A/N: I do not own SE!

Soul opened his eyes. He blinked twice when he did not see a thing. He was sure his eyes were already open but all he can see was darkness. Is he in his room sitting on the bed? Why is it so dark?

His head throbbed and he winced when he shook his head. He found out that he cannot move his arms and turned to look at his back to see why. Red eyes went wide when saw his hands in handcuffs - chained to the wall.

Then it dawned on him.

The witch captured him. And now, he was locked up in a prison in death knows where.

"What do you want?" The young Death-scythe snarled as soon as his feet landed on the ground. Medeva - the crow witch took him the instant Maka was out of sight. She was able to break them apart.

The black witch smiled mischievously. She was floating in the air looking down at him, small orbs of fire surrounding her body and there's this heat coming from her. "I want us to have an agreement, a deal." she continued, "You are the Last Death Scythe, Soul Eater. I want you to come with me and be the King of my castle."

Soul was caught off guard. "Huh?" That was unexpected.

"I can give you more power you could've never imagined. YOU will be the master of my people," She proceeds while waving a hand. "YOU will rule our clan and all the creatures will fear you." Medeva glared at him, right hand turned to fist - as if crushing something. "I can give you EVERYTHING." She started to descend, silk black dress blown by the night air.

She was intimidating sure. But Soul knew better.

"What do you say, MY last death scythe?" She finishes, feet landed on the ground in front of him.

The said young man looked at the witch and grinned. "No."

The witch raised her eyebrows but did not comment.

"You heard me, witch. I refuse." He said showing his sharp teeth.

Medeva just stared at the weapon. Not saying a word, contemplating.

Soul was not sure but he can see something else in her eyes. Was it an approval? Admiration?

Earlier, she was ready to kill them. What changed? It confuses him but the young man tried not to pay attention. I do not have time to think about this too much. I have to go back and find Maka.

He observed the witch under his bangs and saw that she was not moving at all. What is she planning?

Soul took that time to be aware of his surroundings. They were currently in the middle of a forest while the moon is at its peak. He scans the place and weighs his options. He can run through those tall trees, hide and wait for a chance to go back to the city. I need to divert her attention so that I can run away from here. Yes. That was the plan.

He shoved his hands deep in his pockets and sighed. "I don't get it." He again turned to her. "Why?"

This time, the woman laughed. "Do I need to stress out the obvious?" The witch's expression changed and before Soul could move to step back, she had grabbed him on his shoulders. He almost hissed in pain on how strong her grips were.

His ruby eyes were now staring at a pair of purple eyes - like Blair's but darker. "I like you," she whispered, then her lips mashed against his as if trying to destroy his mouth.

Soul's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. They lost their balance and fell on the floor, the witch on top of him.

Damn it, he can't move. Her hands were still on his shoulders pushing him down while he tried to struggle against her.

But his attempts only made Medeva pushed him harder. He groaned when his head bumped on the cold stone ground. And the witch forcefully parted his lips using her tongue and she even ran her tongue on his teeth!

There was a flash of light and the witch quickly flew above the ground. She looked down on the albino - who's rubbing his mouth with the back of his left hand, right arm a red and black scythe.

"My my my. Don't tell me you don't like it." She said innocently. "It was good, wasn't it? I am a good kisser." She licked her lips teasingly which made Soul angrier.

"What do you think you're doing?" This is bad. He is losing his cool. Maka, I need to find and get her.

"I am making a confession Soul Eater. Don't be mad." She looked hurt.

This witch is crazy!

He started to scan the forest but the witch was in front of him again. He was quick to dodge her but he suddenly felt a sting of high voltage electricity and in a blink of an eye, Medeva was in Soul's back. There was no time to defend himself when she kicked him hard. He was followed by the black woman and grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.

Death dammit. Her attacks were heavy. He coughed and opened his eyes to meet her cold ones. He can feel his energy-draining and he kept his mind working to know why.

The witch dragged him while he struggled to let him go but to no avail. She then pushed him to a big tree, Soul barely standing. Arm turned back to human form. "Look my last death scythe. Why don't you think things over? It's a win-win situation." Her free hand ran her fingers on his cheek.

