Allen followed Road with a frown as she skipped through the town going slow enough that she didn't get to far ahead of him lest he try to run from her and get lost, then again that could be fun! They had gotten to Poland easy enough thanks to Road and her dimensional doors and were now walking the streets of Poznan.
"Aren't you excited? Millenie finally gave you a mission! Isn't that what you wanted?" She asked as she noticed his frown.
"You aren't scared are you? Aww~ is little Allen scared?" she teased with a smirk on her lips swinging Lero around making the poor umbrella so dizzy it had swirls in it's eyes.
Allen huffed and crossed his arms with a disgruntled frown, he felt a sense of pity for the umbrella but squashed it easily. The damned thing and him had a rivalry of sorts when it came to Road's attention. It was all for the sake of survival, after all if Road had her attention occupied by Lero then that left Allen mostly unscathed and vice versa and right now Lero's discomfort meant that Allen would be fine for the time being.
"Of course I'm not scared! I just don't see why you had to come with me. Why couldn't it have been Uncle Tyki? At least he doesn't tease me and we can at least play poker to pass the time." Allen's angry frown quickly fell as he saw Road's smile be replaced by a blank emotionless mask.
"I didn't mean it like that!" he said hurriedly realizing his words were far more hurtful than he meant, not that he meant for them to hurtful at all. He continued to apologize before Road let out a giggle and her smile came back full force with a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"It's okay, Allen~." She said, drawing out his name teasingly as she bent forward so that her face and his were only inches apart.
"If you want to prove you're sorry though..." she looked him right in the eye and let her face get closer before pulling away abruptly, "You can buy me some candy! How does that sound?" She let out a laugh as she saw the young teen's face light up a bright crimson.
"This is exactly what I was talking about!" He yelled as he stomped away heading down the street looking for a candy shop. He mentally berated himself as he finally found a shop that sold candy and quickly made sure he had his wallet before he continued on his mental scolding for letting himself be fooled and teased by Road. Again!
Ever since his thirteenth birthday Road had started coming around and pestering him or wanting to 'play' games, which usually involved him being forced to be her dress up doll or end up a pin cushion for her candles or any pointy object in the near vicinity. It also didn't help that he was just starting to hit puberty and slowly starting to see girls in a different light and it also didn't help that Road was kind of cute...No! Nope not going there! Though Aunty Lulu was also very pretty and... Bah! No! No, no, no!
A loud thunk brought Allen's mind to attention as he saw a large bag on the counter which held the candy he was supposed to buy Road as an apology...which would end up costing him his entire allowance from the looks of it. The young teen let out a sigh as he pulled out his wallet from his travel sack as the teller told him the price of the candy and winced when he handed over all but a few measly coins.
Soon after, Road and Allen were sitting at a park bench while Road devoured most of the chocolates and took a break since they had no real time limit to complete their mission. Also Allen felt it would be easier to wait until dusk to get started since they had found the hospital as Allen wanted the get the doctor alone. He opened his travel satchel and ran his hand over the white mask the Earl had bought him those few years ago. The once blank mask was now painted, half a deep dark purple with a grim smirk on the lips and a white tear below the right eye that trailed into a pentacle on the cheek, the other half a stark white with a sad frown and the eye shaped into a joyous tilt with the same purple that covered the other half in a diamond shape reminiscent of a jester's mask. It was in a work of art in Allen's eyes, and something he was proud to have painted himself and something he would be using to help hide his identity when they confronted the doctor. With that thought Allen and Road began walking through the park and taking in the sights of the town and before long the sun was beginning to set.
"Hey Road. I was wondering..."Allen glanced over at at his companion who looked back with a smile.
"Hmmm? Whats that?"
"Well, it's been bugging me lately. I've realized that you've avoided me for nearly my entire time living with Sheryl and the Earl. Nearly three years and then suddenly you just show up and act we've known each other the entire time. Why is that?"
Allen watched as Road's face changed to a strange expression that he couldn't quite decipher before she looked away.
"I was being cautious." was all she said before their walk returned to silence.
Allen however was unsure what she meant and while he was tempted to ask he knew better than to try and pry her for the information. Instead he glanced at the moon that was just breaking over the horizon and decided that now would be the best time to get started on their mission.
"We should probably head to the hospital now." Allen said as he watched the people of the town begin to make their way home leaving the streets fairly empty.
He glanced to his side where Road was and noticed she had already changed into her Noah form and reached into his bag to grab his mask and gave it a once over. He removed his eye patch and placed the mask on his face ignoring the giggle coming from Road, though he was glad that she was back to her usual cheerful self. He didn't like making her, or any of the Noah for that matter, upset in any way. They were his family, his life and he would die and kill for them and now he was going to prove it with this mission and he wanted Road to enjoy her time on the mission as well.
It wasn't long before the hospital was in sight and Allen felt his mind wander as they entered the main doors unhindered. The receptionist that was behind the main desk was busy filling out paperwork and so engrossed in her work that she never saw the duo enter only looking up once the doors clicked closed before shrugging and going back to her work unaware of the terror that was soon to befall the head doctor.
Allen and Road soon found the hallway that the doctor's main office resided and quickly closed in on the door stopping only when they heard voices in the room. Curious Allen drew closer to the door to hear what they were saying and what he heard made his blood boil, further cementing his hate for humans.
