Chapter 75- Unhappy Birthday Part 2- Mix

Lenalee

I gasped as I felt the pain shoot up my body. I started to cough and opened my eyes. I was lying on the ground. I saw that Daisya had draped his uniform on me like a blanket. I slowly sat up.

"Are you all right?" I heard him ask. I looked behind me to see him standing up. He walked up to me and gently hugged me. He was tense and on edge.

I hugged him back and rested my head on his shoulder. "Who was she?"

Daisya let me go and sat in front of me. He wasn't wearing the bandages he normally wore. He looked worried, angry, and sad all at the sometime.

"She's someone from my past," He said.

"Please don't play that game, Daisya," I said. "It's probably something that's hard for you to talk about, but I need to know about her. Why did she attack me?"

Daisya didn't look me in the eye as he spoke. "Because she's still in love with me. About two years after I joined the Order, Kanda and I got mixed up with some people that we shouldn't have. Kanda left before anything bad happened, but I wasn't so smart. These people were all innocence users like us- but they are a part of a different kind of Order."

"How does that work?" I asked. "No one's ever talked about that."

"No one really knows- not even Leverrier," He said. "These people understand their innocence a lot more than we do, but they stay in the background. Cassandra's one of those people. Like she said, we used to be in love. But after a while, I broke it off. I had realized that the people I was with were dangerous- her especially."

"Was this when you went missing for five months?" I asked thinking back on the fear I had felt for him years back.

Daisya nodded. "I didn't tell anyone about it because I knew that no one would believe me. It's because I didn't leave why Kanda and I haven't been on very good ground over the last few years."

I nodded. I remembered that other than Marie and me, Daisya was the only one Kanda trusted to tell anything to. That changed after Daisya had come back. Kanda became distant and would yell at Daisya for every little thing. I could always see that the trust he used to have was gone, and I never understood why until now.

"Why doesn't Kanda trust these people?" I asked.

"Because he understand their knowledge," Daisya said. "These people were able to use innocence not just as weapons, but as a form of magic."

"What?" I asked. "Who were these people?"

Daisya smiled. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me," I said.

"They were people from the Greek mythology," He said looking me in the eye. I could tell that he wasn't joking around.

"How is that possible?" I asked.

"All of the main characters in the myths were cursed by the gods in some way or another," Daisya said. "You know that. Those curses somehow developed into innocence. It was the Greek gods and goddesses that had fought the Earl before us. They were the ones who were able to banish him. The story of innocence goes farther back than anyone had ever thought. These people have lived through that war. They were part of it."

"Are you saying that the heroes of the myths are real?' I asked.

Daisya said, "Hercules, Chiron, Percius, Cassandra, all of them and many more are still alive to this day. They're innocence users like us."

"You know how insane this sounds, right?" I asked.

"I know it does," he said. "But Lenalee, can you just imagine what it would be like to live through all of that and still be alive- centuries after your time."

"How are they immortal?" I asked.

"The innocence gave them that power. It mixed with the god's curses and brought magic into their lives. Lenalee, these people taught me how to use my innocence like they can. I don't just have to use it as a weapon. I can use it to control things. It was because of the innocence why I was able to stay a ghost."

I jumped to my feet. "You're sounding insane, Daisya! You're scaring me!"

"How am I scaring you?" He asked getting to his feet. He grabbed my hands. "That is the last thing I ever want to do to you, Boo."

"Then stop talking like this," I pleaded. "Magic only exists in stories. It's fake."

"Science can be considered a type of magic," Daisya said. "So can alchemy, the Noah's powers, and innocence. It's all something that allows us to control something that isn't human. But Lenalee, I know how to use my innocence for more than a weapon. Just let me show you."

I was tense, and I knew it showed. Daisya looked away from my glare. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," he said. "But Lenalee, all I want you to know is that I didn't tell you to keep you safe. However, Cassandra violated the oath of not attacking the other type of exorcists today. I had to tell you to keep you safe. You need to know who your enemy is."

"My enemy is the Earl!" I snapped, yanking my arms away from him. "Keep me out of this, Daisya! I don't want to be part of it!"

Daisya let out a frustrated sigh, and turned his back to me. He started to pace. My eyes landed on the odd square scare on his back.

"What's that on your back?" I asked.

He stopped pacing. "It's a curse. Cassandra gave it to me when I broke things off. She had a prophecy that once I found true love, my life would become a hell. Of course I didn't believe her. That was part of the curse Apollo gave her in Ancient Greece."

