Chapter 6: The Aria of the Land & the Clear Skies II

The four reach the outside of Matel but they are rushing towards the city.

"The ghost of Martel is only a doll…" Allen says.


Living between the rocks and the dry land, the citizens lived a horrible life. And thus, Martel was called 'The Land Forsaken by God'. Living in despair, the people started to create dolls in order to forget about their situation. Joyous dolls that dance and sing. But in the end, they got tired of creating dolls and they eventually moved away. However, the dolls that they left behind as they did before. Even now, after 500 years.


At the outskirts of town

"It wouldn't be surprising if an Innocence was used to create these dolls." Kanda states.

They all stop with wide-eyes stopping on the edge of the cliff and below them was Martel as Kanda, Allen, and Alice stare at the city.

'What the hell is this cold chill…?' Allen thought. 'The Finders…'

"Damn, we tried to get here as soon as we got the transmission." Kanda says. "But they're already dead." He faces Allen and Alice. "Hey, you two. I'll say this before we start. I don't care if you're on the verge of being killed, if I find that you're a nuisance, I'll leave you behind. In war there are always sacrifices, so don't think of us as partners."

"I don't like your way of thinking." Allen retorts when an explosion is seen in the city.

In the city

The Level Two ordering several Level One Akuma to destroy the barrier that the remaining Finders set around Guzol and the child accompanying him.

"Keep shooting!" The Level Two orders.

"UGH!" Finder C says.

"Damn human!" The Level Two says. "Putting the machine with the dolls to seal them... this is gonna take some time."

"We…" Finder C speaks. "We won't hand over the Innocence to you, Akuma!"

The Level Two, which is standing on a Finder's head, pushing his head into the concrete.

"GYA–!" Finder C screams.

"Just because I'm bored, I'll play with your head."

"STOP IT!" Allen shouts.

Allen had Cross activated and he intervenes with the Level Two. Allen is surprised to see that the Level Two is an Akuma.

"He's an Akuma!?" Allen thought. The Level Two then grabs Cross.

"Who are you?" The Level Two asks but Allen doesn't answer. "WHAT ARE YOU?" The Level Two kicks Allen towards the wall.

Kanda and Alice are standing on top of a building seeing Allen in the wall.

"That idiot." Kanda mutters.

After Allen got kicked by the Level Two Akuma, Timcanpy flies toward the rubble where Allen got buried.

"He was different from the other guys in white coats." The Level Two Akuma says. "He was wearing a black one!" The Level Two hears something and looks at his hand that touched Cross as it starting to break apart. "Oh~…" It says. "I get it. This power… You're the one called 'Exorcist', eh?"

Timcanpy flies around where Allen is, under the building pieces and then he gets out of the pile of building pieces, glaring at the Level Two Akuma.

"You're the one that killed the Finders…!" Allen says. The Level Two grins and lunges at Allen.

Kanda and Alice still standing on top of a building, leave fighting the Level Two to Allen.

'Idiot… rushing in before thinking it over. He's probably an evolved Level Two form Akuma… he's much stronger that at Level One, and he even has the ability of free thought. Plus his special abilities are still unknown to us.' Kanda thought and he looks over towards where Guzol and the child are with Two Level One Akuma are hovering over the barrier. 'Most likely, those are the dolls down there. The barrier won't last long with only four seals…' He then unsheathes Mugen and Alice looks at him. "Let's go, Mugen!" Kanda calls. "Battou!" He runs his index and middle fingers along the back part of the blade to activate it, the blade become silver. 'Innocence Activate!'

"Kanda?" Alice calls.

"I'm getting the dolls." He replied. "Get one of them and follow me." He ordered. Alice nods and then she activates Silver.

"Silver…" Alice calls and activates her Innocence. 'Innocence Activate!'

Allen is standing in front of the grinning Level Two.

"Can you hear it?" It asks. "The sound of my heart… I'm getting excited!" It shivers in excitement. "Exorcist… Exorcist… Exorcist! UUUUUUU~ UUUUUU~!"

