Lord Joyde the Madman: Heylo, everyone! How are you all doing?
Meh, no responses yet for the previous chapter..
Oh well.
Here comes the next chapter of The Symphony Of Madness! Enjoy...
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
Sometime Later - Death Room - Maka's Point Of View...
I walked into the Death's Room with somewhat excited steps, the somberness of Medusa-senpai's little slip having already passed as I walked through long corridor.
Eventually, I found myself staring at a rather comical scene with Death-sama being inside of his mirror and Black*Star and Tsubaki standing in front of it, one laughing loudly and the other being almost deathly still."Hi there! Tsubaki, Idiot-kun."
Tsubaki merely waved at me. It looked like she wanted to say something but stopped silent once she saw me.
"WHAT?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDI-... Maka? What the hell happened to you?" Black*Star stops laughing as he screams at the top of his lungs only to go nearly whispering once he turns to see me.
I find myself letting out a breath as the somber feeling returns."S-stuff... anyway, you wanted to see me Lord Death?"
He coughs into his hand before speaking clearly."Yes, I was just about to send Black*Star-kun and Tsubaki-chan here on a maintenance mission. I thought you'd stay some more in the med bay but I guess not."
I waved my hand in a rather eerily casual way."N-nah, I... I'll be fine."
"Mhmm.." Lord Death murmured in disbelief as he stared deeply into my soul.
"H-hey M-Maka, where's Soul?!" I turned towards B*S with a saddened look, yet another spree of tears being wiped away from my reddening eyes as I try to open my mouth but no words or sounds come out."Its alright, Maka-chan. I will explain it to the-"
Lord Death tries to say but I stop him with a raised hand as I turn towards them. B*S turned silent and seemed to be paralyzed as he saw my face and Tsubaki held a hand to her mouth, both radiating hopelessness as I spoke."Black*Star... Tsubaki-chan.. Soul..."
I heard myself sniff as I wiped more tears off my cheek."He... he's d-d-dead."
They went utterly pale and, within moments afterwards, Black*Star collapsed onto the floor, his childish innocence seemingly shattering to bits and pieces. Tsubaki, being the more mature one, merely closed her eyes as tears flowed downwards...
We all spent a good few minutes in silence for our joint loss... Tsubaki then turned towards Lord Death."Umm.. Lord Death? Would it matter if we.. if we... .. if we took a few days off before the.. the mission?"
"Of course, Tsubaki-chan. Take more than a few days, take as much as you need... Go, mourn for your friend and prepare yourself for the ceremony this Sunday, there will be time for missions... later." Nodding toward Lord Death, Tsubaki then helps a mentally paralyzed Black*Star onto his feet.
"Come on, Black*Star... let's go home..." A soft murmur is her reply as he somehow manages to drag himself step by step towards the outside.
I turned towards Lord Death with the somberness around me dispersing within seconds. He notices this and lets out a sigh."Maka, I'll be frank with you since I do not have much time to spare. You have gone Insane."
Blinking, I reply."Is... that ...bad?"
He gives out a strange sound, but I think it was meant to be a hearty chuckle."Depends. I was worried, at first... but it seems like you've got a knack for faking emotions so its alright."
"Faking.. emotions?" I question him with a quirked eyebrow and he blinks before leaning into the mirror and entering my soul.
I feel him poking around, prodding, searching for something. Soon, he leaves me and lets out a sigh in turn."Never mind, it seems like both the tears and the sudden change in demeanor are both genuine... Ahh, I had almost forgotten how hard it is to comprehend Madness some times."
"Comprehend Madness?" I asked, somewhat stupefied.
He merely nodded before regaining a serious aura."Indeed. Madness... such a curious emotion, don't you think? It offers those afflicted such power, such skill, such intelligence... It makes those who wield it properly geniuses... and those who do not, it makes clowns. More often than not, the dangerous kind of clown."
Another quirked eyebrow is his reply as he lets out yet another sigh."I... see?"
