Chapter 3: Caige and Lilith- A Hostile Takeover

A harsh wind blew in from the north sending a chill down Caige's spine. Darkness had fallen over Scholomance and Caige was walking down the street in the dead of night. He wore black slacks, a red and black stripped shirt, and a leather jacket that depicted a Kishin eye on each sleeve. He was very open with his affiliation now… but it didn't matter because everyone that saw him was immediately overwhelmed with insanity.

He was slowly turning the entire town mad. So in a way… darkness falling over Scholomance was more than a metaphor; it was the harsh reality. Though peoples' regular everyday lives would not change; they would be free from fear and would become slightly more powerful when unified. In a way, Caige was doing them a favor by converting them into madness- just like he helped Justin. But that was not his plan… no, he was going for something bigger then helping the common folk.

Justin had been gone for almost two days. However, Caige knew he didn't go straight to Shibusen; he had made a detour. It was strange how the insane were always aware of each other. He knew where Justin was, he knew where individual evil humans were, but most importantly he knew where the Kishin was.

Caige had gained a type of soul perception, though not nearly as good as the fluent meisters' that were naturally gifted with the ability. With this demon wavelength he was able to fully understand Lilith's soul and his own.

Lilith's soul had grown three Kishin eyes on it and had four arm-like extensions that were able to tempt others into madness… like she had done for Caige.

Caige's soul was much of the same, he had the arm-like attachments but no Kishin eyes; instead he noticed he was able to conceal his soul and demon wavelength and make it take the shape of whatever he wanted. This power suited Caige, he was always the type of fighter to rely on shadows… this ability gave him the power to go 'undercover' no matter how far into insanity he dwelled.

As Caige walked down the street he came across a single man that stood slumped against a building on the side of the road. He looked cautiously at Caige; he seemed relieved that it happened to be the hero of the Bran invasion that he met on the street. As Caige got closer to the man the relief faded away. The man had seen the Kishin symbol on Caige's jacket.

Before the man could run away or scream, Caige quickly lashed out with his soul's arms and grabbed onto the man. The man staggered a bit, unsure of why his body wouldn't move. Caige dug his arm-like extension into the man's skin and wrapped them around his soul. Caige pulsed madness through his Soul Arm and into the man's very being. Caige released him and let him fall to the ground.

It was strange how quickly Caige had learned to use his powers. The man's crumpled heap rose from the ground and stood up. He looked wryly at Caige for a moment then bowed his head in honor. For those that had no means to fight back the process of converting to madness was simple.

Submission

Compromise

Loyalty

All Caige had to do was strangle the soul helpless, let the soul know that if it were to serve him it would get a second chance, then free the soul. Without realizing what had happened, the shell of a person would let the soul dictate what moves would be made. The soul then would lead the shell to madness by pure instinct of the trauma.

Madness was a simple thing, why had the whole world not relied on it before? But why had he? Lilith had saved his soul from the repetition of daily life. However she hadn't been too concerned for him since the beginning. Did she love him? No… that was a hoax for that particular moment.

Anger swelled inside Caige like a wildfire across a dry prairie. She used him… she tricked him… she didn't truly care for his own peace. Why did it matter now though… he was insane and quite enjoyed it.

Besides, Lilith herself had left Scholomance a while back. She decided to live in Bran Castle; said that it had called out to her and she couldn't ignore it anymore. Caige chuckled to himself. I'm insane but not that insane.

Caige made his way to the center of town where a large crowd had gathered around a wooden platform with stairs leading up to the top. Caige pushed through the crowd- each person stood still and reacted little to interruption- and climbed the steps to eventually stand on the makeshift stage. The crowd was silent and hadn't been talking to begin with. Caige looked out at the fifty or so people; he raised his hands and- even though no words were spoken- the crowd understood.

The crowd was full of the people he had 'infected' with madness in secrecy over the past two days. Each of the souls had grown a- smaller in comparison- Soul Arm as well. The crowd was now on the same wavelength as him and could see his true intentions, just as he could see theirs. Nothing was hidden, there was no fear.

Caige cleared his throat and spoke to the crowd as their leader.

"Interchanging mind control; Come let the revolution take its toll. If we could flick a switch and open your third eye, you'd see that we should never be afraid to die. So rise up and take the power back; it's time the fat cat had a heart attack. You know that their times coming to an end; we have to unify and watch our flag ascend. They will not force us. They will stop degrading us. They will not control us. We will be victorious!"

