Allen slapped his forehead and peered through his fingers. Nope, still the same.
This time, he decided, he'd really pushed his luck too far. When Lero said the Ark contained dimensions of its own he hadn't really believed it, but apparently the umbrella hadn't been joking. Though how on earth he'd ended up here he still wasn't sure about. All he'd done was open a door. Nothing wrong with opening a door, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. A moment of truly monumental stupidity, because he might not do directions, but he knew that there were no doors between his room and the dining room. Mana used to have a saying about these kind of things. Something about a curious cat and dying.
Looking at a landscape made from glass and water and a multi-coloured sky that just could not be real, Allen finally gave in to the urge to bang his head against something. Cristal leaves tinkled pleasantly as the tree shuddered under his assault.
When the dents in his forehead became too much, he stopped and felt a bit better. Nothing like one headache get rid of another.
With a sigh he turned around and had to fight himself to not just turn right back and knock himself out, because the door was gone. It had opened in an odd rock formation. The rocks were still there. The door wasn't.
Gritting his teeth, he settled for punching the glittering glass. And blinked as his eye caught an odd sparkle in the crystal itself. After a few moments of twisting and taking a look from different angles he'd found his door. Seamlessly locked into the rock. With no doorknob whatsoever. Of. Course.
Tempted to tear out his hair in frustration, he took the time to heap every curse he knew on the damn thing. At this point the more suspicious part of him was convinced this place was made just to torture him.
'Don't let your anger rule you.' Oh. Yeah. Stupid. Argh. But he wanted to break something so bad. It was possible that throwing a fit around here wasn't as dangerous as in the city, but he didn't know for sure and he'd rather not find out he was wrong.
In. And out. Breathe. And get moving.
Growling under his breath he stomped away to look for another door. Obviously he wouldn't be able to use this one to leave this place. Something cracked under his feet like breaking ice and sharp fragments drew thin red lines on exposed skin and suddenly he found himself submerged in an underground stream, clear water nearly undistinguishable from the surrounding glass.
Panic seized him. Desperately he tried to get back to the surface, but before he got very far the stream surfaced from a hole in a crystal cliff. Sputtering out water Allen tumbled down the waterfall, before hitting the small lake with a startled yelp.
Gasping he resurfaced, clumsily fighting the pull of the water. He wasn't good at swimming, Mana had only taught him the basics, but he managed to reach the shore. If entirely out of breath and mind half in shock trying to process what the fuck just happened.
And decided he now officially and unconditionally hated the Ark.
What kind of insane, messed up mind came up with this?! Though every minute he became more and more convinced Mana would have loved it. The wacky old clown had liked weird things like their audience liked the circus. Thrilling and exiting and something to go on and on about for days. It didn't help that everywhere he looked things sparkled prettily like diamonds.
If Allen would say something about it, it wouldn't be pretty. Street-life was a terrible influence on your vocabulary. Mana had been convinced of that. On the bright side, Allen could curse the damn thing for hours without repeating himself. Though at the rate he was going, he might not have enough to last.
Seething, drenched and swearing, his new cuts stinging like tiny needles, Allen resumed his walk through the distorted landscape. Though with distinctly more care than before. And knew somewhere, somehow the slender Noah was laughing at him. He was tempted to take some of the glassy rock with him, just so he could bounce it off her head in revenge. Probably not very conductive to survival, but oh, how he wanted to.
Don't, bad idea, don't know what she'll come up with as punishment. And punish she would, were he to show such a level of disrespect. Superiors were unfair that way. Especially when they deserved it. Like Kojimo.
Well, if he couldn't plot vengeance against Road, he sure could fantasize about getting even with the hateful clown. If they got dimensions like this then maybe they got some nastier ones too. Maybe, if I ask nicely, Road will even point me to one. Would serve the ugly bastard right-
Heh. Seemed like he found another pastime. He shook his head.
Now, if I were a damn door, where would I be hidden?
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
He knew he shouldn't gawk. He knew better than to gawk at strangers. It was impolite and made people think he was daft. Still the blind man couldn't help it. He had not just heard what he thought he heard.
Kanda, having no such bothersome little worries like manners and other people's opinion, had already seized the startled man by his coat. "What did you say?"
"H-he was looking for an earl-"
Marie took a deep breath. "Which earl?"
