Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, nor any of its characters, in any way. The only characters in this story that I own are Naozumi and Azurai. All other characters and/or places belong to Atsushi Okubo.
Everything was calm in Death City, Nevada. The birds were silent, almost sorrowful in a way, and there was no singing or cheering to be heard in the streets. A terrible battle had just ended, and though the victory had been theirs, it hadn't come without a price.
Indeed, many lives had been lost to Arachnophobia and the Kishin's Madness. The city lay in ruins, battle scars of broken rubble and shattered fragments of homes and lives littered the area.
Lord Death saw all this with lament and woe in his battle weary spirit. He had thought his plan to be fool-proof, that no one could ever resurrect the Kishin that formerly slept beneath the DWMA. He'd bound his very soul to the city in order to protect it in some way, but instead it had nearly caused the downfall of the entire world.
The old shinigami gazed out at the ruins below their beloved city, seeing the destruction and chaos that lay in wait. There seemed to be no end to the pain and torment about him, but no, he knew better than that. He'd seen many battles in his day, and while things seemed bleak at the present, he knew the sun would rise again as it had always done. It would wake the sleeping world with its carefree laughter, and would rouse their spirits. The city could be rebuilt, and so could the rest of the physical world. Though many brave humans had died fighting for the sake of peace, and none of them could be replaced, Death knew that it had not been in vain.
Shinigami-sama, the guardian of the people in this world, raised a silent salute to those who'd fought and fallen. It was all he could do to keep himself from crying out for their lost, brave souls. His very own son had battled, and Lord Death couldn't help but fear the very worst.
Maka Albarn, Black*Star, Kid, and their weapon partners had gone on their own to fight with Asura the Kishin. Even though the battle was definitely over, the students had yet to show up. This worried Lord Death as well as the others who were with him. Shinigami stood and wondered to himself What could have happened?
"Maka..." Spirit sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the fresh hole in the Death Room, a troubled look clouding his eyes, "Maka, please give me a sign. Show me that you're alive."
Stein sat a hand, rough from years of fighting, on his former weapon partner's shoulder. It was his way of comforting the Death Scythe without using words. At that moment in time, nothing could be said to console the red-headed father.
No one even so much as approached the masked reaper, seeming to sense the deep fear coming from his wavelength that surrounded them all. No one knew what to say to him, for what could one say to someone such as the grim reaper about the subject of death?
The shinigami squinted his eyes below his concealing mask, focusing intently on finding his son's soul wavelength. Just a small flicker of life. Anything.
At first, nothing was to be found. Lord Death became distraught, nearly tearing more stones from the already crumbling wall to relieve his anxiety and frustration. Shocking everyone in the room, he uttered a low, mournful cry as though he'd given up his last shred of hope.
"Son, where are you?" he shouted, almost doubling over with the force of his own voice. The agony in his cry was evident as he continued searching wildly to find his son. His mind was clouded, making it very difficult for him to see any souls at all. Finally, defeated, he seemed to slump over, the features of his mask becoming bleak and cold. "You have to be alive... I would know... I know I'd have sensed it if you had fallen, but why... why can I not sense your presence?"
"Lord Death, sir." Azusa the Clairvoyant, eyes far in the distance, spoke lowly, uncertainty causing her usually strong voice to quaver.
"Azusa," dully the grim reaper turned his head, facing the young woman who'd pulled him from the silent torment in his mind, "Where... Where is my son?"
"I can sense him, Lord Death, as well as the others. Something... seems to be wrong, however." her features twisted in a puzzled frown as she rested her chin in her hand, "Their souls are very dim. Maka Albarn's is the strongest of them all."
"But he's alive?" Shinigami-sama pressed for answers, "Just tell me he is alive."
"Yes, Lord Death." Azusa pushed her rectangular glasses up the slender bridge of her nose out of sheer habit, "They're all alive."
"Thank the gods." Spirit breathed.
Death let out a relieved sigh as he fought to retain his new-found composure before speaking, "Stein, Marie, you go find them. Nygus, go with them and help in any way you can. Bring them back here to me and tend to their wounds immediately."
"Right away, sir!" Marie nodded, her care for the students leaking through into her voice, "Let's go."
