Prologue:
Feliciana was dreaming. She stood in the middle of a lush meadow, dotted with pink and yellow wildflowers in full bloom. A warm breeze blew through her dark red hair and the air smelled sweet and summery. Through the meadow flowed a crystal clear stream, fed by a small waterfall. Standing by the stream, with his broad back to her, was a tall blonde figure.
She tried to call out to him, but her voice didn't work, and the figure gave no response. Slowly, she made her way over to him. She recognized who it was, and called his name again, but still he stood there stoically, giving no acknowledgement to her approach. He just kept his lank gaze at the stream as the water slowly drifted by before flowing off into the distance. Feliciana came up behind him and placed a hand on his broad shoulder.
And he disappeared.
She stood there like that for a moment, arm still extended, hand resting on empty space where his shoulder had been only seconds before. She now noticed that her dream was silent, save for the sound of the water rushing through the stream, steadily growing louder and louder in her ears. The rush steadily became a roar, then a pounding, then a sharp shrill ring shooting through her head. Feliciana collapsed to her knees, clamping her hands over her ears in pain, except… her ears were gone. She was gone. She couldn't feel anything, except the pain and the noise: that thumping, all consuming noise. Through the pulsating beats and the piercing ring, the noise was whispering something to her, calling to her.
"Feliciana, Feliciana…"
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"Feliciana, get up! That dumb potato sucker is here!" Feliciana's eyes shot open, and she saw the face of her clearly irritated older sister hovering over her.
"Ten more minutes Lovi…" she requested groggily, rolling over to avoid the sun pouring in from the window Lovina had just opened.
"Oh hell no! If I have to spend another two seconds alone with that damn German bastard, I'm gonna fucking…" Lovina paused for a moment to contemplate something suitably bad that she would do as she was rifling through Feliciana's dresser.
"Wait, Luddy's here?" Feliciana asked, now sitting up.
"Yeah, apparently you've got a job." Her sister supplied and tossed Feli her school uniform. "And since when have you called that stupid kraut Luddy?"
"Oh, I don't know. I always have, I guess," she responded distractedly, fiddling with the clothes in her lap. "Sorella, have you ever had a dream, and you couldn't remember what was in it?"
"Tch. Yeah, I think a lot of people have."
"All I can remember is that it was really scary."
Lovina turned around and gave her little sister a barely discernible smile, "Well then it's probably best you don't remember it, then. Now get your ass up and get dressed!"
With that, Lovina marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
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Later that day found meister Feliciana Vargas and her weapon partner, Ludwig Beilschmidt, standing before an ancient towering cathedral somewhere in France.
"It says here zat all of the people residing in the monastery have disappeared vun by vun over ze last two months. Foul play is suspected." Ludwig read off of the job sheet.
Ludwig was an intimidating figure, all muscle and broad shoulders and serious countenance. The precise German accent and the steely blue eyes didn't do anything to soften him up. He provided sharp contrast to his bubbly Italian partner, who was friendly to a fault and cute as a button.
She stood beside him, looking up at the structure and bouncing up and down on her heels in anticipation. "This church is so pretty! Let's go!" She grabbed her partner's arm and ran/skipped through the open double wooden doors into the empty cathedral.
Their footsteps on the ancient stones reverberated up to the vaulted ceiling. The place was cavernous yet beautiful, in an old echoey sort of way. Row after row of narrow pews made their way up to the heavily gilded pulpit, the focal point of which was an ornate tabernacle with a red candle lit beside it.
Feliciana rose from a quick genuflect. "Wow, just how old do you think this place is?" she asked, admiring the intricate stained glass windows.
"I'm not qvite sure, but old enough. So let's try not to break anyzing."
Feliciana made her way up the center aisle, running her hand along the spindly pews as she walked. Then she noticed a figure dressed in a black robe kneeling before the altar.
"Hiya, mister!" she called out to him."I'm sorry to disturb you, but can we ask you a few questions about the missing brothers and sisters?"
"Are you kind children from the DWMA?" the kneeling man asked without turning from the altar, his voice old and raspy.
"Er, yes sir." Ludwig replied.
"My name is Father Ahab," the man said, turning around. His eyes glowed a bright red and his old face was contorted into a twisted smile. "I've never sacrificed a meister or a weapon before, this should be fun."
The old priest began shifting into a keishin, an evil monster, his body elongating and turning shadow black and scaly.
"Ludwig, time to transform!" Feliciana called out and took her partner's hand. With a flash of light, Ludwig transformed into a long black leather whip, which she snapped with a flourish.
The terrifying beast loomed over her, all scales and fur and glowing red eyes. Feliciana swallowed hard and told herself not to be afraid. She had never been an extremely courageous person, and hunting monsters had certainly been difficult at first. However, she had learned to be more scared of her partner than she was of the keishin eggs. She just let her mind shift into battle mode and pushed any ideas of flight or surrender out of her head completely. She could do this.
"Father Ahab, your soul has become a Keishin egg and is stained with evil!" She announced to the creature before her, trying to use her most intimidating voice. "You are charged with the consumption of almost thirty innocent brothers and sisters, and we are here to take your soul!"
