Warning: This chapter will contain a pissed off Marie, which will contain some cursing.
Why does she seem so uptight? The entire time we've been walking, she hasn't said much at all. Ever since Stein and I pushed her out of the cell...
"Hey, Spirit?" the short blond asked her colleague as they neared the laboratory doors.
"Yeah?" he asked as he opened one of the large doors, gesturing for Marie to enter first. She smiled up at him, her way of a quick 'thank you.'
"I was just wondering..." her voice trailed off as she took several steps into the lab, turning around to face Spirit once she heard the door close. She sighed and resumed when he raised an eyebrow and shoved his hands into his pockets, "What was Franken really talking about when I walked in the cell today?"
Crap! She knows something's up! Just play it cool, man... "What are you talking about? We told you," he stated as calm as possible, although he did loosen his tie and he gulped involuntarily. He didn't even notice how sad her voice sounded.
Noticing his actions, Marie crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't believe you, Spirit. I know it was something entirely different."
"What makes you so sure?" Death Scythe continued toying with his tie, completely oblivious to the fact that he was doing so.
"For one, the way that you keep messing with your tie is a dead give-away that you're hiding something." Spirit looked down at his tie with a small 'Wha?' and immediately dropped it. "Second, you both were acting strange."
"Strange? Hehe, what? No... Pfft, come on, Marie. You know how we both act strange from time to time!" Wow... I am really blowing it for myself.
"I can understand when you act strange. It's normal for you. Franken may be weird, but not like that... He just randomly decided to push me out the door. And don't think I didn't catch that 'your shoe is untied' incident because I know what he did there." She said quickly and averted her eye, staring at the grey wall while she tapped her foot. "You know, I hate the fact that you are hiding something from me, even though it's obvious I already know something is most definetly up." Her hands were shaking slightly, and her breathing was shallow.
What's going on with her? She looks like she's trying to stop herself from getting upset, even though she's doing a terrible job at it. She sounds so... Irritated and hurt. This isn't like her. But then, maybe everything is finally starting to get to her. I wouldn't be surprised... Spirit sighed and looked down. All he felt at that point was like a child be scolded by his mother after being caught doing something wrong. "Marie, please just let it go..."
"No, I can't! I'm already fucking stressed out enough, and this shit is just piling on top of it!" Marie's voice was rising quickly and she struggled to keep it even. She dropped her hands to her sides and her hands balled into fists as she shifted her weight from foot to foot repeatedly.
Woah... I haven't heard her swear in years. Not since I put a frog in her bra in senior year... But if she's getting this upset over it so quickly, maybe I should tell her, spare her the tension of wanting to know the truth.
Spirit sighed and stared at the blond Death Scythe, thankful she was not looking at him. He knew her single eye probably held so much emotion which would allow her easy access to his heart, making it so easy for her to be given any truth she wanted out of him. Damn it, Marie...
"Alright, you really wanna know what it was?"
Marie snapped her head to lock eyes with him. "Obviously."
Death Scythe nodded and took a breath. "Well... It seems like Stein needs a reason to keep his sanity intact, which is why it's so easy for him to stay when two.. 'Get together'. So, I came up with a little idea to-"
"You told him to just pull me aside and fuck me whenever he starts to lose it, didn't you?"
Spirit's jaw dropped a bit when he heard her say those words. Although hearing her speak in that context was shocking enough, her tone was arguably even worse. She was so serious and... Cold. This isn't like her... Something must have set her off today. Could it have been us pushing her out of the cell? That sounds kind of, well, stupid, but maybe that's it.
"Well, Marie, I'm not going to lie. I did say that, but Stein immediately shot me down. Then... I came up with a different idea." No hope of stopping me now... "I think it could be a perfect reason for him to stay sane, so his mind would automatically choose the right path."
"And what exactly is this perfect reason?" Marie asked impatiently.
"What if.. You and Stein shared something? Something that was undoubtably yours?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Spirit? Just come out and say it. I can honestly say nothing could make me more upset than what I saw today." Her voice wavered in sadness, but anger kept it together.
