Chapter 7


Friendship


Just as Shadow could see a lot of things about someone from their eyes she could see a lot about people from their facial expressions.

Mazchna was, obviously, not happy with Midnight and Shadow. His eyes looked like red flames of anger, his jaw was tight, and a view on his forehead was pulsing. It almost looked as though smoke was coming out of his ears.

"Only one Aberrant?" He yelled, "And you almost got killed, Midnight?"

Midnight stared back into his blazing eyes. She didn't seem afraid of him, or thrown off guard. She didn't even look sorry.

She looked as though she just wanted him to stop talking. Like she didn't want to hear it. There was no sign of embarrassment in her face.

She was a very defensive person, even in the face of the one in charge.

Shadow, on the other hand, was blushing and had her head hung. She didn't want to have failed on her first time, but things didn't go as planned.

Mazchna clutched his fists on the armrests of his chair. Shadow could tell he was using every fiber in his being to hold himself back from attacking them. For a demon, that took a great amount of willpower and Shadow couldn't help but be impressed.

Mazchna finally took a deep breath and looked squarely at both of the girls. He sat up slightly and allowed himself to let his arms support his weight. Shadow realized that for the first time, other than when they first met, he was giving her a glimpse of his demon side. He must have had a lot of training to be able to control it so well.

"I will allow this to be overlooked just this once. Only because this is your first time." He nodded at Shadow. "But as for you," He turned back to Midnight. "You have had much more experience and YOU should be the one protecting; not the other way around. I expect better performance in the future."

"It isn't her fault!" Shadow piped up. "Her…powers…failed." She was silenced by a deathly glare from Mazchna.

"No excuses. She was in charge and was told to look after you. If she failed, no matter what the reason, she is still the one at fault. Midnight, you will go the night without supper. Dismissed." He finished before Shadow could argue.

Midnight whipped around, her cape whipping with her, and headed through the door of Mazchna's office. Shadow turned to her in surprise, turned back to shoot one last glare at the demon, and followed after Midnight.

Finally catching up with her as she moved at a swift pace, Shadow cleared her throat. "For a demon, he doesn't show anger that often." She tried to make conversation. When Midnight didn't respond she continued, "I bet he has mini dolls of us stashed somewhere and rips off their heads when he gets fed up with us." She laughed quietly, but quickly frowned when Midnight didn't even show a smirk on her face.

"Aw, c'mon!" Shadow began to whine. "I know my jokes aren't the best, but you could at least give a pity laugh or even a smile."

"I couldn't if I wanted to." Midnight said in her deadpan voice, quickening her pace.

Shadow frowned and shook her head. Why couldn't she just TALK to her? She didn't even get a proper thank you from her for saving her damn life! She sped up to catch up with her again. She reached out her hand to grab her arm, but remembered what happened the last time she did that and quickly thought better of it.

"Do you really hate me that much?" She demanded. "What the hell did I do to you that was so bad?"

"You're a human." Midnight answered as bluntly as ever. "It's only natural that we hate you."

"I'm not asking why everyone here hates me. I'm asking why YOU hate me." She growled at her.

"That's none of your business." Midnight said, trying to speed up more, but Shadow ran in front of her, blocking her way.

"Get out of my way!" Midnight snarled at her, trying to barge her way past.

Shadow copied her every movement, staying in front of her at all times. "Not until you tell me why you hate me. I saved your life for Guthix's sakes!"

"GET OUT OF MY DAMN WAY!" Midnight tried to ram into her, but she was just as strong and forced her back.

"WHY DO YOU HATE ME?" Shadow just about screamed.

"Who the hell told you I hate you, anyway?" Midnight said unexpectedly, she was breathing hard now. Her wounds must have not healed completely yet.

"Um, gee, I don't know." Shadow said in a tone that was aching with sarcasm. "How about for starts you never smile, not even a smirk?"

"I told you I CAN'T." Midnight said firmly. "Can't means can't, incapable of, unable to do. Catching on yet princess?"

"How can someone not be able to smile? To not be able to do that you need to be, I don't know, emotionless or something." Shadow rolled her eyes.

Midnight gazed at her steadily. "Nice job Sherlock." She growled, barging past her now.

Shadow stood there, half stunned as the shock of realization finally hit her. Midnight…didn't have any emotions. That's why she didn't feel any gratitude. That's why she never laughed or smiled. That's why she acted like she hated her. She couldn't help it. But how was this possible?

