Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM

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Allen sighed. He had returned to the Arc, the new Noah, Alicia, in tow, and now he was stuck in a living room with her, the other Noah, Luciano and the Earl. Latter had insisted they all be present when the newest member of their family opened their eyes, which was the last thing Allen wanted to do. But he knew he had no choice, so he did the next-best thing: He rapped himself in Crown Clown, intending to sit the storm that would inevitably be coming out. Of course, that didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"Allen, why are you hiding in your cape?" Tyki asked.

Allen sighed again. "Trust me, you'll see." He muttered, when a short moan alerted everyone to the awakening of their newest sibling. Allen braced himself. Then she saw Allen.

Some would call Alicia's instant change from near comatose to wide awake incredible. As soon as she saw him, her hand slammed down on a small table before her and a hail of steel needles shot at Allen, who remained still as they bounced of his cape. He extended his cape a bit to shield Road, who was, to Cyril's irritation, sitting next to him.

Alicia had obviously expected as much, as she dashed at Allen, drawing what looked like a serrated rapier from the couch she had been laying on and pointing it at his face, intending to skewer him.

A second later, it was obvious who stood on Allen's side, as Alicia found herself surrounded.

At her throat was the blade of a red scythe, while she could feel two barrels poking her on the sides of the back of her head. A short look around showed her she was surrounded by stake-like candles whose sharp ends were all pointing at her. Her blade was in Allen's claw, its tip not even an inch away from his forehead. But to Alicia's great disappointment, it wasn't budging

Lulubelle looked calm to the Earl, but what he didn't see, although Alicia could, was that her left hand had transformed into a razor-sharp blade.

Cyril had also tensed, but in his case it was worry about Road, not Allen, that motivated him.

The Earl, who didn't like what he was seeing, clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Now now, let's not kill each other, you're all siblings, so be nice."

Nobody moved as Alicia discovered that she had no control over the weapons threatening her existence, or the floor. It frustrated her to no end that she was in an area where she was almost helpless, unless she used the air. But right now she was busy looking at the speaker. "Now the marshmallow tries to play peace-keeper, how cute. Listen fatso, I don't know who the hell you are, but stay out of this or I'll shove your umbrella where the sun never shines, I swear to g…mbl?"

Tyki, who had been staring at his arms, had jumped up and placed his hand on her mouth, making sure that her powers would go through him. He smiled at her. "We don't use the G-word here, the Earl reacts rather… poorly to it." He nodded towards the Earl. "In fact," Tyki continued "last time someone mentioned it in his presence, he annihilated a small town."

Lero was quite upset someone dared refer to the Earl in such a rude manner. "How dare you, lero?! The Millennium Earl is far more powerful than you, lero, and you should treat him with respect, lero! Without him, you wouldn't even exi...mbl?!"

The Earl had showed Lero's head into a cushion to shut him up, but the damage was done. All eyebrows raised, wondering what the umbrella was talking about. Then Alicia interrupted their thoughts.

"So, you're this Earl that ordered whitey there to kidnap me?" She asked, very annoyed.

The Earl tilted his head, obviously wondering what was up with this Wrath. Normally, their instincts, which were essentially what controlled them, would have seen him as the master, as the Alpha of their pack, so to say. Then he looked into her eyes and all became clear. She somehow had overcome Wrath and stayed in control of herself, an impressive feat, but also another shovel of sand in the gears of his plans. He cleared his throat.

"I didn't order Allen to kidnap you, I told him to bring you home, to the rest of your family."

She snorted. "My so-called family is holding me at gunpoint." She stated. The Earl frowned at the other Noah and slowly the weapons were removed from her, with one exception. The red scythe never left her throat. She turned to the boy that held it.

She gave him a sickeningly sweet smile that a three-year-old could have seen through. "Would you be a dear and take that off your sister's throat?"

Luciano grinned. "Sorry cutie, but you're barking up the wrong tree. I'm not part of the Noah Family, and the marshmallow as you call him," he smirked "is not my boss. I work for cape over there." He nodded towards Allen.

For a second, Alicia seemed startled, then she caught herself. "I see. Sucks to be you then." She leaned back to get a look at the scythe's blade, then she licked it, before looking back at Luciano. "Pretty big blade, are you compensating for something?"

Luciano blinked, then his smile returned. "You, me, and a room of your choice. Then you can see yourself if I need compensation."

