Mystjerne: At that point, no, she hasn't. Only the some from when the cloak had her both in Headquarters and the conflict when Crow and Noah met them and Allen in France, just before they left.


Requiem of Time: Chapter Forty-Four - Allen

They tortured him.

Allen had woken up in, rather than a grimy cell, a colorful room with plush walls, with shackles binding his wrists to the wall but allowing him to rest against the floor. Those accommodations were mild though, compared to what he went through when Wisely was commanded to take the answers from his memories. Answers to what those phantom memories were in the Earl's mind, the memories of a future that never happened.

The Noah had tried for days. Allen managed to hold him off, at the cost of mind-numbing pain, but in the end he finally slammed Wisely out with enough force to leave the man crying on the floor until someone came to retrieve him.

Lulubell had been called in next, and Allen smiled grimly as the door closed behind her. She wouldn't hold back an inch, not for all their familiarity and (in his opinion) friendship. He watched her as she unbuttoned her black jacket, depositing it against the far wall so it wouldn't get bloodied. She was left in her white blouse and blue tie. Her gold eyes remained on his grey as she removed her right glove then her left.

"You know why I'm here?" Lulubell asked, arms going to her sides as she stood in the middle of the room.

Allen smiled up at her. Seeing her dressed that way brought back memories. Of course, always memories when she tortured him, but some were actually pleasant. "Will you free my arms before we begin?" Lulubell glanced at his hands. "You know I won't try anything."

With two long steps she was there, bending over him as she twisted the locking mechanism. Allen leaned back, admiring her smooth, flawless face, up until she look down to meet his gaze, and he smiled. The shackles came off then, and he sucked in a breath as he lowered his arms. They were stiff and painful.

He rubbed his raw wrists after to sooth the pain. Then, once they were at least functioning again, he reached inside his coat for something. Lulubell watched him, then twitched slightly when she saw what he had in there.

A brown paper bag was revealed, and Allen shook it slightly. His grin was lopsided. "Just in case you confronted me when we were going for the Earl. Of course, you left before I could bring it out."

Lulubell looked conflicted as she stared solely at the bag. "Y-You know I won't allow you to go free in exchange for that. I... can't..." Was that Lulubell stuttering? Allen chuckled in amusement.

"No worries, I wouldn't ask that of you. Just enjoy it now, then I'll take off my jacket and we'll begin," Allen shrugged his sore shoulders, then opened the bag and dumped some catnip onto a hand.

Lulubell gave him a wide, thankful smile before transforming into a kitten and darting forward. The black cat with the white stigmata on its forehead settled onto his lap, supported by his left hand, then began cleaning his right hand of the stuff with its soft yet rough little tongue. Allen leaned back against his padded wall and relished this peaceful moment, knowing how different things would be in less than an hour. He intended to stretch it as long as possible.

Eventually, the catnip was gone, and Lulubell began pressing her head against his hand and mewing. Allen opened his eyes and looked down at the insistent kitten and smiled. Adorable. More so knowing it was Lulubell, the woman who controlled her portion of Noah memory by...

Allen's heart clenched as he thought about it, but his smile remained firm. He quickly pulled out the bag and sprinkled more catnip onto his hand.

Lulubell dove right in happily. Allen began petting her as she continued, and he smiled when he heard her purring.

A prisoner to the enemy, could he even afford contemplating those thoughts of earlier? Of a happier time, when he was sitting in front of a fire with Rhode and she took him into her world. When he spoke with Road, or when the Fourteenth spoke to him in the man's room. What did he feel for Lulubell?

He chuckled softly, pouring more catnip into his hand. Lulubell mewed in pleasure, near attacking his hand in her desire for the green flakes. Not for the first time, Allen wondered just what that innocent green substance did to her to make her so obsessed.

Not much remained in the bag when Lulubell finished off his hand, but before pouring it Allen scooped up the kitten and lifted her above his head. His shoulders groaned in pain, but he ignored it. Lulubell struggled and mewed, but she was still purring as she writhed in his hands. If a kitten could smile, he felt she would be.

He lowered her back to his lap, eyes half-lidded as he watched her. He poured the rest of the bag into his hand, crumpling it so she knew as well. Lulubell gave him a single look before she began licking his hand. An almost pitying look. He smiled softly. Moments like these would make it worth it. Maybe.

Lulubell and her skilled tongue cleaned his hand quickly, then she fixed him with another look. It was time for his torture. Allen grinned crookedly.

The Noah then changed back into her true form... Right there on top of him... Without her clothes.

Allen's eyes bugged as suddenly Lulubell was sitting cross-legged on his stomach, staring down at him. "L-Lulubell? What are-?"

