Chapter 51: Lavi's 'Heart'
Inside the Ark; the tower
"Lavi!" Allen thought as the candles are still surrounding Allen, Alice, Leenalee, and Chaozi. Also a black butterfly is sitting on one of the candles.
"Don't move, Allen." Road warns. "That left eye of yours remembers how much my candles hurt, doesn't it? If you don't want to see that human over there and cut Leenalee becomes the stars of a tragic scene."
"Chaozi! Hang in there!" Leenalee shouts.
"Just wait patiently for me to destroy 'Lavi'."
As time pass, in the box that Lavi is in, Lavi presses his hand on the wall and black markings appear on his face. Then the box opens, letting Lavi to fall to the floor and lands behind Allen, causing Allen to look behind him.
"La… Lavi…?" Allen calls as the candles moves away from him.
"Allen, something sad has come to my attention." Road says. "It looks like 'Lavi's' heart has just died. Now, if you want to save Leenalee and the human, you'll have to kill 'that', Allen."
Allen, Alice, and Leenalee widen their eyes.
"Wha…" Allen trails off and Lavi rushes towards him.
"Lavi?" Allen calls and Lavi attacks Allen, Allen then uses his sword to block Lavi's attack. However, Allen is thrown off by Lavi's attack. "UWAH!"
"No way… for Lavi to be attacking me for real…" Allen thought and sees Lavi coming to him and attacks Allen again. Lavi then punches Allen, but Allen moves his head.
"Kuh…" Allen grunts and Lavi goes for another punch.
"It's likely that Lavi has possessed by something." Allen thought as he tightens his grip on his sword and stabs it through Lavi. "If that's true, then I should be able to exorcise it with this sword. I'm begging you, please work!"
However nothing happens and Lavi stares at Allen before he attacks Allen again.
"It won't work with that anti-evil sword that doesn't kill him, you know? Lavi has lost his 'heart'. It's not like he's been possessed by evil, okay?" Road states. "If you're going to attack, you'll have to use your left arm's edge, Allen!" Slowly the candles are piercing through the cube that Leenalee and Chaozi are and coming closer to Alice. "Come on, hurry! If you won't change to your edge weapon, I'll kill them, all right?"
"This is unfair, Road…!" Leenalee says.
"This is…" Leenalee thought.
"Change your weapon, Allen!" Road demands.
"You know that Allen-kun can't choose...!" Leenalee finishes.
"Or do you want to listen to Leenalee's and Alice's screams?"
Lavi slams Allen to the wall, causing Allen to cough up blood and he hugs Lavi.
"Lavi…" Allen calls. "Can't you… hear… my voice? Here… the only ones who can protect Leenalee and Chaozi are us and Alice. Krory said as much, didn't he…?"
"FIGHT!" Road shouts.
"Kanda is probably fighting." Allen continues before Lavi punches Allen and holds him up as Allen hangs his head. "…Leenalee… her comrades… Leenalee, who thought of us as more important than even the world, is crying…"
"I am not your comrade…" Lavi states as Allen widens his eyes in shock. Then Lavi slams Allen harder to the wall.
"STOP I―T!" Leenalee shouts.
"No matter what you say to that kid right now, it's hopeless, Allen!" Road says. "After all, you're not comrades. Bookman are just on lookers." Lavi takes out Iron Hammer and it grows. "For the sake of his records, he just walked alongside you guys. Those are his true feelings!"
"I never thought of you guts as comrades, not even once." Lavi says as fire snake coils around Iron Hammer. "I am the next successor of Bookman. I'm nothing else but that."
"Lavi…!" Allen calls.
"Gouka Kaijin. Hiban."
The fire snake flies towards Allen.
"Crown Clown…!" Allen's sword starts to glow and slices the snake into two, but the head forms into two heads and they go towards Allen.
"It split into two!" Allen thought and blocks the fire snakes' attack. "With the anti-evil ability of Crown Clown's sword, it's helpless against the power of Innocence. If I don't receive Lavi's attacks with Crown Clown's edge…" He notices Lavi is behind him, about to slam Allen. "I can't…" Allen then blocks Lavi's attack. "Crown Clown's edge will injured Lavi himself!"
"I can't do that!" He exclaims. "Lavi! LAVI!"
"Tenban." Lavi says and lighting strikes Allen.
"UWA―H!" Allen screams.
Leenalee widens her eyes and Alice grits her teeth.
"Lavi!" Leenalee and Alice call, after Allen lies on the floor as Lavi walks towards Allen.
"Lavi, I'm begging you, stop already!" Leenalee pleads. "Open your eyes!"
"Lavi! You got to snap out of it!" Alice exclaims.
"I told you it's hopeless, Leenalee, Alice." Road says. "'Lavi's' heart has died."
Then the fire seal surrounds Allen.
"Gouka… Kaijin…" Lavi trails off.
"La… vi…" Allen mutters and all of a sudden, Allen stabs through Lavi.
"Whether we sink or swim…! If Lavi went into this state because of Road's ability…" Allen thought.
"Into a blind spot on my body…" Lavi thought.
"ROAD!" Allen calls. "If I stop you…!" He then throws his sword at Road, subsequently, stabbing her.
