o-o-o-o-o-o

Summary: A destined meeting. What is destiny? No marks, no proof but the events that take place. No more than a well-placed coincidence. Alive!Nice-but-not-necessarily-good!Neah Neah!Centric. No bashing. Series of ficlets format. Gen.

Word Count (excluding ANs): 5, 400-ish

Warnings: OOCness, major canon deviations, abuse of creative liberties, excessive amount of linebreaks.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Disclaimer: I don't own Man. I don't even hold a candle to Hoshino-sensei. :) Also, all those biblical deviations and disagreements are all made by the characters. Not me, okay? So no saying about how blasphemous it is. It's not my opinion. It's the characters'. They lack all the morality stuff taught to us, so I figured they thought differently or something.

A/N: These are just really series of ficlets and it's up to you fill up the holes left in the story. If you feel that another ficlet should go between two of them, tell me—goodness knows how long this would be if I made this a normal, chronological story. It would be boring like hell too. The span of the story is large, so please forgive me. Man is tiring to make a proper story from. There's just so many details and you have to be able to carry the general atmosphere that the manga can create, well, nevermind.

This is Gen. No slash. No het. No romance, you green minded little beasties. This is AU, too, kay? So no telling me that something I wrote isn't canon, because it isn't. This is an attempt to connect all of the loose ends that hasn't been tied up and all the mysteries that are still not shone upon by light. (Haha, corny.)

Also, the quotes and mini-poems in italics are typed at the top of my head so they aren't really verbatim to the original. They're already widely accepted, but I'll still disclaim anything. A majority of that, though, is written by me. \m/ Right, feel free to ask any questions if they don't make any sense. This will—sometime in the near future— go up in AO3 as well, (under the same penname) for those who want a copy. J Just make sure you don't post it somewhere else without my name on it, kay? I'm pretty selfish like that.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Noah Guide (those present in canon but not entirely canon):

Creation—Millennium Earl ** The Earl is a Noah, but he doesn't have a representation, so I made one for him.

Pleasure—Tyki Mikk (to choose)

Dreams—Road Camelot (to dream worlds)

Desire—Sheryl Camelot (?)

Bonds—Jasdero and Devitto (to actualize)

Wisdom—Wisely (Devil's eye)

Wrath—Skinn Bolic (lightning?)

Lust—Lulu Bell ( to transform)

Corrosion (to poison and well, erm, corrosion. XD)

Pity (?)

Judgement (?)

Ability (?)

Judgment, Corrosion, Pity and Ability are mentioned in canon but are not necessary for the storyline, if you're curious, search them up. Man wiki has them. J

Well, enjoy!

o-o-o-o-o-o

FICKLE FATE

By: ANarrativeCloud

o-o-o-o-o-o

o-o-o-o-o-o

CHAPTER ONE

o-o-o-o-o-o

So as the boy fell to sleep,

The gasping flames within the ashes

One by one, rise up and expand

Lighting up that beloved face

Suspended from earth are thousands of dreams

No matter how many prayers are returned to the earth,

I shall continue to pray.

-The Musician's Melody; Ch. 133 p. 5 Man Manga.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey, Neah! What do you think this book is about?" A seven year old Mana Campbell asks as he enthusiastically digs into an old chest.

"What book? It isn't covered with dust is it? I can't have you sick again!" Neah chides as he climbed down from a ladder they set up… He had taken the role of a protective little brother to heart. Especially with Mana's recent recovery.

They had been curious though, as children normally were at that age. They were the type who had played outside and playing their days away, only worrying about what game to play next. Their house was impressive, mansion-like even but Neah hated it inside, preferring to sit on one of the trees somewhere beyond the wheat fields which they owned. He prefers it outside, yes but he didn't like getting dirty. Neah preferred sitting somewhere where he could hear the winds, talking to it and creating music from the resulting.

"It is covered with dust, but I'm not going to get sick over something so stupid!" Mana retorts.

"Well, you can't blame me for being paranoid! You were in a coma for almost a whole year!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Stop cuddling me like a little baby! I'm all grown up now!"

"You aren't a grown up! You're only seven!"

