Chapter 3: Time To Explain

Serena's Point Of View

Today is the second day of school. Since yesterday, Sierra has not come out of her room. Honestly, all yesterday she was acting a bit off, and that kiss with Kid did not help at all. Thankfully, Sierra has come out of her room for school this morning. I was worried that she'd stay in there forever.

"Hey sis," I said as she walked into the kitchen. Sierra looked up but didn't say anything to me. Her face was blank, completely void of emotion. It was an unsettling look. She normally at least had some type of emotion, like anger or annoyance, but absolutely no emotion was a little scary.

"Hey Sierra?" Nova said, just as unsettled as I was.

"Huh? Oh um hi, Serena, Nova." She said as she finally spoke. She smiled at us, but it was a fake smile. "Hey, do you think we can switch seats at school? I'd rather sit on the end."

"Sure" Nova and I said together.

"Thanks."

With that the three of us got ready for school. I was wearing my usual blue skirt with a pink top. My pale red hair was up in a ponytail as usual as well. Nova was wearing her usual floral dress with shorts under it with her blonde hair braided and hanging over her left shoulder as usual. Nova and I were our usual selves but Sierra was not. She was wearing black jeans with a red tank top. She had a black jacket on as well. Her vibrant red hair that was normally up in a bun was loose and hanging down showing just how long it was, which was to just above her butt. She normally wore blue and gold, so Nova and I were a little confused and worried. The last time she went all dark she became a loner and disappeared for a few months.

When we got to school Sierra completely ignored everyone. She walked past the people we became friends with yesterday as if they didn't exist. Just like she said, she sat on the outside of Nova and I. I was happy because now I got to sit next to Kid, but I was a little worried about the sudden change.

"Serena, is there something wrong with Sierra?" Liz asked me as she sat down.

"Nope, everything is fine." I told her with a smile that I hoped looked real. She nodded her head and then looked forward as class began. I frowned and looked at my twin who was watching the front so intensely, as if that was the only thing that existed at that moment.

All through class, Sierra just sat there and stared. She didn't move or speak at all. Once class was dismissed, she got right up and walked out the door, without any type of acknowledgement of the people around her. Nova and I were going to follow her, but Liz ending up asking us if we wanted to sit with her and the other girls a lunch. We figured since Sierra was acting this way, we could give her time alone. So we accepted Liz's offer.

During lunch Liz, Patty, Maka, Tsubaki, Nova and I all say together. We talked about girly things, like our crushes and fashion and make-up. We also talked about Sierra and how weird she was acting today. To be honest, I wasn't sure what was wrong with her, so that is exactly what I told them. Once lunch was over we all started to go back to our classes.

"Serena, Nova, Kid, Liz and Patty you are all wanted in the Death Room." Professor Stein told the five of us when we walked into the room.

"What about Sierra?" I asked noticing she wasn't around.

"She's already there, waiting for all of you." Professor Stein responded.

"Alright. Let's go!" Patty and Nova yelled excitedly. We all turned around and walked out the room.

Sierra's Point Of View

"So, are you sure you, Nova and Serena will be fine with going on this mission so soon?" Lord Death asked me after he gave me a brief description of the mission as we waited for the others.

"Yeah, we'll be happy going on a mission even if it's that one. Those two are always up for an exciting challenge." I told him as I leaned against one of the guillotine gate things. After I spoke, footsteps could be heard coming down the walkway.

"Hello children. I bet you are all wondering why you are here?" Lord Death said as the five of them that just arrived walked up the steps to stand in front of him. I stayed where I was though.

"We are going on a mission." I said from behind them. The five of them turned and looked at me. I guess they didn't notice me when they walked past me.

"She is correct. The six of you are going on a mission. In a small town of Ohio, called Serenity is where you are going. There is a witch that is killing people in towns around Serenity. We are not sure what she is killing them for, but it needs to be stopped. You will be taking a few trains there. When you get off the train someone will be there to give you more information about the witch. You will be leaving in one hour so go home and pack a few things. Good luck!" Lord Death explained. Serena and Nova looked at me but I just nodded my head and turned away. I could feel the five of them walking behind me talking about the mission. Thankfully my two idiots didn't mention anything about our connection to the city. I haven't thought of a way to tell Kid and his weapons about it yet.

~On the train~

Kid's Point Of View

Sierra has been acting odd since her and I accidentally kissed. I mean I didn't know her very well to begin with, but she's acting completely different than yesterday. I might not have noticed it if her partners didn't look so worried when they looked at her. Plus when we boarded the train, all three of them looked a bit nervous. In the train they sat across from us. Nova sat on the aisle seat across from Patty, then it was Serena who was across from me and then Sierra was staring out of the window across from Liz. None of them were talking.

"So, what's got you three so uneasy?" I asked when the train finally started moving. Nova and Serena looked at Sierra who was still staring out the window. She glanced at her partners and sighed.

"Well, Serenity is where Serena and I were born and lived most of our childhood." Sierra spoke up as she went back to staring out the window.

