MADNESS

Disclaimer: I do not own Atsushi Ōkubo's manga or any themes or characters represented in the manga.

Intro: Count Dracula, one of the most notorious names in history. The Count studied the dark arts in the Academy of Scholomance in the Carpathian Mountains, overlooking the town of Sibiu. Using this magic he disguised his true self from the eyes of others, and after obtaining the ranking of Voivode he promptly led an army against the Turks. After much mayhem his identity was discovered by lord Death, who in turn sent the meister Van Helsing to take his soul. However, the vampire was tricky, and after his defeat sealed his soul away with dark magic. Van Helsing and his weapon partner, the infamous wooden stake crossbow, were never found in Bran Castle. Death saw past Dracula's trick though and posted his experimental academy right in Scholomance to guard against the return of Dracula.

Takes place during the original Soul Eater story, though flashbacks will take place about two years before hand.

Chapter 1: Caige and Lilith– The Rebirth of Madness

The room was dull; the walls were blank and devoid of anything interesting except for the few cracks in the foundation. In fact, they were made of simple concrete. A single lamp stood in the center of the room, its shine pierced the darkness like a beacon being sent up to the heavens above; only to be stopped abruptly be the Plane Jane ceiling that sat low and gave the room a claustrophobic feel. By the lamp stood a single chair that had seen better days; it creaked and moaned at every little move made by its captive, a young man with black eyes that faded in quite nicely with the setting, he had a solemn look on his face. He was neither angry nor scared, he just waited. He wore black slacks with a few scuffs on them and a grayish loose fitting vest that he slipped on really quickly so he didn't have to go out in his ACDC shirt he wore just before being dragged out of his apartment by authorities. Caige Carmichael scowled as he heard the gears and gizmos of the steel door begin to crank and churn.

The steel door slowly creaked open. A familiar face walked through… but the look he gave out said this was more than a casual talk. His jaw was tight and creased into a grimace, his brow was raised upward. Everything about his face said that he hated this part of his job and the fact that he knew the captive on a personal level only made things more difficult. The tall, blonde haired man wore his infamous reverend clothing and skull earphones that blared music. The steel door shut behind him. The man known as Justin Law walked closer and stood near the lamp. Justin was one of the few Deathscythes in the world and had been put in charge of Scholomance, a site that Caige had been assigned just two years earlier. From this distance the music from his earphones was easy to make out. It was one thing to listen to music all the time, but did it really have to be that loud?Justin grabbed at the lamp and focused it on the mouth of his captive, no doubt so that he could read his lips.

"YOU KNOW WHAT THE SITUATION IS!" Justin yelled, probably not because he was angry but because the music in his ears made it hard to tell what volume level he spoke at.

"Speak softer, I can hear you fine Justin" said Caige while making gestures towards his ears to prove the point. "And yes, I have a feeling I know what this is about."

"Will you cooperate?" Justin added, almost like he had paid no attention to what the captive had said.

"Yes"

A faint smile was now shining through on Justin's face. "Thank you, you will make this a glorious day for our Lord Death! So where is she and what did she do with that soul?"

"Well if I knew those details then this would be a lot easier." Said the captive hoping to avoid another of Justin's crazy ramblings about his savior Lord Death.

"Then as standard procedure you need to tell me all you know… Start with your name and a few details about our suspect. Then tell me when you believe things got out of hand."

"Some simply call me the "killer" but I reject the name. My real name is Caige Carmichael and I am a twenty-one year old meister; it goes without saying that I haven't been at it for too long. My weapon partner's name is Lilith, but besides that I haven't found out too much about her. It's a shame really, she is kind of cute." Caige coughed awkwardly hoping that Justin would overlook how blunt he was being. "I digress; I'm not actually sure how things went downhill. I'm guessing you will want to hear about that night?"

Justin nodded, he was getting impatient, a mood that Caige had not seen too many times. Justin was a working man but never had he seemed so ready to get things over with. Justin and Caige had become close over the past two years. Caige was granted the second command job in Scholomance where he worked directly underneath Justin. Sure he wasn't the man you would take to Chupa-Cabra's for a friendly drink but he wasn't always this high strung either.

Justin shifted his weight from his left foot to his right and cleared his throat. After he didn't talk for a while Caige glanced upwards. Justin was bothered by something. His mouth had turned into a line of sorrow and his blue eyes glimmered as he stared dumbfounded at the wall. Caige looked closer and realized the Justin's eyes portrayed fear… fear of this room and better yet a fear of Caige himself.

Caige sat up in his chair. What the hell is going on here? He toke a deep breath and interrupted Justin's trance with a cough. Only to realize the Justin didn't hear him because of his earphones. Caige felt his eye twitch in annoyance, so he waved both arms around furiously and began to snap his fingers. Justin shook off the sadness and stared at Caige; ready to hear, or watch, his story.

