*Author's note: Hello! This is my very first Soul Eater fic, so please tell me what you think! I'm going to say straight away that I have already written this story and edited it, (and now I'm only posting the chapters) so there will be tons of drama! I'm a sucker for drama! :-) Anyway, all the usual characters will make an appearance, mostly the students. The first few chapters will be mainly characterisation, like the anime, so please bear with me! Haha! Thank you for reading!
I do not own any characters in this story except my own original OCs! *
* A sound soul dwells within a sound mind, and a sound body *
...
Sixteen years ago
...
"If we keep it up at this rate, I'll become a Death Scythe in no time," Spirit Albarn said, as he ran to catch up to his partner, Franken Stein.
The night was dark and black clouds drifted towards them ominously.
"We have to keep a steady mind, Spirit," Stein replied, his round glasses flashing intently with the moonlight. "We only have half the required amount of Kishin souls."
"Don't worry, Stein," Spirit waved a hand in the air to relieve his friend. "We can get the other half soon, and finding a witch's soul will be easy!"
"Don't be foolish," Stein admonished, shaking his head when his partner couldn't see. "Many have died trying to gain a witch's soul. It will be extremely difficult. So we must be prepared for anything."
"Fine," Spirit replied, his shoulders seeming to deflate. "Why must you be so negative all the time, Stein? Sometimes a little positive thinking can do wonders."
"Realistic thinking can do more than wonders," Stein started.
Suddenly, a man ran across their line of vision, and crouched on the concrete, his silhouette blacker than the night.
"What's he doing?" Spirit whispered, looking around behind Stein's shoulders.
The strange man rolled over a large lump on the ground, and stabbed a knife repeatedly into it.
"It's a Kishin," Stein replied, quietly.
The large lump on the ground bled out, a black ring of liquid seeping into the ground around it, then it suddenly exploded into a million particles of dust.
A white-blue orb rose from the dust and levitated in mid-air. Both Spirit and Stein knew that this was a soul, someone's life, floating in front of the Kishin's face.
The Kishin grabbed the air-bound soul with a greedy hand and shoved it down his throat, swallowing the large orb slowly.
"He killed him," Spirit whispered, disgustedly. "We have to get him before he kills anyone else!"
Spirit was suddenly gone, and Stein's jaw dropped a bit.
"Spirit- wait-" Stein said, reaching a hand out toward his friend's retreating form as he went running toward the Kishin. Stein reluctantly ran behind him, stopping a few feet from his red-headed companion. The Kishin still had his back turned to them.
"Spirit, now!" Stein exclaimed.
The red headed weapon shot into the air with a burst of light, transforming into a large red and black scythe.
Stein grabbed the scythe from above and wielded it dangerously toward the Kishin.
"Stop!" Stein yelled, and the Kishin looked in his direction.
Stein got a good look at the monster. It had white hair and a vertical eye slanting across it's forehead. It opened it's mouth to speak, revealing sets of pointed teeth.
"Must have... Power..." the Kishin breathed, running toward Stein and his weapon with full speed.
Stein spun the scythe and slashed the air above the Kishin's head, barely missing.
The Kishin barrelled into him, and they all went rolling across the concrete. Stein's scythe left his hand suddenly, and the Kishin noticed.
The monster tried to lunge, but Stein hurriedly grabbed up his weapon, and the Kishin slashed his knife inches in front of Stein's face.
Stein could feel the sharp wind blowing past his eyes as it ripped from the blade above him.
Breathing deeply, Stein tightened his grip on the scythe and jammed the blade into the Kishin's stomach.
The monster-man fell away from Stein and slumped onto the ground.
Stein jumped up, and tried to calm his pounding heart as Spirit changed back into his human form with a burst of light.
"That was close," Spirit huffed, looking around with wide eyes.
"I feel as though this is only the beginning," Stein said, quietly, searching the grounds. "I can sense another soul. But this time it's not a Kishin. It's just a Kishin-egg."
All was quiet for a second, then the high-pitched wails of a baby rang out into the night.
"What?!" Spirit yelled, his voice rising an octave from surprise. "The Kishin-egg is a baby?!"
"No," Stein replied firmly. "I can sense the baby's soul as well. I believe it belonged to the Kishin we just killed."
"We have to get that baby before the Kishin-egg finds it!" Spirit said, turning and looking around the empty streets quickly. "We have to take it with us!"
"I suppose," Stein pondered, a hand on his chin. "The Kishin-egg is approaching quickly. We'd better move then if we want to find the baby before it does."
The two started following the sounds of the crying, searching the dark as silently as they could.
The wind picked up, as if a storm were moving into their area.
"Stein! There's the baby!" Spirit yelled, pointing at a park bench, where a blanket-wrapped baby was perched.
Stein ran to his friend, but another man suddenly broke from the shadows opposite them.
"Leave the baby," the man growled at them.
