Mizu: Woot! Two chapters within a week's time! Mizu is happy! By the way, I'm going to try to make this story my new main focus, seeing as An Innocent Heart is done with. Though, that may not work out, I'm gonna try for it! Disclaimer: I don't own -Man. If I did, Leverrier would be dead and Allen, Lavi, and Kanda would all be at the Order, never having heard the mention of the Fourteenth Noah.
Btw, I'm celebrating the fact that this story now has 100 reviews! *proceeds to do the happy dance through the whole chapter*
Innocence's True Form
Chapter 10: Stubborn Heart
C.C. glared at the Apocryphos as he held Allen close to him. His eyes shifted down over his accommodator's chest. His eyes darkened as his eyes settled on the blood soaking the teen's shirt and vest. Holding him even tighter, the innocence returned his glare back up to the traitor. A low growl left his throat.
"Bastard," C.C. growled, "Why! Why did you attack my accommodator!"
"He's a rouge, C.C.," O.K.'s voice sounded from his weapon form.
"Holy-" Lavi gasped, "You can even talk in this form!"
"Now's not the time to be surprised!" O.K. snapped.
"What do you mean he's a rouge?" C.C. questioned, eyes never leaving the Apocryphos as it healed.
"He's gone against the Heart," O.K. stated causing C.C.'s eye's to widen, "He thinks that Allen's a threat as he is. He wants to join with Allen to "save" him."
"The boy is a threat," the Apocryphos interjected, "The Noah that resides in him will one day take over his body. He holds a power that needs to be dealt with before it gets out of hand."
"Which is what I am doing!" C.C. snapped, "I've protected Allen ever sin-"
"You're only interested in protecting him!" the Apocryphos snapped, "You aren't looking at the big picture! You're letting this bond between the two of you get in the way of your vision!"
C.C.'s eyes narrowed, "How is protecting this child getting in the way of anything!"
"You are blind to the real world! You've locked yourself away in this false world, telling yourself that it will be alright if you just overlook everyone else so long as that brat is safe!" the Apocryphos yelled, charging at C.C.
"I haven't overlooked anything!" C.C. snapped, jumping away with Allen in his arms, "Rather, I've finally opened up my eyes!"
"Lavi!" O.K. shouted.
"I'm on it!" Lavi shouted, charging passed C.C. and towards the Apocryphos.
Extending O.K.'s hammer form, Lavi smashed his innocence down on top of the Apocryphos. Smirking as a fire seal spread out on the earth, the redhead felt the hammer tremble with O.K.'s laughter.
"Take that, you independent bastard~!" O.K. chuckled darkly.
"Do you really think that such a weak attack would hurt me?" the Apocryphos's voice sounded from beneath O.K.
"Huh?" Lavi blinked.
Suddenly, the redheaded teen found himself flying through the air along with his innocence. He reached out for his weapon desperately. O.K. was trying to change back into his human form as fast as possible. Just as O.K. managed to change back, Lavi's back flew into a tree trunk. His head collided with the tree a second after. Letting out a pained gasp, the exorcist slowly slid down to the ground.
'Sh-shit,' Lavi thought as O.K. rushed to his side right before passing out, 'A-Allen…'
"Bastard," C.C. growled, narrowly dodging another attack from the independent innocence, "O.K.! Is Lavi alright!"
"Oi~! Stop worrying about what's happening over here!" O.K. snapped, "Just get your butt back into the freaking Order!"
"What!" C.C. snapped.
"He led Allen out here for a reason!" O.K. yelled, "He didn't want to touch him while in the Order!"
"Why on earth-" C.C. shouted, jumping out of the way of yet another attack, "would he care about that!"
"Hm, I don't know. How about the entire Order being filled with almost all of the current exorcists that will willingly come running to his aide!" O.K. snapped.
C.C. grimaced as he took a blow to his back to protect his wielder. He fell down to the ground, holding Allen close to his chest. Watching the Apocryphos walk over to them slowly, C.C. growled at the traitor.
"Come on," C.C. growled, turning back to Allen, "Wake up, baka. I can't fight and protect you like this."
"Give it up," the Apocryphos smirked, "Even if he managed to call for you, all of the damage that I did to his system then you suddenly flooding him with your power will keep him out for a long time."
"Shut up," C.C. snarled, clutching Allen tighter, "If there is one thing that I've learned since being with him, never count this baka out. He is the definition of miracles."
The Apocryphos just shook his head, "You just don't see it, do you? That kid is ruining you. You're weak now. You can't even fight me, can you?"
"Tch," C.C. sounded.
