Hey little piggles! I'm back! I came back quicker than last time...even though this is a longer chapter. Oh well! Quicker is better, right?
Well, anyway, on to what I needed to babble about. I realized this after I finished writing this...but...there are a hell of a lot of manga spoilers in this chapter...none are too big though. Unless you count a sort of "indirect spoiler" in this chapter. But really...you've been warned.
Is there anything else I wanted to say? I don't even know...so...without further ado...REVIEWS!
Omeenim: *clapclapclapclap* well done, Mineemo. Not going to lie, this review made me laugh. By all means, don't stop reading. And you're not necessarily "banned"...but...you can look at it that way...I guess. As I already said to Wisteria, just contact me through her. Sorry!
Wisteria: Yeah...it did take 3 months, didn't it? Did I? Good, I was worried the rant wasn't "Excalibur enough". The line (I don't know which one of you said it...but one of you did) it was the one about the chef's hat being tall and that "only fools would think Excalibur is a chef!" or something along those lines. Is she really? That's a relief. Tell her sorry for me again. I may end up getting a Quotev account and will start posting an ORIGINAL story (yes, yes I have one) but idk when. It will be under Iisarainbowpig of course. Well, I got news for you...more fighting begins now. By all means, I ain't stoppin' her from reading. I WANT her to keep reading! Thanks, as always. Bye!
SilverDewDrop: Yup. Dunno when the next one is though. Ikr. Such fancy vocab, oolala. WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!? I can make humor! (even if it isn't that good...). What do you mean by "pressing shift before enter" or whatever? Anyway...reply? IDK how to end this reply XD.
Enjoy~
"K-Kimemo!?" Maka stumbled back in shock while all the others quickly recovered and glared at the witch.
Kimemo smiled sweetly, her eye glowing ever more. "Hello, children."
Maka, regaining her composure, glared at the woman, fists clenched. "What do you want!? What did you do to Kid!?"
The witch remained silent, regarding her with cold eyes.
Narrowing his eyes, Soul leaned over to Liz who stood shielding Kid from view. The toddler was peeking out from behind her legs curiously, clutching her jeans and cocking his head to the side as he studied Kimemo.
"Oi, is it just me, or does she have a very dangerous aura? I don't think it's very cool to stay here longer than we need to." It was true, they could practically see the dark energy radiating off her skin.
For a brief moment, Kid and Kimemo's eyes met, and she gave a warm smile. "Hello, Shinigami-kun. I would say you've grown since I last saw you, but that would be a lie, now wouldn't it?"
"Don't you ever think I'll let you lay your hands on him!" Black*Star stood bravely in front of the two teen girls shielding their meister, a fierce glare present on his face.
Maka narrowed her eyes. "Soul." The weapon, understanding his meister's command, slipped away from the teen's side in wisps of whitish-blue light, forming in her ready hands as a long, bladed scythe. "Leave now, Witch Kimemo, or we'll be forced to take your soul."
A grin stretched from one ear to the other on the witch's face. She nearly buckled over in laughter as she eyed the teens with amused interest, Black*Star taking this chance to arm himself with Tsubaki. "AHAHAHAHA! Oooooh, how scary~" Kimemo straightened up and flicked away a tear of mirth from her eye, her grin slipping into a much calmer smile. "You really are quite the entertainment. Always ready for a fight. I have no intention of fighting, though I don't mind clashing a few swords. I'll tell you this. My aim is to leave here peacefully, if you meet my demands. They're quite simple, really. All I want, is for you to hand over little Shinigami-kun."
"You're crazy to think we'll hand over Kid!" Patty took a step forward, flames of rage burning in her eyes.
Kimemo smirked, placing a hand on her hip. "That's true. I'm a bit unstable at the moment, you could say." She regained her grin as two, well known, long, glowing white swords formed in her open palms. "So what shall it be? It's not like you can escape."
"I'd be uncool to just run away! Of course we choose to stay and fight," Soul declared, his determined reflection gleaming on the blade of Maka's weapon.
Kimemo smiled again, tightening her grip on her weapons. "I guess I'll be taking him by force."
"Liz, Patty. Take Kid and run," Tsubaki called, surprisingly calm, to the two teens, still shielding their meister.
"I-idiot! Why would we do that!?" Liz called back offensively.
"It's just as Soul said, we aren't running away! We're going to stay here and fight," Patty piped in, trying to hold back the feeling of being useless.
"But you can't do anything without a meister," Maka said regretfully. She then smiled, making sure to look into their eyes. "We'll take care of things here, don't worry about us."
"Well, yeah, but we can use each other! We won't be weaponless," Liz insisted.
"That's true, but then who would get Kid to safety?" Black*Star mentioned matter-of-factly, for once.
Liz opened her mouth the retort, but then decided against it, staring at the ground in defeat. "I...I guess you're right…"
"NOW GO!"
Without any further exchange of words, Liz scooped up the startled toddler and pursued after her sister, making their way to the back doors.
"You think you can escape!?" Kimemo grinned insanely, as she swiped one of her swords across her chest, a fury of rattling chains slithering after the retreating teens. Just as they were about to catch up, they were thrown off course by Tsubaki who had been whipped into that direction by the bluenette assassin.
"Your opponent is us. They won't be taking any of the spotlights this time," he claimed smugly, smirking.
The witch regarded the remaining teens stoically as they charged forward, brandishing their weapon partners. With a light chuckle, the corners of Kimemo's lips perked up. Unknown to the other teens, a small orb of glowing white light slipped out from the silver pendant dangling from the witch's neck. "Very well. I'll just take you out first."
Liz cursed under her breath as she and Patty rounded another corner, panting heavily.
'Damn. Never before have I wished this mansion was so much smaller…'
"Patty! Are you sure you know where you're going!? I'm relying on you right now!"
Patty looked back with a large smile, never once slowing down her rapidly pattering feet. "Don't worry, Lizzie! I'm sure this is the right direction!"
Liz let out what would have been a sigh, considering the lack of air in her lungs.
'My death. Who are you? Marie or Patty?'
Kid, who had been silently clinging onto the older pistol and watching the situation in confusion, looked up at said teen. "Mommy? Why awre we wunning? Deed dat wady scawre mommy and fwiends?"
"N-not really. But Kid, listen to me. Don't go near her, she's dangerous."
The four year old blinked up at her before nodding with a smile. "Ok! If mommy sways sow!"
The two girls were busy running, and therefore didn't notice the toddler's attention distracting by the pursuing, bobbing ball of light on the floor.
"Is this all that the infamous DWMA meisters trained by Death himself have to offer!?" Kimemo smiled in an evil way as Black*Star barely brandished the chain of his chain scythe in front of his face to block the two crossed swords in time. "Pathetic." With a swift kick to the chest, Kimemo sent the assassin flying into a wall and still had time to backflip out of the way of the scythe blade swung into the floor after missing its initial target.
"Maka! Focus. We're failing in a really uncool way right now!"
"I'm sorry! She just won't stay still," Maka muttered annoyed as she pried Soul free from the polished, tile floor.
Kimemo smiled as she somehow overheard the irritated comment sent her way. "I can stand still, if you'd prefer." And stand still, she did. She merely eyed them with growing interest as whiplashing chains swirled around her legs.
