I. AM. SO. BACK!
I am so sorry for not updating for a while. If you know this fic in Archive of Our Own, you'll see that it should be complete after seventeen chapters. I had fifteen chapters already written (they're short, but they were the backbone). But I discovered a plot hole, and I changed some things and now this fic doesn't look anything like the way it started.
Thus, I am going to post the original version on its completed form, so that you guys can compare the original with this new version.
Once again, I am so sorry! Nevertheless, thank you for still reading this!
Here's the request list so far:
Miss_Spriter: Make characters that did not like Allen, like Allen. And then some that liked him dislike Allen at first.~~~like Road not liking Allen for taking the Earl's time.
Miss_Spriter: A scene where "Adam" is offering him a different life, but Allen can't accept because the Earl's current face reminds Allen too much of Mana and his promise to save akumas. And Adam's reaction to that promise.
GoOse: Lavi finds out who saves Allen and his reaction.
PoshNoah: Add Tyki in bond with Allen or just plain weirded out by the Earl's obsession.
Meerub: What the Earl will do when he comes across Allen again.
IfYouWish: Sheryl coaching the Earl to take care of a child. Earl gets rid of Cross (or the Order) to adopt Allen? Kidnapping?
Cutiepie120048: fondness between Sheryl and Allen - even if the former denies it.
Galimaufry: would love to see Tyki. Given that he bounces around as a hobo, it seems like he would be the most likely to run into Allen on a train or in a gambling den.
Earl
CHAPTER 5 Random Excerpt: From A Time Long Past
This circus. He had just recently started working here and he already knows that while the rest were impressed, one man outright hates his guts.
Cosimo.
What an undesirable name. Fitting for an old bitter human like him.
Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. He shakes his head, trying to get rid of the dark thoughts in his head. That was why he was on this vacation - the lonely and empty halls of the Ark stifled him. Everywhere he looked Neah was there. A question at the tip of his tongue: why?
Why? Why was he thinking that? What was he even thinking about?
Right. Cosimo.
After all, he had a pretty good idea who had hidden five of his juggling balls inside the tent crates-the very same person who had been vindictive enough to dump his hula hoops in the trash.
His poor, poor hoops. They deserved better.
He should kill him, gut him like the human pig the old crone was. The idea has merits: he can get rid of his slow-witted human tormentor and not suffer through the whole business of pretending to be the nice, kind circus clown clueless to his bully. Neah would have hated to think that his older twin was being bullied. Again.
Neah. Neah. Neah.
He blinks. What was he thinking again?
His hula hoop - his poor hula hoops who he had found buried beneath other rubbish.
Cosimo had the irritating tendency to mess with his things. Although he was sure he could improvise on the spot, he still preferred having most of his equipment back where they were supposed to be. If it hadn't been for Allen, bless that dog, he would never have found his missing hoops and balls.
Speaking of Allen… Where was he?
Where was….
Where was Neah? He wondered. He hasn't seen him in a long while. He briefly paused.
Has he? But… he's killed him. He's a murderer. He murdered his own brother.
He shook his head. Silly thoughts, why won't they leave him alone? Right. Allen.
Where was his Allen?
It was still pretty early in the morning, fog hiding many of the smaller tents surrounding the main circus tent from view. He strolled around the circus. Now where could that dog be? Usually he'd only have to whistle, and Allen would come running back to him. His dog wasn't inside with the other performers, nor was he back at their room.
Ah.
In the distance, he sees his dog next to a brown-haired kid, small fingers gently patting Allen. That child… Isn't he one of the young helpers around the circus? But the child looked a little off-the trademark frowning lips and sour eyes that he had grown accustomed to seeing whenever the kid gives him food is gone.
The expression of wonder on the boy's face, as if he has never seen a dog so docile before, is enough to leave him feeling slightly unhinged.
He suddenly feels like he has intruded on a moment he wasn't supposed to be privy, and can't help but feel bad when Allen finally notices him and barks loudly. The little kid his dog was with flinches.
But Allen runs to him, wagging his tail excitedly. He sighed-too late to back out now. He bends, and pats the dog's head.
"So this is where you've gone to, Allen."
Allen yips. The kid his dog left behind is watching them with a withering look. There's the dour face he's seen before. Perhaps he could ask the kid if he wanted to play with Allen more?
