Allen woke up the next day to see the room currently empty. He had guessed his friends and Charity went home for the day yesterday and he was somewhat glad. He didn't want their health to decline from lack of sleep and worry. A nurse came in to change the IV. She had blond hair and brown eyes.
"Excuse me, miss...?"
"Just call me Eliade. What can I do for you?" she asked, not taking her eyes off her current objective of changing the IV.
"I was wondering. Could you please give me a notebook of sorts? I like to write lyrics and have a good idea right now."
She smiled at that and nodded when she finished placing the IV. "Of course. I can get one from the gift shop, just a moment," she said and ran off. She returned ten minutes later with a notebook in hand and gave it to Allen. She also handed him a pencil.
"Thank you." he smiled and opened the notebook happily. He began to write as he sat up in his hospital bed, with the head pulled up so he could lean back against the pillows and relax. Two hours later, Charity and the band, along with Road and Tyki came to visit.
"The nurse bought that for you? Wow, you're really popular with people, aren't ya Brit?"
"What do you mean, Lavi?" Allen asked in confusion. His eyes widened when Lavi lifted up a large bag in his hands, the entire thing filled with letters from every student and teacher from the school.
"This is what I mean, Al," the redhead replied with an exasperated expression. Lenalee, Road, and Charity giggled while Kanda's scowl deepened.
"All the students and teachers decided to toss aside the schools assignments for today and write Get-Well letters!" Lenalee informed happily, a bright smile on her face.
Allen's eyes were unbelievably wide. He didn't know people could care this much. And no ones ever done something like this for him before. He looked at his friends then grabbed a letter from the bag and opened it. He started reading.
"Dear Allen Walker,
I honestly don't know what to say. I'll speak for everyone in the school when I say what happened the other day was terrifying. We may not act like we care too much most of the time, but after seeing what happened the other day I think the entire school's had a big change. Even the bullies that usually pick on others for fun haven't even bothered doing so now. It's actually quite surprising how you and your sister alone could change the school so much. I know it probably doesn't mean much, but I wanna say that you are indeed an amazing person. You changed how so many people are towards others by not doing a single thing except be yourself.
Get well again and play soccer with me and my friends, man! I hope to see you at school again soon, although you probably haven't seen me and don't know me 'cause I'm not in your class or anything. You probably don't even remember I was at your hospital room, dude! You were, like, so out of it that you tried picking a fight with my brother Kanda! Ha! It was hilarious so I'm sure you and I will be great friends! Lates, my friend, get well!
Sincerely, Daisya Barry."
Everyone in the room listened intently to the letter and were a bit surprised when they realized near the end that it was actually Daisya's letter. Allen laughed, setting the letter down in his lap as he held his abdomen. "Yeah, I think your brother sounds cool, Kanda. Even in a letter, he sounds energetic!" Allen commented with a smile that made the long haired boy glare at him intensely.
After reading some more of the letters, Allen had fallen asleep. Charity collected the already opened and read letters and placed them in a separate bag to take home. Lavi stretched his entire body out with a groan and a yawn, much like a cat as he sat in a nearby chair. Lenalee picked up the notebook on the side table and opened it. She smiled as she saw lyrics of a different song on three or four different pages.
She closed it and set it back down, looking at Kanda who was dozing. Lavi was braiding his hair with a big grin until Kanda abruptly opened his eyes and glared at him. "You asleep? That Allen fell asleep too," Lavi piped up, smiling.
"Get off me! Of course he fell asleep! He didn't want to listen to your ass, zeek!" Kanda retorted as he punched Lavi in the stomach and removed the braids as well as his high ponytail. Lavi coughed, holding his abdomen but was smiling nervously as he sweat dropped. He was slightly pissed, although he kept his cool. Can't fight in the hospital, 'specially when poor Allen's right there, but I'll be sure to kick his ass when we leave! Lavi hissed, musing on what to do once they leave.
