Her

She found herself watching his every move for three days. The pain in his eyes whenever he saw her distrust in him broke something inside her. It left her confused and frightened. How could she feel such intense emotion towards someone she just met? He must've placed a spell on her. The man hunt Witches like her, but for some reason, he kept her alive under the delusion she could be the missing person he seek.

Worse, Ren trusted him enough to tell him the truth. It would be impossible to enchant a soul. So, she didn't know what to make out of her actions. While her Mother indeed experimented on the children, she knew all of it would be beneficial for them. Mother loved her too much to hurt her.

'Lies'

'Shut up!' She glared at her doppelganger floating inside her bland soul. Unlike the him, her soul had nothing in it that showed her characteristic. Every corner had been whitewashed. 'I will never listen to you.'

'Right. Because I lied to you about your beloved Mother's plan.' It flew in front of her. Anger radiating from her transparent form. 'I can't believe how naive and desperate you are. Because of you, a lot of people had suffered and die. And you will be one of them soon.'

She covered her ears. 'Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!'

'Oh, because you do?' Its eyebrows raised. 'You're supposed to be proud! Not this spineless, pathetic girl. How low have you fallen, Mighty One. No wonder, Soul's pained while looking at your state. Such a disgrace.'

"- she just couldn't remember who she is, Dr. Stein. Where she came from, what ability she possess and her entire self."

"It could be the Madness from the water combined with Peisinoe's infamous Song Illusion."

It took her a moment to realize it didn't came from her soul. She slipped in the bedroom, hiding behind the dresser, careful not to gave herself away. They seemed to be talking about her and her Mother.

"I know but there's something else. The Witch bind her own daughter's soul to her. I can't explain it. They were tied to each other but at the same time, it felt like they aren't. When we resonated once even for a short time, it- I found her soul had a layer where the other's soul got tied." The albino glanced in her direction then looked back to the man with a screw on his head.

He twisted it while leaning on the desk. His eyes pierced her being and she knew, they found her. "I see… You're right. Her soul had been encased inside an orb of madness filled with spells. Not only that, she seemed to have a bug inside her soul. Something like what Crona had when we first met at the church."

It enraged her that they continued to talk like they didn't saw her. The only consolation she had was her Mother's voice trying to reach her even though something's interrupting it.

"Hey, Marie. Can you cleanse the bug out of her? If not, I could always dissect her for you." His expression turned menacing.

A woman with a kind disposition sighed then stood. "No need. You already promised not to make any dissections for our child's sake."

She crouched down to her level then removed her eyepatch. Her hand gripped her shoulders. Gentle yet firm. A frown marred her face. "I don't understand. Her anti-demon wavelength's power had increased drastically since the last time we saw her. She could resist and erase the effects, if she wanted, no matter how dense the madness is in her soul."

Marie's eye glowed, followed by her body. Soon, the both of them got swallowed by the light. No matter how much she screamed and struggled against her clutch, she couldn't escape her. It stopped as soon as it began. Her Mother's voice disappeared completely.

"What did you do?!" She grabbed her arm, desperate. "Bring it back! Bring her back!"

"Maka, honey. Fight it." Her voice filled her with warmth. Like a mother's love. "You're the only one who can overcome it."

"No! Mother will be sad without me! Let me go! I need to go back."

"Excuse me, Marie. I need to talk to her." Ren materialized in front of her. An unusual look on her pale face.

A loud sound rang out in the whole room. She sat there immobile. Her cheek stung from the slap. Shock took over her whole system. Why?

"Stop being so pathetic! Why won't you snap out of that blasted spell! Stop living my life for me! Stop taking my memories as your own! Stop acting like me!" Ren yelled. Her hand posed in the air, ready to hit her again. Hate, regret and fury evident in her eyes. "You know all of it are a bunch bull yet you still believe every darned word that bloody witch told you! You're just a puppet redecorated to look like me!"

"That's enough!" Marie seized her while the albino blocked her view.

"Are you alright?" He asked.


During the night, she stayed in his room. The black moon stared down at her and she could feel an indescribable emotion rising. Her mind drifted back to Ren. The girl vanished after she talked with Marie. Everything Ren said… even the things her doppelganger told her… all of it were true. Death knew she already understood it since the beginning.

The instant her eyes opened in the cold, dark basement of the orphanage without any memory and a bleeding chest, she knew, she didn't belong there. Even when the woman she called mother cried then embraced her, she knew the witch wasn't seeing her. When Ren introduced herself, she knew the girl was the real daughter. The real Atarah Gorgon.

