Miranda was looking at a skull.

Like the ones from the other nightmare it was purple, with overlarge canines, though this one was more metallic and angular. There also seemed to be a kind of cap over its head, the same material covering the eyes. There was a pentagram on its forehead, and written where the eyes should've been was a name in cursive, extravagant to the point Miranda couldn't decipher it. The skull was attached to some mockery of a skeleton, still purple, metal, with no hands or feet. Its legs ended in stumps, its forearms as blades. She sat in thin air facing it, while it sat in the same position. With a stroke of silliness, she imagined that they were sitting across from each other at a cafe table. Only difference was that their surroundings were simply darkness. They weren't even sitting on anything. There were faint sounds though, like distant hammers. The skeleton was in a hunched position, but despite its frightful appearance, Miranda didn't feel threatened. She was only curious. What was that name? She could make out a loopy M. Martin?

The creature creaked. Its lower jaw moved, squeaking like an old hinge, and it worked at that for a while, as if it hadn't used that in a long time. Eventually it stopped. Was that name Mary?

"Hello," a voice croaked. It was a soft, handsome young voice, though it sounded odd, like it hadn't spoken in years. The skeleton had talked with no throat or lungs.

"Hello," Miranda said uncertainly.

"You are… an accommodator?" said the skull.

"I am. Why?" It was probably silly to give that information to something with blades for arms, but she didn't feel afraid at all.

The skeleton shifted, a strange hum coming from its nonexistent throat before it replied, "So it's your Innocence I'm feeling now."

"What do you mean?"

"I am using your power as a bridge, to speak to your unconscious mind," said the skeleton. "I daresay it's been picking up on far stranger things while it's active like this."

"You mean my nightmares?"

"Perhaps true events are clouding your already existing nightmares?" the thing mused. Was the name Mischa?

"But you're talking to me directly," said Miranda. "Why? And what are you, anyway?"

"I needed to warn the rebellion somehow, and you're the only one I've come across who can hear me," the creature replied. "As for what I am… please forgive this dreadful appearance. This is what I looked like when I died."

"When you died?"

"Yes."

"You're dead?"

"Yes. I suppose one may call me a vengeful ghost." The cursive winked as the head twisted, as if glancing to the side. Maria?

"But who killed you?" Miranda whispered. A vengeful ghost, warning the rebellion…. "Was it the Noah? The Millennium Earl?"

"Allen killed me," it said sadly.

Miranda froze. Allen? Allen had killed a man, one of his comrades?

"Don't hold it against him," said the ghost, and Miranda felt like it was staring into her soul even without eyes. "I can see you're a friend of his. Don't be mad with him. I love Allen. I love Allen more than anything. I was turned into an Akuma and nearly killed him. He killed me. He set me free. And he cried so hard." Its voice drifted into a pained silence. Miranda didn't have the heart to tell the thing that Allen was dead. "Even as I am, I want him to be safe. And so I'm warning you: the Earl is plotting again. His new project is nearly completed, and when it is, the Ark will be destroyed."

"What?" Miranda gasped. But the Ark was their world. That was the thing keeping all the people alive on the other side of the mirror!

"It may be finished as soon as next week. It must be stopped. Marian Cross knows the plan but not the time. You must tell him to speed up his intervention. Otherwise, humanity is doomed to the factories."

The factories again?

"Tell him," the ghost insisted.

"I-I don't know where to find him, but I'll do my best!" Miranda promised.

"Timcanpy will know." The ghost paused, then asked, "What is your name?"

"M-Miranda. I'm Miranda Lotto."

"Miranda Lotto," it murmured. "It's a very nice name. Thank you, Miranda Lotto. I wish you luck."

The darkness around them began to change, brightening to gray and then white, lighter and lighter until it eclipsed every detail, but before the ghost vanished, Miranda was sure she made out that scrawled name.

Mana.

Miranda woke exactly ten seconds before her alarm went off. She stared at the ceiling as the clock blared on the nightstand, thinking about this dream. None of the others had remained so clear in her mind, and something told her that skeleton had been telling the truth. It had communicated through her Innocence.

"Mana," she whispered, testing the name, if that even was the right name.

Immediately Timcanpy snapped to attention, wings erect. The sudden motion made Miranda jump, and she blinked at it in confusion.

"T-Timcanpy? What's wrong?" The golem's wings twitched, and she got the idea it was waiting for something. After a moment she repeated, "Mana?"

"Mana?"

She jumped again, almost letting out a squeak of fear as a voice spoke, tense and suspicious, right next to her ear. "A-Alma? Is that you?"

"Yeah. What did you just say?"

"Oh, um… I had a strange dream," she muttered. "I was just thinking aloud is all. It's probably nothing."

"Then why did you connect directly to me?" Alma's voice came through particularly clear on the communicator, clearer than she'd ever heard it, but she had no idea how or why.

"I-I don't know. I'm not very good with these communicators, so I'm not sure how it happened. Everyone's always called me first," she said, uneasy.

"…Is Timcanpy with you?"

"Well, yes."

"Did you ask him to contact me? Golems can manipulate technology, after all."

"No, I don't know why he would." Miranda gave the golem a confused look, and it flicked its tail, seemingly expectant.

There was silence on Alma's end for a moment. "But you did say the word Mana, right?"

"Yes, I did. Um…" You must tell him to speed up his intervention. "Alma, how would one go about contacting Marian Cross?"

Alma let out a bark of laughter that held little real humor. "General Cross? That's borderline impossible even in the best of times. What brought this on?"

Miranda took a deep, shuddering breath. She wasn't sure if she should share the whole story (really, why would anyone believe a dream warning of all things), but the ghost had sounded urgent, and something big was on the line. Alma was probably the best person to ask, being their contact with the Ark; maybe that was why Timcanpy had connected them.

"Someone talked to me through the Innocence. He told me I had to find Marian Cross and warn him that the Earl's plan is going much faster than you thought. He… he said that if Cross doesn't act fast, the Ark is going to be destroyed."

There was silence on the other end.

"Alma? Are you still there?"

"How did you get Mana out of that?" he whispered.

"There was something written on his clothes that started with m. I thought it said Mana, but I could easily be wrong. Timcanpy got excited when I mentioned it, though…." Another glance showed the golem still perked up. "What exactly does that mean? What is Mana?"

"Miranda, you have to listen to me, okay? Never, ever say that name out loud if you can help it."

"What? But why-"

"Mana is the name of a rebel who ran with Cross a while back. He was a tipping point, like Allen: important to both sides. The Earl killed him ten years ago in cold blood, but his name is still really volatile around the Ark. You so much as mention that name offhand, and you will have people after your head from every corner of the Ark. Angel, Akuma, doesn't matter. Even ten years later the wound's too fresh. I don't know what kind of idiot is wandering around with that pinned on him, but he's looking for trouble."

"I think we're in trouble already," Miranda confessed. "He said the Earl's project will be finished in about a week. He mentioned the factories, too."

"Wait, factories as in the ones Timothy's mother escaped from?"

Allen had never elaborated on what those factories were, but the ghost had spoken about them with the same kind of gravity Allen had acted with. Like they were something truly horrible. "Sounded like it."

Alma heaved a shaky sigh. "Okay, so we are in trouble. I don't know if your guy is trustworthy, but… We have to talk with Cross anyway. We need a general's backup here, badly, and if you can count on anyone to screw their enemies over, it's him. Even the Noah have to take him seriously."

"So can we contact him?" said Miranda, her heart lifting.

"That's going to be a problem. Not only do we have your Innocence in the way, there's the matter of Cross himself. He's notoriously hard to catch, even when you're an ally. He hates work and keeps sneaking off to drink or party, but as soon as you track down where he's been, you find he's spirited away and nothing's left but a big stack of bills and some really angry barkeepers. There's no way to locate him."

"Ma- er, the man said Timcanpy would know how to find him."

"Timcanpy?"

"Yes. Timcanpy, could you lead us to General Cross?"

The gold golem hopped off the bed and flapped eagerly in the air, bobbing and waving its legs in an act that seemed to scream positive.

"I think that's a yes!" she reported.

Alma hummed, thoughtful. "Miranda, I'm going to open up the channel so the others can hear."

"Oh, okay."

"Hey!" Alma called. "Can everyone hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" piped up Lavi.

"It's too early for this," grumbled Kanda.

"Yes, the communicator's working!" Lenalee chimed in.

"I know yesterday we ran into a bit of a snafu, but could we go back to the old routine and meet at Miranda's house?" asked Alma. "I think we have a new plan of action and we need to regroup before we do anything."

"I'm actually on my way over already," said Lenalee, sheepish.

"We're almost to the car! We should be there in no time," Lavi added.

"Good. I'll see you all there."

"New plan, huh?" Lavi grunted as he plopped down in the front seat of Kanda's car. "Sounds good to me. Maybe we'll make some more progress."

"And yesterday we didn't?" Kanda scoffed as he started the engine.

"Well of course we did, but… I don't know, this feels like putting a foot forward. Yesterday was a matter of bracing ourselves."

"Such is the existence of the Ark rebellion," Link commented from the backseat.

"Oh?"

Lavi craned his head around to look at the senior, green eye shining with the same infernal curiosity it held when he asked about that history with Alma. It only took the slightest thought about Alma for the image of the other's battered, unconscious body to flash back into mind. The thought of yesterday made Kanda feel sick. He shifted gears with more force than necessary and purposely bumped his elbow into Mugen as he turned the wheel and reversed out of the parking spot. He had to ground himself, focus. Alma was fine. Yesterday was nothing but a bad memory, and it wasn't going to happen again. Lavi was talking, and he forced himself to concentrate on that, that and the road.

