'First' Encounters - Continuation

Yu Kanda

Road balled her small fists, unhappiness clear in her features, and in the way that the purple hue of her eyes shifted to amber, and became something dark and cold and so, so sad.

"A while ago," she began, shifting where she stood, "a human boy was born. Demons flocked to be by his side. He was passed from one to the next, be it by stealing or being sold."

She had to be talking about the Moyashi.

"As you can imagine, his birth parents… well… they'd already been killed off." Not once did Road look away, her gaze burning through each of us, holding us in our individual places.

It wasn't that I was afraid of her, more like I didn't want to move.

I wanted to wait and listen and learn, even though those were three things I'd once hated with a passion. I didn't have the luxury of ignoring these things now, not anymore.

"He was worth a lot, you see, because they were all waiting to find out what he'd be when he grew up." Her tone was robotic, those eyes of hers now dead.

Why?

Wasn't he human?

"When the child was nine years of age, he grew tired of being treated like an animal, and he finally gathered the courage to run away from the demons, who'd been too full of themselves to think that a measly human brat would have the gall to escape." She laughed humourlessly; maybe it was to herself, maybe for the heck of it. I really don't know. "They, of course, were furious, and searched high and low for the boy, but they all died." At this, her lips twitched down. "A large group of demons had their eye on the boy, so they went ahead and rid themselves of all the competition. But they couldn't find him."

She looked down at her hands, absentmindedly patting down the fabric her dress, which ended like the pointed petals of a strange colourless flower.

"Three years after that, the boy met another demon."

Alright, I'd admit to feeling slightly curious; what exactly had he been doing in those three years that Road had skipped?

"They shared a couple classes in school, and became fast friends. He even befriended some of the demon's clansmen." Her eyes held a faraway look, reminiscent and soft. "Once the boy saw a fight between his new friends and another demon, and he got caught up in the middle. The other demon injured him, and what happened then was the releasing of the seal that had kept him safe since..." She suddenly stopped herself, and guiltily looked up, hesitant to meet our stares. "The demons could smell it on him. They chose to protect him. They brought the boy back to their clan, and half a week later he was inducted in. They became his new family."

That's when her expression crumbled.

"When he was fifteen, the large group of demons… Noah… we finally managed to locate him…" She mumbled. "And we kidnapped the entire clan- all of the boy's friends… everyone he cared about, and we gave him a choice."

Nearby, Lenalee grabbed hold of Lavi's sleave, stepping closer to the red-head, her knuckles white.

"And that little boy became an animal again so the people he cherished would live." Road's smile was a bitter one, full of self-loathing. "We're horrible, don't you think?"

When we didn't answer, the girl sighed.

"Due to the specifics of the contract Allen made with the Millennium Ear, those demons are now living peacefully, with absolutely no idea that he was once part of their clan."

"Con…tract?" Lenalee asked numbly. "He said something about that…"

Road gently shook her head. "The contract is between the Earl and Allen; no one but them are privy to that kind of information, and for obvious reasons, the both of them are disinclined to talk about it. "

"Then…" Lenalee wetted her bottom lip nervously. "Why did those demons lose their memories of him?"

The younger demoness shrugged her small shoulders. "He didn't want them making the stupid mistake of fighting for him, because he knew they'd die. And he didn't want them to be upset. That's why he had us make them forget."

He'd had someone's memories taken, and now he'd lost his. It was almost comical, in its own twisted way. What he had done to them had now been done to him.

"Right now, the earing he wears masks his scent, so demons won't be coming after him in hordes. He's safe." Her gaze settled on me, nearing contemplative, but closer to sympathetic. "For now, at least."

Lenalee used her arm to wipe away the tears that had begun to fall, and she sniffled. "Why does Noah want Allen?"

Whatever she'd been thinking before was gone, that question having wiped the golden-eyed girl's face clear of emotion. "Humans with powers are the rarest thing in this world."

Even that stupidly vague statement was enough.

It made sense.

That was quite possible the only viable reason as to why so many demons would ever want a human.

