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English
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Part 2 of Yullen Week is Every Week
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Published:
2021-06-07
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2022-12-21
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21/21
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The Moving Castle

Chapter 8: In Which Allen has a Nightmare

Summary:

The title of the chapter says it all! but there's also some (probably) OOC soft!Kanda in this chapter, and Mugen being Mugen

Notes:

I just finished cleaning my dishes by hand since my dishwasher is broken. It was terrible T^T

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Frustrated, Allen downed his entire cup until nothing was left. That hopelessness was choking him again, only made worse by the feeling that he wasn’t really cut out for breaking contracts. The one better suited seemed to be Lavi who had explicitly stated that he was good at breaking curses. Curses and contracts weren’t exactly the same, but Lavi would probably fare much better than Allen ever could. 

 

Why had he even agreed to break the contract in the first place? Why had he disillusioned himself? Was he that desperate for someone, even a fire demon to break his own curse? They had already tried to give him hints but he was too dense to notice them. Why was Tiedoll making it sound like Allen was their last resort?

 

It was like a boulder was sitting on his shoulders, and everything was up to him. He didn’t feel qualified or comfortable with such an important responsibility. Tiedoll opened his mouth to say something else when Kanda stomped—he was always stomping around it seemed—over to the table and slammed a piece of paper onto it.

 

“What is this?” He demanded, his eyes narrowed and his mouth in a thin angry line. Tiedoll picked up the piece of paper and went utterly pale, and dropped it as if it was on fire. Allen then picked it up too and read it.

 

It was another poem, but this one didn’t seem to be written by Tiedoll at all. The handwriting was messier and less elegant than the first. This one’s handwriting was rushed, cramped and small.

 

“Take hold of the moon

Learn to love without a heart

Burn all that is near”

 

It wasn’t signed by anyone this time, but Tiedoll and Kanda seemed to understand. It didn’t even really classify as a Haiku like the last one did.

 

“What does it mean?” Allen asked, once he realized no one was going to tell him anything if he didn’t ask.

 

“We need to leave,” Kanda said instead of answering him. Lavi had just walked in, looking just as confused as Allen felt.

 

“Why?” Lavi asked, tugging on his shoulder when Kanda tried to walk out. “What’s going on?”

 

Kanda sighed and finally said, “The Earl’s curse has finally caught me,”

 

What? How?!” Allen exclaimed, getting to his feet. They hadn’t even run into the Earl in a few days. How could he have cursed Kanda without even being present?

 

“Through the poetry,” Lavi muttered, loud enough for Allen to hear. “When you opened the door, the Earl sent the poem through to draw Kanda here to retrieve the real spell. The paper on top of the spell we needed was the that—” he pointed at the poem on the table. “—and Kanda touched it.”

 

“We need to go,” Kanda ground out, getting paler and angrier by the second. “Now more than ever, I need to find a way to get the King to leave me alone so I can avoid running into the Earl,”

 

Allen followed him and Lavi outside and all the way out to the shed. Tiedoll followed them, looking really guilty for allowing the Earl to finally catch up to him.

 

“I’m so sorry Yuu,” He said, tears trailing down his cheeks in messy drops. “I didn’t realize that the Earl was so cunning,”

 

Kanda rolled his eyes and swung the door open violently. The castle was warm and waiting for them, but Kanda turned to Tiedoll with an angry expression.

 

“Why are you crying?” He asked flatly, as if he was done with all of this already. “It’s not your fault or anyone else’s. The Earl was bound to catch me eventually,”

 

“I suppose…” Tiedoll sniffled, producing a handkerchief from nowhere. “Be careful, okay? And good luck,”

 

Kanda nodded curtly and all three of them left.

 

“Mugen,” Kanda called as the door shut behind them. “He found us,” 

 

“I know,” Mugen replied, his voice shaky and nervous. “I felt it take,”




 

 

After that it was hard for Allen to even get a word in with Mugen and try to get answers. Everything was moving too fast for him to keep up. He couldn’t ask about his violin bow either. Lavi and Kanda had both decided that moving the castle was the best option since the Earl had caught up to them, but they weren’t sure where to move it to.

 

So while they figured out that part, they measured the entire castle, once, twice, and thrice. Kanda suggested that they leave Ingary all together, but Allen objected instantly.

 

For as much as he was avoiding seeing his family he didn’t want to be an entire country away, and Lavi nearly looked as if he was about to pass out at the mere thought of leaving Lenalee. So Kanda ended up letting Lavi decide where they moved because they couldn’t agree on any locations.

