Carnival

All three of the exorcists stood in horror as the vampire had the bloody disfigured body in his mouth. His sharp cold gaze sent shivers down their spines.

"You have got to be kidding." Lavi muttered. All of the villagers whimpered and within a second, they all fled to the woods.

"What are we going to do?" Allen turned his head to Lavi and Teal.

"Beats me. I'd rather not fight him." Lavi said.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice." Teal sighed. "Otherwise, he's going to kill the villagers. I don't about you guys but I'm not just going to stand here."

"Innocence Activate!" As soon as all of their weapons were activated and they were facing Krory, he spat Franz out and simply laughed.

"Am I to understand that you're actually going to fight me? How very brave of you." He grinned.

"Remember if either of you get bit, we're through." Lavi said.

"That goes all around." Allen said. Krory bared his fangs and charged, more like glided towards the exorcists.

"I'll go first." 'Spell of Earth,' The ends of her blades changed to a dark green and she ran towards Krory. She did a back flip and when she landed, she sent out a wave of rocks to Krory.

'Did I get him?' There was a cloud of dust that was so thick, she could hardly see Allen and Lavi.

"Teal, you idiot, get away from there!" Lavi shouted. Something was approaching fast and Teal jumped to dodge it.

"Allen, he's heading to you!" Allen stuck his arm underground and sent another wave of rocks towards Krory. It was ineffective again. Krory was approaching Allen so fast and looked like he was going to bite him.

"No you don't!" Lavi used his hammer to move Krory away. "What's the matter?" He turned to Allen.

"He wasn't that fast before."

"How about we focus on slowing him down then hit him?" Teal gasped.

"You two try to keep him in one area and I'll get him from above." Lavi said. Within a second, Allen and Teal started to attack Krory with long distance attacks. Allen was the only one who was able to get decent shots.

"Big hammer, little hammer, grow, grow, GROW." Lavi's hammer grew to an immense size and came down on Krory.

"Alright Lavi! You got him!" Teal cheered.

"I think it's too early to say that." Allen said. When the dust cleared, he was holding the tip of Lavi's hammer with his teeth. They were all shocked.

"Holy crap, this guy's got some amazing teeth, don't he?" Krory was able to throw Lavi and his hammer to a statue behind him. When Krory regained his footing, Allen's arm came from under the ground and had a firm grip.

"Gotcha. Stop fighting now and you won't be harmed." One of Allen's claws was fingering the vampire's throat. Teal went to help dig Lavi out of the pile of rocks.

"You okay?" Lavi nodded. Krory was laughing behind them.

"What strange little brats, to think that you were able to face me head on and still draw breath. You must be monsters as well."

"Not exactly." Allen gave half a smile. "You're fighting exorcists."

"Really? Exorcists, fascinating. I wonder what your blood tastes like." He sank his fangs into Allen's claw.

"Oh, dammit, Allen. He's-He's got your blood." Lavi was freaking out.

"Drop him! Drop him!" Teal waved her arms vigorously. When Allen let him go, Krory made a face of disgust.

"Why does this blood burn so badly?" He grabbed Franz and headed to his castle. Teal noticed that the villagers were peeking out of the trees then scampered back. She turned to Allen and he was tending to his finger. It was swollen and the bite marks could clearly be seen on his red hand. Both Lavi and Teal had very uncomfortable looks on their faces.

"I warned ya." Lavi moved back.

"Don't take this too personally." Teal said as she joined Lavi. Even Timcanpy moved away from Allen.

"Victory is ours tonight! The Black Monks made Krory retreat!" The mayor cheered. "Fight Clergymen Fight!"

"Excuse me, why are you standing so far?" Allen turned his head to the villagers.

"They're worried that you'll become a blood sucker." Lavi said. He was wearing a lei of garlic, holding on to a wooden stake and his hammer. Teal was behind him and Timcanpy was on her head.

"I'm not worried. I'm not worried at all." He grinned. "Hey Teal, how about you go ahead and make sure he's okay? After all, ladies first." He moved behind Teal.