'He's right though,' C.C. growled to himself, 'If I flat out fight him, I risk him going after Allen at some point or the flux in my power could hurt him even more. But…'
C.C. looked at Allen again, 'But if I don't fight, then Allen will die no matter what…'
"Let's get this over with, shall we?" the Apocryphos chuckled, transforming his entire arm.
"No you don't!" Mugen's voice roared down from above.
The Apocryphos dived out of the way as Kanda descended down from the sky, Mugen drawn in her katana form. The samurai gave a quick glance back at the innocence on the ground and the out cold Moyashi. He che'd before turning his attention back to the enemy. Mugen's form seemed to shake as he glared down the strange being.
"Damn you," Mugen growled, anger lacing her voice, "How dare you turn against us! Why would you ever think of harming one of our accommodators!"
"I've said it before. That boy will be our undoing unless we act now," the Apocryphos sighed.
"Like hell he will!" Mugen snapped, "Even if C.C. wasn't looking out for him, Allen would never turn his back on us! He would rather die than do that!"
"Then die he shall," the Apocryphos shrugged.
"Fuck you!" Mugen shouted as Kanda rushed forward.
C.C. stared in awe for a moment. He didn't know how Mugen found out that they were in trouble but he honestly didn't care. Struggling to stand without dropping Allen, C.C. felt his heart drop. The teen's complexion had paled even further than what was normal for him. His breathing was barely even noticeable. The bullet wound in his chest was still bleeding out. Gritting his teeth, the innocence took off towards the Order.
'I'm sorry,' C.C. thought, not looking back to the fight, 'But I can't let him die because of this…I can't lose another son…'
"No!" the Apocryphos shouted, throwing Kanda towards where Lavi laid.
C.C. barely jumped out of the way before the Apocryphos's attack landed where he had just been. Cursing, the innocences' watched as the Apocryphos lost its human like form. They each flinched as they watched him take a form that resembled the zombie-ish appearance that each of the Order's members had taken during the outbreak of the Komuvitan D. An involuntary shudder went through all of them.
"There's no escape, Crown Clown," the Apocryphos hissed.
"Damn it!" C.C. snapped.
"C-C.C.," Allen's weak voice souned.
"A-Allen!" C.C. gasped, shock spreading throughout the battle field.
"A-Act,..A-Activate," Allen managed to get out.
"Right," C.C. nodded, quickly turning into his weapon form.
Before Allen's body could hit the ground, C.C. wrapped his Clown Belt around his accommodator's body. Allen let out a pained cry as C.C. helped hold him upright. Biting down on his lip, the exorcist clutched at the wound on his chest. His breathing was ragged as his eyes settled into a glare directed to the Apocryphos.
"Wh-Who," Allen grimaced, "Who the hell are you!"
"An independent innocence," the Apocryphos answered.
Allen stumbled a little before C.C. steadied him, "Calm down, baka. We can win no-OI! Don't pass out on me!"
"S-Sorry," Allen said weakly, "I-I can't help it…L-Lost too much blood…"
C.C. slowly brought the mask down over Allen's eyes, "Then let me do the fighting. Just stay awake."
Allen just nodded.
"You can't win," the Apocryphos said, "I will join with Allen Walker and prevent the Noah's rebirth!"
"There will never be a rebirth! I would never allow that to happen to Allen!" C.C. roared, charging forward at the Apocryphos.
"Stop just thinking about the brat!" the Apocryphos shouted, "Think about the world!"
"I am!" C.C. snapped, "By protecting Allen from such a fate, I am protecting the world!"
"You're just being selfish!" the Apocryphos growled as the two clashed.
"So what if I am!" C.C. shouted, dodging a low attack, "I have always been a selfish bastard! The Heart has always told me so! So why should this time be any different!"
"Because if you fail, we will all-" the Apocryphos started to say.
"Shut up!" Allen screamed, "I am not a Noah! I'm an exorcist!"
The Apocryphos narrowly dodged a fast swipe at his gut, "That doesn't mean that you won't change!"
"I will never turn my back on C.C.!" Allen screamed, slashing wildly at the traitor innocence, "Never!"
"It doesn't matter what you say!" the Apocryphos roared, somehow managing to stab Allen in the exact spot of his bullet wound.
Allen's scream was heard throughout the entire area. Every single person in the Order stopped with whatever they were doing as the scream echoed through the halls. Eyes widened. Exorcists activated their innocence. The second it stopped, the entire Order was abuzz like a beehive.
"Allen!" C.C. cried out, instantly reverting back to his human form, cradling Allen in his arms.
"Gotcha," the Apocryphos smirked.
