I do not own the Soul Eater Characters or their universe nor do I intend to garner revenues from using either of the intellectual properties

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Parisian Misdirection

Act 4

Black Midnight in the Louvre District

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Where the hell was she? He'd rushed to the sound of the gunshot as fast as he could, but only managed to find a smoke stained hall and the shattered remains of a broken window. Her scent was all over the place, and it was driving him nuts that he just couldn't see her.

Focusing his senses, Free managed to separate a large patch of her scent that moved toward the window through the smoke laden ambience that masked it. Following the trail to the courtyard, Free caught sight of Mizune battling a cadre of black clad men as he leapt out of the window. She appeared to have already defeated three of her adversaries, and was already moving in for the kill on one of the two that remained. The other was trying his hardest to shoot the elusive witch.

Landing and lunging in one fluid motion, Free bounded towards the unsuspecting gunman, leaping into a flying roundhouse kick. He caught the man squarely in the back of the head, sending him face first into the ground. The unfortunate thief slid quite a ways before his momentum wore off.

When Free turned to see what had happened to Mizune's opponent, he smiled approvingly. She'd disposed of the poor soul in an efficient but rather messy manner. Suffice to say what remained of the ill-fated thief was better left unsaid.

Free gave an impressed whistle "You don't hold back much do you?"

Mizune didn't appear to hear the comment a she turned to the lawn covered section of the courtyard.

"Eruka. Please be okay." Mizune half whispered before activating her propulsion magic and flying back to her friend's side.

That was all Free needed to hear. His legs moved of their own accord, launching him into such a powerful lunge that he overtook Mizune, landing just within the, apparently unconscious, frog witch's vicinity. Moving in closer, he breathed a brief sigh of relief as he found that the scent of misplaced blood was absent from her aromatic ambience.

He drew his eyes across her sleeping form, searching for wounds or broken bones. Nothing looked out of place. She didn't appear to be in pain either, as her expression spoke neither of anguish or joy. It was just blank and indifferent. Not so out of the ordinary he supposed, but still, something about it seemed out of place.

Free was scratching his head in thought as Mizune skidded to a halt beside him. "Is she okay?" she cried as she immediately went to Eruka's side.

"I think so." Free replied unsurely. It was the scent that was bothering him. Eruka's was there of course. Her scent was fine, neither possessing the twinge of rot nor the spice of blood. A different, vaguely familiar scent was mingled with it however. It resembled the one he'd smelt earlier, when he'd first caught her scent on the balcony of the apartment. He still couldn't place what it reminded him of, though he was certain he'd smelled it before that time.

Mizune registered a sizable amount of surprise when she examined the frog witch's body and found Free's earlier tentative claim to be true. "Where'd the shots go?"

Free wore a slightly befuddled look as he knelt down beside the mouse witch. "What shots?"

Mizune frowned as she stood up. "She got shot three times." She began to point at the now unblemished patches of Eruka's skin where the wounds should've been. "Once in the shoulder, thigh and stomach." Mizune shuddered. "I wasn't sure if she'd make it."

Free shrugged, scooping the sleeping Eruka into his arms. "Well, it looks like she did." He hadn't realized until now just how dainty the frog witch was. She acted so much older than her age, he sometimes forgot how young she really was. But now, with her sleeping peacefully in his arms, it was very apparent that there was still time before she reached adulthood.

Hopefully that time wouldn't be wasted.

"Let's get her back to the apartment" Free said as he shifted Eruka to a slightly more secure position.

"Chi" Mizune replied simply, as she positioned herself at Free's side.

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At the behest of Mizune, Free had taken a much less fervent pace than he had when he first got wind of Eruka's peril. He didn't mind this more casual pace though. Indeed, he was quite enjoying it. He'd even begun to hum the tune "Bateau Mouche" as he strode through the Louvre district. After all, it looked like Eruka wasn't in immediate danger at the moment. That in itself was cause enough for a little levity.

More than that though, walking down the streets of the Louvre district with Eruka in his arms and Mizune at his side reminded him of the old times. Back before the meisters had made his clan "obsolete". Before Death had decided that the wolf-men didn't suit his image. Back in the days when Free had a purpose and a future.

When they arrived at the apartment, Free stationed himself in the witches' shared room, sitting on Mizune's bed and watching Eruka rest in hers. Mizune sat beside him, her worry very apparent in her expression. He didn't blame her. Something strange had happened in that courtyard. He had no idea what though, and he was sure that that same notion was bothering Mizune.

"Don't worry too much about it Mizune." Free said with a reassuring smile, "Whatever happened back there can't be that bad. It healed her after all."

Mizune frowned, responding with an uncertain "Chi…"

Free's smile lessened, but only slightly. "Well, whatever happened, she ain't dead." He made a show of leaning in to observe the frog witch and nodded resolutely "Yep, she's still breathing" He emphasized the statement with an exaggerated thumbs-up. "an' will be for a long time if I've got anything to say about it."

Mizune stifled a giggle as a wan smile developed upon her visage "Chi, Chi." She murmured as she breathed a restful sigh. She said nothing more, her gaze never leaving her still slumbering friend.

For a short while Free didn't interrupt the silence that hung in the room. However, it didn't take long for him to start fidgeting. It started simply enough, as he began to tap out a steady rhythm with his feet on the carpeted floor. Then the beat became syncopated, as Free began to nod his head ever so slightly to his foot fever. His tempo slowed by minuscule margins as the minutes passed, the syncopation becoming less and less pronounced. In time his feet came to a restful tender rhythm, as Free settled on a time signature and tempo. Somewhere in the evolution his rhythm, the immortal man began to gently hum a few bars in a minor key.

