Disclaimer- I do not own DGM nor any of the characters.
A/N - I would once again like to thank all those who submitted reviews to the last chapter: PeanutAngel, anime-lyric, skidney, Peculiar Top hat, 14th Noah, FalteredGAIT, LyssiBug, Mistical Kat, Allen's Lover, mysticwolf1896, Narutopokefan, Breeze, Arceus the Creator, Noah of Faith, SkyTheLugia, and XD! Each and every one of your reviews brought a smile to my face and for that I say thank you. *bows*
Chapter Forty-Four - Sixth Sense
The Millennium Earl was sitting in his favorite rocking chair in the parlor where he normally went to relax when he wasn't attending to the plans that concerned his scenario. The room was dimly lit and the large round man idly rocked back and forth, perpetual grin in place as he thought about the downfall of the Exorcists and the extinction of the pathetic human race. It would be such a glorious day when the fruits of his labor were finally seen and he reveled in this thought. That is, until he felt a rather familiar and yet at the same time unexpected feeling course through his veins.
The powers of a Noah.
They were faint but the Earl recognized them almost immediately, clenching his hands into fists as he gazed straight ahead as though unseeing. He had been loathe to believe what Road had told him about the Musician's brat but now there wasn't any way that he could deny it. He felt the stirring for himself this time; the boy had the powers of a Noah as well as the accursed Innocence. "Perhaps there's something that I can do with this boy…" he thought to himself as he realized the significance of the brat's birthright. True he was the son of a pair of traitors but maybe, just maybe, there could be a use for him in the scenario as well.
At any rate it was at least worth sending someone to look in on. Maybe this stirring of power was just a fluke or he could even be imagining things since his mind tended to dwell on the fallen member of their family quite frequently. The Earl wanted to know once and for all whether the son of the Musician actually possessed the powers of his father. If he did then he might prove useful. And, if he didn't, then it was back to the original plan.
The brat would die just like his parents.
With this thought in mind the Earl sent for one of the other members of his family. He would send someone to ascertain the truth of the boy before he himself went to the trouble of traveling to the location where he was hiding. They shouldn't be too difficult to find since the Earl had the ability to tell where the Noah were. Said sixth sense wasn't as strong where the brat was concerned, which was what led the Earl to doubt the validity of what he was sensing, but it was still there.
It was just too faint to notice unless he really focused in on it, which was why he hadn't noticed it before. Moments of complete peace were so rare that it simply hadn't struck him until just now, which the man had to admit irritated him to a small degree since it turned out that he could simply have honed in on the brat that he had spent the past three years searching for.
"There's nowhere for you to hide now~" the man purred, the already impossibly large grin growing even wider.
Reaching out from his spot in the rocking chair the large man grabbed the receiver on one of the many phones that were positioned throughout the room. Holding it to his ear he waited for someone to answer before giving them the location to which they were to travel. Then, once the phone call was completed, the Earl sat back in his chair, clasped his hands together, and continued to grin like mad.
Whatever happened this would indeed be an interesting diversion.
The sun was just beginning to set beyond the horizon and Mana and Allen were preparing for the nightly performance, both dressed in full costume as they made their way toward the main tent where the performance was to be held. Allen was trailing along behind his father, a scowl on his face that looked rather odd owing to the painted on smile, but the child drew up suddenly as a chill seemed to go down his spine. His gray eyes widened slightly as the eleven year old gazed around swiftly, feeling as though someone were watching him. Allen felt incredibly uneasy and, reaching out, he grabbed Mana by the sleeve and gave it a slight tug. "Father…"
Feeling the tug on his sleeve Mana turned to gaze at the child who was trailing along behind him. He had heard something different in the little boy's voice but he couldn't figure out exactly what that something was. "What is it Allen?"
"Feels like someone's watchin' me," Allen said as he once again gazed around as though trying to locate the person who was giving him the creeps. Of course there were several people around but they weren't the ones that the brown haired boy was referring to, not that Mana knew this. The older clown arched one brow at these words. "There are lots of people around my boy so it only stands to reason that one of them would glance your way every now and then."
"That's not it," Allen maintained, tugging on his father's sleeve. "I think we should leave. I've got a really bad feeling right now." Actually he was beginning to feel somewhat sick to his stomach but he refrained from telling this particular part to his father. "Somethin' bad's about to happen… I know it is."
