Chapter Twenty: Doomed from the Start; Can This Be Going Wrong Already?
"Assassin's rule number one - silence: dissolve in the darkness and erase your breath. Wait for an opening to attack your target."
Black*Star ghosted across the roof, keeping low to the ground, his eyes silently scanning the rooftop. The words exited his mouth at an inaudible level, barely even reaching his own ears. Nearby, Sid the Zombie followed the bluenette's surprisingly quite movements. The young assassin had been bouncing around all afternoon but his mannerisms now were controlled. The zombie glanced over to see the white-haired Snow sneaking along nearby, equally silent, looking every bit the assassin he was training to be. So far, so good. The trio came upon an opening in the ceiling that opened up into a darkly lit corridor. Not a soul moved inside.
"Assassin's rule number two - transpositional thinking: Analyze the target in order to predict his thoughts and movements."
Suddenly, just as Black*Star was about to descend inside, a rush of footsteps echoed through the hallway. Frantically the young meister struggled to pull himself back onto the ledge, out of sight. Snow gripped his hand and pulled him quickly, a silent look of gratitude passing between the two before they both peered over the edge. Sid, close by, watched anxiously as he waited for the two to go in. He trusted their skills, but leaving them to make decisions like these in dangerous situations was not something he usually did, it just wasn't the kind of man he used to be! But the reassuring wavelength of Nygus made him relax.
As for the two younger assassins, they both analyzed the guards. One was a girl younger than them with a shark fin peeking out of her back. Everything about her was sharp and sleek, like a Great White – a witch. The other two seemed to be normal human meisters, both carrying silent weapons. Black*Star's fist clenched angrily as they passed, wishing for nothing more than to be able to dispatch them himself. Instead he nodded to Snow who silently dropped through the window and landed quietly behind them.
"Assassin's rule number three - speed: take out the target before the target notices your presence."
Within an instance there were three souls drifting in the air. All three went into a small bag at Sid's hip for divvying up later, after they had recovered the weapons. The three moved quickly through the castle, descending further and further down towards the dungeon. Black*Star led the way, followed closely by Snow and then Sid, armed with his soul wavelength. Several times he snuck up behind guards and hit them with the green sparks, rendering them unconscious.
Snow, holding the silent Tsubaki, was silently impressed by the other meister's stealth. From what Tsubaki had told him of Black*Star he had been a loud, obnoxious, and reckless boy. The African noticed a remarkable transformation in him, from his silent footsteps to the look of utter concentration on his face. Sid was equally impressed by the boy's improvement over the past half a year. Not only had his skills increased, but his soul was changed as well. Dare he say it: Black*Star had matured!
"This way!" The bluenette whispered urgently, ducking into a stairwell and heading deeper into the darkness. Soon the low murmur of voices could be heard below. Screams of agony, voices calling for help. Even worse was when Black*Star realized that he recognized on in particular. His blood began boiling and, stealth forgotten, he flew down the stairs and barreled into the dungeon.
Sid clattered after him, also recognizing the voice. "Maka!"
The two DWMA meisters sprinted in the direction of the voice, running past the shadowy cells on either side of the corridor. Hands reached from between bars but only Snow, who felt it best to leave the two to save their friend, began unlocking the cage doors.
Black*Star pushed himself faster than he'd ever gone, completely disregarding the mission in his haste to save his friend.
Sid raced after the boy, torn between returning to the mission and saving the talented young female meister he could hear screaming in the distance.
Finally the two came to an open cell. Tendrils of darkness seemed to pulse outwards, but Black*Star didn't even hesitate before he ducked inside. As his eyes adjusted, he searched for his friend inside the blackness. The air had gone silent the second they had entered the room.
"I'm not scared, that's not the kind of man I used to be," Sid started, following nervously as he gripped Nygus in his hand. "But this seems like a trap to me!"
Not expecting anyone but Black*Star to answer, both meisters were startled by another voice, accompanied by the clanging of the cell door shutting loudly. "Welcome to Calypso's castle, esteemed meisters. We am here to take your souls!"
The obvious mockery of the common pre-fight meister line make Black*Star's anger increase. He whipped around, the pupils of his eyes morphing into stars as he readied himself to attack. A girl around his age stood by the door, smirking as she fondled a length of leather whip that was looped loosely in her hand. Sid blinked warily, keeping his zombified face a neutral mask, knowing that the type of man he was would have been stunned by the girl. The assassin noticed, however, the blue sparks that danced off of the whip every so often, and shifted his weight imperceptibly to move as quickly as possible when she decided to begin the fight.
Black*Star, barely in control of his own anger, stood in a tense knot and silently assessed his opponent. Little did he know, the whip meister standing before him was far more than what she seemed. Though she was small, Eliza was a strong meister, though she never felt like she got the recognition she deserved. This is why she had joined up with Calypso: to finally get what she earned. When she struck, her movements were as lithe as a snake. Black*Star, unarmed except for the anger that made his wavelength spark from his fingertips, danced out of the way in the nick of time. Sid and Nygus used Eliza's momentary focus to creep inside her defenses, but were quickly warned away with a lash of her whip. What ensued was a stubborn dance that left all of them gasping for air within minutes, the only one who wasn't heaving for air being Black*Star. A steady, angry determination drove him closer and closer to Eliza, enduring the sting and shock of her whip as he closed the gap between them.
When it was finally over, Eliza lying in a heap at Black*Star's feet, Sid could barely contain his shock. The kid had to have at least a hundred cuts on him and he was barely affected. This was when the zombie finally realized the depth of feeling that Black*Star had developed for his weapon. There was no doubt in his mind that the boy standing before him would keep believing in her until the end.
