4. Mr. and Mrs. Evans

Seven days had passed since Soul had first woken up from his coma, and Maka was still not allowed in to see him.

She didn't know much of the situation. She had only heard bits and pieces from Kim, and the witch had been cagey about it. But what Maka had gathered wasn't good.

There was something very wrong with Soul that no one wanted her to know

He didn't recognize anyone when he woke up

He was currently in physical rehabilitation with Nygus

Aside from that, it was a mystery.

Maka growled with frustration as she slammed her book shut. Blair glanced over from the kitchen, clearly concerned.

"Maka, what's wrong?" When the meister glared at the cat, she sighed. "I was just trying to be nice. Sorry for asking a rhetorical question."

"I'm sorry Blair. I'm just really frustrated right now."

"Maybe you should go burn some energy," Blair suggested.

It was a good idea, but Maka felt bad just thinking about it. She was used to dragging Soul along with her when she went to work out, since workouts usually just consisted of training. Still, Maka forced herself off the couch and to her room. She changed into running clothes, grabbed her keys, and headed out with a quick goodbye to Blair.

Running through the streets of Death City helped take her mind off of things a bit. The chaotic maze of cobblestone alleys and brick buildings were familiar to Maka. She'd grown up here her whole life. She knew every nook and cranny, every hidden path there was.

She also knew the way to the school that had the least number of people to accidentally run into.

Maka arrived at the base of the wooded training ground half an hour later, panting. She had pushed herself today. It usually took Soul at least ten minutes to drive to school, and they would climb the stairs at a walk. Maka hadn't stopped until she was all the way at the top.

The grounds were pretty empty. Maka belatedly realized it was Saturday.

"Only fools practice this hard on a day for rest," Soul would always say when Maka would drag him out for extra training.

Maka smirked as she slowly walked in a circle around the area. He was always like that. Lazy to a fault unless otherwise inspired.

With her mind more clear than it had been an hour ago, Maka pondered what to do next. She could go to the hospital and try to see Soul again. She did feel bad abandoning him like that due to her own shock from his lack of recognition. That only confirmed to her now that she needed to be there for Soul in case he did recover any memories.

"Right!" she shouted to the sky, raising both fists into the air. "Time to start over! Today's a new day!"

Feeling better than she had in the last few weeks, Maka headed straight to the gym in the school to shower and change. The clothes she left in there weren't necessarily the best, but they were clean. Then she walked back over to the infirmary on the other side of the school.

Kim and Jacqueline were walking out just as Maka was walking in. The three girls stopped.

"Ah, Maka."

"Hi Kim. Hi Jacqueline." Maka smiled at them as brightly as she could manage.

Kim looked down at her feet a bit, so her partner cut in. "Are you here to see Soul?"

"Yep! How's his rehab going?"

Kim looked up. "Well, he can walk now. And he's talking. All his motor skills are back, though his hands still shake when he tries to write and eat. But that should go away soon. You should ask Dr. Stein for more details. I'm going out for the day."

"Oh, okay…"

Maka watched as Kim dragged Jackie away with a sharp tug. That was odd. Kim was always a bit brash and cagey, but she usually didn't run off like that anymore. Maybe there was something she didn't want to tell Maka about Soul? Pushing down the feeling of dread, Maka walked in.

"Excuse me!"

"Maka." Stein looked up from the file folder he was reading. "I haven't seen you in a few days."

"I've been trying to keep busy," she replied. "I heard from Kim he's able to walk and talk normally now. That's better than when he woke up."

The doctor nodded. Maka's smile fell a bit. She steeled herself for the next part.

"And his memories?"

"We were going to ask today." Stein sighed. "I'll be honest, Maka. I'm not very hopeful. He didn't recognize anyone here, and we've been so focused on his physical rehabilitation that we've more or less swept this problem under the rug. Our hope is that once we have all the information we need, we can proceed as necessary."

Maka swallowed. "I see…"

"Maka, feel free to observe. But for the time being I'd like to keep contact with people at a minimum until we can figure out the extent of his amnesia."

She nodded, unable to find her voice. Stein squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

"I'll invite you in when I deem it appropriate."

Maka nodded again.

