Beloved Helpless
Chapter 14
"Uh Patty, I don't know about this." He was overheating. Pete's whole being was hot, his metal, his soul, it was scorching and he was sure Patty's hands were probably burning at this point. They had tried to get to the school, but the route they'd taken ended up a dead end and by then Patty's friends had all gone their own way. They had torched three witches on their way here, but now, now it was bad. Another dead end blocked their way and five witches were preparing for a combined attack. There was nowhere to run.
"I'm not going to quit now." Patty panted, her seared hands shaking a bit from the adrenalin. "We should try."
"You don't mean re…resonance, do you? I'm already really hot, I don't want to-"
Patty tightened her grip on his handles. "I'm gunna hurt lots more when I'm dead so just stop yammering and do it!"
"I can't. I can't hurt you." Pete gave her an apologetic look from his reflection.
"You don't even know me! We just met, just do it!"
"It doesn't matter! I'm not that kind of person! I never hurt my meister no matter who they are, no matter what!"
"Stupid!" Patty rushed forward, prepared to just hit the witches with the flame thrower. "Sometimes you have to hurt people to protect someone!" She jumped to the right to barely avoid the glowing purple ball the five had prepared for her. The moment the attack sped past, Patty jumped from the rubble she had used for cover and managed to send one witch flying with a hit to the face with Pete and his scorching nozzle. Patty's proud grin didn't last, two magical attacks sent her back into the pile of rubble, hitting her back hard on broken stones.
"Patty! I'm sorry, I'll try harder!" Pete shifted out. "You're ok, right? Get up."
"You're not good. At fighting." She groaned, but her pained and annoyed expression turned wide eyed as she stared over his shoulder. "Pete, change back."
"They're behind me, aren't they?" He started to shake.
"If you wanna live, then change back, dummy! Don't you wanna live to see your real meister?" Pete switched then, but it was too late. The witches had already cast their spells. Patty screamed as she let out a burst of fire, the flames pushing the attack back in an explosion of light and heat. The heat was unbearable, and Patty could feel it prickle the skin along the outsides of her arms. Every second more excruciating than the last, still she pushed forward, yelling with all her might as she forced her rage, her determination, her will through Pete. It was enough, the attack dissipated before reaching her, but the flame thrower fell from Patty's shaking, scorched arms. She fell to her knees, staring wide eyed at the red and raw marks that coated her palms and down her arms. She couldn't even bend her fingers from the pain.
Pete shifted out and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her up. "You said you weren't going to give up! There was someone you wanted to protect!" Behind him, the witches readied another attack. "C'mon, Patty! We have to go!" She still wasn't moving and Pete closed his eyes knowing they had taken too long. It was too late to escape now.
"Hey you stupid witches!" The attack hadn't come, the four witches turning their heads instead to glare up at the blue haired boy on the nearby rooftop. "That's right, gaze upon my glory!" When one witch lobbed an attack at him, Black Star leaped from the roof, landing in front of one, flashing her a smile before sending her flying into a nearby wall. Tsubaki had snuck up on the others while Black Star had distracted them and with a shovel knocked out two. The remaining witch backed up before running as fast as she could from them.
"That's right! Run! I'll kill you later!" Hands on his hips, he let out a loud laugh as Tsubaki hurried over to where Pete was kneeling next to Patty.
"Patty, are you hurt?" It was a pointless question. Patty's cheeks were soaked with tears, partly from the pain, but more from the frustration that was clear on her face.
"I need to find Kid, I have to make sure he's ok! Now I-I..."
"It's going to be ok." Tsubaki stroked Patty's hair before pulling from a bag on her shoulder a medical kit. "This is from Alexi's group. Pete do you know how to wrap her arms?"
"Uh yeah, I think." The weapon was doing his best not to cry himself. Patty's burns were his fault, her tears were his fault.
"Watch me, just in case." Tsubaki opened the kit and opened a tube of ointment.
"You might not be able to go after Kid right now, but I know how you can still help." Black Star had perched himself on the top of the rubble pile they were in. "More humans are coming in from the north. We were going to go and kick the gate down, but you guys can do that now." Giving them the assignment meant that he and Tsubaki could go back to kicking ass.
"Yeah, however we can help." Pete nodded, rubbing at his eyes.
"No! I have to find Kid, I promised Liz I'd take care of him! I promised!" Patty jerked her arm away from Tsubaki, despite the pain. "I can't just sit at some gate!"
"You don't have to stay at the gate." Tsubaki sighed, her concern clear on her face. "You could just open it and leave, but there's no guarantee that witches won't see it open and close it again once you leave. If our reinforcements can't get into the city, no one's going to be able to help Kid."
Black Star looked away from the group, not wanting any guilt to show on his face and for a moment he wondered how Kid would react once they won. He'd probably have to leave for what he had done to Kid in order to save Tsubaki. Not that it mattered, it wasn't like he was a meister anymore.
"All this talking is getting annoying." Black Star jumped down. "Either you open the gate or you don't. It's your job now. C'mon, Tsubaki." His partner sighed and handed Pete the medical supplies with an apologetic look before picking up her shovel and walking to Black Star's side.
"Good luck, both of you." She smiled at them. They only got a few steps before Black Star stopped and pointed at Patty.
"You might not be able to fight how you want, but you're alive! Keep fighting until you're in the ground!"
Patty's angry expression softened at that as she really looked at them and noticed the knife in Black Star's belt and the shovel in Tsubaki's hands. He hadn't used her at all. Tsubaki had been feeling bad in the truck on the way to the city, could she have...? The encouraging smile on Tsubaki's face and the still hopeful look in her eyes seemed to confirm her worries. If they could still fight, she should try too.
With a deep breath, Patty puffed up her chest and nodded. "Patty will do her best!"
As they hurried back to the battle line, Black Star glanced up at the broken school. If he had a choice, he'd run right up there and take the witch head on, but it felt off. The timing wasn't right, the stage wasn't ready yet. Besides, those poor humans would be lost without his god-like leadership. Kicking in witch-faces was pretty damn fun too. Nothing wrong with having some fun before the real fight. Right?
Alexi groaned, slipping down a wall in the streets of Death City. His men had gone on without him, continuing his commands. They had pushed a good number of witches towards the south end of the city, along with the help of the weapons and a few lucky freed or rescued technicians. He, however, was out of luck. With no more ammunition and an injury across his midsection, it looked as though it was time for him to pay his due. All he had wanted was for his people to be safe and still have something to eat. He wanted to be stronger to protect them and had sold his soul to a witch instead. Hundreds dead, hundreds of lives destroyed and now all of this... he deserved much worse. To share the same dust as these innocent children fighting for their home, to have his blood mingle with theirs in the soil was too much of an honor. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes, trying to summon the image of his village in his mind. It was comforting, as if the mere thought of home filled him with warmth, taking away the pain.
"Hurry up, Kim. There's more coming." The female voice caused Alexi to peek open an eye, and to his surprise there was a pink haired girl crouching beside him, her hands glowing. The taller dark haired girl behind her glanced over her shoulder at them. "That's good enough. We need to meet back up with Ox."
