It all happened so quickly. Too quickly. There was nothing that I could do as I watched, horror reflecting off of my eyes as Allen was pushed and shoved before Hevlaska by Leverrier, the overseers of the Order glaring down at the gray boy from behind their hooded robes. I trembled, watching as Leverrier kicked the Bean-Sprout down to the ground, and the oldest, dragon-like Exorcist lifted him with her tentacle-like appendages, her gaze sad. All members of the Order were at this conference – a conference to show them what Allen was becoming, a conference in which they were going to try to take Allen's beloved Crown Clown away from him, then kill him. Leverrier looked up at the crowd, which was stunned by the appearance of the Short-Stack, many becoming instantly hateful of the boy.

"Look upon him, everyone!" Leverrier shouted. "Look at the beast that stands here before us!" He looked away from everyone, casting his gaze at Allen, who was held up by Hevlaska as though he was nailed to a cross, his head hanging low with defeat and sadness. "Everyone has their demons," he began, "But some are just better at hiding them. Allen was very good at hiding his demons from us. And he was hiding the worst, most dangerous demons of all; they have corrupted him, and he can no longer be allowed to wield his innocence or remain an Exorcist! He must be destroyed before he can destroy us!"

The nightmare, it seems, had begun.

^o-+-o^

I was shocked and happy when Allen called me by my first name, smiling at him as I held him, laying beside him on his bed. I leaned over him, kissing him behind his ear, making him squeak and jump, his face flushed and flustered as he turned to face me.

"W-W-Why did you do that?!" he stuttered. His reaction made me chuckle, and I pulled him down beside me again.

"You ticklish there or something?" I asked. He pouted, looking away, pink flowers still plaguing his cheeks.

"A little…" I laughed, patting his head, the strands of moonlight slipping through my fingers as I ran my hand through his hair.

"Well, that's why I did it." He whined, but gave in when I kept pulling him to me to cuddle, and he snuggled up to my chest. A faint smile on my lips, I curled my arms around his waist and held him, gently grasping him as if he was a porcelain doll that would shatter if I held him too tightly. Even with him changing and with the threat of a Noah stealing his body away, for once, I felt truly happy.

We cuddled the whole day, talking and taking naps together. He played with my hair for a while after begging me to let him, and I couldn't help but try to tickle him and poke at his sides as he did so. One of the times when he had fallen asleep, I decided to do something that I had previously been afraid to do. I lightly took hold of one of his arms, pulling the sleeve up to inspect his wrist. I sighed, disappointment, sadness, hurt, and worry clouding my mind when I discovered my fears to be true.

Allen was indeed still cutting, many scars now adorning his wrist. I rolled his sleeve back down, taking a deep breath when he moved and rubbed his eyes, waking up from his slumber.

I wanted to ask him why. But I recall him telling me why he did it the when I first discovered that he was causing himself self-harm. I wanted to throw his razor away. But what if he started doing something worse to relieve himself of his pain and sorrow? I wanted him to talk to me about everything and to rely on me more instead of making himself bleed to feel better. But what if he just kept everything to himself, letting all of the hurt build up inside of him until it drove him to do something unthinkable?

"Yuu…?" he asked, shaking my shoulder a little, pulling me out of my thoughts. Worry decorated his expression, and I exhaled deeply, my night-colored eyes meeting his mismatched golden hilt and silver blade-colored ones.

"Allen… Can I talk to you about something without you freaking out or overreacting?" He tilted his head, wondering what it could be that I wanted to speak about with him.

"Sure… What is it?"

I took another deep breath, gathering my courage as I prepared to speak. "Allen… I want you to stop cutting." He tensed, but I continued. "Instead, I want you to talk with me about things, okay?" He bit his lip, looking away from me as he thought. After what seemed like forever, he looked back into my coal-like eyes, smiling a little.

"…Okay, Yuu… I'll try." I smiled, hugging him.

"Thank you." He giggled, but instantly became embarrassed when his stomach growled. I laughed, standing.

"If you wait here, I'll go get us something from Jerry to eat, okay?" He nodded, and I left the room to retrieve the sustenance that would help to tame his raging belly, not noticing the man at the other end of the hall approaching Allen's door.

^o-+-o^

Leverrier took his time making his way to the Destroyer of Time's room, watching curiously as the stoic samurai left from the very room which he was heading to. He walked slowly, carefully, towards the door, taking about five minutes to get there.

