Chapter 2: Caige and Lilith– In Absence of Reason

Silence… the type of eerie silence that vibrates through the air, bounces off the walls, and pierces your eardrum with its powerful lack of sound. Caige sat in his wooden chair, very accustom now to the back ache it caused, and stared nervously up at the ceiling. Justin had already entered the room with his own foldable metal chair- that still looked more comfortable than Caige's- and sat backwards in it. He had one hand covering his mouth- as if thinking- so that all that was revealed to Caige were his wavering icy blue eyes.

No questions had been asked yet so the silence was more than a little awkward. Caige averted his eyes from the not so interesting ceiling and stared right into Justin's blue ocular orbs. Justin made no move and didn't acknowledge the change Caige had made. Caige felt a fringe of annoyance leap into his thoughts and again focused on the silence; wishing that he heard something… anything. Justin's music was turned down a few notches but if a loud note struck then it would escape into the room, breaking the horribly loud silence.

Damn, Caige thought. He has to know something. Its cool Caige… maintain your emotions. You have come too far to be beat in a game of wits against the witless. Caige smiled at his own thoughts, after all Justin was the least witty of all the people he knew.

"Sooooo…" Caige began. "What are you thinking there Justin?" Justin's features changed but were too hard to read. It was almost like he was conflicted within his own thoughts. Caige caught glimpses of sorrow, fear, anger, and humor. What is up with this guy? Is my presence taking that much out of him?

Finally Justin snapped out of his inner conflict and lowered his hand from his mouth. "You know I can't discuss that with you at the moment. Your being interrogated you know." Justin said with a clear sense of humor on his face. Caige sighed out at the released tension between them.

Justin reached into a folder that he had been keeping at his side and pulled a few papers from it. He shifted through the papers a bit before getting to the one that had peaked his interest. "I have a few files here that I dug up from your student years at Shibusen" Justin said while flicking the papers in his finger frequently. Caige felt his right eyebrow raise half an inch while a growing sensation rose in his stomach. He did not like where this was going. "Says here that you spent your first two years at the academy with a weapon partner, and the last two without one. Can you tell me why and where that weapon partner is now?" Justin had a crooked smile on the edge of his mouth and an expression that said 'got ya'.

Caige scowled at Justin. This was not the subject he wanted to be on; he wanted to forget everything about the DWMA and his younger years as a meister. Caige grabbed at his hair nervously and stared at his old friend with a burning desire to punch him in the face. He felt this burning desire climb up his throat and physically felt its taste on his tongue; the bitter taste left him gagging for air.

"Answer the question Caige" Justin pushed, tired of waiting. "And how exactly does a lone meister graduate the academy without a weapon partner?"

"The same way you did without a meister Justin." Caige blurted out. "They had nothing left to teach me. As long as you can get the required assignments done it doesn't matter if you have a weapon or not. I got the souls and returned them to Lord Death. End of story." Caige felt the anger in his words and knew Justin wouldn't let them go.

Justin stood up out of seat and grabbed his chair; he whipped the chair around so that it faced Caige and set it down. He plopped down on the chair and leaned forward as if listening intently. "So tell me Caige. What happened to your weapon? I already know from the report, but I want to hear what you have to say."

"What does the report say?" Caige insisted.

Justin thought it out for a moment, then after deciding it wouldn't hurt if Cage knew he looked down at the report and read aloud. "Second year students Caige and Scarlet accepted a low rank escort mission. The mission, however, was an alleged hoax; put together by three witches that had the intention of luring young students to their lair. The meister Caige escaped unharmed; however his weapon Scarlet was killed."

Caige silently resented each and every word that Justin spoke. Pain crept its way into every fiber of his being and he forcefully blinked a few tears away.

"What do you think about that Caige? The report says 'alleged', that means they are going off of your word. So they don't really know, now do they?" Justin pried.

"The report is true." Caige said quietly.

"You did not kill that girl?"

"No"

"What about the three witches, do you know where they are now?"

"Dead."

Justin looked through the papers he had once again. He was clearly taken aback by Caige's last statement. He coughed awkwardly when his search turned up fruitless.

"Are we done with this topic?" Caige said quietly.

"Yah… well I don't really have any more leads. Maybe you should continue your little story. You and Lilith were together for a while before her disappearance. Tell me what happened after the attack on Bran Castle."

Caige sighed, relieved that he didn't have to relive his past at the academy a moment longer. "Ok" he said bluntly. "I woke up the next morning with no memory of getting back to Scholomance. I had lost a lot of blood and probably passed out somewhere along the way. I was in the hospital ward and oddly enough I felt fine.

