Return Home

After breakfast, everyone took the opportunity to sleep.

In the meanwhile...

Ronald was stumped.

Allen wove lies that he had to memorize in order to play along. Lies that skillfully revealed nothing about them, while half-truths regarding the Order and ahem, how they found out even the darkest of secrets. After reporting, he got new orders. Orders to tell Allen to seal it as the Ark cannot be destroyed as long as the Earl exists. Moreover he even built a new one! But the goal was to keep the Akuma Egg away as Allen could control the Ark.

So upon returning to Japan...he sweatdropped.

Everyone is all fast asleep!

"Oh well, break time for me!" and he happily took a nap because Allen wove an intricate fool-proof lie as to NOT reveal anything about them and it took him hours to memorize it all.

He figured if being related to that bratty earl made him a good liar due to the nature of their jobs...then its of no consequence as long as nothing about them is revealed and made it clear they're very secretive. And then there's the code names they go by...Allen insisted on it not just to protect his identity and keep his mother safe...its also from the fact that the Order might look for him as well.

Ohhh how it'll go well if they search for Ronald Knox in records...only to learn he's dead ages ago. That, and information about British Aristocrats are guarded by a certain Noble Family so its not that easy to browse into. And the Order is blacklisted in Britain due to the Campania Incident...

xxx

That noontime...

'Blondie, you're back.' Allen greeted, seeing Ronald upon waking up. 'What did the uppers say?'

'Since we can't destroy the Ark, you are to seal it away for eternity since you're able to move it and shit.' said Ronald. 'Seal it away here in Japan.'

'Ah, I see...after that, we go home then.' Allen whistled.

'Sooo the Order won't get the Akuma Egg then.' said Cross.

'Yes. Our Divination Division has foreseen massive deaths if the Order gets ahold of it.' said Ronald coolly. 'And we cannot let that happen. Not only that, hybridization of humans with Dark Matter will occur in a bid to create more Exorcists capable of Cannibalism as most humans cannot be Innocence Accomodators...and that is the Order's fatal mistake-slash-dumbest idea ever as the Earl controls ALL Dark Matter too.' he explained with a 'they're so damn dumb' tone of voice. The fact that the Order intends to turn humans into semi-akuma in a bid to bolster their forces is a dumb idea alright...they realized it as well. 'So yes, you ain't getting it. Whitey, do your job and after that, we go home. Trouble started in your family.' he said.

'WHAT?!' that was the lie Allen and Undertaker made up to get him out of Weston, it happened for real this time?!

'Apparently a terrible scandal occurred, your family head is extremely livid and he wants everyone present so he can make you all see the example he'll make.' said Ronald wryly. 'We gotta get you home fast. Your mom warned us.'

'I'm running already!' Allen dashed back to the Ark in a panic.

'Erm...what happened exactly?' Crowley asked Ronald curiously.

'A relative is found heavily involved in Slave Trade...using children of all things.' said Ronald, much to their shock. 'The children are all tracked down and released and if the public finds out, the family name will go under the muck and they'll be social pariahs. It takes one person to ruin all he's associated with, and the family feared that. Those involved are executed while this relative who is the ringleader will be made an example of, so his death will be a slow, painful one.'

'Well, shiiit...what about Whitey's reputation?' Lavi asked him.

'Well, considering that if he's not called on by us, he mostly works in the Art Field specializing in Painting, Charcoal Pencils and shit, so he's clear. And he's only 16! Would a kid that age engage in Child Trafficking? He'd sooner kill the merchants.'

'Ah.'

And so...inside the Ark, Allen made sure to keep Exorcists out, temporarily creating a wish that will boot them out so he can deactivate even for a short while, while wishing for the egg to be sealed in 100 powerful layers of Barriers, and then encased in a powerful box of the strongest material no level of Akuma can break.

...sealing the egg, are we?

'Its bad if both the Black Order and the Earl gets it you know!' Allen grunted at the Shadow Man. 'So yah, I'm sealing it away even if I'm not ordered to! I have a mother to protect at home you know!'

I...see...

'But anyway, why does this thing,' said Allen as he glanced at Timcampy, 'Have father's Code Game? And why is it the song to operate the Ark?'

