A/N: This is the final chapter. I deeply apologize for making some of you wait this long as it took me over one year to come back here. (Well, one year and one month later to be precise.)

I was planning on making this my last chapter, a while ago, but now, this really seems like a good time to go out with a bang (?). In good conscious, I won't be able to give this story a full proper ending. Why? Because, the actual DGM story has continued on for about a year now. A lot has happened since I started this fic, which was more along the lines of a theory, anyways. What really freaked me out was that a fraction of what happened in the actual story, did slightly happen in this fanfic.

Allen showed up in his own mind before the Campbell Mansion. I mean, I didn't really expect it to happen in the actual story, but I slightly was half hoping it would happen, because this all involves Nea's memories. At least, the way it happened in the actual story is WAY better than what I have here. It's a relief. However, I had a feeling that Nea and Mana were two halves of the same coin when I first started this.

Hence, Allen's body has now been taken over by….Mana?

I just simply want to say "thank you" to all the readers, who kept checking up on this story-regardless of the years. It means a lot to me. After this, I need to focus all my energy on my up-coming webtoon project. I will be publishing an original story over there, so, if you enjoyed my writing (which is just meh to me) or my various evil cliff-hangers, you can tryyyyy to track me down over at the Webtoons' site in the near future. I'm not going to reveal the story's name here. I want to make it a little tough for you guys to find (or remember) me, because I am a little embarrassed/shy. Haha. :D

Warning: A lot of text in this chapter! I wasn't kidding that this was going out with a bang.

(RAYOP - Read At Your Own Pace)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and settings of DGM. Everything belongs to Katsura Hoshino, except for anything that doesn't exist in her story. That includes character personalities if I have to improvise with some of them.

==O==

D Gray-Man Reflected

Day 218: Found & Seek

==O==

TP. TP. TP. TP!

Allen's footsteps echoed on an invisible floor of darkness. Everything around him was black and cold again. He could hear and see nothing. The imagery, that he was watching just minutes ago, faded away once he turned around. The boy started out in a trotting pace, but the further he went, the longer the darkness went on, making his own heart feel anxious. Even so, he wasn't going to give up within his own mind. He was very much determined to wake up. 'Gotta keep on walking!' Allen repeated those thoughts to himself. The strange memories weren't going to keep him here.

"Good morning, Allen…..," a small whisper tickled behind his left year. Allen jumped and swung his body around. Of course, there was no one behind him. Even if it was a whisper, Allen knew whose voice it was.

"…Nea. Please, let me go. Even though I have so many questions to ask you, now doesn't feel like the right time. I need to go back!" Allen was half hoping he didn't get a reply so suddenly, due to the quiet nature of wherever he is.

"NO! YOU CAN'T! I still want you to see more of the past!"

"Why?" Allen could only mutter one word out to the disembodied voice.

"Because, as we agreed a long time ago…," Nea's voice sounded more serious by each word, "…you're the one, who promised me that you'll keep my memories safe. By doing so, you've unconditionally signed your body to me. You were aware of that, but very desperate at the same time. You wanted to stop the Earl no matter what."

"Wh…..what?" Allen could barely digest what he was hearing. Telling from Nea's memories, he was held in a freak show until both Nea and Mana bought him out. Then, he somehow got involved with the Millennium Earl during that time as well? Allen couldn't remain speechless. He had to know more. "I was THAT desperate to stop the Earl?"

"Yes. Probably as desperate as I was in trying to save Mana."

"….Mana…. What…happened to Mana? What happened to me? To us? If I existed 35 years ago, why am I sixteen again?" There was a long pause to Allen's questions before Nea's voice could send out another reply. However, his reply was not what Allen expected.

"What? You're only sixteen? Not 52? No wonder your voice and appearance was like that. I thought it may have been your mind's doing to keep you in that appearance. Wait. This isn't exactly how I thought it would be unless…. You were withholding other information about yourself back then? Although, I was impressed at how much you changed during our last year together. You were a big help at the end."

