Monica Silverking's Story

Monica Silverking was allot of things. She was strong, independent, brave, hardworking, caring, a good mother, and a whole plethora of other things. The list goes on. However as she stood in front of the door with the skull ensignia glazed upon it, she couldn't help but think that her next title was one she couldn't hold. At least she thought she wouldn't ever have to bare such a title. Opening the door and walking through the long hall of crosses she looked the tall masked man straight in the face and without saying a word of greeting spoke, "A teacher!?! How could you call for me to be a teacher?"
"Ahh. Miss Monica." Lord death said in his usual happy go lucky tone. "It's been ages. You look absolutely stunning my dear. How have you been all these years?"
Monica's face eased up and with a smile she said, "Well, you've seen all my kids. Their still healthy. However, I do worry about Leon." Crossing her arms, her face started to pout. "I always worry about that boy. I guess that's the true reason why I'm here."
"Exactly." The grand meister said, bouncing up and down. "He does need you here after all. It seems he had a bit of a spill."
"Yeah. I heard about that. What do you think caused it?"
"Well. This is what I know so far...." Lord Death explained the situation to her in full detail. Monica place her thumb near her lips and closed her eyes to concentrate, already trying to form a plan.
"I don't know much about that, but I wont let Leon go astray. I can't. If Alistair gets out, that would just become another problem. One I don't want to deal with..... If you know what I mean."
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Leon flinched a little at Roxies hit. He listened to her words and Muzai's. It seemed they don't know the difference between a lie and a figure of speech. He was going to tell them about, but Roxie hit him with a bear hug that felt like it was going to re-open his wound. "R-Roxie. Let go.... You're hurting me...." He barely managed to say.

After the waiter came he decided to let the girls order first.
“Can I have one of everything please? Oh but hold the blueberry pie.” Muzai spoke.
Leons eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
Who needs to eat that much.... Maybe its for all of us. Yeah that has to be right.
He watched quietly as the girl turned to him and Roxie.
“So what are two getting?” She asked.
"Wha-?" asked Leon, once again in shock. "You mean that was all for you?" He took a look at the menu, glancing back at Muzai every time he finished reading a page. "Well, Uh.... I guess I'll have whatever Roxie has then. What do you want?" He said putting the menu down and turning to his partner.

Looking at his currently dried hand, Leon smiled to himself. It wasn't everyday that he bled such a color from his mouth. It tastes like charcoal. The back taste was almost enough to make him gag once more, but the boy held it in. With his heart beating fast, only the sound of the beats and an echo of footsteps could be heard from the distance.

“Don’t you ever pull off a stunt like that again, at least not while I’m eating lunch.” The familiar voice called. Looking up Leon could see it was Muzai with Roxie not far from her.

"I agree. It was pretty unappetizing to see that with food in your mouth. Sorry I suppose." Leon grinned, standing and patting the dust off of his butt.

“Leon... Are you... Okay?” She quietly asked, approaching her Meister with care. “Is your hole hurting you?”

Turning to Roxie, Leon gave an unusual look like he was analyzing the girls face. He sighed and what seemed to be, "I see," came out of his mouth before he gave a calm smile. He reached out and patted the girl on her head, telling her, "Don't be ridiculous. I don't have a hole." before taking off his stained bandages only to reveal something that seemed to be a scab. Pulling his shirt back down he stuffed the bandages in his pocket. "See. I'm fine. Maybe even better than ever. You could even say I feel like a kid again." The awkward laugh he gave at the end didn't seem worthy of the situation at hand, but he blew off everything as if it didn't happen. "Well. I wonder what we should do next girls. Surely we should do something fun on our day off."
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Leaving the Death Room, Monica decided to take a look at how her son has been living. From his calls she had thought that he was being irresponsible. "There's no way my baby can handle living on his own." She said to herself. "I must see this so called partner of his. If she's no good I'll have to make him live with me for the rest of the school year. Although, it's not like I can stop them from being partners. Oh no." She said looking aimlessly around the street. She turned her head to her map and around each of the signs and markers. It didn't make sense to her at all. How could she have gotten lost again. Kind of thinking about it this had happened before when she was younger. She was looking for the DWMA and got lost somewhere along the road.
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"Hey are you okay?" A kid had called to her.
"No, I'm lost! I can't figure out where I'm going!" She basically screamed. Scowling at the kid she turned away and walked some more. It wasn't until later that she realized she was being followed. "Hey! Stop following me!"
"I'm not following you. You probably just walked in a big circle. I've been here for the last hour."
"Huh?" She was bewildered. There was no way her sense of direction was that bad. She was too proud to give in though. She was going to find the DWMA all by herself. Even if it meant having to walk around in hundreds of more circles. Surprisingly, at least to her, that's what she did.
"Oh. Welcome back." The boy grinned.
"Grrrr. What are you doing standing here huh? You stalking me or something?" She growled.
However, instead of answering, the boy just smiled and asked, "Where are you trying to go?"
Although she didn't want to admit it, she was lost. There was no way she would have found her way to the academy without someones help. She had no choice but to swallow her pride. "I'm looking for the DWMA building." Monica had said in a low tone.
The boy stared at her for a moment and started laughing. "Ahahaha. You mean you really can't find it? Really?"
"Shut up! Just tell me where it is so I don't have to see your face again!"
"Alright, alright. No need to yell. you see that?" The boy asked, pointing towards the school that was hard to miss with the perfect symmetrical skulls and the building itself, which was bigger than most of the part of town it covered. "That's the academy."
"Thank you." Monica quickly said before walking away.
It seemed the boy followed her this time do to the footsteps that could be heard behind her. "What is it now? You really are stalking me aren't you?"
"No. We just be happening to going in the same direction. So what's your name?"
"Monica. You don't need to know my last name." She hissed as she quickened her steps.
"Oh really. My names Kriste. Kriste Silverking." The boy said still grinning. Monica remembered that she didn't use to like his grin but, overtime, she grew accustomed to it. Now, out of all times, she misses.
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"Oh, looks like I actually made it." She joyfully announced. "Now I guess I'll just wait for Leon to come home. Then we'll see if he should stay here or come with me."

