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Hello here I am again! With the promised chapter that will begin a new Arc that deviates from the manga~ I'm excited to get this torment I mean, new plot started. *sweats*
I just wanna explain that I re-translated the lyrics to the Fourteenth's song. The translations off fan blogs didn't make enough sense so I did it myself. It's not necessarily accurate: the Japanese lyrics has metaphors that make no sense in English, however I tried to keep the meaning as close as possible.
So the little boy fell asleep,
The flames amongst breathing ashes,
Shining once, then twice.
On the night when your silver eyes trembled,
The brilliant you were born.
Even though countless prayers were returned to the Earth across millions of years,
I will continue to pray:
No matter what, shower this child with love,
And kiss these connected hands.
Desdemona listened to the song that played in her head every time Allen opened a new gate: the prayers of a mother for her child, almost as if she knew she will not be able to stay by his side. This was the song Bidelia taught her.
Gate 23 is connected.
"Gate 23 is connected." Allen spoke into the communicator.
The more she observed him as he operated the Ark, the more she wondered about this mysterious song, the information that pops into her head regarding the Ark, the shadow haunting Allen and the fact that she is aware of all these and yet no one else is.
However, after witnessing Allen's circumstances and the Order's distrust towards him, she was less than willing to divulge her questions to anyone connected to the Church. Who can she trust to ask?
Her eyes continued to observe Allen, who was giving instructions for the Scientists inside the Ark.
She had reasoned that the only person she can trust would be one who is already distrusted by the Order, ie. Allen. It would be ideal as he must know a great deal about the song and the Ark to be able to control it. She needs to know the significance of the song.
It concerns Bidelia. Bidelia said her piano teacher taught her that song…Who was the piano teacher again?
"Neah Walker…" She muttered under her breath.
"Did you call me?" Allen suddenly turned to regard her with expectant eyes.
"No I did not." She waved him away, "concentrate on your work."
"Really? I swear I heard 'Walker'" Allen contemplated a while, "Maybe I misheard, you never call me 'Walker' anyway."
Walker?
Why does Allen and Neah the piano teacher share the last name? Where did Allen get his last name if he was an orphan? His step-father?
Mana…Mana Walker. That's right, Allen said Mana taught him the symbols used as sheet music.
The girl shook her head, heating up from excessive thinking.
This cannot be. Bidelia's piano teacher is connected to a circus clown in a small town of England?
Desdemona sighed in exasperation. All these facts, all these information, why is she so familiar with all these names? There's something else connecting all these, there must be. She knew it must be in her memories, but she cannot find the key to all these riddles.
"Dem, you have a horrible expression on your face." Allen pointed out as he walked away from the newly constructed gate, the rest would be handled by the Scientists.
"Shut up Beansprout, get on with your job." She rubbed her forehead, a headache was slowly settling in.
"Yes Madam." Allen complied, his tone was full of playful sarcasm though. "Where are we headed to next?"
Link ticked off their current location on the list Desdemona offered him, and moved his pen down to the next one. "We're headed to Serbia next, the gate will be set up within an Orthodox Church."
"Let's go then." Desdemona led the way out of the Church they are currently in. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest while her head was lowered in thought. She's certain, the names Mana Walker and Neah Walker sound extremely familiar, and not just because she repeated them so frequently in her head for the past couple of days.
Could it be in something the Innocence showed her before?
"Dem, you're walking the wrong way." Allen pointed out as he reached out to grab her wrist to prevent her walking into a pillar.
"Hmm…" Desdemona subconsciously followed Allen's guiding hand. "Allen I need to ask you-" She began, but suddenly stopped as she noticed Link's presence behind them.
"Yes?" Allen smiled at the girl in deep thought, wondering what exactly was she mauling over so intensely that she would almost walk into a pillar.
"Nevermind." Desdemona sighed in frustration. If only that Link wasn't following Allen everywhere he went.
The male exorcist held her hand a bit tighter, enjoying the lack of rejection brought by her occupied mind.
The girl fell asleep on the train that will take them back into Europe, the traveling and the gate-making has tired her out more than expected. It might be because recently, she hasn't been able to sleep properly, the dreams of her past didn't cease to haunt her nights.
Allen and Link opened the door to the carriage, returning from their trip to the Dining car during which Allen downed the train's entire food supply while Link watched the English boy eat in amazement.
Allen patted his stomach in satisfaction. Even though this mission wasn't as tiring or stressful, his appetite did not seem to decrease.
He stopped as he neared their seat. He noticed the girl's head leaning on the window, and she sat unmoving. He quietly approached to see the girl's eyes closed. Allen smiled, Dem looks so peaceful when she sleeps.
