Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I don't own DGM
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Flashback
Allen was back at the lake in his dreams, but this time, the mirror phantom was there with him. "I won't let you take control of my body."
The shadow began to talk.
End of Flashback
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"Calm down, Allen Walker. I have no intention of taking your body or erasing your existence, nor do I have the ability to do so." Allen wasn't convinced.
"Then why have you brought me here?" The 14th nodded, he'd expected the question.
"First of all, I brought you here so you would not feel the enormous pain that will soon reach you're body. All awakenings are extremely painful, but yours is going to be harder than anyone else's." the Noah replied. "You probably can't tell, but the, lets call it noahfication, has almost reached your left arm and your heart. And not even I am sure what will happen next."
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Tyki and Road were now the only ones left at Allen's side, mostly because they were the ones who worried most about him. The stigmata had turned to its usual black color and the gray skin tone of the Noah had spread from it, already covering his head and neck, coloring his hair black in the process and slightly altering the shape of Allen's scar, and was now crawling towards his shoulders and chest. Tyki bit his lip.
"Tyki, what's wrong, you look worried." Road asked. Tyki sighed.
"You're too perceptive for your own good." he muttered. "I'm worried about what will happen should his Innocence reject him." Road looked confused.
"But wouldn't that just make his arm fall off?" Tyki shook his head.
"That could happen, but it doesn't have to. I heard Allen's Innocence has activated and attacked on its own before, even when he was unconscious. And with those claws..." Road was shocked.
"You mean his own arm could try to kill him? What do we do?"
"We'll destroy it if that happens." There was steel in Tyki's voice. "We'll also destroy it if there's any kind of rejection, before it can damage Allen's body. I heard Innocence rejection can kill a Noah, in fact, I think it was a Noah of desire who taught us that lesson around 400 years ago. They're always to greedy for their own good. "
Road paled. "Tyki, isn't there some Innocence in his heart? If there really is a rejection..." Tyki cursed himself. How could he have forgotten? He was the one who caused that hole in the boy's heart in the first place. They both knew that if there was a rejection, and it was likely there'd be one, Allen would die in their arms, and there would be nothing they could do to save him. All they could do was hope and wish for a miracle. Allen's body started to twitch like it was under electricity as his chest turned gray.
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"While we wait for your Innocence to decide your fate, I will have to show you the memories of Noah, or maybe I should say the memories of mankind." The 14th said and walked to the lake. Allen followed him. The 14th put his hand in the water and the surface changed.
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Allen saw a mountain village getting buried in an avalanche. He saw a man staggering through a desert and collapsing. He saw a small child, shaking the corpse of his dead mother. He saw thousands of people dying, large black bumps all over their bodies. He saw a woman being ripped to shreds by a group of lions. He saw houses collapsing, burying the people in them alive. He saw a ship crashing in a riff the, the entire crew drowning. He saw a bearded man walking through a snowstorm, his hands, feet and nose turned black by the cold. He saw a group of people trapped in a burning building with no way out. He saw a volcano erupting, burying a city in lava. He saw a tornado dragging an infant into the air, before leaving the broken body behind after dropping it from more than a hundred feet hight. He saw masses of starving people. He saw a man losing his footing and falling into a cliff.
"STOP IT!" Allen shouted, somehow unable to look away from the gruesome pictures. The 14th sadly shook his head.
"I can't. It's impossible to interrupt." And it didn't stop. It got worse.
He saw countless women getting burned alive on stakes. He saw a soldier, dying in a pitch while holding a picture of his family. He saw a nation of tanned people falling like flies to the fire of a small army of armored men holding guns, their eyes filled with greed and the Spanish flag flowing in the wind. He saw black people being mistreated and whipped while forced to work on fields. He saw beaten children climbing through mountain shafts to mine coal. He saw torture chamber's and how every instrument there was used on prisoners. He saw the once proud population of China rotting in opium dens. He saw Indians being driven out of their homes and into small reservoirs. He saw a group of men raping a woman and killing her. He saw a hooded figure running through London, then cutting up a woman like he was gutting a fish. He saw rows of people being led to the guillotine and executed. He saw an albino no older than five laying on the ground, others throwing rocks at him. He saw a village attacked by huns and how a running woman was trampled to death by their horses. He saw a pregnant woman being hanged. He saw how a fat merchant cut of a young boy's hand because he had stolen a piece of bread out of hunger. He saw them all suffering and dying, and there was nothing he could do but stand there, watching and crying. He felt so helpless.
