Hey, guys. Sorry for the long wait. I've been super busy. Senior year, ya know? Lol. That and I actually have a social life(somewhat) this year. Hahaha. Thank you everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this. I can't tell you how much it motivates me, even tho it seems like it doesn't since I never post... lol. This is the last chapter that I have to edit, from here on out, I have to actually start using my brain... XD welp... Chapters may take even LONGER, depending on whether or not I get writer's block for this. Lol. Wish me luck, guys!

CHAPTER 12

Disclaimer: Я нічога не валодаюць!

The funeral had been beautiful, even if only a select few had bothered to even show their faces. The cloudy grey skies sent specks of crystaline water to rain down upon the participants, showering them with a blanket of white snow.

Allen didn't cry. He couldn't. He was numb, inside and out.

He was all alone now. He had no one.

Those who chose to come to the funeral left shortly after it was over, leaving the boy by himself. He sat, kneeling on the ground. The frozen dirt and rocks scrapped against his legs, but he stayed unmoving. Icy winds nipped at his face, but he ignored it.

It wasn't like he could do much about his situation. He was left with nowhere to go, no one to turn to, after his father died. The only option he saw left was to wait for death. Starvation? Dehydration? Hypothermia? Pneumonia? It didn't matter. However he died did not matt, because the moment his breath slipped away from his body, he'd be with his father just as they were before the tragic accident.

Lost in his depressing thoughts, Allen had not realized he was being watched.

"Good evening, little one. You look sad."

Allen slowly looked up, now aware that he wasn't the only person around. He was greeted with the image of a portly man wearing an oversized top hat and an ear splitting grin.

"I can bring your daddy back to life. Would you like that?" He said with a raspy voice and bending over to get a better view of Allen.

"... What?" Allen asked, confused.

"All that I need is for you to call him since you both seem to have such a special bond. Wouldn't it be great f you could see him again? For everything to be as it was before?"

"...He'll come back?"

"Of course! Come, now. Let's call him back from your detestable God."

"Can he... I mean, will he be able to hear me calling?" He questioned, bringing the man into a hysterical laughing fit. He didn't waste time answering Allen but instead began to produce a black, metallic skeleton from seemingly nowhere.

"Now, raise your voice and call your loved one back from the other world."

Allen shakily stood, taking weak steps towards the skeleton, and took a deep breath.

"That's it. Don't be scared now."

"MANA!" He shouted from the top of his lungs. A bolt of lightening soared through the sky and hit the unusual skeleton, making it glow. A name engraved itself on the skull, Mana, and it started to move little by little.

The hopeful smile that adorned the child's face faltered. He wasn't so sure about this anymore.

"Mana..." Allen shuffled a bit closer.

"A-Allen..?" The skeleton that hosted Mana's soul spoke at last.

"Mana!" The redheaded child confidently took a bigger step towards his father's new form, arms stretched towards him. "It really is you, Mana!"

"Allen... How could you...? HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME AN AKUMA?" Mana screamed words laced with pure wrath and disgust. His metallic arms morphed into a blade-like weapon.

"Hehe, how amusing. Now, akuma, I order you to kill the boy."

"Allen... Allen...! I curse you! ALLEN!" His large blade-like arm stretched above his head, pausing for just a moment. Allen froze in fear. Never had Mana displayed such a show of anger or despair. Then the blade came down, splitting the skin over Allen's left eye.

A scream tore at Allen's throat. It was a searing pain that pricked at his every nerve and felt as if it was melting the skin right off his face.

Even then, the pain wasn't as bad as the emotional scarring the boy endured. Allen watched his father, in an unfamiliar body, scream and flail about while trying to kill his adopted son.

Allen lay on the floor, cltuching his bleeding eye with his left hand in hopes of holding back the blood flow. His tears mixed with the blood pouring down his ashen face.

"I'm sorry... Mana." He sobbed, not moving from the floor. "Mana...!"

"All—?"

"Alle-?"

"ALLEN!"

The skin over Allen's left eye began to split open and bleed by itself. Blood pooled over his hands and soaked the hospital bed pillow.

Lavi and Kanda held down the unconcious, screaming and crying nine year-old with all their might, while Lenalee did everything she could think of to confort the boy and wake him up.

"What the hell happened to his face? Idiot! Don't loosen your grip!" Kanda warned Lavi.

Lenalee leaned over the boy, calling out to Allen, completely ignoring the other two and focusing on waking him up.

"M-Mana! No! Please... I'm sorry...!" Allen cried out. His tears mixed with the bright red blood flowing down his cheeks and soaking into the fabric of his hospital gown. Suddenly, the boy broke free of Kanda and Lavi's grasps, jerking his body up before curling into a fetal position, head tucked into his body. No one spoke, fearful of causing another outburst.