Caige sat up confused as to why he felt absolutely no pain from his broken legs or the deep gashes on his head. He lifted his hand and carefully prodded the top of his head for a sign of damage. Nothing… He moved his legs about and bent his knees. They were fine. He had felt what it was like to break a bone; he had busted his femur before when he underestimated a jump. He knew that his legs were broken.

He threw off the hospital beds covers and twisted around to prepare to get off the bed and on to the ground. He mentally prepared for the pain he might experience if his legs were still broken. He slowly slid himself carefully with his hands holding the side of the bed firmly for support. His left foot touched the ground-cold and hard- and he tested some weight. No pain. He repeated the process with his right foot. Both his legs were fine.

He jumped up off the bed and excitedly onto the floor. Wow, he thought. Modern medicine is amazing! He gazed around at the room and down at himself. He realized for the first time that he was missing his 'Scholomance official battle unit' shirt that he had worn to the invasion. He felt the chill of the Romanian weather hit his bare skin. He shivered and looked frantically around for his shirt, which he found hanging on the bed post.

As he was busy slipping on his shirt the doctor of the ward pranced in. She held herself tall and walked with meaning, though her physical appearance was that of a ninety-seven year old. She had long gray hair and beady eyes that were never quite open all the way. She wore the standard doctor's uniform with a stethoscope around her neck. Her name was Meldia but everyone at Scholomance simply called her Vechi, which was Romanian for 'old'. She was very old in fact, it is said that she was around when the Scholomance academy was first founded, making her well over a hundred years old.

"Ah Caige, you're up." She said in a raspy voice. "So strange how a young man can sleep the day away when he hasn't even been hurt."

Caige looked outside the nearest window and saw that the sun wasn't quite in the sky. It was creeping on the edge of the horizon and if Caige perceived things correctly it was slowly drifting upwards.

"Doctor Vechi, maybe you need some glasses, its still morning." Caige said sheepishly, a little embarrassed for the poor old doctor.

"My eyes are just fine sunny. Why, when I was your age I was up at three o'clock every morning working on my soul exercises and planning out my day! Now look at me!" The doctor flexed her arms absurdly as if to show off her huge muscles.

"Seriously?" Caige muttered looking away from the doctor. "Anyways, what did you mean I hadn't been hurt? I was pretty sure my legs were broken and my head was busted open. So… you didn't fix me up?"

The doctor made a wheezing sort of laugh and began to cough. She toke a huge breath and maintained her breathing for a while before talking again. "Fix you? You were just fine. Your shirt was stained with blood, but I don't think that came from you sunny. It probably came from the many asses you kicked out there! I heard you went into Bran castle by yourself and handled everything from there! You're a hero my boy! But nothing else was expected of-"

Caige felt a sense of pride swell in his chest as he thought about how he was the talk of the town. It wasn't really true though… It wasn't as tricky as everyone might have thought. It was shear dumb luck that led him and Lilith to get as far as they did.

Luck… or was it destined? Maybe I had been chosen to get as far as I did. But why? And why did my injuries heal so quickly? Caige wondered. Things aren't right here. Caige noticed that the whole time he had been thinking the doctor was still talking.

"-and had never heard of such a heroic thing in all of my days. I guess they call you 'Killer' for a reason eh?" doctor Vechi finally ended her little rant. She examined Caige with her beady eyes. Caige noticed that her eyes didn't necessarily have a definable color to them. Vechi whipped around and pointed toward the door in front of her now. "Your good to go my boy. Have a glorious day."

Caige walked toward the door and as he passed the senile doctor he looked back and smiled kindly at her as he held up his hand and waved goodbye.

The door shut with a light tap and the room was quite. The doctor walked to the bed Caige had occupied five minutes earlier and sat down with a heave of relief. She tucked her head down and held her face in her hands. After gathering the tense stress and throwing it out of her mind she finally looked toward the door and whispered to herself. "There is something seriously wrong with that boy…"

Caige walked through the lifeless streets of Scholomance, every now and then he saw a random citizen or a student from the academy, but overall it was just too early for any real activity in the city. The few that he did meet on the streets, however, greeted him with either praise or a salute of respect. He really was considered the hero in all this mess.

He walked through the main street and off to the side of the center fort where his and Lilith's apartment was. As he arrived at the front door he fumbled through the pockets to his armored leather pants and pulled at his apartment keys. He laughed silently at the funny depiction of a soul that was pictured on one of his key chains as he thrust the keys in the door and unlocked his apartment.

