Chapter 7
Maka woke the two demigods the next morning. "Rise and shine, everybody! It's a great day. I just received a message from… the Headmaster that he wants to meet you two again, so get ready. He'll want you in his… office by the time the first bell rings. Hurry up and get ready!" Percy and Annabeth fell out of their beds and walked into the bathroom together, before Percy noticed Annabeth was in the room with him and ducked out, embarrassed.
He looked at the kitchen and noticed there was stuff to make blue pancakes, so, while Maka and Soul were getting ready, he started on pancakes.
By the time Soul was done getting ready, the pancakes were almost finished and Soul walked out of his room with his eyes shut.
"Mm, Maka, they smell delicious." Soul, still with his eyes closed, walked over to where Percy stood, seeming as if he wanted to make a move.
"Open your eyes, sunshine," Percy said when he looked at Soul. Soul opened one eye and jumped back.
"Gah! Sorry man. That was not cool of me." Soul regained his composure quickly and glanced at the food. "Why blue?"
"When I was young, my mom and stepdad got in an argument about whether blue food existed. So she went out of her way to make everything blue: blue waffles; blue tortilla chips; blue candy when she came home from work; blue everything! I guess the blue kind of reminds me of her. I was away from her for a long time, and this was just my way of having a part of her with me all the time."
Maka, who had been listening, sighed. "How sweet! I remember my mom doing things like that. Well… not really. But I remember the day she told my dad she wanted a divorce. Her act of rebellion was my favorite memory of her. Just… the strength she showed in that moment…" Maka sighed, lost in thought, when Annabeth stepped out of the bathroom and took a deep breath, smelling the air.
"Yum, pancakes! They're blue, right Percy?"
"Of course!"
"Perfect. Is everyone ready?" A chorus of affirmation resounded from around the kitchen. "Perfect. That let's eat up and run. We need to get to the DWMA." Percy dished out the pancakes and everyone ate quickly before grabbing their things and running out the door.
"Last one to school is a rotten egg!" Maka called over her shoulder at the demigods. Percy laughed and Annabeth shook her head.
"You're on!" Percy shouted. Maka and Soul took off down the road, turning a corner before Percy and Annabeth could reach. The echo of their footsteps turned into one pair as opposed to two after the got out of view.
Percy frowned. Okay, so they're gonna speed up like that? How about this.
"Hermes!" Percy yelled. "Since you got us into this mess, help us here. Give me a pair of winged shoes so Annabeth and I can fly to school each morning!" Percy heard no audible reply, but the fact that his shoes suddenly had wings was answer enough. Percy dropped to his knees. "Hop on, Annabeth!" Annabeth looked at him, confused, then jumped on his back. Percy kicked his feet together and the two rose into the air.
"Oh! Okay then." Annabeth realized what was going on. Percy, still getting used to being in the air, willed the shoes to take them up. He and Annabeth flew above the buildings.
Stop! He mentally shouted. He froze. Forward. After learning how to command the shoes, Percy led himself toward the school, skipping the giant set of stairs entirely. By the time they had landed at the top and Percy had yelled "Maia!" hoping the wings would vanish, Maka, holding her scythe, was only halfway up the steps. When she reached the top, Annabeth and Percy were waiting.
"I think we win," Maka gasped before she looked around. Soul transformed and grinned at her.
"What are you talking about Maka? I'm fairly certain we won," Percy said. Maka spun around, surprised.
"What? How did you-? What?"
"We've been here for some time now."
"Did you see anything weird?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Nevermind. Let's go to the Headmaster's office." Maka and Soul led the two through the school to the Death Room.
"We have to go to class now… so we'll see you two after school." Percy nodded before entering the Death Room, where that weird cloth was waiting.
LINE BREAK
Maka and Soul entered the classroom, where David was waiting.
"Maka, Soul! Thank goodness you two are here. I needed to talk to you."
"Um…" Maka glanced at Soul, "Why?"
