A/N: Well, here it is everyone. The moment you've all been waiting for.
This chapter is fucked up and gory.
Get your tissues ready
It's gonna be a bumpy ride
From: TitanOfStone
Q: Jeezus dude, why always the arms! Goes for the legs too! Or the eyeballs! I feel pity for Cas's constant abuse of her body, really. There's also this bittersweet love going about, too, and in SUCH AN APPROPRIATE TIME.
"Hurts like a motherfucker" yeah, that sounds about right and I spit my drink on my phone for no reason XD
TYKI HAS RETURNED. The trauma on her, man, it fucks her calm and collected composure up into swiss cheeses with tomato sauces :p. Quite a good writing at the last part, I have to praise ye. I can feel her fear and anxiety through the texts. Well done!
A: Idk, I guess because Cas uses them so much so taking them away is the most debilitating. Legs and eyeballs, do you really want Cas to lose those…? Yeah, at least Cas can take the physical pain. How can there NOT be?! Emotions like that come out in stressful situations. One has to wonder if Allen knows enough German…
There's a reason! I like to think Cas's signature inflections in hazardous scenarios are amusing;) that's a very apt way of describing how Cas feels at the moment, she's terrified of what Tyki is going to do to her Allen.
Thanks so much! I'm glad that came across so well:D
From: Waru Waru
Q: So, in light that I accidentally sent a review before time because I am a total inept at technology, I continue the cut-off review. Ignore the previous one.
Since I'm on my phone but too lazy to log in but in need of reviewing, here's le guest me.)
That foreshadowing and painful reminder of Allen's future got me producing weird sounds and flipping tables for a good couple of minutes... *cries in emotional agony*
Ah, this chapter was all about emotional agony... and imagery. I could just perfectly picture Cas and her black wings going against the white form of the fallen. It's almost poetic. Oh, and Cas questioning Allen's suffering to the universe *laughs bitterly* the foreshadowing/irony/relatablefeelz are strong. AND CAS CONFESSED (amidst the burning fires of hell and suffering, but she did) and in German! My polylingual soul is happy.
However, my polylingual side is the only happy one. (Well, and maybe my masochist one, too.) Let me explain in a single word: butterflies.
God, I have a feeling that after next Tuesday any fondness for Tyki fanart that I might have left will be gone forever.
*is too traumatized to ask questions*
~Ciao!
A: Lol. Don't worry about it. Yeah, I feel that emotional agony pretty hard, especially since the manga chapter didn't come out last month *rolls around on the floor snarling in pent up frustration* Although, truth be told, I'm looking forward to the time the Fourteenth rears his head. All I can say is that Cas and Neah have some of the strongest scenes together. There's a strange dynamic and chemistry that I really enjoy working with.
Wow! I'm so glad you got that gorgeous image; it is kind of poetic: fitting with the dark look of an Exorcist after all;) Yeah, lowkey don't think Allen heard or understood her though, but I'm glad it made you happy all the same. I don't think Cas was seeing any of them making it out of that incident so she was throwing caution to the wind (literally).
Yes! The Fallen One arc ends with 'Delete' one of, if not THE, most traumatizing moments in all of D. Gray Man and maybe even anime overall. One can never get tired of Tyki fanart! At least I can't, I like the ones where he's shirtless *drools*
Well, I hope you're not too traumatized.
~Arrivederci!
From: Keelan1210
Q: Tyki Mikk, you bastard! You're one of my favorite characters, but stay the hell away from Cassandra and Allen! Seriously, man... Anyway, this chapter was awesome. Allen was really cute with his "please don't leave me" and "can I just hold it".
A: Same! I love Tyki to pieces. Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed. I know! Allen is a muffin. Poor baby, at least he had Cas to take care of him.
From: AmericaNidiot
Q: being sick and reading this is far from great, honestly, cause it breaks my soul... anyways! -pulls Shanks and Sanji over to Allen and Cas- Allen, please meat Cas' true parents due to crazy science shit at the hands of either Dr. Vegapunk or the Vinsomke family! Say hi to your future father-in-laws Shanks and Sanji! Both of which are pirates... -vanishes in a cloud of blue smoke and red flames as the four get to know each other-
A: Awww, feel better; I'm sending good vibes.
Sanji: So, do you guys like food…?
(I laughed myself off the bed at this review)
From: Jiang Ai Xing
Q: *Sighs for ten million years* Allen, why the fuck are you like this. good gods this made my heart wrench. I quite enjoy this but YOU FUCK WITH MY HEART MAN. CASLLEN. AHHHHHHHHHH MY HEART. MY SOUL. MY BEING.
A: I couldn't tell you; I'm sorry. I know I'm horrible. Callen is a pretty painful ship to have. I wish I could say I'd be giving you fluff now but…
From: J K Scarlett
Q: CLIFFHANGER~ (sings it like an opera singer)
My Goodness! What a roller coaster of emotions. I have been whirled around in it like some ol' rag. O.O ! But yeah "it hurt like a motherfucker", of course Cas shares my views. Bravo! Just hang in there Guys!
TYKI! fuck you. You just have to put this ol' rag of me in a spinner too? Why? *sobs* Cas! Allen!
BTW, I am glad you put em together throughout the Fallen arc. At first, i thought you might leave Cas out on the ship back there and she will be mourning like some Julliet but i am so glad you made it the other way. Thanks a lot!
P.S
I have been reading this fic since the day you first published and believe me I am reviewing on a fic for the first time in my life. You are simply great, Lady! LOL! Forced me to do the impossible. Hats off to ya!
A: I'm cruel, I know. Sorry about the cliffhanger;( I'm happy your pleased with that; I try to do different things with this story instead of following a more typical narrative, so I'm glad you're happy with it.
So…in reading this last bit, I honestly started tearing up a bit. That was just so sweet and I'm so honored and thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for this lovely review; I'm so happy you enjoyed:D
QUESTIONS FOR CAS AND ALLEN
Me: Reader Q&A time! Get excited! Alright, more from TitanOfStone: "Stop being so afraid Cas. When was the last time I sexually harassed you with my questions? I do not have my head dipped in the gutter, you know XD"
Cas: *grumbles*
Allen: Yeah, it's Cas who has their head in the gutter 24/7.
Cas: Well, maybe when it's about you~.
