Title: Broken
Chapter: 8.
Rating: PG-14
Pairing(s): Black Star/Kid, Soul/Maka, Insanity/Kid o_o
Table #: 2
Theme title: 27. Unfortunate
Disclaimer: Don’t own this anime/manga, just the story.
A/N: I know I kinda fell off the face of the Earth. Forgive me TT__TT
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Tick. Tick. Tick.
The clock’s arrows twitched slightly, never quite leaving that one spot before the three. It would forever be 3 o’clock in some parallel universe.
Kid shifted to his side, staring dully at the door. The arrows weren’t the only thing in that room that would twitch. A hazy voice mumbled behind him; or was it in front? Something wasn’t right.
Where was Noah? Where could he have gone off too, especially without his book?
Kid sighed and rolled over onto his back.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The constant ticking the wooden clock made in the corner of the room didn’t bug him, but it did make him feel uneasy. Was there something he was supposed to do?
No. He didn’t have to do anything. He could just lay there, forget about everything else, and maybe take a nap or something.
Yeah. That sounds good…
“What are you doing?”
The startled teen bolted upright in his narrow bed. Kid glanced warily around the room, jumping slightly, as he found he was staring into his own reflection in the mirror across the room. He chuckled at himself; a bit embarrassed he thought he heard something. No one else was there, just him.
A small thought briefly crossed his mind, and he barely caught it. A mirror. How did he not notice before? He could tell his father where he was!
Kid frowned suddenly, what a stupid idea. Shinigami wasn’t his father of course, and he probably didn’t care where he was. Staying here…
“Stop that.”
The raven froze. Hearing the same voice again? He couldn’t have imagined it a second time. Kid rose slowly out of his makeshift bed, and feeling quite foolish already, peered quickly under his mattress.
Nope, nothing.
The ticking of the clock seemed to drown out any other noise in the room, or possibly even the whole church. He hadn’t heard much else from Justin or Giriko.
Not knowing what else to do, Kid made his way over to the dusty mirror. His blurred reflection seemed to glare back at him. Did he always look so unhappy?
The teen wiped at the dirt and grime with the front of his shirt, dirtying the black fabric. He cursed at his stupidity, Liz and Patti would be mad he ruined the shirt they bought him…
Liz and Patti. Did he miss them? Of course he did. Kind of.
I think.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Kid’s gaze darted to the mirror in front of him. The voice was louder, clearer this time. And it was familiar.
Raising his hand to the glass to stare closer at his reflection, it took him a minute to realize his mirror image wasn’t moving with him.
His stomach knotted, as his other self glared at him intently. Kid couldn’t move, and his hand felt stuck, as if he were being sucked in by his reflection’s gaze.
That’s me…?
“Why don’t you talk out loud, it’ll be much easier,” the teen in the mirror mused. “Unless you want to talk in your head. That’s fine too.”
“…What?” Kid managed to squeak out.
“What? Is that really a question?” The reflection scoffed, seeming to lean closer to Kid, as much as the glass separating them would allow. “What, if I may ask, are you doing?”
Realizing his mirror image wanted a reply, Kid barely whispered, “…What do you mean…?”
Seeming annoyed with that response, the reflection rolled his eyes. “Have you forgotten all about Shibusen? Liz and Patti? Soul, Maka, Tsubaki, Black Star? Your father?”
“He’s not my father.” Kid retorted stubbornly.
“Is he not? Is that really how you feel?” The reflection smirked triumphantly as he noticed Kid slightly wince.
“I don’t know.” The raven muttered.
“Yes, you do,” the image continued softly. “Who raised you? Who took care of you? Who taught you the important things? Who protected you when necessary?”
The questions could be easily answered, but Kid didn’t want to admit any of it. That was another part of him he couldn’t face. He was still young, childish at times, even. His obstinate side wouldn’t allow acceptance to that truth. Even though he had wanted it for so long.
“Don’t tell me you don’t really miss him?” His image and voice persisted. “And what about everyone else? Your weapons? Your friends? …Your ‘special’ friend?”
Kid definitely couldn’t admit his real thoughts on that. Especially the last part. But, home. Shibusen. His family and friends. Whether he would acknowledge that truth or not, he knew he wanted to be back with them.
Gazing back up to his reflection, into more calm eyes now, Kid sighed. “You already knew the answers to those questions, right?”
“Of course,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m you after all.”
“…Right.”
“Then are you going to go back to the real world or not?”
Kid furrowed his brows at this, and stared blankly at himself. “Of course… But I can’t just leave; I don’t know where I am… Ah, then again, I could call… Shinigami…”
“You haven’t realized it yet?” His reflection seemed incredulous.
“Realized what?”
The mirror image exhaled a long breath, and shook his head at Kid’s innocent expression. “Wake up.”
~/~/~/~
“Hey! He’s moving! What should we do?” A feminine voice whispered nervously to her male partner.
“Ah, so he is…”
“S-Should we tell her? She said the spell would at least last two days! Oh, she’ll be mad with us…”
“What? It’s not our fault…”
“Argh! She’ll kill me for sure! What do we do, what do we do?” The girl shrieked as quietly as she could manage, rocking back in forth in a ball.