He walked in and it was no surprise that there was no noise in the apartment. Lilith was most likely asleep and even if she wasn't she usually kept to herself; and Caige really didn't mind that too much. They hadn't bonded at all and had never even really tried to resonate their souls. After all, she was his first partner since Scarlet and he didn't feel like getting too close to anyone else.

Caige walked into the living room and plopped down on the sofa there. He had no problem with the dark, or the lack of sound, or even the fact that he had nothing to do. He was content with laying there. He stared over at the kitchen to his left. Everything was right where he left it when they went off to join the impending attack on Bran castle.

Caige felt a deep sense of accomplishment bury itself all the way into his soul… but at the same time, what was his purpose now? This academy had been founded with the sole purpose of protecting the world from the looming threat of Count Dracula. Now he and his soul were disposed of and the academy was suddenly useless. Another thought crossed his mind: Scholomance was more than a hundred years old, so why had it just now been prompted to attack Bran Castle?

Caige stayed deep in his thoughts for about an hour before deciding that if he cooked breakfast his mind would be put to ease. Caige cracked a few eggs into a pan and turned the stove on. He cut slices of ham and sprinkled in cheese to bring together one huge omelet. He flipped his huge masterpiece onto a plate and cut it in half; dumping the other half onto a different plate. He kissed his fingers and made the 'mauh' noise as if to imitate a chef.

He quietly tip toed over to Lilith's door and knocked gently on the hollow wood. "Hey sleepy head, I made some breakfast. Yummm omelet." He said soothingly into the door. There was no response on the other side. He shrugged off the silence and sat down alone at the table. He stared at Lilith's plate in front of him while he ate his own food quietly. The omelet was the worst he'd ever eaten… tasted like cardboard.

He got out of his seat and dumped the rest of omelet in the trash and sat back down on the sofa. He felt an itch in his throat that built itself up. The itch to admit something… He really wanted to see Lilith, for whatever reason it was he could not wait. It was only like eight in the morning. How could he expect her to be up after a long night like that? So he waited on the sofa patiently staring at her door. Her teasing and tantalizing door; he could feel the magnetic force of the door pulling him in and topping his interest meter.

He couldn't take his mind off her presence; it was like the rest of the world simply faded away. The walls melted as the sun came up and reformed as the sun began its descent. The hours molded together but still the door remained closed. No noise from within. Though Caige could easily perceive the soul within and knew without a doubt it was Lilith.

Caige looked over at the clock which boldly stated that the time was seven p.m. in bright red lights. His eye began to nervously twitch as he thought about just how long Lilith would stay in her room.

So he got up and walked slowly towards her door. He rasped on the door a few times with his knuckle. No response. He cleared his throat nervously and said, "I hope you're decent." He turned the knob slowly and opened the door. There on her bed was Lilith- wide awake with a blank expression and staring off into space- just laying there. Her gleaming red eyes slowly made their way to Caige's entrance and she focused directly on his own eyes.

"ahhhh…" She said dully. "Just the man I wanted to see… Come over here and lay with me."

Caige was shocked by the offer, but was more focused on her weird attitude and the fact that the feeling in his gut told him to turn around and walk away. Still he walked forward and sat on the side of Lilith's bed.

"That is not lying down…" Lilith said in a mellow voice. Caige awkwardly laid himself down on the bed and found him staring into Lilith's warm red eyes. Her pupil was going crazy, growing rather large and then rotating back to normal size like the lens to a camera.

"I know how you feel Caige." Lilith began hauntingly. "I know all too well. You are infatuated with me. You have fallen 'head over heels' in love, haven't you?"

Caige swallowed hard… This wasn't Lilith talking. It couldn't be, she wasn't so bold in her accusations and has no reason to believe he was in love with her. But as soon as she said it Caige found it to be more and more true. No, he can't just develop these feelings in an instant.

"The question is." Lilith continued. "How in love are you? You have to prove it to me in order to win my love in return. How far are you willing to go?"

It's a trick. I can't succumb to this. She is not Lilith. Caige's thoughts barreled against his head in an attempt to free him. He was too late though… He was sucked into her trap and he couldn't escape. The Fear of Solitude; the second biggest fear known to mankind.

The Fear of Failure

The Fear of Solitude

The Fear of Death

The Fear of Pain

The Fear of the Unknown

The five great fears that plagued mankind sense the birth of madness. Caige knew them by heart but had no clue when he even learned them. This was his chance, he could wipe all his fears away… but was it worth it?

Lilith, get a hold of yourself. Don't you realize that you aren't in control? Is what Caige wanted to say, but the words that he heard come out of his mouth sounded more like. "I would do anything for you Lilith."