Mana...deliberately taught it to you...because he knows...

'Father knows?' Allen croaked out as in his childhood days, he and Mana played with it together, writing it on the ground using sticks, since they're poor and can't afford writing materials.

Only you...and Timcampy possess the Musician's power now...

'...so father knew all along I can do it...huh? And I had to learn this from a creepy mirror guy.' Allen sighed gloomily. 'But why me? What made me different?'

You are now the Fourteenth. came the damning sentence that made him stiffen.

'Y-you mean...I'll become a Noah?' Allen croaked out numbly. 'And Cross knew?!' this made him remember Cross' casual attitude in telling him 'you know what to do' when he really didn't...

You are me...and I am you.

'...crap...' was all Allen can helplessly say. '...being a Noah won't make me kill my mother, right? Mother is...all I got...' he asked the shadow numbly in fear and anxiety.

But then he remembered he's an Exorcist.

That means he can slow down the inevitable until his adulthood...hopefully. Had he been a normal human...what would happen to him and his mother?

No.

He won't let it happen.

He'll never hurt his foster family if he can help it.

xxx

Meanwhile...Ronald analyzed Lenalee's purple Innocence with his tools.

'I'd say it finished evolving completely its ready to be usable again.' Ronald told them. 'But since its now a different type of Parasitic, not completely the Parasitic we're familiar with...so I have no idea what its form will take now.' he said as he gave the cube to Lenalee. 'Sooo you gonna try?'

Lenalee looked at her purple cube worriedly.

'Eep...'

It turned to liquid floating in her hands.

'IT MELTED!' came the obvious freakout from the teenagers.

'It means drink it.' Ronald sweatdropped. Lenalee looked like she's about to swallow some shady medicine. After a nervous quick sign of the cross with her eyes shut tight causing everybody to sweatdrop, she gulped it down...and they waited.

'HIII!' came the pained squeak as by her ankles, a stigmata shaped wound appeared and blood came out, taking the form of some creepy blood angel...before they became red glass anklets. 'Owww...' the stigmata healed and now looked like a black tattoo.

'Well...I DID say a type of Parasitic...' Ronald croaked out as he took tools to study her anklets and practically lied down on his stomach to do so. 'Fuck.'

'W-what's happening?!' Lenalee asked him nervously.

'...I'd say your very blood is now Innocence itself.' the Cross and Tiedoll Squad froze. 'And these Anklets are Crystallized Blood Innocence. Don't break it as humans only have a certain amount of blood or you'll get anemic! That, and your blood is now lethal.'

'You mean she's now like Crowley-kins?'

'They're different! Aleister Crowley's in his teeth and his teeth are his medium to influence his body's abilities. Lee Lenalee's inhabits her blood and most probably parts of her body where blood is made. The Bone Marrow. Most likely her Plasma is also just as deadly to Akuma and Noah.' Ronald declared. 'Since she's previously an Equipment-Type using shoes...it means all Equipment-Types will choose to evolve to Blood-Type eventually once the potential arises. Yes, I said Potential because other Equipment-Type Generals didn't become Blood-Types upon achieving past-Critical Levels...and its unknown why they become this way cuz' they're sentient...'

'That's so morbid!' Miranda spoke in a near-fainting sort of voice. 'Can't you call it something else?' she complained.

'I call it how I see it.'

Lavi and Bookman exchanged nervous looks.

xxx

When Allen got back...

'Well, how'd it go?' Ronald asked him.

'I had to ask Shadow Man and I learned how to seal the egg up real tight. And also...' he looked back to see the Ark getting anchored to the ground in chains, and then more chains are wrapping all over it. 'There! Locked up real good! Let's go home Blondie.'

'Hey, how will you get home? We have nothing to work with!' Lavi sputtered out.

'Well, we have our carriage.' said Ronald casually. 'Don't know about you guys.'

The other teenagers, Miranda and Bookman froze, and looked at their Generals for help.

'Well, good thing I DO have something to work with.' Tiedoll chuckled. 'Its a slow ride to China though and we should rest in the Asian Branch for some time.'

'That's settled then.' said Ronald as he whistled...and a black and hold gothic carriage came up with black horses.

