Part two of The Pied Piper
Kid paced back and forth in the Death Room. "We have to try again Father!" He yelled at the Grim Reaper. "She could be still waiting for us, scared, starving! She might have been even hurt!" Kid exclaimed trying to get his father to listen.
"Kid, calm down! It's been six months since that incident! There is no way Crona can still be alive." Lord Death said from inside of the mirror. "There was no way Crona could have survived that anyways." He said softer now.
Kid had to fight back the tears. Crona was in there because of his stupidity. He didn't see the black arm things reaching for him but Crona did. Crona got dragged into the portal trying to get Kid out of the way of the black arm things. Lord Death was right, there was a slim possibility Crona survived that incident in the first place. She got dragged into the Gate thanks to him, and Kid hated it every second of the day.
She was only ten years old, Kid was her 'Big brother' in there relationship. They weren't legally or blood related but they were as close as siblings. She looked up to him as a older brother and he let her down, he in a way killed her.
Spirit walked up, all smiles. "Hey, guess what," He grinned, "Or, guess what tomorrow is." He added.
Kid looked at the death scythe with a pained look in his eyes. "A comet will be visible in the night sky." He said.
"Yep! A comet and a solstice is tomorrow as well!" the death scythe grinned once more.
Kid sighed, a solstice, that was when Crona vanished.
Suddenly everything clicked.
Creel had said the Gate only opened when there was a Solstice or a comet! Tomorrow would be both! They may be able to get in the gate to save Crona!
"Thank you for reminding me, Death-Scythe Father! Give him some reward of some kind! I have to find the others." Kid said as he jumped onto his skateboard and dashed away.
He easily found Maka in the library, Soul snoozing at a table. Maka was surprised when Kid road into the library as if he was on fire.
"Whoa, what's wrong, Kid?" Maka asked concern in her eyes. "Tomorrow is a solstice!" Kid began.
Soul woke up with a snort. "Huh? Solstice? Yeah, and tomorrow is a comet also, your point?" The sleepy scythe asked.
"That's my point exactly!" Kid said excitedly.
"You lost me," Soul deadpanned.
Kid took a deep breath to explain. "Remember how Creel said that the Gate only opened when there was a comet or a solstice?" Kid asked.
Maka nodded.
"Well! This may be our chance to rescue Crona!" He continued. "This will be both a comet and solstice! It's a double open for us! You two with me on the rescue?" Kid asked quickly.
Soul glanced at Maka who began speaking. "Kid, we all adored Crona too, but, I think you're just in denial that she's gone." Maka said slowly, choosing each word carefully.
Kid glared and shook his head. "I know Crona is still alive! I can feel it, Crona wont die that easily, so what if it's been six months, that's all the more reason to save her!" Kid exclaimed.
Maka sighed. "I guess we'll go with you, just to help if you run into trouble." Maka decided.
Kid grinned and went out to find Blackstar and Tsubaki. They were just like Maka and Soul were but in the end agreed. He told them they headed out tonight so they could make it to the Gate by tomorrow. As he was heading home he was planning on telling Liz and Patty the good news and for them to pack.
"You WHAT?" Liz exclaimed at Kid. Patty was giggling behind her.
Kid straightened his jacket. "I got everyone together and we're going to save Crona." He repeated himself.
Liz groaned as she began pacing in circles. "Kid, your obsessed with this since she died. Face it Kid! Crona is dead! Just accept the fact that we lost her already!" Liz said and Kid glared at her.
"Liz, I am the meister and I make the decisions, you two are going with me whether you like it or not, you got it?" He ordered.
Liz sighed. "That Gate was really creepy though!" She whinned.
Patty giggled more. "Come on Big Sis! You could take the Gate on all by yourself!" She giggled as she patted her sister on the back.
"Patty, your overestimating me, if I tried that I'd be dead in seconds." Liz told her sister.
Kid walked into a room and came back out with three full luggage bags. "Alright, I got all three of us packed up now." He said all smiles.
"How the hell did you do that so fast?" Liz exclaimed and Kid ignored her as he walked out. "Liz, Patty, transform. We have to meet with the others." He said all cheerful now that he was under the delusion of rescuing Crona.
In his mind was a 'Prince saves Princess locked away in a tower guarded by hideous dragon' scenario. Him being 'Prince Charming' and Crona being the 'Princess who happens to be his sister', the gate was the dragon. The scenario in his opinion was adorable and childish, something Crona would like.
