Chapter Five:
LIFE CITY?
Author's Note: Well this is my first time adding one of these… Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed or out of rhythm. I just wanted to update ASAP for all those following this story. Enjoy!
Somewhere very near our beloved Death City, a black haired, pale skinned girl with orange eyes cackled evilly. She walked down the grand black and white checkered steps of Noose Palace, smiling menacingly at the servants she passed.
"Good morning, miss." One girl said, bowing her head obediently as she walked past the Mistress.
"Good mornin', mam." A young boy greeted quietly, bowing his head solemnly.
"Next time, LOUDER." The Mistress shouted.
The boy paled but nodded and hurried away.
The Mistress grinned at his fear, revealing her sharp teeth.
"M-m-morning m-miss…." A small blonde haired child stammered as she lowered her head.
The Mistress stopped smiling immediately and halted her descent of the steps.
"Did you just stammer? Did you just stammer when speaking to me?" The Mistress said calmly with a slight bit of coldness in her voice.
The girl shuffled her feet but stayed silent, not looking the Mistress in the eyes, feeling terrified for her soul, her blonde curls visibly trembling as was her black maid's dress and white apron.
"Look at me when I speak to you!" The Mistress hollered, grabbing the girls face roughly and staring down into the girl's brown eyes.
"I'm s-sorry mam!" The girl stammered again. She was dead for sure.
"What is your name?" The Mistress asked, slightly less angry sounding.
"Rachel, mam. Rachel Kaisaow." Rachel replied, trying to control her fast breathing.
The Mistress let go of her face, "Well, Rachel, let me teach you a lesson in grammar."
Rachel's eyes reflected panic as the Mistress went and sat on the sleek black railing of the staircase.
"You see, Rachel, you shouldn't rush your sentences…" The Mistress pressed a black button cleverly camouflaged in the railing, "You shouldn't use in-complete sentences…" She pressed another button and a lever popped out of the railing, "And you should never, ever, EVER stammer when speaking to your Mistress."
Rachel shrieked as the Mistress pulled the lever and the stairs of the staircase flattened out into a slide and a large, gaping hole of blackness that stank of human flesh and blood opened at the bottom. Rachel, unable to grab hold of anything, sobbed miserably as she was flung into the blackness of the hole.
The Mistress eagerly slid down the railing and stood next to the hole, her tattered white dress slowing her slightly. She reached the end of the rail and swung to the side, landing next to the deep, black hole and began listening intently. Suddenly she heard the sound she loved the most; the breaking of bones, the splattering of blood, and the last shriek of pain from the dying little servant girl.
I sat bolt upright in my bed at Gallows Manor. I was shaking uncontrollably and I gripped the bed sheets tightly in my hands. Looking around at my surroundings frantically, I realized I was in my room, not the strange Noose Palace from my nightmare. I tossed the maroon sheets from off my body and sat up, hugging my knees.
"What a horrible nightmare…" I muttered. It was the strangest nightmare I'd ever had. The palace reminded of somewhere I'd been before. The Mistress had looked so familiar, but I was sure I'd never encountered a girl like that in my life. I probably would've remembered someone as cruel and vicious as her. It had all been so strange and yet so familiar.
I put my legs over the side of the bed and stood up on the luscious white carpet, legs feeling a bit wobbly and my head pounding. Luckily, my chest wasn't hurting. Yet.
I dressed myself quickly and pulled open the black and gray door of my room that lead to a sort of melancholy gray hallway filled with symmetrical paintings. Walking groggily down the hall to the dining room, I bumped into Blade.
"Hi Blade," I said, yawning, "how was your sleep?"
We continued walking down the hall as Blade answered, "Not very good. I kept having the same nightmare over and over."
Hmm... I thought.
"What about?" I asked as we kept walked into the dining room.
Blade replied simply, "An assassin."
I smiled, "It wasn't about Black*Star was it?"
Blade grinned, "No, but any dream including him being the perfect assassin would definitely be considered a nightmare. From me at least."
I laughed and sat at the table next to Blade. In the background I could hear Patty singing very loudly at Liz to get her to wake up.
