=O..............chapter ten! This is the last chapter! XD........Naw I'm kidding. But it's coming. just you wait. I got plans. but you can;t have them. Because, because, because! I havn't written them down! =D
Kanda: ....How is that something to be proud of?!
Me: you can be proud of a lot of things. For example, I take pride in the fact that I hace a gay guy in everyone of my stories.
Allen: So if you didn't do that would you put me together with Lenalee?
Me: ABSOLUTLY NOT! (jumps on Allen and stuffs him in a sack, and throws him in the river.) Anyone else want to question my pairings?
Lavi: .........Komui does.
Me: (Shoots Lavi.)
Komui: =D!
Kanda: (backs away slowly)
Me: Yes. I am supreme. Apologies for any typos, tried to get them all, but as usual, I DIDN'T! I'll read through it again and try and fix it. CIAO! ^_________________________________^
Chapter Ten: The Last Sacrifice
Allen huddled close to Kanda as they walked through the large tower, clinging to his arm just for the security of closeness. He would never voice it, though it was evident by the way he moved, he was scared. This tower was foreign ground to him, and it radiated evil. His fear was justified not only by what waited for him inside, but the very sight of the tower was enough to make even Kanda shudder.
When they were moving towards the tower, it seemed alive. It got darker, the closer they came. There were spikes jutting from the sides of the tower, human bodies and skeletons impaled upon them. Crows, the first sign of life Allen had seen since coming here, feasted on the carcasses. There was blood falling down the walls, as if the tower itself was bleeding. The place reeked of death and misfortune. Allen almost ran back when he saw a sign at the entrance, painted in blood just for them.
Welcome exorcists. =)
Allen almost didn't go in. But he thought of Lavi, fighting by himself at the second tower. Fighting against Rhode. He had Kanda there with him. He had to think of all the friends he was fighting to protect. Though dead in this future, he was fighting to change that. With a shaky breath and a determined stance, Allen was the first to enter the tower.
Inside the tower wasn't much different. It was filled with new-looking concrete, with only a few spots where rubble fell. There was blood splatters about the place, with only a few bodies to match. Some of them were Akuma. While the tower outside breathed death, inside it felt…sad. And lonely.
"Kanda."Allen poked the samurai lightly. "What do you think is waiting for us?"
"Tyki Mikk." Kanda said bluntly.
Allen sighed. Kanda was in his, "Don't bug me, I'm about to kick some serious ass," what Allen wanted to know was what waited for them as they went deeper inside. What tricks or monstrous things did Tyki have waiting for them?
Lets see… Allen tried to think and draw his attention away from the sad battlefield he now tread upon. He can walk on anything, even air, and faze through anything too. He has the small teases, which he uses to puncture major organs in order to kill. What else…?
Allen suddenly stopped and looked at a part in the wall. The windows were blown apart, the debris strewn across the floor in a manor that screamed, "anger." The walls around were blasted and it looked as if the hallway had been expanded and then imploded on itself. Kanda scoffed.
"This looks like him." He said distastefully.
Allen only continued to stare, still clutching Kanda's arm. Tyki…Is your heart hurting too? Allen had always been a warrior for everyone, human, Noah, or Akuma.
"Do we have to fight?" Allen suddenly asked. Kanda looked down at him and Allen looked back. "When I met Rhode…I asked her if this was the world she envisioned. She looked angry. Maybe the Noah doesn't want this future, just as much as we do. Maybe we don't have to fight."
"Do you think they would betray the Earl?" Kanda asked. Allen paused and looked at the ground. Kanda sighed and hugged Allen close to him. "Dam your bleeding heart."
"Better than no heart at all."
The two were suddenly torn away from each other, the room expanding again to make a door for Allen to fall through before it closed on him. Kanda regained balance and tried to go after the young boy, but it was too late. The walls had gone back to the way they were, if not in a worse state. Kanda grit his teeth and banged on the wall.
