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Desdemona blinked several times at the brown dirt floor where just a second ago, Lenalee laid.
Everyone just got sucked into the floor via a black pentacle. Lenalee, Allen, Chaoji, Lavi, Crowley and even Kanda. They were all gone.
What is happening?
Suddenly, someone, screamed. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"
The Eurasian exorcist felt a shadow fall across her and looked up to the sky. She was shocked silent.
The rest of the exorcists came out from beneath the tunnel, all of them stopped as soon as they saw the sky.
The sky was breaking apart, literally b breaking apart, like a jigsaw puzzle. A large hole in the sky revealed a peculiar object.
It was a cube, yet not entirely a cube. It was a cube alright. However, its surfaces were uneven. It had cubes protruding outwards or sinking inwards, almost like this cube was a collection of irregular rectangular prisms that were not arranged properly. Desdemona recognized the structure. It looked strikingly like the cube on which the Ancients passed on the knowledge of the Innocence. The one the Grand Generals always rant about to new exorcists.
"Oh God!" Marie exclaimed.
"H-how can this be?" General Tiedoll muttered.
Desdemona stared wide eyed. This thing. What exactly is it? Is it dangerous? Should they be destroying it, running away from it, or what?
It's Dark Matter.
Dark Matter? The Earl's? Should we fight or run.
Do neither. You cannot run away even if you wish.
What do you mean?
This object, it is what they called the Ark. The Noah's transportation system.
Transportation? The akuma did say the Ark can warp space, right? Then, could it be that Allen, Lenalee and the others are inside there?
Most likely. The Exorcists are inside.
"Something is here…" Bookman suddenly said, looking towards the horizon beneath the breaking sky. Desdemona followed the Bookman's gaze. Large, human-like silhouettes were seen moving towards the exorcists.
"Marie…What can you hear?" General Tiedoll inquired.
"Perhaps 20 or 30 bodies. All of them are that giant form of Akuma." Marie reported.
"The radio communication with the kids has been severed. What are you going to do?" Bookman said.
"Oh dear…" The General drooped his head.
Radio communication? Desdemona hadn't thought about it much, but that earring Bak gave her might be able to connect to Allen. He did say it could withstand the Ark, right?
Miranda suddenly fell on her knees. Desdemona and the other two Chinese from the boat rushed to the older woman's side. She clutched her left hand to her chest. Desdemona glanced at her hand. She had kept her Innocence activated…it must be hard on the body. She was told that Miranda could temporarily stop, reverse, speed up at her will. However, when she deactivates her Innocence, all these effects will be gone. She had only met the woman once before, in the hospital where she accompanied Komui to fix Allen's arm.
"Are you ok, Miss Lotto?" Desdemona asked while helping her back into the 'tunnel' while the General, Marie and Bookman made preparations to 'welcome' the giant akumas.
Still outside, the General quietly took out something from his cloak. It was shining and squeaking. A piece of Innocence, undoubtedly. "Please go to them." The General said as he released the Innocence. It flew straight towards the Ark.
Miranda was breathing heavily, the toll on her body must be huge. "Y-yes. Thank you for your concern Miss Beast. I-I'm fine."
"You must be quite tired." Kie, a tall Chinese man with bleached hair, said with concern.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I can feel it. Allen and the others' injuries are in my Time Record, which is good since it means they are still alive but…I can only remove their past injuries, meaning it doesn't prevent them from getting further injuries. I should have used 'Time Recovery' on them instead…"
"Don't blame yourself! Miss Miranda! Please rest!" Maosa, the other Chinese man said. He was shorter with dark black hair.
Desdemona frowned. There's nothing she could do, is there? Maybe…trying to contact the others would be a start.
