~*Chapter 5: Memories of Humans' Darkness*~

I walked through the Ark with Road and Tyki slightly behind me. They were unusually quiet and had thoughtful looks on their faces. 'They must be thinking about something important. Maybe they're wondering about my display earlier,' I mused. Road's usual cheerful voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Hey Layla, you must be tired. Do you want me to go report your success to Millenie for you?" She ran up beside me and gave me a comforting smile.

I smiled back tiredly. "Yeah, I need to get all this blood off. I could also really use a nap."

The small Noah nodded and ran off to wherever the Earl stays when he has alone time. I noticed Tyki looked reluctant to leave me, but I gave him a reassuring smile. Begrudgingly, he walked off towards his room. He'll probably be playing poker with some of the Akuma to pass the time. Deciding to quickly take a shower before I pass out, I hurried to my room. The door opened silently as I slipped into the place decorated with red and grey. I had gotten Millenie to change the color after almost going crazy a few times. I set my sword- who I had named Kurai- carefully on a small table that Road had insisted on buying for me. My feet felt like lead as I made my way to the bathroom to shower. Hopefully the hot water would wash away the painful memories that had surfaced after going to that town. As I passed the mirror, a strange sensation made me stop.

"Hello~"

My head turned slowly towards the glass, and what was reflected made my heart skip a beat. It was me, yet it was not. The girl in the mirror had a grin too wide to be natural. The pure insanity and madness that her eyes showed reminded me of the Earl when he was enraged. Her features so like mine were twisted into a mask of madness; the complete opposite of my mask of sanity. She was covered in blood like I was, but it was fresh and dripping from her as if she had just finished a slaughter. Behind her was not the bathroom, but a mass of bodies with missing limbs and other horrible wounds. Their unseeing eyes and unspeaking mouths were wide with horror, and their skin was as pale as the Ark's buildings. Some had their insides revealed with the red liquid that stained my copy dripping slowly from them, while others were simply a mass of bloody and tortured flesh. The scene made something rise in my chest that I had not felt in a long time. That feeling was complete and utter panic. The corpses were familiar to me, and I knew the girl in the mirror was the side of me that was drowning in that pitch black insanity. I quickly put on a blank face and turned away from the mirror to do what I had first came in here to do.

"Nice to meet you, myself~ Talk to you later~!"

-~*A Few Minutes Later*~-

I walked down the roads and pathways leading all over the Ark. I wasn't entirely sure where I was going- I just really needed to clear my head. Unwanted memories crowded my mind and impaired my judgment. When I finally decided to look at my surroundings, I noticed I was in a garden I had never been in before. It was a large expanse of greenery surrounded by some of the Ark's taller buildings. There were flowers of all different colors surrounding a small white gazebo. From what little I knew of flowers, I noted that most of them were snapdragons. In the corner of the small garden grew a beautiful sakura tree. Its small petals fell slowly towards the ground and lay there in a thin coat of pink. Memories of a long-forgotten conversation came back to me as my feet absentmindedly took me towards the gazebo. I don't know how long I sat there staring at nothing, but all too soon a voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Layla, what are you doing here?"

My shock filled eyes turned to the voice's source, which just so happened to be Tyki. Great, just damn wonderful. I really didn't want to talk to anyone right now. Not when it would be so easy to spill everything about things I'd rather forget.

"Tyki, I'd rather not see anyone right now..." came my whispered plea. Too bad the Noah didn't seem to take the hint- that or he went into mother hen mode.

My savior and favorite Noah sat beside me and took a drag of his cancer stick- when did he light one anyway?- and glanced at me with a strange emotion in his eyes. We sat in silence for a long while. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. I could tell that he was figuring out a way to ask me what was wrong. He's never been good at comforting others, after all.

"What's wrong?" Oh, so he chose to be blunt.

I sighed and let my head rest on Tyki's shoulder. He made no move to stop me; probably because I seemed so fragile right now. It's funny how I can be an insane but cheerful girl one moment and then be quiet and glass-like the next. I wonder how I've managed to keep up an act all these years?

I closed my eyes and decided to tell my savior my true feelings. It couldn't hurt, right? After all, I'm only twelve. I need someone to lean on, someone to talk to. I don't think I can handle everything alone anymore. My mask was broken and it couldn't be fixed.

"Unwanted memories decided to say hello by smacking me in the face. I guess it's 'cause I went back to that town and saw those people. I'm really glad I killed 'em. Those hypocrites deserved it for all they did."

