I got a complaint about the spelling and already had a spell, checked version waiting so I figured "why not?" The spelling kind of struggled the first time around because I do all my typing on my touch screen phone, where you can't pinpoint keys with your nails and auto-correct is out to eat your heart. Anyway, here you go, the other chapters should be fine apon upload because after seeing this chapter when I first posted it I realized it was a real problem. Any more errors now should be because I just flat out don't know how to spell that word and I'm not going to apologize for that.
The Black Blood Realities - Universe 1 - Consequences
Soul fell back, his breath knocked ruthlessly from his lungs by the impact. He gasped for air like a fish on a river bank as his body tried to reorient it'self and his crimson eyes struggled slowly upwards to look at his attacker. They held a look of pure terror, an expression that almost never graced the features of the cool-headed weapon... but then again, those of his opponent were even more incompatible.
The eyes of Maka held none of their usuol warmth or brightness, their emerald gleam twisted in almost a cruel parody of her usuol light. She chuckled through her teeth, clenched in a much-too-wide grin as she stood over the fallen scythe boy. She struck him again with some unknown force and sent him flying back another several feet. Soul cringed into the glass-like floor again as his miester's hollow but ecstatic cackle echoed around him. He watched her boots through one squinted eye as she began to make her way over to his new possition, her maniacal laphing having settled into an erratic chuckle as she tripped over her feet, stumbling as she grew nearer. She finally fell in front of him, her grinning face mere inches from his own. He could see something deep within her eyes, like black voids of emptiness that seemed to suck the existence out of everything around them, hungering to take it for themselves. "M-Maka..." Soul's voice rasped out, cracked and scrachy. Her grin widened, her face looking like it had been sliced completely in half by it, and leaned in closer. He could feel her breath on his ear as she whispered the words that make his blood freeze solid every time."Thanks..."
Soul eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright in his bed, cold sweat covering his entire body as he tried to get his breathing back under control. That had to have been the third nightmare that week. All of them about the same. He let out a long, shaky breath and ran his hands exhaustedly over his face, tangling his fingers in his pale-silver hair. The amartment was dead silent, witch actuolly helped to calm the weapon down, because the worst part of his nightmares, was that they didn't end in the waking world.
They should have known that it wouldn't be that easy, to just use the black blood to such an extent and come out unfazed on the other side. No. That little demon had taken hold of Maka completely, no matter for how brief a time, and his disgusting fingerprints stood out in stark black across her soul, and her sanity.
Things had seemed normal right after the battle. Weather it was the fact that everyone was so wrapped up in the violence of the kishin's escape that it had been held at bay, or just that it needed to gain strength again, everyone had assumed that Maka's soul would just neutralize the black blood like it always did. It wasn't until a little less than a week later that Soul started having doubts.
