Two
"…And you do have Allen's permission to do this, right?" Reever asked, staring at Allen. Komui, being entirely too eager, had already given him a knock out drug, and he was sleeping peacefully (or so it appeared) on his bed.
"O-of course," Komui stuttered, grinning. Kanda and Lavi didn't say anything.
"Positive?"
"Yes."
"Would
you bet your kidney on it?"
"Just do it already!"
"Fine." Komui and the others turned away as Reever carefully began the process of installing the chip into Allen's head. When he as done, there was a small blood stain on the pillow beside him, but otherwise no real evidence.
"Well, lets see if this works then, shall we?" Reever muttered, flipping a switch on a screen that was set up on the wall beside the bed. To begin with, it was dark and fuzzy, but as Allen began to sink deeper into sleep, the screen began to become clearer…
"…going so great, don't you think?" Lenalee said happily, smiling at Allen.
"Yeah, everything's going fantastic!" Allen replied, grinning. I watched from the sidelines. How could I be watching myself talk to Lenalee? Oh. Right. I'm dreaming.
"I can't wait to see how it all turns out in the end!" I was suddenly behind her, looming tall over her head…watching and listening as she spoke to myself. "Don't you want to see?" Allen didn't say anything. His eyes were wide, and he was staring in my direction. "Allen?"
"L-Lenalee! The Earl! Behind-" But it was too late. I--the Earl I suppose--sent my--his!--sword through her heart. Her screaming gasp echoed through out the vast emptiness where we were, and she disappeared. Allen dropped to his knees, his face showing just how distraught he was.
"Allen Walker, Allen Walker," I found myself saying. I had no control right now. "Such a pity. Unable to help her. Your feelings crushed, and your mind broken. Allen Walker, Allen Walker…" I watched as Allen activated the innocence in his arm and swung at me, angry, but it passed right through me. Both angry and depressed, he stopped. He stood there a moment, before taking a shocking swing at himself, and a shot of pain echoed throughout myself. Then…it was dark again.
"Good god! Is he supposed to be bleeding like that?!" Komui screeched, staring at the blood that was spreading across Allen's torso.
"No! It's just a dream!" Reever replied frantically, running over to Allen's side. He tore his shirt open. But…there was no wound… "Where's it coming from…?"
When the darkness disappeared again, I found myself staring upwards, and myself crying beside me, young and helpless.
"Manaaaa!" Allen wailed, throwing himself down onto my chest and sobbing. "Mana don't die! Don't leave me alone!" I felt myself wanting to cry…but I couldn't…
"This
is so strange," Reever said, watching tears fall down Allen's
face. "I don't understand. He dies in the dream, and he's
covered in blood with no wound. He becomes the only man who loved him
when he died, and he cries? How…? He's just dreaming…"
"Would
you like me to bring your Mana back for you?" The Earl's voice
asked, echoing, and we were suddenly in the graveyard. I was the Earl
again, and Allen was sobbing onto Mana's grave.
"Wh-what?"
"I can bring him back for you." No! No, I didn't want to live through this again! The empty Akuma body appeared beside me. "All you need to do is call for him. You, the one he loved most. Just call for him." Barley hesitating, Allen screamed his name as loud as he could….and the nightmare began again. I was only able to watch this time, that stupid grin plastered on the face that wasn't mine. It hurt so bad to see it again…And when the Earl left, leaving Allen alone, I was there with him, no longer being the earl. Slowly, as the shadowy figure that was General Cross appeared, my dream went fuzzy, and faded away again…what it would show me next, I could only fear.
"Do
I have to go next?" Lavi asked, his voice shaking. "I-I don't
think I can…"
"Well I'm sure as hell not going," Kanda
said stiffly. "You're going next!"
"But…"
"Oh both of you just shut up and take it like men!" Komui said. "I'm sure it won't hurt too much!" He continued staring at the screen and watching Allen's dreams project, taking no notice of how pale Kanda was (though his face still showed anger), and how Lavi was trying to figure out how to climb out the window without getting noticed.
There was a knock on the door.
"Nii-san, are you in there?" In an instant, the door was open, and Lenalee was in the room with everyone. "Whats going on?" She was completely clueless, standing there staring at everyone, holding the tray of coffee mugs. "And what are you doing to Allen?"
"We're
watching his dreams…," Reever said. "And now that you know, you
can't leave. You have to stay here with us and watch."
"B-but
I just wanted to bring Nii-san his coffee!"
"And I thank you
for that," Komui said, taking his mug of coffee off the tray. "But
as for now, pull Lavi out of the window and take a seat with him and
Kanda." Sighing, Lenalee did what she was told, sitting down just
as another segment of Allen's dream began.
I found myself behind them again, listening to their conversation.
"…stupid," Kanda said, crossing his arms. "I can't believe you'd say something that stupid Lavi!"