"Maka, did you master the Phasmic Technique I assigned last night?"
Maka nodded. "Yes. And quite easily, actually."
David frowned. "Show me." He grabbed a laptop from behind his desk.
Maka nodded, concentrating on the laptop. "Phasmic Energy!" Sparks ran up her fingers. "Energy Technique: Electricity Generation!" The sparks spread to her arms, and her soul began painfully visible. She touched the laptop and it sparked to life before overloading and shutting down to protect itself. David's eyes widened. "Release," Maka whispered. The electricity vanished.
"Incredible, Maka! You generated enough electricity to power the DWMA—possibly the entire city—for at least three minutes." Soul looked on in amazement as well, glancing at Maka's, still glaringly obvious and visible, soul. His eyes widened and she grinned.
"Soul, is there something wrong?" David asked.
"I know who has a grigori soul, Maka, and you don't!" Maka glanced at him.
"Yeah, right."
David grinned as well. "Who is it, Soul?"
"It's the flat-chested bookworm standing right there," Soul replied as he pointed at Maka.
Maka frowned. "There's no way it could be me."
At the same time, David clapped his hands and smiled. "Well done, Soul!" Then David glanced at Maka. "He's right, actually, and as I promised, I will give you extra credit Soul. And Maka, as you have a very strong grigori soul, strong enough that Soul could see it, you will need to be pulled aside for special instruction on Phasmic Magics. And, of course, during your normal class, I shall have you be an aide for me. Does that sound okay?"
Maka thought for a moment, realizing that extra lessons meant less time with her cousin while she was still in town, but it also meant extra lessons, which was generally a good thing in her eyes. She looked up at David, determination in her eyes, and nodded. "I'll do it."
David smiled. "Fantastic. I will tell you where we will meet and when tomorrow after class." The bell rang and Maka and Soul took their seats as their classmates began to file into the room.
LINE BREAK
Percy and Annabeth stood in front of Lord Death with Sid and Nygus to either side of him.
"You wanted to see us, shinigami-sama?" Annabeth asked. Percy glanced at Annabeth, wondering how she learned such a weird name for the god.
Annabeth glanced at Percy and gave him a look saying Maka's been helping me learn proper respect for the staff. Percy nodded, confused at why he could understand her thoughts so clearly, and glanced back at Lord Death.
"Mmm, yes, I did. Sid-sensei and I had a discussion about you and your weapon/meister pairing. I would like to see you two try to transform." Both demigods closed their eyes and did what they had been told previously. The glow appeared again, but nothing changed.
"Hm. Okay, now try holding hands." Percy grabbed his girlfriend's hand and tried again. Nothing happened.
"Now, Annabeth, you try!" Annabeth tried, alone, without Percy, and nothing happened.
"Percy, your turn!" Percy shut his eyes and felt the light that had been appearing so often suddenly break away from what felt like the left side of his chest. Suddenly, he wasn't himself anymore. He opened his eyes and saw the world around him spinning, out of control. And as soon as it started, it stopped. Percy's head was on the ground, Percy could feel that, and Annabeth was next to him, trying to pull him up.
"Percy, are you okay?" Percy tried nodding, but his head wouldn't respond.
"Yeah, Annabeth, I'm fine," he said. "Why? What's wrong?"
Lord Death grabbed Percy by one foot and allowed Percy entire body to slide up where his hand was around Percy's neck. He turned to look at the mirror standing on the circular platform, and, in the place of where Percy should have been, a glowing, intricately-carved, sea green trident stood in Death's grip.
"Is that… me?" Percy asked.
"Yes, Percy. That's you!" Death cried in his comical voice. "And quite the weapon you are! I've never seen a trident here before! I suppose it represents your parentage quite nicely. And Annabeth, you are going to wield this beautiful instrument, and you shall learn quickly, I'm sure. You will most likely be integrated to your classes by next Monday. So study quickly, learn powerful techniques, and maybe you can make a Death Scythe!"
Annabeth looked at Death. "A what?"
