Hana: Memory-ception!

Road: Even I have to admit, I might pity the seconds.

Allen: Mmhm.

Richie: I think it's worse seeing it twice...but Kanda relives these moments, I'm sure.

Road: Perhaps~ alright, you all know the drill. Hanashi here doesn't own D. Gray-man.

Hana: Enjoy the story, and remember, Richie is my OC!

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+ - Night 49 – Within a Memory - +

If this were the real world, I would've been choking on the murky water that I found myself floating on. Around me were flowers…lotuses, I realize, and I'm confused, unsure of what was going on.

If I recalled correctly, then I should be watching the events of the Second Exorcist project…but I was outside, facing the sky above. I slowly blinked, as I sat up. It wasn't until I only vaguely saw that woman where it clicked.

"But…why would they need a memory of a memory?" I asked.

"…before…the petal…falls…you must…" Was all I could make out of the woman, before I found myself back within the memories of Yu.

But…where were Allen and Road?

Kanda was panting, having woken up from the memory he had unintendedly recalled.

"Not again…" He breathed.

"Mm…you were thrashing in your sleep again…" Alma tiredly explained as he came to.

"Sorry…did I wake you?"

"Don't worry about it." Alma said, brushing the episode to the side, "It's almost time to wake up anyway. It's a little early, but you wanna head out?"

. . - * - . .

It was very cold that day in the womb room. Both boys feeling it the moment they stepped foot within the space.

"It's freezing!" Yu exclaimed, shivering like a leaf.

"I-i-it's winter!" Alma explained through his chattering teeth.

"Who's that?"

"Um…there's this guy called 'Winter'," Alma began to explain, "in the outside world…and he's the one that freezes everything!"

"W-what an a-a-asshole!" Yu glowered.

"I'm not gonna lose to him!" Alma screamed out, running straight towards the pits where the other Seconds continued to sleep. "GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!"

Every day they had gone to visit the womb room. Always first thing in the morning.

Alma would call each name and talk about nothing and everything to the ones who have yet to awaken.

Since when have I been watching him do this?

Yu often wondered how Alma could remember all those names, though never voiced his thoughts on the matter out loud. Watching from his third person point of view, it really only looked as though the other Second Exorcist was talking to himself.

'Before…the petals fall…'

Yu jolted at the faint voice he heard, looking where he heard it, only to see the woman whom haunted him for a while. Her apparition not looking directly at him, though continued to look with a far-off look.

"What do you want…?" He asked the ghostly figure. "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!"

The commotion had caught Alma's attention, as he turned to face the other male in the room. "Yu?" He was met with the other child curled on the floor, clutching his head in so much pain. "What's wrong?! YU!?"

'Before…the petals fall…I'll be waiting for you…'

Everything blurred together, and before long, all the child could see was darkness.

(* - *)

Rather than a scene was more than familiar with, I found myself suddenly in a room.

"Since when has he been seeing these illusions?!" Zhu's voice rang out, his fist slamming on the counter in fierce anger. "Lenny, you're his monitor! What have you been doing?"

"I-I'm sorry, Father." Twi spoke up, "The curse obstructing the regenerating system has become attached to his lives…it's too late to fix it."

That…?

"We've come so far, and yet…" Zhu sighed, shaking his head in dismay. "What did…Yu see?"

"Those 'unfamiliar face', and 'unfamiliar places'." Edgar explained, "He's been seeing them in his dreams lately."

"Does that mean…" Lenny spoke up, "It's progressing?"

'It's'?

Zhu appeared defeated as he covered his eyes with his right hand. "It's only a matter of time before he begins to lose his sense of reason. Just like those children from long ago."

Like those children…?

There was a silence for a while, before Twi spoke up once more, "We have only one choice. We must freeze and dispose of the test subject, 'Yu'. Let us put him to sleep."

"I'll report it to Central, though I doubt they'll care either way. It is indeed for the purpose of creating apostles, but how many more must we bring to their deathbeds?"

How many…had awoken before? How many lives were ended?

"I need medicine!" Alma's voice called out, rushing to the kitchen.

"Oh, Alma! Alone today?"

"Yeah, Yu's been quarantined, so I'm alone."

