A/N: Ok, I forgot to annotate what the (1) meant last chapter. They were condom wrappers. Yes, they did have condoms back then. I did the research, no worries! Did you know the Catholic Church has been against condoms for 411 years? Just a fun fact for you all haha. (Thanks to everyone for their Reviews, Faves, and Follows!)
Warning: Character death, Cross (he deserves his own warning), and
Allen: 10
I always thought it was weird how I don't remember anything before my time with that crazy man when I was 5.
It never fails to be a big blank of nothingness when I try to think about it, and it gives me such a headache.
When I met Mana I got off the liquor after he gave me a harsh lecture about how bad it was for me to be drinking so young.
He kept confusing me with this other kid he knew, but I'd correct him and he'd remember, or at least I thought he did. The things he'd mix up the most were our birthdays and where we grew up. Mana and I decided that my birthday would be on December 25; the same day he adopted me. The other's was July 29.
We went from place to place, never staying at one location long.
The day before I turned ten Mana and I arrived at a town on the outskirts of London. That's when tragedy struck. Mana died right in front of my eyes when he pushed me out of the way of an oncoming carriage.
His last words to me were, "Allen, remember what I always tell you. Never stop. Keep walking. I love you."
The next day the funeral was held. I thanked the town's people profusely for giving us such kindness.
I sat before the grave of the man who gave me a purpose in this world, tears still streaming down my face. "Oh, Mana! Why did you have to die? Why is the world so cruel?"
"Would you like me to bring your Mana back for you?" cooed a promising voice.
I looked at the man. He looked like a devilish clown. A fat one at that, but Mana told me to not judge people. "Good evening, young man. My name is the Millennium Earl. I would like to help you bring back your loved one."
"Shit!" Neah cursed, but I ignored his worrying in favor of the answer for my silent prayers.
"Can you really do that, sir?" I pleaded with the man, hoping his word was true.
Earl POV shift
"Why does he look so familiar? I mean, take away the scar and clean him up a little and he would look like my little Allen, but he is dead. He's gone. The blood…" I trailed off in my own thoughts. I start realizing the boy wanted an answer. "Yes, I can, but I need your help~! This here is where the soul of your loved one will go." I bring out the Akuma skeleton that is needed for this procedure. "All you need to do is call out his name~."
"Call out his name? Is that all I really have to do?" the boy questions with slight uncertainty.
"Yes! That's all you have to do. My magic will bring back your loved one from up above with your help," I respond, hoping the boy would say no, but they never do.
"O-ok. MANA!"
"Damn you for making me do this, God."
Mana's Soul POV
"I CURSE YOU, ALLEN!" I hear myself shouting. "Why am I saying that to my son? I shouldn't say that," I think. I feel the Earl's presence leave the cemetery and sigh with relief. I feel my body move on it's own and slash at the poor boys already scared face.
All of a sudden there was a blinding green light erupting from his left hand and it turns in to a claw and a white cape with a silver mask appears on him. I knew if I had eyes they would have widened in surprise. His Innocence has activated to save him… Thank you, Innocence for protecting this boy.
"MANA! Mana run!" he screams to me in desperation, tears falling down his face. But his Innocence makes him move forward and the Innocence grabs on to me, squeezing me.
"Kill me, Allen. I love you, forever and always," I mutter before disintegrating in to nothingness.
Allen POV (after everything happens)
"Allen! Shit, Allen! Speak to me," Neah cries out to me, but I just continue to stare blankly ahead.
The fat, evil clown left after I called out Mana's name. Now another weirdo joins the mix.
"Hey kid. Would you like to become an Exorcist?" the funny man asks. I didn't answer. More like I couldn't answer. My body had shut down on me. I heard him sigh and felt myself being picked up. "Guess we're going to Liverpool." If he said anything else I didn't hear him because my world went black.
-/-/-/-/
It's been a week since the weird man picked me up from Mana's grave and three days since I woke up after falling unconscious. I noticed my arm changed from scaly and red to smooth, but coarse, black. I clutch the ring Mana gave me the week before he… died. Said it was an early birthday present. It was too big to fit my fingers so I kept it in my pockets. I hold on to the paper that I've always known, humming it softly.
I haven't fallen back asleep since. I'd always have Mana with me, keeping me safe from falling back in to the clutches of Ryan once more. Cross doesn't stay in the room very much, only to change my sheets and give me food.
"Brat, have you gotten any sleep at all since you woke up?" Cross asks as he comes in. I look at him with wide eyes and try to hide myself in the shadows of the corner of my room. He sighs heavily. "I'm not going to hurt you." He sits down heavily in the chair next to my bed.
"Allen, you can relax around Cross. Believe it or not, he is a good guy. He's got a mouth on him that would make any old lady have a heart attack, but he won't hurt you like Ryan," Neah comforts me smoothly, sending me soothing waves to my soul. I visibly relax and come out from the shadows.
