Lewis lay awake in bed, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Tonight he had eaten a soul. An actual, honest to goodness soul. And the weirdest thing was that as soon as he'd eaten it, he'd wanted another one. He really couldn't describe it. The texture was something like a huge lychee if it was surrounded by some kind of vapour, but it didn't really have any taste he could put his finger on. All he knew was that it tasted like nothing like he'd tasted before. But it was good. And that was what worried him. It was also at that point that he realised that he needed to go to the toilet.
Getting out of his cosy bed, Lewis began to walk through the hotel room that they'd rented for the night. Tiptoeing past Soul on the opposite bed, he stepped out into the hallway. Then he noticed that Vera was standing at the window at the end of the corridor, starring out into the foggy night.
"Hey." Lewis said quietly. "You're still awake?"
Vera turned around and nodded, wiping at her eyes. "Yeah."
"Are you alright?" Lewis asked.
"Ah… Ah'm fine." She said in a cracking voice, looking back out the window.
"You don't sound like you're fine." Lewis said. "Why don't you tell me what this is about. Maybe I can help."
Vera's head dropped beneath her shoulders. "Ah'm a failure." She whimpered. "All of that training, and fer what? All that time at the DWMA, wasted. Ah trained for months, never breaking from my regime. Ah trained with every kind of weapon that ah could think of. Spears, swords, guns, axes, maces, hammers, polearms, even scythes on the off chance ah'd become a scythe Meister!"
Lewis moved around to Vera's side and noticed that she was now crying heavily, her face going red and puffy as tears streamed from her eyes.
"It's jist no good! Even after all of mah training, ah couldn't kill one stinking Kishin Egg!" she wailed. "Even Heleana and Brianna have been out on a mission before, and they killed it without breaking a sweat! If it wasn't for Soul and Maka, then ah would've been killed! Ah'm… Ah'm jist so weak!"
Lewis stared at her for a moment, searching for something to say. "You know," he began. "I've never really been strong either, but that doesn't matter. We just have to work together. Weapon and Meister are far stronger together than alone."
"We were working together." Vera choked. "But we jist weren't good enough."
"That's why we're out here. To get better."
"We're not gonna get any better if we get ourselves killed!"
"Look, we know now what these Kishin Eggs are capable of. We underestimated them. We both did. Fighting wooden dummies and practicing combat drills and stances can only get you so far, just like how book-smarts can only do so much for you in the real world." Lewis said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "So now we can learn to train better. We put up a good fight. Next time we'll put up a better one."
Vera had stopped crying as she looked at Lewis. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she tried to give a smile. "Alrighty. Thank you kindly for sayin' that."
"A pleasure." Lewis nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go piss. My bladder feels like it's about the size of a bloody watermelon right now."
Lewis quietly hobbled down the corridor towards the bathroom. Vera wiped her eyes, went back to her room while being careful not to wake up Maka and got back into bed.
"Ah could've gone my whole darn life without knowing that." She muttered before closing her eyes.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
The next morning, all four of them were having a traditional greasy English breakfast in the hotel lobby. Lewis was feeling especially hungry for some reason, as had demolished half the plate moments after it had arrived.
"Did you guys sleep well?" Maka asked.
"Yup." Lewis said through a mouthful of grilled tomato and half the pepper in the shaker.
"So what next?" Vera asked.
"Well, we've got to find a mirror." Maka said.
"But ah've already freshened up." Vera said.
"Actually, we're going to use it to contact Lord Death." Maka explained.
"What? The Lord Death?" Vera asked.
'Huh. I kind of expected them to say Shinigami-sama or something. Then again, I'm pretty sure Maka is from a Western country.' Lewis thought to himself as he chomped on a slice of toast.
"Yep." Maka nodded.
"How does that even work?" Lewis asked.
"I think it's got something to do with that mirror Lord Death has in the Death Room." Soul said. "But I'm not sure."
Maka gave a nod of agreement. "There's a fairly big one in our room. Come on, let's go report in."
"Hold on, I want to finish my bacon first." Lewis muttered into his plate.
A few minutes later, the four of them were standing in front of the mirror in Soul and Lewis' room. Breathing on the mirror and fogging it up slightly, Maka wrote on the mirror with her finger.
"Forty two, forty two, five sixty four, whenever you want to knock on Death's door." She chanted.
The mirror immediately began to warp and ripple, glowing with an unearthly light.
"Freaky." Lewis muttered.
