"Return from beyond the grave to walk amongst the living once more" The young necromancer commanded."Come forth to serve your new master. Break the bonds of death and serve"
"Serve as kishen."
Life seemed to fill the corpse as its eyes opened for the first time since death. Stepping out of the recently dug up coffin it approached the witch, bowing before the one who had returned him to the ranks of the living.
"Master."It groaned, speaking for the first time in over a hundred years.
The dark haired witch felt immense satisfaction at her long last mastery over the art of reviving and commanding the dead, raising her hand in a grand sweeping gesture."Rise my minion. Rise and carry out my bidding."She demanded.
"Yes… My master."It obeyed.
"Good."She assessed, pleased."Now join the others with digging up all the graves."
"As my master commands."It agreed, exiting the abandoned church to join the other corpses in the graveyard.
Good, it was all going exactly as planned. Just as she was told it would. She had had her doubts about it but now it seemed they were in vain. She would reanimate the dead and use them as she saw fit. As a necromancer it was her right to use the dead. It was her gift and she wouldn't forsake it and hide away from the DWMA like a child, no, not anymore. Now they would be the one cowering in fear before her might.
"Bring in the next one Garik."She ordered Garik, the leader of her honor guard, and one of the few living people she knew.
"Right away, Lady Morena" He saluted, exiting to lead the newly resurrected cadavers into the church with the coffin.
Yes, all according to plan. With her new army of kishen her days of living in fear of others and her gift would finally be over. Harnessing her power she prepared to repeat the resurrection spell once again.
She'd prove her worth to Arachnophobia, and then fear would be a thing of the past.
Just like mother told her so.
A sudden jolt woke Lance up from his sleep. The unknown substance he had been using as a pillow suddenly disappeared, letting his head fall into nothingness.
Opening his eyes Lance noticed that everyone was up and about, talking about tactics and preparing for the upcoming skirmish. Lance was just starting to rub the sleep out of his eyes when he felt a poke in his neck.
"Ach!"He yelped, nearly jumping out of his chair only to be restrained by the fastened seat belt. Turning to his left he saw the culprit staring at him. Trish was kneeling in her seat, peering at him with her big green eyes. A grin on her face, no doubt pleased with his reaction to her little poke."You're cute when you sleep."She stated. Lance had to resist the urge to glare.
Veronica however lacked that self control.
"Ha, cute? Don't make me laugh. He snored like a dog."Veronica snorted, stabbing each of them with her eyes."Oh and the endless sea of drool. Yuck."
"I don't snore."Lance corrected, rolling his eyes. He knew that always worked to annoy her."Anyway we should get moving. What's our location?"
"We're a few miles out of Deathwood, the city where the necromancer was spotted."Josilyn stated in monotone."We stopped a distance away of the city to avoid being seen by our target."
It made sense, but Lance was still stuck on the fact that the town was named Deathwood. Was the entire state of Nevada influenced by Lord Death?
They soon headed out, walking the rest of the way in tense silence, the desert heat driving them forward as they strode on.
The desert atmosphere was almost serene considering, and Lance would have been content with the simple sounds of the blowing wind and their quiet steps. He needed time to think after all. The the situation wasn't ideal. Normally he'd read the dossier to find an opponent's already documented tendencies so he could try to exploit them to his advantage. But now he was left with no such advantage. He didn't even know what type of character he'd have played if he wasn't traveling with a group. He supposed he'd just have to stick to the stoic individual he portrayed at school.
Though the role was becoming rather dull.
Josilyn led the small band of students as they came closer to the abandoned town, with Reiji at a hands distance at all times. She was followed suit by Felix and Trish with Lance, Veronica, and Mark keeping the rear. Lance wasn't avoiding being close to Josilyn on purpose really. He just couldn't get over the way she stared at him, like he was just another kishen waiting to happen. As much as he resented it he could see where she was coming from. She no doubt kept a watchful eye with her soul perception at all times, awaiting the eventual spur of madness that would consume his soul and turn him into the vile creatures they had all been trained to fight since they were little.
He had hoisted the small shield onto his shoulders after the younger Arondight's whining had threatened to interrupt his thought process."So how bad are we going to mess this necromancer up, Lance?"The weapon asked from atop Lance.
