Chapter 7:
Possession of Innocence - Broken Souls and Paying Tolls
"It started... when my brother and I learned what we were to become... when Oblivion first showed herself..."
Flashback - GHA 10 years prior [ Wrath age 8 ]
A little boy, no older than 3 stood with a stuffed bear in his arms, his older sister sitting next to him as they waited for their parents. The eight year old girl looked upset, so the boy took her hand. "S'okay, Nee-sama..."
"Huh?" the girl turned to her brother and stared, smiling a little. "Yeah, it's okay..." she nodded, trying to be reassuring. But she knew what she had done. She'd beat up another student and she was assuming she'd get yelled at for it. But to her surprise, the headmaster did not accompany her parents back to them. It was instead the Luminous Joker, Evangeline, and her partner Noda. Her mother hugged onto her and was smiling. "... Mama?"
"It's okay little one... what happened wasn't your fault, ne?"
"But... I hurt that boy, Mama..."
"It's okay." the girl's father knelt in front of her and pet her head. "We sorted it out with the Headmaster." the girl nodded, her brother looking confused. "But we have to explain something to you, okay? It's really important." he pet his son's head as well, Evangeline and Noda watching carefully. The parents picked up their children and carried them to a room in the academy. "Do you remember the stories we told you two at bed time recently?"
"The ones about the ghosties?" the little boy asked, clinging to his mother.
"Yes, the ghosties~" she giggled. "Silly baby~" she nuzzled her son and placed him in a chair as they arrived in the room. Evangeline and Noda closed the door and walked over, kneeling in front of the little girl and her brother.
"Hello little ones."
"Hello Miss Eva... hello Mister Noda..." the girl said, the boy not speaking. The pair of weapon and joker offered their hands to the two, making contact and immediately feeling a huge power surge.
"That's definitely Oblivion." Evangeline said, getting up and helping Noda regain stability, the man rubbing his head from the aftershock. "I think she's still trying to take root, so it's just her power right now. Nothing to worry about yet." Evangeline smiled.
"Oh good." the mother of the two thanked Evangeline, Noda bowing to the little ones before leaving with his partner. "Shall we go have lunch?" she asked her children.
"... Mama... Miss Eva said Oblivion... does that mean I'm Oblivion's next host...?" she looked a little scared of that thought.
"It'll be alright, little one." she pet her daughter's head. "I promise I'll be here to walk you through it."
Present
"So you were 8 when it first happened?" Maka asked, looking shocked.
"Yes... most jokers don't start showing signs until about 12 years old." Wrath said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Wrathie's a prodigy." LaMuse smiled cheerfully.
"Anyway... the next part is when I took Oblivion in..." Wrath continued her story.
8 years prior - Wrath age 10
"Oblivion! Come!" the man who currently held the position of Oblivion Joker called the being out, the ghostly woman staring at the pair. "These are your next hosts."
"Are you kidding?" the woman scoffed, glaring at the two. "The girl is weak." she stated. "... and I do not wish to take this boy as my host. He is tainted."
"Oblivion, you have no choice. I am unable to have children."
"Feh..." the woman glared at the little girl. "... You, my new host? Hah." she laughed. "What a joke."
"... doesn't matter." she replied, looking up at Oblivion. "If you won't take my brother as host, I'll do it." she stated.
"Wrath, no, that's too dangerous!"
"I don't care!" the girl exclaimed. "Mama and Papa died because of me... I won't let anyone else die because I'm not strong enough, Uncle Yuu!" she looked like she might cry. "... it doesn't matter what happens to me... so long as I can protect the people I care about..." Oblivion stared at the girl and scoffed again.
"Alright then, brat." she stated, moving to stand in front of the girl. The others began the ritual to infuse Oblivion to her new hostess.
Present
"For 2 years things seemed to be going well... that is... until the GHA came under attack..."
6 years prior - Wrath age 12
"Eva!" Noda was attempting to save his partner, his sister, from the claws of a poltergeist. But he was thrown back and slammed into a wall, no longer able to use Lumina's latent abilities thanks to having passed on his title to the next generation 3 years ago. The whole town was in chaos, how had all these poltergeists gotten in? The headmaster was helping the council protect the children when the energy changed. Axis was fighting with his sister, but currently unable to change into his weapon form, a massive headache causing him to drop to the ground.