'This Akuma… does it have emotions? He feels happy in battle… and what the…?' Allen thought looking at the Akuma's soul. 'The soul sealed within the body is becoming corrupt.'

The Level One looks up when Kanda and Alice jump off the building while Allen and the Level Two are looking at them.

"Mugen." Kanda calls. "Return of the apocalypse. Kaichu Ichigen!" He swings his sword and releases a small swarm of supernatural creatures heading towards the two Level One Akuma. It destroys them and explode.

"Oh–!?" The Level Two says. "There was two more!"

Kanda and Alice land on the ground and he sheathes Mugen back. He goes over to Finder C and in front of him.

"Hey." Kanda calls. "What's the deactivation code for the tailsman?"

"Y… you came… Exorcist." Finder C manages to say.

"If you want to avenge your comrades' death, then hurry and answer me."

"Have… have hope… 'have… hope'…" Finder C answers.

Kanda and Alice go down towards the talisman and Kanda enters the code.

"No…! The dolls…" The Level Two says. "Errrr…" It starts to look around. "Errrrr…" Allen looks at it with a weird face as the Level Two is shaking and suddenly, it became infuriated. "I'll kill you right here. I'LL KILL YOU, KILL YOU, KILL YOU, KILL YOU, KILL YOU, KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU FIRST!"

Kanda deactivates the code and Alice gives a hand to the child and Kanda gives the shadow adult a hand.

"Come with us." Kanda says.

Alice then carries the girl in her arms while holding Silver (bow form) in her hand while Kanda carries the adult in one arm. The two jump to a tall building and stop.

"I'll get you both later anyway!" The Level Two shouts and Allen looks up at the two of them.

"I won't help you defeat him." Kanda says to the white-haired boy. "It was your fault that you acted on your emotions in the first place."

"All right," Allen looks down. "Go ahead. You have the Innocence, so there's no need for me to worry. I'll destroy this Akuma and then get going."

Kanda moves and Alice looks at Allen before she follows Kanda. Allen and the Level Two lunge at each other.

"HYAHAHAHAHAHA–!" The level Two laughs but it got hit back and lands on its back before standing back up.

Allen then got Cross in to the wall and he pulls out a large piece of the building. He threw it towards the Level Two, but it smashes it with its fist. The large piece is smash into bits making it hard to see. Allen takes the chance and got behind the Level Two. He slashes at it.

"UWO—!" Allen shouts. He manages to slice the Akuma in half, but when Allen looks at it. There is no soul.

'No! This isn't the Akuma! A fake!?' Allen thought.

"Over here, over here!" It shouts.

Just then, a second Allen appears behind Allen and attacks him with its own Anti-Akuma Weapon, Cross. Then the false skin of the Level Two Akuma fades away as Allen's mirror image stabs him in the chest with its own Anti-Akuma Weapon.

Allen looks at his mirror image. "Me…?" He questions. "GUH… Damn!" Allen swings back and attacks, but misses.

"Hehehehe." Mirror Allen giggled. "I copied it. Your power…" The Mirror Allen's lower half of the body is the Level Two The false skin of the Level Two Akuma fades away as Allen's mirror image stabs him in the chest with its own Anti-Akuma Weapon.

Allen looks at his mirror image. "Me…?" He questions. "GUH… Damn!" Allen swings back to attack, but misses.

"Hehehehe." Mirror Allen giggled. "I copied it. Your power…" The Mirror Allen's lower half of the body is the Level Two and the upper half is Allen. "You underestimated me, didn't you?" It asks Allen who is shocked. "I'm at Level Two." It stuck his tongue out. "Unlike the ball-like Akuma, my abilities have been discovered. Well, actually, I just found out about them myself. And this is the evolved form of my ability… NOW I'LL KILL YOU!" It smiles widely and then contorts its pseudo-Cross into a trident-like weapon and attacks Allen again, throwing him through several buildings as its blood lust builds. "AH~ IT FEELS SO GOOD!" It looks at its pseudo-Cross. "Hehe! I just got a great thing!" The Level Two looks behind him and sees Timcanpy. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?" It questions while licking its lips.

