Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray Man in any way, all credit goes to Katsura Hoshino.
Summary: Forced to leave the Order, Allen comes across a secret hidden in the depths of the Ark. Now, hunted by the Noah Clan and considered an enemy by the place he once called home, he has to search for the truth... The truth about Mana, Neah and himself. Where he came from and who he really is. Uncovering a web of illusions and doubts, Allen still moves forward as he promised to do... But what do you do in a war, when you feel like you don't belong to any side?
"For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth." – Bo Bennet.
Act Twelve – Seeds of Truth and Doubt
Though they had been victorious in the fight, Raz remained angry with Allen almost all the way to Liverpool, which turned to be a shorter path than what they had first imagined after the train accident. Some people from town had seen the smoke and rushed to its direction, meeting a few of the passengers who had run from the site and spoken about what had happened on the way, leading the townspeople there in the hopes of getting help for possible victims. Many had been injured and apparently, two had either died or were close to it.
While Allen and Raz had decided to cross the remaining distance by foot, they had met a man and his daughter on a cart who had heard about the accident and offered them a ride. Both had been just grateful, as they had decided to leave the area before local authorities showed up, wanting to avoid questions they had no interest in answering.
Allen just hoped people had been too frightened to later remember details…
Meanwhile, Raz had said almost not a word to him and there were no doubts regarding the reason, either. The lines of her face, while devoid of emotion, had a certain coldness that became sharper whenever Allen tried talking to her.
"You should have told me before." She had hissed in a low voice when the fight was over, throwing her backpack over her shoulders, her eyes now frozen stones. "I would've known already what to do or not. We could have been seriously hurt when you stopped me." Not to mention what she could've done if he hadn't stopped her. That he would keep such a crucial detail from her, how she shouldn't destroy akumas lest she did the same to the trapped souls was far too different from being unable to talk about more personal matters. Worse, even with their recent training sessions, he had ended up telling her in the middle of a fight.
Allen had apologized, but Raz's disposition had no improvement during all the way and she avoided his gaze, leaving him unsure of what to do… She was really irritated. He decided to give her space until they arrived in town, where they thanked the people for their help. The daughter, a girl of thirteen with copper-colored hair and freckles over her face, waved her hand saying that it had been a pleasure as they were happy to help and hoped they would like the town, despite the accident. Her rosy lips were made for smiles. The father confirmed her words, wishing them well. A wave of the reins and the white and brown horse shook its enormous head before starting a gallop.
"I like it here…" Allen commented as they watched the cart going away, in the delicate tone of one testing the resistance of ice covering a lake and spying Raz with the corner of his eyes for any indication that she wasn't so angry anymore. "I just hope the hospital is working properly now…"
The jest was ignored. Raz cast him an unreadable gaze and turned, observing a point in the road that gave start to a large street and houses.
She didn't say anything.
"Uh… Raz?" He asked, aware that she was listening. "You… Are you still mad at me?"
"No." She replied after a moment without turning to him, with careful steps. Her eyes were fixed ahead and for once, she didn't bother looking around as she usually did when in a new place.
"Uh…" Allen mumbled without much more to say as he wasn't sure she was being sincere, receiving a sound that seemed a sigh in response.
"It isn't that I'm angry…" Her muttering perhaps wouldn't have been heard by someone who wasn't used to her or standing close. She didn't know how to best name the serpent rubbing the cold scales inside and around her organs. It was something sticky that gave off the sensation of pulling her down and drowning her, filling her body with ice and fire at the same time. "I am, but it's more that I'm upset."
There was annoyance yes, but what else? What was the name of what seemed to isolate her in a cold coffin and made her feel as if Allen wasn't there anymore?
"I'm sorry…" He repeated, hoping she could see he meant it. "I really am."
"Is there anything else about akumas that I should know?" She asked in a neutral tone, while trying to not think about those creatures and the souls Allen had told to be chained.
Allen became quiet, thinking about what he knew and what he had told her and denied in silence. Now he had told her everything that he knew about Akumas, including their evolution and the Level Four, as much as even thinking about those invited a needle of pain in both his eye and his mind, remembering the state the soul was by that point. Raz was in silence once more… But the words she tried to keep inside found a strength of their own to tear up their way.
"I know that there are things you don't want to talk about…" She caught herself saying, voice lowering to a whisper. "But… I would like you to know you can tell me…" She managed to stop a question that was too weak from accompanying the other words. Allen had called her his friend, but… Didn't he trust her? Was that why he wasn't telling her everything?
"I'll… I promise." Promising was one thing, he needed to do it. "I do want to tell you, but…"
She didn't nod or reply, yet when she looked at him, Allen somehow understood it without the need for gestures or words. As long as it wasn't something that would interfere with their attempts at staying free or anything equally important, she respected his time.
During the rest of the way to their destination, Allen observed the town where he had been a little more than a year before with Lenalee. There were no great changes, but when they passed a store he remembered, it wasn't a shoe shop anymore. In its place, there was a small candy store and through the glass, he saw a man with a round face smiling as he served a piece of cake to a couple.
Still, more than never, he knew everything had changed.
Mother's house was still where it had always been, at a small distance from the town and following a road through fields and close to a lake that reflected the sun in its clear waters. A low stone-wall circled the property as a thick line placed over green silk, sprinkled with other colors from the flowers. There were a lot more than the last time.
"Barbar has been working more on the garden..." Allen thought, smiling to himself and, upon coming close to the gate, he turned to Raz. The interest was back to her eyes, as she studied the field and the lake.
"That man on the cart said she is alive." He told her, opening the small gate of wood and iron. This hadn't come as a surprise to him, despite the woman's age. "If she is not home, I'm sure that…"
A known voice flew to them, as cheerful as a bird flying for the first time.
"ALLEN!" A figure approached fast, running. A tall man with skin tanned by the sun, the bald head protected by a large straw hat. Allen didn't need to look at him, he knew just one person who could sound just so happy.
"Barbar!" The boy waved back with a wide smile. The man's laughter was deep as a roar, but the cheerfulness gave it an almost childish quality as he threw his arms around Allen, in a bone-crushing hug.
"Allen, Allen! It's so good to see you again!" He wore a blue jumper over the white shirt, hands stained by the earth. Allen, lost in the hug, managed to keep the smile though his arms prickled in protest. A sweet smell, of rain and flowers, soothed his senses.
