Disclaimer: I do not own any part of D. Gray-man nor any of its characters. I can only close my eyes and quietly play dress up with said characters in my head and hope I'm not desecrating Hoshino Katsura's work too much.
For those of you who care, Author's Notes will be at the end of every chapter and any and all questions will be gleefully answered if asked.
So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
Lizzy was shaking from both pain and adrenaline fueled terror. She hugged herself with her good arm to steady herself as they stumbled through the Ark. Now was not the time to lose it. She had to be strong. She took another few steps forward, trying not to think about how fucking much her arm hurt. Now that Maria wasn't here… she closed her eyes against the tears and continued. Now that Maria wasn't here, someone had to keep an eye on the boys. Who knew how much trouble they would get in without her?
She took another quick look around the Ark. It was funny, in all the years she had been in here, ran through these splendorous halls, leaned against the walls in frustration and opened doors without a second thought, she had never felt as uncomfortable as she did right now. Maybe because before the Ark had been Neah's, it had been safe, it had been a place where neither side could reach them. Now she wasn't too sure, with the Earl hot on their trail, she could almost feel his eyes boring into the back of her neck. She realized she was lagging behind and ran to catch up.
This was the last place she wanted to be left alone.
Neah paused and, making sure they were truly alone, summoned the gate that led them into his secret room. She'd only been in here a few times, so she wasn't terribly familiar with it, but there was just something so Neah about it that she felt herself relaxing immediately upon entering it. She couldn't help but smile at all the memories taped up on the walls. Her eyes caught one of the four of them together, Maria laughing wildly with a boy in each arm. Lizzy brought her hand up to stifle tears that hadn't fallen, but probably soon would be.
She gently pushed aside Neah's exorcist coat with her foot which lie abandoned on the floor after Neah's last trip to headquarters. Tim assaulted Neah suddenly, banging him pretty roughly in the head. Neah smiled hollowly, rubbing his head as he brushed Tim off and made his way over to the piano. He lightly fingered the cover. Neah had a look of stark determination and with all the blood on him; he actually looked kind of scary. She had a hard time connecting her sweet and gentle friend with this cold, hardened warrior. Just another thing she thought would never come to pass.
"So what are we going to do now?" She whispered though it sounded so loud in the silence surrounding them. "How are we going to escape the Earl? Couldn't he just use the Ark to find us?" Neah frowned and slowly opened the covering, revealing white glistening keys.
"He's not going to take my Ark," he growled venomously, "not if I can help it." Oh Neah what's happened to you? She thought sadly, looking at the rough expression on his face. He looked at her sideways and put on a forced smile, it wasn't very good, but at least he was still trying and that had to be worth something. "From here I can control the Ark and, if I play my cards right, I can ensure that the Earl won't ever be able to access the Ark's full power again. I won't have my baby being used for evil, not anymore." Lizzy nodded, he still hadn't answered her question. What about them, how would they get out of here? She dare didn't ask again, seeing his face, she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.
"How's the arm?" Cross asked stepping next to her; she smiled at up him with as much cheer as she could muster awful, uncomfortable, painful, agonizing, excruciating and so goddamn useless in a time when they needed her.
"It's fine, I'm more worried about your head." He snorted and rolled his eyes as he folded his arms. He was looking a lot better, but his eyes still had an unfocused look that had her more than a little worried. In a perfect world they would be in a hospital treating their injuries, laughing over the stupid mistakes that had put them in there. Well actually in a perfect the four of them would be somewhere together without war or worries just able to be happy.
But as she had repeatedly found out, the world was not in fact perfect. Oh Maria.
Finally after a few minutes of needless tuning and awkward conversation Neah weightily sat himself down at the piano and fingered its elegant keys with longing and sadness. She walked over and gently ran her fingers down his neck and shoulder, trying to show him that no matter how he felt, he was never alone. They couldn't use the Ark any longer; it would be far too easy for the Earl to track him. She could only imagine how he felt right now.
"I want you both to know what you're getting into." Neah said quietly, not looking at them with his fingers still dancing lightly on the keys. "By doing this, I'm denying everyone access to this Ark, it will never again leave Japan under the Earl's power."
"And by everyone you mean-?"
"Yeah, that means I'm locking myself out as well, forever." A heavy silence fell as they mulled over the implications of forever.
"It's the only way to make sure the Ark isn't used for evil. I don't think… I don't think I could live with myself knowing that I let such a beautiful creation be used so disgracefully." Neah finally looked over at her and laid a soft hand on her hand which still rested on his shoulder.
"I'm leaving it available so the next 14th can use it. Only the person with the score and the license will be able to free the Ark. I've already given Timcanpy the score, Mana has it as well. Maybe-" Neah took a steadying breath. "Maybe the person who follows me could find a use for it; use it better than I have by enabling the Earl." He sighed and looked back at his piano. "I can get us to Mana's and then that will be the last time we'll ever be able to access this. Once I shut down the Ark, I'll have clipped the Earl's wings and made it a lot harder for them to locate us, but we'll be running entirely by mortal methods and the Earl still has his Akuma and the Noah…" She smiled and leaned down to give him a light kiss on his cheek.
She couldn't express how proud she was of him right now, of his strength, of his courage, of his desire to save others even as his own life was dying. She could only imagine how he felt at this moment, preparing to let go of the Ark for good and leaving the last bits of his Noah life behind him. She herself knew how hard it was to let go of things you loved, but sometimes it was necessary to save them in the end.
"I-I would love to hear you play Neah. Could you… could you please play me your song? Just one last time?" He smiled and something of his old self shown through as he delicately brought his hands down onto the keys, lightly ghosting the smooth ivory. He stopped and grinned at her.
"I'll only play if you sing; it is your song after all." She smirked and nodded as she gently lowered herself down onto the piano bench next to Neah. Cross wandered over folding his arms and leaning against the piano's body as the soft and beautifully haunting melody filled the air. And she sang. She sighed happily listening to the song float around the room. God she loved it so much and it pained her to think this would probably be the last time she would hear Neah's wonderful playing.
That saddened her more than anything else. But despite herself, it also made her happy.
This song, all of Neah's songs really, always reminded her of her friends. As she sung the lyrics Neah had written for her so long ago, she thought of all the great times they had shared together. All the dances, all the meetings, all the missions and all nights they couldn't handle the world and had found the comfort in each other's arms. All the headaches and heartaches and the days she wanted to give up coupled with the love and laughter and the hope she felt when they were all together. She would miss it; she would miss it so fucking much.
But it wasn't really disappearing was it? Those wonderful and hateful memories would always live on in Neah's song, maybe played a long time from now by another Noah kid with Neah's soul. What a strange thought. She briefly wondered what this kid would be like; if he would deserve the honor Neah was bestowing upon him but brushed it off. Anyone who had Neah's soul in them would be just as lovable and just as pure hearted. She had begun to cry, but she paid it no heed.
She dared roll her eyes over to look at Cross, who was still leaning his elbows on the piano's base. He stared into the white cover, not looking at her or Neah or at anything at all really. Lizzy's voice dipped in time with Neah's song as she studied her friend. She knew he was hurting, hurting in a way she couldn't even imagine, and yet he was still here with them. Cross must have felt her stare because he looked up suddenly and gave her a light, saddened smile. If she hadn't been singing she would have hugged him. She would have told him that what he had done to Maria wasn't wrong, that no one, not she, Neah or even Maria hated him for it. She would tell him later, she supposed concentrating back on her song.
