Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not Own D. Gray-man.

This is where you get to see how the song of the Ark came to be.

Two days before the solar eclipse

Allen held out a small wooden pendant on a black string to Neah. The Noah raised an eyebrow as he took the little trinket and inspected it in the palm of his gloved hand. It was a small rounded tablet with a word etched into the smooth flat surface.

In the Musician's language it read Love and on the other side it said humanity. He looked up questioningly at his nephew, he didn't know why he had chosen those words to etch into the piece of wood.

Allen looked off to the side as he spoke, knowing this would be the last time they could speak to each other like this.

"You explained to me once that you were a Noah without a representation and you abandoned your previous one. I think you're the Noah of humanity and love because… well." Allen's voice cracked, it was too much.

Neah's eyes softened as he placed the small necklace around his neck and tucked it into his shirt. He gave Allen one last hug, he rested his chin on the boy's head and gave him a sad smile.

"Thank you. I won't forget you ever, Allen." He whispered as he backed away from the teen. The exorcist watched as Neah transformed into his Noah form and gave Allen a lingering glance as he stepped into the Ark and disappeared from sight.

The boy let out a heavy sigh as his hand went to his sword, the next time they would meet would be on the battlefield.

The day of the solar eclipse.

The 109 exorcists stood on the field, facing an impossibly large army of Akuma. Miranda activated her innocence, and with some difficulty covered the entire battlefield with it.

As she did this, the Akuma on the other side started to level down. The level fours became threes, and the threes became twos, and the twos became ones.

"… I've reversed their time about one level. An hour is my limit." She grunted, her eyes furrowed in concentration.

Abraham nodded his thanks at the woman and ordered four exorcists to protect her. He glanced at Allen, now in a green cloak with the rest of his friends.

The green cloak now had a new meaning, it meant they had the power to go up against a Noah. Fourteen exorcists, fourteen green cloaks were at the front of their small army.

Abraham raised his sword and gave out one last cry as they charged towards the enemy lines. The exorcists clashed with the Akuma, and the Generals made their way towards the Noah.

Lavi was taking on the Noah of pleasure, Kanda the Noah of Rage, and Lenalee was fighting the Noah of dreams.

"Go Allen!" Lavi shouted as he blocked an attack by the Noah.

Go and meet Neah Were the unspoken words as the young teen rushed up with Abraham to meet the 'final boss'.

All the way in the back of the massive army of Akuma, the Millenium Earl and Neah stood with authority. Allen's gaze met Neah's and Abraham's met the Earl's.

The older Noah gave them a mocking smile, "Good evening exorcists." He greeted mockingly.

Abraham growled as he revealed the sword Neah had given him.

"I hope a very bad evening to you Earl." The older exorcist retorted, his heart was beating with adrenaline.

The Earl frowned, his black coat swayed in the breeze as he took a step forward. How come Abraham had a mirror image of his sword?

The Earl spotted Allen and laughed, "So you even brought children into this dreadful war? How far are you willing to go?" He mocked as he took another step towards Allen.

The young teen however gave the Earl a withering glare, unafraid of the black coated Noah. "I have business with Neah." He said coolly, his voice seemed as if it could make lakes freeze over.

The Earl's eyes widened in surprise and glanced at his brother for confirmation, who smiled pleasantly. "I will take care of this child, we have some unfinished business." The Noah said smoothly, his voice was like honey.

The Earl glanced at his younger brother before he launched himself at Abraham and they started their fierce battle.

Neah was surprised when Allen made the first move and his sword clashed with Neah's sword made of dark matter. The two fought fiercely, their strength and ferocity on par of the fight between the Heart and the Earl.

Allen started to tire and grunted when Neah had kicked him hard into the ground, his body creating a small crater. Neah was about to punch him hard in his stomach, but Allen jumped away at the last second and was able to slash his right shoulder.

They both panted from exhaustion, their eyes showed their pain at having to fight each other. But they both didn't falter, knowing they had to end each other's lives.

After what seemed like an endless amount of clashing and exchange of blows, Allen finally caught Neah off guard by tripping him from the back and smashing his elbow into the Noah's chest.

Neah's golden eyes widened as he crashed into the ground and Allen was on top of him with his sword pointed towards his neck. The uncle tried not to smile as he closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. When it didn't come, he opened his eyes to see the blade just centimeters from his neck buried in the ground.

He glanced up when he felt a warm tear drip onto his face as Allen gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands. His eyes were so full of regret and suffering, "I-I can't do it." He choked, his grey eyes bore into Neah's gold ones.

Suddenly the Noah felt foolish once again, it was ridiculous for him to expect a person as kind as Allen to be able to kill the person he loved.