"I hope he wasn't bothering you - " He starts, but the child cuts him off before he even finishes.
"He wasn't. You shithead shouldn't be letting your fucking dog wander around, baka." The kid swiftly turns around and briskly marches back to the tents, leaving a shell-shocked clown and a morose Allen behind.
.
.
.
What a rude child.
It didn't occur to him then, but the thoughts that haunted him since his brother's betrayal had gone silent. For the first time in a very long while, he felt… liberated.
Earl
CHAPTER 5.5 Random Excerpt: From A Time Long Past
"Papa? Like the hell Imma call you that, old geezer!"
"Aaah, but I really wanted to hear it - Allen calling me 'Papa!'"
"Sh-sh-shut up! Don't think about stupid ideas like that, baka! I-it's crap!"
He hunched. Lowering his eyes and putting on his best kicked-puppy face.
"Eeeeh? But… I really wanted my son to call me 'Papa!'"
The boy's ears flushes with heat in an instant.
"Fu-!" Tiny right-hand slaps over a cursing mouth. Grey eyes quickly flicker away to anywhere but where Mana was crouching. Embarrassment drenches the little boy's body as Allen quickly pivots around, his tiny back to Mana. "Fuck! Fuck!"
"Allen…?"
"...a."
He doesn't quite catch it. He leans closer. "What?"
"I said PAPA, you motherfucker!" Did he just? Mana dodges a swift, but sloppy kick aimed at his head. "Don't make me say stupid things again, you deaf old man!"
Despite this, he can't help the wide grin that blossoms on his face.
Allen Walker
"Timcanpy," Allen's eyes worriedly followed the fluttering golden ball trailing behind the caravan. "Don't fly around so much. What will we do if you get bitten by a cat again?"
Timcanpy flew closer, lazily circling his head before settling on top of Allen's hat. Allen felt the golem's weight settle and adjusted his head so that his friend wouldn't accidentally slip off. The fiasco-that the cat that had swallowed Timcanpy had brought-with officer Moore and her brother Mark who had turned into an akuma lingered on his mind.
The Earl was still causing so much sorrow. Inwardly, he hoped that Mark and his wife had reunited after death. That was why he was on his way to the Black Order. In order to become an exorcist that would free the tortured souls of akumas just like Mark's wife.
Because he was the only one who could see their chained and mummified spirits. Because he was the only one who could hear their cries of anguish. Allen felt for his innocence. With his left hand and his cursed eye, he promised he would save them.
The curtain behind where he was sitting pulled open. A clown and a bunny-themed lady greeted him.
The clown asked incredulously, "What-? You were bitten by a cat? I'm surprised you're safe."
Ah. They must have thought he was talking about himself. He shook his head. His gloved left hand pointed to the top of his head where he knew Timcanpy sat. "The cat had risen from the grave."
"Did you come here to do some sightseeing, traveler?" The bunny-lady pushed the clown aside when the man uttered a bewildered "What?"
"No," He smiled, and turned to look back at the two other occupants of the moving caravan. The hat that Adam had given him years ago swayed a little with his movement. " Just going to greet them at the headquarters of the exorcists!"
Horrifying Flashback
"Allen." His master held the wine glass in his direction. "It's been three years since you became my apprentice. I think it's time you go about on your own…"
Eh? Did he really hear that? Eeeeeeeh?! Surely, his master couldn't have meant….
His master paused, briefly muttering out, "Plus, it seemed like that man's family had finally stopped looking for you, you stupid pupil."
Allen didn't move. He didn't dare. He waited with bated breath. Red strands of hair covered his eyes, and he quickly pulled them aside.
"From today on, you carry the title 'Exorcist,'" His elation soared. "And I give you permission to stop dyeing your goddamn hair with that disgusting red paint. Just as long as-"
As? Allen wondered as he waited out the silence that had fallen his master.
His heart thrummed.
"-As soon as you burn that accursed hat."
And dropped.
"Eeeh? This hat?" Master still had a grudge on the present that Adam, who Allen had finally separated with Mana, had given Allen?