Alicia smirked. The boy had balls, she'd give him that. But before she could give a reply, the Earl interrupted. "Could we please get back on topic?" he asked. Luciano glanced at Allen, who nodded, and deactivated his Innocence. "Thank you." The Earl said, when Alicia spoke again.

"So, if I get this right, we try to eliminate mankind. Not that I mind, but why? What's the story, and what did I slide into?"

The Earl and the Noah began to explain.

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Valkyrie was grinning. This girl had just publicly revealed Levrier as the scumbag he really was, and it seemed some of the ones she had promised to protect were working on giving him the final blow. She could hardly wait.

Then Cloud explained her Innocence, and even though Val was standing behind everyone else, she could hear everything. It sounded like an ability that's main purpose was espionage, although it might be good in assassinations as well. She was glad for the little girl that she would not fall into Levrier's greedy clutches. Who knew what could happen if he gained her ability to discover secrets.

Secrets...the girl could see secrets...her secrets! Val's eyes widened. The girl could see that she was no longer completely human! And just as that thought hit her, Dagmar's gaze landed on her and with her sharpened vision, she could see the small girl's eyes widen.

Dagmar was in shock. She saw the girl in the back, who had immediately caught her attention due to a haze of some kind surrounding her, and as soon as she focused on her, she knew why. The woman was not a normal human, but she was something completely different. She had trouble gaining information on her with her eyes, as if there was some kind of interference. But she could see one sequence clearly.

A boy with white hair, extending his left, pitch-black hand with a white cross on its back and this girl, Valkyrie, taking it and transforming.

There the sequence broke off, but she could see a single cross on her forehead. She was just about to speak up, when Valkyrie moved. She laid her outstretched index-finger on her lips, the universal gesture for silence. Then she started moving her lips, but Dagmar's eyes could lipread.

The girl's words gave her a shiver down her spine. Be quiet, or I'll play you a requiem. Dagmar could gain enough information through the haze that was also surrounding her flute to tell that it could now kill humans, and that she was willing to kill everyone in the hall to keep her secret safe. She saw no other choice than to remain silent and slightly nodding.

Val smiled and gave a last message before turning away. She knew that Dagmar would remain silent.

Dagmar on the other hand shivered slightly as she caught the message. Good. Then we can be friends now. I'll keep an eye out for you. You'll see, you and me are going to be inseparable.

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Alicia sighed. "So basically, we are the bad guys who want to kill all humans, we have monsters called Akuma at our command and we both outnumber and outgun the good guys. Why does this sound like the classical setup in a story where the good guys win at the end?"

The Earl smirked. "I can assure you that at the end of this story, mankind has no happily ever after."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Alicia muttered. She took a deep breath, still suppressing the anger that was somehow not completely under her control. Then she looked up again. "Okay now, I don't want to see," She paused and glanced at Luciano for a second "most of you for a while of in whitey's case, for the rest of his life, so where is my room and where can I vent off some steam?"

Cyril told her and she left, obviously intending to destroy a few dozen things. The Earl said they could now all leave and eventually, the room emptied itself. But when Luciano turned to leave, Allen grabbed his shoulder.

"We need to talk." he said. Luciano glanced around. They were alone. He sat down.

"So, what is it?" He asked.

Allen looked him in the eyes. "You have a crush on Alicia, right?"

Luciano blushed red enough to make a tomato jealous and started stuttering. "W-W-W-What are you t-talking about? I-I-I don't h-have a c-crush on her!"

Allen sighed. "Bullseye, I knew it."

Luciano looked embarrassed for a second, then he grinned. "Well yeah, maybe I do. So? That's the reason guys join organizations, to get hot girls."

Allen face-palmed. "Now why does that sound familiar?"

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Back at the Order, both Lavi and Jesaia sneezed at the same time. They looked at each other.

"What was that?" Jesaia asked.

"No clue." Lavi replied.

"People, can we please get back on track here? Those nettles aren't gonna put themselves in Levrier & Co.'s beds." came Timothy's annoyed voice.

"Sorry." The two elder boys said at the same time.

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Allen shook his head. "Anyways, I thought it'd be only fair to warn you, Alicia might be a little too hot to handle for you."

Luciano's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? And why are they here?" He asked, when Michael and Gabriel entered.