"Right." Kim went to stand, but Alexi grabbed her wrist.
"You are a witch."
Jackie was over Alexi in a moment, her hand transformed into the end of her lantern, flames licking the metal edge. "You better let go of her right now." Alexi did as told, the hand that had grabbed Kim now going to his midsection to find it healed.
"Yes, I'm a witch. But I'm a Shibusen student first." Kim rubbed her wrist.
"You don't need to explain anything to him. Come on." Jackie lowered her hand, beginning to walk away.
"You are a witch, but a Shibusen student as well? You kill your own kind?" Alexi sat up as Kim stepped back.
"Things are not that easy to define." There was a remorseful look on the girl's face. "I do what I think is best."
It was hard to tell if he could trust her. Yes, she did just heal him, but he had thought that Medusa was helping him as well before she turned on him. Still, he couldn't deny that he needed her. "My men need help. If you could, I would be glad."
"We were doing that already." Jackie frowned at him before taking Kim's hand, leading her away. As they were leaving, he could hear her say to Kim "I didn't like that guy."
"You don't like most army guys." Kim smiled back at her. Shibusen students were so strange.
It had only been a matter of time. Maka had done all she could to hide, evade, somehow find her way out of the school, but that hope was gone now. Stein had been toying with her from the start. He would let her get away, let her hide and rest for moment to just effortlessly find her again, chase her until she could no longer run. And then, when she had fallen, he'd punish her with his scalpel. This was the third round of this cat and mouse game and the cat was growing bored.
It was better without banter. He could concentrate on listening to her panting, her body's desperate breathing, her lungs clinging to each exchange in fear of their last breath. He could feel her pulse pounding loudly in her weakening wavelength, almost like an audible drum roll. Maka was such a bright girl after all. She must have known the game was over now. Her body knew it before he'd even done anything. It was so painfully alive he wondered how the girl could stand it and marveled at how she still somehow managed to struggle against his grip, an arm wrapped around her waist from behind.
"Professor Stein, please..."
"What is it that you want? Freedom?" He snickered at the word. "I can give you freedom."
The school stood tall and tattered over Soul and he paused for a moment to take it in. It wasn't as though he didn't think that the past events were real, but they suddenly had so much more gravity when such an icon laid in ruin.
"What are you doing?" Spirit pushed his shoulder, bringing Soul back from his thoughts. "We gotta get in there and find her, remember?"
"Yeah. I'm right behind you." They split up on the first floor. Even in the brokenness of their great school, it remained massive.
"I know you're still in there." Maka whispered. "I know you really don't want to do this." Stein tossed her hard to the floor and before Maka could scramble away, he straddled her hips and soul sutured her arms and legs to the floor.
"I had hoped for so much more fight from you."
"I know you can fight the insanity-" Maka's words were cut short as Stein sutured her mouth closed as well.
"Enough distractions." His broad, skilled hands pushed her torn and bloodied shirt up to her ribs. Such young, pale flesh. He only took it in for a moment before taking his blade and pressing it deep at her left side near her hip.
The halls were torn, vandalized and abandoned; and as Soul ran, he struggled to keep calm. The destruction lead to a broken stairwell that he half ran, half climbed up, traversing the shattered concrete and rebar. She had to be here, she had to be waiting somewhere. He pulled himself up to the second floor. These were the halls they had walked down, when the world still held some brightness. These were the halls that had given him purpose. This was the place they had shared and the memories blurred like ghosts over the torn doors and shards of glass and flickering lights.
He stopped suddenly after the next turn. The world stopped, his breath, his hearing, Soul's awareness ended at the edge of the pool of blood around her body. One, two, he held his eyes closed, praying on his pounding heart that it was just his mind playing tricks on him. When he dared to open them again, there Maka remained. She was on her side, one pigtail undone, leaving her hair to fall and shield her face from him. And there was blood. Thick, rich and dark around her still form.
Concrete limbs jerked, one knee lifted on its own accord and his breathless body moved closer. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. His mind couldn't recall the movements that took him to her, but the sudden impact of his knees with the broken tiles of the hallway somehow shook Soul from this stunned numbness. Slow motions turned into frantic movements as he pulled her into his arms. She was too cold, too still. This wasn't real.
The wound was deep on the side of her body, the blood a bit warmer than her skin. Brushing her hair from her crimson spattered cheek, Soul took a deep breath and studied her with watering eyes.
"Maka." A word whispered on the exhale of his breath. "Maka, please..." Words choked from a constricting throat. She didn't respond. She didn't move. With too much fear to describe, Soul pressed his fingers to her thin, pale neck. Weakly, her pulse pushed back and he let out a shuddering sigh of relief.
"Maka, c'mon, wake up." His words, she could hear them on the edge of the cold darkness. She wanted to open them, just to see if he was real. But she was tired. Maka had fought, and fought and fought. Rest would be ok. Rest was best. Besides...he probably wasn't real anyway.
Whatever arms she really was in squeezed her a little tighter. "Maka, please. Open your eyes." It sounded like him, it felt like him. But she was probably dying and the brain did funny things in these stages. But. If he was just a last effort for her mind to provide her some comfort, then surely if she opened her eyes, she'd see him. The pain of pulling her sore eyelids up made her cringe, but there over her was a sweet glowing light; warm and chasing away the darkness with its protective halo.
"Soul..?" When Maka reached out to take the orb into her hand, she felt her fingers touch the firm warmth of his chest. Those fingertips spread and moved up to find his neck, brush the strands of his hair and cup the tear soaked cheek she couldn't see.
"I-I'm so sorry. I should have gotten here faster. I could have tried harder." His voice, that terrible, broken sadness in his words. They weren't anything her brain could have conjured. This warmth of his body, the wetness of his tears, the strength of the arms that held her close. He was here, a moment too late and cruelly she couldn't even take in whatever pained expression was on his face. There was just the glow of his shuddering soul, flickering in her failing perception. And somehow she smiled, and injured eyes managed to gather moisture.
Her fingers trailed from his cheek to his frowning lips. "You're here. That's all...that matters. I am happy."
His hand touched hers and softly, Soul moved it away so as to whisper "I made it back, like I promised." Maka let out a small, weak gasp when she felt him lean down and kiss her cheek, then gently press his lips against hers.
'Tell me when you get back.'
"I love you."
Those words; so short, so simple in their composition. Words she thought would never be aimed at her, words she guessed she'd never be able to hear from his lips. The pain and tiredness disappeared then. Nothing else mattered and there was just him in all the fading world. Life and death had no meaning in the presence of those precious words and the light of his soul. Maka moved her lips to reply but the air, the strength wasn't there. There was just comforting warmth. Everything was ok. Her fight was over, he was there, Soul had come back. She was loved.
...She was loved...
"Maka?" She hadn't said anything in response and the soft brush of her exhaled breath had faded. Soul quickly sat upright to find her gazing at him with dull half closed eyes, a soft smile on her lips...her chest no longer rising.
"Maka!" He stood to his feet and turned around, running down the hall with her held tightly to him. But where could he go? What hope could he possibly find? Outside these halls was a crumbling city filled with witches and battles. There was no safe place. No medic. No help for the two trembling, failing young heroes.
