This chapter seems to start out like filler, but it's not! No worries.
It was getting colder in Death City; a sure sign that fall had arrived.
Reba and Rebecca had gotten accustom to the DWMA's strange way of running, and they seemed well liked among there peers. (Though Rebecca had trouble taking anything Ox said seriously due to his appearance.) Also, they had finally gotten all of there stuff unpacked and all of there furniture moved in, so they had invited Soul, Maka, and the rest of there friends too a house warming party.
In fact, Death the Kid and his trusty weapons were heading to the party at that exact moment.
Liz hugged her jacket closer to her and frowned. "Uh, Kid? Don't you think we're going a little bit early? The party doesn't start till eight thirty."
"I can't go at eight thirty," Kid said tersely. "If I'm going to arrive at any time it will have to be eight. Eight thirty is not symmetrical at all. Besides," He sniffed. "Eight thirty is a bit late for a party isn't it? I'm sure it will be fine."
Liz crossed her arms over her voluminous chest. "Whatever you say. But if they kick us out, I'm blaming you."
Patty grinned and grabbed her sister's hand, dragging her on ahead. "Lighten up sis! We're going to a party!"
Kid inspected the paper that he had been given earlier. It contained instructions on how to get to Reba and Rebecca's apartment building, along with the time to arrive and a crudely drawn sketch of what the building looked like juts in case. "Actually, we're right here." He looked up; like many of the buildings in Death City, the color scheme was slightly nonsensical- or rather, it looked like whoever had chosen the paint had just pointed at random. And so, the building was painted a cheerful yellow color with a trim.
There were only three stories, but each apartment had a balcony and a large picture window. "Looks nice enough." Kid commented, and then pointed to the second floor. "They said they're in apartment six. Should we go up?"
"Yeah!" Patty cheered, and dashed up the stairs to the second floor.
As she reached to knock on the door there was a muffled yell from inside. As Kid and Liz came up behind her she looked at them curiously. "Do you think the party started without us?"
"I don't think that's it." Kid said darkly.
Liz's head snapped up, "Do you think there's something wrong?"
He shook his head. "There's no way of knowing, but it would be prudent for us to check." He put his hand on the doorknob. "On three."
"One.
Two.
Three."
He thrust the door open.
…And he was not expecting was he saw.
Inside the apartment was Rebecca pinning Reba to the ground with her legs- the latter being shirtless, her purple bra being shown to the unexpected guests. Rebecca was brandishing a dress in her cousin's face.
"Ugh! Just put this on!"
Reba squirmed. "Why is it such a big deal?"
"You'd look cute!"
The trio at the door stood silently until someone gave a small cough.
Reba and Rebecca froze and turned toward them- frighteningly in synch.
The door slowly swung close.
"Ah! I'm not wearing a shirt! I've been exposed and it's entirely your fault! My innocence has been tainted!"
"This all could have been remedied if you just put the dress on to begin with!"
"I don't want to! It feels like I'm not wearing pants and that's scary!"
"Then just put some pants underneath!"
"No! That's weird too!"
"Agh!"
There was a thump and them silence.
"They're still outside huh."
"Yeah…"
"You should… probably put a shirt on."
"Right…"
There was a brief scuffling sound and then Rebecca opened the door. "Hiiiii…" She said, forcing a suave attitude. Reba was nowhere to be seen.
Death the Kid looked away. "Um, hello…"
"We weren't," She paused and rubbed her arm self-consciously. "Expecting you so early."
Liz sighed- breaking the tangible awkwardness. "Sorry we're intruding. Kid here has problems."
Rebecca shook her head. "No, It's fine. Would you like to come in?" She unglued herself from the door and led them inside.
For an apartment it was rather spacious. The living room was painted a natural beige, but the furniture was rag-tag and had no sense of design. The couch was a deep maroon, and while one of the soft reclining chairs was forest green, the other was of a completely different make and covered in black leather. These were centered around a small TV. In front of which was a coffee table and a plush purple rug.
"Welcome to our humble abode." Rebecca said grandly, and made a sweeping motion with her hands. "Sorry it's not totally clean yet. We're not really finished getting ready."
Liz shook her head, and Patty threw herself onto the couch and began to giggle as she rolled around. "It's fine, we're the ones who came early after all."
Kid cast his meticulous gaze over the room and then nodded. "It's actually very tidy."
Rebecca beamed. "Thank you! Reba's actually a bit of a slob, so I spend most of my time cleaning it."
