Warning: Attempted rape scene, though nothing graphic.

Third Symphony: Revelations

"Hmm. Well, that's interesting," Ellen said as she looked into the mirror. Leah snorted.

Yeah, if you can call getting white hair at the age of eleven is interesting. You idiot! What did you do? Now no one's going to be interested in us! Leah bemoaned. Ellen closed her eyes, trying to hold back her irritance.

'Oh, do shut up. Besides, it's the roots of my hair that's turning white. We can hide it easily with some hairdye,' she chided Leah. Picking up a black shawl, she draped it over her head. 'See? That was easy, wasn't it? I'll pick up some hairdye while we're looking for a job, but this'll suffice for now.'

Huh! Alright, alright. That'll do, I think. You're such a dummy. What did you do to give yourself white hair?

Ellen took a deep breath. No, this was not the time to freak out and shout at Leah. Patience. Patience.

'Maybe… maybe we should move to another town. It's been a week, and we still haven't found a job yet. Mana left us with an awful lot of money, but it's going to run out, sooner or later.'

It wouldn't have ran out so fast if you weren't so gluttonous. Now, stop whining. It's your own fault. Leah paused before adding. And buy a cloak or something! It's awfully cold!

'Oh, do shut up,' Ellen finally snapped in exasperation. 'It's not my fault that it's winter, and there are so few job openings! We might as well try to live on Mana's money until spring, there's no sense in wasting energy looking for a job opening that doesn't exists!' Ellen calmed herself down fo a moment before continuing, 'which I'm not going to do, because people would get suspicious of an overly wealthy, orphaned eleven year old girl. No, it's best that we keep moving around, even without a job. It'll be less suspicious that way.'

Geez. And you have the nerve to call me paranoid?

'It's not paranoia. It's common sense.'

Whatever. I still call that paranoia. It's not paranoia only when they're really out to get you.

'Oh, do shut up!' Ellen all but roared at her… alter ego? Split personality? Whatever Leah was, neither of them were quite sure. She was hardly fazed.

Temper, temp- ARRGH! Why you bitch! Leah roared as pain lanced through her, err, being. What the hell was that for?

'I thought I told you to just shut up already!'

Leah cringed, and she suddenly remembered why Ellen was the dominant mind in their relationship. She was awfully nice, maybe even bordering on pacifism, but she could be scary when provoked. And Leah had just triggered about all of her buttons in rapid succession.

'Leah? Leah? Are you alright? Oh God, I'm so sorry! Leah, say something, please!'

She was also incredibly kind, though it was not a vice or fault in any way. It made Leah feel guilty for angering her earlier.

I'm fine. Leah said. It'd take more than that to take me down.

'Heh. Such arrogance.'

Am not! I'm just that awesome!

Ellen snorted. 'Yeah, yeah. Keep saying that, Lee-lee.'

What did you just call me?

'I called you Lee-lee. Geez, do you have hearing problems or something?' Ellen paused. 'Wait, is it even possible for you to have hearing problems?'

…Probably not. Don't think too hard about it. You'll give yourself brain damage. A being of lesser intellect such as yourself can't possibly comprehend a superior being like me.

'…Again, what is with you and megalomania?'

Leah shrugged. It's fun?

'…I'm not going to dignify that with a response,' Ellen said decisively. She would never, ever understand Leah. She was just that strange. And confusing.

'I still say that we should be moving around. People are bound to get suspicious.'

Yeah, like your appetite isn't bad enough.

'Oh, do shut up, Leah. I'm not in the mood right now!'

Leah did. She did not want to meet the brunt of Ellen's wrath yet again, not so soon after causing her fury. Not again. She was neither suicidal, nor a sadist. She was sane, or at least as sane as a voice in someone else's head could be.

"Well. I guess we'll have to pack, then," Ellen sighed and looked around the small room she had inhabited for the last few days. It was almost completely empty. The only things she needed to pack were her toiletries and a few of her clothes. Thanks to her nomadic lifestyle, she kept most of her meager possessions in her bag and never took out all of them. Magic was a good substitute for washing clothes so she didn't need to use the laundry service either. Ellen walked around, making sure that there weren't any stray strands of her hair, nail clippings, or other things. Things like that could be used against her with magic, and while it was unlikely, Mana had instilled that habit since she could remember. Paranoia, that was Mana's defining characteristic.

It had saved their lives several times, too.

Tsunaida te ni kisu wo…

'Ugh… It's… it's not working!' Ellen glared at the violin lying on her lap.

'I can play other songs just fine, and I'm pretty sure that I got the notes right. So why can't I get this one right? There's just something… missing.' Ellen sighed and hugged her knees. She wanted to cry. The lullaby was the only thing she could remember from her forgotten past, and it reminded her of the happier days with Mana. So why? Where had she gotten it wrong?

It was a stupid thing to be upset over, she knew. She didn't even have any formal music training. That she could play it even half-decently was amazing. And yet… and yet, she felt that she should- no, that she could have done better. The song was important, somehow.

She didn't want to lose the only connection to her past.