"So what exactly is the deal with the rebellion, back in the Ark? And how do you know about it? You said you had somebody train you to fight anyone who came through from the Ark, but who would do that, anyway?" Lavi was bursting with questions, that was obvious, but he'd limited himself to those.

Link seemed uncomfortable. His jaw clenched, and he watched Atuuda trail along the floor before he decided to speak.

"I will ask first. How do you know about the rebellion?"

"Allen gave us the lowdown," Lavi shrugged. "What an Akuma is, how many levels… the Noah, the Angels, the Earl, Innocence and the Three Days of Darkness. Ark. Broad spectrum stuff, to be honest."

"And what did he say the rebellion was?"

"Hmm. He said it was people against the Clan of Noah. Like, the Earl is the king, right? Allen said he used to be pretty awesome, but he snapped sometime before any of us were born and started hunting down Innocence with a vengeance, since that's the only thing that can challenge his rule. He's a tyrant now, yeah?"

Link nodded, but the motion was slow and careful. "Broad spectrum, indeed," he muttered.

"And you're more detailed," Lavi stated.

"Indeed."

"Care to share with the class?"

Kanda could see Link's dubious face in the rearview mirror, so butted in, "You're an outsider, just like us. We've had exactly one source, and maybe he was interested in keeping us alive, but he was also interested in keeping us on his side. Is there something we have to know about this whole deal? I don't like the idea of being blinkered." Link continued to avoid his eyes in the mirror, and he could feel his own eyes narrow in response as he snapped, "Why are you trained to fight people from the Ark?"

Link exhaled sharply through his nose, brow furrowed.

"What Allen Walker told you was the kind of simple story told to children," he said at last. "The intricacies of the situation are difficult to explain and understand. A rebellion has existed since the moment people began to live on the Ark. They've been described as a nuisance at best, terrorists at their worst. They pushed a radical agenda that threatened to overwhelm and destroy the balance of their own new world, so they were never very popular. In addition, they weren't always associated with Innocence. For a long time, they had very few accommodators, and what few they had were always called Angels: part of their obsession and arrogance. They were despised by the general public until a little more than fifteen years ago, when their hierarchy was rearranged. It's true that the Earl was once a righteous leader, descended from a line of such rulers, but as Allen informed you, his demeanor changed completely twenty-three years ago. Since then the Akuma production increased dramatically, and as these were his prized soldiers, he ordered the destruction of any Innocence that could be found. As a result accommodators went into hiding, and many more of them joined the rebellion in the hope that would win their homes back. Their number swelled to the point 'Angel' had to become a ranking instead of a general term."

"Wait, I thought Innocence and Noah never got along," Lavi interrupted. "You're saying Noah only began the crackdown like twenty years back?"

"According to ancient documents, the Clan of Noah and Innocence once worked together. Some tales claim that they were created as counters to each other, working together to create a natural balance in the world. Innocence only fell out of favor in the war. If Allen told you about the Three Days of Darkness, he must've mentioned the war, too: the struggle between Noah and the Heart. Accounts don't agree on the length of that war. Some say it lasted one hundred years, another says it was only thirty. All of them agree that it took several decades and wiped out their original world. True, both sides did terrible, irreversible damage, but the Clan of Noah came out as the people's hero because they were able to evacuate everyone. The Ark of today has always been the property of the clan; its true name is actually Noah's Ark. The Clan of Noah opened those doors, which should've been exclusively their own, to everyone. Even their enemies. People still remember that act of goodwill, and that's why they prefer Noah to Innocence. Besides, the Ark can only be run by the Noah, so it only makes sense that the Noah would be in control of it."

"Noah's Ark? Like that bible story?"

"People from the Ark don't know about the bible, and wouldn't understand the reference," Link pointed out. "But yes, it fits the same ideal."

"So the current rebellion… that's as the beansprout described it, right? The Noah, too?" Kanda grumbled, turning a corner.

"In general, yes, but both sides have more gray to them than black and white. The rebellion resorts to dirty tactics and at times cares just as little for human dignity and life as the Noah. Meanwhile, the Clan of Noah has degenerated: at one time each of the fourteen families had a very specific duty tied to their powers, each of which was supposed to assist the Earl in his decisions, but now they're little more than puppets doing the Earl's bidding. There was an incident ten years ago that struck fear even into them, so they're loathe to disobey any orders. This is why I was trained to fight them." Link's red eyes darkened. "When people from the Ark come into our world, they're always here with an agenda. Akuma may be sent in to kill, to level up without sacrificing the Ark's population. Rebels may kidnap people and try to force a connection with Innocence… some groups are infamous for trying to create accommodators, and in almost every case, the subject in question dies a very painful death. The Ark has never meant anything good for us."

"So you're around to keep us from getting dragged in and murdered," Lavi clarified.

"There is a society in our world meant to defend us from Ark attacks. This society locates young orphans and trains them up to use spells and weapons, and this is where I learned about the Ark."

"Wait, so you're like some sort of spy kid?" Lavi grinned.

"We are called CROW." Link had none of Lavi's enthusiasm. "We are the black wings that rebels fear."

Something was bothering Kanda, and it wasn't the discovery of some anti-Ark organization; he'd suspected there was one of those already.

"The way I see it, the Noah are set on a pedestal," he muttered. "They're superhumans who can control Akuma of all things. You've seen the kind of damage they can do, and these aren't even their strongest forces. If they've got that kind of power behind them, what happened ten years ago to rattle them so bad?"

"There was an attack made on the capital of the Ark," Link explained, though it seemed he had to force the words out. "The grand palace was destroyed and the Ark system completely ground to a halt. Details are sketchy even now, but a slew of Noah were killed. That's why there are so many young heads of households these days."

Kanda could remember Allen's little history lesson well. The only thing that could kill a Noah was either another Noah or Innocence. If a massive attack had been made on the Noah like that, he decided, it had to be the rebellion. It had to be Innocence. Maybe they stood a better chance than he'd thought.

"So we're looking for General Cross?"

Lavi said this almost an hour later, in his spot on Miranda's armchair. The others seemed similarly confused. They were seated in the circular area on the couches, while Miranda and Alma stood in front of the TV to face them. Miranda fidgeted under their scrutiny. Her explanation of the ghost had been just as vague as the one she'd given Alma, even more so when she neglected to mention the name Mana. Kanda in particular looked skeptical at this tale, but Alma's insistence that they needed a general's help had won enough interest that they didn't seem mutinous.

"That's right," Alma nodded. "Again, I think this is the best course of action. I wish we could've taken it before, but I think we've gained enough traction now that we're capable of doing it."

"What do you mean, traction?" asked Lenalee, reaching up to play with her hair and startling herself when she realized her long tresses were gone.

"You've all been syncing up these past few days and getting used to your Innocence. To be honest, your growth has been completely crazy. Normally it takes years for an accommodator to reach the level you've gotten to in a matter of weeks. All of you have to be at least fifty percent synchronized and rising."

Everyone in the room straightened up, intrigued.

"S-seriously?" Lavi choked. "How?"

"It's an effect of the Heart," Alma explained. "That's one of the reasons it's so important. It powers up any Innocence nearby. I never would've believed it would have this kind of effect if I hadn't seen it myself, though."

"So we could be Angels in another week or two?"

"At this rate, yes. I'm almost jealous," Alma chuckled.

Lavi sank back into the chair, baffled. "Crazy."

Timothy threw a hand into the air and called, "You can't go to the Ark."

"And since when have you become an expert?" Kanda scowled.

Timothy puffed out his cheeks and threw Kanda a dark look. "Tsukikami says Miranda's Innocence won't let us through."

"What do you mean? She's got control over it now, right?" said Lavi.

"We really don't want to mess with it," Alma agreed. "When it's stretched like it is, any fluctuation that Miranda orders it to make may not be able to be fixed. You don't like the idea of a permanent hole in that dome, do you? It may only be a hole to the limbo, but that would still make it easier for Akuma and enemies to get in."

"There's no way to get into the limbo to begin with," Link grumbled. "If there were, we would've done it when Lenalee was dragged in. We have no one on the other side to pull us, and if you think a golem's going to cut it…."

"Honestly, I've got a plan to bypass both of those problems."

"You do?" said Miranda, shocked. Was that a real possibility?

"Okay, this is going to sound pretty suicidal-"

"Everything we've been doing has been suicidal," Lavi grinned.

"I want to find Road again."

The excitement drained from the room. Alma's cheeks reddened in embarrassment and he scrambled to explain.

"Look, you remember how Noah each have their own ability? Road's dreamworld warps the real one as she wishes, but she's got this secondary ability, and that's the door. You all saw it yesterday, she left through it. That door can take her to anywhere in any world. She could use it to travel from this room to the throne room in the Ark in the blink of an eye. That's how she got here in the first place without running into trouble. It's probably how Tyki was able to escape so easily too."

"And you think Road's just going to let us walk through?" said Lavi, disbelieving.

"Of course not! I just think we need the door there and available, and if we have a distraction, we can slip in."

"Okay." Lavi leaned forward again, one hand up. "Okay." He paused, traced a circle in the air with one finger, then stopped again and pursed his lips. "Oookay. Look, I'm not here to bring anybody down, but-"

"Too many flaws," Link snapped.

"Do we have any choice?"

"Of course we do!" Kanda crossed his arms. "I don't trust what this guy said, whoever he is. Where's the proof? Miranda's the only one who's seen him, and she won't even give us a straight answer. What benefit does he get by dropping news like that? Who is he and how'd he get in here? There's no chance he's a CROW or something, after all."

"If he were a CROW, he would've contacted me," said Link. Miranda wasn't sure what CROW was supposed to be, but judging by what he said, it must've been his 'warrior magician' group. "I think the likelier option is that an Akuma or Broker has tried to communicate with the dome at large and it tracked back to her. They may be trying to lure us out into a trap."

