A/N: Finally back for another chapter! Ahh! I can't believe it! Only one chapter left before the epilogue! :D Hope I don't disappoint!
Thank you to Takei Daloui, Ennael, ultima-owner, bougainvillea blossom, vampireharry the 2, Fulminata, 534667lc, KK, Kenzie Perth, YullenSunsetKitsune, RaNDoem, Juli Ramos, and OtakuDrag0n (x2) for all reviewing!(:
By the way, prophecies come up a lot in this chapter, and I don't care to reiterate any that I've mentioned before, so if you don't recall, Allen's prophecy is at the end of chapter one, Alma's somewhere in the middle of chapter eleven, and Lenalee's was in chapter eighteen. Anyway, that's all! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I owned it, I wouldn't be here! :p
Chapter 19
Time Frame — Night of May 1st, 1896
—3rd Person POV—
~Allen~
The world exploded.
It was all Allen could think, as a burning, white light ignited, smothering them in its heat, before tearing through them all in a chaotic explosion, imploding the structure from within. And the only thing he could do was grip onto Timothy with all his might, Crown Clown automatically activating and shielding them from the worst of the wreckage as they were forcibly tossed around like a rag doll, slamming and ripping through dozens of collapsing walls, before being plunged into a pile of rubble.
The silence that followed was sharp and deafening, the ringing in Allen's ears pulsing in cadence with his pounding heart. Dust slowly settled over them, stinging his nose and eyes, the abrupt coughing fit that hit Allen bringing him back to his senses. Cautiously shifting an unconscious Timothy onto his back, confident in the protection his cloak would offer, he used the strength of his clawed, left arm to forcefully push aside the rubble that had caved in around them.
"Damn," Allen cursed under his breath as he stumbled forward, taking in his surroundings. Despite not knowing his way around the sprawling castle, he knew for certain that he'd been tossed towards the fringes, the nearby windows—glass now shattered—showcasing the forest outside. Only a moment ago they'd been gathered at its center, but the eruption had wrenched its way throughout the whole castle, effectively obliterating their Headquarters—again—and furthermore, separating them all. Grinding his teeth in frustration, Allen ripped his way through the ruins of the castle, hoping to find any signs of his comrades, but it seemed futile, crumbling stone seeming to surround him at every turn.
It wasn't until he came across a pale, limp hand that Allen staggered to a halt, terror gripping at his heart as he furiously shoved the rubble aside, before hauling out Mei-Ling's battered form.
"I-is that Mei-Ling?" Timothy mumbled into his shoulder, finally regaining consciousness.
"Shush, Timothy," Allen whispered, gently taking Mei-Ling into his arms and attempting to shake her awake. "Mei-Ling? Can you hear me?"
"… A-Allen?" Mei-Ling eventually flickered her slightly unfocused eyes open.
Allen slumped down in relief, and then asked anxiously, "How badly are you hurt?"
"I…" Mei-Ling mumbled incoherently, attempting to get up. Warily setting her on her feet, Allen gripped her shoulders, as she swayed, her fingers brushing almost absentmindedly along the gash on her temple, wincing.
"Here, let me take care of that," Allen said with a frown, slipping out a small roll of gauze from one of the pouches on his belt, gently wiping away any clinging dirt to the best of his ability, before wrapping the bandages around her head.
"L-Lenalee!" Mei-Ling suddenly stammered, just as he finished, eyes widening with realization. "S-she was with me; shielding me!"
The young general was quick to react, sprinting over and pushing around the decaying stone. But searching through the surrounding wreckage proved to be futile. "You must have gotten separated," Allen finally concluded, grimacing. The subdued silence was then broken by echoing footsteps further down the crumbling corridor. Tensing, Allen immediately moved back to Mei-Ling's side, carefully setting Timothy behind them, in case he was forced to fight.
"We've found the other one," a low, guttural voice intoned, not bothering to keep his tone down.
Mercury eyes narrowed. He certainly did not recognize the voice. Understanding dawned upon Allen, once the pair of Noah came into view and a string of curses escaped him, as he closely observed them; Lulubell, he easily recognized, but the other Noah was very new to Allen. He was a huge, muscled man, hair erected into spikes, sunglasses resting on a bulbous nose and shielding burnt, gold eyes, though he hardly disguised the mocking sneer playing on his lips.
