Shadow of a Fallen Angel- I'm glad you're enjoying the series so far – at least I'm doing something right! And really, what else could I do but get rid of Jo? She completely took over the story and didn't do what she was created to do. Bye bye Jo King.
Marufu – chan- Ah, what kind of author would I be if I reunited our lovebirds soon? Angst all the way!
Dakenolebeau-I can't tell you what Lulubell did to Jo, you'll have to use your imagination!
Birgitte LP- I'm so glad you're enjoying the Fics. I'll try to keep updates on a schedule, but RL continues to work against me.
Kuro. NekoRyn-No! Not AllenxLenalee! I understand people not reviewing, I'm guilty of it too on occasion. Thanks for your comments, it did make me feel better reading your review. And hoping that nothing bad will happen to Allen? Lol, that's like hoping that the chocolate bar I planted in the garden will grow into a chocolate tree. Um... or something like that.
Eternal-Dark-Eyes-The boring will pass *SOB* I was boring you? *goes to cry in corner* I'm happy that you like Decline, and I hope that Credence will live up tp your expectations.
Marmalah- To be honest, I don't know why Allen is losing his memory- you thought I was actually planning this fic? Lol! Jo was a pain, but she served her purpose. Well, she didn't, and thats why she's gone, but who cares, really? The fun starts in this chapter, thought the Yullen, not so much.
Lulubeck- Hehe, I can't wait either! I honestly only have the vaguest of motions of what'll happen. In fact, I know more of the ins and outs of Part 3 than this one!
Karina001- Nasty exit? Was it nasty? Was it an exit? Don't worry, I won't give up!
Wishfull- Unfortunately around 2500-3000 words is my chapter average. With my writing style and lack of time, I have difficulty pushing the length further. I'll try my best to extend them, but no promises! I'm glad you like it though.
KitsuneNaru-She's gone now, are you happy?
TimeGoesBackwards-I'm sorry for taking so long to reply, I'm totally lame. I'm glad you like it so far. Hopefully it will get better from here out!
Elven Magi-I'm glad you like the story! I do try!
Well, better late than never, I suppose. Thanks to the reviewers, the people who favourite, and of course, Bexi-face, my wonderful sister-cum-beta who did all the hard work.
The room was dim, lit with a few pillar candles, scattered about the room and melted to stubs, dried wax clinging to whichever surface they rested upon. They had obviously been left unattended for some time.
In the centre of the room, tall, solid and imposing, a four-poster bed, draped in decadent black silk took up most of the available floor space. Black Sheer curtains hung from the canopy, a poor means of achieving privacy even when drawn. The beds occupants were still save for the small motion of a broad tanned hand stroking back and forth along the pale arm of the second occupant of the bed.
"Mmmmmm... tickles" came the sleep- softened complaint, the pale arm twitching slightly, though not moving away from the gentle touch of the fingers. The hand stilled closing around the arm instead.
"I didn't tell you that you could stop" the voice muttered. Moments later the covers heaved as the body the voice belonged to rolled over to face his companion. Warm dark eyes met pale green ones and the mouth quirked into a small smile. "And you know how I feel about you disobeying me." The pale hand brushed the dark curls away from the tanned forehead before placing a kiss on the exposed skin. "Especially in the bedroom."
The tanned man laughed, his voice as warm as his eyes. "Who am I to refuse your order?" he chuckled.
They settled back down, facing each other while the tanned hands resumed the gentle petting.
The green- eyed man sighed in contentment, resting against the pillows with his eyes half open.
"I love you" the taller man whispered, ghosting his fingertips over the others face. Green eyes closed as an expression of pure peace settled on his features.
"And I you, Tyki" he replied, kissing the fingertips that lingered over his slightly parted lips. "More than you can imagine."
Tyki sat up slightly, propping himself on his elbow as he leant over the smaller man, capturing his mouth in a languid kiss. He pulled back, watching as a look he couldn't quite decipher settled into his lovers eyes.
"What's the matter?" he asked, brushing the wavy dark hair back off his companion's forehead.
