Back to life. (Invite only: Shilo, Kidd, Chase)

It was evening, the sun was just setting behind Death City, the moon rising with a grin to take its place. Everything seemed just as it should. Students in their dorms, mostly. The school was dim, save for the night classes which were occupied by those students skilled enough to attend. The training grounds sat as dead and quiet as the pale body propped upright beneath the gently swaying branches of the tree atop the hill.

Bright red curls spilled like a frizzed mop over pale shoulders, unmoving it sat like a porcelain doll. The body slipped with the push of a breeze, and Shilo’s face became visible through the thicket of hair that was tossed over her shoulder now. Her body was unmoving, chest empty of breaths and it seemed as though she was a hollow husk placed here for reasons unknown.

Clouds drifted like gray froth, across the sky. the moon’s ugly face hid itself behind them, a shadow crawled across the grounds and as it enveloped the girl in it’s darkness. And all at once a great heaving breath took her chest and her eyes shot open--wide and bright. The life jolted into her like electricity and she bolted upright, unblinking.

Her vision was crystal clear and her skin was wet with the dew that had already begun to settle on the grass. She couldn’t quite understand her thoughts, which seemed to have approximate knowledge, yet lacked fine details. This was the DWMA, she knew. But why was she here? And what exactly was her name again?

And when she pushed herself up from the ground, her body was steady and firm. She looked down at her legs and at her skin. All perfect, aside from the dirt she dusted away from her knees. She was wearing a large shirt that hung loose on her frame, like a dress it stopped just mid thigh and she stood there, looking due north where her brain told her the dorms were. In the single pocket of the shirt, she felt the cold metal against her breast and she reached a hand in to pull free a key. Her dorm key?

By this she surmised that she attended the DWMA, but as her eyes, yet to blink, stared off toward the buildings, she couldn’t place herself here nor recall having ever been to the DWMA. And with that she couldn’t recall much else either. How old was she again? She looked at her hands, flipped them around as if to make sure they were surely hers--and when things seemed to check out she started toward the dorms.


The key slipped into the lock like butter, and she’d known it would. Somehow she knew. She twisted the handle and it swung open to reveal the darkness that was her dorm. Her hand instinctively found the light switch and she flicked it up, squinting at the lights. But her eyes adjusted and she peered around the room which seemed unfamiliar. Dust coated the furniture and she dragged a finger across a table top, leaving the door open as she walked, bare-feet tapping against the hardwood floors.


Blakely jogged up the stairs heading for Kidd’s room. She had snacks piled in her arms and she’d just reached the top of the 3rd floor, noticing a stream of light beaming across the walkway. She paused for a moment. Shilo’s dorm was on this floor, and she hated to remind herself at all, especially since they’d failed to kill Ixion. She tried not to walk past the empty room anymore and hardly wanted to stop on this floor at all, but her curiosity was piqued. She counted the doors in her head. Shilo’s was the sixth from the staircase and when her mind landed on six at the open door, she felt her blood turn to ice.

Why would anyone be in Shilo’s room? Did they know she was dead and they were cleaning it out now? She quickened her pace and when she reached the door, she pressed her body against the wall and peeked around the door frame. At first she could only see the room was lit up and looked about the same as she could remember, save for the dust coating just about every surface. And when she craned her neck some, a flash of red hair around the corner caught her eyes, and she knew she could not be mistaken. It was Shilo.

“What… the fuck.” she breathed and suddenly she was running as fast as her legs would take her. She climbed two more floors effortlessly and crashed into Kidd’s dorm, the door swinging open and thudding against the wall. She stood there for a moment, just breathing heavy breaths, and dropped the snacks from her arms--eyes staring at Kidd. She was lost for words.

Kidd was sitting all alone in his dorm, munching on some popcorn as he watched a soccer game on his small flat screen TV. It'd taken him so long to save up the money to buy the TV, but his work finally paid off. The TV was so much nicer than anything Kidd had been used to using since he'd arrived at Death City, but that didn't stop the pain that filled his heart as he watched the US get thrashed by Brazil. Still worth it though. It was always nice to watch either team play at their best, regardless of who

"Man, where is Blakely?" Kidd asked himself, scratching the back of his head. His eyes were still flued to the screen it was make or break time. Only ten minutes left. Oh, who was he kidding? There was no way the US was pulling back from this one. His partner had promised to come over and watch the game with him. And he'd missed her company since he'd shut her, Hawk, and Rori out from his life since that one night. It'd been just a few weeks ago that Kidd finally reached out to Blakely, finally letting her in. Hawk and Rori too. Slowly but steadily, Kidd was learning to forgive himself and get over the past. He'd make sure the same thing never happened again.

