Hello, hello! It's just to say that I am glad to inform whoever is reading this that, after 524 pages, 42 chapters and 170 957 words, I managed to finish the original plotline. Otherwise said, I wrote the whole 116 episodes.

That means that, passed the 42nd chapter, it will become my very own storyline, seeing as their doesn't seem to be a sequel to Hallow.

Anyway, we're not there yet.

Answer: Well, the answer is in this very chapter so... yeah.

Enjoy!

"Stupid forest… stupid trees… stupid roots…" I muttered, fighting my way through the damn woods.

My foot hit a rock, and I barely kept my balance.

"And of course, I'd get lost" I groaned. "Go on, Ary, go in the haunted forest and get lost until sundown so that the vampire can get you easy-peasy…"

A twig cracked, and I spin around, ready to strike. However, I couldn't make out a clear form in all the moving shadows.

There was another crack.

"Who's there?" I called, voice unwavering.

My instincts suddenly kicking like a wild animal, I jumped on the side in time to avoid a hooded figure. I then found myself facing a tall man with a cape and a white strand of hair.

"Uh… hello? Are you the one the villagers call a vampire?" I asked.

He ran at me again, and I dropped on the ground, effectively evading another attack.

"Hey, I just want to talk, okay? I'm not here for trouble!" I assured.

He came at me, than disappeared. I blinked.

"Uh?"

Arms slithered around me and I found myself trapped in the man's hold.

"H-hey! Put me down!" I struggled.

How in the hell can he be so strong? And so fast too!

I stopped moving when pain flared in my neck. Did he just… bite me?

As fast as he caught me, he let me go, spitting the blood he had stolen from my body. He coughed a lot, seeming ready to rub his tongue on the ground to get rid of the taste that was apparently not up to his expectations.

"Uh… you okay there?" I rubbed the back of my head.

"Why… why does your blood tastes different?" he muttered.

He seemed ready to hurl, still spitting and coughing.

"… is it a rhetorical question?"

Next thing I knew, he was running away.

"O-oi! Wait for me! Mister vampire sir!" I yelled, running after him.

But, seeing as I wouldn't be able to catch up, I quickly spread my wings and pursued him by above. The castle now in view, I managed to get to the gates before him.

When he got out of the forest, I stood between him and his only way in. He froze in spot when his eyes landed on my wings.

"… an angel?" he asked.

"Err… no, not exactly. Listen, can we just talk? I'm serious, I don't want to cause any trouble" I said, waving my hands.

He looked down for a moment, apparently unsure, and I deactivated my Innocence.

"My name is Aryane Darkelston" I finally said, handing out my hand to him. "Nice to meet you"

He looked at my hand, than my face, than my hand again, before shaking it with hesitation.

"Arystar… Krory, the Third" he finally said, as if expecting me to run away.

I simply beamed at him.

"The man I wanted to see! Okay, so can I ask a few questions?"

He nodded.

"Cool! Okay, first of all, why did you attacked those two villagers?"

His face darkened a little, and he looked away, shame apparent on his features.

"I… couldn't control myself. When I saw them in the woods… I didn't want too, but I couldn't control it!"

"It's fine, it's fine" I shook my head. "What about the one you brought in the castle, is he dead?"

"… yes."

"Do you think… I could see the body?"

He stared for a moment, than nodded again.

"Great! Lead the way than, Mister Krory!"

His back straightened a little as we entered the property and I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something…

Shoot! I wasn't allowed to engage him!

Oh well. Komui would understand.

After a few minutes, we entered the castle, and I shuddered a little at the sight of the gigantic flowers in a room that we passed by.

"So… you like plants?" I weakly asked.

"My… grand-father collected them" he simply said.

I hummed in understanding, and took a look around.

"It must get pretty lonely here, alone in a gigantic castle like this one" I couldn't help but remark.

"I… am not. Alone. There is someone else…" he trailed off.

"Oh, that's nice. At least you have a friend" I smiled at that.

I could see him eased up a little at the comment.

"I guess you are right. I…"

"Arystar-sama! Where… oh, who is your guest?"

We both turned around and I felt a chill run down my spine.

The woman was really beautiful, but something was off about her. Maybe the way-too-short skirt? I couldn't tell. However, seeing as she was apparently Krory's friend, I simply smiled at her and held out my hand in greeting. For a second, disdain and hate flashed in her eyes, but it was gone before I could see anything else. She shook my hand.

"I'm Aryane" I simply said. "You must be Mister Krory's friend, right?"

"… I am. My name is Eliade" she presented herself.

"She came for the body" said quietly Krory.