Desdemona tapped on the earring communicator and listened closely. There was nothing but static noise for a while, then, she seemed to be able to hear something…
"There's…tzzz… trust Road…tzzz…tzzz…the door…tzzz… key…tzzz…Ark destroyed…"
It was Allen's voice. It was definitely Allen's voice. She doesn't understand how she recognized his voice, but she did. She somehow felt glad she could hear his voice, but that just means she's glad he's alive, right? No, she's not worried about him, it just means that if he's alive, the others are alive too, right? That means she was actually worried about everyone.
No, wait, she wasn't worried about Allen or Lavi or Kanda or anyone else for that matter. It was just Lenalee. Yes, it was Lenalee. Because Komui would kill her…
"Allen!" Desdemona said, frustration in her voice. She doesn't understand why she was frustrated. She tilted her head to the side.
"What are you doing…Miss Beast?" Kie asked, looking at the exorcist with a strange expression.
"It's a wireless communication device. I was told it could withstand the distortion of time and space within the Ark. Allen has one too." Desdemona explained.
"Does that mean we can contact them?" Miranda asked, her eyes lit up with hope but her voice was filled with concern.
"I'm not sure, I can hear Allen, but I don't think he can hear me." Desdemona tapped on her earring again.
"Tzzz…We have only 3 hours…tzzz."
"Allen!" Desdemona said, a little louder. The transmissions from the other end seemed to get a little clearer. Desdemona walked out from the tunnel and looked up to the white cube that was supposed to be the Ark.
"Allen!" She was almost screaming. This caught the attention of General Tiedoll and Marie, though they didn't say anything.
"This is our only choice…we know Road's ability…"
"ALLEN YOU STUPID IDIOT! ARE YOU DEAF?" Desdemona screamed at the top of her lungs. Her patience was running low.
"What? Wait, everyone, I think I can hear something.."
"YOU STUPID BASTARD ARE YOU SERIOUSLY DEAF?"
"Dem! It's you! That's right! The communicator can withstand the Ark! How could I have not thought of that?" Allen sounded surprised, but also seemed relieved and glad at the same time.
Desdemona coughed into her hand, a failed attempt at trying to cover up her temporary indignity. "Enough of that! The main question: is anyone dead yet."
"No, thank you for your concern. Everyone's alive and well." Allen's tone was slightly amused and yet sarcastic at the same time.
General Tiedoll turned to Marie. "He said everyone's fine." Marie told General Tiedoll. The General nodded while in deep thoughts of his own.
"Second question: Is Lenalee fine." Desdemona continued to interrogate the English exorcist with authority.
"Lenalee? She asked are you fine." The girl heard Allen ask. Desdemona put her face to her palm. Couldn't he just answer himself?
"Dem! Don't worry! I'm fine!" Came Lenalee's strained reply that was barely audible through the communicator.
"Allen. Anyway to get out?" Desdemona asked, remembering how the two of them got out by going through a door…
"No. This place is getting destroyed. Our only hope is to get to the highest tower in 3 hours and escape through a door Road made."
"Road? The Noah? Can you trust her?" Desdemona frowned.
"No…but maybe…I don't know. That's our only chance."
"I don't care what you do. As long as you get Lenalee out of there safe and sound I don't care!"
"Yeah! I will get everyone out!"
Desdemona grinded her teeth. Stupid, stubborn idealist. "No! Just focus on Lenalee alright? I don't care if you leave the others. As long as you bring Lenalee out that's all I would ask for."
Allen sweat-dropped on the other side. This girl is sure cold-hearted. He wondered why she was so concerned about Lenalee. But on second thought, it might not be so weird. Lenalee seemed to be the only one Dem is 'nice' to. And plus, he wouldn't know whether Komui had a certain amount of influence on this or not, judging by the way Komui was so eager to get her to Edo too…
"Yeah, I'll bring Lenalee out." Allen smiled. He looked at Lenalee, who raised her eyebrows at the mention of her name.
"What does she say?" Lavi asked.
"She said that as long as I bring Lenalee out of here, she doesn't care if I abandon you guys." Allen summarized.