"Hello, Lord Death? Are you there?" Maka asked the mirror.
Eventually the light cleared from the mirror, revealing Lord Death himself, wrapped in a pitch black cloak with the simple white skull mask. He produced a huge square hand as he waved at them.
"Hello, hello Maka! How are you doing this evening?" He asked in a light and energetic voice. "Oh, and who's this I see? You must be our newest Meister and Weapon pair, how exciting! Please, introduce yourselves."
"My name is Vera, the Shacklesword Meister." Vera said. "It's awful nice to meet you sir."
"Ah, Vera! I you must be Chet's daughter!" he said. "I remember how promising he was as a Meister. But well, true love conquers all I suppose. It is his life after all, so he can lead it as he chooses."
'Okay, that can't be a coincidence.' Lewis thought. 'Her dad runs the Goodsprings General Store. His name is Chet. I mean come on!'
"So, who might you be? Come on now, don't be shy." The Grim Reaper said.
"Oh, me? My name's Lewis. It's good to finally talk to you." he said.
"Ah yes, the infamous Sky Kid! You caused quite the stir among the students when you first arrived didn't cha?" he said. "Sid tells me you've been developing quite rapidly as a Weapon, and an unusual Weapon at that. A Shacklesword you say?"
"Yep." Lewis nodded.
"What a curious implement. I look forward to seeing your development. So you two are the ones who completed the mission? Good job!" he said. "It's good to know that your very first mission was a success! Most of our students who are just starting out aren't so lucky."
Vera looked a little more downcast at that.
"Uh, excuse me Lord Death, I'd like to ask you a question." Lewis said.
"Go right ahead." He said.
"If Vera and I are partners now and we managed to complete a mission, does that mean we get to go up a class?" he asked.
Lord Death gave a thoughtful hum and put a finger to the bottom of his mask. "Well, I suppose that would be entirely up to your teachers. I'm really more like the principal of the academy, so while I get the final say I don't have much influence with your teachers considering your ranking in the school. If you'd like to move up to the EAT class, you'll just have to work a lot harder."
Lewis gave a nod of understanding.
"Still, from what I understand you two did a good job especially for your very first mission. And it seems you had some help from Maka and Soul as well. You've all done a spectacular job in defeating the Kishin Egg. Thanks for reporting in, and be sure to be back in time for classes tomorrow. Ciao!" The Grim Reaper waved at them merrily.
With that, the mirror reverted back to its original reflective state. Lewis stared at it for a moment before turning to Vera.
"Y'know, I thought that the Grim Reaper would be a little more… well, grim." Lewis said.
Vera nodded in agreement.
"Well, we should probably get back to the Academy. Our flight leaves soon." Maka said looking at her watch that was hidden beneath her white glove.
"Alright. I haven't even unpacked, so I'm good to go." Lewis chuckled.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Lewis and Vera trudged through the streets of Death City, both of their eyes staring vacantly out in front of them as they swayed from side to side.
"So… tired…" Vera muttered.
"If there's one thing you never get used to, it's the jet lag." Soul chuckled, rubbing his own eyes. "It's so not cool…"
Maka gave a loud yawn. "Well, I'm going back to my apartment for some shut eye. I'll see you guys later. C'mon Soul."
"Yeah, whatever." He said as he followed his Meister.
Vera yawned again. "Ah guess ah'd best go too."
"I'll catch up with you later then." Lewis said. "Hey, where d'you live anyway?"
"There's a block of dorms near the Academy. Ah've got a room there." She said.
Lewis gave a nod. "Good to know."
"Now what makes you say that?" she said defensively.
"What?" Lewis asked.
"The way you said that makes it sound like you were plannin' on-" Vera said before Lewis eventually caught on to what she was saying.
"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Lewis said, becoming flustered. "I just… ah, never mind. See you later Vera."
After Vera said her goodbye, Lewis turned and left for the Black Bean. It seemed Lewis was finally getting used to the layout of Death City. The sun was high in the blue sky as Lewis arrived back at the café, where Melissa and Miss Sweetums were waiting for him. This time Miss Sweetums was wearing a nurse's uniform, which threw Lewis off quite a bit.
"Oh, you're back." Melissa said as she looked up from her magazine. "So, how'd it go?"
"I just flew in from London and oh boy, are my arms tired." Lewis joked weakly before Sweetums lunged at him with a squeal and pulled him into another tight hug.