"I hate this" he was informed, an ugly expression crossing the other's face "Why must we hide?"
"Because" Tyki replied patiently, with an air of having had this conversation many times before, "The Earl wants you. And what he can't have, no one else can."
"I hate that man!" the smaller of the pair spat vehemently, sitting up. "He disgusts me!" he shuddered "I don't know what he wants from me."
"You are the Fourteenth Noah" Tyki chided gently. "The Musician, The Creator, you are limitless in your power and unsurpassed in your beauty. Is it so hard to see why he covets you?"
The Fourteenth could not be calmed with gentle words however, and leapt from the bed, unmindful of his state of dress.
If it weren't for the fact that his lover was pacing frantically across the room in obvious distress, Tyki would have appreciated the view more.
"I do not know how much longer I will be able to refuse him" the Fourteenth confessed, ruffling his wavy hair in agitation. "I have already done so, again and again. I do not think the Earl will continue to take no for an answer." He turned tortured eyes on his partner. "I do not think I will return from today's meeting unscathed."
Tyki surged from the bed in one fluid motion, gathering the other man in his arms as if to shield him from the world. There was nothing weak or effeminate about the shorter man, but right then Tyki wished that his lover didn't feel the need to be strong all the time – it was obvious that he was terrified but didn't want to show it.
"I worry that he might kill you if you refuse him again" Tyki admitted.
"Death would be preferable" the muffled voice of the Fourteenth said, though it was half-hearted. Whatever he might say, he did not have a death wish.
"Would it be that terrible?" Tyki asked, though he wished he'd phrased it differently when those pale eyes burned into his own. "I meant" he said humidly "that the Earl is not truly horrible to look at in his true form..." he sighed with his a shake of his head. "I'm not saying this right."
To his surprise the other man smiled. "No, I understand. My true worry is what he will do to me, here" and he tapped his temple with a pale finger. He heaved a great sigh. "The Earl awaits. Help me dress?" Though it wasn't really a question, and it didn't require an answer– dressing his lover gave Tyki almost as much pleasure as undressing him.
Tyki watched with worried eyes as his lover straightened his tie and ran his fingers through his hair while his skin bled to grey and the yellow in his pale greenish eyes turned to liquid gold. With a chaste kiss they parted and Tyki could only watch as his lover walked away to meet with another man. The Fourteenth paused on the threshold, looking back over his shoulder, pulling a grim smile onto his face with visible effort. "Goodbye Tyki" he whispered before closing the door behind him with a sharp snap.
Tyki used the opportunity now he was alone to allow the tears he had been holding back time to escape. He knew that the Fourteenth that came back would not be the same man that had just left.
"Goodbye Neah."
Tyki brushed the memories away like an irritatingly persistent fly. It would do him no good to dwell on those thoughts now.
He idly flicked the end of his cigarette into the air, watching the ash disintegrate on the wind. Using the Earl's Black Ark he had transported himself back to the alleyway that he had first found Jo in.
After hearing something about a poker genius who had frequented the pubs there and simply disappeared after starting a fight in a bar, he was more than certain that he'd find some trace of Allen Walker here. The story had brought back memories of a card game and a train ride when he had been bested by a short white haired child. Of course, the thought of that journey, after which he'd carelessly tossed his adversary a deck of cards lead to another memory, when he had scattered those very cards over the beaten, broken body of the same exorcist- child who had stripped him to his underwear in a game of poker.
He clenched his fist discreetly in its pristine white glove. If he gave that memory too much thought, he fancied that he could still feel the fast, frantic, frightened beat of Allen Walkers heart in his palm.
He inhaled again, the smoke curling in his lungs before he blew it out forcefully and ground the cigarette out beneath his heel. The story of the poker genius had certainly sounded promising – the boys description (what he could ascertain from the barely sober ment hat had been present,) matched that of Allen Walker when he had met him again in Beauvais. Later there was even mention of a companion thought those alternated between a small dark haired boy (and the man who recounted this had quivered at the memory) a tall, foreign man armed with a sword with which he had apparently threatened the Frenchman whom Tyki had questioned. Well, that certainly answered the question of whether this person was Allen or not – the boy was undoubtedly little Josephine, and the man could be none other than the Japanese exorcist that he had seen with Allen in Beauvais. So, where to next?
