"What the hell were you thinking?" Shun exclaimed as Ran left the room. Rhya jumped, staring at her partner. His face wasn't angry, but his face was full of concern. Rhya touched her pointer fingers together nervously.
"I…um…" Rhya stammered. "It was kinda just a split minute decision." Shun stared at Rhya long and hard, then gently sighed.
"Please discuss it with me first next time.." Shun muttered. "Or at least inform me. We're a team now. Where you go, I go." He gently took her hand, holding it n the way men do to show brotherhood. But Rhya still blushed a bit, taking her hand back quickly. Shun blushed a bit in return, but quickly turned his head away.
"Well, if you want, I can tell you some stuff." Scar chirped. The two looked at her, suddenly realizing Scar and Kaido were still in the room. Rhya blinked, then shook her head clear.
"Well, I know from my studies that the Spartoi was made up of a group of 6 weapon and tech teams after Arachne was defeated to eliminate the Kishin," Rhya began. "But what confuses me is how the Spartoi are now an undercover organization and its goal is…?"
"Oh, this one's simple," Scar remarked. "After the Kishin was destroyed, the Spartoi was disbanded. Well, you see, Ran's mother and father, Tsubaki and Black Star, were a team in the Spartoi. Black Star disappeared years ago, God knows why, but Tsubaki told Ran about their adventures together and what the Spartoi was like. At first, Ran restarted it just to be a secret club. But when I joined, Ran noticed a connection between our eyes, and decided to dedicate the Spartoi in figuring out the cause of that, and all the madness going around lately." Rhya's eyes widened.
"Wait, Black Star? We saw him yesterday at the park following that witch!" Rhya exclaimed. Scar's light expressing fell dark.
"You're kidding…" Scar muttered. Rhya shook her head gently. Scar bit her lip, leaning back in her chair.
"Everywhere we go, Black Star follows…" Scar muttered. "It can't be a good sign."
"Will you all PLEASE shut up, for the love of god!" Kaido groaned. "I just want to sleep to quiet my stomach, and your infernal yapping isn't helping." Scar's eyes widened suddenly as she jumped up and looked at Kaido.
"I'm so sorry!" Scar exclaimed. "I promise, we'll quiet down. Is there anything else you want? Water? Ice? Ice cream?"
"I'd LIKE some damned sleep!" Kaido snapped impatiently. Scar jumped, bit her lip again, and slowly walked towards the door, ready to leave her partner to sleep. Rhya watched her as she quietly neared the door.
"Hey, Scar." Rhya whispered, quietly enough so Kaido could sleep. Scar stopped and looked over at Rhya, almost surprised.
What are you doing? Her brain exclaimed.
She'll laugh at you, make fun of you, maybe even sneer at you. Why on Earth would ANYONE want to be around YOU? You pathetic little-
Rhya shook her head wildly, trying to shut out the madness in her head. Scar still stood there, almost confused, when Rhya spoke again.
"Um… would you want to stay at my place tonight after the meeting?" Rhya asked. Suddenly, the madness reacted, screaming and raging, its threads tightening around her very soul.
She'll laugh
You're so stupid!
What makes you so special?
Pathetic little weakling
Why don't you just shut up?
Go die
Go die
GO DIE-
"Only if you want to!" Rhya squeaked quickly. "I mean, you just met me, so I understand if you don't want to…" Slowly, the madness released its grip on her soul, the panic she had just felt melting away, leaving her breathless, shaking, and exhausted. She gave a small sigh of relief.
"Well, I was actually going over to Myrady's place tonight, but I could stay over tomorrow if you have time." Scar replied. Rhya smiled nervously.
"That works." Rhya chirped quietly. Scar smiled, her mood obviously uplifted, as she steadily left the room. As soon as she left, Rhya collapsed on her bed, shaking wildly. Shun looked at her, almost panicked.
"Rhya, are you ok?" Shun exclaimed quietly, grabbing her shoulder. . Rhya closed her eyes, breathing deeply, and nodded.