"Simple." Allen said. "Michael can transmit information, so I had him read Alicia's last boyfriends diary, he'll give us the data. And Gabriel can read memories and transmit them to others, so you may see the state I found said boyfriend in."

Two white orbs the size of marbles appeared in Michael's hands as he pointed them at Allen and Luciano, they hit and sank into their foreheads.

What they received were knowledge of a diary filled with love. Allen's eyes widened when his mind received a part where Steven had written he had canceled a date with Alicia when his older sister had popped up for a surprise visit. Shortly after that, the diary ended.

"It was a misunderstanding." He muttered as his eyes filled with tears, the compassion he represented raging through his body.

Luciano didn't understand what the problem was, except that it would be tough for even him to top such a loving man. Then Gabriel laid a hand on Allen's forehead and a blue orb appeared on the fingertip of her index-finger. She pointed it at Luciano and made a gesture similar to firing an imaginary gun as the blue orb shot towards Luciano.

When it hit him, his eyes widened. Then he threw up on the floor. He had seen Steve, he had heard his words and he had heard Alicia's reason for doing such inhuman things to him. Now he understood why Allen was crying. It was grotesque. He slumped together, face in hands.

"Well shit." he muttered. Then he took a deep breath, composing himself. "Allen?"

Allen straitened himself. "Yes?"

"Don't you think its a little weird?" Luciano said "When you met her, she was pissed beyond belief, but she always seemed in complete control, but when she was here, she seemed to be fighting with herself. Almost like there is something in the Arc that weakens her rational thought."

Allen blinked. Now that he mentioned it, when he met her, even after she was pinned to the ground, there was no sign of internal struggle. And while he was at it, wasn't it more likely that Noah's Wrath's mental attack would be more effective when its target was already angry, instead of calm like a few minutes ago.

Suddenly he heard the musician. "That kid is smarter than I thought. There is indeed something inside the Arc that strengthens the memories of Wrath, or to be more precise, it is around the entire world, but its source is in the Arc, therefore it is strongest here."

Allen's eyes widened. 'So, does this have any effects on us other Noah?'

The musician chuckled. Allen was sharp as a knife. "Does it effect you? Not really, since Compassion was never meant to be a Noah. What does it do to the others? It c... raises the blood-lust in them, though that lust usually channeled towards their enemies. Road is influenced the most, seeing as dreams are reliant on influences."

Well, that explained Road's shifts between a bloodthirsty eye-stabber who enjoyed breaking minds and killing more than anything else, and a cute little girl that could be described as sweet.

Allen sighed. He had a feeling that he was getting closer to the secret that had gotten the musician killed, and seeing that said musician remained silent, that feeling got a lot stronger. He looked at Luciano. "You're right. There is something, but it's best you don't know. The Earl would probably slaughter me if he found out I knew. So, what will you do now?"

Luciano seemed to think it through. "I could try to get the girl and maybe die, or I don't go after the girl and still die, albeit less painfully. Hmm, oh well. No risk, no fun, no glory."

Allen shook his head. "Now I see your Italian genes."

Luciano grinned. "Yep, I like to think of myself as a 100% Italian from the waist down."

Allen rolled his eyes. "Yes, but you should really leave the thinking to the Irish head above your waist."

Luciano grinned. "Now what fun would that be?"

Allen grinned as well "It's your funeral. I'll bring some flowers. On your tab, of course."

"Ouch!" Luciano said, grabbing his chest as if stabbed. "That hurt. All jokes aside, you mentioned another Deminoah, how is he?"

Allen looked at him. "Don't worry, she is doing fine. She's still at the Order. You might know her she's the female Exorcist that fought Jasdevi and Lulubelle, though I'll admit she wasn't in the middle of the battle. Most of her abilities, while not useless in combat, are better suited as support."

Luciano frowned as he tried to remember. "Black hair and flute?" he asked.

"That's her." Allen confirmed.

Luciano shrugged. "Cute, but not really my type. So, she like a spy or something?"

Allen tilted his head. "Well, sorta. She's keeping an eye on things, but she's mainly there to watch over my friends."

Luciano understood. "I see. I wonder how she's doing."

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Val was biting the nail of her thumb. This girl, Dagmar, was not just sand in the gears, she was a bucket of wrenches. Her eyes were a danger to her, seeing she could spill the beans about Val at any given moment. The easiest way out of her predicament would be to kill her, but even though she could kill without problems, she disliked using lethal force before all other options were exhausted. After all, she wasn't Friedrich, fortunately.