"There are too many people in this room. Get out of here!" The 'Ogre-in-a-dress' nurse shouted, directing her impatience to the three pajama-clothed exorcists on the sides of Allen's bed and the finders who happened to hear the commotion and joined the fray.

She didn't know what had happened or why almost half the Black Order's members were crammed into one room, but she needed space to work. She had a patient with serious injuries which she had to provide proper attention to.

The only ones who had stayed behind as all the finders trudged out of the room grumbling, were Komui, Lenalee, Lavi, Kanda, the nurse, and of course, Allen.

"Hmm... Could it be possible that he's beginning to age? After that nightmare, he probably gained some of his memories and look, he has his scar again! Perhaps he will continue to regain his memories through his dreams...?" Komui suggested, pulling up his clipboard, scribbling some notes on it as Link pulled out his note pad and began jotting down notes of his own.

"But what could've caused him to react like this?" Lavi contemplated, deep in thought of all the possibilities.

"...The night he turned his father into an Akuma..." Lenalee whispered quietly, shutting Lavi up quickly. He regretted asking already, but at the same time, it was necessary information.

"If this is it, I'm going to go train." Kanda said brusquely as he began stalking off towards the door.

"But it's three in the morning!" Lavi said incredulously after the samurai.

"I know." Kanda answered in a sarcastic manner as he slipped out of the door. Ignoring her idiotic friends, Lenalee decided to break the ice and talk to Allen.

"Allen? Are you alright? Come talk to us..." She coaxed, putting an arm over the boy's shoulders and sitting down next to him.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Allen lashed out at her, swinging an arm in her direction. His face was ragged and furious like a rabid dog.

Lenalee easily dodged his attack, but was still shocked and terriffied at Allen's murderous aura. Komui's grip tightened on his clipboard, but he refused to lash out at the boy. If he did, the situation could get even worse, proving to do more harm than good.

"You.. You lied to me! He's not coming back... He's never coming back! HE'S DEAD!" Allen screamed, raising himself up as if to lash out at Lenalee again before suddenly dropping to his knees. He clutched his head in pain, wailing out as if it'd release some of the pressure.

"He hates me. He hates me! Why... am I so stupid...?" Allen sobbed pitifully. His shoulders began shaking violently in tune with his desperate cries. "I don't want to live without Mana, but he's gone... he's gone forever..." His voice crack near the end of his sentence, but there were no tears. They just wouldn't come. His father was gone, the only one who truly loved and cared about him, and the man was gone within an instant. He couldn't cry, because Allen jsut felt a deep emptiness witin his heart.

Link could honestly say he held no grudge or hatred towards Allen Walker. Actually, the ex-crow agent was quite fond of the white haired boy. Of course, he hadn;t exactly been fond of the sharp, sassy tone of the younger Walker, but to watch such a painful, heart-wrenching reaction, he actually held sympathy for the child.

KOmui felt sick to his stomach. If he'd never made the strange concoction, Allen wouldn't have to relive his is sufferable past. Of course, he's already seen Allen's past through TImcampy, but when he did he merely thanked god that wasn't him and moved on. Seeing it first-hand, though... was a completely different story.

Unexpectedly, the boy's hair began to lighten slowly from the roots, and his messy auburn locks started to lose it's dark shade.

"What's happening?" Lenalee said, panicking, nudging her brother.

"HIs hair color... is changing."

Allen shuddered, gripping handfuls of hair in pain and sadness, not realizing what was happening. He simply sat on his bottom, scrunched up and hiing his face once more.

"I need help in room 32!" The nurse said, confidently calling out loudly in her raspy voice, despite early hour. It wasn't like there were many patients still asleep after listening to the boy's wails.

Two large men dressed in white came through the door, awaiting further instructions.

"OUt of the room, this instant!" The nurse pointed at the door, giving every one of the bystanders a death glare.

Lenalee was ready to protest before a hand was placed gently on her shoulder.

"Don't. We shouldn't be in here at a time like this. They have the right to kick us put." Lenalee looked back to see Lavi's stern face and her brother's condescending one. Komui was bristling as well. He wanted to shop Lavi's hand off, but remained silent on the subject in favor of not tripping and falling as the male nurses pushed them out the doors.

"You, grab bandages and cotton balls. Hey, hand me a bucket of hot water and a bottle of the alcohol.

Both men quickly scrambled around the room, and into the nurses compartments, nimbly evading disturbing any other patients.

Lavi, Lenalee, Link, and Komui waited impatiently outside the silent door, listeningfor any signs of trouble. They all knew it shouldn't take long, nevertheless the wait felt like hours.

Now, all they can do is wait.