"It was the night we invaded Bran Castle, Dracula's sanctum." Caige started. "Lilith and I were making our way through the forest leading up to the castle when all hell broke loose. Traps were set all throughout the forest; trip wires that set bombs off and disrupted grave sites, where nasty bits of Dracula's soul were buried. His soul seeped upwards and toke shadows to use as a vessel. A type of enemy we soon gave the name Shade. The Shades attacked all our forces but no one knew how to attack back. At least one hundred were lost that night…

Caige and Lilith ran through the forest, the castle was in view now. Screams came from the near right of them, after a few steps explosions tripped around 10 feet in front of them. They kept running, leery to stop while they heard so much mayhem in the area. Caige's stomach churned and cramped with sorrow as he listened to his friends and students meet their demise. He needed to stop but knew he couldn't, He felt the acidic bile climb up his throat and burn his esophagus. What was killing them though? Only half the cries came after he heard an explosion. Were there enemy troops that had met the invasion? No… who would be stupid enough to attack Lord Death's army?They came into the deepest part of the woods where the tree tops kamikazed their way in front of the moonlight and bestowed pure darkness onto the path in front of them; Bren Castle was just around the corner and as far as Caige could tell they had gotten lucky. They stopped to survey the area; it was too dark to see any kind of trip wires.

"Dammit" Caige said, "We had no idea what we were getting into. Isn't this guy supposed to be dead?" Lilith stared directly at him with an expression devoid of any emotion, her glistening red eyes shining brightly in the night, but did not say a word. The ground in front of them swirled with darkness and suddenly figures toke shape and walked from the shadows. Caige gasped and cleared his throat, "black magic?"

"Shades", Lilith said bluntly as she shifted into the Shadow Kris that had molded her and Caige's bond. Caige caught the dagger carefully and whipped it around with such speed that the sharp edge could be heard cutting through the very air itself; he held it backwards in his hand and behind his back as he leaped into the air gracefully and landed right next to the first Shade, he motioned through his movements carefully and with such precision that the three stabs he had made went unnoticed. Caige back flipped to a safe distance and struck his "cool" pose as he waited for the Shade to die. But the Shade instead started to move slowly toward him. Caige's cocky attitude and smirk quickly turned into a sneer and a clear expression of annoyance. The Shades closed in on them and for the first time Caige noticed the sharp claws they possessed. He stumbled backwards a few feet stunned; he didn't know what to do. "Geez, you're an idiot sometimes Killer. They are shadows, can you cut a shadow?" Lilith yelled from within his soul, connected by their bond.

"Well no, but usually shadows don't try to kill me!" Caige argued back. "Doesn't this mean they can't hurt us either?"

"No… they are made from Dracula's soul himself. Getting hit by these things will attack your soul directly, but they are so spread thin that you wouldn't be able to get a good grasp on Dracula's soul." said Lilith.

"Well then what the hell do we do about these stupid Shades?" Caige began to panic.

Lilith thought for a moment. "Ok… We have to Resonate. It's the only way. It is said that my families "shadow" weaponry produces shadows to hide in once you resonate. Well, hopefully we can reverse the effect and pull in all the shadows around here."

"So you're going to suck up Dracula's soul?"

"No, only the shadow magic that is channeling his soul."

"This is so confusing…."

"Just Resonate with me…"

"This sucks, what if I were to tell my story one day to boost my ego? Starting with us resonating would be kind of anti-climactic!"

"Then don't start here you freaking idiot! If you don't hurry then you won't live to tell any story!"

Caige sighed; he cleared his thoughts and focused on the connection he felt to this piece of steel in his hands. He smiled as he thought about how odd this relationship was; just five years ago he would have called a person insane for having a connection to an inanimate object. Then he thought about how he could strengthen his bond with Lilith, so that maybe he could…

"Focus!" Lilith interrupted his thoughts. "We can't do this with only one competent partner!"

Caige looked up and saw multiple things that peaked his interest. He sneered and shushed Lilith. "Wait one second Lilith. Be patient." He swiftly leapt up and, almost too quickly, appeared behind the shades which had just stepped into an opening in the trees where the moonlight touched their shadowy figures. Caige plunged the dagger where their inner form would be and with a quick flinch cut through each of the Shades ripping at the inner soul.

As the Shades grunted and disappeared Lilith transformed back into her human body and immediately began to yell. "What the hell! How did you know that would work? What if you were wrong? What if those things killed you?" said Lilith. Caige heaved his hands over his shoulder and behind his head and started to walk toward the castle. "Don't strike that 'cool' pose with me! Dammit."