He moved his head to the opposite side, leaving her hand hanging. "I don't need to think. Ask someone else". Coldly, he said.

Medeva smiled wickedly. "Are you rejecting me?" she sounded hurt but Soul knows she's just faking it. Her eyes turned sharper. "I do not want anybody else, Eater." Her words are like venom crawling onto his skin. "I'm interested in YOU."

He turned to her but did not say anything. Soul hit his head and he was trying to think about how to get out of her grasp.

"You probably thinking, 'why?'..." she teased him.

He gave in to put an end to this stupid conversation. "Why then?" he challenged.

Her grin was scary, deadly. She stepped closer to him, just an inch away. "Why? Why you..?" She gently put his two fingers on his flat stomach. "Because you're Shibusen's last Death Scythe." Fingers slowly ran up to his chest. "...you're masculine", to his neck, "..handsome...and..." Her fingers stopped on his jaw.

He swore he stopped breathing when she said, "your blood..is black.."

All turned to darkness.

He heard a door opening. Soul raised his head, squinting his eyes against the bright light. It hurts his eyes being in the dark for too long. Is it morning then?

He saw Medeva walking towards him, a smile plastered on her face. Fuck. I want to erase that smile on her fucking face.

"Hi, my dear Deathscythe. Have you been thinking of joining me?"

A man was behind her holding a chair who put it down not too far from where he was and the witch sat. The said man also put down a lamp and its light illuminated the small room.

Ah. It looks like he was in a cage-like-tower. An ancient tower made of bricks. Like Rapunzel's.

Great. He examined the place under his bangs and there's no other way out other than THAT door.

"Do you like it here? Of course, you will be moved to the castle as soon as you changed your mind."

He chuckled. "Even if you lock me up here, my mind will not change. I will not join your little clan and be your King." He almost spits the last word.

The witch just grinned. "You're stubborn. I like that."

Soul grimaced and red eyes looked up at the black witch. "Yeah? You'll be surprised."

"Let's see." She turned to the man near the door and nod. The man walked towards him and took something from his pocket. It was a tube with three thick needles on the end. Bigger than a normal syringe.

Wait. He had seen that before. Medeva stood up, while the man walked to him.

Think Soul, think.

"This will just be quick my dear." Her voice echoed in the background.

Right. He saw the same image in one of Maka's books when they were studying about witch's tools. Sure, he didn't pay much attention but he can remember it clearly. That thing will only bring great agony to a weapon like him.

Shit, this is bad. He tried to move his hands but it was futile. Chain clanking.

The witch laughed. "What? Are you afraid of needles?" she added sarcastically, "I hope not."

Soul stared at her behind the man who was now in front of him, doing something with the syringe. "What are you planning to do?"

She just shrugged. "Nothing. I will just extract some blood from you and have them tested." Medeva moved to the side. "Do not fear Eater, I told you I like you remember? I will not kill you."

He clenched his jaw.

"I asked Mr. Troy to do it for me though. Come on my love, don't make it too hard for us. It will not hurt." she added to comfort him.

What was she, a doctor talking to a kid patient before a flu shot?

Shit. He cannot even transform one of his fingers to cut the chain. This witch might have put a spell on them to prevent him to become a scythe. Or, this entire cell was under a spell.

"Do it, Troy."

'Troy' walked to him but when he was on Soul's reach, the demon scythe quickly caught his feet and pull him to the ground using his legs. Troy grunted and fought to stand up again but Soul wouldn't let him. He was tied up and exhausted, but he can still put this big man down.

After being the 'Last DeathScythe', he endured countless training - for both his mind and body - including physical fights. He learned multiples techniques and strategies to outsmart his enemy. He can fight now even without a meister - that is when the time calls for it - like today.

He might not be as great as 'The Great Blackstar', but he knows what he is capable of.

Troy was being trapped between his legs and he was having a hard time breathing. Soul was about to end his misery when suddenly, he was stabbed in his arm. It was then that he felt intense pain, electricity running fast in his body he can almost taste it.

