Chapter 3 – Enter the Memories of Adrian! - A Secret That Should Not Have Been Uncovered!
A/N:
Oni: Thank you to all who reviewed. It made me very happy that people are reading this so I would like to say a big, huge THANK YOU to all who have put this story on alert and those who have reviewed.
Adrian: No, really, thank you all! :D
Maka: We are so glad to be noticed. :)
Rochelle: Shut up, all of you! Those readers are her for ME! And Adrian~, but most certainly not YOU Maka! Can't you take a hint that he is mine?
Oni: *Slaps Rochelle* Hands off Maka's man!
Maka: Thanks, now on with Redemption!
I only own Rochelle (but who would?), and Mysterious Evil Lady.
"What?" exclaimed Rochelle, she looked at Adrian with shock clearly written on her face. This was also the rest of the school's reaction as well. Maka just had a thoughtful face.
Was that what Stein was whispering about to him in class? She thought to herself. It would make perfect sense, especially after the face Adrian made after he was told whatever information he received. Maka looked around her, poor Adrian, she thought, he's going to have to put up with this for a while. She looked at him. Indeed, he looked like a rabbit cornered by a fox or multiple foxes in this case. Suddenly, the school's intercom came to life.
"WILL ADRIAN RAVENA PLEASE GO TO THE DEATH ROOM, I REPEAT, ADRIAN RAVENA TO THE DEATH ROOM." Adrian looked at Maka.
"Can you show me the way there? I don't know where it is." He asked her. Maka was stunned; surly he would have asked Rochelle to guide him. She spun her head to see the aforementioned meister and saw that she had the exact same thought going through her head. Rochelle's face was a bright red tomato, telling Maka silently to get off her new team member. Maka just glared back at her to say that he didn't pick his team yet so go away.
"I'd love to." Maka told Adrian out loud, and took his hand and lead him out of the room but not without stealing a glance at Rochelle who looked beyond furious. She looked back at Adrian to see that he was smiling gratefully. As they walked through the halls students turned to stare at the new student that was called to the Death Room, but one glare from Maka sent them running. Maka huffed, what was the big deal with the poor guy? He was only at the school for one lesson and he instantly became a celebrity.
The appearance of the giant guillotines and clouds told Maka they were almost at the Death Room. When they arrived at the door she knocked.
"Come in~" sang a familiar voice. Maka pushed the door open. Inside were Shinigami-sama and Spirit, and Soul, who had taken his new place as death scythe by Shinigami-sama's side. Soul came up to Adrian.
"Are you Maka's new partner?" he asked curiously. Maka blanched. Soul thought Adrian was her new partner!
"He's not my partner," she said quickly, "This is Adrian, from this morning, and he was called here and asked me to take him there." Soul nodded in acknowledgement and ushered the two forward.
"Alright, now let's get started~!" Shinigami-sama chirped. Maka, Soul and Spirit all sweat-dropped.
"Umm, shouldn't this be a private matter?" Spirit asked. Adrian just shook his head.
"I allow you to view my memories as well, who knows, you might find something to help me remember." Maka could only nod.
"Also the technique we are going to be using requires the meister-weapon connection of Soul Resonance, which means we need multiple people as I may not be able to go into his lost memories myself." Shinigami-sama explained. The rest of the group nodded.
"Let's begin."
"SOUL RESONANCE!"
Adrian's Lost Memories – Central Hub
Maka was standing on what seemed like nothing. She looked around to see that Soul, Spirit, and Shinigami-sama were in a similar situation. The group looked confused, except for Shinigami-sama, who was standing where he was idly.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"We are in what is known as the central hub. We can go into different memories this way although it is a bit tedious to see memories this way as we have to wait for one to float by." Shinigami-sama explained.
"What does a memory look like?" asked Maka. She looked around; all she saw was a vast sea of white. She looked a bit closer and saw a faint outline of something coming towards them.
"Look!" They all turned to see what Maka was pointing at, and saw a faint, red bubble floating aimlessly.
"That, Maka, is what a memory looks like."
As the memory came closer, she saw that within the bubble was darkness. I wonder what that memory is about…she thought to herself, and as if her principal could read her mind Shinigami-sama started walking towards the memory, beckoning the rest of the group to follow. As they walked near the bubble, Shinigami-sama stepped into it. Maka stepped in last, but once she did, she was engulfed into darkness.
Adrian's Lost Memories – Memory 1
Maka was standing in what looked like a dungeon. Was Adrian captured at one time? She thought to herself. She heard something shuffle in the corner of the room and saw a child of about 6 years of age. He had extremely pale skin and black hair that was dirty and matted, he wore a coat with red and black stripes and black pants that frayed out on the ends. Maka looked closer.