Shrill screams tore through his slumber like lightning, shocking him out of his bed in seconds. He bolted down the hallway to the sound's source, practically kicking down the door to Maka's room and charging in with his sythe-blade arm poised menacingly above his head, ready to strike. His narrowed eyes scanned the dark room, but quickly fell in confusion. There was no threat in sight, nor any signs of a break in or struggle aside from the sheets and blankets that now littered the floor from Maka's bed. He followed to trail of discarded fabric to find her curled into a ball on her bare mattress, rocking back and fourth slightly as she faced the corner. She looked off in the eery pale light of the moon. Soul knew she had always been skinny, but now she looked like a freaking skeleton, her spine and shoulder blades jutting out profoundly beneath her silky pajamas. He took a cautious step towards his miester, returning his arm to it's usuol human state as he reached out towards her. He could hear her chuckling softly, an unsettling sound as her face sat shrouded in shadows, and started to get a sinking feeling. Her head slowly turned, one green eye coming to settle unsteadily on his face. The breath hitched in Soul's throat as he stared into the hidious void that usuolly held so much. The chuckling girl before him noticed the sudden, fearful change and her chuckles began to rise, growing louder and more unearthly until they broke into a phycotic screeching. Soul reached out to her, trying to calm her down, but she snapped at his hand like a rabbit animal. He flinched back, whatching her in horror as she continued to cackle, rocking violently back and four with no regard for anything. 'This wasn't Maka. This wasn't his miester, his best friend, his-' He didnt bother finishing the thought as the rage that had been bubbling up inside him at the sight finally boiled over. He lunged at the girl, eyes trained determinedly on the empty green pools he usuolly knew so well. She kept on cackling as she was slammed into the wall and pinned there by her shoulders. Soul glared down at her, fury eliminating from him. It only made her seem to laph harder though as Soul finally lost what was left of his patients. "Shut up!" He shouted, pulling back slightly and slamming her head and shoulders back into the wall again. It was firm, but only seemed to amuse the girl even more. "Maka! Come on! Your better than this! MAKA!" He pulled back and slammed down again, emidiately regretting the force as a sickening thump/crack erupted from her skull. She fell silent, her wild eyes settling shut as she slumped back against the wall. Soul froze, staring in shock at what he had done. "No! Maka... no!" He pulled her close and hugged her tightly, listening so intently that he refused to even breath. There it was. He sighed audibly in relief and sat back, reveling in the sound of his miester's shallow breathing and racing heart. He had just knocked her out. He noted gratefully the small dent in the wall behind her, the source of the horrific sound. Still as he looked down at her though he couldnt shake the feeling of stomach-twisting guilt he felt. 'Sure, he didn't actuolly crack her skull or break her neck, but he could have. And if he had-' he was brought back to reality mid thought yet again as a hand began push against his chest. He looked down at Maka, her eyes blinking dazedly as she started to come to. She looked up at him and pushed again, trying to get up, and Soul carefully helped her back into a sitting possition. She rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, they looked duller than usuol, and as she sat still, Soul began to notice the dark circles under them. He didnt care though, they were no longer pools of emptyness gazing back at him. She was there.
After that Maka thanked him, telling him that if that ever happened again, act exactly as he had before. Soul's guts had twisted again at the thought and he adamantly refused, almost getting into a full out screaming fight with her over it. They went to see Stein about it in the morning and he had confirmed that is was the doing of the black blood, specifically the fight with crona. "Allowing it to take her over completely like that left her body and soul's defences weakened, it apears she can no longer filter it completely out of her system like before." He had said. "It seems to multiply in times of weakness, like when she sleeps, when her guard is low." She had had four episodes before that, and at least nine since. Each time it got worse, but Soul never layed a hand on her again during them. He just watched and prayed she'd make it back out and hate himself for not being able to do anything, and Maka would get depressed and fearful, know she was putting her partner through so much, and worrying about the day he may be forced to defend himself against her.
Soul's nightmares had started a week or so after the event, and keapt him awake most nights recently. He gave a huff and swung his legs off the side of his bed, before standing and walking down the hall to the kitchen. He paused briefly at Maka's bedroom door, peeking in to check on her. The bed was empty and made, making Soul's nerves jump a bit, but then he saw the time on the clock next to it. 2:00 AM. He sighed in relief and continued down the hall, finding Maka in her now usuol spot on the living room floor. She sat cross-legged with her hands in her lap, breathing slowly and deeply as four candles burned around her, casting her in a warm amber light. Stein had given them to her a few days ago, instructing her to wake up and use them every two hours during the night. They seemed to help, as she hadn't had a serious night episode since, however, waking up every two hours left her pretty tired and cranky in the mornings and there was worry that her weakened state would leave her open for a day attack. She had brushed it off though, adimant that she would be fine and could handle it, but Soul still worried. Nonetheless, as the floorboards of their apartment creaked under his foot, drawing her attention to his presence, she smiled perkily as if everything was normal. 'How could she be the same girl who bit his shoulder until it bled four days ago?'
