Akirina: Hello! Here's chapter 7! Chapter 8 in progress... Oh yes, I am planning to make a sequel after this story is done :) Although I'm still very unfamiliar with yaoi pairings...=.=
Chapter 7
Allen's eyelids fluttered as consciousness slowly returned to him. A world of white surrounded him. He was in an infirmary.
"Allen!" a familiar red-head's face appeared above him. "You're awake!"
Allen tried to sit up, but he was held down firmly by Lavi.
"What happened?" Allen asked, giving up.
"Lavi's face was grim. "That's what we want to know."
"I was already in here when I woke up," Lavi explained, "Lenalee couldn't remember anything and the General wouldn't say anything until you wake up."
Lavi looked sharply at the white-haired youth. "You were unconscious when they found you in a white room with a piano, Bookman told me that."
"Really?" Allen asked, frowning. "I vaguely remember a piano… but other than that…" he shook his head. "I can't remember."
"You don't?" Lavi asked, "That's funny. Gramps thought you would at least remember something about a piano."
"I haven't even played a piano before!" Allen told Lavi indignantly.
Lavi pursed his lips as he stared at Allen. "That's strange. Gramps has never been wrong about his predictions before."
Allen shruggd, "He could be wrong."
Lavi frowned. "But-"
"Allen! You're awake!"
The two Exorcists turned to see Lenalee running towards them
"Why didn't you come to tell us that Allen was awake, Lavi?" Lenalee asked as she punched Lavi in the shoulder.
"Ouch!" Lavi yelped as he danced around, grasping his shoulder. "You didn't have to hit that hard!" he protested.
Allen smiled at the bickering pair. Then, he turned his thoughts to other matters.
Why couldn't he remember anything from the Ark incident?
Meanwhile…
"I demand that you tell us the truth, General Cross." Leverrier stared at Cross Marian menacingly. "I know something else happened on the Ark, contrary to what you have denied."
Cross yawned, "What are you talking about, Inspector? Everything I've told you is the truth. The Ark just returned to normal after I met the Earl."
"Then how did Allen Walker end up in that room?" Leverrier narrowed his eyes at Cross.
Cross smirked and pulled out his cigarette. "I told you, Inspector." He took out a lighter from his pocket. "My apprentice was separated from us before the Earl came. Obviously, he found his way to that room and remained there until the Ark mysteriously 'repaired' itself."
Leverrier gritted his teeth before he picked up a piece of paper and flung it towards Cross. "Then how do you explain this?"
Leverrier felt a surge of satisfaction when he saw Cross's nonchalant expression turn into one of surprise. Finally, the man had admitted that he knew something that Leverrier did not. Leverrier rubbed his hands together in glee.
"How did you get this?" Cross snatched the picture off the floor, his eyes glued to the image. Leverrier smirked.
"Well, how about you tell me what really happened in the Ark and I'll tell you where I got this." Leverrier baited. It was no loss to him for Cross to know where he had gotten this photo. Besides, all he needed to know was what had happened and he would piece the facts together from that point onwards.
Cross looked at Leverrier and laughed. "No way." He spat at the inspector. "I know what you're doing, Leverrier. And I wouldn't help you."
Leverrier glared at Cross with an expression of intense hate. "You'll regret this, Cross." He threatened the General.
"Excuse me, Inspector Leverrier."
Cross and Leverrier turned to look at the Heads of the Branches of the Black Order. Komui Lee was the one who had spoken.
"We do not understand what the two of you are talking about. Will you please explain so that all of us can understand?" Komui requested politely. "There is none of this mentioned in the notes you have given us."
Leverrier immediately turned to his right-hand man. "Link, hand them the photos of the music score." He ordered and turned back to the Branch Heads as Link went around, distributing the photos.
"This is a music score that we found in the golem, Timcanpy. Apparently, this memory of the music score was accessed before the group came out of the Ark. We suspect that this has something to do with the Ark's sudden reconstruction as we have heard the account from Lenalee Lee. She has also reported that she had a piano playing in the Ark, which further supports our suspicions." Leverrier told them.
The Branch Heads studied the photos for a long moment before Bak Chan broke the silence. "What does this have to do with Allen Walker?"
"Allen Walker must have done something that influenced the state of the Ark because this music score could be the one that could control the Ark." Leverrier surmised. "And this music score is impossible to read, so as to speak. So there must be something influencing Allen Walker…"
"What makes you so sure that it is Allen?" Cross interrupted. "For all you know, it could be some other character randomly trampling the Earl's plans…"
Leverrier smirked triumphantly. "It is your actions that have confirmed my suspicions that something is going on here, Cross Marian. You should not have lied to me about the music score, which I am sure you knew about."
Cross stared at him for a moment before he spoke. "So I can assume that you do not know about the Fourteenth?" he asked boldly. The Branch Heads looked on with curiosity, but at Cross's question, Komui raised another question. "The Fourteenth?"
"Who is the Fourteenth?" Leverrier narrowed his eyes at Cross. "Is this person another culprit? He is the one you mentioned—the one that randomly tramples across the Millennium Earl's plans, is he not?"
Cross shrugged. "It's not important. What matters is that none of us did anything to the Ark. Allen is not to be blamed."
Leverrier stood up. "Well then, I can see that it is useless to probe you for any more information. But what you have displayed is certainly questionable and worth investigating. As a result, Howard Link shall be inspecting Allen Walker 24/7."
"This meeting is ended."
Back to the infirmary…
"Come on, Allen~" Lavi half-whispered and half-pleaded to the white-haired youth. "If we stay here any longer, Lena-chan and the Head Nurse will find us and murder me for taking you out of the infirmary!"