Daisya burst through the door at that moment, forcing Allen to jump awake at the sudden entrance. "Ah'm awake! Wha' happen?" Allen asked, his words slurred from sleep. This somehow made his British accent thicken even more. Daisya stared for a moment before grinning and turning a chair, sitting in it backwards.
"Hey, hey, hey, Brit ol' Boy! It's me, Daisya! Ya read my letter, right?" he smirked cheerfully as he looked at Allen who nodded his head. The white haired boy turned to his sister, rubbing his left eye with his right closed sleepily like a child as he spoke.
"Sis... Ah'm hungry..." he mumbled cutely, putting his hand down and half opening his left eye as he stared at Charity. She and Road giggled and hugged him tightly.
"He's so cute!" They exclaimed excitedly. Allen blinked a couple times with a confused expression. All he wanted was food, so why were they screaming like they just found the cutest thing in the world?
"Food," he said. They just kept squealing while staring at him. He was starting to get irritated.
"Food!" he repeated and they stopped when they realized what he said. He sighed in defeat. I can't win, He thought pitifully with a pout as Lavi suddenly handed him some food. He smiled and immediately started to eat, the food being gone in less than three minutes. Kanda scowled, glaring at the white haired boy then his scowl deepened when he looked at Daisya.
Why can't that bastard stay home for once? Kanda thought irritably with an inaudible sigh. He was brought out of his thoughts by abrupt coughing, and everyone looked at Allen who had his arm over his mouth as his body was racked by terrible coughs.
When he finished, he was breathing heavily and he had paled considerably once again. He laid back and closed his eyes as he grimaced. It hurt to breathe. Even movement felt like he had a thousand needles digging into his skin. "Allen? Are you all right?" he heard Lenalee's worried voice and forced his eyes open. His vision was blurry at first but soon cleared up.
The pain in his lungs caused each breath to hurt and he started to wheeze, struggling to get the right amount of air. What's wrong with me? I was fine a moment ago! he thought frantically. He could feel his heart speed up and by the sound of the machine that monitored his heart, it wasn't a very good pace.
"Allen!" Charity cried as doctors rushed in. Tiedoll held her back and placed all of them in the waiting room. He bowed apologetically.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait here for now... Until we discover what's wrong, no one can see him. You'd be in the way of the operation," he said, his tone serious but also kind and sorrowful. Charity burst into tears and grabbed the man's wrist before he could walk away.
"Please save him! Save my brother!" she begged, tears streaming down her face. Tiedoll smiles at her and nods before he enters the Emergency Room to help with his patient.
Two hours later, Tiedoll comes out and stands in front of each of them. "It seems your brother has a rare case of tuberculosis that affects the lungs. Charity, your immune system is much stronger than Allen's, and so you did not catch the virus, however you will receive a vaccination just in case.
The rest of you, Daisya, Kanda, Lavi, and Lenalee. You four received the vaccinations as children and had a new one just last year, so the virus cannot affect you. Furthermore, it would seem that Allen has had a very weak immune system since birth, which explains why he is so easily ill. Also, he contracted the virus from the blade he used to cut himself. We realized this after some testing on the wounds, since it is spread by bacteria. If the disease isn't treated properly, he could die."
Everyone stared at him in shock as he explained everything, even Kanda. Charity looked devastated, as the thought of her only real family dying terrified her to the very core of her being. She shook her head slowly with wide eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks fast as she backed up. I don't have the money to get Allen treatment! Even if I worked to save as much as I can, Allen won't last long!
"I don't have the money to get him hospital treatment though!" she replied. Tiedoll looked at her with sorrowful eyes and she fell to her knees, wailing heart breaking sobs as she held her hands to against her ears. Lavi looked from Charity to Tiedoll desperately.
"Can't you do anything, Tiedoll?! He's our friend!" Lavi begged. Tiedoll simply shook his head before replying.
"The hospital says unless you pay for the treatment and the medicine, he can't be treated. I can't convince the higher ups of the hospital to do anything."
