Chapter 3

Rude Awakenings

Allen found himself on his back, eyes turned up towards the looming white moon above him. It kept growing larger and larger until he wanted to beg for it to stop, beg for it to leave him be. But he knew that was impossible. Instead the boy forced his eyes open, drinking in every detail of the craters and mountains of the surface. He blinked against the glare of the moonlight and tried to use his hand to illogically block it out.

"No," he gasped out fearfully. "Please...please don't come any closer!"

The moon did not listen to him. It engulfed the frightened boy in a world of white oblivion, shattering his mind.

Allen cried out in fear, trembling as he once more looked around him. This time there was a lake spreading out before his feet. The boy cautiously went over to its edge, looking down into the dark depths. His silver orbs widened at the sight he saw.

"Lenalee," he whispered in as he recognized the Chinese Exorcist. He knew her from somewhere. A marketplace perhaps. Yes, that was it. Allen had lost his way, wandering far from his Master. He had nearly fainted from hunger when a girl in an Exorcist's uniform had given him some bread to eat.

This was the second time he had ever laid eyes on her. And this time she sat atop of ruins, crying her eyes out. As the tear drops fell down, they made ripples in the lake water that Allen knelt by. He reached out, wanting to comfort the pretty girl barely a year older than him.

Suddenly the lake froze over and a hand broke out of the ice. Allen yelped as it latched onto his wrist.

"You cannot," a powerful voice told him. Allen jerked his hand, trying to break the grip.

"You can't tell me what to do!" he snapped.

"I cannot...Mana...can."

Allen froze at the mere mention of the name, all rational thoughts banished.

"M-Mana?" he stammered out brokenly. That hand jerked him forward into the dark depths. As he came face to face with a grinning shadow, Allen found everything fading away into a world of black and white, no gray in it at all.

"Delve deeper, Allen. Delve deeper into the world of black and white," a familiar voice gently commanded. The boy tried to look around. He was no longer being held by the wrist.

"Mana!" he shouted, looking for the clown."I don't understand!"

"Delve deeper," the voice repeated. Allen looked down at his hands, surprised to see gray.

"Mana!" he cried again. But this time he received no answer.

::+::+::+: ϒ :+::+::+::

A heavy body slammed on top of Allen's. He jerked awake in panic and pain. A mouthful of hair muffled his cry and made his mind whirl in confusion.

"I'm so happy that you're awake!" a girl shouted excitedly. Her arms tightened around his neck marginally.

"What are you doing?" Allen asked as he brushed the hair out of his mouth. "Who are you?"

The girl giggled, pushing herself off of him. She sat by his side, smiling widely. She possessed dark skin, dark hair, gold eyes and a row of seven crosses lining her forehead. She looked to be about Allen's age.

"My name is Road," she said happily. "You're in my family's mansion, healing up. I wanted to come check on you. And when you didn't move, I jumped on you."

Allen did not know what to think of her. She certainly wasn't a normal person. But she didn't seem too bad, even if she had weird marks on her skin.

Allen tried to think back to the last things he remembered. He shuddered as the images returned, grabbing at the stub of arm that remained. That hand wandered down to the heart that should not have been beating.

Road noticed and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about the whole arm-and-heart business. Uncle Tyki was just trying to do his job," she explained. The boy froze at the sound of that cursed name. It filled him with memories of pain, cigarette smoke, and bone chilling fear. A bitter taste filled his mouth.

"Uncle Tyki," the former Exorcist asked, his voice trembling. He suddenly realized the implications. "He brought me here, to his home...?"

The girl smiled as if she hadn't noticed the terror that had run through him.

"Of course, Allen. When the fog surrounded you and you weren't dead, Millenie ordered him to bring you here. After all, your survival and your status as Cross's Apprentice are not a coincidence." Her smile morphed into a sadistic smile that made Allen recoil away from her. She had warmth, a heartbeat; definitely human. But how could she be so inhumane at the same time?

"What are you?" he asked warily. Road giggled.

"I'm the Noah of Dreams," she replied. "And to answer your next question, yes I am working with the Millennium Earl. All Noah are his protectors."

Allen didn't know what to say so he quickly changed the subject.

"What do you want with me? Why am I still alive?"

Before Road could answer, a pair of hands settled on his shoulders, startling Allen. He turned around, shocked to see Tyki coming out of the wall and headboard. He scrambled away from the man as quickly as his tired arm and legs could go. For a moment, he just stared at the man before him, frozen by fear and anger.

Here was the person who had almost killed him, had destroyed his saving grace and the bane of his existence, the Innocence. The boy settled for glaring at the man rather than trying to attack him. He was defenseless, after all, with only one arm to aid him.

"No need to glare at me like that, Shounen," Tyki chastised as he drew out a cigarette and lit it up.

"You killed me."

"You're alive," he pointed out.

"You destroyed my Innocence."

"...that I did," Tyki agreed."However, it was instinctual.

"Actually, I am very glad you're alive. You seem like a...very interesting person. Fiery and defiant."

Allen didn't like the look Tyki gave him. It was too similar to the one Road wore earlier as she had been grinning at him. But he swallowed down his discomfort and forced himself to repeat the questions he had asked.

"What are you?"

The girl's smile slid away and she got off of the bed. Tyki moved toward Allen and in the blink of an eye had a white gloved hand wrapped around the skinny throat. The man pinned his prisoner to the wall and stared into the silver eyes with a malice deeper than any Allen had come across before.

"Do not ask questions, Shounen ," Tyki breathed as Allen struggled for air. He waited a bit before letting go. The boy slumped back down to the bed, only half conscious. He watched the retreating back of the man as he left behind Road. He wondered dimly how he was going to survive if his captors were always going to be like that. Maybe he wouldn't survive.