Hello beautiful readers! I'm excited about this one; I'm in the middle of another Soul Eater obsession phase, and now that I've finished my other fic I can finally stretch my creative muscles with my favorite meister/ weapon pair. (I said I was taking a break, and while I meant it to be longer, I've already got a couple parts done for this. Whoops.)

This is intended to be canonverse, a few years after the manga, but I'm going with AU since I'm still working on rereading it and don't remember what all happened. (Also, please forgive me if I bounce back and forth between the manga and anime words for things. I'm terrible at using the manga terms.) For this story, Kid has taken over his father's place as Lord Death, Spirit has agreed to take over Oceania for a while, and Soul is the resident Death Scythe, but he still primarily works with Maka for missions.

Also, I am a SoMa lover all the freaking way. I can see the argument for some other pairings, but I'd never write them that way. While I honestly think they would have broached a conversation about their feelings after the incidents in the Book of Eibon, for my purposes here, they haven't talked about it yet. If they had, this story would end up being 50% smut and that's not my goal here.

Thanks in advance for any favorites, follows, or reviews. As always, happy reading!

I own only the plot of this story.

"... and I told Kid he should take a break because Liz and Patty miss going on missions with him. Not that he listened, obviously." Maka stretched her legs, careful to maintain her balance as she and Soul and flew over the rolling desert landscape.

"Did you consider suggesting a real break, not just one where he gets to do more work?" Soul's tone came through drier than the desert below them and Maka almost wished he was in human form so she could smack him.

"It's different. You know as well as I do that it gets boring going too long between missions."

"Yeah, but it's not like he's lazing around. He's busy all the time now."

"Which is exactly why he needs a break," Maka said, throwing her hands up. "He should have come out here himself with the girls and gotten away from Death City for a day."

"Being Shinigami is a big responsibility. He can't just drop everything and run around wherever he wants."

Maka sighed. "Shinigami or not, he's going to work himself into an early grave if he doesn't relax every once in a while."

The giant red eye on Soul's scythe form rolled, but Maka didn't see it. "So, how far away are we?"

"Not too far I don't think." Maka closed her eyes and reached out with her soul perception. "It's about two more miles. Kid wasn't sure how much of the structure had been exposed, so maybe we should make the end of the trip on foot, in case anyone is around to see, not that I sense anyone yet."

"Good idea. Just say when." Very soon, Maka could see a shape in the distance that was noticeably different from its surroundings.

They landed behind a dune so the glow from Soul's transformation wouldn't be as noticeable. Maka took a moment to stretch out, her red plaid skirt riding up some as she reached down to her toes. She wore a white button down under her long black coat with her heavy combat boots. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail; she was still getting used to the change, but she'd noticed recently that she got less hair in her face during battle that way. It felt weird to not be in her Spartoi uniform, but they hadn't had much time to get to the plane, so changing hadn't been a priority.

Soul wore his favorite leather jacket over an orange t-shirt with dark jeans and shoes. His hair was as spiky as always pulled back in a thick black headband. He landed in a crouch as he came out of weapon form and slowly stood as he stretched out his body. "Man, I know we can fly now, but that doesn't mean we should always have to make so much of the trip on our own." His eyes briefly skimmed over his meister as she stretched, before he shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking.

"We got to take a plane over the ocean this time at least," Maka said as she caught up. "Plus, there's a rental car waiting for us for the return trip. Kid said it was important for us to get out here as soon as possible, that's the only reason we didn't drive."

"Yeah, but my back hurts after being in weapon form for so many hours," he grumbled. "Any chance I can get you to rub it when we get back?"

"I'll do yours if you do mine."

He grumbled a little, but she only caught something about it not being as difficult to ride.

"As if," she scoffed. "It's no picnic balancing on you while we fly, you know. I don't know how witches do it, but it is not easy."

Soul sighed, but didn't say anything else as they walked, occasionally twisting his torso to stretch his back. As they approached, they could clearly see the structure that had being revealed by the shifting dunes.