"And you're six! You're younger than me!"

"Gah, who cares if you're older!? I'm more responsible!"

"Says the one who's clumsy enough to cut off fresh flowers! Cornelia likes her flowers on its mother plant!"

"That was once!"

"And once was enough!"

"Just read the damned book!"

"You swore! I'm telling Cornelia!"

"Don't! I'm not going to swear… anymore, okay?"

"Fine." Mana concedes smugly.

When they reached a temporary truce, they dusted off the book. There was something written there.

"'Sorcery' huh." Neah reads out loud. "Sorcery… uh… like magic?"

"Flying brooms and creepy witches?" Mana adds. He's a little confused.

They started reading the book in secret then. It was pretty interesting. Runic circles, magical energy and the like. And Neah felt… a sense of déjà vu.

What was it…?

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Neah?"

"Yup?"

"Have you ever wondered if you could use magic to amplify the piano so it would be heard from anywhere in the house?"

"Uh, no? The best I can do right now is make flowers grow."

"Then how about you explore?"

"Let me try."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Notes flittered throughout the mansion and Cornelia had found them… peaceful. She had been tending to her normal duties when she heard the music. She knew there was an old, unmaintained piano that sat in the ballroom of the house. A ballroom? Their family had been very mindful of their places.

She wondered who was playing and was in slight confusion. The piano had been untouched for almost two decades and it should've sounded...worse—untuned as it was. It shouldn't have been heard from the kitchen either. It was too far away.

Her curiosity overriding the desire to clean, she hastened toward the ballroom and what she found surprised her.

"Neah?" She calls out in surprise. The little kid was happily tapping chords on the piano as the sounds were created, his elder brother sitting on a table while his legs swayed with the jaunty tune. The music abruptly stopped and Cornelia found that she was a bit disappointed. Odd.

"Umm... I'm sorry?" He offers, after receiving a warning glance from his elder brother.

She blinks. "Why?"

"Um... for messing with the piano?"

She chuckles. "No need for sorries little one. Play for me?"

Neah brightens. "Sure!"

The whole day had the air saturated with lively music.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"This is so tiring!" Neah complains.

Mana chuckles as he juggled thirteen balls in the air. "You wanted to learn magic right? Didn't you say that the book would be draining your stamina the more you use it?"

"Yes, but I want to do more! I've actually found it! The medium the book said!"

"Let me guess… Music?"

Neah's eyes widens. "How did you—"

"It was pretty obvious."

"You could've told me! I've been telling you all about it and you probably realized it ages ago!" Neah replies, a little sulkily. He'd had the book for three weeks already! He was making so little progress!

"This is first time you told me, actually and you were— and still is— surprisingly attached to the piano."

"Still, you could've told me."

o-o-o-o-o-o

They had been ten. Neah had left to the outside to read the book on his favorite tree. The tree never had any leaves anymore and it wouldn't ever bear anything. He wished it would, but it had long been dead. The same time their parents had… disappeared. There was no other for it. They'd just up and gone one day. Not even their coworkers and their friends knew where they went.

The book on sorcery hadn't sparked Mana's academic interest at all—instead he found several toys (hoops, balls and bowling pins) and started figuring out how to make them blend into a performance. Neah tried to fit reading it in between piano practice—Cornelia had been ecstatic when she found out she had a prodigy in the family she was serving in.

The book discussed wide ranging topics—magic! It said magic was real! Really truly real—and sometimes when he looked at how much he had finished, he didn't manage to. It was as if he stayed the page where he had first left off would just disappear into somewhere.

He wasn't even finished with the page when a column of smoke had entered his field of vision.

He ran.

Flowers wilted.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Mana!" Neah coughs through thick smoke. "Mana!"

Debris was falling and he was sure that Mana was still inside! He had to hurry! He couldn't lose him! Mana was the only family he had left! Then he saw it.

A block of burning wood was about to fall on him! He willed himself to remember any protection spell, any! It probably wouldn't work...

He screams, diving into the energy reserves he had...as the block of wood was repelled by an unseen force.

Whoa.

