Chapter 3

"Allen, happy birthday!" A melodic voice cried, followed by other voices. A cake with burning candles was shoved into his faded out vision and singing started.

"Happy birthday, happy birthday.

May the candles on your cake, burn like cities in your wake.

But happy birthday, but happy birthday,

Death, destruction, and despair, people dying everywhere.

But happy birthday, but happy birthday.

Happy birthday, Allen."

He blew out the flames and smiled in the first time of his life. "Thank you, guys." He said. "Hey, Allen?" He turned to the owner's childish melodic voice. Unfortunately, his vision was so faded that he could only see her mouth and below. He saw thick, white hair flow down past her shoulders. "Yeah, Aleah?"

The girl before him smiled brightly. "This is your first birthday, right?"

He nodded. "Then let's make it special! We'll make it an unforgettable day!" She replied, and the man behind her grabbed her shoulder when she moved to get up. "Remember, Aleah. You're not allowed to walk yet. You're still pretty weak." The girl pouted. "Okay, Doctor." She said and sat back down as another person came up behind her holding a package, which she gave to the girl. "Here you go, little Shrimp!" She said and stepped back. The girl smiled again. "Thanks Lulu Belle!" She then turned to him and gave the package to him. "Open it, Allen. It's your birthday gift from both Alex and I!"

He smiled again and started opening it. His right hand tore away the paper and he held up a coat. It was green with a checkered pattern to it and there was a belt attached to it. He smiled largely. He really needed to stop, it was hurting his cheeks. "Thanks."

Everyone smiled and more gifts were brought out. He was surprised that even the servants had gifts that they bought for him. He expected some of them to get gifts for him, but not all of them. All of the gifts were small and was connected to performing, like face paint, and one even bought him a glove to cover up his arm. He could feel himself grow happier as they gave him the presents. Later that night, he slept in the most comfortable bed, something he wasn't even allowed to see at the circus, with the two children of the household. They were twins, and they were the first friends that he ever had. He slept in-between them, their different colored hair shining brightly in the moonlight that filtered in the window. "Happy birthday, Allen." They whispered to him as they all fell into sleep's gentle embrace, their silver and red eyes shining with drowsiness as they closed, engulfing them in darkness.

"Allen Walker! Get up right now!" A wave of water greeted him.

A voice yelled in his ear and Allen bolted in his bed. He looked around his Inn room with wide eyes and spotted Link next to his bed. Lavi stood behind the blond, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he held a bucket. "Walker, you slept in. It's almost 12! Get dressed and downstairs before the food gets cold." He said and stomped out, shoving Lavi out with him.

Allen sighed and put his left hand over his eyes. He felt Timcanpy land on his head and wrap his tail around Allen's neck gently. 'That was a dream...? No...a memory. Why can't I remember it?' He thought. Allen slid off his bed, sighing as he grabbed some of his clothes. He quickly changed out of his nightclothes, his left eye aching slightly. Grabbing his Exorcist jacket, hanging from the bedpost, Allen went downstairs to where his comrades sat.

Lavi and Lenalee looked up as he entered the room. "You slept pretty hard, Beansprout. Had a good dream?" The red headed Exorcist teased him. Allen nodded distractedly. "Yeah, I guess." He replied, grabbing a plate and filled it with food. He sat down next to Kanda and started eating slowly. The Japanese Exorcist eyed him in suspicion, his dark eyes glancing between his face and the plate of food. Allen simply shrugged at him and continued eating.

"Lavi, why didn't you memorize the map Komui gave to us?" Lenalee yelled in frustration, her angry gaze glued onto the poor rabbit. Lavi cowered behind Allen in fear. "I'm sorry! I didn't have any time to do it on the train!" Growling lowly, Lenalee activated her Innocence. Allen quickly moved out of her way as she slammed her foot onto Lavi head, his face connecting with the forest floor with a loud thunk. Turning her head to the two Finders, she held out her hand, gesturing for the map. As the men shuffled through their bags, Allen watched with a sigh. Thankfully for him, he didn't have the map. He was always bad at directions, and he wasn't very good at keeping onto paper like this.

"Allen? Is that you?"

Allen froze, his eyes widening in excitement. His friends stopped and glanced at him as he turned around. A woman with curly hair the same shade as Kanda's own hair stood behind him. Instead of the normal maid dresses female servants wear in this era, she wore male clothes, which were stained with dirt and grass. Tears made her bright blue eyes sparkle as she took another step towards the group. A look of hopeful shock was etched onto her pale face. "Please, don't tell me this is a dream...That is you, Allen, right?"

