Chapter 10 : Resigned to Nightmares.

It was a few hours before dawn when Cross finally deemed them far enough from the town to stop and rest, which came as very welcome news indeed to Allen. He dropped from his horse and without even tethering it safely to one of the many trees, he simply shuffled a few feet away from the animal, lay on the ground and was asleep almost instantly.

"Not that I've any complaints, but I know we're only stopping because the kid was about ready to fall off his horse in sleep," Klaud said to Cross with a knowing gaze.

"We're stopping...because this animal's knackered its foot," the man replied, jumping down from his horse. He knelt down to examine the front right hoof of the animal and tried to pretend as though he knew what he was doing.

"You can't fool me," she replied smugly, "I was an animal tamer, remember? I know there's nothing wrong with it."

"What'd you know? It's dark...y'probably can't even see it from over there," Cross murmured, standing up straight.

"If you say so," Klaud shrugged, swinging down to the ground. She tethered her horse a short distance away and Lau Shimin, now fully recovered, jumped out from under her cloak and rubbed his tiny paws together to keep himself warm. Klaud set down her bag and began gathering small twigs and branches for a fire, "He thinks you hate him," she said conversationally as she started setting up the wood in a pile.

Cross sat himself down close to the sleeping Allen who was already showing visible signs of being caught in a nightmare; his breathing hitched and his head was twitching slightly as he screwed his eyes tightly shut. The General sighed sadly and once again covered the boy with his long coat, pausing only briefly to move Allen's white hair from his face in a remarkably tender gesture.

"I remember one time, two of my apprentices got into a serious fight with each other, one of them was hospitalised for a month, and when I asked the other one why they'd been fighting he couldn't even give me a reason. People fight with each other, it's something we're all guilty of...but even then I couldn't find it in me to hate either of them for what they'd done..they were both kids but...even then," Klaud shrugged, sitting back.

Cross tossed her his box of matches and she got the fire going with ease, then she stared into the growing flamed as she continued, "When you see people grow up, and learn, and know that you're responsible for them...you can't help but see them as your own children no matter how hard you try not to. It's not a bad thing to care for them," she said, raising her gaze to look Cross straight in the eye.

"...It is under these circumstances," the man shot back.

"Maybe, maybe not," she shrugged, "But personally I think he deserves a medal for putting up with you for so long, especially if you did your best to be your usual 'charming' self," she scoffed.

"I'm beginning to think you hate me."

"You mean you didn't already know?" Klaud smiled.

"How cruel," Cross grumbled sarcastically, "You're a..."

"...Mmmm..." Allen murmured uneasily in his sleep, stopping the General from speaking further. He glanced down surreptitiously at the boy just as Allen turned over as he slept, continuing to mumble, "...N...n...no..."

"Here we go again," Cross said quietly to himself, dragging a hand through his hair. The thought of having to deal with an emotionally traumatised child again didn't exactly fill him with joy. He'd seen dozens of people scarred for life by their involvement with the Order, but somehow it was worse when he was faced with an emotionally scarred Allen.

"I think he's got a right to suffer from nightmares," Klaud said to him, furrowing her brow in confusion, "So you better get over your fear of children, and quick."

"I'm not scared of children."

"Aren't you?"

"No," Cross scoffed, "He's had nightmares before, he can deal with 'em."

"I saw him wake up from one the other day, looked like he was used to it," she said sadly, "No child should resign themselves to nightmares."

"He's not a kid anymore."

"He's sixteen," Klaud raised an unbelieving eyebrow.

"Young adult. Not kid," Cross translated.

"That's a child lying there, not an adult, Cross, we both know that."

"...Yeah, yeah," he sighed heavily in defeat and moved across, closer to the child. "Oi...wake up..." he murmured, pushing against Allen's shoulder. Even Timcanpy did his bit to wake Allen up and he used his tail to swipe at the boy's face.

"Hmmm? Wha'?" Allen said as he woke up and looked around, "'S still dark..."

