Thank you for the kind reviews I have gotten so far. They really do encourage me to write faster.
Just a tidbit of information before we get started, I don't think their ages are ever mentioned in the anime, but in the manga, it says that they are seniors, so that's what I'm going with.
...
When they arrived at the Death Room, there was already a small crowd. Shinigami-sama was there, of course, along with Stein, Marie, Sid, Nygus, and a very rowdy Spirit. He stood in front of Shinigami's mirror, furious and flustered.
"Kami, I want to know what happened to our daughter!"
In the reflection was a woman who Soul could only assume was Maka's mother. He'd never met her or seen a picture of her, but there was no mistaking it. She could've easily been Maka's twin. She was clad in a loose black sweater and wore her hair up. She wore an expression of utter annoyance, which was focused on her ex-husband. "Calm your tits, Spirt, I just want to wait for everyone to get here. It's a very long story."
"Dad." Kidd said, approaching his father. "We're here. Now what is going on?"
"Hey hey hey!" Shinigami greeted them all. "Thanks for coming here on such short notice, kids!" He gestured to the mirror with one comically large hand. "Allow me to introduce you all to Kami Albarn, Maka's mother."
She tore her glare away from Spirit and gave them all a much sweeter smile. "Hey there, kids."
Her voice different than Maka's. It sounded older. But that was about the only distinguishable feature about her. Liz held up her hands and waved them. "Wait, wait. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but you are Maka's mother?"
The image in the mirror smirked and nodded her head. "Yep, I made that baby."
Liz looked in utter disbelief. "You look like you could be her sister."
"Aww, thank you, honey. But, I'm afraid not. I'm her Mama."
Spirit pounded his fist down on the side of the mirror, instantly breaking the light atmosphere. He'd never looked so distraught. At least, not that any of them had ever seen. "Enough of this meaningless jibber jabber, I want to know what happened to my daughter!"
For once, Soul agreed with the Death Scythe. They had rushed down here for a reason, and dammit, he wanted to know, too.
"Alright, alright." Kami said, her expression growing more... not serious, per say, but more... concentrated. She leaned back in her chair as if searching for words to begin with.
Shinigami spoke up. "I assume I should start off by asking how the mission went." He tilted his head.
Kami sighed. "The mission..." She shrugged and shook her head. "The mission was a total failure." Shinigami cocked his head to the other side, and waited for her to continue. "Well, maybe failure isn't the right word, but needless to say, we absolutely did not accomplish anything we had hoped for."
She leaned forward in her seat and laced her fingers together in thought. "My daughter's powers are very strange. But from what I've come to understand, I believe that her weapon blood is incomplete. When a weapon is born, a full blooded weapon, they possess the ability to transform entirely into a weapon and the ability to control that transformation. It's like a trait. You are either born with it, or you are not. But Maka is... different." Her eyes were mainly focused on Shinigami-sama, but occasionally would drift amongst them all, and would momentarily rest on Spirit.
"Maka... She was born with weapon blood in her, from her father, but it was like a recessive gene. She had it, but did not express it. I still can't say for certain why it decided to show though like this, but the fact is, Maka is not a full weapon. She can't fully turn into a weapon, and she has very little control over it. What Kidd described during the battle with the kishen, she was unconscience, correct?" Her eyes landed on Kidd, who nodded. "See, she cannot consciously control it. It's all subconscious. Like an instinct. Her body knows, but her mind doesn't. The problem..." She leaned back again. "...is that her body will activate it without her control. Which brings me to what happened today in your apartment."
It was a bit much to take in, but Soul thought he was keeping up. He was very eager to learn why she had such a dramatic melt down.
"Tell me, Soul." Her eyes landed on him. "What happened exactly."
Soul relaid the events to Kami, and felt very much on the spot while he did so. All eyes were on him and he was hyperaware of the death glare he was receiving from Spirit. When he finished, Kami slowly nodded.
"Alright." She said. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know what my daughter suffers from severe post traumatic stress disorder." She let her gaze wander over all of them. "Anybody not know what that is?"
