CHAPTER 3

Maka fidgeted, her hands fisted in the black cloak wrapped around her. There were so many things she wanted to ask Kid, now that she'd found him and her memories were back, but she couldn't decide what to ask first. Her head was a mess under the overwhelming wave of uncertainty and mixed emotions, but the pain in her ankle brought her back to the current matters and the blonde hissed, drawing the boy's attention.

"Your ankle is probably strained, let me have a look," Kid offered, once more moving closer to her. He gently picked up her injured leg and placed it across his lap, proceeding to feel the area just above her boot.

"Ahhhhh!" she hissed even louder, scowling, because she was cold already and the shinigami's icy fingers weren't helping at all. What the hell was Kid doing here anyway? And he'd acted so strange before… giving her one hell of a fright too.

"It wouldn't have killed you to help me earlier, when the Brother had grabbed me. I was so scared, you know!" she burst out, frowning even more. Maka realised she was so angry all the sudden – all this time wasted, all the horror she'd suffered not knowing who she was or where she'd come from, thinking she was all alone in this cruel world. And now that she remembered everything, she was still stuck in this damned place, with no way out. If anything, this was even worse.

Kid flinched at the sound of her harsh words, looking up suddenly, uncomfortable. "Maka, there are many things I must explain, but for a start no one can find out that you have regained your memory, or that we know each other. I mean it, it's very dangerous. And besides, how could I have helped you when you were so scared of me in the first place?"

The blonde's frown melted and her face dropped, realising that probably the reaper had been offended by her behavior. "I wasn't…" She couldn't deny it though, she had been scared – to the point that she was going to jump over the railing just to escape him - but he was a Death God. And for everyone who wasn't a student of Shibusen or working for them, shinigamis were to be dreaded. "I mean, I…"

"It's alright, you don't have to apologize, after all you didn't remember me," Kid said softly, still focused on her ankle, "And I suppose I am rather scary… it can't be helped," he added with a wry smile, still not meeting her gaze.

Maka blinked, how could he say that? To be honest, the first time she'd laid eyes on him while being her new ignorant self she'd genuinely thought he was beautiful, a bit on the bizarre side, but still… And it was strange, because back at the school - used as she was as a meister with all kinds of things regular people never even dreamed existed in this world - she had never thought much of him, even if they were friends.

"No, Kid! You're not scary, I mean it! Just…"

"Just creepy," he supplied, letting go of her leg. "I think if you apply some ice it will be alright in no time"

Why the hell am I debating his degree of scariness or lack thereof now? And I had nothing better to do than pick on him! Damn it, I need to clear my head… Maka inwardly scolded herself. Shifting her gaze, embarrassed by her own weirdness – and this really was a bad time to make things weird - she encountered her own reflection in the Black Water basin. Since there were no mirrors around, she hadn't had the chance to look at herself in a while, and now she very nearly drew back in terror. Her own face was horribly pale and she had become much thinner, the skin tighter on her cheekbones, while her once bright green eyes were now two hollow, haunted orbs of some indefinite dark shade. Her honey colored hair was hanging around her face, tangled and not particularly clean, while her dress was nothing more than an ugly grey rag. She was one to talk about creepy, the meister thought bitterly, suddenly feeling ashamed of her own appearance as well.

"So… what happened to us anyway?" the blonde asked at last, scrubbing a trembling hand over her face. "Did the Kishin send us here?"

Kid had pulled his knees to his chest and stared at his boots with an air of genuine helplessness, but at least he looked vaguely relieved by the change of subject. "I think so. There is no other explanation. He must have plunged us into another space, one we were sure not to come back from anytime soon… I also think that it was its intention to plunge each of us into a different place and the memory loss was meant to complicate things further. That being said, the fact that you and me ended up in the same place is probably a mere coincidence…"

Then Soul and the others… there's no way of knowing where they are and if they're okay…

"You wouldn't know what happened to Soul, would you?" she asked nevertheless, the hopeless words stubbornly leaving her lips despite herself since she could already guess the answer. And there she was, asking a seemingly useless question, ignoring the fact that at least Kid was with her now, she wasn't completely alone. The least she could have done was to ask whether he was alright. He looked alright though…

"I'm sorry, Maka, I have no idea"

"Liz and Patty?"

The young shinigami shook his head. Maka dug her fingers into her forehead, feeling the headache return. What she was discovering was bringing her nothing but chagrin, but still she had to know everything. It was always better to face the truth than wallow in ignorance.

"Tell me everything, Kid," the young meister said determined. "Why did you say it would be dangerous if they discovered that we know each other? What is going on?"

"I suppose that aside from the Brothers and Sisters, you've only seen the one they call the Older One, right?" the shinigami asked. "You've never heard of The Three, did you?" Maka shook her head no. "I don't know what they are, but they run the Temple. When I found myself in this place the first time, I was taken before them. All they said was that one can never have too many Death Gods around and that I would serve here at the Temple for the rest of my days. Obviously, I demanded an explanation and tried to… to object to it. Long story short, that was quite a bad idea. They are evil and very dangerous, that's why we must avoid crossing them in any way, at least for now"

Whatever it was, Kid seemed reluctant to speak about it and the blonde had a feeling he wasn't telling her everything, as she'd asked. Maka still had a lot of questions, but she thought better than to push the reaper for now. The meister reasoned that her classmate wouldn't have been concealing something unless it was best to do so for the moment. As much as she usually preferred to be in control and aware of things, she trusted his judgment.