Lavi bent over with laughter while Kanda replied with a che. Lenalee blushed in embarrassment while Chaoji and Crowley looked at the white-haired boy in confusion. Chaoji was bordering anger at the thought anyone would abandon their friends. Why are they laughing about this anyway?
"Oh dear! With Dem's own stubborn personality added to Komui's extreme sister complex, the duo can make a specialized 'Lenalee Team'!" Lavi slapped his hand on his knee as he was nearly suffocating from his own laughter.
Allen smiled, his assumptions seemed to be correct. At the mention of Komui…
"Dem?" Allen started, while signaling the others to follow him as he navigated through the Ark.
"What?"
"Do you remember what Komui said earlier? About thinking happy thoughts?"
"I don't think about meaningless things like that."
"Then think about it now. What are you going to do when you go back?"
Desdemona raised her eyebrows at the large cube in the sky. She said she doesn't think about these things, does this Englishman understand English? She thought about the question. What does she want to do…
"First of all, I will indulge myself in chocolate. If Komui tells me to eat proper food, I will refuse, definitely. Then, I want to get a consecutive 3 days of holidays."
"Why?"
"So I can go back to London."
"London?"
"Yeah, London. Then I'm going to request for either a room change or installing a sound-proof wall in my room."
"Why?"
"Because you are too noisy."
"Hey! I'm not noisy at all!" said Allen with a gentle smile, contradicting the angry tone he was using. Lenalee, walking beside the boy, watched Allen's curious expression.
"In my standards, you are noisy."
"Well, your standards are too high! You need to become more tolerant!" Allen smiled wider.
"There is nothing wrong with my standards! You are the one at fault!" Allen noticed that even though she was saying these words, she didn't sound angry at all, almost amused.
Allen stopped at a door. He looked at it and looked back at the rest of the group. They nodded in unison. "Dem…"
"What?"
"We're going to go through a door now. The Earring wouldn't be able to connect after that." Allen started.
"Yes, I know. Just go already." Allen listened while inserting the key Tyki gave him into the door.
The door suddenly transformed. Instead of the boring brown wood, it now had patterns and pictures of rainbows and butterflies on it. Nothing would surprise the boy now, this is inside the Ark, after all.
"Is everything alright out there?" Allen asked, pocketing the key to their survival.
"Yes. Somewhat. Miranda still has your injuries in her Innocence. Get back quick or she'll pass out!"
Allen smiled, Miranda… "Yeah…"
"Make sure you come back!"
"…" Allen stopped. The superiority-complex-ego-centered-tries-to-be-unpleasant girl said what?
As if realizing her out-of-character mistake, Desdemona quickly added, "With Lenalee!"
Allen laughed, somehow relieved. "Yeah! We're going in!" Allen opened the door, a gust of cold wind rushed towards him. He looked into the dark doorway and stepped in.
"Tzzz…tzz…tz…tzzzzz…" Desdemona listened to the static noise once again. They better be alright…Or else Komui is going to kill her.
She looked up and glanced at the General, asking Marie the content of her conversation. Marie said Allen said they were fine, they were about to go through a door, .
BANG!
All of a sudden, the ground a few metres away from the bridge exploded. The ground vibrated violently and a cloud of smoke and dust obscured their vision. General Tiedoll and Marie were blasted into the tunnel of the bridge, crashing into Miranda, Desdemona, Kie and Maosa.
The General recovered himself quickly and helped Miranda up. He looked out into the dust cloud and said gravely, "They are attacking."
Allen walked forwards, an unexpected scenery greeted them. They came out from what looked like a house. There were only a few other constructions around, a hotel-like structure with something that looked like a telephone box next to it. That must be the exit to this dimension, Allen concluded, as it was the only 'door' he could see. The rest of the landscape consisted of nothing but towering rocks. Rocks everywhere. Rocks that looked like it has been shaped by the wind, the sun and the rain. Rocks that have rugged edges, small bases and large tops.