So it wasn't just us pushing her out. "What did you see?"
"N- nothing... Now tell me!" she nearly shouted as she stomped her foot.
"Alright, alright! I suggested you two having a baby!" As soon as the words were said, Spirit suddenly felt like he betrayed Stein somehow. He's going to kill me for this.
What?!
It took the small blond a moment to respond. "What? Why would you say that?!" Marie's hands flew up to about chest- level, palms up.
"I knew you'd be angry!" he braced himself for impact.
"I'm not angry, dumb ass!" Marie shouted as she brought her hands down and walked toward her bedroom.
"Really? Because you sure seem like you are." Spirit observed. He didn't even notice he was following her down the hall. "Hello? You there?"
"Yes, obviously."
"Well..." he sighed when she opened her bedroom door, walked in and closed it. Spirit knocked and put his face close to the door as he called to her, hoping she'd answer. "Marie?" No reply. "Marie, come on... I'm sorry for making that suggestion, alright? If it makes you feel any better, Stein is probably going to kick my ass for telling you."
Just as he expected, no answer. The only sign proving that she was even in there was the sound of her crying. She's crying...? "Hey, Marie... Marie, please, open the door."
"Go away..." her crying turned into sobs.
"If you tell me what's going on, I'll be able to help you."
"You can't help me, Spirit..."
"You don't know that." No, I probably can't...
"Just get out of here, please," Marie pleaded. "I really don't want to talk about it."
He could only sigh and rest his forehead on the door. "Alright... Call me if you need anything." With that, he walked away from the door and left the house/laboratory.
Marie sat in the corner of her room with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, her head hanging down. Her tears poured out of her and her entire body shook violently. I can't... I can't do this...
"Daddy..." she sobbed. "Mom, Dad, why did you have to leave me? I need you now..."
An hour passed and she was still crying, but only a few tears fell periodically. I'm alright... I'll be fine. Using the wall as support, Marie slowly made her way to her desk where she took a seat in her office chair. She stared at the floor and got lost in her thoughts.
Stein couldn't help but notice the horrible feeling he had in his gut. What is this? I get this feeling like something bad is about to happen... He frowned slightly and lit a cigarette, hoping the sweet, smokey taste would help put him at ease. As the smoke drifted out of his mouth, he relaxed a bit, although not by much.
He was leaning against a wall near the door, wishing he could be back in his laboratory. Stein took another drag of his cigarette and leaned his head back, resting it on the wall. As the minutes ticked by, the feeling in his gut grew.
I feel as if I ate rancid meat... What the hell is going on? Stein finished off the cigarette some minutes later then proceeded to crush it with his boot. "Whatever this is, I don't like it." He put his hands in his pants pockets- he was not wearing his lab coat- and stared at the wall in front of him. I want some food... A slight smiled graced his lips when he thought of Marie eating her soup.
That actually does sound good right now. He thought as she scratched the stubble on his neck. So does a shave... The professor made his way to the mirror mounted on the wall just above the sink. "But, of course," he mumbled to himself, "no razor." He sighed and splashed cold water on his face. I had my shower the day before yesterday, so I should be getting one today.
Every other day, Stein was permitted a shower after school hours. He was escorted to the academy gym locker rooms, usually by Spirit or Sid. He was completely comfortable with them, althought it was somewhat degrading to be escorted as if he was a prisoner. Well... I guess I am a prisoner... There was one person, however, whom he was not comfortable with. She only led him to the shower once, but that one time was enough for him.
The professor shuddered slightly in rememberance of his first visit to the showers. Yumi Azusa was the one to escort him. No words whatsoever were said between the two as they walked, and she waited inside of the locker room while he showered.
"Uh... Azusa? You can wait outside..." Stein said to her as he removed his lab coat and shirt.
"I was told to stay within forty feet of you. If I step outside the door, I will be forty-three feet away." The Death Scythe stood tall with her hands folded behind her back.
He could only stare at her. "Did you seriously measure the locker room?"
"Yes."
"When...?"
