Death/Life Chapter Three
Arrrrgh. I was sick today and couldn't lie down without choking >.< So I killed time with Nanowrimo...
The usual Death/Life WARNINGS: mild gore, emo, swearing, etc.^_^"
The nurse's office was empty by the end of the day. The students who had received “random cuts” from Rozanne and Loner had all been bandaged up quickly and sent back to class. Fate lingered around the nurse's office, refusing to leave Marron's side, while Marien and Raina played the roles of 'concerned friends' so that they could watch the injured girl too.
“Now, I assure you two, she's going to be just fine.” The nurse promised the two students, unable to see Fate, “She didn't lose much blood. At this point, Miss Marron is just sleeping. You can go back to class...”
Marien shook his head firmly. “No. We have to stay here. We're worried.”
“Yes.” Raina agreed, “Besides, she'll be upset if she wakes up alone.”
“Actually, I don't think she'd care...” Fate murmured, but was ignored by the two students who would do anything to get out of class.
The nurse sighed and just left, calling, “Ok, I'll tell your teachers!” behind her.
Marron twitched in her sleep, drawing the attention of the three in the room. However, when she did not wake up, they all sighed and sat back (except Fate, who just moved closer to Marron).
“What now?” Marien asked, looking over at Raina, “Any idea what will happen next?”
Raina just nodded her head, blue eyes still reflecting the sadness of knowing, “That bunny girl will come back soon... There will be another fight and then we'll think we won. I will walk home tomorrow night and be murdered.”
“That soon?!” Squeaked an alarmed Fate, “That's no good! We're not ready!”
The girl only looked sadder when Fate seemed to confirm her sad fate. The pink haired girl whimpered and covered her mouth, looking down. “S-Sorry...”
“No need.” Raina replied quietly, “It's not your fault... You'll help me, right? That's why you're here?”
Fate was silent for a moment, then she nodded. “We can guide your soul to heaven...”
“But I'll still die.” Finished the knowing girl, “I know, I know. I am cursed with the blessing of knowledge, you know.”
While this just confused Marien to the ends of his sanity, Fate's eyes snapped open.
“The blessing...? You have a treasure?!” She exclaimed in shock, “No wonder that Rozanne girl wants you so badly!”
Raina smiled sadly and nodded. “Yes... My soul reached a state where it was strong enough to hold a Treasure. Just yesterday I woke up and suddenly knew everything; that my soul was to be taken. I was to die because I was blessed... Such a blessing is more of a curse, don't you think?”
Laughing weakly, Fate nodded, reaching out to play with the heart shaped clock around Marron's neck. “Yeah... Funny how blessings turn into curses, huh?”
Marien did not try to understand what they were talking about. Later, though, he would come to understand them with a blessing of his own.
“Um... What are Treasures?” Marien asked dumbly, hoping to clear that up, “I've gathered from Raina there that souls have treasures?”
Fate nodded, her over-sized sleeves pulled up to her mouth and muffling her voice a bit. “Mmm. The treasures of life, as we call them, are super collections of Mana that have special powers. They grow from the souls of people who have more Mana than they need to live a full life, usually because they have achieved something major. But because of how strong they are, Yamana really like to harvest them from souls...”
“Ah... So you get the power, but you're more likely to be killed?” Marien repeated, trying to get everything straight in his mind.
Raina nodded. “I have the treasure of Knowledge. Because of it, I understand things most people don't without being told... I can know the future, the past, the present... “ She hung her head sadly, “I even know when I'll die and who will kill me... And that nothing can save me.”
The way she said it made Marien shudder. She sounded so upset... Was knowledge really such a burden? Or was Raina just making a big deal out of nothing?
His thoughts were cut short when Marron began waking up. The brown haired girl moaned, rolling on to her side and staring across the room. She could see the two students that had stayed to 'be sure she was ok' and feel the warm presence of Fate at her side.
Marron twitched and sat up, eyes narrowed, and tossed the nearest thing, a stuffed animal one of her new fangirls had bought on lunch break, at Marien's head.
