Thank you Anime no Akuma and Lena-luvs-cats for reviewing!

Chapter 7

In the end, no matter what I did convinced her to stay and play with her dolls... Which meant I had to go to the suicidal dinner, and it would most likely be as fun as it sounded.

"Hey! Come help me find a dress to wear!" Road shouted from across her room. I had first gone in there to see if she had any extra corsets as I had run out, but then had ended up staying because I wanted to delay me going to the reunion of sorts. So far I was regretting my decision of staying.

I got up from her surprisingly comfy, queen sized bed with purple sheets and strolled up to Road with a grimace. I had a bad experience with helping her chose a dress; she had set two dresses to the side and had asked me to pick one. So I had but it wasn't enough for her and she had kept asking why. Then she had just chosen the opposite one with her signature smile.

Once I was standing beside her, she waved to three dresses, all different colors, and frowned, "which one?"

I glanced at the first dress which was quite revealing. It had no straps to hold it up and I looked back at Road who was lacking in a certain area before shrugging. Maybe she would add something to the dress or maybe the corset would hold it together?

The dress itself seemed pretty even if it wasn't my type. At the waist down, it had two layers of ruffles that I could clearly imagine on Road. The top was a light lavender but got darker as it progressed down till the ruffles seemed to be a midnight blue.

I nodded approvingly before moving to the next one. I immediately scowled at the workmanship of it. The seams were all over the place, scattered wherever, and was there no colors the person did not use?! Hell, it looked like a unicorn had vomited a rainbow on it. I was all for gays but this was just too much. I shook my head at it and Road hummed in agreement.

"Too much color?"

"Yeah. Way too much."

The last one wasn't bad either compared to the second one, but the first one was definitely my favorite.

"The first one."

She looked at me. "Really?"

"It may not fit me but I can see you in it." I explained and she smiled widely in response.

"Now it's my turn to help you~" Road sang.

I just raised a slim eyebrow and turned on my heel leaving her there to change.

The girl stuck her tongue out at me and cried out, "meanie!"

I, somehow, found my lips curving upward and then frowned. I truly had grown too attached to her over the six months I had spent with her. I sighed heavily. How was I supposed to convince Neah not to murder her?

The world must have not liked me, sending me to do the impossible.

"Oh! Corian, darling." I turned around while groaning. Only one person called me darling; Joyd. "I feel like I haven't seen you in years!"

"You haven't known me for years, Joyd." I retorted. He pressed a hand to his heart as though I had shot him, "I'm wounded."

"I wish."

He sighed, "You should respect your elders, darling."

"I will so long they're not complete idiots." I stated, turning into my room and slammed the door in his face with a satisfying smack.

Now I just had to find a dress for myself without messing something up. Hopefully, it was as simple as it sounded.

Surprise, surprise, it wasn't.

Figuring out what dress to wear took longer than I had assumed and then I had to find a servant as I still didn't have any corsets. Lady Luck must have really not smiled upon me, the servants next to my room were all gone to help with the dinner.

So I had to run back to Road's room and plead with her that she had to give me one of hers.

"I won't be able to go to the dinner if you don't let me barrow one." I said desperately and she paused in putting on her dress to consider it. "And...if I can't go, then I have to take back the extra day to do your homework."

She spun around and grabbed the nearest corset before throwing at me. "Take it!"

I breathed a sigh of relief and returned to my room with the too small corset clutched in my hand. I would be able to protect Road a bit more if by just being there, watching over her like a mother hen.

Once I had stripped myself naked, I shivered slightly as the cool air brushed against my pale skin that hadn't darkened over the years as someone else might have for I had been kept in the shadows, hidden away from the rays of sunlight.

I took the instrument of torture and wrapped it around my chest before slipping the lace through the holes and pulling on the corset. I bit on my bottom lip to contain a whine of displeasure and continued to tighten it before tying a knot and releasing the breath I had been holding. It was really uncomfortable but I would just have to deal with it. I could do nothing else after all, unless I asked Joyd if he had any... I shuddered at the mere thought of it.

Effortlessly, I put on the dress I had chosen. It had a simple but elegant design of white swirls at the bottom making the turquoise blue contrast strongly. The dark blue also made my gray-blue eyes pop, which reminded me of the time my husband had bought me a similar colored necklace that had had the same effect as the dress.

At that memory, I pondered whether or not to put on a necklace or leave my collarbone bear for everyone to see. I decided to go with the latter. I wouldn't want anything unnecessary to hold me down like shackles during this massacre.

