Disclaimer: Don't own D. Gray-Man, never will.
Special Thanks To
The awesome beta-reader, All who reviewed, All who faved, All who subscribed, All who voted and All who reads
Some changes have been made, one of which consists of my habitual massive edits. So here you go, Chapter 16 again! XD Some of you may not be able to review this chapter if you have reviewed on the old chapter 16. If that's the case, please PM me or review on another chapter. :3 Thank you!
To older readers who have been following since the beginning, thank you! I have made many changes to the previous chapters so if you can be bothered, I highly recommend you to go back to the beginning and read again. It's going to help. :D
Also, SCA has been removed to have some major work done on it. I promise it will come back and it will come back even better. :D Please look forward to it!
Well, that's enough from me for now, enjoy the story! And see you at the end. XP
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The red haired exorcist landed on the black and white tiled floor. Floating pumpkin-shaped lights illuminated the small area. Lavi spotted the black and white chequered double doors rimmed with a gold, ornate frame and sighed in relief. "Thank goodness it's still here..."
He walked back to the hole in the ground and looked down. Staring up at him expectantly was Lenalee, Allen and Chaoji.
"It's still here!" He announced gladly. Lavi extended his hammer down to the others on the floor below him. "All three of you, grab onto the handle and I'm going to pull it up!"
The three did as Lavi said.
"Lerrooooo~~! Master Earl, please save us, Lero!"
Allen looked over at the Earl's umbrella golem Lero, jumping around, crying. Tyki was unconscious against the wall, a ring of white crosses were around his chest as a result of Allen's attack.
The exorcist stared at Tyki's face. Right now, he's just a human...
Lavi shrank his hammer and pulled the three of them up to the next floor. "Hurry! We don't know when this door's going to disappear!" Lavi urged, helping Lenalee and Chaoji to their feet.
Allen hesitated before activating his Innocence, the white cowl wrapped around him as he walked back to the edge.
"Allen! What are you doing?" Lavi asked with a frown.
"I'm going to get Tyki Mikk and Lero!"
Before Allen could go any further, Lavi grabbed onto his left arm, "Are you serious?" Lavi frowned even deeper.
"Tyki Mikk is just a normal human now, he is no longer a Noah."
"Rescue?" Lavi and Allen turned back to the voice. Chaoji stood next to Lenalee, his eyes shone of rage. "You mean you didn't kill that man?"
"He's still alive." Allen looked down.
"What? Even though he is with the akuma who killed Anita and Mahoja, along with many other of my comrades? How come...? How come you are going to rescue him? I don't believe this! YOU ARE GOING TO BETRAY US? If you're going to rescue him, that makes you my enemy!"
"Chaoji!" Lenalee tried.
"You are my enemy...YOU ARE AN AKUMA, JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM!"
Crack
Allen widened his eyes, the ground beneath Chaoji just cracked. Without a second thought, Allen lunged at Chaoji, pushing him out of the way.
Chaoji landed on his back. Looking back at where he was just a second ago, a wall of dark flame engulfed Allen and the door.
"ALLEN!" Lenalee screamed.
Creak
Black mechanical tentacles appeared from the crack in the floor. They wrapped around Allen, immobilising him and destroyed the door. In the blink of an eye, Allen and the door were both pulled down into the large crevice in the ground. Along with them, the wall of flame disappeared.
"ALLEN!" Lavi rushed over. The redhead looked into the large crevice in the ground, but all he could see was darkness.
~x.X.x~
Bang!
Tzzz…..
Desdemona shook her head. Did she just hear something?
She tapped on her wireless transmitter and looked up to the Ark.
Nothing. Nothing was heard. Maybe she was just hallucinating.
She sighed. Only hoping Allen would bring Lenalee out as soon as possible. Komui is quite scary when his extreme sister complex kicks in…
She jumped away just as a giant akuma attacked.
~x.X.x~
Bang!
Allen landed on the hard concrete ground, amongst a large amount of debris. He coughed, trying to clear the dust and blood from his throat. He gritted his teeth. The door. The remnants of the door lay in front of him, half-buried in the dust that fell from the floor above.
The exorcist lowered his head in despair. What to do now? The Ark is going to disappear and they are going to disappear with it. Kanda, Crowley, Chaoji, Lavi and Lenalee. They won't be able to escape.
Dem… He promised her he'd protect Lenalee and get out safetly…
"Hmph." He sniggered at himself. What is he thinking? If he disappears he's not going to see her anymore, right? He won't have to face her wrath, right? But why does that thought scare him so much? He doesn't understand himself. Why?
"Make sure you come back…"
That's what she said…
With Lenalee! She said with Lenalee! What exactly is he thinking?
The white-haired exorcist pulled himself up from the cold concrete.
Tzzz…
Allen looked up and widened his eyes in shock. "You are…"
Standing in front of him, was Tyki Mikk. Surrounding him was the same metallic tentacles that pulled Allen down from above, growing out from Tyki's back. His skin was dark and at his throat, a large black cross was etched into his skin. His eyes were hidden in shadows by his hair.
Allen frowned. Tyki's Noah was supposed to be destroyed, what is going on?
The Noah walked slowly towards the exorcist. Allen pulled himself up into a kneeling position. I have a bad feeling about this…
Touching his right hand to his left arm, he started glowing green. The white cowl appeared on his shoulders and his left hand turned into the long hilt of his sword. Allen grabbed it and pulled out his Innocence.
Tyki slowly looked up, exposing his face. His eyes were blank. There were black patterns crawling across his skin slowly. They came down from his forehead and crawled down towards his neck.
His even footsteps stopped when he was only about 3 metres from the kneeling exorcist. Allen froze in shock.
Tyki was bleeding and the blood trailed down from his arm, falling at his fingertips and onto the floor. At such close proximity, Allen could finally see it clearly.