In the building

Allen gets out of the pile of debris groaning out, "Ouch. What the hell was that...?" 'The moment– when the Akuma moved its hands… spear-like things shot out. If I didn't block with my left hand.' Allen thought. He then looks at his left arm and Cross is damaged. "GAH! NO– A WOUND! I'VE BEEN WOUNDED! KOMUI'S GONNA FIX IT AGAIN!" Allen screams. "I'm scared…" He mumbles at the thought of Komui with his (torture) treatment tools.

Then Allen starts to hear some cracking sound. "I wonder what that sound is…" Suddenly, the ground beneath him breaks and he falls down the hole. "EH!? NO—!" He screams but manages to grab to something with Cross. It was a chandelier and it starts to sway back-and-forth. "Oh?" Allen said teary. "WOAHAHOHOHOAH." The chandelier stops and Allen looks down. "What is this place? There's a big cave underneath the city…" The chandelier then breaks and Allen falls again. "UWA—!" He lands on the building pieces. "OUCH!" Allen shouted in pain and then notices something to his right. "This is…"

Elsewhere

The child starts to tell Kanda and Alice that there is a large underground complex that the people of Mater build to escape the heat.

"An underground path?" Alice asks.

"To protect from the strong sunlight, there's an underground district below the city. It's like a maze, so if someone goes in without knowing their way, they'll get lost. But there's an exit that leads us through the cliff and out to the sea." The child explains. "The beast called 'Akuma' can fly… I think its best that we stay under ground." Kanda and Alice land on the ground in an alley.

Then the transmission golem starts ringing and flies out of Kanda's coat.

"Oh, it's Toma." Kanda said. "How are things there?"

"I was investigating from a different abandoned block. There seemed to be a heavy battle going on, and then I heard a loud blast, and now Sir Walker's whereabouts are unknown." Toma answers.

'Allen?' Alice thought.

"Oh, it seems that only the Akuma has come out from the roof. And he's trying to catch the golem." Toma adds.

"All right. I'll send my golem as a guide, so only bring Tim. We don't want to stay here much longer." Kanda concludes. "We need Tim's ability right now."

"Okay." Toma answers.


Just outside the building where Toma is, the Level Two is chasing Timcanpy. He was then caught by the Akuma.

"Hehehe!" It giggles and starts to dangle Timcanpy above its mouth. "I'll kill you too!" It bends on its knees and starts to smash Timcanpy against the stone road. "EIYA!" It shouts as Timcanpy is smashes again as the Akuma laughs hysterically.

In the alley

Alice and Kanda let go of the two people.

"All right. We're gonna go underground, but do you know the path?" Kanda asks the two

"I… do." The shadowed adult answers.

"Guzol." The child calls.

"I…" The adult begins and he takes his hat off. "Have been living here for 500 years, there's no path I don't know." Guzol is severely disfigured, his skin is hairless, darkened, and tough in appearance, intermittently bulging, scabby, scaly or lean in inappropriate places, and his left eye has been sealed shut. Kanda and Alice's eyes widen. Guzol quickly hides his face and puts his hat back on. "Hehe… ugly, eh…?"

"You're the doll?" Kanda asks. "It's amazing that you can talk."

"Yes… You guys came here to take my heart, right?"

"If it's possible, I want it now." Kanda says causing Alice to sharply looks at him as the child widen her eyes at his word and he then gets on one knee. "We don't need the trouble of carrying a big doll with us the entire way."

The child then stands in front of Guzol with her arms wide open. "GU… GUZOL'S THE ONLY ONE THAT KNOWS THE UNDERGROUND PATH! WITHOUT HIM, WE'LL JUST GET LOST!" The child shouts at Kanda.

"And who are you?" Kanda asks.

