Chapter 7: The Aria of the Land & the Clear Skies III
Allen and Alice are carrying their comrades when they hear a song.
"A song… I can hear it…" Alice trails off.
"Yeah, me too." Allen nods.
'A terribly beautiful melody. An artificial flower's lullaby.' Alice thought.
"Are you crying, Lala…?" Guzol asks. Lala looks at Guzol.
"That's a strange question to ask. Guzol." Lala states.
"I can hear something… something like… sadness…"
"Am I a doll… Guzol. Why did you lie about being a doll?"
The old man looks down. "I am a very… ugly human. I don't want you to be broken by strangers. Lala… Stay by my side. And when I die, let my hand be the one that breaks you…"
Lala goes toward Guzol and embraces him. "Yes, Guzol. Lala is Guzol's doll." She states. "What will I sing next?"
Guzol shed a tear from his sealed left eye. "I am ugly… an ugly… human…" He stammers.
Then the two notice Allen and Alice standing nearby.
"Ah… sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but… you are a doll, aren't you?" Allen asks to Lala causing her to pick up one of the fallen support pillars in the room and throws it at Allen and Alice.
"UWA—H—!?" Allen shouts in shock but he and Alice dodge it as Lala continues throwing pillars at them. Allen runs with Toma on his back. Alice who sets Kanda by a pillar. "W–W–W–WAIT A MINUTE! CALM DOWN AND LET'S TAA–WAAA!" Allen goes to where Alice is and he sets Toma next to Kanda.
"Doesn't look like she'll listen…" Alice points out.
Allen then bites his glove off and activates Cross. Lala throws the pillar towards Allen, but he caught it. Lala is surprised and Allen grins. He then throws it back towards her.
"HERE!" Allen shouts.
The pillar does not hit Lala, but hits and destroys the nearby others instead. Lala turns around her seeing the pillars being destroyed.
"EH!?" Lala said. "THE STONE PILLARS…!"
Allen then picks the last pillar and holds it with Cross. "There's nothing left for you to throw." He states with a smile. "Please tell us what's going on. I don't want to fight a cute girl."
"Guzol is going to die soon! Until then, please don't separate me from him!" Lala pleads. "I'll give you my heart…"
Guzol sits on a piece of the pillar and Lala sits on his lap. Allen sits on the steps in front of them. Alice just finishes bandaging Kanda and Toma's wounds. She stands up and walks toward them, sitting next to Allen.
"A long time ago, a human child cried in Martel." Lala starts.
~Many years ago~
"The villagers persecuted that child. He was abandoned in this city, where ghost were rumored to live." The present Lala says.
"Human… human… human… it's a human…" Old Lala says. "Boy… how about a song…?" She asks the young Guzol.
"It had been 500 years since the citizens of Martel left… it wasn't the first time a human got lost in this place… this is the sixth child… when I asked the five children before 'How about a song?' They attacked me all of the sudden." The present Lala explains. "They shouted 'Monster!" As they knocked me down. Even though I had only asked them 'how about a song?' so if this child in front of me also… doesn't accept my offer… I will kill him. Like the five before… I am a doll made by humans is the reason I exist."
'Let me sing!' Old Lala thought.
The young Guzol smiles at Old Lala. "Song?" He asks. "You would sing for me…? No one has ever done something for me. I'm called Guzol… Sing, Ms. Ghost."
~Present~
It's been 80 years since that day… Guzol has been with me ever since." Lala finishes. "Guzol… will stop moving… his heartbeat has been growing quieter and quieter. Let me be with him until the end! Please!"
"No!" Kanda shout. "Wait until this old man dies…?" Kanda starts to sit up and Alice helps him. "We can't grant this wish… we came here to protect the Innocence! Take the doll's heart now!" Kanda orders and Allen and Alice looks at him with wide-eyes. "Hah… hah…" Kanda breaths. "What did we come here for!?"
"I… I can't do it." Allen answers. Kanda is wide-eyes. "Sorry. I can't do it." Allen says.
Kanda throws Allen's jacket, which was being used to rest Kanda's head, back to Allen.