He stumbled and again fell to his knees. "Someone help! Please!" His voice called out, desperation clear. Silence echoed back. Shaking, Soul glanced down at Maka; her soul had not yet emerged but it would only be moments. It was over. Everything that ever mattered was dying in his arms.
Playing house was done. - It really was all just borrowed time.
"You're just going to give up?" The familiar snickering tone of the imp brought Soul's vision from his bleeding meister and the broken hall to the tiny black room within himself. He didn't have the strength to argue with the creature. Soul stood there, blank, broken, eyes locked on the black and white tile floor.
"You're not too smart, you know." The imp crossed his arms, looking up at Soul. "Black blood has a lot of benefits. With a bit of help from me, I could help you force one last resonance with her and the black sticky stuff can patch up all her holes." Rather than the normal instant retort that Soul usually offered, there was a small moment of silence between them. The small demon tilted one ear closer, waiting for a reply.
When Soul's answer was a quiet "Alright," it made the little monster's jaw drop slightly. Obviously he had misheard the insolent human, or maybe the boy didn't understand what was at stake here.
"Alright? Just alright? You know that favor you promised me before's gunna be upped to something big now, right? I don't work for free."
"Do what you want. Just save her." Soul's words lingered in the air, but he couldn't bring himself to regret them, or draw them back.
"Even if it's your soul I want?" The hungry grin the demon gave him still didn't phase Soul. All he could do was nod. The price had been obvious from the start, and yet, he'd pay it. For Maka, Soul would pay anything. The imp reached up a massive hand and patted Soul's back, laughter in its voice. "It was fun playing with you, boy. You put up a good fight. Just walk right that way and I'll take care of the rest." His long red finger pointed to the darkness in the back of the room that lay just past the glow of the candles on their long, bent staffs.
As Soul took his first step over the tiles, he paid no attention to how the demon was laughing behind him. Instead, he thought of music, a symphony, and tried to imagine what sort of melody his life would have amounted to if memories could be notes and years musical measures. As he walked past the piano, his fingers slid over the glossy, curved surface. He had traded all of his shame and regret for purpose and happiness with Maka. He had changed his loneliness into the friendships he had in Shibusen. In the end, hands that had struggled to compose held the hands of those that stood for something right.
It was a cool, short, unfinished symphony. Composed for just one girl.
The warm expansive dark contentment that Maka had found herself in before was pushed away in one shock wave of white light. All darkness was gone as it engulfed her. Tiredness and pain disappeared and strength returned to her limbs. Breath filled her lungs again and slowly, Maka opened her eyes to see the cracked ceiling of the hallway. Her hand raised and stretched in her clearing vision. It was then Maka sat up, catching Soul's shadow slip around the corner at the end of the hall.
"Soul?" There was no reply or returning footsteps. Without much trouble and without pain, Maka stood, too focused on following him to notice her new sight or the absence of her wounds. As she quickened her pace, the easy stride caught her attention. The colors and twisted forms of the lockers and debris around her was clear in her sight. He had done this. He had healed her somehow. "Soul wait!" The corner was just a step ahead. When she'd turn it, he'd be there, just a bit ahead. He was back, she was ok, maybe things would work out after all.
But there was nothing. Around the corner was just an empty stretch of the school. Fine, if he was going to be stubborn and not wait, she could just use perception and figure out where he was going. It would be easy to feel his familiar presence. But there was nothing. She couldn't feel him. Not in the building. Not within the block. Not within the city. Soul was gone.
"That..." She leaned against the wall. "That can't be. I was sure..." The flicker of hope that had brought warmth to her cheeks vanished. She couldn't have imagined it. He had found her. He had held her in his arms. She felt his skin, his tears, his soul. She heard his words...those words. She couldn't have possibly imagined it all, could she have? No. How else could she be alive right now? He had to have been there.
"Maka?" Spirit rushed over to her, alarmed by all the blood stains on her clothes. "Maka, are you alright?" He touched her shoulder and Maka's eyes met his, wide and wet.
"Papa, Soul was here, wasn't he? He came back with you, didn't he?" It wasn't quite the reaction he had expected from her, but just hearing her voice again brought a smile to his lips.
"Yeah, he should have come by this way already. You haven't bumped into one another?" Maka turned away then and began to jog down the hallway. "Wait, that's the wrong way!"
"I knew I saw him, I knew it. My perception must be off from everything. I should have guessed."
"Wait for Papa!"
"He's probably already on the ground floor by now. I gotta catch up. I gotta catch up." There was a window at the end of the hallway. That would be the fastest way. She grabbed a broken tile and threw it out the window before climbing onto the sill. "Soul wait up!"
Spirit grabbed her arm and jerked her off the window sill and into his arms. "Maka, what's gotten into you?" He flinched as she began to struggle in his grip, her hands clawing to grab the window again.
"I have to go, I have to catch up! He was here, he was here! Let go! I need to follow him!"
Spirit turned Maka to face him then, grasped her arms firmly and shook her. "Stop it! Throwing yourself out of a window's not going to help you catch anyone. You'll just end up dead." Her struggling stopped at that and he pulled his daughter to his chest. "I'm so glad that you're alright. Papa was so worried." Maka began coughing then, feeling something thick come up and sour her mouth with its bitter flavor and gritty texture. Her father let go enough to allow Maka to wipe her mouth and see the black smear left behind.
Black blood. Now she was certain Soul had truly been there. The need to throw herself out the window had calmed and with a thankful grin, Maka looked back up at her father. "Thank you, Papa. I need to go find Soul now."
"No, we're supposed to regroup. The human forces from the north should have gotten here by now-"
"I'm not coming, not without my weapon."
"Soul will show up. We have bigger objectives."
"Soul is my objective." Her words were sharper than her glare. "I'm not joining any side without him. He's saved my life-"
"Maka now's not the time-"
"You don't understand! I was dead, I was on the floor, I was gone and he brought me back! Like before, he saved my life and I'm not just going to shrug it off and leave! I'm going to find him!" Spirit withdrew the hand he had meant to touch her shoulder. He recognized that fire in her eyes, it burned like her mother's, and there'd be no way to convince her otherwise.
With a deep breath, he sighed and stuffed his hands back into his pockets. "It's too dangerous for you to go alone."
"All this shouting. For such promising soldiers like the both of you, you're not that careful about giving away your location." Stein's menacing laughter that followed made both of the Albarns turn around in alarm. As Stein's laughter grew louder and distorted, he began to crank his screw, the ratcheting only adding to the growing tension. Maka could feel the shudder run through her father's soul.
"A-ah, Stein, good to see you're ok." Spirit began but Maka quickly nudged him.
"He's insane, Papa."
"Yeah, I can see. Maybe a bit more than usual."
"It's not nice to talk about someone as though they're not there." Stein let his hand fall from his screw. "What kind of example are you setting for your daughter?"
"He blinded me earlier and would have killed me if Soul hadn't come." Maka continued. Well, that changed everything. Spirit's fearful expression switched directly into anger. His hunched position shifted into one of authority with his chest puffed out, fists balled at his sides.