A dark lullaby became the ambience of the room, as Free's gruff baritone voice somehow managed to be gentle and soft. Mizune listened with quiet appreciation, swaying instinctually to the wolf-man's song.

"You seem happy Free" Mizune noted with a small smile.

Free nodded, his mouth shaping into a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I think I am." He gave his right hand an appraising look as he continued his song.

"Chi," Mizune began in a far off tone. "I wonder why that could be?"

Free stopped for a moment, considering the question. He never really stopped to ask himself those kinds of questions. Questions of motive. It wasn't that such introspective questions were beyond a simple guy like himself. Nah, he could wax on and on about his reason for living if he really wanted to. But that was just it: he really didn't want to. That'd make him that much closer to those high and mighty meisters at Shibusen. Plagued with lofty goals and morals, he doubted any of them were free like he was.

Free to live, to love, to hate, to eat, to starve, or even not do anything at all. It seemed that the only thing he couldn't do was die and that was something he was fine with.

It was a wonder that he still remembered the old days with fondness. Then again, that was back when Free had a purpose. Back when people needed him. It'd be pretty greedy of him to ask for both freedom and a pupose. And Yet…

He looked from Mizune to Eruka a roguish grin developing upon his visage "Guess it's just the dog in me."

"Chi, Chi?" Mizune pursed her lips curiously "I don't think I understand."

Free shrugged "I'm not sure if I get myself sometimes."

Mizune giggled at the statement, an amused smile forming on her lips. She opened her mouth to make a reply but stopped abruptly.

She frowned turning towards the room's balcony "Someone else is here."

Free followed her gaze to a haggard man in bandages and charred black sneaking gear "Looks like I missed one." Free noted with an increasingly sadistic smile.

"Give me the girl and the staff." The man demanded leveling a gun at Free's head. He obviously didn't realize how little of a threat such weapons presented to an immortal. "Do that and you live."

Nope. He definitely didn't know what he was dealing with. Or who for that matter.

As Mizune tensed to make a quick move, Free dropped a hand on her shoulder. This was enough to mollify the mouse witch, who then clasped her hands in her lap and waited patiently.

Free smirked as he stood. It seemed Mizune trusted him far more than Eruka did.

Taking his time, Free stretched to his full height while cracking his neck and knuckles a few times. "Take your best shot." Free challenged.

"Suit yourself" The man replied, unfazed by Free's lack of concern. However, instead of taking his shot, the man stepped forward, tripping over his own feet and toppling to the floor.

Free frowned, disappointed. It wasn't any fun if they didn't put up a fight. He didn't notice the glint from outside the balcony on the roof of a nearby building. A resounding crack issued forth from that direction, heralding the high caliber bullet that threw itself through Free's brain.

The immortal man staggered backwards, his head spinning. Immortality didn't free one from pain, or the adverse affects of the more severe types of injury that could be inflicted upon oneself. At the moment all of his mental faculties were somewhat scrambled, his head throbbing immensely. Had he had the full use of his information processing facilities, he'd have registered the marked increase in black clad thieves in the general vicinity.

Blind deaf and dumb, Free grinned manically as he gathered his wits about him, his brain slowly going about the process of reforming itself.

"Tricky little bastard aintcha?" Free half-snarled as he made an uncharacteristically haphazard lunge in the original gunman's direction. He managed to catch hold of some poor fellow's arm, promptly snapping it and chucking the man into a wall taking several others with him.

Free's sense of smell came back first, filling his nostrils with the scent of blood and bullets. He gave a cry as he lunged for the nearest human smell, throwing a blind thrust kick ahead of himself. This caught an unlucky thief in the chest, sending him and two others flying off the balcony.

"Did I getcha, Bandages!?" Free shouted as he charged after another mass of human scent. At this point his hearing came back. Just in time for him to hear a collection of unfamiliar grunts as he charged through a cluster of enemies.

"No answer huh!?" Free cried as he threw a flying knee in the direction of a gunshot. He was rewarded with a satisfying crunch as he caught another unknown assailant in the face.

"Well, no worries buddy!" Free continued as his sight began to unscramble. Damn if they weren't breaking a lot of fire codes. There were so many people in here. Free reached into the sea of black, ears ringing as gunshot after gunshot berated them. Free pulled an unlucky man in close, giving him a debilitating punch to the stomach before slinging him over his shoulder.

"I've got all the time in the world to find you!" Free yelled as his sight finally cleared. Taking hold of the man on his shoulder, Free began to wield him like a club, swinging for the fences with each attack as he began to clear out the rest of the room, searching for the original offender.

It was a good thing that Free's pain processing was the last thing to kick in. Otherwise, he'd have lost his momentum to the wave of delayed bullet wound pangs that washed over him in the span of a second. Apparently, he'd been shot quite a few times.

Free staggered a bit, but kept his eyes up and alert. Only a few men were left, and they didn't seem all that keen on fighting anymore.

Sure enough, as soon as Free stood to his full height, the remaining invaders scurried out of the apartment, using whatever means they could.

"That was short." Free said as he turned back to Eruka's resting place…only to see that she wasn't there anymore.

"God. Damn. Shit." Free growled as he fervently scanned the room.

Where the hell was that frog witch now?

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