Author's notes: And the Tenth Chapter is finally in here! Sorry for waiting so long for this chapter. I'm already backing to college, not to mention that this is my last year, so please forgive me if the update will be far slower than the previous chapters since I'll focusing to my study. By the way, I have read the newest chapter of D. Gray-Man, Chapter 216 and I was like 'what the h*ll…!? What was this…!?'. It made my skin crawled with both eagerness and annoyance because that thing –a.k.a Apocryphos- did this same nasty thing –I said nasty because I don't like the idea how the feathers were grew up from your eye sockets when it erase your memory- to Kanda. And now there's also Millennium Earl. Seriously, I almost went crazy when I read it, I want to punched at something, anything, gah!

And for the chapter, all I can just say is…wow. Just wow. I mean, I never write a chapter this long! What on earth, more than 16,000 words…!? I'm intended to write over 7,000 words but it doubled more than 2 times than it supposed to be! That must be my record…! I hope you'll like this longer version chapter, everyone.

For the reviews, I owe you all a big thank you because there are two reviews from the previous chapter! This means I can keep continuing update the chapters as well! And surprise, surprise! I got more than 1.000 hits now! Thank so much, everyone! And time for the reviews!

For flygon 3300: Yes, They're a cute couple and I loved them as well! X3 Well, this is actually the most many reviews story I've ever write, so I considering 26 reviews as many reviews. The other stories I wrote never had these much reviews, you have no idea how happy I am whenever I read your reviews. That's why I keep persistent to all readers to send reviews even it's just one word. And thank you very much for the review you gave! I really appreciate it! :D

For The Black Guard: Thank you very very much for the review! Who said that I don't like reviews, In fact I'm very waiting for ones like this! XD When I found your review; I can't stop myself for jumped in happiness, LOL! Please don't hesitate to keep reviewing this story and keep follow this story; I will be waiting for you! :D Good Day/ Night for you too.

For evelvet: Thank you so much for the reviews. XD I'm also very adore this cute pair and can't wait to make some fluffy events for them...! By the way, thank you for your choice, I'm really appreciating it; you have my gratitude in there. :D It must be very cute when they're holding hands (squealed)! Be patience because it'll take a time before I can added more cute events into this story. ;D

And thank you for DevilNinjaXIII for favorite this story! I hope you like this story and keep continue to reading it as well! I gave my gratitude to everyone who has alerted this story too. Started from SaphiratheDragon, BLACK SUMMERSUNS 88, flygon3300, seaweedbrainsam, Unconquered Fayth, chained2love, icegoddess52, Empoleonlover98, DragonFire Princess, and Liquid Twilight. Thanks a lot, guys! I'll be crippled without your supports.

Disclaimer: Isn't it very obvious since this is a fanfic?

Warning: This fic have gender bender, some spoilers, few swearings, and a lot, I really mean A LOT of bad grammars. I wish it was my first language….. T_T;;;

Alert: By the way, I need someone's help who can write a fight scene. I can imagine some scene of fights but I'm pretty much clueless in martial arts and some advanced sword fights. Please send me a message if one from you wants it! I'll gladly accept it.

The God's Clown and the Prince of the Sky

Story10: RIGOR MORTIS*

*The rigidity of death.

It was a rather gloom day for the Kingdom of Lucis. The sky was colored with heavy gray color; the sounds of thunder came faintly from behind the dark clouds, signifying it would be rain soon in few minutes given. The dark clouds continued to rolling over the kingdom, as if to warn the citizens far below to take a shelter from the seemingly heavy rain that surely will last until night. Even though the citizens looked doing their normal activities, the tenseness at the air hadn't lessened yet.

More than a week had passed ever since the assault doing by Niflheim happened at Lucis. The kingdom had suffered quite much as result. The numbers of soldiers and citizens who died from the fierce battle were not little. Because of this, The Lucis Kingdom was now seeking for more alliances and going in hurry from the supposed schedules. Inside the palace, all of the ministers' duties and business became two times as ever before. None of them want this kind of assault ever happen again. They couldn't let their guard down yet.

Meanwhile, deep within the palace, there was a chamber existed. It wasn't an ordinary room for it only for the king. It was a room where the king should rule for its kingdom. It was an important room but not as important as the Holy Chamber. It designed with elegant yet modern design of architecture. The color of brown and rosewood adored the whole room. In the huge and almost empty room except few statues placed at the edge of the room, there were two peoples.

One was the man we known as Ignis, face held the calm of professionalism and steady posture, he wore a black formal suit. Few feet before him, above the few stairs, sat on the throne, was a middle aged man with slick back black colored hair that turned into white at some places and also wore a suit but much more elegant than the one Ignis wore. The man had this royalty aura around him; his face was firm yet showed the calmness within, and his blue eyes were staring directly at the man who stood before him.

This man was Regis Lucis Caelum, the current king of Lucis, and Ignis came to him for report.

"How's the reconstruction going so far, Ignis?" The man asked as his calculating eyes eyed the bespectacled man.

"Some of the reconstructions of the damage places within the kingdom are almost complete. The reconstructions in the palace also almost reach the complete state. Both Cor and I had raised and double our security over the kingdom as your order, Your Majesty."

"...I see." The slick back haired man thoughtfully, he was a lot relieved. Yet he couldn't completely calm as his mind was being disturbed by something far more important thing. He was very worried about it; he wouldn't go to deny it.

"Then what about the investigation?" The king asked again.

Ignis serious expression became darker at this mention.

"We found none until this far and yet we're still trying to look through the old parchments and documents considering the Great Crystal and its power and own will...to remove one person to another place."

Pain flashed within Regis' darker shade of sky blue colored eyes but his composure was staying still. All he could do was taking a deep breath to ease the burden inside his heart. How could he was? It was about Noctis. It was about his beloved son who disappeared from the assault more than a week ago. Had he not heard the whole story from Ignis himself, clarified by Prompto, he wouldn't have any confidence to believe it at all. But he wasn't, this was the Great Crystal they talked about. Despise the fact he had kept it for a long time, even longer than his son, there were more things which still unknown to the current king of Lucis. He knew the Great Crystal had took Noctis to somewhere but to where, only Etro that knows. As if the assault of his kingdom was not enough, now this...

"Keep continues to search. If it necessary, I'll give you, Gladiolus, Cor, and Prompto an access to the restricted area at the library."

"Your Majesty...?" Ignis seemed startled at the sudden claim.

Sensing the shock was coming from Ignis, Regis raised his hand as if to keep whatever the brown haired man want to say.

"I'm aware that the restricted area is only for those who bear the royalty blood within them and forbidden to all palace residents, but considering we're have such a critical situation, I granted the permission to use the area. I want nothing more than to find Noctis as soon as possible and with you, together with Prompto and Gladiolus are the ones that can do this, besides the fact the three of you are his friends..."

"Your Majesty..." Ignis didn't know what to say.

"I trust you, Ignis." Regis nodded at the man. "I have the faith on you and the others as well."

"...Very well, I understand your wish. I'll do it immediately..." Ignis bowed at the king. "If you'll excuse me." Ignis was departing from the room and gone from the king's sight.

Regis leaned back to his throne and he brought his black gloved hand into his wrinkled forehead. He closed his slightly darker color of sky blue eyes. The middle aged man sighed deeply and his face seemed to growing far older than his supposed age.

"...Noctis..." Regis murmured in low voice, almost whispering.

"Please be alright and safe in wherever you are standing now, son..."

When you're living a life, sometimes there was a time when you're doing something stupid or even considered a foolish. These acts were dividing into many things based on the purpose of the act itself. There was a foolish act lead by naughtiness, a foolish act that lead by curiosity, foolish act lead by anger, and many more you could name it as the list continuing to go on. Depend from the time, place, person, and situation, an act with good intention could have caught you into a large catastrophe. This could be very happening to all people around the world, we were not an exception as well. It was a solid proof of our humanity. That we were humankind that can make mistakes as well, that we had selfless yet also selfishness at the same time.

Have you ever wanted to help an old lady with her groceries but you got smacked in the end because she thought you as a thief? Or when you intended to help your mom cooking, you ended up destroying her whole cooks by adding the wrong spices for the example? Help your father repair the car's machine but you got it broke somehow and accidentally? Broke your brother's notebook when you're helping him to collect and type some data? All of these acts could happen to you if you're not acting accordingly or you did not perform as it should be. Mostly because the carelessness and you were not thinking further. Sometimes the consequences fell onto you.

This was what happened with Noctis when he tried his best to saving Ellen from joined Emilia's kick with Timothy. She was saved and away from him but he got kick on her place as a consequence because his first concern of Ellen had him forgot about his teleport ability. The result? A cut right on his forehead due to the clash with Timothy's jewel now existed.

And in this room, both Ellen and Noctis sat on the opposite chairs, Noctis had to stay still while the young woman Exorcist tends his injury. Marie and Kanda had just back from Timothy's room as Link stay with Ellen and Noctis, read the small book he always brought everywhere. Emilia was watching over Timothy's condition, so she didn't come along with them. Few moments later, Ellen finished her treating job.

"There! It's has done now." Ellen backed away from Noctis, her platinum colored eyes however had not left his now plastered forehead. "Please tell me, does it still hurting?"

Noctis looked hesitant at her but just keeping silent and he touched his forehead, tracing it carefully. The cut part where the white plaster was being covered didn't feel hurt anymore. There was a slight pain in there but mostly the pain had gone after she treated him. He shook his head and smiling thankfully at the silver haired Exorcist.

"Not anymore. Thank you so much for your help, Ellen."

Ellen sighed in long suffering way upon hear this. Well, she obviously relieved that he was fine and yet she clearly didn't too happy with him got hurt again in two days. Despise his capability and his odd strength, Noctis wasn't an Exorcist for God's Sake, surely his strength limited more so than her or Kanda!

"Just promise me you will not do that ever, ever again in the future." Ellen told him sternly, silver eyes half glared.