"Eee! I'm just so proud of you, going out on a mission for the first time with a Meister!" she said gleefully. "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"
"Nope. Perfectly fine." Lewis said. "Is that why you were wearing that nurse costume?"
"I just got this today in the mail. Isn't it adorable?" she asked.
Lewis looked her up and down and had to conclude that the answer was yes. But the why was still a matter of debate.
"Before you ask, Miss Sweetums is super into that cosplay thing they've got over in Japan." Melissa said, leaning on the counter. "She tried to get me into it once. It was a… an interesting experience."
"Now that only raises further questions." Lewis said as he shifted his bag. "If you'll excuse me, there's a bed I need to crash into."
As Lewis walked to the stairwell, Melissa remembered something.
"Oh yeah Lewis, I need to tell you something." She said, turning to Lewis. "The Nurse called today and said that you need to check in with her tomorrow."
The hairs on the back of Lewis' neck stood up. "Good to know."
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
The next day, Lewis was sitting in Medusa's office as she went about a regular check-up, also inspecting Lewis' arms.
"I think it's safe to say that your sunburn has gotten much better." She said. "However, I don't think you should keep using that ointment I gave you."
'Thank god.' Lewis thought. 'That stuff stank like all hell.'
"Now, have you been having any strange dreams lately?" she asked.
"Dreams?" Lewis asked. "No, not really. Well, there was that duck dream."
"Tell me about it." She said.
"Yeah, sure." Lewis nodded. "It was a couple of days ago, but one of my hands had turned into a shackle, my leg was a sword blade and my other hand was a duck. It said… well it said something that was really rude, then it grew a third eye and weird square teeth that looked like they hadn't been brushed in a couple of years. And then it tried to eat my face."
Medusa looked at Lewis with narrowed eyes. "I see."
Lewis felt a little on edge. "Does that… mean anything to you?"
"Oh? No, not really." Medusa said, shaking her head. "Anyway, I think that just about wraps up our check-up. Now if your sunburn begins to hurt again, I've prepared another bottle of that ointment for you."
Medsua stood up and gave another bottle of ointment, this time in a much larger brown glass bottle. Lewis took the bottle and carefully put it into his pocket.
"Thank you Miss Medusa." Lewis nodded.
"Oh, no need to be so formal." She laughed. "Just call me Medsua."
"Alright. Thanks again." Lewis said as he left the office.
After the door closed, Medusa gave a smirk as she set back to her other work.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Lewis was walking to his usual spot for lunch break when he spotted Helena and Brianna in front of the Mission Board.
"Hey guys, what's new?" Lewis asked.
"Ohmygosh you're back! How'd your mission go?" Helena asked excitedly.
"And where's Vera? I haven't heard from her pretty much all day." Brianna said.
"Vera? Is she okay?" Lewis asked.
"That's what I'm asking you, dummy." Brianna snorted.
"Did something happen on your mission together?" Helena asked.
Lewis gave a shrug. "The mission went okay I guess. Soul and Maka landed the killing blow on the Kishin Egg, so Vera was a little bummed about it. Have you seen her anywhere?"
Both shook their heads.
"She's been missing ever since Black Star talked to her." Brianna said.
'Black Star? What does he want?' Lewis thought. "Did he ask her anything?"
"I dunno." Brianna replied. "If you find her you should ask her."
"Where was she last seen?"
"The Entrance." Helena said. "That's where Black Star talked to her."
Lewis gave a nod and tightened the strap on his bag before running towards the nearest stairwell. Both Brianna and Helena moved closer together.
"D'you think we should have told him?" Helena asked.
"Nah, it'll be fine. Everyone has to do it sometime." Brianna said. "Who knows? If it goes anything like last time, he'll finally learn his lesson."
"Black Star? Learn something? Get real." Helena chuckled.
Lewis was thudding down the stairwell, weaving between people as they tried to get out of his way. Lewis called several apologies to the people he bumped into as he ran for the entrance.
"Hey, what's gotten the Sky Kid so rattled?"
"I dunno. Let's follow him!"
"Hey, where's the fire?"
It didn't take long for crowd mentality to set in. Soon there was a large group of students following Lewis as he burst out of the entrance, seeing Black Star and Tsubaki standing in the centre of the large concrete courtyard.
"Ha! There you are!" Black Star shouted, pointing a finger at Lewis. "Took you long enough!"
"Huh? Look, Black Star I need to ask you something." Lewis began.
Black Star smirked. "If you're begging for mercy, you won't find any here!"
