*~the deadly game~*
Lenamar turned to face the balloon of a man. He was tired and wanted this day to vanish without a trace. Why was all of this happening, why him?
"It seems that all of my akuma I had left in this town are gone now." The Earl said sadly. "But there is one survivor." From behind him came Herald with a somber look replacing his stern one.
The boy glared at him before he thought about it. If he's an akuma, then its not really is soul in there. But who would he bring back? The Earl guessed at what he was thinking and shifted his eyes to the ground. Lenamar followed his gaze to Nalia's gravestone. "He couldn't haveā¦"
"Brought your beloved back? He did. Aren't you happy?" When Lenamar didn't respond, he continued. "You spoke to the exorcist, didn't you? What did she say?"
"Akuma are machines." He said steadily. "Puppets you use to kill."
"That is true. But you can't blame me. It is humans that bring together all of the ingredients while I simply put t together. This," he pointed at 'Herald' "was brought by the man who couldn't let go of his daughter."
Anger filled Lenamar, all towards the man that dared put Nalia in that body. His fists clenched and unclenched until finally, he spoke. "Would you let her go?"
"No." When he saw the boy's determined face, he continued. "I mean that I can't. Only innocence can free her soul."
Lenamar looked at him, then at his metallic hand. "What are you saying?" It was as if he was implying that he destroy that body as he had done to 'George'.
The Earl took a step forward. "I am saying, that I would like to play a game."
"A game?"
"Yes. you see, normally any innocence holder would be killed but, since you took such care of my akuma, you deserve a chance." He chuckled. "You believe bringing her back was her father's mistake, and now they are both responsible for that choice. However, you can take that responsibility on yourself if you accept this game: I will hide little Nalia and you will have to find her and free her yourself. That is how you win. If you die or if she is destroyed by something else, you lose."
Misery etched itself on Lenamar's face. He wanted to free Nalia so much; she didn't deserve any of this. But the Earl was stronger and there was no way he could overcome him at the moment. Finally, he stood having decided. "I'll play, with a few conditions. You don't attack me nor send any akuma after me."
"Ok. And here are some of my own rules. I won't attack unless you do, and you can't join the Dark Order."
I wasn't planning on it. Even though no more humans had been in his town, that exorcist shouldn't have risked it and destroyed everything. It seemed to him that exorcists cared about nothing more than getting rid of the akuma; think of them as being only machines. But they had a soul, trapped against its own will because of some other person selfish enough to bring it back. "Agreed."
The Earl grinned. "Good. It's been a while since I've played an interesting game. I hope it proves to be entertaining." With that, both him and Nalia disappeared, leaving Lenamar homeless and broken. But not alone.
He held his metallic arm close to his chest. "I'm sorry, Light. You tried warning me about all of this but I pushed you away. Will you still help me save Nalia?" There was a curt, warm pulse inside of him which he took as a yes. He looked back at the dying flame. There was nothing left now. Before the exorcist found him again, he took off towards the road that led to the next town, leaving his past self behind; the game of hide and seek had begun.