"Um… don't really remember? Had something to do with time-" the man squeaked, twisting nervously in Kanda's steel grip. "Look, can you let go? I've got an appointment in a few minutes-"
Marie put his hand on Kanda's shoulder. Reluctantly Kanda let go. Struggling to keep his voice calm so he wouldn't agitate the man further, Marie said, "Just one moment. Could it have been the Earl of the Millennium?"
The man paused in straightening his coat. "Eh? Yes, something like that. Can I go now? I'm already late."
"Of course. Our apologies for bothering you," Marie said politely, willing the temperamental teen next to him to behave. He could feel the man give them a dubious look before his hurried footsteps faded down the road. Kanda was releasing a tirade that turned the air blue about the idiocies of bloody street rats. They were getting quite a lot of room from passer-by's.
Chilled, Marie barely noticed the whispered comments about weird foreigners and warnings not to go near dangerous people. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't be.
Whatever he had expected following Allen's trail, this wasn't it. We took too long. We should have used the finders. Maybe then we would have picked up his trail sooner. Sightings from observant employees of the train station had led them to this city. People who had seen a lone child in pain had alerted them to the worrying condition of the boy, making their job all the more urgent. But now…
"Come on. Maybe it's not too late yet." Kanda grabbed him by the arm, determination radiating from his grip. "If he was as ill as that guy said he was, he would have a room somewhere nearby. He got the money for it now."
Oooh, Marie hadn't even thought of that. What if the boy decided to remain on the streets, like he was used to? Gunde had needed two weeks to find him. And that was in the city where the kid lived. People there had at least known him somewhat. But Kanda was right. Maybe the boy was still around and had done the smart thing. Maybe the Earl didn't know yet. He prayed that was the case.
It took them some time to find the street were the man had met Allen. Marie strained his ears, Innocence aiding him as he searched for something that sounded like the child on the record.
"Well?" Kanda asked impatiently.
"Nothing." Grabbing a random person by the arm Marie asked, "Are there any inns around here?" The person in his grip jumped. A young man, judging from the sound of his voice. And not very good at reading people, he concluded as his unfortunate victim started yelling. "Huh, wha- Hey, what do you think you are doing?!"
Marie shook him. They had no time to lose. "Are there any inns?" He repeated, pitching his voice to make it more menacing. The man gulped. "Err, about five. The Old Oak Inn, Havelock's Tavern, The Duchess, Black Horse Hall, and The New Inn. Oh, and there is The Weathervane, but that one is bogus. You're lucky if there're no pests and the mattress is more than just a piece of wood with a cover-" The man stopped his nervous babbling when Kanda drew his sword and threatened him. Instead he shrieked and nearly had a little mishap in his pants. Marie would have groaned at Kanda's behaviour, but refrained for Allen's sake. On bright side, the man was admirably quick in giving them directions.
Muttering a quick thanks as he pushed the man away, and then they were rushing down the streets again. "Which do you think is most likely?"
Kanda huffed, not even needing to think about it. "The Weathervane. The others are too posh."
Marie nodded. A few minutes later they barged into the seedy establishment that was hidden in some narrow side street. A young girl – probably the owner's daughter – paused in her sweeping at their rude entry. The broom clattered on the floor as she took a fearful step back.
Holding out a hand to keep Kanda from rushing forward, he raised the other palm out to indicate peaceful intentions. "Our apologies. We are looking for someone and it's quite urgent. Is there a young boy with white hair staying here?"
"Why? What do you want from him?" The girl asked nervously.
Marie felt guilty for scaring her. She was probably no older than fourteen. "We heard he might be in trouble. We came to help him," he said as kindly as he could.
The girl shook her head. "He was here, but he left a few days ago. It was really weird. He even left his stuff…" She paused. "I'm sorry."
"Do you know where he was going?" Kanda asked, ignoring Marie's pained silence.
The girl shook her head, her long hair swishing with the motion. "N-no. It was- Well, it was really weird, sir," she answered with a quavering voice, probably from the look on Kanda's face. "You see, he went up one night and he never came down- The stairs creak you know, so we would have heard, we sleep right next to them. And the room…" She trailed off and shook her head again.
Carefully Marie stepped forward and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What was wrong with the room?"
The girl swallowed and shook her head again. "You better see for yourself. I-I can't read, you see…" She put her broom away and led them to the second floor. The stairs creaked horribly indeed. She paused at a door and hesitated, before taking a key out of her pocket. She waved them inside a small, draughty room with a single window and what was probably an uncomfortable bed. "Um, in here, sir."
Next to him Kanda froze.