“YOU MORON! What the hell were you doing?! If you were going to stay and fight you could have been USEFUL!” She snapped. Marien, who had been hit square in the face, grumbled in anger as he rubbed his injured face.
“Arrgh... Is that what I get for trying?”
“Trying isn't good enough! It's the end result that counts! And the end result was that four students had their lives shortened!”
Marien didn't argue, but instead, stared with wide eyes.
“They... what?”
What a moron. He didn't catch on?
Marron was not impressed, but proceeded to answering, “When that bunny cut them he took a small bit of their Mana from their blood. It's not very effective, but it was enough to replace the power they used beating me up, and give them some extra.”
“Yeah but... What happens to those girls?”
The heartless, but no longer bleeding or too hurt, girl shrugged. “I'd say four years have been taken off their natural life span.... six or seven tops.” She answered.
Raina reached out to pet Marien's back, trying to calm him down so he wouldn't look so scared and upset. “It's not your fault, Marien. You didn't know it would happen...”
“But you did, right? Why didn't you tell me?!” He snapped at her.
The knowing girl looked a bit hurt when she drew back her hand. “Because sometimes it's easier not to know... I didn't want you to be upset knowing something like that happened... something you could have prevented.”
“But you told me Marron would get hurt! Why didn't you warn me about them?!” He snapped at her. All this stuff he was learning about Yamana and Mana was so frustrating and hard to take in one day.
And the stress was showing.
“I told you Marron would get hurt but you couldn't prevent that.” Raina argued, though never raising her voice, just making it sound more intense, “Why should I burden you with more sad things you can't do anything about?”
Marien fell silent and sighed, getting to his feet. “I'm going back to class.”
“I'll come to-”
“No. You should stay with Marron, in case that Rozanne comes after you.” Marien snapped, not wanting either of them to follow him. Then, he stomped off.
During this time, Marron had been enjoying the sweet taste of blue raspberry candy. It seemed that her dodgeball victory and the little bit of the fight her classmates had seen had earned her a fan club. And she did not have a problem with the free treats; not at all!
“Hey, Fate? Follow Marien.” Marron instructed cheerfully, seeming unfased by her guy friend's emotional breakdown. Fate, who was sensitive to the feelings of others, squeaked and whined loudly, flapping her arms.
“Waaaah! But he'll be angry!” She complained, “He can see meee!”
Marron nibbled a chocolate bar and shrugged. “Come now. No one can hate you.” She promised. Fate did not seem too convinced, but her bratty pouting face changed to confusion when Raina reached out for her, and actually touched her.
“Miss Fate, I think your stupid kindness is just what he needs right now.” She said kindly, so nicely that Fate almost thought 'stupid' was a compliment for a moment, “Go on. I'll watch Marron.”
“You mean 'be watched by Marron', right?” Asked Marron with an angry grin, not sure if she respected Raina for being able to call Fate stupid or hate her for acting like a Yamana needed a babysitter.
Raina just giggled. “Maybe maybe.” She teased, “Anyways, get your butt moving, Fate-o.”
The familiar whined once more, then broke free of Raina's warm hand and floated off, even though she wanted to just sit there and feel safe forever; it wasn't everyday that someone realized that they could manipulate the Mana around them to touch her. By putting spare Mana on her hand, Raina could supply where she touched Fate with the power to be solid, even if it was only solid long enough to feel the warm hand touching her.
Glancing back, Fate silently wished Raina wouldn't have to die, before speeding after Marien.
Please, Marien! Please don't hate me!
“Rozanne...”
The voice of Loner was the only sound in the quiet bedroom. All around the sleeping girl were her stuffed animals, carefully rearranged by her beloved Familiar to circle her or give her hugs and snuggles. Her breathing had gotten bad again, the result of her bad health, which was a result of an illness that never left her. Loner had hoped giving her more Mana would help, but obviously, he needed more than just fifteen years of collective blood.
“Rozanne, hang on.” He said, petting her head with his patched up white plushie arm, “I'll get you more Mana. You'll live to become a writer. You'll get married and be really happy. I promise, Rozanne.”