The air began to crackle around them and she felt a dizzying sensation one gets when going down a platform too fast. Neah released one hand and held hers reassuring her and she kept singing. Maria would have been a better person to sing this. It would have only been fitting. But Maria was gone, dead, and Lizzy was paying her tribute in the only way she knew how. She could hear her voice echoing through the room and beyond as the floor beneath her seemed to shift without ever moving at all. It was hard to explain, it was as if something had locked into place.
Neah gave her hand a tight squeeze and then released it to finish off the last few chords. It was usually her favorite part of the song, but this time it just hurt to hear, hearing it meant the end of laughter and soft lies, the end of nights when all they had was each other and that had been more than enough. No it was too soon, she thought with sadness. Please no, not yet, please. Just a little longer.
But the final crescendo was coming and Lizzy's voice lifted with it like an ocean wave crashing over a white beach. She poured her heart into those softly sung words, trying to express all those years of love and misery through only her voice. Finally, all too soon, her part had ended and she sat mesmerized as Neah's deft fingers finished up the last of the chords. He sat there a second, sadly touching the keys before standing up quickly and summoning a gate. It was smaller than normal and had a faded, almost shaky quality to it. Was it just her or was the room changing?
Neah grabbed her left arm and pulled her as fast as he could off of the bench. She stumbled and gave the room one last glance, the pictures on the wall mocked them with their easiness and the ground was cluttered with odds and ends that spoke of the life of a normal young man. Of course there was nothing normal about their situation and the supposed ordinariness of it all was too cruel. It just wasn't fair.
"We've got to go; we have thirty seconds before the Ark shuts down completely and we're stuck here. Now come on! It's programed for Mana's, so we've got to be prepared to go once we land. Hurry! Now!" Neah said urgently pushing them through the white gate. Neah stopped for a second and looked at the room that had been his real home all these years and turned away without a care. He would miss it yes, of course he would, but they say home is where you have your family waiting and he had his home right with him. He would be fine; they would all be just fine, eventually.
Thus two beaten exorcists, one traitorous Noah and a golden golem stepped out of the room and the pristine white gate closed for the last time on their lives. It shut with an unsteady clink and for the remaining few seconds of its existence, the room sat with mild contentment. A few of the papers littering the floor fluttered at the sudden movement and walls echoed with the remnants of Neah's song. A picture had come loose from the wall and slowly glided and spun as gravity compelled it down towards the cluttered white floor.
A boom resounded through the room a moment later which slowly spread throughout the rest of the Ark as a giant flash of light seemed to implode from within the piano. The picture, the one that had the four friends laughing and smiling in a moment of captured happiness, never made it to the ground. As the light died down, the once decorated room had been become clean, white and bare, completely stripped of any trace of the young boy who had lived and died for it. An unforeseen consequence of the curse which would keep it bound to Edo for the next thirty or so years.
And so Noah's Ark remained like this for a very long time as it stepped out of this story for good.
The secret room of the 14th sat smugly as the Earl discovered what had happened to his precious Ark and listened as the demon man spent a good long while cursing Neah's name up and down as he tried to think of a new way to mobilize his armies. It sat quietly in silent mourning as one after another its young charges died. It observed impassively the years without a trace of aging as time slowly passed, patiently waiting for its new Master to come and make use of it.
And then one day, on a day just like all the others before it, he came.
He was shorter than the Ark remembered, his hair had turned a curious color of white with a ghastly scar on his face and he held himself so differently than Master Neah had. But the Ark recognized the look of desperate protection in the young boy's eyes and recognized his Master hidden peacefully below the surface. And so eventually the boy who, at the same time, was and was not Neah Walker began to play the tune had been etched into the Ark's very being. And when the boy did play, his Innocence arm humming lightly with piano's melody at odds with his emerging Noah's dark matter, the Ark relived its last moments conveying all the love, the sadness and the sacrifice those dirty, ragged children had expressed on that day oh so long ago.
But Allen Walker's story is a long way down the road and for now the true heart of Noah's Ark would remain alone in the stark white room, listening to the echoes of lives long past, waiting for the freedom it craved. One day Noah's Ark would fly again, heralded by yet another young man with a mission.
Not now.
But soon.
DGMDGMDGM
They're late, Mana Walker thought borderline hysterically as he nervously paced outside his dilapidated tent in an inconsequential town somewhere between Liverpool and Manchester. Neah was supposed to pick up friends up and come straight back here, so what was taking so goddamn long? Mana didn't want to think about what might have held them up or what might be going on or what might be happening to Neah this very second while he stood here waiting. He lit another cigarette.
Dammit he was almost out, didn't he just buy this pack this morning?
The smoke did little to calm his ever fraying nerves as he stopped his pacing. Jesus, he was going to have a coronary if he kept this up much longer or just go frigging insane. He had three bags filled to the brim with everything they might ever possibly need while on the run. Who knew if they would have a chance to go into a town anytime soon? Wasn't much help if they didn't come. Mana took another deep drag.
He checked his watch again in an agitated matter that, unbeknownst to him, almost identically imitated his brother about twelve hours before. It was funny how things worked out like that. It was just about noon; Neah had come to see him at about five after eight this morning telling him to get enough supplies and to be ready within an hour or two. True, Neah had said that they would most likely be late, unforeseen trouble and such, but still as Mana sat in the warm June air, he was very, very frightened. He had seen was Akuma could do and he had seen what his brother was capable of.
What if one of those Noah monsters or even that damnable Earl himself had gotten ahold of them first? What would he do then? Would he stand out here in the tepid air smoking cigarettes like it held all of life's answers for the rest of his time waiting for children who would never come? Mana frowned and realized that he just might do that. A cackling sound and the white gate he had been anxiously awaiting for the last few hours had appeared behind him, somewhere to his left. The sigh of relief resounded through his whole body and he jerkily let the cigarette fall from his mouth as he made his way over to the kids.
The first thing he noticed was that they were dirty, bloody and wounded. He then realized that he didn't care, they were here and they were alive and everything else could be dealt with in time. He reached his arms out towards his brother and pulled him into a tight hug, relishing the feel of Neah's skinny, little body beneath him and gripping his fist into his curly black hair. The little golden machine his brother and Marian had made sat on Neah's shoulder, its tail digging through the material of Mana's shirt. He knew they were in hurry, but this-they had time for this. He pulled back.
"Sorry 'bout that. You just about scared me half to death and I was-was" Neah smiled, but it wasn't his normal smile. It was strained at the sides and Mana noticed how tired and old Neah looked in that moment. Mana ran his hand through his brother's hair in concern. There was something wrong here. There was something about this scene he was missing, but what? What the hell had happened to them?
"Maria's dead." Neah said sullenly looking up at him with an unrestrained sadness. "It's just us, we couldn't-couldn't save her." Mana looked up and realized for the first time that the cheerful, tall woman was absent. In his delight to see Neah, Mana honestly hadn't noticed. Mana felt… sad. He couldn't say he knew her all that well, hell he didn't really know any of his brother's friends, but she had been a fantastic woman and he knew how much she had meant to Neah. He leaned his forehead down onto his brother's. Another life claimed in this horrible war and another loved one gone forever from Neah's life.
How much more of this could he take, Mana wondered, before Neah lost all hope?
"I'm sorry Neah, I-I don't know what else to say except that I'm so sorry." Neah turned his head, perhaps so his big brother wouldn't have to see such a shamefully teary expression on his face. Oh Neah, Mana whispered in his head, haven't you learned by now that it's okay to cry?
"We, um we need to go, as in right now. The Ark is disabled and they'll have a harder time finding me, but we still need to get away as fast as we can. But um before we go can we-can we light a candle for her?" Same old Neah, Mana smiled and reached to give his messy hair a friendly ruffle. The machine, Tim he remembered, flapped its wings causing Mana to withdraw his affections.
