'One of my family did that? How far have they fallen!?'
Soon, Allen and link were left alone in the graveyard. The inspector let the boy do as he wished for this time, as he felt that he needed time away from the others.
'When have I grown attached….?'
"Hey Link…."
"Yes, Walker?"
"You were curious about what I said earlier, right?"
"…yes." The inspector waited for a few minutes as Allen was silent. His gaze distant as if recalling fond memories.
"My eye was cursed by Mana, my foster father when I turned him into an Akuma." He rubs his eyelid gently like he would a lover. "From them on, I've been able to see the souls trapped inside the Akuma."
"Their souls…? Aren't they just machines?"
"The exterior, yes. But inside, the soul that was brought back is crying out. Begging to be saved, pleading to be loved, wanting to be free…" The boy pauses. "Level 1's aren't that bad, but once you get to level 2 and 3? You can see all of the souls the Akuma has consumed. At level 3, it's in the hundreds. All screaming for me to save them. Because…." He looks at the inspector with a smile that was like glass.
"Only I can see them….."
"…."
"I once saw an Akuma self destruct in front of me…it's soul screamed in agony as it was shredded into the void. It was nothing like when it is saved by the innocence. It was horrible, so….so horrible…." Allen shook a little from the memory.
"Walker…."
"We're fighting humans, who use humans as weapons with humans….it makes you wonder what the innocence is, right?" The question shook Link to his core but he eventually chose to ignore it.
"I tried to find information about It, but nothing except it's uses were found. I spent a lot of time in the library searching…." Allen chuckles depreciatingly.
"It's time to go, Walker…."
"Oh?" The exorcist looks at Big Ben in the distance and nods. "You're right, I'm sorry for wasting your time." The teen begins to walk slowly to the carriage.
Once again, Link was behind him like a shadow.
In another part of the world, the Earl lifted his head from the memories he just witnessed. Five level 3 Akuma were dispatched instantly. He looked into it deeper and found Allen looking like a lost child dealing with the world's problems.
'Hm?' He felt a pang of worry for the boy despite his better judgement.
"Millennie~~?" Road asked next to him.
"Yes road?"
"Is everything ok? You look sad."
"I do? Maybe it's because Allen Walker just killed 5 of my level 3 Akuma."
"Really!? Allen did that by himself?"
"Uh-huh. Rather easily I might add…." The Earl rubbed his finger on his chin in thought.
"Hehe~ I knew he was special. From the first time I saw him." The Ninth Apostle giggled.
"Really? How's that?"
"Hm?" She was a little confused as to the interest he showed but didn't think more on it. "I'm not sure, but as soon as I saw him, he felt special."
"Interesting…." The Earl thought of something and his eyes went wide for an instant. 'No way, he carries innocence, he can't….but….'
"Millennie~?"
"I'm sorry Road, just thinking. It seems Sheryl is back."
"Daddy~? I'll head to him right now!"
'Now, how to determine if my thoughts are true?'
When they got back to the headquarters, Lenalee was at the entrance waiting for them.
"Welcome Back!" She smiles widely and kanda just nods while Miranda replies.
Lenalee looked at Allen but she didn't speak to him. He thought her actions couldn't hurt him anymore, but that did. He smiles a little and walks past her without saying anything.
"….Allen…." The Chinese girl whispered to herself.
"Lenalee..?" Miranda was shocked.
"Yes, Miranda?"
"What was that about? Why are you treating Allen like…never mind." She remembered what Lavi said at the library a week ago.
"Like what, Miranda?"
"I have to go, Lenalee…." The time record exorcist leaves quickly making the Younger one confused.
"Why is everybody acting so weird lately…?"
Allen just wanted to goto bed and asked link to do his paperwork as a joke. However, the inspector agreed to it.
"Seriously?"
"Yes, Walker. You're not in a good mood, which will make your writing suffer. Just get some rest and I'll be back for your signature." The man explains and heads to his room right next door.
"That was weird….but welcome…." He whispers and lays on the bed without changing. He didn't care about the Akuma blood soaking his sheets.
[Allen, can I ask you something?]
'Sure.'
[Why are you there?]
'In my room?'
[No. why are you still with the Black Order?]
'Because, it's the place where I can follow my path the easiest.'
[Path?]
'After Tyki almost killed me, my innocence was destroyed. I had to rebond to it to keep saving the Akuma. I decided then, that the meaning to my existence was to do that. Save Akuma.'
[….Allen….can you come inside?] Neah's tone was extremely pained, but he hid it behind something Allen couldn't fathom.
'Why?'
[You haven't slept in days and your body is suffering. I think I can help.]
'This isn't some plan to take me over, is it?' The teen's suspicion hurt the memory.
[No. I've told you already, that only happens when you're in extreme danger of dying. Besides, even when we merge, you won't disappear Allen.]
'…fine…' The boy nods and closes his eyes.
He woke up, but this time he wasn't chained to that throne. He was on a bed with Neah sitting in a chair next to it. He recognizes the room as the ark's control room.
"Neah, why are we here?"
"Oh? This is where my happiest memories are. I'm sorry, you can change it if you'd like."
"…no…I don't think I have a place like that. Not anymore…"
"Allen, I seriously want to continue that talk we were having, but you're definitely not in the right mentality for it. So, I'm going to help." He walks over to the piano and sits down.
"…."
"Anyway, just listen." Neah begins playing a song and his voice was so calming it made Allen relax.
For the first time in weeks, he felt at peace with Neah singing next to him.
"My mother made this song…" the memory explains gently.
Despite him talking, the song somehow kept flowing from him and it slowly went from a male's voice to a gentle female one.
"All of my reincarnations have had silver eyes like yours. I don't know why, but it might be a subconscious need from me…."
"But that's a story for another time….sleep Allen…."
The boy breathed deeply for a few times until his head tilted to the side. Neah smiles gently at this and kept going anyway until he was done with the song.
"Pleasant dreams...." He rubbed his host's head and disappeared from the dream world.