"Look, Allen Walker, I do not want to inflict more harm onto you. More than knowing it will be useless, simply I have seen enough of your blood stain that shirt. However, I will not fail the Earl. He wants answers from you, and I must get them from you."

"You know almost as much as I do," Allen said, then gulped. Eyes to eyes. A very pretty shade of gold, they sparkle in light. Focus on the eyes... Ohmygod why does she have to be naked? How could he focus on the eyes when that is right in front of his face?

"The only thing I know about those memories is that the longer one leaves that black form of your Innocence on, the more they appear until eventually you are replaced by the one from our first life. Duke Millennium wishes to know where they're from, what causes them, and if they're real."

Allen's struggle halted suddenly as he realized what she just said. She knew the answer to all three of the Earl's questions already, yet had refrained from mentioning them. "...Why?"

Lulubell bent so her face was closer to his and very serious. "He has not asked, so I have no reason to tell him. What he has asked of me is to get those answers from you."

Sometimes this women made no sense to him, sometimes that was just fine for him. "Lulubell-chan... Thank you."

She nodded, only slightly. "That is, perhaps, for the catnip." Allen felt that it wasn't, though; she could have told the Earl before she knew he had it. "Now... We have many hours before I am to be done for the day, and I can think of a more suitable way of repaying you for the catnip... If you'll have me."

It struck Allen suddenly, and the reminder that she was naked hit him. He closed his eyes; that was safest. "Lulubell... That was a one time thing, and you know it... I wasn't myself then."

One finger came to his chest. "You are no longer married, Allen Walker." A second finger joined the first. "Rhode is also grounded, so she will not come to make the same offer." A third. "And she did not, nor would not, mind. I will not beg, especially not for you, but there are faults to your logic."

Allen opened his eyes at that, and he almost regretted it before he could bring his eyes from her chest to her eyes. "What do you mean Rhode is grounded? What did she do?"

"First, she claimed to have married an enemy, then declared that no Noah may harm him, and finally was found escorting him thought the Ark as he searched to destroy the Duke Millennium... And then, the Duke remembers the wedding in one of his phantom memories, and that one had been verified to him. Needless, she is not allowed to see you."

All things considered, that made perfect sense. It never happened in his first life, but it made sense. Unfortunately.

Allen sighed, closing his eyes as he felt how that sigh shifted her body. Was it because she was the Noah of Lust or because all Noah had taken a stance against God? And why wasn't the Fourteenth here raging up a storm?

"Lulubell... I like you, I can say I honestly do, as a friend and with a possibility of more, but we can't do that. There may be no paper, there may be no ring, but those wedding vows are in my heart. I spoke them and with meaning, and they will always be there. I don't care if you or she thinks it's right or not, I need to at least try."

"Tell me then, Allen Walker, what are those wedding vows in your heart?"

Allen sighed. It wasn't hard to recall, not in the slightest, not from what he still considered the happiest day (and night) of his life. "I, Allen Walker, take you, Rhode Camelot, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part."

"Good. Now, tell me which part of that forbids you from another woman."

What is wrong with everyone? Allen thought fiercely as his eyes flew open again. He saw her smile, and he had no idea what to think. Though, the repeating of his vows firmed his resolve, and he shook his head. "Lulubell, I can't. I won't. Please, don't ask me to." Not now.

The woman leaned back and shrugged. "If you don't want my body, then so be it." She got off him, walked over to her clothes and dressed, then turned back to him. "I believe you wished to remove your jacket before we began."

Did anything change between us? Allen wondered. But then, why would it, unless she had been offering more than her body. Such as, her heart. Which brought a new question to ponder. 'What did he feel for Lulubell' was now joined by 'what did Lulubell feel for him'.

Allen shrugged off his Marshal's jacket and threw it off into a corner. Already so many scars riddled him from this life. He was about to gain so many more. This wasn't something he could ever hold against Lulubell, though.

XXXX

"Good evening, Lulubell-chan," Allen greeted as she entered, and already she was working the buttons of her jacket.

"It is morning," she said simply, and Allen smiled sheepishly. Once dressed properly, she bent over him again to undo the shackles that held his wrists, and he thanked her as her massaged them gently. More scars were located there now from chafing against the metal at night and healing with the rest of him. The walls near him had become stained with blood.

For days she had come and done as ordered, and Allen had to wonder how long it would last before the Earl grew tired of no responses and just killed him. Fortunately, he had an idea.

"Say, Lulubell-chan, what would I have to give you for you to free me?"

The woman stopped then and looked at him. "Return the Akuma Egg."

Allen blinked. "That's all?"