She slept peacefully and the bunny watched, wishing there was something more that he could do.
Marien had not gone back to class. He hated to think he would do such a thing, but the boy had, in deed, ended up running off campus. All the stress of the day had just built up to a point where he doubted he'd be able to remain sane in a classroom anyways. He had learned that, all around him, horribly things he could not prevent were happening. People were dying, being hurt, suffering... And the people with the power to do something wouldn't!
After aimlessly walking into the city park, the dark haired boy collapsed on a bench and sighed loudly, his gaze turned skyward.
“That Marron... Not even grateful that I was worried.”
“No... She was.”
Marien twitched and turned sharply to the source of the voice, only to find that Fate had been following him. Following the trend of her nervous behavior, her hands were up by her mouth and her lips puckered in a childish little frown.
“Marron was grateful, but when her emotion is cut in half, sometimes she only feels it and doesn't show it...”
“Well, you show more emotion than she does.” Snapped Marien, not finding that excuse good enough.
Fate whined and began flapping her arms again.
“Aieee! You're the mean one! I'm supposed to show more emotion than she is; that's the point!”
He smiled a bit, amused by Fate's behavior, which he privately found to be very cute.
“Anyways! I didn't come to talk about me! Are you ok, Marien? You ran off real fast.” Fate said quickly, a strange type of concern in her eyes, which when combined with how close she was putting her face to his, made Marien feel a bit awkward.
The boy blushed and pulled away.
“I-I'm fine. Sorry, I shouldn't have...”
“Aaaiiieee! No need to apologize!” Shrieked Fate, waving her arms again in apparent protest against his apology, “I need to apology! Marron and I got you dragged into all of this, it's probably a lot to swallow in one day!”
Well, at least she understands why I'm upset. Marien thought, quite impressed by how considerate Fate was of other people's feelings. It amazed him further that such a cute, nice girl could have come from the soul of a mean bitch like Marron.
The world is very messed up and makes no sense. He decided. Marron is so lucky to have such a cute girl following her all the ti-
“What are you thinking?” Fate asked interrupting his train of thought, “You're making funny faces, Marien. Are you sick? Do you need to go pee?”
Her bluntness about the subject made him blush more, and Marien quickly got up.
“N-No!” He said quickly. What did Marron teach this girl about manners?! Didn't Fate know how to talk to people-
Once again, his train of thought crashed to a sudden stop, but this time, it was his fault. Marien had become so used to Fate being visible and always there, and the fact Raina, another 'normal' person could see her too, that he'd forgotten she had only existed to Marron until just recently.
No wonder the two of them never stressed polite talk and how to act around other people! Fate had never been able to talk to anyone but Marron!
“You're making weird faces again...” Fate said quietly, a hint of sadness pulling at her voice pitch, “Are you ok, Marien?”
He nodded and smiled at her. “Yeah, I'm fine... I guess we should go back to school?”
Fate nodded slowly. “We should... When does school let out?”
“This is my last period, I think, so in a few minutes.” Marien said, “Why?”
The pink haired girl was silent, looking a bit uneasy. Then, after looking like she'd made a tough decision, said, “Can we feed the pigeons before we go? I can get bread!” And when Marien gave her an odd look, she defended herself by saying, “Marron doesn't like feeding them anymore.” and then she made a face so cute that Marien's heart melted.
How could he say no to such a cute face?
“Fine, fine. But where will you get bread?” He asked, glancing down the paved path in the direction of the pigeon hang out spot.
“I know where the bakery puts the day old bread!” She exclaimed happily, “I can go get some! Fate flies really fast! I'll meet you by the pigeons!”
And then, she flew off. This left Marien to think properly about what he had just planned to do.
He was skipping class.
And going on a date.
D-Date?! Hold your horses, there, Marien! You can't call this a date! He thought, turning a bit red. Sure, Fate was cute... Ok, she was really cute. But he barely knew her and she didn't seem like a girl who would fall in love any time soon.