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
Road didn't know whether she should laugh or curse. The Earl obviously had chosen the former and was quite happily making notes. Another powerful blast tore though the other dimension. It wasn't a very big dimension and Road could feel the strain the Fallen One was putting on it. Sooner or later it was going to crack and since it was a sub-dimension of the Ark… Well, that could be troublesome.
Another blinding white blast and this time the tremors even managed to reach through the observation window. She choose cursing.
"Don't let it escape, dear,~" The Earl said, cheerfully aware of her intent.
She scoffed playfully. "As if I would." A flick of her wrist and a door opened on the other side of the window, right in the path of the next energy ray, catching it neatly like a mouse in a trap. She shuddered as she felt the Innocence-laced light pass through her dream, the pressure enough to cause her some pain. She smirked anyway, knowing very well were she was sending it. Some people were about to have a very bad day.
More blasts from the enraged Innocence, but now it was just an exciting game of Catch. Ray after ray disappeared through her doors, wreaking havoc in the real world. She grinned, despite the pain in her head as her dream trembled under the onslaught of the rabid energies. She was the Noah of Dreams, she was the dream, she ruled it, owned it, could change it at will. All she had to do was close her eyes and imagine the cracks gone. The very idea an Innocence would be able to shatter her was laughable.
It wouldn't be long now. The Innocence was rapidly eating away the life of its unwanted host, and the poor thing hadn't had much to begin with, half-dead as she was after days of experiments. Soon it would become a senseless crystal again.
By the time it was over she was sweating. The Earl gently patted her head. "Well done Road.~"
She gave him a grin. "You owe me."
He chuckled good natured. "Candy again?~"
She hummed in thought. "No, you still owe me that year supply. I'll think of something."
The Earl nodded and returned to his notes. "You do that, dear.~"
She smiled again and then wrinkled her nose. Time for a change of clothes. On the way out she picked up the Level two from where he'd retreated to during the Fallen One's rampage. "And?"
The akuma recoiled and made a quick bow. She smirked at the sight. Spherical creatures weren't really meant for bowing. "He's still wandering, Mistress Road," he reported nervously.
"Any immediate danger?"
"Um…" The akuma frantically scanned the area Allen was currently stumbling through. Road could see what he was looking at. It was funny how much the thing resembled a crystal ball. She almost giggled as she saw which dimension Allen was visiting, another one she'd designed when she had been bored. She wondered if he preferred petals over glass. Seeing him flail around in the stuff, she somehow didn't think so.
Singing softly under her breath she skipped out of the labs, leaving the Earl to continue his experiments. Just before the doors closed a new person started screaming. She smiled.
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
Somewhere in the Ark a door opened. Allen peeked around the corner and sighed relieved. He hurried to close it behind him, spilling a trail of blazing reds and soft pinks on the doorstep. The thick smell of flowers didn't give up that easily and stubbornly clung to his clothes. He ignored it and sagged against the door.
After a moment he raised his head again to take a better look at his surroundings, slightly unnerved by the quietness of the place. At least this time it looked like it could belong in the real world, though the lack of sound was almost oppressing. Bookcases reached high into the air, touching the dome whose curve he could just discern in the gloom above. Rows and rows of them, creating barely lit alleys of literature that somehow put him more at ease than the brightly illuminated fields of petals he just walked – or rather swum – through.
First glass, then flower petals. This place is nuts. Though now he was no longer forced to attempt to navigate wacky dream landscapes, he could actually acknowledge that both dimensions had been sort off pretty in a really weird way. Sparkles and bright colours. Somehow they reminded him a bit of Mana and the acts they used to do together in the circus. At those times all that had surrounded them had been shadows, vivid colours and shiny stuff, and the barely visible faces of the audience.
He sighed. Absentmindedly he plucked a lilac petal out of his hair. It looked almost otherworldly in the grim half-light of what appeared to be a library of monstrous proportions. He threw it aside.
With a quiet groan he got back on his feet. No way was he going through this door again, so it was time to find another. He randomly picked a direction because he didn't know the place anyway, and started walking. The sound of his footsteps breaking the heavy silence almost felt like sacrilege.
Turned out, it wasn't a good choice, considering half an hour wandering hadn't yielded to anything but more books. That is, until a sound around one corner made him curious. Which once again confirmed Mana really had been right with his proverb.
It was fortunate his feet had more sense than their owner and were carrying him away before his brain realized the things he'd stumbled upon weren't friendly.