"Until then, you can watch everything happening on this screen. I'll be wearing a mic, so it should be able to pick up both my voice and Soul's. Is that okay with you?"

"I trust you, doctor."

Maka sat down in front of the monitor Stein had motioned to and braced herself for what was to come. But just as the doctor was leaving, she stopped him.

"Can I just try to resonate with him? Just for a bit, and then I'll stay put."

Stein motioned for her to go ahead.

Maka shut her eyes, reaching out to Soul. She could tell there was something affecting his soul, something more than a bit of healing could do. But it wasn't corruption. Just...another force. She felt for Soul and for a brief moment she could feel warmth.

Was that…?

Maka bit her lip and retreated as a force like an electric shock went through her body. Okay, maybe they weren't in sync after all. Stein was watching her curiously.

"Are you okay, Maka?"

"Fine," she grunted. "Just a bit shocked is all. It was going well for a second too."

"It was," Stein agreed. He decided not to mention that it was full-blown resonance, that he could sense Maka's wavelength amplifying in that moment. For now, he didn't want either party to push it. Not until he could get to the bottom of what was going on inside of Soul's mind.

. . . . . . . . . .

Soul Evans looked up as the doctor walked in again. He'd gotten used to seeing him now after three days of rehabilitation. He had to admit the man's scars and screw had scared him at first, but he was a cool guy. He sat up a bit in the bed, crossing his legs.

"Afternoon, Dr. Stein."

"Hello Soul." Stein sat down in the swivel chair by the bed, clipboard in hand. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," he said. He frowned a bit, which Stein noted.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"There's a lot going on, I guess," Soul replied. "Since I was able to take a shower and all last night, I finally looked in the mirror, y'know. It got me thinking… I don't remember how I got into the hospital, or where I got this big scar on my chest, or really anything."

Dr. Stein nodded. "Well, you got that scar when you were about fourteen or fifteen. I was the one who patched you up then too."

Soul looked at him in shock. "Fifteen?!"

"Yes, thereabouts." Stein checked over his notes. "Yeah, fourteen."

Soul was shaking now. "Um, doctor? Can I ask a kinda weird question?"

Dr. Stein braced for the worst. He had a sinking feeling he knew what the question would be.

"How old am I?"

"You're currently eighteen years of age." Stein frowned. "Why? How old did you think you were?"

"Twelve…"

Soul was definitely shaking now. His face was paling as well. The poor boy leaned forward in his bed until his forehead touched his knees. His breath came out in short pants as his hands balled into fists. Something wasn't right.

Dr. Stein frowned. This wasn't good at all. Soul's wavelength was going haywire again. It had done that a few times when he was asleep, and Soul would wake up as if he'd seen a nightmare every time, though he insisted he had no recollection of what had occurred during the night.

"Soul," he said firmly.

The weapon looked up with wide eyes.

"Doctor?"

"Relax. You've had quite a bit of trauma to the head. It's fairly common for temporary amnesia to occur with head injuries. And you're doing fine. So there's no need to panic."

It wasn't much, but it did help marginally. Soul was at least breathing better. Stein gave him a comforting smile.

"We'll figure this out, okay? I'm saying this as your doctor."

"Okay." Soul took a deep breath and sat up. "Okay."

"Are you alright?"

"It makes sense," Soul murmured to himself under his breath. "My body's obviously different, I've got hair all over, my voice is deeper, I smell weird. Did I just forget puberty?"

Stein couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"Well, if it's any condolence to you, puberty sucks for everyone, so you may have dodged a bullet there."

Soul grinned at the joke too, but his face soon fell.

"Dr. Stein. But I don't remember you from before, even though you said you've operated on me." Soul looked back up at Stein in fear. "Does that mean I don't remember anything?"

"Well, let's see how much you do know." Dr. Stein began to flip through his clipboard. "I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and I want you to answer them. Maybe if we do that, we can pinpoint exactly where your memories stop. That might give us a clue on where to start to jog your memory."

Soul nodded. "Okay. Sure."

"Then I'll get started." Stein went down the list he had prepared. "What is your full name?"

"Solomon Edward Evans, but everyone calls me Soul."

"And the name of your parents?"