“Uh, hey, calm down…”
“Calm down?! What will happen when he wakes up?!” She took a long breath to try and steady herself. She quickly whimpered, “Medusa-sama will be furious…”
~/~/~/~
“C-Chrona…” Maka choked out, unconsciously taking a step forward to her former friend. “You’re okay…”
“Idiot! Back up!” Soul cried out as the black-blooded teen made a lunge for the surprised meister.
Luckily, Kilik was fast in recovering, and darted in between the two and immediately blocked Chrona’s raw blow with his gloved fists. “Hey, Maka, it would be helpful if you realize the situation you’re in!” He grunted, jumping back as Chrona withdrew her elongated sword.
“Eh?” The dazed girl quickly shook her head. “S-Sorry.”
“It’s alright, just focus…” Soul sighed in a bit of relief.
Maka gripped her scythe closer to her, gazing warily back at Chrona. Kilik and Patti were back alongside her, ready for any instructions. If she had any.
“Um…” She began uncomfortably, as she dodged another attack by Chrona.
“Ne, are we gonna fight her, or should we leave?” Patti called out, as she hopped out of the way of the black sword.
“Medusa-sama says I should kill you…” the dark teen chuckled. “So don’t run away, I’ll only follow…” Chrona swung around wildly, omitting a dangerous demeanor. “Hehe, die, die, die, she said…”
Maka edged closer to the wall, trying to think clearly through her muddled thoughts. Her friend, Chrona, was being consumed by the darkness, and she then realized why she felt no soul at the entrance. Maka backed up closer against the bloodied wall, staring at the teen in front of her that attacked Patti and Kilik with no hesitations.
Her soul was black. No, not black, but dark, extremely dark. It couldn’t even be called a soul. It was already devoured by Ragnorok, but it wasn’t a Kishin egg either. It was pure darkness. And it seemed to have ‘death’ written all over it.
“Hey! Do we have a battle plan or what!?” Kilik demanded, receiving a deep gash in his side. “Argh...”
Preparing to slice his head clean off, Chrona was caught off guard by Patti’s shots. “Okay, back up dude, dudette, whatever the heck ya are.”
Maka watched silently as the dark teen staggered back slightly. She frowned as she continued to watch Chrona attempt to hurt Kilik or Patti, only to continue getting shot at. The black-blooded meister wasn’t even trying to block. Of course it wasn’t necessary, but it would still prevent the bullets from slowing Chrona down.
“Maka, are we gonna just stand here or what?” Soul interrupted her quiet pondering.
“Could it be…” she murmured out loud.
“Could what be?” Her weapon exhaled, annoyed that they were just standing off to the side.
“Chrona’s soul… It’s like it’s completely gone…”
“So? Is Chrona a Kishin egg now?”
“No… Not exactly…” Maka continued absently.
“Then what?” Soul growled.
“The way Chrona’s attacking… It’s as if they’re not trying to hurt us…”
“Are you nuts? That wacko killed Giriko and Justin… And that weird clown thing.”
“Exactly my point! Well, I don’t know about Ragnorok, really, but Chrona’s definitely holding back. They haven’t performed a Resonance or anything. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed…” Maka raised an eyebrow, holding up the blade of the scythe to stare at Soul’s reflection.
“…Er, of course I noticed… I just didn’t want to say anything, ‘cause I thought they might want to do it or something…” He muttered.
“Right.” Maka sighed, and glared back at the scene in front of her. Kilik was standing upright, one hand on his wound, and the other clenched into a fist in front of him. Patti had taken a few slices and slashes here and there, but was overall fine, lounging in a defensive stance with Liz raised in her left hand.
“Patti, Kilik, we have no business here.” She turned to leave out the doorway as Kilik and Patti scrambled after her, cautiously watching Chrona to see if they would attack. They didn’t move.
“What was that about?” Kilik asked impatiently, trying to keep up with Maka. “We got our butts kicked waiting for your orders and then you say we just leave?”
Maka glared angrily at the boy next to her, only to notice Patti was apparently in the same mood as him. “Well, first of all, it’s not my fault you guys got your butts kicked. Second, I’m the leader of the mission, and I can retreat if I want to. Besides, we had good enough reason to.”
“What?! What reason?” The still confused boy demanded, wincing slightly as his wound stung.
“Yeah, Maka’s being a party pooper…” Patti pouted stubbornly; not caring there was blood running down her face.
“You guys don’t get it. I’ll explain when we get there. Shinigami-sama needs to know what’s going on.” Maka sighed, officially ending the argument.
~/~/~/~
The night air was rigid with the smoke of incantations and spells. Witches scurried on with their business throughout the dimly lit town. None of them realized someone else was there, watching out for one of their own.
“You damn woman…” A figure loomed in the shadows inside one of the nearby abandoned buildings. “I’ll get Kid back. Definitely.”
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A/N: Don’t hate me D:
You know I love you guys. And wow, some silent readers came out of… uh, silence! xD
Thanks a lot for the reviews! I should be updating this on a regular basis now. ~