It was always best to let your enemies think that they had defeated you. Create some fanciful tricks with whatever magic you had left and make the death dramatic, biased even. Medusa Gorgon knew this, and oh, how she knew it well. There was a reason why she had lived so long; going from body to body until she couldn't even remember what her original body actually looked like. Sure, Maka Albarn may have had an attack that could destroy the very essence of evil, but that was in the eye of the beholder. Of course, the big question was if she were truly evil? She wasn't born evil, not all witches were bad, and although she had been a powerful witch and an even greater intellectual, she had done some good, hadn't she?

So, Medusa wasn't truly evil and she couldn't have been completely destroyed by one attack, no matter how powerful. Which just showed how much faith all the members of Shibusen had in that fifteen year old girl named Maka. While the frustration and rage of the situation rolled in tremendous waves inside Medusa's translucent body, the witch reminded herself that it was all over.

The Kishin was destroyed, there would really be no point in trying to create another one. After all, humans only feared what they didn't know, and now they knew plenty of ways to destroy the humanoid figure of pure fear. The witch floated harmlessly through Death City, going through people like a ghost and being as invisible as an atom as she passed the pedestrians. She was going straight to the academy, to speak to Lord Death.

He could kill her, when he saw her. He'd be the only one able to see her, except maybe Azusa with her keen, gimlet eyes. Yet Medusa was repenting. She wasn't asking for anything except for forgiveness, and she hadn't done too many bad things to harm the academy, had she? Although, Medusa would remind Shinigami-sama that she had really helped plenty of the students enrolled at the DWMA with their injuries; that had to count for something.

Now she was inside the building, remembering its familiar architecture and the many halls and rooms the large building held. Everything was tidy and clean, as usual, and Medusa wandered freely. She moved quite quickly in this form of hers. While being unable to touch or hold anything, even communication wasn't possible unless she wanted to fatigue herself to the extreme, she could quickly glide through any obstacle with practiced ease.

Somehow she made her way to her old office of when she had pretended to be a nurse at the academy. Everything was going as planned when she had worked there, nothing out of the ordinary and no suspicion of her. The other teachers did question her solitude action often, which was a problem at times but Medusa easily played it off by being a busy woman who wasn't out-going. She looked inside, seeing it empty. Not even whoever had replaced her was there, which didn't quite strike the woman as odd. She moved on.

Classrooms. So many identical looking classrooms with only a number scratched onto the door for guidance to the students. It was very kitschy, yet held a charming factor to it. She looked inside a few classrooms and saw that they were empty as well. This fact did seem strange to the witch but she continued on dutifully. Shortly after, Medusa heard laughter coming from one of the classrooms, sounding quite familiar. Curious, she went to the classroom and glanced inside, only to quickly recoil back.

Inside the classroom were two teachers from the DWMA, more specifically a death scythe and a meister. Two very famous people, and people who Medusa held a bittersweet relationship with.

"Stein," Medusa said aloud, remembering all those hopes and feelings she had towards the sleep-deprived man. If he had stayed on her side, she would have won. If he had gone willingly to her side they could have been invincible together. Of course, that stupid short woman named Marie always had to stick her nose into every little thing and-

"Stein, what's wrong?" Well speak of the devil, that was Marie's voice. There was no answer although only a few seconds passed. Medusa glanced back into the room, curious to watch. She got a better view of what was happening inside: the two were sharing lunch together that no doubt Marie made for the two of them. Such a mother hen, Medusa thought viciously. Medusa's eyes quickly traveled around the room until they met the stare of the man they had once glorified. The man covered in stitches placed a hand to his large screw, his mouth empty of a cigarette. One turn, then another, and before he could complete his third, Marie's voice interrupted him and asked him her previous question once more. He paused, thinking.

"Nothing." He answered in his monotone voice. It was good to hear it, and it made the witch linger a bit longer. Stein looked at his companion. "Now, can I have it back? I'll smoke outside instead of in here." Before hearing Marie's reply, Medusa decided to rush down the hall. It was well past her time to visit Lord Death.

…

"Yes, Medusa, I can see that you really are sorry, but you do deserve punishment after all that you have done." Shinigami-sama's humorous voice rang in her ears. Punishment? What kind of punishment? Would this Lord truly end her life, even after her repenting to him in true and honest feelings? Medusa gave a brief nod of her head, while her tongue wanted to lash out with words. It would be fitting: everyone thought she was dead and now she really would be.

"You're right: I deserve any punishment you give me, I'll take death willingly, but please, let me show you how I am honestly sorry about what I've done by living and proving over and over each and every day that I am really a good person!" Her words came out quickly, without a proper sequence and hardly any pause. She was begging now, for her life, while Shinigami-sama scrutinized the vaporous witch.

"I knew it. You're psychic." He gave his entire body a nod before slamming a fist on a open palm. "It's decided then! You, Medusa Gorgon, will return to the DWMA."

"As it's nurse?" Medusa was appalled, she never thought it would be so easy. After all she had tricked Shibusen many times and being its nurse gave her plenty of access to student information. Did Lord Death easily trust anyone who repented? Of course, he did consider her a psychic, which she was not, so it was very feasible that he did.

"No. As a student. You want to prove to me that you're sorry? Well, make DWMA proud with your... smartness."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

"Well," Lord Death fiddled his large fingers sheepishly, looking around and shifting too much. It was unusual to see him like this, he wasn't arrogant but he was never embarrassed. "Because of everything with the Kishin," he paused to give Medusa a good glare, which was hard for Medusa to understand that he was actually glaring at her rather than just staring, "students grades have dropped dramatically. Now our top students are just proficient instead of advanced and many students are below school district standards."

"So you're saying you need me to help boost Shibusen's test scores?" Medusa echoed out, clearly understanding everything Lord Death was saying. Although Shibusen focused greatly on training its students in battle tactics, the core subjects were also greatly encouraged to the students primarily because it made them well-rounded.

"Exactly. Because if students don't get their grades up and pass next year's standard district test, well..." It was obvious Shinigami-sama was hesitating in giving this much information to the witch. "The DWMA will no longer be available to the public and will be shut down." A snake-like smile appeared on Medusa's face. It wasn't evil yet it wasn't good, neutral for the moment.

"Well, Shinigami-sama, I can obviously help you in that department." The witch's tone quickly moved into a smooth, husky one filled with her obvious seducing charm. "All you have to do is find me a body, near death is preferred so no morals are broken. I am a changed woman after all."