Oh come on. It's not that bad. Quit your stupid whining, idiot!

'I know. I know.' Ellen wanted to chuck something at Leah, but that wasn't quite possible, was it? She wasn't insane. Yet.

Ellen looked around the room she rented. She'd been travelling around on foot, never staying at one place longer than a few days. Paranoia? Maybe. But she was lucky that she hadn't met him yet, and she wasn't going to take any chances.

'Are you sure that this is going to work, Leah?' she questioned.

Trust me, dummy, it'll be totally fine.

'Yes, because trusting the voice in your head will make everything go 'totally fine'. Gee, and you wonder why I doubt this plan?'

Shut up. As much as I loathe to say this, you've gotten better at playing that violin of yours. It's better than no money at all, so get on to it!

'Will they really give us money, though? I mean, the only songs I know are those I composed by myself. What if they hate it?'

Leah sighed. Dummy. Have more faith in yourself! I know that you can do this. Besides, you won't know until you try, right? Where'd all of your confidence gone, down the drain?

Ellen didn't really mind the 'dummy' epithet, since Leah didn't mean any malice behind it. It was her own way of showing affection, in a weird, Leah-y kind of way. But she protested anyway, just for the principle of things.

'Stop calling me a dummy!'

I'll call you whatever I want. A dummy is still a dummy, no matter what you call it.

She was getting used to this kind of banter. God help her. She wasn't going insane… was she?

Oh, who was she trying to kid? She was talking to a voice in her head, for God's sake!

The voice in her head had some pretty logical ideas, though, so maybe she wasn't that insane. Yet.

She still wasn't sure whether this was a good thing or not.

'Do I really have to do this, Lee-lee?' Ellen mentally wailed. 'I don't wanna…' Nervously she fiddled around, twiddling her thumbs in anxiety. Leah heaved a heavy sigh, or at least the closest mental approximation to it.

Geez, you really are a dummy, aren't you? We're already running out of money, and this is the easiest way to get it.

'You're the one who insisted on buying a thick coat and new dresses!'

Do you want to freeze in the winter? Leah demanded. Besides, those clothes were old and too small. You need to dress properly, you know. Geez, what would happen to you if you didn't have me?

'Yeah. Whatever,' Ellen sighed, staring at her left arm. After the… incident at Mana's grave, her arm had changed. It was no longer swollen and monstrous-looking, like the deformed arm of an ogre stitched to her shoulder. It looked almost normal, except for the red, raw-looking, wrinkled skin. Now it looked like a particularly serious burn scar, though that description wasn't quite right either. She moved her fingers around, savoring its flexibility. It was a novel experience for her, since it used to be stiff and required a lot of effort to move.

"Well. I guess wasting time is useless," Ellen muttered. She picked up the silver hairbrush Mana had got her for christmas several years ago and carefully brushed her hair. It was a mess, tangled and all over the place. She glared at her back length earthen brown hair. One of these days she'd have to get a haircut, or start to tie it with a ribbon. She examined the roots of her hair and frowned. The white color was starting to show again. Why was her hair turning white at such a young age? It didn't make sense. She flinched as pain lanced through his head and her vision flashed red.

Mark-…Noah's Fourteenth-…Family of-…Blood-…Apostles

'The hell was that?' Ellen asked, still holding her head. It still hurt, though the pain had dulled into a sharp throbbing instead of the full out migraine. 'A voice in my head is one too much, and I've got another now?'

I take offense to that.

'Shut up, freeloader.'

HEY! It's not like I wanted to be stuck here. And before you ask anything, no I don't know anything about what just happened.

'Useless,' Ellen sighed. 'That felt like… a memory, but not quite that… solid. It was… damaged, somehow. I didn't quite manage to catch it in entirety.' She winced and rubbed her forehead as it throbbed in sync with her pulse. 'Hurts like hell, though.'

Yes, and the sun is hot, Leah said, sarcasm lining her words.

'Oh, shush you,' Ellen muttered darkly. 'I'm not in the mood right now.' Her head hurt, and dealing with Leah was not making things any better.

Surprisingly, Leah obeyed. Maybe she felt that it wasn't worth it, or maybe she was also affected by… whatever that was. Ellen wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and so she decided to stay silent. She picked up the hairbrush she dropped and continued to brush it, trying to be as gentle as possible. She grimaced at the state her hair was in. She really needed to take more care of it. Mana had always said he loved her hair and helped her brush it every night. After taking a glance at the looking glass, she decided that she had done all she could for her hair for the time being. She picked up a red ribbon and tied back her hair, before grabbing her violin case and walking away.

She didn't say anything as she walked through the streets, trying to find a suitable place. Leah murmured softly in her mind, telling her to find a spot where many people passed by. The more the better, though she wasn't really picky about it.

Ah, look. A festival. That looks like a good place to start.

'Oh, that's right. It's New Year's Eve tonight, right? I nearly forgot.'

You always forget. I don't think you'd even realize it had we not chance upon this place.

