KEEP QUIET
3 months 3 weeks after Asura
Maka had been moved into the dungeon of the DWMA, only a few rooms down from where Rudra was staying. It took a lot of time, and a lot of thought; but she decided to do this alone, and now was her best chance. The sun had set hours ago, a cool breeze coming between the bars overhead. Rudra stood from her bed and slipped on her shoes, quietly making her way towards the cell door.
She closed her eyes and gathered wind in her hands; she had complete control of it as she sent it down both ends of the hall, sensing only one guard by the stairs. She pressed one hand to the lock on her door, and using her wind power, she forced the lock to rust completely, allowing the bars to open.
She slipped down the hallway, making sure to stop and feel the air before taking another step. She came upon a wooden door with no handle; the door seemed to open with a push, and she let it close behind her. The room was pitch black, not even a small opening protected by bars. Anyone would go insane in this room, and it certainly wouldn't help someone who was.
"Maka?" It was a test, trying to feel out where the meister could be, but to no avail. She shimmied away from the wall and into the darkness, her hands outstretched as she strained to hear the other occupant. Maka was either sleeping or she was watching her, silent and curious.
There was a shuffling noise to her left, but failed to turn in time to dodge a punch that hit her ear. Her balance was gone as she fell to the ground, battling nausea and the meister who was on top of her, scratching and punching her. She rolled them both over in an attempt to restrain her, but she was much smaller and much weaker than Maka was.
"Soul!" Maka was repeating his name over and over as she pummled Rudra; she had caused this, and she knew what they had done to Soul. She would never see him again, and she would never escape the hell inside her head. Rudra had stopped trying to console Maka and soon the former meister realized that the weapon hadn't moved in quite some time.
Rudra slowly reached up and grabbed Maka's hands; there was still that spark, that little string of fate that kept the two bound. Maka took in her memories, her thoughts, and everything that could happen in the future. The meister stilled; a message was hidden within them, a plea for help when the time came. Rudra knew she would never be forgiven; but Maka confirmed that she would rise to the occasion, sane or not.
"I've never seen you." Rudra knew who she was - it wasn't hard to figure it out. She was one of Lord Death's very own personal weapons. If memory served, this woman transformed into a pair of tonfa, and she was also able to cure Stein of his madness. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth; that's why Stein wasn't here today. She was driving him insane, and Lord Death sent the only one who would be unaffected to babysit her.
"My name is Marie; I'm a friend of Professor Stein. I'm here to-"
"Did he put you up to this? I have things I need to do today and I think Lord Death would be more comfortable with his favorite student showing me around." Marie gave her a deep frown before waggling a finger at her; Rudra's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"I'm competent enough to follow you around all day. So, where to?" Marie unlocked the cell and Rudra allowed her to put the collar on. Just to get her point across, as Marie reached towards her neck, she threw her hand over her shoulder to cut her hair. The leash was clipped on quickly and if she hadn't been expecting the response, she would be in the wall.
Marie had transformed her arm into a hammer and it swept at Rudra from the side. She dropped flat to the ground and let it pass her by. She turned her arm back and gave the sword a pointed look. Rudra simply smiled back at her and stood up, dusting herself off.
"I'd like to go see Crona first."
She lead Marie out of the dungeon -and she was surprised to see that her sense of direction was worse than Agni's- and they wove through the halls of the school. There were a few NOT students attending their regular classes, but there were no mandatory EAT classes today. Rudra wished she was still in school simply so she could get the day off.
But she had decided last night that she planned not only to follow her friends, but to start building a new base of trust. If they were going to fight together, Rudra had to know if they would protect her, and she needed to make sure they knew she would protect them. Marie had been humming for a majority of the walk, a vaguely familiar tune that she heard Soul hum from time to time.
But when they stepped from the massive staircase of the school, Marie began talking.
"So, Rudra-"
"Rudy. I kind of prefer Rudy." She didn't want to admit it to anyone, but she didn't know Marie and she wanted to pretend she was as good a person as everyone thought she was. She wanted to go back to being Rudy, but she couldn't do that if she didn't tell them about Rudra. She had kept a lot from her friends, and of all the people she knew were angry with her, Tsubaki and Crona were the ones she needed to be with her.
"Okay. Rudy it is. So, Rudy, tell me about yourself."
"What do you want me to tell you?"
"Whatever you want to. I just don't think anyone knows much about you; and if we're going to be friends, we need to know about each other." She thought about that for a long time. It was hard for her to think of things that were relevant; did Marie want to know about her as a weapon? Or as a person?
"I, uh, don't like to fight. I like Tsubaki's cooking. I'm more independent than my sister; and I'm worried about her."
"Is she your big sister?" Rudra nodded. She was relieved that Marie wasn't as critical as Kid or Stein would be - she was as honest as she seemed. Rudra mentioned her sister's cooking as well - Agni might not have been on Tsubaki's level, but she knew a lot of comfort food recipes. Everything she made was spicy, she recalled with a laugh. She missed her sister. She wished Agni was here with her; maybe then she would be able to face Tsubaki later on.
Her old apartment brought forth a sense of deja vu. Her and Marie ascended the stairway, knocking a few times on the door before Crona answered it. Their eyes narrowed before they shifted to Marie, prompting them to open the door and invite the pair in.
Crona hadn't done much with the place in the three weeks she had been gone; there was a blanket on the back of the couch. Rudra noticed her bedroom door was closed, and with a glance back she saw that Crona had added some cereal to the kitchen. Nothing else had changed. The weapons sat on the couch while Crona stood nervously a few feet away, unsure of why Rudra was here. Ragnarok formed out of their back and waved happily at both of them.