"Before I came to get you from you cell." She did not move, only made direct eye contact with him.
"Fine..." Stein sighed. "Could you at least turn around?"
"Of course," Azusa nodded and turned her back to him. Stein turned the cold metal handle, warm water immediately raining out of the shower head.
He snapped his head to the door when he heard a rapid knock. "Yes?"
"Stein, it's Azusa. Lord Death sent me to escort you to the showers."
The professor groaned slightly, not thinking she'd be able to hear through the thick metal door. However, Stein was wrong.
"I heard that. Now gather your things and tell me when you are ready to go."
Wow. I really am starting to believe the universe is conspiring against me.
Stein sighed and picked up a fresh tee shirt, pants and boxers before he knocked on the door. He didn't even bother to pick up his lab coat. "Alright."
He heard the sound of the large lock clanging against the door before Azusa pulled it open and he stepped out. Although he was still underground, he felt good to be out of his cell. He even sometimes took a longer time in the shower just to be away from the place he knew he would have to return to.
Azusa gripped his arm and began walking, pulling him along with her. "Hey, while you're at it, why don't you handcuff me?" the professor asked sarcastically.
"What? Why on Earth would I do that?" Genuine confusion was laced in her voice.
"Damn, Azusa... Even I know more about emotion than you do. That's kind of sad."
"What are you getting at, Stein?"
"I don't know, to be honest. What I do know is you need to learn about sarcasm if you want to make it in this world."
"Oh, is that so?" she raised an eyebrow and looked up at him. His only response was a single nod. "Why is that?"
"People use sarcasm a lot to tell others what they want. For example, I told you to handcuff me. What I really meant was, 'Let go of me, I can walk on my own.'" At the last part of his brief explenation, a trace of irritation was present in his voice.
"Oh..." Azusa removed her hand from his arm. "I apologize."
"It's cool. Just please..."
"Yes?"
"Don't touch me."
Azusa did not reply, only kept walking. Geez... He really is antisocial, isn't he? Honestly, I don't understand what Marie sees in him.
After several minutes of walking, they finally reached the showers.
"Oh, and Stein?"
"Yeah?"
"Lord Death had Justin and Marie select a tracklist for you while you shower. Something about music therapy..."
He frowned slightly at the Death Scythe. "Music therapy?"
Azusa nodded. "Yeah. Justin set up some speakers in the locker room. There should be an iPod sitting on top of one of the speakers."
"Alright." Stein opened the door and quickly walked through, hoping she would not follow past that point. When he heard the door close behind him, he turned around. Oh. So she didn't follow. Good to know.
The professor picked up a towel from a metal shelf as he made his way to the shower and took off his shirt. He scanned the room for the speakers, finding them in the corner next to lockers. Stein walked to the speakers and picked up the iPod, taking a moment to figure out how to turn it on, and scrolled through the playlists.
This must be Justin's iPod... "Iron Maiden... Metallica... The Doors..." What kind of band name is "The Doors"? Stein frowned slightly and continued scrolling through the playlists till he found one that caught his eye. "Marie's playlist" He tapped the playlist and found dozens of songs.
Wow... Does she only listen to those three bands? Three Days Grace... Skillet... and Red. All of these song titles seem to hold significant meaning... Finally, after reading through the playlist a few times, he decided on a song. "Hymn for the Missing..." I don't think I've ever heard the original song before.
Stein tapped the song, and it instantly started playing. He then put the device back on the speaker and made his way to a bench in between two rows of lockers and set the fresh clothes and the towel on a bench, kicked off his boots, removed his pants and boxers and went behind the tile wall that seperated the showers from the lockers.
Turning the handle to the left, warm water immediately poured out from the shower head. Stein bent his knees and lowered his head, wishing he was at home where the shower head was high up on the wall. The only comfort he found was the mixture of sensations he felt when he listened to the lyrics of the song as the warm water poured down on him.
Where are you now? Are you lost? Will I find you again?
