Redemption
Chapter: 4
Setting the stage:
Halloween party at Kids manse. A partner for Eruka?
Location: The D.W.M.A. and Death the Kids Mansion.
Characters:
Lord Death. Spirit Albarn. Crona Gorgon. Eruka Frog. Maka Albarn. Soul Eater. Marie Mjolnir.
Dilys Peerless. Black*Star. Death the Kid. Elizabeth & Patricia Thompson.
A.N.
Wooo. Hiatus much? It has been over a year (I think) since I updated this. Why is it rising from the ashes only just now?
"It takes a full turn of the calendar to heal a broken heart." I will say no more.
Back to Death City.
Eruka flew through the halls of the D.W.M.A. as fast as her legs would carry her. The second bell tolled loudly indicating that she had exactly five minutes to get to class on time.
"Why?" panted the annoyed Witch "Is this school so BIG?"
The morning announcements were being announced by Spirit Albarn.
"-And it is finally Halloween day! All classes after today will be postponed until the second week of November-"
She rounded a corner and narrowly avoided crashing headfirst into Maka and Marie.
"-Ribbit- Thank goodness. I'm very lost at the moment." She smiled weakly. Marie laughed in understanding.
"- Lastly we are pleased to announce that the attack by Arachnophobia yesterday was an isolated incident-"
"Lord Deaths school IS rather large isn't it? I had forgotten how much I used to get lost in my first year here, but don't worry Eruka your with me." The blonde smiled and nodded to Maka who waved absently at Eruka as she rifled anxiously through several papers, then ran off for her class.
"That concludes our morning announcements for today, October 31st."
"Now Eruka I'm teaching the first year students in the N.O.T. Class. Today you can choose a weapon partner from the new students. How does that sound dear?"
"Oh, uh it sounds fine, sure."
The two walked briskly for a minute or two and stepped over the threshold of Maries class in time for the third bell to toll.
"Alright everyone welcome to the D.W.M.A. my name is Miss. Mjolnir. Today will be your first day and will also be your fist opportunity to choose a weapon partner."
A nervous looking boy in one corner raised his hand tenderly.
"Yes?" Asked Marie pointing to the boy.
"Hum, if you don't mind my asking, are you a weapon or a meister?"
Most of the class thought this a good question and a few people nodded to him discreetly in appreciation, others looked shyly up at Marie, others curiously.
"My full name is Marie Mjolnir. I am one of the four Death Scythes in Lord Deaths retinue."
She said it pleasantly enough but the impact it had on the class was immediate and profound. All of the students stood up straighter. The girls seemed much more impressed by her and the boys suddenly glanced up to eye level and kept their gaze that high and no lower. Marie seemed not to notice.
"Now all you need to do for the rest of this lesson is basically to socialize. Get to know one another and let's see if you can't find a partner, but first split into two groups. Weapons over hear with me Meisters stay put."
The class shuffled into two halves. The boy who asked whether or not Marie was a weapon crossed the room to the weapons side. Then the room began to buzz with conversation. Gently at first but the pace picked up a little. Two girls who were visibly twins became partners immediately. One was the weapon of course. Eruka could hear them telling a group of curious students that the girls' weapon form was a two pronged trident.
The rather nervous Witch noticed a slight girl with long messy black hair being shunted into a corner where she seemed to shrink in on herself. She sat in one of the chairs lining the walls and curled up into a ball. It was like this with her knees at her chin and her arms around her shins, that Eruka met her weapon partner. She approached the introverted girl and grabbed a chair, which she twisted around and placed off to the brunettes' right side. Eruka lifted her left foot and placed it against the chair in front of her, heel under the seat and sole on top. It took the girl a moment to notice the whitettes presence.
She looked up.
"Oh-my! Am I in your way miss?"
Eruka cocked an eyebrow as she looked up and down the long row of empty chairs.
"Obviously." She teased.
"Oh-my! I'll move." She lowered her legs to the ground and made to stand up.
"Stop." Eruka had made no change in posture though the timid girl flinched as if she had been threatened.