"You have no idea how panic I was when you're laid in there, you're look like a real dead person! What if something bad is happening to you…!? Or something even worse than a cut on the forehead…!? I can't imagine if we're gotten into a real fight…"

Noctis grimaced slightly at the way Ellen pressed the 'panic' word. While he actually had been through many worse things than this, he worried it might be served her more anxious so he didn't spill it in the end. Moreover, it wasn't like she would buy the typical excuse, not in this condition.

"I can't keep that promise to you but sure I'll keep my eyes." He complied.

Ellen huffed and folded her arms as her silver colored eyes narrowed warningly at him, she also had this dark aura around her.

"You're better being right about your words or I'll have to drag you back to inn, even if I must knock you out first. Promise me…!?"

Euclase eyes widened in horror as Noctis backed away unconsciously from the beautiful Exorcist who sat at his front and he couldn't help but gulped quietly. Oh no, this girl was surely soft and kind but when it comes to certain things, she could easily become scary if she wanted to, just like now.

"I promised..." He replied carefully.

Ellen nodded in obvious satisfaction. "Okay."

"Seriously, you're just like a fool back there. How can you're got hit by the brat and the woman's kick?" Kanda wrinkled his nose at the thought getting beaten by a normal woman.

"…I was too late to dodge?" Noctis offered the answer lamely.

Kanda stared at him as if he was the weirdest creature that had just come from a hole. "…Have anybody ever called you a fool before?"

"Sometimes. And I'm not listening at them since I don't really care about it anyway." The oldest young man answered it straightforwardly.

Kanda then rolled his dark blue eyes somehow already half expected it.

"Why I don't surprise when it came from your mouth?" Kanda wondered aloud.

"Marie, how's the boy? If I'm not wrong, his name is Timothy, right…? Is he going to be fine since he's also being knocked out?" Ellen lifted her head at Marie who stood beside her.

"From what I got from Miss Galmar, his name is Timothy Hearst. He's one of the orphans that stay in here. As for your previous question, aside from the large bruise on his forehead, he's going to be fine. Miss Galmar is watching him by now." Marie assured the silver haired Exorcist.

As he heard it, Noctis shoulders slumped a bit, he felt some guilty toward the poor Timothy.

"I feel bad for him…"

"Don't be. It's not your fault, Noctis. Both you and he just happened to be around in wrong time. Now," Marie's warm expression turned into more serious. "What's happening back there? I can hear both of your heartbeats went beating fast when you two hit each other. The next moment I knew some force of energy was blowing up and you flied at each opposite directions. I'm aware that while your power not a Dark Matter, I can't understand with the reason why the explosion happened."

Marie had acknowledged about Noctis power ever since the black prince tagging along with them. The blind man had a hard moment to believe his story. However, since it was Ellen who also did told him that she, Link, and Kanda had even saw it with their own eyes; he decided to trust the story since he knew Ellen was an honest young woman.

"Noctis…" Ellen gained Noctis' attention to her. "…I can sense it. The heartbeat sounds and the sudden monochrome colors at around me…and what was that explosion just now?" Platinum colored eyes blinked in confusion.

Sky blue eyes widened slightly at the fair and slim young woman before him. She also sensed that…?

"How…?" Noctis didn't finish his question.

Ellen instead shook her snow lock head. "I have no idea but I might have a clue. I think maybe both you and I are connecting to each other, somehow. Remember when I found you at the Ark? My left eye which supposed only react to Akuma, was reacting at your aura."

It was the best explanation Ellen could think at. There was a time when she could feel his aura or his power and if Ellen included today's occurrence, it had happened three times at least already. Ellen suspected it had something to do with Etro's doing, or possibility the Fourteenth himself. Perhaps Etro since it was because of the goddess both she and him met in that fateful dream. The goddess could also call her to Realm of Between and giving information to her by herself few of important things, included the first dream and Ellen's relation with him. The snow white haired young Exorcist wondered if Noctis could feel her aura or her power on the other hand.

"I…don't know to be honest…" Noctis closed his eyes and sighed heavily, loosening some of his built tense ever since the accident. "However, I do have presumed my power had something to do with the whole occurrence."

"Explain." Link narrowed his eyes; a demanding tone was in there.

"My power resisted forcefully when I came into contact with his forehead. At the time his forehead was colliding with mine, I…felt some kind of power I don't recognize."

"Some kind of power, you say…?" Marie repeated intriguingly.

Noctis nodded once. "It felt somewhat pure to me."

"The crystal thing from the brat's forehead." Kanda immediately took a conclusion. "So it may be really the Innocence we've been looking for. It can explain the pure feeling you're sensed. What happen next?"

"They somehow clashed and then they were resisting at each other." Noctis gave a quick reply.

"The blow must be the result from the clash of power." Link stated the obvious.

"Why they're repelled at each other though? I thought only Dark Matter which can do that if the jewel is really Innocence…" Marie pointed another question which appeared inside his mind.

"Maybe Noctis' power is the polar opposite with Innocence, in a way we're not known?" Ellen pointed helpfully.

"That will be making a sense to me but they're polar opposite on what?" Noctis was dead panned.

Then the silence became thicker as each one of them drowned on that question. The long quietness between them soon broke by Marie's sigh.

"Discussing this matter will be no end, even though it does intriguing. I think we should have our focus back on the mission. First of all, the boy that Noctis got clashed at with the relation of the thief who hasn't a real body and Innocence involvement." Marie reminded their purpose in here. "Kanda, you said to me that he had this jewel on his forehead, right?"

"Hngh." Kanda grunted lowly.

"Is the jewel on his forehead really an Innocence?" Noctis was slightly curious.

He only saw it briefly at the moment when he parted with Ellen and Link, entered a small room while Marie, Kanda, and Emilia brought Timothy into his own room he shared with the other orphans. When they parted, it was at that second he finally could get a clear look of the boy's face. That was also the second he noticed the big round jewel stick within Timothy's forehead.

It was hard for Noctis to not noticed it immediately because, apart from it placed in where other people could see it very easily, the jewel itself did reminded him a little with the Great Crystal of Lucis. Besides they had light blue color thought the jewel's color more like the color of ice while the Lucis Dynasty's crystal had sky shade color.

Ellen also did see it and similar like Noctis' experienced, the color of the jewel did well with its job to reminding her with her dream last night. The jewel and the crystals within her dreams had similar shades of light blue color.

"There's a big possibility. The other possibility that he's the real G also can't be ignored as well. But we can't assure it until the boy wake up…"

"..." Noctis frowned thoughtfully.

"Is something matters...?" Marie threw the question.

"Marie, if he's indeed has the Innocence, what will happen to him?"

"..."

"Marie?" Noctis narrowed one of his euclase eyes uneasily.

"We have to bring him to the Black Order whether we're like it or not. It's dangerous for him to be out here and living between normal humans, he can attract Akuma or even a Noah if the worse scenario happens."

Euclase eyes widened.

"Really?"

"You have known that Akuma exists to destroy the Innocence aren't you?" at Noctis' nod, Marie went continue. "We can't let the Accommodator loose around for he or she can easily become a target to both Akuma and Noah. The only option we have to save them is to bring them with us back."

"Because it's the only safe place for them to keep alive?"

"Yes. And they have to severe their connection with their family or those who close with."

A pause.

"That's...sad." Noctis commented with low voice.

Ellen put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in comforting manner. She also had this sad look on her pale and beautiful face.

"It is..." she murmured softly as the memory of Suman Dark flashed in her mind.

"I know it's sad both for the Accommodator and their family. Unfortunately..." Marie then stopped in the mid of his sentence and went quiet abruptly.

"Marie…? What's wrong?" Ellen asked in concern manner because she was noticing the bald man suddenly stopped talking. Link, Noctis, and Kanda also noticed the headphone man somehow stopped talking.

Marie scratched his back head a moment later. He was somewhat becoming nervous. "Ah…I think boy has wake up right now. But…the boy's now crying because Miss Galmar asked him to go with her and apologize to us. He's even cried in the same way with the cry I heard from the last night. Miss Galmar is trying to calm him down but the attempt not yet success."

Ellen and Noctis were staring at each other and blinked while Link glanced in mild interest and at last but not least, Kanda who had his cool mask placed firmly on his face.

"So that will be mean…?" Kanda asked calmly, even though he had already had guessed the answer more or less.

"He's really the one who controlled those guys in the prison, along with Jiji and the Finders. Timothy is the real G we're been encountered last night and once controlled Link." Ellen mouthed the answer and realized it at the same time.

Marie continued to scratch his back head edgily. "Yes, he is the real Phantom Thief G…there's one little problem though…"

"And that is...?" Noctis was curious.

"From the way he's crying," Marie chuckled nervously. "He's seemingly scared a lot at you, Noctis."

…

…

"…Excuse me?" Noctis face was completely blank. What did he just say…?

Ellen was not having a better reaction than him, she frowned and completely bemused at Marie's exclaim.

"Why?" Was the first question appeared inside her mind.

"I heard the way he's crying. It just like he's being afraid and a bit angry of something."

"And why did you know it was Noctis?" Ellen tilted her head to left with questioning look. "He can blame any of us."

"He's mentioned that he doesn't want to meet a creepy guy with chicken butt hair style." Marie gave the reply.

Noctis left eye was twitching violently. "He's scared at me without a reason…? Which part of me that creepy to him and what's wrong with my hair style similar like chicken butt…?!" His voice went higher abruptly in the end.

Ellen and Marie sweat dropped. Kanda while had that indifferent expression, now had one of his dark eyebrows raised. That...was a new thing for them.

"Why would he's afraid of this guy already?" Kanda gestured at the frustrated young man; Ellen nodded in agreement at his question.

"Kanda is right. Noctis doesn't do anything to him aside from they're hit their foreheads to other." Ellen added.