Tyki's blood was black, his blood was black.
Is he still human?
Tyki suddenly screamed in agony. The tentacles moved aggressively and circled Tyki, some wrapped around his body and most orbited around him, creating a thick film of black. The orbiting tentacles soon formed a black hurricane, expanding at such a great speed that it soon engulfed the entire top floor of the tower.
As the blackness cleared, standing at its centre was Tyki. His hair long and rugged, coming out from a helmet that covered the upper half of his face. He wore something of that resembles both an armour and a robe and stood there, looking at his hands.
A shadow loomed above the Noah and he looked up. Allen held his sword above his head and brought it down as he fell. With gravity on his side and Tyki standing there, unmoving, he was sure to hit the Noah.
The exorcist landed, the impact of the sword with the floor caused a large crack that sped across the weak concrete. However, Tyki was nowhere to be seen. Where is he?
Allen felt something slice through his left shoulder. He saw blood spraying out from his left side but not fast enough to react. Almost immediately, Tyki appeared behind him and landed a heavy blow straight to Allen's back.
Allen turned and blocked two more attacks from Tyki with his sword. The exorcist tightened his jaws as the force of the attacks grew greater and eventually, he gave out.
Allen gasped as he crashed into the wall, knocking the air out of his lungs. Unable to move himself, Allen fell towards the ground.
Tyki charged at the completely defenceless Allen, who was struggling to stay conscious. The Noah drew back his fist, ready to land a critical blow on the boy.
A flash of light whizzed past the Noah just as he was about to approach Allen. The Noah stopped in his tracks, scarcely avoided being hit.
Lavi skidded to a stop behind Tyki. In his arms, Allen laid limply. The redhead smirked at the Noah, barely recognising him. "Tyki Mikk? What sort of joke is that outfit?"
Allen coughed, blood came from his throat and trailed down the corner of his mouth. "Lavi…"
"Allen! Get a hold of yourself!" Lavi lifted Allen up to an upright position.
"The door…"
Lavi looked over Allen, only to see the destroyed remnants of the door half buried in the dust.
"We can't…escape the Ark anymore…" Allen said while having much difficulty breathing. Lavi looked back down at Allen, he was blaming himself.
"Hmph. Kukukuku. Ahaha. HAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
The exorcists looked over at Tyki, staring at his hands as if admiring his own powers and laughing hysterically. He turned to face the exorcists, still laughing, and charged.
Lavi held his hammer in front of him, hoping to counter the Noah's attack. However, when he neared, Lavi froze. The aura Tyki's emitting was not normal.
Knowing he wouldn't be able to withstand his attack, Lavi stuck his hammer into the ground and commanded it to extend. With Allen on his shoulder, Lavi rode the hammer towards the upper floor. He looked down at Tyki, who stood below looking up at them.
The exorcists soon rose past the newly formed crevice and landed on the tiled floor.
"Lavi!" Lenalee rushed over to the two male exorcists.
Lavi frowned in dismay. There's nowhere outside the tower to run anymore, damn it!
"You two, hold on to me!" Lavi commanded, only to be greeted by Lenalee and Choaji's horrified face, staring at something behind him. Lavi turned around and there stood Tyki. He was smiling, all his inhumanly sharp teeth were exposed.
Lavi acted immediately, attacking Tyki with his Innocence. At the same time, Tyki's metallic tentacles charged. Small cracks crawled over Lavi's hammer as the two forces collided. Lavi flinched as he felt Tyki's strength. It's inhuman.
"Fire Seal!" Lavi tried. However, before the seal even took effect, a sharp pain shot up from his abdomen and Tyki disappeared. The redhead collapsed on the floor, blood poured out from his wound and trickled through his fingers.
"AAHHHH!" Allen charged with all his might at the Noah and brought his sword down with all his might, only to have it blocked by Tyki with one hand, seemingly with ease. With that same hand, the Noah used Reject, sending Allen crashing into a wall.
He's too strong... He's not at a level where we can just try our best and hope to defeat…
Tyki's tentacles charged at alarming speed and engulfed the exorcists. Only to be stopped by the pillars of the floor below giving out.
Allen and Lavi fell unconscious into the water outside the tower amongst concrete debris. Above them, Tyki stood on the remaining concrete of the top floor, holding Lenalee by the throat with his tentacles. Chaoji spotted the girl and struggled to crawl towards them, but it was futile. He was too weak.
Lenalee gazed at Tyki's helmet where his eyes should be while struggling to free herself of the metallic tentacles. We can't die here…without protecting…a single thing…
"Lenalee!" Chaoji screamed.
Tyki smiled, once again exposing his sharp teeth. The tentacles around Lenalee's neck tightened.
Chaoji stared helplessly at Tyki and Lenalee. There's nothing he could do...
"Live and survive, use your life to protect those exorcists…" Anita...it was Anita's words...
Not knowing where the courage and strength came from, Chaoji jumped to his feet and charged at the Noah, intending to punch him.
However, the ground beneath him gave out. Chaoji stumbled and fell.
Tyki looked down at the crumbling floor. Lenalee took the chance to summon all her strength and landed a kick in the side of Tyki's neck. It was ineffective, the small bit of human strength was not enough to affect this monster.
Tyki stared at Lenalee for a while before lifting her above his head and smashing her into the falling bit of concrete at his feet. Lenalee gasped and fell unconscious.
Choaji spotted the girl through the much debris. He extended a hand and tried to grab onto the girl. His vision blurred by the tears accumulating in his eyes.
"We will be with you…"
"ANITA SAMA!"
The entire tower collapsed onto the only remaining bit of ground of the Ark. Many pieces of debris flew off the tiny area and disappeared. More and more concrete fell down into the water beneath, piling up like a mountain.
