Chapter #2 - Confusion

Johnny was laying on the bed, with his hands folded behind his head. It was morning, but he was slightly reluctant to get out of bed yet.

Ever since he'd woken up, his mind was spinning with questions and theories on how the Innocence had extracted itself from its host; but he couldn't keep that depressing thought, that Allen might've finally given in, from creeping into his head.

Link hadn't explained much of that had happened, merely saying Allen grew breasts, she had felt violently sick and had struggled to answer his questions in her delirious state. And the Innocence, of course.

Johnny was sure there must've been more to it, as Link had looked that he knew more than he let on. He had looked like that numerous times before since he'd joined them. And most probably because he did not want to voice out his suspicions that Allen's mental battle with the Noah wasn't going to get that much better any time soon or at all.

Johnny rubbed his eyes, sat up on the bed and fumbled for his glasses. At least he could scout out a tailor shop before they opened, and try to think up more less depressing theories while walking about.

He proceeded to dress and walked out of his room. He glanced at the door opposite of his, knocked softly and as he received no answer, he opened it and stepped in.

Link was softly snoring on the chair. Allen was looking much better than last night as well, her cheeks now only slightly tinted pink. Johnny noticed the piece of paper that had her new sizes written down. He sighed, edged quietly closer to the night table, minding carefully not to wake either of the two, and picked the paper up.

'Might as well take this with me', he thought. He then folded the it, placed it into his pocket and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

He didn't see anyone on his way out of the inn. As it seemed they were the only guests currently staying, Johnny assumed Charlene and her husband didn't bother waking up so early. Well, it was only six o'clock in the morning, so it didn't surprise him either way.

He took in the fresh morning air and headed in the general direction of the market street he'd passed yesterday. Some vendors were already starting to erect their stands or were slowly preparing to take in their first load of freshly caught fish.

Johnny walked past all of them, glancing at the store signs and windows as he did, looking for a tailor that didn't seem as expensive and wasn't so hung up on the latest fashion. Even though the city wasn't clearly as big as London or Paris, fashion was expensive, especially if order made.

Returning to think about Allen... Deep inside Johnny knew he shouldn't be worried. Even if the body had changed, she was still Allen, right? Even though it made it nervous to think up the reason behind the change.

It made himself feel stupid, desperately trying to think of any possible excuse other than the Noah. But perhaps it was another curse that had broken, or one that somehow had been placed on him in the last run in with the Earl? Or a side-effect to the eye?

After all, no matter how many times they had tried to examine and investigate Allen's left eye, there was no way of really telling what caused it. I mean sure, it was supposedly a curse placed on him by an akuma in its skeletal form, but the eye's structure was a mystery.

It allowed seeing the souls of an akuma, and had been leveling up like an akuma ever since Allen had joined the Order, but there was no dark matter present anywhere in the body despite the pentacle. Even if there had been, it would've just raised more questions. As a parasitic Innocence wielder, Allen could've easily just purified herself to get rid of it.

On the other hand, the scientist relied on science. Any of them really hadn't had that much knowledge in spells and curses in the first place, so maybe that's why...

Johnny came to a halt as he suddenly found himself lost. He turned on his heels and went back to the direction he'd come from. It wouldn't do him any good now to get himself lost within the city. But as he turned, he realized he was already too confused. Walking deep in thought was never a good idea. He sighed, trying to remember the way back anyhow.

"You came from there, mister."

Johnny twirled around, gasped and took a fighting stance.

"I'm not here to fight you, you dumb ass.", Rhode hissed, looking quite displeased at the way she was being greeted as she walked closer to him, her shoes clicking on the ground.

"Didn't your lovely lady teach you not to try and kill our kind? Or at least some common sense not to attract attention?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Noah, but I can assure you that even if I can't kill you, I can try and make your day more miserable." Johnny stared at her, anger apparent on his features.

"Like I said, I'm not here to fight, four-eyes." She said, suddenly looking quite torn as if she was debating with her inner self. "Here, take this."

She had extended her hand, offering a paper bag to him. "If I'm not too wrong, those should somewhat fit her. And I'm here only because I care about her. I hate people like you. Outsiders, who naively think they can affect the war."

Johnny looked dubious and confused, but quickly grabbed the bag. Inside lay a dress and what looked like a set of lingerie.

"Why should I take your word on that? How do I know you're not here with others? And how did you know she..."

"I've been trailing you for a while now, you know? Heck, I doubt even that braidy-blonde noticed me. I've ordered the akuma to stay away from this area as Allen's incapable of fighting. And the clothes... I might have taken a peek inside that Crow's head, ok?

And if you happened to refer to the sex change... well, Neah definitely made a mess of everything when he died. And Adam. All of them. And I can't..." Rhode stopped suddenly, looking horrified, her eyes widening.

