Fullmetal Exorcist – Chapter 16 – Contemplation

They heard a deafening crash from behind the door and Lenalee, Al, and Scar braced themselves. Al sensed a small disturbance in the earth, and shouted at Scar.

"Scar! Back away! It's a herd of Akuma!"

The man did so, and just then, the door was kicked down and sent flying across the corridor. The metal panel finally bounced and fell floppily to the floor with a loud bang. The cause was exactly as Al had described. Akuma. Loads and loads of Akuma.

Al frowned as he made a small raised ramp, and vaulted off, jumping upon the Akuma. Immediately, he flung a handful of daggers effortlessly, and landed to the floor, using knives to draw a purification array on the hard stone, and activating it. Within seconds, the Akuma were easily destroyed, and Al allowed Lenalee to destroy the rest. Scar stayed back from the brawl, noticing that there was an Akuma sneaking behind Lenalee. Immediately he darted from his hiding place to reach the emerald haired girl.

Al begun to notice as well.

"Lenalee! Look out behind you!"

Before Lenalee could use her Innocence on the Akuma behind her, a large flash of red light blinded her, followed by a loud explosion of a saved Akuma. Lenalee blinked at the clearing smoke, seeing Scar, and his right arm outstretched. His sleeve had torn off, revealing an intricate tattoo written over his arm. Smoke was coming from Scar's arm.

Al frowned as he rushed to Lenalee.

"Lenalee… you okay?"

"Fine."

Lenalee looked at Scar in a puzzled sense.

"Why… did he…"

Al looked about again, and saw no more Akuma coming. He gave a small sideways glance at Scar, who silently nodded. Usually Scar was not a man of many words, and he allowed others to speak for him. Alphonse turned to Lenalee and opened his mouth to speak.

"Scar…" He started. "is an Exorcist, just like us."

"But how-"

"Let me finish, please, Lenalee…" Alphonse's warm eyes hardened. "Scar is a survivor of an accident in the Order called Order 3066, where the higher ups executed anyone with Alchemic Innocence because of something bad the Alchemists did."

Lenalee looked at him in horror and fascination, urging him to continue.

"Scar comes from Egypt, you see…" Al started. "Well, he was part of a traveling caravan around Europe from the Middle East. He was found compatible with Innocence and was forced to leave his nomadic family and join the Order when he was very young, just like you…"

Lenalee's eyes sank, remembering the horrors of her past.

"Order 3066 occurred when he just arrived and had his Innocence tagged as alchemy. He safely escaped, and went into hiding for a decade before coming back to enlist as a Finder. My brother's master, Roy Mustang, found out that Scar was secretly an Exorcist, and recruited him into the founding team for the Silver Shield. Hevlaska knows, too."

"Oh… but what about now?" Lenalee asked. Alphonse shook his head.

"Scar doesn't want to be found anyways," He added. "He fears that someone from Central might find records of him and put him in trouble."

A small silence completed Al's explanation, and they jolted at the bangs and shouts coming from up ahead.

"It's a personal thing," Al sighed, ushering her to the door the Akuma destroyed. "This isn't the time to talk. You should ask him yourself if you want better details."

Lenalee complied and said nothing. She saw Timcampy whiz by Scar's head so quickly, only she could have seen it, but she doubted herself when she noticed that Alphonse held a look of suspicion of the area behind Scar before heading to the door.

Another whirlwind of fire swooped right past Tyki's face as he stood in complete shock. A bead of sweat dripped down his cheek. He was sure he ripped this Exorcist's gloves off. How come this man could still use Innocence?

Roy picked up the vexed look on the Noah's face and smirked.

"You Noah are sometimes fooled too easily…" Roy smiled. "It's not the gloves that actually are my power here."

He pointed his finger to his temple. "It's all in here."

Tyki then scoffed. "You're quite a smart guy, Roy Mustang. Having Alchemy is really nice, isn't it?"

"And you're quite clever, too," Roy smiled. "Yes, my Innocence is not Equip, but Alchemic. I just like to keep the fact that it looks like I have Equip instead."