"This coat isn't a pillow for the wounded…!" Kanda says angrily. "It's the uniform of an Exorcist!" Kanda stands up and grabs his coat. "There are sacrifices that must be done, rookie." Kanda tells Allen.
"Please! Don't take it…" Lala pleads.
"Stop…" Guzol pleads.
Kanda puts his coat on and points Mugen at Lala.
"Then I will be the one!" Allen shouts and he stands in front of Kanda. "Will it be enough if I the 'sacrifice' for these two?" He asks. "We just want to be able to see our wish through to the very end. Until then, I cannot remove the Innocence from this doll! If I… destroy the Akuma, then there isn't a problem, is there!? To make sacrifices all the time on order to win the war… it's futile!"
Kanda strikes Allen in the face. Toma is conscious and standing. Alice stands up.
"Kanda!?" Alice calls out.
"SIR KANDA!" Toma calls.
"How incredibly naive... selling yourself out for some pitiful strangers…?" Kanda says. "ISN'T ANYTHING IMPORTANT TO YOU!?"
"There was something important… I lost it… long ago… it's pitiful… I don't have a noble reason… I just don't want to see something like this happen. That's all." Allen says while looking away sadly. "Because I am a small man, my heart is moving by what is in front of my eyes, not by what the world needs. I just can't abandon what's there in front of me. I want to protect everything I can!"
"Guzol…" Lala calls.
She and Guzol are suddenly impale from behind and drags down beneath the sands. Allen reaches his hand towards them, but too late.
"It's him!" Alice shouts.
Behind Allen, the sand covering the floor of the room begins to swirl, and the Level Two Akuma returns, holding Lala's now doll-like body in one hand while Guzol's impaled body and Lala's heart dangle from the hooks on his hand. Allen eye's widens.
"I got the Innocence!" It says and throws both Guzol and Lala aside.
"La… Lala… Lala…" Guzol calls.
The Akuma starts inspecting the Innocence with wonder. "Oooh– so this is Innocence."
It hears something crackles and the Level Two Akuma turns its attention back to see that Allen's Cross has grown and mutated.
"Return it. Return that Innocence." Allen demands angrily. "Return it."
"S… Sir Walker's Anti-Akuma Weapon… is going to change!" Toma points out in stun and Alice eyes widen with Allen's appearance.
"Exorcist who uses Parasite–Type Anti-Akuma Weapon can manipulate it according to their emotions. His innocence is reacting to his anger." Kanda explains.
'Even so… why is he emitting such murderous rage!? The weapon is taking on that shape and image!' Alice thought but she immediately stops when Allen leaps forward.
"IDIOT! YOUR WEAPON HASN'T FULLY FORMED YET…!" Kanda shouts when Alllen aims his partially reformed Innocence at the Akuma, Cross now appears to take the form of a cannon, firing countless bars of light. "It fired…!"
"GYAA!" It screams as the bars hit the Akuma and stacks on top of one another. Allen turns around and the Akuma slips away, sliding around beneath the sand, taking the form of sand in order to avoid being hit. "You can't hit me when I shift into sand~!"
Allen goes to fire again, but the Level Two strikes at Allen with its malformed trident–like copy of Allen's Cross, forcing Allen to dodge. The Akuma takes advantage of Allen's movement and comes up in front of him, swallowing within its sand-like body.
"KEKEKE, GOTCHA! IT'S OVER FOR YOU!"
'I can't see anything.' Allen thought.
"Hmm... how many times do I have to stab you before you die~?" The Akuma begins stabbing its stomach repeatedly.
"SIR WALKER–!" Toma shouts.
"HE'S FINE!" Kanda tells him with Alice nodding her head as he and Alice still feel something.
'I can still feel… Allen's murderous rage. It hasn't disappeared.' Alice thought.
Allen then blocks with his cannon-form Innocence and breaks the Akuma's spear–like fingers as he gets out of the Akuma.