"Just a moment, Lavi." Allen's reply was undecipherable as the teen stuffed his mouth with two burgers. Lavi looked around nervously.
"Come on!" he begged Allen as he pushed the cart of food out of the canteen. "We can eat while walking…" Allen did not reply but he continued to indulge himself with more burgers, following Lavi obediently while the red-head led the way to the library.
Lavi nearly sighed with relief. But he let out a squeak when he rounded the corner to see Lenalee and the Head Nurse walking down the corridor. He hurriedly pushed the cart back the way he had come from and Allen followed, somehow miraculously avoiding being caught by the two coming down the corridor.
"That was a miracle." Lavi murmured to himself as he strode quickly towards the library. "Hurry up, Allen! Gramps said that he wanted to talk to you."
"Mm…" Allen replied absent-mindedly as he swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti. "Really? What does he want?"
"He wants to talk to you about what happened on the Ark." Lavi replied as they reached the library. Lavi pushed open the doors and wheeled the cart in. Then, he noticed that Allen had not moved from where he was standing. Lavi turned around. "Allen?"
Allen stared at him with a blank face. Lavi frowned. Something was wrong.
"Gramps!"
ANANANANANANAN
"He should be feeling much better when he wakes up." Bookman told Lavi as he put away his acupuncture kit. "There was nothing wrong with him, just that his body had not recovered properly and he was feeling the after-effects of not resting properly…"
"Are you sure, Gramps?" Lavi asked doubtfully. "In all my studies regarding medicine and the human body, I have never come across such a case…"
Bookman slapped his apprentice immediately. "Of course I'm sure, idiot apprentice! I have been studying this for a much longer time than you have!"
"Ouch!" Lavi rubbed his head. "You didn't have to do that, Gramps!"
"Idiot apprentice." Bookman retorted, "You deserved that."
Lavi pouted and muttered, "old man" under his breath. Unfortunately, Bookman caught that and he glared at his apprentice menacingly.
"Anyway, Gramps," Lavi chirped, changing the topic, "Allen says that he doesn't remember anything from the Ark accident."
Just as he had expected, Bookman's attention was diverted immediately. "Is that so?" Bookman turned and peered at the white-haired youth earnestly. "I thought he'd remember… It seems that I have miscalculated…"
Lavi frowned. "Miscalculated?" he probed, staring at Bookman.
Bookman turned to him and scowled. "It's none of your business. Now, get back to memorizing those records."
Lavi made a face. "Do I have to?" he whined. "They're so boring! Come on, Gramps… let me have a day to spend with my friends…" he bargained. "On the bright side, I wouldn't be annoying you for one day."
He hadn't expected the old man to take the bait. Bookman looked toward a stack of books, seemingly deep in thought. "Well…" Bookman deliberated. "I could do with a day with you off my hands…"
"Seriously? Wow! Thanks so much, Gramps!" Lavi cheered happily as he bounced around the room.
"I didn't say that I'd let you be with your friends, though." Bookman popped Lavi's bubble of happiness. The red-head's happiness deflated instantly and he slumped over.
"Please? Gramps?" Lavi wheedled. "I haven't had any rest ever since I got back from the Ark incident! Are you planning to work me to death?"
Bookman glared at him. "If you'd be more mature, you wouldn't have to go through this. Blame this on yourself."
"What~?" Lavi whined loudly, "I didn't do anything wrong." He protested.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack when you disappeared. Don't do that again." Bookman said suddenly, "And for making me say that, you shall memorize the events of the wars between the 1600s and 1700s."
"What~" Lavi wailed, "That's not fair!"
"Life's not fair, idiot apprentice." Bookman replied shortly as he jumped off the chair he had been standing on. "I'm off to find Komui. Keep an eye on Allen."
Komui Lee, Head of the Main Branch of the Black Order sighed and sat down at his desk. Papers were stacked on every bare inch of his desk and the room looked like a hurricane had roared through it.
The meeting had just ended minutes ago and the outcome was that General Cross was to stay in the Black Order for one year under the watch of Howard Link before the higher-ups would assign him any missions.
Of course, they had discussed about other matters after that. But the most troubling case was… Allen.
Leverrier had assigned Howard Link to watch over the teenager. Komui laced his fingers together. It wasn't that Link watching over Allen was bad news. He had known Link for some time and he did not believe the man to be a cruel person. Contrary to his seemingly stoic and solemn outlook and mannerisms, Link was a kind man who enjoyed baking.
Had it been in any other circumstances, Komui would not have worried much. But this was different— something had clearly occurred on the Ark and Leverrier clearly suspected Allen of doing something. Although Komui wasn't sure whether Allen had done anything—the teen was unconscious for the past two days and no one could remember any useful information from the accident. Lavi had been unconscious, as well as Kanda and Chaoji and Krory. As for Lenalee… well, she had insisted that she did not remember anything at all.
Komui knew that his sister was lying. He could see it in her eyes. But who was she lying for? Why was she lying? What had happened on the Ark? Komui picked up his pen and threw it at the bookshelves in his room in one of his rare displays of anger.
"Damn it, Lenalee. What are you not telling me?" he seethed in frustration. "How am I supposed to help Allen if I don't have the facts?"
"Komui?"
Komui jerked his head up immediately. Cross stood in the doorway to his room. The red-haired man had lit a cigarette and Timcanpy was following him.
"What-" Komui started but Cross interrupted him.
"I need to talk to you." Komui frowned. He opened his mouth again, but closed it slowly when he caught the serious glint in Cross's eyes.
Komui nodded after a brief moment. "This had better be good, Cross." He told the General. Cross Marian smirked and settled himself down on the only spacious couch in the room.
"Oh, yes, Branch Head, this is going to be good."