Last time: "You are Allen?" The teen train-attendant questioned at the same moment as Allen stated "Akuma," standing. She waited no time saying "So you are Allen then." The words rolling off her tongue coldly and a smirk played across her face. My hand shot to my hammer but I hesitated at the next words she said "I was told by Marian to find you."

Chapter 4: End of the Ride?

RECAP: Allen gets blinded on a mission with Lavi, his memories from what exactly happened is gone, or at least hidden for now. Lavi lets Allen sleep a bit longer than normal and almost gets his nose broke. Allen's nightmare/dreams cannot be remembered but it's as if his dreams are trying to tell him something. Lavi again is the food fetcher, Allen can still see black and white world when activated. Lavi still lets Allen sleep. An Akuma appears claiming to be sent by Cross to find Allen.

(Lavi-ish POV)

"Marian? Cross Marian? General Cross?" Lavi asked dubiously. He was shocked to say the least, what could Cross have to do with it? If it was an Akuma claiming relations with Cross then Lavi started to understand where this was going. If the Akuma's words were true it would mean she was a Modified Akuma like Sachiko/Chomesuke or -

"Who are you?" Both Allen and I questioned at the same time.

The girl responded, sounding a bit annoyed if I might add, "I am Amaryllis." 'The name of a flower..' I noted to myself as I looked her over. 'Well she certainly isn't shy, maybe she was using the name for its orgins?'Amaryllis fell deeply in love with Alteo who possessed great strength and beauty, but her affections were unrequited. 'Is that why she became an Akuma? Or maybe she thinks the name is familiar but just not recognized as what it is so we end up trusting her?' I doubted Allen would've known about this as he didn't really seem like one to read mythology what with being devoted to saving Akuma souls and all.

"How can you be her she was a-" 'So Allen knows this Akuma?' I thought to myself. Allen had started saying the sentence in a disbelieving tone but was interrupted by the girl. That disbelief caused me to think that 'maybe she really IS one of crosses altered Akuma.'

"I am an exorcist still." Amaryllis said with truth apparent in her voice. 'Impossible. There was no way it could work…'

"How?" I questioned aloud not really registering that I did. After a moment of silence she answered making me realized I'd spoken it aloud.

"My twin sister called me back."

'Not what I thought but that's normal enough...'

"None of us had realized about her having Innocence in her body, we had never heard of the order and we didn't know who the Earl was as the time of my death or when she called me back. When the Earl noticed it was too late. I had already become high leveled. When he noticed he put me in a deep sleep never to awake. For some reason the Earl couldn't kill me. Somehow I was not like the others, yes there was others who had innocence but they would destroy themselves when evolving, the dark matter consuming the innocence or the innocence purifying them till they reverted back to just the Skeleton." Amaryllis paused for a second, soon continuing without any interruptions.

"One of the Noah wanted to study how I worked, but my innocence wouldn't let them. So I was put to sleep and as time passed I was forgotten about by the Earl. When my spell was broken Cross found me, explained things, altered me."

There was a pause of silence to let everything she said sink in. Then I asked "How old are you?"

"I was awoken 14 years ago." Amaryllis answered.

The white haired spoke this time, he was clearly confused and a bit mistrusting of this modified-akuma in front of him. The information didn't seem to be lining up. "Master said you had died." He said firmly and matter of fact-ly

"I had disappeared... that's why he said that." Amaryllis replied.

But this time her simple response was off. I could sense something else happened than just simply disappearing. 'What was it then?' I needed more information to go on to find what it was that smelled fishy. Not only that but She was changing the information initially given to us. Did she think Allen wasn't informed? How did she find out in the first place about Allen and his Akuma modifying master if she hadn't been with him at some point? And it didn't seem that the Earl knew of General Cross Marian's Akuma modifying abilities and neither did the order or bookman clan till a couple months ago (as far as Lavi knew.) "Why are you dressed as a train attendant?"

"Because that's my current job" Amaryllis quickly responded a moment of silence then the addition of "Though, now that I found you, Allen, I'm going to be with you. Cross told me to follow you to the order." I supposed that Amaryllis, if speaking the truth, was smart. IF she was an Altered Akuma and she had been told by Cross to find Allen, staking out our mode of transport was indeed a solid way to find us if not worried about the time it took to find us. She may even have planned this specific train because she knew of the strange occurrences in this region. If she did she'd have known of the innocence and not hunted it down and destroyed it. Plus there was the fact she hadn't killed everyone on the train.

Allen yawned, "You should get back to work, come back when we have to leave." Allen said and told her what stop we would be getting off at.

