Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-Man or Vocaloid.
Circus
Chapter Four. To understand the enemy
"So you were part of a circus?"
Allen titled his head to look curiously at the blond man, sitting in front of him. Inspector Howard Link was looking at him, with the familiar black notebook and pen ready on his hands. It surprised the white-haired teen that his watchman didn't knew about it, he was pretty sure that Komui added it on his file after his mission on Germany, back when they met Miranda.
"Yes, but that was a long time ago."
"How long?" Allen rolled his eyes. Of course Link would ask for specific details.
"I don't know. I was nine years old, more or less, when I left. So… maybe six or seven years since I worked there."
"Why did you left?" The white-haired teen shrugged his shoulders.
"I met Mana, my father. He invited me to go with him, gave a chance to a better life. I had nothing to lose, so I went with him."
"Better life?"Link raised an eyebrow, so Allen explained.
"In the circus, I was like the errand boy. I did odd jobs around the place. I cleaned the cages, helped in the kitchens and to set up the stage. Sometimes I went to town to put up flyers or invite people to go and watch one of the shows."
"It doesn't sound so bad to me."
Allen ignored the comment and continued with his explanation."I didn't get much in return. Food, clothes and a place to sleep, but that was it. I didn't know how to read or write. Nothing about mathematics or that sort of stuff. I was stuck, until Mana gave me the choice to leave all of that behind. I went with him, and you know the rest of the story."
Link nodded while writing everything in his notebook.
"What is the plan when we arrive to Bath? Are we going to talk to the police?"
"Oh, we are not going to talk to a." The Exorcist said dismissively.
"What?" Link looked up in surprise.
"According to the file, no one disappeared while the circus was in Bath, so it's pointless to go there and talk with the town. Let's go directly to the clearing where the circus was set, and we'll start from there."
"Shouldn't we gather information about the performers?"Link asked, not convinced of the plan proposed by his charge.
"I think that it's better if we start tracking them now. Once we find them, then we can go to one of their shows and try to talk to the performers and the Ringmaster."
"You expect them to move fast, then."The blond man observed.
"Yes. Even if they are not the ones responsible for the disappearances, I wouldn't expect them to stay that long in some place."
"Why?"
"They need money for supplies, so they need a new public. One that haven't seen the show before. Once they have enough money, they will stop for a while somewhere to buy food and other necessities."
"So, you are hoping to catch them while they are restocking?"
"Not exactly."Allen shook his head. "We don't really have a pattern that could help us know where they could appear next. We only have their location for each disappearance, but it doesn't mean that they follow a certain route, and that those are the only appearances they made."
"I see, so you want to go to Bath with the hope that we'll find any indication of the direction they went."The Exorcist smiled at the man and nodded. "Very clever Walker."
The man was impressed with the white-haired teen. While he would had preferred to speak with the people first, and get an idea of what their enemy could be like, he had to admit the Exorcist's plan made a lot more sense. It wouldn't do their investigation any good if the circus was already moving around the country.
But there was still something that bothered him.
"Walker, how are you planning on getting in contact with the cast?"
"Like any other person, of course. I'll be someone else from the public."
"Is that the reason why you packed that old green coat?"The teen nodded."Wouldn't they be more willing to answer your question if you show yourself as a representative from the Catholic Church?"
"On the contrary, they'll probably kick me out or run away before we can get close, if I do that."
"Run away?"Link asked, not quite understanding the teenager's logic.
"Circus people had never been friends with strangers, much less with the Church and the Police. They will either get angry or scared, and won't talk to us."
"I wasn't aware of this. I'll need to speak with Inspector Leverrier about this issue."
"I don't think speaking with that wanke- I-I mean Inspector Leverrier would solve anything. The rumors already spread through the whole country. It wouldn't surprise me if they had heard them all the way to Iceland."
"Rumors? What do you mean by rumors?"The blond Inspector asked with widened eyes in alarm.
"You don't know?"Allen asked in confusion. The man shook his head, so the teen elaborated. "When I was still with the circus, there was this rumor that circulated the streets, about a group of people that wore dark coats and a silver symbol embedded on them. They said that it was a special police force or something along those lines."
"You mean to tell me that the Exorcists are public knowledge?"
"Not exactly. They were just rumors, old lady gossip. When I met Master and saw the Rose Cross on his coat, I figured he was one of the people the rumors spoke about. But that aside, no one really believed them, and I only heard them when we were around London and Liverpool."Looking at the Inspector shocked expression, he couldn't help but ask."You seriously didn't know about them?"
"I never imagined. I was under the impression that the Order was a secret to those that weren't involved on it."
"Well not really, some people know and even support the Order. But don't think too much about it, Link. They only speculated things, nothing from the HQ archives or so."
The blond man nodded once more to the teen's answer and then remembering something he asked once more."You said that they wouldn't talk to you if you showed up in your uniform, why? Why would they be afraid?"
"Not afraid per say, more like… cautious. Some people show disdain for these places, because they believe that only the low-lives, like criminals, work there. And they fear that organizations and people from the Church or the Police would try to dismantle their circus, and would no longer have a home."