"It's good to see you too, Barbar!" He said, bones sighing in relief when the man let him go. Barbar hadn't changed at all in all that time, his smile and eyes were still the same that Allen was used to seeing in his face. Raz looked from one to the other during the exchange.
"This is Raz, she…" Allen started, being interrupted when the man let out an exclamation, followed by a cry of joy. The boy knew at once what was coming and opened his mouth to explain, but Barbar was already running back to the house.
"MOTHER! Allen is back! This time he REALLY brought a bride!"
Despite the fire that dominated his face at once, Allen almost smiled, recalling how Barbar had acted the very same way back when he had come by with Lenalee. At his side, Raz had her head tilted to the side in pure curiosity and looked from the giant that was now entering the house to Allen.
"What is a bride?"
The heat that had started to fade with the birth of a laugher returned with such strength that Allen coughed. He wasn't sure if it was the term she didn't recognize or the meaning in itself.
"Ah… Well… Uh, you see, when two people are in love with each other… They sometimes want to get married… I mean, marriage is like…" He tried to explain awkwardly, wondering for the first time how much of certain details he would have to explain. It seemed Raz was just getting more confused as they followed the stone path towards the door.
Allen stopped talking, something calling his attention. On the side of the house, a couple of feet away, there were several white flowers. The boy gave a quick run and crouched near a few of them. Further away, the lake trembled and an old-looking tree crossed its branches in the air, one of them holding an old swing.
The flowers were small, with a delicate aspect and round shape, that invoked the idea of bells. Slowly, he touched one, lifting it in his fingertips. There was no doubt.
"Allen? What are you doing there?" Barbar's voice called him back. Raz, behind the man, seemed just to be more confused, either by his unfinished explanation or by his sudden interest in the plants.
"Oh, nothing, nothing…" He replied, standing straight and casting a last glance at the flowers.
"I've seen those before."
XxX
"Your hair is longer than the last time I saw you, boy." The old woman commented upon seeing him with a critical gaze. Her brown hair was lighter now, boasting a few strands of silver and the wrinkles close to her eyes were a thin spiderweb. Allen, somewhat nervous, ran his hand through his ponytail, loose strands at the side of his face passing his shoulders.
Mother's black eyes evaluated him.
"So, he hasn't turned into the Fourteenth." She reflected, recalling of when she had seen Allen for the first time, the days that had been spent in silence or in screams that his body couldn't hold, his eye bleeding from time to time as if the wound itself refused to heal. Even today, she wouldn't have been able to decide which state had seemed worse.
"I think you're taller as well. But just a little." Mother added with a smirk when Allen exclaimed in protest before turning to Raz as they entered the living room.
"This is Raz," He introduced her, the Noah leaning her head in a polite greeting. "She is a friend of mine." He emphasized, eyes in Barbar, hoping he would comprehend and following his own emphasis, Raz nodded again. When Allen, walking away from the flowers, waited for Mother, he had tried to clarify a little better what a "bride" was. Raz wasn't so sure why he had seemed so embarrassed, though. Once it had been explained, it had seemed something too simple to invite the reaction he had had. It was a mistake and they just had had to explain they weren't involved romantically, so what was so embarrassing about it?
"You did a nice work when you were here with Lenalee Lee." Mother commented, sitting in the table and gesturing to the visits to do the same. "Did something happen? Is that bum of Cross missing again?"
Allen denied with his head, but he was sure Mother was already aware that this was not the case or reason for the visit. Ever since he could remember, she had always been a perspicacious woman and surely had realized the obvious: They both had backpacks, didn't wear the Order's black coat and Allen had his Innocence hand hidden in an old-looking glove, something he hadn't done for a long time.
"Well, more or less… But we're not exactly seeking him. Not like last time." He added and hesitated, not only due to unsureness of how to start addressing the subject, knowing that beating around the bush would only serve to annoy Mother.
She had known Cross very well.
Allen couldn't resist asking.
"Mother, do you think Cross could have survived a serious injury? I mean a really serious one, even without medical aid?"
The old lady didn't even blink, but Allen thought the question had caught her off guard.
"That rascal doesn't die easily, and you should know it." She grumbled, her voice with the harsh quality of a heavy smoker. "Why?"
Allen looked at Raz, but the girl lowered her eyes at once. After an instance, Allen told her about what had happened, just omitting about meeting and talking with Samuel Kallen, justifying his doubts by saying that he remembered Maria's powers and how her coffin hadn't been found. He also decided to not say anything about Apocryphos, as this could be left out of the conversation for now.
Mother heard his tale, occupying herself with her silvery smoking pipe. When Allen was done, she had her eyebrows raised and nothing in her expression resembled worry or surprise.
"Allen, you know Cross." She muttered, the corner of her mouth lifting in a kind of smile marked by memories that were from before the boy she was speaking to was born and scoffed. "Do you actually believe he would die like this? He could even have faked all this just to leave the Order and fool some of the people he owes money to."
That last part was actually quite true. Allen wouldn't place Cross above such acts, honestly.
"I wonder what kind of stories Samuel knows that would be enough to keep Master from placing debts in his name, I could use some of them!" He tried to not cringe when thinking about the exact value his debts amounted to.
Mother's tone carried jest and Allen was unable to stop a smile, though he couldn't forget what he had seen through Apocryphos' eyes, the expression of Cross and the first time he had seen the shattered window stained by blood, the smell dominating all the room and spreading…
Could he have survived?
"Now, I haven't received anything in his name lately, but this doesn't mean anything." The woman relaxed her muscles, arms resting in her lap, watching her visitors. Her eyes were untouched by her age, remaining young even now and sharp as those of a hawk. "But then again, you didn't come all this way just to ask me about this, have you?"
Allen and Raz exchanged looks. The Noah wasn't sure if there was anything she could say, so she limited herself to stay quiet, aware that she was not part of this subject. Allen sighed and fought to not lower his gaze and keep his voice firm.
"I can't go back to the Order anymore…"
He waited for a change of expression and a waterfall of questions while Raz seemed to just observe Mother for any sign that she was more loyal to the Order than first expected… But the woman's eyes just touched his face, then Raz's and she sighed, standing up and leaning in the cane she had left against the table's side. She was small, shorter than both teens and with delicate movements, but Allen didn't think anyone would have been fooled by her appearance unless Mother wanted to.
"I see… Well, that is bound to be quite a story. The trip must have been long. Barbar, help them settle down." She called and the man came from the kitchen, wearing large white gloves and bringing with him a pleasant smell of food. "Whatever you have to tell me, Allen, do it when you're rested and with your stomach full."
