Chapter 5

Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long. I've been struggling with the personalities of all the other exorcists. I've already written the next chapter and will post that one tomorrow to make up for my slackness with this chapter. Thanks to my reviewers again. Special thanks go once again to PeachTeaKT for pointing out another typo of mine. I should really edit these more thoroughly before posting them. In response to your question PeachTeaKT, the kiss that the Queen gave Kanda in the first chapter was poison. It dulls the senses and highlights pain. It also leads a fast road to unconsciousness. As Kanda's body is unusual, the poison doesn't last as long on him as it would a normal person, but even so, the poison would have probably worn off by the time Kanda woke up anyway. That kiss will probably make at least one more appearance later on so I'm very glad you gave me the opportunity to clear that up. Great question! Reviews are, yet again, very welcome. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter too!

Allen was not impressed. He had only just gotten back from his own mission when Komui had called him into his office. Lavi and Lenalee had been there, waiting patiently for his arrival. Allen's spirits had lifted as he realised he was to be sent on a mission with Lavi and Lenalee. It was always far better to be sent on team missions and the two of them were much easier to work with than Kanda. Then Allen had been informed of the contents of their mission.

Kanda had gone to search for Innocence in a town where villagers had gone mission. That was all well and good. The problem was that it had been four days since Kanda had last contacted the Order. According to Komui, Kanda was normally quite prompt when it came to calling in but Allen had a hard time believing that. Kanda was efficient but if it got in the way of his work, Kanda was sure to skip out on a few calls. Still, Lenalee looked worried and Komui didn't make it sound like Allen had much choice in the matter. Thus, he had been sent off to find Kanda.

They were only a few hours away from the town now but Allen couldn't see anything wrong. Kanda was probably just engaged in what he believed to be a serious fight. He could be playing a hand of cards with the science personnel and repaying his master's debts right about now. Perhaps Johnny would even have had enough time to sit down and play chess with him. But that idiot Kanda just had to get in the way. Allen sighed.

"Are you ok, Allen?" Lenalee still sounded concerned.

Allen forced a bright smile to his face. It was very easy considering how much practice he had had.

"I'm fine, Lenalee. How are you holding up?"

Lenalee nodded.

"I'm a little worried about Kanda but I'm fine."

"He'll be fine." Lavi spoke up.

Lenalee nodded and their conversation died down. The weather was getting colder but there was no need for anything more than their coats yet. Allen wondered if the cold had something to do with the missing villagers but dismissed the thought. It wasn't like it was snowing and that was nowhere near drastic enough to have been caused by Innocence or to have driven the villagers from their homes.

They travelled in relative silence until the village came into sight. That was when Allen lost his breath. Lavi and Lenalee stopped beside him. The village was in ruins. Houses were crumbling with an efficiency only caused by weapon damage. There were no Akuma still in the village but the piles of dust that lay in clothing was clear enough to a trained eye. As Allen looked around, he noted that the piles of dust did not add up to anywhere near the number of villagers reported missing. It was less than a quarter. Lenalee and Lavi spread out to search for anyone or anything that could give them clues. Allen followed the piles of dust around the corner of a demolished building, hoping that they might lead him to something interesting.

Allen was now worried about his friend too. There was no sign of Kanda even being here let alone still fighting. The destruction in the village indicated some sort of great struggle but Allen hadn't yet seen anything to pinpoint Kanda as a perpetrator. Even if Kanda had been here, it was likely that he hadn't survived the massacre. Even the strongest of Exorcists would have had trouble getting out of a mess like that.

There had obviously been a lot more than one Akuma and Allen was almost certain some of the bullets still lying around belonged to Level 4s. Still, none of the piles of dust were framed by an Exorcist or even Finder uniform. Thus, Kanda had not been poisoned. Allen wasn't even sure Kanda could be poisoned. He had seen the other Exorcist take a Level 4's bullets and stay standing. He had shrugged it off as if it had been nothing. Allen knew it wasn't natural but he wasn't one to pry.

Something cracked underneath Allen's foot. Yanked from his thoughts, Allen looked down. Lifting his foot from the source of the sound, he gasped. Dull metal reflected the dismal light back up to Allen. The length of steel was unmistakable. It was Mugen.

"Lenalee! Lavi! Kanda was over here!"

Allen crouched down to inspect the sword further as his companions joined him. He heard the expletive from Lavi and Lenalee's gasp. Mugen was snapped clean in half. There was no way that Kanda would have left his Innocence in such poor condition had he had a choice. There was blood on the ground but nowhere near enough to have come from a death wound. That could only mean that Kanda had been kidnapped. Allen gathered the two pieces of Mugen and stood.

"We have to find him."

Allen held out his hand and Lavi and Lenalee topped it.

"We will."

They had only just retracted their hands when there was a clang from a corner. Allen swung around and gasped.