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Author: Woah guys... woah...
Kanda: Oh great... here we go...
Allen: Can't you just leave me alone!?
Lavi: Author-Baby!!! heart
Lenalee: Nii-san is MINE!! *glomps komoui and stares*
Komoui: hahaha.... sweatdrop
Author: hey now.... I don't really care what you guys have to say. you've been floating in stasis for way too long! And I've got some good ideas ahead so... hush!
Lavi: Whatever you wish my darliiiiing~
Kanda: I'd like to see you make me. *Pulls out Mugen*
Author: Oh, I might not be able to make you... but I know someone who caaaaan....
Kanda: *sweats*
Allen: You can't mean...
Lenalee: Who? Who?
Alteara: uh... hi.
Lavi: A wild Alteara appears!
Allen: *bursts into laughter* Oh... Kanda's one weakness!!
Kanda:... -Fight -Bag -Items > -Run
Author: did he seriously just run away?
Alteara: Was it something I said?
Lavi: Kanda tries to run away...
Author: I don't think so!! *snaps fingers and kanda re-appears*
Lavi: He can't escape!
Allen *rolling on the floor laughing*
Lenalee: *Humming battle music*
Alteara: Kanda... why did you run away? Did I do something to make you mad? *blinks eyes*
Lavi: Wild Alteara uses attract!
Kanda: geh... *flinches*
Lavi: it's super effective!
Author: take us home Alte-chan!
Alteara: I'm sorry!! *hugs Kanda*
Kanda: I didn't mean- I wouldn't- you didn't... geh! *passes out*
Lavi: CRITICAL HIT! Kanda whited out!
Alteara: ah! Kanda! Someone call a doctor!
Author: Aren't you taking medical classes?
Alteara: ... oh yeah... *carries Kanda off*
Lenalee: all of you are ridiculous.
Komoui: um... allen-kun?
Allen: *dead from laughter*
Author: oh great. How am I supposed to start the show short 3 actors?!
Lavi: I guess you'll just have to work with what ya got! *wiggles eyebrows*
Author: *sigh* I guess... though...
Group: though?
Author: though... I could always try to focus on some NEW characters...
Lenalee: WAIT! who are we talking about here? Because there's no way I'm giving up my role as the heroin of the story!
Lavi: oh right lenalady, because you've been kicking butt and taking names right.
Lenalee: I could certainly kick YOUR butt if you're not careful. *glares*
Author: ENOUGH! i'm already short three people, I can't be short anymore!!
Group: Yes author lady...
Author: alright... guess i'll have to scrounge up some new folks. We'll see what happens. *shrug* Like I like to say... sometimes flying by the seat of your pants gives you the best results.
Lavi: You like to say that? I've never heard you say it before...
Author: Quiet! I say it all the time!
Lenalee: whatever helps you sleep at night author-chan.
Author: oh hush and get to your places.
Lenalee: lets go!
Lavi: you just want to be in the story again...
Lenalee: there's nothing wrong with wanting what I deserve!
Lavi: Right...