Rumors were flying around the order about the two Exorcists, considering how often Kanda visited Allen and how much time they spent together in Allen's room. And even more rumors were going around about Allen himself, since no one saw him walking around the halls or in the Mess Hall of the Order anymore, and since whenever someone went to visit him, he had a mask on and his clothes covered every inch of his being. Everyone was curious and wanted to know what exactly was going on. And Leverrier had come to get those questions answered.

He knocked, and it wasn't long before the boy opened the door for him with a smile on his gray face.

"That was fast, Kan-" he stopped midsentence, his eyes becoming wide with fear.

But not as wide as Leverrier's eyes had become. The man glared, everything becoming clear to him in his head.

"You're not human, are you, Walker?" he asked, glaring down at the terrified boy. "You're a monster. And Kanda's helping you, isn't he? I saw him leave here. And he's been here with you often, hasn't he?" Allen trembled, his breathing as erratic and unstable as his heartbeat. "So, Allen, care to explain?" The smaller male stayed quiet, backing away and looking as though he was going to activate his innocence. Leverrier's lips curled into a wicked smile, and he shook his finger at the younger male.

"Ah-ah-ah, Allen. You wouldn't want to get Kanda involved, would you? I can make it so that he'll stay out of trouble." Allen's head lowered, and his arms flopped to his sides.

"…Will… Will you really keep him from getting in trouble? Will you make it so people think that he didn't know…?" The wilting flower asked.

"Of course. But only if you give up quietly and without a fight, child of Noah."

^o-+-o^

I ordered so many plates of food for the boy along with my Soba that I almost couldn't carry them all on my own, but I somehow managed to. I made my way through the Order's halls with the plethora of food, heading back to the Bean-Sprout's quarters. But when I got within sight of his room, I instantly felt that something was off, and that something was terribly wrong.

His door was ajar, which was strange. Allen wouldn't leave his door open for fear of someone seeing what was becoming of him. I prudently made my way to the room, quickly opening it with my foot, glancing around wearily, my worry growing when I found it to be empty.

Where was Allen?

I searched for evidence, finding none. I asked around, finding that no one had seen him. I gave the food that I had gotten for the two of us to others, spending the rest of the day looking for the Bean-Sprout. When a week passed and there was still no sign of him, I was borderline crazy. What had happened to Allen on that day? Had he run away? Had something, like a mission, come up? Or had something terrible happened to him?

My thought process was broken when Komui's voice echoed through the Order on the intercom, sounding sorrowful, telling everyone that there was to be a conference in Hevlaska's room, and that everyone had to be there. I had a bad feeling about this. I left my room behind, walking nervously to the location that had been specified. I saw Lenalee, Miranda, Krory, and Lavi on my way there, and from their expressions, I instantly knew. I just… Knew. I swallowed heavily, my breathing shaking more than my body trembled, becoming even more crestfallen than Allen's closest friends.

When everyone had gathered, I sat among those friends that my flower had held so dear to him, clasping my hands together and biting my bottom lip, trying to keep a hold on myself.

And there, being forcefully thrown out into the open for all to see, was Allen. His body was thinner than it had been when I'd last saw him, and even from a distance, me and all others could see that he had been horribly beaten. He didn't put up any sort of a fight as he was forced into the eyes of the Order, not even trying to defend himself when he was kicked by Leverrier. He didn't try to flee when Hevlaska lifted him. He didn't look up, except for when he noticed me in the crowd, his once bright eyes gazing at me, dull and lifeless as he began to cry as we stared at each other. His friends were sobbing, and I didn't realize that I was also crying until I felt the tears fall onto my hands. Allen was broken. And from Leverrier's words, it seemed that he was to be executed before all whom were attending this conference – this Hell on Earth.

Unknown to us all was that our troubles had barely begun, and that our great tragedy had yet to unfold.

Finally, chapter ten! I spent forever thinking over this one, and I think that it turned out wonderfully. There will be a minimum of at least four more chapters to this fic, but it's looking more like there will be around six more.

Sorry that this one's not so fluffy. I tried to mix in a little bit of cuteness with the oncoming danger that Allen and Kanda are going to have to face together. I promise that there will be many more cute moments between the two in the future, and I'll try to have at least one more chapter of pure fluff for everyone to enjoy.

As always, thank you for reading and supporting me, and please review! See you again next chapter!

~Lucylyles