"C'mon, Allen. Let's change yer hair already." Tyki pulled the powder out. He had stolen a bucket from some random building they had passed on their way to the river. The river water seemed clean enough to wash the bucket and dye his hair with.

Some cities were too disgusting to even think about doing that.

"Aight," Allen started walking to where Tyki was at. They were still carrying all of their things, so Crack and Momo went ahead to find a good place to set up for the night. Allen and Eeez would start performing in the morning to earn at least a little bit. They had to pay off the extra expense of traveling earlier than expected.

Lavi had already disappeared to find his - her? their next job and seemed to have taken Timothy with them. At least, that's what Allen assumed. They both disappeared around the same time when Allen was talking with Tyki, and it wasn't his damn job to watch their every move.

He doesn't even like the brats.

Tyki had already dumped some of the powder into the water and motioned for Allen to sit down in front of the bucket. The gunk turned a gross, glossy brown. It was thick and clumpy and not something Allen wanted near his face. At least it smelled good.

"You're gonna dunk yer head in and hold it there for a bit, got it? I'll try to spread it around your hair for a while. I think it starts to feel cold or something. I'll tell you when to come out and I'll try spreading it better."

"Just pick it up and put it on my hair, bastard. Dunkin' my head's unnecessary. It'll get on my skin and bloody mess everythin' up!" Tyki sighed. He wasn't going to win this argument, but if it got on Allen clothes then it wasn't Tyki's fault!

"At least take off your shirt."

Tyki matted the paste against Allen's hair before brushing through it with his fingers. It was slimy and gross, and his hands were definitely going to be dyed orange, but hopefully it was worth it. Tyki made sure to keep some extra powder in the bag in case they needed another try at dying it. Once the color started to fade away it would be a bit difficult to get more, but not impossible. He could always just catch a ride to India with the Earl.

A little of the paste fell onto Allen's chest. When he wiped it off there was an orange stain left. "See, that's why you should have kept your head in the bucket," Tyki started.

"Oh, fuck off," came Allen's elequent reply. It was silent for a bit longer as Tyki continued to work. Right once each strand was covered he went to wash off his hands. They were only a little orange so far, so he wouldn't be accused of some deadly disease and get kicked out of this city.

"We're going to keep it in for a few hours, don't mess it up too much." Allen nodded, visibly preventing himself from poking at the paste on his head. He already saw Tyki's hands. If he started showing strange coloration while performing he would get ostracized in seconds. His pale skin would take on too much color too fast.

Allen felt a strange tingling in his body.

No, not his body. His soul? It was somewhere causing Allen to look inwards at himself and close his eyes. The world started to fade away. He didn't notice Tyki's eyes sharpen and look towards the sky before settling on a point in the distance. He also didn't pay attention to Eeez who was playing near the water, just barely putting his finger tips into the stream.

Instead he saw that same man from before with the little fractals in his mind.

"Ah! Welcome back, little Allen. It's good to see you're a bit more put together than the last time."

"What's going on," Allen responded, not caring for small talk. "Something's happening, what did you do? There had to 've been something."

"Oh, sure. One of our siblings is waking up. Sounds like Wrathra. You should be excited, you always wanted to have a family. I'm sure the crazy one I left behind would do just fine for you!" The Tyki-look-alike was grinning, making Allen shudder.

"You gotta explain what that means, stupid. How do I have siblings? And why would I even be able to 'feel' one of them?" The man sighed dramatically.

"Do I really have to explain it? Damn, kid, this'll be annoying. Basically, your 'dad' or whatever, Mana, is in charge of a family. He's known as the Earl." Neah easily ignored the shocked expression on Allen's face. He no longer worships the man, but still. That year or so of being raised by his was great despite the many, many flaws.

"He's lived basically forever, except in a different form. I was part of that different form, so we're something like twins. Anyway, the other siblings are from that same family, there are 12 of them. They keep getting reincarnated into human bodies after they die, though it takes a couple of years to reincarnate depending on the person. The family got wiped out a few years ago, which I admit I was part of, but that's all you need to know.

"Because I am inside of you, basically will be you soon enough, those are your siblings."

"Gross. That's just… couldn't you have phrased it differently? Pedo." Neah snorted before regaining composure.

