As usual, bold is Allen's point of view, regular is Lenalee, underlined is Lavi/Kanda, and italics are Road, if I put her in this chapter.
D. Gray-man is not mine, no matter how much I wish it was. R&R please! I love feedback!
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Lenalee had discovered years ago that her Dark Boots were faster than any train, boat, or locomotive. She would arrive in Paris any moment now; she could already see the famous shape of the Eiffel Tower rising above the city, illuminated by the early morning light.
As she raced beneath the Arc de Triomphe, Lenalee thought she heard a high pitched whine kind of sound. Immediately she was on guard and, on instinct alone, she dove into the nearest alleyway, and not a moment too soon.
The akuma's bullets created a crater in the spot she had just vacated. Then the thing came around the corner, and Lenalee let out a sigh of reliefThe Arc de TriompheThe Arc de Triomphe; it was just a Level 1. She could beat it easily.
She leapt, executing both a perfect triple summersault and the akuma in the next second. As she landed, Lenalee permitted herself a small smile of victory, but it quickly melted into a look of confusion.
That was easy. Too easy. Usually, even a Level 1 akuma would put up more of a fight.
On guard now, Lenalee kept walking down the alley. But before she had made it even fifty steps, a figure moved to block her path. It was a man, maybe in his late forties, bundled in rags probably found in the gutter. He smelled awful, and he needed a haircut; his bangs covered most of his eyes.
"A beautiful young woman such as you shouldn't be walking alone at this time of night," the man rasped. His voice was low and gravelly, suggesting that he smoked an awful lot. He certainly smelled like it. But there was something else in his voice that Lenalee picked up on; malice.
She didn't answer the man. Instead, she activated her Dark Boots, and leapt straight up and over him.
She kept walking, expecting the man to be too stunned to come after her. But she gasped as she felt a hand on her arm, and was pulled backwards.
She could see his eyes now. They were ice blue, and perfectly deranged. Lenalee couldn't help averting her gaze…to the pentacle on his forehead.
She didn't think, she just acted. Her leg came up, and her heel sliced the akuma in half.
What was going on? First an all-out attack, then a strategically planned one, back to back. No akuma was this smart.
Komui came to see him the next day, with Lenalee being gone. Once again, Allen's poker face went up. He wasn't sure why he let it down around Lenalee, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know why.
For a while, the two men made small talk, but eventually, they ran out of things to say, and it fell silent.
But from the moment the scientist came in, Allen was burning with curiosity. Where was Lenalee? Was she alright? Would she be back soon?
He tried to resist, but after a few minutes of silence, he couldn't help it.
Komui seemed surprised by the question. Allen tensed as he saw Komui's hand reach for his left pocket, where Lenalee had told him her brother kept his smaller drills and syringes.
But apparently he decided against it. "She's in France; Paris." Here, the older man's face took on a look of concern. "We haven't heard from her yet, which is strange for Lenalee. Usually she reports as soon as she reaches her destination, which I'm sure she has by now."
Allen was silent. He simply nodded at Komui in thanks, and the scientist took that as his queue to leave. Why hadn't Lenalee reported? Was she alright? Allen had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Her plan was coming along nicely. Akuma after akuma were attacking the Exorcist, at random intervals, with random attacks. Eventually the Exorcist would be caught off guard, and Road would give the command to kill.
But this Exorcist was a bit more powerful than Road had hoped she would be. It would take some time before she died. Why not visit Allen sooner than planned?
It had been maybe half an hour since Komui had left, when a giant heart like door appeared on Allen's wall.
He sighed and sat up, bracing his arms behind him on the bed. "What do you want Road?...And why do you look so happy? In fact Allen had never seen her look so overjoyed. But this was Road, so whatever had made her so zealous couldn't be good.
"Oh nothing Allen," she said, her voice an octave higher than usual. She skipped-skipped?!-over to the bed, and plopped down next to Allen. Before he could protest, Road had leaned her head on his shoulder, her black spiky hair tickling his cheek. Allen had to breathe deeply to keep himself from hurling.
"What do you want Road?" he asked again, once he was sure he wouldn't throw up.
"I just wanted to see my favorite Noah prodigy," she said with false innocence. She turned a small pout on Allen. Again, he felt the urge to regurgitate his lunch.
Why was she here? Road wasn't the kind of person to come for a visit, no matter what she said. She could only be here for one of two reasons: she was on a mission for the Earl, or she was here to satisfy her never ending vanity. And judging from the way she was acting, it was probably the latter.
Once again, Allen had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong. And somehow, that something wrong had to do with Lenalee. He wasn't sure how he knew, he just knew.
"Excuse me, Road," Allen said, gently pushing her off of him and standing up. "I need to use the restroom."
It was risky, but it was the only way to get to her fast enough. He had only done it once, years ago, and it had almost killed him. But she was worth it. Lenalee was worth saving.
Akuma after akuma attacked, sometimes right after another, sometimes in groups, and, worst of all, sometimes they would wait a whole hour or more before attacking again. Needless to say, Lenalee's nerves were on edge.
What was happening? This was unlike anything Lenalee had ever experienced before. Akuma weren't smart. Someone was behind this, pulling the strings. It had to be a Noah, but which would go to such lengths to kill just one Exorcist? In particular, her?
It had been five minutes since the last attack. She wished they'd just attack and get it over with. 'Be careful what you wish-' Lenalee started to think, until an akuma smashed her back against the side of the alley.
She watched, trapped beneath the Level 3's six legs, as its scorpion tail positioned itself for the kill. She couldn't tear her eyes from the pointed, poison tipped stinger that would end her life.
He shut and locked the bathroom door behind him. 'Alright Allen, you can do this. For Lenalee.' Convinced now that this was the right thing to do, Allen took a deep breath and laid his hands flat against his side.
"...Neah?" It took a minute for the Noah to respond.
"…Beansprout?" Allen gritted his teeth, but said nothing. "…What do you need?" The Noah asked.
"I need to open a portal."
"Are you serious, Beansprout?" Neah asked with disbelief plain in his disembodied voice. "It almost killed you last time."
"I know. But it's necessary." The Noah was silent. Then, in a flash, Allen saw Lenalee's face, smiling at him.
"I see," The Noah said, clearly amused. "You're in love."
"What? No!" Allen shook his head, as though to dislodge the voice from his head.
"You are. But you're obviously in denial." Allen stood there, shocked. "Anyway, I kinda have to do what you say for now, so where to?"
"…P-Paris," Allen finally mannered to stutter out.
"Are you prepared for the side effects, Beansprout?"
"For her, yes."
"Yep, you're in love." But none the less, a portal opened in front of Allen. "You have maybe one hour before the side effects kick in."
"Thank you, Neah," Allen said, and stepped through the portal…
…Just in time to see a giant scorpion akuma about to kill Lenalee.