Lance couldn't help but smirk."About as bad as we mess up any other opposition on our path to glory."Lanced said, humoring the kid."But that doesn't mean we should get careless alright? Stay by me or one of the others at all time and stay in shield form."
"Yes sir!"Mark saluted in mock professionalism.
"Heh, laugh it up little man. I'll just be happy to see you unhurt. Your sister would probably give me a few stabs if you scraped your knee."Lance chuckled.
"Three actually."Veronica clarified."Not big ones though, just small and painful ones."
"Ah, my favorite kind."Lance sighed."Just not the face okay? I gotta have something to get the ladies with after all."
"pfff. Maybe a few scars would do you some good. Put some semblance of manliness into that stockpile of estrogen you call a personality."Veronica snorted.
"Oh once again it seems you leave me with my head hung low."Lance pouted."Do you take pleasure in this? You, my dear Ronnie, are one cruel, cruel mistress."
"Whatever."She waved off."Let's just keep moving."
"Aw, she's no fun is she Mark?"Lance asked the small passenger seated on his shoulders.
"Please, try being raised with her."Mark agreed, receiving the deadliest of glares from his sister, sending a chill up both of their spines."N-no fun at all."
"What you all talking about?"Felix asked, slowing down to join the conversation, probably bored with all the silence that had been present up until the point.
"Oh nothing really."Lance said uneasily, nervous by the sudden new participant in their little chat.
"Just discussing the upcoming fight."Veronica stated."Any input you could give us about what kind of support we can expect from you?
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."Felix decided."Trish is a trident so we'll be right up next to the action with you guys."
"You should think about using Mark then, in case you run into a problem."Veronica suggested, getting an odd look from the blonde meister.
"Use him? Isn't he Lance's weapon? You can't just pick someone else's weapon up and start swinging it."Felix explained, feeling a little flustered.
"I'm quite aware of that."Veronica stated, rolling her eyes."But Mark's still rather young, as you can see, so his soul is rather flexible. So it shouldn't be too hard for you to link him up with your own."
"Hmm, I guess I could give it a try."Felix obliged.
Climbing off his shoulders Mark changed into shield form, landing soundly in Lance's hand. Taking a deep breath, Felix extended his hands, fully expecting the sting of soul rejection. Lance gently held the shield above Felix's hands, slowly lowering Mark into his palms.
Holding in his breath, he accepted, feeling not the old familiar sting of two souls out of sync, but instead the cool touch of steel against his flesh."Okay, awesome."Felix cheered silently in glee. Seeping his hand into the handle, he practiced moving it around. His movement with the shield was expectedly clunky and amateurish. But nonetheless he was wielding another weapon.
Wielding an imaginary Trish, he imagined how he would wield both, blocking strikes and unleashing blows in a deadly rhythm of swings and lunges."Oh yeah. We are going to have soo much fun."Felix grinned.
Shining blue, Mark returned to his human form once more, looking pleased with himself, walking with a slight swagger."We could probably throw the little guy back and forth, if we got into a tough spot."Lance half joked, taking a second to consider the feasibility of the act. He had been known to throw the young shield whenever he felt it necessary, though applying it in an operation like this could prove to be quite problematic. They'd definitely have to practice it before they attempted anything.
"Quiet back there."Josilyn ordered, frightening the three boys into silence once more.
With quiet determination, the group carried on their way to the abandoned town that was DeathWood, none feeling completely ready yet all prepared to give it their all. For better or worse, they were a team now, if they were a good team however, remained to be seen.
"As you can see, the organs come into full view as we make the final incision."Stein droned on, twirling the scalpel in his hand. But Kid's attention was elsewhere, he had barely touched the scalpel and frog on his desk the entire class. He was too fixated on the ticking clock, urging it to tick faster so he could see what was happening to his oldest friend.
Stein had started the class after lunch with a lecture describing the malleability of the human soul and its unpredictable nature, this had all been interesting enough to keep the reaper's worries at bay, but to the class's chagrin Stein soon presented yet another dissection for the young weapons and misters.
The cryptic observation the professor had made regarding Lance's soul hadn't left the golden eyed boy's thought yet either. What could it be? Was it somehow powerful enough to the extent to peak Stein's curiosity? Or was unique it in some other regard?
Kid stopped for second. Unable to stop himself from thinking the most dreaded of thoughts. What – what if he saw madness in Lance's soul? What if Lance truly did take after his father?
