Shipwrecked
***Author's Note***
Hi guys! If you read my first Soul Eater story, All I Want For Christmas Is You, then you know I've been writing fanfictions for a challenge with one of my friends. We tied on the one shot Christmas challenge, so now we're each writing a chapter story. The theme is shipwreck, but we both have very different takes on it. I hope you guys enjoy my entry!
***I do not own Soul Eater or any part of it. Mel is my OC, so I own her and this story.
The cruise was actually turning out a lot better than expected. I sat with Kid on the edge of the ship's Sun Deck pool. The skin on his exposed torso looked especially pale in the sun. It wasn't very often Kid wore anything other than his favorite black suit, but he was currently shirtless with a pair of black swim trunks. His training and almost constant missions had left him toned and muscular in a lean way. I looked skeletal in comparison in my modest royal blue one piece. I was way too shy to wear a bikini around my friends, or even around my boyfriend. If I had worn one, the scar on my back would have complimented the one on Soul's chest. Thankfully my waist-length blonde hair at least concealed the old one on my head.
The others were enjoying various vacation activities in separate parts of the ship. Liz and Patty had gone to investigate the salon on the fourth floor, Black Star and Soul had hit the ice cream bar for the third time today, Maka was curled up with one of the books she brought somewhere she thought Soul wouldn't find her, and Tsubaki had gone to attend a towel origami class. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about our worries back at home. Well, everyone except Kid.
His face looked troubled and he glared at the turquoise pool water in a quiet sort of rage. For the millionth time I wished I could get inside his head and find some way to soothe his angry thoughts.
"Earth to Kid?" I waved my hand in front of his vision hoping humor would bring him out of his daze. "I don't know where you've flown off to, but I can't find you anywhere on this planet."
He blinked a few times to get rid of the glaze across his eyes. He turned to me and said, "What? I'm sorry. I've missed what you said."
So I guess jokes aren't going to help.
I sighed and took his hand. "I know you're worried, but there's not a whole lot we can do to help your father right now." I squeezed his hand. "Lord Death wouldn't have sent us away if he thought it wasn't the best thing to do."
He looked up at me, his eyebrows drawn. I continued, "The thing that would help the most right now is to take our minds off of the battle for a few days. Then when we get back we will be totally rejuvenated. You might even get to finish off one of the witches yourself! Then Liz and Patty will be ready to become your Death Scythes."
He smiled meekly, "Not enough souls for that yet."
I laughed. "How many are you at?"
"Two." He smirked.
I mirrored his expression. "Wow," I said sarcastically, "Very fitting for a Shinigami."
"Well, what can I say? That asymmetrical bastard had it coming." He laughed remembering how he had accidentally destroyed the pyramid of Anubis on one of his symmetry fits. "He made me violently ill."
"Oh, and I suppose he made you lose all the souls you and the girls worked so hard to get?" I taunted.
He laughed again and splashed me with water. I retaliated by splashing him, and next thing I knew Kid had pushed me headfirst into the pool. When I surfaced he dove gracefully in beside me, always my perfectionist. He surfaced next to me and smiled cheekily. I laughed and swatted his head playfully. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and talking about everything we could think of besides the things worrying us.
At five o'clock we went back to our rooms to get changed for dinner. We all had to share our small rooms so I was bunking with Maka and Tsubaki. Since there are five girls and four boys, Liz and Patty had a room to themselves due to the lack of space in the girls' room. All four boys had to bunk together, but the only one who really minded was Crona who was used to being alone. The boys let him have whichever bed he wanted, though, so he's handled it surprisingly well since then.
Liz had loaned me one of her old dresses to wear to dinner tonight because she wanted us all to dress up and treat it like a special occasion. I found it on my bed when I got back to the room. It was really beautiful. Wine red with a sweetheart neckline and a flared skirt. The fabric was smooth and soft against my skin as I put it on. Maka and Tsubaki entered the room as I was examining myself in the mirror.
"Wow," Tsubaki exclaimed softly. "You look beautiful, Mel."
Maka smiled and threw her book on her bed. "I can't wait to see Kid's face when he sees you in that dress."