"Hey, sis! I see you came back!" Crona's eyes narrowed again and the demon sword actually backed down, perched quietly on their shoulders. They were angry with Rudra; not only did Crona blame her for what befell Maka and Soul, but they were angry with her on a personal level. How could Rudra do the things she did, how could she lie to everyone that had wanted to help her?
Crona was angry with her because she reminded them of their own past mistakes..
"Crona, let me fix you two some tea and you can catch up." Crona stuttered out a thanks while Marie just smiled and headed for the stove. Crona moved to sit beside Rudra; they didn't know how to voice their anger with her. The confrontation wasn't something Crona wanted any part of, but it had to be done so it wouldn't happen again.
"Crona, I wanted to apologize."
"Do you think that's enough?" She was a bit surprised that they were rejecting the outright apology, but something inside her was happy that Crona wasn't letting her off with a simple sorry. She had lied to them not only about Maka, but about their intentions. She had hurt Crona in more ways than one, and she could understand the hostility.
"No, the apology itself won't be enough. Which is why I'm here; I was hoping that you would hear me out. I want to run something by you."
They nodded hesitantly, unsure of where she was going with this. She came here to talk?
"I came here with the intention to hurt people. I succeeded in that; however, I've made myself miserable in the process. I want to fix Maka, I want to bring Soul back. I want you to know how deeply I regret following that path for so long, but now I'm aiming for something different. I want to help my friends, I don't want to see a world without you all. I want you to help me on this path; I know you aren't much of a leader, Crona, but I'm a follower."
"You want me to... Lead you? Where? I don't know how to deal with this..." Marie came back with the tea, the same warm smile on her face. Rudra simply held her cup, waiting for Crona to say something more. Did they forgive her? Would they trust her again? They sipped their tea, Ragnarok slurping loudly. A long silence passed and the ticking of their goofy frog clock -from Soul, courtesy of "my jackass brother, Wes"- filled the room.
"I don't think I can forgive you... For hurting my friends. But if you're trying to not be bad anymore, well... That sounds good." They reached out shyly and Rudra's eyes went wide when their fingers rested on her hand. She hadn't expected to be forgiven; but their acknowledgement of her goals was more than enough to reassure her that Crona would stand by her when the time came.
"Did it go the way you wanted it to?"
"No, but I'm happy with the outcome nonetheless." Marie reached out and brushed her hand comfortingly against her arm, only for the weapon to draw back quickly. It dawned on her in that moment that Rudra was evil - but couldn't help but feel confused. This girl had returned voluntarily, carrying a meister and his weapon on her back while completely insane. She had gone to great lengths to repent for her former deeds; it almost reminded her of the meister they had just been with.
It was later in the day, 3 in the afternoon. They had been at Crona's for the better part of two hours; now they were heading back towards the academy. She began to head towards the steps only to be stopped by Rudra's leash; the weapon was standing obstinate, a strange look on her face.
"I don't have to go back already, do I? I still need to talk to someone."
"Oh, no, that's fine. Who are you going to speak with now? Are you apologizing to someone else?"
A short nod was all it took for Marie to figure out that Rudra didn't want to talk much about this person. She lead the death scythe through the winding streets with expert knowledge; Marie felt faintly concerned that an enemy was so intimate with their town. It wouldn't be the first time.
They arrived at more student apartments; Marie was still wondering who was going to be behind the door. A swift knock and a polite "Hold on, please", a few moments passed.
Tsubaki Nakatsukasa wasn't who she expected to open the door; Marie was completely taken off guard when she slammed the door in Rudra's face. The weapon turned her head and looked at Marie, wondering what she should do next, when Black*Star opened the door.
"Oh, shit." He let out a deep sigh before opening the door wider for them to enter. Tsubaki seemed to be holed up in her room, which made Rudra feel a bit worse. She had upset one of her closest friends, and she couldn't handle what was to come without the steady hand of Tsubaki.
"I wanted to talk to Tsubaki, but it seems as though she would rather not be spoken to." Black*Star knocked on her door and the weapon opened it to pull him inside, closing it again quickly. He gave her a confused look before beginning to ask why she was acting so harshly, when she clapped a hand over his mouth. Her eyes held a fury he had never known to be in her.
"I don't want to talk to her, I don't know that woman. I had a friend named Rudy, but she never existed apparently. She almost killed you and Maka. How can anyone forgive someone for hurting their closest friends?" She proved a great point, like she always did.
"You should hear her out, and whatever you decide after she's talked to you, I'll go with it." She nodded, accepting the terms. She would listen to what Rudra had to say, even if it was all lies. She didn't need to ask Black*Star to stay out of this conversation; Marie had began making tea in the kitchen and he joined her, while Tsubaki headed into the living room to join Rudra.
She hesitantly sat down beside her; Marie delivered two cups of fresh tea before retreating back to the kitchen with Black*Star and trying to listen in on the conversation. Rudra wanted Tsubaki to start, but the other weapon seemed intent on ignoring her in favor of watching the steam rise from her cup.
"Tsubaki, I-"
"If you try and apologize I will have Miss Marie escort you out." Rudra's mouth snapped shut and she set her tea cup down. Well, how was she supposed to do this? Tsubaki didn't even want to hear an apology. How could she begin to explain herself?
"I was led astray once. As a consequence, my sister and I were entombed in the Earth for almost 800 years; and I never thought she would forgive me. And she didn't, until we clawed our way out and Arachne was making us drink gallons of water when we surfaced; she said it was alright. I never came here expecting you to forgive me, but I want to know what it's going to take for you to trust me again."
"I never knew you. I still don't. You're going to tell me everything, from the day you crawled out of your pit to right now, you and I sitting on this couch."
"Well, it started a few months ago; the air changed, we could taste it in the dirt that was churning in the magma. Agni said, if you can cut the rock, I can move all of this out of our way. She always had a way of making me do things I didn't want to..."