~x.X.x~
Chaoji bit his teeth together. "GRRRR!"
Using that same unknown strength, Chaoji lifted up the tons of debris above him. His arms hurt, his legs hurt, but he can't let go.
Lenalee opened her eyes and blinked. Chaoji was holding up a huge piece of concrete. She was sitting beneath it, and so were Allen and Lavi, lying beneath it with the concrete inches from their face.
Lenalee tried to move. She needs to help move Allen and Lavi out from beneath. She tried, but can't. She looked down. Though detached from Tyki's body, the metal tentacles were still wrapped tightly around her body.
Chaoji continued to hold up the concrete while Lenalee looked helplessly at him. She can't do anything.
"Mi-miss Lenalee…What's happening to me?" Chaoji managed.
"You're synchronising with an Innocence somewhere around here! But if you go on any longer…" Lenalee trailed off. It's the same as Miranda, there's a huge strain on the body. "Your weapon's transforming but the power is uncontrolled! The raw Innocence is too powerful for its user! If you keep it activated like this, you will destroy your own body!"
Chaoji kept trying, veins rose out against his skin. "But what should I do? There's no where left to run to!"
Tyki descended from the air and came near Chaoji. His hands shining, preparing for another attack. The Noah charged. Lenalee and Chaoji could clearly see him but both could do nothing to stop it. They watched in despair as Tyki neared.
Unexpectedly, a sword and a hammer shot out from beside Chaoji at the Noah, blocking the attack.
Tyki retreated back, the impact of the collision destroyed the concrete and Chaoji collapsed next to Lenalee, both unharmed.
Lavi and Allen stood before Tyki, both panting heavily from the exhaustion and the blood loss from their wounds.
Tyki kept on smiling and charged. The two exorcists did the same. The two sides encountered in a thick cloud of smoke. However, the difference in power was too great, Lavi and Allen flew out almost as soon as they went in. They both crashed into more debris. Lenalee stared after the two worriedly, hating herself for being so useless.
Chaoji noticed a black shadow behind the girl. "Lenalee!"
Tyki appeared behind Lenalee. Chaoji was ready to shield Lenalee but Tyki stopped.
Wrapped around his wrist, was Allen's clown belt. The Noah glared over at the exorcist.
Allen stood up shakily, "Your opponent is me. I'm sure I told you already." Allen proceeded to wipe the blood away from the corner of his mouth and smiled weakly at the Noah. "Didn't you want to kill me?"
Excited by the challenge, Tyki smiled even wider. With a flash of black, the Noah disappeared from behind Lenalee and charged at Allen.
The boy glowed white against Tyki's black. He stood shakily, ready to take the Noah on. "Come on…Even if I don't make it out alive…I will keep fighting until the end." He positioned himself, Tyki was only metres away, "JUST LIKE I PROMISED MANA!"
Allen braced his Innocence and knelt down slightly, preparing for the incoming attack. He tightened his jaws and his grip on the sword.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Allen started shining brightly. He looked down and froze at the familiar symbol…
The light was so intense that it swallowed Tyki. Soon after, Tyki was thrown out from the light by an unknown force.
The ground beneath Allen's feet disappeared and he fell into the darkness. "AAHHH!" He shut his eyes tight, waiting for the impact. However, what he expected did not come. Instead, he felt something grab into his left ankle, his entire weight being held up by his left leg and blood rushing to his head. He hung there, upside-down.
"What is this filthy little brat?"
Allen looked up (down?) at the person who just spoke. It was a skull, the ones with the Millennium Earl. However, it was strange. The skull was standing on top of the familiar casket. On its head, sat Timcampy. The way it spoke was so arrogantly familiar.
"I thought he looked all right for a moment there, but…No. He's just filthy. He hasn't changed since the day I found him, my idiot apprentice."
Allen hung there, scrutinising the casket carefully. This anti-akuma weapon! Grave of Maria…which means… Allen suddenly felt really bad for some reason. "Er…It's been a while…"
The skull's face disintegrated. "What's with that stupid happy-looking face of yours?" As the mask disappeared, Cross Marian's face was revealed. "You want me to drop you?"
Acting upon his words, the General released Allen's ankle. Only Allen did not fall further down the hole, instead, he landed on secure ground next to the General's feet.
Allen stared up at the tall man. "M-master…Tim…you too."
After tidying his hair, the General glanced at the boy and his sword. "Looks like you finally got your Innocence in a decent form. But still, you're all beaten up. Here" The General offered a hand.
Allen was shocked, or rather scared. Knowing the General's hand is meant for something more menacing that helping him up. However, worse thing would happen to him if he did nothing. He took the General's hand, "Y-yes. I'm sorr-"
Instead of grabbing onto Allen's hand, the General grabbed the boy's collar and threw him into the air. After flying for a while in shock, Allen landed head first into the ground next to Chaoji and Lenalee.
Lenalee watched as Allen approached from the sky and dodged just in time.
"You filthy, idiot apprentice!" Cross said in disgust. He spotted Lavi on the side. "You're filthy too, get the hell away from me! I'll only let beautiful people near me. Filthy people (except women) can stay the hell back!" Picking up the casket and carrying it, the General looked over at Tyki.
"On abata ura." The black casket opened. A woman wearing a black dress came out. Her face was covered in bandages and in front of her eyes was something that looked like a butterfly. The woman started singing.
The exorcists listened. "What is this? A hymn?" Lavi asked.
"It's Magdala Curtain." Allen answered. Within seconds, a thin film surrounded the four exorcists.
"What?" Lavi scratched his head.
Tyki watched as the four exorcists disappeared from sight. He turned and looked everywhere, but they were nowhere to be seen.
