stomach and eyes."

"Stomach and eyes?" Lavi asked.

"Yes. This AKUMA takes a form similar to that of what I presume is a spider."

He shuddered in reply, "Greeeaaaat. I love spiders. Adore them, even."

"Have the townspeople close by been affected by the AKUMA?" Allen asked, glancing over at them.

"Those in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral and a bit further have been frozen in time, yes. The commander has been in contact with the government officials of the area, and we've been finding a way to cover this ordeal up. It's gotten rather public because the Cathedral is involved."

"Yeah, sounds like an innocence. So inconsiderate."

The taller finder chuckled a bit, "Yes, well, hopefully you two, as possessors of an innocence, will be able to get inside of the Cathedral to find it. We're thinking that it has been on a defensive mode, but that it won't be against you because you are Accommodators."

"Seems reasonable," Allen muttered, his eyes suddenly narrowing.

"Oi, you okay?" Lavi asked, patting Allen's shoulder.

"Yes…we've just gotten in range," he frowned a bit more, "I'm pretty sure it's a Level 3, now."

The shorter one cursed under his breath, "That completely messes up our data…you're basically going in blind…" he cursed again.

The other bowed, "We're terribly sorry for this…"

Lavi shrugged, grinning reassuringly, "Nah, it's fine. You did what you could."

"We'll handle the rest from here. And we'll do our best to help the other finders," Allen said, giving them his signature smile.

The finders looked at them with awe before they nodded, "We'll inform headquarters of what's happening once we get close. We probably won't be able to enter the town because of the innocence."

The two nodded, silently preparing themselves for battle.

Lavi whistled once they entered Lincoln's grounds.

The entire place was silent, practically a ghost town, and for a major city, it was actually pretty freaky. There was police tape among other things lining the city grounds, letting any invaders that got past their barriers further back that they weren't allowed close.

"Yikes, this place is a far cry from that barrier we went through to get here," Lavi said, twirling his hammer around in his fingers, "I mean, some of those people honestly tried to follow our carriage in. That's a mess. I wonder how they're supposed to cover this up later, y'know?"

Allen hummed lowly, his eye searching around for the AKUMA.

"Are you even listening?" Lavi asked.

"Hmmmm…"

"…You really have a thing for Kanda's ponytail."

"Hmmmm…"

"You have the hugest hair fetish, and you get really hot and bothered around Kanda."

"Hmmmm…"

"HA! I knew it!" Lavi grinned.

That got Allen's attention, "What?"

Lavi pointed at him, grinning widely, "The reason you're so angry around Kanda is actually the sexual tension between you and his hair!"

The white-haired boy stared at him like he grew a second head, nearly tripping over a bottle in the street, "Wait…what…when…"

"You confirmed my statements twice, no takebacksies!"

"No, I'm not attracted to Kanda or his hair," Allen scrunched his nose up.

Lavi's grin grew even more mischievous, "I never said anything about being attracted to Kanda, just his hair. You're the one who mentioned Kanda, you lovebird."

Allen's face flushed just a tad at the mistake, but his eyes still crinkled with his frown, "Lavi, seriously, I'm not…"

"Oh, it's okay! Your secret's safe with me! Tell you what, I'll try to hook you two up, how's that sound?"

He narrowed his eyes, which looked just a tad creepy with his cursed one, "You know what? You can shush."

"You're not denying it anymore," he sang.

"I'm done. This conversation is over."

Lavi just laughed in reply, happy to see the tips of Allen's lips curl up just a bit.

They walked in silence for a while, exploring the currently abandoned city. The closer they got, though, the more…statues they saw. When they first arrived, there hadn't been a single soul, but as they had walked, one to two began showing up, their bodies frozen in time.

It wasn't quite accurate to call them statues. Rather, their bodies seemed to be there, but they kept glitching, like they weren't supposed to be there, but there they were. Some were more colorful than the others, and the ones with more color glitched less than those who had less color. Even so, they kept moving forward to the Cathedral, eyes open and ears listening.

"The more gray ones must've been put on pause longer," Lavi said, glancing over at a frightened woman who'd been frozen in time.

