Chapter 21
The Coming Storm
A man with long, dark hair approached ever so slowly. He stood over the kneeling form in the powdery snow, tears running down his cheeks. "Neah..." Even from here the hidden young man could hear Mana's broken voice.
"Neah, don't you hate me?" The older of the Campbell brothers collapse to his knees, cupping Neah's face in his hands. Snow fell around them, pure white that reflected the moon and star light. They made a pitiful, heart wrenching sight together. Especially as Neah clutched at his brother.
"I hate that man," Neah said bitterly. "He will pay for what he has done!"
::+::+::+::+::
Allen sat up in his bed quickly, wondering what strange dreams visited him this time. His heavier breaths woke up Link. The watchman looked over Allen blearily.
"Walker, are you alright?" He asked as the cobwebs of sleep cleared away. He pretended not to notice the young man wiping away the tears of nostalgia from his eyes.
"Yes," Allen lied. "Just a few...memories." Link contemplated whether or not he should return to slumber's embrace. Finally he pushed back the blankets and gave Allen his full attention.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Allen offered him a weak smile, more than a little disturbed by the offer. Not that he did not appreciate it.
"Not really," he replied. Link gave a soft sigh.
"Many Exorcists dream. Just as many suffer from nightmares that stem from their experiences, the battles they have fought and the horrors that they have witnessed. You I know have experienced more traumas than most. It would only be natural for you to have night terrors," said Link. "Occasionally talking about it is therapeutic."
Allen could not help smirking as he cocked an eyebrow. "You think I suffer from traumatic nightmares."
Link replied bluntly.
"Yes."
Allen's smirk faded. His mask fell as Link's serious gaze pierced right through him.
"We are not blind, Walker. Lenalee cannot see it, nor Komui or his scientists. But I know that Kanda and Lavi see the darkness that weighs you down. Just as I see it," said Link. "We only lack the knowledge of what exactly haunts you these days."
The young General did not know what to say. As much as he wanted to confess his dilemma, he could not. Not in front of Leverrier's dog. If he told Link about the Fourteenth he would undoubtedly be imprisoned, perhaps even executed on the grounds of being dangerous or a traitor. Then he would be easy bait for the Apocryphos.
"Some things are just too personal to share," Allen said at last. He did not bother elaborating; it was his own business after all.
::+::+::+::+::+::
"Tyki, what is on your mind?" Asked Sheryl. He found his brother in the study, brooding for the eighth time that day. It was what he did every day now. "I thought your visit with Allen would cheer you up, and if you're still talking to him you should be happy too. Are you having another spell of silence?"
The Noah of Pleasure shook his head in frustration.
"Nothing like that. It's been a month since our attack on the Order, and we have spoken every night after that. But I can't help but think- no, I know he is hiding something," Tyki growled.
"Hiding something?" Sheryl repeated. "What do you think that he might be keeping from you?"
Tyki's eyebrows furrowed as he drew deeper into thought. He did not have an inkling as to what secret Allen might not be telling. That worried him. The Earl wanted to extract Allen soon, he somehow gained information that theApocryphos killed General Cross and was looking at Allen as a new target. TheEarl even had a plan in place, though it limited Tyki's interactions with Allen greatly. It would be a while before Tyki could get close enough to the young man to pry open his secrets (he knew with great certainty Allen would share nothing over wireless communication). Tyki shook his head. Secrets could wait. He was more concerned about his lover's well being. At the meeting they held only two days previously, the Earl explained the situation with the Black Order. They still worked to increase their numbers, in a particularly gruesome attempt to create a new type of Exorcist. Leverrier was in charge of the program, and be was keeping it a secret from all except from his Crows. Tyki did not relish the idea of someone telling Allen about this new experiment, but there would be no way around it. More importantly than the Order's newfound ambition (desperation) the Earl mentioned the Apocryphos. The Apocryphos would provide the first clue in centuries, perhaps a millennia, as to the location of the Heart. The only thing that ever drew it out was the stirrings of the Heart. And the Awakening of the Fourteenth Noah. To this, the Earl explained that the Apocryphos would search for a connection to both of these things. The most obvious candidate was Allen Walker. The Earl wanted to use him as bait. After they gathered the last members of the family, he would send Sheryl and his children to the Black Order under the pretense of persuading his children towards future support of the organization.
