It felt like they had been fighting for days, though it had been 18 hours to be exact. At some point what they thought was a stronger than normal kishin turned out to be a dragon. A dragon! This was some heavy magical stuff they were dealing with here off the coast of England. Black*Star and Tsubaki, with Angela in tow, had joined them a couple of hours ago, when they hadn't returned to the inn the group was staying at. By the time they did join them, the battle had already been aerial for a couple of hours. The whole thing had become overwhelming and at some point some magical force had swiftly shot away from the dragon toward the Western coast of Wales, when Angela started manipulate the magic to create clones of Black*Star and Tsubaki. Black*Star confirmed he, Tsubaki, and Angela had this fight and shouted for Maka and Soul to track the force through the air.
The evening air was chilly and damp as Maka and Soul raced through the low hanging clouds in pursuit of the magic. Maka found she was having a difficult time concentrating enough to keep a steady flying pace. Soul's voice rang out, tinny from being in his weapon form, "Don't go falling asleep Maka!" Maka jerked as they took a sharp dive down, shouting, "Sorry Soul! Did you see that?! It, whatever it is, dove straight into the water!"
Sure enough, the "force of magic" for lack of a better term, dove straight into the dark waters off the coast of a national park in Wales. Maka had not realized Soul might be more exhausted than her until, mid air, he phased out of his weapon form and they began falling toward the shore. "Soul! Soul! Wake up!", Maka was clinging to Soul and shaking him while they plummeted toward the sand. "Oh Geez! AAARARGGGJHHH!" Soul snapped awake and realized they were falling, quickly fazed back into weapon form, and he and Maka drifted to the sand the last. He unfazed and they both crawled forward and collapsed on the damp, night, sand.
Maka halfheartedly slapped Soul on the arm, "Holy heck Soul! I thought we were going to die right then." She left her hand on Soul's arm, then went further and rolled over to him and hugged him. Soul was still breathing hard from the exhaustion and adrenaline, happy to be alive and to have Maka curled up on him. "I thought we were going to kiss our butts goodbye, and I am really not in the mood to see Kid right now." He chuckled while squeezing tighter to Maka. This had been one of the most intense battles they had been in, mostly because they didn't have any back up until a few hours ago, and they couldn't kill the dragon, just subdue it until they knew more.
"Maka?" Soul turned his face into her hair and kissed the top of head, he may be crossing some lines here, but shear exhaustion and being deliriously happy they were still alive helped to calm his usual undercurrent of self-doubt and fear of rejection. Maka just snuggled closer to him, neither one possessing enough energy to remove themselves from the damp sand.
"You know how Kid, Maaba, and I were discussing magic and witches the other day?" Maka closed her eyes while she expounded. "It seems magic is beyond what we understood, perhaps a force in itself that, while manipulated by those with witch blood, it isn't necessarily passed down through their blood lines, nor contained in their DNA. Now with the agreement between the witches and DWMA, a number of witches have become bored with so-called good magic and have quit practicing altogether. Since it turns out that Magic is its own entity, it begins to find a way to manifest other than being manipulated by the witches."
"Why a bloody dragon? Why now? Why here?" Soul found himself asking simple questions so he could continue to hear Maka talk next to him.
"The entirety of the United Kingdom is a very old magical hub. There seems to be a sort of beginning here for magic. There's one in the Congo, one right in the middle of South America, and one in the North East of China as well. The thing is, in those areas, most everyone practices a little magic, manipulating the source and keeping it from concentrating in one place. Even in North America magic is practiced everywhere. Witches in North America seem more than happy to do mundane things with their magic, like keep coffee warm, or enchant a lover, or get free internet. But here, they're a bit repressed honestly. The witches that were in the U.K. and England especially, just left. They liked making curses and hexes and other less acceptable things. But most people here now feel like magic is something a boy in a book wields. They're aware of the DWMA and kishins and witches in the same way people are aware there is abject poverty and hunger around the world, thinking about it every now and then, but not really doing anything with it. I mean, they didn't even report on the moon turning black, like, not a word." Maka stopped for a breath and Soul held onto her a little tighter. Honestly he's never felt this tired before. "You still haven't told me why a dragon."