She frowned a little at that but, again, an impassive mask fall on her face.

"I'll show her the way, than. If you would follow me…"

"It was nice meeting you, Mister Krory!" I waved at the man, before following the maid.

I fall in step with her but, as soon as the doors closed behind us, I put some distance between us. She stopped, and faced me, face blank.

"What is an Exorcist doing here?" she asked frostily.

"Oh. Akuma. I get it" I nodded. "I could ask you the same thing, though"

"I won't let you take Krory from me!" she suddenly snarled.

"… uh? What? No! I just came to investigate the disappearance!" I shook my head quickly. "And it would seem I have found the culprit. I'm sorry, but you'll have to die here, Akuma"

"Not if I kill you first, Exorcist!"

"Innocence: Activate!"

I flew in time to avoid her attack, which hit a wall. She sneered at me, but didn't seem quite ready to let go of her meat suit.

My eyes widened slightly.

"Mister Krory doesn't know your true nature, does he?"

"JUST DIE ALREADY!"

"Feathered Blades!"

She screeched when one of them scratched her arms and, next thing I knew, I was sent flying against a wall. I dropped on the floor, panting, my vision getting blurry.

"Eliade! Eliade, are you alright?"

Krory was next to her, and my eyes narrowed when hunger appeared on his traits. He was looking at Eliade's blood with so much desire…

"She attacked me out of nowhere!" she exclaimed. "Please, Krory-sama, take my blood and defeat her!"

"What? No! Mister Krory, this woman…"

Pain erupted in the back of my head and my voice fall.

Wait.

Why am I lying on the floor?

"She's down! Now is the time to strike!"

"Eliade…"

Their voices echoed as if we were underwater and, before I knew it, I was already slipping into unconsciousness.

When I woke up, I was in a dark and spacious room, tied up in chains against a wall. I looked around, a little lost. Why wasn't I dead?

"Who are you really?"

Jumping a little, I turned to see Krory. He seemed stern, sitting a few meters away. Eliade was nowhere to be seen.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"A rock hit your head. You were unconscious for four days" he answered quietly. "Now tell me: who are you and why did you attack Eliade?"

I sighed, trying to get a little more comfortable despite the bindings.

"I'm Aryane Darkelston, an Exorcist from the Black Order" I answered truthfully. "I came here to investigate the deaths and rumors because the organization I work for suspected it was caused by a fragment of Innocence"

"E… xorcist? Innocence?" he frowned.

"It's kind of complicated" I sighed. "I didn't attack… Eliade, either. She did. Tried to kill me when she realized who I was"

"Eliade would never do such a thing!" he protested, suddenly aggressive.

"She's not human" I shook my head. "And you're not a vampire. Remember how my blood tasted? That's human blood. The one you hunger for is the Akuma's, weapons created by a despicable being in hopes of destroying humanity. Eliade is an Akuma, serving the Millennium Earl and enemy of the Exorcists. She came here most probably to get her hands on your Innocence or something of the kind. She's…"

"Shut up! Eliade is human! She's kind and compassionate and…"

There was an explosion outside, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Explosive too?"

"Eliade!"

Completely forgetting about me, he ran out of the room. Groaning, I thought for a moment. Krory's Innocence was apparently hard for him to control, but he didn't know what it was in the first place. He was convinced by this Eliade lady that he was a vampire but the victims were, in fact, merely other Akumas, which would explain why he couldn't drink my blood or why the first victim turned to dust.

He nodded quickly, and I beamed at him.

"Great. Have a good night, Marshall"

"Hey, Aryane!"

I tilted my head his way.

"Don't let appearances confuse your judgment" he simply said.

Frowning, I fully turned to him, but he was already going back in the bar. Finally, I shrugged and went back to my inn.

Wait, did that meant he came here before?

Damn filthy womanizer.

"Innocence: Activate!"

With my wings appearing in my back, the chains broke. Getting up, I swayed on my feet a little.

Oh, right. I haven't eaten in days, meaning I couldn't push myself.

There was another explosion, and I peered outside, only to see Krory fighting… Lavi? Without wasting any more time, I pushed open the windows and jumped from the balcony, halting my fall when I was a few meters away from the ground. Carefully posing between them, I spread my wings as far as I could to stop the fight.

"That's enough, you two! Knock it out!" I exclaimed, my voice echoing in the sudden silence.

"Ary!"

"What are you doing here, Bookboy?" I frowned.

"You disappeared four days ago, Komui sent us to fetch you" he answered, joining my side. "Where the hell were you?"