After a while the lake became clear, and the pictures of what Allen had realized were the tragedies and sins of mankind ended. Allen silently stood there and cried. "You're crying." the 14th stated "That's good, you shouldn't take joy in these terrible tragedies. It would appear you're Innocence has decided to spare us, and even I can feel that it has somehow changed. Your awakening is almost complete, you will soon wake up."
"And then what? I jump up in joy and serve the Earl?" Allen hissed.
"You're not going to be jumping for a while. Even though your transformation is complete, you're too weakened to do anything but lay around for a few days. And then, you should work with the Earl as far as your heart will allow you to go. He won't be expecting much service from you anyway." Allen thought about it, then a question came to his mind.
"What about you? What will happen to you once I wake up?" he asked. The 14th smiled widened.
"I will remain the phantom in the mirror only you can see, and the voice only you can hear. I'll stay with you." he said.
"As what?" Allen immediately questioned. The shadowy Noah shrugged.
"As the angel on your right shoulder and the devil on your left. Think of me as an invisible adviser." he then replied, before adding "And now you must wake up. And you should keep my existence a secret, the Earl already has more than enough reasons to kill you."
Allen tried to add something, but the lake and his entire view faded to darkness.
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"Tyki, he's waking up!" Road shouted. Tyki, who had slumped on a chair when Allen's transformation had ended without his Innocence acting up or causing any sort of problems. In fact, his arm had changed together with the rest of his body. It was now pitch-black with a snow-white cross on the back of the hand. Tyki rose up and walked up to Allen, his wild thrashing had forced them to give him some space, and smiled.
"How are you feeling, Allen?" Allen, hearing such a stupid question for the second time in short succession, opened his now golden eyes and decided to ignore his manners when he replied "Like crap."
"Allen!" Road had jumped and was now flying towards him. 'Haven't I suffered enough?' he asked himself. Fortunately, Tyki was there and caught her before she'd dropped on Allen like a stone.
"Road, he's exhausted. Give him some rest, maybe he'll soon feel fit enough to play with his new sister. And if I hadn't stopped you and Cyril came in, he would have killed Allen on the spot." Tyki warned her. Road pouted a short while, then she nodded and turned to Allen.
"Alright. Allen, you should rest, the Earl wants to talk to you as soon as you can stand. But you can count on me and Tyki." Allen smiled weakly, muttered an alright and was dead to the world.
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Levrier had just received information that there was an eye-witness who had reported seeing a heavily-wounded Allen being carried away by a Noah in a small town fifty miles from here. Levrier was trying to use this information to shake the responsibility for this mess off his shoulders. 'I can prove Walker a traitor with this. Wait, if I do that, I'd still have been my responsibility to notice and imprison him. I really don't like this option, but the only way for me to get out of this mess is if I make Allen Walker a martyr.' After he had decided the course of action, Levrier called for a meeting of Headquarters entire staff and the Exorcists. Once they were there, he cleared his throat.
"As many of you will have heard, there was an incident this night. We noticed one of our exorcists was missing and started a search. I don't know how rumors of execution orders came up, but they are false. The exorcist in question is Allen Walker." when the ruckus finally calmed down, Levrier continued. "We currently believe that on his way to his quarters, his eye registered Akuma near this institution. We're not sure why yet, but Allen Walker pursued them alone to a town fifty miles from here." Lenalee was getting worried. Had Levrier found Allen? But it was much worse. "There, far away from any kind of support, he was ambushed by a Noah. He put up a valiant fight, but, likely due to exhaustion from his recent mission, he was defeated. According to our reports the Noah injured him gravely and proceeded to abduct Allen Walker. He has been declared KIA, because even if he is still alive, the Earl will without a doubt awaken a Noah Allen Walker had suppressed for more than five years. Should any of you find Allen Walker, you are ordered to release him from his misery. He knows too much to be left in the hands of the Earl, though he'll probably keep his tongue for as long as humanly possible, but once the Noah takes over completely, he'll be a deadly enemy." Everyone started talking at the same time, while Lenalee was just staring in shock. Allen had been gravely injured before the escape, even though Levrier didn't know that, and had been in no condition to fight a mosquito, much less a Noah. Lenalee had brought one of her best friend right into their worst enemy's hands.
