Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not, have ever or will ever own DGM

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Luciano was thinking. Why had he suddenly felt that chill up his spine. He trusted his instincts, but this time, there had been nothing there to bother him. Well, besides the same old problem: money.

He and his sister 13 year old sister Sophia were an orphans. Their mother Claire had lived in this little village her entire life, and had always been proud of that. Their father Giuseppe had been a traveling merchant who had more or less accidentally stumbled into their village, though he had always called it fate. When their parents had met, it was love at first site, and not even five months later, they had married. Giuseppe had always been the most proud father in the world, and he had made sure his children would know how to help themselves. "We won't be around forever, and it's better you know how to take care of yourselves in case we're gone. I don't want neither of my children to be dependent on someone."

And they had learned to take care of themselves. Sophia was an excellent cook, and, amongst other things, knew how to clean. He himself had always been a jack-of-all-traits, and ever since his parents died in a car-crash, both he and his sister had worked hard to earn their living. He worked all sorts of odd-jobs in the village and the nearby towns, thankful they accepted a 16 year old helper, and sister worked in a beauty parlor in Dublin. The train station was thirty minutes away, if you had a bicycle, so Luciano always gave her a lift on his bike, and he always picked her up. He glanced at the clock on the town hall. "Damn it, I'm late!"

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Allen suddenly woke up and he was 100% sure why. Without opening his eyes, he loudly said "Road, please get off me."

"You're no fun, you know that?" Road's voice replied, while the weight on his body slowly lifted. Allen kept his eyes closed while he grabbed towards where he thought his shirt should be. Nothing.

"Are you going to make a habit out of using me as a trampoline when I'm asleep?"

"Hm, let me think. Yup, I think I will." He had expected that answer and opened his eyes to lecture her about simpler and less painful ways to wake someone up.

"Road, can't you..." He stopped talking. Road was sitting on his bed, wearing a short, almost see-through white nightgown. And from the looks of it, only that nightgown. He suddenly saw a mental picture of Cyril entering his room, seeing this picture and cruelly torturing Allen to his painful demise. He gulped. "Road, you do realize that if Cyril walks in here right now, I'm going to die a horrible death, right?" Road giggled.

"Don't worry, I've arranged things with Jasdevi. They'll keep a lookout for Cyril and if he comes, they'll..." But Allen didn't need any further explanation, as a loud explosion occurred right outside his door. Road looked up. "Well that's my cue." She pouted. "Way too soon. Well, see you soon, Allen." With that, she hugged Allen, opened one of her doors and left. Not even two seconds after Road's door vanished, the door to Allen's room flew open and Cyril stood in the doorway, foaming with rage and a rapier in his hand.

"ALLEN WALKER, HOW DARE YOU?!" Allen had no idea what was wrong with him, but he didn't have time to ask either, as he dodged the blade striking where his head had been a moment before. Cyril's blow slashed the pillow in half while Allen jumped out of the bed, only now noticing he had fallen asleep in his clothes. Well, that explained why he couldn't find his shirt. Tyki came running into Allen's room, directly followed by Jasdevi. Allen looked at them.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" he called while he dodged a few slashes. Tyki summoned one of his Tease-shields and blocked the rapier aiming for Allen's throat.

"Well, the Earl wanted to talk to Cyril, but when Lulubelle found him, he was in a coma-phase, so she..." Allen had an ominous feeling.

"She what?" He asked while Jasdevi was trying to hold Cyril back as well. Tyki seemed really uncomfortable.

"You remember you taught us how to wake up Cyril?" Allen nodded. He had known that he would regret that someday. "Well, Lulubelle woke him up." Allen raised a brow.

"And?" This beating around the bush was not a good sign.

Tyki, who with Jasdevi's help had finally managed to disarm Cyril, sighed. "She, uhm, she said you were dating Road." Allen's face fell.

"Oh shit." While it explained everything, it was the worst thing that could have happened to Allen. Then he noticed Lulubelle was standing in the doorway.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Lulubelle didn't even flinch.

"The Earl has ordered for the mission to begin." She stated. Cyril used the momentary distraction to break free and lunge at Allen, who had a hard time keeping the man from his throat.

"As you can see, I'm a little busy right now, no thanks to you, so if you want this mission to begin anytime soon, or at all for that matter, maybe you could help me out of this mess you've caused." Allen gasped, since Cyril's fingers were almost at his throat.

Lulubelle simply walked up to them, grabbed Cyril by the collar, raised him up so they were eye-to-eye and used her free hand to slap him in the face. Cyril blinked.

"No one is dating Road, the Earl wants to speak to you and you're obstructing the beginning of a mission the Earl personally gave." Cyril seemed confused for a second then he nodded and left.

The others stared. "You have to teach me that." Tyki said "It would make him so much easier to deal with." Lulubelle didn't react.