While Ellen as confused as the other Exorcists, she actually had a guess on the reason why Timothy feared Noctis. Ellen wasn't perfectly sure about her guess, however she could make a conclusion it might have something to do with Noctis' power originality after she put the clues together. She had good reasons for her guess.

Since Timothy had an ability to possess people's mind in a way they didn't acknowledge yet or at least it what they suspected at, he might be coincidentally used his power to accessing Noctis' mind through the forehead collide with the help of the jewel at his forehead. Then the power within the young man acted as a protection when there was an unknown entity came and fight it back, force it to out from the young man's mind. The clash of the power was the result of it. It was possible that Timothy sensed Noctis' power at that time. Still, Ellen couldn't be so sure about it unless they meet Timothy first.

Marie nodded thoughtfully. "Good question. We must confront him to confirm this, either we like it or not."

"Shall I suggest meeting him in his room?" Link said tonelessly and snapped close his book.

The bald Exorcist looked thoughtfully.

"Well, it's nothing like we can do anything by staying still in this room. Let's visit him now…oh right. Noctis, you can stay in here if you want to, you don't have to force yourself." Marie added gently the offer.

Euclase eyes were looking in slightly displeasure. Noctis shook his head as he sighed quite long and made everyone, minus Link, surprised by stood from his chair. His face was firm now.

"Thank you for your concern at me but I'll rather choose to come along."

"Noctis, are you sure? I don't think it was a good idea for you to meet him now." Ellen reminded him and followed Noctis.

"If not because I'm more than wanting to know the reason why he's scare at me, perhaps I will agree to stay in here but no, my curiosity and guilty got the better side of me. Besides, even he's not angry or scared at me, mustn't I apologize to him for hurt him?" Noctis admitted quietly.

"It wasn't your fault from the very beginning, Noctis. Timothy got a kick from Miss Galmar and you got on their way in coincidence. You hit his forehead accidentally, must I tell you that over and over again?" Ellen disagreed with him.

"Whether my fault or not, I'm still the one who had my forehead crashed with him. Besides I can't change the fact he's scare at me now and remember, he's…"

"He's still an innocent child therefore I will not be surprise if he's feared me, am I right?" Ellen cut his words. A small comprehending smile adorned her dark pink lips when he stared at her quizzically. Probably because she had guessed at what he would said the next second.

"Your face has showed it very clearly. You're quite concern at Timothy's condition since the occurrence. You're keeping glance at door to the way where Timothy and Miss Galmar had gone." Ellen revealed the obvious, the smile still on her lips. "Sometimes, you're too obvious for few things, you know that?"

Noctis gaped but quickly shut it back.

"I can't believe I'll be that obvious..." Noctis frowned.

"You are. That's why I can guess your next word." Ellen revealed nonchalantly at him. "And no, I can't read your mind, Noctis."

"...You know what, Ellen? You're beginning to scare me..." Noctis added still with the frown.

"Oh come on, you're kidding me. It's you whom 11I'm beginning to scare. You're seemingly got hurt easily wherever11 we are. You had me scare almost every time." Ellen chuckled softly.

"...Does this mean I can have a permission to meet him...?" He had to ask the snow 11white haired Exorcist carefully.

"Who said I forbid you from being visiting, Noctis?" Ellen finally broke from chuckles into laughter, clearly in deep amusement.

"Of course you can visit him with us. Just don't ever try to collide your forehead with Timothy's again; I don't want to have you being throwing like a shack of potato like this noon and have your forehead bleeding and flood like a river." She added jokingly and Noctis not missed the warning tone underneath it.

Suddenly Noctis wondered if he had made a right choice at the first place.

Meanwhile, Ellen vowed to herself to keep her eyes close on him for she would make sure the euclase eyed young man didn't do anything that could plunge him into bad luck for the next time. Ellen pondered if the young man actually had a much worse bad luck than her.

Meanwhile with Timothy and Emilia…

The shouts between the light blue haired boy and the Inspector's daughter were coming from Timothy's room direction. It supposed to be a normal sight however their arguments time suddenly was becoming a complicated one. They were arguing over one thing which considered as a simple thing and that was...

"NO…! I DON'T WANT TO MEET HIM AND I'M NOT GOING TO…...!" Timothy Hearst, the 9 years old boy shouted in refusal at the brown haired woman.

"Timothy, why you're so incredibly stubborn…!? We just see them to apologize!" Emilia shouted back.

"It's entirely your own fault, why not you who apologize to that guy…!?" He retorted.

"I've told we're both having the same guilty in this! Are forgotten that you're the reason I did the kick because you did that pervert act to me…!?Have you never doing it; I'll never ever kick you at the first place! Are you really not wanting to meet him….!?" Emilia shot hotly.

"NO AND FOREVER NO….!" He refused back and hiding himself once more behind the blanket.

Emilia looked frustrated at the sudden oddness the boy was showing at her. She resisted the urge to stomp one of her feet and dragged him out from the blanket he used as a shield between her and the boy.

Emilia huffed harshly, showed her frustration. "What's wrong with you just now...!? You're acting as if they are your enemies!"

'You don't know what I have experience from them, especially that guy…!' Timothy shouted internally in protest.

There was a crucial reason on why he didn't want to see the guys from earlier. If things were different perhaps he could just go and throw his apologize quickly and pretended like nothing ever happened, but it wasn't that simple, that's not the point.

Timothy's memory was still fresh and clear with the whole accident. By the time his jewel hit the odd haired style guy, he accidentally connected to the guy's mind for few seconds. Then this force was coming from deep within the guy's mind and forced him to out and cut the mind connection. He was resisting of course, being attacked like that. It was strong that it caused clash between the force and Timothy's power.

The clash itself had caused distortion and messed up both of their powers. As if to making worse, both of their powers had caused some kind of energy's explosion and threw them in the end. Timothy shivered at the memory. That guy was not a normal guy for definitely. The force which came from within him… it felt calm and cold yet dangerous. It held such power and it wasn't coming from this world, Timothy had sensed it by himself. It was that force he being scared at most, the very reason why he didn't want to meet they guy.

It was bringing him a haunting and chill feeling. It gave him a creepy kind of coldness. It reacted as if it wanted him to stay out from the guy's mind. It acted as if it was alive and in its own. But that was sounded crazy to Timothy, it didn't feel so right at all, it was like the force wasn't coming from this world. He knew the moment he sense the coldness and the haunting feeling the force gave. He knew it very well, hell; he trusted his gut feeling! He had no idea what kind of the surge of power came from inside the young man but the aura in which the power had radiated at him had spoke much volume.

It supposed to be a forbidden power. A kind of power humans should never ever lay their hands at.

And the short haired guy had it; he had something which human should be impossible to possess it.

"Good afternoon." A deep yet friendly voice greeted and broke Timothy's trail of thought.

He went frowned deeply at the given greet. The voice which had greeted him sounded familiar, too familiar even. Timothy shifted his position in his blanket. Red wine eyes glanced at the door where the voice came from. There was a group of people wore black uniforms stood in there, all looked at him with various looks.

Timothy Hearst recognized them almost immediately.

It was the group of the black guys from the last night. There were a meanie guy with the sword, two dots guy, and this time a new guy, with headphone came with them. It wasn't only that. There, stood at the most front, were a couple of young man with odd style hair and sky colored eyes and a young woman with star shaped scar on her left eye with equal silver hair and eyes. It was dark at that night but given by their figures, there was no mistake that they the same guys who in his way to steal the crown.

However Timothy's red eyes focused at the euclase eyed young man. The guy he sensed that dangerous power earlier.

"Errr…" The young man with sky blue eyes began awkwardly because wide red wine eyes staring widely at him, mouth gaped like a goldfish.

"Hello. Your name is Timothy Hearst, isn't it?" He tried to confirmed, his tone was concern. "Is your forehead a lot better now…?"

A second later, a high pitch scream was coming from the thief boy's room and the echo filled the whole orphanage.

"What are this guy's doing at here...?!" Timothy stood at his bed, blanket lay forgotten, and pointed at awkward Noctis.

"Timothy...!" Emilia scolded and gave him a warning glare.

Timothy pouted but he was obeying what Emilia had said to him, even though he had this forced look on his face.

"I can't believe he's really scared at me..." Noctis stated drily with hushed voice at the silver maiden beside him.

"I guess it's the right time to find out the reason from him." Ellen focused her silver colored eyes at Timothy's direction. "He's coming here to apologize to you, isn't it obvious?"

"You're lying." Timothy eyed them suspiciously.

"We're not lying, Timothy. He's really come to apologize to you for hurt your forehead." Marie gave a help.

"Yeah right, like I'll believe your story..." The boy muttered sarcastically.

"What's the h*ll is your problem with us, brat?" Kanda sharp blue eyes bored at the red wine eyed boy. The boy was starting to annoyed him to the point Kanda had a thought to had Mugen at his throat, almost.

"Kanda, may you give me a moment to talk to him?" Noctis pleaded at the stubborn samurai before he does something which would worsen the situation. "Please?"

The two of stared at each other for a good moment, annoyed pair of dark blue clashed with begged pair of sky blue.

"...If that's what you want, fine." Kanda huffed heavily and not argued with Noctis any longer; the sharpness hadn't gone yet from his dark blue colored eyes as if he warned the older young man to not do anything stupid while talking to the boy.

"Thanks." Noctis gave a nod at him. He took a glance at Emilia who staring back at the young man. "May I talk to him, Miss?"

"Uh...sure." Emilia replied, half hesitatingly.

"Thank you." He smiled warmly before completely turning at Timothy. "Your name is Timothy Hearst, right?"

"So what if I am?" Timothy glanced warily, not showing any weakness at the black prince.

"I think you already figure out why I'm coming to your room." Noctis stated quietly.

"Yeah, so what's..."

"I'm sorry." Noctis cut the boy first. "For made your forehead and body injured."

"...Hah?" Timothy left eyebrow twitched. He clearly wasn't really expected it and obviously, he hadn't processed the whole words Noctis had thrown to him.