"Oh nonono. I'm taking up your offer. You can protect me. Besides, age before beauty." She moved Lavi in front of her.

"What's the matter with you Teal? I thought you'd go for things like this in a heartbeat."

"Yeah but we are dealing with a real live vampire in case you didn't notice. And they are on my 'Things to Stay the Hell Away From' list. Although, I read about them almost constantly and that doesn't help much." She muttered the last part.

"Anyway, you should take a look at his bite mark. You might pick up something about the vampire."

"Eh? How am I supposed to do that? I'm not a doctor." 'He's nuts.'

"Your Memory Dimension. Isn't that why you were sent here with Allen in the first place?"

"Oh! That's right." 'I take it back.' Teal moved towards Allen. "Allen, may see your hand?" Allen let Teal touch his hand and after a few seconds, the dizziness started and everything disappeared.

'Where's Krory?' It was cold and nothing but pitched black darkness. She heard someone crying, it was a man, possibly Franz. She heard footsteps behind her but no one was there.

"Eli-Eliade. I fear that I've become a vampire again." Then everything came back. Teal opened her eyes and Allen was looking at her expectantly.

"Did you see something?"

"Not really. I heard someone say 'I fear that I've become a vampire again.' Most likely the count. And he was crying, I think."

"Rubbish!" One of the villagers heard her. "Of course the Count's a vampire! Why would he feel remorse if he's a bloodthirsty monster? He killed one too many of us!"

"Speaking of, Teal did you see Franz? Was he still alive?" Lavi asked her.

"I didn't see anyone. It was pitch black. I hate to admit it but we have to go into the castle to find some answers." She gave a small shudder.

As they walked up to the castle, the noises that they heard earlier were getting louder. They were painful screams that echoed on and on. Every time the screams started, the castle seemed to be painfully getting nearer like walking down death row to the execution chamber. Teal had shivers and she wrapped herself in her arms for the least bit of comfort. This was seriously not what she was expecting and she didn't want to spend one more second here.

'Here goes everything.' Teal thought. This wasn't exactly how she pictured her first mission. A dark misty night, shadowy figures around every corner and never knowing which one will come to life. That part was kind of expected and didn't bother her. Akuma were expected, she had a faint idea of what she was up against and wasn't really worried about that. Now there's a vampire and she was absolutely mortified. Anything within the supernatural creatures category was terrifying. Lavi wasn't helping any either by scaring her every two minutes. He has the bruises on his face to prove his moments of glory.

As they approached the giant doors and Allen opened them, they released a sickening sweet scent as the doors moaned.

"ACHOO! Oh Dod. Whad da heck id dat snell?"

"Geez Teal, keep it down will you? We want to find the vampire and sneak up on him. Not the other way around."

"Don'd you dink I bow dat? I'b allerdic to whatd-ever..." She found herself falling out of drowsiness but something stopped her in midair.

"Lavi!" Allen shouted. When Teal lifted her head, Allen was suspended in midair with a huge pink flower in front of him that materialized out of nowhere. She looked on the floor and Lavi was unconscious. More flowers materialized out of the ground and it was harder and harder to stay awake for Teal.

"Teal! Help me! Lavi's not getting up!" Allen was screaming desperately as he was blasting flowers.

'Let him die… Kill him…' That woman was near. Hate. So much hate. Kill Allen. Kill Lavi. Let them die.

"Shut up." Teal said. 'Kill him' "SHUT UP!" Her Innocence activated and she destroyed the three flowers that were surrounding her as she was freed from the strings that were holding her up.

"Aden, whad da heck are dese dings?"

"Man-Eating flowers! Lavi, help us!" Every flower that was destroyed by them seemed to be endlessly replaced and the sticky strings kept on attacking them. "Lavi, get up, please!"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" A voice shouted from above them. There was a beautiful blond woman in a purple nurse type outfit with a wheel barrow standing on the shattered rubble created by the flowers. "You wouldn't be destroying Arystar's precious flowers would you?"