"We gotta' get outta' here," Black*Star shouted, throwing himself at the stone cell door. "We can't just wait around, we got a mission to finish!"
Maka's voice drifted from the back of the cave: "You can't open it up, I've already tried."
The ash-blonde meister emerged from the darkness, supported by Sid and Nygus on either side of her. Her green eyes were full of pain as she walked forward into the light. Shock marked Black*Star's face, quickly morphing into anger, as he took in the beaten state of the great meister.
"Who did this to you? " He demanded in a low tone, his starry pupils flashing dangerously in the low lighting. Maka gestured weakly towards the meister crumpled on the ground next to her now-human, unconscious weapon.
"I doubt they'll be giving us any trouble for a few minutes," her footsteps faltered and, as suddenly as it had closed, the door swung open. Outside stood Snow, a crowd of weary DWMA students behind him. He looked surprised to see them all standing in there, but quickly moved aside so that Maka could be carried out. Black*Star followed behind, itching for another fight.
Sid looked around, feeling reassured by the quickness with which they had achieved their goal. It almost seemed too easy. The meister and weapon that they had faced in the cell had taken very little of Black*Star's strength to subdue, though it would have taken most one-star meisters quite a bit more. His growth still took Sid by surprise, even though he expected it. The hard look on the boy's face was unlike associated with. Instead, it was determined. There was still a good amount of anger there, but it was controlled.
"We have to get everyone out, before the fighting starts." Snow asserts, glancing down the hallways with a sense of foreboding.
Sid grunted, trying to decipher what was going on in Black*Star's mind. The meister was uncharacteristically quiet, and instead was standing still, staring down one of the darker branches of the tunnel. "Is everyone out of their cells?"
"Not quite," Snow replied, glancing Black*Star's way with a bit of hesitation. "I found where they were keeping the kishin."
Black*Star went rigid, freezing in place, waiting for her location. It took everything in him not to run and find her himself, but he knew that it had to be Sid. It would be safer if it were Sid. The zombie had more years of kishin-fighting experience than all of them did combined.
"That tunnel ends in a solid iron door, and there are dents all through it. I could see its soul on the other side."
Snow hadn't told Black*Star that he was able to use soul perception.
"Black*Star."
The blue-haired boy turned towards Sid's voice, wishing he could calm his expression like Kai had been able to. Every emotion was visible on his face: the desperation, the fierce need, the sadness. Also the anger. The anger at Kai's secrets and how she hadn't been able to tell him. Then again, as he had realized before, he never really gave her the chance to say anything. They fought a lot more than partners should have, but they were so close all the same. They were connected. His grief at having lost her was still so stark and real that being this close to the possibility of saving her was agony.
The zombie considered him silently for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh. He knew that this was something that he could easily end up regretting, but the kind of man he was wouldn't stand for not doing it. "You need to be the one to take care of the kishin."
Shock flooded his boyish features, but he quickly gave a curt nod and was gone before he could be given any words of encouragement.
For a moment, Snow and Sid looked after him. Nygus spoke finally, speaking to her meister with a bit of resignation in her tone: "Was that a smart idea, Sid?"
Heaving a sigh, "He has to do it."
Silently, he added: "Good luck, Black*Star."
The kishin rumbled, my cage inside our mind reverberating with her displeasure. Though she/we had been fed recently it had been a weak soul – not satisfying at all. Our vocal chords shuddered with her growls as we stalked through the darkness. Something had been inside that last body, inside the blood, and I recognized the buzzing magical feeling of the potion now buzzing through our veins. I had no doubt that the witch was trying to once again bind our power to another person, and I shuddered to think that we would be controlled again. In fact, that was the only thing on which we agreed – she and I. Being controlled was something we didn't like the sound of.
Our anxiety was only amplified by the sounds of fighting that came through the ceiling. I had a feeling that the DWMA was finally striking back at the witch, and inwardly I cheered them on. It had occurred to me that Black*Star was most likely involved, but until his scent hit our nose the reality of his closeness hadn't hit me. Before I could even struggle against her, the kishin was moving us towards the origin of his scent. We came to the tunnel that led to the cell door, one that hadn't been used since we were first brought here.
Being this close I could hear his footsteps as he entered the stone passageway, shutting the door behind him. I moved backwards slowly, as if luring him, as he came farther into my shadowy maze. The smell of his sweat was enough to drive the kishin insane – again – but I just barely managed to curb that urge and direct her attention to the chase.
"Kai?"
His voice rang out, making my heart thud painfully in my chest. The kishin recoiled at our body's reaction to his presence, the sudden sweaty palms and the flood of hope that made our limbs feel lighter. It made her pause, long enough that I was at least able to peek out and catch a glimpse of my meister through our eyes. Black*Star's nervousness was barely a flicker within his eyes. Sheer determination dominated his features, accompanied by the same hopeful glint that rested in me now. He was at a great disadvantage in the darkness.
"We should just leave him alone," I, at last, emerge from the corner of our mind that I've been curled up in – hiding from the madness. "We care for him."
"You care for him!" She hissed back angrily, though with some confusion. "I don't care who he is, I'm hungry." Her resolved, though wavering slightly, pushed her to stalk him again. Our footsteps were light, and I began gathering my strength. I had waited, protected myself from her onslaught of madness, and I wasn't going to let her kill him without fighting her every step of the way. Silently I withdrew, keeping a close eye on her thoughts and preparing myself for a war.
(Author's Note: I am SO sorry for dropping off of the edge of the earth! A lot has been going on and then I just couldn't get in the groove anymore... but I promise that these next few chapters will be up within the next few weeks. Only three chapters left! Your reviews really help! Thank you!)