'True… it doesn't really matter to me, anyway. We don't have anyone to celebrate it with,' Ellen noted bitterly.

What am I, minced meat?

'No, you're just the weird voice in my head that doesn't know what 'shut up' means.'

Well, it's not like I can do anything but talk. I'm stuck here, after all. Talking is the only thing that prevents me from dying of boredom, Leah said with a nonchalant air. Ellen hid a wince. Now, that was one argument she didn't have an answer for.

'Right, right. What do you think about taking a look around, seems like this's gonna be fun! A festival. Hmm, I wonder if we'll meet them again.'

You mean, those two idiots? Why you like to hang around with them, I'll never understand. What do you see in them, anyway?

'The twins aren't the brightest bunch, I'll agree with you on that,' Ellen said. 'But Jas and Dev are funny and I like playing with them.'

They're idiots, Leah scoffed. Remember the time they interrupted Mana while he was playing a trick on the tightrope? That was dangerous! And then, remember when they almost disrupted Mana's ritual? That could've blown up everything and killed everyone within the radius of half a mile!

'In all fairness, they didn't know that we practiced magic, or that barging into our trailer at midnight was Very Dangerous.' Somewhere along the time she'd spent with Leah, Ellen had learnt how to Capitalize Words. She quickly found out it was Very Useful for Emphasizing Things. Leah had never quite figured out how to do so, but the… mind-being-thingy had quickly learned that Capitalizing Things was a Big Deal.

Hm. Whatever. This place is bound to be filled with a lot of people. You should find a place to play your violin.

'I dunno… why can't I just look for a different job? I don't like the idea of playing music for the money. What if I make a mistake? What if they laugh at me?'

You've practiced, haven't you? And besides, it's kinda hard to find a job in this kind of weather. Not many establishments are open in the winter, after all.

'Right, right. Whatever. Are you sure this is gonna work?'

You'll never know if you don't do it. Worth a try, at least, Leah encouraged her landlady.

'…'kay,' Ellen sighed. Better get it over with than let Leah pester her for the rest of her time here. It was easy, right? Just playing a few songs with her violin and let people fill the case with spare change. It shouldn't be difficult, she'd seen street performers making a living in the same way. And she'd practiced. A lot, to the point that even her dreams were filled with her playing a violin.

"It's gonna be okay…" she muttered to herself. She took out the gorgeous ebony violin and placed the case on the ground, opened. Taking a few deep breaths, she mentally played the first few chords before starting to play.

This wasn't the same piece that Mana had used to seal his suitcase. She still hadn't managed to perfect that one, and she wasn't satisfied enough of her performance. Thus, she played one of the pieces she composed herself. Tentatively titled 'Midnight Snow Melody', it weaved a sad story of loss and pain, yet still holding the hope of a coming spring. Like the soft snow that fell from the sky, covering everything in sight like a blanket of white, but will eventually melt and give way to spring flowers. She had composed it three weeks after Mana's death, after she'd gotten over the worst of her grief. As she played she poured her feelings into the song, her entire being and soul into the melody. Not very long, a little more than a sonata, but nevertheless it was her first masterpiece.

So immersed she was into the beautifully haunting melody, she hadn't heard or sensed people gathering around her. As the last note faded into nothingness, she was pulled out of her trance-like state by the sound of applause and people asking for another song. Mercury silver eyes snapped open, like a deer caught in the headlights. The violin case was already filled with a subtantial amount of money. She blushed prettily as she realized that they were asking her to continue with another song.

How… embarassing. And flattering. Thankfully, she had another song in mind, though she hadn't quite mastered it as well as she did the first song… Hopefully, it wouldn't be too bad. She really needed to increase a repertoire. She remembered seeing what seemed to be a collection of music partitures in Mana's bag, though she wasn't sure that she could read it. Being amnesiac and everything.

This time the melody was much more cheerful. It was a simple tune, merry and energetic. Her right hand moved the bow, fingers of the other hand dancing around the delicate strings. She felt her spirits slowly start to lift. A small smile graced her lips, the first true smile in several weeks.

Music was, truly, amazing. Glorious and eternal.

The recognition and her admittance of that fact sparked a jolt within her soul.

Deep inside Ellen's body, unbeknownst to all, an ancient power stirred in its slumber. It had not been seen on Earth for several millennia, and It slowly reached out to Its Host, to start the Awakening and bring the Purge…

Only to meet with an unpenetrable wall. The ancient thing frowned at it, and curiously probed the seal on its Host. It tried several times to escape, but It soon grew tired. It had been weakened by the long sleep, though not for long.

This was not the day It would be released. It would be patient and had to wait, just as It had done for milennia.

See, I told you it'd go well! I told you, I'm always right!

While normally Ellen would be annoyed at Leah's blatant hubris, she was far too giddy to pay attention.

'If this goes on, we'll never have to worry about food and shelter!' she exclaimed happily. 'We've got enough money for a few weeks, maybe more!'

Yes, yes. And who's idea was it? Mine, of course.