Amaryllis nods and stands "Alright. I'll be seeing you in two hours." She exited the room opening and closing the door.

"What she said matches what Cross told me." Allen said and then yawned again.

"Get some rest, Allen. If she isn't what she says she is you'll need the extra sleep."

"Yeah I am kinda sleepy" Allen said yawning the sleepiness evident in his change in speech. The white haired tentatively reached out and touched my shoulder with his hand and then set his head down resting it against my shoulder, again. I paused for a moment 'on purpose this time.' After an internal argument to put my arm around him I decided for it. After I did, the tired teen moved his hands snaking them around me and held onto me tightly.

'Maybe Al losing his eyesight wasn't all that bad.' I thought to myself. I noticed the shift in Allen's personality, the sudden clinginess and how he always wanted to keep me a finger's length away. 'Maybe it's because he's afraid I'm going to abandon him? Like cross?' After we sat down it wasn't long before Allen's breathing slowed down. I looked at Allen and smiled "sleep well." I said softly then rested my head against the wall behind me and closed my eye.

(POV change—Original start to the chapter—Time skip)

Lavi heard a knock on the door. '..Amaryllis?' he thought questioningly. It wasn't time yet for the high-leveled Altered Akuma to check in on them. She had an hour ago told Lavi (while Allen was sleeping) that they had four hours till they got to their destination. It was three hours too early. They were still in the mountains. Lavi opened the door to a worried look on the aforementioned Akuma. "Lavi, Allen..." She started 'Allen' the red head had noticed that Allen had woken up and was standing just before the door got opened. "We've got company." she said stating the obvious. Obvious because when Lavi looked at Allen his cursed pentacle eye was activated.

(Allen's POV)

I felt my eye hurt in the familiar pang. 'Akuma.' I opened my eyes to the dark abyss I seemed to be in. Having been awoken from a dream that seemed to have been important… but now forgotten. Exactly what the dream contained was about no longer urgent (as if it ever was?). The pressing matter now was the Akuma that ranged between level 2 and 3 whose souls I could see with my eye. The Akuma were in a large horde of maybe as few as 50. Our work was cut out for us. I stood on my feet warily, uncertainty massively prevalent as a voice in the back of my head whispered. 'How could I fight with only the black and white world to work with?'

The door opened which brought me out of my thoughts and Amaryllis spoke "Lavi, Allen.. We've got company." I heard an explosion from further up, probably the front of the train, and invoked my innocence with the ease that came with having a high synchro rate, how high was still unknown. The shawl like cape wasn't present but my arm I could feel became long and spiked. I rushed, surprisingly quickly despite being newly blind, to help fellow passengers and to eliminate the beasts I was made to save the ones calling to me in the horrible cacophony of unheard sound. It was my normal response, and I wouldn't let being blind slow me down as I had to work at full capacity. If there was even that many the passengers that weren't killed in the blast they would be dead in no time. I was relieved there were no level fours. If there had been I'd have no idea what I could've done.

"ALLEN WAIT!" I heard Lavi yell but by that time it was already too late.

(pov shift)

"ALLEN WAIT!" He hears his friend yell at him. A millisecond later Allen feels someone push him out of the way another explosion rings out so close Allen knew it's where he was barely a moment before. His hearing is blocked as a ringing floods his senses jarring his thoughts from the moment. His mind can barely register where he's going. They'd moved out of the way before the blast happened, but it happened so suddenly it for Allen was barely a second. The ringing seems to drone on forever but eventually dies down.

It was around 30 seconds since Allen exited the cabin, but Allen felt himself move in slow motion. His hands gently getting placed on the chest that somehow ended up underneath him. The faint rising and falling shocked Allen. Whatever he landed on he'd assumed was the floor because of how much it hurt hitting it. Allen could sense the familiarity of the person whose body he was on top of, he knew them. Allen could sense it, sense whom it was but his mind wasn't processing fast enough. Him who was he? (Allen knew the one he fell on was male as the lack of boobs also the yelling only moments before. "Lavi…" Allen breathed his speech slightly raspy and shaky but recognition still flowed with his voice and expression. The exorcist breathed heavily, even if Allen hadn't hit him square in the chest and didn't knock the wind out of him he doubted Lavi would be breathing normal as he'd just sprinted to save him. But Allen didn't know the third reason on why Lavi's breathing was labored as he was in pain…

"Are you okay?" Allen asked, if he hadn't have been blinded earlier this question wouldn't have been so imperative. Blind to everything but the living hell known to Allen as the black and white realm the lack of sight was slowly aggravating the cursed teen increasingly. The blindness was indeed becoming more of a hindrance, every time Allen grew accustomed to it the situation worsened in retaliation, it seemed. The silver eyed teen had expected that he could still make himself of use but that seemed to be getting further and further from the truth, and the universe seemed to enjoy making Allen suffer. Not only that, but to rub it in like a chef putting a dry rub on meat to cure it.