"Of course, of course. I've got everything ready so-"
"Wait um," Neah paused, as if wondering if he should say anything further. "We need to probably bandage up Lizzy's arm better and I really think Cross should lie down for a minute. Do you have an antiseptic we could use on Lizzy's arm?"
"I've got some of dad's old bourbon." Neah smirked; it looked out of place on his haggard face.
"I'm sure he gave that to you with his blessings." Mana shrugged relieved to see a little of the old Neah back, the hopeless, faded expression had begun to frighten him.
"Well it's not like dad was using it anyway."
"Neah, I'm fine, we don't have time for this, we have to keep moving." Said Marian stepping forward and placing on Neah's shoulder. As Neah indicated, he stumbled and his hand was shaking a little. Neah gave him a dry look of incredulity. "I'm serious Neah we don't have time to be fucking around. We'll take a minute, properly set Lizzy's arm and then we have got to go."
"We need to check both of you out; I will not have gone to all this trouble just to have the two of you die of infection or something." Marian growled a little in frustration.
"It won't really matter either way if the Earl catches up to us. Disabling the Ark will only stop him for so long Neah, you should know that better than anyone. He's probably got his Noah and Akuma army coming straight toward us as we speak and you expect us to take it lying down?" Neah turned and said something indistinguishable causing his friend to sigh angrily. "Neah I can't hear y-"
"I won't lose you guys like I lost Maria. We have five minutes to get you cleaned up, if we can't take that then what use is there running?" Marian looked like he was going to argue some more. "You know you're just wasting time standing here fighting me, we could get you bandaged and be on the road by the time you finish arguing." After a tense few seconds, the red head held up his hands in surrender.
"Alright, five minutes. Mana could you get that bourbon out for Lizzy, it's not perfect, but it will stop any infection for the moment, we should also re-set that arm. As for me, I think I'll take some of that bourbon too, but in the more traditional sense." Marian said, rubbing on of his eyes with his palm. Mana frowned; the poor boy looked utterly exhausted. A good night's sleep would do him a world of good, but Marian was right, there simply wasn't time. Mana nodded stiffly and helped the young lady into his tent while Cross stumbled along not accepting, but also not denying Neah's assistance which more than anything else proved that he was worse off than he claimed.
After settling the two kids, Mana grabbed his alcohol and couldn't help but smile fondly. He had swiped it from his parent's liquor cabinet last time he'd been at his house. It was a gorgeous, expensive bottle and he had originally taken it out of spite, but with all the recent stresses, he had finally found better uses for it. It was a little less than three quarters full; it should be enough for the two of them. He couldn't help the smile. Really, he couldn't think of a more fitting way to use said liquor, the first and last thing his parents would ever do to help Neah.
"Will this really help your head?" Mana asked; cautiously handing the bottle to the boy, Marian smirked.
"Probably not, in fact, I'm pretty sure it will make it worse. But at the moment, I'm willing to sell my soul to alleviate this goddamn headache." Marian said bitterly, taking a quick gulp before Neah roughly grabbed it from his hands. Neah played with the bottle all the while glaring at his friend.
"I read somewhere that one is more prone to a secondary concussion if you've had one recently." Neah eyed his friend with a touch more severity. "It's only been about five or six months since your last head injury right? If you push yourself too hard you may cause permanent damage." Marian scoffed and reached again for the bottle.
"Shut the hell up Neah, now is certainly not the time to be worrying about that. If I die it's gonna be because we're moving too damn slow, not because I hit my head a long time ago." Boys will be boys, Mana thought with disturbed amusement as he watched the two friends argue, not that he was really complaining. They were only arguing because they cared. Mana took a hesitant seat next to Elizabeth who was sitting quietly on the side, clearly uncomfortable with her arm, but unwilling to say anything about it. Goodness these kids, what was he going to do with them? He gently held out his hand to her which contained some fresh bandages and medicinal tape.
"May I?" he questioned lightly, gesturing to her arm. He'd been stockpiling medical supplies for the last few years specifically for this type of event, despite this; he had always secretly hoped he'd never have to use it. She gave him a smile that belonged on the face of an angel, not a bloodied, weary warrior.
"Really Mana, I'm fine-"
"Elizabeth" he said slowly, beckoning her with his free hand, "your arm." She smiled warily and with her other hand, started to undo the bloody sling she had around her right shoulder.
"I kind of set it in place back at headquarters, but I'm not sure how accurate it is. Really, I'm sure it'll be fine if you just bandage it again." Mana only barely stifled the horrified grimace upon seeing the gruesome wound. Now he wasn't a doctor or anything, but Mana was pretty sure her arm anything but 'fine'. Mana hadn't dared ask how the kids had acquired these injuries, but he could tell that this had been a bad snap from the darkening of the skin surrounding the exposed bone. He bit his lip; medicine was getting better, but still not that good. He suspected that even if they got her to a proper hospital immediately, she would never regain full use of that arm, if they would even be able to save it at all.
He slowly undid the sordid, dirty cloth she had used as a bandage, not unaware of her muffled gasps of pain but ignoring it all the same. He prodded the wound gently noting that most of the tissue was already dead. He needed to disinfect and try and replace the bone as accurately as possible. He looked up at her, trying to wipe the ever mounting anxiety off of his face, and smiled gently.
"Now this is going to hurt love, okay, but I need to do this to prevent infection alright? Can you be strong just a little while longer?" He said taking the bottle from Neah who slid next to his lady friend, slipping his hand around her shoulder. She straightened herself and nodded, silently preparing for the worst. Pouring the burning liquid onto her wound, she closed her eyes and jerked her head back in controlled pain. Neah rubbed her shoulder and whispered in her ear as Mana started bandaging. She choked down a cry of pain and leaned against Neah's shoulder, her face mere centimeters from his. Neah stroked her hair gently as he kissed the spot just between her eyes and told her to be brave and that he loved her.
Mana smiled lightly as he tightly dressed her wound, taking care to set the bone in approximately the right place. Look at how far they had come, look at little Neah and all he had become. He spared a discrete glance up at his little brother who had somehow grown taller without him noticing, Neah was now almost as tall as himself now. Mana thought of the Neah of old, the kid who would squeak with fear at every unfamiliar thing on road the while travelling, the boy who would come home from the Earl with absolute terror in eyes, the young man who had childishly fought with his best friend for the affections of a girl.
As he slowly taped up the girl's arm and retied the sling he realized that Neah had gone and grown up on him while his back was turned, it hadn't happened all at once and it certainly hadn't been easy, but his little brother had undeniably become a man without him noticing. It made Mana proud to see how well Neah had turned out under his less than orthodox parenting methods. But in reality he hadn't done much, he smirked, everything had been all Neah.
It was Neah who had decided to come on the road with him, to travel and learn.
Neah who had gone to the Earl's and worked against every odd there was to maintain his soul.
Neah who abandoned the secure, luxurious life of a Noah in order to fight for the world he believed in against the demon who had offered him every temptation.
It had been Neah who had formed such a strong bond with these kids, these crazy, selfless, exorcists that Mana watched his brother stand tall, ready to die for them.
Yes, Neah's done pretty well for himself, Mana thought stepping back and allowing Marian to sit on Lizzy's other side, stroking her shaking right hand lovingly. Deciding to give the children a moment alone, he stepped outside the tent and lit his last cigarette. He watched the smoke blow away with the breeze as he looked around at the other tents. He wondered if he would ever make it back to the circus or if this crazy crusade would kill him as well. He was still mulling over this when his cigarette was nothing more than a pleasant memory and Neah stepped outside to join him with Tim fluttering next to him.