Patti and Black Star both mumbled something inaudible.
Kami chuckled. "It's okay if you don't. PTSD is a mental disorder that is the result of going through something very traumatic. People who suffer from PTSD experience anxiety, nightmares and flashbacks. The flashbacks happen, more often than not, when they are triggered. Like if something reminds them of the traumatic event. A few months ago, something happened to Maka that she just couldn't get over-"
"Goddammit, Kami, enough lead up, what happened to her?" Spirit yelled. Kami's eyes snapped to him and narrowed.
"Relax, Spirit, I'm getting there, don't get your panties in a wad."
"Don't tell me to relax, I want to know what happened to cause my little girl so much damage!" He yelled back. "And I want to know why I haven't heard of this until now."
Shinigami sensed that this could very easily turn from a meeting into a family feud. "Spirit, please, she getting there."
He seemed to be more or less ignored. As was everyone else in the room. Kami twisted in her chair to face Spirit straight on. It was clear that as far as either of them were concerned, they were the only people in that room.
When Kami spoke, her voice was low and venomous. "You know something, Spirit? You're a real class act, aren't you? Suddenly caring about the well being of our daughter when everyone watching, suddenly acting like a caring, loving father when you have everyone's attention. You want to know why I didn't tell you? Because my daughter asked me not to. And like any half way decent parent who loves their child, I keep the promises I make to my daughter. Don't you dare try and pretend you give a shit about her feelings. Do you know how many nights I held Maka as she cried herself to sleep? And every night, it was the same. 'Why did Papa have to go and destroy our family? We could've been happy together, we could've been a real family and Papa fucked it all up. Why would he do something like that, Mama?' And they only thing I could do to comfort my child as she cried herself to sleep was to hold her and say 'I don't know, baby, I don't know. But Mama's here now.' And you honestly wonder why she doesn't want you in her life. In her eyes, you are the monster who tore her whole world apart."
Maka's parents stared at each other, not saying anything more. Spirit's expression had gone from furious to heartbroken over his ex-wife's words. He looked like he could've very easily started crying. "She cried herself to sleep... over me?"
The atmosphere had grown so heavy with their words. The others in the room could do little more than just watch and wait. The knowledge the Maka had gone through so much hurt because of her father tugged at Soul heart, and he felt himself get choked up. He noticed Marie wipe a tear from her eye. Tsubaki had her hands over her heart, as though the thought of Maka's pain caused her pain. Kidd and Black Star looked at each other, their expressions grim. Nygus took Sid's hand and he squeezed it comfortingly. Liz and Patti also held hands. Chrona's ever present grip on his arm grew tighter.
Shinigami-sama sighed. He was worried this might happen. Kami and Spirit were very bitter towards each other, and both of them were very possessive of their daughter. He could sense it in the way both of them used the phrase 'My child' or 'my daughter' or 'my little girl'. He could
understand and sympathize with the fact that they had their own personally family issues, but this was getting out of hand. This was not why they had gathered together like this.
"Kami, Spirit." His voice was stern. They both looked up at him. "I realize your family has it's own issues, really I do, and I understand that you both do not exactly see eye to eye. But as a parent myself," He placed a large hand on Kidd's shoulder. "I ask that you put your differences aside, just for now, for Maka's sake. I am still very much interested in knowing what happened to her. Spirit, please, do not interrupt again."
Shinigami's firmness was always unexpected, but this time it was welcomed. He spoke the truth, and at the rate Maka's parents were going, they'd never find out what happened.
Kami sighed and rubbed her temples. "You are right, I apologize." She rested her forehead in her hands. "I know I'm taking awhile to get to the point, but this is a very complicated situation. To understand exactly what happened to my daughter, you first must understand why." She looked up at them again, her eyes landing on Soul. "I'm sorry for getting distracted. But the reason for Maka's break down today, was because you unknowingly set off many of her triggers. From what you described, it sound's like she had a flashback." She leaned forward slightly. "You have to understand that when she has a flashback, she literally relives what happened to her in her mind. She can't help it. That's why she reacted like that. And you!" She turned to Black Star. "No more pulling down girl's shirts, mister."