Kidd dipped his hand into the bowl again, hoping for another handful of popcorn. Kidd frowned as he grabbed nothing but air. Groaning as he got up from his chair, Kidd flopped onto his bed and covered his eyes with his right arm. At least his black eye was finally gone. But in place of that, bags formed under his eyes, resulting from the sleepless nights he'd had when he thought about Hawk and Rori. Even though Kidd was beginning to get over the whole night, he still couldn't shake the guilt that came from it. It'd follow him to his grave. Kidd swore on this.

Zoning out to the Spanish commentators, Kidd shut his eyes. Brazil scored another. Man, the US was disappointing tonight. He'd rarely gotten any sleep last night, Blakely could wait for another time....

Just as Kidd was about to doze off, the door slammed hard against the wall, snapping Kidd out of his trance. Kidd put his hand on his heart immediately, feeling his racing heart. Just as quickly, he snapped up, his eyes darkening with displeasure "Who the fuck did that?" His face put his extreme anger and disgust on display at the person who'd done that. Just as Kidd was about to go swinging straight at the person, he saw Blakely in the doorway. His gaze softened up a little. "Dude, what are you doing?!" Kidd asked her, bewildered with her actions. Kidd quickly walked over and stuck his head out the door. The hallway was still empty. Thank God. Nobody had come out to check for the source of the noise. Taking great caution to close the door quietly, Kidd looked down at Blakely, frowning.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Kidd scolded the girl, extremely upset with her actions. "It's late! Some people are sleeping right now!" Kidd fumed. Kidd bent down and picked up a candy bar from the floor, unwrapping it and eating it. "Blakely, seriously. Why would you do that?" Kidd crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation. Kidd looked a bit silly, but you could tell he was serious by the tone of his voice. "Well?" Kidd asked again, his arms still crossed as he stared down at Blakely. The reason had better be a good one too. There was no way in hell he would take blame for what she'd just done.

"Kidd." Blakely said his name, but her eyes were a thousand miles away. "Kidd. Kidd listen." She was forming sentences in her head. Something to say that would make sense to her partner without sounding like she was on drugs. But she was stammering without realizing. "There's... it's weird--I mean. Okay. How do I say this?" she sucked in air through her teeth, one of her hands gripped a fistful of her hair as if she might just pull the strands right out of her scalp.

"Come with me. Come with me." She exhaled at once, her tone panicky. She dropped her arm and tugged him right out of the door, his candy bar almost falling out of his mouth. "We have to hurry." She scrambled toward the stair case and before she started down them, she peered over the side of the balcony to see if the light three floors beneath them was still shining. It was.

She'd entered auto pilot. Did they even close Kidd's dorm door? She didn't care at this point. All her mind told her was that she needed to make sure she wasn't crazy. That she had seen Shilo. That her eyes weren't lying to her. Her feet tapped quickly down each step and her hand was still gripping Kidd's wrist so tightly that it'd gone numb.

And when they reached the floor she pointed down the walkway at the 6th door from the staircase. "Do you see? Do you see?" she flicked her wrist at the open door.


Shilo had walked the entirety of her dorm. The only evidence that it even belonged to her were school documents with her name on them, stacked on a side table. And she'd only merely assumed that her name was in fact Shilo. Because in all truth she couldn't remember. But why else would she have the key?--and a single picture frame of a young her posing with a boy. She picked the frame up and unclasped the back to slide the picture from behind the glass. Flipping it over in her hand "Shilo and Ixion age 7 and 10" was scrawled in neat curled handwriting. There was no year. In fact, that reminded her that she hadn't the slightest clue what year or month it even was.

Even more odd was the dust. The dust coated everything in a thick layer. Nothing made sense to her and she sat herself in the middle of the floor like a lost child. She stared at down at her lap hoping a memory would come to her. Anything at all.

Nothing.

Her mind was a relatively blank slate.