Still... It'd be nice to call it a 'date'.
The usual Death/Life WARNINGS: mild gore, emo, swearing, etc.^_^"
The nurse's office was empty by the end of the day. The students who had received “random cuts” from Rozanne and Loner had all been bandaged up quickly and sent back to class. Fate lingered around the nurse's office, refusing to leave Marron's side, while Marien and Raina played the roles of 'concerned friends' so that they could watch the injured girl too.
“Now, I assure you two, she's going to be just fine.” The nurse promised the two students, unable to see Fate, “She didn't lose much blood. At this point, Miss Marron is just sleeping. You can go back to class...”
Marien shook his head firmly. “No. We have to stay here. We're worried.”
“Yes.” Raina agreed, “Besides, she'll be upset if she wakes up alone.”
“Actually, I don't think she'd care...” Fate murmured, but was ignored by the two students who would do anything to get out of class.
The nurse sighed and just left, calling, “Ok, I'll tell your teachers!” behind her.
Marron twitched in her sleep, drawing the attention of the three in the room. However, when she did not wake up, they all sighed and sat back (except Fate, who just moved closer to Marron).
“What now?” Marien asked, looking over at Raina, “Any idea what will happen next?”
Raina just nodded her head, blue eyes still reflecting the sadness of knowing, “That bunny girl will come back soon... There will be another fight and then we'll think we won. I will walk home tomorrow night and be murdered.”
“That soon?!” Squeaked an alarmed Fate, “That's no good! We're not ready!”
The girl only looked sadder when Fate seemed to confirm her sad fate. The pink haired girl whimpered and covered her mouth, looking down. “S-Sorry...”
“No need.” Raina replied quietly, “It's not your fault... You'll help me, right? That's why you're here?”
Fate was silent for a moment, then she nodded. “We can guide your soul to heaven...”
“But I'll still die.” Finished the knowing girl, “I know, I know. I am cursed with the blessing of knowledge, you know.”
While this just confused Marien to the ends of his sanity, Fate's eyes snapped open.
“The blessing...? You have a treasure?!” She exclaimed in shock, “No wonder that Rozanne girl wants you so badly!”
Raina smiled sadly and nodded. “Yes... My soul reached a state where it was strong enough to hold a Treasure. Just yesterday I woke up and suddenly knew everything; that my soul was to be taken. I was to die because I was blessed... Such a blessing is more of a curse, don't you think?”
Laughing weakly, Fate nodded, reaching out to play with the heart shaped clock around Marron's neck. “Yeah... Funny how blessings turn into curses, huh?”
Marien did not try to understand what they were talking about. Later, though, he would come to understand them with a blessing of his own.
“Um... What are Treasures?” Marien asked dumbly, hoping to clear that up, “I've gathered from Raina there that souls have treasures?”
Fate nodded, her over-sized sleeves pulled up to her mouth and muffling her voice a bit. “Mmm. The treasures of life, as we call them, are super collections of Mana that have special powers. They grow from the souls of people who have more Mana than they need to live a full life, usually because they have achieved something major. But because of how strong they are, Yamana really like to harvest them from souls...”
“Ah... So you get the power, but you're more likely to be killed?” Marien repeated, trying to get everything straight in his mind.
Raina nodded. “I have the treasure of Knowledge. Because of it, I understand things most people don't without being told... I can know the future, the past, the present... “ She hung her head sadly, “I even know when I'll die and who will kill me... And that nothing can save me.”
The way she said it made Marien shudder. She sounded so upset... Was knowledge really such a burden? Or was Raina just making a big deal out of nothing?
His thoughts were cut short when Marron began waking up. The brown haired girl moaned, rolling on to her side and staring across the room. She could see the two students that had stayed to 'be sure she was ok' and feel the warm presence of Fate at her side.
Marron twitched and sat up, eyes narrowed, and tossed the nearest thing, a stuffed animal one of her new fangirls had bought on lunch break, at Marien's head.
