The raw Innocence was on the move. It had managed to evade Tyki's grasp, but Lavi wasn't entirely convinced it did it through any sort of intelligence. Tyki wasn't either, saying Innocence was only capable of moving towards its accomodator. The hiding behavior was highly irregular and had to be related to the power it contained. It had Lavi curious for the sake of history but he wouldn't wish Innocence on anyone. It was an abomination, as Tyki had put it.

The exit out the mine entrance would've been miserable if Tyki hadn't summoned a door to the Ark. They trudged through the streets, their shoes covered in mud. Ronald continued to track the akuma-dog's movements through his connection to it, watching it bound across the snowy mountainsides chasing the Innocence. It was fast, but so was the akuma-dog. Ronald had built it to be comparable to a real god, and his designs were certainly holding true.

"The Innocence just entered a small mining town," Ronald informed them. "It's slowing down an' darting back an' forth."

"Halt the dog," Tyki stated sharply.

Ronald glanced up at him through his bent wireframe glasses. "Stop him?"

A large smirk spanned the strategic Noah's face. "It must've found its host," Tyki nodded. "Ever heard of a Fallen One, Bookman~?"

The tone Tyki took had the redhead curious. He was up to something, which could only mean the Bookman was about to learn something new about the Noah clan or even Innocence he didn't know before. "That sounds serious, yeah."

"Come~" Tyki enticed him as he opened the door of one of the buildings. The door transformed into an Ark door, leading back outside to a small snow-covered village. "I'll show you what horrors Innocence can really do."

...

The dog had parked itself just on the outskirts of town. The trio stepped through the Ark door and into the snow to meet it. The town was small, consisting of small, colorful houses that looked more like mini ski chalets than someone's house. No roads were visible, though several sleds were parked outside the houses, the dogs who pulled them barking somewhere within the residences.

Shouts resounded and bells rang as a building in the north end of the town suddenly burst into flames. The Bookman and the two Noah followed the shouts to find an angry crowd surrounding a young girl, though the crowd kept their distance. The girl looked about 10 or 11. She was completely engulfed in a bright white flame, though she wasn't burned by its touch. The Innocence had bonded with her, forming two bangles around her ankles. They were the source of the flames that flowed up her body, fizzling out in the cold air just above her head. "Don't touch me!" she shouted at them.

"Someone get some water!" one man shouted.

"Don't bother!" another countered. "She's some kind of monster!"

"It's not my fault!" the girl protested, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to burn down my home! Make it stop! Pleaaaase make it stooop!"

"That poor girl," Ronald frowned.

"The Innocence is doing this to her," Tyki replied, watching the scene. The girl had fallen to her knees, begging for mercy. "It's forcing itself on her and her body's rejecting it. She'll fall on her own." He didn't have to do anything to help it along. Her body would do all the work for him. "The Innocence will soon consume her."

Lavi had considered there was some sort of symbolism behind the name, Fallen One, but he hadn't considered it would be the Innocence turning against some child.

"Keep your distance," Tyki informed the two, simply walking straight through the crowd to the front. He stood out starkly against the crowd, wearing a formal suit and vest instead of layers of winter coats. His skin was clearly visible, stark gray with golden eyes and a crown of stigmata across his forehead. No one in the crowd was certain where he'd come from or if he were even human, just that the strange man was now there, bent over at the waist with his hand out invitingly for the girl to take.

"No!" the girl protested. She crouched down, pulling her head to her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs. She wanted the flames to stop. She wanted everything to go back to normal. "I'll hurt you too!"

"What's your name?" Tyki changed the subject.

The girl didn't move for a moment, curled up in her little ball, but finally she peered up at Tyki, realizing that he wasn't a normal person. "What are you?"

"An Apostle," Tyki replied. He hadn't moved, still holding his hand out for her.

Lavi had perched himself on the roof of a nearby shed, Ronald joining him, so that he could see over the heads of the crowd. He could make out their words, sorting it apart from the commentary from the gathered crowd.

