"Ha! Tyki, who'd ya snatch this time? When ya gonna get arrested, eh?" Momo asked sarcastically when Tyki came into sight, all but dragging the brat behind him. Allen cracked a smile at Tyki'd dismay. According to Momo, Tyki all but captured Eeez and forced him to join their little group. According to Eeez, that was nowhere near what happened. His perspective was irrelevant when it comes to making fun of Tyki, of course.
"Now now, Momo, I ain't think this brat's ready fer Tyki's history, ya know. He's already 'bout to shit 'imself. Now, where's Crack at? I got a story ta tell 'im. It's got ghosts and everythin'."
"He'll be righ' back. Saw somethin' interestin', I think. Ran off not long afta' you all did. Speaking of, where's the redhead? Ya kill him yet, or did he lose ya?" Momo grinned more than Allen was willing to allow him, and ended up with a mild bump on his head.
"Found somethin' more interestin, this fuckin' brat. Like I said, got a story."
"You telling me this kid's a ghost? Yer crazier than Crack, I can poke the bloke well enough." Momo had to demonstrate by poking the irritated boy and nearly getting his finger bitten off. "Bloody hell!" He shouted, yanking his finger back away from the boy's vicious mouth.
"Tyki, what are ya planning with the brat?"
Allen started talking before Tyki could think up an answer. He snarled and curled his fist, Momo could see the rage pouring off him in waves. "The bloody cult is back, and it huntin' fer the brat. I ain't lookin' ta have a dead kid on m'hands. 'Sides, Eeez might like 'im."
"Who's Eeez?" Timothy asked. "You keep talking about them, but I don't see any kids here!" Allen walked over to a box lying inconspicuously on the ground and knelt down next to it. He waited for a few moments with a hand held out next to the box. After a few moments of shifting, a small hand reached out to take Allen's. Out crawled a small boy with dirty blond hair and a white mask covering his face.
"Eeez, this is Timothy. Timothy, don't you dare corrupt this child or I will destroy you and that ghost." The colorful man standing behind Timothy raged out silently.
"Uh, what?" Timothy asked. He glanced around himself briefly to see if there were any noticeable ghosts. There weren't.
Timothy's eyes bore into Allen's head, demanding an explanation.
"What? It's true. Ya got some bloke followin' ya 'round. He got, ya know, purple hair. Think 'es Japanese. Heh, an' 'es bloody easy ta mess with." Allen's shit-eating grin threatened to consume his face as he watched the colorful man's rage increase exponentially. He didn't notice Tyki glancing at him and then the others with exasperation.
Timothy's eyes watered in response. He just sold his life to crazy people with a crazy and violent leader that probably was going to murder him before he could even talk to this Eeez kid. Maybe the 'cult' that Allen kept mentioning would be willing to take him.
But he didn't want to fight in a war that he didn't care about or know about until now.
Eeez pulled on Allen's sleeve, prompting him to bend down. The kid scratched at the bandages still covering Allen's eye, slowly peeling at the tape still covering it. Allen grabbed hold of the kid's hand and lowered it.
"Hey there, ya can't do that, aight? M' eye still ain't workin' right, I need the arse ta look at it first, see if it all fixed up and ready ta go." Eeez leaned closer, bringing his mouth to Allen's ear.
"It's glowing," he whispered. Allen blinked a few times before running to a window to look. Tyki and Momo, who had perviously been paying attention to the crying child, looked over to see what Allen was freaking out about.
"Bloody hell it is," he said in awe. Tyki turned Allen around and slowly peeled back the bandages. Right once Allen's eye was revealed there was a flash of light and what appeared to be a gear floating in front of it. Tyki and the group noticed a slight change in color in the alleyway and looked around at each other to find what caused the difference.
There was a man with purple hair, pale skin and marking on his face. He was standing in a robe barefoot, and judging by his face, was supremely surprised that people could see him.
"Bloody hell…" Momo said. He moved his hands over his chest, representing a cross to ward off the ghost. It didn't work.
Timothy screamed when he saw the being. "Who are you? Why do you look like me? What the heck is going on here!"