I remembered the myth of Cassandra. She had made a promise to Apollo- the god of the Sun, prophecy, music, and a whole bunch of other stuff- that she would sleep with him in return for the gift of prophecy. However she tricked the god into giving her the gift. After he gave it to her, she backed out of her side of the deal. Apollo acted as if he wasn't angry, and asked for one more kiss before he left. Cassandra gave it to him and he cursed her. She would see the future, but no one would believe her. It was because of that why Troy fell.

"And now you believe her?' I asked.

Daisya nodded and I felt my heart sink. "I fell in love with you and everything's going insane." He chuckled. "But I don't really care. The fact that Cassandra attacked you is what I care about. She knows something. And if I'm right, I think I know another reason for her attacking you."

"Please enlighten me," I said.

"There are only a few people in every set of exorcists that can turn their innocence into magic," Daisya explained. "Judging by things that have recently happened, I think you're one of those people."

I raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"You have dreams that have helped us on our missions," Daisya said. "Your innocence is probably what's given you those images. Plus, when you were fighting the level three akuma, something happened. I suddenly felt this pain where my scar is. I blinked and found myself in Athens. You were there. You gave me your necklace and disappeared. When I came to my senses, I was back on the ship, and everyone could see me. Even Bookman looked surprised. It was you who pulled me into Athens. Judging by other conversations I've heard, Kanda, Allen, ads Arisa all saw those same things. You all have the power to turn innocence into magic. It's because of that why Cassandra attacked you. She doesn't want another female to be able to do the things she can- especially if that female's the person I love."

"Prove it," I said. "Prove to me that you really can do magic."

Daisya nodded. He walked over to me and grabbed my hand. "Close your eyes." I did.

I felt the air around me suddenly grow warm. I was scared at first, but then I remembered that Daisya was with me, and that calmed me down.

"Open you eyes,' Daisya said. I did. I looked around and gasped as I saw that all of the dewdrops that had been clinging onto the plants were hovering in the air.

"How are you doing this?" I asked.

"Magic," He said. I looked at his dark brown eyes and felt all of my anger melt away. He was looking at me with so much love and compassion; it made it hard to stay mad at him. Without thinking about the magic surrounding me, I kissed Daisya. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.

The warmth I had felt flared inside my chest. I took a step back surprised that it didn't hurt me. My eyes widened as I saw that we were trapped inside a swirling, multi-colored, vortex-like thing. Daisya even looked surprised. I hesitantly reached my hand towards the wall of color. I went right through it. It was made out of water.

"Are you doing this?" I asked.

Daisya shook his head. "Not alone. I wouldn't be able to do something like this on my own."

"So… I'm helping you?" I asked.

"I think so. Did you feel an odd heat inside of you?"

I nodded. "Was that magic?"

"Yep," Daisya said. He pulled me into a hug. "All it takes is something unbelievable to get you to believe, huh?"

"I guess so," I said. I turned around so that my back was to him. He placed his arms around my waist. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," I said.

"I was expecting that to happen," He said. "I'm sorry you got attacked.

"It's something I'm used to by now," I muttered. I leaned against him, watching the swirling colors.

After a few minutes, the vortex stopped and droplets of water rained down on us. I smiled and looked at the sky. The sun was almost setting.

"We need to get back!" I said quickly. Arisa said that the party would start at sunset. "Everyone will think that we doing things we weren't supposed to do out here if we don't get back soon."

Daisya chuckled. He grabbed his coat and put it on. Together we cleaned the picnic up and headed back.

After disposing of the picnic stuff in my room, I grabbed Daisya's hand. We talked while walking. I could tell that he was too distracted by talking to me to know where he was going, because he ran into three walls.

By the time we made it to the cafeteria, he was in a lot of pain, while I, on the other hand, was laughing.

"You are mean to laugh while I'm hurt!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," I said. I tried to get my laughter under control. "How does this help?" I kissed his nose.

"Ew!" Timothy said.

"Whoa!" Daisya said. "What he hell's going on here?"

I looked over to my right to see that the entire cafeteria was decked out in beautiful and crazy decorations. I smiled and looked at Daisya. He was so surprised.

"Happy birthday." I said, hugging him.

Kanda:

"It can't be possible!" General Tiedol sobbed. "You can't be twenty!" The general, Daisya, Marie and I were all sitting at a table, talking and drinking.

"Technically, he should be twenty-one," I pointed out. "He was dead for a year."

The general glared at me. "You're making me feel even more old, Kanda!"

"You are old," Daisya and I said at the same time. The general hung his head.

"Thanks guys," Daisya said. "This has been a very interesting day."

