Claire

Familiar Faces

The walk out of Death City was pretty quiet. But the walk to get to where we were going was dead silent.

Soul and Maka exchanged small glances, as if they were talking with their eyes. Patty, Liz, and Death were leading the way quietly, making small conversation. Black Star was originally talking obnoxiously loud to Tsubaki before turning to me and asking, "Don't you talk?" Rudely. I glared at him and growled, "When I want. Now get out of my face." Black Star huffed and murmured something about being better than I was, and I just rolled my eyes; this kid was going to give me a head ache.

Death finally stopped at the border of a clearing in a dark forest. Black Star was complaining about being tired and wanting to go back, and I almost snapped at him. Weren't assassins trained to shut the hell up and be stealthy?

With a smooth, silent motion, Liz and Patty were pistols at Death's command, Soul a scythe laying skillfully in Maka's hands. I directed a blade to protrude from each forearm, waiting for Death's signal to attack. But all was quiet.

"Watch out!" I screamed as I rolled out of the way of a black object. Black Star and Tsubaki were in the trees in an instant, Death, Maka, and I out of the way of danger. "To the clearing!" I heard Death shout, and we all weaved through the trees to the clearing.

When the monster stepped out into the clearing, I saw it wasn't a monster at all, but my mother. My arms lowered from their original attack and defense position. "No way..." I whispered. "What!" Maka demanded beside me. "Claire! It's not real! Whoever you think that is, they aren't real!" I took a look closer at her and noticed her eyes were almost completely black, which gave it away. "Right!" I replied, shaking my head and fighting the glamour. It's true figure was of black smoke, seeming to be encased in a container that kept its shape, but there was nothing there. "How do we beat smoke?" Maka asked. I shook my head. "You don't." She glared at me. "Death?" He shook his head. "She's right; you can't beat smoke. But..." I smirked. "We could beat the hallucinations."

Death lunged first, then Maka and Black Star, and I was the last to jump in. Death shot repeatedly at whatever the figure was, and Maka succeeded in stabbing it. Black Star was beating it with Tsubaki, and I moved my arm across its body and slashed across the hallucination's chest.

After all of that, my hallucination wasn't gone. "Is anyone's hallucination gone?" I asked as I dodged a punch from mine. "Mine is!" Black Star cheered, then Death and Maka. "Is yours not?" I shook my head. "Nope!" I dodged another punch and kicked out her legs. She fell and rolled towards me. I jumped over her and turned in the air, but she managed to backhand my cheek, which stung. But I quickly recovered and got back into the fight. "We can't help!" Tsubaki announced. "Obviously! Or you would be!" Maka scoffed, "I wouldn't!" Then exclaimed in pain.

Mom looked so innocent and sweet, but she was attacking me. "Please don't make me do this!" I muttered. Death apparently heard me, and asked, "Do what!" I clenched my jaw and brought my hands down on mom's arms. My wavelength spread from my arms to my fingers and began to shock her skin. While she jerked in pain, I brought a blade across her neck, and the hallucination disappeared, including the monster.

I panted, standing straight and removing the blades from my external skin. It was quiet for a moment, before Black Star asked, "What the hell was that!" I turned, pushing my hair out of my face. "That, was a wavelength skill, Shock." Death, Maka, and Black Star gaped. Soul looked completely amazing in his human form, and Tsubaki had an equally intrigued look on her face. "Wavelength skill?" Maka questioned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Never heard of it." She said smugly. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "That's because they're extremely rare, and it takes intense training and focus to control them or even exert them. Not only that, but you have to be under extreme circumstances to get wavelength skills. Or, if your lucky, you just have the right bloodline and heritage." Maka scoffed. "Let me guess, you just so happened to have the right blood line!" She sounded as if she were expecting me to say no, but, then, that would be a lie. "Actually, yes. I do." I shrugged at Maka's shocked look.