Intersecting Fears

by devixenrox85

Everyone has a fear. Some are constantly in its thralls, while others do whatever they can to keep it at bay. In the quaint spa town of LLandrindod Wells, the fears of two individuals are uncovered and become entangled. Day Three of Poker Pair Week 2021 - Terror. Fem!Allen; PokerPair; Canon Divergence; Animal Attack

Author's Note: Day Three of Poker Pair Week 2021 has arrived!

The prompt I chose for today is 'terror'. A pretty apt one, given the series' more nightmare fueled moments and the creepy designs of many of the Akuma. But after I picked the word, I spent a good bit of time thinking about how I would connect it to Poker Pair. Eventually I wondered, "What would create terror in Tyki and Allen?" That's when I remembered a certain little piece of trivia I read on the D. Gray – Man fandom wiki…

Warning: Fem!Allen Walker; PokerPair; Canon Divergance; Not Canon Compliant; Aged-Up Character (Ellen is eighteen); Child Abuse; Animal Attack; Animal Abuse; Past Trauma; Panic attacks; Possible Spoilers; Crazy Circus Tricks; Probable OOC-ness

Disclaimer: The only legal owner of D. Gray – Man is Katsura Hoshino.

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Intersecting Fears

-xXx-

In a public park across from one of the many hotels and spas populating the Welsh town of LLandrindod Wells, Ellen Walker, clad in a colorful costume that successfully embodied both acrobat and clown, twirled about while juggling several multicolored balls. The crowd thronging around her, first merely curious of the street performer who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, were now watching her act with excitement and glee. For the balls didn't merely travel in an air bound circle propelled by her hands. Sometimes they were transferred to a knee or leg before arching back to their starting point. Other times the young lady weaved and shuffled them around and over her arms, creating intricate patterns that made keeping track of just one ball impossible for the audience. Even Timcanpy, disguised as a rather fat bird, had gotten involved by headbutting whatever balls she threw his way as he flew about with their collection bowl to receive well-earned money from charmed onlookers.

Ellen gave one little girl who gasped in delight at the sight of the performer balancing balls all along her shoulders, arms and hands before juggling them against the ground a large smile. This was the former exorcist's first performance since her last near encounter with Apocryphos. Once Clown Crown started sprouting feathers in Manchester, the young lady had run as fast as possible to the city's railroad station and from then on hopped aboard any trains that could take her to the farthest locations in the opposite direction of where she last saw the sentient Innocence. And because her method of boarding hadn't been, well, typical (or excusable without the Black Order's uniform), she had to confine herself to rail cars meant for transporting goods rather than people. On the brighter side, that did give her the time and opportunity to polish her tricks and routines without distraction.

'And it looks like it's paying off,' the eighteen-year-old thought to herself as she gauged her audience's happy mood. 'Now to mix things up.'

With her mind made up, Ellen looked away from the balls she was now juggling behind her back to where Tim was collecting a penny from an elderly woman and whistled. Once the street performer had her golem's attention, she gestured with her head for him to come over.

Timcanpy gave a small hovering bow to the very amused elder and, while paying careful attention the more lightweight pound notes mixed in with the heavier shillings and pennies, quickly flew himself and the collection bowl back to the former exorcist.

Ellen waited for her yellow companion to hover by her head before she quietly whispered, "Please fetch me Mana's hat, Tim," and surreptitiously lean towards the suitcase a foot away from her.

The yellow golem gave her an unseen grin and gave a practiced chirping growl of confirmation as he moved over to the suitcase in question. After setting the collection bowl to the side, he dove into the suitcase and rummaged around before finally emerging with an old, silk top hat over a decade old. With a quick flick of the fake bird feet operated by his tiny hands, the hat was released into the air and landed upside down on his head.

"Thank you," the young street performer smiled as Timcanpy flew back to her. During the time her golem had been busy retrieving the top hat, she dropped to the road in a full front split and continued to juggle the balls high above her head. "Now, if you don't mind, could you please put it down by me?"

The little golden ball with wings did so, though not before showing the crowd that the hat was filled only with air.

The crowd now whispered among themselves, wondering what would happen next and how the old accessory would factor in.

'Best not to keep them in suspense for too long.'

And to start the process, the eighteen-year-old threw one ball into the top hat without breaking her juggling rhythm. Then she threw another ball… and another one, and so on and so forth. Finally, once she was left juggling three balls, she gathered them in one hand and launched all three at the same time.

The former exorcist's audience collectively let out an impressed "Oooh!" as the balls entered the hat without knocking it over. But then an especially sharped-eyed member frowned and pointed out, "Wait, how come we can't see the balls?" The others fell into a hushed silence as they thought about what he just said. While the top hat was rather tall, enough balls had been thrown into it that the top ones should now be partially visible over the brim.

But, to their growing confusion, there was nothing to see.

Even the street performer seemed bewildered by that. Blinking and tilting her head, she swiftly got up from her split, walked over to the hat and bent over at the waist to peer inside. Her silver-gray eyes widened right before she uttered, "What…?" The hat was picked up and then tilted it towards the onlookers so they too could see its contents.

And what were those contents? Nothing but air.

As her viewers gasped in surprise, Ellen tapped a makeup-covered cheek with one finger. "Now," the young lady said out loud, "just where did all of those balls go?" She carefully examined the old hat while tilting and shaking it, trying to divine the hidden location of her freshly missing props or just retrieve them. After a few seconds with no results, she then held out a hand below the hat's opening and gave it one last shake. This time, one of the juggling balls fell out of the headgear and landed in her hand.

"Well now, that's quite interesting," the eighteen-year-old softly remarked amidst the louder gasps of her viewers as she revealed that, yes, the hat was still empty. Wanting to confirm that the ball's reappearance hadn't been a fluke, she shook the top hat again. Another ball promptly emerged, though this time the sphere landed on the first one and stayed. The sight of those two perfectly balanced balls gave her an idea. She continued to shake the hat to the balls one at a time, making sure that each one was stably resting on its predecessor before adding the next. Finally, she was left with a colorful and tall tower which would easily crumble into a hail of spheres if its hand foundation tilted even one centimeter in the wrong direction.

To the confusion of her audience, however, Ellen stretched out the arm connected to that very hand and started horizontally swinging it in a fan-shaped arch. Such movement should have caused the balls to fall out of formation, especially once the former exorcist added walking in a circle to her list of actions. But while she did move the ball tower back and forth, she always kept her arm leveled and speed constant. And even if it started to sway one way or the other, a quick but controlled twitch of her hand curtailed the event from reaching its foregone conclusion.

Soon the street performer's circle transitioned into an inward spiral, leaving her to spin around in place and earning a few stray chuckles. Once she was facing her audience again after handing the hat back to Timcanpy, she outstretched her other arm to place its connected hand on top of the ball tower. After the right amount was applied, the tower was then flipped on its side and presented to the now stunned onlookers.

But before the crowd could clap or give any other reaction, the former exorcist suddenly raised the balls above her head and threw them to the ground. A colorful rainbow of smoke immediately materialized and obscured her figure as soon as the spheres made contact. Shouts of confusion and wonder filled the air as the viewers tried to locate her through the smokescreen.

A few seconds passed before one man shouted out "Look!" as he pointed to a faintly darker patch in the middle of the smoke. The patch's shape appeared rather amorphous at first. But soon it started to become a bit more detailed and a bit less of a blob. It was most likely the young lady, for she was the one who had deployed the smoke bomb in the first place. Nonetheless, no one present could tell for sure what she was planning to do next. That question had to be answered by her alone.

So, naturally, she did just that.

Ellen emerged from the dissipating wall of smoke by way of balancing on a walking globe and moved towards part of her awed audience. She was juggling once more, though this time using three yellow and blue clubs instead of balls.

After warming up her feet while staying stationary for a minute, the street performer then began a circuit around the edge of her temporary performance space to allow all onlookers to get a proper look.

As the young lady made her rounds, Timcanpy went back to the suitcase and rummaged around for another prop. After selecting a trio of multicolor hoops and hanging them onto his also disguised tail, the yellow golem flitted over to her and chirp-growled for her attention.

Once the silver-gray-eyed teenager caught sight of Tim bearing the large hoops, she kept her walking globe still while throwing up all three clubs in the air and catching them with one hand.

"Hello again, Tim," Ellen smiled at her golden assistant, and moved back to the center of the space with him in tow. Holding up the clubs in hand, she questioned, "Would you care to make a trade? My clubs for your hoops?"

The yellow golem chirp-growled in confirmation, curving his tail forward.

"Thank you," the street performer said as she considered her options. As Timcanpy's hands and tail were already preoccupied with objects, that left only one remaining place for the clubs to go…

'Hopefully, they won't be too heavy.'

With that in mind, the former exorcist flung each club into the old silk hat. Thankfully, all three managed to fit inside and not fall out. Then, she extended her left arm out and beckoned to her assistant with her hand. 'The hoops, please.'

The yellow golem easily understood her silent command. While carefully balancing the full hat on his head, his tail gently swung back and forth until the first hoop was right on the hidden fluffy tip. Then he chucked the hoop as hard as he dared.

Thankfully, that was just enough for the inner part of the hoop to land on Ellen's outstretched wrist. She took the hoop in both hands and slipped it over her body until it was level with her waist. Now that it was in position, she readjusted the piece of wood until one point was touching her body. And with a quick spin and twist of the hips, she started spinning the hoop at waist-level.

The street performer looked back at Timcanpy and gestured for another hoop. Once he obliged her, she set about spinning the second hoop around her right wrist. The third and last hoop soon followed, rotating around her left wrist.

The entranced viewers surrounding the silver-gray-eyed teenager let out positive murmurs at her latest trick. It was one thing to constantly spin one hoop, but to simultaneously spin three of them? And all while balancing on top of a rolling globe? Quite impressive and would be a good trick to end her performance on. Still, a few spectators were still wondering if she had one final twist to pull off.

And they were right.

While keeping up the right hoop's momentum, the former exorcist transferred the spinning ring of wood to her left wrist where it quickly synched up with the first one. Her left arm then smoothly rose until it was fully extended towards the sky, much in the same manner as that statue given to the United States by France. The hoops themselves were perpendicular to her body, though parallel to each other, and the speed at which they twirled above her head gave them the appearance of two blurry halos.

The two hoops, occasionally switching directions due to a quick flick of the wrist, soon began a slow descent down Ellen's left arm. After her right arm was raised so it could join its counterpart before it was too late, the two hoops easily slipped over her head and shoulders without trouble and eventually join their long-lost triplet around her waist.

Now that all three hoops were together, the street performer reached down and finally stopped their spinning by grasping them at her sides. Gloved-covered hands easily slid along the wooden surfaces to the front and pulled the entire ensemble back until it was quite close to her stomach. Due to how she gripped the rings, their back halves fanned out like three close wheel spokes out of many.

Once everything was ready, she sent the members of her audience a quick wink and jumped while simultaneously swinging the hoops over and under. Her legs quickly drew up as the makeshift jumping rope moved through the airspace between herself and the walking globe, then snapped back into position once it was clear. Each jump on the globe left her bouncing a little bit higher up. Soon she was free to add in several types of acrobatic moves along with her jump roping before her feet had to meet the globe. The crowd certainly appreciated that, given the cheers floating on the wind.

Still, the young lady couldn't overlook that the shadows cast by the people, buildings and everything were now much longer than they had been when she first started her performance. 'Time for the finale,' she ultimately decided.

After one last complicated front somersault, the former exorcist bounced off the rolling globe and landed onto the street, feet firmly together and all three hoops held high between her hands. Accepting the resulting applause with a bow, she then turned around and walked back to the globe. The hoops were transferred to one shoulder while a free hand fell upon the former bouncing pad and lifted it high in the air. A quick glance above revealed to her that the globe's star mark was now resting in the palm of her hand.

'Perfect.'

The silver-gray-eyed teenager slightly lowered the arm connected to the globe before suddenly and swiftly launching it into the air with more force than her customers would have expected. Immediately after the prop had left her reach, she positioned herself underneath its future contact point and began juggling the three hoops. Those rings didn't reach as high as the globe was still doing, but there was certainly enough force put into them that you didn't want them to end up hitting you.

It took a few more seconds for the globe to reach its zenith, but once accomplishing that its descent came after. The fall back to Earth, while perfectly straight on a vertical axis, did leave the sphere sufficiently rotating. Its red star was now no more a constant blur.

'Almost there…' Ellen thought to herself, keeping track of the walking globe's drop. Then- 'Now!'

The young performer gathered the hoops and threw them upwards as hard as possible. But the subsequent collision with the running globe subverted the spectators' expectations. Instead of the hoops smacking into the sphere, diverting it off course while themselves separating, they popped it.

Yes, once the star was hit by those wooden rings, a huge amount of smoke, confetti and streamers were released to rain down upon the stunned viewers. Surprise at such a trick, however, was quickly banished in place of exhilaration at seeing something impossible happen before their own eyes. She had just caught the plummeting hoops when her little area – maybe even the entire square – erupted with jolly cheers and shouts. One word seemed especially common.

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

The former exorcist and her golem, the latter of which had deposited the old silk hat and clubs into the suitcase before returning to the former's side, shared a secret grin before bowing in thanks.

'Yes, stopping here had been a good idea.'

-x-

'I take it back; it hadn't been a good idea. It was a glorious idea.'

The white-haired young lady followed up that mental declaration by consuming the rest of a delicious pork pie. It wasn't the only one, of course. Spread out on top of a picnic blanket she bought a while back was a veritable feast of cheap and tasty local food recently purchased using a good portion of the day's earnings. Money well spent, in her opinion.

Taking up a slice of toast covered in roasted cheese and inhaling its lovely aroma, she turned to Timcanpy and asked, "Would you like some Welsh rarebit, Tim?"

The yellow golem stopped gnawing on the leftover bone from his sheep trotter and gave a growl in confirmation.