"You can't stay here." He hears a muffled voice. "Don't worry. They're fine. Your brother is fine."

"You're LYING!" He screams again, his eyes became cloudy and unfocused.

"I'm not." The white haired kid—kid? White hair? — replies insistently with a smile. "Now I'll help you."

That was only when he allowed himself to consider escaping. The person helping him was odd. He had a weirdly shaped arm and it looked like one of his toy robots.

Huh.

That was so cool.

o-o-o-o-o-o

A destined meeting…

What is destiny?

No marks, no proof, but the events that take place.

No more than a well-placed coincidence.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Neah! I can't believe you! That was a stupid thing to do!" Mana scolds, his anger being drained away by relief.

"I was worried, you idiot." Neah bites back. "How was I supposed to know you already escaped?"

"You could have asked." Mana retorts.

"Who would have I asked? I went in through the back!"

Mana's mouth opens but no sound came out.

"Uh… Hello...?"

Oh.

The kid from earlier.

Neah faces him and rubs the back of his head. "Uh… You… err… Thanks… For earlier."

"It was no problem." He replies, beaming. "I do my best to help."

"What's your name anyway?"

"Allen. Allen Walker."

It started pouring.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The sky is sad again.

Why do you say so?

It's raining.

I think that rain doesn't mean the sky is sad.

What do you think it does mean, then?

I think… that the sky wants to help the land.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Innocence, Dark Matter, and Natural Magic…" Neah murmurs. "This book isn't supposed to exist."

o-o-o-o-o-o

A crevasse that forms due to a single misplaced event

Or is it really misplaced?

Fate has an odd—

cruel?

—way of playing with its actors, after all.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Neah?" Mana calls worryingly. "What are those… on your forehead?"

Neah blinks as he feels blood dripping down his hairline.

Horror dawns on Mana's face.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Mana! The images! They're… they're…" Neah says as he writhed in his bed. His skin was darkening at an alarming rate and Mana didn't know what to do.

Allen wasn't anywhere to be found and he didn't know what to do. He tried calling. Again. And again. He wasn't picking up!

"Shh! It was written in that book right? Noahs!"

"I don't—"—gasp—"—want to be a Noah!" Mana makes shushing sounds and if the book was correct, then no one would be able to help them. Unless they wanted the Devil himself.

Neah refused point-blank.

The cries and screams continued for three whole days. Neah's throat had become raw by that time, but by then the coloring had been near permanent.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"It'll only be a while… brother." A sinister voice echoes.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The book said that Natural magic and Dark matter cannot coexist—

Do you believe it?

No. I'm living proof to the contrary after all.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"A name?" Neah says in askance, his skin, a sickly ashen pallor.

"Yes." Allen confirms. "You don't have real surnames, do you?"

Mana thinks. "We just took on what Cornelia told us were our last names since we didn't know who our parents really were…"

"I don't want to find any other family. They've abandoned us anyway, if they do exist, that is." Neah replies petulantly.

Allen laughs.

"Well, okay then."

"Walker!" Neah says in epiphany.

"Uh—Yes?" Allen replies, a little startled.

"No, not you!" Neah laughs, and Mana seemed like he realized something. "I mean the surname."

"Eh..?"

"Mana and Neah Walker. Huh. Catchy."

"Why don't we become brothers like… like those blood adoptions or something? Since we have the same surnames and all."

"Yeah, sure!"

o-o-o-o-o-o

The sweetest sound one may hear is a name they call their own.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"All siblings should have secret languages, shouldn't they?" Allen insists.

"Of course!" Mana agrees.

"Then what should we do?" Neah asks.

"Okay, so this is A."

"How about you put a line for a guide or something?"

"Sure! You write it down, ok Neah? Your drawings are much better than ours."

"Ugh. Fine!"

"That way you can make secret songs too!"

Neah's eyes brightened. "Yeah!"

o-o-o-o-o-o

Time passes, time flows.

Like a river.

An endless river.

o-o-o-o-o-o

They were twenty.

"Neah, you bastard! Come back here!" A strangled voice cries.

"Ara, Allen! I can't believe you're swearing!" Neah hollers back.