Allen: *blushes* Cas!
Me: Alright, you two. Question time: "Also, who do you think out of everyone is going to be One-Eyed Owl (Eto) and Non-Killing Owl (Yoshimura) respectively?"
Cas: As in, which of the people we know is most like them? I dunno. Sometimes I feel a little like Eto in some ways. That'll make more sense later…
Me: Yeah, we'll elaborate in the Asia Branch Arc.
Allen: As for Yoshimura, I don't really know.
Me: Cross, maybe? Looks and acts scary but is actually lowkey okay?
Allen: You're right about the first part.
Me: I think this question's for me: "what do you think about Kaneki singing Unravel (the Op, man) in a karaoke bar with Tsukiyama and Nishio (that happened in the lastest manga, and Tsukiyama was singing A Whole New World, to boot)?"
That sounds awesome! I love that so much. I really need to read the manga. I have it saved on my phone…
Cas: Anymore for us?
Me: Yep. "I think you're going to need Psychiatrist (s) after this, Cas. I mean, you have shit luck with everything."
Cas: You sound like my mother.
Me: Considering what I have planned, it probably wouldn't hurt.
Cas: You sadistic bitch.
Allen: Cas! She gave you life.
Me: She's not wrong, quite frankly. Anyways, moving on. Here's a question from Keelan1210: "Allen, have you ever had to flirt with a girl (or guy) while trying to pay off Cross's debts."
Allen: Well, I can't even tell you how many times giving women the puppy dog eyes has helped with that, and there was this one guy….
Cas: I don't think I want to hear this story.
Allen: It's not that bad.
Cas: You didn't have to suck his dick, did you?
Allen: Well, no. He just made me put on a dress.
Cas: Damnit! Why wasn't I there for this?!
Me: It's just like your predecessor Robin in Hoshino's 'Zone'!
Allen: What?
Cas: Wow, you are a huge D. Gray Man nerd, aren't you?
Me: Okay this is getting meta. Moving on, the last one from this person: "To Cassandra, who is most your type? Tyki, Lavi, or Kanda?"
Allen: What about me?!
Cas: Oh shut up, everyone already knows I'd screw you seven ways 'till Sunday.
Allen: The question is: why don't you?
Cas: *ignoring him* Anyways, that's a pretty tough question. Hmmm, lemme see…I know! I'll take Lavi gagged, Kanda in a dress, and Tyki covered in hot caramel
Allen: Cas, what the fuck?!
Cas: And Allen on the side with some ice cream, please.
Me: At this rate, we'll be having an orgy.
Cas: Don't put that idea in their heads!
Allen: I feel so impure.
Cas: After a year traveling around with me, I'm not surprised.
Me: Alright, last set of questions from J K Scarlett: For Allen "tell me how would you have viewed Cas if she had got her Mother's genes and was born with Blonde hair and Gold eyes?"
Cas: Ugh, I don't even like the idea of that.
Allen: Cas as a blonde? Quite frankly, I think she'd look great, but I mean, she'd look awesome no matter what.
Cas: *groans* Allen, I can't with you.
Me: Now for Cas "Suppose you have blonde hair, what do you think?"
Cas: Meh, I always liked that I looked a lot less like my mother, but then again, my grandmother had blonde hair too before she went grey, so I guess I'd compare myself more to her. I like my red hair a lot, I'm glad I have it and don't intend on changing it.
Me: Another for Cas " what if Allen had red hair?"
Cas: You used to have red hair, right?
Allen: Yeah, when I was a little kid.
Cas: Kind bummed you don't anymore: we could match.
Allen: *snorts* I guess.
Cas: Regardless, I know Allen with white hair and that's the way I like him best. It compliments him beautifully.
Allen: *blushes hard*
Me: And they end with "Well and Good luck guys, you are my favourite."
Allen: *still flushing* Thank you.
Me: Okay, okay, that's enough. I think we've provided enough humorous cushion for the shitstorm that's about to follow. Strap in, everyone.
Chapter 45: Delete
The strange black butterflies fall around us like a curtain, cutting Cas and me off from the rest of the world.
They plunge through the air towards the Noah standing at the edge of the clearing amidst the bamboo stalks. He holds out his hand at their approach, and doesn't even flinch when the swarm divides, and the two halves each plunge into his palm.
They tear a hole in his hands as they slither down into the depths of his body, spraying thin, silent clouds of blood like crimson mist.
The Noah holds his hands aloft, the blackened hole at their centers oozing dark fluid. As I look on, the fluid morphs into a solid, and two gigantic butterflies bloom like flowers in the center of each hand.
They are far larger than the black swarm as well as purple with white stripes. Their bodies are made of nothing but gold skulls.
As their wings unfurl, their teeth chatter loudly.
The Noah smirks. "My, my, you've grown quite a bit, haven't you?"
He then holds his hand up to his lips and gives one of the damned insects a tender kiss before letting it and its twin drift off his hand to hover in the air near him.
The Noah standing before us is making my whole body shake straight down to its core; the Innocence within me reacting to its antithesis being in such close proximity. The human side trembles as well, least of all because the golden-eyed demon is looking at Cas like she's dinner.
"Tyki," she addresses the man before us with such an air of familiarity that it makes me look towards her in shock just as she steps directly in front of me. She holds out her arms, and my eyes widen in realization as the gesture's significance sinks in.
She's shielding me.
"Tyki," I detect the barest tremor in Cas's voice as she continues to speak to the Noah, who's smiling lazily at her, "Please, if you're here for me then fine. I'll go with you. Just…"
She holds out her arms further, concealing me almost completely behind her, "Just leave him alone."
The Noah, Tyki, chuckles.
"Oh, Cas," he smirks, snapping his fingers, "Wait your turn."
There's a rustle that turns to a roar, the sound of hundred wings moving at once. A scream catches in Cas's throat as she's suddenly swarmed by the mass of black butterflies. They consume her in a flurry of movement, a forceful dark cloud that knocks her off her feet.
I hardly even register her flying past me before hearing the blunt crack of her back colliding with the tree trunk. Cas's confused and delirious groaning slowly climbs to louder and louder screams until she's flat out shrieking.