His heart sank as he realized what he had just committed to. Lilith's expression remained unchanged even as she got out of the bed and slid her way over to the door. She turned her head half heartedly toward Caige and said, "Well come on… prove it."

Caige struggled with all his might to stop his body from moving, but before he knew it Lilith and he were moving down the streets of Scholomance toward the main building where the academy was.

The academy was in the oldest building in the city… but how old that was isn't exactly known. Scholomance had been around since the creation of evil and the rise of madness; said to be built and ruled by the devil himself. Dracula attended the evil school back in the 1800's, but the dark magic rooted way back before then.

The school was reformed now though, with Lord Death in charge of the academy the practice of dark arts had been thrown out and the school had turned over a new leaf. The dark arts are probably lost to history, their secrets known to nobody else. It was a good thing too; it was one thing to fight madness… but a totally different thing to fight pure evil.

As he followed Lilith into the academy he began to notice a slight difference in Lilith's soul wavelength. Like before, it had a magnetic feel to it. Caige wasn't very close to Lilith so he doubted his soul perception would work very well, but he tried anyway. He pushed his soul outwards to try to touch Lilith's and was met with surprise when Lilith accepted him right away.

Caige was fully aware of Lilith's soul now; it was much bigger than Caige's and well defined… powerful. However, there was something wrong… A black speck was defacing her otherwise perfect soul. The black speck radiated almost the same as the rest of her soul… He wasn't seeing this wrong. No, this speck was a part of her soul.

The halls of the school were dark as Lilith and he pierced the silence of the building. They were the only ones walking in the hall because it was after hours and no classes were in session.

Lilith stopped at one of the classroom doors abruptly and peaked in- a wicked smirk appearing on her face- then motioned for Caige to do the same. Inside sat one of the professors that taught at the academy; he was working at his desk finishing his grading on assignments.

Lilith hastily opened the door and led Caige into the classroom. The professor looked towards them and immediately jumped up out of his seat to acknowledge their presence. He bowed his head in admiration as Caige approached.

"And to what do I owe this honor mister Carmichael?", said the professor. "It's not that I don't enjoy your presence, it just seems rather odd that you would come here yourself; especially after the events last night." The professor seemed rather nervous about Caige's appearance.

Caige raised both his hands slowly to try calming the professor; a hint that the professor toke and calmly stood there while he waited for Caige to explain. Caige looked over at Lilith who had been staring at him intently. What did she want from him?

Lilith averted her eyes from him for a split second. In that second she glared at the professor with such a hatful bloodthirsty stare that Caige suddenly understood. It made no sense though… why? It no longer mattered because Lilith had made a move already. She shifted herself into her Shadow Kris and Caige no longer had any other choices.

He instinctively caught the dagger and immediately segued his moves into a lunge. The professor had no time to respond and toke an attack directly to the chest. After a moment of silence a flash of light burst from the professor's chest and a bright blue soul made its way into the air. The professor coughed a single time before collapsing onto the floor. Scarlet blood oozed its way from his corpse.

Caige couldn't describe his thoughts… but they were so loud that the rest of the world faded out of existence. He felt a crooked smile flash across his mouth. This was it… his calling. He felt so powerful; so feared. He didn't notice Lilith transform back and eat the free soul. He just stood there.

Justin sat there with a blank expression on his face… Caige had told him everything. Caige knew by now it was safe though. Justin made no move; no sound. Caige had made sure that his little madness demons had fully intercepted Justin's thoughts.

Justin however would be a tough one to crack. He was a clergyman with a strong faith in Lord Death… but what if that faith was turned against him? What if the very thing that made him resistant to insanity was his downfall? Caige could get him to focus his faith on the Kishin.

Justin's wavelength had changed drastically. He leaned backwards in his chair and spoke softly. "Were you responsible for all the other deaths and disappearances as well?"

"Yes" Caige responded wickedly. "In two years we totaled about twenty-seven."

Justin's eyes moved from one side of the room to the other nervously; his eyes moving back and forth, never still for a minute. He got up out of his chair in a rush knocking the metal chair onto the floor with a loud crash that echoed throughout the room. The crash seemed to bring Justin to his senses. He examined the room silently one last time and then turned to Caige. Justin's mind seemed to finally be clear… he had given up.

"As you know, I will be leaving soon.", said Justin. "Lord Death has called the Deathscythes to Death city. The Kishin Asura has been awakened and the DWMA needs to be unified during this time. I'm leaving you in charge of Scholomance Caige."

Justin showed no emotion, his eyes stared off into space. This was it; Caige had won. He curled his lips into a sinister smile. He had plans… for Scholomance and then the world.

Next Time: Chapter 3: Caige and Lilith- A Hostile Takeover