Allen's expression suddenly changed from being confused to being totally horrified. Nothing was making any sense. Allen's mouth opened a bit, while his widened eyes just stared out blankly into the vast darkness. Yet, he still had to press on to get more information out of this disembodied Nea. "You still didn't answer any of my questions!"

"Why should I? Aren't my memories enough for you?"

"No! I still don't understand any of it! It's your memories! Not mine! Even if I somehow showed up in them or get almost swallowed up in them….. But, you said I changed during our last year together?"

"Hmmm… I wonder if I said too much? …..!"

"Hey, Nea!" Allen was starting to feel a little frustrated by Nea's obscure way of talking to him.

"Ha….. Ha ha haha! It's funny, but I think you and the Earl had a longer connection than I thought. Which would explain the existence of the Bookman clan…. I now just realized this and it's blowing my mind away. You truly are a monster, Allen. You and that wretched Earl! Destined to be together till the very end, eh? But, the tides have changed, because of what you did. How ironic. Oh well. This is your body. Not mine. No hard feelings, ok? .…... Allen, let me ask you this. Did you ever wonder why we were the same age?"

"Quite frankly, I didn't even realize we were the same age until you SAID it," Allen's voice sounded a little dead inside. He wasn't going to get any straight answers from this guy, was he? For a moment, the atmosphere got quiet again. Allen almost fully believed that Nea's voice went away to drift somewhere else in his sub-consciousness. The 14 seconds of silence almost felt like an eternity to a frustrated Allen, but Nea's voice drifted in, like a lion, to make his existence permanent in Allen's own mind.

"Then the boy fell asleep
and one or two ambers in the fading ashes of the fire
flared up in the shape of a beloved face

Dreaming many thousands of dreams
spreading across the land
Your silver gray eyes shine their light
like starts falling down from the night sky

Even though countless of years
turn so many prayers back to earth

I will keep praying
somehow, love for this child please
kissing the joined hands

"Mother's lullaby… Sometime, during that final year… During one of my routine secret visits to the Ark, your own eyes lit up like fire as if you recognized it. You suddenly went from some clueless adopted child to a man, who seemed like he knew everything. That was amazing. You started to cry so hard like a baby. I didn't know what to do with you, except, leave you on that old couch. After that, I brought you home and Mana was making a big fuss about you. If Mother was around, she would've scolded me badly. Geeze. …. Ah, but because of that, I learned how to make Tim. ….. Allen, are you listening? … You're suddenly so quiet. …..Alllleeen?"

Allen could not move. The more he heard these strange ramblings from the 14th, the more he felt like he was truly going to lose it. They really had that kind of relationship?

"Hey, since you've regressed back to a clueless puppet idiot, I guess I'll have to change my mind on keeping you here. You'll eventually be swallowed up by my memories if you stay like this, so, you really don't need to struggle so hard. Let me take over your role on destroying the Earl. Also, it seems a bit of Mana's 'soul' hitched a ride onto you. I wonder when that happened? I can sense that it's just a fraction of his own power. ….How nostalgic. Is that how you've been able to survive this long? You were able to use a bit of…. Mana's power after all?"

The white hair boy's eyes, once again, widened at Nea's last question. Somehow, he felt something concealed within Nea's words. It was as if he had to suddenly change the wording at the last minute. "?"

"Well, that's about it. See you later, Allen. You've taught me a lot, but unfortunately, all your strings will be cut by my existence. …..Huh? Very strange. I now sense something else here? …! It can't possibly be yo-." Nea's final words ended in a cut-off cliff-hanger.

"!" Allen quickly looked up. "Wait! I'm not done with you, yet!" Silence greeted those words. Once more, Allen was left in eternal darkness, only to ponder over Nea's words. If Allen and the 14th were once "friends", was it too late to reverse anything? He went that far as to sacrificing his own self to keep Nea alive? Why?

Time was clearly not on his side, as he had less than three minutes to think on those thoughts. Allen's environment was changing rapidly once more. Before his very eyes, he could see its final metamorphosis was that of a huge forest, and bright green meadow next to it. If he squinted carefully, he could see different kinds of fruit hanging from some of the trees. Where am I now? Is this another of the 14th's memories? It doesn't look like England though.