'The Innocence showed my mind what to do. And my mind showed my body. How to use the new Anti-Akuma Weapon.' Allen thought and reforms his Innocence further so a bar-like blade emerges from the mouth. With this blade, Allen cuts the Level Two in half, forcing it to shed the skin of sand it is wearing and making it vulnerable.
"AH! MY SAND SKIN!" The Akuma shouts.
"So that is your real body, huh…" Allen says. "I'm not giving you a chance to change your appearance again." Allen lands on the sand. "This is for you."
"I STILL HAVE YOUR ARM!" Reforming his Innocence again, Allen aims his Cross' cannon-form at the Akuma and fires.
The Akuma blocks with its Cross copy arm, but Allen remembers Guzol's words and his love for Lala, deciding that he won't forgive the Akuma.
"Unforgivable!" Allen shouts.
The Akuma's arm starts to break apart to its astonishment. "SH… SHIT! WHAT? EVEN THOUGH I USED HIS HAND… WHY DID I LOSE…!?"
'It's just you. That's your limit. Even with the same weapon, the users are different. The only one that can use the true power of an Anti-Akuma Weapon is the Exorcist. As the Innocence synchronizes more with the Exorcist, the more powerful he will become.' Kanda thought.
Suddenly, Allen coughs up blood and his arm desynchronizes as the backlash of using his too–new arm hits him. 'Shit… rebound! My body can't keep up with the morphed weapon.' He thought.
"GOTCHA!" The Akuma shouts.
The Akuma attacks, Kanda, and Alice block it with their Anti-Akuma Weapon, protecting Allen.
"KANDA! ALICE!" Allen calls.
"Che." Kanda said. "YOU USELESS IDIOT… WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, RUNNING OUT OF POWER AT THE LAST MINUTE! YOU WERE THE BASTARD THAT BABBLED ON ABOUT PROTECTING THOSE TWO!" He shouts at Allen. "I HATE THE WAY NAIVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU DO THINGS… AND EVEN MORE SO, I HATE PEOPLE WHO DON'T KEEP YOUR PROMISES!" Alice nods in agreement.
"Ha… ha. Whichever it is… you still hate me… Alice you didn't have to agree with Kanda…" Allen says jokingly. "It's not that I've run out of power or anything like that… I'm just taking a little break."
"…Everything you do is irritating…" Kanda notes.
"Well it couldn't be helped." Alice adds.
Kanda and Alice cut off the Akuma's fake Cross arm as Allen forms his cannon again.
'Give me one more shot! Innocence, activate!' Allen thought.
"SCATTER!" Allen, Kanda, and Alice shout.
Allen uses Cross Paling (firing volleys of rod-shaped energy palings), Kanda uses First Illusion: Netherworld Insects, and Alice uses Silver Rain (using Silver's bow form).
"E… EXORCIST!" The Level Two Akuma screams.
A hole is blown straight through the side of the town of Martel as the Akuma breaks apart and the light of the explosion fades. The shard of Innocence, Lala's heart, arcs through the sky before falling back down, landing beside the exhausted bodies of the injured Allen Walker, Alice Lakefield, and Yu Kanda. Allen reaches out for the Innocence.
"Please… live once more. For Lala's sake…" Allen pleads.
~Three days later~
In a hospital
"Aaah… blue skies. Emerald green ocean. Por favor~ Italia~" Komui says.
"So what?" Kanda says.
"'What?' Hehe~" Komui says. "I'M JEALOUS, DAMN IT! IT HAS BEEN THREE DAYS SINCE YOU DEFEATED THAT AKUMA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? EVERYONE IS USING ME LIKE A SLAVE! THEY DON'T LET ME GO OUTSIDE. IT'S LIKE I'M A PRISONER IN THE DUNGEON OF SOME CASTLE…" He whines.
"Stop shouting. Shut up." Kanda retorts. "If you got a problem, complain to him! Actually Komui, I don't get along with him!"
"You don't get along with anyone so… where is Allen?" Komui asks.
"Che. He's still in that city with the doll along with that girl!" Kanda answers.
"That doll called Lala… it'll be soon, right?"
"Probably. It has already been working for 500 years. It's not the same doll. It'll stop by itself."