"Let's go." Everyone followed her to the gate. On their way, they met the Earl and he called Lulubelle and the twins and gave them a short speech. Tyki used this moment to have a short talk with Allen.

"Look Allen," He began "you might have already figured it out, but this is something like your trail by fire. I was sent along as a helper, and Lulubelle is your watchdog. She'll keep things professional, so be thankful the Earl didn't send Cyril along. The twins tagged along because they like you, so count them as helpers as well. You don't have to cause a massacre or even kill anyone if it isn't necessary, but if you try to sabotage this, there will be hell to pay later. And neither Road, nor Jasdevi nor I will be able to help you then. Though should we meet exorcists, feel free to flee if you don't want to hurt them, as long as you grab the Innocence before you go." Allen nodded.

"Thanks for the warning, Tyki. But now let's go, before the others get suspicious." And with that, they turned and walked to the others, who finished their conversation with the Earl moments later, and passed the gate.

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"Yawn, so, what do we know about this mission?" Lavi asked. The member of CROW Levrier had added as an observer answered him.

"We have been able to listen to a call from a broker to the Earl. According to our information, the broker is a traveler, so the town we found him isn't necessary the town were the Innocence was spotted. We have pinpointed th location of the Innocence to a group of five villages, but we don't know in which one our target is. Thankfully, those villages are close enough together that we can pass all five in two days. Since we'll search the towns, it might take a little longer, but the broker apparently doesn't know the exact person either. So both sides have almost equal positions. The only advantage we have is that we know they're coming, but they don't know we are, so they'll probably take their time while we leave immediately." Lavi grunted.

That was exactly the problem. It was four o'clock in the morning and they were already leaving. Crowry smiled. "The sooner we find our new comrade, the sooner we can all rest, Lavi."

But Lavi knew Crowry was still blaming himself for being able to do so little to help Allen. He himself knew that feeling very well. Even Bookman had been disturbed by the news, in his case more about missing the chance to view a Noah's awakening. And even though he himself shouldn't feel any different, Lavi knew he'd lost a great friend. He could only hope that Lenalee was right, and that Allen would always be Allen.

"Lavi, stop daydreaming and come on, we're supposed to go!" Lenalee shouted impatient. Even though she tried to be her usual, cheerful self, you could see she was blaming herself for practically handing Allen over to the Earl. She seemed more determined than ever. Lavi smiled.

"Coming." 'And don't worry, Allen. By the time you can return to us, you'll find us just the way you left us. Well, with the exception that Jesaia and I might have finally succeeded in driving Levrier into a nervous breakdown.' And with that cheerful thought, Lavi stepped through their portal to start their search.

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"So, what's the plan?" Allen asked. The others stared at him. "What?"

Jasdevi called first "Allen, you look like a Noah-human mix!" Allen looked at his hands. Flesh-colored. He looked at his hair. Black. Weird.

"So, you're just like me." Tyki stated. Allen and the twins looked at him surprised. "Ever since Allen stabbed me, I can go into two new forms that are somewhere between Noah and human. In the first, I still have my skin-color, but my eyes are golden and my hair's a little darker. In the second, my eyes and hair stay human, but I get my gray skin-color. Oh, and neither form has the stigmata. And all thanks to Allen stabbing his sword through me." That last part seemed to hold some slight accusations, so Allen immediately shot back.

"And thanks to Tyki removing my arm and putting a hole in my heart, my Innocence got stronger. And thanks to him putting me in that vacuum, it got stronger again. We seem to be fated to strengthen each other in the most painful way possible, don't we, Tyki?" Tyki laughed.

"Touche. But to answer your question, since we're in Ireland, practically your turf, you're going to lead us around." Allen's smile froze.

"That's the plan? Tell me you're kidding." Everyone seemed surprised.

"No, this is completely serious. You are from around here." Lulubelle calmly stated.

Allen shook his head in disbelief. "Stick a fork in us, we're done."

"Do you refuse?" Lulubelle asked, but Tyki interrupted.

"Allen, is something wrong?" Allen sighed.

"As Lulubelle correctly stated, I'm from around here. In fact," He pointed at the shore "I'm from right across the ocean."

"What's the problem? Ireland is a part of Great Britain." Tyki asked while Allen simply sighed again.

"And why do you think it's called Ireland and not West-England?"

Tyki thought about it, then he said "Because it was once an independent nation?" Allen nodded.

"And how do you think England managed to get Ireland as a part of Britain? Just a hint, that wasn't decided at a tea-party."

Tyki was getting confused. "Well, England conquered it, what's your...oh."

"Oh is the right word. Ireland is not exactly best friends with England. Especially the smaller Irish villages. An Englishman can't have a soup there without someone spitting in it. Chances are, if we march in there playing British, the mob might beat us to a pulp, or try to, anyway."