"Tom and Giovanna Evans."

"Any other family members?"

"I have an older brother, Wes. He's eight years older than me. Oh, and I'm really close to my grandma on my dad's side."

Stein nodded. So far so good. He had a lot of the core memories.

"Can you tell me the names of some of your closest friends?"

Soul hesitated. The doctor looked up. The young man looked a bit nervous.

"Um," he started. "Well, funny story. I don't have any friends. Like, there are a few people from school I was friendly with, but they're not the kind of people I'd invite over or anything."

Interesting.

"Well, not everyone meets their best friends in childhood. I'm sure there are friends you made in your teen years."

"That makes sense, yeah." Soul said it with a shrug, but he seemed excited. "Last I remember, Mom was talking about letting me enroll in a new school since I didn't like the one I'm at now. Or, um, was at then, I guess."

Dr. Stein pressed on. "Where was the last place you attended school?"

"St. Vincent's, but my mom wanted me homeschooled last year."

"Does the name Death City mean anything to you?"

Soul frowned. "You mean like the place where weapons and meisters train? Of course everyone knows of it."

Stein masked his surprise expertly. "Well, I was hoping Death City would be familiar, considering that's where you are now."

"Woah, really? Get out!"

"You didn't know?"

"I didn't care," Soul replied, scratching the back of his head and laughing. "I was like, 'Cool, I'm in a hospital.' I just figured we were back in Connecticut."

Connecticut, huh?

"Well then, once you're feeling up to it we'll have to let you step outside for a bit," said Stein. "There's a young lady named Maka Albarn who I'm sure would be more than happy to show you around."

"That'd be amazing!"

So he didn't remember Maka's name. Dr. Stein was frowning now. He made a quick note, knowing that everything was being recorded on the security camera so it wouldn't be that big a deal if he didn't. Still, he wanted to remember this now.

"Can you tell me anything about yourself? Some of your interests, aspirations, anything at all."

"Well…" Soul thought for a bit. "My whole family's into music, so I play piano. Wes is way better than me though. I dunno, I wanna live a cool life. I just don't like music as much as my parents want me to, I guess."

There was a beat of silence as Soul thought over something.

"Hey Doc?"

"Yes Soul?"

"How'd I even end up in Death City? Was I on vacation or something."

Or something.

"I think that's a question your parents should answer," said Stein. "We've called them, by the way. They said they'll be here soon to sort out everything."

Soul nodded. "Cool."

"Well then, I'm going to head out for lunch. If you need anything, Nygus is just downstairs, so push the call button and she'll be up."

"Thank you."

Dr. Stein exited the room, turning off the mic in his pocket as he did so. He opened the door to the small office where Maka was sitting in silence.

Never had she expected Soul to be completely like this. Sure, she'd expected some things, but never to this extent. The motor controls he was learning again, and he could walk now after a week of physical therapy. But forgetting her… forgetting he was a weapon?

Maka turned up to look at Stein.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"Honestly?" He sighed. "Even I'm not sure. Hopefully Kid will have some idea when Soul's parents arrive tonight."

. . . . . . . . . .

Kid groaned quietly into his tea. The meeting with the Witch Council was long and fruitless this morning. Eventually tensions rose and they reduced the numbers down to just Kid, Mabaa, and Kitsune. It was in times like these that Kid was reminded just how young he was.

I'm only eighteen, not even nineteen yet. How am I supposed to keep the peace when no one seems to want it?

There was no way his day could get any worse.

Just then Sid burst into the room. "Kid, I have something to repo—" Then he noticed the company and bowed awkwardly. "Mabaa, Lord Death, forgive my rudeness."

"Nyamu."

"It's quite alright, Sid." Honestly, Kid was still more hung up about how awkward it felt when he was called 'Lord Death.' To him it still felt like his father's name and title, not his own, even after three years. "I take it you have urgent news to rush straight here."

"I'm sorry. You'd blocked all calls to this room."

He nodded. "After all we are in the middle of negotiating some very important peace agreements. I was hoping to get it documented neat and tidy before the month's out. Hence why I was hoping for no disruption."