"We originally thought about selling him," she went on, looking down, "but these past seven years he's proved far too beneficial to let go."

Seven years.

That meant that the Moyashi most likely had a part to play in Noah's rise.

I scoffed and rubbed at my temples.

The answer had been walking around beside us for over half a day and we hadn't even noticed.

"You wondered why we can't..." Road murmured, toying with a lock from her fringe. "He started to warm up to you. And that's not good. He's been pushing all of his emotions down all this time… he's been numb for so long… that even the slightest bit of feeling is painful. He can't breathe. He was gasping for breath. He kept asking me why it hurt so much…" Her small frame shook. "He begged me to make it all go away. He didn't even know what it was… he just wanted it gone." She grit her teeth, paused for a moment, then moved her hand back down to her side. "He's broken. Those demons… his clan broke him into so many pieces that he became that damned husk of a person he is now!"

Although still stunned, Lavi was the first to speak, "They… did that? Why?"

"They… when they saw Allen standing beside us… talking normally with us… while they were all in chains… every single one of them jumped to the wrong conclusion. And Allen didn't bother telling them anything, because they wouldn't remember." Her fists clenched again, and her nails dug so hard into the palm of her hand that they drew blood. "Do you know how many times I've had to tamper with his memories? How many times I've had to erase entire days just because he did something as simple as look at a picture of them?!" She snarled, head jerking back up, anger and sadness present in her stiff features. "You. Filthy. Traitor. That was the last thing they said to him! It's not fair… They should've known. They knew him! None of this was his fault!"

She took a breath. And another, Then another.

"Allen just…" Road waved a hand through the air, as if to demonstrate how hopeless a cause the Moyashi really was. "He just stood there and took it. He took the looks and the insults and then left. He's… well, you've seen him now. You should've seen him then… I was tasked with getting close to him in school. I pretended to be a demon without a clan and I actually managed to befriend him… I knew how he was before… He's not supposed to be like this…"

Lavi cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence that had followed Road's mutterings. "How did you do it? There should have been records… something to make the demons realise that something was wrong. Wouldn't they have noticed eventually?"

She stared blankly at Lavi. "Erasing a person is easy. We cleared out any and all items from the clan's houses that had pictures of, or even mentioned his name. To them, Allen Walker never existed in the first place. We were very thorough."

Only then, when she ceased talking, did I take notice of the unnatural silence.

My body tensed up, joints locking, and I quickly tried to assess the area around us. Tried being the operating word here.

There was nothing. We were standing in a void devoid of everything except ourselves, and I could do nothing but watch as the others soon picked up on it, too, and both looked to me with fear in their eyes.

"I have something to ask of you." Her voice came from nowhere but everywhere at once, even though she stood right in front of us. "I know what you appearing here means. It's finally begun." Her eyes burned with hate, and a muscle in her jaw twitched. "I don't like you. In fact, I'd prefer it if you stayed as far from him as possible, but Allen's going to need… H-he…" She stopped, then she sighed. "Look after him, won't you?"

I was ready to protest, but I didn't get the chance.

"…Road..."

The world snapped back, and everything was back to normal. There was colour once more, there were people bustling about around us, there was light, and the young Noah demoness was instant smiles.

Her entire demeanour had reverted back to that bright and cheerful adolescent girl when she was handed the bag of -what I presumed to be- sweets she'd sent the Moyashi out to collect. "Thanks, Allen~"

He stared at her for a few seconds, and then tilted his head ever-so-slightly to the side. "Are you alright, Road?"

Her face slackened, but a second later she tried for a smile, one faint, yet still real, and squeezed his arm with her free hand. "I'm just tired. Let's go back to my room, 'kay?"

He nodded immediately at the request, then glanced at us, and bowed low, before he said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, and I thank you for keeping My Lady company in my absence."

Put out -and rightfully wary-, I grunted, scowling at the demoness behind the Moyashi.

The other two, still in the midst of getting their bearings back, stuck close to me, but nodded their heads anyway.

Road slipped her hand into the Moyashi's, and after giving me a grim look, she promptly led the white-haired brat away.