Leon looked at Roxie's reaction which made him feel better eternally, which also made him feel a bit off. It was a weird feeling. To compare it to anything, one would have to say that it felt as if he was twisting around on the inside. Like his soul was having a spasm. He snapped out of his eternal feels by looking over at the guy who introduced himself as Hibiki. For a short moment he just stared at the hand. It had been a long time since he had met anyone so friendly. That went for both Leon's. Before meeting Roxie he had no friends. No one to call his companion. He was alone. Sure he had family, but at the end of the day they always had there own ways to go, leaving Leon alone. It was awkward for both Leon's to feel like they belonged to a group of friends. For Alistar, he was alive during times of battle and didn't really have trust in anyone. In the end, it was his lack of trust that got him trapped. Betrayed. There was no way he was going to be open like that again.

Suddenly, Muzai also went on a rant about nicknames. Though hers was mostly about how she couldn't remember her own. The nicknames she made up for Hibiki and Kiego, Kiego especially, made him burst out in a fit of laughter. It was enough to make him forget about all of his negative thoughts.

These kids are really something. The boy deserves to have friends like these doesn't he? Does that make me bad for forcing my control over his body?

Thoughts aside, Leon shook off the laughter and grabbed Hibiki's hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Alistair." He greeted, mostly wanting to greet himself, as if to live, if only for a short while, the life that he would have enjoyed. A life that involved friends and meeting new people. A life he couldn't quite understand or even blend with. Just how no one that wasn't in his shoes, would comprehend his life or his decisions. He probably couldn't give his hold away on Leon's body, but he could spare these children the pain of being around him. After shaking the boys hand and giving his own name, he walked away, not looking back or listening to words of his peers. He just wanted to go somewhere he could think. The closest place for that would be home. At least there he might have some quiet, for once he was far enough away from the group, the orchestra of souls played once more.

He made it all the way home, ignoring everyone's sound as best he could. However, once close to his home, a familiar sound of serenity rang in his ears. It was unexpected. So unexpected that Alistair smiled widely. It made him anxious to the point where he could throw up. No. Anxious wasn't what he wanted to call it. Excitement? How could he be so excited to see this person.
"Mom?" That was the phrase he didn't quite mean, but had to say because of the body he was in.

Monica Silverking turned around slowly. First with a smile on her face to hear her sons voice after so many months, but then her smile dissappeared as she realized whom it was she was really looking at. "Leon? No wait. You're not my son."

"And just when I thought that I would have to start living peacefully and nice. I'm actually glad I have you here to remind me of what I truly am," Alistair cheered.

"Why? Why are you doing this to Leon? Did he get in a fight? Did he get mad at something?" Monica stepped back, trying to hide her intent at an attack.

Looking unamused at the woman's stature, Alistair only had a confident smirk to remind the woman that he didn't fear her. "Why mother. Do I need a reason to actually take control of my own body. Or did you forget that bit of the curse?"

"Tch. I don't forget anything that has to do with my kids. But Leon..." The woman was cut off.

"Yeah, Yeah. Leon was the defining character of someone who couldn't be me right? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just split off a part of my soul to trick you until I had the right moment to take control? Face it. Leon is me, and I am Leon." Alistair laughed at the woman's naivety.

"No. You're wrong. Leon is a sweet boy. He's his own person," Monica retorted trying to hold onto the son she knew. "I watched him grow up. I changed his diapers. I loved him and held him in my arms. You're not him. He isn't apart of you!"
Her bouts of anger caused her to loose control over her chilled soul, causing her to freeze the area around them making it icy and cold in the area.

Alistair stared at the surroundings, sidestepping a row of sharded ice that came from the ground. He knew at this point that he took the woman from zero to sixty. It just so happened that this was all apart of his plan. All he had to do was get rid of her and then no one could return him to his sleeping state. The state that was known as Leon. Biting his arm he grunted as the blood, dark red in color slithered down and quickly solidified into a blade. "Let me ask you mother, do you know what will happen if you are killed with a weapon that isn't made from witch power? I say we should find out."

As the boy ran for her, Monica glared at him, feeling enough anger that more fissures of ice were formed. They all came from different angles, each barely missing her son. Her anger ran on until she felt a loss of control that made the shards grow faster. So fast that they were almost unavoidable. She felt herself loosing control of her soul, something she hadn't done since she was a younger kid. Not only was she loosing control but she was causing harm to her own son.