"Interesting?" I asked. I thought for a moment. Anger flared up inside of me. "What did you do in the forest with Lenalee?"

"Nothing!" Daisya said too quickly. He obviously understood where I was going. "We did nothing like that!"

"You answered too quickly," I said. "I didn't say anything that might have any reason to think the way you did, Daisya."

"You're eyes showed you were mad," Daisya said. "I knew you were being your usual, protective self. I promise- we didn't do anything like that. It was just a day of talking about our past and our futures. Nothing else."

"Don't bother him, Yuu," Tiedol said. "I'm sure Lenalee would never allow him to do anything like that. "

"Sorry to interrupt," Arisa said, walking up to the table.

"It's fine," Tiedol said.

"Do you guys remember that dance we learned when we met that tribal group a few years back with Suman?" Arisa asked.

"I think so," Daisya said. "The one with all the twirling and jumping?"

"Yep," She said. "Will you guys dance?'

"Sure," Daisya said. He stood up and walked over to Lenalee. Marie nodded, got up, and grabbed Miranda.

Arisa looked at me with a pleading expression on her face. "Please?"

I sighed. "Fine."

She smiled and pulled me to my feet. We walked over to the others. Miranda looked horrified.

"I don't know how to dance," She muttered.

"Relax, this is an easy one to learn,"' Arisa said.

"That's easy for you to say- you're all good at stuff!" Miranda exclaimed.

"You're good at stuff as well, Miranda," Marie said kissing her head. It was still weird to see them together.

"Ready?" Arisa asked.

"No…" Miranda muttered.

Without listening to Miranda, we all started to dance. Even though it had been a long time since I danced like that, I was able to remember every move. Arisa and I were spinning all around the dance floor like two leaves dancing in the wind. After a few minutes, Arisa grabbed Allen's hand as we passed. He yelped, and grabbed Mana's arm. The two of them quickly caught on, and soon enough, we had every exorcist except for General Socalo dancing. However, after the other generals persuaded him, he too was part of the dancing.

I glanced over at Alma to see him dancing with Lenalee. He looked confused and angry. Once the dance had ended, he stomped over to a chair in the back of the room, and sat down. I walked over and sat next to him.

"Don't like to dance?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm not good at it."

"That's not the only reason as to why you're mad, is it?" I asked.

"No…" He trailed off. I saw him glance at Arisa.

"Are you and Arisa not getting along?" I asked

Alma shrugged. "Not really."

"Why?" I asked.

Alma didn't answer at first. However when he did, his question made no sense. "Have you given up looking for her?"

"Looking for who?" I asked.

"That woman," he said. "The woman you fell in love with as a kid."

"I haven't given up," I said. "I haven't seen her in a long time, and my feelings changed for Arisa. I never thought that I would fall in love with anyone else, but she changed that. I don't see why would you be mad about that though."

"It's reasons you wouldn't understand," Alma muttered.

"Try it. I may surprise you," I said. When Alma didn't respond, I chuckled. "You're still an odd person, Alma." I wrapped my arm around his neck, and started to rub my knuckles on his head.

Alma laughed. 'What are you doing?"

"Trying to get you to laugh," I said. "Looks like it's working."

"You're the odd one," Alma said after I let him go. He punched my arm.

"This whole world is odd," I said.

"I can tell you've been hanging out with Daisya for many years," He sad. "You are just like him."

"I'm kind of offended by that," I said. I smiled at him. "I don't know if I've told you this, but I really am glad that you're back, Alma,"

"I'm glad I'm back too, Yuu," He said. He hugged me. "I really missed you."

"And I missed you," I said, hugging him back.

Allen:

I was having a terrible day. I stayed in my room all day while everyone was setting up Berry's party. I knew that Lenalee and Daisya were alone in the forest doing God-knows-what all day, and now I was being forced to spend the night at a party for someone I hated. The only good part was that I was able to dance with Lenalee.

I watched as Daisya and Lenalee slow-danced to a beautiful melody that Mana was playing on the piano. I was jealous that Daisya was able to have Lenalee as a lover.

I had had enough of watching him and Lenalee gaze into each other's eyes. I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Krory asked.

"I'm going for a walk," I said. "I'll be back in a while.

Krory nodded. He returned his sight back to the dancers. I noticed that he was watching Miranda and Marie. Marie was an amazing dancer, even though he was blind. Miranda, on the other hand, was tripping all over.

"They remind me so much of Eliade and I," Krory said. "I was always terrible at dancing, and Eliade was brilliant at it."

I smiled slightly. "You'll find somebody like her someday, Krory, don't worry about that. I'll see you in a while."
"See you," he said.