"Cheer up! I'm sure the doctors will fix him right up!" The chef told the young child. "How about some mayonnaise?"

"Hey…what's that?" The boy asked pointing to the horse-fish-thing with hands?

"A fish from the outside…at least we're pretty sure it's a fish. They caught it in the irrigation canal."

A spark was brief in Alma's eyes, going unnoticed by the chefs who had distracted themselves back with getting ready for the lunch rush soon to begin.

Strange…I didn't recall 'seeing' any of this before…were these perhaps…?

"It's no use…he's gone back to sleep." One of the doctors said, taking Yu's pulse.

"This isn't good." Said another.

"His consciousness is becoming unstable…" The creaking of a door alerted them of someone coming in. "Hey…didn't we lock the doors?"

They never accounted Alma having learned to pick locks…

Running, panting…but not of Yu's doing.

Everyone…everyone who's still sleeping…I'm sorry…" Alma panted through pants as he ran with Yu on his back. "It's not that I'm abandoning you! It's just that…I couldn't stand it if Yu was disposed of….I've only got Yu…we've only j-just…" He was crying now, " BECOME FRIENDS!"

Idiot. You must be an idiot…friends? We just talk more than we used to…Yu thought, still dazed.

It was then they were attacked, needles piercing their flesh, causing Alma to fall over, dropping Yu who tumbled a little farther than he had.

It had shocked the younger of the two back to full alertness. "Al…?" Talismans met Yu's vision the blessed parchments were beginning to surround him. "CROWs?!"

Sure enough, the red-cloaked beings were there, slowly approaching the duo. A threat neither boy could fight against as they were.

"Please return, Apostle." The one who was perhaps the leader demanded. Using the little strength he had, Alma managed to kick at his treasured friend, forcing him over the ledge, as the paper seals surrounded him.

"Alma!" Yu called out as he fell to the watery depths below.

"If you're lucky…you'll be able to get out."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IF I'M LUCKY?!" Yu shouted in anger

"Run!"

"YOU REALLY ARE AN IDIOT!" As he fell from the great height, Yu could only watch as the seals were activated, a large bout of energy was used on the other.

"One has fallen into the sewer." One CROW had affirmed, seeing Yu fall for themselves.

"That Apostle has begun to regain his orginal memories." The other near them said. "We mustn't let him fall into the hands of an Exorcist."

These memories are…combining?

"We two will go after him. You take 'Alma'."

"Yes."

Original…memories…? Alma thought, before once more losing consciousness.

I continuously seemed to have been aware and unware at the same time throughout all that was going on. Which was why I found myself disoriented, hearing music as I came to. Such a calming sound…familiar…

My eyes opened, though I couldn't do so fully for the life of me.

"Marie!" A voice calls out to the man with his eyes bandaged, having recently lost all form of his sight.

"That voice…" The man dubbed Marie said, though not fully recalling who it belonged to. "Um…"

"It's Bak. Bak Chan." A blond male grumbled, annoyed at being forgotten.

"Ah, that's right. Chief Bak."

"I was informed that the entire rescue squadron was taken down. I can't say when the next mission will be." Bak paused, before picking up. "Please, rest yourself."

"I've discovered that I can still play, even sightless." Marie said, smiling fondly. "I have a feeling that my song will reach my comrades in heaven…if I play with Innocence. It's a requiem…I'm sure I'm next to die. Finally."

Bak looked to the blind man in shock.

"It relieves me to think that I will no longer have to fight…amidst the smell of my dying comrades."

"Do you detest us for depending on Apostles?" Bak asked, looking not at the blind man, but anywhere else.

"No." Marie finally answered, "After all, I no longer see."

It was then he perked up, something having caught his attention.

"Did you just hear a child's voice?"

"Eh? N-now?"

"It was coughing…"

A hand emerged from the water, a pissed off figure pulling itself from the water. "'If I'm lucky…'" The child whom came out of the water hissed, "MY ASS! THAT BASTARD!"

Bak was freaked out, whilst Marie remained calm, unable to see the demonic child that was currently cursing everything. "I nearly died it was so cold…rather I did die…and…I didn't even make it…outside…"

Yu fell over the ledge, exhausted, one of the CROW's needles imbedded into his shoulder from the escape Alma had spontaneously planned on the spot. "Hey. Can you pull this thing out?"

