Disclaimer: I don't own -Man and its characters. The only thing I do own in this fan fiction is the characters Xuilan Xu, Fong Xu, and groundskeeper Reed.

"Allen!"

Lenalee woke up at her room within the ship. There was no one in the room, it was dark and quiet. She was at her bed with tears cascading down her face and her left arm reaching upwards.

She quickly realized that she had witnessed another nightmare regarding Allen. This time however, he was alive. She didn't care if his innocence was destroyed, only the fact that he was alive.

She was elated, but was quickly brought back down to earth as she realized it was a dream. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to dismiss that it was a mere dream. Allen was wearing clothing that Lenalee had never seen him wear and she knew for a fact that you couldn't dream of something you've never seen unless you were foreseeing something or that the dream was not a normal dream.

She hoped desperately that her dream was telling her that Allen was alright. So she resolved that when this mission was over, she would search China to find Allen regardless what the Order or her brother commanded!

Allen was awake and panting for breath. He had finally reached the person crying in his dream. He was startled at her fragile looking state. Which only fueled his need to approach and help her. Once he approached her, she was startled to see him at first, and she immediately looked down at her lap.

Allen didn't notice if there was anything at her lap, but when she looked at it, she was startled to find that there wasn't anything there.

The girl, which he unconsciously identified as Lenalee, slowly began to reach out to him, as he reached out to her with his right hand. But before they could make physical contact, a white light engulfed his field of vision and he was thrust awake from the dream.

"Lenalee..."

As he said her name, he felt at peace somehow, and his heart thumped at his chest. His body was longing to touch her, dream or reality. Somehow, either case seemed to be stopped by an unknown force. Would this be the case if he stayed here any longer?

He didn't know why, but he was beginning to become confused with his current situation. He didn't know where Lenalee was, but his mind seemed to be telling him that they were heading to some place called Edo.

Allen looked out towards the window. The sun hadn't risen yet, but light was beginning to appear at the horizon.

Getting out of bed, he decided to do some work outs and wait until Xuilan woke up. Hopefully she knows something about this Edo.

Xuilan woke up to find that Allen's breakfast was already completely eaten. Taking a quick glimpse at the garden, she found Allen doing some basic warm-up taught to him by Master Wong.

After watching for a few minutes, Allen finally noticed that he had a spectator; for some reason, Allen could always detect people with less than good intentions towards her and himself, but whenever it was someone who would marvel or watch him with awe, he would be oblivious to the stares.

"Ah, good morning Nee-san!" He greeted with a smile.

"Good Morning to you too Allen." She returned the gesture. "How come you're up early?"

"I had the dream."

That statement robbed all the mystery regarding Allen's early awakening, "Did you find out anything?"

Allen stared over at the garden, not actually looking at a specific plant but rather at the whole scenery in front of him. "I believe... that Lenalee is at Edo, or is heading there... Do you know where Edo is?"

Xuilan bit at her lower lip. For some reason, she was hesitant on revealing the information regarding the possible location of someone who knew Allen before he lost his memories.

She was saved from making the decision when one of the grounds keeper of the mansion reported to her.

"Madam. Please remain within the grounds for today... Akumas are attempting to infiltrate the mansion."

"Akuma?" Allen asked clearly confused.

There goes keeping his past as an exorcist a secret... Xuilan nodded to the groundskeeper and motioned Allen to follow her indoors. This was the first time that Allen gotten out of his room earlier than herself, he usually woke up from his nightmares and remained in his room until he was called down to breakfast. So it was no surprise that Allen didn't have a clue about the daily reports from the groundskeeper.

Once they settled at the living room, Xuilan began to explain.

"First up, I will confess that I lied to you regarding something you've seen." Xuilan began ignoring the look of confusion from Allen, "the souls that you see with your left eye, are the souls of akuma. The souls are trapped within an akuma, serving as a form of fuel for them. The soul can't control what the Akuma is doing because it loses all its ability to make choices."

"So those pitiful looking souls above those people are..." Allen trailed off as he began to realize the significance of his sight.

"Yes... those are the souls of akumas." Xuilan raised her hand, signifying to Allen to listen, "The reason I didn't tell you is because in your present state, you can't do anything to help them."

"What do you mean?"

"Only an Innocence, an anti-akuma weapon, can destroy akumas and save the soul that is trapped from there bodies." Xuilan then continued, "No one is currently able to destroy these akumas since Exorcists from the Black Order, is currently focusing on finding new exorcists and protecting there Generals. You must also be aware, Akuma always attempts to kill humans."

Taking a brief pause, Xuilan wondered if she should tell the whole truth regarding what she knew about Allen. She looked at Allen's eyes, the determination within those orbs made her, at least, suggest a way that would protect him if he chose to pursue this Lenalee to Edo. "I understand your concern regarding these Akumas, but we will talk about this another time -"

"But...!"