"You hurt my Maka and I can't forgive that, no matter who you are!"
"Oh good!" Stein laughed. "I'm glad. Don't hold back, I want to feel proud when I dissect your corpse."
That said, Spirit rushed forward, bladed arms gleaming. His training knew that Stein was now a threat that needed to be subdued or taken out, but...this was Stein. A friend, a partner in times of necessity. It shouldn't be like this. It helped that he knew Stein's fighting technique, he had seen all of his moves from every swung angle. As Stein moved to sweep Spirit's feet out from under him, the deathscythe jumped to avoid it. When Stein didn't follow the motion through and grabbed Spirit's throat instead, it was clear that things were different. Stein was so far gone, the technique was much more brutal.
Hand clasped tightly around Spirit's neck, he prepared a shock, but gave pause when Maka landed a kick to the man's back. Instead of losing his grip or falling forward, Stein hardly moved from the blow.
Instead he laughed and slowly turned to look at her from over his shoulder. "Is that the best my star pupil can do?" And before Maka could reply, Spirit's cry of pain followed along with the crackling of the soul pulse flowing directly through his neck.
"Papa!" There had to be a way out of this that didn't mean losing either of them. "Professor Stein, I know you're still there, you can stop this! You can fight back the insanity!"
Stein tossed Spirit away like a rag doll, turning all his attention to Maka. Still, she continued. "You taught us all to have the courage to fight, I know you can too. You don't want to hurt my dad. You two are friends! You were partners, you care about one anoth-" In her speech, Maka couldn't duck fast enough to avoid the backhand that sent her to the floor.
"Stupid child spouting nonsense about things she can't imagine. What do you know about me? About my past? Nothing. You just follow because you're told."
"That's not true." Maka wiped the blood from her split bottom lip. "We are sanity. We are light and I know there's still light and sanity in you."
It was enough of an opening. While Stein was busy with Maka, Spirit had struggled to his feet and rushed at the man's back with a blade ready. He could have run him through, but he hesitated and that hesitation allowed Stein to turn, grab Spirit's shirt and throw him at Maka. She moved out of the way, but just barely.
"I've wasted enough time on the both of you." Stein frowned. He approached and Maka stood. She had no other choice but to fight back, but there still had to be a way to reach him. Unarmed, however, she'd never find that way.
"Papa, transform."
"Wh..what?" He must have hit his head too hard, or the electric ringing in his ears was messing with him.
"Transform now! We have to fight." His baby girl, who months ago had hated his guts, wanted to wield him? She didn't have to ask twice.
Maka nearly dropped the weapon at first, Spirit was nothing like Soul who was light in her hands. He was heavy and his wavelength buzzed with static as she attempted to find a frequency they could meet on. And he was big, in physical form and the size of his soul. It would have overwhelmed her at once if she hadn't heard his encouraging voice.
"Don't worry, Papa's here. Just relax. You can do it." Locked away memories of him holding her as a small child, laughing, helping her learn to walk flashed back. 'It's ok, Papa's here. You can do it.'
"Can you shorten? You're too big to wield in the hall." She asked, backing up from the still approaching Stein. Spirit's staff and blade shrunk to a much more manageable size. The moment the size change finished, Maka could feel it rise. Their desire to reach him, their desire to bring this whole nightmare to an end, their mourning, their fears, their pain matching up. She was Maka Albarn, meister and daughter of the scythe. She had already been through hell. There was nothing left to fear.
"You've reached it." Stein's smile twisted. "The edge of sanity."
"We'll teeter off and bring you back with us!" Maka rushed forward, her grip sure on her weapon. For now, she steeled her thoughts on her target. It would be easy for her mind to wander to how she wished it was Soul in her hands, or the memory of all the pain Stein had already put her though.
Stein waited for them and easily dodged her upward swing. "So easy to read." He shook his head in disappointment. Focus filled Maka's being, eyes locked on his soul, her heart filled with anger. Anger towards all of this, rage for the death of the happy days before. Instead of allowing the black blood to finish leaving her system, it boiled the substance within her veins. It was never supposed to be like this and she'd give anything to make it right. Anything to return to how things were. Strength. She needed strength.
"Maka, duck!" Spirit had been alarmed by the dark coldness creeping his way from his daughter, but his alarm sparked when she stood there and took a hit from Stein. The open palm jab to the girl's jaw didn't even phase Maka, it had hardly even turned her face. In his surprise, Stein met her eyes and laughed, recognizing the madness beginning to cloud the spring green. His laughter was cut short when she swung Spirit's staff end against his ribs. Pain. It felt nice. He wanted more. To give, to receive, to spread!
Blow after blow was exchanged between the two and with each hit received or given, Maka was forgetting her objective. Instead of reaching him, she wanted him to feel her pain, her anger. Her world was gone, Soul was missing, she had nearly been killed and Stein had let it happen to some extent hadn't he? He was to blame. Even if just a bit, he was guilty and that deserved punishment. He deserved death. Her attacks were no longer with the cross side of Spirit's blade or staff but with the slick dark edge.
In her haze, Maka had become faster, better able to read his attacks. She was far more reckless and three times as ruthless. Spirit knew, he could feel the insanity creeping in over the wavelength. Stein had swung his hand out to grab the girl's throat and Maka had swung Spirit towards the man's chest when Spirit moved his torso from his blade and grabbed them both by the ear lobes.
"Enough! I WON'T lose you both!"
Stein's hand had grabbed Maka's throat, her free hand grabbing his wrist and in that moment, the three had become a ring. Her father's words, his fear and care coursing back through her, Maka gasped, feeling it clear the cloudiness from her thoughts. This was the moment. Closing her eyes, she initiated resonance with both. The connection sparked and fought before the world disappeared into unconsciousness. It was only three minutes later when Maka opened her eyes to find that her father and Stein were still in resonance.
"Papa?" She shook him but he didn't respond. Her perception let her see that their connection was helping. Stein's corruption was beginning to withdraw. For now, all Maka could do was sit and wait, one of their hands in hers.
This had gone on long enough. Snakes in select witches and those she had allowed to wander on their own were all reporting in the same results. The human forces were pushing her army to the south end of the city and those left in the school were failing to keep the captured meisters from escaping. Even Stein was failing at his order to destroy Maka and now she was armed with a deathscythe. At this rate-no. She would not progress this far only to lose. She'd suffer no further insult to her power.
The still form of the last Shinigami forgotten, Medusa stood from her throne and where her shadow fell, darkness spread. It crawled up the walls and across the floor, twisting and writhing its tendrils over every surface. Its inky grip slipped over Kid's sleeping body, engulfing the room as Medusa walked over the crumbled guillotines. The broken forms dissolved and disappeared under the black blanket. She'd erase every last bit of evidence of Shibusen, every hope of any sort of escape from her influence. At the edge of the room, Medusa paused, lips finally curling into a grin.
If they wanted death, if they wanted pain, Medusa would be more than happy to oblige. She'd kill every last one of them. Graceful fingers slipped up her inner arm before fingernails, painted black, slid back down, parting the soft flesh. A sweet gasp, a twitch of her lips and slowly Ragnarok was unsheathed from her arm. Unlike the blade that had been wielded by her child, this demon sword was the sort of black that seemed to command the light around it, swallowing color and hope. From its edge, the silent weapon continued to drip black blood upon the floor, only to expand and join the growing darkness behind her.
