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?
"The wounds that never heal can only be mourned alone" – James Frey.
Act Sixteen – The Storm Inside
Johnny Gill had never thought he would find himself in the present situation.
At first, things had gone according to the plan. The Central had accepted his justification to leave and the only ones to realize the lie had been Reever and some other members of the Science Department. While the chief hadn't wanted to accept his departure, it wasn't really in his power to do anything about it.
It was Johnny's decision. And no one else's.
And they knew the real reason behind this: He was going to search for Allen.
Unable to not comprehend Johnny's choice, Reever had just been able to wish him good luck, asking him to find Allen. Johnny knew the man probably felt the same, a wish to actually do something more than just keep playing by the Order's rules, something which would yield results.
Something that felt more meaningful.
Then things had started to go awry.
When Johnny had been leaving the train, two Agents from the Central had surrounded him and started to explain how it was required from him to take a medicine to mess his memory enough so the Noahs wouldn't use him for information. In retrospect, he should have expected something of this nature…
Johnny had tried to escape, only to be captured at once. It had been then that he had realized they were Special Agents, the Crows. And they had expected (or at least, considered the possibility) of something of this nature.
"Which means they are keeping a close eye on us."
To his shock, however, when he had thought there was no way out and he would be taken back for punishment… He had been helped by someone most people in the Order believed they wouldn't see ever again.
Yuu Kanda.
After dealing with the Crows, the samurai had taken his time to explain (in his short-sentences style) that he had gone back to the Order only to retrieve Mugen and that the Innocence, which in his absence had assumed a kind of strange rusty look, had unexpectedly evolved to Crystal type.
Afterward, he had left once more.
His reasons were actually the same as Johnny's: To find Allen.
When he asked more about it, Johnny hadn't quite believed he would get an answer (for several reasons and not just due to Kanda's personality), but surprisingly, Kanda had at least mumbled about the attack to the Order and how he had been the one that had attacked Walker back then.
If the Earl's words were true, it had been the violent contact with his Innocence that had stirred the Noah's genes in Allen. Kanda didn't quite explain it, but he muttered something about having had a glimpse of that before during a mission (something he had never told to anyone).
In a way or another, he was involved in what had happened.
Now, this wouldn't allow him to die in peace.
He had a… Responsibility.
Should Walker be dominated by Neah, Kanda would be the one to kill him.
The fact that Allen had said that should he ever feel like he was being taken over he would kill himself hadn't been forgotten by Johnny. And it filled him with dread in the nights after another fruitless search.
"No way. Allen is strong. I'm sure he would never let the Noah win. He has to be alright, he has to."
But up until now, after weeks, they hadn't found a single clue to his whereabouts and the only sort of "help" they had was a list of the boy's debts that Johnny had managed to get back in the Headquarters, along with the other belongings that had been left behind.
It didn't seem to be of much help at first, but what else did they have? In any case, General Cross had acted as if he knew more than he let on, so there was at least the chance that Allen would pass by the places those debts had come from. Maybe Cross could have left a clue somewhere? Allen would probably be trying to find a way to fight the Fourteenth…
"It's as if those debts were the General's trail."
He knew better than to expect they would find Allen easily and while on a side, Johnny thought this could (should) mean that Allen was still free, not only from the Order but from the Noahs as well, on another hand, he and Kanda had no idea of how to find him.
He tried to keep in mind that, what mattered, was that Allen was still free and safe.
Because when his thoughts became darker and he couldn't keep away the images his mind conjured, of Allen in chains, of Allen's eyes becoming golden, the Noahs around him… Then he had to remember this.
If Allen had been taken by the Noahs, Johnny wouldn't ever forgive himself.
There was also the "little" detail that those debts were actually Cross Marian's, which meant the establishments they had passed by were in areas that usually called "red district" (dedicated to bars and brothels). This, and the people they frequently met, hadn't done much for Kanda's notorious mood since they had been offered everything but what they truly wanted.
In one of the bars, Kanda had even been mistaken for a girl by a man who had gone to the point of making a pass at him in a rather relentless way, to put it mildly. Or at least he tried to, seeing how the samurai hadn't allowed the phrase to be completed, shutting him up with a punch. Johnny had been wise enough to not mention the incident and was sure he wouldn't ever tell this incident to anyone.
He rather liked living, thank you very much.
Now, they were currently exploring a port city, a place that clearly invested in being a tourist point due to the flux of foreigners and travelers. It was on their way to another city from where some of Cross' bills had come from and they didn't plan to stay more than necessary.
Seeing the (usual) lack of patience from Kanda and the fact he didn't seem to be feeling well, Johnny thought it was best to not talk too much. He wasn't feeling all that great himself. To go through places Cross attended meant they usually had to drink at least something so the bartender would be in a good enough mood to talk to them and let them ask other customers.
It also meant badly slept nights.
"Try to drink this, perhaps you'll feel better!" He suggested, offering a little bottle to his traveling companion. Upon leaving the Order, he had taken several things with him, not only his own belongings (the ones he considered the necessary ones) or Allen's (which, like the notes of debts, had been stolen from the archives' section).
Seeing the label with the words "Komurin Vitamin", Kanda slapped it away with a stare of deep disgust, letting it fall and roll away. His personal take was that anything that came from that damned Department, especially with the name "Komurin" involved, didn't deserve the smallest piece of trust, no matter what it was.
"But an actual medicine for this headache would be welcome." The young man reflected as he stood from the bench they had been sitting while deciding what to do next. Kanda muttered that they should just search around for a while (since they were already here) before leaving later, but Johnny was already running after the little bottle, making Kanda roll his eyes.
"It would be better if it just fell in the damn sewer." Or maybe not, in case the bottle opened somehow. Kanda would bet that it would have a negative effect of sorts even in sewer water. Considering everything he had seen from the Science Department, that wouldn't surprise him at all.
Damn, his head hurt.
Reaching the vitamin bottle, Johnny sighed. He couldn't deny that Kanda had reasons for this distrust besides the personal ones (even he hadn't forgotten all the messes made by the Supervisor Komui), but he just didn't want to get rid of the things given by the Science Department, who had wished him luck, hoping he would find Allen and help him as much as he could.
Johnny still wondered how he could help him, soon telling himself that the "how" didn't matter. Not leaving Allen was what mattered.
"Hey, c'mon, let's go." Kanda called with a growl. Johnny was about to follow him when he noticed a crowd nearby and noises, laughter and music which sounded like coming from a flute.
Curiosity for a moment winning against urgency, the young man came closer to see what the commotion was all about, muttering apologies as he opened his way between people gathered, forming a half-circle in the street…
The Johnny saw.
Two pierrots.
"Well, it's not surprising." He thought as one of them balanced perfectly on a ball, then proceeding to juggle smaller, colorful ones. Their faces were pure white scarred by black. "A city like this must be a profitable place for street performers."
Meanwhile, the other pierrot moved around in a series of flowing acrobatics that was almost a dance of water. In a way, despite the apparent different styles of performance, both seemed to compliment each other, pieces that weaved themselves together.
The first pierrot held the balls before jumping to the ground in a way of a cat, almost somersaulting. Both bowed, under a wave of applause. The larger ball was pushed away and the smaller ones placed inside a small bag. The first pierrot (a boy, Johnny saw now) returned to the center of the area while the second (a girl) picked up a small flute.
They were dressed in a similar fashion, but the boy's costume was more traditional and clown-like, with black collar and details on the sleeves and black fuzzy buttons in contrast with the silvery-white of the fabric. The girl's attire was more of a pure white and somewhat strange for a pierrot, a blouse with a long tail resembling that of a jacket, without the black collar or buttons and not as loose as the boy's.