Lavi glared at the floor with his fists clenched and shoulders shaking. His red hair fell into his eyes as it was not held up by a headband and he sat down in frustration. He felt utterly useless. He and Bookman had money, but not enough. Even if everyone pitched in, it wouldn't be enough. Everyone froze when they suddenly heard a voice.
"Charity? What's wrong?" a man asked. He had dark brown hair, and a youthful face, but it was obvious he was older. The younger twin looked up with tears in her eyes and immediately ran over towards the strange man, hugging him tight.
"Uncle Neah!" she sobbed hard and Neah stared at her in shock for a moment before glaring at Tiedoll. "Where's my nephew?" he asked, anger clear in his eyes. Tiedoll explained the situation and Neah didn't hesitate to pull out his wallet.
"I'll pay for everything. The bills, the treatment. Everything. As long as you save my nephew I don't care how much I have to pay you." He stated with determination. Tiedoll nodded and informed the higher ups of the man's proposal. Enthralled and shocked by the man's resolve to pay anything to save his nephew, they didn't dare give him the wrong amount of which he had to pay them. And he paid without hesitation.
Once allowed to enter Allen's room, Neah Walker went to Allen's bedside and sat beside him. His nephew had to have a machine help him breathe since he couldn't on his own and the boy's heart rate was weak. The others entered shortly after. None of them could catch the virus thanks to vaccinations, but the virus wasn't even their main concern.
Allen was just barely clinging to life. It was surprising really how weak one person's immune system could actually be against illnesses such as this. The older twin opened his eyes weakly and looked at Charity, who held his hand tightly. He managed a light squeeze around hers making the girl look up to reveal her tear-stained face and red rimmed eyes.
He noticed Neah next to her and managed a weak smile towards the man. He missed Neah a lot, he reminded him a lot of Mana with how caring and kind he could be. But Neah was also very protective. Allen coughed a little, his eyelids drooping as he struggled to stay awake. He didn't want to go back to sleep, not yet.
But the fatigue he felt won, and he slipped into a deep sleep.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Lenalee asked worriedly. Her friend was in pretty bad shape. His skin was deathly pale and without the machine to help him breathe he would have died by now. His body and mind were too weak to function properly at the moment, and even with the machine to help, his breath is still very shallow.
"I hope so... I can't lose him. We've been inseparable since birth! If he dies... it'll be like losing my other half. A half of myself that can never be replaced by anyone. I mean, yeah, we're twins. But it's more than that. We have a connection that's like two halves of one being. Think about it. If you lose someone that close to you, it feels as if half of your very being itself just died along with them," Charity sniffed, wiping away some unnoticed tears. Lenalee stared at her with wide eyes.
She had to wonder what that felt like. To be that close to someone. Sure, she loved her brother and was close to him. But she never thought of him as her other half, another part of her being. She only sees him as her beloved brother.
"So, who're you?" Lavi asked, looking at Neah.
"I'm Neah Walker. Nice to meet you. I assume you are all Allen's friends, then?" he retaliated with another question, his protectiveness getting the best of him. Everyone except Kanda nodded. "Che!" was the samurai wannabe's reply.
"Sorry, Yuu's a bit shy." the redhead smiled. Kanda had to force himself to not kill the baka usagi in the hospital. He was worried about the British teen - not that he'd ever admit it - and knew that the boy needed his rest. So instead he glared menacingly at the rabbit, sending a silent message towards him. Lavi sweat dropped, a deep fearful frown on his face as he contemplated his fate after they left the hospital.
They arrived at Charity's house and walked in. The band and Charity, along with Daisya and Neah were greeted by Timcanpy. The pups ears and tail dropped when he didn't see Allen and he whimpered.
"Sorry, guys. He really loves Allen since he was the one who didn't hesitate to pick him up off the streets. Ever since Allen was admitted into the hospital, Tim has really missed him. He rarely leaves Allen's room unless I'm home so he tends to eat and drink up there as well." Charity explained sadly. Everyone took a seat.
"Why doesn't he leave Allen's room?" Daisya asked.
"You idiot, he doesn't leave because Allen's scent is all over the room. An animal who loves their owner this much will usually stay in places where their owners' belongings are since they would carry that person's particular scent," Lavi said.
