Author's note:
Thank you lightmybulb for saying Mana is the older brother. I went back and fixed that in chapter 11. Now we are still in Allen's memories.
It has been a few years since Allen came to the mansion. Well, not a few, 9 years. Allen was already 13 and Mana as 16, while his brother, Neah, was 15. The three of them had spent a lot of time together, thanks to Mana, and were all so close they were sometimes called the triplets since they would follow each other everywhere. More importantly, Allen was no longer the spoiled brat he used to be and would even roll in the grass sometimes.
"Hey Allen, let's go!" Neah shouted from outside. Allen looked out his window and saw Neah and Mana waiting for him. He grabbed his jacket and ran outside, stepping into the first snow of the season. He ran to catch up to Mana and Neah but slipped on a patch of ice, crashing into the two boys. They were sprawled everywhere; Neah crashed into the house, Mana was lying across the doorway, and Allen disappeared into a giant pile of snow. Getting up Mana and Neah saw a human-shaped hole in a pile of snow and began cracking up as soon as a big mop of brown hair came out smiling goofily.
He got up quickly when he noticed Bennet coming out to yell. They quickly ran away, heading toward the town.
As they got closer they were stunned by the candles, various foods, and items in the windows of shops. Once a year they were allowed to come into town to get gifts for the whole family. Of course, they were given money by the head of the family, Neah and Mana's great grandfather.
They shuffled through the street and came to a stop at the coffee shop. "Let's meet back here at one," Neah said, giving Mana and Allen their share of money. Every year they would split up and each of them would only get presents for certain people. Every year it was the same people but they would always switch of on who got Bennet presents for obvious reasons. This year was Allen's turn and he had to find something amazing or he would have nightmares for a month.
They went their separate ways and Allen began to go into the stores he could afford. He began picking out presents; a stuffed animal, clothing, and a few glass figurines were what he had so far. He went outside and walked through the various stands, searching for a suitable item for Bennet. It had to be something good but he didn't think Bennet deserved anything too expensive.
He noticed a watch gleaming from one of the stands and went to check it out. He gaped at it, it was several thousands of dollars and he thought it might just get Bennet off his back. He looked around and saw the stand owner was busy talking to someone. He snatched it and disappeared into the mob of people. By the time the stand owner came Allen was long gone.
He ran through the alleyways, just in case he was being followed. He ran and turned a corner, crashing into someone.
"Hey watch it!" Allen yelled. He was about to leave but he dropped the watch in the crash. He searched the ground for it and saw nothing but shattered remains.
"Oh sorry, did I break your watch?" the man asked. Allen glared back at him.
"Here, take this," he said holding out a new watch, which was strangely glowing. Allen stared suspiciously at the man. He had curly hair and a pair of glasses resting on his nose. Knowing he had to give Bennet something, Allen took the watch.
"Thanks," he said slowly, walking away. When his back was turned, the man smiled evilly, gently pushing his glasses back up his nose.
Allen ran back to the coffee shop. Shit I'm late, he thought; it was almost one thirty. As he came up to the shop he saw Mana and Neah already panicking that he wasn't there yet. He slowed down and walked up casually to them.
"Did I make you wait long?" he asked with a goofy smile.
It was already Christmas morning and they were opening presents; as usual Bennet would begin first. All of the presents were already open except for an exceptionally large one.
"It's probably mine," Bennet said, walking up but he read the tag – it was addressed to Allen. He whirled around and glared at Allen. "It's yours," he said.
Allen walked up and pulled off the wrapping. On the box there was a button that said, "PUSH ME." He pushed it and the front of the box opened, exploding into smoke and confetti and in the midst of it all stood a man.
"Dad!" Allen yelled, running into his father's arms. They held each other for quite a while until Allen noticed that the others were staring and quickly let go, trying to act like he didn't just hug his dad. Everyone laughed at the bluff Allen was trying to pull off.
"Bennet-kun, what is that on your wrist?" Allen's dad asked.
"Oh Allen gave it to me," he said, not sure if he was helping or hurting Allen.