"Yeah, s'your turn," Cross replied and his apprentice blinked.

"...What? It's my what?" the boy asked, sitting up slowly.

"Story time round the camp fire," the General smirked, "That's what people do, isn't it?"

"...You woke me up for that?" Allen sighed in disbelief, "...Stupid master," he grumbled, secretly relieved.

In his nightmare he'd been watching Mana laugh at him in Akuma form as he tried to attack him as he ran through the graveyard in which he'd first seen the Earl. He'd been unable to activate his Innocence and he'd been completely powerless while Mana kept laughing at him. Allen was very grateful to have been woken up for whatever reason.

"I'm not telling a story," Allen muttered, pulling his cloak tightly around him, and noticing for the first time, that he also had his master's coat over him as well.

"Yes, you are," Cross replied quickly.

"...What did you talk about, then?"

"The time you tried to catch a lion."

"Eh?!" Allen jumped up, "Why? Why would you even bring that up again?!"

"It was funny," his master smiled and Allen growled.

"It's not funny! Did you know lions smile at you before they eat you? It's true! It smiled right at me and then it tried to eat me! That's not a lie! I swear it was laughing at me...then it tried to eat me!" he exclaimed dramatically with Tim now chomping on the right side of his head. "...Just like that..." Allen pointed up at the golem, sorrowfully, his voice breaking as he shed tears of nostalgia which Klaud found rather amusing.

She tried valiantly to keep her amusement to herself, but she could see Cross glancing at her as she stifled a smile. "I can't look at lions in the same way since then...Why did you have to talk about that?!" Allen moaned.

"It's..."

"Don't say it again! It wasn't funny! What'd you make me do that, anyway? How cruel can you get?!"

"I wanted to see a lion," the man shrugged, "And I never did get to, because you screwed it up."

"It tried to eat me! How was that my fault?!" Allen growled at his master, and brushing Tim off his head.

"Just is," the man said with a smile.

"Grrrr..." the young Exorcist muttered. Then, an evil spark lit up his eyes and he chuckled darkly. He didn't for one moment really believe that the Generals had been 'telling stories round the camp fire', but it was taking his mind of his nightmares and that was more important. Also he had a chance to get back at his master with a funny story of his own, and it wasn't an opportunity he was about to pass up."Then how about the time you got us lost around Loch Ness?" he grinned.

"...We don't need to hear about that..." Cross murmured quickly, looking away and picking up a stick which he threw into the fire.

"I think we do," Allen replied darkly, "It's funny, after all."

"...I didn't get us lost," his master said almost as an afterthought, snapping his head around, "It was that Scotsman's fault for giving me lousy directions."

"That's not the way I remember it."

"You were thirteen, kids that age don't remember things the right way."

"I remember things just fine...despite people hitting me with hammers," he murmured. "And as I remember it, you..."

"Alright, that's enough," Cross spoke over him.

"What? You said I was supposed to tell a story," Allen said innocently.

"Well, now I take it back."

"That's not how it works."

"It is if it say it is," the General ground out and Allen rolled his eyes.

"...Fine, whatever...I'm going back to sleep," the boy murmured, lying back down and pulling his hood over his head. He curled up so that his master's coat covered his completely and icky his face was now hidden from view and he closed his eyes with a mournful expression.

"...I would've liked to listen to that story," Klaud said quietly to a frowning general Cross.

Before they had a chance to breathe, Bookman, Lavi, Chaozii and Kanda who now had a new Mugen sword to fight with, were travelling by train to reach a boat which would take them to Ireland.

While the others slept a few seats away from them, Bookman was sat opposite Lavi reading over the files and reports about each and every Akuma attack that had occurred in Northern Ireland over the past two months. He noted that the attacks had contained increasing numbers of Level Three Akumas.

"What d'you think about it all?" Lavi asked quietly.

"I'm not sure."