With that done, I reached for the door knob but just as I hovered near it, I remembered that my hair wasn't done yet. It was a mass of tangled brown hair and Road would most definitely not allow me to embarrass her in such a way. While we dropped the formalities when we were alone together, we had to keep them up for the rest of her family as Clive would disapprove of our friendship. In his eyes, I was a servant, nothing more, nothing less and she… was, well, royalty. Royalty I could not even come close to touching.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly, maybe dying along with Fred had been the better route after all. I wouldn't have to deal with all this crap, but then if I hadn't, I couldn't have been able to say 'my second life was fun and I found it in me to laugh even after dying in my first life'. That was so cheesy though; I probably wouldn't say it anyways.

"Cori?" A voice made its way to my ears. "You done yet?"

I glanced at the mirror to the side of me and cringed. "…not yet."

"Well, I'm going on ahead~ Try and sneak in without Desires noticing," I groaned. The Noah noticed everything and Desires was no exception, if anything, he fit the bill more than any of them.

Despite that fact, I nodded before realizing that she couldn't see me as she was on the other side of the door. "Yeah, I'll try."

There was no response. I furrowed my brows slightly and walked toward the white door that seemed to loom over me with each step I took. Neah's plan hadn't started yet, right? Yeah. If it had, Road would have shouted out his name in joy for she hadn't seen him recently, unlike me, I thought darkly as I yanked the door open.

Huh, there was no one there. She must've gone off on her own, not waiting for my response. She was impatient like that. I closed the door shut and turned back to my hair that fell limply around my shoulders. This was going to take a while…

Ten minutes later found me pinning my now brushed and semi-presentable hair to my scalp in a painful manner. I was down to my last barrette thankfully. "Done!"

My hair was now up in a bun-like fashion with a single chestnut curl out. I nodded giving myself one last look in the mirror before grabbing my white cardigan and rushing out of the room.

The panic I had somehow pushed back into the recesses in my mind were coming back at full force and my heart was now starting beat rapidly in rhythm with my overly active imagination that was coming up with the worst outcomes possible. I picked up my pace, but not to a sprint as I was trying not to attract other Noah to me. They would only slow me down.

What if I was already too late? Or… what if I was over-reacting and the killing wasn't even today?

I paused in my light jogging, there was no proof of it happening tonight. In fact, the only thing that had led me to think it was going to happen was my brain, which was not a reliable source. Oh God, I thought, let me be wrong. I'm not prepared today… I'll never be prepared, but please let it not be tonight, please.

My eyes were squeezed shut in my desperation and I had my hands clasped together. It was only after I heard a raspy cough that I reopened my blue orbs. I hadn't been looking at where I had been jogging, but now that I looked… I wished I hadn't.

The Noah named Wisely was no longer part of this word for his dull, glazed over eyes looked at nothing. He had crimson liquid smeared everywhere on him making it impossible for me to identify where the mortal wound was, but that didn't stop the blood that was still seeping into a puddle around his hips. I his face was frozen in time in a face of anguish as though he had been trying to take one last breath once more only to realize midway that no matter how much he struggled, he was dying.

I stumbled back from the horrifying sight, my eyes widened in shock. I had seen the exorcist die before my eyes, yet having truly talked to the person about my worst fears made all the difference. I found myself weeping; shoulders shaking with each breath, hands trying to stop the salty tears falling from my eyelids, and finally, the wails that would escape my lips each time my red eyes wandered back to his body.

"What did you expect? This is war."

That's right… It was war between the Noah. It was just as Road said, death was expected.

"Ahh!"

It wasn't morally right! Had Road come to see it like that because she had seen so people die in vain? Why… why did people want to kill each other?

Did they want to destroy each piece of humanity they had left in their rotted, corrupted hearts?

Just why? Why was I crying over a Noah? Why was I so conflicted? Why was everyone around me doomed to die? Why?!

…why?

I took a shaky breath, avoiding the corpse of the fifth disciple, and tried to collect myself. There was no use of me having a mental break down at the moment I wouldn't help anyone, I had to calm down. I had to find Road.

My eyes snapped open and I ran to the dining room, Road was there probably alone waiting for everyone to arrive but little did she know that know else was going to arrive, save for me and Neah.

Unless I died of course. I let out a bitter laugh, I was so morbid now.

What if Road was already dead? What if she was being forced to fight Neah right this second? What if she was taking her last breath? All these scenarios ran through my mind but I waved all of them away. They would only drag me down a pit of grief and doom, and I couldn't risk that happening. I had already slipped up with… with Wisely.