Black Star didn't know whether to chuckle awkwardly or feel guilty, so he just did both. He looked at Soul, because he couldn't meet eyes with anyone else, and saw that he had a hand over his mouth, his eyes filled with guilt. He looked on the verge of tears. Black Star placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.
"Now, as for what exactly happened..." She leaned back in her chair again. "A few months ago, Maka and I were in Italy."
Chrona perked up slightly. Italy was where he and Maka met the first time, and he had tried to kill her, almost killing her partner. It wasn't a memory he was fond of. The thought that, at one point in time, he wanted nothing more than to end her life was a thought that kept him awake some nights, tossing and turning and dreading the thought of what if he had been successful. No, no, now wasn't the time to think about himself, this was about Maka. He listened for the rest of Kami's story.
"We were more sight-seeing than anything. It was a warm summer night, we were dressed up in cute little dresses, we went out to eat, you know, just basically on vacation." She turned her attention to something they couldn't see and reached for it. She held up and framed picture of herself and Maka smiling in front of a lit up Trevi Fountain. "This picture was taken that night." Kami smiled. "Look how pretty my baby is." Seeing the two of them side by side, one could see some obvious differences. Kami was a little taller and her hair was slightly curlier. She had a slightly more mature look, but still the resemblance was uncanny.
"Anyway," she set the picture down. "After dinner, we were walking around, enjoying the scenery, and we lost our way a little. We thought, no worries, we'll figure it out, we'll just ask for direction. I speak Italian, so I wasn't worried. Well, next thing we know, we're down an alleyway with no idea where we're going, but again, we figured we'd get somewhere if we just kept going. Italian alleys are beautiful during the day, but at night, they are so dark and just feel like they go on forever."
She paused, her expression darkening ever so slightly. "We ended up... running into a rather large group of young men... And by 'running into', I mean we were attacked." She chuckled slightly, but her words still were grim. "My baby is such a fighter. I've never seen anyone punch and kick as hard as she did. But there was so many of them..." She leaned forward again. Soul recalled Maka once mentioning how her mother just couldn't see to stay still for very long. "They just kept coming. And you know, Maka's so strong, but she's still a little thing. She took a good few of them down, but they were bigger than her, and they outnumbered us. One of them grabbed me and held a knife to my throat. I was really scared that we were going to die that night."
She paused again and everyone in the room twitched with anticipation of what happened next. She sighed and continued. "Two of them grabbed Maka's arms and one of them came up behind her and grabbed her from behind." She motioned with her arms to show how the man hooked his arms around her shoulders. "She told me later than she looked at me and all she could see was the knife to my neck. My baby is so selfless..." She paused again. "I saw a look in her eye that I've never seen before. Like pure terror." She snapped her fingers. "She lost it. Scythes shot out of her back and arms and the men holding her were shish kabobed. She sighed. "It was kind of beautiful in a way. The blades came out of her back like angel wings. Anyway, the man holding me let me go and they all started screaming and running, but Maka..." She paused. "It all happened very quickly. Blades shot of her forearms," She patted the top of her own arms. "And she slaughtered all of them."
She stopped, but her last words hung in the air like she wasn't finished.
Suddenly, Ragnarok burst out of Chrona's back. "That's it?! God, that's so lame! We kill people all the time, she's killed people before, what's the big deal?" He huffed. "God, only a wuss like her would get that bent out of shape over something so stupid."
Chrona's face immediately darkened in color. "Ragnarok, be quiet!"
Kami's eyes widened a little at Ragnarok. "Oh my..." But her expression soon relaxed and she pointed at him. "You must be Ragnarok."
"Yeah, no shit, lady."
She pointed at Chrona. "Which makes you Chrona."
He hunched his shoulders self consciously. "Yes, ma'am."
