Answers?
It turns out that not many restaurants were open during the morning. Allen believed that he must have travelled for miles just to find a place to eat and eagerly sat down at the first dining establishment he found. He naturally ordered pretty much everything on the menu and told the waiter to put the bill on the Vatican's tab since he didn't have any money on him. The restaurant cleared quite quickly when the spectacle of Allen devouring his enormous meal began. And no one was even sure what to make of the little golden-winged thing that was gnawing on the scraps.
Allen wiped his mouth politely afterwards, although it probably wouldn't have mattered at all what he did because the only other group left in the restaurant were looking green in the face. It was a small family with one small child between the two parents. Allen turned his left eye to them and discretely picked up a small pile of four plates. The child opened his mouth and fired the gun that poked out. Allen chucked the plates to intercept the bullet, giving him the space to dodge. The shot shocked the staff who were still on duty. Allen ducked under his table and kicked it over to block the next barrage of bullets that came as the Level II akuma revealed itself. He activated his Innocence and made a dash for the kitchens as the table and the dishes behind him crumbled. The akuma was on his trail with the two parents following, allowing their Level III forms to be revealed.
Allen burst through the kitchen doors and grabbed his Sword of Exorcism and sliced through the kitchen hand. His body seemed to turn inside out, showing his true Level I akuma form before it exploded with a great cross of light. Allen leaped onto the large bench in the middle of the kitchen, intending to slide straight through the middle to the service door at the end. The sou chef – working at the end of the bench – split almost right perfectly in half while another Level III akuma with knives all over its body appeared, seeming to rise out of his mouth. It reached across the bench to cut Allen in half but Allen slashed its arm off before any damage could be done. He made it safely to the end of the bench. He threw the service door open and charged out into the back alley, noting briefly that it hadn't taken long for the weather to turn sour. The various akuma following him smashed down the door. Allen turned to face them: a chicken-like Level II with front-facing guns, a Level III with four arms and no legs, another Level III with strange mucus thickly coating its body and the one he'd just met in the kitchen. It was a lot but Allen believed he could take them.
The Level II akuma opened fire. Allen blocked the bullets as he charged in, aiming to take the Level II out first. The Level III covered in knives got in between when Allen slashed and blocked but that only resulted in it losing its other arm. Allen lifted his sword to slash down on it, which would end its life for good. The akuma lunged forward to deal a last ditch blow with other knives on its chest. It managed to get close and nicked Allen's body in several places – arms, legs, abdomen – while Allen cleaved through its body. He didn't notice the slime-covered akuma working the thick mucus it secreted into a thread. It threw one end of the thread at Allen, catching him on the elbow. Allen paused.
"Don't bother trying to escape this slime," the akuma laughed at him. "It's futile!"
Allen clenched his teeth and took a leap backwards, finding that the mucus was stretchable. He smirked, swinging down to cut the mucus thread. The akuma grinned menacingly.
"Fool! Don't you know happens when my slime isn't connected to my body?"
Allen's eyes widened. He stared at the mucus covering his entire elbow. It became darker as it hardened to the consistency of marble. The legless akuma bounded forward with one arm ready for a punch. Allen stepped backwards and ducked under the hit. The other Level III started to cough deliberately, bringing phlegm up to its mouth. It hurled the slimy stuff at Allen, covering his feet and most of one leg. Allen tripped over and grimaced, knowing that he was now stuck there as the slime hardened. He looked up with wide eyes as the akuma before him raised two of its arms above its head – fingers clasped – and pounded him into the pavement with an impact so forceful it made Allen's body bounce. The Level II leapt up above him, just for the sick satisfaction of seeing Allen's face as he stared helplessly into the many barrels of its guns. The sky rumbled.
"This is it, Allen Walker. You'll get yours," it snickered. The hammers of its guns all clicked simultaneously. It was ready to fire but hesitated when Allen closed his eyes briefly and then stared back expressionlessly. "The Fourteenth…?"
The sky suddenly split in a brilliant flash of light. An enormous fork of lightning burst forth from the heavens and struck the Level II akuma. Allen came to his senses and his eyes widened again. The Level II akuma above him just disintegrated into little pieces in that blinding flash. The other two akuma stared on in shock. The four-armed Level III quickly realised its chance to do what his friend could not. It poised its fingers, ready to jab them into Allen's abdomen.
"Double Illusion Sword: Eight Flower Mantis!"
Allen turned his head, seeing the akuma that was about to attack him had been assaulted with what appeared to be a flower made of energy. There was a loud BOOM and a shockwave ahead of him. He lifted his head to see beyond his feet. The slime-covered akuma had been crushed under a giant hammer.
"Dammit, Beansprout! You're the last person whose sorry ass I wanted to save."
Allen glared at Kanda as he came into view with a scowl on his face. "You had a choice, moron," he bit back.
