His mind was muggy, dull light faded in and out beyond his eyelids.
Where am I? Is the battle over…
Then, the memories came flooding back like a dam broke. It was during the heat of the battle when Kanda had stabbed him with his Innocence, it affected him in more ways then it should've. Contact with Kanda's weapon brought out the 14th, as much as he tried to stop him he took over. Then after a brief conversation with the 14th he was locked deep within his own subconscious; and he was shown some of his earlier memories with Mana.
With a tsk he sat up, placing a hand over his eyes as the light grew brighter. The 14th had invaded his personal memories. Sure it was a pleasant memory he'd been shown, he'd almost forgotten….but the way he'd seen it was wrong.
"What's wrong Allen? You look troubled…" Thin arms draped around his neck and he froze. Not wasting another second he went to activate his Innocence and see who was behind him. But before he could the person backed away and came into his sight. His brows drew together at the Noah in front of him.
"Road?"
The female Noah gave him a tiny smile, "Don't act so surprised to see me, Allen. You remember what happened don't you?"
Allen looked towards the sheets that were covering him. "No. It's a blank. The 14th took over...anyways…." He paused and lifted his head glaring at Road, "Where the hell am I and why are you here?"
Road chuckled jumping off the bed. She gave him a playful smile and answered, "You're in the Ark! After you passed out Lord Milleny wanted to take you back with us. It's better then going back with those Exorcists...you'd probably be in jail now…" Her words trailed off.
He processed what he'd just been told. The Earl brought him to the Ark? Was this his goal all along?! Allen growled and threw the sheets off of himself standing to his feet. "The Ark? I would be better off with the Exorcists, with my friends! I'm leaving." Behind Road he spotted a door. As he went to take a step towards it he felt he ankle sway the slightest. His eyes narrowed and he widened his stance to steady himself.
Road watched this through half-closed eyes. After moments of Allen trying to regain his balance she moved closer and gently pushed him back. In a daze he fell backwards, his eyes staring ahead as the room blurred by, stopping when he collided with the blankets.
"Can't allow you to do that Allen, you're not even fully healed." Road towered over him her voice growing serious, "The Earl would be angry if you left. For now, stay put." His grey eyes were wide as unnatural exhaustion overcame him. Then, he was thrown into a dreamworld.
They'd been travelling for a while now. Mana said they were going to a carnival in some town he'd already forgotten the name of. As he walked beside his father Allen felt content. The days had been going by smoothly, and according to Mana business had been good. But there was one problem.
His old name, 'Red', had been abandoned. He now was called 'Allen.' Mana sometimes called him this after his dead dog who'd also once shared this name. Allen grew fond of it and took it on as his permanent name. The thing that's been bothering him was lately he'd been calling him by another unknown name. Allen disliked it, he prefered the name 'Allen' to anything else.
Allen snuck a glance at Mana who was walking with a bounce in his step. The man somehow saw him looking at him and grinned. Allen blushed slightly and faced back forward. "We're almost there! Are you excited?"
"Yup!" Allen replied.
Minutes later, they came upon a town sign. Mana paused in walking and pointed at it, "See this Nea? We're here, come on!"
He froze. Nea. There it was again. That name that wasn't his. He swallowed a lump in his throat and called out at Mana who'd begun walking, "Mana...I'm Allen! Not Nea!"
Mana snapped his head around confusion clear on his face. He stared at the boy unblinking for a few seconds. Then the name came back. Mana bent down and rested a hand on Allen's shoulder. With a comforting smile he said, "Of course, you're Allen. Come now, we don't want to be late to the show."
Allen's frown faded away as quickly as it'd came. He took ahold of Mana's hand, him being so short his arm had to stretch all the way up to reach. At this action Mana chuckled and began to walk once again. And hand in hand, the pair went into town.
Allen snapped up in bed, sweat dripped down his forehead and he breathed heavily as he attempted to catch his breath. Memories. Why were those coming back to him now of all times?
Glancing around the room he found that thankfully he was alone. He considered trying to escape but he felt he wouldn't get very far in his state. Allen gritted his teeth and slowly laid back down. He'd have to bide his time, soon he'd be able to escape. And hopefully by then he's not already considered an enemy at the Order.
(Hi'ya! So to clear some things up in the flashback I remember reading somewhere that Mana's memory starting deteriorating after Nea's death. That's why he started calling Red-Allen and I'm pretty sure every now and then Allen-Nea.
In this fanfic Nea will be portrayed as sort of a darker character. He will still have feelings for Mana/Earl but overall he wants to kill him.
Thanks for reading! Until next time!)