Kidd continued eating his candy bar as he watched Blakely have trouble coming up with the right words to say. Kidd raised an eye at this. He'd only ever seen her act like this when things were either really bad or really serious. "Blakely, please. Calm down." Kidd put his free hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to get her to think about what she was saying and stop babbling so much. His anger from her opening his door so violently was already gone. There was obviously something going on if Blakely was acting the way she was. All the indicators were there. But how was Kidd supposed to understand what was wrong if she couldn't even find a way to explain the problem.

Just as Kidd was going to take another bite of the candy bar, he was yanked out of his room and out into the hallway. "Whoa! Blakely, hold on!" Kidd tried to get her to stop, but his words fell on deaf ears. He hadn't even turned the TV on or anything and was only in his boxers and a US jersey. The sounds of the game echoed through the hallway as the two went running away from Kidd's room like madmen.

Kidd just let himself be led by Blakely. Now it was obvious that the situation was EXTREMELY complicated if she was dragging him along like this. Hopefully it wasn't anything too serious though. It'd be a shame to see all the progress Kidd had made getting over the battle with Ixion go down the drain so quickly. And to be honest with himself, Kidd wasn't so sure his young heart could take too many more shocks anymore.

When they'd finally reached their destination, Kidd looked around the hallway. Then he leaned in close and whispered to Blakely. "Isn't this the girls dorm?" Kidd scratched his head awkwardly, looking around the place. Nothing was much different from the boys dorm, but it still felt strange for Kidd to just be lingering around here. When Blakely pointed to the sixth bedroom, Kidd's eyes darkened immediately. The door was open. Who in the world could be in there right now? "This better not be some prank...." Kidd looked at Blakely with watery eyes. Her room brought back all the memories of that one night to Kidd. Kidd just wanted to turn tail and run, but Blakely's panicked feelings seemed genuine. He had to check out what was going on inside, whether this was some twisted joke or not.

After a moment of staring at the open door in silence, Kidd took a deep breath. Sighing, he peeked through the crack. What he saw next made his heart drop.

"Sh- Shilo?...." Kidd's jaw hit the ground. He turned to Blakely. "No, this can't be real.... Don't mess with me...." Kidd said, covering half of his face with the hand that still held the candy bar. This had to be some sick twisted prank. Shilo was dead. There was no way that redheaded girl sitting in the middle of the room was her. Had to be some lookalike. It just had to be.... There was just no way it could be Shilo. But.... She looked way too much like Shilo. It was almost scary.

Taking another peek into the room, Kidd studied the girl for a few seconds. The similarities were all too real. Could it really be? Kidd had to know.

Without any warning, Kidd busted through the door, breaking it off of it's hinges. All his emotions were overtaking him. Kidd couldn't control himself. "Shilo! Shilo!...." Kidd ran into the room and ran in front of the girl. Up close, Kidd got a good look at her. It really was her. But how? And when?

"No...." Kidd said, sitting in front of her. It'd been too long since anyone had heard from her or seen her. "Shilo, it can't be you...." Kidd shook his head, unwilling to believe the sight before him. Tears spilled from Kidd's eyes. "What.... How...." Kidd had so many questions to ask her, but didn't know where to start. This was all too much for the boy to take in.

Blakely wasn't quiet able to respond to her partner. Was it a prank? She didn't know herself. But whatever it was, she didn't want to go it alone. She watched him gingerly peek into the room and then back at her like a nuclear explosion had just detonated in his brain. She shook her head at him, her mouth agape, no words to give him.

She flinched at Kidd's outburst. He'd basically vegetated since the fall out with Ixion, and to see such an intensity in that moment almost disturbed her. She stepped back as the door creaked and swung awkwardly from the single hinge that was just barely keeping it attached to the frame. She forced herself to follow him in, staring around the apartment and finding even that a difficult task. Something just wasn't quite right, aside from the obvious.

Shilo's head lifted, her wide eyes gazing, unmoving, at the door and then her head teetered strangely at Kidd as he dropped right down before her. It was like her face couldn't register expressions and she parted her almost-blue lips at him. "Shilo?" she muttered, seemingly to herself. Her eyes met Kidd's and she stared at him without blinking for the entirety of his stammering.

Blakely watched the strange ticks in the girl. It was like she didn't know how to use her body properly. Blakely's brow furrowed, and she was sure Kidd had yet to notice the movements through his well of emotions.

"Shilo." She muttered again. "That's...me?" she mewed, looking down at the picture in her hand and then back at Kidd. She reached up to touch her own cheek, expecting tears to be there too but couldn't understand why she was feeling any sort of emotion. She didn't even know these people.