Before Allen's dad could say anything, Neah's grandfather began coughing violently, coughing up blood and he passed out. Mrs. Walker ran over to check on him but as she looked up she said, "He's dead."
"My dad took over the family until the holidays were over and then Near's half-brother, Sheril took over," Allen said. "Everyone seemed to hate him but I didn't understand why until I was 16 and Mana was finally leaving and taking Near with him. That month I found a dog in the streets and they were helping me hide him."
"Did he have a name?" Johnny interrupted.
"No, we were so busy hiding him we never had a chance to name him," Allen said with a sad smile.
"What happened to him?" Kanda asked taking a sudden interest, making everyone stare at him.
"One day Sheril found out and killed him right in front of our eyes. Mana got so pissed off he punched Sheril and broke one of his ribs. They ran away together after that and although I didn't know it, they were already being hunted down," Allen said sadly.
"That's not all there was to it," a new voice said. Everyone looked up and saw Allen's skin turned dark. When he saw them drawing their weapons he held up his hands. "Relax, I just want to tell you a story," he said. They slowly put down their weapons but Kanda still kept an eye on him.
"Before the incident I overheard Sheril and Allen's dad talking. In short, they were planning their next attack on the order and Sheril changed the subject to something much more dangerous. They were talking about forcefully making a new Noah, which would become the Noah of creation. Sheril suggested that it should be Allen, to make sure that it would become a trust worthy Noah but Allen's dog ran into the room, followed by Allen. Without hesitation, Sheril murdered the dog and I punched him." I should have killed him sooner, Neah thought as he switched back with Allen. Everyone was silent; they hadn't expected for Neah to care for Allen so much.
Allen broke the silence, "When I finally turned 18 I heard them talking and snuck in, hiding behind a shelf."
"So have you decided about Allen?" Sheril asked. "After all, he isn't even your real son."
"It's true that I adopted him but," the earl paused.
"What's this? Does the Earl, who's killed thousands, suddenly have feelings?" Sheril mocked him.
The Earl glared back. "You're right, Allen is nothing but another tool for me."
Allen came out from behind the bookshelf, crying. The Earl looked surprised at his entry. He put a hand out towards Allen but he slapped his dad's hand away.
"I hate you, you stupid old man!" Allen yelled running to his room, slamming the door behind. The Earl followed and tried opening the door. In the end he had to break it down but when it was finally open, Allen was gone. He ran towards the open window and looked out. Allen had left.
"I began to search for Neah but when I found him he was on the verge of death. Knowing it was the only thing I could do, I took his memories into me," Allen said.
"What happened after that?" Lavi asked.
"I don't know, sorry," he said, pissing off Kanda. "But I think Road might know!" he said quickly. Everyone's gaze changed to her but she was quiet for a little while.
"Apocryphos," she finally said. "When the Earl found you guys, Apocryphos protected you. You were barely awake but you said that you hated the Earl and wanted him to die. So he attacked the Earl but instead of killing him, he erased his and your memories. Then, he put innocence into your left arm, making you cursed to fight against the Earl, eventually fulfilling your own wish of killing him."
"Wait, how did you know that if Apocrphos should've erased your memories?" Kanda asked.
"And why was Apocryphos attacking Allen the past few months?" Johnny asked.
Bookman answered them, "Road is the Noah of dreams; she has good mental control. And Apocryphos must have somehow known that Allen would have a change of heart and focus more on friendship than revenge."
"Wait, are you saying this stupid idiot is actually stupid enough to trust the stupid Earl again?" Cross yelled.
"Wrong!" Allen yelled, annoyed, "I just want to put an end to this stupid Noah VS innocence thing! I'm going to remove all of the Noah power and destroy the heart and the akuma egg factory!" He was out of breath after yelling out his plans, which stunned everyone.
Cross went up to him and flicked his forehead. "You really are an idiot," he said.
Author's note:
Everything at school is getting really busy now so the updates may not be regular. Since thanksgiving is next week I won't have homework or school so I will update sometime around next Thursday. That means it will come anytime between Wednesday and Friday.
I realized I was taking too long with the memories so I rushed through it this chapter so we can hurry up and get back to the story.
Story words: 1,707
Total words: 1,815