There was an offended yell from the other room, and Reba strode out from a hallway that looked like it led to there rooms. She was now sporting a dark blue sweater with lace on the collar, and Liz had a feeling that the dress was hidden somewhere where Rebecca would never find it. "I'm not a slob!" She cried, grabbing her cousin's sleeve and tugging violently. "Why are you always so mean too me?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, suck it up."
Patty flipped onto her back and flopped her head onto the arm of the couch. As she observed the world from an upside down perspective she questioned, "I thought you had a little sis, Reba?"
"Oh!" Rebecca exclaimed suddenly and looked around as if she had misplaced something. "Where is Madge anyway?"
Reba looked thoughtful. "I think she's in her room."
"Not anymore." Said a small voice from the hallway.
This easily got everyone's attention.
There in the hallway was a small girl- looking about 8 or 9- with strawberry blond curls framing her face and her blue eyes glittering with intelligence. She wore a plain black dress with a white peter-pan color, and she looked a tad cross. "You guys are too loud. I was reading."
Rebecca was immediately at her side. "Sorry Madge, do you want to meet my friends?"
Madge surveyed them wearily. "Are they mean?"
"Oh yes," Rebecca grinned. "They're horrible."
Madge nodded. "Okay then."
Reba smiled and with the air of a conspirator muttered to Kid, "Rebecca sort of dotes on her."
Kid chuckled and then noticed with a start that Madge was standing in front of him with a look of serious calculation that seemed strange on someone so young. Rebecca patted her head. "This is Death the Kid, Lord Death's son. And this is Patty and Liz, his weapon partners." She explained.
Madge absorbed this information, and after a long, considering, look said, "I like the stripes in your hair. It's weird that they don't go all the way through though." Kid froze, and Patty giggled as Madge continued on unblinkingly. "It's important that things are balanced. When things are in disorder then one thing follows the other, and the entire balance of the world can fall apart. Even if it's a small thing, you're just adding to that disorder by not completing the stripes in your hair. As a reaper it's your job to keep the world in balance, and so it's a little irresponsible to be contributing to it yourself don't you think?"
By the time she had finished, Death the Kid was merely a sniffling puddle on the ground. "She's right!" He sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "I'm disgusting! Disgusting!"
Rebecca beamed. "I knew you two would get along."
††††
Everyone had finally arrived at the party except Chrona, and Maka had announced that it would be simply rude to start without their pink haired compatriot. Blackstar, ever the hungry one, thought that this was a stupid idea, and had been spending most of his time expressing this rather strong opinion.
And so, to pass the time and to drown out Blackstar's complaining, they all found themselves telling stories of battles gone array. Currently, Soul was busting a gut while telling them all of a time when he and Maka had suddenly come face to face with a Kishin while lounging poolside, and were forced to do battle in their swimwear. According to him, in the middle of giving the final blow, Maka's top came untied and flew off. "The only reason she was able to defeat the Kishin was because it was so surprised it completely froze! And Maka didn't even notice anything was missing!" He howled. And then wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, added, "But it's not like she had anything there worth looking at anyway."
Maka looked torn between extreme anger, and extreme embarrassment, but she managed to express both at the same time by hitting Soul extremely hard over the head with Madge's book.
"Ow! Uncool, Maka! I was just telling them how it happened!"
"Yes. But your extra commentary wasn't necessary!" She fumed.
Blackstar seemed to have found this particular anecdote extremely interesting, as he was still howling with laughter. Maka turned toward him with a look that screamed a homicidal rage, and so he made a wise decision for once and shut up.
The doorbell rang, and not wanting to bother anyone, Madge picked her book from the dent in Souls head and answered it herself. When she reached the door, she was met with the sight of a shivering Chrona. "Hello."
Chrona looked disappointed. "This must be the wrong place again. I'm sorry, I'll go away now." He said miserably. As Chrona turned to leave Maka realized that someone was at the door and sprung up, crying, "No, Chrona, wait!"
Chrona spun back around in surprise. "Huh? Maka? Then who's this?" he looked frightfully at the young girl and she took this as an opening to start talking.
"Who are you? Your hair isn't cut properly; it's all uneven and disorganized. Did you know that organization is a key factor to maintaining balance? We need balance to keep the world in order; therefore, you are a contributing factor in all that's ruining the world. Don't you think that…"
Chrona shrunk back and put his hands over his head as if in defense as Madge continued to prattle on. "I don't know how to deal with this little kid yelling at me!"
Tsubaki, who seemed to get along with Madge, swooped in and smiled weakly. "Maybe you should come over here with me."
