Authors Note: Yay, 100 Word A4 pages XD. Thank you to everyone who reviews, in fact, anyone who reads. It really made my day to see people not wanting the story to end. I'll do my best to keep up the plot and ect.

Chapter 25

Road opened her eyes slowly, to reveal a now calm, sleeping Allen sitting in front of her. She realized that during his nightmare, he had reached out for support and was now clutching one of the ribbons in her hair. She smiled, allowing the ribbon to slip from her hair, into his hand which then tightened its grip.

She had been within his mind for only 10 minutes, but it felt like an eternity, first she had tried to talk with his dream self, then she had to enter his nightmare to try and turn off his thought receptors. She had succeeded, but it was more difficult that she imagined, not to mention the horrible memories she was forced to view. Even seeing them for the first time made her feel sick, and she couldn't even begin to imagine the trauma of experiencing them first hand, let alone as a child.

In the dream world, she had also learned that he was due to meet the Bookman apprentice and a new exorcist at the train station in an hour, so Road decided to drag Allen there. Sadly, he was taller than her now, so his feet kicked the dirt, but he was lighter than Road had expected.

The walk was only a few minutes long, and before she knew it she was at the station. Luckily, there were no people anywhere in sight, so Road took this opportunity to drag him to an empty bench. She wished that she could stay with him longer, as she almost never had the chance to see him anymore, but she had more important matters to deal with, not to mention endangering his mission.

She placed him lying down on the bench, then proceeded to open one of her doorways leading to the ark to inform the Earl… 'Favored by both god and the Devil, "you can't fall twice"' the phrases Dream Allen muttered, came back to haunt her. She had an idea what this could mean, and if it her theory was correct… the heart of innocence would become insignificant, and the deciding factor of this war, could be already on the Earl's side…

Allen opened his eyes, banishing the darkness. He remembered running, he remembered screaming, and horrible nightmares…or could they be memories? He wasn't sure, but he remembered every detail. Looking around, he realized he was sitting at the train station.. Allen was sure he had collapsed in the forest, how did he end up here?

It was then that he realized he was clutching something. Slowly, he pried his hands open to reveal a purple ribbon that was scrunched up into a ball. There was no doubt the instant he saw the ribbon, as to who it belonged to, but the question hammering into his skull was, why was she here?

"Allen! There you are!" he heard a voice shout. He slowly recognized who the voice belonged to, freezing up at the position he was in… He was sitting on a bench; looking dazed and curious, as well as holding a girl's ribbon…this was sure not to end well. Allen tried desperately to shove the ribbon in his coat pocket, but the redhead did not fail to notice. He strode up to where Allen was sitting, practically dragging Crowley who was clinging to a large sack.

"Ooh! What was that Allen? Could It be from your secret lover?" he started off in a whisper, but ended up yelling the finish.

Crowley whimpered "Eliade.." then burst into tears. Allen decided to help Crowley, patting him on the back in an attempt to comfort him, leaving Lavi's question unanswered. Lavi couldn't help but grin mischievously at this, Allen hadn't denied his accusation….which could only mean one thing. He chuckled to himself while watching Allen try, and fail at comforting Crowley.

Allen's patience was wearing thin; Neah was still battling for his consciousness, for two reasons now. One, Allen had been suppressing him for too long, and Neah hated captivity more than anything else, secondly – they just happened to be stuck in Allen's home town, running into people who made his hatred bubble so close to the surface of his consciousness, that his only option would be to run, so that everybody around him wouldn't die. This wasn't a big deal to Allen, he honestly was looking forward to when he could end the lives of everyone in this pathetic town, no it was the thought of failing the Earl on this mission that scared him. The Earl had told him of what the 14th did, and he never wanted to betray the Earl, so he tried his hardest.

Thankfully for Allen, lady luck seemed to be having some problems, because after condemning him to return to his home town, run across his FATHER, remember horrible experiences, as well as have nightmares about them- he could hear the distant rumble of the train drawing closer. Seeing smoke rising in the distance, billowing in the wind made him let out a relived sigh.

Crowley had ceased sobbing, to stand back up and begin explaining to Allen about what he and Lavi had been doing in town. According to Crowley, they had gone shopping and purchased many wonderful artifacts, which explained the large sack he was carrying.

From Lavi's perspective that he insisted on sharing with the group, Crowley is a sucker and just bought whatever anyone told him to. Apparently he was too trusting and gullible as the townsfolk were taking advantage of that. Allen simply nodded at the explanation, not really listening, until the question arose

"What were you doing the whole time?"

Allen sighed before shrugging and replying "Nothing really I guess. Just wandered around."

Lavi perked up at this, seizing his chance to press the matter further "Oh? Are you sure you weren't off with your secret lover?"

Allen was fed up, he shook his head fiercely before replying "Listen, I just fell asleep and woke up here with this ribbon, kay?" Lavi couldn't help but chuckle, either Allen was telling the truth, or he was just a terrible liar with a story full of holes. Lavi chose the latter…it sounded more interesting and scandalous, than the former.

Allen only responded with a "Tch."

Lavi gaped, before remarking "Wow, you sound just like Yu."