"Right, of course." Sid grimaced in the best way his face could manage. "Soul's—that is, Death's Last Weapon's—parents have just arrived. Liz and Patty have escorted them to your office."

Kid sat up straight. He hadn't been expecting them for at least another hour! That put a damper on his neatly-organized schedule.

Kitsune was the one to wave her hand. "Please speak to it—his parents. We witches will continue our search for our rogue sister Echo in the meantime. And we shall meet on the eighth at 8 o'clock as previously agreed upon."

"Thank you both kindly." All in attendance stood. Kid straightened his jacket. "Until next week."

Kid exited the room with Sid close behind him. Spirit, who had been guarding the entrance, stood to attention when Kid walked out.

"How did the negotiations go?"

Kid shook his head. "Not now. More importantly, Spirit."

"Yes sir?"

"I'd like you to accompany me. Same with Dr. Stein. I think you should both be present at the meeting before we invite Maka in."

Spirit was giving Kid a strange look, but he nodded. "Right."

"I'll go fetch Dr. Stein," said Sid, bowing once more before taking off.

The doctor was waiting for the two of them near the office. He'd worn a clean jacket and a freshly-pressed shirt. It was clear that being married to Marie meant some of the more domestic chores were being done.

Liz, who was sitting at the attendant's desk checking for split ends, glanced up as Kid entered. She pointed a thumb towards his office.

"Good luck with those two. They reek of money and pompous attitude," she said, tone disinterested.

Kid frowned. "I hope you were polite to them."

Liz waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "Yeah yeah, I was, don't worry about it."

"Can you get Patty to fetch Maka? I think she should be here in about fifteen minutes, after we've made initial negotiations."

"You and your negotiations." Liz just shook her head, but shouted to the other desk. "Oi, Patty! Get Maka!"

"'Kay~"

Kid sighed, ran his hands through his hair, and took a deep breath. It was now or never. He threw the double doors open and Strode in with as much confidence as he could muster.

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans," he said as he walked in. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Lord Death."

The two people sitting in the room looked up. They were obviously Soul's parents; they resembled him in that they were pale and blonde. The woman was tall and thin, her hair pulled back in a twist. She had sharp blue eyes and white hair, and wore a fitted suit jacket and pencil skirt. The man wasn't much taller than her, though he was a bit more wide in the shoulders. His hair was more of a light blond, and his eyes were very dark.

Kid nodded to them before taking a seat at his desk. Spirit and Dr. Stein stood on either side of him.

"I hope you do not mind that my personally employed weapon, Mr. Spirit Albarn, and our top physician, Dr. Franken Stein, will be sitting in for this meeting, as they have both worked very closely with your son."

"We don't mind," said Mrs. Evans. "I'm Giovanna Evans. This is my husband, Tom."

Everyone exchanged their pleasantries and shook hands.

Kid cleared his throat.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. Shall we get down to business?"

"Yes, let's. Thank you for contacting us," said Mr. Evans smoothly, "though I must say we weren't expecting my wife's pocket mirror to start ringing."

"My apologies. Most students at DWMA do not carry their phones, myself included. They tend to interfere with a meister's soul perception. Most communication is done through mirrors, though students only have the ability to contact myself. I am the only one who can call mirrors other than my office. It's one of the few benefits of being a shinigami, as maddening as it can be."

Seeing the joke had flown over their heads, Kid coughed and continued. "As you both know, I've called you here to talk about your son's condition, as well as discuss the course of action we should take to ensure his full recovery."

Both parent nodded.

"Now according to Dr. Stein, Soul has thus far made an incredible recovery. Thanks to the help of both him and Ms. Diehl in the infirmary he's regained all motor ability. Aside from a severe case of amnesia he is doing very well."

Mr. Evans was the first to speak.

"How bad is it? The amnesia."

Dr. Stein replied. "It seems that Soul has retained all of his memories up to around the age of ten or eleven, with some scattered recollections of when he was twelve. However, our staff found it quite evident that Soul has no knowledge that he is a demon weapon. He claims to have only heard of the DWMA through secondary sources and does not believe he has any affiliation with it."

"And how much have you told him?"