"Beansprout! You're alive!" Lavi cheered, skipping over to join the group and get between Allen and Kanda before something started. "Geez, you owe me a helluva lot of favours! They woke me up just to find you."
"You sleep too much anyway," Kanda growled.
"Aw, don't be mean, Yuu," Lavi pouted and ducked under Kanda's swift slash. "Anyway, we should probably work on getting Allen out of this muck. I'm sure this'll do the trick…" Lavi examined the hardened slime around Allen's feet and adjusted his hammer to an appropriate size. To Allen it did not look like an appropriate size since its diameter was wide enough to cover his legs.
"Lavi! Don't you dare!" Allen screamed. Lavi happily ignored him and brought the hammer down. The slime cracked a bit but didn't break.
"See, it's working."
"Lavi, how could you?" Allen cried. "What if it had broken and you ended up crushing my feet?"
"Yeah, that would be a bummer," Lavi said casually, shrinking his hammer down to a safer size. "Although the inspector would probably love it since you wouldn't be able to go anywhere and he'd be able to keep an eye on you at all times and not barge into my room and order me to find you."
Allen sighed. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
"Yep!"
"Of course you are," Kanda snapped. "You're so stupid, you damn Beansprout. What the hell were you thinking? What is so important that you have to disobey simple orders and waste our time?"
"I was just looking for my mother…" Allen replied.
Lavi and Kanda exchanged glances. A long and pregnant pause followed.
"You're stupider than stupid," Kanda muttered. "There's no word for what you are."
Lavi broke through the slime and helped Allen to his feet. Allen deactivated his Innocence. "Now for your elbow!" Lavi said.
"Um… I'll wait until we get back to HQ," Allen refused.
"Good idea! Let a professional like Komui handle this sort of thing," Lavi beamed, grabbing Allen by his stiff arm and leading him away.
"NO! No! You can do it, Lavi! You can get it off me!" Allen protested.
Lavi shook his head. "I prefer your idea."
"Are you sure it's favours you want back from me or revenge?"
"Same-diff, right?"
Kanda sniggered. Allen turned to glower at him. "This isn't funny, Bakanda!"
"Speak for yourself, Beansprout."
"My name is Allen!" Allen snarled. He decided to let it go with Kanda for now even though it looked like Kanda was willing to milk this for all it was worth for a while. He turned his attention to a window. Two reflections stared back at him as he passed it.
"Is that why you chose me?" Allen wondered in his mind. "Because I'm a chosen Exorcist with Innocence bestowed upon me by God himself? Surely, it hurts you, doesn't it? The Noah and the Innocence are destined to kill each other. So why do you want it?"
"Oh, by the way, did you find your mum?" Lavi asked.
Allen thought before answering. There was nothing to be said after everything was done. He hadn't quite found the answer that he wanted but he had the answer that he needed, as dull as it sounded.
"Yeah… it turns out she's quite dead," Allen joked.
"Oooh, sorry to hear that, man," Lavi replied but he sounded as though he already knew.
"Pfft, well that was pretty useless then," Kanda scoffed, genuinely ignorant of the insensitivity of his words.
"Shut up before I turn around and kill you BaKanda," Allen muttered.
"Go ahead and try."
"C'mon, guys," Lavi interjected. "Let's all try to be friends… at least until there's someone else to take care of you."
Allen and Kanda turned to their dark, menacing glares towards Lavi, who looked away and tried to pretend that they weren't directing those at him. Needless to say, the journey back to Headquarters was marked by sporadic outbursts of violence and a lot of teasing and glaring. Despite the fighting and the trouble he knew he was in, as soon as Allen caught his first glimpse of HQ he smiled brightly because he knew that no matter what happened – what was done, what was said or what he felt – he'd always be happy to return.
xxxxxxxx
"We're ba~ack!" Lavi sang, as he threw open the front door. He blanched and ducked under an incoming blow that wasn't meant for him anyway. Allen cringed when he felt the sting of a swift, sharp slap across his face that was quickly absolved by a warm, gentle hug.
"L-Lenalee," Allen stammered.
"Don't ever do something like that again!" Lenalee screeched, clutching the material of Allen's coat and holding him at arm length.
Allen stared into her eyes, seeing the wavering of worry and fear in them and the shine of unformed tears. "I… I'm sorry."
"I was so worried," she cried. "I thought you might have run away for some reason."
Allen hugged her around the shoulders and petted her head with his left hand since his right arm couldn't do much. "It's alright, Lenalee. I didn't mean to go forever. It wasn't you or anyone else who made me want to go, there was just something that I wanted to find out on my own. Everything's fine now."
"Nope, not fine," Lavi squeaked.
Two sets of heavy footsteps resounded through the entrance hall. Allen cringed when he looked away from Lenalee and saw the furious face of Malcolm C. Lvellie and the stoic face of Link. Kanda clicked his tongue and made his leave, sensing trouble. Lavi also began to sidestep away from Allen, ready to make a sneaky getaway. Allen and Lenalee stepped away from each other and stood straight. The inspectors stopped a few feet away, Lvellie looking sour.