"EH!? Th-The doctor! I-I'll go to—ompf!" Yu had grabbed the man's ankle, making him fall flat on his face.

"Don't need a doctor…if you just yank it out, it'll heal." Yu breathed out, "Please…there's a spell on it…and it's giving me a hard time."

"Who are…you…?" It was Marie who took the initiative to help the small child up. Finding the needle, and quickly pulling it out.

…? This smell…?

"Is this alright?" Marie asked.

Still weak, Yu looked at the blind male his expression otherwise dazed, "You…do I know you…?"

"HEY?! He's…sleeping?"

"Who the heck is he?" Bak asked. It was at that moment when foot steps made themselves known, Bak turning to face the CROW that they belonged to.

"Please hand that child over." He demanded.

This smell…it's the smell of blood.

'Hey, do you know what this flower is?' A voice asks, 'A lotus flower it grows from within the mud, towards the sky. And makes the world a fragrant place.'

Isn't this…that field again…? I'm so tired…why do I feel…?

"I love you…forever…" An Akuma nearby had heard the gasping breath of the dying Exorcist.

"He's still alive. This is the final blow, EXORCIST!" Darkness. Silence. Abyssal…

Awareness, artificial light…the cold chill of the room where operations were often held. His hand reaching out like in his past life. Reaching for something…someone he cannot see… "I…love you…"

In another life, a long-ago memory belonging to none alive within this life…a woman once said, that a lotus was a lot like an Exorcist. It grew from within the depths of the mud, and shed its light unto the world.

I…wanted to sleep. Close my eyes, and never wake up. No longer be burdened with a war that had no real end in sight. No longer be hindered

"Remove the machine and the IV."

Ah…I see…Yu thought

I see…then let us leave the persuading to uncle." Twi is speaking to someone here. "No, keep this area blocked off from the main branch. Whatever you do, don't let Bak in…ah, nothing changed. I'm counting on you to keep watch."

I knew what this was about. In the back of my mind, I swear I hear someone.

"I'm sorry to force you into this dilemma, Fou."

Right…she would be able to block everything off here, right? Again, I hear something, but I might as well had been underwater…he snaps here, I can remember that…

But rather than the scene I knew was coming…a different scene was shown. I was confused, was this a place I should've known of? I didn't feel like I was there…like I was in an endless abyss of nothingness.

"Kan…da…?" My eyes were growing heavy…but I was certain I was seeing the man I knew since day one. He too, was suspended in darkness…or perhaps it wasn't as dark? My eye had a dull throb, maybe it was supposed to be stronger, but it also felt as though something was trying to probe into it…

I could hear the faint psychotic laughter of Kanda's memory. Twi's voice barely heard while the younger devil chortled. Words faded, and something else was beginning to become clearer.

I…didn't want to hear those screams again…

"RICHIE!" "Richelle!"

Who's calling me?

"Snap out of it, c'mon! Wake up!"

Someone was holding me up. Had I fainted? How queer…I knew this voice…didn't I?

"Should we hit her?"

"That's not the way to go!"

"You're right. I'd hate to ruin her face."

"…" I muttered something, even I couldn't make it out.

"Huh? RICHIE!"

"Shortcake." I groaned, soon coming back to reality…or at least the reality of Kanda's memory. Yu was screaming as magic arrays were killing him over, and over. The screaming was muted for some reason, before the image vanished, and we were in darkness.

"Why is it dark suddenly?" Allen asked, as I sat up on my own. I rubbed my head, feeling the worst headache in the history of headaches hit.

"It's gone…THE INNOCENCE IS GONE!?"

Creeped out, Allen screamed out a curse in pure fear of the face that was suddenly before him. I quirked a brow.

"Didn't know you knew that word, Shortcake." I bluntly said.

"Me neither." Road mused.

I took another look at Alma, and my eyes widened in surprise. "Blood?" I had only 'seen' things up until Kanda's 'death', so a lot of what I was seeing was new to me…I hadn't 'seen' things that was mostly Alma alone…or…have I…? "Shit."

"Where are you, Alma?!" Edgar's voice called out from close by.