Before Neah could stop himself, his right hand was already at the side of Allen's face, wiping the tears away.

"Allen." Neah said softly, damn he couldn't do it either. Before Neah could speak again, they all heard the deafening howl of the Earl as Abraham pinned the man with his sword on the ground.

"Die Earl!" The exorcist shouted.

Right before he could bring the sword down on the Noah, it suddenly started to glow and a blinding white light enveloped the entire battlefield. When the light subsided, the Earl was dead and all of the Noah's were severely hurt, save for Neah who had been shielded by Allen.

The battlefield was devoid of Akuma, and the exorcists all charged at the remaining Noahs.

Neah quickly opened gates to the Ark underneath all of his kin and swiftly closed them. He glanced at the sword and froze, Abraham was clutching his sword hand in pain and the sword of exorcism was vibrating on the ground just a few feet from the man.

Neah rose and swore as the ground started to vibrate. "Abraham! Fuse it with another piece of innocence!" Neah shouted, panic starting to rise in his voice.

Without thinking, the exorcist threw the sword with his remaining strength at Allen's sword. The young teen watched with a mixture of horror and fascination as the huge broadsword disappeared into his sword.

However when he tried to grab his sword, he immediately recoiled. It was burning hot, he wouldn't be able to hold that for a while.

Neah opened a gate to his Ark and watched as his nephew's friends arrived to the scene. Rosalind, Zella, Lavi, Lenalee, Miranda, and even Kanda arrived to Allen's side. "We beat him! We beat the millennium Earl!" Lavi whooped as he threw his bandana onto the ground.

Abraham shook his head as he started to haphazardly scrawl into a cube of innocence. "We killed him this time, but he will probably reincarnate once again. I could feel it when I killed him, the sword was too unstable and it couldn't destroy his soul properly." He mumbled as he finished etching into a cube.

Kanda raised an eyebrow, "Why the hell are you writing into that cube?" Kanda asked. They could faintly hear the roaring of water.

"Neah?" Allen asked hesitantly, jumping when a burst of magma erupted next to him. The grass and trees started to turn to ash, the ashes flew into the air causing everyone to cough.

"The power was to great. A flood is coming." Neah said, his eyes full of anguish. Allen suddenly realized why Neah had such a look on his face and gave the man a small smile.

"We're going to die here aren't we?" Lenalee cut in, surprising everyone around her.

Neah nodded, "I wish I could take you guys with me… but-"

"It's okay." Lavi laughed, his eyes had a tint of sadness to them.

"We know you have an obligation to your family." Miranda said sadly, giving Neah and understanding smile. As the sound of the massive waves got louder, Allen glanced at Zella and Rosalind.

Neah immediately understood, as did Rosalind. The boy suddenly hugged the horse and Zella. The young wolf gave Allen a confused look, "Allen, what are you-" Suddenly, Rosalind took Zella by the scruff of her neck and ran through the Ark gate, casting Allen one last glance before they disappeared.

Neah could feel a tear drip down his face, as he gave the boy one last heartbreaking hug before he retreated to the Ark.

Allen watched as the gate disappeared and he could see a huge wall of water rushing towards them, at least a hundred feet tall.

Allen let out a sad sigh, so this was the end?

Suddenly, everyone joined hands. Lenalee, Lavi, Miranda, and even Kanda held hands together with Allen in a circle.

"Che, I had to die with the Moyashi." Kanda growled, earning a weak laugh from Miranda who squeezed Allen's hand tighter.

"It's better than dying alone, Yu-chan." Lavi stated, earning a surprised glance from everyone in the group.

So he could be sober when he wanted to be. As the ground started to erupt below them, and the wall of water towered over them, they all walked closer to each other until they were engulfed in the icy cold waters.

They screwed their eyes shut as they were violently launched into the torrent of water. Their hands were glued to each other, no one letting go as they were tossed around in the wave.

Allen could feel the icy water fill his lungs, reflexively coughing. He could feel the others do the same, but they all refused to let go of each other.

As Allen started to lose consciousness, he was surprised when he was suddenly covered in warmth and could breathe. His eyes flew open, and he could see the other's do the same as they were now enveloped in a white light.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his innocence shining as well and gave them all one last carefree smile. '

I guess this is the last thing the innocence wanted to do for its master…' Allen thought as he suddenly started to become sleepy.

He felt like the bond he had with his friends currently would last forever. He let out a contempt sigh as he drifted off into an eternal sleep, he wouldn't have wanted to die any other way.

Inside the Ark, Zella was screaming at Rosalind and Neah. "What the hell?! Why did you do that, we should've stayed with him!" she screamed, tears were streaming down her face as she bared her fangs. How could they just leave Allen like that? Rosalind and Neah didn't say a word as she continued to yell at them.