The unusually silent man gave me a questioning look. "Care to explain your logic?"

I sighed once again because I knew what this question and answer session was leading to. Though in all honesty, I didn't care anymore. These people were my family, they deserved to know my past. It's not like they would judge me for all my little slip ups anyway.

"I used to live in that town. Before my father died, before I broke, before my mother and I moved. All those people were horrible," I started hesitantly. "To tell you the truth, our little unknown town knew of the existence of the Noah. The children didn't, only the adults did. But we had heard the word Noah before and it came with all types of curses. It was a name not to be uttered unless necessary."

I could tell Tyki was surprised at this revelation. Few knew of the Noahs, and fewer lived to tell about them. Those who survived would never forget the terror that they had faced. Despite his look, I continued.

"I was born there and lived with my mother and father in a small house on the edge. Because the town was small and my parents well liked, the news of my birth traveled quickly. Everything was fine for the first few years of my life, but that changed as I grew. There were whispers of how much I resembled a Noah with my darkening hair and brown eyes with a golden hue. Every time I went out, insults and objects were thrown at me. Demon, monster, devil spawn, witch, destroyer; those were some of the names I was called. I was told to die, told I shouldn't have been born. The only ones who comforted me were my gentle mother and my kind father."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyki's face twist with anger. A deadly aura filled with rage and bloodlust filled the air, but I paid no heed as I continued the tale that was my past. At least, part of my past.

"Day by day, year by year, it got worse. The children bullied me, the adults despised me, I was isolated and beaten. Each day I would return home with new wounds inflicted by rocks or other objects. This was all because I resembled the unknown being called a Noah. My mind grew darker, and I began to wish I was a Noah so I could get rid of them all. Then something horrible happened when I was five," My breath hitched when I thought of the scene that had been before my disbelieving eyes that night. "My father, my kind and loving father, was murdered brutally."

-~*Flashback*~-

I walked with my mother back to the house which we shared with my father. We went to the market to buy food, and those people had seen us and started whispering again. I didn't understand. We didn't do anything wrong. Was it such a sin for me to be born? No, I couldn't think like that. My mother and father would be sad. I ran ahead of my mother so I could hug my father as soon as possible. She let out a small laugh at my antics, but it wasn't as light as it used to be. Curse those people for stealing away her laugh and smile. I hope they trip and die.

Shaking those thoughts from my head, I ran towards my father's workshop located behind our small house. He always worked in there during this time, making things from wood and clay. My mother had disappeared inside the main part of the house to put the items we bought away. I excitedly flung open the doors, but I wasn't prepared for what was inside. Not at all.

There, laying in a pool of red liquid, a pool of blood, was my father. Except he wasn't whole. His arms were laying a few feet from his body, cut into smaller pieces with the flesh horribly ripped. His legs were the same, and I could see the white and broken bone poking out from the cut. Fresh blood oozed from the places where his limbs were separated from his torso. It stained the ground a deep, unforgiving red. A red so different from the white his shirt had once been. A red that was... Pretty.

I took a step closer to my father's mutilated body only to see that his stomach had been ripped open with a large knife. His insides spilled out and dripped blood onto the floor, adding to what was already there. All these wounds made me give in to a sort of twisted wonder and ponder how exactly he died. And then I saw it. The most gruesome part of this picture. My father's head lay upright on his worktable. His eyes were wide open and glassy in fear of his attacker. His mouth was forever frozen in a silent scream. The blood from his severed neck dripped onto the floor making yet another puddle.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound was quiet and steady. Soothing almost. But it carried a hint of something that made me want to give up my sanity. What was this feeling? Was it hatred? Rage? Loathing? Or was it something worse, something darker? Something that would change me forever? Was it...

Fascination? Wonder at how the killer had severed the limbs? Awe in how the blood sparkled in the low light? A sort of twisted glee at the sight of someone's internal organs now external? What was this? Am I really a monster? Am I really feeling like this at the sight of my father's mutilated corpse? Were all those things the townspeople said true? I dropped to my knees, the blood splashing on my white dress. It stained my limp hands and my weak knees, but I didn't care.

A scream resounded behind me and I felt weak yet strong arms snatch me up. My mother shielded me from the sight of my father's body, but it was too late.

I was already tainted.

