Death Rose/Maralie Lily Charm: Something New

Set before Aretha and Death's Longest Chapter Ever Part 1

Death strode out of the castle, her phone held high, waving to all the sorcerers she passed. "Come on..." She muttered. "I want more reception..." She made her way outside and looked around. It was night. Dark and cold and unforgiving... Like Nefarian will be when he wakes up, she thought and hurried into the thick maze of trees.
She didn't particularly want her foster-father to find her; even if he didn't think that she was Death. The way that he wanted to know where she was though... That touched her. She knew people cared, well, they cared before they were savagely murdered by either some random person or by herself. People shouldn't hang around Death. She was weird. And all her all of her friends added to the ever growing trail of the dead that she left behind her.
She was racing through the forest now, not caring to disguise her footsteps.


Maralie sat on her bed, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She glared at the posters on her wall that had been repaired with sticky tape so many times. How could she have been so naïve to think that Harry Styles, member of One Direction, would actually be everything he was portrayed to be. He was exactly the opposite."Mara!" a knock sounded on the door. Maralie huffed and glared even harder.
"Mara, why won't you just come out?" Harry sighed, leaning against the door. Maralie sulked, lying back on her bed. She closed her eyes and imagined anywhere, it didn't matter, just away from here, and -
- she fell onto the ground with an "Oof!"

Death stopped as she heard something hit the ground. She hid behind a tree, really hoping it wasn't something that could kill her. That would just be dandy! You know, dying a third time, in another body. Just another thing to get annoyed about. Something moved on the other side of the tree, rustling the leaves, and she poked her head around.
On the ground was a girl. A girl Death had seen around. She was a teleporter in love with One Direction. "MARA!" She half yelled in surprise. "What are you doing here?! Leave! You're going to get yourself killed! I should know! I've already died... Twice!" She held up two fingers for effect. "One was murder and the other... Uh.. Well... You don't need to know." Death didn't understand why her friend was here, why she was sad.... "What's up" She said finally and sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around Mara's small shoulders.

Maralie tilted her head. "Death? You... Uh..."
Death raised her eyebrows and Maralie continued. "And, uh, you died? Twice?"
Death shrugged. "Yep. Basically. But what's wrong, anyway?"
"Everything," Maralie muttered. "Harry's being a total jerkface and deserves a slap. But he's too dashingly handsome to slap, goddammit."
She scowled and twirled her hair round her finger, gnawing at her lip.
"And if I slap him, haters. If I don't slap him, he'll still be a jerkface. I'm all confuzzled!" Maralie yelled, screwing her eyes closed and crossing her arms.

Death hugged her friend. "I'll go punch him in the face for you, okay?" She grinned at her with a shrug. "I've always wanted to punch famous people. Did I tell you I punched Mev? In the face? And then escaped his clutches. And was slapped in the face by dad." A though ooccured to her. "Myfoster-father. I have a real father and you know him. Baron. Yep. Baron Vengeous. Did I ever tell you that?" She was looking for a way to distract her friend and by the look on her face, she had achieved. "So, that makes me the foster-daughter of a psychopath and a biological daughter of a pirate!" She grinned again and then her face was serious. "I'm going to punch Harry Styles in the face. No. One. Hurts. My. Friends." It was a warning that was probably truer than Mara would realize. What she wouldn't do for her friends.

Maralie's eyes widened and she blinked. "You punched" her voice lowered, "Mevo? But Death, that... that's dangerous! And... Baron Vengeous? Oh my God. I thought... Wow, you've had an eventful time." Death grinned.
"But if you punch Harry, his face might not be beautiful again!" Maralie gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "And then WMYB won't be true!"

Death started to laugh. "Yep! I've even been tortured! That was... Eventful. Oh, and the love of my life was murdered on Valentine's Day and turned out to be an evil guy!" She sighed and fell onto the wet ground. "It was around here that I died too, the first time. I was shot in the stomach. Fun?" She looked above her into the leaves and imagined Ian's face. "And WMYB is for people who don't know they are beautiful, Harry sure does." Was she making Mara better? Probably not. "What have you been doing? Anything fun? Anything not to do with 1D?" Yeah... Nah, Mara's life revolved around those boys.

