A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm here with another (and much longer than expected) update for you!^-^ Thank you very much to Torashii, KillerAkuma, and countrylovinfangirl for dropping by such lovely reviews! And I appreciate the favorites and follows that I've received as well! Please enjoy!(:

Disclaimer: No, I do not own anything, but I wish I did, simply so I could see its continuation (no offense meant Hoshino-sensei)!

Chapter 2

Time Frame — Noon of December 14th, 1889

—3rd Person POV—

~Allen~

The small seven-year-old gasped, trying to keep up with his older companion's long, swift strides. Not being able to stand it any longer, the red-headed boy came to an abrupt stop, crossing his arms and tilting his head up to give the teen a pointed glare. "Tyki! Would you quit walking so fast! I can barely keep up!" Allen was beginning to get irritated. Chasing around the older Portuguese through the bustling crowds was not exactly his idea of fun.

Coming to a halt himself, Tyki returned the younger boy's aggravated glower. "Quit whining, boy. There's much more important matters at hand!" Noticing Allen's unrelenting stance, Tyki rubbed his face with frustration and all of a sudden took a hold of Allen, eliciting a yelp of surprise from him. Casually swinging him onto his back, Tyki returned to his previous saunter. "You know there's no time to waste. Sheryl will kill me if we mess this up."

"Sheryl's a loon," Allen simply muttered, slightly rolling his eyes. In his opinion, they were making way too much of a big deal. Sheryl had just recently been elected Minister and they were charged with hosting their first Christmas Ball. This wasn't really the problem though…

"I know he is!" Tyki retorted. "But the Earl is insistent on the whole family being there. In a whole ballroom full of retched humans, boy!"

"Yes, I know. You're anxious you'll lose control. I've heard it a million times. Millenie already said he'd cover it up," the younger boy shrugged, trying his hardest to be nonchalant. It was tough, but after months of practicing, Allen had learned to keep his horror at bay. To speak of the demise of other human beings so casually… If only Mana could see him now. Allen shuddered at the thought. I have to survive, for Mana, the child thought fiercely. And if the meant acting like humans disgusted him, then so be it. Truly, it hadn't been too long ago when he himself had already felt that way, but Mana's compassion had shown him the beautiful side of humanity. One in which he could be happy.

His train of thought was suddenly cut off by Tyki's drawl. "That's not the point, boy. He's testing us to see the level of control our Noah have."

"My name is Allen," the red-head simply retorted. As an afterthought, he added, "You'd think I'd be the one that was terrified. I am going to be one of the humans attending."

"I'm not terrified!" Tyki immediately snapped.

"Are so~!" Allen guffawed, childishly sticking his tongue out at the nineteen-year-old, who noticed his irksome actions out of the corner of his eye.

"Why you little—!" Tyki reached back to smack the russet-haired kid. But seeing it coming, Allen began to tug at Tyki's own hair. His laughter turned raucous as Tyki reserved to shouting expletives. They made quite the ruckus, and it wasn't until later that night that Sheryl had to go and bail them out for "causing a scene in the presence of small children".

Time Frame — Morning of December 18th, 1889

Allen leaned back against the chilly bench, comfortably bundled up in his scarf, coat, and gloves, casually swinging his legs back and forth as he gently sucked on a lollipop Road had given him earlier that morning. He was currently waiting for said girl, though it was hard to spot her, taking into account the continuous stream of children being released out into the courtyard for their half-hour break. School was certainly one of the downsides of being forced to join the Noah Clan. It only meant that he had to deal with snooty teachers, snot-nosed children, and piles of homework that didn't even make any sense to him. It was only through Tyki's assistance that Allen was doing relatively well in his classes. But he still didn't think any of it was worth it. Allen dreamed of the day he could return to traveling with his beloved father, Mana.

"Allen~!" Road skipped over to Allen, carelessly shoving aside anyone standing in her way. The small, silver-eyed boy briefly wondered if she ever took notice of the constant glares of accusation that always followed her down the halls, and then decided that she probably couldn't care less.

"Hello, Road," Allen smiled slightly. Though Allen still found the girl's sadistic ways frightening, he'd grown used to her constant presence. Plus, her company was a welcomed sight in the face of other, and certainly more innocent, children. Sometimes, Allen was utterly shocked at how naïve they all were. He may not yet be a brutal and vicious Noah like Road, but even he'd had to face his own share of violence when he was younger. Suddenly being thrust into a world full guileless people greatly unsettled him.

