The second night: The doll's song
Weeks passed without much of an event. Allen's left arm turned out to be completely healed soon enough and the people of the Order turned out to be nice - at least most of them.
His enmity with Kanda had been born the second Allen had set foot into the Order ('Not even that' he used to correct himself silently when thinking of the incident at the gate) and neither of them had made an attempt to settle their differences.
Allen despised Kanda's cruelty and coldheartedness which the swordsman displayed deliberately whenever possible. Kanda for his part had made clear what impression he got of Allen: too friendly and so damn naive that the beansprout (so Allen's new nickname) most likely would not even survive the coming month.
And so, on a faithful morning when Allen was called to Komui's office, his heart sank to the very pit of his stomach when he discovered Kanda already waiting there.
Kanda tilted his eyebrow with a disapproving look, which was meant to proclaim his opinion about Allen's involvement in the case.
"No way", he growled.
Komui paid no attention to his grousing. "Stop being childish you two", he said. "You got a mission today."
Right at those words, as if on cue, River entered the room carrying maps and other papers relevant to the mission. With a loud thud he threw everything down on Komui's desk making it clear that he did not agree with the current division of labor, which meant Komui sitting relaxed in his chair and drinking his coffee while all the others were working.
Moodily he began to pin maps onto the wall.
"Now you two", Komui began again. "We received message that Innocence was discovered in a small town in southern Italy. We are afraid that Akuma might have been sent to bring it into their possession. Finders keep the situation stable but you should still hurry and retrieve it."
He held out two folders with additional information and the boys took them, intentionally avoiding eye contact.
"I swear, beansprout", Kanda growled as they took their leave for the subterranean waterway. "I'm not your babysitter. If I get the impression you're endangering the mission I leave you behind, no matter what!"
"If you say so." The bitterness Allen always felt when talking to people like Kanda washed over him like a heavy wave.
Once Mathel had been a flourishing place, full of life and joy and beating hearts. But one day people left to live at other places to escape the loneliness of their hometown. Research was based on a mysterious tale people used to tell about Mathel.
The tale about the ghost of Mathel reveals that he might be a former inhabitant of the town. Full of hate on the people who left, his face deformed into a scary grimace. It is also said that he kidnaps children, who come near the town, to ease his loneliness.
Innocence is found in mysterious places. To gain information the Order researches in such places. If the existence of Innocence is likely exorcists are sent to protect it and to return it to the Order. The energy concentrating around Innocence is so powerful that it might have effect on its surroundings. As a conclusion it is very likely that the so-called ghost of Mathel can also be a result of the Innocence hidden in this region.
At this point Allen put down the notes they had received from Komui. Even Kanda's oh-so-kind explanation on the mystery of Innocence had not helped much in giving his thoughts a logical order.
Furthermore their Finder had contributed to his confusion by mentioning that the ghost was revealed to be one of the singing puppets the people of Mathel had constructed to make life in this dreary region more pleasant, and not actually one of the former inhabitants as they had suspected. Like everything else, the puppets had been abandoned as the people left and as things were, a few of them seemed to still be roaming the town.
Allen tried to focus on their task, which said to collect the Innocence and not to think too much about whatever deeper meaning might be hidden underneath, but his thoughts trailed off anyway.
They arrived too late.
The ruins of Mathel were already flooded with an atmosphere of threat and danger. Their bad feeling increased as the exorcists stumbled across the corpses of the Finders they had been supposed to meet. Of course they ran across Akuma as well. They obviously had already spotted the ghost of Mathel, the doll. Summing up the battle Allen would later say that it was fierce and beyond all he had expected, imagined or experienced by this time.
The fight left all of them more or less severely injured including the doll Lala, as well as her protector Guzor. What was clearly Allen's weak point was that he had feelings (unlike Kanda), and so he promised to the doll that she could keep Guzor company until he died. As a consequence he got into a fight with Kanda, even before the remaining Akuma busted their hiding place.