Maralie looked at Death sadly. "I... I heard about Ian. I'm so sorry, Death." She hugged her friend, then let out a shakey laugh. "We both have boy troubles, it seems.
"Yeah, Harry knows he's beautiful, dammit. He's very vain. Which is ironic, considering he teases Zayn about being vain. Ooh, rhyme! But I haven't been doing much. Sitting in my room. Throwing things at the posters. Y'know, the norm."
Maralie sighed. "But the thing is, if I do go back - which is definitely not for a while - Harry will be all annoyed at me for leaving. And I just can't deal with that right now. You know what I'm saying?"

Death grinned. "Yep, oh I do. It might not look it, but I've been there..." She hugged her back. "He will be mad at me if I punch him and then you will be happy with him again." Something occurred to her. "Holy mother of nachos," she was about to say something else but Mara would have started fangirling. "You are going out with Harry Styles!?" Why did it take so long for her to realize? God, Death was dumb today!

Maralie laughed. "Did I forget to say? Yeah, I am. But he's not as brilliant as I thought he would be."
Her shoulders drooped and she lay back on the damp grass. "It sucks. Like a vacuum."
She spread her arms out and closed her eyes. "I'm ready to be run over now. By a lawnmower."

Death jumped up and narrowed her eyes. "And I am ready to murder Harry, but I'm not going to do it. Don't think like that Mars, never. It puts you in a dark void that you can never escape. Please, believe me. I might seem like an idiot but I'm really not. I am smarter than any of you realize. Don't die, committing suicide isn't worth it. I jumped off a cliff when Ian died." She looked sternly at her friend. If Mara died, the world would be darker. She couldn't die. When she did, when any of her friends died, she'd go after their killer like a dog after a cat.

Maralie sat up, and her eyes flickered to the ground.
"I have tried, you know," she murmured, running her hands through her hair. "I'm not just a happy girl with a crush on a boyband. When..."
She swallowed, and took a shaky breath. "When my sister Lottie died, I... we were really close. Like twins. She was 15, and I was 12. When the autopsy came back, we were told..." Maralie's eyes brimmed with tears, "she had killed herself. It suddenly made so much sense. The scars on her wrists, the tear streaks constantly down her cheeks - she was bullied. By people she thought were her friends."
Maralie looked up at the sky, watching the clouds move slowly in every which way. "And the worst thing is, she couldn't tell me. I thought she trusted me. But... she didn't. And it hurt, Death.
"So I tried a few times. When I really got depressed. Most of the time I'd spend in my room, just staring at the wall, or out the window. Then... excuse this for being cliché, but I found One Direction. They helped me through it."
She smiled, and her eyes sparkled with tears. "I prefer to keep to myself. I hate people worrying about me."

Death was appalled. There was no other word. "Mars, I jumped off a bloody cliff for Gods sake! I killed myself! But you want to know what the worst bit is about being dead? You are lost in the darkness. You can't find the light." She started to cry. "I know what it is bloody like to loose a loved one! Ian! Ren! Mum! Serpine! You guys now are my only friends! I leave a trail of the dead behind me! I swear to the Golden God, Mars, if you ever do that again..." She left the threat open, well, that's what she told herself; she was sobbing too hard to breathe.

Maralie turned sharply and stared at Death. "My whole family is gone, Death," she said emotionlessly. "Lottie, Daisy, Josh, Mum, Dad. Everyone. Because of me and my stupid magic!"
She disappeared and reappeared almost instantly in a nearby tree.
"This," Maralie hissed, "is the cause of all my pain! This is why Lottie died! Dai, Josh, Mama and Dad, they died because of me!"
She reappeared beside Death and crumbled to the ground, sobbing. "I've killed everyone dear to me, Death! I don't... I shouldn't..." she was cut off by more sobs.