He had thought that his master had finally gotten over that (since the general stopped randomly shooting Judgement at the poor headpiece every time Allen wore it. 'I'm going to exorcise that hat, stupid disciple. Move out of the way.' 'W-w-wait a second! Master!-' a bullet whizzed past Allen's head '-Aaaaaah! No! Please don't destroy it!'). He pulled the blue-rose top hat off his head, in case his Shishou was planning to attack it like the old times, and sheltered it with his chest. "N-no. Master, I can't! This was a precious gift from Mr. Adam!"
Aaaaaaah! Master looked like he was going to kill him. Allen shivered, but he wasn't going to throw this headwear someone so kind had given him. He felt the burning glare from the red-haired general aimed at the top hat he was hugging protectively.
"Feh. Fine," His master turned to glare elsewhere. One hand clenched around a wine glass. "Keep that ill-fated old nightcap."
"Really?"
"It'll hopefully get pulverized by an akuma bullet while you're on your journey."
He wasn't going to let that happen. Allen patted the headpiece assuredly, unwrinkling the two blue roses up front.
"But, to officially become an exorcist," Shishou continued. "You must first come with me to the headquarters and greet the people there."
The headquarters? Where all the exorcists lived?
"You do know where the headquarters is, right?"
Shishou pulled out a small hammer. It wasn't much compared to the hammer that Allen used to stab giant nails to the ground once, but in the hands of his shishou… Allen gulped.
His master holds it threateningly in front of him.
Allen warily eyed the mallet and scooched back a little. Something was not right here. "...Yes?"
Master took a step forward, and Allen dragged himself backward. Just a little.
"I'll have my golem accompany you. I'll even recommend you to your superior, Komui…" Where was this going? Why was only Timcanpy going with him? Didn't master said that Allen had to come with the general to headquarters? "When you wake up, go forth!"
Wait… When he woke up? Allen sweated. A lot. He saw master lift the mallet up.
"Don't tell me you're backing out of coming with me, master!"
And the mallet came crashing down.
Allen jolted awake.
He clutched his poor chest, panting like he had ran halfway around the world. He was back at the caravan he was hitchhiking on. The clip-clockety of the horses hooves dragging his ride calmed him. An echo of the moment when the mallet had made contact with his head repeated itself in his head. Allen shivered. His master was a demon.
No… considering all that the womanizer had done… more than just a demon.
"What happened?" The head of the clown from earlier peeked out from behind the curtains. "It seemed like you were moaning in pain…"
Allen smiled apologetically.
"Ah. I'm sorry for bothering you." Allen fixed his hat. "I was having a nightm-"
He was cut off by the sound of a cry. "It's an akuma!"
An akuma? Allen's mind leapt to action. There. It came from the dark alley his ride had just passed by. Allen grabbed his suitcase and jumped off the moving transportation.
"Thanks for the lift!" He remembers to call out as he dashes to get to where the akuma was on time. Timcanpy flies after him.
He was reminded again why it was a stroke of genius that Allen had two thick ribbons sewn to Adam's hat. Since being an exorcist required a lot of physical maneuvers, if Allen hadn't tied the hat to his head, he was sure he would have long since lost Adam's gift.
"Are you okay?! The akuma," Allen calls out as soon as he reaches the corner. "Where is it?!"
A group of men with pissed off faces greeted him.
"Um…."
"There aren't any akuma here." One of them, bald and with a short moustache, hit the helmeted head of a small boy Allen hadn't noticed was there before. "See Jan, just because you said you were gonna get killed…."
"Sorry, it was this guy's fault." The man points a burly finger down at the little kid, who wore a fierce frown. "He was screaming about an akuma, and messing with the adults."
"I'm not just playing around, idiot!" The boy vigorously rubs his bashed head. "There really is an akuma! They're slowly invading the world! My dad told me all about it!"
"Yeah, yeah. We heard you, here's a candy-"
Allen watched their interaction with a sweatdrop, and he's about to let it go when his left eye burns a little. He grit his teeth. So there was an akuma here.
Allen hid himself behind one of the brick walls. The others left. He activates his cursed eye, and zones in on the trapped soul seeping out of the unkempt, blonde man too close for comfort to the kid.
An akuma star grew on the man's forehead.
Allen tensed, and, swifter than what the human eye could see, slashed his Innocence through the akuma.
"You can't deceive my eyes," Allen's left eye looked back at the akuma who barely realized that it's soul had been freed. The body imploded, and the akuma skeleton inside crumbled to ash. "Rest in peace, akuma."