"Everyone stay where you are!" Lvellie ordered, catching Lavi and Kanda out. "Allen Walker. My office. Now."
"I'm sorry," Allen apologised, looking down.
"Your apology means nothing to me!" Lvellie snapped. "And you two!" he addressed Lavi and Kanda. "I thought I gave you the order to kill Walker when you found him."
"O-oh, did you?" Lavi asked, attempting to take another sneaky step.
"I said don't move. You'll be punished for your deliberate failure to follow orders. Return to your personal rooms and await further instructions."
Lavi yelped and scampered away. Kanda tried not to show his anxiousness but his pace was much quicker than usual.
"In the meantime, Mr. Walker…"
Allen gulped.
"Wait, inspector," Lenalee interrupted. "We can explain this. Allen didn't mean any harm-"
"He used the Arc without permission. He is in direct violation of the guidelines I set down. How do you know that it was Allen who activated the Ark and not The Fourteenth?"
"But… please…!" Lenalee stuttered.
"Don't worry, it's okay," Allen whispered. He turned to Lenalee and gave her a smile. "I know I'll be alright. I'm sure Lvellie wanted me to come back alive this time, otherwise he wouldn't have sent those two."
Lenalee sighed but she wasn't put at ease, especially not when Allen began to walk away and follow the inspector with Link bringing up the rear.
xxxxxxxx
In Lvellie's office Allen was roughly forced to sit in a straight-backed chair and sealed into it with magic seals, distinctive of the magic of CROW. The door was dead-bolted and Link stood guard directly in front of it, though Allen guessed that there were more guards on the other side. Lvellie took a seat at his desk and clasped his fingers.
"You have betrayed the trust of The Order, boy," he snapped. "For that, you'll be further confined and monitored until further notice."
The flutter of papers reached Allen's ear and he turned in despair to watch his left arm be covered completely with paper seals.
"This is stupid!" Allen argued. "I won't be able to fight akuma…!"
"Your ability to use your Innocence will be at the whim of Howard Link. But don't worry, I've planned to have your participation in missions stripped as much as possible. Even though we are understaffed and the situation only becomes increasingly direr with each passing day, I will not take any risks with the Noah, especially not The Fourteenth."
"I don't think The Fourteenth wants to join the rest of the Noah as they are," Allen replied.
"Explain."
"It wasn't The Fourteenth who escaped last night, it was just me. But since I'm already in trouble, I won't lie. I was searching for something and I met with some of the Noah while I was searching, including a new guy I haven't seen before."
Lvellie's face turned even more sour, if that was even possible. He looked torn between being completely furious or curious about the new information.
"If The Fourteenth wanted to go with them, I would have felt it then. The guy I met – Wisely – is a psychic. If you let him get in your mind you're at his mercy," Allen explained. He looked at his left arm. "Lvellie, whether you trust me or not, you will need my left arm if you want this war with the Noah to end. Everyone in the world is relying on me to use this Innocence to save them, even the akuma. So you've got to release me."
"I said until further notice! I will decide if you can earn enough trust from us again to be fully responsible for your own weapon!" Lvellie shouted. "Link was reporting to me last night about some suspicious activities you were engaging in prior to your escape. Are you willing to shed any light on that?"
Allen smirked. The extent to which he was mistrusted by The Order was almost amusing. For Allen, that information only did little good and he was sure it would do Lvellie even less.
"I just wanted to find out if my mother was really a saint, that's all. Her name is Jennifer Morrow. The moment before she died she gave me away to a Dragon Lady to be reared in a circus freak show but with all the love I could ever need."
"Heresy!"
"It's the truth."
"Very well. Link, set Allen up in a cell."
"Until when?" Link asked.
"Until I say he can come out!"
"Yes, sir," Link saluted.
The seals fluttered and Allen was allowed to get up from the chair. Link showed him to the door and led from behind, keeping a keen eye on the cursed boy. Allen kept his chin up, reaching over as best he could to touch his left arm still covered in seals and feeling the electric tingle of magic running through them.
"Keep walking…" he told himself in a whisper. "Just keep walking."
"And even if I die or disappear, I'll do what I can. Because somehow, I have to save everyone."
End.
And that's all. Yeah, that was a pretty quick update. I told you I had time during this here holiday - 2 days to cover about 1800 words and finish this story for good.
Now this is the only time that I'm going to explicitly ask for reviews from people since this is the part where they all count and are most meaningful - at the end of the story. I want to know your thoughts, opinions, comments, questions and critique. If you liked it or if you didn't, or if you kinda liked it enough to keep reading but not enough to enjoy yourself I'd like to know why (Although I'm hoping that everyone did enjoy it).
This has been fun. I look forward to reading everyone's review of this story.
EDIT: I ammended the ending so that it's now not as abrupt as it was before. It feels better to me now.
=D