"I've had the brats take their leave." Cross said calmly. Tyki turned to the General and snarled. "You won't have a problem with that, right?"
Lavi, Allen, Lenalee and Chaoji watched as Tyki charged at Cross.
"Can't Tyki see us anymore?" Lavi asked.
"Magdala Curtain is a defensive technique that uses the power of Master's Anti-Akuma weapon to affect to enemy's mind and obscure his vision with illusions." Allen explained in more detail.
"Then, is that doll an anti-akuma weapon?" Lenalee asked.
Allen hesitated before answering, "That isn't a doll, it's a human corpse. Master uses magic to make that corpse, a woman with Parasitic type Innocence, his own. Maria takes orders from Master alone. And then…"
Allen paused, allowing time for the others to turn to look at the General, who held in his hand an especially ornate gun, aiming at the Noah.
"There's the Equipment-type anti-akuma weapon that belongs to Master himself – Judgement." Allen finished.
The General fired.
The bullets flew at Tyki. The Noah was taken by surprise and quickly used reject stop the bullets. However, the bullets went through and hit the Noah straight in the chest.
Tyki flew backwards, his armour incinerated to ash. The Noah stood back up, only to have three more bullets fly at him. Using reject again, he tried to stop the bullets. Slowly, he watched as the bullets penetrated his invisible shield. As a last resort, Tyki swung his arm to the side, diverting the bullet's tracks.
The General simply smiled. "Was it really wisest to divert the bullets? I wonder…"
The bullets flew into the debris behind the Noah, only to re-emerged and fly back at Tyki.
"My bullets can't be stopped until it has entered its target."
The bullets penetrated Tyki again and again, giving the Noah no time to recover.
The younger exorcists watched in awe.
Desperately wanting to do something because of his intolerance to not doing anything, Allen activated his Innocence, ready to pull out his sword.
"Wait." Lavi stopped the white-haired boy. "Don't get involved. If you think about the difference in power, whether it's Noah or the General, we still have a long way to go. We are weak."
Allen looked down. Lavi is right. The General did warn them about not being a burden before...
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, the debris behind them fell apart and disappeared.
Allen grabbed a hold of Lenalee. "Master!"
The General looked over. "Is it time? We won't make it unless we hurry." He aimed judgement at Tyki, laying motionless on the ground, ready to give a final blow when the ground before the General exploded. He jumped just in time to dodge flying debris. He aimed the gun again, ready to attack Tyki. Though when the dust cleared and he could see clearly, the General saw the familiar fat tummy and the black sword. The Millennium Earl looked down at the General with that permanent smile of his.
Grabbing onto Lenalee, Allen stood up. When he looked back, the ground on which Lavi and Chaoji were kneeling had fallen down. The white-haired exorcist spotted the falling redhead and the Chinese. Lavi grabbed onto Chaoji and extended his hammer at Allen.
Allen grabbed onto the hammer. Not seeing the small cracks that were all over the Innocence, the hammer crumbled in his hand. Allen watched in shock as an equally shocked Lavi fell, along with more than half of what was left of the Ark. There was nothing he could do...only to watch. Chaoji…Lavi… He opened his fist, where little pieces of Lavi's Innocence lay.
A mixture of emotions clouded Allen's mind. Guilt, hatred, grief, anger. He roared in pain. Then gradually, one single emotion overpowered the rest. Hatred.
General Cross and the Millennium stood there chatting…appearing to be quite sickly friendly.
"Go away? My, my! You're the one trespassing on my Ark!" The Earl said.
"You threw it out anyway." Cross shrugged.
"This Ark no longer has the 'wings' to leave Edo…that power was stolen from it."
"The Fourteenth…"
The Millennium Earl glared at Cross. "That man passed his role on. The 'Musician'."
"Musician?" Lenalee repeated, listening to the conversation.
Allen spotted the Millennium Earl, his hatred amplified.
"Why did you come here?" The Earl asked. "If you wanted to steal this Ark, then you're a little late! I'm afraid the heart of this Ark has already been transferred to the new model. Without the heart, the Ark becomes inoperable and even the 'Musician' is powerless to control it! How foolish of you, Cross! In the end, this Ark will be nothing more than a grave, sucking up the blood of Exorcists…"
Allen snapped. What the Earl said about his comrades… He activated his Innocence again.
Lenalee looked at Allen. His cowl was disintegrating, just like the time when she over-activated Dark Boots. His eyes were frightening, filled with hatred. More blood dripped to the floor as Allen reopened many of his unhealed wounds.
Lenalee tried to stop him. "No! You can't! Your wounds!"
Allen was deaf to everything Lenalee said and charged towards the Earl in a flash of white.
"Lavi…" Pulling out his sword, he swung at the Earl. "Chaoji…"
The Earl felt something behind him and look back to see the exorcist.
The two clashed and the impact destroyed the ground the Earl was standing on. Blocking Allen's white sword, was the Earl's black sword. The two swords were identical in shape and size, only differing in colour.
Blood from Allen's wounds dripped over the Earl. The Ear kept smiling as he stared into the exorcist's eyes, "Hatred, it's there in your eyes…So we meet, Allen Walker."
Allen frowned and broke away from the Earl, only to charge at him again, following the Earl, falling with the debris.
"ALLEN!" Lenalee screamed, not wanting to see Allen disappear too.
Maria sang, Allen's body suddenly moved on its own. Even though he wanted to chase after the Earl, his sword dug into the wall beside him, stopping his fall. He looked up, the General was glancing down at him from the edge above.
"Stop it. Has the blood gone to your head from losing your comrades, idiot apprentice?"
"Release me from Maria's power, please Master! The Earl, I must-"
"You're climbing up here whether you want to or not."
~x.X.x~
General Tiedoll took down two more giant akumas. They don't seem to decrease in amount at all.