"And in that case, the whole deal about the Earl's plan is bullshit."

"Do we really need General Cross?" Lenalee murmured. "I mean, I don't know him, but the way you and Allen talked about him, he wasn't exactly reliable."

"Not gonna lie, he's not," Alma said ruefully. "But he is a general, and the only one who's been on our radar in the past five years. The others fled into your world, and judging by the fact we haven't seen hide nor hair of other powerful Innocence, they're stranded outside, too."

"And why can't we try contacting those instead?" Kanda demanded.

"Because the only way to bypass Miranda's Innocence is through a special kind of door, there are only three people who can create that kind of door, and all of them are rooted in the Ark. We have Road Kamelot," Alma started to tick them off on his fingers, "The Millennium Earl, and the head of the Fourteenth House. If any of them decide to open a door to Mater, you'd better hope it's Road because the Earl has a bad attitude that results in the flattening of cities, and Fourteenths are tricky bastards you won't find unless they want you to find them. There's no chance a door will open up between Mater and the rest of your world. It's just not going to happen."

Lavi cradled his head in his hands, eye shut as he concentrated. "So let's say we do find Road. Everything goes well, and we sneak through her door. How will we know where we are? Is it going to lead us straight to the Earl? Some back alley in the Ark? Where do we go? How do we find Cross?"

"There's no telling where the door will lead, exactly. It'll open up wherever Road decided to summon it, so we'll be making a huge gamble. We could get out easily, but we could also pop up in the middle of a hall full of Noah."

"We can't do that," Link scowled. "The risks are far too great. It's an all or nothing, and we cannot afford such a maneuver."

"I… I don't think I want to do it, either," said Lenalee.

"Negative on my end, too. Sorry, buddy," said Lavi.

"We have majority. Scrap that plan," Kanda nodded.

Alma heaved a sigh, irritation clear on his face. "Then what do you want to do instead? Just keep going like we have been?"

"Yes," said Link, as if the choice were clear as day.

"Well, I can't accept that. Maybe you don't believe anything without proof, but Miranda gave details that can't just be overlooked. Some big plan by the Earl that dooms everyone to the factories? I don't know what any of that means, but from what I can gather about these factory things, they're really, really bad. Any huge project of the Earl could threaten our lives, or the Heart. He had Noah investigating this place and making Brokers even before the dome went up. I don't think he plans to leave this city so easily."

"So easily?" Kanda laughed, and Miranda flinched at the acid in his tone. "So easily? Maybe you can't see it right now, but without that rewind, half this city is ripped apart! More than a third of the people here are dead, that inspector said it himself!"

"And the Earl will still think that's lenient," Alma hissed. "You don't know the kind of cruelties he's inflicted on his own people. His own clan. The Noah have some idea that the Heart is here and gaining strength. If they know, he knows. I think it's only a matter of time before Mater is wiped off the face of the earth. We have to take the fight to them, at least make a distraction so they're less focused on Mater."

Most of their audience looked floored. Lavi and Lenalee were wide-eyed, Timothy seemed to be conversing nervously with the space to his left, and Kanda rubbed at his face with a frustrated noise. Link alone seemed unruffled.

"Regardless, we can't go to the Ark," he insisted. "Like it or not, these people are not Angels, and even Angels can easily be killed by Noah and strong Akuma. You take them to the Ark, and you will be leading them to their deaths. And for what? An irresponsible drunkard you may not even be able to find?"

"Timcanpy can find him," Alma defended. "Golems can track their owners."

"Considering the general's record, there's a likelihood he wouldn't help you even if you found him," Link scoffed.

"I'll go alone, then!"

Miranda looked around, startled. "Alma, what do you-"

"If I go through the door alone, then I won't be risking any of you," he said, determined. "I'll search for Cross myself, and bring him back to help us. I got through the dome once, I'm sure I can do it again."

"That's a stupid idea!" Kanda spat.

"Well I'm a stupid person, so I guess it fits," Alma retorted.

"But dude, you're the one leading us!" said Lavi. "What are we supposed to do without our guy in the know?"

"I won't be gone long," said Alma, and somehow Miranda knew it was a lie. "I work fast when I'm determined."

"But-"

"I'm going to do it whether I have your help or not."

Silence. Miranda glanced from one face to another, desperately hoping for another criticism. She didn't know what to do, but something had to be done, in a way that kept them all together and safe. Alma couldn't leave them now, after all they'd been through. But the faces around her were settling into a disturbing trend of finality, the same kind of angry resignation they'd held when Allen (why did thoughts of him always have to come back to haunt her?) had stayed behind to fight Suman. They were angry, but they didn't know what to do either. They couldn't stop him.

Miranda began to wish she'd never mentioned a Mana at all.

Krory's long strides carried him through the streets of the Ark at a swift pace. The western side of the central area was identical to all the others, with the same white buildings and assorted doors and flower pots spaced between. A few insects buzzed around the flowers, and he kept a wary eye on these; the Noah had a certain kind of butterfly golem that, while distinctive, was usually overlooked by passersby when the flora itself was so bright. He had no intention of being caught today, especially when he thought he was finally on the right track.

Hevlaska said Cross disappeared through a western door, so he'd gone to investigate, and lo and behold, when he entered a bar on the off chance that someone had seen him, he found a witness.

"Big guy with red hair? Weird mask?" the bartender had grumbled, cleaning a glass. "Yeah, he came in here not too long ago."

Krory learned that Cross had indeed set foot in this bar not two nights ago, sat in the corner to down several glasses of the most expensive wine, and hogged the attention of every single female in the establishment. He had also failed to pay, which resulted in a very angry owner and a new stack of bills that would probably end up dumped in Allen's room at some point with all the other junk.

After this, Krory had begun ducking into more bars along his path, trying to determine exactly which route Cross had taken and which door he might've left through. Sure enough, a trail had been laid. Barkeep after disgruntled barkeep pointed the way, and Krory felt his heart soar. Maybe he'd be able to locate the general, after all! At the same time, he was suspicious. Cross was never this easy to follow. When it came to staying undetected, he was flawless. Not even Allen, who knew his master better than anyone, could track him down. Why had he left this so clear? Did he suspect someone needed to find him? No, that was ridiculous- Cross hid out even when he was needed. Perhaps he'd gotten sloppy for some other reason. Was he hurt? Or, Krory wondered, stomach flip-flopping, was he setting up a trap for someone? He'd only just begun to consider that possibility when he caught sight of something ahead. Horrified, he dodged into the closest alley. He stood there, leaning against the white wall and trying his best not to make any noise.

"Hiiiiii!" came a screech, accompanied by the sound of stomping feet. "Cross! Cross!"

"We'll kill you, ya bastard!" roared a second voice, deeper than the first. "Get out here and face us like a man!"

"Not like a chicken!"

"We'll shoot you to pieces and stuff your debts down your throat!"

"That's right, hii!"

The source of the commotion appeared at the mouth of the alley. It was a pair of young men, both around the same size with similar features. The closest one walked with a slight slouch, the darkness of his makeup stark against the white of his eyes, with a mop of messy black hair spilling from his scalp like it hadn't been brushed in years. The one on his other side slouched in such a way it seemed like he was incapable of standing straight, so hobbled with his arms and long blond hair swaying with the movement, his large crazed eyes lined with similar makeup and mouth stitched up in a zigzag pattern that somehow still left room for his jaw to move. Both of them had yellow eyes and gray skin. Krory recognized them immediately, having run into them in the past. Of all days, why did this have to be the one he found Jasdevi again?

"Come out, come out!" the darker one jeered, pointing a golden pistol around as his eyes roved. "Come on, Cross!"

"We're gonna get ya, hii!" squealed the blond, brandishing a pistol of his own.

To Krory's great relief, they didn't spend much time investigating, and passed his alley without any sign they'd noticed him. He heard their shouting retreating, and allowed himself to calm down.

"Thank goodness," he sighed.

"It's a bit early to be relaxing, isn't it?"

Krory gasped and whirled around. He thought he'd been alone, but obviously this was not the case. The young man beside him was much shorter, wrapped up in a grubby overcoat and shabby clothing underneath. The fashion certainly screamed homeless, but Krory had never come across a homeless man with such a healthy weight or thin, scheming yellow eyes. The young man smiled up at him, lips forming more of a smirk than a true smile, and that combined with his white hair made Krory immediately think of Allen. His guard slipped a bit.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he stuttered.

"Obviously," the other chuckled. "And what are you doing in this neck of the woods? Hiding from Noah?"

"Actually, no." Krory gave an uneasy laugh of his own. "I'm trying to find a, er, friend of mine. I don't suppose you've seen a red-haired man with a mask?"

The other's lips curled, revealing teeth as he tilted his head back against the wall and sniggered. "Nah, I haven't seen him."

"Well, I'm sure I'll find him sooner or later. Thank you. Oh, and sorry again for almost run-"

"You know, it's kind of stupid to describe a general to just anyone, especially when Jasdevi just insulted his features earlier. Are you usually this careless, Mr. Arystar Krory?"

Krory froze. The young man tilted his head and opened his eyes again, the yellow particularly bright as reddish-gray eclipsed his pale coloring, and something strange opened up on his forehead. A diamond shaped eye, flanked by two smaller ones; the yellow irises there fixed on Krory, and he knew in that moment that he was completely screwed.

The Fifth House had come out into the limelight.

The only sound was that of the car as they drove. Kanda gripped the wheel so tight his hands looked fragile under the strain and he had to switch his grip, driving one-handed so he could flex the other and keep it from cramping up. Miranda watched this behavior with a sour taste in her mouth. No one was happy at this point, but Kanda looked particularly stressed. Miranda didn't know what to think about this. Kanda and Alma had been itching to brawl the entire time she'd known them, but violent as they were, she kept catching them glancing over when they thought the other wasn't looking, anxious about each other's wellbeing during a fight. Between the events of yesterday and the reaction today, she came to the conclusion they didn't actually hate each other like they said. If Kanda really hated Alma, why would he be so worried now?