"Aw,
lighten up Yuu!" Lavi teased, tugging on Kanda's ponytail. "It
was a joke! Now how 'bout another one?"
"No."
"What
do you say to a man with five penises?"
"You can't be
serious, can you? That's worse then the first-"
"Your jeans
fit like a glove! Hah, get it?" Kanda slapped his forehead as Lavi
laughed.
"Heh, that's actually pretty funny!" Lavi said. Kanda slapped his forehead, muttering profanities and cursing Lavi under his breath.
"Hey!" Allen yelled, running up to them. Oh no…here it comes…
"Whats up bean sprout?" Lavi asked.
"It's Allen!"
"Still. Whats up?" Allen took a seat beside him, and they started talking again.
"…and
so the last vampire walks in and says give me a shot of water,"
Lavi said, telling another stupid joke. "And the bartender was all
'why a shot of water?' and the vampire-"
"Damn it!"
Before Lavi could finish his joke, he was hit in the back with sudden
light force, and as he jumped to his feet and looked, he saw that
Kanda had fallen. His own sword jetted from the center of his back.
"D-damn it…," he muttered.
"Yuu!" Lavi cried, dropping to his side. He shook Kanda's shoulder, he himself trembling as Kanda's eyes fluttered shut. "Yuu! Wake up damn it!" The Earl's laughter echoed throughout the vast emptiness of the dream, and Lavi rose to his feet, activating his innocence and pulling his hammer from the holster on his thigh. But as it grew, it shattered, and he was defenseless.
"What the hell!?" he cried, taking a few steps back. "Allen, cover me!"
"Got it!" Allen activated the innocence in his arm and was prepared to fight…but he heard a shaky gasp from Lavi. "L-Lavi…?" He looked, and saw that there hadn't been enough space between the two of them…and…one of the sharp, skeletal fingers of his weapon-arm had pierced through Lavi. "No!" He deactivated his arm quickly, and Lavi fell backwards into his arms.
"D-damn….," Lavi whispered.
"L-Lavi!" Allen cried. He was on his knees now, holding Lavi tightly. "Lavi! You can't die too! Please!"
"I-I don't…I-I can't…." His eyes fell shut, and he stopped breathing in Allen's arms.
"NO! Dear god, no!" Lavi and Kanda's bodies disappeared, and suddenly I was behind Allen, holding his shoulders tightly so he couldn't escape.
"See what you've done?" I hissed into his ear.
"Wh-what?"
"It was your fault. You didn't save them. If you'd have paid more attention, I gave you several minutes to save that man with the sword. And should you have taken one step back, your redhead wouldn't have been killed. Don't you realize that?" Allen's tears fell quickly, and he took the earl's words to heart.
"I-I could've…I could've save them! I-I'm so…so clueless!" I held him tighter as he began shaking. My intentions--the Earl's intentions! I would never do this! To myself, or to anyone!--was to break me. To make me kill myself again….and again…and again. There would be no escape from the constant suicide attempts.
"That's right. It's your fault, Allen Walker. It's your fault. No one's but yours." I let go as Allen reached for Mugen, which was left behind when Kanda's body disappeared. His hand shook as he saw it was still stained with his blood…He held the sword in front of him, pointing the blade at his heart, and thrust it through himself, pushing the life from him and making him fall. His body disappeared as his last breath ended. I smiled, though it was hard to smile with a face that was always a grin.
"You see Allen Walker?" I said to myself. "You can't escape me! You'll die…" I picked up Mugen, just as Allen had done and pointed the blade at my heart. "If it's the last thing I do!" I screamed in my mind as I brought the blade through myself.
Allen screamed loudly, still sleeping, as the sword wound appeared through his stomach. Luckily, the Earl was a bit off, and it didn't pierce through his heart, but the wound did appear this time.
"Allen!" Lenalee shouted, jumping to her feet. "Nii-san! Wake him up! Wake him up!" Komui quickly tried waking Allen, but he had no luck. He eventually slipped into unconsciousness from blood loss, which was much safer then sleep, but he didn't wake up. In a way, he was still asleep.
"We shouldn't have done that!" Reever wailed. "Now he might never wake up!"
"We
had no choice!" Komui replied. "And we still have to keep going
with Lavi and Kanda! The Earl has done his job with Allen, because he
thinks he's dead. If we can keep him alive, his
ordeal will be over. He'll be able to sleep again. But the others
still need to go through this process."
"Great," Lavi
muttered shakily. "I just watched myself die…and now I have to go
suffer through more?"
"Yes.
And then Kanda will have to-"
"I need a minute," Kanda
said, rising to his feet. He ran out of the room. Lavi instantly
though he had gone insane, because he swore he saw the slightest hint
of possible tears on Kanda's face…