Allen scoffed at everyone's expressions. "What, now y'all can see th' bloody ghost? 'Bout time. I told ya blokes 'e existed." He went to sit next to the box Eeez was in and waited for the kid to sit down on his lap. After a few moments the kid did. He reached up to tap at Allen's eye again. There was a soft clink against the gear-looking object floating just in front of his face.
The man made some vague hand motions. His mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. He huffed before pointing at Timothy aggressively and then at himself. He pointed at his forehead and at the cloth around Timothy's head.
"What I'm gettin' is that yer part o' Timothy's ability, the 'Innocence' thing that cult be chasin' after. Right?" Allen didn't wait for a response. "Well ain't this bloody perfect. Not only can I see Akuma, I get see Innocence too. And you poor blokes have to see them too." Tyki's eyes hardened just a tad. Allen noticed but decided not to call attention to it yet. Maybe when he could catch Tyki alone.
Tyki knows about Allen's abilities, and he probably knew about Timothy's just a little. The cult was chasing him after all. It must be the seeing part. Allen couldn't remember if he mentioned being able to see the demons, it was entirely possible if he didn't.
If he was right, Tyki knows something more about them that Crack and Momo, even Eeez, have no idea about. It might have to do with the missions he left for a couple of times, only to return a few days later with more money than before. More than he should be able to pick up on a simple job.
Allen tried to figure out how to deactivate his curse mark before Momo got back. It wouldn't do to have the man freaking out about something that he shouldn't be able to see. It was surprising that everyone else was taking this as well as they were, Allen didn't want to push his luck. Besides, Eeez was still tense while in his lap, so that wasn't ideal.
After a few blinks and some calm breathing - that's what he had to do when the curse was acting up too much and making it hard to fight - his curse finally calmed down enough that it must have deactivated it's transfer ability. While Allen was still able to see the colorful man, none of the others were looking scared in that direction. They were still looking that way of course, but it was more of confusion after seeing the man disappear.
"Alright," Tyki finally said after his brain refreshed. "So what are we doing next? I bet you wanna get outta town if Timothy is being chased by, what, police and the cult? Anyone else we should know about?"
"If the orphanage decides to look for me, them, but I don't have parents or anything like that. They probably wouldn't have searched around anyway."
"Good to know. Everyone, start packing up. I want everything able to move in an hour. Wipe out our tracks before that. Then we should start heading to the trains. If the cult is somehow able to track either Allen or Timothy it wouldn't be a good idea to stay in the same areas for long. Make sure you're quiet about it, too. And leave Lavi's stuff for him to pick up if he ever makes it back here."
"Heh, sounds like a great plan," Allen said, grinning. He hadn't forgiven Lavi for breaking his prop, not quite yet. He might have to break the dude's finger first. As payback.
"Of course it does," Tyki said, "I made it." He earned a whack on the shoulder that nearly sent him flying into the wall.
Throughout this Timothy was watching silently. The entire group seemed close knit, like he wouldn't be able to fit in. Like there wasn't a chance to be part of anything, just like before when he was being kept in the same damn room by his father, and when he was just a troublemaker in the orphanage.
He would leave the group as soon as he could. Right once he was free of these cult members, right once he figured out what the heck that spirit was and why it was following him. Then he would leave.
A small shoot of pain passed through his chest, but he ignored it. It wasn't anything he hadn't felt before. It was fine.
…
Eeez didn't know what to make of the new kid. He was strong if Allen had to work to chase the kid down. He was also lonely, like Eeez had been years ago. And he was scared. How can someone be strong and scared? How can they be lonely but reluctant to leave?
It didn't make sense, but then again, most people don't. That's why Eeez likes hanging around Tyki. He's simple. Straight forwards. Tells you what he wants and only sometimes hides his motives. Sure, there's sometimes something scary about him and the air around him changes to become even more scary and strange, but that is only when he gets serious. And Tyki is never serious.
Allen is never scary, not to Eeez. And Momo and Crack try to be, but he's seen what they're like. They aren't as straight forwards, they get confused about themselves and don't know what's happening or what they want. Their motives are muddled past the point that Eeez is able to understand. But he knows what they're about and what they think about him.
