WYSIWYG
The darkness was so thick it was almost tangible. As he ran, it was as if he were trying to escape through a swampy muck. Cackling laughter was following him and he was fooling himself if he believed he could outrun them. He had no choice. His Chuck Taylors slid in the leaves as he came to a stop and whirled around. His arm lit up and transformed into the pristine gray blade of a scythe. "What the hell is wrong with you witches, huh? You want to fight?"
The black atmosphere rippled away from Avetta's body as she stepped closer through the leaves. "There's no need for that," she said in a zombie-like tone. Another sharp giggle floated around her.
His eyes scanned the trees for the other. "Then what do you want? I never wanted anything to do with any of you." He shifted his weight to stable his stance.
Avetta's head rolled on her shoulders lazily. "You will understand. Your soul is… admired."
"Oh, fascinating. That's awesome except I really don't care. Now, if you please, I would very much like to be on my way without any trouble.
"Come on, let's finish it already!" Hissed a feminine voice from the canopy above him. He twisted around in the leaves to look for the other.
"Patience," Avetta said quietly. Her eyes shifted around sporadically for a moment before they rested on his face again as if they had never left. "He has to know the benefits first."
"I don't care what benefits come from what. I'm leaving and if you follow me, I'll kill you." His voice stayed steady but loud enough for whoever was in the trees above him to hear clearly. He turned with his arm still in the form of a giant curved blade and walked on.
The witch appeared in front of him. "I'm sorry. We can't allow you to leave."
He swung his arm at her head. His blade passed through her and her body disappeared in a cloud of black smoke that blended in with the rest of his surroundings.
She reappeared beside him. "Eternal life will be granted to you."
"Leave me alone!" He swung again.
Avetta appeared on his other side and with a surprisingly strong grip she wrapped both hands around his neck and sharply pulled him close. He lost his range of motion as well as his breath. His hand immediately transformed back to grip her wrists in an attempt to pry her hands away. Panic began to set in as her gray, lifeless eyes looked into his. Her head began to tilt slowly. "Now he knows."
Another thrilled cackle pierced the night and quickly closed in.
Kian startled awake, sucking in a quick breath as his eyes snapped open. His bedroom was dark but even before his eyes had fully adjusted, he could make out the outline of Rachele lying on the floor. He took in a breath and sat up. Kian swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes. "Rachele." She didn't move. He sighed and took the top blanket from his bed and knelt beside her. She did this a lot—even in her own room he would sometimes find her asleep in the floor rather than in the comfort of her own bed. Sometimes it worried him that she wasn't getting quality sleep because of it. She did seem so tired quite often. But there wasn't much he could do about it now. To pick her up and put her back in her bed or even in his bed was to risk waking her. So, Kian just covered her with his blanket. Next he took his pillow and started to nudge it under her face. He withdrew his hands and froze when she stirred and pulled it closer under her head with a sleepy moan. She must have been sleepwalking again (she did that a lot, too). After his eyes had adjusted, he could see her glasses were still on her face, skewed and lopsided from her position on his pillow. He huffed a quiet laugh and gently took them away and laid them on his nightstand next to his digital alarm clock. "Dummy." His fingers went through her auburn hair that was currently rather tangled and frizzy. But he didn't mind. And apparently neither did she for she uttered another sleepy moan, snuggling closer to the pillow and pulling the blanket tighter. Kian stood back up and took his place on his bed once again. He lay on his back and stared at the dark ceiling. That was an unusually vivid dream. And he happened to notice that it wasn't as much of a dream as it was an animated memory. What were the odds? He felt a twinge in his back and his torso that he knew had to be his imagination. That wound was gone. But the pain it caused was not forgotten—that wound that changed his life. He turned his head and faced where Rachele was sound asleep on the floor. He had convinced himself his life had been changed for the better though.
The next morning, Kian woke up first to begin making a hearty breakfast of French toast, one of Rachele's favorite things to wake up to. He thought she might be a little stiff after sleeping on his floor for most of the night and a good breakfast might give her a better start to her day. The aroma from the skillet drew her out of his room, pulling her into a staggering stupor into the living room with her hair frayed and flat on one side. He giggled at her.
"Shut up," she said playfully, patting down her bedhead.
"Breakfast?"