Link shuffled past Allen in the narrow walkway and sat down on the opposite seat, taking notes in his little notebook. (No one knows what he writes in it) Allen, on the other hand, took off his coat and proceeded to cover the sleeping girl to prevent her from catching a cold before sitting down beside her.
Desdemona stirred but did not wake.
The boy leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as he, too, tried to get some rest before tomorrow's work. The girl seemed to really want to rush this mission, forcing him to create seven to nine gates a day, which was only expected to increase as they enter Europe.
Despite all this, she seemed to be a lot more tired than he is.
He sighed. His thoughts wondered back to the problem lingering in the recesses of his mind.
You will hurt someone you care about.
Allen tightened his left hand into a fist.
The Fourteenth will use you to return to this world.
No he won't. Allen won't let him.
Because Allen will definitely protect everyone he cares about with his own strength.
Mony clutched her coat closer to herself as she scurried through town. Her destination was the apothecary, where she will replenish Chase's medicine.
They said there was no cure for tuberculosis. Pain killers only relieve symptoms and in some cases, the extra rest brought by the drowsy effect have been known to aid recovery. However, those methods only work for the rich people who live with plenty of food, water and clothes.
Poor people have no chance of recovery.
The girl stopped thinking about things like these a long time ago. In fact, she stopped trying to think so much since…
Thinking back, it has been a full year since Bidelia died…it is almost Christmas once again.
Running into the familiar apothecary, the girl faced the tall man behind the counter. The man raised an eyebrow. "You again? Still here for the usual medicine?"
The girl nodded, "Still the same ones."
The pharmacist shook his head, "Look girl, the tuberculosis outbreak around here means all the ones you need are in shortage. There's not much left at all, so we have to raise the price."
"How much are they now." Mony looked to the ground, her voice was cold.
"Double." The man replied swiftly, knowing for sure that the girl could not afford it.
Mony was silent for a while as she stared out onto the street. She felt the coins in her coat pocket that were meant to be just enough. However, the price is changed…and that changes everything. She watched the nobles, traders and merchants strut around town, and an inexplicable hatred grew within her.
"Sir, I have some jewellery and some more coins at home. Can you please set aside the medicine I need? I will return with enough money soon." The girl requested.
"Sure." The pharmacist agreed easily, doubting the truth in her words.
Mony ran back onto the cold street. However, instead of returning on her usual path back to the circus, she turned a corner into an alleyway. She removed the worn gloves on her hand and placed them into her pockets. Rubbing her hands together to heat them up and return some sense into her fingertips, she exited the alleyway on the other side.
Her keen eyes began to work, pinpointing the nobles and the immoral tradesmen. Rings, bracelets, watches, purses: these arrogant beings flaunted their wealth at their exterior.
The girl pulled her lips into a smile for the first time in a year.
She's going to help herself to Chase's medicine.
~x.X.x~
"Here you go." The small Eurasian girl dumped a bag of gold coins on the apothecary's counter, the loud thud caught the pharmacist's attention immediately.
The man stared at the sum in disbelief, "I cannot believe this."
"Is this enough for the medicine?" The girl inquired innocently, knowing full well this sum is well beyond what the portion of medicine is worth.
"Yes yes, definitely. In fact, with this much money I can sell you the remaining stock of the drugs you need." The man opened the bag and reached in, scooping out a fistful of gold coins to check their legitimacy.
"How much do you have?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Enough to last your brother all the way through winter." He moved quickly, going into the back room and emerging with a large bag of drugs, larger than her bag of coins. "This is all I stock until next spring. Take it all."
"Thanks." The girl gladly accepted the man's offer. She threw the heavy sack onto her back.
"I'm sure this will be enough. After all this time, your brother will surely recover. If not… Either way he will most definitely not need any more drugs than these." The man nodded to the girl.
To the girl, his words of reassurance regarding her desperate financial situation were not welcome. She did not want to hear from this money-loving, greedy man talk of Chase's sickness and life as if he knew the future. Some people should just shut their mouths and do what they're paid for.
Recover or die? That will not happen. Even if Chase cannot recover fully, she will not let him die.
Bidelia had already left them because of their powerlessness, she won't let Chase slip away too.
Mony returned onto the streets. This time, she headed straight for the path that leads back to the circus. In the distant sky, the sun began to set. A deep red colour crept up from the horizon into the blue sky, like blood diffusing into water.
Various avian creatures littered the sky with black spots, their homing cacophony echoed through the sky. From the direction of the circus, a flock of frightened birds appeared to flee their abode, disrupting the peaceful rhythm of the homing flocks closer to town.
Mony frowned at the unusual phenomenon. Despite telling herself to dismiss it as something unimportant, the feeling that something seemed wrong still lingered at the back of her mind. She quickened her pace, eager to return to her brother's side as soon as possible.
