I know, there were a few typos last chapter. If I took a while to post, I'm sorry. Anyway, please enjoy.
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"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
-Bhagavad Gita
"My body can't take the pressure much longer. I'm not going to make it out of this war alive."
Mikaru and Satsuto stared at her in silence for a moment; then Mikaru laughed nervously and admonished, "Don't you think you're being a little…over dramatic?"
Oujou looked down at her hands, pale and covered in sticky, warm blood. "No. I can't turn my alice off, and I don't have anything that would slow the process of cell degeneration. I'm dying, and faster than you can imagine. That's why I need to get out of here. I'm useless here, useless and dying."
Satsuto frowned, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. "Please just wait. You're too weak to do much good right now."
Mikaru cleared her throat. "Actually…there's something you have to do." Oujou frowned.
"What is it?"
"You need to submit for questioning."
Oujou sighed. "Fine." Mikaru nodded, seeming pleased at Oujou's compliance, and offered her a hand. Oujou shook her head and opted to climb out of bed on her own, reaching for the crutches leaning against the wall next to her. Satsuto began to protest, but both Mikaru and Oujou shook him off. Sighing in defeat, he followed the two off them down a series of long passageways.
People they passed eyed them with a mixture of curiosity, disgust and hope—was it hope, Oujou wondered, that they had been captured, or that the Academy had given up.
Finally, the three of them reached a doorway at the end of the third passageway. Mikaru knocked and a female, smooth voice called them in. As Oujou stepped inside, she froze, Satsuto automatically freezing behind her.
The person in front of her had long, slightly spiky black hair, was wearing a long black overcoat, had on multiple earrings and bracelets, and was wearing a simple white marks over much of the top of her face. In other words, they looked nearly identical to Persona. In fact, they would have been identical to Persona if it weren't for the black flower reminiscent of the symbol of Squad Six of the Gotei 13 from Bleach on her cheek; Persona's control device was a red cross.
"I supposed I shouldn't be surprised," the person said softly; her voice was definitely female. "Serio's still leading the Dangerous Ability group, isn't he?"
Oujou stared at the woman for a moment, completely silent. After a moment, the woman chuckled, saying, "I guess you know him as Persona." Oujou nodded, answering her previous question. "Ah, yes. Well, your response was natural. I do resemble my brother, don't I?"
Oujou slumped against the wall, letting Satsuto step around her; she was still taking in what she had just heard.
The woman began again. "My name is Sakiro. I am Serio's—Persona's—twin sister, and the leader of this facility." She turned to Satsuto. "What an odd surprise, having the headmaster here. Is Sakura-san's brother this there?"
Oujou stiffened, staring at Satsuto in confusion. He smiled at her, answering her unasked question. "Sakura Mikan's father's brother works at the Academy. He's the High School Principal." (A/N I didn't make that up. Read Chapter 100 of Gakuen Alice.)
"What do you want with me?" Oujou asked, drawing the conversation back to the original idea.
Sakiro smiled fondly, like an aunt would to a favorite niece. "We need to make sure you're not here on the Academy's orders."
"So what, you can put me in a nice, dark cell?"
Sakiro looked horrified at the idea. "No, of course not."
"What if I'm here to kill you?"
"Then we put you in a nice, dark cell. But instead of thinking like that, why don't we just start this. You can go sit down on the chair over there." Sakiro pointed to a comfortable-looking armchair against the wall opposite her desk. Oujou nodded and walked over, sitting down and leaning her crutches against the wall beside her.
Sakiro stood in front of Oujou as Satsuto walked beside his friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. Black bore into black and Sakiro stared into Oujou's eyes; after a moment, Oujou's went blank and her breathing relaxed into a slow, steady rhythm.
Sakiro began questioning immediately. "Do you have connections to Gakuen Alice?"
"Yes." Oujou's voice was flat and lifeless, a gray monotone.
"Do you have connections to the AAO?"
"Yes."
"Do you have connections to this organization?"
"Indirectly."
"Why did you come here?"
"This was the closest safe-house that I knew about. We were under sniper fire." Oujou's finger twitched, and Satsuto flinched, unsure if she was breaking free from the hypnosis or if there was some other reason for her sudden, spastic movement.
"Who was firing?"
"I do not know."
Sakiro sighed and shifted her weight from her left to her right leg, using one hand to brush a lock of hair away from her face. "What is your connection to this place?"
Oujou's voice was still completely calm, emotionless, but she twitched again, her hand opening in one jolty motion. "This was where my parents brought me. It was their safe-house."
"What happened the night your parents died?" Sakiro's voice became surprisingly soft and gentle, despite the fact that there was no need to try to coax the answer out of her—Oujou would give the same response whether Sakiro did that or screamed it at her.
Oujou's hands clenched into fists—her entire body locked down and her mouth opened as though she was trying to scream, though no sound came out.
And then a heart-wrenching shriek rang through the air.
"HELP ME!"
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How was it? Please review. Anyway, I'll post again as soon as I can, but school has started so I'm not sure when that'll be.