Innocence and the Soothsayer

"Dammit! Where's the damn Moyashi?!" Kanda scanned the train station furiously. "There's no way he'd still be in the train station, you know?" Lavi said concomitantly. "Who are we looking for?" The redhead jumped a meter in the air, "Lenalee! You scared me! What are you doing here?" She smiled, "Nii-san finally let me go back here to help you find General Cross." Lavi pictured an embarrassed Lenalee with her brother clutching her like there's no tomorrow while crying rivers over her exorcist uniform. Then he struggled not to laugh. "We are looking for Allen Walker. You should know, Cross' apprentice." Her eyes widened, "You know where he is?" Before Lavi could answer, "If we knew where he is, we don't have to look do we?" Kanda glared at their surroundings. Lavi worried for Allen's fate when they finally find him. Kanda for one...

Half an hour's walk from the train station, Allen finished his last plate of food. Thankfully, no one is around the restaurant to send him criticising looks. The owner is there, though. "You have quite the appetite." The owner's eyes are crinkled with age and he smiled at Allen in a friendly way, to which the boy could only respond with a sheepish smile, "Sorry." The man chuckled, "Don't apologise! It's heartening to see a young man eat so much. I haven't seen you around here, are you a traveller?" Allen nodded. The shop owner's eyes lit up, "Are you here to meet the fortune teller?" At Allen's confused look, the old man mirrored his expression, "You don't know? Down the street lives a young girl called Meilin, and her grandfather. The girl can predict your future, and everything she said came true!" This is interesting... Lets check it out, Moyashi. Don't call me that!

Allen walked down the stately Chinese streets, stopping at the gates of the fortune teller's home. You didn't get lost this time, thank god. There's no way I can get lost on a straight alleyway, Neah. Allen commented, annoyed. He took a deep breath and walked in the open gates.

Once in the room the old man, supposedly Meilin's grandfather, had guided him to, a girl no more than twelve greeted him by his name, while he was sure he'd never given it. "How do you know my name?" The fortune teller tilted her head slightly, wide eyes expressing a wisdom beyond her age, "I have been expecting you to come for a long time, Allen Walker." Internally, he was more than a little spooked. Even he didn't know he's going to come here until the shop owner told him about her. "I have a warning for you, if you care to listen." She gestured him to sit, which he complied. She sat herself, "Don't join the Black Order." Another question sprang to mind immediately, but Meilin pushed on, "Don't ask me how I know about the Black Order, just trust me. You can continue to kill akuma even without joining it. If you do join, you'll face a path more painful than if you didn't, and end up with little to gain from it. The war between light and darkness will escalate soon. You will become the deciding factor of either side's victory. Choose your path wisely. Good luck because you'll need it. This is all I have to say for you."

There's some interesting information there... Allen nodded as he walked down the street again, this time looking for lodgings. Seems like I'm right to not look for the Order. Yeah. For once your habit of getting lost paid off. His eyes scanned the surrounding buildings. He stopped dead in his tracks as his left eye activated, phantom gears over his eye turning. Akuma! They are where Meilin is! Allen jumped onto the roof, upsetting a few birds, which he paid no heed to. He ran along the tilted tiles, praying that he would make it in time.

Lavi swung his hammer, followed by explosions as the akumas are crushed under the Innocence. "There's no end to them!" For Kanda, though, that is hardly a problem. He can destroy akuma for as long as they care to fight. "First Illusion: Beasts of the Underworld!" The blue-white ghostly forms of his illusion tore dozens of akumas apart. Lenalee and Crowley went to chase after the level two who abducted Meilin and her crystal ball. It was then that he caught sight of a certain someone's white hair. He growled, "Lavi! Take care of them yourself!" Then he ran after the boy, who's disappearing fast into the forest. So many damn trees around! Lavi's pitiful calls disappeared into the distance. The moyashi's quicker than he first thought, and it took a while to catch up to the younger boy. Kanda's hand snagged Allen's sleeve and brought him to a halt.

Allen tried to keep his breath even. It's been a while since he had to run for his life, so he's a bit out of shape. Maybe his master's debt had been good for at least something. "What do you want, BaKanda? Why are you here in the first place?" Weren't they getting off at another station? "Don't lie to me. You are Cross' apprentice aren't you?" He stiffened. Allen loathed to be associated with his master. Nothing good came out of it. Kanda smirked, "So I was right. You'll be coming with us." The white-haired boy recalled Meilin's warning and shook his head. "Where is Meilin?" The Japanese male's deep blue eyes flashed dangerously, "You don't need to worry about her. Lenalee and Crowley is taking care of the girl." Allen supposed Lenalee is another exorcist. "I can't come with you." Kanda scowled, "Why the hell not?" His eyes stared off into the trees, as if one of them could tell him the answer, "I just can't." Kanda's eyes narrowed. He'd better divert the older male's attention to something else, but what to say? That the weather's nice? Yeah, right. Why don't you ask him what Innocence is? You wanted to know didn't you?