"I'm ok… I just got a little panicked… the madness…" Rhya muttered as she neared the edge of sleep. It called to her gently, promising to save her from the madness, to keep her safe until it left. Sleep always calmed the madness. Even though her dreams were crazy at the same time.
"The what?" Shun asked urgently. Rhya gave a small smile.
"I'd like to sleep now, if that's ok…" Rhya muttered. Shun nodded slowly, but Rhya didn't notice. Shun slowly dropped his hand from her shoulder. As Rhya began to fall asleep, Shun sighed, staring at her sleeping face.
Rhya… he thought, remembering the expression of panic and pain on her face. I hope one day you'll trust me with your secret.
Rhya stood alone in the darkness, nothing to be seen or heard. Rhya sighed. It only took a few minutes for the black to become invaded with colors and objects and many confusing events, like EVERY dream. She sat down, waiting for something to happen. Sure enough, things began to float through her consciousness. First it was Gin eating a possum, very delicious. Then it was Shun ballroom dancing with a hedgehog. Then it was Ran, only for some reason her hair was down and she had breasts the size of watermelons.
WTF brain? Rhya snapped. I have nothing against lesbians, but you know I don't roll that way. The images suddenly disappeared in a whisp of smoke, leaving only one lone figure, a man with shaggy black hair hanging down from his eyes, and torn clothing all over his body. As he looked up at her, his sharp silver irises looked into her eyes. Rhya's calm face turned into one of panic, suddenly scrambling to stand up.
"Az-Az-Azreal?" Rhya stammered. "But how! The League said you'd died, you died against a battle with a witch, and they even brought your body back! How…HOW?" Rhya's hands tripped over themselves as she tried to scramble away, only leaving her collapsed against the black floor. Azreal walked up to her, standing over her defenseless body to prevent an escape.
"Big sis, I've found you!" Azreal exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "This'll be great, now the Lady shall be most pleased that I've found you, and we can be together, just like old times!" Rhya gulped repeatedly, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Azreal, I… You can't be real. You've died. You've been dead for years. You can't be here, you CAN'T BE-"
"Its ok, sis," Azreal cooed softly. "The lady won't kill you. She's very kind. She opened my eyes. That's why I haven't been back to the league. She's had a special eye on you. She likes you, Rhya, she likes you a lot. If I bring you back, Ravenna will be most pleased-"
"RAVENNA?" Rhya yelled. Rhya's sudden outburst caused Azreal to trip backwards, allowing Rhya to stand up. She placed a foot on his chest, keeping him down, and leaned down to his face. "Azreal, you dirty piece of shit, I don't know what you think you're doing, or even if you're real, but you better tell me this is all a big joke or I'll-"
"You won't do anything," Rhya's voice said. Rhya's eyes widened as she looked up into the blackness. There stood a girl who looked exactly like her, except her clothes were black, her coat was blood red, and her hair was a deep gray. Where her eyes used to be, only scribbled in circles remained, and her smile was long and toothy.
"Who are you?" Rhya exclaimed, backing away from Azreal and the girl as she neared. Azreal slowly stood up, the girl stopping right next to him. She smiled, holding her arms out to Rhya.
"I'm you, of course!" She exclaimed. "I'm your madness." Her smile widened larger, her teeth growing larger. "The madness is strengthening. If I can swallow your soul, the Hatter will be most pleased…He'll take me as his wife, maybe, and I'd have everything I've ever wanted, everything!" The madness began to spin around in circles, Azreal smiling as she spun. Rhya's eyes widened as she stopped and looked back at her.
"It'll only be a matter of time, you little piece of shit~" the madness chirped sweetly, licking her lips. "Your soul will taste so sweet. And then nothing but madness will remain, and the lady and the hatter will award us both for our efforts-"
"You dumb cunt!" Rhya shouted. "Azreal's dead! He's been dead for 5 years! Like I'd fall for a stupid trick like that-"
Suddenly Azreal was in front of Rhya, gripping onto her throat and raising her off the ground. Rhya began to scream, only to have it cut off from lack of air.
