History Expansion
In the winter of 1866, a child was born to the Walker family. This child would later be the younger half of the Fourteenth Noah. His brother, Mana Walker, would be the older half. The Walker residence was not a particularly rich one, but it wasn't altogether poor either. The boy and his brother lived an adequate childhood, but always yearning for something better. Never to be a noble, no, but wishing for just a bit more money, just a little bit more in their lives.
Four years later was met with an unfortunate accident. The Walker family was on their way to Sunday church when they encountered a man trying to mug another individual. No one tried to stop him. This was not because no one cared.
No one stopped him because the 'victim' was actually an Akuma. Enraged, the biological weapon killed its attempted mugger, then proceeded to slaughter and devour everyone else in the church. The Fourteenth's parents were just two of the many victims that were killed before an Exorcist arrived-- too late.
The boy, being only 4, blamed the Exorcist for not coming earlier. As he grew older, he began blaming himself as well, for not being able to do anything that could possibly save them. But Mana, the sensible 12 year old, was there to console him, and so he was able to come to terms with the issue-- it was done and over with. Grieving for the dead would do no good.
For the next four years, Mana and his younger brother continued attending their classes, using whatever money their parents had left to pay for food, clothing, and other necessities. With Mana there to watch the expenses, the younger brother was rather sheltered from the knowledge their money could run out at any moment. Despite this, however, the Fourteenth never wanted to spend money randomly. He had long since accepted the fact that all he needed was Mana, and he would be happy.
Mana was his world. His only brother. His only family. The only one he loved, and the only one who loved him back.
1874, with their funds running low, Mana proposed that he and his brother go on a trip and earn a bit of cash. The boy, naturally had no arguments, although he did miss his few friends. The two of them joined a circus. They could continue going from circus to circus with Mana as a Pierrot and his brother as an assistant.
For 7 years they did this, and Mana would teach his younger brother whatever studies he knew or could remember. This way, if they ever managed to enroll in a school, the Fourteenth would not be behind.
As it turned out, it wasn't necessary.
In September of 1881, Mana came down with what was supposed to be a simple cold and a headache or two. It lasted for weeks, and when October arrived, the bleeding and Awakening began. Two days later, the screaming had stopped, and Mana's still was a deathly gray tone.
The next week, there was no warning. Mana's younger brother collapsed on his way out of bed one morning, the convulsions hit, the bleeding, the scratching, the screaming--
The feeling of helpless during Mana's Awakening was bad enough. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do. And now the same thing was happening, and there was nothing Mana could do. If there was anyone the Fourteenth hated to put in a helpless position, it was Mana.
But it happened.
With their odd colorings, the gray skin and gold eyes, Mana and his brother took to going under cover. There was enough in their savings to last a few months, until they could find out what was wrong. Just when they decided to ask a church, the Earl approached them in the middle of December and brought them to his mansion.
There, they met Rhode. And the Fourteenth finally had another playmate.
Mana had always been the more sensible of the two, so even as a Noah, he rarely succumbed to his hatred of humanity, but neither did he stop his younger brother from joining in on Rhode's little games.
The next few months were spent practicing. Mana learned to control his powers, whereas the younger brother learned to put the constant onslaught of memories on hold. Sometimes he'd forget himself, believed he was someone he was in the past, believed he was still in Egypt, or taking a trip to China. But Mana was there, so he made a conscious effort to lock up those memories until they were necessary.
Somewhere along the way, the younger half of the Fourteenth Noah took up sword fighting lessons, sharpened his skills and his rapiers, bought many of them. He liked slashing, stabbing, killing, playing little games at Rhode's side. Collecting things was also on his to-do list, but it never escalated to collecting body parts until an incident took place.
He fancied a girl. He liked her eyes in particular. They were like.. like little jewels. And when she dumped him for someone else, he wrenched those eyes out. If he couldn't have them, then no one else would.
