I'M BACK! And I promise this chapter will be much longer… ^.^'
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
How many times, reaper? Zindyll sighed. You insist on staying strong. Can't you see that will only hurt you – and your precious friends – in the end? You may be immortal, like your father and I myself, but you are impressively naïve.
Kid ground his teeth. "Don't insult my father," he hissed. He refused to break or even talk under torture, but insulting his father and/or friends was something he would never tolerate.
The demon laughed. Your show of 'strength' is getting you nowhere. Watch as your friends sink slowly into an everlasting sleep, and there's nothing your father can do but watch.
Ironically, the minute he said this, the screen zoomed in on Soul dragging a sleepy Maka after him as he gathered BlackStar, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty, Stein, Marie, Kami, Spirit, and Justin and herded them all at scythe-point to the airport. Once out of Death City, on their way to California, the others seemed to wake up suddenly and peppered Soul with questions. Well, Maka peppered him with Maka chops, while the others made it worse by demanding answers while he clutched his dented head.
Zindyll snarled. Damn that weapon boy. I forgot about his cursed black blood – it shielded him more effectively than the others. And it seems they've found our new lair. Ready to watch your dear friends die, young reaper?
"Good luck with that," Kid rasped in amusement. "Don't underestimate them. Asura did, and look how he ended up."
Yes, and look how you ended up.
"My capture has nothing to do with Asura."
Wrong. Garn only sided with me because his family was killed by Shibusen in the battle against Asura.
"How can that be?" Kid couldn't keep the shock out of his voice. "Shibusen doesn't kill innocent bystanders."
Wrong again. Well, partly. Garn's parents were collateral damage. He wanted revenge, and found me. A couple months later… voila. You are bound in my chains.
"I admit that the Academy was very suspicious immediately before the battle against madness. But I won't believe this rubbish about 'collateral damage.'"
What's there to doubt? It's true. If you'd rather I could call Garn in here and you can ask him. You are a Shinigami – you can tell when mortals are lying, correct?
"How would you know about that?"
Zindyll snorted. I know many things, little god. Including ways to break you instantly to my will.
"Really. You haven't succeeded so far."
This? Hah. This is entertainment. He chuckled. No, little god, this is far from my full power. I admit it was amusing watching you think you'd bested me, sent your friends away against my will. Well… that's not entirely true. I didn't expect for you to show me that much capacity for wavelength control, but no matter. You've only given me a better understanding of good ways to break you.
Kid stayed silent. "Try all you want. I will not break. The day I betray my father and my friends is the day I die."
Zindyll considered this a moment. Very well, little god. And he enveloped Kid briefly in a sickly green mist, before floating away laughing.
So be it.
o.O.o
BlackStar frowned. "So the whole city was put under a spell?"
"Still is," Soul corrected. "According to Lord Death, the only way to break it is to defeat Zindyll."
Jumping up, the blue-haired assassin punched his fist in the air. "YAHOO! We'll kill that annoying demon and I will be proven a great star YET AGAIN!"
"SSSSSHHHHHH!" an echoing whisper sounded from the seats around them. Thanks to being students at the Academy, they'd gotten first-class seats on a luxurious small plane, but there were a few other well-paying passengers on board who didn't much appreciate BlackStar and his loud ways.
Tsubaki tugged him with surprising force back into his seat before he could demolish the plane and distracted him by showing him a free program about shooting stars and astronomy on the small screens in front of their seats. The excitable meister sat watching unusually quietly, commenting every once in a while to Tsubaki. "Stars are fast… whoa, shooting star… what's a trillion? … hey, that star looks like me!"
Soul rolled his eyes. Patty was bouncing around on her seat in front of him, while Stein was muttering something about dissecting swamp creatures behind him. Marie was napping, Liz was painting her nails, Maka was reading (quelle surprise), Tsubaki had left BlackStar to his program and was listening to music, Justin was – uh, also listening to music while staring out the window, Kami was watching some program on the evolution of plants, Spirit was surfing some [CENSORED], leaving Soul with the most obvious option.
Watch something cool, duh.
o.O.o
About six hours later, they rolled their suitcases down a long hallway of identical suites. Kami refused to share with her ex-husband, so she was with Marie, Spirit was with Justin and Stein, Maka was with Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty, and BlackStar and Soul were together. There were numerous beds in separate rooms of each suite, along with a small living room/bar and a full bathroom.
Soul threw his bag on the bed closest to the wall, while BlackStar got the one next to the window. Knowing him, the hyperactive meister would end up falling out the window in the middle of the night. Soul could care less.
But for once BlackStar was unusually subdued. "Is it just me or-" he cut himself off.
"Feels like something's missing? Yeah, I feel you, dude," Soul added heavily.
"It just doesn't feel right. He should be here, rearranging everything and complaining about all the crap he usually does." The scythe gazed around miserably.