Leon was thrown into a wall by one of the shards, bleeding a little from the impact. The sight made Monica snap out of her anger and she calmed herself, making the ice disappear almost as fast as it appeared. She was defenseless. There was no way she could fight seriously with her son. She was at a loss for what she should do.

Alistair stood up. Laughing as he wiped off the blood on his wounds. "Hahaha. I knew it. You can't fight me can you. Even though you know that there will be no return for the son you loved." He creeped towards her, carrying the blooded blade over his shoulder. "Don't worry mother. I'll make this quick. I promise." Raising the blade high, he went for the defining blow, only to be dodge by Monica. "What? Don't tell me you decided to play?"

Monica rested her hand on Alistair's shoulder, making him feel really uncomfortable. "No. I wont ever purposely harm my own son. I'm sorry Leon, but this is the only thing I can do for you now."

Alistair's smile faded. "Wh-What are you saying woman. Are you loosing..... huh?"

Alistair felt a surge of chill throughout the body he had taken control of. It was a weird and almost painful feeling and with it, he could see the place that Monica had touched slowly turning into ice.

"What are you doing woman? What is this?"

"I'm sorry Leon, but I can't do anything else right now. hopefully you will be unfrozen soon."

Alistair cursed and screamed as the ice traveled through his person. The screams went on until they were silenced and Leon was still in a dormant state. Frozen by the ice.

Monica looked at her frozen son, or what appeared to be him, inside his ice prison. If she could, she'd rather not have Alistar running about, but, at the same time, she didn't wish for her son to be imprisoned forever. She may have shed a tear if she hadn't matured in a way that tears were a hindrance. "Leon... What am I going to do with you," she asked while rubbing the ice.

"Whacha doing in there Ali?"

Monica snapped out of her train of thought at the sound of a girls voice. She looked around Leon to see it was a red haird girl. Her first thought was that it was Leons partner, though she looked different from the pictures that Leon sent to her. The girl looked to her and said, "Hey what happened to Ali? or does he go by Leon? He was supposed to take me and Roxie to the store. I gotta buy a card for Arthur. Do you know how to unfreeze him?"

"Hey goes by Leon dear." Monica answered. "As for how to unfreeze him. Well..." She was interupted.

“Leon!” Another red headed girl yelled. “How'd you get in there?”, “What did you do?”, “Are you okay?”

She asked her questions to the frozen boy who couldn't hear her. Monica sighed before resting her hand on the girls shoulder. "I'm sorry dear. He can't respond to you in that state. I put him in there. Let me introduce myself to you ladies. I am Monica Silverking, Leons mother."

The woman paced around thinking. She looked over the second red head to see that she was Leon's weapon partner. Immediately she got an idea.

"The reason I put him in that state is because he holds something inside of him. Something too powerful to let loose. Something that would control him completely if we'd let it. Though I don't plan on letting it at all. Hmmm... Alistor, if you're familiar with the name, is the spirit that possesses the soul of the boys in our family. One is chosen to hold him inside and it passes off from generation to generation. Leon seems to have almost lost himself to him. Though there is a way of saving him." She turned and pointed to the girl. "Roxie? Is that you? Leon had sent me letters about you and pictures. Hehe. Apparently he treasures you as a friend, though he probably wouldn't let you know. He's like that. I'm glad that you've stuck with him this far."

Monica looked at both girls and then back to the frozen sculpture. "I don't expect Leon has been that big on you resonating, probably his way of protecting you. However, if you want to save him, it will require you to resonate with him. It will have to be a forceful soul resonate so you'd have to concentrate hard enough to get through the walls. Here, put your hand on the ice and try. Only you can go into his soul and bring him back. Though, if you fail, your soul may be lost too. It's up to you."

Leon's mother knew the risks at hand for the girl, but she hoped if anyone could she could be the one to finally resonate with his soul and save him from his fate. Whether the girl would be up to do the task, however, was he choice and hers alone."Be mindful, once you enter his soul, you'll be in his world. So make sure not to mess too much around, for it could make him uncomfortable and put you in danger."

Muzai

It turned out the woman she had been talking to was his mother. "Okay Leon it is!" patting the frozen Leon with a grin. Mrs.Silverking then explained the situation to the both of them. Muzai hadn't even realized Roxie had shown up. While she did hear what Mrs.Silverking said Muzai was focused on Leon. The colors looked surpressed and there was a specific one that was most dominant then the rest. "Well he's certainly still in there." patting the statue again.

Reasonating? tilting her to the side, Muzai listened intently to the plan Leon's mother laid out for them. Placing one finger on her chin as she thought more on the topic of reasonating, she remembered the first time she and Arthur had reasonated. It was pretty fun and she loved the conversion of colors that were their souls. It wasn't until she had finished that Muzai realized she wasn't included in the rescue mission. "Hey, I wanna help to!" pouting a little bit. "Is there anything I can do? I can't look for a card for Arthur until Leon comes back." folding her arms across her chest. The red head was aware that it was a task only Roxie could do, but she'd like to be of some use.

Monica looked at both girls, thinking about what the longer red head had asked. “Hm,” she started to say. “I suppose you could go with her into his soul, if you are capable of resonating with them both. Though, it may be hard to do since Leon is in the condition that he’s in, but if he truly thinks of you as his friends, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Muzai tilted her head in thought. She had only resonated with Arthur a few times before but it wasn't all that hard. "Well I guess not! I want to be of help, I can't exactly watch my two new friends go off saving each other! He said he'd help me get a card for Arthur." with a determined glint in her golden eye Muzai grinned. The redhead was curious to know whether it would work or not but she could at least help Roxie in starting a resonance.