Timcanpy barked and sniffed Daisya's hand then Neah's. He wagged his tail when he sniffed Neah and let his tongue loll to the side. Neah laughed and petted the dog. "He also seems to know whose family. Such a smart dog. I've always loved animals and so have the twins, but Allen seems to have a natural affinity for them," he states, scratching the dog behind the furry golden ears.
Unlike normal german shepherds, Timcanpy was a dark golden color. His fur was slightly longer and softer than normal as well, with long pointed ears. But even though his teeth were dangerously sharp, he had the sweetest face a dog could ever have. "He looks like a cross between a german shepherd and a dark golden retriever," Lenalee commented.
The others nodded in agreement. The doorbell rang and Neah answered it. "You actually came? And for once you smell... Sanitary!" Neah exclaimed.
"Of course I do! I haven't had a drink since the day Allen was put in the hospital! When he was admitted, do you know who, of all people, called and informed me about Allen? That old art obsessed bastard, Tiedoll! If he loves art so much, why'd he become a damn doctor?" A gruff voice replied as they walked back to the others. Charity looked surprised at first but hugged her uncle anyway. Allen and Charity loved Uncle Cross, he was just a bit intolerable at times.
"Everyone, this is my other uncle. Cross Marian Walker," she announced with a smile. Her uncle didn't smell of alcohol or cigarettes, which was a bit of a surprise. Whenever he stopped drinking or smoking, it was because he was extremely worried about someone. Usually, that someone turned out to be Allen. After Mana died, Allen was stricken with fever for two weeks.
The doctors said he wouldn't live but miraculously he did. Whenever Allen fell ill, Cross wouldn't drink or smoke even once. He didn't even leave the boy's side, in terrible fear the doctors diagnosis of Allen dying coming true.
Neah took Cross into another room to explain Allen's condition carefully, since he had not heard all the details. Charity sat back down shakily and sighed. "Uncle Neah and Uncle Cross are extremely worried. It's obvious since Uncle Cross smells completely different than usual - no alcohol or cigarette smell at all. Uncle Neah's behavior is different as well; normally he's kind to everyone. But he held hostility towards Tiedoll, and when he saw you guys, I'm positive that he had various suspicions,"
The group sighed. They seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Lenalee hugged Allen's notebook close to her chest, tears starting to stream down her face. "I feel so helpless. Allen's my friend, but I'm not able to do anything for him." She hated it when her friends were hurt or terribly ill. To Lenalee, her friends were a part of her family. Charity smiled sadly at the other girl, the younger twins eyes bloodshot and rimmed red from crying and lack of sleep.
"Lena... You're doing more than you know. As you know, Allen's never had any friends like you guys before. Just being here is helping him. Just letting him know you care is enough." She soothed, although tears were running down her face again. Lavi looked down, carrying the same feelings as Lenalee. And although he didn't show it, because his best talent was hiding his emotions, Kanda's face relaxed as he was feeling helpless as well. And he hated that feeling. It felt awful.
Daisya had left a little while ago after Cross arrived.
"Damn it, Neah! What the fucks with this place? You had it built!" Cross yelled as he walked around the house, finding all sorts of hidden contraptions. "Ah, hell. It's better than that place I stayed at in Seattle. I am never going there again. Might as well place signs all over the city that say, 'Home Of Grunge,'" he sweeps his hand in the air separately to emphasize the three last words.
Charity giggled then took the notebook from Lenalee for a moment. She turned to a page and began to read the lyrics. Halfway through, tears started streaming down her face but she made sure they didn't get on the paper. Lenalee held her hand, her eyes full of concern until Charity showed her the song. It was both heart warming and sad, about two twins who were separated in childhood. The song ended in tragedy, as the girl would be killed but her brother who looked exactly like her took the girls place and was executed in his sister's place.
Lenalee placed a hand over her mouth as she felt tears brim her eyes. She blinked forcefully, gaining that determined look she always did and read a note that was in the corner of the page. "'This is how much I am willing to sacrifice for my dear twin. The title shall be, 'Servant Of Evil'."