Plopping down next to him, Road beamed. "Aren't you excited, Allen? It's finally our last day, and afterwards, Tricia promised to take me out in order to buy a gown for the ball! Want to come with me, Allen?"

"Sure, Road," he agreed easily enough, knowing she'd find some way to force him to go if he dared say no. "And yes. I'm really not going to miss this place."

Road let out an infectious giggle. "It's okay, Allen. I hate it too! But Millenie asked that we keep up appearances for daddy."

Allen was about to further argue, when someone abruptly crashed right into the female Noah, who in turn, collided with Allen, causing all three to tumble onto the rough concrete. Fortunately for Allen and Road, the short topple hardly affected them. Sitting up, Allen blinked owlishly at the oddly, pretty girl that was being fussed over by her friends, who'd already helped her up. But rather than apologizing like Allen had expected, the girl's face contorted into a sneer directed right at Road, while loftily saying to her friends, "Goodness! You didn't have to shove me right into the freak!"

Warily, Allen stood up with the help of Road. This was the last thing he'd expected. Sure, he was aware of the fact that the other children felt defensive when around her. Scared even. He'd basically attributed this to the Noah within her. But this girl simply exuded resentment. Of what, Allen could hardly imagine.

"What? Have nothing to say to us, freak?" one of the younger girls ridiculed her with obvious disdain. And to the red-head's surprise, it was true. Road merely offered them a cold, impassive gaze, as if they were beneath her very existence. "And what about you?" the same girl suddenly turned to Allen, bestowing him with a curious glance. "Why do you always sit with her?"

Allen blinked. "Because she's my sister." And it was technically true. To officially enter the family, Road had convinced him to let Sheryl adopt him. Not only did he regret it because it felt like a betrayal to Mana, but it turned out Sheryl was a complete lunatic; obsessing over his precious and adorable children. It was a little bit terrifying.

Due to his answer, Allen was rewarded with a blank stare. He could see why; they certainly didn't fit the description. Sure, they shared the same common European facial features with their wide eyes, small noses, and thin lips. They even had the same pallid complexion and pin-straight hair—though that was only due to the fact that Road brushed her hair straight for school rather than letting it curl up wildly around her (apparently, they had a policy about such things). The main features that usually set people apart from others though, were entirely different. Where Allen's hair was a lighter, coppery color, Road's was an inky black that tended to shine purple when hit with direct sunlight. And where Road's eyes were a deep, violet, Allen's were a softer mercury.

But before Allen could receive any sort of argument, the small group of unpleasant girls was knocked over like a set of bowling pins by another pair of siblings that were cackling madly. Road and Allen didn't even try to hide their snickers as the schoolgirls shrieked in surprise, some of them actually bursting into dramatic tears.

"That'll teach you to mess with our siblings, you stinky girls!" Devitto declared with a cackle, as immature as any ten-year-old could get.*

"Yeah! Yeah! Only we can do that! Hihihihi~!" Jasdero added with his own laugh. Fortunately, the twins were free of make-up smudges and stitches—though Allen knew perfectly well that they'd have it back on as soon as they were back home in the Ark—and were wearing the school uniform, having actually listened to the Earl's instructions.

Satisfied with a job well done, the twins scampered off to terrorize more children, Allen was sure, wildly waving their "toy" guns about. "What is wrong with all your freaky siblings?!" one of the girls wailed. But rather than deeming her with an answer, Road abruptly began to amble away, much to their astonishment. Without a thought, Allen followed after her. It wasn't until they were nearing the doors that one of the girls thought to yell, "Hey! Where do you think you're going, freak?!"

All they received in response was the heavy thud of the double oak doors as they were slammed shut.

"Where are we going to this time, Road?" Allen asked, knowing perfectly well that they weren't allowed inside during their break, unless due to extreme weather conditions. But they'd done it before and never been caught. It seemed the teachers were a little too confident in their authority.

"Let's go to the library!" Road skipped off ahead through the winding corridors, Allen racing after. Not that they were particularly interested in reading, but the fire was always stoked to a large, comfortable blaze, with thick, warmed-up rugs surrounding the fireplace. It wasn't too long before they were snuggled up comfortably, leaning against each other.

"Road?" Allen finally ventured.

"Yes~?" Road hummed, relaxing against the younger boy.

Offering her a curious glance, Allen asked, "How come you don't do anything about those girls? Knowing you, I would've thought their bodies would have ended up in some ditch by now." Allen swallowed back the bile that rose to his mouth at the thought.

