All angels have to protect His creations, regardless of their past sins or present personalities or future doings

Even if one of His creations is a Demon Lord, Allen?

Especially if it's a Demon Lord, Lavi... Nobody can escape Father's attention.

Allen raced deeper into the abyss of darkness with determination, not stopping when he heard anguish cry of Lavi that was calling him back. On and on he ran without a proper direction, his wings were unable to fly in this hallowed spell. As he ventured deeper, Allen's sense of sight continued to stay dim, but he could hear the loud cries and screams of his children. They were calling and begging for his help, to stop and save them from the clutches of evil that were binding them into this Godforsaken space.

Yet, Allen continued to run as he closed his eyes tightly against the choir of torment, "I'm sorry, children.." Allen begged for forgiveness as he turned his back away from their screams. His hand came to clench around his heart, the seal bursting and sending pangs of pain straight into Allen's cursed heart. The seal glowed as it shuddered, but it didn't disappear. "Lavi… Tyki…" Allen prayed futilely for his beloved ones, hoping that Father would listen to his prayers just like He once did before.

When Allen had thought that he was drowning in the cries of sorrow, an innocent musical sound filled the sky and overcame the miserable cries. It came from a musical box, the item playing a familiar tune that struck sleeping emotions that Allen kept in the heart. Taking courage from the innocent music, Allen kept his advance as he followed the musical source until there was a flash of blinding light.

~.~

A refreshing whoosh of cool air welcomed Allen as the angel entered what seemed like another dimension of some sorts. The beautiful garden that now surrounded Allen were blooming rather prettily, with its golden flowers and dancing green grass. The garden itself was peaceful and it brought tranquillity by nature, even though there was no living creations that dared thrived in the area. Although the garden was located in such a strange place like this, Allen knew where he was immediately. After all, what angel would not recognise the Garden of Eden?

Allen felt the soft grass below his bare feet as he made his way to the courtyard, where a small and modest pavilion was built in the centre of a clear pond. Allen took a moment to admire the architecture as the same sense of familiarity occurred in his mind, the God Seal throbbing as if it too recognised that simple place. He felt his wings returning back to life as the cold wind kissed each feather lovingly. The musical box song was louder here, but it sang never the less angelic.

"Hullo, Allen, my sweet brother," A deep, baritone voice spoke gently from behind Allen.

The old but not forgotten voice made Allen smile dreamily as he turned to greet his angelic brother, "Hullo, Saint Earl… Or should I say-" he opened out his hands in welcome as he took sight upon the angel that started this entire orchestra.

With a button-up coat and sleek pants, the sitting angel looked mesmerising. Tall, lean and handsome, the newcomer smiled seductively as he held onto the open musical box that came in the form of a golden locket. Allen heard the musical notes coming to a slow stop and stood still as the angel stepped forward, his angelic wings opened wide to reveal not two, but four of those feathery appendages. Allen murmured,

"-Archangel Mana,"

~.~

"ALLEN!" Lavi burst out, punching the dome's surface in vain as he tried everything to break into the spell. His heart was tearing up as his spirit went wilder at the disappearing angel, his anger slowly taking control and the sudden urge to destroy everything that stood in his way was overwhelming. Lavi didn't care much about anything right about now; Allen was and would always be his main concern as long as he lived.

Tyki pulled Lavi back as the Judgement Knight commanded the growling Demon Lord, "Lavi! Stop this!"

Lavi retaliated by punching Tyki in the stomach, causing the angel to fall while coughing out droplets of blood. The Black Order clan jumped into the fray to hold their enraged Demon Lord back, but Lavi's one good eye was slowly turning into the blood-red kind. Thinking quickly, Komui held onto Lavi's shoulders and warned his commanding officer, "Allen wouldn't want you to do this, Lavi! Snap out of it!"

As expected, Lavi forced himself to calm down by using the figurative Allen as his anchor. He was still angry though, but he held his bubbling rage in check for now. He sneered at Tyki, who was now talking to his angelic brethren, "where is your so-called 'God' now?! Does 'He' know about this? What's 'He' going to do, huh?!"

Lulubell stomped forward; all feminine characteristics were thrown out into the air as soon as she heard what her precious little brother had done. The spiteful angel was curling her puffy wings in irritation at the taunting Demon Lord as she hissed, "you think you're the only one who lost a loved one? We angels can feel every creation's souls trapped inside that accursed dome; we can feel their misery and feel their pain like we're the ones being tortured instead! What makes you so special, Lavi?"

Lavi's boiling mind was splashed with cool water when he slowly registered Lulubell's outcry. He looked at the downcast Tyki and felt pity swelling up. Unlike anybody else, Tyki had lost his one blood brother who had meant a lot to him. He knew that Sheril and Tyki were almost tied to the hip, both of the noble angels supporting each other tirelessly through thick and thin since the beginning of time. But Tyki was utterly betrayed by the one he trusted the most as he realised that his strong relationship was all falsehood from the start. Tyki didn't just lose a blood brother when Sheril died. He also lost part of his soul.