"The other general; General Walker," Lulubell breathed, a pleased glint lighting her molten eyes; the only change on her otherwise detached features. "Do not forget Master's orders, Mercym."
The buff Noah, Mercym, scoffed, "Yeah, yeah." At Lulubell's pinched look, he assured, "I get it, Lulubell."
"What do you mean, by "other general"?!" Allen finally cut in, demanding, "What have you done to the others?!" Beside him, Mei-Ling slipped out her blade, despite her shaky stance. Allen stepped forward, shielding her.
"Hmm?" Mercym turned back towards him, lips curling back into his ugly sneer. "They're being killed as we speak. This is a war, General," the Noah slowly pronounced his title mockingly, smirk widening, "Do not forget that."
"Not likely," Allen spat, hauling out his broadsword in one swift movement, and crouching down, ready to jump forward at full force.
"I'll help, G-General," Mei-Ling stubbornly stumbled forward, her own blade at ready.
Allen swiveled around. "No, Mei-Ling!" he barked, but he momentarily forgot the weapon poised in her hands, and his quick movement startled her, the razor sharp edge of her blade easily tearing through the fabric of his trousers.
The slight graze was hardly anything to look at; a simple nick, really, as Mei-Ling had been quick to pull back once she realized her mistake. But when taking into account the Noah within Allen, it made all the difference.
"Oh no," Allen whispered, horrified as the cut began to scorch with the power of Innocence, his pale skin suddenly darkening. He clenched his eyes, willing for them to remain silver, but when he opened them back up, he was no longer in the collapsing castle.
"It's funny how a simple graze like that could allow my awakening," a soft, sinister voice chuckled, "It shouldn't have been possible, but then again, you too, hold a lot of secrets. Isn't that right, Allen?"
Allen froze, eyes widening with horror as he slowly lifted his head. "Tyki…?" he muttered, but no, it wasn't him. The boy before him was a lot younger, and his hair a lot shorter, fluffed into spikes rather than curls.
His grin widened, and Allen swore he could see a dark shadow materializing behind his back and mimicking his movements with a mad grin, as he said, "I'm the Noah of Destruction; the Fourteenth. Neah."
"Neah Walker," Allen breathed, an old hurt blooming in his chest, at the thought of Mana. This was the boy he cared about; his little brother.
Neah's expression momentarily faltered, as if not expecting for Allen to make the connection, but then his amused grin returned. "Yes. I'm surprised you've survived this far, Allen; I've been forced to watch you as I recovered over the years. You remind me of the Earl; you too have gradually deteriorated into nothing but a mad puppet." Allen frowned, but before he could form a retort, Neah continued, "And now, it is my turn."
"No—" But it was too late. He was gone, and Allen belatedly realized that he was chained down, unable to prevent the Noah from taking over. "Damn it!" Allen growled, yanking against the metal, but it simply rattled, refusing to budge. Mercury eyes narrowed in frustration; from his position he was able to view his—Neah's—actions, the obsidian sky above him distorted into a window-like opening, as if he were able to witness what was happening through his own eyes. And Neah's sights were set on Mercym and Lulubell. But Allen was sure that it would only be a short reprieve; if he didn't gain control soon, he was positive Timothy and Mei-Ling would be his next victims.
The thought of this only reinforced his desire to escape, and all the while he wondered how Neah could have taken over so easily. Did the Noah really awaken that quickly within someone? But ultimately, it truly did not matter. It had already occurred, and the only thing Allen could do at this point, was to take back control.
"How on earth…" Allen muttered furiously, as he continued to struggle, but the chains only seemed to tighten, unyielding. He then came to an abrupt stop, breathing in slowly in order to calm himself. As his thoughts cleared, Allen decided that if he could not do this alone, a call for help was in order. "Crown Clown," he whispered, "Please; lend me your strength and powers once again. I can't let him hurt Timothy and Mei-Ling. Please!"
For a moment, nothing happen, and Allen could feel the despair beginning to eat away at him. But then, his left arm momentarily blazed with light, activating and easily shredding through the chains. Allen was forcibly propelled forward from the throne he'd been chained to, Neah suddenly taking his place. But the teen hardly spared the Noah a glance, immediately hurdling back into control with nausea-inducing speed that caused him to momentarily stumble once he regained his body.
It was the scent that caused him to freeze in place. A horrible, pungent stench the dredged up awful memories. It was the reek of bloodshed.
