Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM and I never will

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Flashback

Allen struck and Tyki winced in pain. The others stared.

"That doesn't look good." Lulubelle stated.

"Something tells me reattaching won't be an option here." Cyril moaned.

End of flashback

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"Well Allen," the Earl stated "you've officially killed the coat."

"And it was one of my favorites too." Tyki added, rubbing his arm. "I should have rolled up my sleeve before doing this."

Allen's clawed hand had slashed through the sleeve and slid down Tyki's arm, the first claw slicing the sleeve in half while the other claws had cut the sliced-off part to ribbons. There was indeed no chance anyone would be able to fix that. Allen sighed. "Okay, so it can hurt Noah about as much as any ordinary arm would. What's your final judgment, Earl?"

"I don't know, it could still be the Heart." Road jumped up.

"But whatever happens to the Heart happens to all other Innocence as well, right?" Everyone nodded, so she continued "So if Allen has the Heart, wouldn't that mean that no Innocence would be able to harm us anymore?!" Everyone blinked. It made sense. Cyril glared at Allen for being protected by Road, again!

The Earl thought about it for a second, then he nodded. "You can keep your arm, Allen. Who knows, it might help you discover and use your Noah-powers faster, and if not, at least you won't be completely helpless when you're attacked. By the way, does your eye still work?"

Allen activated his eye. He saw the soul of the Akuma maid standing in the corner, a Level 2, as usual, but then he noticed the monocle-like gears that should have appeared where missing and that nobody else seemed able to see the soul. "It still works for me, but it seems to have lost the function of showing the souls to others. Also, it doesn't simply automatically react to Akuma's presence anymore, so I have to consciously activate it. I guess it's because Akuma are no longer my mortal enemies." He then said, publicizing the musicians theory as his own.

The Earl nodded again. "It seems that way. Anyway, we're done here. Allen, get some rest and maybe a new set of clothes, you can't run around in borrowed stuff forever. Tyki will give you a list of clothes stores lead by Akuma, so you can get some clothes there. Tyki will also accompany you, he probably needs a new suit since you wrecked his old one." With that, he vanished. Road yawned.

"I'm going to bed. Good night Tyki, good night Cyril, good night Allen." At that last part, Cyril gave Allen another nasty look. He waited until Road and Jasdevi had left, then he grabbed Allen at the shoulder. Tyki moved between them, just in case.

"Allen Walker, since the Earl has permitted it, I'll let you stay here. But if I find even a single cut in her clothes, I'll make sure you loose a lot more than just your left arm!" Cyril declared "And about this kiss..." Allen, realizing he was in a potentially life-threatening situation, raised his arms in defense.

"I swear, I had no idea what was happening before it was too late. Ask the stupid umbrel..., I mean Lero!" Cyril seemed to think about it.

"I will. And should I find out that it was different, or if it happens again, I will make sure it doesn't happen again. Ever. Are we clear?" Allen quickly nodded and Cyril seemed to acknowledge it before turning around and leaving. Allen stared after him. What was that man thinking? That he'd grab Road and defile her? He turned to Tyki.

"He sees there's an Innocence that doesn't hurt Noah and his only thoughts are that I could use it to swiftly declothe Road?" Tyki shrugged. At that moment, Lulubelle got up and turned to leave. When she noticed Allen was looking at her, she said "You can stay here as long as you want, but if you try to harm the Earl or his plans, I will kill you." Then she was gone.

"And why does she hate me? Because of the egg?" Tyki shook his head.

"Apparently you've destroyed an Akuma that was responsible for her cosmetics." Allen stared at him. "You know, it did her nails and stuff. Was the spirit of a maid, or something like that. Wore a maids uniform and had white hair, if I remember correctly." Allen nodded. He remembered her. He had more or less accidentally destroyed her when he had tried to stop Lulubelle from destroying an Innocence with the power of prediction. Unsuccessfully, thanks to that Akuma shielding both the Noah and the Innocence long enough for Lulubelle to destroy it. But he couldn't believe that the woman would hold a grudge for such a ridiculous reason.

"Is there a way to make peace with her?" He asked. One Noah more than willing to kill him was already one too many. Cyril would slaughter him given half a chance, and Road being determined to stick to him like glue would not help in calming Cyril down either. But maybe Tyki knew how to get Lulubelle of his list of problems.

