"But I don't wanna go to Nevada!" Damian whined, lazing on my bed while I shoved things carelessly into my bag.
"Tough! I gotta go, so you do too." I snapped.
"Ugh, it's in two years! Why did they have to announce it! Why do I-I mean we have to leave now?" John ranted. "We could still be blissfully ignorant, and not catching a 4 AM plane."
"Thanks for the compassion." I rolled my eyes.
My friends were not sympathetic ones. Back at the Gathering, I had to dance with Emo boy-with everyone staring at me. And while the entire compilation of Forces were watching me and my, er…him(I still couldn't say the word that began with 'f' and ended with a fancy 'é'), what did they do? They made funny faces and tried to make me laugh! Some might say they were trying to cheer me up, but really, they were just plain ol' making fun of me. My mom could have mistaken my half-smiles for happiness and erased all possibility of calling the wedding off!
"Huh. So really, where are we going?" Damian asked. "Canada might be nice this time of year. I can change my name to John!"
"Shut up, Damian."
"We're not going to leave the country."
"So… Wales?"
"No, I mean we're not running away. We're going to Nevada. Mom wants me to get to know him…" I sighed. "And you know what she said, about the world going sideways… I've kinda got to."
"With emo boy? Seriously?"
I gritted my teeth. "Yeah. Emo boy."
"You know his name is Death the Kid, right?"
"Oh, because 'Death the Kid' isn't emo-sounding at all." Damian snorted.
"Point taken."
"It IS an odd-looking sort of place, ain't it?" Adam said, wrinkling his nose against the desert dust. "What happens when the candles are lit? Does the wax drip everywhere, and then they have to replace it with new giant candles? Mighty inconvenient."
"YAH-HOO!"
"Wha?" I looked about blankly. "You hear something?"
"Nope."
"Huh? What are we talking about now?"
"I kinda feel like I'm being watched or something, though."
"Hahaha! Watch and shake with fear of-"
"I'm sure I heard something."
"Just now?"
"Uh…guys? Might have something to do with the talking speck up there." Mary pointed, and sure enough, there was a tiny dot on the tipetty-top of the roof.
"What the bloody hell are they doing?"
"Is it a suicide?" John asked, squinting.
"Ooh! JUMP! JUMP!" Damian and Leah began to chant.
"Huh. He actually did it." Isaac said with faint surprise. "Can we be held liable for this in America?"
We all watched, our gaze following the dot as it fell through the air.
But instead of corpse crashing lifeless to the cobblestone, it turned out to be a boy, who landed perfectly on his feet.
…
"Well that was lame." Damian pouted, obviously hoping for…something else.
I had to question my choice in partners sometimes. Hm.
"I am the AMAZING BLACK STAR!" The boy said triumphantly, obviously proud of his landing.
"Oh, you're here to show us around?" John asked. "We got bloody lost last time we were here.
"Idiot! Why would I waste my time doing that? I am the man who will surpass god!"
"…So…you're not here to show us around?"
"Which one of you is the new god that's dared to enroll in my school!" Black Star belted, ignoring him.
"Uh…we're all kind of…uh…" Adam trailed off… "Is that your natural hair color?"
Black Star ignored the question, but must have heard him, because he replied,
"Oh I get it! Fine, I'll take you ALL on! I challenge you to a duel!"
What? No slap with a white glove?
We all exchanged glances. Did they put something in the water out here, or were we the crazy ones for being sane?
"We're no one. Please ignore us, oh mighty smiter." John pointed to himself and Damian before flashing us a peace sign. "Have fun."
"Come on, who's first! Or do you cowards wanna all come at me at once! Because I'll take you down anyways!"
"Um…" We all immediately stepped back, save Adam, who wasn't paying attention.
"YA-HOO! All right! You wanna go first! Bring it!" Black Star said enthusiastically.
I'm telling you, if we could take his hot-bloodedness and turn it into fuel, no car would ever be short on energy. How did he project his voice like that without hurting himself? Did he take lessons from the sun?
"Er…right. We'll just…let you two get to it, then, and we'll be…waiting inside." Damian clasped my shoulders and steered the rest of us in as the fighting commenced.
We were all rather tired and irritable, having to travel so much in one week. It had really started to occur to me how this was real, and not, in fact, a weird dream I was having after eating Leah's cooking.
"Damian. I'm pretty sure we're not allowed to eat in here." Mary pointed, leaning on one arm.
