[Authors Notes]
Alright everyone, I've got another chapter for you, and I hope this'll do for the next week - I'm getting there with the next chapter, don't you worry. In actuality I've been working on a Seven Part Story (Kinda like a Oneshot Story based on two particular characters) For the Soul Eater series, like this one, lol. Anyway, lemme know if you'd be the least bit interested in it, and don't forget to lemme know if you're wanting more chapters up sooner! My mind's been wandering quite a lot!
CHAPTER EIGHT – Changing
The burning sensations of a harsh light against the side of the face was all that met the faint consciousness of Serah. She cringed in her slumber, turning slightly to try and shift the irritating light from her sore eyes. Her body was heavy for some reason, and as she slowly opened her eyes, a wave of weariness overcame her. Her head was thick with a kind of fogginess that better suited concussions than just waking up. For the most part, Serah had no real feeling in her body, nor could she remember offhand what had happened to her. She didn't want to think too much, due to that fogginess that would not shift, no matter how long she remained motionless.
The ceiling above her head was plain – a kind of white that wasn't the ceiling of her own home. There were white curtains along the right and bottom of her vision, and two windows to the left of her, which showed a late afternoon sky outside, the oranges from the snoozing sun beginning to dim down to make way for the darker tones of nightfall. Serah slowly reached her arms up to bring herself upright, and a sharp shot of pain coursed straight through her right side. She still perservered with dragging herself upright, barely managing to ignore the pain that was coursing through her body as she did so. Lifting the blankets back carefully, Serah found herself staring down at her legs not covered by what she knew was a kind of hospital gown, and bandages were wrapped tightly around her whole upper thigh – from the knee down, there were no bandages, and flecks of red were beginning to show through the bandages in place.
Arranging the pillows at her back carefully, she set herself back so she was sitting mostly upright, letting out a weary breath as she looked around the deserted medical facility she was being kept in. Serah couldn't hear anyone else in the room with her for some reason, and as she let out a breath slowly, she chose to look down at her hands after a few moments. Her left arm was bandaged up with thick and heavy bandages from the tips of her fingers, to the elbow of her arm, and the palm of her right hand was bandaged as well. Obviously someone had gone and made better work of the bandages around her forearm than she did. She had no choice but to wonder, what exactly had happened for her to wake up here?
The faint sounds of the door opening echoed from Serah's right after a few moments, it seemed, for as she actually looked in the direction of the door consciously, the brightness in the room had suddenly changed to a dark evening purple. The faintest hints of a kind of lamp somewhere in the space ahead flicked on after a few moments, and as Serah directed her gaze to the source of faint light in the room, the curtain to the cubicle she was in slid open after a few moments – why hadn't she heard any footsteps? Why couldn't she pick where they could be? The light began to flood in with blinding brightness, obscuring her strangely altered vision that bit so the form of a slender form was visible as a blury silhouette against a blinding brightness.
"So you're finally awake, Serah?" Came a strangely melodious voice after a few seconds, causing Serah to blink momentarily. "I trust you're feeling alright, considering that you're upright."
"Y-yes," Serah hedged, glancing away from the silhouette of the woman. "I'm in the Academy?"
"You most certainly are." The voice spoke, and Serah hesitantly looked up at the moving silhouette as the lamp just next to the bed flicked on after a few seconds, to reveal a young looking woman standing before her. Long silver hair hung down a slender, almost athletic form, ending with a bow around the ends of her hair just at her lower back. A pair of pale red eyes were fixed upon Serah's form with curiosity, set in a delicate looking pale face. She was dressed in a orange jumper and a pair of black jeans, completed with a white lab coat that spoke 'nurse'. The woman looked no older than late twenties, but Serah did wonder if the woman was as old as she looked. A neat little badge sat upon the right side of her chest, labeled with the name 'Sophia'. "Maka's been worried about you; and rightly so. The state they brought you back in was a nightmare."
"Is that so …?" Serah hedged, looking down at her bandaged up lap wearily after a few seconds.