Above the rocks was a peculiar sky. It was 'night' in this dimension, Allen guessed, because the sky is a dark blue. There were moons. Large, white moons of different sizes adorned the dark blue canvas. 2D pieces of irregular white stuck to the blue, like surreal clouds. A large, colourless arc, with horizontal lines running through it and dividing it into 7 equal strips covered over the clouds and the moon. It looked like a rainbow. Large diamonds scattered randomly across the sky. Stars, maybe.
Allen slowly proceeded forward towards the hotel on the other side of the rock plains. He turned, noticing the blue-haired Japanese was focused on something else.
"Kanda?" Allen started.
"Shh, be quiet." Kanda said before the bean sprout could say anything else, "He's here."
Allen looked in the direction Kanda was staring at. Indeed, a large, dark silhouette stood amongst the rocks, at the base of the rainbow. There stood the large Noah, Skin Boric.
"You guys go first." The Japanese drew his sword. "I'll take him on."
"WHAT?" replied the others in unison towards Kanda's announcement.
"He's the guy that's after our General. I've met him several times before."
"We can't leave you alone, Kanda!" Lenalee exclaimed.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not doing this for you guys. I told you, he's after our General." He ran two fingers down his blade, the weapon glowed green. "So I'm going to cut him to pieces to complete my mission."
The ground shook abruptly beneath the exorcists' feet, throwing them off balance. "Earthquake?" Allen said to himself.
"So this is still inside the ark!" Lavi exclaimed, hoping that they had already gotten out.
"Of course, Lero." The umbrella golem said, "This is just a room that hasn't completely been downloaded yet. As soon as it finishes, it will disappear, Lero!"
"I'm going to stay, Kanda!" Allen frowned. He's not going to leave Kanda behind, even though he is Kanda. "Everybody else, please move on to the next door! We'll follow-"
"Being stuck with you? You're kidding me." Kanda cut Allen off short. Allen turned around, to be greeted by the tip of Mugen pointing at his face. Allen looked to Kanda and swallowed.
"I said I'll take him." The Japanese said in an icy tone. The rest froze from the terror. Demons appeared behind him as he drew back his sword, ready to slash. "Get lost, or shall I dice you up too?"
"I see a demon…" Lavi muttered.
"Mr. Kanda?" Chaoji breathed.
"You serious?" Allen said with disbelief.
Kaichuu Ichigen! Kanda slashed his sword in the direction of the other exorcists. The underworld beasts lunged at them.
"STOP KANDA!" "OUCH THAT HURT!" "I'M DYING!" The attacked caused immense chaos amongst the exorcists, all thoughts to stay with Kanda and help him were also blasted away by the attack.
"IDIOT YUU KANDA!" Allen screamed, steam came from his ears and nostrils from extreme anger.
"DEMON!" exclaimed Crowley.
"YOU'RE GONNA KILL US!" accused Chaoji.
"WHO CARES? WE'LL JUST LEAVE HIM BEHIND." The other exorcists reached a common agreement. They turned their backs and started walking away. Kanda turned the other way, sighing. Lenalee followed the angry exorcists, she stopped and looked back.
"Kanda!" She called out, "You have to follow us afterwards, promise?"
"…"
Lenalee puffed up her cheeks in annoyance.
"…"
"ANSWER ME!"
Kanda flinched and reluctantly turned back, "Ok, ok. I got it. Hurry up and go!"
Lenalee turned and hurried after the others. Allen located the hotel and ran towards it, the others following him.
A loud crash, followed by the sound of metals clashing rang out in the air. The exorcists turned back. Kanda and the Noah were already engaging in battle.
"Kanda!" Allen called over the sound of the battle. "If you don't come afterwards I'll kick your ass!" When no reply came, Allen frowned but turned to the direction of the door. He pulled out the key and inserted it into the keyhole. The door opened with a click and Crowley, followed by Chaoji, then Lenalee and Lavi stepped in. Allen was last. He glanced one last time at the Japanese battling the Noah and stepped through the door.
