I just realized I skipped Sunday in this story. Chapter 3, it was Saturday. Chapter 6, they went back to school.
Well, don't I feel silly now.
...
Chrona knew that Maka was not exactly fond of her father, and probably wasn't terribly eager to see him, but he never would've expected that the mere thought of him would send her into a full fledged panic attack.
Kim had just barely cracked the door open when Maka started to loose it. "No!" She shouted. "I don't want to see him!" She very hastily jumped down from the hospital bed, stumbling when her feet hit the floor. Chrona rushed to catch her, but she shoved him away harshly, causing him to crash rather painfully into the metal bars to the hospital bed behind him. It knocked the wind out of him, forcing him to take a moment to catch his breath.
Once Maka had managed to actually get on her feet, there was a brief moment where she stood very still. She began falling forward slowly, and he realized she wasn't breathing. She fell to her knees, trembling, and finally gasped, greedily sucking in much needed air, which she just as quickly expelled in the form of a scream. "SOUL!"
The door had been cracked, but not open enough for anyone to see in. Kim had let go of the door when Maka first started shouting, and now stood paralyzed in fear. Nygus had tried to rush to Maka's aid, but Soul got to her first. As soon as Maka called for him, he kicked the door the rest of the way open, ran in, and dropped to the ground next to her. He scooped her up and held her against his chest.
"Maka, breath." It was obvious, based on the look on his face, how panicked he was, but his voice was calm. He spoke directly into her ear, his hands running slowly through her hair. She jerked and twitched in his arms, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, and still gasping.
The others were not far behind Soul. "What happened?!" Kidd was the first one in, followed closely by Black Star and their weapons. Jackie trailed in after that, going straight to Kim's side, towards the back of the group.
"She's having a panic attack." Nygus said, almost calmly. "Where is Spirit?"
"He figured since you weren't going to let him in anyway," Black Star answered, "that he'd go ask Stein what was happening."
"So he's not here?"
"No."
Chrona looked back to Soul and Maka. "Maka, feel my chest move. Breath with me." She was still gasping, but slowly her breathing was getting better. "That's it, that's it." Soul encouraged.
It took a few more moments before her breathing completely slowed to the point where she could actually take in oxygen steadily, but she did get there. "Good, there we go." Soul said, and ran his hand through her hair.
Chrona had always admired the relationship between Maka and Soul, but in that moment, he felt a twinge of something else. Something that wasn't admiration. It was jealousy.
He knew it was stupid, he shouldn't feel like that, but he couldn't help it. Soul was her partner, they lived together, of course Maka would want him to escort her home. But she had pushed him away and called out for Soul instead. It struck him off alittle. He could've helped her just as easily. And he would not have had to kick open the door.
"What happened?" Soul demanded, once he was confident that Maka was breathing correctly. He had been too preoccupied to hear what the answer had been the first time that question was asked.
"She had a panic attack." Nygus said again. "A very common side effect of PTSD. She'll be fine now. That was very good, Soul, that's exactly what you should do if she ever has one again."
"Oh. Um... thanks I guess." Soul responded. He carefully lifted Maka up bridal style, her arms encircling his neck. It was clear that her consciousness was slipping. "I'm taking her home, I don't give a damn about class."
"I think that's actually for the best." Nygus said. Her response seemed to throw Soul off for a moment, he had been expecting some sort of protest about leaving school, but this lasted for only briefly before he turned his attention back to his near fainted meister. He carefully made his way around the hospital bed towards the door.
"Why did she have a panic attack?" Tsubaki asked Nygus as they all moved aside to allow Soul to pass through them. "Did something happen?"
Nygus was about to respond when the door, which had slowly swung shut on it's own, was once again thrown open. Spirit stood there, rowdy and winded, having obviously ran there for whatever reason. He tried to speak for a moment, but was forced to stop and catch his breath. Once he did, he tried again. "I saw you kids weren't in the hall anymore, what did I...?"
