I looked out the window of the brothers' old room from a dusty windowsill. The night air was calm and reassuring, as though nothing could possibly. What felt like an hour passed when I heard the door open behind me, then the sound of air rushing out of a mattress as someone crashed on the bed in the corner next to me. Without even looking, I knew it was Neah. I turned around, leaning with my elbows behind me on the windowsill, and saw him looking down at the floor with his hands over his face. I couldn't help but feel bad for him and his brother- there was an entire mess forming in our lives right in front of our eyes.

"So..." I sighed, peering down at him. "you know now. About the Noah Clan."

"Yeah, I've got it. I just don't know what to do about it." he replied, moving to hold his head in his hands so he could speak clearly. He wasn't crying, which made me feel a little relieved.

"Ugh...what a drag." I groaned. "This is just stupid. Stuff like this shouldn't be able to happen."

"But it did happen, and we're the victims of it. I don't know if there's anything to stop us from becoming what we were before."

"You two are different than what you were before. There's two of you, so there's two of you to split your power. In a way, this is easier- less temptation. I just worry for Mana."

"Why my brother?"

"Because," I crossed my arms and looked towards the door. "Mana isn't exactly the most mentally strong person in the world. He's more emotional than logical or physical, and you know that. But he's not weak, especially if others' lives are dependent on his decisions."

"He's not weak. But I know what you're talking about." Neah lied down in the bed.

"The Noah gene inside of you guys will try to tempt you to use it until you become a fully-fledged Noah, and you'll like it because you'll start to believe that normal humans and Exorcists are false creations of God." I explained. "There are 12 other Noah already out there just as I explained. They're waiting for one of you to take to role of the Earl, the 1st apostle, just like before."

"But since Mana is older than me, wouldn't that place be his? Why am I even in on this?"

"To tell the truth, it's pretty complicated. The only way I can really tell you is that the 'master' Noah gene that is above any other Noah gene was passed down the the both of you. I don't know of one of you-or even both of you- are meant to take the place of the 1st apostle."

"So let me get this straight," Neah said, sitting up again. "So we carry the will of Noah right? But God chose Noah because he was righteous and the other men were not- which explains the Flood and the boat that he built. How could people that carry an awakened Noah gene be so evil and cruel?"

"I believe that they call it the gene of Noah because he was the one to survive though what God washed away in the Flood. They carry what God had meant to wash away- Lust/Pleasure, Wrath, and so on. Although it says that the Noah fought against the first users of Innocence, I prefer to believe what the good book tells us, instead of it says on the Cube. Although Noah was great, the remnants of what was originally washed away came to be again through his own blood- his genes."

"I see." Neah then stood and began to pace around the room in thought. I closed my eyes and waited for him to speak again. Suddenly, in a more positive tone, he practically shouted, "I've got it!"

"What is it? Why are you so happy all of a sudden?"

"Well I wouldn't call it happiness, Winny, rather, I've thought of a great idea!"

"Well tell me, don't wait for me to ask you!" I urged him.

"If I could become the Earl of Millennium, then I could stop the other Noah and the akuma from continuing to destroy everything. I can control them enough to make them stop, and the akuma wouldn't be a problem for the Exorcists anymore."

"But in order to do something as extreme as that, you'd have to be a full Noah to control anyone. They just don't listen to someone with the gene. Plus you're not taking into consideration that even though they can be manipulated by the Earl in a way, they still have control over themselves and what they want to do. There's a possibility that they won't even listen to you, despite the fact that you might be the Earl."

"Then I'll kill them. There will be no other way to stop them from doing all these evil things."

"There's 13 of them, Neah. How are you gonna stop all of them like that?"

"One by one, I'll destroy every one of them that don't follow me. Simple as that. If they attack as a whole, then I'll just give them all I've got."

"You don't even know what your abilities are yet," I claimed. "for all you know they could be stronger than you."