"Nice try, though," Tyki shook his head, and he walked closer to Roy by a foot. "You'll just face the Tease head on, gloves or not."

"Not that I care," Roy frowned, ready to snap with his bare fingers. "I guess you'll have to see how hard I can burn you. Do you remember the first time your sister, the Noah of Lust, had died?"

"I recall finding her remains," Tyki grimaced. "I didn't think you were the one who actually charred poor Lulubell to death. You seemed too kind-hearted. She's back again, and I'm sure she'll be back for your head."

"That was a small penalty," Roy explained. "For shattering the lower spine of one of my subordinates. Had it not been for my students, he would have lost the ability to walk for the second time of his life."

"That's amazing," Tyki continued the conversation. "I've never seen someone so devoted to keeping his subordinates safe. It must feel good, to have a feeling of protectiveness."

His hands grew more Tease, this time, a more powerful kind, dark purple and white striped wings and bloodthirsty golden jaws of chattering skulls for abdomens. Roy bent down to a fighting stance once again. No slacking off for him this time.

The fight for the secrets of the laboratory continued as Edward charged straight at the suit of armor that was making his way to him. Their blades intercepted each other. They struggled to gain the upper hand of the battle, and Slicer proceeded to strike again, he swung his sword sideways at Ed's abdomen, but the shorter (dare I say it) fighter swerved away, keeping his sword on guard and catching the flying blade, making him slide across the floor a few feet.

Slicer made a diagonal cut upon him, but Ed caught it just in time, but he had used both hands to block the attack, leaving half of his body open. The opponent saw this as a good chance to get rid of him quick, but Ed's quick hands dropped down and prevented the slice.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar clank of metal echoed in his right arm, and Ed turned his attention to it instantly. The sensation of the metal didn't feel right as it churned briefly against a nerve cord. His shoulder didn't feel right, not at all…

Slicer noticed this hesitation in the boy's movements and executed a clean slice to his head. Edward watched with dilating pupils as he gasped, arching backwards so the sword would only cut a millimeter's worth of his straw-blond hair. He used the allotted time to flip backwards, but Slicer charged again, his sword ready to swing again at the same time Ed landed softly on the ground. He recounted Winry's words for his automail update recently that week.

I increased the percentage of chrome, so it's less prone to rusting but it's not as strong… so don't try anything crazy.

Edward continued to dodge by retreating over and over again, to think of a game plan.

I'll have to find a way to end this quickly… Ed considered. "Or else… I'm dead!"

Ed took the initial attack by thrusting his arm blade at the armor, but it stopped abruptly, letting Ed's weapon slide across its sword before swinging back again. The boy jumped back, his hands by his side. The armor then spun to gain more momentum to hit the boy again, but with a harder force. However, Ed ducked, luckily, and dodged another swing before attempting to jump at the opponent again, unfortunately countered the next moment.

In mid-air, he rolled back as he jumped away, performing a nice flip and jumping back again. He attacked again, but the sword was countering his at an angle he had nowhere to move. Slicer lifted his foot and kicked Ed in the stomach. Ed grunted in pain as he slammed in the floor, creating a small cloud of dust about him.

The Slicer approached the vulnerable boy, and tried stabbing him square in the stomach, only to allow Ed enough time to perform a risky back roll flip. Another slash at him prompted to flip again to dodge, but as he landed, a pang of agony in his left arm was thrown into his systems. A small stream of blood spurted from the newly made wound in his shoulder, causing him to wince and clench his teeth.

But the armor did not hesitate or say anything. Ed was backed against a pillar, giving him a good chance of to attack. Ed ducked all of the attacks, which was highly unexpected for someone backed against a wall with blades flying from three sides. He jumped away into open space, and landed with his back turned to the armor. The Slicer spun quickly and briskly thrust the katana at Ed's temple, grazing it, but before the blade could go any further, Ed stared back with a horrified look on his face, and ran his blade across the katana to stop it.

