Lavi stared at his mentor standing among the Exorcists across the yard. He didn't want his master there. There were so many untamed emotions associated with Bookman, and right now he simply didn't want to deal with them. He'd had months to attempt to sort them out and promptly suppress them, but just seeing him once brought back everything.

He was angry and incredibly frustrated. He still felt betrayed, that Bookman had done nothing to help stop the assassination plot against him. Bookman hadn't even mentioned the plot the last time they'd met. The Earl had done so, after hearing it from Rhode, who in turn learned it by peeking into Bookman's mind. Why hadn't Bookman told him? If he was trying to protect Lavi, he was doing a rather poor job at it.

Wisely glanced over to see Lavi's face twist into somewhat of an emotional knot. There were so many thoughts running through Lavi's mind it was giving Wisely a headache. He patted the Noah's Bookman on the shoulder. "Let me calm your mind for you."

Lavi glanced at the small Noah. "Ya can do that?" Wait, that was a stupid question. Of course he could. He was Noah's Wisdom. Lavi knew the Noah was capable of controlling minds, and according to Rhode, he could force someone to relive their past and play it back like a theater production. Certainly he could do the reverse, calming someone's mind yet not erase everything they remembered. "Please."

Wisely noted Lavi's thoughts. For Lavi, his memory was everything. Every time Wisely looked at the Noah's Bookman, he could practically see hundreds of gears turning as he documented every tiny detail. And right now, it seemed he was only working on a quarter of his normal power. To properly record the Noah's history and the epic conclusion to a thousand years of war with the Order, as was Lavi's intention, he needed to run at full steam. These rampant emotions were hindering his work.

Using his Noah power, Wisely began to contain the rampant thoughts, helping Lavi naturally bottle them up and discard them from his mind. They would possibly return, but for now, the emotions would simply quiet down, returning Lavi to his obsessively observant self.

"Thanks," Lavi grinned, surprised at how easy it was for Wisely to do that. Perhaps he could keep those emotions away forever so that they wouldn't bother him in the following records. Yet there was some part of Lavi that remained human, some part of him that would continue to have that anger at his own master for fighting on the opposition.

Looking back at the battle, Lavi hadn't missed much. Cyril had left to torment Marie and engage Lenalee in battle. Lulu Bell had gone with him. Toraido had emerged from the house siding and launched himself at Tiedoll, who had pulled himself from the lake. Maashiima and Tyki joined Maitora in the battle against Klaud Nine, Bookman, and a kid Exorcist with a strange gem on his forehead.

The battle appeared to be in the Noah's favor as the Level 5 was proving even too strong for a general with two Exorcists. The grouped onslaught by the Noah against the Exorcists was proving difficult to defend, offering little time to properly form a strategy. By Lavi's count, there were only two Exorcists missing, two he didn't want to ever see.

No sooner had Lavi thought of them that something seemed to sparkle in the sky. Cracks formed and from them opened an Ark door. Through the door fell something at a rapid rate, effectively splitting the Level 4 in half. The pieces fell to either side, causing Maashiima, Tyki, and the Exorcists on one side to scatter quickly, and Wisely to pick up Lavi and bring him safely down the yard on the other side. Though he made no sounds, Maitora was absolutely furious. It had taken him months to build the akuma and one fool took it apart in a second.

Said fool turned, revealing his white hair and white zweihander. His long white coat waved in the wind. He shifted, launching himself at Maitora, driving his sword straight through the Noah's heart. Neither side had expected Nea to show up. He was a free agent with his own agenda, one which cared for neither side's victory.

"Nea!" the Earl shouted. He had finally recovered from his last panicked bout, hoping to reach out to his long lost Noah and bring him back into the light. He'd come to the realization Nea had changed; he wasn't who he once was. He'd murdered the family, throwing the Earl into fits of pain and panic. This time, that wouldn't happen. True, he was still incredibly saddened and heartbroken. True, he still wanted Nea to come to his senses. However, this time, he knew that reaching out wasn't necessarily going to help but instead hinder the progress of their fight.

"This family is mine," Nea stated, withdrawing his sword and pushing Maitora's body to the ground with his foot. "I will be taking your place."