She nodded. "It was obvious before I began that I would get no answers from you, and thus displease the Duke Millennium. However, if I could at least gain the Egg, he would be somewhat pleased." She smiled slightly. "I'm surprised it's taken this long for you to ask."

Typical Lulubell logic. How to best please the Earl even when she knew she would displease him.

"If you get me outside, to where I can open a Gate back to my Ark, I'll lead you right to the Egg," Allen bargained. He even held his hand out, to seal the deal.

Lulubell didn't hesitate. She took his hand, hers soft and small, and the bargain was struck. Allen smiled at her, and abruptly she pulled him to his feet with surprising strength.

Allen staggered once on his feet, and she maneuvered herself so his arm was over her shoulder and she was supporting him. Allen was much weaker from his imprisonment than he thought he would be.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Allen asked, testing his legs again. He could walk, but running was out of the question until he worked out the stiffness. He smiled suddenly. He was attempting a breakout with Lulubell. Lulubell of all Noah.

"How long can you hold your breath?" she asked, and she led him to the door.

Allen blinked. Now that was a strange question. But then, this was Lulubell. Her plans would work, no matter how strange they seemed. Well, they might not always work, but they were usually pretty sound. "Um, I don't really know. Two minutes last time I checked, but that was before getting sent back and I was rested then, not recovering from imprisonment."

She nodded, then opened the door. "I've commanded all Akuma away from the path I'll take. I'll stop every minute for a new breath for you..." She glanced at him, gold eyes cold. "I know you can hold out for those."

Allen frowned at her as they hobbled into the hallway. "Lulubell-chan, what do you-"

Her form suddenly melted into water, clothes falling to the floor and leaving him to stumble until he could reach the wall. Allen's eyes widened when he realized what she meant to do, and he quickly sucked in a large gulp of air. Seeing him prepared, the puddle on the floor swirled up around him, forming into the aquatic Lulubell.

Then, the watery woman flowed forward at an intense speed.

Allen was left to gape as she moved fast and sure. Down hallways, Allen could barely make out the shape of doors before they were out of sight. Turns came sharp and sudden, and if it weren't for all the water around him cushioning the turns, he was sure he'd be more than a little sore. The woman did at least take the time to open doors when transferring rooms, a split-second pause before he was lurched forward again.

Allen knew he had misjudged his air rather quickly, as he was running out near the end of the first hall. His lungs began to burn as he glimpsed hallway after hallway after room.

Then, fortunately, Lulubell ejected his body suddenly after one of the turns. Allen took a merciful breath, filling his dying lungs again, yet before he could exhale for another, Lulubell scooped him up inside her and moved again.

Allen groaned, not knowing how long he could keep this up. How far did they have to go?

More halls and more turns. Allen already knew very little of the Earl's Ark's interior, and the high speed did nothing to help orient him. He tried to count to sixty, so he knew when he was next getting his air, but the dizziness took the numbers from his mind. It couldn't have been much farther... Couldn't have...

Allen felt himself leave the safety of Lulubell's water to tumble along a carpeted ground, ending with him slamming into a wall. He groaned. Well, he tried to groan; instead he just coughed and spat. As soon as he managed another mouthful of air, Lulubell scooped him up again and darted down the hallway again.

Allen tried to calm himself, to focus himself. He closed his eyes, feeling the loops and spins and jerks his body was doing. Those motions became distant from him, isolated from where his mind was focusing. All he concentrated on was how much breath he had inside him, on the symptoms of his body lacking enough oxygen. He likely could count efficiently now, but he didn't care to try. He would get air when he got air. Focus. He could manage.

Even in this state, Allen grew worried before he was again expelled from Lulubell. Bleary and watery eyes focused up on Lulubell as he exhaled then inhaled new air, seeing the determination on her face, and was again consumed within her.

Drifting in a sea of currents, Allen relaxed himself. The jerks didn't seem as harsh anymore, now that he wasn't trying to anticipate them. All panic had fled his body, replaced by calm. Eyes closed, it was all sensation. He was escaping. Lulubell would see him safe. He had air.

His wet body on tile floor slid rather than tumbled, and he nearly laughed as he saw Lulubell scowl at his retreating form, slithering back towards him like a swirling snake. Allen got his next breath of air then welcomed the submersion back inside her torso.

They were next inside a room of giant lily pads, stalks vanishing into blackness far below, that were sturdy enough to stand on and jump between to reach the next door. Lulubell paused before that door, spat Allen out. Allen inhale deliberately, yet he was surprised to see Lulubell not collect him again. She paused outside the door, pressing her liquid ear against it.