He shakes his entire form in negative."No Maka, you do not. If you did, things would be difficult, so that's good. Anyway, do you know about your transformation from a meister into a weapon?"
I blinked and closed by eyes, focusing deep into my soul. There, I found an entire world of blades, something which has been kept under lock and key, one made of blood and poor understanding from my teachers... or perhaps, something deliberately hidden away from me.
I believe the answer to that is something I will never know.
Instead of merely answering, I manage to grow an instantaneous blade out of my point finger."Wow..."
Jagged, long and very much deadly, a horrid mix of crimson and black, a blade that almost seems to continuously bleed when I look at it for too long.. yet, as soon as I blink, the blood stops flowing and resets."Amazing... I did not think that you could do that already... Anyways, that brings me to my next point."
I turn towards Lord Death and kneel."Yes, my lord?"
He continues with an approving nod."It is clear that your potential as a weapon is much greater than anything you could've achieved as a meister... but, there's that subject.. a meister."
Standing up from my kneeling position, I ask."You wish for me to find a meister, Lord Death?"
A nod."Yes, I do. I know that it will be hard to simply throw away Soul's memory and find a new partner... but we are an organization which protects World Order and no matter how much it hurts, the forces we fight against will not wait for us to recover from our loss."
"You have a recommendation?" I asked with a confused voice and Lord Death nodded again."Indeed... here, its a boy from your class, a one-star meister as you had previously been."
I take the paper as it passes through the mirror and into my hands."There, that would be all for now... and Maka-chan... regardless of what I just said... please, go take some time off. We may be DWMA, but we are not heartless. Go home, get some rest... there will be time to choose your new partner later..."
I bow and say."Of course, Lord Death."
With another disbelieving sigh, he leaves and the mirror turns black.
I turn around as I look at the paper."Ryszard Z. Coelus, one-star meister, no weapon, fifth best in his class theory-wise, five kishin eggs collected solo but all given away to Lord Death... seems okay, I guess."
He's a rather quiet boy, always preferring to read whatever book he's got his hands on instead of focusing on class. Not really that smart in my opinion, but very much capable and creative. There was a time when he tried to borrow one of my books but I mistook his actions for flirting which earned him a rather heavy Maka-chop to the head.
"Damn... I guess we're already off to the wron-...wait, what's this?" I turn the paper as I notice there is more info on the other side."Special Abilities - Demonslayer Wavelength."
I blinked, stunned.
Come to think of it, he never really showed that he was angry at me for misunderstanding, only slightly embarrassed.
... Maybe Lord Death is right, he would be a good partner for me.
A few moments later... - Death City - Maka's Point Of View...
I felt my fingers curl as I walked amidst the nighttime crowd, the many people suddenly making me feel uncomfortable.
As I strode down the road, fighting through the crowd, I felt the eyes of a strange creature gazing onto my back.
My soul perception was quick to activate, but even with it on full focus I could not tell what the creature exactly was... it had the tell tale signs of magic power as runic symbols and purplish colors danced across its surface.
So, a witch?
... My instincts are telling me no.
I walk down into an empty alley and wait for a moment as the creature hops over rooftops in an attempt to follow me. Eventually, it succeeds and then jumps down onto a fence nearby."A cat?"
I heard myself ask, entirely flabbergasted. The gold-eyed creature also seemed to be wearing a witch hat.
Suddenly, the cat jumped down from the fence and walked over to me, nuzzling onto my leg with somewhat somber eyes.
Blinking, I remember reading it in a book that some animals seem to possess the ability to feel the sorrow of others and even empathy. Smiling down at the pure-black cat, I gently take it into my hands."Heh, why not. I guess having a kitty would do me some good."
Saying to myself as I rubbed the cat behind its ears and enjoyed the soothing sounds of its purring, I sat down onto a nearby bench and closed my eyes to rest.
"A-ah..." I muttered out in sorrow before I could stop myself."S-soul... huu..*sniff* I can't believe that you are actually gone..."
