Title: Stockholm Syndrome
Author: Umi-chii
Credits: A part of project Rebirth Moon’s Syndrome Trilogy © Umi-chii
Disclaimer: Nowhere and its lyrics are properties of FictionJunction YUUKA
Author’s Note: So! After half a year of replotting and rewriting, here we are! The revised version of Stockholm Syndrome. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep things from getting too fast-paced, too slow-paced, too confusing and too hard to digest. Here I go. And uh, I don't know about you guys but I think the new chapter title fits.

Editor's Note: So. After some months after finishing this, am back to edit and proofread. I've deleted some unnecessary scenes, not to mention characters that'll end up being forgotten in the end, and changed some earlier events to match those of Munchausen.

Summary: Jeanne has always believed he's normal. He just didn't expect he had been the reason for the Mafia world's greatest war, and that his world would soon be turned upside down because of it.

Chapter 0: Nowhere
“Tell me the story of your soul.”

Life should have been normal. Actually, it’s quite normal, until the arrival of some crazy jackass who decided to throw every piece of living karma at us. Now, we’re stuck with the bad burn of it on the side of our face. Down every street we walk, people would stare at us, with whispers of ‘those kids who blew up their school’ being exchanged.

I can still remember Cynthia (somehow, she’s oddly forgiving for someone who was completely forgotten) telling me that everything’s okay, that we should just let everything slide off. Too bad she didn’t know how Selene gave her the raspberry behind her back. But the good thing is, we’re all back in London, enjoying our cups of coffee here at Clair de Luné owned by Krista’s dad, Uncle Tom. Yeah, him. That eccentric chef with a French accent. Krista’s best friend Jennifer is quite alright now, though the ugly burnt in her forearm won’t go away. What about her cousin Hilda, you ask? Well, I’m not quite sure… But at least Maria is around to clean up the ugly mess we left behind. The Shinsengumi and the gang have come to some sort of compromise lately, after we came back from our trip to Italy.

Anyway, here I am, lounging with Selene beside me at the bar, Meia to my right. Uncle Tom is polishing that new cappuccino maker he bought. He’s actually insisting me to help him pay for it. As to why, it’s no thanks to Chris and Zide who ran away with his old one. Seriously.

Looking at my left, I stare at the scar Selene got from her fight with Bianca Richmond. I’ve already come to terms with her now shorter hair, since it can grow again, but never the scar. I know it irks her a lot whenever I bring any topic from two months ago, but honestly? I hate it. The scar, I mean. But I’ve stopped pestering her about it, since she’s quite adamant on keeping me quiet as much as I’m pushed to get that scar off her face. It took up a horizontal line across her left cheek. Syfer had said it’s gonna be a really long time for it to heal, and that just doesn’t really make most of me happy, either. What a vain boyfriend I make, I know.

“When are you gonna stop staring?”

Her eyes are at me, and I blink back. Shucks, she caught me. But as usual, she just sighs and dodges the argument that occasionally springs up whenever she caught me staring at her scar. Shaking her head, she made a move to leave the bar. Without glancing back, she left for Cynthia’s table, who’s laughing with the rest of the gang from class 3-Sigma. I go back to the cup of coffee I’ve been holding for the past few hours, recollecting all these events that have just happened. They all seem so surreal, so fast paced. It barely feels like two months have already passed. Funny thing is even after everything that had happened, everything goes back to normal in less than a second. And what had transpired isn’t even normal to begin with. They all dropped by here for a reunion. Sort of.

One minute we’re all enjoying the first day of school, the next some building blew up and students are getting murdered here and there for sacrificial purposes. And then I find out I’m on someone’s hit list, and I’m the only person who can save the world—but not just any world, the Mafia and some supernatural world. Sounds like something straight out of an action-wonder boy kind of comic book, I know, but trust me, it’s real. Even I still can’t believe I had a former life living life as a rich, adoptive son of a rich, Russian Mafia lord, who has now transferred his guardianship to his best friend, Syfer—yep, the same Syfer I was talking about awhile back. An innocent doctor with a golden heart, honest.

When I felt a finger tapping me gently on a shoulder, I turn my head. Meia cocks her head at the clock; it’s already 2 in the afternoon. Time to visit Aki in the hospital. She just woke up from her eye surgery yesterday.

I nod back absently at Meia, who shrugs before going back to drinking her tea. Smiling to myself, I left the bar and the place altogether, the wind chime making its tinkling sound. The sudden shift of the wind reminds me of the girl I’m going to visit.

I walk for a few more blocks, before the sight of the Riveri Hospital came into view. Entering the hospital, I ignore the nurse stationed before the reception. This hospital was built by Michael Riveri, Selene’s adoptive father, for one specific reason: to be the emergency to-go for anyone connected to Niebel High’s wilder antics. Considering that I happen to be the adoptive son of the hospital’s dean, well, I guess it’s safe to say now that the weird stares usually directed at me in public is fewer.

