"You killed him...It was you..." I hissed feeling my blood boil inside my veins with every second I had to sit and watch him stand there with no sense of remorse for anything he'd done
"Stop it!" Al yelled trying to save Suman who was being eaten by the Noah's butterflys
"Tease. Come" The Noah said as the butterflies that surrounded us all became absorbed in his hands forming two huge butterflies with black and white stripes
"Bastard!" Al yelled
"Ehh! You're that swindling A! But, even if I say that you won't remember." It said
"Stop screwing around! What have you done?! What did you do to Suman?!" I yelled
"Killing my enemies is the obvious thing to do, no?" He asked getting closer to me until we were face to face and lighting a match for his cigarette before continuing, "Well, even if you knew about my power, it would already be too late to run away. I guess I'll tell you. Listen closely children. These things are called Tease. They're cannibal golems made by the Millennium Earl. They look like butterflies because that's his style. These things eat humans. The more they consume, the more that they grow and multiply. However, that's their ability, not mine. The Tease are just a tool. My actual power is...this." He said and pushed his hand through my stomach
"Ali!" Al yelled, but I was too shocked to say anything. To my surprise, it wasn't painful, but I was frozen.
"It's alright. She won't feel any pain. My hand, no...my body can pass through absolutely anything. That is my power. However, there's an exception for things I want to touch. That's why, if I decided to pull my hand out right now...and if I thought about wanting to touch a certain girl's heart...without tools or cutting your body, I could simply rip out her beating heart. To take out a heart while you're still alive, I wonder what that would feel like. Shall we find out?" It said
"Do it then. Stop showing off." I said plainly
"That's it?" It asked with a disappointed look on his face
"I've never been afraid to die. Why would I start now?" I said
"I'm not going to take it. My gloves would get dirty." It said taking his hand out of me with all my organs intact
'I would be lying if I said I wouldn't feel bad about leaving Al alone, but this is not the time to be honest...' I thought to myself with a straight face
"This is why I usually let Tease eat what I catch." It said examining its gloves
"Usually?" Al asked
"You didn't know? The stories about your dead comrades whose organs were removed. Daisya Berry, Kazana Reed, Chalker Labon. Because Suman cooperated with me, he didn't die in the same manner. I put Tease inside of him to grow. Thanks to him, they multiplied a bit. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I met a guy called General Yeegar too. If I recall correctly, I didn't kill him right away... Eh? Why did I do that?! Ah, that's right! I made him my news messenger. His internal organs were eaten up, so it must've been fairly painful for him." It smirked
"Bastard... You bastard... It wasn't enough that you had to drive him insane or kill him, but you had to torture him and make him your damn messenger? Shut the hell up. Shut your damn mouth. SHUT UP BEFORE I SLIT YOUR DAMN THROAT!" I yelled holding him up by his neck as my scarf fell off
"Ah...I see. You're the girl in the picture. The one General Yeegar carried in his pocket. I'd recognize that neck anywhere. I should get rid of it. It's become a nuisance." It said passing through my hand and grabbing my neck with one of his own and choking me.
"Let her go!" Al yelled struggling to get up before something in my neck cracked and I fell to the ground gasping for air and getting none as only blood made it through
"It's a shame really. I've heard your voice once before in Barcelona." It said smirking at my struggle as he grabbed Al's arm and ripped it off in from of me
"Al!" I tried to scream as he fell to the ground next to me
'He's dead...' I thought to myself as silent sobs racked my body before I lost consciousness
"Allison!" Grandpa yelled from inside his stagecoach
"Ali's here?" Thierry asked as the door flew open
"She is here!" Pierre cheered
"Grandpa...Pierre...Thierry...I missed you..." I sniffled glomping on Grandpa
"You can't stay here! You have to leave! Hurry!" He said pulling me off of him and looking frantically for something in the woods that surrounded us
"What's wrong, Grandpa? You don't want to see me?" I said more than a little hurt
"It's not time for you to be here yet! You have to leave before it's too late!" He yelled running into the forest that seemed almost endless
"What happened?" I asked
"You're...dead..." He sighed
"I died?" I asked
"I warned you! I told you to stay away from Fallen Ones! Why didn't you listen?" Grandpa yelled
"I...I wanted to save him...I had to save him." I cried
"Why did you provoke the Noah?" He asked
"He killed you! I couldn't let him live!" I screamed
"Look where it's gotten you!" He yelled
"Master, she was just being loyal, stupid, but loyal." Thierry said
"We can't bring her back to life, can we?" Pierre asked
"Unless she gets turned into an akuma." Thierry said
"It's not happening. I'm dead. Forever. Where's Al" I said
"He's...also passed away." Grandpa said
"Where is he then? Isn't he here?" I asked looking around
"No. I don't know what happened to him. The afterlife must be in tiers." Grandpa explained
"If that's the case, Al would probably be with Mana or Narian." I sighed
"Ali! You're fading!" Thierry yelled
"Is someone turning me into an akuma?" I asked before ending up in under a lake of some kind, drowning
"Who...are you?" I heard Al ask from the shore
'Me! It's me!' I screamed internally as I watched the surface of the water freeze over
'Help! I'm right here! Help me!' I pleaded before the water froze completely and everything went black
'I don't want to be an akuma. I don't want to be the poor soul crying for help. I'm begging you! Please!' I begged the darkness
When I came to, I was riding on someone's back through an unfamiliar place
"A-" I started, but no sound came out and a sharp pain came instead. I cringed and fell off his back clutching my throat with clenched teeth
"Ali, are you okay?" Al asked looking like the dead person we both were. Bandages were wrapped around his chest and a cloth covered what was left of his arm. I ignored him and scanned his body with wide eyes.
