Chapter 8
Author's Note: Hey there everyone! Sorry for the massive delays on all of my writing recently. I haven't got internet at my new house yet and it looks like there will still be a while before we can get anything. I've also been helping out with cleaning the house and unpacking boxes so I haven't been writing too much anyway. Sorry. Still, my time has been freeing up and I've been getting some ideas so my writing is coming back into effect now. Thanks to my reviewers and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and those that will follow.
Allen couldn't believe his eyes. In amidst the rubble and the ash-like remanets of bodies was a little boy. The child had been hiding behind a bit of rusting tin. Now he stood, crouched like a frightened rabbit, the tin fallen to the ground in front of him. It wasn't hard for Allen to see that the boy was scared. The child had obviously not wanted to be revealed as he was wide eyed and watching the Exorcists warily. There was nothing trusting in that expression.
Even from a few meters away, Allen could see that the boy was much skinnier than a normal person. It looked like some form of malnutrition to Allen but he couldn't be sure. He didn't have that much medical knowledge but he had seen many kids with those prominent ribs before Mana had found him.
"How horrible," Lenalee whispered, hand close to her mouth.
At first, Allen thought that she was talking about the health conditions that had come from prolonged abandonment but then he followed her eye line. Lenalee had spotted something that Allen had missed. On the boy's arm was a wound that had been messily bound. Allen couldn't see what type of wound the injury was but he was almost certain that it was not from an Akuma. The boy was still alive after all.
That didn't mean that an Akuma bullet being the cause was impossible. If the boy was an accommodator, especially if he were a parasitic one, it would be likely that he would be able to neutralise the poison. It would also explain how he would have survived the Akuma that had obviously invaded his village. Come to think of it, the boy being an accommodator would also explain the reason for the Akuma attacking the village.
Despite all of that, Allen was still unsure about the boy being an accommodator. Every Exorcist that Allen knew had discovered their innocence during a time of crisis. The boy's village had been attacked, his parents and family had all been killed or taken and Allen could see no evidence of any Innocence other than Kanda's Mugen. That still didn't make the whole scenario impossible but it did make it much less likely.
That the child had been left behind by Akuma, and possibly even Noah, made the boy's likelihood of being an accommodator that much more impossible. If the boy had shown even the slightest signs of being an exorcist the Akuma would have killed him instantly. As that thought occurred to Allen, he wondered by Kanda hadn't been killed. Or perhaps he had and everyone was just being optimistic.
"What do we do?" Lavi looked at a loss as they all stared at the little boy.
Lenalee didn't answer but slowly started inching towards the child. Allen and Lavi hung back to see how he would react.
"It's ok," Lenalee whispered. "We won't hurt you."
The boy bolted. Allen didn't wait for an order. All three of the exorcists were after the child in an instant. It didn't matter that the child was scared. He knew something about what had happened. That made him the only link to finding Kanda. They needed him.
Allen was in the lead for only a few steps. Lenalee took him over in a flash of black and white. Allen could see the boy's look of horror as he glanced behind him to see a woman running at him with superhuman speed. Allen envied Lenalee's Innocence sometimes. Her speed gave her the advantage in exercises like that. It only took Lenalee a few more seconds to catch the boy. She was gentle, sweeping the boy into her arms rather than tackling him to the ground.
Allen could see her struggling to hold onto him that way for the boy, once caught, fought like a mad cat. He clawed at Lenalee's eyes and scratched at her temples. He had probably been taught a certain degree of self defence for he was going for the right places. Lenalee kept herself just out of reach as she turned to sprint back to Allen and Lavi. She put the boy to the ground once she had stopped but kept a firm hold of his shoulders. As Allen and Lavi lent in to get a better look at the wound, the boy windmilled his arms ferociously but it had no effect.
"Stay away!" the boy spat.
Allen and Lenalee looked at each other. They would have to calm the boy first.
"We're friends. We came to help."
"You didn't come to help! No one would help us."
Allen smiled sadly at the boy.
"Sorry we're so late," he said.
The boy stopped and looked shakily over the three intruders.
"Your jackets...that one was wearing a jacket like that," he whispered.
Allen, Lavi and Lenalee exchanged glances.
"Was he the owner of that sword over there?" Allen asked.
The boy nodded. Lavi grabbed him by the arms and shook him, startling the boy again.
"Did you see what happened to him? Where is he?" Lavi asked.
The child started crying and Lavi let go sheepishly.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
Lenalee knelt down in front of the boy.
"The man with the jacket like ours, he's our friend. Did you see what happened to him?"
The boy looked up at her, then at Allen and Lavi. His expression was hesitant when he came to Lavi but at Lenalee and Allen's trusting faces, he decided to tell them.
"He fought for us. The things were attacking but he tried to save us. He killed so many but there were too many. He fought the Queen and..."
The boy glanced at the shards of Mugen and lowered his gaze.
Lenalee patted the boy's head.
"It's ok. Why don't you go with Lavi and he'll get you fed and to a safe place?"
Lavi was gasping a protest but one look from Lenalee silenced him. The boy looked at Lavi with obvious distrust. Lavi sighed and knelt in front of the boy.
"What's your name?"
The boy hesitated before answering.
"Ree," the boy answered.
"Ree, our headquarters are a day's walk from here but we can get there quicker if you trust me. Do you trust me?"
The boy took a look around him, then at Allen and Lenalee and then back to Lavi. He nodded after another hesitation.
"Ok. Hold onto me." Lavi looked to Allen. "I'll report back to Komui while I'm there to get some back up. Find Kanda."
Lavi got out his hammer and gathered the boy in his arms.
"Here we go," Lavi said.
"Wait!"the boy cried. "Your friend. The Queen took him where everyone else went. Will you free them all?"
Allen smiled at the boy, "We won't leave anyone behind."
"They're in a castle two days that way." The boy pointed down one of the abandoned roads.
"Thank you," Allen told the boy.
The boy nodded and then he and Lavi were gone. Allen looked to Lenalee with renewed hope.
"Shall we go?"