Even Lulubelle seemed to accept that, since it was the truth. Jasdevi didn't seem happy at all. "So, what now?" Jasdero asked. Somehow, everyone ended up staring at Allen. He groaned.

"All right, all right. Fortunately, I come from the poor, working class of England." Everyone seemed confused, so he explained. "Since I'm practically a pauper suffering under England's harsh rule, I have a small chance of earning at least some of their respect."

Lulubelle seemed more than willing to take that chance. "Very well, let's go."

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Luciano was on his way back, his sister riding on the carrier, searching his backpack.

"Luciano, where did you get those apples?" Luciano was confused for a second, but then he realized what must have happened. Even with their hard work, they barely had enough to eat, so there were times when he had stolen from the market. Everyone knew it happened once in a while, but no one ever bothered him about it. In fact, since they knew he wouldn't accept charity, they small shop owners had become pretty good pickpockets themselves, but they didn't steal. Instead, when Luciano walked across the market square, he sometimes found food in his backpack that he couldn't remember putting there. Since it was just there, it wasn't really charity, but it was desperately needed. So they had managed to sneak some food in his pack again, and he had no idea how. Sophia giggled.

"Ah, from there." Then she hugged him. Luciano smiled. Then he saw a group of people on a path to his left. Five really weird people. Then he shrugged. Not like that had anything to do with him.

Then they reached their home, a old, abandoned house they had found. There was no electricity or running water, but that was rare in such villages anyway. Luciano knew the kind old owners had stopped bothering trying to sell the house when they had 'moved in', but they would leave if anyone complained. But for now, this was their home. He dropped Sophia off, looked at the bracelet their mother had given him as a birthday present and left for his job at the bakery.

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Allen and the others had somehow managed to get a few rooms in an inn, thanks to Tyki explaining them as Portuguese tourists. Now it was time to search for the Innocence. The market seemed like a good place to start the search. But so far, they weren't any closer to the Innocence as when they had been in the arc. Not that Allen minded. If he'd have any say in this, he'd let whoever was owning the Innocence keep it and go his merry way, but sadly, that was not an option here. Then someone ran into him, knocking him to the ground.

"Ouch, sorry, didn't see you." The boy called. Allen stood up and smiled.

"No problem, nothing happened." The boy looked at him, distrust and a bit of disgust were in his voice.

"Are you a Brit?" Allen made a face, he knew what was going to happen and signaled the others to stay out of it.

"Yes, I am." He felt the cold looks of the entire village on him as the boy's face darkened.

"Damn Brit, leave." Allen decided for a direct approach.

"And you're Italian. What are you doing here?"

"I'm half-Italian, half-Irish and both sides of me hate you." The boy growled.

"I don't give a damn about what your halves think of me." Allen coldly replied.

"And what is a British pansy like you doing here in the first place?" Allen knew the only chance to get any respect now was to not back down. Something told him this would end in a brawl.

"First of all, I'm no pansy, you poor imitation of an Irish-boy. And secondly, I'm looking for something."

"Well look somewhere else, before I kick you out!" Allen made a humored face.

"You and what army, spaghetti?" the answer was a blow to Allen's cheek. The dam was broken and the brawl had begun. Allen had known it would come to this.

After a few minutes of rolling on the floor, while the other Noah were simply staring at the fight and the village cheering for the boy while the twins were cheering for Allen, a loud voice interrupted the chaos.

"Brother! What are you doing?!" The boy immediately let go of Allen and looked like he was caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

"Sis, I was just...What are you doing here?" The girl, even though younger than her brother, seemed to have total control over him.

"You were supposed to be home ten minutes ago, so I was worried. Then I heard that you were brawling with a stranger." She looked at Allen "Are you alright?"

Allen wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned. "I'm fine, just a discussion amongst men." The boy grinned while his sister rolled her eyes.

"Boys! Why can't they talk things out instead of bashing their faces in to declare brotherhood?"

Allen smiled. "Well my new blood brother, my name is Allen Walker." The other boy shook hands.

"I'm Luciano de Fuego and this is my sister Sophia."

The girl, Sophia, smiled at them. "Tomorrow is a free day for me and Luciano, so why don't we spend some time together then?" Allen looked at them and grinned.

"On one condition." Luciano looked confused. "What?" He asked and Allen replied: "Food's on me."

The siblings laughed and smiled and waved goodbye. Lulubelle looked very upset when Allen called "By the way, nice bracelet." Luciano looked at his wrist and the Noah stared at it as well. A green crystal was sparkling in the center.

"It's a gift from my deceased parents." He then said. "See you tomorrow."

When the Noah had left the square, Tyki looked at Allen. "That bracelet..."

"Yes, I think it's Innocence." Allen calmly replied. 'But not the heart' something inside of him said. Lulubelle nodded.

"So, why the fight? And why a draw? You could have beaten him to a pulp even without your Innocence or Noah powers." Lulubelle asked.

