King of Souls Chapter 1: The Spirit and the Soul
"Anna just because you think we're engaged doesn't mean we're actually married!" Yoh was trying so hard to listen to his records but Anna kept forcing him to do chores. "And even if we were married, you would be the one doing the chores…" Yoh quieted down to avoid Anna's attention.
From early morning to late afternoon, Anna was making Yoh do all sorts of chores she knew he wasn't good at. Cooking and cleaning being two of those things. But Yoh decided to do them because: a) He didn't want to run laps with ankle weights and b) He would rather do chores than do intense shaman training with Anna. To him that was like a living nightmare.
"First of all, you owed me a favor, so being my fiancée is like compensation for saving your butt! Now quit talking and do your chores before I make you run laps again! This time I'll get the weights!" Anna reigned over Yoh with a stern hand, which was probably the only reason Yoh was doing all the household chores in fear.
"Even if we were married, you would be the housewife! Not me!" Yoh protested defiantly.
"Oh yeah? Then what would you be then?" Anna patiently waited for the answer that she knew she wasn't going to get.
Yoh stopped mopping the floors and said, "I would be the rock star shaman husband! Life would be so good because I would have freedom!" Yoh went back to mopping to avoid Anna's wrath.
Anna went up to Yoh and asked, "And what would you do with that freedom?"
Yoh furthered from Anna and cautiously whispered, "I would… run away from you."
Anna didn't look the least bit surprised. She only raised an eyebrow and replied, "Why would you want to do that? I have Amidamaru, and you wouldn't want to leave him now would you?" Anna had chained Amidamaru in her spirit beads, as a backup plan if Yoh would try to leave during his chores. It was more like black mail more than anything but then again it was Anna.
"Hey that's not fair! Give him back!" Yoh started whimpering to earn Anna's sympathy but so far it wasn't working. Then Yoh speeded up his chores so he would get them done and Anna would be happy and give Amidamaru back.
1 hour later…
"There I'm done! Can I have Amidamaru back now? Yoh was excessively panting so Anna would give Amidamaru back. He knew that if Anna thought he wasn't tired enough, she would make him work even more.
"Fine…" Anna released Amidamaru from her spirit beads. Then the spirit and his shaman reunited like long lost friends, even though Anna only had Amidamaru for about one or two hours.
"Thank you Anna!" The both of them expressed their exaggerated gratefulness in tears but Anna let them off the hook.
"Anna… Amidamaru and I are going for a walk. We'll be back by dinner." Yoh left the house and started towards the park.
Anna yelled into the distance, "You better keep your word or I'll keep you awake doing more chores!"
In the park…
"Wasn't that exhausting or what? What do you say Amidamaru?"
"I think that Anna only makes you do chores because deep down she truly loves you. You should really consider her proposal. She would be a great wife and…" Yoh cut him off.
"Amidamaru how can you say that? I'm only sixteen! And besides Anna would be the worst wife ever! She would keep me home from doing all the stuff I wanted! Deep down love on the inside means nothing to me unless she shows it on the outside and right now she isn't exactly the most loving hypothetical fiancée" Yoh was in shock.
"Sounds to me like an old saying: "Laziness attacks you". You would rather have someone do all the work for you then?" Amidamaru teased Yoh.
"I didn't say that! And besides I don't want to talk about marriage and wives and other grown up stuff! I got away from Anna because being around her makes me think that I'm older than I am with all her marriage talk." Yoh pouted at the thought of Anna.
"Okay I'm sorry. But we should head back soon. You wouldn't want her to make you stay up doing more chores." Amidamaru didn't feel right about the park for some reason.
"What's the hurry? I want to relax a bit before going back to reality." Yoh stopped walking and leaned back on a park bench. Amidamaru joined him. "Hey Amidamaru, what's that? Behind the bench was a tree about the size of a two-story. In front of it was a little altar with some incense sticks and matches.
"It's a shrine of some sort." Amidamaru looked very confused. Yoh was no exception.
"But why on a random tree in a park? Is it special or something?" Yoh was trying to figure out why some random generic tree would have an altar on it and the other trees didn't. Typical Yoh behavior inspecting in public.
"I don't know but these incense sticks are so…" Amidamaru looked infatuated. But Yoh was wondering how the incense sticks got lighten in the first place. He doesn't remember touching them or the matches. Maybe a spirit?
"Wait… I remember that Anna said that certain incense sticks strongly attract spirits. And that doesn't even explain how shady this altar is. I mean why is there a mirror on the altar? Who are we paying respect to? Ourselves or some mirror spirit who decides that it's into trees? C'mon Amidamaru, let's get out of here." Yoh was ushering Amidamaru but it looked like he was in a trance. "Amidamaru, snap out of it!"
Suddenly the mirror shone a bright light at them. Yoh and Amidamaru were stunned as they fell before the altar. The mirror's light was like a really bright car headlight in their face. And then as the mirrors light dragged them both in, they briefly dissipated into bright gas particles and were sucked into the mirror and left nothing behind, as if nothing ever happened.
Meanwhile in Italy…
"Where am I?" Yoh was bewildered by the continuum shift that took place prior to his arrival in Death City.
"No, you mean where are we?" Amidamaru looked like a stray dog, confused by his strange surroundings. Then suddenly there was a huge explosion in a church nearby.
"What was that?" Yoh peered to the church beside him and exchanged glances with Amidamaru.
"Something's not right. But I don't think it's safe to see what's inside that church. We could get hurt Yoh." Amidamaru backed away from the church.
"We have to go Amidamaru. Someone could get hurt other than us, and we have to go help them. I know it's not safe but it's even more so for those trapped inside. I've made my mind up. Let's go Amidamaru." Yoh bust open the door to the church to hear an excruciating screech.