This is just a dream, its just a dream, I won't die, how can you die in a dream? Rhya tried to console herself. But as she stayed airborne, the more she noticed that she couldn't breathe. She choked, pulling on Azreal's hands frantically. Suddenly Azreal dropped her, and she crashed to the ground, choking for air.
"Do you like that little trick?" Azreal asked. "Lady Ravenna showed it to me. I can access your soul from the threads on it. Now I can kill you at a moment's notice." Azreal grinned evilly. "I love you, big sis, but I won't hesitate to kill you if it pleases the lady." Rhya choked for air, tears streaming down her eyes. She looked up at the man who had been her brother for years. Slowly, she blinked, turning on her frail soul perception.
Azreal's soul was there-It wasn't an illusion. Azreal was alive. Rhya almost laughed in disbelief and happiness. However, that happiness was cut short as two talons encompassed his soul, black fog emitting from its claws. Azreal suddenly kicked Rhya hard in the face, causing her soul perception to suddenly shut off. Rhya coughed in pain, trying to keep herself up.
"I thought I knew you better, Rhya." Azreal muttered. "You were never rude enough to look at a person's soul without permission." Rhya choked again, trying to drown out the panic that was encompassing her. Slowly her madness walked up towards her, pulling her up in the air by her pony tail. This time it didn't hurt, but Rhya still groaned in pain.
"We'll let you go… for now," The madness chimed. "Besides, if we let you live now, the madness that you'll emit once you do become consumed will be so much richer." The madness giggled, throwing her off to the side. "Az, you should go report now. I'll stay with her~" Azreal nodded, a dumb smile creeping his face, as he disappeared in a whisp of smoke. The madness laughed loudly as Rhya struggled to wake up.
Wake up…Wake up…WAKE UP!
"Rhya! Rhya, wake up! Wake up!" Shun exclaimed. Rhya's eyes suddenly shot open, her breath pained and stressed. Shun sighed in relief, still panting from panic.
"Rhya, are you ok? You were shaking, like you were having a seizure, and you stopped breathing for a while." Shun asked. Rhya looked slowly at Shun, still panting. His eyes were wide, and his face was almost that of an adorable puppy. Rhya groaned internally. He's doing the puppy dog eyes. He's worried about me enough to do the puppy dog eyes. God, why have you forsaken me?
"I'm fine… It's all good…" Rhya soothed, trying to sit up. Shun grabbed onto her shoulder with one hand and wrapped other arm around her back to support her.
"Bull sharks you're fine," Shun snapped. "Rhya, you stopped breathing. You were shaking like crazy. If nothing else, you at least had a terrible nightmare. Why won't you tell me anything?" Rhya looked at her partner in a daze. He looked serious. He was serious. He was her partner now, she had to give her trust to him. Rhya blinked a couple times and looked up. Kaido stood at the foot of the bed, putting on his white T-Shirt. Rhya's eyes widened.
Shit, shit, SHIT! Kaido has soul perception. He was bound to see the madness react. He must know now. Shit! Rhya panicked. Instead, Kaido just looked at Rhya, nodded to her, and walked out the door, as if nothing had happened. Rhya sighed a bit in relief. He's not going to rat me out. He's going to keep my secret safe. Thank god…
"Rhya," Shun repeated. Rhya spun her head to Shun, completely forgetting that he was there. "I'm waiting for an answer." Rhya bit her lip. She spoke too soon. Shun was still there.
"Well… It's kind of hard to explain…" Rhya muttered, scratching the back of her head. Shun glared at her, leaning closer. Rhya's face began to get red, as she looked around the room. Her eyes crossed over a clock, reading 7:45.
"Shit! We're going to be late!" Rhya exclaimed, jumping out of the infirmary bed. Shun let go of her reluctantly, staring up at her. As Rhya hurriedly put on her knee high boots, Shun walked around the bed, standing in front of Rhya's path.