"I'm sorry for making both your forehead and body injured that time." Noctis repeated more clear and slower. "Although everyone said it wasn't my fault, I still have the responsibility to apologize to you for your forehead; it's my forehead that crashed with yours."

Timothy unconsciously flinched at the memory but regained his false cocky composure. "And...?"

"That one and I'm going to apologize for making you scared. However, I have to asking you why you're scared at me and don't want to meet me." Noctis asked straightforwardly.

"Isn't it obvious from the very beginning?" Timothy glared childishly.

"Not for me." Noctis replied, completely undeterred by Timothy's glare. "I would be more than thankful if you can tell me of what made you scared of me while I'm not does anything to you exclude the crash accident."

"..."

There was a long silence between them and easy to say it was the uncomfortable one. Timothy had his mouth closed tight and his red wine eyes eyeing the euclase eyed young man with wary. Noctis stood still and his sky blue eyes fixed at the boy before him, waiting patiently for his answer. The others were watching them with concern -Ellen, Marie, and Emilia-, expressionless –Link-, and uncaringly –Kanda-.

Each second continued to passing and added more the heaviness air in that room.

Until finally Ellen choose to got inside the conversation since she couldn't let this silence happened too long. She wouldn't let Noctis alone in this so she has to help him and so it was her who was breaking the silence by took the chance to talk to the boy.

"...Are you scared at him because of his power?" She asked calmly.

Timothy then snapped his head at the silver haired young woman as soon as she asked that question from her mouth. Noctis did the same thing, his eyes were widening like a pair of saucers.

"Ellen...?" Noctis whispered bewilderingly at the beautiful Exorcist but Ellen kept continue.

"You..." Timothy quickly recognized the young woman as the one who stabbed him via Link's body.

"I'm sorry for...making you experience unpleasant thing yesterday." Ellen gave him a brief apologetic smile. "As much as I want to apologize more to you, there's a matter I'm more concern than the yesterday event." Her tone grew more serious from the soft tone she just used a while ago.

Red wine eyes narrowed a bit in wary. "And that is...?"

"You can possess the other's mind as many as you want with the help of the jewel on your forehead, can't you?" Ellen asked steadily. Timothy glare changed into a shock and wide one for a second, and Ellen not finished yet. "You have sensed it, right? When Noctis' power was collide with yours, the power that belonging to the other world aside from this."

"...What do you mean?" Timothy asked back, beginning to felt a headache and it was coming for him.

What was she said just now...? The h*ll...!?

Damn it, what's with this philosophical like conversation...?! He wasn't a child that interested in study; he hated study for Lord's sake! He began to have a second thought that perhaps, perhaps studying wasn't all that bad as he had thought before. He cursed his fate and karma, if there was one, for this.

"You've sensed it by yourself, Timothy. If you're still not getting it, I meant the force that coming from the dead one." Ellen gave the add more.

Emilia bewildered at the rather odd explanation came from the beautiful Exorcist. She had no idea what was going on in here but the word of dead itself had succeeded to making her slowly paled.

"Eh?" Emilia exchanged her glance between Ellen, Noctis, and Timothy. She began to feeling uneasy now.

Timothy reaction was no better than the brown headed woman.

"The dead...one?" Timothy repeated with blank face. At first it didn't connect to him at first although not for a long, the memory when he sensed that force came from deep within this Noctis' mind came back to him.

Is that it...? Was it just like as he had worried? No wonder the force felt wrong to him and felt like it was not coming from this world! It was because it really not belonging to the Living World!

"So you're really sensed it. It explained your fear toward him. You accidentally entered his mind and both your powers clashed. You sensed it at that moment. You're feeling threatened at his power." Ellen took the conclusion.

"So what...!?" Timothy snapped. "His power-his force, he's supposed to not have it at all! That power is dangerous! How can he has it while it supposed to be impossible for normal guy to possess such a creepy thing...!?" Timothy shouted before he could ever realize of what he had said.

This quickly draw deep frown from everyone at the Timothy's sudden outburst, even Kanda was frowning at the outburst. Emilia was frowning but it was because she lost within that conversation. She was completely clueless with all of these talks. However from all the room's occupants, it was Noctis who frowning even more so than anyone. He clearly wasn't expecting the boy would ever know his ability and power source by the accident.

Meanwhile at the 9 years old boy, Timothy then just noticed his outburst and went panic and cursed inside his mind. Great, just great. What was he just saying now? Timothy couldn't believe he just told them. How stupid he was! Like they would believe or buy his story. Hah, right. Now not only Emilia would think him seeing hallucination due to the hit he got from this guy, perhaps he would get accused for making things and...

"Timothy..."

The deep and now soothingly voice had the boy glanced back at the short haired young man. He had this firm yet calm expression he wore on his face.

"Is that why you fear me? Because you're sensed my power and are being threatened by it?" He confirmed, still with that calm tone.

Timothy wanted to protest it, the boy wanted to retort that stupid question and yet he decided to against it in the end for his curiosity got him better than his fear, he restrained his annoyance. Timothy wasn't very happy about this. Stupid curiosity. Noctis along with the others didn't miss the sky blue haired boy's act and gesture. The black prince was sighing long as he lowered his head and staring at the floor. He wasn't going to blame the kid, it kind of normal him actually once he found out. How many person in this world that possessing such a power from the Realm of the Dead...?

"Noctis..." Ellen was about to talk to him but he shook his head.

"Can I...?" Noctis asked softly.

"...Alright. Go ahead. I'm sure he wants the detail explanation from you." Ellen allowed with a small smile.

Noctis lips curved slightly and went into a conversation with Timothy.

"You've guessed right. It's impossible for a normal human to have this power...while the fact is true however," He was pressing the word 'however' when he saw Timothy looking alarmed and tensioned.

"I have it not because I want to; I must use it to protecting. As the exchange, the power protected me from whatever possessing threat to me. It acted as my 'keeper'. If what Ellen had said was right, it took you as an intruder so it tried to drive you out from my mind."

A pause was forming inside the room.

"You've already...known...?" Timothy asked slowly a few moments later after being stunned.

"Our powers were crashing and it happened because of my power, of course I'm known in intuition. I just can't pinpoint why you're scared at me. That's why once I knew, I've to apologize because you got hurt because of that energy blast." Noctis pointed out.

Timothy gaped in shock for a few minutes before he remembered that he had his mouth opened wide and close it immediately. He couldn't hide it anyway since he was too caught off guard by the chicken butt like hair guy.

This guy's or real...? Well, that answered half of his questions but...

"Then how the heck you have that kind of power?"

His euclase eyes darkened yet he was still calm as ever. "Actually I never want this power since beginning but in reality, I have no choice...at all."

...

...

"And why's that?" Timothy looked incredulous at the answer.

"Shouldn't I accept this power; I'll never alive and keep breathing until now. It also wasn't without sacrifice, Timothy. I lost someone very important to me the day I receive this power."

At the questioning look he received from Timothy, Noctis lips curved slowly into a small yet sad smile.

"My mother. Both of us got into a critical incident when I'm a little boy and both of us got hurt badly. I'm did survive...but she wasn't. She passed away because she tried to protect me while at the same time I'm dying and then received this power."

Then a deadly and uncomfortable one silence fell around all the occupants.

Nobody was said anything as they processed this new information. They all had various reactions for that, such as Kanda narrowed his eyes and the color of his eyes darkened although he wore the same stoic face. Marie showed a bewildered expression. Emilia, despise of feeling lost within the conversation, was having felt sympathy for the young man. It was clear that none of them would expect this, especially the silver maiden Exorcist.

Ellen was beyond stunned when she learning this. She wasn't expecting such a dark story like this from the euclase eyed young man, she devastated to found that Noctis had lost the person he loved as an exchange of his power. That was sounded...so wrong to her, not to mention horrible. A memory of her foster father went flashed inside her mind and her heart clenched tightly from painfulness.

'Mana...' Ellen mused very quietly.

"...Are you...not scared with your power?" Timothy asked hesitantly now, gone his earlier rude attitude.

Noctis answered truthfully. "I had to admit it, I feared it quite much but as the time goes on I have learn to accept it."

"Huh...? Accept it?" Timothy's forehead wrinkled.

"Aside from it becoming a very part of me, it's also my duty to keep it. It is what had keeping me survive all this time. Besides, I use it to protect what I must protect for a quite long time until now."

"...Wait. Your duty?" Marie repeated, he couldn't help but feeling intrigued at his explanation.

Ellen later saw that Noctis' smile became strained for a moment. "Being a part from military service, I have a main duty to protect and keep something very important in my country, no matter what it will cost me."

Marie a bit frowned at the vague reply Noctis' gave to him. The headphone man knew there was something more but he wasn't asking more because he had heard the faint dismissal and bitter tone from the chocobo haired young man, a mark and a sign to them that he didn't want to talk it anymore.

When the white haired beautiful Exorcist heard Noctis' reply, Ellen's mind quickly replayed the conversation she had with Etro inside her dream.

'The crystal...' She thought abruptly.

He must be meant his country's crystal; the only one Etro's blessing and magic source power was being left in his world.

The very same thing which made Noctis became a target by his enemies and suffered because of it. And how Etro had told to her that she had no choice but to send him into this world with the Musician, the Fourteenth's help with a condition he must protecting her. She then replayed the explanation in where she must be careful toward the certain Noah, mainly about his plan on using both of them because their similarity. It made her wondering why Noctis from all people and how was exactly his similarity with her and how far their similarity was. Ellen was hit by a realization that she hadn't told him much about herself. And to think about it, it was Noctis who always told about himself a lot while she almost none, aside from her Innocence.

'Maybe I should tell him more about me when there's a time when I can talk alone with him. I don't think he does know much about me. I mean, aren't we supposed to be friends...?' Ellen noted.

That would do if she wanted both of them to be close, she took a decision.

"Is that have answer all of your fear, Timothy?" Noctis' deep voice snapped Ellen back into reality.