It was a peculiar scene, two young men chasing each other—not as playfully as everyone would have assumed, but one with completely morbid thoughts about the one's elimination and the other lackadaisically avoiding them. Another was sitting by the side of a stream, soaking his feet in water. It was somewhat peaceful.

"Neah! Give me back my wallet!" Allen grinds out.

"Not before I empty it!"

"NEAH!"

"Neah." A stern voice echoes.

"A-ah. M-Mana! Nice seeing you here!"

"I've been here the whole time." Mana says flatly then he frowns disapprovingly. "Give Allen's wallet back. You still haven't paid for the other time you did."

"I know! And I never will!" Neah replies stubbornly, pouting but complying and then handing the other back the said item. "Hah! You should be more careful, you know!"

"Yes, yes, oh wonderful Lordliness Neah." Allen replies with a raised eyebrow and an amused curve on his lips.

"At least someone knows how to respect me!" Neah puffs out his chest.

"I was being sarcastic you know." Allen chuckles.

"Now how about food?" Mana cuts in. "We still hadn't had breakfast, and no doubt you're starving."

"Where to?" Neah asks.

"Then I'll be leaving." Allen says, smiling. "I still have my job to do after all."

"Eh?" Neah asks, startled. "Then who's going to pay!?"

"I'm no bank, Neah." He says as he put on his coat and walked away. "See you tomorrow!"

When Allen was out of sight, Neah grinned and sang.

Then they disappeared.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Magic?" Allen asks with his head tilted. "You mean like wands, brooms and pointy hats type of magic?"

Neah snorts. "Of course not." He says lightly. "Magic… is this." Neah sings.

Flowers bloomed from the grass they had been lying on. And the surprise he showed was far less than it should have been.

Allen smiles.

"You told me your secret. I'll tell you mine." He breathes in and exhales. "Innocence. Activate."

o-o-o-o-o-o

"A job?" Neah asks in slight surprise.

Mana sighs impatiently. "I'm not letting you just freeload on the money our parents saved up."

Neah stops and thinks. "Can't I just go to university?"

"What are you going to study, then?"

Neah raises an eyebrow as if Mana asking the obvious.

Mana rolls his eyes. "You don't need to study music, Neah. You probably know more about it than whatever school you would go to."

Neah beams. "I'll just audition for recitals. I think I'll have enough money then."

Neah was completely confident about it. Mana knew that the confidence wasn't misplaced. Neah was a gift to the people who could appreciate music, even those who didn't, actually.

"You couldn't have done that before?"

Neah smiles instead of answering. "What's Allen's job anyway?"

Mana hums. "He said he was a researcher somewhere."

"Researcher? What's his field? I never pegged him to be a scientist."

"Innocence."

Neah blinks. "Well, at least that's understandable."

o-o-o-o-o-o

He was twenty-one. And a Noah. His skin had turned ashen gray and his thoughts… memories overrode his present. He hadn't expected to be confronted…

"Good Evening~!"

…by the Millennium Earl himself.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"A family?" Neah says in disbelief. "You have a whole family for people like y—us?" He corrected hastily.

"Of course! We are all Noahs, after all." The Earl grins widely, not noting the slip-up. "Would you accept the invitation? A new family member is always welcome."

Neah hesitates. What about Mana and Allen? No. If he didn't go they would be in danger. For the meantime. Just for a while, so they could be safe. They'd never truly be his family anyway.

"I'd love to." Neah finally says with a small—secretly reluctant—smile.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Life isn't all laughs and happiness.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Welcome to the Family, Fourteenth."

Neah smiles convincingly, his hands going through the stigmata that decorated his features.

He was disgusted by it all.

"I'm home." He says it with complete 'satisfaction'.

o-o-o-o-o-o

A house is a home if that is where the heart belongs.

Then what is it if the heart belongs somewhere else?

o-o-o-o-o-o

"We have to destroy them." Creation states.

Neah laughs pleasantly, smiling as he worms his way into the Earl's graces. "You don't have to push yourself too hard. I'll be here. Right beside you."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Why are you still doing this?