Speaking of which, after her transformation, the decomposition of Friedrich's soul had sped up to the point that the last remnants of his being had been absorbed a few minutes ago, giving her power over what was likely one of the most powerful Hungry Ghosts that ever walked the Earth, not that many leave their realm if not summoned.

But back to her problem: What to do with Dagmar? While ripping out her tongue and removing her hands were a solution, it also would be fairly obvious that was something was wrong with her. Levrier may be an idiot, but he was not brain-dead... yet. Val smiled at the thought, before regaining her seriousness. She decided that she'd talk to her before doing anything drastic.

Now she had to find Dagmar's room, but that wouldn't be a problem. Ever since Allen had transformed her flute, she could now access the power of the darker Deities, of the evil gods and the fiends. The Melody of Satan had given her the ability to create a small fiend that was intangible and invisible, but able to keep an eye on things and give mental reports of what happened. In an emergency, it could even become a portal, giving her a way to immediately reach the spot it had been, at the cost of its existence.

But Val decided to go to Dagmar's room on foot.

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Dagmar was in her room, staring at the small haze in the corner of the ceiling. While she couldn't see what it was, she knew why it was here. Valkyrie Nocturn had sent it to make sure she kept her mouth shut. While Dagmar couldn't really read Val with her Innocence, one look in her eyes were enough to ensure her that the girl had no qualms with taking a room filled with people hostage, or killing them if her demands weren't met. It was most likely only a matter of time before the girl would decide to kill her.

A knock on her door interrupted Dagmar's thoughts. She looked through the door, and the figure in the haze she saw filled her with hopelessness. "So, tonight I die, huh? I had expected that it would take her maybe a few weeks before she would end my life." She stood up and went to open the door. After all, there was no point in delaying the inevitable. Her chances of escape were 0%, Val was faster, stronger, had more endurance, and her Innocence was better equipped for hunting her down and catching her than Dagmar's was for escape. She was fast, but sound was faster.

She opened the door and looked Val in the eye. "Come in." she then said, moving to the side to let her executioner enter her room.

Val grabbed a chair, sat down and motioned Dagmar to do the same. The girl obeyed and sat on her bed, awaiting her demise. But Val merely looked at her and cast Silence around the room, blocking all potential eavesdroppers. Then she spoke.

She began to tell her own life story to Dagmar.

She told her about her childhood, about her parents and her brother, about his annoying pranks, his wish to be a hero, and his good sides, about her happy years. Then she told her about the night she had lost everything, about how she had seen her parents crumble to dust. A tear ran down her cheek as she told Dagmar how she had found her brother impaled. She told her about her short time with General Jeegar and how he had given her to Levrier. She told her about all the man had done to her, how he had broken her and about Friedrich, the man who had killed her brother and abused her. Then she told the girl about Allen Walker, how he had freed her and killer one of the two banes of her life, about how grateful she felt, and eventually how she had ceased to be human.

Dagmar felt tears in her eyes as Val finished, touched by the girl's harsh life. Dagmar was ready to die now, but Val apparently wasn't ready to kill her yet.

"Tell me about yourself." It was not a plea, it was an order.

Dagmar sighed shortly and started to talk about her life. About her childhood, about her hometown, about her friends and her parents, about their house, about all the little moments of happiness in a child's life. Then about the accident that had left her blind, about the loss of her parents and the hardships of being blind, how all her friends had abandoned and eventually started to bully her, and in the end, how Cloud had found her and how she had regained her sight thanks to the Innocence. Dagmar didn't know why she was telling Val all this, perhaps she just wanted someone to remember her after she had passed away.

Val was touched by the girl's life story, even though she didn't show it. She sighed. "What am I gonna do with you, little Dagmar, whatever am I gonna do with you?"

Dagmar was surprised. She had expected to be growing cold by now, so what was this (To those that don't get it, hopefully nobody, she thought she'd be long dead.)? She knew that Val's Innocence had over twenty ways to kill her, ranging from instantly to slowly and painlessly to agonizing, not to mention that she could simply take on her true form and snap her neck like a twig. Or rip her to shreds.