“I’ll do it!” Roxie shouted confidently. Although she had yet to resonate for the first time, she felt it was only right to try it for the sake of saving her partner and best friend. Muzai was going to help, which, admittedly, raised the taller girl’s confidence in this endeavor exponentially. With a small sigh, Roxie softly patted ice-Leon on his head. “Be safe. ...” She whispered, approaching Muzai and the cold lady in the hopes they could explain how one actually resonated.

It was truly a wonderful thing to see Leon had made friends that cared so deeply for him. Though, she knew more than anyone what they were going to see would probably change the way they had thought about the boy. Technically, it was even an invasion of the boy’s privacy to force a resonation with him, though she had to do it many times before, though that was only a temporary fix. If anyone could go to the core of the boy’s soul it’d be his friends. Yes, it was hard to admit it, but the bond between her and her child wasn’t strong enough to break through. “Alright to force a resonation, it’s actually not that difficult when the person is knocked unconscious. The only problem is once you’re inside, his soul might choose to overtake yours, usually ending in a broken chain. I can keep the chain active through the start of the resonation, but after that, you have to focus on your own. This isn’t a simple task in the slightest. You have to concentrate hard and block everything out in order to actually enter the core of Leon’s soul. In there you’ll find the Leon you know and you can help him get back in control. Now, Place your hands on Leon and hold each other’s hands. The first thing you should do is resonate with yourselves and then, as one, resonate with Leon. I’ll follow up and tell you what you need to do from there, but it may take a while.

Looking to Roxie, she could see a burst of one singular color, seeing it brought a smile to her ever grinning face. As with before Muzai listened to Leon’s mother her lips curled into a smile and her brows furrowed with concentration. “Really!? I thought it’d be harder but you make it sound easy!” A finger went to the corner of her chin as she began to think about what it’d be like inside another’s person soul. Even though she could see their colors Muzai never really knew if what she saw were just that, emotions, or fluctuations caused by the soul. Shrugging absentmindedly Muzai did exactly as she was told.

Placing one hand over Leon’s frozen body; she stood close and could see her breathe come out white making her giggle a bit. It’s almost like it’s winter. In thinking that Muzai realized she still knows nothing of what it’s like during the winter but she did know that it was the coldest time of the year. Tilting her head so that she was looking over at Roxie, Muzai reached out for her fellow red-heads hand. “Let’s go see what Leon’s up to eh? I want to see what winters like and it won’t be any fun without Leon.” Taking Roxie’s hand into her own, Muzai turned her face so that it was now facing Leon. The smile from before slowly fell away while her body began to relax.

It didn’t take Muzai long to find her inner self. To any onlookers her own center was devoid of color and was all around a blazing white space of nothing. This was probably due to her amnesia but from the looks of it there were small bits of color seeping through the overwhelming lack of color. Looking down at her center Muzai was happy to see the changes and turned her attention to Roxie so that the she could resonate with her.

For once, Roxie remained focused for long enough to heed the warnings and instructions of Leon’s mother. “We’ll save Li-Li together, neh?” She placed her hands in near unison with Muzai on the ice cold statue of her partner, flashing the poor boy a grin before gratefully accepting the other red head’s hand and sought to enter a state of tranquility that was necessary for this group resonance.

After a couple attempts to reflect on her core, the redhead’s inner self was, fittingly enough, a concoction of flamboyant colors paired up in complements that orbited around a pink center in a rhythmic manner. Much akin to a gracious waltz. Eyes once closed now turned to face and meet Muzai’s, a genuine and confident smile etched on Roxie’s face to signal that she was ready to sync up and merge as one.

Inside the dark hallway that lit up as a passage through Leon’s soul was a small boy with dark grey hair. The hair was just a little darker than Leon’s and the only other differences was the red that gleamed in his eyes and the scab that sat on the side of his face that looked more like jewelry than an actual mark of pain. The boy’s height and face made him look no younger or older than ten and in his hand was an empty birdcage. The boy was walking along the halls, looking at the paintings that covered the walls. One in particular, was a picture of a phoenix. The rider of the phoenix was a man in black armor and it seemed like they were headed into the sun. It bore no real meaning to the boy, but he had always liked looking at the painting. Another picture was that of Lord Death, or at least a representation of him. In all respect, it seemed to be a scary version of the man more than anything else, and seemed to also be one of the only paintings that had slash marks on it. The last picture showed a man with an axe and a man with a red sword, clashed on top of a thunderous mountain.