"I think I need to go. I've worried the others enough by disappearing and Wisely has already been suspicious for a while, but now... And if they find out that I've helped you like this, the Earl will kill me again." she said, lowering her voice to a whisper as she spoke. She proceeded to create a door in the alleyway before disappearing inside, leaving a baffled Johnny behind before he could say anything.

"A-again?" Johnny said to himself. He just stood there for a while, the bag still in his hand. Then he started running towards what he believed was the right way back to the inn.

He needed to report to Link as soon as possible.

Said man now stirred from his position on the hard chair and craned his neck.

"M-morning."

Link did a double-take. The girl was awake and hadn't even tried to leave? At least she could've woken him u-

"You looked like you needed the sleep, so I let you." she said, smiling hesitantly. She had shuffled so she was now sitting with her pillow behind her back, showing the top of the night gown Charlene had lent her, and playing with the hem of the duvet nervously.

"Thank you, but it was rather unnecessary. You should've woken me up." Link replied, sweeping his fringe with his hand. "But good morning. How are you faring?"

She dropped her eyes to her lap. "I guess I'm... okay. Well rested, slightly hungry and thirsty, though. And I believe you mentioned a bath?" she turned and flashed a small hopeful smile at him.

"I'll get on it. But before I go, I'll ask you again. Are you sure you don't remember your own name?" Link inquired and watched as the girl's gaze fell on her lap again and remained silent.

This was slightly unsettling, as he still had a nagging feeling that she was trying her hardest to hide any details of herself. He sighed.

"I'll talk with the innkeeper and settle things. You wait here." he said, rose from the chair and headed downstairs.

First he needed to find Charlene and ask her make the girl some breakfast. Now the question was, how much of it? The Innocence wasn't there anymore and that should lessen the amount of energy needed... maybe he'd ask for a normal sized portion first and see if that satisfied her and bring more afterwards, if she needed it.

"Morning, ! Hopefully you managed to get a good night's rest even though your companion was still sick." The innkeeper, a plump man of the name Steve, greeted him at the reception desk. He was shuffling with some papers and bills.

"Thank you, I did manage to get some sleep." he smiled politely. "I was wondering if your wife could cook up some breakfast for her. She woke up a moment ago and a good meal wouldn't go amiss. Also, she was inquiring if she could use the bath tub."

"Charlene! Did'ya hear that?" Steve bellowed to the back room. His wife came round and slapped him on the head the morning paper.

"No need to shout, you fool. And in front of a guest, nonetheless. Good grief." she fumed and Steve muttered a quick apology with a smirk on his face.

"A bath and a breakfast, then?" she said, her eyes twinkling.

"If you could be so kind, yes. Perhaps the breakfast first and then the bath. I wouldn't mind some tea, either." Link said.

"Coming right up. And I'm glad she's doing well, by the way. That fever really felt rather nasty last night. I worried so much I could barely sleep."

Link thanked her and watched her leave.

"Really, kept turning and tossing like a wheel last night, that one. Thank God she'll probably sleep better tonight." Steve said smirking and continued. "I'll get a nice hot bath running right now so that it will just the right temperature when you're finished with breakfast. I'll send Charlene up if you want to join your friends, by the way."

"That would be much appreciated, now that you mention it." Link smiled and excused himself to go up to join the girl and wake up Johnny.

But as he knocked on the door, he got no reply. He opened the door to take a look inside, if he was still sleeping, but found the room empty aside from his tools.

"Where the heck is that man?" Link whispered, hoping nothing had happened. He rushed to the other room, startling the girl from her thoughts.

"Is everything all right?" she said, looking at him worriedly.

"Everything's... fine. They'll bring some breakfast up as soon as possible and then you can take a bath downstairs. Now..." Link fell silent and relaxed as his eyes had hit the table. The paper with the sizes was gone. God damn that man. If he had been in the room, he could've just left a bloody note!

Link sighed and slumped into the chair. Allen looked slightly wary.

"You mind if I ask a question?"

"Go on."

"Y-you called me Allen. Do you know me from before, even though you introduced yourself like it was our first time meeting?"

Link sighed. To tell the truth or lie and assess the situation further? On the downside of lying was that she was reluctant to talk, and was probably not going to start until they did.

"I do know you. We've been friends for a while, traveling the country. Two days ago you collapsed and developed a high fever. Thus, we've been staying at this inn. To get you better, but it seems amnesia hit you." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't quite the truth either. Link hoped she would buy it.

"And you've called me Allen all this time?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well, that's your name, as far as I know." Link replied and watched the reactions on her face. What he was about to say was risky, but... "Or do you prefer something else? Neah, perhaps?"

She froze and stopped her fingers from moving.

"Well?"