What?

Pretending to be something you're not.

I don't know what's going to happen yet.

Insurance, then?

Is that what you call it?

o-o-o-o-o-o

"I've seen Desire use his white skin. How is that possible?"

"Why do you call us that? You call Dezaiasu 'Desire' and me 'Pleasure'…"

Neah hums. "It sounds more pleasant, doesn't it?"

Pleasure tilts his head, letting it drop. All of them had their little eccentricities. "He just came to terms with his memory."

"Memory…" Neah muses as he taps a song on the edge of the table.

o-o-o-o-o-o

A name is important.

A white one had told me that.

If you use a name of someone you love,

You declare your loyalty to them.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Neah sits in the ivory white room. Lying on the couch as he talked to something disembodied. A fragmented piece.

"You are… Noah's Fourteenth memory?"

o-o-o-o-o-o

A memory is but a mere echo.

A train of thought that governs the truth that one perceives.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Why do I exist?" Neah asks quietly.

o-o-o-o-o-o

An embodiment of a shattered soul.

The last piece of light however shrouded in darkness.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Neah shoots up to a sit, his breathing uneven.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Pandora's box, that contains all the evils

A mere myth it is not.

A girl unknowing of all the perils

Opens the box but closes it before

Hope could work miracles

But was shut before it could—

o-o-o-o-o-o

"That's…" Neah blinks disbelievingly. "I'm… Hope? Well, that sounds very ominous."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Disconcerted, not all things are evil

The world can naught be black or white.

Judgment of salvation relies on many planes

The axle of the precarious balance

Stays still until—

o-o-o-o-o-o

Neah's skin turns white.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Understanding has yet to be reached

Though enough this will be—

For now.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Akuma plant?" Cross inquires.

"Yes. Your mission is to destroy that Plant."

"Tell me the details."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Dreams was Hope's little sister.

Bonds were Hope's rivals.

Wisdom was an annoying cousin.

Pleasure was a sadistic elder brother.

Desire was an overbearing uncle.

But Hope's little brother meant more to him than the whole world.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Whoa there." Neah laughs as he saw a red haired man stumble out of a door of the Ark. How he got there, he could only wonder.

The red haired man seemed tensed up for a fight, his hands were lingering over the gun in its holster—quite obviously innocence— but he'd managed to reply, "What is this place?"

Neah raises both his arms disarmingly. "Noah's Ark."

"Are you an Akuma?"

Neah's laughter was palpable, but he didn't vocalize it. "Do I look like one?"

Cross pulls out a cigarette and lights it. "Seeing as you didn't attack me on sight, I guess you aren't."

"You might be surprised."

"You aren't."

"Why do you say so?"

"You're a Noah."

"You're an exorcist."

"I am."

Neah grins. "Well, then, for what reason have you boarded an Ark completely controlled by the Noah, who are, by the way, the sworn enemies of your as of presently lower than worms kind?"

"It's none of your business."

"It has something to do with the Egg, right?"

"Egg?"

"It seems you call it the Akuma Plant."

"You don't seem worried."

"Do I?"

"I'm not a threat to you, am I."

Neah smiles in casual affirmation. "Although… I'm not really completely on the Earl's side anyway."

Cross stills. "Will you help me?"

"Can't. The room where it's held can only be entered through a Door created by Dreams. I'm not powerful enough to override her will yet."

"How can you become powerful?"

"Time. Patience. Effort."

"I'll just have to find my own way then."

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Allen?" Mana asks.

"Yes?"

"You said that there was an organization that has a lot of exorcists, right? Then why aren't you one of them? Wouldn't the innocence feel… betrayed if you don't side with the church?"

Allen frowns—an unusual expression for someone so usually cheerful—and then smiles.

"Innocence… is a lot more complex than you think, Mana."

"Then…?"

A beat.

"Sentience. Some pieces have sentience."

o-o-o-o-o-o

The Will of the Heart is not always absolute.

Without the Heart, however, innocence will cease to exist

Each piece is a memory

A memory of the champion that brought light

Deities are not all-knowing after all.