"What do you mean? I thought you were here to silence me. Or are you just not sure how I die yet?" She asked, confusion in her voice.

Val scratched her head. "Yes, I can't have you talking, but the more I get to know you, the less I want to hurt you. How about this: You keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut, and I won't hurt you. Let's add that I'll protect you to sweeten the deal. So, do you agree?"

For the first time since she regained her sight, Dagmar was baffled. She had expected certain things, this wasn't one of them. She nodded.

Val smiled and clapped her hands. "Good, that takes care of that. I'm guessing you know that something is here, its mine and he'll hang around so that I can come to your aid when you're in trouble. But now you should go to sleep, it's late and tomorrow, you'll meet Hevlaska, so rest." She gave Dagmar a kiss on the forehead, then she used Hypnos to give the girl some well-deserved sleep.

Tomorrow would be interesting.

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Allen sat in his room, thinking. He had no idea what was going on. Roughly two days ago, the Arc had shaken, but the Earl had shown up and said it was nothing to worry about. The fact that he looked like he'd been using sandpaper as a towel didn't help in easing their concern, but the Earl said it had simply been a failed experiment. What he was up to now was anyones guess. Maybe Road knew.

As if he had jinxed it, Road popped up and landed on his lap, immediately wrapping her arms around his neck. "Missed me?" she asked.

Allen looked at her. "It's been like ten minutes since lunch."

Road tilted her head. "I know. Your point being?"

"We just saw each other." Allen stated.

Road nodded. "I know. What's your point?"

Allen gave up. "It's nice to see you." She squealed in joy. "Do you have any idea what the Earl is doing? Last I heard of him he nearly tore the Arc apart."

Road blinked. "I have no idea what he's working on, but I know that right now, he's in the library, looking for hell knows what. I think I heard him mumble about Innocence and purity, so it might have something to do with that girl, Lenalee."

Allen remained calm, but he was worried. Plans of the Earl usually meant a lot of trouble, both for the ones who'd realize it and their victims.

'Shit!' Was a good way to add up his thoughts, but his words were a bit more refined. "Why do I get the feeling that we are in for some major headaches, accompanied by serious pain?"

Road looked at him, serious for once. "I don't know, but you're not the only one with a bad feeling."

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Dagmar sighed. She was standing on a platform that lowered itself, accompanied by Komui, Val, who had insisted on tagging along, Lenalee, who tried her hardest to make her feel at home, and, much to the dismay of all four of them, Levrier.

The man had given up his attempt to be friendly, and now looked like he was ready to throw them all over the side of the platform. There were deep rings under his eyes, not surprising considering the amount of stress he was under, paired with Lavi, Jesaia and Timothy's latest prank of smuggling a sleep-suppressing drug in the drinks of the Order. Strangely, all of the standard-staff of Headquarters and the Exorcists had somehow evaded the drug and slept peacefully threw the night. Also, laying in their beds had not been a good idea, and they had strong itches ever since.

Then Dagmar, who could easily see through the darkness, gasped. She had spotted Hevlaska, causing Komui to pout as the ambush from behind had always been one of his favorite pranks. Lenalee smacked him upside the head.

Hevlaska spoke. "Welcome, young Exorcist, I am Hevlaska, the Keeper of Innocence."

Dagmar blinked. "You are far more. You are the Cube, and you have been for over 1800 years."

Hevlaska nodded. "I see that your eyes are as good as I've been told. Let me confirm your synchronization with your Innocence." She lifted the girl in the air, and nearly dropped her when she got the results. "Your ratio is 94%, which is most unusual considering the short time you have had it. But it is fairly pure, seeing that it has been stored within me a long time."

Dagmar tilted her head. "Why are you so worried about purity?"

Komui sighed. "Because if Innocence loses purity, it gets weaker. Current Innocences are much weaker than the Innocences found in the past and sadly, we have no way of restoring purity."

Dagmar stared at him like he was mad. "Yes you do, its right there!" She pointed at Hevlaska.

Levrier scoffed. "You misunderstand. Hevlaska can stop the loss of purity while the Innocence is within her, not reverse it it. Foolish brats like you should best keep their..."

Val glared at him. "Let her finish, shitface." She turned to Dagmar. "What were you saying?"

Dagmar smiled, though it was a bit tense. Then she took a deep breath. "Within the Cube, there is a device that can restore purity to Innocence, although it takes much time."