The beast's eyes glinted and it licked its lips. "You are such a cute little thing, maybe I'll play with you a little bit before I eat your soul." It chuckled as it moved towards her, extending a clawed hand.
Feliciana backed up a few steps, before stumbling over a stack of hymnals and falling to the floor. "You pervy old Man!" she exclaimed as the monster grew closer.
The whip flashed out on its own accord, slicing through the air and severing the monster's arm with a loud snap. "Stay avay from my partner!" Ludwig growled as the keishin howled in agony, holding the stub of its arm.
As the monster retreated a few steps deeper into the church, Feli recovered and coiled Ludwig in her left hand, gripping the leather handle tight in her right. "You see," she addressed the beast, "Ludwig here isn't an ordinary whip."
The keishin growled and rose up to attack again, but Feliciana spun brought Ludwig down with a crack. A scourge appeared deep in the monster's chest. It howled in rage and lashed out, which Feliciana easily side-stepped.
This time Ludwig addressed the creature, "Ze purpose of a veapon is to match and amplify zeir meister's soul vavelength and transfer it to an offensive power."
Desperately, the monster pounced for Feliciana, baring its long sharp teeth. She ducked down and rolled, striking the beast again as she moved aside. It gave a swipe with its good arm, catching her by surprise and knocking her very hard across the sanctuary into the ancient stone walls. She made contact, and fell into a heap on the floor.
The keishin took a moment to congratulate itself on killing its first meister before making its way across broken pews and scattered prayer books to finish off its prey. It wondered which one's soul would taste better.
But then, the keishin could hear a faint crackling sound. Feliciana slowly hauled herself up and shook herself off, her face set in a grim determination. She clutched Ludwig's handle tighter and send another wave of bright energy crackling through him. The beautiful girl stood high in an old mighty church, brandishing a weapon sharpened by the power of her soul. She was an avenging angel, there take the souls of those fallen to evil.
"The job of the meister is to wield their weapon and to hunt souls that have fallen to evil and become keishin eggs. We seek to make our partners into the ultimate weapon: a death scythe, a weapon of the grim reaper himself and to do that…"
She cut off with a smile that under any other circumstances would have been bright and cheerful, but to the keishin just looked terrifying. With that she leaped into the air as high as her legs would take her. She roared a battle cry as she brought Ludwig down on the creature's head and he passed through like butter. The beast gave one last cry before disintegrating into nothing, leaving behind only a red flecked orb floating a few centimeters above the ground.
"…We feed them your soul." Feli finished as Ludwig turned back into his human form, staring hungrily at the keishin egg. He picked it up and swallowed it whole, smiling slightly as it traveled down his throat.
"That was great Ludwig! Did you see what I did? I think that one was the fastest yet!" Feliciana was jumping up and down, partly from excitement and partly due to excess adrenaline.
Ludwig straightened up and brushed off his clothes. "Ja, zat vas pretty good, Feli, but you have to pay more attention. It almost grabbed you in ze beginning zere."
"That's why you're here to pay attention for me, silly!" Feliciana had learned over the past few months that Ludwig's critiques were an awkward way of showing that he cared. "How many does this make now?"
"I believe zat vas number seventeen." Ludwig answered automatically.
"Yay! So only… um…"
"Eighty-two more to go." Ludwig supplied, being infinitely more skilled in mental math than she.
Feliciana deflated a bit at the intimidating number, but her infallible smile returned not a moment later. "Well we had better get working on it then!"
Ludwig gave a signature sharp nod, and followed his skipping partner back to the world outside.
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In order for a weapon to become a death scythe, they had to hunt and consume ninety-nine human souls that had fallen to evil and become keishin eggs and finally one soul of a witch. They were led by the one they called Lord Death, or the Grim Reaper. Feliciana and Ludwig, among other teenaged meisters and weapons, attended his school, the Death Weapon Meister Academy.
Consuming a soul means that you gain the power of the being whose soul you consumed, but if a human consumes the soul of another innocent human, then they become a keishin egg. These keishin eggs must never be allowed to continue, lest they become a true keishin, a physical embodiment of fear and evil. This is why the students hunt these monsters, for you can consume an evil soul with no repercussions, and they can restore balance in the world while becoming stronger.
Now that I think about it, it really isn't your typical school.
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Author's Note:
So this is my new project, Wavelengths. This fic isn't currently classified as a crossover because it is a Soul Eater AU. This will be all Hetalia characters, and no Soul Eater characters will make an appearance (not even Lord Death). I hope I am making the premise clear enough for non-Soul Eater fans to be able to understand it. If anything doesn't make sense, leave a review or send me a PM and I will try to clear it up. Feel free to do the same with any spelling or grammar mistakes you might see because I don't have a beta reader.
I was mostly inspired for this because of some Team Haberkorn fan art I stumbled upon, that had pictures of all of his roles together. Seeing Italy standing next to Death the Kid was the light bulb moment. I also noticed that Ling from FMA looks like Italy and China's love child. Does anyone else see it?
Finally, I'm sorry that this chapter is so short. It is sort of the introductory prologue chapter much like the three prologues at the beginning of Soul Eater. It had a little bit of action, but I do promise LOTS of romance in chapters to come. I mean, two people with compatible souls facing near death situations every other day? How can you not turn that into a romance story?