She smiled at him. "Maka's told me about you. You gave her that necklace she always wears, right?"
He couldn't look at her. He felt everyone staring at him. He could only nod.
"And you saved her life once," Her voice had softened slightly. "From a witch."
Again, he nodded. He clutched his arm tightly. He didn't want the attention to be on him, that was about Maka, not him.
She smiled wider. "Aww, you are precious."
"Th-thank you." Still, he couldn't look up.
"Did Maka also tell you that the witch he saved her from was his mother?" Ragnarok said, tilting his head.
"Ragnarok..." Chrona didn't like this conversation anymore. People tended to think twice about him once they learned that he was a witch's child. He had yet to come across anyone who blatantly hated him for it, but he had encountered people who were cautions around him. They usually relaxed once they realized his good nature, but it was still something he didn't want brought up.
"So what?" Kami said, and Chrona finally looked up. "Who your parents are doesn't define who you are. I mean, look at Maka's father." Spirit didn't say anything. Chrona noticed that he hadn't spoken or looked up since Kami's story. Kami continued. "Anybody who would sacrifice themselves for my baby is a-okay in my book." She looked at Chrona warmly. He smiled at her and felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Marie smiling at him as well.
Shinigami cleared his throat and Kami looked at him. "I sense that you are not finished with your story, Kami. Like Ragnarok, I can't seem to understand why something like that would shake someone like Maka the way that it did."
Kami nodded. "See, that's the thing." She reached for something out of sight again. "There's more." When she pulled back into sight, she had a laptop in her hands. She set it on her lap and began searching through the files for something. "Now, first of all, is everyone keeping up so far?" She looked around as everyone nodded.
"Now... I think it's not so much what happened that night that effected Maka... so much as what happened next." She seemed to find what she was looking for. "I happened to get the whole thing on video."
"Why would you do that?" Black Star asked suddenly. "Like did you just carry around a video camera all the time?"
"Well..." Kami sighed. "Maka had been trying for months to learn how to activate her weapon blood, with very little results. I thought that after what happened in Italy, she was finally getting it. Like, maybe there was a wall that she had finally gotten past. I had already been keeping a video log to track progress, and I wanted to get her first successful try on camera. I'm a mom, that's what I do."
"Now," she continued. "Maka was already a little shaken from the events in Italy, and I asked her why, because like all over you, I thought it was weird that something like that would bother her. She said that she didn't really care about the fact that she killed those men because they did try and kill us first, what bothered her was that she didn't know how she did it. She didn't like the fact that she had no control over it. She said she didn't even really remember what happened other than, she saw a knife to my neck and the next thing she knew, her dress was torn up and she was covered in blood and the men were all nothing more than carnage on the ground. The way she put it, I can understand how something like that would disturb anyone." She lowered her voice slightly. "But the way I see it, my daughter saved my life."
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "As I'm explaining all this, I realize that it's a lot to take in." She looked at Soul again. "Because of what happened in Italy, Maka has certain triggers that she just can't handle. Large groups of people, for instance. It doesn't matter if she knows them or not. She can deal with large groups when people appear one at a time, but when there are suddenly a bunch of people, she doesn't like that. She doesn't like when a lot of people stare at her, and she doesn't like it when people sneak up behind her. All those things make her think of that one time that she had no control of her self and a bunch of people died. She has this intense fear that it will happen again. So..." She tilted her head. "Now do you all understand why your little surprise party was probably not the best idea?"
Guilt was present on all of their faces, but Soul's most of all. He had put his hand to his face, his eyes squeezed shut. He looked very close to tears. "I just wanted to surprise her..." He whispered. Kidd and Black Star both grip his shoulders comfortingly.
"Sweetheart, look at me." Kami said firmly. He did. "Do not blame yourself. You didn't know. This was not your fault."
He knew she was trying to comfort him, but her words meant next to nothing to him. He knew that Maka's breakdown was entirely his fault. Literally everything that upset her and caused her to panic, he had done. But then, something else occurred to him.