She looked at the boy and the young man. Timothy had yet answer the euclase eyed young man's question.

"..."

Well, that was one thing Timothy should be relief. Now he should not be worrying or feeling alarm at the short haired young man or the white haired girl stood beside him. He wasn't going to deny the fact he still had amounts of fear but it went lessened...a bit. At least he knew this guy and the girl weren't as horrible as he had thought before. H*ll, doesn't mean he was forgetting the night when he encountered them, don't ever start from the- freakin'- big sword- stab and snatch- back- crown things. He hadn't trust them completely, not yet, they had been mean to him at that time. At the same time however, now that he was thinking about it, through the whole conversation he has with them, this guy and the girl seemed nicer than the rest of the group. There was only one problem was being left.

And that was...

"...Timothy?" Noctis tilted his head to left in concern.

"What in the seven frozen h*lls are you doing in here exactly...?"

"Timothy, language…!" Emilia scolded at the light blue haired boy.

Noctis blinked rapidly at the question. "You mean our purpose in here?"

"Of course it is. Do I mention other things?" Timothy was rolling his wine colored eyes.

Noctis went quiet as he keeping stare at the boy before he let out a sigh and stole a glance at the silver eyed maiden beside him. Ellen understood the hidden message from the look he was giving toward her. His eyes were telling her if she wanting to elaborate some explanations and specifics since it wasn't his place to answer the question anymore. And Ellen gladly took the silent offer and explains it.

"I think you've already know why we're in here but if you're still not clear, we're coming to see you." Ellen answered calmly.

"I can see that, but what for?" Timothy scoffed and crossing both his arms in front of his chest. "I can tell your arrival is more than just wanted to see me..."

"That's..."

"Isn't it pretty obvious...?" Kanda interrupted Ellen before she could even answer; his tone was cold and sharp with slight annoyance. "We're here for the Innocence."

Ellen gave him a look for interrupting her; clearly dislike it while Noctis stared the grumpy samurai with frown.

"Uh..." Marie was slightly hesitated and wary. This was not good; from what he saw just now, Kanda was slowly loosening his patience. "Kanda, calm down. Just let Ellen and Noctis do what they should do..."

"I don't have any patience longer than this, do you think I can watch the little punk have conversation with Moyashi and Niwatori Denbu..."

That earned some protests from both of the beautiful Exorcist and the handsome Prince.

"My name is Ellen, BaKanda!" Ellen snapped and throwing a glare as a thick mark appeared on her head.

"You are having fun with those titles, aren't you?" Noctis rolled his eyes exasperatingly.

"Quietly when the time we have is not much?" Kanda continued, ignoring Ellen and Noctis' reactions.

"What are you talking about?" Timothy suddenly went defensive again, glaring red wine eyes never left the long haired young man.

"The jewel on your forehead, Timothy," Marie explained, hoping it would lessen the boy's tension. "Is the main reason why we're come at the first place, if you excluded the event from yesterday."

Emilia then had his brown colored eyes fixed at Timothy's forehead with surprised look. They had came for that jewel? This increased Emilia's worry over the boy's fate. She was very well aware about Timothy's past and its connection with the jewel that would stick until only God knows when on his forehead. It had saddened the pony tailed woman a lot in the past and she still felt it until now. While the brat was looks arrogant, he was actually a caring and kind boy for those whom he loved. He didn't deserve such past like he had, so it was a right for her to worry because these black uniforms guys were coming for the jewel on the Timothy's forehead.

Timothy, frowned upon hearing it, quickly brought his hand to his forehead and he noticed that his bandana was long gone. His color skin slowly was becoming pale from the horror which began to overwhelm him.

"Whaaa...!?" He turned around in panic, searching for his bandana to cover his forehead, in which to bad he had yet found it. "What the heck...?!"

"It's no use to hiding it from us, you know." Kanda flatly reminded the hysterical boy. "We already knew what had your done with that jewel of you."

"Kanda, no offense to you but I don't think he's hearing you for now..." Noctis pointed out and got a pair of sharp dark blue eyes in return.

"Then what are you suggest at...?"

"Eng..." Noctis was looking for a way out in bewilderingly. "Calm him down at first?" He offered.

Timothy still tried to looking and search for his bandana or anything that could cover his forehead. That and it because he wasn't ready yet to tell Emilia or even the director, the firm and kind old lady he very cared about what he had done with the jewel's power. So far his attempt was fruitless.

Kanda stole a glance at the freak out nine years old boy before he stared back at the older young man, staring back at him with some hope and wariness.

At last, the samurai broke his stare. He snorted and turning at his heels to approached the boy. He brought Mugen in its sealed state and before the others could understand what had just happen; he knocked the poor boy's head hardly with Mugen's hilt one Kanda got near him. It was like a blur movie for the rest of the room's occupants.

WHAAAM!

The sound was echoing through the room and soon followed by a limp thud.

THUD!

When it was all over, the next thing they saw was Timothy who had his eyes swirling and he held by Kanda's other hand while he gripped Mugen firmly within his right hand.

"Huee..." Timothy groaned dazedly from the hit Kanda gave a while ago.

As if nothing bad happened, Kanda turned his head at the group with nonchalantly manner and bored expression.

"Done. What's next?" The dark long haired young man asked without a hint of guilty.

A silence fell as five pairs of eyes were looking blankly toward the long haired young man and now back to unconscious boy. And then all hell broke loose.

"Timothy...!" Emilia shouted panicky when her brain finally processed the entire event.

"Kanda! What are you doing to him...!?" Ellen shouted loudly as soon as she snapped back from her shock.

"I just did what Niwatori Denbu had told me, Moyashi. What else?"

"I wasn't talking about knock him out of cold, again!" Noctis was retorted hotly, frustration painted over his face.

"Aren't you told me to calm him first?"

"He is, but it's not by hit the boy's head, Kanda..." Marie face palmed tiredly.

"Whatever. Can we get this done already?" Kanda lifted the poor boy from the bed and carried him like a sack of potato.

"Meeting the orphanage's director?" Link offered and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that."

Emilia couldn't take it anymore. She was exploded from her confusion, incredulous, and anger. She wanted an explanation. Now.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on in here...!?" Emilia bellowed, hoping that one of them could answer her question, now.

"Ah…" Ellen, Noctis, and Marie sweat dropped at the same time.

This would be not ended so well.

A few minutes later...

"Timothy is been possessing people in order to steal?" Mother Director repeated slowly.

The group was currently sitting with Emilia and Mother Superior, the old nun that ran the orphanage. Ellen and Noctis sat on the one couch while Marie and Kanda sat on another couch. Link stood behind Ellen, wore the emotionless face as ever. Timothy was being tied by rope and currently sat on the carpeted floor near the female Exorcist and the prince. He had a displeasure expression which directed at Kanda who just ignored it as he always does. Before they came to this room, Kanda had indeed, 'encouraged' a.k.a Threatened Timothy with Mugen to admit all of his doing, in which Timothy had to admit it, like it or not. From behind the door which left opened a bit, the children peeped curiously.

"It's appearing Timothy has the power to take control of other people's bodies at will." Marie added carefully.

"Excuse me...? Are you serious...?" The old nun asked with innocence blank look.

"Well...I know it's hard to believe but..."

"But he admitted to it." Kanda added boredly as if it was a normal thing.

"Admitted it...!? You had knocked him! I don't know what the Black order or Exorcists are but you can't do something like that to a child and not apologize!" Emilia screamed.

"If he'd listened I wouldn't have had to do." Kanda replied coolly.

"Y-you think just because you're pretty, you can get away with anything...!?"

"Why things become so this complicate...?" Noctis wondered quietly as he watched Marie apologized at both woman, frown adorned his face.

"I think instead of become complicate, it has been complicated ever since the beginning." Ellen sweat dropped.

"U-huh...?" Noctis looked hesitate but not asked any further.

Ellen sighed and laid back to the couch lazily with her eyes closed. Ellen about to took and brief rest when she sensed that she was being watched by someone. Frowned slightly, she straightened herself and rotated her head halfway to find a nun was looking, or took a glance at her more precisely. The veiled woman had this odd kind of stare with her. At first, Ellen thought that the nun was looking that way because she never saw an Exorcist. Despise the fact that she concluded that way, deep inside her heart, the nun's way of staring was...disturbing her more or less. If the silver eyed young woman would admit it, she didn't quite like it. There was something not good from that stare of the nun.

"Ellen...?"

Ellen snapped her head and had her grayish silver eyes clashed with sky blue eyes. The beautiful young woman's cheeks heated as she noticed that the young man was having his face too close with her.

"Y-yes?" She was trying to answer him.

Sky blue eyes blinked in concern. "...Is something wrong?"

Remembered that she was staring at the odd nun previously, she stole a glance toward the nun's direction again only to have the nun gone. Ellen blinked few times, she still felt weirdly disturb at the nun. She was facing Noctis again, quickly shook her head in dismissal, and she offered him a comforting smile.

"No, it's nothing. I thought I was being watching by someone." She kept smiling while in the back, she actually had the feeling of uncomfortable and restless. "It's probably just my feeling."

Noctis frowned deeper as he listened her hastily reply.

"Then why you're staring at that nun?"

This time it was Ellen who was frowning. "...Eh?"

"The nun that has just gone. You stared at her as if you're sensing something's strange."

Ellen blinked her eyes rapidly in confusion. She opened her mouth but then closing it back because she realized that no word was coming from her dark pink lips.

'How did he know that? Does he watching me for entire time...?' Ellen thought disbelievingly.

"Noctis, you have watching me and that nun until a while ago?" Ellen voiced her thought.

Before Noctis could ever reply her question however, they were being interrupted by Mother Director's soft voice.

"Emilia, you're kicked one of his associate in the head, so you're no better." She reminded the younger woman beside her.

Emilia gaze fixed at Noctis' figure at this. When she saw the plastered forehead, she was being overwhelmed by guilt once more.