I whip around in time to see the butterflies crawling across Cas's body. Their movements are frantic, anxious and hungry as they flutter along her body, cascading down her own remaining arm as Cas throws her head back. A bloodcurdling scream escapes her lips as the butterflies start to burrow into her skin, digging in with needle teeth and velvety wings. The wings slip through the cracks slithering across the vulnerable limb.
Cas shrieks, thrashing around but the horrid insects keep her pinned to the tree as they wriggle further into her skin. After a moment, more start digging through her clothing and the flesh beyond, spurts of Blood rippling across the ebony fabric.
As Cas continues to thrash and scream under her insect captors, her cries are suddenly muffled, clogged as she gags on a few of the terrible creatures as they make their way up onto her face and start squirming down her throat.
Cas falls forward, straining against her pinned arm, tearing even further as she chokes and heaves, trying to regain control of her own breathing.
I want to scream, I want to scream and cry and be sick all at once from the sight of Cas being subjected to that torment, but I can do nothing in this instant, this terror that has me in a vice-like grip. I can barely move at its mercy.
"Cas!" I attempt to stand, to go to her, but my knees buckle under a crushing exhaustion and a burst of blinding pain seizing my body. I crumple back to my knees in the grass, eyes blurring as the hot agony courses through my veins. I can't keep a strangled cry from escaping my lips as my other hand instinctively goes to grip my left arm, trying to internally quell the pain running through it.
The Noah behind me seems surprised by this: "That arm…is Innocence."
I glance up at him, my breathing ragged, trying to appear defiant, but all I want to do is pass out. I can feel a muted panic burning through my insides beneath the initial torment of my fractured Innocence.
I can't move.
As I glare up at the Noah to the best of my ability, his gleaming golden eyes suddenly widen in startled recognition.
"Wait a minute," He's across the clearing in two strides, crouching down in front of me in apparent disbelief.
Cas protests loudly to his close proximity as he leans into me, babbling incoherently as she chokes on the butterflies in her throat.
"You're that cheating boy on the train, aren't you?!" The Noah exclaims as he gapes at me.
I look at him, startled.
Cheater boy? Well, I suppose. Did I swindle this guy at some point? I wouldn't remember: there have been so many.
Swindled a Noah, wouldn't that be a story, but quite honestly, he didn't seem familiar. Perhaps he was mistaking me for someone else, but really how many white haired teenage boys do you meet? And he seems to know Cas, which is increasingly unsettling.
"Of course, you wouldn't recognize me now," the Noah continues as he settles down on the grass in front of me, crossing his legs as he offhandedly strikes a match on the bottom of his shoe.
The single flare is shockingly bright amidst the chasm of darkness that the clearing seems to provide despite the milky moonlight.
"You don't mind if I smoke, do you?" the Noah continues as he lights a cigarette and blows a drag.
The way he does it, so calmly, like two old friends having a chat in a public library, and it's making all of my senses scream in warning, but I can do nothing for them. My legs just won't move, I'm steadily growing numb: a coldness creeping further and further through my body the longer I sit and the more I let this situation sink in. I feel like a weight is sliding down my throat to settle in the pit of my stomach: a blind terror building up in me the more I let those golden eyes look down at me.
It makes me want to scream and run but also fall to the ground and curl up in a ball simultaneously.
Cas suddenly screams even louder which makes my entire lower body clench in a pounding pain. The Noah glances at her over my shoulder.
"Sounds like their eating something vital," he remarks before gripping my chin and turning me towards her as Cas thrashes around. There are ripples moving under her skin in places; I can see the monstrous creatures worming around in the deepest cracks of her body, infecting and consuming her like a disease.
"She's an excellent screamer, by far one of the best I've had," the Noah continues, "Takes a lot of effort to get it out of her, but when you really get her going-."
"Stop it!" the cry leaves my lips as more of a feeling than a thought, an embodiment of the agony in watching Cas writhe like that. I make a move to try and bite one of the Noah's fingers but he quickly retracts his hand.
"Whatever you're doing to her, stop it!"
The Noah raises an eyebrow, but my words bring more of an air of amusement rather than intimidation.
"You mean you don't know?" he smiles. "She didn't tell you, after the last time, what I do to people. How I kill my victims."
My eyes widen in spite of myself.
Behind me, Cas convulses once, twice, her head knocking against the tree trunk and making the branches shack, she falls forward despite her one arm's restraints and with a retch, a flood of Blood and crumpled black wings falls from her mouth and splatters across the ground in a puddle of sick.
After a moment, a few of the less mutilated butterflies rise back up from the crimson fluid to continue a somewhat awkward but still fervent flight around the clearing.
One of them eventually makes its way over to us. I follow it with my eyes, my heart pounding, as it alights on its master's gloved hand.
"These creatures are called the Tease: golems created by the Millennium Earl." He pulls his lips back in a wolfish smirk as he admires the tiny demon resting on his thumb, its black wings glinting in the moonlight. "They eat humans, but I suppose you might have guessed that. The more they eat, the more they reproduce, but that's their power no mine. The Tease are merely a tool."
As he speaks, Tyki holds up his hand with a flourish, "No. My real power is…. this."
Something strikes me.
Right through the chest.
My vision goes white, then black. I can't scream. I can't breathe.
I can feel it: a burning spear plunged deeply into my body.
Everything that had momentarily faded away slowly comes back. I suck in a sharp breath. I should be dead.
Why aren't I dead?
Why isn't there hot blood spilling from my chest, thickly coating the thing inside me.
I look down. Tyki's arm is plunged straight through my coat, my shirt and my skin. There is no blood, there isn't even a wound; everything seems to fall away from his touch, or rather he commanded it to step aside.
I'm pulled back to clarity as the situation sinks into me. Cas is screaming.
"NO! Allen! No! NO!" I hear her thrashing and shrieking, crying out in shrill desperation, but I can't seem to gather the strength to turn around and look at her, assure her that I'm alright. That I'm strangely unharmed.
I can't move; it feels like the heat from Tyki's arm is spreading thickly throughout my entire body, slowly melting my insides like candle wax before a flame.
"ALLEN! God, please no!" Cas sobs.
"Relax, he's fine," Tyki calls to Cas, sounding strangely annoyed. "Cool, huh?" he adds to me, "My whole body, not just my hand, can go through anything. This is my power: to choose what I can and cannot touch. So, if I pulled in my hand, and decided I wanted to touch your heart…"
I feel his fingers flex against my shoulder blades, and a tremor passes through me. His words sink into every pour as he slowly pulls his hand back into my body. I feel it, warming around inside me like a virus, an alien disease.