Soul cannot help but curse. It was a trap. Big man Troy was just a decoy.

"Dammit." He fell down to the ground scrunching like a fucking retard and the decoy managed to escape from him. Troy immediately went out.

"You should not play hard to get, my last Deathscythe." On his blurry vision, he saw her walking to where he laid, heels of her shoes loud on the floor.

Why did he not hear her footsteps? Was he not paying attention to his surroundings that she was able to attack him like that?

She got down on one knee and laughed. "Do you think that was easy?" Not wasting another second, she pushed the syringe deeper into his flesh.

Argh! Soul shut his eyes tightly. Fuck! It hurts! He cannot stop himself from trembling.

She pulled the syringe and got up when she got the amount of blood she wanted. Smug, she dusted her black dress and looked at the young weapon. "It did not hurt a bit, right?"

He hardly turned to face her, still lying on the stone-cold floor trying to regain his breathing. "No shit."

"I was right. I know you'll do something like that." She said while examining the tube. Her eyes furrowed when she saw that the blood is red. She was expecting it to be black like the information she received. But well, she will test it and will go from there.

The aftereffect was still in Soul's body, paralyzing him. He still cannot move, dammit.

Medeva took the lamp. "I'll be back tonight my love. Please reconsider." And she left him just like that.

"We need to find him now Professor! It's been a day and Soul has not returned." Maka cried to Stein when the latter stopped upon seeing them in the hallway before entering their Crescent moon classroom. Tsubaki was behind her and both are waiting for the man's response.

It was yesterday when Maka and Soul encountered the crow witch. The Scythe meister has been waiting since then for her weapon's arrival. It was a long night and she cannot endure it anymore thinking that Soul has not come back, the possibility of him being hurt or trapped was what makes the young meister anxious.

Stein looked at her. "We are doing everything we can to track him, however, it seems like this witch is using her Soul Protect to hide Soul from us. And Soul cannot reach us either." He said truthfully but in a calm manner.

Maka sighed. Yes, she tried looking for Soul as well using Soul Perception but she was not able to find him. She was starting to panic because she was having a feeling that her weapon was not okay.

They were fighting a kishin and defeated it but when they were on their way back, the witch appeared before them. It was odd, Maka thought but they decided not to fight her and get the fuck out of there. But a strong wind blew and they got separated. When she came back, the witch was nowhere to be found, along with her scythe.

If she just acted quickly, this will never happen.

What else can she do?

The white-haired teacher put his hands on Maka's shoulder. "In the meantime, try to remain calm and do not think of doing something reckless." He said as if he read her mind. He whispered. "Please go to Lord Death's room after your class." then smiled.

The girl wearing pigtails understood and nod.

"Hello my dear," Medeva said while walking and stopped in front of him. "How are you today? Did you sleep well last night?"

Soul did not comment. His whole body was sore sitting all day - or maybe all night, with hands chained behind his back. It was a good thing he ate a kishin soul two days ago but still, after a few hours, he will be hungry and at the moment, he badly needs water.

He heard the door creaked and on his peripheral vision, he saw Troy entering the room.

"Soul Eater, are you awake?" When he did not answer, the witch got down on her knees and looked at him, but she cannot see his eyes because of his bangs.

She was about to touch his hair when he spoke: "Now it's not hard to talk to you since you're not standing anymore." Soul raised his head. "My neck hurts looking up y'know."

Medeva smiled. "My, my, my? Have you decided?"

The young weapon snorted. "In your dreams."

The witch glared at him for a good three seconds before she stood up. "We have a lot of time. I'm sure I can change your mind." She said and talked to Troy then walked back to him - holding the same thing as before. "I need a little more blood, my love."

Soul just shook his head. He was expecting this. "Go ahead."

"Oh, aren't you being submissive now? Why is that?"

Really?

Even if he resists, she'll do it anyway, so why waste his energy? He needed to reserve them to more important things. Like escaping.