"It's only been five minutes yet you're already out of breath, Black*Star," Tsubaki noticed worriedly.
The assassin, huffing, struggled to his feet as he used the cracked wall from his impact for support. "Worry about yourself. I won't go down that easily."
Though she was still worried for her meister, Tsubaki nodded silently, subconsciously tightening her grip on her bleeding, upper right arm. She had a stab wound on the left side of her stomach, but it wasn't enough to leave behind any lethal damage.
Kimemo let out a long, drawn out sigh. "This is getting boring. Can't you do any better than this?"
"Shut up! It's not like we've gone down yet," Soul called in irritation, ignoring the warm, crimson liquid trickling down the side of his face, neck, and left arm.
Kimemo blinked in silence before giving another amused smile. "Persistent."
Maka kept her fighting position as she tightened her grip on her partner, suffering a cut along her own chest, arm, forehead, and a few on her legs, though she brushed these off. "It's no use; I can't land a blow on her. Let alone get close enough."
"You're just not trying hard enough!"
"I am trying hard enough, thank you very mu-ACK!" The female meister was sent flying into the staircase as one of the chains wrapped around her arm and threw her weightlessly to the side. The polished stairs cracked and caved in just a bit at the sudden, coming-at-high-velocity weight.
"Oi, Maka! Pay attention!"
Wincing with one eye squeezed shut, Maka used the staff of the scythe to pull herself free of the rubble, new cuts and wounds allowing from more trickling blood to roll down her skin. "Sorry."
"You alright?"
"I'm fine. I just need to figure out how to get close to her. Plus, you're hurt pretty bad; I want to avoid more unfortunate injuries."
"Don't worry about me! This has happened before. I'm a weapon, so use me like one! The reason we're doing worse than we normally can, is because you're holding back so I don't get hurt! It's bound to happen, so give it up already."
"I still wonder why I listen to you sometimes," Maka mumbled as she leapt down from the broken stairs and charged back into the fight.
'It's so pwetty…'
Kid was finding it quite hard to look away from the bobbing white orb bouncing peacefully on the ground after them.
'I wondwer if I can touch it…'
His little hands began to snatch at the air as he reached for the glowing orb, completely entranced by its quiet contents. The glow was dim, yet intense as it reflected a small white dot in each of the wide golden orbs watching it.
"Kid?" After a while of the shifting weight and reaching, Liz had finally noticed the toddler's actions and had slowed to a stop, Patty stopping from confusion and curiosity of her sister's actions. "What's wrong?"
"...it's...pwetty…"
Patty blinked at the distracted four year old, still staring at the now stationary but still bobbing orb, hidden from view of both pistols by mere position. "'It's pretty'? What's pretty?"
"...it's pwetty...hmm?"
Kid's eyes widened as the glowing orb seemed to ripple and expand just a bit, a small video beginning to play.
(From here on out are moments from the manga word for word, so if you haven't read the manga or don't want any spoilers, scroll down until you reach past the italicized sections...you've be WARNED)
::: Witches' Realm :::
Kid, Kim, Free, and Eruka sat on their knees, each with their own stone slate on their laps to keep them restrained along with their wrists tied tightly behind their backs. The many on looking witches sat smugly in the bleachers roaming around the center of the room. The four sat nervously in the center of the room as the Witch Trial continued where it had left off. A dark skinned witch with long, straight strands of light hair to go along with her light beanie continued where she had left off, staring at the four down the length of her nose.
"Being immortal, increasing their death sentences would be meaningful as a single death is not enough to end them, the werewolf with the Demon Eye, already with 500 death sentences for stealing Mabaa-sama's left Demon Eye, and for escaping from prison in total...is sentenced to death 1000 times."
Though expecting it he was, Free still couldn't repress the sweat that trickled down his left temple and the nervous shiver sent down his back.
Ignoring this, the witch continued. "The witch Kimiearl Diehl, for escaping without the assembly's permission and enrolling in Shibusen, the enemy, is hereby sentenced to death."
"O-objection!" Kim had mustered up all her confidence to speak up, despite her nervous emotions.
The head judge witch, with her pair of three whisker-like stripes on each cheek, long black hair held up to resemble cat ears and the rest draping down her back to go along with her cat like eyes, regarded her calmly. "Come forward with any objections!"
"How can I come forward with this huge rock on me!?"
"Then notion denied." The witch allowed for her mouth to slide up into a smirk as she continued. "I will personally read Shinigami and Death the Kid's charges and their sentences." Silence fell over the few murmurs that had hopped around the room. "FOR BEING A SHINIGAMI! IS HERBY!" The witch slammed down her smoke piped shape mallet, an evil look darkening her eyes as Mabaa-sama gave a startled 'Nyamu' noise. "SENTENCED TO DEATH ONE MILLION TIMES!"
Kim looked over at her shinigami friend with a smirk as he stared with wide, shocked eyes as sweat appeared in large clusters on his face.
"Pff! Serves you right," she sneered, recalling the time he barged into the girls' bathroom when she and Jackie were showering not too long before coming into the Witches' Realm.
The mixed noises of excited witches' voices echoed throughout the courtroom as they called out their desires and plans, some sitting at the edge of their seats, others leaning over the makeshift railing.
"Show me the shinigami's insides!"
"Impalement, burning at the stake, I'm fine with anything."
"I have an experiment I want to try with the shinigami's eyeballs!"
"This is a historical moment! I'm so excited!"
The excited yelling continued, the judges showing no intent to silence them, as Kid allowed his bangs to cloak his eyes as he grit his teeth in growing irritation. And eventually, he snapped.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!"
Silence fell abruptly over the witches as Kim reeled back in fear as small tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "So-sorry…" Kim's voice was quivering with fright and guilt, thinking the teen's yell was directed at her. "I know I was a little persistent, but it was your fault in the first place."
Ignoring the teen beside him and the many pairs of eyes now staring at him intently, the shinigami continued. "If I wanted, I could undo this seal at any time," he began, somehow keeping his cool as he mentioned the ropes binding his wrists together behind his back. "And a rock of this size is meaningless." Keeping his head down, Kid once more proceeded in his monologue while he could still take advantage of the silenced witches. "If I wanted to erase everyone in this room, I could do so." There was no stopping now, and Kid had no intention of changing the route he was continuing on. "Even Kim here is a depraved woman who makes up lies, fakes tears, and acts cute to seduce others."
The teen girl turned and glared at her friend, offended. "Hey!"
"Even now, we're friends who've shared a naked communion."
Kim's face lit up with a bright blush as her eyes seemed like spirals of embarrassment. "Idiot! Don't say such misleading things! And that only happened once!"
The room once more filled with murmurs and comments from the on looking witches who had their own blush and looks of approval and disapproval.
"At...at such a young age…"
"She only looks innocent on the outside, huh?"
"Isn't the average age for doing that fifty?"
"She's a natural born charmer…"
The head judge, struggling to keep control of her own growing blush stared at her in disbelief, disapproval, and slight digest. "Kimiearl Diehl...have you no shame...and with a shinigami...have you fallen that low…"
The stone having previously been resting on Kid's lap clattered onto the floor as he stood up.