As Caige chanted the last part to his speech the lifeless crowd became animated. Howling and jumping, the crowd cheered and chanted into the night. The plan was set.

The morning warmed the country side as the sun swept across the land diminishing the cold air and burning away the shadows; but it brought along with it horror and a clear cloud of killing intent. Caige stood at the top of the stairs leading to the center fort and watched as his minions descended on the town. He wore his usual outfit, but added a plaid red and black Flat Cap to the wardrobe; he was British after all.

As he looked out at the impending conversion of the entire town he felt a rather large soul behind him. He recognized it immediately- however it had grown a lot stronger since they last met. Lilith walked up and stood beside him and looked through the streets of the town.

Caige did not acknowledge her presence for a while; but instead continued to stare at the descending madness. The first of his minions had made contact with the people of the town. The events afterwards happened so fast it was almost as if life had been in slow-mo until that point. The citizens screamed and the town broke out in peril, some of his more potent minions lit torches and threw them in buildings-causing fire to sweep across the town, then the academy alarm went off and all the young meisters erupted from the school- ready to fight. The student meisters ran past Caige and Lilith, just trying to find the danger.

As if in response to the sudden chaos Lilith turned to Caige and glared at him with those dangerously bright red eyes. It was at this time that Caige noticed her eyes had a strange black line that swirled around her pupil like it was being pulled in by a black hole. That must have formed at some point within the past month or two.

"You are quite determined. That is surprising…" Lilith said slowly. "Insanity usually seems to suck any enthusiasm people have right out; usually replacing it with reckless behavior. I'm mostly surprised that you aren't attacking the town by yourself."

Caige scowled as he kept watch over the lively town. "So I take it that's why you kept your distance from me?" Caige said nonchalantly. The students made their way to his madness induced minions and stopped dead in their tracks. Soon the students were dancing to Caige's insanity rhythm; however, the students with a particularly strong soul did not surrender to madness. Unfortunately his minions detected this and soon the uncooperative students were cut down; and their souls were devoured.

Lilith grunted in amusement and addressed Caige again. "Yes, that is why I went my own way. However, I've been busier then you think. I have finished collecting my souls. Have you seen a madness induced Deathscythe?"

"Not yet, but I can guarantee you that you won't be the first." Caige smirked at his accomplishment with Justin.

Lilith looked at him with a hint of confusion. "What did you do Caige?"

"I might have had an influence on Justin. Either way, he went to the Kishin and another third party. That must mean that he has fallen into madness."

Lilith stood quietly beside him for a moment; her swirling red eyes dwelling deep into her own separate universe. She seemed a little disappointed at the notion of coming in second. No doubt she was more than a little excited to serve the Kishin.

"Well", said Lilith. "Will you help me with the last part? I need one witch's soul."

"Hm", Caige thought for a moment. It wouldn't hurt to team up for a bit longer; just like she had used him, he would use her. "Sure, but I have a better idea. I've killed three witches in the past. I might be able to convince Lord Death to let me claim one of them again."

Lilith's attitude lit up a shade and she nodded in agreement. Caige averted his eyes back toward the town; the struggle was over, all the students had either been assimilated or killed. Caige was certain now that there would be no more problems, and as his army drifted out of his view he turned around and briskly walked into the fort that now belonged to him.

Caige scowled as he felt Lilith's presence follow him. What? Now that I'm interesting she is going to be a loyal partner? A fringe of annoyance crept into his chest but he did not show it. It was befitting for a leader to stay calm.

He stomped up a flight of stairs and turned a corner to the part of the building that faced the streets. There he opened the door that used to belong to Justin's office and trotted in. The room was wide open and had plenty of windows surrounding the entire parameter and even a neat mirror beside a finely crafted desk; however, there was a pileup of paperwork- stacks all over the desk and beside it on the ground- that Justin had ignored. There were chairs along the side of the room- five of which were occupied.

Caige briskly entered the room and opened one of the windows; he then made his way to the desk and grabbed a pile of the paperwork and dumped it out the window. He made a couple of trips to dispose of the paperwork while his guests watched him and waited patiently for him to finish.