My heart is hammering in my chest to the point I feel like it might burst as Tyki's fingers creep closer to finally encircle the panicked organ. I feel it: the grasp of my life in his hands.
I am completely powerless.
A grin slithers across Tyki's face behind the veil of his cigarette smoke as he leers down at me. "I wonder…What do you suppose it's like to have your heart ripped from your chest without cutting your flesh?"
His fingers brush against my heart: the violating touch, so soft and tender in such a sensitive, unreachable place.
It makes my blood run cold around his hand.
Tyki leans in closer to me, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Say, shall we find out?"
"N-No!" Cas screams, thrashing as the Tease worm in inside her, "Please don't hurt him, Tyki. Please, I'm begging you. Don't hurt him. Do what ever you want to me, just please, don't. Tyki, please!" Her voice trembles with such an intense fear it seems to make everything shake.
In this clearing, it feels like there is only darkness and terror.
Tyki's eyes flicker to Cas behind me.
"Are you begging for his life? You would give up your pride and yourself for this boy?
"Yes!" Cas cries, "Yes, I am!"
Tyki looks back to me, "She seems to really care about you, boy. Can't really see why, but I suppose, if to appease her, I might consider sparing you from such a grisly fate. What do you think?"
I slowly raise my eyes to him. Giving him the best 'fuck you' face I could muster under the circumstances.
Tyki blinks at me, startled. "You don't care? Well, then I won't rip out your heart; it would get my gloves dirty anyways. I usually let the Tease take care of the messier parts of my job: devouring people, that is."
"Normally," I manage to choke out, feeling like a block from his hand still inside me.
Tyki smirks, "Yes. You hadn't heard? About your comrades who's organs had been removed? Kazana Reed, Chakar Labon, Daisya Barry…?" His eyes once again go to Cas on that last name. "Suman helped me, so I didn't do that to him," he continues, returning to me, "Instead, I put Tease inside him to grow, and instead I got a few more."
He gestures to the large purple-striped Tease fluttering lazily around our heads.
I feel my head slump forward.
This Noah…This Noah had killed so many people. I can practically see it: the bodies piling up…Cas was almost one of them.
I can practically feel it: the blood staining the hand so close to my tender heart.
"Oh yeah, and there was that General guy too," Tyki suddenly adds, making all my racing thoughts slam to a halt.
General….?
"Yeegar, I think was his name," Tyki sounds thoughtful, "I didn't kill him right away though. Why did I do that again?" He seemed to have legitimately forgotten.
You killed the General. You killed a man like General Yeegar and then forgotabout it.
Like his life never happened. Like it never had any meaning to it.
"Oh, that's right: I made him the Earl's messenger. To deliver the song to the Exorcists; therefore he had to die slowly, he must have been in excruciating pain."
He laughs, and it feels like the sound rips through me like claws, spilling parts of me out of weakened state.
"How…How dare you?"
Tyki looks down at me, a mocking smile forming on his lips. "What was that, boy?"
"Everyone…"
"So, you hadn't heard?"
The horror inside me seems to boil in that instant.
My hand seems to move on its own, fueled by passion, fueled by rage as it strikes Tyki across the face.
"Allen!" Cas cries out in a mixture of shock and fear as Tyik's head snaps to the side, his hand slipping from within my body.
The weight leaving my chest fuels me, and I swing my arm again before the adrenaline can fade.
"How dare you!" I shout louder as I throw a punch.
Tyki's read it for it this time; he catches it with each, trapping the trembling hand in his grasp. I barely have time for my heart to skip a beat before he crushes my fist, effectively breaking my hand.
There's a loud 'crunch' and boiling agony floods back up my arm before consuming my entire body, pouring out from my body. I scream; I try to hold it back, but the strangled yell still spills out of me.
"Allen!" I hear an awful, painful ripping sound. I'm too delirious to register its meaning or the frantic footsteps behind me.
Cas pushes herself past me, getting between me and Tyki, who instantly jumps to his feet with Noah speed, but Cas doesn't let it deter her, not in this instant of blind, manic fury.
She has no right arm, and her left has been chewed to shreds, so she does the only thing she can: she head butts him right in the nose.
There's a sickening crack as Tyki stumbles back a step, his hand going to his face as dark blood starts to trickle down his upper lip.
That burst of adrenaline seemed to have milked Cas for all she was worth. Her energy leaves her so quickly she falls to her knees like a puppet with cut strings. Tyki has her by the throat before she can recover, if she even had any strength left.
He shoves her down hard into the grass, smacking her head on the hard, black dirt as he reaches into his pocket with his other hand and pulls out a handkerchief, which he dabs at his nose.
He slowly removes his hand from Cas's throat. She's breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly as Tyki straddles his legs around her and sits down on her hips.
I know in this instant that Cas is powerless. I try to move, but my body prevents it. It's screaming at me, trembling all over as the after effects of the pain roll through me in waves. My Innocence feels like its stabbing me with a red hot blade. I grit my teeth, falling forward slightly as tears leak from my eyes.
"This is a familiar position, isn't it, darling?" Tyki remarks as he reaches down to tenderly run his hand down the side of her face. As he does so, Cas chokes slightly, and a Tease crawls out of her mouth and scuttles across her face.
Tyki lightly flicks it away, and Cas tries to flinch away from his touch, but he grabs her chin and forcefully turns her face towards him.
She whimpers.
Tyki sighs almost forlornly as he leans down closer until their noses are almost touching.
"Oh, how I've missed this face." He then presses his lips to hers.
Cas screams against his kiss in a cry of pure desperation, struggling against his persistence, but he holds her in place with the hand that isn't already gripping her chin, effectively pinning and she can do nothing in her weakened state.
I want to be sick.
Every fiber of my being is screaming to jump to my feet, shove him off her and rip his throat out.
I know now, in this instant, that this was the Noah in Barcelona. This was the man that had attacked and mutilated Cas, humiliated and made her suffer to the point of near death.
And here he was, violating her before my eyes, and I can do nothing. My body won't move. My arm feels like it's full of poison-tipped pins and needs that stab again and again against my tender skin.
It drains all the energy from me.