Lavi finally began to stir and was bewitched by her appearance. He literally was sparkling in midair with a love struck look in his eye.

"STRIKE! Oh my God, she's gorgeous!~"

"Eh?" Allen and Teal turned their faces to Lavi and were shocked. This was the perfect time to fall in love. Not.

"Lavi… You freakin' idiot." Teal muttered.

"Lavi! Snap out of it!" Lavi was totally out of it. The woman kneeled down to Lavi's eye level and asked him something that Allen and Teal couldn't hear. Allen extended his arm and pulled Lavi back and Teal slapped Lavi's face to snap out of it.

"Hey, what's with you two?"

"You freakin moron! In case you haden't noticed, we're about to de eaden dere!" Teal shouted.

"This is no time to be falling in love, especially with a woman like THAT!" Allen hissed.

"You two are just children." Lavi smirked. Allen released him and they were all face to face with that woman. There was something eerie about her but none of them could quite figure it out.

"My name is Eliade." She said in a silky voice. "Tell me, what is your business here?"

"We're here to hunt vampires." Lavi grinned. Teal covered his mouth and hissed in his ear. "You are DOT helping de dituadion."

"We're here for the villager the Count took." Allen said.

"Villager?" The woman gave a thin smile. "I was going to bury him but if you want him… He's all yours." She threw Franz to a pile of man eating flowers and one swallowed him whole. Shortly after they swallowed him the flowers and the ground were shaking and Eliade fled.

"They're gonna blow!" Lavi shouted. They all ran to the nearest corridor but it wasn't enough time to completely avoid it. The explosion's range was so powerful that it blew up the wall and sent them through it. They landed outside on one of the edges of an inner wall, struggling to pull themselves up to the landing.

"We're pretty amazing, aren't we?" Lavi gasped. "I thought we were goners for sure."

"What's really amazing are these uniforms. I got away with only bruises." Allen said as he sat up.

'Come to think of it, these uniforms are pretty amazing. Very… Durable.' Teal thought. "Uh guys…" She pointed a shaking finger below them after Lavi finished puking over the wall. "You might want to take a look at this."

Allen and Lavi leaned closer to get a better look. The mist was clearing and eight crosses were emerging on the ground, surrounded by stones and dead trees.

"It's a cemetery." Allen glanced at it grimly. They all jumped down to get a better look. Eight graves. What could the Count have buried?

"Maybe it's for all the villagers." Teal said. "Didn't Eliade say that she was going to bury Franz?"

"But didn't he say Krory killed nine people?" Lavi folded his arms.

"Yeah, but the mayor said something about the first one evaporating, I think. Right, Allen?" Allen nodded in response and he lightly brushed his hand against one of the crosses and it collapsed. Lavi and Teal went ballistic.

"You broke it!" Lavi was horrified.

"Evil spirit, we mean no harm. Evil spirit we mean no harm." Teal was saying it as a creepy chant.

"Has anyone mentioned you're nuts?" Lavi asked Teal.

"Maybe once or twice." She turned her head away to one of the tombstones. "Curse Lavi for being an idiot back there and I'll give you some food after all this is done." She muttered.

"Me? Being an idiot? Look who's talking."

"At least I manage my time better to be an idiot. As long as no one gives me caffeine, I manage my time…" She muttered the last part but Lavi might've heard it.

"Hey, you two…"

"Well, excuse me for being a man. You're just jealous, Teal. After all, any man would go crazy for girls like her. With her figure and all." Teal went into a mental dark corner and curled into a ball.

'Ass.'

"Hey, Lavi, Teal…" They stopped their argument and came to Allen. "Take a look on the ground." As they leaned closer, they noticed pentacles on the ground.

"Are those… Pentacles?" Teal asked as she approached the grave.

"Could it be that there are akuma buried here?" Allen gasped in shock. Lavi and Allen moved around to the other graves and all of them had pentacles on the ground which confirmed Allen's suspicion.