"Where are you, Marie...?" Stein closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the cold wall, wishing she was there with him. He wanted to know how she was doing; that terrible feeling in him never subsided, and something screamed to him that it was her that was in distress. Somehow, he knew Marie needed him.
Marie wept as she sat on the shower floor, the water raining down on her. I can't believe they're gone... Why? Why did they have to go at a time like this? I know they didn't even know what was going on, I never told them, but just being able to call them at the end of the day was always a relief to me... And now they're both... Gone.
She shuddered in rememberance of when she visited the hospital that morning. Tears fell down her cheeks rapidly as she sobbed. The man that held her the day she was born, the man that taught her how to kick someone's ass if she needed to, the man who taught her an equal balance of love and discipline, her father, lye dead next to her on her left in a hospital bed. And on her right... The woman who gave her life.
"Mom..." She held onto her mother's hand, even though any warmth that once graced her skin had left. Before she came inside to see her parents, Marie had been waiting just outside the door for about an hour, hoping, praying that somehow her they would be alright. However, her pleads were forgotten...
The words that the doctor told her kept running through her like a broken record, wrecking havoc on her already broken mind. Were stabbed... Beaten... Mugged... Taking a morning walk together... Found nearly dead in an alley... Tried to resuscitate them for an hour... Couldn't hold on. Couldn't hold on.
"Why couldn't you just hold on?" Marie sobbed as she picked up her father's hand, knowing she will never get the chance to touch him again. She then squeezed her mother's hand in her other hand, wishing she could go back to when she was little.
The blond closed her eyes and let her mind wander back to when she was maybe five or six, and her father would be on her left side and her mother on her right, both holding her hands as they'd walk through the mall. She wanted that more than anything in the world now, more than she wanted Stein himself.
"Mama... Papa..." she cried as she lye in the fetal position on the floor. Little did she know, Nygus was crouching over her and calling her name as she shook her arm. The water is so cold... And her skin is freezing! the knife observed as she shut off the shower.
"Marie! Marie, come on, look at me!" Nygus pleaded. Marie only kept sobbing, completely oblivious to what was happening. "Sid! She's not responding!"
"Throw a towel over her!" Sid called in from the hall.
"Alright, she's decent!" Nygus told her meister after she wrapped Marie in a towel.
Sid immediately ran to the small Death Scythe and carried her out of the shower, placing her on the bathroom floor. "Marie, wake up," he repeated himself several times before she finally blinked and looked around the bathroom.
"S- Sid.. Nygus... It's so cold..." Her voice was so quiet, if they were not paying such close attention to her, they would have missed it.
"It's alright. I'm here..." Nygus comforted her by cradling her and holding her closer. "I'm here."
"Nygus... " the blond cried into her chest, "How did you know?"
"Spirit called a few hours ago and told me you were upset. I tried calling you God knows how many times but you never answered and I got worried... So here I am now."
"Wha... How long ago did he call you?"
"About five hours ago."
Marie's eye widened a bit. "I must have been in here for... What...?"
"Well the water was freezing, so I'd say-"
"At least three hours," Sid intervened, not looking directly at the two woman. He could see a lot skin in the corner of his eye, mostly Marie's back as well as her legs. The towel was covering all of her chest and her pelvis, but he didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
Nygus only nodded and held Marie as she sobbed in her arms. "You wanna tell me what's wrong?" Marie tried to speak, but she couldn''t find her voice. She could only make muffled stutters. "It's alright... Take the time you need."
After a few moments, Marie finally gained some composure and was able to speak... Somewhat. "M- my parents..." she inhaled sharply, "They w- were... K-killed..." She gasped the last word.
Nygus's eyes widened and Sid leaned against the wall, trying to figure out what to say or do. He still felt as if he shouldn't look at her. "Marie, I am so sorry..." Nygus gave her condolences.
"I- it's alright..." Marie closed her eyes for a moment to gather her thoughts.
The knife could only feel utter sadness for her friend. All she wanted to do was help her in any way she could. Looking up at her meister, Nygus asked, "Hey, can you get her a blanket?"