Marie froze on the side. "I can hear a new noise from the sky!"
The exorcists looked up, Desdemona frowned. A new ring of white rectangles appeared in the sky, on the opposite side as the white Ark. Inside the ring, a black Ark appeared.
"What?" General Tiedoll watched in shock.
"An Ark?" Bookman said out loud.
In a moment of distraction, a giant akuma send two cannon balls at Bookman. Bookman flew backwards and crashed into the tunnel of the bridge. Miranda rushed over and healed the Bookman's injuries with Time Record.
"A black Ark?" Desdemona breathed.
"Over there!" Someone said. Looking in the direction of the voice, the exorcists saw the white Ark disintegrating into small cubes. It was collapsing and was being swallowed by the sky.
Miranda looked up with fear, "Aren't Kanda and the others inside there?"
"It's falling to pieces!" Marie panicked.
"No way! Chaoji's in there too!" Kie distressed.
Marie and General Tiedoll instantly thought of Kanda. Even though he never had anything good to say, not having him around is just unimaginable.
Bookman stared at the Ark. Lavi… That brat.
Kie and Maosa worried about Chaoji. They've been comrades ever since they could remember. They have just lost so many of their comrades and they really fear to lose Chaoji too.
Miranda worried for Lenalee and Allen and Crowley. She hoped they would be alright. Their injuries were still in her Innocence.
Desdemona feared too. Though she didn't know who she feared for. Or rather, she knew exactly who she feared for, only not admitting it. She suggested to herself that maybe she feared for all of them, but dismissed the idea as soon as it came. As if she's going to feel worried about the likes of Kanda and Lavi, as if. In the end, she decided she will fear for Lenalee.
The exorcists and the Chinese men stared up at the Ark, really hoping what they were seeing were just illusions.
~x.X.x~
"A mission?" Allen asked the General. He was on his knees, weak from his injuries. Lenalee was next to him.
"I'm sure you already know why I came here." Cross answered.
"To destroy the Akuma Plant!" Allen finally understood.
"Is the plant inside the Ark?" Lenalee questioned.
"That room is still in here. Take us to the plant, Tim!"
Timcampy opened its mouth, a blinding ray of light appeared and engulfed the exorcists. When the light disappeared, they were standing in a room full of corpses.
"Aren't these corpses?" Allen exclaimed.
"These are the 'Guards' of the Plant." Cross explained.
Allen turned and saw a suspended egg. At its top, it was decomposing into hexagons and was disappearing slowly.
"That huge egg is a Plant for generating the bodies in the Earl's akuma-creating rituals. I'd like to destroy it, but it's surrounded by a barrier and we don't have time to remove it. This is the last room in the Ark to be downloaded. Once that egg is completely transferred, the Ark will be gone, and us along with it."
"What do we do, Master?" Allen asked, understanding the situation...maybe.
"We have to stop it, of course."
"Huh?"
"All we need to do is steal the Egg. If we start up this Ark and stop the download, the Egg will never make it to the new Ark."
"How do we stop the Ark? We know nothing about it!" Allen said.
"General, do you know something? About how to control the Ark?" Lenalee asked, knowing Cross was not the kind of person to be inside the Ark if he does not know how to get out alive.
Cross narrowed his eyes at Allen. "I'm not going to do it. You are, Allen."
Allen frowned in confusion and shock. What can he do? He doesn't even know anything.
Half of the Egg has already been downloaded.
"On abata ura. Matara kato baru!" Cross chanted and the download seemed to slow down. "I'm using my abilities to interfere with the download. It's not much, but it will delay the transfer a little. Now, make this ark move, Allen! Hurry!"
Allen shook his head in dismay. "What? Wait a minute, I have no idea what you're talking about, Master!"
Cross ignored Allen. "I'll open the final room. Just go with Tim!"
"Why do I-!" Allen got cut off as he was teleported by Timcampy.
When Allen opened his eyes again, he was laying on a couch. He sat up. He was in a white room. There was a large window from the floor to the ceiling behind him. The ceiling was very high. In front of him, was an upright piano. There were also two chairs in the room.
The white-haired boy got up from the couch. "Master? Lenalee?" He tried, hoping to get a reply.
Even the Millennium Earl does not know of this place.
Allen thought he heard a voice, followed by a shadow seen at the corner of his eye.
It is the secret room of the "Fourteenth".
Allen turned to the panels of glass beside him. In what seemed to be the reflection of the room, the person staring back at Allen was not himself. Instead, a black silhouette of a man wearing a white coat smiled at him.
"You're..." Allen breathed. The one I saw in that dream, when Lenalee was crying...
The man pointed to the piano in the reflection. Key...
Allen looked to the upright piano in the room. Timcampy flew over and sat on the music stand.
My Timcampy...Allen... These two have the power of the Musician...
"Musician...what's that about?" Allen looked back at the silhouette, "Timcampy belongs to Master, he's not yours. Who the hell are you?" He frowned.
"IDIOT APPRENTICE!" Allen fell to the ground in pain as he clutched his ear. General Cross was screaming into the transmitter, nearly doing permanent damage to Allen's ear. "HURRY UP AND STOP THE DOWNLOAD, YOU IDIOT! DID YOU GET TO THE "ROOM" OR WHAT?"
"Allen! Are you ok?" Lenalee's voice was heard too.
Allen sat up. "Lenalee? I'm alright...and aren't your voices coming from the same place...? MASTER! PLEASE STOP TOUCHING LENALEE!"
"How much floor space do you think we're working with here?" Cross retaliated, though secretly thankful of it too.
"This isn't the time to be worrying about me! Allen!" Lenalee said.
"Is there a piano in there?" Cross asked.
"Yes, there is but..."
