AN: Happy Sooper Bowl! Go 49ers! Yeah! Just to clear things up, I'm not a 9ers fan. I don't necessarily want the 9ers to win, I just want the Ravens to lose. I'm really a Giants fan! NEY YORK GIANTS, FTW! So who's YOUR guy's fave team? Or do you not like football at all? Tell me in the comments!
Chapter 10: My Prince Charming, Who Gave His Life For Me
I hear a loud bang. My eyes fly open. I yank back the covers and jump out of my bed. I rush to the door and try to open it, but the handle won't turn. Another loud bang.
"Attention! We are going into lockdown! Secure all prisoners and get into code blue positions!" Mirielle's voice rings out over the loud speaker. I hear a lot of frantic yelling and screaming.
"Ginger, what's going on?!" Kana yells. I back up a few feet. I run up to the door and bang my shoulder against it. "That's what I wanna know!" I shout over the noise. I can hear guns firing and people screaming. I bang my shoulder against the door again. I repeat and repeat until my shoulder starts to hurt. I step back and look at the door. I need to get out of here. Then I get an idea.
I sit down on the floor and cross my legs. I wrap my hands around my ankles, my arms crossed. I close my eyes.
"Watashi wa watashi no mae ni sorera no dengen o yobidasu, watashi wa watashi ni anata no chikara o kashi suru yō ni irai suru!" I chant in Japanese. This is what Stein taught me to say in order to summon the demon powers. It means, "I call on the power of those before me, I ask you to lend me your strength," if you were to translate it back to English.
I feel the fox ears pop out of the top of my head. I stand slowly, and open my eyes. I hold out my hand, palm facing the door with three curled fingers, pointer, middle and thumb. I can feel the energy in the metal door. I twist my hand slowly so the heel of my hand faces upwards. The middle of the door twists along with my hand.
I kick the door down and run out into the hall. I step over the door and run through all the chaos, my ears filling with the sound of the wind passing through them. I turn right down another hallway and stop dead in my tracks. I smile and a tear runs down my cheek.
"Soul!" I shout, running into his open arms. He grips me tight and I cry happily into his shoulder. "I knew you'd come." I say. He pulls away and smiles. "I finally found you. Come on, we need to get out of here." He says. He takes my hand in his and leads me through the crowd of familiar faces. Various faculty from Shibusen hold weapons and are fighting against the scientists who treated me so cruel.
Soul and I run to the doorway, which has been busted down. But right as I step outside, a white light overwhelms me and I can't see a thing.
I open my eyes and look around. I'm in my bedroom. Still at the laboratory.
"No... no no no!" I shout, sitting up and bending over, my face in the blanket and my fists banging on the bed.
"Ginger, what is it?" Kana asks sleepily. I roll over. "Ugh, it felt so real! I was so close to freedom... so close to being home!" I say, covering my face with my hands.
"What do you mean?" Kana asks. I shake my head. "I was almost out, Soul came... he was here! And he almost saved me! But right when I stepped outside I woke up for real! It was all just a dream... a stupid, stupid DREAM!" I scream into my hands. Kana doesn't respond. I can;t even hear her quiet breathing anymore.
Just then my door opens and a man steps in. He doesn't say anything, simply walks over to me, places my collar on, and drags me out of the room. I thrash around and curse at him.
"Let me go, damn it! Where are you taking me?" I hiss. He opens a door, throws me inside, and shuts it behind him. I scramble to a standing position, but hit my head on the low ceiling. I look around the stuffy room and see I'm in a janitor's closet.
"I need you to shut up and listen." He says, snapping. He takes off his white mask, slips off his black hood, and shakes his dark, shaggy hair out. I recognize his blue eyes immediately.
"What do you-" I start, but he slaps his hand over my mouth.
"I said shut up! I'm here to help you!" He says. I glare at him, but stay silent. He peeks outside the door, then closes it again and looks back at me.
"The DWMA is coming. They're coming for you, and they're coming to take down this establishment." He says. I don't say anything.
"But they won't succeed. Many will be killed, many will be captured. You can prevent it. They will be here in three days time. That means you have three days to save all those people." He continues. I swipe my bangs out of my eyes.
"How do I know you're not lying?" I say skeptically. He stares at me. "You don't. But you must listen. I had a vision last night." He says. I keep glaring at him. "You're lying! Let me out of here, or I'm going to-" I say, but he slaps his hand over my mouth.
"The boy will die. The boy with the white hair and the red eyes." He says in a low voice. My eyes widen.
"Soul! He'll die...?" I say. He nods. "He will sneak onto one of the vans that Shibusen will use to transport their troops to this place. When they get here, he will run off in search of you. He will be stabbed in the heart right as he arrives with you at the exit." He explains. My head spins. Soul is going to die. And it's all my fault! All mine!
"No! He can't die! He can't die because of me!" I say. The boy puts his hand on my shoulder. "I am sorry. But there is a way to stop it. You must prove to Mirielle that you are ready. You must prove that you will obey her. Then she will launch the attack on the DWMA." He explains. I swipe his hand away.
