Don't forget to listen to the songs!
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Chapter 11: Passion (WIFI Princess)
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Lunch was always a nice distraction from their current situation in the infrequent cases they had them.
The biggest and most cheerful occurrence was that Arthur and his lackeys were never present. Instead, they were replaced by a group of people Kid had met before, one that was less likely to start cutting throats left and right.
Mosquito's cell was always the most entertaining. In this instance, Spirit, was slowly itching towards Mosquito, a plate of almost raw steak in his hands.
The manservant remained seemingly still. Spirit took one then two less hesitant steps forward.
Without warning Mosquito snapped his head at the man, baring his fangs and the man let a yell akin to a cat thrown in water, almost dropping the food. The man quickly retreated to a corner of the cell, balancing the plate on his forearm so he could form a cross towards Arachne's minion.
Meanwhile, Mosquito had dropped the guise and let out a hearty laugh.
"If you don't stop that I'm not gonna give you any food!" A spooked Spirit stuttered, still forming a cross with his fingers.
"I would, my boy, but you are far too easy to scare."
Meanwhile, Giriko was locked in a staring contest with Azusa. His face was twisting into the funniest and more disturbing grimaces, like a one-sided version of a try-not-to-laugh challenge. The stern woman was currently winning their game of resolve, since she had only narrowed her eyes harder with each shifting expression, whereas Giriko was running out of ammunition.
"Are you quite done yet?" Azusa said with an exasperated sigh.
"Nah, I've been practicing some new ones. Here, tell me if you find them amusing or not."
A few seconds passed. Azusa's stare could kill a man.
"Your frown deepened, I'm counting that as a success!" Giriko announced giving her a wide grin, much to the woman's increasing annoyance.
Unlike everyone else, Arachne was alone in her cell. The Witch smirked to herself, a bit proud of how her reputation was so fearsome they wouldn't let a none approach her for any reason. There was a small hatch on the door where a plate of food was pushed through, before the hatch shutting off completely.
Arachne had one of the increasingly multiplying spiders in her room bring the late to her and assist her in feeding, since all her appendages were bound. Instead she settled for observing everyone else, occasionally smirking with some of their antics.
As for Kid, the person in charge of him was Marie. From what little Kid knew about her, Marie was probably one of the kindest members of the Academy and a gentle woman overall. She reminded Kid of his mother, only with less brains and considerably more brawn.
Currently, Marie was looking at the antics at Giriko's and Mosquito's cells, her expression somewhere between amusement and disapproval.
"They're not going to stop any time soon," Kid offered, causing the blonde to refocus her attention to him. Not that she wasn't attentive to Kid in general. The boy had no complaint from her and the only thing he could recall as unusual was how she kept glancing at Kid's bindings, and with each time she did that what little joy she had left her face.
"Are they always like that?" Marie politely asked, diverting her gaze away from Kid. Her smile had lost some of it earnestness, as expected.
"I think they're happy they can frustrate someone else other than each other," Kid said, trying to sound casual.
On a level, he genuinely liked Marie, despite the circumstances they had found themselves in. She seemed to be a decent warm-hearted person, one who didn't wish to cause any more harm than what was necessary. On another level, manipulating Marie's own good nature wouldn't be hard considering her kind disposition and Kid's young age. They boy wasn't above that, having being drilled with a survival instinct since he could remember himself. Kid didn't mean Marie any harm, but he wasn't going to let go of a chance to create an escape opportunity.
That having being said, if the Arachnophobia members did manage to break out and mother got full access to them and the rest of the Academy...
Kid hoped Marie would have enough good sense to flee.
"Sorry to keep you up by the way," Marie said in a friendly tone as she walked closer to Kid, holding a small deep plate with food. There was not a lot of it in the plate; from what Kid could see and smell it was a local variation of bean soup.
"Is this his lunch?" Arachne spoke up, attracting the duo's attention.
"Hm?" Marie let out as she looked over to the Witch, her expression becoming more cautious. "Ah yes, this is it for today."
Arachne scowled as she looked over the small plate. "There's barely any food there."
Marie sighed in agreement. "That's what I told them as well. The portions are too small for a growing boy…"
The Witch narrowed her gaze at the woman, a gesture Kid recognized as one of confusion. Arachne didn't know a thing about Marie, after all.
"Which is why I made this!" Marie said with renewed cheer as she took out a plastic container with meat, cabbage, black peppers and boiled potatoes in it. "Fårikål! It's a family recipe, very healthy-"
"Kid, don't eat that," Arachne said in urgency, cutting off Marie who gave her a confused look.
"Eh-?"
"I don't know what game you're playing," Arachne continued in a low, dangerous tone, "but if you try to harm my child in any way, I will strip your soul bare and torture it for eternity."
"What are you talking about-?"
"Poison?" Kid asked in surprise, more in tune with the Witch's line of thinking.