"Are you going to patch things up?" Lavi asked. He was looking up through the window at Alma again. While he wasn't facing anyone in particular they all knew who it was directed to.

"Patch what up?" Kanda grumbled.

"Your situation with Alma. I'm not going to ask about it anymore, but there's a chance he's not going to come back for a long time."

"Shut up."

"There's a chance he'll end up like Daisya."

"Shut up."

"You and Daisya weren't on bad terms when he…." Lavi made an odd motion with his hand, miming a spirit leaving a body. "But if you had been, could you have lived with yourself afterward?"

Kanda's mouth thinned into a severe line.

"You've already been having difficulties living with yourself after… whatever happened. Once he leaves, it's going to be a hell of a lot worse."

"You don't even know what you're talking about," Kanda snarled.

"No, I don't. But I don't like the idea of you ripping yourself apart over it."

Kanda gritted his teeth but didn't answer. Miranda redirected her eyes to her shoes, clenching her hands in her lap. Yesterday everything had been solved, but now they were up in the air again. She hated it. For the hundredth time she wished Allen was still around. He'd always come up with a plan that made her feel like they were actively doing something, encouraging them and always there to support them. Timcanpy alighted on her shoulder and nudged her cheek, but it couldn't cheer her up. Alma would be taking Timcanpy with him to find Cross.

"I found them," came Alma's voice over the communicators.

"All three?" asked Lenalee.

"Yeah, they're hanging out deep downtown. I'm at the corner of 25th and Mare Street. Can you meet me there?"

"Sure," said Lenalee, and she motioned for Kanda to take a left. "Will we see them clearly?"

"They're in the middle of the road, so you should."

"We'll be right there."

The plan this time was to find the three lackeys Road had ordered around yesterday. They'd destroy the two strongest ones, damage the third, and make it bring Road to them. As soon as the door opened, Alma would swoop in, back to the Ark, and the rest of them would get in the car and drive away as fast as they could to escape. Alma made it sound easy, but Miranda seriously doubted it would go so smoothly. Judging by his face, neither did Link.

"If this works, I can trap Road," he informed them. "My spell wings will be able to hold a Noah for a short time. It should be enough to get away, but if we resort to that, she might take it as an insult and try to hunt us down for revenge."

"Are Noah big on pride?" said Lavi.

"Exceedingly so."

"Great."

The corner of 25th and Mare was deep in the business area of downtown, where glass skyscrapers towered overhead on either side, cement and metal and glass encasing them in a maze where the only grass was a neatly-maintained decorative patch near a bubbling fountain. The overcast sky lent a foreboding air to the place, so the colored glass and faint murals along the sidewalk looked washed out, the streets lifeless. This was where the Fallen One had been, that fateful night. Had it really only been four days?

They spotted Alma, sitting on top of a large sculpture shaped like a man in pain. His Innocence was deactivated, and he stared forward at the glass-encased building across the street. Kanda pulled into the nearest parking spot and clambered out.

"Hey, where are the Akuma?"

Alma pointed straight ahead. "They're in the lobby of that building. I backtracked a little, so we should have the element of surprise."

"So we just run in and smash whatever we see?" said Lavi.

"I think we should target the ogre and the pumpkin," Alma mused. "They gave us the most trouble yesterday."

"So that leaves us with Mr. Scissorhands."

"We can rip its arms off, that won't kill it."

Miranda slid halfway out of the car and squinted at their target. Yes, she recognized this building too. As she recalled, there was a large number of individual stores inside, and the building branched off into others through skywalks; she'd ordered a hot chocolate in the lobby and stood inside one of those skywalks to watch the winter parade last year. A sign near the door named it the Skymark Building.

"Are we just supposed to walk in?" she said, uneasy.

"Unless you want to smash through the wall, yeah," said Alma.

Lenalee took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I suppose we should get started, then."

They formed a tight group and crossed the street. The door was, open, so they slipped inside without any fuss. The Skymark was three stories tall, each floor taking up an obscene amount of space so the ceiling soared far above their heads. The lobby floor was round, black tile, with a large fountain smack in the middle. Strange colorful decorations hung at varying heights from the ceiling, held by thick cords. Staircases wound up on either side of the large room, made of more black material that led to the shops and restaurants of the upper floors, which remained dark and covered in grating. The only sound was that of the crashing fountain water and their own footsteps.

"So where are they hiding?" Lavi muttered, hammer in hand as he glanced around.

Miranda couldn't see any Akuma. She looked high and low as the others began to drift apart, everyone searching for some sign of their quarry. Then there was a sound. It was barely audible, but Miranda whipped around. To her left there was a coffee stand, its green sign dark and nearly unreadable and the interior almost black, but she caught sight of something vaguely orange inside.

"Pumpkin!" she screeched, pointing.

And the accommodators sprang. Alma was the first to hit, Innocence form careening into the stand like a wrecking ball. Glass shattered and metal bent under the force, accompanied by a squeal of fear as the pumpkin Akuma darted out of the way. It had to twist and dodge immediately, evading first a swing of Lavi's hammer, then a swipe from Mugen.

"Innocence, activate!" Lenalee cried, and everyone paused.

No one had voiced their concerns - would her boots even work after their earlier transformation? - but they may as well not have worried, because her weapon manifested just as it always had. The only problem was when she darted forward and plunged straight through the wall instead of hitting the Akuma. Miranda gawked at the resulting hole before her mind registered a splash and the sound of cursing. As it turned out, Link and Timothy had taken up positions on the rim of the fountain to get a good view, and Timothy had tried to possess the Akuma, only for his limp body to fall back into the water. Apparently that was enough to break his concentration, as he resurfaced immediately, spluttering and gasping, and Link had to heave him up so he didn't drown. Miranda ran over to them as the other three boys kept attacking.

"Timothy, are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine!" he hacked, bright red in embarrassment. "I almost had him!"

"Oh did you, now?" came a taunting voice, and all three of them snapped their heads up. The ogre floated there in the vicinity of the second floor, leering at them. "You'll just have to try better!"

it took a deep, whistling breath, then let it out in a burst of fire.

"Run!" cried Link, heaving Timothy up under his arm and sprinting.

With a yelp, Miranda dashed away, just in time. The Ice Fire hit the fountain, instantly freezing the water solid and spreading a thin sheet of ice across the area. Frost crackled and spread across the floor, and it would've reached Miranda's feet if Lenalee hadn't come zooming back, zipping right through her earlier hole and whipping around, shouting, "Waltz! Misty Wind!"

Her attack roared, harsher than it had been before. The wind caught the Akuma's attack and sent it right back, forcing the ogre to flee to avoid being hit. As a result the opposite wall got the brunt of it, floor bending and snapping under the gale, glass smashing, wreckage swiftly covered in ice. Lenalee dropped to the ground. Miranda would've thought, given the amount of strength she was throwing, that the girl would be exhausted, but she wasn't breathing hard at all.

"Weird," she muttered.

"Lenalee? Are you okay?" said Miranda, reaching out to touch her arm.

Lenalee jumped at the contact and gave her a sheepish smile. "Oh, I'm fine! I'm just having a little control issues is all. I keep overshooting." She glanced back at the hole in the wall. "Back there, I was expecting to be a lot slower. I don't really understand. My Innocence has never been this strong before."

"W-well," said Miranda, glancing down, "did they always have those butterflies on the heels?"

Lenalee blinked, then looked at her boots. There really were little butterfly-wing structures at the back of her red boots, small and delicate. They hardly seemed the type of decoration needed on a weapon, but personally Miranda thought they were very pretty.

"No," she whispered. "Those were only there when I… when I synched too much."

"Look out below!"

Lavi's hammer came whistling down and impacted with the floor not three feet away from them, destroying tiles in the process. Both of them jumped back, and Lavi came jogging up to them.

"Not a good time to get distracted, ladies!" he called. "You okay there, Lena?"

"I'm good! I'll get the hang of it!" Lenalee cried, and she launched herself back into the air.

Lavi tracked her progress for a moment, then his eye widened and he stepped back to Miranda's side and held up his hammer. The weapon grew huge enough to block their view, just in time before something collided with the other side, causing it to shudder.

"You can't evade for long!" another voice cackled. The third Akuma had made its appearance.

"This is gonna be fun," Lavi grunted.

"Ice Fire!"

The air grew colder as more ice crackled across the floor and walls. Miranda's breath became visible in the air, and she shuddered with the cold. Alma jumped nearby, using the hammer as a springboard to leap up at the pumpkin Akuma, which just barely dodged a blow midair. It spun around and screeched, "Punk Voi-"

"Ichigen!" Kanda cried on the ground, and the creatures burst into existence with a trill, all surging upwards.

The Akuma let out its cry anyway. The noise was still horrible, but the Ichigen blocked most of the damage somehow. As a result, they wailed and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Through this cloud Lenalee flew, one leg extended. She clipped the Akuma on her way past and vanished into the cloud, just in time for the ogre to breathe more fire. The cloud of smoke was growing, distorted, now more like a foggy haze making it hard to see what was going on. Miranda stuck close to Lavi for protection, and both of them looked around, desperate to locate their comrades- everyone seemed to have vanished into the cloud, and despite the racket and the brief flashes of light, it was impossible to pinpoint anything. Miranda saw shadows at some points, maybe an Akuma or maybe an accommodator, she couldn't tell. She flinched every time they clashed. The haze soon covered almost the entire lobby, curling on the ground by Miranda's feet.

"I can't see anyone," she whimpered.

