No, you aren't hallucinating. This is an on time post. I'm sorry about the wait; I'm going to work my hardest so you get two more consecutive updates because I'm away from the computer for pretty much all of July. I'm going out of the country, and I won't be able to update (I'll still try and write though.)
I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter- it's not nearly as long as I wanted it. Still, short update is better than no update, right?
Also! I was asked some questions that I'm going to clear up right now. (If you didn't ask a question, it's okay if you skip these, unless there's something you're unsure about and want to read through to see if I cleared it up.)
First! There was a time-skip back between Chapter 11 and 12. Five years, to be exact- hence the 'Five Measures Rest' title. Meaning, Allegro is now 15 instead of about 10.
Rhode is of an appearance of 16 years now, instead of still being 11, because of Allegro. She wanted to be friends with Allegro, and didn't want to tell him of her being a Noah. Seeing as she is the Noah of Dreams and is able to control her appearance, she made herself appear as if she was gradually aging the past five years with Allegro. Rhode was a big reason why there was such a long wait between Chapter 11 and 12; I couldn't figure out if I wanted her to still have short hair or make it long. Obviously, I went with the long hair.
Second! This isn't really related to the story, but I was informed I should change Chapter 2's title because of mispronunciation of it. I will not; actually if you have been pronouncing it as 'Retard' instead of 'Rih-tard' congratulations. You have been introduced to a band joke if you aren't in band.
Third! The reason why Rhode did nothing to the Akuma/the Akuma did not notice her will be explained fully in later chapters.
Fourth! Pairing question. I have pairings more or less decided, but, because I'm a mean person, I'm not telling until they are revealed through the natural course of the story.
Fifth! Will Allegro/Allen be on the Earl's side rather the Order's? This was paired with the above question, which was asking if the pairing was RhodexAllen. And again, this is a question that will be answered in due time, through the natural course of the story. However, if you desperately want the answers to these questions, I would suggest going back and taking a closer look at a few past chapters. ;)
Anyways, let the fourteenth movement begin.
Disclaimer: After 14 Chapters, I still do not own D,Gray-Man.
Allegro's Crescendo
Allen was never found by Cross after attempting to bring Mana back. Neither did the Millennium Earl or the Noah's take him in. No, a third party found young Allen instead, and from that day on, he wasn't 'Allen' anymore. Instead, the Destroyer of Time gained a new name. That name was…
The Fourteenth Movement: Alla Marcia
As the dust settled around him, Allegro blinked the blood away from his eye. A familiar click and gear-like whirring filled the air as his left eye turned from the normal stormy grey to black and red bulls-eye. The color of the world shifted, turning completely monochrome. And then, he saw it.
It was here on this one as well, as it had been many other times on monsters similar to this one he had encountered before in the past. Really, he shouldn't have expected any different from this one.
He wasn't quite sure what 'it' was. Allegro had been seeing these monsters for the past five years, and he still wasn't quite sure what the thing he saw coming off of them was.
Whatever 'it' was, it was extremely creepy. It had given him nightmares for weeks the first time he had really seen it; he hadn't been able to have a good night's rest for around three months. It had been hell for both him and Erika, who had stayed up pretty much every night with him during that time period.
Anyways, what 'it' was, was what seemed to be a mummified corpse jutting out of the… hip[?] of the monster, with a look of absolute despair and anguish permanently locked onto its [as in, the corpse, not the actual monster] face. That wasn't the scariest part though; what Allegro later went on to find out after his first encounter was that he could actually hear them speak. Like, obviously not the monster, because everybody could hear them, but the corpse-like things.
He could actually hear them speak. And what was worse, was that they were always crying out for help, for someone to save them, for Allegro to save them. It was very frightening, especially when you were the only one able to both see and hear the corpses hanging off the monsters, the only one with the capability of doing something about it.
"Good day Miss," Allegro addressed the corpse attached to the monster calmly as a familiar green light coiled its way up his arm. Allegro never knew the stories behind the people who made up the monsters, and he never asked. The cadavers barely spoke anything past 'Help Me' and 'Forgive Me', and the monsters the piloted the body were hardly in the mood to talk. Their own conversations ranged from mindless demands for something called 'Innocence' (which Allegro presumed to be reference to his deformed arm) and petty name-calling and banter that he assumed was meant to rile him up.