Medeva waited for his answer but the scythe did not respond. She just smiled again. "I will do it gently this time." She started to reach for his arm.

"Was it not enough, or the results were not what you expected..?"

Soul's words made the witch stop.

He turned to her, burgundy eyes looking intently at her.

"What -"

"What are you trying to do with the black blood?", the scythe asked. "Are you following on Medusa's research? Or is it entirely different?"

"Medusa? The snake witch?"

She looked puzzled and lost. He was not able to contain his sarcasm. "Did you not do your homework?"

The witch roughly grabbed his hair and forced him to look into his dark purple eyes. "What are you saying?!"

The demon scythe just gave him a blank look.

"Talk!" It's funny how confused Medeva looked right now.

Soul sneered.

Her eyes turned to slit and when he did not say anything, she hit him - hard. When he didn't bulge, she hit him again and again while still holding his white locks.

"You wanna do this the hard way? Fine." She hit Soul again and releases the hold of him making him fall.

He coughed out blood.

The crow witch took a deep breath. "I still like you Soul Eater." Troy grabbed and hold him while Medeva readies the syringe. "I told you I'll do it gently right?"

It was amazing how she can change from calm to mad to one crazy bitch witch.

Troy pushed him to the wall to steady him and when Medeva held Soul's arm, he left the room.

The young scythe can hardly open his left eye. He felt a cut on his eyebrow and he can taste his own blood in his mouth. His breathing ragged because of the beating he took.

Medeva smiled wickedly. "Are you ready, MY last death scythe?" She said while holding the needles. "I hope you are, but, let me first ease the pain".

She grabbed his chin and kissed him. At the same time, injected the syringe into his arm.

"Maka-chan?", Blair asked when Maka suddenly stood up from the couch. It was a lazy afternoon and the purple cat nearly jumped by the meister's action.

"I cannot take it anymore Blair. I have to look for Soul!", Maka announced with fire burning eyes. She went to her room in a rush and when she came out, she was wearing her Spartoi uniform.

Blair's eyes followed Maka's move. "I understand how you feel Maka-chan, but the Shinigami asked you to wait, right?" She asked when the young girl grabbed her combat boots and started to put them on. The cat walked and stood in front of Maka.

Maka sighed. "I know Blair, but Soul..I'm getting anxious. Who knows what's happening to him right now." She said with sad eyes. "I can't..." she slowly sat down and hugged her knees.

The cat put a paw on her shoulder. She understands the scythe meister really, knowing how she cares for Soul. She herself wanted to find him but checking around the neighborhood was not enough. There's a chance that the witch who captured the young weapon was not around from here, or just came to Death City for a purpose. Blair does not want to think too much about this incident but it was weird when she heard what happened how Soul was kidnapped. Maybe that's really her intention? To get him? But why?

She has asked some connections if they have heard about the crow witch, but no one knew her. All the more reason to be careful.

Maka sighed. "I'm going crazy Blair. I want to help him."

"But Soul wouldn't want you to come and fight alone, nyaaah. He will be mad when he finds out that you decided to go on your own." Her advice.

The blonde groaned. Frustration getting on her nerves. But Blair was right. She can imagine Soul yelling at him for being too reckless.

Maka smiled a bit at the thought. Besides, Lord Death told her to wait as they are trying to locate her dear weapon.

But how long should they wait? Again, she groaned.

Her inner turmoil stopped when the phone rang. She quickly stood up and reached for the cradle, hitting her elbow in the process. "Hello? Albarn speaking." She answered not minding the pain.

"Maka," Her heart started pounding erratically upon hearing Professor Stein's low voice. "Get ready and go to Shibusen." He instructed. "We have found Soul's location."

"Soul, hey Soul."

The young death scythe struggled to get up.

"Hey, Soul."

He leaned on the wall when he finally got up on his butt, hands still tied on his back. Honestly, the chains were getting heavier now. His body too exhausted and his mind was still catching up from the ordeal he dealt a few minutes ago.

"What are you doing Soul?"

"What do you think? You little ogre?", he hissed. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I thought you already left."

