Chapter 8:

Bearing Heavy Burdens – Dissolving Beneath the Weight


Weeks after Wrath had brought Shinigami the Witch's Soul, everything seemed peaceful and quiet. Maka and the other DWMA students were getting along in their practice for being able to find Fright Pulse, determine Poltergeist Types, and encapsulate them in a fairly efficient manner. Kid was finishing his training for the day when he noticed Wrath staring at the sky from atop a building. She seemed tense. He left Liz and Patty to stick around with Maka and the others since Aki and Yuuji had suggested having a little get together. "What's wrong?" he asked the lavender eyed girl as he got onto he roof. Wrath turned to him, one eye black with that eerie purple glow of Oblivion's energy. "... Wrath?" he wasn't sure if she was the one in control, but what made him stop was the lack of symmetry. Even if just her eye color, it made him cringe a little.

"Kid..." the glow faded back till her eyes were back to normal. "Sorry... I was talking to Oblivion."

"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting." He sighed, feeling better now that she was back to normal. Kid knew she'd been up here for a while already though, so he felt a little concerned. He walked closer and stood closer to the girl, but not too close.

"No, it's alright." she shook her head. "It was a short conversation and I can pick it up with her anytime." she went back to staring at the sky though. "She said there was something coming..." she sighed. "I felt it too... it's unsettling to say the least..." she mumbled. "And after finding out that a witch was helping the poltergeists... well, you can imagine how odd that is for the GHA. We only ever deal with poltergeists or witches separately, never helping one another out." she turned back to him. "And even then, witches are fairly rare for us... Most of them don't like poltergeists so we sometimes get them as clients... or when they get possessed and we have to either kill the poltergeist, or exterminate the witch if they willingly let it in..." she went back to surveying the skies, almost like she was waiting for something.

"That's why it was easy for you, I take it?"

"Not quite easy... but something like that." she nodded. "The Jokers have different specialties... getting poltergeists out of unwilling possessed bodies is usually the job of the Luminous Joker... backed up by the Chartreuse usually if it's too strong for one pair to handle... It's normally Oblivion who deals with the ones who were willingly possessed and had begun integrating the Poltergeist into themselves..." she took a deep breath. "Extermination is my specialty, I suppose..."

"... that's not all you're good at though." he mumbled, blushing a little as he walked over and grasped her hand gently, causing her to turn back to him with a start. Since Sumagawa, Wrath's grandfather, had mentioned that a relationship might help Wrath calm down, Shinigami pushed Kid into being at least a little more "friendly" with the girl he was already fond of. Of course, this was as far as they had gone because Wrath was worried Oblivion might hurt Kid somehow. "... You're good at being kind... at being gentle..."

"... That's nice to hear..." she managed a small smile. "Thank you..."

"No need for thanks." he said, just standing there with her for a minute before the others began calling for Wrath and Kid so they could go eat. Kid let go of her hand slowly, the girl seeming to smile whenever he lingered a little bit. They both blushed a little before heading down to meet the others. At least for now, the peace remained... But Wrath could sense that something was on its way... and it was going to shatter whatever peace the group had attained in the past few days.


The next morning, Wrath awoke again to the searing pain from her legs, her room full of the wispy shadows from the tattoo. However, this time, when she covered them, the blackness seeped out into the air still. She cursed and slammed her hand on the bathroom counter. "Oblivion." The woman seemed to materialize next to the girl. "The hell is this?"

"It's not my fault."

"Then why the hell is it acting up?"

"It should only react like this in the presence of the King… I would assume you're weakening so that any ghost's presence is causing this." The ghostly woman sneered.

"That's a load of bull." Wrath replied. "I'm not that weak."

"Hmmm." Oblivion just stood there for a moment before she vanished, a knock coming to the ears of the lavender eyed girl.

"Wrath?"

"Wrath-chaaaaan~?"

"Are you awake?"

"O-oi should you really be doing that? What happens if she's still asleep?"

"She's always up before us."

"Yeah Satoshi it's fine." Wrath could hear her friends bickering, taking her gun and attaching the silencer, aiming it at herself. "Phase 6… Sage Heal." She fired the shot, sliding back to the opposite wall but seeming to calm as the shadows ceased. Checking the clock in the main room, she noticed that it was already almost 1pm. Every time she talked to Oblivion, she lost time, but this was the first time in a long time she had lost more than 6 hours. It worried her. She finished dressing before she went to the door, her students about to open it up.

"Good morning."

"G-good morning, Wrath~!"

"Ready to go?"

"Go…?

"Yeah, you promised. We passed our exam, right?" they had taken a written GHA exam proctored by Stein and graded by a professor back home. "We passed so you have to come out and have fun with us."

"… eeeh…" she stared at them. "Do I have to?"

"Yep!" Aki grabbed her and carried her outside, Tia following with the boys as Aki finally put Wrath down outside and let Tia drag her to the basketball courts. "And you're dressed for sports too~!"

"This is dressing for staying home or grocery shopping…"

"Too bad, it's sports wear to me!"