"Really?" Damian's eyes darted for the exit. "Guess I'll just have to go-"
"Sit down." John tugged him back into his seat. "Ugh, I just know this is going to end with me doing all your homework."
"I'd be very indebted to you." Damian said hopefully.
John wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Screw you. I've owned your soul since the third grade, big damn difference that made."
I rolled my eyes as students began to pour in. Spotting a very bruised-up Adam and a laughing Leah, who had stayed to watch the fight, I waved them over.
"How'd it go?" I asked.
"He did okay." Leah giggled, "but that kid wasn't entirely all talk. Adam's gonna take forever to heal."
"Who won?" Isaac asked.
"Can't really thay." Adam said, spitting some blood into a tissue to rid himself of his lisp, "Class started, so with weapon made him stop while Leah made me stop. I would've won."
Leah scoffed. "He threw you into a wall."
"If I was using my powers, he'd be a corpse." Adam snapped, spitting out more blood.
"So you're stronger…but a worse fighter. Interesting."
I cut off the argument. "So did he punch you in the mouth or something?"
Leah barely suppressed snickers. "He totally bit his tongue by accident."
Wow.
"...Isaac." I said, tilting back in my seat to lean closer to him, as he was in the isle above me, "How long do you think we can go pretending not to know them?"
Isaac shook his head. "I've tried for thirteen years. I don't think it can be done."
Brilliant.
"Uh, hi. You're the new students?" I looked up to see a girl with two pigtails standing over the seat next to me.
"Yeah, that's us. You can call me L.J." I smiled. "What's your name?"
"Maka Albarn."
"I don't suppose there's any relation between you and the idiot who hit on my mom at the Gathering?"
Maka's face turned slightly sour. "That's my good-for-nothing father. Please ignore him."
"Will do, it's the same thing with those two." I pointed at Damian and Leah, who were fighting over a pencil. "Never met them."
Maka smiled. "So where's your partner?"
I pointed to John proudly before reluctantly pointing to Damian. "They're not as useless as they look, I promise."
Maka laughed (though she sounded unsure if she should be laughing or not) and took a seat. "I'd introduce you to Soul, but he's not here yet. He might be helping Black Star to the nurse's office."
"Oh. Do fights happen often here?" I asked.
"Uh…yeah, I guess so." Maka nodded. "Did they at your school?"
"Well, on occasion." I said thoughtfully. "But just sparring, for training, I mean. We went on missions too, though."
In truth, most of the kids at the Institute all had dual personalities. It really wasn't so much a school as it was an agency that happened to have classes in it. When we weren't being professional and doing our jobs, we spent more time partying than fighting. But I mean, could you punch the guy who brought his own keg? I think not.
"Hey, weren't you at the Gathering too? Helping out?" I asked, it suddenly occurring to me.
"Oh, yeah." Maka nodded, looking away for a moment.
"So…you saw…" I said faintly, drumming the ringed finger on the desk.
Saw what? Oh, not me getting married off. Not me freaking out at an important dinner party. Not me trying not to burst out laughing while dancing with the Death God's son because my friends are idiots. Not me spilling champagne into Mary's turkey (which I also did. And she didn't notice until she saw us laughing, either).
"…Kid's a really great guy, you know." She said after a moment. "He's smart, takes good care of Liz and Patti, plus he's really dependable-"
"Unless he realizes he forgot to fold a napkin back home." I said under my breath. "Look it's really nothing to do with him. Nothing personal. But see…it's just the whole situation. You could probably tell that the announcement kind of shook me-What's wrong?"
Up till now, Maka had been giving me an odd sort of look.
"Uh, hey can I ask a question?"
"Sure." I sat up, thankful to no longer have to talk about my 'feelings'.
"Your soul-"
The door suddenly burst open, causing me to jump.
"Is the teacher here?" I asked, changing the subject. "Hope he's not the type for awkward introductions."
I don't think I could handle standing before a class that knew me only as "that chick who's Life's daughter and is marrying Em-I mean, Kid, and tell them things about myself that they didn't care about.
A man covered in cuts and stitches spun in on a rotating office chair before hitting a piece of lint and toppling to the floor.
"Fail…" Damian smirked under his breath.
"Tell me that isn't-"
"That's him." Maka answered me. "He's, uh… actually really brilliant."
"Huh." I watched the man flip back into his chair without using his arms. "How did he get that up the stairs...?"