"But why are you three so uneasy? That didn't answer my question."

"Um…just a lot of bad memories, I guess?" The way Sierra had said that made me think she was leaving something out. Plus she was refusing to look at me, and so were Nova and Serena. 'Did our accidental kiss make her hate me or something?' I asked myself as I looked at Sierra.

"I have an idea! Let's get some food!" Patty yelled suddenly.

"We all just ate though Patty." Liz told her little sister.

"Yeah, we all did, but" Nova was cut off by the sound of Sierra's stomach growling. "It appears as though Sierra hasn't eaten yet."

"Come on, we'll take you to get some food!" Patty yelled again as she grabbed Sierra's hand and Liz's hand. She pulled them along as she hurried off to the food car of the train.

"Wait, no! Ahh…" Sierra tried to call out for her partners' help but was unanswered. Her two weapons just laughed as Sierra was dragged off by my weapons.

~At the train station~

Sierra's Point Of View

When we finally arrived in Serenity, I was thankful that Liz and Patty made me eat some food. I knew that I'd need all my energy to get through this trip emotionally and physically.

"You must be the children from the DWMA." A man said as we walked out of the train station.

"Yes we are." Kid responded. The man handed him a folder before wishing us good luck and then leaving.

"What's in the folder?" Serena asked as she hovered over it.

"Let's go somewhere that there isn't a bunch of people around." Nova suggested.

"Yes, I agree. People are staring." Liz said as she clung to her sister.

"I know a great place to go. Follow me." Serena said as she stared walking down the sidewalk.

"It's already starting?" I asked as I looked around at the people staring at me and whispering about me and my twin. I knew people would recognize us but we haven't even been here for five minutes, this is ridiculous. I kept my head down as we all followed Serena. We were walking down a worn out sidewalk towards the outskirts of town. I wasn't paying too much attention to that though; I was more concerned with trying to hide who I was so no one else recognized us.

"We're here!" Serena called out to everyone as she stopped walking. I looked up to see where we were.

"Hell no!" I yelled instantly, without thinking. We were standing in front of the house that was left to me after our parents died. It was our childhood home that for some odd reason was still standing all in one piece after all these years.

"Huh?"

"I'm not going in there!" I snapped as I spun around. "Come find me when you are ready to go on a witch hunt."

"Nope." Nova said happily as she grabbed my right arm. "Face your fears."

"I'm not afraid of anything." I hissed as I tugged my arm from her grasp. She was giving me "the look" again. 'I honestly do not want to go in there…' I whined to myself as my two idiots dragged me into the house. Serena led us into the dining room and flipped on the lights.

"It's dusty," Kid whined as he stood and watched Nova dust off the chairs and table.

"We haven't been here in a while." I responded as I leaned against the wall next to the door.

"Now, let's see that folder!" Nova said as she sat down in a chair. The rest of them followed and sat down in chairs. I kept leaning against the wall.

"Right." Kid said as he opened the folder. "So, the witch's name is Sarah Rae. She is…what?" Kid looked up at Serena and I with a shocked look.

"What is it Kid?" Liz asked, seeing the look on his face as well.

"The witch is Sierra and Serena's older sister."

"What?" Liz and Patty asked together.

"So, she is who we are after? That's why Lord Death sent us?" Serena said as a statement more than a question.

"Lovely, we are going to have a very unwanted family reunion." I said as I leaned my head against the wall to look up at the ceiling.

"So, what else does the file say?" Nova asked, ignoring the shocked looks of Kid's group.

"Well, it says she is located in a place called 'The Dark Woods' and that she is only killing men aged 15 to 25." Kid said as he read more.

"Where is that place?" Patty asked curiously.

"It's the woods that are located out back behind this house." I spoke up. I sighed to myself. I did not want to be here even more now. This was not going to be a fun trip and I knew it.

"Can you two please explain your sister please?" Liz asked looking at my twin and me.

"She is a witch and she's our older sister?" Serena said, clearly not knowing what to say.

"We are her adopted sisters. We have never gotten along. I'm sure she'd love to kill us in the worst way possible. Hell that's probably what she's going to try to do when we confront her." I said as I walked over to Kid. I reached over and picked up the file so I could look through it myself. "We should get ready. This says she hunts during the day and feeds at night."

"It's getting dark now." Nova mentioned. Everyone got up to leave the room.

"Hey Kid can we talk for a minute?" I asked as he turned to walk out of the room. He stopped and turned around to face me and nodded his head.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked me curiously.

"I apologize for kissing you accidentally yesterday." I told him as I looked down to the floor.

"You don't need to apologize. It was Black Stars doing. He thought it'd be funny. It didn't mean anything, so it doesn't matter." He said with a smile. For some reason, hearing that hurt me.

"Yeah…it didn't matter." I mumbled as he walked out of the room. "What is this feeling?" I asked myself as I held my hand on my chest in confusion. 'I don't like these normal human emotions that I've been feeling ever since I met Kid.' I told myself as I left the room to find my two idiot weapons.