Allen slowly brought his eyes down, nearly retching at the sight of the mutilated corpses laying before his feet; hot blood and entrails pooling around him and bathing him in its stench. He stumbled back, hands beginning to tremble once he realized the smears of blood that coated them. "What have I…?" Allen mumbled, feeling his knees beginning to weaken, but before he could collapse from the shock, a whimper caught his attention.
Dread consumed him as he slowly turned, the sight of Mei-Ling and Timothy huddled beside a pile of rubble, their eyes wide with terror plunging him into a pit of revulsion. Allen tentatively took a step forward, and they automatically cringed away, as if attempting to shrink into themselves.
A lump constricted his throat, and his voice cracked as he called out, "T-Timothy? Mei-Ling? I-it's me; it's Allen…"
"B-but the Noah…" Mei-Ling stammered in a choked voice, tears cascading down her cheeks, "H-he said you were dead. T-that Allen was gone…"
It was minor, but Allen could feel a small weight lifting off of his shoulders, knowing that Neah hadn't acted under his name. He could hardly imagine what the duo would think if they believed Allen to be some sort of bloodthirsty Noah. A spark of hope of igniting, Allen slowly sat down, away from the blood, in a position that shielded them away from the corpses, unwilling to scare them away, and carefully replied, "Never, Mei-Ling. Don't believe for a second that I would ever let a Noah destroy me and take over my body. I won't ever allow you two to get hurt that way."
"S-so he's gone?" Timothy spoke up in barely a whisper, and Allen had to strain his ears in order to catch his words.
With a soft sigh, Allen reluctantly admitted, "No, not yet." At their crestfallen expressions, Allen tentatively began to explain, "You see, a long time ago, when I was as young as you, Timothy, somebody took me and implanted the memories of a Noah inside of me. I didn't know it at the time, and as you can imagine, finding out now was something akin to a nightmare. At the moment, I've only chained him down, but you can be sure Timothy, that I won't ever give up. I won't give into him, even if it kills me."
It was Mei-Ling who spoke up next. In a small, shaky whisper, she asked, "I-it was my fault, wasn't it?" More tears welled up in her eyes, forcibly spilling as she clenched them shut with regret.
Astounded, Allen could only stammer a, "W-what?"
"I-it was me," Mei-Ling reminded him with a sniffle, "I-I hurt you with my Innocence."
"Ah," Allen murmured, and then said, "There's no need to blame yourself, Mei-Ling. You were only trying to fight against our enemy."
She shook her head furiously, brown locks slapping against her wet cheeks. "But I should have been more careful. If I had, the Noah wouldn't have taken control of you like that."
Allen itched to head over to them, to comfort them both. But he was still apprehensive. It may not have been him brutally slaughtering those Noah, but the person they had watched do so had been wearing his face, had used his body to commit the heinous act. And despite knowing that, Allen was unsure of how they would react to him now. "Are you afraid of me now?" Allen asked in a subdued voice.
This seemed to shock them into silence. A long, smothering silence that painfully squeezed at Allen's heart the longer the seconds ticked by. "No," it was Timothy who spoke up first. Quietly, he repeated, "No. T-that wasn't you, Allen. A-and I'm r-really glad your back." Standing up, Timothy stumbled over to Allen, throwing his arms around him as he cried and blubbered, "W-when he said he k-killed you, I was so s-scared."
Hugging him tightly, Allen could only sigh in relief as he whispered, "Thank you."
Soon, another pair of arms wrapped around them. "I-it's okay, Allen," Mei-Ling murmured, "We love you."
The confession warmed Allen to the core, and he slipped an arm out, wrapping it around Mei-Ling and tightly embracing them both, tears welling up in his own eyes.
That was how Lavi found them; huddled together, trembling slightly, and right beside the disfigured cadavers of the Noah. He whistled lowly. "Damn, shortstack, this must've been some fight."
Allen grimaced, glancing up. Noticing Timothy and Mei-Ling's questioning looks out of the corner of his eye, he subtly shook his head, letting them know not to breath a word of what had happened. Fortunately, they quickly agreed, not fully knowing the consequences of what such a secret could bring. But Allen wasn't planning on letting the rest know; not until he could figure out how to rid himself of the Noah. God knows he'd be labeled a traitor before he could even explain how the Noah within him came to be, and without his Master's backing, it was bound to blow up in his face.
"Lavi," Allen sighed as he slowly stood up, taking in his comrade's own battered form. "Are you alright? Where is everyone else?"
