Prompt: Forget, moonlight, shadow
Series: D.Gray Man
Rating: Probably closer to T for violence.
Characters: Kanda and Mugen
Comments: It gets darker here. Will try to lighten up. If possible. Speculations on Mugen's backstory. Pure speculation, but then again, the idea that Mugen is sentient is once again speculation since I do not own D.Gray Man.
He's tossing in bed, trying to sleep. Trying to forget what he remembers. Its ridiculous, the memories aren't even his. But still. They haunt him.
The room smells of the forge - flame, smoke and sweat. The tang of hot metal is heavy on the otherwise still air. The embers of the forge glow darkly, barely illuminating the pale girl. Though no more than a child herself, she is clothed in light leather armor. Her gear is bloodstained and her life pumps from a crimson gash where her last enemy almost gutted her before she returned the favor. Reclining in a hastily cobbled together nest of old sheets laid over hay, she waits for the next phase, as calmly as possible. As befitting of her status as the youngest assassin of the clan to be named an elite.
He doesn't dare mindtouch the spirit in the sword beside him. She is silent. Presumably asleep. As he should have been. If he wasn't busy living her nightmares. The lotus glows dimly on his table, illuminating the clock just behind it, reminding him that he's still in his room, and not in any form of forge, and that it's still the middle of the night. Which should leave him plenty of time to rest when he does get to sleep.
The blade is withdrawn from the fire, blazing. Sparks fly as molten metal is forged into steel. It makes a sizzling sound as it is quenched in the trough.
"It is time."
"Yes, father." She whispers, trying to keep her voice steady. It would not be seemly to be seen to be afraid now.
He's seen the next part before, muscles tensing in a recollection of pain. Despite everything, he's still quite baffled at his body's reaction. After all, it's not like he's not experienced it before. What with having fought so many battles. If he could count the number of times he's been slashed... This, however, is different somehow and it shakes him to his shoes every single time he's been lived through it.
Perhaps because it's been magnified in the memory of a child. Which just goes to show that all this is really her fault. In any case, it's too late now for the flashback to be stopped. All he can do is to grit his teeth to stop himself from crying out when the inevitable does happen.
Even then, it doesn't keep him from spasming involuntarily as the blade plunges into him. Then, with a curious little mental wrench, the pain disappears.
Moonlight glints darkly off the bloodied blade. Dispassionately, she gazes at the broken shell she once inhabited from within her new body. It's hard to feel anything when the bits you need to feel with are cooling rapidly a few inches away.
A hint of nostalgia is all that remains for the time when she was once a human. No more.
With that, the memory sinks back into lurk in darkness of his sword's subconscious. Not for the first time since these little episodes started happening, he finds himself wishing that Mugen had a happier childhood.