'Oh, stop spoiling my fun. Now, where was that food stand again? Ooooh, look! Candied apples!' the giddy eleven year old ran towards the stand and-

"Ack!"

"Oi, watch where you're going, brat!"

"Owie…" she whimpered, rubbing her sore butt. She had ran headlong into an adult and was knocked off her feet. Huh, that was strange. The man she ran into didn't appear to be the sturdy type, and was hardly winded at all. And Ellen was a human cannonball when she was looking for food. "Sorry mister, but I…" Ellen trailed off as she saw just who she had ran into and almost jumped away in horror, but the man had grabbed her arm.

The man had a nasty smirk on his face, one Ellen knew would bring down trouble. Aaaall sorts of trouble.

"Why, I was just looking for you, brat. You're that Walker man's daughter, aren't you, eh? What a scrawny little thing, haven't been eating enough food since you dear guardian offed himself?"

Ellen stiffened, and jerked her arm away from the man's grip. He was wearing a strange mask on his face… why was he hiding his face in this kind of location? He was also very well dressed, if the silk she felt was any indication. Bright red hair that made him really stand out in the crowd. Why hadn't she recognized him earlier? Stupid, stupid, stupid! Mana had told her to watch the crowd around her all the times, he had practically drilled it into her head! But no, she had been distracted by the food and money, and now that man had caught her. Mana had taken great pains to avoid him and told Ellen to stay away from him at all costs.

And now, he was insulting Mana! Ellen hadn't quite made up her mind, whether to love or hate her guardian, but she wouldn't let this stranger insult his memory. So she stood up and did the first thing that came to mind.

Remember little one, when a male, be it a boy or man, starts harassing you…

She kicked him in the balls.

You see, as unsensitive and unfeeling as men seem to be, there is something that they all share, and that is the limited gift of Empathy. Especially regarding one's, ahem, manly parts. When Ellen valiantly defended her guardian's honor, every male in the immediate vicinity winced in phantom pain, and those in a ten mile radius had the sudden urge to protect their family jewels.

Of course, not even the man who Ellen was currently facing, or who liked to call himself 'The Legendary Womanizer and Gambler Extraordinaire, the Great Marian Cross', was immune to such a low, cowardly attack. He howled in pain and bent down to cover his… damaged goods. Ellen smirked, displayed an astounding level of maturity by showing her tongue at him, and quickly ran away.

Alas, her glee was not for long, as a steely hand grabbed her long hair and tugged her to see him face to face. Much to her horror, the man had already recovered from her attack. She blanched. That was… that was unnatural! He shouldn't have been able to recover so fast! She had kicked him with all her strength, even if he was strong, he should be groaning in pain right now!

(Of course, Cross Marian wasa master of both the Exorcism Arts and the Bedroom Arts. One didn't survive long in either without both stamina and pain resilience, especially since akuma weren't exactly known for playing fair. But, hush, Ellen isn't supposed to know about it, so be quiet and don't tell her!)

"Brat. You're going to pay for that!" he hissed. Ellen gulped. Uh-oh…

The man smirked. "Don't worry, I won't kill you or anything. Don't feel so special though. It's just that you happen to have something me, and more others, are looking for." He grabbed her left hand, covered by a glove. "That's a nice demon-slaying arm you've got there, little girl. You've got a perfect, trained body too. And you're young and female. Since I've been so gracious to overlook the fact that you and you 'father' have been running away from me for the past few years, and that you nearly damaged my family jewels, I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

Silver eyes narrowed.

"Our organization needs more young… women."

At this point, the people around them were giving him dirty, disgusted looks.

Ellen was nearly paralyzed by fear. His eyes bore deeply into her own, their noses almost touching. She could feel his disgustingly warm breath on her skin, the horrid smell of cigarettes and alcohol from his mouth, and his unoccupied hand feeling her body. She was weak, powerless, unable to fight back.

It was all like Cosimo all over again. But this time, Mana wasn't there to save her.

Road, Ninth Child, Apostle of Dreams, let out a curse.

It was not the first time she had cursed today, and neither would it be the last. Dark eyes searched around, looking for that Marian Cross. She had only taken her eyes off him for a minute, and what had he done? Not only had he escaped, he had actually managed to knock her out cold with that thrice-damned Grave of Maria (which made her heart ache, as it so remembered her of the Fo- no, Neah, he wasn't worthy of that title- Neah's ability). It had been enough to knock her unconscious for several, precious hours. Since it wasn't her true form, she wasn't harmed permanently, but it hurt. And it was so humiliating.

And now, she was stuck in the middle of the subhuman's idea of 'celebration'. She distastefully surveyed her surroundings. Didn't they have any sense of style? Ick. What gaudy decorations. When her family finally defeated those pathetic exorcists, she would torch this place personally. Such poor taste of color coordination and décor should be criminal! She would personally find those responsible and tear out their guts. Actually, that wasn't such a bad idea. The place would be so much more lovely in red.