"You WILL tell me, Rhya." Shun repeated. "Not as your partner, but as your friend." Rhya froze, and looked up at Shun. His angry expression was gone, covered only in an expression of worry now. Rhya bit her lip, looking down. Her secret, the secret she tried so hard to hide, the one thing she gave up everything for…She can't repeat her mistakes. She wouldn't start over again.
"Ok," She uttered quietly. "I'll tell you after the meeting. You can come over, and I'll tell you everything." The madness gently gripped her soul, not tight enough to choke her but enough to make her ache. Shun nodded calmly, holding his hand out. Rhya slowly took it as Shun brought her to her feet. Rhya looked in his brown eyes, so bland and uninteresting, but somehow found hope. Rhya blushed as she suddenly looked away.
Ok, Rhya, you'll tell him your secret. That's the first step. She told herself. Don't start getting ahead of yourself and fall in love.
Yeah, you're right, her madness chimed quietly. After all, why would he want to have a piece of crap like you for a girlfriend anyway?
Rhya and Shun made it to Julia's right at the stroke of 8, with the yellow moon laughing over their rush. Rhya knocked gently on the door, panting as if she had just ran a mile. As soon as the door opened, the odor of cat hair and dog breath flooded out, with Julia standing there with three dogs- A German shepard, a border collie, and a Papillion.
"Oh, hey." Julia greeted, holding back the border collie with her leg. "I hope you aren't allergic to animals. I have these three and 2 cats." Shun's face went blank with astonishment, but Rhya merely shook her head.
"Nope, I'm good. I have a fox at home." Rhya replied, walking into the house. Julia's face filled with astonishment as the German Shepard decided to do a thorough investigation of Shun's crotch.
"You have a fox? Aren't those wild?" Julia implored, following close behind Rhya as she walked into the room.
"Guys, a little help here, I think the German Shepard has the hots for me."
"Not Gintsuki." Rhya replied, ignoring Shun's request for help. "A group of Russians did an experiment with domestication, and they produced some domestic foxes. Just be careful when you're cooking meat and make sure you give him a piece." Shun started to whine, pushing back the dog's relentless attempts to hump Shun's leg. Julia snapped.
"Jackal! Down!" Julia commanded. The dog lowered his ears and jumped down, slowly walking away. Julia sighed, gently petting the dog's head as he walked past.
"So, shall we get this meeting started?" A new voice inquired. Rhya turned around and saw a fairly tan girl with raven black hair, with pitch-black sun glasses over her eyes. She wore cargo pants without shoes, and she was leaning in a chair, suspended on its back legs.
"That sounds like a good idea, I think." Another voice replied. The new voice came from the man sitting next to the girl, a man with shaggy blonde hair in a ponytail.
"Oh, Rhya, this is Demi and Haley." Julia introduced, pointing her hand at the respective persons. "Demi is the girl, Haley is the boy. They go to Shibusen, but they haven't been there since you've came since they were on a mission."
"We got nothin'." Demi groaned, setting her chair back on the ground. "Romania's clean-no trace of madness. Not a drop." Julia sighed, scratching the back of her neck.
"Myrady could've sworn that there'd be something in Romania," Julia muttered.
"That said, where is Myrady?" Haley asked. "She's never once been to theses meetings."
"Oh, she thinks we're a bit full of ourselves with this." Julia replied. "She's just in it for the witch hunting." Haley rolled his eyes as Scar entered the room.
"Hey Rhya, glad you could make it." Scar chirped, sitting on Julia's giant sofa, two cats sitting peacefully on its back. Rhya's eyes widened. There sat the fluffiest cat she had ever seen, and it wasn't ugly enough to be a Persian.
"C'mere, kitteh…" Rhya muttered. "I'm gonna hug you…" Suddenly Rhya scooped up the cat, ignoring its flailing attempts to escape. She flipped him on his back and gently started to pet his belly as the cat groaned in torture.
"Oi, not Jynx! Oh man…" Julia muttered. Rhya continued to pet the kitty, utterly contempt, when Ran walked into the room.