Chase peeked over his shoulder where his sister was cleaning the cage of the tiger that killed their mother. He sighed. She was like a robot, a heartless piece of machinery. Her arms just moved mechanically, scrubbing the floor of the cage with soap water. She seemed dead. Just a body without a consciousness.
She had been like this ever since last week, when Bidelia…Bidelia…
Chase couldn't bear thinking about it.
Bidelia was everything to them. Him and his sister. She was their only family. And now she's gone. They have nothing left.
They planned to leave this place on Christmas. On Christmas was when the last show would end. When the last show ends they would go. Go somewhere far far away. But during the show…
Chase shook his head. He can't be thinking about these depressing things now. He can't waste more time imagining what it would be like if Bidelia was still here. He needs to take care of themselves now. Both of them. He's older so he needs to take care of Mony. They need to survive.
A loud clanging sound came from the direction where Mony was scrubbing the cage. Chase turned quickly to check. The girl seemed to have hit her head against the overhead bars while trying to straighten up. Chase rushed over, checking if the girl was ok.
Mony silently held a hand to her head where she hit her head. Chase knelt down next to her.
"Are you all right?" The boy asked with concern.
The girl nodded, her face void of any expression. Chase frowned. He pried away her hand from her head and felt around her scalp. It was a little swollen.
It must have hurt. If she was still the her from before, she must have surely cried. But she wasn't crying. She didn't cry on that night either. Chase tried to keep her from seeing the sight, but she still saw. She was shocked silent and collapsed onto the floor. She never cried. Not even once.
Chase would've rather she cried. It would've been better, much better. If she cried, she would've been over it sooner. It would've been easier for Chase too. She wasn't crying. If she wasn't crying, then Chase can't either. She's forcing him to stay strong. But it's hard. It's really hard.
"Does it hurt?" Chase asked while pulling her out of the cage.
The girl nodded again.
"Hurry, we need to get ice on it." The older boy hurried to the exit, pulling the girl behind him by the hand. Just as they neared the exit, a large, dark figure appeared in the doorway.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Cosmo smirked down at the two smaller figures.
Chase looked up at Cosmo's face and instinctively stepped back, placing himself between the large man and his little sister.
"Sir, we were thinking maybe we could get some ice." Chase said, as politely as he could, hoping with all his might the man would not be angered or provoked.
"Ice? Did you say ice?" Cosmo sneered, "Is that the only excuse you can think of after being caught slacking off from your work?"
"No, sir, it's-"
"No excuses! You brats! Go back your work! You still need to help with the dinner preparation this afternoon! Stupid Clown and Red Arm ran away straight after Christmas, now it's your job!"
"But-"
"No buts! You brats are no better than your filthy mother! It's better now that she's gone!"
Something about Cosmo's words triggered a great intensity of anger as well as an unknown emotion within Chase. He was just about to retaliate when something familiar happened again.
He felt a bone-chilling air down his spine. He shivered. There's no way he could have mistaken it. He can feel her hand tensing. He can see Cosmo slowly retreating, as if terrified by something he was seeing. Chase slowly turned around. Even though he had expected what he would see, fear still engulfed him like an inevitable void of darkness.
Her frighteningly golden eyes shone with anger. Anger accompanied by a murderous intent so intense that Chase can feel hands around his neck, choking him. Chase was paralyzed.
"What did you just say about my mother?" Mony said coldly and slowly. Even her voice, if it could be measured like temperature, then it would have been able to freeze lava.
Cosmo fell backwards and muttered, "I knew you weren't normal. Every since you were born you I knew you were evil. You demon! Get away from me!" The large man scurried out of the tent, running for his dear life.
Once Cosmo was gone, the golden color drained from the girl's eyes, along with it, the color in her face. Chase came out from his daze, just in time to catch a falling Mony.