And then the video rippled and changed, the now present day, toddler shinigami still entranced.
::: Inside the Book of Eibon :::
Having still been conversating with the Black Mass while floating within Noah's Book of Eibon, Kid was caught by surprise when the Black Mass expanded and began to droop and trickle from above him down around the shinigami with the intent of trapping.
"I am not your alley, nor am I your anything…"
The great globs of Black Blood began to become thicker and drew ever closer to the shinigami as the Black Mass continued to speak.
"Order...knowledge...power...rage...terror...The Great Old Ones...our very existence drives men to madness…"
Now the Black Blood was pouring over him, sliding down his cheeks and face, engulfing his body as it ran down his shoulders, front, and back. He didn't mind. Hell, he had never felt this good before. A smile grew on his lips; the more he felt the cold liquid, the bigger and madder it grew. And then he was floating in eternal black...a void...nothingness. He felt it relaxing. He smiled, five new black, sown-like stripes going from above his lips to the tip of his chin and jawbone presenting themselves.
"My skin is crawling…"
It felt nice, floating on his back with nothing but black to see.
'There's no right nor left…'
'A unity that exceeds symmetry…'
'So this is "nothingness"...'
'"Nothingness", the pinnacle of order…'
'Order imposed upon all living things…'
'In other words… "death"...'
'Was this what I was seeking?'
Silence.
Kid found himself smirking again in this relaxing void.
'Kill…'
'Eliminate everything in this world…'
'That's the "order" a shinigami should protect.'
And the video changed yet again.
::: in the research facility they had traveled to after the incidents with Crona's Maddness Blood (note...because this is word for word, forgive my language) :::
Stein, Jacqueline, and Kim stood staring in shock from afar as Soul emerged from the pair of iron doors with longer, skinnier looking limbs, a long white slash with a target symbol in the center stretched across his chest. Maka stood just behind him, shocked and relieved that Soul had released his hold on her left pigtail.
"Doctor…" Kim, nervously eyed the weapon with caution, looking to Stein for help.
"Kim, stand back," Stein replied calmly, his glasses glinted to hide his eyes. "I will use Jacqueline."
The lantern looked over at him nervously, though she didn't object. "R-roger…"
Maka, staring at her partner in disbelief, fear, confusion, and worry, had been silent at the time, except for her previous protests of pain from when Soul dragged her violently out by her pigtail.
'The wound he got from Crona way back has reopened, and it's overflowing with madness…'
"Soul! You idiot, what's happened to you!?"
The weapons responded by tilting his head to the side to look back over his shoulder. Though emotionless, he was wide eyed and filled with insanity, his irises resembling targets.
His lips stretched to form a grinning smirk, exposing his sharp teeth. "No fucking question about it...it aches. I've been holding it in until now...it all poured out…" He stood, head down as the Madness Wavelengths radiated off of him, slipping over and off of his chest slash.
Stein observed him calmly, getting into a more fighting stance. "He's coming."
"Okay," Jacqueline answered back, her eyes never leaving the weapon, even as he launched himself into the air, grinning wildly.
With a quick transformation, the female weapon was in the form of her chained lantern, being held in the ready hands of Professor Stein. The doctor was ready as he brandished the chain of the lantern protectively in front of himself as a means to block the obsidian black blade that had gone for a strike.
In a swift motion, he had looped the chain around the tip of the blade and flipped the Death Scythe over onto his back with minimum effort.
The overturned weapon looked back up at Stein with a bored and tired expression, his lips still parted to expose his teeth as the professor was forced to leap back evasively with the unseen swipe of the blade. He was a second too late, though fortunately, Jacqueline only suffered a minor cut in the top right corner of her chest.
"Jackie!" Kim would rush over to help, but knew better than to charge into battle unequipped. Soul got to his feet, smirking as he brandished his black bladed right arm.
"So this is me...the "power" of a Death Scythe…"
The lantern observed her once sane friend cautiously, ignoring the stinging of her new cut. "Our levels as weapons are vastly different."
Glasses still glinted, Stein acknowledged his student's observation. "My apologies, are you ok? To think it'd be this much…" He grinned as the right lens of his glasses un-glinted to reveal his eye. This time, he spoke to his insane Spartoi student. "Aren't you interesting? Makes me want to disassemble you."
And hence the battle continued.
(Even though Kid wasn't there at that event, we'll just say he learned about it in vivid detail from Maka)
The video rippled, yet again, and another memory began to play.
(I bet you all know this scene...FYI...still manga version)
::: Shibusen Library :::
Of course Black*Star wouldn't clean, it had been ten minutes, but he'd spent it reading. Why would the great Black*Star clean!? That wasn't the kind of job he did. That was Tsubaki's forte. As he sat upon his throne of books, the assassin was energetically flipping through the pages of a certain heroic manga.
"Hyahahahaha! Charisma Justice is the best! This guy is my next favorite!" He leaned back against the wall behind him, grinning as he lifted the manga into the air and into more lighting. "Who knew the library had manga!? Let's skip class tomorrow and come here instead!" To anyone who would hear, they wouldn't be surprised. This was Black*Star after all.
An annoyed voice sounded from the approaching figure who had indeed heard. "Hey you! Be quiet in the library!"
"Ah! Sorry…" The bluenette, now identifying the teen in front of him was a bit surprised, but not much. "Kid!?"
Kid looked back stoically, only a head shorter than the assassin due to the grand stack of books Black*Star sat upon.
"What's up? Did you get punished too?" Of course, by 'punished' Black*Star was referring to the punishment of having to clean Shibusen's library given to him by Sid.
"Hmm? I'm here to borrow books. I wanted to see if there was any amazing artwork here. Can I take those books from under your ass?" The shinigami, of course, asked this last part with little to no emotion. Though for the normal person, it would have seemed as a way to venomously yet politely ask for the subject to 'move your butt please, you're in the way.'
Black*Star shifted aside to examine these 'said-books-under-his-ass'. "Oh...these?" After handing over the book directly under him, he leaned over Kid's shoulder to look at the cover in curiosity. Meanwhile, Kid examined it with much satisfaction.
The assassin eyed the words, struggling to pronounce. "What's that? Ex...Ex...Ek...ARRGH, can't read it! Read it for me!"
Kid looked over stoically, having himself no trouble with the complicatedly simple word. "Excalibur."
"What's that?"
"Seems like it's a sword that's called the Legendary Holy Sword." Finding that the bluenette was as interested as he, the shinigami began to explain as if he had recited, even though he hadn't once looked at the pages of the book before him. "You have to take it from the ground…and the one who pulls it out is called the 'hero' and will be forever admired. In the past, only those who were 'kings' have succeeded, is what I've heard. Was it...King Arthur…?"
Both teens looked up at the ceiling in fascination, both their faces with a dreamy expression.
"It must be a wonderfully symmetrical sword! Simply amazing!"
"'Hero', 'king'! Suits me just fine!"
Just at that moment, as if prompted, Stein walked in, having overheard their previous conversation. A lit cigarette stuck out calmly from the side of his mouth. "Ah...Excalibur, huh?"