Blakely moved herself to lean against the wall and she was concerned at the fact that Shilo looked as clueless as the lot of them. Then, stranger still, Jax was entering the room and she just stared at him. This was the first she'd seen of him for sometime. "Jax?" she quipped, only knowing his name from hearing it around Kidd and Shilo.

Shilo glanced up at a third stranger entering the scene. One was crying, one was staring at her like an alien, and the third guy looked like he'd just been reminded of something. "Where... am I?" She sighed. The air in her lungs felt odd. Had she been holding her breath the entire time? Up until that point she wondered if she'd even been breathing at all. "The DWMA. That's here. But where is the DWMA?" she elaborated.

Blakely stared down at her like she was mentally challenged. "Umm...."

"Do you know me? How old am I? why do I have this key?" Shilo was looking at Blakely so intensely that she shifted in place, holding the key to the apartment in the air. It made her skin crawl how creepy Shilo was being. And the questions bothered her even more. Shilo's eyes moved from Blakely when she didn't receive a response. She looked to Kidd and up at Jax and back at Kidd. He did seem to be the most distraught by her, and thought maybe he must know her best.

Kidd was confused at why Shilo was acting so strange. So confused that he stopped crying altogether. "What the hell?" Kidd shot Shilo a bewildered look. "Dude, of course I know you. And so does Blakely. You were one of the first people I met since moving here. And the key is for your dorm. And before you.... Died.... You were seventeen. But your birthday has already happened since then, so you'd be eighteen now." This was just some dumb prank, huh? Shilo would never act this stupid. Hadn't she realized what she'd put Kidd and Blakely through with her mere absence? That they'd almost lost their lives over fighting her brother? The brother that had apparently "killed" her? Kidd needed answers, and he needed them now.

"Shilo, don't act fucking dumb." Kidd's tone grew serious. "Listen, a bunch of stuff has happened since you've left. Crazy stuff. This is no time to be joking around. There's stuff I need to ask you." Kidd stood up. Using his Soul Perception, he made sure that this was indeed Shilo, and not just some lookalike. When Kidd focused his ability, he picked up on Blakely's soul, Shilo's soul, and.... Jax's soul?

"When did you get here?" Kidd turned around and faced Jax. All this time that Shilo had been gone, Kidd hadn't seen Jax as well. Only, he knew Jax was still here in Death City. Kidd could pick up on his soul when they were both in the Academy together, given their close proximity. But he'd never actually worried about Jax as much as he worried about Shilo. Jax was a tough guy. He could handle himself. And he didn't go missing for prolonged periods of time. It didn't matter to Kidd now, either. Before Jax could give his answer, Kidd turned his back to him. Shilo was his main focus right now.

"Blakely, why is she acting like this?" Kidd asked his partner. It was almost like Shilo was a baby. She seemed so clueless of everything, including who she was as a person. "Do you know anything about this?" Kidd asked Blakely. Kidd didn't want to accuse Blakely of anything yet. But this was all so weird. How could Shilo just come back suddenly tonight and forget everything about herself? Nothing was adding up.

Blakely was looking at Kidd like he'd officially lost it. He was up in arms, back and forth, looking quite amusing in his boxers. "Kidd. Kidd...." Blakely cleared her throat. She didn't want him hopping around and exposing his goods to the lot of them. "Can you maybe, chill?" she insisted as politely as she could manage. "Look at her" Blakely motioned at Shilo and with the same hand she then massaged her temple. "She has no idea what's going on. I don't either."

Shilo continued to stare at Kidd. She couldn't understand why he was acting as such, nor could she grasp the range of emotions he'd covered within the short amount of time. At his words, she dropped her gaze to the floor. "I'm... not meaning to act dumb." Shilo announced, pushing herself up off the floor. She stood before them curls blazing and shirt wrinkled just at her hip, exposing black underwear for everyone to see.

Blakely's cheeks turned pink at this and she leaned forward and pulled the girl's shirt back down properly, lips in a tight line. Shilo and Kidd were a pair to behold, really. Both completely insane without even realizing. She'd resolved to lean back against the wall when something hit her. She'd noticed something odd.

Shilo looked over at Jax and when he asked if she was alright, her expression was as empty as her head. "I feel.... alright." she told him, taking a step back as Blakely approached and pulled her shirt back up, just above her belly button and bellow her breasts so as not to expose anything to the guys, aside from well, her panties.

