Disclaimer: Soul Eater is owned by this dude named Atsushi Okubo and unfortunately I am not him. I only own the cover, which was designed and digitally drawn by me.
(There were some technical difficulties so I had to repost this story U w U;)

I – Empty

Awakening to bright lights was no different from any other morning for her. It was quite normal and simple, actually—she fought against the early sunlight for a few moments, squirming around in her warm bed and rubbing her head, before finally opening her eyelids and letting the bright light that seeped through the curtains fill her hazel eyes.

She would yawn and stand up, stretching her arms to reach up to the ceiling, and then swipe away the fabrics that covered the windows. Taking in a deep breath, she'd smile to herself: this was truly a good morning.

She'd hear a knock at her door and the warming voice of someone dear to her. She'd turn to find him standing there, his hair a mess and his crimson eyes still hazy, but his sharp smile very sincere to see that she once again woke up with a smile on her lips. The light in the room would make her hazel orbs glow in a way that made him never want to stop staring into them.

Sometimes she'd smell the whiff of bacon crawling into the room, and she'd know that he'd taken the initiative to start making breakfast. He'd make her thank him since she's a lousy cook anyways and she'd puff out her cheeks in frustration.

That was when he'd finally approach her—she'd tilt her head up to keep her eyes locked on his red orbs— and lean down to lightly kiss the corner of her mouth.

Yes, this routine was so typical, but her heart grows warmer day by day, and it's something that she's willing to wake up to for the rest of her life.

But to her dismay, this was not one of those mornings.

Her eyes were still closed but she knew she was conscious. A blazing light that certainly wasn't the sun was burning through her eyelids, and her head was violently throbbing.

In fact, it wasn't just her head. She couldn't exactly point out what it was, but there were definitely sharp objects poking at her back, some even digging into her skin. She could barely feel her arms and legs, but she knew they were there. She wiggled her fingers and toes to make sure. As for sound, all she could hear was an ominous draft blowing through wherever the hell she was, so she could assume that she was outside.

How did she get outside?

Holding her breath, she finally decided to open her eyes slowly. It was a regret not even a second later, for she felt almost blinded from the heated light placed directly in front of her face. She shrieked from the pain and turned her head to the side, bringing her hands to her face to wipe away the droplets in her eyes. But as she shifted, whatever she was laying on must have disappeared, for she found herself tumbling and rolling down what felt like a hill of shards of glass and concrete. She cried out when she finally landed on a rough but leveled surface and her eyelids snapped open.

The sky was gray, and not the natural kind. There was not a cloud in sight; only ashes and dark particles that she's never seen before floated around aimlessly.

She began to panic as she sat up, a burning sensation tingling in her back. Her head twisted around to study the area that seemed so familiar but at the same time utterly repulsive—broken concrete and bricks were piled on top of each other with wires and wood sticking out here and there, indicating any sort of building that was once there was either burned or crushed. She looked behind her to notice that she was unconscious on top of a pile, and a powerful streetlight hung over the spot she was in by a mere electrical wire. If it weren't for that, she would've been crushed and killed in an instant. Looking down the street, she immediately noticed how barren it was. There was not a creature in sight. The only noticeable life were the leftover flames still burning on some buildings like a small campfire.

Her small breaths rapidly turned into heavy pants, and she brought her trembling hands to the sides of her head, her pupils dilating.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What happened?

She exhaled deeply and closed her hazel orbs.

Maka Albarn.

A three star Meister at the Death Weapon Meister Academy.

Good, she hadn't lost many crucial memories as far as she knew. Even so, that wasn't it all and she knew that she was suffering from some memory loss. She then began to name close friends and acquaintances from Tsubaki Nakatsuka to her own father, Spirit Albarn, and even remembering one of her greatest enemies: Medusa, who has been dead for the longest time. Medusa, the mother of her dear friend Crona, who was tortured and driven to madness under the witch's care. That snake was someone Maka wishes she had forgotten; just thinking about her makes her furious. Even now, Crona isn't with her anymore, but she currently forgot what caused her pink-haired friend to part ways.