The girl lay unconscious in the boy's arms. Chase noticed the large amount of sweat appearing on her forehead and her irregular breathing. He touched a shaky hand to her forehead. It can possibly cook an egg. Still trying to get rid of the fear, Chase laughed, but it came out as a shaky, nervous laugh.
Something shiny caught Chase's attention. He looked down and saw the golden necklace around the girl's neck that he hadn't noticed before. That necklace, he was pretty sure it was the one Bidelia always wore. Since when did Mony have it?
Another wave of that unknown emotion came over him. For a moment, he thought about something he should never think about.
Why does Bidelia love Mony more than him? When he was at least a legitimate child, unlike his sister. Because Mony existed, Bidelia stopped loving him. Because she existed, they were stuck here. Cosmo was right, she's not normal. Those golden eyes weren't natural. There's something weird. It would be better if she didn't exist.
Better if she didn't exist…exist…
Chase shook his head. This is the exact way Bidelia didn't want him to think. Bidelia did say didn't she? It's not Mony's fault. It was Cosmo's fault.
After all, he's her father.
Allen, Lavi, Lenalee and Chaoji climbed up an array of suspended wooden planks that hover in thin air, its shape suggested its function to be as stairs. The planks led the exorcists in loops, but they can do nothing but to follow it as there was nothing else in this section of the Ark, only darkness surround them.
Four pairs of shoes hitting the wooden planks were the only sounds audible within this realm.
Allen, walking at the front, held Lenalee by the hand. Her shaky legs carried her slowly up the stairs. They couldn't see the next door yet. Lavi and Chaoji walked behind, Lero floated above their heads.
"Are your legs getting painful, Lenalee?" Allen inquired.
"I'm fine, I can walk." Lenalee smiled. "But I can't exactly be high and mighty about it since you are pulling me along."
Allen smiled back, "No, no. I don't mind."
Lavi sniggered at the back. "If Komui finds out about this you'll be in real trouble. Isn't it good that Timcampy's gone off somewhere?"
Allen started laughing nervously. I focused too much on Dem's order that I forgot about Komui's sister complex.
"Let me be at the front!" Lavi whined.
"No! It's obvious what your real intention is!" Allen refused. He doesn't want to be thrown into a 5 metre tall bookcase again, nor to be choked to unconsciousness by some certain piece of black leather.
Lenalee was absorbed into her own thoughts. They've already left behind both Crowley and Kanda. She was worried. She was scared. What if…
No, she must not think about that. She must believe in them. She must keep on trying…
"I have to keep trying." Lenalee suddenly said. Everyone turned to her in confusion.
Allen jumped in panic. He's going to get killed. "LENALEE! YOU ARE REALLY IN PAIN! I'LL PIGGY-BACK YOU!"
Lenalee waved her hand in denial, "No, it's not that! I was just thinking that I'll have to do some training when I get back!"
Lavi hugged himself as if he just saw something scary, "What sort of deep things are you thinking about, Lenalee? You have to sleep! You need to sleep on these kind of things. You must be tired!" Lavi seemed determined to get everyone to sleep.
Chaoji at the back realised that while the exorcists were having a heated discussion on things, they were already so close to the door.
"This is really sad Lenalee, you need to think more sexy thoughts or you'll never find a husband!"
Lenalee pounced on Lavi, choking him with all her strength. "IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS LAVI!"
"Hahaha, hahah!" The arguing exorcists turned back to see a laughing Chaoji, who forcefully stopped his own laughter when everyone looked at him. "It's sorry. Just seeing exorcists now...it's like you are just like us ordinary people…They always say you are apostles of God, I thought the way you guys think are way different to ordinary people. Things like jokes, laughter and fear? I didn't think you have something like that…"
Allen put a hand on Chaoji's shoulder and smiled gently at him. "Just one more…if we climb over what's waiting for us, beyond this," Allen said, referring to the door that was already close, "we can definitely get back home. When you feel uneasy, just think about the fun things, you'll feel better."
