(location locked)

[boundbydevotion]

Date & Time: August 3rd
Location: Housing Unit 103
Characters: Howard Link boundbydevotion, Allen Walker debtor, Others???
Summary: The trouble with reintroducing yourself when your first introduction involved professional stalking...
Warnings: Probably feelings and stuff? Spoilers for DGM!

[ Honestly, what was the General thinking?! Even with whatever havoc there is to deal with in this city--this reality??--that didn't mean that what happened at home should be completely neglected and the one whom the situation surrounds completely left in the dark! In any case explaining things would be inescapable if he wishes for there to be any honesty to be had, and Link is really more honest than not with--some people...! He just didn't relish the idea of pretending to be someone other than who he had been to hide something like this.

S-slowing his march as he finally realizes he's nearly stomping his way across the street and into the Initiative Housing. It's a shame that he bought these ingredients before he'd spoken with Cross, considering he's no longer in a baking mood, but without somewhere to store them they would go to waste, and perhaps his mood will change once he's inside. Taking a couple deep breaths as he walks the halls, looking for the room with the right number. ]

Comments

later on; at an abandoned building, 20 minutes northwest of the hold

[debtor]

[Just as General Cross Marian was expecting, his pupil comes a-knocking sometime in the afternoon, after a rather eye-opening discussion with one Howard Link.

He's not in a great mood. He doesn't want to talk to Cross. He needs to talk to Cross. He hopes, he hopes that Master will tell him that everything he just heard was a blatant, fantastic lie, that there's a simple, mundane reason for the score stored in Timcanpy - and life will return to normal.

What scares him is that there's a part of him that thinks he won't.

With a deep breath, he raises his fist.]

Master!

[KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK OKAY HE'S LETTING HIMSELF IN.]

preemptive raptor screeching

[aequivoci]

[ Once the conversation with Link earlier was done, Cross had put this behind him for the moment. In that same moment, he brought it back to the forefront. He would never admit it, but he replayed Link's words in his head as he readied for the day. He put himself in the Crow's shoes to see the situation from his point of view, but the General still came to the conclusion he stated earlier: that there was no need to bring this up.

And as he left the Hold to find a bar and have a strong drink to truly welcome the day, Cross realizes that Link's stirring of the pot began with the call to him, and would continue with going ahead and talking to his Idiot Apprentice.

Too bad Klaud had been sent back; she would have been a pleasure to speak to right about now, complaining about how the Crow needed to keep their nosy ass selves out of private affairs, especially with the Vatican nonexistent in Exsilium.

He finds a bar.
He has his drink.
Or two.
Okay, three.

Cross mumbles a curse in a foreign language as he finishes his third, looking at the droplets in the glass as the sounds of rain fill up the establishment with every entry & exit. That is when his tablet buzzes, and he signs off the tab to one (1) Howard Link before exiting so he can read it.

The die has been cast.

Coordinates are sent back in return as he walks into a random building, and once the tablet confirms that it has been sent, he casually tosses it over the railing of the stairwell he ascends, paying no mind to the sounds of it crashing and being damaged to disrepair.

He's not sorry.

And he certainly isn't sorry in this moment, exhaling a drag of smoke through his nose as he hears Allen call out for him a little bit later. The soundproof walls flare up as soon as Allen steps inside, and the door locks with enchantment to keep unwanted and uninvolved parties out.

Cross doesn't answer Allen; the boy can let off steam storming up stairs to him. It's a small offense in the grand scheme of things. ]

[debtor]

[Up the stairs he comes, footsteps heavy and rapid, calling for Cross again. It's not the sort of indignant rage he typically directs at Cross, for his drinking or neglect or any other vice; Allen's shaken, and he sounds desperate.

It can't be good, if he's seeking Cross in hopes of assuaging his concerns, he knows that. It's not like it had been (will be) during their meeting in the headquarters - Allen hadn't had months to acclimate to a looming shadow in the mirror and the strange presence in his head. He hasn't yet heard of the 'Fourteenth' or the 'Musician.' A few hours ago, he hadn't had any suspicions of Mana's involvement with a rogue Noah. It's all hit him at once. Link didn't yank the carpet, he took the entire floor.

When he reaches the top, his voice is ragged.]

Master, I need to speak to you!

[aequivoci]

[ The burnt end of the cigarette is tapped off as Allen's presence finally enters the large loft space. It's quite a perfect setting, what with walls partially or completely collapsed to show buildings adjacent to the one they occupy; to let the rain fall in and create puddles in some areas.

Cross brings the cigarette to his mouth, but he doesn't take a drag of it just yet. He speaks to Allen without looking him in the eye, all too ready for the barrage of questions and concerns to come. ]

Then speak.

[ His voice is calm and resolute as always, with the underlying sting to it. He takes his drag as he waits for the younger— much younger Exorcist to start. ]

1/2

[debtor]

[He opens his mouth, but suddenly, doesn't know what to say.

