The room looked unoccupied; it's was a sitting room. There was a table with tea dishes in the center and chairs all around it. A fire place sat in the far right side of the room with love seats and couches cramped in around it. Expensive painting and mirrors covered the walls too. On the left side of the room, in the corner, there was a window. But red velvet curtains covered it, blocking the sunlight and view of the outside world. Allen stood next to the window; he slightly moved the red curtain to the side and looked outside. The town of rugs and sand had become busier. More and more soldiers with yellow marking had appeared in the town.

"Step away from the window please, Young One."

Shit, I thought I was alone.

Allen did was he was told, Anita can be scary at times.

"I told you not to go near the windows, what if the glass were to shatter of a bomb?"

"I'm sorry, the thought never occurred to me." Allen replied

Anita smiled

"Oh it's quite alright; this town has been at risk for quite some time. Follow me"

"Yes"

Allen followed Anita out of the Room and down one of the many halls.

Lavi was right, ever since Allen came into her possession; she has been doting over him and pampering him. She never hit him, or committed any kind of assault, she hasn't touched him either, not even curse at him.

Maybe this is what having a 'mother' is like

She gave Allen his own room. Every morning she would personally come in to wake him up. She picked out the clothes he would wear, (Allen insisted he dressed himself, being self-cautious of his arm) and even brushed his hair. Every morning there was breakfast, and every afternoon there was lunch, and believe it or not, every evening there was a dinner! Allen was not used to that much food in one day. Usually Allen and Cross would only eat once a day and Allen would gorge, because that was it.

Anita's servants made and served all the food, they were also always cleaning and doing laundry and washing the floors. The whole house always either smelled of cleaning supplies or scented candles. Anita likes the smell of smoked berries. Red curtains, they were everywhere. Allen could recall when he first came to this place the hallway what was covered in red and mirrors. Allen never went back to that hallway. He feared what may be hiding behind the walls, in the dark and damp basement

Allen followed Anita up a set of stairs at the end of the hall.

The stairs spiraled and led up to a third floor

Allen has never been on the third floor, he wanted to ask what they were doing but he learned to keep shut. Anita didn't like it when he asked 'unnecessary questions'.

The stairs were made of marble, and the higher they ascended, the cleaner they were. Maybe it's because only few servants are allowed upstairs to clean. It was kind of scary…to finally find out what's on the forbidden floor. The light became brighter, was it actual sunlight? Normally there were candles, fireplaces, and gas lamps that powered all the lighting in the house. Plus there were also the deep red curtains that blocked out all sunlight.

The stairways walls were white brick, blotches of color started to appear as the windows were stain glass. Each window was a scene from the bible. Allen could recognize a few of them from which Mana would read to him.

A chuckle escaped from Miss Anita's lips

It made Allen nervous..

"May I ask the source of your entertainment?" Allen Asked

"Shhh" she cooed, "no speaking unless you're being spoken to."

Allen looked up and saw the top of the spiral stairway, at the top was a big door. It was completely made of stain glass; the design was the Battle of Angles and Demons. People say that the humans sided with the demons because humans are naturally lured to sin. The Demons in this battle however, were a bit more different than the rest. They used to be a family of 'fallen angles' but they each were attracted to sin, and god banished them from heaven. So then they stirred up the Holy war. Turning man against their god, but only the righteous fought alongside with the angles. These people were with the church, and those who fought on the battle field were called the 'exorcists'. The scene stained of the glass; it was gruesome, but also beautiful. It showed how terrible battle can be. But the explicit dismembered pictures of the humans were shadowed over by the grace of the angles and demons.

The angles were almost completely white, their pale skin tone, hair, cloths, even their eyes were silver. They had a glow like marking on different parts of their body. Even some of the 'exorcists' had matching markings to some of the Angles. That's how each exorcist had a 'guardian angel. They had matching marks that glowed.

Wait

Allen then glanced at his left hand. He was careful to keep it wrapped up and hidden from everyone. Even though Anita has already seen it once, he tried to hide it from everyone else in the house. He kept his hand and arm hidden so much, that sometimes Allen forgot himself that his hand was deformed.

No, the holy war was so long ago. This is just another one of god's bizarre works; I was born with it looking so strange…my arm.

The demons however, were dark. Their skin was almost grey, and they had the markings of the damned on their forehead. Their hair and eyes were black; some of them even had pointy teeth.

Allen didn't know how long he spent staring at the glass, but he noticed Anita staring at him. He tried to ignore it but the aura immediately became awkward. Allen forced out a small cough, she narrowed her eyes.

"It's beautiful. Isn't it."

