Passing Notes

Chapter 32: FETCH THE TISSUES

"Originally, I was the spirit of light. That's my true skill. I can manipulate the light around us. But to balance out, I also had to be able to use shadows. There was already a spirit of darkness, and Dream has actually met her. She goes by the name Shadow, and is a cold yet protective friend."

Dawn fidgeted with the jewel encrusted ring on her finger.

"There was a spirit for each element; and we grew up almost as a family. The older ones, those who were with Balance, took care of us. All was fine up until my middle school year."

Dawn grit her teeth like she was willing herself not to cry.

"That was when Doodle discovered that Balance was part of me. He wanted them gone, and so he devised a plan to kill me, unknown to everyone else. He was like my older brother, I trusted him completely. He was one of the people I was closest to. One day, we headed out on a picnic. He offered me some of his sandwich, and I blindly accepted."

She clutched her stomach, as if even mentioning this made her feel extremely nauseous.

"It was poisoned."

Cross stared, in shock. Nightmare balled his fist tightly, tentacles twitching in anger. How dare someone do that to her?

"We had other friends there at the time as well. Eight and Blossom were at the picnic- luckily for their lives they had gone to pick up some food for the people who had forgotten. Thanks to the fact that I only took a bite, I survived. I could barely stand though as Doodle summoned a weapon and went to kill me. To this day, none of us are sure what his powers are."

Dawn's eyes began to well up with tears. She couldn't help it; the pain was as fresh as the day it had happened.

"My friends went to save me. They stood up and fought with everything they had. I can barely remember anything; it's all a haze. However, I know that he had the help of three people. Dr.X, and two of the natural spirits who had gone astray after a fight with Time. Anti and Void. I admittedly can only remember seeing a haze of fighting before blacking out."

Cross felt even more fury towards his so called father. Not only had he ruined the life of his friends, other children had to suffer because of him.

"When I awoke, there was only rubble. On either side of me, injured, lay Aqua, the water spirit, and Shadow. I wasn't sure they were going to survive. Back then I was known as Light. I looked really different too; white and pure. I blamed Balance for everything. I didn't know that they had been protecting me as I passed out. We've come to terms now."

She sighed and undid her ponytail, smoothing out her messy hair.

"I headed towards the epicenter. There, Regret had managed to restrain Doodle. But not before he stole it all away. Around him were my dying friends; comforting each other while each joked about heir own fatal injury. I only found out later that the only reason Shadow and Aqua survived was because Ice and Flame had protected them. You know, we always thought that Shadow would date Ice and Flame would be cute with Aqua."

She wiped her eyes with a small smile, almost as if she were remembering all the fond times they had together.

"I tried to heal them; I couldn't. With their dying breaths, my friends entrusted me with their powers so I could protect myself. That day I abandoned the weak Light. I manipulated my appearance and became who you see now. I took on the name Dawn, because it was the Dawn of a new era for me."

The room remained silent. Nobody knew if they should be sad or inspired from her story. She sighed.

"After that, my friends became protective. Everywhere I went, they followed me. Aqua also abandoned her old caring self and took in the name Tsunami. She vowed her trust would never be broken again. I couldn't really sleep for all the terrors, and there was always work to be done in my opinion. I also couldn't accept any food anyone offered me, no matter how trusted. Eight and Blossom had rushed us to the hospital, and they tried to offer me food. I always refused. To this day I can't accept food from people, even those close to me. Not even a glass of water. Well, that's the story. Now Doodle will be coming to try and kill me again, and it seems Dr.X wants to take my powers. You guys will be in danger now too, against fearsome opponents. We can break the silence now."

Nobody said anything. Cross rushed over and grabbed her in a tight hug. Chara tried to hug her as well, but it was more of a ghostly float. Still she appreciated it.

Nightmare was filled with anger at the actions of this man. How dare he hurt Dawn like that.

Then something else clicked. She hadn't been able to take food or drink from anyone since then. That had been several years. But she had accepted tea from him right?

It all made sense now. Why she had been so emotional when she drank the tea she gave him. She hadn't been able to do that in a long time.

His mind was racing. How had she been able to take it from him then? Was there more to their friendship than he thought.