As he watched, the girl started to pull notes from the flute. It was not like the sound that had attracted Johnny, the notes long and almost mournful. Her body started to dance in the rhythm, accompanied by her partner.
Almost immediately, the boy started a song in a low tone, almost fragile.
Ima mo sora de kagayaku – The memories of dead stars
Shinda hoshi no kioku – Are still shining in the sky
Itsuka ore mo dare ka no – Someday I want to become
Hikari ni naritai – Someone's light too
With this, he approached a young redheaded girl with a graceful twirl that might have belonged in ballet, making a white flower appear apparently out of nowhere, which he offered her before leaning away, as if in a farewell.
The young girl held the gift, not once taking her eyes off the presentation, something Johnny understood well. It was the enchantment of performers, holding gazes and never letting go. A gentler version of Medusa's stare.
The boy danced and gestured, he and the song becoming one. The make-up hid his face well, only the black smile and sight of his teeth indicating the mouth moving. Johnny barely could see his features.
With the presentation, the effect was of a forgotten ghost taking shape.
None of them was quite exceptional when it came down to music, but they were pleasant to hear and there was a strange quality to the song itself that played with his heartstrings. It was… It was tragic, something born of a deep sorrow… Yet, it was beautiful.
The young girl continued to play that requiem of forsaken graves while the boy's voice brought the sound of flowers blooming in an abyss, unable to reach the light. Johnny wondered if the rest of the audience felt that strange pull that he felt… They must be appreciating it, at least, for he couldn't feel anyone close by walking away.
The boy turned, the girl gave a light jump behind, one dancing around the other slowly.
Nagai tabi wo tsuzuketekita – I have been on such a long journey
Kodoku na kage hikizuri – Dragging along a lonely shadow
Johnny frowned.
Though possessed by the presentation as he was, a corner of his mind tried to agitate itself, to break free from the spell. Somehow… Somehow, he wasn't sure how, there was something in here, a sort of a sweet sorrow… Almost nostalgia...
Recognition.
There was something here that he was sure he knew.
The dance went on, made of elegant movements that didn't break the sensation that both moved with and inside the song. Though it was a bright day, Johnny felt as if it was night now…
This was like a lullaby…
In the girl's ankle, there was a small silver chain whose bells tinkled at each step. Her hair was a long dark waterfall, the white of her suit and the few black details only emphasizing the bluish hue some strands gained under the light.
The boy, who also had black hair, stretched his hands away before making a gesture of embracing something, fragile and small, closer to his chest.
Tatta hitori umareochite – I was born alone in this world
Mata hitori de shindeku – And I'll die alone as well
Sore ga sadame na no ni – If this is my fate, then why
Namida ga neru no wa naze? – Am I shedding tears?
He placed his hands over his face, without touching it and ran them down as if touching unexpected tears and for a moment, it seemed the black painted tear under his cheek would roll.
There was a brief silence when he crossed his hands over his chest again and lowered his head as the girl let a final note to shiver in the air as the music died. Some people muttered among themselves while others sighed, with no other known way of expressing what they had felt now.
In silence, the pierrot boy stood in the middle of the space made by the audience as his colleague put away the flute, making it seem the presentation wasn't over… Then his eyes, for a moment, touched Johnny's.
The jump backward was so fast that it shocked some people, who giggled afterward as the boy started to do acrobatics before he held the girl's hand, making her join him, completely changing the atmosphere. Johnny's sensation remained, stronger now.
Something pulled his shirt by the collar.
"Hey, you have seen enough already." Kanda grumbled, trying to pull him away from the presentation and making Johnny wonder vaguely for how long the samurai had been at his side without Johnny realizing it.
"Kanda, wait…" He muttered, struggling to get free. People around either didn't see it or, more likely, didn't care. The other rolled his eyes, thinking Johnny just wanted to watch more.
It was nonsense and a waste of time.
So much that Kanda felt that, if he stayed for longer, he would lose control. His mood wasn't good as it was and frankly, those pierrots were starting to annoy him.
Actually, one more than the other… Kanda frequently met people with whom he didn't sympathize from the start and one of its effects was a growing irritation that made him feel like slicing the idiot in question just so he wouldn't have to put up with their presence.
And the male pierrot invited this sensation in such a way that Kanda almost wondered why… It was just a stupid pierrot. He didn't like the girl either, but his attention was more on the boy. As much as this could happen from time to time, it usually wasn't just at seeing the person for the first time… And neither with such intensity.
Perhaps he was needed a fight to release the stress.
Apparently unaware of his irritation, the boy continued to jump, crossing the air in a somersault with the girl. Kanda wanted to follow his own words and leave but the more he looked, the harder it was to turn away and not due to any enjoyment of the presentation…
He just wanted to cut that damn brat.
Maybe it was due to his headache because of drinking last night? No, it couldn't be just that… If anything, his annoyance was great enough to diminish the ache.
"I really should find a better way of tracking down that stupid Moyashi" He thought to himself. To keep going to bars and all that would end up giving him brain damage. Maybe that was why Cross, General or not, was such an idiot.
He found himself looking back at the pierrot.
"Ugh, but I want to slice that guy… Even if it is just a little bit…" This had nothing to do with the hangover. The most reasonable was that his mood had reached such a level that it needed an escape valve and, in the absence of akumas, his instinct had focused in any little target that caused an aggravation, no matter how little, just like a repetitive noise or the sensation of sandpaper against nerves.
Oh, the motives didn't matter, he just wanted to slice that stupid pierrot!
"Kanda?" Johnny asked carefully, recognizing that expression in the samurai's eyes. Usually, it wasn't a good omen. As if waking of a trance, the young man mumbled with what could be either impatience or anger and, with an almost violent movement, he turned his back to the presentation.
Johnny started to follow him.
Screams behind them attracted their attention.
Turning, they had time to see black circles forming in the ground as straps of flesh adorned with rows of teeth rose, closing over the pierrots and a child who was too close and hadn't backed away in time.
The thing lifted itself in the air, a mass whose skin seemed loose from the muscles, closing the straps that formed its mouth one against the other. People screamed before the vision of a lunatic's nightmare taking physical shape.
Kanda already had Mugen ready, Johnny retreated, aware he wouldn't be able to help and hating himself for it…
Then the straps shivered, rubbing against each other in obscene movements and they saw it seemed to be bloating from inside out… Threads of something black escaped between them before they opened by force.
For a moment, among a dark mist, something stained by the red of the akuma's oil moved, creating the illusion of living blood. A silver mask reflected the sun and the oil dripped, revealing a soft material of the most striking white. A black wig fell somewhere in the ground.
A red scar crossed the white cover, an eye turned red.
There was no mistake.
Allen Walker.
"ALLEN!" Johnny cried out in happiness, forgetting the akuma destroyed, just relieved that his friend was indeed alive and free, that they had finally found him, he was okay. No wonder something had seemed familiar here that he couldn't realize at once: He knew Allen's voice but never had heard him singing.
He ignored the smell of akuma's oil and the pieces that hit the ground before dissolving, his relief at seeing his friend again all that mattered.
Allen held the child in his arms. The white cape of Crown Clown involved them and the other girl as they landed, Allen letting go of the boy as a woman cried in horror and gratitude at the same time, rushing to who could be either her little brother or son. The black-haired girl remained at Allen's side, apparently undisturbed by the events.
Approaching quickly, Johnny still could hear Allen speaking as he cleaned the child's tears.