Maka released her head and attempted to pull herself up. Her left ankle stung a bit, but she was able to manage. She recalls suffering much worse when fighting the Kishin Asura... The older brother of another close friend, Death the Kid. The two were the sons of someone very important, but she can't specifically name him right now. She gets the feeling that this person didn't even exist anymore...

The ash blonde proceeded in a random direction of the street, her eyes roaming around. It looked like a war brewed through the place, but a feeling told her that she was standing on the remains of the city she lived in.

"There's no way..." she muttered under her breath.

There was a sheet of cracked glass leaning against a pole to her right and she took a moment to study herself. The black stockings on her legs were completely ruined, either ripped or stained with dried blood. Her shoes and uniform were absolutely dirty (she made a mental note to clean it when she returned home, wherever that was), and her pigtailed hair was messy and uneven. Someone in her group of friends would probably be agitated at her for looking so unpleasant, but she forgot who contains that quality. Was it Crona? No, that didn't seem to fit at all.

The only item she noticed that still managed to illuminate beautifully was the silver chain that clung to her neck and chest. Dangling at the bottom of it was a circle with a spike sticking out of the side that had coy eyes and a jagged smile engraved in the center. She took it in her hand and smiled as if it represented something very important. In fact, it reminded her quite a lot of—

Maka sharply drew in her breath.

Lord Death.

Death City.

Soul Evans.

Turning on her heal, she reluctantly cried out, "Soul!" and took off in the opposite direction in search of the most important person in her life. The more she ran, the more everything hurt but she didn't care. She'd rather die than be left alone in this annihilated world without him.

'What the hell is going on?!'

"Look at this," Soul abruptly snapped, leaning over Maka's desk and slapping what seemed to be the school newspaper right on top of her work.

Maka's fingers twitched to punch his lights out for interrupting her studying, but she held herself back. "What? It's just the school newspaper," she retorted in the same attitude as his.

"Page six," he continued, turning his gaze elsewhere. "Main article."

She snorted in response but picked it up and began to search. "Ah, here it is..." she muttered once she found the spot. "'Under the anonymous votes of many fellow students roaming the halls of the DWMA,'" she read, "'it is adequately obvious to conclude that not only are Meister Maka Albarn and Death weapon Soul Evans one of the strongest pairs in the academy, but there is evidence of a— ...A secret, passionate romance between them?!'"

Soul shook his head. "I can't believe they published crap like that. So uncool."

Maka paid no heed to him. Her eyes were burning through the paper as she scanned the rest of the page. There were pictures filling the borders of them walking together and smiling, a few laughing, one with Soul carrying her books for her, and the largest one of him embracing her during Kid's inauguration ceremonial banquet. He had her lifted into the air by her waist during a dance, a heartfelt smile on both of their lips.

Maka couldn't help but admit that she appreciated the newspaper club for capturing such a memorable shot, but that didn't excuse them. Indeed, these photos were completely unauthorized and unknown to the two, and to top it all off, there was a bulleted list at the bottom that reasoned why they are "obviously" a couple.

"T-This is outrageous!" Maka exclaimed, her cheeks and ears burning in embarrassment. "They have no right...!"

"I already talked to Kid," the albino interrupted. "He's gonna make sure it all gets taken down ASAP."

"Too late for that! It's been published and probably read by everyone, already." She narrowed her eyes and made a sick face. "I can't believe this. What in the world make them think that we're secretly a couple?"

Soul leaned over her shoulder and pointed at the bottom at the page. "Well, they listed it right down here—"

"I am about to vomit on you, Soul."

He shrugged. "Listen, I completely agree with you. I mean, it's pretty obvious that I'm gay." Maka whipped her head around to stare him down with widened eyes. "I'm joking, Maka," he quickly added before bursting into laughter.

She blinked and covered her smile with her hand. "That's debatable," she said. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, but I guess you can say I'm your idiot." He grinned and rested his chin on his hand. He couldn't deny that the signs were there, so he couldn't blame everyone for taking notice. She was the only girl he really paid attention to, despite him having such a large fan club. He'd play the piano for her and no one else and tell her all of his troubles without the fear of being embarrassed. After all, it's not like he could rely on Black Star for support, and Kid wasn't around much anymore.

He may have some feelings for her, but right now he just wants to tease her for a bit and see where that will lead them. False public announcements would only disrupt their steady pace.