Tyki really did not mind this plan, but the time seemed to drag on endlessly while he remained separated from Allen, whose life also happened to be in danger.
The Noah of Pleasure scowled. "Damn it, I never cared this much about someone."
Sheryl ignored him. His attention was instead called by the entrance of an Akuma maid. The machine approached the Prime Minister respectfully, holding out a thing file.
"The Master sends this to you in the hopes it would cheer up 'Tyki-pon'," she told Sheryl in a monotonous tone. Tyki grew more irritated upon hearing that name, but he was a little flabbergasted by how the Earl seemed to know about his mood. He was in Portugal. The Earl was in England.
"Oh, really?" Sheryl asked pleasantly, inwardly amused by his brother's conflicting expressions and the Earl's thoughtfulness. He took the file, opening it at once. He chuckled. The sound came out uncertain at first, but grew louder in value as he realized what he was looking at. Tyki craned his head curiously, wondering what his brother was laughing at.
"What is making you laugh?" He questioned. Sheryl shoved the picture at him. Tyki's eyes widened in surprise as he studied it with great intensity.
"The Earl must have come across it this morning. Apparently he fell through the Asian Branch's portal during the move from one Headquarter to the other, looking like this." Sheryl looked down at the report with a frown. "This does say Allen needed a cure for some strange disease spread by biting. It apparently turned the people in the European Branch into zombies. That explains why it has been quiet for so long. Usually the Earl or I receive calls from them."
Tyki grimaced. He remembered hearing stories from Allen about a man named Komui, whose experiments could win the entire war if they used those against the Noah. He did not even want to know what happened to cause an outbreak of zombism.
::+::+::+::+::+::
Later that night a Tease perched upon the fingertip of its master. He smiled a warm and gentle smile.
"Connect me to Timcampy," he ordered softly. A purple shimmer ignited the tool's wings. It continued for a minute or two, but Tyki expected that. Allen was under surveillance after all.
At last he heard a breathless voice. "Hello?"
Tyki loved the sound of Allen's voice.
"Have you finally managed to escape your watcher's eye?" Tyki teased him playfully.
Allen made a disgruntled noise. "I did not have to. Everyone is still recuperating from one of Komui's experiments."
Tyki smirked. "I remember seeing a photograph taken this morning. You had long hair in it if I remember correctly."
"How did you learn about that so fast?" Allen demanded. After a moment he sighed. "That came before the zombie incident. A potion spilled on me."
Tyki laughed, teasing his lover a little more. But after the laughs he sensed something else from Allen's end. It resembled fear, uncertainty. Tyki was hesitant to change the subject.
"Allen, what's wrong?" Tyki asked, adding, "I have noticed before that you seem to be hiding something. What is it that you are hiding?"
Silence reigned from Allen for so long that Tyki began to fear if he would ever answer or if he would just hang up.
"...there is a chance that the Apocryphos will attack me in the next week or so. I have felt its presence near me in the Asian Branch," Allen said slowly. "Cross warned me that this would happen, but I did not want to tell you."
Tyki's eye fluttered shut. He knew that Allen spoke the truth. But he was still hiding something. It hurt Tyki, and irritated him, thinking that Allen continued keeping secrets from him. He would address this problem later.
"Do not worry Allen. We will retrieve you from there soon enough," he assured the young General.
"What if I do not want to leave?"
Tyki resisted the urge to laugh. He knew already from their talks that Allen felt less at home in the Order with each passing day. The young man hated its darker project and only ever stayed to protect those he cared about. But slowly they became distant from him, a few even turned away and ignored him. No, Allen did not want to stay and watch everyone turn on him. Nor did he want the Apocryphos to kill him.
"Even if you do not come with me of your own free will, we shall kidnap you," Tyki promised. "We let you go on the Ark, and in the Europena Branch. This third time, Allen, you will not escape."
That is the end of Chapter 21. I really do apologize for not updating in so long. I do have good reasons. Reason number 1 is I got sick for what seems like the billionth time this year. Reason number 2: I was in two competitions that required artwork and studying. Reason number 3, I was preparing for trip. Reason number 4: I went to China for a week, Saturday to Saturday. It was awesome. Anyways, that is only if you wanted good reasons. I just wanted to tell you that the Heart will be male, a young man. I would also like to thank all of you for your input and your support!