The child was covered with bruises and cuts and was chained by the neck.
Maka felt the rest of the world slow down. Who was this kid and what did he do to deserve this punishment. She looked to see Soul, Spirit, and Shinigami-sama looking around so she got their attention and pointed at the kid. They blanched.
"Whoa." Soul whispered in horror. The boy looked up at them; and upon seeing him up close Maka realized that he had some sort of white pattern on his hair.
"Who are you?" The child asked. Shinigami-sama seemed surprised.
"Interesting…" the reaper mused, "You are able to see and hear us, which means you must be special - if you are able to see people through a memory viewing." The boy just stared at them or so Maka thought as the child's hair was covering everything but she could make out an outline of a frown on his face.
"Why are you here?" Soul asked. The child blinked owlishly.
"This is my room, where I live, where I sleep. I have never truly seen the outside and have only left this room to be tested. The chain around my neck prevents me from running away as it is enchanted with magic." He explained.
Maka was about to ask a few questions when there was a pounding at the door of the dimly lit room. The child started to visibly stiffen and shake.
"You should get out of here before she finds you." The boy whispered with fear.
"Who is 'she'?" Maka tried to question when the door flew open and a woman stepped inside the dungeon. She looked about in her thirty's and had chocolate brown hair that curled down to the middle of her back, with slender fingers and a pale complexion. She had red eyes that were glowing with rage as her face was twisted with anger.
"You are late for the testing, experiment." The boy just shivered.
"I can't go out until you come down here and get me, remember?" His voice was shaky.
"I DON'T CARE YOU LITTLE BRAT I NEED MY RESULTS TO BUILD YOU INTO MY WEAPON! YOU ARE THE ONLY EXPERIMENT THAT HAVE LASTED SO FAR AS I HAVE WASTED SO MANY REASOURCES ON YOU!" The woman screamed.
"I-I'm s-sorry!"
"DON'T BE SORRY I WANT YOU TO WORK HARDER! YOU ARE LUCKY TO BE ALIVE BECAUSE OF ME SO BE GREATFUL YOU DID NOT END UP LIKE THE REST OF MY FAILED EXPERIMENTS! I WAS LUCKY TO AQUIRE THE ITEMS NEEDED TO TRANSFORM YOU SO BE HAPPY THAT I LET YOU LIVE AFTER I RISE TO POWER, BUT YOU MUST BE PUNISHED BEFORE THEN!"
Even Maka was terrified by this lady yelling at the poor child. She could only watch in disgust and horror as the nameless woman pulled out a knife and began slashing the wretched child. It seemed liked hours as the four witnessed the brutality of this lady as she strikes the child again and again, with the child's cries of pain ringing in their ears before the woman decided the child had suffered enough and left through the door, slamming it on her way out. As soon as her steps died away Maka rushed to the bleeding child.
"You poor thing!" The boy looked up at her and gave her a wry smile.
"I deserve it" He told her. Maka was confused, what would he have done to deserve such appalling treatment?
"Why? What did you do?" She questioned. The boy stayed silent. He doesn't want to tell us, he must be afraid…poor thing, she thought to herself. Shinigami-sama broke the silence as Soul and Spirit were still numb from the abuse they had just witnessed.
"What is your name, child?"
"My name or my new name?" The boy asked. The group was puzzled, didn't people normally only have one name?
"What do you mean by 'new name'?" Spirit asked. The boy gave a soft smile. That smile was just like Adrian's… Maka thought to herself.
"She likes to use me as a weapon for killing and because of that I hate my name as that is what she calls me to tell me I have done well. I wanted to change my name so that if somebody were to recognise me on the streets if I escape I could tell them my new name instead of my old name. I would also be able to hide my defects from everybody." The boy told them. Maka looked at the child. He looked oddly familiar but she did not see what he had called 'defects'.
"What do you mean by 'defects'?" They all asked at the same time. The boy lifted up his bangs, showing his forehead.
"My name is Asura, and my new name is Adrian." He answered. Maka felt numb. No, this can't be possible, Adrian can't be the Kishin, he just can't, he's such a nice person, why, how, WHY? She thought frantically. Soul's eyes were wide with surprise, Spirit was opening and shutting his mouth unable to speak and even Shinigami-sama lost his normal bounce. Their eyes trailed to his forehead.
He had a third eye, and when they looked closer at his other two, they saw Asura's trademark eyes – his third eye pattern within the iris, glowing an insane red.
A/N:
Oni: So now Maka, Soul, Spirit and Shinigami-sama know Adrian's true identity!
Adrian/Asura: Maka do you hate me?
Maka: Of course not *hugs Asura*
Asura: Yay! :D
Oni: Review! I just love getting feedback and it will give me motivation to write more!