Chapter 19: The Guest
3 weeks later
"I don't get it why do we have to do this?" Kai asked as Maka straightened the tie on his suit. It seemed like she had been straightening forever, but Kai didn't mind, anything outside of the infirmary was better to him, especially if Maka was involved.
"Because it's one of the ways the academy gets the money to run the school." Maka answered as she finally stood up. She looked at Kai dressed up in a suit that matched the one soul wore in the black room except with a grey dress shirt and darker vest and pants.
"Besides, it's always nice to rub elbows with celebrities and dignitaries, you can make powerful connections that way." Soul said as he walked out of his room, fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve. Kai noticed that his suit matched the description of his black room attire.
"I see, well what if I don't want to help the DWMA anymore." Kai responded, he still hadn't let go of the spying on him twenty-four seven. Kai smiled regardless of his statement as he looked at Maka in her flowing grey dress with a black lace looking pattern on her abdomen. It looked nice, especially since she curled her pig tails so the made large curls as they fell and were kept up with sparkling black bows.
"You'll help." Maka told him as if it wasn't an option to not. "Can you at least try to be social tonight?" Maka pleaded, as she wrapped herself around Kai's arm and rested her head on his shoulder, she gazed up at him trying to make a cute face. Kai smiled and nodded in order to make Maka smile.
"You two are brutal." Soul chuckled as he walked into the room. Kai and Maka just ignored him though, much to Soul's displeasure.
"So Soul, you gonna make a move on Bella tonight?" Kai asked, Maka and him laughed as Souls jaw dropped and face turned red. He fumbled with his words to try and find the right thing to say back, but nothing escaped his throat.
"Doesn't matter anyway you guys remembered to make your masks?" Maka asked as she pulled out her pure white half-mask with a black angel wing outline that extended from her left eye. Soul smiled as he raised his mask.
"I've got mine." He said as he showed the gold half-mask with a scar type marking that reached one edge of the mask all the way to the other. They both turned to Kai who held his mask in his hand.
"Here's mine, I made it myself..." Kai said as he revealed the dark grey half-mask. A large midnight blue streak crossed over the right eye and was joined by a silver line that crossed the opposite side of the right eye. The left eye had a single column of red the dropped down from the left eye and had cracks that travelled throughout the entirety of the mask.
"Nice." Soul replied as he examined the mask. Maka simply smiled and they all put their masks on, they turned to look at each other and they were shocked to see Kai's mask had completely blacked out his eyes.
"Alright let's go." Maka said as she grabbed Kai's hand and the three left Maka and Souls apartment to the DWMA.
At The DWMA Ballroom
Kai, Maka, and Soul walked into the ball room. They couldn't tell anyone but their friends apart from their masks obscuring their faces. They mad their way to where everyone had taken to as their spot.
"Hey guys what's up." Soul said as they approached their friends.
"Hey, don't you all nice tonight." Tsubaki said as she smiled towards them.
"Wow you guys look pretty good." Liz said, as she eyed each and all of their outfits.
"Wow Kai, how'd you get your mask to black out your eyes?" Patty asked as she leaned in close to try and see Kai's eyes, even moving her own giraffe mask off her face to try and get a better look.
"Don't ask..." Kai said in a threatening tone followed by a laugh, nobody thought the joke was funny since his accident three weeks ago. Maka looked around to see who was missing from their friends and noticed a few people weren't here.
"Hey Tsubaki where is Black*Star?" Maka asked, everyone else began to turn their heads to try and find the assassin.
"Well you see this morning, he got a letter from Azusa since she is in charge of the masquerade this year..." Tsubaki began, " And it respectfully asked that Black*Star not come so as not to upset the guests..." Tsubaki had finished they all stared at her for a moment before Soul burst into laughter, followed by a small chuckle from Kai.
"Well it seems Azusa knows what she's doing." Soul laughed even harder.
"Ok, so what about Bella?" Maka asked again to nobody in particular.
"I saw her following Mrs. Marie and Joe Buttaki into the basement." Patty answered, much to everyone's shock. She hadn't noticed their expressions since she was staring into her own masks eyes.
"I see, and how about, Petra and Lyra?" Kai asked, since they had joined their group and have been hanging out with them for awhile.
"Well I believe that Petra is part of the opening band for the first half hour and then she'll be joining us." Tsubaki said with a sweet smile.