Pieces of the Heart:
Stories of the soul
Part 23

"What do you think?"
Alteara was gently brought out of her focus induced haze. She had been regarding Allen for any possible signs of a negative reaction in his mind. Off to the side, Luna had seated herself in the room's sole chair, bracing herself for maintaining the fragile connection between the two minds.
"Think about what?" the blonde turned to her companion, quickly scanning for signs of fatigue. Luna was good at hiding any stress on her body, and over the years Alteara had taken it upon herself to notice the signs and help support her friend. Other than a slight sheen of sweat, and a small increase in her breathing, Luna was holding up strong.
The red head was facing the candles by the bed side, the soft light glinting in emerald eyes. Her gaze was far away, peering into another time.
"These children. This place." she spoke softly, weaving the words together like strings of raw cotton. "This time. It feels different. Something... feels different."
"Luna?"
The red head rose from her seat, and approached the prone boy on the bed.
"Something... is different..."
She held a hand over Allen's chest, and soft light began to glow. Flecks of gold and strings of silver connected the two bodies.
"NO!" Alteara snatched her hand out of the air, pulling her friend away. "Luna, snap out of it!"
Her only response was the weight of her friend slumping in her arms.
"Luna!"
"I'm here." She responded softly, still hanging limply in her friends grasp. "I'm here."
"You're here." Alteara nodded. "You're here now, so don't go anywhere else okay?"
Luna stood, wavering ever so slightly. "How odd." She tilted her head at Allen's body. "I haven't had such a reaction in quite some time, right?"
Alteara hesitantly nodded, unwilling to recall the last time Luna had 'gone strange' and tried to connect her innocence to another's. It was not a pleasant memory.
"I don't understand." Alteara sighed, half frustration and half confusion. "Our innocence is already joined. Why would yours seek another accommodator?"
Luna answered with silence, returning to the single chair and clasping her hands in her lap. It was a question asked many times between them, but no answer was forthcoming.
Alteara sighed again, shrugging in frustration. She turned glittering blue eyes on her companion. "Are you alright?"
"... I will be fine." Luna answered. Alteara wasn't too fooled as the girls arms wrapped around themselves, crossing under her chest. It seemed like an innocent enough move, but she knew it meant Luna was feeling out of sorts enough to need some sort of barrier between her and whatever was happening. She walked over and stood next to her, offering proximity as comfort.
"You should go see him."
Alteara blinked in surprise, looking back down at Luna. Green eyes gleamed back, holding amusement and light laughter.
"... alright, I'll bite. Who?" Alteara raised a delicate brow.
"The samurai. The one from the cafeteria. You're worried about him. I can feel it."
Alteara gave a miniscule flinch, and even though a normal person never would have seen it, she knew Luna had from her suddenly guilty face.
"You didn't..."
"Not really." The blonde returned. It wasn't often that one of them picked up on the other's feelings before they were even realized, but occasionally it happened, and usually had a negative result. Best to end this before either of them crossed the line. "But it's alright. If i'm worried, there's probably a reason. He did seem a little... off. But..."
"I'll be okay." Luna nodded to herself, an oddly normal move for the girl.
"But..."
"I'll be fine"
"...But-!"
"No! No more buts! Go!" Luna laughed, standing and maneuvering her friend toward the door. "You know you'll know if something happens. And it won't." She added at her friends hesitant glance.
"Alright." Alteara caved. "Just for a minute! I'll be back before you know it!"
And with a quick shove from Luna, the girl was closed out in the hallway. She nervously glanced back at the door, before steeling her features and turning away. She would make this quick. A quick little check-up on the dark haired boy, and then she would be back. Only a few minutes. Nothing could go wrong! Right?
***

Gravel bit into Komoui's knees and the bare portion of his legs as he sank to the ground where he stood. Shivers traveled down his spine and through his limbs, numb with cold and fear.
"Wha... what was... what...."
He stared at the inside of crowned clowns hood. The innocence had yet to release him from it's protection.
Breathe
The calm detached voice floated through his mind, reminding him that he needed to breathe. He could feel his pulse fluttering just under his skin, reminding him of how mortal he really was. He gripped his chest, still gasping for air that was much too thin.
Calm. Safe. Do not Fear.
He was unsure if crowned clown was even talking to him anymore. It felt more like gentle feelings, pinpricks of emotion nudging at the center of his chest.
Deep Breath
Inhale. Exhale.
Release your hold
Bone white knuckles loosened. Fingers released.
Speak
"What was that?!" He cried, voice breaking half way. His body continued to shudder, unable to fight of the lingering anxiety. Slowly, crowned clown began to unwind itself from the science chief, hood falling to his shoulders. The mask pulled in front of him, matching him eye for eye.
Neah. He is part of our Allen. Part of us. But our Allen does not like Neah, even though our Allen loves Neah. So he wanders the dark parts, and waits. He waits for our Allen to love him, and waits for our Allen to kill him.
Komoui blinked, thoroughly confused. Which was it? Love or hate?
We must continue.
Crowned clown pulled delicately at the neck of the cape, spurring Komoui into motion. The sky had lightened, and the snow refracted a grey light over everything on the path. The street lamps were no longer needed to move forward. After a few hesitant steps, Komoui practically jogged over Neah's invisible path across the stone walkway, before settling back in to an easy pace.
"Will it follow us?" He asked quietly.
Neah wanders. And waits.
"So... he won't?"
Won't.
Taking that as a yes, Komoui continued down the path.
***