"Yes! Their corpses would make a pretty sight, wouldn't they?" Road briefly giggled. "Actually, it's just sort of became a habit over the years. I know Millenie could cover it up, but ever since Neah died, he's just been so sad and I didn't want to cause him unnecessary trouble… Then again, he's theoretically back through you, Allen."

Knowing exactly where this was going (and regretting bringing it up in the first place; because giving Road the consent to cause any sort of deadly trouble was never a good idea), Allen promptly redirected the subject. "Ah, Road? Can you tell me more about Neah? When you told the family which Noah I was, they looked… I'm not sure… They looked uneasy," Allen finally muttered with a frown.

Road straightened up from her comfy position, a somber expression coloring her normally cheerful face. "Neah was—" Road was abruptly cut off by the tolling of the bell that indicated the end of their break, causing a frown of irritation to mar her delicate features. "I promise I'll tell you later. Okay, Allen?"

Allen nodded eagerly. He certainly hadn't feigned his curiosity. It had in fact, been bothering him for quite a while.

Reluctantly, they got up and straightened themselves out, before subtly immersing themselves among the throng of students, deftly avoiding the teachers' watchful gazes. With a sigh of relief, Allen knew the school day would soon be over.

Time Frame — Afternoon of December 18th, 1889

"Ah, Jasdero? Devitto? Do you know where Road is?" Allen called out with caution, specifically positioned on the other side of the hallway from somewhere in the Ark, fidgeting in his spot. Admittedly, the twins still terrified him, which was no wonder. They were only three years older than him, but taking into account their crazed grins, smeared make-up, stitches, and the fact that they had a habit of pointing their guns to each other's heads was more than a little unsettling. Their recent interest in all black clothing also didn't help. Despite this though, Road was even more frightening than them when she was angered, so this was the lesser of the two evils.

Allen's silvery eyes turned as wide as saucers when he realized that they were making their way over to him, identical smirks plastered onto their faces. Nearing him, Devitto was the first to reply, "Why, if it isn't the little traitor!"

"Yeah! Traitor! Hihihihi~!" Jasdero parroted him, with his usual bizarre giggle at the end.

"Err, so have you seen Road?" Allen squirmed, a little perturbed by the nickname they had graced him with. Despite the numerous times that he'd asked them why they called him that, they would only ever tell him that he was the traitor of the family. Though Allen had noticed that they'd taken care not to call him that in front of the other members of the family.

"The little boy wants to know where our dear, old sister is! What shall we do, Jasdero?" Devitto smirked devilishly.

Jasdero released another crazed chortle and demanded, "Shoot him! Shoot him!"

"Ah, well if you insist…" And before Allen knew it, the ten-year-old twins had already shouted simultaneously, "Blue Bomb!"

"Gah!" Allen shrieked, evading the freezing blast just in time.

And so, it had begun.

Allen wasn't sure how long their rampage through the Ark lasted, but it certainly didn't end soon enough! Heaving a gasp, Allen stumbled down yet another dark corridor, managing to elude yet another one of those dreaded bombs. To the red-head's great misfortune, he had been unable to fully dodge all of the twins' assaults, having occasionally been caught in some of their attacks. Because of this, most of Allen's clothing was singed, charred through, and even frozen in some places. His many tumbles throughout the Ark had also earned him quite the bout of cuts and bruises, which only added to the pain of some of the burns and blisters to his exposed skin from that awful Red Bomb.

Believing that he might've finally lost them, Allen staggered to an exhausted halt, leaning heavily against a bulky portrait framing a lofty wall to his right. Inhaling some much needed oxygen, Allen attempted to pull himself together but was regrettably unable to.

"Green Bomb!" he heard the twins' call of the dreaded, gooey hit that he knew all too well would follow. But for once, it seemed that fate was on Allen's side, because just as the Noah twins called out the attack, another individual stepped in, demanding in a cold voice, "What is going on here?"

But the attack had already been released. Allen cringed, awaiting the inevitable, but much to his shock, he was hauled out of the way just in time, leaving the portrait behind Allen to undertake the bright green slime. Blinking away his shock, Allen glanced up to see Lulubell's cold face contorting in disgust once she saw the mess created. Out of the corner of his eye, Allen noticed the frozen figures of Devitto and Jasdero, as they stared at Lulubell's intimidating figure with unconcealed horror. Before they could even think to run away though, Lulubell spoke up.

"The Earl instructs you to go see him this instant."

Their dark, ash-colored skin immediately paled to a dull gray. If Allen knew one thing about them, it was that they greatly feared the Millenium Earl. They had only been with the Noah a month or two longer than Allen had, but it hadn't taken the Earl long to straighten them out, though they were still willing to get into mischief if they thought they could get away with it. Unfortunately this time around, they hadn't added Lulubell into the equation.