The circus was quite far away from the centre of town. It took up too much space and was thus located away from trading areas. It did little to benefit the number of guests to the circus, but apparently the clowns often came into town to perform on the street.
By the time Mony saw the circus, the sun had mostly disappeared behind the horizon. The little girl warily approached the bunch of tents in the middle of nowhere, painfully aware of the unnatural silence surrounding the place.
Not one sound is heard. Not even the scurrying of rats.
This cannot be right. It is almost dinner time, at which point everyone rushes around trying to complete their tasks before running to the kitchen tent to get their portion of food. Most people take their dinner to their tents, while others speak and sing loudly in dining tents. The candle lights should flicker, and the men start their usual drinking spree.
Yet tonight, there was nothing.
A flash of black moved out of a tent, and Mony instinctively hid behind a nearby bush, clutching Chase's medicine to herself tightly.
"No one knows where the clown and the kid went." A deep, hoarse voice came. Mony frowned, she didn't know that voice…who was it?
Peeking over the bush, she spotted two men standing at the main gate, their backs towards her. One of them was extremely large, with broad shoulders and slicked back hair. The other one was leaner, shorter but still tall, wearing a tuxedo suit and a top hat. Both men had black hair and dark skin.
"I was sure someone might...if you didn't kill them the instant they said no." The smaller one accused the larger man with a tone of amusement.
Kill?! What did they do…
"What do we do with the rest of them? Some of them are still hiding in their tents, quivering in fear!" The larger one chuckled, his laughter sent shivers down the little girl's back.
"Burn them." The smaller man stated, "Burn them all. The Earl doesn't want anyone connected to that man to be left alive."
"Hyahyahya!" The large man moved immediately. The girl could not see clearly, but it appeared that the man retrieved either a barrel of alcohol or oil from the kitchen. "This is my favourite part!" She watched in horror as the man moved with inhuman speed around the circus, dowsing every tent with the contents of the barrel.
They are really going to burn everything down!
She held her bag of medicine even tighter. She cannot move now, if she is found they will kill her. She needs to find a chance to sneak to the back of the circus…
"Good bye." The smaller one struck a match, and dropped it into a pool of liquid at his feet. Instantly, the liquid burst into flames. The fire spread amongst the tents so quickly that the entire circus was up in flames within several seconds. The girl watched in shock, her body trembled uncontrollably.
Chase…
Satisfied with their work well done, the two men turned to leave. They soon disappeared into the night, as if they were never there.
Knowing that she had not another second to wait, the girl dumped the bag and ran out of the bush. Dashing around the grounds of the burning circus, her eyes began to water from the smoke.
Navigating through with poor visibility, she knew she had to reach the living area. In the corner, close to the outside fence, she would find the tent Chase was in. There, she will pull Chase out of the fire and get him to safety.
Even though the two men spoke of killing most members of the circus, the girl chose to believe that Chase was unharmed.
She hoped with all her heart that he was unharmed.
The girl coughed, the pungent smell of burning cloth and burning flesh made her feel sick.
It was difficult to see and difficult to breathe, but the girl managed to get close to the low fence of the circus at its back side. In the flames she spotted her target.
Mony swiftly jumped over the fence. Covering her lower face with her sleeve, she ran towards the burning structure.
"Chase!" She yelled, which proved to be a bad choice as the lungful of smoke she took rendered her into a coughing mess.
She neared slowly, unable to run for much longer due to her increasing dizziness, caused by the lack of oxygen.
The girl flinched as a tent to her right collapsed. The flying sparks singed the girl's skin and clothes. She gritted her teeth, this much pain is nothing. She swerved around the debris in flames.
Bang!
Suddenly, a bright light blinded her eyes and an explosion deafened her. A large force threw her backwards into the fence. The old, rotten wood broke behind her back, knocking the small amount of remaining air out of the girl's lungs.
Mony could not move as she laid on the ground. Her strength was fading away, her vision darkened and her ears were ringing. With the little bit of sight she had left, the girl saw Chase's tent…or what was left of it after an explosion.
She summoned all her remaining strength, and lifted her hand towards the remnants of the tent. She felt heavy, she was losing sight of Chase. The same darkness that was slowly taking over her vision was also devouring her inside. The sensation of immense pain did not come, instead she felt all her feelings fading away.
Her consciousness quickly slipped from her grasp.
Chase…
"Dem!"
Who?
"Dem!"
Chase?
The girl slowly opened her eyes, the lights overhead proved to be too bright. She frowned and blinked, her vision slowly recovering from the blinding white.
"Dem?"
"Allen?" Desdemona frowned. The white haired boy was right in front of her with a worried expression on his face. Also, something was covering her and it smelt like Allen. She looked down and saw the boy's coat over her.