"O-oh-m-m-my…" She said delicately, turning a sickly shade of green.
"Relax. I'm Eruka Frog. What's your name?"
"W-who m-m-m-me?" He stuttering was not remotely cute. She obviously looked as if she had seen a ghost... Or perhaps a Witch?
"Yes you. I want to know you name." It looked as if the girl might feint.
"I'm uh, I'm nobody!" She was staring at Eruka with pure horror in her eyes.
"And I'm a Witch. The Grimm Reaper is monitoring my every move and one of his Death Scythes is in the room. What do you have to be nervous about?"
She blinked spasmatically in response to Erukas revelation.
"They KNOW your hear?"
"That's right. The Reaper is letting me be a student here." She folded her hands over her lap and removed her foot from the chair to cross her legs.
"And my name is Eruka Frog… What's yours?"
"My name is-My name's… I'm Dilys Peerless. I'm a Cannon."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Dilys." Eruka smiled. "I'm nervous too. But I've met some good friends in Death City. I'm sure they would like you."
"Friends? I've never had friends before."
"I never had all that many friends either. But these people are very… nice." Eruka smiled in spite of herself. She really did like the people she had met in Death City. Much more so than Medusas motley crew.
The first bell for lunch tolled. Marie called out to her students. "If no one found a weapon partner in the first hour it's perfectly fine. Be back in two hours."
"Hey Dilys? Do you want me to go eat with you are do you prefer taking you meals in private?" Eruka had guessed accurately that the shy cannon did not like crowds.
"Oh-my. I don't like crowds very much."
"Well then let's go to my room in the school."
Eruka began to lead the way into the lower levels.
"You live inside the school? Whatever for?"
"Well I suppose it's because I'm a Witch. Maybe if they feel like they can trust me later then I might be allowed to move out into some other part of the city. Who knows? But honestly I like my privacy quite a lot. I may never leave the rooms I've been allowed."
"I see…"
The two girls walked in silence the rest of the way; it was not so much an awkward silence as it was simply natural for both girls to say little when there is nothing to say. They took their lunches together and it turned out that both of them could cook rather well. While Eruka seemed more competent in the kinds of food found in the south of the United States, Dilys was more a fan of non-meat products and a heated debate (Heated for them. It was quite a tame argument actually) about what foods are best for the body.
"Oh-my Eruka! So much meat? Just try this salad I tossed!"
"I'm a frog, not a rabbit! I'm not eating that without bacon."
"Frogs eat flies Eruka. Not pork." This elicited a guilty smile from Eruka.
"Well… When I was very little I would actually eat flies." Dilys pulled a face. "But that's the same as a human kind eating their own bogies." She interjected quickly.
"Oh-my, but HOW ever did you catch them?"
Eruka absently picked up a blue berry that graced a bowl upon the table and flicked it into the air. Her tongue zipped out of her mouth and captured the berry, before it could begin to fall, and reeled it into her mouth. The whole thing happened so quickly Dilys almost missed it. Eruka looked at the dumbfounded weapon with a simple air as if she had just sown how to use a kitchen appliance.
"Oh'myyyy…" Dilys feinted onto the floor."
Eruka stared for several seconds. "-Ribbit-"Then picked her up off the floor and carried her to her bed while she began the always annoying task of brushing her hair without magic. Dilys was still fully unconscious when Erukas ancient alarm clock (she had found it in a cupboard.) Read that only thirty minutes remained for she and her partner to return to class. Standing and walking over to the right side of the bed where she had placed Dilys Eruka pondered how the lifeless girl below her had been so adept at detecting her when she was as of yet untrained. And even more unusual to Eruka was the fact that Dilys was a weapon. She was rather used to meisters being the ones with perception abilities not weapons.
"Uh… Dilys? Wake up." The witch shook the sleeping girl gently.
"Uuuuuooooh-mmmy..."
"Hey wake up! We've got thirty minutes until class starts back."
"OH!" Dilys shot up into a sitting position. "MY!"
"Let's just get going ok?"