Slicer gave up on attacks sideways, and then attempted another stab from above, and Ed flipped backwards with a seething hiss in his throat, for the blade had struck the wound at his temple, opening the cut even more. His movements became groggy, so he lost footing and landing on his bottom instead. He panted heavily, his eyes wide in fatigue, and his head continued to spin. Slicer then stopped fighting, setting his sword into the stone floor.

"What a cute little monkey…" He commented. Ed's mouth twitched at the certain word, and he mentally burst into flames.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE?"

The armor then laughed heartily, and Ed stared questioningly. "It's been too long since I had prey that was worth hunting…"

He picked up his sword again, and it flashed dangerously at Ed, who was two yards away.

"But you're tired and wounded now…" Slicer sympathized. "You won't last much longer. Right about now, the Akuma the Noah are commanding shall be finishing off the friends you brought along on your pointless journey."

"Oh… so you're allies with the Noah?" Ed asked, still panting. "You were drawing us in to get rid of us?"

"Actually…" The armor tilted his head slightly. "I found Exorcists fun to fight with, so I complied. Additionally, they did try to threaten me with destroying the Innocence bestowed in me."

"However… Are those Akuma stronger than you?" Ed asked. Slicer stopped to think.

"They are powerful," He answered. "But not as strong as me. My fighting power would be the worth of a Level Four."

Ed's response to the answer was a small fit of laughing, as if he had heard the funniest laugh in the world.

"In that case…" Ed propped himself up and finally got to his feet. "I don't need to worry. You see, Master and my little brother have fought me for a long time. The same could go for Kanda, too. You see, I still haven't beaten any of them."

Snap.

An immense explosion roared through the air, debris flying around the laboratory, and embers flying about. The ceiling had surprisingly remained intact from all the impact Roy had caused on its foundations, but he was sure he didn't allow the flames to collapse upon him and the Noah.

"Your power seems to rebound upon you…" Tyki grinned dangerously. "Every time you snap, you create fire with the friction in your fingers, so the skin burns… doesn't that hurt, Mustang?"

Mustang took a split second to examine his fingers. Indeed, they were sore and red… Luckily the Innocence was sustaining his skin from any more damage…

"I know that my skin is burning…" Mustang prepared to snap again. "But I'm sure I can last long enough to burn you to crisp."

"Your friends and family are that good, I see…" Slicer wondered. "Then I'll have to hurry up and defeat you so I can go to taking care of them."

Ed slumped his shoulders, wracking his mind of the pain he was enduring, and his golden amber eyes flitted to the pillars behind his enemy. Bingo.

Slicer suspected a plan formulating in Ed's mind.

"Go, Master, do it now!" Ed shouted, but inside he mentally slapped himself. Damnit… Why did I say Master? Al is more awesome than that bastard… I think Lavi would've been good, too…

"What?" Slicer took no chance to turn around to see who Al was, but saw no one. Ed put on his Cheshire grin, and ambushed the armor. Before Slicer could do anything, Ed then struck the helmet with his blade and knocked it off the rest of its body.

"That was dirty!" The head exclaimed, still in the air.

"There's no such thing as dirty in a fight!" Ed was still soaring in the air as the metal entity clanged resoundingly to the floor. Ed landed soundlessly again, and transmuted his arm blade back to normal with a clap of his hands. The helmet watched in fascination as he saw a green glowing orb of light surrounded by chains bounce out of the fallen body of armor, which the Blonde Alchemist pocketed for storage. The armor then frowned as Ed approached slowly, but with no intent of transmuting a sword to pierce the blood seal.

"What's the matter?" He asked. "You still haven't destroyed the blood seal that I had so kindly pointed out. You going to or not?"

Ed kept his temper and strolled to the helmet, grabbing it by the long white plume that was attached atop the helmet, and held the piece of metal close to his face.

"There's something I need to ask you about," Ed frowned, still tired from the fight.

"The Philosopher's Stone?" The armor asked, and Ed shook his head.

"No," Ed continued. "I want to know what you know about Van Hoeinheim. Tell me everything about it, Alchemist."

"Sorry," the helmet put up a sassy attitude. "Not telling."