"Oh, thank you." She dragged herself onto the barstool at the counter as he prepared her a plate.
Kian set the syrup on the counter. "Sleepwalking again last night?"
"Mm…" Rachele wrinkled her brow at her plate as she tried to think through her morning fog to remember. "No. I was checking on you."
"Checking on me?" He pushed her plate to her and prepared his own.
"Yeah. You were breathing really heavily. I could hear you in the living room. I thought you were having a nightmare and I tried to wake you up but you wouldn't. So, I just lay on the floor next to you to wait until you calmed down. But I guess I must have fallen asleep." She drizzled a lot of syrup on her breakfast.
He laughed. "You definitely fell asleep all right. You were out like a light. Thanks for checking on me. I was fine though." He stood across from her and took a bite from his plate. "But, you didn't have to sleep on the floor."
"I don't mind sleeping on the floor," she said reflexively as she had said a thousand times before whenever he expressed his concern.
"I know you don't. I just mean that… I wouldn't have minded if you got in my bed."
Rachele slowly lifted her head with a curious blink.
He shrugged nonchalantly though his cheeks had begun to flush. "Would have been okay with me." He took a drink from his glass of milk.
The ginger's smoky eyes went wide as she turned her reddened face to her plate to quickly prepare another bite to occupy her mouth to keep from saying anything. But once she had found something to change the subject, she rushed through the bite in her cheeks. "So, were you having a nightmare?"
He scratched his scalp through his fine, nearly white hair. "Uh, yeah. It was… strange."
She cocked her head at him silently.
Kian took a breath and cut another bite of his French toast. "It was exactly what happened… that day. Except the lighting was all weird. Couldn't run as fast. Typical dream stuff, but… everything else was spot on."
Rachele blinked. "Did you get to see the other one's face this time?"
He rubbed his hand across the lower half of his heart-shaped face. "No."
Her thin eyebrows angled back. "Maybe you will in time."
He huffed. "Not so sure I want to."
She nodded understandingly and poked her fork at another potential bite of breakfast.
Kian waved his hand. "No big deal. Let's not worry about it. Are we hanging out with Katy and Tim today?"
"I think so. I'll call her and make sure we're still on."
"Awesome. I'm ready to hit the town tonight! We get a night off from training, that's something we should take advantage of!"
"Woo!" Rachele raised her hand and Kian met it with a sharp high-five.
(Page Break)
Dr. Stein blew out a dense cloud of smoke above his head. "Thanks for coming tonight." He tapped his cigarette in an ashtray on his desk and set it there to rest. "I understand this is a rather odd request. But I trust that it has been explained to you, Odette?"
The redhead nodded clearly. "Yes, sir. This is your suggested method to help William and I keep the black blood's influence as minimal as possible." Next to Odette, her partner kept his arms crossed over his chest.
"That is my intention, yes." He turned to Marie when she entered the open living room with a small cup of water and a pill in her hand. He took them both and swallowed the pill and quickly chased it with a drink of water and handed the cup back to her before shifting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "What I want to do is resonate with William so that he can see how I focus my energy in such a way that it acts as a barrier to the madness without losing our connection."
Odette blinked and frowned a little. "That just sounds difficult."
"It's not easy. But with practice, you can do it, too. I'm afraid there isn't much I can explain with words. My teaching you how to do this will have to rely on demonstration." He stepped forward. "So. With only your most sincere permission, Odette, I will become acquainted with William as weapon and meister."
She nodded. "Of course." She looked to her partner. "Are you ready?"
William's eyes shifted from Odette to Dr. Stein, his arms still crossed over his chest. The doctor and Marie waited patiently. The young man took a breath and his body began to glow. His light leapt into Odette's hands and broke away to reveal his bold and broad zanbato form. She let his blade rest flat in both of her palms and she approached the scientist, stopping before him and holding out the weapon to him.
