Better the Devil

Chapter One

hates human the most, well maybe not the most, since obviously Skin Boric who by the way represent the “hatred” of Noah also hates human and the state of the world.

She hates human and yet not hates them enough to actually caused suffering unless they deserved it. It was kind of complicated. has a mixed feeling about human after all. Tyki sometimes wondered if she actually loves or hates human since sometimes she seemed to exhibits soft side toward a few human probably due to her human side, her ‘white’ form.

However, the Earl and the other Noah had seen her Noah side, her ‘black’ form which was, as it should be, cruel and merciless at times, dangerous and unpredictable (what with her mixed feeling). But what she represents as a Noah is also troubling for her Noah side, her ‘black’ form.

You see, she is a Noah who represents “pain”. She felt others’ pain. Her power allowed her to feel others’ emotional pain (kind of like empathy, a power which she couldn’t quite control yet), removes or inflicted physical pain and emotional pain in others (which allow her to torture or save the intended target’s body and mind). She has the power of summoning and manipulating fire at will (she uses this technique to set or boil people on fire from outside or inside the body which was icky btw or creating barrier of fire to protect herself from enemies’ attack). She could also literally tear people’s body apart by her bare hands.

hates human probably have something to do with her dark past. She had experienced a series of unfortunate events which led her to meet and joined the Millennium Earl.

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Ever since was a little girl, she has exhibited the Noah's genes, little bit by bit but it is definitely there. The first time she had shown sign of Noah power was when she was seven years old. She was an orphan and lived in a small, dirty and poor orphanage. The owner of the caretaker was a drunken man who likes gambling and torturing little kids with hard works.

When he had lost his money and unable to pay his debt, he sold for one night to an old man who apparently had a fetish for little girl. He tried to rape and the little girl, who was scared beyond belief, accidentally set a small fire on his right hand. used the opportunity as the old man was busy putting out the fire to run away.

The old man was obviously upset and a bit scared too. He demanded his money back from the caretaker. He also told the caretaker that the little girl was a freak of nature. Angry, the caretaker who had caught hit and tortured her then trapped her in basement. This time however her power failed to show up for her.

Owner of a freak circus heard about the incident of fire and offered the caretaker amount of money in exchange to sold to him. At first, the owner was kind to ; treated her wounds, gave her good food and clothes, etc. But when she failed to invoke her power after three weeks, the owner figured she was a fake and that he had been lied to. Feeling that he had wasted money on , he forced to work hard at the circus. When she made mistakes, he would punish her cruelly. He had her caged in an animal cage and sometimes tortured or make fun of her.

Four month later, was rescued by a traveling priest who took pity on the little girl. The kind priest took her to his small hometown village. lived happily with the priest and his family (a wife and seven daughters) at the village’s big and old church. The priest got into the village’s school to receive education. The priest’s family all adored so much. She lived with them for two happy years.

However a tragedy strikes the priest and his family. They were killed by six landlords who owned most of the village because apparently the priest had discovered something that he shouldn’t, the crime of the six landlords. The priest intended to tell the police about the crime, however, he and his family was shot to death by the six landlords who were determined to hide their crime to their graves. The six landlords then abandoned the priest and his family inside the church then burned the place down.

survived because she wasn’t around and was at a classmate’s house for sleepover when it happened, or so the landlords all thought. , who was at her friend’s house, was asleep but woke up with a nightmare. That’s when she felt a flash of pain which she recognized come from her adoptive family. Worried, slipped out of the house unnoticed and went to the church just in time to witness everything. She was scared but unable to do anything about it.

However one of the landlords, the younger ones, saw her and asked her to keep quiet. After the other landlords left the crime scene, he fled into the church and to ’s surprise, he came out with one of the priest’s daughter. They rushed her to the hospital outside the village.

The young landlord was having a love relationship with the survived priest’s daughter before the tragedy happened. The man left his lover and went back with to the village to avoid the suspicion arouse from the other landlords. He cut the other six priest’s daughter to make it look like there were seven dead bodies so that his lover would be safe from harm.

