Freedom at Last: Pt 02: Chance to Shine

After the ritual on the glass, Death appeared where Kurai's reflection was.

"Hiya~!"

"Yes I saw, it was quite impressive. Now you just need to return to Death City and we can perform our little experiment. Are you able to make it?"

[Is he going to be able to make it? Not on his own xP]

Kurai would've loved to exaggerate the strength he had to Death; however, he wasn't even going to lie about the condition he was in. "Is that really necessary," he asked as blood further came from his mouth. "I can barely move Death... I can feel holes in my body everywhere, and I'm pretty sure I'll lose consciousness soon..." He tilted his eyes upward, looking to Death where his reflection normally would've been. "I don't think I can make it on my own like this... I'd be down before I reached a plane to fly back. Could you help?"

"Hmm... The school day's over, so I suppose I could send Sid over to fetch you. Well, seeya~!" said Death before disappearing from the glass. Sid would eventually arrive in Russia to help Kurai, but until them, he would have to find somewhere to stay. He needed to be quick, he wasn't in a good condition.

[I feel a time-skip coming along o3o]

Kurai watched Death disappear from the glass. He wasn't quite sure where he was going to stay, considering that if he went to or near a hospital they'd hospitalize him for his injuries. He sighed, finding an old, abandoned building to sit down in since it was really all he could muster himself to travel to, the individual sliding down the wall while he fell asleep holding hte kishin egg weakly.

Morning came and the shutters closing the window allow a few rays of morning sunlight into the room, showing quite a number of floating specks of dust. By now Sid was probably in town, but of course had no idea where Sid was. Kurai would have to contact Death or Sid to let him know of his whereabouts and such. The pain probably would have eased over night, however injuries do not usually heal so easily.

Kurai woke up the following morning, the kishin shaking his head lightly as he looked over to the closed windows. He saw a fragment of a mirror on the ground, obviously from where someone had shattered once a long time ago, and he picked it up. It was big enough to use, the guy fogging it up before he did what was necessary to speak to Death. If his surroundings didn't give away the location, it wasn't likely he would be able to give much assistance, especially from inside... Well, there was one thing he could say. "I'm near the reactors," he spoke to Death a bit quietly, his throat dry from not having eaten last night.

"Kurai! Great to see ya!" began Death, as he was first contacted. "Oh dear, you don't sound well... Have you been taking care of yourself?" he asked, seeming to have forgotten about the injuries, "Health is very important you know."

Kurai blinked and stared to Death, questioning himself mentally about why he'd ask that question. "Death, considering my lung is nearly full of blood, I think you've forgotten the injuries..." He tilted the fragment so that he (Death) could see the light blood puddle forming below him.

"Oh yes... I remember now. Are you able to describe where you are any better? Sid's in the town but I doubt you're in any condition to go looking for him."

Kurai lifted his head. "An abandoned building," he spoke quietly to Death, his eyes looking to the kishin egg when the one in his soul surged. He seemed to fall silent, the temptation strong as he set the fragment on the ground. "Near the reactors... Um, brick I believe..." He felt his torso sting in pain, the kishin putting a hand over where there were holes in his torso. "Want... Strength..."

"My, my. It seems that your physical strain has made you unable to fight the kishin egg as well. This must be difficult for you. I'll tell Sid to come and get you, try to hold on while you're waiting. Seeya~!"

With that, Death disappeared from the mirror shard from which he had been summoned.

[He's just cheery about this? xD]

Kurai attempted to hold out as long as he could, though he ended up picking up the kishin egg he had slaughtered. He then laid down, fighting as much as he could until he heard hte door he had come through be broken open. "T, take it away," he cried out, his arm shaking as he fought with it.

((It's Death, he's only not cheery when he's slaying kishin XD))

Suddenly the door burst open downstairs. Someone had entered the house. "Kurai! You in here?" exclaimed Sid, the teacher that had previously acted kind of rude to Kurai when he first came to the DWMA, although considering he had a kishin egg inside of him it was to be expected that someone who had associated with the DWMA with so long would act in such a manor.

"I'm h, here," Kurai spoke out before he cried out. "Please, I'm bleeding! I can't fight it right now; take it away!" He seemed to be crying out like a child in need of assistance.

"Kurai! I'm coming up!" cried Sid before he ran up the stairs and entered the room. "I have bandages, I'll try to help you," he said, wrapping the wounds up with bandages. "We can't just remove it, we would need to do research and experiment on it, but if you really want it gone then we can try," he replied.