"So they are involved in illicit activities? Like trafficking?"
"It's a circus, not the black market. Circuses represent a shelter for people on the streets. They get offers for jobs, food and a place to stay, just like they did with me. While it is true that some people are ex-convicts, there are also good and honest people that want to share their artistic side with others. And some others… they are different. Some are even called freaks. Because they have something that others don't like, they are shunned by the upper class, and the circuses open their doors to anyone, so it becomes their home."
Howard Link stared in silence at the young man in front of him; there was a story behind those words. When he had been assigned to observe Allen Walker, he had been given the basic information about the young boy.
Name: Allen Walker
General description: Male, around 16 years old. 1.70 cm tall, 55 kg. White hair and grey eyes. Red scar over his face's left side.
Birth date: Unknown, 25th December (date of adoption)
Birth place: Unknown, raised in Great Britain.
Birth parents: Unknown. Adopted by Mana Walker (deceased), no other family members found.
Innocence: Parasitic (Left arm)
Innocence name: Crown Clown. (Synchronization rateabove the 100%)
-Destroyed once by the Noah Tykki Mikk and then restored by the boy a couple of days later.
-Apprentice of General Cross Marian (under surveillance)
Notes: Possible host of the 14th Memories. Dangerous, must be under constant surveillance. Permission granted to use force if suspicious of treason.
The white-haired Exorcist had been just another individual working in the Black Order back when Link first met the boy. Someone dangerous that must be treated with caution, and watched intently and constantly. Just some Accommodator taken in the by the organization to fight the Earl; just another weapon.
But as time went by, his perspective changed. He got to meet all the Exorcists directly, interact with them, and get to know them. To actually know them, like you would know someone who was your friend. The things they like and didn't like; their fears and pleasures, their stories.
He got to understand that the Exorcists weren't much different from him. People working on the same place, trying to stop a maniac from taking over the world. Humans of flesh and bones who cry and laugh; that could bleed and break. And Allen Walker wasn't different from them, 14th Noah and everything.
"The circus, it was your home wasn't it? Your shelter from the streets, from the people." Link spoke in a calm voice. He got no response from the young boy, but one look at the silver pools was enough for the blond Inspector.
Allen Walker was only a 16 year-old boy who had been given a cruel destiny as an Apostle of God. He was shunned as a child by the people because of his arm, he guessed, and so he joined the only place he wouldn't be stared down in disdain. However, there was something in the boy's body language that made him think that perhaps the circus wasn't entirely a happy place, just somewhere a small boy could sleep.
He wanted to ask more about the white-haired Exorcist's childhood. He wanted to be able to know more about what led to someone as nice as Allen Walker to be punished the way he was. He wanted to understand what God saw in the boy that made Him choose the boy as an Apostle and cursed him at the same time with the Noah memories.
But Link knew that Allen would't be so open about it, but even if the boy did, the blond German didn't had the guts to do it.
Because Link knew that it was much easier to carry on with his Crow duties that way.
Because the answer would make him want to help the boy with the hardened silver eyes, ones that had seen too much cruelty and sadness, ones that would continue to see even more as the Holy War progressed.
Because it would make him want to betray the man and the organization that had taken him and his friends out of the streets.
Because Howard Link was not a stupid person, and deep down knew Allen Walker was not an evil individual.
But Howard Link was also a coward, and so he asked something else entirely.
"Walker, when you were still in the circus, did you ever heard about the Machigerita Circus?"
"No, never did." Was the response of the teen after a moment of silence.
And Link didn't him believe one bit. The blond Inspector hadn't been with the white-haired teen for months and not learned to read the teenager's body language. The Exorcist knew something, and Link wasn't sure he wanted to find out what it was.
He had a bad feeling, and he hoped it was only his paranoia talking.
…o0o…
"I am not sure we'll be able to find anything around here, Lord Walker. We already searched for clues and we found nothing." A man dressed in beige coats spoke calmly to the teenager kneeling on the ground.
But Allen gave no indication of listening. The tall blond man next to the Finder sighed.
"Walker, let's go back to the village. It's pointless to stay here under the sun when there is nothing to see. It's almost noon now, let us go back to the inn and get some rest."
"Have some faith, Link. They might have missed something."
The man sighed and turned to look at the man dressed in beige."Go ahead and wait by the shade. I'll go with him."
The Finder nodded in gratefulness and left. The blond Inspector looked back at the teen, which was now moving around the edges of the clearing. With a sigh, he made his way to Allen.
"What exactly do you expect to find, Walker? The Finders already checked out this place, it's a waste of time."
"Well, the Finders were only looking for Akuma or Innocence signature, and I believe that they didn't paid particular attention to this." He said with a satisfied smile as he pointed at the ground.
"What is this you speak about? I only see grass."
Allen glared at the blond watchman.
"Look closer, Two-Spots." He said as he kneeled on the ground, signaling Link to do the same. "See? There are holes from the poles of the tent. It goes all the way to…"He moved to the other side of the clearing, the blond man following a few steps behind."Here. More holes. They set the tent and their things exactly on this side of the clearing. Now from this part you can see that there is a big space between the tent and the edge of the forest. My guess is that the people came from there, just from where we came from."