"Come now, dear. You know what you need to do, take them off." the voice was clearly male and Allen knew instantly that the voice was that of the head doctor of whom he had come to either kill or force back into helping make Akuma.
"B-b-b-but doctor...You said." came a younger more feminine voice.
"Oh? What did I say?" the doctor interrupted a hint of irritation in his voice. But he continued on, "I recall telling you I would pay for your mothers healthcare if you simply did a few things for me."
"Well yes, but I thought you meant working as a receptionist without pay! Not this!" the girl said, slightly panicked.
"See, you should have clarified. So take off your clothes and maybe your mother will get her next dose of medication."
At this point Allen and Road, who had come to the door curious as to why the cursed boy had yet to barge in, had heard enough and threw the door open.
"What in the blazes!" The doctor yelled before he was quickly pinned to the wall courtesy of Road's candles.
Allen walked over to the man his mask hiding the snarl on his face, but the doctor could easily see the anger and hate in the boy's eyes.
"You've crossed the Earl." he said as yanked out a candle from the wall causing the man to pale significantly.
"Did you think your action would go unpunished? You were paid quite well and all you had to do was help along the process of making Akuma. The Earl however was generous enough to be willing to allow you a second chance, but I don't think you deserve it."
By now the man was squirming and struggling with all his might to pull himself from the wall only to fall flat on the ground when the candles pulled free on their own letting him drop.
"Please! I can explain! I'll continue our deal! I let the power go to my head I..." The doctor was cut off as Allen thrust the sharp candle in the man's shoulder causing him to scream in pain.
His scream was cut off as Allen grabbed him by the throat with his left arm and held him up so he could see into the doctor's eyes and threw him across the room in disgust a the man's black soul speckled white traces of white. It was humans like this that ran amok in the world tainting it with their darkness. He glanced over the young woman who was huddled in the corner in fear and flinched when his gaze fell upon her but Allen saw what he needed to and was pleased, the girl's soul was such a stark contrast the doctor's, almost a mirror image, so white with only a few flecks of black tarnishing her soul. But his small smile fell as he knew in time that it too would blacken as time went on. His attention was quickly grabbed when he saw the doctor dash for his desk only to be stopped short by several candles embedding into the floor in front of him.
"You can't kill me! Without me who will help you produce Akuma?!" the man yelled as he inched towards his desk.
"You think you're the only Doctor helping us?" he asked with a slight chuckle and shook his head.
"You are only one of many, loosing your help won't even put a dent in how many Akuma are made."
At that the Doctor lunged for his desk only for it to be blown into splinters by a purple blast and fell on his backside, sweaty and shaking he glanced at where the strange blast came from and nearly fainted and gagged when he saw it. The boy's left arm had transformed into a grotesque imitation of a canon. It's purple-ish black skin was a stark contrast to the boy's white tuxedo and pulsed with bulging veins that gathered and spiraled out of the boy's shoulder into some kind of spike.
"You're a monster! A devil!" He screamed as he scurried away from the demonic boy until his back hit the wall. His panic rose further when the boy leveled that disgusting looking thing that used to be an arm right at him and the last thing he saw was the boy's dual colored eyes glaring at him filled with so much hate before his vision was overtaken by dark purple then black.
Allen slumped to the ground before forcing his arm back to normal. He was elated that his arm was starting to follow his commands though it had been odd that instead of being destroyed his Innocence and the dark matter in his hand had fused together forming something entirely new. It was useful none the less and it and the only draw back thus far had been the energy drain it had upon him but he figured with time and training that it could be reduced. The other drawback was superficial but it irked him just as much was that it ruined his tuxedo's left sleeve leaving the dark coloration of the arm exposed for all to see.
"Millenie will be so proud!" Road said as she skipped up to Allen putting a hand on his shoulder and helping the teen up.
"Let's go home." Allen said tiredly and let Road guide him through the door back to Kamelot manor.
Meanwhile the poor young woman stayed huddled in the corner wide eyed as she looked at the doctor's headless corpse she never saw the small butterfly float his shoulder as it and its brethren devoured the corpse. The only evidence of conflict being the shattered desk and the blood stains on the walls and floor.
"The boy left quite the mess didn't he? And what to do with you, hmm?"
"Now Tyki, I have a special plan for her." Said the Earl who had just appeared in front of the girl causing her to snap to attention.
"Who are you people?" She asked shakily huddling even more into herself.
"My dear, who we are doesn't matter. What matters is that the doctor lied to you. Your mother has been dead for a few days now." the Earl said causing the young girls eyes to grow wide and tears began to stream down her face.
"No! He said that she was able to be saved!" she cried in denial but her hopes were shattered when the other man, Tyki gave her a clipboard that had her mothers picture on it and while most of the information wasn't anything she understood she did understand the big red letters across her mothers file. Her mother was gone!
"You know I could bring her back for you." The Earl cooed as he held out his gloved hand to the girl which she reluctantly took.
"H-h-how?" She asked unsure if she should just run screaming or listen to the strange man and his offer.
"It's simple really. Just call her name and I'll do the rest."
"Really? That's it?" she asked with a hint of disbelief. She hesitated slightly but even if this man was lying it wasn't like she had anything to lose. She would say her mother's name and leave unaware that she had sealed her fate.
"Eliade!"
