RAWR. I'm still alive. And what's even more surprising is that I've used my lifespan to finally update this fic! It's been like…more than three months since I last updated this thing. Wow…I'm such a jerk, aren't I? But seriously, it's been a long time since I've even thought about this fic, because I haven't really though about writing at all in the past few months. I guess you could call it lazy adolescent syndrome or procrastination or something.

I'm trying to gather all my thoughts for this story, so if the plot in this chapter is inconsistent with the previous chapters, let me know so I can fix it. My idea for Road's past keeps changing too, not to mention the major mood swings (I'll just blame that on Road being emotionally unstable and Allen being…whatever he is) I'll be lucky if this chapter turns out to be any good at all, since I was just crashing through it.

Before I planned to get Allen to explain exactly what he is and what's going on so the plot would have less loose ends that needed to be tied up, but instead, I just made the plot even more confusing with even more loose ends! Hooray. It's just that I didn't find a good place to insert that in, since it flowed a lot better the way this chapter ended.

And by the way, that thing Allen was doing to Road (you'll know it when you read it…and no, it doesn't involve mass amounts of blood), I wrote it that way intentionally just to screw with your minds. If you really want to know exactly what he did to her, ask me and I'll PM you. And tell me what you thought he was doing to her too.

There's now also a new poll on my profile for what the next chapter should be about. The poll about the name of this fic will still open too (I'll put it back to my profile once the next chapter's out), and the title will be whatever has the highest amount of votes. Review too, since the button is remarkably bigger, you have no excuse now.

This author's note is way too long…dontkillmeplz.

Disclaimer: DGM belongs to Hoshino Katsura. Who is once again, sick. We all wish for a speedy recovery for you! (At least…I do.)

Road Kamelot was dead. Her mangled body was spread across the floor, crimson blood staining the walls and floor. Road's last scream was etched on her face as her body was frozen in a final pose of terror. Her bloody hands were reaching towards the door, never to reach what lies beyond. Her eyes gave away a look of emptiness, her shadowed vision clouded by her previous tears. A slim mechanical skeleton eased its way on top of the fallen girl.

"Why…why couldn't you have been stronger…?" The Akuma skeleton cried.

A plump shadow materialized over the Akuma skeleton. "Fufufu… :3 Don't worry my little Akuma. :3 She's not dead because of her actions, she's dead because of yours! :3" The Millennium Earl raised his umbrella. "Now, Akuma, I command you to wear this girl's skin as your own! :3"

"Yes…master…" The Akuma skeleton raised the blades that were its arms, and brought it down on the girl's body, cutting a large slit through Road's chest. Blood splattered onto the Akuma skeleton's face, dripping down from its eyes like tears. A sickening squelching sound filled the air as the skeleton inserted its body into Road's chest, integrating the human skin with the dark matter of the Akuma. When the skeleton was fully inside of Road's body, she sat up and her skin stitched itself together. A faded pentacle formed on Road's forehead.

"Transformation complete! :3" The Earl said joyfully. "A new Akuma is born! :3 :3"

The Akuma in Road's body turned towards the Earl. Blood was running down her face. She raised her finger and pointed at the Earl. "You…"

"Eh? :3" The Earl tilted his head. "Are you…talking, my little Akuma? :3"

"You…" Ka-chik. A gun barrel extended from Road's arm, pointing at the Earl. "You killed me you bastard…" She fired repeatedly, gunfire echoing throughout the building. "You killed and tricked me you smiling freak!" She stopped firing. "You made me think I could bring him back to life…" Road fell to the ground, tears in her eyes. "Made me think I could atone for my sins…"

A cold blade pressed against the back of Road's neck. "How is it," the Earl said quietly, "That you have a free will?"

Road lifted her head. "How should I know? I thought I was dead…"

She turned around to face the Earl. The Earl's eyes widened from behind his spectacles as he lowered his sword. "That mark… :3" He used his fingers to trace the marking on Road's forehead. "So…it's finally time for the curtain to begin falling on the prelude of this play. :3 :3" He grinned as his fingers left the cross on Road's forehead. "Stigmata…"

Road grabbed the Earl's throat. "Are you done yet? I'm really starting to get pissed off."

The Earl's face melted away. "What, you have a problem with your birth as a Noah?" Allen slid away from Road's grasp. "Is it so hard to remember your old body, your old emotions?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Road stood up and wiped the blood off her face. "I know how I awakened as a Noah, it's the single painful memory I can't forcefully repress. So is it really necessary to make me re-live something I already remember?"

"Not really, I just wanted to give you a refresher course." Allen raised his hand lazily and a dark portal appeared behind him. "So, Miss Kamelot, are you ready to see some more of your memories?"

"No," Road scoffed, "Instead, why don't tell me exactly what the hell you're trying to pull by bringing me back into this psycho dimension of yours. I mean, don't you think it's kinda repetitive?"

Allen shrugged. "It's only repetitive if you choose to believe it's repetitive. And since I choose to believe it's not repetitive, then in my own little world where I choose not to be repetitive I'm not repetitive. And since the world we're standing in right now is technically my world, then I am one-hundred percent that I'm not repetitive in any way."

"But you said this was my world and that you were just living in it, so if it's my world and I believe you're repetitive, then you're repetitive." Road responded.

"Oh…" Allen grinned sheepishly. "So you were paying attention."

"Of course I was." Road muttered, "It's not like I had anything better to do."

