"Sin?!" Allen called her name again as she erupted into another round of coughs. This time, they were more violent than the last, and the blood continued to stain her hand.
The chained female grimaced at the sight of her blood, pressing her red lips into a thin line. After those series of coughs, she could feel her vision blurring out at random times, very quickly like a flash of light.
Shit.
She took a glance at Allen, seeing that he was standing, shocked.
There's no way that Allen wouldn't want to know what this was.
Sin wiped her mouth on her arm, sighing at the situation. Her throat seemed to ache from the repeated coughs. Before, she'd get them periodically when she was stuck in the room, but now, it seemed to have escalated. Along with these coughs, she would seemingly forget things here and there, but then remember them after a while. But, the time in which she started to remember far less was closer, and she'd been forgetting things like an old woman.
However, Allen didn't know that she was losing her memory little by little. The only one who knew, was maybe Mei, who knew the end of what was to happen.
Allen's hand came down to his side, balled into fists. He had a hunch what was going on, but he didn't know if he was right.
"Sin...is this..." He stopped his sentence for a brief moment, remembering the mention of her Innocence corrupting her. "Is your Innocence killing you?"
Sin just looked at him like an empty puppet. Soon, her expression changed to one where she was just smiling, a sad forlorn look on her beautiful features.
She didn't reply nor did she answer, but her silence was almost like a confirmation in Allen's understanding.
His mouth became dry.
Death?
Death by Innocence?
During his whole life as an exorcist, one of the deaths that he remembered that was the most traumatising was Suman Dark's. He couldn't save him, and the Innocence ate him alive like a parasite (along with the powers of Noah).
His breathing became shallow and quick as he relived those memories – he didn't want one of his friends to end up like Suman. It reminded him that Seraphim accommodators couldn't become Fallen Ones – is this to make up for not becoming a Fallen One? A different kind of suffering?
"Allen, don't worry. I'm sure it's not as bad as you think. I've been alive this whole time, right?" Sin just continued to smile at him, and this time, she was able to put on a happier front that disguised her sad thoughts.
"That's..." Allen couldn't even say anything in retaliation.
He had already lost a friend, Timcanpy, and his other friends were in danger. And now, he may be losing yet another friend? Is that supposed to make him happy?
"Allen, don't worry about me." Sin shook her gently, "I think you have some other things to do."
"...what?" He couldn't even think.
Everything was starting to become more and more blurry. How much longer does everything have to go on for? Why couldn't everything be peaceful?
Like she could read his thoughts, Sin responded to his thoughts.
"You also hate this, don't you?" Her voice was soft and gentle, like a mother cooing her child. "You...don't have to worry about that anymore. It'll all be over soon."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Allen, you need to get out of here. I can see what's happening to Mei and the others right now – they're fighting. They're at a war. Everyone's fighting." Sin glanced to her side, seeing a window where she could view the war from Mei's eyes. She was the only one able to see it in the room.
"Fighting?"
"Yeah. Nea's taken over your body and he's using your Innocence to kill akuma and fight with Noah." Sin explained. She wanted to gauge Allen's reaction, as it would determine whether or not Mei's plan would work.
This was why she called him over.
"Did you know?" There was a glint in Sin's eyes as she spoke her next words, intended to strike a chord within the male exorcist. "I'm able to look through Mei's memories. And I can say for sure - Cross Marian is alive."
Allen already knew that his master was possibly alive, as he had talked to him through a dream, however how did Sin know this? Was she here the whole time? Did she hear their conversation?
"How..."
"Cross is currently doing something for Mei. It's quite crucial to her plan – and it's quite similar to what the Order had done to the third exorcists."
"Wha..." Allen's face paled. He knew what the 3rd exorcists had gone through, however how did Sin know this? She wasn't there when the 3rd exorcists were introduced.
Sin giggled, knowing full well she threw a fast one.
"Let's just say that I have ears and eyes everywhere."
~~~~~
Wisely frowned as he realised that his connection to Road was cut. He glanced to the side, watching his Noah siblings running wild and battling exorcists. Tyki was to his side, not making a move just yet. He was watching Mei, who was just pulverising the akuma in her way, not letting any of them live.
It got cut.
His brows furrowed as he wondered what the cause of it was. Road was currently recuperating since the attack from Apocryphos – hence she couldn't join the war. There was something about the loss of connection which was strange to him – only Noah can cut the connection. If it wasn't the Noah who willingly did it, then who?
The frog owner didn't have an idea who, however, judging from what Road was saying, it was plausible that it was someone who didn't want the Noah to know that Cross Marian is alive and well.
But who?
Wisely tilted his head to the side a little, a frown on his lips as he crossed his arms.
Maybe Road got preoccupied with someone?
"Nah, no way!" He laughed it off, shaking his head. There was no way that someone would be able to talk to Road as she was currently residing in the Ark, resting.
Wait.
He slowly looked at Mei, who was pushing her silver hair out of the way and slashing another akuma. Her red eyes met Wisely's, and judging by the look on the Demon Eye Noah's face, she knew that Cross had succeeded.
Seeing her smile like she knew what was going on gave Wisely the creeps. He knew that she was intelligent and always had a plan, but it was like she always knew what was going on. A shiver went up Wisely's spine, and he didn't know whether it was from the amplified power of her Innocence or the fact that she gave him a knowing smile.