"LOOK!" She exclaimed, placing a hand on Shilo's waist where a gaping scar stared back at them. "That must be where Ixion stabbed her." Blakely was looking at the girl like a science experiment and talking like she wasn't standing right in front of them.

Kidd looked over at Blakely. "Yeah, you're right. Kinda stupid of me to be assuming things...." Kidd lowered his head, a bit disappointed in his irrational thinking and his tendencies to jump to conclusion. This was obviously still Shilo they were dealing with. Kidd had sensed it, there was no denying that. And even though it seemed like this was just some sick joke Shilo was pulling on them, she managed to hold on to it this long. It wasn't a joke.

When Kidd turned back to Shilo, he noticed her panties, but acted as though he hadn't seen it. This didn't stop his cheeks from becoming slightly flushed. "Yeah...." Kidd cleared his throat loudly. What about himself? It was until just now that Kidd noticed he was also only in his underwear and jersey. "Shilo, how can you seriously not remember anything?" Kidd's voice slightly cracked as he attempted to pull down his jersey as far as possible.

"What the hell are you doing, Blakely?" Kidd asked when she began pulling up Shilo's shirt. Now wasn't a good time, but Kidd couldn't help but try to sneak a peek at Shilo's body before swiftly averting his gaze. Kidd bit his lip. He wasn't exposed to nudity too often, since sex wasn't exactly his priority. But when given the opportunity, he always took it.

"Huh?" Kidd looked back at Shilo when Blakely mentioned a scar. Even though it would probably be a bit awkward, Kidd kneeled down closer to Shilo, examining her scar. "Yeah.... You're right." Kidd nodded in agreement at Blakely. "But.... A wound like this wouldn't kill Shilo...." Kidd said, stroking his chin. Shit was TOO weird for Kidd's taste. And he wasn't the best at solving mysteries either, so this would be difficult for him to figure out.

Kidd stood back up and looked Shilo in the eyes. He didn't want to come off as rude, so he placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke really gently to her. In a sense, Kidd was treating her like a child. "Do you know who did this to you?" Kidd gestured to her waist where the scar was. She had to know something. If she didn't, Kidd wouldn't know where to go from here.

Blakely stared at the scar for a few more seconds before dropping Shilo's shirt back down and taking a step back as Kidd placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. She smooshed herself up against Kidd playfully resting her chin on his shoulder and nodding in agreement with his words. They were both standing there staring at Shilo as Jax piped up.

"Oh wow. You're Shilo's partner?" Blakely asked the boy. Hadn't he wondered about her at all? Hadn't he tried looking for her? She thought twice before saying anything and then turned her face toward Kidd's her nose brushing his neck, and then remembered how she was leaning. She snorted a chuckle at this and gave her partner some space. "My bad." She told him with a crooked sort of grin. "But do you know this guy?" She asked him then, jerking her thumb in Jax direction. "Isn't he supposed to be Shilo's partner?" She was confused.

At Kidd's words, Shilo looked down at the picture in her hands again, as if something might click. She stared intently at the two of them, feeling something familiar rise within her. She then held the picture up and pointed to Ixion, who was about ten years old, and nodded. "He did. He did this... I think." She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure about anything anymore. "But I can't trust myself." She added, her expression sullen. She looked at Jax, and she stared at him hard, her brow furrowing at the boy. "I..." she rubbed her eyes with her palm and then gazed back up at the three before her. "I can't remember names. I can hardly remember..." she trailed off and when she looked at Kidd a glimpse of a memory passed her vision. Teaching him to soul resonate. And Blakely, skateboarding barefoot. And Jax, pushing his glasses up his nose and taking a book from his pocket.

Her brain stung, an icy tingle shot through her skull and she clutched at her head, nails pressing into her scalp. Blakely watched, worried she would hurt herself and when she reached for Shilo's hands, the girl shot her a red-eyed glare and Blakely stumbled back, fear swelling inside her. Shilo was biting her lip so hard that blood pooled to the surface and dribbled down her chin and she scrunched her face up before covering it with her hands. She muttered through her fingers "stop it. stop it. stop it." and Blakely was gazing at her horror stricken. Shilo was not right. Like she was possessed. And her eyes? Red?

Blakely looked to Kidd, lost for words and feeling like something horrible had happened to her friend, which gave way to anger.