Allen watched her and used the time to fully regain his breath. Then, he heard it. Two people walking by the door, discussing something or other. Two Noah, most likely, otherwise Lulubell could have commanded they not be there ahead of time. He focused on not making a sound as they passed. It was almost funny, them being entirely soundless when Lulubell was a dozens of feet long humanoid being of water, towering over him.

The sounds retreated from the door, and Lulubell paused another moment before thrusting him inside her stomach and opening the door, flowing down the hall away from where the two other Noah had been headed.

After only a couple more stops, they were there.

For the final time, Lulubell deposited him from herself, then said, "This is the only Gate outside we could get to without passing through one of the rooms holding Akuma."

Allen nodded, coughing briefly. "Thanks for the rush," he mumbled as he pushed his wet hair away from his eyes and opened the door.

XXXX

If Allen wasn't mistaken, this was Morocco.

The Gate was inside a building, but only feet away was a balcony overlooking a market. Allen took the few steps to that balcony, saw the many people. He breathed in a whiff of cooked goods, sand, and salt. A port city. Freedom.

Lulubell had followed him, and he saw the shadows fill with a brief light as she transformed back from her water form. Allen hesitated in turning around from the balcony.

"Did you changed back into your human form?" he asked, idly wiping droplets from his form.

"My Noah form," she corrected, and Allen was glad for his reluctance. She wouldn't have any clothes, and that was the last thing he needed at the moment.

Shrugging off his Marshals jacket, he said, "Here, wear this." He held it out behind him.

There was the soft pads of feet approaching, and then he heard Lulubell from right behind him. "Are you so weak-willed as to not be able to stand the mere sight of a female body? I thought I trained you better than that." But she still took the jacket.

Allen huffed a laugh. Doesn't matter how strong a man's will is, with a body like that it'll always be a distraction. "Decent yet?"

"Yes. Let's just finish this, so I may return the Egg," came her impatient response.

Allen turned to see the slender Noah wrapped in his coat, and he couldn't help but stare for a moment. It was big on her, obviously, but still the end only went as far as her slender thighs. The buttons were done only mostly up, leaving a hint of cleavage. Even covered, the limited clothing seemed a tad suggestive. Long legs bared from upper thigh to toes added to the image.

But then Allen grew an easy smile and recited lyrics of the Music in his mind briefly. A couple of steps and he was to her, and an arm around her back guided her towards his now open Gate, brilliantly white as opposed the the Earl's midnight black. "Hey now, we aren't enemies for the moment. When's the last time we actually spent time together in good relations?"

"..."

"Exactly." They entered his Gate, and he closed it behind him. "So let's actually enjoy the break for once. No rushing."

Lulubell walked with him, and she sent a blank look his way. "Of all the people in this world I could associate with, why did I choose you?"

Allen laughed. That was a joke. I'm sure it was... "Because, I give you catnip." She twitched.

They walked to a flat section of wall, and after a moment a door appeared there by Allen's doing. "Well, let's go get your Egg."

The door was opened, and they both stepped into the room originally holding the egg, looking nearly barren save the floating and glittering gem. Everything was exactly as the Earl had left it since Allen took the Ark, sans the defending Skulls. Both took a moment to take in the magnitude of what was before them, the artifact of magic and technology, the Earl's machinery for producing Akuma, his most prized possession, Allen's most prized target for destruction...

"So, how have things been since reawakening to this life?" Allen asked casually as they began to move forward, him closing the door behind him and letting it vanish into air.

"As could be expected," she replied simply, then continued with a faint smile, "though, the events of your travel from Germany to China are rather amusing in retrospect. The me of then had grown quite frustrated and loathing of you, not recognizing the futility of her mission. In fact, my reason for visiting you on your Ark the day of my awakening was to murder you, again not applying the failures of before. Perhaps I intended to wait for an advantage and press it, but even now I know that none would be given."

Allen slowed their walk as he turned to her, mouth parted in a picturesque look of shock. When she glanced at him with a questioning look, he could only stumble out, "Sorry, I'm just not used to you speaking that much at a single time- ah!" Allen laughed as she struck out at him with the hand-whip, missing only slightly. Some habits died hard, like the urge to get a rise from Lulubell, though she gave a good punishment to disincline the idea.

The woman sniffed and turned her head from him, looking again at the prestigious Akuma Egg. One of her hands came out to touch its glossy surface, gliding as she began pacing around it. "I remember the last time the two of us stood this near to the Egg."

Allen stepped up to it, but didn't follow her as she moved slowly around. "An interesting day, and quite hard to forget. I come in finding so many of my close friends injured or dead, see some get converted into Skulls and the others killed. I met my first Level Four there, and that was perhaps the first day my own anger towards you matched what you felt towards me."