"Link and Tim are probably on the other side," said Lavi, eye darting back and forth. "Lenalee and Alma? Airborne. I think Kanda's going ice skating. Hell if I know where those golems went."

A shape rose up out of the smoke, something dark and bulky, and Lavi swerved to face it. Unfortunately, the ice had continued to spread to the point it was upon them, and his foot slipped. He bit out a curse as he slid, off balance and defense ruined, and the scissor Akuma emerged, grinning and waving its blades. Miranda grabbed Lavi's jacket, ready to steady him or pull him out of the way, she didn't know which, but Lenalee came to the rescue just in time. A line of green flame ran down the middle of the Akuma's body, and a moment later, it split in half: she had cleaved it in two with one leg. They caught a glimpse of her before the Akuma exploded.

"Shit! That was the one we were supposed to catch!" Lavi hissed.

"We can catch the ogre, then!" Lenalee called, but they couldn't see her anymore. Presumably, she'd dived back into the cloud to alert the others.

Another flash of light and the cloud billowed further, pushed away by some rush of air. Miranda squeezed her eyes shut as it swirled around them. Lavi coughed.

"Damn, this is going worse than I thought. I hope those Akuma can't see any better than us…."

Miranda nodded in agreement. A moment later, something wrapped around her waist and heaved her upwards. She let out a shriek, digging her fingers deeper into Lavi's jacket as her feet left the floor. The boy jumped and struggled.

"Miranda? Miranda, what's going on?" he shouted.

Whatever held her jerked her from side to side, and she lost her grip with a wail. She saw Lavi stumble and slip again, this time falling entirely, before he was swallowed up by the cloud. The thing was carrying her higher, fast, and the smoky air rushed past her ears. They went high enough to leave the cloud. Miranda found herself hanging in the middle of the lobby, almost close enough to brush the ceiling. She could catch glimpses of the others moving, darting here or there in the blind as they tried to find the Akuma. Only one was in their reach, though. The blue ogre had Miranda in its clutches. It grinned when it caught her looking at it.

"I found the weakest," the Akuma sneered. "Get ready to kiss the ground, worm."

Miranda couldn't bring herself to do more than shake.

"Punk Voice!"

The shrill sound rang out below again, this time strong enough to fracture the glassy sides of the building. Echoing cries signaled that the others heard it loud and clear. Alma had been jumping in the air again, and the noise was so bad he curled up into the fetal position right then and there, plummeting out of sight once more. The ogre cackled, and now that any help was distracted, it let her go. Miranda let out a scream as she began to fall.

I'm going to die, she thought. I'm really going to die. Of all times and of all places, this is how I'll go. She had the brief, wild thought that maybe she could save herself by grabbing onto one of the dangling ornaments, but that was out of the question. She didn't have the strength to hold on, and besides, they were all out of reach. She screwed her eyes shut and tried to brace herself.

"Miranda!"

She barely registered the voice. White eclipsed her vision. Two arms caught her, one around her back, the other awkward under her knees, and with a squeak of terror and surprise, she groped at the snowy folds and found a set of shoulders. The white pressed in harder, but not suffocating. It was soft and secure, like a favorite blanket. Miranda squeezed her eyes shut against it. She could feel movement, a sharp swerve that pressed her further against the thing cradling her, then impact against something and a swift descent. The thing landed on the ground, and the whiteness fell away. They'd landed on the second floor, between the stairs and a large patch of ice; the cloud remained, though thinner at their level and buffeted by new airflow from the damaged windows. With the breeze on her face, Miranda blinked up at her savior, praying it wasn't another Akuma.

The first thing that struck her was a familiar jagged scar topped with an inverted star. Gray eyes twinkled from behind a silver masquerade mask and overlong white bangs. She knew those eyes. He was wrapped up in a white cape lined with feathers by the hood, and the left hand supporting her legs was far thinner and different than she remembered, but it had to be…

"Allen?" she breathed.

His lips turned up in a smile. "Yeah. It's good to see you again, Miranda."

Miranda just stared. She would've kept staring too, but one of the Akuma exploded nearby and she snapped back to her senses. With a shriek, she retracted her hands from around his neck and slapped him across the face. Allen squawked in pain and surprise and he stumbled, nearly dropping her but tilting back last minute so she didn't touch the claws.

"M-Miranda! What-"

Miranda's hand stung something awful but she paid it no mind, continuing her screeching and swatting. The last time she'd run into 'Allen,' it was an Akuma who nearly killed Lavi. She was not going to fall for the same trick! Even if the scar was on the correct side this time.

He hastened to put her down, and once her feet touched ground she scuttled away, backing up into the railing. Allen held his hands up in surrender, cowering slightly, and from here she could see him completely. He looked… older. Maybe taller, too. His fluffy white hair was styled differently, raising up as if from static. The white cape flared out and away to show clothes nothing like the formal wear of before, his left arm thin and black, a silver crown-shaped cuff on the wrist, black hand with white cross on the back and seemingly curved sword blades replacing fingers.

"Who are you?" Miranda cried.

"I-I'm Allen!" he squeaked.

"No you're not, Allen's dead! We saw him die!"

Allen looked shocked. "What-"

"Ice Fire!"

"Fire Stamp!"

Two different colors of flame rammed into each other. The blueish Ice Fire spiraled away under the force of the Innocence attack, allowing the blazing serpent form to drive up through the middle, open its jaws wide, and snap them shut on the ogre. The Akuma wailed as the serpent curled around it, then exploded. The last of the Akuma they could track back to Road, completely gone. Chunks of the Akuma rained down into the cloud as the flame burned itself out. For a moment Miranda was terrified that one of the others would be hit by the debris, but there was no cry of pain, only one shout.

"Miranda! Miranda, where are you?"

"I'm up here!" she called, leaning over the railing. She took a quick glance back to make sure 'Allen' wasn't about to push her over or something, but he stayed put, looking at her in confusion and sadness. "I'm on the second floor! Help!"

In no time she could hear feet clamoring up the stairs. Kanda was the first to appear, Lavi in his wake.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, circling over with his sword raised against the newcomer.

"Have we got another Akuma?" Lavi puffed, seemingly out of breath.

"N-no, I'm not an Akuma!" Allen pulled off his mask, letting it hang around his neck (this uncovered face sent a pang to Miranda's chest) and pointing at himself with one blade finger. "It's me! Allen! I don't know what you saw that made you think I died, but-"

He stuttered to a halt at the furious look on Kanda's face. By now the others had gathered around, faces displaying various states of shock and disbelief. Alma took a step forward, hesitated, then kept going. He touched Allen's face and stared at him. After a minute he sighed, tension gone from his shoulders and replaced by shaky relief.

"It is you," he said, voice quivering too. "Oh my god, it's you… thank goodness."

Allen inclined his head, peering up at Alma in a kind of bashful, playful way.

"Alma, didn't I promise to come back? I wouldn't keel over that easily. You of all people should know that," he murmured.

"You said that, but…."

"Why did you think I died?"

"Tyki broadcasted it to the whole city."

"Hang on," Kanda butted in, "You can't seriously believe that's the beansprout. You know what happened last time!"

Alma turned around again, moving as if to shield Allen from them. "No, guys, really! This is definitely our Allen!"

"And how do you know that?" Kanda snapped.

"I can sense him! He- he has the right aura!"

"The hell are you talking about?"

"I-"

"Gaaah!"

With a strange gargled noise, Timcanpy flew down and settled on Allen's head. They all stared in stupefied silence as the golem grabbed his hair and yanked, trying to make a nest. Allen winced.

"Ow! Tim! Stop that!" The golem pulled extra hard. "Yeowch! Okay, I'm sorry! It's not like I wanted to be gone so long!" Timcanpy stopped, flapping its wings twice in satisfaction. Allen pouted (it didn't quite fit- his face wasn't childish enough anymore) and poked at it with one sharp claw. "Yeah, I missed you too, buddy…."

Timcanpy's approval sealed the deal. It hadn't been around to tip them off about the Akuma, but if it was this affectionate now, he had to be the real deal. Weapons were lowered, but Kanda still looked very much suspicious.

"Man, it really is you!" Lavi grinned, shouldering his hammer. "How'd you survive that, though? Looked like that Noah guy went and messed with your insides! Nasty."

"It was," Allen grimaced, rubbing at his chest.

"Yeah! You looked pretty dead to me."

"The Innocence rescued me." Allen held up his clawed hand. "And I synced up with it again later."

"But it was destroyed," said Lenalee, uncertain.

"Reduced to freaking dust!" Kanda agreed.

"Yeah, but Innocence is tricky!"

"Innocence wouldn't have saved you," said Link, eyes narrowed. "Nowhere in any written history has there ever been evidence for Innocence healing injuries, and certainly not anything about putting itself back together."

"N-no, it was definitely Innocence!" said Alma.

"Don't lie to me!" Link snapped.

"I'm not-"

"There's been something strange about you this whole time, Walker," Link hissed. "Seeing Akuma? Moving freely through the worlds? Surviving a Fallen and a Noah? Healing Innocence? No, you may be a General's apprentice, but you're still a NeverAngel, whatever the hell that is. General Cross is a magician. I wouldn't be surprised if he created you somehow. So what are you?"

The venom in his tone made Miranda and the others reel back in surprise. Had he kept that all bottled up all these repeat days? Alma puffed himself up in anger, but behind him Allen wore a sad, resigned smile.

"Guess I'm not going to get anything past a CROW, huh?"

Alma looked back, anger wavering into uneasiness. "Allen, are you sure you want to…?"

"Yeah. If I keep it a secret much longer, they won't trust me at all."