"Okay, then," the former exorcist smiled as she tore the toast in half and held one out to her friend. "Say 'ah'!"

"Gwah!" he responded, flying up to grab the piece with his mouth as his hands were a bit too tiny for the task. The cheese-covered toast was quickly devoured regardless of his handicap, leaving him to let out a pleased rumble.

The young performer let out a light laugh before biting into the toast as well. "Yes, it really does taste good," she agreed upon swallowing her mouthful. All too soon the rest of that savory slice was consumed, its melted cheese briefly coating her tongue before disappearing down her throat and into her stomach. But the delicious, creamy taste still lingered on her tastebuds.

With the Welsh rarebit now gone, Ellen contently sighed and took a moment to observe her surroundings. She had chosen to set up her picnic by the lake on a whim, seeing as it was both quite far from the site of her recent performance and close enough to yet another hotel that deducing its status as either public or private property was hard to make. The only reason she decided to risk being escorted off by hotel employees was that her earlier food gathering had left her with such a huge armful of morsels by the time she reached the body of water, it would have been a hazard to try and go on.

Now, however, the street performer was glad to have stayed. While the lake had been artificially made – at least, that's what she had overheard from a group of tourists with what appeared to be a guide in one of their hands – its waters still shimmered underneath the sunlight and provided an undulating reflection of the clear sky above. Several boats were out on the body of water along with the local waterfowl, though the former group's mode of locomotion involved oars instead of legs. Some young men decided a more immersive experience was needed, and thus jumped into the water while wearing bathing suits. Though regardless of whether visitors went into the lake or simply appreciated it from the shore, there was no denying that it drew many in.

'Oh, can't forget about the refreshment stand,' the teenager reminded herself as she looked at the building yet again. 'That feature truly is worth it alone.'

Soon those silver-gray orbs strayed to the stretch of road connecting the lake to the rest of the town. Several types of vehicles traveled down that dusty trail to unload passengers. Carriages, dog carts, Bath chairs – if it could carry a person to and fro, it was used. If the eighteen-year-old had any doubt of the lake's popularity still lingering about in her mind, it had been wiped away by the sight of a determined elderly woman giving orders to accompanying footmen while she drove about in a self-propelled invalid carriage.

After absorbing the myriad of activity located far from their secluded spot near some trees and bushes, the former exorcist turned her head towards her beloved golem and asked, "Hey, Tim? Do you think it would be possible to stay an extra day in this town? To put on another performance, that is."

"Gwaoh?" Timcanpy growled in confusion as he paused his selection of a pickled whelk. Normally, the two of them would perform in a new town once, secure cheap lodgings or find a nice place to camp for the night, and then be on their way in the morning. That schedule was necessary for two reasons: it kept the ever-present threat of Akuma attacking her in populated surroundings low and left few clues that the Black Order could use to pick up her trail. Why would she want to change it?

The golem's human partner gave him a smile of understanding and began explaining her reasoning. "First of all, this spa town is full of tourists who arrive to take the waters and relax. We've already passed several hotels and boarding houses on the way to this lake, and over such a short distance. There's still the other side of town to go to. All of which means that the supply of potential customers is quite high."

She then discreetly slid out a wallet from her coat pocket. "Second, our funds are still low despite our earlier performance. Of course, I could always join a poker game and win more money-"

The golden golem made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort of disbelief.

"Please don't interrupt, Tim," Ellen scolded her partner with sparkling eyes and a finger lightly tapping his lips. "Now, as I was saying; while poker certainly brings in vastly larger earnings compared to street performance, other players would not always be sanguine with an eighteen-year-old girl walking away with so much." A rather wry grin appeared on her face as she said, "Not that I can't handle those who'd try and intervene in a physical way. Still, neither of us don't yet know the layout of this town enough for me to be able to make a quick escape without your help."

This time Timcanpy nodded as he munched on his whelk. While he had full faith in the former exorcist's ability to win fights, her impaired sense of direction added complications to reaching their future lodging as fast as possible. Yes, he often acted as a map or compass for her; but that alone necessitated them to spend a quite a bit of time wandering about to learn their surroundings.

"Granted, I most likely will squeeze in a poker game before we leave town," the street performer acknowledged with a light shrug of her shoulders. "But that will probably happen either tonight or tomorrow. Besides, I don't know exactly how much I'll need to bet to join a game. It wouldn't do to be short on cash regarding that. Which is where another performance would come in handy."

Devouring the last remains of his seafood treat, the golden golem turned to the teenager and gave her a questioning growl that she instantly understood.

"Hm? Other reasons?" the white-haired girl asked. Upon hearing her partner's growl of confirmation, she turned her head towards the ever-busy lake. But instead of taking in all the activity there, her silver-gray eyes glazed over as a memory from earlier in the day entered her mind. Once she delivered her final bow and the large audience began to disperse, she and Tim quickly gathered up props and secured their earnings in her large suitcase. But before they withdrew into a secluded alley where she could change into her streets, she caught sight of the little girl from before talking with a much larger man who might have been in his forties.

While she was too far away for Ellen to hear what she was talking about, it was very likely from the frantic arm gestures and hopping about that the topic being discussed was the recent performance. Despite having to lean away from the little girl a few times to avoid an accidental smack, the man – presumably her father – smiled and nodded along at the appropriate moments. Once the little girl ran out of things to say, her father chuckled and picked her up to seat her in the crook of one arm. The little girl, in response, wrapped her own thin arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Then without further ado, father and daughter left the square for their next destination.

It had been a commonplace but cozy sight; the kind depicted in sentimental ads to tug at the potential customer's heartstrings. For the street performer, though, it had been a bittersweet and nostalgic reminder of what she once had… and could never regain.

Pulling herself away from the recollection, the former exorcist sighed as she tried to find the words to justify her wish. A long sigh was exhaled before she settled with, "…I just- I want to linger in this place for a little longer…"

Timcanpy didn't need a more detailed explanation than that. He had also noticed the same father-daughter duo that captured the teenager's attention earlier. And, having been tasked by Cross with watching over Mana and Ellen from afar before the clown's death, he was thus aware of how the sight would have affected her. Letting out a concerned growl, he quickly flew over and started nuzzling her cheek.

The eighteen-year-old cracked a smile and let out a soft laugh. "I know that's not a very particularly compelling reason to deviate from our normal plan," she acknowledged while lightly scratching near the base of the golem's left horn, "but could you humor me just this once, Tim?"

"Gwaoh!" he replied positively after settling on her shoulder. In truth, he didn't mind staying one extra day. It was a bit risky, yes; but so long as they didn't linger too long for the Black Order or Akuma to show up, such an extended stay would be doable. Besides, Ellen needed a longer break. Already a skinny teen with a parasitic Innocence, her weight had been decreasing since they started their journey. She wasn't yet just skin and bones due to her muscles, but that would soon become an inevitability if more food wasn't secured.

Ellen grinned at her loyal friend and held up a cockle in front of him. "Thank you, Tim," she gratefully told him as he happily consumed the treat. But before she could select another morsel for herself, a sudden excited statement launched itself into the air and caught her off guard.

"Hey, did you hear the news? The Menagerie of Shocking Wonders has arrived today!"

Blinking in confusion, the street performer quickly noticed that the feminine-sounding voice had come from the other side of a nearby bush. 'I guess I'm not as alone as I thought,' she thought to herself while wondering who exactly was on the other side. Given that they were all several feet away from everyone else enjoying their day by the lake, the unforeseen group were most likely not wanting to interact with anyone else and thus wouldn't welcome her intruding on them.

But before the former exorcist could commit to minding her own business, another feminine voice questioned out loud, "Really? I thought they were still in America."

"Perhaps they got on an earlier ship or something?" the first person mused, though it was clear she wasn't too concerned on the exact logistics. That was further supported by her next statement dripping with anticipation. "Well, what matters is that they're here now and camped on the grounds of the Bridge Hotel!"

"Why are you getting so excited about this?" yet another female voice asked. Unlike the first two people, who sounded roughly around Ellen's age, this one sounded a few years older. She also didn't seem as interested in the topic at hand. "It's just some traveling menagerie."

"'Just some traveling menagerie'?" the first girl incredulously repeated with an affronted tone rattling her voice. She then began to hotly retort, "The Menagerie of Shocking Wonders is more than a wandering zoo. Unlike most menageries, which take on whatever animal they can get their hands on, this menagerie carefully selects the ones who will make up the main lineup during a global journey from Europe to Australia!"

"Alright, so they're a very picky menagerie. But I still don't see why they're so special," the older woman scoffed. Clearly, she was still not moved by the first girl's enthusiasm.

'She's starting to remind me of Kanda,' Ellen absently thought as she felt a strange sort of annoyed nostalgia wash over her.

"You haven't even heard me mention their selling point!" When there were no objections made, the first girl huffed and continued her impromptu sales pitch. "Now, the Menagerie of Shocking Wonders doesn't accept just any old animal to exhibit. It must be a specimen that stands out from the rest of its species for a certain reason, like their rare coloring, unnatural ability or infamy. And their most recent acquisitions blow the rest out of the water."

The street performer frowned in confusion over the last qualification. It sounded much more foreboding than the rest. 'Infamy?'

"And they are…?" the second girl gently broached as the designated peacemaker of the trio.

The first girl let a moment of silence pass, possibly to let tension build up a bit, before she excitedly revealed, "The Tsavo Man-Eaters!"

Timcanpy, who had been overhearing the conversation alongside Ellen, looked at her rapidly paling face with concern and touched her cheek with one of his tiny hands.

She didn't respond.

[Amber eyes stared into silver-gray]

The second voice gasped, then nervously whispered, "You mean the man-eating lions who killed all those construction workers employed by the Kenya-Uganda railway last year?"

"The very same," the first girl confirmed.

[Sharp fangs unveiled by rumbling yawns glinted ominously]

"That's impossible," the older woman countered with a hard tone. "The newspapers reported their extermination at the hands of Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson months ago. How can the lions in the menagerie be the same ones?"

"Maybe the wrong lions were shot while the real ones got away?" the second girl tentatively speculated, though she didn't sound convinced by her own guess.

"It's true! Look, here's a flyer about them that I found at the hotel." The crinkling of paper was heard next, suggesting that the first voice was taking the flyer out of a pocket and unfolding it. "See? 'Now featuring the man-killers who once stalked the banks of the Tsavo river'!"

[Large paws began creeping closer and closer]

The second girl let out a small noise of nervous surprise. The presumed oldest of the trio, however, dryly countered, "That only proves a printer was either willing or well paid enough to use his press to publish copies."

An annoyed growl sounded before more crinkling signaled the paper being put away. "Fine, be a naysayer. But we'll see who's right later tonight after seeing them."

[Hunger radiated into the space surrounding lean hides. They hadn't been fed that day]

"Wait, you're not actually going to drag us there with you, right?" the older woman asked with rising irritation.

"Why not?" the first girl questioned with a dash of taunting. "We don't have anything else to do beside taking the waters yet again."

"Well, at least we would be getting our money's worth… unlike with that menagerie."

"Why, you..!"

"Girls, calm down!"

The first girl and older woman launched into a loud argument that the second member tried and failed to curtail. Soon rustling noises joined the yelling before all noise slowly started to fade away. The most likely reason was that the group decided to withdraw to a more private location to continue their fighting.

Now that the trio was gone, the golden golem flew off his companion's deathly still shoulder to her hands tightly clutching one another in her lap. After watching the white knuckles strain for a second, he crawled over to the nearest finger – her left pinkie – and gnawed on it just hard enough for her to feel it without bleeding.

A hiss left her mouth once the pain finally reached her brain, thus breaking the spell of terror over her. After blinking in startled confusion, Ellen seemed to realize her current location didn't match up with where she had just been mentally imprisoned and let out a shaky sigh. "Sorry for blanking out like that, Tim," she apologized with a distant, empty smile as she focused her gaze back on him. "I was just… thinking about something."

"Gwaoh?" questioned Timcanpy, despite already knowing the answer.

Silver-gray eyes darkened, then listlessly drifted back down to her lap as she confirmed, "Yes… about that."

After taking a deep breath and releasing it into the air, the street performer surmised, "In any case, I guess we now know which hotel to avoid for our next performance, huh?"

"Gwaoh."

-x-

Of course, even the most ardent promise can be broken by the fickle hand of fate.

-x-

After the rest of their food was polished off, Ellen had Timcanpy hide in one of her coat pockets before throwing away their garbage and leaving the lake to search for accommodations. It took a long while of aimlessly wandering the spa town, but she eventually stumbled upon a small boarding house that had a 'Vacancy' sign displayed in the bay window. Talking to the kindly-looking elderly woman manning the front desk revealed that there was just one room available on the second floor. Luckily for her, the price for staying there until the day after tomorrow was within her budget and included meals at the boarding house. With a bed and some guaranteed amount of food in sight, she happily took the room under an assumed name (life with Cross had educated her on the usefulness of such techniques).

The elderly woman wasted no time in summoning her grandson and ordering him to take the younger female's suitcase and escort her (and unknowingly Timcanpy) to her room.

After some nervous stammering once he caught sight of Ellen, the gangly young man near her age managed to lift the admittedly heavy suitcase and lead her to where she (and Tim) would be staying. Curiously, he kept his eyes from ever straying to her face while he listed each of the boarding house's amenities.

Once the young man settled the suitcase on the floor of the room and closed the door as he exited, the street performer sat on the bed with a soft sigh of content. "Well, Tim," she said while removing Timcanpy from the coat pocket and taking a good long look of their temporary quarters, "I think we'll be quite comfortable here, won't we?"

The golden golem nodded as he too surveyed the room. It was a bit on the smaller end, having only a single bed, one side table, a skinny wardrobe, a wall clock, and a small writing desk for furniture. But the wallpaper adorning the outer vertical space depicted unending lines of cheery daisies, baby's breath and other small flowers, and the window overlooking the writing desk was open to allow fresh air to circulate. The only possible thing to complain about was the lack of a water closet, but the nervous grandson had already explained that each floor had communal lavatories and baths separated by gender.