I blushed redder than the fabric. "Thanks, you guys." I looked down at my feet and put a hand to my shoulder. "Do you think I should wear a jacket to cover up my shoulders? I feel like I'm showing a little too much –"
"NO!" came the reply.
"Don't change at thing!" Maka added. I smiled sheepishly and turned back to the mirror, still feeling odd and pretty at the same time. I decided I didn't look too terribly immodest and I set about working on my hair.
The three of us got ready together. Maka selected a pretty black tea length dress from her suitcase and Tsubaki decided to wear a floor length green dress. I thought they looked incredible. When we were done we met Liz and Patty at their room next door. Liz was wearing a short black dress with sky high heels. She looked great, but I had no idea how she was going to walk all the way to dinner in those shoes. (I was having trouble just in my short pumps.) Patty even dressed up for the occasion. She wore a bubble gum pink party dress and carried a giraffe print purse.
Liz grinned and gave me a thumbs up when she saw me. "Looking hot, Mel." I just blushed and smiled at my feet, not knowing what to say. Everyone was dressed beautifully. It felt so special.
We met the boys outside of the ship's evening restaurant on the Promenade Deck. I was so excited and nervous I couldn't even look at Kid so I busied myself by taking note of how everyone else looked. Soul was wearing his black and gray striped suit with a blood red shirt and a black tie. He looked very handsome, but my favorite part was his expression upon seeing Maka. I could have sworn his cheeks turned red when he saw her in her black gown. His jaw dropped momentarily, but he quickly became embarrassed and looked away.
Black Star was dressed in a simple black suit and wore a blue dress shirt to match his hair. His tie was messily fastened around his neck, but he was grinning from ear to ear as he laid eyes on his partner. He crossed his arms over his chest and greeted her, 'Hey Tsubaki!" She beamed back at him and said happily, "Black Star, you look great!" to which he replied something about how big guys always have to look their best, but I had already turned my attention to Crona and didn't catch his comment. Crona wore a too-big all white suit, but he looked like he'd never been happier in his life. He smiled sweetly and blushed when Maka ran over to hug him and coo over how nice he looked.
My eyes finally met Kid's. I didn't even notice what he was wearing because his golden eyes were looking right into mine and he was blushing and – oh my gosh I just about melted because he looked so adorable when he blushed. And so I blushed, too. I'm pretty sure my whole face turned beet red. That must've looked great with Liz's dress.
I took my eyes away from his hoping to cool down the heat in my cheeks, but it was no use because he looked incredible in his suit. It wasn't the one he usually wore, but a solid black one paired with an even blacker (if that was even possible) dress shirt and a gold colored tie which drew my attention back up to his gold colored eyes.
Kid walked over to me and took me by the waist. "Melody," he said almost in awe, "you look absolutely beautiful."
"And so do you," I said. Oh man, did I really just say that? I stuttered, embarrassed, "I-I meant, handsome! You look really handsome Kid!" And then my face probably turned a shade redder. Great.
Kid just laughed and took my face in his hands. He leaned in and kissed me. I closed my eyes as I kissed him back and put my arms around his neck. His lips were so soft and it felt incredible to be in his arms. We'd been dating for almost a year now and I still got butterflies each and every time his lips were on mine.
Someone cleared their throat and we broke apart beaming at each other. My arms were still around Kid's neck and he let his hands drop to my waist. Then I looked around to see all of seven pairs of eyes on us, and I childishly released my arms from his neck and buried my face in his shirt to hide yet another blush. Kid kissed the top of my head and I smiled against his chest.
.
.
.
That night I had the same nightmare I'd been having for two years. It was the one that detailed where and how I got my powers.
It happened about eight or nine years ago now when I was just a little kid, but I still remembered it in vivid detail that would manifest again and again when I fell asleep at night. The dream always started with me sitting on the floor of my room at in Professor Stein's lab, back when he was insane long before the DWMA took him in. I sat with my back against the metal frame of my bed. My head was stuffed awkwardly between my knees. I could hear Stein rummaging around for tools in another room. He set each one down with a clang on the pristine operating table. As his child, his little frail daughter, I knew the sound of his dissection preparations well. And I knew these tools were intended for me.