It was much plainer than some of the other desert structures they'd seen over the years. It was about two stories high, and skinny- only about a dozen feet wide. As they approached they could see one opening facing them at ground level and four window-like openings on the second floor. The strangest detail, though, was the fact that the building was made from some sort of gray stone, instead of the usual limestone. Maka made a cursory scan as they approached, but she couldn't sense any wavelengths near the building. As they looked inside the doorway, they found a plain, empty room with a spiral staircase in the center that led downwards. "Maka, can you sense anyone down there?" Soul whispered.

Maka closed her eyes and reached out with her soul perception again. She frowned when she encountered static. It felt like there was some sort of barrier making her perception bounce back at her, but she continued to try and break through it. Warmth on her shoulders startled her for a moment, but she realized it was only Soul's hands. When his soul reached out to hers, she searched again, and with his help she was able to punch through. It only lasted a moment before she was forced out again.

"What was that?" Soul asked. "It felt weird."

"I'm not sure, but you did help me break through. I only found one soul response down there. I can't be certain it's the witch, but it feels like a good bet."

"Then let's get going," he said as he held out his hand.

"Right." As their hands met, she watched the familiar flash as Soul transformed into his scythe form.

"I'll shorten my blade for now so I can make it down those stairs."

Maka nodded as the blade shrunk before she started down the steps. It only took a few minutes for them to make it to the bottom. As Maka's foot met the stone floor, torches lit up in the space around them.

"Hellooo! I'm so glad you're finally here!" A high voice sang at them from down a shadowed hallway across from them. Maka paused as she scanned the room.

"I don't see anything in here," she whispered.

"Me either." Maka continued to contemplate the room as the hallway suddenly lit up.

"Sorry, I forgot to turn on the other lights. Come on, I'm waiting for you!"

"I don't like this," Soul said.

"Me either, but we don't have any choice. We've lost the element of surprise, but we still have a job to do." With a deep breath, Maka started making her way down the hallway. It gently curved left for a while, then suddenly turned right after a hundred feet or so. As they entered the room, torches lit up all over the walls. The room was enormous, around three stories tall and over a hundred feet long. Maka remained in the doorway as she studied the room. Platforms and pillars of varying heights were scattered around the space. "What the hell is this?" Maka whispered.

"Aw, who are you?" a voice asked from the side. Maka turned towards the voice, but saw nothing.

"I'm Maka Albarn, three star scythe meister, and this Death's Last Weapon, Soul 'Eater' Evans." Maka's grip tightened as she took a step forward. "How about you quit this hide and seek nonsense and face me."

"I didn't invite you here little girl, you can leave now." The voice had moved to the other side of the room.

"Tough for you, because we were sent here to get your soul. I assume you're the scorpion witch, Orsch?"

A small whirlwind of sand started and coalesced on top of one of the pillars near the far wall. A young woman, probably around Maka's age, was revealed as the sand disappeared, wearing a pair of tan overalls over a white t-shirt. The hat she wore had two shapes sticking up on the sides that looked like pinchers and a large tail came up from behind her that hung threateningly over her head. The tan boots on her feet came up to her knee and had three protrusions coming out of the sides that looked like little legs. "You would be correct, I am the scorpion witch Orsch. I can't say I'm pleased to meet you, since I never invited you here. Where is that little Shinigami? He was supposed to be the one that answered my summons."

What summons, Maka wondered, but she didn't acknowledge the witch's comment out loud. "He's a little busy, being a Shinigami and all. Don't worry, though, part of you will see him soon enough."

The witch watched Maka as she hopped onto one of the pillars. "Wait a minute. Did you say Maka?" Her face lit up as she clapped her hands together once. "Oh, you're meister Maka, the creator of the Last Death Weapon!" She lowered her stance a little as she spread her arms. "Well, it isn't who I was hoping for, but this will do just as well."

"You ready, Maka?" Soul's reflection appeared on the blade, his usual smirk in place.

Maka's smirk matched his. "Always." She stood up straight, finger raised to point at the witch. "Scorpion Witch Orsch, you are accused of murdering humans and collecting their souls, a direct violation of the agreement established between the witches and Shinigami. Under the order of Shinigami, I am here to deliver your punishment. Your soul is mine!"