The teen smiled at her. "Hi, Lulu Bell. How are you doing?"

Lulu Bell's face lit up as the tears from earlier fell down her pale cheeks and she launched herself at him. Caught off-guard, Allen fell back as she crashed into him. "Oh my God, Allen! We all missed you so much, little bean~! You've been gone for so long! Where have you been?" Lulu Bell smiled down at him, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. He glared at her in annoyance. "Get off."

She looked up. "Who're your friends?"

"Lulu Bell, last time. Get off."

"Stick in the mud." The older girl climbed off of him, sticking her tongue out at him as she help Allen up. "But seriously, who are they?"

"These are my friends. Guys," He turned to the other Exorcists. "This is Lulu Bell, the gardener of the Angel family. Lulu, this is Lenalee, Lavi, Choaji, Kanda, and Link. They came with me to visit you all!" Lulu Bell rose a skeptical eye brow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Allen, what are you hiding?" Allen blinked. What? "I'm not hiding anything."

Lulu Bell sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "What are we going to do with you, little Bean?" She grumbled to herself. Allen's eye twitched at the familiar, annoying nickname. "Don't call me that." She stuck her tongue at him again.

"Hey, Lulu Bell!" Lavi slung his arm over the shorter person's shoulders. His face was slightly pinched, he was no doubt thinking about another Lulu Bell. "Mind showing us the way to the Angel household? We kinda got lost, and as you already know, Allen isn't the best at directions." Allen would've been offended, if it wasn't true. Lulu Bell smirked at the redhead. "Why, that is a great idea! Also, when did you pry your face out of the ground? I could've sworn Lenalee kicked it deep into the dirt..."

"You saw that?!"

"Yup."

The mansion they were heading towards was at least 5 stories high, and a huge and elegant metal and stone fence surrounding it, preventing forest animals from getting in. Green vines crawled up both the building and the fence as different colored roses bloomed from the vines. Inside the fence was a garden with a sculpture of two women with wings rising high into the sky. The one on the left held a giant broadsword in front of herself and her apparent twin. The woman herself was beautiful, and in her long, wavy hair was a crown of flowers. Vines sneaked up her legs and arms as her short nightgown and hair moved in a frozen wind.

(He wasn't sure why grief and sorrow stabbed him in the chest when he saw it, yet if Neah was quiet, then it most likely had something to do with him.)

The other one held a scythe in her hands. She didn't have crown of flowers, but she did have thistle vines entangling her legs. On her head was a crown of thorns woven into her hair. She had shorter hair than the other woman, and her nightgown reached her ankles, yet it was quite clear that they were related somehow. As they walked past it, Lavi paused and stared up at it, his eye narrowing. "Lavi?" Lenalee called, her violet eyes filled with concern. "Something wrong?"

Lavi shook his head, his green eye never leaving the woman with the sword. "Nothing's wrong. Let's get inside." He said and ran to catch up with them. The servant led them into the building, the Exorcists and Finders following after her obediently as they walked deeper into the mansion. In the foyer, the floor was marble and a great staircase twisted up to the right, a painting of an albino woman hanging at the top.

(Allen's eyes stung as his gaze landed on her. He heard Lavi whistle at the sight of the beautiful woman, and he felt an urge to smack the rabbit. The redhead shouldn't have done that, and if she was still alive, Ange-Allen chose to glare at him instead.)

A chandelier hung from the ceiling, the lit candles glowing brightly as the sunlight filtered in through the windows above the doors. The floor was decorated with silver carpeting with black feather designs, and hanging from the walls were mirrors and paintings.

(Allen didn't have to look to know that Neah's shadow still loomed over him in the glass, nor did he have to look at the art to remember what was there. Everything was still there, exactly how he left it, the only things changing was the occupant's ages-and maybe a few new faces here and there.)

Sitting on desks that lined the halls was flower vases with bouquets or unlit candles resting in candle holders.

(He could remember running through these same halls, laughing as he raced with an albino girl, a box thumping almost painfully against his leg. They raced against each other, trying to see who would give their present to her first. Allen won that round, and Angeli-she loved it, both his and her daughter's.)

