Thank you very much for the reviews, and thank you for reading! The story is coming to and end, probably a 2-3 more chapters depending on how I can flow it. Please feel free to point out any loose ends you feel need closure! :) Ideally it would already be in my list of things to cover, but just in case!

Unbeta-d. Feel free to point out grammar or sentence mistakes.

Disclaimer: DGM does not belong to me.

Warning: Noah!Exorcist. Shounen-ai.

21. Missing pieces

As the battle continued down on the field, up on the building of the Order, two figures danced around each other, launching blows and parrying, and one wrong move from either of them would result in an injury that neither could afford at the moment.

"I always felt there was something wrong." Allen muttered, even as he brought down his sword against the Earl's. Their eyes met and the Earl merely grinned happily, tilting his head to the side as though the battle was just a fun activity to him. Allen's hand trembled as he pushed forward, but the Earl maintained his grin, and the grip on his own sword did not move.

"That missing piece that always eluded me, even when all seem well." The British boy grunted, pushing harder. "It was you all along, that nagging feeling every time Leverrier came after me."

"Oho, when did you figure it out then?"

"You slipped up at one point, when Lero turned up and started talking crap again."

Clash. Block. Blood.

"Lero was the clue, you never go anywhere without that umbrella." Allen vaulted backwards when the Earl attacked from his blind side, he barely dodged and a shallow cut appeared on his cheek. Readying himself for another lunge, he continued. "Then I realised Lulubell and Road had been missing a lot, and Akuma kept appearing when they did."

"Smart little boy, you are." The Earl chuckled, tipping his hat in a way that made Allen annoyed. "They had been reporting back to me, everything that went on the mansion."

"Little bugs then." The Exorcist parried the sudden blow from the Earl, lashing out to kick him from underneath, which was easily dodged. "Your tunes also became more obvious, the closer the time came."

"Ah, the Fourteenth's power?" The Earl tsked. "Such a troublesome skill to be inherited by you."

"The Fourteenth died trying to bring you down." Allen growled, running forward. "We will do what he could not finish!" Jumping up into the air, he brought his hand in a downwards motion. "Death orbs!"

"Truth to be told-" Lavi parried another Akuma before slamming his hammer down for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I was hoping we would have a better plan than-" Side stepping another bullet, he swung his hammer again. "Just walking in and announcing our real side and trying to kill this huge amount of Akuma on the field."

"What?" Cross grunted as he continued his leisurely pace at shooting. "You got some better plan in that head of yours Bookman Apprentice?"

Sighing in annoyance, Lavi sent a glare at the General before summoning another pillar of fire. "Ex-Bookman Apprentice!"

"Whatever fucking makes you happy, kid." Was the reply, before another explosion sounded somewhere behind them. The two Exorcists took a moment to stare, watching as blood and smoke followed the trail to where the explosion sounded.

"Winters is having a little too much fun." Cross grumbled, turning towards the direction. Miranda, who had been behind them all the while, with her barrier up and protecting the few Finders with her, only managed to give him a shaky smile. The General nodded once, and took off, presumably to join the other Generals.

"This area is clear." Lavi commented into his earpiece. "We'll be moving onto the next area, right after we drop off the Finders with us."

After receiving an affirmative reply from the other end, Lavi nodded to Miranda, who deactivated her Innocence and started to stand, when someone landed directly behind Lavi. Acting purely on adrenaline and instincts, Lavi raised his Innocence, ready to swing and strike when a familiar voice called out and he forced his hand to stop.

"Lavi!" Lenalee cried, throwing herself towards the redhead, her tears already flowing down her dirt covered face. Lavi stumbled a little before catching her weight, putting his arm around her immediately.

"Lenalee! You're okay!" The Chinese girl nodded, her violet eyes searching his face for something, when she finally grinned happily.

"You're back…it isn't a lie?" She questioned, her fingers gripping his orange scarf like a lifeline, trembling slightly, and Lavi could read the hope in her eyes, and he could only grinned brightly back at her as he nodded.

"We're back, we're family, Lena." Lavi replied quietly, his arms moving to embrace her fully. "We don't leave anyone behind." Hesitating a little, because that was what exactly they did, he continued. "Well, not on purpose, and not forever." He amended, pulling back to look her in the eyes. Grinning bashfully, he tried to convey the guilt and apologies through his eyes. Lenalee thought he made a good imitation of a kicked puppy and laughed, wiping her tears, she nodded.

"Come on." Lavi said, turning his attention back to the battles on hand. "We'll drop the Finders off at base and then-"

"Lee!"

The blonde Inspector landed neatly beside the two Exorcists, his eyes hard as he took in the scene. Lavi had tensed up when he heard the call, and he had fallen into a defensive stance, ready to defend them if necessary. But all Link did was sighed and nod to himself.

"Let's go, we need to get them to safety and head over to the roof."

Although Lavi and Miranda were confused, they nodded their consent as it was what they were going to do anyway, Lenalee bit her lip and questioned him anyway.

"You aren't….surprised at this turn of events?" she asked, staring at him in confusion. "I thought this is where you protest and try to take them in for questioning and-"

Link held up both his hands in surrender, and also for silence as Lenalee trailed off and looked hesitantly towards Lavi and Miranda. The Finders only looked on, confusion clearly etched on their weary faces, but since the two so-called traitors had protected them and saved them, they weren't willing to attack their saviors any time soon.