His eyes landed on Maka who, even near unconscious, still had pain and exhaustion plainly visible on her face. Though she was breathing steadily, it still came out with a slight wheeze. There was still a trace of blood on her chin from when she had bitten her lip. What exactly she had gone through was unclear, but one could only assume that it wasn't pleasant.
"Oh my God, what happened to my little girl?!"
As soon as he spoke, as soon as Maka became aware of his presence, the atmosphere in the room changed. One didn't need Soul Perception to feel it, it was obvious to all of them. It was almost suffocating how thick with anxiety the air had become. Maka became animated again, clawing at Soul's back and squirming, trying desperately to get as far away from her father as she could. Soul was taken aback by this sudden fit and it was all he could do to keep from dropping her. Spirit, of course, wasted no time in rushing towards her, hand outstretched to touch her, seemingly oblivious to her obvious distress over his presence. The feeling in the room suddenly went from anxious to hostile.
Maka lashed out. It was so quick that it was over before half of them realized what had happened. The back of her hand collided with his face. Hard. A reverberating smack echoed through the room. Half of them gasped, their hands coming up to cover there mouths. The other half were frozen, wide eyed, in shock. Spirit was sent stumbling backward towards Nygus, who caught him before he could fall. As quickly as she lashed out, Maka retracted back in, curling as far into Soul's arms as she could get, to be as far away from her father as possible. It was dead silent in the room, save for one cold hiss of a demand. "Stay away from me."
Her words hung in the otherwise silent air. Soul stood wide eyed, clutching Maka to his chest. He stared at Spirit in shock. He had three small but bleeding scratches on his face, where Maka's nails seemed to have gotten him, along side a decent sized red welt. Spirit's hair had fallen over his eyes, so his expression was unknown. Soul was torn over what to do next. Should he leave like he was originally going to? And just pay no mind to what had just happened? Should he stay and see if he was alright? He didn't much care to, but he felt like that was the right thing to do. Maybe it was the right thing to do for Spirit, but was it for Maka? She needed to get home, she needed to be away from him.
"Get her out of here."
It was Nygus that spoke. Her voice was, not upset or panicked, but firm. Urgent sounding. That was all Soul needed to hear. He booked it out of there.
As soon as Maka was out of sight, disappeared along with Soul out of the room, the air in the room was breathable again.
Tsubaki and Liz met eyes with each other, still wide eyed, as if to confirm what they had just seen. Jackie and Kim had gripped each others' hands, still trying to process what they'd just witnessed. Kidd looked between Chrona and Black Star, a silent question in the air.
Did that really just happen?
It was Patti that broke the near deafening silence. "Are... are you okay, Spirit?"
Spirit had not moved. He stayed limp, his back against Nygus's chest where she had caught him. The cuts on his cheek were not terribly deep, but they did bleed, and a trickle of red dripped down to his chin. They all watched him, waiting for his response. Or just for him to do anything really.
When he finally did look up, his movements were slow. He slowly raised his head, slowly pulled himself to his feet, and slowly wiped the blood from his chin. His expression was blank, or it was trying to be. His eyes gave it all away. It was a look none of them would have ever thought they would see on the Death Scythe's face. When he spoke, it was slow, like his movements. "Yes, Patti, I am okay." He slowly made his way out of the room. "Thank you, Nygus."
Right before he exited, his emotions spilled through. Tears welled up in his eyes, though the rest of his face remained tight. They all saw it. That was all they saw, however, as he disappeared out of the room.
They all exchanged glances once more, no longer shocked, but sad. Sympathetic.
Nygus did not let the silence drag on any longer than it needed to. She had just about enough of this awkward silence business. "Alright, kids. It's been a crazy morning, but the day has barely started. Back to class, all of you."
"Whoa, whoa there," Liz piped up, . "That's it? You're not going to tell us what happened?"
"Yeah!" Patti chimed in.