"Hey now," Ed smirked, trying to get the helmet to talk. "Tell me. I did beat you at your own game."

"That's where you're wrong," the helmet contradicted the boy. "I'm not beaten yet."

"Ed spun around and saw the beheaded armor point the katana at him. Ed gasped just as he dropped the helmet and backed away, but he received a deep cut in his side this time. He clutched his bleeding wounds with his automail arm.

"Impossible!" Ed gasped.

"I forgot to mention something about this bloodthirsty Alchemist." Slicer smiled.

"In fact," the armor with no head continued in a higher pitched voice. "The crimes were committed by two brothers!"

"An independent head and body?" Ed snarled. "That's a dirty trick!"

"Now now…" Slicer, the head, taunted Ed. "Weren't you the one who said there's no such thing as dirty tricks in a fight?"

"Are you ready?" Slicer's body brandished his sword before taking an offensive stance, straight at Edward. "Round Two's about to begin, short stuff."

"Don't call me short!" Ed defiantly yelled.

The armor didn't care, for he charged without warning slashing away at Ed.

"I don't think so!" It happily replied. "Because I won't give you any time to transmute!"

Ed began his strategy to retreat again. Damn… I've lost too much blood… I'm feeling dizzy…

Slicer's body reversed his sword and slammed the hilt into Ed's stomach with unbelievable strength. The wind was instantly knocked out of Ed's lungs as he was thrown at inconsiderable lengths. He crashed into the floor and bounced, like a rubber ball with still some energy left, into another stone pillar, his body conveniently sitting up and his back against the wall.

Not good… Ed thought. Not good…

Slicer's body continued to charge, and Ed was as terrified as ever.

Here he comes… I'm going to die... I'm going to die!

Suddenly he was reminded of his training with Scar, and an inspirational idea struck him. He clapped his hands together, and just as Slicer was about to strike the final blow, the tables turned as Ed pushed himself off the pillar with his alchemy-activated hands, produced a lightning blue crackling about him, and he placed the hands on the armor, tearing through the many layers of metal with only touch. The metal tore itself apart and the body armor clattered to the ground.

"How could you!" The body's arms flailed about, alarming Ed.

"How can you move like that?" Ed screeched. "It's freaky!"

"Brother," the flailing arms, defeated, dropped. The helmet flickered ominously.

"It seems that we have lost."

Ed, however, was very doubtful, and he began to poke the legs of the armor with his foot. "So… you're not going to tell me that you're three brothers now, aren't you?"

"No…" the body's arms made a negative answer.

"Come on, boy," Slicer's head ordered. "Kill us already. Destroy us already."

Ed struggled to get himself in a more comfortable position, his back and head pressed against the wall.

"No, I'm not a murderer," Ed answered childishly.

"With bodies like these," Slicer rebutted. "Are we even people?"

The question was met with a hesitated silence. "I considered you people whether you have physical bodies or not. If I didn't believe, that, then I wouldn't believe that the Akuma that I battled are not souls of people that need to be saved."

"Big Hammer! Little Hammer! GROW! GROW! GROW!"

Lavi dispatched a batch of Akuma in less than a minute by bashing his oversized hammer at them as if he were playing baseball. Kanda sliced through each one quickly and cleanly.

"I know that Akuma souls are really human beings that are distorted with misled corruption, and need salvation. You are a soul yourself, stuck in something foreign, not your preference, but you are living, and you have not seen heaven, and you have not been ripped away from heaven to serve as the Millennium Earl's pawns, like the Akuma. I will not take the life of another person."

A small snort of amusement came from the helmet, which then led to a series of laughter. Ed looked inquisitively at the voice's reaction.

"Brother?" the armor body asked.

"My brother and I had been Exorcists, killing Akuma for the Order as long as we can remember. And now when we are in this suit of armor, we're being treated as humans for the first time. This must be what an Akuma feels like when they are rescued, no? For that, boy, I'll give you a parting gift. I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you how Hoeinheim contributed to the Zero Exorcist Project, and Cornelius who ordered us to drive this place."