The pastor at the church he frequented during childhood taught him, "Idle hands are the devil's tools. Idle hands are hands that do naught."
And so he never did naught. He learned to fight, he learned to kill, he learned to play the piano. He loved the piano. It came to him easily, and there was no blood to be spilled, there were no horrifying screams, no disgusting sounds of flesh being ripped open. Just music. Music that he made.
He loved the piano.
In 1833, on their way to retrieve and destroy a piece of Innocence, Mana took a detour and had a cup of coffee with a pair of Exorcists. The younger brother never knew what was discussed, only that Mana decided to hand over the Innocence instead of destroying it.
This was balanced out by an event that took place a few weeks afterward, where the two hosts of the Fourteenth Noah came across an elderly Bookman while in Russia. Upon the younger brother's insistence, the two Walkers proceeded to travel with Bookman for a handful of months before Bookman had to go elsewhere.
1884. Mana and his younger brother stumble upon a secret room created without the Earl's knowledge by a previous Fourteenth Noah. The younger brother, however, was the only one who could pilot the Ark, and thus made an external key for his older brother. Thus, Timcanpy came into existence.
While testing it out, they come across one Cross Marian whom Mana had made the acquaintance up a few months ago. During the brief scuffle, the younger brother used Cross's taunting as an opening to gouge out the Exorcist's right eye. With both sides sustaining mild injuries, the Noahs retreated back onto the Ark.
Like deja vu, the next 4 years were, yet again, lived in relative calmness-- as calm as four Noahs could live, anyway. Family picnics, little gatherings, field trips to the South Pole for some penguin-sledding, invading underground tombs in China, all the while causing havoc and destruction for the entire world. Yup. Such was the life of the Noah Clan.
1888. Everything changed.
One a daily excursion in the mansion (read: making a mess of), the younger brother found a little something odd. He showed Mana first, and with his agreement, they both asked the Earl about it. Wanting to keep such an ordeal a secret, the Earl tried to kill the younger brother. Tried. Because Mana came to, and together they escaped the mansion using the Ark, simultaneously locking any and all of its doors.
For the next 4 years (good things come in threes; bad things come in fours), Mana and his younger brother try to search for an Exorcist while hiding from the Earl at the same time. But Cross is an elusive man, nearly impossible to find, especially for a pair of Noahs on the run from their own Earl.
1892.
Eventually they do find him, and after an initial refusal to apologize, the younger Fourteenth revealed that he had angered the Earl, and that it was one of the few things he was sorry for. He asked (and somehow convinced) Cross to watch over Mana, claiming that he would return one day. Mana and the younger brother both transfer their halves of the memory, as well as the ability to control to Ark, into the body of a child.
The younger brother leaves with the last of his power to confront the Earl once more, and Mana names the child "Allen", adopting him as his own son.
The confrontation fails, and the younger brother dies in the mansion at the hands of the Earl.
In 1895, "Allen" receives a mental shock at the death of the circus' performing dog. The Fourteenth, now whole again, uses this chance to take over the body. But the happiness and reunion is short lived.
A month later, the Earl finds them and kills Mana, believing the child to be nothing more than just that-- a child. Someone who could possible become an Akuma.
But the Fourteenth knew better than to call a soul back from the dead, even before he became a Noah. It was no use grieving for those long gone.
Not longer after, Cross shows up, hoping to take the child in before the Noah awakened, but it was already too late. Cross ceased communication with the Order for the next (yup) four years in order to help the Fourteenth assimilate into his host's body, as well as to learn control (if only minutely) of the apparent Innocence that was his left arm.
A little over two years passed before the Fourteenth made an attempt to repair the state of his mind. It ended horribly, with the Noah having to be sealed up in his own hidden room. Cross liked to call it his 'Black mode', which was technically true. The current Fourteenth was only a watered down version of who he was before, but when his restraints were lifted, he gained the powers that Mana had. Knowledge on how to use them, however.. he didn't have that.