Tyki stayed standing next to Wisely with his arms crossed, watching everything pan out. He put his hand on Wisely's head when he saw Mei giving a smile to him, ruffling his hair just slightly.
"I'm going down now." He mentioned to his adoptive nephew.
"Huh? Wait Joyd!" Wisely wanted to stop him, as going to Mei now wouldn't exactly be a smart idea when the Earl was fighting Nea.
"I want to ask her something." Tyki was adamant.
Wisely crunched over and put a hand to his forehead, shaking his head. He used his other hand to wave him off, knowing that he couldn't actually stop or change his mind. "Yeah, just go then."
He averted his attention away from them for the Earl, who was now engaged in battle with Nea. He wanted to honestly sigh at them – they were family, yes, and he cared for them due to being bound by memories – but he was also tired because it seemed like a never-ending debacle with them wanting to kill or love each other.
Can they just decide already? Wisely sighed to himself, knowing full well that that can't just happen so easily. He knew that Nea wanted to kill the Earl, but he was unsure of why. So, because he wasn't a fighter, the only thing he could do was observe and make sure that the akuma and Noah were in cohesion.
Yep, definitely not a fighter.
~~~~~
His green eyes opened as he felt the ground rumble. He didn't know whether or not it was morning or night; he had lost track of time.
How long has it been? He wondered, lifting his head. He was stuck on the same chair as he was before, bound by ropes.
He chewed the inside of his cheek lightly, feeling the bruise on his face ache.
Ouch...
He grimaced and sighed to himself. Not only did his face hurt, but his body as well. The repeated torture was bearable, but it just ended with him getting beat up.
Lavi looked to his side, wondering how Bookman was able to get out. With his incredible memory, he didn't remember being awake from the time that Bookman was let out. All he remembered was that Bookman was threatened by Sheril, and he was the thing he was threatened with.
With another sigh, he tried wriggling his fingers and toes, finding that he was able to do so even with the tightness of the ropes.
Should I escape? He glanced around the area, seeing nothing out of place, but then realised that the Noah may come back. His brows furrowed as he listened quietly. Was the Noah here? Were they going to come?
What surprised him was that there was barely any sound. It felt strangely empty compared to the other times that he was there, which made him wonder if the akuma and Noah were there at all.
Suddenly, the door opened soundlessly.
Lavi nearly jumped out of his seat at the abrupt motion. He expected someone to be on the other side, but there was nothing. He stared at it with his mouth agape, his heart nearly jumping out of his chest.
"Gho...st...?" He gulped down the lump forming in his throat as his mouth went dry. Was he going to die by a ghost or by Noah? He thought it was by the Noah or an akuma at first, but after a quick thought - probably a ghost.
He wanted to scream, but he felt something covering his mouth, stopping him from doing so. His green eyes widened and he wanted to scream at the sensation – it felt like a human hand.
"Fancy seeing you here, Bookman Junior."
Lavi knew this voice. He stopped whatever he was doing and stared at the direction where the hand came from.
"Cross Marian?!" His voice came out like a squeak, which made Cross raise a brow at the young adult.
"Yeah, I'm alive," Cross didn't even bother to stop his cloak of invisibility. The reason being that there were others in the current Ark that he would rather miss the opportunity to see. Namely, the one that he thought was a nuisance in every way of the world. "Apocry-ma-what's-his-face is here too. Go with him and go join the war or something."
Cross took out a knife from his belt and cut the ropes that tied the exorcist – releasing him from his shackles.
Lavi thanked the General, rubbed his wrists and stood up, stretching his limbs. It felt like a long time since he'd been able to do just that, having been stuck on that chair for a while under the Noah's gazes.
"Wait a minute, General – what's this war you're talking about?" How out-of-the-loop was he? He never heard anything about a war, apart from the usual one between the Noah and exorcists.
Cross just looked at him for a moment, then sighed, "I can't explain it all now, but it's a war between Noah, exorcists and Mei and Nea."
Lavi's jaw dropped, "Mei started a war?! And what, the 14th has overtaken Allen?!" The disbelief in his voice became more evident the more he spoke. He was missing out a huge chunk of information, and he didn't know how he felt about that.
"...of it, oi, snap out of it!" Cross hit a fist on top of the red head, annoyed that he would ignore him when he was tight on time.
Lavi didn't even complain when he frowned and rubbed his head. His thoughts were circulating and trying to piece everything together.
"I told you that the monster's gonna come, so follow that guy."
Lavi cocked a brow, weighing the options. He wasn't too sure whether he wanted to go with Apocryphos – who he didn't know was stuck in the same place as he was – and risk his Innocence being absorbed by him all to protect the Heart; or if he wanted to go where Cross was, which may be as dangerous as being with Apocryphos.
With a long, drawn out 'hm...', Lavi picked the latter.
Obviously not being with a monster is better than being with one.
"I'm going to follow you." Lavi declared confidently.
"What the hell can you do? You'll just weigh me down." Cross started walking to the door. "Follow Apocryphos, kid."
"No." Lavi followed where the footsteps went, oblivious to the fact that Cross looked like he wanted to punch something.
Having no time and effort to want to argue, the General rolled his eyes and chanted some words under his breath, allowing the younger exorcist to see him.
Lavi, surprised by being able to see the General, wasn't surprised in the least when he saw that he looked exactly the same as before, just with rowdier hair.
"Let's go."