Her voice carried a touch of smile, even without him looking. "Believe me, Allen Walker, what resentment you felt then holds little to the uncontrollable fury I felt towards you that day. I had succeeded in recovering the Egg, and yourself as a gift, but was prevented by your Time Exorcist. Then, I nearly sacrificed myself in keeping the Egg from harm, used that Time Exorcist as a human shield, and still you destroyed it while it was already through the Gate."

She had completed her rotation and was coming back into sight, and Allen noticed appraisingly that she had transformed herself into her human form, with the blond hair and pale skin. Her silver eyes stared into his grey. He smiled slightly; she looked well in his jacket like that. "Nearly sacrificed? You survived against my Master, Marshal Winters, Tiedoll, Cloud Nine, and myself without taking a scratch, and you did that by yourself. Not another Noah could make the same claim, not even the Fourteenth."

"You do not think you could do the same?" she prodded.

Allen deflected the question. She knew he considered himself separate from the man. They were separate. Fourteenth? Say something, damn you! It's been too long to deny your existence now!

Finally, they stood together again, both staring at the Akuma Egg. "Allen..." He glanced at her, seeing the pale beauty only looking at the gem-like artifact. "Do you think you will survive this war?"

Even with its simple intent, there was much to that question. She knew, in her own mind at least, that the Duke Millennium would win. All Exorcists would die. Allen could be spared, given his hybridism into the Noah family, yet still he had insisted, as the Fourteenth, that he was Adam's enemy. Adam would kill him for that; kill him permanently. So with that in mind, she could be asking whether he thought he could win – by strategic action, luck, or a trump card like the Heart of Innocence – or she could be asking him if he would defy the Fourteenth and join the Noah when the Dark Order lost.

"I will keep walking, Lulubell-chan, until the very end," he said that with determination, recited the words etched by Mana's own hands. The words his father impressed onto his heart. Her silver eyes like liquid mercury moved to meet his, narrowed only slightly like a reminder of her catlike tendencies. "Why do you ask?"

She held the stare for a moment longer, an equal beauty framed in blond as she was the darkly beautiful woman with framing locks of raven. Then, her gaze lowered a flicker before returning to the glittering Egg. "I will miss having someone I can speak freely with."

His arm came up to the slender shoulders covered by his own jacket. His smile wasn't large nor was it small. It was fake yet it was not. It simply was, and without reason. "Don't count me out just yet; I still have a few tricks that may surprise you. And if in the end I do fall, well, we have all the time until then to make up for what is lost. You are a friend, Lulubell, one of the closest I have on that side of the war. I really want to say 'anytime you wish to talk, just come on over,' but we both know I cannot nor will not give away this Ark's location. Though, you can just ask Rhode. She usually let's you do what you want."

The moment hung, a settled silence as he held a single arm around her, and then it passed and he lowered his arm. Lulubell took only the slightest step towards the Akuma Egg, so that she was a step away from him. "I assume you intend to open a door directly under this Egg to the outside, so that I may do the same to get it into Duke Millennium's Ark." Allen nodded, and she looked at him through the corner of her eyes. "How about a game of poker before then?"

Allen accepted before he thought about it, which as many men could say is a very bad idea. Lulubell, like himself, Tyki, Rhode, and even Adam, enjoyed gambling. The tantalizing promise of rewards and equal punishments, the logical calculation of marginal cost and marginal benefits, the endless flow of carefully solved odds... Tyki was the average gambler, Rhode the risk taker, himself for the thrill of cheating, Adam for the comparisons in cards to life, and Lulubell for the logical calculations.

However, the Noah of Lust also had a particular fondness for only one game in particular: strip poker. Perhaps it was the influence of her portion of Noah's memory, perhaps a trace of her native French culture, or perhaps a personal preference. Regardless, it was because she played that that Wisely, the Bondomu twins, and Mercym all came to compete. And lost, but still they tried.

Allen entering the game, some years back, changed things once it became obvious she could no longer dominate the table through sheer logic. Any game that pitted the two against each other became more private for obvious reasons, and even then Rhode was always a third competitor for obvious reasons.

To play against just each other, as he had accidentally just agreed on, would mean one of them would be naked before hours end, and either way it went seemed bad for him in the end.

He tried to recover, quickly. "But just regular poker, right?"

"Don't be a fool." And there goes that idea. Lulubell looked down at the single Marshal jacket she was wearing and wrinkled her nose. "First, I will dress myself properly, then we will play. Simple rules for the game, for a measure of fairness. You may not touch the cards with your Innocence, and any time you are caught cheating results in the loss of one article of clothing."

"...Alright. I have a spare change of your clothes in... uh, one of the rooms – I don't really know which... You leave enough of them around when you depart from battles through the air or water."