"What about what happened to Allen? What'd you make of that?" the junior Bookman asked. He hadn't yet had an opportunity to ask, and he knew they'd be too busy once they docked.

"Allen Walker is wanted by many people, like his master," Bookman sighed lowering the files he'd been reading to look at Lavi. "But I don't see the logic of kidnapping him. Rouvelier is a fool, he's cost the order one of its best Exorcists and, arguably, its best General...But these attacks..." he tossed the papers aside, "There doesn't seem to be a purpose. There's no reports of supernatural phenomenon to indicate Innocence, so they weren't looking for that. People died but they were original people...the only thing I can think of is the Earl is using their sadness to create more Akuma but I don't know why he'd be so obvious about it."

"He has to know that we'd figure that out," Lavi frowned, "...And why would he send so many Level Three's? If they're not looking for Exorcists, a Level One could do the same job."

"That's true...but maybe he wants to send a message. Like with the Level Four at the Order, if he was saying that he could destroy it whenever he wants to, he could be saying the same thing here. Not everyone from these attacks died, far from it, the vast majority survived each attack, so is he really sending the Order a message?"

"He's upping his game," Lavi raised his brow.

"I believe so," Bookman nodded, "Which means the Order will do the same, and unfortunately, with a new Innocence type, people like Rouvellier will want to 'upgrade' all the Exorcists. That Level Four from the attack on the Order seemed to think that the Earl had something even stronger than it was. I wonder what it could be."

"...If the Earl really could destroy the Order whenever he wanted to why hasn't he? Why is he looking for the Heart if he could destroy all the Innocence anyway? What if he's bluffing?"

"That's a good thought," the old man crossed his arms, deep in thought, "I just don't understand his motives; the Earl. What is he planning?" Bookman let out a deep breath and turned to stare at the passing scenery, with a frustrated expression on his face.

Inside Allen's dream it was scary, it was dark and it was lonely. He was running for his life through a thick forest, though why he was running, he wasn't quite sure, but it was made difficult because of the brambles and roots beneath his feet in which his boots kept catching.

"...Allen..." the voice called out. The voice of Nea Walker which continued to haunt him.

His master's magic and Maria's ability may be able to save him from Nea's real attacks on his mind, Cross couldn't stop the nightmares that his imagination could conjure up every time he fell asleep.

"No!" the young boy cried, shaking his head.

"...Allen...you can't run..."

"Go away!" Allen yelled, terrified.

"...You cannot stop me..."

"Leave me alone!" the young Exorcist whimpered just before he tripped and fell forwards onto the ground.

He held out his hands to catch himself and he panted as he pushed himself up again, but before he could start running again his face rose up to stare into the cruel eyes of Nea Walker, the Fourteenth Noah, his own personal ghost. "Argh!" he cried, jumping back like a frightened animal.

"There's nowhere you can run," Nea said, "I am you...I will be you..." he grinned.

"...No...you won't...I won't..."

"Yes, you will," Nea replied, his ghostly form glowing and moving forwards to envelop Allen.

"No!" Allen yelled, trying to attack the translucent form of the Noah with his left hand, the bladed claws gleaming menacingly.

He felt his mind being consumed by Nea and his hand just went through the ghostly form. His hands raised to clutch his suddenly aching head and he stared to scream out, trying to force the foreign presence from his mind. "Stop...stop it..." Allen growled, he felt like his whole body was being torn apart by two opposing forces.

The Exorcist pushed himself to his feet and stumbled past the trees and through the overgrowth, as though running would somehow separate him from the ghost invading his mind. He knew it wouldn't make any difference, but he couldn't stop moving forwards. He had to do something, he couldn't just give up.

The soothing sound of water running past, soon met his ears and he fell to the ground again and crawled towards the rivers' edge.

"No..." Allen cried, tears streaming down his face when he was able to see his own reflection. His skin was the greyish tinge of a Noah and the stigmata was plain as day across his forehead.