Blade's grin faded a little, "It was about some spiky and white haired person with caramel eyes. He was like a ghost…. A ruthless one. Not very pleasant to talk about."
Realizing he didn't want to say anything more I nodded and stayed silent for a little while until Blade randomly asked, "What about you?"
"Um, well, I had a bit of a disturbing nightmare as well…" I was about to go on when Liz and Patty charged into the room.
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII EVERYBODY!" Patty shouted happily, her rosy cheeks rosier than usual.
Liz looked a little put off about something and we realized what it was when she told us, "Patty found our coffee storage….. and sugar, and cream."
Blade and I exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.
Patty looked confused for a fraction of a second then burst out laughing this crazed, insane sounding laugh that reminded me of my nightmare. I shuddered.
"Liz, I told you not to hide the coffee in the laundry room anymore," A voice called from the kitchen, "she found that place months ago the last time we hid the coffee there!"
"I thought she'd forget!" Liz replied as she sat down next to the giggling Patty who was now playing with her spoon like it was an airplane.
Kid walked into the room carrying breakfast and some plates, "Well obviously she hasn't."
Kid set breakfast on the table and sat across from me, looking deeply troubled by something as the rest of us helped ourselves to a delicious looking omelet.
"Hey Kid, do you mind if I cook tonight?" Blade asked. I was wondering when he'd want to start cooking.
"Erm, sure if you're any good at it." Kid teased half-heartedly as he snapped out of his trance and took a slice of omelet.
"Trust me, he's really good." I said, taking a bite of food.
"Well, I'm not that good…" Blade said modestly (what? Blade, stop being so polite.).
I gave him a look. This really was not at all how Blade was. He was gonna have to revert to his old self or I was going to freak out.
"Yes you are," I replied and then turned to Kid, "His cooking saved an entire restraunt. Ever heard of the Shooting Star?"
"I think so…" Liz replied, "Kid, didn't we go there once? For Patty's birthday or something?"
"Yes, yes I remember that." Kid confirmed.
"Well, it used to be a heaping wreck until Blade starting cooking there. It's now one of the most well-known restraunts in Life City." I said.
"Death City…" Blade corrected.
"Oh… right… Death City… Why did I say Life City…?" I mumbled to myself.
After that it was sort of silent, with the exception of Patty rambling on endlessly about unicorns and how they were destined to save the universe. I couldn't figure out why I had said Life City. It's Death City, I thought. Get it right…
"Kukuru? You left your homework upstairs last night. Just so you know where it is." Blade replied, finishing his meal.
"Oh right. I'll be back." I said, excusing myself from the table and started walking back down the gray hallway towards the stairs.
Pondering my dream as I went, I felt a nagging sensation in the back of my mind, like I knew something important but couldn't quite grasp it. It was very frustrating, and I was just about to start ascending the black and white spiral staircase when I had a déjà vu. I looked at the staircase carefully. Each step was either black or white. One step was black, the next white, then the next stair would be black again, the matching white metal railing gripped loosely with my right hand. I realized suddenly that it reminded me of the checkered staircase in my nightmare. Feeling a little more apprehensive, I climbed the stairs quickly and retrieved my papers.
I hopped down the stairs two at a time and shivered as I set a my foot on the floor at the end of the staircase. Suddenly, I heard the faint scream of a little girl. My blood ran cold as I dashed back into the dining room. No, no, no. Just a dream. I'm hallucinating is all….
"Kukuru are you alright?" Kid asked, concerned.
I jumped as I realized he was standing right in front of me, looking me in the eyes.
"I… I don't know…. I had this nightmare and…" I shivered.
Kid got that deeply concerned look on his face again, "I see… Well, we should probably start heading to the academy now…"
"Yeah… let's do that then…" I said quietly, passing Kid and waiting by the door with Blade, Liz and Patty.
"You okay Kukuru? You look sort of pale…" Liz asked.
"I'll be fine…" I replied as Kid walked over to the door and opened it for all of us.
As we walked, I felt myself lingering on the dream and the look on the little girl's face when she realized she was destined to die.
At the DWMA, everyone seemed a little off. Some of them were distant and muttering strange words. Others would gaze at each other with horror or pain or anger in their eyes. There were so many fights breaking out.