They were all equal distances away from the park bench. Stein wracked his brain.
He had to think of a way to get there before the Kishin-egg did.
"Why?" Spirit asked. "What do you need a baby for?"
"The baby..." The Kishin chuckled, darkly, "has a secret talent. We need it on our side..."
Suddenly, Stein took off in a run toward the park bench, but the Kishin lunged and grabbed the baby up one second before Stein landed on the ground with a thud. Stein looked down at his empty hands for a moment before he remembered their situation.
"Spirit! Follow them!" Stein barked as the Kishin-egg took off for the woods. If the man got into the woods with the child, they'd never be found and the baby would be lost forever.
"Right!" Spirit said, and dashed toward them. He jumped over another bench and landed in front of the Kishin. "Hand over the baby," Spirit demanded, trying to corner the kidnapper.
"Catch," the Kishin-egg snarled, throwing the baby into the air behind him.
"Ah!" Spirit screamed as the little swaddled baby flew through the wind.
Stein jumped up as quickly as he could and ran, holding his arms out, hoping the baby landed where he thought it would.
Stein stumbled on a rock, but managed to keep his balance.
The baby landed in his arms perfectly, and he let out a breath of relief.
The Kishin tried to make a run for it, but Spirit held an arm out, a large blade jutting from his elbow.
"Not tonight," Spirit whispered, and lunged at him.
As the two engaged in combat, Stein quickly studied the baby in his hands.
It was a girl, he thought. Well, maybe it was. He wasn't the best at judging babies. He wondered if it was a Meister or a weapon, because the Kishin said it had a talent-
Suddenly, the baby turned into a tiny weapon in Stein's arms, cutting the palm of his hand.
He almost dropped it, but stared in amazement.
It was a mini double scythe, a blade at the top right and the bottom left. There were black raindrops made into the design, and writing down the side that said, "Sound soul, sound mind, sound body."
Stein had never seen anything like it before. Turning back into a human, the little girl looked up at him with big blue eyes.
The baby even possessed it's own soul wavelength, at this young age.
He wondered-
"Stein! Watch out-" Spirit yelled.
Stein flashed around, kicking instinctually.
The Kishin rammed into him and the baby flew from Stein's hands into the woods.
"Ah!" he grunted, falling on his hands and knees.
Stein grabbed the Kishin's leg as it tried to follow the baby. Pinning the monster on the ground, Spirit turned back into a scythe and Stein grabbed onto the weapon.
"Say goodbye," Stein growled, and cut the Kishin's head off with one swift motion.
The monster exploded into nothingness, and a single red soul floated in the air before them.
There was a sharp noise in the air as Spirit changed back once again, and Stein breathed deeply.
"You take the soul, and I'll try to find the baby," Stein said, as Spirit grabbed the soul out of the air.
Stein stood back up, trying to stop the bleeding from his cut hand, and walked into the woods, searching.
There were no cries, no noises.
Nothing. The dark woods were eerily silent, and Stein let out a deep breath that he'd been holding in his lungs.
"Spirit! The baby's gone," Stein called, sounding disheartened.
"Gone?! What do you mean, gone?!" Spirit exclaimed, walking into the woods with his friend.
"I don't see it anywhere, I don't even hear it. It must be dead," Stein replied, his voice flat. "Let's get out of here."
"It's nowhere?" Spirit asked, searching around, frantically, under rocks and up in trees.
Stein rolled his eyes.
"I couldn't find it," he reiterated. "No baby could have survived a throw like that, anyway."
"Hm," Spirit sighed, sulking, his shoulders slumped. "Alright, let's leave."
The pair walked back from the woods, quietly, saying nothing.
For some odd reason, this night had changed them both. Stein wasn't even sure they could fight together anymore. They had been slowly drifting apart, anyway. He knew something like this was bound to happen.
Finally, they got to a crossroads. Stein stopped and so did Spirit.
They parted ways, not looking at each other, a mutual understanding between them, for the very last time.
...
Sixteen years later
...
"Hey, River," Amaya turned to her Meister, with a frightened glance. "Are you sure transferring into this academy is going to be for the best?"
River was quiet for a second, his white-blond hair hanging in his face. He looked back up to her, one gray eye and one gold eye shining. He could tell exactly what she was thinking, almost at all times.
"Why? Are you scared?" he asked her, teasingly, in his deep voice.
"No, I'm not scared, how dare you even ask me that!" Amaya replied, indignantly.
She walked ahead toward the academy, her arms crossed, faking anger.
River and Amaya were closer to each other than your usual Meister and weapon.
He smiled when he thought about it.
River and Amaya had been born with matching birthmarks. They looked like tattoos, but they weren't. They hadn't gotten them by choice.
On River's chest, he had the words "Sound soul, sound mind, sound body," right across his collar bones.
Amaya had the same words, almost in the same script, across her collar bones as well.