“YOU MORON! What the hell were you doing?! If you were going to stay and fight you could have been USEFUL!” She snapped. Marien, who had been hit square in the face, grumbled in anger as he rubbed his injured face.
“Arrgh... Is that what I get for trying?”
“Trying isn't good enough! It's the end result that counts! And the end result was that four students had their lives shortened!”
Marien didn't argue, but instead, stared with wide eyes.
“They... what?”
What a moron. He didn't catch on?
Marron was not impressed, but proceeded to answering, “When that bunny cut them he took a small bit of their Mana from their blood. It's not very effective, but it was enough to replace the power they used beating me up, and give them some extra.”
“Yeah but... What happens to those girls?”
The heartless, but no longer bleeding or too hurt, girl shrugged. “I'd say four years have been taken off their natural life span.... six or seven tops.” She answered.
Raina reached out to pet Marien's back, trying to calm him down so he wouldn't look so scared and upset. “It's not your fault, Marien. You didn't know it would happen...”
“But you did, right? Why didn't you tell me?!” He snapped at her.
The knowing girl looked a bit hurt when she drew back her hand. “Because sometimes it's easier not to know... I didn't want you to be upset knowing something like that happened... something you could have prevented.”
“But you told me Marron would get hurt! Why didn't you warn me about them?!” He snapped at her. All this stuff he was learning about Yamana and Mana was so frustrating and hard to take in one day.
And the stress was showing.
“I told you Marron would get hurt but you couldn't prevent that.” Raina argued, though never raising her voice, just making it sound more intense, “Why should I burden you with more sad things you can't do anything about?”
Marien fell silent and sighed, getting to his feet. “I'm going back to class.”
“I'll come to-”
“No. You should stay with Marron, in case that Rozanne comes after you.” Marien snapped, not wanting either of them to follow him. Then, he stomped off.
During this time, Marron had been enjoying the sweet taste of blue raspberry candy. It seemed that her dodgeball victory and the little bit of the fight her classmates had seen had earned her a fan club. And she did not have a problem with the free treats; not at all!
“Hey, Fate? Follow Marien.” Marron instructed cheerfully, seeming unfased by her guy friend's emotional breakdown. Fate, who was sensitive to the feelings of others, squeaked and whined loudly, flapping her arms.
“Waaaah! But he'll be angry!” She complained, “He can see meee!”
Marron nibbled a chocolate bar and shrugged. “Come now. No one can hate you.” She promised. Fate did not seem too convinced, but her bratty pouting face changed to confusion when Raina reached out for her, and actually touched her.
“Miss Fate, I think your stupid kindness is just what he needs right now.” She said kindly, so nicely that Fate almost thought 'stupid' was a compliment for a moment, “Go on. I'll watch Marron.”
“You mean 'be watched by Marron', right?” Asked Marron with an angry grin, not sure if she respected Raina for being able to call Fate stupid or hate her for acting like a Yamana needed a babysitter.
Raina just giggled. “Maybe maybe.” She teased, “Anyways, get your butt moving, Fate-o.”
The familiar whined once more, then broke free of Raina's warm hand and floated off, even though she wanted to just sit there and feel safe forever; it wasn't everyday that someone realized that they could manipulate the Mana around them to touch her. By putting spare Mana on her hand, Raina could supply where she touched Fate with the power to be solid, even if it was only solid long enough to feel the warm hand touching her.
Glancing back, Fate silently wished Raina wouldn't have to die, before speeding after Marien.
Please, Marien! Please don't hate me!
“Rozanne...”
The voice of Loner was the only sound in the quiet bedroom. All around the sleeping girl were her stuffed animals, carefully rearranged by her beloved Familiar to circle her or give her hugs and snuggles. Her breathing had gotten bad again, the result of her bad health, which was a result of an illness that never left her. Loner had hoped giving her more Mana would help, but obviously, he needed more than just fifteen years of collective blood.
“Rozanne, hang on.” He said, petting her head with his patched up white plushie arm, “I'll get you more Mana. You'll live to become a writer. You'll get married and be really happy. I promise, Rozanne.”