Lulu Bell stopped them as she took out a key. She unlocked the double doors to their left and ushered them all inside. Everyone besides Allen explored the room as the gardener walked out. He stared at the inside of the room in wonderment as a wave of nostalgia hit him. It looked just as he remembered it being. The last time he was in this particular room, Mana was still alive, yet it was as if time froze inside it, waiting for his return. Kanda sat heavily on a chair (Childish laughter rang in Allen's mind. Many times, he spent his day playing with the other two children, learning to read and write while snuggling with them in that chair) as Lavi and the Finders attacked the giant bookcase leaning against the right wall. (He could remember learning about so many different things in the books that were held by that same bookcase. He could also remember getting lost in the books, and his friends pouncing on him to break the spell the timeless beings put on him. Allen had often forgot about food when he was reading.) Lenalee slowly migrated through the room, stopping at the windows and Choaji stared at a painting with bored eyes. Allen stayed frozen on the spot. Everything screamed 'Welcome home' to him.

The door opened quickly, startling the room's occupants. Allen turned as a voice squealed his name. A small body crashed into him, sending him back a few steps as a few more people slipped through the door. "Allen! You're back!" Another voice yelled, this one more masculine, and yet another body landed on him, sending Allen and the girl hanging off his shoulders to the ground. His head banged painfully on the wood floor as an even smaller body landed on his stomach, forcing his breath to leave him.

Allen started laughing loudly as he tried to shove them off. "Ow! Guys, get off!" They reluctantly rolled off of him and he climbed to his feet quickly. The albino Exorcist looked down and his silver eyes met two ruby eyes sparkling mischievously. Her thick white hair was held back by pins, revealing her left eye that normally would have been hidden.

(A red eye shining with a mischievous glint peered down at him with a grin. Allen looked up at her, smiling as she jumped off the rock and into a shallow pool of water. He grinned and soft laughter pooled out of the boy next to him as they watched water splash into the air. It sparkled in the sunlight, making it look like fairies were dancing around her.)

"You too, Aleah."

Aleah pouted, yet slid off him without a word.

"Allen, you really need to come by more often," He glanced back up to the other boy. He was (Finally!) shorter than Allen, even though it was only a couple inches, his spiky black hair making up for the last few inches between his and Allen's height. He had his usual blank frown on his face, but Allen could tell he was happy. "We wouldn't have been able to recognize you if it wasn't for Lulu Bell," He paused. "And the descriptions you gave us over the phone and letters."

Allen grinned. "Nice to see you too, Alex." A small grin cracked Alex's blank expression, and his silver eyes, darker than Allen's, swirled with mirth.

(That look wasn't very common on his face, yet when it came, someone was going to go through Hell soon after. Allen was hit with it once, and afterwards, he found scorpions in his shoes. They were dead, yes, but they still scared the living daylights out of him. Alex woke up with makeup smeared all over his face the next morning.)

"Allen!" A deeper, tired voice cut in before Alex could say anything. Everyone in the room looked towards the door. A man with a cane stood in the doorway, grinning in happiness. He shuffled forwards and quickly enveloped Allen into a hug. He would've given the Noah a bear hug, if it wasn't for the fact that the old man was sick. "Welcome home, Allen."

(The man smiled down at him, his silver eyes gentle. "Hello," He said, crouching down to look at him at eye level. "I understand that you have been through something very traumatic." That was an understatement. The man put his right hand on Allen's shoulder. It was the disfigured one. His body tensed, and the man must have felt it, for he frowned in concern at him. His eyes traveled down the boy's arm to where his hand poked out of the long sleeve. The man took Allen's hand and rubbed his thumb over the top of the appendage. "Don't worry. As long as you are in these walls, you are safe. This can be your home while your father recovers."

The woman behind him smiled at him, reminding him of one of those angels that the circus doctors would always force him to look at it. They claimed that reading the Bible would flush out that demon hiding in his arm. All it did was give him a burning hatred for the religion. "Welcome home, Allen.")

Allen smiled at him, though he couldn't help a worried look slowly seep onto his face as he took in his appearance. The man looked like he had just rolled out of bed, his clothes were slightly wrinkled, and his hair that was usually slicked back against his head was messy. Under his eyes were large bags, yet they were still bright. "It's good to be back, James."

"Father!" Aleah pouted again and quickly walked to his side. "What are you doing out of bed! The doctor said-"

"The doctor said every once in a while I can walk around. I haven't walked on my own in two weeks. At least let me greet my fourth child!"

"Allen's not related to us at all." Alex called from behind Allen. Ouch.

"Doesn't mean that I can't see him as my son." James then turned to Allen. "It's nice to see you again, Allen. Now, come on! Let's go have some lunch and catch up on what we missed in your life."

"Oh! And then Alex fell asleep in the tree-"

"Aleah! I swear to God if you don't stop!"

Allen smiled as he watched the twins bicker. Lavi and Lulu Bell shared grins as Lenalee, James, and the Finders were having a side conversation. Loala(the blonde girl that jumped on Allen's stomach earlier. He couldn't remember her, so James must have adopted her after he left, for James didn't remarry after Ang-she died)and Chaoji watched the two conversations with slight interest.