"The false God has done this to you," Tyki added. "The Vatican will try to take you away, to turn you into a living weapon. I'm here to take that pain away from you."

"That poor girl," Ronald repeated. Unlike Lavi, he couldn't hear what Tyki and the girl were saying, their voices drowned out by the crowd around them. He could feel his hatred for Innocence, making his blood boil. That Innocence had to be destroyed, and the girl was an unfortunate victim in the middle of a holy war.

Lavi frowned, shifting positions to try to brush the snow out from underneath him. Innocence disgusted him. He was more accustomed to seeing it used as a weapon, the memories of Kanda and his sword stuck to the back of his mind. But this time, the Innocence was weaponizing a child who wanted nothing to do with it. "Disgustin'."

Another group joined the crowd wearing various layers of black cloaks. They had arrived via dogsleds only a moment before in a group of four people. The dogs barked wildly at the edge of town. Lavi couldn't distinguish their faces beneath the hoods. The angle was wrong from where he sat.

The girl looked up at Tyki, her eyes red from crying. "You really can make it stop?"

"Don't trust him!" one of the cloaked figures shouted, stepping forward. She pointed at Tyki accusingly, her small hand barely visible beneath the large coat. "He's a false prophet! He'll only kill you!"

"Ho~," Tyki smirked, standing up straight and withdrawing his hand. "Such slanderous words, Exorcist."

"I speak the truth!" the Exorcist countered. "You killed Chaozii in cold blood!"

"How quickly you accuse," Tyki shook his head, "while attempting to cover up your own transgressions."

"Don't be absurd!" she spat back.

"I only acted in defense of another, or have you forgotten that?" Tyki pointed out, a smirk crossing his lips as he pushed his glasses habitually up his nose.

She moved to object, but she couldn't deny he had a point. They had cornered the Bookman, and he refused to fight. Tyki had acted in the Bookman's defense in this situation, yet they had only intended to take the Bookman back for questioning. Komui would've seen to it that Lavi was unharmed. Though there was a thought in the back of her mind that Central would've overridden his orders and taken the Bookman prisoner.

"And what goes to say that you won't target this child as well?" Tyki skewed the situation to his favor. "You could be after her power, wanting to cause her more pain than she's already in."

The girl stared at Tyki first, then at the girl in the black coat. "I don't want to hurt anyone else!" she protested. Despite the amount of pain her body was in right now from the Innocence attempting to meld with her, she was more concerned about not harming anyone else. While she hadn't killed her family with the fire in her house, her beloved cat was a casualty. The fire surrounding her began to flicker, growing larger and withering away at odd intervals.

"We're here to help you," the Exorcist explained. "We're like you. We want to help you control that power."

"You want to control me!" the girl shouted suddenly. Rage was suddenly overcoming her, fueled by her fear of doing more damage than good. She didn't want to kill any more kitties. There weren't many people in this town in the middle of nowhere. Buttons was her best friend, and now Buttons was gone, probably burnt to a crisp. She shuddered at the thought. She didn't want to control this fire. She wanted it to go away right now.

"No!" the Exorcist objected. "Don't give into fear and anger! Come back into the light!" She outstretched her hand, hoping the girl would take it.

Tyki simply stood on the side and smirked. It was far too late for the girl. The Innocence was already begun fighting against her body.

….

Author's musings

HUEHUEHUEHUE

I think you all saw this coming.

I had wanted a Fallen One to appear in the original storyline but took it out, placing Lavi in China during the time that Suman Dark fell. When Rhode mentions Tyki is busy, that's where he actually is.

Another fun fact: the mention about Lavi being brought in for question was touching on a storyline I never wrote in. I had toyed with the idea that the Order took Lavi in for questioning at some point (as an equivalent to the Invasion Arc in the manga) and Central decided to take him prisoner instead. The Noah were going to invade the Order, following a Tease Lavi kept in his pocket. Instead of looking for just the Akuma Egg, Lulu Bell would've been looking for Lavi as well, wrecking the place in search for both. I ended up throwing it out for good reason.