'Oy! We're in Japan! An Island Country!' Lavi sputtered out.

'Details, details!' Allen smiled as he hopped on the carriage while Ronald took the Coach. 'Buh-bye~!' and the carriage disappeared fast.

'We really have to find out about these guys somehow.' said Lavi. 'Incredible fighting skills. Advanced technology and now this?'

xxx

Asian Branch...

Lenalee found her anklets being the focus of the lab, and a sample of her blood studied that confirmed Ronald's analysis that she became a Blood-Type while other scientists studied Ronald's craftsmanship of the other Equipments...which they found to be stronger than their know-how can currently produce so now they're studying ways to get their technology to such level...and everyone is wondering WHO are 'Blondie' and 'Whitey', and what organization they work for. So far, all they know is they work 'for Management'...and the lies about it Allen wove to the clueless teens.

But they stayed there for a month due to studies and analysis to take home to the Main Branch.

xxx

England...Barnett Main Estate...

The atmosphere...is ridiculous.

'M-mother...what exactly happened here?' Allen asked his mother as upon arrival, there's a really nasty atmosphere even the servants are extremely nervous. Even though he had a clue but not the entire details...

'H-How should I know, I'm a doctor in a hospital and you work for Ciel so I'm quite left-out here...' Madam Red stammered out nervously. 'I don't dabble in family politics...'

Allen fainted.

'H-hey! Don't faint on me here!'

Needless to say, Allen is safely in his assigned room in the estate while the other Barnetts are freaking out that he sent a letter to Weston College as last he checked, Ciel, Sebastian and Edward are still working...

xxx

Weston College...

Ciel was twitching.

He got a long letter of explanation as to what set off the Barnetts, and the current family head is extremely pissed. For now, he is the very least suspect for obvious reasons, Madam Red and all other adults and children are extremely nervous and scared of the Family Head and the Elders who are showing off their tranquil fury for the crime one of the Barnetts had committed that before the Queen finds out, consequentially setting the Phantomhives on the family, Reginald Barnett wanted to do a thorough cleaning, and set an example to the kids as to what will happen if they had done as their Uncle Aldrich had.

Ciel decided that Reginald had done the smart thing, lest the fate of the Barnetts become similar to that of the Kelvins.

Because had the Queen found out, there's no stopping Ciel from being on the case, and the Barnetts will lose their status as the Kelvins have and last he checked, Kelvin's wife fled England with the family fortune upon hearing that the family name is in the muck, clearly wiser than her late pedophile of a husband. However the Barnetts thrived in the social life. They cannot afford to lose their statuses.

Sighing, he chucked the envelope in the fireplace.

xxx

A week later, Phantomhive Estate...

'A~llen~' Dagger was quite, eager to see Allen arrive, as cue tackle-hug.

'H-hello to you too, Dagger...' Allen choked from the tackle and the subsequent cuddle, since Dagger is his lover whenever he visits the Phantomhives and its universally accepted. He once asked his uncle if its OK that he prefers men as long as its not made public since other than his family members, he just can't stand females. That, and an engagement and following marriage to a girl who would want more than he could give would make him miserable anyway, so the older man let him be provided it really doesn't go public, so he was free to have relationships with men...who have no idea of his status.

That's until Reginald Barnett got wind of his lover in Weston AND how the school works...and his ex being of a high birth himself. The man simply decided to blame Allen's strangeness in the school and the fact that he's innocent of society's ways that he pretty much imprinted on what new things he learns, and never let any Barnett male step foot in Weston if he could help it. At least one man knows they're both into men and parted amiably, giving Allen a brooch the younger boy kept.

'Ohya? Visiting solo even though the Earl's out?' Joker questioned as Allen is clearly staying over since he has a suitcase.

'Well, let's just say that mother and I put up with a Closed Event Family Housecleaning.' Allen sighed. 'Mother's off to drink her shock away and told me to stay here. She'll come later. Some fool of a relative pissed off our family head and its ugly. A week in that estate is fantabulously stressful.'

'Heee...'

'Oh, we'll have two rooms ready young master!' Maylene chimed. 'The usual rooms?'

'Yes.' Allen smiled kindly.