"And I heard something from Lyra that this thing was stupid and she had tickets to go see some band called..." Liz began to think of what she had heard.
"30 Seconds To Mars?" Kai answered, much to everyone's surprise.
"Yea that's it." Liz acknowledged, "How do you know that?" She questioned afterwards.
"Because they both gave me a CD of theirs and also a ticket saying that they feel like I'd like them." Kai explained, "They weren't wrong, I very much enjoy Up In The Air." Kai finished.
"So that's were you got that CD," Maka exclaimed since she never saw Kai listening to music until after he got out of the hospital. "And Kid?"
"He's making a speech with his father since he is the future head of the academy." Liz answered. As if on cue the stage lit up with lights, and sure enough Petra was their with an acoustic guitar, she spotted them and waved. Right after Kid and Lord Death walked out into the center of the stage. Kid wore his father's mask, while Lord Death donned a mask that was painted a variety of colours.
"Hiya, thanks for coming and I hope you have a good time!" Lord Death yelled as he waved to the crowd. HE then immediately turned around and went backstage, leaving Kid on his own. Kid took his father's place and began to recite a prepared, but brief speech.
"Thank you all for coming to the DWMA, I am the son of Lord Death, we hope that you have a great time, and please feel free to approach any of the students and ask them any questions you have. Thank you for your continued support and interest in the academy." Kid finished as he walked back stage to join his father. After he had disappeared, Petra began to play the guitar and everyone began to converse.
Kai bowed to Maka and offered his hand. She simply giggled and took it and they made their way to the dance floor. Soul and Liz walked to the buffet when someone tapped on his shoulder, he turned around to see Bella in a red flowing dress with a white half-mask that had a flower painted on the left cheek.
"May I ask you to dance , I've heard great things about you." Bella said trying to act as if she was an adult at the party. Soul simply smiled and offered his hand.
"Shall we then ." Soul said as Bella grabbed his hand and they walked to the dance floor. Eventually they were dancing side by side with Kai and Maka. As they turned, Kai and Soul faced each other, and Kai nodded to him, giving him the do it now impression. Soul grinned and stopped dancing. Bella looked at him as Soul removed his half-mask and Bella did the same, and without any hesitation Soul pulled Bella into a kiss. Kai didn't see it but he heard Maka giggle when she saw Soul kiss Bella. The two put their masks back on and began to dance again, this time Bella's head resting on Souls shoulder.
"Soul?" A voice said as the four stopped to see who had called out for Soul. They turned and saw someone who was little older than Soul with the same white hair and less noticeable red eyes than him, he held his mask in his hand.
"Wes? What are you doing here?" Soul asked as he walked towards his brother. Everyone watched with interest since this was the first time any of them had met Soul's brother.
"Well since I am engaged and moved into my own estate, I thought a little charity event might be good to make some friends." Wes answered as he stood in front of his brother.
"You have lot's of friends, and you also decided a fundraiser for the DWMA." Soul responded in a harsh tone.
"True, but I chose this because I wanted to let you know that not everyone in the family thought this was pointless for you to do." Wes answered, Soul just stood their silent staring at his brother, his body had let go of the tenseness it had taken when he saw it was Wes. "And I wanted to give you these, invitations for you and your friends to come to my wedding." Wes finished as he handed the invitations over to him.
"Thanks..." Soul was speechless as to his brothers gesture. Wes simply smiled at him.
"I hope you can attend, after all you are my brother, and my best man if your interested." Wes said while smiling over Soul's reaction.
"Of course, thank you." Soul said as he hugged his brother, happy that someone other than his Grandmother had accepted his decision.
Soul and Wes walked off with Bella talking about things that had happened and Soul and Bella's new relationship. Kai and Maka resumed their dance. They finally finished the dance and walked to the buffet to get food.
"Hey Petra isn't up their anymore." Maka said as she pointed out the guitar placed in the stand. Kai and Maka began surveying the crowd until Kai pointed her out.
"she's there, dancing with Justin." Kai told her, and sure enough she was wrapped in Justin's arms dancing slowly with him, her and Justin's faces bright red.
"Excuse me, I have some questions about the academy,would you mind answering them while I daned with you?" A gentlemen around the age of nineteen asked Maka, she couldn't tell who it was since he wore a grey mask with two crossed swords over the bridge of his nose. Maka turned to Kai who nodded and let her go since they were obligated to do this with any guest that asked.