Allen titled his head to the side slightly, his face looking utterly bewildered. He started stroking his chin and muttering "Yu…Yu…Hrmm. Who exactly is Yu?" Lavi burst out in laughter, before realizing Allen was completely serious.

"Er, Kanda. His first name is Yu." Allen couldn't help but let his jaw drop, he had only heard people call him Kanda so he assumed that was his given name.

Allen couldn't help but chuckle at his own stupidity. Lavi's mischievous grin returned as he asked "Hey, is it alright if I call you Moyashi, because Yu calls you that. Kuro-chan, you can call him Moyashi too!" It was more of a statement than a question as formerly dubbed 'Kuro-chan' muttered something inaudible. Allen could hear what he was saying, but it was in a different language so he didn't bother to translate.

Allen focused back on Lavi before retorting "My name is Allen. A.L.L.E.N. Got that, Baka Usagi?" Lavi burst into laughter once more, mostly out of the fact that he had earned a reaction out of Allen. The train, finally pulled up to the station, as Allen rushed to find a seat.

He didn't know why, but he was dead tiered, probably from the nightmares, and just wanted to rest. After getting lost…twice, Allen managed to find the first class cabin where Crowley and Lavi were already seated. Crowley had the window seat, and he was staring out of it completely zoned out, however Lavi was completely focused on the visitor.

"Get lost did we?" He asked, as Allen grunted before flopping back onto the seat. Resting his head against the wall, he only faintly heard Crowley excuse himself to go exploring or something, before falling into a peaceful sleep.

Allen felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, reacting immediately on instinct; he grabbed the air in front of him before full regaining consciousness.

Opening his eyes slowly, it was revealed that he had caught none other than that Baka Usagi. Allen only tightened his grip on the Red-head's hair when he saw the red-head smiling casually as if waking him up for no reason was no big deal.

Allen grunted as Lavi raised his arms indicating he meant no harm. Allen reluctantly released his grip, allowing the baka to fall to the floor with a soft thud.

"Ow!" he heard Lavi moan from where he had hit the ground. He stood up, rubbing the back of his head tenderly, as Alen only shrugged.

Regaining his persona, Lavi began to explain "It's been three hours since Kuro-chan left, and he still isn't back. I suggest we look for him." Allen nodded; Crowley apparently hadn't left that castle at all in his entire life, so it was natural for him to be curious about the outside world.

Within minutes, they had searched all the available cabins, with no signs of Crowley what-so-ever.

They reached the last cabin, as Allen swung open the door slowly to reveal Crowley sitting in only his boxers, getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter in a game of poker. Allen studied Crowley's opponents carefully; the first was wearing a beige beanie, and pulled so far down his eyes were almost invisible. The second wore a long overcoat, and had amber shoulder length hair as well as a rough beard. Allen's jaw dropped as he recognized the third…he wore glasses with a circular pattern on them, as well as a loose overalls, and working boots. His black curly hair kicked out at the nape of his neck, as his cigarette shifted slowly, almost dropping out of his mouth in amazement.

Allen could only mutter…."Tyki?"

Lavi noticed Allen expression, hurriedly asking what the matter was. Allen shook his head before stepping forward and asking "Can I play instead of him?"

Tyki shuddered, this was not good, and they were now going to lose to a pro at this game. Tyki gulped unsteadily as his friends answered for him "Sure!"

Road was hurrying franticly around the ark. She had already checked all the usual places the Earl stayed in, leaving only one room left. Many of the other Noah had run into her, as she was hurrying into every room in search for the Earl. They couldn't help but worry when they saw the frantic look and the desperation in the voice of the first child.

Road found the corridor leading to the last room with ease…finding it wasn't a problem since she wasn't Allen, but finding where the Earl actually is at any particular point in time proved to be almost impossible.

She sprinted down the last hallway, bursting through to arched doorway, into a room, piled sky-high with telephones. The Earl was currently in a phone call, but what Road had to say was important, more important that any stupid seller. She spotted him not long after entering the room; he was sitting in his rocking chair with a phone pressed up against each ear, talking hurriedly to the humans on each end. Road jumped towards him, latching her arms around his neck, sending the phones flying.

The Earl would have been slightly annoyed if it had been anyone else but his favorite child. Road released her hold suddenly, falling to the floor and staring at the Earl with serious eyes.

"Listen.." she began slowly. The Earl instantly noticed the worry and desperation in her voice, as he plucked her off the ground, placing her one his knee.

"What's the matter?" he asked, completely clueless about what was upsetting her so much. She gazed back up at him, a tear rolling down her cheek as she continued

"..Take….Take Allen off the mission on the heart." The Earls jaw dropped, had she just asked him that? Surely she knows that it is important, and that Allen has to stay on that mission…what in the world could make her request something so outrageous?

Road grabbed the Earl's overcoat with desperation then attempted to plead "Listen. I visited Allen's Dream self again, and I learned something important. I have a theory…about who Allen really is. It is important…take Allen off this mission, and bring him home. If my theory is correct, the heart isn't the thing that holds this entire war in its fingertips…it's Allen."