She snarled as the crowds kept getting in her way. Such pathetic creatures! So slow, so stupid, always following the herd mentality. She sniffed in disdain at the human skin she was wearing. It was so… fragile. Had she been in her true form, she could destroy this pathetic place in less than a second! There would be less pests and taints then, but Millennie had forbidden her from showing herself to anyone. Millennie had a plan, one she wasn't allowed to mess in.

The high pitched scream of a little girl caught her attention. For a Noah with enhanced senses like her, it was incredibly painful to her hearing. If she had been human, blood would be trickling from her ears right now but she- a jolt of pain ran through her eardrums and she felt something wet going down her cheek. Horrifiedly she touched her ear and stared as it came away covered with red.

Blood- but- I'm- how?

She looked around sharply, people were lying on the ground in pain and unconscious. It wasn't Innocence, that much she was sure. She would have sensed it immediately. But Innocence was the only thing that could harm one of the Clan of Noah. That was the source of their immortality. Neither mortal disease nor aging could kill a Noah. Even if they had gotten into an accident and, say, got their heads decapitated, as long as it wasn't caused by Innocence, it would heal in due time. There were limits, of course (she didn't really fancy regenerating from a scattered pile of ash…), but something like a ruptured eardrum would be healed in less than a second…

Something, a vague, repressed memory, flitted through her mind. Of Neah, the not-Fourteenth, and the one who had betrayed them all. Her heart ached at the memory. Neah had caught them all off guard. None of them had even expected anything at all. Neah was their golden boy, the cherished, beloved baby, youngest of the Clan. At the time, most of the Noahs had been quite old, one of them nearing three hundred. Road wasn't the youngest of their family, but she was hardly the eldest as well, at the comparatively young age of fifty three. Neah wasn't even twenty five. He had brought a lot of joy into their family, especially with his amazing musical talent. Oh, she loved Neah's songs so much, as did the rest of her family. In fact- she managed to pull out a memory forgotten, a memory she had purposefully made herself forget- it was when they had gathered in the Ark, on a special occasion to hear Neah playing, when Neah had killed them. She had tried to forget that painful memory, but there was a funny thing about memories, that when you tugged at one string, the entire ball would unravel.

She remembered now, even if she didn't want to. A chill ran down Road's spine as the memory returned to her. The Fourteenth had always been the wild card, exceedingly powerful even by their own standards, and never too closely affiliated with the Clan. While Neah hadn't fully awakened he had been strong enough to kill the entire Clan in one single strike, by a single melody that spelled death upon all that heared it. That was pure, undiluted Power.

And it seemed that little Ellen was following in her father's footsteps.

Almost absentmindedly, she focused her mind on healing her eardrums. She hissed at the pain it caused; living as a Noah for so long had nearly made her forget the sensation of pain and discomfort. The feeling of her eardrums healing themselves was weird. Ticklish, itchy, and uncomfortable at the same time. The feeling was gone in a moment and she hurried towards the source of the scream. What she saw made her stop in her tracks and skid to a halt.

Her little sister was a sobbing mess, trying fruitlessly to get out of Cross' hold. Road didn't know how on earth Cross managed to escape Ellen's scream unharmed. He was holding Ellen by the hair with one hand and the collar of her dress with another. He was saying something to her, but Road couldn't hear it, her ears weren't fully healed yet. That was a side effect of the Fourteenth's power; recovering from it took a long time even for Noahs. Ellen's skin had turned pale and she was shaking her head furiously, struggling to escape. Cross' lips thinned in a sneer and he motioned towards the gun on his hip. Judgment, his thrice-damned Innocence. The very sight of it made Road's blood boil in fury and Ellen turned even paler than before, if it was even possible.

Destroy! Destroy the Innocence! Kill the one who dares to threaten one of our Kin! Her inner Noah hissed at her and Road willingly obliged. She raised a hand as her special candles materialized, letting them fly towards Cross. He dropped Ellen and rolled aside to avoid the candles. Ellen fell on her knees and Road had to freeze the candles mid-flight to avoid injuring Ellen.

"So you're back, huh?" Cross sneered at her. Road realized that her hearing had returned back and smirked.

"Of course, Cross, did you miss me? Why did you run away? We had had so much fun!" she pouted. Cross blanched.

"Fucking psycopath. You bloody tortured me! Is that your idea of fun, bitch? No wonder that Walker brat offed your family, if they're all like you."

Road's eyes glinted darkly. "Watch your mouth, Cross. There's children around here," she chided. "I'd rather not have my sister learn such vulgar words."

"You mean this useless little girl?" Cross asked, kicking Ellen's side harshly. The girl was curled up in a ball, catatonic from reliving her worst memories. "You Noahs are so fucking obsessed, aren't you? What does this little exorcist mean to you anyway?" A cruel sneer crossed his face. "I bet she's not even the Heart."