Liz continued. "What was all that about? Did you find out what caused that... incident this morning? Is she going to be okay? I mean, the girl nearly caught fire in the classroom! What if it happens again, what if-"
"Enough." Nygus interrupted. Her voice was stern again. It silenced Liz immediately. "Calm yourself, child. I know you're all concerned for Maka, but I'm afraid that, as the nurse, whether or not I can share her situation is not up to me. If Maka wants you all to know what going with her, that's her call to make. Not mine." She ignored the whines of protest. "But I'll say this. Maka is stable. She should be fine now. She's not in any immediate danger."
"Immediate danger?" Kidd asked quizzically.
"Not my call to make, Kidd. If Maka wants to share, she will do it herself."
"But, but, wait." Tsubaki said, almost desperately. "She just bitch slapped her father, that did not look stable to me!" They all seemed taken aback by her bluntness, and... choice of expression. "Nygus, please... is she really okay? Or do you just have to tell us that?"
The question, coupled with Tsubaki's sincerity, seemed to strike all of them. But none more so than Chrona. He was growing increasingly nervous, because he knew probably more than any of them that something was terribly wrong. And now here he was staring at a group who wanted to know what ailed there friend, and didn't seem content enough to just let it be. He was getting scared.
On one hand, he felt selfish. Selfish because he feared that, what if his suspicions were correct and he stayed silent. But if he was right, they would find out the hard way, and God help him if they found out that he was knew it the whole time and didn't say anything. They'd shun him again, they'd be disgusted with him, they may even try and end him. Because if something happened to Maka that he could have helped prevent, then it would be his fault. He knew his mother, she was always planning something, and if she were alive, that's exactly what she would do. He was selfish because he feared the repercussions of what staying silent might bring upon himself.
On the other hand, he didn't care about himself at all in comparison to Maka. What was really important was that she was safe, and if he was right about his mother, then he didn't know how to help her on his own. He didn't even know what was wrong exactly, only that it wasn't good and it involved magic. If he was right, then he had to tell the higher ups. Maka needed help. He could help her by telling Shinigami-sama what he knew. Maybe they could nip this in the bud before it got any worse.
But what if he was wrong?
Nygus looked among the students in the room. Chrona stood by the bed towards the middle of the room, away from everyone else. He wore an... odd expression. The rest of them were closer together. Kidd stood somewhat in front of his weapons, the latter of which having an ever present grip on each other's hands. Black Star and Tsubaki were just by the door. Kim and Jackie were standing almost behind Nygus, somewhat out of sight. One thing was the same about all of them. They all wore a look of concern and uncertainty on their faces. She sighed. Maybe just alittle...
"Listen, everyone." She started. "I won't lie, what happened to Maka was... awful. Well, I don't need to tell you that, you all saw it. But you all know Maka, she's one tough little cookie. Personally, I think if you can survive being split open from the inside by your own powers, you can survive anything. Mentally, though, she is going through some hard times right now. PTSD is a serious disorder, but she'll get through it, just like she's always gotten through everything else. The best thing you can all do for her is be there for her, like you always have. Okay?"
Nygus never really was one for pep talks, but she spoke the truth. She was confident in what she was saying, and that confidence seemed to reassure the group. Tsubaki became less tense, Black Star added a 'Hell yeah!', Patti and Liz nodded in agreement, Kidd smiled at her words. Chrona just looked at her.
"Alright, now back to class, all of you!"
They all slowly retreated into the hallway, one by one, and returned to the classroom for whatever bit was left before lunch. Which probably was not much, they had been there for quite some time. Kim told Jackie to go on, that she would catch up. Chrona was about to leave as well, realizing that his thoughts had kept him from moving and he was once again one of the last ones present.