"B-but—"

Rather than listening to their protests, Lulubell turned from them, directing her next command to an Akuma hidden in the shadows. "Akuma, escort these boys to Master, immediately."

Without question, the Level 3 stepped out and began to lead the troublesome Noah boys down a different passageway. Once they disappeared from view, the hurt and fatigue hit Allen at full force and he swayed slightly, before awkwardly collapsing to the ground with great relief. It was finally over! And all because of a stupid question…

Allen vaguely noticed someone picking him up gently. Through heavy lidded eyes, he dimly saw Lulubell's faithful servant, Mimi, cradling him closely to her, taking him to where he presumed his room would be.

"Make sure his injuries are all taken care of, no matter how minor they may be. After you've finished tending to him, report back to my room," Allen distantly heard Lulubell order.

"Yes, Madam Lulubell!" Mimi swiftly turned to call back, before scampering around a different hallway.

Whatever happened next was a bit blurred to Allen, as he was too weary to keep up, but he was pretty sure Mimi had scrubbed him down from all the filth covering him, before bandaging up his minor burns, putting him into a pair of his pajamas and then lying him down in his bed. Either way, Allen was all too content to simply relax and slumber away.

Time Frame — Night of December 18th, 1889

Allen lazily sat up on his plush bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, his features calmed and relaxed. The nap had been a nice, comfortable one and he was undoubtedly feeling much better. The small cuts on his body had already scabbed over and the throbbing from his minor burns had dulled to a slight sting. Allen was positive he'd come out of this encounter relatively unscathed; at least compared to past scuffles. No matter. Allen knew that soon enough, Road would design some scheme or the other in order to get them back. It had sort of become routine for them to go back forth like this in last couple weeks. It really had been foolish of him to face them alone…

Blast it! I completely forgot about Road! Ugh, she's going to murder me! Or worse…

"It's about time you woke up, boy," Tyki unexpectedly drawled from beside him.

Glancing over, Allen saw him casually sitting back on an armchair, flipping carelessly through a book. "Err, why are you here, Tyki?"

"What? Can't a worried uncle visit his precious nephew?" Tyki attempted to give him an innocent look.

Allen wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Since when have you been a 'worried uncle'? And really? 'Precious nephew'? Ugh, you're starting to sound like Sheryl…"

"Huh. Good point," Tyki acknowledged, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "Anyway, I was told to reassure you that Road's not out to rip your intestines out. Though that's more my thing… In any case, Tricia convinced her that it'd be better to surprise you with the gown she picked out. Plus, her ire is now directed towards the twins, since according to her, 'they were supposed to wait for her, before continuing their fun game'."

"Yeah, that's what this is…" Allen muttered with a shake of his head. "Where is Road?" She usually tended to be in his near vicinity.

"Here and there," Tyki waved it off, and Allen decided he didn't want to know. "Now, get up and get ready boy. I've waited long enough."

"Eh? Where are we going?" Allen called as Tyki escorted himself out.

"Out." And Tyki was gone.

Allen let loose a groan of aggravation, plopping himself back onto his bed. "Not again!" The last time had turned into a disaster! At the very least, Tyki had provided him with enough information to let him know he'd need his coat…

"Could you please explain why we're out here again, Tyki?" Allen insisted. They were back in town again—though Allen couldn't be sure if it was the same one as before; they all tended to look similar once you saw your fair share of them—and Tyki's vague responses were starting to get on the red-headed boy's nerves.

With an exasperated sigh, as if he were the problem, Tyki finally deemed it fit to reply, "We're out gift-shopping, boy. The Earl is very insistent on acting more as a family unit, so he wants to throw a celebration for the twins' eleventh birthday."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Allen huffed. "So, what are we getting them?"

"I don't know about you, boy, but I—actually, come to think of it, I don't know about myself, either," the older Noah teen mused, eliciting an eye roll from Allen. "I'd get them something nice, but the Earl said that they have to like it, so maybe I'll buy them some of that voodoo make-up or the creepy, punkish clothing they've taken a particular penchant for lately."

"Well, how about getting them clothes that are punkish but still fancy enough for everyone else's taste?" Allen managed to propose with all his seven years of wisdom.

Tyki rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, that's actually not a bad idea, boy."

"It's Allen," came his feeble protest. He briefly wondered why he bothered trying anymore.