Now Mana knew what the something was that he was hearing in Allen's voice; it was fear. His child thought that someone was staring at him and was actually afraid that something was going to happen. Coming to a stop Mana turned so that he was facing Allen, wrapping one arm around the boy's thin shoulders in a comforting manner. Offering the boy a smile he spoke to Allen in reassuring voice, "It's alright Allen m'boy… nothing's going to happen."
Instead of being reassured by these words, Allen was oddly angered. "You don't know that!" the boy snapped, shrugging his shoulders so that Mana's arm fell from around them before abruptly whirling around and running off.
"Allen!" Mana called out as he watched the boy disappear around the corner of one of the tents. Shaking his head and sighing the clown gave chase, knowing that going after the upset child was more important than the performance right now. Shaking his head slightly he berated himself for allowing, or to be more precise, causing something like this to happen. "That was really great Mana… brilliant move." While he didn't really think that someone had been staring at Allen the fact remained that there was a real danger out there that the child had to be protected from. And Mana couldn't very well do that if he couldn't find the boy. "C'mon Allen, this isn't funny. I didn't mean to upset you."
There was no response from the boy, not that Mana had really expected to received one. That would have been hoping for too much and his luck simply wasn't that good.
"I don't know why he didn't believe me," Allen muttered to himself as he slowed his pace to a jog for a couple of paces before dropping down into a walk. The boy was irritated and he absently kicked at a rock that was in his path, a scowl on his face and his slightly narrowed gray eyes downcast. He was mad that his father hadn't believed what he was saying about something bad being about to happen but beyond that he was hurt. He had been telling the truth only to be brushed aside as though he had been telling a lie. "S'not like I lie to him or anything." On the contrary, Allen had always been painfully honest even as a very young child. Pausing in his grumbles he gazed around, once again getting the feeling that someone was watching him, shivering slightly as he turned in a small circle. He was away from the other members of the circus by this point, having fled to a small wooded area that bordered the circus grounds on one side, so the feeling should have gone away.
But it hadn't.
"Is someone out there?" Allen called out, somewhat hesitantly. He had mixed feelings about calling out; on the one hand he wanted to know if there actually was someone lurking nearby but on the other hand he was more than a little afraid of whoever it might be. Because he couldn't seem to shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. "If there is, c'mon out… this isn't funny anymore." Allen didn't really think that it was someone playing a joke on him but there was that small glimmer of hope that this was all some kind of joke.
Only the whistling of the wind answered the question that he had posed and Allen turned in another small circle, his gray eyes searching for any signs that he wasn't alone. He didn't feel alone but he couldn't seem to figure out where the person that he seemed to sense was hiding.
"Come out already!" This time Allen's words were screamed out, his slightly wider than normal gray eyes shifting about as still another shiver went down his spine. The wind picked up slightly, ruffling his already unruly brown hair, before a shadowy figure clad in black stepped from behind a rather large tree. Stepping from the shadows the figure was revealed to be a man appearing in his mid to late twenties, dressed in a suit and looking decidedly out of place. "Careful what you ask for…. You just might get it."
Allen instinctively took a step back as his stormy gray eyes landed upon the man, whom he'd never seen before. He looked ordinary enough but for some reason the child was scared of him. Clutching his left arm, which had suddenly began to ache for some reason, he took yet another step back. "Wh-what do you want?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the man that he viewed as a threat. He couldn't explain the feeling but it was there none the less.
As well as a melody that seemed to be playing in the very back of his mind.
The song seemed familiar to him but Allen couldn't place it no matter how hard he tried. That and the appearance of the strange man dressed in black were coupling together to completely confuse the child and put him on edge. Clenching his hands into fists Allen debated whether or not to make a run for it. The circus grounds weren't really that far off and he could probably outrun the man but there was a part of him that didn't want to make an attempt at escape.
There was a part of him that actually wanted to fight.
Allen's eyes shifted to the ground for a moment and, when they returned to the stranger, they had shifted from stormy gray to tawny gold. The music that was playing inside of his mind had increased in volume and a smile slowly spread across the face of the child. It was somewhat twisted and yet served to make the man whom he was facing laugh out loud.
"So it really is true," he said in an oddly purring voice, his gaze never leaving the face of the child. "You really are one of us~"
A/N - End of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed. My inspiration has been reincarnated, so to speak, and now I'm off to write something else. Please be kind and leave a review on your way out… they make me very happy.