Alma regarded him a while, but sighed and backed down, brow still furrowed with worry. Allen scratched at Timcanpy some more, and wordlessly deactivated his Innocence. The cape and claws vanished. His sleeveless black shirt showed off a good amount of his left shoulder, black, vaguely-tribal markings down to the bicep, where the limb went black, segmented at the finger joints but retaining that green cross. The overlong blackened nails still looked somewhat lethal.

"I've explained before, I think, but this is a curse," he said, gesturing at his face. "Coming back into this world, you can thank Mother for that. She pulled me in through a mirror this morning. As for the rest, well, that all wraps into the same thing… You're right, it wasn't the Innocence that kept me alive after Tyki found me. Something else did, and that same something else is the reason I could never be classified as an Angel, even after hitting eighty percent sync."

Something else? Was Allen a magician too? Maybe magic was behind this? Or… created….

Before their eyes, he changed. His eyes deepened to gold, his skin reddish gray, and under his bangs they could glimpse a now-familiar crown of seven crosses. Noah. Lavi made a weak grab for the hammer, but his eye was wide, and he was otherwise rooted to the spot. Timothy gaped, Lenalee took a step back, Kanda had Mugen raised and in defensive position. Link looked ready to pull out his spell wings. Alma was completely unsurprised. And Miranda? Miranda just stood there, flabbergasted. Allen held his head high and determined, looking over them all with a steely glint in those changed eyes.

"I am Allen Walker, the sole heir to the Fourteenth House of the Clan of Noah."

A moment of silence passed, before Alma scratched at his face and sighed, "Really, I kinda expected Link to guess this before. The Walker family was pretty notorious on the Ark, after all."

"Impossible," Link breathed, looking from one to the other. "That's completely impossible. Noah and Innocence are incompatible. Besides, Allen Walker of the Fourteenth family is long dead."

"Well, that's why I was NeverAngel. The two forces didn't exactly work together," Allen mused. "Of course, I've never known anything different. This Innocence has been with me since before I was born."

Something occurred to Link, and he looked tempted to slap himself. "Of course. The assassination attempt."

"What?" Lavi deadpanned.

"Yeah," Allen shrugged, shrinking down again from his previous tall stance. Timcanpy grabbed a chunk of his bangs and dragged it up to better cushion itself, but he paid it no attention. "No one's really sure how that worked out. It just did. Master thinks it's either sheer dumb luck or just some really stupid Innocence. Which it's not. Crown Clown is wonderful." He rubbed at his black arm for a moment before wondering aloud, "I was actually mispronouncing it this entire time. It's Crown Clown. Not Crowned Clown. Huh."

"I don't understand," said Miranda. Even to her, her voice sounded brittle. "You… you're a Noah? But how can that be?"

Allen's eyes softened. "I'm not sure how much you all know about the families in the Clan of Noah, but the Fourteenth family fell out of favor with the Earl. And when I say we fell out of favor, I mean we're supposed to be killed on sight. We didn't agree with his politics and… well… I think you know how he handles anything that challenges him. I'm supposed to be dead already, like Link said, but Master Cross decided to keep me because he thought I'd be an advantage in this war. Maybe my skin can turn gray. Maybe I can regenerate to a point. That doesn't mean I'm going to side with people like Tyki and Road."

"You knew," Kanda hissed, glaring at Alma. "You knew this whole time."

"Of course. I recognized who he was as soon as I saw him in the rebellion," Alma shrugged.

"And you didn't think to tell us?"

"No one's supposed to know about Allen, okay? Not even Angels back in the Ark are allowed to know. They might react the same way you are now, or worse. Allen has just as much reason to fight the Earl as you do, more so even."

Miranda stared at the ground, tears pricking at her eyes. The world had turned itself upside down so many times already, but this shook her the most. Allen back from the dead, for real this time. Allen, a Noah. A Fourteenth. Fourteenth? Wait, hadn't Alma been mentioning something about a Fourteenth and a door? She tried to sort through this, but was startled out of it when fingers curled lightly around her hand.

"Are you okay?" Lenalee whispered, quiet enough that no one else could hear.

Miranda gave a jerky nod and forced herself to look up again. Alma was talking, explaining their situation to Allen, though Kanda looked pissed off about it. Lavi was relaxing far too easily for a man who'd been attacked by Allen's look-alike. The redhead was wearing a large, silly grin, and as Alma recounted what they'd planned to do with a captured Akuma, he sidled right up and slung his arm around Allen's neck. Allen stumbled under the weight and peered up in confusion. Lavi kept smiling at him for a while longer before ruffling his hair (almost dislodging Timcanpy) and laughing, "Yeah, this is definitely our Al! Had a little growth spurt while you were gone, huh, beansprout?"

"I-I'm not a beansprout!" Allen squeaked.

"You'll always be our little beansprout," Lavi sang.

"Jesus christ, do you have any sense of self-preservation?" Kanda snarled.

"Allen won't hurt me! Maybe Akuma-Allen would, but Yu took care of that!"

"I'm sorry, what?" said Allen, baffled.

Lavi cackled. Alma rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," he said loudly, "As I was saying, we were going to use Road's door to get into the Ark and find Cross."

"Master? What do you want with him?"

"We're supposed to deliver a message about the factories."

Even with the grayish coloring, Miranda could see Allen's face pale. "What about the factories?"

"The Earl has some kind of plan related to them, and it's set to be completed next week. Cross had some kind of countermeasure but unless he gets the drop on them now, it isn't going to work."

"Master actually set up an attack? He's working?"

"According to the message, yes."

Allen frowned. He glanced toward Timothy, uneasy. "The factories produce extremely high-level Akuma," he said quietly. "They follow a specific regimen to get the most power out of what they have, to warp an Akuma's soul so bad you'd get sick just looking at it. If the Earl starts upping the ante, we could have Mater flooded with level fours in no time."

"How bad is a level four, then?" said Lavi.

"Think of a Fallen One, only a lot more aggressive."

Miranda remembered the destruction in the wake of Suman's attacks, the panicked news and city officials, the broadcast and that empty couch at home. She shuddered.

"There's no chance we can take down a level four, even if you all do break eighty percent," said Link.

"Hate to say so, but I agree," said Lavi. "We definitely need some generals with us now, huh? Maybe you could drag Cross in here?"

Allen opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a loud squawk. In a flash everyone raised their weapons and faced the noise, only to freeze. It wasn't an Akuma at all. The source of their confusion was a monkey perhaps a foot tall, covered in fluffy white fur everywhere but its blackened face, ears, and feet. Its eyes were impossibly huge, set in the kind of creepy stare associated with dolls. Its long tail looped around the rail it sat on to keep it steady as the creature wriggled in place, chittering madly and gripping a rolled up piece of paper.

"Now what's that supposed to be?" said Lavi. "Is there a circus around here?"

Timothy took a step forward, intrigued, but Link grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him.

"H-hey, let go! I want to touch the monkey!"

"Even regular monkeys bite, and I don't think this is a regular monkey," Link retorted.

"Well what else could it be?" Kanda demanded.

While the others bickered, Miranda tilted her head to the side. The monkey copied, baring its sharp teeth as it continued to make clicking sounds. It was looking directly at her, unfazed by the noise around it. How odd. She didn't feel threatened at all, though the thing was a little creepy. The monkey held up its paper and waved it at her with another screech.

"For me?" she asked, holding up her hand.

The monkey leaned forward and held it out. Semi-reassured, Miranda took it. The paper crinkled under her fingers, and the monkey sat back, satisfied. She looked at it a little while more, then unrolled the page. It was a letter, written in scrawled cursive.

"To whom it may concern," she read aloud, interrupting the others. "At present the dome surrounding Mater protects this world from Akuma, but it prevents your allies from entering. Your strength is unknown, though we believe it may be failing. The Heart is awake and calling for Innocence. You have three generals and assorted accommodators present and eager to help you."

"Three generals?" Lenalee repeated, awed.

"I have sent my anti-Akuma weapon to give you this message. The monkey's name is Lau Jimin, and he should be proof of who we are. We request that you allow us through the dome to fight alongside you. Doubtless the final battle will be fought in Mater, and should the Earl be victorious, this world will be overrun. We will stop Dark Matter in its tracks."

Short, but it got the point across. Miranda was torn between elation and fear. They had their generals now. They had backup. But at the same time, how much was at stake?

"Who's it from?" asked Lavi.

"Ah!" Miranda focused on the paper again, scanning the bottom. "It's signed by a General Cloud Nyne."

"There is a general by that name," Link mused.

"So it's definitely her?"

"Perhaps…."

"Well, it's definitely Lau Jimin!" Alma laughed. He leaned on the rail near the monkey, grinning as it turned and hissed at him. "He's a really special kind of Innocence, a Parasite Beast. Only one currently in existence."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Kanda.

"It means he's completely made of Innocence, like Mugen, only with a mind of his own, like Tsukikami I guess."

"Is it possible to let them in?" asked Lenalee. "I mean, Alma said earlier that it's a bad idea to open part of the dome…."

"Well, they're not trying to leave, are they?" Allen pointed out, voice gentle. "Alma and I were able to get in, weren't we?"

"Yeah, me too! I came in through the dome on Gray Street!" Lavi added.

"Exactly. It's not impossible for accommodators to enter. I think you just have to figure out the specifics on who gets in and make it a little broader." Allen smiled, but it seemed wan.

"So… I just have to talk to my Innocence about it?" Miranda said slowly.

"I think so."

"All right. I… I think I can do that."

"Do you need to be by your clock?" said Alma.

Miranda shook her head. "No, I think I'm good."

Her Innocence was all around them, after all. How could it not hear her? She breathed deeply and closed her eyes.

Innocence, she thought as hard as she could. Innocence, can you hear me?

She felt a flicker of something in the back of her mind, warm and comforting, and she knew it was listening.

