These characters are under copyright by Atsushi Ōkubo, Squar Enix, Yen Press, Shōnen,
Akatsuki Yamatoya. Madman Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, Funimation, and/or others. This is a work of fanfiction, for no monetary gain.
A/N:
CAUTION: Brief suicidal thoughts.
If you like this story, my Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) stories, and my D. Gray-Man/Karneval stories, you might also enjoy my published original four book high fantasy series, Descent of Kings, which includes strong female, multi-ethnic, bisexual and gay characters, and is available on Amazon and through the publisher, Dreamspinner. It's a tale of lost kingdoms, valiant and desperate heroes, and epic battles and quests, in a medieval world populated by humans, Elves, Dwarves, Ogres and mythical beasts, battling a god-like insane necromancer and his army of the dead.
Chapter 2 – Hostage: Ransom and Rescue?
"It's that alley, up ahead, near the broken streetlights," Patty stated anxiously.
"Enchanted Sword mode, Tsubaki," Black*Star ordered, as he drew her, and she turned into her most powerful form, as he jumped off Beelzebub and ran into the alley, eager to face his opponent. "Show yourself, you bastard!" he challenged, but the alley was ominously still.
Tsubaki channeled some of her Soul Energy into light, and the sword radiated brilliantly, dispelling the shadow all around them. "Oh Lord Death," she whispered in horror, as her light revealed fresh blood spattered everywhere, on the brick, the filthy alley floor, and thickly coating the all too familiar skull emblem that had been torn from Kid's suit and left beside bloody footprints, as if to taunt them.
Black*Star snatched up the skull. "Damn it! We need to follow the footprints."
Tsubaki turned back into human form. "Patty, who did this? Who were you fighting? What happened?"
"It was…" Her eyes widened and she stopped speaking, staring at Black*Star. "I'm not allowed to say. Black*Star isn't supposed to know about it. Sis and Kid made me promise."
"Damn it, Patty, whoever it is hurt Kid and your sister, and it looks like he took Kid. This is no time for secrets! We need to know who we're after!" Black*Star yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.
"I can't tell you! Liz made me promise with a pinky swear! If I tell, she'll die!" Patty wailed.
"Patty, sweetie, that's not how pinky promises work," Tsubaki soothed. "The person who breaks the promise is the one who could have something bad happen to them, but only if the person they promised to wanted to hurt them. You know Liz would never want to hurt you, right? So it's safe to tell us," she encouraged.
"Are you sure?" Patty quavered.
"Of course I'm sure. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you or your sister, right? I'm your friend," Tsubaki assured her.
"It was the Swordsman Mifune and the Witch Angela. They've done some bad things and need to be punished, but Black*Star let them go twice now, because he didn't want to kill a kid, even if she's a Witch."
Black*Star looked at her wide-eyed with disbelief. "Mifune attacked Liz and Kid? But that doesn't make sense. They're both still kids. Mifune doesn't use the blade end of his sword on kids, he uses the back. He doesn't kill kids. He says it would give him nightmares."
"When he hit Liz and Kid's hand, and his ribs, he used the back," Patty confirmed. "But now there's all this blood."
"Maybe something changed? Maybe something bad happened to Angela, and Mifune blames the DWMA and wants revenge?" Tsubaki hazarded.
"You mean that cute little Witch girl might be dead?" Black*Star asked, as appalled by the thought as he was by the possibility that Mifune might have almost killed Liz and Kid.
"Someone might have intentionally made him think we were the ones to hurt Angela, so he'd attack," Tsubaki added softly. "Let's look for other clues." She illuminated and searched every centimeter of the alley. Black*Star!" she cried.
He turned and saw that against one of the walls, deep in what had been shadow, apparently lost in the battle and either unnoticed or considered worthless, lay a very familiar looking broken katana.
Black*Star frowned, picking it up, studying it intently. "It looks like one of his. The guard and grip and wrapping. Damn it!"
He turned from the blade to the blood. "Tsubaki? Do you… Do you think all this blood could be Kid's?" Black*Star asked solemnly, with none of his usual bravado, clutching the skull in one hand and the broken sword in the other, so hard that he felt they might crack in his hand, even though they were both made of metal, the razor edge of the blade facing outwards, between his fingers and palm.
Tsubaki bit her lip, looking from Black*Star to Patty. "Even if it is, he's a Reaper. They're really tough and heal really quickly, right Patty? I'm sure he's alright."