But worst of all was Stein. He was acting crazy and more insane than usual. All the students were worried and we eventually called in Miss Marie to calm him down.
During our free study towards the end of the school day, Soul, Maka, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patty, Crona, Ragnarok, Blade and I all met up in the library to talk.
"Something is definitely going on here. I can feel an intense wave of madness slowly increasing." Soul said seriously, looking suspiciously around the room.
"You don't think it's those Trilobite kishins, do you?" Tsubaki asked.
"No. Even with a huge hoard of them, there is no way they could produce this much madness." Kid answered.
"What about the witch?" I asked.
"I don't think one witch could do all this." Maka pointed out.
I furrowed my eyebrows and closed my eyes, rubbing my eyelids with my hands. My head was hurting so much with the effort of trying to remember where I'd seen the Mistress before. It was bugging me to no end and I just could not place her face (really? More rhymes?).
I decided I needed some cold water in my face to perk myself up, "I'll be back."
"Are you okay Kukuru? You're not having another pain attack are you?" Maka asked, concerned.
"No, I'm just a little dizzy is all." I replied as I stood up.
As I walked away from the group, I heaved out a sigh. I wonder if any of the teachers know anything? Maybe I should ask Nygus before we leave school today.
I walked into the girl's bathroom and turned the silver knob of the faucet and cold water poured out. I cupped my hands and gathered some water in them and splashed it in my face. I turned the water off and gripped the sides of the cream counter the recently cleaned sink rested on. I looked up in the mirror.
As I did so, I was rendered breathless and a pang of terror hit my heart. I suddenly reached up and undid my bun and allowed my blonde hair to flow over my shoulders and down my back. I nearly shrieked.
Why?
Because I realized now who the Mistress looked like. She looked like ME.
Suddenly, everything started shaking like crazy I lost my grip on the sink and fell backwards onto the ground of the bathroom. I heard shrieks and screams from the hallways as students scrambled around to find a place to duck under. I opened the tan cabinets under the silver sink to reveal cleaning supplies and unwrapped toilet paper. I shoved them out of the cabinet and squeezed into the musty, dark space under the sink. I shut the doors tightly and listened to the rumbling of the ground and the scuffling of students running about the school and the shrieks and shouts of teachers and kids alike.
A short while later, the tremendous shaking halted abruptly. I stayed in my little cabinet until I was sure the shaking stopped.
I slowly opened the cabinet doors. The earthquake had been so powerful it had broken large chunks out of the ceiling which had crashed into the tiled floor of the bathroom. Some of the sleek black stalls had been wrecked; doors off their hinges, toilets crushed and spewing water out of them and walls collapsing. I cautiously stepped out of my cabinet into the rubble of the bathroom and proceeded to the door. As I opened it, I saw tons of people crowding around the windows to my left. I crossed the dark wood flooring and spotted my group, some faces pale and nervous looking, others staring in disbelief, and still others who angrily glared out the windows.
Blade walked over to me, "Kukuru… You might want to see this…"
I hesitantly walked towards the nearest window, unsure of what I was about to see.
As I stared out into the distance, I spotted something that made me freeze in horror and panic.
Out in the distance, I saw a duplicate of Death City, expect slightly different. Suddenly, fireworks shot into the sky and formed letters. The letters read, "Hello, Death City! Meet your insane neighbors of Life City!"
The cackling laughter of the Mistress rang in my ears, the sickening crack of the little girls bones echoing in my mind.
"Lord Death!" I yelled as we Maka, Soul, Black*Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, Kid, Crona, Ragnarok, Blade and I burst into the Death room.
Lord Death turned from his mirror, cartoony features creased with concerned, "Yes, I am fully aware of this so called Life City."
"But how on Earth did it get here? It wasn't here just this morning!" Blade asked.
"I'm not sure…" Death replied worriedly.
Just then, Stein joined our merry little party as we discussed what to do.
"Yes, very mysterious. It seems as though the madness waves we have been feeling for quite a while have been coming from Life City all along. The large amount of madness explains why the kishin eggs have been so much more powerful recently." Stein explained.
"What are we going to so though?" Tsubaki asked.