"Good morning class! Now today, we are fortunate to have some new students!" He said gleefully, the amount of happiness in his voice somehow managing to make me shiver. "I'm Doctor Stein. Why don't you introduce yourselves?"
'That can't be his real name.' I thought, watching the light catch his glasses creepily as he flashed the kind of smile you see in horror movies. 'Then again…'
"Uh, I'm L.J.?" Why did that come out as a question? "These are my weapons, John and Damian."
"I'm Adam, this is Leah."
"I'm Mary."
"Isaac."
There was a rustling, and when I looked up, Stein was holding some papers in my face.
"Sign right there." He said, handing them out to my friends and I.
"Uh…what are these?" Isaac asked, holding his curiously.
"Just some standard release forms. You know, regarding insurance, field trips, any dissectingofyouduringyourstay-" He spoke so fast at the end; I had to do a double take.
"What."
"Ah. Sir? John and I aren't even Godlings." Damian spluttered, looking at his paper in terror.
"No? Well I'm sure your vital organs will be most beneficial to my research anyways."
Bam.
"Um, sir?" Isaac raised his hand. "…He's fainted."
Wow. And then my forehead got reacquainted with my palms.
"So Maka and Soul are the ones next door who are always shouting." I explained, stepping into our new apartment.
"Eh. Well having our own place is still cool." John shrugged.
"Yeah…but it doesn't change why…why we're here." I said, slowly sinking into the newly un-wrapped couch.
"Right…have you heard anymore about the wedding?" Isaac asked.
"I'm- we're- him and I are supposed to go meet a wedding planner sometime. Even though it's two damn yearsfrom now. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do after the wedding, though."
"Well, you're not going to stay in Death City after the honeymoon, are you?" Leah asked.
I froze.
"What?" Leah glanced about. "What'd I say?"
Personally, I'd been referring to my life with Kid after the wedding but a…a…
"H-honeymoon?"
"Well, yeah. I just assumed-"
"Honeymoon." I said again to myself, my heart going numb.
"Hey, Soul, you hear something?" Black Star was walking down the hill from DWMA.
"What's that little speck?" Soul pointed to a tiny black dot that was quickly moving farther and farther away from Death City. "I hear it too…"
"AAAAAAaaaaaaah!"
"Is this really necessary?" I asked, tugging at the metallic band now clasped around my wrist.
So I had sprinted, screaming and waving my arms around like a mad, escaped convict from prison before finally being tracked down, and dragged (kicking and screaming) back. I'm not afraid to admit it. Because technically, no one told me I couldn't!
"You tried to run away from Death City, into the desert, on foot." Dr. Stein chuckled, fiddling with the bracelet with a screwdriver. "The barren wasteland out there aside, there are forces out there who do wish you harm, and we're responsible for you during your stay here. Your mother left explicit instructions that you shouldn't leave unattended. I won't bore you with the details, but basically, with this on, this afternoon's incident shouldn't be happening again."
"Do I want to know?"
"Eh…I guess not."
"Great." I sighed, hopping off my chair. "Whoa!"
The weight of the bracelet sent me crashing to the floor.
"Ow."
"Hm…"
'Hm?' That's the best he's got for me? 'Hm?'
"Perhaps the alloy is too heavy."
"Perhaps." I grunted from the floor. "Just leave me here. Build a grave around me. It's totally fine."
"Don't be silly." Stein said, shuffling around through his cupboards, "Though if that's how you feel, I have more release form-"
And odd growl emanated from my throat as I struggled to lift up my hand.
"What else have to got for me?"
"Well, that is made of a lighter metal. It's newer, too."
"That is a collar." I said flatly, my eyes narrowing.
I don't care how scary he is! I'll take him down if he even tries to put that thing on me- I bet it'll make my head explode if I cross the bloody border!
"I created it to keep track of some coyotes I worked on. It's the same principle."
Excuse me! The same? My ass.
…And what does he mean by 'worked on?'
"Look on the bright side. You'll be symmetrical."
I glared at him so fiercely; I thought I could make him burst into flames. But no, he was totally immune. Even his grin stayed perfectly in place.
"You find this all hilariously entertaining, don't you?" I accused.
But he just kept on humming, as if that'd make him any more innocent, or that smile any less creepy.
Longest chapter yet! Don't ask where my inspiration for this weird story line comes from, but EVERYTHING has a purpose. Totally swearing it.