"Unless you find someone who has enough skill to take that Mimi's place, and I can assure you there are no Akuma with the necessary skill, I don't see how."

Allen sighed. Just great, Now what? His adviser answered "Now you go to bed. You're exhausted and I can assure you that you won't solve that problem today. Maybe you'll find someone with the required skill and, more importantly, the will to throw all of their pride out the window and play maid, but that will take a while."

The musician was right. Allen was tired and would certainly not find that someone here. "I'm going to bed. Tomorrow we'll shop for clothes, again sorry about the coat." He told Tyki.

"No problem, see you tomorrow." Tyki replied and left. Allen returned to the room he had been resting in. The bed was as comfortable as he remembered it and soon Allen fell into a dreamless sleep.

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Finally! They had arrived at Headquarters. Jesaja was anxious to see Lavi, but hoped that Bookman would spare them the speeches about history or, even worse, proper behavior.

When they entered the building, Jesaja wasn't sure if he had entered a beehive or a graveyard. People were running around, but everyone seemed depressed. Friedrich seemed strangely amused by this sight and little Val either didn't care or kept a perfect pokerface. Levrier entered the picture and the mood reached new depths. For a second, Jesaja thought he saw a frightened, no terrified expression on Val's face, then it was wiped away by the usual emotionless expression. He himself felt the strong need to do something that would create enough paperwork to keep the man busy in some faraway office forever. Friedrich on the other hand seemed pleased and walked towards Levrier. The two men shook hands, and Jesaja used his dumbs and index-fingers to form a frame. Then he did something he had heard a Level 3 called Eshi used to do. "Title: Meeting of *ssholes." For a second, he thought he saw a smile on Val's face, but before he could get a closer look, someone called his name.

"Jesaia, over here!" It was Lavi, without Bookman, but with a really hot girl instead. It took a moment to realize it was Lenalee. So much for his date plans. Komui could be scarier than a horde of Level 3's if someone got even remotely close to dating his sister. And Jesaia should know, he had tried. A very unpleasant memory. When he looked around again, Valkyrie was gone. Levrier and Himmelhund also were nowhere in sight, but Jesaia counted that as a good thing.

'Oh well, time to catch up with Lavi.' he thought before taking his buddy in a headlock. "What did I hear? You attacked a Level 4 barehanded? Did Bookman finally replace your last bit of common sense and intelligence with histoy and war reports?" Lavi laughed.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. And I looked really cool when Yu and I had our dramatic entrance." Jesaia had to laugh as well and even Lenalee smiled. Jesaia decided to ask what was wrong with the Atmosphere.

"Hey Lavi, what's going on here? I mean, did somebody die?" At that Lenalee broke started to cry and Lavi bit his lip. Jesaia was getting a bad feeling.

"Allen Walker, I've told you about him." Jesaia nodded. He sounded like a nice guy, as long as you weren't on a dinner-plate. Jesaia had been looking forward to meeting him, but now it seemed like he wouldn't get that chance. Lavi continued "He left Headquarters a few days ago and was captured by a Noah. Allen was suppressing a Noah, but the Earl will probably awaken him and we have orders to kill him the next time we meet him." Lenalee activated her Innocence and was gone in a second. But both Lavi and Jesaia had noticed her Dark Boots had suddenly become pure white with a few black parts, like the knee-protectors and the shoe from the ankle down. Lavi turned to leave as well, but Jesaia stopped him.

"Lavi, I have an idea." he cheerfully declared before changing his tone to a serious one. "How about you cut the bullshit and tell me what really happened?" Lavi sighed.

"Okay, but not here." Jesaia nodded. This seemed like something that could get them in major trouble if the wrong people eavesdropped.

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Allen felt pretty good. He was wearing a white shirt and black pants that fitted perfectly. He and Tyki had somehow managed to stop Road, who had insisted, much to Cyril's anger, to accompany them, from using him as a dress-up doll. She had tried her hardest and managed to get a red, hair-band-like ribbon around his neck. When he looked in the mirror, he saw that he looked almost exactly like the phantom in the lake that had stopped him from reaching Lenalee. Oh well, it suited him and wearing the uniform of the exorcists seemed like a bad idea. Cyril would probably see it as proof for treason and kill him in the most painful way possible. Allen checked his new pocket watch and saw it was time to return to the arc.