"Right." Stein followed the blonde woman, with Nygus coming behind them in absolute silence.
As the trio left the Death Room, with only Crona, Spirit, Death, and Excalibur left behind, the room became dreadfully silent. Lord Death returned to staring out where the battle had taken place, wondering why he still could not sense any of the souls. Perhaps it's because of the injuries I sustained...
"L-lord D-death, s-sir." shy Crona approached the reaper nervously, his voice shaking with each word, "I-is Maka going to be okay?"
The shinigami jumped and turned his head, "Oh?" he masked his worry with his cheerful-as-ever voice, "Yes, I'm sure she'll be fine, Crona! Don't you worry!"
"O-oh, okay." shaking his head up and down, Crona backed up and sat in a corner, off in a world of his own. Lord Death could almost feel the fear and worry radiating from the boy. He smiled in his mind, knowing that the Demon Swordsman cared very deeply about the scythe meister.
It's a good thing they brought him back. he mused, Maka completely trusts Crona. Perhaps I should pardon him for his misdeeds. After all... it's over, now, and I see no point in punishing him. He did kill Medusa... Yes, I'll forgive him and allow him to attend classes again.
Just then, Nygus, Stein, and Marie all ran in, carrying Kid, Soul Evans, and Black*Star. Stein lay Kid on the ground, the other two being laid beside them. Maka, Tsubaki, and the Thompson sisters gathered around them, staring worriedly at their injured friends.
Racing forward to see his son, Death was totally unprepared for what he was to see. In the center of Kid's chest was a stab wound that went all the way through. This, of course, would have killed a regular human. But, being a shinigami himself, Kid was a bit more...hardy when it came to injuries. Of course, this was still a very serious wound, and Nygus worked quickly to bind his chest and check his pulse.
"Don't worry, Lord Death." the mummy-like woman nodded at Shinigami-sama, "He'll be just fine. Just give him some time to heal up, and he'll be good as new."
"That's good news, Nygus." He returned her nod, "But what of the others? Are they all right?"
"Black*Star should be okay, but I'm very worried about Soul." Nygus frowned worriedly, turning her attention to the white-haired Weapon who lay still, "He must have been hit hard with Asura's magic. I'm doing all I can, but only time will tell."
"Soul..." Maka backed up, eyes watering at the older woman's words, "Soul, don't you dare die."
"Maka, don't worry." Spirit pulled her to his chest, surprised when she didn't resist or shout at him, "It's okay."
"P-papa." she sniffled softly, burying her face in the cloth of his suit. Her father simply held her, overjoyed that he could be so close to his daughter after so long. He was so glad that she was all right.
Tsubaki, who had remained silent for a while, crouched by her meister's side, "Black*Star... You finally surpassed God, didn't you?" she smiled softly, patting his blue hair, "I've never been more proud of you than I am now."
Patty clung to her sister's arm, sobbing and crying, "Big sis, big sis, Kid's hurt!"
"It's okay, Patty." Liz cooed in an almost motherly way, "Our Meister won't be beaten that easily. And anyway, Nygus said he's gonna be okay, remember?"
"Y-yeah." Patty rubbed her nose with the back of her hand, eyes brightening, "Okay, big sis."
The group of people slowly fell silent, either watching the three injured students, comforting each other, or just simply looking outside with pensive expressions on their weary faces. The battle had worn them out, and surely nothing could surprise them, now. They'd seen so much in such a little time, and as young as they were -merely teenagers- it was almost more than they could handle. But, they'd gotten braver, and stronger. They no longer took life for granted, for they'd seen so many innocent lost to death eternal. They looked at their friends who were around them, nearly all the students breaking into tears. Not tears of sorrow, but tears of relief. Here they were, after the biggest battle of their lives, and they were still together at the end of it. Nothing would ever stop them, now.
"Lord Death, Lord Death!" someone pounded on the doors outside, begging to be let in, "Lord Death, there are two children outside wishing to speak with you!"
He sighed for the hundredth time that day and replied, "Bring them in."
Hey, I hope you all like this. This is the first chapter to my Soul Eater fan fiction. Hopefully it isn't too badly written. Please leave reviews! I'd appreciate it very much. Have fun reading!