Mari (Soul Eater)

Part Forty-Six

A/N: Hope you like this part!

Mari woke up in the middle of the night to find Kidd with her. He must've left for work, then come back. She held her stomach as pain jabbed through it. She stood shakily and walked to the bathroom.

She clutched her gut as she felt something move in it and she knew it was the dark tendrils. She jerked as they twitched and sent pain though her. Something stabbed into her stomach and she gasped. The black blood sealed off the internal wound, but not in time for some of it to seep into her gut and mix with her stomach acid.

Her stomach heaved and she crumpled to the floor. She dragged herself to the toilet and threw up into it.

"Mari?" Kidd's voice said. He saw her and moved next to her. "Mari!" he said, his voice frantic. "Wh-what's wrong? Are you sick?"

She shook her head as she coughed. He gently rubbed her back, his eyes scrunched together. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, tears forming in her eyes. She sat back, hugging her knees. The tendrils seemed okay now, but her stomach was still roiling.

"Mari...?" Kidd asked. He put a hand on her forehead and frowned as he checked her temperature. "You're burning up..." he said.

She held her neck with one hand, her throat burning from the stomach acids. "It was the tendril... things in my stomach. They cut open my gut and my blood mixed with my stomach acid." She said, wiping her face off.

"You have a fever. I think you were in the sun to long yesterday." Kidd said, feeling her warm cheek. He straightened and opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. He got a small bottle and fished out a few pills. He filled a cup with water and sat on the floor next to Mari. "Here." He said, holding out the pills.

Mari took the pills and swallowed them with a sip of water. She tilted her head back as the pills went down. "Thanks-" said began, and then the water hit her upset stomach.

She clutched her stomach and she felt herself about to throw up. She scrambled forward and heaved into the toilet.

Kidd was helpless, and all he could do was rub her back. He pulled one of the landlines off the small set of draws in the bathroom and dialed Ray's number.

Mari gasped for air, her stomach empty now, only able to conjure up bile and her dark blood.

"Ray?" Kidd said. Mari wiped her mouth again, her head beginning to pound. "I'm sorry... I know it's three in the morning..." Kidd said to Ray, flinching as she said something. "Please... can you come? Mari is sick and I don't know what to do." He said.

Mari gripped the toilet with one hand the other hand on her stomach. Kidd rubbed the spot between her shoulder blades, hoping to make her feel better. Kidd hung the phone up and dialed another number. He pulled Mari into a hug, pressing her face into his chest.

"Stein?" Kidd asked. "We need you." He said. Someone said something on the other end and Kidd replied, but Mari's ears had filled with buzzing that made everything muffled.

'Hello?' a man's voice said, and Mari flinched. 'It seems I can control these tendrils inside you. They're just like the ones I used to have.'

The buzzing cut off and Mari held herself, her body shaking. Her eyes were wide with fear as she realized who it was.

The keshin was back in her mind.

"Mari?" Kidd asked. Mari felt his arms around her and her ragged breathing slowed a little. "You okay?" he asked.

Mari bit her lip, her shoulders shaking as her stomach burned on.

"Mari! Kidd!" Ray's voice came from the doorway. She ran to Mari's side and got on the floor next to her. "Mari? Mari are you okay?" she asked.