"You okay?" Mana asked looking at him up and down, he'd been so concerned with the obvious injuries of the other two that he hadn't had a chance to check out his brother. Neah tugged awkwardly on his strange white outfit which was now stained dark brown from dried blood.
"I'll live." He shifted uncomfortably under Mana's intense gaze. "It's not all mine you know, I um… I had to kill a few Noah to get out of there." Mana choked, killed, as in-as in killed. Neah looked away in shame as Mana tried to fit this information into his new reality. Neah had killed a person, an evil, godforsaken Noah, but a living person none the less. He couldn't imagine Neah, his sweet, little Neah, hurting so much as a fly. God what had this war done to his brother? What had it forced him to do? Neah looked down and played nervously with his hands.
"I-I know, I feel the same way, but they… they were evil Mana. They killed humans, innocent humans and I-I had to stop them." Neah looked over at him with wide, fearful eyes and Mana felt a little better despite himself. If Neah could still look like that then the war hadn't completely taken him yet. Mana leaned forward and put an arm around his brother's shoulder and brushed his lips in his hairline.
"You don't need to explain to me Neah. You did what you had to do to save yourself and your friends and that's all that matters to me." Neah let his shoulders drop, relaxing in grip like he had so many times before. Whenever the world got too rough or too difficult, Neah could always seek shelter in his older brother's comforting embrace. Tim flew overhead, saddened to have lost his perch.
"I-I couldn't save Maria or the countless other exorcists or even prevent Lizzy or Cross's injuries. Some savior I am, no matter what I do the people I love just keep dying." Mana sighed.
"You're not invincible Neah, you bleed and you feel pain, you fall down and occasionally you fail. It doesn't make you a bad person, it just makes you human."
"Human," Neah whispered sadly. "So many times I've wished to be human, to be just like everyone else and now when I need my powers the most, I'm suddenly mortal again." Mana chuckled a little, sensing the light nature in his comment. He knew his brother well enough and he could see that his words had comforted him, even if only a little. It was nice and quiet as the gloomy English sun shone down on the two brothers.
"Mana." Neah stated dreamily as he clung to Mana's chest. "Thank you, for everything. I couldn't have done this without you."
"That's what big brothers are for." Mana replied, lightly ruffling his hair; this was how it should be. He wished they could stay here forever; here where he could hold his brother tightly to his chest and not let him go. He would keep him safe here, protect him from the outside world and make sure he never ever left his side. But all good things must come to an end and after a few moments of embracing, Neah cleared his throat.
"Well um we really do need to get going, but we would attract some severely unwanted attention as dirty and bloody as we are now. Is there any chance-" Neah said suddenly pulling back with a light but serious look on his face. Mana nodded back, allowing Neah to slip out of his embrace.
"On it, I got some clothes holed away in the back for you guys. They should be about your size." Neah smiled and patted him warmly on the back.
"Geez, do you think of everything?" Mana just shrugged, it was the least he could do after all.
"I got to with you all crazy kids running around. But everything else is ready, you guys get dressed and we'll hit the road. There's a train leaving about three miles from here in about an hour, we could probably make it if we hurry." Mana smiled and looked up at the sun, a light expression his face. "It's kind of like old times brother; you know, you and me against the world, riding the trains, begging for food." He turned to Neah and his smile vanished. Neah was also looking up at the sun, but the lines around his eyes and the grim expression had returned.
"Yeah, but the stakes are higher this time, this time we have a lot more to worry about than finding a place to sleep and eat." Neah turned and the sun bounced the shadows off his face in the most menacing way. "Now we have all of hell of on heels. From here on out, it's just us and them." Mana tried to smile and failed. Us and them huh? Mana thought grimly, God I wish we had better odds than that.
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"WHERE IS HE!" The Earl shouted, his rage resounding through the quiet country. His remaining Noah -That son of bitch had robbed him of not one, but three of his pawns er children- shrunk back against the wall and for once he paid them no heed. These pathetic excuses for Noah couldn't even find their runaway brother and his sniffling human friends. Oh brother how could you, how could you do th-
"WHY AREN'T YOU OUT FINDING HIM!" He demanded, throwing a chair against a wall. It smashed into pieces with a decisive crack. It didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore. All he could think was that traitorous bastard had been smiling at him without the slightest hint of shame on his face in his study mere hours ago. Hours ago he had trusted his brother with everything in this world and still that boy had betrayed him, now when the Earl had needed him the most.
And for what? He thought spitefully. Humans? And not just any humans, he growled, Neah had to leave him for writhing, insignificant exorcists! When the Earl got his hands on that skinny brat he would, he would… he paused. He would what? Denis raised his finger hesitantly. His Noah should be out crushing the Order and here they were cowering and all because of that filthy, slimy, no good-
"W-we have no idea where to even begin looking. By disabling the Ark, Neah made it a lot harder for us to track him, even if we knew where he was, we wouldn't be able to get there very fast with only the Akuma." The Earl's sneer returned. The Ark, he had almost forgotten about what that-that boy had done to his Ark. How dare that impious little brat take his Ark away from him? He had given that little upstart permission to use the Ark as he pleased and instead he breaks the damned thing down, preventing it from leaving this godforsaken country.
The Earl had originally thought the curse was an annoying, but temporary, inconvenience, but the Skulls had thus far been unable to disable the lock the 14th had put on his Ark. They kept insisting they would have it down soon, but the Earl knew better. He knew how smart and how thorough Neah was, if the 14th didn't want the Ark leaving Japan, then in Edo it would remain until the 14th decided to release it. So not only were they unable to track Neah and his crew, but the 14th had essentially stranded them here in Japan, preventing them from using the Ark against him or the Order.
That devious, wicked, clever bastard.
"Well we know where he's going; he's going to get his brother the clown. I'm sure they've already left by now, but without the Ark they won't get very far. I say we go and tear all of England apart to find that little rat bastard and show him what a real Noah can do. Goddamn fucking traitor is going to feel a hurt unimaginable when I'm through with him." Amora said flipping her hair and sneering to show off her canines in a way that boasted instability as much as ferocity.
"You will not lay a hand on him!" The Earl shouted suddenly, emotion dripping heavily from his words. The others stopped and stared at him with identical looks of fear and astonishment. He pursed his lips and tried to recover as best he could. "I want that traitor brought before me as alive as you can catch him; I want to punish him myself, to make sure he knows the error of his ways before he meets his horrific and untimely demise." They all nodded shakily, still fearing his volatile temper; at this point he was sure they'd agree to a family picnic if they thought he'd stop screaming.
Sheep, they were all goddamned sheep… well not Neah. Neah had never been so dependent.
The Earl was angry, unbelievably, incredibly angry. He wanted to tear that boy into pieces and show him what happens to those who defy the Millennium Earl, to cause the same anguish and pain and betrayal that the Earl felt tearing at his own heart… and still the thought of his brother out there on the run, the thought of him cold, alone and scared, the thought of him dying, well it hurt him like he'd never been hurt before.
Why did you have to do this brother, why did you have to make me do this? The Earl thought, his sadness almost overwhelming his anger, but that was for later, later when he was alone and the 14th was nothing but a dead memory. He stared down at his remaining Noah. The two boys, the Noah who had neither angered nor impressed him, were leaning against the wall. He supposed they were expendable, if anything, he reasoned, fighting them would slow Neah down. He would send them first to tire Neah out for the final strike delivered by the others.
Edmund, Amora and Denis sat hunched on the floor looking wary of his outbursts, but also angry and anxious. They were probably his best fighters; he would send them out once Neah was weaker and had expended most of his energy. Daniel was praying on his knees, he would really be of no use and frankly the Earl thought he would probably be the next one to die. No real loss, maybe the next reincarnation would be better.
