Dragged into lightless depths.

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Chapter 13: Faded

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Black Star was stuck between sleeping and waking up when someone next to him moved. His first thought was to complain and let out a groan that resembled 'five more minutes'. He had barely managed to crack an eye half-open to find himself in an unfamiliar environment. It was… a room of sorts, like the ones back home.

Black Star was on a comfortable couch, one that looked like it belonged to an antique store. An equally ancient coffee table was on one side of the couch. Opposite to it was a clean fireplace. The floor was made of a polished white marble. A soft trickle alerted him to rivulets of water spread chaotically on the floor, as if a water pipe had burst and the water had nowhere left to go.

Black Star blearily frowned. The antiquated but tasteful décor, the colour scheme... Was he in Death Manor from back home? The furniture looked different than the one he was used to, not to mention the presence of water.

Black Star looked at the room again. Last time he had been in Kid's place, the area looked different. Liz's fashion magazines had been placed haphazardly on coffee tables, along with Patty's drawing supplies. Kid would occasionally leave books on the couch or in any other area that hadn't been taken over by the sisters. That was nothing to say about the leaking water, which wouldn't exist if Kid had any say on the matter. Also, Black Star wasn't sure about what room he was in, but there should be some device newer than the radio in here; a landline, a TV, something.

Black Star was reminded of a tour he had been on when he was younger, where the history teacher had been telling them about the many different places in Death City. The teacher had droned on that the Death Manor had initially been a boarding house for all the new groups arriving in Death City, and how later on it had been used as dormitories, before the Academy's further expansion and improvements over building technology led to it being converted to a residence for the Grim Reaper. This room looked like on the old photographs they had been shown, of a common room before having been renovated into a modern living room.

There was a soft rushing sound as more water begin to fill the room, washing away the dust and slowly flooding the area. Black Star's eyes landed on an old flaying wall, where water flowed from. Looking up, the water seemed to come through the seams of the house, as if it had been sunk.

Perturbed, Black Star tried to shift, to get, up, but found himself unable to move. As more feeling returned to his body, he realized that he was lying on something soft, and there was something on his hand and neck that held him firmly in place. The water's level reached the edge of the couch seat.

With increasing alarm, Black Star tried to move, but to no avail. His eyelids still felt heavy. The water started pouring into the couch's seat. It was ice cold and the faint light in the room did not penetrate its surface.

Finally, Black Star managed to move his hand, in jerky uncoordinated bouts. Unable to see exactly what was below or above him, Black Star searched the area with his hand, managing to make it land to whatever was holding him down. The water now threatened to cover his nostrils, and Black Star already had to keep his mouth shut.

Hands. Hands were holding him down. Black Star made out cold skin, thin fingers…

So someone was holding him down. What the hell was that bastard's deal, whoever they were?

Screw this, Black Star wasn't going to just let himself be drowned by this weird room or wherever he was. First, he would make himself move, then kick the ass of the guy holding him down, then kick the ass of the room itself and get out of this sinking… whatever.

Just when the water covered his nose, Black Star's soul let out a desperate pulse that coursed through him like a bolt of electricity, making him regain control of his limbs.

Still not able to see his attacker, Black Star threw a blind punch above him. He let out a smirk when he felt it connect, making the hands holding him let go and allowing Black Star to roll away and stand up straight, no longer in danger of drowning.

More murky water rushed in from newly-formed cracks in the wall, pouring in from the peeled wallpapers, lifting Black Star up. He couldn't see the floor anymore.

Black Star coughed as some water had entered his lungs, but he held himself high, fists clench in preparation of punching the dude holding him down...

Kid.

Kid was the one standing before him. Or rather, someone that looked like Kid. His face was obscured by a long shadow; his hands lay limply at his frame as the water pooled around his waist, unaffected by the rushing water. Behind him, the edge of the wallpaper peeled away, revealing only more darkness.

More water rushed in, pushing Black Star against the ceiling. This wasn't right. This wasn't Kid. No, the person before Black Star wasn't Kid the same way this room. He wasn't in Kid's living room, the same way he wasn't facing Kid. It was as if his brain was trying to make sense of something incomprehensible, resulting in a shoddy visual translation.

The room around Black Star flickered, with the floor disappearing into a dark abyss, the cracked walls replaced by a circular stone wall, and the ceiling giving way to a murky underwater view of a disappearing surface.

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Black Star woke up with a gasp. That had immediately turned out to be a mistake, as he saw his last few precious air bubbles float towards an unseen surface, away from him.

Black Star was underwater, so deep that he couldn't see the surface. A circular wall stretched around him. Was that the bottom of the well Kid and Black Star had slept close to?

Black Star reached up with his hand, trying to scramble his way to the surface but someone, something, was dragging him down. His lungs ached.

Black Star trashed, but only managed to switch positions with the one dragging him down. Kid's blank face come into view, obscuring the surface above him, his eyes and Lines of Sanzu faintly glowing in the encroaching darkness.

At first Black Star thought he was hallucinating, or still dreaming, but as his hand reached out and touched Kid's face, the reality of the situation came crashing down on Black Star.

Black Star thought of mouthing id's name, but if he dared open his mouth he'd take in a big gulp of water and it'd be all over for him. He thought of punching Kid, but the water's resistance and his own fatigue were catching up, fast. His soul thrummed in desperation, Wavelength gathering at his fingertips at loss at what else to do.

Black Star kept staring at Kid's face. Their eyes met and he couldn't look away, but not because of betrayal, or confusion, but because there was something else in there, another presence that Black Star couldn't pin down because he was drowning -

The resonance between Kid and him echoed in Black Star's eardrums, though it had gone from a soft lull to a persistent disquieting thrum, scrambling his thoughts and hazing his mind.

Black Star had no breath left. His limbs felt, heavy unresponsive.

The Grim Reaper dragged Black Star further down until something sharp dug at Black Star's back, before more of the offending material became visible at the edges of his vision.

Bones. Bones and rotting flesh. Oher drowned corpses, resting forever at the bottom of the well. Each one was piled over the other, the number greater than Black Star had the luxury to count. A small fish poked out of the hollows of a skull, picking off a bit of muscle that still clung on to the bone.

The edges of Black Star's vision grew dark. His strength was fading.

Black Star couldn't help but take in a deep gulp of water, body convulsing at the motion, but he had to breathe, and once he took in the first fake breaths more involuntarily followed, each sending a wave of pain as his lungs protested at being flooded and his hear faltered.

With the last of his strength, Black Star pushed his hand against Kid's face and unleashed as much of his Soul Wavelength. Kid – or more correctly, whoever it was pushing him down because something was wrong and Kid would never try to drown him – recoiled from the touch, letting go of Black Star as his body pushed against the pie of bones, raising a cloud of sand.

Black Star's last sight was of Kid – and it had been Kid this time, cause his eyes had gone wide and scared as he scrambled before noticing Black Star – taking hold of him and mouthing his name before the darkness overtook him, deep underwater.

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Something buried deep. Someone long gone.