"Sis! You promised not to tell anyone!" Allen tuned back into the conversation he was currently in the middle of. Aleah sat on his left smiling innocently while Alex glared at her from his right. Allen popped a piece of salad into his mouth as he watched Aleah's eyes light up. He smirked in amusement. "I did no such thing! Besides, I didn't tell anyone. They happened to over hear it while we were talking!"

"Aleah. Shut. It." Slight laughter rang out in the air from those around him, quickly followed by demented, crazy laughter.

Allen's eyes widened as the sound of a gear whirring registered in his brain. He stood up, his chair falling behind him, catching everyone's attention. "Get down!"

Boom!

Aleah coughed as she blinked her eyes open. She could smell dust in the air, sticking to her skin and invading her lungs. She coughed harder, and a hand pressed something soft to her face, covering her mouth and nose. The coughing slowly dissipated, and she took the cloth from the hand. Aleah glanced up, and her eyes met a mask. She jolted back, gasping in surprise as she took in more of its appearance. It didn't have a defined physical body; some sort of sentient cloth covered what she would assume to be it's torso. Parts of the cloth moved away, reminding her of how waves in water would act like. It revealed someone's side, a black jacket covering the muscle as white strings criss crossed their way over the black cloth. Wait, she knew that jacket.

"Allen?" A head popped up over a hood as the cloth surrounding her slowly unwrapped from her body. She glanced towards her family and they were slowly being revealed by the cloth. Lulu Bell locked gazes with her before attending to her father. The two men that came with Allen and his friends were setting something that she couldn't exactly see up. With a jolt, she realized she didn't catch their names. Oh well. She can always ask later, assuming they can survive this. Whatever this is.

Aleah glanced back at the being that saved her. The head was looking around, yelling something she couldn't catch-her ears were still ringing-and it moved away. She caught sight of what looked like white hair. "...Allen? Is that you?"

It looked back at her, and Allen's concerned face peered down at her. He asked her something, she still couldn't hear-why was her ears ringing? Did someone shoot at them?-yet she could still understand. Thank the lord she could read lips. Aleah slowly nodded with her hand to her mouth. She couldn't risk taking it away from her mouth; the albino girl didn't completely understand, but it felt like it was dire that she kept it there. Allen's face relaxed in what she thought was relief, she was pretty sure she was seeing the grass green flit across her vision, but the pure white and turquoise surrounding him blocked his usual aura from her gaze. Aleah blinked in surprise as she peered closer at Allen's face. As she took in his face, the tattoo on his face morphed into something resembling a scar.

It was pinched up at the edges, and was the color of blood. No one she knew was insane enough to get a mark in red like that. People thought of it as the sign of the Devil. Then again, they would consider albinos devils as well, and as far as she knew, she wasn't one. Neither was her mother. She was an absolute angel. Fitting how she was married into the Angel family...

Allen turned back around just as one of the men grabbed her by the arm and yanked her away. Some sort of shield came up seconds after she reached the others, sparking with mechanical energy. It had no aura, leaving her trapped in an enclosed space with six other auras crowding the small area. The access colors surrounding her blocked her view of the outside.

Aleah looked back to her family as she was tackled by Lulu Bell. The ringing was finally going away, slowly fading into the background as the older girl fussed over her. She was thankful that it finally went away. She was starting to hear her heartbeat and Aleah didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Allen jumped away from Aleah as she was being pulled away by one of the Finders. He quickly summoned his sword as a Level 3 attacked Lenalee. "How many are there?" Lavi screamed from the other side of the clearing. "I don't know! Something's blocking my eye!" Thankfully, there was only Level 3's that he could detect. He bolted towards another Akuma, who had snuck up on Lenalee and punched her in the gut. The two Level 3's, hearing his approach, turned to him just as his sword slid through the closer one's chest. It exploded as Allen twisted the blade and horizontally cut it apart.

Lenalee shot up from the ground and slammed her foot on top of the Akuma's head. It hit the dirt underneath them, and she brought her foot down on top of it again. The head disintegrated as the Innocence in her boots quickly invaded the rest of the metallic body of the Level 3. Allen nodded at her as his eyes scanned the area around him.

Kanda had completely disappeared; Lavi was handling a group of the Akuma pretty well, though Allen was pretty sure it was because of the fact that Lavi could easily swing his weapon around. Lenalee had jumped away from him about a second ago, and the Finders had the Angel family caged in a few talismans with them. He glanced towards Choaji.