"Good evening...Fourteenth..." a familiar, jovial voice spoke suddenly and Allen felt his heart go cold along with the surroundings. The forest and the river seemed to darken. The water ran black and the bark and the leaves all changed their colours to black. It was almost like a graveyard.

"...No..." Allen whispered. Beside his own reflection in the now polluted water he could see the smiling face of the Earl and he slowly turned around to stare at him.

"Oi, idiot apprentice," he then heard his master speak from the other side of the river, "I thought you didn't want to die," the man said.

General Cross was standing with his usual confidence, smoking his cigarette, wearing his long black coat that merged him with the scenery. Only his red hair, white mask and pale skin stood out. A, more or less friendly face in the midst of his own dark hell, was a welcome change to Allen, but it seemed as though his master was much farther away than the Earl who was right behind him.

"...I...I..." Allen stammered.

"Allen, don't fight it, you won't win," another voice said. It was Mana's voice. Allen looked around for the man and found him standing the far away, deep within the blackened forest. He felt his own palpable fear as the Earl made an elaborate movement with his right hand and his huge sword appeared as he laughed.

"I won't go easy on you this time, Musician," the Earl said to a speechless Allen.

"Master..." he murmured, "...Help me...please..."

"I'm trying," Cross replied, "But if you're giving up there's no point."

"...I'm not...I'm not giving up..."

"Then get up..." the general ordered and Allen's eyed widened, "Wake up!"

"Argh..." Allen breathed as he woke. He'd fallen asleep under his hood and under his master coat so he threw them both off violently. He was breathing as though he'd just run a week long, non stop marathon and he felt like he was on fire; it took him a minute to calm himself and get his breathing under control.

Timcanpy flew up to his eye level, concern somehow visible on his small body as Allen looked around. The sky was light and it was around midday, so he knew he'd only been asleep for six or seven hours at most. The fire he remembered seeing burning when he'd last awoke was dead and his master was no where to be seen. Klaud was lightly dozing against a tree with Lau Shimin nestled on her lap. She alert enough to sense danger, but not enough to see that Allen had just woken up, or so the boy assumed.

He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his now greasy hair and wiped the sweat from his forehead as best he could. What he really wanted was a nice bathroom with running water and towels but he wasn't going to get one.

"Hey, Tim," Allen said quietly, "Think you can find me a river or something?" he asked and the golem nodded twice as the boy stood up, "I've gotten too used to indoor plumbing," he bemoaned, "Stupid master, it's his fault for sending me to the Order."

Allen took of his cloak and carefully folded up both it and his masters' coat, then glanced across at Klaud, wondered in he should wake her, but before he'd thought too much about it, she opened her eyes. "I heard you, kid," she said, "And you're right, you do need a bath."

"...Right, thanks...I guess," Allen shrugged hopelessly.

"There's a river, just down that way," Klaud told him, gesturing with her head to the right, "Don't go far. Don't get lost."

"...Thanks..." the boy replied and took off with Tim following him.

It didn't take Allen long to start seeing his dream in his waking hours and his reflection in the clear water seemed to merge into the nightmarish vision he'd seen not so long ago.

General Cross had hardly slept at all. He'd spent almost the entire night watching as listening to his apprentice whimper and mutter in his sleep. Some would call that strange...or many other things, but the general had found sleeping impossible because he was too worried about Allen to even close his eyes for five minutes. It was annoying that he couldn't even consider his own well being even the smallest amount now.

He'd already had a wash in the river and he'd been been stalking the area around their little 'camp site' for well over an hour and he was very, very bored of glaring at trees. When he returned and found his apprentice gone he couldn't deny that his heart rate went up.

"Oi, where's the kid?" Cross demanded from Klaud.

"Went to the river," she replied, "Tim's following him. I assume you've already bathed because if you haven't you know that if we pass through another town people will remember you purely because of the smell."

"Huh," he scoffed, "Very subtle."

"He had another nightmare...a bad one," Klaud told him, "It's why he woke up. The kid's tough...I wonder what he's seeing that's so terrible."

