Chapter One

The last thing Allen remembered was pain; lots of pain. He also remembered the feeling of deep sadness, self-hatred and self-disgust. Then, as he opened his eyes, he remembered everything; from when he had told his feelings to Kanda to his death, even the hurtful words both the swordsman and Lenalee had told him; the words that had crushed his will to live.

He blinked. He was surrounded by whiteness. He could see nothing but the color white… Was he dead? Hearing the rustle of cloths beside him, he turned… and gapped.

"N-Neah…?" he blurted out. The other man glanced at him with the same confused look.

"Allen… Just where are we…?" The 14th Noah asked.

"You both are in the realm between Life and Death," they suddenly heard. Turning, they saw someone who had not been there before. It was a little boy, who seemed to be around twelve years old. He had hair as white as Allen's and black eyes. But what really shocked them were the three pairs of grey wings attached to his back.

"Wha-?" Allen stuttered, gapping like a fish at the ethereal creature.

"Welcome," the… angel?... greeted, nodding at the two. "You are in the realm between Life and Death," he repeated.

"What are we doing here?" Neah asked, putting a hand on Allen's shoulder to stop him from saying anything stupid.

Turning his impassive gaze to him, the newcomer replied in a monotone voice, "you both were not supposed to die. The only reason you have both been sent to Earth was to stop the Millennium Earl's reign. But now, you are dead." He tilted his head to the side, regarding them contemplatively.

"I- do not think I understand," Neah frowned while Allen stared back at the newcomer confusedly.

"Your souls have been specifically chosen before you were born to be the ones to stop the Earl's reign," the… angel-person… explained. "Creating akuma is making a disbalance between the worlds and the exorcists are not enough. So the higher-ups had sent the two of you to the living world to defeat the Earl. But now that you are both dead, there is no one to stop him." Making sure the two were still following him, he continued, "My name is Oliver. I was sent by the higher-ups to tell you that they have come to a decision. You will be both sent back to the living world to stop the Millennium Earl."

"Wait! Wait!" Allen exclaimed. "But we are dead, right?"

"Yes," Oliver nodded slightly. "And this is why you cannot be sent there as humans. The two of you will be sent as Angels of Death. Because of this, you are to spend at least two centuries here to train your new powers to make sure you know how to use them. Time here and there differ. A couple of centuries may go by here but only a few months will in the living world. So do not be too surprised when you go back if you meet people you know," he added, glancing at Allen when he flinched.

Four Months Later

In a forest, away from civilization, the sky opened up in a flash and two winged beings flew down. As they landed in a clearing, they looked around them. The first, who also seemed to be older, had black hair and golden eyes. From the white knee-length boots, white trousers and white shirt, to the white trench coat, he was in a complete contrast with his black wings and tanned skin.

On the other hand, his companion was his total opposite. He had white hair and grey eyes. He was dressed in the same clothes as his taller companion, but instead of being in white, he was in complete black, a complete contrast to his pale skin and white wings.

"Let's go," the black-haired one said. The other nodded and in a flash of light, their wings disappeared. The two made their way outside the forest to a nearby town. It was in the middle of the night, so the streets were bare of any life. They did not stop as they made their way to the cemetery.

As they walked between the different tombstones, they felt the familiar feeling of dark matter. Sharing a look, they quickened their pace, their steps as light as feathers. Then they saw him. He was just as they remembered; he was as round as ever, dressed as a clown and with that familiar permanent grin on his face that scared even the dead. In front of him was a woman. She was sitting on the ground, in front of a tombstone, and her tear-streaked face was looking hopefully up at him.

A skeletal being suddenly appeared behind the large man and his grin seemed to become bigger. "Now call his name and he will come back to you!" He ordered, his eyes twinkling evilly.

Before the woman could open her mouth, the two winged figures leapt from their hiding place and ran towards them at an amazing spend. In a flash of light, similar scythes appeared in their hands, a black one for the black-haired man and a white one for his companion. With a swing, the scythes destroyed the skeletal being. The white-haired figure bent down towards the shocked woman and touched her forehead. A white light appeared around his hand and the woman slumped unconscious. His companion bent down, both their scythes disappearing in a flash of light, and picked up the woman bridal-style. Then they both turned to the frozen, enraged, over-sized man.

"Millennium Earl," the black-haired man called coldly. "Hear us out."

"We are the Angels of Death," his companion continued just as coldly. "We will bring you down." With a flash of light, they both disappeared, taking with them the unconscious woman.

The two figures both reappeared in town. They dropped the unconscious woman on a nearby bench and made their way out of town. As they walked, the taller man smiled down at his companion.

"It's a good thing you don't have your cursed mark now, don't you think, Allen?" he asked. Allen looked up and rolled his eyes.

"They are going to find out eventually anyway," the white-haired ex-exorcist pointed out. "Especially if you keep calling me by my name."

"Hm… True," the other added thoughtfully. "Then how about we make up names?"

Allen laughed. "Yeah, it'll be fun to mess up with them."

"How about I call you beansprout?"

Allen glared. "Yeah, sure, then I'll call you Fourteenth! Can't you be any more obvious?!"

"Fine! Fine! How about 'Angel' then?"

Allen raised an eyebrow at his elder companion. "Seriously?"

The other shrugged. "I can't really think of anything."

"Fine," the white-hired boy sighed. "I'll be Angel, and you, Neah, will be Demon."

"Quite ironic," Neah smirked.

"Shut up," the younger grumbled. "Better choose something that'll not confuse us. Because if we slip in front of them, they'll know who we are. And it does not help that we did remain physically the same."

"With some small differences," Neah corrected.

"With some small differences," Allen added.

As they stepped in the forest, their wings appeared. They unfolded them and took off towards the sky.