"Ooh...sorry." Emilia lowered her head in shame and guiltily.

"No problem." Noctis hurriedly waved his black gloved hand in dismissal. As if he remembered something, he then asked at the pony tailed woman. "Excuse me, but can you please tell me where the bathroom is?"

Ellen very much aware that everyone's eyes, including hers, now focused at him.

Emilia raised one her eyebrow but she did still answer him. "Turn to the right after the hallway; it's placed before the boy's room. Why?"

Noctis smiled as he rose from his seat. "I want to go to the restroom. Thank you."

"Sure."

Ellen was narrowing her silver eyes at him.

"You're going...?" Ellen asked.

He was grimacing at the tone she used. "Just to the restroom. It will not long, promised."

"Fine." Ellen huffed after she stared him with suspicious look and added more, this time with softer tone. "Don't hit your head with anything, ok Noctis?"

He just gave her a slight nod. "Ok."

And he strolled away from the room, left Ellen with the rest of the occupants. Just after he was gone, the female Exorcist tried to calm down but the restlessness didn't go. In fact it was increasing slowly. Ellen slightly annoyed the restless feeling; it had beginning to make her fidgeting like something bad is going to happen soon. She focused her attention at Marie's next question.

"Mother superior, do you know anything about the ball on Timothy's forehead?" Marie asked.

"Yes." The kind old nun replied and from there she began her tales. It then revealed that Timothy's father was a thief who Inspector Galmar was had arrested. When he was still being chased by the police and Timothy younger at that time, the father of the boy had forced him to swallow one of the jewels he stole from before. The man did that in purpose to hide the jewel. But shortly after that, the man was captured by the certain Inspector. After Timothy's father had been arrested and the boy brought to the orphanage by Galmar himself, he was already just like now.

The Exorcists were quiet upon they heard the story.

'It seems likely...' Marie thought.

'Yeah...' Kanda responded.

Few blocks away from the orphanage...

"Yes. A white haired body and one with long black hair, short black hair and a large man."

The nun was inside the phone box, she had called someone and reporting the Exorcists she just saw in there with carefully. It was clear that the information she report really important to this person she had called.

"..." The nun listened at whatever the person behind the phone said to her. Concentrated at the person's words, she didn't realized that at least half of the conversation was being heard by someone she'd least to be expected.

"Thank you, Ma..."

Before the woman could finish her gratitude, three dark blurs of something sharp and slim suddenly appeared from thin air and stabbed deeply the phone machine before the nun, instantly destroying it in the process.

SLASH!

SLASH! ZRASSSH!

CRAAASSSHH…!

The nun's eyes widened in shock before it then changed quickly into pure horror and like everyone did when there was something terrifying happened before your eyes, she let out a high pitch scream and let go of the phone.

"KYAAAAAA...!"

The nun scrambled hastily from the phone box and once she was getting out she fell onto the road and stole a quick glance toward the screwed phone machine. The dark blurs were happening to be three black swords with odd machine parts attached into them. Sparks were coming from the phone machine. While the nun was gaping in absolutely shock, a calm yet cold and lack of any emotions voice came from behind her.

"So Ellen was right after all...You do watching us, don't you?"

The nun snapped her veiled head at the voice source, and she soon found herself stared down by the short haired young man who stood firmly. His face defied emotions yet his now cold light blue eyes glaring sharply and threateningly. A slight wind played his chocobo styled hair. His figure stood tall and looming at the laid nun, he was standing up back to the sun and overshadowed his figure.

"You've failed to notice that someone heard at least half of your conversation." He said coldly.

"You..." The nun recognized this young man as a part of the Exorcists group, when she noticed something.

Although the young man did wear all black attires, he didn't bear any Rose Cross which was a symbol of the Black Order and every Exorcist wore it as a member. Not even a slight sign of the Rose Cross symbol seeing on him.

"There're questions I'd like to ask to you..." His dagger voice snapped the nun into the reality.

And then she saw the blue eyes of his changed into bright red. The blue colored lights like souls flying around him.

"And you..." He bent down and jabbed the nun harshly with a hard grip, eyes widened by fear collide with eyes filled with fury and promised huge suffer should the nun wasn't doing what he would told to her.

"Are going to answer it, all of it."

'Too long...' Ellen thought quietly as she watched the exchange of words between Marie and Mother Superior.

'He's taking time too long just to go to the bathroom...' Ellen rubbed her gloved hands fidgety, she began to feeling worry. 'I wonder what's taking him too long for going to a restroom...'

"We're searching for something we call Innocence. We want to see whether or not the ball of jewel might be. I promise he'll be safe. If it turn out it's not, we'll bring him back immediately. "

"W-wait a minute!" Emilia interrupted abruptly.

This got everyone's attention. Emilia looked hesitated at first however she voiced her question that began to disturbing her greatly and had caused her worry.

"What…what if the ball is the Innocence? Then what will you do to him?" Emilia asked warily and filled with anticipation.

An uncomfortable silence fell onto the room. Ellen shifted uneasily at her seat.

"Marie…" Ellen glanced at the bald man in concern.

"We can't leave him here." Kanda answered. "The Black Order will take him and make him as an Exorcist."

Timothy's world shattered as soon as he heard those words. They would separate him away from here; they would separate him from Mother Superior, from Emilia, from the children who also had the same fate like him, parentless in this cruel world. They would separate him from his very own home. For the first time after so long since the very incident with his father, he was feeling tremendous anger. He wouldn't let it, as if he would let them do as they like it!

"No! You can't decide for me…!" Timothy shouted angrily and struggled from his bond. "You're just like my dad! Treating me like a thing…! I want to stay here! I won't leave even if you're killing me…!"

Ellen looked in sympathy at the boy. "I'm sorry, but we have to, there's a reason why we have to do it."

Kanda, didn't care at all, was grabbing Timothy by his collar with dark look. "I don't care. If we have to drag you-mmph!"

"Forgive me, he doesn't know what he's saying." Marie sweat dropped, his hand clamped at Kanda's mouth.

The bonded Timothy cried hard as he cuddled at the kind old nun. "Pwaaaaah! Mother Superior…!"

"You can't force him." The old nun said.

"That's right! Have you no heart!?" Emilia complained.

"Maybe we should wait for Komui's order…" Ellen offered in clueless.

At the very stole moment, the light at the outside dimmed in no time, before it was changed by darkness. Everyone at the room was stopping their bickering and clearly confused at the odd occurrence.

"Huh? Outside…?" Emilia startled.

"It's still daytime, isn't it?" Mother Superior asked curiously.

Kanda waste no time to look at the window and then cursed. "Sh*t!"

This made everyone also looked through the window and got shock later, without an exception. Except for the orphanage building there were no other buildings around them, at least not anymore. There was nothing aside from the alone building. Only a huge and dark empty space that was wrapping around the building.

"The town...!?" Emilia gasped.

"It disappeared...!?" Marie said in alertness.

"No, we're inside a barrier!" Kanda corrected.

'Akuma!? But my left eye is not reacting!' Ellen thought in aghast. That was when she noticed a thing.

Noctis hadn't gone back to them yet.

"Hahaha. Your cursed eye won't work." A Level 4 Akuma floated above the orphanage building and smirked cruelly.

"We can't let you have the upper hand forever."

"Noctis...!?" Ellen stood her seat and turning at her heels panicky, searched at any figure that bear Noctis' appearance but she found none until now. "Where's Noctis, I don't see him since earlier...!"

At the end of Ellen's statement, Link took of from the room the direction where Noctis supposed to be. A tenseness pause and Link came back with troubled look on his usually emotionless face.

"He's not in the bathroom." Link reported.

"What...!?" Marie blanched at the report.

"Wherever he is, it's obvious that he isn't at this house anymore. I can't find his presence at this place..." Link added more.

"What about the children...?" The old nun hurriedly asked.

"They're scared yet safe and sound." Link replied. "I've told them to enter their room until further notice."

The nun leader sighed in relief, but she had that worried look because she never expected it would be like this.

"Thank you very much."

Link gave her a slight nod. "It's nothing."

Kanda then narrowed his dark blue eyes. He then looked around as if he was searching something, or someone to be exactly.

"Wait, I thought I saw another nun in this room few minutes ago, where the heck does she go...?" Kanda half asked.

"You mean, Sister Mariposa?" Mother Superior offered helpfully.

"Now you mentioned it, I'm also not seeing her until now...!" Emilia's eyes widened in horror.

At the same time, Ellen's clicked the clues together.

The odd nun from before, the way of her staring to the silver haired Exorcist before she went away, Noctis's concern, his sudden excuse, and finally his disappearance. All made sense to her now and to tell you, it wasn't a good thing once she found out.

"No..." Ellen murmured in shock. She took a glance toward the window.

"Please don't tell me..."

A while before the Akuma appearance...

"Who're you and to whom you're working at?" Noctis jabbed the woman tightly.

The nun glared her eyes, daring the young man. "I'm not going to tell you, brat."

Noctis only responded her with cold glare. From the way she was acting and the conversation he overheard, the nun perhaps...

Noctis lifted the nun rather easily despise her seemingly larger body above her feet and slammed her to the phone machine. Not hard enough to make a dent –hello readers, he wasn't Superman-, but still hurt for a human like the nun.

SLAAAM…!

"Ugh...!" The nun grunted painfully.

"You do working for Earl Millennium, right?" He accused sharply.

"So what if I am?" The nun snarled.

So his suspicion was right. The nun indeed was one of those humans who were working to Earl for gaining money. It was Lavi who had once told him about these people back there at the Black Order HQ.

"Are you going to kill me, boy?" The nun asked with a sneer.

Then at that very same moment, a massive weird wave was coming from somewhere. Noctis's eyes widened slightly and turned to the same direction. He could see the odd color of purple glowed before it completely gone from the eyesight. Much to his shock, the direction was happening to be the same direction where the orphanage was. He felt a very bad feeling about this.