"What about those scars? And that tattoo?" He asked. "She didn't get those from that night, did she?"
Spirit suddenly looked up and his ex-wife again. "You let our daughter get a tattoo?"
Kami's eyes frosted over with anger again as she looked at him. In an effort to avoid another fight, she forced a smile, but it more or less just made her look scarier. "I don't know if you've realized this, Spirit, but our daughter is an adult. She did in fact have a birthday in the last six months. She's eighteen now. I don't let her do anything. She can make her own goddamn choices." She looked away from him. "I don't expect that you would've remembered your daughter's birthday, since you didn't call or send her a card."
"I had no idea where the two of you were!"
Her gaze snapped back to him. "We stayed in London, at your mother's house. Funny how she can remember her granddaughter's birthday, even with dementia."
"Kami..." Shinigami said.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She turned back toward the rest of them. "Her tattoo actually does have a purpose. Anyway," She pointed to the computer in her lap. "I feel like you would all understand better why it is that Maka suffers now if you actually saw it. You wouldn't get the full effect if I just told you. Is that okay?"
Everyone seemed to nod in unison. Shinigami placed his hand on Kidd's shoulder again. "And you said you feel like this is what effected her?" He asked.
"I do." She clicked on a few things. "Just, a word of caution, I know you all deal with blood and violence and stuff like that all the time, but, considering it's Maka..." She turned the laptop around and tilted her mirror down so the image they saw was more the computer than her. The starting image was a picture of her, holding the camera out at arms length to face her. "Personally, I find it... a little hard to watch."
She clicked the play button.
Kami was walking, pointed the camera at herself. She wore a big smile. "So, I really think that today is going to be the day that my baby learns how to control her weapon blood. We have been practicing this for months and she hasn't gotten it yet, but after what happened in Italy last week, I think she'll finally be able to do it." She turned the camera around as she walked forward. "She's still a little shaken up from it, but I think she's ready."
Where they were wasn't clear, but it was some kind of foresty area. They seemed to be in a hotel or some kind of fancy building in, maybe the tropics? The building was old looking and made of stone. Kami walked outside a door and Maka came into view, sitting on the ledge, over looking a large garden area, filled with colorful flowers and beautiful trees, a river visible in the distance.
This event had obviously happened recently, as Maka was as physically mature looking in the video as she was present day.
She wore a light blue sun dress with pink flowers on it. Her hair was loose and pulled to over one of her shoulders and she twirled one long strand around her finger. Her back was exposed, and was clear of any scars or tattoo. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, and her face held a certain sadness to it.
The camera angle moved and shook slightly, and it could be assumed that Kami was also sitting on the ledge of the balcony. "How are you doing, sweetie?"
Maka looked at her mother with sorrowful eyes. "What's with the camera?"
Kami's voice was bright, a stark contrast to Maka's. "I just have good feeling about this today. And if you do succeed today, which I think you will, I want to have it on film. It's a mom thing, dear."
Maka looked back out over the garden. "I don't know if I want to do this anymore, Mama."
"Sweetie, you're so close-"
"I just," she sighed. "I'm a meister, not a weapon. I have a weapon, Soul is my weapon. I don't want to be a weapon."
"Maka, this gift of your's doesn't change your status as a meister, you're still a meister." The camera angle lowered slightly. "That's not actually whats bothering you, is it?"
Maka didn't look at her, just kept staring. "I'm scared." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't want... that to happen again."
Kami put the camera on her knee, facing the garden, Maka's bare feet were also in the shot. "Maka. What happened in Italy... you saved us. Your weapon blood saved our lives. That's no accident. We were in danger and it activated. I know you can do this. It'll be okay."
They could hear Maka sigh. "I'll... try. But... I still don't know about this."
"I promise, it'll be okay."
