[AUTHORS NOTES] Here's chapter two of Down Into My Shadow, I hope you're all enjoying it! Anyway, here it is, hope you all enjoy, i'm bringing those other chapters online next time, cause this is a little three minute window I have where I'm at at the moment. Anyway, enjoy =)
CHAPTER TWO: Stamp
The oranging sunlight of the drowzy sun cast an orange wash over the whole of Death City, and as the winds began to pick up, the many students that attended Death Weapon Meister Academy began to make their idividual ways back home. For the whole of the city, nighttime was more or less a time of rest, than any of the other cities that Serah had ever been to. True, she had only ever been at Los Angeles, and California, but she knew enough to know that the cities elsewhere, were always more or less awake at night, and sleeping during the day. For the most part, it was simple, and even though it was simple, it was something that drained Serah immensly. Death City, where she slept when the city actually went to sleep, and arose when the city rose, it was a nice change – a positive change. She was tired of feeling like the freak of the city, and now that she was here, she was as normal as everyone else – and it felt good.
Serah lifted her shoulderbag carefully, being careful not to knock it around too much. Her visit to Steins laboratory was one that was uncomfortable, and she was actually glad that Spirit had decided to accompany her – if he didn't, she would have freaked out. Although all that Spirit went on about was the horrors that Stein had unveiled on him, and how much he absolutely adored Maka. For the life of her, she had never known any father to be this … strange. He even went so far as to talk about the unfortunate relationship between himself and Maka's mother. Suffice to say, she did understand, at least a little bit, why Maka didn't like to have all that much to do with him.
Leaving Stein's laboratory had her feeling a little shaky, and a little out of her own body – the whole time she was there, she could feel a prodding at her very soul, and not only was it very, very unpleasant, it was unnerving. While he worked, turning that huge screw in his head while he did so, Serah had to deal with the prodding that just made her feel sick. Serah was glad to finally be gone when it was about time that everyone at the academy began to leave for home.
"Serah!" Came a familiar voice from up the top of the stairs, causing Serah to slow to a halt carefully. She pulled the headphones a bit further down her neck, looking around at who had called her. The familiar sight of Maka jogging down the stairs met Serah's gaze, and as she smiled, she noticed that Soul was following at a slower, and more laid-back pace – it really was obvious that Soul's driving factor was 'coolness'. "Hey! I was wondering where you got to! You never came back to class!" Serah smiled as Maka came to a halt a couple of steps up, and she crossed her arms loosly after a few moments.
"Lord Death had a job he wanted me to get done. Kinda took all day." Serah answered honestly, and she could see curiosity beginning to burn in Maka's gaze – Yep, of course. "Don't worry about it, it's not important."
"So it wasn't a meister..." Maka spoke, and Serah smiled even more, shaking her head slightly as a three familiar forms walked past, one clad in black, and the other two clad in blue and red. Serah glanced over at them, her gaze shifting to Kid as he seemed to move, a look of … discomfort written across his face? Serah didn't know what, but all she could see, was a look that screamed 'nervous breakdown'. She wondered why that was, but that answered why he didn't say bye to Maka or Soul – who had just come to a halt on the step behind Maka.
"That's totally not cool." Souls voice came over the silence that had descended Serah's consciousness, causing her to look over in shock. She could see that Soul was looking at someone behind her, but she didn't need to look to realise who he was looking at. "So what're we having for dinner? It's your turn to cook." Soul asked, looking down at Maka as she seemed to look at him over her shoulder. That did remind Serah – She'd have to pick something up on the way home – she wasn't looking forward to having instant Ramen again.
"I dunno. Maybe toasted sandwiches? There's not really anything in the cupboard," Maka spoke, and Serah blinked slightly. There was that whole stack of sandwich meat in the barfridge – she wouldn't be able to finish it, maybe Soul and Maka would want it?
"I've got some sandwich meat at home, if you guys want it?" Serah began, lifting an arm and scratching the back of her head carefully as she glanced from Maka, to Soul, then back to Maka again. "I don't really eat that much meat, so it's kinda a waste to have it sitting in the fridge."
"Sure, if you don't want it." Maka spoke, a smile across her face as she began to walk down the stairs, Soul following a few moments later. Serah smiled fractionally, beginning to follow carefully as the sun closed it's eyes wearily. "Actually, now that I think of it, where do you live? I've never seen your house!" Maka spoke, and Serah blinked momentarily.