Shadow turned around and watched as Midnight's boot just went around a corner, toward their room. She wanted to know more than that. She wanted to know why Midnight was this way. But why? It was none of her business. But for some reason, she felt pity for her. To not be able to laugh or smile or even cry ever again? How could this have happened?

She jumped as Mazchna's voice spoke from somewhere above her. "Report to the food hall for supper at once."

Shadow frowned upward at the voice and moved to the sides of the tunnel as more and more creatures began to creep out of their rooms, grumbling about how hungry they were.

Shadow WAS hungry, but now not so much. She began to take the path Midnight had back to their room, hardly noticing the glaring eyes of monsters around her.

She got back to the door of their room and she tried to open it, only to find it was locked. She growled to herself and banged on the door, in no mood for these games. "Midnight! Open the damn door. This is my room now too you know."

When there was no answer, she rolled her eyes and stuck her finger into the lock, swiveling around with it until she unlocked it. This was easy compared to some of the locks she had to unlock.

She opened the door and slammed it hard behind her. Midnight was on her bed with her back facing her, muttering to herself. When she heard the door she sat up slightly but didn't turn around. "Why are you here already?" She growled.

Shadow walked until she reached her own bed, sitting on the very edge of it. "You mean why didn't I go to supper? I'm not hungry." She said in a surprisingly calm voice. "Why did you lock the door?"

"I was going to open it by the time you came back." Midnight growled back a reply. Shadow could see the side of her face now. Her eyes were closed and the palms of her hands were together as if she was praying.

"You're religious?" Shadow asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm-" Midnight stopped. "That's none of your business." Her voice sounded different this time, as if she wanted to tell her but couldn't. Or knew she shouldn't.

Shadow blinked. Common sense told her to stop talking, but curiosity screamed at her to find out more. Curiosity won. "So…you don't hate me?" She asked carefully.

"I don't know." Midnight said in her usual monotone. "The few remaining emotions I have tell me I don't. At least not completely."

"I thought you didn't have any emotions." Shadow narrowed her eyes. Was she lying now?

For a moment, Shadow swore she saw a vein pop in Midnight's forehead as she tried to shut her tighter. She let out a long sigh, obviously giving up whatever she was doing and turned to Shadow. Her already red eyes seemed to be darker than before, but turned into their normal color when she looked at Shadow.

"I have the emotions of anger, rage, and sometimes sadness." Her voice was strained as if she didn't want to tell her this. "Nothing else. So you can stop worrying your pretty little head about if I like you or not, because you wouldn't be able to tell."

Shadow blinked. "You think I'm pretty?" She teased.

Midnight raised an eyebrow. "I may be emotionless, but I'm still straight."

Shadow's eyes flew open. "What? NO! That isn't what I met-wait. Are you just joking?" She narrowed her eyes.

"I can't joke. Haven't you been listening?" Midnight frowned. She turned her head away, studying a book that was placed on her lap.

"…How did you get this way?" Shadow asked boldly. For some reason she felt like she was finally getting through to the girl.

Midnight whipped around to face her again at once and her red eyes glared harshly. "Where the hell do you come off asking-"

"Ok, ok." Shadow interrupted her. "I was just asking, never mind." She muttered.

"…I don't want to talk about it. Especially not to a stranger I barely know."

"Hey! This stranger saved your life." Shadow pouted. "And I didn't even get a thank you for that." She turned her head away pointy, crossing her arms like a stubborn child.

"…Thanks." Once again, Midnight's voice was strained to the point of breaking and she screwed her eyes shut tight.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "It's that hard to say 'thanks'? Whatever, you're welcome." Just then, a loud rumbling noise struck around the room.

Midnight opened her eyes again and looked closely at Shadow. "So, not hungry?" She said in her monotone.

Shadow laughed nervously and shrugged. "I wasn't five minutes ago?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"You wanted to know more about my past." Midnight guessed.

Shadow shrugged again, looking at her swinging legs that were hanging on the side of the bed as if she were a child being apprehended. "That might have had something to do with it…"

"I don't tell my life story to complete strangers. Would you?" Midnight inquired.

Shadow scoffed. "Of course not." Though in the back of her mind she thought of that squirrel that she had talked to. "But would it kill you to at least answer this: What exactly ARE you?"

Midnight blinked and looked down at her book. "I don't think there's a name for what I am. I've never thought about it. No one has ever asked me. Though, no one knows all you know as it is. Most take one look at me and avoid me as best they can."