"Stop it. Please stop it," I can barely raise my voice above a whisper.
At last, Tyki breaks from Cas, running his tongue along his lips as though savoring the taste of her. He then glances up at me.
"Don't look so surprised, boy. This isn't the first, or even the second-time Cas and I have shared a moment like this, or didn't she tell you?"
What…? What is he talking about?
"Judging from your expression, I'll take that as a no." He looks back down at Cas, "You didn't tell him about that little moment you shared? You seemed to like him so much, and yet you were keeping secrets."
Cas sobs quietly.
She seems immobile. The only thing conveying any kind of emotion are her eyes, and they're stricken with terror.
"Now, now, there's no need to be ashamed," Tyki chides as he runs his hands down her neck, feathering his fingers along her torso and across her tattered and singed clothing. He then leans down again and plants a tender kiss to Cas's cheek, then he feathers his lips downward and attacks her neck: sucking and biting it succulently, erotically.
Cas's head falls back, trying to pull away but only revealing more of her skin for Tyki to enjoy. He continues to move down her throat, leaving little red marks across her ivory skin while one hand begins to unsnap the buttons of her blouse
No, no, no, no, no, no! It's all I can say; over and over again in my mind. The helplessness courses through me, burning harder and deeper than even the pain of my shattered Innocence.
"So, so beautiful," Tyki whispers as he runs his gloved hands down Cas's now open chest, exposing her torso and the red bandeau-style bra that is systematically concealing her body's most incriminating aspects. The black and red Cross Krory gave her is knocked aside, it's chain lazily resting against her open collar. Tyki bends down once more, kissing Cas on the mouth and then moving down, his hands running over her chest while his head moves further south, his tongue trailing along the lines of the scars encircling her naval: the scars he's responsible for.
Cas is limp under him, her eyes are open, but are staring straight up, not looking at anything, pretending it isn't happening.
I can't take this. I want to vomit.
Please stop, I bite my lip, a sob catching in my throat as tears spill down my cheeks. Please stop touching my Cas like that. Anything but that.
Tyki glances up at me, a disgusting smirk on dark lips.
"What's the matter, boy? Jealous?"
I can't respond. I don't have the words. I can't even process what's happening.
Tyki shrugs at my lack of response before he bends back down and trails his tongue upwards along the center of her chest from her belly button up to her breasts.
Cas's back suddenly arches. "Tyki!" she moans in a short, sharp cry.
He chuckles while my eyes widen in terror and confusion.
"It's no wonder your enjoying this, sweetheart," Tyki declares soothingly as he gently caresses the side of Cas's face, "Pain has another side to it, after all. Pain, pleasure. I'm the master of both. Tyki Mikk, the Noah of Pleasure."
One hand then feathers down the farthest it's ever gone, running along the inside of her thigh, tracing her inseam, teasingly moving over the clasp of her pants.
Cas gasps, choking as though she's about to start hyperventilating.
She vigorously shakes her head.
"N-No, please don't," her voice is hoarse and nearly silent, "Please, n-not in front of him. P-Please don't."
Tyki retracts his hand almost immediately. There's a strange look in his eyes as he stares down at Cas.
I can't place it, nor can I really bring myself to care as I seethe, angrier than I've ever been in my life, angry at this Noah, this monster, angry at myself for being weak enough to allow him to do this to the woman I love.
Tyki tilts his head to the side as he regards Cas. "It really is a shame the Millennium Earl has ordered me to kill you. You would have been a lovely food source for my Tease. They seem to like you."
He leans down and his tongue feathers along all the open wounds, spilling fresh, burning Blood across her skin, soaking the grass.
His words sink into me, and I can't see as the meaning of Tyki's words consume me.
There's a darkness that seems to descend around everything, blacking everything else out. Even the moon can't penetrate this abyss. Nothing is reaching us, and we cannot escape.
Is this hell?
"With a body like this, one that can heal from any injury; you would have been an eternal feast for them, for me as well." He then kisses her forehead before straightening up, "But alas, orders are orders."
He then fists a handful of Cas's bra and there's a sharp ripping sound as he shreds it between his fingers.
Cas flinches, squeezing her eye shut as the scarlet fabric unfurls like an open wound.
Tyki's eyes widen. "Now, this is interesting. I certainly missed this last time." His long-fingered hands, like spiders, gently run along Cas's exposed ribs with the definite glow bleeding out from the crack across them.
Cas whimpers, her eyes still tightly shut. I can see her hand shaking.
I can't move. I can't speak. I'm frozen, the dread flooding me has hardened in this cold, dark, horrible place.
"But now...is that?" Tyki leans down, his face disappearing against Cas's chest as he inspects closer.
Cas's head falls back, and I'm startled when her eyes find mine. My heart breaks as I see the defeat in them. A single tears of Blood trickles upside down along her face to run down her forehead.
Cas…
"Oh, but now seriously!" Tyki straightens up as he barks a laugh of utter disbelief. "Seriously?! No, no it can't be. It's too easy," he grasps the side of his head, shaking it as he just laughs harder. "Your Innocence, is your heart! Are you fucking kidding me?" he throws his head back, roaring with laughter, "It's too easy! It's just too easy! Not to mention, obvious. Come on! Seriously?!"
"She's not the Heart!" I blurt, my voice shrill and cracking.
Tyki stops cold. He looks over to me, arching an eyebrow. "Oh really? Well, if you say so, but there's really only one way to find out, isn't there?"
I can't respond. His words slam into me; I almost black out. The beginnings of a feeling so vile and horrible I can't even explain it slowly begin to bubble up from the deepest parts of me.
"This really is rather impressive," Tyki continues, tilting his head down as he presses that horrible tongue into the crack in Cas's ribs.
Cas shifts up against the ground. "Ah!"
Tyki chuckles as he rears back, licking his lips. "Did that feel good?" His hand then slides across her steely ribs, his movements almost contemplative. "Yes, this is a rather brilliant defense mechanism. I suppose it's strong enough to keep out Akuma." A smirk unfold across his lips, "Unfortunately, it's not strong enough to keep out a Noah."
I'm shaking. I'm shaking so hard, I can barely breathe.
Please, please don't.