"You see that?" someone whispered behind them.

"Yes!" There were three girls. "I knew they were dating!"

"They're so cute together!"

"Maka Albarn is so lucky to be with someone so gorgeous..."

At the same time, Maka and Soul stood straight, and turned to face the three girls, with flustered faces.

"We're not dating!"

What was scaring her most was the distinct gray sky that seemed to follow her wherever she ran to. Absolutely nothing about it changed; it was as if someone painted it perfectly without a single smudge or speck.

Maka came to a halt when she arrived at a certain street: the street that her apartment stood on. She felt a lump in her throat as she slowly proceeded down the street again, her eyes analyzing the difference in each and every detail. "Where is everyone...?" she uttered inaudibly. She tried to remember, but that only caused her headache to worsen and she shook her head. "Damn it all... I hate this! I need to find Soul!"

Climbing over the tiles of a roof placed in the middle of the street, she found herself standing right at the door of her apartment building. She stared at the structure for a brief moment before cautiously carrying on inside. The lights in the lobby hung and dangled from the ceiling by a few wires, causing her to keep her focus on them.

The ash blonde made a run for the stairs, which were slightly in tact if not counting for the sharp metal that stuck out in a few places. As she dashed up flights to get to the top floor, she began to wonder what even made her think that Soul was here to begin with.

"My Soul Perception!" she suddenly gasped, stopping on her heels and clutching onto one of the bars so she wouldn't fall. Hoping that she still knew how to use this ability, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

As expected, the area was completely abandoned. There was absolutely nothing within the range of her perception—nothing except the dimly lit soul that rested far above her head.

Her eyes shot opened and she smiled in relief, continuing her journey up the stairs. It was him. She was sure of it. It had to be. She pushed open the door to the top floor and her eyes widened in shock. The roof protecting the entire sixth floor was gone. It looked like it had been ripped off and tossed somewhere else. Maka shook her head and still ventured down the hall.

The soul remained still right in her apartment and in her mind she knew it was definitely her weapon. With no reluctance, she pushed open the front door, which resulted in it breaking off of the silver hinges and plummeting to the ground.

But what was really concerning her was why and how the apartment became so destroyed. She assumed it might have been from the loss of the roof. Dust and dirt polluted the air in the living room and kitchen. Large pieces of concrete, enough to crush a body, lay scattered everywhere. The gray sky could be seen through the pipes and wires that stuck out of the walls. She even took note of a couple of black scorpions lurking around.

"Soul?" she called loudly, rushing over to her room and pulling the broken door off of the entrance. She grunted as she threw it to the side, and looked back to see the white haired boy. He was sitting on the floor looking about as roughed up as she was, his back against the wall, his eyes closed, and his lips slightly parted.

"Soul!" Maka cried, hurling herself onto the floor at him and pressing the side of her head against his chest. She heard and felt a steady heartbeat, and his breathing rate was normal, meaning that he was just unconscious. She lifted her head to level her face with his, tears welling up in her eyes as a weak smile formed upon her lips. "Thank goodness..." she murmured, resting her hand on his cheek and gently brushing her thumb against his skin.

After a moment of relief, she decided to move her hands to his shoulders and lightly shake him. "Soul..." she said softly. "Please, wake up. I need you." He seemed to stir a bit and his eyelids were twitching, so she gave him a moment to collect himself—

The ground beneath them began to violently tremble and Maka stumbled onto her back. "What the...?!"

Her question was cut off by a deafening screech—one that sounded like it came from a bird.

As Maka crawled back over to Soul, the winds began to pick up, blowing her hair all over her face. The pain in her head swelled up again and she was forced to squint her eyes. She looked up to the gaping opening in the ceiling to find the source of the noise and fear instantly took over her body.

Towering right over Maka's room was an abnormally large vulture, its meters-long wings flapping over them to keep itself in place. Its thin, red eyes found its way to the two, piercing straight through Maka's soul. She knew for a fact that this wasn't a normal creature. It's beak looked large enough to fit her entire body inside, and judging from the faded crimson stains on it, it wouldn't hesitate to test that theory. It wasn't just the size of it that made it strange, though; planted on its head was what seemed to be the horns of a wildebeest. Its pitch-black body had patches of shiny silver feathers that made the serpentine varmint look slightly graceful. To finish it off, it's slender neck was tightly clamped by a slim metallic cuff.