Marie turned to the boy, her confusion not having subsided one bit. "What-?"
"Yes," Arachne replied, ignoring the woman's protests. "Just because they act friendly doesn't mean you should let your guard down."
Meanwhile, the other two cells had quieted down a bit. Mosquito had stopped his attempts to scare Spirit and instead focused on the Witch, with Giriko doing the same.
"This food is perfectly healthy- I will take the first bite if this makes you feel any better!" Marie exclaimed with utmost sincerity.
"Marie," Azusa spoke up, "is everything right?"
"She thinks I'm trying to poison the boy!" Marie said with a scandalized expression.
"Oh please," Arachne said dismissively. "I know the hatred you carry of me. A few empty words won't change it."
Marie sputtered a few words in shocked indignation while the other Academy members looked at the two in confusion.
"Αh, the depths the Academy has sunk," Arachne continued, letting out a haughty laugh. "And you have the gall to call yourselves the good guys."
Kid frowned as he looked back and forth between the incredulous Marie and the Witch. It didn't make sense for his mother to make such baseless accusations, especially when the woman's good-naturedness was so blindingly obvious-
Hold on.
"I would not stoop so low," Marie responded. Her tone was defensive, but genuine.
"You don't need to. You already have," Arachne responded, not missing a beat. "Don't think yourself free of guilt when you propagate the system that lead to this situation."
Kid confusion slowly turned into realization as he began to understand his mother's actions.
Any held-together person should have seen the hypocrisy in Arachne's words. The Witch could easily be accused of so many crimes, so many ethical shortcomings with her involvement with the Kishin. Any average person could make the counter-argument that Arachne's actions had lead them to this situation, and that they're responding as best as they could. If Kid could see it, then Arachne was definitely aware of her erroneous rhetoric.
That wasn't important though, because Arachne wasn't trying to construct a sound argument. She was saying what Marie didn't want to hear. She was trying and succeeding into getting into the woman's psyche, pulling the right strings to make her think the way Arachne wanted her to think-to what exact end goal, Kid wasn't sure yet.
His mother was acutely aware of the blonde's protective nature and she was using it against her.
Kid looked back at the other two Academy members who were watching the confrontation. Azusa's expression hadn't changed at all. The woman was incredibly stoic in general and Kid had no idea what she was thinking. Spirit looked conflicted though, and his forehead was wrinkled. Strange; Kid didn't peg him for the protective type.
"Children shouldn't be involved in this mess," Marie eventually admitted, frowning. She glanced back at Kid only to look away almost immediately after.
"A bit too late for regrets now isn't it?" the boy spoke up, tagging along. Arachne gave him a brief glance and the corners of her lips turned up just enough so that Kid could notice it.
"Hey," Spirit spoke up, butting in the conversation, "we're doing our best-"
"No matter what you say, your words are empty," Arachne swiftly responded. "My child is still here and he will be used as leverage."
"If it was in our hands, we wouldn't-" Marie began.
Arachne let out a small laugh. "This may have escaped your notice, but we are the captives here. You are our captors."
"Then why don't you just say what you know if you're that worried?" Spirit said in exasperation.
"Oh please. I am not as naïve as you are, or as you pretend to be."
Marie gave Spirit a confused look, who the man reciprocated, while Azusa maintained her even gaze.
"The reason we are all still in one piece is because we still have valuable info and your patience hasn't been stretched thin enough. The moment I have nothing to offer is the moment you dispose of us all," Arachne continued in an even tone, causing Spirit to grimace in discomfort. "Letting your biggest enemy go free would be a foolish move after all, and everyone here knows it. You will not let us get out of here unscathed. By resisting, all I'm doing is putting off the inevitable and getting extraneous abuse thrown at me."
The Witch paused and straightened her back and her face softened. Even when bound, she managed to maintain an air of regality.
"But if it means buying precious time for those I care about, then so be it. I can handle physical pain as long as he is safe." Her small smile turned into a leer. "Unless I escape in which case there will be no hiding place for the people here."
As the witch finished her monologue, Kid wondered how much of it was genuine. Lies mixed with truth were the most convincing type of lie after all.
The trio looked between the Witch and Kid, and the boy tried to make himself look as timid as possible. Not that he had to try much. Despite being here for some time, he was still unnerved, only that he was now used to feeling and could suppress it for the moments danger was relatively low.
"…Look," Spirit began, looking back at his companions, who gave him silent nods. "We've been giving this some thought. About your kid."
Arachne tilted her head at them. "And?"
The man's next worlds were careful. "Frankly, we don't care what happens to you, or your two minions. You've killed a lot of people we were good friends with, and then some."
Arachne nodded at the accusations without batting an eye.
"However…" Spirit took a steadying breath. "As a father, I can't let them hurt someone's kid, even if it's yours."