Innocence, there are people outside who want to help us. Is it possible to let them in? The presence curled a bit, clearly uncertain, and she clarified, Accommodators. People with Innocence. They want to fight with us. They know what's going on. With their help, maybe we can win. Maybe we can all get through this safely.

The Innocence roiled a while longer as it debated with itself, but eventually she felt a sense of agreement. Its presence began to fade, but before it was completely gone, she had a faint sense of childish voices again: Time Record.

So her Innocence had a name of its own, too. She mouthed the words as she opened her eyes again. Immediately she stiffened, realizing everyone's eyes were focused on her.

"Well?" said Kanda.

"Oh, u-um, I asked Time Record to let them through, and it's willing to bring in accommodators!" she chuckled unevenly.

"Time Record?" Allen blinked. "You're synched enough to know its name now?"

"Obviously," said Kanda.

He sent Allen a glare which was returned twofold, and Lenalee stepped between them to break up the tension.

"So, if we have generals coming to help us already, do we have to worry about Cross at all?" she asked.

"Of course! They can't get to the Ark any easier than we can once they come in, and it's impossible to send a message out to them, isn't it?" said Alma.

"The factories have to be shut down, and that's entirely an Ark problem. I- um…" Allen looked around at them, determination once again sinking into discomfort. "Well. You all seem to be getting along really well as you are. I've been out of the loop in the first place, so… Um. Do you want me to take care of that?"

What? He was leaving again?

"You're going to try to do this on your own?" said Lenalee, unimpressed.

"I don't want to drag any of you into it. The Ark is overrun with Akuma and Noah, after all."

"And you don't need backup?" said Lavi. "Dude, you got your ass kicked by Tyki. You need some help."

"But this is the place where you're needed, isn't it? Isn't this home?" Allen argued, and Lavi outright laughed.

"Dude, I live like two states away from here! It's just school town for me. Besides, I keep hearing this and that about the Ark, and I want to see it with my own eyes."

"It's hardly a tourist spot," Allen grumbled.

"Hell no, but it's like nothing I've ever heard of before! If I don't go now, I might never get the chance. I'm willing to serve as a beansprout bodyguard to get that look!"

"What are you, an idiot?" Kanda snapped.

"Call it what you will. Doesn't change my decision." He beamed at Allen, resting the hammer on his shoulder. "Well? Are you willing to let me tag along?"

Allen gawked.

"If Lavi's going, then so am I," Lenalee announced, drawing herself up.

"You too?" Kanda looked appalled.

"Someone's got to keep an eye on both of them. That way Lavi doesn't get hurt, and Allen keeps his promise."

"My-"

"Coming back," she clarified. "Back when you left to fight Suman, you promised to come back safe. I'm going to make sure you do that this time."

"O-oh. Okay." Allen rubbed at the back of his head, somewhat flustered.

"Well I'm not going." Kanda turned up his nose.

"The rest of us will rendezvous with the generals and take care of Mater," Alma nodded.

"W-wait! I want to go too!" cried Timothy. "I'm from the Ark, right?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Allen, squatting down to face him better. "Lavi, Lenalee and I work more close range, so we wouldn't be able to protect your body if we got in a fight."

"But! But I want to know what's going on!" Timothy insisted. "I- what if I have family there? What if-"

Allen rested a hand on the boy's shoulder, and he stilled. "Don't worry, Timothy. When all of this is over, I swear you'll go to the Ark. I'll take you myself. But right now, we're going to be running fast and you probably won't be able to learn what you want to know."

Timothy glared at the ground, angry tears in his eyes.

"You promise?"

"I promise."

We wouldn't be able to protect your body in a fight. We're going to be running fast. Those applied to Miranda too, didn't they? She wrung her hands, trying to convince herself that it was really for the best. She was still skittish around Allen (that Akuma had certainly shaken her faith), but she wanted to go with him. He'd made that contract with her, after all, said he was her friend. She felt safe around the idea of Allen, and was loathe to let that go again. But she was no use in a fight, probably no use at all in the Ark. They'd want her to stay here in Mater, with the dome. She didn't want to drag them down, but still…

Stop, she told herself. You're being selfish again. You're useless.

Almost immediately, she felt the Innocence in her mind again. It washed over her thoughts and caused her hands to still, her body to relax.

Accommodators are coming in, it told her, help coming. Go.

Go? What did that mean?

If you want to go with him, go. I will protect your precious people.

Miranda felt like crying. It seemed like an eternity since someone had taken the time to really listen to what she had to say and actually try to help her. Ever since childhood she'd only been ignored or mocked, but all of a sudden, as soon as the days stopped changing, a whole crowd of people had come into her life with open arms. She wanted to stay with those people as long as she could. So she straightened up, swallowed the lump in her throat and said, "I want to go, too. Please."

"You can't," said Link. "You're what's keeping the dome up."

"Time Record will keep going even if I'm outside it," she replied, fisting her hands.

"And what if you get injured, or killed? Then everything is ruined!" Link gestured at the wreckage of the lobby.

"I could get killed wherever I am," she chuckled, hoping the dark look wasn't resurfacing on her face. "I want… I want to be in a place where I can actually do something."

"And what can you do there that you can't do here?" said Kanda, glaring.

Miranda bit her lip and tried to meet Allen's eyes. He looked back at her, brow slightly furrowed but not altogether opposed.

"Is there something I can do? Anything?" She fidgeted, hoping, and to her surprise, he began to nod.

"Yes, I suppose there is. It's not exactly an enviable role, but it might make the job easier…."

"Wait," Alma deadpanned, "are you planning what I think you are?"

"Maybe? I mean, uh, you're a woman, Miranda." Allen gestured weakly at her, trying to fight a blush. "And a pretty woman, too. Master likes women. He'd be more willing to listen to you than me."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

Kanda turned away entirely and walked away from the group, as if he were afraid to catch their brand of stupidity.

Something was wrong.

Tyki didn't know what it was exactly, but he had a history of predicting when terrible things were going to happen. He considered himself an easygoing guy, but with this unease settled in his gut, he felt like a tightly wound spring. He'd had the same feeling ten years ago, before the palace was destroyed. Was it that name that got to him? Allen Walker? He'd never thought much of it until now, but it really was a slap to the face, Cross naming some Innocence-swinging brat the same as the late heir to the Fourteenth House.

"Why does it always end up here?" he growled, rubbing at his temple with one hand. The other still clutched a peacoat button, hard enough that the plastic was beginning to crack. "Seriously…."

Things these days all seemed to take root a decade past, all the ruckus and the pain and slander… Times before that had been so much easier. He'd never had to fear anything before that attack. But the threat of that time had been wiped out, he'd been witness to it himself and the memory still haunted him. What could be strong enough to do that kind of damage now? The Earl had everyone on a tight leash, and at this point the supposed Heart had barricaded itself in another world. What, was Marian Cross supposed to be kicking down the door or something? The idea made him snort.

"Master Tyki, lero?"

He looked up to see Lero floating down the hall toward him. The umbrella bent weirdly in its curiosity and continued, "The Kamelots are looking for you."

"Are they now?" Tyki swept his hair out of his face and squinted out the window. "They're not trying to get me to play house again, are they?"

"Er, no, lero. Master Sheril wants to talk to you because Road said you let her go into the limbo, lero."

He just about choked on thin air.

"Wh-what?" he squawked. "I did no such-"

"Road said it, so Sheril believes it, lero." Lero frowned at him. Since when had he stooped so low as to be pitied by a pumpkin?

"Oh, that's just great. I suppose I'll have to go talk him down before he starts accusing everyone. Where is he?" Tyki sighed.

"In the red parlor, lero."

"Right. I'll be right over."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and started to walk back toward the residential area of the palace, but a few steps away he paused.

"Hey, lero."

"Y-yes, Master Tyki?"

"See if you can round up some other Noah. I've got a bad feeling something's going to happen, and I'd rather have someone on the lookout while I'm busy."

"Of course, lero!"

Lavi walked with an extra bounce to his step. The drive back to Miranda's house had been pretty cramped and downright uncomfortable, but he hadn't complained. He was too busy thinking about the Ark. A false world controlled entirely by the Noah… He didn't know what to expect, and kept coming up with futuristic dystopias, each more ridiculous than the last. He blamed his Bookman genes. The entire family was obsessed with secrets and being the first to learn about things.

The little group was dropped off a few blocks from Miranda's house, and after a brief farewell, Kanda and the others had driven off toward Gray Street. Allen led the way to their destination, Timcanpy fluttering its wings on top of his head. Lenalee and Miranda walked just behind him, one serious, the other still wearing the weird watery smile she'd sported back at the Skymark Building.

"So how's this gonna work?" asked Lavi. "Have you got someone waiting in the limbo for us this time?"

"Nope," Allen replied. His face was pale again, and there was no sign of anything Noah-ish about him anymore. "We're going to be using a one-way door."

"Another door? Like Road's?" said Lenalee, but quickly her expression changed to realization. "Wait, you're the heir to the Fourteenth. Alma said the head of your household could open doors like hers."

Allen's smile was rueful. "Yeah, that's how it used to be. Every Noah has a special ability, remember? The Fourteenth family had the power to control the Ark. Our family would program everything from new expansions to repairs to what kind of weather there would be."

"Sounds like your family was more powerful than the Earl," Lavi whistled.

"Yeah. That's one of the reasons he took control of the programming and forbid us from doing anything but little tweaks. Younger generations like me weren't even taught how to operate the system. Without the Ark operation, we essentially became obsolete. We have a few Ark-related magic tricks like breaking gates, but we had to scramble to find some new role to fill. Eventually we settled on being the conscience of the Noah Clan, playing devil's advocate during discussions. It worked for a while, but then the Earl threw a fit and everything went to hell."

"So you don't have some ability to walk through walls or open doors?"