"The piano is the 'Heart' that controls the Ark." Cross explained. "Play it!"
Allen stared at the piano and froze. "Um...I've never touched a piano in my whole life..."
"Tim has the music score you'll need." Cross continued, completely ignoring Allen.
"WAIT A MINUTE! I have no idea how to read sheet music either!" Allen was angry, how could Master just throw him in like this.
"Would you rather pay more debt for me?" Cross asked with a hint of evilness in his voice.
"You want me to choose? They are both ridiculous!"
"If you do that ...tzzz...tzzzz...the ark should tzzz...According to your will..."
Allen held a hand to his left ear, trying to hear what Cross what saying. However, the static noise was too loud, he couldn't hear properly.
"Allen" must play... The shadow in the window said.
Becoming increasingly frustrated and angered, Allen frowned, "Why does it have to be me?"
The score... Allen looked back at the piano as he heard something. Timcampy opened its mouth and projected something. Allen froze as he recognised the familiar symbols. Belongs to Allen.
"That's the...music score?" Allen breathed, not believing what he was seeing.
~x.X.x~
"The noise is...disappearing!" Marie said.
Having finished the last of the giant akumas, the exorcists looked up to the sky where the white Ark was. It was disintegrating, now nothing more than a few rays of white light against the black sky. The light was slowly disappearing, being sucked into the sky.
"It's disappearing...ARGH!" Maosa scratched his head in frustration. There's nothing he could do to stop it.
Miranda pleaded her Innocence to stop the time of the Ark, but it didn't work.
Desdemona just stared. Stared as the last bit of light disappeared and continued to stare at the now completely dark sky.
Miranda collapsed onto the floor, two streams of the tears rolled down her cheeks. Just as the rays of light disappeared, their hopes disappeared along with it. Being slowly consumed by the darkness…just as they were consumed by the despair in their hearts.
"Marie..." General Tiedoll said quietly.
"I can't..." Marie replied, "hear anything anymore. Kanda...We just lost Deesha and now you too..." The blind man lowered his head and cried silently.
One by one, the people around Desdemona gave out. Not only did their physical form collapse from the stress of the battle, but their emotional state collapsed at the loss of people dear to them. Bookman lowered his head, probably thinking about Junior...The two Chinese men cried as they grieved the loss of their comrade.
Desdemona continued to stand there staring at the sky. She...didn't know what to do. What was she supposed to feel? She doesn't even feel anything. This was how it felt like the week after Bidelia...
Desdemona doesn't want to remember that time. She really hoped it would disappear from her memory. She instinctively touched her pendant, at which point she noticed it was vibrating weakly. She didn't try to understand why. Even though she felt like she could feel anything or think of anything for that matter, there's always this sense that nothing else could fit into her attention span because her mind was too focused on something else. She frowned, what should she do?
Suddenly, she felt rage. The strong surge of emotion took over her. She didn't understand why, or how, but there was only one thought that occurred to her.
If Allen doesn't come back, I'll torture him to the brink of death and then kill him in the most painful way possible.
Allen's fingers glided along the black and white keys, playing the melody that ran through his head as he recited the lyrics coded within the symbols Timcampy projected. He didn't understand, his hands are moving on their own. He knew the melody, and the symbols…
So the little infant fell into a deep sleep.
Among the grey ashes in the flames shining...First one, then two...
Surfaces numerous of your faces
Outside, the tower reconstructed itself. Fallen pieces of ground reappeared from the void beneath with a glow of white and connected themselves to the centre tower. The Ark came back, bit by bit.
A thousand dreams trickle back to the earth
On the night when the silver eyes were trembling, the shining you was born
Across millions of years and months, no matter how many prayers are returned to the Earth…
"I will still continue to pray…" Allen said out loud. The song in his head…someone's singing in his head.
"Operate the Ark, Allen! Weave your wishes into the music!" Cross was heard again through the transmitter, the signal was back again.
"My wish?" Allen repeated.
Wish… The shadow too, repeated.
"I wish…the download…the Ark…" Allen suddenly didn't know what to wish for. He had so many wishes, to stop the download, to restore the Ark, to get his comrades back, to get out of the Ark…So many, yet he suddenly didn't know.
Think about the happy things.
Komui's words suddenly came across his mind.
First, I'll say "Welcome back" and give everyone a pat on the shoulder…then I'll give Lenalee a big hug! I'll have to get a lot of food for you too. Then, I'll try to force Dem to eat something proper. But…if she really doesn't want to, I'll tell her in a serious tone 'Only this once, I'll let you off.'
Dem…the girl suddenly intruded into his thoughts. She said something too, didn't she?
First of all, I will indulge myself in chocolate. If Komui tells me to eat proper food, I will refuse, definitely.
Allen smiled to himself, she is sure stubborn.
Then I'm going to request for either a room change or installing a sound-proof wall in my room… Because you are too noisy… In my standards, you are noisy… There is nothing wrong with my standards!
"Bring back my comrades and don't disappear, ARK!"
~x.X.x~
Cross sat down on the ground, exhausted. Lenalee knelt beside the General, breathing a sigh of relief as she watched the Egg restore itself. She heard the song, it must have been Allen.
"Idiot apprentice…he stopped the download and the erasing program was cancelled as well…that was close." Cross drew out a cigarette and lit it. "But hey, now that we've managed this, the 'Plant' won't have transferred completely. It won't reach the Earl. The Master and Student stand victorious, AHAHAHAH!"
"…" Silence was the only thing heard through the transmitters that should be working correctly.
"Ignoring me, huh?" Cross 'hmph'-ed in annoyance.
"Allen?" Lenalee tried, still silence, "Allen are you ok?"
