Actions of rejection,
Actions of crazed,
In the hands of undeemed fate.

Faltering steps took the man away from the lab, his mind a twisted mess. Nothing seemed real except his desire to escape, to leave the suddenly claustrophobic confines of the building. He was running from something, but didn't know what, just that it was important to leave.

There was someone that he didn't want to hurt, but it seemed almost as if it was his fate to hurt, to injure, to destroy everything and everyone that got close to him. His mind rejected the thought and he continued walking woodenly.

Debris and bones,
Will be shed
Undeniable, in its wake.

Blood flowed from a cut above his eye. The man couldn't recall how it had happened any more than he could he could remember how he had gotten the line of stitches that encircled his arm, the one that crossed his chest. They were undeniably there, but he didn't know how they had gotten there.

He assumed by his own hand, lost in madness. Trembling he walked on, searching for where he belonged. The place he needed to be.

Love can be like heaven,
It can be hell.
The endless struggle,
Losing myself.
The temptation is great,
Of jealousy craves.

He stood in front of the lab now, looking up. A woman's shoe had just hit the pavement in front of it and Stein's eyes grew wide.

"Marie!"

Emotions twisted within him and he ran faster than he had imagined to her. She jumped when he came close to her, landing in a twisted wreck on the ground far below, her bones broken.

A twisted giggle escaped the man. 'I loved her.' He realized suddenly, the thought flying from his mind as a small child stepped into view, smiling up at him.

"She's dead now, just like you always wanted."

Laughter poured from the man as he realized that he loved whoever that was standing down there, someone who could understand him, broken and lost as he was.

The child smirked. He was hers now.

I want to leap,
Into great traps.
Like a puppeteer,
Drawing strings.
Making me feel,
Madness sweet kiss.
Insanity's wrath,
Consumed in hatred,
Beneath despair.

He followed her wherever she led, a puppet on her strings. He soared on the heights of his madness. When the dead one reappeared he was angered. Somewhere, someone had lied to him.

He had lied to himself in a desperate attempt to protect Marie from the madness. The other one's voice compelled him though, to destroy the ones close to him to stop the noise. It couldn't be fixed, it had to be destroyed.

A desperate shout,
Slips and echoes
It ain't heard,
I sagged in defeat.
The world won't accept me,
In all that is.

The dead one was yelling at him, pleading with him; she was desperate and he almost recognized her, the memories slipping and echoing around in his head momentarily before he was deaf to it again, his sane mind sagging in defeat to the madness. He knew the world could never accept him as he was, broken and fractured. His sane mind gave up the fight briefly.

Surprise painted itself across his face as the one that should be dead kept coming after him, even amid the madness he could hear it, the small voice that whispered each time it saw the woman.

'She accepts you. Isn't that all that matters? She came. She'll always come.'

And then she reached out to touch him, her golden glow suffusing his being. Peace radiated through him.

Humanity saved her,
Will she save me?

The man's eyes opened wide as he had his answer.

A/N: I don't own Soul Eater or the poem. This was a challenge given to me by Yuuki24688 to write a fic based off her Stein-inspired poem.

I hope that you enjoy my offering.