Rhode was heartbroken, leaning against the wall with a despondent look on her face. He couldn't ask her to go and kill the brother whom she had loved so much.
Shohei and Saoirse were lying in each other's arms on the floor. They worked well as a team; he would keep the two of them together here where they would best serve him. The Earl didn't want to send all of the Noah after the 14th, not for the boy's benefit because he certainly wasn't worried about Neah's safety. No, he just wanted to minimize his casualties. He knew how powerful Neah could be when he wanted, if Neah was prepared to kill three Noah then he was prepared to kill them all. A small, very small, part of him was proud of his brother to be able to bring down such fearsome opponents; he of course did not express these feelings to the others. They just wouldn't understand.
"Lennie, Cain," the two straightened up. "I want you all to go first. You should be able to track down where they're running to. You can separate if you must to cover more ground. Your goal is to find them and keep them where they are and wear them down. Do whatever you must, kill humans, burn towns, I don't care if you do a goddamned polka, just keep them in place until reinforcements arrive." They nodded and were off. He doubted very much he would see them again, but found he didn't care all that much, all that mattered now was capturing Neah. He turned to Denis, Amora and Edmund.
"You three, take anything you wish, Akuma, weapons, anything at all and you kill those exorcists that stole your brother and you kill them good and slow and in front of Neah if at all possible." He took a breath. "Then you capture Neah and drag his treacherous ass back here where he will face judgment unparalleled. The rest of you will remain here with me." Denis brought a hand to wipe away some dead exorcist's blood from his face.
He had been in Asia when Neah's betrayal became evident and the Earl had called them all back. The Earl thanked somebody that he'd been able to get them all back before that person had disabled the Ark or else they'd have been even worse off. All of the Noah were dirty and covered in the blood of felled exorcists, each looking shocked for various reasons that their youngest brother had turned traitor.
Denis especially seemed hurt and confused. He knew the French Noah had been tutoring Neah and he could only imagine what a shock it was to have the little brother he had been fond of betray him. But one thing that was lucky was that other than Rhode -and himself- none of the other Noah really much cared for Neah, there would be no chance of their feelings getting in the way of their capturing him.
It was the reason he was sending his Noah out instead of getting the son of a bitch himself.
"Why don't we just continue our attacks on the Order? You know mon ren-uh Neah's fondness for humans, instead of us running all over God's creation trying to find him; we can make him come to us. It would save a lot of time and eff-" The Earl brought his hand down on the blonde boy's head with a resounding smack. Denis looked up at him, clutching his bruised head with worry and confusion.
The others took a step back as the Earl huffed over Denis. How could he say such a thing? How could Denis expect him to break his promise to Neah? Except…Neah had already betrayed him and the Earl owed him nothing. He stopped and thought. Why had he hit Denis? It was a perfectly reasonable, if not the most logical course of action to exploit Neah's obvious weakness in such a way. But-but…
"I made a deal with Neah; a chance to face him one on one in exchange for the Order's ensured safety. It was a deal made between men-" Denis flinched, "you wouldn't understand." The others found better places to look than his eyes and Denis bowed his head in shame.
"But he's not a man, my Lord, he's a traitor." Amora spat out haughtily. "He doesn't deserve any special treatment from us; the only thing he deserves is a pitiless, painful death." He turned to glare at her. She-they just didn't understand.
Neah was his brother; he cared for that bastard more than he had ever cared for any one of his Noah. There was something about Neah that made the Earl want him by his side always. He couldn't-couldn't imagine lying to him and doing something so underhanded. Traitor or not… The Earl still loved him and he would not have his brother treated so disrespectfully, like common garbage.
Neah would die, but deserved that at the very least.
"I don't go back on my word darling." He said in an icy tone that had all of them cowering again. "Would you like if I went back on my word all the time? If I skipped out on dinner? If I said that I loved you one minute and then killed you the next? Wouldn't that make me as bad as him?" silence "WOULDN'T IT!" they hastily whispered their approval. He sneered down at them in disgust.
Pathetic.
His brother may have been a cursed traitor, who deserved death, but at least he had spirit, he had audacity, he had a motivated and cunning personality that the Earl couldn't help but be drawn to… Neah Walker just had this shine about him that he couldn't resist. But it was too late for that now, he thought sadly. Neah had betrayed him for the exorcists; his brother would not be returning home, the Earl could no longer count on his quiet wisdom, never again would he see that easy smile to see him through a hard day. He would make his brother's death as quick and painless as possible, he may have been a traitor like Amora said, but he deserved to die with dignity. He deserved to die like a man. To die…
But this isn't the end, he reminded himself quickly, the 14th will come back again soon enough. The Earl vowed that the next time around, in the next reincarnation of the 14th Noah, he would not be so easy on his brother. He would keep him close; destroy any human relations he might have to prevent another catastrophe like this from happening again. Neah would come back, it could be ten, twenty even thirty years from now, but he would live again and when that time came, he would not betray him and the 14th would be by his side always. Yes, he thought, I'll wait forever if I must, but someday Neah, you will be mine again.
He took a breath and straightened his coat as he observed his Noah. Well, there was no need to yell at the children any more, they were silly and foolish, but they would serve their purposes. Hadn't it been Neah after all who had once said that the Noah weren't being utilized properly? Maybe now that the war was going to continue on a little while longer, he would take his brother's advice and bring them out a little more. They were so terribly weak and maybe if he drew them into more fights, they would gain an insatiable hatred of exorcists so that no other Noah would ever love them.
Yes, that would work. Thank you Neah, even now you continue to help me.
"Alright now, that's enough of that. Now be off, they can run but they won't be getting far. And remember, I don't mind if you rough him up a little, but I want him here alive. Do you hear me? Alive." The three nodded and stood up, Denis still rubbing his head. Denis didn't have Neah's brains or charm or brilliance, but he hadn't deserved such treatment. The Earl patted his shoulder. "I do apologize Denis; this is quite an emotional time for all of us and with you saying such silly ideas..." Denis averted his eyes submissively. Yes, next time he would do better, next time his Noah would be invincible and then nothing, not even the Black Order, could pull them away from him.
"No, I'm sorry my Lord. You were right, he is-was family, this is something that needs to be dealt with personally." Denis looked up at him with a dark glint in his eyes. "He will pay for what he did, I can assure you that. We'll bring him back and he will pay." The Earl nodded thoughtfully and patted Denis affectionately. He wasn't Neah, but he was loyal and that had to count for something.
"Be safe pet and for what it's worth, I am sorry." Denis and the others nodded before running to prepare for their mission. He watched their retreating forms and without any more children to yell at, his thoughts wandered reluctantly back to Neah.
Brother, he whispered sadly, what are you doing right now? I wonder if you are as saddened as I by this turn of events?
"-ord, my Lord?" he looked down at Saoirse's young, ingenuous face. "Are you alright?" she questioned, clutching tightly onto Shohei's hand. He straightened up; he had to be strong for the others. He couldn't coddle them anymore. Neah had shown him what happened when he was too lenient with his Noah. He had to be tough on them, for them, to make sure that they would never betray him again. To make sure that he wouldn't have another generation of weak, passive children. To make sure that no other Noah thought of abandoning him for the exorcists.
The thought got his blood boiling all over again. He wondered just how much the Order had known about Neah, worked with him. He thought of the nightly attack a few weeks ago, undoubtedly spoiled by Neah, and that smooth lie of theirs. Well they thought they could pluck his Noah from him did they? He would show them, it was personal now. Those exorcists wanted war and he sure as hell was going to give it to them.