"Not much," Dr. Stein admitted. "Soul did end up panicking after hearing he was eighteen, and we decided that it would be beneficial if he were not bombarded with the information that he is the youngest living Death Scythe on Earth. For now, I've been working closely with the other staff at the hospital to figure out an exact time frame for his memories, but it's been tricky since we only know him from weapon-awakening onward."

"Do you have any questions?" Kid asked.

"I do," said Mr. Evans. "What about the person who wields him. What is it called—his master?"

"Meister," Kid corrected. "Miss Albarn has tried to reconnect their wavelengths a few times now, but it is evident Soul has lost the ability to resonate as well."

Seeing neither adult was truly understanding, Stein began to explain. "Weapons and meisters have to be mutually compatible to be successful. Imagine writing a piece of music. You choose a key. A wavelength is like a note in any key. It can be used in some, but not others. That's like the compatibility of souls. Some souls are compatible, others never will be.

"Your son and his meister were particularly well-balanced. In battle, a meister wavelength is key to their strength. The stronger the wavelength, the stronger their attack power. Once resonating, which is how weapons and meister's use special, more powerful attacks, the weapon is like an amplifier. They make the meister's wavelength stronger."

Spirit laughed a bit at their confused expression. "It's hard to explain, trust me. Just know Soul and Maka had a very strong bond that only they could accomplish. Together."

Mrs. Evans nodded slowly. "That sounds… very important."

Kid smiled. "It is. Most meisters and weapons form exclusive bonds due to this compatibility issue. Not every weapon can accept every wavelength, and there is a high chance of rejection that could result in physical pain, mental strain, the weapon feeling too heavy to the meister, injury, and even death in extreme cases."

"I see," said Mr. Evans. "So Soul and his meister were compatible and could resonate."

"Indeed. Your son and Maka were especially well-bonded. They are by far the strongest meister-weapon pair that I know of in their age group. Their souls were capable of resonating without them thinking about it to a point where they could sense each other's emotions. Soul even told me once that he and Maka could communicate thoughts through their resonance alone. Even I, a shinigami, am unable to do that with my weapons."

"I see," Mr. Evans repeated, though he sounded much prouder this time.

Mrs. Evans, on the other hand, bristled a bit.

"It sounds invasive. Dirty, even."

"Dear," her husband warned.

"So where is this meister now?" Mrs. Evans demanded, ignoring her husband and turning back to Kid.

"She's on her way. I gave us an extra fifteen minutes to begin discussing Soul's reintegration to the DWMA."

"Well, there was no point in that because there will be no discussion."

Kid blinked. "I don't understand what you mean."

"Mr. Death," said Mr. Evans. "Please understand all we want is what's best for Solomon."

Solomon? That's his real name?

If Soul had his memories, Kid would've considered teasing him about it a bit. He shook the thought away. Now was not the appropriate time for that.

Mr. Evans was talking, wringing his hands together nervously. "My wife and I have talked, and we believe it would be best for our son to be around family during this time. Since, as you mentioned, he has no recollection of his friends here in Death City."

Kid nodded. "Of course. We can make arrangements to have you stay here until—"

He was interrupted by Mrs. Evans. "What my husband is trying to say is that we want to take Soul back home to Connecticut with us."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Please understand how we feel, as parents. This is the second life-threatening injury our son has sustained in the care of the DWMA. We know how the organization works, and we all understood the risks of letting Soul attend. But we are uncomfortable knowing he's put his life on the line countless times, even if he willingly did so."

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans," Kid said in as level a tone as he could manage. "I understand where you're coming from, but I must ask you to reconsider. As you are probably aware, your son is one of my Death Scythes. Even if he himself cannot activate his own abilities, he is one of the most powerful weapons in the world."

"And he cannot transform. He has no recollection of this. We want to protect Soul from the things that hurt him in the first place."

"I'm afraid that may not be in his best interest then," said Stein. He watched the Evans's reaction carefully as he continued to speak. "With all due respect, Soul is a death weapon, and one of the most powerful beings in the world. Memories or not, he will be hunted by the witches who put him in the hospital for that reason. Safety is our top priority."

"Then we will guarantee his safety!" cried Mrs. Evans. "We will hire the best of the best!"