Death looked at the floor. "You know, that'll be part of your lessons. Sid, Nygus, you may take them to the training area I had prepared. You know where it is." The zombie and the mummy led Annabeth and Percy – who had transformed back somehow—to an area a distance behind Death's mirror. "So," Sid said. "Let's teach you about the Resonance of the Soul."
LINE BREAK
David took his position in the front of the classroom and raised his hands. The entire classroom quieted.
"The past few weeks, I have taught you about phasmic anatomy, different kinds of souls, different kinds of known wavelengths, and gave you an introduction on Phasmic Magics. The rest of the year will focus on how to use Phasmic Magics to defend yourself without your weapon or meister. I need everyone to pair with a partner. And Kid, you can only have one." Death the Kid frowned at the teacher before trying to choose between which of his weapons he wanted to partner with.
"But, David-sensei, that leaves an odd number of students," Tsubaki noted.
"Yes, but Maka Albarn shall be partnered with me, and Soul Eater can choose between any of the three of Kid's group. Kid, choose quickly, or I'll assign you to work with Soul."
Ox Ford, who was sitting with his partner stood up suddenly. "Why does Maka get to work with you, sensei?"
David looked around, surprised. "I forgot to tell you! Soul Eater determined that Maka had the grigori soul, and as such, is much more powerful than most the souls in here. Therefore, I will be taking her aside to teach her things that only she can do. Now, today, I am teaching you a combat technique." David walked to the blackboard and wrote on it.
"Phasmic Combat has two forms of spells: Phasmic Defense, and Phasmic Offense. Either of these can be used in battle to protect yourself. Phasmic Defense generally involves using your wavelength to create a shield of sorts, or a barrier. Offense is more like forcing your wavelength into a person, or creating phasmic weapons. Remember, it is always more powerful and efficient to fight with your weapon partner. These techniques are only for when you most need them."
David began to write different techniques on the board under their respective category. Defense had few techniques, mostly Phasmic Shield, Phasmic Barrier, Phasmic Force Field (which is just a more intensive and powerful form of Phasmic Barrier) and Phasmic Thrust (which pushed the enemy a distance away, though does not actually harm them). Offense had Phasmic Sword, Phasmic Force (which forces one's wavelength into the opponent), Phasmic Shock, and Phasmic Whirlwind.
"Now, find your partner and practice some techniques on them. Maka, you come here." Maka made her way to the front of the room where David took her aside and handed her a small pamphlet. "In here are certain techniques that only a grigori soul may use. You will notice they all begin with Grigoric instead of Phasmic, and that is because the energy your soul emits is not phasmic energy, like most souls, but rather grigoric energy, which can have some unusual effects on people and events. In addition to that, any technique you try to use and that we learn in class can have phasmic replaced with grigoric to infinitely boost power."
"Thank you, sensei."
"Now, I want you to practice some combat techniques in the pamphlet on me." Maka widened her eyes in surprise.
"Are you sure?"
"I have a grigori soul as well, remember, so my defensive moves will likely be enough to deaden your offensive ones."
Maka nodded. "Okay. Here goes." She opened the book and searched for a good technique. She found one and grinned. "Here goes nothing. Grigoric Offense!" Maka's soul swelled, and everyone in the room, all of whom had been practicing techniques stopped to look. "Offense Technique: Grigoric Frost!" Before she could finish speaking, David had opened his mouth.
"Grigoric Heat Shield." He didn't have to call on Grigoric Defense, which surprised Maka, but before she could comment, her attack blasted a blue beam at the fiery shield that appeared in front of David, though the beam fizzled quickly, and left Maka winded.
David nodded when the shield had vanished. "Nice first attempt Maka. Frost will freeze your enemy, and rarely thaws unless under certain conditions. But did you notice how I knew what attack you were intending and how to counter it before you could finish calling the power?" She nodded. "Good. You have an acute observational sense. That is the thing with a grigori soul. It does allow you to read other souls, if you can see them, but it also leaves you a bit open to reading yourself. We can practice blocking your soul, and maybe you can surprise me one day."