He needed to relax. Stressing himself out was not going to solve anything. Maybe he just needed to go back to class, hear a lecture for a bit, let himself calm down. He had gotten himself all worked up to the point where he wasn't thinking clearly. He had been learning had better to deal with stress, and he prided himself on how well he thought he was doing. He recognized that getting himself all bothered didn't solve anything. Nothing bad was going to happen today. All the bad stuff for today already happened, and they took care of it. Maka was safe and healing. He need not worry about her today. He knew Soul wouldn't let anything happen to her. The rest of the day could be dedicated to himself. He would weigh his options later, but he needed to clear his head now. It would be okay. He was the only one who knew what was actually the cause of all these problems, and he might not even be right. If he was right, and it really was Medusa, someone else besides him would have surely noticed by now. Especially after that little display. He probably was wrong. Kim could've very well just healed Maka for good. Yes, yes, he was wrong. His mother was dead, oh so very dead. How silly of him to think even for a second that she could still be alive. He felt better now, he could relax now knowing that he was worrying for nothing.
He was just out of the door when he heard something that made him stop.
"Hey, Nygus, can I tell you something?" It was Kim that spoke. She was still in the room. It was only Kim and Nygus in there now. Her voice made Chrona want to know what she planned to say. Her tone was hushed, and serious.
"Of course, Kim, what is it?"
Chrona pressed himself against the wall beside the door to hear what they were saying.
"So, um... while I was fixing Maka up, I couldn't help but to notice something... which, uh, leads me to believe that this whole bad magic thing was not just an accident."
Oh God, no.
"What?" Nygus's voice suddenly became more urgent. "What do you mean? What did you notice?"
"I could sense something reacting to my magic. Something really strong. There are magic traces of more than one witch. One good witch, who cast the original spell... and then another, not so nice witch. The not so nice magic traces were... almost trying to avoid my healing magic. I can feel it. I don't think that this was an accident at all, I think someone deliberately tampered with Maka's spell."
No, no, oh please God, no.
"Oh my God..." Nygus sounded almost panicked. "You said 'someone', can you tell who? Can you recognize it?"
Chrona's heart stopped.
"No, I can't tell who, all I could tell was that it was very powerful, and it did not like me healing her. It would have had to be a very strong witch."
He allowed himself a breath of relief, however brief that relief was.
Kim continued. "I healed her damaged back, but I couldn't even try to touch that magic for two reasons. First off, I think Maka had just about taken as much as she could take at the time and I didn't want to push her any further than she needed to go. And secondly... even if I wanted to, I don't think I would've been able to. That was some powerful magic, I don't think I'm strong enough to counteract that. It was getting more and more aggravated the longer I was there. It wanted me to stop. I could feel it."
Chrona didn't stick around to hear what was said next. He bolted down the hallway, in the opposite direction he was originally going. He didn't stop running until he reached his bedroom.
He had done this before. Sometimes, daily life was just too much for him, or sometimes he would be faced with something he couldn't handle and he would just shut down. It was always the same routine. He would stop whatever he was doing, very calmly go down to his bedroom, take his pillow off his bed, and sit in his favorite corner. He didn't even think about it, his body just followed the routine, almost mechanically.
He had been getting better about it, but his sanity would sometimes dance on that dangerously thin line between stable and gone. He would have nightmares, or doubt himself, and there was always that madness there, waiting for him to have a weak moment. The madness would probably never fully go away. Before Maka had left, she would always be the one to pull him out of it. After she left, it as hard. Very hard. He had to learn to deal with it himself. Sitting in the corner helped.
But this was different. Whenever he had done this before, he was always very calm about it, as it was routine. He felt numb to everything. He would just sit and be quiet. This was different because he wasn't calm. He wasn't numb. He could feel everything. He could feel too much. He felt his heart clench, he felt his lungs tighten to the point where it was hard to breathe. He felt his stomach twist and turn. He didn't want to be quiet and sit in the corner, he wanted to scream and shout and break everything. He wanted to throw everything around in his room while screeching at the top of his lungs. He wanted something to release the pressure building up inside him.