There was silence for a long moment, and then Maka put her hands over her face and made a frustrated sound. "I just... I just remember that man holding a knife to your neck and..." She looked at her mother. "Everyone's been saying that they've never met anyone with this weird half blood thing before, and I keep just thinking... what would've happened that night if I was normal? If my weird ass blood hadn't killed those people, would we be here right now?"
Kami was quiet for a moment, and then said, "I won't lie to you, we probably wouldn't be." She put her had on Maka's shoulder. "But, sweetheart, that's what I mean when I saw you were meant to have this power. Which is why I know you'll learn to control it."
Maka hugged her knees. "You saw 'power' like it's something special."
"Maka, you just said it yourself, that no one else had ever been born like this before. It is special. It doesn't define you, you've already done a plenty good job making a name for yourself at Shibusen without this. Just think of it as a bonus gift."
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Maka continued to look out at the garden. Her eyes were half lidded, like she was thinking about something. Finally, she sighed and buried her face in her arms. "I don't even know how I did it last time. That's what bothers me." She looked up again. "I literally killed a bunch of people and I have no idea how I did it. I don't like not knowing how the hell I killed someone." Frustration was ever present in her voice. She put her hand to her forehead. "I just have such mixed feelings about it. I would like to be able to control it and be able to use it when I need to, but... I'm just worried that I'll never get the hang of it. I mean, it basically set itself off without my knowing it, what if that happened again when I was just... out at lunch with my friends?"
"I don't think that would happen." Kami said. "The two times it's happened before, it happened when you were in danger and had no other options. I don't think that your gift is a bad thing. It's saved your life twice already."
Maka still looked frustrated, but seemed to relax a little. "Well... maybe it's not meant to be controlled then." She looked at Kami. "I just... I still don't like it. It's like there's something inside me that has the potential to kill people and I have absolutely no say in it."
Kami set the camera on her knee again, this time Maka's legs were in the shot. "I can understand that. But that's why I think that you should still try and learn to control it. If nothing else, it will at least give you some piece of mind knowing that you have a say in when it happens."
Maka's arms wrapped around her legs lower than before. "Yeah... that's true."
"Alright then." Kami's voice softened. "Just it a try." She held the camera up to see all of Maka again.
Maka took a deep breath, her eyes slipping shut. She rested her face on her knees, her shoulders hunching slightly. She seemed like she wasn't really trying though. Before too long, she looked up again. Her voice sounded more breathless than before, like she was afraid. "I don't think this is going to work."
"It sounds more like you don't want it to work."
"I don't." Her breathing had picked up considerably.
Kami noticed her panic immediately. "Sweetheart, calm down, nothing bad is going to happen. Remember, it's saved your life twice already-"
"Has it?" Maka interrupted. She seemed on the verge of a panic attack. "My weapon blood didn't defeat the Kishen, my fist did." She held up her hand for emphasis. "If it hadn't activated during that battle, we still wouldn't defeated him. And if it hadn't happened then, you and I wouldn't have in Italy at the wrong place at the wrong time, and we wouldn't have been attacked by that gang. I would've been perfectly content not even knowing I had this god-awful blood. As far as I'm concerned, it's caused more problems that any-" Her body jerked suddenly. Her eyes widened and fell out of focus.
"Maka?" Kami voice was filled with alarm "Baby, what's wrong?"
Maka untangled her limbs and held her hands to her chest, her gaze still unfocused and staring in front of her. She tensed and untensed, like she was going to vomit. She had begun to hyperventilate, her breathing coming in short, uneven gasps. And then suddenly, she went very still. She stared out in front of her, unmoving, her mouth slightly agape. A trickle of blood escaped the corner of her mouth.
"Maka, talk to me, what's happening?"
She didn't seem to hear her mother. She slowly reached up to touched the blood on her chin, and held her hand up to see what it was. She jerked again and her hand flew to her chest again, her teeth clenched, and something of a whimper escaped her. And then again, she went very still. "Mama..."
Scythes exploded forth from her back and shoulders, splattering blood everywhere. She made no noise, only sat hunched over with with wide eyes. Blood continued to drip from the blades. As fast as they appeared, the receded back into her skin. Maka went limp and fell back.