"KAAGH~! Don't be so carefree at a time like this, Lero!" Lero screeched. "You have some wishful thinking. Don't you understand that there's no hope yet, Lero!"
"It's not like that, Lero." Allen said, "The thing I want to do the most when I get home is to say 'I'm back' to Komui and the others. No matter how faint our hopes are, even if we don't have anything we can rely on," the exorcist turned and continued up the stairs, "I will never give up."
Lero, being the machine it is, was shocked silent for once. Lavi looked up at the boy climbing over the last one of the wooden planks. You feelings are so strong you are almost dazzling. What are you carrying upon your shoulders, together with that clown innocence?
It's as if like the light, you are going to disappear…
*Tap*
"A~LLENNNNNNN!"
Just as the exorcists stepped through the door, someone charged towards them and threw themselves at Allen.
The boy instantly recognised her. "Road!"
Without a warning, Road's lips touched Allen's.
Desdemona shivered. She just felt something really bad down her spine, but she doesn't know what. She suddenly felt really disgusted.
Those feelings were instantly taken out on the giant akuma that charged at her.
Level 2, Speed type, activate
Level 3, Thunder rage, activate
The black whip turned into the blade-whip and crackled with electricity. With an effortless jump, the girl was above the slow-moving giant akuma. She threw the blade upwards, the sections broke apart. Then she brought it down.
The sharp blade cut straight through the middle of the akuma's head, blue crackling electricity ran through its body. Desdemona landed in a tree, though much less graceful than she'd intended it to be. She really doesn't like taking off her heels…
Like a broken puppet, the akuma danced around angularly, its limbs bending into unnatural angles. Eventually, the akuma fell to the ground with a ground-shaking thud. Almost instantly, one of General Tiedoll's Innocence giants stepped on the fallen akuma's head while wrestling with another giant akuma, permanently destroying this piece of evil machinery.
Desdemona appeared next to the General controlling his giants from a distance. She tried her best to brush off all the leaves that may have found her attractive.
"Quite impressive." General Tiedoll commented, "Quite an achievement, bringing a giant akuma down by yourself. Klaud must have trained you well."
"Thank you." Desdemona replied as she took out one last leaf from her hair.
"Elemental Innocence were always the hardest Equipment type to control. Nature is not meant to be tamed by humans." General Tiedoll said in his deep-and-philosophical tone.
"I merely inherited a fraction of my mother's talents." Desdemona said, "Taming was her specialty."
"Then your mother must have been phenomenal." General Tiedoll smiled.
Desdemona touched her necklace subconsciously as she watched 5 white giants fighting against 8 black ones. Bidelia…
"Oh!" General Tiedoll suddenly reached over and took something out from Desdemona's hair. She blinked. The General pulled his hand away and waved a green leaf in front of Desdemona's face. She blinked a few more times before instinctively snatching the leaf away from the General's hand.
Realising what she just did, Desdemona flushed red, "I'll…I'll dispose of it. Thank you General Tiedoll." She then ran away, crunching the leaf in her tightly-held fist.
Tiedoll smiled while watching the girl run away. Still a kid…
Allen sat at the sickly formal dining table, dressed in royal red table cloth, placed with dishes of luxurious food and extremely ornate candle holders with lit candles burning slowly. Allen almost always lunges at food no matter the time or place, though the situation now was an exception.
Tyki Mikk sat at the other end of the long table, casually enjoying his food while his eyes scrutinized Allen's every move. All the while wearing a smile.
Allen also stared at the Noah from the other end of the table, only his gaze was filled with accusation and wary.
The two gazed at each other for many heartbeats. As time passed, each of their stares turned to glares as they narrowed their eyes.
"Not really. There are a lot of people that I've stripped down to their underwear." Allen finally spoke, his face devoid of any expression.
Tyki's aura changed within a split second. His eyes lost their intensity and was replaced by awkwardness. "Oh, what a thing to say..."