"Huh?" Lewis asked. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about a rematch! Tsubaki and Me against you and Vera!" Black Star said loudly as the crowd began to gather around them.
Lewis snorted a laugh. "What? You're kidding me right?"
"Are you mocking me?" Black Star screamed.
"Nah, I just don't fight for no reason." Lewis said. "Besides, I wanted to ask you where Vera was anyway. I haven't seen her all day."
"Oh. Yeah, Tsubaki said that my usual way of challenging people to fights probably wouldn't work, so I talked to her and asked her nicely." Black Star said.
Lewis gave Black Star a blank look. "So… where is she?"
"I dunno! She ran off." Black Star said. "But we're getting off topic! It's time for our fight!"
"And you're okay with this Tsubaki?" Lewis asked.
"Well, it would be nice to see your skill. Sid has said that you two have been progressing quickly." Tsubaki said. "And it was really hard to say no to Black Star this time. He's really passionate about this."
'Oh fan-fucking-tastic.' Lewis thought. "Well, Vera's not here."
"Wait!" came a shout from the crowd as Vera pushed herself through the assembled ring, followed closely by Leo. "Ah found a teacher willing to referee!"
Leo looked between Lewis and Black Star and gave a small nod. "Well, I suppose you two might've butted heads eventually."
"Sorry 'bout this Lewis." Vera said. "He… he gave me such nice invitation. Ah couldn't possibly have refused the offer of such a gentleman."
'Gentleman? Really? He is literally asking for a fight.' Lewis thought. "You're sure about this?"
Vera gave a determined nod. Lewis gave a sigh and nodded as well.
"Okay fine." Lewis said.
"I hope you do well. Chain weapons like us are surprisingly rare." Tsubaki said as she transformed into her weapon state.
"I didn't know that." Lewis said as Vera put a hand on his shoulder before he transformed.
Leo looked between the combatants and nodded. "Now then, if you are ready," Leo said, raising his hand before bringing it down sharply. "Begin!"
"Let's go Tsubaki!" Black Star shouted as he launched himself towards Vera.
Vera took Lewis' chain in her other hand and tossed it at Black Star, who dodged out of its way. Black Star was now in range for an attack and swung with one of Tsubaki's blades. Vera parried the strike, but Black Star swung with the other blade in his hand. Vera grabbed Lewis' blade and swung out with the crossguard, catching Black Star in the jaw. Vera followed up with a kick at Black Star, who dodged out of the way of the strike.
"Heh. Guess I underestimated ya." He spat. "Tsubaki! Shuriken Mode!"
The chain-scythes in Black Star's hands began to glow as Tsubaki assumed her enormous shuriken form.
"She can change shape?" Vera gasped.
The muscles in Black Star's arms bulged as he hurled the oversized shuriken at Vera. Lewis' face appeared in the blade, looking at Vera. She wasn't moving.
"Vera, we've gotta do something!" Lewis shouted.
"Trust me." She said, taking the shackle and clamping it around her wrist.
'What is that supposed to mean?' Lewis thought before Vera leapt into the air and thrust Lewis' blade downwards through the large hole in Tsubaki. Metal rattled against metal as Tsubaki continued to rapidly spin, Vera struggling to hold her balance on Lewis' hilt.
"Whoa! Vera, you're really acrobatic!" Lewis exclaimed.
Vera gave a smirk. "Thanks."
"Grr… Tsubaki! Smoke Bomb Mode!" Black Star ordered.
The giant shuriken form vanished, and in its place was a massive cloud of yellow smoke. Lewis felt himself get yanked out of the ground as Vera landed on her feet, looking warily around her.
"We've got to get rid of this smoke. Or at least get out of it" Lewis said.
There was a dull thud as Vera pitched forward, reeling from the strike to her back.
"Vera! You okay?" Lewis asked.
Vera regained her balance and gave a small grunt. "Ah'm fine." She said quietly. "Lewis, I've got an idea. Ah'm going to use you as a tripwire."
Vera stabbed downward, planting Lewis' blade firmly in the ground. Vera leapt backwards until the chain was taut, but there was another thud as Black Star struck again.
"You thought you could trap me? Ha! I'm the greatest assassin in the world, there's no way you could catch me with a trick like that!" Black Star shouted as he kept up the assault.
Lewis gritted his teeth as he heard each strike. Letting go of Vera's wrist, Lewis's chain whipped around and grabbed Black Star's ankle.