He couldn't deny it anymore. He couldn't pretend. Kim knew. She didn't know much, but she knew too much. He had thought that he was the only one who knew what was really happening, but he was wrong. She didn't know as much as him, but that wouldn't stay true for long.
Her discover would surely lead the staff to searching for answers. They would of course want to know who cursed Maka, and they would do something about it. Nygus, Sid, Stein, Marie, Spirit, Shinigami himself would all attempt to figure it out, and it would not take them long. Soul, Kidd, Black Star, and the rest of them would be out for blood when they realized the trail led back to Medusa.
Realizing he had been pacing, Chrona stopped and flopped himself down on his bed. He rolled onto his side and curled his body around his pillow, clinging to it desperately.
Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way. He was fearful because he thought that they would figure out that he knew long before them and that he didn't say anything. They would punish him for keeping silent. He would lose the only good thing that ever happened to him, which was his home here at Shibusen. That's the mentality he had. But that was wrong. The only good thing that had ever happened to him, the best thing, was Maka.
The most important thing was that she was okay. It was known now by someone else that there was something very wrong with her. Kim told Nygus and Nygus would surely share that knowledge immediately. They could help her, they would see to it that she was taken care of. That's what was important.
He should go to Shinigami and tell him what he knew. Then there would be absolutely nothing to worry about. Yes, that's what he needed to do. For Maka. He could say that he wasn't sure, but when Kim felt it too, there was no question. It was true, that was exactly what happened.
But there was one big big big issue with all this that he had dare not think about. He could throw possibilities around all day, but he dare not acknowledge one lingering fact. A fact that he sort of, in the back of his mind, knew was true, even if he didn't want to believe it. He had been so certain that something like that was impossible, and it was that certainty that allowed him to fool himself into thinking it wasn't true. But... it was getting harder and harder to ignore.
All this meant that Medusa was some how... still alive.
Maybe he would sit in the corner after all.
...
It was Kidd that found Spirit out on the balcony. He had broken away from the rest of the group just as they were entering the classroom, and gone off in another direction, following Spirit's soul wavelength. He could sense him, outside on the balcony. He didn't know what he could say to him, but he felt that someone should at least go and check on him, make sure he was alright.
He knew he wasn't alright simply by how his soul felt, which was all the more reason to go check on him. His wavelength was heavy, not at all buzzing, as a normal healthy soul should be. All healthy souls had some level of vibration to them. Spirit's was still. It was unsettling. Kidd just needed to check on him.
Kidd was sure that Spirit hadn't even realized he'd appeared. He stood still, looking out at Death City. Kidd approached the banister where he was, and it wasn't until he stood right beside him that he saw his face. That, too, was unsettling. It was completely blank, no emotion, save for the tears steadily running down his cheeks, over the small cuts in his skin.
"Spirit?" Kidd asked. He still didn't move, or look at him. "Are you alright?"
Kidd had known Spirit almost all his life. Although they never really interacted one on one, Kidd saw him often, being the weapon of his father, and had gotten a pretty clear feeling for the kind of person he was that way. As far as being a parent, Kidd had seen alot of that too. Spirit and Shinigami had been partners since he was little, and although he never paid it much mind, he did recall sometimes Spirit would go to his father and talk up a storm about his wife and young daughter. Kidd and Maka didn't know each other back then, so he only knew what he heard. A reoccurring topic concerning little Maka was that she was mad at him.
Of course, now that he was older and had befriended Maka, he understood more about their family. Maka was bitter about the fact that her family was broken, that was common knowledge whether you were friends with her or not. She was specifically bitter towards her father because she believed it his fault. Even knowing all that, Kidd still found himself shocked by her earlier actions.
Spirit had been silent for quite a few moments, but when he did finally speak, it was quiet, his voice scratchy. "My daughter... my only daughter... "
He paused again. The pain in his voice was so great.
"My Maka... she means the world to me... "
His emotions were starting to spill through again. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the stone railing, and buried his face in his hands. His silent sobbing was made obvious by his jerking shoulders.