Caige and Lilith approached the doors of Bran Castle. The resilient wooden doors were marked with carvings of disturbing images. The architecture of the door was unlike any they had seen, and though disturbing, it was beautiful in its own right. Eyes of madness sloughed across the door; the Eyes were sideways to an extent and had cat like pupils that seemed to glow red even though the door wasn't colored in any way, just wood. Strange that the Eyes were also all paired in threes; the architect most likely lived the rest of his life in fear after he was forced to sculpt this mind numbing door. Caige pushed the door open, being sure not to set a hand on one of the Eyes that surely saw into his soul. As they walked in they felt the wind pick up and just as they turned to look outside the many shades that were scattered across this battlefield flew through the air like a black cloud rising from the ground and into the castle. Suddenly the doors to the castle slammed shut with them inside.

Killer felt it then… the weight of an entire universe slammed into His mind and dared Him to rip at His own soul. The weird red Eyes appeared on the walls and stared at Him; His vision began to blur as He felt the pure power of madness pulse from within the castle. At least, He was pretty sure this was madness, He had never felt madness before, it was only a myth that Justin and Death had pounded into His head. Then again… here it was, ripping at His skull. No, this isn't madness, this is normal. He had always felt the tense pounding in His head, He had always felt the eyes watching Him, and it was now that He was actually normal. He had been to this place before; in fact He was the God. He looked around His sanctum and felt the presence of another. Voices screamed in his head and clenched his stomach together. The intruder had to die! But who was this intruder? He thought back and remembered walking in with her. Lilith!

He saw her in the corner, turned toward the wall, motionless. Why is she there? He approached her, but as He did she turned slowly toward Him, her movements were puppet like and her head seemed to drop when not supported by an outside force. Killer flinched and scowled as He got a look at her face, she had three Eyes, but the Eyes were shining red and were staring into his soul. No, this isn't fair, this is His kingdom, and He was the ruler, why did she get the Eyes and not him? Killer toke a step back and then had an epiphany, she toke The Eyes from Him because she knew. She knew that He knew that she had known for awhile now… and she was jealous of that.

Fear set in as Killer's imaginary intent grew into bold accusations. He was scared of Lilith; He was scared of the walls and the Eyes that grew out of them, but most of all He was scared of the front door; so He ran into the foyer to try to escape everything. Lilith rushed toward Him with the same bloodlust that He had. He ran down the first hallway that He saw and bolted through a door that led to a long hall of doors. He felt her presence behind Him, getting closer. Why was the God of this world running? Because He was trapped in a building with a Godbreaker… He thrust down the hall trying to escape His Godbreaker; through the side doors in the hall burst more Godbreakers. The hall stretched longer and twisted around in circles to where the ceiling was level with the floor; light faded and the shadows ate away at the rest of the room almost like it was leaking from the ceiling. Killer felt the hard embrace of the door at the end of the hall as He crashed through it. He fell to the floor in this new room and twist around just in time to see all of His Godbreakers fill the room and surround him. For a moment there was nothing, all the three eyed demons of madness stood above Him. Suddenly one screeched and grabbed at His arm, the others followed the first and clawed at Him. As He yelled out in pain He could feel blood oozing from His injuries. His voice disappeared, and then He felt the weight of His arm disappear, followed closely by His other limbs. He looked up one final time and saw Lilith's face… her beautiful face staring at him with a smile. A smile? Lilith didn't smile…her face molded right before him into its three eyed evil counterpart and before he could let out a scream she ripped into his flesh with searing teeth and the world went black.

Caige felt the weight of the world disappear… no that was the madness. The madness had finally lost its grip on him. He opened his eyes only to find that he was in the room he had dreamt he was in. Lilith stood over him, her dark red hair hanging below her waist; however she had a frown on her face, as opposed to the usual blank expression. "What happened Killer?" she said with genuine concern. "You were acting really weird, and then you toke off into the castle. I was surprised you actually knew where you were going."

Caige got up and studied the room. Coffins lined each side of the grand hall, and near the very front was the biggest coffin. The design of this coffin very much resembled the architecture of the front door. Caige shivered trying to shake off the nightmare he had been forced to live through.

"Kil…" Lilith began but was interrupted by Caige.

"I've told you this before. Stop calling me 'killer'." Caige said sternly. "Let's get this over with." He felt loathing fill his stomach and overflow into his chest. Why had that damned nickname followed him from the DWMA? Caige toke one final heave of air and gathered his courage to start toward the front of the room.

Lilith followed his movements with her fiery red eyes. She sighed, "You know, you are really bi-polar sometimes." She ran to catch up to him and then slowed to his pace. "What do you suppose is in there?" she said pointing at the ominous coffin.

Caige thought for a moment, but no answer could be closer then another. A pathway to Dracula's lair or maybe Dracula himself waiting to challenge any that opened the doors to his resting place."Whatever it is, it will bring us closer to the end of this charade. Let's just open it; what's the worst that could happen?" Caige realized that was a pretty dumb comment. Worst case, they die; but neither of them wanted to correct the mistake.