I shook as my body remembered the pain of dozens of "operations" my father had given me without putting me to sleep. I reached up to feel the stitches on the side of my shaved head where he had cut to get a look inside my brain.
I kept listening to Stein fish around his lab looking for materials. Finally I heard the rummaging stop and his footsteps came steadily closer to my room. A sob escaped my lips and I shook more violently. Stein opened my door loudly letting it bang against the wall a few times before entering my room. I didn't move; I just sat there and shook.
Stein's mad eyes darted all over the room. He had a stupid grin plastered on his face and he adjusted the knob in his head. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to my feet laughing maniacally when I began to beat his arm with by little fist. Tears streamed down my dirty face and I went unwillingly with the mad scientist into the operation room. Stein picked me up and shoved me down to the operating table so my back was facing up. He pinned me down with one arm and fastened my appendages to the table with his free hand.
I with my head twisted to my left, I could see a tray of messily arranged tools on the counter across the room. A scalpel glinted cruelly in the harsh fluorescent light. Stein went to the metal counter and selected this one along with a thick black marker and a pair of scissors. The room was blurry through my tears. I stared at his stitched lab coat and sobbed.
Stein turned his attention back to me. He cut my thin shirt away with the scissors so that he could work freely on my back. I felt the cold edge of the tool graze my skin and I shivered. Next there was the friction of the marker on my skin, outlining where the first cuts would be. I heard Stein set the marker down and a sense of dread overcame me when I realized which tool he would have next. A blade was softly placed against my skin where the marker had been. Stein placed one of his hands on another area on my back for support.
And then he cut.
The dream shifted to a new scene. This time I was older, maybe thirteen. The operation had been a success. Stein had fused mutant DNA from one of his past experiments with the bone marrow in my spine. This enabled me to heal and grow bones at an enhanced rate. I could heal a bad break in a matter of minutes and a fracture almost instantly. I should know, Stein had tested this and timed it.
I was back in my room, sitting on the floor in the same position I had been in years ago just before that operation. Only this time my thoughts were full of plans and ideas. I had the same gift my father had for intelligence, and I intended to use that gift to escape from him. That's what I was thinking about when Stein entered my room. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice him until he had grabbed my arm and begun to haul me out of the room. I screamed, thinking we were going back to his lab for another procedure, but instead we went out the front doors of the lab into the outside. The sun hurt my eyes differently than the fluorescent lights and it seemed to scorch my bleached white skin. In contrast to the warmth, the subtle wind chilled me all over.
"Experiment number four thousand, five hundred and sixty one…" Stein muttered under his breath. "..Patient number twelve…"
What kind of experiment was this going to be? Where were his tools? Stein let go of my arm roughly and shoved me, causing me to fall face first on the ground. I felt his heavy boot on my back. He muttered something else that I couldn't make out and then laughed crazily which made his foot shake along with the rest of him. He lifted his foot and I tried to get up, but he slammed it down hard knocking the wind out of me. I coughed and gasped for air. He kicked me hard in the side. He kicked me again and again. Pain shot up my side and exploded all throughout my body. Each time his foot found its mark I gasped for breath and a fresh set of tears streamed onto my cheeks.
Kick.
Kick.
Kick.
I sobbed uncontrollably.
Another kick.
Kick.
Enough.
That's what I screamed as my spine shot through my back in hard spikes, puncturing Stein's thick boot.
And that's where I woke up.
Maka was shaking me, trying to get me to snap out of it and also to stop screaming. Tsubaki leaned over the bed, her face the picture of concern.
"Mel, wake up! Wake up!" Maka cried as she shook me.
I stopped screaming and fell into my friend's arms. I cried and thanked everything good in the world I was out of that damn lab and away from that madman. Maka stroked my hair and shushed me, but I couldn't calm down. That was the most vivid the dream had ever been before, but it was also the shortest. Usually I make it through my escape from the lab, and then it would jump ahead to just a few months ago when I discover Lord Death had asked Stein to come teach at the DWMA. With that now fresh on my mind, I cried harder as Maka held me. I heard her muffled voice tell Tsubaki to go get Kid.