He dumped the last of the papers- closing the window- and toke a seat behind the desk; Lilith stood behind him and stared at the guests. Caige analyzed them for a minute before proceeding. To the very left there was an American boy with brown hair and lime green eyes; he was slender and didn't look very strong. Sitting next to him was a girl with odd white hair and dark eyes; Caige couldn't tell where she was from because her skin was tan. Next to her sat a Russian man with a big bulky build; he wore a furry Ushanka hat and a red trench coat. The man next to the Russian seemed terrified of the entire situation so Caige assumed what his job was; and at the very and sat an old man.

"Welcome friends", He said. "So glad you could make it. I have prepared you in advance for this day, so as you know you will become the council of leaders that will serve underneath me." He could feel Lilith's surprise radiating behind him; she did not expect him to be so prepared. "Two of you- along with your weapon partners- will be a part of my personal team."

"Yessir", said the man to the far left. "Demon Claw meister Roy Smith at your service. My partner's name is Tsume."

"Oi", the girl next to Roy spoke. "Dark-arm Mace meister 'Jade' here to serve. My weapon's name is Clayton."

Caige nodded in return at them- not interested in fully examining his team yet.

"One of you will train soldiers", Caige continued.

"Xapak is my name. Meeting you is my own pleasure comrade", said the Russian man that sat next to Jade.

"And one of you will keep up with the boring logistics crap." Caige said, motioning for the fourth person to shut up. He was hardly interested in the name of a pencil pusher. "However, there are five of you."

Caige knew which person did not belong-even from the beginning; it was the strange old man. He was hunched over in the chair at the very right; he wore a suit of pure black and a top hat. His hair was gray along with his bushy mustache, but the most bizarre thing about him was that the man had large canine teeth that stuck out of his mouth even when it was closed.

"Who are you", Caige said lifting his finger to point at the strange old man.

The man stood and removed his top hat- as if to introduce himself. Caige suddenly noticed something was wrong with his head… something was sticking out, antennas?

"Terrible sorry to interrupt your little… eh, club meeting", the man said mockingly. "My name is Tick and I've come to inquire about the castle that you claimed not too long ago."

"Bran Castle; what about it old man?" Caige studied the man for a moment- focusing on his soul perception ability. What he saw wasn't too shocking; Tick's soul was fairly large but not big enough to be considered alarming. Like his name suggested it had eight protruding legs, a pincer like jaw and antennas… roughly looking like a tick.

"You will hand over the property to me, as it is rightfully mine. You have had the castle for far too long. I had hoped you would abandon it but it seems that one"- he pointed to Lilith accusingly- "has taken the liberty to call it her home."

Lilith did not say nor do anything- though it was obvious what she felt about Tick now. Caige sighed, he knew Lilith wasn't going to let him give the castle to some cranky old man; that would be too easy for her- and it always had to be the hard way.

"Ok old man… why do you feel the castle belongs to you?"

"The original owner was related to me."

"Dracula?"

"Yes…"

"You're saying that you are like the grandson of Dracula?"

The man snickered for a moment; finding Caige's knowledge amusing. "No", he said. "Dracula is my younger brother."

Caige laughed at this for a while until realizing that the expression Tick radiated was serious. Fear raced into his heart for a moment until he remembered the soul of the man was not too overwhelming. Caige looked to Lilith for some sort of advice; she stared at him curiously before shrugging her shoulders. She held her hand up to her throat and slid her thumb across the bottom of her neck… kill him?

"Look old man… we have business with that castle. You're lucky I'm in a good mood, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Caige focused his power and extended his soul far past the power of the old man's. Tick, however, did not budge.

"Was that a threat?" Tick said with a tinge of annoyance. His eyes narrowed and a vein was clearly throbbing on his forehead. "I do not scare easily children."

Tick's soul began to waver for a bit; then suddenly swelled to fill the entire room. Caige squinted his eyes; the soul's pure power radiated throughout his mind. Gravity doubled and the air became hard to breathe. Spiritually, Caige was suffocating as the soul drained his will. He had never seen a soul so powerful; not even Justin's soul was this strong.

Just as suddenly the surge of power had come, it had disappeared. Tick stood in the center of the room- ground scorched underneath his feat. He had a sinister smile plastered on his face; he walked toward the door.

"The castle is mine now children. I expect you to stay the hell away from it." Tick said right before he slammed the door.

Everyone in the room was in dismay; even Lilith was now bent over looking like she was going to puke. Caige felt the ringing in his ears go away and his vision was about to realign itself. Damn, Caige thought. What a monster. How are we going to deal with that?

