Chapter Fourteen:

~Raye~

He was wet because of the barred window that held no glass. Since the dungeon was on the ground level, the water was seeping into his cell and creating a mess everywhere. Luckily enough, he was able to catch the grumbling of old-man-thunder and managed to gather up some of the straw and place it on a raised bench.

Timcampy was beside him as they both huddled on the bench water pooling below his feet while the wind howled outside and every clash of lightning and thunder made him jump and cling to the golem.

He hated storms, even at the Black Order he couldn't stop his shrieks of fear from echoing out of his cell. He so wished that his mother were here at least she would comfort him. Raye could here the snickering from the guards outside his door; they must be enjoying this because he began to wonder if they put him here for this reason.

Raye was at least thankful, Tim was here, the golem knew well of Raye's fears and was a well-welcomed console for times like these. The golem was several times large, all the more for Raye to be comforted.

Then a sudden crash caught him off guard as he stared at a branch hovering just centimeters from his face. Raye shivered and glanced at the tree that had managed to smash through his cell wall. The guards outside had yet to notice as he shuffled away from the dripping wet leaves and hugged his legs to his chest. He leaned on Tim as he gazed at the large puddles that covered the floor before his eyes fell on something sitting in one of the puddles across the room.

It was small and black and he couldn't tell what it was. It had a ragged appearance that suggested that it might… it might be something alive. Raye was curious as he slowly climbed off the bench and splashed through the water over to take a closer look. Crouching down, he noticed it was some kind of nest, the dried grass and fur lining was drenched threw as he turned it over and spied a single blue speckled egg.

A clash of lightning made him jump as he grabbed the soaked nest and hurried back over to Timcampy that was staring inquisitively at the nest in his hands. Well Raye couldn't actually tell but he guessed that was what the golem was looking at as he hoped back beside the golem and rolled the egg from the next, cradling it in his small hands.

The egg was slightly cold but Raye could still feel a slightly weak pulse coming from the egg. What ever was inside, it was still alive, if only barely and hugged it to his chest as he leaned back against Tim and studied the egg better.

Small and alone, it reminded Raye so much of himself because that's how he felt in this place where people only knew him as a Noah, their enemy. He heard Timcampy grizzle beside him as Raye turned to the golden golem and rubbed his arm between its stout horns.

He wasn't exactly alone… yet, Time, his mother's golem was here most likely sent by her herself, which gave him the hope that they will come for him soon. A rumbling of thunder made him freeze, oh how he wished for this storm to pass, he really just wanted to close his eyes and sleep. But every time he did, some part of the storm woke him up, whether it was the wind, rain or the electric currents in the air. It was all the same to him.

Raye glanced back down at the egg, he wondered if its parent was worried; where they were now and how much it really was like him? He clung to it gently and focused on the tiny beating heart he could feel in his hand. It was fast, yet steady and surprisingly even despite the chaos around them. Maybe that was advantage of growing inside an egg; it doesn't care what's going on around it until it eventually hatch.

Raye wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep but he had managed to because he woke to the sound of dripping water and the feeling of being very, very cold. That didn't surprise him though, he was wet through to the bone but that wasn't what gave him the dreaded feeling.

It was the egg, he couldn't feel the beating heart within, it was gone… nothing! The small thing that had comforted him had finally died out like a lit candle slowly burning away its wax and wick.

He clasped the egg gently before drawing his knees to his chest and buried his head, clutching the egg closely to him. Was this going to happen to him to if he remind here? Raye unfortunately didn't want to dwindle on that dreaded thought, luckily the door opening provided a relieved distraction but it wasn't going to last for long.

The Man with the snake eyes walked in looking rather smug followed closely by Komui and two strangely dressed men. Timcampy was growling above him as it glared at the guards that stood around Raye.

'You're coming with us Noah,' the thin-lipped man snarled as the red men came either side of him and pushed him roughly towards the door. Raye stumbled but kept his footing and his hold on the egg, he hadn't the heart to abandon it now as the men took him somewhere.

Raye was nervous as the walked up into the long dark corridor vaguely provided with a sufficient amount of light. They continued down as Raye ignored the glares and murmuring of hatred coming from the staff around him. They knew he was despite him not knowing who they were. He didn't like this, something was up and he didn't know what as he grabbed Tim from the air and hugged the golem close to his chest like a stuffed toy.

What was going on here?

He entered a large room with a large dirt area and across the room were a group of people wearing black. There was nothing else distinguishable about them but Raye could sense the strong presence of innocence and he stopped, not wanting to take another step into the room.

However the two guards had other ideas and roughed shoved him in the back causing him to trip and stumbling and almost falling face first into the dirt. Luckily for him and the annoyance of the guards, Tim had managed to soften the blow and Raye knew that he was not going to get a bruise from this. He sat on the ground waiting for someone to explain why he was brought here.

'Komui, you better explain what the fuck is going on,' a tall man with dark long hair pulled back in a high ponytail spat at Komui who seemed especially nervous right about now.

'Brother, why is he here? More specifically… what is Rouvelier up to?' the next question came from a woman about his mother's age probably older with green hair that cascaded over her shoulders and her fringe pulled back and tied to the back of her head.

'There is a reason, we want to find out what this boy is capable of,' Raye froze, 'Anyone care to volunteer?'

A man with long red hair growled angrily.

'You really are a bastard, aren't you Rouvelier? I don't think this is a good idea, if the Earl found out you put the kid in danger… worse… if Elena found out, she'd have your head!' Raye blink, how did the man with the long red hair know about his mother? This puzzled him but he remained quiet, they may explain it to him.