A patter of footsteps were drawn behind him, and a suspicious figure appeared behind the conversation, his left arm raised above him, warping ominously. A great slash of green swooped by, Ed saw the imprint of an oversized human hand atop the armor and helmet, crushing it to pieces. Ed's pupils dilated once more, and a happy laughter alerted him.

The hand lifted, and Ed only saw metallic dust. To see that armor could be made into tiny fine grains was already unbelievable as the size of the hand.

"My," A male voice (or girl? He could not distinguish) echoed in the room. "That was a close call. Number 48, you should know to talk about things that don't concern you."

Ed gasped at the sight before him as the hand retracted and returned to its original owner. His mind screamed Akuma, and indeed, an Akuma, but a different type he had never seen before.

The owner of the voice was taller than Ed by a foot, his hair spiky green, reminding him of a palm tree Ed had seen on a mission in Spain (they were freshly imported, and he saw them at market). The creature appeared masculine, but wore clothes that distinctly looked feminine.

"Well, well," The man's greedy purple eyes flitted to Ed. "If it isn't the Fullmetal pipsqueak the Earl told me about."

Ed's head was still spinning profusely, thus he merely scowled at the strange boy's presence. The boy then slid a slasher smile upon his face as he approached the wounded blonde, his hands twitching to strangle anyone who saw him.

"The name's Envy," the boy bent down to Ed's level and spat at his face. "And you're Edward Elric… Son of the Eastern Sage, and an Exorcist of the Silver Shield… the Black Order."

Ed stared with a dumbfounded expression at Envy's purple eyes. A bead of sweat dripped down his bloody face. He had little strength to battle anymore. He remembered that the Innocence was still in his pocket. Ed then wondered if Envy knew of that object. Hopefully not.

"Don't call me short…" Ed growled in a small voice. "And so what if I am part of the Order?"

"I ask the questions here," Envy stroked the tip of Ed's nose, causing the other boy to back away from him.

"Well, I guess I'll have to make you!" Ed clapped his hands together, but a loud clang in his automail caused the artificial limb to drop uselessly to his side. Envy laughed at Ed's inconvenient malfunction.

"Lucky me!" He exclaimed, and then kneed the already beaten boy in the stomach, causing Ed to expectorate a small amount of blood and lose vision even more rapidly.

"Sorry…" Envy smiled, mercilessly holding the poor boy by his ponytail. Ed's eyes were rapidly uneven as he was flung to the floor to sleep, the pain in his stomach still throbbing. Envy turned on his heel, leaving Ed alone.

"I'll get you later," The strange boy smirked. "First, I must follow the orders of the Earl… I need to find the owner of the Crowned Clown. I'll get you next… Son of the Eastern Sage… and your doting daddy, too."

Ed quivered upon the floor and finally went motionless.

"One more!" Lavi shouted in relief as Kanda got rid of the final Akuma with a single stroke of a blade. This caused Lavi to break down the next wall, to a sandstone bound room with yellow lighting. Kanda sheathed his Mugen and approached the large hole that Lavi had created.

"Nice job, idiot rabbit," he flatly remarked. "You're paying the property damage for this one."

"It's an old laboratory!" Lavi whined and complained. "It's not like someone will actually come back to this place, right?"

"Maybe someone like the Alchemists who need research will!" Kanda argued back with his low deep voice. "You're so hopeless, idiot rabbit."

Lavi scanned the room again. His view was blocked by a large floor, which failed to conceal the smallest hint of golden hair and a sleeve of an Exorcist's body. Lavi jumped off from the hill of rubble to the fallen comrade.

"Ed!" Lavi shouted. Kanda slowly made his way across, noting how the rooms around the Laboratory were somehow connected. He speculated that he would meet everyone else quite soon.

"Honestly…" Kanda grumbled. "What did he run into this time?"

"Dunno…" Lavi shrugged and bent down to check Ed for injuries. "He's gotten a broken rib, that's for sure. But what could be so strong to do that? We both know that it's hard to even break this midget's bones."

Lavi hefted Ed's left arm over his shoulder and propped the boy up on his back for a piggyback ride.