 

Allen watched him measure the castle again from where he was tuning his violin. “You’ve done that four times now,” He said, testing out the strings before deciding that it sounded about right.

 

“If we’re moving Mugen then it needs to be as accurate as possible,” Kanda huffed, moving random things around for the millionth time to measure it. His hair swept to the side and secured with a ribbon, and there were bundles of dust in it. As Kanda passed him, he plucked the biggest one out without realizing what he was doing.

 

Once he did, though, he pretended as if it never happened and ducked away. He pretended to not notice Kanda’s look of surprise. 

 

“Kingsbury door!” Mugen exclaimed just as Kanda opened his mouth to speak. Allen let out a breath of relief. There were a few more knocks at the door. “No Earl in sight. They’re all flesh and blood,”

 

Mugen had taken up the habit of telling them who was knocking ever since they realized the curse was now in effect. It was a way to ease everyone’s worries when someone knocked on the door.

 

Kanda strode over, running his hands through his hair as he picked out the remaining dust. He twisted the doorknob until it was red-down and threw it open.

 

“Yes?” He asked, and Allen walked over to take a peek at whoever was outside. There were about five men standing at the door. Two of which were flag-bearing men, who held the pink and yellow flags of Ingary. Two others were bowing and the last man was holding out a parchment scroll.

 

“The King has formally invited you, Wizard Pendragon, and one other to attend his annual masquerade ball,” The person announced in a pompous and high-pitched tone. “Please bring this to the castle in three days on the day of the ball for entrance,”

 

Allen honestly expected Kanda to decline the offer all together, considering he was trying to avoid both the King and the Earl, but to his surprise he took the scroll and bowed.

 

“Tell the King I will be attending,” He replied gruffly, before slamming the door in their faces. Allen raised his eyebrows when Kanda turned to him and looked him up and down. “We’ll need to get you something to wear,”

 

It took him a second to respond. “I— what?!” He exclaimed, suddenly feeling immensely nervous. “We’re actually going? Why am I going? I hope you know I can’t dance,”

 

Kanda leaned against the door languidly, with a hand on the hilt of his sword. “Yes, we’re going,” He answered, “This is our chance to prove to the King that I’m not fit for the job,”

 

“But…” Allen didn’t know what to say. He’d never been to a party in his life to have fun and potentially talk to a King before. He didn’t know what to say, or what to do, or even what to wear. Usually he went to parties to provide music and get paid. “I—”

 

“It’ll be fine,” Kanda promised him, “I’ll tell you what to say when you meet him. And you won’t have to learn how to dance, my magic can help you,”

 

Allen knew Kanda wasn’t going to let him wiggle his way out, and he was right on all accounts. They truly didn’t have many options right now, and this had been presented to them right when they needed it most.

 

“Fine,” he relented, sagging his shoulders in defeat. “But you owe me something,”

 

“You only need to ask,” Kanda said, with no hint of hesitation. “And I’ll give you anything,”

 

Allen felt all the blood in his body rush straight to his face, and he covered his mask with his hands. “Why’d you say it like that?”

 

“Like what?” Kanda asked, but Allen could see the hardly-there uptick of his mouth. “Tomorrow we’ll go out and get you clothes fit to see a king in. Soon after the ball we’ll move house,”

 

Allen managed to nod and step aside when Kanda went to the fireplace. They spoke in hushed voices for a moment before Kanda stepped into the bathroom.

 

Mugen watched him go with an annoyed look. “He’s being reckless again,” he said, mostly to himself. “The king could have invited the Earl to the ball too, in an attempt to make peace with him after what happened to Prince Tyki and Link. That or the Earl could realize that Kanda is going and crash the party as a result,”

 

“But the curse,” Allen chimed in, “It hasn’t been fulfilled. Why would he approach Kanda before then?”

 

“To attempt to speed it along, I’d assume,” Mugen told him, before leaning tiredly on his bed of logs. “Believe it or not a lot of the curse has been completed already,”

 

Allen thought back to the verses of the poem. “I didn’t understand most of it honestly. But the most impossible task seems to be ‘Take hold of the moon.’. How could he possibly do that? And even then how could he learn how to love without a heart when he obviously doesn’t seem like the type to actually be in love with someone?”

 

It hurt to say, but it was true. No matter how many times Kanda was strangely nice to him, or a bit too soft-hearted toward him, Allen still wouldn’t hurt himself by believing that Kanda liked him in such a meaningful way. He had his reputation in Market Chipping for a reason, and he wasn’t about to become another heart of the collection.