"Dem are you okay?" He asked, his tone was laced with worry.
"Yeah, I'm ok, why wouldn't I be?" She used a hand to push the coat back. She sat up straighter, rubbing her forehead to ease a throbbing headache.
"You seemed to be having a nightmare and…" Allen paused and looked down, "You're clutching my arm really tightly."
Dem followed Allen's eyes and saw that her own hand was wrapped around Allen's right forearm like a vice. She seemed to be cutting off his circulation: his hand was turning purple. She let go of him quickly.
"Ow!" Allen flinched at the girl's sudden release, stinging his skin and forcing his blood back into his hand.
"S-sorry…" The girl looked away, frowning at herself. What's wrong with me?
"Ahaha it's ok." Allen laughed absent-mindedly, he rubbed his right forearm lightly, restoring blood flow. "What did you dream about?" He asked gently.
"It's none of your business." She replied harshly.
"…" He looked down. Having her by his side for the past few days had greatly consoled Allen's distressed and confused state of mind, which he was grateful for. It was a wonder what the girl's presence can do for him. However, under circumstances like these, when she was the one being frightened and distraught, Allen was unable to do the same for her.
He felt useless.
"Did I…" The girl began as she turned to Allen, though her eyes were still averted to the ground, "Say anything?"
Allen shook his head, "You muttered something but I couldn't hear properly."
The Eurasian girl nodded in relief. She suddenly felt something cold drop onto her arm and glanced down to see…water?
"Dem!" Allen's concerned face appeared in front of her again as he leaned over. "You're crying…" Impulsively, the boy gently wiped the tears off her face with his hand.
The girl didn't resist. "No I'm not!" She really wasn't crying, there's just…water coming out from her eyes.
"Ahahaha Dem…You are." He laughed softly. She is so stubborn. "Now we're even." He smirked in satisfaction as he kept soaking her tears up with his sleeve.
"What even?" She frowned, why weren't her tears stopping?
"You saw me cry too, didn't you?"
She glared at him smiling happily as he recalled. Out of frustration, the girl pinched his smiling cheeks and pulled on them painfully. "Why are you smiling?" She frowned.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Allen tried to pry the girl's hands off his cheeks, but she let go of him quickly anyway.
She rubbed her eyes, and was relieved to feel that her tears were finally stopping. She took a deep breath, realising that she had been holding her breath for a while.
However, as if the world was not finished tormenting her, her stomach suddenly grumbled.
That's right, she slept through dinner.
"Are you hungry?" Allen poked her cheek that was flushing a bit.
"You don't say!" She shook her head incredulously, whipping his hand with her ponytail. What's with him and touching her face.
"Hee hee." The boy smiled before grabbing the girl's hand. He pulled her into the walkway firmly.
The girl suddenly noticed Link on the opposite seat, his arms were crossed in front of his chest and his eyes were closed. He is asleep?
"W-wait where are we going?" She turned to Allen, whose face was unexpectedly close to hers due to the limited width of the walkway.
"Up." He pointed a finger upwards and grinned. He had been smiling so much that he looked quite idiotic.
"Link?" Desdemona nodded to the sleeping man.
"Let him sleep, now might be the only time he's not following me everywhere." Allen sighed, Link's presence made him uneasy. "Let's go."
He pulled on her hand and led her out of the carriage. He opened two doors and arrived at the bridge connecting to the next car. He located the small ladder on the side of the car, and climbed onto the roof of the moving train. She pouted but followed him up.
The train was moving moderately fast, so the wind up here was quite strong. However, the girl didn't feel cold. Why didn't she feel cold?
She glanced down, realising Allen's coat was still hanging on her shoulders, outside her own coat. On the other hand, the boy wore only his uniform. She shrugged his coat off herself.
"Ahhh this is nice!" Allen threw his arms into the air, happy to be able to breathe freely again. "Just a little cold don't you think?" Just as he was about to turn to the girl, he felt her placing something on his shoulders.
"Of course it's cold if you don't wear your coat, idiot." She rolled her eyes at his stupidity.
"Thank you Dem!" Allen turned as he extended his arms into the sleeves. "Ahhhh warm~" he hugged the coat around him, the warmth from the girl was still inside.
"So?" She raised her eyebrows, his collar was half in and half out. She pulled on his coat to make him stand closer and proceeded to tidy it properly. It might be her imagination but did his face grow redder? "Why did you take me up here?"
"Uhhh…" He stared at her fixing his collar. "I-I mean…here." From who-knows-where, he produced a little white box.
The girl tilted her head, "What's this?"
The English boy scratched his head, "Well, you slept through dinner and their dessert was nice so…"
Taking the box from him, she opened the lid to see some satisfying-looking piece of cake. She smiled for the first time that night, "Thanks."