'We were dead...what are we doing here?' I thought to myself before following Al until we came up to a large door
'Where...?' I thought to myself while Al tried to push open the door
"It won't open no matter how hard you push." A blonde boy with the Order's uniform said from the darkness
"Is there really no way to open this door?" Al asked
"It can't be opened. How about going back? What will you achieve by passing through there anyway?" The boy asked
"I have to keep moving forward... I don't want to stay still." Al said while placing his bandaged hand on the door
"Even with no left arm? I don't have any particular issue about it... I'm just asking out of curiosity." He asked as my hand found it's way to my throat
'I can't scream or talk...or sing... I'm useless...' I thought to myself
"Who...are you?" Al asked
"Black Order Asian Headquarters chief Bak Chan. Allen and Allison Walker, how would you like to be a clerical member here? You can start over as supporters. Look for another path. Even if you're not exorcists, there are plenty of desk duties. You can do those, right? If you do that, God won't condemn you." The blonde said
'Start....over? No, I want my revenge... I'm going to kill that damn Noah. I'm going to kill him and all the Noahs. I'm not done yet. I refuse to sit here at some stupid desk. I'll rest when I'm dead.' I hissed internally glaring at Bak Chan shaking my head furiously
"We don't care about that." Al said noticing my stern (and somewhat childish) refusal
"With... With my own will... I made an oath! I swore to myself, that I would destroy Akuma! To my friends, that I'd fight alongside them! To the world, that I'd save it! I promised that I'd keep walking until the day I die! Open! Open! Damn it... For me to be alive...this is the only path I can take." Al yelled banging his hand on the door until it was bloody and sliding to the ground in front of it
"Stop. You'll...hurt...your...self." I mouthed desperately trying to keep him from making his injuries worse
"Allen Walker. Allison Walker. Your innocence isn't dead." Bak Chan said from behind us
'You mean we went through that...for nothing?' I hissed as a vein popped on my head
"However, before I could tell you that, I had to confirm your true feelings. Learning about the Fallen One, knowing the bitter taste of death... To assess if you both could return to the battlefield again... And, to stop you from becoming Fallen Ones. Although, saying you don't care about god may have been a bit overboard. Let's go. Wong's been searching for you two for quite some time to change those bandages. When that's done, we'll talk about restoring you left arm and your vocal cords." He said looking at the respective sibling
"So I can get my left arm back?" Al asked
'I'll be able to talk again!' I cheered dancing around
"Yeah." Bak Chan nodded
"Really?" Al asked with a goofy smile
"Yeah. Now, it's getting kinda cold in here so..." Bak chan started before a girl's voice cut him off
"Ah! I found ya, you jerks! What makes you think you can just break out of the infirmary?!" She yelled kicking Bak Chan into the door
'What in the world...?' I sweatdropped
"Whether you're an exorcist or not, while you're here, you should behave yourselves! More to the point, isn't greeting me the first thing you should do after waking up? After all, I'm the one that lugged you both all the way back here from that bamboo field!" She ranted on
"So why are you kicking me?!" Bak Chan yelled from the floor
"Come on. Greet me already, jerks." She demanded ignoring Bak Chan's whining
"Hey you! Ignoring me?!" Bak Chan yelled having a fit while a tall, old man in a lab coat carried him away still screaming
"Bak-sama! Bak-sama! Please calm down!" He pleaded
"Does she know who I am? I'll kick her ass!" Bak Chan continued yelling
'It feels like the European Branch here.' I giggled silently
"Th- Thank you for saving us." Al smiled
"Hey! Answer me! Hey! I'm seriously angry! Cat got your tongue? Say something!" Bak Chan
"Her name is Fou. She's the Asian Headquarters' guardian. I'm Bak-sama's assistant, Wong. I'm deeply relieved that you're okay, Walker-kuns." The old scientist smiled, still restraining Bak Chan
"Thank you very much! For saving us. My deepest thanks." Al said prompting me to stand up and bow to them in order to express my gratitude
"Did you find them?" A boy scientist out of the three that ran in our direction asked
"Where's the young exorcist boy?" A girl scientist with black, braided pigtails asked
