Chapter 3

ooOOXXXOOoo

The town looked like taken out from a story book about the middle ages. The houses were made of stone bricks and the roofs were all thatched roofs. It was no doubt they were no longer in modern England.

There were many people out in the streets. Children were running everywhere and the grown ups were talking and laughing, showing off their merchandise and trying to bribe their customers into buying. It was very peaceful here, and that thought made Allen smile. Maybe the people here didn't have worries like Akumas and Noahs.

Heads started to turn towards them and Allen could clearly see the change in their eyes when they understood that he and Kanda were strangers. And it didn't seem like they were happy about having them here it either. Most of the people were either glaring or frowning when looking at them. Not a good sign, Allen thought.

"Don't worry about them, they are just a little scared. Seeing strangers behind these walls is an unusual sight." Adam informed them, shaking his head. Allen could clearly hear the grief in his voice when he talked. Though it on the outside seemed like it was a peaceful town, the way peoples faces changed when they looked at said differently.

"Why are they scared?" Allen couldn't hold it any longer, he had to know why. "And why did you ask if we were humans? What else could we be?" 'Besides Akuma' Allen mentally added, but didn't in case Adam didn't know what he meant.

"You are not very knowledgeable." Adam told him, amused, which made Kanda snort in agreement. Allen glared at him, which Kanda skilfully ignored. "But I suppose you have the reason to." Adam added, the corner of his mouth turned slightly upwards as he looked back over his shoulder. The ground was getting rougher and he turned his attention back to the road.

"Loups." He suddenly said, which made Allen stop his "death-to-Kanda" glare and turn his attention back to the knight.

"Loups were once men. Or rather, they were barbarians, who pillaged and plundered every village they could find. They showed no mercy. When they first found a town, they killed, tortured and robbed people for everything they had before they started fires, burning everything that could possibly be burned. How they could be called "men" at all is unknown to me. The way they acted was more that of a wild animal."

"Not many were able to escape such a raid, but of course, someone did. Some fled to other villages and some took refugee here."

Allen felt his shoulders sink when looking at the people around him. So that was why…

"But though they were barbarians, they were still humans…" Adam continued. "And if cut, they would fall." They were almost at the castle gates and Adam started to lead them off the road, towards a stable.

"But after having joined the witch, or "the Dark Lady", as she is called by those who really know their history, they were given powers no ordinary man could ever attain."

Allen and Kanda silently watched as Adam tied his horse to a pole before he made them follow through the stable and out a back door. They followed a road very close to the castle walls until they reached another wooden door.

"This way" Adam said, leading them through and inside. The temperature drop was expected. Thought no cloud could be seen on the sky, stone had never been good at keeping warmth, and the sudden coolness made Allen shiver. Lavi had given him his exorcist coat when he fell asleep on the couch, but he hadn't expected to be sucked into a book and end up god knows where. That's why, at the moment Allen had nothing but his usual white shirt and the brown waistcoat.

Kanda noticed this and couldn't help but sigh. Allen was a master at making the simplest of situations, such as entering a building, the same as entering a battlefield.

He unbuttoned his coat and shrugged it off his shoulders, and threw it at Allen.

"Wha-" Allen squeaked in surprise as something soft and warm hit him in the head. He removed the said thing from his neck before he noticed what it was. "But Kanda, won't you be cold?" Allen asked worriedly as he looked at his comrade. Kanda was only wearing a black sweater which seemed even thinner then Allen's own clothing layer.

Kanda only looked at him as if he just cracked the world's worst joke ever while expecting him to laugh. Allen, who could more than clearly understand the meaning, puffed his cheeks and took the coat on.

"If you ruin it, you're dead." Kanda said simply, turning his attention back to the surroundings.

The coat was already warm when Allen put it on, and his cheeks turned slightly pink at the thought of it being Kanda's body heat.

"Like I would ruin something that warms me" Allen said happily, before he started relishing the warmth the coat provided. It was a bit long his fingertips could barely be seen, and he struggled to keep himself from tripping at the coat's edge while walking. It made him a little frustrated, and he got even more annoyed when he thought of his and Kanda's difference in height, but the thought of the coat being Kanda's in the first place warmed him on the inside as well as the outside.

Allen smiled. "I suppose I should take his coat more often"

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"Wait here until I come back." Was what Adam had said before he had showed them a room and then left them alone. It hadn't been long since he left them, but Allen was beginning to get restless. "I wonder where we are, where could this be?" His occasional mumbling was starting to annoy the other occupant in the room, namely Kanda.

"Stop your stupid rambling and shut up. The answers won't come even if you repeat your stupid questions." Kanda snapped. Allen mumbled an apology and sat back down in his chair. He didn't know why, but his whole body was itching to move, he didn't want to sit still.

"But how do you think we got here?"

"He really doesn't have any self control does he?" Kanda thought bitterly. "I've already told you, because of you and your stupid book-touching."

"It wasn't my fault" Allen grumbled before an idea hit him. "Do you think it might be Innocence?"

"Maybe" Kanda sighed. "If it is then we probably have to retrieve it to get back."

Allen nodded in agreement. "What do you think he meant about the Loups?"

"I think he meant what he said"

"But, do you really think they exist? I mean, he said they had "Powers no ordinary man could possibly attain", I wonder what he meant by that"

But his train of thoughts was cut short by the sound of a door opening. They turned and saw Adam standing in the doorway.

"The king is ready to see you."

A/N:

I'm sorry for the long wait, I've been very busy with work (my boss is tormenting me: "You have to wash there and there and there and there.", "You forgot that spot" and " Why haven't you fixed the braincooler machine?"), and I've had writer's block for a while (other ideas has been clouding my mind). But I'm back on track now. I'll never take such a long pause again. Promise. I'm also sorry about the length of this chapter, but I thought I've kept you waiting long enough so I just updated without a second thought.

And btw (I completely forgot so I updated before I could write this): About what rating this fic should have, I think I'll be changing it to T. Most of you wanted it to remain M, I'm really sorry. The reason I'm changing it is because I don't really think I'm able to write M. If I tried, I'd probably ruin the whole M consept. (And I'd rather not do that, since I like reading it) I might try for an M sometime, but that won't be now.

But anyway, please review. It will probably encourage me to write faster.