Taking her hand again, Allen pulled the girl behind a protruding structure on the roof of the train, he didn't know what it was, could be some kind of emergency escape. He sat down behind it and she followed, sitting down beside him. "There's no wind here."
Happily settled, the girl opened the box again to see a small fork sitting at the bottom. Despite Allen's usual clumsiness, he is actually quite attentive. She grabbed the fork and began downing her cake.
He watched her with a smile before lifting his head upwards. "So many stars." The boy admired the country night sky, littered with thousands of glittering stars that are otherwise invisible from busier cities.
"Someone once told me," The girl began, "When a person dies, they become a star in the sky. Even when they have left you, they will keep watching you from up there. During your darkest hours, they will keep guiding you."
Allen raised his eyebrows at the girl, who was star-gazing and cake-eating. "That's…a nice idea."
She nodded, "If what she told me was true…then she is up there too, somewhere."
"Who was she?" He tilted his head.
"Bidelia." The girl answered with a single name. It did not aid Allen in identifying the woman or her relationship with the girl. He felt she wouldn't say any more.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her playing with her pendant. He wondered if it was a coincidence that her pendant was also in the shape of stars.
As if something important came to her mind, the girl suddenly looked into Allen's eyes with a serious expression. "You saw General Cross after you arrived at the new Headquarters, didn't you?"
The question caught Allen off guard. The memory of Cross' merciless revelation, then his bloody room and his disappearance all flooded back to Allen's mind. Master…
Desdemona watched in confusion Allen's temporary shock, and wondered if the contents of their meeting had something to do with the "Fourteenth"…but she wanted to ask something else. "Did he mention a necklace?"
Allen shook his head, "Not that I recall…" He blinked at her, her question made no sense to him.
The girl sighed. She's no closer to the secrets of her necklace at all. She was wary of Cross but he seemed to know what he was doing with his sorcery. It doesn't make sense that an Innocence fragment would have sorcery cast on itself, neither does the Ark or the song or anything for that matter. Nothing makes sense to her. "Where is Cross anyway?" She muttered.
The English boy stared at her. His Master was most likely dead according to the Order, but he did not believe that. Yes, there was a large amount of blood and yes, Judgement is no longer synchronising to Cross…but that doesn't mean he's dead.
No one but the people here should know about this…
Rouvelier's voice rang in his head. "He's…probably off somewhere drinking and womanising as usual." Allen laughed at his own joke, wishing he could believe it.
The girl sighed again. Why are there so many secrets, so many complications? Why is she in the middle of it all? She didn't even want to be here, she was literally blackmailed into doing this by her Master. And now it's getting more and more out of hand. She should have run away back then, when she still could.
That's what she'd like to believe…However, if her necklace is involved in all this then…she's been involved in this war far longer than she knew.
Finishing her cake, the girl leaned back against the metal structure behind her. Timcampy, who was hiding inside Allen's coat the whole time, fluttered out. It ventured a bit far from the structure, and almost got blown away by the strong wind.
Allen reached out and grabbed Tim's tail, pulling it back to safety. "Tim, don't fly too far, you'll get blown away."
"Tim's getting bigger." The girl observed, "Do you feed your golem?"
"Tim eats what he wants." Allen shrugged, "and before I knew it, he got bigger."
"Can golems actually grow?" Dem frowned skeptically, aren't golems just a pile of metal in the form of a robot? "Mine sure doesn't."
As if summoned, the girl's golem, too, wriggled out of her coat and fluttered beside her. Tim flew over and bumped the black golem, who was quite a bit smaller. The black golem hissed at Tim in annoyance.
"Well, Master gave Tim to me so…I'm sure he did some sorcery on it…I think." Allen shrugged, not too sure either why Timcampy was so different.
Desdemona watched Tim trying to tackle her golem, but her black one dodged and dodged. "Tim, here." She patted her lap, and the larger golem flew over to land on her legs. The girl held the golem between her hands. "Tim, show me the music."
"Music?" Allen raised his eyebrows, he did show her the cryptic sheet music before…but why does she want to see it now?
The girl watched as Timcampy hesitated, but upon staring at her necklace and detecting something, it opened its mouth. (Desdemona had learned to distinguish Timcampy's gaze, despite it not having an eyeball) A projection of the coded music soon appeared before the girl.
My necklace…again.
The girl examined the nonsensical circles on the projection, and gave up trying to decode it. However, she didn't need to. She knew what was written on it. "So the little boy fell asleep."
Allen widened his eyes, did she just…read it?
"The flames amongst breathing ashes, shining once, then twice."
The boy immediately leaned towards the girl. "Dem…" He breathed in shock, "You can read it too?"