"Hey, come to think of it, didn't pentacles appear on the flowers after they ate Franz? You think that the others are akuma too?" Lavi asked.

"Only one way to find out. Step back guys, I'll do the dirty work." Teal tried to put on a confident smile but the thought of bringing up eight coffins was down right creepy. 'My Innocence has the ability to control the four elements so this shouldn't be too much of a problem.'

"Innocence, Activate. Spell of Earth." Teal stretched out her arms as her blades formed on her arms with a dark green hue. It was a strange feeling, it felt like she was part of the earth with the energy coursing in and out of her. She set her mind on finding the coffins and there were eight of them around her. One by one she faced them and moved her arms in a steady rising motion and each coffin surfaced.

"Heh, thanks Teal." Lavi said.

"No problem." Once they opened all the coffins, they revealed decaying corpses but the skeletons were mechanic which confirmed Allen's suspicion.

"So he's been killing akuma. We're not hunting a vampire anymore. Krory must be something else. He may be-"

"Lavi!" Allen screamed as Krory was right behind Lavi. He was too slow to react and Krory hit him so hard he not only crashed into the wall, he took down the wall with Lavi unconscious.

"You three have made me very angry. You had your chance to leave but now it's too late." He flashed a fang grin. Within a blink of an eye, he disappeared. Teal picked up a gust coming from behind them and moved herself and Allen out of harm's way with not a second to spare but it didn't last long. The count jumped and hurled her to the ground when he got above her which made her struggling to breathe.

'Where the hell does he get that strength?' Once she regained her breath she noticed that Allen and the count have stopped and Allen was trying to reason with the count.

"I don't care about akuma. I only desire to seek my own happiness. With the lovely Eliade, we shall live in this castle for all eternity. And I promise, I'll kill those who get in my way." Teal took this as her cue to get up and get back in the game.

'Spell of Earth: Rock Wave' She willed the area in front of Allen to rise into a protective wall and hurtled them at the count only she hit him too late. He sent Allen flying into the castle, where it made another huge hole in the wall.

"You should know I don't go down that easily." She panted.

"You're such an annoyance, girl." Teal slowed down her breathing and thought about what she was taught in martial arts on how to stay one step ahead. 'Don't just keep watch for your opponent, feel the atmosphere around you.' With the count's speed it was difficult to keep eye contact but she managed to avoid another powerful punch from him and retaliated with some slashes from her blades. There was wind other than running from the count, blocking and avoiding his attacks and once she felt it, she used the wind to quickly gain height.

'Spell of Wind, Elemental Storm' She kicked in his direction and the count was hurtled back to the ground by a twister that materialized. 'That should be enough for payback but this is far from over and I don't know if I can do this alone. He's tougher than any normal person I've faced.' She thought as she landed by the twisted tree.

Krory was about to run towards Teal but changed his course of direction when a large hammer smashed the ground.

"Lavi!"

"You shouldn't turn your back on me." He had a smirk on his face. "So I'll just kick your ass now before we make nice."

"Interesting." The count grinned. Teal ran up beside Lavi and reverted back to her fighting stance. As they were chasing the count and attacking him with some success, Lavi started explaining akuma and exorcists to the count who look like he was listening with half interest.

"Akuma are monsters that disguise themselves as humans and you've been drinking the blood of akuma."

"Oh? And why didn't their blood poison me? I don't believe a word you said."

"Well, there is a case in which you wouldn't die." All three of them stopped as Lavi continued. "My theory is that you are an accommodator with a parasite type weapon and you've been attacking akuma subconsciously. I think those teeth of yours are made of Innocence."

"A-and if you join us, there's more opportunities for you if you like hunting akuma." Teal added nervously.

"Funny. I thought you two were going to have a conversation after you beat me." Krory smirked.

"Seeing as how tough you are, it is easier this way. You can give me your answer when you wake up, Fang Boy." Lavi smirked as circles started to appear around them, Teal recognized a few symbols as 'Fire' 'Water' and 'Heaven'.