Black*Star could tell she was lying, trying to keep Patty from worrying. The thought of anyone hurting Kid badly enough to cover the alley in blood made him feel sick.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure he's just fine," he agreed, with a false smile, for Patty's sake. "But let's hurry up and find him anyway. I still can't believe Mifune would hurt him like this, though. Patty, tell me everything you can remember about the fight, while we search for Kid."
"Wait! We need to call Lord Death and show him what we found, and he should hear Patty's story too," Tsubaki said.
"Yeah. Right. I was going to do that," Black*Star asserted, mentally kicking himself for not thinking to do so. He handed Tsubaki the broken sword but kept the skull, as he pulled out the mirror. He frowned. "It's too small to write on. We should use a window."
"No, here," Patty said, handing him a pencil.
"Pencil's can't write on mirrors, Patty," he explained without his usual vitriol for people who were stupid. Patty was different than the rest of them, more like a little kid, and he'd never do anything to make her feel bad for not being as smart as they were. Patty never rolled her eyes at him when he talked about surpassing God.
"It will. It's eyeliner. It writes on skin and eyebrows and mirrors. I write and draw all kinds of things in eyeliner and lipstick on the mirrors in my room," she explained, as she took the mirror from him and wrote, chanting as she did so. "42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Death's door."
"Did you find him?" Lord Death demanded, without his usual amiable greeting.
"No sir, not yet. We wanted to report what we know so far," Black*Star said respectfully. "Patty, you start telling him about the fight."
"Alright," she said, and proceeded to do so.
Both Death and Spirit asked questions, gently prodding her for additional information, as they swept the mirror around the alley and showed them the broken sword and Kid's skull tie pin.
"Don't worry. I'm sure my son is still alive. He's a Reaper, after all. We're pretty tough and strong, you know," Death assured them, flexing his arms for effect, but his usual comical tone was missing.
"Right," Spirit agreed. "But kids, listen. From the amount of blood and the way it's all over, in different places, it looks like Kid got cut a number of times. Even if he's alright from the blood loss, he might be catatonic now, from the lack of symmetry. You know how he gets when anything is wrong with the way he looks, right, how even a minor flesh wound can freak him out? Without Liz and Patty, or anyone else there to ground him, he may be completely unresponsive when you find him," Spirit explained.
Patty frowned in confusion.
"He means it will be like Kid is asleep, even if his eyes are open. He won't be able to talk or even protect himself," Tsubaki clarified gently.
Patty's eyes widened at the implication.
"Don't worry, Patty, Lord Death, Spirit. We're going to rescue Kid and he's going to be fine," Black*Star assured them, careful to sound as loud and confident as usual, though for one of the first times ever, he didn't feel that way at all.
Don't make a liar of me, Kid. Gods don't lie, right?
0 0 0
Every breath hurt. Kid's only comfort was the fact that he was indeed still breathing. Justin Law was a man of regrettably few words, and he had been the main opponent of this particular foe to date; Kid might have been better prepared for the savagery of Giriko's attack with adequate warning, though he wasn't supposed to have been his foe. Thankfully he hadn't lost any limbs or digits, but had he been human, he'd have been dead or so badly scarred that he would wish to be.
He forced himself to look down at the crisscrossed mess of his chest with a shudder. The jagged edged wounds were already healing, and he knew they wouldn't scar. Any scarring would have been abhorrent to him, but were he not able to fully heal from this…
But his many open wounds were not his greatest concern, or even his ribs. It was the broken fingers of his left hand that had him all but frantic. He couldn't just feel how out of alignment the bones were, he could see them, and he could feel them slowly but surely healing that way. To his humiliation, he'd actually resorted to begging his captor to allow him to set them. Even if his hand still functioned like this, to have it so hideously deformed…
He vomited again, unable to turn his head far enough to avoid his own body, because of the chains confining him. His clothes were in shreds, covered in dried blood and vomit, and now fresh bile, and he had so many healing injuries that he looked like something Dr. Stein might have stitched together were he falling down drunk and fully crazed with the madness that only danced around the edges of his mind. Kid was almost thankful his hands were still bound: otherwise he would more than likely claw his own skin off in disgust, or simply end his own life.
The selfishness of the thought sickened him. His father must be frantic with worry about him, if Patty had made it safely to the DWMA with Liz. His only solace was that at least he'd saved Patty. Even if Liz… No. I refuse to believe she might be…
His whole body tensed as the door of the brightly lit cell he was confined in opened, casting a mocking shadow on the wall. He'd tried time and again to control the shadows here, but to no avail. He had no idea what was wrong. Was it one of the Witch's spells? Or was he just so pathetic and incompetent he no longer possessed the innate Reaper ability?