They stood next to the wooden framework that depicted the fall of humanity. Those eyes on the coffin seamed even more sinister to Caige now that he had felt their stare within his own mind. Lilith pushed the coffin door back and the effect was instant on them both. The amount of insanity pouring out of the coffin was surreal, it literally toke the form of black fog and rolled out of the coffin and seeped along the floor. Caige's vision began to blur again as the madness pushed him backwards and seized his entire body, he felt notches in his stomach that refused to come undone. The force felt like he had just jumped out of an airplane and the gravity on earth was ten times what it should be.

Inside the coffin sat a soul; the soul of Count Dracula. The soul was plated, like a Kishin egg or a witch's soul. However the color is what gave away a difference; the color of this soul was pure black and in between the plates on the soul spewed red light and more of the black fog that covered most of the room now. They both stared down wondering what to do. The room began to shake as if someone had picked it up separate from the castle and dropped it on accident. Caige turned around and almost knew what to expect. The Shades from earlier had returned, at least thirty of them. Slowly they lifted the coffins in the room and let the bones inside drop to the floor. Then one by one the shades disappeared, each forced into the skeletons. The bones each molded together to create thirty separate skull warriors.

Caige began to run toward the 'zombie' type invaders. "Get rid of that soul Lilith. I don't care how, just find a way." He valiantly leapt into battle and left Lilith there to decide what to do.

Lilith watched in awe as Caige beat down skeleton after skeleton to defend her. She blushed as she thought about how brave and noble he was being for once. It figures that he turned out to not be the jerk she depicted him as, but only when it counted most. Her fantasy didn't last long though; the scattered bones began to wobble on the ground and soon they reformed into their skeletal bodies. The skeletons quickly made their way back to Caige. Lilith's eyes widened as the skeletons began to surround Caige.

"Caige!" yelled Lilith, but it was too late. He was surrounded now and the skeletons were ruthless in their attacks. Lilith didn't know how to respond, he was going to die and for once in her life she couldn't think of a plan. Panicking she picked up the soul, everything in her mind told her to simply destroy it… but once the soul was in her hand she felt different… empowered. She looked over at Caige, the situation was getting worse. The Soul beckoned to her now… she did what came natural after that. She slammed the soul into her mouth and quickly swallowed. She winced, the texture of the soul was no different, but the after effect was excruciating. Her lungs burned like a small fire had been started inside her, and her knees gave way. Was she going to die?She felt her body convulse and turn on itself, like she could literally feel her white blood cells attacking her red blood cells.

The bones to the warriors dropped to the ground, lifeless without their shadowy masters. Caige sat up, his face covered in blood from a wound near the top of his head. "Did you take long enough or what? I thought I was a goner for sure… Hey Lilith, are you ok? You don't look too good."

"Then she fainted, I personally think it was because she couldn't stand the sight of blood, but she had seen blood before. Seeing as how my legs were broken and Lilith was out cold we had to wait around for someone to pick us up. It wasn't long though, apparently Death's army was waiting for the castle to open up. I guess it was sealed with some sort of ward once Lilith and I got inside. Weird though… if Dracula was that interested in protecting his soul then don't you think he would have sealed the castle like that to begin with?" Caige sat back in the chair after that final thought to signify he had nothing more to say on the matter.

Justin eyed him for a bit, obviously not sure whether or not to believe his old friend. "So you're saying… that you were busy fighting minions of the Count while Lilith was left to deal with the soul?

"Well ya…" Caige said. "But the monsters fell to pieces. The soul had to have been destroyed. There is no other way, right?"

Justin pondered this for a moment. Dracula's soul was special, so he honestly had no clue… how could he expect a newly graduated meister to make that judgment call?

"Either way, this investigation isn't over." Justin turned and walked toward the steel door. Gizmos turned and unsealed the door. Justin looked back at him and said, "You will be kept in custody to answer more questions later." He turned back and left the room.

"Wait Justin!" yelled Caige, but he continued to walk and soon the door closed. "I'm hungry… You and those damn earphones."

Caige looked throughout the blank room. A twisted smile formed on the side of his crooked mouth. He felt a tickle in his throat; the tickle grew and Killer couldn't stop it any longer. He burst out laughing at the little three eyed demons crawling in this room. The outlines of these Eyes were multiple colors but the pupil was always shining red. They crawled on the floor, the ceiling, and the walls. They were always there protecting him; but nobody else could ever see them. They knew he wasn't their god any longer because of recent events but still he had been set up with his own personal madness helpers. They even intercepted Justin during the interrogation and caused Caige to lie. Yes he knew where Lilith was, he even knew that she ate that cursed soul; but he would never give away Lilith's location or her secret. He had played it off perfectly, and if he had his way Justin would join him on his path of destruction.

NEXT TIME: Chapter 2: Caige and Lilith- In Absence of Reason