If they were, then why the need to create imperfect beings?

o-o-o-o-o-o

"It seems we've gotten into trouble." Cross speaks into the phone.

A pause.

"Can you help?"

A pause.

"Of course. You wouldn't have the balance tittering, now, huh, Neah."

o-o-o-o-o-o

The imperfect world deities forge will hone those imperfect beings.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Akuma! At large! There appears to be tens of thousands of them!" A panicked scientist shouts.

"Mobilize all available exorcists!" The present European Branch Chief commanded with all the authority he could muster.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Of course, what use is a world where everything is in harmony?

Such dreary misconceptions.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Maria sings a loud falsetto, destroying all the Akuma in the range she emits from her carefully and rigorously trained vocal chords.

But there were thousands of them. She wouldn't be able to do enough.

"Need a little help?" A voice floats from the doorway.

"Who are you?" She asks suspiciously.

"A friend of Marian Cross."

"Then where is he?"

"Do you actually expect anyone to know the answer to that question?"

Maria falters a bit. Cross was very… difficult. "What do you want?" She demands instead.

"To help." He stated simply.

Maria hesitates, but hears screams from the bottom of the tower.

"Maria." She introduces hastily.

"Neah Walker." Neah replies as the window ledge became piano keys. "Sing, like you never have before, Maria."

She nods, readying herself.

o-o-o-o-o-o

You're one of them.

Trust is a two-way road.

Why are you so willing to help?

The scales have been tipped.

Tipped?

Yes. The balance is in a precarious position.

Why go so far?

A smirk.

Who knows?

o-o-o-o-o-o

Piano notes and a beautiful voice fly like birds and arrows, destroying—no, freeing—the Akuma with no discretion.

Maria's song finishes, her breathing labored.

"What happened?" She asks in disbelief. Maria saw what her innocence had done. It had been very breathtaking. Everyone who saw it was stunned.

"I accompanied your song." Neah says simply.

"No! I mean…"

Neah smiles. "Your innocence goes into scattered and uncontrolled bursts. I guided it with my accompaniment."

"Why couldn't you have done that yourself?" She asks.

"I don't have innocence." He states.

The full implication settles in.

"Those souls…"

"Cleansed." He says triumphantly.

o-o-o-o-o-o

If only things were that easy.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"What happened!?" The Millennium Earl rages.

"It seems that the Black Order had acquired a new and very powerful Accommodator." Pleasure states.

"We planned for everything!"

"I wonder what Neah had been doing while we were at the siege…" The Noah of Bonds ask simultaneously with no small amount of suspicion.

Neah looks at them distastefully, making sure the magical guards in his head were properly put up, else let Wisdom read it. "I was touring East Europe. There was a music festival there. I couldn't very well not go. That's like asking Wrath not to throw a tantrum or Lust not to lust. I am the Noah of Music after all." Lie.

Dreams groans and whines. "There you go again! I can't believe you left us for a music festival!"

Pity snorts. "He has his priorities straightened up, all right."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Creation, Judgment, Pleasure, Desire, Wisdom, Corrosion,

Pity, Wrath, Dreams, Bonds, Lust, Ability, Hope.

Why do you believe that Noah hated God?

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Maria is dead." Cross intones. "It was a simple mission in Stuttgart, Germany. She took on four Noahs."

"She isn't." Neah disagrees.

"No." Cross agrees. "She isn't. Not completely at least."

o-o-o-o-o-o

I know about that grave you keep, Marian.

How—?

I have my ways.

Then what are you..?

I want to help even after I die. Hecan do something can't he?

Yes.

Then convince him. I don't have enough time, after all.

I'm not that useless.

Then you can do what he can?

Of course.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"What is that?" Allen asks curiously as he watched a yellow thing flying above Neah's head.

"It's a golem."

"Does it have a name?"

"What is with you and names?"

"Names are very important!" Allen puffs his cheeks.

"Then, no. It doesn't have a name."

"Then… Timpcanpy."

"That's an odd name."

"Better than your sense of humor."

"Aren't you going to ask where I got it?"

"I don't have to. It's a gift, right? From Cross?"