"Damn you Tyki! Give him back!" He beat the wall till his fists bleed.
"Why should I give him to you?" Kanda looked over and saw Tyki standing in the hallway. He was dressed in a simply white shirt and black slacks. He looked ragged and angry, like a feral cat out for revenge.
Kanda pulled out his sword and faced the man. "Because he is mine. You can't have him." He snarled.
Tyki seemed unfazed and only looked down at him. "He was yours. You betrayed him, and broke his heart. You did it before, you'll do it again."
Kanda's sword faltered. "What do you mean? I never betrayed Allen!"
"In the future you do. And you'll do it again. Maybe you should think of Allen, hm? He'd be better off here." Tyki smiled. "I'll take good care of him. I won't betray him."
Kanda hesitated. He felt strange. He felt like Tyki was telling the truth. "No." Kanda took a step back. "You're lying!"
He burst forth, the intention to kill written within his sharp gaze. Tyki only smiled still.
~X~
It was dark when Allen opened his eyes. For a moment he wondered if he did. He felt around, and could feel only something thick, and liquid. Every time he tried to move forward, that was all he felt. He would trip over things in the water, what felt like rocks. Eventually he found a rock sitting above the fluid, dry and welcoming. Allen curled around himself on the rock, feeling dirty and wrong.
Slowly Allen sat up again. "H-Hello?" He called into the darkness. A soft whisper wind brushed across his face. "Hello?!" Allen called louder.
Hush. Allen looked around. The voice he heard was hoarse and dry. It felt distance, but still full of hope.
"Who are you?" Allen asked.
Listen.
"I…I don't understand…" Allen tried to see through the black, but it was impossible. The soft wind came back, and felt almost as if it was embracing him.
Listen. It said again.
Allen looked on for a moment, not really sure what to do. Slowly he closed his eyes and tried to listen for a sound. But there was nothing. It was absolute silence. Allen sighed.
"What am I listening for?" He asked, frustrated. "Where's Kanda?"
A sound of crashing wood and bone. A shipwreck of drowning hearts, those who lived falling from the skin. A danger of love, leaving behind our ghosts, memory by memory. Do you hear them? Listen.
Allen looked around. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again. He felt a swirl through his hair, as if someone was running their fingers through it. He felt a sudden ache in his heart, a melancholy song of voices and bodies. Then a light shined behind Allen's eyelids. He opened them and saw ahead of him a figure, cloaked in white light. The figure beckoned him forth, and Allen moved, as if he were pulled by strings. In that light Allen saw his friends, his happiness, and sorrows wrapped up in one bundle. All carried carefully and lovingly, each accomplishment and failure never left behind or forgotten. Everything meant something.
Allen looked ahead and saw the scene changing, from suffocating darkness to a luminescent place, like the version of heaven he saw.
This not the first time I have carried you.
Allen looked around as he stepped on grass. A golden light washed over him, and cleared away any hurt he had before, making him look new and healthy again. Allen stopped in the middle of the small field, and tiny island of light, where around him, there was still darkness.
Allen took a deep breath and smelled fresh air. It was pleasant, and he felt almost as if he could lose himself in it.
The future is written in sand. Allen looked forward and saw the figure of light still standing in the darkness. We are the waves, changing our destiny and writing new ones.
Allen looked down at his feet and saw his feet were bare, his toes wiggling freely in the sand. Beneath were the words, "Destroyer of Time", and "Despair."
Allen looked up. "Despair? What does that mean?"
You can change it. The figure pointed to the sand.
Allen looked down again, thinking of what it could mean. Would they not be able to save the future? Would Lavi not return from Rhode's tower? So many possibilities… Allen could only banish the thoughts in favor of happier ones.
He bent down and dusted away the word, leaving nothing but a blank space of sand. In its place he traced with his finger the word, "Hopeful."
"I can't guarantee a future, or Lavi's return." Allen said. "But I can give hope to them. I can fight with all I have."