The music that sounded the halls was ever changing, but seemed to stop for a certain amount of time. The sudden stop caused the boy to turn around and look around, almost with a glint of fear in his eyes. Though once the familiar sound of the light hearted music began, the boy smiled. It was an awkward mix. Something like a carnival combined with a refined orchestra. Though the music was weird, he still enjoyed it, though he couldn’t pinpoint why. Almost in a jolly fashion he skipped down through the halls all the way to the end where an unfitting brick wall was. Even though it was unmatched by the design of the hallway, the wall stood there almost as if it was the only thing the boy had to call a door. It might have even been that if one were to travel down in the opposite direction they would find the same type of grotesque wall. The boy looked at the wall and then at the birdcage in his left hand. Reluctantly, he put the birdcage gently on the ground before reaching in his pocket to take out a piece of chalk. In haste, he began drawing lines on the wall, jumping up from time to time, in order to draw on the parts he couldn’t reach without doing so. After his half circle was complete he drew a small circle on the inside of it and the form of a door appeared on the brick walls. The young boy quickly picked up his birdcage and smile widely before opening the false door that he made. Though the wall didn’t follow his hand movements it did start to shake a little before the inward part of his drawing crumbled. The inside of the wall made the smile on the boy’s face ever more present and he bowed down in a courtly manor. “Hello there. I am humbled to have you come into my home. Please make yourself comfortable. Sadly there is no tea or anything to eat, but I am sure you will still enjoy your stay,” he said before raising his head. “I hope that was a good introduction. Father had always told me to be polite when people enter my home. Follow me ladies.”

With a slight twirl he began walking, not waiting for a reaction from the two girls. It even seemed like he almost knew they were going to follow him. What other choice was there. It was a long hallway after all. One with no doors. Just paintings and walls, as far as the eye could see.


Muzai simply couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the first time she had ever resonated with someone who wasn’t Arthur and to think she was able to do so with two people at that. Knowing she had to stay calm Muzai stifled her feelings of accomplishment to be dealt with at another time. Following after Roxie, the place her fellow redhead had left was full of color or so she could tell. The bits of color that seemed stuck to her friend eventually drifted away; back towards its place of origin. Giggling a little Muzai thought to herself for a moment and chose to take a risk. Normally if she were to open both her eyes at the same time then it would result in her having a major headache or a migraine if you will. This time however they were at their centers so she assumed it would be alright.

Taking a deep breathe Muzai glanced over at Roxie before facing forwards again and slowly opening her right eye. Blinking a few times she let out a small laugh of happiness and grinned in Roxie’s direction. Now that both her eyes were open it became obvious that her eyes were an astonishing two different colors. Her right being a deep red while her left was of a golden color that seemed to sparkle and glow. “We’re good to go I guess.”

The pair walked for a bit or at least she thought she was walking. To her it felt more like gliding with each step forwards. The place they were in currently was black and Muzai could only guess that it was the in between place of their resonating souls. As they delved deeper into the darkness a light began to glow fighting back against the void they now traveled through. “Let’s go there I can hear music!” Pointing towards the soft glowing light Muzai took the lead this time and the pair soon stood before a wall. It was a rather odd looking wall but it wasn’t too surprising considering the place they were in. Looking to her left then to her right Muzai realized the wall continued for quite some time in both directions. The redhead already knew it’d be impossible to try and go over it and it would take decades to get to the end. Turning to face her friend Muzai looked at her expectantly a bit unsure of what to do.

Suddenly markings appeared on the door and then the center of it crumbled to reveal a small boy no older or younger than ten. He carried with him a birdcage and his hair was grey just like Leon’s, albeit a bit darker, but like his nonetheless. Stepping back slightly as he introduced himself Muzai giggled a bit and bowed just as well. “I think you did a wonderful job. Say you wouldn’t happen to be the friend we’re looking for could it?” she asked as she stepped into the corridor. The odd music could be heard a lot clearer now that she was in the corridor. Smiling expectantly at their little friend Muzai wondered just where they’d be going to next.

Roxie silently followed Muzai and the little Leon… A... Littleon. Slightly daunted at the macabre “theme” that this inner core reflected, the girl could only wonder what sort of twisted mind would think this was a harmonious aesthetic. Was this Leon’s centre? Or was this an amalgamation of hers Muzai’s and Li-Li’s inner selves? Roxie blinked at Muzai’s sudden question to the strange kid. Was he Leon? Couldn’t be. Leon was much older, wasn’t he? Taller too. “Where are we going?” Roxie asked, her nervosity about this place growing with each passing step.

The boy turned his head slightly around and smiled. It was a grin that one would not usually see in a child and the fact that it was caught from the side made it erie. “I’m not sure. I’ve never once been to the end of the hall myself, though I was told to bring you through there. I wouldn't advise going through the other doors though. They have nothing to do with your friend. Only I can go through those doors. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you. Though, maybe not. Who really knows.”

The boy led them all the way down the hallway which left a trail of darkness behind, signifying that they wouldn’t be able to go back from where they came. Once to the end of the hallway the boy reached in his pocket and drew a door on the wall. The wall opened as the other wall had and the boy bowed once more, his arm stretched out to point at the door. “I wouldn’t advise you go in there you know. That’s just my feeling on it. Though, if you want to save your friend you have to. I truly hope you find it worth it in the end.” Through the hole in the wall was whistling sound and there was nothing but darkness. The only hit of light was so far in, one couldn’t tell how many paces it would take to reach it. If the girls had decided to enter, they’d find a man, sitting in front of two TV screens that were playing nothing with the fuzziest of receptions. His hair was red and long enough to cover his eyes. He had a wide grin on his face, but wasn’t moving. Almost as if he was just waiting for something really exciting to happen.

The boy smiled at the eerily causing a chill to run down her spine. From his next words of warning Muzai came to the conclusion that this kid wasn’t a little Leon but that didn’t help her in figuring out who he was in the first place. From what the red head understood, the small boy that led them through the halls was someone with a lot of power in Leon’s center. A slightly frown appeared on her lips when she looked back to see nothing but darkness. Not even her eye was capable of detecting the colors there as it was nothing but a thick darkness.