Where does he begin?]

...I spoke to Howard Link.

[He grits his teeth, eyes not quite focused on Cross.]

He told me about the score on Timcanpy. That writing—

2/3 whoop

[debtor]

He told me about Noah's Ark. He said I...

3/3

[debtor]

[—He squares his shoulders, facing his Master fully now, his voice taking on a new edge as he forces the question out,]

Tell me - is it true?! [Why won't Cross look at him?]

Mana, he didn't have anything to do with it, did he!

['It' - the score, the Ark, the Noah, anything. It's almost pleading, when he says his father's name.

If he can absolve Mana...!]

[aequivoci]

[ It always astounds the General that the most impactful words, the most life-changing words, are always words that can be said in one breath. They are short, concise, and are resolute. They are the final nail in the coffin to a good or bad ending.

In this instant, it is three words. Three simple words that anyone could understand if they were spoken to him or her in that moment. Words that confirm dreams or nightmares have become real, that his or her mind is not playing tricks on them, that their conscience is not speaking statements that are meant to deceive.

He exhales as his apprentice's voice reverberates in his ears, and he looks at this young Exorcist in the eye, face to face. His voice remains steady, never faltering as he responds. ]

It is true.

[debtor]

[It's the last thing he wanted to hear. And it's as if Cross fired a shot, knocking the air from his lungs as it tears through him; the impact leaves him paralyzed on the spot. Just like that, the life he thought he had isn't his any longer. The father he thought he'd known, the relationship they had...

What was it, really? This brother - nameless, faceless, silent - he'd been there.

Mana—



It's terrifying. This morning, he'd known exactly who he was. He doesn't know what he is anymore.

But he's facing the man who does. After Mana's death, Cross had found him. Cross had agreed to train him. Cross will lead him to the Ark. Never once did Allen suspect, not at all.]

You... always knew.

[aequivoci]

[ Cross can practically see the life leave Allen when he confirms Allen's concerns. It is exactly why he wanted to wait before dropping the bomb on his apprentice, and it makes his dislike for the Crow grow even more.

He nods once, fully facing Allen now as he leans against the wall, tapping off more of the ash from the cigarette. He exhales, for once not sure what to say or how to say what he needs to say again. So he opts to stay quiet, but his eye remains on Allen. ]

[debtor]

[He looks at Cross without seeing him. He doesn't need to see the nod to know he was right.

In his mind, he's repeating his conversation with Link over again, and again. There were so many gaps— he knows he only received the skeleton of the story. He can't afford to leave his questions unasked now.]

I was 'implanted'...

what does that mean?

[All he knows is that he has these 'memories', which he cannot recall. How, why... who the memories belonged to, he doesn't know. Just a Noah. Mana's brother. That's all.]

[aequivoci]

[ Cross's mind and mouth practically launch into autopilot mode. He just finished speaking about this with Allen before his arrival, and now he has to go through it all over again.

He exhales his latest drag as he opens his mouth, the words he has spoken before filtering out of his mouth once more. But, this time, every word seems to be sharper & harsher than his first retelling of the plan.

A plan he hadn't had to breathe or speak into existence for almost ten years. ]

You were implanted with the memories of Mana Walker's younger brother, the Fourteenth Noah. Your body was to act as the host for the Fourteenth's return to the world of the living once more.

[debtor]

[He listens, silently. So that's it... Allen couldn't bring Mana back from the dead. Now he's expected to bring his brother back? He almost wants to laugh.

Ha. His smile is bitter, brittle.]

And I'll begin experiencing 'changes'?

[Link had mentioned it. 'Signs of changes', he'd said, and Allen hasn't shown any here, not yet. He doesn't want to believe it's possible, but if they've all seen it, in the future...]

[aequivoci]

[ He exhales once more, going through the motions, repeating the same words he had used the first time. ]

Yes. Little by little, the implanted memories will destroy you. The Allen in my timeline has already begun to see the signs.

[debtor]

[So it's real, and it's going to happen, and it had been planned that way from the beginning. He feels very lost, and very cold all of a sudden. He seems to collapse, without moving a muscle.

But it's not the death sentence that's hit him the hardest.

He'd never once questioned Mana's intentions. He had been Allen's entire world. His joy, his sorrow, his love, it'd all been for Mana. But had Mana's...

Cross knew this was coming.]

Did Mana...

did he know?

[All he can think of are those three words, which his father had been the first to ever tell him.

Who had he been talking to?

His son, or his brother?]

[aequivoci]

[ Cross is not sure what's worse: having to answer that question the first time, or having to repeat his answer a second time. Either way it's sliced and diced, he can't change his answer unless he outright lies, and the truth would come out eventually to debunk that lie, too.

And so he softens the blow once more. ]

Mana lost his mind when the Fourteenth died. I honestly don't know if he remembered the past or not, and from my point of view... [ He trails off to take a drag of his cigarette, turning to look out the window as he exhales. ]