Caige got out of his seat and stumbled toward the door; the others toke no notice- they were still trying to come to their senses. Caige staggered down the hall and fell down the stairs leading to the front entrance. Tick was nowhere to be seen.

No longer feeling the need to return to his office to discuss business Caige simply made his way out the front door. The revolution was over; he could feel the wave of killing intent cease and the town began to unify itself in madness.

Now was as good a time as any. With a sort of "hive-mind" technique Caige called his army to him. As he waited for the madness induced town to gather around the fort he thought a moment about Tick.

Helplessness lingered in his thoughts… Tick was far from the strongest person out there. What about Lord Death, Mabaa, and the Kishin? Tick was only a side step… yet if the strongest thing he could make was a Deathscythe then he had no hope in beating Tick. That was just bloody embarrassing.

Just as his army was about to completely gather itself Caige felt the presence of his team behind him. He paid no attention to them; instead noticing that the air was dense with insanity. It became almost intolerable for even him. Caige smiled and thought that this might just work…

The air vibrated as all the insanity wavelengths clashed together and formed up. Eventually this gathering area could be physically seen; red lightning shot to different areas from this spot. A vortex appeared from the dense madness and began to take shape. Two legs with particularly sharp edges, an odd muscular body that was very disproportionate in areas, lengthy arms with a built in razor near the hand, but most odd about this formation were the black spikes jotting out of its shoulders and that its face was a mask. The mask depicted the two emotions of the old theatre; happiness and sadness.

The entity of madness seemed a little confused about the situation; a confusion that ran deeper than how… but also why. It finally excepted that it existed and that it might as well do it's job.

"Ace! Good job mate, that clown is a beaut!" Jade yelled out from behind Caige. Great, Caige thought. She is a noisy one… but I like her Australian accent.

Lilith walked up beside him staring at the clown in disbelief. "What have you done Caige?" Panic was clear with every word she spoke. "It is not a slave's job to create a clown."

"This is a naturally formed clown… I simply helped nature run its course by condensing the madness in the area." Caige replied calmly. He still couldn't believe it actually worked though. Clowns were things of myth; he had never actually seen one, yet here it was.

The clown smiled insanely with the one half of his face that was able to do so. It stretched its freakish limbs as it got used to being able to move. The insanity emitting from this clown was more than the entire town combined. It's wavelength matched the Kishin's exactly, it seemed like it was merely an extension of Asura's soul.

"I like this kid", the clown said in a multi-toned voice that gave Caige goose bumps. "He sets his own rules. Such is the nature of true insanity."

Caige hadn't thought this far ahead… now that the clown was born what would he do? What was the clowns' purpose? Would it kill them?

"Well", the clown said. "Seeing as how you indirectly caused my birth I owe you no loyalty; however as I mentioned, I like you. So I will keep in touch." As the clown finished his sentence his legs melted through the ground. The clown phased into the ground like it was water and with a heart stopping laugh he was gone.

Caige smiled faintly, he would take that as an alliance declaration. He let his grip on the town go, and after a little looking around for the clown the citizens slowly made their way home. He around to face the three people behind him; Lilith had an angry look on her face, Jade had a beaming smile on her face, and Roy was still staring at the floor where the clown had disappeared.

"Yo", Caige broke the silence. "Roy and Jade; you guys wanna go to Death City with me?"

"I'm game!" Roy said more excited with the heightened mood. "Its been awhile since I've been there."

"Death City with a Pommy and a Seppo; ripper, I'll start packing when I get home." Jade said obnoxiously.

Caige shook his head and stepped past his team motioning for them to follow. He slapped his palm onto his face and left it there as he walked. A Pommy Caige thought. This girl is pretty rude. It's one thing for them to say it in their country; but you don't call a brit a Pommy while you're in Europe.

As the two followed him into the building he heard them making conversation.

"What the hell does that mean? What do Pommy and Seppo mean?" Said Roy, clearly confused by Jade's lingo.

"Well your American right? That means you're a Seppo mate." Jade declared.

"Oh, so does that mean you refer to the British as Pommies?"

"Oi"

"Well you do realize that Death City is in America right?"

"Holy dooley! Look at the time, got to go light a durry!" Jade exclaimed and stopped walking with them suddenly.

Caige felt happy for a moment that she left, even though he liked her style.