Lulubell nodded and turned towards where he had just opened a new door. "I will find them. I will return here in ten minutes." She departed, leaving Allen alone in the room with the Egg. She trusted him not to damage it – she, Lulubell, trusted him, an enemy, not to harm the Earl's greatest creation. It was strange having that sort of trust bond with an enemy.

Now, Allen had to wonder which part disturbed him more: that she could search the entire massive Ark, find her clothes, change into them, and return to that door all under ten minutes – when he knew from experience Rhode couldn't dress that quickly even knowing where her clothes were – or that he completely believed that she could and would.

He sighed.

Sure enough, the woman returned with time to spare, dressed in her usual black suit and blue tie, though she remained in her blond human form. The clothes had been freshly cleaned and pressed, courtesy of Kawamura. The woman had his Marshal jacket folded in her hands, and once the door closed and vanished behind her, she handed it over.

Allen shrugged on his coat, then popped the deck of cards out of the sleeve pocket he kept them in. Not being allowed to touch the cards with his Innocence would be a great hindrance to his ability to cheat, so he was glad to be wearing his top hat at a time like this. This might actually be the closest game of cards he'd play in years.

Shuffling with one hand was a skill he had learned a long time ago, and Allen easily did so and with a flourish as they both sat down there on the floor before the Akuma Egg. He dealt the cards, then held his breath.

The throes of the game was all Allen anticipated and more. Piece by piece they both lost, him successfully cheating when the opportunity arose and only getting caught once (the woman had a sharp eye, after all). Eventually, the two were down to undergarments, and they just revealed their hands.

"Full house," she muttered softly.

Allen let out a shaky breath. "Four of a kind." He had won again.

Things were rather drafty for him, being down to only boxers as he was. He figured it had to be more so for Lulubell with just those lacy black things, and as it was she even had to remove one.

The French Noah had no hesitation as she unclasped and removed her bra, and Allen's eyes averted. Kinda. Such was the spoils of victory, yet his guilt limited full enjoyment.

One more hand and he could be done here. Just win and leave, then many things could be avoided. It didn't help that the room was dimmed with its limited light, and what light there was glittered off the Akuma Egg marvelously. It was setting some kind of mood, one Allen was trying very hard to ignore.

Then again, Allen wasn't exactly nervous or uncomfortable by the situation. This wouldn't be the first time he turned the Noah starkers, nor would it likely be the last. He just didn't like doing it without Rhode here. Then again, the last time the three had played (which he had won), Rhode had let out a catcall for Lulubell once she was finally down, so it wasn't like she was the type to...

Sometimes I still wonder what on Earth I got myself into when I married a Noah, Allen sighed to himself as he shuffled, then focused on the cards. Creased top edge, so that's a spade. Slightly curled corner, ace. Creased left corner, king... Let Lulubell do all the calculations she wanted, that did little against Allen knowing which cards were which ahead of time, so he could shuffle in particular ways.

"When dealing with the advantages of this game," Lulubell began as he handed her her cards, "it is not like the 'counting of cards' in Blackjack. Because you shuffle after each hand, the number would be lost." She plucked out two cards and slid them to him, and he exchanged them as he listened in silence.

Allen exchanged three, then drew their replacements. She continued. "It is the watching; observing known cards as they go into the deck and are shuffled around, keeping an eye on them so the order is known ahead of time. It can tell the watcher what to expect and thus what to exchange."

"Then you should know my cards as well, and also who wins this hand," Allen noted. She didn't respond, only glanced at him with those silver eyes. That she was topless was again noticed by him, and after a moment his eyes averted again. "Are you ready?"

She showed her cards. "Straight flush." Hearts, from six to ten.

That hand was nearly impossible to beat, and Allen rocked back slightly as he stared down at his cards. Never had he lost a game in cards. Sure, he might lose a hand or two if he were distracted or letting someone win, but never an overall game.

And that wasn't about to happen now.

"Royal flush," Allen shrugged, then laid out his hand. From the Ten of Spades to the Ace of Spades. The last hand, he would take no risks and thus allowed himself only the best draw. Even then, the deck had been prepared for her drawing two cards so he could get all five. If she had taken any more or any less, he would likely have lost with a 'high card'.

She gave no reaction to her defeat, as always. She stood, and then she removed her final article of clothing. Once she was again seated, cross-legged, she gave him an expressionless look. Allen kept his eyes on hers or the cards he was putting away. He stopped at her voice though. "Instead of shuffling, this entire game you have been placing cards as you wished, disguised with your flourishes. That is cheating."

Allen took a breath, then stacked all the cards into his hand. He just wanted to get his cards and leave, but if she had...!