Shadow felt a stab of pity for her. "I'm sorry-"

"I don't want your pity." Midnight snapped. Then her gaze softened. "Habit." She muttered something that Shadow took to be an apology.

"Well, what do you call yourself?" Shadow asked, hoping to get some sort of answer.

"…I think I said enough. It will be time for lights out soon." She picked up a lit candle in a holder that was on a small table next to her. Shadow only now just realized that candle, and her own that was next to her bed as well, were the only things keeping the room lit.

Midnight puffed at the candle and her side of the room went dark. Shadow picked up her own candle, but didn't blow it out at first. She looked deep into its flame. It was a reddish-orange color just like any other fire but with a blue core. Shadow never really took the time to admire a flame. It was truly powerful, she realized. More powerful than anything.

She watched as it flicked around. She felt herself being hypnotized by its color and shape. She knew that some powerful mages could blow candles out with their minds. Though, unless properly trained, even if you were able to accomplish it there was a chance of death. At least, those were the rumors that Shadow heard.

She closed her eyes and thought about the many fires that had kept her and her brother warm at night. Her mind swept back to the day after the 'incident' had happened. They were so lucky that Ronaldo, who was only a level 4 at the time, had only recently begun to grasp the arts of survival. That night was freezing, she remembered, and she would have just about froze to death if her brother hadn't built that fire, his first fire. Ronaldo and she were so close…what happened?

She gripped the candle holder tighter in her hands and screwed her eyes shut tight, she didn't know whether to growl in anger and frustration or cry. None of them seemed the right choice. Midnight didn't seem like the sort of person to let a show of weakness go too easily.

"If you're going to fall asleep upright like a unicorn, can you at least blow out the candle?" A skeptical voice spoke from the dark side of the room.

Shadow opened her eyes and looked toward the direction of the voice. In the darkness, she could only just make out two red eyes staring at her. She felt a shiver go up her spine at the unblinking eyes. As if they were watching, waiting, for her to fall asleep so they could attack her and sink their teeth-

"If I wanted to kill you in your sleep, I would have done it last night. Go to sleep." Midnight seemed to know what she was thinking and Shadow watched as the red eyes disappeared, she figured Midnight had rolled over to face the other side of the room.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Shadow asked in astonishment.

"You gave the same terrified expression humans give me. Though, they usually give that expression the moment they see me. Are you afraid of the dark?"

"NO!" Shadow answered at once, allowing a blush of embarrassment to cross her cheeks, knowing Midnight wasn't watching her now.

"Then blow out that candle." Came the monotone, sounding more tired now.

Shadow sighed and nodded. She puffed the same way Midnight had and the whole room went dark. Shadow tried to get comfortable in her bed, only now just realizing she still had her boots on. Might have been a good idea to wait till she undressed herself a little more. She was too busy trying to prove she wasn't afraid to Midnight, she realized.

She threw off her boots, deciding to just go to bed like this for tonight. She scrambled onto bed, getting herself into a comfortable position. She shut her eyes at once, willing sleep to come. She hoped if she overslept Midnight would at least wake her up this time.

"Human?" Came Midnight's voice. Shadow jumped slightly, she was only just now dozing off.

"Yes?" She asked in exasperation, keeping her eyes shut tight. "And my name's Shadow." She tried to correct her.

"I call myself a Soulless."

Shadow's eyes flew open at this and she just about sat upright. "Why tell me this now?" She asked her.

"…I'm tired of holding things in. Can we just leave it at that?"

"So you have no soul? How did this happen? Were you like this all your life? Were your parents the same?" Shadow asked a flurry of questions. She couldn't help herself. Her curiosity had to be quenched.

"Human…" Came Midnight's warning tone.

Shadow sighed. "I know, I know. One step at a time I guess." She added under her breath. She closed her eyes again, though she knew it would be a while before she went to sleep now. She was too excited.

Midnight had finally shown that she trusted her! Or at least slightly.


Shadow let out a loud gasp and sat bolt upright in her bed. She clutched her chest, feeling her hummingbird like heartbeat beginning to calm down.

She was shaking and breathing raggedly. She never felt so terrified in her life. She looked over at the big clock in the corner of the room. It was 7:30.

Shadow rubbed her temples, trying to control her breathing and shaking. Last night it took a long time to fall asleep, as she had predicted. But when she finally did, she wished she hadn't. Her dreams were nightmares filled with her worst fears that were supposed to be locked in the darkest corners of her mind.