She was freaking out, Link could tell. But for what reason he wasn't sure. And before he could inquire further, Charlene came in with the breakfast tray.

"Here you are, dears. That husband of mine drew the bath a moment ago, so as soon as you're done, you can just go ahead and enjoy yourself, darling." she smiled and looked warmly at the girl. "Where's your brother, by the way?"

Allen looked confused and lost and Link stood in to cover for her.

"It seems he went to pick out a new dress for her, the first thing in the morning. We don't have that much luggage on us, and we'd been planning on buying one when we hit the next city, but seeing as she fell ill and ruined most of her clothes sweating..." 'please buy it, please...'

"Oh my, do you have an outfit to change into after you bathe, dear?" Charlene asked, "Your shirt isn't quite dried off yet, but I can lend one of my daughter's ones, if you like? She's out of town right now and is about your size."

"Uhm, if you don't mind..." Allen said shakily.

She then left them to eat and went to prepare the new items for her.

The two spoke nothing as they ate, though Link did keep a close eye on her as she ate.

There was now a permanent frown on her face, obvious of her spectator. Link could tell she hadn't exactly warmed up to the explanation he had given her. Well, now that you think of it, if she really was suffering from amnesia, one wouldn't be as trusting if they couldn't remember anything.

But it still nagged him. There was something about her body language that bothered him, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

It seemed that the small amount of food brought in had been more than enough to satisfy the girl's hunger. It had actually surprised him. It was the first time ever that he had seen Allen eat a normal human sized portion.

He had helped her get out of bed and escorted her to the bath tub, before letting her fend for her own. He was now sitting in the hallway next to the door, just in case she needed something.

"You know..." she said from behind the door. "I think I need some more help."

Link blushed. Good God. He sighed, rose from his spot and with his eyes closed, poked his head inside the bathroom.

"What is it that you need help with?" he whispered hurriedly.

"Come in, you fool, and open your eyes. I'm already in the tub." she said, smiling faintly. "I was just wishing to speak with you more... but I'm not really sure I want other people hear what we talk about. And talking loud through the door isn't exactly the best way to converse anyway."

Link opened his eyes and indeed, she was in the tub, the small shower curtain pulled back to cover her. Judging by the silhouette, she was sitting in the tub with her legs pulled up and her head resting over her knees.

"Go on, sit your back faced to me or something, if you like. Not that I really mind either way."

Link seated himself on the tiled floor, crossing his legs and facing the now-locked door.

"What is that you wanted to talk about then? I hope this wasn't just a silly suggestion to drag me in here. I mean..."

"Who's that friend of yours you mentioned?"

Link stopped what he was about to say. "You mean Johnny? He knows you from before as well. He's been traveling with us for a while. Actually, I was the one that joined you two. He's a bit of a goof, but is a nice man."

"Hmmmm..."

Link wasn't sure where this was going, but he stayed silent, waiting she'd continue to talk.

"Dare you tell me why my hair is white? Or do you know at all?" she whispered, fondling the tips of her hair.

Link was hesitant to answer this one, not knowing how much of the Innocence, the akuma, or the Earl she truly remembered.

"Apparently you got cursed at some point in your life. You never told me when or why, however."

She was silent for a long time at this. Link merely heard some splashing, indicating she was probably scrubbing herself, deep in thought.

"I really don't remember much, you know? ... Some, but not much." she suddenly said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm really sorry, if you've been an acquaintance of mine before, but... at the moment I cannot bring myself to trust you enough. There's too big of a hole in my memories and what I do remember, I ..." she fell silent for a moment. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll stick with you if you like. Going out there alone, not remembering much would be a bad move on my part anyhow."

"You're not afraid of us finding about whatever you're hiding from us?" Link asked, his voice stern and stiff.

She laughed softly.

"Don't get me wrong, I might not recognize you, but I sense you're familiar to me. And you haven't killed me as of yet, quite the contrary, you're obviously helping me. And for what it's worth, that's more than enough in my books."

Link snorted. "You fear that someone will kill you, though?"

"Perhaps."

There was a long tense silence that stretched on and on. Then Link heard a splash and he found his shirt wet a moment later. He turned to tell the woman off, but had to turn quickly back in horror.

She had pulled the curtain back a little and perched her crossed hands on the side, showing a generous amount of naked wet skin.

She laughed. "Don't be so stiff."

"And you should be ashamed of yourself! Showing off your body like that to a man so nonchalantly!" Link was now red all over. Seeing a woman in indecent clothing was bad enough, but seeing a naked one...

"The name's Evelyn, by the way. If we're to spend a long time together, I suppose giving my name is the least thing I can do."

Link nodded in silent agreement and thanks. Then he ran out of the room, hearing her laughter follow him as he went.

A/N: picking up some speed! What's going to happen next, I wonder?