He lifted his arm up, crossing it in front of him. This was part of the reason why he had insisted that Rhode leave; she would undoubtedly be frightened by the appearance of what his arm had become, as well as what it looked like prior to the transformation. Allegro had never shown his deformity to his best friend; not out of insecurity, but more so from the fact that he had never had the desire to show her. Their friendship was fine as it was, why would he need to show her a fire ant red, scaly arm with fingernails blacker than coal?
And then, it was a matter of what his arm looked after the transformation at the hands of his Innocence, if that was what it was really called. A metal arm, nearly twice Allegro's own body size. Yet, despite what one would think, it wasn't all that overly heavy; he was able to manipulate the arm with ease, and what used to be fingernails were now deadly sharp claws that were perfect for cutting through the weaker caste of monsters that he came across from time to time.
Not that Allegro came across these monsters all the time in the sleepy village his mother and caretaker came to five years ago. In the beginning, there had been quite a few, and they had made for good practice in the middle of the night until Erika had found out what he had been doing, through a handful of poorly concealed bruises and an obvious amount of lack of sleep. But it had been worth at the time, in order to escape the land of nightmares that he would have otherwise would have had to face- that he had had to face, nights when he hadn't been able to leave the house.
It was during this time period that he had discovered just what exactly his eye had been transformed into, what he could see and hear because of it, that others could not see. As well as other certain… attributes, we'll say, that he uncovered.
But, alas, that is a tale for another time. For now, we shall return to the matter at hand…
~~Like a march~~
The battle seemed too quick for its own good. Not that Allegro minded; he actually wanted it to be over quicker. He didn't want to leave Rhode on her own for too long- who knew what sort of trouble she would get herself into, left alone? But the strange part of the battle was that he didn't even touch the monster before the thing exploded. The monster lunged at him, Allegro dodged, spinning out of the way, and the next thing he knew, turning back to face it, the monster was exploding into dust right in front of him.
"What?" Allegro breathed, eye whirring furiously as he tried to figure out just what exactly had happened. Something like this had only happened once before, with the monster spontaneously exploding before his eyes. The sight of what happened to the corpse attached to the monster was terrifying. Usually, when Allegro destroyed the monster, it looked as if there were chains being removed from the corpse, setting the soul free from what kept it tethered to Earth. However, that one time when the monster spontaneously destroyed itself, instead of the soul being set free, it just… imploded, if that made sense. It destroyed itself. Instead of being freed from the shackles binding it to their puppeteer, the soul was killed alongside the monster.
The sight had been horrifying, and Allegro hadn't been able to handle it. He barely remembered what happened that day, let alone most of that following week because of the sight he had beheld.
But, studying the scene before him, it seemed that this wasn't the same as that horrible day years ago. No, he was able to catch a glimpse of the soul being released, so he knew that whatever had destroyed the monster was something that had to be slightly similar to the powers his arm had. What though? What could have possibly have killed the monster and not the soul as well?
Allegro got his answer in a man with flaming red hair walking out of the dust stirred up from the defeat of the monster. Twirling a silver and gold handgun, followed by a bird-like object flying behind him, Allegro would swear that the man was familiar, with the pale white mask hiding half his face from the rest of the world. He'd swear that he knew him from somewhere, anywhere, not just those dark days from that time. That- dare he say it -they had been something akin to friends.
Little did Allegro know…
"Hello brat!" The man's voice was arrogant, and it took only a second for Allegro to decide that, despite this strange familiarity he was feeling, he didn't like whoever this person was.
…that once upon a time…
"My name is Cross Marian, but you may call me 'Master'!"
…He would've been right.
~~Allegro's Crescendo~~
Yeah... As mentioned before, short update is short. I wanted to put in a scene with Rhode or Erika, but the ending part sort of ruined that idea... Next chapter, perhaps.
I will see you guys next week, because I am determined to update even if it is a short little chapter like this one.
I don't have a preview for next chapter, but I can tell you some upcoming content. You'll get Rhode and Erika within the next chapter or two, as well as a glimpse into the life of the Order.
I will put out now as well- I know in some stories where Allen doesn't go directly to the Order that the author adds some OC to fill his space in missions and normal story line stuff. In this though, that's not going to happen. Erika is the only major OC in this, and for the missions that Allen was a part of in canon (like Lala, Rewinding Town) will either be solo and not touched except perhaps in a brief flashback (Lala) or replaced with a new partner and rewritten to fit this story line.
Thanks for reading, and please review~!
~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~