Komui turned to Hevlaska. "Is that true?" he asked.

Hevlaska sighed. "The Cube is far more complicated than any Innocence. I myself don't know all its secrets, so it is possible."

Levrier lost patience. "Well, what are you waiting for? Activate it already!"

Dagmar cleared her throat. "There is a catch. For it to work, it needs the energy of a piece of Innocence. Not much and only once, but the device requires energy it can reproduce. Therefore, the purification will only go on until the Innocence-pieces reach the purity of the one used to start the device. Of course, the device will replace the energy if a purer source is available, raising the purity of the other pieces to the new level,. Oh, and it doesn't necessarily require the Innocences that are to be purified to be inside the Cube, all that's needed is that it has come in contact with the Cube's host, namely Hevlaska, at least once."

Levrier thought about it. "How long would this process take?"

Dagmar shrugged. "Decades, maybe centuries, depending on how much there is to purify."

Levrier frowned. "Is there any way to speed it up?"

Dagmar looked at Hevlaska again. "There are two ways. One would be to leave the Innocence in the device, though it would still take decades, and the other one would be temporary purification."

Komui blinked. "What is temporary purification?"

Dagmar scratched the back of her head. "It's kinda complicated. The device, let's just call it the Purifier, can send most of the energy through the link the Cube has with the Innocence, giving them the same purity the Innocence that activated the Purifier, but that doesn't last. The longer you want to make it last, the longer it takes until you can use it again. Also, once it wears off, the purity of the boosted Innocence returns to what it was before the boost. Using that function also slows the permanent purification."

Levrier seemed to think. "Assuming we had an extremely pure piece of Innocence and never used temporary purification, how long would it take until the improvements would become noticeable? I'm not talking about major improvements, I'm just wondering when the first effects would become enough to make a slight difference."

Dagmar frowned as she looked at Hevlaska again. "I'd have to guess, but I'd say about three months, two if we left the Innocence inside the Purifier. But it'd have to be very pure, even purer than Lenalee's for such a quick result."

Levrier frowned. "So we need a purer Innocence? That won't be easy, but in the meantime, could Lenalee's suffice?"

Val rolled her eyes. "Are you completely retarded? Wait, don't answer that, we all know you are, never mind. She just said that it'd work with Lenalee's Innocence, it would just take longer and not purify as much as a purer one would."

Dagmar nodded, then she explained Lenalee how to channel her Innocence's energy into the Purifier while Levrier left to question Bookman about the chances of a purer Innocence existing.

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Allen was sitting at the dinner-table with his siblings, including Alice. She had come down from her high horse fairly easily and was actually having a lively conversation with Luciano. Tyki, who was sitting next to him, nudged him in the side.

"The kid's got brass balls to talk to her, huh?" he muttered. By now, everyone knew what had happened to Alice's last boyfriend.

Allen chewed and swallowed before shaking his head. "Brass isn't gonna cut it, those are steel, if not diamond balls."

Just as dessert came, the Earl entered. That was a surprise, seeing as the Noah hadn't seen much of him in the last days, during which he had skipped mealtime. The Earl looked at Allen.

"That girl's Innocence reminded me of something, and I just remembered what it was. There may be other Innocences that are far purer than the one that girl possesses on this planet. Normally this would make me quite nervous, but thanks to some more recent developments" he looked at Allen "we now may be able to use that power for our purposes."

Allen swallowed his last bite for the moment, number 12693 to be exact, and looked at the Earl. "What exactly are you talking about? I mean, how can there be such a pure Innocence? The ones I've seen so far have pretty much all been on the same level, Lenalee's excluded, some even weaker, but never a really strong one."

The Earl nodded. "That's because there are very few, and the Order doesn't think they're more than legends. But the battle between Akuma and Innocence-users has gone on for a very long time, though they aren't known as Akuma or Exorcists, they are called heroes and monsters. Take Medusa as an example, one of the best Level 2s I ever had, could petrify anything it saw. But Perseus's shield was an Innocence that neutralized and reversed Akuma abilities, not to mention he could fly with it. He destroyed poor Medusa. But, I got my revenge when I personally shot him out of the sky."

Luciano looked up. "So you're telling us that legendary weapons like the Gáe Bulg existed and that they in fact were Innocence?"

