Chapter 4:Effective Illusions

'The hardest prison to escape is in your mind'-unknown

The scent of finished rain lingered through the air. The sky still had a grey tinge from the earlier storm and the stench of Death City's polluted water grew. The tall buildings seemed more dull because of the dim day and small traces of water droplets could be seen on windows. In a small alleyway between two buildings, the stench of water was worse, thanks to it's narrow space. It's grey withering walls still dripped with rainwater and it's ground still felt damp because of it's huge and small puddles.

A rather tall thin man sat at the corner of that alley. His eyes were the color of coal even if it seemed to give a cold stare. His hair was like an ivory curtain being scrubbed by swirling water. The fabric of his clothes was wet, too wet that it stuck on his body like a second skin. By the obvious state of his hair and clothes, the man obviously stayed throughout the early rain. He leaned on the alley's damped wall as he curled his hands around his sword even tighter.

"Quit hiding. You know I can see you." His relaxed yet cautious voice rang.

As expected, small soft footsteps walked towards him. The footsteps were soft yet intense, obviously this person is very careful and confident. The white-haired man raised his head and saw a rather small boy in front of him. A boy so small that if he stood up, the boy's head would only reach his hip. But it wasn't the boy's height that caught the man's attention, it was the boy's familiar feature. From the boy's gold eyes to the three white stripes place on his head, the man immediately recognised who the boy is.

A small amused smile graced on the man's lips. "Why if it isn't Daddy's little boy? Death the Kid."

The so called Death the Kid didn't seem surprised by his correct assumption. He was probably use to people recognising him because of his status and fame. The half-shinigami gave a fake friendly smile as he said. "You must be the so called 'Sword God'."

The white-haired man gave a frown as he stated. "You have the wrong guy."

"Oh…I apologize." Kid feigned, like he knew that he was wrong from the very start. " The Sword God must be your brother, Mifune and you must be the unrecognised 'Peter'"

Anger soon rushed in Peter's veins as he gave an angry growl. The sound of his brother's name made him feel a familiar sour feeling that gave a him pain, anger, and jealousy all at the same time. That feeling built up inside him till he could no longer control his rage. Suddenly his sword was swayed in a wide arch towards Kid.

Widening his eyes, Kid quickly jumped backwards before the blade could touch his skin. He felt the middle portion of his shirt rip, leaving a large cut on the fabric. He brought his eyes back on the human in front him, only to find Peter no longer sitting on the ground with an unreadable face but a warrior-like man holding his sword as a wild fire could be seen in his eyes.

"You're better than I thought…" Kid commented.

Peter gave a tired huff as he slumped back on the ground. He knew better than trying to harm that boy, or Lord Death would have his head.. He gave a sigh as he asked. "What do you really want?" Then he raised a confused eyebrow when he noticed the messy cut on Kid's shirt." Aren't you going to complain about your messy cut and how it's not symmetrical?"

A nervous glint came in the boy's eyes as the half-shinigami answered hesitantly. "I can ignore it…I have other things in mind."

With even more confusion entering his mind, Peter narrowed his eyes ,analysing the shinigami boy. Obviously the boy's skin was pale with no sunburns or tans because of his heritage . His hair was cut perfectly clean and his suit use to be wrinkle-free before his sword had touched the fabric. His eyes were like amber swirled in a pool of honey; they were hypnotising because of their weird pattern.

But it wasn't Kid's appearance that intrigued him, it was the boy's emotional state. There was a certain dark aura swirling around the boy. His bright eyes held a determined fire but the fire seemed so strong and furious that it could burn anything in sight. Peter narrowed his eyes on the boy's fingers; he saw the little limbs shaking. The boy's mental state right now was very determined and yet conflicted.

"I have an offer for you…" Kid finally stated.

Peter continued to stay silent as he analysed the boy even more. Obviously something feels wrong about this boy, and it was growing worse.

"…..and I will reward you greatly…" Kid continued.

Every hesitance in Peter's eyes disappeared when Kid mentioned a reward. Greed was always his weakness and Peter hated it but his eyes still dilated by his desire. "What can you possibly offer me?"

Kid smiled as he stepped forward; covering the distance between them. "I am the son of Lord Death. I can offer many things. From the richest diamonds to a beautiful mansion, I can offer anything. You just have to agree to do some 'errands'"

"DEATH THE KID!"

By the familiar sound of his name, Kid was pulled back into reality. His eyes were wide open as his chest heaved uncontrollably. The familiar hardness of his desk could be felt on his fingers as he arched his back up. His eyes wandered through the room, finding the high rowed seats of his classroom with his classmates staring at him weirdly as Stein faced him with a satisfied smirk, the teacher obviously was the one who called for his attention.

'Calm down. Peter's is not the time to dwell with the past.' Kid thought. The familiar memory made him feel strikes of guilt and sadness. He never really did care about Peter, they were just working partners, but he felt it was his fault that the human died and the guilt was getting to him.

Too much guilt that he was starting to have multiple illusions.

Most people would've said it was just a trauma he gained after he witnessed a death but Kid knew better. His current unstable mental stability contributed to his hallucinations. His psychotic thoughts and ideas were starting to get the best of him. In fact, today he just got ten hallucinations in total.