"How is that any better?" I ask.
"The boy will survive. You will be leading the army. You will be the one attacking, and you will be the one to start the war. But you will end the war as well, and you will win it for Shibusen." He says. I stare at the ground.
"How do you know all this?" I ask him, looking back up. He points to his eyes. "You noticed my eyes, didn't you? They are Crystal's eyes. I am her only sibling, and while she was born a full witch, I am only a half witch. She joined the Uprising and brought me with her. But I am loyal only to the Reaper. I have powers, and I could see all of this in a dream. You're dream, to be precise." He says.
That's right. In my dream, it ended right when Soul and I stepped outside. That must have been when he would have been stabbed. "But how do you know it's a vision instead of just a dream?" I ask. He looks down.
"Because I don't dream. I can't dream. So when I do dream, I know it's a vision." he says. He can't dream? I wonder what it's like to not dream.
"What's your name, anyway?" I ask him after a while. He smiles. "Sarith. If you need anything, I am here." He says. I smile back at him.
"Now, I'm going to let you out. Take my hand." he says. I nod and entwine my fingers with his. He closes his eyes.
* "Watashi ga yarubeki koto hayaruga dekiru yō ni, kurokku to kyūshi jikan o tomeru." He mutters. He opens his eyes and turns the door handle. He drags me out the door and I gasp. People line the halls, all in mid-step. Has time stopped? He really is magic...
"Come quickly." He says. He leads me back to my room. He lays me back down on my bed. He walks out and pulls his hood back up. He smiles at me one last time and pulls his mask over his face, shutting the door behind him. I stand back up and rush to the door. I open it, and everyone is proceeding as usual, like nothing ever happened. Sarith is nowhere to be found. After what he said the first time we met, I thought he was going to give me hell at every chance he got. But apparently it's exactly the opposite.
"Oh, you're feeling better?" Kana asks. I blink. She didn't hear any of that? I'm actually kind of glad she didn't. A scientist turns to me on his way down the hall. "Ah, Ginger. I was just coming to get you." He says. I follow him to the maze room, and I run three mazes. That's the least I've ever run.
Mirielle walks up to me and sits me down at a table at the end of the maze.
"You have been improving." She says. After asking me a few questions on how different things feel from when we started with me answering them all thoughtfully and honestly, keeping in mind what Sarith said, she lets me back to my room.
The next two days, I work as hard as I can. Then the third day comes. I'm nervous as hell. Tomorrow, the DWMA will come. And Soul will die. I've been doing all that Sarith has told me to do, but nothing has changed. I'm getting more and more scared. More and more tense. Every minute is a minute is a minute closer to Soul's death. I'm going mad with paranoia. It's eating me from the inside.
My door opens. I am dragged out and blindfolded. I feel myself being put into a vehicle of some sort. And driven somewhere. After an hour or so, my blind fold is removed and I see the same four people from when I was captured, including Sarith. He looks straight at me with a blank expression.
"We are here to capture the DWMA. Today, we will fight for the freedom of all witches. And you will lead us into battle. If you refuse, Kana will do it instead." The girl, Ally I think it was, says to me. I gulp. I did it. I saved Soul. But who knows who else is going to die when I attack my own home.
"Now, you have to do everything we say, Kana. You know what will happen if you don't." The other girl says. She stands up and I hear Kana swallow deeply.
"Sarith, you watch the girl. We will go to the front." She adds. Her, Ally, and the remaining guy open a door and I see up into a compartment filled with tables and some people drinking from various mugs and chatting. The door slides shut and it's just me and Sarith.
"Did it work?" I ask him. He nods. "Well done. The troops from the DWMA won't be sent off before we get there. You have done well." he says. I tuck my hair behind my ear. "What's going to happen?" I ask him. He looks at me, his blue eyes shining.
"I don't know." He says. And if Sarith doesn't know, there's no way anyone else will.
Dun dun DAAAA! Muahaha, I bet you all thought Ginger was going to be rescued, didn't you? Well, NO! Cause if Ginger was saved, that means we would lose a certain shark-toothed albino! Which would you rather have happen, huh? Cause all you fangirls who are crushing on Soul like me definitely wouldn't want our beloved Soul Eater to die!
Soul: I almost died? Whoa...
Ginger: You're welcome! I just saved your life, dude!
Soul: Thanks...
Mem: So now we're gonna have to fight against you?
Ginger: I think so.
Alex: Wow. So what up with those fox ears, huh? Gonna use those on us?
Ginger: Are you making fun of me?
Alex: No! I wasn't! Please don't hurt me...!
Tommi: Jeez, this is getting so twisted up...
[Translation notes]
* "Watashi ga yarubeki koto hayaruga dekiru yō ni, kurokku to kyūshi jikan o tomeru"-Sarith, line 54- Halt the clock and pause time so I may do what must be done