"Ok, here's the deal." Ran directed. Suddenly the room fell silent, its inhabitants only daring to breathe. Rhya looked around to see who was all there. There was Scar and Kaido, sitting on the couch, while Demi and Haley were sitting at the dinner table. Julia was standing next to her, and Shun was now fending off the Papillon. The only person she didn't recognize was the white hair boy next to Ran, with sharp emerald fore arm guards on. They looked like a team- modern ninjas.
"Someone's found Chrona. A witch named Ravenna." Ran mandated while she crossed her arms. "This witch has fooled the entire witch community that Chrona has amnesia, when in truth she doesn't. She has a plan to use Chrona, and we believe that plan is to revive the Mad Hatter." Everybody began to sneer a bit, their faces twisted with disgust. "We need to formulate a game plan. Demi, what was your analysis on Romania?"
"No trace of madness, unfortunately." Demi conceited. "However, when we were leaving, we did sense something odd in the Czech Republic." Ran sneered. "The Czech always have something to hide, it seems." Ran muttered. "Anything else?"
"I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but I could've sworn I felt the presence of a witch in Germany." Demi reported, resting a hand on her forehead. "The fact that I'm not entirely sure bothers me, but if it's a witch we can't just ignore it. We should find out if that witch is related to the madness."
"Well, did you feel any madness in Germany?" Ran asked. "If you did, then its safe to assume that the witch is related to it."
"There is PLENTY of madness in Germany." Rhya muttered under her breath. They all looked at her, slightly confused. After they remembered Rhya used to attend the L.O.A, they relaxed.
"Ok, this Friday, me, Demi and Kaido will head to Germany to investigate. It's safe to assume that Keiran, Haley, and Scar will come with us." Ran instructed, pointing at the Kaido and Demi. They both nodded, not looking to worried. Ran then turned to Rhya, giving her a quizzical look.
"I think Rhya should go, too." Ran said suddenly. Kaido and Demi raised their heads, looking at Rhya. Rhya shivered a bit as Ran continued. "She used to live in the area. I'm sure she's had plenty of experience with the madness, and it'll give her a chance to get to know the Spartoi better." Demi nodded in agreement, when Scarlett suddenly shouted out.
"It sounds like a good idea to me," she remarked. "If anything, we can break up into two separate groups- you and Demi and Kaido and Rhya." Ran nodded, then looked back at Rhya. Rhya's throat suddenly went dry.
"Uh…sure." Rhya replied nervously. Ran smiled and nodded, turning to Demi and Haley.
"Well, me and Keiran are gonna get going now. I heard that Me, Myself, and Irene was on TV. And, you know how I get when it comes to advanced delusionary schizophrenia with involuntary narcissistic rage..." Ran laughed a bit, and Demi smiled.
"Sure thing. I'm sure I can wrap everything up from here." Demi replied. Ran nodded, slowly walking out the door. Keiran followed her, the ever silent time he was. As soon as the door closed behind them, Demi stood up, and addressed the room.
"Ok, look." Demi said loud enough for everyone to hear. "We DID find something in Romania. Something terrible. It could very well hold the answer to the madness thus far. However, both me and Haley are under the agreement that it's something far too advance for us alone. We need to inform Kidd-sama about this right away, and get this…THING… destroyed, as soon as we can."
"That shouldn't be a problem," a voice chuckled. Suddenly everyone's eyes shot towards the front door. There stood a man with electric blue hair, holding both Ran and Keiran by the arms, despite their struggles. He gave a cocky grin to the room.
"Hey," Black Star greeted. "Bet you didn't think a big star like me would show up, did you?"
Note from UndeadxXxOtaku- CHAPTER 5 IS COMPLETED! Anywho, I have an announcement. As some of you may know, I only write fan fictions on my spare time (or when I'm in the mood). The other times, I like to draw. Well, I thought it'd be super awesome to draw all the OC's in the fan fic. Hyeah. It's up on deviantart now, under undeadxXxotaku. I just uploaded it, so it should still be in the 'recent uploads' area. I will later draw the other characters, like Ravenna, Draco, and the older versions of the Soul Eater characters at a later date.
I hope you enjoyed Chapter 5 =D