A few weeks later was met with Bookman and his young apprentice, Michael. The most unfortunate timing, as the Noah had managed to slip out of the sealed room and into the real world, only to stumble upon Bookman's little apprentice. Ireland was a familiar climate, but it did nothing to placate the Fourteenth's raging Memory.
Another brief scuffle, another stolen eye, for no reason other than that it was attractive.
It was enough for the Fourteenth, but not for Michael. In the end, Cross and Bookman had to restrain their individual charges.
1899 was the end of the four year training, and with that, Cross returned to the Order. The Fourteenth agreed to attend Cross's audit outside of HQ, complete with the full gathering of Generals. During the audit, he also agreed to a "partnership", or "alliance". He would provide the Order with the use of Noah's Ark and assist in the fight with the Earl if the Order did not attack him.
At the end of the year 1899, Cross disappears. Lavi, Linali, Krory, and Bookman to head to China to pick up Miranda, who had just finished her training. The whole gang then follows Fourteenth's hint that Cross is in Japan, but the Noah doesn't follow them, nor does he allow them to use the Ark that is still swarming with Akuma and Skulls.
Once in Japan, Fourteenth rejoins the group after cleaning out the main rooms of the Ark, leaving the Skulls to Cross as he goes up against the Earl himself. The fight doesn't last long, only long enough for Fourteenth to dig out the rest of the chains holding the Ark down. After that, he whisks the Exorcists onto the Ark, and they tear down the door that Rhode built leading to the Plant Egg.
And the end of everything, Lavi is assigned to "guarding" the Fourteenth Noah. In reality, his job is to watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything traitor-ly.
The year after that is 1901, when Kanda is also assigned "guard" duty.
1903.
The namesake of this whole universe. It's the year when everything will end, if all goes according to plan.
The Grand Generals are becoming suspicious of the Fourteenth's constant contact with Cross Marian. With only a few months left in the year, they revoke Lavi's and Kanda's duties as "guards" and assign Howard Link instead. Kanda is back to being a normal Exorcist. Lavi is given the task of researching anything and everything he can about the Fourteenth's past.
Fourteenth is told that he must cease contact with General Cross Marian.
Four years later was met with an unfortunate accident. The Walker family was on their way to Sunday church when they encountered a man trying to mug another individual. No one tried to stop him. This was not because no one cared.
No one stopped him because the 'victim' was actually an Akuma. Enraged, the biological weapon killed its attempted mugger, then proceeded to slaughter and devour everyone else in the church. The Fourteenth's parents were just two of the many victims that were killed before an Exorcist arrived-- too late.
The boy, being only 4, blamed the Exorcist for not coming earlier. As he grew older, he began blaming himself as well, for not being able to do anything that could possibly save them. But Mana, the sensible 12 year old, was there to console him, and so he was able to come to terms with the issue-- it was done and over with. Grieving for the dead would do no good.
For the next four years, Mana and his younger brother continued attending their classes, using whatever money their parents had left to pay for food, clothing, and other necessities. With Mana there to watch the expenses, the younger brother was rather sheltered from the knowledge their money could run out at any moment. Despite this, however, the Fourteenth never wanted to spend money randomly. He had long since accepted the fact that all he needed was Mana, and he would be happy.
Mana was his world. His only brother. His only family. The only one he loved, and the only one who loved him back.
1874, with their funds running low, Mana proposed that he and his brother go on a trip and earn a bit of cash. The boy, naturally had no arguments, although he did miss his few friends. The two of them joined a circus. They could continue going from circus to circus with Mana as a Pierrot and his brother as an assistant.
For 7 years they did this, and Mana would teach his younger brother whatever studies he knew or could remember. This way, if they ever managed to enroll in a school, the Fourteenth would not be behind.
As it turned out, it wasn't necessary.
In September of 1881, Mana came down with what was supposed to be a simple cold and a headache or two. It lasted for weeks, and when October arrived, the bleeding and Awakening began. Two days later, the screaming had stopped, and Mana's still was a deathly gray tone.