"We've shown such a scary show now…" He muttered quietly, looking from the child to the woman who was still thanking them, too caught up her own feelings to mind the ghost-like cape and the silver mask that had appeared out of nowhere. "We're so sorry… Please, be careful on your way home…"
Before Allen could stand, his mind already on how they had to leave again, he felt arms wrapping his neck in a hug of despair as Johnny started babbling and shivering. For a moment, he couldn't react.
"Allen! Allen! I've searched for you… Everywhere!" The member of the Science Department went on, holding him close. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! We were all so worried… Lenalee and I… And everyone else, too, we were… Allen, can you ever…?"
Allen avoided the other's eyes, casting a glance of warning to Raz, realizing that… He didn't want to hear those things, he didn't want to! Fighting to control his nerves, to not tremble, he took Johnny's arms off him and stood, not saying a word.
For an instant, Johnny didn't know what to say… That wasn't the reaction he had expected or hoped for. He had thought Allen might be angry, that he wouldn't even want to talk to him, but this was different, somehow. Had… Had he said something wrong just now?
Then Allen took off, the girl running at his side.
Raz didn't need to ask anything, she had been confused by the man with glasses hugging Allen out of nowhere, but as soon as the words started to come from him, she had guessed the situation and a wave of coldness had taken over her entire being.
He was a member of the Black Order.
Allen groaned when he felt his collar being pulled against his throat, his back then colling with the ground as Kanda took him down, mumbling something about "understanding the real reason why he had been so pissed off" while he grabbed a piece of cloth from Johnny and started to rub it against Allen's face roughly.
"What the hell have you put in your face, Moyashi?" He wanted to take off that stupid make-up, a way to make sure he was still the stupid brat before doing anything else. The fact he was still able to use Innocence and how his eyes were still gray should be a dead giveaway of the answer, but Kanda wanted to confirm it as much as possible.
A thin and cold touch at his throat.
He didn't have to look, he knew the sensation of a blade.
Razor-sharp and of a shiny black, it almost resembled hematine stone though Kanda knew at once it was not. He would have known it without the threads of black mist that came from it, breaths of ice when slithering against his skin before fading in the air, some shaping spirals and others moving like snakes.
He would know because of the air around it.
The girl who had been performing with the Moyashi stood at his side, eyes cold, firmly holding the sword. Kanda noticed how there were more threads of mist there as well, escaping between her fingers. He half-expected to see tiny creatures of many legs and eyes finding its way from under her hand as well.
"Release him."
"And who the hell…?" He started as Johnny approached, raising his hands as if to try calming everyone down.
"E-Excuse me, miss…"
"I said. Release. Him." She repeated, not blinking, voice the whisper of a nightmare. Johnny flinched.
"Hold on a bit!" Allen told her as he pulled the cloth away, looking at Kanda with irritation, face red, but mostly clean of the makeup. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, couldn't even start to understand what was going on, but anything he could have said seemed to hide at the end of his throat leaving only a question. "What are you trying to do, peel my skin off Bakanda?"
Exasperated with the samurai's behavior as he was, Allen couldn't help the good feeling that came upon seeing him once more, knowing he was alive… But it didn't chase away the weight inside, that held his insides like a spider.
No matter what, even if it were Kanda and Johnny, he wouldn't let them take him back!
His stomach gave a jolt, one that Allen tried to ignore.
"I wanted to be sure you hadn't been possessed by the Fourteenth, Moyashi!" Kanda growled, ignoring the blade pressing his flesh. The girl's identity didn't even make it into his current list of priorities. Johnny tried to approach her again, perhaps trying to convince her that they meant no harm, but was pierced by a look of despise that was almost hatred. It was enough to make him consider silence a safer option for now.
"Now tell me. That Crow." Kanda continued. Before anything, this was a point that had to be settled. "How did Howard Link die?"
Heart going off rhythm and feeling his brain stopped working for a moment, Allen ceased his struggles.
What?
"I've heard a little of what happened from Lenalee and the others." Kanda carried on as if the events of the last time they had seen each other didn't matter. For a moment, it seemed he would have leaned towards Allen in natural intimidation if it wasn't for Raz's sword. "This is the only thing that I don't get. Who killed him? You or the Noahs?"
Howard Link?
Dead?
It was impossible. He had been alive when Allen had left, he was sure of it! Link had even helped him and Timcampy to get free of those spells and…
Raz kept her eyes on the man of dark hair (Kanda, if she had understood it well, Allen had spoken of him), without paying much attention to what he said and not caring either. Knowing that they were from the Order (though for what Allen had told her, he had thought the samurai to be dead or free from it all) was enough. During fights with the akumas she couldn't truly attack since she didn't want to destroy the souls.
It was quite different now.
"Link… Is dead?" Allen muttered quietly. He couldn't believe this, even if his subconscious had formed an immediate idea of who had truly done it. His mind had no time to touch it consciously as black pools appeared on the floor as voices echoed around.
"I feel the Fourteenth!"
"The two Noahs"
"Feel… Feel…"
Kanda jumped, pulling Johnny along to get him away at the same time the blade left his flesh as the girl turned to what was happening. Allen struggled and got on his feet, jumping to attack the new akumas.
As he twirled in the air, hitting with his sword, Allen was still more focused on what he had just heard. Raz at once cast chains of shadows against the akumas, trying to hold them down so they wouldn't be able to avoid the attacks while trying to avoid their blows.
"HOW DID HE DIE? WHAT HAPPENED?" Allen's scream carried anger and agitation, making a smile appear in Johnny's face. It was the confirmation of what he had always known and never doubted: That it hadn't been Allen, that Allen would never do such a thing!
"I knew it hadn't been you! I KNEW IT!" He yelled as he ran in the boy's direction, seeing the akumas being exterminated and raising his voice higher than the cries of blades, metal and akumas. "ALLEN! It was right after you left! Inspector Levelier and the guards found his body!"
Apocryphos.
Allen knew it had to be him. Tyki and Road had no reason to kill Link and both had been with him all along. They wouldn't have returned there just to kill an agent like him.
A wave of hate, unlike anything he had ever felt, burned him.
Allen landed at Raz's side. Immediately, more portals appeared, one after the other as small lakes full of waves and perfectly round.
Both looked at each other and nodded. Not saying anything else, Allen held Raz and threw strands of his cape against one of the tallest roofs while she cast straps of oily darkness in the same manner along the way to aid the impulse.
"MOYASHI!" Kanda yelled furious to see what they were doing.
"TIM!" Allen called. "Lead us to the most isolated place you can!" There was no use in staying here, more akumas would keep showing up and in a street full of people, it would be harder to keep bystanders from getting hurt.
He still heard Kanda yelling curses and Johnny calling to him… Unable to hold himself, he turned his face back and looked at them just once. Two people he had thought he wouldn't see again, that they wouldn't ever call him like before…
Yet, that was what they had just had. Treated as they always had… Unaware that this just twisted the knife all the more.
Because it wasn't like before. And it wouldn't be ever again, he knew it that now.
Biting his lower lip, trying to keep control, he ran with Raz across the roofs, a part of him almost hoping the pain could be left behind if he was fast enough.
Kanda saw the portals closing and the akumas retreating. He didn't need to think about it, they were clearly going after that stupid idiot. Behind him, Johnny tried to grab Allen's things, hurrying to follow them.
"We barely found him and the Moyashi is already giving me trouble!"
Running, avoiding the chimneys, jumping between spaces that weren't too further away from each other, Allen and Raz tried to get away, to run until they managed to reach an area without so many people. For the last couple of days, the akumas seemed to know somehow where they were and their appearances had become more frequent. The Exiled had noticed this as well and, in their refusal to part ways again, had agreed to take extra care and had agreed on strategic points to meet in town, in case of problems.