The Oni laughed. "We are one Soul-kun. The only thing that left your body was the blood that witch took forcedly from you. Were you thinking that she will get me outta here?"

Soul scoffed and looked up into the dark ceiling. "What, do you not know what's on my mind?", and closed his eyes while gently breathing.

When he opened them, he found himself sitting in the chair in the too-familiar black room - hands-free. The little imp appeared from behind the curtains and walked towards him. Big eyes staring, grinning.

"I know that you're trying to act cool but you're not. You are getting impatient and frustrated in the situation we're in. You badly wanted to fight and kill this witch and go back to your precious meister. But you can't." He mocked.

Soul leaned forward, hand-turned into fists.

Oni made a girly pose. "It's because of the spell, preventing YOU to do anything." He pointed his hands. "In addition to that, you're TOO weak now to fight. What will you do now Soul?"

The said man snarled. "Do you think I have plans of staying in here?" Somehow, the little imp was right.

"Why not? Let's revisit Medeva's offer." It closed its eyes for a second as if thinking, and snapped its finger. "Yes! It's fine with me if you'll ask me."

"Shut up! You only thing you want is power!" He shouted.

"Of course, power controls everything." It walked into the record and played the skipping tune. Not again!

The little light in the darkroom flickered and he can see the imp's shadow growing bigger, shifting across everything.

"Let go Soul."

Soul knew the little demon was playing him, but why the hell was he biting into his trap? This is not cool He cannot afford to lose his sanity now.

He shook his head. He needed to keep his cool.

He sighed and turned his eyes at the piano in the center of the room.

"Seriously, what are you waiting for?" The voice of Oni echoed through the walls.

Before Soul could answer, he found himself inside the tower, hands-free from the handcuffs.

Did the Oni break the seal? If so, was the tower free from the spell as well?

He stood and tripped a little as his legs were cramped due to his past position. He leaned a hand on the wall and slowly walked to the door. But before he manages to do that, he heard gunshots and loud noises.

There was an explosion and the door in front of him slammed open.

"YAHHHOOOOO!"

Soul was surprised when he saw his blue-haired friend. It took a few seconds before Blackstar noticed the death scythe.

"My man! Soul!" He jumped and stopped in front of his white-haired friend.

"Bla-Blackstar?! What are you doing here?".

He put his hands on his hips. "To rescue you, my loyal servant! No need to worry because your God is here! I know you need help. Nya-ha-ha!"

The young death scythe was not able to contain his relief. He smiled.

Blackstar scanned his best pal and asked seriously. "Look at you. You okay Soul?".

"Pftt, why wouldn't I be?" If the ninja asked him that, he really must have looked terrible. He tried to change the subject. "Are you all here?"

His friend understood and nodded.

"I'm glad to see you're okay Soul-kun." Tsubaki on her weapon form spoke. "Maka will be here any moment now."

Upon hearing his meister's name, Soul felt nervous. And he didn't know why.

"Blackstar", called Tsubaki.

"Yes, let's go." Blackstar turned to his friend. "We will hunt the witch and take his soul, as a souvenir." His eyes are deadly. Soul can feel his intent to kill. "Take a rest bro, we will take it from here." He tapped his shoulder and left him to go to the other side.

Now, he can hear the fight across the hall. He continued to walk slowly to look for someone - anyone from DWMA.

"Soul!"

He turned to the voice and saw her - the one he wanted to see the most.

She started to run to him, on the verge of crying to see her beloved Soul. There's an urge to pull him to a tight embrace but she stopped herself and examined her weapon when she was in front of him.

"I know. I look terrible." His voice was hoarse.

Maka shook his head, eyes downward. "I'm sorry Soul. I -"

"What the hell? Don't start Maka. This is not your fault. It was - ", He shut his mouth when he felt pain on his body. He clutched his side to somehow ease the pain.

His meister noticed but did not make any comment. She knew he needed medical attention right away. "Let's go." And offered her hand to her weapon. "Our mission is to get you". She said when she saw his questioning look. "The witch might not be here but she can be back any minute now. We have to go." She added with urgency.

