Cross's Testament - Justice Served

Cross awoke to the feeling of jabbing pain in the right side of his face. The last thing he remembered was sending off Allen to the Campbell mansion. He groaned, feeling his body stiff and heavy from being comatosed for so long. His throat was dry, his skin and luscious hair covered in unsavoury grease. His squinting eye tried to make sense of the whiteness, wondering if he finally died - then he saw Allen's form appear in the corner of his vision.

His single eye snapped wide open, lips parting to call out his name but his voice died in his throat as his bleary eye cleared enough to see the way he was looked at, the one who he was really looking at. Years of mental preparing didn't ease the emotional whiplash. Shoulders sagging, his head rolled forward trying to breathe through the burning in his eyes and chest. Translucent droplets hit the ground but Neah didn't comment on them.

"So… you're back," Cross muttered in a scratchy voice, one not knowing him too well would have missed the slight tremor in his tone.

"Yes," Neah affirmed his most and least anticipated expectation.

"... Did he learn the truth?"

"He didn't make it to the mansion."

Cross closed his eyes. "I see. I guess that's still the better alternative. To him, the absolute worst would be if he learned the truth. I don't know how he went, but I do know that he would choose it a hundred times over learning the truth about Mana."

"And yet you still sit there in ruins," Neah countered.

"I may be rotten and sadistic but I would have never wished on anyone to go through such cruel annihilation. Especially not a messed up kid."

Neah shrugged. "Life is cruel I guess. I got eaten by Mana before I got the chance to reach adulthood and Allen… There's no way around hurting him either."

Cross finally rose his head, alarm and confusion reflecting on his damp face, a horrible suspicion creeping from the dark recesses of his mind. "Don't you mean 'having hurt' Allen?"

Neah turned his back on the former Exorcist. "Farewell, Cross. Thanks for doing your best to keep up your end of the promise. I too, will do the same and set you free."

Cross had no time to retaliate, to yell, to manage anything more than a stunned little noise when the Sword of Exorcism impaled him. Looking down, his single eye widened in horror at the implication, at the proof of his suspicion. His mask fell to the ground, shattering while his flesh caught on black fire, his consciousness slipping. With his freed hand, he reached his skeletal arm out towards Neah, his sight envisioning a smaller Allen turning to face him before everything stopped and he scattered to dust, the Sword of Exorcism cluttering on the ground. Neah leaned down to pick it up, ignoring the painful burn he felt touching the holy item. He spared one final look at the dust of his reluctant ally then turned his back on him to continue on with his mission.