Allen watched as the mummified spirit was unwrapped, and a little boy's spirit beamed at him, finally freed as it rose up to the heavens. They looked like brothers, Allen thought softly. He hopes that they might be reunited in the afterlife.
The smoke from the terminated akuma's body stopped, and Allen sees the helmeted boy wearing a yellow and red sweater. Wasn't this the child who had called the akuma out earlier?
The kid catches Allen's eyes.
"Your name is Jean, right?"
Allen wiped off the lasts of the watery tears the boy's onion bomb had incited. He stood anxiously at the door of an odd looking house clutching his briefcase. He was glad that Timcanpy had followed the boy to his home-he hadn't thought that the child would have taken to his warning negatively.
Allen was still concerned about it… He knew it wasn't wise for children so young to become a target of the Earl. If Jean was killed by the Earl because Allen hadn't stopped the boy before it was too late…
The white haired soon-to-be-officiated-exorcist wouldn't be able to forgive himself. Pulling the odd doorbell, he supposed he'd convince Jean first to stop hunting akumas before he went to headquarters.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt. What an odd noise, Allen thought. Weren't bells supposed to ring something like ding-dong?
A maid opens the door and looks down the steps to Allen. She had a clown-painted face that made him sweat-drop.
"Um…. I heard that this is Jean's house. Is Jean here?" Allen straightened.
"Mr. Jean?" The maid nicely asked him. "He's here…"
"Can I-" Allen's eyes widened as the lady's form started tipping forward. "Waaii-!"
And the maid fell on him, bringing them both down onto the hard concrete floor.
Allen looks over the passed out person pinning him down, and sees Jean, his foot out as if… as if he had kicked the maid down on Allen.
"What did you come here for?" Leo grinned. "Did you come here to lecture me? I won't listen to you anyway, Hat Exorcist!"
"Je...Jean!" Allen wheezed, the weight of the person thrown over him crushing the air out of his lungs. "You... really nee….!"
"Let's go, Leo." Jean turned back as he skated away with a blonde boy.
"I…" Allen struggled to get the maid off of him. "I don't care anymore…." There was nothing he could do if the boy didn't want to be stopped right? He meant… rowdy boys wouldn't listen to him…. Probably.
Allen sighed, watching the two boys leave with their weird shoes when his left eye picks up an anomaly.
That blonde-haired boy…. An akuma's soul was attached to him. Horror dawned on Allen.
"W-wait, Jean!" Allen's warning fell on deaf ears as the two boys sped away. "That boy…!"
"Timcanpy!" Tim flies to him. "Follow Jean! I'll be there soon!"
"Leo's been dead for a long time. Ever since his mom's funeral." A jovial voice cheerfully announced.
He hears them in the silence of the night. A bright full moon illuminated the whole cemetery.
There was no mistaking that rotund figure looming over Jean and the akuma child.
"That… You disturbed me, and for that, he's the akuma that will punish you!"
"No… It can't be…" And something in Allen resonates with the dawning fright in Jean's eyes. The grinning Earl's beady eyes narrowed in glee.
Allen feels himself tense further. He dislikes that the Earl treated people's sorrow with joy. He dislikes that the phantom uses people's grief to lead them to bind their own loved ones as an akuma. He hates that he himself had fallen for it.
Because if he hadn't…
If he hadn't…
"It's true." He climbs the steps to where the phantom and Jean stood. His eyes are shaded by his hat, but he has enough sight to see that the Earl had lowered his hands away from Jean. He activates his Innocence, and lets the glow of his giant clawed arm comfort him.
Somewhere inside, Allen feels like he stepped into a lit stage, about to enact an important scene in a play. He feels thousands of eyes watching, and a chill settles in his bones. "Jean, that boy is the Earl's akuma!"
The Earl's eyes focus on him, and Allen shrugs off his discomfort, picturing the phantom's cold eyes narrowing at him before they settle with a manic look.
The callous look Allen awaited lasts only for a second before it is gone.
In its place, Allen finds the Earl eyes wide behind glinting spectacles, and he can hear a shuddered intake of the freezing night air.
"...Allen?"
It's Allen's turn to narrow his eyes.