"Innocence, Level 2 release! Fire Stamp!" Lavi smashed his hammer into a circle that said 'Fire' and a giant fire snake went for Krory but he jumped and it rammed into the wall. Then the pattern of running, fighting with no great attacks from either side resumed until Krory stopped suddenly and screamed in pain.

"What's up with him?" Teal turned her head to Lavi who shared her puzzled look.

"Nervous breakdown?" Then Krory started sobbing something then started banging his head on the tree.

"Yup, I think it's safe to assume that. But now's our chance to attack! Don't hold any grudges, kay Krory?" Teal smirked.

"Now it's my turn to shine! Pillar of Fire!" Lavi summoned his seals and an enormous fire stamp engulfed the ground and a snake engulfed Krory and sent Krory into the castle.

"Don't you think you might've over done it?"

"Don't worry. The heat's not on full blast. We better go find Allen." That's right. Allen didn't come back to join the fight.

"You want to hang on to me or are you okay on your own?" Lavi asked her as he was preparing his hammer.

"I'm alright. Let's go." As they went into the castle after Krory, Teal spotted Allen from another hole in the wall. Allen was blown away by something and was headed for the floor below but Lavi caught him just in time. When they landed on the floor, they saw Krory unconscious with Eliade who has him in her arms. Teal could not believe what she saw next. A mummy like thing was coming out of that woman. It was far worse than the decaying akuma in the coffins.

"Allen, that thing… Is that the soul of an akuma?" Lavi turned to Allen and Teal turned her head to Allen as well. She half forgot about his ability but his eye appeared to be healed as a gear like monocle was covering it. He nodded.

"It's so weird. I can see it too. It must be because of your eye."

Krory came to and also saw the apparition coming from Eliade.

"Krory! Do you see what is coming out of your friend's body?" Lavi called out to him.

"That is the soul of an akuma! Eliade is an akuma!" Allen continued.

'Seriously? Although, that does make sense. Maybe it's the akuma that attacked us last night.'

Eliade transformed into a long purple akuma that was quite ugly. Krory was still sobbing on the floor and unable to get up from despair.

"Ah! Not good! Fang boy is tired from fighting us! We have to help him!"

"Fang boy who's that?"

"Him! Krory!" Lavi was still freaking out and to make matters worse, the earth was shaking violently. Vines and red petals rose from the cracks and more carnivorous flowers appeared from the ground.

"ACHOO! Can dis night det addy worse?" Teal added another sneeze as she was avoiding the flowers by her Innocence.

The trio could only retreat from the flowers and could do nothing to help Krory although his battle did appear to be intense. The flowers kept on growing in numbers and they eventually caught the exorcists who were certain that they were going to be eaten and the first was Lavi who was panicking.

Teal tried her fire spell and succeeded in being released only to be caught by another flower and being ganged up by others who were mercilessly whipping her in retaliation.

"Lavi! Teal! Listen to me! I've dealt with these kinds of flowers before! They won't hurt those who show affection to them. Treat it as if it were a puppy!"

"Allen, are you serious?" Lavi shouted from inside of a flower, absolutely mortified.

"He just told you what to do, one eyed moron!" Teal snapped. "It's either your pride or your life now pick one!" All three of them started shouting 'I love you' over and over and eventually the flowers did back off. After a long agonizing period which seemed like several hours, the flowers finally stopped attacking then something odd just happened. Teal felt a drop of something roll down her cheek and looked up and prayed it wasn't another monster looming over them but it was rain. It was really unexpected to have it inside the castle but it did feel nice. She looked over her shoulder and Krory had collapsed on his knees, sobbing. The three exorcists walked over to him carefully.

"I-I want to die. I destroyed the woman I loved. What kind of monster have I become?"

"If it hurts so much…" Allen suddenly grabbed the Count's shirt. "Then why don't you become an exorcist? It's the duty of all exorcists to defeat akuma. You just destroyed an akuma named Eliade today. Her death will not be in vain, you will be saving a lot of people. That could give you a reason to live." After the Count calmed down, he lead the trio down a corridor while Allen was explaining the reason why they came here and gave him the drawing of his master.