"It's not hard to guess," Cross replied quickly.

"Mmm," she gave an understanding, half smile and they lapsed into silence.

Just as Cross was about to sit back against one of the trees, they both heard a loud crash come from the distance quickly followed by another and another and another. "What was that?" Klaud frowned, "...Explosions?"

"Let's hope," Cross hissed, storming off after the noise quickly.

Tim found them within seconds and he led the Generals to the river which, along with the surrounding trees, was under attack by Allen and his sword. There were trees which had been felled with ease and the boy's skin was damp from the river water.

He'd left his clothes and bandages at the river bank and, minutes ago, just as he'd been starting to get dressed again, he'd started to see Nea in the water. He'd only had time to out on his trousers before the fear got too much and he'd walked carefully over to the river where his power had exploded. His white cloak covered his whole body and movements were aggressive and wild as he sliced through the trees, using his sword with ease. Across his body the Generals could see green lighting crackling and flowing into the air around him, proof that he was straining his power too much.

By the time they got there, Allen had only been using his power for a few minutes but already he was breathing heavily and soon he couldn't find the strength to swing the sword again or even to hold the weapon upright anymore so he fell to his knees and the end of his large sword dug into the ground.

The young Exorcist was still clutching the handle of the weapon, his forehead leaning against the wide blade and the crackling green power began to slow and fade away. The white cloak fell still against Allen's body and the end lay on the floor as though all the sentient life had been drained from it and it could no longer animate itself.

"You're doing a fine job of helping us stay under the radar, idiot apprentice, anyone within a thousand mile radius will know we're here by now," Cross said.

"I don't...care!" Allen said between breaths, "I've got to...get rid of it."

"Get rid of what?"

"...It!" the boy said as though it were obvious, "It's here...just like in my dream!"

"What is?!" Cross demanded, losing his patience.

"...Him...it..." Allen shook his head, clenching his eyes shut, "It's there!" he cried, raising his sword again at another defenceless tree.

Cross fired a single shot, it hit Allen's massive sword, knocking it from his hands before he could fell the tree. With his concentration already in tatters he didn't stop it from flying across the ground. "Didn't you hear me?!" the General growled furiously, returning the weapon, Judgement, to its holster. "You're giving away our position just because you're angry! Get your emotions under control," he said, rather controversially.

"...I'm not angry," Allen told his master, slowly deciding to meet his gaze.

"Could've fooled me," the General scoffed.

"...It was right there...just like in my..." Allen cried, looking into the water. His reflection was not that of a Noah this time and he furrowed his brow in confusion, "But it was...I was...I saw...I thought I..."

Cross meandered slowly across to the fallen blade and picked it up, no longer surprised by its light weight, he carried it back to his unmoving apprentice. Allen looked up at him and took the weapon silently, he sighed and looked down in defeat. "Hmmm," he hissed as the sword merged back into his shoulder, forming his arm again.

Allen used his right hand to hold his mechanical left arm steady and he felt the strain he'd just exerted on his still recovering Innocence almost as though it were scolding him for his foolishness. "But, I...I swear it really was..."

"...A trick of the light," Cross insisted with a stern look.

"...A...yeah...yeah, I guess..." Allen murmured, hoping, rather than believing that his master was right.

"How are you so sure that Allen-kun is with the Generals?" Lenalee asked her brother, her arms crossed in a no-nonsense pose.

"Erm...well...that's..." her brother stammered, moving his right and left index fingers in a nervous, steepled gesture.

"We spent so long looking for General Cross...you sent me and Allen-kun...I don't think you'd let him leave without a way to contact him if you could."

"Erm...erm..." Komui's eyes darted around the room.

"That means I'm right!" Lenalee frowned.

"Well, actually..."

"Can I use it? Can I talk to Allen-kun? Please," she asked in rapid succession.

"I...it...it's only for..."

"Please, Nii-san, he's my friend," the young Exorcist begged, and Koumi never had been able to say 'no' to his littler sister when she wanted something.