Unfortunately, the environment didn't allow him to admire everything around him. It shifted again as if it was being wiped away, only to be replaced by something completely new. This time, Allen was standing in the midst of a small village. There were people speaking in an unknown language. Children were chasing each other through its streets. Women, wearing huge plain colored fabric that covered their heads, were hanging out by a well drawing up water. Several bearded men stood by, on the side, talking to each other. One of the children, who Allen saw earlier, ended up running towards Allen. Allen closed his eyes and flinched a little as he expected some kind of impact. It never came.

Slowly opening up one of his eyes, Allen had to blink both of them open to see that what lied before him was now a very disturbing sight. He was standing on top of a pile of dead bodies that was surrounded by a big sea of endless dead bodies. There were some torn flags attached to these bodies. Ownerless weapons were strewn about under and on top of these bodies. Allen had to cover his mouth and hold back a gag that lodged deep within his throat. "Khhh!" He could feel some of his tears brimming at the edge of his eyelids. I've never seen this much death before in my life. Never…seen…. Seen? Allen paused in the midst of his own thoughts. Something about this scenario… Even though I know I've never witnessed this before, something about it feels just as familiar as when I saw the Campbell Mansion. Why? Just what am I witnessing?

Then, the environment made another sudden change. The surroundings shifted into a very familiar sight to Allen. It almost made Allen believe that what he saw before was all a dream and a nightmare at the same time. The boy fell to his knees as he stared up into one of the buildings that stood quietly before him. A large, four face, clock was attached to it. It was sitting adjacently to a very well-known bridge that helped connect one side of the city to the other. Just like the other scenarios that were visited, the sun was out trying its best to shine through the hazy sky. Yet, this tranquil scene didn't last long. A blinding black light shot through that particular bridge, destroying it. Anyone, riding horses and buggies on that bridge, were killed in an instant. A white light penetrated through the black light trying to break it up. Two silhouettes were falling from the sky and made a zip bee-line drop for the river. Once those two silhouettes vanished from Allen's eyesight, out of nowhere, the silhouettes of twelve cloaked figures all appeared at the edge of the broken bridge looking down at whatever was taking place in the river below. For some strange reason, Allen was afraid to look. He didn't want to move from that spot of his, and yet, he found this unconscious thought process really bizarre. Why did his legs not want to move?

Allen soon found himself surrounded by people, who clearly couldn't see he was among them. Thus, Allen could feel a shiver of coldness as some of these people went right through him as if he was a ghost. Men, women and children. Random onlookers, who were trying to see what was going on. Some people were crying to themselves or in the comfort of other people. The hasten sounds of hooves could be heard quickly galloping towards the chaos. Scootland Yard was here, but they were too late. Too late… Allen repeated those words. Once again, he felt his heart being tugged by some familiarity with this event. Yet, he can't remember this happening at all in the London he knew. What was also disturbing him was the duration of this scenario. It was a lot longer than the others he witnessed so far.

Before the growing amount of people's grief could overwhelm Allen, the environment made its ever-so swirly change as if it was silently making Allen's wish come true. The people, who were crowding all around him, started to vanish before his very eyes. Their screams and shouts became very distant. There was nothing he could do about their plight. He can only look forward towards whatever this imagery wants to show him next. London's iconic buildings were starting to be replaced by a whole new set of buildings. Very tall buildings.

The teenager couldn't stop his eyes from looking up at these oddly designed tall buildings. They were definitely different from what he's accustomed to. Some were made of familiar brick and mortar, but then, there were these shiny metallic like structures next to them. On some of these buildings, huge signs were attached to them. Fortunately, for Allen's sake, he could read them but he still didn't understand what they meant. "Eye-show neye Ramenya* Restaurant? Family Seven Eleven Mart? Bob's Auto Shop?" (A/N: *Issho ni Ramen-ya)

Allen brought his eyesight back to ground level. He couldn't believe where he was. Twisting his head left and right, Allen started to soak everything in. There were people, dressed in funny clothing, walking all around him. Some people were holding huge bags that looked like they were made out of paper. Women had small colorful bags strapped around their shoulders or on their backs. Most of the people were looking down at strange small devices as they drifted through the throngs of their fellow humans. Allen found this particularity funny, because those people were clearly not looking at where they were going so bumping into others was a constant sight.