"I'm getting there. Anyway, the majority of witches here have left, and the magic is sitting there, unused. It begins to collect upon itself and, poof, you get dragons. Did you notice it shrinking every time Angela cloned Black*Star? It was probably a household pet, a descendant of dragons, magically sensitive and able to absorb it easily. But that's just my theory right now." Maka yawned and stretched. "Soul, do you think you can fly us up these rocks to the road so we can call for a ride?" Soul was about to answer when he heard a snore from Maka. Soul snuggled into her sleeping form as close as he could. "Sleeping here is so not cool, but, when in Rome."
It was still dark and damp, when Maka's voice cut through the dense fog of Soul's sleep. "Soul! Soul! Wake-UP!" The sand beneath Soul's face was rumbling and shifting, Maka was standing over him, tugging on his arms and trying to get him to rise. The wind was whipping all around them and dark clouds had begun to swirl ominously in the sky. Soul's consciousness returned swiftly and he was up and standing by Maka in a heartbeat. He put his arm around her shoulder and held her close.
"What's happening!" He had to yell over the wind while keeping his balance because the sand was rumbling and shifting.
"I don't know but look over there!" Maka pointed toward the water where something large and white was slowly rising up from the depths. Soul stood with his mouth open as a giant squid, four stories tall, rumbled up out of the waters. The clouds overhead were swirling and roiling, the electricity snapping through them casting an eerie glow on the squid. The ocean around the squid was churning and boiling casting huge waves and sprays of foam on either side of the squid. Soul and Maka were at a loss. "I just wanted to sleep." Soul said with a yawn. "I can't see a soul, it's obscured by all the magic. I want to leave.."Maka's voice shook a little. This unnerved Soul. He looked over to see actual fear in her eyes instead of the feisty stubbornness he was used to coming up against. Soul responded slowly, concern for Maka causing his voice to wobble, "We can, but don't you think we shouldn't leave something like this unattended? We've got to call Kid."
Soul reached into Maka's jacket and pulled out the mirrored compact so they could contact Kid. Just then the clouds burst and a torrent of cold, sharp rain began to pelt them. At the same time, the squid gave a mighty shake and a tentacle shot forth, too fast for them to discern in the darkness, smacking into them, throwing Soul and Maka and the mirrored compact in three different directions.
Soul rolled to a stand as soon as he hit the sand, frantically searching for the area Maka had been tossed. "Maka! Makaaaaa!" He cupped his mouth to amplify his cries while straining to see a glimpse of Maka through the torrential rain and darkness. He spotted her white shirt at the same time he heard her, thankful for the creepy, green, glow of the supernatural storm. "Soul! I'm good, I see the compact! I'm making a run for it! Cover me!" Soul watched as Maka began sprinting to one edge of the half-moon shaped beach where he assumed she saw the mirror. She was almost upon the spot when another tentacle, this one thinner and more dexterous, snapped out of the water, grabbed Maka around her ankle, yanked her upside-down into the air and began to swing her about. "Holy Crap! Makaaaaa!~!" Soul sprinted as fast as he could, guessing where the eradicate movements would land him close enough to Maka for her to grab him. He had one chance, using their constant resonance to help him pinpoint her through the downpour and darkness. Soul came close and launched himself into the air, phasing into his weapon form. He must have guessed right because seconds later he felt his meister's gloved hand wrapped around his shaft. "Maka! Go! Now!." Maka spun him about using his weight as leverage to twist her body and legs in opposite directions, arcing him high, around, up, then under the tentacle, and, with a mighty shout, sliced the tentacle that was holding her, clean off.