"You know where the others are?" The redhead asked the ponytailed samurai, who shook his head.

"Guess it's gonna be a long night…" Kanda stared at the smashed transmutation circle on the brown ridden floor, which he could not decipher. He began to wonder if Ed had discovered anything about this. He heard the younger boy moan softly as they climbed into the original path Kanda and Lavi were assigned, and more rumbling in the earth ensued.

Al and Lenalee had gotten rid of many herds of Akuma already, while Scar was fending off on his own quite expertly. Lenalee did take some time to see what Scar did with his hand, and got a hold of some major details. Scar's tattoo allowed him to detonate Akuma from inside out. The procedure sounded gruesome, yet very effective. She dove down on a fleet of Level One's, the wings of butterflies planted on the back of her Dark Boots fluttering rapidly.

They fended off the Akuma, eliminating any strays. Lenalee had remembered someone saying that Akuma come to Exorcists for salvation, and that it was the Exorcist's job to give the souls in the Akuma ineffable peace. She found the ideal hard to believe, since they didn't really ask for her help. They technically wanted to kill her, so the thought wasn't logical, for whoever explained that to her.

Al was feeling uneasy, since his perception of the earthly wave movements was disturbed by the sense that his brother was in dire danger. He hastily got rid of a trio of Level Three, hoping that this was the last wave they'd meet, and they'd be able to find everyone else. Apparently, they only liberated the ruins, but they didn't find much. Maybe Ed did, since he spotted things and found things more easily than anyone he ever knew. But he didn't have time to waste. If his brother was possibly in danger, he needed to be at his brother's side to help.

Scar's explosive alkahestry was capable of breaking many walls, and he decided to go see if there were any shortcuts. The white haired man thrust his arm at the mossy walls, shattering it to pieces, and just as everyone suspected, the laboratory indeed was of interlocking rooms.

The first thing Al saw was a Noah, his brown ponytail swaying about as he dodged the fireballs thrown at him. Judging by the reports and documents, Al confirmed this man to be Tyki Mikk. Meanwhile, his brother's teacher was busily snapping away, with his bare hands. Al frowned. It seemed that Roy was going all out on this Noah. He couldn't blame Roy, though. The last time they faced a Noah, he let his guard down and nearly had the whole team killed, so fire frenzies like this was nothing regular if one knows how Roy felt towards the Noah Family.

"Master!" Al shouted. Roy gave himself to turn to the three who had arrived just now. Tyki took this opportunity to lunge at Roy, Tease forming at the last second. Roy quickly snapped again, and his sore red fingers produced another potent explosion of heat, blowing Tyki in the other direction.

"Scar! Lenalee! Alphonse!" He commanded. "Take care of the Akuma coming this way!"

The three spun around, and they saw another wave of Akuma, but much smaller than what they faced earlier, and with no hesitation, they began their umpteenth battle for the day. However the numbers were so overwhelming, Al wasn't sure if they would be able to rid the room of Akuma so easily.

"Hi Ban!"

The same fire dragon Al saw in Lior flashed past him and wrapped the many Akuma in its brutal flames. The Akuma gave a small cry, followed by a sigh of relief as they exploded all at once, with no shrapnel flinging about.

"You okay, Al!" Lavi's booming voice prompted Alphonse to lift his head. His eyes dilated as he saw an unconscious Ed on the redhead's back.

"Brother!" Al wanted to make a run, but Kanda shoved him back.

"Don't think about your brother now," He sternly snapped at the younger Exorcist. "You've got Akuma to beat. Your brother will be fine. He just needs rest."

With a quick nod, Al launched off, drawing more daggers. At this point, Lavi wondered just how many daggers the boy held, since he was using them the same way Bookman did with Heaven's Compass. He wanted to prop Ed up on a nearby pillar and get into action himself, but if Ed was left unattended, who knew if the Akuma would attack the short stack?