 

Denial at its best.

 

Mugen didn’t respond. Instead he started snoring loudly, so Allen reluctantly decided he should probably clean or play a song or two. After a moment’s deliberation he picked up his violin that he had already tuned and lifted it to his shoulder so that he could rest his chin on the chinrest. It was always awkward, playing now since he was always wearing his mask, but he’d learned to adjust everything a little so it was easier.

 

For the next hour or so he revisited a few of the songs he’d memorized, filling the castle with it’s high-pitched, lively and bright sound. 

 

Then he started to play one of his songs that he wrote when Mana’s sickness was at its worst. He remembered when he spoke magic into this one. This particular piece was the kind that built up over time, and when he’d been writing it he kept telling it that it would heal. He had fooled himself into thinking that playing it would keep Mana from dying from whatever illness that affected him.

 

Thinking back on it, that was probably the reason why his condition went from the worst possible to something more reversible.

 

A solitary note rang out, slow and alone, the bow sliding gently over the strings. One note bled into another, pushing and pulling, going faster and then slower. Forming a familiar and nostalgic beat.

 

“I don’t know which one I like more,” came Kanda’s voice suddenly, from behind him. “This one, or the one you wrote recently.”

 

He was so thoroughly startled by Kanda’s sudden outburst that he flinched and the notes turned sour and shrieked. Allen turned around and glared at him. He almost pointed his bow at him too, but he remembered what Tiedoll told him and stopped. Allen wasn’t sure what would happen if he started swinging it around wildly and without purpose.

 

“Don’t glare at me because you weren’t paying attention, Moyashi,” Kanda said with his arms crossed. His hair was shiny and clean, and his eyes seemed to be a bit darker and more mysterious than before. It was probably a spell. He was wearing a new jacket over his usual outfit, a dark navy one with a small amount of thick gold tassels and gold stitching. It reminded Allen of something a person would wear when they were high-ranking in the military. It looked good on him.

 

He tore his eyes away. “Whatever Bakanda,”

 

“I’ll be out for a bit,” Kanda said suddenly, with no outward reaction to the sudden nickname. “I’m changing all of the locations for the door soon so I have to go set them up before we move Mugen out of Porthaven,”

 

“Okay,”

 

“I’ll be home soon,”

 

 


 

 

Blood was everywhere. It was splattered along the walls like some twisted abstract painting, and it pooled on the carpeted floor beneath him. He could feel the warm stickiness of it.

 

The edges of his vision were blurry and dark, but the scent of iron in the air was unmistakable, and the pain scorching every inch of him explained where it had come from. He hardly had the strength to think through the pain. And all he could think was that this was a lot of blood.

 

He tried to move, but that made the pain cut through him even sharper than before until he choked on something wet. All he could move was his head without being in an unbearable amount of pain. Blood spilled past his lips when he looked into the mirror to his right.

 

The Earl stood there, covered in blood just as Allen was. Even his umbrella was dripping with it, and he was still smiling that wicked smile. He decided to ignore the two other bodies that looked suspiciously like Mana and Nea.

 

They were twisted at odd angles and hardly looked human anymore. His chest was heavy, as if something or someone was sitting on top of him. Tears stung at his eyes, but he couldn’t manage to move so he could wipe them away.

 

“A pity, really,” The Earl commented, “Human bodies are much more delicate than I remember. I was too rough with you, wasn’t I?”

 

That’s when Allen thought to look at himself in the mirror. His tears obscured his vision so much so that he couldn’t get a good, clear look at himself, but he knew it was bad.

 

“There are enough wizards in this world,” The Earl said, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe away some of the blood. All it did was smear it. He walked over to him so that he was towering over Allen. “You understand, don’t you? You did this to yourself,”

 

He reached out and caressed Allen’s face. The Akuma behind him swarmed closer and closer until he couldn’t see anything else.

 

“But don’t worry. I’ll make you useful still. How would you like to become one of my pets? Being an Akuma has it perks,”

 

He grabbed Allen’s face when he said this, his eyes glowing with malice that Allen could taste on his tongue among his own blood. He tried to push him away, but found that he couldn’t move at all. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”

 

When he said that, the Akuma behind him all lunged forward like rabid dogs, clawing and screaming as they fought their way toward Allen. The Earl stood to his full height and walked out the door.

 

He didn’t look back, even when his henchmen raced forward.