Allen nodded

"The craftsmanship, it is quite exquisite. The detail and balance. Especially on the angels."

Allen slowly looked down as Anita started to go on,

"and the demon, well I think it's quite clever how they all display a certain theme, oh and the exorcists I absolutely love how the artist has the angels match them with marking, it's like god created two halves and they find each other on the battle field as soulmates." Allen started to look at the floor, it was white marble, there were little tiny grey cracks in them, he started to trace them with his eyes to see where it would lead him, and he didn't move his body. Just his eyes, it was something to do as entertainment. He got bored rather quickly, Anita's words all blurred together and Allen Stopped listening. He closed his eyes and began to think

'I wonder how Cross is doing…is he even looking for me? Nah, probably not. Hopefully he escaped…maybe he even made it back home by now. It's possible; to think if I would have been more careful none of this would have happened. I could be home, Timcanpy would be there. Bloody hell we could be eating cake! Aghhh what I would give to be at home in my own warm bed, it's nice here too I must confess…but still. There is no place like home. I knew a kid from my youth who said that a lot…I still remember his name. John. I met him in a small town when passing through. He sure had a lot of pen pals he was writing to; I wonder if they are all still friends. He sure talked a lot about them…

Click

Allen flinched at the noise; he looked up to see Anita at the stain glass door. She had her hand on the door handle. There was a key in a lock, which must have been the clicking noise.

"Coming?" she asked, and opened the door, not all the way though. She only opened it enough to just barley slip through. Good thing Allen was smaller than her; he then followed her through the door. Allen half expected to see red curtains everywhere since the rest of the mansion seemed to be drowning in them. But instead it was bright. The entire floor was a ball room. The left side wall was entirely made out of glass windows. Some were doors that led to an outside balcony; Allen couldn't see the town out the windows despite the mansion was crowded by it. He rushed over toward the windows to get a better look. He saw it, the town. But you could only see it if you were right at the windows and looked down just beyond the edge of the balcony. Normally when Allen would sneak a peek outside there were few people around. But for some reason the streets were even more crowded. He looked around the room once more; there were tables and chairs stacked along the right side of the room along with an indoor balcony the watched over the entire room from above. The floor was entirely made out of white marble and the walls where white as well, they had gold trimming along the floor and ceiling. The far wall had a grand fireplace, no ashes or soot was left behind. Elegant chandeliers made of crystals hung from the ceiling. Anita stood in the middle and observed Allen's excitement as he wondered around the huge empty space. Her maids kept it clean and sparkling for her, she had hoped to one day use it. And tonight would be the night she finally would. ((here is a refrence) . )

Anita cleared her throat.

Allen stopped and looked over at her, showing she caught his attention.

"Allen Dear, we are going to host a ball tonight. Here in this very room. I have had the seamstress sew you something nice to wear. Since you arrived I have been hoping to show my treasure to my friends." She smiled, "oh how I've waited to use this room once again, things have been, just too hard since the war began. I had to start several business just to keep this place up and running." She looked like she could almost cry.

'You mean slave trading 'Allen thought, then rolled his eyes.

Anita had taken out a handkerchief and dabbed the corners of her eyes. "Here my angel, follow me. We must, you both you and I, get ready for tonight." She waved her hand for him to follow. "We have important guests arriving early so we must prepare in advance." Allen followed Anita back down the stairs. Servants were rushing up with table cloths, silverware, flowers, and a lot of decorations.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs they departed in different directions towards their quarters.

I wonder if this is my chance to hi-tail it outta here. The servants are too busy getting ready and Anita is busy getting ready.

But then again, I'll stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd outside. I look nothing like the locals, with their tan skin and dark hair. I should wait til it gets dark out.

Allen made his way back to his room, but waiting inside were a group of women with fabric and needles at the ready. He sighed and greeted them with a smile. All the fabric the team of seamstresses' had was white.

Figures, lets get this over with this


"Ouch" Allen flinched. This must have been the 20th time had been pricked with a needle. They were settled in an empty space on the right side of Allen's room in front of glass doors leading to the balcony. But like every other window it has been covered by red curtains. A flimsy transparent fabric split the room in two, the left side had Allen's bed centered against the wall. His dresser and drawers were collected around the space they were using to sew Allen something to wear for Anita's party later that night.

"Oh hush, were almost done" a woman said. She was the leader of group of seamstresses'. She was a plump woman in her mid-forties. Her brown hair was wrapped neatly in a bun. Her cloths were simple and plain but sewn nicely. There were a total of five women. Three of them had to be around Allen's age, one was blonde and the other two had brown hair. They wore loose ponytails and white blouses with simple skirts with bold color. They also wore aprons, unlike the leader. They must have been apprentices. The fourth woman was around the same age as the leader, who wore something very similar to her.