But I Loved Mana
"Run…" Allen's gasping, small fingers trembling, clawing into the dirt as he attempted to stop his monstrous left arm. His left face drips with blood, and he can barely see anything with his left eye. "Run, Mana!"
He feels tears dripping down his smudged face, his brown hair sticking to his forehead, matted with red blood.
The trapped soul before him is terrifying, and that fact that it's Mana.
This was all his fault.
He shouldn't have accepted the offer. Now Mana was suffering.
But he loved Mana. He should have told him. He never did. I love you. I love you. I love you. Papa! He chokes back another tear. He was a coward.
Even as Mana was bound to the metallic skeleton, some part of Allen didn't want his father to pass away again.
"Mana!" His throat aches with his scream, but his left hand doesn't stop, dragging his body through the dirt. And he's killed Mana. Again.
Mana's talking again, and all Allen gets from it before his father is gone is a soft "I love you."
I love you, too. I love you, too. He tries to say. I love you, Papa!
He drowns in his tears, his vision blurs, and in the background, he hears a chilly, delighted laugh.
It is the first time in this whole debacle that he truly comes to despise the Earl.
Chapter 5.5
Earl
He had spent a long time searching. For a whole six months, Sheryl had even gotten the existing members of the family into it, too.
At the seventh month, he had ordered them to give up. Adam thinks that Sheryl is secretly still searching behind his back.
At the eight month, when even his akumas have stopped trying, the Earl still looks.
White hair. Grey eyes. Red scar. Maybe even his hat.
He had learned to avoid meeting people's eyes in the streets a long time ago, and he aimlessly wanders the town he had first met the boy.
"Do you know a little boy with white hair, grey eyes, with a scar on his face?" Adam asks one of the ladies in the bar one night. "He's this tall." Adam measures the boy's hat to be about his waist to the woman.
"Ooooh? Are you talking about little Allen?" Adam feels hope for the first time in months. He know his akuma in town had asked about everyone, but little information had slipped out. Not even about little Allen's master. Especially that despicable master. He finds no trace of the two in this area, and he wonders why. It was as if the two had simply never existed.
No one remembered them. For some reason.
But here. Someone was finally acknowledging Allen's existence.
"Do you know what happened to him?" Adam feels as if he is speaking through cotton. His first lead.
"I'd tell you, but that'll cost you a few coins, sweetie." She leans in, and he forces himself to stay. He eyes her smirk warily.
"How much?"
In the end, the woman disappears on him. A waitress passes by them and trips, spilling rum all over him and the woman he just paid eight gold to. He pays no mind to his soaked clothes, but the woman does.
The woman doesn't looks angry, (but something is off with her anger, and Adam thinks he imagines it, but he thought that the waitress who spilled the drinks winks conspiringly at his only clue to Allen) and leads him outside, saying that Adam might as well let her change because Allen's story was too long a tale and she couldn't tell it while freezing in her clothes.
He follows her to her place, which, to his not-surprise, is a brothel. He lets her change in her room on her own, other women eyeing him, but he stares rigidly at the wooden wall. When thirty minutes pass by and she still hasn't come out, a stone drops in his stomach, and he forces the door open.
There is a window, wide-ajar, and a long bedsheet tied to an anchor. The rum-soaked clothes are thrown on the floor, and as Adam makes his way to the window, he finds a long series of tied clothes making an escape route to the first floor.
The woman had ran away. Anger courses through him, and he has the whole place searched by the akumas he has in police for days, the rest of his weapons searching in nearby places.
He bites back a scream as his lips bleed with how hard he was biting on them. His first step to finding Allen and he let it escape.
Eliza
She roughly chews on a chicken bone, gnawing every hint of meat until she finds no more. She throws it when she finds no more. She looks up to see people staring at her graceless actions.
And she simply arches an eyebrow, daring them to do something. They don't do anything but look away.
She wipes her face clean, eyeing her fancy meal. Eight gold coins. Man, Cross had been right. The guy had been filthy rich. She throws a gold coin at her table before walking out.
"Thanks for the food." She barely acknowledges the disapproving glances sent her way.
She slips back inside the inn and into her room unnoticed. Her fingers hook onto the telephone, dialing the numbers on her screen.
The person on the other side picks up.