"Let's just get this over with." Tyki quickened his steps, pulling his coat tighter against himself, guarding himself against the frigid winds bursting with flurries of snow. They promptly made refuge in a small trinket shop at the corner of the street.

Might as well get something here, Allen mused. It would certainly make this night go by a lot a faster, and he didn't plan on staying out longer than he had to. Because that worked out so great last time…

Allen browsed through the small shop, briefly contemplating the merits of this being some sort of voodoo store—there were enough disturbing knick-knacks and ominous artifacts lying about that were greatly unsettling, their menacing auras occasionally setting off a tremor in him. Mercury eyes eventually landed on a pair of golden revolvers at a bottom shelf that were gradually gathering dust. Figuring the Road would end up obliterating Jasdevi's guns as revenge, the russet-haired boy snatched them up, relieved that they were able to exit the eerie shop before long. The things he did for his "family"…

Time Frame — Night of December 24th, 1889

Allen had been right. Road really had decided to crush Jasdevi's guns to pieces. It was sad that she was starting to become that predictable to him… Nevertheless, the celebration had been a success with the astounded twins—they'd been kept in the dark about their party—and they had certainly been appreciative of their brand new handguns. Tyki's gift had also been a hit with Jasdevi; he'd acquired each of the now eleven-year-olds a black, leather jacket with silver zippers chaotically thrown about it. Allen was at an absolute loss as to how Tyki had even managed to obtain them—he'd never seen anything like it—but Devitto and Jasdero absolutely loved them. The small red-head had to wonder how Tricia had managed to even extract the twins from the jackets and force them into presentable looking suits, before rubbing off all that dreaded make-up and shoving an actual comb into their wild hair.

Leaning against the railings of the balcony, the small seven-year-old—soon to be eight-year-old—was able to examine the extravagantly decorated ballroom. Garlands of interlacing emerald, gossamer ribbons and crimson poinsettias were draped about the great room, with occasional spaces in which mistletoe hung, and in one corner of the room stood an immense and intensely ornamented Christmas tree. The richness of the room was difficult to take in all at once for the once deprived boy, and it was giving him a bit of a headache.

"Allen! What do you think~?" Road exclaimed, twirling into his line of sight with a beam.

"Very nice, Road," Allen answered sincerely with a small smile. The female Noah was incased in a lavish, pure white ball gown, accented with scarlet ribbons and lace. Her inky hair was straightened and slightly curled in, with a crimson bow adorned on one side of her beaming face.

With an eager nod, Road pointed out, "Yes! We're matching!" Glancing down, Allen noticed this to be true. Having forgone his usual black dress clothes, Allen had dressed in a pair of off-white slacks, with a ruby-red, silk waistcoat now replacing his gray one, along with a matching, off-white overcoat. His boots had also been substituted with dress shoes, and of course, the usual bow that Road enjoyed adding to his outfits was scarlet as well. "Even your hair matches," Road giggled, causing Allen to self-consciously tug at his brilliant red hair.

"Ugh, I can't take this anymore! It's suffocating me!" Allen and Road turned to see an aggravated Devitto untying the red ribbon around his own neck with a snap of the fabric.

"Me too!" Jasdero mimicked his actions with a relieved sigh.

With an exasperated roll of her eyes, Road snatched the ribbon from Jasdero's hands. Taking a hold of his shoulder-length, golden locks, she deftly pulled them back into a loose, curled ponytail at the base of his neck, tying it off with the ribbon in a flourish. "There! At least you'll still be wearing red!"

Ignoring her accusatory frown, Devitto simply leaned back against the railing, next to Allen, contentedly twirling his golden pistol in one hand. The twins were both wearing matching gray suits—according to Tricia, they looked too sallow and wan in black—but the one splash of color they'd all shared was apparently too troublesome for the mischievous duo.

"Oooh, the icky sub-human humans are here," Jasdero noted with his usual, crazed grin. It was abruptly gone as a result of Road's swift smack to the head.

"Try to act somewhat normal. Daddy's not going to be very happy if you make a mess of things," Road scolded the troublesome twins, which was a bit amusing coming from her.

"Hey, who's that?" Devitto nodded over to a small group that had arrived along with the multitudes of guests. The interesting part though, was the Rose Cross they wore over their hearts.

Road released an infectious giggle. "Oh! That's the best part! With Daddy celebrating his new position as a world leader, he invited representatives from the Vatican. Also known as the Black Order!" Road's grin widened at the trio of wide-eyed boys. "It'll be entertaining to one day meet them again as vicious Noah, don't you think?"