Dilys nodded in agreement and the two girls sprinted from the room to begin the race up to class. Eruka was still curious about the cannon-girls' unusual perception.
"Hey Dilys, how could you tell I was a witch? I do have soul protect on after all."
"Well… I never miss."
"What?"
"No one can hide from me. I could always see through pretenses that other people tried to hide behind. Then later I could see locations I needed to visit with perfect clarity and-" She grabbed Erukas arm mid-sentence and tugged her away from a wrong turn. "-and I later developed a sort of clairvoyance. At first my family thought it meant I was becoming a meister. But when it turned out I was a weapon? They were all really disappointed." Dilys' face fell. "And the worst part was that they couldn't HIDE their disappointment from me. I could see it." She lapsed into silence.
"Well don't worry about it ok? You'll do fine as a weapon. Also-" Eruka smiled widely at the girl streaking through the halls next to her. "-You get to be MY partner because you're a weapon."
The girls returned to Marie's classroom with several minutes to spare and finished the lesson by becoming partners officially. They were still both quite nervous about the whole overwhelming situation that was being enrolled at the D.W.M.A. but overall they seemed to be gaining confidence together that they lacked separately. As they sat in Erukas kitchen deciding if they shouldn't use stage names a knock came at the door. Eruka called "Come in." Then she regretted being born.
A menagerie of people and color greeted her so loudly that Dilys jumped into Erukas arms (like a brown and black-spotted dog) Shouted "OH-MY" and almost feinted. The mass of color and people was as follows.
Dressed as a vampire, Maka was trying to break up a fight between Soul and Black*Star that had just started when Patty (Dressed as a princess) slipped an ice cube down the neck of Souls costume (Werewolf) something that Black*Star (Cosplying himself.) had been threatening that he would do for fifteen minutes. Black*Star being shoved off of Liz (As a Queen) into whom Soul had shoved him. Tsubaki attempting to stop Black*Star from swinging his foot into Souls face and disarranging her symmetrical top (Ninja motif) which Death the Kid (Dressed as a symmetrical version of his father) impulsively attempted to rearrange. It was with his hands on Tsubakis chest that Kid was knocked clean out by both a blushing Tsubaki and furious Maka as Liz rolled her eyes in exasperation. Then to put the cherry on top Patty decided to swing her princess scepter into the whole mess just for fun, which Liz grabbed from her sister and soundly snapped in half with an 'I told you so' kind of look. Crona made himself known by way of his wizards hat dropping onto the crowd from off of his head as he hang from the rafters in an effort to avoid the "difficult to deal with" scene devolving into life below him... Thus the entire mess of people and costumes crashed into Erukas kitchen and finally came to a screeching halt.
Maka stood up and stepped out of the mess puffing some hair away from her face.
"Hey Eruka. Do you want to go to a Halloween party at Death the Kids mansion?"
"-Croak- Shure?" She was tightly clutching Dilys to her chest.
The ten companions somehow survived long enough to exit the school and head into the streets. Eruka and Dilys had never participated in the revelry and merriment that was Halloween night in Death City. And they could scarcely stand the information overload that the celebration was in this city.