Kidd almost regretting coming to check on him now. Not because he didn't care, he did care, but because he was becoming more and more uncomfortable. He wasn't good at comforting people, and he didn't know what to say.
Spirit continued. "Maka is all I have... and really, I shouldn't even have her." He peeked up at Kidd through messy bangs and Kidd had to remind himself that this was not the time for his OCD to kick in. "Did you know that Kami actually got parental rights to Maka when we divorced? The only reason Maka's here and not with her is because Kami wanted Maka to stay at the school." He buried his face in his hands again.
Yes, Kidd definitely regretted coming up here. This was something Liz or Tsubaki should be doing. They were good at this. He wasn't. But it was too late now.
He awkwardly patted Spirit on the back. "Th-there, there." He honestly didn't know what else he could say.
He knew that there should absolutely be no sides here... but if there were, he'd be on Maka's. To be honestly, he understood why Maka disliked him so much. It was because he cheated on her mother, leading to the breaking of her family. It wasn't hard to understand. Even now, he continued to chase women around. He was always going on about how he was going to be better, but he never changed anything. To top it all off, he thought Maka was just being mean by disliking him.
And the worst part was that everybody knew it. Kidd wasn't even that close with Maka and he knew all this. Spirit made it very obvious what was going on, much to Kidd's disapproval. It was hard to comfort someone you didn't agree with.
"I love my daughter so much... and she hates me." Spirit went on. "I know I'm a terrible father, I know I've screwed up... but how can I make up for past mistakes if she never gives me a chance?"
Oh, look, there he goes again. Kidd didn't know how to respond because he honestly didn't know the answer. What would father say?
"Give her time." He said. Spirit looked up at him. "Maka has been through alot, and even now, she's going through something that I don't think any of us can fully understand. She's frustrated, and you probably just caught the heat of that frustration earlier."
Did Kidd really believe that? Yes and no. He did think that Maka was frustrated and going through something significant. He did not think that Spirit just happened to be the one to get lashed out at. Maka genuinely did not want to be around him. Kidd knew this, but what he said seemed to make Spirit feel better, so he'd keep it to himself.
"... Do you really think that?"
No. "Yes."
Spirit seemed to think about this, and then sighed. "That's actually another thing that bothers me..."
Oh, God, no more, please.
"... Something is wrong with my baby, and I have no idea what."
Kidd thought back to earlier that day. There had been three times where he could feel nothing but pure unadulterated hostility coming from Maka's wavelength. He could sense something off about her soul, but he couldn't put his finger on it. At any rate, Spirit was right. There was something wrong with her, and they didn't know what.
"... Maka is a powerful girl." Kidd said finally. "She has a strong soul. There's alot to her. Whatever is wrong, she'll pull through like she always does. Personally, I'm not worried."
He was alittle worried, as any friend would be, but he did believe that she was strong enough to handle whatever it was that was going on.
This caused Spirit to smile. That same smile he always had when talking about Maka. "She is, isn't she?"
Yes, I just said that, now can I leave please?
Maka was always pushing Spirit away, Spirit should be used to it. Kidd had wondered why he took it so hard this time? Maybe because she struck him? She'd never done that before. Perhaps it was because that was the first time they had seen each other in half a year, and their reunion wasn't what Spirit wanted it to be. Whatever the reason, Spirit had gotten over it pretty fast, considering how down he was before. It must have not been as bad as he was letting on. Even his soul felt better now. Perhaps he was just pouting.
Spirit sighed again. His mood had improved greatly in the short time they had talked. He smiled at Kidd. "Thanks, Kidd. I know you've heard it all a million times before, but... thanks for listening. I feel better now."
Kidd forced a smile. "Of course, Spirit."
He never ever ever wanted to play therapist to anyone ever again.
...
Good Lord, the time gets away from me. I hadn't realized how long it had been since my last update. I apologize.