Road's eyes flashed golden. "Aww, come on, Cross! You're such a cheater! This game is just between the two of us, you know? Don't bring her into this. That's not fair!" Road sighed and threw her arms into the air. "You know, Cross, you-" she ducked to avoid Judgment's bullet and casually caught it with her hand, "are really annoying. You know that? Geez, I didn't even say that the game's on, did I? Impatient, aren't you?" She sighed dramatically again and moved with inhuman speed towards Ellen's body. If it weren't for Cross' experience as an exorcist he would've never seen her move. She smirked at him. "Sorry, Cross, but I can't play right now! I can't have you harming the next Fourteenth, now can I?" With a strange gentleness she picked up Ellen from the ground, carrying her easily in her arms despite the fact that Ellen was almost as tall as she was, and disappeared into her Door. Marian Cross could only utter one word.

"Shit."

She was back at the circus again. The red-and-white stripped tents gave it away in a heartbeat. Mana was nowhere to be seen, but Allen was next to her feet yipping. She blinked and bent down to pat the no-longer-a-puppy dog. How she missed him…

Allen's yips turned into a low growl. She straightened up from patting him and froze at the sight of Cosimo walking towards them, a menacing scowl on his face.

"So you're that old upstart's daughter, eh?" he growled. Ellen took an uneasy step back. The man felt weird. And he smelt funny too, like smoke and alcohol and something else she couldn't quite put a finger on. The man took a step towards her. "Answer me, brat!" His fingers pinced Ellen's arm quite hardly.

"Y-yes," Ellen stammered out. His glare intensified.

"Tell your stupid father to stay away from my job," he hissed. "Otherwise I can't guarantee your safety. Or your dog's." To emphasize his words, he kicked Allen in the side roughly, inciting a pained squeal from the poor canine. He sneered as Ellen ran towards her dog to make sure that he was okay.

The scene blurred, and Ellen once again found herself at the circus. Only this time it was late at night and she was in her and Mana's trailer. Mana rose an eyebrow at the bruise on Allen's side.

"What happened, Ellen? Did one of your games with Allen go wrong?" he asked calmly, knowing fully well that it wasn't the case. Ellen was far too gentle to hurt Allen, even by accident.

"Tha' man… the old clown."

"Cosimo?"

"Uh-huh. He was angry. An' he kicked Allen." Ellen's hands balled into fists. "He's such a meanie! Allen didn' even hurt 'im. An' he kicked him!" Ellen was almost shouting.

"He didn't do anything to you, did you? Did he touch you in any way?" Mana asked concernedly. Ellen shook her head.

"Na-uh. He didn' touch me," she denied before rethinking her statement. "He just pinched me."

Alarm bells started sounding in Mana's brain. "Where? Let me see it!" he demanded. Ellen rolled up her sleeve to reveal a bruise on her left arm. It had turned yellow-green after several hours. Mana sighed in relief. "He didn't touch you anywhere else? Or hurt you anywhere?" Ellen shook her head, rather confused at Mana's questions. "Tell me if he does anything to you, alright? And I do mean anything. If he makes you feel uncomfortable, or does something to you that you don't like, then go straight away."

"Uh-huh. 'kay Mana," the young child happily obliged.

The scene blurred away again, and after it regained clarity Ellen found herself leaning against a pine tree. It was getting dark, and the performances had just started. Ellen decided not to participate even though she was getting quite good at the tightropes. She had tired herself out the last day and sprained her ankle. Nothing bad, just pain and stiffness, but she wouldn't be able to perform for a few days. She took out a couple of small rubber balls from her pocked and absentmindedly started juggling the objects.

"So here you are, you miserable wretch," a growl came from ahead of her. Ellen looked up and forgot to catch her balls, letting them fall to the ground. Cosimo was drunk, and very, very pissed. Ellen took a step back fearfully. She'd heard tales about Cosimo, about how cruel the man could be. He never treated his animals very well and everyone could see the scars and bruises on his wife. Ellen flinched away as Cosimo grabbed her shoulders and shook it roughly.

"I told you to tell your father to stay away from my job!" Spittle flew into Ellen's face as he roared angrily. His breath reeked unpleasantly of beer and tobacco.

"Why don't you just tell him yourself?" Ellen snapped, uncomfortable at how close his face was to hers. Wrong answer. Cosimo harshly slapped her face. The force knocked her off her feet and on the ground. He then grabbed her back up and pinned her against the very tree she had been leaning against.

"Stupid brat! Useless little wench!" he continued to rant about how useless and stupid Ellen was, and how Mana had taken his place as the circus' clown. As his temper tantrum grew worse, his hands squeezed her arms and caused his long unclipped fingernails to grip painfully into Ellen's flesh.

"Stop it! It hurts! You're hurting me! Let me go, you bastard!" she screamed in pain as his grip grew harder and harder. "Let. Me. Go!" The usually mild-mannered little girl lifted her leg, stomped on Cosimo's foot, and painfully elbowed him in the solar plexus. He bellowed in pain and fell back, letting go of his hold on Ellen. She quickly ran away, returned to her and Mana's trailer, and locked the door behind her twice. Only then she slumped on the floor, still breathing harshly.

