This was all happening too quickly. The area suddenly became like a ghost town, and whatever bodies that were caught in the explosion were buried underneath the walls of bricks and wood that were knocked down. I sat on top of some of the debris, but it suddenly gave way and I fell a few few into a hole of dust and old wood. I felt my foot twist some way and shocks of pain went up and down my leg. I grimaced and attempted to pull myself out, but more stuff piled over me. Cecil found his way down and looked at me innocently, then took a part of my shirt in his mouth and tried to pull me up.
"I need to get out," I told him. " I need to stop their fight-"
The sound of footsteps and shuffling came closer to me. Wood that was stacked over me was moved to the side and a few rays of light poked through the opening. A head peeked over me and a hand reached down to offer me help. Cecil jumped onto the extended arm and went up and I took their hand as they pulled me up. I groaned as my foot dangled for a moment before I fell back onto the ground outside the hole.
"Are you okay? I heard something explode, and when I came over I saw you fall down there so I rushed here as fast as I could. Is your foot okay?" It was Red. I was surprised he wasn't in the building when it exploded. Despite my short lived surprise, I forced myself to stand. My leg wobbled as I struggled to stand, but I endured the pain and started to move towards the standoff between the brothers. "Wait! You shouldn't go over there-"
Leaving Cecil with Red, I started to run as fast as I could to them before he could finish his sentence. With every step, my leg felt like I kept hitting my foot with a sledgehammer. Tears came to my eyes, and the dust in the air only made my eyes worse. I nearly fell every step I took, but I knew I had a promise to keep.
"Stop!" I cried out, "don't do it Neah!" I finally stood between them, panting loudly and coughing blood. Their eyes had an amber hue to them, but they were as cold as ice. Looking at Mana, I could see that he wasn't in his right mind. He had a smile on his face that taunted Neah, daring him to attack. Neah glared back at him, unmoving. I could see in his face that he didn't want to fight Mana, but something was itching at him to lift his sword at him.
"Let's meet again, brother." Mana smirked evilly. Then, as though he just fallen from sleep walking, he fell to the ground, his skin and eyes reverting back to their normal human color. Neah released his sword and went on his knees, staring at the ground.
"Neah.." I whispered, but he didn't answer. Red cautiously approached when he saw them fall. I could only wonder what was going through Neah's mind- for him to have to fight Mana was unbearable to even think about. It seemed impossible, but it nearly happened before my very eyes.
"We can't stay here, the Exorcists are probably on their way now," Red pulled me from my thoughts. "I suggest we reside in their old home for now, at least until we can figure everything out again."
"Right," I said as I pulled Neah up and helped him stand by leaning him on my shoulder. Red put Mana over his shoulder and started walking out of the wreckage. Neah's shuttered breath caught my attention, and he began to speak.
"I don't know what happened...I'm so sorry..." he barely managed to say.
"Don't worry about that right now, Focus on controlling yourself before something like this happens again," I remarked. "There's something going on here between you two, and it seems to only be unearthing itself now."
"I don't want to kill Mana," he murmured, a tear falling to the ground. I glanced at him, feeling bad for not being able to prevent their confrontation. After a bit, I said,
"I told you guys that I would protect the both of you. Even if you two insist on fighting each other, I'll find a way to keep you safe from yourselves."
I felt him look over at me, then return his gaze to the ground.
We returned to Neah and Mana's old house and settled there. We placed them in separate rooms from each other to avoid any quarrels. They were right across from each other in the hallway, however, and so they were still very close to each other. Red went downstairs and slept on the couch as I took a chair in Neah's room. He slept almost peacefully on the bed beside me, as though nothing had gone wrong at all.
As this happened, I stayed up and brainstormed. I had to find a way to keep the peace between those two without killing anyone. Ideas passed though my head constantly, yet nothing was enough to solve this puzzle. In due time, I felt tired. I wanted to sleep, but forced myself to stay awake.
Everyone has their limits, however. Before I knew it, my head was hanging from my shoulders, and I passed out. I was exhausted, and my body still ached from the destruction that occurred earlier.