Allen hesitated to accept the offer. Would she tell the Order, somehow? No… Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but even now he still didn't think this was something Mother would do.
"There are no portals around here, either, so if something happens, we can still escape…" The thought came without control and he tried to get rid of it as he would with a fly that existed only inside his brain.
He knew Mother.
"You also knew your friends."
Another thought to be ignored.
"The room is this way, lady" The man told Raz, offering himself to carry her backpack, to which she refused politely. Allen accepted the help after seeing Mother moving her head in a fast, but unmistakable movement of who has some private words to say.
"I'll be right there, Raz."
The Noah stopped for a second before following Barbar through a hallway as the boy turned to Mother, imagining what she had to say. She had known Cross to the point he had taken Allen to her house in order for him to recover… Maybe…
A smile appeared in her face.
"So, you're managing to resist the Fourteenth's genes?"
Allen would have liked to say later that the question had caught him off guard or that it had had the effect of a slap, but all he felt was an intense emptiness, like the void Tyki had once used against him, only it was inside him this time.
"Yes…" The reply was cautious, as he didn't know where the woman stood about this. "You… You knew about this all along?"
He didn't bother to hide the disappointment. Cross had known it. She had known it. Allen could only wonder for how long, but then again, he did have a pretty good idea. They had both known it from the start.
He didn't want to think about it, but once more he found himself wondering if Mana had known as well.
Mother studied him, her silence being enough of an answer.
"Why…?" He couldn't help but ask. "You should… If you knew it like Cross did… Why you never said anything?"
A part of his mind attempted to rationalize that he might be saying nonsense. Mother was Cross' friend, yes, and Allen had trusted her enough, but perhaps this didn't mean as much as he thought. Maybe Cross had told her to keep quiet about it and she had seen no reason to go against it.
For all he knew, she had had her motives to not say anything, anyway.
As rational as the thought could be, it didn't make Allen feel any better.
A certain gentleness came to the woman's eyes, as natural as expression lines and she didn't break eye contact as she spoke again, quietly.
"Do you remember how you were when Cross brought you here?" She didn't wait for a reply, unnecessary as it was. "There were moments when I wasn't sure if you'd survive, Allen. More than often, I thought you'd go insane. I had never seen anything like that before… And when you finally started talking again, what was I to do? Tell you about such things?"
She shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment. Allen, just a little boy, sitting in the bed in a way that made him look even smaller, eyes lost in a point ahead when they just saw the darkness inside himself, his body tense and dead to his surroundings. Never moving or speaking, he didn't even sleep: His body just gave in to unconsciousness due to pain and weariness.
Except when his eye throbbed, the wound starting to close only to open again. In those days, his whole body shook as if being shattered from inside out. She had examined the eye one day, the wound a deep crack over the flesh, filled with the poison of a curse, which was also the only reason why he hadn't lost sight, while it made a nest in his flesh and optic nerves.
Allen shivered. His own memories of that time could be just a blur, but his nerves recalled every second, every single one of the needles gathering together and crossing inside his flesh as the curse throbbed.
"And, a year ago, you came with your friend Lenalee. Once again, how was I to tell you? The responsibility, to begin with, was Cross' and not mine. But don't be mistaken, Allen…" The warning was accompanied by a stare that refused denials. "I'm really happy that you haven't lost yourself."
Somehow, the graveness of her expression made it easier for him to believe her rather than it would have been if she had smiled. He wasn't sure he felt much better with this, but the reasoning made sense. He wondered how much she knew…
There was a second of silence and Mother sighed.
"Allen, do confess... That's why you can't go back to the Order, isn't it? No, don't say it." She decided, lifting her hand when realizing what she had asked. There was a sound of running water somewhere. Raz, probably, was taking a bath.
"I need to know, Mother. I need to know about Cross. And the Fourteenth…"
"Not just about Neah, Mana and the Master, even Raz." He reflected, his eyes landing on his own arm, his Innocence. "I need to learn about myself as well…" He looked back at Mother.
Did she know how or why he had become Neah's host?
XxX
After hours of walking and more sitting on a wooden cart, the hot water hugging her body was a blessing.
Holding her breath, Raz sunk in the bathtub, eyes closed and felt her hair floating around her face. When she sat straight once more, the strands fell like a cape on her back and shoulders as she hugged her knees with one arm, rubbing a white soap against her legs. For a while, she paid attention for any strange sound, any scream (no matter how muffled, be by the door or a hand against a mouth) or indication that there was trouble in the house.
Nothing.
There were some bruises from her training, stains that looked darker due to contrast with her pale skin. The water worked not only to soothe her muscles but also her mind and so, her thoughts started to drift in waves, about the akumas, the forgotten dreams, Allen and that melody she was unable to forget.
Since Allen had sung that other music, it had nestled itself in her. Raz knew she had heard it before (well, that was a given since she had been able to sing along even if not realizing it at first), but as hard as she tried, the girl couldn't remember where. It was the same with the song of her dream, which remained a mysterious melody whose cadence became clear, then obscure again, hiding in her blood and losing some notes.
Whatever it was, it resonated in her.
And, as it tended to happen when she tried to focus in some memory, the emptiness was back from the depths of her body once more and Raz was again a glass doll, just like she had felt on the first night after waking up…
Allen sought answers and so did she. But differently from her, Allen knew where to try seeking them. Or at least he had an idea for a starting point.
And she? Maybe Allen had suggestions, but it didn't change the fact that it had come from him. She, Raz, had nothing.
She was still as lost as when she had woken up in that forest.
It felt weird, that all she could remember from her life was from some weeks ago and yet she had actually lived longer than just that.
Oh, but it wasn't just that. There was an answer, was it not? And it was pretty obvious as well, dancing in front of her, echoing in the memory of that man's voice whose golden eyes had nothing if not a pleasure for others' pain and dark desires.
"I could drag you back home. Say, Raz… Don't you want to see your family? Don't you want to know who you are?"
Yes, of course she did. But if the price was leaving Allen, who had been at her side since she had woken up and Alison, Samuel, Elana and Lauren, who had been so kind to both of them and who she was starting to consider as friends, then it wasn't worth it. It just wasn't.
Right?
Fear lurked inside, a poison that just waited for the propitious occasion to revive and dig its claws in her. Meeting Tyki Mikk hadn't been a cause for any sort of comfort, as one could have thought since they were the same sort of being.