"I'll be working for them," Allen noted quietly.

"Heh! Time to get to know your future bosses, kid!" Devitto snickered.

"Yeah! Traitor!" Jasdero exclaimed, and was cuffed by Road again. "Ow!"

"He's infiltrating them! Actually, it'll be an even better shock to them," Road decided with a malicious grin.

"Oh boy…" Allen muttered. What a mess. Further observing the small group, the most prominent figure that became apparent was a tall, broad-shouldered man with slick, coffee-colored hair and a small, squared mustache situated underneath his sharp nose. He wore a regal looking, burgundy suit and appeared to be conversing with the other two men that seemed to be accompanying him. One was a slight, mousy man and somewhat nondescript, while the other one came across as a lot more interesting. He was just as tall and broad-shouldered as the first man, though significantly younger. His long, sleek hair was long, pulled back into a ponytail, and shown purple in the light; he was clearly of Asian origin, with thin, wire glasses shielding his slanted eyes.

He suddenly heard Road snicker from beside him. "Look at that, boys. Seems as if someone brought their pet."

"Ugh! The little girl reeks of Innocence!" Devitto gagged, his face scrunching up as if he had smelled the worst possible thing imaginable. "We've already had to learn to disregard Allen's Innocence, but I don't know if I can handle a different one!"

Shifting silver eyes finally landed on two small, individuals that had gone undetected while standing next to the towering representatives of the Black Order. Allen's wide eyes finally landed on the girl that Devitto had referred to. She was a minuscule little thing. Though she might've been a bit older than Allen, it was tricky to tell with how frail and feeble she looked. Her sallow skin clung thinly to her delicate bones in an unhealthy manner, shadows clung to the underneath of her too-big, darks eyes, and her waist-length, dull tresses drooped limply against her tiny body.

In stark contrast, the older boy that escorted her was strong and fit. He held himself stiffly, as if he carried both their weights, though he was only holding her by the elbow. His lengthy, blonde locks were pulled back into a tight ponytail, apart from a couple of loose bangs, though it hardly obscured the strange dots resting upon his forehead. Was he an Exorcist too?

"Who's the other kid?" Allen asked aloud.

Glancing over to the boy in question, Road was the one to reply, "Who knows. Not an Exorcist, for sure. He's probably one of their pawns-in-training."

Allen frowned. So that was how their Exorcists were treated. You'd think it would be their own soldiers that they would care for the greatest. Allen had only seen one Exorcist, and already he felt disconcerted. With both the Noah and Innocence inhabiting him, he'd eventually accepted inevitability of him having to join this Holy War, but for the first time, Allen found himself being grateful that it was the Noah that had discovered him first. They may be out to destroy humanity, but Allen's first goal was the survival of Mana and himself. It seemed this Black Order hardly let you even do that. At the very least the Noah looked after him; treated him like family even. One day, Allen planned on reuniting with Mana, but for now, this was more than he could have asked for.

"D-Devitto! I-I can't take it!" Jasdero whined as his body trembled slightly, his fingers inadvertently twitching in the direction of the Exorcist girl as his pupils dilated with bloodlust. For the third time that night, Road whacked him upside the head. Allen had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.

"No kidding. This little self-control check suddenly took on a whole new level," Tyki drawled as he strode up behind them.

"Stupid Exorcist girl," Jasdero whimpered, leaning heavily against his twin brother.

"This exactly why the Earl wanted us to do this. We have to be in control of ourselves. But standing up here isn't going to cut it. Sheryl sent me up here to tell you to go dance and socialize with the rest of us," Tyki directed them.

Allen swiftly noted what the other Noah were doing, to see if he could try and take their example. As per plan, Skinn was standing guard at the door and looking over to see if the guests were in fact, invited ones. Luckily for the Noah of Wrath, he didn't have the social niceties in order to interact with others so that was all he needed to do. And just like Tyki had been doing only a moment ago, both Sheryl and Lulubell were dancing with guests, who seemed absolutely charmed with each of them respectively, completely oblivious to the slaughter they could cause at a moment's notice. To Allen's amusement, he noticed Lulubell's unhidden disgruntlement. The teenage Noah was outfitted in an extravagant, crimson gown, highlighted with white lace—a sort of inversion and more mature edition of Road's dress—with golden curls piled high atop her head. And the male attention was not lacking. Despite being only sixteen, her serious demeanor gave off an impression of maturity and age, attracting an even larger range of both men and boys alike. But Lulubell soldiered through it, and Allen was thankful to not be in the center of such attention.