"Your master did pay visit to my castle but only for a short time. He said he was a friend of my grandfather's and came to pay his respects. And he also returned something." He opened a door to a small storage room and found an empty flowerpot.

"No-no way!" Allen flinched on the sight of the pot. "That pot belonged to Rosanne!" Allen took the pot and was silent for a while, looking extremely depressed.

"Allen, are you okay?" Teal waved her hand in his face and he didn't respond. Timcanpy was munching on his head and he still wasn't doing anything.

"Don't mind him, he gets like that when he thinks of his master." Lavi said. He returned his attention to Krory. "All he did was return the flower?"

"Yes, but there was something weird about it. It bit me one day and died. It made my teeth fall out and new ones immediately took their place. Now that I think about it, that must be the Innocence you mentioned."

"Is there anything else that you could tell us about him?" Teal asked Krory.

"He said he was leaving for a long journey and asked me for money. He didn't say where he was going though."

"Hey, Teal. Did you see anything else?" Lavi asked her.

"Nothing more than what Krory has already told us." She shook her head and sighed. "We're back to an old school wild goose chase."

"Could I ask you three to wait outside for me? I'd like to accompany you on your journey and become an exorcist. I have to gather some things first." Krory gave a weak smile.

"Sure." Lavi replied. Before Teal left with the boys, she decided that she wanted to give Krory… support. What he had to do to Eliade did ring a bell, she knew what that pain felt like.

"Hey, Krory," She said softly. "If you want to talk… or uh… something… about Eliade… Just so you know, you can talk to me if you want… you don't have to but… it's just a thought."

"Thank you." He gave a small smile. "I-I don't mean to pry but did you-?" Teal gave a small nod.

"Yes. I was sort of put in the same scenario a long time ago. I can understand how hard this is going to be for you… But you know what? My father told me that those who truly love us are never gone."

Within a few hours, the exorcists departed Krory's castle, which he blew up after they all were safely evacuated, and the village whose residents couldn't wait for the exorcists to depart. They wouldn't listen to the explanations that Krory was actually hunting akuma and was trying to save people's lives. Bookman went ahead of them to meet up with Lenalee at the next destination so all that was left was to wait for a train which didn't take very long. Lavi quickly made a status report to headquarters before departing on the train.

The exorcists got settled in a passenger car and snagged a couple of seats. Krory was silently sobbing again has the village was vanishing from sight.

"C'mon Fang Boy, don't let this get you down. This is a good thing for you." Lavi tried to cheer him up. "It's the start of a new adventure; you'll have a new life and everything."

"Yeah but… It's hard to think positively and feel like you belong when everyone thinks that you're a monster."

"That doesn't matter anymore Krory." Teal said suddenly. "I mean you are different, and so are we, but who cares? We're a-friends now. We see you for who you are, not what you are and that's all that really matters."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Hey, Fang Boy, how about you take a walk around the train to clear your head. You've never been on one before right?"

"All right. I'll return soon." After Krory left, Teal adjusted herself to lean against the window, ready to be taken by sleep as she was exhausted and the allergies to those kinds of flowers were not helping her alertness.

"Hey, nice advice Teal. I've noticed that you've become a bit more relaxed and open around us since you joined." Lavi smiled at her.

"Eh? Um… thanks. That's a good thing?"

"Yeah, it is. I personally like your real personality over your business personality where you have to force yourself to be open."

"Hm. Okay. Wake me up if we're being attacked or when we've arrived. Whichever comes first." She instantly fell asleep when she closed her eyes.

"Don't…Don't come any closer!" It's that boy again. Please let this dream lead somewhere. I need to know who he is.

"W-why?"

*bzzzt*

"This is why no one wants us! This is why we were abandoned! This is why no one cares about us!"

"I care about you. Please don't go!"