"Yeah, whatever. You've already met a couple of your siblings, but didn't need to know it. And you never decided to visit me, so I guess it isn't important," Neah teased. He was practically begging Allen to ask him the question, probably so that he could turn Allen down. Well, he wasn't gonna fall for it. Besides, as Neah said, it wasn't important.

"Well, if that's all. Will everything keep feeling weird?" His stomach still felt strange and the pain in his head had yet to fade, but it was time to get out of this boring place.

"Yeah. It would feel better fast if you went to see Wrathra, but I'm guessing you don't care to do that."

"Nope. Don't know that bloke, don't care. Have fun in this dump," Allen said in farewell. He closed his eyes and willed his way out, only to open them and still see the Tyki-look-alike. "Bloody hell!" The man grinned once again and waved his hand, causing Allen to disappear.

"Arse," Allen muttered under his breath. He was still sitting in front of the bucket, and Eeez was still at the water. Tyki had moved a little towards the road and seemed to be looking at something, but it wasn't enough to demand Allen's attention.

He turned that to Timcampy instead, who was incessantly hitting against Allen's knee. He restrained the urge to knock the gollum away.

"What is it, Tim?" Tim flew away from where Allen and the rest were sitting, only slowing to make sure Allen followed. "Alright, alright. I'm coming." He stood up and dusted himself off a tad before moving. The gunk was still in his hair and starting to harden, but it wasn't like he could just take it off now. Plus, with the sun starting to heat up it was nice to have that cold mass sucking away any heat.

"Alright Tim, what do you want?" Tim's mouth opened wide and a video projected onto the wall in front of Allen. He forgot Tim could do that.

"Master," Allen began.

"Allen. I hear you ran away? Seems like you didn't forget everything like they told me."

"I'm surprised they managed to tell you. What, ain't able to hide without me? Kinda pathetic, huh." Allen wasn't expecting the grin that overtook Cross' face.

"Well, look at that. Red came back, huh. Nice to see you again, brat. No wonder you got outta that place. Bet they expected you to be a good little brat and mind your manners, like that would ever happen."

"Shut up, I could do it if I wanted to. Hey, Cross, why didn't you tell me about the Noah? 'Cause I've met Neah, and as much of a jackass as he is, he seems chummy with you."

"Does he? That arsehole. Of course he does, he didn't have to push up with his and his brothers shit when they were growing up. Tell that idiot that he should wait for a minute before taking you over, do the world a favor and leave it out of the hissy fit the two brothers throw together."

"He mentioned taking me over, too. What does that mean?" Cross paused. He probably didn't mean to say that, but he was an idiot so of course he did.

"You're the host for the 14th Noah. Did he tell you about the family that reincarnates and takes over the human body?" Allen nodded. "Well, you're the next human body that Neah has to take to return to the world. It's surprising that you've met him before being taken over, you might last for a while, but the one known as Allen will disappear."

Allen hummed. He wasn't necessarily attached to life, though he would feel bad for the group.

"And then he's going to destroy the Earl and take over leading the family and the world into ruin. Personally, I can't wait." Allen scoffed.

"Master, you would hate watching the world burn. What else would you be able to torment? Nothing. They'd be dead and you'd be bored."

"Whatever. It sounds like you've been putting the skills I taught you to good use, huh. Being able to stay away from the order. But you've been getting sloppy, it sounds like they almost caught you, what was it, yesterday? Move faster, idiot apprentice."

"I would be able to if you ever taught me anything, shitty Master. Getting thrown into battle only does so much. Anyway, I have to go, you know, make money. By doing what Mana taught me," Allen began to motion for Tim to shut off the video. It was nearly down when he heard a whispered 'bye, Allen' from Cross.

So. He was going to disappear soon enough, huh. All because of that Tyki-look-alike in his head. Well. Guess he'll have to enjoy it while he's here, no use crying 'bout it now.

"Hey, Eeez," Allen called as he walked back to where the small boy was. "Ready to get to work?"

Turns out finding a job was a little bit harder, and maybe Lavi was regretting presenting as a woman. But not enough to change it up again, because the Order would be hell to push off their trail otherwise.

