I do not own Soul Eater nor do I intend to garner revenues from use of its characters
Ash and Thunder
By Reizod
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Chapter 2: Sparks and Rain
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For her survival
For her safety
For her joy
For her I will do whatever I must. Be it a task small or large, momentous or dull, good or evil, I will not abandon her. I am her friend, her confidant, her partner and her weapon. As long as she accepts me in these roles they will never change.
I'll guide her when the way is black, comfort her when it is bleak, and protect her when it threatens. As both lantern and shield to her, I will follow her down whatever path she may choose, be it to ruin or glory. For in the end, be it in joy or despair, I will persist as the one that she can always count on.
I will never betray her. Nor will I ever desert her. All who would destroy her will have me to deal with in every capacity that I can manage.
Because above all else she is my friend.
My name is Jacqueline O. Lantern Dupre'.
…
Call me Jackie.
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Jackie found herself half jogging to keep up with Harvar as he weaved in and out of the streets and alleyways of Shibusen, his rapid gate retaining its constant rhythm against the cobblestone walks, stairs and throughways. So it was probably true that he had some pressing engagement he had to be at. No doubt it had something to do with Kim. That in itself was reason enough to follow him.
The question was, whether or not that something was the fact that he was going to kill Kim. Everything he'd said so far pointed to the willingness to do so. And if his performance during the raid on Arachnophobia was any indication, he was very capable of killing just about anything, regardless of how sweet and innocent it might be. It was doubtful that anything other than death or Ox could stop him when he selected a target.
Jackie would've been impressed if it weren't so unsettling.
"Well?" Harvar said as they turned a corner into yet another street, the sun casting the orange rays of its sunset upon Shibusen's stone masonry. "You wanted to talk didn't you?"
"Yeah" Jackie replied as she hurried to catch up to Harvar's side "I did."
"Then talk." Harvar said as they began to approach a roundabout.
Jackie clenched her fists at the statement, managing to reign in her anger at Harvar's rather rude manner. He could at least make some pretense at being personable. Apparently she didn't even rate that from him. Something; no, everything about that was rather irksome. Even so Jackie managed to keep her cool, albeit with gritted teeth and quite the annoyed scowl.
"Right" Jackie growled. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to relieve her tension. The action wasn't very effective as her tone was still harsh as she said. "I really don't trust you Harvar."
Harvar made a non-committal as he angled his walk to match the curvature of the roundabout. "You've been pretty clear about that."
"And you don't seem to care." Jackie muttered under her breath, managing to lower her tension level a bit more before speaking audibly. "I don't think you understand Harvar. I need to be able to trust you."
"Really." Harvar replied dully as they turned into another alley. "Why is that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Jackie said simply as she followed him in.
Harvar stopped halfway into the alleyway, cleaning his visor with his shirt as he scanned the alley. "Because Ox and Kim have become lovers? "
Jackie frowned. Harvar's tone was rather incredulous. "You don't think that's a good enough reason?"
"It's not my place to say." Harvar said as he knelt down and palmed the ground with his free hand. He kept his back to Jackie as he returned his visor to its perch with his other hand.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jackie asked as she watched the visored boy examine the ground. She crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder onto one of the alley walls, careful not to catch her hair in the crevice between her body and the alley's parapets.
"I don't have a very good concept of emotions like love and hate." Harvar said as he rolled up his right sleeve and picked something up off the ground with a very delicate touch. "I can't really comprehend the factors involved in such things."
"Why?" Jackie asked, leaning forward slightly. She was now genuinely intrigued, both by the stoic demon weapon, and the object that he was examining. Even leaning forward she could quite get a clear view of either.
Harvar stood as he held the object before his eyes with the tips of his fingers, adjusting its angle by varying degrees to better examine it. "Because I was trained to be a weapon."
Harvar turned to face Jackie, revealing the object in his hand to be the maggot ridden remains of an amputated finger. Horribly discolored and decayed, the thing looked like it had been rotting for months, if not years. The maggots inside of it didn't seem to care about that and it appeared that Harvar didn't care either, as he mulled the nasty thing about in the delicate grasp of his fingers, his visored gaze focusing heavily upon it. His voice was mildly introspective as he murmured. "The most effective weapon is emotionless."
Jackie found herself stifling a gag reflex at the sight, barely managing to maintain her perch on the alley wall. She shook her head disgustedly. "I don't know how you do that Harvar."
"Do what?"
"Be so..." Jackie started, trailing off into a resigned sigh "So cold. So unaffected."
For a moment, Jackie could've sworn she heard an amused chuckle from Harvar, although there was no visual indication of it in his rather indifferent facial expression. No doubt she was just imagining it. An uptight guy like him wasn't capable of that sort of emotion. At least, she'd never seen any indication of that capacity in him. A fact that was reinforced by Harvar's impassive expression as he replied "Practice."
If her stomach weren't trying to force its contents up her throat at the moment, Jackie might have laughed at the statement. She knew he wasn't trying to be funny but something about that just seemed so corny to her. Instead she covered her mouth with one hand as she held her stomach with the other, still managing to retain a somewhat dignified stance in the process. A somewhat strained "I see" was all she felt she could manage until her hurl-giggle urge died down.
"Hm." Harvar murmured in a slightly intrigued tone as he adjusted his visor with his free hand, allowing the maggot ridden finger to lay prone in the palm of the other. "Jacqueline?" Harvar asked, taking a step towards her.
"It's Jackie." Jackie managed, keeping her hand in front of her mouth.