When they returned, Allen asked a question that had popped into his head while he had been forced to lay still and gather strength. "So, what do the Noah do in their free time?"

Tyki smiled. "That's different for each Noah. I like to hang around with a few friends, Skin used to stuff himself with sweets and the twins, well, they mess around. As for Lulubelle, your guess is as good as mine. Cyril is a politician. And Road..." he made a dramatic pause while Road looked at him, surprised "...has some homework she needs to finish. And since the Earl isn't here today, she'll actually have to do them herself." Road made a disgusted face and protested, but to no avail. She sat in front of her homework in one of the arc's lobbies, looking upset and confused. Allen peeked over her shoulder. It was Geography.

"I don't get any of this! I have no idea what to do!" Road complained. Allen seemed lost in thought. After she had defended him in front of the Earl, it was the least he could do.

"I'll help you." He said, grabbing one of her books and a pen.

"Really?" Road remembered the last time her relatives had 'helped' her. But when she glanced at the book, Allen had filled out more than half of the blank spots, and from the first look it seemed like everything was right. "How do you know all that?" She asked, baffled. Allen had to smile.

"When I was traveling with my stupid master, I learned a lot about the world. Also, one day Cross said he didn't want a dumb apprentice because it would make him look bad in front of the ladies and forced me to learn many things." Road's eyes glittered.

"So, can you help me with my other homework? Not even Cyril spends much time helping me." She pouted. Allen sighed and nodded. She seemed ready to hug him again, but he signaled her to stay seated. She turned around and saw Cyril coming down a staircase, a disapproving look on his face. And, coincidently, there was a showcase containing a set of spears sitting on a podium not even six feet away from Cyril. Allen was sure that if Road had hugged, let alone kissed him again, Cyril would have tried his impression of Vlad the Impaler on him.

'There go five years of my life. If this goes on, I'll die from stress before anyone has the chance to kill me. All I can do is pray I never have to rely on Cyril to watch my back, he would likely get me caught in friendly fire. Lulubelle would probably not kill me as long as the Earl thinks I'm okay, but I doubt she'd make a great effort to save me either.' The rest of the homework was done swiftly, since Cyril participated in the work to keep an eye on Allen. Then he split them up, telling Allen to bring his stuff to his room.

When Allen arrived at his room, he noticed someone had placed a piano in it. He smiled and formulated a thought for the musician. 'More your passion than mine, but a good way to kill time. Shall we?' "Yes, not a bad idea. Especially since you have an enormous musical talent. Despite what you may think, you were the one who played the Piano in the old arc. You were pretty good too, especially considering you had practically no experience." Allen sat down and began to play.

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"So let me get this straight. Central ordered Allen to be executed. Then that woman..." "Miranda." "Whatever. So this woman freezes everybody in time, giving you enough time to get him to safety, with three quarters of the Generals aiding in the escape, even though the boy was turning into a Noah. Lenalee drops Allen off far away, and by doing so makes CROW a laughingstock of all those who hear of this incident, only for some Noah to come by, pick him up and carry him away? And now Lenalee thinks it's her fault?" Jesaia couldn't believe it, but Lavi nodded. "You're all in deep shit. Man, I wish I could have been there, it sounds pretty exiting." Both boys grinned.

"Come on, let's find Lenalee and cheer her up." Lavi suggested. "And while we're at it, we can ask what happened to her Dark Boots."

They found Lenalee together with her brother on their way to Hevlaska, intending to ask the exact same question, so the boys tagged along.

When Hevlaska tested Lenalee's Innocence, she seemed surprised. "The Innocence is purer than any other Innocence I have seen in the last six-hundred years."

Komui seemed confused. "What do you mean, Hevlaska?"

"Modern Innocence has lost some of its purity and is therefore weakened. This was irreversible and couldn't be stopped, so there was no point in telling you. In other words, ancient Innocence that was held in one object without humanity's influence is more powerful than normal Innocence. The Innocence that Yu Kanda brought in a while ago from that gladiator is a good example. Its basic property was healing, but because it was old, powerful and remained in the same Avatar for centuries, it gave the user immortality. But because it always was in the hands of that man, the Innocence lost some Purity and is only slightly better than a normal Innocence."