"Where am I?" I heard my voice. I could neither hear nor see anything- only darkness and space was what I could see. I felt a presence there, like someone was watching me. Suddenly, a candle was lit in the middle of the dimension. It was an overturned birthday hat. Was this a joke to that shadow that watched me in the darkness?
"Hello, human. What was your name again? Winston? Mind of I call you Winny?"
A child's voice echoed from all sides. The light flickered as I focused on it, unable to look away. I noticed a small shape next to it. A birthday present. As though it was haunted, the ribbon removed itself and the top floated from its place on the box. Inside, a doll sat looking up at me,
"What is this? Who are you?" I asked, examining the doll. The doll stood up on its own and came out of the box. "Demon," I spoke. "is this dark matter?"
"Don't be so naive, Winny." it responded. "I am not an akuma. You can trust me."
"I don't know you. Why can't I move? Where's my body?"
"This is your conscious, so you don't really have one unless you imagined one yourself, of course. Right now, though, I'm in charge of this dream. I want to make something clear to you."
"What? Who are you if you're not an akuma? Surely you're not an angel, or else you would not have control over me."
"I am Road. The Ninth Apostle in the Noah Clan. Nice to meet you, Winston."
"Noah?..." I thought. "You must be the last one." I said slowly.
"Right, but let's not talk about that right now. Although...i should kill you for slaughtering my Family like that, so consider yourself lucky at the moment."
"What do you want, Road?"
"Don't sound so uninterested, after all, this is about the Millennium Earl, not you." She paused, "I wanted to show you something."
Before I had a say, the candle went out and the doll disappeared. I felt blind until another light appeared. I suddenly had my body again. I walked over to the light and was greeted with a familiar sight,
Mana was laying in his bed, sleeping and obviously oblivious to my being there. His chest moved up and down slowly as he slept. Then, I felt someone appear behind me, Neah entered the room and stood at the end of Mana's bed, staring at him. I looked at his eyes- they turned golden, and his skin became darker. He clenched his fists and glared at Mana, who didn't move a muscle. Neah climbed onto the bed and stood up to look down at his brother.
"Oh no," I said, watching helplessly. "Don't do it Neah!" I cried out, just like I had only hours before. I jumped onto the bed and shielded Mana's body with my own. Peering deep into his eyes, searching for the normal, human Neah that was a slave to his Noah, I continued to protect Mana. Neah's icy cold stare seemed to look straight through my soul.
"He can't see you," Road interrupted abruptly. "He's fighting himself. Deciding whether to kill Mana now or later."
"He wouldn't kill Mana." I stated, not moving my eyes from Neah. "I know that he sees me, and if not me, then he sees something that's preventing him from murdering Mana."
"Very stubborn you are," she chuckled. "You have no idea how right you are."
"Huh-" as I tried to talk, Neah lowered himself from the bed and left without a word. His eyes didn't change.
"You really are a good friend to him," Road said, actually sounding sincere. "But you can't protect him from fate. Besides, he's not the only one that's changed."
"What do you mean by that?" I questioned, standing upright again. The doll from before took a place at the end of the bed and pointed it's small arm at Mana. I turned to him and watched as his eyes snapped open and returned a late, golden glare to where Neah had stood before.
"No...Mana don't let it control you.." I was frozen where I stood. Somehow, his eyes had an aura about them that made me feel like I was surrounded by akuma.
"Like I said, Winny. You can't interfere with events like this. Use your head. If I were you, I'd take that other guy and just ditch these two and leave them to their business. What can I say though? I'm a Noah, I don't really care about you two. I'll just be rooting for someone to become the Earl."
Her words ignited a fire within me. Those words that she spoke got to me and pissed me off the moment they left her lips. I turned to the doll, red faced and fists trembling with anger.
"Don't you dare say that again." I growled. "They are my friends- no, we're brothers. I will never let them kill each other without interfering one way or the other. So, unless you're going to kill me, get the heck out of my dream now."
The doll sat there for a good few minutes before the world around me began to fade away. She said nothing more, but I heard a slight chuckle come from the blackness around me.