'Off we go! Rose, you and me set Madam Red's room! Joker you set the young Master's and Dagger, go tell Bard young Master and Madam Red will be staying for a while! Big dinner on the house!'

'OK!'

xxx

For a noble, Allen was unusual to EVERYONE because he prefers mingling with servants.

Reason was he was worse than a commoner. He was previously a poor orphan and an abused Circus Trainee. And considering his knowledge of his...peers are limited due to his 'condition', he preferred mingling with servants instead.

And he's frequently with his lover to boot, if not in the kitchens.

'You've gotten taller than last time I saw you.' Allen smiled as he spent time with Dagger in the gardens...crafting a new leg for him using wood and porcelain and some bits of metal. Dagger was sitting with him with his old, and uneven leg.

'Well, having more food than we once had before and Sebastian n' Bard training me n' Joker to become formidable family soldiers can do that to you. We also had to learn to speak properly but we tend to fall back out of habit. Doll is training under Maylene.'

'Well, it takes years of practice.' Allen chuckled. He would know that himself. 'At least you're trying since your accent is good.'

'Really?'

'Really.' Allen nodded approvingly. 'Well, working hard gives back good rewards.'

xxx

The Kitchens...

Allen took to making Desserts as Bard is absolutely hopeless with Desserts it tends to become Sebastian's job. But he is doing well with food, at least, considering Allen threatened to neuter Bard once. But he still sucks with desserts. For now, his focus is on Japanese Desserts that he had Ronald translate for him as he can't read Japanese. But what he could make is sadly limited. At least he could make something! Considering the influence of asian cuisine, he has access to Rice Flour, and Agar-Agar. The rest can be bought in stores and substitute ingredients...and sadly leave out certain desserts that can choke children, even adults to death. He could make Nerikiri, Yokan, Dango, Rakugan, and Senbei. But he had to make attractive wooden molds for Rakugan though...

It was months before Ciel came home but Undertaker told him he would take a long Sabbatical.

'A long Sabbatical huh?' Ciel snorted. He had called Allen over to see if he has seen Undertaker as the man is his tutor in combat.

'No...a week ago he said he'll take a Vacation and left me a long list of homework.' said Allen sincerely as he has no idea what happened in their current case since his withdrawal from school. 'What happened in our current case?' since he's clearly clueless of what the man has done...Ciel gave an edited version for his sake. 'Oh dear...and gulp...what of the photos...?' he asked nervously. 'You talked to the queen, right?'

'Don't worry, Charles Wyndham is safe.' said Ciel wryly to Allen's relief. 'What saved him is that he didn't make the photos public and he was wise. He only showed his collection to you, my associate. I didn't mention Edward to be safe as well. But for the P4, they were expelled when they could have gotten worser punishments for Derek Arden's murder. Greenhill would have gotten worse, but they did it out of shock and loyalty to the school and tradition, and the fact that they were deceived for so long so they supposed it counts as damages. Who knows what happened to them at home now. The only people left who know the truth are sworn to silence.'

'Poor current Prefects then.' Allen shook his head. 'They were real nice too.'

'Well, despite the reasons, murder of a VIP is still a big thing.' Ciel scoffed before taking a bite out of a Rakugan. 'This is good! What is this thing?'

'Oh, that's Rakugan, a Japanese Confectionery but I made a few twists.' said Allen. 'A few months back, Master chucked me to Japan for a job and I brought home a lot of souvenirs for mother. But sneaking in is hard as Foreigners are not welcome and Japan is a self-isolated country...I often had to hide most of the time as I don't look Japanese at all. My job that also doubles as training, is to steal what caught my interest without getting caught and stirring up trouble, and smuggle them all home!' Ciel and Sebastian stared at him incredulously. 'Its real hard but worth it! Mother's happy with the fancy kimonos I stole and we're enjoying Japanese Food lately!' he said cheerily. 'Its just a shame she can't go out in them, given society's rules about skirts and women's legs.'

'She should meet Nina Hopkins then.' Ciel snarked. 'That woman cares more for latest trends than rules regarding bodily exposure. The only reason she gets away with it is because she really is working on new fashion trends which is what some of the Queen wishes so she avoids the Yard somehow.' Allen sweatdropped.

'Ah-hah...'