"What's up, Professor? Did you come to check up on me?" Black*Star asked, expecting everyone who entered the library to either be 'punished' or coming because they had business with him.
The professor blinked at his student in confusion, not knowing about his 'punishment'. "What are you talking about?"
Ignoring the two, Kid decided to move along the conversation. "Do you know something about the Holy Sword?"
Stein's glasses glinted as he diverted his eyes away from his students. "Seiken Excalibur…" he began, a bit too dramatically. "It was impossible, even for me…"
Black*Star perked up in slight surprise and awe. "What!? Did you try?"
"So even the professor couldn't pull it out…"
Stein stayed silent as he allowed the dramatic statement to sink in, his left glass no longer glinted as he stared at the floor in thought.
The two teens gulped.
"Seiken Excalibur…"
"I'm totally interested!" Black*Star said, a look of determination present on his face.
::: Many Minutes Later (possibly hours...I dunno) At Priten Island, Northern Part :::
The two teens stood staring up at the tall waterfall, Kid with the book tucked under his arm.
"So it's here, huh…" Kid pondered aloud.
"Hyaahah!" Black*Star, hands on hips stood smiling confidently up at the large water structure. "So the Seiken is on top of this thing…"
"Hmm…" Opening the book, the shinigami began to scan the text he had previously read on the way here. "To be more precise, we have to climb to the top and then there's supposed to be a cave. It seems like the sword is inside there."
Extending his hand to the side, the teen spawned in his trusty Beelzebub and mounted it, much to the assassin's surprise who began to watch in curiosity. "Oh?" However, his curiosity was replaced with jealousy when Kid soared up into the air, still riding the skateboard. "AHHH! THAT'S DIRTY!"
Hopping onto the rock, Black*Star began to climb up the rocky ledge, stewing in anger and jealousy. "Damn! He had to have this useful thing...I'm not gonna lose!" With a good, resounding yell, the bluenette sped up and used the momentum to jump up over the top and land on his feet with a splash. "Where'd that Kid go!?"
::: Now at Paradise of Fairies "Cave Of Eternity" (no time skip) :::
"Inside here?"
"Black*Star." The teen turned when he heard his name called by the shinigami's voice. Much to his confusion, he found the raven haired teen hanging from a thin ledge, arms and legs wrapped around it. "There's mud down there," he continued, "I can't get down...my shoes will get dirty."
"What the heck are you doing?"
"Carry me…"
"Stuuuupid," the assassin scoffed, turning on his heels and stomping towards the cave entrance. "Stay up there forever."
"With even this kind of obstacle waiting...the road to the Seiken is harsh!" Kid commented nervously, truly horrified.
The water splashed under Black*Star's shoes as the droplets of water from the cave ceiling dripped from above, being stopped by an umbrella. In the end, the bluenette had ended up carrying Kid on his shoulders who had been holding the book open as reference and was currently the one carrying the umbrella.
"You're so useless," Black*Star complained in irritation.
"I'll take care of the water dripping from above! You take care of the mud from below! This is a road that one person can't walk alone, being bombarded by intense assaults from above and below!" the shinigami explained defensively. "What an obstacle!"
"Ahh," the assassin sighed in confirmation, "you're really useless…"
The two teens temporarily stopped as the sound of fluttering, papery wings buzzed nearby.
"Hmm?"
"Eh?"
A small, floating fairy fluttered in front of them, smiling in curiosity. "Eh?"
"Oohh! It's a fairy! How small…" Black*Star commented in awe.
"Is Excalibur somewhere ahead of here?" Kid asked politely.
The fairy remained silent for a few seconds, before her face twisted into a face of pure reluctance and disgust. The infamous 'ugh-Excalibur-face'. "Yeah…"
Without further conversation, the tiny creature buzzed away, leaving the shinigami in silence while Black*Star said, "Seems like she was in a bad mood…"
Before long, the two teens now stood in a cavern like room, a sword embedded within the stacked stone slates in the center, a beacon of shining light gleaming on top it from a hole in the ceiling above it.
"It seems we can't go any further than this," Kid said, tucking the book back under his right arm.
"Hey...isn't that…?"
Once more opening the book again, Kid scanned the text once more, confirming their find. "Hmm...can't be wrong. It's the Seiken Excalibur!"
Feeling the tingling on his skin, the assassin observed his arms in awe. "Wo-wow…"
"The air is vibrating…" Turning his attention back to the pages of the book, the raven haired teen spoke again. "It seems what this book says is true, that the one who acquires the Seiken will be called a hero and gain glory for eternity. And, look...the precise ornamentation on the body of the sword that doesn't even have one scratch...beautiful! It deserves to be called Seiken! None other than the chosen hero can pull it out." He stared at it dreamily, longing just to touch it. "I...I want it."
POP!
"YAAAAY! I'm the hero!" Black*Star flailed the now free sword in the air, while Kid actually dropped the book in shock.
"WHAT!?" He began to rip at his hair in frustration, struggling to find out the way and reason the assassin had been able to pull the sword out. "That's impossible! There has to be something wrong! You're not fit to be complimented by being called 'hero'! Can't we do it over!?"
"Ehh!? What, it doesn't count?" Black*Star whined, reluctantly reinserting the blade into the crack in the stone. "Ok! It's the same no matter how many times we do it!"
"Let me do it this time."
"No way! No way! The Seiken chose me already! Someone big like me!"
Kid ignored his travel buddy as he reached a shaky hand towards the hilt, his heart hammering in his chest. After a few seconds, he bent down with a handkerchief and began to wipe the hilt. "Don't know who's touched it until now."
Silence.
"I pulled it out." The shinigami held the sword in both hands, staring at it listlessly and disbelievingly.
"WHAAAT!?" With a jaw dropped and refusal to accept, Black*Star bent down himself to examine the slit they had both pulled the blade out of. "What the hell! Are you sure it's not because the hole is too big!?"
To both the teens' surprise, a loud voice spoke from the blade as it began to shine. "You've come far, young ones!"
"The Seiken just…" Black*Star stared at the blade in surprise as Kid shielded his eyes from the bright light with his arm.
"Sorry for the late introduction...I am the one called Excalibur."
"Wo-wow…"
Kid stood in silence as they both observed the strange looking white creature standing before them. "Looks dumb!" Black*Star commented, pointing a finger. "You're Seiken? Looks like that? So dumb…"
Though Black*Star was commenting, Kid had his back turned and was shaking with contained laughter.
"Hmm? I'll ask the same of you! Who are you, looking like that!?" Excalibur brandished his cane in the bluenette's face, not yet to the assassin's annoyance.
"Me? I'm Black*Star."
"My legend started in the 12th century!" Having previously removed the cane, the creature once more pointed it inches from Black*Star's nose. "You guys look like techs, where did you come from?"
"Don't point your cane at me like that! So annoying…"
"We're from Shibusen," Kid answered, a look of disappointment still on his face.
"Oh yeah! I'll show you something good."
"Are you listening or what…?" the assassin asked aloud in annoyance. "What's with him? If you're gonna wear clothes, put on some pants!"
"What is he thinking of showing us?"