"Well...alright...but just once, we agreed it was for emergencies only," he sighed in defeat and took his own transmitter from his pocket. He handed it reluctantly to his sister who spoke hopefully into it.

"Allen-kun...Allen-kun..."

At the same time, the Generals and Allen were sitting resting against the trees in silence. Allen was playing solitaire with a bored expression and Cross was pointlessly polishing his gun when he began to pick up a faint crackling from his transmitter earring. "What..." he murmured, frowning and raised a hand to the ear piece.

"Hmm?" Klaud hummed as her own picked up the same sounds.

"Oi, it's for you," Cross said, taking out his earring and tossing it to Allen.

"Huh?" the boy blinked, examining the earring, "Eh? A transmitter?" he exclaimed, "You had this all along?"

"I did tell you I had a way of contacting Headquarters, didn't I?" the General sighed.

"...But...they can't work that far...can they?"

"These can."

"...Allen-kun?" Lenalee's voice sounded through the transmitter and Allen nearly jumped out of his skin. The earring shot out of his hand and he juggled with it for a few seconds trying not to drop it on the ground while Tim fluttered around ready to catch it.

"Eh? Lenalee?" Allen exclaimed.

"Allen, it is you, are you alright?!"

"...I'm fine..." he replied.

"You're lying," she murmured.

"I'm not, I'm really fine."

"You're a bad liar...why are you always the one..." she said quietly, and Allen panicked, convinced she was crying.

"Don't cry..." he said quickly.

"I'm not crying!"

"...It sounds like you are."

"I am not!"

"Okay, okay, you're not..."

"Ah! Allen made my precious Lenalee cry!" Komui yelled from in the distance.

"I didn't!" Allen yelled back, and he could almost hear the sound of Komui's drills powering up.

"Nii-san..."

"But, but, but, but, but!" the man cried.

"Komui-san..." Allen sighed.

"We've been so worried. Nii-san didn't tell me he could contact you," Lenalee said aloud, shooting her brother a withering look.

"...Lenalee..." the grown man pouted.

"Neither did stupid master," Allen muttered.

"This doesn't really constitute an emergency," Cross grumbled, but he went mostly ignored.

"And we really shouldn't have prolonged contact. Someone could hijack the signal," Komui said before anyone could speak.

"But..." Lenalee protested, "...I know, I know you're right...but..."

"It's fine, they're right," Allen told her, "You can stop worrying now, I'm fine."

"I don't believe that for a moment..."

"Just do one thing for me, Lenalee," Allen said, suddenly serious.

"Eh? What's that?"

"I want you to..." he began, "...Kick Kanda every time he calls me 'bean-sprout'!" he exclaimed in all seriousness.

"Huh?" Lenalee blinked.

"If I'm not there to shout at him he'll have everyone calling me 'bean-sprout' before the month's up!" Allen bemoaned.

"...Allen-kun..."

"It's serious, Lenalee! I've worked too and to keep reminding him that that's not my name! If you don't stop him, all my work'll be for nothing! Make sure you kick him! Really!"

"Erm...right..." she replied.

"You have to make sure you at least yell at him! Promise me!"

"...Yeah...yes...I will...so long as you promise not to do anything stupid."

"I never do stupid things," Allen frowned.

"...Uh-huh," Lenalee muttered, "...Bye..." she said reluctantly, and the signal went quiet.

Allen tossed the ear piece back to Cross and turned his attention back to his game of solitaire on which he couldn't concentrate. The friends he'd become so close to were far away and Allen couldn't deny that he missed them dearly. As he picked up another card he sighed deeply and shook his head in an attempt to shake away his thoughts. He tried to focus on his game and he glared down at the card as though it was its fault that he couldn't concentrate.

Timcanpy flew up with another card between his two small hands and held it up in front of Allen's eyes. "I get it, I get it," the boy smiled, "Put that one over there, then," he told the golem.