"Well, look who's awake!" Giriko said with a relish that made Kid cringe, and reflexively attempt to cower from his tormentor, to his humiliation.
Predictably, his fear made Giriko laugh.
"You're almost as entertaining as Justin Law, but sadly, a little too young for my tastes. And you don't have that ever so infuriating and appealing air of calm and complete lack of interest that drives me wild. One day soon, I'm going to make that man scream and beg, just like you did, but I'll get to play a much better game with him. I may be many things, but I'm no pedophile.
"In a few years though, I just might be visiting you again, once I've tired of Justin. He's my prize for doing all this, you know. I'm going to finally get to fuck that superior smirk right off that saintly Priest's face," Giriko claimed crassly, rubbing himself through his pants as he made his disgusting claim.
Giriko laughed again, as he approached. "Now, now, don't look so terrified. I told you, I'm not into kids. But there is a little something I need from you to stoke the fire. Sure, I decorated the alley with your blood, and left your skull pin there so those idiots from the DWMA would instantly know the blood was yours, even with the remnant of Esmeralda's Soul Protect we left in the alley to conceal the battle. The shadow's set now to lift the when someone with a powerful Soul Wavelength uses any kind of light. But the blood and skull aren't enough. We need to put the pressure on. If you're holding someone for ransom, you need the folks back at home terrified enough that they pay up quickly, right? So I need a little something to up the ante a bit," he claimed, as he activated the chainsaw in his left hand with a malicious grin
Kid strained and struggled against his chains as the twisted madman reached for his face with the viciously spinning blade.
Not my face, my eyes! Please not my face!
He thought he'd kept his plea silent this time, until Giriko laughed again. "Relax, kid. I'm not going to destroy that pretty face of yours. Though it would be interesting to see if that Reaper healing power could restore your sight if I blinded you."
Terror overwhelmed Kid, and he started thrashing wildly against his chains.
"Jesus kid! Calm down! Don't piss me off. You nearly made me cut my own arm off, there. Just hold still, you little prick. Hey now. That's an idea." At the feel of a knee pressing between his legs and the sound of additional chains near his groin, Kid froze.
"Ha, I knew that would make you stop struggling. Now, unless you want to be singing soprano, you'll let me get what I came for," Giriko urged.
Kid was shaking wildly, but otherwise not moving, as rough fingers grabbed a fistful of his hair. There was the sound of a chainsaw over the left side of his head, and the brief agony of pulling hair.
"Huh. What a mess. Guess I should have used scissors, but you can still see those distinctive stripes, which is what I needed. You're lucky. At least the hair will grow back. Next time, I might take an ear or a finger or something worse," Giriko taunted as he backed away.
Kid stared, trembling, at the clump of hair clenched tightly in the man's hand, the ragged edges of the hated stripes vivid, the familiar gentle weight of his long bangs gone from the left side of his face. "My f…father is going to k…kill you, and S…Spirit is going to g…gorge himself on your s…soul, you s…sick b…bastard," Kid threatened, forcing the words through his chattering teeth.
Giriko laughed again, long and wildly. "Hurry up and grow up, kid. I can't wait to teach that mouth of yours some manners. Someone's got to teach you to suck, not bark and bite, right?" And then he was lunging forward, and Kid was cowering away, terrified his foolish, pointless, arrogant threat was going to cost more than he could afford to pay.
But then there was more raucous laughter, and the sound of receding footsteps, and Kid sagged in the chains, no longer able to keep himself upright. He began to shake with silent sobs that soon became loud ones, as the terror, pain and humiliation of all he had endured threatened to drown him.
Minutes or perhaps even hours later, trapped in his timeless hell of misery, Kid froze again, as a new sound invaded the cold, silent stone of his cell. A grinding, grating sound, stone against stone, but then suddenly, unnaturally muffled.
Kid looked around with bleary eyes crusted with the salt from his tears. His eyes widened as one of the stone blocks in the back of the cell visibly moved, somehow sliding silently outwards, centimeter by centimeter. Kid watched its progress spellbound until, just when it looked like it could go no further without crashing to the floor, it somehow pushed free, levitated over the floor and then sunk gently down, as if by magic.
Magic? Magic! A Witch! Kid pulled frantically against his chains again as a sandy blond head appeared.
"Hey kid, calm down, OK? I'm here to rescue you," a gentle voice said.
Kid stopped struggling, and watched warily. To his knowledge, all Witches were female. Could he be a Warlock?