-~*End Flashback*~-

I sat with Tyki in silence as I moved my arm to cover my face. A small smile pulled on my lips. It was filled with sadness, anger, regret, and self-loathing. How could I have felt those things? I wouldn't care if I felt like that towards any other person, but my family is different. It made me sick that I had felt such twisted emotions when seeing my own flesh and blood like that. A silent tear slipped down my face, soon followed by another, and after it another. Before I knew it, I had to stifle sobs from escaping my trebling lips. Damn, why do I still have such a soft side in me?

A comforting arm pulled me close and held me to a strong chest. I looked up in surprise and saw Tyki smile such a kind smile that I almost thought he was an imposter. Never have I seen such a smile grace his face, regardless of which form he was in. I saw something close when I went with him once to visit his human friends, but it still wasn't like this. Maybe, just maybe, he thought of me as true family like he did with the Noahs.

"Are you better now?" His voice was gentle and quiet as if speaking to a injured animal.

I nodded, not trusting my voice enough to speak. And, truthfully, I felt much better after sharing some of my darker memories. It lessened the burden that was on my small shoulders. I was still young, still a child, I couldn't handle things like this alone no matter how mature I acted. It's not like I really regret killing all those people, but I do regret my father's death and the feelings that came with it. But I couldn't change the way I was. I simply liked the way those people screamed and cried too much. I know it's wrong but I don't care. Humans are selfish creatures.

Tyki ruffled my hair and picked me up princess style. Naturally, I protested and cussed like a sailor. He just chuckled at my obvious dislike of the position.

"Baka Tyki-pon, let me down or I'll kill you in your sleep!" I could feel my face heating up. Damn him, he knows I don't like being carried!

"No can do, Layla-hime," he said mockingly. "You're big brother wishes to carry you like the spoiled brat you are. And don't call me Tyki-pon!"

I pouted and crossed my arms. "I'm not a spoiled brat, and if Millenie calls you Tyki-pon, so can I."

"Brat."

"Actor."

"Road copy."

"Cheater."

Tyki smirked. "Giggly drunk."

I blushed. "Damn you! That was one time, and it was your fault! I wasn't the one who mistook vodka for water!"

"Not my fault you downed it like dehydrated man in the desert."

I swear I almost screamed. "You, you... Just... I! Argh! Damn you, you bloody prick with a... With a... A something!"

"Oh, how creative can you be? That insult was simply brilliant!" He teased. I wish I could punch that smug look off his bloody face.

"I am going to kill you. Slowly. With a fork. In your jugular," I ground out. He could be such a bloody jackass. But I still loved him, somehow or another. As well as the rest of the family. Even when I wished I could punch them. Hard.

Another voice interrupted our delightful conversation, and I realized we were outside the dining room that also served as a meeting room.

"As much as I would love to hear more of your useless banter, I would like to eat in peace."

Gasping, I 'lightly' punched Tyki in the stomach and jumped out his arms. He glared at me halfheartedly as he doubled over and tried to regain his breath. I paid him no heed as I rushed over to the Noah wearing a long turban.

"Wisely, where were you and when did you get back?" I asked with a pout.

He smiled slightly. "That's a secret, and I got back a few minutes ago."

Sighing, I went to sit in my seat. I knew that I wouldn't get much more information out of the Noah. I wasn't as close to him as the others, but we still had a bond. Even if it was a bit strange. I decided to sit and wait quietly for the others to come in and eat dinner. I hadn't noticed so much time had passed. Thinking back to the heavy conversation I had with Tyki earlier, I felt better. Even if I hadn't told him much, it still helped. Maybe I could tell him the rest some day. Not now though, it would be too hard. That was the first time I had shown my soft side to anyone.

Before I knew it, Road, Millenie, Lulu, Jasdevi, and Sheryl had shown up. We all sat down and began dinner as usual, except for the praise I got for completing my first mission. I swear I was as red as the time I called Sheryl 'Daughter Complex'- and that was pretty darn red. But it made me proud I could finally go on missions with my family and not be bored all day. After all, missions meant going after Innocence, and going after Innocence meant meeting Excorcists. I was going to have a lot of fun~.

Zera: You had a pretty f***** up past. My poor baby! X'C *Hugs Layla*

Layla: Your... Fault... Damn... You...!

Tyki: *Randomly appears and saves Layla* Yeah, you sadistic author. You're the one who wrote this.

Zera: *cries* I STILL LOVE YOU, MY CHILD! I'M SORRY! TT-TT

Tyki: What's wrong with her?

Raizel: She forgot to take her medication. -_-'

Both: Ooooh.