It had left her just feeling more confused and lost.
"The same sort of being as the one who makes those akumas…"
She almost laughed at herself… She was so pathetic.
And she loathed feeling as such, but that felt like a lost battle. She could distract herself, she could exile all those thoughts and sensations to a corner of her mind, but that was no victory…
For this, that she was feeling now, she had a name: Despair.
And the soft, sweet poison that it was, it seduced her. It was not a lightning storm, but a river of calm waters that would drag her slowly, isolating her in a cocoon, knowing Raz had no strength to resist, nor hope to free herself.
There was no hope.
There was no light.
Despair.
"Damn it all…" Raz muttered to herself.
Feeling she was free from the dust and sweat, the girl left the bathtub, stepping on the rug at the side and wrapping herself in a towel, water dripping from her dark hair.
Her body still felt more tired than it had the right to be.
Her eyes went to the mirror. What color was the real one, the blue or the golden?
Which of them was real, the reflection or the girl with no memories?
She averted her gaze, knowing this wouldn't help. She would follow her own way, even if she had to find it by stepping on thorns barefooted. Raz would have liked to be able to say that this decision suffocated every seed of fear and that it turned her bones into iron.
But it would have been a lie.
XxX
"You know that Cross knew Mana and Neah as well, don't you?" Mother asked during lunch. Raz had eaten little and excused herself soon, wanting to lie down in the guest's room that Allen and Lenalee had shared last time. Allen wasn't sure if she was still upset with him or if there was some other reason.
Both were likely options.
Maybe she was just tired?
"And you…?"
"No, not me." The woman denied with a shake of her head, serving herself with more of the meat Barbar had prepared. The man was outside, tending to the flowers that needed more care at night rather than during the day. "As far as I know, Cross met them when they were younger and they became good friends." She became thoughtful, frowning for a moment while Allen wondered how on Earth that had happened…
"Was Master an Exorcist already, back then?"
"Yes, he was. But for what little he would say, I took that it was never an issue among them. Even when Cross became a General, it didn't change things. He kept it a secret from the Order, of course…"
The idea of a Noah being friends with a General was not something Allen could easily imagine. Not so much due to Cross alone, but also due to his own experiences with the Noahs… Well, he didn't think he and Raz counted, as there were other circumstances to be taken into account… He had gathered from when his Master had told him of Mana and Neah being brothers that he had known them, but to actively hear that, to have someone affirming they had been friends…
Allen had never thought much about Mana and Neah's family. As a child, he had grown used to think of Mana as a wandering pierrot, just like he had become used to just not think about his own biological parents. On one occasion, Allen had actually asked Mana where he came from, to which Mana had just laughed and ruffled his hair while saying "Of all places! That's what means to be a traveler, Allen!"
On the few times that he had questioned the man about his family, the answers had been similar, giving Allen the idea that Mana, like him, didn't have anyone.
It had been simple to accept it and so, he had stopped thinking much about it as well.
And after learning about the Fourteenth, when he thought about Neah's family (in the rare occasions he did), it had been just regarding the Clan, who would treat each other as such (hadn't that white-haired Noah or some other referred to one of them as "brother"?), instead of keeping in mind that Neah was Mana's brother by blood.
"Mana… He wasn't a Noah." Allen muttered. That was… Strange, was it not? The Noahs always displayed nothing but despise towards humans, yet Road had talked of Mana without signs of scorn and from the little he had gathered, it was as if Mana and Neah had been extremely close, no matter if one was a Noah and the other was just a human.
It didn't exactly fit the scenario, did it?
"No, he wasn't." The confirmation came as if they were talking about simpler matters. The woman drank a little and watched Allen before continuing. "I don't know much… You know Cross, he speaks little of himself and his life. There are things I just picked up with time. The other Noahs didn't seem to dislike Mana either, to be honest. I could be mistaken, but that's the impression I had…"
Allen thought about it as well… And from what he had heard, the Noah Clan and the Earl hadn't been truly seen for years. He supposed this could be easily explained by the Earl waiting for the cycle of incarnation, or whatever they called it, to start again after Neah had killed the previous... Hosts? Embodiments?
And the Fourteenth himself had been killed.
"He knew Neah would be back, somehow." Allen remembered when Cross had told him about the Fourteenth. "Cross said he watched over Mana, that was how he found me that night…"
He tried to not feel uncomfortable with this idea. Mother watched him for a second and then nodded, shrugging one shoulder.
"And he offered help, not caring about the fact that he was a Noah. I told you, Allen, they were friends. Well…" She reconsidered, looking through the window, watching Barbar trimming a bush, apparently whistling. "As much as he could be friends with anyone." Allen snorted in understanding. The woman also seemed to find the mental image of Cross being someone's friend, actual friend, quite weird. It was not different from how Allen had felt when Samuel had told him the same thing.
"That's the kind of trust Master inspires."
"However, how Neah did come to be among the Noah Clan, that I don't know." Her eyes turned to the ceiling in remembrance before she pierced the last piece of meat with the fork. "Cross never talked about it." Not that she had asked much, knowing until what point she could interrogate Cross and which questions he wouldn't offer a reply to. And insisting would never be of any help with that man.
The existence of a Fourteenth member in a Clan that, by a rule, had only thirteenth members, had also left Allen (as everyone who had heard about it), curious. And just like the majority of things related to Neah, the boy had avoided thinking much about it. The decision to end his own life should he ever feel the genes of Noah agitating in him, provoking a change, had been enough for Allen.
Now he understood he had been wrong.
Seeing his empty plate and having finished her own, Mother made a move to stand up, but Allen was faster, gathering the dishes and cutlery, gesturing for her to remain seated. She thanked him, serving herself of what remained of a bottle of beer.
"Doctor says that I shouldn't" She commented as he took the dishes to the kitchen and left in the sink. "That I'm getting too old for this. Like I care, anyway. Damn brat."
"But you helped Cross, knowing about it…" Allen started as he sat down again, unsure of how to ask why. Mother, however, understood and her gaze was harsh once more. Not due to being angry, but because she was not the focus here and didn't like to be sidetracked.
"I did." She sighed, running her hand over her hair and noticing how Allen looked at her "Yes, yes, you may find it weird, since I support the Order, but there are things you come to see with age, boy."
For a moment, she just stared at him. For the first time, she looked tired, weighted down by age. The smile she offered was just a gesture of the muscles, with little to no humor on it.