She slept peacefully and the bunny watched, wishing there was something more that he could do.
Marien had not gone back to class. He hated to think he would do such a thing, but the boy had, in deed, ended up running off campus. All the stress of the day had just built up to a point where he doubted he'd be able to remain sane in a classroom anyways. He had learned that, all around him, horribly things he could not prevent were happening. People were dying, being hurt, suffering... And the people with the power to do something wouldn't!
After aimlessly walking into the city park, the dark haired boy collapsed on a bench and sighed loudly, his gaze turned skyward.
“That Marron... Not even grateful that I was worried.”
“No... She was.”
Marien twitched and turned sharply to the source of the voice, only to find that Fate had been following him. Following the trend of her nervous behavior, her hands were up by her mouth and her lips puckered in a childish little frown.
“Marron was grateful, but when her emotion is cut in half, sometimes she only feels it and doesn't show it...”
“Well, you show more emotion than she does.” Snapped Marien, not finding that excuse good enough.
Fate whined and began flapping her arms again.
“Aieee! You're the mean one! I'm supposed to show more emotion than she is; that's the point!”
He smiled a bit, amused by Fate's behavior, which he privately found to be very cute.
“Anyways! I didn't come to talk about me! Are you ok, Marien? You ran off real fast.” Fate said quickly, a strange type of concern in her eyes, which when combined with how close she was putting her face to his, made Marien feel a bit awkward.
The boy blushed and pulled away.
“I-I'm fine. Sorry, I shouldn't have...”
“Aaaiiieee! No need to apologize!” Shrieked Fate, waving her arms again in apparent protest against his apology, “I need to apology! Marron and I got you dragged into all of this, it's probably a lot to swallow in one day!”
Well, at least she understands why I'm upset. Marien thought, quite impressed by how considerate Fate was of other people's feelings. It amazed him further that such a cute, nice girl could have come from the soul of a mean bitch like Marron.
The world is very messed up and makes no sense. He decided. Marron is so lucky to have such a cute girl following her all the ti-
“What are you thinking?” Fate asked interrupting his train of thought, “You're making funny faces, Marien. Are you sick? Do you need to go pee?”
Her bluntness about the subject made him blush more, and Marien quickly got up.
“N-No!” He said quickly. What did Marron teach this girl about manners?! Didn't Fate know how to talk to people-
Once again, his train of thought crashed to a sudden stop, but this time, it was his fault. Marien had become so used to Fate being visible and always there, and the fact Raina, another 'normal' person could see her too, that he'd forgotten she had only existed to Marron until just recently.
No wonder the two of them never stressed polite talk and how to act around other people! Fate had never been able to talk to anyone but Marron!
“You're making weird faces again...” Fate said quietly, a hint of sadness pulling at her voice pitch, “Are you ok, Marien?”
He nodded and smiled at her. “Yeah, I'm fine... I guess we should go back to school?”
Fate nodded slowly. “We should... When does school let out?”
“This is my last period, I think, so in a few minutes.” Marien said, “Why?”
The pink haired girl was silent, looking a bit uneasy. Then, after looking like she'd made a tough decision, said, “Can we feed the pigeons before we go? I can get bread!” And when Marien gave her an odd look, she defended herself by saying, “Marron doesn't like feeding them anymore.” and then she made a face so cute that Marien's heart melted.
How could he say no to such a cute face?
“Fine, fine. But where will you get bread?” He asked, glancing down the paved path in the direction of the pigeon hang out spot.
“I know where the bakery puts the day old bread!” She exclaimed happily, “I can go get some! Fate flies really fast! I'll meet you by the pigeons!”
And then, she flew off. This left Marien to think properly about what he had just planned to do.
He was skipping class.
And going on a date.
D-Date?! Hold your horses, there, Marien! You can't call this a date! He thought, turning a bit red. Sure, Fate was cute... Ok, she was really cute. But he barely knew her and she didn't seem like a girl who would fall in love any time soon.
Still... It'd be nice to call it a 'date'.