"Seems so. I don't know what will happen when they become too gray…" Allen muttered, "Hopefully, it won't get to that point."

"You see the AKUMA close by?" he asked, getting more serious.

"Well…it's not close in normal standards. It's high up in the sky, probably so it won't be affected by the innocence."

"It can drop down at any time though, huh?"

"Yes, but I don't think we're close enough to the innocence for it to think of us as a threat."

"Peachy," he grumbled.

They were just under 200 meters away from the Cathedral when the Level 3 seemed to pop into existence behind them.

Allen and Lavi both jolted with how sudden it appeared, turning around to face the beast. It was tan, covered in armor that was shades of brown, its hair flowing in the wind strangely, like the sands of a beach. It didn't bother facing them as it opened its mouth to speak.

"My name is Horace. I am made with the soul of a scientist. I've selected the two of you for an experiment."

"Shit, this isn't good," Lavi grumbled, "Innocence, Activate!"

Allen shrouded himself quickly in Crowned Clown, his eye set on the target.

"Hmmm," it seemed to just stand there, but then in the blink of an eye, it was on the ground, facing them, "You don't seem pleased from being selected…I do prefer willing participants, but you will have to do."

"As if!" Lavi glared, angling his hammer for any attack.

"…You seem more adamant against the experimentation, so…"

Before they could blink, the Level 3 appeared before Allen, "I suppose I shall start with you."

Startled from the sudden move, Allen used his extending ability and shot into the air, "Lavi! Head for the Cathedral! I'll hold it off!"

Without another word, Lavi began sprinting to the church.

"Hmmm…well, that's no good. One is headed toward the innocence, but I've already chosen a target…hmmm…" suddenly, it appeared before Allen again, "Perhaps I shoul—achk!"

Allen had been ready for it, though, and swiped his arm at the Level 3. It backed away quickly, not using its time abilities. Once it backed away enough from him, it growled.

"Rude! You should always wait for someone to finish speaking before you attack."

"I don't know who made that rule, but I don't want to follow it."

It grinned, "Fine," it appeared behind the exorcist, "I will teach you some manners..."

Allen swiftly turned around in the air, slashing at it again, but Horace had already moved to his side, kicking him roughly as he flew through the air and crashed into the top of a building. Before Allen could even blink, the creature was in front of him again, reaching out to grab his shirt. He narrowly avoided it, kicking the AKUMA's hand out of the way as he turned.

Before he could get his bearings, it grabbed the foot he kicked its hand with, and swung him through the air, slamming him down on the rooftop. Allen used the contact to his advantage, though, trapping the AKUMA's hand and using his foot to lock it in place. He flipped it down onto the roof along with him, grunting with the energy used.

Horace recovered quickly, "You are quite troublesome, exorcist."

"That's my job," Allen grinned, slashing at the AKUMA again.

"Hmmm…"

Allen clamped around his left wrist with his right arm as he pulled, his arm quickly forming into the sword. He slashed it down toward the AKUMA, but it blinked out of existence, appearing right in front of him with its foot poised to kick his head. He quickly rolled out of the way, standing to his feet before he thrust the sword forward. The AKUMA didn't blink away, instead backing up. Allen quickly followed the thrust with another slash, but then it blinked away, appearing over the next rooftop.

Allen clicked his tongue, staying rooted in place, 'It's pausing my time and moving away, but how'd it do it before? It hadn't touched us before...unless its effect is in a certain area?' he glanced down at a frozen civilian on the street, 'Why then are they always paused?'

He didn't have much more time to think about it, the AKUMA blinking into existence behind him. Allen could feel it coming though, and he quickly ducked, slashing backwards toward Horace. It didn't blink again, sliding backwards to narrowly avoid getting hit.

'So it has a cool-down time…if I can time this right then—'

"Yes, your job. Don't you get tired of it, fıstık?"

Everything that Allen had been thinking about fizzled away. His eyes went wide as he stared at the AKUMA. It simply grinned back at him.

Allen's hand clenched on his sword, "…How…why…did you call me that?"