Fear fuelled his flight as he ran through the maze of books while he desperately tried to stay ahead of the monsters following him and ignore whatever freaky thing was going on with his sight. His scarred eye was throbbing and twisting like a snake trying to see the back of its head and his breath was almost as fast as his heartbeat – which really, really wasn't good – heart was hammering, legs burning and damn it all to the seven rings of Hell, were they actually gaining on him?
Skidding around a corner he almost fell flat on his face before he scrambled back to balance and shot down the next aisle, the monsters in hot pursuit behind him. Some small part of him that wasn't busy with getting the hell away wondered if they were akuma and whether he could explain he was one too. A bullet whistled past his ear and he would have screamed if he had any breath to spare. As it was, he just pushed himself to go even faster. Somehow he had the feeling they wouldn't listen even if he'd decide to risk it.
Another turn, another twist, and had this been the city he would have jumped and climbed as he'd so often done to escape, but damn it, these weren't a bunch of thugs! These things could fly, were flying, and the distance between them was ever so slowly shrinking. The only reason why they hadn't caught him yet was because the aisles were too narrow for their bulky bodies to gain full speed.
Another corner and suddenly there was a great ruckus of breaking wood, falling books and curses. Many people would have looked back to see what happened but Allen knew it would only slow him down. It didn't matter anyway because once more bullets shot past like a horde of angry bees and he had to duck into another aisle to avoid them.
With the terrible timing he was used to, black spots started to dance across his vision. Now he was pretty much running blindly, his own wheezing gasps almost drowning out all other sounds as blood pounded in his head. His eye hurt like someone was slowly crushing it.
At that point he was so busy he really, really didn't expect to run into a piece of furniture. Then again, the world never seemed to put much effort into meeting his expectations. He hit it so hard he actually made a somersault and crashed into the floor convinced he'd just broken his legs in every way possible. Belated he realized that some part of whatever it was he ran into hit him full in the stomach, making him feel like he was about to throw up his intestines on top of everything else. Heavy panting was broken by pained hiccups as tears he hadn't even realized he was crying ran down his face. He groaned at the sheer agony thrumming through his body.
It wasn't until black high heeled boots stepped into his wavering vision that he realized his pursuers had stopped as well.
"What," a frigidly precise voice inquired, "Is the meaning of this?"
With a whimper of pain and a lot of effort he managed turn his head to look up at the dark-skinned woman in front of him. And blinked. Piercing gold eyes slowly slid from him to the monsters in disinterested disdain, aversion plain in every line of her body. But that wasn't what had surprised him. They were harder to spot in the dim light, but on her forehead he could discern seven thin crosses.
She's a Noah…
And the Noah commanded the akuma. For a moment all he felt was relief. Then he made the mistake of trying to move his lower body and couldn't suppress a weak scream. Damn, damn, bloody, sodding bollocks, owww…
Of course it was too much to hope the monsters would keep their traps shut while he tried to gather his scattered wits.
"Intruder, intruder!"
"He was running away!-"
"Mistress, we couldn't let him escape! He's a human!"
"Am not!" Allen yelled as loud as he could. Which wasn't very loud, considering he hadn't gotten his breath back under control yet and his chest protested with every movement. As a result, he was ignored.
"He was running away!"
"Mistress, Mistress, Mistress! Human! Kill! Kill!-"
"Silence!" The crack of a whip cut off the racket as like a door slamming shut. Gold glinted with annoyance as her eyes swept over them. The monsters cringed.
Belatedly Allen realized that being a Noah didn't mean she was on his side. Instinct urged him to get up and get away from here, but he barely got his face off the floor before he knew he wasn't going to make it. Both his legs and his stomach immediately went on a strike. Viciously.
Ow, ow, ow, damn it all to hell, ouch…
And no way was he throwing up his diner right now. Nu-uh, not a chance. Determined he swallowed the rising bile back down.
The slender fingers taking his chin in an unyielding grip were almost a welcome distraction.
"A human, hmm?" The Noah slowly forced his face at different angles, like a lady of a fruit stall trying to decide whether an apple was too rotten to sell. "The Master doesn't have time to deal with trespassers. Figure out how he got in and get rid of him." She turned on her heels, obviously intent to get back to whatever it was she'd been doing.
"The Earl knows! He was the one who brought me here!" Allen protested desperately, fearing for his life.
