Kiss The Hands You Hold
Nea looked at him, playfully, "Tim likes you, Cross. I might as well give him to you,"
There was something strange in Nea's eyes, that Cross couldn't place. It was a sadness he wouldn't notice, couldn't notice, because until now Nea showed nothing but cocky arrogance.
"What do you say, Tim? Do you like Cross?"
~insertlinebreak~
"Hey Cross, do you like Tim?"
The wind blew harshly across the field, and everything was silent. One lone figure stood in the middle of that golden field, a golem floating above his head. His red hair blowing violently in the wind. Judgement was put at his hip, and Grave of Maria was next to him.
His exorcist uniform was changed, the black and silver turned into black and gold. Cross was no normal exorcist now, he was an exorcist general. The accomplishment was great, reserved for only the best.
He sacrificed so much for this role, so many exorcists died in his attempt to keep his alliance secret. So many innocent lives lost...Maria...he touched her grave.
He sacrificed so much…
So why...why did he feel like it meant nothing?
"...he seems to like you..."
Timcanpy fluttered about above him, and he looked lost. He circled around, as if looking for something. When he didn't find it, he restarted the pattern again. Cross glanced up.
"...You miss him, is that right?"
Timcanpy stopped and looked at him. Then it looked around as if to ask where his master was. Cross turned away, his grip tightening on the object in his hand. It was a mask, a white one that covered half of his face.
"Cross, you know what I think? You should wear a mask!"
"I thought you would. Leave it to Nea to disregard how his death would affect others."
"Hey Cross, do you like Tim? I've been considering giving him to you, he seems to like you well enough. He probably won't be too happy with the sudden change, but he'll adjust. He's a fighter! Haha…like you! This path you're walking Cross...keep going on it. It's not over...not yet. We're still together, right? No matter what happens,we will always be together, okay?"
That promise Nea so carelessly made...Nea was always so reckless. He always let his emotions run him, but then again, isn't that what Cross admired about him? To always be so reckless and yet so ridiculously efficient?
"No matter how far we are separated...the three of us….you, Allen, and I… we remain connected! Don't stop, keep walking. Okay? Okay...okay...I realize that this may be really sad...because this may be the last time you hear my voice. It's alright if that happens...we'll be reunited again."
Cross turned towards the golmen, glaring angrily at it, "Stop playing the recording, Tim."
The recording that Nea left him, gifting him Timcanpy-and promising him that eventually they'll reunited, and once that happened they'll never be separated.
What a foolish promise; how could they reunite if two out of the three decided to recklessly die? They were both stupid. The
Tim looked at him, as if to say, 'Nea wanted you to hear this.' It was true...if he had been a little faster...the promise he made wouldn't of seemed so much like a lie.
He should've realized...that Nea's final recording wasn't so much of him being dramatic as much as it was him saying goodbye. If he had realized...that him gifting Tim to him was a last wish...maybe he could've stopped him before he attacked.
In hindsight, they both should've realized that Nea couldn't defeat Road much less Mana...Road was one of the strongest Noahs...and Mana was so much stronger...
"Damn it Nea, I should really give up on you...I should, really..."
He began walking away, out of that golden field and towards a life that he knew he hated. The Order...how he hated that place...the place that he believed he could escape from, when this was over.
Cross smirked, bitterly, "Heh...well then..." He reached up, placing the mask on his face, "That was my mistake, eh Tim?" He walked faster, "Let's go." Timcanpy obediently followed after.
"This path isn't gone, it only split."
Even if it got him killed…
Nea...I'll await your return…
~insertlinebreak~
Road sat on the building of a roof, staring at her hands. Her feet dangled off the ledge, barefoot, cut up from the battle not even five days ago. Her healing ability didn't extend to the damage caused by her own family,apparently. It was the same reason she had bandages going up her arms and legs.
Although it was snowing in Paris, she wore nothing but her short white dress. She wasn't cold, or shivering. In distance, she could see the Dark Order, and she supposed that around this time they were celebrating Christmas...she wondered what the Millennium Earl would gift her.
She wondered if she'd receive Alice and Mary's presents as well-when she thought about it she'd probably receive the rest of the family's presents as well. Even Nea's.
I wonder what I should do with the presents I bought for them...for all of them...
One hand was playing in her now short hair. She had cut it, just after she first got home. She twirled a strand around her finger, looking strangely at it. Nea had always liked her hair long; preferred it, even.
"Road, your hair is so long now. It's pretty this way, I like it."
"I should cut it."
"No! Didn't I say I like, you should go with whatever your dearest uncle thinks you look prettiest with."
"Huh...I wonder what he'd say now, because I cut my hair short again?" She laughed, quietly.