*bzzzt*

"If- if there's someone who cares about you, you shouldn't throw your life away. I won't let you die!" I'm hanging on to this boy as tight as I can. What is he to me? I have to try to remember. My heart is telling me he was…-is important in my life. Someone very dear to me. I must remember.

"I'm… afraid… Bu-… my friend…s" Friends… Huh. I may have been a terrible friend by forgetting you but I'm going to make things right. I promise.

"Who're you?" The scene vanished and it was replaced by a silhouette that was standing a fair bit of distance away from Teal. Before she could respond, the entire dream faded to white and back into reality where Lavi was shaking her.

"Mm? Are we there yet?"

"No, Fangboy's missing."

"Eh? Come again? On this train that only has FIVE CARS?"

"Hard to believe but yes. He's been gone three hours."

They immediately headed carefully to the next car over where they found Krory stripped to his boxers and three men who weren't a pleasant sight to look at holding cards as if they were playing poker. The exorcists caught their attention almost immediately.

"Hey," The man in the center with messy brown hair and glasses looked up at them. "No kids are allowed in here, this is a private cabin." Then he turned back his attention to Krory. "Now my friend shall we go for another hand?" He smirked.

"Um… No thank you sir."

"So Krory, you having fun?" Allen knelt beside Krory.

"Well, these men invited me to play a game called poker with them. And as you can see, it hasn't been going very well."

"C'mon, you already agreed to play us. If you're a real player, you'll see it through to the very end." The man with the glasses leaned towards Krory.

"Yeah but…" Allen held his coat in front of the men. "Go and take a look at my coat. The linings are made of real silver. I'll play a hand with you if you let me wager it for his stuff."

"Hold on Allen are you serious?" Lavi was appalled.

"Heh heh. Deal." As they started the first hand, Teal couldn't help but stare at the man in the glasses. He wasn't attractive by any means but there was something about him, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was like she met him somewhere but she never seen him before.

"Call!" Before she knew it, the three hobos were stripped down to their underwear and a pile of clothes were stacked very unorganized behind Allen.

'What the hell?' Teal's eye twitched as Lavi and Krory were staring in awe.

"A royal straight flush?" They shouted in unison as Allen flipped the deck between his hands, grinning.

"It looks like I win again." He smirked.

"Ah! Screw this game!" They shouted as they threw their cards in the air. Teal leaned back against a seat and smirked in triumph for Allen. Serves those bums right. If they pulled any tricks, Teal figured she would be the first one to beat the crap out of them. But this feeling that was coursing through her… It was an unwillingness to fight… What was the cause? Fear of death? Nah. She had to deal with close to death situations more often than the average person and she wasn't particularly afraid nor was she fond of the thought.

While pondering, something flashed in the corner of her eye. When she looked to see what it was, a handsome man replaced the man in the glasses, with slick back curly brown hair, a fine suit, and captivating gold eyes, it made her curious but it soon was replaced by fear because the shadow that looms over that woman was looming over this man as well.

"Ah, Teal?" Krory got her attention. "Your arm is bleeding. Is one of your wounds bothering you?" Teal felt a warm liquid run down from her hand down to her arm.

"Oh. Maybe I didn't tie the bandage tight enough. I'll be right back so I can fix it." She smiled at him. There was a bathroom right outside the door which she snuck in to then locked the door. She took off her coat and cleaned up her arm and dabbed her wrist with a paper towel, which it was painfully excreting more blood as if something was drawing on it.

'Three crosses. I wonder… Is he connected to that woman somehow? I'd recognize that shadow anywhere, he must be. No matter. I'll get rid of her one way or the other.' The train gave a powerful jerk as it came to a stop in which she was slammed against the door.

When Teal got out, Krory had his clothes back and Allen was sticking his arm out the window, returning the suitcases to the men. As the train started moving again, the man with the glasses tossed something to Allen and shouted 'Thanks'.

'That man… I can't shake the feeling that he's a threat. Not just to me, but to everyone else.'