They finally reached the end of the hallway and Muzai witnessed the actions that allowed for that door to open from before. “Oh that’s a neat trick.” giggling nervously after listening to his next warnings Muzai smiled and looked at Roxie again. With a shrug of her shoulders Muzai took the first step inside the pitch black room. She focused her attention on the light that was barely visible up ahead. Making sure her friend was still with her Muzai stepped cautiously through the darkness and the source of light. The source of the light became clear. It was coming from two TV screens that showed nothing but static. Stepping closer Muzai noticed the man sitting in front of the two TV’s with a grin on his face. At first she thought it was funny but seeing that he hadn’t moved or made any indication of noticing their presence Muzai frowned. Just standing there made her uncomfortable, a feeling she hadn’t had enough association with to be used to it. “What’s he waiting for?” Muzai looked closely at him but saw no colors that would tell her something. She then turned her attention to the TV screens.

Like a speck of hope, the dim light that stood out among the pitch black darkness drew Roxie closer and closer, like an anglerfish tempting its next snack with its lure. Closer inspection revealed an eerie, almost demonic presence staring at two screens which showed only static. In this case, Roxie might’ve inquired the man about why there was hail bouncing around on the screen, however the girl was too afraid- No, at awe of the surreal appearance of the man. Or perhaps it was his grin that made her grow wary and shy. Muzai’s question did nothing to incite any manner of reaction from the other red head, only a silent glare that slowly turned from the man to the television. For whatever reason, Roxie expected something to happen. It would be weird not to, it was too obvious.

After a few moments of silence, the only sound coming from either their breath or the static of the televisions, the man in the chair gave a slight sneeze, almost stumbling out of his chair as he did so. “Well look at that. Nothing can be seen from either eye. I guess that means I’m either sleeping, or knocked out. Hmm… I wonder. Are those two actually one in the same? No. One allows the body to heal itself while dormant and the other allows the bearer to wake up with a headache. That should be fun.” His random banter caused him to almost overlook the two girls as he hit the televisions a few times. Though it seemed he wasn’t aware of their presence, his words said otherwise. “You two always go into people’s souls and stare at the things you find in there? You know that’s even worse than looking at a person's diary right? Whatever…”

Raising his hands he gave a few claps which put a dim light over him, just like a spotlight would hit the star of a popular show. No indication of where the light was coming from could actually be seen. “Roxie…. Heh.” He looked over the girl with his eyes that the light showed to be red. On his face was a scab marking of some kind. Or was it a phantom mask? It was hard to tell even with the light. “Muzai? Well that wasn’t expected. No matter. I’m still glad you took the time to visit me as well. Pfft. Yeah right. You didn’t come for me, but for your friend Leon. How naive of the two of you to come all this way for someone who you say you’d consider a friend, even if you know absolutely nothing about him. Hehehe. Hahahaha.” The blood haired man laughed as if he just heard the best joke at a comedy performance before snapping his hands. On cue another light shined down revealing a cage, with a grey haired teen inside, clinging to the corner as if he was a caged animal who didn’t want to be seen.

“Well. What do you think? I was nice enough to let you see your friend. The least you can do is give me thanks. Hmph. Leon be a dear and come out to greet your guest.”

The boy in the cage hugged the corner more tightly and shook his head.

“Hah. Well then. You know that’s no way to treat two ladies who come all the way from the outside world to see you. Come on,” The man snapped his fingers, causing the walls of the cage to disappear. “Say hi to them.” Upon ending his order, the man gave a wide smile, showing his teeth.

The boy, who he called Leon, slowly stood up and limped towards the two girls. With his head still aimed down he shivered as if he was scared of something. “R-Roxie? Why did you. Why did you two come here?” Slowly the light began to fade, leaving darkness where the red haired man was at first. “No one cares for me. No one knows me. So why? Why did you,” Leon asked raising his head to reveal that he wasn’t shaking because he was afraid. The anger in his eyes proved otherwise. “Heh. I know. You want to save me from Alistair huh? That’s ridiculous. Why would I need saving from myself.”

Soon the boy also donned a wide grin and one of his eyes turned red. This act was ended after a strand of his hair turned red as well. “I couldn’t believe it myself, but everyone in this soul of mine is just a creation of Alistair. All this time, I’ve been trying to live in a way that would make myself happy, ignoring the inner voice inside me, ignoring my voice. No more will I continue to do that. I am reborn now. No. Actually let me rephrase that. After I kill you two, I’ll be reborn.” Lunging at the two girls at burst speed, it was only a wall that had seemed to appear out of nowhere that separated them from his hands. The scenery turned into a city scene. One with old style walls and floor patterns. However, based on the lighting and the sky one could still tell they were inside a reality that was fabricated.

“Oh no,” the younger boy’s voice called. If the two were to turn around they’d see a small boy holding an empty bird cage, looking around in horror. “This is bad. I can’t even kick you out of the soul with my power. He must really want you two. You guys can’t let him harm you. If you do, the Leon you know will be gone forever. That’s his plan. Get rid of the obstacles in his way in order to fully transfer over. Oh no. Oh dear. You two have to hide… No. That wouldn’t work. Who knows if he’ll ever let you out. I suppose you can fight him. No that wouldn’t do either. Ugggh!!!”
From behind him, the possessed Leon grabbed his smaller halves neck. “Shut up little Al. I swear. You tell them anymore juicy details and I’ll get rid of you.”