No, stop that right now. Kid mentally hissed at himself, ashamed for doubting his friend, if even for a moment. That's just… that's just highly unlikely.
He noted that he didn't say impossible…
Ugh. He needed to get out of this class room already. If he didn't leave soon he was going to go insane. He impatiently tapped his fingers on his desk, watching the minutes go by until they had to pick up their dissection equipment."See you tomorrow."Stein waved as he spun in his chair.
Kid quickly gathered his belongings and headed to the door, not even bothering to wait for his weapons to follow.
"Hey Kid wait up!"Maka said, running up to him with Crona right behind her."You're going to the Deathroom to check on Lance, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am."Kid nodded, not surprised that the scythe meister had guessed his plans.
"Then hold on a sec. I'm coming too."She said."I just have to drop a few things off first."
"There's no time for that."Kid growled, impatiently.
"Fine, you can go on ahead of us, we'll catch up."Maka agreed with a minor twitch of her eyebrow."Come on Crona."
The blonde turned to go on her way, but noticed her pink haired companion wasn't following."You coming Crona?"Maka asked, confused.
"Oh? Uh I just thought I could just go on ahead with Kid."Crona explained nervously, afraid she had offended her only true friend.
"Okay…."Maka said, still puzzled."I'll just go put away my stuff then."She finished, turning away to run to her locker.
Kid was already halfway to the DeathRoom when he noticed he had an extra follower tailing him. He had slipped out of the classroom immediately when Maka started talking to Crona so he hadn't seen their conversation."Can I help you with something Crona?"Kid politely asked, despite his impatience, when he saw who it was.
Crona took a second to form her sentence."I-I want to go with you to check on Lance."She stated firmly."I want to make sure he's all right."
Kid was taken aback for a moment, but nodded all the same. Together they made their approach to the DeathRoom at a steady pace. Kid thought it might be rude if he broke into a sprint with Crona there so he settled for walking. He hadn't really spoken to Crona much since Lance arrived so he approached conversation with care.
"So… Crona, how do you and Lance know each other?"Kid asked casually, genuinely curious, Lance didn't have a good track with making friends, so acquiring one so quickly was very impressive to the young reaper.
"Well, Maka said I should try to make some new friends."Crona began, staring at her feet."And she thought Lance seemed nice."
Kid could understand how Maka might've thought that, but then again she didn't know Lance like he did. If Kid wasn't afraid of confronting Lance about his father he probably would've given the same speech to him.
"And how has that been working out?"Kid inquired, trying to make the pinkette feel a bit more comfortable.
"Honestly? He doesn't talk much."She stated bluntly, to the reaper's dismay."But."She added."Whenever he does say something it's usually pretty funny."She smiled.
Kid smiled too, thinking of Lance's odd and often snarky sense of humor."Yeah he certainly can be when he wants to be."Kid agreed.
"And it's not just that."Crona said quietly, catching Kid's attention."It's just well he's very nice to me. He never judges me or takes pity on me like some of the others do. But that's probably just because he doesn't know about my mother"
Kid noted that her smile had disappeared, and that her eyes were inspecting her feet again. It was true that many students at the DWMA didn't exactly like Crona outside of their group. They just focused on her parent and her betrayal. Not the pain and torment she experienced or the strength it took for her to overcome it. Kid felt anger swell up inside of him at thought of it all.
"Listen Crona."Kid said, stopping her and placing a tentative hand on her solder."You shouldn't say such things. You're one of the kindest, sweetest, bravest people I know and anybody who can't see that doesn't deserve your company in the first place and I'm sure Lance thinks the same."
The swords woman didn't know how to respond to such praise from the young meister. Blushing fiercely, she tried to look anywhere but at Kid's eyes."T-thank you Kid."She stuttered softly, her voice almost cracking.
Kid too was blushing now. Crona really deserves to be treated like this more often. He thought. Someone as nice as her deserves more than this. Gently grabbing her hand, he steered her back on their path to the DeathRoom."Come on."He said with a light smile."Let's go see what kind of trouble Lance got himself into this time."
They quickly made their way up the guillotine pathway to where lord Death resided. The cloudy room was empty save for the reaper himself, showing no signs of the other students they had come to see.