"When it comes down to a war, no matter how much we would like to think of ourselves as the "good guys", it's almost never so simple. There is no such thing as a "good" and "bad" side." This made Allen think about Alma Karma. While he didn't think the Earl had the right to give moral lessons to anyone and he could perhaps engage in a debate about what fear could do to people some other time, Allen would never, ever see what the Order had done to Kanda and Alma as "acceptable".
No matter how dire their situation was.
With how Mother stared at him, he was not sure she was thinking about that or something else. She shook her head, apparently deciding it would be better to remain on the main topic.
"Cross was his friend, so he helped him. Regarding you, there was nothing I could do. I told you, I'm happy you didn't get possessed by Neah…"
"He betrayed them. The Clan…" Allen commented, not saying what Road had confided in him: That Neah had actually fought for Mana (she had called it a secret and Allen would respect that as such). Perhaps Neah had been trying to keep his brother safe from the other Noahs? Mother said that for what she knew, the rest of the Clan at least tolerated him, but what if things had changed?
The conjecture had its sense.
"That he did. Don't ask me why… All I know is that he killed them all, save for two. The Earl himself and that one they call the Eldest child or something." The old woman waved her hand in a movement that could be meant to send a fly away. Allen knew who it was, that Eldest Child: Road. "However, during all the time, he and Mana were being hunted, as you can imagine."
Yes, he could. More than he would like to be able to. An idea assaulted him now, that there was some kind of parallel between them and he and Raz.
"Did Cross ever said anything about how…" The words found an obstruction in his throat and he drank some juice to help it. "How I came to be… The host?" After so long with that knowledge, one could expect Allen to be used to it. And they would be wrong.
Mother evaluated him for a long time.
"No… I'm sorry, Allen." She said slowly. "He just said that Mana had found you and he was sure that it was you. He never told me why or how… Somehow, I'm not sure how Cross knew it himself."
"Maybe he didn't." Allen reflected and once more wondered if Mana had known. When he had said he loved him… All the times he had said that… Who he had been actually talking to?
Mother leaned on the table, bringing him back from his thoughts.
"Now you listen to me: You should be careful, Allen Walker…"
The boy lifted his head, surprised. It wasn't like Mother to state the obvious.
"You're not an idiot, so don't ignore the risk you're in" She carried on firmly and, at that moment, there was a fire in her eyes and, almost like a child, he found himself unable to say anything. "Two energies so opposite in nature cannot be forced to stay in the same space and you know it. If you don't take better care, they will destroy you."
Yes. He knew it.
He had had time to think about it.
His shoulders gave in as he recalled when Kanda had pierced him with Mugen, how he had seen himself chained in a nightmare-like scenery, so similar to the one he had seen when Tyki Mikk had almost killed him. That had been the first time he had seen Neah, not as a figure of white eyes, but clearly. And in the night of Apocryphos' attack, there had been a similar occurrence, Allen had felt something running through his nerve endings, infiltrating in every cell of his and forcing a change that he could feel, but couldn't control, no more than he could control his own heartbeat.
"Two monsters, hm?"
"I'll be fine…" He tried to smile to Mother, wanting to believe his own words. "Things will work out."
Mother scoffed and shook her head, apparently giving up, for now. Her stare was still harsh before she waved her head to the hallway in the guest room's direction.
"And that girl, does she know about all this? Quiet as she is, I'd take her for a mute."
"It's just how Raz is, really…" She had been like this too when they had met the Exiled, though he didn't know even now if this had been out of shyness or tension of meeting other Innocence Accommodators or a completely different reason. "But… No, she doesn't know everything."
On another occasion, Allen might have considered telling who Raz actually was, but despite everything he had just heard, it didn't feel like a reasonable course of action even if Mother knew Cross had been friends with a Noah as well.
He decided to change the subject.
"Did Cross know any other member of the Clan?"
"If he did, then he never told me. But if you ask me, I think the only one he truly knew was Neah."
XxX
Despite its size, the room had just one a circular table at its center, directly under the main light and nothing that could be considered a decoration. The pillars surrounding the table, at a certain distance and casting straight shadows upon the floor and walls, were of a far too solemn nature for that and with no carvings to attract the eyes. Unnecessary as it was (or perhaps more to not allow the atmosphere to cross the threshold between severe and depressing), there were auxiliary lights on the walls. In some other room of equal importance, Lenalee had seen stones carved in the likeness of people with capes over their faces. If they had been meant to symbolize saints or previous members of the Order who had found distinction among their peers, she had never known.
Not so with this room. Even if it was not for the people sitting at the table and their expressions, there would be no way to take this place for anything else but a room meant for reunions and discussions.
Today, the lights on the ceiling were not enough to properly illuminate the whole room, leaving the walls to dark veils that appeared to move if you stared at them for too long, due to optical illusion. She vaguely wondered if this was meant as intimidation or they simply hadn't bothered with the lights on the walls.
The basic layout of the room was similar to that in the last Headquarters. If the intention of whoever had decided on that had been to relieve the possible pressure of the environment and call back the sense of familiarity the last building may have had, they had failed miserably.
Not their fault. The room designed for such reunions hadn't been pleasant either, as far as Lenalee's opinion went. Besides, at least now, most of the blame would fall upon the people.
Not that they all intimated her, but Lenalee would have felt better without so many eyes upon her. At her side, Chaozii kept his head high, his entire posture one of an efficient soldier. She wondered if the others saw the few hints of nervousness or just her. Well, not that anyone would blame him.
At the table, besides the Generals, there were the leaders of the other branches that had been able to attend, her brother Komui, and, as it couldn't be any other way, Levelier. Under the white light, his eyes resembled cold iron more than never to the girl.
"I believe it is better to start at once, is it not?" Levelier said, and a man with whom Lenalee had never spoken to before (she believed him to be a kind of secretary), stood up and started to talk.
"Lenalee Lee and Chaozii Han, Exorcists owners of the Dark Boots and the Arm of Baptism, from the Klaud and Tiedoll units, respectively," He stated in a monotone that could very well have been trained. "Both some of the Exorcists who reached the last room in the event known as the Battles of the White Ark, along with Lavi, currently missing, and the now betrayer, Allen Walker."
The last phrase was a knife to Lenalee, who struggled to keep herself quiet. Standing close to the table, she ran her gaze through the others, as if in search of a reaction that echoed what she felt, never stopping much in just one person even if it was hard to look away from Komui. He was her brother and it was in him she always found support during difficult times.
