Hi. Um... me again. :3 I'm sorry, I'm totally out of it today. I stayed in bed until about 1:30 in the afternoon... so tired though still! And to top it off I'm munching in Cheerios and sitting in front of my laptop in almost knee-high neon green socks listening to the soundtrack from Madagascar 2. *headdesk* My life is so... weird. Anyways. Chapter!

Riku Ashwood: If only it were... *salivates* I would be on a continuous sugar high and you would all be dead. CHAINSAW~
olivia the rat: Thank you!
Pan15Trunks58: Aww, thanks! I almost started crying when I was writing the tombstones... but I'm not entirely sure I have tear ducts half of the time, so that kind of killed it. -3- Thanks though!
Dummy Perception: Immortal...? Maka isn't immortal. She's just been preserved while everyone else aged twenty years XD But in a way you're right. I might have her die at the end of this and join her friends, or have her live on and get over it with them following her around the rest of her life. lol. Poor Maka... I can say this though, I will try to get this to at least thirty chapters, and there will be quite a few adventures with her ghosty friends assisting her. :D Thank you!
Souleaterrulz: D'aww... my mom would be more like 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING AWAKE? GO TO SLEEP NOW!' She's scary. *shivers* But I'm glad you like it!
IlliaLife: Ehehehe… sorry, probably should put 'spoiler alert' in the summary… but then again, it's kinda AU and I assumed that people have seen enough of Soul Eater to guess… -3- thanks though!

So yeah. I kind of want to make more art for this... you can see the cover for this in more detail on deviantART. I'm 'DeaththeKidKat,' naturally. XD Enjoy the update!

I would have posted this day before yesterday, but there was the boycott on the 23 and yesterday I left for the beach. /: But, here it is! :D


The Slumber of Ghosts
Chapter Four


After a fitful night of sleep, Maka rose from her covers with a stretch. Slowly opening her eyes, she shrieked and leaped back, banging her head against the wall. Cursing and rubbing her swelling bruise, she glared at the offending object before her. One clad in bright blue swim shorts and a black t-shirt, complete with spiky electric blue hair and a face to rival the typical Excalibur reaction.

"What the hell, BlackStar?" she shouted.

He laughed uproariously, floating upside down and sticking his tongue out, then racing out the door in a misty flash. In the living room, Maka could hear Patty's cackles and Tsubaki's reprimands. Sighing, she blew her bangs out of her eyes with a snort and got up. Quickly changing into a pair of tan short shorts and a white tanktop with the skull insignia and DWMA along the hem, she put her hair up into her customary twin pigtails and entered the kitchen, shooting a sour look at BlackStar.

"Need some help?"

Suppressing a shriek, the meister spun to see Kid peering over her shoulder. "God damnit, make some noise when you move!" she growled.

The reaper eyed her, puzzled. "I'm a ghost. I'm floating."

"Well, this'll take some getting used to," she grumbled in reply. "Besides, how can you help me cook? You're... well, not solid."

"I think we proved that wrong yesterday. If I concentrate, I can touch things and pick them up." Taking a deep breath, he focused his gaze on a loaf of bread. Maka had unpacked almost all of the boxes yesterday, including her wardrobe and uncovering her bed from a dusty tarp. Then she'd gone grocery shopping. Of course, you don't need much when it's just one person eating...

"Go Kid!" Patty cheered. Kid rolled his eyes and reached out to the loaf... picking it up.

Maka smiled. "Well, whaddaya know. I guess you can pick stuff up." Summoning her evil grin, she continued, "Which means you all can help me make breakfast!" Groans rippled throughout the apartment. "Wait." Emerald eyes widened in horror. "Scratch that, Kid, Liz, Tsubaki, and Soul will help me cook. BlackStar and Patty, go practice on some innocent civilians."

The two crazy ghosts whooped and soared straight through the door. Kid clapped appreciatively. "You're learning how to control them! Excellent. Now, what are you having?"

"I don't know." She pursed her lips. "I had waffles day before yesterday- I mean, um, twenty years ago? Screw it, it was day before yesterday to me. Pancakes?"

"Sure," he said, setting down the loaf of bread and opening the fridge. "From scratch, or mix?"

"Just mix," the meister yawned. Grabbing the bag of pancake mix, she snatched up a pair of scissors and opened the top. Pouring some in the bowl, she mixed in some eggs and water and milk and other assorted things. The four ghosts ended up just watching. Getting a little irked with them staring at her blankly, she muttered, "You guys can do the actual cooking part." Gesturing to the skillet, she handed Kid the bowl with the mix in it.