"Did you know, Cas?" Tyki's voice is almost soothing as he continues to stroke her exposed ribs, "It was once believed that men had one less set of ribs than women because Adam had given one of his up in order for God to make Eve. Interesting, isn't it?" He lowers his voice as his hand finally stops its caressing, "I wonder…how many sets do you have?"
His hand then morphs into her skin.
Snap!
Cas throws her head back, a scream consuming her whole body.
It tears through me.
Tyki smirks, "One."
Snap!
Cas writhes, trashing from side to side.
"Two."
Snap, snap!
"AHHHH!" Cas sobs loudly, her voice raw as Blood gurgles up in her throat, spilling down her face.
"Three, four."
Snap, snap, snap!
Cas lurches upwards, her head slamming back down against the ground as she howls in agony.
"Five, sick, seven."
Snap, snap!
"Eight, nine."
"Please!" Cas's voice breaks as she kicks her legs weakly, writhing desperately in an attempt to escape the pain. "Please, s-stop!"
Snap, snap!
Yelling in pain, misery, agony, never ending torment. "N-No more!"
"Ten, eleven."
Relentless, bloodcurdling scream. "PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU!"
Snap!
"Twelve."
Tyki slowly retracts his hand, Blood dripping from his once pure white glove.
Cas goes limp against the grass, gasping with each breath being dragged from her in soaked, ragged sobs from the soup Tyki has made of her insides.
My face feels hot, the tears doing nothing to quell the burning as my whole body trembles. I can't see, everything seems blurry and like it's spinning. I can't process what I saw. What I'm seeing.
"Still no tears? Come now, Cas, you couldn't even muster at least one for me?"
I'm reeling, but Tyki's words bring me back to this hell we're in.
This prison with walls, this cell without bars.
Cas's head falls to the side, unable to respond as Blood pours from her mouth.
"F-Fuck you."
Tyki chuckles. "I fighter to the end. I did always like that about you." He then grasps her chin and tilts up her head so he can kiss her again.
He holds her there for a long time.
God, just stop it! Please, no more!
Cas is limp as a rag doll when he finally releases her. He looks up at me, smiling as some of Cas's Blood dripping from his lips.
But I hardly notice him, I'm looking at Cas: motionless beneath him.
Cas...move.
"She's not dead yet. Just blacked out," Tyki remarks casually as he stands up and steps away from Cas, striding over to me.
My rage flares in this instant, adrenaline erupts from my frantically beating heart. I try to channel it, try to make my body stand.
But I can't even move, let alone stand.
My hand trembles at my side.
If only I was stronger, than Cas wouldn't have had to go through that torment. Then I wouldn't be helpless before this Noah in this moment.
I'm our last line of defense, and I can do nothing.
If only I was stronger!
Cas, get up, please…
A sob courses through me.
"Now then, the Earl commanded me to kill an Exorcist named Cassandra Williams, but he gave me another name as well." His Bloodied hand shoots out and is around my throat in an instant, clamping down on it like a voice. I choke as he jerks me up to my knees.
"Cas called you "Allen". Tell me, are you Allen Walker?"
A kind of primal terror fills me in this moment. A fear that stems back to the most base elements of human psyche, the self-preservation of our very minds and bodies.
I don't respond. I can't respond.
"Answer me, boy," Tyki shakes me rather roughly.
"That is correct" warbles a disembodied voice.
A large playing card suddenly wriggles out of the side of Tyki's jacket of its own accord and floats outwards to hover in the air around our heads. It spins around to reveal there's a little room impossibly crammed inside the paper thin surface. A small stone cell with bars preventing exit. Peering through said bars is a little creature the size of my thumb with a white face and sunken black eyes. He's dressed in what appears to be a combination between a prisoners uniform and a jester's costume.
"This boy is Allen Walker!" the creature wails.
Behind it, I catch a glimpse of letters scratched on the walls of its cell. Letters that glow brightly, spelling out my name.
Allen Walker.
Beside it, another name glows.
Cassandra Williams.
"Delete!" the creature moans.
Tyki catches sight of me eyeing the strange playing card and the creature within it.
"This is Cell Roron," he gestures to it, "He's called the Prisoner of the List Cell."
"Delete!" Cell Roron repeats.
"He told you who you are," Tyki moves his free hand down over my left shoulder, purple energy sparks against his palm, "Let's start with your Innocence, shall we?"
The light fluctuates, consuming my arm.
Pain. Burning. My arm is one fire. This agony is like molten magma in my veins. Screams pour from my mouth, and there is nothing I can do to stop them. I'm fading, in and out, unconscious of everything, but this pain, even myself. Maybe I'm screaming words, begging him to stop, maybe it's just mindless gibberish, maybe I'm pleading with someone to help me. Maybe all three. My vision is white and I'm still shrieking in torment. I can't think. I can't breathe. For a moment, I can't remember the names of my comrades, or the name of my torturer.
As the pain peaks, I forget even my own name.
I gasp and then I can't feel anything. As quickly as it comes, the pain evaporates. I'm left with its ghost lingering within as a numbness consumes my entire form.
I fall, hitting the ground just as something heavy drops into the grass near my head.
Moving is out of the question, every cell is still shaking with agony.
My vision is swimming, but it starts to clear. I see Tyki's feet standing beside a lumpy, blackened object lying on the ground.
My arm.
"That piece over there is Suman's Innocence, I take it."
Oh…the piece I left lying in the grass by the tree.
"Well, I suppose we can test to see if your Innocence is the Heart. If it isn't Cas like you say, than maybe it's you." He tone is mocking. "If your Innocence is the Heart, then Suman's shard should be destroyed too."
No…No, no.
Don't.
Pleae.
"Tell me, boy, did you know of the Noah's inherent ability?" he opens his palm over the dismembered limb as more violet energy erupts from it. "We can destroy Innocence."
There's a shrill crack like thunder as the energy strikes the limb: it stiffens and writhes, crumbling and unraveling before my eyes, piece after piece, falling away into oblivion, into nothingness where it can never be retrieved.
"Ah!" The abrupt, shrill shriek of horror, pain, shock, and other tangled emotions that simply have no name erupts from my lips as Tyki crushes the cross-shaped shard on my hand and then unfurls his fingers to let the green dust fall into the air and vanish.
My Innocence, my left arm, a part of my body, a part of my soul. Gone. In an instant, shattered and destroyed to nothing but powder.