Maybe they should regroup and leave once more. No use staying any longer here if the akumas already knew their location, let alone Kanda and Johnny... A wave of sickness came to him, one that he knew had less to do with the exercise or his emotional state. He tried to ignore it, there was too much happening now.
Suddenly, a foreign sensation was felt in their skulls. Like a thread, it made its way through the brain to reach the mind.
"You both should have realized it already, brats." A voice echoed through it. It did not hurt, but it was too strange. "The meaning of those akumas coming after you more frequently than before, hmm?"
Raz stopped rubbing her cheeks as she ran, looking at Allen, running nonstop on a long roof of a building that could be a large store. The information in those words was cast aside in favor of that line… This sensation…
"Did you too…?"
"It's that Noah guy!" Allen growled, a wave of dread washing over him. The Noahs were close as well. Things were getting worse. And the last time he had met that guy hadn't been pleasant. "With the turban, headaches and who enjoys screwing with others' minds!" He had told her about him when speaking of what had happened in the Order. Somehow, that Noah must have known what Allen had said a sort of exasperated sigh echoed in his brain.
Allen didn't think he could call that "hearing", not really.
"The name is Wisely."
"Oh, so sorry!" Allen thought with sarcasm, aware that the Noah could sense it. "It's just that, last time we saw each other, we were all so distracted that we didn't have time for decent introductions!"
A vibration of a low chuckle came, from another point of his mind that wasn't quite the same "direction" as Wisely's presence, and Allen saw Raz had amusement in her eyes. Then he understood. Wisely, somehow, had also connected their minds, perhaps to make the communication all the easier than talking to each of them separately.
He couldn't help but remember falling in Kanda's memories with Road.
"That's fine, after all, soon we will have time to sit down and talk all we want." The reply seized the lungs of both of them, who felt the threat intertwined in the purposely honeyed tone.
"Anyway, I just thought you deserved to know. Akumas can feel the aura of Noah coming from you, Walker." The voice echoed in their minds once more and both could feel a smile from Wisely. "You can't keep yourself hidden either, Raz. Don't you know it? You can insist on keeping a human appearance all the time, but this will never make you one of them…" He added as if sharing a secret.
Allen hoped Wisely couldn't see his mind at his leisure, couldn't see how nervous he suddenly felt. They had all talked about this and concluded the akumas might be able to do so, as they would often mutter about "feeling them" as an insane mantra… But Allen would never have guessed that he had an aura of a Noah. He didn't want this, he was not a Noah, he still could activate his Innocence without problems!
He was not a Noah. He was still himself. He was not the Fourteenth!
"Three months ago, there was a faint hint of the Fourteenth waking, when you came in contact with Apocryphos." The Noah of Wisdom carried on, his "voice" lowered to a whisper, words dragging in their brains like larvae. "Well, all this just shows that it has begun once again."
Allen wanted to ignore Wisely, to find a way to block his voice, but it was impossible to ignore one that could speak inside your mind. Not sure of how much access this connection gave to him, Allen fought to not think about the waves of nausea he had been having lately… Sometimes, it felt like his organs were boiling inside him, even if it used to pass with a little concentration… Raz would always sit at his side during such times, holding his hand and speaking to him, trying to keep Allen aware of who he was, not risking him falling under Neah's influence, with the Exiled trying whatever they could to help him feel better.
For a moment, even though he tried to not think about anything, fearing Wisely would see the memory, Allen remembered Mother telling him to not lose himself… And how having a Noah and Innocence in him could end up destroying his body.
Maybe Wisely hadn't felt this or, maybe focused as he was in the line of communication, didn't pay attention to it. He just continued.
"It was like this with the Fourteenth from thirty-five years ago as well. You should remember this, Raziah..." Any amusement of before was gone as if it had never existed and there was coldness when the Noah explained further. "And you both should know it by now. A Noah can never escape from another Noah."
Raz had no recollection whatsoever of what Wisely was talking about, but it stirred a painful feeling in her all the same. Maybe something in her did remember what her mind did not. And they both knew Wisely wasn't lying.
None of them had answers to what he had just said.
"The horror of not having where to run to, not a single place in the world to hide or escape to will enter each pore of your being soon..." His words were dangerously gentle, in a way that made Allen feel as though the man was somehow at his side, speaking at his ear. Allen wondered briefly if those words were meant for him or Neah as he and Raz jumped to a lower roof, running and taking impulse to jump once more, following Timcampy.
Wisely sighed, knowing they were trying to ignore him and not just out of care to not fall down. He sounded, for a second, almost bothered with their attitude.
"The Earl told you, Walker. You can't stay in the Order anymore and you didn't listen." The blade in his words was gone and, for the first time, Wisely sounded almost kind. "Tyki also told you how there is no place for any of you but with us and you both ignored it…"
Allen bit the flesh in his mouth, not wanting to think about Johnny or Kanda or the last time he had seen Lenalee and how he had felt when hearing the Order announcing to the whole place how he was no longer an Exorcist, being classified as a Noah from then on.
He didn't want to think about it!
"Oh, well. If you prefer the hard way, so be it. For now, we'll leave you alone to lure Apocryphos out. Perhaps he will feel you too, Raziah and get curious, so it's all for the best."
Raz didn't resist the impulse that came. Someone talking in her mind wasn't exactly pleasant for starters and that man's words, even if she tried to not care, disturbed her more than she would be comfortable in admitting.
"So basically, you will be using us as live bait? Wow, don't we feel special!"
It was Allen's turn to snicker, despite the gravity of the situation. He couldn't help but wonder if Alison wasn't rubbing off on Raz a little.
Wisely chuckled to this.
"Oh, don't worry. We would never let something bad happen to our dear, stubborn and lost little siblings." He replied slowly before going back to the usual tone that didn't allow refusal or resistance. "Run, then. Run and try to hide, if you want. Eventually… You both will come to understand what I'm talking about. And in the end, you'll cut your Innocence off yourself, Walker…"
Raz and Allen felt their bones shivering to the false gentleness in that voice, it sounded like what a snake should when trying to seduce a bird and what Wisely spoke were not conjectures, but promises and facts.
"You two are ours."
There was no response, no strength to deny it, not with that voice, as much as they wanted to. Allen still tried to focus his mind in some image that could work as a barrier (a wall or the sea) in that precise physical point where he felt Wisely's connection, to push, to send him away…
His footing failed him.
"Allen!" Raz jumped to his side when he fell. His body twisted, shaken by inner waves shocking against each other. He groaned, unable to move, attacked by waves of pain whose origin he couldn't tell.
And his skin started to darken to a light hue of gray.
In another street, a man of dark hair stood, a thin white line of smoke coming from his cigarette as he looked at the direction the two pierrots had disappeared after going to the roofs.
No matter.
Sitting at the base of a statue there was a younger-looking man who sighed theatrically, leaning an elbow on his knee and his face on his hand as he smiled.
"They are so stubborn, don't you think?"
Tyki nodded, a smile of his own tearing his face as he held the cigarette between two fingers, still looking at that particular direction, almost as if he could see them.
"If they prefer to do it this way, very well…" He said, then speaking almost to himself. "Let them do their best"
"Now… Show me an interesting white and black in this game."
XxX
The world faded in waves and came back to a pale existence. He could count his bones for there was hell inside each one, with no end. His body felt about to turn inside out, he expected to see his veins and muscles twisting around.