"What is that?" Noctis snapped as he glared fiercely toward the nun.

Despise the fear she showed to him, the nun scoffed loudly, still yet to answer the now ruby eyed young man. Noctis patience had worn thinner and thinner as every second goes.

"I said, what is that…!?" Noctis snapped more fiercely, tightening the jabbed.

The nun gave him a sinister yet triumphal smile. She then brought her hand onto her pocket skirt and drew a gun, brought it to the young man's face. She cocked the gun, ready to shoot him.

"You-are-doomed-Exorcists." She hissed mockingly.

Noctis red eyes flashed dangerously as he finally lost his patience. He then muttered a certain paralyzing spell under his breath.

"…Stop."

The lights those circled around him suddenly attacked the nun he held. The nun's eyes were becoming very wide and mouth agape, ready to scream when a glow caused by the blue lights came from her and the nun suddenly her move stopped abruptly. Her hand which held the gun fell limp and gun was leaving from her grip to fell onto the earth. She stunned with wide eyes and stay still even as the lights gone and Noctis let her go before she crashed against the hard road. She wasn't moving from her spot, not even a small twitch. He took the gun for himself before stood up and half turned, eyes still fixed at the stupefied nun.

"You don't have to worry; I'll not kill such type of people like you. Instead, I will just let you to taste your own punishment." He then completely turned his back on the unmoving nun and walked away in fast pace. His eyes changed back into their previous color.

"Stay in there until I'm back." And with that he was running back to the orphanage with deep concern and worry toward the certain silver eyed young woman. He hoped he could get in there just in time.

'Ellen…!'

"He must be following the nun..." Ellen wanted nothing more than to face palmed for not realizing earlier about Noctis' odd behavior. "I should've known it from earlier."

This drew everyone's attention included Emilia, to the beautiful silver eyed young woman.

"Why would he follow her...?" Emilia was looking extremely baffled.

"Because I said to him that I'm being watched by someone." Ellen replied drily.

This only cause more questioning look from Emilia.

"Huh?"

Ellen let out a deep breath; she was letting some of her tension, or tried to at least.

"I said to him that I felt like I'm being watched by someone which happened to be a nun. I found she was looking at us with suspicious eyes. He might be watching me the entire time because he's asked me why I'm staring at nun like something's strange with the nun." Ellen finally told them the whole story.

"Then the idiot most likely in outside with the nun." Kanda rolled his eyes, annoyed yet a bit impressive. "Oy, Marie, think the nun's the broker...?"

Marie nodded slightly.

"It's a fat chance; her disappearance and appearance of the barrier are too coincidental. Moreover, Noctis is also gone. He's perhaps really in the outside." Marie concluded.

"A broker?" Timothy asked in disturbing.

"A broker is a normal human that is working for our enemy, the Earl of Millennium. There are some of humans as same as her. They sought only for money in this world. They care for none except the money." Link explained shortly.

Mother Superior gasped quietly. "That's terrible."

"If that so, then we can safely assume that Caelo is in the outside of the barrier also." Link commented.

"Wait, if he's really at the outside, can he destroy the barrier...?" Emilia asked hopefully.

"I doubt it." Marie shrugged. "If we do not know what caused the barrier's active, it's almost impossible to destroy, let alone break it through."

Emilia lost her hopeful look. She even became more anxious than before.

"Then what we would do now...? What if he's not coming and helps us?" The brown headed woman enervated.

...

...

A deadly silence overwhelmed the whole occupants, it stayed like that until a familiar voice broke it.

"I trust Noctis."

Emilia and the others turned their eyes at the snow haired young woman. Ellen didn't fazed under their stares.

"I trust Noctis." Ellen repeated, her gray eyes were filled with determination. "He should be realized by now that we're in bad situation. He must have been realized right now and come back to the orphanage."

"How will he come here while he's probably in far away from the orphanage, Moyashi?"

"My name's Ellen, BaKanda. And for your information, despise the fact that he's quite careless and a bit impulsive but aside from that, he's a good observant at the times just like when he noticed me stared at the nun. He'll definitely come for us, I don't know with what way but I'm sure he will."

The beautiful Exorcist balled her fists. "He'll come for us and I know it. He isn't going to abandon us since he had considered us as his friends. Should we're switching places; I'll do the same thing."

"Ellen, I don't think..." Marie was being interrupted.

"Walker's right. We have to trust Caelo in this condition even we don't like it. Seeing his power, he's actually having a chance to be able to get here although it's not quite as big as the Exorcist is has, even if he can't destroy the barrier." Link, from all of people, surprisingly agreed with Ellen and added his points.

"What if he can't?" Kanda asked.

"I think, even if he can't enter the barrier, he's still can protect us from outside from any coming Akuma. Do you think that the Earl will send only 1 Akuma...? I doubt that. Imagine if the Akuma which come to this place are at least more than 3."

...

...

"...I can't believe this. How far this is will get into our nerves?" Kanda was only replied that.

"...Err, that makes sense." Marie sweat dropped. It was more logical to him now.

"My point is, while we're waiting for him, I suggest let's try to find a way to get the children out from here, especially Timothy. We have to evacuate them..."

Marie nodded thoughtfully. "Then let's do this immediately. Ellen, guard the three of them, Link will evacuate the rest of the children while I and Kanda search the cause of the barrier."

"Very well." Link replied.

"Che! It can't be helped then." Kanda clicked his tongue.

"Will do, Marie..."

BOOOOMM...!

Before she could say any further, a blast from the outside room had caught them first. Seeing this, the first thing Ellen did in her instinct was launching herself from where she stood earlier with all of the mighty she got and invoked Crown Clown to protected Timothy, Emilia, and Mother Superior from the explosion.

"LOOK OUT...!" Ellen shouted as she wrapped the white cloak of her Innocence around the three of them and her own self.

The hot fire blast through them, Ellen even could felt the burning sense on her back and yet she steadied herself to protect Timothy, Emilia, and Mother Superior. She knew no normal blast can do this. The explosion was way too incredible to be a normal explosion. It would be mean one thing for her.

The Akuma was beginning to launch its attack.

And she was more than ready to fight back.

Unknown to her, the same thing also happened at outside the barrier.

"A barrier...!?" Noctis right eye twitched violently in anger as he stared the barrier wrapped the whole orphanage. Now-he-was-totally-pissed-of.

"You must be kidding me!"

He was standing not too far from the now barricaded orphanage. Since Noctis was the magic user, he could saw the faint barrier that gave ominous aura came from it. The barrier must be the wave he had sense back there! He had to go there and help the others, fast!

But how...? The barrier was strong and his teleport technique not very helped in this, he needed advanced magic should he get through the barrier. But it would cost a lot of his energy and if that happened, he would not have enough energy to fight! What should he do...!?

A few serious of knocks brought him back from his muse. He lifted his head to found a figure of postman stood at the front door. He looked confused though.

"Hmm? Is nobody home?" The postman asked to nobody. "This is the postman. Is anybody in there?"

Seeing this, Noctis couldn't but felt intrigued. So the barrier prevented the outsiders from going in, somehow? Now he think about it, only the front door that had the most odd aura from all sides of the barrier after he focused his attention at it. Could it be it was the main enter?

He hurriedly approached the door and the man.

"Sir? Excuse me."

"Hm? Are you the one who occupied this house, young man?" The postman looked at him questioningly.

"No, I'm a guest. I'm about to enter back due to some business." Noctis replied hastily.

"Really?"

"Yes, there are people in there; probably they're too busy to notice you." Noctis explained, hoping that the man just go away and not get caught in this situation.

"Ah! I see. In that case, can you help me deliver this letter for the owner of this orphanage?" The postman handed him a single plain letter.

He resisted the anger and the frustration which continued to increase in alarming speed and tried his best to not letting it out of control right now despise the fact this was indeed critical situation to him, not when the postman asked him to deliver one freakin' letter.

"Gladly, Sir." Noctis forced a smile after he accepted the letter and tucking it in his pocket.

"Thank you very much. I'm much helped." The postman returned the smile and ready to go. "Excuse me then, young man."

Noctis gave him a few nods too fast, he was about to try enter the door when he spotted them. From the road, 2 men and a woman were coming at their way, wore clean and good looking clothes. At slightly, they looked like a bunch of normal persons. When Noctis completely focused on them however, his heart began to beating faster in alarm. Something dark and full with malevolent were radiating from them. It was strangely too strong for a normal human. And there was something else deep inside them that cried anguish and despair. He knew he was better trusting his gut feeling rather than tried to logical right now.

"Good day, Mr. Postman." One of the man greeted and lifted his tall hat.

"Hello there." The postman greeted back.

"Deliver a letter?" The moustachioed man with tall hat asked.

The postman nodded. "Yes, but it seems they are very busy to notice me. Thank God this young man helped me to give the letter to the owner."

When the foreigner slid his eyes toward Noctis, he held a strange gleam inside them. "I see…"

Noctis' heartbeat was getting faster and his uneasiness increased rapidly.

BADUMP!

"That's so nice of you. There are not many young men like you nowadays. Which reminds me, are you also a guest of this orphanage...?" The man tilted his head a bit.

BADUMP!

BADUMP!

Noctis ignored the question; he really didn't care if he was being rude. "I took that you're also guests then." He stated.

"Something likes that." The man shrugged and replied nonchalantly, still with that strange gleam. To Noctis' wary the dark and evil aura radiated more from him.

Noctis had to take an action. Now.

"...Mr. Postman." Noctis' hard eyes weren't leaving the group. His voice was stern.

The postman looked at him and blinked. "Yes?" The postman replied confusedly.

"Get away from here, now."

The postman blanched at the sudden statement, not to mention odd. "Wha...?"

"What's the matter, young man? Are you fine...?" The only woman asked in fake concern.

"You're not human." Noctis glared at them, he was raising his power slowly. "What are you...?"

The other man blinked few times, looked confused. "What are you talking about...? You're talking such nonsense."