Kurai watched Sid starting to wrap bandages over the holes throughout his body. "N, not hte egg," he cried out. "It!" He leaned a bit, tossing the egg in his hand with all of his willpower before he found his face in teh puddle of blood, his mind darkening a bit as he began to chuckle gently. "Madness, madness, madness all around... Madness, madness, madness is sound..." He was beginning to lose his mind.

Sid took the kishin egg from his hands. "What's the problem, is your kishin egg making you power hungry? I thought this might happen. Maybe you shouldn't eat it after all, it looks like it's gonna be bad news for you if you eat it."

[Oh beautiful timeskip~ o3o]
[It's not easy controlling a kishin egg~ p3p]

Kurai listened to Sid, his eyes directed to the kishin egg that had been pried from his hands. In reality, he was grateful; how it seemed outside was that he was lusting for the power of the egg. His eyes were glued to it, his focus seamed to it, and not of his will. It was moments after his eyes glued to it he felt the egg in his soul surge, his mind falling to sleep as his eyes soon followed suite. He wasn't quite sure how long he was blacked out, but he did have another nightmare. "You cannot avoid my power for long," the egg spoke to him, Kurai staring to the glowing red eyes. "We will become one soon... I will be your flesh, and you will kill... Just close near death once more; you'll see." He just denied the claims, vowing to be the first good kishin, the egg snarling at him.

Outside he was speaking of really dark acts, and once his body attempted to strike an innocent before his hands and feet were bound with cuffs and chain. He found himself waking with such bindings, his wounds stitched and bandaged as necessary meaning he wasn't bleeding out. He tilted his head lightly, seeing the kishin egg in a small glass jar with Death at a table speaking to Sid and his scythe. His head rung, Kurai closing his eyes in a light cringe before everything was okay, the kishin sitting up looking to the restraints. "Did something happen in my sleep," he asked lightly, his eyes looking over to Death. There was purple under his eyes like he hadn't even been asleep. "Did someone get hurt... Please say no."

Death looked over to Kurai with his silly looking skull mask. Stein turned to look at Kurai as well. "It's just as I hypothesized, it seems that he has no memory of the events... That means that even after the use of the Kyukon Water his kishin egg is still unstable." Death looked over to Stein and nodded. "Are you suggesting that we should try to remove the egg?" he asked. Stein then looked back to Death. "Partly. I still wonder if there is another way..." replied Stein.

"Remove the egg," Kurai questioned, struggling his arms a bit with the cuffs that were attached to them. "What're you talking about? Something did happen, didn't it..." He kept his eyes stuck to Death. "What're you talking about; what're you planning... We had an agreement didn't we? Did something happen that we weren't expecting..."

Death looked at Kurai seemingly sympathetically, although it was hard to tell under the mask. "Well, you see, your kishin egg seems to have managed to temporarily control your soul. During that time, you attempted to eat not only the kishin egg, but Sid's soul as well. He managed to protect the egg, but he did take a few blows. Nygus wasn't with him, so he was unable to defend himself. He's okay now though, but hadn't it been a highly skilled meister, we fear what you could have caused. If that had not been Sid, and had been a student, well, perhaps they wouldn't have even been able to walk away alive."

"It only happened because I was nearly dead," Kurai spoke to Death. "Please, you know that was the instance... You don't have to take the egg out because you know that was the cause behind it!" He seemed to be pleading to Death to keep the egg, which would be completely different if another person were in Kurai's position. "Death, I want to prove it can be good; I deserve the chance... It was one mistake!" His wounds then throbbed, Kurai silencing as he turned his head away; who was he to beg Death?

Stein then turned to face Kurai. "But the problem then is, you will be unable to be trusted to complete missions. Every kishin you hunt is dangerous, if we continue to let you attempt missions then this will keep happening, and there's a good chance that we won't be as lucky as we were this time," he said. "Precisely," began Death, "The only reason you have even a tiny bit of morality is due to your human soul, the actual kishin egg can never truly be, well, good."

Kurai listened to Death and Stein speaking. "Morality is for the weak," he spat before laughing, the kishin catching his mouth moments after laughing. His head had turned to Death to say it, though he turned it away after grabbing his mouth, his wounds throbbing a second time as the egg began to speak to his mind. "It's okay to let go," it spoke with a grin. "Just give in... We can be free..."

"Kurai, are you feel okay..?" asked Death, seeming concerned of the odd behavior that Kurai had just displayed. It seemed like he was having trouble controlling the kishin egg. Stein looked to Death. "It seems that he's still struggling with the wounds inflicted from his battle, it's making it difficult for him to fight off his kishin egg," explain Stein.