"Do you want to hear the chronicles of my heroism?" Excalibur whirled around and once more pointed his cane into the assassin's face.
Now Black*Star had had a tick mark before, but now it grew and his glare intensified, his fists clenched ever tighter. "Stop pointing your cane at me!"
"Do you want to hear about it?" Excalibur pushed on, unaware of the bluenette's growing rage.
The teen glared in extreme annoyance down the length of the cane, a vein throbbing on his face. "Move the cane, bastard!"
"Where did you come from?"
Finally snapping, the bluenette slapped away the cane, failing to hold in his anger. "WE ALREADY SAID WE'RE FROM SHIBUSEN!"
The teen finally regained his cool while Kid had been standing silently and observing with increasing disbelief.
"What's your favorite number from 1 to 12?"
"1 to 12?" Black*Star repeated in confirmation. "Of course, 1! If I'm not number 1, you'll be sorry!"
"It's 8! 8!" Kid replied, showing his excitement even through a straight face.
"Fools! You don't have the right to choose! My legend starts in the 12th century."
His rage returning in full force, Black*Star yelled in anger, "DIDN'T YOU SAY TO CHOOSE THE ONE WE LIKED!?" Snatching up the temporarily forgotten book, the assassin flipped it violently so he could see the back of the cover, a large tick mark visible. "And what the hell is the Legendary Seiken!? What the hell is this book!? It didn't help at all! Who wrote this!?" He peered at the print in the corner. "Author Excalibur…" Slamming the book down on the ground, the assassin returned his fierce glare at the creature before them. "IT WAS YOU!"
"I don't give autographs!" And once again, the cane was pointed.
The two teens now stood in silence, staring at the thick stack of papers they both had a copy of.
"To become my tech, there are 1000 items you must complete! I collected them into those blank forms," the sword explained. "Look over them carefully!" Turning briskly the other way, Excalibur continued. "As for number 452, I hope you join my 5-hour 'Reading Meeting'."
"You even wrote a lot on the back…" Kid said, sweat dropping as he lifted up the corner of the top paper in his stack to examine the miniature text on the back.
"Well!" In shining light, Excalibur once more became the long, gleaming sword as he floated lightly into the air. "You two were chosen! Take in your hands...victory and glory!"
"Victory!" The shinigami reached up into the air, gripping the hilt with a dreamy expression.
"Glory!" Black*Star too reached up and closed his fingers around the hilt with his own awed expression.
"Then, let's go!" A pair of shining, golden wings of light unfurled gracefully from the sword, adding to the shine in the room. "Together!"
With no disagreement, the two teens calmly slipped the blade back into the stone, abruptly stopping the blinding light and mystical feel in the room. They then reeled back, glaring at the sheathed sword.
"Stuuupid! Who's gonna do that with you!?" Black*Star sneered.
"Disgusting!" If not for Kid's nature, he would have spit on the unblemished blade in an instant.
Without further discussion, the teens stormed off, muttering and leaving behind the now pleading sword.
"The one who ends up with that guy deserves to be called hero for a special reason!"
"Disgusting!"
"Wait! Wait. Please! Alright, I know! I'll reduce it from 1000 to 800!" Excalibur attempted to compromise, though it fell upon deaf ears. "But I do want you to come to my Reading Meeting."
The fairy whom had previously ran into the shinigami and assassin long before, spotted two figures splashing back the way they came. "Hmm?" Recognizing the two, she fluttered up to them. "Did you meet with Excalibur?"
The two stood in silence before their features twisted into the well-known 'Excalibur' face of disgust. After a second, they continued to storm to the entrance.
The fairy watched them leave in silence for a bit. "Looks like you met him…"
The video stopped there, rippling back to a white orb, but its purpose was being fulfilled. And Kid was only a few steps away from being at Kimemo's feet.
::: About a Minute Earlier :::
"Kid?" After a while of the shifting weight and reaching, Liz had finally noticed the toddler's actions and had slowed to a stop, Patty stopping from confusion and curiosity of her sister's actions. "What's wrong?"
"...it's...pwetty…"
Patty blinked at the distracted four year old, still staring at the now stationary but still bobbing orb, hidden from view of both pistols by mere position. "'It's pretty'? What's pretty?"
"...it's pwetty...hmm?"
Kid's eyes widened as the glowing orb seemed to ripple and expand just a bit, a small video beginning to play.
Though Kid could see it, the other two could not, let alone notice the bobbing orb. To them, their meister simply had glazed eyes and had fallen silent.
"Kid? Kid? Hello…?" Patty approached the toddler in her sister's arms and waved a hand in front of his face. No reaction. "Sis, what's wrong with him?" She looked up at the older teen expectantly, seeing her as a wise goddess who would provide the answer with a single snap. She was waiting, to be honest. Waiting for her older sister to simply say, "Ahaha! Foolish child! I shall provide that of which you seek. I am the wise, Liz Thompson, and I assure you, your questions shall be answered." But of course, these dreams only existed inside the young pistol's mind. Though, that didn't stop her from expecting them to become reality.
Liz cocked her head to the side, studying the toddler's blank face. She swore he could be drooling right now and would never notice it, unlike the Kid they were familiar with. "I don't know, really. He was just suddenly reaching over my shoulder and saying something was 'pretty' and then he just stopped." The pistol sighed. "I don't know anything these days, it seems."
Patty blinked. "Over your shoulder?" Without waiting for an answer, the teen peeked over her sister's side, finally noticing the bobbing orb, though she never saw the current playing video. "Ah! What's that?"
"What's what?" Liz turned and let out her own gasp when noticing the orb that had been silently pursuing them the whole time. "Wh-when did that get here!?"
"What is it?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know!?" Liz shot back in annoyance.
'I'm not a goddess you know…'
The orb seemed to have noticed that it had been found out, because it quickly zoomed back down the hall in which it had come.
This caused the child to show some kind of reaction as he gasped and showed signs of possible tears. "Ah...no...come back!"
"Wha-Kid!?" The toddler had squirmed free of Liz's arms and was now trying to stumble after the orb of light, which had stopped to wait for him halfway down the hall. "Come back! Where are you going!? That's the direction that Kimem-" She stopped as the realization hit.
'It couldn't be...could it? Was that meant to lure Kid back to her!?'
"Come on, Patty! We don't know what that thing is, but we do know that it has a high possibility of being Kimemo's!"
"Hai!"
And so the two pursued.
::: Meanwhile :::
"Nggggh…"
"Maka! You're still failing terribly! Probably even worse than before! Get your shit together, you're being so uncool!"
The female meister glared in reaction to the angry scythe's comment, stumbling to her feet and leaning against the now cratered wall for support. "Well, I'm sorry! But I'm trying!"
"Oi, Maka!"
Maka turned her head at the sound of her name, noticing the bluenette assassin grinning at her. "Stay right there! I think it's about time I tried something."
"Black*Star wha-"
"Don't worry about it. Just be ready, Tsubaki."
"...hai!"
Maka blinked at the assassin. "Uh...sure...?"
"Tsubaki! Smoke bomb mode!"
"Hai!"
In the length of a few seconds, the whole room had been filled with a cloud of pale yellow smoke, cloaking the two meister-weapon pairs.