The frightening creature tilted its head and glowered at Maka.

She held in her breath and shook Soul again. "W...Wake up..." she whispered. The vulture's neck lowered as it began to lean closer, the rumbling of its growling breath felt in her chest. "Soul—!"

The vulture dipped its head down and its beak plowed through the wood the two once sat on, for Maka had pulled Soul and herself out of the way almost a little too late. "Damn it!" she yelled angrily, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and hoisting him up to his feet. Using all of the strength she had left, she rushed out of what was once her home and escaped down the stairs. On the way down, she felt the building continue to shake, which told her that the vulture was still searching for them, and it probably won't stop until it finds and kills them. "This isn't a kishin..." she kept repeating to herself. "This isn't a kishin!"

She slipped on a puddle of dirty water once in the lobby and collapsed onto Soul. She grunted in disgust but still pulled Soul back up. "Soul, get up!" she shouted. "This isn't cool of you! Come on!"

There was another screech right outside and the glass to the windows shattered. Maka gasped to see that the vulture was peering through the broken window directly at her. She stared back at it, a black dot swirling around its back pupil in that pool of red, which completely engrossed her.

A claw came crashing through the wall and grasped onto their bodies before she could even move. It pulled them outside and Maka was so shocked that she had released Soul, and he fell into the street. "No, wait! Soul!" she screamed, reaching out to him as the vulture hauled her off the ground.

Soul only laid there, his eyes still shut as she was pulled into the air.

It was the end of the day.

Maka had her head resting on the desk with her arms over it, covering her long, messy, unkempt hair that looked like splattered paint. A few papers were cast beneath her; they were tests with many red marks all over the page. She only pushed them off the desk in hopes of it landing in her bag, and she left it there if it didn't.

A hard hand was slammed right next to her face, causing her to jolt up and find Black Star standing next to her, his face furious. After a second, her dull eyes looked away from him and she placed her head back in it's original position without a word.

Looks like Black Star had to be first to speak. "You know what's really been pissing me off about you lately, Albarn?" he growled.

She shrugged him off.

"Hey, pay attention to me!" He yanked at her arm to pull her up, inciting her to cruelly slap his hand away.

"Don't touch me," she hissed.

The blue haired boy snorted. "Is that what it takes to get you to react to something?"

Sighing, she gathered her belongings and turned to leave, but he cut her off. "Maka, you need to stop," he told her. "It's actually disgusting to look at you the way you are right now."

"Thanks."

"The great Maka Albarn: Once at the top of the class is now failing every assignment she gets." He began to lean closer. "Hasn't gone on a single mission in weeks. Can't even pull herself out of bed. Is barely eating or sleeping to begin with. Doesn't speak a word to anyone anymore, and it's all because—"

"Shut up! Don't you dare preach to me, Black Star!" she shouted angrily, pushing him away.

He threw his hands up. "Look at you, you're a mess!"

Her fists were clenched. "I don't care!"

"Oh, that's right. You don't care about anything anymore," he countered sarcastically, watching Maka's bottom lip start to quiver. "And you know what the worst part is? You cling onto Soul like he's your life support because he takes the time and effort to care for you, and you don't even put that effort into helping yourself!" He pointed a finger at her. "If you thought you were weak before, that's nothing compared to now! If you don't get your shit together, Maka, then Soul is just wasting his time!"

At this point, Maka was quietly sobbing, her shoulders lightly shaking with each gasp. However, Black Star's face remained hard. Even the few students who were in the room watched them curiously, pretending not to be there. "I'm ashamed of you, Maka. You're..."

The weapon of Maka Albarn unexpectedly stepped in between them, unknown to the two that he had entered the room. "That's enough, Black Star," the albino said lowly, his back facing his best friend.

Said Meister raised an eyebrow, but took a step back. "You know I'm right, Soul," he said.

"That gives you no permission to be an asshole." Soul was wiping away Maka's tears with the sleeve of his uniform.

"She's pathetic. She needs a reality check!"