Sweat still dripped on his face as his chest still heaved uncomfortably. The feeling of determination and adrenaline from his delusion just seemed so real. He could still feel those swirling emotions building up inside him. His fingers started to shake over his desk making his nail dig into the surface. He started to feel pieces of wood enter the tips of his fingers making him wince from the pain.

The clouds of hallucination started to come back as he leaned forward to his desk making his chest chest hit the wood. He knew he needed a distraction and he was getting desperate. He pressed his finger deeper into the surface making the vibes of pain enter his body. He could even hear a slight bone crack but he needed the pain because it helped keep him distracted….

"Kid, is something wrong?" Soul, who sat beside him, asked as his red eyes scanned Kid's hand pressing too hard against the wood.

But Kid ignored the scythe, his senses became fogged up and unclear as he put his hand away from the wooded surface realising that he needed a better distraction from his upcoming hallucinations and emotions. His hands were shaking from the pain as he raised his arm grabbing Stein's attention.

"I NEED TO GO FIX SOMETHING!" He shouted knowing that his OCD will be useful.

Quickly he sprang to his feet and ran out of the classroom, knowing that nobody would think his action was suspicious. Soon he was in a long hallway with peach-colored walls, running across the hallway trying to find a transparent glass window. He needed pain. Pain to prevent his…..

The swirls of peach soon started to twisted into black veins, surrounding him like spider webs capturing their prey. The bright light turned into a grey dim and dust started to waft through the foggy air. Kid gave a gasp as he blink his eyes. He slightly slipped from his shock and tumbled onto the webs.

His body was trapped in a layer of sticky black silk. He struggled to get out but he was completely bounded. Vibrations could be felt on his body as the webs started to shake. His breaths grew uneven as he felt the vibrations grow louder and shakier.

And it was there a spider-like creature with long straw-like legs. It was tall and wide with saliva dripping out of it's mouth as a white cloth was wrapped around it's eyes. Kid's eyes grew wide at the sight of the monster as he struggled more.

'Please anybody help me!" Kid thoughts as he swayed his arms viciously against the webs. He kept shaking and struggling as he could hear the monster approaching. His endless struggles soon ended when he could hear….paper crumbling.

Paper….

He titled his head against the sticky binds and saw his webs were tied with various notes. Notes of different sizes and colors. His eyes narrowed as he realised that all the notes had the same handwriting. Recognising the handwriting, he screamed.

His voice of fear soon echoed through the webs making the spider grow closer to him. He gave a gasp of pain as the spider's legs stabbed his leg. The spider's face soon was on his as it opened his mouth ready to devour him.

Kid knew he wasn't suppose to scream. He wasn't suppose to show his fear or the monster would find him like how the monster set his trap. Giving him notes so his fear would increase and in result his unstable mental mind would. He knew the monster was breaking him slowly.

The spider's saliva touched his cheek as the liquid fell down on his skin. Kid faced the spider, surprisingly the creatures wasn't black or brown. It actually had human-like skin.

Red were the spider's eyes as the white cloth around it's eyes unfolded. A smile came on it's face as he grew closer to Kid. It's teeth were sharp and out ready to eat Kid but it didn't, it just kept staring at him curiously.

"Stay with me…" The monster's voice whispered. "Join my darkness….."

Oddly it's voice sounded tempting and sweet but Kid shook his head. He was smarter than this. Kid gave a stern face and said. "No."

The spider's voice echoed back. "You're trapped. You're already in my domain."

Fear came in Kid as the spider's face grew closer. With his increasing adrenaline, his arms grew free from the webs and…

Punch

The sound of breaking glass made Kid's eyes grow open. A stinging pain was on his fist as he saw his fist though a window that use to have glass but now there was just broken glass surrounding it's frame. His palm and fingers bled as the blood dripped on the floor.

He held his injured hand on his other free one as he ignored the broken glass. He knew he could get away with the crime, he could easily blame BlackStar and anyone would believe him.

His body turned around and looked at the mission board. It had multiple cards hooked into it with different writing on it. He walked forward and saw one particular that caught his eye. It read:

Small boy killed by a mysterious monster in a manor near a forest.

A small voice whispered in his mind. 'Take it.'

His hands got the card out of the hook and headed towards the receptionist. The receptionist was a short woman with blonde hair. She seemed to look quite bored in her little counter.

"Death the Kid.." She said quite relieved that someone was here. "another mission, I see.."

Kid put the card silently on the counter as the woman took a look at it.

The woman then gave an upset smile. "Sorry, Kid. This mission needs the permission of your father."

"My father?" Kid raised a confused eyebrow.

"Yes…" The receptionist nodded as she gave back the mission card. "Why don't you go to your father first and we'll see if you can do the mission."

"Why do I still need his permission?"

"He just said so…" She said like it was a normal thing.

Kid left as he put the card in his pocket. He had a disappointed look in his eyes as he thought. 'Hiding secrets again…"

Disclaimer:I do not own Soul Eater

Author's note: Sorry if my writing style here seems quite lazy; I was on a hurry cause I am going to Australia and I may not be able to write for a couple days. Hopefully you guys like this chapter and please give me your reviews. Thanks for reading.