Chapter 4:
CONSCIENCE
Tyki's POV
The noah, Bookman, and Bookman Junior scattered the white room, waiting to hear whether the boy was going to be okay. The Earl stood with Tyki and Road on one side of the bed while the red-head stood behind Bookman, who sat on the otherside, checking the boy over for any signs that he may not make it. It was obvious that the majority of the noah weren't worried or even interested in the situation, but Tyki, Road, and the Earl couldn't take their eyes off of him.
"Of what I can tell, there isn't anything wrong with him. You-", Bookman said, looking up at Wisely, who sat at Allen's feet, looking just as bored as the rest of the noah. "You are the noah of Wisdom. You have the power to reach into people's minds. Is there anything you can see that I cannot? I'm willing to guess that this is the fourteenth's doing but no one but you and Mr. Walker could be certain. So?"
"It's the fourteenth, he'll be fine. When he wakes up, Nea might be awake, though." He looked at his nails with that irritating "I don't care for the situation, leave me out of it" face.
"Well", the Earl cheerfully bounced. "Since that's settled, I believe we should let him rest."
He hopped out of the room and everyone but Lavi, Bookman, Wisely, Tyki, and Road filed out.
"I thought he told you not to follow him", Lavi growled at Tyki, he responded only by glaring.
Wisely attempted to get off the bed and leave but was immediately stopped by Tyki.
"What", he asked.
"We need your power", Road said. "We should go inside Allen's mind and talk to his subconcious. Or Nea... whoever's there."
"Well, I guess it's better than nothing", he responded, rubbing the back of his head.
"Let me join you", Lavi commanded.
"I suppose I should include myself. Though, Lavi", Bookman said. "Don't do anything stupid."
"I'm not, you old panda! Gimme a bre-"
Bookman chopped Lavi over the head as the noah stared in disbelief. "Don't call me that, you incompetant moron!"
Tyki's POV
Allen was chained to a white chair with a tall back that had wings stretched out on each side. The ground seemed to be covered in snow, the trees were entirely white, the sky was black, and it was snowing. In front of the boy stood a noah who Tyki couldn't recognize.
"Nea...", Road gasped.
So, that's who he is: the infamous Nea who had been attempting to take over Allen's body; the fourteenth.
After several moments filled with them staring at eachother, Allen glaring more than anything, Nea turned on his heel and walked off. He stopped when the boy yelled out his name, but didn't turn around.
"Why won't you just leave me alone", Allen growled. Apparently, they had popped into his mind in the middle of a conversation.
The fourteenth smirked. "Because I need you, boy. Now, go to sleep."
"Wait! Get back here!" He struggled against the chains but wasn't released.
Suddenly, Nea turned into a large clown and reached out to Allen, saying "Allen! Let's play! Hurry, get up!"
As the boy reached out and grabbed Mana's hand, he turned into a kid with auburn-colored hair and dressed in some really colorful clothing. "Wait", Allen yelled. "Where are we going?"
"A clown", Lavi asked, obliviously.
"That is Mana Walker, Allen Walker's adoptive father", Bookman said.
"Adoptive father", Tyki questioningly mumbled, rubbing his chin in thought. He could feel Lavi glaring at him and was going to say something but was cut off when the scene of Allen's mind changed from the snowy field into a slightly busy street.
It was dark outside and a couple of people walked by but said nothing and did nothing as Mana lie on the ground, in a pool of blood. Allen shook the older man as tears streamed down his face. "Wakeup, Mana. Mana?! Don't leave me alone!" He allowed his head to drop onto the dead body. "Please don't! Mana!"
"Oh, Allen", Road nearly whispered, sounding heartbroken.
"Death happens", Lavi monotonously responded to her. "It isn't that big of a deal."
"Even a noah has a heart", Tyki grumbled.
Lavi inched closer to the taller man. "Huh?! What was that?!"
And, once more, the scene changed, drawing their attention. Allen cried out to Mana as the Earl instructed and his face was cut in a way that should have left him blind in one eye. As the Earl disappeared and Allen slumped against Mana's grave, Allen's thoughts began to fill Tyki's mind. As he looked around at the others, he realized that the same thing was happening, to them.
"After that, I had nowhere to go and was ready to spend the rest of my days sleeping at Mana's grave, waiting for death. But..."
Lavi gasped as General Cross approached the boy and Tyki and Road glared. "Marian Cross", Tyki growled.
They watched as Allen was taken in by cross and he took care of him on that bed, crying out in pain before sitting still for days, not eating or moving even slightly. Tyki felt his heart break into several pieces at the realization that Allen had been bottling all of these things up in his head, feeling as though these kinds of traumatic events were something he just had to deal with while others saw them as impossible to deal with. He couldn't have been perfectly stable, after all of this...
He looked to his right at Bookman's successor and was glad to find an empathetic look on his face, as he watched the boy sitting on the bed. For once, the idiot has emotions.
"Allen Walker", Mana's voice said, raining down from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The scene went black except for the boy, who suddenly was his normal self, dressed in white clothes and a white cape that resembled his innocence but was obviously not it. "You have failed me, Allen."
Allen's eyes widened and he frantically looked about the black space. "Mana? No! How?!"
The boy's left eye began to bleed and he crumpled onto the ground, in pain. "Allen", Road yelled and everyone joined him on the ground.
"Why aren't you killing akuma", Mana asked, from above. "You are becoming attached to the ones who killed me, Allen. How could you? You know, that isn't your job, right?"
"No, wait! Mana, listen!"
"I've been seeing through your eyes, Allen, and feeling with your heart." As Mana spoke, dozens of bodies began to rise up from the ground around them, like the ground was made of muck. Everyone stood up, at that, except for Allen.
The boy looked terrified and it was then that the noah of pleasure noticed that the majority of the bodies were exorcists and two of them were Road's and Tyki's. Allen shakily reached out a hand toward the deceased male noah and just barely choked out a "Tyki Mikk...", through his sorrow.
Okay, Tyki had to smirk at that. Although the scene before this was terrible, this one was amusing, to Tyki. So, the boy cares this much, about me?
Lavi glared at him. "What are you smiling about?"
"Isn't it just adorable, seeing the boy's love for me?"
"You're full of yourself."
"You can't die", Allen sobbed, pulling the noah onto his lap before shaking him slightly. "Wake up, Tyki Mikk..."
"Tch. He isn't immortal, Allen! You know that!"
"Oh, but I am, in his eyes", Tyki said, smugly rubbing his smirk.
Lavi turned to yell at him and Tyki turned to respond but their voices caught in their throats at the black, shadow figure which crouched between them, looking down at the ex-exorcist with his hand reached out. "This can all be avoided if you relinquish control to me. Otherwise, your loved ones will perish by your own hands", the shadow whispered. Allen hesitated but reached his hand out to the shadow.
Tyki had seen enough, so he yelled at the boy, saying "wake up, boy! Don't listen to that thing!"
Allen ripped his hand away from the shadow looked down at the body which still lay dead on his lap. "Tyki?"
"No, you idiot, I'm right in front of you!"
Allen looked around with a confused look on his face for several seconds, as though they were invisible, before finally laying big, grey eyes on the older noah. "T-Tyki!" He looked down at the body which lay on his lap with confusion, but Tyki pulled his attention back to him by placing a hand on his cheek.
"Wakeup, Allen~", Tyki said warmly, with a smile.
And, with that, a bright white filled his vision.