The man asked to keep what she saw that day a secret so that she wasn’t considered a threat by the others. , later, was taken in by the man into his house. The others considered that the man took pity to the-now-orphaned little girl. also found out from the man that the priest’s daughter who had survived has gone missing from hospital…

asked the man with teary eyes, “Why does people hurt and destroy each other?”

The man was slightly caught off guard by her question but he couldn’t answer it, instead he hugged her. “-chan, this place is no longer a good place for you to live in. Tomorrow I shall take you to downtown and find you a suitable family…”

The man took to an orphanage at downtown and left her there after talking to the owner who was a nun to get a good family. The man took a look at ’s sad face and pat her head. “Be good…” Then he whispered, “Just forget all that happened… You must move on…”

But didn’t forget. She couldn’t and she won’t. A few month later, who were bullied by other kids, ran away from the orphanage. She was rescued by a husband and wife who worked as farmer at a nearby village. They took her in their home as their daughter. The pair hadn’t had any children of their own so they were happy to receive into their house. She was raised there till age of 12. They were a good people and quite enjoyed and loved them.

However when a financial disaster strikes and the farm was destroyed, the pair had to give up in order to pay their debts. felt betrayed by the ones who sworn to love her. At the times, apparently it was normal for parents to sell their children to pay or get some money. Apparently the man they sold to, later, sell her to a brothel at some other town.

was twelve years old and was forced to work hard at the brothel as a servant. However, a year later, when some pervert saw her good look, he wanted to have ‘some’. The brothel’s owner gladly received money from him and allowed him to take and do what he wants.

fought back when the man tried to force himself on her. She hit him with a nearby lamp and he fainted. When the brothel’s owner found out about what she did, she punished severely and put her in cage as punishment without food for a week. was a very brave girl. She would rather die than be forced to become a whore even to earn money.

An old gentleman, who had taken a liking at when he saw her at market, paid the brothel’s owner amount of money to free from that horrible place. The old man was kind and obviously rich. However he had a weird behavior to dress like a doll. He would get upset when moved too much. The old man claimed that he wanted to educate to be an honorable lady but apparently that is not the case here…

The old man was crazy after he lost his only granddaughter who had quite a resemblance with . was terrified with the old man and wanted to run away but she was caught in the act. As punishment, the old man rambled something about breaking her legs permanently so that she couldn’t run anymore.

was scared beyond belief and she must have lost her consciousness because when she woke up, she saw the room was filled with blood and torn-up body of the old man. Her hands and body were covered by the blood of the old man. Scared, exited and run away from the house into the woods. Police were looking for her when they found out about the death of the old man for questioning but was too scared to come forward because she started to think that she might be the killer after all…

must have amount of bad luck because she was caught by the brothel’s owner a few days later. The woman forced to work for her again or be handed over to the police. The woman didn’t believe the rumor that was a killer but when she saw the frightened girl, she figured she could use it to blackmail her. When refused, the woman hit her. Boy was that a wrong move!

When woke up, she witnessed the brothel and the residents there were all dead. They were dead in the same manner the old man was! Their bodies were torn apart by something that obviously strong enough to do that kind of damage. found her hands and body were covered by their blood which indicated that she might be the killer. But how can she be? She was just a kid, she wasn’t strong and surely she would remember killing them, right?

was in shock. When the police found the bloody scene, they also suspected but couldn’t quite believe a thirteen-years-old child would be able to do that kind of damage. The town people were afraid of even after she was locked into a mental hospital. They called her ‘demon child’. Later, was transferred to another mental hospital at a small village nearby because the town people had voted to get rid of the ‘cursed’ child away from their town.

Apparently, ’s suffering hadn’t ended yet. In the mental hospital she was in, she was cared by a handsome doctor called Muraki. Muraki had heard about ’s case and taken quite an interest in her. Although he treated kind, he had other motive. He had to trust him and open up about herself and her fear.

admitted to Muraki that she might be ‘cursed’ because misfortune seem to befallen her and the people around her whether they deserved it or not. She was scared that she might be a demon child as the others had termed her. Muraki assured that she was just ‘special’.