But your hand is not enough. Allen looked up. A great many factors combine to bring a world to its ultimate end.
The light around the figure suddenly brightened. It shined with radiance like the sun and Allen had to shield his eyes. The voice that had led him through this world lost its coarse edge, and suddenly boomed with the strength and ferocity of a lions roar.
Fret! Fear! Weep! But do not stop! Leave pride by the wayside and move forward! Soon you will discover something only you can do. This is the path you must walk. As all stands upon a single throne, so shall it fall!
The light enveloped him and held onto his arm that was his innocence. He screamed out in pain and confusion and he felt a volt travel through his body and burst within him. He grabbed the innocence and pulled it away from him, hoping to eliminate the pain. The sword burst forth and created a screech of its own, as all the world around it began to be sucked in. Allen let his eyes close for only a moment before he opened them again, and found himself to be in a room full of red velvet and stained oak.
Allen stood up and looked around. He looked at his innocence hand, and found it to be back where it was, completely unharmed. He flexed his fingers and fumbled through his thoughts, wondering if that had really happened.
Allen turned as the door suddenly creaked open. Tyki walked in with blood on his shoulder, dusting off his sleeve. He smiled when he saw Allen, tears in his eyes.
"Rhode is dead." He said simply, walking over to the mahogany table and sitting down. He took the cup sitting there and drank from it, acting as if his shirt was not stained red and his niece was not dead. Then he put the cup down and starred at the wall, as if willing it to fall on him. Slowly, Allen took a deep breath, walked over to the table and sat in the chair opposite of Tyki.
"And Kanda?" He asked quietly, a little afraid of the answer.
Tyki smiled again. "Isn't love grand?" He asked, catching Allen off guard. "All kinds really. A friend, a lover…whichever you have, it's enough to motivate you to keep moving."
Allen paused. A small tease came from the ceiling, and stopped to rest on Tyki's shoulder. The Noah made no move for it, to attack Allen or to brush it away. Tyki had become a hollow shell, compared to how he was before. Allen remembered a sadistic man, who was full of life and full of promise. He saw a man who loved his niece, who loved his family, and seemed to love those around him. There were times when Allen even went so far as to doubt his heritage as a Noah. But he saw it in the determination and joy in the face of a murderer. How could one love so much, and still enjoy killing? But that was who Tyki was. A man full of love, but empty of heart.
"What motivates you, Tyki?" Allen moved forward. "Who do you love?"
"I love nothing anymore." Tyki looked at the boy, and Allen shrank away. Tyki smiled. "Are you afraid of me? That's too bad. I wanted to keep you as a pet."
Allen shuddered but tried to look strong. "You've lost something." He said.
Tyki leaned forward. "What do you think I lost?" He smiled as if he begged Allen to know.
Allen took a deep breath. "I don't know…" He said. "Something important to you…"
Tyki leaned back in his chair and laughed. "If that wasn't already apparent…"
The Noah hit the table, flinging it into the air with ease. Allen was flung back before he knew what was happening, and Tyki was on him. The man was much bigger than he, and he over-powered him quickly. Tyki hit the boy in the jaw several times, causing Allen's vision to blur. Tyki laughed as the blood flew up with his fist, staining his knuckles. He grabbed Allen by the collar of his jacket and threw him against the wall. The space around the boy stretched, and then imploded around him, sending shards of wood flying for the poor boys flesh. Allen screamed, trying to get the little splinters out. But Tyki was on him again before he had enough time to draw the first one out. He grabbed Allen's wrists and pinned them against the wall.
"No, no, no, my little pet." Tyki teased. "I want you broken and bleeding when I bring you to him."
Allen held back a whimper. He felt utterly powerless, but he refused to show that fear.
