Author's Note: So I don't own Soul Eater. I spent a lot of time looking for quotes for each chapter, so please appreciate them. They range from Mark Twain to Batman. I'm not joking here. Anyway, I always thought that the madness aspect of Soul Eater made it so much darker than I first thought, but isn't that how it always is? Anime starts off nice and fluffy and then suddenly they dump a load of feels and anticipation on you (even the shōjo can do that sometimes). I wanted to take a shot at writing the madness aspect. I've written almost every genre, except for horror. I'm not quite sure if this qualifies as horror either … But anyway, there are warnings for certain chapters, but nothing to warrant an M rating. I hope you guys review, this is my first multi-chapter Soul Eater story and I hope you like it! There will be 8 chapters, I'll update once every 2 weeks.

It's All in Your Head
By: Setkia

"It's okay," I say. "I trust you, Soul."

Something flashes in Soul's eyes and before I can fully process it, his hand is wrapped tightly around my neck and I can't breathe.

"Still trust me, Maka?" he asks.

Chapter 1

"The Edge … There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."—Hunter S Thompson

Blood. So much blood …

Have to get him to Stein, have to get him there quick.

I nearly stumble over my own feet as I rush towards the professor, holding his limp body in my arms. This can't happen, he's my weapon and he's always making such stupid sacrifices for me. Doesn't he care about his own life?

Stein sees me before I can make it to his door and he ushers me in quickly. He knows we were on a mission from Lord Death, he doesn't know the details. I don't think I can give them to him if he asks because all I can think is he's losing too much blood and he can't die and I promised I'd make him a Death Scythe and he can't die before that. Dying on me, that isn't cool Soul!

"Put him down," says Stein and I do, but I can't leave him.

There's a large wound, it seems to have reopened the scar along his chest. I can't stand to look at the stitches. There's so much blood, I can't see the wound clearly, but I know he's losing too much blood. It's a mixture of red and black and it makes me sick to watch but I do. I do because this is my punishment for what I've done.

I let my guard down and now Soul is paying the price.

I watch beside Soul as Stein does his work silently, like he knows if he asks me what's wrong I'm going to break. When he's done, Soul is patched up but I can tell from the grim look on Stein's face this isn't the end. There's something else, Soul is in deeper trouble, something that runs further than skin deep.

"Maka," says Stein in his soft voice of his and I feel my blood still in my veins. I don't know what he's going to tell me but I feel anxious. "Can you feel his soul?"

I can. I can feel it faint, but there's something different about it. It's weaker, the loud obnoxious arrogance that he usually radiates is gone. It's almost as though his soul has given up. I can see it's shape, it's disfigured, like something is tampering with it on the inside. I try to send him my strength, try to calm him down but worse than getting worse, his soul doesn't respond, as though it doesn't feel me at all anymore.

"You can tell, can't you? That there's something wrong with it."

I nod.

"I can't do anything about that," says Stein. "That's something internal, there's some sort of mental strain he's putting himself under."

"Is he going to be okay?" It's the only question I want an answer to, and from the look on Stein's face, I wonder if it would be better if he just lied to me.

"Yes," he says slowly. "And no. Currently his mind is fighting with the Black Blood. Have you ever seen inside Soul's soul?"

I remember the black room, the dance, the strange little red imp who stood in the corner glaring at us with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Has it spread?"

"The Black Blood is doing something to his mind," Stein says. "You understand how Crona is? That madness …" Stein glances at Soul. His face looks peaceful for now, or rather, neutral. Like he can't feel anything. I think I would feel better if he were in pain, just to know he was responding to something; anything. "It's spreading."

I clench my fist tightly. "Tell me what to do."

Stein looks at me. "I understand you're his friend, but I don't think he'd appreciate you going inside his mind. Besides, something tells me he's going to reject any attempt to get inside."

"And what happens if no one interferes?"

"We have one of two options. Either he saves himself out of this mess and wakes up on his own, by fighting the madness, or he succumbs to it and dies. Given the state he's in, it's most likely it will be the latter."

"I'm his Meister, this is my fault—"

"He is your weapon Maka," says Stein. "It is his job to protect you, he's just doing his job."

"Well he can't just die!" I shout, feeling tears prick my eyes. "I can't let him die! I'm his partner, I can resonate my soul with his. If anyone can get in, it should be me."

"Do you understand how dangerous that is?" Stein asks. "His mind is in a fragile state right now, any tampering, any action within it could cause all the walls to cave in. He's going insane."

"Then I just have to save him from the brink of insanity," I say. I can tell that from the tone of my voice, Stein doesn't believe me and I can't blame him but I can't stand it if Soul dies and I've done nothing to help him. I can't let him die, not like this. This wouldn't be the "cool" way to die, Soul wouldn't want this.

"It's not that simple—"

"Well it doesn't matter whether or not it's simple!" I snap. "I'm doing it and you can't stop me. Soul needs me right now!" I'm breathing deeply now and Stein is starting to look extra worried.

"Your father—"

"I don't care about my father, this is about me and Soul!" I can't take it. I can't. To let Soul die just like that, after all we've done, after getting so many souls, after fighting against Blair, after hearing him play, after learning to trust him. A Meister and Weapon have to be in tune, we have to trust each other wholly. If he can't trust me to save him, who can he trust? I have to do this.

"You're not thinking straight—"

"Maybe not, but he needs me," I say. "And nothing you can say will change my mind."

Stein opens his mouth to argue, then closes it in resignation. He can tell that I am not changing my mind. "Alright. You can't tell Spirit I let you do this," he adds.

I breathe out a sigh of relief.

I look at Soul, his pale face, his white hair. He's still slightly bloody from the fight and he looks weak right now. Cool guys aren't weak, I can hear him say. I take a hold of his hand and squeeze it tightly.

Don't worry Soul. I'm coming.