"Like hell you do!" C.C. snapped, ripping the strange appendages out of Allen's chest as well as another scream from his accommodator, "Sorry!"
Allen's eyes were shut tight as he tried to ignore the pain coursing through his body. He fought to stay conscious. He could hear C.C.'s cries for him. All he wanted to do was tell his innocence that he was alright. Just to try and calm down the only person that had never abandoned him. He just wanted to show him that he wasn't going to leave him like his other accommodators had.
"Allen! Don't you dare die on me!" C.C. cried, shaking the boy slightly, "You can't die! I can't lose you too! I can't go through that again! Don't die!"
He could feel Allen's heart trying to slow. The piece of himself that rested inside of the teen's heart sent several jolts of power to get it back up to speed. Tears of red freely fell from C.C.'s eyes. He watched them fall onto Allen's face, sending him hysterics. No, not again. He couldn't lose another one. He just couldn't lose Allen. Not again.
'I won't die,' Allen said through their link weakly.
"Allen!" C.C. gasped, eyes wide.
'I won't die,' Allen repeated, strength fading, 'Not when everyone is fighting for me to live…Not after just finding out that my mother actually loved me. I-I'm not gonna…die.'
C.C. felt Allen's mind go blank as his wielder finally passed out. He shook him, praying that he would wake again. The teen remained motionless in his arms. A smile still firmly in place on his face. More tears of red slipped from C.C.'s eyes and onto Allen's face. Gently laying him down, the innocence stood up.
"Hang tight, baka," C.C. said softly before glaring at the Apocryphos.
"You're still here?" the Apocryphos blinked, "Guess the brat's inherited the Noah's stubborn will."
C.C. suddenly appeared in front of the Apocryphos, latching onto the traitor's throat, "Shut your filthy mouth!"
Changing his left arm into Edge End, C.C. proceeded to punctuate each of his words with a damaging swipe of his claws, "Allen. Is. Not. A. Fucking. Noah!"
With one final swipe, C.C. sent the Apocryphos flying into one of the many trees. He wiped his eyes to clear his vision. Quickly scanning the battle area, he took, note of Mugen and O.K. tending to their own accommodators. His own thoughts settled back on Allen.
'I can't let this drag on any longer,' C.C. growled to himself, 'No matter what he says, Allen's dying…I've got to get him away from this before it's too late.'
"That actually hurt," the Apocryphos chuckled, staggering in front of C.C., "I forgot how strong you were."
C.C. just glared at the traitor.
"Hm? Shouldn't you be a little more angry at me?" the Apocryphos pointed out.
'Fuck yes I should be!' C.C. roared inside of his mind, 'But if I just let go and release my anger, I could seriously hurt Allen…Damn it. I'm still at a major disadvantage.'
The Apocryphos smirked, "I suppose this could work as well."
"What could?" C.C. growled.
"I could just keep you busy until the brat dies," the Apocryphos chuckled darkly, "Even you know that he isn't going to last much longer in this situation."
"Damn you," C.C. hissed, starting to charge forward.
He was suddenly brought to his knees as he felt a familiar pain rush through him. He immediately turned back to his wielder. Crawling to him as fast as he could, C.C. fought through all of the pain that flooded him. Allen was dying. He had lost too much blood. Cursing, C.C. tried to change back into Allen's arm to help him regulate what he had left and give him the blood that flowed through him. The Apocryphos was faster and kicked the now weakened piece of innocence over to his lover.
"C.C.!" Mugen gasped.
"D-Don't worry about me!" C.C. coughed, "Save Allen!"
"Change back into his arm!" O.K. snapped as Mugen raced off towards the Apocryphos.
"I'm trying to!" C.C. cried out, "He's gone into shock! You know as well as I do that if he's gone into shock, that makes it infinitely harder to rejoin with him!"
O.K. paled as Mugen was blasted back over to them.
"Shit!" all three shouted.
"Allen!" C.C. screamed.
A bright light suddenly surrounded Allen right before the Apocryphos could land his final blow. All of the innocence dropped their jaws as the light faded to reveal a woman with long blonde hair that reached the back of her thighs with bright red streaks. Her eyes would have been a stunning emerald had it not been for the anger running through them. She wore a long black dress that stopped just before her ankles. If Lavi had been awake, no matter the situation, he surely would have shouted "Strike!".
"Damn, I was too late," the woman cursed, staring sadly at Allen.
"S-Sister!" C.C. cried, racing back to Allen's side.
"What the hell were you doing!" she snapped.
"…I-I'm sorry," C.C. whimpered, cradling Allen to his chest, "P-Please though…Please save Allen."
