Reflection
It was cold and snowy in London. Allen clutched his exorcist coat a bit tighter around himself when a brief, chilly breeze nipped through. He didn't know why he'd chosen to come here. It was more of an impulse, really. After getting into the Ark he didn't really know what to do from there. He couldn't find anyone there who might have been waiting for him. Although he knew it would have been a better move to return to Headquarters before someone found out what he'd done, especially Link, he actually felt like a walk. London seemed as good a place as any.
It was very late and the streets were quiet in this part of the city. Dirty, grimy sludge that was once snow was topped off by new flakes so that it would be fresh by morning. He just walked. Down through streets of crowded houses and streetlights lit like they were full of fireflies and then into a park. Lamps lined the pavement to light the path for late travellers. Everything else was drenched in darkness. And yet he was able to notice a patch of unlit park that wasn't so dark. A pond that had been frozen over caught as much light from the faraway streetlamps and reflected it straight up into the sky like a moon on earth. Allen stepped off the path and made his way to the edge of the water. He knelt down. There wasn't enough light to cast a reflection back to him, only to cast a shadow on the ice. Allen smiled at the single shadow he saw staring back at him. Timcanpy perched on Allen's shoulder, looking between the ice pond and Allen's expression and becoming confused. But to Allen, the fact that he could only see one figure looking back at him was incredible. He felt a completely affirmed for the first time in quite a while that he would remain. It was only a shadow but he knew that it was his shadow.
Not the Fourteenth's. Allen's... and this body that cast the shadow was his too.
After staring at his own shadow on the ice for such a long time, Allen had to nurse his head in his hand. Something had started to throb there and while it wasn't painful it was still certainly a test of his patience and endurance. He decided he'd rest his eyes a little bit – maybe staring in the dim light had made his brain tired.
Timcanpy fluttered off Allen's shoulder in alarm as he abruptly stood up without even warning his golem. Realising who he saw, Timcanpy swelled a few sizes.
The Fourteenth turned around, brushing Allen's hair out of his face. "You can come out of hiding brother. I have already felt you here."
The boy who walked out from behind the bushes looked like he was just a homeless bum but he had snow white hair and three extra eyes on his forehead. "I guess there was never any fooling you," he sighed, "Mr. Pianist."
Allen awoke all of a sudden, wobbling on his feet since he couldn't remember when he'd stood up. He'd just closed his eyes for a little bit...
"I sensed you coming here, Exorcist... or should I say Noah? I daresay you can't be both."
Allen looked up and gawked at the poverty-stricken youth. "Who are you?" he demanded, itching to activate his anti-akuma weapon should this guy turn out to be an akuma.
"So you're not fully awake yet," the boy said with a whine. "And you don't even remember me! How much worse can you get? Of course, I'm a Noah and I would like you to call me Wisely."
"Noah!" Allen spat, preparing a full blown launch of his Innocence.
"What am I doing here? I live here. London is my hometown and birthplace... or at least of my latest host."
Allen blinked and stepped down in his bemusement. How did Wisely know the questions he wanted the answers to before he asked them?
"Because I'm psychic. As if you couldn't see that based on the first answer."
Allen gaped at him.
"Yes, Allen Walker, I can read your mind," Wisely affirmed. "And I do know why you're here. Must be tough trying to fight your genes, eh? You want to somehow stop becoming a Noah. You hate us, don't you? We make you angry." The Noah laughed. "It's already too late for you. You're the same as the Fourteenth anyway. What difference would it make if you were to become him?"
Allen stepped back and clenched his fists. "I'm not like you Noah!"
"Au contraire, Exorcist. I have the memories to judge that. And then of course there's the mystery of your dear mummy eating away at you from the back of your mind."
Allen froze and his eyes widened. He wished the Noah could have refrained from mentioning her.
"Do you want to know what happened to her?" Wisely tempted, stepping closer to Allen.
Allen activated his Innocence and wrapped Clown Belt around Wisely's arms and legs. "Stay right there! Don't move!" Allen commanded, rushing in with his claw ready to strike.
Wisely smirked, activating his own Noah abilities. Allen lost concentration when a giant replica of Wisely's largest eye opened up below the both of them. The Exorcist was mesmerised by the bright iris and felt his mind being sucked into it. Trapped in his own ability, Wisely could also feel his mind being sucked into another dimension but he let it affect him. After all, he had no real knowledge of this Fourteenth's past so this might turn out to be interesting.
Such a short chapter as this one is really unusual for me... but there's the next chapter. Also, I have no real knowledge of what England is like, or London for that matter.