"Sorry, I let my guard down…I didn't think he would rip apart his body to get out of the shackles!"

So that's what happened…that's his own blood. I knew Kanda could regenerate limbs, so I shouldn't have been surprised that Alma could do the same…I've seen it happen…how long ago now? I wasn't sure if I should've gone by real world time, or dream world time…

"Are we…in the lab?" Allen asked, having been looking around.

"They're in Alma Karma's memories. They've been influenced by Yu Kanda's memories."

"Influenced?"

"Well, Richelle's too." Road mused.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"See~ there's a gap that needed a bridge. You've 'seen' some things with Alma Karma. You've seen points where Alma was, but Yu Kanda wasn't, did you not?"

Have I? My eyes widened as it clicked.

"Seems you've got it. Wisely is showing it to them too."

"Them?"

"It's proof that they're starting to awaken~!"

"Wait, you mean that freak is showing Kanda's memories to Alma…to wake his old friend's memories…?"

"Is that their goal?" Allen asked the Noah that was leaning against him. He had pulled her hair to have her look at him. She smiled, but doesn't answer.

"I won't let them get rid of him!" I hear Alma say, kneeling before a hole that had a weird pipe sticking out from it.

"Alma!" Edgar's voice had gotten louder, the man having caught the younger male in the act of sliding down the weird wiggly tube. "Alma! What are you doing down there?!"

"Ack!"

"Get back here, Alma! I know that Yu is precious to you but—"

"NO!" Alma shouted, "How can you guys understand?!"

"Because they can't." I breathed.

"I'm going to save Yu…" Alma states, as he releases his hold on the tube he'd been climbing down. "We can fight, as long as we have th Innocence…"

"ALMA!" Edgar's words were futile, as the young child fell to the floor below. "DON'T GO, ALMA!"

[Did you find him, Edgar?!]

"Alma…Yu…"

"I've…'seen' this before…he really loved those two…like they were his own sons…"

"Richie?" I shake my head, as the scene changes again. We stood up, Road, Allen, and me. This was a room I knew I hadn't seen, and yet, it felt familiar…a very quick glimpse, I recalled. But every detail had still been embedded in the back of my subconscious.

"Up there!" I said, pointing to where Alma had eventually come down.

We were surrounded by large tubs wrapped in a gauzelike manner that I couldn't place, and talismans. Innocence in its rawest form was protruding from them, taking the same shape Lenalee's had back then.

"So many!" Alma exclaimed in child-like wonder.

"I think…it's an Innocence shrine…" I supplied. "I feel like I had a glimpse of this before…it's familiar and yet not…"

"Innocence!" Alma called out. I gasped, covering my mouth when Talismans upon talismans were beginning to attach to Alma on their own. CROW.

"FIRE WINGS!"

"Alma!" Allen cried out.

"Did we get him?!"

"What a nuisance!"

He was burnt to a crisp, but still moving with determination and will-power alone. "In…no…cence…" The injured child whimpered, "Yu…Yu…"

"That doll can still move!'

[Wait! Don't harm him! That child is an Apostle!]

"NO! He intends to resist us with the Innocence!"

"Yu…give him…back…"

"STOP!" I wasn't sure who was screaming louder. Edgar through the Golem, Allen, or me.

Either way, none of us could do anything. None of us could stop the hell that was breaking out before our very eyes. "I'll save…YU!"

"He synchronized?" I asked, somewhat in awe as I watched Alma's Innocence slice down all in the vicinity of his attack.

"Poor child." Road sighed, having no real empathy for the memory we were watching. She held Allen's left hand, perhaps to keep him grounded, and I looked down, feeling something gripping my left arm in a steely grip of its own. "He must've seen it here…"

"Seen it…?" He and I asked at once.

"Yes." Road affirmed, and we all looked up seeing the most shocking of sites to have ever been seen. I gulped as I took in what was around me in that moment. Bodies. The bodies of those who had fallen in battle…were resting here. Hidden away with none outside the project knowing the wiser. "The real identifies of the Artificial Apostles."

"I knew…the project was hell when I had a small glimpse into it…but…"

"Because of the holy war, in order to preserve the incompatible experimental bodies, the order began to create artificial bodies. By transplanting the brains of the subjects that are no longer fit to battle, they were experimenting whether the Innocence would transfer successfully. That was the Second Exorcist Project."