In the skies above the burning city, thick black clouds quickly gathered, blocking out the last hints of sunlight. The fires that still burned lit the streets as the battle continued. From their position on the city's wall at the north gate, Pete watched as magical attacks cast shadows and colored light, flashing and dying out like multicolored lightning bugs in the broken and jagged skyline.
"Hey Patty, do you think it's going to rain?" He looked over his shoulder at her. She didn't seem to hear him, her eyes squinting, scanning the horizon for the human troops promised by Alexi Mirkov. It was tempting to make a torch out of the nearby broken pieces of wood, but it may give away their position, so Pete settled on scooting a little closer to her.
"How's your arms doing?" He couldn't hide his guilt as he tried to see in the dim light if her bandages remained white or needed changing.
"Patty's busy." She didn't glance his way, her face still locked in determination. Pete sighed and sat with the wall at his back. Heavy silence settled between them until she finally said. "I'm not mad at you."
"Well, it is my fault." Cheek in hand, Pete continued to watch the flashes of light and the fires glitter through the city. For just a little bit, he allowed himself to pretend it was really fireworks and the smoke was from a hundred barbeques, the ashes just gray confetti. For just a bit, everything was ok and he was back home with-
"What's your meister like?" Patty asked, breaking his train of thought. She had meant to ask, but with things how they were... Pete shifted a bit, pulling his knees up to his chest.
"Her name was Tanya."
The past tense caught Patty's attention and for a moment, she turned her eyes from the dessert. "Was?"
"She died from an unrelated accident six months before all of this happened. I had just gotten back from leave for reassignment when all of this happened. We hadn't been together for too long, so it's ok." It wasn't, and he was sure she could hear it in his voice. "I'm pretty sure I'm doing what she'd want me to do."
His eyes left the city to Patty when she knelt next to him and leaned her chest against his shoulder. "This is me giving you a hug." Her arms still burnt and injured, actually hugging him was out of the question. She let out a small giggle before her eyes watered on their own, her smile aching her cheeks. "Patty just lost someone too, so…" She wanted so much to smile and to laugh in earnest, like before, but even when she tried all it brought up was tears. Pete wrapped an arm around her, rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry." There was nothing else to say. Nothing could make it ok for them. Even if they were to somehow win this war, reclaim the destroyed city and kill every witch in its borders, neither Tanya nor Patty's loved one would come back. It was then he felt something cold and wet hit his hand.
"Patty, are you crying?"
"Only a little bit." She leaned back and rubbed her eyes against her shoulders. "I'm ok." There was another cold, wet drop, on his cheek this time. There was no way it was tears and Pete turned his face up to the sky to feel another drop on his forehead.
"I think it's raining."
"Wha, it's not time for rain here." Patty looked up as well. Sure enough, as soon as Patty had finished speaking, the rain began. The small trickle fell onto opened roofs and the faces of the fallen and for a moment, the flash of attacks stopped in its presence. The torrent that followed could not be ignored. Fires that had blazed for hours and had filled the air with ash now thickened the sky with smoke and steam. Even the heated brick of the ground was giving off vapor. Patty cringed, drawing closer to Pete. Every drop that landed on her arms was painful, the impact like little jabs to her burns.
"It's going to be alright, why don't you stay under here?" Pete pointed to a part of the wall where a section of a nearby building had fallen over, making a ledge.
"But then I can't watch for the back up, and that's my job!"
"It's fine. I can watch. Besides, it's really cold." He could already see her shiver. Patty opened her mouth to argue, but lost the words as she watched the rain run down Pete's face. Not normal, clear rain, but black drops like the dirty water in an artist's paintbrush cup.
"Uh, Patty?" She was still staring at him and he watched her expression turn from surprise to worry then to determination.
"I can handle it. We need to work hard and watch." It never rained black rain, something must be wrong. Her gaze turned back to the outline of Shibusen which faded mostly into the darkness, if it were not for one searchlight still functioning. "Please Kid, be ok."
Smoldering houses began to crumble in the force of the rain and the streets began to flood with its black wash, spilling from the higher sections of the city into the lower ones where battles still raged. Their efforts lit by the few remaining fires and street lamps, humans, weapons, and meisters worked through rising waters and the freezing pounding of the black downpour, pressing the witches ever southward. In the midst of the storm, however, Ox managed to smile.
"Looks like the weather's turning in our favor." Slick hands gripped the chilled metal of his lightning lance. The present storm was buzzing with approaching lightning and the moment it did, they'd be even more powerful. The pulse sent out from the first strike that ripped the air wasn't anything Ox had been expecting. When his breath caught in his throat, Harvar looked to Ox with concern.
"You're safe from any strikes." Not that Harvar seriously thought that was what had suddenly increased his meister's pulse, but being silent would express a lack of care and asking him would be redundant. He was sure Ox could see his questioning gaze in his metal.
"No, it's..." Ox turned to look to Shibusen's flickering spotlight. That first flash of lightning and clap of thunder hadn't been forced from the storm alone, or from anything they had done, but from the fearsome release of power from within their damaged school. It was foolish to have thought that simply forcing the witches from the city would end their fight, but this. This wave was nothing Ox had expected and even with his weak soul perception, it was enough to thicken the air in his lungs and weaken his knees.
"Don't be scared." Harvar's voice cut through the worried buzz of thoughts within Ox. "This is where this was leading to."
"You can't feel it, it's..." Ox shivered, partly from the cold rain and partly from the suffocating darkness pervading the moist air.
"A world ruled by a witch or kishin's no world we want to live in." He didn't need to say the other half, that a death here in battle would be better than surviving into a world of insanity and pain. "Knowing everyone else, if they can, they'll gather at the school. Kim will be there, there's no way she or Jackie will run."
"You're right." His focus turned from the foreboding pulse of darkness, Ox turned his thoughts to Kim and protecting her in what may be the most suicidal fight they would ever face. Harvar concentrated his energy, causing the end of his self to glow. "Let's go."
The next crack of thunder ushered in darkness. The last remaining spotlight left on Shibusen died and with it ended the glow of all the remaining street lamps or any light coming from houses still intact enough.
"Over here!" Black Star shouted to Tsubaki as he jogged over to a struggling fire. It was time. He might not have fancy soul perception, but Black Star could feel it. This was the moment, the final act of this horrible nightmare. There was no way he'd be stuck lost in the city and miss out on killing that snake faced bitch. Not after everything she had done. Not after she had had the audacity to manipulate him and dirty his hands in all of this. Oh no, darkness couldn't protect her. Black Star would light up the whole effin' sky if he needed to!
Tsubaki had just made it over when Black Star pulled from the fire a good piece of wood with a decent amount of flame still on it and in the light she could see his proud expression turn into slack jawed staring. She didn't need to follow his eyes to know he was staring at her chest. The rain had soaked her white top almost transparent. The cold didn't help either. His staring stopped with a quick bap to his head.