"Maybe you should go and ask the Exorcist freak to dance," Road giggled mockingly, sneering in the direction of the ailing girl. Allen sometimes speculated as to whether they forgot that that could have been him; or even the fact that he possessed Innocence. And then decided that he'd rather not bring it up.

In any case, Allen actually went with Road's sardonic idea. It was either that, or dancing with some of the other adolescent females—which was as young as they got and did nothing to reassure the tiny boy—and he'd rather face the uptight boy escorting her than them. Thankfully, they'd slightly separated from the Vatican envoys, so Allen wouldn't need to engage them in any sort of conversation for the sake of politeness. Once the musical assembly paused in between songs, Allen obtained the courage to step up to the awkward duo.

"Ah, would you mind if I asked your accompanying lady for a dance?" Allen asked the practiced question, as he had rehearsed with Tyki—though he felt the query might've sounded silly in his high-pitched voice. His adopted Uncle had refined the minor skills Mana had taught him in etiquette, which had included dancing lessons, how to have polite and meaningless conversations, as well as how to deal with pompous buffoons without going to blows.

"Of course," the blonde replied in his rigid manner.

Allen turned to the young girl and presenting one of his glove-covered hands, he asked with a child-like, charming smile, "May I have this dance?"

"Y-yes," she murmured shyly, placing her petite hand in his. Out of the corner of his eye, Allen took note of the young, Asian delegate giving them a sharp look. His gaze did not leave them.

"I am Allen. It is a pleasure to meet you," the red-head introduced himself, continuing the conversation he'd rehearsed with Tyki as he lead the girl into a dance with practiced eased. She seemed a bit clumsy at first, as if she rarely used her limbs, but got the hang of it quickly enough.

"I'm Lenalee," she introduced herself in turn, offering him a small, weak smile.

"Well, Lenalee, you look beautiful," Allen complemented her as Tyki had taught him. Albeit, it was a bit of a stretch. Not that she wasn't pretty, but her unhealthy disposition was a little difficult to look past. Though he hardly found it appropriate to blame the deprived girl.

It didn't seem to make a difference to her though, because her smile turned a little brighter. "Thank you."

"So, what can you tell me about yourself, Lenalee?"

And so it continued for many more dances. He continued to engage her in meaningless discussions and she tried to go along with it, though she seemed to find it difficult at times. It looked as if though Lenalee's short life had not been very positive, but Allen continued to turn the discussions back on her, though he occasionally let her be privy to some of the whacky situations he'd gotten himself into with Road and the twins. Tyki had taught him that people essentially enjoyed speaking about themselves, and Lenalee was no exception no matter how challenging it was for her sometimes, but Allen would swiftly change the subject then and she'd be able to quickly switch her train of thought. Lenalee seemed fond of speaking about her friendship with another Exorcist named Kanda, though he didn't seem like much of a friend to Allen, but she was even more fond of listening to Allen speak about his school days. Lenalee was utterly enraptured with the idea of actually going to school with other children in order to learn.

It eventually had to come to an end though. The blonde from before, that she had referred to as Link, stepped back in. Allen had a distinctive feeling that it wasn't his idea, but nonetheless kissed Lenalee's hand, much to her embarrassment, and bid her farewell. He noticed the Asian representative's eyes narrowing at his actions, confirming his suspicions.

"You know, I wasn't being serious when I suggested you to dance with her," Road commented with a petulant pout, as he neared her.

"Oh." Allen decided it was best not to argue with her and simply blinked.

Road scowled at him for the fraction of a second, before declaring, "Come on, Allen, let's dance! The twins are horrid compared to you."

"Err, alright," Allen simply agreed, a bit relieved that he wouldn't have to practice social niceties with Road. As they danced, Allen recalled something he had been trying to broach for the past couple days. "Road?"

"Yes~?" Road practically sang as she spun out into a twirl and then back into stance.

"You never did tell me about Neah," Allen reminded her, as he continued to lead her in a waltz.

The female went slightly rigid, her expression becoming faintly detached as her mind evoked past memories. Road's usual, lively eyes suddenly aged before Allen, as she distantly murmured, "It was brutal, and I'm not sure if I ever did completely forgive him." Her reaction to his name was much stronger than last time, and Allen briefly wondered as to why that was.

"Brutal?" Allen prodded when she became silent. He felt slightly bad for bringing up her awful memories, but curiosity won out.