HOOOONK!

"!" Allen jumped. He quickly turned his head to his right. His face lit up in utter shock. Strange giant mechanical contraptions were constantly heading right through him. After standing there for about a minute, stunned, Allen snapped himself back to reality and scrambled over to the curbside of the smooth dark gray road. He could tell there were people riding in these machines, but there were no horses attached to these things. Only four wheels were needed to support these horseless carriages. Allen then turned his head to his left and looked up again. He noticed a strange metal pole that was bent in a 90 degree angle. Attached to this pole was a yellow box-like thing that radiated three different colors of light. After watching these colors change a few times, it dawned on Allen that these colors told those horseless carriages when to stop, slow down or go. He could've kept staring at it in awe, but he knew everything was going to change again.

As if on cue to his own thoughts, the city all around him started to crumble or explode from huge bursts of light. People started to run in different directions, while screaming their heads off. The horseless carriages were being tossed around like boats being tossed by giant waves. From the corner of Allen's eyes, he could see those same twelve hooded figures running towards somewhere, while the screaming city folks were oblivious to their own existence. To Allen's relief, his body was allowing him to run after those twelve people. The tugging of his heart was growing stronger. Those twelve cloaks almost felt like a deja'vu on Allen's mind. All he had to do was pull one of their robes off just to confirm what he was feeling. He didn't care if he was the 'ghost' in this incredible on-going set of visions.

Allen kept his left hand out-reached towards the cloaked people, but he would never make it to them on time. Someone reached them first. It was another cloaked figure, dressed completely in white from head to toe. Allen halted in his running. His body started to shake a little. The white hooded figure was saying something to the twelve individuals, but he couldn't make out what he was saying to them. The twelve figures, in turn, stopped when they were about four feet away from the white cloaked person. They all turned around to face the unknown individual. The white cloaked person slowly raised his left white gloved hand into the air until it was parallel to his profile. An enormous ball of bright light appeared under his hand. It then started to take the shape of a long weapon. Allen squinted as he tried to get a good look at it, but to his own dismay, it was not meant to be.

The ground, below Allen's feet, disappeared, but he never fell. Fearing for the worst, he stayed very still before adjusting his head to look down. A very odd sight greeted him. It was as if the ground was still there but became invisible.

"!" Allen's jaw dropped once he saw what was under him. What appeared below his feet looked like the town within the Ark. But, it wasn't even the town that made him surprised. It was who was in that town that pretty much sealed the deal of his disbelief. People. Lots and lots of people. Both the old and young living their lives in an artificial setting as if all was well. Ah, well, that would slightly explain why there is a town in the Ark… People had to live there, at one point… Wait, that would be like me confirming that everything I saw, up till now, was the past? This makes no sense! Something still felt weird about this scenario.

Something…..

Narration box: Meanwhile, back in the world of the waking…

"….." Kanda, Johnny and Link all stared in bewilderment at a sobbing Allen. If what this guy said was true, then, what do they do? Do they continue to wait and see if Allen comes back from his supposed 'battle' with the 14th?

"Oh, why has this come to this? WHY?" Mana, in Allen's body, cried out un-controllably. In his right hand was a clenched tissue, but all around Allen's bed were tons of crumpled tissue. "Is it…., because my real body is a sin? Is that it? Then, this most likely is divine punishment! It's because of me that Mother died, after all!" Mana sucked in some of his nose mucus as he said it.

"Um…, he's been like that for half an hour. Should I try some way to cheer him up?" Johnny whispered to Kanda, while glancing nervously at Mana. Kanda wrinkled his nose a little before heaving a huge sigh.