The former exorcist took off her coat and stretched her arms over her head to get rid of any remaining tension in her back. Once she was done, she let out a sigh of relief and looked up at the wall clock. Its circular face had the long hand about halfway between the number five and six, while the short hand remained firmly on the number one.

"Hmm… if I remember what I was just told correctly, dinner will be served at four. That means we have about two and a half hours to spend on other things," the teenager mused out loud as she walked over to the window and peered outside. Timcanpy, not wanting to be left out, landed on her right shoulder so he could also look out.

The boarding house was in a nice spot for prospective guests, being near the train station and close enough to shops for them to visit. Quite a few windows, including Ellen's own, carried boxes of small but colorful flowers to brighten up their surroundings. And the street below carried plenty of people and vehicles making their way at a brisk pace.

'Maybe we could get more food?' she considered as her eyes fell upon a nearby bakery. 'I still feel a bit peckish-' her stomach grumbled in support of that- '-and we're far enough from the carts and stores we've already visited that the chances of being recognized are too low…'

As the white-haired girl weighed out the pros and cons in detail, silver-gray eyes idly ran down the length of the street without truly absorbing much. But soon a shadow flitting across the wall of an alley on the other side sent a cold shiver up her spine and forced her to try to find it again.

"Wait, did you see that, Tim?"

The golden golem broke out of a staring contest he somehow gotten into with a nearby butterfly bush and turned to regard his friend with confusion. "Gwaoh?"

"There." Pointing to where she last saw the shadow, Ellen explained, "Something moved over there. It looked like a large cat…"

'Or a li-'

The street performer shook her head to stop herself from completing that thought, further bewildering her constant companion. "No, it was probably nothing."

'The conversation from earlier must have me more paranoid…'

"Why don't we start searching for where card games are held in this town?" the former exorcist offered with a slightly too bright smile. "As well as all emergency exit routes?"

The golem stared at his friend for a few moments in concern, but eventually gave a full-body nod in confirmation. Then, once the teenager put on her coat again, he hid himself in between the turned-up collar and her neck and kept quiet as they left their room.

'Let's see, if anti-gambling organizations are powerful in Llandrindod Wells, poker games will either be held in remote or private locations…' the white-haired girl silently mused while walking down the street. Silver-gray eyes discreetly scanned the buildings, while pale fingers kept a small enough hole to allow Timcanpy to peek out without being spotted. 'The surrounding villages might have taverns and pubs where the occasional game will happen, but the pots will be lower. Upper class tourists could host higher-stakes games in their hotel rooms, but access would be more restrictive. Though if it turns out the latter regarding those organizations, the hotels could possibly have a casino attached…'

"What do you think, Tim?" she whispered to the golem after slipping down an abandoned alley once their tour was complete.

"Gwaoh."

"Oh, you think we should go for hotel room games tonight?" Ellen felt her eyes wander up to the sky as she gave the suggestion serious thought. Then a slight grimace appeared on her lips as she remembered the upper-class men and women entering one such establishment. "While I can't deny the rewards would be great, I doubt the doormen would let me through, even if I was dressed up in that suit."

'That suit' referred to a young man's formal suit in her suitcase that she had found at Mother's house, and over the course of her journey had proven quite useful. Not only did it serve as a great emergency disguise since the Black Order were looking for a girl, but it also helped her gain entrance to more middle-class establishments. Unfortunately, the suit just wasn't high-quality enough for the venues she was thinking about.

Timcanpy though, had an answer. He crawled up until half of him could be seen over the rim of her coat collar and then pointed straight ahead. "Gwa!"

"Hm?" the street performer murmured in confusion, then followed the direction signaled by her friend to arrive at a shop window displaying a beautiful evening gown. Realization of what he was communicating made her blush and turn back to frantically whisper, "Wait, are you saying that I should wear that dress?!"

'That dress', like with 'that suit', referred to a specific article of clothing retrieved from Mother's house. Unlike the suit, though, it had rarely been brought out of the suitcase to see the light of day.

The reason – well, the main reason – made the uncomfortable former exorcist say, "But Tim, don't you think that dress isn't… right for the task?"

"Gwaoh?" Timcanpy questioned with his version of a head tilt.

"No, that's not the issue. The materials are high-quality enough that I wouldn't immediately come across as not belonging to such a crowd," the teenager sighed as she reluctantly acknowledged the dress's strongpoint. "My concern is the neckline. It's cut rather… low."

Now the golden golem gave her an expression that was remarkably similar to a raised eyebrow. Then he made a gesture that mimicked a fluttering skirt while his wings gathered to invoke ponytails.

Ellen huffed and pinched Timcanpy's surprisingly elastic cheek to stop his impression of her (hopefully still) good friend. "Okay, so it's not as revealing as Lenalee's skirts could be if she ever ditched wearing those shorts underneath. But still…" She let out a sigh after releasing his cheek, then turned her eyes to unseeing observe the narrow point of view the alley gave of the street.

Once free, the golden golem gave a pseudo-huff and quickly nipped her finger. But then he followed it up by nuzzling against her face, as he knew had brought the pinch upon himself.

The street performer softly laughed and scratched her affectionate companion. Then she pushed aside her own embarrassment regarding the dress to impartially consider the option. "… I guess I could try it on in my room," she finally said as a compromise. "Just to confirm how it looks on me. If it looks okay… well, perhaps I'll be playing poker at a high-class club, after all. But if not, we'll go with the pubs, okay?"

"Gwaoh!"

"Good. Now, let's narrow down our potential targets."

Several hours later, after a very filling dinner of, a slightly nervous Ellen tilted a borrowed hand mirror in several ways. As there was no full body mirror for her to stand in front of, she could only rely on the hand mirror to see small glimpses of her total appearance.

But despite the restricted view, the beauty of the evening dress – made of lavender-colored silk with ruching on its puffy sleeves, braid trim and a lace-lined square neckline that stopped just before the swell of her bosom – was plain to see. A high collared cape was laid out on the bed next to Timcanpy which would provide additional warmth until she entered the hotel. Long black opera gloves covered up her Innocence arm, while the other Innocence markings and her facial scar were hidden a special skin cream (the recipe having been a gift from one of Cross's… favorite ladies of the night) that perfectly matched her skin color. Given the chosen location was patronized by a fast crowd who didn't mind women – those who didn't mind their skirts being flipped up, at least – wearing makeup, she had colored her lips a light pink. Completing the look were a delicate-looking purse which held both the money needed for the initial bet and a hand fan she had won at an earlier game.

"Well, I guess the neckline doesn't expose as much as I thought it would. Though I still don't know why Cross marked this and that cape as birthday presents for me," Ellen muttered while smoothing a hand over the dress's bodice. As she didn't really want to contemplate her master's reasoning, however, she turned her attention over to the golden golem. After a twirl to give him a full look, she asked while patting her upswept hair decorated with a single pink rose, "Are you sure I won't look out of place, Tim?"

"Gwaoh!" the little winged ball happily nodded with a wide grin.

A light blush settled on pale cheeks before the street performer smiled and picked Timcanpy for a quick cuddle. "I doubt I truly look that good. But thank you for the compliment…"

'Now I just need to sneak out. From what I overheard in the halls earlier, the innkeeper wouldn't approve of me leaving to go out dressed like this. Especially if she learns it's for gambling,' the former exorcist thought to herself as she glanced at the door separating her room from the rest of the inn. 'Just my luck that she's a Welsh counterpart to a stereotypical National Anti-Gambling League member…'

Nevertheless, it was time for them to leave. So, she transferred her golem to one hand while the other opened the purse as wide as possible. "In you go, Tim," she told him while holding it in front of him.

Once he had crawled into the purse and the cape found itself secured over her shoulders, she slowly opened the door and peaked out to check her surroundings. When it became clear that no one else in sight, she fully came out of her room and quickly locked it. The skirts of her dress were lifted an inch above the ground to ensure she wouldn't trip over them as she briskly walked down the hallway and towards a flight of stairs leading to a back entrance that seemed rarely used when she first came upon it.

Thankfully, her luck held out and she ran into nobody after reaching the second entrance and slipping through its door. It opened into an alley that, thankfully, was remarkably clean. Sure, there were a few stray bits of garbage littering the space, but it nowhere reached the amount to make her worried about accidentally soiling the dress before she reached her destination. Nevertheless, she made sure her skirts never touched the ground while she quickly traversed the alley.

Once she had stepped onto the open street, she turned her head left and right in search of transportation. Soon a hansom cab was spotted parked at a cabstand a few feet down the road. The driver was obscured by the newspaper in his hands as he sat on the raised seat behind the main body of the cab, while the horse responsible for moving everything was contently enjoying whatever was in its feed bag.

Ellen quickly made her way towards the hansom cab. Once she was besides the vehicle, she turned to face the driver and called out, "Excuse me, how much is it per ride?"

The newspaper fell to reveal the rough face of the driver already directed towards the street performer. But the voice that responded to her question was surprisingly soothing and polite. "Two shillings, miss."

'A bit pricy… but I can afford it,' the former exorcist decided as she nodded to show her acceptance of the fare. "Can you please take me where I need to go?"

"Of course," the driver answered, quickly folding the newspaper, setting it aside and fiddling with a lever before he climbed down from the seat. The feed bag attached to the horse was soon removed – to the horse's chagrin – and also put away, the passenger door was opened for the teenager, and a hand even offered despite her protests that she could climb into the cab without assistance. But his gentle persistence swayed her, and thus she was helped into the vehicle. After locking the door and climbing back up to his own seat, he opened the trapdoor on top of the cab to ask the most important question: "Where to, miss?"

"The Silver Soiree Hotel, please," Ellen replied as she looked up at the driver. She held back asking if he knew where the building was, as she didn't want to insult the man's knowledge of his hometown.

That was the correct response, as the man nodded with a confident smile. Keeping the trapdoor open to ensure future communication, he then adjusted the reins on final time before flicking the leather leads and clicking his tongue to start his horse. The animal obeyed and began moving in the direction his partner had indicated, thereby pulling the hansom cab along with him.

The eighteen-year-old sighed and sunk into the cab's leather seat. 'It looks like we're finally on our way…' she mused, staring listlessly through the window to the rest of the street going by.

'Now… I need to think about just how I'll get in once we arrive…'

-x-

During Ellen and Timcanpy's earlier search for high-stakes poker games, they consulted a map of the entirety of Llandrindod Wells. What made them settle for the Silver Soiree Hotel had been its quite well-off but not the least puritanical clientele and the reasonable distance between it and the boarding house.

What they hadn't paid attention to, however, was the buildings not immediately surrounding the building. As such, the fact that the Bridge Hotel was within walking distance of the other had escaped them.

-x-

"Reveal your cards," the reedy voice belonging to the old valet serving as dealer echoed throughout the smoky room. That was not an easy feat, giving the guffaws and loud quips most of the players were indulging in. Still, that statement managed to make itself be heard above everything else and was obeyed by those at the table.

The dealer patiently waited for each hand to be flipped face up, then examined them all to figure out who would end up the current round's winner. His eyes sharpened upon beholding one particular hand and after checking the others to make sure, the pile of accumulated chips was pushed towards the one who played it.

"The winner is… the young lady in lavender with the royal flush!"

Ellen affected an embarrassed flush as all eyes fell upon her. "Thank you," she softly said to the dealer once her new chips had been added to the substantial pile accumulated from previous wins.

The dealer didn't reply as he gathered her and the others' old cards to start the next round. Though she had noticed a certain sparkle in his dark eyes…

"I say," the aristocrat sitting on the street performer's right chuckled as he looked at her with what he thought was a roguish grin, "that's the fifth game you won in a row, miss!"

The former exorcist kept up her flustered mask as she looked upon him. After being dropped off by the hansom cab driver, she had wasted no time in searching for someone who would allow her to tag along for a poker game. Her eventually pick had been this man – a Lord Dunbridge, if she remembered correctly – as he had taken the time to linger in front of the building instead of immediately going in and seemed receptive enough to talk to women who approached him on the street. She ended up being right, as it took very little convincing for him to end up inviting her to a game with him and the rest of his friends. The only problem was he wasn't as charming and gallant as he thought. Rather, two better words to describe him were 'obnoxious' and 'boorish'.

Despite such flaws, though, the white-haired girl merely replied in a convincingly humble manner, "It's merely beginner's luck, sir."

The blond nobleman gave a light amused snort at her assertion of random chance. "If only I experienced the same when I began gambling, then my fortunes would rival those of the royal family."

"The night is still young, sir," she calmly consoled him while watching the cards being dealt out. "I'm sure your luck will turn around."

Lord Dunbridge's serpent green eyes gleamed as they traced the length of her neckline. "It might… if you become my good luck charm," the man practically propositioned.

Red flooded her cheeks once more. The surrounding aristocrats took it to mean she was embarrassed by what Dunbridge's tone implied and chuckled at her perceived innocence.

Anyone who knew Ellen would have begged to differ, though. Already alert from the sense that something or someone dangerous was nearby, the eighteen-year-old had to restrain her anger at the covetous tone in the crass nobleman's voice.

'Not even in your dreams, you lecher.'

"Please don't tease me like that, sir," she instead demurely murmured with a flutter of her pale eyelashes, taking up her cards and trying to use them as an ineffectual shield.

The blond took it as license to flirt even more, grinning as he said, "No need to be so shy, my dear." One hand, soft from a lifetime deficiency of hard work and nearly as pale as her right, then patted his lap much in the same way one would do to entice a dog or cat to come up and rest. "Why don't you sit on my lap? It's even more comfortable than that chair."

"It wouldn't be appropriate, sir," the street performer gently rejected as she focused her eyes on the cards in front of her. "And how would I play like that? You would see my cards," she also pointed out with a very innocent tone.