"Axis!" Wrath helped her brother up, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Nee-sama... run..." he managed to say, a ghostly black ink-like substance seeping from his soul. Wrath shook her head.
"I'm not going to lose you too!" she exclaimed, Oblivion's energy emerging. "Oblivion! Push out whatever is inside of my brother!" she demanded, the normally reluctant spirit doing as instructed, a massive Fright Pulse hitting the town. Wrath's eyes were nearly black, her rage obvious as the purple glow from her namesake's soul seeped out from her own, the signature Oblivion Spades drawing themselves out in her eyes, as though the spirit was right there with her. Before her was a Poltergeist General of the King's Army. The same general she thought the Luminous Joker had disposed of 5 years prior.
"Foolish brat." the general cackled. "Your brother's soul was so hard to pick apart it took me 5 years to delve deep enough to break him. But now his soul is mine!" the General tried to reach for Axis, but his arm was grabbed by Wrath, who was now radiating an energy almost on the same wavelength as the Fright Pulse.
"Die." she snapped the ectoplasm as though it was ice, grabbing her pistol and aiming it at the General's head. "Bloody Black Cross... Oblivion Resolve..." The general seemed to be struggling to move, Oblivion's Wispy shadows anchoring his body to the space he was in. "Phase 8, Execution Coffin!"
Present
"Wait, you KILLED a general?!" Yuuji stopped her, in shock along with everyone else. "We never heard about that! We were told the general was encapsulated and then destroyed by the Luminous Joker!"
"Of course they told you that... if they hadn't what would you all have thought?" she asked him. "... I would have been deemed dangerous... despite being a Joker, I would have been labeled as unstable." she sighed. "Anyway, after that... Axis was in the hospital in a coma until I turned 16... 2 years ago, he woke up and all he could remember was his name... and me..." she looked at the ground, trying to suppress her feelings. "He didn't remember our parents... he didn't remember Uncle Yuugato... he didn't recognize LaMuse or Oliver... his soul was so broken, doctors said he should have died in that coma..." she looked back up. "My grandfather told me that he only stabilized enough to come back because all the excess of Oblivion's energy entered him and held his soul together..." she took a breath to calm herself.
"The following year, I was sent to Shibusen due to an incident that occurred in the middle of the previous year, involving the death of a student at the hands of a poltergeist." LaMuse stated, taking the attention off of Wrath so she could pull herself together. "And then father sent Wrathie when the level of activity spiked in the area around Death City..."
"Axis is still recovering, so I was sent without him..." Wrath added, sitting up straight. "He's still not stable enough to fight, but his soul is becoming stronger again... though they doubt he will ever be able to return as my weapon partner."
"... Man, this is heavy stuff..." Liz interjected, Kid staring at Wrath as though he wanted to help comfort the girl. Wrath looked around the room and bowed her head.
"Sorry... but thank you all for listening..." she smiled weakly, looking almost like she'd break if you touched her. "Uncle Yuugato... I believe I have to make a report now." she added, LaMuse taking that as her cue to take everyone outside again and start cooking dinner. "... How is he?"
"He woke up this morning and said he wanted to see you." he replied. "Do you want me to get him?"
"... No... let him rest..." she shook her head. "But please, tell him I miss him..." she said before she began her report to the man.
When Wrath finished her report she went to lay down, feeling unwell. She hated talking about the past, but no one had reacted badly so she was alright with it. It was just hard to relive those experiences... She heard the door open and sensed someone walking towards her. "Not having fun outside?" she asked.
"I thought you'd like some dinner." Kid stated, placing her plate down next to her and sitting nearby. "... Are you alright?"
"I will be..." she mumbled. "It's just difficult to talk about, is all..."
"... Well, if you ever need someone to listen... I'll be here." he said to her, feeling her soul mellowing out from it's anxious and upset state.
"... Thank you, Kid..."