"There are some things, which I know were meant to happen." The Inspector said quietly. "But this is neither the time nor place to discuss it. Walker needs our assistance, and there are still the other Noahs to be concerned about." He finished, straightening his coat and he turned to Lavi.

Lavi nodded, the reasons for Link being so cooperative could wait, the battle was still ongoing, and the redhead knew that Link was right, Allen needed them to be on track if the war was going the way they wanted it to go. Miranda nodded too, signalling to the Finders to follow her back to base, and stated she would catch up to them later.

Lenalee bit her lip, but did not comment any further as Link and Lavi discussed the routes to take, and who to go to first. After what seemed like hours, but in reality was only a few minutes, they agreed that Allen could handle himself at the moment, that the other Noahs were more pressing matters.

"Tyki won't be a problem now." Lavi muttered, praying that he was right. If Link noticed his hesitation, he did not mentioned it, but shook his head.

"It's Road and Lulubell, the ones who create Akumas, is that right?"

Lavi nodded, slotting his Innocence back into its holster at the side of his pants. Adjusting his scarf so that it did not hinder his movements, he tap his earpiece and requested the location of Tyki or Kanda.

They waited patiently as the person on the other end rattled off some coordinates after a moment, and then they were off. As they were running, Lavi prayed that the Portuguese man hadn't had some change of mind all of a sudden, as they were fighting family members after all.

The feeling crept on him slowly, like the air itself was suffocating him even as he forced himself to continue swinging his sword, lest his opponent take advantage of the openings he clearly was trying to cover. He could feel his heart beat frantically, responding to the anxiety he felt, his legs were also starting to shake, as he raised his mismatched eyes to glare at the Earl, who he could see was also affected, but not as much as him.

"Such a troublesome power to have at the moment, isn't it, Allen Walker?" The 1st disciple grinned widely, knowing what was ailing the Exorcist.

Allen cursed, because the Earl was right, the Fourteenth's power was amplifying the feeling of loss, making it impossible to ignore as his chest tightened at the sorrow he felt through the bonds of the Noahs, signalling that one of them was gonegonegonegone-

"Shut up!" Allen shouted, bringing his blade down on the Earl, who avoided it with ease and circled around the British boy. Allen swung around blindly, gritting his teeth against those feelings and trying to concentrate on the fight. He was astounded that the Earl was so calm, they didn't know who it was that was gone yet, but it was only a matter of time before they could sort through and see which memory had disappeared.

"Aren't you concern that it could be one of yours?" Allen questioned, he knew that if it was any one of his team, he would undeniably fall into a rage, and he couldn't afford it now. He needed to trust that they knew what to do.

"They can always be awakened again." The Earl said, flipping backwards to avoid another kick. "There exists a piece of Noah in all human race after all, I will only need to find the right one." Kicking himself forward, he got into Allen's face, who was too stunned to do anything. "Pity I didn't have time to awaken the other disciples, it would have made the war so much more fun!" He delivered a swift headbutt to the Exorcist, sending him flying backwards towards where the Science department was hiding. Reever quickly pushed Komui out of the way, taking the impact of the body colliding with him instead, and into the wall behind them.

"Son of a- Reever!" Allen growled, pushing himself up and checking on the scientist who had soften the blow. Coughing slightly, the brown haired scientist grinned at the younger boy.

"I'm fine, just a bit ruffled." He assured Allen, groaning as he sat up, waving at him. "Don't let your guard down, he's still there and waiting."

Allen's eye flickered towards the Earl, who was patiently standing a ways off from him. Wiping the blood and debris from his face, Allen nodded and readied his sword again. This wasn't going to end anytime soon, he hoped Kanda and Tyki could take care of the remaining Noahs and come soon, it would be hard to take down the Earl by himself, but he would do it if he had to.

Even at the cost of his own life.

Just as he was about to move forward, he froze for a second, before breathing a sigh of relief, smirking at the Earl who started to frown minutely, before breaking out into a grin again.

"That was Lulubell."

Pulling his sword out from the ground, he watched as the wind carried away the ashes which was once a body. Lulubell didn't go very easily, but Kanda won out in the end, striking her down together with Mimi when the latter tried to stop his final strike on the Noah. Sheathing his sword, he gritted his teeth as he pulled out the few knives lodged in his left arm, courtesy of Mimi, before hastily bandaging it as much as he could with one hand.

Turning around, he started back towards the clearing where Tyki was fighting Road. They both had taken off in the start of the battle, wanting to have little interruption as they took on their own opponents. Kanda had agreed with Tyki beforehand that Tyki would handle Road, being that the girl was the oldest Noah, and Tyki would likely be the only one with enough power to defeat her. Kanda would reluctantly admit it, but Tyki had his darker side that could overwhelm him when they had first encountered it after all.

As he got closer to the clearing, he could feel it, the presence of the darker side of the Noah that was already unleashed. It sent a shiver down his spine, even as he continued walking forward to the unknown. He could only hope the battle was over and that the Noah had satisfied its blood-lust.

May God grant mercy to the poor soul that crossed his path.

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