"I'm fine. Once your brother is captured I want all of you to gather in the room. There I will demonstrate what happens to all who disobey me." The young girl bit her lip in fright. Too bad, he couldn't afford to be nice any longer. He would make sure no one betrayed him again. "I want the rest of you to guard this place with your lives. I'm not sure what information that traitor gave to the exorcists, but there's a chance they may come here. However, should your siblings fail I may send you after Ne-after the 14th. I want you all to be prepared for such an occurrence."
"Do you really think he could defeat all five of the Noah you sent out?" Shohei asked quietly as he pulled Saoirse a little closer. The Earl thought of Neah's bloody and solemn face, gazing into the eyes of that Akuma. It was the face of a man who was willing to do anything and everything to protect the things he believed in. It was a face worth taking seriously. He so wanted to avoid a war with Neah, but that damned fool was set on it, so they had to be prepared for everything.
"I'm not sure, but I'd rather be over than underprepared. Now be off, go to you duties." He held out his hand, "except you Rhode dear, I want you to stay here with me." Rhode hadn't moved and instead lowered her thin body until she was sitting on the ground. He stood next to her, watching the other three scamper off to their assigned tasks. He didn't expect much of them, but it was better than no security right? He hovered over Rhode as she hugged her knees tightly.
"Why would he leave us my Lord? Wasn't he happy here, didn't he like us?" Rhode asked looking up at him with genuine loss and sadness. Of all the other Noah, Rhode had seen what Neah had been capable and had fallen in love with his smooth cadence and easy ways just as he had. The others had scoffed his gentle ways as weakness, unable to see his hidden radiance. He gave her a gentle pat on the head knowing that it did nothing to alleviate the pain.
"I don't know my dear, but it's not your fault. I suspect your brother became tainted on one of his early missions, those damn exorcists have probably been manipulating him this whole time." He said, trying to keep the rage from his voice, now was not the time to be angry, not when his precious Rhode was suffering so. She leaned her cheek against the wall and stared at nothing in particular.
"No, I don't think so. I've seen the way he looks at us. And I've seen the way he looks at them, people I mean. He didn't- doesn't belong here; he belongs out there with them, with the exorcists. He loves them my Lord, he loves them far more than he ever loved us." The Earl frowned; no he couldn't have her, any of them, thinking such things. He now saw how tenuous his hold on the Noah were, he couldn't have any of them thinking that escape from him was an option.
He would never lose another Noah to the exorcists, never again.
"Now, now dear, I'm sure that's not true. Your brother was corrupted is all, we'll get through this little incident and he'll back with us before you know it." He leaned down and helped her off the ground. "Now dear, it's been a long trying day for you, why don't you go onto bed…"
"But the others-"
"Will be just fine without you, they're big Noah after all. You just go to bed and get your rest and when you wake up; all of this unpleasantness will be over, just as fleeting as one of your dreams, alright?" She looked down and nodded slowly and started toward her room, one shoulder languidly pressed against the wall.
"I miss him my Lord," she said quietly. "But no matter you do or say, Neah won't come back to us. He was never meant to be one of us. Please, please just let's just get this over with and-and forget all about him. For his sake, don't force him to come back, no matter how many reincarnations he goes through, he won't ever be happy here. It goes against his nature. So please, if you care for him like I do, let him go." With nothing more to say, she disappeared around the corner leaving the Millennium Earl alone for the first time since he'd spoken to Neah.
This was a dangerous situation he had here, he had to reassert his authority and convince his remaining Noah that they should remain with him. He never thought he would have to deal with this. Never had a Noah shown any signs of betrayal. It hurt and enraged him that of all the Noah to turn on him, it had to be the one he loved and trusted the most. But dammit did he love him.
Neah Walker had a one of a kind soul, something so special that the Earl had only begun to understand its depth. He wanted him, he needed him on his side and he would kill him before he let any exorcists get their hands on his Neah. He just had to try harder next time. He would keep an eye out for the 14th's next reincarnation, get him young and make sure the little bastard stayed by his side for all eternity.
He would not just let him go, the 14th was his and his alone, mind, body and soul and in due time he intended to collect what was rightfully his.
The Earl banged his fist into the wall, once again cursing those exorcists for their evil, sneaky ways. How dare they go to such lowly methods, to take his beloved Noah away from him? Well he wouldn't make it easy for them, not now and not ever again. This cold war was over, he was going to crush those soulless exorcists for their misdeeds and they would never again know peace. If they thought the last few months had been hard, they hadn't seen anything yet.
Well Neah, he thought, you've just given me just cause to end this war, another little present you have inadvertently laid before me.
He frowned and stalked off to his study not thinking of his youngest Noah, not thinking of how much he would miss the traitorous, murdering son of a bitch and most certainly not wishing his children would fail just so Neah could live a little longer. He had a war to win and a world to rule, he couldn't afford to be held down by such cumbersome emotions. But still… he looked down the empty hallway and wondered just what the end of the world would bring him with no one to share it with.
DGMDGMDGMDGMDGMDGMDGMDGMDGM
Cross folded his arms as they stepped off of the train and entered a crowd and for an exorcist, a crowd was not a happy place to be. They were near Nottingham and not nearly far enough away for his taste. They had to keep moving, the Noah and the Earl could be upon them at any minute, they had to move faster dammit.
Neah had already fought one of them earlier in the day, a sad and skinny little Noah who made Neah look masculine. Needless to say that between Neah's panicked desperation and the Noah's arrogance; it had been a fairly quick fight. He had tried to frighten Neah was a series of complicated moves, but in the end, Neah just put a hole in his chest. Cross had managed to distract Lizzy while Neah er… finished the job.
Pity really.
Mana had been getting the tickets and had thus missed the day's most unimpressive fight. But weakling or not, the Noah were clearly on their trail and it worried him to no end. Though Neah had shrugged it off with a weary smile once they were safe on the train, Cross could see the effects of the fights starting to show on his friend's body. Quick or not, the Noah kid, Lennie he thinks Neah said his name was, still put up a heluva fight. It made Cross's body wince in pain just watching the punishment Neah took out there from the attacks of a scrawny kid. How the hell would they fare against one of the more vicious, well-trained Noah?
Cross tried not to look scared, but he couldn't help pulling down the cap covering his conspicuous red hair and scanning every section of the station. They couldn't afford to relax or be leisurely, every move had to count. He slung an arm around Lizzy's waist to help support her, she probably scared to death right now, but she was also swaying in a way he didn't much care for. He really wished he could get her to the hospital, get that arm and all her other various wounds treated. God she was looking really bad.
"Where are we heading?" Mana asked quietly, trying hard not to look as frightened as he felt. Cross had to admire the guy, they were on a one way ticket to hell and he still managed to keep it together. Neah may have gotten his strangeness from his brother, but he also got his strength.
Neah jerkily pulled the heavy jacket tighter around him, though he must be warm in the damn thing he needed it not only to hide the recently acquired bloodstains but Tim as well who was fluttering anxiously in his pocket. They didn't need to draw any attention to themselves right now and bloodied clothes and flying machines had a habit of being attention grabbing. He watched as Neah also did a quick survey of the people and Cross was relieved to see him relax. That was one nice thing about Neah; at least with him he could sense the Akuma and Noah before they attacked.
"We have to get out of England, out of Europe if at all possible. We need to find some place to hide out for a while, someplace where we can regroup and decide our next course of action." Neah ran a hand through his hair and grimaced when it came back covered with dried blood. "I'm sure we could all use a bath as well. We need to heal all of our wounds and prepare ourselves. We can't give the Earl enough time to launch a real attack, but we will die if we try to fight them now." So with that cheerful thought in mind they all stared at the ground.
