Episode 16: Fatal Crux
6:30 p.m. Shibusen Rooftops—atop one of the spires, Black Star sat silently watching the people below. For some reason, he cared little for their blatant ignorance of his overwhelming greatness. He sighed. Even the thought of standing up and declaring his existence to the heavens had lost its appeal.
This was very unlike him. It wasn't depression that's causing him to lose interest; rather, it was something else. For weeks, he trained himself in the harsh deserts of Nevada, rocky-mountains of the Sierra Madre, and even in the Great Lawn of New York City, all so that he may return stronger than ever. But, the first thing he did after arriving was picking a fight with Maka!
Sure Maka was a pain in the butt with all her bossy-attitude, her stubbornness to let him shine and become the great star that he was meant to be. But what happened to her was—terrible. She didn't deserve that. Though he didn't understand what had taken place, it didn't take a genius to know that having blades coming out from your body would hurt like hell.
"It's my fault again, isn't it?" he groaned.
Ironically, instead of a fight, Black Star's true intention was to find Maka and try to bury the hatchet or at the very least apologize. Now, things were worse than before.
Well, at least he could take comfort in the fact that Tsubaki wasn't there to witness it all. Because if she had, there was no doubt that she'd hate him more than ever. Though in the end, there was no hiding it. She'll probably hear about it from one of her friends and she'll hate him all the same.
"What should I do?" he thought. The prospects were indeed grim for him. There was no one else he could turn to for help…except his good buddy Soul! "Of course!" he snapped his fingers. Then again, Maka was Soul's partner. Despite their friendship, there was no way Soul would choose him over Maka.
"Damn it!" he cursed. The inability to do anything riled him so. He couldn't take it anymore. He immediately got on his feet and decided to at least try to do something about it. But as he turned, a startling sight awaited him.
"Black Star, you're back," smiled Tsubaki.
In the meantime, a couple of floors below, a situation had arisen. A large metal cocoon stood in the center of the V.I.P. room as Soul, Spirit, and Marie were trying to pry it open.
"Maka! Chrona! I'm going to get you out!" Spirit's left arm turned into a large scythe-blade. He intended to use this as a make shift can opener to free them.
"Wait!" shouted the Shinigami, "We should let them settle this out." He then explained that Maka and Chrona weren't careless as to get themselves hurt. Similarly to what happened during the final battle with Asura those many months ago, the Shinigami urged them to have faith and hope that they might get out of this safe and unharmed.
In the midst of the commotion, no one noticed the disappearance of a few key players…
"What did you do?" Kid confronted Blair the witch in the infirmary.
"What ever do you mean?" she asked innocently.
"Those blades didn't just appear by accident! And witches are the only people I know that can make things like that happen! So change her back!" he grabbed her shoulders.
This aggressive reaction surprised her a little. It would appear she struck a nerve. His reaction now looked more real and believable than those of his previous performances. This came as a relief to her because it meant that control over him was weakening—meaning now was the time to make a move!
To maintain a coercion spell over a powerful being like a shinigami, one would either have to be close by at all times or have the target in sight at all times. So, it would stand to reason that whoever is controlling Kid would be right here in the infirmary. And the only people besides her and her cat would be the Thompson Sisters.
Initially, she suspected the culprit to be Patty since according to her research that girl wasn't exactly the brightest apple in the bunch yet she was responsible for turning the school's intercom into her personal stereo system. Modifying the whole system and enabling it to actually receive wireless transmission only from her Patty-Pod would've at least required a certain degree of expertise in electronics, which clearly this school did not offer.
So either Patty was just plain lucky to accomplish such a task or she is secretly an evil mastermind manipulating them from the shadows. How conniving, shuddered Blair. But whatever Patty's true personality, the fact remains that she was being controlled together with her sister. This not only proved their innocence, but also disproved the idea of a close-range spell user since there was no one else in the room to point to.
If so, then the only logical alternative was that the enemy probably has a hostage.
Yes, the Thompson Sisters would be the easiest choice since they're quite close to Kid, but then again, the low-level coercion spell used on them made it seem unlikely that they were even considered as hostages. Besides them, no one else was close enough to Kid to be an effective hostage except…
"Maka," she sneered. Perhaps this was the reason why he reacted so…passionately. He was worried about HER.
"I'm shocked!" she pushed him back. Blair continued on with this game of wits despite knowing her actions might very well endanger Maka. Besides, after finding such a delicate spot, she knew that it would only take a few more hits before she could discover the true nature of the bastard controlling her precious toy. "Kid, how could you think me such a monster?" she spoke, a bit overly melodramatic.
"Because you are!" he shouted without hesitation.
His voice echoed through the empty room. In response, Blair only stood there staring at him. Her body wouldn't move at all and she couldn't understand why. She was so furious at Kid for saying such a lie that she wanted to slap him across the face. But she could not. Her strength left her and she fell on her knees.
She was in shock. It would seem that his words wounded her in more ways than just her pride. She wanted to speak, but could say nothing. When she looked at Kid, her heart was torn in anguish for he looked down on her with nothing but hate and disgust in his eyes.
That very expression brought her back to an old scar best left forgotten... This was a memory about a cold winter's night, a house of broken promises, and the tears of a young witch and her black cat.
As Kid turned around and headed back into the V.I.P. room, Blair reached her hand out for him as if to say, "Wait! Don't leave me!". At that instant, instead of Kid, she saw someone else. It was an older woman with long black hair. She wore a dark, velvet robe and a rather intricate-looking, pointy hat. For some reason, Blair couldn't see her face. Yet she knew who she was.
"Mother!" she cried out, before the door closed on her forever…
Author's Note: Apologies for taking so long (again)... anyway, I was supposed to write about a heart-to-heart thing about Maka & Chrona here... but for some reason, I went for Blair instead... well, in any case, if your confused about this chapter, don't be... I've re-directed the story to focus a bit more on the OC, Blair the Witch... this is so that you might better understand her motives and reasoning for the soon-to-come climax... Please continue reading! ^_^ I'll try to finish the next chapter this upcoming weekend...