She had trained herself to lock them up tightly, so as to not show what she was afraid of. This was taught to her by Blake, who had told her if she was ever caught that she would teach herself to not let a mage get too deep into her mind and learn all her secrets.

So what had caused that concentration to break?

Shadow suddenly remembered her roommate. She dared not to look over to her in bed, in fear that she would see her looking at her in mockery.

Still, she dared glance over to the bed and saw she was not there. Her bed was made and her book lied on top of the sheets.

Shadow let out a breath of relief. No wonder she never woke her up. She must get up at 7:00 every day.

Shadow looked up at the clock again. It read 7:33 now. She debated going back to sleep, and then decided against it. It wasn't because of the fear of experiencing more nightmares, she told herself firmly, she just didn't want to get in trouble with Mazchna again being late.

She sat on the edge of her bed, letting her feet dangle as she grabbed her boots. Once she slipped them on, she decided to get cleaned up before any of the other monsters woke up. She didn't feel like dealing with them while fear scent was sure to still be freshly on her.

She walked across the room and went through the door, shutting it behind her. Her stomach growled loudly, but she knew breakfast wouldn't be served until 8:00.

She walked through the usual tunnels until she faced the one that led to the female washrooms. Just as she stepped into it, she heard a sneer behind her.

"Did you have pleasant dreams last night, human?" The sarcastic, snarky voice said, followed by a few different kinds of low pitched and high pitched laughs.

Shadow twitched before turning around. Towering over her stood Madusa with a smirk on her face. Behind her were two creatures that Shadow hadn't seen before. One was white skinned with long white hair that reached down well across her back. She had black, beady eyes and she was extremely skinny. Shadow saw fangs sticking out through her cherry red lips and an odd looking print was plastered right in the middle of her forehead.

The other girl was ghostlike and transparent. She seemed to be very young, at least a level 5, and she floated in the air. Her short blonde hair was barely noticeable because her whole body was practically disappearing. She was barefoot and in rags as if she were a child slave when she was killed. IF she was killed.

Shadow turned her attention back to the snarky girl standing over her. "What do you mean?" She asked her, her tone hard and suspicious.

Madusa shrugged innocently. "I was merely wondering how you slept. Can't a girl ask a question to her new human friend?" She blinked, her sarcasm being clear in every word she spoke.

"What did you do?" Shadow demanded. She had no idea what she did or how she did it. But she knew she did something.

Madusa looked at her long black nails absentmindedly. "I don't know what you mean" she said smoothly.

"She scared stiff your sorry ass." A high pitch voice spoke behind Madusa. The ghostlike girl in the rags floated over to stand beside Madusa. "Human minds are so easy to penetrate." The girl gloated.

"Rita! I would never do such a thing to our new friend." Madusa said slyly.

"Do what?" Shadow hissed through her teeth.

"She went into your mind, genius." Shadow jumped and turned around. The other girl with the print of her forehead was blocking her way to the washroom. Wasn't she just in front of her?

Shadow whipped around to glare at Madusa. "You…?" She began to piece it together.

Madusa smiled bigger. "Yup, I went into your mind. It's one of the perks of being a demon I suppose. I had no idea you were afraid of so many things." She took a step toward Shadow, who took a step back.

"Looks like the ex-thief is a big scaredy-cat." The ghost girl named Rita laughed her high pitch laugh.

Shadow glared at them before spitting, "Bas-" She tried to turn around to barge past the weird printed girl, but she pushed her back aggressively.

"That sentence better be 'bass fishing'." She snarled. "What's your rush? Hang out with us a little while." She stepped toward her. Shadow tried to step back again but Madusa and Rita were blocking her way. She was trapped.

"Agreed, Moonstone. We can play 'peel the human's skin off a little at a time until she cries'." Rita rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

Madusa shot her a look. "Way to be subtle Rita…" She made a face palm, careful to keep her claws away from her skin.

"Just leave me alone assholes!" Shadow snarled at them, trying to get past. "Ah!" She let out a cry of pain as her body suddenly hit a wall with force. The girl called Moonstone had her hand facing her and the print on her forehead was glowing. Apparently she was a psychic.

Shadow was pinned against the wall by an unseen force. Her feet were a little bit off the ground.

Madusa walked over to her and placed her claws directly on her neck, only barely touching. "Never call us that." She rasped in her demonic voice.

Shadow gulped and began to shake. She hated this, showing fear, showing submission. The old Shadow, the thief, would be spitting in this girl's face; challenging her to kill her. But this new Shadow was scared out of her wits.

"What are you going to do?" Shadow asked her. "Torture me?"