"Huh?" Black Star gasped.
"Gotcha." Lewis grinned.
With a great heave, Lewis pulled the chain back towards him, causing Black Star to fall flat on his face. The yellow smoke started to clear as Tsubaki returned to a human form and ran to Black Star's side.
"Vera, quick! Use it!" Lewis shouted.
"Right!" Vera nodded before breaking out into a run towards Black Star, her palm crackling with white electricity before she slammed it into Black Star's midsection. "Soul Force!"
Black Star's face twitched as he shouted in pain, Vera's weaponised soul wavelength blasting through him.
"Black Star!" Tsubaki cried.
The blue haired assassin slumped forward, but stayed on his feet. Giving a haggard cough, he looked up at Vera with a vicious grin.
"Looks like you were holding out on me." He groaned, grabbing her by the shoulder and cracking the knuckles in his right hand. "So you can use your soul wavelength as a weapon too huh? Although, it's a little weak. Lemme show you mine."
Quickly, Lewis unclasped his shackle from Black Star's leg and launched it at Black Star's hand as he reached his fist back. Faster than he could notice, Tsubaki had deflected the shackle with a high kick.
"Crap! Vera!" Lewis gasped.
"Black Star Big Wave!"
Black Star slammed his fist into Vera's chest, knocking her off her feet and tumbling to the ground. Vera tried to push herself to her feet, barely standing on shaky feet.
"It's… not… over…" she panted and wheezed. "Ah'm not… done… yet."
"Yeah, you are." Black Star said, his face completely serious with all trace of his former cockiness gone. However this change wasn't noticed by Lewis, now back in human form, whose shackle just bounced off the back of Black Star's head.
"Well I'm not!" Lewis challenged. "Vera, you just rest a while. We can still win this!"
"Tsubaki." Black Star said. "You take care of Lewis. I'll finish off Vera."
Tsubaki nodded, her large ponytail turning into one of her hand-scythe weapons. Lewis pulled back in his shackle as Tsubaki moved in front of him.
"Are you ready?" Tsubaki asked.
Without waiting for a reply, she rushed towards Lewis with her blade in mid swing. Lewis raised up his chain to block the strike and lashed out with his foot, but Tsubaki was faster and pushed him off balance, causing him to fall flat on his back. She swung down again and Lewis raised his arm to try and protect himself, the long blade slashing a long line down Lewis' forearm. Lewis clutched at the wound, crying in agony. Tsubaki looked over at Leo, who still hadn't called the match.
"Wow, she got him in only two moves." Soul said from his position in the crowd, his sharp teeth rattling against a lollipop Maka had given him. "Just goes to show the difference between EAT and NOT classes."
"They still might be progressing fast, but they're still inexperienced." Maka agreed, standing next to Soul. "But I'm sure they'll make a good meister and weapon pair."
"I'm just wondering why Leo hasn't called the match over yet." Soul said, looking at the purple haired teacher. "Lewis' got a pretty bad looking cut on his arm, and Vera looks dead on her feet."
"A lot of people don't get Leo to referee for fights." Maka nodded. "He only calls the match once he knows that both meister and weapon are unable to continue, although his definition of 'unable to continue' can be a little strict."
Black Star continued his march towards Vera, who looked barely able to stand.
"You put up a better fight than I would've expected, but you've got to know when to quit." Black Star said.
"No." Vera breathed. "Ah… Ah can't give in."
Black Star was now standing within arm's reach of Vera.
"Listen Vera, you can't just run in screaming 'Death or Glory' or whatever. It's better to lose and live than to lose and die." Black Star said. "Sometimes you just gotta give something up."
Vera gasped for breath, her knees looking like they were just about to give up beneath her. "Not until you give the finishing blow."
Black Star gave a small smirk. "Alright. Well, you asked for it!" he said as he pulled his fist back. "You're gonna be seeing stars!"
The final blow wasn't as grandiose or as brutal as some members of the crowd were hoping for. Black Star's fist crashed into Vera's cheekbone and made a loud whack sound as Vera crumpled to the ground. Then, there was dead silence. Leo cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"The winners are Black Star and Tsubaki." He announced.
Lewis grimaced as Tsubaki helped him sit up off the stone courtyard. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked.