He looked at Maka. "Do you know where she is?"

He did not need to elaborate, Maka understood clearly. "We got a word that she had a business deal to attend to. That's why we took the chance to get you." She added.

"But enough of this talk. Let's get out of here." She took his hand. "Can you walk okay?"

The scythe nodded. "Yeah.. But Star, he - "

"You know Blackstar. He wanted to avenge his best friend." Maka smiled. I wanted to beat the crap out of that bitch! "But she's not here, so we gotta move."

Why are you taking your sweet time? You cannot fight now Soul-kun!

Soul looked around him and saw Maka waiting. Damn that Oni!

"Come' on." Hands clasped together, they started to get out.

Maka smiled when she saw that the pasta she's making was almost ready. She heard the bathroom door opened. "It's almost ready Soul. I will -"

She stopped when Soul walked out from their shared bathroom with only a towel on his hips. Its nothing new. But what made her heart tight was when she saw what was on her weapon's body. It was quick as Soul was now walking to his room.

Maka quickly followed him after getting the medicine kit. "Soul?" she called out to the other side of his door.

"I'm fine Maka."

Of course, he'd said that. "Let me in."

No answer.

"Soul". She warned him.

She took a sigh when there was only silence. "Let me look at you Soul, or else, we have to go to Professor Stein." She threatened.

There was silence. She waited, then she heard him muttered 'dammit', and said, "Come in."

Maka cannot help but smile before she opened the door. She saw her scythe sitting on his bed wearing only his sweatpants. She entered his domain, put the kit on his bedside table, and walked to him.

"I said I'm fine." He was not looking at her but at his window.

Maka studied Soul.

"42-42-564"

The mirror she was holding turned to a blurry like smoke image and after a few seconds, she now faced to face with Lord Death.

They were currently in the back of a truck on the way back to Death City after rescuing Soul. The said weapon was a few inches away from the young meister taking a nap. Maka cannot deny that he looked beat up and she was glad they have him now. Who knew what would happen to him if they arrive too late?

She cringed at the worst thought she could think of.

"Maka-chan. How are things over there?".

Maka turned to the mirror when she heard a jolly voice. "The mission was a success, Lord Death. We were able to retrieve the Last Deathscythe."

"That's good to hear Maka. How is he?"

She glanced at her weapon sleeping on one of the seats. "I guess he was held captive as a prisoner by the witch. Her objective is still unknown." She balls up her free hand into a fist.

"We'll just ask Soul when he arrives here. He might have found out anything what that witch is planning."

Maka noticed Professor Stein was walking towards the mirror. "About that Lord Death, can I ask something?" The masked man just stared at her. "Can I take Soul home? He looked exhausted and I think he needed to rest for a while. If there's anything unusual, I will report it right away." She said. "I just..", her voice was soft.

Lord Death looked like he was thinking about what he said.

"I think Soul would prefer that too." Maka saw Stein. He turned to Lord Death and back to the scythe meister. "You know what to do Maka." He continued. "Kindly attend to his wounds and if there's anything, just let me know." He added with a serious facade. "I am worried about his sanity."

Arms on her chest, she turned to Soul. "Soul, I asked permission for us to go home, instead of seeing Professor Stein or go to our school dispensary." She informed him. "But, you will let me check the damages you received. And if I needed, I will make a report. That's the deal." She watched her death scythe's reaction.

"I am worried about his sanity."

Stein's words echoed inside her head, but she dismissed them. She'll know if there's anything wrong with her weapon. As far as they have gone, there's nothing out of the ordinary. Right? Maybe Stein was just thinking too much? Maybe.

She had to proceed with caution nevertheless.

Soul knew he will not win against his meister. Like what she mentioned, 'he knew the drill'. He sighed, and nod.

The blonde girl smiled triumphantly and grabbed the near chair; sat in front of her scythe and examined his body. The light in his room was dim but that would be enough for her to see.