Kidd watched Shilo, hoping that she could give some kind of answer. This would be crucial to finding out more about what had happened to Shilo in the time that she'd disappeared, because Kidd couldn't even be sure if she was actually "killed" by Ixion at this point. That guy wasn't right in the head anyways. He should've taken what he told them with a grain of salt. There was no denying that Ixion was involved in whatever had happened to Shilo though, so Kidd decided to keep an open mind.

When Blakely made full out contact with Kidd, he blushed a bit again. He was only in his jersey and boxers and being this close to her made him feel all sorts of weird. But Kidd did the best he could at hiding his discomfort by patting Blakely on the head and crossing his arms after. Still didn't stop his cheeks from burning a bit.

Kidd held his breath, nearly breaking out into a fit of giggles. He could feel sweat collect on his forehead after Blakely had brushed her nose up against his neck. He hated how close and personal she could get sometimes. It made him wonder if she was just playing or coming on to him. Right as Kidd felt as though he'd explode and let his discomfort be known, Blakely finally gave him his space back. Kidd inhaled deeply, coughing violently as he did. Kidd gave himself a moment to recuperate from his little awkward episode before answering Blakely's question.

"Oh, yeah.... That's Jax. Shilo's partner...." Kidd's voice sounded hoarse from the coughing. He'd completely forgotten that Jax was still there. Hopefully, he wouldn't have some smart ass comment for Kidd after what'd just happened. Kidd looked over at Jax again for a moment. Did he even care about Shilo? Had he tried to get in touch with her at all over the course that she'd gone missing? Nah. Even Jax couldn't be that much of an asshole. Shilo and him were still partners, he had to care, even if it was just a little bit and he refused to show it. "Yeah, killed. Her brother, Ixion, said that he'd killed her, Jax. Sounded real proud of it, too." Kidd informed him. "But she's here right now, so I don't even know if we can believe that insane ass dude. Stuff has been so crazy lately, I just don't know what to believe anymore...." Kidd sighed and turned back to Shilo again, still waiting for her to answer his question.

Kidd leaned forward to take a look at the photo Shilo was holding out to them. His eyes darkened and a frown grew across his face as he followed her finger. Ixion. Everywhere Kidd went that bastard followed him now. Taking a deep breath, Kidd refrained from snatching the photo out of Shilo's hands and ripping it to shreds. He clenched his jaw, doing everything in his power to not lose his temper. "Just as expected...." Kidd's voice came out shaky. "Can't trust yourself?" Kidd gave Shilo a confused look. With each moment that passed in that room, things only started to make less and less sense.

Kidd put his mouth over his hand, thinking about what else he could ask her. But before he could formulate his next plan of attack, something even weirder happened. "What the fuck?" Kidd's eyes widened. What was going on with Shilo? Kidd looked over to Blakely who was reaching out to Shilo. But when Shilo looked up and shot Blakely that red-eyed glare, Kidd's mouth flew open. He'd seen some crazy shit in his life, but never anything like this. "What the fuck?!" Kidd repeated himself, this time there was panic in his voice. Kidd didn't know how to deal with this. He looked to Blakely, who didn't say anything. Kidd took a deep breath. He had to calm himself and take hold of the situation before it got any worse.

"Stop what, Shilo? What's going on?" Kidd reached out and firmly grasped both of Shilo's arms. There was no telling what she would do next. Kidd had to made sure she stopped herself from hurting herself. "Blakely, come try and wipe this blood of her lips with her shirt or something...." Kidd looked over at her. "Jax, say something to her, bruh. Maybe you can get her to calm down." Kidd turned to Jax now, requesting his assistance. On the surface, Kidd seemed calm. But deep down, he was scared. Scared for Shilo. It hurt him to see her in the state she was. Made him want to cry. But crying didn't solve anything, and he needed to stop being so weak. So Kidd kept his emotions locked away for now. Until everything could be resolved at least.

Shilo's breaths were heaving now, as if she were seething and when Blakely stepped back toward her at Kidd's command, she looked up at the blond girl, tears starting down her face, yet her expression seemed empty of emotion. Blakely's brow furrowed, and she took a moment to get herself together so that she didn't cry or freak out. She took off her quarter-sleeved jacket and dabbed Shilo's lip gently, ducking under Kidd's arms as she did so.

At Jax's statement she snorted at the boy. "Thanks for that, captain obvious." She hissed at him. She was rather upset and found it even more upsetting that Jax was being so indifferent about the whole thing. She reached up and thumbed the tears from her friend's cheeks and closed her eyes briefly as Kidd lowered Shilo's arms away from her head.

Blakely cringed a bit as the girl's bloodied nails and at the blood dribbling down the side of Shilo's face now. "Shilo?" Blakely cooed gently, and tried to look the girl in the eyes. She frowned at Shilo's dewy lashes, which were beaded with tears. "Don't hurt yourself." She finally managed to speak. But Shilo was staring blankly past Blakely's shoulder and past Kidd and Jax--so she turned her head to see where the girl was looking, only to bump her face against Kidd's.

"What're you..."  She squeaked when her nose met Kidd's and she sidestepped a bit, pushing Kidd's arms away from her and Shilo. "Gees. Move." She muttered, cheeks pink. She adjusted herself and cleared her throat before looking toward the wall.

"Oh... my god. What the fuck is going on here...." She breathed, her tone low as she gaped at a the strange burnt symbol on the wall. It was about 2 feet by 3 feet and looked like it was fresh as it was still smoking, red embers at it's edges. How hadn't they seen it before? Surely they would have noticed something so out of place. It looked like something ancient. A sigil or rune, or maybe it was letter in an alphabet she just didn't know.  But Blakely had no time to put the pieces together before something even more bizzare captured her attention.

A sharp smoky, metallic scent caused her to wrinkle her nose and when she looked back at Shilo, the girl was staring down at her hands, the blood sizzling against her flesh as smoke floated away from her palms. Blakely squealed, her voice high as she grasped onto Kidd so tightly, she felt the blood thin from her hands. "Kidd. This... Jax..." She glanced back over at the other boy and back to Shilo, pushing her body behind Kidd's and feeling like things were sinking further and further into some shit she couldn't handle.

"I...I don't know what to do." She murmured, but Shilo's head snapped upright and met Blakely's gaze, which caused Blakely to jump, as she hadn't expected it.

"It doesn't hurt. I don't feel anything." Shilo mewed, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. "I don't... feel a thing." She repeated and Blakely's face flushed of all color as she ducked herself behind Kidd's shoulder, eyes just peeking over it.

Shilo dropped her hands at her side and as she fingered the bottom of her shirt, it hissed and turned to ashes at her touch, falling to the floor like dust. Blakely imagined Shilo looking just as confused as she felt, yet Shilo seemed unphased and even lifted her burning hands to her face, pressing them against her cheeks. Blakely screamed then, leaping forward to snatch Shilo's wrists away, but the skin had already sizzled and when she pulled the girl's hands away from her face--the flesh had blistered and curled from the burns. Blakely's breath caught in her throat and she felt herself gag reflexively. The smell of burnt flesh alone, was enough to wish death upon herself. She couldn't look back up at Shilo's ruined face. She couldn't.

What was Shilo doing? What was wrong with her? Was she trying to kill herself? But she's already dead right? Nothing made sense. Nothing added up.

But after what seemed like a mini-eternity, she squinted one eye open and glanced through her lashes at the red-head. Everything was unreal. Everything she'd ever come to know as reality, or fiction flew out the window. Shilo's skin was regenerating and the gruesome burns were slowly but surely healing themselves. She noticed then, that the bite mark on Shilo's lip was even almost invisible now. Nothing was making any sense, and now she was just standing staring at Shilo like the girl was an alien from outer-space. She was an enigma and Blakely could hardly grasp the situation, let alone think of what to do.

Kidd could hardly bring himself to look at Shilo in the current state she was in. He felt his heartache at the tears that were running down Shilo's face. He hated to watch anyone suffer, but especially those that meant a lot to him. There was just one thing that seemed off about her crying. She had no expression on her face. She seemed so robotic now, as opposed to how panicked and wild she was acting a moment ago. "Thanks, Blakely." Kidd smiled at his partner. "I appreciate your help. Shilo does too." She seemed so out of it right now, but Kidd knew that she would be thankful towards Blakely for what she was doing right now. Still, though. They weren't getting anywhere, and things were only getting stranger with each second that passed. "Hmmm...." Kidd wondered what they should do next.

