"We're here." Pops said, turning off the car.
"Finally, I need to stretch." Jared grumbled, getting out the car and stretching his arms over his head. He sighed in relief and let his hands fall to his sides, and took in his surroundings. "I remember running away from here every time I had the chance… I never got far." Jared said leaning against the car, kicking at the dry dirt. It flew into the air and took its time to settle down once more, only for Jared to kick at it again.
Pops got out of the car and smirked. "And you would just get punished. You never did learn your lesson, did you?" Pops asked as he closed the door behind him.
Jared looked at him. "Nope, I learned my lesson. I just never lost my hope that I would get out of this hell hole as soon as possible." Jared said with a sigh.
"He never did break you." Pops grumbled.
"Maka has a shot at surviving this, she has Carlo, that note Soul sent her, and a bit of faith… she's all set to go." Jared mumbled.
"You're worried for her aren't you?" Pops asked.
"I just can't help but think of all those poor souls that gave up… they lost their humanity. They lost their hope." Jared mumbled.
"Maka's going to make it out of it; I see it in her eyes." Pops told Jared, but he wasn't so sure.
"Mmm." Was all that Jared managed to say as he looked at the house that was in front of them. The ground was all sand; nothing was green in this area. The sun beat down hard here, not letting a single flower grow on this ground. The land that this man owned was acres wide and long, you could never run away because you could easily be seen from the distance, you could forget about hiding, there wasn't a single thing to hide in or on or behind. Jared sighed as he remembered the deafening sound of the whip slamming down on his back, his screams of agony tearing through the air.
Jared winced, feeling the searing pain on his back again. He let out the breath that he didn't know he was holding in and chewed on his bottom lip.
There was only one house that had two bedrooms in it, the room where he sleeps and the room where Maka and Carlo will sleep, separate beds of course. There was a kitchen, and a living room and the biggest room was the training room.
"Pops… I don't want Maka here." Jared said.
Pops' eyebrows rose in surprise. "What?" he asked as he opened the trunk to grab the suit cases.
"I don't want Maka here." He repeated.
Pops closed the trunk once the suit cases were out and went to face Jared. "Why?" he asked.
"I don't want him to whip her, or lay a finger on her." Jared said.
"That's his way of teaching Jared; you know that very well, we both have the scars to prove it." Pops said.
"I know I just don't want her to go through that." Jared told him.
"I already paid for the training Jared, there are no refunds." Pops said.
Jared glared at him; they held each other's gaze and Jared knew he wasn't going to win this one. "Alright, but if she comes back with scars, I'll make sure that you get kicked out of the Star Clan." Jared growled.
"You wouldn't." Pops responded.
"I'm second in command. Frank, third in command, normally always takes my side on almost every conflict, and Carlo, who is in fourth, is emotionally attached to my step daughter, and I could easily use that to my advantage. All three of us together… your future in the Star Clan looks bleak Pops." Jared said smugly.
Pops glared at him. "I'll see what I could do." He grumbled grabbing two of the suit cases and walking over to the front door of the house, setting the suit cases down and knocking on the door.
There was a click and then the door opened slightly. Pops could only see the outline of the only man that had put fear in him and those black, dead eyes filling him with it, making him nervous. "Nero! How have you been?" Pops asked, sweating bullets already.
"Wipe that smirk off your face Red." Nero growled in his deep voice that made Pops want to run back into the car and peel out of there. Nero glared in Pops direction while opening the door wider to let him inside.
Pops did as he was told; picking up the suit case and walking inside, the room he was in bringing back horrible memories.
"Well, where is the victim?" Nero asked, making Pops jump.
"Uh, before I bring them, I need you to do me a favor." Pops said, setting the suit cases down on the ground.
Nero raised his eye brow in response, feeling that words were not needed to answer Pop's question.
"I know that you've been teaching the Star family ever since White and I were kids, but I need you to change your tactic with this girl that I'm about to bring in." Pops explained, looking up at the tall, buff man that was fifteen years his senior. Those black eyes were cold and heartless, the raven black hair messy, untouched from when the man woke up. His skin a deathly pale color that looks like it hasn't been touched by the sun.
"I have never changed my ways of teaching, what makes you think that I will change them for you?" Nero growled, his hand twitching for the leather whip that hung lightly on his hip.
Pops saw this, but knew that if he showed weakness, he wasn't going to get what he wanted. "I need this girl scar-less, that means you can't lay a finger on her." Pops told him.
"I don't like repeating myself Red, you know that very well. I will do it once and only this once. I have never changed my ways of teaching, what makes you think that I will change them for you?" Nero asked, his jaw tight, his glare never settling.