Madusa shook her head slowly. "No. We would be caught if we did that. It's better just to get this over with quick." With that, Shadow felt her digging her claws slowly into her throat.

Shadow gripped the wall, holding back a cry of pain as she felt her own hot blood begin to drip.

Rita was beside her, laughing manically into her ear. Moonstone was watching more at a distance, her hand still lifted, pinning Shadow against the wall with no hope of escape.

'You're an ex-thief for Guthix's sake! Get yourself out of this mess somehow!' Shadow snapped at herself, but her limbs felt completely helpless. She was at the mercy of these creatures that had a thirst for human blood and revenge.

Just as all hope was lost, a voice spoke behind Madusa. "Let her go, rat." The voice was calm and Shadow recognized it instantly.

Rita had stopped laughing and was looking behind Madusa with her mouth wide open. She looked…scared. Moonstone even looked paler than she already was and Shadow felt the force pinning her to the wall loosen slightly.

Madusa whipped around and hissed. "Back off Midnight. This is no concern of yours."

Shadow could see her now. Midnight's arms were folded and her cloak was draped around her. She didn't look urgent or that angry, just annoyed.

"It is, actually. You see that human you have pinned against the wall is my roommate and I'd really rather not have my room smelling like blood all night." She raised an eyebrow, her voice staying perfectly even.

"Oh, relax. I was going to kill her. She wouldn't have to stay in your room anymore unless you enjoy the smell of a corpse." Madusa growled.

"I really don't give a damn what you say. I told you to do something. Now leave her be." Midnight ordered, her voice becoming harder as she took a step toward them.

Madusa smirked. "Growing a soft spot for humans, are we Midnight?" She taunted. At this, Midnight's eyes began to turn redder and she started to take her hands out of her cloak but Madusa stopped her. "Fine, fine! You can have her. Not worth getting my hands bloody anyway…" She nodded to Moonstone and the force that held Shadow lifted all together.

Shadow fell to the hard ground with a thump, and she gripped her neck, coughing violently.

When she looked up, her hand still clutching her neck, Rita and Moonstone were nowhere to be seen. Apparently they made a run for it. Madusa passed Midnight with a sniff, walking slowly as if she were leaving on her own accord.

"I can see why you would hold such a grudge against humans, Madusa." Midnight suddenly said, making Madusa stop. "After all, you are half one aren't you?"

Shadow saw Madusa clutch her fists and spit, but she forced herself to keep going. Shadow looked at Midnight in amazement. Was what she said true?

Once Madusa was out of sight, Midnight walked over to Shadow. Shadow looked up at her in surprise as she reached a hand down toward her. Her face held no concern or satisfaction, only the same frown. Shadow took her hand, still clutching her neck with the other as blood leaked out, and allowed Midnight to help her up.

Shadow blinked, looking for the right words to say. But all that bubbled out was a plain, "Thank you."

Midnight shrugged. "I owed you that." Though Shadow could sense something else beneath those emotionless words. "You should get that wound checked on." She said, changing the subject.

Shadow nodded. Her hand was nearly completely covered in blood now. "Do you have a hospital here?" She rasped out the words.

"We have a nursing room. Can you walk there yourself?" Midnight inquired.

Shadow tested standing herself without the support of Midnight, but nearly fell over before holding onto Midnight again. "That answer your question?" Shadow rasped.

Midnight sighed in annoyance, revealing the Midnight Shadow knew. "Fine. I'll get you there but after that you're on your own." She draped Shadow's arm around her shoulder and allowed her to lean on her.

"Thanks." Shadow said again.

"Just shut up and wear this." Midnight snapped, untying her hood off of her and draping it over Shadow's head until it covered her face. She was too quick for Shadow to see what she looked like without her hood. "Just stay quiet. If anyone sees me helping a human I'm going to kill you."

As they started moving, Shadow smiled under the hood. "Whatever you say…" friend. She added to herself. For once in a longtime feeling a little happy despite nearly being murdered.


~To be continued~


Ok, finally! Here it is you guys. I could give you guys a lot of excuses but I won't. I'll just say sorry for the long wait, I promise I'll pick up the pace from now on, and stay tuned for the next chapter. A lot of interesting questions to be answered :)

Also, thanks to Jessica for writing a tiny bit of the introduction again. This will probably most likely be a regular thing. One more thing…Jessica has written her own story!#!~#!

Check out her story "Fandriv and the Islands of Loxso" by JawMaster97!

REVIEW!