"I'm afraid not. That Noah coloring is mostly for show and regeneration."

"Then how do we access this one-way door?" Lenalee frowned.

"One of my predecessors set it up. He and Cross used to jump from one world to another a lot, and Mother was their best contact, so they put it in her house. I never knew about it until she told me this morning!" Allen chuckled. "You know, that's probably why she was on the list of Brokers. The Earl could've tricked us into attacking her, and we'd lose all her knowledge and the possibility of that door. He didn't know about it either, but he must've had his suspicions."

"It's still a little hard to believe. Mother, of all people, wrapped up in this," said Miranda.

"Yeah, you think you know a person," Lavi agreed, though he had no idea who Mother was. He drew closer to the others so he was in Allen's sight and gave his most innocent smile. "Speaking of which, I'm kinda curious about this assassination thing Link mentioned. I can understand if you don't want to talk about it, but… care to elaborate?"

Luckily, Allen's somber mood didn't extend to this subject (of all things, though, wouldn't an assassination attempt be cause for sadness?). He spoke as if it were common knowledge, something he'd come to terms with a very long time ago.

"Oh, that happened before I was born. See, the rebellion wasn't always as nice as it is now. Before people like Master got hold of it, they were kind of a menace. On one of their stunts, they decided they were going to assassinate one of the Noah. Only they weren't strong or brave enough to take on somebody their own size. They kidnapped my mother while she was early on in her pregnancy. My father was at the palace, but he thought, since she was a completely normal human, the rebels wouldn't target her. I don't think he even knew she was pregnant at the time…. Anyway, these rebels had found a piece of Innocence, and they forced her to swallow it, so it could kill her baby - me - off. From what I hear, people went crazy over it. Furious. The Noah actually got their act together and hunted down most of the rebel camps for revenge. But that Innocence ended up merging with me instead of killing me. Instead of getting ripped apart in the womb, I was born with a weird arm. Pretty strange, huh?"

"And the Noah didn't have any problems with this arm?" Lavi pressed. If Innocence was really such a fearsome weapon, he couldn't see their enemies welcoming it.

"My dad kinda kept it under wraps," Allen admitted. "Only a few people actually knew about it. He kept me locked up in the family house for a long time. He was scared that people might think I was a monster or something, so he told everyone that I was a strong enough Noah that I'd beaten off the effects." Allen rubbed at the back of his blackened hand and avoided their eyes.

"Well, we definitely appreciate that Innocence arm of yours now!" said Lavi, clapping him on the shoulder.

Allen rolled his eyes, but his mouth quirked up towards a smile. "We're here. This is Mother's house."

Mother's house was a building practically identical to Miranda's, dark paint with light trim just like every other house on the block, but unlike every other, Mother's lawn had been wrangled into a gardener's paradise, filled with flowers of all shapes sizes and colors, lush even in late November. Or was it becoming December now? Allen led them up to the door and knocked. They heard a muffled sound, and then the door swung open. Standing there was a giant of a man with a baby face, who beamed at them as if he'd never seen anything so wonderful in his life.

"Mother!" the man called, turning to look behind him, "Mother, Allen's back!"

"Well, show him in!"

Still smiling, the man ushered them inside. Lavi inspected the walls and furniture as they entered. Lots of photographs hung on the walls, but they contained an eclectic mix of people who didn't resemble each other in any way. Old people, young people, every race and every fashion. The only common thing some held was the appearance of a hunched over old lady with a walking stick. Allen frowned and pointed at one of the photos.

"See this? This is Cross. A lot younger, but still…."

The person in question was a skinny guy about the age of twenty, vividly red hair pulled back in a haphazard ponytail and several piercings in his ears. His narrowed eyes were just a shade darker red than his hair, and they seemed slightly unfocused, as if he couldn't quite see the camera clearly. In the picture another man with dark, slicked-back hair was hanging off his shoulder and laughing hysterically, leaning his head against Cross' shirt and smearing his own clownish facepaint. Yet another dark-haired man lurked in the background with enormous sunglasses, frozen mid-complaint.

"Cross is the ugly one in the middle," Allen informed them, and there was a loud scoff down the hall.

"Of course you'd pick out that one," grumbled the newcomer, and Lavi recognized her as the hunched old woman in the photos. She shuffled over, squinting suspiciously at them. "And who are these people?"

"Ah! Allow me to introduce you," Allen smiled, and he pointed at each of them as he listed their names. "I believe you already know Miranda Lotto, she lives just across from you. And then these two are Ms. Lenalee Lee and Mr. Lavi Bookman. Everyone, this is Mother and Barba."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Lenalee said politely.

"Oh, it's wonderful to meet friends of Allen!" Barba cooed. Mother rolled her eyes at this.

"Lenalee and Lavi," she muttered to herself. "When you say Bookman…. Are you related to that crackpot historian with no first name?"

"Yeah, that'd be my gramps!" Lavi sniggered. "Didn't realize he was famous enough for people to know his name."

Mother sniffed. "I've met him before. He's a stick in the mud." She beckoned for them to follow her. "I know what you're all here for. It's in the basement."

"The door, you mean?" Miranda piped up.

"Yes. Go down there, and there will be a door under the stairs. That's your destination."

"Do you know exactly where it's going to lead?" asked Allen. "I mean, it can't come out somewhere really important, but it's not going to take us to the middle of nowhere either, is it?"

"If I remember, and keep in mind this was years ago, they said the other end was a random door in central," said Mother, waving her hand.

"Is that good placement?" said Lavi.

"Great placement, actually. Central leads to everywhere," Allen replied.

Mother led them into her blue-tiled kitchen and opened a door, revealing a staircase leading down. She held it open, watching as each one passed her by.

"Thank you for all the help," said Allen.

"Don't thank me yet," she grumbled. "You all be careful, you hear?"

"Of course!"

The stairs creaked under their weight, and the basement itself was dark. When they reached the bottom, Lavi could hear someone groping for a light switch. Soon the light flickered on, a dull naked bulb in the ceiling, illuminating stacked cardboard boxes. Just barely in sight, he caught a glimpse of a doorknob. There was a door under the stairs, and a pretty small one, probably meant to be a cupboard. Allen leaned down to touch it before looking back at them.

"So, are you ready to hop worlds?"

"Hell yeah," said Lavi, as the others nodded.

Allen took a deep breath and pulled the door open. They could see nothing beyond it but blinding white light, but he jumped right in and vanished. Lavi didn't know how these doors were supposed to work, but if Allen could do it, so could he. With a whoop, he charged and jumped. The light surrounded him for a moment, cool as if he were passing through the refrigerator section of a grocery store, and then his feet touched down. He staggered out, past a dark green door far different from the one they'd opened, onto pale brownish cobblestones.

From what he could see the Ark looked like some mediterranean town, every building seemingly connected and painted a pristine white that darkened into warm blueish shadows. The shapes of the buildings were slightly rounded, welcoming, their blankness interrupted by doors of all sizes and colors, curving staircases, some grates containing lanterns and windows surrounded by decorative metal balconies. Plants sprang from pots all over the place, on window ledges, in grand vases by doors, poking out of alleyways; the greenery and flowers were impossibly bright, to the point it put Mother's garden to shame. The city rose on a single slope, as if it had been built all around a mountain, and far in the distance, at the highest point, he could make out an ornate building like a spire, surrounded by equally tall pillars. The palace, perhaps? The sky itself was a perfect shade of robin's-egg blue. That blue was the last thing he registered clearly.

Without warning, he felt a searing pain across his chest. He let out a wheeze, knees buckling. Allen was standing just in front of him on the street, and turned at the noise. His eyes widened.

"Lavi! Lavi, what-"

He could feel hands from behind as Lenalee or Miranda tried to catch him, but dear god, pain. He managed another weird gurgle before blacking out completely.

And so ends chapter 15. Took me long enough, right? ;A;

1. Lavi is both a genius and an idiot. You'd think he'd remember that whole pause-only-works-in-Mater point they were speculating about earlier.

2. The reason Allen has changed so much since his last appearance is because of his relationship with Crown Clown. When he first received it, he didn't really have a choice. Crown Clown overshadowed the Noah (but of course when has a Noah ever given up so easily), so his two powers started blocking each other out, resulting in stunted growth and abilities. After Tyki's attack, he had the opportunity to reunite with the Innocence and make a true informed contract with it. Now the power between them is far more equally balanced, less strained. Plus his Noah side finally has some wiggle room, resulting in extremely fast healing and, of course, his long-awaited growth spurt. In a very short time. It was actually probably very painful but he was coping with the loss of an entire arm already so pain was kind of expected.

3. Also, due to some confusion! In this story, Allen is currently 19; he'll be 20 when December 25 rolls around. The timeline goes as such: 23 years ago, the Earl took a turn for the nasty. 19 years ago, Allen was born; by that time, the assassination attempt had already happened (early in mom's pregnancy) and the Noah had disbanded most of the rebels. Fifteen years ago, the rebellion started to rebuild itself- with most of its old leaders killed, people like Cross got to be in charge so its direction changed dramatically. Ten years ago an attack was made on the capital of the Ark, during which Mana, along with a slew of the Noah Clan, was killed (Tyki was a witness to this event, which will become clearer later on; Allen was 9 at the time and believed to be killed in the destruction). Over the following years Allen was part of the reformed rebels, and the situation became a kind of hostile standstill until the Heart woke up.

4. Food for thought? Mana isn't the only one to contact Miranda through her dreams. In the last chapter she had the displeasure of meeting a very angry Crown Clown, which had been trying to get through the dome without any luck. It ended up yelling at her to LET ME GO (to Allen), only to scare her into waking up. She was sneezing on Innocence dust.

5. Many thanks to Zach, who did beta reading for this despite the threat of oncoming exams!