Hiding under a tunnel, just like a dirty secret, Allen held himself. Raz was at his side, holding him as if afraid he was going to be blown away like a leaf in autumn. To him, her voice came from afar away and then was close again, trying to stop him from drowning.
"Come on, Allen. You can do it." She held his hand, face now almost clean of the make-up as well, only a few lines of white near her hairline and the jaw. "Fight it. Allen, look at me. Look at me, okay? Stay calm, breathe… I'm right here."
Above them, Timcampy bit his owner's hair, pulling at the white strands. What he meant with this, Allen didn't know and moved his hand to make the golem stop but the gesture lost its strength in the middle of the way.
Settling in a corner, Allen panted and huddled in a small ball. The shock between heat and cold, poison and cure, was concentrated in a point of his abdomen, he realized.
"It's okay, it's alright, it's alright." Part of his mind that still held some lucidity chanted, as if this could keep his hold on reality. His skin paled, then went back to the gray, a darker hue this time. He couldn't remember a pain like that. "Relax, it will be okay, it will be okay."
Raz, Raz was there, he felt her holding him and tried to use this as a physical anchor to hold on to. But it was as if she was fading. Or he was? He couldn't tell anymore where reality was. Allen reached his left hand to her, as if meaning to touch her face, but the vision of his own Innocence made him stop.
"Allen?" Raz asked, seeing a gleam in his eyes that had nothing to do with what was going on, emphasizing his feverish looks. His gray eyes had a golden reflex when he moved. And something in her seemed to rejoice against her will, as if her blood felt his change and celebrated the awakening of a new family member.
"God, please, no." To know she felt this just as much as she felt the despair of seeing a friend suffering a disease made her disgusted at herself.
Suddenly, body struggling, Allen screamed.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'M FIIIIINNNNEEEE!"
Raz held his shoulders to stop him from hurting himself. He struggled more, rejecting her, rabid in whatever hell he was caged in.
"Allen! Please, calm down! Fight it, keep control!"
She didn't know what to do. This was close to a seizure, far more violent than the ones from the last days and Allen wasn't giving any indication that he heard her at all, eyes focused somewhere ahead and becoming blurred.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine" He went on in a chant, perhaps forgetting where he was and with whom. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." He grabbed his left wrist. Yes. Yes, that was it. Innocence worked against Noahs, opposite energies could not be in the same space, so, perhaps if he activated his arm, he could keep Neah away? Perhaps he could activate his Sword and use it on himself, of course, it made sense, he would stab himself to stop the change, sure, he could do it, he…
His mind fell in itself and his body fell aside.
A pressure in his shoulder told him the figure ahead was Raz, but her voice couldn't reach him anymore. There was another voice and another face, if it truly existed in the world or just in his eyes, there was no difference…
Oh, he knew, he knew…
"Neah… Neah…" Was there someone calling him or just talking to him?
He wanted to raise his head, to show the person he was hearing…
"No, NO! Not me! I'm not Neah, I'm not, I'm not…"
A tall male, with long hair in a ponytail, was looking down at him… Allen no longer knew more than that, words losing the meaning and knowledge retreating to a deeper corner of his mind where nothing would ever fetch them back.
The man looked at him, tears escaping his eyes like blood from a wound. Such a sorrowful gaze that, among his own agony, Allen felt sorry for him and wanted to do something for this person with such sad eyes, to comfort him.
"I know those eyes… I… Me? Neah? What…?"
"Neah…" The man muttered, but Allen's mind didn't process the word. There seemed to be something important about this man, but he didn't know what, besides those sad, sad eyes…
Kneeling at his side, the man stretched his hand out as if to touch his face, hesitating as if fearing rejection. Another sound now, but it was too far away to fully hold his attention. He could just look at the man and his tears.
"Don't you hate me?"
The man's hand floated over his face, afraid of hurting him… Allen didn't know what he was actually saying and didn't remember how to make those sounds of communication, but would have liked to comfort him… Slowly, he felt like falling again even if he was no longer moving. The sensation of sleep pulling him away…
An impact on his face pulled him back to reality. Raz was in front of him, nails digging his shoulder.
"ALLEN! WAKE UP!" She screamed. For almost two minutes, Allen had been with a glassy look and she hadn't known what was worse: His monotone mantra or that silence. For an instant, she had feared he had been falling into a state of catatonia.
A noise called her attention.
Kanda was near, sword piercing the ground where an akuma's portal had been about to open. Timcampy flew ahead, hitting heads with another golem.
"What do you think you're doing, you bastard?" He groaned as he stood, looking at Allen while the portal faded.
Raz stared at the samurai, not moving away from Allen. At once, the shadows in the tunnel slithered around her and the boy, shivering violently in a warning while a black dagger came to her hand.
"Allen! Are you alright?" Johnny screamed as he ran forwards, ignoring the revulsion at the sight and only stopping when he saw the black tendrils rising, pulsating in threat. Allen, still fighting for breath, held her shoulder.
"Raz… It's alright…" He struggled to say, realizing she had no intention whatsoever of letting Kanda or Johnny near them. She threw him a look of curious disagreement but seemed less prone to attack, though she kept watching the two men with a coldness that warned them more than words ever could: If any of them displayed the slightest signal of hostility, she would kill them on the spot.
"Hey." Kanda called to Allen, ignoring Raz completely, his focus on how the Moyashi clearly wasn't well. The boy waved his hand, slapping his away before Kanda touched him. Among the pale gray skin, his eyes seemed to oscillate back to the natural color.
"Kanda… I really don't understand you…" He breathed heavily. Questions and doubts were secondary to seeing him with that black coat. "I'm happy that you're alive… To see you again… But what about Alma? Weren't you both finally free?!"
The samurai frowned. Figures, it was typical of the Moyashi to talk of such things now. Not waiting for an answer, Allen carried on, voice rising to a deep scream with intonations that Kanda had no patience to identify separately.
"Still… Why are you with the Order's clothes? WHY ARE YOU CASTING YOUR FREEDOM AWAY LIKE THAT?!"
His body was pulled forwards when Kanda grabbed his costume's collar, his dark eyes now burning in a way Allen had only seen back in the Order when Road had been teasing him about how Alma was still alive. As for Kanda, it didn't matter at all that the Moyashi was in such a state, anything related to Alma was his.
And hell if he would stand by as the brat said those things.
"Don't you dare. Even if it is you…" He whispered in a metallic tone that allowed no protests or interruptions. "I swore that I would take it to my grave." There was a second of silence. Under normal circumstances, Kanda might have not said the following words, but they formed themselves as if having a life of their own. "You… You gave it to us. The proof that we are free."
His voice lowered, not losing the intensity.
"Those last moments with Alma are mine and mine alone." He groaned. "So stop being the idiot of always! I am free. And so is Alma."
Raz didn't understand at all what they were talking about, however, the man with glasses let out a suffocated sound and Allen's eyes soon were filled with tears.
"Oi, you…" Kanda blinked, shocked by the sudden change and looked from Allen to Johnny, letting out a yell of exasperation. "And now you're crying too?"
With everything that was going on, the samurai hadn't expected those reactions, he had just meant to make certain things clear to the Moyashi, not to make him start bawling his eyes out. He looked at the girl, but at least she hadn't joined the crying party. Except for the coldness of her eyes, all of her was bereft of any sort of emotion.
Suddenly, Allen's body lost the firmness, the clothing slipping between the samurai's fingers and he fell, a gray doll with no bones. Raz kneeled down at once, turning him over, relieved at seeing he was passed out rather than going into seizures again. As she placed her hand on his forehead, subtly checking for signs of upcoming stigmata as well as his temperature, a source of light under the clothing came to their attention.