There were cuts and scrapes all over his torso, which were common. But the bruises in his arms, they were different. They were bigger and darker than a normal bruise and the nerves around them were more visible in Soul's skin. They looked like they were burned by something sharp, or worse, electrocuted. She shivered at the thought.

She peeked at Soul before she carefully lifts his right arm and curiously touched the bruise. A sharp hiss sounded through Soul's teeth.

"Sorry." She apologizes and puts his arm down. She opened the medicine kit and prepared the things she needed.

She started cleaning his wounds, dabbed some ointment, then the bandages. It was quiet and no one talked between the meister and the weapon. But every now and then, Soul would hiss and Maka would mumble an apology.

He was wearing handcuffs. Maka's heart clenched when she had a good look at the young weapon's wrists. The redness was fading now but she can still see the marks that the steel left on his skin.

She was wondering what happened but she cannot ask him, not yet. Soul will tell him everything when he's ready. She just has to wait.

Soul remained silent and when Maka looked at him, he was still looking at the window. She noticed that there's a trace of blood above his left eye.

She stood up to take a closer look and was about to touch his cheek when Soul jerked back and leaned away from her. Their eyes met and Maka can tell that he was also surprised by his actions.

"Sorry." They both said. Maka for almost touching him suddenly and Soul, for moving away too fast.

"No, I just -", Soul muttered. His jaw clenched when he remembered the witch's antics. For a second there, he thought it was the witch trying to touch him. Dammit!

The pigtailed girl cleared his throat. "There's a small cut on your eyebrow.." She continued, "No stitches needed. I just have to.." and she glanced at him, asking for permission. When her weapon nodded, she reached out and started to graze the wound, trying not to touch his face so often.

Soul winced but allowed his meister to do what's needed to be done, though this kind of thing doesn't normally happen. Usually, it was his body that takes most of the beating - not his face - that's why this was new to them.

It happened before sure, but not always. For all the years they've been together as partners, Soul can count these kinds of moments using the fingers in his hands. Which means, this kind of scenario was rare.

Maka, on the other hand, was thinking that Soul DID took a beating. As to how she doesn't know. But she can feel her anger growing towards the person who hurt and abused her precious weapon.

"She is studying black blood."

"Huh?" Maka just finished putting bandages on his face.

Soul turned to look up at her. "The witch." He informed her. "She took samples from me."

Maka sat down, brows furrowed. "But your blood is NOT black unless..."

The young death scythe unconsciously held his right arm. "She doesn't know that though." He can still feel the pain just thinking about the syringe being injected into his flesh. It made him cringed. "I asked her and she did not know. Her actions proved me right."

Maka was looking at him and listening intently.

"She got furious when I did not give her an explanation. It was funny." He chuckled but stopped when he felt pain.

And then she hit you. Maka thought but did not comment. "There is a possibility that she just got the information about you having the black blood. But not the fact that you just got it from Ragnarok."

"Yeah. I think so too."

"That's why she just came out of nowhere and kidnapped you," Maka said quietly but enough for Soul to hear. "Yes, it made sense."

Soul has a genuine smile while observing his meister. At last, he's back. With her.

Maka was in deep thought but when she noticed that Soul was staring at him, she blushed and stood up. "Let's discuss this later. You have to eat." She smiled widely. "Come on! I prepared your favorite!" and reached out to him.

Soul scoffed, "You're the one who's overthinking, idiot". But he gladly took her hand and let Maka pull him up. He knew his meister has a lot of questions in her mind, but he also knew she wouldn't rush him. Like what she said, they can talk about those things some other time.

Besides, what matters is that he's back, and they're safe. He and Maka will deal with Medeva later. Well, if Blackstar hasn't beat them to it. Yet.

He wanted revenge, yes. But they need to make plans on how to deal with the crow witch to avoid the same thing from happening again.

His meister looked at him. "Welcome home Soul!" Both hands were now holding his hand, with a wide smile on her face.

She was shining. Her big green eyes, her blonde hair, sweet smile, her warmth, everything.

I'm glad to be alive.

And yes, this is home.

He showed his toothy-grin. "Glad to be back, Maka."

One shot! R&R!