Thank God, with everyone else out of the way we can run away together.
We're singing I believe that lovers should be chained together and thrown into a fire with their songs and letters, and left there to burn. Left there to burn in their arrogance.
Melody was keeping away. She could barely breath the last time she saw her family, her friends. No, not anymore. Stop being weak! It was a week after her latest failure -she couldn’t save the boy, there was so much blood and she couldn’t return it- that she walked around the corner and saw the giant shadow above the bright little soul. And then, in a moment too fast to fully comprehend until much later, as she stood there frozen, the hollow consumed him and flew into the night. Later, when it registered that she had yet again failed, she broke the vase she had been holding, an annoyed growl building in her throat, but cut off as she bit down hard on her lip. And now she had been following that stupid, fast, flying freak of nature for the last three days and of course it had to go there.
It didn't help that she had to keep control over her spiritual pressure or that she'd stop every now and then, reminiscing as she stared at alleyways, houses, shops… Everything reminded her of them, her loving little family. Something dark gnawed at her from the inside, it whispered things, plans in her ears, had planted an image of possible peace. She could have had it all, she still could. It kept whispering bittersweet promises, if only she did what it told her. And she listened, not once telling it to stop.
She was close to it, always ran into it just in time to prevent another soul from being consumed, always chasing it down until her muscles burned and she could barely stand, but it always got away, and now she was closing in again. It's movements were slow and like that of a drunkard, chaotic as it's hunger slowly took control of it. It would attack soon, it needed to, and now that it wasn't being calculative, it'd be easier to catch.
She stopped at the other side of the alley, having ran through the parallel streets. It was clear in the air, it's pressure not only allowing the easily recognized taint to be clear to anyone, it also showed it's hunger, it's madness. It dove into the darkness and then there was nothing. A moment later, the familiar sensation washed over her. ”Frey.” She whispered into the air, the girl had been so close. Melody had focused so hard on hiding herself, she forgot to sense out if there was anyone who knew her. She heard gunshots and sounds of a fight, froze when she heard a scream. A couple minutes later, the quincy already left, leaving two still dissolving corpses. All the souls, the little boy, it was all gone. And not gone in the sense they usually were, they weren't purified, didn't move on, they stopped- ”What have you done, Frey?” The air seemed colder, night darker and for once she shivered in fear when thinking of the girl, blood turning to ice. Her eyes were wide, staring into the mouth of the alley, she fought those annoying, dark thoughts. Frey was danger, Frey was lost, Frey was nothingness, Frey was her baby sister, Frey was a monster.
Quietly, she collected the blood before it disappeared, saving it for later. She returned to the streets ten minutes later, her lips set in a firm line as she followed the direction in which she last felt the girl. She had to ask her, she had to know if Frey knew what she'd done to the souls- The thought made her heart break, her stomach twisting in sickening disgust. -or if it was Iko’s tainting influence.
It took some time as she finally found the faint traces of the other girl's pressure, Freyleif was passed out in front of a flower shop. Melody had to dig her feet into the ground in order not to run off to the girl's side, she had to control herself. So she hid in the shadows of the building opposite the shop, slowly nodding of.
She was so close to falling asleep, her whole body was heavy and it felt like she was sinking into quicksand. She hadn't really slept the last couple of days, weeks… and it was showing. Her eyes were burning red, something sharp in them as she glanced back and forth, afraid to be seen, paranoid. There were purple circles around them, badly covered by make-up too dark for her skin. Her lips were swollen from all the biting and her nose red from the cold. She was standing solely thanks to what little of her willpower remained.
Her eyes snapped open as she saw a figure take Frey into the flower shop, she traced the movement inside, the spiritual pressure of this new individual showing her the layout. It displayed itself to her like a screen of a radar, a bright, light blue dot for Freyleif and a white for whoever it was. She pulled on, hiding it deeper inside. Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show. The person with her was giving off so much, she could feel the worry, fear, care, love… she felt everything wash over her, too overwhelmed, confused, angered to stop prying.
Something snapped inside her, due to sleep deprivation, the emotional rollercoaster she's been on for months, something dark and hateful bubbled, and it drover her over the edge. She lost it, an awful, cruel laughter echoed through the night. She swiped her hand through the air and in an instant, dried blood melted off the concrete, it slithered like a snake across the street and slid under Melody’s sleeve.
Melody took a deep breath, suddenly cutting of the laughter still echoing between the walls of an alley. The solution to all her problems came to her suddenly, leaving her frozen and breathless. She should just kill Frey. And it made sense, she'd kill the girl, send her off to the other side, do the same to everyone else that mattered, and they'd reunite there. Sure, they'd be mad, but at least they'd be safe there, they wouldn’t wipe out innocent young souls there. Except if they decided to become Shinigami, but they can't really die, can they? It all made sense. They'd see the benefits sooner or later. In her moment of realization, Melody almost missed that person leaving. Urgency, care, love, fear, guilt, embarrassment… she thought that's what she felt coming of the person in waves, she was no longer sure. It was probably Frey’s lover, maybe she'd take him/her with them. Yeah, Frey will like that. She'd be happy.
Melody ran across the empty street, stopping a few centimeters before the door of the store. A crimson blade slipped into her fingers, forming before the thought. Frantically, she dug the blade into her palm, then her thigh, she cut her fingers, wrists, stopping short of her neck. She breathed out shakily, eyes on her reflection. There's enough, more would only cause me problems later. Melody forced her wounds to close, blood hardening and circulating back. The rest of it, she used to force the door open, taking it off it's hinges.
In less than a minute later, Melody found herself standing above Freyleif. Her scarred fingers brushed long hair to the side, trembling, she stroked the girl's cheek while leaning lower and leaving a kiss there. ”I'm sorry, Frey.” She had to step back, the proximity making her waver. ”You're dangerous.” Melody paced across the room, hands tugging at her own hair, falling limply to her side, then back to her hair again. ”Yo-you'll understand one day, you're a smart girl! And-and god, I wouldn't do this if it wasn't for the best! You have to understand, Frey!” One last time, Melody moved to the door and then back to the bed. Her throat was too tight and she couldn't really breath, it stung from the screaming at the comatose girl.
The crimson liquid slid down her body and into the air, it floated above the girl, forming a blade aimed at her heart. ”I love you.” She forced out a whisper, closing her eyes and turning away.
We're singing I believe that lovers should be chained together and thrown into a fire with their songs and letters, and left there to burn. Left there to burn in their arrogance.