"I'll go and assassinate them all and we won't have to worry about a damn thing because I am THE GREATEST ASSISSIN IN THE WORLD! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Black*Star started laughing crazily.
Lord Death looked scornfully at Black*Star and Reaper Chopped the idiot.
Spirit, a Death Scythe of Lord Death's, appeared in the room as well, "It doesn't have to be a bad place necessarily. Maybe they're just plagued with kishins or kishin eggs."
"Maybe, but I doubt it. We should send some meisters and their weapons out as scouts and have them report back. We'll send Sid with you in case you need help." Stein replied.
"Soul and I will go!" Maka volunteered.
"Okay. Take the rest of your resonance team with you. With the huge magnitude of that madness wave, it couldn't hurt to be cautious." Stein flashed his glasses at Black*Star when he said "cautious".
Feeling a little left out, I glanced at Kid. He was part of Maka's resonance team, and I wasn't, which meant I had to wait here while they risked their lives out there in this so-called Life City. I shuddered when I thought about what could happen if they ran into the Mistress…
Kid, catching my glance, walked over to where I was and rested a hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry. We'll be back soon. Don't forget I'm a Grim Reaper."
"I know…" I huffed slightly. In truth, I was actually a little relieved I wasn't going to investigate. I was really nervous about what lay in the streets of that city and what might happen to me if I went there.
Kid smiled at me and began walking off with Liz, Patty, Maka, Soul, Black*Star, and Tsubaki. I followed behind with Blade and exited the Death Room. Just as Kid was about to turn a corner, he waved at him and I waved back, forcing a smile on my face. God, what a mess…
"He'll be fine," Blade said, which made me jump, "You seem to keep forgetting he's a Grim Reaper, Cookie."
"Don't call me that!" I said, glaring at him.
He cracked a smile.
This was the Blade I knew.
Rolling my eyes, I walked over to a window and looked at duplicate of Death City which looked like a great, towering, terrifying beast leering at us from its perch. Blade stood next to me, gazing at it with an unreadable expression on his face.
"That nightmare I had…" He began hesitantly, "I saw… a reverse Gallows Manor and DWMA, or as they were called in my nightmare, Noose Palace and LMWU."
"LMWU?" I looked at Blade, wondering if he had an answer.
"Life Meister Weapon University." Blade clarified.
"Ah… I had a dream about Noose Palace but not LMWU. You don't think this Life City could possibly have gotten into our minds while we slept?" I asked.
Blade sighed, "Dunno. We don't even know what it's like in there."
"Ya…" I sighed.
We sat there in silence, waiting for the resonance team to report back to Stein and Lord Death.
A while later, Blade and I were sitting on the steps outside the DWMA when suddenly Maka ran up the steps wielding Soul as a black and red scythe, panting hard. Black*Star jumped from the nearest rooftop, black vine tattoos on his face and wielding Tsubaki as a black sword. Kid sped toward us on Beelzebub, shooting at something behind him. Kid soon stopped firing and landed, Beelzebub disappearing.
Blade and I stood up, alarmed.
"What's going o-"Blade began.
"No time! C'mon!" Maka replied, out of breath but still making a mad dash for the front doors of the DWMA.
Wasting no time, I spun around and ran straight for the doors. I was the last one to reach the doors, so I turned to close them quickly when I spotted a black haired girl with orange eyes and wearing a white, tattered dress…
I stared, frozen in horror as she smiled maliciously at me, her sharp teeth showing. I noticed that her face looked gaunt and paler than it had in the dream. I also noticed she was wearing black lipstick and heavy mascara.
"Hello, Kukuru," She yelled, "Oooo it's so strange to use my own name for someone else!"
"Kukuru!" Kid said to me, grabbing hold of my upper arm and pulling me into the DWMA.
Maka ran to the doors and shut them.
"That… s-she is… Oh my God!" I managed.
"Yes, we know. She's you, only not you. There's more but we have to get back to the Death Room first." Kid replied, letting go of my arm and turning to run again.
I followed, running as fast as my legs could carry me. As we approached the doors to the Death Room, Kid ran up ahead and pushed the doors open.