The next week, there was no warning. Mana's younger brother collapsed on his way out of bed one morning, the convulsions hit, the bleeding, the scratching, the screaming--
The feeling of helpless during Mana's Awakening was bad enough. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do. And now the same thing was happening, and there was nothing Mana could do. If there was anyone the Fourteenth hated to put in a helpless position, it was Mana.
But it happened.
With their odd colorings, the gray skin and gold eyes, Mana and his brother took to going under cover. There was enough in their savings to last a few months, until they could find out what was wrong. Just when they decided to ask a church, the Earl approached them in the middle of December and brought them to his mansion.
There, they met Rhode. And the Fourteenth finally had another playmate.
Mana had always been the more sensible of the two, so even as a Noah, he rarely succumbed to his hatred of humanity, but neither did he stop his younger brother from joining in on Rhode's little games.
The next few months were spent practicing. Mana learned to control his powers, whereas the younger brother learned to put the constant onslaught of memories on hold. Sometimes he'd forget himself, believed he was someone he was in the past, believed he was still in Egypt, or taking a trip to China. But Mana was there, so he made a conscious effort to lock up those memories until they were necessary.
Somewhere along the way, the younger half of the Fourteenth Noah took up sword fighting lessons, sharpened his skills and his rapiers, bought many of them. He liked slashing, stabbing, killing, playing little games at Rhode's side. Collecting things was also on his to-do list, but it never escalated to collecting body parts until an incident took place.
He fancied a girl. He liked her eyes in particular. They were like.. like little jewels. And when she dumped him for someone else, he wrenched those eyes out. If he couldn't have them, then no one else would.
The pastor at the church he frequented during childhood taught him, "Idle hands are the devil's tools. Idle hands are hands that do naught."
And so he never did naught. He learned to fight, he learned to kill, he learned to play the piano. He loved the piano. It came to him easily, and there was no blood to be spilled, there were no horrifying screams, no disgusting sounds of flesh being ripped open. Just music. Music that he made.
He loved the piano.
In 1833, on their way to retrieve and destroy a piece of Innocence, Mana took a detour and had a cup of coffee with a pair of Exorcists. The younger brother never knew what was discussed, only that Mana decided to hand over the Innocence instead of destroying it.
This was balanced out by an event that took place a few weeks afterward, where the two hosts of the Fourteenth Noah came across an elderly Bookman while in Russia. Upon the younger brother's insistence, the two Walkers proceeded to travel with Bookman for a handful of months before Bookman had to go elsewhere.
1884. Mana and his younger brother stumble upon a secret room created without the Earl's knowledge by a previous Fourteenth Noah. The younger brother, however, was the only one who could pilot the Ark, and thus made an external key for his older brother. Thus, Timcanpy came into existence.
While testing it out, they come across one Cross Marian whom Mana had made the acquaintance up a few months ago. During the brief scuffle, the younger brother used Cross's taunting as an opening to gouge out the Exorcist's right eye. With both sides sustaining mild injuries, the Noahs retreated back onto the Ark.
Like deja vu, the next 4 years were, yet again, lived in relative calmness-- as calm as four Noahs could live, anyway. Family picnics, little gatherings, field trips to the South Pole for some penguin-sledding, invading underground tombs in China, all the while causing havoc and destruction for the entire world. Yup. Such was the life of the Noah Clan.
1888. Everything changed.
One a daily excursion in the mansion (read: making a mess of), the younger brother found a little something odd. He showed Mana first, and with his agreement, they both asked the Earl about it. Wanting to keep such an ordeal a secret, the Earl tried to kill the younger brother. Tried. Because Mana came to, and together they escaped the mansion using the Ark, simultaneously locking any and all of its doors.