"Yeah, Dunbridge," another aristocrat, who had been miffed at his friend for arriving with a pretty young girl and insisting she be allowed to join their game, crowed out after betting some chips. "You don't want to be labeled a cheater like Sir William Gordon-Cummings, do you?"

The former exorcist fought to not grit her teeth as malicious snickering from everyone else went round the table. Her knowledge about whether or not Sir Cummings actually cheated at a baccarat game with the Prince of Wales present was limited to old rumors and a glance at the newspaper clipping about the civil suit he lost. However, the fact that the others found his and his entire family's disgrace and snubbing from the rest of the upper classes to be quite amusing left a most unpleasant taste in her mouth.

Dunbridge had pouted a bit at the earlier comparison, but soon laughed along with his friends. After wiping away a stray tear, he leaned into her personal space and proposed, "Then just fold and pull your chips next to mine. That way you can still watch the game without any worry about cheating happening."

'That last ship has already sailed, you peacock,' the teenager sardonically thought as she carefully kept her right arm straight so no one would notice the cards hidden underneath. But her face put on the façade of being amiably surprised by his solution. "Why, I haven't thought of something like that," she gasped with faux admiration as she placed her own bet.

"I'm quite inventive, aren't I?" the blond gloated, his average-width chest puffing up with pride. His eyes then flew once again towards the bodice of her dress, while a hand reached out to pull her chair closer to his. "And it doesn't just apply to card games, of course," he leered.

Ellen transferred her cards to one hand as the other retreated underneath the table and balled up into a fist. She was seriously losing her patience with the aristocrat. But as she began reviewing all the ways she could get him to stop without ending up ejected from the card game through her head, strange thumps and bangs could be heard from the direction of the door.

"What was that sound?" she asked, turning her head to look at the door behind her.

Dunbridge and the other nobles also directed his gaze towards the entrance – though there was considerably more annoyance and apathy in their gazes than her own. "I don't know…" he admitted, then switched over to where another servant stood by ready to fulfill any requests made by the aristocrats. "You, boy!"

The servant, who actually appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties, stood up even straighter and asked, "Yes, sir?"

"Find out whatever is causing that racket and stop it! We're trying to have a card game here," the blonde aristocrat commanded in a bored manner, finally taking the time to place his chips.

"Yes, sir," the servant immediately nodded, then strode over to the door, opened it, and quietly closed it behind him.

With that taken care of, the poker game resumed. "Now, my dear," Dunbridge huskily whispered to Ellen after the dealer asked all players to reveal their hands, "about what we were just talking about-"

"AAAHHH!"

The blond aristocrat clenched his teeth at the interruption to his latest target's seduction. "Now what?"

Frantic footsteps grew exponentially louder, until the door itself was thrown open to reveal the servant from before. His calm demeanor had now been replaced by terror as he stood in the doorway, clutching the frame as he tried to catch his breath. Once he recovered enough to not babble nonsensically, he yelled out, "Lions! Down the hall!"

Blood drained out of the street performer's face at that dreadful word. Had she still been holding her cards, they would have fell in a heap on the table. "It can't be…"

"Have you no manners, you stupid boy?!" the lecher roared, rising from his seat to deliver a verbal thrashing. "Running in the halls, disturbing your betters, and delivering such a bold-faced lie about there being-"

"GRAWR!"

"GRAOH!"

Those two roars effectively damaged Dunbridge's assumptions that the servant was a mad man who needed to be sacked immediately. But what truly killed them – along with Ellen's fervent hope that this was all just a bad dream – were the two lions that slipped through the doorway left empty once the servant had heard them behind him.

They pretty much looked like one would expect members of their species to appear, save for one detail. Despite each having a complete set of male genitalia, no dark mane crowned their heads and settled around their shoulders. From afar, one would confuse them for lionesses.

Still, that didn't change the most important fact: they were apex predators, with the fangs and claws to match.

For a long second, neither human nor animal moved. The humans out a disbelief that what they were seeing with their own eyes was actually real, and the animals out of a wariness of attacking such a large group.

Then, time resumed its flow.

"Damn you, bloody beasts! Hold still!" one drunk man roared as he tried to shoot the two lions with a revolver he kept on his person. However, a lifetime of heavy drinking had left his hands a shaky mess even when he was sober. Thus, while his enthusiasm kept the bullets coming, the erratic jerking of his hands ensured that none of them actually found a new home in any part of the lions. The most he accomplished was grazing the larger of them, leading to the angered beast lunging towards the human. If not for the quick-thinking and sure-footed valet pulling him back, he would have soon found himself with his throat ripped out.

The other men, however, chose flight rather than fight. Lord Dunbridge was the first to flee, screaming like a baby as he ran around the poker table and out of the emergency exit one servant had opened for him. While their exits weren't as loud, the other aristocrats and servants also hurried towards the other door as fast as possible. Frantic shoving and elbowing were commonplace in that crowd squeezing through the only exit route opposite of the lions. The last man to leave had the presence of mind to close the door behind him, at least.

Ellen, however, hadn't joined the rest. Those two sets of amber eyes kept her rooted in place, as a mute sense of panic shut down every type of response.

The lions also stared back. Though not actually man-eaters as the menagerie's owner had advertised, the reduced amount of food they were given since being captured by the Tsavo river and shipped off to Great Britain had left them malnourished… and not as picky regarding prey. Another point in their favor was that they outnumbered her two to one. With just enough coordination, they could easily bring her down.

But despite those advantages, the lions didn't immediately attack her. There just something about her that made them think twice about lunging towards her as one of them did regarding the irritating drunk. A powerful aura, for lack of a better term. But it wasn't the one centered around her left arm, though that one was concerning enough. Rather, it was something darker and more oppressive simmering underneath the surface…

Timcanpy, having wiggled himself out of his hiding place during the earlier confusion, threateningly growled at the two mane-less lions as he floated in front of the frozen girl. He wasn't about to let those predators harm even a single hair on her head.

But eventually, something snapped everyone out of the trance-like stalemate: a muffled groan.

Immediately turning her head towards where the sound came from, Ellen quickly noticed someone crumpled in a heap by the far wall. 'That's the servant who burst into the room before the lions,' she quietly gasped as realization came upon her. 'He must have been knocked out during the earlier stampede.'

Then a sinking possibility entered her mind and forced her to return her gaze to the lions. To her great horror, their focus was no longer on her: an upright and healthy looking human. They were now on the servant: unconscious and vertical prey.

'No.'

With eyes only on the servant, the lions slowly began rounding the poker table and stalking towards him. As ambush predators, it was always best to get as close to their prey as possible before pouncing.

Ellen couldn't look away from the slowly developing tragedy.

'No.'

The two male lions then stopped, a few inches from their target. They could have gotten closer, but the distance they did end up settling on was still good enough for their intentions. They then shimmied their shoulders in preparation for the final action.

One that she herself had nearly been subjected to as a child, if not for interference by Timcanpy.

The golem renewed his already urgent prodding of her cheek, desperate to get her to snap out of her trauma-induced trance.

'No!'

With their warm-ups completed and a gleam of anticipation in their eyes, the two lions leapt up and-

"Crown Clown, activate!"

Instead of being greeted with soft flesh to tear and bite, the two lions were surprised by the wall of white cloth that somehow caught and caused them to fall onto the floor. After taking a few minutes to get back onto their feet, they turned their attention back to where their prey had been prostate and saw something even more confusing.

Their prey was now wrapped up in a white cocoon made up of the same cloth that stopped their pounce earlier. Another scent was mixed up with their prey's, which they recognized as belonging to the girl they had first sized up after most of the humans had stampeded from the room. And hovering in front of the cocoon was some strange, growling bird with teeth and horns!

Bewilderment at the most recent chain of events, however, quickly turned into hunger-fueled rage and desperation. How dare that cocoon swallow up not only one prey, but two? They desperately needed greater sustenance, no thanks to the cruel menagerie owner they had just escaped from due to one of the workers forgetting to lock their cage after retrieving a toy thrown inside by a rude child. And now that long awaited moment of finally filling their bellies was snatched away.

With no other recourse left in their minds, the lions lunged at the cocoon to force it to drop at least one body. Unfortunately, what they perceived to be a bird launched itself at them at the same time.

"Gwaoh!" Timcanpy growled as he sunk his fangs into the larger lion's right ear and ripped the tip of it right off.

The larger lion let out a yowl of pain as it recoiled from that bodily injury. The smaller lion immediately stopped his advance on the cocoon and returned to his brother's side to disinfect the bleeding wound with his rasping tongue. A low rumble of thanks was given once the task was complete before both sets of amber eyes fixated on the strange bird. Clearly, they would have to eliminate it first before going after the cocoon. As such, they switched to swiping and biting at the flying nuisance.

While Timcanpy fought with the lions and evaded their attacks, Ellen struggled to move towards the other entrance and keep Crown Clown activated. The problem wasn't the weight of her unconscious passenger, but the knowledge that the source of her old trauma was still nearby.

'Come on, Ellen!' the street performer scolded her body while it slowly shuffled towards the route towards freedom. 'You can't let your fear stop you this time! Especially when the life of someone else hangs in the balance, as well!'

With determination and force of will alone, she managed to reach the entrance without her innocence deactivating. But just as she opened the shut door and prepared to take a step over the threshold, she heard a sudden cry of pained surprise pierce the fog of concentration that enveloped her brain.

A familiar cry.

'Oh, no! Tim!'

Whipping her head to look behind her, she was greeted by the sight of Timcanpy pinned to the floor by the larger lion. The bite force exerted by the lion didn't shatter the golem's body like certain Akuma have done in the past, but it was enough to render him immobile while large cracks started erupting from underneath the animal's fangs. Both of his wings were also pinned down by giant paws.

With the threat of the golem neutralized for now, the smaller lion took the opportunity to creep closer towards Ellen and the still unconscious servant to resume the earlier hunt. The sight of which made her heart tremble and caused Crown Clown to waver enough that the cloak around her trembling shoulders momentarily blinked in and out of existence.

With little time to spare, the former exorcist placed her passenger on the other side of the threshold and quickly closed the door. Then, after swallowing her fear and steeling her heart, she turned to face the threats with tightly shut eyes and shouted, "Clown Belt!"

The bottom of the pure white cloak immediately started separating into several ragged ribbons which shot straight towards the two lions and wrapped them up like mummies. The animals snarled and tried to free themselves by ripping the ribbons with their claws. Unfortunately for them, the cloak repaired itself at a high enough speed that no progress could be made.

Ellen let out a shaky sigh of relief, then hurried over to where Timcanpy was. Due to the suddenness of the Clown Belt attack, the larger lion had let go of the golem as the former was being encased in white ribbons. Thus, the latter was now lying a few inches away from his attacker on the floor: damaged, but alive.

The street performer knelt down as she cycled through a myriad of emotions. "Oh, Tim…" she said in a soft voice as while carefully scooping up her loyal companion. "Thank you for distracting them like that."

"Gwaoh…" the golden golem replied as he tried to grin at his friend but ended up grimacing.

A sorrowful smile crossed the former exorcist's lips at his attempt to cheer her up, then a pale finger carefully rubbed his scarred surface as she sighed, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Unfortunately, in her haste to get to Timcanpy, Ellen failed to notice one crucial detail. Though the lions couldn't free themselves from their prison, they could still squirm around and vocally protest. And just as she was about to rise up and quickly exit the room, the lion in closest proximity let out a loud snarl and rolled far enough that he bumped into her. These sudden actions rattled her so much that her Innocence deactivated by her irrational fear.

Leaving the lions free… and herself defenseless.

After a quick growl of confusion at their sudden release, the larger lion then noticed just how close he was to the human – now frozen with fear as she cradled the strange bird in her hands. Realizing that a golden opportunity had been laid at his paws, the lion quickly pounced and secured his jaws around her left shoulder.

"AHH!" the white-haired girl screamed as those gleaming fangs sunk deep enough to reach bone. Pain immediately radiated from the bite and spread throughout the rest of her body. But it wasn't enough to shock her out of her fear and force her to do something. Instead, it further immobilized her.

Timcanpy growled out in alarm and tried to escape from Ellen's hands in order to protect her. Unfortunately, her fingers were clutched around him so tightly that he couldn't do so without harming her.

With his hold on her shoulder, the larger lion forced her down on her back and then growled at his younger brother. It was time for the finishing blow.

A prisoner of her fear-paralyzed mind, Ellen could only look up at the ceiling as she her the smaller lion answer with a chuff and then move closer. There was no doubt of what was about to happen to her now. Even if the larger lion wasn't biting down on her innocence arm, she was too terrified to invoke Crown Clown again.

'I'm going to die here,' she suddenly realized with a bleak sense of detachment. 'Not at the hands of the Earl, or the other Noah… or even my former comrades…'

Then, just as she felt the smaller lion's breath hit her neck, a sudden memory flashed through her. It featured heavy snow made into whimsical snowmen and biting cold chased away by warm hugs. And the person responsible for turning harsh reality into fun? He stood in the center, smiling down at a younger her with that same spacey, not all together look that dominated most of their interactions once they left Garvey's Circus. Still, despite his weak grasp of reality, the man never failed to instill a sense of safety and love in her.

'Mana-'

It happened so fast.

A confused snarl from the smaller lion rang throughout the room, before being quickly followed up by the sound of something landing harshly against the ground and rolling away. Then a sickly crack of bones breaking followed up by the larger lion's growl of pain and anguish, the sudden retraction of his fangs from her shoulders, and another sound of harsh landings punctuated the air. Finally, the last voice she would have ever expected to hear made itself be known.

"Well, well… It's been a long time, hasn't it, menina?"

Silver-gray eyes flickered in the direction of where that greeting came from, then widened at the sight of a smartly dressed Tyki Mikk stuck halfway through the floor next to her. That quickly changed, though. After adjusting his power of Choice, the Noah then began rising up in order to actually stand on the floor. It was only when she began floating up as well that she realized he had arranged his arms so he could end up carrying her. A hiss of pain escaped her lips as she felt something press down on her wounds, and a white handkerchief kept in place by one of his tentacles was briefly glimpsed out of the corner of her eye.