Tiredly leaning against the elongated handle of his Iron Hammer, using it as if it were a staff, Lavi explained grimly, "As far as I can tell, everyone's already vacated the place. Any personnel that survived the eruption managed to evacuate through a few of the tunnels that hadn't collapsed, and I managed to find some of the other Exorcists. The group I was with already left; I stayed behind so that I could find you guys."
"Who was in the group?" Allen asked earnestly.
"Lenalee, Alma, Krory, Suman, and Gwen," Lavi listed off with a frown.
Allen swallowed thickly. "And the rest?"
Lavi shook his head. "I'm not sure. I know they were trying to make contact with them before I left, but I never found out if they got any results."
"Bookman," Allen breathed, worried for the young, Bookman Junior. Despite his insults, Allen knew Lavi cared greatly for the old man.
"Y-yeah," Lavi swiftly glanced away, his grip tightening around his staff.
Awkwardly clearing his throat, Allen instead asked, "What about the other generals? According to the Noah, we're still being targeted."
If possible, Lavi's expression further darkened. "Yeah, we figured. General Tiedoll's dead. Now it's only you and Socaro left; at least that's what we think. As far as we know, General Socaro's still alive, but we don't know for sure yet."
His hands curled into fists; yet another Exorcist that wasn't supposed to be dead, had been killed. Would it ever end…? With a deep, weary sigh, Allen lastly asked, "Do you know who survived from the personnel? Anyone we know?"
"About that…" the redhead trailed off, eyes crinkling remorsefully. "Some of the scientists we know survived; Reever, Johnny, Tapp… But Komui…"
Allen could feel the icy clutches of dread freezing him in place, eyes widening with horror as he whispered, "No…"
"It's not definite or anything!" Lavi was quick to assure, "We know there are different groups, scattered about, escaping, but we have yet to hear from him. He was with us when the explosion of energy occurred, so either he's automatically dead, or he might've ended up with one of the other Exorcists and has already escaped."
Fists tightening, Allen declared, "Then we'll have hope."
A small smile tugged at Lavi's lips, despite how wearied he seemed. "Right, of course, shortstack. Anyway, we should get out of here as soon as possible. There's still Noah prowling about, and if they get a sight of what you did to those two, I don't think they're going to be too happy."
"Right," Allen muttered, grimace returning, and with a swift hum, opened up an Ark gate. "Let's go."
Time Frame — Night of May 2nd, 1986
"Lavi, what the heck are you reading?" Allen finally asked. They'd been taking residence in a hotel (the owners being supporters of the Black Order) somewhere smack dab in the middle of London—it was the meeting point the others had decided on, according to Lavi, though with Allen clearly possessing the Ark, it would take the others a lot longer to reach this point. They'd only been there a single night, and had been taking the time to rest and recover, with the exception of Lavi who'd furiously been studying some old tome, scattered piles of note surrounding him as if he were solving some great, big puzzle.
"… It's Hevlaska's journal," Lavi eventually thought to reply.
That's when a thought occurred to Allen, and he warily asked, "Lavi, what happened to Hevlaska?"
"She was killed," the redhead sighed heavily, putting the pen and book down, dropping his head in his hands. "That was the Noah's main goal; killing the generals was only a secondary objective."
Realization dawned upon Allen. "The Innocence shards…"
"All gone," Lavi nodded grimly, "The only pieces left are the ones held by all the surviving Exorcists. And of course…"
"The ones held by the generals," Allen finished for him with a frown. "So if Socaro's still alive and kicking, we should have an extra eight, including mine."
Lavi scoffed, "Doubt that it matters at this point, anyway. With the way Hevlaska's final prophesy went, I doubt this war is going to last much longer. One side will soon be defeated, whether we like it or not." At Allen's questioning look, Lavi elaborated, "If you don't recall, the prophecy began with, 'The closing stage is approaching, where turmoil and madness will conquer'; as you see, there is plenty of turmoil and madness what with the Noah attacking once again, and scattering us, which goes on to describe the line of, 'And our division had been set in motion'. Hopefully, we'll be able to remedy that soon. I'm not sure what, 'While shadows of our past shall be conjured', means. The next line worries me though; 'To our greatest guide, a tragedy shall befall'."
"You think it's Komui," Allen inferred with a frown of his own.
"Tragedy doesn't automatically mean death," Lavi mused, "But it's something not to be taken lightly."