"Focus, Black Star. We have to get to Shibusen."
"Yeah, yeah I know, but you can't blame me for looking. I am a man, you know. A BIG man." The moment of normalcy in all of this was nice, but it faded away as soon as the flame on his torch died. He had forgotten about the pouring rain and now the fire it had come from had become just a pile of smoldering ash. He threw the wood to the ground in a yell of frustration.
The sound of splashing footsteps caught his attention, however, and he moved closer to Tsubaki, concentrating on their sounds. Two people from the number of splashes, approaching. He saw the glow first. Jackie was using her hand as a lantern, leading Kim by the hand.
"It'll be faster if we fly." The weapon hadn't noticed the other two as she continued to lead Kim through the streets.
"But we haven't found them yet."
"It won't be hard to find them in the air. Do you think a showoff like Ox could resist using lightning at a time like this?"
"You're right. Ok, let's go."
"Hey!" In a second, Jackie was a lantern and Kim pointed the flames at the source of the voice. The moment she recognized Black Star and Tsubaki she sighed and lowered her. "Whoa, watch where you point that."
"Sorry, you shouldn't sneak up on people in the dark."
"Sneaking is part of my job, it's not my fault you're not aware enough for me." He crossed his arms.
Tsubaki sighed at the exchange before slipping to Black Star's side. "Kim, we need help getting to Shibusen."
"I could get there on my own," Black Star began. "The water flows down, so I could just walk up and-" Tsubaki slipped a hand over Black Star's mouth and gave Kim an embarrassed apologetic expression.
"I heard that you were going to fly there. Is there room for Black Star?"
Kim thought for a second before nodding. "Yeah, there should be. Go ahead and transform and we'll get going."
It was then that Tsubaki let go of him and shook her head in Jackie's light. "I can't. It'll just be Black Star."
Black Star swallowed at that, having feared and partly known that it would come to this. Still, the idea of leaving Tsubaki here in the flooding city with no light in the midst of witches wasn't something he wanted to deal with. "You don't weight that much, I'm sure we could-"
"We can only bring one." Jackie said, having shifted back into her human form. "Any more than that and we won't be able to evade lightning strikes or attacks."
"Go." Tsubaki pulled Black Star into a hug. "I'll follow the flow of water and make my way on my own. They're going to need you, it's your turn to shine."
He hugged her back, taking a moment to remember this, her warmth in the cold rain, the steady beating of her heart, the unshakeable confidence in him, this warm and happy place in her arms. Besides revenge for all the wrongs done, he'd fight for this. Reluctantly he let go and stepped back. "Remember, stay alert. Stay safe, ok? I worked hard to make you better, it's your turn to play doctor when this is over."
Jackie changed into rocket mode and in her glow, he could see Tsubaki smile. "I promise."
Kim slipped onto Jackie and hovered enough for Black Star to grab the space left behind her and soon rose high enough to pull him from the ground. Tsubaki waved the whole time, until the light of Jackie's rocket trail had disappeared, leaving her again in isolated darkness.
"Please please please please please please." Maka's hands were trembling in the darkness as they clutched the fabric on their shoulders. "Please wake up. Wake up wake up wake up." It was taking all of her strength not to hyperventilate in the presence of this madness and darkness. When the spotlight on the school had failed, it left Maka alone with the still forms of her father and Stein, the two of them still lost in their resonance. They had to get up, they had to move. She, it was coming and the thought of having to leave them scared her as much as the thought of what would happen if she stayed.
Rain leaked around her, dripping on them and she could feel the contamination of madness that had dirtied it from clear to black and kept it freezing despite the hot Nevada air. The sound of the water dripping and splashing was beginning to mingle with a sort of static in the air, white noise with an accompanying bass pulse and it was growing steadily louder as Maka felt Medusa near. Voices emerged like ghosts from the fog of the white noise, their words just distorted enough not to be able to discern.
"Please, Papa, wake up!" Maka pressed her weight against him to no avail. The voices were growing louder, the pulsing bass deeper, gasping and crying now joining into the air from unseen mouths. That's when Maka felt it. First it had been a drop of rain on the back of her neck, but after that was something warm, heavy and thick. Not like blood, but like molasses, sliding down her neck and back. A shaking hand touched the sticky substance and in a flash of lightning, Maka could see it drip like tar from her fingers. The high pitched drips of water hitting the collected water on the floor was soon replaced with a heavy smack as the substance began to ooze from the ceiling and onto the floor, spreading out in every direction.
Unable to contain a scream Maka grabbed both mens' arms and shook them harder. Another flash of lightning and Maka could swear the black stuff was moving on its own accord, lifting and twisting to the pulse of madness in the air. Lost in panic, Maka wrapped her arms around her father, sobbing into his chest. She had come close to death so many times, but to die like this, swallowed by liquid insanity, it would have been better to have died before, saved from this nightmare. The blackness touched her leg and curled its self up her calf and Maka kicked frantically to get it off. When it reached and inched past her knee caps, she screamed.
"Maka, it's too early for breakfast." Spirit groaned, holding his head.
"Papa! Get up, get up, pick me up, please we have to go!"
"What happened to the lights? How long was I gone?" A flash of lightning showed his panic stricken daughter's face, the black substance in her hair and falling down her cheek. "Stein, get up!" He smacked Stein's cheek, earning a punch to the gut in return.
"I'm awake, you idiot. Get up, we have to leave." Stein stood and grabbed Spirit's wrist, Spirit's hand holding Maka's in turn. The professor knew these halls and didn't require light to navigate them to the stairwell. At the bottom of the stairs, Maka's hand was pulled from her father's.
She would have screamed when she felt an arm grab her around the waist, but another hand had covered her mouth, pulling her further from Stein and Spirit and back into the school. Frantically, Maka kicked and struggled but her movement stopped the moment when she heard his voice near her ear.
"Oi, what's wrong with you? Just calm down." A sob wracked her throat, not from panic or sadness but in joy. When she stopped struggling, Soul let go of her only for Maka to turn and hug him.
"I thought you were gone! W-where did you go? I had to use my dad because you weren't there and I was so-" He put two fingers on her lips to quiet her.
"You don't want the witch to hear you, do you? C'mon." He took her hand and she squeezed it, swallowing the lump in her throat as Soul lead her deeper into the school and down another set of stairs. The thick black ooze hadn't reached this area yet and the sounds in the air quieted, but the rain water ran down the steps. At the bottom, it had flooded up to her ankles. The dripping rain here was beginning to wash the thick blackness from her. Down this hall there was one lantern lit and in its glow Maka could clearly see him. Any worries that this was a trick of magic or insanity went right out the door as she watched Soul reach up and grab the lantern. And then he smiled, looked her right in the eyes and smiled. Before she could stop herself and despite their situation, Maka moved forward and kissed him.
Instead of the surprise she might have expected from him, Soul kissed back with a strange hunger to it. His freehand reached up to cup her cheek, his thumb resting on her chin, urging it to lower and allow him more access and this boldness was what caused Maka to step back, red faced.
"What? Too much?" He laughed. Maka huffed and crossed her arms.