Meanwhile, in village, people started to get killed one by one. Their bodies were cut into pieces. When the village people knew about a mental patient called and the case she was involved in, they quickly jumped into conclusion and accused her responsible of all the death in the village. The village people were enraged and taken matters into their own hands. They decided to pass judgment toward without gave her a chance to defend herself.

They hit her, curse her and tortured her without mercy. had cried and begged for mercy, however, they ignored her. The village people were blinded by rage to listened or acted rationally. What hurt the most was that Muraki hadn’t done anything to her defend and she swore she saw a smile at Muraki’s face but quickly disappeared just as it came.

didn’t have time to dwelled in her feeling of betrayal and hurt because the next she knew the village people had taken her to the woods to her ‘grave’. They dug a hole to bury the ‘demon child’ so that ‘she could returned to hell where she belongs’. was tossed inside the hole and was buried alive.

At the times, the one thought that ran in ’s mind was, “I hate human!’. wanted to curse them, to hurt them the way they hurt her.

When thought she had died, she somehow found her way back to the surface. She crawled out of the ‘grave’ the village people had made for her. Her body was bruised and blooded here and there. She cried to herself softly and then she lifted up her blooded face as she said, “Human… I hate them!”

set out toward the village and went on rampage. Her rage somehow set the village house in fire that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The village people were panicked to see their precious village on fire and more terrified to see the ‘demon child’ was back in their village.

But ’s appearance had changed. Her usual pale skin had turned into a caramel-colored skin and her forehead had multiple strange cross marks. Her green-colored eyes had changed into golden-colored eyes. Her long dark hair remained the same though. Yes, it was her ‘black’ form, her Noah side.

This time, hadn’t given them a chance to react and made a massacre out of the village people, without a thought and mercy. Scream of fear and terror could be heard anywhere. had killed everyone in the village down to the last bit or so she thought.

watched the burning village and the scattered body all over her. She fell on her knees and cried weakly. She reverted back to her ‘white’ form, her human side.

Suddenly Muraki appeared before ’s defeated body. “Wonderful, -chan! You’re wonderful! You really are special, after all. You really have a power and very wonderful ones too! I have found it!” He laughed crazily. “Magic does exist after all! That fire you had thrown with just a flick of your fingers… What was it? Black magic? Dark power?”

lifted up her face and glared at Muraki coldly. “Was it you who framed me?”

Muraki smiled apologetically. “I had to do it. I had to know if you are the real deal…”

“What real deal?”

“The one with demonic essence…”

flinched at the mention of ‘demonic’.

Muraki smiled and kneeled before . “After you told me about what happened in the past, I had come into conclusion that you could only invoke your power when you felt threatened, in danger or cornered…” he explained. “I’m sorry that I had to put you in pain, , but this is necessary…”

“I see… So you killed the others, framed me, in order to confirm whether I was a demon or not huh?” replied bitterly. “What do you want to do then now that you know?”

“I want to be like you…” Muraki said. “I want to have the kind of power you possessed… I had done many researches which led me to other kids just like you but mostly they are fake, but you are the real deal, ! You are! I’m so…” He didn’t get to finished his sentences because he suddenly felt his skin like boiled. He fell backward as he started to scream in pain. He looked at and asked, “Why?”

slowly stood up, eyes cold like ice. “Why?” she asked then laughed shortly. “Because I am a demon, just like you said, and demon is evil, what do you expect?” She reverted back into her ‘black’ form. “A pathetic human like you… Want to be like me…?” She snorted. “Not a chance…”

Muraki crawled toward . His whole body was contorted in pain. “Why? Didn’t we serve the same master? To Lucifer? I killed people for my Master… I killed them so that you can discover the real you… We can be together…work together to please our master…”

“I never said I answered to him…” replied with a cold smile. “You just assumed that just because I have some sort of dark power which you relate it with evil…”

Muraki’s eyes started to lose light in it. “Then…what…are…you?”

smirked. “I’m of Noah Clan…”

“Noah…?” Muraki whispered as he closes his eyes slowly.