"Road-tama!" Lero calls as Road falls to the floor.
"Kuh… Kukukukuku." Road laughs and grabs the handle of Allen's sword. "It's a shame~~ Have you forgotten that the attacks against me in Rewinding Town were in effective? Say, for example, even with an anti-evil sword, what you're piercing through is different, you know. What you see of me, isn't me. People who don't know my 'true form' can't kill me!"
"N-no way…" Allen stutters.
"Why aren't you listening to me, Allen?"
"Fire…" Lavi trails off.
"No matter how hard you try, there is nothing you can do to save his heart. Give it up, already!" Road takes Allen's sword out from her body.
Just then, Allen is envelop by the fire from the fire seal which is forms into a fire snake and it coils around Alice and flies up to the cube where Leenalee and Chaozi are.
"Allen-kun! Allen-kun!" Leenalee calls repeatedly.
"Lavi, stop it! STOP YOUR FLAMES!" Alice shouts.
Inside the fire seal, Allen is floating inside the snake and notices something weird.
"Even though I'm been engulfed by Hiban, it isn't hot." Allen thought.
Outside the fire seal, the fire snake is still hear the cube and Alice.
"Lavi!" Leenalee calls again. "I'm begging you, Lavi!"
As the fire snake is near the cube and Alice, the candles are melting from the heat.
"The candles…" Leenalee trails off.
"They're melting from Hiban's heat…" Alice thought.
This is…" Allen looks at the flames. "These flames aren't burning me…!"
Allen, Alice, and Leenalee widen their eyes.
"It can't be…" Leenalee thought.
Lavi's body starts to glow.
"What the…? My body is…!" His hands start to move. "My body is… moving by it… self. What… is this!? 'Lavi… it can't be…!"
Alice notices something wrong with Lavi's body and he stabs Iron Hammer to the floor, causing a fire seal to appear.
"This is all because of my inexperience…" Lavi says. "Now, it's payback."
"What!?" Road thought.
"INFINITE FLAME!" Lavi shouts and he is engulf by the fire seal. "HIBAN!"
Leenalee covers her mouth as she and Chaozi watch.
"He's going to suffer his own attack…!" Chaozi says in shock.
"LAVI!" Allen calls. "LAVI―!"
Then the fire snake flies towards Road and swallows her.
"KYAH! Road-tama was swallowed-lero!" Lero exclaims.
Leenalee then punches her leg and screams in pain as Allen stick his arm out.
"Crown… CLOWN!" Allen calls and his sword flies towards Allen as his arm turns into a white glove. Allen grabs his sword before he slices the fire snake to escape and a white cape forms over his shoulder and his left side.
"Allen-kun." Leenalee calls as she watches him landing on top of the cube and the mask is already on his face. Then he flies towards the fire pillar where Lavi is.
"Please…!" Leenalee thought.
Once Allen reaches the pillar, he is forcing himself to enter the pillar.
"LAVI!" Allen shouts his name. "DA–MN IT! I won't let you die, LAVI!"
Alice closes her eyes and blue aura surrounds her.
"LAVI―!" Allen shouts again and hugs Lavu as his cape covers Allen and Lavi. Alice sticks her arm out and creates a barrier that surrounds both Allen and Lavi.
Suddenly, the fire turns into stone as Iron Hammer drops to the floor.
"I-it stopped-lero?!" Lero says. "Leroo… Road-tama…"
Above Lero, part of the snake gets smash and Road's body, now burnt and a blade on her chest, drops to the ground, surprising Lero.
"RO-ROAD-TAMA!"
Meanwhile, the cube gently lands on the floor and opens up.
"Road's barrier… opened?" Leenalee says.
"He won! Lavi-san won…" Chaozi cheers.
"But… both of them…"
"Not yet." Alice says and walks to where Allen and Lavi are with Leenalee and Chaozi following her. Once they reach where Allen and Lavu are, they see a stone covering Allen and Lavi.
"Lavi… Allen-kun!" Leenalee calls.
Suddenly, the stone starts to crack and both Allen and Lavi emerge out of the stone and they cough up from suffocation of being the stone, causing tears to fall down on her face.
"GWAAA~~~" Allen and Lavi groans and they lie on the floor. "It hurts to breath~!"
Once both of them calm down, they continue to lie on the floor.
"…Ha. Hahah…" Lavi laughs. "I'm alive…"
"WHAT, ARE YOU COMPLAINING!?" Allen questions.
"You overdid it there, Allen."
"RIGHT BACK AT YOU!"
"Hahah… I don't really get it… Once gramps notices everything is on fire… he would probably be made though." Lavi says. "I feel really good right now, somehow."
"IDIOT!" Leenlaee scolds as she slaps Lavi as Allen, Chaozi, and Alice (now her uniform is back to normal) watch her.
"Uh, Leenalee's loving fist…" Allen says.
"Ahahahaha." Road laughs. "Hahahahahaha. Kyahahahahahahaha."
"Ro-Road-tama." Lero calls as Road continues to laugh.
"Road…" Allen calls and Road looks at him.
"…Allen…" Road calls and her body turns into dust.
"ROAD-TAMA!" Lero cries.