Madge grunted as she was led away. "But I don't want to talk to Blackstar anymore, he's annoying, and he talks so loud that I can't even ignore him…"
Maka pulled Chrona to the couch as he explained his tardiness. "I'm sorry I'm late. I got lost."
"Yeah, that's because you're a moron." Ragnarok spat, and grabbed Chrona's head violently, digging his knuckles into the sides. "You lost the directions and then you were so stupid that you didn't wear anything warm so I had to listen to your annoying voice complaining the whole time!"
"Stop it!" Chrona cried, tears springing to his eyes.
Rebecca, who had left the room upon Chrona's arrival, now returned with a thick blanket, and draped it over his frail shoulders. "Don't worry about being late Chrona, because now that you're here, we can all eat." She smiled.
"You- you all waited for me?" He sniffed, looking at them with big teary eyes.
"Of course." Maka said gently while smiling at him.
Soul crossed his arms. "Well now that we have that settled, can we eat already? I'm starving."
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Come on and help me get it Reba."
Reba, who had made herself quite comfortable on the floor, gave her cousin a long-suffering look while rubbing her legs pitifully. "But my legs are sore from walking home with all of the groceries today."
"Get off your ass and help me, you lazy bum, or you're not getting any food."
This demand seemed to inspire her to stand, for she quickly clambered up and hurried to the kitchen. Rebecca smirked and followed her, calling, "I put it in the oven so it would keep warm. Don't burn yourself."
"You're the one who spilled hot water all over her hands!"
Rebecca twitched. "I'm going to ignore the fact that you brought that up." She turned back to her guests, "You can all make yourself comfortable by the table, and it'll be ready in a sec."
Chrona abandoned the blanket on the couch and glanced at Madge as he made his way to the table. She was talking animatedly with Kid, for it appeared they had much to discuss about the merits of symmetry, and that they got along quite well when she wasn't brutally ripping his confidence to pieces. "Um, Tsubaki?"
Tsubaki looked over, "Oh, what it is Chrona?'
Chrona bit his lip fretfully. "Who is that?"
"Her?" Chrona nodded. "That's Madge, she's Reba's little sister."
"Oh…" His eyes widened, and then moved to the floor. "I don't know how to deal with little girls. I've never really met one before."
Ragnarok cackled. "Don't be stupid, Chrona! You eat them!"
Chrona looked alarmed. "What? No you don't!" He glanced away and trailed off. "I don't think…"
"No!" Tsubaki cried in distress, trying to deter whatever line of thought was going on in Chrona's head. "You defiantly don't eat them!"
Blackstar tugged on her sleeve. "Sit down Tsubaki, it's time to eat!"
It was then Reba and Rebecca emerged from the kitchen- carrying plates piled high with steaming hot food.
"Alright everyone, dig in!"
††††
Somewhere in the middle of dinner, the doorbell rang again.
"Did we invite someone else?" Reba asked quizzically.
Rebecca shook her head. "I don't think so… Could you get it?"
Reba nodded and rose from her chair. "Yeah, I'll be right back."
Outside the door stood a tall slender man with a peculiar air about him. He had corn-silk blond hair that was cut bluntly past his collarbone, and he was rather attractive, but there were stitches extending from the sides of his mouth, as if he had smiled so wide that his cheeks had split open and had to be sown back together. Something else struck odd about him as well; If his eyes were any other color he would have appeared kind and open, yet they were cold and black, like a stone.
His clothing was quite strange as well. It was as if someone had taken a burlap sack and turned it into a sweater, and his corduroy jeans were a brown only a shade darker.
Reba's eyes widened. "H-hello." She stuttered.
His mouth twitched into a smile. "Hello, I'm the landlords son. My mother wanted me to talk to you…"
Reba shifted uncomfortably. "Oh- I- Uh- One second…" She left the door open but quickly backed into the room and hovered by her chair, as if she wanted nothing more than to sit down and never talk to the frightful man again. "He say's he's the managers son, he's really…" The word 'scary' died on her lips as she realized that he could probably hear every word she was saying. She gulped. "Could you…?"
Rebecca glanced to the young man hovering in their doorway and then chuckled. "I get it, I'll only be a minute guys."
Reba nodded in relief and sat down in her chair again with a thump.
A few muffled words were traded at the door before Rebecca leaned back into view and called. "He wants to show me something about the wood under our balcony. It's rotting or something. I have to go down to the street, but I'll be right back!"
"Okay!" Reba yelled back, and as the door closed, Blackstar let out a content sight and patted his stomach.
"I'm so full."