It shrugged almost absently, "It's a gift. I alter the sands of time, so I can see the sands that have already passed upon touching a person," it grinned, "but to think an exorcist had such a history…it's riveting, meleğim."

Allen slashed at it without thinking.

Lavi understood that Allen wasn't able to warn him, but he would've liked it.

He dodged yet another AKUMA bullet as a swarm of Level 2s flooded the area, grinning as they shot at him. He was able to resist fairly easily, but there were so many it was nearly overwhelming. Had he not had experience, Allen would be on his own.

Lavi rose his hammer, several seals appearing around him, "Hi Ban: Gouka Kaijin!"

Upon hitting it on the ground, the fire snake formed, hissing loudly as it rose and began destroying a lot of the Level 2 AKUMA. Others attempted to dodge it, but the snake wasn't quite done with them, getting rid of all of the AKUMA in its path as Lavi ran below the ordeal, getting closer to the Cathedral.

'Where's Allen? That Level 3 must really be giving him trouble…'

Suddenly, he heard something burst and crumble behind him. Sparing a short glance, he watched as, a few meters away, an entire building turned to dust and rubble. In the very next moment, he watched something white burst out from the cloud of dust the former building had made, rushing toward the AKUMA.

'What? Something's not right…' he thought, but turned away, heading toward the innocence, 'I've got a bad feeling about this.'

He didn't dwell on the thought too long, another Level 2 rushing out in front of him, mouth wide open to show its gun barrel, "Die, exorcist!"

He grinned wryly, holding his hammer like a baseball bat, "Not in this lifetime."

Lavi smashed its face open before covering his face as he quickly rolled under it to avoid the miasma. He cheered lightly before facing forward.

Then he noticed it.

There was a man frozen in time on the left side of the walkway, his visage nearly completely gray. He did turn the color before it shifted into white noise, covering the man's entire body. Moments later, his body glitched several times, his shadow fading. Without a single noise, the man glitched completely out of existence, not leaving behind a single strip of clothing or the bag he'd been holding. He was completely gone.

He clicked his tongue, 'Shit…c'mon Allen, you need to kill that thing! I'll help you once I get this innocence…'

Unable to do much else, he sent his good wishes to Allen, keeping his forward movement through the winding streets.

Horace grinned as it faced off against the exorcist, the boy nearly completely engulfed with rage. He was still aware enough to protect the frozen citizens on the ground and in the buildings, but the boy didn't think a single thing as he swung his sword at it.

'Yes, yes, submit yourself to your anger, it'll make this much easier…'

Horace landed on another building, the boy following closely, even leaving a dent in the roof once he landed.

"My my, kuzucuğum, you're so hasty. Perhaps you should slow down?"

Allen merely growled, slashing at the AKUMA again. The AKUMA blinked in behind him instead, reaching for him with a grin. He had to jump back hurriedly though, Allen reaching back and slashing at it without looking.

"Ohh! Feisty, aren't you?"

"Shut up," Allen muttered, turning around and jabbing at it.

Allen kept moving forward at the AKUMA, the demon taunting him as he backed away, dodging his advances.

"I didn't think you'd be so forward, çiçeğim."

"I said shut up!"

"What happened to that politeness from before? Do you need to be retra—"

Allen's thrust was toward its head this time, his face contorted in fury. The AKUMA simply grinned, subtly circling around an area as Allen slashed at anything in between his sword and the AKUMA. Horace hummed lightly before it decided to blink away.

Suddenly the world slowed, all sound ceasing. There were no birds chirping, or buildings crumbling. Just pure silence, the surroundings taking a bluish hue.

'My ultimate ability: Time Skip. While it can only be active for a few moments, it's enough to get behind this child. I'm much too great for this exorcist,' it grinned.

A sword just barely missed his neck, a cut forming in it as black blood spurted from it. Horace jumped back, covering its neck in shock as it glared angrily at the boy he was fighting. Allen growled at the AKUMA, rushing forward with his sword poised.

'He's moving? But how?! Only I can use Time Skip!'