Fear! Allen opened his eyes. Fret! Weep! But do not stop! Allen screamed and threw all his body weight at Tyki. The move surprised Tyki and he fell back onto the floor. He was quick to realize his mistake and made the floor fall around him, as Allen followed him into the abyss. Tyki stopped in mid air, standing as if it was ground, and Allen fell into the murky water below. Allen was quick to stand, and was pleased to see there was light above him. This place felt familiar, the darkness, the wrongness…
Allen looked at his hands in the light as saw them to be covered in blood. He shuddered as he looked at his sleeves, his trousers, and his feet disappearing into the lake of blood Tyki had kept within his basement. Allen looked up at the sadistic man, who smiled and waved mockingly. Allen grit his teeth. This was enough.
The boy took hold of his left hand and drew it away from his body, summoning his sword to him. Allen was surprised though, when a ray of light erupted from his arm, and words spilled from his lips that he did not know, mirrored by another's.
"Apollo!" The blade shifted and moved in his hands, forming from a bulky shape, to one more smooth and slim. It curved and slanted upwards, feathers of metal forming at the hilt and a golden-crystal aura encircling it. The light flashed away to reveal the final product, encrypted letters like the ones Lavi and put around his hollow for protection, decorated the blade. Allen starred on in wonder at the thing, amazed and confused.
Tyki's face twisted in the same way. "Impossible! You're innocence was at 100%!"
Allen's eyes shifted, and he brought the blade down to him. "Do you not remember me anymore, Tyki?"
Tyki's eyes widened. Allen's voice had changed, and seemed to be mirrored with another that was eerily similar. Allen looked up at him and smiled.
"A weapon chooses its master, and can go as far as its master will allow it. Percent does not matter. My power grows regardless." Allen stood and moved the blade in his hand. "But yours is at an end."
Allen seemed to grow wings as he burst into the air and hit Tyki with the blade. The first cut took away Tyki's arm with ease, the amputated flesh falling into the blood of its victims. Tyki screamed and jumped away, but not before Allen had fallen on him again. The boy impaled Tyki through the heart, burying the blade to the hilt in his chest. Tyki grunted and grabbed the blade as they fell.
"You're power might have grown, but in the past you're still a boy!" Tyki kicked Allen in the gut, causing him to keel over, and threw him down into the lake below. He took the blade from his chest and cast it away to some unseen place, and fell on Allen with force enough to shake the ground.
A tease flew down from the hole in the ceiling above them and into Tyki's hand. Tyki wrapped his hand around it and it turned into a dagger. The Noah's teeth gleamed as he smiled and brought the blade down to the boys' throat.
"Any last regrets?" Tyki asked sweetly.
Allen smiled. "The future is written in sand…" Tyki tilted his head, which only made Allen smile more. "We can change it."
A samurai blade cut into Tyki neck and beheaded him, his surprised expression forever masked by his petrifaction. Tyki's body was shoved to the side as Kanda kneeled down beside Allen and took his head into his arms. Allen smiled and a small tear slide down his face. He reached up and ran a piece of Kanda's hair between his fingers, happy to see him again.
"Allen…" Kanda said, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. The tower around them began to crumble, and Kanda scooped the boy into his arms, looking around for a possible exit. He looked up to the hole in the ceiling, but it was too far, and all around them there was darkness. There came a sudden light from the distance, as Allen's sword seemed to be held by some invisible creature, pointing in a direction that was still only darkness. As the stone began to fall around their feet, Kanda saw no other way, and blindly followed the blade.
When Kanda could see again, he was outside the tower, watching it fall to the ground. Kanda stood stunned for a moment, but was drawn away by a hand on his cheek. He looked down at Allen, his arm returned, and his body weak.
"It's alright." Allen whispered. "He's protecting us."
Kanda furrowed his brows. "Who's protecting us?"
Allen only smiled and pointed the way back to where they were supposed to meet with Lavi. Allen slumped in Kanda's arms, falling deep into sleep, dreaming of a boy who looked very much like him.
Tell me...WHAT YOU THOUGHT!! And I will tell you...THE SECRET OF LIFE!! (laughs evilly)