Her breathing was deep and deliberately slow, so no one would realize how she actually felt. In silence, she and Chaozii nodded, confirming the young man's words. Although she felt a human need of asking, it was far too easy to imagine what the matter was for her to try taking refuge, even for just some moments, in doubt.
And the girl didn't know if that would've been much better.
Chaozii, overwhelmed in the presence of the leaders and Generals, made a point of keeping a good posture and chin raised, pressing his teeth against each other. He was an Exorcist and would fulfill whatever duty was necessary. It was the least he could do for the memories of Anita and all those who had died in the ship, so long ago… They were his reasons to keep fighting.
He needed to honor their memories.
He wanted to make it so no one would ever lose those they loved in the same way.
"After the Noahs' attacks to every unit and their Generals, Chaozii Han was found suffering strange symptoms of unknown nature which left him in a comatose-like state for weeks. A few days ago, he woke up. All exams until now presented normal results and he seems fully recovered." With a slight bow, as mechanical as his voice, the young man took his seat once more. Lenalee had barely heard all that.
"How do you feel, Chaozii Han?" Levelier asked with the usual smile to which the other nodded.
"Quite well, sir." He replied, trying to keep his voice firm. It wouldn't be good if he let out how nervous he was in the presence of his superiors.
And like Lenalee, he also had a good idea of what was the matter at hand.
He found it unpleasant as well, but for entirely different reasons.
"Good to hear it, good to hear it. I do regret that we must go back to such a repetitive subject." Levelier apologized, not only to them but to his colleagues around. "However, since you woke up and recovered, Mr. Han, I believe it would be good to review some details of past events that may help us with the… Ah… Current situation."
"Help with what?" Klaud asked politely and nothing more, her dark gaze diverging from the two Exorcists to fixate upon Levelier. She had never had much patience for amenities that meant nothing by the end of the day and preferred to go straight to the point.
"Well…" Levelier turned to her as if the question had surprised him. "To comprehend some of the events involving the traitor. Now, Lenalee…"
Hearing her name being pronounced by that man always caused the girl to shiver, bringing back by force the memories of the times she had tried to run away until the Central, tired of her "bad behavior" and refusal to "cooperate", had given strict orders to keep her tied to a bed night and day, day and night, under constant vigilance. Days had soon lost meaning, just like her reality…
"You witnessed the events until the moment Walker assumed his place as "Player", didn't you?"
She agreed with a nod. No sense in lying.
"I thought you had already investigated everything about this?" Someone asked.
"Yes, but we're not focusing just in the Ark in this case." Levelier continued, just giving a brief glance at the speaker before his attention went back to the Exorcists, as if they had made the question. "Our main focus is Allen Walker."
No one could say this hadn't been expected.
Komui didn't move or blink. There was no fooling yourself with the belief that the Order would ever let Allen be… His mind ran through several phrases, evaluating and rejecting each one, considering the consequences of every term. Nothing he thought about sounded good enough. There was no way he could keep Allen safe from here and he was no dreamer to the point of wearing a veil over his eyes to turn away from reality. He didn't believe there was any way to make Levelier (or any of the others) listen to the voice of reason.
After all, this was the man who had suggested submitting Allen to the torture of Inquisition when he had returned.
"What do you want to know?" Chaozii asked. "I mean, a lot of things happened…" None of those pleasant memories.
"For starters.… How did Allen Walker control the Ark the very first time?"
Before the question he had already heard, Chaozii became quiet. Just like the first time, he couldn't answer. In the middle of the fight against the Noah Tyki Mikk or whatever the name was, he had fallen along with Lavi and the next thing he remembered was waking up on the floor of the Ark that was remaking itself. Lenalee took a deep breath. That had been months ago and she had believed they had already told the superiors everything they could.
"The Ark was coming apart around us. We had been fighting Tyki, the Noah of Pleasure." Just the memory was disturbing enough to invite a rebellion of her senses against something that was an atrocity. Despite the human-like shape, it was impossible to look at the Noahs and forget what they were. Even when the golden eyes and gray skin hid, in the same manner that a chameleon or snake hides in the grass, once you knew what they were, survival instinct didn't allow the person to be fooled by sight again.
It was, in a way, like seeing a shape hiding among a painting that seemed to be, at first glance, just black stains against white. No sense, no meaning. Then, eyes following a particular brush or moving the head in a precise way revealed a hidden image and then everything fell into place.
After that, no matter how much you tried, you couldn't look at the painting and not see it. The secret would always be there, hiding from others and in plain sight for you.
It was the same… What had happened to Allen, Lavi and Krory (meeting a Noah disguised as a human) could happen and then, when the truth was revealed, the form and looks didn't matter, didn't offer denial or helped you to feel safe. Quite the contrary. She knew because it had been like that with Road… Even if the Noah had not hurt her or Allen or Miranda, the knowledge of her true nature would have been enough.
They were distortions of reality given conscience. Blights that could only walk the Earth while wearing a human suit. Lenalee had often felt that there were no organs or bones inside those bodies, just unnamed essences that were not meant for human eyes or to exist at all in a plane of existence that allowed sanity.
An impression that had been all too confirmed when Tyki had become… Whatever that was. A dark form with no sense or reason one could try to appeal to. Whatever it had for a mind, it was within the reach of human understanding. What it knew, what it cared for, was just its own desire for killing.
Lenalee knew it because she had felt it in the air.
"General Cross arrived and helped us, but then the Earl appeared and took Tyki out of the Ark. While things were falling apart, the General told Allen that he had interrupted the download for a while" In the chaos, she had barely understood the terms, just that it meant they had a chance, a whisper of hope. "He then said some words I didn't understand, some sort of spell, I guess, and sent Allen to another room and just told him to play the piano…"
"Even though Allen Walker, following what he claimed back then, had never played piano in all his life? And with a score made of symbols completely unidentified, not belonging to any language known to man?"
Lenalee nodded carefully once more, aware that she was in a field where traps were hiding in words and any wrong term would later be used against her. But she had already told them about all that. Everyone who had been in the Battles of the Ark ha already given their reports.
"Allen was really disturbed afterward." She couldn't help but say. "When we entered the room, he was confused about what had happened, too! Exactly because he didn't know how he had been able to do that, but in the end, it was thanks to his playing that we could come back home safely."
