CHAPTER 1: Weight of the World

Chaos looked up at the clock. Her hood covered her hair, her hair covered her face. TThe baggy sweatshirt she wore hid the fact you could practically see her bones, and her pale skin seemed so fragile against the flourescent lights in the classroom.

It was only 12:13.

Lunch started at 12:20. When the lunch bell rang, everyone flooded the hallways to get their food. Chaos was the opposite. She despised the lunch hour, always just sat outside in the hall writing poems or drawing. She never, ever ate. Anything. Ever.

The bell rang. Everyone around her dashed into the hall, but she stayed behind, taking long as possible to put her schoolwork away.

Sensei walked up to her. "Miss Keisui, you are going to be late for lunch..."

She shrugged and stood up. After only ten or so steps, she collapsed.

Sensei caught her. "When was the last time you ate, Chaos?"

Before my brother died, she thought, but dared not say. She respected Sensei, so she refused to lie to him. However, she could not tell the truth; not to this question, at least.

Sensei sighed. "You are welcome to stay here, if you would prefer..."

Chaos sat herself in the back seats of the room. Opening her notebook, she began to write.

Late at night, beneath the cliffs,

Your ghost arrives on a sunken ship.

Beware this land's forbidden fruit

Or from a liar's lips, you'll hear truth.

For honesty, we had to lie.

You gave your life, so I wouldn't die.

Sooner than I liked, you joined the sun,

So now I am the only one.

The poem , of course, was for her brother, Akeshedu, who had died a month prior trying to protect her from her own demise. At the bottom of the page, she wrote the date, and then scrawled a simple sentence:

I will die today.

"You will what when?"

She slammed the notebook closed and looked up. Envy, her friend, was standing behind her. He sat in the seat next to her, putting his arm over her fragile shoulders quietly.

Chaos smiled at the way his fingers caressed her neck. He would always come to visit her while she was in school. She enjoyed Envy's company. He asked questions, and was concerned, but knew when to draw the line. Plus, he was cute, in a murderous sort of way.

Likewise, Envy enjoyed Chaos' company. Very kind, tolerant, and modest, she stood up for all of her friends, and asked for nothing in return.

Of course, that was the old Chaos.

This new one, as a few had noticed, was very quiet and reserved. She had become a hollow shell of what she used to be, losing so much weight that a tee-shirt that used to be too tight now hung loosely off of her tiny figure. She constantly wore jackets nowadays, and Envy could only guess - although he was pretty sure he already knew - what was hidden beneath those sleeves. Chaos was fading fast, and she needed help before she quietly slipped away. It wasn't like you could just hit her upside the head and she'd go back to normal.