There was an underground bar looking for waitresses and were willing to pay under the table. Sketchy as that sounded, it might be the best thing Lavi could get on the short time schedule. It also meant working right away, so getting paid could happen faster. It's not like there was much money left after the train ticket. Enough to last until tomorrow, but not much.

So, Lavi put on the outfit - er, uniform. Apron that seemed useless and everything. The job was to carry drinks from the bar to the tables, and back again after they were empty. Sometimes people might order and Lavi would need to record them since they would complain otherwise, but remembering was so much easier.

It took a while but the owner decided to pay Lavi after each day of work instead of at the end of the week. Maybe because Lavi was so good at the job from the beginning. Eidetic memory was quite helpful for learning new and repetitive things. The entire menu was memorized within the first ten minutes, not that it was that hard.

Once it got super late, or early if Lavi was listening to the sun, the bar closed its doors and Lavi headed back to the waterfront where Allen and the rest were last at. Wandering around that early in feminine garb might have been dangerous, but so was being an exorcist so Lavi wasn't worried.

Everyone else should be, to be honest. Sure, the day wasn't bad, but there was always a little violent energy that could be let out. And if some pervert wanted to attack a poor, defenseless girl… well, Lavi felt obliged to change their mind.

Of course no one was around on the way back, so that problem never occurred.

Instead it was a boring walk through a boring town that one of Lavi's past aliases lived in years ago when training was only beginning with Bookman. Not necessarily a good time, but there was a fond remembrance of it still lingering.

Maybe this job would bring in enough money for Lavi to buy a book. Or Allen could just steal one from some snobby resident. He seemed like the type to break rules for the fun of it. Well, current him did.

The difference between the sweet moyashi Lavi met back at the order and the current brat that travels around and works as a clown with a bad attitude was impressive, and Lavi would applaud him if a) Lavi didn't do that every other month and b) the kid did it on purpose.

Instead it could stay at impressed with a dash of pity.

Anyone else at the order would be shocked that even after the kid got his memories back, he still acted like this. They probably would have expected a full shift back to the sweet, smiling boy and never even questioned the past that made him like that.

Of course, Lavi knew all about the pasts of Kanda and Lenalee, since persistent records were taken about the two of them, being experiments and all. Allen's was the only one still left a mystery. Still is, technically, but that doesn't matter when Lavi can speculate what Allen experienced based on the information and behaviors already shown.

Clearly he grew up around a circus. He knows how to act a clown and smile on command, he knows how to work a crowd, and he's used to traveling. His hair used to be red, so a large amount of trauma must have permanently turned it white. Maybe the death of his mom or getting chased out of his home. He wasn't surprised by his arm, so he had innocence from a young age. He was surprised, however, that it functioned properly and felt strong so it used to be a liability. Because of that it is unlikely that he was hired as a clown at the young age, so someone must have taken him in to teach after seeing him working around the area.

Some of that was probably wrong, of course. Allen didn't care to share information and Lavi has only experienced so much to use for educated guesses. At least half was probably solid, though.

Lavi still couldn't pin down why Cross decided to train and basically raise Allen, though. He must have had an ulterior motive, that man isn't known for doing things from the goodness of his heart nor for trying to pass on the exorcist ideology.

"Oi, Lavi!" Crack shouted despite the late time. Honestly, it was before the sun rose! "There ya are! Momo an' I been wonderin' if ya got lost!"

"Or bored!" Momo chimed in.

"Yeah! That! Wha', found a job a'ready? Ya be'r not be doin some'in dir'y, we got da brats wi' us!" Lavi tried not to cringe. Momo and Crack had been drinking. Working in a bar and coming back to deal with more drunks would suck.

"Yep, I don't need you lot paying for me, just like I said. Now, you both should get to sleep if you want to work tomorrow, they don't need drunkards showing up at the mine now do they?

"Ah, yer no fun!" Momo shouted. He and Crack started to walk back the way Lavi came, which made Lavi realize this wasn't the area they decided to set up camp.

Lavi let out a sigh and kept walking. It shouldn't take too much longer to find the group, probably. Crack and Momo being around was a good start. Tracking people was tiring, though. Especially for the second day in a row with a brat who could cover his tracks, and partially did.


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