"Nice to meet you." Al said with a smile while I merely waved from behind noticing the red tint the girl's cheeks got
'Uh oh...Lenalee's got competition...' I snickered
"Strike!" She sang
"E-Excuse me..." Al said trying to pull her out of whatever fantasy she was having
"I'm Rikei from the Science Division. This is Shifu." A brunette said motioning to the black haired boy next to him
"Hello." Shifu said
"And this is..." Rikei started
"I'm Lou Fa!" The girl from earlier interupted
'Wait...there are one...two...three. Three boys around here that look pretty nice... and she wants Al? What kind of crazy girl... No, wait... Maybe they're like Komui...' I thought to myself falling into deep thought before coming back at the mention of my name
"Check Allen and Allison Walker's health. If there are no problems, we'll restore their innocence." Bak Chan said getting this scary serious disposition
'Okay, so that one's kinda weird...' I noted
Al went first for the check up giving me the chance to see if it was like one of Komui's before I actually went in and got hooked up to some weird electrical things.
"I wonder what your voice sounds like..." Lou Fa wondered aloud
'Like...a...child's...' I mouthed with a small smile
"It does?" She asked as I nodded before she handed me a pen and paper
"Maybe this'll be easier to talk with." She smiled
"Thank you." I wrote on the paper before turning it around to show it to her
"It's nothing. You won't be needing it for very long anyway."
"That was surprising! I can't say with 100% certainty, but your heart appears to be alright. You both should be able to start training soon." Shifu said
"That's good isn't it?" Lou Fa smiled
"Yes!" Al said with a closed eyed smile
'It's about time somebody's my height.' I thought to myself noticing the difference of only a hair in height between me and Lou Fa
"Is that Jeryy?" I asked as Al and I were about to order our food in the cafeteria
"Um... I'll have Omurice, Neapolitan, fried rice, hamburgers, pork cutlets, curry rice, and fried chicken please." Al said while I wrote what I wanted down
"Beef Ramen, Pork chops, spaghetti, Jambalaya, Shrimp Lo Mein, and eggrolls." I wrote down before handing it to him followed by the clink of metal pans hitting the counter
'My sweet cafeteria...it's been too long...' I drooled carrying my food to a table and basically inhaling it in a matter of seconds
"Thanks for the meal!"
"It was really good!" I smiled holding up my notepad
"This place was originally built by our ancestors as a sanctuary and is constantly expanding. It's even bigger than the Main Branch." Wong said as we walked with him, Fou, Bak Chan, and the other scientists we met through the Order
"Be careful not to get lost, Walkers. There was a guy that got lost for a week and died of starvation." Fou teased
'Starvation... You mean...no food?' I shivered
"We'll be fine, but she gets lost easily." Al said, probably remembering all the times at got lost at the European Branch even after living there for a few months
"L-Let's not talk about that..." Bak Chan stuttered
"Alright, we're going in." Bak Chan said as we stood in front of a large brown door before pushing it open to reveal a room filled with mist
"What is this, smoke?" Al asked as we walked inside
"It's you and your sister's innocence." Bak Chan explained
"Wh-What?" Al asked
"This mist?" The three scientists asked
"Not mist. Without a solid state, it exists as particles. Usually when Innocence is damaged to the point of becoming particles, it is completely destroyed. However, these two were different. Instead of disappearing, it saved you. Despite everything, it still hasn't lost its power as a crystal of God." Bak Chan said
"When I was hauling you both out of the bamboo field, his mist was like a protective covering. Thanks to that, I could barely see in front of me, so getting back was a hassle." Fou said
"Even in this state, it still survived. But why only our Innocence?" Al asked
"Unfortunately, we don't know that much. This has surpassed even Komui's expectations. Unusually, he said something unscientific, 'Those two children may be quite special. They may be loved by God.' Now you will have to activate this scattered Innocence to restore your anti-akuma weapons. If you can restore your weapons, you can fight again." Bak Chan said before stepping back for us
'You saved me? Thank you... Could you help me again? Could you come back? I need your help. Innocence Activate.'
"C...C...Come...back...." I pleaded with a raspy voice