My feet have brought me to a certain room on their own accord after I enter and leave the elevator. No later than 5 minutes, I’m already inside Aki’s room, a soft smile on my lips as I close the door behind me with a soft click. Said patient has her bed made up for her to sit up, both of her hands on her lap as her pale lips set on a firm line.

“Where’s the pup?” She asks me. Ah, even when she has a needle halfway inside her vein, she’s still so sharp.

“In case you’re pertaining to Armand, he went to the airport to fetch Jeremy, who’s coming back with Mikhail,” Unlike us, Jeremy stayed with Mikhail for a bit longer at Italy, tying up some loose ends there. I grin at the memory of a very excited Armand, blond hair and green eyes brighter than ever before. “They’ve just finished their fixing jobs in Vatican, I think.” I add. Aki shrugs casually; I guess she just wants to know what’s going on outside, since she’s been stuck in this hospital room for nearly 2 months in a coma. I lost my grin though as the image of Armand brought a flash of my last memory of his look-a-like, Helios Rosenkreuz—twin brother of Selene. Ah, no, Jeanne. We’ve already decided not to think of him until next week. Or next month. Or even never.

Finding my place between her bed and the window facing the garden outside, I could sense Aki toying with the end of the gauze wrapped around her hand. She has been very fidgety ever since her operation to repair the damage on her left eye.

“How are you?” I ask her after a moment, turning around to look at her. She fidgets slightly when her finger had accidentally moved the needle. Last I witness, a deep, white gash has taken up her upper left side of the face, that even a simple eyepatch can’t cover the scar’s both ends.

“Better. Can’t feel my eye anymore. But mom is really mad. Said something about eyepatches and parrots…” She trails off with an eye escaping its gaze to a corner. Natsume Kudoku is Aki’s mom, and I can see why Aki’s flustered with an angry mom. Natsume’s not quite the… er… ordinary mom.

Syfer had assembled the best medical team ever, but even they failed to heal the wound on Aki’s left eye. It’s not that Aki constantly complains about it, and she makes sure not to say a word about it, but sometimes, I can see her, how she would look at a corner with this lost expression on her face, a hand going through the bandage wrapped over her left eye. She’s acting so much like Selene. They keep on ignoring their wound from the war, yet it’s still there, and they ache along the way because no matter how hard they ignore it, it won’t go away.

Grabbing for a chair, I sit down next to Aki’s bed, my fingers clasping each other as I watch her lean back against the bed, sighing softly as she closes her remaining eye.

“Wake me when it’s 4.”

“Sure.”

This is Jeanne Vergessen speaking, and allow me to take you down the metaphorical yellow brick road. Life has once been normal for me and my friends and everybody else, but now, it’s all a different matter. We’re all once ordinary high school students attending a prestigious school that used to serve the people of the same kind as I am—one who belongs to an ancient bloodline with supernatural powers. Due to many rounds of fighting, either a formal duel to the death or a fist brawl, and of course, the usual rounds of cheating death, I’ve come to realize that not everything has to be considered as normal. It just so happens this world I happen to live in isn’t ordinary to begin with, which encourages me even more to welcome you all to the life infected with what I call, the Stockholm syndrome.

[xxx]

Niebel High is an academy first established four hundred years ago, during the 17th century by the remaining founders of the Hart family who’re now long lost in the pages of history books, in an island in the middle of Mediterranean Sea, at the very center of the world.

When it was first created, the school was small and by invitation only, hidden inside the wealthy family’s large estate. It used to be called Niebelheim, after the coven it was inspired of, training the descendants of a great line of ancient bloodlines with supernatural abilities. But most importantly, Niebelheim served as the stepping stone for them to cultivate and nurture their natural power and make good use of it. It stayed as the foundation for those of the Niebelheim coven, to honor and preserve the spirit of the Niebelheim coven.

But after the First Niebelheim war, the Harts lost control and ownership over the school. Outsiders seized control of it, and soon, Niebelheim became a whole, new private school, accepting anyone with a great load of cash, renamed as Niebel High. It then began adapting the curriculum of other schools. Now, only a handful know its true nature, and even less practices its true teachings.

Somewhere in England, in the city of London, the bell had been ringing since the past five minutes, signaling the start of sixth period, but the students of Niebel High London paid it no mind. No one bothers with the school bell anyway—unless the Disciplinary Committee (or the Shinsengumi, as what they insist to be called) decides to have something to do about it. But there’s no Shinsengumi right now, so no one really cares… except one boy.

Pushing past the throng of chatty students, Jeanne tried his very best to keep his bag from slipping past his shoulders. He had already lost a pen and probably a spare notebook on his way from the cafeteria. He didn’t need to lose another one anymore.