"Unconscious" I shrugged. "But listen, Mister Krory isn't a vampire or anything, he's an Accommodator! And the maid lady is in reality an Akuma"

"Yeah, we guessed that" he nodded, his hammer returning to it's normal size.

"She isn't!" exclaimed angrily Krory, on the other side of the backyard.

The castle shook on it's foundations, and I shot a look at Lavi.

"We?"

"Allen's here too" he informed. "Probably fighting this Eliade right now"

"Mister Krory, you have to understand!" I pleaded. "We are not your enemies, so please, just listen to…"

I jumped away as he was suddenly where I was standing. He punched Lavi, sending him straight into a tree. I winced a little when it cracked, and took two of my feathers that had turned into blades, ready to defend myself.

"If you just go inside and see for yourself, you could…"

"I WON'T LET YOU TARNISH HER NAME ANYMORE!"

He jumped, too high for a normal human, and managed to grab my leg. He bit it, and I swallowed a scream of pain before kicking him off. He fall back on the ground, and I posed not too far away.

The bleeding wouldn't stop, though.

"Damn it" I muttered. "I don't have enough juice to heal properly…"

Dark spots danced in my vision as I felt my stomach cramp in need of food, but I shook it away. Now was so not the time to black out.

"Big hammer, little hammer: grow, grow, grow! Fire Seal: Hiban!" yelled Lavi.

A giant fire snake rose and swallowed Krory, sending him through the walls of his castle. At the same time, two other people smash through it and started falling. Instantly, I flew up to catch Allen, who's eyes widened when he saw me.

"Ary!"

"Hey, Kiddo!" I grinned, posing us on the ground more or less gently. "How's life going?"

"Are you okay? Why isn't your leg healing?"

"I haven't eaten for a while, so I'm a little out of juice for now" I cringed.

He winced in sympathy, him knowing the effects the lack of food could have on the body of a parasitic type of Anti-Akuma weapon.

"Arystar-sama!"

We both turned to Eliade and Krory as Lavi joined us, and my eyes widened. There was something above the maid, floating in chains. It was horrible, and seemed so destroyed and lonely… I felt the urge to throw up, but couldn't bring myself to it.

"What… is that thing?" whispered Lavi.

"You can see the soul?" Allen asked, surprised.

"It's horrible" I placed an hand on my mouth, looking away.

"It might be your new eye" remarked Lavi, shocked.

"E-Eliade… what is it… that thing, attached to you…" muttered a hazy Krory.

I took a deep breath.

"I tried to warn you, Mister Krory" I said, my voice lingering in the heavy silence once again. "She's an Akuma, a weapon destined to kill us all"

"N-no… Eliade… you're not…"

Blood dripped and sizzled, confirming that she was, in fact, a monster. Suddenly, her face broke in an ugly snarl and she pushed the man away.

"I CAN'T LET YOU BECOME AN EXORCIST! DIE, ARYSTAR KRORY!"

She started attacking him, but he wasn't able to fight back.

"Damn it, Crow-chan is tired from playing with me sooner!" panicked Lavi.

"Crow… chan?" Allen repeated, a little confused.

"We have to help him befo- whoa!"

My legs gave up under me as my vision blurred. Everything twisted around, and I felt really light-headed with an heavy cramp splitting my stomach in two. I felt two arms wrap around me and I looked up into Lavi's green eye.

"Ary, you okay?" he asked, frowning.

"She lost a lot of blood" remarked Allen, worried too. "And she can't use Angel to heal either, seeing as she hasn't eaten in days"

"I'll be fine" I assured, my voice sounding oddly high pitched. "Just go help Mister Krory…"

"But- Crap!"

Looking around, I realized that the gigantic flowers that I saw the first day now surrounded us. Funny, I hadn't realize they could walk…

Wait. Why am I in the air?

I looked down and saw the panic-stricken faces of Allen and Lavi, which made me giggle as I waved at them.

"Hey guys! Why are you standing upside down?" I laughed. "You're so weird!"

"She's completely out of it" Lavi shook his head.

"Ary, don't worry, we'll get you out of there, just don't…" Allen started.

He was suddenly grabbed by the ankles and lifted next to me, which made me laugh harder.

"Way to save the day, Allen" I snorted.

Everything suddenly started moving really fast all around.

"ARY!"

"WEEEEEEEEEEE!"

And it turned and turned and turned and…

And suddenly, everything went black.

Kind of a short chapter, I know, but no matter. As for Ary's Innocence, well... a parasitic-type needs loads of food to work, and she hasn't eaten in four days, so of course she'd be weak.

Question: What will be Komui's reaction when they finally get back to Headquarters? ;-)

Reviews are love!