Hey~! Here's the newest update, bringing with it more mystery and confusion with it. It's a bit longer than last chapter, so that's good.

There's not really much to say before hand this time...

So, without any further prolongation- the Fifteenth Movement; Mezzo-Piano.

Disclaimer: I don't 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 Fifteenth Movement: Mezzo-Piano

It was a quiet afternoon in the house with Allegro gone. Erika sighed, shutting her eyes as she leaned against the kitchen counter, drinking in the quiet. Now, it wasn't to say that she hadn't had many peaceful afternoons before, but it had been a while since the last one. She put the dish in her hands away, wiping them off with a towel before setting it down and wandering over to the window.

It was a nice window- rather big, -and it spanned almost the whole countertop. It overlooked the hill that led down to the lake as well as a good portion of the lake itself. The day itself was rather nice, perfect for swimming if Allegro and Rhode decided to do such. Those two…

Well, there were no words for Erika to describe them. They were like puzzle pieces that were perfect matches.

Their friendship reminded Erika of her own from back when she was their age…

"Don't leave me behind, you jerk!"

"It's not leaving you behind when you weren't coming in the first place, stupid!"

…But that was a reminiscence that needed to take place at a later date.

At any rate, she should move from the kitchen- to the living room, maybe? Erika needed to get some more cleaning done, and the living room seemed like a good place to start… She could work her way around the entire first floor until she made it upstairs. Her bedroom was fine, but maybe she could get away cleaning Allegro's? He didn't care much when she tried cleaning it, but honestly, her attempts at straightening up left it a little better than allowing it to be the mess he normally left it.

Erika cast one last look down towards the lake thinking maybe she could catch a glimpse of Allegro and Rhode down on the lake side. Erika was just about to turn away when she noticed something. It wasn't much, not really out of the ordinary, but as she looked, the waves were looking a bit fierce for such a nice day as this…

She dragged her eyes across the lake and along the shoreline- where was Allegro? She didn't know why, but there was some sort of maternal instinct telling her that she needed to find him, to know where he was and make sure that he was okay. Erika couldn't explain why exactly she was feeling it, just that she needed to assuage the feeling and stamp it down, prove that she was worrying for naught.

Looking down the shoreline, she could see down the way a cloud of dust rising. Her heart clenched, twisting painfully in her chest. That… That was where she had last seen Allegro.

That was where Allegro was.

She didn't breathe- she couldn't. Erika moved, reacting solely on impulse, treading through the house more like a ghost than a real person. Something was telling her what was really going on down there, and while she wanted more than anything to ignore it, Erika knew that it was right.

She mindlessly opened the lock box, strapping its contents to her person before striding purposefully out of the house, avoiding the forest path and hurrying down to the lake.

She couldn't be late, she just couldn't. She couldn't let anything happen to Allegro. Erika could not. There was no way that she was going to lose him. Not him too.

She had to keep Allegro from harm, she just had to…

~~Softly, but not too soft~~

Pacing. That's all she could do. Pace. Pace and wait for Allegro. Wait and hope that he wasn't going to wind up killing himself. The stupid human! Rhode chewed on her thumb, growling softly to herself.

"That idiot!" Rhode shouted, frustrated, kicking the nearest tree. The leaves on the tree rustled, and a few acorns dropped from it, pegging Rhode on the head. She yelped, leaping back.

"You're gonna get yourself killed!" She was raging to herself as she had no idiot (i/e: Allegro) to snap at. "Oh, I can't believe I let you stay behind by yourself."

But she could.

Because of him- because of the voice she always heard when she was around Allegro, -and because of her memory of that day.

That day wasn't a pleasant day. It was a very dark day in Rhode's very long life, and she didn't want to repeat it. It was one day of very few where she regretted choices she made and she wished she hadn't caused the pain that she had.

This is an order. Self-Destruct.

B-but Mistress-!

No buts. Self-Destruct.

Screaming. The anguished sort of screaming that Rhode normally relished in hearing. But this time, she didn't enjoy it. No. This screaming terrified her, worrying her and causing her guilt. She caused that screaming. She caused his pain. And all because she was trying to help.

Rhode shook her head, curling her fingernails into her temples. She did not need this right now. What Rhode needed was a clear head, and she wasn't going to get that if she spent her time worrying over what she couldn't help.

What Rhode did need to worry about was the situation with the Akuma. She highly doubted Allegro would be able to deal with it, not with him being a mere human and not having- she cringed at the thought –Innocence.

Rhode could try and help once more, but she knew what her help had done before. She had caused pain and suffering. But this time… This time she could do it differently. She had the ability, she could control the Akuma. Rhode could send it someplace else, not destroy it…

Nodding to herself, Rhode made the decision.

She was going to head back to the beach.

She was going to help Allegro.

Whether he liked it or not.

~~Mezzo-Piano~~

The beach was empty.

Empty.

The picnic basket was lying on its side, and the items that had been set out for the lunch- uneaten, obviously uneaten, they were attacked before anything could be done -were lying unattended surrounding the area. It looked like a warzone, and Erika could feel something within her starting to snap.