"Now, Brat, I'll ask you again, and I hate repeating myself, have you gotten any sleep?" He lights up a cigarette and takes a deep drag. I shake my head. "Why not?"
"I-I've been too scared, sir. Mana always slept in the same space as me to protect me from…" I trail off, not wanting to utter his name.
"From what? Spit it out." He relaxes in the chair and gives off a bored air.
"From Ryan…" I reply in a small voice, flinching slightly. Cross seems to notice it because his visible eye narrows at me.
"What's so scary about this Ryan guy?"
"He, um. The fir-first memory I have is of li-li-living in Ryan's house… He had me-he had me chained up in this room and he and his friends used to come-come over for play time, he said." Cross sits up straight and rigid in his chair. His eye wide, looking at me in shock. "I'd never see what they'd do to me, but-but I'd… I'd feel it." A new set of tears comes pouring out of my eyes and down my cheeks. "It hurt, Cross. It always hurt…"
He looks at me in disbelief. He doesn't want to believe it, and honestly, neither do I. I just wish those memories would go away, just like the first five years of my life…
"First of all, call me Master Cross. You're my apprentice so you need to address me as such. Secondly, I guess I'll stay in here. I'll get a futon, but I get the bed. Got it?"
My eyes light and I feel relief spread through out me. "Thank you, Cr- Master Cross!"
"Don't get used to this brat. I'm not always this nice."
-/-/-/-/-/-/ Three weeks later, after leaving Mother's house-/-/
Cross POV
We just walked out of Liverpool and I heard a blood curdling scream come from my right. I whip to the source and see my apprentice kneeling on the ground clawing at his left eye. Blood was flooding from it and the eye was pitch black with a red target in it. I drop my suitcase and rush to his side.
"Master it hurts! Make it stop!" he cries out, sorrow lacing his voice. I pull his blood-covered hands away from his face and inspect it further.
"Shit. That bloody bastard. Idiot Apprentice, it looks like your cursed. What are you seeing out of that eye?" I demand the young boy. He starts to settle down and focus in on our surroundings. His eyes widen and a look of terror flashes across his face.
"There's some type of mummy floating above that person down the street!" he shouts, pointing to a young woman with a fur coat and black flats. She turns toward us and sheds her skin, revealing her as a level 1 Akuma. I level Judgment to its body and fire, destroying it on impact.
The eye returns to its all too familiar color and the blood stops. He hiccups and looks a little relieved to no longer see the soul. "Master, what was that?" he hesitates to question.
"That, Idiot Apprentice, was a full blown Akuma. It looks like you can see the souls of Akuma… Make my job a lot easier."
-/-/-/-/-/ Three years later, In Russia-/-/
Allen: 13
I woke up to a terror filled scream. I immediately take up Judgment and jump of bed. I race toward the sound and arrive and my apprentice's room. I bust in through the door and I rush to his side. He was thrashing in his bed, the sheets tangling him, limiting his movements. Probably causing him more panic.
"Oi! Idiot, wake up!" I yell to the boy, trying to shake him awake. He grabs my wrist and twists hard, catching me off guard. Next thing I know is that I'm kneeling on the ground with my arm twisted behind my back in a grip so tight it could break my wrist.
"M-Master?" he stutters out, quickly releasing me from his hold. I turn to face him while I rub my sore limb. "I'm so sorry Master! It was reflex, I didn't mean to hurt you! Do you need me to run and grab you some ice?"
I grunt and roll my eyes. "Yeah, but I'm coming with you. If someone else startles you they may end up dead. Then you're gonna buy me a bottle of wine once you win us some money."
"Yes, Master."
We walk in silence after we changed in to our street clothes.
Ten minutes pass and I ask him, "What were you dreaming about?"
I see his shoulders tens at the question and he looks at me with pleading look in his eyes. I stare him down until he sighs with defeat. "I was-I was in that house again. But this time, Mana was there, sitting in the chair that resided in the corner, just watching. He had this huge grin on his face, and it scared me so much. I kept asking him to help me, but every time I did his grin would widen just a small bit…"
I put a hand on his head and I feel him flinch, but he doesn't make a move to push my hand away. "He'd never do that. You know that, Idiot Apprentice."
"I know, but it's just so scary to see it in a dream… It felt so real."
I sigh once more. "I know Idiot Apprentice. I know."
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
A/N: Ok. I decided to stop there for some reason. Next chapter Allen would have already been at the Order for a while. It will be the time Allen and Lenalee go to the rewinding town! The Order will not know what happened in Allen's past.
I need to do a poll. Options are: 1. Evil Order, Nice Noah; 2. Evil Order, Previously Nice Noah turned Evil; 3. Some Evil (like Leviere and his crew) Order, Nice Noah.
So, I need your ballets in soon, cause I am flying through updates on this.
Yes, Allen does have Crown Clown, but it won't be critical point breaker because, what fun would that be? He will have a 99% synchro rate, 'cause I love him.