Some of the monsters started to laugh, but the Noah silenced them with a sharp look. Unimpressed eyes settled on him. "That," She said, her voice cold and admonishing, unvoiced threat daring him to disobey, "- is Master Earl, for you."
Yeah… Allen thought morosely. He decided he'd rather swallowed shards of glass than get on her bad side.
Satisfied her message was clear, her whip snapped at one of the monsters. "You. Go ask the Earl for confirmation. The rest of you, leave. After all," she said, once more focusing on Allen, "It wouldn't do to interfere with one of the Master's projects."
Allen gulped and made the mistake to look over his shoulder at the retreating monsters. With a stab of pain more agonizing than the ones before his eye writhed, a feeling as if it was twisting upside down and somehow changing, and suddenly he could see the hideous, ghoul-like apparitions from their backs. He whimpered and pressed his hand over the aching socket. So he'd been right about them. Bile leapt into his throat at the sight. And this time it seemed even more determined to escape.
Not real, just a defect, you're just seeing things- With a lot of difficulty he managed to swallow. And turned away in time to catch the Noah's inquisitive look, whip oddly enough nowhere to be seen.
Obviously dismissing the matter, the woman seated herself on a thickly cushioned sofa and picked up what he supposed was the book she'd been reading before he'd rather unceremoniously dropped by. Apparently she wasn't going to do anything until she got word from the Earl. Thank God for small mercies.
Biting his lip to keep from crying out he slowly sat up and wriggled his feet and fingers. He hadn't hurt this bad since the last time a drunk Kojimo had gotten a hold of him, but it seemed that everything was still in working order. Thank God.
"What's your name?"
Allen almost eeped. Seemed like the Noah wasn't as disinterested as she appeared. He considered the wisdom of answering. The more clear headed part of him then pointed out the danger of not answering, and proceeded to slap the still dazed part around the head till it saw sense.
"My name is Allen, Mistress." He hesitated, before adding, "I'm sorry we disturbed you."
He might have imagined it, but for a moment he thought he saw a slightly pleased flicker in her eye. "So some of you do have manners. Good." She turned a page. "The Master values proper behaviour."
Allen blinked. That… was good to know. Manners… manners… I can do manners. He thought relieved. Thanks Mana.
He wanted to say something more, see if he might be able to get in her good graces, but she had already returned to her book and he thought probably the best thing he could do was not disturb her further. Instead he started to check his injuries as quietly as he could.
He wasn't nearly done yet when without a sound a big set of double doors rose from the ground. They were heart-shaped and decorated with gold and a red-and-black chequered pattern. He stared at them incredulously.
Then they swung open and Road stepped out with a cheerful bounce in her step. He scowled, before he realized what she was wearing. His jaw dropped. There were ribbons and frills and the overall effect was downright creepy. Someone as scary as Road shouldn't wear cute things. Even if they went well with her childish appearance.
He was still gaping when she hugged him and ruffled his hair. An odd… thing with a face like a goblin and a really big coat followed her, carrying bandages and other first aid supplies.
Road sighed. "Look at you. I take my eyes off for just a few minutes and immediately you look like you've been attacked by something."
Allen shook off the shock. I was, he thought annoyed, doing his best to ignore her. Instead he tried to pay attention to the weird creature – he believed he'd heard of those; Skull, Lero had called them – that was treating his injuries. It became harder when her hug tightened, subtly putting pressure on some of his sore spots. He gave up on it and gave her a Look. "You were watching me?"
She nodded, smiling. Allen groaned and slapped his forehead. With a very restrained voice he said, "Could you next time maybe ask me to tell you something?"
Road blinked, eyes twinkling. "Now where would be the fun in that?"
Allen growled, hanging on to his self-control with his fingertips. She might look like he could take her, but she had already demonstrated exactly what a delusion that was. He hadn't survived this long by being stupid. Still, he absolutely hated people messing with him.
Naturally, she just laughed.
I received a question regarding Kojimo's name, the clown that beat Allen before he met Mana. And if one is curious enough to ask, then there are more people wondering the same thing. I know that others have spelled the name as 'Cosmo', 'Cosimo' or something else, but 'Kojimo' was used in the official translation, so I went with that. Hope that clarifies things and I'll try to remember to mention it when such a thing comes up again.
Yes, I'm having a bit of fun with the Ark's properties. So many opportunities yet so rarely used. I hope it entertained everyone. And hey, if you can have an area with a sky like a day-care, bottomless pits and stairs made of floating steps that put Hogwarts to shame…