Scattered like ashes in the wind after a forest fire.
My Innocence is gone.
"Well, it looks like your Innocence wasn't the Heart after all" Tyki flexes his fingers and more anti-Innocence energy flickers across them. "Can't really say I'm surprised. Now then, there's one last thing to talk care of."
He then steps away from me, moving back over to the other end of the clearing.
To where Cas is lying unmoving.
NO!The word rips through me, silent as it burns my insides. I beat against the confines of my own body, useless and weak. I'm begging, not with words or thoughts but with feeling.
I hear Tyki's footsteps moving closer, closer.
I can't move; I'm lying like a corpse on the grass. I can't even turn my head. Frozen, helpless, hopeless.
I lost an arm, but I'll live.
But she…
Please, don't!
"Stop it," the desperation filters out, quiet and hoarse from my external exhaustion.
Tyki walks over to Cas lying in the grass amidst her Blood.
He kneels down beside her.
"Stop it," I say it a little louder. It hurts. My stomach churns, twisting. I hurt. I hurt with an agony that can't be explained.
Tyki reaches down. There's a sickening sucking sound as his hand is consumed in her innards fluid. He lingers for a mere moment before he slowly begins to pull his hand out, straining the barest amount as he grasps something in hand.
He pulls it out, out into the air and the darkness and the cold where it should never be.
It's glowing bright green through the dozens of red tendrils encircling it like a box knot, tethered and growing out from it like a nest of snakes, the tubes of veins pumping life for the source.
Cas's heart.
Tyki is holding Cas's heart in his hand.
"Stop it!" I yell. Tears burn in my eyes, scalding my skin as the purple energy builds before my gaze. "STOP IT!"
The dark energy consumes the light, it ravages it like a hungry flame, devouring it, blotting it out, casting it out into obscurity. The green shatters with a loud crack, exploding into dust as Tyki unfurls his palm, letting it fall like emerald rain through the air.
The veins fall against the remains of Cas's chest, untethered, they lay across her like cut red ribbons.
Cas convulses once, and then goes completely limp.
Time seems to stop, dragging like feet buried in wet sand, but then the tied comes in and everything is swept up into torment. Tears explode from my eyes as the emotion consumes me slowly and then all at once. I fall over onto my back and throw my head back as a scream of pure misery leaves my lips.
I just keep screaming; I'm yelling and sobbing as my heart breaks into a million pieces in that instant, the shards dragging through every inch of me.
Cas…Cas is…
The tears flow thickly down my face as I howl in agony, the pain white hot in me. I can't even process anything. I can't think, only feel, but I don't want to. I just want it to stop. This compares to nothing.
I'll lose my arm a thousand times before I lose here.
"Wow, judging from your reaction, I take it you had a bit of a thing for her."
Through my tears, I see Tyki standing over me once again.
I choke back a sob. I can't bring myself to feel angry. I just want to die.
"Not that I blame you," the Noah continues as he kneels down beside me, "She is-was-a rather amazing woman."
I know what's going to happen next. I know it, I feel it.
I feel everything, and yet nothing.
Something suddenly flutters in the corner of my vision. My eyes flicker towards it to see Timcampy is hovering beside my head. I can almost detect worry in his featureless face.
A notion suddenly comes to me, a flicker like the shard lying in the grass, the last Innocence remaining amidst the bamboo.
"R-Run, Tim," my voice is a weak tremble, barely a sound at all. The little golem looks at me, a silent protest emitting from him, "T-Take Suman's Innocence and run. G-Go!"
Tyki looks down at me in confusion, unable to react when Tim abruptly zips across the clearing and scoops up Suman's Innocence, swallowing it in a single gulp before taking off towards the sky, streaking out of the clearing in a matter of seconds.
"T-Thank you, Tim."
Tyki whistles. "I have to admit: that was actually pretty clever. You sent that golem away thinking "I'm done for, but at least I can get that Innocence to my comrades". I hate to spoil it for you, but your golem will just fly straight into a swarm of Akuma. They've probably already been alerted to his presence now. Soon, they'll destroy him and it will all be for naught."
I might have laughed. This Noah doesn't know how fast of a flier Timcampy is; he can get through a million Akuma without breaking a sweat. He'll return to the others no problem. At least I can take that one fragment of hope with me.
I can't really see Tyki anymore, or anything else aside from the moon. It looks so large, closer than normal. Is it moving, moving nearer to me? The white light falls around me, cascading into the shadows like a halo.
"You've prepared yourself for death, haven't you?"
I feel something in that moment; I'm not sure what it is: my emotions all feel raw and undercooked in my chest, but it's not a kind of fear or anger or sadness or anything else.
"As long as everyone else remains," I whisper, looking up as Tyki's golden eyes momentarily swim back into clarity for me, "As long as they keep fighting, there is still hope."
I can't read Tyki's expression, but I don't care about his response.
I feel so, so tired. A numbness fills me, a bliss I drink up hungrily.
"You're optimistic to the end, boy," Tyki remarks, "Well, pray that happens, to your God, if you like, but your God isn't there, boy."
I know he's mocking me, but I do it anyways.
Cas would've. I'd even pray in German if I knew enough of it.
For her…
I love her so much.
I choke.
I didn't even get to say goodbye.
I close my eyes.
I just want to see her again.
"Listen, Tease, don't eat him. Instead, make a small hole in his heart."
I hear a chattering sound, the teeth of gold skulls with purple wings.
"I feel I should give courageous people like you time before you die. The blood will flow from your heart, and your body will fill with terror, and you'll die, suffering!"
I feel that heat again, erupting inside me, followed by the soft sensation of wings squirming inside me.
Then a coldness, a coldness that begins somewhere in my core but then slowly starts spreading outwards to other parts of my body. It's cold…it's so cold it burns.
Please, no more.
I just want to die.
I just want Cas.
I can almost feel her…beside me.
Is that her?
Allen…
"Sweet dreams, boy."
My eyes snap open.
I can't feel…. Anything.
There's darkness below me and above me.
I can't move.
What…?
I then remember Tyki, and Allen kneeling in the grass.
I roll over, onto a shoulder with no arm as the other arm, bitten and torn beyond use flops helplessly against the grass.
My vision is hazy, blackened with fireworks scattering before my eyes.
I try to move, but nothing respond. It feels like everything below the neck is tethered to me like dead weight.