Timothy doesn't have anything like that. He hasn't met Eeez, hasn't talked to him. He doesn't even seem to know himself and what he wants. So of course Eeez isn't able to talk with him, even when Allen prompts him forwards to talk, even when Allen complains about the ghost trying to draw Timothy closer despite not being able to touch anything. Even when Allen says that talking with someone closer to his age might be good for him.
Allen was his age for a little while, but that was Allen and Allen liked Eeez. Most kids his age didn't. Eeez didn't want to test it again.
So instead he forced Allen to sit down again - while the boy was trying to pack up his things - and settled down on his lap. Again.
Allen wrapped his arms around Eeez and pulled him closer. Eeez could tell by his head motions that he told Tyki to clean up his things as well as Allen rocked with Eeez in his lap. He began humming a song without lyrics, one that Eeez had never heard before.
It helped Eeez drift off to sleep. The small boy didn't remember what else happened as they moved towards the train tracks, Allen carried him in his arms while silencing the other's complains about having to carry his things.
...
Crack showed up a few minutes into packing up. After he grabbed his few things and tossed them into Momo's bag, as per usual, he started getting to know Timothy. Allen forced himself to ignore each of the digs directed at him. It wasn't easy.
"Hey kid, you good at anything?" Crack asked vaguely. When Timothy raised an eyebrow. "Well, you need to make money, you know. We can't just pay for everyone, ain't none of us got that much cash."
"Oh, I can steal really well! The cops haven't managed to catch me yet!" His smile grew wide as his chest puffed out. Crack noticed how Allen sent a glare towards the kid's feet, but the boy was always doing something strange and looking at things that Crack didn't notice. He didn't worry about it too much.
"Well, I guess that is a skill. Not sure if that's how we're trying to do things, though. So far none of us have needed to resort to stealing, though Tyki and Allen love gambling. Try not to pick up that habit though, kid. We don't need to have any more cheaters in this group." Timothy seemed to pout before agreeing.
"Then what should I do? I only know how to steal and borrow bodies!" Crack froze as he felt his soul leave his body. This kid was… was able to take bodies? Oh God, oh no, this can't be happening. Was that why Allen brought him in? He wanted someone to possess Crack and summon a demonic creature using his life energy? Oh no, not again!
"Oh no," he vaguely heard. "Kid, I think ya broke him. 'Member when we were talkin' 'bout 'im bein' scared of ghosts? Yeah, taking bodies was too close t' that." Crack could feel someone moving his body around. It was probably Momo, he was good about that. There was suddenly a wall at his back and he let his weight lean against it.
"Aight, let's get 'er done, he'll be back ta normal in a bit," Momo said as he kept packing up his things and moving around what Crack put into his bags to make more space. The dirty clothes that Crack shoved in were neatly folded and placed next to their work tools, which Crack always organized to the best of his ability. Some of Allen's dirtier props were put into Crack and Tyki's bags so it didn't ruin Allen and Eeez's outfits and clean props.
Timothy was helping Allen pack since he had the most stuff. Eeez was still asleep, but Allen managed to set him down in the box to stay a little warmer.
The kid might be getting sick again if he was managing to sleep through this ruckus.
That was something to worry about later. Tyki would manage to find the medicine somehow, and they had enough saved up to buy at least a week's worth, maybe more.
"Alright everyone, let's get movin'," Tyki pulled Crack away from the wall and loaded him up with some of Allen's bags. Eeez was still sleeping, so Allen opted to carry the boy instead of his own things. It wasn't exactly abnormal, but Crack wasn't okay with being used as a pack mule.
He didn't have a choice though. Allen was hella scary.
Lavi's things were still sitting in a corner untouched. If the redhead was as good at tracking as Allen says he was there would be no problem with him managing to catch up.
Not that Crack thinks the boy should keep traveling with them. He was more interested in the occult than Allen was, which is not okay in Crack's book.
The group started moving towards the train station. They would be leaving first thing in the morning, on to the next mining town.
