Yeah, I know. It's been forever, right?I'm sorry about that. I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to do anything I've wanted. But of course there's not really enough good reasons for me to explain, so I hope you'll take my sincerest apologies. I hope there are still people who are interested in reading. Anyway, here is chapter Eleven, titled after a particular song by Bump Of Chicken - a really good song, I highly recommend it. This particular chapter doesn't have anything major in it, but it's still key to this story. I will have some more writing uploaded at the end of the week - if nothing else goes wrong. I like having a chat with people, so if you feel inclined, then feel free to message me about anything =). Now please enjoy, and let me know your thoughts, okay? Josaphina Sluik.
CHAPTER ELEVEN – Arue
Why was Lord Death placing so much attention into her? Serah wondered as she began to trudge up to the academy, touches of golden hues of sunset beginning to wash over everything within sight. The aqua tint to her glasses made everything look like a darker shade of brown, however her peripheral vision picked up the golden hues, making everything seem strange. Serah couldn't seem to understand why the Grim Reaper, who had over a hundred other students attending his academy, would spend so much time in helping her development into a fully fledged weapon. It didn't make any sense to her – she didn't have anything to do with his son, really, and she'd only been attending the academy recently – why was it that the Grim Reaper was giving her so much special attention, despite the fact that she was probably the most useless weapon in the whole of the academy.
A voice in the back of her head told her that this might be the reason; But why would that be? True, Serah wasn't actually recruited like many of the other students; She actually searched the Academy out of her own free will, and it was a miracle that Lord Death had immediately told her to make her way over. On that train of thought, Serah wondered if it was because of her mother; who happened to be a fully fledged weapon, who retired once she'd been born.
Three forms appeared into Serah's peripheral vision as she began to climb the last of the steps, snapping her out of her thought almost immediately. Because of her glasses, everything was darker than it should, and as Serah glanced up at who it was in front of her, she couldn't help but once again, feel awkward as she saw the forms of Liz, Patty, and Death the Kid. She prepared herself to just walk past, as she was certain they would do, but as Serah stepped slightly to the side and began to climb the steps again, she saw the Grim Reapers son actually look at her again.
"Good afternoon." He spoke, so suddenly that Serah was actually startled – However before she could even respond, or even react, she was already on the steps past him. She saw Liz smile slightly, Patty giggling away like normal, and as she actually looked back at the three, confusion began to settle in her mind – why the hell was Death The Kid suddenly saying hello to her? Biting down on her lip, Serah forced herself to get back to going to the Death Room – Afternoon classes were about to start, and as Serah forced herself to think of nothing else, she did begin to wonder who her teacher for Dance Lessons was. Even after all her slaving and working, and managing to teach herself through her subconscious how to swing her circlets from the chain, she couldn't stop that conversation about her class with Maka and Soul from creeping back into her mind. And chances were that she'd completely forget everything as soon as she woke up tomorrow morning.
So who would her teacher be? It certainly wasn't going to be Stein; While she didn't doubt his strangeness, she just couldn't pin him to be her teacher. Sid was certainly out of the question, and as Serah thought on one of the lady teachers, called Marie as she remembered, she just couldn't seem to believe that the woman who always complained about not having a boyfriend would be the one to teach her how to stop arguing with her body.
Serah's feet had lead her into the Academy before she even knew it, and as Serah looked up at a rather familiar door of late, she found herself momentarily frowning. She'd spent more time visiting the Death Room than her own home – Serah blinked slowly as she gently pushed the door open, to see two forms standing in the middle of the Death Room next to Lord Death's mirror; One of them was recogniseably Lord Death from the bouncing movements, but the other was a form that she most certainly didn't recognise. Blinking momentarily, Serah chose to continue on.
"Ah, Serah! How wonderful to see you!" Came the ever amusing voice belonging to Lord Death, causing Serah to smile slightly. "You know you're early today?"
"Uh, no – I'm sorry!" Serah spoke, smiling sheepishly as she picked up the pace a little. The person standing beside Lord Death was a young woman, scarcely older than Serah herself – she wondered if this was the person to be teaching her? The young woman stood at a height a fair bit taller than Serah herself, with short, messy sunshine-blonde hair and a pair of chocoloate brown eyes set in a rather angled face. Her clothes were a pair of black skinny jeans and a black hoodie; Serah certainly didn't know what sort of person was standing before her, but she guessed she was about to find out.
"It's no problem! In fact, I'm glad you came in early!" Serah remained silent as she came to a halt a few paces in front of the Grim Reaper and the young woman, her eyes shifting from one, to the other, then back again.