The younger Elric's winning streak was cut short as a shot of ice was flung down upon him, and he was set flying to the ground, the ice pinning him to the stone floor. Al struggled to break the ice that was encasing his arm onto the floor. He strained and pulled but each attempt was hopeless. His focus on getting out gave an Akuma a shining opportunity to dive on top of the boy, its arm outstretched in a sharp black blade of Dark matter. Lenalee was the first to notice, and she shrieked.

"Alphonse! Look out!"

Al only had so little time think when a large screech of clanging metals made his heart stop. He looked up at the departing dust clouds, and saw, purple hair that billowed to the shoulders. The newcomer had tan-like skin and wore a black skirt and tights along with a white blouse and bright pink tie. Her right eye was amber gold, while the other was of a deep purple hue. Her violet bangs swayed above her forehead, where small faded scars of a line of crosses were concealed.

At this point, all fighting stopped. Everyone stared at the strange girl who stood before the dissolving Akuma she had killed. Tyki was completely dumbfounded, while Roy watched with utmost concentration. The Weaving Alchemist could only gawk at the girl who protected him, and finally, his throat caught with him, and he uttered a small name…

"R-Road…" That was all Al could say.

"Alphonse…" Road smiled warmly, still struggling against the blade of dark matter from the Akuma. "Thank you… for opening my mind to what I couldn't see…"

The blade of Dark matter shattered into a million pieces upon contact with Road's counterattack. Her mismatched eyes flickered ominously to the demon as it stared in question of her actions. She held her hands before her, fingers entwined in each other, as a large cloud of sparkling white dust gathered at her clasped hands, as if they were under her command. But wait. The cloud narrowed itself into a more material form, and a pure white ribbon with dashes of ocean blue in the form of elaborate flowers, like fancy embroidery.

The patterned of ribbon extended to everlasting lengths as more clouds of white dust. The glow of the exquisite material gave Road Kamelot a more gentle appearance. No… she was not the sadistic cold Noah they knew anymore… she was different… only her golden eye to her right possessed a malicious intent, but only to win a battle, while the other, a calm resolve that silenced all doubt, reverberated from the dark purple eye of the left.

Her purple hair was blown in many directions at the gale caused by the formation of the strange ribbon. She continued to stare at the Akuma, who finally realized the fate it had brought upon itself. Roy gaped in awe, remembering just what item Road was in possession of. Lenalee and Scar were shocked beyond excitement. Lavi, still holding an unconscious Ed, was so close to dropping the load he was carrying. Kanda remained indifferent, but a look of fascination flashed by his face. Al stared at the Noah, not knowing to feel surprised or accomplished at all.

"Dance…" Road announced. "For the heavens that shower hope upon us… Blessed Snow."

There floating upon an intangible floor that resided above the real floor of the Earth lay a long length of white and blue ribbon, and it twirled by itself in ripples about its owner. Road held a short and small wooden rod that held the ribbon and allowed it to encircle her in spirals. Alphonse that at the end of the ribbon was a blue dragon embroidered into the long silky ribbon.

Everyone watched with wide eyes at the strange spectacle before them. Small questions buzzed passed their minds about the ribbon, and why Road saved Alphonse. Tyki was appalled that the older Noah, wondering if she had gone made already, and was mindlessly going to kill everyone.

A large circle of frost encircled her as she stood calmly, staring blankly at Tyki. The frost spread across the floor, rushing under and past Alphonse's feet to the very corners of the room. The ice encrusting his hand melted away and joined the frosty floor.

"What is this?" Lavi whispered. Kanda remained quiet. Scar frowned in surprise.

"It's Innocence," He answered. "The ribbon is called Blessed Snow, an Innocence that commands the frozen depths of the earth. This specific Innocence belonged to one person the General and I have found in our studies about the past Exorcists list. This young lady who is the vessel of the Noah of Dreams is named… Avalon Dante."

A/N: Yep! Someone just has to have the name Dante in it! Avalon is apparently a really rare and not so popular name, but I guess I chose it because Kamelot is like Camelot, so Avalon is another reference to King Arthur, I guess. Ah, yes… a minor allusion to Hitsugaya and Rukia from Bleach in this chapter, especially Road's Innocence weapon.