"That's all you can say?" The young woman called Sophia spoke, a moderate frown creeping across her palid features. "You make it sound like you don't remember much."
"Thats …" Serah began, glancing up at Sophia momentarily as she thought carefully. "Well, more to the point, I don't actually know."
"I suppose I can't really complain." Sophia spoke after several moments of silence, and Serah hesitated before she actually looked back up. "There was an injury to the back of your head; amnesia from head injuries are a common thing." The young woman turned on her heel and began to head towards where Serah knew the desk was located. "Don't worry about it; it'll come back to you after a bit of rest."
"You … said that Maka was worried about me …?" Serah spoke hesitantly after a few seconds, directing her gaze to the window to her left nervously.
"Yes, what about it?" Sophia's voice spoke, however, Serah couldn't exactly pick where in the room her voice was coming from.
"Why was she worried?" Her question was met with the sensations of a stern glance from somewhere off to the right, but she couldn't really understand why that was.
"It was Maka and Soul that brought you in this morning, after that extra lesson of yours." Sophia answered from wherever in the medical room she was. "I heard it didn't go too well – Lord Death wanted to speak with you about that, come to think of it."
"O-oh ..." Serah trailed off, placing her gaze down on the blankets over her lap after a few seconds. She didn't quite know why, but she felt the sensation of being in trouble for something she didn't do, or something like that. That feeling of foreboding second-hand guilt that didn't quite make sense to her settled in, making the conversation feel a little stupid to her. "Did he sound angry …?"
"Angry?" Sophia questioned, and it was in that moment that she stuck her head through the curtains of the cubicle to look at Serah properly. "I doubt it. Unless you ate a human soul, I don't think he'd be angry with you for 'not doing well' on an extra lesson. And just by looking at you, I can tell you haven't eaten anything you're not supposed to."
"I see ..." Serah spoke, glancing out at the window momentarily. "Is it okay, if I go and see Lord Death now?"
"I'd rather you didn't put any weight on your legs too soon." Sophia spoke, disappearing back behind the curtains after a few seconds. "I was just coming in to check on everything, so I'll just get you a mirror so you can talk to Lord Death right there." The faint sounds of rummaging through the parts of the room Serah couldn't see began to echo faintly, and it was several moments before Sophia appeared through the curtains again, holding out what looked to be a circular desktop mirror, around thirty centimeters in circumference. It was plain, and had a pristine, clear gloss to the reflective surface. "Here."
"Uhm, thank you ..." Serah spoke, looking down at the mirror momentarily as Sophia seemed to straighten up.
"Alright, now, was there anything you wanted, before I disappear?" Sophia asked, crossing her arms as she stared down at Serah, who blinked up at her nervously.
"No, thank you." She spoke, and it was a few seconds, before Sophia smiled slightly, and began to leave the room.
"I'll be back in first thing tomorrow morning. Sleep well." Sophia's voice spoke, and several moments later, Serah heard the door of the medical room close with a small clunk. Serah let out a weary breath several moments later, leaning back against the bed head after a few seconds, and placing her gaze upon the darkened ceiling.
Yes, it was true that Serah didn't remember all that much, but what had happened to cause her short term memory to vanish like that? What extra lesson was she placed on with Maka to have her end up waking up with her body in this condition, and her memories to have vanished? Letting out a weary breath, Serah placed the mirror on the bedside table after a few moments, and looked around instead, for a pair of crutches. She wasn't really meaning to be disobedient, but she just didn't feel all that comfortable just sitting in bed having a conversation with Lord Death through a cursed Mirror.
Serah let out a breath as she hesitantly lifted the bottom of the gown up to her hip, where she spotted that she was still in her shorts, and upon closer investigation, she was still in her form-fitting tank top. Rathering the thought of hobbling around in her saggy skin revealing clothes than the hospital gown that screamed 'LOOK AT ME', she carefully pulled it off over her head. It wasn't so bad, since Serah's clothes were the tight-fitting ones, so it hit most of it from view, anyway.