The head ducked back and a pair of hands appeared, then arms, head and shoulder, narrow waist, hips and long legs, as the slender yet muscular man emerged from within the wall. He appeared unarmed, but Kid was certain he couldn't be.
"Who are you?" Kid asked warily.
"I think it's better you don't know for now. All you need to know is I won't hurt you, and we're going to get you out of here," the stranger said.
"We? Who else is with you? And why should I trust you?" Kid demanded.
"That's good to hear. So that sick bastard didn't totally break you after all. Because looking at you a minute ago, I wasn't sure how much he'd left," the man said, his voice sympathetic and concerned rather than taunting or pitying.
Kid's eyes widened and then he swallowed convulsively, as he thought how horrible, how hideous he must look, with his bloody clothes in rags around him, his skin shredded, his hair hacked away. Garbage, I'm asymmetrical, worthless, useless garbage.
"Crap. Sorry, kid. I know I need to be careful what I say to you, but I forgot for a moment. I was just really glad I found you. We weren't sure we'd be able to. Divination magic isn't one of her specialties, and divinations never work on yourself, and your future is tied pretty closely to mine, and mine to hers, and this place is warded pretty strongly so…" He trailed off awkwardly.
Kid narrowed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists, more to keep his trembling from showing than in defiance. What's wrong with me? I can't stop shaking.
The stranger sighed. "Look, I'll explain everything to you once we're safely away from here, I promise. But if we don't leave right now, we might never get out of here alive. I'm going to remove your chains. Just don't attack me, alright? I may not look it, but I'm nearly as banged up as you are, on the inside at least, and I really don't want us to die today, not after everything we're risking to prevent that from happening," the man said mysteriously.
"Alright. I'll follow you, for now," Kid acquiesced, not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He doubted he could find himself in a worse situation than the one he was in. Trading one Witch for another didn't seem to matter much, and so far the stranger was acting far kinder than Giriko. Kid doubted he could be more of a sadist, even if he was hiding his true nature. And at least the chains would be off.
"Can you make it through the opening on your own, especially with your hand like that?" the stranger asked, as he worked some sort of lockpick in each of the keyholes of the fetters, removing them one by one.
Thoughts of his hideously deformed hand made him want to vomit again, but Kid forced himself not to look or think about it too hard. "I can manage," he said with a confidence he didn't feel, flexing the fingers of his right hand to restore circulation. It would be better not to feel his left, if he could help it.
"Enter hands first, the same way I came out. You won't be able to turn for the first few hundred meters. You're not claustrophobic, are you? From the information we have, that's not one of your areas of difficulty," the stranger said tactfully.
"No, I'm not," Kid agreed, not liking the fact that the stranger apparently knew far more than he would like about him.
"You'll need to crawl, or slither using your good hand, hips, knees and toes, but you're smaller than I am, so you should have an easier time of it than I did, except for your injuries," the man commented.
Kid nodded and got down onto his stomach, and worked his way into the hole. To his surprise, he saw a bright light ahead, but in the distance. "There's a light," he said cautiously.
"That's my mistress. Once you reach the light, you'll be outside the building," the man claimed reassuringly.
Hoping he wasn't going from the frying pan into the fire, Kid began to worm his way into the passage.
He moved as quickly as he could, but realized he was moving with agonizing slowness, as he fought not to pass out, as his wounds scraped along the unforgiving stone, reopening a number of them, trying to keep his weight off his ribs.
"You're doing a great job, kid. You're almost there," the man whispered.
Somehow the simple words of praise and encouragement rejuvenated him, and he redoubled his efforts. The man behind him and the partner in front of him were risking their lives to save him. They deserved the best effort he could give them.
"Hurry. I think they're coming," what sounded to be a small child's voice called anxiously.
Kid forced himself to speed forward to the light. He dragged and clambered his way out of the hole, and then stood, swaying. He would have toppled, if the stranger didn't wrap his arm around him. The unfamiliar touch made him stiffen, and the terror of the past hours made him shake. Then he realized in wide eyed horror that the little girl was wearing Witch's clothes, although he couldn't see her soul, for some reason.
This must be the Witch Angela, the one we were hunting. Which means the man must be her bodyguard, Mifune. Father sent us after them because they murdered dozens of innocent people.
He really did jump from the frying pan into the fire. He stumbled back from her, into the man who was supporting him.
"I'm sorry," the man apologized confusingly, sounding sincere.
Why is he apolo…
Sudden and unexpected blackness flooded Kid's mind, as pain and thought ceased.