"Whad d'you want?" She held back the urge to face palm. She wants to say that he's probably drunk and that's why this is what he says the first time he picks up a phone but. She knows him better than that. She's not going to make excuses for his lack of tact.
"You were right. The weird hat man is still after your son."
"Eliza! Ah, always straight to the heart of the matter." The general's tone changes, becoming much softer and luring. It's something she knows many women had fallen for, but not her. "I love women who are tough like you, too."
"Uhuh." She simply sighed. She had sworn herself to help the Order, but really, this man was a general? "I would suggest laying low for as long as you can, Cross. He might've caught on that you're both hiding."
Earl
One year later, and there's no more hope. Even for Adam. He sets his eyes elsewhere, on more important matters even as his dreams replay over and over how he should have just grabbed the white-haired child, how he should have stolen the boy from his master.
He has stopped frequenting the town where it all happened. He can't bear the tearing in his chest whenever he is there, knowing what could have been. He buries the memory of that sweet child in the deepest corners of his mind.
He stopped the searches, though it took a lot out of him to admit defeat. Something in him calls for him to bring Allen home (bring him home). He's used to losses. This is merely one more. He'll get over this.
And he had.
For a while, at least, because he had not thought much of the stranger until through his Earl costume he sees two blue roses, bright in the moonlight.
The moment his eyes land on the approaching figure with that hat on, he loses his grip on his memories. He is flooded with a brown-haired child and a white-haired one.
He helps the lad unto his feet (his tiny fingers easily mold with his, like he's held them before), and they disappear into the streets.
"Mana? Is this how you write the 'm'?"
"He wasn't. You sh*thead shouldn't be letting your +%$ dog wander around, baka."
"Papa."
"I'm Allen Walker," the child's cheeks are red, a grin so bright on the child's lips. The boy holds out a hand.
"...Allen?"
The child had grown, definitely with a growth spurt or two to help him. Adam knows that if he takes off his costume, the little child would probably reach his chest now. The thoughts I missed him growing up and he wears the hat I gave him.
An emotion akin to pride surges in him, but he stomps it out. Allen was looking at him distrustfully. Adam can't afford to weird him out further.
"So you still remember me, Millennium Earl."
Remember him? What was Allen talking about?
Instead, he exaggerates a head tilt, easing his Earl costume's features to appear less threatening. He didn't want to scare Allen.
"Have we met before?"
Allen ignores him, turning to the two children the Earl had all but forgotten about.
"Jean," Allen starts, his voice was soft, a little too delicate for a boy. His hat on Allen's head sways with the wind. "That is only the physical appearance of your friend, and underneath lies a weapon of 'the Earl of the Millennium' called an akuma."
Adam feels ice seep into his heart. How did Allen know so much?
"Young boy, you seem to know a lot about my children." He's glad that his costume hides away his true emotions from the rest of the world. All he wants to do is take Allen home.
"Good evening, Earl. I'm your enemy." Grey eyes were trained solely on him, and in any other situation, Adam wants to cherish it. But there was hate in those clear grey eyes that he wasn't familiar with. It contrasted with the gentleness that he had come to treasure in his memories. Allen motions towards his left hand, and the ice inside him grows.
Adam had forgotten about the weird arm in his joy in finally finding Allen. That despicable green glow, that cross that stood out as if taunting him. A metallic looking hand. He remembers a clawed hand just like that. He also recollects a memory of a little boy and his adopted father. He feels his breath start to hitch, but forces himself to calm down.
"You're an… exorcist?"
"Cross! Destroy the akuma!" Once again, Allen ignores Adam. The boy readies his Innocence and lunges straight towards the direction of Leo, one of his latest akuma. "And purify the soul!"
Adam thought that Leo the akuma was a goner for sure, but Jean the foolish child stops Allen from killing his friend. The boy argues with Allen, but Adam can't focus on that. When did Allen get in contact with that Innocence?
Was this why Adam couldn't find him anywhere? Because the godforsaken Order had taken (his) child? He hadn't noticed it the first time he met the white-haired child. Did Allen become an accomodator after?
(No. He couldn't have. Red arm. Deformed. Green cross. Orphan.)
A sudden fear grips him. That claw was really sharp, and there's a phantom pain of being torn in half. He wants Allen to live. He doesn't want to turn him into an akuma.