Once his body was properly inside the room, the dark-haired man gave her an alluring smirk while looking down and said, "I just wish this long-awaited meeting had been during a less… unconventional time for you."

At first, Ellen could do nothing but blankly stare up at those golden eyes flashing with twisted humor and playfulness. But once his presence and the lions' distance finally sunk in… a flurry of tears started leaking from her eyes and racing down her cheeks and jaw.

'…safe.'

The amused expression on Tyki's face morphed into shock at the sight of the normally strong-willed girl freely crying. "Menina?"

Had it been any other situation, the street performer would have immediately wiped away her tears and downplay them. But her wound bled and throbbed with each note of her heartbeat, reminding her what could have happened to her had the Noah not shown up. The knowledge that she had been spared transformed those mere tears into quiet sobs which made her body tremble. Yet even those sobs couldn't remain silent, gathering in intensity until audible wails – her wails – were released from within.

'I'm safe…'

Her eyes, now shut due to being choked by tears, couldn't see the Portuguese man's face as he beheld her breakdown. But she could still hear and feel.

"Menina, don't cry," a low voice cajoled her. It sounded bewildered… but also caring and concerned for her. A comforting touch on her head and a soothing growl followed shortly afterwards. Tim had finally managed to escape her clutches without her being aware and was now working to ease her tears the best way he knew how.

Their efforts only further fueled her outpouring of fear and relief. Her right arm threw itself around Tyki's neck and was used as an anchor for her to bury her face into his shoulder. Her wounds punished her rash action with increased pain, but she didn't care.

'I'm safe!'

The adrenaline that had flooded her system the moment the lions arrived had finally run its course, allowing fatigue from both physical and mental exertion to overtake her body and push it towards unconsciousness.

The teenager didn't fight the impending moment. As her tears trickled away and her breathing returned to a most regular rhythm, she welcomed it after letting one last relieved thought flit through her mind.

'I'm… safe…'

-x-

"Menina? Ellen! Não vai a dormir! (Don't go to sleep!)"

Tyki lightly tapped the former exorcist's cheek with one of his free tentacles but got no response. Had it not been for the sluggishly bleeding wounds on her shoulder, he would have tried to gently shake her awake.

But she was bleeding. And not from being attacked by Akuma, or from the stigmata which served as the final sign of fully becoming a Noah cutting through her forehead. Blood – her blood – had been shed by animals.

Animals that, somehow, had terrified her so much that she barely put in any resistance.

'Better deal with them first.'

"Well, now," the Portuguese man drawled out in a tone far less hospitable than the one he used for Ellen, "I have to say you're pretty unlucky lions."

Indeed, the pair of predators looked pretty pathetic as the cowered in the far corner of the room. Though, to be honest, being roughly thrown there by tentacles and either having your or seeing your brother's paw be broken by said appendages would cause any creature to abandon any ideas of defiance. The lions, having grown up and lived in the wild for three years, were smart enough to recognize a predator stronger than them. And the human-like being, with gray skin, black forehead markings and tentacles, was certainly a higher-tiered predator.

Golden eyes devoid of any warmth further pinned the two big cats in their place as he walked towards them. Because Ellen was in his arms, the pace was carefully slow and stately so as not to aggravate the deep bite marks decorating her left shoulder. However, such an extended time taken to reach the felines made their fear grow with every echoing step taken as the Noah continued, "Not only did you somehow managed to terrorize my menina, but you also wounded and tried to devour her."

After what seemed to the lions to have been an eternity, Tyki finally stood in front of them. His tentacles not preoccupied with stopping the former exorcist from bleeding out waved and lashed threateningly behind him. "You know, though I can't say I'm one of those animal rights people, I don't go about randomly torturing animals for fun," he stated in a strangely benign yet terrifying manner. A sudden memory of his tendency to eat koi fish alive had him amending, "While I eat them, perhaps, but not for fun."

Suddenly his neutral face twisted into a haunting, rage-filled visage that scared the two felines from the bottom of their hearts. "However, given the sins you two have committed tonight…" he hissed out with more venom than a black mamba could ever hope to produce, "I'm starting to feel the urge to deliver more justice than just some bruises and a broken paw." Immediately, two large Teese emerged from his body and floated closer to the animals. Their grotesque faces gleamed ominously under the candlelight – gaslight was simply too middle-class for the hotel's aristocratic guests – while their needle-like teeth chattered excitedly over the prospect of new playthings at their disposal.

Ellen's golem Timcanpy, who had since migrated from her head to her chest, bared surprisingly pointy teeth and growled down at the big cats. It quite obviously shared his sentiments on the topic.

The lions whimpered and lowered their heads to the floor, resigning themselves to a bloody and prolonged end. But before the Noah could follow up on his threatening promise, footsteps and murmurings reached his ears and made him grit his teeth in frustration. Whoever was rushing up the stairs and down the hall was most likely doing so to retrieve the wild animals.

'They'll soon arrive,' the Portuguese man concluded based on how rapidly the noises were growing louder. After directing a scalding glare to the now timid felines, he wrapped his remaining tentacles around Ellen, the golems and himself and jumped. To the shock of the animals, the strange group phased through the ceiling and disappeared.

And not a moment too soon, as a burly man in rough clothes showed up at the threshold of the room immediately afterward.

Because of the breakneck speed the newcomer had just ran at, he spent a few moments to catch his breath. But after catching sight the lions, he straightened up from his position at the doorframe and turned back to say, "Sir, the lions are in here!"

"Well, what are you waiting for?" a bellowing voice roared out from far behind the crowd of working-class men gathering in front of the room. "Capture them now, you idiots!"

"Yes, sir!" the first man responded. Switching his gaze to his fellows, he commanded them, "Come on now, lads!"

The men nodded and followed their leader into the room. As they were dealing with wild animals, each of them was equipped with whips, chains and collars, makeshift shields, sticks, and ropes. The two last to enter pulled two cages small enough to fit through a doorway – and practically ensured the lions would be cramped during the journey back to the menagerie.

Those with shields carefully inched closer to the beasts, ready to protect the others from sudden lunges or swipes of the paws. But they quickly noticed something unusual: instead of snarling at the approaching men, the lions remained curled up and whimpering. One particularly sharp-eyed individual caught how the right paw of the larger animal hung down awkwardly. He shared this with his fellow shield men, who passed it on to those closest to them until it eventually reached the nominal leader. When he heard that fact, he turned back to the hallway and called out, "Uh, sir?"

"What?" the voice from earlier growled in annoyance.

"It appears that one of them has a broken paw."

"That's all? Why tell me something that can wait until we get back? Just get them out of there before the police show up! We already have to leave town because of those stupid beasts!"

The working-class man glanced back at the injured lion and couldn't help but wince as he responded, "Yes, sir!"

With that the men coaxed the surprisingly docile lions into their emergency cages, secured them with locks and chains, and then expediently removed them from the room.

Unbeknownst to all of them, however, a smaller Teese had been watching everything from outside a window. Once the last man left, the butterfly-like golem flew up to an open window on the floor above and went inside to deliver its report to Tyki Mikk.

"So, the menagerie owner's running away…" the Noah darkly muttered to himself after letting the Teese sink back into his body. But then he remembered the cadre of Akuma he had ordered from the spa town once he sensed Ellen's presence.

'They should still be nearby…'

With a malicious chuckle, he sent a mental order to the Akuma to pay a late-night visit to the menagerie after it was a good distance away from the spa town.

Golden eyes then drifted back towards the still unconscious girl in his arms. The sight of her too-pale face and the blood roses steadily blooming on the cloth still pressed on her shoulder drove away his glee and left behind only worry and concern. 'Now, to get her medical attention,' he resolved, phasing them all out of the building before running on air towards his hotel room, 'and fast…'

Soon, but not quick enough for the dark-haired man, a middle-aged doctor was inspecting Ellen's bite marks as he carefully cleaned them. "Hmm… these wounds are quite deep. Though that shouldn't be surprising, given they were inflicted by a lion," the older man sighed to himself as he put aside the used linen cloth on the nightstand and, unlike many of his colleagues across Great Britain, cleaned his hands for the next step.

The twenty-seven-year-old in his White noble form, standing on the opposite side of the bed cradling the former exorcist, steadily looked at the doctor with his arms crossed. "You can help her, though?"

The older man nodded and began rummaging through his satchel. "Don't worry, my lord. I have plenty of experience treating animal bites and suturing wounds," he reassured the younger man as he took out a needle and chromic catgut thread. Seeing the raised eyebrow of surprise at that last statement, dark brown eyes lightly twinkled as he revealed, "There are some advantages to having a wealthy cousin who drags you along on each of his big-game hunting trips to Africa."

A corner of Tyki's mouth twitched up but quickly fell back into a frown. The doctor wasn't bothered by the lackluster response, as the situation at hand was quite serious. He was also reasonably certain that it was also due to the other's worry for the peculiar-looking young lady's health. Though what exactly she was to him was less clear. They didn't appear related, and she was currently dressed in a man's dress shirt and drawstring pants rather than a proper dress…

Still, there wasn't time for him to muse on their relationship. So, he quickly and diligently went to work. The young lady on the bed didn't wince at the needle going in and out of her flesh, which was surprising as he hadn't given her any ether to prevent her from feeling pain. He would have if not for her already unconscious state when he arrived.

Soon the doctor completed suturing the last bite mark and moved onto bandaging the young lady's shoulder. "There, all finished," he announced after tying off the cotton strip and taking a step back to inspect his handiwork. "So long as infection doesn't set in, she should be able to make a full recovery. Though there will be scars leftover, I'm afraid."

Tension visibly left the Portuguese man's body at the proclamation. Given Parasitic accommodators' accelerated healing rate and ability to fight back an Akuma's poison, there was no chance of infection happening. Not like the doctor would have known anything about that, of course. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked while carefully covering Ellen with the hotel quilt.

"Make sure she doesn't overexert herself or do anything that will cause the sutures to rip. Also, keep the area around the sutures clean, change the bandages often, and have her receive plenty of rest," the doctor listed off as he cleaned the instruments used during his examination and packed them away. Once he put back on his coat and hat, he picked up his satchel and was escorted to the door by Tyki. Just as the door was opened for him to exit, he blinked with realization and turned to say, "Oh, and make sure she eats more. I may be behind the times regarding young women's fashion nowadays, but no one her age should be that lean."

This time a half-grin appeared on the twenty-seven-year-old's face and stayed there. "I will. Thank you, doctor."

"No problem, my lord. Fetch me if any problems arise," the doctor pleasantly replied. Then he crossed the threshold and went on his way.

After the older man disappeared down the hallway, the Portuguese man closed the door and released a sigh of relief. His human blue eyes then fell onto the bed. More specifically, the pillow next to Ellen's head. "You can come out, now."

The last syllable had barely been uttered before Timcanpy flew out from underneath and towards the patient.

"Gwaoh…" the now healed golem gratefully rumbled, cuddling into the crook of the teenager's neck and letting out tears of relief.

Tyki couldn't help but behold those tears with bemused amusement. He hadn't seen a golem express such sadness. Even his Teese could only show a limited number of emotions. 'Huh… I guess whoever made that golem was even more whimsical than the Earl could be.'

The Portuguese man's levity, however, evaporated once he caught sight of the former exorcist's bandaged shoulder. In its place was a grim concern that had him walking over to the bed and sitting in the chair the doctor had once sat in.

Once he noticed the Noah's proximity to his partner, Timcanpy turned and delivered a warning growl with bared teeth.

A dark eyebrow was quirked up at the display. "Relax. If I wanted to hurt her today, I wouldn't have had her wounds tended to," he pointed out to the angry golem.

Timcanpy glowered at the, in his opinion, arbitrary and fickle enemy. However, as he couldn't refute the logic put forth, he stopped his growling. However, he didn't budge from his position and instead continued to glower at the other in warning.

The Noah, meanwhile, ignored the tiny golem's attempt to intimidate him and instead continued to look upon the injured girl with contemplative confusion. 'Why did she freeze up like that?' he asked himself while one hand came up to stroke white hair much longer than when he saw her last. 'She's fought hundreds of Akuma, and even us Noah, without giving into fear. Against those lions, though…'

His musings on the situation were interrupted by a new sound – a soft moan coming from the subject in question.

The older man wasn't sure if the causing factor was her body naturally walking itself up or the pain forcing an early wake-up, but the results were the same. Alabaster eyelids twitched before fluttering open to reveal dazed silver-gray orbs peering out, and pink lips parted to sigh out, "Mmm… what happened?"

Tyki felt a large grin appear in response to the former exorcist's awakening but held back from gathering her up in his arms or doing anything else that could injure her. Tim, however, had no such sense of restraint. So great was his joy that he immediately crawled over to her cheek and licked it before commencing with very aggressive cuddling.

Before the Noah could reach out and remove the golem, Ellen turned her head to regard her ever loyal companion with a tired smile. "Hello there, Tim," she softly laughed as a pale hand rose from underneath the quilt and rub his repaired body. "I'm happy you're alright, too."

The dark-haired man couldn't help but feel jealous of the affection the former exorcist was freely giving her golem. All while he was sitting next to her. "What," he playfully grumbled, "no greetings for me, menina?"

That complaint stilled the white-haired teenager's hand and caused her to turn wide eyes towards him. A sharp intake of air was taken before she tentatively said, "Mikk? Is that really you?"

"In the flesh," the Portuguese man grinned as he propped an arm on an armrest and leaned on it.

The adorably stunned look on her face was then replaced with a slightly furrowed brow, narrowed eyes and a suspicious frown. He found that just as endearing, and nearly missed hearing her ask, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, this is my hotel room. I'm kind of entitled to use it."

"Your hotel room?" Ellen parroted, then turned her head side to side to truly take in her surroundings. Her range was limited by the pillow and her golem stubbornly hanging on to her cheek, but it was enough for her to realize that his words were true. Still, the confused suspicion remained on her face for him to see. "Tell me why I'm here, Mikk."

