Drabble Title: Path

Author: dragnclaw

Rating: PG

Theme #: 26. Dark

Disclaimer: Soul Eater and all affiliated characters and ideas are owned by Atsushi Okhubo; I don't make a penny from writing this.

Warnings: None.

Author's Note: Aheh, since I took so long to write this drabble (life, as usual, got in the way), I got dropped from the 42_souls livejournal community, but I'm going to keep writing these drabbles for myself. It took a while longer to get this one up just because it refused to be written all at once, so I had to keep setting it aside for a while and coming back to it later to finish it.

(Posted on 9.12.2009.)

Nobody knows that Shinigami regularly visits Asura beneath Shibusen.

The way to Asura's chamber is long and winding, and gives Shinigami just enough time to reflect on everything that has happened since that fateful day-how things have changed, and how they've stayed the same.

He mused on how well furnished the paths beneath Shibusen are for someone who will never see them, for a time and friendship that could not be brought back. The foundation itself was painstakingly built with Shinigami's own hands; his punishment for being selfish and allowing Asura to live when he very well knew that no good would come of it.

Sooner or later, Asura would be freed- Shinigami was no fool to think that this would be a prison forever. Now may be a time of peace, but in the future, there would be a time of war to pay for everything that was enjoyed.

He wondered how steep the price would be, what he would have to pay with for his mistake, his weakness. Would it be him, his son, his friends, or the city he worked so hard to build?

The further he stepped into the darkness, the less secure and confident he felt, and the more his doubts threatened to consume him. They seemed to leave his mind and become part of the darkness, almost taking on a viable form. Just as he thought he would lose himself in them, he walked into Asura's chamber.

It glowed eerily and always set him on edge, but Shinigami didn't see the point of bringing a light with him.

The path only led to one place, and he knew it by heart.