It was odd. It was how they had met.
"River, are you coming?" Amaya asked him, tapping her foot, a tad agitated.
"Yeah," he replied, his hands in his pockets.
He walked to meet her by the doors.
They had just finished trekking up what seemed to be an endless amount of stairs to get to the door, and River had stopped to enjoy the view.
Amaya, on the other hand, wanted inside the school as quickly as possible.
River opened the doors, watching Amaya's face to see her reaction.
"Woah," Amaya said. "This is pretty awesome."
The place was big and bright, with almost a cheerful atmosphere. The walls were a light yellow and white color, and there were stairs at the end of the hall closest to them.
There was a student standing by the door, talking to another group of students.
"Hey," Amaya asked them, walking farther into the school. "We're new here. How do we contact lord Death?"
"You're new here?" a girl asked, confused. She had two blond ponytails, one on each side of her head. She also had on a long black coat with a red plaid skirt, and black boots.
"Yeah, it's our first day," Amaya replied. Usually, River didn't talk all that much, so Amaya had to do most of the talking.
"You walk up to a mirror and write 42-42-564, while making this symbol on the glass. That'll give you contact with lord Death," the girl replied. She held her hand out. "My name's Maka!"
She closed her eyes and giggled.
Amaya raised one eyebrow but shook her hand, anyway.
"My name's Amaya, and this is my Meister, River," she replied, politely.
"This is my weapon, Soul," the girl said again. "And this is Black Star and Tsubaki, and Kid and Liz and Patti."
She introduced a long line of people that Amaya hoped she'd remember the names of.
"Nice to meet you guys," Amaya replied. "Well, I have to go get my classes schedule and get a hold of lord Death. See you guys later!"
She nodded at them, and River said nothing, being the thoughtful and quiet person he usually was.
They found a large room with a mirror, and Amaya guessed it was for talking with lord Death.
The pair approached the mirror and traced the numbers on the glass.
A light filtered through the mirror, and they could see a man in a mask on the other side.
"Hello, hello, good to see ya!" Lord Death said happily at them. "You two must be our newest students, Amaya Rhys and River Stone! It's going to be absolutely wonderful having you here!"
"Thank you," Amaya replied, bowing her head in respect. "We just wanted to check in before we head to our classes."
"I left your schedules with a man named Professor Stein," Death told them. "He's also the professor of your first class! That way, you wouldn't be late!"
"Thank you," Amaya replied.
"Well, you'd better be hurrying along! Stein's room is down the hall, at the end. Toodaloo!" Death said in his wacky voice, and his picture faded from the mirror.
"Well, that was weird," Amaya told River. He just chuckled and shrugged.
The pair slowly made their way to Professor Stein's class, which was at the end of the hall.
The door was already open, but they knocked before going inside anyway.
The room started up high, and seats eased down into the room, like a theatre almost. The teacher's desk was at the bottom.
The only person in the room was a man, covered in stitches. Even his lab coat had been taken apart and crudely pieced back together. A large bolt stuck from the side of his head.
The man shuffled through some papers, sitting in his chair backwards, and turned the bolt in his head clockwise.
"Well, hello," the man said in a calm, almost monotone voice, looking up at them, his glasses shining white.
"Hello," Amaya spoke up from the top of the room. "We were told by lord Death that you had our class schedules."
"I do," he replied, his eyes back on his papers. "Why don't you come on down and get them?"
The man sounded casual, but Amaya felt a tad on-edge.
He seemed familiar to her, somehow.
She knew that if she had ever seen him before now, she would probably have most definitely remembered him.
But that still didn't stop the odd feelings of familiarity that consumed her and rooted her to the spot.
River had already started down to get his schedules, and looked back at her questioningly.
"I'm coming," she said.
They both walked down, and stood in front of Stein.
He looked up, once, casually, a stitched scar running down his left cheek. He looked back down again, then did a double-take, seeming a bit startled.
"You two are quite a pair," he said, his brow furrowed. "What are your names again?"
"I'm Amaya, and this is my Meister, River," she replied.
"You're sixteen," Stein stated.
"Y-yes. How did you know that?" Amaya asked, surprised.
"Lucky guess," he replied, seeming to shake whatever surprised feelings he'd had earlier. "Here are your schedules, and your books. Your first class is mine, which starts in about ten minutes. You can have a seat, or leave and come back. Whichever suits you."
Amaya looked at River, who hadn't said very much all morning.
"We'll go look around the school, and come back," Amaya replied.
"Don't get lost," Stein said. "You wouldn't want to be late on your first day."
The man tried to wheel his chair over to a filing cabinet, but the leg got caught on something and the whole chair flipped over with him in it.
"I'm okay," he said, but didn't attempt to get up. He just read his papers on the floor.
Amaya turned and tried to leave as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the tendrils of some odd emotion that had coiled their way into her stomach.
That man was strange.