He had heard rumours from one of his contacts in Calais that the exorcist had left France, and he had been alone as far as anyone could tell, so if kitchen- knife had left Allen behind, where had the little exorcist gone?
Luckily with the Earl's Ark, distance was no issue – if necessary he'd hop along the borders of the country until he found some trace of where Allen had gone, but he didn't really want to be wasting time trawling across Europe on a wild- goose chase.
So, if he was a disgraced former exorcist with nowhere to go, where would he go? His first thought was that he'd go to the places he knew best. Unfortunately for the Noah, he didn't know what places Allen knew the best. He knew that the boy spoke French, that much he had learned from Jo at least, so it made sense that the boy would either stay in France or go to another French speaking country.
Well, that narrowed the search somewhat. He frowned, mentally running over the list of possible destinations – France, obviously, though he doubted Walker would stay in the country, Belgium, Switzerland, Andorra, Luxembourg and Monaco. He immediately rejected Monaco, almost laughing out loud at the thought of albino Allen Walker on the coast of the Mediterranean. Plus it was too close to being in France.
He casually flicked his hair off his face forehead and slid his hands into his pockets. He had forgone his jacket and coat today, not paying attention to the strange looks he was getting. It was getting cold enough that being in ones shirt sleeves was unusual.
The air was crisp and autumnal against his skin and whenever the chilled wind picked up it lifted his hair, ruffling it further.
The disturbing memories of his past hung around him like a fog, making him desperate to locate Allen Walker, the vessel containing his lover. The longer he waited, the harder it became to hold himself back from tearing Europe apart.
There was only one thing for it, he decided it was time to call out the big guns. 'Akuma' he sent out to all of the trapped souls that he controlled. 'I have a very important job for you...'
0o0o0
Kanda scowled. He had decided approximately 7 minutes ago, that he hated the sea. He had been staring blankly at the horizon for a God-forsaken fortnight, and had now reached the conclusion that there was nothing as inane and ridiculous as travelling by boat.
He had started his journey back in France at some stupid little village that he'd never even heard of. Apparently Leverrier had got hold of Crowley and Marie's stupid report of their last mission in France and found the mention of some stupid French kid worthy of investigation. The fact that that this French kid was actually Allen was irrelevant – it was still stupid. Stupid was word of the day.
He had realised by the time that he had reached the tiny village in the middle of nowhere that he was being followed by Leverrier's crow and was infinitely pleased that he'd followed his orders. They were probably there as 'back up' but Kanda knew that they were also there to keep an eye on him, making sure that he kept following his orders. That meant that his time in the village had to be spent as though he was honestly searching for Allen. The brief description in Marie and Crowley's report was vague but detailed enough to question the locals about his whereabouts. Not that it had been easy, his time with Allen in Paris had taught him a small amount of French, but not enough to carry a conversation about the location of a pretty non- descript boy who may or may not have lived here some time ago.
He muddled through, using the locals smattering of English and violent gestures to get his message across. He had the distinct impression that the crow were laughing at him but since he was not supposed to know they were there could do nothing about it.
He had read the report before he came here, and knew that Paris was never mentioned, so hopefully Leverrier had no clue where Allen had gone next.
And now that Kanda knew of his tail, he realised he could hardly follow hi original plan and follow Allen, as that would lead Leverriers crows straight to their target, so instead he did the only thing he could. He buried his memories of Allen deep and headed in the other direction. Catching the first America bound passenger ship that he found.
He wanted nothing more than to catch up with Allen, after all, how could an exorcist in hiding survive when their innocence was a magnet for Akuma. Add to the fact that Allen attracted trouble like brothels attracted Cross, and he felt sure that the Moyashi was doomed.
But this was all he could do to help him. He just hoped it would be enough.