Black Blood

Odette softly laid the zanbato on the bed in his room. For a while she stood and stared down at it, still waiting for him to change back or say something to her. But her weapon was silent and lifeless as she carried it back to the castle and up to their dorm. It was a little unsettling. He'd never done this before. Was it possible that he couldn't hear her? Or maybe he was stuck? How would one become stuck in their weapon form? Nevertheless, there was nothing she could do about it now. Perhaps if he wasn't human tomorrow she should take him to Dr. Stein. Maybe he would know how to help him. Odette walked out of his room and closed the door to—but not all the way closed. She stole one last peek at his sleek black blade before walking away softly to her own room.

Odette blinked a few times to see through the darkness ahead of her. Everything was black with the exception for tiny dots of orange light in the distance that seemed to be from candles. She instinctively began walking towards them, noticing that her steps made a noise on the hard floor. She must be wearing heels though she honestly couldn't tell. The material that brushed her sides reminded her of silk. She had to be wearing a dress. She could feel that it was gathered at the sides. Regardless of what she was wearing, she had to go towards those candles so that she could start to see something.

When the candlelight had grown to a sufficient intensity, she could make out scarce furniture: a piano and its bench and the tall stands on which the candles were perched. She blinked at a figure that seemed to be sitting on the floor leaned over the bench. Odette kept her steps careful. "… William?"

He lifted his head though it was still too dark to see his face from the angle he was sitting. Though she could see he was dressed in a white tuxedo—and it was smudged with something. He started to stand and approach rather briskly.

Odette picked up her long skirt with both hands and moved her feet a little faster to meet him but she stopped abruptly when he reached from either side of him and pulled two giant barred gates closed with a loud clang. "… What are you doing?"

He stepped back away from the bars a step—a step she could see was laden with fatigue or pain. He kept a hand pressed against his brow.

The redhead approached the bars and the candles shone an orange light on her white evening gown and on his face. Black blood had streamed from his brow and nose down to his chin. "What happened to you?" She gripped the bars between them and tried to pull the gate open but it was locked. "William, let me in."

"What are you doing here," he said in a husky tone, not taking a step towards her to open the gate he had closed.

"I—I don't know. I just kind of woke up here—what are you doing here? Why are you hurt?"

His green eyes looked back at her with stern apology.

She blinked at him and her heart started to beat faster. "… William, let me in."

He shook his head softly.

"You're hurt, let me in. Let me help you." She put her arm through the bars and reached for him, craning her fingers out towards him for him to take her hand—to just come closer so she could touch him.

"… I'm sorry."

Odette suddenly gripped the bars and started to shake them. "Then come out! Please!"

"I can't."

Her breath turned ragged. "William, you're scaring me. Please tell me what's happening. Tell me what's going on."

His eyes suddenly went wide and he stepped up to the bars and put his hand through. "Odette—"

She grasped his hand immediately but became distracted by hot fluid cascading over her lips. She used her other hand to touch her upper lip to find it painted in black blood. "Will…" Her vision went sideways. Her hand slipped from his strong grasp and his frantic voice saying her name again faded in her ears.

Odette gasped when her body jolted on her mattress. She sharply sat up in bed and tossed her covers off with her chest heaving and shining with sweat. After a moment of staring into the dark of her room she looked to her alarm clock to find the time to be 3:03 am. She sighed heavily, feeling a little nauseous. Odette drank from the water bottle she kept on her nightstand and wiped the sweat from her brow. She froze when she heard a door squeak open in the living room. Without hesitating, she jumped out of bed and left her room and shuffled down the hall in her pajamas. She turned on the kitchen light and William was immediately illuminated with no shirt and blue pajama bottoms beside the refrigerator with his hand on its handle. Her breath was still fast as she stared at him, her eyes rather wide for having turned on such a bright light in the dark. He was squinting. "Are you okay?" she said in nearly a squeak.

"… Yeah. Why?"

She swallowed to try and calm herself down. "You… didn't change back after our fight with Stein. For a long time."

He blinked. "I came back to the dorm with you. You said you didn't want to get pizza so we came back instead of going out."

"No—I told them—I wasn't going but it was because you weren't answering me. You stayed in zanbato form and I carried you back here and laid you on your bed." She started to raise her voice.

His voice got softer. "… You did?"

"Yes."

His eyes drifted down. "… I thought I—"

"You didn't."

He looked back at her and scratched his naked abdominals. Had he really been there that long? "I'm sorry."

"What happened?"

"… I guess I got distracted."

"By what?" She stepped closer and her voice wasn't so gentle.

He inhaled and opened the fridge and ducked into it and set out a block of cheese before getting out a pot and a can of soup.

"You're not going to tell me are you."

He took the can opener out of the drawer. "Not now."

She sighed in frustration and turned a circle, running both hands through her messy hair. But she stopped. She promised she was going to be more patient. Odette released a steady breath and leaned on the counter. "Well, I'm glad you're back."

He nodded silently, putting the can opener to the can and starting to turn it.

"… I had a dream."

The can opener slipped and William jerked to snatch it. He clenched his teeth tightly shut behind his lips and tried to breathe calmly too as he put the can opener back in place and kept turning. "What was it about," he asked flatly. But he didn't need to.

She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again and licked her lips. "It was weird. But I think I was just worried about you."

He looked at her softly. "I'm all right."

Odette dipped her chin to nod. "Okay. Well. Goodnight." She walked back to her room.

"Goodnight." He waited to hear her door shut. William took in a deep breath and set both hands on the counter far apart and bowed his head. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the anger and the panic. But soon he started to quietly pace with his hand grabbing a handful of hair on the back of his head. This wasn't supposed to happen. He had to get a grip on this before it got a grip on her.

(Page Break)

Stein stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his hips. He stood in front of the mirror and lazily wiped away enough of the steam on the glass to see his face. His reflection stared back at him in apathy and fatigue. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to sag further and the wrinkles there had become more apparent. His reflection started to smirk. And then it spoke. "What's the matter?"

He only stared back and kept his lips closed.

"Hm." His reflection's shoulder moved and held up a scalpel in his sight and raised his eyebrows with a grin. "Hm?"

Stein kept watching with his arms by his sides. The scalpel in the mirror was placed directly under his breastbone between nicely formed pectorals. It slid down and the skin became separated by a red line, creating a four-inch long incision. The reflection kept smiling before lifting his other hand and inserting his fingers into the opening. Stein didn't blink and watched his own hand become buried in his chest in the glass. It sunk in up to the wrist. He could almost feel it groping around under his ribs, reaching under his breast.

The reflection barely showed his teeth, pupils shrunken to dots in his green irises. "Where is it?"

Soft hands reached through his arms and to his front. A warm hug was pressed against his back. Stein blinked at the mirror, his image mimicking his own face and intact chest again. Marie's gentle lips pressed against his naked shoulder blade before her warm cheek replaced her kiss. Stein breathed steadily and quietly, still staring at his reflection. After a moment of them standing this way with her front pressed to his back he turned around, securing the towel on his hips and looked down at her. She looked up at him with that expression he had seen a thousand times before. "I'm okay," he assured.

She nodded. "… Tea?"

"Sure."

Marie let her hands slip away from his chest and she left the bathroom to go boil some water.

Stein went to his bedroom to get dressed, first giving the bathroom mirror another glance and turning off the light.