Though this wasn't of any significance to Kimemo, she upped her defense nevertheless. A blind opponent was always at a disadvantage.
The witch gave a light chuckle, smiling.
'A disadvantage, huh?'
Maka and Soul stood ready at the broken staircase, peering into the thick smoke.
"I can't see them…"
"That's the point, idiot."
The smoke barely shifted as the assassin slipped stealthily and quickly through the floating yellow.
'Assassin's rule number one….silence, dissolve in the darkness and erase your breath…'
'Assassin's rule number two…clear a path towards your target, be able to predict your opponent's thoughts and movements…'
'Assassin's rule number three...eliminate your target, before they're aware of your existence….' (Was that the order…? I know the three rules...the first one is right, but I'm not sure about the order of the other two. Oh well...the actual rules are correct.)
"Tsubaki! Shuriken!"
"Hai!"
Kimemo's smile became a grin. 'Foolish child…'
With a strong swing of his arm, he sent the large ninja star spinning and slicing through the thick smoke, growing ever closer to Kimemo.
CLANG!
"Did I get her?" Black*Star wondered aloud, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it finally did, Maka, Soul, Black*Star, and even Tsubaki gasped. The star sat on the floor, having bounced off and barely grazed the thick sphere of woven chains where Kimemo once stood.
With a light rattling sound, the chains unraveled and slipped into oblivion behind their mistress, revealing her calm and smirked face. "You'll have to do more than that, I'm afraid." She smirked wider as the three finally noticed the chains slithering around and over Tsubaki, intertwining her in their clutches.
"TSUBAKI!"
"Rule one of a battlefield," Kimemo began, her smile sickly sweet, "never drop your guard."
"SMOKE BOMB MODE!"
"HAI!"
"Hm?"
In another burst of yellow, the thick smoke once more enveloped the room, allowing Tsubaki to slip through the binding chains.
"We're going in this time, Soul!"
"I'm cool with that…"
"Speed Star…" As Black*Star raised his hand in the air, palm raised up, the smoke in that area began to thicken and gather in his hand, later on forming into a short bladed sword just as Maka and Soul entered the cloud of smoke.
"Hate to say it, Black*Star...but we're going to have to listen to her this time. Don't drop your guard," Maka suggested, her eyes locked on the faded silhouette of the witch only ten meters away. For a moment the smoke wisped a three second clearing to show the woman's face, revealing her glowing red eye and smirk.
"A big star like me doesn't need no witch to tell me what to do!" the assassin boasted loudly. With a grin on his face, he charged forward with so much speed, the smoke only shifted a second as he seemed to disappear and reappear, leaving behind images of himself.
"I can use this too, you know," Kimemo's voice called from within the yellowed area as Maka made her way quickly through.
Though very faint, the teens could pick up the sound of rattling chains as the metal began to slide along the floor, creating a sort of minefield.
"O-oi...Maka…"
"Yeah, I know," the meister cut him off, taking care not to even graze any of the pieces of metal. 'If anyone of us were to touch one of these chains, it would trigger our position. Who knows what they'd do then…'
Kimemo listened, letting her chains slither nearly soundlessly along the floor, expanding their triggerable reach. 'Not enough, huh?'
She had to conceal her sense of sight, so she could 'see' with her chains. Therefore, her eyes were closed and her bangs were cloaking those said eyes. More chains slithered through the air now, coming down in random strings. Soon, the whole area was like a web of chains or you could even say it was a laser field of the same chains. She gripped the two swords tightly in her hands, waiting for any signs of movement.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silence.
Silen-tap.
In one moment, Kimemo had her right sword brandished in a blocking position by her face just as Tsubaki came clashing down on it. Black*Star had been nearby, stealthily avoiding detection and drawing ever closer, but just as he was about to swing, one noiseless tap of his shoe had been heard by the witch, therefore his attack had been blocked. The woman's eyes slid open. She chuckled, turning her head just a smidge to smirk at an annoyed bluenette. "Ho? Nimble one, aren't you? I almost didn't hear you."
"Grr…."
"Hmhm~"
With a strong push and swing of the occupied sword, Black*Star was sent back, stumbling from imbalance. He sucked in his breath as he almost stepped on one of the chains. He eyed it nervously, sweat dripping off his brow.
Kimemo now turned to face him. "Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't move if I were you."
"I wouldn't be so sure!" With a quick leap back, the teen faded back into the thick smoke, once again resuming his incredible speed.
"AHHHHH!" The witch whirled around just in time to use both swords to block the oncoming scythe blade.
"That was close, wasn't it?" Kimemo said with a smile, staring into the ash blonde haired teen's eyes. "But I fear you've made a mistake…"
"Eh?" Maka looked below her in fear and surprise to notice her shoe barely touching one of the chains. 'SHIT!' The chain, now triggered, lashed around her ankle and threw her into the air.
"MAKA! IDIOT!"
She watched in horror as Kimemo's smirking face faded away into the smoke once more. As she plunged back into the cloud, she bumped into one of the chains standing in a diagonal position above the ground, the metal digging into her back before sweeping around her waist just before she hit the ground. She let out a cough of blood as the cold metal now dug into her stomach so suddenly, just before she was frisbee-thrown in a different direction. Maka tried to move through the air by shifting her weight, only succeeding in having her shoes graze three or four more diagonal chains which triggered and lassoed around her ankles, swinging her in yet another direction.
"MAKA! DO SOMETHING!"
Miraculously, the female meister finally slid to a stop on the ground in a relatively clear Soul for support, Maka stumbled to her feet, scarlet droplets falling out of her mouth with every cough. "Ugh...remind me to be more careful next time…" She had to honest, besides injure her, that experience had nearly made her shit herself from fear. Sweat dropped from her face as she huffed and gasped calming breaths, finally gaining her own balance without the help of her scythe.
"Ready now?"
"Hopefully…"
Filled with a sense of caution, the meister once more broke into a run, using the chains this time to messily and confusingly lead her to the witch.
Liz had to admit, it was quite hard catching a toddler who was running after a bobbing orb of light while being in some sort of trance.
Liz and Patty had been chasing him and trying to catch him for so long that they lost track of time, until they realized, he was at the entrance of the hall they had run from. Pale-yellow smoke billowed and swirled in the living room area, much to the two teen's confusion. They didn't have time to question it though as Kid waddled right into the cloud of smoke, his silhouette barely visible through the density of the gas.
Kimemo grinned from somewhere within the depths of the smoke. 'He's coming…'
With a quick whip of all the arranged chains, the smoke dissipated, revealing a startled Maka and a now stationary assassin. Liz and Patty made the awful mistake of stopping from the sudden disappeared smoke and therefore payed for it when many chains wove quickly together to block the pistols' entrance into the living room. So technically, the teens stood leaning and pleading and screaming behind the woven sheet of chains where they only had enough holes to watch their meister walk obliviously to the awaiting witch.
"Kid! NO KID! Please! Don't! Come back! PLEASE!" Liz begged as tears streamed down her cheeks. She refused to lose her meister a third time. She'd lost him to Noah and the Book of Eibon once, she'd lost him to Kimemo's spell, and she refused to lose him again.