A couple of days later, Wrath had gotten word of some poltergeist activity and went with her students to investigate. This was their exam, since the incident prior had involved an unexpected Alpha. She didn't want to chance her proteges getting hurt by it. But this was a relatively tame Fright Pulse compared to that previous one, so she was going to let them do the fighting this time. They arrived at a strange monument in the middle of a jungle and began their search, encapsulating any poltergeists they encountered. But something felt off to Wrath, something stronger was here... or at least had been, she couldn't exactly tell. But it was there. Suddenly, it got stronger. Much stronger. She got up from where she was waiting and headed inside.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!" Tia was surrounded by poltergeists, separated from Satoshi and the others. She was running out of ammo and Aki was unable to resonate with Yuuji because they had been arguing.
"Tia!" a ghostly cackle rang out through the monument and a woman floated out on a broom stick, her unusually eccentric outfit and the soul surrounding her made it clear. She was a witch. Her hand flicked as Yuuji fired a shot at her, deflecting the bullet effortlessly. Aki tried to get at the witch too, only to end up landing on Yuuji. "Shit, this is bad." Satoshi was trying to figure out a way to get out when he heard a shot ring out, watching the witch start screaming and holding the side of her head, her ear having been shot off.
"God, your screams are annoying." A figure walked out from the shadows and into the candle light.
"Wrath!"
"So, you're a witch, huh?" Wrath was standing on a platform that used to belong to a second floor hallway. "Dragging humans in here to feed poltergeists? Well aren't you generous." the sarcasm dripped from her voice.
"What the hell, die you bitch!" but Wrath just shot her full of holes, dispatching any poltergeists that came after her with little effort. The witch's soul floated there, and Wrath retrieved it once the poltergeists were dispatched; placing it into a case that she'd gotten from Shinigami in case she ever ran across a Kishin egg soul or something that required her returning a soul to DWMA. The woman stared at her students.
"The hell was that?!" she exclaimed. "Aki! Yuuji! If you can't work together, then use your damn guns! Had this been a real exam you'd have failed miserably!" she turned to Tia, who was clinging to Satoshi. She sighed. "Hurry up... we're heading back." she had to make a report about this for sure... a witch helping poltergeists was something dangerous indeed.
Once back at DWMA, Wrath went straight to the Death Room, handing off the soul to Shinigami and explaining to him what had happened. "I see I see..." he nodded. "That's quite troublesome... thank you for taking care of it for me." he nodded.
"Not at all, sir.." she sipped her tea that Shinigami had provided. "However, for a witch to have been helping the poltergeists..." she looked bothered, and Shinigami noticed.
"If you like, I can call the GHA and you can explain things to them directly." he stated. "I realize things have become rather stressful for you over the past couple of days." he sipped at his tea. But Wrath shook her head.
"I appreciate the offer, but if you wouldn't mind explaining it for me... I have some things to take care of." Shinigami nodded, as though he knew what it was already.
"Alright~ I'll call for you~ Go get some rest~"
"Yes, sir." she said, thanking him for the tea before she left. Shinigami watched her walk off, noting that she was walking slower than the last time she had been in to see him. He exhaled and turned to his mirror.
"Did you catch that, Sumagawa?" an old man's image appeared in the mirror.
"I did... the curse is progressing much faster than any of our medical staff predicted... this is most troubling." he sighed. "Please keep an eye on her for me, Shinigami... the women of my family are most stubborn." he bowed his head.
"Of course." he nodded. "Your granddaughter is most resilient, though... I am sure she will be alright." he chuckled. "Oh and of course, I should tell you that my son seems to have taken a liking to her. They are progressing well."
"That's good to hear." Sumagawa nodded. "She's been lonesome, since her brother fell into the coma... even after waking, she was always lonesome..." he kept nodding until he stopped to look at Shinigami. "Having someone at her side may be dangerous, however... thanks to the being that inhabits her... so be wary of that, Shinigami."
"Alright." the two let the connection dissipate, Shinigami going back to his tea. "What a development..." he finished up his tea. "How exciting~"
((Next chapter~ ; v ;'' I hope you all like it
Still looking forward to reviews~ /rolls
-Winter Cheshire))