Here There be Witches

Untitled Part 28

A massive violet soul with jagged arrows protruding from it appeared in front of them, dust swirling at it's base. Anara tried to focus on the wavy purple haze covering the blonde woman's face rather than the face itself. Luckily, it helped, but the urge to scream (whether in fear or anger was unknown) never left him. Looking at his mother now with at least somewhat of a buffer between them, he could take in her face and recognize that this was indeed the same woman who had helped heal his friends. Who had acted like her father was a good work colleague. Who had the audacity to dance with the one person in his life who had saved him more times than anyone else and put her filthy claws all over him and act like everything was fine.

If his trembling and heavy breathing made the people around him shoot him worried looks that was fine. He was staying on his feet. He was staying in his own mind. And if that was because he wanted absolutely nothing more than to spill this woman's guts with his own hands, then who cares as long as it was keeping him from becoming a burden again. In fact, he would do this all on his own, before any more of the people he loved could be endangered by the person who was his to kill.

When the roaring in his ears subsides they can hear Stein talking. "...Kid and Anara, you're the most mobile of our little group, so you'll go on ahead of all of us and take down the two who are heading for the Keishin. Maka, Blackstar, you'll be keeping the demon sword busy so Kid and Anara can get through." No. No that wouldn't happen. Anara wasn't going to make someone else deal with Medusa. He would eliminate her right now and then they wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. "There's one final thing," Stein explained, as Kid's hand tightened on the young witch's shoulder. "I want you to promise not to die."

I- That's not--that wasn't in his plan. He was more than ready to die taking down the horrid woman before him, and he expected in his soul that he would. For the first time since she had appeared, Anara looked away from Medusa and up to his father. Had he been looking at them the whole time he was explaining his plan? When they locked eyes the shaking came back doubled, but so did a sense of calm. For a moment they felt as if they were cuddled in their dad's arms with Kid rubbing their back behind them, being told that it's all going to work out. You'll get other chances, neither of us are going to die here. No one will. He knew Stein was meddling with their soul wavelength but that thought was far back in their mind behind a rosy haze.

He broke their connection. All at once his breathing stopped for a moment, then came back steady and the path ahead seemed perfectly clear. As if he was looking into the future with a falcon's eyes.

Dad would stay here with Medusa. He had his own grudges to vent out and they would be an even match up. The killing blow would come later. Anara and Kid would run ahead while their friends dealt with the others, and they would destroy the black blood and Medusa's plan and she would be devastated. They would run ahead now. Their only job was to run ahead and stay with Kid.

They smiled and nodded. This was fine. A reasonable plot point--of course the climax couldn't come just yet. They wouldn't die. That wasn't in the cards for them today. He turned back to Medusa calmly, finding that it was better to look just over her shoulder than directly at her. At the sound of her voice, chills slithered down his back and bile rose in his throat, but he breathed long out of his nose and focused up ahead.

He wasn't listening to their conversation, but when dark arrows rose and curled like snakes around her, he was ready to bolt. "You don't have to go right away, just wait for an opening. Remain calm and collected." Stein instructed. From just two, suddenly thousands of arrows pulsing with a dark soul wavelength shot at them, twisting through the air. "She's picked a perfect spell for keeping multiple attackers at bay! And it's more powerful than last time." The four meisters ahead of them started running immediately, dodging arrows and waiting until they could find a clear opening, but Anara stayed in place for a moment, completely still. Their eyes were everywhere, analyzing every movement around him. Finding patterns.