Allen's frustration was only reaching its peak, Allen finding it hard to retain his cool. For some reason Allen flinched when Lavi's voice severed his thoughts. "I'm fine, Al. I am glad you're safe" Lavi replied to Allen's earlier question and this was not that obvious of a lie. Though there was no real truth to Lavi was there? He lived and breathed a lie. Allen didn't know that but his chances of every finding out were shrinking rapidly, as rapidly as Lavi's heart was pumping blood. Allen's slender mismatched hand gently gripped Lavi's arm, not knowing where else to touch… not knowing where he should've touched.

"I'm glad you're fine too." Allen says softly, eyes downcast. Looking down was more out of a habit than because of being sad, nor ashamed or embarrassed. None of these feelings were perdominent, though he did feel some of the latter two, mixed with bitter anger towards himself. Allen seemed to express emotions more vividly, if he'd have thought about this he wouldn't have assumed it was heavily based on his lack of sight. However this indeed was the case, if not wholly then predominantly, Stress attributed to his injury and even deep down a subtle fear. His look of hurt and anguish was tugging on Lavi's heart strings. 'Why was Allen like this?' Lavi asked himself. 'Could it be because of not wanting to be abandoned again?' The pyro haired knew of Allen's but only as much as had been let slip. Lavi was confused on why, if even Allen was feeling that way NOW. 'Maybe he was taught or trained to be like this because of his neglecting master?' All these questions weren't really thought of on purpose, more like a subconscious action. They were just thoughts drifting up like bubbles from deep below a lake's surface.

The whitette can feel a hand on his face. "It's alright. You're just not used to not being able to see." Lavi says comforting, or at least trying to be comforting. The redhead was almost compelled to do at least something to help the beanchan. Lavi lets his hand go to move it to his side. The second Lavi did this they heard a noise causing Allen's head to shoot up and so does Lavi's. "Shit." one of the two teens let slip out as he saw the Akuma that caused the explosion. Said Akuma had been watching then since he burst into their car. Now was when the realization stuck both of Lavi that both of the two exorcists were incapacitated in one way or another.

'Well at least I'm with Allen', thought Lavi, 'I can die protecting him.' Lavi knew that they were screwed, with Allen's inability to see and his (Lavi's) own injuries that he knew would prevent him from standing, they couldn't fight. Lavi recognized (for the third time. Three as the other times were as followed: getting hit by an Akuma, falling into the water only to be saved by Krory drinking the Akuma blood from him was the firsy, and second was when the ark started crumbling and he fell, Allen saved him that time. And now it seemed) that he was going to die, once again, from an Akuma. But now was different, now was better. Better as he was able to die with Allen, the boy who seemed to be occupying his mind for the past several months. He of course didn't wish Allen to die, but to die in the company of him… after so many wars, after so many different identities, this way was perfect.

As Lavi awaited his fate, the fate didn't come. Amaryllis whom had been knocked out during the explosion had awoke. And seeing as that the level three has raised its limb for a killing blow, she sprung into action. "DEVOUR!" When she yelled the invocation Allen saw what only his unseeing cursed eyes could see. Allen was sure, now more than ever, that Lavi was right in calling it hell. Allen cried out covering his eyes. The curse mark throbbing in pain, it seemed a good deal greater than the normal ache, Ten times what he saw when an Akuma self destructed in The Town that rewound. He could feel a tear slip down his face, this wasn't a sign of weakness… Nor was it this time for empathy or remorse, just pain.

Amaryllis was warned of this happening after she revealed this power in front of Master Cross, however this didn't give her compassion. "Get past it, I know what you saw must've been bad but I need you to do what I can't. I'll destroy the Akuma, a different way than now... so don't worry. Just stop his bleeding. Can't have an exorcist die now, can we?" the last remark was unknown on how it should be taken. Her strong voice wasn't mocking, nor did it seem sincere. Amaryllis tossed her vest, which she had been unbuttoning as she spoke, to Allen. "It's his left torso." Her words effectively ratting the bunny out.

Last edit before today: 09/17/2016 today: 01/06/2017