"Allen, we're all coming in. Send us the door. If you wish for it, it will open." Just as Cross finished his sentence, a door appeared from thin air. Cross led the way and walked through. On the other side, Allen stood in front of the piano with a tired expression. He smiled weakly at the sight of Lenalee. Now that girl would have nothing against me…
"Lenalee…I'm glad you're safe."
"The Ark stopped breaking down! We heard the sound of a piano, was that you, Allen?"
"Yeah…" Allen answered before glaring up at Cross, leisurely smoking his cigarette on the side.
"I know what it is you want to say…and stop making that face at me." Cross demanded.
"Why?" Allen frowned, "That 'Music Score'…"
"DIIIIINNNNNER TIIIIIIIME!" A loud voice was heard coming from the sky.
"What?" Lenalee was shocked.
"Lavi! It's not like he's a dog or something…" Another voice.
"Just wait and see, Chaoji…If Allen's hungry, he'll come running in an instant! DIIINNNER TIIIME!"
"Somebody must be calling from somewhere inside the Ark." Cross said, slightly amused.
"Steak, pasta, Mitarashi dango! It's diner time, ALLEN! DIIIIINEEERRR TIIIIMEEE!"
Lenalee held her hands to her mouth to shield her shock. "Lavi…Chaoji…"
"They're alive…" Allen breathed. He suddenly felt really light, like something heavy that was sitting on top of his chest for a long time had finally been lifted off.
"Edo Connection'? What's that supposed to mean?" Allen asked with a frown.
Lavi, Kanda, Chaoji and Crowley were all in the room. They have all come back. They came back.
"Don't worry, just say it when you play the song, then we'll be able to get out of here." Cross demanded as he sat smoking on one of the two chairs in the room.
"You'd better explain this all properly later, Master!" Allen said in a demanding tone as he walked over to the piano.
"I need to hear this too!" Lavi said cheerily as he followed Allen to the piano. The other exorcists gathered around too.
Allen recited the lyrics in his head, the melody rang through his head. His fingers moved on their own and the melody materialised through the piano. "Cancel the ship's 'Edo Connection'. Oh Ark, open the gate."
~x.X.x~
Desdemona gazed towards the dark sky with nothing in it. The Black Ark disappeared soon after too. Her rage has died down within a second. Her eyes felt heavy and she became really tired.
If Allen, Lenalee, Kanda and Lavi were gone, then the only exorcists left in the world are General Klaud, General Cross, General Sapporo, Miranda, Bookman, Marie and her. She sighed.
So the little infant fell into a deep sleep.
Desdemona frowned. She can hear something. From the transmitter? She closed a hand over her left ear to hear it more clearly. However, the transmitter was silent, there was not a single sound coming from the other side.
Among the grey ashes in the flames shining...First one, then two... Surfaces numerous of your faces
It's a song. Someone's singing, it was quite clear and quite loud. The melody...is familiar...
A thousand dreams trickle back to the earth
Desdemona looked up wide eyed. This melody... She's sure. It's...it's...
Edo Connection cancelled. The connection to Edo has been cancelled. Desdemona frowned at herself. She didn't even know what it meant, but she somehow knew, that knowledge just appeared in her head.
Desdemona couldn't tell where the song was coming from. She looked down to see the others still grieving. Miranda buried her face into her hands. They don't seem to hear it.
Edo Connection...what is that?
On the night when the silver eyes were trembling...
The pendant. The girl touched it. She could feel it vibrating more violently and heating up at her chest. What is the Innocence trying to do?
Suddenly, something appeared in the sky. Desdemona looked up, she must have been hallucinating.
In the middle of the night sky, a single shining rectangle appeared. Soon enough, many other shining rectangles formed, aligning themselves into a ring.
"What's that?" Desdemona said, trying to get the attention of the others.
Miranda suddenly sat upright, many glowing orbs surrounded her Time Record.
The others looked up too. The many glowing rectangles now emit quite an amount of light. They crackled slightly with white electrical sparks.
...the shining you was born
The song continued as suddenly, the white Ark reappeared within the band of glowing rectangles. Only this time, the white outer wall of the Ark was semi-transparent, allowing the exorcists and the two Chinese to see inside, where a white town with a tall tower at its centre floated. Desdemona recognized it. It was the same town Allen and her went through before.
The gate is being opened...the gate. Random knowledge appeared in her head again. She shook her head, what on earth is happening?
Across millions of years and months...
Panels of glowing polygons appeared before the exorcists, Desdemona recognised the Ark's gate. Only this one has a number 8 on it. A redhead popped out from the panels. "Hey! Everybody ok?" He said casually, waving a hand.
"LAVI?" They said in shock.
"You came back!" Marie jumped up.
Miranda started bawling from relief, "You're alive…the vanished time came back…"
"Is Kanda alright as well?" Marie asked Lavi worriedly.
The said Japanese appeared behind Lavi, carrying Crowley, through the panels with a sour expression. "Shut up, Marie!"
"Did you hear that, Master?" Marie turned to General Tiedoll, squatting in a corner trembling with tears, happily. Being insulted by Kanda had never made Marie feel so happy before.
No matter how many prayers are returned to the Earth…
Lavi stood there smiling idiotically at the teary reunion when a sudden foot landed in the side of his face. He was sent flying 5 metres before landing roughly on dirt. Bookman stood there with a raging glare. "WHAT IS THIS?" he exclaimed, streams of tear and snot still on his face. "THIS IS TERRIBLE FOR MY HEART!"
Allen came out next. Miranda was crying more intensely each time someone comes out. The sensation of being lifted up, straight out of the endless void of despair, though a great sensation, was capable of rendering anyone to their weakest state. Allen reassured her he was alright before spotting Desdemona and gave a smile. Only then he noticed she was staring intently at the Ark up above.