Their waltz merged into a slower, simpler dance in response to the gradual change in music, before Road finally begin to recollect, "To be honest, Allen, I'm finding it difficult to remember everything. I've been trying to forget for the longest time, that I'm suddenly having trouble recalling…" Road paused for a moment before switching her train of thought, "I think Millenie knows most of the story, but he gets so sad when it's brought up. I only know what I saw Allen, and what I saw wasn't pretty."

A little wary, Allen prompted her, "Why not?"

Turing her aged and weary eyes to gaze into his silver pools, Road began hesitantly, "Neah… Neah was special. There wasn't supposed to be a 14th Noah. But one day, he suddenly turned up, and without question, Millenie took him in. The Noah of Destruction; we'd never heard of such a thing. Millenie suspected that maybe the twins that merge into one in order to become the Noah of Bonds, might count as one Noah, rather than two. He wondered if maybe Neah was the true 13th Noah; said that maybe this was his first reincarnation because this is when he was truly needed in order to win the war. Oh, how wrong he was… Neah ended up being our destruction…"

Allen furrowed his brows. "What do you mean, 'your destruction'?"

"I loved Neah; he was my best friend. Which is why I never brought up the fact that I knew he used to sneak out. I knew he was meeting up with his older brother, Mana Walker." Allen's eyes widened. "But what I didn't know was that he was meeting up with others. With Exorcists. I never did know all of the members that made up their little renegade group, though ironically enough, I do recall one of them going by the name of Allen… The one I did come to hate though, was that Cross. At any rate, I never thought to question it because I knew Neah was having difficulty letting go of his humanity. I believed he eventually would, and that was my first mistake."

"What happened then?" Allen gently asked.

Taking a deep breath, Road continued, "I still find the events to be blurred. It was all so baffling, and though I didn't realize it at first, I felt heartbroken. To think that one of our own family members could do that…" Road trailed off, her eyes distant. Focusing back on him, she finally clarified, "Neah destroyed us all. He slaughtered us. The first few he took out were easily murdered due to their shock. After that, you'd think a combination of us would have been able to take him out. But it wasn't until then that we realized just how powerful he was… I guess you can't receive the title 'Noah of Destruction' without having the strength to back it up. He damaged me pretty badly, and at last minute, I managed to crawl into my Dream World. That's how I survived, and when I came to, I forced myself to go back, but by then it was too late. By then the Noah had been slaughtered, and the Millenium Earl was weeping over Neah's corpse."

It was a lot to take in and Allen's mind was going in a million different directions. His thoughts first stuck to his adoptive father, Mana. So it was true. Though he'd overheard the Millenium Earl and Road mentioning his relationship with Neah on his first night, by morning it had been nothing more than a blur and he'd begun to question his own sanity by suspecting that Mana had any connections to the Noah.

His second thoughts went in the direction of Neah's actions. Seeing Road's sorrow in her eyes made him feel slightly guilty, but not enough to keep the question from forming his head; wouldn't he be willing to take the same actions Neah had in order to protect Mana? In the end, he would always choose Mana, so the answer was yes, though he didn't believe he would. Allen's current goal was to survive, and angering a whole clan of beings out to destroy humanity did not fall under the category of measures to take in order for survival.

Allen's last thoughts were a little less serious. He was simply wondering about this other 'Allen'. Mana had technically named him after his deceased dog, but if Mana really was part of this renegade group, maybe the name had more merit to it. Maybe Mana had been close to this other 'Allen'. He momentarily wondered what had happened to him, but then decided that he probably didn't want to know.

The rest of the night was quieter for Allen. After a couple more dances with Road he went off with the twins out into the garden to lighten his mood. Playing pranks on teenage aristocrats turned out to be a lot more fun than he thought. It was certainly a sharp contrast from the somber mood that had developed after his conversation with Road.

Eventually, it became late and the guests started to disperse slightly. Glancing over at the large wooden clock resting against the wall, Allen noticed nostalgically that it was past midnight. Drifting back outside, he took a seat on one of the stone benches along the garden and stared longingly out into the wide, obsidian skies that shimmered vividly with stars.

Closing his eyes, and imagining for just a moment that Mana sat beside him, he murmured to the skies, "Happy birthday to me, Mana."

*This is a sort of head-canon that I'm making, in which those that become Noah will continue to age up until their Noah fully awakens (such as when Tyki's did during the Ark arc), therefore, yes, Jasdero and Devitto are ten years old and I'm making it perfectly legitimate, so don't ruin my fun! It is FanFiction after all.(:

A/N: Don't trust that I'll continue to update this quickly. It's more of a one-time thing, so milk it for what it's worth. Anyway, could you guys pretty please review for me?^-^