Levrier was relieved. It had gone better than he'd hoped, and in his eyes, the story had been convincing because it was close to the truth. Allen Walker had somehow learned of his execution and was ambushed by a Noah during his escape. Ironic. But the cover-story had convinced Central, and that was what counted. And since Walker was now considered an enemy, the whole problem might solve itself. But Levrier wondered how Allen Walker had found out he was to be executed. Maybe it would be safer to request some more exorcists to replace the General-level one they had just lost. He reached for the phone.
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When Allen opened his eyes, he felt better than both the 14th and the other Noah had predicted. He tried to stand up and was surprised when he actually succeeded. He was still a bit shaky, but he didn't fall over.
"It looks like I've underestimated your recovery, it usually takes almost a week to stand up. Though maybe you shouldn't let the others know how fit you already are." Allen would probably never get used to a voice in his head. Though now he had a feeling he would soon understand how Timothy felt with his Innocence.
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Back in the Black Order, Timothy sneezed. "Are you getting a cold, master?"
"Someone must have thought about me."
"Not very likely, master. Possible, but not very likely."
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But Allen's self-proclaimed adviser was right. It was alwayss best not to reveal ones hand until the others show theirs, and having an ace they didn't expect could save his life. After all, one could never be too careful. He laid back down and an instant later, Tyki, Road and the twins entered, though apparently Road and Tyki were trying to stop the twins from entering... He only now noticed that while still on a couch, he was in a different room then were he fell asleep. He also noticed a maid that was obviously an Akuma, but his eye didn't react. Was there something wrong with it?
"No," the musician told him "but since Akuma are no longer your natural enemy, it's only logical that it wouldn't activate. Also, your entire body changed when you became a Noah, and that includes your left eye. Though you should still be able to consciously activate it." Allen nodded and turned his attention to the twins, who were arguing with their siblings.
"We're not leaving until he pays his master's debts!" the twins shouted. Allen shot up, but he wasn't fit enough for such rash movements yet and nearly fainted again. Tyki saw that and went to support him.
"Calm down Allen. You don't have to rush." But Allen wouldn't listen. "I won't pay anything. I've spent five years paying back my stupid masters debts, I'll never do that again!" Road seemed curious.
"How much did you pay back? I mean, how much debt can one man make?" Allen told her. Her jaw dropped. Tyki stared at Allen wide-eyed. The twins stumbled backwards and fell on their bottoms. "You're kidding!" Road shouted. Allen sadly shook his head.
"Even though you've got rid of your involvement with their debt problem by using their pity, you should try to make friends among the Noah. They might save your life one day." The musician was right. Anyone who was able and willing to help him was desperately needed. Allen smiled a charming smile.
"How about this, once I'm fit enough, I'll help you get rid of those debts. Deal?" Everyone stared at him. The twins smiled.
"You'd really do that? Thanks, bro." Tyki looked at him.
"Can you really do that?" Allen grinned.
"Of course, and if you help, it will go even faster." Tyki grinned.
"I'm in. Do you have any questions?"
Allen looked at his gray hands. "How do I get back to my normal appearance?"
Tyki blinked. He looked at Road. She shrugged and looked at the twins. They shook their heads. Allen was getting a bad feeling. Finally, Tyki turned back towards him. "Truth to be told, we have no idea. Road could do it from the start, Cyril and I woke up one morning in our white form, the twins haven't figured it out yet and Skin never learned it." Great, just great. Then Allen's stomach interrupted his gloomy thoughts, causing Road to grin.
"You're too weakened to do anything, Allen," she said while he thought: 'If you only knew' "so I'll have to feed you." Tyki looked at him with an apologetic smile on his face and Allen knew it would be a long, long day.
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And chapter 6 is done. Whew, I barely made it, but that's what god made all-nighters for (It's 2:15 AM). Not much to say, only a thank you for all my readers, especially Starforce119 and addenza who reviewed practically every chapter, the request to send me characters or ideas in general, and a few questions I thought up to inspire more people to review.
1. What do you think is Allen's power and what Noah is he (dreams, pleasure, lust, etc.)? I've already decided on both, but I want to see if someone guesses it right.
2. Which parts of his visions have a historical background? My complements to the one(s) who find out the identity of the hooded figure, though it's not that hard.
3. How do you like this story and how am I doing for my first try at writing?
I'll probably take a few days break for school, or try to write down some other stories I can't seem to ban out of my head. I've always had trouble with my overactive imagination. Maybe I can squeeze another chapter into this weekend, but I'm not sure how yet.
Again, everything but flames is welcome.
Please Review