"Ah, so you must be the young weapon I'd heard so much about." The young woman spoke, her voice rather upbeat and spunky, which caused Serah to blink momentarily. "I'm Amanda Morrison – I'm gonna be your tutor for these replacement classes of yours; Nice to meet you."
"Y-yes!" Serah spoke, blinking nervously as she glanced at Lord Death momentarily. "It's nice to meet you, too."
"Amanda used to be one of our Weapons in the academy quite a few years ago, so I'm sure you'll be able to learn a lot from her." Serah blinked, looking back at Lord Death as Amanda giggled slightly.
"Yeah, yeah. An academy drop-out." Amanda spoke, and Serah remained silent as the young woman looked back at her. "So you all ready to go?" Serah merely nodded as she glanced at Lord Death momentarily – she was wondering if this was some kinda joke or something – but by the way Lord Death bounced like normal, and how casually the whole situation was panning out, Serah had to assume that things were right on track.
"Then you two should get right to it!" Lord Death suddenly spoke, causing Serah to blink momentarily. "The room is still locked, however – Did I give you the key, Amanda?"
"Yep, all good. Catcha tomorrow!" Amanda spoke, and Serah was left a little confused, however, just as Amanda began to head off, Serah looked back to Lord Death.
"B-Bye Lord Death." She spoke, beginning to follow Amanda's disappearing form.
"Bye! Have fun!" Lord Death spoke, his voice just as bouncy as ever – Serah had a hard time making sure she didn't lose track of what was going on. Jogging to actually catch up with Amanda, Serah blinked momentarily as she saw that the young woman was already at the door, and she was waiting for her.
"S-sorry!" Serah spoke, her feet sliding on the floor slightly as she slowed down, causing Amanda to smile for some reason.
"Don't worry about it. So, you're having fun here?" Amanda questioned, causing Serah to blink momentarily – they began to head off, though Serah was a little confused as Amanda took a corridor Serah'd never gone down before.
"Yeah, kinda." Serah answered, looking around carefully – the glasses were doing strange things to her vision, of course, so she had to make sure she knew where she was going and all that. "It's more or less just sitting in class all day taking down notes …"
"Ah, I see." Serah heard Amanda say in a somewhat knowing tone of voice, and as she looked back to the young woman in mention, she was a little surprised to see that she was standing in front of a door Serah didn't actually recognise offhand. Blinking momentarily as she tried to think, Serah stopped just next to Amanda, who seemed to be smiling to herself as she fiddled with the lock on the door – why was the door locked anyway? The key in her hand didn't seem to be working all that much either.
"So … why'd you leave the Academy?" Serah couldn't help but ask, and she saw Amanda smile at her for just a moment.
"That's a bit of a personal question, considering we've just met." Amanda spoke, a humerous tone in her voice as the lock finally opened, and Serah was left a little surprised. She didn't realise there'd been a personal reason from the way Amanda and Lord Death had spoken – but that went momentarily frowned upon, as Serah realised Lord Death was scarcely anything but bouncing and happy, and not the very least bit careful with particular words – at least appearingly anyway.
"I'm sorry." Serah spoke, and she took to watching as Amanda opened the door and pocketed the lock.
"Forget about it – it's nothing." Amanda spoke, and as she walked into the room, Serah hesitantly looked inside. The room inside turned out to be a room practically identical to the classroom that Serah sat in every day, except for two things – the rows of benches and seats were absent from this room, and there was no bench where the lecturer usually stood at the front of the class – it was just one giant, open room with the same walls and blackboard as the other classroom.
"S-so ..." Serah began, looking back at Amanda over at the opposite side of the room as she seemed tp remove her black hoodie jumper and place it on the floor next to a previously overlooked bag. A red tank-top contrasted against the woman's tanned, and athletic form noticeably. Serah blinked momentarily, slightly envious of the way Amanda's skin didn't sag in the places her own skin did. "What're we starting with tonight?"
"Nothing, yet." Amanda spoke, straightening up and turning to face Serah. She fidgited slightly at the woman's answer. "You're still recovering from injuries you got on an extra lesson, right? It's not a good start to overwork the body during the healing process. Just a few stretches, and a little excersise."
"Oh." Serah spoke, watching as the woman took a seat just beneath the blackboard. "So … what're we doing then?"
"Have you eaten yet?"Amanda questioned, ignoring Serah's question it seemed – however she wasn't sure. Taking to shaking her head slightly, she saw a smirk creep across Amanda's face as she reached over towards her bag she'd brought. "Cool, then it's totally fine if you share with me."
"U-uh, I think I'm-" Serah began, however she fell silent as Amanda just laughed.