"Now, another thing to note: with Grigoric attacks, often, they have a defense specifically designed for the offensive move. Heat shield works on all frost-, snow-, and cold-based attacks, and even water-based attacks as well, sometimes. You will need to remember that in battle. Now, when you have rested up, try another attack." Maka took a moment, while the other students returned to battling, most failing miserably, though not Soul, Maka noted happily. When she had rested, Maka looked in the pamphlet again. She saw another attack that looked like it could surprise David, as it seemed an unorthodox way to fight.
"Grigoric Offense!" Maka's soul swelled, though the class was less interested this time. "Offense Technique: Grigoric Palette!" As Maka finished, a color palette that one would see a painter hold appeared in front of her, and paints whipped off the palette toward David. Before a single paint splatter reached him, a canvas appeared and absorbed the paint. David hadn't said a word.
Maka was even more out of breath this time than the last and sat down quickly and sloppily as David walked over to her.
"Well done, Maka. You improved. Very few people use palette attacks, as they are very unorthodox. You may have noticed I didn't speak to summon my defense?" Maka nodded. "Good. That's another thing about grigori souls. You don't actually need to speak to attack or defend. If you can envision it, it can happen. A form of magic grigori souls can use that others can't is Grigoric Creation. Using that allows you to create anything that can form in your mind's eye. Do not use it," he added, almost as an afterthought. "It is very dangerous and often leaves those who use it bedridden for days. Now, since you can't seem to talk, and are severely out of breath, I excuse you from the rest of class." Suddenly, the bell rang. "You know what, I'll write you a late pass to any other classes you may have." He handed Maka a slip of paper and grabbed his stuff. "I must go. Lord Death needs me right now." He headed to the door and Maka, without any words, tried to freeze him again. A heat shield formed just as the blast reached him. Without turning his head, David called, "Nice try Maka. See you on Monday!" Then he was out of sight.
LINE BREAK
"Lord Death?" David called as he walked into the Death Room. "You needed to see me?"
"Hm? Oh, yes! I was wondering if you could teach the two new students how to do that… magic thingy that you do. They are going to be integrated into the EAT class with Maka and Soul, as they seem to know those two."
David nodded. "I believe I can. However, I will need to take them elsewhere, to a place I know where they can demonstrate their skill to me."
Death nodded. "Hm. I see. Well then, take them where you please. Meanwhile, Sid and I will be finding them a place to stay. Good luck with the demigods, David. I'm sure you will be a fantastic teacher. Please, have them back by Monday so they can be integrated into their classes."
"I will, Shinigami-sama."
LINE BREAK
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'YOU'RE LEAVING?'" Maka screamed as Annabeth flinched.
"I'm sorry, but our vacation is over and we need to get back to school and the last flight out of here before school starts is tonight. We'll be glad to come and visit next time we have a break or are in town. We do tend to head out this way a lot."
Maka sighed. "Okay, but… I'll miss you. I mean, you dropped off the face of the earth while you were seven, and suddenly, ten years later, I finally get in contact with you, and you're in front of my door. Stay in touch, Annabeth."
Annabeth nodded. "I'm sorry about what happened all those years ago. It was just… a complicated time. Maybe you'll understand someday."
"And you, Percy." Maka turned on the son of Poseidon. "You stay in touch, too. I think Soul liked you. And I liked you, too. And be good to my cousin, because if you don't bad things will happen."
Percy laughed. "Chill out, Maka. I've been threatened by her family before, and it'll happen again. I will never hurt my Annabeth."
Maka nodded. "Well, grab your bags. I'll help you get them to the ground floor. Is anyone driving you to the airport?"
Annabeth nodded. "David is."
"You mean my professor?"
Annabeth nodded. "Yeah. He was a close friend of ours before he left New York." Maka nodded and grabbed one of the bags.
"Well, let's go."