I walked out of the room, and then out of the building. It was chilly outside, but not too cold. I wrapped myself in my coat. I had no clue where I was going. I just needed to get out of there. My mind kept going back to Lenalee's smiling face.

She looked stunning just by smiling the way she did. It was the first time I had ever seen her smile like that, and I knew it was because of Daisya. The twinkle in her eyes and the playful attitude she had was always there whenever he was around. He was able to get her to calm down with one touch. I had over heard Mana and General Tiedol talking about how that was true love. I hated to admit it, but I was envious of Daisya Berry.

"You look like you're having some love trouble," my own voice said.

I stopped walking and looked up. The Fourteenth was leaning on a tree, smiling evilly.

"What are you doing here?" I asked getting ready to activate my innocence.

"I'm here to talk," he said.

"Allen, is everything all right? Krory said-" Mana stopped mid sentence the moment he saw the Fourteenth. "Hello, Brother."
"Hello, Mana," The Fourteenth said.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked.

"You have a traitor among the Black Order," he said. "I know because the Earl met with them."

"Who is it?" Mana asked.

"You'll have to figure that out on your own," the Fourteenth said. "Also, I figured that you would want to know more about why you haven't heard from the Earl in a while." He tossed a sack on the ground. It fell open, and the Millennium Earl's head rolled out.

Mana and I both took a step back. "You killed him?" Mana asked.

"Of course I did," the Fourteenth said. "It was the only way to take control of his army. I guess that I'm the new Millennium Earl."

"He was our brother, Nea! It's terrible that you killed him!" Mana said.

"And what about you?" Nea asked. "You're working with his enemies."

"I wouldn't have been the one to kill him," Mana said.

"You would have killed him if it came down to just the two of you," Nea said. "I know you, Mana. You can get angry easily, and if it came down to the two of you, you would have turned murderous. After everything he's ever done to us, I'm surprised that you never did kill him." He looked at me/ "What do you think of your father, kid? Is he really the man you thought he would be?"

Mana clutched his fists. I'd never seen him this mad. "Don't bring him into this, Nea."

"He was brought into this the moment he took a breath in this world," Nea said. "With every minute that passes, he falls deeper into this world. You know that, Mana."

"And I will stay in this world until I know that the people I love are safe," I said.

"We'll see about that," Nea said. He took his glove off and tossed it.

Before I could ask what he was doing that for, Mana picked it up. "I'll accept the challenge."

"Fine," Nea said. "We'll fight until one of us falls. Right now."

"Allen, stay out of this," Mana said.

""Why?" I asked, "What's going on?"

"It's a challenge," Mana said. "Do not interfere."

I hesitantly nodded and walked to the outer edge of the tree line where they started to fight. I hated not being able to help my father, but I figured that it wouldn't help if I got in the middle. I watched as Mana and Nea fought- Noah power against innocence. It took a long time for either of them to get a single scratch, and even longer for the fight to end.

I didn't like the way it ended. I didn't like watching the bloodshed. I didn't like looking at the bloodstains on the ground, against the trees, and on their clothes. I didn't like seeing the evil version of myself stabbing my father in the chest.

Mana fell to his knees. The Fourteenth smirked. "You're rusty, Brother. Next time you want to fight, make sure you're ready." He disappeared with that being said.

I ran to Mana. I felt tears in my eyes. This was how he had died the first time- except he was fighting someone else. I didn't want to lose him again.

"Mana, please stay with me," I said.

"Don't worry, I'm going to," he muttered. He coughed and blood splattered my face. "Sorry."

"It's fine," I said as I wiped the blood off my face. "We need to get you back. Can you walk?"

"I don't think so," He said. "Run to the Order and get the nurse."

"I'm not going to leave you," I said.

"Allen-"

I interrupted him. "I don't want to lose you again!" I was crying now. "I'm not leaving you because I'm scared I'm going to get back here, and you'll be gone."

"You're paranoid," Mana muttered. He placed a hand on my head. "I'll be fine. Nea didn't stab enough to kill me. I'll be fine."

I shook my head. "Please don't make me go…."

"Allen listen to me," Mana said. "I'm not going to die. I won't leave you alone like that again. I promise."

I continued to shake my head. I was crying too hard, and it didn't matter what Mana said, I wasn't going to leave him- not yet. I was frozen to that spot, fear and anger paralyzing me.

Arisa:

Call it my "sister intuition" or something like that, but I could have sworn that I felt Allen upset. I scanned the room, but I couldn't find him. I walked over to Cross. 'Do you know where Allen is?"