The girl smiled at Allen's reaction. "No, I can't read the code." She saw Allen's eyes droop in disappointment. "But I know the song."
"You know…the song?" He frowned, "I never knew it was a…common song."
"It's not a common song." The girl confirmed, "Which was why I was quite shocked when you played it. Back in Edo we could hear the song from outside the Ark."
"Why didn't you ask me before?" The boy continued to frown, his eyebrows were going to stay like that permanently soon.
She shook her head, "I wasn't sure…It was all too confusing. Why would that song be the one that controls a Noah's Ark? Why did you know it? Why was it written in a secret code that no one understood?" she took a deep breath, "But now that I know, at least, what's going on with you and the Ark…I think I can ask…"
He buried his face into his knees. She waited, knowing well that whenever he is distressed or upset, he automatically goes into that position. "This has gotten too complicated, Dem. I don't even know myself. You want the same answers that I want, yet what I know I cannot tell you…and I'm guessing you won't be telling me your story either?"
She nodded. She won't tell him anything unless he tells her something, yet the Order has silenced the matter. "Walker…" The girl suddenly laughed, earning Allen's confused gaze.
"Allen Walker…" She extended her index finger, counting the number one with her hand. "Mana Walker…" she added her middle finder, Neah Walker… She added her ring finger. "Walker, huh?" She smiled at herself as she shook her head, "It seems that Bidelia got us into the middle of a family problem even though we are outsiders." She muttered to herself.
The boy stared in confusion. Who was the third person? The only one he could think of right now is the Fourteenth, Neah Walker…yet there's no way the girl would know him.
"Dem?" He waited for her to look at him. Those ebony voids turned to him immediately, staring into his eyes. She noticed the seriousness in his gaze. "If I get taken over by the Fourteenth, will you kill me?"
She hesitated, contemplating her answer carefully. Her instinct was to say 'I'll gladly kill you anytime', but because of the look in his eyes, she felt the need to tell him her true thoughts. "Unless the Fourteenth tries to kill me, I will not kill you…or rather, him."
Allen frowned, that wasn't the answer he wanted. He expected her to say something like "I'll gladly kill you anytime", but hoped that she would have the resolve to kill him if he does lose his control over the memories. He wanted to trust her to stop him before the Fourteenth uses his body to hurt someone he cares for.
"…Why?" A portion of him hoped that her answer came from the little bit of feeling she has for him, for Allen Walker…whether it's hatred, or annoyance or frustration. He wanted her to make that decision because of him, even when her answer wasn't ideal.
She averted her gaze and looked up to the stars. If Bidelia trusts him, then I will too. "The Fourteenth isn't necessarily my enemy."
Allen felt as if a heavy stone was placed on his chest. Her decision wasn't because of him…it was because of the person inside him. He closed his frowning eyes. Why? Why does everyone only care about the remnant of a long-dead person inside him? The Order, Cross, this girl…and even Mana. Why are the people around him already starting to ignore his existence, Allen Walker's existence, even though the Fourteenth has not yet taken over his body?
It hurts.
It really hurts.
Silently, Allen got up and retreated back the way they came. The girl watched but did not follow. She wondered if her answer was wrong.
Cut Allen some slack, ok?
She suddenly remembered Komui's words. Sighing loudly, the girl ran a hand through her hair in irritation.
Why does she have to be considerate of him anyway? He was the one who asked her, and yet he couldn't handle her honest answer. She lowered her guards around him because she thought it was ok to be vulnerable in front of him…just for a little bit.
She thought it was safe.
If that's how he receives her true thoughts then he no longer deserves to be let into her heart.
She will not let him trespass the walls she's built around herself ever again.
Link walked in between the two exorcists, whose relations seemed to have evaporated overnight. The central agent thought the two of them were close…in fact, he was convinced the two of them were really close through the past few days of observation. Yet somehow, since this morning, the two of them have not even looked at each other, let alone exchanged any words.
Did something happen last night?
Link dismissed the idea. He was sure he watched over the host of the Fourteenth so closely that he cannot kill a fly without Link noticing. Although…last night, Link does remember falling asleep after both exorcists fell asleep.
Maybe something happened when he was asleep.
The blonde man sighed…that means his performance in his job was not satisfactory.
"We are here." The female exorcist announced, looking up at the towering Church before them. This is another one of the Order's liaison points.
Allen knocked on the door. After several seconds, a long haired priest opened the heavy Church doors, greeting the exorcists. "Exorcists, we have been expecting you." He welcomed them cordially.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." The English boy was equally polite. "Now if you don't mind, would you please show us the location you would like the gate to be set? We're on a tight schedule so we will try not to impose for too long."
"Of course." The priest nodded, "Please follow me."
Desdemona took the chance to put a call through to Komui, who didn't take long to pick up. "Komui, we're here."