This grabbed everyone's attention, even the two bickering men's. Charity took the notebook and began to sing.
"O my Queen, you have me as your faithful servant alone
We were twins, torn apart when our fates should have shone
O my Queen, to shield thee from danger's deadly call
I will sin, I will kill, I will sacrifice my all
Fourteen years ago we were both born into this hell
Praised and blessed by the people and the church's bell
Being in our family we must play by the rules
Even if we look the same, I am destined as your tool
They can swear you their enemy, or curse all they want
They can brandish their swords, and be on the hunt
Never fear, never cry, I will always be near
Let not your smile, my sun, turn into icy tears
O my Queen, you have me as your faithful servant alone
We were twins, torn apart when our fates should have shone
O my Queen, to shield thee from danger's deadly call
I will sin, I will kill, I will sacrifice my all
While running errands in a peaceful town nearby
I ran into a pleasant lady with emerald green eyes
Smiling with her face so fair, singing with her voice so bright
I was captivated then, knowing love at first sight
But this love will remain locked deep inside
For the Queen gave orders, "The girl must die"
I will answer her wishes, her mind I will ease
So why, my Lord, do my tears fail to cease?
O my Queen, you have me as your faithful servant alone
We are twins, like two seeds in the soils of madness sown
"O my Queen, your dessert for today is brioche"
And you smiled, and you smiled, innocent without a flaw
People of the country were possessed with fear and rage
Threatening to kill the Queen, to move on to a new age
If this is what they call a retribution for her sins
God's words I will go against, for the life of my twin
"Here are my spare clothes, now wear these and run
Don't turn back, don't stop, don't talk to anyone
Don't you worry we look the same in every way
No one would ever notice that you got away"
O now I am the Queen, and you the escapee
We are twins, like two boats in the stormy sad seas
They say you are a lady of vice and disdain
Then I am evil as well, with the same blood in my veins
Once upon a time in a country far away
Where a lot of crimes were committed every day
My lovely little sister who was fourteen years of age
Was crowned as the Queen, dancing on history's stage
They can swear you their enemy, or curse all they want (Finally, long awaited, the time had come)
They can brandish their swords, and be on the hunt (The deafening chimes sounded a little bit glum)
Never fear, never cry, I will always be near (The crowd showed not a sign of sympathy)
Let not your smile, my sun, turn into icy tears (Grinning to the world, you spoke my line on your knees)
O my Queen, you have me as your faithful servant alone
We were twins, torn apart when our fates should have shone
Somehow in our next life, if we ever meet again
Let us play together once more, and be the best of friends."
The entire thing touched Charity's heart. Even the note that was placed on the side. She giggled and hugged the notebook with care. He had planned to write this song two years ago, but when he couldn't finish it, he stopped. Her favorite dessert was brioche, a French pastry that is rich and tender.
The emerald green eyed girl had been a crush of his, but the moment the girl gave him a look of disgust, Charity beat the crap out of her and Allen let her but cried his eyes out soon after. At first when known as children with white hair and silver eyes, people praised and blessed the twins as they viewed them as human born angels from a different town.
But when their arms were revealed, they were forced into in an orphanage then a home with Mana, where they had to follow the rules. Even though Allen and Charity's left arms were the same, Allen took the brunt of the attacks in order to protect Charity. Sometimes he would even change clothes with her and force her into hiding. She protected him, yes, but very differently, as he was the one to take the beatings most while she hid and cried. None of this was even mentioned in the notebook diaries.
"I can't wait till Allen gets better! He'll be able to sing the song, then! My lines are right here, near the ending." She smiled wide as she pointed to the four lines. She was so happy he finished the song. It had a tragic ending, but it was about them. That was enough for her.
Thank you, Allen.
The song is obvious xD it's Servant Of Evil by Len Kagamine. The lines emphasized by ( ) are sung by Rin Kagamine, or in this story's case, Charity.
