The Will of Noah

CHAPTER 2

Allen emerged from his ark in the alley way next to el restuarante de sol. He straightened his clothes as he headed toward the door to the restaurant. Outside of the door, at a podium, stood a very bored looking girl in a waitress uniform chewing gum and reading a magazine. Allen walked up to the podium; things seemed to have gotten a lot more exclusive since he had last been there.

"Pardon me miss," he said politely, "but may I please go in? I have an appointment here in about 10 minutes that I really need to be on time for." She looked up from her magazine, obviously about to give a rude response. She got one look at his face and stopped chewing her gum. She began to blush as she caught a glimpse of his famous smile.

"I'm s-sorry s-sir," she said, twirling her hair and trying to look cute, "you need to be on the list to get in."

"Well would you so kind as to check for me?" he asked trying to be nice though it was getting difficult with his friends lives on the line. "My name is Allen Walker."

The girl flipped through the list. Allen subtly looked over the podium to the list and scanned down the names. On the last page was a sticky note with his name written in an elegant script. The girl looked at it and became immediately flustered.

"I am so sorry to keep you waiting sir! Please forgive me!" she said anxiously, bowing low to him, "I will take you to your meeting at once!" She ran back and opened the door for him, her head bowed respectively.

Allen raised an eyebrow at her odd behavior as he entered through the door. The restaurant was bathed in pale yellow candle light. The posh red and black coloring gave it a sophisticated yet creepy aura. There weren't many people there but the ones that were there were obviously well-to-do. It was no longer the cheap little restaurant it had been a few years ago.

The girl beckoned for Allen to follow her up a roped off section of stairs marked VIP. Allen followed suspiciously behind her. On the third expensively carpeted stair, his earring softly crackled with the beginning of a transmission.

"Allen can you hear me?" Komui's voice said in his ear, "What's your status?"

""I'm fine Komui," Allen whispered so that his guide couldn't hear, "but I have a bad feeling about this. This isn't like the Earl at all, it's not like him to take prisoners let alone offer to give them back. And to spend so much money on a place like this for the trade off, it just doesn't feel right!"

"I know Allen," Komui said, "I don't like it either but we have to go along with it if we want to get our friends back. Just be careful and keep Tim recording in your pocket. We want to know exactly what happens."

"Right." Allen whispered, pressing his front pocket where Timcanpy sat recording everything through a button hole.

The girl that was leading him headed down a small hallway off the top of the stair case. She went to the very end where a tall mahogany door stood.

"Here you are sir." She said politely. She knocked nervously on the door and waited until a smooth voice from within called for them to enter. 'That didn't sound like the Earl' Allen thought as the girl scrambled to unlock the door for him.

The door creaked open to reveal the form of Tyki Mikk sitting at a small covered dinner table holding a glass of red wine, trademark cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. Allen gaped for a moment before regaining his composure. He was expecting the Earl not Tyki.