Allen stood on a stool and the older women were kneeling on the floor hemming up the bottom of Allen cloths. The three other girls were folding up extra fabrics and were giggling. Anita always told him not to acknowledge names, so Allen just noted them as the leader, the follower, and the three annoying ones.

The leader snapped at the girl's giggles and told them to hold their tongue's. When she turned away the girls stuck their tongue's out at her…it was silent for a while, until Allen decided to speak up,

"Miss, may I ask how much longer this must take? You can take a break if you'd like, you must be tired from sewing non-stop for God knows how long now."

"What a sweet boy, but this won't take much longer." The leader said, then looked up and winked. Allen saw the girls scrunch up they face at him. It was the only thing he said to them the entire time. His entire outfit was white. It consisted of two pieces; the first piece was a sleeveless shirt with a turtle neck that had a zipper that reached down to his collarbone. Allen was very uncomfortable, because of his arm. The three apparentness' kept their distance from him, but the leader and follower paid no mind to it. the shirt was almost dress like- it reached down all the way to his ankles with a slit that started from his bellybutton, so then it exposed his pants he was wearing underneath. His pants were white as well; they could only be described as 'harlem' pants. It was quite comfy and easy to move around in.

((basically what he wore in -man volume 22, chapter 202-205) store/manga/28/205.0/compressed/r205. ?v=11303388597)

The leader also sewed him a coat with a hood. It was white like everything else, it didn't have a zipper so it was open. The coat reached down to the floor, it trailed a little on the floor. The inside of the hood had a quilt like pattern, while the outside and the rest of the hood was silk. lining of the hood was fluffy, it continued down to his chest then halted. Allen was quite appreciative of the coat, seeing as the shirt-dress piece was sleeveless, and he liked to cover up his arm.

((the coat is crown clown…( )

Allen didn't realize someone had walked into the room, his back was facing the door…the leader kept going on and on about how to take care of the new cloths she had finished sewing. She handed him a pair of black flats and Allen slipped them on one at a time, when he finished she handed him a pair of black gloves, he slipped them on as well. Allen was half-listening to her, it seemed like an endless ramble that blurred into a monotone drivel. He zoned out and just stood there with his mind in solitude, obvious to what was happening around him. Allen dazed for a while, he didn't realize how much time had passed, but he noticed the leader. She stopped talking and looked as if she was frozen in time. The annoying girls had ceased giggling and had also frozen in the middle of cleaning up. The follower was quite anyways, but she was frozen as well…Allen put up a hand and waved it in front of the leader.

"um-excuse me?" Allen asked, he stepped off the stool and stumbled a bit.

There was a chuckle from behind him. The lights went out.

"My, My, My, so you're the one Anita has been gloating about. A little clumsy eh boy?" The mystery voice said. It was deep, and a little husky.

Allen felt a little chill run down his spine.

A small light illuminated from behind him, a candle had been lit

Allen eyebrows furrowed,

Wait a second, this is my room…how did he?

Without turning around Allen answered "This is a private room, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Oh I know who's room this is"

Click

Click

Click

The sound of footsteps drew closer. Allen turned around to face the man, but as soon as he turned his head to lay eyes on the man in his room, a hand cupped his chin and forced his head to look up. The man had moved quickly, and way to close for comfort. The only thing Allen could see was a bright golden eyes, they seemed to glow in the darkness. The man towered over him. He could smell him, it was sandalwood… he knew that scent anywhere, it was his favorite

God damn it what the hell, who is this guy

Allen turned his face away but the hand they cupped his chin held it in place.

"Im going to call for help if you don't release me." Allen said as vaugly as he could.

The man chucked again and leaned in further,

"go ahead, no help will come."

Allen struggled aganest the hand, but another snaked its way around his waist.

"A little feisty aren't we?" the man whispered

"Let me go!" Allen yelled

""didn't I say that no one would be able to hear you" the man smirked

Allen scrunched up his face and let his feet give out. His plan was to slip out from under the man's grasp and escape that way, but he underestimated how tight the man's grasp was. But instead he awkwardly slid down only to have his face pressed into the man's stomach. Allen tried to weasel his way out, then he was suddenly let go. The man burst out into laughter, he dropped the candle and held his sides while laughing. Allen rushed over and stomped out the candle's flame, and then lights then came back on. The man had straightened out and wiped a tear from his eye from laughter. Allen decided to make a break for it, he started his sprint but only three steps in the man grabbed Allen's arm and pulled him back.

