Shadow

It's Dangerous To Go Alone

He gives her a glare. "Do me a favour, would you?"

"Yes?"

"Watch Matt, I'm not sure he'll listen to me, but I'm certain he'll listen to you," Alli says with a grin. She touches one of the doors to create a shadow barrier. "After all, you are his favourite Noah besides Road."

Dawn arises from the east.

Our golden-haired friend sits on the edge of one of the buildings. She stares at it with affection as she wonders why she's involved in any of this. It wasn't her choice to be apart of this war, this life. If only her options were different, she could have chosen a life of happiness and success.

Only in her dreams. . .

"Hey! Tree climber!" Alli looks down at the person who called her name. She gives them a cold stare. "Could you help me for a moment?"

She sighs. "No."

"Please?" he asks once more. "I need help setting up my stand. I have too many things, and the people will be down in an hour."

"Sorry, but I don't help those that I don't know," Alli states coldly. The man sighs, then turns around. He's taken back when he finds her standing there in front of him. He looks up to where she once was, then back to find her unloading some of his things onto the counter.

"How did you-?"

"Let's not ask questions and unpack," Alli interrupts with a glare. The man grins in appreciation and walks over. They finish setting up his station after thirty minutes, and she starts to walk away.

"Wait!" the man calls before she's even a foot away. "Thank you for helping, my name is Xavier."

"Nice to meet you," she says whilst turning around.

"Hold on!" he quickly walks over to her. "Why are you in a hurry to leave?"

"I've got important business to attend to, I'm done helping," Alli says as she slowly grows annoyed. She continues to walk, but the man follows.

"Why don't you stay for a bit?" he asks. She turns to him with a cold glare.

"And why should I stay with you?" Alli asks annoyed. He looks surprised at her answer.

"Well, I could use some help at my station for the day," he starts slowly. Alli begins to contemplate on whether or not to kill the man.

"Listen chap, I've got a short amount of time on my hands. I can't have you getting in my way," she seethes angrily. He stands there for a moment in surprise. She sighs. "Look, I'm suppose to be by the boarder of the next town right now, but with you stalling me, I can't get there with you nagging me to stay."

"You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked," he says whilst holding his hands in the air in defeat. She growls in frustration.

"Don't plant the guilt trip on me," Alli warns icily. He slowly cringes from fear. After a moment of staring, she sighs. "Fine, but if you make me talk to the customers, it's your head I'll be coming for."

Xavier laughs with nervousness. "It's been planted in my brain!"

:+:

"Welcome, would you like to buy some nick-knacks for the loved ones?" he asks as people walk by. They pay no glance at him, and he slumps sadly into his chair. Alli sits beside his with her feet perched on one of the boxes. She has her arms crossed in boredom. I'm already regretting this. . .

"What time is it?" she whines. Xavier glances to his wrist.

"Nine-thirty," he answers happily. She groans with pure hatred. "You wanted to help, I guess you don't seem so fearsome after sitting there for about four hours."

"Don't mock me, human. I'm only doing this because I'm nicer than most people think," Alli growls. Or what the Noah think anyway. . . "When is lunch?"

"Three hours from now," Xavier answers with delight, though she could sense sarcasm. She smirks.

"You don't like doing this job, do you?" Alli asks with a grin. He gives her a quick glare, but softens.

"I haven't a clue what you're saying. I love this job; it's good pay," he says with a smile. She snorts.

"You're definitely lying," she says with a huff. Your shadow's practically screaming it. "You don't seem to be boasting with joy when you talk about it, or at least what I've gathered from it."

Xavier sits there for a moment, mystified by her comment. "It's my parents. They went to France for the week, so I had to stay and sell for them. I help here and there, but it's not something I would recommend one to have as a career."

"Honestly, you take what you have for granted. There are people out there who fight for you," Alli says with a frown. "You humans don't know anything about what happens when dark and light meet; how God really works around here."

Xavier sits there with a frown on his face. "That's the second time you've referred to me as a human, are you saying you're not?"

"What I'm saying is that you should be thankful you have someone to look up to, someone to enjoy being around, something to live for. . ." Alli says with a sigh. He stares at her in silence as a customer comes up to the stand. He wears glasses and a suit that only the pope would wear. A cross dangles from his neck as he leans over to glance at the objects shown.

"Hello sir, may I help you today?" Xavier asks the man politely. The man stares at him with a frown. Alli suddenly receives a burst of anxiety when his eyes lay upon her. She stares wide-eyed, but continues to give him a cold stare and deep frown.

"I believe I've already gathered what I needed, thank you." With that said, he leaves. Xavier sits there confused as to what had just happened.

"Who was that?" he asks himself. Alli quickly stands and gathers her things. "Where are you going?"

"That man wasn't here for the small knacks you've got here," she explains hurriedly. "He was after me."

"Why is he after you?"

"None of your concern," Alli snaps. He shrinks back a bit.

"Sorry, but I must take my leave. I knew I should've stayed here," Alli mumbles as she begins to walk away.

:+:

She searches the large crowd that mysteriously grew over the course of a few hours. Alli has been walking down main street since she found an unwanted guest since breakfast. Of course she feels bad for leaving Xavier there all alone, the poor boy probably isn't having the best day since she's a bit snippy. But those feelings have long passed since she noticed the man earlier. Either she's going in the right direction, or he just happened to be passing by.

Or he's hunting her instead of Allen Walker.