"You don't understand Zella, that's the last thing Allen would have wanted." Rosalind said softly, earning a vicious glare from the wolf.

"You were his friend! We were closer than friends, we were family! We were supposed to stick together till the end! And you!" Her anger was now directed towards Neah.

"You were his uncle! How could you let him die like that?! Answer me damn it!" she shouted as she tackled Neah to the ground, her fangs bared as she stared down the Noah.

Neah quietly took all of the anger, the resentment he knew he deserved it. Neah suddenly felt something wet on his cheek and smiled softly.

He was crying, he's been doing that a lot lately. After a few minutes, Zella had finally cooled down enough to get off of the Noah and was being consoled by Rosalind.

Suddenly, the Ark shook and the three heads shot up. Neah swore, the waters were so high they had already reached the Ark.

The three ran through the Ark and they finally came across the twelve other Noahs, all unconscious. Neah ran to Maitora and shook him awake. "Maitora! How do I move the Ark?" He asked while shaking the Noah. Maitora weakly opened his eyes and shook his head.

"There is a piano, you know where it is right?" he asked weakly as the Ark shook more violently this time. Neah nodded, he vaguely recalled the instrument's location.

"I meant to tell you before, you are the musician. You are one of the only ones able to control the main Ark's location. You must play it, and compose lyrics to go with it. It can't be any song, a song with any strong emotion. Hate, anger, happiness, love, sorrow, you name it. But it won't be easy…"

Maitora fell back unconscious and Neah swore as he and his two companions rushed to where the piano was. Neah started to grow panicked, "I-I can't come up with a song. It's impossible." He stumbled and balanced himself using the front of the piano.

"Just… think!" Zella shouted as the Ark started to shake even more violently, causing a few buildings to crack.

Neah closed his eyes desperately, something, anything! He tried to search his memories to find a strong emotion.

He held his breath as his thoughts kept coming back to Allen. Memories of him and Allen started to flash across his mind. And their heartbreaking last farewell, the last time he would be able to see the boy's face among the ashes of the dying earth… Neah slowly walked up to the piano and started to play a soothing, but heart wrenching tune on the piano.

The soft sound of the piano played through out the Ark, Neah immersed himself in his and Allen's memories.

Then the boy fell asleep.

And one or two ambers in the fading ashes of the fire

Flared up in the shape of his lovely face

The language surprised both Zella and Rosalind, instantly recognizing the language they had taught to the two. They finally dared to walk as the quakes lessened and the Ark went form black, to white.

They saw Neah's face as he sung the song, trying to keep his voice from cracking as he sung one last final lullaby to his nephew.

Dreaming thousands of dreams

Spreading across the land

Your silver gray eyes shine their light

Like stars falling down from the night sky

Neah could feel tears starting to run down his face and drop onto the ivory keys of the piano.

Zella and Rosalind walked up on both sides of Neah and sent him and understanding look. He smiled as the tears ran down his face while he continued to sing.

Even though countless of years turn so many prayers back to earth

I will still continue to pray

Neah's voice cracked slightly. The two animals closed their eyes and listened to the gentle, but sorrowful tune.

Please bestow upon this child your love

Upon our joined hands, leave a gentle kiss

Zella and Rosalind could feel the Ark's vibrations almost stop completely.

Neah repeated the song, this time the two speakers joined in as well.

They sung with every ounce of emotion they had, hoping their lullaby would reach the one it was made for. As the piano's last key was played, Neah's hands lingered for a moment before they fell back to his sides.

He collapsed against a wall and rested his head against it, closing his eyes he let tears fall freely from his face as he clutched the little piece of wood Allen had given him. They would just have to wait out the storm.

Rosalind and Zella walked through the Ark, surprised when they saw other animals onboard as well.

"I'll live for Allen." Zella whispered, her eyes shone with determination. Rosalind gave the wolf a questioning look.

"I'll tell the stories to my children, and they'll tell it to their children's children."

Rosalind nodded, "As will I Zella, as will I." They whispered. Rosalind silently mourned Allen's death while Zella howled in anguish.

Neah sadly looked on, to the walls of the now white Ark.

All of the exorcist's souls were no better off than the Akumas, their souls were forever to be damned onto the earth. Cursed forever to reincarnate until the innocence is destroyed, he would meet Allen once again in the future. And that, would be the hardest time for him. Destroying something once is easy, the second time is always the hardest. Neah laughed lightly as he covered his face with his hand, he truly was the Noah of destruction.

So yeah, that's the end. ^^

-Cooly