Just then there was a knock on the door, which was around in the main room. Soul walked out of their bedroom and opened it to see Maka and Tsubaki, wrapped in towels and twirling sets of goggles around their fingers. "Time to go swimming," his meister grinned mischievously.
o.O.o
Soul grumbled as he was dragged through the doors of the pool room, shirtless, with orange and white swim trunks. BlackStar leaped after him, once again energetic in blue shorts with white stars. Tsubaki followed him, sweat-dropping, in a yellow and pink bikini. Maka was already on the first step of the pool, ankle deep in water, dressed in a two piece shirt swimsuit. In fact, everybody was there except Justin, whom they'd left sitting on the couch listening to music and surfing the internet on a small laptop. Stein had (of course) gray stitched swim shorts, Marie a black and yellow [XD] bikini, Kami refused to go swimming so was in regular attire, and Spirit had red shorts with scythes all over them.
They splashed around in the pool for a while before Liz and Patty came in, in identical blue and black bikinis.
"Hey!" Maka called, grinning.
"You guys look the same! Symmetrical!" Marie exclaimed, then shut up when she realized what she had said. Both sisters looked down at the floor. Even Patty's normal hyper attitude was subdued.
Then Maka realized Patty was fiddling with a small box. "What's that?"
The Thompsons gazed at it for a moment in shock, then Liz rounded on her sister. "I thought you left that in the room?"
"I couldn't leave it there," Patty sniffled. "I wanted him to watch us swim. Happy."
Everybody waded over to the edge, where Patty sat carefully on the edge of the pool and opened the box. She pulled out a big wad of pictures held together by a rubber band. Undoing it catiously, she spread them all out on a sheet of plastic wrap so they wouldn't get wet.
They were all pictures of Kid. Soul recognized some of them from the slideshow that he'd caught Lord Death looking at the day before. Some were of him at about nine years of age, but the rest were all recent. Including one of him sitting on the edge of a pool, outside, smiling at presumably Patty in the background. He had perfectly symmetrical black swim shorts with two gray skulls on the hem and was already wet, clearly having swum not that long ago.
"He looks… different," Tsubaki managed. Spirit remained quiet, thinking of Lord Death sadly.
"That's because he looks happy," Liz choked out, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "It seemed we were the only one who could really choke that kind of smile out of him. Only a few times though, usually times like these." She dug out a few pictures of Kid with the same smile – cooking, relaxing on a couch, even sleeping. Then riding his skateboard around high in the sky, shooting at targets, reading. All normal activities.
Patty hesitated before helping her sister pull out the last picture. Kid, sitting crosslegged with his eyes open and his hair blowing about symmetrically. It was the same smile, but… there was something otherworldly about it. Dark crackles of energy surrounded him and you could almost feel the power thrumming through the picture.
They were all silent before BlackStar commented, "That is one scary smile."
When everyone glared at him, he shrugged. "What?" He tried stepping back but forgot momentarily he was in water and slipped, grabbing the nearest thing – the edge of the pool.
"BlackStar, NO!" Patty shrieked. She pulled the plastic wrap out of reach, but a single picture was caught under the assassin's fingers and pulled into the water with him. Too late, he tried to stand up and thrust it above water, but it was already soaked. It was the picture of Kid sleeping, and they watched in horrified silence as the ink run and it crumbled into soggy pieces in BlackStar's fingers.
No one said a word until Patty flew at the blue-haired meister in pure rage. "DAMN YOU!"
Liz tried to stop her sister, but she had plunged into the pool onto BlackStar, grasping his neck in a choke hold, her eyes alight with furious malice. Her victim was still frozen, but then he slowly snapped out of it and knocked her arms away easily. It took Maka, Tsubaki, and Liz to restrain a thrashing Patty but she calmed down eventually and fury gave way to sobs.
"You ruined him," she cried. "He got too wet. Now he'll never wake up." She couldn't stop sobbing.
They decided on no more swimming for a while.
o.O.o
Kid watched them painfully through the screen. I CAN watch you swim… and I AM happy… but there was no way to tell them that.
Poor little god. Doesn't it make you want to cry, seeing your friends so happy without you? Zindyll tried what he probably thought was a sympathetic tone, but it was severely lacking.
"They're not happy," Kid growled. "Patty's crying because of you. Because the only thing they have that's closest to me is pictures. You can break people, but you can't take away free will – or friendship."
That's where you're wrong. I have broken many a friend, and friendships few and far between. How long do you think it will take to break yours?
o.O.o
"Why aren't we out looking for Kid?" BlackStar protested. They were dressed and lounging together in the main sitting room that was shared by all the suites. On either side of the sunken couches was a strip of carpet, and floor to ceiling glass windows that offered a perfect view to one side of the entire city of Los Angeles, with the sea beyond it. They were on the twelfth floor and two short hallways on either side led to their suites.
Spirit sighed. "We can't go looking for him right now. You know that – Zindyll is expecting it. He's actually watching us right now."
"He WHAT?" Liz gasped.
"Lord Death could sense it," Stein explained. "And actually, Kid is watching us too. As we speak."
Patty looked up, eyes wide. "Then… he could see us swim?"
"Yup," Stein grunted. "Zindyll's hoping to break Kid slowly, then turning him on us before killing him. Entertainment is his main motivation."
Liz snarled in disgust. "I'll rip him apart."