“No. You’re nothing but a big meanie. I never wanted to grow into you. I’d much rather be like Leon.”

“What?!” In a blind rage, Leon threw the kid Alistair hard onto the ground. Grabbing his head, he winced in pain as his thoughts bounced all over. It even created an earthquake in his soul world. “I don’t get it. Aren’t Leon and Alistair the same person? What the hell. I… I experienced losing a partner in the past. Maybe…. Maybe if I experience the same thing. Yes. I’ll just kill you Roxie, and since Muzi is here I’ll do the same with you. That’ll remind me of my past despair, thus making me a being of anger and power again. I will once again be set on my righteous path and after I take your lives, I’ll take Deaths too. Not to mention that wretched ice woman.

The small Alistair slowly rose up, apparently battered. “No. That woman was nice to Leon, even though she knew who we were. I can’t let you hurt her or our first friends. Weren’t you happy? Weren’t you happy to finally have someone who could be your partner? I know you were, even though you’re confused now. Why wouldn’t you be? The soul can only have one being living in it at a time after all. After a few hundred years you were bound to fumble and lose your way. You’ve even forgotten why you became a soul that rests inside other souls. You forgot everything about our past.”

“Shut up!!!” Leon cried, creating two blades that rested now in his hands.

“I won’t. I’ve been gone for a long time, that’s how I knew we lost our way. Thanks to the power of the soul resonate I was able to come back. Now I must finish what I started. I have to do this. As you and as your partner. I remember. All those years ago when we resonated for the last time. You did it in order to save my life. You had always thought nothing of yourself Al. You just wanted to do something good with your life, but what I was never able to tell you, was that, ever since you became my partner, you made those times of war seem like fun and happy times. I actually wished you would have let me died back then.”

“Shut up!!!!”

“Though, because you imagined your life would be nothing anyway, you did a transference in order to trade my life for yours. In the end we became the same person and after all these years, even though it hadn’t happened like this before, you found a way to resonate with one of the children in an attempt to take out your last feelings of rage at the time of my death. You forgot about everything else, even I. So, while you became one with the boy, you had forgotten that I was one with you, also making me one with the boy too. You and I. We’re both Leon.”

Wind flew around the area kicking up dust, hiding the young Alistair’s transformation into his older looking self. The form that once again resembled the man with the red hair. “I can’t even remember which one of us was Alistair to begin with, but I do remember that we both wanted happiness back then. Though we couldn’t obtain it, I won't put Leon through what we both went through.”

“Oh yeah. Well I’m different.” The Leon with the least strands of red in his hair, Leapt towards Roxie, both blades in hand, ready to enact the final blow, when suddenly his blade broke on impact. “What the?” In a fit of rage, he tried to slay the girl with his other blade, when that also broke on impact. “The hell?”

“You can’t hurt her anymore. Or should I say, deep down inside, you don’t want to hurt her, Leon.”

“Nooo!!! Why should I care? My…. my …… my real partner died all those years ago. You…. I…. We……. Dammit all. I don’t even know anymore.”

The red haired man looked at the girls and nodded his head over to the grey haired boy with the red strand in his hair, before disappearing. “Everything here is an illusion of the soul. As long as you realize that, he can’t hurt you. After all, this is also your soul too, now that you’ve resonated with us.”

As for the one that was left, he was converted into a crying mess of his original self, turned back into the kid who was once the red haired man. It seemed all of the versions of Leon that the girls had seen was actually the same entity, just different thought patterns of it all. “I don’t get it. If I’m not me then who am I? If I am me then why aren’t I me. I don’t get it anymore. Who am I? Am I Alistair? Am I Leon? Or, am I the other person whose name I can’t remember. Damn. Someone tell me just who the heck am I.” His sobs created rain in his little soul world. The rain seemed to wash away the weird colors and design and made everything blank. It even seemed to wash away the little bit of red he still had left in his hair.

Muzai didn’t get a chance to say anything meaningful aside from protesting against the red haired man from killing them. The meisterless weapon was extremely confused by what had just occurred and for a moment feared for her life. The world they were in changed into that of a city and the bad Leon tried to kill Roxie but his blades broke on impact. Tilting her head to the side Muzai thought of beating him up but wasn’t sure what to think of anymore after the small kid form before explained the situation even if it wasn’t directed towards them. It seemed for the most part everything was over but now they were left with a Leon who didn’t know who or what he was. With a frown Muzai took a step towards him but then held back looking to Roxie. “He’s your partner Roxie. You should be the one to comfort him, I’ll help if I can.” she said with a smile.

The mystery and confusion of this entire situation had left her blanked, and, to be frank, somewhat frightened. While the danger seemed to have passed on, Roxie couldn’t help but stand completely immobile… Frozen in place, even after Muzai had made a move to help Leon who was equally confused as they were. With a simple turn, the shorter redhead urged her friend to help. Leon was her partner, after all. However, Roxie wasn’t sure what she should do. If she could do anything at all. With a single glance, she signed Muzai that she may need help... she didn’t feel comfortable knowing that what had just happened, could happen again.