"Mana! Run, Mana!" Somewhere, a little boy cried. And his vision is split.
It was like he was seeing two versions of the events that night that he had tried to make small, sweet, precious Allen into an akuma.
H҉e҉ w҉a҉n҉t҉s҉ t҉o҉ m҉a҉k҉e҉ t҉h҉i҉s҉ c҉h҉i҉l҉d҉ a҉n҉ a҉k҉u҉m҉a҉.
n̸o̸! n̸o̸! l̸i̸v̸e̸, a̸l̸l̸e̸n̸!
n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊.
N͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊.
l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣv̪̩̜̜̙̜ͨ̽̄e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑, a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨe̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊! l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣv̪̩̜̜̙̜ͨ̽̄e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑!
Allen
"W… why is Leo an akuma?"
"Jean…" Allen stopped, his Innocence inches away from stabbing Jean, who was protecting him.
"He's my friend! We even started going on patrol for akuma together." Jean, Allen felt his heart go out to him. "How the hell can he possibly be an akuma! What kind of proof do you have!?"
He noticed movement behind Jean, and his eyes widens in alarm. Leo was shaking, looking like he was having a seizure.
"L͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣv̪̩̜̜̙̜ͨ̽̄e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑!" shouted the child akuma before the friend that Jean had been protecting against Allen's Innocence transformed into a weapon. Several cannons aimed at Jean.
"L͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣv̪̩̜̜̙̜ͨ̽̄e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑! L͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣv̪̩̜̜̙̜ͨ̽̄e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑! L͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣv̪̩̜̜̙̜ͨ̽̄e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑!" Allen tensed-why was the akuma chanting that?
"Leo…." He saw the moment Jean figured out what was being pointed at the back of his head.
This was bad, Allen thought. He needed to reach Jean before the akuma fired. He runs, getting in front of Jean before the first bullet hits.
His right side gets the brunt of the poisonous akuma bullets, and black stars start to travel up his arm. Allen slides down to his knees, bearing with the pain.
Earl
No. Oh no.
When he finally comes to his senses, Allen is down. His panic rockets as he jittering-eyed his poison travel up on Allen's skin. It climbs on Allen's face.
He doesn't notice when his feet puts him right in front of Allen. He barely comprehends that he has dropped down on his knees.
No.
He stomach churns with dread, and no.
No. The realization that he had killed Allen.
He k̲̱̠̞̖ͧ̔͊̇̽̿̑ͯͅi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨe̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅ Allen.
Something wet drips down his face, and Adam drops Lero on the ground. No. Just when he had gotten him back.
Like when Allen had died before him.
Bloody. Bruised. Lungs heaving their last breath. Then with one last smile, he was gone. And life and pain trickled out of the grey eyes he had come to love so much.
His quivering hands don't stop pulling until he has Allen in his arms. It was a mockery of their first (not first. Not first. NOT first) hug. Allen was still warm, and he can't bear the thought that this body would soon crumble to dust after the poison has gone through it. He buries himself in those white hairs, the hat he gave the child a long time ago surprisingly still on Allen's head.
.
.
This was all his fault.
.
.
.
He wasn't prepared for the kick that the boy in his arms sent him.
Earl
"What are you doing, Millennium Earl!" Allen jumps back from him, leaning heavily on his left side.
"Allen, I'm so sorry." He reaches out for Allen again, but the boy pushes himself farther this time. "I…."
He struggles to explain himself. "I…"
"Allen!" He hears a shout from the boy who caused it all. The boy goes to his Allen's side, fretting. "Allen, why did you save me?"
"Jean. It's alright."
Ah. That's right. This wasn't his fault.
It wasn't.
It was the boy's.
If the brat hadn't been messing with his akumas, warning weak humans away, Adam wouldn't have come here. Adam wouldn't have hurt k̲̱̠̞̖ͧ̔͊̇̽̿̑ͯͅi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨe̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅ Allen.
He has his level one akuma train his cannons at the brat again. But Allen notices, and pushes the child behind him again with his left hand.
He can see no end to this night but disaster.
Feel free to tell me what confuses you, and what other suggestions you have. I'm still rewriting a lot of the previous chapters.
And I appreciate any help on catching my grammatical errors!
ALSO! This chapter originally had 11,000 words. I'm sorry. (hides face).