Kanda was dreaming.
He was dreaming of places near and far. He was off in the wilderness, fighting akuma in the trees, and at the same time he was curled in his bed, sheets crumpling under pale fingers. He was sweating from the heat, feeling the humidity of the forest clinging to his skin as the sun danced through the tree tops. He was shivering, curling into his jacket as the light from the moon danced through his window and splayed cracks across his pale skin.
Are you watching?
Green eyes.
Are you watching?
Red hair.
Are you watching?
He was falling, sinking, floating. The jungle opened under his feet, vines wrapping around his throat, the stone ceiling collapsing onto his bed.
The world was on fire.
It was burning in color. Reds, blues, greens, violets and oranges, ever color and no color. Monochrome flames licking rainbows into the sky.
Someone was screaming at him.
His mother spoke softly, stroking his hair.
Komoui spoke softly, looking at him with that face.
Tiedoll stared into the valley, into the ocean, into the mountains, painting all of them and nothing.
"Are you watching, Kanda-kun?" he asked, curly hair floating in the breeze, drenched by the rain.
Everything turned, rolled, flipped, moved and danced around him, sending him vision after vision, until the world began to still.
Dark stone floor. Dark stone walls. The order. Some room he didn't recognize. People. There were a lot of people. Watching. Waiting. Hoping.
A body laying on the floor. Surrounded. Closed. Floating. Pulling. Ripping. Healing.
And red.
Red red red.
So much red, it dashed across his vision. Dripping, feathering, pouring.
He laughed. The sound was cold. Wrong.
There was something wrong.
Everything was falling apart. The floor was caving, pulling, dropping him back into his bed. He sank into the sheets, face rubbing against blades of grass, smelling musty with dust. The sun rose, and the moon sank.
And Kanda kept dreaming.
***

The snow was piling under his feet, but to Komoui's surprise, it wasn't hard to continue his walk down the forest path. Crowned Clown had been silent since the encounter with Neah, and it had given Komoui plenty of time to mull over what had happened.
That... that thing... that monster had been inside Allen-kun the whole time? Was the boy even aware? Did he know of the darkness lurking just inside of his mind. Because apparently Crowned Clown did know.
He glanced at the furred hood surrounding his vision. Would the innocence be a problem when the 14th began to take over it's host? As far as he had known, Crowned Clown was trying to protect Allen-kun. But the innocence had said... something about loving Neah? That Allen would grow to love the Noah inside of him? But would also hate him?
Komoui was all too familiar with love-hate relationships. When his sister had been chosen as an accommodator... He had done the only thing he could think of to stay by her side. Join the order, innocence or not, and try to bring her home to her. Their parents had died in a akuma attack not long before, while they were still much too young, and Komoui hadn't wanted to separate with what was left of his family. Needless to say, Lenalee had felt the same.
Of course, the entrance exam to the order was not something you just passed. He almost lost his life in the ordeal. Luckily, his skills in science and invention saved him by a hairs breadth. And then there was training, and actual work... It have been almost two years and several promotions, working his way through department after department with the determination only a brother could have, until he could finally see his darling Lenalee again. And that...
He didn't like to think about that first meeting, where his sister was practically lifeless, tied to a bed to protect her, not from an enemy, but from her very self. Mental stress, they had said. Just a little rest and then she would be fine, they told him. But komoui was no fool. He had seen enough lifeless eyes and dead faces to know that his sister had given up on waiting for him. But he was not too late. Not yet.
She had recovered slowly. Lots of "welcome home's" and "I'm Home's" had to pass between them before she began to smile again. And of course, meeting others who could sympathize with her had helped. Though he would never ever say it to the man's face, he held a certain soft spot for kanda. The man had arrived as a child, broken and confused, unsure of how to deal with people, with touch, with anything really, and gave his darling lenalee someone to care for. To nurse as no-one had nursed her. And in return, the boy had shown her concern, and provided another source of protection on the nights when the nightmares became a little too real and her Nii-san was not at her side. And then Lavi appeared, and even though his demons were much better camouflaged, Lenalee, and to his surprise, Kanda, had invited him into their fold. And then there was Allen, and Marie, and Miranda...
He owed them all. Even some of the generals deserved some thanks. All of them took care of his darling sister.
And how did he repay them? Ordering them on dangerous missions? Keeping them from their families? Making them suffer again and again?
We are close.
Crowned Clowns voice dragged him out of his mind. He looked up, and came face to face with the same tower that he started at. Accept this time it was pure white.
An ivory tower, stretching up to an alabaster moon.
"Yeah."
He had failed his exorcists, his family time and time again.
This time, he would not fail.
"Let's go."
***