Something feels wrong, something feels very, very wrong.
It takes a few moments for everything to fall into place, for my thoughts to align themselves.
Oh. I'm dead.
Or dying rather, if my empty chest is any indication, more and more fluid seeping from it by the second.
It feels like a heavy block has been lifted. I feel weightless, but there's a scalding edge to it that I can't ignore.
I don't have much time.
The remaining Innocence within me, in that secret place no one knew about.
It had saved me once, and now it was buying me time.
Time for what though?
The light flows around me. the light from the moon, it's looks so big in the sky, like its swallowing everything up. I follow the trail of its beam down into the clearing, and I see.
Allen is lying on his back in the grass. He's still and unmoving, his skin looks ashen in the milky light.
Terror floods me.
No…No!
I want to leap and run, I feel the desire in my soul, but my body won't, can't.
My legs are immobile, my arms are gone and useless.
But I drag, I drag them all, inch by inch, yard by yard.
Pulling myself along by the single limb I still possess, scraping desperately through the dirt.
I feel it, time seems to drag around me while my internal clock hammers away, ticking away every precious minute.
Just time, just a little more time.
It feels like there are million miles separating us.
It feels familiar. Allen and me, surrounded by darkness, blood and moonlight.
This is it, isn't it?
This is the dream. The dream that started this.
I suppose I always sort of knew it was going to end here.
No, I can't let that happen. I won't!
I reach him, finally, I reach him.
Please, please. I press my head against his chest. There's a heartbeat, but it's faint and interrupted by something else.
I feel the rippling, the fluttering against the underside of his flesh.
Wings.
There is a Tease inside his chest.
My mind hurtles itself forward, slamming into action, in an instant accessing everything, everything that I could possibly do, and I find there isn't many.
Legs that won't move, and arms that won't heal.
I reel, desperate.
Something. There has to be something!
There is….
Oh God, there is.
But I…I can't.
Without my healing abilities, I can't….
No. I close my eyes, trying to clear the fear polluting my mind, If you do this, he might die, but if you don't, he definitely will.
Just remember that.
I shift backwards to the best of my ability. I close my eyes. If I could exhale, I would, but I'm not really breathing at the moment, so I don't.
That last piece of Innocence, just need it for one last act.
If there's a chance, than there's hope.
That's what Allen would say.
I open my mouth as the Blood flood it, some of it dribbles down my chin while the rest hardens against my teeth, shaping into sharpened, needle points.
Fangs. Fangs like Krory's that can tear through anything, even flesh.
I squeeze my eyes shut. I almost lose my nerve, but I pull it back, gripping it desperately like a lifeline.
I let my head fall down against Allen's chest, and I bite.
I sink my teeth in as far as they will go: there's the slick sound of tearing flesh and breaking bone.
Allen gasps, groans, and then he screams.
His voice is hoarse, faint. They are not as loud as they should be, but so much has happened.
The body is tired and weak.
It can barely respond: barely yell, barely writhe.
I try to work as quickly as I can, making my way deeper, trying to bite as few times as possible. The taste it vile in my mouth. I want to be sick, but I keep going, keeping chewing and tearing until finally something bites back.
I rear back with purple and white striped wings fill my vision, tiny jaws clamping onto my lips. I shake my head, and it breaks its hold, falling off into the abyss surrounding us.
I look back down at Allen. The blood is flowing thickly, pints of it. The open wound, the shattered ribs, the ripped skin, the tattered organs.
Torn open as if by an animal.
By me.
I press my head against the wound, the only thing I can do.
I feel him slipping away against me.
"Allen..
Movement comes back into my left hand, and it instantly goes down to press against the tear in his chest, the hot blood gushing against my fingers
His breathes come hollow and ragged, dragging within his chest, against my fingers.
He's gasping, fighting, dying…
He's dying.
Allen's dying.
"Allen," my voice cracks: a sob, a whimper. I look at down at his face as his eyes flutter open. Can he see me? Is he lucid? "Allen, look at me. Can you hear me? Allen, no, no, no," my word quicken.
Desperation pours into me, raw, ravaging, like a flood, like a storm.
It hurts and I want to scream.
"Allen, please!" I hurts to yell like this, but I don't care. I'm feauled by a desperation that cannot be named or described, a feeling al encompassing, consuming.
I'm flashing back. I grip Allen's hand; it's cold and clammy.
"Allen, please!"
Emma, please!
"Don't leave me."
Don't leave.
"Please don't leave me, Allen. Please, you have to hold on!" I let my head fall back against his bloodied chest. "ALLEN!" I scream, it shreds me to my core, but I know that there's always
He's falling from me, I cling to him desperately but Allen Walker is dying in my arms, falling away like grains of sand.
"Take me," I sob against his chest, "Take me, not him. Spare him, please. Allen, please don't leave me. Please, don't die. Please, please. God, please."
I feel them against my face. Tears. I've never felt them before.
They're hot, and they sting.
They fall down onto Allen's heaving chest, steadily still by the second as his shallow breaths quiet, glistening in the moonlight.
Allen goes still, and I just lose it.
HELP!" I scream to the sky, to the world, up from the bottom of this hell we're in, "SOMEONE! HELP US! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP! WE NEED HELP! SOMEONE! ANYONE! HELP US, PLEASE!"
End Act 1
A/N: And that's it! It's done! Well, Act 1 anyways
So feel free to write reviews, ask questions, all the usual stuff!
Act 2 shall be waiting in the wings. And what do we have in store?
Well…
More Callen (Cas/Allen)
More Cyki (Cas/Tyki)
Cas's 100% Synchronization with her Innocence
Cas revealing her 'Final Secret'
Every Rose has Thorns…? (A hint for the Ark Arc)
Also: THE ARK ARC! Much excitement
Cas will finally meet Cross
More of Cas's grandmother and mother
Cas as the Creator of Space…
The Fourteenth!
And much, much more!
Also: Probably all wondering how the fuck Cas survived. Well, that elephant in the room will be explained properly during the next arc, although theories are always welcome.
So I hope you stay on board! I will be taking a few weeks off for finals and anime conventions and the like but I will be posting the next installment on Christmas and then a follow up chapter that Tuesday December 27th
I hope to see you all there!
Stay tuned for 'I Dream in Ashes'