For the next 4 years (good things come in threes; bad things come in fours), Mana and his younger brother try to search for an Exorcist while hiding from the Earl at the same time. But Cross is an elusive man, nearly impossible to find, especially for a pair of Noahs on the run from their own Earl.
1892.
Eventually they do find him, and after an initial refusal to apologize, the younger Fourteenth revealed that he had angered the Earl, and that it was one of the few things he was sorry for. He asked (and somehow convinced) Cross to watch over Mana, claiming that he would return one day. Mana and the younger brother both transfer their halves of the memory, as well as the ability to control to Ark, into the body of a child.
The younger brother leaves with the last of his power to confront the Earl once more, and Mana names the child "Allen", adopting him as his own son.
The confrontation fails, and the younger brother dies in the mansion at the hands of the Earl.
In 1895, "Allen" receives a mental shock at the death of the circus' performing dog. The Fourteenth, now whole again, uses this chance to take over the body. But the happiness and reunion is short lived.
A month later, the Earl finds them and kills Mana, believing the child to be nothing more than just that-- a child. Someone who could possible become an Akuma.
But the Fourteenth knew better than to call a soul back from the dead, even before he became a Noah. It was no use grieving for those long gone.
Not longer after, Cross shows up, hoping to take the child in before the Noah awakened, but it was already too late. Cross ceased communication with the Order for the next (yup) four years in order to help the Fourteenth assimilate into his host's body, as well as to learn control (if only minutely) of the apparent Innocence that was his left arm.
A little over two years passed before the Fourteenth made an attempt to repair the state of his mind. It ended horribly, with the Noah having to be sealed up in his own hidden room. Cross liked to call it his 'Black mode', which was technically true. The current Fourteenth was only a watered down version of who he was before, but when his restraints were lifted, he gained the powers that Mana had. Knowledge on how to use them, however.. he didn't have that.
A few weeks later was met with Bookman and his young apprentice, Michael. The most unfortunate timing, as the Noah had managed to slip out of the sealed room and into the real world, only to stumble upon Bookman's little apprentice. Ireland was a familiar climate, but it did nothing to placate the Fourteenth's raging Memory.
Another brief scuffle, another stolen eye, for no reason other than that it was attractive.
It was enough for the Fourteenth, but not for Michael. In the end, Cross and Bookman had to restrain their individual charges.
1899 was the end of the four year training, and with that, Cross returned to the Order. The Fourteenth agreed to attend Cross's audit outside of HQ, complete with the full gathering of Generals. During the audit, he also agreed to a "partnership", or "alliance". He would provide the Order with the use of Noah's Ark and assist in the fight with the Earl if the Order did not attack him.
At the end of the year 1899, Cross disappears. Lavi, Linali, Krory, and Bookman to head to China to pick up Miranda, who had just finished her training. The whole gang then follows Fourteenth's hint that Cross is in Japan, but the Noah doesn't follow them, nor does he allow them to use the Ark that is still swarming with Akuma and Skulls.
Once in Japan, Fourteenth rejoins the group after cleaning out the main rooms of the Ark, leaving the Skulls to Cross as he goes up against the Earl himself. The fight doesn't last long, only long enough for Fourteenth to dig out the rest of the chains holding the Ark down. After that, he whisks the Exorcists onto the Ark, and they tear down the door that Rhode built leading to the Plant Egg.
And the end of everything, Lavi is assigned to "guarding" the Fourteenth Noah. In reality, his job is to watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything traitor-ly.
The year after that is 1901, when Kanda is also assigned "guard" duty.
1903.
The namesake of this whole universe. It's the year when everything will end, if all goes according to plan.
The Grand Generals are becoming suspicious of the Fourteenth's constant contact with Cross Marian. With only a few months left in the year, they revoke Lavi's and Kanda's duties as "guards" and assign Howard Link instead. Kanda is back to being a normal Exorcist. Lavi is given the task of researching anything and everything he can about the Fourteenth's past.
Fourteenth is told that he must cease contact with General Cross Marian.