"Of course I am!" she snapped at him, causing him to flinch, "What kind of idiot do you take me for? Honestly, the name baka fits you better than it ever will for your wielder!"
'S-she hasn't changed one bit,' Mugen and O.K. gulped.
"H-Heart-sama," the Apocryphos whimpered.
The piece named the Heart glared at the traitor piece, "You have disobeyed me at every turn. Now you shall pay the price."
"I-I was only acting in the best interest of the world, mi lady!" the Apocryphos cried.
"Which makes you no better than the bastards that we fight!" she bellowed, shaking the ground, "You have forgotten the second requirement that I put in place when we came here to fight!"
"But mi lady!" the Apocryphos tried to reason.
"Silence!" she snapped, jolting Kanda and Lavi back into awareness as the earth threatened to open at her voice, "You have forgotten of the love for others and the urge to protect all those that you hold the most precious! I gave each of piece of innocence the right to fight more aggressively and to hold those that they care for higher than the rest of the world!"
"But that brat holds our enem-" the Apocryphos started to argue.
"C.C. contacted me the instant he found out!" the Heart growled, "After he told me about it, I ordered him to either forge a contract with the bastard or end his existence right away! Since he did not destroy the Noah back then, it means that he and the bastard came up with an agreement!
"You are a rouge Apocryphos who has gone against my word and attacked not only your fellow innocence and their accommodators, you attacked my brother!" the Heart roared, holding her open hand out towards him.
"N-No! Please reconsider, Heart-sama!" the Apocryphos pleaded as he fell to his knees.
"You are no longer needed for this war," the Heart said coldly, "Goodbye."
The Apocryphos was suddenly surrounded by a brilliant light that ascended into sky above. After a few moments, the light began to shrink until it fully disappeared. The Heart smiled sadly at the spot that Apocryphos had disappeared from.
"Thank you for your work. Please rest in peace, away from the wretched hatred and war of this world," the Heart said sadly.
Mugen shivered violently, "I hate when she does that!"
"No kidding," O.K. whimpered, wrapping his arms around himself, "I don't care what the reason is. The fact that if she needs to, she can send us back freaks the crap out of me."
"S-So that's the Heart?" Lavi stuttered, trying to sit up.
"Yeah," O.K. nodded, picking up his wielder, "That's the head of it all."
"Wh-Why is she here?" Kanda struggled to say as he leaned on Mugen's shoulders.
The two pieces exchanged a mischievous look, "Let's just say that she loves her big brother more than anything else in this world."
"Y-You can save him, right sis?" C.C. asked nervously as his sister finally turned her attention back to his wielder.
She just glared at him as she ran her left hand over Allen's wound, "Shut up Aniki. He'll live."
"Really!" C.C. beamed, earning himself a smack atop his head, "Ow! Whatcha do that for!"
"Just cause I said he'll live doesn't mean you shouldn't get him to the hospital!" she snapped.
"R-Right," C.C. sheepishly nodded.
"C.C.!" Lenalee's voice suddenly sounded from the Order's entrance.
"Really!" O.K. snapped as he watched all of the stationed exorcists rush towards them, "Now they choose to come out!"
"Oh hush it," Mugen laughed lightly as Marie took Kanda literally off her shoulders, "Just be thankful that they came at all."
"But we needed that earlier!" O.K. cried as Krory took a weakly laughing Lavi from his arms.
"Allen!" Lenalee cried as she flung herself at him.
"Ah!" C.C. gasped, catching the girl just before she landed on him.
"Allen-kun!" Miranda gasped, racing up to them with her innocence already activated.
"I can't tell you how much I love T.R.'s ability," C.C. sighed, smiling as his and Allen's pain slowly disappeared.
The Heart just stuck her tongue out at her brother. C.C. laughed as he picked up Allen, much to the protests of Lenalee. Walking closely to Miranda, the group made their way to the hospital wing. Including the Heart. The three other pieces occasionally shared nervous glances as they headed down many a hallway.
'So…' they all thought nervously, 'How are we going to explain her?'
Mizu: Wow…Did I just go through the entire chapter without using any breaks? *whistles* That's gotta be some kind of record for me.
C.C.: Oi! Why did you make all of that happen to Allen? Aren't you the least bit sad about it!
Mizu: *blinks innocently* No. Should I be~?
C.C.: Yes!
Lavi: *pats C.C.'s shoulder* Easy dude. That's just how she is. Just be happy that she's not killing him in this story…Like most of her last main focus story…
Mizu: *shrugs* Remember, I love all reviews and suggestions. Ciao for now~! *happily munches on a cookie*