He made sure to mentally add that to things to do with Crona when they returned. He was sure Crona would love to pretend to be a princess and have Kid rescue her. She loved imagining they were different things.
Maka, Blackstar and the others were already waiting for him at the DWMA. He skidded to a halt in front of them. "Ready?" He asked and they nodded. "Alright! Let's go!" With that he began to skate away. Soul was on his motorcycle behind them and Blackstar was chasing after them of foot bragging he could outrun them any time.
It took roughly 16 hours to get to the Gate. Kid wanted to get there sooner but Soul had to stop to put more gas in his motorcycle and Blackstar had to stop to rest and eat a little and all of them ended up having to use the bathroom on the way.
All in all they made it just as the sun had set.
Kid began walking to where he remembered the Gate was and waited.
"So, what do we do now?" Blackstar asked impatiently as Kid stood still on the Gate.
"We wait." Was Kids response.
Blackstar growled and sat down on the edge of where Kid presumed the Gate was.
Maka just stood awkwardly in another part of the gate.
"OOH! Look!" Patty giggled and pointed towards the sky.
Kid glanced up to see that the comet had appeared.
The moment they saw the comet, the Gate light up in a bright blue light. The door materialized above the symbol in the center of the Gate and it slammed open as the shadowy arms shot out.
"LIZ PATTY TRANSFORM!" Kid yelled as he caught there gun forms. He jumped onto Beelzebub and began zooming towards the Gate.
"Kid! What the hell are you doing! Trying to kill us!" Liz screamed. Kid ignored her and shot into the door.
He could see the gate grabbing the others and dragging them in then he heard a 'SLAM' as the door must have slammed shut.
All around him the arms were trying to get at him. And before he knew it, one snaked its way around his skateboard yanking it out from under him causing him to fall, the arms grabbed him as well and began pulling him towards…he didn't know where.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" He could hear Blackstar yelling from farther behind him. The hands had a very tight grip on him, so tight it was starting to sting and hurt. He was sure they were leaving angry red marks everywhere.
A bright white light was coming into view and Kid realized they were dragging them to that light. Kid was praying that this was not going to be certain death and that he had caused more people to die unnecessary deaths.
Kid had to shield his eyes from the light. The feeling of the hands left and he felt a cool wind hitting him, though it seemed kind of rapidly. He then landed on something soft yet hard and opened his eyes a bit. He was on bright green grass.
"YHAAAAAAAAAAA!" Blackstar yelled as he landed next to him. Maka landed on his other side and Kid sat up slowly. "Is…Is everyone alright?" He asked quickly.
Blackstar nodded. "Don't think I broke anything, Maka?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Maka said and stood up. "Where are we?" She asked.
"yo-ho-ho~" A squeaky voice laugh from next to them. "Your in Capricornious, strangers." Kid turned around and looked for where the voice was coming from but saw no one. "Down here, stranger."
He looked down to see a small dog sized white mouse wearing a tuxedo coat and bow standing in front of them.
"Wha…." Kid could only stare so could the others.
"Where are my manners! I forgot to introduce myself! I am Gillian Van-Hograsho, son of Hoerasio Van-Hograsho. Though my friends call me Gill, I am a Yuilio." The mouse said. "And may I ask for your names and positions?"
Kid regained himself and cleared his throat. "I am Death the Kid, son of Lord Death, and I am a Grim Reaper." Kid said.
"Maka Albarn, daughter of Spirit Albarn, I am a Scythe Meister." Maka responded politely and added a bow.
Soul stretched. "I'm Soul Evans, son of Mr. Evans, and I'm the coolest scythe around." He grinned showing off his shark like teeth.
"Blackstar, son of Whitestar, man to transcend God, and a Meister."
"Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, daughter of Sanjuro Nakatsukasa, Shadow weapon."
"Liz Thompson, sister of Patty Thompson, gun-weapon."
"Patty Thompson~ I'm the sister of Liz, I'm a gun-weapon also~"
The introductions finished with Gill nodding his head. "So you are a reaper of lives." He said pointing his tail at Kid. "You might want to be careful. There's a group of people that might want to use your powers for there own." Gill warned.
Kid blinked. "Powers? There own? What are you talking about?" He asked.
Gill glanced around. "How about we head to my burrow and I'll explain everything there. And you strangers can explain how you got here out of thin air." He said and began scurrying off.
Kid ran after him and the others followed. Blackstar snickered saying that they couldn't fit in a mouse home but was surprised to find a normal sized cottage as Gills home.