"What is Innocence?" Kanda's eyes widened a fraction in surprise before he could moderate his expression. Is this boy really General Cross' apprentice? "You don't know what Innocence is? Don't you know what your left arm is?" The moyashi looked at his left arm with a mixture of disgust and fear. Who the heck would fear their left arm? What happened to the boy? Kanda wondered. He's curious, which doesn't happen often. "My anti-akuma weapon?" Is that what his master called it?

"While you call it that, the substance it is made of is called Innocence, also known as God's Crystal. As you should know, you fight akuma with it." Kanda started telling the story he remembered clearly, "The story goes that about a century ago, a certain cube is found. Upon the cube is engraved with the words 'To our descendants. We won against the darkness, and some were destroyed. As you journey along, trouble will surely arise, to prevent this trouble, we leave you with this message.' What was contained in this message was a saying from long ago. It was an instruction on how to use this substance. God's Crystal, the Innocence. The cube itself was made from it. Innocence possesses a special power, and an anti-akuma weapon utilises the Innocence and use it as a weapon against the akuma. The maker of the cube was said to have fought against the Millennium Earl with Innocence and won. This occurred about seven thousand years ago. But as the Earl died, the world is destroyed along with him. This is recorded as 'Noah's Flood' in the old testament. The cube referred to it as 'The Three Days of Darkness'. According to the cube, the world would meet its end at the hands of the Earl once again. So far, the cube's predictions had been correct, and the Earl has reincarnated into this world again. Hence the Vatican decided that they will follow the cube's message and gathered God's Apostles, those who is able to use Innocence, which is the exorcists."

"Therefore, you are coming with me to the headquarters." Kanda grabbed the moyashi's arm to prevent the boy from running again. "Stop, I can't!" The white-haired boy struggled, but couldn't break free. Moyashi is still moyashi, there's no way he's strong enough. "Why not?" He snapped. Kanda's already spent plenty of time explaining what Innocence is and kindly imparted some background knowledge to go with it, now he's getting ticked off. Why did he even bother? But as he looked at the boy's pleading look, his fingers loosened a bit. "Yu! Where are you!" Kanda made up his mind in an instant. He let go of the surprised boy's arm and gestured him to get the hell out of here. The moyashi needn't be told twice.

"Where were you, Yu?" To stall for time, he replied with what he usually does, "Don't call me by my first name. I thought there was another akuma down there." Lavi looked at him doubtfully, but thankfully turned away as Lenalee and Crowley landed next to them with Meilin in tow. One look at their dismal expressions had Lavi asking, "What's wrong?" Meilin looked like she might cry. "Sorry, Meilin's Innocence is destroyed by a Noah." Lenalee informed the other two sadly. "Is it the same one as last time, in the Rewinding Town?" She shook her head, "It's another one." No one needs to be told to know that things are bad. "We need to bring the girl home." Crowley suggested, and they were broken from their reverie.

Allen ran the way which he hoped is back to the settlement. Well, this time Neah actually provided direction, so he's less likely to get lost. Sometimes he wonders if Neah is actually an imaginary being. I'm hungry. You're always hungry. Find shelter first. Allen grumbled discontentedly. He's surprised that he actually found the settlement. Maybe I'm getting better at this... Idiot, that's me giving directions just then, it doesn't count. Whatever. First, lodgings... The peal of a little bell made its way to Allen's ears. He turned to see a black cat with a cross-shaped white patch on its forehead. The sound came from the bell that hung from its neck. The cat turned away from him and ran further down the street. It turned back to see if he's following. Allen smiled. Usually animals shy away from him because of his disfigured arm. The only exception being Mana's dog... He followed the cat down a path he didn't know was there.

Lulubell had sensed Innocence on the boy, but that is not the reason she lead him to the inn. It is because she also felt a sense of bond between him and her. A Noah's bond. It's faint, so the boy could only be half-way to his awakening. She was not sure why he isn't bleeding from his forehead and experiencing agony, but her senses does not lie. This boy is one of them. She'd better report this to her master immediately. Before the boy leaves in the morning.

Kanda found his face relaxing as he thought of the white haired boy and quickly turned his peaceful expression to a frown. Why did he let him go? It's Kanda's mission as well to bring the boy in, but that desperate look made him let go. Normally he would have dragged the boy to the headquarters even if the moyashi is screaming bloody murder. So why... "You have a complicated love-life ahead of you." He scowled. Damn fortune teller, even with her crystal ball gone, she still remembered the vision she saw in it. He always knew his love-life is going to be complicated. After all, he needs to find that person... "The person you love is not who you expect him to be." Kanda scowled even harder. Him? He thought twelve is past the age to make such a silly mistake. "At least I don't look like someone who can't be discerned between a man or a woman." No way... "Yu, a penny for your thoughts!" Kanda grabbed a nearby vase and threw it violently at the Usagi. "Don't address me by my first name!" As if he doesn't have enough to worry about.

Okay... GummyRabbit here. As you can see, this is heading towards a Yullen(sorry if you're not into that...) Hopefully, there will be some more action in the next chapter... I'm working on that... Hope you all liked this chapter. Review please! I need feedback! :)