"What…?"

"I never… 'saw' any of this before." I said, my meal threatening to make a comeback. "How could they…?"

"Humans get rather desperate, do they not?'

From the depths of the mud, it shed light upon the world.

That way of life…it will wither and drown into the mud.

"I wish I could see it. The ground carpeted with flowers. Maybe we can see it someday, together…" A man's voice says. His tone idealistic.

"Really? Even if we become grandfathers and grandmothers?" That woman speaks, and I can see her face clearer than I have ever been able to before. So…this was 'that person'…she's pretty. "…I'll be waiting. Forever."

'I'll be waiting.'

Screams were filling the space again, pained, yes, but also very determined. Why? Why did he fight? Somehow, I had found myself back with Kanda's memories, Allen and Road were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps…they were in Alma's view on things?

I gulped, and watched as Yu began to struggle to get off the table that held him through mystic means. The arrays were threatening to tear him apart, eat away at his lifeforce.

Why….? Why did I awaken? Those…definitely weren't my thoughts, was I…was I actually hearing…? My own face is vague, and I don't know my name. I can't remember. My memories are broken.

And yet…why? "WHY!?" The child screamed out, "WHY CAN'T I THROW AWAY THIS FEELING OF LONGING?!"

"A light…? Is that…Mugen?" It was a blinding luminescent ray that appeared to have materialized from the Shrine below the Asian Branch. Could it be…the Innocence was reacting to his feelings? Emotions had to be strong to get a reaction like that out of the God Crystal…I knew Kanda had eventually synchronized with the sword he now carried, but how he managed was something I hadn't witnessed through my 'sight'.

From his hand, a blade emerged, the raw form of what would be his faithful weapon in the years to come.

Innocence! Che…dammit!

'With this, you will be saved.'

Why are you coming out?! All because I was compatible…

'I want to see 'that person'.'

I don't want this anymore!

I braced myself for the explosion before I realized I was doing so. Even if I wasn't a part of what was going on, I still felt the need to protect myself. My arms crossed before my face protecting me from the debris I knew wouldn't physically hit me.

I felt the rush of air, though I couldn't understand why. I was blown away, through the door that was destroyed with the child's newly attained power.

"Che. What a joke." The child's voice rang out, as I coughed, lifting myself up. How was that possible? To be blown away by something that shouldn't be able to hit me? I wasn't physically here! "It's almost laughable."

His form was beaten and battered, Blood streamed from wounds that were just starting to heal themselves.

What to do from now on? Yu's thoughts landed on my ears, How about I just…kill everyone here?

A beeping caught the attention of Yu, and myself, and we both turned, seeing the most familiar of faces in the two years I've known him for. "Marie?"

Right…I'd seen him earlier…at a time where Kanda wouldn't have. What I didn't know, was that the big guy was a candidate for this hell Alma and Yu were part of.

"Is he wearing an Order Uniform? So, he was an Exorcist." Yu muttered, before something clicked, in his mind. "Wait a second…don't tell me…is he a test subject for the project too?!"

Yu's hand rested on the older man's crown, still bloody from the room where they had tried to kill him. His blood had dripped into Marie's wound, and both of us were in shock when the heart monitor spiked, and Marie's body jolted back to life. Not that he was dead just then.

"Eh?"

Marie raised his hand, its edge finding his unknown savior. The blind man groaned, as the wound healed. Was that…what happened to me back then? No…I had no wounds that were open at the time…I was starting to feel squeamish again thinking back on that once more. "Damn…at least he didn't have to ingest it…"

"EHHH?!"

"That voice…are you the kid I met before?" Marie asked, as his hand found the smaller shoulder of the child before him.

... ... ... ...

You know I like how Richie will just call little Kanda "Yu", and just call current Kanda by "Kanda"...but given he didn't have his surname back then, I guess it makes sense? I will not question logic.

R&R doesn't stand for rest and relaxation, no matter how much I might need it. Leave a review and lemme know how I'm doing! Show this story some love by favoriting it, and be sure you follow to stay up to date with new chapters when they're posted! As always, until next time, I'll see you again on...

Clean Slate!