Dr. Stein nodded at her and reached forward for the giant sword. His fingers curled around the handle and he placed his hand carefully between Odette's on the underside of the blade. The young meister stepped back and away to the edge of the room. The weight of the weapon now rested solely in his grip and his muscles had to compensate for it. Dr. Stein let his fingers slip away from the blade and he lifted his other arm to point the tip upward to the ceiling. He reapplied both hands' grip to the handle straight out in front of him with the edge of the sword facing him and directly sectioning his face in two equal halves. Odette's eyes stayed glued to the shining blade as she held her breath. It had been a long time since he had been wielded by anyone besides her and she knew his reluctance to ever be wielded by Franken Stein could be matched with his reluctance to ever be wielded by Kishin Carvalho ever again. But this was to help her. And she admired that about him. Dr. Stein carefully swung the blade beside each shoulder, starting to get a feel for his handling. "Hm. Awfully heavy," said the teacher as he positioned his hands for a better grip.
Odette smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It takes some getting used to." She eyed the black blade, looking for the face of her partner but he wasn't showing himself yet.
Dr. Stein now took away one hand and tested the weight swinging in the same manner, having to compensate more for the unexpected shifts using his hips and feet. "Somehow, I believe I would have been a little let down if he wasn't."
William's voice finally sounded from the blade as if filtered through an electronic speaker. "What's that supposed to mean." Odette smiled a little. She was just glad he was communicating.
The scientist's eyes traced up to the tip of the blade and he ran his fingers up the tapered end, closest to the sharp edge. "Nothing except that you are indeed the epitome of 'WYSIWYG.'"
Odette blinked, still smiling a little. "What's 'WYSIWYG?'"
Dr. Stein glanced at her. "What You See Is What You Get." He swung outward with the zanbato and a low whoosh filled the room with the wind sliding off the blade. Still graceful, the teacher turned a full circle and shifted his weight as necessary. "Hm. A lot of the power is the momentum. Once he's going, it's hard to stop him."
Odette smiled even wider now. Dr. Stein was such an impressive meister. He had analyzed parts of William that had taken her weeks to determine in just a couple swings!
He shifted back to a regular stance. "A very challenging weapon to master for sure. You are a remarkable meister, Odette. You should be proud of yourself."
"She does put up with a lot," William mumbled from the blade though his face was still not visible. She giggled and thanked her instructor and partner.
"All right. Let's try to get our feet wet with a go at resonating, shall we?"
"… Um…" William sighed. "Yeah. Whatever."
"Okay! Here we go." He set his feet apart and closed his eyes. Silence filled the room. Marie stood on the opposite side of the room from Odette. The redhead crossed her fingers behind her back and pleaded within herself that William would open up and allow Dr. Stein passage. However, before she could finish her prayer, a disheveling vibration radiated from the meister and weapon. Suddenly the teacher went flying backwards into the far wall, tumbling over top of his desk and onto the other side with a loud thud and a scatter of papers. The zanbato went flying in the opposite direction toward a wall of shelves, which his blade then made short work of and caused a bombing of glass jars that shattered around him. Marie and Odette gasped and ran to their partners. Dr. Stein lay on his back on the other side of his desk and started to chuckle. "Hahaha! Well, that was interesting!"
Odette picked up the zanbato and let him change back into his human form. "What happened? What was that?"
Picking himself up off the floor with the help of Marie and his desk, Dr. Stein continued to giggle. "It seems our souls are like two South ends of a magnet!"
William looked at himself where the jars had shattered on him, his shirt soaked and squishy things laying on the floor, pieces stuck to his pants. "What—what is this?!"
Dr. Stein twisted the screw in his head. "Those are wolf fetuses. But that…" He eyed the stringy mess on William's thighs. "… Um, I'm not... quite certain—"
"Oh my GOD—" The young man kicked one of the things on the floor before frantically slapping the mess off of his legs and dancing around as if he were trying to escape a swarm of bees.
Odette looked back to their teacher. "Is this… going to be a problem?"
Dr. Stein picked up some of the things he had plowed through on his desk. "It presents a hiccup to resonating at the moment. But I'm sure it's nothing that can't be worked out with practice." He offered a smile that she was sure was meant to be comforting but she didn't feel it was her place to tell him that it wasn't comforting at all. "We'll try again tomorrow."
William immediately went out the door, still grumbling curses and checking to make sure all unidentified tissue was not touching him. Odette smiled at both Stein and Marie. "Thank you so much. We'll see you soon!" She walked out after her partner and jogged to catch up to his side. "That could have been worse, right?"
"Worse than needing a shower?! I don't even want to know."
She put a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter as she walked behind her partner while he stripped what clothing he could before getting to their dorm.