"Alright, you found the exact position of each thing. How is that relevant to the case?"
"Stop being so apathetic, Link. Think about it, if you had to leave quickly, which way, around this whole place, would you go?"
The man was about to answer, but kept his mouth shut at the look of concentration on the teen's face. With a sigh, his eyes scanned the forest around him, carefully assessing the trees and the path from where they arrived.
"There, away from the town. Back to the forest."He pointed to the forest at their back. Allen nodded and began moving to the pointed direction.
"Let's go."With a sigh, Link signaled the Finder to follow them and went after the young Exorcist.
"Walker, do you honestly believe that we can find anything out here?"
"Perhaps. When I was still with the circus, whenever we moved to another town, we packed things into boxes and bags. Before we started the move, the Ringmaster always made us double check that nothing was missing. Unfortunately for us, even if we checked trice, there were things that were left behind on a couple of occasions."He stopped moving.
"What is it?"Link asked, preparing himself for any sudden attack.
"Do you hear that? That sound, like rushing water."
The Exorcist moved his head around trying to locate the sound. The blond Inspector stayed in silence, instead listening to his surroundings. There was indeed the sound of water flowing rapidly.
"Mr. Dickens, is there a river nearby?" Walker asked the man dressed in beige.
"That would be the Avon River, Lord Exorcist. It flows through Wiltshire, and ends in the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth."
"Would you by any chance have a map that shows all of the towns where it passes through?"
"Yes, Lord Exorcist."The man took out a tube from his backpack and then proceeded to extract a large map from it. He extended it, and then pointing to a certain location, he explained."We are here, Bath. The river flows from here, all the way through here. But Lord Exorcist, I do not understand the relevance of the river."
"Think about it, Mr. Dickens. Their cast is at least of 20 or 25 people, they need fresh water to live. Food is easier to live without, but not water. Besides the river flows through the deep parts of the forest, few people travel through here."
"I thought that it was an Akuma the one responsible for the kidnappings."Said the man in confusion.
"It is one of the possibilities, but humans aren't exempted from guilt. And besides, Akuma can disguise as humans, so they can be simply be one hiding its true form, and the rest of the cast be humans."
The Finder nodded at the words of the Exorcist."That is very true, Lord Exorcist. So if I understood correctly, you believe that if they follow the river, then they could be hiding in one of the villages where the Avon flows through."
"Precisely."Allen answered with a smile.
"It's very extensive, and passes through many villages. We can't visit all of them at the same time, and they could be at any of them. I will call Supervisor Lee, and warn him; perhaps he can start dispatching Exorcists to some of these locations."Link said standing up to call for Timcanpy.
"No, don't call Komui, not yet anyway. I think I know where they are going."
"What?"
"Here, Chippenham. It's a small town, and has a market. They need to restock supplies and if they follow the river, it would take them there."
"Chippenham is not far from here, Walker. They must be somewhere farther."
"It is close if you go through the roads and by carriage. Allen retorted. But if they are trying to hide from the eyes of the world, then they are not using them. They are most likely going through the forest, and with the amount of things a circus carries, it will take them longer to go there."
"He is correct, Inspector."The Finder spoke, studying the map."If you take the roads, it won't take you long to reach Chippenham. But if someone moves through the forest, the path is longer. It would take some at least a day and a half to arrive, but if more people are moving then the double of that time."
"Meaning that they are probably already there by now. Link come one, we need to move."Allen said in urgency, starting to go back to the clearing.
"Walker, you are only throwing suppositions around. You need proves, otherwise it's just a waste of time."Link said in exasperation.
"Well, what if I can show you some evidence that they indeed passed through here? Would you believe me then and go to Chippenham?"
Link scowled at the teenager's stubbornness. "Yes, Walker. But by the time you find something, they might be on Wales or Ireland even."
"Oh really, Two-Spots? And what is that behind you?" The boy said with mirth dancing on his eyes.
Turning around in frustration, the man looked up and his widened in surprised. Floating above his head, trapped between the branches and leaves of a majestic tree, was a single red balloon.
"A balloon."Link murmured.
"Yes, a red balloon. Just like the ones circus people like to hand out to the children at the shows. Which means that…?"Allen spoke in a singsong voice, and smiled mischievously at the German.
"They passed through here."The blond man sighed. "I do not understand tough, why would they leave a balloon behind?"
"Who knows? Maybe they had more than they needed for the show, either this flew away from the rest… or someone left it on purpose."
"One of the children, most likely. Do you believe any of them are still alive?"Link asked, studying the balloon.
"I hope so."The boy whispered sadly."Come one, we need to keep moving. Hopefully we can catch them in Chippenham."
Allen turned around and went on the direction they came from, back to the clearing and to the town. The Finder bowed respectfully as the boy passed by, and went after him. Link, however, stayed longer on the spot, as something caught his attention on the base of the tree.
"Dead roses… how strange, there are no bushes around here."