Kami dropped the camera. It landed with a thud and went fuzzy, but only for a moment. When it refocused, Maka could be seen on the ground, her back facing the camera. Her dress was torn open and her skin was shredded from the small of her back to along both shoulders. Blood oozed steadily from the wounds as Maka twitched violently in a growing pool of it. And... wait, was that bone?
Half of the group had to turn away from the mirror. Hands shot up to cover mouths, and Nygus whispered, "Oh my God..."
Kami appeared in the shot, pulling Maka into her lap. She shouted for someone to call for an ambulance. Maka's eyes were glazed over, tears streaming from them. She continued to jerk and twitch violently, as if having a seizure, and more blood spilled from her mouth. She struggled to turn over, and with Kami's help, she turned to her side, now facing the camera, and vomited more blood onto the ground.
Kami shut the laptop slowly. She tilted the mirror back up to face her. She didn't speak. She didn't look anyone in the eye.
Shinigami looked around the room. Spirit was finally shedding tears, quietly, with his hand over his face. His teeth were clenched and his body jerked from his silence sobs. Stein's eyes were closed, his fist to his mouth like he was trying to keep something in. Marie was behind him, gripping his sleeve and resting her forehead on his shoulder. Tears were running down her face as well. Sid and Nygus were both very still and looking at the ground, their expression more or less hidden, but their postures and tightened grip on each other's hands indicated that they were shaken by what they had seen.
He turned his attention to the students. Tsubaki and buried her face in Black Star shoulder, and seemed to be crying as well. Black Star hadn't moved much, he still stood perfectly still and upright, but his expression... almost pained. Liz and Patti both still had their eyes squeezed shut, hands to their mouths from when they had turned away. Kidd, like Stein, seemed to be attempting to keep calm. His eyes were shut and his hand was over his mouth. Chrona had tears running down his face as he stared at the ground and gripped his arm.
Soul had completely turned around and stepped off of the platform of the Death Room. He faced away from everyone, his hands gripping his hair, and although he didn't look like it, Shinigami could tell he was crying.
Shinigami turned back to the mirror, his hand still on Kidd's shoulder. "Kami," he said calmly. "Do you know why it is that her weapon blood behaved like that?"
"I do." She said. Her voice sounded like the video had just her choked up as well. She cleared her throat, and adopted a very studious demeanor. "It's my professional opinion that the reason Maka... was wounded like this, was because the two side of her, the meister in her and the weapon in her, were not balanced. Does that make sense? She was rejecting her weapon blood, and it reacted accordingly." She put her hands together thoughtfully. "This was the first time that Maka thought of it as a separate being, if you will. She didn't accept it as part of her, and it was that lack of acceptance that caused the incident you just witnessed."
"So what now?" Shinigami asked. "What happened next? What state is she in now?"
Kami leaned forward again and sighed. "After what happened... Maka was unwilling to continue pursuing control of her powers. I couldn't disagree with her. Every night after that day, she woke up screaming in the middle of the night, she was in constant fear of it happening again. See, this is what I feel really caused Maka's PTSD. She's now conditioned to believe that her powers will hurt her. I couldn't bare to watch my baby go through that. So I had something done about it. Now, I have a friend who is a good witch. The tattoo you spoke of," She tapped her own shoulder. "That tattoo is actually a spell. That spell seals away her weapon blood so that it won't activate, ever again. The night after she got that tattoo was the first night she slept soundly." She paused and turned after. "God, if I hadn't pushed her so much..."
"Kami," Stein spoke up for the first time. "You said it yourself, we've never seen anything like Maka's powers before. You cannot be expected to be able to anticipate something like that happening. What happened to Maka was horrible, but you cannot be blamed for it. You were doing your job."
Kami sighed. "Thank you, Stein." She looked to Shinigami-sama. "Well, sir... that's our mission report."
...
If anything was unclear, or you do not understand, please let me know and I will try to explain better.