"I'm sorry, Tyki," was all Lavi could say to the unnaturally quiet Judgement Knight.

Lenalee, who didn't pick up on the empathetic moment, was more worried about the growing situation. "There must be something we can do here!"

Lenalee's words must've triggered something in the angels, as the angelic beings started to shift uncomfortably around and their white wings looked as if they were ruffled by the invisible words themselves. Lavi observed them carefully and tried his hand in persuasion, "tell us.. We can help,"

"There is a way.." Tyki pondered, a frown marring his handsome face, "we can ask for Father's help,"

"No, Allen tried that," argued Lavi, remembering the helpless look in Allen's eyes when the angel found out that he could not work his healing magic effectively anymore, "Allen prayed, but it didn't work,"

Rhode shook her childish head as she clarified for Lavi, "none of our prayers work anymore. We must ask for Father's help directly. As in, someone has to go to Heaven itself to find Father,"

"Why don't you angels go?" Komui said, pointing out that the angels were the beings that originated from Heaven anyways.

"We can't go. We have to stay here to stop the dome from expanding any further," Tyki opened his palm to show a white globe of brilliant light, "we only got one spell to send one person up to Heaven. After this, there will be no going back,"

Lavi had already decided that he was the one who sacrificed himself for everyone's sake, so he stepped forward without hesitation as he received the glowing globe from Tyki. "W-Wait!" Lavi spoke out, suddenly thrusting the globe back to a surprised Tyki, "if I use this spell, that means none of you guys can return to Heaven anymore!"

Tyki blinked at Lavi's blatant reasoning, before he forced the Demon Lord to hold the white globe once more, "our role is to protect Father's creations, and here is where we will stay until our duty changes,"

Lulubell touched the globe and the magical spell began to sparkle as bright as a star itself, "just as Allen embraced his curse, so must you accept yours. To make this spell work, you must admit that demons can love another. Even if you have a single doubt, the globe will trap you someplace between Heaven and Earth,"

The brightening light enveloped Lavi like a cloak, the globe whirring into life as it started its transportation spell. In his mind, Lavi had already accepted the fact that he can love another. But his heart was still standing firm against his decision. Demons cannot love. They feel lust. They feel sin. They feel evil. They feel-

Lavi recalled the first day that he had met Allen. He remembered how their strange relationship grew from being mortal enemies to the best of friends, then to something more indescribable. Although Lavi had an impeccable memory, he couldn't remember when he was so dependent on Allen, when he had regarded the angel as his best friend. He couldn't remember the transaction between uncaring of the angel's wellbeing to the point of never leaving Allen alone with a sad face. Lavi dreaded the days when he was away from Allen, his mind constantly plagued by the thoughts that evolved around Allen. He hated the sorrowful face of Allen, disgusted whenever Allen was crying because of something so trivial.

But one thing was for certain, Lavi knew that he wanted to be the first one that Allen saw when he opened his eyes in the mornings. He wanted to be the last voice that Allen heard every night. He wanted to hold Allen in his arms, to protect his angel from everything harmful and give him anything that he wished for. He yearned to be the reason that Allen smiled, but never the cause of Allen's tears. He knew that from the very moment the angel appeared into his dark life, his heart was only beating for Allen.

Like sunshine breaking through a cloudy day, Lavi found clarity.

I love Allen.

Lavi closed his eye as the light blinded him for a moment. In a flash, he felt nothing but cold ground below him. Struck with awe, Lavi's mouth hung wide open as he took in the grand view before him. There was a royal mansion of tremendous size before him made of gold and silver. Two enormous statues guarded the front entrance of this palace, their swords held downwards as their faces were hidden by their helmet masks. Lavi didn't need to be told where he was right now, but found himself being amused by the fact that a Demon Lord from Hell was now walking into Heaven's Palace.

~.~

"Tyki… How do you know that Father will even hear Lavi's words? Lavi is a Demon Lord," asked Rhode seriously.

Saint Tyki Mikk looked up to the sky and he smiled a secretive smile as he whispered to his sister, "because, dear Rhode-" he kissed the cross that hung around his neck, "-just like Allen, Lavi is Father's favoured child,"

Hmm.. I wonder how much Tyki knows, it's quite intriguing; him sending Lavi straight to Heaven because he knew that Lavi would be accepted by God. Anyways, I hope you like the twist I made with Earl! (I know I did! haha). If you want to hear the musical box music, youtube Pandora Hearts - Lacie's Melody by SilverDragon7277. It's a very calming melody, I can assure you.

Also, Lavi finally admitting that he loves Allen! *throws confetti* Woooh! And it only took him 33 chapters to admit it haha!

I'm sorry for this short chapter though, things have been hectic. Hopefully the next chapter would be longer or so, I hope you'll stick around for the finale coming soon! I would love to thank all you lovely people for giving me your comments, reviews and questions. They make me very happy indeed! Have a good day! =D