"Umm, it's kinda hard to describe." Serah commented, scratching the back of her head absent mindedly as she tried to think. In all the time that she had lived in Death City, she had never really paid attention to street names, or anything else of the like. For the most part, she just kept to memorising the directions places she went to were, like where the book stores were, and where the cafe's were, and you couldn't miss the academy – it was uphill, and you could see it from nearly any part in the city. "Kinda not that far from the bookstore next to the coffee place. Some guy keeps on shouting out the Coffee Ramba every morning tea."
"Really?" Soul said, and Serah blinked in slight confusion. "That's in the same direction we're at. Who woulda guessed."
"Not me." Serah spoke sheepishly, looking around at the buildings as they walked. For the most part, Serah had just assued she just lived in a separate part of Death City to everyone else, not that it mattered all that much in the end, but just the thought that she could be a matter of a street away just seemed to be impossible to her, at least in hindsight.
"So what did Lord Death need you for, anyway? Since it wasn't about a Meister for you, then there had to be a reason for it." Maka began, and Serah smiled a little more in that sheepish manner.
"I already told you, it's not important!" Serah commented, and she saw Maka smile that little bit more.
"I know. But I can't really help but be curious about it." Maka reasoned, and Serah stretched slightly, placing her gaze upon the skies above. The orange was a beautiful tone against the normally blue sky, and she loved it. Serah contemplated answering, wondering whether she should or not – she still wasn't sure if it was real, or just some messed up dream.
"Well … Lord Death wants me to study, as a Meister." Serah answered after a few moments, glancing over at Maka cautiously. She saw Maka fix her with a look of confusion, not that Serah didn't expect it or anything.
"That's pretty rich." Soul piped up, glancing back at Serah over his shoulder. "It'd be pretty cool if you could weild yourself, but even I know that's pretty much impossible."
"Lord Death thinks I can do it, so I'll give it a try." Serah commented, a marginal smile crossing her face as she looked to the large statue to the right.
"Serah." Maka began, and Serah blinked as she came to a stop – just in time too, she nearly walked straight into Maka, who had turned slightly to look at her. "I've never asked, but what kind of weapon are you?"
"Yeah, come to think of it, I've never seen your weapon form, even during practical classes." Soul added, and Serah blinked, before she crossed her arms carefully. Should she answer? Or should she keep it quiet? Afterall, Serah knew she was going to be given the replica of herself tomorrow during class. Smiling that little bit more, Serah decided to keep quiet – it wasn't very often something was going her way, she wanted to roll with it for a little longer.
"You'll see tomorrow." Serah spoke, stepping around Soul and Maka to continue the way back home. That bag continued to knock against the back of her knees, but she could feel a weakness about her that was abnormal. Although Stein had warned her about out-of-the ordinary weakness and minor phases of lack of energy, she was still skeptical.
"That's totally not cool." Souls voice came, but there was a laugh to it – obviously Soul found her funny at that moment.
"Looks like we're waiting, whether we like it or not." Maka commented, and Serah smirked at the pleasure she felt from making them wait. No, she wasn't going to be transforming, but Serah had seen the blueprint that Stein had put together before she left – it looked practically identical, other than her weapon form wasn't such a pink colour – it was more of a golden colour, kinda like the light of a very, very early morning, where there was mist about still. Serah glanced over at the shop that strange guy always danced at, inwardly cringing at the thought – would he be dancing the rumba once again tomorrow?
"Well, here's out place." Came Maka's voice after what seemed like a few seconds later, causing Serah to blink, and come to a halt after a moment. She looked back over, to see Soul and Maka standing a few meters away, Soul beginning to head into one of the buildings on the right, waving slightly as he went. Serah studied it for a few moments, raising an eyebrow as Maka continued to smile – no more than two streets away. Wow … And Serah walked past here every day to get to the DWMA. How could she have not known all this time?
"Well, I'm this way." Serah commented, motioning to the area behind her with a slight motion of the head, before she turned to begin to walk. "You coming? I'm not waiting all night."
"Right, coming!" Maka spoke, and Serah smiled fractionally. Two streets ahead, turn right, then turn left, and you're practically there, Serah could hear the faint tones of her music from the headphones, giving a kind of bounce to her step – she just wanted to get home, grab something to eat, and have a long, hot bath, with her music playing nice and loudly for her to enjoy. A book while in the bath would be nice, but Serah had the knowledge that she'd likely fall asleep while reading, and the last thing she wanted was to drop the book into the bath water with her. "So what're you doing after class tomorrow?" Maka asked, keeping equal pace with Serah. Serah thought on that for a few moments, before she looked back at Maka, feeling a little strain in the back of her neck as she had to look up at Maka, at least a little.