Meanwhile in the Church…
"Ragnarok…Scream Sympathy…" Yoh walked into an excruciating sound and an intense battle.
"Amidamaru, we have to help them! Yoh was ready to join the battle.
"Which one are we supposed to help? Amidamaru was too distracted by the noise of battle.
"The one with the scythe. She looks overwhelmed by the power of her opponent. She could get hurt. We have to do something." Yoh pulled out Harusame and the Futsunomitama no Tsurugi and was about to create an O.S. with Amidamaru.
"But Yoh…what if we get overwhelmed? What if we get hurt?" But Yoh just put on his headphones and fused Amidamaru into his mediums.
"O.S. Spirit of Sword: Byakko (O.S. Spirit of Sword: White Swan)!" Maka and Crona stopped clashing and looked back at Yoh and his O.S.
"Who is that?" Maka and Soul exchanged glances.
"Kill them Crona and everyone else who gets in your way." Ragnarok licked his lips at the thought of devouring their souls. Crona switched targets and aimed right at Yoh instead.
"Watch out! Your weapon will get…" Maka and Soul went in to intercept the attack but the job had already been done.
"Amida-Ryu: Meiyo no Yoroi (Amida-Style: Armour of the Honourable)!" Yoh manipulated his O.S. to form a large samurai armour shield that left Yoh unscathed by Crona's assault.
"But why isn't his weapon bleeding like Soul?" Maka was tangled up with this eyebrow-raising question.
"Crona… why going so easy? Kill them." Medusa was getting irritated from above the church by the appearance of this new interference.
"I was just about to get to that. Just savouring their last moments before I eat them! Crona, being under Medusa's trance, and Ragnarok licked their lips at the idea.
"Amidamaru, we have to do something quick before anyone gets hurt! I found his weakness but he's moving too fast for me to aim!" Yoh prepared for Crona's next attempt at killing him.
"Gobee…" The mouth from the sword uttered a single unidentified word and the all the glass in the church shattered to pieces with a screech that started vibrating the sword.
"Wait Yoh! What's his weakness? I may be able to help you!" Amidamaru was in Yoh's mind trying to figure this Crona person out.
"It's the mouth Amidamaru. If I can get Harusame to pierce into the mouth of the sword, I'm guessing that it will revert back to fluid and go back into his body. But it's just a conjecture. I don't know if it'll work, but I'll never know unless I try." Yoh was planning out his counter-attack against Crona.
In the meantime, Maka and Soul were watching from the sidelines trying to figure out what was going on. Crona and Yoh were evenly matched. They both kept at it with each other until Yoh had an idea and the tables were turned.
"Amidamaru I got it! His black blood! I figured it out!" Yoh fought back with a plan and some hope.
"What did you figure out? Why don't you tell me anything?" Amidamaru was perplexed by Yoh's bursts of innovation during the battle. He was just too dizzy from all the pieces Yoh kept putting together that puzzled him more than actually solving the puzzle.
"Don't you see?" Yoh kept pushing Crona back with his counter-attacks. "His black blood is his weapon. If we attack him with a simple stroke, it won't work because the blood will harden and stop the attack. But if we attack fast enough, the blood can't cope with the speed or damage and it will slow down the recovery rate, thus weakening Crona! And then he'll slow down enough to execute my final counter-attack!" Yoh was tingling with excitement but managed to concentrate, so he didn't lose his balance.
Yoh kept pushing Crona back toward the podium of the church. Yoh kept himself sharp and on point with his moves, not wasting a single blow. Crona on the other hand started getting overwhelmed by Yoh's determination and the strength and courage that came from that. His moves become blunt and kept missing. He wasn't pacing himself with his power, so eventually he got tired, which was part one of Yoh's plan.
Then Yoh started with his faster and more powerful attacks, careful not to miss as every slice counts. Crona's black blood was spilling everywhere.
"Bloody Needles!" Crona's blood became sharp projectiles that were aimed at Yoh like missiles. They "machine-gunned" at Yoh, but he blocked it with ease.
"Amida-Ryu: Meiyo no Yoroi (Amida-Style: Armour of the Honourable)!" The black needles were stopped in their tracks. But Crona started recovering from the assault, so Yoh went right back into it, to prevent anything happening to his "plan".
Crona was being punctured like a voodoo doll on Halloween. Yoh's attacks were sharp, focused, and powerful enough to pierce Crona completely with rapid succession.
Crona on the other hand, was too tired and drained of blood to even use Ragnarok anymore. He wasn't even trying and since Ragnarok was connected to Crona, he was weakened too, as some parts of the blade became rusted, chipped and cracked. And then he fell down to the floor in exhaustion.
Meanwhile, a little bit upstairs was Medusa, fuming at the site of her child being ruined and wrecked by some kid, when she precisely calculated the impossibility of Crona losing since he had so much going for him. Black blood, Ragnarok, invincibility, power etc. etc. She had to do something but not now. She knew that good things happened to those who waited. And she was nowhere to be seen in the velvet sky above the church.
"Amidamaru, it's here and now! "Amida-Ryu: Hikari no Tsukisa (Amida-Style: Piercing of the Light)!" With Harusame and Futsunomitama no Tsurugi aimed at the mouth of the sword, which was lying on the ground beside the exasperated Crona, Yoh pierced Ragnarok's mouth with his bright iridescent O.S., which filled the large cavernous room with bright light. Ragnarok let out on last scream that seemed to fade into the light as he went back into Crona's Body.
Shortly after the battle, Medusa dropped in unannounced and caught Yoh by surprise. "You…are very interesting. We will see each other again. Then your fate will play into my arms." Medusa swept up Crona on her broom stick and disappeared into the night.