Gill stopped and looked awkward. "I might wish to warn you that my wife is nosy when it comes to strangers lives." He said as he opened the door.
A brown mouse of the same size was standing at a low sink washing dishes. She was wearing a frilly maids outfit.
Gill smiled. "Twinkia, I'm home and brought strangers." He greeted.
Twinkia smiled and put down the dishes and walked over to Gill and nuzzled him. Blackstar made a gagging sound at the mice's romantic display of affection and Maka glared at him as she jabbed him in the gut with her elbow.
"Ah, where are you children from?" Twinkia asked with sparkles in her eyes.
Kid rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "We come from Death City, have you ever heard of it?" He asked with slight hope.
Gill looked confused. "That's an odd name for a city." He said.
"Who's the Watcher of it? And the what are the Upholders like?" Twinkia asked excitedly.
Everyone had a blank, confused look at her question.
"What the hell is a Watcher and a Upholder?" Blackstar questioned.
Gill smiled. "Ah, you must not have those, or there not called the same thing. The Watcher is the one who is leader of the city, while the Upholders are the ones who fight for the city under command of the Watcher, they are like the cities army." Gill explained.
Patty made a 'ah' face and Kid nodded. "I guess then my father would be the Watcher, and the DWMA, what we are a part of, are the Upholders." He said answering the question.
Twinkia smiled brightly. "Whats the Wa-." Gill put a hand on her shoulder. "Lets just ask them why there here and such." He offered.
Twinkia nodded and smiled. "So, why are Upholders of Death City stranded in Capricornious?" She questioned curiously.
Maka gave an embarrassed smile then glared at Kid. "The Gate dragged us here." She said and Twinkia dropped the tea cup she was holding.
"You went through the Gate?" Gill asked slowly.
Kid nodded. "We were coming here to rescue a friend of ours that was dragged here half a year ago." He said calmly, "She's only a child and we couldn't let her stay here we didn't know what it was like over here so we didn't know if she was in danger."
"But since this place isn't at all scary or hostile or dangerous, I guess she was safe and alright anyways." Blackstar said glaring at Kid. "No reason for us to come here."
Gill shook his head. "On contrary, the Gate relocates every half a year so where she was when she came here wasn't in Capricornious. She could have been dropped in one of the more vicious lands." Gill said.
Liz paled. "V-vicious…lands…?" She asked.
"What other lands are there?" Patty asked smiling.
Gill thought a moment. "Dear, Twinkia, can you get me the world map, please, honey-bun?" He asked.
Twinkia nodded and left the room, she came back with a large rolled up map.
"Here," Gill said unrolling it on the table to show odd shaped landmasses on it. "We are here, in Capricornious." He said pointing to a relatively small island. "We're one of the more peaceful lands and smallest. But the lands like Leonion," He pointed to a land towards the edge of the map. "And the sister-lands Canisajor and Canisinor are more vicious lands. The others are in the middle. The very large one is Vulpecula there are several other lands on here too." Gill explained.
Kid nodded. "Do you know where the Gate was last?" He asked slowly.
Gill thought a moment. "Well, we heard that the Gate was in Sagittarius last, that's the land with all those mountains." He said pointing to the right, it was right on the edge of Canisajor and Leonion. Kid saw Liz gulp in nervousness.
"We have to go there and try to find her." Kid said.
Gill thought a moment. "It will be a hard journey, here, we'll help you prepare and I'll label all the countries and landmarks on the map so you know where your going and where your at." Gill offered.
"That would be very kind of you." Kid replied with a smile.
Gill nodded to Twinkia who rushed towards the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of ink and a feather pen and began scratching in names on the map.
Blackstar glanced around and Kid wondered if he was actually starting to feel a little awkward.
Gill rolled the map up and put it in a cylinder container. "So if you fall in water, the map will be alright." He explained as he handed it to Kid. "Just beware, there is this thing that goes around travelers named the Pied Piper. He, she, it always steals something from the travelers." Gill warned.
"I can take any Pied Piper." Blackstar boasted as he laughed.
Twinkia came back with a few knapsacks and a small bag filled with something. "This should be able to get you by, the bag has money, only use it when you run out of supplies." She warned. "If you run out of money, there are several things you can do on the way to earn money by helping out for a few hours. Farmers love getting aid when there working on there farm." She added.
Kid nodded and gave a polite bow. "Thank you, both of you, you two have been quite generous to us though you know barley anything about us." Kid said. "How can we ever repay you for your helpfulness?"