"Take her heart NOW!", Kanda barked, ignoring the injuries he had sustained. "Take the INNOCENCE and GET OUT before the Akuma show up!"
"No, I won't," Allen said simply. "I won't do that. All they want is a little time. We can give them as much."
- "There's no war without victims! What does it matter to you, the 'feelings' of a mechanical doll? Are you out of your mind, beansprout?!"
"Then it's on me. Everything will be fine if I finish that Akuma off, right? Then they can have their goodbye." Allen had made this decision driven by his emotions running rampant, by the utter helplessness he was feeling.
It was a decision made to soothe his own troubled soul as well.
He did not expect it when Kanda's fist met his face.
"Don't be so naive," the swordsman growled. "What do you think you're doing? Sacrificing yourself for that doll?"
Although Allen found himself now laying on the dusty ground, his cheek burning like an infernal fire, his face bore a serene expression.
"If I can save them I will...", he started but was cut short the same instance. What had been sand before had suddenly taken the shape of the Level-2-Akuma. It had gotten hold of Lala, his disfigured face transforming into a mask of craziness over the sheer joy of a successful hunt. From its arm swung the doll's lifeless frame, empty eyes reflecting the half-light.
Allen's heart stopped for a split second, just as the puppet's had done after it had been ripped out of her delicate body by the demon's claws. Grotesquely beautiful and heavenly shone the Innocence's reflections from the eyes of the Akuma as it greedily lifted it to its face.
But alike shone rage from Allen Walker's eyes...
Parasite-type Innocence reacts to the emotions of its owner.
Allen had heard that already, maybe from Kanda only a few minutes ago, maybe during the battle, or maybe he had always just known...
After the akuma had attacked the doll, he suddenly had felt an unknown strength flooding his whole body. He had no time to think about it, but simply leaped at the akuma to save the Innocence and more importantly the doll.
Ever since then a tiny voice at the back of his head kept asking the question if it had been his rage, that had given him enough power to defeat the monster. But even after the fight was over he could not think clear enough with his whole body aching and his mind drifting relentlessly towards the borders of blissful unconsciousness. Vaguely he noticed Kanda laying next to him, eyes turned without blinking towards the half crumpled ceiling, which revealed glimpses of a cold, starry night sky.
Then Allen registered a clear light at the corners of his eyes.
He understood.
Carefully he moved his arm to reach for the Innocence - Lala's heart.
Allen did not find out which strange things had happened to make Kanda return from hospital within a few days despite the serious injuries he had suffered.
Not that he cared.
He did not think too much about it.
After Allen had returned the heart to Lala's chest he had settled on the steps outside the ruins they had been hiding in to await the death of Guzor and his doll.
When Kanda finally returned he found Allen sitting in the same position as he had left him: knees pulled tightly to his chest, head bend low, picture perfect of misery and sorrow.
"How come you're back already?", Allen said before the swordsman could even open his mouth. "I thought you were supposed to stay at least five months."
"My wounds are healed", Kanda snapped and sat down on the steps, ending the conversation before it had even begun.
Allen was for once thankful for his standoffishness.
Once again silence fell over the place and in the middle of this silence the wind carried over some tunes from inside the ruins. Lala was singing her goodbye to Guzor.
"If it bothers you so much," Kanda suddenly spoke. "Why don't you finally turn her off?"
Allen did not move an inch, his voice resounding hollow from beneath his crossed arms. "I can't. I made a promise."
- "You are too soft for your own good. We are destroyers, not saviors."
"But I..." Allen protested. Another gust of wind, stronger this time, took away his last words.
It seemed to also have taken away Lala's lullaby.
On the third day after Guzor's death the doll had stopped singing.
When Allen entered the catacombs he found them in a position of silent grief, Guzor's dead body draped gently in Lala's arms, the doll barely able to move.Her last words of gratefulness caused a flood of tears in the boy who so desperately wanted to be a destroyer who could save everyone.