‘Just one more corner…’ his mind reassures his frantic self before body suddenly meets metal. His back got slammed onto a nearby locker, and he swore he had dented it. He glared at whoever can be such a pain so early in the afternoon only to wince at the sight. Starting the day with butterflies on his stomach was okay, but starting the lunch with just a croissant followed by an unforgiving Specialist isn’t.

Specialists are the officers of the Shinsengumi—and there’re only three of them, all weapon-wielding girls. Legendary ice princess and Specialist prodigy Maria Delacroix glared at him, the fist on his collar not loosening.

“Seven minutes had already passed, Jeanne Vergessen. You should have known what happens to those who’re more than five minutes late. I hope I won’t be seeing more of your face in the guidance this year,” As if to get her point across, she tightened her hold on his collar, strangling him further. “Am I clear, boy?”

Jeanne tried to pry the hand away from his shirt, nodding vehemently. Maria Delacroix is the least of his favorites among the girls. Damn it. Just his damn luck to put this evil creature in his way to the classroom.

“I swear I’ll keep my record clean this year, ma’am!” He yelled at her. She simply scowled at him. Because I already have enough bruises to last me a year, he wanted to add, but he swallowed that temptation down. No need to cause further damage to his already damaged pride.

Giving him one last thorough scowl, Maria walked away, continuing her patrol down the corridor, preying on unluckier freshmen. The Disciplinarian’s red badge was pinned to a sleeve.

Without sparing one last glance, he made his way to his next class.

[xxx]

“Cynthia Bouvier?”

“Present.”

“Raymond…”

The roll call continued on, even when Jeanne was finally able to get to his class. Nodding curtly at his teacher, Jeanne sat down at his seat.

“Psst.”

Blinking, he looked around him, before having his head knocked up by a marble.

“Oww…”

Behind him, Cynthia was glaring at him, giving him the nastiest scowl she can give after lunch. He scrunched his face at her which only rewarded him with another scowl. She made this hand movement, her index finger making a horizontal line across her neck before pointing it at him.

Jeanne flinched when he realized what she meant. He went back to looking at the teacher though until an absent person made himself known to be absent.

“Jeremy Reiner? Jeremy Reiner?”

“He’s moved to Class Chi, ma’am.”

“I see.”

Glancing up from his seat, Jeanne stared at the teacher who’s scribbling something on the paper then at the speaker; Vincent, that creepy boy who’s taking the seat just beside him, his classmate since fifth grade. Jeanne blanched at the sight of the boy’s creepy, glinting glasses.

“He requested a move right after enrollment.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“Join the Blackhand Committee. You’ll know.” Jeanne just frowned at him and at the mention of the campus’ Newsletter team.

Jeremy Reiner has been his classmate since last year, the older boy transferring over from Italy in the middle of the second semester. Jeanne remembered him very well, since he was the first one who approached the stoic and silent teen, and was also the first one who got glared by sharp blue eyes. Suddenly hearing Jeremy changing class without him knowing beforehand sounded strange. Sure, they weren’t as close as Jeremy was to his childhood friend, that quirky Armand Botticelli, but he’s still of some significant, right?

Even as the teacher began the boring lecture about molecular anatomy, Jeanne started to drift off along with the clouds, idly wondering what had happened to his friend.

[xxx]

“Calling Sir Frederick Reiner, from flight PR-904. Please report to the Administrator’s Office at once.”

Jeremy stared hard at his father’s back, hoping looks can kill. His father walked away from him without a single word or a look. He swore one of these days, he’s definitely going to get even with everyone who ignores him, especially his father.

Stepping back, Jeremy motioned for his assistant to get the luggage before hurrying himself to the car. His butler was already there outside the car door and opened it when he’s a few feet nearer.

“Welcome back, young sir.”

Jeremy only muttered a soft ‘Hn’. Besides, the butler was quite used to his one word answers.

His butler settled himself into the car and sat beside the driver. It’s been three years since he came back to London from his volunteer work at the Ægis Italian branch. He went back there during summer break to finalize his paper for temporary leave.

“The master will be seeing a meeting tonight, and the Madame would like to have your audience tonight at dinner. Also, you have been excused from the first two days of school as usual and will be starting it on the day after. You have no new messages left on the answering machine, save for one from Sir Armand Botticelli. Also…”

The rest of the butler’s words were ignored. Jeremy only stared at the passing scenery, thinking if anyone had missed him during the summer break. Sighing, he propped his chin on his fist, reclining back at the leather car seat. It wasn’t long before he finally drifted off to sleep, thoughtless images entering and leaving his mind in a flash. Only the thought of one blond boy left itself comfortable inside his mind.

TBC