Allen continued to wear his unchanging and unreadable face, he held up his left hand, his Innocence. "Is it about this Innocence?"
Tyki smiled, "The truth is, I was pretty shocked. I'm sure that I broke it down."
"But you couldn't have broken it down, right? After all, it's right here." Allen replied.
"Have you gotten interested in the Innocence now, Tyki?" Road said casually while waltzing towards Allen and lovingly threw her arms around his neck.
"Just a little bit. So anyway boy, is it because of that left arm that you're alive, even though the Tease ate through your heart?" Tyki's voice was muffled through his hand that was placed in front of his mouth, though it was clear enough for Lenalee and Lavi to hear.
"Y-YOUR HEART?" Lavi exclaimed, slamming both his hands down onto the table, the plates of food rattled and the luxurious food jumped.
"HEY, I DIDN'T HEAR ABOUT THIS ALLEN! YOU HAD THAT KIND OF INJURY?" Lenalee screamed with her high pitched voice right at Allen's ear.
Allen started sweating nervously, that's the reason he tried to keep this from as many people as possible. That reminds him, he did tell Bak to not tell anyone but Komui and he did tell Bak to tell Komui not to tell anyone, then how did Dem know? And didn't Bak say something about Komui calling him about Allen before Bak told Komui? What is happening? And that time when Dem fainted and lost all signs of life, didn't she say something about Lenalee? Now Allen could see she was right, but how did she know that? Intuition? Coincidence?
Allen shook his head, now is not the time to think about these stuff. Lenalee and Lavi were still screaming at him, he needs to answer them to stop them from screaming. Ah, his ears.
"A part of my Innocence became a part of my heart, there's no problem at all."
That seemed to calm Lenalee and Lavi down. Lavi became deep in thought and Lenalee looked downwards with a pout. That's why Allen didn't want to tell them, they'll worry too much.
But Dem wasn't bothersome like that. It was only for a period of time that she seemed strange and actually helped him at the Asia Branch, it's not like she's worried, right?
Allen shuddered. Dem? Worried? There's no such thing in the world, she vowed to kill him and may be happier if he really did die. Her, worried about him? That's something that would never happen in this world.
Allen shook his head again, he's been thinking a lot of about her lately, probably because they've been together for a while, ever since he woke up in Asia Branch.
Something black flashed in the corner of Allen's eye. A black butterfly appeared next to Lenalee's chair and flew to her neck.
Allen acted immediately, knowing full well what that harmless-looking butterfly can do. Using his long, talon-like, sharp nail, he pinned the Tease against the red, cushioned back of the seat. Using his other hand, he slammed the table, trying to make his point. He stood up slowly, his long, overgrown fringe hid his eyes in shadow, though the definite glow of murderous intent still shown through intensely.
"Tyki Mikk, I have something I want to say. If you lay a hand on my comrades any more than this, I may end up killing you."
Something snapped under the pressure of the tense atmosphere between the Noah and the Exorcist. Tyki smiled.
Allen lifted a leg and stepped on the table, pushing himself forward and charged at Tyki.
Tyki lifted a hand, "I don't hate you, boy, but..." A huge black Tease appeared from Tyki's palm, more and more black butterflies appeared.
Allen activated his Innocence and lashed out, it clashed against Tyki's large Tease and a metallic clang rung out through the large dome ceiling of the tower.
Tyki and Allen's face were inches away from each other, Tyki smiled casually while Allen glared at Tyki.
"Let's have the last dance, boy."
I finally got a chance to update! It's the end of the year and I have finished all my school work! Next year is going to be busier TAT. I'll rite as much as I could in the holidays. BTW, I also editd huge amounts of stuff in the previous chapters. I think I'll keep editing. This story is dragging on a little too much and I need to shrink it. I should delete some things that can be seen in the manga and not put too much detail into it. Maybe I could even add more plot into this if that's the case.
Review!
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