"That wound. It's from when I hurt him!" Kanda muttered to himself, surprised with the light, leaning closer before suddenly standing straight once again, looking at something behind them.
"Is he hurting? Let me see!" Johnny was kneeling down at Allen's other side as the girl opened the black buttons of the costume. There. In the exact spot Kanda had once stabbed him, there were long and white membranes rising from the flesh, shining like pieces of the moon.
"Those things…" Johnny started, barely believing what he was seeing.
"Innocence." Raz completed in a whisper, surprised. Allen had had a similar reaction before in his arm, but unlike that night of months ago, those feathers obviously caused him no distress. As such, she concluded they weren't Apocryphos'. Maybe Allen's own Innocence?
But why where he had been stabbed? That wound had closed, he had told her so.
"It is something related to the change into a Noah, but…"
"Back in the Headquarters in North America…" Johnny reflected, examining Allen, barely daring to touch the wound. Raz saw that the feathers, like when they had appeared on his arm, moved around as if given some sort of life. Yet, it was different from Apocryphos'… The gestures were delicate, almost like living flowers. The more she watched, the more she was sure they were Crown Clown. "When Allen didn't die, even after being stabbed like that… Kanda, it wasn't because the Fourteenth's genes were keeping his body alive…"
And actually, it hadn't been the first time something of this nature happened, right? It wasn't the first time Allen escaped death despite the odds pointing to a completely different ending.
"Do you remember? Even before, when Tyki Mikk destroyed his arm and tried to kill him? His Innocence still stayed around… It protected him until he was healed… The Innocence was keeping him alive." Johnny muttered to himself as if he had forgotten the presence of the girl and Kanda, his brain working fast. But that spot… Perhaps because it had become a focal point of the change? They all had seen back then, the gray taking over his skin being born from that wound.
His mind went back to Allen being thrown in a dungeon, isolated and prohibited from having visitors.
"When Allen was arrested, none of us could see him, not even once…" And by whose orders? Of the responsible for the arrest, of course. And who had been involved? Inspector Levelier.
"I don't think he was aware of this… Or was he?" But considering how Levelier had been investigating Allen, it would have been atypical if he hadn't examined him, even if just once, after the attack. And perhaps personally or maybe sending a Crow with medical knowledge, otherwise the doctors of the headquarters might have eventually talked about it. It wasn't something that you could keep in secret for long. "But it was, somehow. Why? If people knew that even if the Fourteenth was waking, the Innocence still tried to keep Allen safe…"
Then perhaps not everyone would have accepted the idea of Allen turning to the Noahs' side quite so easily. Perhaps he wouldn't have even been classified as a Noah, or maybe in such an event, others would have disagreed. But all those conjectures were the eternal "what if" and "maybe" that haunt human lives and, in the end, were useless.
"But we… We definitely would have done something…" The man said to himself, unable to stop the thoughts of how everything could have been different if the others had had access to this information.
Even if it was just a "maybe", it still…
"But you didn't." The girl said with cold tranquillity, calling his attention. She was staring at him. Her face was hollow. No seriousness, no anger... Nothing. Suddenly, Johnny found himself wanting to step away, to get some distance between the two of them. "It's no use thinking about what you would have done or not, the fact is that you didn't do anything."
She tilted her head to the side. There was no smile, but a ghost of cruel amusement laced her voice when she whispered, almost ghostly-like somehow.
"Or would you have done something just for knowing the Innocence was still at his side? If it wasn't so, would you have left him to Neah?" Which was, basically, what they had done already in the end. Johnny's lower lip trembled as he leaned forward, agitated by his own words.
"No! No, we…"
"Oh?" She asked, still displaying that eerie serenity. Johnny felt a shiver going down his spine that had nothing to do with the conversation, if it could be called that. His heartbeat increased and suddenly, he was afraid. "Then why?"
He felt words getting caught in his throat, unable to reply when Kanda poked his head, cutting the eye contact between him and the girl.
"Hey! Be what it is, let's get going!" He groaned, looking from one to another. "Let's go somewhere he can sleep. If you want to carry on your debate, do it there!"
Raz hesitated. Telling them where they were staying wasn't something she wanted to do, however, it would be easier to call the others and tell them everything so they could stay away (though she very much doubted they would), while also keeping an eye in those two in case they tried to call more people from the Order. If there would be a confrontation, she preferred it to be in known territory.
"There is the hotel we're staying in." She stood up, trying to place Allen's arm over her shoulder as Johnny did the same with the other. She didn't say anything else and both men evaluated her for some moments with the corner of their eyes, similar impressions going through them. That girl was weird… The way she seemed to dominate shadows… It didn't look like an Innocence-related ability.
"And where is it?" Johnny started to question, soon being interrupted by the sight of black circles on the floor, like bubbles forming in rotting flesh. It was possible to see eyes blinking in a few, or members coming out of others, like arms with many protuberances that didn't look like any natural hand or paw.
Kanda didn't look at all impressed or worried.
"Tch. They will keep following the Moyashi, then?" His comment had just a slight irritation for the bothersome fact and stood in front, holding Mugen.
He felt a presence at his side.
Only his eyes turned to the girl. She was shorter than him, perhaps more or less the Moyashi's height and her eyes were on the akumas appearing.
"I can only keep them away or hold them back." Her tone was unreadable but quiet. "You destroy them."
He didn't like at all to be spoken to in such a manner and it wasn't as if he was going to do anything else anyway, however, there was something curious about how she had said that.
"And why is that?" He asked harshly. The girl's eyes slithered to him.
"Because this is something I cannot do. I can't save souls."
Then he and Johnny had a suspicion.
XxX
It was curious how an environment could hold personality traits, somehow. Rooms could indicate if the resident lived alone or with a family, if they had dinner together or not. A bedroom could denounce what the owner liked, if he or she was organized or not…
And small traits remained, traces from the occupant that had been permeated in air and floor. Even if the layout of a room was identical to hundreds of others, people still had ways of marking them "theirs". Rooms in boarding schools were an example, the apartments in buildings too.
The room where Klaud Nine stood was a sterile and lonely space.
All the belongings of Allen Walker had been taken away and the room now could have been one dedicated to guests, ready to receive a new occupant, meanwhile forced back to being a place stripped of face or life. Only four walls, a bed, and a table…
"But that was Allen Walker's room." He had spent hours here, slept here, dreamt and reflected here. It was curious to know this and be unable to sense a thing about him as if his existence had been a dream.
Or as if it had been erased.
For an instant, Klaud wondered how it had looked like when it had been Walker's. She had never been close enough to him to know of his personal likings.
"And now he is traveling with a Noah." And as if that wasn't enough, the same Noah had helped to destroy an akuma. Everything about this scenario went against all that she had learned and lived in the last years since joining the Black Order.
"Allen Walker hasn't been dominated by the Fourteenth yet…" The woman reflected with herself. "Actually, he keeps using his Innocence, he is still an Accommodator." She closed her eyes as if in an attempt to feel something from Walker that remained here, some hidden trait that might offer a hint that helped her understand not the situation but the boy himself.
"Allen Walker… What is that you're doing?"
"What are you doing there?" A voice cut her thoughts. Klaud turned.
At the door, there was a figure against the light from outside. Alistair Krory. His golden eyes and the white hair tossed back indicated his Innocence was still activated, causing the change to a more serious side of his personality. It was curious to observe the face, usually gentle and kind of shy to boast such a harsh expression.
"Nothing at all." She replied calmly. She hadn't thought that anyone would enter the room, since some people avoided it as if the place had been cursed by Walker, a behavior that Klaud judged absolutely silly and wondered if some weren't doing this more out of some drama than real belief.