"What did the rest of it say?" Allen prodded, trying to banish any thoughts of Komui's demise from his mind.
Straightening up, Lavi replied, "And that's where my own research comes in. The last part goes like this: 'For our Six Saviors must unite as one, before Time overcomes us all'. Now, when it says 'unite', I don't think it means it as some sort of bond. We've all been separated, and if we don't all come together on time, there will be consequences. Furthermore—and I'm sure this is a no-brainer—time clearly refers to the Millenium Earl."
And that's when Allen thought to recall, "The 'Destroyer of Time'."
"Bingo," Lavi nodded, "Hit it right on the nose."
"I see," Allen responded with a thoughtful frown, "But even if I am part of these so-called 'Six Saviors', who the heck are the other five?"
"Fortunately, Hevlaska thought to give me her journal before everything occurred. I believe she predicted her own demise," Lavi sighed, and then continued, "In any case, the six that are paramount to our success each have a title, so I've managed to make some connections in correspondence to their prophesies. For example, you are what is known as 'The Vanquisher'. And after a lot of comparing, I think Lenalee's the only candidate for the title of 'The Protector'; it says her Innocence will yield a 'Scarlet shield for Destruction'. Shielding is the closest to 'protecting' I've found, especially considering no one else's prophecy speaks of protecting anything. Moreover, it's also linked to you; it probably means she'll somehow protect you or assist you in your fight against the Earl."
"What about the others?"
"Well, Alma's was a no-brainer. He's what's known as 'The Guide'." Allen nodded; it sounded familiar, from what little he could recall when he accompanied Alma down to visit Hevlaska when he first arrived. Lavi continued, "According to his prophecy, he—that is to say, his Innocence, will guide us where it is that we need to go. I'm not really sure how that works, but…" Lavi shrugged.
"You know, Lavi, I'm actually surprised you believe in all this prophesy rubbish," Allen pointed out.
Chuckling humorlessly, the redhead retorted, "I didn't really, but with all that's happened lately… Lenalee's been having visions you know; she let know before I went to search for you. She was extremely worried that if we somehow left her sight, we'd be dead before we knew it. And anyway, how farfetched can this prophecy stuff be when we wield the power of Innocence. I'm at lot more open-minded than I was before I joined this war, that's for sure."
Allen observed him quietly for a moment. "Something's troubling you."
"You don't say," Lavi replied blandly, but at the younger boy's pointed glare, he exhaled heavily. "Yeah, yeah there is. I think I'm also part of these so-called six. My prophecy… 'Throughout the ultimate battle, when gale and storm are set ablaze, your Innocence will become the deciding factor in its 'Raging Tempest'.' The 'deciding factor', huh? As far as I can see, anyone of us Exorcists could be known as 'The Reinforcer', but that whole 'deciding factor' only seems to add more weight to my prophecy. Damn, if Gramps were here now, I could already imagine what he'd say…"
Allen struggled for something to say; something that could maybe reassure the older teen, but Lavi spoke up instead, "You know, I did find something odd though." At Allen's curious gaze, he elaborated, "It's about Miranda. I know it really affected you when she died, and if you'd like, I could tell you about what I read on her…"
Allen sighed, regret making itself known, but he figured, it was the least he could do for her, and offered Lavi a solemn nod in reply.
"Miranda was one of the few Exorcists not to receive a prophecy when meeting Hevlaska, according to what she wrote in her journal. Now, I know that might not sound so strange, and it's not. What I did find weird was that that Hevlaska told her that she had already fulfilled whatever prophecy she was meant to have." Allen froze; he had a feeling he knew what this was about. "What Hevlaska did give her though, was a warning. See, it says here," Lavi began, picking the heavy journal back up and flipping to a certain page, "'Miranda, you must be cautious. Despite having already fulfilled your destiny, it threatens to slowly unravel the longer time passes. And it is certain, that if your demise comes to pass, time will not only catch up, but it will also deliver its due if any dangerous changes have occurred'. I wonder what it could mean…"
Allen's lips spread into a thin line, preventing the torrent of curses threatening to spill. If only he'd known about this from the start! He wouldn't have made such blatant changes; would have let things run their course. Hell, he might've even stayed with Cross if that's what it took. But alas, it was too late for any of that. Head hanging, Allen eventually came to accept that he would have to face the consequences of his actions.
"You know what it means," Lavi stated without a hint of doubt, pulling him from his thoughts.