After a few minutes she finally regained her strength and calmness, enough to stand up and limp towards the mirror. She winced at the dark bruise upon her cheek. Mana would see it and demand that she tell him what happened. And then he'd get angry and maybe he'd hurt Cosimo. She didn't want Mana to get in trouble because of her. Mana had been generous enough to take a street urchin like her into his household. God knew how hard it was to get a decent paying job, especially with her insatiable appetite. And Mana was incredibly protective of her. He'd probably try to retaliate, and then he'd get in trouble and then…

No, it wouldn't do. She'd have to hide it, somehow. Or heal it before Mana came back. She opened the drawer and took out a round container filled with green cream. She liberally applied it to the bruises on her face and arms. Cosimo's fingernails were long and sharp and they'd managed to puncture her skin. The cream stung, but it Ellen knew that it was doing its job. It was a very good bruise remover, one she used everytime she got hurt from pulling a stunt she wasn't ready for yet or when one of her clumsy spells acted up again. Mana would still see it, he would return in a few hours. And Ellen didn't know any healing spells yet. She could look it up, but learning new spells without assistance… well, it was very dangerous, to say the least. Ellen bit her lip, anxiety building up in her chest, and she started pacing around in circles, trying to alleviate her agitation.

She paused in her pacing as she heared the songs being played outside. If nothing else, music had always managed to sooth her feelings. It had some sort of stability that she could genuinely appreciate. Unconsciously, she started to hum the song under her breath, her eyes closed, and leaned against the wall.

She could feel a subtle thrumming in the air. Faint, very faint, but there. It followed an unknown rhythm, pulsing and beating to the lives of everyone in the world. Power surged to her, unbidden and uncontrolled. It rushed to her fingertips leaving an unfamiliar-but-I-still-recognize-it-somehow kind of tingle that made her toes curl and her body shiver. Almost dazedly, she touched the layer of green paste on her cheek and muttered softly,

"Heal."

Her surroundings once again began to fade away into monochrome.

The next time she met with Cosimo was during an autumn midmorning. It was a bright, beautiful day with clear blue skies, but the weather was already slightly chilly. She sat under an apple tree, hiding herself near the piles and piles of brown leaves. She liked autumn. It was an important part of Nature's cycle, or so Mana had told her. In autumn, the old leaves fall away to be replaced with new ones in the spring. Just like how people grew old and were replaced by their children. An endless cycle of destruction and rebirth.

She giggled lightly, throwing the leaves into the air. It made her feel childish, but she liked the scene of brown and golden leaves falling around her like rain. She didn't really mind the cold, but Allen apparently did. He was nowhere to be seen. What was it that Mana had told her again? Never go anywhere without Allen. Well, Ellen wasn't going anywhere. She was just here, not even a hundred feet from the clearing their travelling circus had parked at. With another childish giggle she kicked the leaves into the air.

"Mmi- Chae- Michaela…"

Ellen nearly squeaked in surprise at the sudden intrusion. She spun around to see a certain foul tempered circus clown making his way towards her. Quite frankly, she was scared out of her wits. Cosimo was drunk beyond anything she'd seen before, his eyes bloodshot and clothes a dishevelled mess. His smell was absolutely horrendous too, a sickening mix of tobacco smoke, beer, sweat and, though at the time she didn't recognize it, sex and lust.

In other words, he was utterly repulsive and Ellen couldn't help but take a large step back. Her mouth watered, and not in a delicious-food-right-in-front-of-me way, but rather an oh-my-god-I-want-to-puke-hand-me-the-waste-basket kind of way[1]. Her stomach clenched with revulsion and she almost ended up emptying the contents of her stomach on Cosimo's shoe. Almost.

"Michaela… Is that you?" Cosimo asked, a strange expression on his face. Ellen shifted back uncomfortably at his odd gaze. Cosimo had to be drunk out of his mind if he mistook her for this 'Michaela' person, but he seemed almost… docile. Not furious or spiteful. She didn't try to run away, fearing that it would set him off. Cosimo took a step forwards towards her… and promptly tripped over his own feet. The man fell on top of her. Luckily Ellen had managed to angle her fall so as to not hurt her too badly.

But now she was trapped under the body of a drunk, violent, probably unconscious Cosimo.

Well. This isn't going to end nicely, a snide voice said in her head. She stiffened in alarm, but tried her best not to move much so as to not wake up Cosimo. Not that she liked his presence on top of her, mind you, she simply didn't feel like making him even more aggravated than he would've been.

Who are you? She asked sharply, but there was no answer. She sighed tiredly. She'd been hearing that voice for a long time. Ever since she woke up from the coma that had costed her memory. The voice didn't talk to her very often, though. Only around every other month.

Ellen bit her lip and tried to shift herself sideways, to get herself out from under Cosimo's body. He wasy heavy, despite him being thin and lanky. What on earth was he carrying around? Ellen growled under her breath and pushed Cosimo away from her. The man grumbled and wriggled around in his drunken sleep, causing Ellen to freeze in fear. He snuggled closely to her, wrapping his hands around her in a loose hug.

Gently, slowly, Ellen pried off those hands from her body. Once she did, she got up and ran away, not caring whether Cosimo was awake or not.