Now the Noah himself found a question to ask. "You don't remember, menina?"

Before she could stop them, fear and terror flashed through her silver-gray eyes. Her hand by Timcanpy also trembled, but it soon subsided once the golden golem gave a soft growl of concern.

"Ah, I see you do," the twenty-seven-year-old nevertheless accurately surmised. "That'll make my questioning easier…"

The sudden scowl on the former exorcist's face alerted him to the mistake he just made regarding his word choice. Before he could stop it, she threw the quilt to one side and abruptly sat up – causing Timcanpy to perform an emergency flight – to spit out, "If you think I'll let you imprison me- ah!"

Unfortunately, the rapid motion agitated her wounds, causing her to curl up while clutching her injured shoulder.

"Gwaoh!" the golden golem called out in worry as he flew closer to her face, patting it in an attempt to ease her renewed suffering.

Tyki wrapped his arms around the street performer and rubbed her back to distract her from the pain. "Hey, easy there. You'll rip out your sutures if you're not careful," he gently scolded her.

The eighteen-year-old let out a terse breath but made no move to shove the older man away or otherwise break away from his hold. After a few seconds, he took the chance to slowly maneuvered her to lay against the decorative pillows hiding the headboard. Luckily, she made no attempt to protest.

A white eyebrow, however, began to violently twitch once she noticed her current attire. So, to curtail the upcoming argument, the Noah quickly revealed, "And before you go assuming, a hotel maid was the one who changed you. That included everything normally hidden underneath clothes. Though I did give her the money to buy anything remotely your size from some local seamstress since ready-to-wear garments are pretty scarce around here."

What the blue-eyed man failed to mention was that while only the maid had seen the undergarments in person, he had informed her of the types that Ellen preferred… and by 'informed', he meant 'wildly guessed while being heavily prejudiced in favor of revealing styles he thought would look good on Ellen'. By the time the maid left to buy them, her face was as red as an apple.

The former exorcist's face was also crimson as she pulled the collar of her shirt to peer straight down, though she didn't seem to suspect his role in that selection. Rather, skepticism was reserved for the shirt and pants themselves. "So, you're telling me she thought to select one of your shirts and pair of pants?"

The Portuguese man gave a shrug of his shoulders and a careless shake of his head. "No, that was all me. I thought you would have preferred them, seeing as you rarely ever wear dresses." A finger then tapped his left shoulder as he continued, "Besides, the shirt is more convenient for your bandages to be changed."

"They won't be needed for long," the street performer pointed out with a confused frown.

"Perhaps," the dark-haired man acknowledged as he gathered up the quilt and covering her legs and hips again. Once that task was completed, he raised a hand and – after needing to allow a spooked Timcanpy to phase through instead of biting him – started threading through her hair. "Still, it's better to have a way to change them without causing you further pain."

Silver-gray eyes fell to the space of quilt covering her lap, seemingly inspecting how her hands had quickly settled on top and created additional folds. But in fact, those mercury orbs were seeing something else. "Why are you so concerned about me?" she asked in such a soft voice he nearly had to strain to hear. "I hadn't been the nicest towards you towards our last meeting…"

That last confession nearly stilled his own hand due to triggering memories of an Ellen desperately trying to hold on to an organization that had abused those it claimed to help, and his own harsh reprimands to get her to wake up and forge her own path. Tyki didn't regret what he said that night. A small part of him had ached at her hurt expression made in response to his cutting words, but he pushed the pang aside to ensure she wouldn't be held back by anything – Innocence or Noah – anymore.

Still…

"…Given everything that led up to it, I can't exactly blame you for lashing out a bit." His hand then moved from her hair to her left cheek and started tracing the part of her scar underneath her eye with his thumb.

Timcanpy judged this as too far, and thus flew in to attempt another attack. Unfortunately for him, the Noah had anticipated such a reaction. Thus, before he could sink his fangs into the offensive appendage, the other reached out and grabbed him by the wings. And as he was grabbed by the base of his wings and swiftly held away from the other's face, there was nothing he could do except wiggle and attempt to hit his captor with his tail.

Uncaring of how pissed the golden golem was at being held like a turnip pulled out of the ground, the Portuguese man cheekily grinned as he teased, "Besides, you've managed to carve out a special place in my heart. It'll take more than a tantrum to completely turn me away, menina."

Ellen, who had been watching Tyki and Timcanpy's interaction (fight?) with a raised eyebrow of disbelief, now blushed with embarrassment. "I wasn't throwing a tantrum," she stubbornly insisted with a cute pout.

"Maybe not, but you were hurt and confused."

The former exorcist huffed, though the dark-haired man could tell she was secretly touched. Her hands were carefully held up and moved towards where her golem was being held – a clear signal that she would like him back – before dryly asking, "Did you stalk me to LLandrindod Wells, Mikk? Or is this some contrived coincidence?"

The twenty-seven-year-old laughed before finally removing the hand caressing her face. "As sharp-tongued as ever, menina." That free hand then secured the golem's tail before transporting him to her waiting hands. Only when she had a secure grip on the angry ball of wings did he release him, grinning at how the pudgy thing snarled and tried to have another go at him.

Ellen's fingers, however, quickly dissuade Timcanpy from that plan by rubbing and stroking his body so much he basically melted in her palm. Tyki felt the pinpricks of jealousy poke him once again from the sight, but forced them back down and instead further explained, "No, I haven't been secretly following you. I doubt I could have held myself back and not join you to see what truths you'll end up gathering for yourself."

'Besides, it wouldn't have been possible. Thanks to the Fourteen's Awakening, the rest of us Noah are able to sense you whenever we get close enough. And that means the opposite should be true – in theory, at least,' he silently concluded to himself while watching the former exorcist and her golem.

Ellen let out a curious hum but kept her eyes on the golem who still needed soothing. "Then it's a contrived coincidence, then?"

"I would call it a happy end to an annoying obligation. Because the Earl needed to maintain good ties with certain aristocratic families, I somehow needed to join a bunch of their relatives on their trip to this Welsh spa town," groaned the Noah as he remembered how annoying his unwanted travel partners could get.

'At least that dunce Dunbridge wasn't included in the group, though I did see him in the smoking room earlier today….'

Silver-gray eyes grew wide with clear shock at the older man's statement. Stopping her petting of Timcanpy, she turned to him and asked in an incredulous tone, "Are you telling me that the Earl of Millennium's collaborators include members of the nobility as well?"

"Yep," he easily admitted.

The street performer groaned and started massaging her temples. "I don't know whether to be dismayed, disgusted… or not surprised," she groaned while her golem hopped out of her other hand and gave her cheek another pat. Letting out a snort of derision, she locked gazes with Tyki and guessed, "So, the reason you were at the hotel was to secretly gamble with some noble half-wits?"

A snicker at the accurate insult left his smirking lips. "That was the plan. Unfortunately, it was cancelled by the news of two lions sneaking though the kitchens while the cook was in the pantry and running up the stairs." Then his face grew serious at the sudden flinch which afflicted her body, adding, "But then, you're well aware of that."

The eighteen-year-old swallowed nervously and started to rub her left arm. Timcanpy growled in worry and pulled at the offending hand to prevent the reopening of her wounds. She did stop the action, but her tension didn't abate. "I am. They interrupted a poker game I was part of, so there went my bet."

"How rude of them," the Noah commented, mostly to get the other to relax.

It seemed to work, since the white-haired teenager snorted and said, "Not as rude as some of the men I was playing against. Like the lecher who kept trying to get me to sit on his lap-"

Realizing too late what she had just let slipped out and to who, Ellen gasped and slapped a hand over in horror. Both she and Timcanpy turned to look at the now stiff and silent man, then shuddered at the pure anger and possessiveness coming off his Black form.

Not like Tyki Mikk could see that. He only saw red.

"What did you just say, menina?"

"Nothing," the street performer quickly replied while frantically shaking her head.

"That was not nothing; that was something," the Portuguese man growled out, his grey-skinned body starting to tremble like a volcano about to erupt. "You just said a pervert wanted you to sit on his lap. Who was it?"

"Just someone who helped me gain entrance to the club," she insisted, knowing that any identifiable information would lead to a grisly murder… if the man was lucky enough. "I needed more than my outfit to attend such a high-stakes game, after all. I just… had bad luck picking him out of the rest."

But the Noah wouldn't be swayed from his intentions. "Give me a name, menina."

The former exorcist determinedly frowned and shook her head again. "No. Not when you have that expression on your face."

"What expression?"

"One that screams out 'I'm going to hunt him down and rip him limb from limb'."

A dark laugh that matched his face echoed throughout the hotel room. "No time like the present, then," he hissed out before abruptly standing up and turning his body towards the door.

'If she's not going to tell me anything, then I'll just have to find him myself.'

As if reading those thoughts, the eighteen-year-old sent the dark-haired man an alarmed look and threw her arms around his waist. A wince flashed across her face, likely due to the stitches being pulled, but her hold on to him remained tight. Her Innocence hand kept a tight grasp, especially. "You are not going anywhere," she practically commanded while resting her where his abs were.

The older man blinked in shock over her bold act and concern about her wounded shoulder but transitioned into a hard glare of disbelief at her stopping him from eliminating that waste of space. "Why are you protecting that piece of scum, menina? You know full well what he intended to do once he had you in his disgusting clutches."

But the stubbornly soft-hearted girl refused to let him go, explaining, "He wouldn't have gotten that far. My previous travels with Cross exposed me to such men and the ways to put them in their place. Which I would have done, if not for-"

"If not for those lions?" he interrupted with narrowed golden orbs flashing.

"…"

'And now we've arrived at the most burning matter,' Tyki reasoned after noticing Ellen's hands squeezing her hands and her head turning to the side to avoid eye contact. With a new objective in mind, he gently turned her head to face him once more as he asked, "Tell me, menina. What happened tonight?"

"You already know what happened, Mikk," the street performer evasively responded, silver-gray eyes scrambling to look anywhere else besides him.

"I know you practically froze up once you pushed that servant out of the room," the Portuguese man clarified, leaning in closer to force her to look at him. It worked, but also made her golem mad enough to attack once more. He used his power as the Third Apostle of Noah to avoid it, but still grew closer to her. When the distance between their lips measured only a few inches, the man whispered as blue eyes were locked with silver-gray, "But I don't know why."

"…fraid…"

A dark brow raised in question at the snippet of a whisper that tumbled from the former exorcist's mouth. "What?"

The white-haired girl bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything more at first. However, the continued scrutiny from the Noah finally caused her to snap and say, "I was afraid, okay?! I'm terrified of lions! Whenever I'm faced with one, I'm filled with paralyzing terror!"

The Noah could clearly see the truth and fright on her face, but the announced reason itself left him baffled. "Why? They're just animals," he blurted out rather impulsively.

"Yes, they were animals- Starving animals, desperate enough for food that they would try to attack anything remotely vulnerable to their f-fangs and claws," Ellen shuddered while hiding her face against him. While the sensation was rather… pleasing, the reason behind it was not.

"Your Innocence managed to hold them off, until it inexplicably disappeared. So, why make yourself vulnerable to them, then?" he incredulously questioned.

'Maybe the Fourteenth had something to do with it?' the older man wondered. 'No one has told me the extent of his crimes, but the mere fact that he could betray the Earl signifies that he would certainly be ruthless enough to try to uninvoked her Innocence while she's faced with her greatest fear. Though if that was the case, why didn't he take over her body during the incident?'

Before he could contemplate that line of reasoning any more, Ellen let out a gasp of offended anger and pulled back to glare at him. "You think I deliberately uninvoked Crown Clown?" she hissed out, showing more spirit than when she'd thought he was taking her prisoner. "You think I wanted to be nearly eaten by lions for a second time?!"

"Second time?" Tyki repeated, shock filling every corner of his body. At first, he hoped that what she just said had been some type of sick joke. But the memories of how she was completely paralyzed in front of those animals pulled him back to harsh reality. Then anger once again flooded his system, compelling him to find the parties responsible for the first incident and make them pay.

He was just about to demand that she tell him everything when he caught sight of her eyes. Those silver-grey orbs quivered with fire fueled by righteous indignation over his earlier comments. But underneath that heated front were the same terror and fright exhibited in the company of those lions earlier… as well as a deeply buried fragility that can only be exhumed by reliving traumatic experiences.

"Oh, menina…" the Portuguese man breathed out in a sorrowful tone. A hand rose up to touch a paler than usual cheek and found it to be trembling, fueling his rarely exercised sense of shame. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair after pulling her into a careful embrace. "You don't have to tell me if it hurts that much…"

The street performer looked up at him with bewilderment, then rested her head on his body before letting a long deflating sigh. "No. I'm tired of keeping this to myself," she finally said, raising her head to display the grim resolve swimming in her eyes. After glancing at the bed behind them, she tugged on his shirt and continued, "It would be better if we both sat down for this…"

Surprised, the Noah nevertheless followed the former exorcist back to the piece of furniture and took a seat beside her. Timcanpy, having given up biting the Noah a while ago and instead landed on her uninjured shoulder, nevertheless gave out a growl that meant, 'No funny stuff, mister,' before creeping closer to her neck. His lips twitched into a grin at the intimidation attempt, but quickly went back to a neutral position as he moved his gaze back to her. Her expressive face was showcasing three emotions – a lingering hesitancy to explain the story, a loss on how to lay out the explanation, and a firm determination to do so regardless of the other two.

The dark-haired man was just about to reiterate that she didn't need to confess when the third triumphed over its foes and led her to spill out the story.

"… A long time ago, I was just a chore girl working at a circus." A sharp, bitter laugh left her pink lips before she bleakly corrected, "No, not working; surviving. No matter how much I kept my head down and did the work foisted upon me, my disfigured arm marked me out as a freak even amongst circus performers and my blunt attitude didn't earn me sympathy. And one clown reveled in abusing me practically every day."