His father was in front of his mirror, too absorbed in its contents to notice there approach, releasing Crona's hand Kid went to address his father."Greetings Father, I came to ask about Lance."
"Oh, Hiya kid! When did you get here? And you brought Crona?"The reaper asked with a cock of his head."Ah, doesn't matter. At any rate take a seat! Make yourselves comfortable."
"Father, that's not why we're here-"Kid started, ignoring his father's hospitality, but was quickly cut off by the all knowing grim reaper.
"Oh I know exactly why you're here."The reaper stated."You're here because you're both worried about Lance and were wondering why I had him and the others brought here."He surmised."I sent them all on a very dangerous mission. I knew you might protest to Lance's involvement in such an operation so naturally I didn't tell you."
Kid was stuck open mouthed at the information laid before him. He had to admit it made sense. And under the same circumstances he would have done the same in his father's position. Most people tended to forget how wise the reaper really was underneath that cartoony mask of his.
"What's so dangerous about this mission?"Kid questioned sternly, determined to help his friend.
"I can't tell you that unless you promise not to interfere."The reaper reprimanded, equally determined to let the others accomplish it by themselves.
"I can't promise anything if I don't know all the facts."Kid retorted, behaving unnaturally aggressive towards his father. Crona could only stand meekly as the two reapers tried to stare each other down, neither willing to give in.
After what seemed like minutes, Lord Death finally decided to compromise."If you won't promise to not take action maybe I can dissuade you out of it."The death god theorized."Lance and the others were sent to defeat a necromancer."
Crona squeaked at the mention of the witch's renowned for their mastery of the dead."A necromancer?"Kid tensed."Like the witch I encountered in Egypt."
"Indeed."Death nodded."But don't worry! I'm sure our little party will prove more than a match for anything they may encounter."The reaper assured, trying to sound jovial once again.
"But…"Kid stammered, trying to think of a reasonable argument to why he should be there with them but finding none when suddenly he felt a comforting hand on his arm.
"Kid, relax."Crona advised gently."Lance can handle himself and I'm sure he wouldn't like you worrying over him like this."
She was right of course. From everything he had seen and heard Lance was not to be underestimated. And he certainly wouldn't want Kid, or anyone for that matter, having this much concern for a mission like this.
"And besides."She pressed on."We'll be right here watching with Lord Death. If anything goes wrong we'll be the first to know."
Kid had to hand it to her. She could be pretty darned persuasive when she wanted to be. And everything she said made so much sense he had no choice but to comply.
"Okay ."Kid agreed.
"Oh good!"The reaper chuckled."I was afraid I was going to have to reaper chop you for a minute there."
Kid simply took his seat and prepared himself for whatever he might see. Above all he knew he had to have confidence in his friend. The same type of confidence he knew others would have for him. Lance deserved that much, if not more. And he had Crona there too to confide in and Maka was on her way too, no doubt dragging Soul along with his own weapons.
All he needed was patience.
They finally came upon the empty town. The only thing stopping the town from looking straight out of a spaghetti western was the lack of tumbleweeds. Buildings lined both sides of the dirt road; a saloon, a sheriff's office, and an old general goods store to name a few. All abandoned by the hands of time.
The group entered cautiously, Josilyn in the lead, Reiji in his M16 form held firmly in her hands. They had yet to encounter anything since their arrival and so far the abandoned town was proving its status quite well.
Felix followed Josilyn with nervous anticipation, gripping Trish's shaft tightly as he kept the trident level, ready to strike at any given moment. The only weapon not completely in her weapon form was Veronica who, on instruction from Lance, had turned her arm into a sword and securely strapped Mark to her other arm.
Said meister wasn't with the main bulk of the team. Instead he had decided to get a better look of the soon to be battlefield. Climbing silently, he made his way up to the roof of one of the buildings and trailed his companions from above, keeping a watchful eye as they proceeded onward.
Lance took a deep breath. He knew it was important to stay calm and to not lose his cool. He'd had have to stay focused if he was to use nothing but his soul wavelength and whatever he had in his pockets against a possible horde of kishen and a necromancer. Invisible as he was Lance couldn't help but feel vulnerable when he thought of the destructive possibilities of a witch. The most difficult task of any meister and weapon was to best one in combat and collect her soul. Many failed to achieve that goal in the most tragic way possible.