"No, just doesn't seem like the right place and time for something like that." Strange, she had always assumed that he'd have been more shy about all of it.
"Whatever, we have to keep moving." And he walked on, holding the glass protected lantern up high as they continued down the dark hall. Once the water had begun to reach the middle of her shins, Maka began to worry.
"Where are we going? We should regroup with Stein and Papa. If you're here, that means everyone else is too, right?" He didn't reply. "Where did you go, before? Why would you heal me and then run off?" Still silence. "Soul? What's going on?"
He stopped then and opened a door. "All the answers are in here."
This was one of the upper classmen rooms Maka had visited once. A lecture hall that had stairs leading down from the door, rather than up like their own classroom. Beside the black board was a wide ceiling to floor window built into the school's massive base. The view of the city on a typical day would have been beautiful. From here they could see the sparks of colored light as the battle against the witch army continued. A lightning strike lit the skyline, showing the ever rising columns of smoke and the crumbling skyline of her home. There was a hole in the classroom's ceiling near the lectern that was steadily filling the room with water. It didn't stop Soul from beginning to walk down the steps.
"Is it safe? What's down there?" Maka asked from the top of the steps. Like before, he didn't say anything. "Soul answer me!"
He just kept walking. The water reached Soul's knees as he continued down the steps, the light of the lantern illuminating books and sheets of paper floating forgotten on the black surface. Maybe whatever he wanted to show her was in the water somewhere. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to find out by staying at the top of the stairs, no matter how much her instincts told her not to go. The inky water reached Soul's waist once he reached the bottom. Maka gasped as the water reached her own, the coldness causing a quick shiver.
"O-okay, so what is it you wanted to show me?" His response was a smirk before dunking the lantern into the water, extinguishing its light. "Soul?"
"Where am I, Maka? Can you see me?" The familiar push of panic came up when she heard the distorted humor in his voice. With the natural echo in the room and the sound of the pouring water, it was almost impossible to pinpoint his exact location in the darkness.
"S-soul, I don't understand."
"Don't tell me you've never played tag? Marco Polo? Why don't you cheat and use perception?"
He was being childish, this was no time for games! Maka focused her perception and scanned the room, but she couldn't see him anywhere. "Soul?"
A sudden flash of lightning showed him standing less than two inches in front of her, his mouth pulled up into a wide, jagged smile. Before she could open her mouth, his hands gripped her shoulders and pressed her against the window. "You talk way too much, no wonder you drove the poor boy insane."
Maka didn't fight back initially, too shocked from what had just happened to move. This wasn't her mind playing tricks on her. Soul was here. That was his body, his voice, but there had been no soul within him. As he pressed his hips against her's, Maka's eyes watered, her mind going back to earlier. She had been sure she was dying, or dead, and then she woke up fine. Could he have...was it possible?
"He didn't even think twice before caving." His lips, Soul's lips, brushed her ear. His voice, but clearly not his words. "You were the last thing on his mind."
Maka's first attempt to speak failed in her mouth, but she blinked back the tears and tried again, her words quiet and hardly audible over the sound of the water that still climbed around them. "What have you done to him?"
"I sent his soul to where it was born from. Darkness. You could join him if you want and leave your pretty little body in my hands. It was very expensive, you know. It would be a waste to destroy it trying to fight Medusa."
That alone felt worse than any pain visited on her yet, confirming her worst fears. Soul had exchanged himself for her, not just his body but his soul. This wasn't a matter of insanity, his soul was literally missing, leaving a ghost, a shell behind, puppeteered by this monster somehow. For her sake, for her life.
"And...and if I say no?"
"Why would you say no? You know I'm right. Fighting here is suicide. I promise that you two will inhabit the same little corner of hell together, just say yes. Or I might just disappear and you'll never see this pretty face again. Just say yes. There's no more duty where you'll go. No right or wrong." His hand touched her thigh under the water, running his stolen fingers up to the edge of her tattered skirt.
In that moment, Maka began to weigh the options. There still had been no sign of Kid, and without Shinigami-Sama, it seemed unlikely that even with a proper army that they could take out Medusa. The terror Maka had felt just in the witch's recent movement had sent her into panic, the witch's presence enough to corrupt water and manifest insanity into thick tar. She might be able to use her father, but it wasn't the same as using Soul. Without Soul...without him even victory would be meaningless. Even if they won and somehow their home remained intact, it would be empty and she would have to live with his sacrifice all her life. She took a deep breath to keep from sobbing as her mind replayed all that she had endured in hope of seeing him again, how she had dared to dream that this would have ended any other way. And then his last words to her, in those moments her life was fading. He had loved her.
That was what made the decision clear. Soul had saved her so that she could live and fight. He loved and believed in the Maka that faced the impossible, he had cared for the Maka that had once believed she was invincible, the one that studied hard and practiced to protect the innocent. If she gave up now, that Maka would have died in that hallway and Soul's gift to her would mean nothing. Whether the fight against Medusa was suicide or not didn't matter, what mattered was what was done and how she lived and running away into whatever empty promises this demon offered, or into the night would shame everything they had stood for as weapon and meister. And...no matter how painful life would be after this, she would have to keep walking.
Still, the choice didn't make it easier to speak. Once the words left her lips, it would be over. Hoping for a happy ending would be over. Soul was gone and she had never had the chance to tell him that he was loved. With a deep breath, Maka's eyes drifted to the ceiling, unable to look at his face should lightning strike.
"No, I won't go with you."
"Stubborn and selfish. I knew it." He sneered and Maka bit her lip to keep from showing how much it hurt to even hear his voice now. His hands gripped her shirt and pushed Maka down into the water. "Stupid girl, stupid mortals, always so difficult!" He pulled her from the water, bringing her face to his. "Say yes."
Maka sputtered black water in his face. "No." And again she was thrust under the surface for longer this time. When he jerked her back up, he hit her hard against the window.
"Say yes! Give me your soul, give me your body!"
A lightning strike lit the room and Maka could see him, but it was different now. The affection she felt towards his appearance, all emotional connection ended in that one spark of light. This wasn't Soul, it wasn't even Soul's body anymore. Not his hands, not his voice or eyes or hair. It was a shell, a ghost. The demon hadn't been prepared for Maka to actually pull her fist back and punch him hard in the face. His grip on her failed and this time it was Maka who grabbed his shirt and pushed him under the water.
He struggled under her, but Maka held him firmly. These..these weren't his shoulders under her hands. Soul was already gone. They weren't his desperate gasps the few times he had managed to get high enough. Soul was already dead. And she'd be damned if she let this monster run around with his body to do what it wanted! How dare he! How dare he come here and do this, thinking that she'd just give in? How dare he desecrate Soul's memory, using his body against her? Smiling fake smiles, kissing her with fake passion. Die. He'd die, he'd drown and die. That demon didn't deserve such a beautiful body to use, Soul wasn't a toy or tool! He had been a person. Maka's strength faltered. He had been an amazing person... She was supposed to have made him into a death scythe, now she was feeling his struggle slow under her. They were supposed to be together.
"I just wanted to spend a weekend with you."