Three Akuma were ganging up on him. Allen allowed Crown Belt to spring forward, snagging on something he dearly hoped wasn't Kanda's hair, and he was flung towards the Asian man. He landed on a flower that had managed to survive the attack until recently. He grimaced. It was one of Alex's favorites. He was going to receive hell later when he finds out.

Snapping his eyes towards one of the Akuma, a cluster of strings from his cloak snaked its way towards it and grabbed a leg. Allen slammed it into the ground while Crowned Clown dragged the Level 3 towards him. Changing his sword into his arm, Allen stabbed his hand through the Akuma's chest and pulled, ripping out pipe like mechanics. The Akuma blood-similar to oil- leaked out of the pipes as the Level 3 exploded. He looked up to see Choaji pinning one of the other Akuma down with a boot while he held out the other at arm's length, getting ready to punch it.

Allen blinked and sent out another cluster of strings to help hold down the pinned Level 3 as the Akuma was knocked out of Choaji's hands. The Asian man scrambled away from it, revealing Kanda sprawled on top of the Akuma he was just holding. Growling darkly, Kanda shot up while stabbing the unfortunate killing machine under him for support. It exploded as the blade left its body. Mugen was shoved into the pinned Akuma as Kanda barreled toward a different Level 3, cutting the Akuma in half as he ran.

Panting hard, Choaji glanced at Allen. Allen met his gaze as Choaji nodded his gratitude to him. Blood dripped from a wound above his eyebrow, flowing into Choaji's eye. Allen blinked and-

-struggled to grab onto anything physical from the back of his mind, trapped watching his comrades fight to keep a hold of his body. He watched through slowly blurring Neah's vision as the older Noah struggled to get out of their grip. Lavi and Choaji held him back as Neah hurled insults at Tyki, screaming like a madman. They both had several injuries littering their bodies just from trying to prevent Neah from killing an enemy and an ally. Lavi's left shoulder was dislocated, and there were a few big and small cuts along his arms, legs, and torso. Choaji had a nasty cut above his eye, and Allen was pretty sure Neah had broken both his hands when he flung the Asian man into a pile of rocks. Tyki gazed at the enraged Noah as his hands held Jhonney up, a Teeze in one hand. Allen struggled harder against Neah, trying to gain some control over his own body. Hot tears dripped down his real face as he screamed, tugging on strands of his hair in frustration. He couldn't feel the tugging sensation; it wasn't his real hair, or his real vocal chords. Allen could scream all he wanted while Neah was in control. He blinked-

-and shook the memory from his mind.

Allen's eye twitched painfully as it automatically darted over to where an Akuma was located. It was behind him, to the right.

A scream cut through the air and Allen spun around, his eyes widening. A Level 3, close to leveling up, loomed over the barrier surrounding the Angel family and Finders.

His legs automatically moved, bringing him closer to the Akuma as he ran. He wouldn't make it. His arm changed back into the sword and Allen used Crowned Clown yet again to fling himself closer. He landed right before he shoved his sword swiftly into the metallic body of the Level 3.

Allen waved the dust from the Akuma away as his eye in the monocle slowly turned, doing a 180 while it searched carefully. Clear.

Sighing, Allen deactivated his Innocence and eye.

"Allen." The teen jumped and looked down. Aleah stared at him with shocked eyes. A beat of silence passed before Allen crouched down and held out his left hand. "Come on. Let's get you inside. It's kinda dangerous breathing in the air right now." Aleah looked at his hand. Her eyes flicked back up at him. "You are going to talk to me later about this, right?" He nodded and she finally took his hand. The albino Exorcist helped her up and ushered her inside. She continued walking forward as he stopped to glance around.

The other Exorcists were helping the servants and three nobles insi-...

Something was missing.

Allen spun around, eyes searching frantically for a mop of black, spiky hair. Relief flooded through him as he spotted the person he was looking for. He quickly walked towards him and planted his hand on the other teen's shoulder.

"Alex," He jumped. "You should go back inside. The air is poisonous right now." Alex hesitated, before turning around and flashing him a small smile. Allen felt his blood freeze. "Alright. I'll see you inside." He walked off, his golden eyes lingering on him for a second as silver quickly invaded the orbs.

'Allen? You okay?'

'Neah, I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer honestly.' Allen replied as he busied himself by searching for Akuma yet again. 'What?'

'Is there a possibility that Alex is a Noah?'

He heard Neah sigh harshly from the back of his mind. 'I really did not want to open that can of worms today…'

'Neah.'

'Yes, Alex is a Noah.'