She knew it. Yet she made her self believed all the lies. What else could she do? Nothing had been real anymore. Peisinoe offered everything she ever wanted. Family, friends and memories. She had none of it. Only a faint image of what she used to be. Hazy figures without face.

Every fabricated lie she fed her became something to hold onto. Something to believed in. She became desperate, forcing herself to be someone else just to have a place to belong. But her selfishness only caused others pain.

Her chest constricted. Every move she made had been wrong. All of it resulted to trouble. A vague person flashed in her mind. Her breath got caught in her throat. It's the person who accompanied her in every situation even when things turned worse. The one who stayed by her side. Did he even missed her?

"Hey," a voice broke her out of her reverie. "Are you alright?"

She conjured a trembling smile. "Yeah, sorry for taking your room."

"It's okay. Don't apologize." He sat at the edge of the bed. The night light cast a reddish glow on his bare torso emphasizing the jagged scar running diagonally from his shoulder to his hips.

Overwhelmed by a sudden guilt, she gripped the sheets. "I'm really sorry for the trouble I caused."

"I told you it's fine." His mouth curled up in a smirk, revealing serrated teeth.

"I'm really hopeless, aren't I? So troublesome." She started to laugh but tears formed in her eyes. He moved to comfort her but she held up a hand. "Stop! Don't even try. I really, really hate you."

Her voice broke when she saw his pained expression but she kept going. "Whenever you're around, it's like torment. I- my emotion goes haywire. We just met but we already have this… strong connection. Like my soul know you but my mind refuses to believe it."

He stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face while she kept holding his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"I knew everything right from the start. I have this intense feeling of being on a mission so when I saw the children, I understood. I did everything I could think of to save the other children without being discovered by the Witch and Ren. I wanted to have a clear conscience when I die because I thought, everyone would be better off without me. That those blurry faces in my mind don't need me." She tightened her grip on the blanket. "And just when I thought, Peisinoe would be successful in erasing me, you called to me. Your familiar and haunting melody made me question my decision."

"Maka, listen. Don't ever think that we don't want you. Everyone wanted to fly here immediately when they found out what happened. Black Star almost wrecked Shibusen when Kid forbade him to go here. We would do everything to save you. Heck, I will literally go to hell and back again if it means I could save you." He wiped her tears away with his shaking fingers then tucked a stray strand behind her ears. His voice strained with emotion. "I already told you and I will never get tired of telling you again and again. I'm prepared to follow you even to the ends of the earth, Maka. Don't think that just because I turned into a Deathscythe, I'm gonna break my promise to you."

"You promised… me that?"

"Yes. I always liked you, Maka. It's you who always got my back and as your partner, you can trust that I will find a way to bring you back to normal. Now, stop worrying and go to sleep, Bookworm." He wrapped his arms around her in a brief but tight embrace before leaving.

She stared at his retreating back while her mind ran a thousand miles. He gave her a grave promise. A man she just met. Yet she felt reassured. Her soul pulsed in acknowledgement of his promise. If it trusted him, she would trust him too. And if he said he knew her then he must be telling the truth. It would be better to trust Soul than Ren. The girl's emotions earlier felt real and she could feel it deep in her soul. But she other than that, something's off with her.

Now that her mind had been free from all the doubts, she could think clearly. She was a fool to let herself be immersed in the sham she set up herself. The thought of tricking herself with the help of insanity in her system in order to trick others seemed madness, but it proved to be more successful than clinging to her morality.

What she told Soul however, was true. She didn't had any memory, just a sense of being on a mission. Her self-esteem dropped in an alarming speed while encased in the memory-erasing insanity. Soon, she started to question her worth and if Soul's black blood hadn't reacted, she would have forgotten about the insanity and let it control her mind. If Soul didn't came to her, all of her sacrifice to get closer to the witch and her daughter would be lost.

Ren must knew about her Mother's experiments already. She roamed the orphanage whenever she wanted and didn't stayed by her side all the time. So, it surprised her when she told her about Peisinoe's plans. It took every willpower she had not to show any suspicion and continue to act like a naive little daughter who had unconditional love for her mother.

They had something up in their sleeves. One she had still discovered, so she wouldn't resist the insanity yet. Not until she unraveled every secret in the incomplete soul tied to it. She would do anything, even deny her own identity, in order to protect every people from the hands of the two witches. Besides, Soul promised to bring her back and she trust in him.