"He probably left to get away from that." Cross jabbed a finger towards Lenalee and Daisya. "Why do you ask?"

"I keep thinking that I'm feeling that he's freaking out," I said. "Could it be something to do with me being his sister?"

"Sounds like it," General Klaud said as she walked up to us. "If he's freaking out, then we need to find him."

"I agree," I said. "Mana's not here either."

"Let's go," Cross said. We started to run out of the room.

"What's going on?" Kanda asked as I ran past. He grabbed my arm. Judging by the worry on his face, I must have looked like I was in hysterics. "What happed?" He asked.

"We don't know," I said. "I can't find Allen. I'm worried about him."

'What do you mean?" Alma asked.

I didn't answer. I freed myself from Kanda and ran out of the building. I was holding tears back as I ran past the generals and into the forest. I stopped to look around.

"Allen!" I yelled. "Allen, where are you?"

"Arisa, don't run off like that," General Klaud said. "We need to stay together. If Alle's in trouble, then it'll be safer if we stay together."

I was shaking. The female general hugged me. "He's going to be all right. Allen's strong."

I didn't listen to her. I pushed the general away from me, and ran farther. I knew that the other two were following me. I could hear their footsteps crushing leaves.

I stopped when I saw the blood splatter on a tree. My heart raced quicker with every step until I found Allen leaning over Mana's body.

"Oh my God!" I said. I ran over to him and hugged him. I looked at Mana. "What happened?"

"The Fourteenth challenged me to a duel, and he took it," Allen said.

Cross knelt down next to Mana. He placed his head on Mana's chest. "He's still alive. Why didn't you get anyone, Idiot?"

"I've already lost him once, I couldn't lose him again," Allen said. He was crying harder. "I was scared, Master. It was exactly like how he died last time. I didn't want to leave his side."

I hugged Allen tighter. "He's going to be fine. He will- I promise."

"What happened?" Lenalee asked, running up to us. She knelt down breathing hard. Soon, all of the other exorcists were there. Miranda activated her innocence, and the wound on Mana's chest closed up. He groaned and slowly sat up.

Allen tackled him with a hug and started to sob into his chest. I followed my brother's lead. Mana chuckled and hugged us both. "You two are so similar."

"We need to get you back," Cross said. "You're lucky we got here when we did."

"How did you know where we were?" Allen asked.

"Siblings have a special bond," I said. "It led me here."

Mana stood up as f he had never been injured. "The head nurse is going to be mad about this. She is a terrifying woman."

"You get used it after ten years," Kanda said. General Tiedol started to glare at him. "What?"

"Stop saying things that will make me feel old!" Tiedol snapped.

"You are old!" Kanda said.

"Don't start this," Klaud said. "Let's go."

Everyone except for Lenalee, Allen, Kanda, Daisya, and I all left. I noticed the head on the ground before anyone lese.

"Whose head is that?" I asked.

Everyone else saw it, and went silent. Lenalee covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hold a scream back. She let a little squeak out.

"It's the Earl's," Allen muttered. "The Fourteenth killed him. He controls the army now."

Daisya moved towards the head and wrapped it back up in its sack. "We'll show it to Leverrier when he gets back." He tied the back shut and put it on the ground. He walked over to Allen and held his hand out. "You've had a tough night. Come one, let's get back."

Reluctantly, Allen took Daisya's hand and allowed the older exorcist to pull him to his feet. "Thank you," he said.

Daisya ruffled Allen's hair and placed a smile on his face. "Isn't that what teammates are for?"

Allen smiled and nodded. "It is." He held his hand out to Daisya. "Sorry I've been such a pain in the ass."

"I'm sorry I attacked you," Daisya said shaking Allen's hand. The two smiled at each other.

I looked at Lenalee and saw the disbelief on her face. She smiled and stood up. She hugged both of them and put an arm around both of their shoulders. The three of them walked away.

"Well that was unexpected," Kanda said.

"It's amazing what one single thing can do to change a person's perspective," I said. I stood and looked at the head with the sack. "Where are we going to put that?"

"I have no clue," Kanda said. "We'll leave it her until Leverrier and Komui get back."

"Good idea," I said. I hugged Kanda. "You should follow Daisya's lead and work with Allen like that."

"Not going to happen," Kanda said. He wrapped his arm around my waist and we started to walk back.

Even though neither of us said anything on the matter, I knew that we both were thinking the same thing; tonight was the first- and probably the only- warning that the Fourteenth was going to give us on just how powerful he really was. The Earl's head showed that the war wasn't almost over like we all had wanted to think. This was just beginning.