"I never did figure out what was going through his head."

o-o-o-o-o-o

"So what are you going to do, now that you know all of this… information?" Cross asks as he takes a whiff of smoke from his tobacco.

"Who knows?" Neah says honestly. "It's much too early to be making a move."

"I have the impression that we're already 7000 years too late."

"We are." Neah sighs defeatedly. "Nobody just knows it yet."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"Prepare. Plan. Gather resources for the final battle. Plan for the battle's aftermath…"

"You've thought that far?"

"No. That's why you're going to help me."

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Information? From who?" Neah asks as he dips a quill into an inkpot.

"The Bookman." Cross drawls out.

"Why? I think we have enough on hand already."

"It never hurts to be sure. They're the most informed people about almost every war after all."

"No, they aren't." Neah denies. "Not in this war."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Clashing steel.

Crimson blood.

A pain-filled cry.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You are an idiot, Cross." Neah says flatly.

"I take offense to that." Cross yawns.

"It's your fault Bookman Junior died." Neah pinches the bridge of his nose.

"He can just find another one, right?"

"Do you know how long Bookman taught the kid?"

"'course not."

"A decade, Cross."

Cross winces. "He doesn't seem to be very angry."

Neah sighs. "He wouldn't look it at all. He's Bookman after all."

"It isn't solely my fault. The kid was stupid!"

Neah ignored him.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Two months after the siege, Neah made his move.

He targeted them one by one.

It took all the Noah by surprise.

He had always acted so loyally. Too loyally.

o-o-o-o-o-o

You didn't believe us.

You didn't have proof.

You weren't careful enough.

He was family.

They fell silent.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You—"

"I'm sorry, Road."

"Why?"

"You never did understand my existence, did you?"

"Then make us understand!"

"Noah wasn't evil, just… misguided."

"No! He hates God!"

"No. God spared him after all."

"I still don't understand!"

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

"I'm sorry."

o-o-o-o-o-o

Does it disturb you that people I spent time with,

Laughing and joking were so easily killed by these stained hands?

A cruel laugh.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Neah grimaces. His hands trailed along the wounds granted to him by the Earl. The battle had been fierce. He didn't have enough energy to sing a song to heal himself.

"Use me Neah. I'll protect your memories from the others! No matter how long it takes. I won't let them—"

"The Noah's memories will override yours and you're—" Neah chokes.

Dammit! Allen was never supposed to be the one protecting him! It was supposed to be the other way around! He was the most powerful person in their group and where was he now? Where the hell had that bastard Cross gone to!?

"Neah!"

"No! I will not!" He replied desperately.

"You are essential to the world—hell, the whole universe—Fourteenth. I am not. Do it. You won't be able to incarnate properly, would you?" His gray eyes steeled, his magic may be depleted… but the dark matter hadn't.

"N-no…" He protested weakly. His resolve had already shattered.

He hummed, tears pooling in his eyes.

"I—"

"Neah!" Mana dashes towards his side, breaking the song, and in turn, the spell.

"What are you…?"

And sings his own song.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Pain, pain, go away.

You don't need to be afraid.

The world has light as they give flight.

Pain, pain, go away.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"The only spell I ever learned. I knew you'd get yourself into trouble." Mana sighs in relief.

"The sword…"

"We removed it."

"The Dark Matter, wouldn't it—"

"Allen's hand is made of Innocence." Mana interrupts.

"—your magic system isn't unlocked! How did you—"

"I unlocked it. You're not the only one who read from the book, remember?"

"So you guys…" Neah starts laughing half-hysterically. "You guys are so awesome."

o-o-o-o-o-o

A life on the run is exciting?

No. It's tiring.

Why do we have to run?

Do you want to live?

Is that your answer?

What do you think?

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Mana, you've always wanted to be a performer, right?"

"Of course!"

"Then why don't you join the circus?"

Mana looks thoughtful. "I'm not leaving you alone."

"You aren't. We're sending you somewhere where they can't reach you."

Mana nods.

o-o-o-o-o-o

He couldn't fight.

He knew he would only be a burden.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Cross? Marian Cross?"

"That's me."