"So repairing the skewed void of time isn't considered important then?" He stroked Road's cheek. "You'd rather listen to my words then go back to your family? I'm touched."

Road slapped his hand away. "Enough." She muttered darkly.

"Enough with what?" Allen asked scathingly.

Road leapt towards him and tackled him to the ground. "Quit screwing around with me!" Road yelled. "I'm sick and tired of your word games and riddles, just tell me what the hell is going on and what exactly the hell it is you are so I can get the hell out of this place and go back home!"

Allen smiled. "Should an exorcist, a servant of God, really be using the word 'hell' so many times in the same sentence?"

Road pulled back her hand.

Slap.

"Oh…" Allen shifted his head to make eye-contact with the girl on top of him. "It looks like the lioness has some claws after all."

Slap.

"And they're quite sharp too." Allen smiled innocently. "Are you into S+M or something?"

Road put her fingers to his eyes. "Tell me what the hell you're trying to do or so help me I'll pluck out your eyeballs and shove them down your disgusting little throat while you scream."

"Hmm…that'll be a problem since I can't feel pain. I have a better idea." He sank into the ground.

"Wha-?"

Allen knocked and pinned Road to the ground. "How about you do the screaming instead. That'd work out quite nicely, don't you think." He flipped Road over, so she was facing him. "Of course…I don't have to pluck your eyeballs out to get you to scream. After all, I've already made you go though the intense pain of having knifes shoved through you already." He smirked. "After all, there are other ways to make girls scream, especially if it's their first…" He used one hand to keep Road pinned, and the other to rip off Road's left sleeve.

"What are you trying to do you bastard!?" Road yelled.

"Eh heh heh…" He moved his hand over Road's. "You know, having this cross embedded in your hand isn't totally unattractive. It's actually quite fitting, after all, you are a child of God that has fallen from his grace, and now you walk the path of the devil only to be put back on the ethereal path once more."

"Ah…!" She started trembling. "Uhm…stop…" She gasped for air. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." Allen said evilly. "I'm referring to your past, the reason why the Innocence didn't outright kill you even though you aren't rightfully its host. The memory that not only you rejected but also the memory that the Noah inside of you rejected. The single strand of fate that links you and Allen Walker in ways other than the basic ties between an Exorcist and a Noah." He pushed back a lock of Road's hair.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Road said quietly.

"I think you do." Allen lowered his voice. "Remember who you were asking the Earl to bring back from the dead? The one who saved you from the Akuma that killed your friend Kryst?"

Road's eyes widened. "No…shut up…" She started squirming. "Don't say another word!" She cried out fearfully.

He bent his head closer towards Road's ear and whispered.

"Traece."

A tear streamed down from Road's eyes. Her arm twitched.

"Get off of me!!!" She broke free from his grip and swiped at him with her left hand. Allen artfully backed away.

"Come to think of it," He said, "Traece and Allen are the same type of people right? Isn't that the reason you're repulsed and attracted to Allen at the same time?"

"Shut up!" She charged towards Allen, her arm convulsing and twitching. She attempted to punch him, but he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. He grabbed her leg and pulled it out from underneath her, pinning her back to the ground.

"What?" Allen said sadistically, "Do you think you could take me without a weapon? Or perhaps you wish to die."

"I only wish for you to die for making me remember that." Road spat out.

"The use your Innocence and kill me. Simple as that."

"But I can't…"

"You can't? Or you won't?" Allen asked cryptically. "The dark matter within you is too weak for the Innocence to do anything to you, and your synchronization rate is high enough for a successful invocation, so by all means you should have the power to fight."

"I just can't!!!" Road shouted.

He tightened his grip on her arm. "Why can't you then?"

"Because!" Road's voice softened. "Because…I'm afraid…"

"Of what?"

"Of what might happen after I synchronize. What if the Earl rejects me because I synchronized willingly with the weapon of our accursed God? What if I fail to invocate the Innocence and turn into a Fallen One? What if I do properly synchronize with the Innocence and my family discovers that I was meant to…" Her voice trailed off.

"And if you don't try invocating your Innocence, what happens then?" He pulled Road's head up. "You die. You die and lose all chances you have of going back to where you belong. So right now you have a choice. Activate your Innocence and fight, or wallow in your own self-pity and despair and die. Which is it going to be?"

"I…I want to…"

"Which is it going to be?"

"I want to go home! That's all I want…"

"Then fight. Use the Innocence and fight for your life in hopes that you can restore balance to this time and reality. Fight and live while you can so you have no regrets when you die." He opened a portal beneath Road.

"Wait…" Road muttered. "If I have to live a life filled with that kind of suffering, then what's so bad about death?"

Allen paused. He looked away from her. "That is not something I have an answer to. You have to find your own answer to that question. But if I had to guess…" He smiled. "You're human. And humans have an addiction to life that's hard to break. Even the humans who know there's another life ahead of this one." He dropped her into the portal. Road slipped through it.

"Now go, go and make your choice."

Allen watched as the portal in front of him closed. "Damn…I'm really using a whole lot of my power just to keep that girl alive." The dimension around him started dissolving slowly. "I can barely maintain the dimension I'm sending Road to. Not to mention I was trying to loop time in that other dimension…" He started coughing violently and fell to the ground. "At least…I don't have to keep this dimension intact anymore…" His breathing became labored as the endless void started to consume him. "That girl has better make her choice and resolve this quickly. Otherwise…" He closed his eyes.

"Heh…I guess I'll have to make a temporary sacrifice if I want to continue existing in her dream world…"