'Cross, I don't think you're in a position to be giving me warnings, my I remind you that you are still under suspicion for treason,' Rouvelier's words caused Cross to curse under his breath so many times that Raye whimpered softly and gripped Timcampy tighter.

Glancing around, the man with the dark ponytail stepped forward.

'Fine I'll do it,' he said stoutly as the woman beside him gasped and clung to his arm.

'But Kanda, what about Misaki? If you hurt the boy, the Noah will hurt our son,' the woman pleaded but the man stared back at her. Raye couldn't see what stare was exchange but the woman nodded slowly and let go.

'Good… begin when you're ready…'

….

~Kanda~

The kid looked scared but Kanda wasn't sure why, not like he'd care anyway as he unsheathed mugen and proceeded to activate it. Lenalee didn't like the idea one bit, if there was a chance that Misaki will be hurt or worse, injured than Kanda wanted no part.

Unfortunately, he couldn't guarantee that anyone else would go easy on the child and Kanda wanted to take it upon himself to do it. Lenalee wouldn't have the strength to volunteer for obvious reasons and Choaji… luckily Kanda spoke up or else the bastard would have possibly killed the kid and Kanda knew that there would be a chance the Noah would do the same to Misaki.

Taking a deep breath, he lunged towards the kid, but what greeted him surprised him greatly. The golden thing that was being held tightly to the brat's chest flung itself at him and bit down hard on his katana.

'What the fuck?' Kanda hissed and shook the thing from his blade, the thing hissed at him in response and stood like a wall between him and the Noah. The kid didn't seem pleased, actually he looked awfully worried for it and Kanda knew he had good reason to. The fucking thing was in his way.

'Tell this thing to retreat,'

'I can't,' the kid stammered in a small voice as the golden thing continued to hiss and growl at him as if daring him to take another step closer.

'Why fucking not?'

'He's not mine, he's my…' the kid paused and looked at the ground. For a moment Kanda was almost convinced that the kid was… normal, it felt slightly wrong attacking someone like this but Kanda had to harshly remind himself that the kid was in fact a Noah.

'Timcampy is a golem belong to Elena or more specifically, the Fourteenth, he only follows his master's orders. In short, you're fucking screwed,' came the words of a cocky asshole of a General who seemed very amused by the situation in front of him.

Fucking great, Kanda didn't want to end up fighting some golem with a cunning teeth-filled grin. It pissed him off, at least he would be able to vent his anger out on it as he slide forward in a wide sweeping motion and slashed the thing clearly in two. However, the sounds of thudding didn't occur as the golems two halves meld together and then thing looked as good as new.

'Che,' Kanda ignored it briefly as he had managed to pass it and aimed a blow to the kid's legs. The child didn't move not vaguely but Kanda could see him flinched and knew that he wanted to actually move. Suddenly a blinding light appeared in front of him and low and behold the fucking golem was there again.

Kanda held the sword in front of him as the golem head butted him back and away from the Noah. He skidded across the ground and activated the first level of his innocence.

'Insects of the Netherworld: Ichigen!' The worm like critters spewed forth from the slash he did in the air and attacked. Kanda stood back and waited for the smoke to clear, unfortunately for him, he had an additional opponent and he needed to observe what this thing was capable of. It wasn't like the golems the Order created; it had its own mind and a knack for knowing its surrounds and act upon them. It could possibly understand speech for all he fucking cared.

When the smoke finally cleared the golem was still hovering in the air, several cracks appeared over its body but it was relatively fine as the boy glanced nervously from behind it.

There was an annoyed grunt behind Kanda as he shifted his eyes towards the Rouvelier bastard seeming sitting down and looking rather pissed off.

'Distract that golem,' Rouvelier ordered the two Crow guards standing beside him as they did exactly that and managed to drive the golem away leaving the kid vulnerable to attack unless he acted.

Kanda took the opportunity despite hating the bastard for helping him and lashed out at the startled kid. The kid's moved surprised Kanda yet again. The Noah had speed and a large amount of agility for his size and age. Probably the benefits of being a fucking Noah, Kanda could help but think as each strike was continually dodged.

From time to time, the golem showed up and nudged him off balance before the guards came up and drove it away. But the distraction was good enough for the kid to move a great distance away from him. The kid wasn't stupid but Kanda wasn't going to admit that allowed.

There had to be something he could use against the kid, if he was indeed Elena's son then there had to be something as Kanda mentally whacked himself. The had to be fucking something that he could do before it hit him, find something of the brat, just like he had done to Elena what seemed to be eons ago.

'Oi, stop moving seaweed,' the kid paused at that and pouted, throwing an angry glare at Kanda. But he didn't say anything, more than anything, he was more composed than Elena but Kanda knew the brat was beginning to crack.

Again the golem flew past him in a blur as Kanda covered his eyes as a cloud of dust was lifted from the ground at his feet and into the air. Man did it know how to get on his bloody nerves. But it seemed like the golem did its job to well as Kanda gazed around and lashed out at the nearest thing to him. He presumed he hit a Crow but Kanda didn't fucking care as he tried to pick up the kid's movements.

That… was surprisingly difficult to do, almost like the bloody beansprout! Concentrating, Kanda closed his eyes and narrowed in at an unfamiliar sound to him, luckily enough his meditation was coming in handy before he sudden lashed out, splitting the cloud of dust apart and launched at the shocked Noah.

The Noah didn't move, not an inch as Kanda's blade came closer to him. Kanda expected him to dodge but what came next surprised everyone in the room.

….

Author's Note:

Heheh…. I'll leave it here for now but don't fret I have the fifteenth chapter written up and ready to be posted… but there's a catch…

If you want me to post it, I must have some reviews; suggestions, theories…etc else I leave you with this evil cliffhanger! Mwahahah! ^_^'