"Anyways, there's only one way we can talk without him hearing us. We'll have to move slowly and carefully, but there's a way it could work," Stein continued. He gave them all an even stare. "Ready?"
Maka jumped up with a determined look in her eye. The meisters and Justin stood an even distance apart from each other, their weapons in hands. Liz held Patty in gun form, and Justin popped a guillotine out of one arm for good measure.
"Resonance Link." Maka gasped at the intense power as six incredibly powerful souls, including her own, expanded and thrummed. Her blue grigori soul extended small wings. BlackStar's spiky darker blue one grew small black symbols all over, signs of the Enchanted Sword. Justin's intricately designed soul beat steadily to his music. Kami's light yellow soul extended identical grigori wings like her daughter, and Stein's stitched soul swiveled the screw slowly. Finally, Liz stepped into the middle, the combined pinks of her and her sister's soul smaller perhaps in comparison to the others', but still with immense power.
As they watched, a small thread extended from one soul to the next, until all of the meisters and Justin were connected. Then they all reached out and connected to Liz. With the unimaginable power coming off in waves, Liz sent out a small tendril… straight up. From nowhere, a dark gray tendril attached to hers, and all the people in the sitting room trembled in surprise. They could feel another soul, familiar…
"Kid?" Maka gasped. Liz nodded, her eyes sad and soft. Keep quiet.
Alright, now we can talk. Including Kid. Stein sighed.
Maka: Um… Kid, can you hear us?
Kid: Yes.
BlackStar: Aha, so you're okay?
Kid: I've been captured by an elder demon and tortured within an inch of my life. Do I sound okay?
Justin hummed his song quietly.
Soul: Hey dude, what is the name of that song anyways?
Justin continued humming. Not sure.
Maka: You listen to it constantly.
Justin: Yes, but after a while you only pay attention to the song and forget the name.
Stein sighed. Back to the topic of Kid?
Kid: Joy. It takes being captured and tortured to get attention.
Marie: Aww, poor thing!
Spirit: Can we get on with talking to Kid?
After a lot of bantering, they returned to the matter at hand.
I'm not really sure exactly where I am in Zindyll's lair, Kid pondered. Some sort of cave room. There are these annoying purple chains around my wrists that drain my power, and both Zindyll and Garn – the sniper – come to annoy me regularly.
Annoy? BlackStar snorted. Doesn't sound much different from normal life.
Kid growled, half in exasperation, half in anger. Except you people don't give me horrendous wounds that would have killed a normal human three days ago.
So in other words, we're actually kind of lucky you were the one captured and not one of us? Stein grinned.
Sadistic as ever, but yes, the young reaper conceded.
What's our plan of attack? Soul jumped right to the point.
Stein coughed. Right. Here's what we're gonna do…
o.O.o
An hour later, they said their farewells to Kid's, er, soul – some tearfully, like Liz and Marie; some cackling about dissection (… no comment.)
We'll come and get you, Kid, Maka promised. Whatever it takes.
Th-thanks. Kid choked up for a second, then a wave of amusement passed through their connection. Mother.
This time it was Maka who choked, and the death god chuckled one last time before ending their connection. Zindyll's coming. Most likely to torture me some more. Remember how to smile, laugh, and hope, even if you don't succeed in getting me back.
A world without smiles, without laughter, without hope, is like a world without Death.
No world at all.
o.O.o
Right before the souls had cut out, two metallic objects dropped from the ceiling out of nowhere, landing in front of Liz and Patty. Remember… me… Kid's voice was faint. And remember… how to smile… laugh… hope. Then he was gone.
Ending their resonance, everyone crowded around Kid's weapons as they clutched his last gift tightly. It was his two silver skull rings.
Wordlessly, Liz took off her long plain double-looped silver necklace and broke it in half. She threaded a ring onto each chain, tied the ends securely together, then handed one to her sister and slung the other around her neck. Both sisters held the rings carefully in their fingers, like they were afraid they would break, then excused themselves to their room.
After a sigh and words of sympathy, the others dissipated as well. Maka flopped on her bed and gazed out the window. "… Tsubaki?"
"Yeah?" the dark arm answered softly.
"Do you think we'll get Kid back?"
Silence. "I know we will."
o.O.o
Kid groaned. "Damn…" he cursed. His wounds stung like hell.
Tired of it yet, little god? Sure you don't want it to end? It would be so easy.
"No thanks. I'm quite certain."
Aww. That's no fun.
"You say the same line every damn day."
Do I? I apologize, little god.
"Stop calling me that."
Calling you what? Little god? But it suits you. A reaper, yet still young. Death in the flesh, but so vunerable. Spitting image of your father, but your name is Kid. Poor little god.
"Shut up."
My, my, strong words.
"Not strong enough."
You'll soon come around.
"We'll see about that." Then he began running his song over and over in his mind.
Death is what it is
You cannot deny
For in your last hour
Your soul will die…
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
Teeheehee!
Kid: ;A;
Me: }:)
Anyways, big announcement! After the end of this fanfic (which will be a ginormous cliffhanger, I can assure you) my friend will take the reins and write a sequel! And if we feel like it we'll write a third together! :D
Got to go, buh-bye!
~DeaththeKidKat