The AKUMA blinked back into existence, Allen nearly slicing it in two with his next attack. It growled in return, beginning to throw punches as it tried to give itself time to use Time Skip again. Allen didn't do much to defend himself, getting hit by some of the punches, but with just as many times he was hit, Horace was cut into as well.

Once it knew it was time, it activated Time Skip again, the world slowing to a stop once again.

Where he expected Allen to cease action, the boy rushed forward, his left eye glowing in anger. He landed a good blow, slashing the demon across its chest as it cried out in pain.

"You! How do you use my powers against me?! Wha—"

Allen didn't have to respond, the AKUMA feeling a tug on its ankle as it backed away from him as quickly as possible. Upon looking at its ankle, it finally noticed that a strip from Crowned Clown was wrapped around it.

'This bastard…he's traveling with me!'

The AKUMA aimed an attack toward the strip of innocence, but it didn't budge or break. Instead, it tightened on the demon before pulling it swiftly toward Allen, Time Skip deactivating. The boy poised his weapon, ready to attack once the demon was close enough to him. It cursed loudly, twisting its body away just in time to avoid being completely cut.

It did lose an arm, though.

"Ghhh…fuuuck!" it screeched, moving its other leg to kick Allen in the face.

It didn't kick strong enough though, and Allen caught it with another strip from his cloak. In an almost deja view moment, he slammed the AKUMA into the roof of the building they were standing on. Allen swiftly removed the leg it held, listening blankly as it cried out in pain.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way," he said, his voice colder than it usually would be, "but this has to end now."

He placed the end of his sword directly against the AKUMA's chest, ready to stab it down.

Horace coughed, laughing, "Don't I get any final words, exorcist?"

"No."

"Well, that's a shame," it grinned up at him, "Then I can't warn you about how many people are about to die."

Before Allen could ask, he heard something crumble behind him. When he turned around, the tops of some of the buildings that had tower-like structures began to fall.

There were still people frozen in time in the streets.

"No!" he cried, turning away from the AKUMA as he rushed forward to save the people.

Without a single thought, he dived down into the street, finding a group of frozen people, including a finder. He reached for one, but he couldn't get them to move. He cursed, noticing the pile of bricks and iron heading straight for them. Instead, he reached his cloak out as he covered the group.

Moments later, it took the brunt force of pounds of rubble dumping onto it. Allen flinched with the stress, but he'd taken more before. Hearing another building begin to fall in another street, he dumped the rubble off of his cloak onto an open part of the road before he rushed off to save another group. Each time he protected a group, it was a larger amount of people, and a heavier weight of rubble. At one point, he nearly missed a person, but saved them at last minute, small pebbles settling into their hair where originally a whole wall would've fallen upon them.

'Did I destroy these? Shoot, if I hadn't been so reckless…' he thought, panting as he dumped off the last pile of bricks and iron.

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him, but before he could so much as gasp, a hand clamped onto the back of his head. He felt his body stop, unable to move.

Within moments, he was frozen in time.

The AKUMA laughed, balancing itself well on one leg, "I knew you'd make this easy for me."

It let his head go, watching as Allen's eyes went blank as his powers began to affect him.

"All I had to do was prepare for the future. Like I said, I alter the sands of time. It's not perfect, but I can see what happens in the future of the sands. Perhaps I will be better at it once I mix with others to become a Level 4? No…by then, I won't need this power…" it set its hand on his shoulder, "I won't bother looking in the future now. That other boy will be easier to get rid of. I'm glad I chose you to see if I could do it, though. As my gift to you, I'll let you experience what your human friends are."

It wrapped his hand around Allen's neck, though it didn't choke him, grinning as its eyes popped up on its helmet, staring into Allen's blank ones from the side.

"Rewind. From here on out, you'll be reliving your past from now to your birth. Well, once you set time at the beginning, there's no past, is there? Nothing to base you off of. Without a base, what are you? A concept, a thought. Without anyone to think you up, there will be no one to set you on 'play' again."

It leaned in to Allen's ear, even if he couldn't hear it.

"Relive your younger years once more then cease to be, küçük fahişe."