She'd have eternity to grow and cut her hair, anyway. Because no matter how much she aged, she stayed in the body of a twelve year old girl anyway, despite being sixteen years old.
She could change her body but...she liked this body she had now.
Her mind was blank, as if every memory she had of them, her family, was wiped clean.
"Huh...seems I've suffered memory damage..." Upon waking up in the morning, her Noah seemed to have reacted badly to the massacre and wiped her memory of their faces. She remembered that there was fourteen of them...or that there used to be fourteen of them. She remembered that she called two of them her uncles...and that she was doted on as the youngest. She remembered Nea...and his twin brother Mana...but not how Mana fit into all of this...
But...none of that mattered. Of course she'd remember family...but that person...the person who she loved so much...who was it? He was like family, and she knew that it wasn't just her childish mocking way of 'loving' people.
"I'm back, Road!"
"Welcome back-...-"
Whenever she thought about him, something warm spread inside her chest, like light.
What...was that feeling? It felt tender, and gentle.
Whoever he was, or if he even lived through this whole ordeal, she hoped that he wasn't just a figment of her vivid imagination. That'd be cruel, because she already lost somebody she loved dearly.
She kicked her feet, frowning.
"I wonder if it would've been different, "She sighed, "If I had told that secret...but," She held her head, "Now I can't even remember what it was..."
Road giggled manically into her palm, and it burst out into full, deranged laughter..
~insertlinebreak~
Pieces of glass lay on the ground, each shard reflecting his image brokenly. He hated his reflection...his face...his body...it reminded him so much of him. Because of the fact that he was nearly identical, he could never escape him...Nea.
He hated his face.
The Earl hated Nea, and yet he still loved him so much. He gripped his shoulders, his hair hanging onto his face like the dolls Road loved so much. Road...his beloved only family.
No matter...what happened...he still couldn't go back on that promise he made! He loved Nea so much...so much that it hurt to leave him.
Why?!
"We remain connected!"
No matter how far…
No matter...how many years…
Mana reached up, and cradled his face in his palms. Red streaked down his cheeks-he was crying blood.
And yet, it didn't hurt.
Or maybe...he was already hurting so much it just didn't affect him anymore.
Maybe...and yet…
...let the prayers return...
No, he didn't hate Nea.
He couldn't, he had no one to blame but himself for this.
If...if only he had gone to Nea with his dreams...maybe Nea would have told as well and...and...they'd still be together now!
He never wanted to leave him...never...he was so willing to forgive him. If Nea had never attacked Road so suddenly, he would have never fought him. He would've just scolded him and cried until Nea felt bad and apologized. Their fights always went like that...yes...this was just like one of their fights.
When Nea returned...Mana would just apologize and cry. And they would make up! That's how...that's how it always went...right?
But Nea hates me….and I hate...
...He didn't hate Nea-Mana hated himself.
He hated himself.
He hated his human self.
It was all his fault!
Laughter bubbled up, and tears came with it. Katerina...his own mother that cherished him...he killed her in such cold blood...in his anger…
"I'm sorry...but it's my duty as the Earl to cast these three days of darkness upon this hellish world!"
Mana glanced in the shards again, energy bubbling up in his hand, "It's all your fault-Nea's Mana!" Pain tore through his face, but he paid it no mind. When he looked back, he saw an unrecognizable face...one that would let him forget.
"So disappear, Mana!"
In his insanity filled laughter, Mana, who was now only the Earl, cried for the ones he lost. And the one he loved the most, that he was forced to kill.
Nea...do you hate me?
I...will...never cease...to...pray...
~insertlinebreak~
A cry rang through the air, and eyes blinked to life. The baby blinked it's silver eyes, staring up into the horrified eyes of his mother.
"H-his...arm...what's wrong with my child's arm?"
The baby seemed to be looking at something, behind his mother. His tiny arm reached out, towards the figure. A man, looking seventeen, smiling and holding a hand out as well.
His hand grasped onto the baby's tenderly, and he grinned, "Welcome back, Allen."
~Insertlinebreak~
And even though we don't remember anymore what made us love each other...we still exist. And that gives me hope...that we will someday be alright again.
Until then...Nea...Allen...I'll wait for you...
Fin.
~Insertlinebreak
Teh-th-that's all folks! I'm so proud of this story! It was a wild run, with me sobbing at some points. I hope I didn't take you guys on too much of a emotional rollercoaster.
So let's review:
Mana and Nea are twins/halves.
Road is the only survivor.
Allen is the former bookman junior who was rumored to have died.
Allen also has the heart but when he 'died' the heart left him, and left him the Crowned Clown.