"Yeah." Sid quickly left the bathroom only to come back a minute later holding a dark grey blanket. He then spread it out over Marie, who grabbed the edges of it and curled up in it.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"No problem, Marie," the zombie replied.
"We should get some clothes on you," Nygus stated after a moment of silence. Marie only nodded. "Come on, I'll help you up." The knife stood, picking up the Death Scythe as she went along.
"N- Nygus!" Marie gasped when the blanket and towel fell off of her, exposing her body. Sid immediately looked away, assuring her he didn't see anything. "It's alright, Sid..." she stated as she picked up the towel and wrapped it aropund herself, Nygus draping the blanket over her shoulders.
The two woman made their way to Marie's bedroom, shutting the door when they were inside. Sid waited outside the door in the hallway, desperately trying to figure out a way to somehow help Marie. Poor girl... First the man she loves goes insane, then her parents are killed...
Marie sat on her bed and stared at the carpeted floor as Nygus went through her drawers and found a bra, underwear, pajama pants and a tank top. "Here you go, sweet heart," she said softly and gave the clothes to the Death Scythe.
"Thank you..." Marie slowly got up and went to the other side of the room and put on the clothes. Nygus kept her back turned to give her her privacy.
After several moments and Marie had not said anything, Nygus turned around only to find the blond sitting in the corner, shaking.
"Oh, Marie..." she tried to keep her voice from breaking at the sight of her friend so... Broken. Nygus quickly walked around the bed and to her, crouching in front of her. "You'll be alright... I promise, you'll be alright."
"B- but... They were my parents..." Marie said quietly as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.
Nygus gently pulled her out of the corner and wrapped her arms around her. "I know, I can't imagine how hard this must be for you... But you need to know I am right here, and I promise I will not leave you. I will stay by your side."
Marie nodded and shook in her arms. "Thank you, Nygus."
"It's no problem... I'm your friend, it's what I'm here for," the knife said softly.
As the minutes ticked by, not a single word was said between the two women. Eventually, Marie cried herself to sleep in her arms. Oh, Marie... I'm so sorry...
At this point, Nygus felt a few tears rolling down her own cheeks. I wish there was more I could do for you.
Knock knock. "Hey, Nygus?" Sid called from the other side of the door.
"Yeah, come on in, Sid."
The door slowly opened and the zombie stepped in. "How is she?"
"Well... She cried herself to sleep," Nygus said sadly as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Oh... Let's get her into bed then," Sid stated as he walked to the women in the corner and picked up the blond. He easily carried her to her bed and waited for Nygus to pull the blankets back. He then gently placed her in her bed, pulling the blankets over her like a father would his child. "I'm sorry, Marie..." he whispered.
Nygus hugged Sid and buried her face in his chest. "I don't know what to do, Sid... She's hurting so much. Even before her parents were... Killed... she was and still is stressing over Stein. She's so afraid for him and she's constantly feeling heart break. I don't know how to help her get through this, and it hurts to see her walk alone," the knife cried.
Sid wrapped one arm around her shoulders and put his free hand on her head. "I know... The only thing you can do now is be there for her." Nygus only continued crying for her friend. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah?" she sniffled.
"Did Marie tell you all of that...?"
"No, this is just stuff women are able to read off of each other."
"Oh.." Sid spent the next couple of minutes pondering how she was able to do that so easily, even though it would take him years to read a person like that as she cried in his arms. Finally, she pulled away from him.
"You can get going if you want. I'm going to stay here," Nygus said as she sat on Marie's bed.
"Alright... Call me if you need me."
She nodded. "You know I will," she smiled slighly and wiped her eyes.
Sid made his way to the already opened door and put a hand on the door knob. "Don't let this get to you, Nygus. She is going to need you when she wakes up."
"I know..." she said quietly as she looked at the blond who was now curled into a small ball underneath the blanket.
Sid sighed and walked out of the room, leaving Nygus to dwell her friend's sorrows. She heard the front door open and close, proving to her Sid had left the laboratory.
Damn it, Stein... You had better get your shit together and fast because for some crazy reason, this girl loves you, and she needs you...