Gill smiled. "It's the least we can do, from the looks of it, your determined to find this girl, so you can repay us by finding her, besides, what is she? Your fiancé? Wife? Are you two courting or you haven't gotten that far but still are madly in love with her?" Gill asked.
Kid turned bright red and the others burst out laughing. "I a-assure you! It's nothing like that! She's like my little sister, she's only ten years old she's like my family and it's my fault she got dragged here so I have to rescue her." Kid spluttered.
Gill nodded. "Oh, it's your sister, that changers everything. Well, I give you my blessings that you and your friends have a safe journey while trying to find her. May Capricorn watch over you and bless your travels." The mouse said.
Kid waved goodbye to them and began walking
When they got to a good spot Kid stopped and pulled out the map as he began analyzing it. He pulled a compass out of his bag and began looking. "So, if we keep going north, we should run into a river." He said. He was thankful Gill marked where his house was on the map so Kid knew what side of the Lethe.
"Hey Kid…" Maka said slowly and he looked at the pigtailed girl. "Have you noticed, all the landmarks are named after mythical landmarks, like the Lethe River, isn't that a river in Greek mythology?" She asked.
Kid thought a moment and looked at all the rivers. "Lethe, Styx, Phlegethon, Cocytus, Acheron, Sanzu." Kid said slowly, "Yeah, they are from myths." He agreed.
"And the lands, aren't they all sounding similar to constellations? I mean, look at the map." Maka added.
"Everything is named after something else in our world, myth, constellations…" Kid said in sheer surprise.
Blackstar yawned. "So they copied things from our world, big deal." He said. "Lets just get to that Lethe river already." He said and began marching forward in a very confident manner.
"Blackstars right. We should keep moving Kid. We don't know what's out here and the River would be a good place to stop at." Liz agreed nervously.
Kid nodded and sighed. "You guys are right, lets keep moving." And with that they continued.
Kid looked to the sky to see that the sun was starting to set though was slightly surprised to see it wasn't anything like there sun, it didn't even have a face! It was just a round ball of light that made it impossible to look straight at.
Soon the sun was almost out of sight in the horizon as they made it to the river. It was wide, but not too wide, he was sure they could make it across but wasn't going to risk swimming in the dark. Where they were by the river was a wide flat land, there were a few bushes but it was mostly a clear area, perfect for a place to rest for the night.
"Let's set up camp here." Kid said, "Soul, can you and Blackstar see if our tents from our bags survived the fall and if so set them up? Tsubaki, I'm going to go collect firewood, can you go see if there is anything we can get for food and Liz can help you, don't use too much stuff just make something simple and quick that will give us energy. Maka, mind helping me while I collect firewood and Patty can you stand guard in case anything hostile enters camp?" Kid was spitting out requests and orders like a natural.
Everyone nodded and began doing there work as Maka walked with Kid back towards the forest.
"You are determined to find Crona." Maka pointed out as Kid picked up several branches and sticks off of the ground. "Your not even caring about symmetry at this point." She said.
Kid shrugged. "I have my priorities, Crona is above symmetry right now." He said as he picked up a gnarled branch of the ground.
Maka smiled a bit as she picked up a few branches as well. Kid and Crona had always been very close. They seemed closer then Kid was with his weapons, they truly did act like sibling, Maka and the others often times caught Kid playing around with Crona when he didn't have to work, he would take her to the park, run around with her clinging to his back. It was fun, they had a lot of fun together.
Maka could see that without Crona, Kid was nothing, Crona make Kid more cheerful and playful, she took down his stoic appearance and made him act more like a kid then an adult he usual acted like. She even at times made Kid disregard symmetry even though he did so all the time when it came to her because of her hair style wasn't symmetrical at all. They were a perfect pair in Makas eyes, like true siblings.
Loud yelling came from there camp and the two meisters rushed to return, still carrying the firewood. When they entered the camp, Blackstar was pinning a figure clad in a black cloak with a mask hiding its face.
"We had an intruder, but the great Blackstar took it out." Blackstar smirked. "I think this is the Pied Piper that Gill told us about, told you I could take it." He laughed
Kid walked up the thing, which he estimated to be an inch or two taller then him and Soul knelt down and removed the hood and mask hiding the figures face. "Lets see what this thing is." He said smirking, but the moment he saw the intruders face, everyone dropped everything.
Underneath the mask and cloak was….
Crona
Well this was part two of The Pied Piper. This was ten pages long so I hope you enjoyed it. Kid and the gang are now on the other side of the Gate.
Please review.