Maka made a face. "Well yeah. You ate thirds of everything."
"That's because this food is good! Unlike the food you make Maka."
"What was that?" She bristled, her eye twitching angrily.
As Maka began to sling insults at Blackstar with the fury of a lion maiming its prey, Liz turned to Reba. "So who did all the cooking anyway?"
Reba considered this. "I guess we both did. We did stuff in shifts so that we didn't get tired of standing and give up."
From her spot in front of the TV, Madge added, "I'm surprised Rebecca even let you in the kitchen, big sister. I thought you would mess everything up."
"Hey! That's not nice, I really helped a lot!" Reba crossed her arms. "You and Rebecca are too much alike. You shouldn't follow her example all the time!"
"She's a better role-model than you, scared-y cat."
"Madge quit it!"
"It's not my fault you're afraid of everything."
"Not everything! Just monsters and ghosts and…" She suddenly lurched forward- shuddering as she put a hand to her chest.
Maka and Blackstar's chattering quieted abruptly and Maka looked at the weapon with alarm. "Reba, is everything okay?"
She glanced up, her eyes glittering with distress, "I think that something's wro-" But before she could voice her concern there was a loud crashing sound, and the building groaned as if the very foundation was being shaken. There was a high-pitched scream.
Death the Kid snapped to attention. "Something's going on outside!"
To the surprise of everyone, Reba shot from her chair, and was the first one out the door. She launched herself over the railing of the second story and landed nimbly on her feet.
"What the hell?" Soul muttered in bewilderment, he and Maka landing close behind her.
The scene that everyone was currently subjected too was a strange one indeed. There was a man- but he wasn't quite a man. There were eight flesh colored spider-like legs protruding from his back, four on each side, which suspended him off the ground at a slope- his feet nearly brushing the ground. Long, black, stringy hair obscured his face, yet his even darker eyes peered out from underneath.
It looked like he had lunged at Rebecca but she had thrown herself out of the way, for the two legs that protruded from his shoulders were imbedded in the stone wall of the apartment, and Rebecca was laying among the rubble of the cobblestone street.
Upon hearing Soul's voice his head turned slowly- everyone cringed. He had two large tears in his cheeks extending from where his mouth should have ended, and so his face was dripping with blood.
Somehow, Reba, who normally would have been petrified, was the only one who managed to focus on the problem at hand. She dashed past the gruesome specter and helped her meister pull herself off the floor.
Rebecca brushed the broken stone off her knees and groaned.
"We heard you scream." Reba said fretfully.
Rebecca shook her head, and wiped the side of her mouth, glancing at the creature. "Wasn't me. 'S that ugly thing."
Reba nodded and then leaned in so only her cousin would hear. "I felt you 'jump' with out me. That's no good, it's more dangerous, and you're always telling me not too."
"Sorry." Rebecca grinned weakly. "He tried to skewer me. I would have been shiskabobed. Now come on, time to transform."
Reba gripped her hand, and in a flash of white light, had assumed her more lethal form.
It was the now familiar hum of their souls that snapped everyone to attention.
"Soul!"
"Liz, Patty!"
"Tsubaki!"
"Right!"
With everyone now in weapon form, Soul growled, "Okay, that thing is seriously uncool, what is it?"
"And what happened to the managers son?" Tsubaki added.
"That is the managers son."
"What?" Maka frowned and looked closer, only to realize that the resemblance was uncanny. Beside the fact that his stitches were ripped and his hair was now black, he was identical to the man who had arrived at the Edwards' doorstep.
"However, something tells me that he wasn't being entirely truthful about his identity. Rebecca added.
"But wasn't his hair blond before?" Liz asked, vocalizing everyone's confusion.
Patty giggled. "Did he go and dye his hair or something?"
Kid hummed in agreement, "You're right, his hair is as black as night now."
"Wrong!" The man screeched suddenly, causing everyone to jump in surprise. His legs began to skitter back and forth, making him swing like a dead man from a noose. He clutched his face and began to talk in a hysterical whine. "My hair is as black as blood." He mumbled, and then peered out from between his fingers.
"As black as the blood of ravens."
I love him. He is awesome. You do not know his name yet but he is awesome and I love him. Did I mention that I love him and that he is awesome?
Well okay.
He's fun. For me at least. Ohohohoho. I'm looking forward to posting the next chapter, in which you lovely readers are informed of his name. Indeed.
I meant to post this, like, a week ago. *facepalm* I'm a work in progress.
Please give me the pleasure of reading your reviews!
-Sasha