A doctor bursts into the room to find Kanda removing himself from intravenous catheter and taking off his bandages. "Wait. Wait… what are you doing!?" The doctor questions.
"I'm leaving. Claim your money there." Kanda points at Toma who has the money.
"No, no! Your condition is critical! It should take you five months to recover completely."
"I'm healed." The young man states with his healed bare chest as he wears his shirt.
"THERE IS NO WAY!"
Kanda throws the bandages to the doctor and puts on a shirt. "Thanks for everything." He takes Mugen and his coat before he and Toma leave.
"How can that be… the wounds have disappeared…" The doctor mumbles.
Kanda continues the call as he and Toma walks down the street.
"Your injuries took quite some time, Kanda." Komui notes.
"But I'm healed." Kanda states.
"But since it took some time, it means it's starting to deteriorate. You can't afford to misgauge. Your life reserve…"
"So… what do you want? If this is a prank call, I'll hand up."
"GYAAA! YOU! REEVER, DID YOU HEAR THAT? THOSE SHARP WORDS!" Komui shouts.
"Huh?" Reever says as Kanda starts to walk pass an alley, where a mother is cradling her child.
"You've got it wrong– the next mission…" Komui says.
"My, my… what's wrong this time?" The mother says. "He never sleeps unless someone sings a lullaby. Maybe it's because the breeze picked up today. The rustling of the trees must sound like a song."
~Three days ago~
When the heart returns to Lala, she begins to move. But-
"Master human…" Lala calls. "How about a song…?" She asks. It was no longer 'Lala'. It was the doll Guzol first met. "Master human…" Lala calls. "I am a doll… I sing… Master human…"
~Guzol's memories~
"Guzol," Lala calls. "What song should I sing next?" She asks.
When the young Guzol was brushing Lala's hair.
"Look! Loke how beautiful it has become, Lala!" Guzol says happily.
"Lala?" She repeats.
"Can I call you that, Ms. Ghost?" He asks.
When he first met Lala.
"Boy… how about a song?" Old Lala asks.
~Present (still three days ago)~
"You would do sing for me...?" Guzol asks as he smiles and cries. Lala smiles. "Lala." Guzol calls. "I love you." Guzol dies.
A perpetual smiling and deteriorating Lala reach down towards Guzol's head.
"Are you sleeping?" Lala asks. "Then I'll sing a lullaby."
From then on, the dolls continues singing the lullaby.
~Present~
Allen sits outside of the chamber she and Guzol are in. Alice sits next to him.
"What are you sleeping for? Stay on guard!" Kanda says as he walks towards Allen.
"Huh…?" Allen says, not lifting his head from his arms. "What is someone who supposed to take five months to recover doing here?"
"That's right. Shouldn't you be resting?" Alice asks.
"I'm healed." Kanda answers.
"No way…" Allen trails off in disbelief.
"Shut up." Kanda sits six steps below Allen. "I got a message from Komui. I'm going ahead with my next mission. You and Alice deliver the Innocence back to headquarters."
"Understood."
Kanda looks at Allen silently then face forward. "If it's hard to bear, just stop the doll. It isn't Lala anymore, right?"
"But it's their promise. The only one who can break Lala is Guzol."
"You're naive. We're destroyers, not saviors."
Allen lifts his head. "…I know that. But I…" Allen pauses as a gust of wind blows, Lala's voice no longer hear.
"The song stopped…" Alice trails off and both Kanda and Allen look at her.
In the chamber
Allen walks into the chamber to find Lala frozen in place over Guzol, her mouth open to sing but her body no longer functioning. As he kneels to take the Innocence, Lala suddenly turns to him, her appearance as it had been before and no longer deteriorating.
"Thank you." Lala tells Allen with a smile. Allen's eyes widen. "For letting me sing until I break. The promise has been fulfilled."
Lala collapses in Allen's arms, a simple, deteriorating doll once more. By the entrance, where Kanda, Alice, and Toma stand.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kanda asks.
"Kanda…" Allen says tearfully. "Although what you said is true, I want to become a destroyer who can save."