"So where exactly is this miraculous hideout?" Cross asked, pulling Lizzy against him. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, panting a little from the exertion the long walk had caused her. Neah huffed and wearily fell onto a nearby bench; Mana sat next to him in concern and rubbed his brother's back. Cross could only imagine how worn down his friend was, it was kind of scary.
He'd always thought of Neah as immortal or the closest thing to it, to see him so physically exhausted reminded him just how human his friend really was. Even that pathetic fight a few moments ago would have killed him, one of the Order's best, in seconds. Neah was losing his strength and vigor with each battle and there was still eight Noah and the Earl left. Jesus, did they have any chance at winning?
"We're here just outside Nottingham." Neah said, pulling out a map Cross didn't know he'd had and pointing to their location. He smirked despite himself; he'd probably snagged it from some unwitting passenger, some habits died hard he supposed.
"And we should get down here to London to catch a boat out of England." He said heavily, there were only so many trains in the less industrial parts of the country. It would take them at least a day or two to make their way back down to London. Did they even have enough time for that? The Noah were rapidly approaching and time was indeed precious. Mana broke the gloomy tension by slapping his thighs and standing up dramatically.
"Well, we'd better get started then, but before that, I think we all need to take a little break and get some food. I don't know about all of you, but I am starving so let's lose the sad faces and get something to eat." After a minute, Mana's faced morphed into one of wary confusion. Well it was no wonder; Cross could only imagine what their faces looked like at that moment.
Maria.
God he'd had no idea how much he would miss her: her cheerful exuberance, the way she could lighten every mood, the gentle way she could help you out with just a smile and a few kind words. And after what he had been forced to do to such a beautiful girl... No, don't go there, not now, he thought bitterly. They'd been too busy running to really think about what they had lost already to this war and what more they stood to lose. Lizzy nuzzled his shoulder and he gripped her tightly. Never again, never again would he lose a friend like that. He promised.
"Mana-Mana is right. It's almost dark, we can take a few minutes and have something to eat and maybe find some real antiseptic for Lizzy." Neah said, casting a worried glance in her direction. Cross would agree with that, she was doing worse and he feared that despite their efforts, she may have gotten an infection. Lizzy smiled wearily through her wan face, she was trying so hard and it was almost painful to watch.
"I'm fine really, just a little tired is all, a little food and rest and I'll be good as new."
"What about tonight?" Cross asked, looking down at Lizzy and fiddling with her loose hair. It was getting colder as the sun started to set and yet she felt pretty warm. "It is getting dark out. Maybe-maybe we should think of finding a place to, you know, stay the night."
"I thought you were the one who said we should keep moving?" Neah asked, folding his arms. Cross closed his eyes, yes dammit they had to. They couldn't-they couldn't be stopping now. But Lizzy, oh Lizzy was looking so bad and he was so afraid that she would die if they pushed her any more. What would he do if he woke up on a train tomorrow and found her dead? How could he live with himself knowing that he could have saved her if only he had given her a chance to rest?
Did he sacrifice a few sacred hours to get Lizzy the help she needed and possibly damn them all or keep moving and hope that she would strong enough to survive the travel? How could he be forced to make that decision? So soon after Maria? Neah uncrossed his arms as he seemed to read Cross's thoughts. It was nice, the ability to read each other without ever saying a word. He wondered if he would ever feel that kind of connection with anyone ever again. He hoped he would never have to find out.
"Well you know a few hours might not be a bad idea." Neah said slowly, rubbing his neck nervously. "I mean, we can't keep going like this forever. A little rest to revitalize ourselves might do us a world of good in the long run." Mana nodded heartily and placed a hand on Neah's head.
"Yeah, yeah, you kids really should take a little break. I mean we've put a good distance between us and them and without your Ark thingy, they'll have a harder time finding you right?"
"Well, we haven't really gone that far and they can probably predict where we're going plus while they don't have the Ark if they get close enough they can find me via our Noah bond…"
"It's not like a short break is going to kill you or anything." Mana said cheerily before wincing, after a second he sighed and let his shoulders drop.
"Yeah sorry, but all joking aside" he said softly. "I hate seeing you kids like this. I know this is serious and I know we have to rush, but if you keep up at the rate you've been going then you'll die before the Earl ever gets near you and I-and I just don't want to see that happen." People hustled around them, completely ignoring them and blissfully unaware of the ensuing drama. "Please, for me, don't push yourself so hard. I don't want to see the three of you consumed by this war, you just-you just can't let it win or else everything you've worked for will have been for nothing." There was silence until Neah sighed and looked over at Cross with worry and indecision.
"Well, what do you think?" He asked, "Do we have a few hours to spare or should we keep going forward?" Cross leaned his cheek into Lizzy's hair, he would do just about anything to keep her safe. He would move heaven and earth to save her. But he thought back to their conversation not too long before about the nature of fate. Maybe they weren't really in control of their actions and maybe he should stop trying so damn hard to prevent destiny and instead learn to roll with it.
A few hours couldn't be all that bad.
"I-I think we should rest a little bit. Some food and sleep will do us a world a good." He took a deep breath to dispel the mounting sense of foreboding swelling in his chest. He was doing this for Lizzy and for the rest of them, Mana was right, they just couldn't keep this up any more. "We'll leave early tomorrow morning; Mana and I will take turns at the watch so you two can sleep. We'll head south from there until we find another train." Neah frowned and opened his mouth to speak before Cross cut him off. "Neah you've been working way too hard. Noah or not, you need sleep too. We need you in top form when we decide to attack the Earl and sleep is the only way to regain your strength."
"Well at least let me at least take one watch." Neah sighed from the bench. "It's not like I'm going to sleep all that well anyway what with everything that's happened." Lizzy shifted and turned to look at Neah with gentle, almost playful expression on her face.
"You'll be sleeping a lot better than if you had stayed with the Earl." Neah smiled and reached for her, her hand slipping into her grasp just as easily as the first time.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Neah looked long and hard at Lizzy before turning his gaze to the rest of them a caring and passionate face. "I know things have been hard and they are only going to get harder, but I just want you all to know that I'm proud and honored to call you my friends and comrades and that-and that no matter what happens I-I love you all of you." He gently rubbed circles with his thumb on Lizzy's hand while Mana just smiled. Cross smirked, what a crazy bunch of people he had surrounded himself with.
"Neah, you're my friend." Cross started leaning over to put a hand on his friend's shoulder, he would die for them without a second thought, but he didn't need to say it, none of them did because they all just knew it. "But I'm sorry; I just don't like you that way. I hope we can still stay friends." Neah started chuckling and after a minute they were all laughing. Lizzy leaned against him with a radiant smile on her face and Cross was reminded again how beautiful she was, even with all the suffering she'd endured. Wasn't there a saying that a star shines brightest just before it burns out? Mana clapped Neah hard on the back, pretending not to notice the way he flinched.
"You set yourself up for that one brother, now come on, let's get some food and find a place to stay the night." They stood up, stretched and grabbed their bags, ready to keep trudging on. Lizzy finally let go of Cross, insisting that she help carry something and wandered over by Mana where he heard them lightly discuss normal things. Both he and Neah watched Lizzy walk away a little unsteadily, but walking none the less.
"Cross." Neah said softly, never taking his eyes off of her retreating form "are you sure about this?" Cross pursed his lips and brought a hand up to rub his aching head through his cap. He had no idea what he was doing and he couldn't quell the bad feeling in his gut, but they didn't have many options. They could keep going, maybe even make it to London and out of here, but they were falling apart at the seams and what would he do if he made it there but everyone else had died in the journey? Life or death, they were sticking together and that meant they needed to rest.
"Of course not, this could very well be the bad decision that kills us, but what choice do we have? Lizzy isn't going to make it much farther without sleep and real medical attention." Neah nodded slowly before standing up, Cross couldn't help but wince at the way his knees cracked, but Neah didn't seem to be bothered by it.