"I won't let them. I have the 'master gene', so I'll use it best I can." he smirked. I stared at him, rethinking his plan. "Plus," he added. "if this goes well, then we won't have to worry about Mana either."

Minutes ticked by. I stood tall and walked over to Neah and rested a hand on his shoulder. I looked him straight in the face and said, "Neah, I am fully dedicated to assisting you and Mana. I will do anything to make sure you guys survive. And if you want my help here, I have one condition."

"What's that?"

"When you become a Noah, you can't think like one. The more you act or think like a Noah would, the more you become one of the Noah you're trying to destroy. And if I lost you, my best friend, to them, I'd go mad."

"I'll remember that. And if I do become one of them, I give you full permission to destroy me. In fact, I'll tell you now as a command- if I become an evil Noah, I want you to kill me, no one else."

"You have my word." I promised.

"Same here," Then the door opened a little, and Mana stepped into the room. He had a victorious smile on his face as he approached us.

"I want in on this," he announced. Before Neah or I could cut him off, he continued. "I know I wouldn't be able to fight, but I want to help in some way. This is also my problem, and you said you'd help the both of us, Winston." he paused. I nodded but didn't see where he was going with this.

"Mana, there's nothing else for you to do other than to not give in to the Noah inside of us," Neah stated. "I can handle everything else."

"I know you can Neah. But you're my little brother, and I want to make sure you're safe. So I only have one thing to add to your plan."

"Go ahead, tell us." I impatiently told him.

"Winston, you have to stay will Neah and help him fight. No matter what happens, do not leave his side." Mana let out. "Leave me here of you need to, but make sure he comes back alive."

I took a step back and shook my head a little. A small smile came across my face. "You guys don't understand," I whispered. "you just don't understand."

"What's wrong, Winny?" Neah asked. He came towards me, but I looked at both of them and began to speak again.

"I 'm here to protect the both of you. You're both the 13th and 14th Noah in the Noah Family, and I will protect the both of you until I die. Get that memorized."

Looking at each other, Neah and Mana both began to smile. In a chuckle, Mana said,

"Guess there's no getting around it." He walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, and Neah did the same. "You say you were meant to protect us? Then, you better do just that. This is your job now, Winston."

"Protect us, Winny, just as you say you will, and this should end so everything can go back to the way it was before. We need to win, and we need your help."

A while later, everyone gathered downstairs again and we began to talk like normal friends- nothing too serious or on matters of Noah or akuma. Soon after, Marian raided their basement for alcohol and became drunk in under twenty minutes. Instead of the drunken flirt he normally was, he was grumpy and annoying since there were no women around. Red and Mana talked about going into town the following day for some supplies.

Amid everything that was going on, Neah got up and started to play the piano in a side room of the house. I stood behind the corner and listened to him play for a while. When I turned in to see him, I saw that he had transformed. A white coat was over his back and a silver mask was over his face.

"His Noah form." I thought. The music was also different, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

I went upstairs as it hit midnight. I pulled off my coat from a hook and used it as a pillow instead of a dust mite infected one. The brothers should have really though about cleaning this room sometime soon.

It soon came to my attention that I had a weird feeling on my chest. I scratched at my skin as I tried to sleep, but the feeling stayed. I sat up from the bed and looked down at my chest when I spotted an abnormal mark on it. Panicking for a second, I rushed to the bathroom and examined myself in the mirror. My jaw dropped to the ground.

"What the heck is this?" I asked myself. A sign looked like it was stamped or burned into my chest. It looked like an X cross directly over where my heart would be. It glowed a light blueish color around the edges. "How did this happen?"

I immediately remembered making my promise to the brothers. I wouldn't have thought that something like that would cause this. But maybe, it could be because to whom I made my promise to. I frowned a little.

"I practically swore myself to the Earl of Millennium." I murmured. "And this mark is a reminder of my actions." I looked up and observed my face. My eyes changed to the color of the glowing that surrounded my mark. Blue-gray.

"Looks like my promise is forever, 14th."