"You agreed to my terms," she concluded, looking at him very pointedly. A small Cheshire grin accompanied that, the one all Noah had at some point or other.

Allen tucked the deck away into his discarded coat, then rubbed his eyes with a slight blush. Never had a game come this close, and never had he needed to go all the way. However, she was right, and he had little choice in the matter. With the utmost reluctance she never showed, he matched her state of dress and sat again, blushing. Lulubell's amused look did little to help appease him.

Well, Allen wasn't going to sit here like an embarrassed teenager all day. He leaned back on his hands and asked her, "When did you notice?"

"When you got my tie," she answered simply. There was a pause, and then she said, "Tell me, what do you plan on doing next?"

The shift in conversation was obvious. Two weeks of imprisonment by the Millennium Earl, two weeks under the knife from first Wisely then Lulubell herself, things had to have changed outside. Allen didn't know where Cross or the other Marshals were, where Miranda, Lenalee, Lavi, Crowley, or any of his other friends were. The Dark Order, Central, and Cross all had been left to their own devices. The rumored riots may have spread or been fully contained...

The only thing he really did have news on for the past two weeks was the activities of the Noah, funny enough.

"I'm going to search out what I can," Allen shrugged. Her casual presence was overwhelming his embarrassment, forcing him to not even really notice their nakedness. "Adam has sent too many of you out recently for meetings for me to be comfortable. The Scenario has changed, if not the goal for it."

"Gathering intelligence instead of simply striking the enemy," Lulubell noted approvingly, resting her arms on her knees. "I thought only the bookman thought that rationally."

Allen smirked slightly. These were the moments he favored with Lulubell. Not enemies, no tension. She could smile, she could tease. At times, he could even get her to laugh. It had only become a possibility after the catnip really. The thought was almost comical, but it was very much true. Because of catnip, she had sat through his presence while getting her fix. Then, they had spoken briefly. Then, to a greater extent. Come his marriage to Rhode, he and Lulubell had spent a year in his 'training.' That was where he had really begun to know her. And now, following that, he met her outside of the war as a friend with Rhode.

"So what's the deal with Rhode?" Allen asked after another silence settled. "You said she was grounded. How long until she can leave freely again?"

Lulubell shrugged. "Whenever Sheryl sees it fit."

Allen drummed his fingers on the ground behind him as he thought about it. Knowing Rhode, she would be thundering a tantrum of epic proportions if she remained locked away much longer. The sooner she was back, the better. Two weeks without hair nor smile of his blue haired Noah; Lulubell was the only reason he hadn't been crushed with loneliness just yet – the woman had given news and even a few messages before the daily interrogation sessions.

One of the reasons Allen was always uncertain about labeling himself and Lulubell as friends was because despite their familiarity and ease, they never really... fully acted like friends. Their conversations always seemed to drift into these strange pauses of silence between topics. Not uncomfortable or awkward silence, but a simple silence where nothing was spoken. It was odd.

In the next, he again noticed Lulubell's beauty. It was hard not to, of course, more so when she was unclothed in all her glory like this. Her slight smile, too, made her appear even more attractive than usual, compared to the usually serious and emotionless expression she had when doing the Earl's business. Her body was lithe, yet with much more curves and womanly shape than Rhode's. She appeared to be in her lower twenties, similar to himself before getting sent to the past, though she was very much older, thanks to the many reincarnations Lustul had been given in order to protect the Millennium Earl. Not as old as Rhode, though; both Rhode the girl and Road the Eldest were older than Lulubell and Lustul, respectively.

And, as he was prone to of late, he pondered the question that's been scratching at the back of his mind. What did he feel for Lulubell? What did she feel for him? The woman never once ever, ever displayed romantic conduct or anything similar...

You've done more to win her affections on your own then I ever could have by influencing you, Allen thought to himself. Hello, Fourtee- FOURTEENTH?

"Perhaps I should go now. The time for your questioning would be ending soon. I must return with this Egg," Lulubell said suddenly, standing to her feet.

"W-wait!" Allen blurted suddenly, then grew distracted as she stood completely open to his eyes now. Fourteenth, that was you! Say something! I know your there! Say something, damn it!

Lulubell was staring at him, waiting for him, while Allen desperately yelled into his mind for the strangely absent Noah. He couldn't keep her waiting, and he couldn't quite move his eyes. Say something! Allen moved as if to stand, rising partially from one knee, but he stopped as he continued trying to weed out the Musician. SAY SOMETHING, DAMN YOU!

"Have I offended you?" Lulubell asked, suddenly stoic.

Allen noticed his frustration was twisting his expression, and he quickly smoothed his face. "N-No. I just, er..." Curse your soul, Fourteenth, I am NOT crazy! I know you're real! Lulubell was still waiting for him. Still very much naked, too.

