The Spartois joined back the Shibusen's group with whom they had to conduct an attack against witches. Each of them arrived on his own meaning of transportation: Soul on the motorcycle with his meister clung to his waist, Kid on Belzebuth, the Thompson sisters into gun form on his belt and Black Star was following running with Tsubaki in his hand. They approached on foot to the leader's tent to salute him.

It was Salis who was in charge of the project. He had leaded men in combat for 20 years and he could pride himself on knowing his job. He was nearly 2 meters tall. There was no trace of fat on his muscular body, made for the fight against demons. When he discovered the team before him, his heart skipped a beat. He could only think that Shinigami had made a mistake. There were only children. He indicated them where they could install their material just before hastening to call Shinigami for an explication. His field wasn't a camping where you could have holiday but a battlefield. This wasn't a place for children. After some tones, the Death's God appeared in the mirror.

"Hello, hello."

"Shinigami-sama." The veteran succeeded in containing his anger and addressed to his God with all due respect.

"Did our students finally arrive?" Salis understood there was no mistake. For the first time in his life, he afforded to question a decision coming from Shinigami.

"Yes, speaking of that…"

"Yes?"

"They seem very young and inexperienced."

"I understand your doubt but you will understand when you see them at work."

"Yes, but…"

"Later, later." Shinigami cut the call and Salis grumbled before the mirror. He had insisted a lot on the important damages that witches' clan had inflicted on his soldiers and on the surrounding population. He was aware that there were urgent situations everywhere in the world but his problem couldn't be minimized. He put aside his thoughts to have a look at the new arrivals. Two tents were pitched. The third, a little bigger than the others, was set-up by a white-haired boy and the Shinigami's son. He was recognizable by the tree bands on his hair. As far as he could guess, the black-haired boy was getting on the others' nerves and the set-up wasn't progressing a lot. Salis rubbed the back of his head with irritation. If they couldn't even organize to pitch three tents, what would it be on the battlefield?

He searched the other members of the team with a wry look and what he discovered didn't reassure him. A blue-haired boy was in a tree screaming an unintelligible speech. A girl with blond and short hair was making stunts below him while laughing. Another girl with blond and long hair was doing her nails while a last blacked-haired girl seemed to install their stuff in the tent. Three working and three lazing around. It didn't suit his way of working. He thought for a long time, seriously worried about the mission of the next day. Abruptly, he frowned: one was missing. If he remembered well there should have been three boys and four girls. But now he saw only three girls. He approached quickly the team seeking for the missing girl. The whited-haired boy looked up and saw him. He exchanged some word with his teammates. Death the Kid turned to see Salis and advanced calmly towards him. It seemed normal to the master of the places. This boy was Shinigami's son; it was him who directed the team. The soldier was relieved to note a normal behaviour. He was surprised when he saw the relief in the red-eyes of the other boy. He didn't have the chance to know Kid's O.C.D., that's why he didn't have any idea of the hell he had put Soul into in order to set-up the tent symmetrically.

"A girl is missing." Kid turned and looked his teammate around him.

"Oh, yes. I think this is Maka. She must be sleeping." He spoke to his co-worker. "Soul?"

"Mmmmh. "The last tent was pitched rapidly without Kid. The demoniac scythe stayed focused on this job while listening closely his friend.

"Where is your meister?"

"She is sleeping in the first tent." Soul looked up to watch Shinigami's son and Salis. A protective glow appeared in his eyes and strengthened the dry voice he used. The veteran had the impression it was a warning and he wasn't wrong. Soul's atypical appearance and behaviour put Salis uncomfortable. Kid on the other side was used to Soul's overreaction when speaking about his meister and didn't really pay attention. Soul resumed, still drily. "You really want to wake her up? If it's possible, I would like you to let her have a nap. She could only close her eyes for a few hours this week because of all the missions we had. She is exhausted." Salis raised an eyebrow. So now, there were four people who weren't doing anything. He didn't understand why she had a preferential treatment and not his weapon. He believed that if the meister fights, his weapon does too, so they must be tired the same. But now the meister was sleeping and the weapon was setting up a tent alone since Kid was discussing with him. He looked at the little team sceptically. All that was worrying him a lot.

"To whom I address to explain the mission?"

"Mmmmmh, me and…" Kid turned to Soul who always had a surly look on his face. "… Soul wake Maka up, please." The albino boy growled but obeyed.

Few minutes later, they were in Salis' tent. Kid was standing and looking at the map with caution. The veteran explained the strategy he wanted to adopt the next day. Maka was sitting and seemed to be following the conversation through the fog of sleep. She had some highly visible rings and Salis understood perfectly why his weapon didn't want to wake her up. He noted that Kid seemed particularly attentive on her too. That impression strengthened his apprehension about the mission. The team didn't seem powerful and Salis didn't understand why they were keeping a girl who seemed so fragile with them. Kid spoke to resume the plan.

"So, if I understand correctly it will be easier to come near the cave where the madness' source is and destroy it. With that we could quickly gain the upper hand and limit losses." Kid looked direct in the eyes of Salis confident. The veteran needed all his self-control in order not to shout.