Patty was no longer screaming, but now pounding and kicking at their blockage, trying to break through.
The teens' screams seemed to have snapped the two previously-in-combat teens back to reality as they quickly noticed the trance Kid was in and scurried after him.
"I won't be having any interruptions," Kimemo said sternly. With a flick of her wrist, two chains burst from the ground, one wrapping around Black*Star, the other around Maka and lifting them up into the air as they struggled and squirmed to break free. "Now be good children and sit quietly."
"LIKE I'D DO THAT! TSUBAKI! SMOKE BOMB MODE! GO AFTER HIM!" Black*Star screamed, just as the weapon burst into smoke yet again.
"Oh but that won't be happening again," the witch replied stoically, a large group of chains bursting from the ground and weaving a thick and layered sphere around the growing cloud of smoke, compressing it until it was a little trapped puff of yellow. Tsubaki reverted back to human form, pressing hard against the sides of her confinement, trying to break out of the pitch black darkness she currently resided in.
"TSUBAKI!"
"Dammit, we can't DO ANYTHING!" Soul growled in frustration.
"Kid, no! You don't know what you're doing!" Maka screamed, but the toddler wasn't listening and soon he stood in front of Kimemo.
She reached down with a smile and lifted him up into her arms as he groped the air, reaching to the orb bouncing playfully in front of his face.
"Well then, children, I shall now take my leave," Kimemo said politely, giving a bow before grinning as silver-gray smoke enveloped her and Kid, causing them to disappear in seconds.
Once they'd left, all the chains disappeared as well, leaving behind the battered teens and wrecked house that had once been Gallows Manor.
The chains blocking Liz and Patty's way unwove and clanked to the floor, opening up the path to the door, leaving behind the shocked teens. The older pistol couldn't believe it, and refused to believe it as she ran forward to the door. Halfway to the door however, she fell to her knees, energy no longer present in her body.
She felt so weak.
She fell forward with her head down, propped up only by her fists. Her fists were clenched along with her teeth as her hair fell to cloak her face, eyes shadowed though tears were visibly streaking down her cheeks.
She crouched there in silence, trembling with grief as her sister came over and stood above her, looking down solemnly.
'I couldn't protect him,' Liz thought to herself, her nails now digging into the palms of her hands. 'It's happened again...for the third time...I couldn't protect him…'
"Kid…" It came out as nothing more than a trembling whimper. "...Kid…"
Maka had sat up now, keeping herself upright only by leaning against Soul. She watched in guilty silence. Black*Star too was sitting up, Tsubaki now free and standing above him as they too watched in silence.
Suddenly Liz snapped her head back screaming in sadness as the tears sped up. Patty closed her eyes and looked away, wanting to block out her sister's cries. Maka looked at the ground now, letting her bangs cover her eyes. Black*Star tightened his fists on his laps as he stared at the floor, Tsubaki holding her arm Crona style and looking away from the screaming pistol.
'WHY!?' Liz screamed to herself. 'WHY DOES SHE ALWAYS WIN!? WHY IS IT ALWAYS KID!?'
Her head dropped as her screams descended into weak sobs, her hair once again falling to cover her face. She barely felt Patty's hand rest on her shoulder. What else could one do in a situation like this?
As they all sat in the silence, the exception being Liz's whimpering sobs, Kimemo's mocking laughter resounded throughout the room, seemingly there by the atmosphere left behind.
Kid gave a pained yelp as he was roughly pushed onto the hard, stone floor. He opened his eyes and noticed in fear that he was in a small, square room with no light, only stone all around. Kimemo was a mere silhouette at the doorway, only her glowing, multicolored eyes visible. With a loud, slow squeak of the hinges, the rusty, iron door slowly closed shut, changing the light from a sliver to nonexistent. Now Kid sat, whimpering in fear, in the pitch black darkness.
With a loud THUD, the iron door shut and Kimemo allowed for a set of chains to slither over the door, locking it in place. With her head down and her bangs shadowing her eyes, the witch leaned her back against the cold metal as she pondered in silence, ignoring the sobs of terror echoing from somewhere on the other side of the door.
As the nonexistent clock ticked the seconds away, Omemik decided to break the silence.
"Do you feel guilty?"
"Not really," Kimemo answered in a monotone voice, not raising her head.
"You should kill him. He's vulnerable."
"No."
"But why? That child could soon be your downfall…"
"I am well aware of that. But the time isn't right."
"The time is always right to kill, you must understand that."
"Not yet. Killing him wouldn't be any fun." Kimemo now allowed a grin to stretch across her face. "His death will bring unimaginable pain to his father. However, I know a way to double, maybe even triple, that pain."
"...What are you planning?"
"Shouldn't you know? You are a part of me, no?"
"I choose not to spoil the fun if I can. I suppose I'll wait."
Kimemo's grin had slipped away now, and she once more had an emotionless face. "Do you ever shut up?"
With that she turned and walked away down the stone made hall, leaving behind the cries of fear echoing through the small room with the toddler.
'Unimaginable pain, huh?' she pondered to herself, her boots making light CLACK CLACK noises on the stone. 'I've felt that, Death. And you will too. I won't rest...not until you've suffered as I've suffered.'
Liz had been sobbing for so long, she'd lost track of time. However, finally she sniffled to a stop, and now simply sat in silence, head down. She only looked up when she saw shoes, Maka's shoes to be precise.
The female meister looked down at her, one arm and hand linked on the pole of the scythe. She offered her hand, which Liz took and stood. With a little sniffle, the pistol wiped away her tears with the heel of her palm.
"It's not your fault," Maka finally said.
Liz didn't look into her friend's eyes, only stood silently. "But this is the third time it's happened. The third time I couldn't...protect him," she said, her voice breaking as she almost broke down again.
"If anyone is to blame, it'd be us. We were the ones who weren't able to stop her," Maka said guiltily, allowing Soul to revert back into human form. Once he did, he helped prop her up on her weak legs.
"Stop blaming yourselves," Black*Star said irritably, now standing on his feet as he came over with Tsubaki. "It makes you look weak."
'Weak. That's what I am…' Liz couldn't help but think.
"It's ok, sis! We'll get him back no matter what!" Patty stated confidently, hiding her own emotions.
The older pistol couldn't help but smile. This was always a trait she loved about Patty.
"Hate to ruin the moment...but how are we going to tell Shinigami-sama that Kimemo has Kid?" Soul asked.
"We'll figure something out," Maka said reassuringly, though she too had no idea how it'd go.
::: Time Skip to Later :::
They'd been in the Death Room, explaining the situation to Shinigami-sama who was growing more and more angry with each word. That's when it happened.
Kill, kill, die, die!
The mirror rang and attracted everyone's attention to the now rippling surface.
::: Earlier (this scene has a bit of a manga spoiler...fyi) :::
Kid sat with his knees up to his chest, covering most of his face besides his wide and terrified eyes. His entire body trembled as he sobbed, tears streaking down his cheeks.