With a great sigh, Allen collapsed back to the floor, rubbing his eyes. Was the Music louder now, again? Faintly, the beats and lyrics seemed just a tad more consuming. Why, oh why, was this happening to him, and why now? Where the hell was the Fourteenth, and why was he so silent?

"Allen?"

Allen jerked suddenly. Lulubell's voice had come from right in front of him. He could feel her breath on his arms. Opening his eyes, he saw her kneeled before him, a measure of unease on her face. That was the closest she had ever come to 'worry' for him. "Just... give me a second, please," he struggled out.

Whatever you're planning, whatever you're doing to me, whatever you think you are going to get me to do, you Noah-bastard, it will not work. I control this body. Me, Allen Walker. This is my body, and this is my mind, and you are the scum that forced your memories into this mind. Holding your silence will accomplish nothing, hear me! Nothing! You are REAL! REAL!

Allen opened his eyes to feel his arm shaking. He looked at it, saw the tightly curled fist, the spasms of an over-tensed muscle. Slowly, he relaxed the arm. His fingers pulled out of his palm, leaving four red crescents.

Lulubell was still kneeled right there in front of him, in her blond human form. Her face was unreadable as she studied him, a face only inches from his own. Just a few inches, and he could kiss her - kiss that beautiful face, close his eyes and take in her scent, slip his tongue in her mouth...

My body and my MIND!

Taking a final shaky breath, Allen said, "When you return to the Earl, don't tell him you helped me escape. Tell him that you came in and found Master trying to break me out, and you followed us all the way back onto this Ark. Once here, you stole the Egg for him. That would please him most, and keep you free of punishment."

She watched him for a few more moments, her slitted eyes of silver unblinking as a cat's. Then, she nodded slightly, accepting his idea, and with that nod she allowed herself to transform back into her Noah form. Cream colored skin washed dark, while blond hair melted black. The eyes flashed from silver to gold, and the stigmata opened up in the band across her forehead.

Right when the transformation ended, only a second or two long, Allen suddenly lunged forward to attack her with a kiss. Lulubell's eyes widened in surprise before she fell back, Allen's arms around her cushioning the short fall. She had kissed him before, within reason, but this kiss was savage in comparison, a needy grasp for something she couldn't identify. Lulubell almost thought Allen was under influence by the Fourteenth again, but his skin remained the same light tan, as well as a lack of the other traits.

Allen could feel how her slight form fit into his arms, could feel the swell of her breasts against his chest. Her full lips slowly became responsive. Her own arms came up around his back. Lulubell rolled them over suddenly, so she was on top of him. Allen groaned. He didn't know where the urge had come from, and he had no choice in the matter. Her lips parted, and that was all he needed for his tongue to be in her mouth. Hers met his, and they battled playfully. His hand went up her back to run through the tresses of her hair.

Her scent filled him as he breathed in through his nose, her touch sending sparks throughout his being. Her taste... was that of a woman. Not candy. Not caramel, nor chocolate, nor taffy or any sugary product. Not cherries.

That thought bothered him, strangely. Why should that matter? What was so significant about candy? There was... someone else. Someone else with that taste. Who was...? The answer came to him like a lightning bolt.

Rhode.

What the hell was he doing? This wasn't right; what possessed him to kiss Lulubell? He wouldn't have...

Allen broke the kiss with a low growl, eyes squeezed shut. His forehead came to her neck, resting against it as his mind seethed. Damn you, Fourteenth.

Something had changed between them. That much was obvious. The game of 'push and shove' that he had mastered, the struggle for control over his body... the Fourteenth had found a way around it. That's what was going on. It had to be. The man, in his silence, had been snooping around for a new way to control him, and he had found it...

Or Allen had snapped, and had made all the conversations between him and the Fourteenth up.

"You stopped?" Lulubell asked softly, her hands coming to a rest on his shoulders.

Allen was silent for a moment, and for the first time he felt that one of their pauses might have been uncomfortable. For him, it was the reluctance to speak. He had to say it. Once spoken it would be truth. He had to say it.

"I..." He swallowed. "I think I might be losing, Lulubell."

One finger under his chin turned his head so that he was facing her. Her gold eyes stared into his curiously. "Losing against what?" There were several answers, after all. Losing against temptation, lusts, the war against the Earl even...

He closed his eyes and drew back from her, untangling from her wonderful embrace. Quietly, he muttered, "Losing against the Fourteenth."


AN: Ah, Allen and his teenage body flooding him with hormones.

You know, I think I lost many a good reviewers and readers for this story in my short break. Perhaps because they haven't realized I started up again or something... Come back! *cries*