The Earl nodded. "Ah yes, the Gáe Bulg, wielded by Cúchulainn himself. I'm not surprised an Irishman like you would mention it. Yes, the Hound was one of the toughest enemies I have ever seen."

Now Road spoke up. "Hercules! I read about him in school. Did he have one too?"

The Earl nodded. "He had two, although one wasn't really his, but he had it. It was the skin of a lion he slew, its special attribute made it impervious to damage. His real Innocence was his bow, which could fire arrows that causes wounds that never healed. Mainly used against my Akuma, although he killed a few people with it. The greeks also had a holy spring, which I always suspected was Innocence, in which they washed chosen newborns. These children would always be stronger, faster and tougher than anyone else."

Allen cleared his throat. "So, you want me to... alter these Innocences so that we may use them as a weapon, if I understand you correctly."

The Earl nodded. "That is correct."

Allen looked at him as he grabbed his fork. "Couldn't this have waited until after dinner? I mean, we aren't even sure if such an Innocence exist, let alone where to find it, so there's really no hurry."

The Earl shook his head. "And that, my boy, is where you're wrong." Allen felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. The Earl was almost always playful in public, but if he went overly familiar with the Noah and used nicknames without their real names, the shit was about to hit the fan. Allen gulped, and the other Noah, with the exception of Alice, who didn't know him well enough, didn't look too jappy either.

"So, you know where to find such a piece and you want me to get it, right?" Allen asked, already knowing the answer.

The Earl smiled. "Yes, I do. But don't worry, you're not going in alone."

Allen's heart sank further. If the Earl sent backup, than it was really bad. "What, when and where?" He asked.

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Levrier was sitting in his office, having just explained the situation to Bookman. The old man seemed to think for a while, then he looked up.

"There may be a Innocence that suits your needs, but it will not be easy to obtain. It is guarded by the descendants of its original user, and they are both inhumanly powerful and very protective of it."

Levrier nodded. "Then we shall send a large team of exorcists to get it. Where is this Innocence?"

Bookman grabbed into his sleeve and pulled out a scroll. "All the information is in this scroll. Remember that I am lending it to you, I expect to receive it back in peak condition."

Levrier looked at it. "Very well, but why a scroll?"

Bookman smiled. "Simple. A scroll is one piece of paper, so you cannot tear pages out nor can you replace real with fake pages."

With that, he left Levrier to organize the perhaps most important operation in the Order's history.

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The Earl smiled. "You're taking a sword from your home-country, in fact, your target is the most famous sword in British folklore."

Allen thought about these words, then his eyes widened to the size of his dinner-plate. "You're not serious."

Road looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Allen stared at the Earl. "You want me to steal Excalibur?!"

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Chapter 19 done. More than 6000 words of pure story, not bad. Next chapter might be longer, or I'll make it two chapters.

I would now like to request a moment of silence. It would seem that all the people who used to review this story have either died or left this site.

Seriously, I wasn't expecting 20 reviews or more, but THREE?! Well four, if you count the one made for chapter 3, but still. Readers expect longer chapters if one is written, but writers come to expect more feedback if more came, and the last chapter had 14 reviews. I'm not asking that everyone who reads writes a comment, although I wouldn't complain, but come on people, how am I supposed to know what I'm doing good and what needs more work without feedback?

I'd like to mention, I know how my story ends, so I don't need to write it. I'm not writing cause I like to write, I'm writing for the people that like my story and want to know how it ends. If there is no feedback, I'll have to assume that nobody's reading it, so there'd be no reason to write more chapters. I'm not trying to force reviews, but if this absence of feedback continues, I might take another break or simply abandon this fic.

But enough ranting.

1. I came up with a way to strengthen the Order, you'll see the effects next chapter. How do you like it?

2. I'm considering another Noah, though he'd play a minor role. Should I?

3. Yes, the Order and the Earl are once again after the same thing. Who do you think will get it?

4. Who will the Earl send? Who will the Order send? What do you think will happen?

5. The usual. How did you like it, what can I do better, on a scale from 1 to 10, etc...?

6. Tell me what you want to tell me.

This chapter took much longer since I have only limited access to a computer, and if I do, its only for a short time. I hope the quality hasn't suffered from this. As for what I've written above, it probably sounds more threatening than it's supposed to be, but please, more reviews.

Well, I'm finished for now, so:

Please Review