Smiling warmly, he poured some on the skillet, then began meticulously rounding them with a spatula. "Come on, dude," Soul complained, snatching the utensil out of his grip. "You're not gonna be eating it." Sloppily splashing two more globs of pancake mix, the albino flipped them when they were ready with the ease of practice. Kid sulked in the corner.

"Mmm," Maka mumbled appreciatively, loading her plate with the four pancakes. Squirting a healthy amount of maple syrup on top, she gobbled them down in record time, then quickly laced her favorite boots on and started out the door, pausing in confusion. "Wait. Patty and BlackStar are still gone... they could be anywhere."

"Call them back to you," Kid suggested.

Maka narrowed her eyes. "Uh... how?"

"Imagine there's a string around their waist, leading all the way back to your hand. Yank on the string." He grinned.

Laughing a little, she complied and concentrated, making a sharp movement with her hand.

"What the hell?"

"Kya-haha~!"

"Did you have fun?" Maka asked dryly, staring the pair down sternly. They nodded, BlackStar a little more meek than Patty. The meister bounded down the steps, the ghosts following her. Emerging into the sunlight outside of their apartment complex, she blinked then smiled in the warmth, setting off for the DMWA with a spring in her step.

Passing people in the street was strange. Before, she had known almost every person on Executioner's Street*1*, and usually waved at them as she went by. Now she knew nobody. No, that wasn't true. She thought she recognized some people, but it was shocking to see them now – Mrs. Simmons, who she knew as a cheerful thirty-or-so shopkeeper, was now pudgy and slightly more wrinkled. It was hard to even recognize her.

"You'll get used to it," Soul mumbled into her ear. "Also, I'd advise against talking to us out in public. Don't want to get carted off to an insane asylum, do we?"

"Shut up," she muttered, barely moving her lips.

Finally they reached the imposing flight of steps. Bounding up them easily, Maka glanced around at the few gaggles of students that passed her by. It was all so unfamiliar and foreign. My own damn fault for being imprisoned for twenty years without knowing it. Nobody here even knows me. That depressing thought weighed down her steps, and expression, making her look gloomy and brooding. Not what she'd prefer to look like. Trying to brighten her smile, the meister ran lightly through the halls to the Death Room, knocking on the door.

It swung open with a cheery "Come in!" Grinning, for that was the tone the blonde was more used to hearing from Lord Death, she ran in and skidded to a stop when she saw there was a meister and weapon pair already sitting there. They looked at her in shock.

"Who are you?" The girl on the right, who was small and slight with black hair tied back in a fancy braid and clad in an outfit similar to the traditional DWMA schoolgirl ensemble Kim and Jackie had used to wear, narrowed her dark eyes distrustfully.

"Oh, don't be grumpy," her partner chided. He smirked at Maka, his spiky brown hair and angular blue eyes speaking all mischief. "I'm Lee, this is my weapon partner Cherokee."

Cherokee huffed and turned away.

"Nice to meet you," Maka said, half polite and half stiff with annoyance at the unwelcome greeting. "Maka Albarn."

Lee's eyes widened. "No way!" he breathed. "The Maka Albarn? I thought you were dead!"

Maka was taken aback. "Um… no."

"It helps that you're alive," Kid commented unnecessarily. The meister in front of him would have snapped something back, but considering she was trying to make a good impression on the new people here (or well, they weren't new, but to her it felt like they were), she wasn't going to start talking to what looked like thin air.

"She was placed under a curse for a while," Lord Death intervened. "Now, Lee, Cherokee, thank you for reporting your mission. You can go now."

They both nodded respectfully and ran out.

"Chichiue, do you have a mission we – well, Maka – can take? It's boring hanging around Death City all the time with nowhere to go," Kid complained.

Lord Death hummed and rubbed the bottom of his mask thoughtfully. "That's a good question. She can't do much without a weapon… ah, of course! Genetics!"

Kid's expression brightened. "Brilliant! We just have to find a way for her to unlock it."

"Yes… perhaps some trauma?"

"Don't freak her out, chichiue. She just got back."

"What else could draw it out? Training?"

"That might work. Or we could use Living Soul Konso to try and draw it out, activate it."

"I'll need some help… or maybe we could bring Spirit in."

"Anything but that."

"You're right. How about-"

"Will you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Maka exploded, fuming. "What in the hell are you two rambling about anyway? Genetics? Papa? What is Living Soul Konso?"

Lord Death raised his hands defensively. "Now, now, don't get all worked up. We were just trying to work out a way to find you a weapon. Of sorts. See, weapon blood is genetic, right? Tsubaki is a good example. Her family's abilities have been passed down for generations. Sometimes it's a little more scattered, like with the Thompsons and Soul. Their blood was passed down by chance, only one in four of their family members probably carried the gene for it." He paused to tilt his head to the side a bit. "Now with you, it's a different matter. You are a meister, with a very strong ability for Soul Perception, but you also carry the blood of a weapon. You are one of the exceptions, one of the few who can choose what they wish to be. In all truth, your choice was a bit subconscious – you were rejecting your father by choosing the path of a meister. But you still carry the genes for a weapon."

Kid interrupted. "So what we're saying is, you don't have to find another partner. With some training, you can be like Justin Law, and operate as a solo weapon and meister combination. Well, with us of course." He winked.

"I'm… a weapon?" Maka's jaw was hanging. "Okay… I guess, yeah. So, um, how do I activate my, er, weapon?"

"Why don't you let the experts teach you?" Kid suggested amusedly, gesturing to Soul, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty. They blinked in surprise.

"So I have to watch?" BlackStar whined.

Kid glared at him. "Yes. Now stay quiet."

Tsubaki bit her lip. "Um… well… I don't know where to start."

"Just concentrate on what weapon you think you are," Soul suggested in a bored tone. "Imagine your arm becoming a blade, or chain, or whatever. A machine gun or something."

"Or a bazooka!" Patty cheered. "Be a bazooka, Maka! Please?"

"No," Maka growled. She took a deep breath and thought. Well, I'd be a scythe, wouldn't I? Papa is. And Soul is. Yeah, a scythe… I guess. Or a pair of smaller scythes. Now that would be cool… but I'm only one person. Just imagine blades on my wrists… black and white. No, black and gray. Silver and black. Agh! Yeah, just silver and black.

Concentrating hard, she imagined two small, slim blades emerging on the outer side of her forearms, one on each side. Concentrate. Just think scythe blades. Small scythe blades.

To her surprise, there was a small shimmer and a flash of white, and there on her forearms materialized two blades. Nearly jumping back in shock, the meister stared at them, mesmerized.

Both were about two and a half feet long, the colors divided in half like Soul's, except instead of a zigzag it was more of a curly wave pattern. They were curved gently, silver on bottom and black on top. They were-

"Awesome!" Patty cackled, running/flying in circles around Maka. "Slice someone in half! Slice someone in half! LET THE BLOOD FLOW!"

Almost all present shivered, with the exception of Kid and Liz. (They were used to it.) "I don't think so, Patty," Maka placated her carefully. "Let's wait until we run into a Kishin."

The overenthusiastic pistol pouted, but agreed reluctantly.

"This is great, Maka!" Lord Death said happily. "With some training, you can use those blades to rejoin the ranks and take on missions again! Why, I bet you could make yourself a Death Scythe in no time!"

"Isn't that thinking a little far ahead?" she replied nervously, still gazing at the blades. "I think I'd want to train with these, get used to them first.

"Well, duh," BlackStar snorted. "Wouldn't want a useless weapon."

She glared at him. "Just you wait. I bet I can make Death Scythe in… a year."

Kid whistled. "I'm placing my money on you. You'll need help, of course." He smiled, sticking his hands in his pockets. "BlackStar and I can work out a training regimen. Your year starts… now."

Grinning happily, the meister skipped out of the Death Room and made her way (by Kid's suggestion) to Gallows Mansion, which had been kept clean and tidy for twenty years thanks to some servants hired by Lord Death. The younger reaper showed her to one of his huge training gyms, with a shooting range, full set of bars and ropes hanging from the ceiling, an obstacle course complete with a floor that spurted flames and icy water, and among other things a big padded floor for martial arts.

They started right away, BlackStar and Kid directing and arguing over specific skill sets, Maka running laps around the gym to get used to moving with her blades, and the rest of the team sitting off on the side and chatting/playing/napping.

One thought ran through Maka's head as she jogged, smiling down at the blades that were giving her hope.

I have a purpose again.


Agh. Damn. I brought OCs into it, didn't I? Well, don't worry, I'll try and keep those to a minimum. No crazy Mary Sues with weird powers. No siree. But I can promise some insane Kishin eggs that are the product of my strange overactive imagination… and they shall be insane. O_o 'Tis a promise.

*1* I really don't know. I just make up street names -3-

Muhahaha. Um… happy hunting. Kill some deer. Wait, does anybody hunt? Archery? Eh, I saw Brave yesterday. I'm rambling, aren't I? What do deer have to do with anything? Hmph. Purple santa hats.

Tacos.

Till next time!

-Kat-