"Now wait a sec", Roy said. "What is a durry?" He was not liking the different terms and lingo from Australia.

"She is going to smoke a fag", Caige said smiling subtly knowing this wouldn't help the American.

Roy had a very serious look on his face now though; it sort of confused Caige. "What did you say? That is very disrespectful my friend." He seemed sincerely upset.

"Wow wow, calm it bloke. In America things might be different but that is the Brit word for cigarette." Caige thought about how the different sayings never affected him at Shibusen; maybe because it was when he was younger and things couldn't easily be taken the wrong way.

"Oh…", said Roy. "Eh, sorry about that bud." The American stayed quiet for awhile- embarrassed about his outburst.

The two reached his office and waited a little while for Jade to catch up to them. The Australian fumbled into the room after awhile and motioned for Caige to proceed with business.

Caige turned to the mirror and scribbled down the number to Lord Death; 42-42-564 whenever you want to knock on Death's door. Caige thought in his head smiling at his past memories. The mirror became animated, waves swept across the mirror like it was an ocean. The mirror made three ringing noises before it went blank.

"Hello, Lord Death are you there?" Caige said monotonously wondering why that particular phrase was a requirement.

The mirror went white as the animated Lord Death stepped back from his obviously close proximity to the mirror. His steps backwards seemed more like bounces; as he stopped he raised an enormous hand to the side of his mask and stuck out two fingers in the 'V' shape tilted sideways so that a finger was near the top and bottom of the eyeholes on his mask.

"Hello hello! Hi, how's it goin? Wazzup?" The goofy looking reaper said repetitively bouncing up and down.

"Kris meister Caige reporting from Scholomance", Caige said nervously; his appearance, his attitude, and everything he said would be judged by the Shinigami. If he so much as blinked the wrong way Lord Death could pick up hints of madness.

"Ah yes, howzit goin Caige? Good ta see ya. There was quite a bit going on over there this morning. Is everything all right?" Lord Death said sounding concerned.

"Ya, everything is fine now. We had a couple madness outbreaks, it appears a meister dwelled into insanity and toke a few with him. There were a couple casualties but nothing too serious." Caige acted embarrassed about the situation; he rested his hand on the back of his neck and looked at the floor. While he had his arm up he noticed he was still wearing his leather jacket with the Kishin eyes depicted on the sleeves.

"Ahh… that's a shame; don't get too discouraged though Caige, I'm sure you're a mighty fine leader", the reaper did not appear to notice.

I really have to be more careful, Caige thought. He made sure not to face outwards and kept his arms fairly elevated to hide the symbol.

Caige tried his hardest to act flattered by Lord Death's words. "Thank you Lord Death; by the way, you remember me killing those witches when I was in the academy?"

"Ya?"

"Do you think it will be possible to collect one of them? My weapon partner is so close to becoming a Deathscythe and I figured they still belonged to me."

"Hmm… I don't see why not. How do you wanna get em?"

"Me and my meister friends here are gonna make a trip to the DWMA!" Caige said pointing behind him where Jade and Roy stood.

The Shinigami waved to each in turn with those abnormally large hands. Death didn't show emotion to this last statement because of the mask, but it became apparent that he was surprised. I knew it, he does suspect me, Caige thought.

"Ya", Lord Death finally said. "That sounds like a good idea. I look forward to seeing you guys."

"Thank you my Lord", Caige said. "I will see you then!"

"BYE BYE!"

The mirror fuzzed out for a moment before returning to normal. The room was quiet now, lacking the sound of the over enthusiastic reaper. Caige laughed hard for a moment, not an insane laugh… no it was more like actual joyful laugh. Roy and Jade were soon laughing as well.

"Wow", Caige was able to blurt out. "That was a rush. I thought for sure I was a goner when I saw this dumb jacket."

"You're a dag mate", Jade said choked up with laughter. "Lord Death has to have a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock!"

For the first time in four years Caige was actually happy… it wasn't the trick he pulled either. He might actually like these two teammates of his; it was almost like they were his friends… He never really had any friends before.

Next Time: Chapter 4: Caige, Jade, and Roy- The DCity Homecoming

A/N: Ok, this one was slightly longer than the others- though I could have gone more in-depth. Anyway, Caige's "speech" in this chapter is based off lyrics from the song "Uprising" by Muse. I do not own the song by the way.