"Mreowr!" The cat mewled in surprise as one of my tears dropped onto its fur."A-ah, sorry kitty.. I.. I'm j-just.."
Wordlessly, I take out a handkerchief from my pocket in order to wipe the tear-water off the cats fur. *clank* *clink*
Two separate sounds hit my ears as I look down onto the ground and notice the medicinal supplements from Medusa-senpai spilled out of their bottle and onto the floor. Not willing to disturb the adorable creature in my arms, I calm myself and create a long scythe out of my left arm, picking the medicine up one by one with barely a sound.
The cat then notices the sword and looks at my hand in wonder as it disperses back into my arm... into my soul."Wow, you can turn your body into a weapon?!" A strange, womanly voice echoes from seemingly nowhere.
"H-huh?" I asked and sniffed at the same time as my eyes darted across the dark."Heheh, down here silly."
A soft purr escaped the cat as I massaged her back and looked down as the cat suddenly started to transform. I blinked in surprise as a woman in fairly witch-like clothing appeared in my lap... she wasn't really heavy."Um... so you are a witch?"
She waves her hands in negative as she leaps to sit next to me."Nah, I'm just a cat with an overwhelming amount of magical power!"
A nod is her reply as I continue to gaze wordlessly into the night sky, not even entirely sure when I started to."So... what's happened to you, cutie?"
The cat-woman asked me and I let out a sigh. Raising a finger into the air and transforming it into a weapon, I spoke."Well... as you can see, I'm a weapon... thing is, until recently, that wasn't the case."
"So you were a Meister? That's weird... but that's no reason to be this sad.." She says as she leans closer to me and I give out an uncharacteristically dark chuckle."Y-yeah... its not."
With a solemn breath, I continue."I was the Meister of this guy called Soul... we weren't the best of friends really, but we looked out for each other, lived with each other... we were really close, y'know?"
"What happened? Did he ditch you for some other girl?" She asked with a confused voice and I sighed."N-no... thinking about it makes me wish that was the case... but not... nothing that simple..."
She remains quiet as I take in another breath and release."H-he... he died during our l-last f-f-fight against some kishin-egg akumas... We were fighting well at first, but then this monster called in for it friends and... well we weren't prepared for that..."
"I see..." She replies, quietly pondering what to say.
I twirled the re-collected black supplement pills in my hands, casually throwing one into my mouth without a care. Maybe it will make me feel better."There's more... but I don't want to spoil your dinner."
She shrugs at me."W-well, the guy died and even if I didn't personally know him, there isn't really much worse that could happen, right?"
I actually laughed when she finished saying that."U-uh, you okay?"
"Not much worse, huh? You really are just a cat, aren't you?" I say, meaning no real offense as the cat-woman started to fume."Well whats so wrong about bei-" "... they shoved it inside me."
She blinked and calmed down."They... what?"
"The akuma's shoved my partners soul down my throat."
Horror.
Terror.
Uncertainty.
Shock.
... Pity.
All these could be seen upon the cat-woman's face and I stood up, throwing in another pill into my mouth and swallowing it."Ow."
"Yeah, ow." Is my uncaring reply.
I begin walking away from the spot, not wanting to be near this dark alley anymore and finding the crowds from before a lot more comfortable... at least they were in the light.
But before I could even take two or three steps, the woman turned back into a cat with a witch's hat and leaped onto my shoulder."Umm... earlier you said that you wouldn't mind picking up a stray so... could I stay with you for a while?"
"Sure, I guess. I mean, I do have an empty bed to spare right now... anyways, whats your name? I'm Maka Albarn." I asked with a sigh.
"I'm Blair!" She responded with clear happiness and excitement, utterly destroying the somber atmosphere from mere moments beforehand.
I heard myself letting out another sigh as I threw the third pill into my mouth. Heh, maybe having a cat really wouldn't be such a bad idea...
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
And that is it for this chapter of The Symphony of Madness!
I hope you enjoyed it!
Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!