Allen gazed at the Bookman Junior's unwavering gaze, before admitting, "I do."
Lavi sighed. "And I'm guessing you won't tell me." It wasn't a question.
"Maybe if we live long enough to survive this, I'll tell you everything," Allen consented. And he was being honest. After this war was over, if he survived, there would be nothing to hide. And he'd like everyone to know Miranda's part in this; how, if it weren't for her, this would never have been possible. Now, Allen had yet to decided whether time travelling had been a good factor, but if they really could defeat the Earl—much sooner than before—then maybe all of this had been really worth it.
"Alright," Lavi finally agreed, "Just gives me more motivation to survive this as well, shortstack!"
Allen couldn't help but roll his eyes as the redhead's cheeky grin. "Alright, whatever you say Lavi. And the name's Allen." He then asked, "What about the other two? We've got, what? 'The Vanquisher'—me—'The Protector'—Lenalee—'The Guide'—Alma—and 'The Reinforcer'—which is you. Who are the other two?"
"Wish I could answer that myself," Lavi muttered under his breath, before speaking up, "The other ones are known as 'The Strategist' and 'The Executioner'. Now, 'The Executioner', I have absolutely no idea who it could be. Obviously, I've ruled a few out, but this is war. The title refers to killing someone, but so do another dozen prophecies. Unfortunately, we're just going have to hope most of the Exorcists survived, and that it'll be one of them. I have had a little more luck with whoever 'The Strategist' is; I've been debating between General Socaro and Kanda, thought I think I'm leaning more towards our dear Yuu, all bias aside."
Allen shook his head, exasperated with the fact that even when Kanda wasn't around, Lavi still found it within himself to tease the older Exorcist. But his curiosity was now piqued. "What is Kanda's prophecy?"
Flipping to a different page, Lavi read aloud, "'Prior to this forthcoming finale, when you have all been led astray, your Innocence will then construct an 'Arrangement of Warfare'. I think I'm a positive now; for a strategist, that sounds pretty legitimate. Not sure how, but I predict his Innocence will somehow be able create some sort of battle plan, if that makes any sense."
Allen shrugged. "You're the genius here. You figure it out."
"And what exactly do you think I've been doing for the past day?" Lavi huffed.
"Encouraging Timothy to terrorize the kitchen staff," the younger boy deadpanned.
Lavi pouted. "Okay," he admitted, "So maybe a teensy bit, but you got it hand it to the kid, he can get pretty creative without my help."
"You're telling me," Allen muttered to himself, recalling the mess they'd been forced to clean up after one of Timothy's "creative" ideas completely blew up in his face.
Lavi slapped a hand on Allen's back, as if to reassure him. "Ah, I'm sure the kid will ease up after what happened last time." A small tremor seemed to momentarily shake the building. Lavi winced. "Or, maybe not."
Allen released a longsuffering sigh.
Time Frame — Afternoon of May 7th, 1986
"Allen!" Timothy abruptly barged into their shared hotel room, Mei-Ling in tow. "They're here! They're here!"
Allen and Lavi rapidly glanced up from their individual activities, and Mei-Ling elaborated for their sake, "Lenalee and some of the other Exorcists have finally arrived!"
The older Exorcists reacted instantly, swiftly leaving the room and running down to meet Lenalee—along with Alma, Krory, Suman, and Gwen. The reunion was nice on all their parts, made more so by the news that Lenalee brought. "We made contact with another group of Exorcists! Kanda and Daisya are with them, and they should be here by tomorrow!"
"Who else is with them?" Lavi immediately asked, and Allen hoped for his sake, that Bookman was part of the list.
"Ah, I believe it was Marie, General Socaro, and Tina," Alma piped up.
"No one else?" Lavi prompted, though his hope had diminished.
"Who else…?" Lenalee trailed off with a small frown.
Allen supplied, "Bookman."
But rather than sobering, Lenalee's eyes lit up in recognition. "Ah! That's right! Bookman! Don't worry about it, Lavi, he's alright! In fact, Komui is okay too," Lenalee grinned with relief, "It was Narein actually, who saved them both. If it weren't for him, they might not have…"
They understood her meaning well enough. "See shortstack? Maybe things really are looking up for us!"
Allen could only pray that it would continue to be so.
A/N: Hey, look! Not an awful, depressing ending!(x Hope you liked it, and don't forget to review!(: