Connection

I saw a small girl that looked no older than 5 with dark grey hair, two small, white horns poking through her fringed bangs, and two canines that barely poked out over her bottom lip; even though I couldn't make out her face I felt as if I knew her for the longest time. She was chained up in a cell with a man holding a book while asking her questions. Her body was bruised, cut, and bleeding, making her appear to be in a wretched state. Days passed by with many different people performing sick experiments on her, leaving her in an even worse state every single time. I would watch as she laid in her cell crying while holding a small silver chain with a round piece of silver at the end that had the letters "AC+YS" carved into its surface. I was able to feel all of her emotions and pain like they were my own, and I was even able to see and hear her thoughts.

One time after she had just been released from a particularly grisly experiment, she laid in her cell and thought back to a time where she was with a small boy and his mother, though she couldn't remember their faces, she remembered all of the happiness she felt during her time with the duo, and I felt like it was the only thing keeping her sane. I was filled with rage as I watched her go through cruel experiments day after day, until one day, she looked up toward me and screamed "HELP ME!" in a voice that echoed around my head, threatening to spiral me into an infinite state of chaos as I heard her pain filled voice cry out to me over and over again.

---

I bolted up and immediately felt a sharp pain in my chest and was thrown in a coughing fit. My door swung open as Senaris and Lyra ran over to me with concerned looks, the latter carrying a small glass of water. I snatched the glass and gulped down its contents and, after thanking the two, I tried to stand, only to collapse and be caught by the two before I hit the floor.

"Idiot! Stay in bed! Your body is in critical condition, you can't just move as you please!" Lyra reprimanded me while she bonked my head with her fist.

"Ouch! Damn, when did you get so strong?" I asked while rubbing the bump on my head.

"It's not that she got stronger, it's just that you are not cycling mana through your body for defense." Senaris said with a worried look as she eyed me from head to toe.

"Don't think I forgot what you pulled earlier. It's creepy to see you eyeing me like I'm a prize." I said while throwing a playful wink her way, causing her to fluster.

"I-I was not eyeing you! I was checking to see if your body was healed!" Senaris retorted with a red face and a very adorable pout.

Now that I felt the pain receding I took the time to survey my surrounding and I realized that I was in my room back at the academy instead of the endless expanse that Magna had conjured. "Hey, where's everyone else?" I asked while looking at a silver necklace on my nightstand.

"They're downstairs eating most likely, why?" Lyra answered while following my gaze.

"No reason. Just curious." I said absentmindedly.

After a few more checkups my two doting friends finally left me to my own devices. I continued to stare at the necklace and couldn't help but feel like it was important. I remembered bits and pieces of a dream that I was having but it hurt my head to think about it so I stopped. I grabbed the silver chain and stared into the small, round piece of silver dangling from the chain while recalling the time when my mother had given it to me around my 4th birthday. Its a treasure that I always have on my body, so it must've fell out of my pocket or off my neck when I was knocked unconscious.

A stray tear rolled down my cheek before I could notice it and landed on the circular piece of metal, reflecting my image for a split second before rolling off and falling to the ground. I hooked the necklace around my neck and let its cool surface fall to my bare chest, calming my racing heart. I sat in a lotus position and began to do something I hadn't done in a while. Meditate.

My 'gaze' immediately fell on my core. My core was a dark purple, a massive improvement from my previous inert core. I remember from my first day at the academy that one teacher explained that the core stages go from black, to dark red, to light red, to dark purple, to light purple, to dark green, to light green, to dark blue, to light blue, to dark gold, to light gold, to white. With white being the highest a core can go. I realized that I had jumped from black to dark purple in no time. But what had also caught my attention was that I now had two types of mana coiling around my core, while the mysterious energy from the insignia was coiled around my heart. One of the two signatures around my core is obviously that weird type of blood manipulation that I had unlocked, but the other was a complete mystery. Unlike the blood red mana around my core and the almost scarlet colored energy around my heart, the second mana signature almost looked like a thick fog.

Shrugging internally, I opened my eyes and fell down on my bed, releasing a content sigh after feeling how soft and cool it felt. I tucked my hand behind my head and began to think back to all the fun times I had with my mother and the various times I had sat with my father telling him about how I wanted to grow up to be just like him. I remembered the time when I thought about nothing but revenge and eliminating the Silver Clan along with my father, but it seemed so foolish now. How could I have forgotten such precious memories?

An hour passed by as I laid there and thought to myself, a knock on my door snapping me out of my reverie and softly called out for whoever it was to enter. It was Adam and Saya, the former carrying a bowl of delicious smelling soup! Adam must've seen the excited glint in my eyes for he began to wave his hand over the top of the bowl toward me, making the smell grow even stronger. Saya took the bowl from his hand and bonked him over the head before handing me the bowl and asking "So, how do you feel?" in a sheepish tone.

Adam rolled his eyes before muttering "Pretty boy strikes again." causing Saya to give him a glare that even the Grim Reaper shy away from. I chuckled and sampled the meaty soup before replying "Honestly, I feel kind of sweaty..."

"Pff, yeah if he can say that after what happened to him, then he's good to go." Adam said while walking out with his hands behind his head.

Saya laughed before whispering "He was actually really worried when you had...y'know passed out. I guess he's embarrassed to admit it." Saya seemed to notice the almost zero distance between us because she quickly sat up straight with a red face and excused herself from the room. Why are all the females acting so weird? I finished eating and tried to stand up, this time I could at least hobble around. I hobbled to the mirror and looked at my reflection. My hair had grown down to my shoulders and I had bags under my eyes, but I was still me. Well, the different me but still me.

I looked at my bare chest and saw my toned abdominal muscles contract with every breath and my biceps now had more muscle than before. All in all I looked like an unusually muscular, yet skinny, 13 year old. I tied the back of my hair up in a ponytail, leaving my bangs in the front brushed to the sides, and began the arduous task of walking downstairs. I opened the door and saw Kabuto about to walk down the stairs. "Yo, feeling better already?" he asked with a small smile as he moved over to help me walk.

"Feeling brand new!" I said with a smirk, causing us both to laugh as we slowly walked toward the dining room.

Now that I think about it, I probably should have put a shirt on. All the guys were looking at me like I was the bane of their existence while all the girls were eyeing me like I was the worlds most rarest delicacy. I issued a wry smile as I sat down and began to talk with Verm and Kabuto, the former working on figuring out his newly acquired Time Manipulation. I remembered that we were trying to unlock our Demon Magic and when I asked if everyone had done so, the room got awkwardly silent. However, I was told that after I had mysteriously collapsed Magna took my place, resulting in the confirmation that Adam had a type of Metal Manipulation, Verm and his Time Manipulation, Lyra had acquired a form of Darkness Magic that was fundamentally different than her Shadow Magic, but I couldn't figure it out, Saya had unlocked Gravity Magic, Rin had a form of Mind Manipulation, Kyrm had a powerful version of Black Flames, but Elaris and Kabuto were the only ones who didn't unlock their own, sadly.

---

[KABUTO POV]

I remember watching Yuuki transform after blood began to leak from his body. His hair grew until I reached the small of his back while he grew two large, black horns, with a small line of gold that coiled around them like a snake, from his forehead that parted his bangs and six other smaller horns, three on each side, that formed what looked like a crown around his head. I watched as his back began to swell before popping out two large, leathery wings that closely resembled a bats wings. I was so scared at that moment, scared of my own friend. But Senaris wasn't scared. I watched as she walked up to Yuuki and crouched down in front of him, stroking his cheek and whispering words that no one but them could hear, and began to kiss him.

Surprisingly enough, a small green light enveloped Yuuki and his horns began to recede back into his head while his wings began to break apart, each piece looking like ash. The blood that had spilled onto the ground began to slowly float back up before reentering Yuuki's body like it had never left in the first place. I watched as Yuuki began to laugh, causing Senaris to go red in the face and basically run toward Lyra. Then he collapsed.

It felt like my heart was about to burst when I saw the pained look on his face as he fell to the ground. I ran over to him, frantically trying to find a solution. Then I heard a voice within the deep corners of my mind.

"Do you want to save this monster? The one that will surely ruin you?" It asked in a wispy voice no louder than a whisper, yet I could hear it like it was right next to me.

'Yes, I want to save him...no matter if he is a 'monster' or not, he's still my friend!' I yelled out in silence, a sinister laughter following my outburst.

'Good, good! Let me hear your selfish desires. More! That's the spirit, boy!' I thought about nothing more than finding a way to make my friend-no Yuuki's life easier, I begged for the voice to give me a solution, but none came.

The last thing I remember was waking up back in my room at the academy, a figure shrouded in a white robe, its face hidden by a hood, with a large translucent scythe sitting on the edge of my bed saying "Your wish, has been granted..."

(A/N: Well, I'm sickaroo today but since I'm at home I'll try and get another chapter out for you all, stay safe!")