"It wasn't about winning, I was earning the respect of the villagers. If I had beaten Luciano, it would have been an insult, had I lost, I would be seen as a wimp. This was the best result. And it was kinda fun." Tyki grinned.

"But will you have enough food until tomorrow?" Allen was balancing a tower of bags from the market in his hands.

"It will do." Allen said, completely ignoring the sarcastic tone in Tyki's voice. Now all they could do was wait for tomorrow.

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"Did you hear? There was a brawl in the neighboring village between a boy from the village and a stranger." "Really? Tell me more about it."

Lenalee listened up and turned to her comrades. "Should we check there next?" Lavi shrugged.

"We might as well. Not like we have any better leads. By the way, has someone seen our CROW?"

Crowry answered. "He said something about being an observer and simply watching us, so he went to watch from afar."Lavi snorted.

"Typical. But since we're fairly certain that the Innocence isn't here, we might as well check it out."

"How long will it take to reach it?" Crowry asked. Lavi, who had memorized the map, thought about it for a second, then he replied "If we finish searching this town, we should be there tomorrow afternoon."

"Then we should look around if we really have to make that walk." Lenalee decided.

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Allen yawned. It was nice waking up because you just woke up, not because someone used you as a speed-bag. When he looked around, he saw a black cat with a white star on it's forehead laying on the table at the window. He knew that cat.

"Don't you have your own room, Lulubelle?" The cat simply stood up and left his room.

"If I'm not mistaken, she was there to make sure you don't make a run for it during the night." The musician suggested.

'That's just silly. Where should I run to with both the order and the Earl on my tail?' Allen thought.

"You're right." The musician agreed "It's more likely she wanted to make sure you didn't warn that Luciano." That made sense. Lulubelle had noticed Allen kind of liked the boy and wanted to make sure Allen wouldn't advise him to make a run for it during the night.

"Well, almost time for the meeting, so let's get this over with." And hopefully, without any casualties.

Luciano had picked them up, and after a small meal, Allen had restrained himself in order not to shock Luciano and Sophia, the siblings showed them across town. They were in a rather lonely area at the end of town, apparently close to where Luciano and Sophia lived, when they spotted some travelers coming their way.

"It looks like our village is getting popular. I don't think so many people ever came here in such short time before." Luciano called, apparently in a good mood. Allen on the other hand suddenly got a very bad feeling. Something was about to happen. And it wasn't good.

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The exorcists had almost reached the village, when they saw a group of people walking and chatting. At first, they didn't think much of it, but then Crowry, who had the sharpest eyes, froze. He pointed at the group.

"At least two of them are Noah, I've fought them in the Arc." Everyone stared and indeed recognized the long blond hair of one of the twin Noah. Lavi cursed.

"The others are most likely other Noah or Akuma. But since they were talking and chatting, I'm guessing the unsuspecting Innocence-user is among them. Okay, we attack them. The Noah and Akuma will fight us, and all others will escape. Wait, I know that Noah." Lavi had looked closer "Oh shit. That one can go through anything but Innocence and has some kind of berserker-form. That black haired kid looks kinda familiar as well. Doesn't matter, for now let's go!"

They started to run, while a triple shout of "Innocence activate!" could be heard.

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Allen's eyes widened as Jasdevi pointed to the group and shouted "AH, IT'S THE VAMPIRE!" and drew their guns. Tyki seemed to spot someone he knew as well.

"Well well, if it isn't the hammer-boy. Allen, you might want to get them out of here." Allen nodded, while completely aware of what Tyki was saying. Grab the Innocence and see if you can crush it, if not run away, if yes, tell the others and then run away. He grabbed Luciano and Sophia by the wrists.

"Hurry, we have to get out of here!" Allen shouted while pulling them away from the soon-to-be battlefield. When he turned around, he saw that Crowry, Lavi and Lenalee were dashing towards the Noah and him. 'I hope no one gets hurt.' He thought, but he knew how unlikely that was. He could only pray that there would be no casualties.

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Chapter 10 is complete. Took longer than I thought, but the good news is that my spring holidays start next week and I'll have more time. I actually wanted to start the fight in this chapter, but the story turned out longer than I thought. Well, next chapter I'll write my first real combat scene. Wish me luck.

To Starforce119: 1. Around 30 minutes 2. My pleasure 3. Yes they are, but I use the names where I think they explain best 4. All in due time, but why don't you take a guess? Same goes to everyone else, that's why I gave you the names.

To Lord Edric: That would be fun, but I don't think I'm good enough for crossovers yet. And even if, then not in this story, so far, I don't plan to make this a crossover. And good luck with your major.

By the way, could I please get some feedback about Jesaia's Innocence? I want to know what you thought about it. My next update will probably be on Friday or Saturday, so until then, goodbye and thank you for reading and hopefully reviewing.

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