I had to be there for Road. No, I would be there for her. I would.

I ran faster.

My breath came out in harsh, short pants. I was sprinting faster than I had before, faster than when I was trying to save Fred. After all, that speed hadn't been fast enough for Fred, so I had to run even faster for Road, I couldn't be too late for her as well.

Adrenaline pulsed in my veins giving me enough energy to keep the same rapid pace all the way to the dining room where the dinner was supposed to be held. I didn't slow down once, except for when I saw Desires lying, dead and like Wisely, had a growing pool of blood underneath them. My heart had clenched and ached for the person who had taught me practically everything I knew, but I forced myself to remain neutral. I couldn't have another break down.

I didn't see any other Noah dead besides them, but I assumed the worst; if Clive and Wisely were buried six feet deep, then so were they.

I took one last turn before stopping by the huge set of ebony doors. Engraved into the doors were the thirteen Noah's silhouettes with the Earl's looking over them with an umbrella- Lero- clutched in his hands. I gulped slightly at the bottom portion, under the Noah were writhing humans who seemed to be desperately reaching out towards them; the mortals were climbing on others to reach them first, one was even showed stabbing one in the eye. Though one consistency throughout was that not one human touched the Noah, they were unreachable by humans.

How symbolic, I thought grimly relating the piece of art to my fate.

I would not be able to stop this massacre as I had never touched their hearts. I wouldn't be able to sway any of them.

I truly was morbid.

During the time I had spared to observe the doors, I had more or less caught my breath and so I yanked open the double doors….

To find Neah comforting Road who had tears in her eyes, but what really confused me was the fact that she didn't look sad. She looked the same as always if a bit solemn. Neah was holding her in embrace and my feet started moving on their own.

How dare he lay his hands on her when he was going to kill her in cold blood! How dare he, I mentally seethed.

I grabbed Road by the shoulder and pulled her away from the traitor who was smiling politely while containing his shock of seeing me. "Road…"

"Cori! What are you doing?" She yelled anger seeping into her voice but I stood tall. I had managed around the Earl, so I could manage her.

"Road, listen to me, Neah wants to-" I stopped midway with a gasp of pain.

A mad chuckle drew my eyes to the man who now had his arm stabbed through my stomach. "I want to kill you Road, is what I think she tried to say. Really Cori, you couldn't even finish your last sentence. Such a disgrace."

He ripped his arm back out only to look at the blood stains in disgust. I coughed out blood and collapsed on the floor as the crimson liquid steadily poured out of my wound.

As all this happened all I could think of was, I'm dying, I'm dyingI'm dyingI'mdying.

Road glanced at me, not with sorrow, but indifference as though she really couldn't care less that I was bleeding out. No. That wasn't right, it wasn't indifference, rather, it was forced. She was acting like she didn't care when she did. Road was just so used of people dropping dead like flies that she would force herself not to get emotional. Her words made so much sense now.

My eyes slipped shut all while my mind was still in that infinite loop of 'I'm dying' which really shouldn't have been such a shock, I had been living with the Noah.

Finally, another thought slipped in my quickly fading conscious, was Road dead as well?

With effort, I opened the eyes I hadn't even known were closed and looked around the room searching for the small girl.

When I found her, the relief was so powerful I started crying, or maybe it was because of the gaping hole in my abdomen; I could no longer tell. Road was leaping away surrounded by those candles of hers from Neah, and in rage, was shouting out something I could barely hear, much less, make sense of.

"…killed them…why I'm crying..!"

"They…mad…Earl…insane…memories took control…"

(-CrackleCrackleCrackle-)

I blinked slowly, suddenly asking myself, did it always take this much effort to blink? I couldn't remember, actually for that matter… I couldn't remember anything. All I could see was endless darkness that surrounded me.

Wait- I saw an outline of a young girl who was licking a lollipop-

-CrackleCrackleCrackle-

It was like I was watching TV again and then clicked the wrong channel and got that terrible scratching noise that came along with the static. Huh. Wonder where that came from… I was dying right?

…Me? Dying…? Was that what was happening? That would make sense Neah someone had stabbed me-

-CrackleCrackleCrackle-

What had I been thinking about? Why was there such an awful noise? Who was that girl I kept seeing?

I couldn't see her features save for her small smile as she-

-CrackleCrackleCrackle-

She had such soft lips though I got a sadistic feel from them-

-CrackleCrackleCrackle…

Darkness envelope me and left me wondering who she was- And was this the end?-

…CrackleCrackleCrackle…

Maybe it was…

CrackleCrackle-

…(silence)