"Better get going before she thinks better of it." Serah spoke quietly, gingerly pulling herself to her feet. Putting weight on her injured leg made pain sear into life, however as she spotted what looked to be a pair of crutches propped up innocently against the edge of the bed, she chose to ignore all evidence of the pain. This was going to kill her arms – she knew it, but there was no other way around it – Sohpia would throw a fit if she found out the stitching in her thigh had torn.
Pain shot through her arm as she pulled herself up onto the crutches, however she fought to ignore it as she began to crutch her way across to the door of the medical room. Now was as good a time as any to go and see Lord Death, and there was practically no chance of her bumping into anyone on the way there. The door opened, and closed without difficulty, and as Serah began to make her way down corridors and through smaller passageways, she began to wonder if her sense of direction had been addled – after all, her head felt like she knocked it hard, and as she paused to check, there really were bandages wrapped around her head. She couldn't help but frown as she continued on her way – she really needed to know what the hell had happened to her. Lord Death was undoubtedly watching if he wanted to see her about it – and it was a painful thought just thinking about it – she probably screwed up so badly he had decided to relocate her to a more simple class.
Crutching her way around another corner, Serah almost came to a halt as she noticed three forms approaching on their way out; Three forms she indeed did recognise. The two red tops and the black suit was all she needed to recognise the person she kept on embarrasing herself in front of, and as she lowered her head, placed her gaze on the floor in front of her, she began to make her way onwards with a little more haste – she recognised this corridor – The Death Room was just around the corner!
"You alright, Serah?" Came the familiar, more serious voice of the two girls, belonging to Liz as she managed to get past them, causing Serah to blink momentarily, however she kept going.
"Just dandy." She managed to speak, picking up the pace just a little bit so she could be gone faster. Silence met her statement, and as she made it around the corner, Serah could feel at least a little better at the fact that she didn't make a complete fool of herself that time – just her injuries were on display …
Reaching the door to the Death Room, Serah hesitantly placed her right hand upon the doorhandle, hesitating for several moments, before she turned it, and pushed the door open. There was a little resistance, however, it wasn't enough to unbalance Serah. She gazed into the bright room for several moments, before she began to make her slow advance to the middle of the room. A familiar black form was seated in front of a mirror, and Serah had to make herself continue onwards as the form of Lord Death turned on his little seat in front of the mirror.
"Serah! What a wonderful surprise!" The bouncy voice of Lord Death spoke, and Serah had to blink as the grim reaper suddenly bounced up and down on his spot, and she came to a halt just at the edge of the large platform. "You must be exhausted being up and about so soon! Come, sit down here!" Serah bit down on her bottom lip as Lord Death motioned to a second cussion next to a coffee table she never noticed was there. She hesitantly obliged, setting her 'aquired' crutches on the floor next to her. "Now, how are you feeling? That was quite a feat you had yesterday!"
"Feat?" Serah repeated, and she saw the energetic Grim reaper tilt his head to the side slightly.
"Oh? You don't remember?" He asked, causing Serah to shake her head slightly. "Well, you managed to defeat a Kishin Egg, rather luckily, but you defeated one never the less." Serah's gaze narrowed upon the bandages over her hands, before she looked back up at the bouncing Grim Reaper.
"So I did defeat a Kishin Egg?" Serah asked hesitantly, and she felt that there was the tiniest of smiles behind the mask of the grim reaper.
"Yes, with your own weapon too! But I have been meaning to ask you about that."
"Umm, yes, Lord Death?" Serah spoke, and she saw the Grim Reaper grab what looked to be a cup of tea from the coffee table that was of the same design as his mask.
"I was watching the whole fight , so I'd noticed you had trouble fighting with your own feet – do you remember anything about that?" Serah blinked momentarily, loolking back up at the Grim Reaper as she thought on her reply.
"You mean my clumbsiness?" Serah took to asking, however she saw Lord Death tilt his head to the side slightly.