"I'm… Guzol's…" The child trails off.

"SHE'S WAS JUST ABANDONED KID…!" Guzol quickly answers but he starts to cough. "I FOUND HER… SO… I ADOPTED HER…!"

"Gu… Guzol…" The child calls.

Kanda and Alice look at them silently, expressionless.

"Sir Kanda. Miss Lakefield." Toma voice calls making Kanda and Alice look at him. Kanda then face back to the child and Guzol.

"I'm sorry, but I can't fall back off now. Also, we can't let your heart fall into the hands of the Akuma." Kanda tells Guzol. "You can keep it for now, but in the end, we're still gonna take your heart. Sorry for dragging you into this."

Kanda and Alice walk over to where Toma is, leaving Guzol and the child alone. The Finder then holds both hands with Timcanpy, which reduces to small bits.

"It's Timcanpy." He states and Timcanpy starts to reform.

"Show me the info on the Akuma, Tim." Kanda asks.

When Timcanpy is fully reforms back into a golem, he opens his mouth and he projects the Level Two Akuma and Mirror Allen.

"It's like a mirror…" Alice points out.

"What?" Toma asks.

"This Akuma… he's backwards. Watch. When he took on the image of Allen, his clothes, his weapon… they're all backwards." She states and Timcanpy plays the scene when Allen slashes the Akuma. "See, even the slashed fake is backwards… And this fake had no insides, it was only a 3-D doll."

"This isn't just some 'copy' ability…" Kanda adds. "More precisely, he's using something to copy to copy off… and whatever he copies, he can equip and use it as if it was his own. As long as I see him copy the Sprout's left arm and attacks with it…"

"Sprout?" Toma asks.

"Kanda is referring to Allen." Alice replies.

'Damn him for letting this Akuma copy his arm!' Kanda thought.

Guzol and the child start to walk past Kanda. Kanda watches them.

"Let's go, Guzol…" The child whispers.

"Yeah." He whispers back and they disappear into the dark behind them.

When they got out of his sight, Kanda turns the corner and they are gone. "THOSE TWO ARE GONE!" He shouts. "THEY RAN AWAY! DAMN, WHERE COULD THEY BE…!"

Toma turns around surprised and calls out, "Sir Kanda. Miss Lakefield, behind you…"

Kanda and Alice turn around and see Allen.


After leaving the two Exorcist and the finder behind, the child and Guzol are falling down into a hole at rapid speed as both of them cling to one another. The child digging her fingers into the wall to slow their descent. When they fall into a room with sand covering the floor, the child's hat is tossed aside.

"Are you all right, Guzol?" The child asks.

"Ah… thanks to you slowing us down, the impact wasn't too serious." Guzol answers. "Lala!" He calls. "Did you hand get crushed!?"

He asks as she helps sit him up. Lala is a doll with the appearance of a young girl, she has blonde hair and blue eyes (her left eye was broken and had to be covered with bandages) and a metal head-piece with two "horns" sticking out of it.

"It's fine." She answers. "In any case, as long as you keep living, I will too…"

"UGH!" Guzol grunts.

"Guzol!?"

"Hah… hah…" He breaths and starts coughing heavily when blood comes out from his mouth.

"Guzol… There isn't much time left, is there?" Lala asks and hugs Guzol. "What… can I do for you…?"


Elsewhere

Allen is crawling around through his hands and knees through narrow passageways, lost.

"Wh-what should I do…?" Allen stammers. "I'm lost…" He says teary. "A—H—! I SHOULDN'T HAVE WALKED AROUND SO CARELESSLY! THIS PLACE IS A FREAKING MAZE! I'M NOT SUPPOSE TO GET LOST IN HERE LIKE SOME MISSING CHILD~~~~!" Allen shouts. "If only Timcanpy were here…"

Where Kanda, Toma, and Alice are

Sensing where his master is, Timcanpy begins eating his way straight through a wall.

"…Ka… Ka… ndaa… Al… ice…" Allen stammers.