"… Nnn…"


Once on the court, Wrath noticed a bunch of the DWMA students standing around. "Oh, you finally showed up, huh?!" Black Star grinned.

"Took you long enough, we've been waiting." Soul grinned, bearing his teeth. Liz and Patty waved at them, Maka sitting aside on the benches and reading. Even LaMuse and Oliver were here, Crona in tow. Tsubaki stood near her meister and Kid was sitting on the same bench as Maka, looking up and staring with wide eyes at Wrath before averting his gaze. Wrath blinked.

"Aki."

"Y-yeah?"

"I'll slap you for this later…"

"Hehehe. Okay okay." She smiled. "So are you gonna play, or sit aside?"

"I don't play basketball…"

"So on the side."

"Yeah go sit with Kid~" Tia teased, making Wrath slap her shoulder and send her falling into Satoshi.

"Bothersome girl…" Wrath mumbled before going to sit by Kid and Maka, waving a hand and taking a seat, Maka smiling and talking to the glasses girl, having wanted to learn more about Poltergeists when she had heard that Kid had been getting extra lessons. The others formed 2 teams of 6. Black Star captained one team, with Patty, Satoshi, Yuuji, LaMuse, and Crona. Soul captained the other with Tsubaki, Liz, Aki, Oliver, and Tia. Maka was happy she didn't need to participate and was content sitting with Kid and Wrath.


After a few games finished, Liz went home complaining of a broken nail and LaMuse went home to finish homework with Oliver, seeing that it was about 5pm. Immediately the others turned to Wrath's group. "I'm taking Kid and Wrath." Soul stated. Black Star had Maka on his team.

"Then this is the tie-breaker." Black Star stated.

"I told you I can't play…"

"It's fine, Maka can't either." Soul said. "Do you know the rules at least?"

"Yes, I do…"

"And you know how to dribble and pass?"

"Yes."

"Then you're immediately better off than Maka."

"… fine." She sighed.

"Let's make this interesting." Black Star stated. "Captain switch!" Black Star tagged Satoshi. Soul then tagged Kid. "And now, penalty game!"

"What?!" Satoshi and Kid exclaimed.

"If our team wins, Kid's pictures get moved."

"And if our team wins, Satoshi's books get donated to Tia."

"… seriously?" Wrath asked, looking like she was about to laugh. "That's so tame…"

"Tame?"

"GHA's used to super intense Punishment games." Aki said. "Though you picked good ones for these people, I guess…" she shrugged.

"Oh, then let's add double punishment!" Black Star said, Tsubaki trying to talk him down from it. "Captain, tag a vice captain!" Satoshi panicked and immediately tagged Yuuji, who was laughing at his expression. Kid looked around and noticed everyone had backed off. He looked to Wrath. "Um…"

"It's fine, tag me." She stated. "We just won't lose, is all." She replied.

"Alright! Now, punishment game for the vice captains…" Black Star pondered.

"Put Yuuji in a dress!" Aki exclaimed, Yuuji glaring at her. Black Star agreed, making Yuuji complain. But then he turned to Wrath. "If that's my punishment, Wrath's is to let Aki dress her for her next date with Kid."

"Wh-what?!"

"Yay, I get to do something fun no matter who wins~!" Aki grinned, Wrath looking mortified.

"Is it really that bad?" Tsubaki asked Tia.

"Last time Aki tried to get Wrath into anything, it was the frilliest, cutest thing around, and it was pink." Tia said smiling. "Wrath nearly decapitated her for it with a silver spoon from her kitchen~"

"A-a spoon…?" Tsubaki asked, looking a little shocked and somewhat terrified.

"Let's get started~!"


The match was over. Scores stood Satoshi 20 to Kid 21. Kid and Wrath were both relieved, and Yuuji and Satoshi looked like they'd both died on the court. "You said you couldn't play!" Yuuji exclaimed, looking to Wrath.

"I meant in the sense that I can't run." Wrath stated. "I never said I couldn't shoot."

"What?!"

"How did we lose?" Satoshi asked, looking deflated.

"Anyway." Wrath looked to her students. "Finish up here and head home. You have studying to do for your practical exam in 3 days." She turned to the DWMA students. "… Thanks for the game." She bowed her head, turning to Kid and patting his head a little. "See you tomorrow, ne?"

"Y-yeah." He nodded at her, watching her walk back to where she was staying with the others, losing her in the building shadows formed by the sun setting. She seemed so tired, he wondered if she was alright or not.


By the time Wrath made it back, she was so exhausted that she could barely get up the energy to close her bedroom door behind herself, collapsing in front of it. She hadn't noticed before, but when she didn't have a medium to balance her soul with Oblivion's, she got a lot weaker and her body suffered the consequences. But similarly, Oblivion seemed to suffer the same fatigue. "Get a weapon medium already, stupid… you have to regulate our power."