"If that's what you think will make that guy shut up, then, just do it already. Beansprout would never cry this much!" Kanda grinded his teeth a little as he closed his eyes. Link watched, with his arms crossed and his eyes staring hawk-like with careful apprehension. Something like this was completely unexpected. Why would the 14th's brother suddenly show up in Allen's body?

Johnny treaded carefully towards Allen's bed, while maintaining a friendly smile. "Hey, uh…Mana, right? You have my sympathies. It must be traumatizing to wake up suddenly in another person's body. Let me re-introduce myself and my companions here. I'm Johnny, an…ex-scientist of the Black Order. That black haired guy over there is Kanda, an Exorcist, and the other guy over there is Link, a…..um… I don't know how to describe his position to you as you won't understand what I'm trying to say here. Well, anyways, it's a pleasure of meeting you."

"…..*sniff*…The Black Order? Is here? …Oh! Ni-nice to meet….*sniff*….you…too?"

I have a question for you if you don't mind me asking? It won't take long. I'll leave you in peace right away after this." Mana's sobbing started to quiet down as Johnny kept on talking to him. He almost forgot that he wasn't alone in this room. Mana turned his sorrowful attention towards the cheerful young man.

"Y-Yes? What is it that you need to know? …. Sorry that I'm in such a poor state, at the moment!" Mana looked like he was about to stuff Allen's face completely into the tissue upon ending his sentence. A bead of sweat dropped down from Johnny's cheek, but not once did Johnny lose his smile.

"Are you the same 'Mana Walker' that adopted Allen before being killed by the Millennium Earl?" At the mention of 'Millennium Earl', Mana made Allen's face as pale white as he could possibly make it.

"The Earl! The Earl's here?"

"Nonononono! He's not here, presently. Don't worry. You're safe with us," Johnny enthusiastically said that as he placed the palm of his right hand onto his chest.

"….Ah ha… Thank you. Yes, thank you!…." Mana managed to make a small wry smile by hearing Johnny's words. He wiped away a few rolling tears before speaking further. "I'm just very confused right now. This body, that I'm in, is clearly that of Allen-a very dear childhood friend of ours. Then again, I think he became very close with my brother at some point in time. I wonder if this was my brother's doing?" Mana stiffened as he saw Johnny's expression react in such a way that he didn't know whether it was a good or bad reaction. "I'm sorry. Did I just say something that was discomforting?"

"….No!...Not at all!" Johnny could barely speak. He felt like he hit a gold mine. Whoever this Mana guy was, in Allen's body, he was clearly a source of information that probably even the Bookman clan would want to get their hands on. Furthermore, Johnny got a fresh perspective on his white haired friend. Before Johnny could continue speaking though, he was interrupted by Kanda stomping over towards Allen's bed and leaning ferociously towards Mana, causing Johnny to get out of the way in the nick of time.

"You!" Kanda grabbed a hold of Mana's shoulder tightly. "You and Beansprout knew each other? But, how can this be? When the 14th died, that was 35 years ago!" The room suddenly went dead silent. Link's eyes were wide open upon hearing Kanda's words.

What did he just say? Is Walker not 16 years old, then?

"(Beansprout? Funny nickname.) If what you said was true that it's already been 35 years, then, wow! I had no idea Allen had such an amazing eternal youth body!" Mana made Allen's eyes sparkle brightly. Kanda lifted his hand off of Mana's shoulder as he stared un-emotionlessly at Mana.

"Tch. It seems that even you had no idea that this was going to happen. Fine! Let me re-word my question. How did you meet Beansprout?"

"When I was 14, a bunch of traveling entertainers were holding a fair….and I wandered into one of their tents, while leaving my brother behind. Allen was in a cage, as a part of their exhibit, all because of this left hand of his." Mana flatly said as he lifted Allen's left hand into the air. Both Johnny and Kanda quickly exchanged looks with each other. Things they thought they knew about Allen started to crumble slowly. They also understandably knew that they couldn't blame the boy, because even he must've not remembered any of this.