"You can fool the postman and anybody else but you can't fool me." Noctis' glare went deadly and his voice became as cold as ice. "I can sense it, the dark and evil aura which comes from you all. You can use those camouflages but you can't hide your obvious aura."

The postman gaped and snapped his head the group with disbelieving wide eyes. "...Huh?!"

If Noctis' gut feeling was right, then he had to be be careful because they must be...

"What-are-you-exactly?" He asked once more.

The man with the tall hat had a blank face before he smirked evilly and as fast as it happened, the man's skin shredded, revealed a one h*ll of grotesque creature. He had a black pentagram on the forehead. The others were following him as well.

"...Hooo? Looks like this one was sharp." His voice changed creepier and deeper.

"He can guess what of us easily." The creature that shredded the woman's skin it wore was looking impressive.

"True, sharp indeed." The last one gave its agreement. "But very, very unfortunate human none less for he will die soon."

They were showing their true forms as Level 2 and Level 3 Akuma. Noctis narrowed his eyes at the revelation, felt very disturbed at their real form. So they were Akuma, the monsters those made from the suffered souls. Then the despair emotion he sensed far in there must be the tortured souls. They really looked like the grotesque beings Lavi had been described. He couldn't help but slightly disgusted, not even the monsters in his world looked this…grotesque and pitiful.

And how was he supposing to defeat them without Innocence? From Lavi's explanation, it was only Innocence which could free the suffered souls from their Akuma shells. He had magic and his weapons, yes, but they weren't Innocence. He worried if the tortured souls inside the Akuma instead being destroyed rather than purified.

"AAAARRGH...!"

The postman let out a horror scream as he watched the whole transformation and ran at his heels.

'Well, at least he's got away from here...' Noctis thought drily when he watched the frightened man run away.

The Akuma weren't paying any attention at the postman thankfully. In fact they were discussing what method they should use to kill him.

"What shall we do to him, Pal? Kill him at the sight or torture him slowly before we kill him?" The Level 2 with somewhat bunny ears like asked.

"Let's just play with the pretty boy and then kill him! He's seemingly weak unlike those Exorcists...!" The Level 3 said gleefully.

Another Level 2 with a huge mouth on its hat smirked. "That's a great idea, pal. A great idea none less..."

"After that, we will kill those Exorcists, especially the silver haired one."

Upon heard it, Noctis suddenly saw red in everything. He then gave them the most murderous glare he had. He wanted nothing but for them to stay away from Ellen and her friends!

He was furious, very furious. Like he was going to let them ambushed him that easily. As if. His magic and weapons weren't Innocence but they came from the Realm of the Dead via the Great Crystal as its link. He wasn't an Exorcist for crying loud but didn't mean he can't fight.

"...Think you can kill me easily?" Noctis finally showed them his merciless face.

Once again the light blue lights appeared around him, this time with bigger numbers. His euclase eyes changed abruptly into ruby colored and shone brightly for a second. He lifted his right hand and his falchion appeared by his command.

Coldly, he pointed the falchion at now stunned Akuma.

"Let me show you then how this seemingly weak boy can fight you." He growled darkly.

Round 1.

Noctis Lucis Caelum vs. a Level 3 Akuma and 2 of Level 2 Akuma.

Begin.

It was dark around them. They couldn't see anything even they had their eyes opened. Not even they could see their own hands.

"Wh-Wha?!" Timothy gaped at the darkness around him.

"It is all pitch black..." The voice of Mother Superior was heard from beside him.

"What's going on?" Emilia asked warily.

FLAP.

Her confusement was being answered instantly a second later as the sounds of the cloth rustled and the darkness suddenly gave away. Letting the light came to them and shone too brightly to their eyes. Emilia had to shield her eyes from the blinding light and at the time she opened her eyelids slowly, she found the young woman with the odd star shaped scar, Ellen, smiled soothingly as she kneeled before the woman that held Timothy. She had few scratches and some dirt but overall she was perfectly fine. Emilia just noticed the white and soft cloak then loosened itself from them, was actually protected them from explosion and the cause of the brief darkness around them. White cloak surrounded Ellen's body and it perfectly fitting on the young woman. Emilia, for a second, had thought the young woman looked more beautiful in that way.

"Are you...?" Ellen asked them concernedly.

Emilia snapped from her thought, blushes were visible on her cheeks.

Her left arm now gone but now the pale beautiful Exorcist had a huge sword within her right hand grip was one more thing Emilia having taken notice.

"W-We're all right...but..." Emilia stuttered.

"Huh?" Timothy now could move his body again. Blinked, he was looking at the rope that loosened from his body and fell to the floor. He was free from the rope somehow. "Wasn't I'm being tied..."

The 9 years old then saw a yellow colored creature flied near him, with the rope in its mouth. The creature with wings and cross symbol on its face was grinning, showed its teeth. Ellen smiled warmly at Timothy.

"His name's Timcanpy. Say hi!" She introduced.

"Timcanpy?" Timothy grabbed the golem's cheeks, examined it with interest.

"Ellen! Kanda! Link!" Marie's voice was coming from one direction since the debris not gone yet. "-Cough- Are you alright...!?" He asked, slightly coughed.

"I'm fine...!" Kanda replied from another direction.

"I'm perfectly fine." Link answered from other direction.

"Me too!" Ellen replied.

"How's Timothy along with Miss Galmar and Mother Superior, are you with them...!?"

"They're with me and fine as well!" Ellen replied once more.

Ellen's mind quickly drifted to Noctis who now was outside the barrier. She pondered if the young man was alright outside there. If the Akuma in here…then there was a huge possibility that at least a group of them came in here. Ellen unconsciously shifted apprehensively when she thought it. She had a right to anxious he wasn't an Exorcist or a CROW, while he, perhaps had a capability on defending himself. At the time like this, she had no choice but to believe on the euclase eyed young man to keep himself alive. It even would be far better for the young woman if he manage to get in here and help them.

'I hope that Noctis is being fine in out there and come here to help us, fast...'

"Is that...an angel?" The kind nun asked as her glasses eyes fixed to behind the silver haired Exorcist.

"!"

Ellen turned her head at the right time to found an all too familiar silhouette of Akuma, eyes widened in slight shock. What even drove her far more wary was because it wasn't any ordinary Akuma. It was the strongest of the Akuma she had faced. The Level 4 of Akuma. The Akuma she did never want to see because of how grotesque the soul inside it. It took a form of a child and had a bloated stomach. There is a black star on the Akuma's stomach and a little, closed-ring, above its head an oval shaped hallo hovered. It also had a pair of wings on its back. Overalls, the Akuma looked like a demonic angel. From one of its hand, few traces of electricity were wavering around, cleared the fact it was the Akuma that attacked them at the first place.

"Too bad." The akuma said nonchalantly. "I'm not an angel."

Ellen silver eyes narrowed dangerously. Akuma. And it was a Level 4 on top of that.

Had they really want Timothy that far…?

"You are not an angel for crying out loud." Ellen retorted in anger.

She already had her sword in her right hand, ready to use I any time to exterminate the Akuma before her. The young woman now had new goal in this mission, she had to protect Timothy, Emilia, and Mother Superior from the extremely dangerous type of Akuma. After Timothy let go of Timcanpy and stared incredulously to the Akuma's direction, the flying golem growled threateningly as its own response.

"I'll not let you ever attack them let alone touch one of them, not even a single hair, Akuma." Ellen added with hard glare.

"Let's see about that, Exorcist..." It taunted the beautiful Exorcist.

"Another level 4, huh?" a cold and emotionless voice commented coldly.

Ellen glanced to a direction where Kanda stepped out from the debris; he had a very dark and pissed of expression on him as he scanned the Akuma. His uniform was dirty but not damaged much from the explosion. Mugen was out from its sheath and its blade gleamed dangerously under the dim light from nowhere.

"Please just give me a break; I'm the one who should say that to you, you f*cking Akuma." Kanda snorted disdainfully.

It raised one of its unexisted eyebrow. It wasn't expecting the long haired young man to be alive after got caught in the blast of it attack.

"Oh? Another pest? Aren't you all cowards?" He insulted both the Exorcists.

Ellen responded the Akuma's insult by giving it a cold and sharp glare.

"You have no right to call us cowards when you're mercilessly attacked Timothy and the others. And don't you ever dare to talk about it." Ellen growled as the grip on her Sword of Exorcism hardened, she stood up from the floor. "You're facing us and your battle is with us. Not with Timothy, not with the children, not with the innocents. End of it."

"Interesting." The Akuma said with look of humiliatingly. "Let's just start then, Exorcists?"

"Like h*ll." Kanda positioned himself into a fighting stance and pointed Mugen forward.

"Bring it on." The handsome samurai snarled lowly.

Ellen quickly followed Kanda's action by swinging the Sword of Exorcism and pointed it to the same direction. She was ready in her own fighting stance.

She wouldn't let it attacked the orphanage's occupants.

She would protect and defend them no matter what happen.

She must win in this battle or all of them were screwed.

Ellen wouldn't let it happen, not while she was still breathing and stood on his feet.

And thus the battle between the Exorcists and the Akuma started.

Round 1.

Ellen Walker and Yuu Kanda vs. an Akuma level 4.

Begin.

And the battle is now begun...! Who will survive...!? Love it? Hate it? And more importantly, do I make Ellen and Noctis too OOC...?

I hope not. Well, although Ellen and Kanda were freakin' strong for Exorcist' size, this is a Level 4 they're facing at, the most powerful from all Akuma, perhaps even more than the Noah Clan. 2 Exorcists aren't going to reassurance the victory that easily even they got the backup from Marie and Link to do this.

Noctis' situation isn't any better because he isn't only fighting 1 but 3 Akuma at the same time. Even he's seemingly strong; his strength is actually lower than Link so he had to rely on his brain and mainly his magic, perhaps even the gun he had taken from the stupefied nun for this in order to win, if he's lucky. Please review and critics in here! :D