"No Allen! I don't want to lose you in such an endeavor where you have no hope of succeeding!" Xuilan screamed at Allen, her protectiveness making itself known.

The sudden outburst caught him off guard and he looked down at the floor for unconsciously making Xuilan worry for him.

"Regarding our previous conversation about Edo, that's in Japan, which is roughly East from here, across the sea." Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she continued, "If you wish to go and find Lenalee, I want you to take magic and sealing lessons(1) from the groundskeeper."

"But wouldn't you need protection from these akuma?" Allen asked once he realized the repercussions if he were to leave here and now.

"It's alright Allen." Xuilan said softly, yet reassuring. "You need to find your past... There's another reason why I'm pushing you to find your memories, but I'll explain once you learned the basic of magic and sealings from the groundskeeper... I – I know that even I am against this... I've grown quite attached to you."

Xuilan blushed, clearly embarrassed at what she was going to admit next, "I love you like a brother, and I don't want you to get hurt, even if it was for my sake or anyone else. So please accept my reluctance to completely divulge to you what I know about your past. I promise that I will reveal it to you before you leave for Edo or even earlier than that."

Allen was stunned by the affection and admittance of Xuilan that she really treated him like a family member. Sure the whole referring to her as 'nee-san' already alluded to a sibling-like relationship, but he merely thought it was to avoid confusion from her potential suitors. But her admittance now, made him feel a lot more sure of their sibling-like relationship. "Yes, nee-san..."

"...by the way, how did you know so much about the Black Order?"

"Anything possibly related to my safety or your memories, is archived by the groundskeeper to further assist on day to day defenses." Xuilan said with a small smirk as she turned her back to get breakfast.

For the next few days, Allen learned the basics of magic and sealing (which was extremely difficult for a one-handed person) and continued to master kenpo.

Allen had been reading a book on magic and sealing from the scroll the groundskeeper had lend him. As he was quietly reading it at the living room, a loud – almost shrill – voice rang out from the mansion's front door.

"XUILAA~AN!"

Allen tensed. It had to be one of those days.

There were several reasons as to why Xuilan hadn't married yet despite the many suitors. Most of the reasons was Xuilan herself. She can be pretty intimidating and any persistent suitors whom she already straight out rejected were brutally put away. Simply, this meant that the person would never again approach Xuilan even with a ten foot stick – and that was people who weren't perverted.

Another reason for why she hasn't married yet was because of her overprotective father.

The first time that Allen had met the man, he was literally frozen on the spot. The glare that he sent his way froze every single cell of his body and somehow he saw his life – that he can remember – flash before him, as if at any moment the man would no doubt sent him to the next great adventure. This was of course before Xuilan explained his circumstances. He then immediately became a rather jolly old man shaking his hand and introducing himself as the head of the Xu family corporations and father of Xuilan.

It was due to Fong Xu's (2) infamous glare that over half of potential suitors never made a move on Xuilan. Aside from this, he dotes on his daughter to the point of obsession. Though he was starting to get worried about her love life since his daughter was rapidly reaching the age of 21 (he never did realize that he was, in some form, detrimental to her love life).

In a typical "one of those days", Allen would be stared down and terrified like a little girl, until Xuilan finally comes to his rescue. Then everything that happened afterwords would be an exchange between father and daughter, most of which he hadn't attempted to pay attention to.

"Son, have you seen where Xuilan is?" Fong's deep voice pierced Allen's thoughts.

It always did surprise Allen to how Fong's voice could change from the shrill overly dramatic voice, to his deep business voice.

"A – Uh... She's a-at her room Mr. Xu." Allen stammered. He could never shake the fear that came when talking to Xuilan's father. It didn't help that he was currently alone in the living room with the man and everywhere else in the mansion was strangely quiet – like every time he had these encounters.

Fong suddenly took a step towards Allen. The action made Allen tense and stood straight as if being addressed by a general.

He was sweating bullets until Fong began to softly pat his shoulder, his face showing a serene smile.

"No need to be so nervous son. You are what Xuilan considered as her little brother." Fong's face suddenly morphed into his infamous glare, "If you try to push your luck however, you won't be so lucky."

"Ye – Yes Mr. Xu!" Allen saluted. This happened nearly every time Xuilan's father came to visit (which was at least 5 times a week despite his constant trips to businesses around China; sometimes he would visit twice a day), and he still wasn't immune to Xuilan's father's glare. Every time that this happened, he seemed to vaguely remember a rather long purple haired man wearing a beret.

"Father!" Xuilan had finally come out of her room to save Allen from further inter- conversations with her father.

"Xuilan!" Fong's face reflected his once again serene smile, inviting Xuilan to a hug, to which she immediately complied.

After the hug, Xuilan immediately began to berate her father, "Can you please stop scaring Allen! I already told you! I only love him like a brother!"

"Bu – but Xuilan! I can't help think about the possibilities since you spend such an interest at him! You've never had this kind of drive with other suitors!" It always amazed Allen how such an intimidating man could be reduced to something so unlike his projected image.