"Not sure, just coming back here and veging, I suppose." Serah answered honestly, looking back ahead at the streets – her gaze fell upon a small little house with a yellow brickwork to it – nothing all that different to the others, except that the door was a light pine colour with strange patterns carved through it. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I was thinking, since Lord Death wants you working as a Meister, we could have a bit of practice out in the forest." Maka spoke, and Serah glanced away from her momentarily – she was beginning to approach the door to the house now.
"I don't see why not." Serah spoke, hesitation in her voice as she grabbed a key from the front left pocket of her skirt. "But won't you wanna get some practice with Soul, instead? It's not like you're my meister or anything." Taking to unlocking the front door, Serah glanced back at Maka after a few moments.
"I'm dragging Soul with us." Maka said immediately, a matter-of-fact look across her face. "He's been getting lazy lately, and I'm getting sick of it." Serah smiled fractionally, pushing the door open after a few moments.
"Well, this's my place." Serah spoke, standing aside to let Maka inside. The look of the house inside was quite different to the outside – the walls were painted a warm light green, with a feature wall the colour of an earthen orange. A huge bookshelf stood against the feature wall, painted black and without a backboard so the orange showed through. Mountains of books and CD's were squeezed into the bookshelf, packed so tightly that nothing else could fit. A tiny couch sat against the wall opposite the bookshelf, and one door stood in the livingroom situated in the wall directly in front of the front door. Serah watched as Maka looked around the tiny living room, a look of surprise across the young woman's face – clearly Maka had expected something different.
"Wow." Maka commented, stepping inside carefully as Serah began to close the door behind her. "I didn't think your house would be so …"
"So what?" Serah asked simply, beginning to make her way to the door in front, and the sounds of footsteps began to follow her.
"Tidy." Maka answered after a moment, and Serah cast her a mild frown over her shoulder. "N-no, I didn't mean it like that! I just expected there to be giant piles of books everywhere!" Maka almost squeaked, and Serah shook her head slightly as she opened the door, to reveal a kitchen inside. The walls in this one were a medium earthen orange, with the countertops of the kitchen being a golden yellow, with two doors leading out of the room – one on the left, and one on the right. There was a bar fridge on the counter to the left, where Serah began to walk towards as Maka stepped into the kitchen.
"Is your house filled with piles of books?" Serah commented, opening the door of the barfridge as the footsteps came to a halt.
"Of course not." Maka commented immediately, and Serah smirked, deciding to leave it at that. Searching through the fridge, Serah carefully lifted the bags of ham and roast beef from the top shelf, placing them on the counter carefully as she began to give the fridge another look over. There was that cooked egg from last night – Serah wasn't that fond of egg, and she didn't really understand why she cooked it all up.
"Want cooked eggs too?" Serah asked, and she glanced over at Maka as there was a moment silence.
"Sure." Maka spoke, and Serah smirked slightly – Maka was staring at the loungeroom through the door. Retrieving the egg quickly, she shut the door and grabbed one of the large freezer bags from the top drawer of the kitchenette, beginning to put the items into the bag and sealing it off. Serah couldn't help but smile as she looked back at the distracted Maka, to see that she was still staring at the loungeroom.
"Having fun staring at my wall?" Serah asked, and just as she expected, Maka flinched – yep, she was in space-cadet mode. Maka turned around immediately, and Serah merely handed the bag to Maka, who took it with a smile.
"Thanks." She spoke, and Serah couldn't help but laugh.
"Now, I'm not kicking you out, but I'm pretty sure Soul's sitting at home waiting for food." Maka's face shifted from a smile, to a look of shock – space cadet had forgotten, it seemed.
"You're right, I gotta go!" Maka said immediately, turning and beginning to jog towards the front door. Serah watched, smirking as Maka came to a stop for no more than necessary to open the door. "See you in class!" She called, and before Serah could so much as reply, the door was shut with a slight bang, Serah couldn't help but smile at that, carefully lifting that bag from her shoulder and placing it down on the floor next to the counter – she'd sort it out after her shower. Her expression faded after a few moments, and as she stared at the door for a few moments, she swore under her breath.
"Forgot to grab dinner!" She growled, raising a hand and pressing it against her forehead. "God! How could I be so stupid!" Fuming quietly to herself, she began to trudge over to the door to her right. That long, hot bath was a must now, and she had to have it now, to wash that irritation from her knowledge – it wasn't going to do her any good sitting there and brewing over how she had let food slip from her mind when she said she was going to search it out on the way home.
"Seriously, as soon as there's a little energy in my life, I have to go and start forgetting the things that matter." She commented, closing the door behind her as she went.