This had to count for something, right?
Chaozii didn't offer any input, but he also remembered the same battle, and what he had witnessed there wouldn't ever leave his mind. It had proved what he had believed when the akumas had attacked Anita's ship: That the Noahs were even worse than those things they created, real monsters who took delight in hurting people. Their very existence was a crime against nature.
"Do we need to talk about this?" Sokaro asked, relaxing in his chair, the eyes seeming to gleam behind his metal mask with something very close to boredom. Komui half expected the man to rest his feet on the table to emphasize his lack of interest. "We talked about it before, we're already using the Ark, why go back to the same damn thing?"
"Dear General," Levelier replied without any alteration in his tone. "What we're investigating here is not the Ark, properly, but Allen Walker's behavior. After all, the Ark couldn't leave Edo due to the Fourteenth and now we can't use it in its full potential or study it as well as we could thanks to Walker."
He didn't need to verbally address the similarity he found between the two cases, his soft tone left it clear enough. One of the supervisors of another section scoffed, twisting his lips.
"So, the Fourteenth is a traitor no matter what side he pretends to be?"
"Allen didn't…" Lenalee started, but Chaozii's voice echoed in the room.
"He wanted to save a Noah."
The silence that followed was that of a graveyard.
Lenalee's eyes went to each one of the people sitting at the table. Some of the branch chiefs and supervisors seemed surprised and then disgusted, others rolled their eyes as if they had expected something of this nature already. Tiedoll, resting his back on the chair, studied either Chaozii or her, and didn't express much. Sokaro scoffed a laugh that sounded metallic due to his mask and Klaud remained quiet. One of Komui's hands seemed to shiver, but he kept a controlled expression.
"Do you mind relating this calmly, Chaozii Han?" Levelier asked slowly leaning forward with a soft expression that Lenalee didn't like one bit. The Inspector frequently behaved in such a way, making it hard to say what he was truly thinking.
"Allen just…"
"Forgive me, Lenalee, but I'll ask you to be quiet." He said just as pleasantly, without looking at her. The girl turned to Chaozii, not believing what she was hearing, but the man just stood straighter and carried on.
"When Lavi got free from the control of the Noah girl who was there, we were afraid that the door she had claimed to have created as a way out would disappear, so we climbed to the top." To this, some of them exchanged looks. The whole deal sounded like a perfect opportunity for the Noahs to leave the Exorcists there to die, so they doubted the Noah in question had been telling the truth about a "way out". Lenalee, sincerely, didn't know what to believe in this case. Road… Road hadn't seemed to be lying, however, she wasn't foolish to just go and accept whatever the Noah said based on apparent behavior alone.
How could she?
But the Noahs had… Well, some of them, treated that as a sort of game, at least that was how it had felt like, so where would the fun be if there was no real risk? And on another hand, wouldn't they have had a real laugh if the Exorcists eventually won just to find out it had been all in vain?
"It seems no one can ever understand them. And what difference does that make? That was a long time ago and what matters is that we survived!"
"When we were at the top of the tower, there was indeed a door there." Chaozii's mouth twisted as if he had bitten something sour, barely able to contain his anger. That should have been the proof, the first sign, in his opinion, of what sort of person Allen Walker truly was. God, he had been so blind! If he had said something as soon as they all had arrived at the Order, perhaps a lot of things could have been avoided. "We were about to go through it, but then Allen Walker said that we should go ahead while he would go fetch the male Noah and the Earl's umbrella golem."
His words had the effect of a gunshot.
A buzz of furious bees rose in the air when the people started to mutter to themselves or to a person at their side, too low for Lenalee to listen.
"Allen just did that because he believed he had exorcized the Noah!" She said fast, suffocating those sounds with her own voice, even if she wasn't sure Allen wouldn't have done the same regardless of this. She looked at the others, seeing no understanding from them. "Allen had activated his Exorcist Sword when Tyki created a void around him! He wanted to exterminate the Noah without hurting the human, even Tyki said so." The human Tyki had once been, at least.
"His sword which looks just like the Earl's, just the colors inverted."
"No, no… You have seen it, it destroys akumas." She insisted. "And it has an effect in the Noahs too, so it is an Innocence. Otherwise, Hevlaska would have felt when he went through observation." One that had been demanded by the Central. It hadn't been much, just the same standard examination all Exorcists went through when joining the Order, and Hevlaska had confirmed that the sword was Innocence and nothing else.
Komui looked to his sister, unable to interfere or say anything. It was clear she was all out to defend Allen as she could, regardless of how aware she was that the Central could not like this… General Sokaro made a low sound of neglect but didn't say anything.
"Yet, he meant to save the life of a Noah."
"If he had killed him and not tried to mere exorcize it, it would have been better."
"Wasn't he the one what afterward almost killed you? With that black form you spoke of?"
"Gentlemen, please!" Levelier lifted his hand, asking for silence before turning to Lenalee. "I'm sorry to say, but there is reason in what we just heard. Don't you think it would have been more sensible to leave the Noah behind and to ensure it was dead?"
"Allen isn't like this…" Lenalee continued, feeling a shiver inside at their refusal to understand. "He always wants to save lives."
The others observed her without saying anything. Behind the mask, it was possible to see Sokaro's eyes sliding from one person at the table to another. They were so pale that the cornea and iris were almost one and it wasn't uncommon for people, at a first glance, to take the man for blind.
He wasn't very interested in this conversation. If asked, in a war, there was no sense in getting tied to the "what if" and "maybe". The fact was that Allen Walker had Noah genes, this had been proved already and he had almost turned into a Noah due to Yuu Kanda's attack. Conclusion? It would have been better to just kill him right there, then they wouldn't be here having this pointless discussion now.
"Save lives? It was a fucking Noah! The same Noah that killed several of ours, tried to destroy Walker's Innocence and almost killed him, and could have killed you all too." One of the chiefs, the same that had commented about the Fourteenth's betrayals, said, looking at her in shock. "It hardly sounds like someone worth saving!"
"He thought he had exorcised the Noah…" Lenalee repeated as she couldn't deny any of what he had said about Tyki. The memory of him holding her from behind, speaking almost gently in her ear about how women should die beautiful made her sick. "And that he had turned into a normal person."
"So?" The man asked, apparently torn between being confused or just repulsed by the whole idea. "Exorcized or not, he would still be the one who killed several innocent people. It wouldn't have changed anything."