Wisely took the opportunity and leapt forward, attempting to look into Nea's mind, to grab onto whatever consciousness there was and twist it apart. Perhaps he could separate Nea from Allen or even cause the two to fight. Whatever the case, he wasn't planning on letting Nea murder the family again. The one with the power to seal off Allen's, and possibly Nea's, power had just fallen lifelessly to the ground.

Suddenly Wisely grabbed his head, falling to his knees in pain. It was happening again, just like before. Everything was spiraling downward quickly as Nea sharply turned to slice Maashiima in two as he attacked. "No," Wisely shouted weakly. "It can't... it can't happen again."

The Exorcists had even paused. "Allen!" Lenalee shouted across the lawn. "Allen, wake up! Please! It's me, Lenalee!"

"Sorry, Lenalee. Allen is no more," Nea replied, a slight smirk crossing his soft features.

"No!" she shouted in return. "I can't believe that! I won't! Allen is strong! He'd never let you have control!" Her mouth was running faster than her mind as her heart beat a million beats a minute. She was losing her friend, her ties that kept her going. Or perhaps she'd lost him but refused to believe it. She reached for him but Noise Marie grabbed her, holding her with his one unwounded arm. Tears streamed down her face as she silently begged for him to cease the attack.

Without second thought, Lavi brought his akuma hammer to full size in his hands. If the Noah were falling, what chance did he actually have against this Nea? Seeing his power in person was rather terrifying. Was it happening again? The incident 35 years ago? Was he about to play witness to a massacre?

"It's time to die, Noah's Bookman."

Lavi sharply turned, gripping the hammer tightly with both hands. "This really ain't the time for this," Lavi frowned, attempting not to bite a hole through his lip. Not only did Nea pose a threat but also the nightmare of an Exorcist who'd been plaguing him for the last three years. Yet this time, Kanda looked different. Very different. His coat was now striped gold instead of silver. At some point, he'd been promoted to general.

Lavi held his hammer in front of him, preparing to make an elemental attack, particularly void to hide himself, yet Kanda had become much faster than he had been in previous encounters. He'd been training, synchronizing, and becoming more of a lethal weapon. He swiped at Lavi, shattering his hammer in one solid attack. The hammer's shards flew in all directions, and Lavi took the opportunity to jump backwards as quickly as possible. He wasn't expecting a rescue. The Noah had enough on their hands.

"LAVI!" Rhode shouted, breaking from her dream where she was tormenting Miranda. Her little brother was in danger, and family always came first.

Her words were too late as the Exorcist finally drove his katana through the Bookman's heart.

…

Author's musings

So um. 終わり? The end?

Thank you for reading everyone. I seriously never thought my ramblings would become so popular. I appreciate all your comments, faves, and attention. THANK YOU!

So. I really debated long about how to finish this epic conclusion. Of course I wanted the Noah to win, but that wasn't entirely feasible or believable with the current cast in play. The more recent chapters (of the original manga) threw a wrench into my original plan when Kanda was promoted and Nea became more of a threat. I wanted something epic ad this sure is about as epic as I could make it. An eventual massacre, severe losses on both sides (did you think the Order was safe? think again). The original manga seems to be taking this turn as well, and it only seemed fitting to follow such an idea (if she keeps to it omg)

Notes:
Lavi's count is actually off. Prior to Nea's and Kanda's appearance, there are actually 4 Exorcists not attending the party, not 2. While Kanda and Allen weren't present, there were actually two others unaccounted for: Chaozii Han (it's unknown what happens to him because of the infestation) and Winters Socalo (as if I could write for him).

Next time:

So yeah. Please don't beat me up.

...つづく. To be continued. There's more. This new story will be once-a-week, starting next Wednesday. I've tested it out with my dA audience, and it seems to be going well. Chapters are longer. There're more twists than you can shake a stick at. And it's a helluva lot darker than this one was.

Lemme give you the summary.

The final battle between the Noah and the Exorcists resonates through the world, both sides suffering massive damages and losses. But soon, as much history does, it is forgotten, woven into legends and tales no one quite believes.

5 years later, a mysterious historian calling himself Mr. Bookman surfaces in a small town in England. A new record begins again.

Please join me for a new saga and other new tales in the new year by reading Noah's Bookman: Aftermath!