"Just what the heck is Beansprout? Is he someone almost like me?" Kanda mumbled that out loudly. Mana tilted Allen's head in confusion with a medium-sized question mark hovering over his head. After that, the room went dead quiet for a few seconds. Not even Link made any sounds, because he was still digesting the information.

"No!" Johnny blew some air through his nose as he slammed both of his hands onto Allen's bed. "I don't believe he is some kind of science experiment! We would've had this in our archives. Allen….Allen is…..Allen! I believe in him. I don't care who he was back then! It's already sad enough to think he had to endure discrimination twice!"

"Huh?" Mana gave the ex-scientist a puzzled look. "Twice?"

"Yeah, twice. I suppose that's what you would call Allen's time in the circus as a repeat of his time in the traveling freak show? A clown, by the name of Mana Walker, adopted Allen from that circus."

"Circus? 'Mana Walker'…? ….!" Suddenly, Mana rolled out an inaudible gasp as he placed Allen's hands on top of his head.

"Ah! Are you alright?" Johnny furrowed his eyebrows a little. He could sense that Mana started to remember something. The white haired possessed boy sat very still with Allen's hands still sitting firmly on his head, while facing nothing but the blanket that laid on top of his legs. He stayed like that for less than twenty seconds before slowly turning his head to look up at both Johnny and Kanda. He wistfully smiled and closed his eyes.

"…I….should be 17 years old. No… I'm older now? …. Anyways. It doesn't matter if I only exist temporarily before I return to 'him'. I am but a fragment of the real Mana Campbell. How I was acting before was uncouth of me. I deeply apologize for wasting all your tissue."

"Oh, no proble-What?" Johnny tilted his head recalling that Mana called himself a 'fragment'.

"Johnny and Kanda, thank you for being loyal friends to Allen. This poor soul is all alone in this world. He always believed he was forever going to fight a solo battle against the Earl, but when he met us, everything changed. I guess, I don't have to worry about him, as he got you guys. I will always be there for him, as well. The 'me', who isn't under the Earl's influence….….Haaaak! Uh.….," Mana could not finish what he wanted to say as he felt his own consciousness slipping back into Allen's body. Taking that final breath of air was the last thing he could do as he closed his eyes. Kanda reacted quickly to Allen's body falling backwards towards the bed. Allen's head was almost close to hitting the bed's bed board if it wasn't for Kanda swiftly catching his head with his right hand.

"Well, that was strange. We have a case file of Allen's history stating that he turned his 'father' into an Akuma. But, this was completely unexpected. There seems to be more to this story than what meets the eye, Almost as if a part of Mana entered Allen's left eye… Wait, the eye?" A thought so probable clicked on Johnny's mind. However, it was short lived as he heard Kanda shouting from Allen's bedside.

"Oi, Beansprout! Can you hear me? We need you to wake up now!" Kanda looked like he almost wanted to shake Allen really hard.

"Shhh! Kanda, you should know better than to force Allen to wake up. He may still be fighting the 14th's memories. To pull him out now might destabilize Allen's mental core."

"Che!" Kanda grunted, but eventually sighed. "….You're right. Beansprout may still be getting punched left and right by the 14th. I hope that the 14th also gives him several slaps for me." Johnny could only smile widely with a new fresh sweat drop dripping down the side of his head. Kanda gently pushed Allen's head back onto the pillow, thus, moving his body one inch down. Once that was accomplished, Kanda turned and was about to leave the room, but he was suddenly pulled back by Johnny grabbing tightly onto his right arm. "! ….. What is it?"

"…..Kanda, you need to stay in here. I think another person supporting Allen closer, than standing in the other room, may be more effective in getting him to wake up."

"What makes you think he'll wake up within this hour?"

"Er…. You're right that I'm just being an optimistic fool about this, but…. I dunno. I just have this gut feeling that we may see Allen real…"

BAM!

The door, to their guestroom, swung wide open. Link was standing at its doorway looking very troubled. His face was paler than usual "I saw him! We need to get Walker out of here, NOW!"

"Saw who?" Johnny piped up as he ran over to where Link was standing.

"That….white being…. It messed with my memories, but once I saw his human form, everything became clearer to me. The one the Noahs called 'Apocryphos'. He disguised himself as a priest for all these years!"