"Well, you did slash my arm pretty bad. Considering that, yeah I think I'm doing okay." Lewis grunted. Taking his hand away, he saw that the slash had ripped right through his bandages, dark blood soaking the white bandages. It was, without a doubt, one of the most painful things he had experienced.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
Lewis left the nurse's office, a couple of stitches in his arm. Vera had been knocked completely unconscious by Black Star's punch and was currently in one of the beds in Medsua's office. Lewis didn't like the thought of leaving his Meister alone with a literal witch, but it was probably going to be alright. Probably. Lewis on the other hand had been told to keep the wound sterile and was discharged with only a bandage and a couple of stitches. He hoped it wouldn't become a trend.
For the rest of the day, Lewis attended his classes as normal. There was a lot of chatter and glances in his direction, which he found to be a little irritating, but it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with. He supposed that a lot of people supposed that he was upset that he lost. In truth, he was. But it was easy to understand why. Lewis didn't really like to admit it, but Black Star was leagues above him as a fighter. There was a reason he was in the EAT class after all. That and he was one of the protagonists after all. Speaking of, he wondered what Kid had been up to these past few days. If his placement in the timeline was correct it should be some time after his little incident at the Temple of Anubis. Then again, he really should be studying or at least practicing. But with Vera out of commission for a while it seemed that studying was his best option.
As he walked down the stairs, he spotted Maka and Soul laden down with bags slowly making their way up from the opposite direction. Lewis gave a friendly wave as he spotted them and Maka and Soul replied in kind. As they got closer, Lewis opened up conversation.
"Hey guys. What's with the bags? I thought you just went out on a mission."
"Well, yeah." Maka said. "Sid asked us to do another one. Apparently it's really important and nobody else is available. We're just going into the office to get the paperwork sorted."
"Man that kinda sucks. Paperwork and monster slaying." Lewis nodded.
"Hey, at least we get some time off in Italy before the mission." Soul shrugged.
"We're supposed to use that time for reconnaissance Soul." Maka chided.
"Hey, you call it what you want, I call it what I want."
Lewis gave a chuckle at the pair's antics. "So where are you headed anyway?"
"Italy." Soul responded. "Can't wait to treat myself to all the Italian food I can eat."
"Oh cool." Lewis nodded. "Stay safe you guys. Hey Soul, save me some gelato will ya?"
"No promises." Soul grinned as he and Maka made their way to the DWMA offices.
Lewis gave a nod and continued down the steps in the front of the DWMA. As he reached the bottom he felt a realisation hit him like a sack of bricks. Soul and Maka were going to Italy.
Crona.
Lewis turned and looked back up to the top of the stairs, a shout of warning caught in his throat. Maka and Soul were almost at the top, Soul currently struggling with his bags which seemed to have fallen off his shoulders. He should warn them. They weren't ready for the fight they were about to stumble into. But if he did warn them, they'd question him. Even if he could come up with a convincing story for how he came to know it, this web of lies could trap him. If he told the truth they'd think him completely insane, or just messing with them. But furthermore if he did that, Medusa would hear of it. And then she would be upon him, a snake hunting a sparrow. He didn't like the idea of being killed by a crazy snake witch. Or being experimented on.
It was at that point that Maka had turned and saw Lewis staring up at them from the bottom of the stairs. As she did Lewis quickly turned his head and hurried away.
'Guess I won't be getting any gelato then.' Lewis muttered bitterly to himself.
Far above on a balcony overlooking the entire scene, Stein was leaning over the railing with an ashen cigarette in hand. Blowing out a stream of smoke, he narrowed his eyes again. A door behind him creaked open as the footsteps of Spirit tapped out onto the balcony.
"So," he began. "Leo tells me you've been stalking the new kid."
Stein gave small chuckle. "Some might call it that. I prefer the term 'investigation'."
"Tell me then. Why are you investigating this new student?" Spirit asked.
"He's unusually tense around the school nurse."
"So what? You said he had a fear of needles."
"I have reason to believe that's a lie. He's suspicious of her in another way. Truth be told, I have my own reasons to be suspicious of Medusa."
Spirit turned his back to the patchwork scientist. "Be careful that your paranoia doesn't lead into anything dangerous."
As Spirit bean walking away Stein raised his cigarette to his mouth. "And what happens if I turn out to be right?"
Hand on the doorknob, Spirit looked over his shoulder to his old Meister. "That's what I worry about the most."
And with that, he shut the heavy wooden door with a dull thud. Stein took a drag of his cigarette and looked out over the horizon, watching as the sun dipped below the gothic spires of Death City, long tendrils of shadow reaching out over the streets below.