"And might I dance with you sir?" A girl the same age as Kai asked him. He nodded and escorted her to the dance floor.
"So can I get your name and your questions?" Kai asked as he followed her lead.
"My question is why such a powerful Kishin egg is doing serving the DWMA." The mysterious girl asked, the question took Kai by surprise, He grabbed the girls neck and through her behind a column so nobody could see.
"My soul is a Redeemed Soul, and it took a very large sacrifice to get it to become redeemed, it is no longer a Kishin Egg!" Kai yelled at the guest.
"My my, temper, temper, you still haven't lost the rage that came with those powers, so they must simply be kept in stasis from your Redeemed Soul." She smiled evilly.
"How do you know these things!?" Kai asked as he yelled at her. She reached up and removed Kai's mask from his face. In doing so she waved her hand over his eyes, they glowed with a purple aura. Kai's eyes had changed drastically from the action.
"I see, so they still are in you, you just refuse to use them, such a waste, one more soul, and you become a Kishin." She laughed like an insane person. Kai saw movement to his right and looked to see an image of himself with pure white eyes and a flow of blood coming from his eyes as if they were tears.
"You know she is right, we can't ever be fully redeemed after our decision, our parents had raised us to close in order to lose our progress." The copy responded as a disturbing grin crawled onto his face.
"You, you aren't wanted!" Kai yelled at the imaginary version of himself.
"Tsk, tsk, still refuse to call me by my name, allow me to me to introduce myself again Kai, I'm Malus, your other half, and I'd be happy if you would accept that I am a part of you." Malus said as he laughed.
"I acknowledge you, I just don't like you, Malus!" Kai yelled to him once again, the guest looked over to were Kai was looking and saw nothing there.
"I'll never be away from you!" Malus yelled as he dissipated into nothing. Kai turned his attention back toward the guest, his eyes still haven't changed back, she gazed into his golden irises and viewed the bright red kishin symbol that had taken to being the most prominent feature of his eyes.
"I see, your powers just need a little coaxing out is all." The guest said, she raised Kai's free hand so she could see his palm. Her face twisted with pleasure over seeing the scars from his blood resonance. "I see, so that's how they come out, your parents taught you well." She said.
"My parents didn't teach me anything!" Kai yelled once more, "It took me a long time to wake up and realize the atrocity they were turning me into!" He finished, the kishin symbol in his eyes began to glow brighter and brighter, the more worked up he got.
"Is that why you killed them, to redeem yourself, and save your own skin from when the DWMA raided your town for the clown it harboured!" She yelled back. Kai's face turned into one of shock, how did she know he was the one who struck down his own parents in order to redeem himself.
"Your not redeemed at all, are you, you simply refuse to use your powers, what a pathetic waste." She stated as she removed Kai's hand from her neck, " All that power, one soul and you turn into a god!" She yelled at him, trying to tempt him with the power, Malus had reappeared beside her.
"She is right, you would have the power to save everyone you know." Malus tempted, seeing Kai's face twist in confusion made him smile even more. "Let's face it Kai, we'll never be fully redeemed..." Malus said as he disappeared again.
" Now if you'll excuse me I've got to leave now." The mysterious girl said, "I've got to reclaim my body guard from your girlfriend and leave." She stated as she began to walk away. She stopped and ran back up to Kai and held her lips to his ear.
"And my name is, Ruina Magnitas..." Ruina said as she smiled, Kai's was stunned, he just spent time with the person who was his greatest enemy and didn't know it. By the time he was able to move from the shock he thought to himself, who the body guard she would have brought was.
"GAIA!" Kai yelled as he ran to find Maka. He found her at the buffet getting a plate of food completely unharmed.
"Maka, are you ok!?" Kai asked frantic, Maka looked at him concerned as to why he was so hysterical.
"Yes I'm fine, don't worry." Maka said in a calming voice, Kai's breathing began to return to normal.
"Good I'm glad." Kai sighed with relief.
"That guy who talked with you, did he hurt you?" Kai asked calmly.
"No, he asked me about the school, and a surprising amount about you, he said that you knew him." Maka answered.
"Maka, that guy was my brother, Gaia, and my guest was Ruina..." Kai responded, Maka couldn't believe what she had heard. With out hesitation she grabbed Kai's hand and ran with him.