"No buts father!" Xuilan said as she raised a finger, producing an image of a teacher berating a pupil.

Seeing that this was a lost argument, he immediately stopped and changed the subject of the conversation, "Alright, Xuilan... so how goes Allen's memories?"

Stopping at her tirade, she immediately took a softer expression, "He's had a dream – this Lenalee is at Edo."

Fong took a pensive stance. After a few moments, he turned around and faced towards the door. "When he's ready, alert me. I'll do what I can to assist."

"Father..."

Fong turned his head to his daughter and with a reassuring smile, "I'll do anything for you. You consider Allen as your own brother, so it'll be like helping my own son."

"Mr. Xu..." Allen himself was touched at the sentiment.

Smiling, he headed out of the mansion.

Today was definitely better than one of those days.

"Ok, create a restraint seal on that boulder!"

It was just a few minutes before dinner and Allen was finishing up his training with magic and sealing with Reed.

Allen raised his right hand and pointed his index and middle finger towards the large boulder, he then raised his arm, "Restrain!"

Several blue runes appeared around the boulder and closed in. The boulder was then covered by the light and was held tightly in place.

"Maintain your form!" Reed yelled at his apprentice, "Now, detonate the seal with magic!"

Allen then brought down his right arm in a slashing motion, "Ignite!"

The boulder exploded in a ball of blue flame with small green sparks flowing from it. The end result was a completely shattered boulder, but with no apparent burns in the ground.

'Green sparks...' Reed thought to himself. 'If this is what I think it is, it might be impossible for him to use it as effectively as a normal human...'

"Good..." Reed said outloud. "You've managed to control who or what is affected by your seals..."

Allen dropped to his feet as he finished the training. Physical training was something he can easily handle, but when it came to magic and sealing, he was easily exhausted.

Reed, seeing the exhausted state of Allen, spoke to him, "Don't worry about it kid, you haven't gotten used to having energy coursing through your hand. Once you do, you can do these exercises without breaking a sweat."

All Allen could do was nod to signify he understood.

'I certainly hope that's the case...' Reed thought as he went back to his post.

Despite his incredible drive to learn about magic and sealing so he can start his journey, he could only cast basic restraining seals and explosive seals. He was still trying to learn how to create a barrier and repellant seal, but he wasn't making much headway. Reed assured him however, that he was doing extremely well despite his handicap and with his drive he would be on his way to being an adept, but for some reason Allen was feeling restless and impatient, like something important was going to happen.

Xuilan herself was feeling a little restless herself. The feeling of safety that the mansion exuded was slowly disappearing and was being replaced by a nearly oppressive aura. Despite what the groundskeeper said regarding the barrier being at top shape, it couldn't suppress the anxiety she was slowly feeling. It didn't help that Allen himself was already feeling agitated.

Later that night, Allen was reading books about sealing while stuffing himself with food at the dining room. Xuilan, had finished eating before Allen and was just looking at the company papers regarding how the recent monsoon rains increased production costs at the company near the Mongolian border.

Just as Allen took his last bite at the dinner provided for him, an explosion shook the mansion.

"What the...!"

Allen immediately dropped his books, "I'll go check what happened!"

Before Xuilan could agree, Allen had already ran off towards the direction of the explosion.

As Allen approached the garden, he found himself staring at the soul of an akuma.

The akuma seemed to be wearing a blue colored armor, the part of the face that wasn't blocked off by it's helmet had the impression of being the bottom part of a skull (3). It had multiple eyes, all searching at different locations from where it stood.

The akuma slowly released the body of one of the groundskeeper that it was holding by the neck. The akuma turned its gaze towards Allen.

"Are you Allen Walker?"

Author's Notes:

(1)Magic and sealing in this fan fiction is similar to the ability of Cross Marian and Link.

(2)Fong Xu's physically looks like a cross of Fei Wong Reed of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (without the monocle) and Bak's assistant.

(3)This is the same lvl 3 Akuma that attacked Allen at the Asian Branch in canon.

Allen won't become a magic or seal master. The only reason that Xuilan is making Allen learn magic and sealing, is because she doesn't have any idea that Allen still has his Innocence. There's also another reason as to why Allen won't become a magic or seal master, but that would be explained much later.

Apparently, I don't have a clue on how much time had passed since the Fallen incident towards Allen's arrival to Edo. So I'm making it up... in this fan fiction, a whole month had passed (3-4 weeks) before the group of exorcists heading to Edo lands at Japan (rather long despite it's only China to Japan).

Thank you for those that have reviewed. It really means a lot to me.

This chapter is released this early mainly because I was already finished with it before I even submitted the first chapter. Don't expect this to be my normal update speed... Anyway, More reviews = frequent or faster updates. So please review, be it a simple comment or just pointing out a mistake (if you do so, please do it kindly). Constructive Criticism is welcome but flames are not.