Krory, however, with his sharp instincts, must have felt her deception, be it for her heartbeat or natural scent. The thought could cause discomfort or nervousness in others, but Klaud merely sustained his stare.
"Why did you think I would be doing anything?" And she turned to him, placing a strand of hair behind her ear in a simple gesture. "It is just an empty room."
"It is the room of Allen Walker." The man didn't even blink, voice sliding through his fangs. Klaud took notice of the verbal time applied.
"It is or it was?" She asked in mere curiosity, studying his face in search of reactions and getting nothing.
"Is or was, it matters not." Krory carried on, his eyes on hers and showing nothing to her question, which could be interpreted in a number of ways. Instead, he replied with an inquiry of his own "If you aren't doing anything, then why would you enter an empty room?"
The question was laced with curiosity, which might be just in case.
"Merely thinking." An inexpressive reply was the safest route and it wouldn't be a lie as well. Krory didn't move, a tiger keeping the passage and preventing the prey from escaping, but someone passing by wouldn't be able to tell which one was the real predator.
"May I know why you would come to this specific room just to think? You must admit it sounds strange." Krory didn't seem about to let the subject drop. Klaud wondered vaguely if he suspected something or was just protecting what he considered Allen's particular place. Both probabilities seemed possible.
It depended on where he stood in this case.
"And the behavior of everyone else has been much more reasonable?" Klaud risked, in a way that sounded almost joking just in case. Krory's eyes became harsher and something gleamed deep inside. Was it because he agreed or disagreed?
"Where do you want to go with this?" The man asked, wishing to end that brief dance of words. He didn't trust the woman ahead at all and really didn't like to see someone just entering Allen's room, no matter how it wasn't "his room" anymore and hadn't been for more than three months. And it probably would never be again.
Klaud studied him for some seconds more, evaluating what to say or not. The tiniest mistake could have negative results and she had never been the impulsive type. The safest thing to do was to wait and watch.
Kanda had returned, surprising everyone, some weeks ago and had immediately left again for a mission after synchronizing again with his Innocence that, according to the rumors, had evolved to Crystal type. It was the second Innocence to do so and until now, no one knew what took to make the evolution.
The blonde had no problem to consider the possibility that he had not left for a mission as she had heard he had claimed, but rather to search for Allen Walker when taking into consideration certain details. As for Kanda's main purposes, there were options, but the woman couldn't truly say which one felt most likely to her. He had left weeks ago and as far as she knew, no one had heard from him ever since.
Krory still had his stare on her, waiting. Klaud shrugged, a gesture that, coming from her, was more elegant than what one was used to.
"As I said, I was merely reflecting." She approached the door. For a moment, Krory's eyes seemed able to pierce all they touched, but the man stepped away to allow her to pass.
Klaud pulled the memories of her meeting with Walker again to the front of her mind, studying them carefully and revising details, comparing to what she knew.
She hadn't told anyone.
Not about Walker, the Noah, nothing. Nothing about how they had helped her.
To Klaud, what had happened sustained her idea regarding certain later events. The story they had been told about Walker, from him "killing Link" to "leaving with the Noahs", boasted essential holes that only increased the impression that had assaulted her months ago: That there was something strange going on with the Order when it came down to Walker.
Internally, the general had deposited her trust in Allen Walker at least until a certain point, for now. Enough for her to hope that, whatever he was doing, he would succeed.
She knew that, in questions of positions, she could tell Lenalee about the event. The girl had been quite clear regarding her trust in Walker, but while this was admirable, Klaud knew that with information such as this, Lenalee wouldn't hesitate in telling others, hoping that it would perhaps convince them that Allen was not a traitor.
And the actual effects could be more harmful than beneficial, even if they omitted that the boy was with a Noah. And despite feeling that others, such as some members of the Science Department, Miranda Lotto and Alistair Krory also trusted Walker, the General needed certainty instead of impressions alone.
"If you still trust Allen Walker, Alistair Krory," The woman said mentally. "Then, you are right in doing so. You have reasons for this."
Still, she wasn't sure there was someone to who she could truly confide what she had seen.
Wait and watch, for now, wait and watch.
XxX
The sky was painted with threads of red and gold against the blue that darkened, as lines of reflections and colors on a lake that covered the world.
A man watched through the window of a fine hotel, a cigar in his mouth, hands resting inside his pockets. His companion was seated cross-legged in the middle of a bed.
"Nothing yet." He commented, not at all worried. "But it shouldn't be long now."
"I don't doubt it…" Tyki replied, shaking his head and 'tsking'. "He will be too tempted to resist. And the idea that we may be about to take the boy with us…" There was a great chance Apocryphos would realize what they were doing. The creature was not stupid. But considering his arrogance, the Noah of Pleasure doubted it would make much of a difference for him. Above all, the idea that the Clan could really take Walker home would be like an insect crawling in his mind and he wouldn't be able to stand even the slightest hypothesis of this happening.
Not to mention the temptation of absorbing the boy with the Noahs being so close would add flavor to the temptation all the more.
"If you understand enough about some standard behaviors and details about someone's nature, nothing is left to chance."
"Do you think he realized Raz is with him?" Wisely asked. Tyki shook his head, indicating he had no idea. Both could very well imagine what would be Apocryphos' reaction when he realized Allen had been all this time in the company of a Noah.
The very idea made Wisely chuckle to himself.
"Oh, I would love to be close enough to see it." His muttering was accompanied by an expression of delight. He didn't ignore that this could actually be dangerous, but, since they were watching out for the creature, neither Allen nor Raz would be at any risk. Wisely hadn't been lying when saying they wouldn't allow anything to happen to them. "I imagine he will be so furious."
Better than this, only if Walker decided to go with them of his own will and right in front of Apocryphos.
Yet, as enjoyable as the idea was, they knew that Walker wouldn't do such a thing.
Well, at least not for now.
"The Earl would love to see this too." Tyki commented, referring not only to Apocryphos' reaction but also to what he knew Wisely should be thinking. "If only they weren't being so difficult."
One day, he and Sheryl had had to leave due to a mission and, upon returning to Liverpool, they had found out they had left. At first, the Earl hadn't minded it that much. Akumas were searching for them everywhere and any agitation from Neah's genes would work to call upon them, but with the days turning into weeks, his anxiety to get the missing members of the family back had poisoned his patience.
Honestly, it wasn't as if the others didn't share the feeling. To know there was not just one, but two Noahs keeping their distance was like having a wound in their nerve endings.
Wisely turned to Tyki with a sarcastic smile.
"Oh, come on, aren't they just so adorable when they act like this?"
Tyki rolled his eyes.
They had also sensed the Noah's genes inside Allen Walker and, despite the decision of leaving him be to lure Apocryphos, they had considered better to give him a light warning about what was going on and had called upon some more akumas to where they were (not that it would have been that necessary), interrupting their little street show, which they had watched for a while from afar.
To Wisely, Raziah looked almost the same, even her outfit (only the strand in the collar was black now). It had been so long… He had been killed a short time after her "disappearance", which had felt so much like death… As if the very essence of Noah in her had been destroyed beyond the possibility of passing to someone else…
But they hadn't wept for the possible loss of a fellow Noah alone. They had wept the loss of her, of a friend, a sister, a member of the family. The same way Road and the others had wept the loss of Skin Bolic.
For what Tyki had seen and compared to the one time their paths had actively crossed (not counting when he had been spying on her and the boy), she looked stronger, attacking akumas while combining her shadows with Walker's Innocence in a way they didn't harm each other.
