"...Wisely!"
Road had managed to break through, finally achieving her wish of communicating with her fellow Noah. It took her several tries to reach him.
"Road?" Wisely blinked a couple of times, surprised that Road had come back so fast. "Are your powers stronger now?" He asked. Compared to before, he could hear her a lot clearer.
"Yes! Listen, Wisely!" Road began to explain the situation that had been happening at the ark, detailing what she saw but couldn't take action against. The words were fast, as if she was rushing to tell him whatever she knew on her side.
"Slow down, Road, why are you in such a hurry?"
"I found Allen's consciousness!"
"Allen's...?" Wisely glanced at Nea, who was fighting against the other Noah and the Earl. "Shouldn't his consciousness be gone?" He thought that after Nea took over, it would destroy his host's.
"No, it's not! I found it after I found Cross Marian's! Except he's alive! And I also found Sin's! I wanted to tell you before that Cross was alive and he was doing something."
Wisely paused, "What? Sin's?"
"Sin's consciousness is broken," Road's worry resonated with her adopted brother's, "It's scattered in the dream world that Allen's consciousness is also in. I can feel it there."
Wisely thought for a moment, wondering what that meant. How come Sin was there with Allen? And it was broken? Did Mei break it?
There's no way that she would've done it on purpose, unless it was the only way, he thought.
"Do you think I can gather it and put it together?" asked Road, unsure.
She didn't want Sin to die, because that meant that Tyki would be sad. After all, she knew how much he treasured her. Sin was quite nice to them as well, despite there being a divide in their factions. In conclusion, Road was fond of her.
"Try it, it might work." Wisely ended up going with her suggestion.
He didn't know a thing about collecting a scattered consciousness. He'd never had to deal with it before, and quite frankly, he didn't know what to do. Getting Sin's consciousness didn't seem to be a top priority right now, but it wasn't something that should be ignored.
If she doesn't find it, doesn't it mean it's the same as dying? Questioned Wisely. He dwelled on the thought for a little longer, and realised that it was almost the same as declaring Sin braindead if they didn't find her consciousness.
But...
Wisely pressed his lips together, brows furrowing slightly.
Mei's using Sin's body to fulfil her wish, and the body will also die in the end.
"I'll get Allen to help me!" Road proclaimed. "He was really sad when Sin was gone, so I don't want to make him sadder!"
"You..." Wisely was taken out of his thoughts by Road's determined expression. "Alright."
"I'll let you know how I go! Talk to you later!" And she was gone.
He let out a light sigh. Her enthusiasm was great, but he really didn't know if it would work. But, it's better to try rather than to not.
Demon Eye Wisely pressed his fingers to his temples, closing his eyes for a moment. He narrowed down the minds he could read, zoning in only to Mei's. Just like before, her thoughts were as clear as day to him.
Huh?
Wisely felt his eyes water, the tears cascading down his cheeks like a waterfall. He tried to stop them by rubbing his eyes and blinking rapidly while tilting his head, but they just continued. His throat felt like it was closing up and his chest felt tight.
He didn't know whether or not these were his own emotions, or if Mei's emotions were so strong that it overcame his senses.
"Ah..." He opened his mouth, but closed it tight when another wave of tears came. He covered his ears with his hands, trying to take himself out of the labyrinth of the Seraphim user's mind.
He didn't hear anything, but he also heard everything. There were so many layers to her mind, and each layer he plunged through, he got enveloped in what she thought, felt, saw and experienced. It was a silent cry of help, yet he also swear he heard words that whispered to him for help.
He didn't realise she felt to this extent, especially with how she was and came off as, but going through her open mind, it was like an archive of incredibly dense, thick books that lined shelf after shelf. In each of them, it detailed everything, and reaffirmed her decision to do what she had to do. If anything, the conclusion that Wisely could come to was that she cared more than anybody else.
Initially he wanted to find out if he could find Sin's consciousness, but instead, he found Mei's library of memories. It's not to say that he couldn't find her consciousness, but instead, it wasn't as strong as Mei's will.
Once he got out, he wiped the tears from his eyes and solemnly watched the fight, seeing if he need to do anything to help his fellow Noah.
~~~~~
The red haired general finished tinkering with a level 3 akuma, successfully modifying it so that it would heed to his commands. Once done, he handed the akuma egg piece to it and instructed it to go to Mei.
Of course, being in such close proximity to the Earl and the Ark, the level 3 struggled to speak as it tried to go along its command.
Except Cross Marian did not care at all. All he needed was for it to give it to Mei, and then it can get exorcised and save itself from the world. Or killed by the Noah – either one works.
The akuma moved quickly, faster than the Noah who was briskly making his way to Mei. Its limbs shook from the overwhelming presences around it, and just before it got to Mei, the bag was stabbed by the outreached arm of the woman.
"Thanks," She mumbled, skewering the object and bringing it to her body. She winced slightly at the pain that cursed through her abdominals, forcing herself to think of something else to numb the pain. "Get rid of Tyki for me."
She placed her non-wielding hand to the egg and absorbed the power, feeling it pumping through her veins once the remaining shell reduced to dust. She was careful not to move her torso too much, as that would only agitate the wound.
"G-g-g-get rid of the Lord Noah?!" The akuma squeaked, its voice quivering. Now its whole body was shaking, undoubtedly from everything around.