Skulls and streamers, Candy and pumpkin juice and pumpkin pie and pumpkin seed spitting contest, costumes of all shapes and sizes danced around them as pixies and Witches and Zombies (Sid the Zombie actually walked by with several enamored girls clinging from his muscled arms.) Dilys jumped in shock at the sight of him. Three young girls rushed by giggling one with black hair done-up like Makas dresses as an "Oni", one with a Lord Death skull worn as a choker dressed as a ghost, the third dressed as a Mummy (Her breast could be seen spilling out of her wrappings.) A gang of goblins traipsed by and a gaggle of giggling women dressed as Nyads and Dryads tittered away from Spirit Albarn "Oh do come back to your sweet Death-Scythe ladies!" (Maka mysteriously vanished for several seconds at his appearance.) A bald guy with round glasses (Ox) ogled with tears streaming down his face as a pink-haired girl threw her arms around a smartly dressed brunette girl and kissed her passionately (Kim and Jackie). The bald fellow could be heard shouting from blocks away. "KIM! I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL!" As Kid led his friends on further they passed Professor Stein (Bare chested) as he juggled a squealing Marie and grumping Azusa (both dressed as playboy-kitties). Eruka nimbly caught a caramel apple that had gone flying into the air. And from all directions, up down left and right, watched not just the mask (though all of the mask that are normally there still are) For the celebration Lord Deaths entire image stood and waved and hang, hung, was dapped, coiled, swinging, posted too, tacked-onto and otherwise decorated the entire city. As if Death himself had joined into every celebration that every group of friends from all walks of life currently enjoyed. It took nearly an hour for Kid to lead his personal friends to his home and even then the sound of laughing, screaming, goofing, singing and general partying could still be heard quite easily. On the way Soul had somehow expanded upon his wardrobe with three lipstick kisses (A black, orange and purple.) on his cheeks. Black*Star had as well in the form of red palm prints. Patty had acquired a new scepter and was swinging in liberally. Liz had been gifted more than a few drinks (Kid had a firm grip on her arm). Tsubaki had been able to fill a bucket with all of her favorite candies and Maka had proudly bought a book on the history of Halloween in Death City. And Crona had saved a little girl (named Rachel) from being trampled. He was rewarded by the girls' mother with a hug and seven other passing girls with many more than seven kisses covering his entire face. (Reds, blacks, oranges, blues, greens, ect. And beneath them all his enduring blush.) The friends upon arrival didn't do anything specific. Maka pushed Soul into an arm chair then sat in his lap as she began to read her newest book. Soul did not seem to mind; indeed he began to gently curl Makas hair around a finger. Black*Star, Patty and Liz began to trade their candy stockpiles. Kid and Tsubaki collapsed into the same sofa equally exhausted by Patty and Black*Star.
Eruka sat across from Dilys in Kids sitting room with her newfound friends. She placed her bucket of candy on the coffee table between them. Dilys still didn't seem to have any way of communicating the madness that this night had ignited in her.
"Hey. Dilys."
"Y-yes Eruka?"
"Are you alright?"
"Oh I'm fine… I hope. I'm just not so sure I know how to deal with-"
She gestured nowhere in general.
"All this." She slumped wearily into her chair. Crona timidly approached.
"Welcome to the party. Sometimes I'm not so sure how I handle anything but…"
He looked across the room at his friends.
"I think they have something to do with how I can handle so many things now." He smiled.
Eruka patted the chair next to her indicating for Crona to sit down. He did.
"Thank you Eruka."
"-Ribbit- thank you."
"F-for what?"
"You saved me remember? You're the reason why I'm here today." Eruka smiled hugely at Crona.
"I'm very happy to be here Crona. I think that I'll enjoy Death City." Crona blushed himself into silence and Dilys glanced nervously at Crona.
The City outside sang and danced itself into a frenzy as the moon grinned wickedly over the party goers.
Eruka reflected on the events of her first few days in Death City and made the determination that it was never a dull moment within these walls. The sound of such joy and fun in a place she had always dreaded was so shocking that it really for the first time drove home just how wonderful her lot in life had become. She watched as Dilys and Crona stuttered at each other and almost laughed aloud. She watched as Maka sank further and further into Souls lap. As Liz Patty and Black*Star passed out on the floor from exhaustion. She watched as Tsubaki and Kid murmured to one another in a very familiar way. She almost burst with satisfaction as her vision shifted and the entire room and ALL of its occupants became one and the same in her mind. Smiling as she nodded off Eruka decided one last thing. "I like my new friends."
Then her cheek fell lightly onto Cronas neck. All thought, worry and woe ceased to be. After all, she had found herself at home.
She liked her new home.
A.N.
Home is where the heart is. The heart can move, be owned by another, be broken, be healed and heal of its own accord. It is a sweet thing to drift off into complete security, to feel safe and sound.
And few gifts are as great than sanctuary.
Happy Halloween
H.M.