Tyki already found himself clenching his teeth at what he just heard, and he strongly suspected that she had deliberately glossed over certain details. "Did they…?" His voice trailed away and left his question incomplete, not wanting to trigger another potential trauma to float up to the surface.

Ellen nonetheless realized what he wanted to ask and offered a grim but honest smile. "No, no one ever did that. The ringleader did make comments that he 'owned' me, but that's most likely because I was sold to the circus… as far as I know, at least," she sighed, her silver-gray eyes staring off into the distance. The uncertainty in her voice made the already appalling confession worse.

'Another asshole to get rid of…'

"Needless to say, I was determined to leave that circus. I couldn't do it as a child, of course. I could only use one arm-" Her right hand rubbed her Innocence arm, letting him know the reason for that- "-and few if any people would hire on a girl in ragged clothing with my disability. Not to mention options like workhouses were only possible if we arrived at large towns where I could hide until whoever the ringleader tasked with searching for me gave up." Shaking her head as if to dismiss that last option – a gesture done with such a familiarity that he suspected she had done it whenever contemplating the plan in the past – the eighteen-year-old sighed and resumed, "No, the only reasonable course of action was for me to do what they wanted until I became an adult who didn't need to rely on anyone else. And I stuck to that plan until…"

The Portuguese man quirked up an eyebrow at how her voice trailed away and her eyes became lost, then placed a hand on her back to give it a comforting rub. "Until what, menina?" he carefully prompted.

A bittersweet smile – um sorriso agridoce, in his native language – spread across her face before she finished, "Until Mana and Allen arrived."

'Allen… why do I feel like I've heard that name before…?'

Jealousy yet again rose its ugly head at just how much yearning could be heard in her voice, but it was pushed aside by his curiosity and fascination with learning more about her past. The sharp contrast of personalities between Ellen the young child and Ellen the teenager was particularly interesting. "Who were they?"

"Mana was a travelling clown who decided to temporarily join the circus and ended up adopting me, and Allen was an old hound dog that performed alongside him," the eighteen-year-old explained to the Noah, unknowingly triggering relief in his system.

Ellen then scooped Timcanpy from her shoulder and transferred him to her lap. "I didn't have much to do with them at first; just bringing their meals and the like," she admitted while pinching and pulling at the golem's cheeks. To the dark-haired man's bemusement, the golem allowed the treatment to happen without any retaliation further than a little nip. "But then Allen took a liking to me – for some reason or another – and started interrupting me while I was working or playing keep away with something I needed to clean."

Tyki felt his lips curving up into an amused smile. "A mischievous scamp, in other words," he chuckled while imagining an old dog stealing small circus props to ensure playtime and gleefully running away from a furious younger Ellen. Or at least, what he imagined a younger Ellen would have looked like. He still wasn't sure if her hair had been white from birth or not.

The street performer let out a warm chuckle of her own as the memories of that old pet presumably played out in her mind. "Yeah… no matter how many times I yelled at him to leave me alone or not to get in my way while I cleaned, he stuck around and tried to get me to play with him. Such a silly dog…"

Her gaze flickered to her left hand, lingering especially on the green cross-shaped Innocence embedded in the middle. Pale fingers belonging to her right hand absently rubbed said Innocence's surface as she let herself be lost in a specific moment. The bittersweet smile then turned heartbreaking, and tears started to appear as her breath hitched, "Such a silly… warm… dog…"

Ellen valiantly tried to hold her grief back, but quickly lost and began crying into her hands. This greatly worried the already spooked Tyki and Timcanpy, who both tried to get her to stop. Tyki immediately scooped her into his lap and leaned her against his chest so he could whisper comforting words into her ear. Timcanpy, meanwhile, found a new perch on the Portuguese man's arm – needs must, after all – and used the fluffy end of his tail to wipe the corner of her eyes. But the street performer continued to pour out, and the two could only continue their efforts and wait.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the street performer's sobs slowly abated into soft sniffles muffled by her hands still shielding her face. Then, with both sadness and embers of anger coloring her voice, she whispered out, "How could he…?"

Timcanpy stiffened at that cryptic sentence, but Tyki needed more information and thus prompted, "Who?"

"Kosimov!" the former exorcist practically spat out; loathing having pushed aside sorrow once the subjects switched. Her hands formed into tight fists that the Noah was concerned her nails would carve holes into her palms. "How could he do that? How could he beat Allen and break his bones until he died?! How dare he lie and say…?!"

"Shush, menina…" the Portuguese man hushed as he gently turned her around to straddle his lap. That got him another warning growl from her golem, but it stopped when he merely took her hands into his and carefully pried them open. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Allen seemed to have meant a lot to you," he sincerely consoled while massaging stiff fingers.

But the heavy hung head rapidly shook itself, causing her white hair to flail about in a frenzy. "N-not as much as Mana! Allen and Mana- they were together for such a long time. They only had each other," the eighteen-year-old choked out. A fresh sob clawed its way out of her tired throat, and more tears leaked out despite the golden golem's best efforts. "I know Kosimov was jealous of how much attention they got for their act, but how could he just- destroy their happiness by killing Allen? And so viciously?!"

The dark-haired man grimaced at the raw pain being displayed in front of him, then a montage of all those he had killed flitted through his own mind. "Some people are like that, menina. They trample others underfoot without thought or guilt," he reasoned while hugging the distraught girl once more.

'Like me…'

Ellen allowed herself to be held for a few more moments before pushing against Tyki's chest to signal her want of space. He reluctantly allowed it, though ended up a bit pleased that she still remained in his lap once the hug was broken. After sending a sheepish smile of thanks toward Timcanpy once he transferred to her uninjured shoulder, she returned her red-rimmed eyes toward the Portuguese man and continued narrating her tale. "That's when Mana and I started actually talking. When I saw him burying Allen's… body by a tree, I went up to him and asked why he wasn't crying over his dog's death. He told me that his tears had dried up long ago. I thought that was bullshit at first, but after we talked a bit more and I got a good look at his face, I realized that he desperately wanted to cry. But for some reason or another, he couldn't let them out…"

"I could, though. I ended up crying in front of Allen's grave so much that it frankly surprised me," the former exorcist confessed with an embarrassed flush decorating her face, to the Noah's amusement. But then her uncharacteristic bashful expression turned into such a sweet smile bursting with gentle happiness that it took his breath away. "Mana… he ended up hugging me and saying, 'So that's what it was. You were Allen's friend, we're you?'."

'She truly loves him,' the Portuguese man thought to himself as he witnessed the pure happiness and familial love radiating Ellen as she began to talk more about the kind clown. Envy at how freely she expressed such emotions for someone else stirred in his heart. He knew he shouldn't have felt that way. The man was her adopted father and had shown compassion when she most needed it – of course she would gush about him. And yet, he still felt the selfish impulse to do something that would redirect her attention from her father towards him…

But before the twenty-seven-year-old could give in to said impulse, he was taken away from his thoughts by the former exorcist adopting a more melancholic tone as she sighed out, "…Later that day, we returned to the circus… And that's when everything went wrong."

Tyki's lips met together in a grim line. It appeared they were finally at the incident itself. "What happened?"

Here, a confused frown and slightly furrowed eyebrows appeared on her face. It was the type of expression one would make while relating a story they knew was incomplete but had no idea just how. Still, she began explaining, "Somehow, Kosimov convinced everyone else at the circus that I was the one who killed Allen. I don't know why they believed his lie that I did it by tampering with Allen's food. Allen had died after being beaten-" -her hands found purchase in the soft cotton of her pants while she suddenly broke off her sentence, then completed it with a bitter snort- "-which they should have realized, given that Allen's body had been dug up and placed right there underneath the big top."

Timcanpy snarled in outrage over that last sentence, though it was the kind made when hearing a disgusting but familiar truth than a new travesty. The twenty-seven-year-old didn't vocalize his own feelings, but the sneer on his face perfectly communicated them.

Ellen, however, wasn't done just yet.

"Having that crime placed upon my shoulders… and seeing Kosimov smirking at me while Mana silently leaned over Allen's body- I just lost it. I had always hated him for hitting and kicking me, holding me down to display my left arm for the others to poke and prod at, always shifting blame for fights he started onto me- but never had I felt such utter loathing for one person until then. It was so intense, my Innocence invoked for the first time."

Livid golden eyes drifted towards the Innocence lodged in her hand. Since it hadn't been activated during the first two times he met her, he didn't know its former appearance. 'But if it shared at least one trait with her current one…' Tyki wished with a dark smirk threatening to burst onto his lips, 'I sincerely hope it was razor-sharp claws.'

Silver-gray also traveled toward the green crystal, though there wasn't as much viciousness shining there in comparison. "I remember trying to hurt Kosimov after that. Maybe even- kill him," she admitted in a low tone, causing his sadistic side to silently purr with pleasure at the conjured mental image. That was swept away and replaced with incredulousness, however, once she said, "But I had only managed to backhand that- vile man before Mana stopped me." A long shuddering breath was exhaled as she ran pale fingers into equally colorless strands of hair. "That made me so mad. 'Why would he do that?' I angrily thought to myself. 'After what Kosimov had done to Allen, why defend him?'"

"Maybe… he thought that the knowledge of you killing a person would end up being too much to bear," the Portuguese man reluctantly hazarded a guess, though what he really wanted to say was, 'That piece of shit deserved being disemboweled and quartered at the very least…'

The street performer, having a much more merciful nature than himself, nodded in agreement. "I realize that now, but I didn't then. At that moment- it infuriated me so much that…"

Her bottom lip was bitten by pearly white teeth, causing Timcanpy to growl with concern as he watched the flesh flush crimson. Regret and shame filled those silver-gray eyes and caused them to dull tremendously. "I-I ended up hurting Mana, even though I didn't mean to," she confessed, causing both her golem and Noah to assume more tears would arrive. But while the devastated sorrow continued to linger around her, no more salty pearls fell out.

The twenty-seven-year-old soon realized, however, that he would have preferred her tears in comparison to the last revelation leaving her lips. "That made the ringleader decide I was too dangerous- too much of a monster to live. So as soon as my Innocence uninvoked, I was thrown into the lion cage. I guess no one had fed the lions earlier that day, because they immediately stalked towards me with hunger shining in their amber eyes. I tried to get away, but only ended up cornering myself and making it easier for them to pounce."

The former exorcist then turned to look at her ever loyal companion and gave a tired but warm smile. "If Timcanpy hadn't suddenly arrived, I would have been devoured right then and there," she softly admitted as her fingers lovingly scratched the golem underneath what counted as a chin for him, thus unleashing the other's purrs.

The dark-haired man smiled at the rather cute scene in front of him, but beneath the surface lay snarling rage over what he had learned. Given her fear of lions and childhood – if one could label her experience that – spent in a circus setting, he already had a vague hunch on how exactly they might have intersected. But to hear the whole truth out loud… well, it gave him a new personal objective: find every single person who worked at that miserable circus and torture them to death. Such an objective, however, would have to wait until he managed to coax at least the name of the circus from Ellen.

So, he turned golden eyes to look at the golem of the same color and began speculating. 'General Cross Marian must have been nearby for the golem to be able to help. Did he sent him to keep an eye on her? But if so, then why did he let Mana adopt her instead of immediately spiriting her away?' Tyki tried to come up with a plausible reason, but none came. Though to be fair, there were a lot of strange and puzzling details in Ellen's story that refused to fit cleanly with each other. Plus, the familiarity of the name 'Allen' despite him not knowing anyone who went by it was bugging him.

'Something just doesn't add up…'

"And afterwards, you had to escape the circus once the golem freed you," the Noah stated rather than asked.

Ellen continued to stroke Timcanpy but nodded. "Not for the reason you're thinking of, though. The Earl of Millennium soon showed up with a large amount of Akuma and basically destroyed it. Mana and I survived, of course. And I think I saw the ringleader escaping during the chaos," she explained. Something flashed in her eyes too quickly for the older man to decipher, but her tone of voice was flat as she elaborated, "Kosimov, however…didn't."

The Portuguese man smirked at the knowledge that the street performer's once greatest tormentor had been reduced to dust. "Good. One less waste of space on this Earth," he maliciously chuckled to himself while looking askance.

'Though that still leaves the ringleader to deal with…'

Before Tyki could daydream about how to properly deal with someone who called Ellen his 'property', he caught sight of the former exorcist's trembling shoulders from the corner of his eye. At first, he thought it was due to her injuries flaring up. But turning his gaze to fully face her revealed a look of utter self-loathing and shame simmering in her eyes which pointed straight down. His lips twisted into a worried frown as he reached out to cup her left cheek. "Menina…?"

A red hand automatically rose to place itself on the Noah's gray one. Despite the natural antipathy between Innocence and Dark Matter, there wasn't the normal feelings of revulsion or agitation experienced when he was touched by that hand. There was wariness, yes; but it didn't escalate further. It was almost as if the two natural enemies were hosting a truce – so long as one didn't harm the other's host, they would take no aggressive action.

It was all rather strange… but not entirely in a bad way, since it involved Ellen.

The white-haired girl must have had the same realization, for confusion was now reining her expression. Alas, that was not to last. The shame from earlier soon came back in full force as she let out a bitter laugh. "It's pathetic, isn't it? Lions are far less dangerous than even a Level One Akuma and can be deterred far better. And yet, whenever I'm faced with one, or even hear them come up in conversation…" Her right hand moved away from squeezing a consoling Timcanpy to grip her pants once more. Another deep breath was taken, and her silver-grey eyes left her lap. Unfortunately, the negative emotions remained as she continued, "I freeze up. And despite my best efforts, I've never been able to overcome this stupid fear."

"It's not stupid, menina," Tyki retorted with narrowed eyes, disliking how the run-in with those lions was still wearing down her self-esteem. "It's simply the result of a traumatic experience you had as a child."

"You can say that only because you have no idea how it feels to be afraid of something which you're unable to conquer," the unconvinced eighteen-year-old sighed back as her eyes slid closed and she slipped from his lap to stand on the hotel room floor.

