Side note - Sorry for the short chapter folks, and also sorry to all those who haven't seen the anime as this chapter will probably not make much sense.

Chapter 10

The note rang in his ears, as he lost sight of what he could once see. All in John's vision now was Allen, simply standing by the side of the Millennium Earl, wearing a sadistic smile before uttering "Sayonara…John" - words of a demon but with the voice of an angel. His ears still ringing, as he saw his entire life flash before his eyes, a single tear slid down his cheek as he spoke his final words "I'm sorry, dad."Everything around him collapsed, as his heart beat stopped. Leo kneeled over the corpse, as tears began to fall from his eyes. Even though he was an Akuma, he mourned the death of his once- best friend. Allen stood, looking down on the boy who had been so lively only hours before with almost sad eyes. The Earl twisted his head around in a confused manner before asking "What did you do to him?"

Allen closed his eyes, waiting a minute or two before replying "I sung him a final lullaby, before saying farewell – forever." A tear rolled down Allen's cheek not really understanding why. "I know their just worthless humans…but something deep within me feels sad at seeing a child's death."

The Earl's face changed upon hearing this, he stared at Allen with almost understanding eyes before muttering "No matter what we do, we are all still human. No matter how much we burry those emotions, they still exist. I am human in that my love for my family is a very human emotion indeed. You still feel for the humans you meet because you were one of them, and you want to save them correct?" Allen was astonished at how much the Earl understood, shaking himself off, he nodded slowly. Allen stared again at the corpse of John before saying "The best way to prevent further suffering is through death. That is my gift to you…John."

After what seemed like minutes of silence, the Earl spoke up "You want to come home, don't you Allen?" Allen smiled back at the Earl, his smile not completely covering up the home-sick look in his eyes.

"I must complete my mission, but I miss everyone dearly." Allen replied solemnly, trying to hold back his emotions, but his voice cracking at the end of his sentence.

The Earl waddled over to Allen before placing a comforting arm around him "We all miss you too, brother."

The two talked long into the night- about anything and everything. Allen discussed how he felt about the exorcists as the Earl simply listened. He also told about his dreams, and about his right eye, which greatly intrigued the Earl. They acted like best friends, talking about everything with each other. Before Allen realized it, the sun began to rise, bringing a crimson dawn into view. He and the Earl sighed heavily, knowing their time was at an end. Allen stood, offering a hand to shake, but instead the Earl just pulled him into a hug. Allen laughed, but enjoyed it all the same; it had been days since he had seen his family. The Earl finally broke the contact and stood up straight, saying "I'll see you later, Allen." He disappeared into smoke as Allen caught himself smiling. He sighed as he stood up; realizing he had completely forgot about that finder. Allen set off, beginning the long search for Toma.

Walking around the busy streets for what seemed like hours was to no avail. Allen gave up, before heading back to where he had last seen Toma where he had heard John's cry. He was surprised to find the finder, still sitting in the same spot shuffling a card deck. He looked up slightly as he saw someone approaching, then he realized who the 'stranger' was and yelled "Where have you been!" His arms were flailing wildly, as he knocked over his carefully arranged playing cards. Allen couldn't help but laugh, humans were so amusing…

He smiled before looking up at Toma and replying "I was caught up in some business involving some Akuma. Everything is alright now though." Toma at this point, was beyond red, he was very displeased to say the least that Allen had abandoned him leaving him no choice to wait for his return. He promptly grabbed Allen's arm, directing him to the boat that was meant to be taking him home. Another finder was already sitting in the boat, waiting for him. Allen hopped in the small boat, as the finder began rowing towards where the Order was located. The journey was spent in complete silence, Allen who was musing over his thoughts was glad that this finder wasn't talkative. He spotted the familiar shape looming above them – The Black Order. They entered the dark cavern in silence, except for the lapping of water at the edges of the small boat. They reached the docking station as Allen nodded thoughtfully to the finder who smiled in return.

Finding his way back to his room had been harder than anticipated. He managed to get lost…again. After coming across the same room four times now, frustration began to set in as Allen paced around desperately trying to find another living organism. He relaxed and let his growling stomach lead him. He found himself in a familiar position only one or two rooms away from the dining hall as he bumped into Linalee carrying what looked like several mugs of coffee. She looked stunned, to say the least at the direction Allen as heading and was quick to stop him. "Uh, there's an awful mess and you don't want to go near the dining hall" Allen smiled before replying "Really? Oh, well I'll just help clean it up then" "No! You can't go in there!" with frustration evident in her voice, Allen backed down slightly before agreeing not to go near. She then suggested "Hey, how about you help me deliver some coffee to the researchers?" Allen shrugged before smiling again and replying "Sure"

Once the two reached the research floor, there was no one present. They wandered around for awhile, before finding the room where what seemed like the entire research division was gathered. They were all looking up at a large robot, almost as tall as the roof. It had six legs, along with pink stripes down its body. Its head looked like a large rectangular box with a single eye, and what looked like a French Berret. Allen looked up at the magnificent robot in awe, having never seen an actual machine except for the Akuma, and they could hardly be considered just machines. Allen walked slowly with Linalee offering coffee around the group as everyone gladly accepted. A metal arm shot out of the robot, picking up the mug with pink bunnies on it and sipping it while Allen wondered who the mug belonged to.

"Amazing…Robots can drink coffee..." He muttered

He was met with laughter by Komui who stood proudly showing off his work "Don't be silly Allen! He is designed to be just like me, but there is no way robots can drink coffee." The robot finished guzzling down the cup placing it back on the plate as the whole research division looked at it with wide eyes "h...He drank it" stuttered Komui, looking truly fearful. There was a large electrical spark, as the eye color of the robot changed from blue to red, indicating something was wrong. A few more short circuits and sparks were flying everywhere; the whole room seemed to be cowering in fear, looking at the robot with scared eyes. "I am Sir. Komurin the Second. I strengthen exorcists for battle!" It said, while sparks still flew everywhere.

"Yes, yes that's very good Sir. Komurin" Komui tried to reassure the robot, who began moving shakily towards the group. The robots eye seemed to lock on to Linalee, following her, as she began the back away slowly.

"Immediate SURGERY is needed to make this woman more MANLY!" It shouted, before beginning to walk forward trying to grab her. Screams erupted from the crowd as Linalee backed up and tried to run away. Komui was on his knees crying "My poor sweet Linalee! No, no this can't happen!" The section leader Reever was shuffling through a box of old inventions, before finding what he was looking for. It was a laser gun, capable of blasting the robot to pieces. Komui, obviously not wanting his work to be ruined, jumped out disarming him and shouting "Don't you DARE hurt my precious Sir. Komurin!"

"Don't you care what happens to Linalee?" The leader shouted, as the chief burst into tears once again muttering about fate cursing him having to choose. Multiple arms shot out of the robot in an attempt to grab her before she could move. It would have succeeded, but Allen decided to help out a bit. He dived in front, successfully pushing him and Linalee out of the way and into a mound of papers. Needless to say, they ended up in a very compromising position, as Allen saw a look he recognized only too well coming from Komui. "GET OFF MY PRECIOUS LINALEE YOU FILTHY OCTOPUS!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, and only one thought struck Allen.

Oh god…Not another Sheryl!

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