"A-Allegro?" Erika called out, hesitant, not sure whether or not she wanted an answer. Not sure if she wanted to know the answer. "Allegro, a-are you here?"

There was no answer. Her mind feared the worst as she dropped down to her knees next to the mutilated blanket.

"-, are you there?"

"C'mon now, this isn't funny!"

"You're gonna get in trouble if you keep this u-aahhh!"

Behind Erika, she could faintly hear the sound of something reassembling. The sound of whirring, and something clicking into place, and then the sound of… flapping?

No, that couldn't be right- could it? Erika turned her head slowly, looking behind her. She jumped, whirring fully round until she was on her butt instead of her knees, her hands supporting her weight as she stared at what had suddenly appeared on the beach.

It was a golden bird-like object, floating in front of her. Actually, it looked… quite familiar, though she wasn't quite sure from where… Wait. She did remember. It was that thing that belonged to that man, from five years ago.

It belonged to that Cross Marian, from The Order.

Did that mean…?

The object floated there in front of her, as if it were staring at her, flapping its wings gently. Erika reached out her hand, as if she was going to touch it, when the thing smiled, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth out of nowhere.

"What the hell?" Erika yelped, jerking her hand back.

The… whatever it was, it opened its mouth and after a moment's pause, a figure popped up from the center, projected somehow.

"If you're watching this, that means either Timcampy has managed to find you, or you have managed to find Timcampy." It was a calm tone that he was speaking with, but Erika could feel a fiery pit of anger and fury welling up. He cleared his throat, masking it as a half-cough, covering his mouth with a hand before returning it behind his back once more.

"This message is to inform you that your time with Allen- or whatever the hell name you've been calling him for the past five years -is up. If you value your life at all, you won't bother trying to come after us. Whether you realize it or not, you can't be around Allen any longer. By the time you receive this message we will already be on our way out of the country. My advice is for you to return home and forget about Allen. Forget about ever taking him in and go on with your life. No good will come out of it if you-"

*Bang*

~~Mezzo-Piano~~

The beach was as silent as a grave. No Akuma laughter, no subtle snickering of Allegro trying to scare her, nothing. Just the sound of waves crashing gently across the shoreline.

No. It couldn't be. Allegro couldn't be gone, could he? It couldn't be possible. It just couldn't be. That Akuma just couldn't have killed him- there was no way.

"Damnit!" She cursed, kicking over the picnic basket still lying innocently on the beach. Rhode covered her face with her hands, resisting strongly the urge to simply let loose and scream.

But she couldn't. She wouldn't. Rhode had to stay strong.

"Noah."

A voice spoke from behind her. A voice so irritatingly familiar that Rhode couldn't but help the knee jerk reaction it caused. She whirled around, form shifting instantly to the one she favored around family and enemies. A jump back landed her floating midair, and the wave of one hand summoned up her candles.

"Rhode."

It wasn't even the man himself. Rhode felt her blood boiling as she stared at that infuriating golem projecting the hologram of that man. He had been smoking a cigarette while the golem made the recording, and the faux smoke drifted lazily across the hologram as he spoke. The nonchalance that he gave the message with irked Rhode to no end.

"This is your first and only warning." He tapped ash from the cigarette end. "Leave that little boy-toy of yours alone. Personally, I don't give a damn as to why a Noah like you was hanging around someone like him. But know this:" He dropped the cigarette to the ground.

"You keep up your friendship and you'll regret it." His tone held a sort of finality to it. "You have no reason to take advice from an enemy, but I honestly I don't care. Your friendship with that kid will only end in disaster. Cut ties now and leave the kid be, and maybe you'll live a bit longer. But don't, and-"

Rhode wouldn't take any more. She wouldn't listen to that bastard try and order her around like some equal. She was Rhode Kamelot-

She flexed her hand just a tad, the silent command for her candles to move.

-and she didn't take orders from anybody but herself, and Lord Millennium.

With one sweep, she turned herself about, summoning up a door and stalking through it.

So an Exorcist had Allegro? Well, that just meant Rhode had more of a reason to be ruthless to any and all that she met.

Rhode lost him once before- she wasn't about to lose him again. She'd do whatever it took to exact revenge against the Order, and get her friend back.

Whatever it took.

And with that, the doors swung shut behind her, as she disappeared into her own realm.

Leaving behind the mutilated shoreline and destroyed golem, not caring of any repercussions her actions could have.

"Now, now. We just must work on that temper of yours, mustn't we dear?"

~~Allegro's Crescendo~~

So more secrets and the plot starts to thicken. And to clear up [some] confusion before it arises: Rhode is basing her assumption that Cross has Allegro on the fact that he left that message for her, while Erika knows because he outright told her. Why did Cross leave the messages? Well, that, my dear readers, will reveal itself in due time.

Thanks for reading, and please review~!

Oh, and also, there is cover art coming up for this! I have it drawn and everything, I just need to figure out how to work my scanner and get it turned to a file that's anything but a pdf... '-.-

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~