"Where are we going? Kai asked, not knowing where she was bringing him.
"Lord Death he must know, besides, Gaia gave us an address." Maka responded as she and Kai bolted down the hallway towards the death room.
Later That Week
"So this is the place, right Darman?" a red headed boy with short military cut hair asked, he wore a simple navy blue t-shirt that had the four symbols of a deck of cards on it, and blue jeans with white sneakers.
"Yes it is Amicus." Darman responded, he wore a red t-shirt with a backpack on. His hair was long and swept out of his eyes and was brown in colour. He had blue jeans as well and wore red running shoes.
"Great well let's get going then." Amicus responded as he transformed into a deck of playing cards. Darman grabbed them and fanned them as if he was playing a card game. The two walked into the abandoned laboratory with caution. They searched the entirety of the complex and found nothing of use.
"Are you sure that one-star meister girl was right about the tip she got, cause their is nothing here." Amicus groaned in annoyance. Just then Darman had an idea.
"Amicus let's Soul Resonance for a sec." Darman said, Amicus didn't question it when ever Darman had one of his feelings.
"What are you going to do?" he asked as the deck began to glow with the resonance. Darman shuffled the cards and cards made completely from his soul appeared to him from the deck.
"Trap Card form five!" He yelled as he through three of the soul cards at the ground. Darman gazed to where he threw the cards, and sure enough he was right.
"A hidden basement under the building...nice." Amicus said, generally impressed.
"Well I figured that there would be something of the sort here." Darman said as he jumped into the basement. After a few minutes of walking they reached a closed door that wasn't covered in dust like everything else they had pasted.
"Someone has been here." Darman deduced.
"Well that's for that captain obvious, let's go in." Amicus responded sarcastically. Darman opened the door with caution, setting three cards in order to be used to fight if necessary. They were shocked to see what the room was. Torture machines and runes were all over the room, and Darman heard movement from behind the stretcher.
"Ok come out, slowly." He responded. After a moment a girl who was beaten crawled out from behind the the device.
"Please don't kill me!" She cried, she wore a black blouse over a grey t-shirt that had larger sleeves than normal t-shirts, with a black skirt that had a purple hem. Her boots went all the way up to her knee. She wore a large black witches hat that sat perfectly on her light blue hair, and wore a necklace that had a a symbol of fire as the charm.
"She's beautiful..." Amicus thought, he couldn't think of anything else to say. Darman walked over a knelt beside her.
"Hey it's ok don't cry nobody is going to hurt you." He said trying to reassure her. Amicus changed back into human form and placed a hand on her back.
"Your safe now, can you tell us your name." Amicus said as he looked at her. She looked up at them and and her tears began to slow down.
"I-I'm Lamia, Lamia the elemental witch..." She began, Darman and Amicus looked at each other with concern, "PLEASE, I KNOW YOUR DWMA, THROW ME IN PRISON, INTERROGATE ME, ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN DEALING WITH THE KISHIN RUINA AND HER SERVANT GAIA!" Lamia pleaded. Darman and Amicus helped the witch to her feet.
"Your going to be ok, we'll take you back, clean you up and ask you some questions ok?" Darman asked her if she understood. She nodded knowing that she might be locked up for being a witch.
"Ok let's go, our car is outside, you'll be safe with us now." Amicus reassured, and they brought the shaken up witch out side. They put her in the back seat and shut the door for her.
"You think they'll kill her?" Amicus asked, worried for Lamia's well being.
"I don't know, but she will be questioned." Darman responded as he sat in the drivers seat.
"I guess that girls intell was right. I just hope Lamia can stay with DWMA safely." Amicus said as he sat in the passengers seat. And with that they drove off to the DWMA, not a word was spoken, all they could do was wonder why she was being tortured by the Kishin, and what her fate will be when her usefulness has run out.
Authors Note: Hey guys, sorry for the long delay of updates, but I've got a new job and have been really busy lately. Anyway I hope you are still enjoying the story and continue to read it. I'm getting to the point where it's almost done, but don't worry I'll write another story to be a sequel. The next chapter will actually be a small segment from a chapter in the next one for you guys to read. So with that I bid you farewell once again, and remember to leave any ideas and criticisms in my PM box and feel free to review what you liked, or didn't like. Hope your enjoy :)