"Maka, you should go back to your room now, I don't think that Brother will stay out cold for too long"

The Brother! Maka thought of the man with cunning eyes and crooked, sharp teethed grin with dread, a cold shudder running down her spine. Could it be that he was still lying there, in the doorway? And could she get past him to reach the safety of her own room? Just as she was thinking of it, there was a sudden noise outside the Temple doors, like a claw raking on the wood. The blonde gasped, freezing in mid-turn. And then there was the familiar creak of the door opening, followed by a cold draft making its way inside the large hall.

"Damn, he's already here, come on! He mustn't see us!" Kid whispered, suddenly alert. Maka struggled to haul herself up, but she could barely stand on the leg, let alone walk, or run. The reaper moved lightning fast, scooping her in his arms. They quickly hid inside one of the dark, stone alcoves, ducking beneath a carved arch.

Something like a muffled gurgle resounded in the empty space, steadily growing into a throaty chuckle which was unmistakable . Maka's fingers dug into Kid's shoulder in anguish as he held her close, both of them pressed against the cold, damp cave wall. The steps resounded clearly now, drawing closer to the place they were hidden.

"Damn it, if it weren't for my leg, I could have taken him on, the bastard!" the blonde hissed. Having regained her memories, the young meister had also remembered how strong and combat skilled she really was. Thinking about it rationally, she could have probably kept the Brother at bay, despite his massiveness.

"Absolutely not, don't even think of it!" the shinigami replied, his grip tightening around her. "There he comes, we need to distract him somehow…"

It was quite dark, yet the Brother's large shadow was visible and stretching onto the floor as the man advanced carefully. "Come out, come out, I know you're in here somewhere, little Maka…" he drawled, in a voice that held the promise of infinite horror. The blonde heard Kid let out a muffled groan, before he crouched and threw something across the large space between the alcoves, towards the back of the cave, the object producing a faint clatter as it hit the ground. The Brother halted for a split second, then his footsteps were clearly heard as he hurried in the direction of the sound, chuckling sinisterly.

"Let's go, now!" the reaper whispered and they rapidly slipped out of the niche, crept behind their pursuer's back and darted out of the Temple. Outside the snowfall had ceased to some extent, but it was still freezing cold. They hurried towards the door leading into the habitation area, but found it had been locked.

"Ahhhh, that bastard probably has the keys and he's locked it on purpose! He's going to catch us now, we've nowhere to go!" Maka whimpered, hugging herself, but Kid simply kicked it open with his boot, loudly cracking the ancient board around the lock and causing splinters to fly everywhere.

"Hurry back to your room, before he gets here!" he urged. "Lock the door and you'll be safe"

"Kid, wait! When will we-"

But the boy pushed her inside and very nearly slammed the door back in her face. The blonde meister was left staring at the hard wood, while her ears could not catch any sound on the other side. She had no time to lose, that much was clear, so she started towards her room, limping awfully. Every step was torture under the pressure, but Maka gritted her teeth and endured the pain. Despite everything, the strength which had returned together with her memories was comforting to some extent. She would have to keep it carefully concealed not to arouse any suspicions, as her classmate had advised, she would still have to play the meek and scaredy girl, but at least… there was some hope now. Or was there really? Maka inwardly debated – for one part of her wanted to be hopeful, to believe that there was an escape possible, a way out of this accursed realm of darkness, silence and death – but then… Kid hadn't looked very hopeful himself, and yet what had he to fear? He was a Death God, after all.

After quite an amount of toil, she made it back to her room and scrambled inside, carefully locking the door behind her. As usual, it was pitch dark, but the blonde had learned her way around a while ago and she kept her few things in order. Striking a matching and lighting the candle bud near her makeshift bed, Maka finally allowed herself a deep breath of momentary relief, as the tiny warm glow conquered the obscurity. Only then she noticed that she was still wearing Kid's shinigami cloak. Damn it!

Panicked, the girl hurried to peel it off, frantically thinking of a place to hide it. She had no doubt that her things could be searched at any moment by the other Sisters, since they 'lived as a family' and shared everything. But her fingers involuntarily curled into the soft fabric and Maka found herself clutching the black bundle at her chest, burying her nose in it. It was cold and damp, bits of snow still melting into the folds, and it smelled faintly of smoke and the incenses the pilgrims sometimes brought to the Temple. And it was the only palpable proof that she had not been hallucinating all along. But she was very tired, her body and mind exhausted by the recent events. The blonde kicked off her boots in haste, slipping under the covers with the cloak still in her arms before she blew off the candle.

Tomorrow, I will think of everything tomorrow, after I have had a bit of rest, she mentally repeated herself, seeking to calm the buzzing of her thoughts. The Brother must have been furious now, but he wasn't going to try anything as long as there were others around – she only had to be careful not to remain alone with him again. He would be on the prowl and she would have to be very careful about it, but it was doable, the young meister hoped. There were some rules which he had to obey, after all. As for the cloak, it had to be returned to its owner, the sooner the better, provided that Kid would show up again anytime in the near future. Speaking of whom…

Oh no! The blonde sat up abruptly, stricken by a sudden terrifying realization. Back in the cave, Kid must have thrown one of his rings to distract the Brother. I must find it, before anyone else does! That, if the Brother hadn't found it already... That was her last thought before sleep finally, mercifully took her.

To be continued