Kidd's body stiffened up at Jax's comment. Had he heard correctly? Sure Jax could be an asshole or a douchebag at times, but even Kidd didn't expect him to act this way in this situation. Kidd's grip tightened around Shilo's arms in frustration. Had Jax not changed at all within the time span that they'd all been separated from each other? Kidd turned around to look at Jax and shook his head disapprovingly. He glared at Jax for a moment, tempted to swing at him. But that would only make things more complicated. Plus, Kidd swore to never let his emotions get the better of him ever again.

Kidd exhaled through his nose and turned back around to bump his face into Blakely's. He released Shilo's arm and held his nose. Tears blurred his vision. "MOVE?!" Kidd shouted, rubbing his sore nose. "You're the one that got in my way...." He muttered, turning away from Shilo and Blakely. "I swear you're coming onto me...." Kidd whispered under his breath before he noticed the unfamiliar and strange symbol on the wall. "What the hell?" Kidd's hands dropped to his sides as he took in the strange sight before him.

Now they had to worry about this, too? Everything was starting to feel like some grand mystery movie. Only, they had no clues, and none of them were genius detectives. "Ugh...." Kidd massaged his temples, thinking about what do to next. Ever since the fight with Ixion, Kidd had very little tolerance for situations like these. Situations where he had to do a whole lot of thinking within a short period of time. "Well, obviously this has something to do with Shilo, but what? ...." Kidd said to himself, stroking his chin. Quite the mature person he'd become.

Kidd was snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh?" He turned to Blakely who'd said his name. He looked to her, and then Shilo. "What the actual fuck?" Kidd's eyes widened at Shilo's hands. He took a step back, unsure of how to react now. He was scared, that was for sure. He hadn't felt true terror in such a long time until now.  “Shilo…. What’s happening to you?” Kidd said, his voice just above a whisper.  

Kidd looked over to Blakely who was now cowering behind him. “I don’t either....” Kidd replied reluctantly. Why was everything always out of his control? As of late, things had only been getting more and more confusing for Kidd. A few weeks ago you could’ve got him in his room, mourning Shilo’s death, or maybe staying up trying to forget about the mistakes he’d made. And now Shilo was back? Life was moving too fast for the adolescent boy and he could really feel the stress rush back to him in this moment.

“I, uh…. Lemme…. Just don’t move….” Kidd shakily reached his hands out in front of him. He had no idea on what he should’ve been doing, yet he was the one having to take action first. Since Blakely was too scared to do anything, which Kidd couldn’t blame her for, and Jax was probably just standing around, acting like all of this was nothing. “Huh? What?” Kidd looked up at Shilo, his voice coming out as shaky as his hands. Did she just say it didn’t hurt? How on Earth didn’t it hurt? “Uh, Shilo…. Don’t move….” Kidd found himself beginning babble nervously. He was afraid to touch Shilo for fear of him burning himself, or her reacting in some unexpected way. He had no way of telling what would happen next.

“Umm….” Kidd’s eyes followed Shilo’s hands as they dropped to her sides. He gaped at the sight of her shirt burning up and disintegrating. However, it let Kidd know that this was all real, and all of this was really happening right now. Kidd stared at the dust on the floor, taking a second to himself to absorb everything that’d just happened. Kidd jumped, having heard Blakely’s scream. It snapped him out of his absentmindedness and his gaze was quickly fixed on Shilo again.

“No.” Kidd uttered, watching Shilo touch her face with the same hands that’d reduced her shirt to nothing. “Blakely, hold on!” He shouted as his partner went straight for Shilo. Kidd hated how she reacted on impulse all the time. It reminded him so much of the old him. “Oh my god….” Kidd covered his hands with his mouth. He could barely even recognize Shilo after Blakely peeled her hands from her face. Kidd hunched over, feeling himself vomit a little in his mouth. Tears formed at his eyes after the smell had hit his nose, making it even harder for Kidd to contain himself. The only times he’d seen this was when he’d stumbled across the wrong video on the internet, but it was much much worse than he’d thought it would be.

Kidd forced himself to down the puke and stood upright again, wiping the tears from his eyes.  He tried to avoid looking at Shilo’s face again, afraid that he might empty the chocolate bar from his stomach completely this time. Sadly, curiosity got the best of him. Peeking over at Shilo, he noticed the burns and cuts from earlier were now mended. Even the nasty hole in her lip was gone now. “Huh?” Kidd fought through the pounding headache that’d came on now from the confusion of this whole ordeal. Kidd didn’t know what to say anymore. What could he say? He looked over at Jax. Kidd hoped he would at least have a little bit of knowledge on what was going on.