"You didn't listen to anything, did you? I tell you that we can't pass this line. If we do that, we will sink into the darkness." He got mad while showing the red line on the map with a furious finger. Kid didn't pay attention to his anger.

"I understand well but Maka must be able to take care of that." Salis looked at the girl doubtful. She observed the map with interest and a glow seemed to light in her eyes.

"Yes, we can do that but just with the team. You are used to our technique. I think we will be enough to destroy the madness' source anyway." Kid nodded.

"Good. If everybody is fine with this plan, I think we can go eat before Black Star blood bath the camp because he is starving." Salis didn't agree with the idea of the children but didn't insist. They would become martyrs. He believed it was the only way to make Shinigami understand the situation and its seriousness. He was feeling sorry for their probable early death but he didn't have any other choice. The conflict had to stop.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was time to fight. Once arrived to where they needed to separate, the weapons took their forms to fight and landed in their meisters' hands. Salis was surprise to see that the tired girl was using a big scythe. Without any hesitation, the teenagers ran to the madness' source. Salis thought they were running to their death. He had a twinge in his heart.

"Will they be ok, boss?"

"I don't know, I don't have big hopes." The group of soldiers looked at them going away with heavy heart. It was always difficult to see children going risk their lives on the battlefield. As professional they were, they took their position and begun to fight. It was their job.

Less than half an hour later, the situation was critic for the soldiers. They were cornering under some boulder while witches were firing on them from their brooms. There was a brief latency period but the rain of fire resumed again. Suddenly, the witches' attacks stopped. Salis ventured to look in order to understand why there was a lull. The tired girl was in the sky on a winged stick. He vaguely asked himself where the scythe boy was but he quickly had the answer. She went up in a prodigious rate of speed in the middle of the witches. Her weapon changed of form to become a big and translucent scythe. The girl cut the enemy with an only supple movement. Two witches died instantly. The last witch didn't resist very long in front of the power of the young girl. A bloody rain fell on the soldiers who had stayed under them. A big noise was suddenly heard from the right. Salis turn his head to discover two big kishins of 5-meter high heading in their direction. Before the monsters, there were the two others meisters of Shibusen who were running without apparent effort. They spoke together while watching the sky. The view of their friend finishing her fight seemed to reassure them and they turned to face the monsters with self-assurance. Their gestures perfectly coordinated were confident and effective. The kishins died after a few exchange of blows. The two young boys were barely lending attention to the soul which appeared behind them. They were concentrated on the sky and their friends who were coming down.

The weapon girls turned back into their human form at the same time as the albino boy. When he touched the ground, he caught his meister in his arm and posed her delicately on the ground. Her rings had grown up but her eyes shined with excitation. The teenagers quickly checked everybody in their team. Once they were satisfied they faced the soldiers' group who didn't make a move. The tired girl spoke to them with a soft voice. The others stayed behind her with a smile plastered on their faces, clearly satisfied by their accomplished work.

"Is someone severely injured?" Salis didn't respond to the young girl and it was one of his suborder who answered.

"Not really, Ma'am." Salis saw the albino boy smile again. He seemed to enjoy the reaction of his soldier toward the little girl.

"Maka, not Ma'am." She corrected him without any wickedness. She resumed confident. "It's good to hear. Maybe we can return, now? Or there is something else to do?" She stared deep into Salis' gaze with her light green eyes. He quickly gave up and looked away.

"No, no, everything is fine. Go back home." The veteran observed discreetly the young girl who smiled softly while taking the road toward the camp. The rest of her team followed her, except for Kid who stayed behind to talk to him.

"I have been asked to make a report to my father. Have you something to say?" He barely heard what the teenager asked. He had so many questions without answers and he didn't like that.

"How can you support the madness?"

"Maka have this capacity. She tempers us. It's her who directed the Soul resonance in the team. Normally, she does the report too but it's the fifth mission we've done so far this week and if I ask her to do it, Soul will kill me." He sniggered to this idea. Salis didn't have any difficulties to imagine the situation and that didn't make him smile. That jock was too realistic for him.

He detailed them one by one. They seemed weaker than most of his guys. Despite that, they had just solved an issue he had been dealing with for a whole month in just one mission and without any difficulties. He realized that they certainly had to face more awful things than what he could have seen in his entire life. He had always considered meisters like some spoiled children. He believed that was just a caprice to ask for a powerful weapon. His didn't possess the best esteem for weapons. Everybody knew that the meister had a life expectancy shorter than normal people. He began to understand what their lives were. He saw that the mission had exhausted the little meister but all her friends took particularly care of her. He couldn't deny that. It wasn't the first time he worked with some weapon-meister team of Shibusen but they had something special that emanated from them. It was at the same time soft and infantile but powerful and deadly too.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Salis looked at the teenager going away to return to Death City. He supposed they would take some rest before starting again to risk their lives. He blamed Shinigami to send children face the death and the horror of the war. He knew there was no other choice. Moreover these teenagers were born for that, it was evidence to him. Nobody could tell the contrary, it was into their blood. He overshadowed his thoughts to concentrate on the rebuilding of the camp.