Seeing her made him feel more relieved than when he heard Lavi, Chaoji and Kanda's voice back inside the Ark. He didn't know why but he was too tired to think about why. He never paid much attention to it, but there was always an underlying fear of not being able to see her again. Now it's gone. It's just like having a huge amount of weight lifted off your chest, and just as you enjoy the lightness without those weights, an invisible weight that you weren't even aware of was lifted from you. This sensation is eerily more relieving than the first since you didn't even know the weight was there, suffocating you, until it's lifted.
As a passing thought, he silently wondered if she was worried about him. Given the state of the others, he would guess their situation didn't look too good from the outside. He didn't know if he wanted her to worry about him. It'd be weird if she did…but it'd be disappointing if she didn't. As he approached her, he heard her mutter something. "I will still continue to pray…"
"Did you say something?" Allen asked, tilting his head slightly to the side with a cheeky smile.
The girl snapped her eyes to him and glared. He stepped back. He knows that glare…just in case…
"Lenalee." She said simply. Allen blinked for a few heartbeats before laughing in relief and stood to one side, allowing Desdemona to see the gate.
Chaoji came out next, Kie and Maosa rushed up and the three of them huddled together while a stream of spewing tears came out from each of their eyes. They make a great fountain.
Desdemona's eyebrow twitched and Allen noticed. He smiled in amusement. She hates teary reunions, doesn't she?
At that moment, Lenalee came out. Her eyes landed on Desdemona first and she ran over crying and threw her arms around the younger girl. Desdemona stepped back, trying to balance out the impact of Lenalee's momentum.
"Dem! I thought I would never see you guys again! Wah!" Lenalee cried while half strangling the younger girl.
Allen watched in amusement as the Eurasian girl awkwardly patted Lenalee on the back. "It's ok. It's ok. It's alright now." The white-haired boy snickered and the girl heard it. While standing there awkwardly with Lenalee still bawling, Desdemona glared at Allen. He just laughed out loud.
Desdemona was about to beat some sense into Allen when the hyperactive Lavi spotted the hugging girls. Either attempting at more skinship with the other gender or he was just simply stupid, for whatever reason, Lavi screamed, "GROUP HUGGGG!" and ran over, pulling Bookman along. He threw himself at the girls, dragging Allen with him in the process. Lavi crashed into Lenalee and Allen was pushed against Desdemona. Bookman sandwiched between the two younger males with a displeased expression.
Miranda finally stood up and joined the group hug.
The childishly crying General Tiedoll ran over and crashed into the forming clump of humans. Kie, Maosa and Chaoji ran over in a line of three, charging at the group hug with only Kanda in the way. Kanda watched the group hug in disgust before the unforeseen Chinese threesome crashed into him and half pushed/dragged him into the hug. Kanda was squished between Lavi and Maosa, giving him barely any route of escape. The Japanese looked at Lavi with a threatening expression with which Lavi replied, "Ahh! Yuu! Isn't this great!" Marie joined last, his huge form blocked out the last ray of hope Kanda had.
"WAHHH!" Nearly all of them started and/or continued crying all at once. Kanda was, of course, not one of them. He simply stood there with a snarl as he was soaked in Marie/Maosa/Lavi tears. Allen laughed. He didn't know why. Desdemona turned her head to Allen through much struggling, though their inevitable proximity at the time meant their faces were inches from each others. Desdemona attempted to summon her deadliest glare at Allen. "I will never forgive you."
Allen laughed more and Desdemona frowned. What's so funny? "For what?" Allen said.
"For-" Desdemona stopped herself just before she could say something she would have regretted. Making me worry…
Desdemona turned her head to the front with a frown at herself. What? She was worried? What has this world come to? How could she be worried about him? Desdemona was sure she was angry with him...but for what?
Allen anticipated for an answer, but when the girl just simply turned her head around in mid-sentence, he knew he was not going to get one. He still smiled at the back of her head. Why is he suddenly so happy?
With a happy sigh, Allen lowered his chin onto Desdemona's left shoulder. They were pushed together so close that his chin needn't to navigate far. The girl frowned down at him, but he closed his eyes, still weakly laughing. She pouted in frustration. Why is he so frustrating?
Allen inhaled, Desdemona could feel his chest cavity expanding on her back. Suddenly, her heart jerked. And after that, it's just beats on like nothing ever happened. She was sure she just had a heart-attack...or something...
And who said he could use her shoulder as a chin rest?
In the midst of crying "Teary Reunion" fans (minus Kanda), Desdemona could do nothing other than just standing there awkwardly and wait for the fans to stop worshipping their idol. Taking the chance, Allen just stayed where he was, enjoying his momentary peace of mind and body. After all that he's been through, staying like this felt like heaven.
Timcampy sat on General Cross's shoulder. The latter stood to the side, not wishing to be in the midst of filthy people...that excludes the three females in that clump.
General inhaled through his cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke as he narrowed his eyes at the Eurasian girl in the centre of that clump.
That girl, she's Klaud's newest student.
Cross's eyes trailed down to the girl's neck where something caught the light and sparkled.
That pendant...it's strange...
Hehe. Finally! It's a really long chapter and a stressful one to write.
And finally! There's finally some small degree of romance in this romance story! Only in this kind of intensely stressful and dangerous situation do these sorts of things happen. XD
Hope you liked it!
Now some ranting time: I bought DGM Vol. 16 before. It was destroyed by my sister by pouring a cup of water onto it. As compensation, she had to pay for a new Vol. 16 and also a Vol. 17. I got a Vol. 18 for my birthday and a week ago, I got both Vol. 15 and 19! Now I have Vol. 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19! I'm so happy. TAT
Also, I strongly recommend the new anime No. 6, as well as its manga and novel. It's just soooo...*teary*
That's enough ranting from me, now it's your turn!
REVIEWW!
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