That fight. Over the boardwalk or studying, all those days ago. It brought Maka's hands to her face as she openly sobbed, her knees giving out and sinking to her shoulders in the cold water. Soul burst up from the water's surface, gasping for air and the moment his lungs filled, he grabbed her arm.
"I promised that fool that I'd heal you. I never promised I wouldn't kill you."
"Then you'll never get anything from me." Maka managed weakly.
"I can always eat your soul."
"Put her down." Stein shouted from the top of the classroom steps. It was easy to tell the situation, his perception letting him easily see the hollow young man in front of him in the lightning strike. Soul growled and pulled Maka closer to his face.
"Take a good look, you'll never see me again."
"I'll find you, I promise you." She stared right into his empty, narrowed red eyes, swearing it with every fiber in her body. "I'll take away what you've stolen."
The demon just frowned, tossing Maka hard towards the first row of seats before grabbing the podium and throwing it at the window. It shattered the glass and the water rushed out, taking him with it. Maka clutched the first row writing ledge until the water had all rushed out, leaving her on her knees on the floor. Stein was by her side in a moment.
"Are you injured?" She just shook her head and he helped her stand. "If you can't fight, I can find a hiding place for you."
"No. No, I'm fighting." Maka wiped her face. There was too much rage within her not to.
"We need to go around the side of the building. She's made it to the first floor." Stein took her hand, trying not to think about his own guilt in all that had happened.
Outside, on the grand landing, Spirit was pacing. Stein had insisted that going in by himself was the best idea because he could track Maka with perception, but as a father, it didn't make waiting any easier. He should have held onto her a little tighter. If anything was wrong, if she was hurt.. That was when Ox and Harvar made it to the top of the stairs.
"What are you kids doing here? It's dangerous."
"We're here to help fight." Ox managed between pants for breath. "Even a deathscythe like you can't beat someone like her…on your own."
Spirit couldn't help a small grin. Shibusen students were truly the best in the world. "If things get out of hand, don't be too proud to run."
Ox would have replied, but the familiar streak of Jackie's flame trail caught his eye. "My angel is on her way! Now I really can fight!" He left Harvar and ran over to where he thought Kim would land only for Black Star to land on top of him instead.
"I would have been fine, but it's good to land on something soft and squishy." A short distance away, Kim landed, allowing Jackie to shift back into her human form.
"Who's that?" Jackie spotted another fire glow heading their way. Given the continued down pour the fire was either from a weapon or magic. Spirit turned his attention to it as well but relaxed when he made out Patty's silhouette just a few steps behind Pete.
"North humans are in!" Patty cheered when she got to the top.
"Way to go." Black Star bounded over to her. "Still don't think it's a good idea for you to be here with those burns. Are you going to head butt Medusa?"
"If I have to! I'm going to see Kid again!"
Kim edged closer, now able to see how Patty's arms were bandaged. "What happened?"
"I over heated." Pete explained, looking at the fire coming from his palm, casting light for the moment. The remorse on his face, Patty's silly determination...Kim swallowed. Even with the given circumstances, it was hard to tell how everyone would react, but she couldn't let Patty go untreated. Not when he knew what it was like to be burned and not when they'd need all the help they could get. After this war, if they survived, there'd be a price to pay. Undoubtedly she'd be lumped in with all the other witches and probably punished, maybe executed. Still, Kim gently took Patty's hands.
"Please, please don't freak out. When I'm done you guys can be mad, but I really want to do this."
Kim whispered the incantation and as her hands began to glow, Jackie moved in closer in case any of their friends changed their minds on how they felt about her. When it was over Patty pulled Kim into an instant bear hug.
"You're a witch?" Black Star asked the obvious. "You're a witch, but you go to Shibusen?"
"You can ask all the questions you want, later." Jackie frowned at him. "We're on your side or she wouldn't have helped Patty."
Kim slipped off her heat gloves and gave them to Patty. "Here, this should keep you from getting hurt."
"But what about you?" Patty tilted her head.
"I can just heal myself, it's ok."
The air changed when Maka and Stein walked to them from the side of the school, the dead serious look on both their faces bringing the others to the seriousness of the situation in hand. They all gathered around Stein the moment he stopped, and awaited his instructions.
"I'm glad to see you all are well, but there's little chance of any of us surviving this fight. If you want to live, you're welcome to leave now." No one moved, though a few nervous glances were exchanged. "Patty are you acting as weapon or meister?"
"Meister, Pete is my weapon." She ruffled his short red hair.
"Flamethrower, sir." He clarified nervously before Stein bothered to ask.
"Patty, you and Kim will use your flame based weapons against long range attacks. Ox, you and Maka will clear a path up the center."
"Where's Soul?" Black Star asked, looking around. "She can't do anything unless she's got a weapon."
"She's using me, for now." Spirit said with a mix of pride, and a bit of scolding towards Black Star for interrupting.
When Maka's eyes fell to the ground and her fists clenched Black Star swallowed. "What happened to him? He's coming right?"
She didn't look up and through gritted teeth Maka replied. "No, now shut up."
"I don't see Tsubaki here." Stein said and that was enough to quiet Black Star. "You and I will attack the witch directly with soul pulses."
"Fine." Black Star turned, crossing his arms. No way that anything serious had happened to Soul, right? He and Maka probably just got into a fight, or maybe the dumb ass twisted his ankle in the dark and couldn't fight? That had to be it because... that fist fight was the last thing they had done. The things they had yelled, the things he had said to Soul. He didn't want it to be the last things said.
"Maka?" Patty tugged on her sleeve. "Can you see Kid up there? Is he ok?"
"Patty, I..." She sighed, not really up to looking for fear of finding nothing again. But that pleading look on Patty's face, Maka could only shake her head before looking high at the building. "He's there, but it's weak. There might be something blocking it but I can barely see it. But he's still there."
It meant that he hadn't been eaten by the witch like his father. It meant there still might be a chance, and for a brief moment hope spread over the group.
"Shibusen." Medusa chuckled from the doorway. "Of all the weapons in the world and all the students it had harbored, this is all it could offer me?"
As Stein had assumed, the witch had the same black blood weapon in hand that he had fought against in Italy. Still, his ability to predict and set up a proper battle strategy didn't offer him any confidence. The weapon had been fearsome in the hands of its weak meister, and the witch's vector attacks had been powerful on their own. Together, with the added power of insanity, that even now pulsed heavily against him, it threatened to bring terror to the surface.
"Get ready, remember your roles." Stein swallowed. Each weapon transformed and Black Star stepped to Stein's side.
In an instant, the fight for the world had begun.
A/N: The next chapter is the last! Writing this story has been so exciting and wonderful! Thank you to everyone who's followed the story so far! I hope everyone's had fun!
About Kim, Jackie, Ox and Havar, I know their presence seems a little sudden, but it will all be explained. The wonderful and talented Sani is going to be writing a companion piece for Beloved Helpless that will chronicle what they had gone through during the days leading up to confiscation and after, as well as explain just where Kilik is. Their place in the ending of BH is so important, but I just couldn't include them during the rest of the story. Following the characters I have has stretched the fic well past the 100K word mark and if I had included the B team into it as well would have made the story twice as long. It's going to be great!