"It's only been two weeks, Black Star!" he snapped, turning his head to the side to glare at him. "Not everyone can be as strong-willed as you! Let her take as much time as she needs!"

Black Star only scoffed in response, lowering his chin into his scarf. He watched Soul pull Maka close and lead her out of the room, not even looking back to him.

"...I'm sorry..." Maka apologized quietly in the empty hallway, looking at the ground. "For being so troublesome..."

Soul's unsettled features softened and his hand reached for her hair. "You didn't do anything wrong," he told her with comfort. "Just keep trying your best, okay?"

Maka gazed into his crimson eyes for a moment before nodding and leaning her head onto his shoulder, sighing.

Soul gladly held onto her.

The rough skin of the vulture's claw only made it harder and more painful for her to struggle free. But even if she were to be, Maka would only plummet to her death, for she was being carried high above the surface of the street. At a certain point, the vulture ceased it's ascend. It remained flapping in its place and she took the moment to gaze over the city.

As expected, everything was destroyed. Smoke rose from many places, but not a soul was in sight. She then looked to the highest point of the city, where the DWMA was supposed to stand. The sturdy fortress that she also called a home everyday was now just a ginormous junkyard of metal and concrete with a few red cones sticking out like a broken bone.

"No..." she whispered, her eyes widened in shock. The only thing standing high above the rubble was a large dark red flag with a black-filled circle in the center. Surrounding the circle was a bunch of choppy lines in the form of dashes.

Breaking her concentration, the vulture let out another cry and the claws began to release its grip on her. Maka felt her stomach sink. "S-Soul..." she whispered, and before she knew it, she felt her weight disappear.

'This is it.'

After everything she's been through, The Great Maka Albarn was going to die as clueless as when she woke up. She's the girl who went underground and faced the kishin Asura, but failed. The girl who countlessly fought Crona and saved him before he disappeared from her life. The girl who went to the moon, killed the kishin, and made it back.

And finally, the girl who fell in love with the greatest Death Scythe to exist, which she created herself.

And this was how she was going to die.

Helpless, pathetic, and weak—Just as Black Star once told her. She truly did fight through everything, alone or not—from her physical injuries to her depression—but in the end, everyone is weak before they die.

She closed her eyes and waited for her body to splat grossly into the ground. Soul would probably wake up and find whatever would be left of her corpse, and who knows what he'll do after that? Maybe he would join her.

But she was going to see him again, because as if it were some miracle, there was another cry in the sky and Maka was caught by another rough pair of claws. Everything spun around until she found herself dizzily lying on the ground again, right next to Soul.

Standing firmly tall in front of her was a bald eagle, much smaller than the vulture but still supernaturally large. The moment Maka's senses came back into place, she saw the violet soul flaring inside of the bald eagle.

A witch.

Before she could say anything, the eagle took flight with a screech and darted right at the vulture, ramming its sharp beak into the demonic creature's neck. The vulture cried out and dropped right onto the apartment building.

"I don't understand..." Maka muttered, watching the eagle tackle the vulture and rip its feathers out. "If the eagle is a witch, then could the vulture be a monster just like Blair and Free...?" Yes, she did remember those classified as monsters to be neither a witch nor kishin while still having similar properties to them. But regardless, monsters did have souls, and that vulture did not have a soul.

Maka had so much more questions to think about, but when the eagle turned its head to her and screeched angrily, she knew that was a command to get the hell out of there. She went to pick up Soul again (who was still unconscious) and rushed down the street in search of a sanctuary, somewhere far from this battle.

As she neared a corner, she heard a loud boom and dared to turn around to look back. The vulture had the eagle pinned on the ground with its claws, a river of blood flowing down its dark neck. The eagle was violently struggling beneath it, flapping around her beautiful brown wings. Maka had once learned that when the bald eagle would cry, it was a symbol of freedom to Americans; but the cries of this bald eagle were painful and rash, like nails clawing at a chalkboard.

This bald eagle was scared.

Maka squinted her eyes to see herds small black dots begin to move out of the rubble nearby the battle and creep over to the witch, causing her to scream even louder. The ash blonde couldn't clearly tell what it was from this distance and she surely wasn't going back to find out. The witch was going to be killed for certain, and if Maka didn't leave, her sacrifice would be in vain.