"And the Crystal-type has the ability to self-purify? What does that mean for combat?" Jesaia had no idea where Levrier had appeared from, but it was clear that he had heard most of the conversation. Friedrich was standing behind Levrier.

"It will be able to destroy Akuma more easily. Also, contact with it will cause great pain to Noah." Hevlaska answered. "It's also possible that it could damage even the Millennium Earl."

Levrier grinned a wolfish grin and clapped his hands. "Excellent. So we have another weapon against the Noah. And this one can even be used as often as required. Simply wonderful."

"What do you mean, another? And my sister is more than just a weapon." Komui seemed upset, but Levrier ignored his second statement.

"Friedrich here is equipped with a plan to eliminite the Noah known as Tyki Mikk, you will be informed of the details should that be necessary. He is our secret weapon against that Noah, but the plan will only work if the Noah doesn't know what Friedrich is going to hit him with. Also, I'm sending Harlequin, Nocturn and Himmelhund here on a mission to a remote town were rumors of miracles sprout and Finders disappear. Himmelhund will be in charge." He noticed the look on Lavi's and Jesaia's faces and added "I'm also sending Jesaia on this mission so that he and the young Bookman don't run amok in the Order. This is not up for discussion, are we clear?" His last words sounded like a threat and Jesaia knew there was nothing he could do.

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Allen was still playing the piano when Road entered his room. Since she could control the arc, there was almost no part of it she couldn't enter. She didn't even have to use her own doors, the arc's doors just opened for her. Allen didn't notice her until she started to speak.

"You're pretty good."

"Thanks." Then he got a idea. "Where is the arc? I mean, the old one was stuck in Japan, but this one can move to anywhere, right?" Road nodded.

"This arc is stationed in the Sahara desert, over a hundred miles away from the nearest source of drinkable water. If anyone tried to reach us, they'd be long dead before they even got close." She replied. Allen sighed. "What's wrong, Allen?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking of taking a stroll through nature, but in the desert..."

"No problem, Allen, I'll just make you a gate." and suddenly there was one floating in front of them.

"Is this really okay? I mean if the Earl finds out..." He was truly worried about her, but Road simply waved it off.

"This type of gate will automatically bring you back here in two hours, so there's no problem."

"I don't know how I can ever repa..." Allen was cut off when Road jumped in his arms and kissed him again. On the lips. Allen knew that if Cyril ever found out, he was toast.

"You just did." Then someone cleared his throat. They spun around to see Tyki standing in the doorway Road had left open when she had entered. He grinned.

"I didn't see or hear anything. Oh, and Road, make sure he's back before dinner." Allen sighed in relief. Tyki wouldn't tattle.

"We dine in more than four hours, Tyki. He'd be back twice by then."

"Well in that case, off you go, Allen."

Allen smiled, waved and stepped through the gate.

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Chapter 8 is finally done. School is one of the circles of hell. 2 exams, 1 exam-replacing presentation and 8 tipped pages about England's politics also counted like an exam, and all in one week. If anyone from the UK reads this, I have nothing against your country, I've been there for a weekend and it was fun. But having to write about such systems should be a form of punishment. I had zero time to work on this before today and was in permanent stress. But enough about that. I MIGHT get another chapter done this weekend, though I must learn for physics as well.

I also noticed that if I want people to answer all the questions I ask, I have to line them up. So here are the questions.

1. How did you like this chapter? And, be honest, who thought Tyki had lost an arm (my compliments to Lord Edric, I didn't expect anyone to guess it)

2. Since I went through all the trouble of giving you the names of the OC's Innocence (chapter 7) sooner than I had planned, maybe someone can guess what they can do (Okay, Valkyrie's is practically impossible to guess with just the name, but the others shouldn't be that hard.)

3. Does anyone have an idea what part of Noah Cyril has? (I have an idea, but someone else might have a better one)

4. Since only one person has done it up 'til now (my thanks to Starforce119), I will ask again. From a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being miserable and 10 being awesome, how good is this fic?

5. Is there anything I can do to improve this story? (Besides getting better at English grammar)

That's all for now. Thank you to all my readers and remember: The more reviews an author gets, even if they are critics, the more motivated he'll be to write the next chapter. At least that's how it works for me. Although I might wanna start with putting something in my profile, I've always been too lazy in that aspect. Again, sending me characters would be appreciated, it might help to improve the story.

All reviews except for flames are welcome.

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