Infuriating, sure, but… Not bad, he admitted.
"Absolutely." He deadpanned, blowing smoke from his cigarette. "But I don't think the Earl would agree." Not that he had any certainty of how the patriarch would react upon knowing Raz was now even helping Allen to destroy akumas and to top it all, clearly in a way that didn't harm the souls.
No doubt the boy had told her all about it.
"Or maybe he won't be that surprised…" Wisely suggested in an innocent tone. Tyki knew he was teasing him as he did with the others at times. The Noah of Pleasure knew it wouldn't do any good asking Wisely about when the girl had been part of the family, as it was of no help to ask him about the events of thirty-five years ago.
Wisely claimed he would rather have them seeking those answers by themselves rather than just handing them over, as this was the path to true wisdom, though Tyki was sure the other just took some delight in ignoring and changing the subject or giving evasive answers when any of the others tried asking about those matters.
Wisely said nothing, but when talking to her today, he had felt her mind just a little bit, carefully, with the care of a doctor before a severe wound. The memories were still there, but too deep in her mind and too shattered, to the point that applying too much pressure would be like holding glass shards too tightly. At least some of them had felt to be approaching the surface of her brain.
It had been too fast, just a quick examination, enough to give him a general sense of her case.
Once, some time after seeing Raz training, Sheryl had asked Wisely about her. The Noah of Wisdom had merely shrugged and commented that once the girl was with them again, he could meet her personally, so there was no reason to hurry.
Sheryl hadn't liked that. Tyki wouldn't hazard a guess at what his brother truly thought of the girl, not yet. It was clear he hated Walker (more due to Road's feelings for him than for the boy being the host of the Fourteenth or how he had messed up the Clan's plans before, this he was willing to bet), but regarding Raz, it was harder to tell. There were moments it seemed that Sheryl didn't like the girl either (since she had refused to return in favor of traveling with Walker and protected an Innocence) while other times, he seemed anxious to have her with them and perhaps not only due to the natural instinct.
"I just hope he won't try to adopt her as well…" He had already adopted Wisely in order to make things easier for him, seeing how he was still a minor in human society, but at least Sheryl wasn't going as overboard with his "son" as he did with Road. If he decided to adopt Raz, Tyki could only imagine how it would be.
And Tyki wasn't sure himself of how he felt about the Noah with no memories either.
Knowing there was no use in asking Wisely anything, he watched the street hidden in the night, letting his own thoughts wander through the possibilities and their plan to get Apocryphos, which was the most important now.
He thought of when he had seen Raz and Allen training and today, seeing them from afar, dancing among humans. He almost chuckled. Road would have, at the least, insisted on watching their performance from up close and talked about how both looked cute (if she didn't end up trying to hug Allen again once it was over).
He wondered what would have been her reaction upon seeing Raz too.
"Well, one thing at a time. Let's continue this particular dance of ours for a while more, then, shall we?"
Ana: YES! Finally! Now the plot thickens! I mentioned this before, but I'll again: I planned this whole thing during the D. Gray Man hiatus after Allen meets the Earl in that street. Meaning, after this point, things will greatly diverge from the manga. By the way, the song of this episode is "Sei to Shi no Sukima", meaning "The Crevice Between Life and Death" and also from the Black Butler's musical. Seriously, it is a beautiful song.
Kanda: And has anything here followed the original story for starters?
Ana: You shouldn't be in a bad mood, you finally made your appearance. Second, I followed some details. Not major things, but some.
Lavi: What about me?
Ana: You and Road will have to wait a little more. C'mon, I'm getting there, have some patience...
Tyki: I must say, Wisely's insistence in keeping his mouth shut is getting on my nerves.
Wisely: I'm the Noah of Wisdom. The nature of wisdom is in seeking answers by yourself, otherwise, you won't truly learn and understand.
Tyki: Oh, please, you just like to annoy people.
Wisely: Perhaaaps~
Ana: It isn't as if the Earl or Road ever told anyone anything in the manga either, so you guys can't blame me for that one. If they had, Bookman wouldn't be now being tortured.
Earl (wiping a tear): It is just hard to talk about this matter. Such a painful memory to me! And even now with Raz refusing to come home and Walker suppressing Neah...
Wisely: Raz, Allen, you made him cry!
Raz: What? What did we do? I haven't even met him!
Allen: Oh, I'm sorry if I want to be myself and not be taken over by Neah.
Neah (taking over Allen): He has been more sarcastic later, don't mind him.
Ana: Why every session before replying the reviews turns into a mess? No, really, why?
Road: Don't mind them, let's carry on.
Ana: Regarding the poll, well, no one answered and I won't say anything since the matter of the Heart is a point of this fic too.
blarg7865: Don't know if we can call faction, but there are people who still believe in him in the Order and the Exiled also will stay at his side. He indeed is the stronger of them, we can't deny this.
Allen: M-MC syndrome? What is that?
Alison: Probably something to do with how you like to go putting yourself at risk to save everyone. You're not Superman you know.
Ana: Yeah, he does tend to let his emotional side take over several times when it comes down to help others.
Allen: Since when that's wrong?
Raz: It isn't, but you tend to get carried away.
Lenalee: We all told you this already.
Ana: Since, for what I remember, Mana found Allen in Britain and I don't know much about how it is with traveling circus, I haven't decided if they will have to leave the country for that. In anyway, they have to search for it and it won't be easy. I agree, I haven't seen many dealing with this... But even now, there is a lot of issues, like I said if Road's feelings are actually for Allen or true enough to be called love, how Lenalee (and the others) left him and also her own issues...
Road: I do know my own heart!
Lenalee: Wait, I'm sorry I left him, we all are...
Ana: I said we'll deal with those details when the time comes... I know, if you ask me, it was one of the saddest arks in the story. It was really low from the Order... As a catholic, I say: Army of God my foot. Not going to say the church didn't do shit stuff in the past, but really...
Earl: My dear, the are willing to do anything to win this war. If it means winning, why, there is no sin they wouldn't commit.
Ana: About the Third.. Actually no. I mean, I just left them as akumas, I may mention their names but that will be it. To be honest, I have too many characters to deal with as it is, so it's kinda hard for me to include everyone. As for Neah... I have no idea. I admit. One of the problems I had here was to imagine what would his powers be, along with Toraido and Maashima (Judgment was somewhat easy, but Noah of Mercy? Their "titles" are somehow connected with their powers, what kind of power would that be?).
Toraido: Meaning, she lacks imagination to come up with good stuff, the stupid human.
Ana: HEY! What can I say, it isn't like I can just make up anything and push to him, it has to have to do with his "title", just like everyone else! Uh... I honestly haven't read Bleach and haven't played Kingdom Hearts, but I did read a little about the characters. I focused more on how Neah is called Noah of Destruction.
Toraido: Like I said, she lacks potential to come up with good stuff.
jy24: It was kind of about time, right? XD
Allen: I'm happy they didn't hate us for it.
Elana: It is weird and it took time for us to get used to it, but again, when you're not in the mindset of the Order, certain things feel different.
Ana: Well, Lauren just examined Raz as if she was a cute animal or something.
Lauren: I swear I meant no offense, I was just surprised...
Ana: Aaand... No. Klaud didn't tell anyone. She isn't sure of who she can trust now, but she is a sharp woman. We will have to wait and see what she will decide to do from now on.
So people, see you all next chapter! Please, remember that reviews and criticism mean everything to me. I love to hear what you guys think of this plot and what will happen. (And since English is not my first language, if someone has something to say about grammar or phrase structure, please do!).
See you guys!