"Move him somewhere else." Mei didn't want to continue explaining.
"I'll t-t-t-try!"
Mei watched as the akuma blocked her way from Tyki. The reason she wanted to make sure he didn't get to her just yet was so that Nea could do whatever he needed to. It would be enough time, however short.
Hurry up, Nea!
Mei's vision was starting to blur. It was a common occurrence, especially since she's died a number of times and was used to the pain to an extent. This was just one of the many symptoms.
Damn, got to stay focused.
"Get out of my damn way!" Tyki engaged in combat with the akuma, feeling agitated that one of his own would come at him.
He was aware that the only person who could have changed the innate decision of akuma was Cross, but from what he knew, Cross was missing. So it was quite strange that a modified akuma was there to block his way, and listen to Mei.
Maybe he was up to something - since Road mentioned Cross.
"MEI!" Nea screamed out her name when he stabbed the remnant into the Earl, jumping away from him when he pushed it in deep enough.
Adam let out a loud scream combined with a wail of sorts, and all the akuma around him stopped what they were doing, and immediately lost their cool, letting high pitched screams, resonating with the Earl's hatred of Innocence. They all targeted the one traitorous Noah, Nea, aiming at him to push forward his death sentence.
What's happening?! Earl?! Tyki stopped in his step and he took a look at the ordeal where Nea and the Earl were fighting.
The Earl staggered, dropping to his knees after he got stabbed. He was supported by other Noah, who had ditched their own fights to assist him.
Bound by his loyalty to the Earl, Tyki began to move in that direction, forcibly pulling himself away from seeing Mei in order to go to the Head of the family.
Good,Mei watched as Tyki left, and as Nea got chased by both akuma and Noah. He had done his job, and now it was her turn to make sure her job was done well.
As the sword fragment continually sucked out the power of the Earl, she could feel it in her body instead; the immense power that threatened to explode at any second if she didn't consciously control it.
This amount of power is too much, thought Mei. She knew that the powers were to help fuel the fire of purification, but the more she takes in, the more she feels an overwhelming pressure due to the energy that she'd absorbed.
With steady breaths, she calmed herself and made sure to think rationally. In her long line of lives and work, she had learnt the hard way that not thinking rationally could lead to her death, or make matters worse.
Mei could feel the rumble of the earth beneath her feet. It was a new kind of sensation that she'd never felt before, until she got the powers of both the Earl and Apocryphos. She winced when she felt her wound ache, and pressed her lips into a thin line.
In the midst of the battle, it wasn't very long until she heard Nea's groan with Allen's voice.
He got hurt?Mei wondered for a brief moment, but dismissed the thought. It didn't matter because the ones that hurt him would be gone in a matter of minutes.
"Okay," She breathed steadily and kneeled down, stabbing the remainder of her sword into the ground. Her body felt incredibly heavy and her breathing had become slightly laboured, but before it got any worse she could control her breathing.
"Fire of purification, dance."
As soon as she uttered those words, her Innocence began to glow white, enveloping her in a bright light. At first, it surrounded only her, but soon, it spread from her body to her surroundings in a circular manner.
Those who saw the bright light stopped what they were doing, looking in Mei's direction with wide eyes. Before they even had the time to move, the light enveloped them as well, eventually taking in everything and everyone, not leaving anything behind.
She did it!
Nea kicked away the Noah that had injured him, wincing when he lightly touched the wound in his shoulder. His eyes narrowed when he felt his strength being sapped away, almost like it was getting sucked into a dark hole.
When he looked around to see how others were faring, he could see that the akuma were disappearing, eventually becoming more transparent as they wondered what was going on. The Noah were the same as well, and some of them shouted out, wondering what was happening and why they felt weaker, all the while screaming due to their Noah memory.
Nea himself felt like he wanted to scream, the sensation was similar to when he gets hurt by Innocence. After all, the power that enveloped them now was Innocence.
"SIN!" Tyki screamed out his beloved's name, not caring whether or not he got it right.
From the pits of his stomach, he could feel that something would go wrong. He was nervous, to say the least. The light unnerved him and made his Noah memory want to swallow him whole. It was an unbearable pain in his head and body that caused him to blackout a couple of times while standing - throwing his insides into turmoil.
Yet, he stayed standing.
He moved towards Mei, rejecting the areas around him, making it so that it would hopefully make his move to his destination easier. But, he realised that after one or two steps, his powers were becoming weaker. With this in mind, he realised exactly what Mei meant when she told him he was wrong earlier.
Mei took the broken sword out of the ground and stood up. One of her knees gave out due to the immense toll it took on her body and she stumbled. Catching herself before she fell, she leaned on one leg to rest the other.
It's been activated, Mei thought for a brief moment. She turned her body to the man that came to her, the one that cared the most for the original body's owner.
"...you're here," She sounded expectant. Her voice held the same steady tone as always, which made the Noah wonder how she managed to stay sane in such a situation. After all, she was bleeding more than before and if she felt what he felt, she would be feeling the effects by now. Would she faint?
Mei took a couple of steps forward to meet Tyki in the middle, holding out the broken sword to him. Despite feeling like many people were pushing her down, she remained standing, her eyes clear.
"Use this to kill me."