Mustering quite a bit of courage, Roxie inched toward her partner who sat helplessly on the ground. She stared at him, briefly, extending a hand forward as she softly spoke whatever word came into her head. “You’re...” Her pout turned into a forced smile. “You’re Li-Li, silly. We’re friends, remember?”

Leon slowly raised his head toward the girl, seeing her outstretched hand. He couldn’t help, but wonder why she would still be his friend, even though it was he who attacked her. Raising his head a bit more, he saw Roxie’s face. It bore a smile, which was natural for her, but he could tell by looking into her eyes that she was off in some way. It was then that he had realized that she may have been more shaken up than he was. Here she was being strong at moment in which he had grumbled and attacked her. From the looks of it she was scared as much, if not even more than he was. Dropping his head in shame, he couldn’t stand to look at her anymore, for he was in disgrace of himself. Once again, he had turned his back on someone who tried to be his friend. Something he thought he wouldn’t have done to her.

He rummaged through his thoughts to find out what it was he was exactly supposed to do in this situation. He happened to come across a man with red hair standing over a man with dark hair. The man appeared pretty injured and his red headed friend seemed to be mourning, almost as if his friend were about to die right before him. In the last part of the vision, as the dark haired man's soul left his body, the red haired man ate his soul, but it still seemed to resign within him.

“Leon…. Back then, I was desperate to save my friend. I wanted him to live no matter what and ended up committing a sin that I could not go back on. Not only did I cause him torment by the end of the ordeal, but I also tranced myself with thoughts of rebirth. I wanted not only my partner to be reborn, but myself as well. I suppose somewhere down the line, I just forgot my true intentions and became a tyrant that would pass on from generation to generation haunting my descendants as I tried to achieve a helpless goal. To this day, there is nothing more I regret than trying to bring him back to life instead of letting him pass on.”

Leon stared at the ground as he imagined his inner conversation. “So then… I could turn out the same way if something happens to my partner. Maybe. . . Maybe I shouldn’t even have a partner.”

“No Leon. Even though I regret what I have done, I believe the regret of leaving your friends behind is far greater.”

“Then what should I do then?”

The silence that came after his question made him feel uneasy. He didn’t like the silence at all, for it left him on his own thoughts which were all negative. The inner voice speaking to him could also feel these thoughts and negative feelings.

“I don’t know. However, I do know that if I had a chance all over again, I’d still be my partner’s weapon. I wasn’t able to protect my best friend, but still. Not knowing him would be a far greater pain. Though, if I had a chance over again, I would decide to remain strong enough to deal with the negativity and leave things as they were. For now I know that even though it didn’t last forever, knowing him was a moment of peace within itself. I think you feel the same way when it comes to your friends.”

Realizing that he did, Leon slowly looked up to Roxie’s hand and stuck out his own hand to touch hers. He wasn’t a person of many smiles, but for once he finally understood something. Something which was missing from him for a long time. Thus, realizing this, he formed a soft, but wide smile of his own.

“I’m sorry Roxie. You too Muzai,” he said standing up. “I’ll try harder to be a better friend from now on.”

After Leon was convinced that he could change so that he wouldn’t go down the same destructive path as his ancestor, the broken buildings and cracked ground was flattened, dissolving as if they were nothing but dust. The area turned white and the sky became illuminated, lighting the darkness that it had shown before. It began to look like a night sky in an arctic region. The snow was full on the ground with flakes falling on the ground and the moon was full, and smiling as it always had. However, instead of being a crescent shade, it was circular and growing immensely creating blinding light that whipped all vision of the area with light.

Monica looked at her frozen son as his casing began to crack, hesitant at first, wondering if the girls had succeeded or not. Although, when Leon broke free and fell on the floor panting, she could sense that his aura had calmed down. It had appeared he was free once more from possession, but something else had seemed different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it seemed Leon had actually improved his moody aura, even though a little, she could still tell it was probably going to be an influence on how he did in the future.

Deciding that she didn’t want to interrupt Leon’s reunion with his friends she left before anyone could notice. Although it was a little shaky, it seemed that maybe Leon wasn’t going to need his mother to take care of him for very long. No, not when he had friends to help him keep his head up.

Leon snapped out of his dizziness sometime after his mother had left, but he could tell she was there to help him out once again. He was bummed out that he wasn’t able to apologize to her, but he knew that he’d get the chance to sooner or later. Looking at his friends in an awkward silence his stomach began to rumble, breaking the silence and making the boy blush. Dawning his usual annoyed face, he turned his face away from the two. “I didn’t get to eat any of my food. Now I’m hungry again….” He stood up and brushed himself off, ignoring the people around them and grinned. “So how about after we get Arthur that card, we get something to eat?

Muzai was more than happy to help Roxie. Stepping closer to the pair, the red head kneeled in front of Leon a natural smile stretched across her face. A giggle escaped her parted lips upon seeing their surroundings change. "Oh goodie!" giggling even more.

Soon they were in the real world standing with Leon. Laughing as he tried to act like his usual self again Muzai pumped her fists into the air excited that they were finally going to get her partners card. "Oh! Oh! I know where to get one!!!" Jumping in place Muzai ran ahead before stopping abruptly. Looking over her shoulder at them she pouted, "Okay so maybe I don't know where it is." Giving them a sheepish smile.