"No, I belive your clumbsiness is from you arguing with your body – It certainly didn't look like misplaced steps or anything remotely related." Lord Death bounced slightly as he took another sip of his tea. "No, it looked like your body would automatically try to run one way when the rest of you would want to go in completely the opposite direction – Stein came with the same conclusion by the end of it."
"P-Professor Stein?" Serah spoke hesitantly, and she saw Lord Death nod slightly. She had to think on it a little while. In reality, she never paid conscious mind as to where she was going – because she was always engrossed in a book of sorts, her body just seemed to go on Auto Pilot, and take her wherever it was that she was going, whether it be to the academy, or somewhere back home in Chicago. "I've never had a problem with it, until I decide I have to head in the opposite direction, or something like that. I walk to the Academy and back everyday, but I'm always reading a book, so I'm never actually thinking of where I'm going or anything. I've been doing that since I was able to walk to kindergarten … I think."
"Ah, I thought so." Lord Death spoke, causing Serah to look up at him. "I thought the amount of conflict was too severe to be anything else. Well, we'll have to do something about that."
"Like what?" Serah asked hesitantly, and she saw Lord Death place his cup of tea back down on the coffee table.
"Nothing too drastic – Just an extra class, just for you!" Lord Death spoke, and Serah glanced down at her bandaged hands after a few moments.
"What? Like gym class or something?"
"Pretty close! Dance class!" Lord Death spoke, so suddenly that Serah was left gaping at him.
"... Dance Class, Lord Death?" Serah spoke, and she saw the Grim Reaper bounce from something along the lines of excitement.
"Yes, yes! Dancers are the masters of their own body, and with your little difficulties, I believe whole heartedly that you'll be able to get the hang of it in no time at all!"
"In due respect, Lord Death." Serah began, choosing her words wisely as Lord Death tilted his head to the side again. "I thought my becoming a meister was just to keep me busy until someone who could weild me came along?"
'Yes, and that's absolutely correct!" Lord Death spoke, causing Serah to blink momentarily. "But that could be days, or it could be years! You might even decide you like being a Meister altogether, and not bother with finding a Meister partner! And to be honest with you, we've had weapons go about and collect their own Kishin Eggs before – You're just the first one we've given a replica weapon!" Blinking slightly at the amount of information she was just bombarded with, and as she let out a breath, she saw Lord Death bounce once again. "So don't worry about it – Even Weapons need control of their own body!"
"I see ..." Serah spoke, looking down at her hands once again. She did have a vague impression that she was the one that put the nice injuries into the palms of her hands.
"Now, it's getting late, so why don't you head back and sleep on it." Lord Death spoke, and Serah looked back up at him again. "I'll send someone in with a change of clothes for you, so you can go back to class in the morning."
"S-sure." Serah spoke, and she saw Lord Death spring up onto his feet suddenly. Struggling a little bit to get to her feet, Serah carefully set her crutches in place so she could make her way back to the medical facility.
"Well, take care on the way back – And thank's for visiting!" Lord Death spoke, causing Serah to smile slightly as she looked back up at him.
"I will." Serah spoke, and she carefully turned to head back to the medical facilities. Crutching away with the sounds of Lord Death calling 'Bye' to her in that funny toned voice, she was a little bit absent minded as she came to a halt in front of the door. Pausing momentarily to set the right crutch under her arm to free her arm up, Serah reached out for the doorhandle, when the most unfortunate thing occurred.
The door swung open all of a sudden, inwards for some reason, and as the fact of the door suddenly hurdling towards her face came to her feeble notice, a faint gasp escaped her in the moment the edge of the door hit her square in the face. Whoever was on the other side of the door gasped as they realised they'd hit her with the door, and as the force of the hit to the face sent her backwards hard enough to hit her head with a loud thud, the faintest of voices suddenly errupted as her vision blanked.
"Are you alright –?" Came a faintly familiar voice as the pain shot through her head in flickering shots, and white swirls danced in front of her closed eyes. The tiniest thoughts that passed through her mind as she slowly lost consciousness, was the cursing that her luck had been sucked up by fate once again.