Spirit sighed, leaning forward. "I don't think there's anyone in the world you can guarantee his safety, ma'am. Not even a shinigami. But Death City would be the safest place. We have hundreds of capable weapons and meisters here who would protect your son. There are two other Death Scythes residing in this city who Lord Death could call upon to defend Soul in a moment's notice."

"But-"

"I'm speaking as a parent here too," said Spirit. "I would never forgive anyone if my daughter was put in harm's way. But she has been, time and time again. Your son was always the one to save her, since the day they became partners."

"It's your daughter who's his meister," Mr. Evans said.

Spirit nodded sadly. "And I couldn't imagine a world where Maka didn't have Soul at her side. I know this is hard for both of you, but please... For the sake of both of them, let him stay. I, as both Maka's father and the employed personal weapon of Lord Death, will guarantee his safety."

Mr, Evans looked more and more conflicted, but Mrs. Evans wasn't having any of it.

"We've made our decision," she said firmly. "Now please let us see our son."

"And what of his meister?" Spirit asked, obviously angry. "What am I supposed to say to my daughter? How am I supposed to explain to her that she's losing her partner of five years for what may be the rest of their lives?"

"What?"

A quiet voice from the doorway made all the arguing in the room seize. All five adults turned to the doorway where a young lady stood, her green eyes impossibly wide and porcelain skin paling.

A lump rose in Kid's throat. "Maka…"

"'Maka?'" Mr. Evans repeated. "So you're—"

"Soul's meister," murmured Mrs. Evans in disbelief. "Such a small, pretty thing like you? Impossible."

Maka didn't seem to hear them. She shook her head, eyes never leaving them. "You want to take Soul away from Death City? Why? No, how? How can you do that?"

Kid didn't dare speak, let alone move. A quiet Maka was a deadly one. He'd known her long enough to see the signs of her impending anger.

Mr. Evans, oblivious to this, didn't. He stood and walked over to the meister, who was now staring down at her feet, and tried to put an arm around her.

"Little Miss, why don't you take a seat?"

"No!" Maka slapped his hand away. Her glare at him was practically acidic. "Don't 'little miss' me. What do you mean you're taking Soul 'home?' His home is here at the DWMA! With everyone!"

She took a shaky breath. "...With me."

"Just because he stays here doesn't mean he'll be the same boy you knew," Mrs. Evans insisted. "Perhaps this is for the best."

"You don't understand. Soul's in there! I can feel him!"

Mrs. Evans was frowning. "What do you mean by that?"

"Resonance! I felt his wavelength today, just for a moment!" Maka turned to Kid, expression pleading. "Please, Kid, you have to believe me. I know Soul's still there. He just needs time. Please."

Kid sat in silence for a second before sighing.

"Dr. Stein, could you please escort Miss Albarn out for a few moments? There are a few more things I need to discuss with Mr. and Mrs. Evans in private."

Maka stood up. "There's no need. I'll wait outside. I'm sorry for my outburst."

Spirit reached out for his daughter, but she marched out before anything could be done. His hand fell uselessly at his side.

"She can feel him?" the woman scoffed. "Does she really think that is proof enough to let Soul stay here?"

Mr. Evans was grimacing. "Dear, don't be rude. This is hard for everyone, even us."

Dr. Stein had heard enough. "Oh, Mrs. Evans?"

The woman turned to him.

"I suggest you don't take Miss Albarn's words too lightly. Her soul perception skills rival those of our best."

"And who would be this 'best' you speak of?"

Stein smiled wickedly. "Me."

Spirit sighed as the two gulped. He knew Stein had a better handle on his own madness, especially after getting married and having a kid, but there were still moments like these where it happened.

Kid took a calming breath. He figured the Evans would want to have more involvement with Soul's recovery, but he didn't expect it to be to this calibur. A setback, but something he had to deal with. He was Lord Death after all.

Kid sat up straight and readjusted his papers so they sat perfectly straight on his desk before bringing his fingertips together and looking pointedly at the couple.

"Neither of us is happy with the current arrangement, so let's try something else. What are your terms?"

"Kid!" Spirit gasped. Stein raised an eyebrow.

Kid remained impassive. He just leaned forward a bit more.

"Let's negotiate."