They dropped to the sand again only having time to scramble to their feet before the squid threw its front tentacles way up into the air and let out a horrific screeching sound. Soul covered his ears while shouting at Maka. "Squids screech?!" Maka had her ears covered as well to protect herself form the noise. "Not that I know ..." She trailed off, eyes going wide. Lunging forward, she grabbed Soul's arm and began to drag him as quickly as possible toward the cliffs. At the same time, the screeching stopped and a monstrous gurgle began from deep within the giant squid. Without another second to assess the situation, the squid began to spew a thick, dark, oily substance all over the sand, the rocks, and Soul and Maka. "Ink! Squid ink! Crap!" Maka's hand slipped off Soul's arm, then they both slipped to the ground, finding no purchase on the inky, oily, sand.
The rain was still falling, pooling up on top of the oily ink. It was slicking down over them both while Maka was shouting orders. "I can't wield you like this! This stuff is weirdly oily, it's not washing off, the rain is only making it worse! Strip!"
Soul moved his gaze from the wildly flailing squid to Maka, pretty sure she'd lost her mind. "Are you insane!? Strip?!"
Maka had already removed her gloves and her jacket and was popping the buttons off of her shirt in the hurry to remove it. "Yes, strip! Now! We've lost the mirror, we've got to get back to Black*Star, Tsubaki, and Angela, and I can't wield you covered in oily ink! STRIP!"
As if in a daze, Soul began to slowly slip off his jacket at the same time he loosened his tie with his free hand. By the time he got his jacket off, Maka was in front of him in nothing but a sports bra and boy shorts, grabbing his clothes and ripping them off as quickly as possible. A wild tentacle slapped down, mere feet from them when his shirt hit the floor. It began to slide toward them, quickly, when Maka yanked his pants down around his ankles. The tentacle stopped, stiffened, and retracted at the same time Make ordered him to cut his pants off the rest of the way, and a voice in the back ground, a very irritating, and very welcome voice, hollered "Get a room you two!"
Maka in her bra and underwear, Soul with only his boxers on and his pants around his ankles turned to see Black*Star hovering mid air,wielding Tsubaki, and Angela flying next to him with a small, dragon-like, lizard on her shoulder. She was holding the squid still with some sort of spell.
Black*Star's voice rang out, "What is all this crap?! That's nasty, I'm not chancing getting hit with that nast." He wound up his fist and threw a sonic punch right into the squid's crest. The squid went flying. Not a little bit away, more like, flying right toward Ireland.
Angela screamed at Black*Star that he wasn't very nice, but that she'd drawn enough magic off of the squid that it would be normal sized by the time it grounded, but would most likely be dead. Black*Star ignored her and turned to his exhausted friends, only to find them barely standing, arms around each other for support and who knows what else. "Just kiss already!" Soul responded with a rude gesture, then turned to face Maka.
Maybe it was the abject exhaustion, or the absurdity of the situation that lead to his first time seeing Maka in only her bra and underwear, but it was time. Before anything else came at them, before they could fly to the inn and crash on their beds, before they could take showers and get presentable and return to the DWMA and fall back into being first year college students, he had to tell her. Perhaps it was fate for them, he wouldn't know until he aided fate by no longer being a chicken. Soul turned Maka toward him and began to rub her uppers arms as she shivered with the cold. "I love you, you know?". Maka's sleepy eyes lit up along with her smile. Despite the cold a blush crept along her face, "I didn't know. I know now." She pulled Soul into a hug and held him tight while she whispered in his ear, "I love you too, you know?"
Soul shivered all over, in delight, because he was cold, because their future shifted together a little bit more. He pulled Maka back to face him. "I've learned not to listen to Black*Star, but, maybe this time, he's right. We should kiss already." Maka nodded and they both leaned toward each other as the sky lightened into morning. Their lips met in a sweet kiss, a nice end to a horrific evening. Maka's eyes began to droop as she was slowly falling asleep against his shoulder. She put her mouth close to his ear and whispered, "There aren't even supposed to be squid in these waters."