“Well, you wouldn’t have known about it… It happened many thousand years ago after all…” replied. It seemed it wasn’t quite doing the talking, it was her personality of the past (maybe). “Sweet dream, doctor…” she said with a smile. “See you later…” felt dizzy suddenly. “…in hell…” She reverted back into her ‘white’ form and fainted.

Someone caught her before she fell to the ground. It was Tyki. Tyki watched the young girl in his arms. “You are a hard one to find, …”

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woke up in a bench. She panicked when she couldn’t remember how she woke up there. She was in abandoned church in the woods near the village. She stared at her body and realized someone had tended to her wounds. She had bandages on her forehead, shoulders, arms, stomach and legs.

“You have awaken, I see…” comes an amused voice from somewhere around.

looked around like a frightened rabbit. Then she saw a handsome man dressed like a proper gentleman. She suddenly felt familiar feeling when she saw him but dismissed it quickly.

Tyki Mikk offered the younger girl a faint, disarming smile. He didn’t want to make her scare after what she had been through; he realized it would be hard to earn her trust.

’s eyes twitched as she glared at the man. A flow of fire suddenly surrounded her as if protecting her.

Tyki stared at the fire. “Impressive…” he said. “But I’m not here to harm you, -chan…” The fire suddenly flashed brighter at that as if the girl didn’t believe a word he said.

“Aren’t you afraid of me?” suddenly asked though her eyes still shown mistrust, pain and rage. “I’m a demon, you know… I can kill you if I want to…so don’t try to lie and befriend me! Because I don’t believe you human anymore!”

Tyki took off his hat then ran a hand over his soft hair as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he stared at and smiled that I-know-something-that-you-don’t smile at . “Ah, but you see, I am NOT human, so you could trust me, couldn’t you?” he asked rather teasingly as if he was facing a small child.

Yeah, a small, very angry child, obviously. glared at him, still not believing.

“After all, we are family…” Tyki continued as he started to walk toward her calmly.

“Don’t get any closer!” yelled hysterically and with that a burst of fire suddenly surrounded Tyki.

Tyki only smiled as he continued walking toward the girl.

’s eyes widened as she saw him walked through the fire without hurting.

Tyki smiled kindly at her. “See? I told you I am not a human too.”

was speechless. She quickly withdrew. “What do you want from me?”

“I come to take you home, -chan…” Tyki replied. “I come to take you home to where our real family is… They are waiting for you, you know? We have been looking all over for you…”

“Family? My…family…?” repeated in disbelief.

“Yes.” Tyki confirmed. He offered a hand toward the girl. “Will you come with me, -chan?”

stared at the offered hand of the strange gentleman.

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Present Time

“-chan!” Road Camelot suddenly jumped to hug the older girl.

smiled at the girl. Road is like a little sister to you. “Hey…”

Road smiled as she pulled away and started to babble about school stuff and then about akumas.

listened half-heartedly since she was quite a bit distracted with her own thought and her reminiscence about the past. Her life before joining the Earl and the other Noah had been filled with suffering maybe that’s why she represents the “pain” of Noah. often pondered about that.

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Cassiel Lorna

Edited by Butterfly - May 28, 2008

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Author's Note(s):

1. The plotline about the tragedy of the priest and his family was taken from Detective Kindaichi Vol 2.

2. According to the info in wikipedia, Road is thirteen years old when the Earl found her but when she appeared later in front Allen, she was still to look like a thirteen year old meaning the Noah Clan aged slowly. But in my story, who was thirteen year old too when she joined the Earl and the other, later will appeared a little older and taller probably she would look like fifteen or sixteen my guess. Hey, this is just for fun, so bear with it.