"It… it's a mirror image!" Toma says.

Kanda unsheathes Mugen, but Alice notices something strange at the mirrored Allen as she cautiously stands behind Toma with Silver.

"It seems we have an incredibly stupid one here…" Kanda trails off.

"Ka… n… da…" Allen calls. "…Do…!"

"Return of the apocalypse." Kanda says. " Kaichu Ichigen!" The small swarm of supernatural creatures head toward Allen. "Die!"

Alice sees Cross blocks Kanda's attack and Alice starts to back up from Toma. She got ready with Silver (twin swords form) in her hands, she watches Kanda and Toma carefully. Kanda's eyes are wide with surprise.

"Wa…" 'Allen' falls unconscious. "Sir Walker…"

"You are…?" Allen says.

"BEANSPROUT!" Kanda shouts.

"Kanda…" Allen calls.

"WHAT ARE YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING…!? WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING THE AKUMA…!?"

Allen kneels down to pick up 'Allen'. "Kanda, I have an 'eye' that can tell people apart from Akuma. This person is not an Akuma!" He declares.

"Sir Walk… er…" 'Allen' has a crack on his face.

'A gap in its face!?' Allen thought. He rips the 'Allen' face off revealing Toma inside.

"TOMA!?" Allen calls out.

Kanda eyes are widen. "What…"

'I knew it.' Alice thought. 'I thought it was strange when he came to us.'

She and Allen then sense the Akuma causing the white-haired Exorcist warns at Kanda, "THAT TOMA BEHIND YOU IS AN AKUMA, KANDA!"

Alice then swings Silver, but misses when the Level Two attacks Kanda, sending him flying straight through the wall, subsequently, Kanda drops Mugen.

"UGH!" Kanda grunts.

"HYAHAHAHA…" It laughs.

"Ka…" Alice says.

"KANDA!" She and Allen call out.

Disarmed, Kanda is pin to the wall by the Level Two.

"You bastard… when did you…?" Kanda questions.

"Hehehe…when you were talking to him! I found the one you called 'Toma' at the same time I crushed that yellow golem. I thought if I wore this 'image' you wouldn't notice." It pierces its forehead. "See? Didn't you notice that this is a mirror image too? And I made him wear the 'image' of the white-haired one... hehehe. I'm so smart." It unzips its own skin and sheds Toma's visage. "My skin is duplicate paper. I really got you good."

"…HA!" Kanda smirks.

The Level Two then uses its copy of Allen's Anti-Akuma Weapon, Cross to inflict heavy damage upon Kanda, slashing his chest diagonally.

It laughs and notices Kanda is still standing. "Huh? Hurry and die already!"

"Die?" Kanda asks. "I… I cannot die before I find 'that person'." 'I…' He thought then pass out on his feet.

"GYAHYAHAHAHA! AWESOME- HE DIED WHILE STANDING!"

Allen throws himself at the Akuma, tossing aside with his Cross and Alice goes toward Kanda.

"YOU BASTARD!" Allen shouts.

"KANDA!" Alice calls out worriedly.

"…hah… hah…" Kanda breaths.

"He's breathing… he's still alive!" Alice tells Allen.

"Ugh… damn it… that piece of shit… my body got sliced in half." It says and looks up to see all four of them are gone. "Where did they go!?"


While the Akuma was distracted, the group took the chance to get away from it and walking down a tunnel with Toma is on Allen's right shoulder and Alice is carrying Kanda by putting his arm over her neck and dragging him.

"Hah… hah…" Allen breaths heavily.

"Allen… are you sure you don't want Kanda? I can carry Toma if you want…" Alice suggests.

"Nah. OW!" Allen groans in pain.

"Sir Walker… please leave me here. You're badly wounded too…" Toma speaks.

"I will do no such thing!"

'Damn… I have no idea where I am. Isn't there a place where we could stop to take care of these injuries?' Allen thought.

Alice then stops so did Allen when they hear something. "A song…?" She points out.