 

They converged on him at once, slicing through his clothes and into his skin as they fought over him. Something cold and slimy forced its way down his throat, even as he clawed and kicked. He was too weak. He had lost too much blood, and nothing was working the way it was supposed to. There was nothing he could do, before the darkness claimed him completely.

 

 




He woke up with a scream dying on his lips. Without a single thought he yanked his mask off his face and let it fall wherever. He was going to throw up. He could feel it climbing up his throat, acidic and hot.

 

Allen blindly stumbled toward the bathroom, and didn’t care enough to close the door. He barely got to the toilet before everything came up. He swore he could see blood on every surface, but he blinked and nothing was there.

 

He was shaking so bad from adrenaline and fear that he was surprised he could keep himself upright. He vomited again, and tried to mentally scrub away the feeling of something forcing its way down his throat. Trying to forget the phantom pain, and the blood.

 

Trying to forget the Earl’s smile, and the way his father and uncle had been twisted and broken. He knew it was just a nightmare. A sick, twisted version of what happened the night he was cursed, but it left him horrified.

 

“Go back upstairs and sleep, idiot.” Kanda said softly, from right outside the bathroom. “You’ll just talk him to death instead of doing anything to help,”

 

Allen dry-heaved into the toilet, shaking and miserable. There was nothing left in his stomach, but somehow dry-heaving felt much worse. Then he heard a sigh much closer to him than he was expecting, and tensed.

 

“Is it okay if I help you?” Kanda asked, a bit farther away this time. His tone of voice hadn’t changed from his usual tone, which was comforting in itself. “I’m just going to pull your hair back for you,”

 

Allen thought about it for a second before croaking out, “That’s… that’s fine,”

 

Seconds later there fingers in his hair, tugging at any knots before Kanda used a ribbon to keep his hair back. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kanda lean against the wall to the left of him. He had his eyes closed and his arms crossed. His hair was down, and it spilled down his shoulders and back.

 

He had been sleeping, and Allen woke him up due to his stupid nightmare. His stomach dropped even further and he glared at his shaking hands.

 

“Before you beat yourself up over it, I just got home. You didn’t wake me up, but you did scare the living shit out of Lavi, which is always fun,” Kanda said, and from his tone Allen could tell that he was probably half-smiling half-frowning. 

 

He wiped away his tears with the back of his hands. Once Allen was sure he wasn’t about to throw up anymore he flushed the toilet, sat back and angled his face away from Kanda’s. “Aren’t you… going to ask me something?”

 

Kanda hummed lazily, “Like what? Your nightmare is none of my business unless you want to talk about it. Your face and your arm are also none of my business although I can sense one of the Earl’s curses a mile away. Unless you want to talk about it.”

 

It was then that Allen risked a look at him, and he noticed that he was holding his mask. He slowly shook his head, and Kanda finally snapped open his eyes. He had the instinctual urge to shrink back as Kanda studied his face. His expression didn’t change, and Allen finally relaxed.

 

“Figured,” He said, but he didn’t sound mad. He walked out of the bathroom and came back a few seconds later with a cup. “Here.”

 

Allen pulled himself to his feet and took the cup. Whatever was in it was minty and stung his mouth, but not in a way that was painful. He spat it out in the sink, grateful that his mouth didn’t taste foul anymore.

 

Kanda reached over and waved his hand over the cup and looked into it. The cup was suddenly a little warmer. “There.”

 

Allen looked into it too, curious. The minty mixture had turned into tea. “Drink it,” Kanda pressed, narrowing his eyes. “And then we’re going back to bed,”

 

He drank the entire thing in just a few sips, and it vanished from his hands as soon as it was empty. “Why do I even bother to do anything when you can just do it with magic?” He asked tiredly.

 

Kanda just let out an amused puff of air through his nose and shook his head as he walked ahead of him. “Up here,” He said, “You can sleep up in my room,”

 

Immediately Allen opened his mouth to protest, but Kanda was already walking up the stairs and he didn’t feel like protesting after throwing up so much. He dutifully followed after him. The door to his room was already open when they arrived, and Allen was surprised to see that it was surprisingly tidy in there. There was a huge four-poster bed that took up most of the space, but there was a desk to their left against the wall. There was a mountain of books open on that desk, but other than that his room was clean. Much cleaner than Lavi’s room.

 

Later, he would only vaguely recall Kanda handing him his mask which Allen put on the nightstand nearest to him before he passed out under the blankets. He didn’t have any dreams at all, and it was the best night of sleep he ever had.

 

It was probably due to the song Kanda was humming under his breath next to him. Or maybe he imagined it. 

 

Notes:

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!!! <3