Klaud had her gaze on Lenalee. When the Central had reorganized the General's units, the young girl had been placed in hers and before that, the blonde had had little to no contact with her. Now, Klaud felt the pulsation in Lenalee's voice and saw her eyes shining like crystals in her anxiety to be heard. But if the girl thought she was doing anyone any good by letting her words run wild like this, she was insane.
"Be quiet, Lenalee…" The woman thought, muscles of her face arranged in a calculated mask of flesh that she had learned to use since years ago. "You won't get anything like this and you won't be helping anyone, just be quiet."
"Perhaps he was already leaning to the Noahs' side and was just pretending." Someone suggested.
"There is this possibility." Levelier agreed with a nod. "As terrible as it sounds. If Allen Walker was not dominated by the Fourteenth yet, when did he decide to betray the Order? After all, he left on his own free will, opening so many portals… Sadly, there is no other name for this action besides deserting."
"After what you did, Levelier, I don't find it surprising at all." Komui thought with poison. The only name he could call that was hypocrisy, simple and pure, at least coming from the Inspector. Komui wouldn't be surprised if some people were thinking the same, without irony.
He couldn't help an unpleasant taste on the base of his stomach at the memory of Allen being taken to dungeons.
"It is very admirable," Another supervisor of some research division commented in a careful tone. "That you are so loyal even to those who are no longer your friends, miss, but…"
"Allen was always an Exorcist." Lenalee replied in the same moment, not thinking anymore, the heat taking over her voice. "He lives to save people's souls, the ones caged in the akumas."
At her side, Chaozii remained in silence and just looked from her to the supervisors speaking, without manifesting himself. And at the moment, Lenalee's focus had nothing to do with him.
"Yes, Lenalee, and this devotion was always admirable," Another man said, almost as if breaking news of the death of a loved one to someone. "However, we can't deny that Walker's actions do not match with those of an Exorcist or an innocent person. We can't deny he killed Howard Link. Noah or human, he turned out to be quite dangerous to everyone…"
"The damn brat is a danger just by existing." Sokaro said, waving his heavy hand. "What matters what he did or his intentions before? What truly matters here is what happened and what we know: He is a Noah. We don't need more than that!"
"We're the weak side in this war." The man who had spoken before said. "It is pleasant to think it would be possible to win without dirtying our hands, but we…"
Sokaro interrupted with a burst of laughter that sounded a growl through the metal.
"Dirtying our hands? The Noahs kill without a second thought and don't consider themselves humans anyway, do they?" He pointed out and shrugged. "I see no crime in killing them. They are less than rabid animals."
Lenalee could just stare at them, not knowing what else she could say, how to make them understand they were mistaken. There were several other explanations for what had happened, the idea of Allen killing Link was ridiculous. They just were so convinced that he would become a Noah that they were willing to accept anything as evidence of it.
At her side, Chaozii remained serious as he observed the exchange, his thoughts in a completely different stand than hers. If asked, the evidence that Allen had killed Howard Link was great: The young man had been alone with Walker and had been found dead. And several people had spotted Timcampy flying with two Noahs and Allen. If the latter didn't mean to join the Noah Clan, why had he run away? Why Timcampy had flown with all of them, when he could easily get rid of the Noah right there? The hypothesis of a kidnapping didn't hold water when one of them had been standing on the Golem while it held Walker and another Noah in its mouth. If it had been a kidnapping, that would have been Timcampy's opportunity to avoid it.
And as Sokaro had said, Walker did have Noah genes.
He was like them, whether he wanted/liked or not. Pretend this wasn't the reality didn't help anyone at all.
"Perhaps he accepted this and decided to change sides…" Another man whispered, as if more to himself than to anyone else.
"You're a good friend, Lenalee. It's terrible that Walker has stomped on your friendship in such a way."
"I'm afraid we're getting sidetracked from the matter, gentlemen." Levelier commented loudly. "Walker showed sympathy for a Noah, the reason or what he was thinking doesn't matter, and when he operated the Ark for the first time…"
Klaud was in silence, pretending to be paying attention without actually looking at anyone. Internally, she was remembering when the Noah Lulubell had invaded the previous Headquarters, the akuma who had been with her, and the one who had, on the occasion, evolved to a Level Four.
The behavior Allen Walker had displayed during the event, the first time the woman had had actual contact with Cross' apprentice didn't match the things said now either… The facts may point to that conclusion, but there was something in all of this that just didn't fit.
"Allen said he would kill himself if he ever felt the Fourteenth waking in him…" Lenalee muttered. "He always said that he would, should he feel he was becoming a Noah."
Levelier heard it and lifted the iron eyes to her.
One of the other men, the one who had said Allen had stepped on their friendship, sighed.
"Yes, Miss Lee, he said so. But people can change."
Ana: Things are heating up in the Order. And not going well…
Krory: When things HAVE been going well here, with all respect, miss?
Ana: Allow me to make a question: Things could be going well?
Krory: Yeah, you got me with this one.
Ana: Not as many revelations as it could have been, but c'mon, no one expected Mother to have ALL answers right away, right?
Allen: Will we EVER know the truth?
Ana: Of course you will! I have all planned, but there is nothing here you'll find out the easy way! But it helps to start thinking about some details. Also, please guys, keep in mind that I planned this entire story during the hiatus of Hoshino, right after Allen left the Order and after he met Johnny. So, what I mean is that my story has little to nothing to do with HER explanation for certain things. We're good? Okay then.
And remember, reviews keep me alive!
Cutiepie120048: Thanks so much! It means a lot that people like this! I think you mean Timothy? Yeah, he is a cute kid. Well, honestly he is in the Order training as well… To be fair, I'm not sure if he will have a role in all this, since I have a lot of characters to work with, but I'd like to find a way to introduce him in all this…
jy24: As I said, bad timing. It almost feels like when we were hoping Inuyasha and Kagome would just get on with it and kiss already and there was always something interrupting. Okay, in this case, it was just once, but we've been waiting for Allen to tell everything for quite some chapters.
Allen: I was trying to. I swear.
Ana: Well, don't worry. He will be telling her everything soon, and I mean soon. Since they are at Mother's now and resting a little, perhaps he will have a better opportunity.
Raz: I hope so. No offense, but I'm getting annoyed waiting here.
Ana: Patience.
Wisely: I'm just wondering when WE will back to the story.
Ana: You do know you're not the only characters here, right?
Wisely: Then why are you even writing this, to begin with?