"Nice, we'll be waiting here."
The party of three followed the priest through halls, walkways and stairs, arriving at the Church basement where a large room appeared to be recently cleared out.
Expertly, Allen stood in the centre of the room. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, and a luminescent circle appeared at his feet.
The girl shut her eyes tightly, the song played in her head again. She tried to shut it out but failed.
In another few seconds, shining polygon panels appeared. The gate became complete once the number "52" appeared on the panel.
"It's 52." The girl reported back to the Supervisor. "Check it."
"On it." The other side of the communicator sounded quite busy, as expected of the science department.
Within another few minutes, the head of a Scientist popped out of the newly created gate. "Ah, it's right." The Scientist waved at the two exorcists, "Good work! You two can go now, leave the rest to us."
Turning on her feet, the girl left the Church the way they came in.
After so many times of doing the same thing, their routine had gotten faster and faster. The first gate took them almost an hour, and now, it can be done within 10 minutes.
Allen stayed behind to deal with some formalities with the Scientist and the priest, before following the path out of the Church. Link stayed close behind the white haired boy.
Once they stepped onto the street, Allen caught the girl staring blankly at the sky. The weather wasn't too great. Not a patch of sky can be seen due to the clouds that threatened rain, as a result, the entire city seemed gloomy and lifeless.
Hearing familiar footsteps behind her, the girl didn't need to turn to check before walking off in the direction of the rail line. Finally, it's done. There's only one location left and it's the one place she wanted to be, after this tiring journey. It has been a whole year since she last returned.
She ran the statistics through her head. Due to their efficiency, they have completed 52 gates within 8 days. That leaves them 6 days of rest before needing to return to Headquarters.
She thought about it, it is unlikely Allen or Link would want to stay there, so she'll have them go back before her. It'll be better that way.
Plus, she had decided that there was something she must do before going back. It would make it easier if neither Allen nor Link were around to question her.
Allen watched the girl rush ahead with her gaze focused on the ground. He knew it wasn't right to blame her for what she said last night, but the sense of betrayal in his heart wouldn't allow him to forgive her either.
Yes, he does love her, but the more he loves her, the more deeply her betrayal hurts him.
His existence didn't matter to her.
"Mr. Walker, is something the matter?" Link suddenly asked the silent exorcist, which pulled Allen's thoughts back into reality.
"N-no?" He shook his head, "Why do you ask?"
Link frowned, "You have been silent all morning…" The agent glanced over to the girl, "In fact, both you and Miss Beast have been completely silent all morning."
Allen followed Link's gaze and sighed, observing the girl being focused and bothered by her own thoughts. She's quite obviously angry at him, which he could understand. Normally she would never have been so honest and trusting as she was last night, which might be because of her momentary period of weakness after she was woken from her nightmare.
However, Allen realised that his reaction to her honesty must have wounded her. To her, it would be like finally trusting him and lowering her guards, taking off her armour, only to get stabbed by him. He couldn't bring himself to apologise, even though he should. Allen sighed again, whatever was wrong with him, he wasn't being himself.
"Link, you're overthinking it. We're both just tired." The English exorcist tried.
Link knew he wasn't going to get the truth from the boy, so he nodded and accepted the excuse.
The train trip was deadly silent as expected. Aside from the lack of communication, Link found it bizarre that the two exorcists behaved unusually normal. He reached the conclusion that there must be some kind of emotional conflict between the two.
An hour into the train trip, the girl suddenly stood up. She shuffled past Allen and Link, who were sitting closer to the aisle, and walked to the end of the carriage.
At first, Allen tried to ignore her, but after a couple of seconds, gave up and looked over his seat, glancing after the girl with concern.
"Do you need to go after her?" Link offered, noticing Allen leaning forwards in his seat, almost wanting to stand up.
Allen shook his head in defeat before giving Link an accusing stare, "You will follow me, won't you?"
"Well…" Link thought about it. Their state of stalemate doesn't exactly benefit the current mission, and letting the boy out of his sight for a little while is not too bad. "If you return within 10 minutes then I'll pretend you never left your seat."
The exorcist blinked, before quickly chasing after the girl in the direction she went. Allen opened the door at the end of the cabin, and arrived at the small area between the door to the cabin and the door to the outside of the train. The toilet cubicle was immediately to his right, but just as he turned the corner, he stopped.
The girl was standing in front of a small window, her black golem hovered beside her. The static noise coming from the small robot suggested that the girl was trying to connect a call.
With a loud click, the phone on the other side of the connection was answered. "Hello?" A woman's voice said.
"Margaret? It's me, Dem." The girl answered the woman, her tone was gentle in a way Allen has never heard the girl speak. Allen turned back, thinking that he shouldn't eavesdrop nor disturb the girl's call. However, before he turned the handle on the door behind him, he stopped.