"And endanger someone's soul? Hell no." Wrath retorted. "Go to sleep… I need to cleanse." The spirit retreated without a fuss, showing that she was just as tired as Wrath. The girl stripped of her clothes and went into the bathroom, running the water and pouring in what looked like a neon blue potion, the glowing substance seeming to branch out into spirals in the water as Wrath swirled it around with her hand, the tattoos on her legs seeming to have spread up her back a little. But as she stepped into the water, the tattoos vanished, receding under her skin. She sat, letting herself sink beneath the steaming water as she took a breath, her soul seeming to regain some substance as she let the water calm her. This ritual, however, was not for the faint of heart.

The blue substances turned bloody red in about 5 minutes, and expanded till the water was entirely this color. Wrath drained the tub and repeated till the bottle was empty, since every time the water turned bloody red relatively quickly. But on the last round, it did not expand to the rest of the water. Wrath took a breath and felt herself getting better. Unfortunately, the side effect soon shocked her, a painful headache causing her to nearly pass out. But she stood, pulling herself from the water and draining it, drying off and slipping on her oversized black collared shirt over her lingerie and headed to the bedroom. A few wisps with distinguishing accessories brought her a concoction that smelled of mint and chocolate, but was bright white in the light of the room.

"Is there anything else, Wrath-sama?" the wisp asked.

"No… thank you…" she replied, exhausted. "That will be all." She said, sipping at the concoction. The wisps vanished and Wrath looked at the clock. Nearly midnight… she realized that she hadn't eaten all day and sighed, her stomach not feeling any particular need for food. "… Tomorrow morning." She told herself, finishing her drink before laying back and falling asleep.


Wrath soon awoke though, a terrifying nightmare of her parents' deaths scaring her awake. She was trembling, and she was near tears. "…" she looked at her hands, seeing no blood or cuts like she had that day… she wrapped her arms around herself and began to let her tears fall, hunching over. "Axis… Axis, I can't do this…" she shook her head. "I wanna go home…" she sobbed in the darkness. "I wanna go home…"

Meanwhile, in a hospital at the GHA, Axis sat up, feeling the pulse of his sister's soul in pain. He looked around, immediately seeing that the windows were clouded by the fog. "…" he managed to get himself out of bed and over to the window, pulling his pistol from under his pillow and loading a single bullet. "… Communication Circle… Spade Transmission…" he pulled the trigger, the recoil making him slide back, but he managed to keep himself standing. The bullet phased into the glass and caused it to ripple, the Oblivion symbol drawing itself into the glass before vanishing, soon the image of a woman crying appearing. "Onee-sama…" The woman looked up, eyes going wide.

"… Axis?"

"Onee-sama… why are you crying?" he asked, his expression emotionless but his words obviously conveying his concern for his big sister, despite the tone he was using being completely monotone.

"… Nothing."

"Don't lie… tell me, Onee-sama…"

"… I wanted to see you, I'm kind of a wreck without you, kiddo…" she wiped her tears and went closer to the window. "… How are you? Are you getting better?"

"… I don't like being babied." He stated. "I wanna fight, I wanna train, but no one will let me." He stated simply. "… I wanna be with Onee-sama…"

"… ehehe… well you gotta listen to the doctors…"

"I don't wanna." He stated. The Oblivion symbol glowed in his left eye, Wrath sensing his irritation. Even the slightest thing set him off now. "They're all annoying…"

"I know, kiddo, I know." She put her hand on the window. "… But, please? For me?" The symbol faded in her brother's eye as he put his hand up to where hers was. "If you wanna battle with me, you gotta get better… I know the doctors are annoying, but they're gonna help you get better, okay?" she smiled. Axis stared at her.

"… You have a boyfriend."

"Wh-what?"

"You're smiling again… you're happy… the only thing that makes you smile is love… family or otherwise…" he stated simply. "… Can I meet him?"

"Hehe, soon, okay? I'm betting you're doing this without permission, so we need to obtain permission next time."

"… Yes Onee-sama…"

"Good boy." She smiled. "Once you're better I'll spoil you rotten~"

"… I want you to make me food when you come back." He stated, making Wrath chuckle. "… I mean it."

"I know, you silly boy." She smiled at him. "I will… Now go back to sleep. You should be resting." She said, Axis nodding and attempting to smile, but managing nothing. "It's okay, don't rush."

"… Goodnight, Onee-sama…"

"Goodnight, Axis… I love you."

"… I love you too." He replied before the connection faded out, Wrath sighing. Axis was always breaking rules and getting angry nowadays… her baby brother had become a moody teenager while she was away. But she still adored him above all other members of her family, and even over the rest of the GHA. And with their separation, his soul was unstable, even just through the connection she felt it. His soul was doing what hers had been before the tattoos began turning into nuisances.

"… Sumagawa-sama… please keep an eye on him." She mumbled, going back to bed and falling back asleep, this time uninterrupted by anything, nightmares, dreams, or otherwise. The most peaceful sleep she'd had in a long time.


((Ahaha, I hope this was a nice chapter ending instead of a depressing one... Hopefully the next time I update I have more inspiration ; v ;''

Thanks for reading, reviews are appreciated~

EDIT: 7/6/15- I was alerted to a lack of Kid's symmetry complex, so I edited something small in. Thanks to Aqua Lilly for pointing that out to me ; v ;'''

-Winter Cheshire))