"M-mommy...mommy…"
Where were they? Where were his adoptive mothers. The last thing he remembered was being in his mother's arms, and then he was suddenly being enveloped in silver-gray smoke. He didn't like the dark; it reminded him of the nightmares. The ones of abuse and insults. He couldn't see anything. Not even his glowing golden eyes were helping him. He didn't know it, but because of being a shinigami, he had a bit of nocturnal vision and normally it would have proved useful in this situation, but his de-aging had also de-aged his shinigami powers. And so he sat in pitch black darkness.
He kept sobbing until he felt a presence. A rather strong presence. It was behind him, but he was too scared to look. If he had looked, he would have noticed a hallucination. That being a tall, skinny figure standing behind him, looking down at him. The figure was a teen of 17, golden eyes shadowed by ebony hair with three ivory stripes going along the left side, dressed in a black suit with a set of white stripes going along the middle, three on each side to complement the white clothed fabric around his neck and resting on his chest like a tissue. In other words, it was Kid. There was something different about him, though, not counting his clothes. That being the five black, vertical stripes going from the top of him mouth to his chin, as if it were a skull's mouth. (to manga readers: remember when Kid went insane in the Book of Eibon arc...hehehe….the hallucination behind toddler Kid is insane Kid...for those who didn't realize. :3)
"Oh? What'd happened to you?" Kid whirled around and saw himself, his insane self to be precise. Kid smirked down at the smaller. "Or should I say me?"
Kid wiped away his tears somehow knowing this was him. "Wh-who awre you?" It was still a question he had; there was no way that was him. He was small, only four, and this person, was tall and seventeen years old. Even though he was tiny, he was smart in some areas.
The older Kid smirked and bent over so his face was an inch away from the small reaper's tear streaked face, his legs still straight. "I'm you."
"Wh-what?"
"I'm you," he repeated, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "The you that you rejected." He reached forward with quick speed and lifted up the child by the collar of his shirt, bringing his face inches from the toddler's again, this time in a more looming fashion. Kid gave a squeak of fear as he was now not even touching the floor. The older Kid grinned. "But look where that decision has brought you. You're quite pathetic in this state, you know that?"
The two stared at each other for a while longer, the younger in terror and confusion, the older sadistically, until Kid dropped the four year old back onto the floor, now looking around the dark room. "Such a nice atmosphere, wouldn't you agree?" Kid continued, not looking at the toddler.
"I-it's too dawk," he whimpered.
Kid now looked back at the toddler, an emotionless look on his face. "But darkness is good. There is no such thing as 'too dark'. Only enough darkness."
"It's scawy!" Kid cried, burying his face in his knees again, having returned to his knees-to-chest sitting position. He started to sob again as the older Kid stared at him emotionlessly.
Silence stretched out, the exception being the sobs.
"Then would you like to leave?" Kid finally asked, his expression still not changing.
Kid stopped crying abruptly, causing him to give a slight hiccup, however he didn't remove his face from his knees.
"If it's scary...destroy it. Eliminate it. Then it can join the void of 'nothingness'. It isn't scary when it's nothing."
Kid now raised his head, looking up at himself.
"You may not remember it...but you've felt 'nothingness' before. When you became me and I was born. Wouldn't you like to remember that feeling?"
Kid was about to say something when the sound of rattling chains sounded from behind the door, causing the toddler to turn his attention to the noise.
The seventeen year old Kid looked up as well, frowning to himself before giving a slight smirk. "Think about it, ok? While you still can think." And with that, he and the presence were both gone.
Kid was still sitting with his knees to his chest as the first sliver of light slipped through the opening door. He squinted as it opened all the way, revealing the silhouette of Kimemo again. She stood there in silence before walking in.
"Hello, little Shinigami-kun. Did you enjoy your stay?" she asked tauntingly.
Kid simply looked up at her, fear present again in his eyes from what situation she'd put him in. To be honest, though he wouldn't admit it, he had rather enjoyed insane Kid's company, at some points.
"P-pwease, can I see mommy and mommy?"
Kimemo grinned at the toddler. "Oh but why, when we can have so much fun here?"
Kid, even at age four, still could tell there was no good in those words and so began to scoot back until his back hit the back wall.
The woman slowly advanced, a grin on her face until she was looming above the toddler against the wall. "I don't feel like talking to you though at the moment, I have things to do."
"Wh-wha-" He was cut off when a large group of chains shot off of Kimemo's outstretched arm and stabbed into Kid's chest. Blood sprayed from the wound as Kid's eyes glazed and his head drooped to his wounded chest as he leaned lifeless against the wall. The chains rattled and dug deeper until they stopped and began to retract, the parts previously inside the chest stained deep red. Before the tips finally pulled out, a blinding white light shone from the wound until it faded. Now on the floor lay a drenched, 17 year old Kid, still entangled in chains that trailed back into toddler Kid's chest. He opened his eyes and got up, noticing the toddler's slumped form by the wall.
"What's going on here…?"
"Hello, dear Shinigami-kun."
Kid whirled around to see Kimemo standing with a hand on her hip just above him. "Kimemo!?"
"The very. Now then, shall I commence what I was going to commence?" she said with a smile crouching down on her knees so they were eye level. Before he even could see her move, he felt burning agony shoot across every nerve in his body, his head snapping back as his eyes were wide, lips parted. Tears slipped from the corner of his eyes as he felt it, Kimemo's hand inside his chest wrapping around his Shinigami soul. The witch leaned forward until her breath tickled his ear.
"I wouldn't move if I were you. If my hand even twitches your soul out of place, your body will rip to shreds and you'll be dead."
Kid could do nothing but shake in pain, eyes sliding in and out of focus.
"Let's call your father now, shall we?" Kimemo snickered as she pulled away, stretching out her free arm to the wall. "Memory make: Mirror."
With the rattle of chains, a mirror wove itself together, the actual glass forming in the woven frame. Without even writing in the numbers, the surface began to glow and ripple until it showed the Death Room with Liz, Patty, Maka, Soul, Tsubaki, Black*Star, and of course Shinigami-sama who all looked over and promptly gasped in shock. Kimemo grinned as Shinigami-sama's mask began to show a rage filled expression, his form seeming to grow and become more intimidating. The other teens in the room cowered back a little, their eyes however looking over at their friend in worry as crimson blood was spewing as a waterfall from the chest wound with Kimemo's hand still wrapped around his soul.
"You've done it now, witch," Shinigami-sama hissed.
The woman smiled. "Think of it as payback. You want your son back, don't you?"
"Give him back…" the death god snarled dangerously.
"I will. Only if you accept my terms."
"Like I'd ever accept terms given by you."
Kimemo's grin began to broaden. "You do realize I could easily kill him right here? My hand is gripping his soul, you know? How lovely would it be for a father to have to reap the soul of his own son!"
Kid looked to the side at his father's reflection with a tear streaked face. His entire body was trembling with pain, but he dare not move. With a trembling voice, he spoke three words; "H-help me...F-father…"
Yay! Suspense! I'm getting better at this...hehe. Anyway, is this story getting a bit repetitive or dragged out? 'Cause I feel like it is. If it is then...Don't worry I know what I'm doing! (I think.)
Is it just me, or am I getting less reviews? You people need to do better! I'm lonely without yooooooouuuu T^T
Anyway, thanks for reading! And as always, please review and I will see you guys next time!
Bye~