He wanted to hear her voice.
Even though it's only been a few hours since they last talked, and even though he was convinced that her betrayal couldn't be forgiven…he suddenly realised how lonely the past few hours were. He missed her voice, her presence. He wants to hear her voice.
"Oh! Dem! How are you?" The woman on the other end was quite excited.
"I'm good. I'm coming home." Allen could hear the smile in her words. It was then that he finally understood why the girl was rushing: the last location was her home. She probably really wanted to spend more time there. He realised that he knew nothing about the girl: he assumed the Order was her only home, like the rest of them. "How are you and Franz?"
"We are good! Plus, we've known you're coming home from the Order. Something about some teleportation and gates…but those doesn't matter. How long can you stay this time?"
"Probably 5 days maximum."
"That's quite a long holiday you have there, Dem. I'm sure Tempest will be very happy. He misses you, you know?"
The Eurasian girl laughed, causing Allen to feel an unexplainable sensation in his chest. It felt as if his heart fluttered at her laugh, but his chest constricted painfully at the same time. Her laugh was music to his ears, but he wondered why it was never for him.
"I miss him too…" The girl trailed off slightly, "Margaret, I think I need to take a road trip North before I return to the Headquarters, I'll take Tempest with me."
"North?" The woman questioned, "You're going back there again?"
"Yes I am."
"Well, sure! You always go there every year, we never know what you do there though. Anyhow, get here first! I'll make all your favourite food! Including cakes, of course. I received that recipe book you mailed me last month! I tried some of them and Franz loved them!"
"I can't wait." Desdemona touched a hand to the cold glass of the small window as she stared outside, watching the scenery pass by. "Margaret?"
"Yes?"
"I'm tired." Her voice was weak. Allen tightened his jaws. He really shouldn't be here, eavesdropping on her conversation, listening to her gentle words, her joyous laugh and her vulnerability when none of it was for him. He twisted the handle of the door, and left quietly.
Allen returned to his seat, closing his eyes and trying hard to sleep before they have to get off. Link observed the exorcist, and deducted that the conflict was not resolved at all. If anything, it just got worse. He decided not to question Allen, after all, the exorcist never really left his seat.
Desdemona listened to the silence from her golem. What she said obviously stunned Margaret, who was having trouble replying. The girl heard the woman sigh on the other end. "Dem? Even though you're not our real child, and you really haven't lived with us for all that long…just remember that to Franz and I, you are our real child. Our home will always be your home, we will always be on your side."
The girl nodded, although Margaret wouldn't have seen. "I know, Margaret. Thank you."
"We'll wait for you here."
With a click, the connection ended. The golem flew back into her coat. She lingered before the window for a few more minutes.
Recently, the Innocence hasn't uttered a word.
Hey, Innocence, are you there?
…
Silence.
The girl shook her head. Her Innocence is really self-serving. When it needs her, it uses her and when it doesn't need her, it leaves her. Her hope of locating Judgement and reviewing the Innocence's memories were gone.
She re-entered the cabin and returned to her seat. She saw that Link was making notes in his small notebook, while Allen had his eyes closed, probably trying to get some rest.
"After creating the last gate, the two of you return to Headquarters first." She stated blatantly. Link blinked: the girl spoke for the first time that day.
"Why?" Allen suddenly spoke. Link blinked more: did the two of them talk? Maybe his deduction was wrong, was the conflict solved?
"I have things to do."
"Then I'll accompany you."
"There's no need for that."
"This mission was given to the two of us. I won't return without you."
The girl hesitated. She turned away from the male exorcist and looked out the window. "Suit yourself." She shrugged, leaning on her elbow on the window sill, "There wasn't the need to eavesdrop, was there?"
Allen froze, did she notice? "Sorry."
"I don't need your apology." Her tone grew harsh.
Allen wondered if her words referred to more than the eavesdropping.
He was still surprised, though. He was sure he didn't make any noise. "How…How did you notice?" He asked quietly.
"Too loud."
She was glad that he stopped his questioning there. No, he wasn't loud…in fact, he didn't make any noise.
However, she would never admit that she recognises his scent.
Link sat silently in confusion. All his deductions have gone down the drain.
He really didn't understand teenagers anymore.
Yes Kavi is a sado writer and enjoys making Allen and Dem slowly get closer, then BOOM their distance is bigger than ever before *killed*
Anyhow, the plot and character development shall be moving along quickly now. I'm actually quite interested in hearing from you guys what kind of plot you think this will lead to. XD
I've also been having an urge to draw Dem in the various uniforms. Ahahahaa.
Will you leave a review for this chapter? Tell me if you like/hate it please?
Now type!
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