She hated drunk people.

Rough, callused hands pressed against her small body. They touched her everywhere, her chest, her thighs, her hips. Those hands were warm and firm, like Mana's, yet so different. Mana's touches made her feel safe and secure. Cosimo made her squirm and writhe in discomfort. There was something wrong with it. Mana never touched her in those places. Cosimo's touches were rough, uninvited, painful.

"Michaela…" she heard him moan drunkedly as his hands continued touching her. She felt so dirty. Tainted. Unclean. His hands explored places it shouldn't even know of, making her cheeks redden with fury and embarassment and terror. He straddled her hips and Ellen felt something between his legs harden with lust. The man bent down and pressed his chin against her cheek, the rough facial hair scratching her skin. His hands pulled at her long hair roughly.

"Stop it!" she managed to whimper. "Let go! Let go!" But Cosimo couldn't, or wouldn't hear her pleas. His fingers found their way to the back of her dress and started to take her clothes off. She panicked and fought with all of her might. The sound of ripping fabric echoed, making her struggle even more. A rough hand caught her legs and trailed up her thighs.

Ellen closed her eyes. She didn't want to remember anymore.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit."

Normally, Road wouldn't even think of using such crude language. She considered herself above such things. The Earl had taught her to act refined and lady-like. It was only sub-humans who had to resort to foul words to express their displeasure, Millennie had said to her one day, and Noahs were far superior to them. He had then proceeded to instruct her in the fine art of subtle insults and veiled lies.

But right now, Road didn't have any time for subtlety. She paced across the room in the Ark, occasionally stealing glances at the frighteningly still girl lying on the bed. When Road had seen that bastard Cross insult and mistreat her sister like that, she was so furious. It had taken all of her self control not to attack Cross, then and there. But she remembered Millennie's instructions to not harm any exorcists, not until at least half of their family had gathered. In her anger, she had revealed Ellen's identity and took her away to the only safe place she could think of at the moment; the Ark.

It had been almost five hours. And Ellen still wasn't showing any signs of waking up. In a show of incredibly uncharacteristic behaviour, Road bit her lip and wringed her hands in anxiety. Millennie would be here soon. And he would undoubtedly be very unhappy that she'd disobeyed her words. But she couldn't have just let that Cross bastard hurt her sister! She couldn't! The Noah inside her wouldn't have let anyone harm whom it considered kin. And Ellen, despite being the daughter of a traitor, was blood-kin.

Adam will understand. He will. If he doesn't, we'll make him see how it was necessary, her Noah told Road. Adam cares for all of us. He is our Father. He might not like it, but he will understand.

Yet Road wasn't so assured. Millennie had made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that no one was to find out about Ellen's link to them. She didn't really like the idea of disobeying Millennie's direct order. Sure, she broke rules every now and then by going out in town and skipping school and stuff, but she never revealed herself. She was content with just vandalism or random akuma attacks. It was so fun watching the exorcists so panicked and confused by sudden attacks at places that didn't hold Innocence.

She. Is. Kin. Adam will not let anyone hurt one of our kin.

She is not yet the Fourteenth, Road reminded her idly, twisting a strand of hair around her finger. She is an Exorcist, too. One with a very powerful Innocence

Her Noah shrugged, as much as a being with no corporeal body could shrug. It doesn't matter. She is a Walker by blood. A direct descendant of the original Fourteenth. Therefore, she is Kin. Being an Innocence bearer means nothing. Blood will always run true, no matter how hard she tries to deny it.

She is our Kin. Ours by blood, ours by destiny.

She is Kin. And that is all that matters.

[1] Kinda like… the really uncomfortable feeling in your mouth when you get motion sickness and you're just about to puke your guts out. Saliva just sort of gathers in your mouth, making it feel really wet and icky. And then you vomit. Yuck.

…Kay. Sorry for taking so long. But I have a life out of writing fanfiction, too. There's this little plot bunny in my head that's been bothering me for a while. An original fiction one, though I haven't started really writing on it. Anyways. This chapter was really hard to right for some reason. Add the fact that I'm in my last year in high school, busy studying for finals (obviously not as hard as I should, if I have the time to write stories) and university entrance exams and stuff? Not good for my productivity. It was gonna be longer, but I decided that this was a good enough ending point.

Bad news: Probably not gonna put in a pairing in this story. Sorry! It's just… hard, you know? This story's just not suited for it.

Good news: I've gotten several ideas for side-stories and stuff, and I probably can put some romance in it. No promises, though. The stories in question won't be published until after this one ends, seeing as there'll be some spoilers for this story there. I mean the fact that the Millennium Earl is a- *clamps hand over mouth* you didn't read anything! Honest! That was a trick of light!

Side notes: I watched My Neighbour Totoro several weeks ago. The first thing that passed my mind during the flying scene with Mei and Satsuki was: Holy Spaghetti Ship, Totoro looks like the Millennium Earl! Like, seriously! Go google 'Totoro Umbrella Flying' (or something like that). The resemblance is… uncanny to say the least.