"Don't you have any manners boy? An introduction would be nice"

"I could say the same to you, waltzing into someone's private quarters unannounced or acquainted" Allen replied

Got em

The man replied with a smirk

"Very well," he started, "I am Tyki Mikk, of the Noah family. A friend to Anita, she told me herself to look around the house."

"Yeah, to look around the house. Not sneaking into people's room and act like a creep!" Allen spat

"A creep you say? Listen here boy-

"It's Allen!"

Tyki's smirk widened

"You are quite a lively one, completely not what Anita said you are," he let go of Allen's arm "keep that spark you have"

Allen didn't run, he surveyed the man now that he was in the complete light. He could determine that he looked to be Portuguese with tan skin and dark hair. It was a little long and was curly but still neatly fixed. He wore a nice suit with a cloth tucked in at the base of the neck instead of a bow or tie. He certainly looked like he came from money; Allen wouldn't be surprised if Tyki was a client in Anita's underground business.

"What is your purpose? Coming here and putting your hand on me, Anita certainly wouldn't like hearing that."

"Oh no, she most certainly wouldn't. But I will say this; I know you're looking for a way out. I can make you a deal, to escape this place, to get back home, to the north."

Allen grew furious

How the bloody hell how does he know all of this!?

"Oh dear boy come now, surely this place must sicken you" Tyki stepped closer and knelt down so he was eye level with Allen. He cupped his cheek one again and started at the boy, tracing his scar with his thumb. "It seems really nice, living here and all. But deep down, you know this place is hell, underneath the polished tiles or even the walls. It's why you're here, and she was foolish to believe that you're a holy entity" his hand slipped down Allen's face and neck to his shoulder. Tyki then slid his hand down Allen's arm and lifted his hand up. He slipped off Allen's glove to reveal his deformed hand with a small glowing cross on the top of his hand.

Allen tried to move, but he was frozen. No matter what his brain told him he couldn't. It's like another power had control of him.

Tyki brought Allen's hand up to his lips and kissed it. Allen shuddered; he didn't like this at all. Tyki was a creep. An attractive creep too, oh god that makes it worse.

Tyki let go of Allen's hand, "I can take you home" he cooed.

He wanted to cry

"But it comes with a price."

He wanted to run

"But for now, consider this a gift. It should be your catalyst."

A pain shot up through Allen's arm. He dropped to his knees and clutched his arm

"What-what…did you do…to me?" Allen grunted

Tyki crouched down next to Allen,

"I told you, I gave you a gift. You should have more power in your arm. Honestly I'm surprised you haven't used it yet, you seem scared."

What the hell is he talking about?

Tyki sighed

"The Earl will not be happy with me for that, but you never know. Maybe it can prove useful to us before the time comes."

Allen just frowned at him, Tyki held out Allen's black glove to him.

The pain in his arm zeroed in on the spot where Tyki kissed his hand.

"The pain will subside shortly. That's just a little conflict going on between your innocence and my Noah."

"The bloody hell are you talking about?!" Allen snapped

Tyki look dumb folded. Then that smirk of his returned once more

"You don't know how to use it don't you?" he then chuckled, "well, that's a bit of a problem."

Allen shakily took off his coat, to examine his arm. The green cross started to illuminate and his veins started to pulse and squirm. He slowly stood back up; he fumbled but regained his footing. Tyki's expression darkened. His face held a look of disgust, staring at Allen's deformed arm.

"Disgusting, it should gain a new form soon. Call it an upgrade."

"This is your sick idea of a gift?!" Allen exclaimed

Before Allen can move Tyki was right there, he grabbed Allen by the collar and threw him to the wall. Allen felt the wind knocked out of him. His vision blurred, he blinked. When he opened his eyes Tyki was eye level with him. Their faces were barley an inch apart…

"Listen here boy,"

Allen thought of it as a perfect opportunity to sock him in the face, only to find out that Tyki had pinned Allen's arms against the wall.

"I gave you a catalyst, without it you would be stuck as a low level exorcist. Be. Fucking. Grateful. Maybe you can defend yourself now, which is if you man up and fight."

Allen started at him, his eyebrows furrowed

Exorcist?

Tyki was so close; he could feel his breath on him.

Allen brought his knee up between Tyki's legs. Hard. He grunted and fell forward into Allen's shoulder but then Allen shoved him back. He grabbed his tossed gloves and coat and bolted out of the room, leaving Tyki on the floor.

Note from Chemical-King-Twoon:

I'm sorry this update took so long! I've been on writers block, I planned for this chapter to be a lot longer but I decided that I've been quite long enough and that something should be released.