With that thought he peeked down at the redheaded girl, her arm a blade from the elbow down with her brother in the other. He wouldn't let that happen to them. Whatever happened to him he wouldn't mind but they were worth protecting at all costs.
The high risk brought a small smirk to the young swordsman's lips. This whole thing was so crazy it was almost funny. He could imagine Lord Death standing ever alert at his fancy mirror of his as he watched and assessed their progress. Probably expecting the worst if Lance was involved, but that was okay. Lance didn't mind.
I'll just have to put on a good show. Were Lance's only thoughts on the subject.
A sudden vibration shocked him back to reality and out of his contemplation. Checking his phone he saw he had received a text message from Veronica. Get down here ASAP, Josilyn's orders. The text read.
Not wanting to keep the others waiting he made his descent swiftly to the ground. The others were holed up in the prison. Fitting, Lance noted, that they'd make their plans in the same place that the law makers of the past made theirs.
"Lance you're here, good."Josilyn said, not really caring, obviously."I have detected strange signs coming from the church down the road with my soul perception."
"I can't be sure but I think I'm seeing a witch's soul, and a powerful one from the looks of it."Josilyn hypothesized."There seem to be other souls moving to but they're not distinct enough for me to make out clearly."
"So we're heading out?"Felix asked, coolly.
"It seems the time has come to test our grit."Josilyn stated ominously. Huh so she can display emotion."Yes. We're going in."
"Do we have a plan, or are we just running in there guns a blazing?"Veronica asked, snapping her neck."Personally, I vote for the latter."
"The plan is to do whatever I tell you to do, when I tell you."Josilyn answered with no hint of amusement.
"Ah, teamwork."Lance remarked before he could stop himself. Receiving the iciest of glares he had ever seen."Uh I mean, ah leadership. What would we do without it?"
The glare didn't lesson in the slightest."Since you've proven your prowess in the arts of stealth I think it would be best if we send in Lance to gather some surveillance on our target."She advised."Unless of course he has any comments he'd like to share first"
Lance just shrugged, not feeling anything too terrible at the task. But apparently others felt differently.
"That's mental."Veronica blurted out."You can't just send him in there by himself. What if he gets caught?"
Lance raised a silent eyebrow at this. He had put himself in harm's way dozens of times before. How was this any different?
"If he does his job right we won't have to worry about that."Josilyn responded dismissively.
Felix and Trish exchanged a small look but other than that they stayed quiet on the issue between the two girls and the meister.
"No, I won't allow this."Veronica stated sternly."If it's so important why don't you do it?" She challenged the self appointed leader.
"It's really not that big of a deal Ronnie…"Lance said, surprised at her refusal to let him go."Whatever it takes for the mission to succeed right?"
"Come on sis. Lance can handle anything."Mark reasoned, appearing transparent on the base of his shield form.
She looked like she wanted to argue further, but realized the odds weren't in her favor."Fine."She growled."You better comeback here in one piece or you'll have me to deal with."
"I'll keep that in mind."Lance smirked. Noting true fear mixed with her anger at his decision to go. Fear? Now that was definitely unusual for the tough redhead."Besides what's a legion of undead monsters gonna be able to do that I can't handle?"
"Pssh. Well there's certainly no brain for them to eat."She quipped, smiling despite her anger."Just- just be safe okay?"She said more gently into his ear.
"Okay, I will."Lance agreed, touched by the sentiment, if she wanted him to be careful he supposed he could manage.
"Now that that's out of the way."Reiji interrupted."Let's get this show on the road already."
"Send us a text if you discover anything important or if you are discovered."Josilyn explained."We'll be here ready to attack at any time. Other than that stay hidden and good luck."
Lance nodded, making his way to the door. He took one last look around, noting the worry in both Felix's and Veronica's face and the cool confidence in Josilyn's. It wouldn't look very good on his part to let them down, he concluded, pushing any doubt from his mind he exited the prison.
The church certainly was intimidating, even from a distance. But it was nothing he hadn't seen on TV so he wasn't overly worried. The giant cross made a large shadow that crept into the town's road, giving Lance some shade from the laughing sun as he approached it. The closer he got the more audible the sounds were. Mostly just thumps that Lance couldn't make out but occasionally there was some voices too, though he couldn't quite make them out.
Taking one last deep breath, he entered the cathedral, slipping silently into the large doors.