Pops fidgeted. "I'll pay you double this time." Pops offered.
"Do you really think you could bribe me? Have I taught you nothing Red?" Nero asked.
Pops felt a sweat drop roll down the side of his face. "If you don't do this, I will be forced to find a new teacher." Pops said his voice cracking.
Nero let out a small, lifeless chuckle. "I'll give in this once for trying." He said. "Alright then, tell me what you need me to fix in this girl, and what her strengths are."
"I'll let you find out her strengths, but I will tell you what her weaknesses are. She lets people get way too close to her. She's quick to assume things; she rushes into things, sometimes, not all the times. When someone she is close to is in danger, she reacts too quickly, she doesn't stop to think. When she attacks, she lets go, she doesn't think about what she does. That's about all I could think of off the top of my head." Pops said.
Nero nodded. "And you said on the phone that there was another student?" Nero asked, glancing out the open door to see Jared looking up at the old house, a frown on his face. "It isn't him is it?" Nero asked.
"No, do you remember Carlo?" Pops asked him.
"Carlo? He's coming back? What did he do to get himself back here?" Nero asked.
"He's Maka's weapon, the girl that you are going to straighten out. He's getting a bit tad attached to her though." Pops told him.
"That's odd, last time I checked, he thought of woman to be lesser than him." Nero murmured, his deep voice scratching at Pops ears, making him even more on edge than he already was.
"Maka seemed to have changed him over night." Pops responded.
"Get out of here Red. I have some students to teach." Nero said, smiling a demonic smile. The poor bastard, Carlo must be love-struck to come to this hell again.
Pops knew that smile, it was his trouble smile. He wasted no time in getting the hell out of that house of horrors. "Jared, wake up Maka and Carlo." Pops said.
Jared did as he was told and opened the door, tapping Carlo lightly on the shoulder.
"Hmm?" Carlo mumbled lightly, not wanting to wake up.
"We're here Carlo." Jared told him.
Carlo sat up straight and rubbed his eye with one hand and with the other, he lightly shook Maka. "Maka, come on." He mumbled.
"Mmm." She grumbled, not opening her eyes.
"Maka, we have to get going." Carlo said, shaking out of his sleep and stepping out of the car.
"Fine." She muttered, sitting up and rubbing her eyes as she scooted towards the open door.
Jared helped her out of the car and hugged her to him. "Be strong, don't let him get to you okay? I did what I could to make sure that you made it out of this with your humanity intact, but I make no guarantees." He whispered into her ear.
"Is it really that bad?" Maka asked him.
Jared winced. "I'm sorry Maka." He muttered and let go of her, closing the door that she had just come out of, opening his and stepping inside, closing it behind him.
"Carlo, take your suit cases inside with you." Pops told him, shaking his hand goodbye and then turned and stretched out his hand.
Maka took a small step back.
Pops frowned. "If you can't get over my slap, you sure as hell won't survive here Maka. You have to be stronger than this." He warned her.
Maka looked down at his hand and looked up at him. She threw her arms around his torso and hugged him.
"I'm sorry Maka." He muttered. "I'm sorry for the slap, and I'm sorry for this… but it has to be done." He muttered as he hugged her back and then let her go, walking around the car and getting into the driver's seat and driving away, leaving behind a trail of dust.
Carlo picked up his suit cases and motioned for Maka to follow him. "Whatever you do Maka… don't question the guy." He told her as they approached the open front door. "Stay quiet, unless you are talked to… and try to stay on his good side, if he even has one anymore."
"Nero, we're here." Carlo called out as he stepped inside of the house.
"It's five in the morning; it's time to start the day." Nero said from behind them, closing the front door with a loud slam, and turning the lock with a flick of the wrist.
Maka jumped, her heart thudding, her eyes widening in fear as she got into her attack stance. She felt as if she had just stepped into a terror movie, normal people don't wait behind you to close the door like that.
"You must be Maka. My names Nero." He said his deep voice hitting Maka's ears with such a power that she flinched. She made the mistake of looking into his cold, lifeless, black eyes that sent cold ice into her soul.
Carlo wrapped his arm around her shoulder to steady her.
This didn't go unnoticed by Nero, and then he saw the scar on Maka's cheek.
He frowned. "You know, I don't like it when my students have scars that aren't caused by me." He said, his curiosity sparking, his hand twitching for the whip that was practically burning his hip.
Carlo noticed and stepped in front of Maka.
Nero straightened out in surprise but then smiled. "This is going to be fun." He muttered.