That's when she saw that the witch's last resort was being used. Her brown and white feathers began to detach from her body, one by one, and floated into the air surrounding her and the vulture as if it had a specific destination. Within seconds, there were at least a hundred feathers levitating around them.

The vulture stared at them in confusion, hissing at them darkly before one suddenly exploded right in its face. The one feather that exploded seemed to be the detonator, for the rest of the feathers were soon to follow, effectively devouring both the vulture and the eagle in a swirl of flames. Maka shut her eyes as the dust and smoke blew by.

Once everything had cleared, there was nothing left but the shriveled up charcoal remains of the two birds and the glowing purple soul of the witch.

Silence took over the area once again. Still frightened, Maka almost went back to retrieve the soul but stopped when she saw the black mass appear from the crumbled city pieces again. It crawled over the bones and burnt flesh of the birds and piled upwards until it engulfed the witch's soul. It then wriggled away and dissipated back into the debris.

After standing there in distress for what seemed like hours, Maka regained control of herself and continued on in the opposite direction.

If she looked back at her demolished home one more time, she'd probably break out into tears.

It was about a half hour before Maka had finally found a decent and vacant building for her and Soul to occupy for the time's being. Ironically, it was the pub where her father was always found with Blair and those two other witches Maka couldn't remember at the moment.

She laid Soul down in a room with a long couch and left for a moment to scope out the place. It was abandoned, and she wasn't sure if she was glad or not. The fact that there was absolutely no one around except her weapon horrified her. And then there was the eagle witch...

She returned to the room, realizing that Soul was the last person she could rely on, as always. She hoped that he still had his memory more in tact than hers when he wakes up.

"Soul," Maka groaned, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him more roughly this time. "You've been asleep for too long."

She will admit that she was worried. Soul had been unconscious throughout that entire battle between the vulture and the eagle, which could have woken up the dead. Sighing and deciding to turn to her final option, Maka raised her arm and gave him a clean blow to the cheek with the palm of her hand.

Soul gasped for air and sat up straight, his eyes snapping open and quickly fixing on his meister. Maka sighed again, this time with relief, and she dropped her head for a moment. "Finally nice of you to wake up, Soul..." she said, a hint of humor in her voice. He blinked and stared at her in confusion without a response. Not even waiting for him to reply, she lunged herself at him and tightly embraced the white haired boy. "I'm glad—"

Soul crudely jumped up and shoved her onto the floor.

"Ow!" she hissed, glaring up at him. "What the hell is your problem?!" She stood up with tightened fists, ready to charge at him, but she stopped the moment she saw him back away with a familiar look in his eyes.

Fear.

"Soul, what's wrong?" she asked, her impatience getting the better of her voice. "Say something!" He shook his head rapidly. His back was against the wall and he was slightly hyperventilating. "S-Soul...?" She stepped towards him, which shockingly caused him to trip onto the couch and continue to crawl away from her.

Maka took a moment of silence to register the scene before her. She opened her mouth to say something, but she hesitated and her voice cracked when the question finally came out.

"...Do you know who I am?"

Another shake of his head, only this time it was slower.

EOC.

Well, I should start this off saying that I have a boner for SoMa hehe.

Anywhore.

WHAT'S UP, SLUTS. I apologize for my long hiatus. Not gonna lie, I've been trying to keep up on a lot of anime like Code Geass, Neon Genesis, Evangelion, Kill la Kill, SnK, etc. Regardless, this story is kind of a comeback and is initiating me to write more Soul Eater.

But right now, I'm really hooked on this post-manga idea. After reading the most incredible Code Geass fanfiction, aka generally the most incredible fanfic I've ever read in general (which sadly hasn't updated since 2010 *screaming*) I was inspired to write just as well as the author did while taking place where the manga left off— no OCs (as a main character or with a canon), no made up dimensions, nada. I wanna completely stick to Soul Eater for this one the best I can.

SoMa.

Obviously.

OTP yo.

And I'm gonna try to make each chapter at least 5,000 words. Really wanna make this as long as I can. I strove for 6,000 in this chapter but sighhhh I didn't. Sorry.

P.S. Flashbacks will happen a lot huehuehue~ U u U

Today Is A Beautiful Day~

-Strength