"Come on, if you're worried about gaining weight, you'll work it off later." Amanda teased, however Serah remained hesitant for just a moment, biting her bottom lip as she watched the strange, blonde woman.
"A-actually … that's what I really was worried about." She replied, however, she obeyed as Amanda patted the floor just next to her for a moment. Sitting down against the wall just next to Amanda, Serah frowned just momentarily as a large mug of what looked to be a potato and chicken soup was placed in her hands.
"You did strike me as one of those girls who'd fret over a few grams." Amanda spoke, laughing slightly as she poured herself a mug of the soup. Serah avoided the reaction of frowning in response to Amanda's statement, staring down at the soup as she remained silent. "Its better to eat something before training like this – You don't end up wearing yourself out so fast. It's also good for concentration." Amanda spoke, taking a rather large gulp of the soup as Serah looked up at the windows over on the far wall. The warmth from the soup was flowing into her hands, making the cuts beneath her bandages sting slightly. However it was more of an ebbing feeling, moreso than a sharp jolt of pain. This really wasn't what Serah'd imagined 'Dance Lessons' to start off like.
"Can I ask you a question?" Amanda's voice cut in through Serah's train of thought, causing her to look at the blonde woman after a moment. She seemed to have an amused look across her face, however she was still fussing with her soup-items.
"Y-yes."
"You're in the same class as Lord Death's Son, right?"
"You mean, Death The Kid?" Serah spoke – it wasn't really a question, but more of a statement. Amanda seemed to blink in surprise, before she laughed to herself.
"So that's his name? Kinda weird." Amanda commented, looking back at Serah after another gulp of her soup. "I was just wondering if he's as weird as I've heard. Like, obsessed with crazy stuff? He was probably something like eight when I was going to the academy, so I've never met him."
"Yeah." Serah answered without too much hesitation, leaning back against the wall as she finally took a sip of the soup Amanda'd given her. "He's obsessed with Symmetry – to the point where he'd fall to pieces if any form of symmetry was ruined. I've even seen him burst into tears in class over it." Serah explained, a sigh escaping her as she took another sip of the soup – There was no way she couldn't notice it when it happened – after all, if one considered the seating arrangement … "He's a lunatic – There's no other way I can put it."
"Oh." Was all Amanda seemed to say, as if she was rather surprised by Serah's answer. Serah remained silent, her gaze tracing the floor before her as she sat through this akward silence that had suddenly decided to descend upon them. "So ..." Amanda began, placing her soup items onto the floor after a few moments. "You're glasses – do you actually need them to see?"
"No." Serah answered, letting out a breath as she leant forward slightly. "They're just for reading, but I leave them on cause I'm usually reading something."
"Good." Amanda spoke, stretching slightly as she placed her cup down on the floor next to her. "You won't be needing contact lenses for this."
"But I feel more comfortable wearing them." Serah hedged, seeing Amanda smile slightly as she rose to her feet.
"Would you like to fork out a couple hundred dollars every week just to get them replaced?" Amanda asked, causing a frown to creep across Serah's face. Most certainly not, this pair wasn't even a day old! "I didn't think so."
"So … how long are these classes going to run anyway?" Serah asked, watching as Amanda stepped into the middle of the open room. She saw the blonde woman begin to stretch after a moment, blinking momentarily as she guessed she probably should start following suit.
"Three hours every day – you'll be home after eight every night. But today you're with me for about an hour." Amanda explained, causing Serah to quickly drink the rest of her soup, before she rose to her feet. She carefully removed her glasses, setting them on top of her bag as she heard the faint cracking of joints from where Amanda was standing. "If you're not one for late dinners, you might want to bring something with you – I usually bring soup with me whenever I'm doing something like this."
"Okay." Serah spoke, watching the strange woman as she began to bend backwards to stretch her back muscles – Though she didn't do the same; Knowing Serah's luck, she might fall over and crack her head on the floor.
"Oh, and you'll want to just wear a pair of shorts and a tank top – no tights or nothing, got it?" Amanda added, causing Serah to flinch – No tights? How was she going to hide her sagging skin if she wasn't allowed to wear them!
"Why's that?" Serah managed to ask, causing Amanda to look at her after a moment.
"Cause you'll be working up a sweat, and believe me, you don't wanna walk home with sweaty tights." Amanda replied simply, causing Serah to pout to herself. It made sense … but she'd rather deal with sweaty tights than saggy skin for show. "Anyway, since you're up, we should get started so you can head home sooner." Serah slowly nodded, biting down on her bottom lip as Amanda turned around so she was facing her.
This certainly wasn't how she expected Dance lessons to start off like.