"Whatever." Harvar replied with a slight edge of impatience as he then proffered the repulsive amalgamation of flesh, phalanges, and filth towards Jackie. "Do you notice anything about this?"
Jackie instinctively backed away from Harvar's hand, managing to resist the urge to slap it away. She almost blurted out a disgusted "No", however, when Harvar had brought it close to her she realized that there was something very familiar about it. Pushing her disgust aside for a moment, she moved closer to Harvar's hand, careful to keep at least a foot''s distance between her and it. And there it was, no mistaking it. "It has a soul wavelength."
"I thought so." Harvar said darkly "Look's like it came this way."
"It?" Jackie asked. "Harvar, just what have you been looking for this whole time?"
"I don't know what it is." Harvar answered as he casually brushed a few stray maggots off his forearm. "But it's been following Ox for some time now."
Jackie scowled "You're not referring to Kim are you?"
"No" Harvar said flatly. "Kim hasn't lost a thumb, left ear, or nose in the last week."
"You've found other rotting body parts?" Jackie asked incredulously.
"Yeah, all with the same wavelength as this one." Harvar replied "I have them in cold storage."
"Ick." Jackie said with a disgusted grimace "I didn't need to know that."
"It's obviously a zombie." Harvar continued as he produced a small baggie from his pants pocket. "But I think there's more to it than that."
"Why do you say that?" Jackie asked.
"If it were a normal zombie, I'd have found it by now." Harvar scowled as he slipped the rotten thing into the bag. "But something's hiding its wavelength from me."
Jackie's eyes narrowed slightly. A zombie who could hide its wavelength. There were a lot of things that were capable of that, even if one restricted it to zombified beings. Really, there probably wasn't anything to worry about. But she'd hate herself if it turned out to be what she was suspecting. Then again, she'd hate herself more if Kim got hurt and because she hadn't taken the time to find out for certain. Jackie swallowed "Give me the bag."
Harvar gave her a suspicious frown. "Just a moment ago you were gagging at the sight of it."
Jackie shot Harvar a dangerous glare as she growled. "Just give it to me."
Harvar cocked his head questioningly as he held out the bag for her to take, but said nothing as Jackie tentatively took the bagged flesh in hand. That was something Jackie was glad for. She knew from that that though he was certainly suspicious of her, he was at least willing to give her the benefit of a doubt. However, she could tell that he was watching her intently from behind that visor of his. Even if she knew such distrust was to be expected (considering her status as a witch's weapon) it still irked her that it was a cold enemy's gaze that bore through the shaded glass that hid his eyes and not those of an ally. For now though, she would have to put that aside.
Focusing on the rotten appendage, Jackie found the small sphere that represented its wavelength once more. It appeared to be a rounded radiant blue shard at first, however, as Jackie focused on the luminescent piece she found that the timbre of its glow became more reticent as various other divots and imperfections became visible to her. In moments, the true nature of the curvaceous shard was unveiled, no longer a rounded piece assumedly chipped from a much larger sphere, but now a rounded base with several tube like tunnels connecting to it. Maggots of several shapes and sizes were filing in and out of the tunnels, aimlessly wandering about until they took notice of Jackie's icy gaze, at which point, they stopped and began to shudder.
"This is bad." Jackie murmured as she closed her eyes, tightening her grip on the bag. "I know what he is."
Harvar, who'd been watching her patiently as she examined the thing crossed his arms as he asked. "You do?"
"Yeah" Jackie swallowed. "You were right about it being a zombie. But there's more to it than that."
No reaction registered on Harvar's face as he replied "Go on."
"It's got the capacity to do magic as well."
"A zombified witch"
"More like a mage."
"I see. That would explain the masking at least" Harvar said as he began to drum his digits on his forearm. "But how do you know that?"
"From the look of its soul." Jackie answered as she held the finger laden bag at arm's reach in front of her. "And if you want proof." Jackie continued as she reared her arm back. "Just watch." She preemptively swallowed a gag reflex knowing full well what would happen as she threw the worm infested appendage to the ground .
Before it hit however, the maggots inside of the finger all came out at once, puncturing the bag and layering themselves across the outside of the appendage to cushion its fall. As soon as they landed, the tiny creatures then began to carry their feculent abode out of the alley at an astounding rate. Much faster than Jackie had expected them to.
With a surprised and flustered "Crap!" Jackie rushed after the scuttling appendage as it rounded the corner, leaving a slightly bewildered Harvar in her wake. She'd explain it to him later. Right now she had to keep up with this thing. Maybe if she was quick, she could nip this in the bud before it got out of hand.
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Harvar stood alone in the alley, an outstretched arm in the direction that Jackie ran off in, and his mouth open to call after her. He was slightly embarrassed that he didn't manage to yell for her to wait. Then again, this was probably better. Knowing her resolve, Jackie'd be able to follow the finger regardless of what it rushed through.
Question was, how exactly did Jackie know that much about the maggots and the thing that they apparently came from? One could certainly tell the distinction of a soul by looking at it, even if they only have a shard handy. However, one wouldn't know how the body of the soul would react, or what it was capable of in distinct terms, unless they saw the soul's body in action.
In that same vein, Harvar could only wonder who it was that was controlling the little grubs. He couldn't fathom what interest the controller could possibly have in Ox.
Harvar sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets and started on his way out of the alley. He had a fair amount of questions that he wanted answers to, but for now, he'd have to settle for solving just this one:
"Where're you going, Jacqueline?"
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End Chapter 2