"My name is Allen Walker."

Cross blinked. Walker?

"Walker? As in Neah Walker?"

'Allen' half laughs. "The one and only. Though I'm not him, obviously. We kind of need a bit of assistance. Neah is…"

"Dead." Cross assumes, outwardly annoyed, but completely frustrated inside. The idiot was always so selfish.

"No, he's not."

It took all it had for him not to jump up in surprise.

"Where is he?"

"Follow me."

o-o-o-o-o-o

"You made such a nice friend, Neah. From the side of 'good' too." Allen laughs out loud.

"You and I both know that there isn't a side of 'good' in this war. Everyone's as sinful as the next person in line." Neah replies tiredly, warily sensing around for any Akuma. Finding none—for the moment—he settled back into the makeshift bed.

"What happened to you?" Cross says in a quirked up smile as he enters the room, leaning by the wall near the door.

"I really don't want to talk about it, but—" Neah sends them an apologetic glance. "I got into a fight—"

"A damned bad one if you got banged up that much. You're sturdier than a golem."

The raven's eye twitches, not bothering to correct him. They all knew it was true. "Am I going to tell the story or..?"

"Go ahead." Cross was laughing at him. It shone in his eyes—well, eye.

"As I said. I got into a fight with the Millennium Earl and the other Noahs."

Cross lets out a low whistle. "And you survived? With no backup?"

"I kind of didn't want them to get you guys involved." And he quailed under Allen's glare. "I know already. Geez, you make me sound like a little kid."

"You are acting like a little kid." Cross snorts.

"Go on." Allen prompts, having not heard his explanation yet.

"Good news is, I've killed all of them except one." Neah grimaces. "I didn't manage to kill the Earl either, but I finished my enchantments on the Ark."

"No wonder you were so tired." Allen muses aloud, so used to Neah's abilities by this time that nothing could impress him anymore. "How many spells did you cast?"

"I'm not exactly sure, I was running pretty high on adrenalin, but I probably casted around one per minute—which is hell of a lot. My throat had already felt raw by the time it ended and my head was throbbing, my magic was severely depleted as well. Not to mention all the other injuries I received."

"Noah genes." Cross says as he lights a cigarette. "I take it you aren't feeling very sane right now?"

"Barely hanging." Neah gasps out. "The Memories have the same motives as we do. As long as I'm aware, it won't drive me insane. Probably."

"So what do you need me for? I take it this isn't just some chat to catch up."

Neah nods. "Can I borrow Maria's Grave?"

"Why?"

"It's best if everyone assumes I died."

"Even Mana?"

Guilt flashes through his eyes. "No. Especially Mana."

"You do know what you're asking, right?"

"Yes. He'll be in more danger if he knows."

"I thought akumas and Noahs sense other Noahs?"

"Only if they aren't wearing their white skin."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A little song would not hold a life

That belongs in the cloudless sky

How would the ones left diverge?

With stuttering breaths

I sing this song

Reality is never fair but—

Can't it show mercy?

Just this once?
o-o-o-o-o-o

Allen leaves the room, his breaths coming out in harsh successions. His legs collapse underneath him.

"I knew it." Cross says as he leans on the wall by the door, his was cigarette emitting ambers.

"Of course you did." Allen gives him a weary smile.

"Why did you do it?"

"My time is less valuable than Neah's life, so I did a fair trade." Allen smiles.

"Did you tell Mana about what he unknowingly did?"

"Of… course not. He wouldn't have… agreed if I told him."

"You won't remember anything, would you?"

Allen shakes his head silently and smiles.

They hear Neah's melodic voice from inside the room, singing a song and playing a piano softly. Heartbreakingly.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Though we need to stand up,

No matter the hurdle,

Never stand still.

We just need to keep walking, right?

o-o-o-o-o-o

Allen's body glowed a soft green as his breaths became even harsher.

"Auguste. Make sure I live, okay? These idiots would die without me around."

Cross closes his eyes.

o-o-o-o-o-o

The end of a story is the mark of another's beginning.

o-o-o-o-o-o

/*chapter marking note, end chapter*/⃝