"So you want to help my child escape, but only him?" Arachne asked.
The three Deathscythes nodded.
"…Sounds fair," the Witch said dispassionately.
"Mother you can't-" Kid protested.
"Remember what I told you about seizing opportunities, Kid?" Arachne gave him an even look. "Now is such a moment-"
The boy frowned, wanting to protest but also making sure he wouldn't give the Academy's people any information they could use in the future. "Όχι,(No,)" Kid began, settling for speaking in a language hopefully the here adults didn't understand. "Δε μπορώ (I can't)-"
"Πρέπει, (You have to)," the Witch responded, easily switching to her mother tongue. "Μην ανησυχείς για 'μένα, έχω περάσει χειροτέρα. Θα βρω τρόπο να ξεφύγω. (Don't worry about me, I've been through worse. I'll find a way to escape.) Το πιο σημαντικό είναι να βεβαιωθώ ότι θα είσαι ασφαλής. (The most important thing is to make sure you will be safe.)"
Spirit frowned at the exchange. "What are you two talking about?"
"Family matters." The Witch didn't bother looking at the man, giving Kid the universal 'I'm-your-mother-and-my-word-is-law' look.
"…You do care about the boy," Azusa muttered, frowning.
Arachne didn't respond to the woman's statement. "This isn't anywhere near settled. How do I know you will help? How do I know this is not one of Arthur's elaborate theatrics?"
"Oi, do we look like we like that psycho?!" Spirit said in indignation.
"You like him well enough to have him around and interrogate high level prisoners." Arachne's stare evolved into a menacing glare. "As well as give him full range around my child."
"That's not up to us," Azusa began. "There are many people in the Academy, each with their own goals."
"Ah, so there is a split…" Arachne whispered to herself before speaking up. "You still haven't answered my question."
"Frankly we can't, and you don't have much of a choice. You said so yourself." Azusa crossed her hands, narrowing her gaze. "Either you trust us, and we safely get your child out of here, or you don't and you both perish."
Arachne grimaced at the woman's words.
"Geez Azusa, cool it down a bit." Spirit looked between the two women in discomfort. "Ok um, we can tell you our plan for all it's worth," the man addressed the Witch. "We've been here for a long time and this place is old so it has lots of tunnels. Azusa knows them like the back of her hand." He placed his hands on his hips as he looked among them. "If we time this correctly, there's a small security gap between the shift changes. One of us can sneak in, undo the kid's restraints, then guide him out of the Academy through the tunnel system."
The plan didn't sit well with Kid at all. These people wanted the Witch dead. They were noble enough to not let their grudge extend to Kid but the boy's loyalty lay with his mother first and foremost. He couldn't abandon her to their clutches. Even if he escaped, his mother's fate would be sealed and he couldn't allow that.
So, the question was, how could Kid make it so that his mother, Giriko and Mosquito escaped as well?
The most important part would be opening their cells. He would need the keys, and Kid was fairly certain Arthur carried a pair of each, since the man was able to enter all of them. So, one of the steps would be to immobilize Arthur, and get the keys. To do that, Kid would have to able to move independently, which would be an issue if one of the Deathscythes was with him. There must be one way to knock her out…
His Soul Wavelength. It worked with Giriko and he was a Weapon. Perhaps Kid would have to add a bit more power to overpower a Deathscythe, but it would work.
…Besides even if Kid added a bit too much power, and the person ended up sharing the same fate as the rat, it wouldn't be a plan-breaking loss. Hopefully that wouldn't happen, Kid didn't want to kill any of them and the Deathscythes genuinely wanted to help him but… They still wanted his mother dead.
So, Kid could knock out the Deathscythe when they undid her restraints. After that he had the option to leave and try to track down Arthur himself, but Kid could easily get lost, not to mention his Soul Perception wasn't advanced to the point where he could tell individual souls apart.
What Kid could do however, was wait. The Deathscythes mentioned they would act during the shift change, when Arthur came for his daily interrogations. The man always preferred to enter Kid's cell first, perhaps as an intimidation tactic, but that habit would play in Kid's advantage. The boy could immobilize the Meister guard and Arthur with his Soul Perception, get the keys and open the cells. The other guards would either already be in their respective cells, in which case mother, Giriko and Mosquito would be able to immobilize them without fear of repercussions. If not, they would head towards Kid, which would be a bit more inconvenient but not plan-destroying. Despite appearing weak, the teen knew how to fight, not to mention his new-found advantage with his Soul Wavelength. After that he would open the rest of the cells and let all figurative hell break loose, in the form of his mother.
Yes, that would work. Hopefully.
"…That's acceptable," Arachne conceded, her eyes narrowed.
The man turned to the boy. "Kid?"
The boy went over his plan once again in his head. "…I'm in."
The adult Weapons nodded to one another.
"So, we have a plan," Spirit concluded.
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