As Ellen removed Tyki's hand from her face, a scene suddenly played in his mind. It started with Ellen left paralyzed in fright by the lions, as glimpsed by the smaller Teese he had ordered to discreetly follow the former exorcist about town and which had made her predicament known to him. But when he phases through the ceiling and thus onto the floor above, he does not manage to save her in the nick of time. Instead, he's greeting by the sight of the lions feasting on her corpse. Such an image -though imaginary – filled him an icy dread that threatened to strangle his lungs until no breath was left in his body.

Other horrifying pictures followed, but one terrifying possibility united them all.

"You're wrong."

The street performer blinked in confusion over both that soft rebuke and the sudden grip around her right arm. "Huh?"

"I do have such a fear, menina," the Noah countered while slowing getting up as well. Staring down at the shorter eighteen-year-old with intensively glowing golden eyes that caused her to discreetly gulp, he pulled her back until their fronts completely touched without risk of hurting her shoulder. His hand also returned to her face, though this time cradling it so that she couldn't turn away from him. "And it's not going away anytime soon."

Timcanpy hissed at the lack of space between his partner and the twenty-seven-year-old and instinctually lunged at the latter. The attack was foiled, but this time by the former exorcist.

Unaware of the look of shock on her golem's face, the somewhat nervous though still quite curious female questioned, "Wha… What is it?"

The Portuguese man said nothing, instead dipping his head and kissing the teenager right on the lips. This unexpected action resulted in a muffled squeak from her and an affronted and angry growl from the golem, who quickly wiggled himself out of her grasp and began biting at the offender with renewed vigor.

That new attack proved no more effective than all the previous ones, by Timcanpy was really too pissed off to care.

Ellen, on her part, first appeared overwhelmed by Tyki's sudden kiss. But as time went on and the Noah punctuated what he was doing to her lips with careful caresses and gropes by the hand not on her face, she found herself gripping his shirt and melting against him – especially after he boldly phased his roaming appendage through her clothing to touch her rapidly heating skin.

After their tongues became interlocked with and writhed against each other, the dark-haired man finally broke the kiss with a wet 'pop' echoing between them. Pride and pleasure filled his chest at the sight of her bright red blush and heavy breathing, but they were tempered by a grim confirmation of how such experiences with the street performer could end up becoming… final.

Pressing a kiss onto her forehead, the Noah softly confessed to the former exorcist, "I'm now afraid of watching you die in front of me."

---

-xXx-

Cultural Notes:

Llandrindod Wells – A town in Powys, Wales. People started visiting the area to partake in the local spring waters around the mid-18th century, but it was only after the establishment of the Heart of Wales line (a railway line that now stretches from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales) in the 19th century that stopped its previous decline and truly become a popular spa town. The tourist season generally lasted between May and mid-September, during which visitors could not only take the waters, but also play golf, bet on horse races, listen to orchestras and other recreational activities. Unfortunately, Llandrindod Wells spa-related prosperity when World War I brought soldiers that had to be billeted in its hotels and boarding houses. The Great Depression, World War II, and a post-war slump didn't help, either. Recently, the town was voted "the Happiest Place in Wales" in a 2017 survey by Rightmove.

Shilling – A historical coin and unit of currency once used in the United Kingdom and several of the British Commonwealth countries. First minted as the testoon during the reign of Henry VIII, a British shilling was worth 1/20th of a pound sterling and twelve pence during the Victorian era. This actually lasted up to 1971 when the UK decimalized its currency and the shilling became worth five pence. After December 31st, 1990, it was no longer legal tender.

Walking/rolling globe – A circus skill where the performer balances on top of a large ball. Juggling and certain gymnastics tricks can be done while they're on the globe as well.

Welsh rarebit – A British dish with melted cheese or a cheese-based sauce served on pieces of toast. The first reference to this dish called it "Welsh rabbit" in the 18th century from England. It probably was an insult, as "Welsh" was used as derogatory term to mean "anything substandard or vulgar"; thus, Welsh rabbit could have implied that cheese on toast was the closest the Welsh could get to eating rabbit. Though the Welsh were also thought to be quite fond of roast cheese; a 16th century joke book has one where Saint Peter tricks Welshman in Heaven to leave by standing outside the gates and loudly mentioning roast cheese.

Pork pie – A traditional English meat pie with a chopped pork/pork fat filling, a jellied pork stock layer and hot-crust pastry.

Sheep trotters – The feet of the sheep. Cooking methods include boiling, frying, parboiling, stewing or broiling.

Dog cart – No, this is not a cart pulled by dogs. The term actually was originally used to describe a light carriage that had a box behind the driver seat which would contain one or two retriever dogs for sport shooting. Later carriages would convert the dog box into another seat, leaving the passenger and driver to sit back-to-back.

Bath chair – A three or four wheeled rolling chaise or light carriage made for one passenger that were either pulled by animals or pushed by an attendant. The ones pushed by hand were pretty much older types of wheelchairs. Originates from Bath, England.

Invalid carriage – A single person road vehicle, buggy or self-propelled vehicle intended for the use of disabled people. The first one was made in 1655 by Nuremberg watchmaker Stephan Farffler. They're like an early ancestor of electric mobility scooters today.

Whelk – A common name for various types of sea snails. In the British Isles it referred to species of the Buccinidae family. A popular street food in Victorian London.

Cockle – A marine bivalve (two-hinged) mollusk that live in sandy, sheltered beaches. In the UK they're served freshly cooked as a snack, and people in England and Wales are allowed to collect 5kg of cockles for personal use.

Menagerie – Coming from 17th century France to describe the management of household or domestic stock, the word now means a collection of captive (and often exotic) animals kept for display. The first menageries were kept by aristocrats and kings during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe. King Louis XIV of France actually had two of them built at Versailles. Aristocratic menageries were eventually displaced by modern zoos in the 19th century, with the last official one turning into a zoo in 1924. Traveling menageries, by contrast, were started in the 18th century by showmen and were viewed by the common people. They were very popular in the 19th century, though the travelling menageries in America ended having to merge with circuses after the depression of the 1840s and the American Civil War.

The Bridge Hotel – A hotel ran by the Wilding family who also ran two other hotels. Had a good reputation for being comfortable and had a licensed bar. Later became the Metropole Hotel.

Tsavo Man-Eaters – A pair of mane-less, man-eating lions who killed and ate construction workers on the Kenya-Uganda Railway from March to December 1898, with attacks happening on nearly a daily basis towards the end. They would stalk the campsite, enter tents during the night, then dragged their captives away and devour them. The leader of the project, Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, eventually managed to shoot and kill the first lion around December 9th, then the second one twenty days later. The exact number of people killed by the lions is unclear. Colonel Patterson's journal stated there were about 135 victims, but that is likely exaggerated. Also, the journal only referred to the Indian workers; the number of casualties among the African workers went undocumented. Modern studies estimate the two lions ate roughly 34-35 humans between them, but they didn't differentiate between whole corpses consumed and body parts.

Kenya-Uganda Railway – Also known as the Uganda Railway. A former British state-owned railway company that linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. Founded in 1895 and became defunct in 1929 due to a series of merger and splits, most of the line has now been neglected and overgrown. Passengers are still transported between the old meter-gauge train station in the Nairobi city center and the new SGR Nairobi Terminus.

Taking the waters – A phrase that means bathing, drinking, or doing other things with mineral spring water. The Greeks and Romans used such water to treat a long list of diseases. By the Victorian era, spa resorts of that type were very prevalent in Europe and North America.

Gambling in Victorian era UK – While it was a somewhat accepted vice among the upper classes during the previous Georgian and Regency eras, gambling faced increasing criticism and pushback from the middle-class during the latter half of the 19th century. They complained that gambling made it possible for a man to lose everything and thus subject his family to destitution, encouraged drinking, and allowed social classes to mix. They were able to succeed somewhat, as anti-gambling acts like the Betting Act of 1853 eventually led to the outlawing of all commercialized gambling… that the working class could easily do in dedicated buildings. The upper class could still bet on horse races and gamble at private clubs. And betting for the working class just moved from betting houses to the streets.

Ruching – A sewing term to describe fabric strips that are pleated, fluted or gathered together to make a ripple-like effect.

National Anti-Gambling League – A British campaigning organization founded by F. A. Atkins in 1890. They campaigned against street betting and eventually got a Select Committee on Betting formed around 1901-2.

Hansom Cab – A fast, lightweight and agile horse-drawn carriage patented by Joseph Hansom in 1843. It quickly replaced the hackney carriage as a vehicle for hire, and at the height of its popularity up to 7,500 of them were in use in London. The trapdoor was used both for communication and for the passengers to pay the driver once they reached their destination. A lever was used to open the door… and mad dodging the fare quite difficult.

Sir William Gordon-Cummings (1848 – 1930) – A Scottish Baronet, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Scottish Guards, and central figure of the royal baccarat affair of 1891. Basically, he was accused of cheating at baccarat during a house party at Tranby Croft, York. He denied cheating but signed a pledge to never to play cards again so long as no one said anything about the matter. Shortly afterwards rumors about the incident spread, and Gordon-Cummings ended up suing five people of the host's family for slander. The Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII, having also attended the party, was called as a witness. As mentioned, Gordon-Cummings lost the case. But not only that; he was dismissed from the army and ended up as an outcast from high society along with his wife and children for the remainder of his life. Though before you get too sad, just know that Gordon-Cummings was a womanizer and frequently cheated on his wife. Oh, he also has a granddaughter who writes romance novels under the name Katie Fforde.

Baccarat – A card game where the main objective is assembling a hand of 2-3 cards whose total point value equals or is as close to 9 as possible. Considered very high class.

Gas lights and class – From what Judith Flander's The Victorian House has led me to believe, the upper classes generally looked down on gas lights because they were cheap and readily available to the middle class. Thus they stuck with candles until electric lights came along. Given that the earliest incorporation of an electric power distribution company was in South Wales in 1900, I decided the hotel would use candles for its upper-class guests.

Ready-to-wear clothing – It was during the Victorian era that ready-to-wear clothing (mass-produced garments you could buy off the rack) became possible. Before then the lower and middle classes had to buy secondhand clothing or rely on hand-me downs if they wanted new things they hadn't made themselves, while the upper class relied on seamstresses and tailors. Thanks to industrialization, ready-to-wear clothing started showing up in department stores and mail-order catalogs for all classes to purchase during the latter half of the century. Though, according to several sources, most ready-to-wear clothing was for men than women due to the latter wearing more intricate styles. Also called prêt-à-porter.

-x-

Yes, another cliffhanger! I'm so sorry about that, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it…

I hope you all liked Ellen's routine! I actually spent a bunch of time looking up juggling and other circus tricks on YouTube for it. Some of the people I was inspired by were 鄭哲, Alexander Koblikov, and three ladies juggling hoops on top of a ball (I couldn't find their video again…). All of them were really cool to watch!

Yes, I ended up making Ellen a bit older than Allen is in canon. This was mainly due to that kiss, as the Internet regards everyone under the age of eighteen as a minor. And the last thing I need is a flame war triggered by Tyki kissing an underaged Ellen in my story…

How did you feel about Ellen's deer-in-the-headlights routine? You see, given that Allen was left too afraid to do wild animal acts after being thrown into the lion cage, I decided to give Ellen a phobia of lions. Though now I'm wondering if it's more like PTSD… Anyway, due to her fear of lions, her body just freezes up and her Innocence deactivates. The only way to get her to temporarily put aside her fear is if someone else needs saving.

The escaped lions are actually inspired by a BBC news article I read about a lion escaping from Wombwell's menagerie and entering the drawing room of the Bridge Hotel around 1889. During that incident a Mr. TJ Osbourne grabbed a chair and readied himself for a showdown. Luckily, the animal's keeper and his assistants quickly arrived and captured it before anyone got hurt. In my story, though, that didn't quite happen. Also, I used animals that the menagerie owner claims are the real Tsavo Man-Eaters. Spoiler alert: they're not. It's just a marketing stunt; similar to what PT Barnum did. Though things might get awkward if he ever runs into Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson…

So, why didn't Nea show up? That's… a good question. I did throw around having him surface during the attack or shortly afterwards to taunt Tyki about how little he knows. But I wanted to focus solely on Ellen and Tyki's interactions, so our Musician ended up being sidelined. I'm not sure if Ellen's state of terror would have been so great that it basically blocked any of his attempts to take over, so I guess the best explanation is that he decided it wasn't the best time for that.

I'm sorry if Ellen came off as too blubbery while talking about Allen the dog and Mana. But given how they were the first two to show her compassion and kindness, I think she's entitled to getting choked up. Not to mention it came after a near death experience with lions. And seeing as how Tyki's being so comforting to her, and she's always had a soft spot for him, she feels more comfortable with letting down her guard to display her full feelings.

Boy, Tyki really showed his dark side to those lions, huh? Well, as I mentioned earlier, the guy eats koi fish while they're still living. Threatening animals that have nearly killed his exorcist isn't that far-fetched, really. And of course, we can't gloss over the fact that the menagerie will soon find itself the center of an Akuma attack… so long as Ellen doesn't know. Once she does, though, she'll be furious at Tyki and make him call it off. Just because the menagerie owner deserves to be in jail for animal abuse, doesn't mean the other workers should die at the hands of Akuma. To which the Noah and grumble himself about possible collaborators, earning himself an Innocence-powered slap to the face.

I will point out, however, that such an attack could end up with the lions' cage bust opened. After which they just might escape again into the wilderness of central Wales. I sure hope the local sheepdogs are up to protecting their flocks from starving lions…

As I write this, this is the third and last complete story I have for Poker Pair Week 2021. Thus, the following days will have snippets of the other stories posted. I should have stuck to the 5,000 words rule I made last year…

Please favorite or leave a comment to tell me what you thought about this monstrosity!

Day Two is done, so Day Three will soon come!