"A priest? 'Apo…cryphos?'"

"Yes. Something like a humanoid Innocence? If you ever saw his human form, he had small glasses, his eyes were always closed and he had curly light brownish hair at the top of - …."

"It can't be!" Johnny started to freak out, thus, interrupting Link's words. "I think I've met him before! At the cafeteria, while Allen was still locked up...," his own words started to drift as he focused his worried attention back on Allen's sleeping face. "That guy got food on his face! But, he's not human?"

"…..What?" Kanda raised an eyebrow as he joined them from behind. "Is that why Beansprout ran away from the Order? Because of that Apocryphos thing?"

"Look! We don't have any more time to linger here. That 'thing' can sense Crown Clown if it ever comes near us. I'll properly explain what happened when we reach a safer place!" Link ran back towards the guestroom's front door and opened it up to just a teeny creak. Everything felt quiet outside, but one would never know. Both Kanda and Johnny exchanged glances before hastily making their way to the bedroom. Johnny flapped Allen's blanket off the bed, while Kanda gingerly lifted Allen from the bed onto his back. Giving Allen a piggy-back ride was his best option, but a very unexpected one at that very moment.

"Urg. Beansprout, you need to stop eating so much. Despite your appearance, your weight is….," Kanda mumbled to himself as he felt Allen's body weight putting a bit of a strain on his own body. Johnny held out his two hands to support Allen's back. Both of them trotted out towards Link's position, which remained unchanged by the door. "Now what, Inspector? Where do we go from here?"

Link swallowed a little of his saliva. His right white gloved hand slowly opened the door wider. He had to think quick as he wasn't too familiar with this part of the neighborhood. Fortunately, he didn't have to think too long. A yellow blur flew in front of his face flapping its wings anxiously. "Oh, it's you. Where have you been?"

"Timcanpy!" Johnny exasperated a sigh of relief. So much has happened with Allen that they all completely forgot about the yellow golem for a moment. Just where did he go and how? Johnny swore that he remembered seeing Tim perched on one of the chairs in Allen's bedroom. Then, his eyes flickered a little with realization. They left the room's only window open just enough for a calming breeze to come through.

Tim zigged zagged left and right before darting off outside, turn his body in a west-ward direction and sail down the empty city street. He halted mid-way and turned around to wait for everyone to catch up to him. Link turned his head to look side-ways at his two party members.

"Come on!" as swiftly as he said those words, Link vanished around the door. Kanda didn't hesitate any second to chase after Link, while Johnny temporarily left his position as 'Allen's back-supporter' to close the guestroom door behind him. He prays the innkeeper would be very understanding that his strange guests disappeared in the dead of night. After taking one final glance at their formal temporary shelter, Johnny allowed himself to get swallowed by the street's shadows as he played catch-up with his friends.

Other than the street lamps serving as their light source, the night sky's stars were out in full force - twinkling as usual. No one said anything to each other as they ran. Their breaths were heavy at times. Wherever Tim was leading them to, there was only hope, in everyone's hearts, that it was the best option. A new hiding spot? A new city to go to? Anything would do before conflict arrives, and yet, it may already be too late…..

Three men and a golem, with a mysterious boy on tow, running for their lives.

One Apocryphos sleeking through, street by street,

One mad Earl, out for the 14th's existence, cries,

Two Noahs, hidden from view, prepare to meet,

For the beginning of a climax has arrived,

At the dawn of the new moon,

The truth of the 7,000 year old history has survived,

Which lies within the cursed silver gray eyes from an ancient rune,

And the boy, destined to destroy Time, woke up.

End.

Final A/N: As I said at the top of this chapter, this is not a formal ending. This isn't an ending where the bad guys get defeated and the heroes have a happy ending. I wanted this to be a "continuation" of an adventure for all parties involved, while unleashing more of my theory thoughts woven into this fanfic. (Long theory thoughts - Spoiler warning - bit ly /2ax5aQG )

Thank you for reading! :D May we meet again….