"Stein! Lord Death!" Maka shouted as she sprinted into the room.
We all stopped running as we filed into the Death Room. I bent over and rested my hands on my knees, panting, the others also trying to regain their breath.
"Quick…" Maka began, still out of breath, "mirror… city… message…"
Lord Death turned to face his mirror in the center of the Death Room, which flashed with a brilliant bright light and then showed me as the Mistress, which I am guessing was just a title that the servants had to use when referring to her.
The Life City's version of me had a wild look in her eyes as she stared at Lord Death through the mirror and then said, "Why hello there! This is Kukuru, live from Noose Palace, Life City. I was delighted to meet those young children you sent to greet us. It's a shame they didn't stay longer."
I shivered when I heard her use my name as her own, but she just laughed a crazed laugh and continued, "As you probably know, I'm not the only one here in this insane little town! Let me have you meet my lover…"
I really wasn't prepared when she introduced her 'lover' to use. The spitting image of Kid appeared on the screen, except everything about him was negatived. In other words, anything that was white on the original Kid was black on the other Kid, and everything black on the original Kid was white on the duplicate Kid. (I hope that makes sense…) Also, his eyes were purple instead of gold but his skin remained pale. He wore a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Wave to the neighbors, Kid!" the opposite me laughed, waving like an idiot.
The other Kid opened his mouth to speak, "My name is Life the Kid. I hope you six enjoyed your little visit."
"What are you doing here? What do you want?!" Maka demanded from behind me somewhere.
"Isn't it obvious by now?" Kukuru said, a little irritated.
"We want your souls!" Life the Kid replied.
"You will not have them!" Lord Death said, staring the two maniacs down.
Kukuru and Life the Kid started laughing.
"Of course you'd say that! But we're not asking for your permission, Reaper!" Kukuru laughed.
Randomly in the background, a servant appeared and asked, "Mistress? Where would you like the towels to be hung this time?"
Kukuru turned around and glared at the servant and hollered, "I told you NOT TO INTERRUPT ME!"
She grabbed hold of a rope hanging from the ceiling, the servant boy begging for mercy. Suddenly, Kukuru pulled down on the rope and two spiked walls zoomed speedily towards each other, the servant in their path. The two spiked walls crushed the servant in between them, resulting in the most revolting noise I'd ever heard. I felt like I was gonna be sick.
"Anyways, we'll be seeing you in the very near future. Until next time…" Life the Kid smiled and both Kukuru and the other Kid disappeared from off the screen, leaving a picture of the mashed remains of the servant in their place. I looked away and clenched my stomach. My head felt dizzy and I collapsed on the ground, feeling very hot, and passed out.
I woke up in my bed at the manor, feeling much better. I wondered, for a second, if what I'd just been through was a dream, when I spotted small amounts of rubble scattered around my floor and some of the pictures on my walls askew.
Sitting up slowly, I rubbed my eyes. I shuddered as I remembered how the servant boy looked as a pile of disgusting, mangled human flesh.
Someone knocked on my door, jarring me out of my thoughts.
"Come in…" I said, noticing I was in my pajamas.
The door opened and Kid walked in and shut the door behind him. He stood, hands in his pockets near the door, "How are you feeling?"
"A lot better." I replied.
He looked at me still and I realized he was probably talking emotional wise, "Oh you mean emotionally or…?"
Kid nodded and walked over to my bed and sat on the edge of it, dangling his feet off the side. I moved so I was sitting next to him, also dangling my feet of the side.
"I don't know… This is all just so crazy…" I said, biting my lip.
"Yeah it is. Life City is pretty much exactly the same as Death City, except some things are reversed, like you and I." Kid replied.
I shivered at the mention of Life the Kid and the other Kukuru.
And lo and behold, I started crying again, "Kid… I-I'm so scared…"
Kid gently gathered me in his arms and pulled me onto his lap. I felt my face get a little hot, and I guessed I was blushing. I rested my head against his chest and listened to his heart, still shaking all over.
"Don't be scared," He replied, "You're stronger than you think. We'll find a way to take down Life City."
I smiled slightly at the determination in his voice and nodded, allowing myself to relax, feeling quite safe in Kid's arms.