"Yeah I know, I trust you, you know. Lizzy's always been a little too emotional and Mana doesn't understand. You're the only one I can trust to help me make these hard decisions. I-I really appreciate it." Cross smiled at Neah's open honesty and he realized that should something happen to him Cross would miss him very much.
Well, he just had to make sure nothing happened to him, to any of them.
"Alright come on girly, let's get you some food and sleep before you fall down. I thought you were supposed to be invincible or something." He said causing Neah to smirk and trail behind their companions who were nearly out of sight by now. Once far enough away from the populous, Tim was allowed freedom from Neah's coat and snuggled onto his head seemingly not caring that it was grimy and blood stained.
"I guess I left invulnerability cape back in Edo." Neah joked casually, putting his hands in his pockets as they slowly caught up to Lizzy and Mana who were discussing shoes of all things.
"-I'm telling you, clown shoes are pretty practical. I mean maybe not for fighting monsters and such but I could walk a thousand miles in these babies" Mana proclaimed to Lizzy's unbelieving face. Jesus he was surrounded by lunatics. He smiled as Lizzy started to get into the fashionable qualities of her exorcist boots, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
DGMDGMDGM
Lizzy yawned, leaning back in her chair and enjoying its comforting embrace despite the fact that it was old, full of holes and covered it God knows what. She winced as the simple motion had caused a wave of pain to shoot up her arm. What was even more worrying was the fact that the pain was becoming less acute each time as it settled into dull numbness. One didn't have to be a doctor to realize that her arm was essentially dying.
She tried to hide her frown as Mana shuffled his cards in between bites of a turkey sandwich. She couldn't afford to lose an arm right now, not when she had two pistols to shoot. She wouldn't be a nuisance now, now when everyone was counting on her.
Cross had passed out on the bed about an hour ago. So much for taking the first watch, she thought with a wry smile as she watched his long red hair spread out on the bed gently moving up and down with every breath he took. Timcanpy had, for once, chosen Cross over Neah and the little golem was happily asleep in the sea of red. The easy expression on his face gave Lizzy some relief that at least the stress and death couldn't reach him in his sleep.
Neah was also looking utterly exhausted but, of course being the nice guy that he was, would stay awake until everyone else decided to go to sleep. She really should rest too, but no matter how much her body ached or how heavy her eyelids felt she just couldn't bring herself to fall asleep. Instead of lying in bed pretending to sleep, she decided to stay up and watch Mana and Neah play cards. She had played a few rounds, but found that she wasn't very good at poker and was even worse with only one working arm. So she was now content to just watch the two brothers duel.
Neah raised an eyebrow studying Mana's blank face and slowly took a card from the pile as he discarded another. Even through his cards, Lizzy could see the small smirk on his face. For all the lying and scamming Neah had done over the years, one would think he'd have a better poker face. She almost laughed at the crestfallen expression on Neah's face five minutes later when Mana laid out his three aces beating Neah's full house. The score was now Mana-sixteen Neah-one, and that one win was due to the fact that Mana was so distracted helping her that he hadn't been paying attention to his own cards. She yawned again.
"Hey Liz, why don't you join Cross and Tim over there on the bed, you're the worst off of all of us. It would really make me feel better if you got some sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow remember so please sleep, for me." Neah said as he shuffled the cards sloppily, causing a few of them to spill on the table. She waved him off, watching as Mana grabbed the cards from him and shuffled them properly.
"I'm fine really, it's not like I could sleep anyways."
"Really my dear, Neah may be a terrible poker player-" Neah stuck out his tongue "but he's right, you should be resting that arm of yours. I still can't believe a town like this doesn't have a goddamned doctor, but at least we got you some better medicine than stolen liquor." She settled deeper into her chair, ignoring their justifiable concern. Truthfully if worst came to worst, she would be the first to die with her damnable handicap. She would sit there and smile and laugh at Neah's poor card playing skills all the while understanding that she probably wouldn't live to see the end of this war.
At least Maria wouldn't be alone now.
She tucked her hair behind her ears, watching Neah's eyes narrow as he watched Mana skillfully shuffle the cards. If she wanted to, she could probably go to sleep but she didn't want to miss a moment. She wanted to stay awake as long as she could, memorizing her friends' every feature.
She watched as Mana lit his fourth cigarette that night and pushed a black curl out of his face as he studied cards, thinking about how to best humiliate his brother.
Neah frowned, unconsciously sticking his tongue out of his mouth in concentration. He looked, despite the dark circles under his eyes, despite the paleness of his skin and the hollowness of his cheeks, perfectly content playing card amongst friends.
And Cross lay on the bed completely dead to the world, an arm hanging limply over the bed while the other was hidden behind a splay of fiery hair. Tim's wings were curled behind his golden body, lost in the tangle of hair and Lizzy smiled; imaging Cross would have a hard time extraditing him.
She took a deep breath, taking in every detail, trying to burn this calm before the storm into her mind so she could always remember and treasure this one moment of peace. They sat up for about another half an hour or so and soon even her impressive will could not ignore her body's whims anymore and she found herself dozing in the chair. The world came and went in waves as she struggled to keep awake.
"-izzy? I think she's- hould we do?-ove her?"
"Let her be-she'll be fine Ne-"
"I'm just worr- working so hard-cerned is all."
"-tough girl-lucky to have he- she deserves it, let her sleep."
"I just want to keep her safe is all; I'd do anything for her."
Lizzy rolled her head and finally fell asleep, the last few years of life dancing before her eyes as the final battle hurtled closer. In her dreams, she begged for the safety of her friends and for their eventual victory over evil, but in the end, she wasn't really worried about either. The war would come and go just, like everything else in life. Soon the Earl and his empire would fall, she couldn't have said how she knew it in the waking world, but in her dreams she was completely assured of their victory over evil and all its demons.
Not now.
But soon.
And as for she and her friends, she believed in the promise that the four of them had made that they would meet again. This would not be the end, once all the war's horrors were over and the people could feel safe again, they would be together again. She just knew it.
So she fell deeper into sleep leaning on the chair in the most comfortable way she could. Neah, fearing he would wake her, had simply thrown a blanket over her and kissed her forehead as he himself turned in for the evening. Mana kept the watch that night, stubbing out his cigarette, listening to the chorus of breathing and thinking along with Lizzy that maybe things just might be alright after all.
All they had to do was get through the night first.
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say. ~ Pink Floyd
Whee! I'm back! Now then back to business. To me this is an emotional chapter (aren't they all?) but this is the one that shows the actions and reactions of all the main characters to the soul-sucking violence of the attack at headquarters. It shows strength in weakness, hope in death and the upcoming darkness peaking over the horizon threatening to do in our young heroes who refuse to move out of the line of fire. It also tests toward the end the conflict of priorities. How good is running and escaping with the things you love if all that you hold dear is dead and gone by the time you get to safety? You'll just have to wait and see if the decision to rest for the night was worth it or if it will mean another exorcist will be swept from this world. You may form whatever opinions you desire but know that not everything is set in stone and not all is as it appears to be. Keep an open mind my dears and maybe all will be well (snorts) yeah right, but isn't it pretty to think so?
So expect an update next Tuesday on July 31st on (guess who!) Marian Cross's birthday! What a well-planned coincidence (it really is, I just noticed)
Thank you all once again for your lovely reviews, they make me smile :) I hope you enjoyed this installment (though this isn't exactly what I would call a 'pick me up' chapter...) and hope all of you will endeavor to finish this off with me. It's not long now! Ciao for now!
Time (c) is owned by Pink Floyd