A sudden surge of fear courses through her veins. She feels as though she's being watched. She slowly turns around to find no one there. Why am I getting this feeling of someone watching me? She turns back and begins to walk towards the end of the street. A sudden outburst catches her attention, forcing her to glance that way. A woman clutches her head as a man stands there. It's the same one from earlier; the unwanted guest. He looks up to find her standing there awkwardly. She realizes he's spotted her, and begins to exceed toward her. She mixes into the crowd on instinct. He follows pursuit immediately.

Alli begins to run after noticing he is too. She finds a nearby alley, and slides into it. He passes her as she releases a heavy sigh of relief. She pulls out of the alley to find a sudden explosion erupt from in front of her. The blast throws her into the alley, forcing her body to slide in between the small crevice. She lifts herself up to find her unwanted guest staring at her from the end. She quickly pulls herself from the ground as she sprints from his direction. She hears his footsteps behind her as she navigates through the maze of turns. She finds herself standing on the other end of the market across from the one she was just at. A sudden arrow shoots past her face when she sees an exorcist standing there with a bow in her hand. Her fiery red hair sticks out most, wears a new uniform with a trench coat. She clearly cut her long locks to a shoulder length, and holds half of them in the back of her head by a clip. Her emerald green eyes stare at her with complete disgust.

"Libya," Alli mutters whilst rolling to dodge another oncoming arrow. She quickly runs up to her and grabs onto her arm. Libya squirms.

"What are you doing!" she exclaims loudly. Alli throws her bag over her shoulder and quickly covers Libya's mouth whilst looking back. Her unwanted guest is pursuing much quicker than she thought. She slips into another large crowd, and slows down to hide in another alley. She slouches behind two tins full of rubbish as well as her companion.

"What I'm doing is saving your life!" Alli snaps quietly. She checks to see if the man had passed as she removes her hand from the red-head's mouth.

"Fancy seeing you here," Libya says with distaste. "What do you want with the Order?"

"I'm not after the Order," Alli states whilst pulling back in. "I'm hunting someone."

"Obviously they're hunting you by the looks of it," Libya says sarcastically. Alli rolls her eyes.

"That's not the point!" she exclaims angrily. "I don't understand why he's after me. . ."

"Who's he?" Libya asks as she secretly tries to reach for the bow. Alli grabs onto her wrist and clenches.

"He-" she lets go with a push "-is the person who killed Howard Link."

"Allen?" Libya asks dumbly. Alli snaps her head towards her unwanted guest.

"Where on earth did you hear that lie!" she asks in anger. Libya leans back a bit.

"Leverrier had told us," she explains. "Who killed Link then if Allen didn't?"

"It was a creature known only to Central and the Noah. It's foul, and disturbing; I'm not sure if it's okay to be even mentioning about it," Alli mumbles to herself.

"What do you mean, are you saying there's an unknown creature that even the Noah fear inside the Order?" Libya asks confused. Alli sighs.

"Yes, and no. Noah don't quite fear it, but it's enough to make our skin crawl. It's after Allen and apparently me as well," she explains with frustration.

"So what is it?"

"It's name is Apocryphos," Alli says with a cringe. "It had tried to take over Allen's mind during the time he escaped. It mentioned something on wanting to 'bond with the fourteenth' and 'become one' with Allen. It was quite grotesque."

"Wait, you were there when it happened?" Libya asks bluntly.

"Yes."

"So why is he hunting you now?" Libya asks in confusion. "What makes him want to hunt you instead of Allen?"

"That part I don't know," Alli admits with a sigh. "He's clearly here, and he wants something that I have. Or worse, what I know."

"What do you know?"

"It's none of your concern," Alli snaps annoyed as she stands. "I don't want you interfering in my mission, and it doesn't even involve Apocryphos. I'll leave you here for now."

"I'm going with you," Libya announces. "It's not wise to go after. . . whatever it is you're going after."

"And it's not wise for you to be following me," Alli states angrily. "I work alone, and I come back alone, that's it."

"Fine, then how come he's following us?" Libya points behind Alli to prove her point. Alli turns around to find a familiar face. He has sandy coloured hair, and dark brown eyes. He wears a coat that covers his button up shirt, but not his brown trousers. Standing there awkwardly, Xavier stares at the two women with a small smile. He holds onto a handle that is attached to a giant bag that's over his shoulder.

"I thought I would come with," he says nervously. Alli's eye twitches.

"Why are you following me?" she asks icily. He shrugs.

"Because, I was suppose to follow you in the first place," Xavier states nonchalantly. Libya smirks.

"He's with me," she says. "He's my finder that was suppose to aid me in my mission here."

"You're both not coming," Alli finally says after a few moments. "I'm quite surprised that you lot aren't trying to kill me."

"That's because we were ordered to hunt down Allen," Xavier explains with a small grin. "You just so happened to be passing by, so we thought you'd be the perfect target to follow in order for us to find him."

Alli draws her dagger from her side and aims it at Libya's neck, along with another at Xavier's. "Don't follow me, or these will be in your head in less than five seconds."

"We aren't afraid of you, Caretaker. Or is it Alli?" Libya says with a smirk. The golden-haired Noah glares at the exorcist, then sighs.

"I swear to God, if you screw one thing up, it'll be your heads that'll be returning with me to the Ark, got it?" They nod. "Let's go then."

God, I've made the worst mistake in my life. . .

Holy lanta! Libya joins in on the journey as Xavier isn't just a shop owner! I wonder how this trio will work out. . . Who knows? Maybe they'll end enjoying each others' presence and have a great time? (Ha ha, that's funny, where's my knife that I can stab you with?) Hope you enjoyed this special chapter just for the holidays!

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM, Hoshino does!

Claimer: Anything not mentioned in DGM, belongs to me!