'Mission Report: October 31st - November 1st 19x̧̱͇̖̹͔̜̯̯ͩͮ̑ͬͯͭ͟x̸̛̫̲̤̦̤̿̐̔̓͐͢

Target: Kishin Sanctuary, Nevada Dessert

Units Dispatched: 684, 5 Deathscythes

Casualties:

42 Confirmed Dead

619 MIA

1 DeathScythe Recovered

0 DeathScythe Meisters Recovered

Mission Status: CATASTROPHIC FAILURE'

Ḑ̕ę͝a̡̢t̕h ̶̀S̛áv̧̀́e͘͡ ͟͞U̸̕s͘"

Academy Archives

\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Chapter 8: An Unwanted Road Trip through Memory Lane

\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The ground was shaking. That was the first thing Kid noticed as he came to his senses, sprawled out in a tight confined space.

The boy groggily opened his eyes to see a wall of grey in front of him. Further inspection revealed that he was inside of a vehicle, specifically a van. It wasn't anything spectacular; Kid could faintly make out four metal walls surrounding him, and he was lying on the rough brown floor of the van. What little light there was came from the front, as the back windows were taped blocking any view of the outs

ide world. He could also make out two more figures sprawled across in the back, both

feminine in shape.

It was at this point Kid's brain completed the reboot and the boy recalled the events of the past day: pairing up with the sisters, the homicidal black-blooded teen, the dissection-happy mad scientist, and the exciting finale which was him dropping unconscious like a rock. Again.

Judging by the fact Kid was not strapped to an operating table and having all his limbs still attached, a third party must have knocked the scientist out, then him and the sisters. Question was the identity of that third party, their motives, and where the hell they were going. An explanation on what deity Kid had angered for his life to go so south so fast would also be more than appreciated.

The teen shifted, finding his hands and legs tied up. He clicked his tongue in frustration. Should have expected that.

Still… Kid wiggled his hands at the knot. The ropes were thick and bulky compared to his skinny wrists; the knot was tight, but with some skill and lots of wiggling he could potentially escape the bonds…. or he could just try and see if he could rip the ropes right off, subtleness and grace be damned. Too done to deal with this surreal adventure the last day had been, it was no surprise Kid was more inclined to pick option two.

But then, the logical and calm part of Kid's mind who was usually in control, major exception being symmetry, gently reminded him that though breaking the rope all Rambo-style would be the quickest method, the snapping noise would surely attract the attention of the driver.

Kid's 'done-with-this-mockery' side calmly explained that the boy could move in and restrain the driver before the unknown party was able to restrain him.

Part Logic argued that'd be reckless and dangerous.

Side B replied that couldn't be worse than jumping into the Pit.

At which point part logic threw its hands in the air in defeat and complained the metaphor had dragged on for too long.

Mind made up, Kid quietly made his way behind the driver's seat. Thankfully, the van did not have a protective wall between the seat and the back of the vehicle; whether that was due to oversight or overconfidence, Kid cared not.

The teen's hands shifted against the rope and shoulders tensed, as he did a few experimental pulls to test the strength of the rope. The boy took a deep breath, crouched under the seat and forced his arms apart.

The ropes broke with a loud snap. Immediately, Kid's right hand wrapped around the driver's neck as his other smashed the window next to the man. Ignoring the pain that came from the glass scratching his skin, Kid pulled free a considerably large shard of glass and brought it at the driver's neck.

"Stop the car."

Though the driver's frame tensed, the car only veered slightly before coming to a halt.

And it was at this point that Kid realized said driver was the caretaker he'd shot in the leg, who was also the stocky man with the weird soul he and Maka had fought at the Library. Had this happened a few hours ago when Kid's 'what-a-twist' standards were much lower, the boy might have had a more extreme reaction; now he settled for a scowl.

"Don't move. Who are you?"

The mysterious man tried turning his neck to face Kid but the boy pressed the glass tighter at his throat, careful enough not to draw blood. Yet.

Message clearly received, the man stopped his ambitious neck movements and settled for: "You're a weird one. I can't tell a thing about you. That Soul Protect you're using is a pretty high-level technique-"

But Kid was having none of that filler. "Alright, let me be clear. The last few days have been very stressful and I want some answers, so start talking before I rip them out of your throat."

"What? Got your panties in a twist, kid?"

"Stop derailing the subject. Who are you?"

The man sighed in defeat. "I'm Joe."

Kid raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

"Yup. Just your average Joe-"

"Stop fooling around." The teen pressed the shard of glass again for emphasis. "Who are you, for whom do you work for, and just where the hell are we going?!"

"Easy there, kiddo, too many questions." The teen felt the man gulp in discomfort. "To be honest I thought you'd be out for at least an hour. You immune to anaesthetic?"

"Stick to the topic! Who do you work for? I saw you working for Medusa and…" the boy paused, "…The Weapon-Meister Organization!" Kid exclaimed, cursing his lack of knowledge of said organization's name.

"Weapon-Meister…? You mean the Academy?" Joe let out a chuckle, which could have been due to nervousness or aimed at the teen's awkward terminology. "Yeah, I work for them."

"And for the Witch Medusa as a Caretaker."

"That was my cover. They have very low standards. Just pretend you're all brawn and no brain and you're in."

"So you're a spy?"

"What? Did you expect a lanky slimy dude?" Joe huffed. "Sorry to disappoint, buddy. We come in all shapes and sizes."

Kid couldn't tell if it was the adult's calm tone, or the hidden mockery behind his words that frustrated him more. "What do you want with me or the sisters? Why did you kidnap us?"

The man grimaced. "…I wouldn't call it kidnapping."

"No, just forceful relocation," the teen drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why?"

Joe hesitated, "well… I have my reasons."

"Was it orders? To get to Azusa and Marie?"

"Azusa and Marie- wait you know these two?!"

Upon hearing Joe's surprised tone, Kid realized his blunder a little too late.

"And they're your-which one's your mom? Is it Azusa-?"

Kid tried to shake Joe in a not-so-subtle way to change the subject. Keyword being tried, as the boy found out the man's impressive frame was not just for show. "That's not important. Where were you going?"

"…To the Academy."

"Why? Why take us as well?"

"Several reasons."

"Orders?"

"Nope. Just independent thinking. Gotta think on your feet if you want to be a good spy."

Kid applied more pressure to the man's neck.

"But I'm guessing you don't care about that."

"No, keep derailing the subject, see how well it'll work out for you."

"I got the sisters 'cause they're Weapons. General orders are to recruit as many as possible," Joe quickly explained. "You're… a different story."

"Go on."

"First I searched after you because you and some other girl got the book. Did you know how important those pieces of paper are?"

"I do now."

"Of course you didn't," Joe huffed. "Anyways, I had assumed the role of a caretaker to get access to the Library and the event's schedule. Then you and that other girl blew the whole thing up, and I thought I had to scour the entire city to find you..." He assumed a tight-lipped smile. "Imagine my surprise when the Witch Medusa told me to get a Weapon and gave me their location. The cherry on the cake was walking in and seeing you having a panic attack." The man sighed. "But then you three teamed up, I got shot in the leg and lost you again."

"How did you find us then? Are in cahoots with that basket-case of a scientist?"

"Soul Perception."

This was not an answer Kid expected, and his words made it all the more obvious. "You can do it too?"

"Sure can," Joe replied in a nonchalant tone. "Gotta say this would be a lovely conversation if you didn't threaten me right now, buddy."

"I wouldn't, if you hadn't kidnapped me."

"Touché." Joe shrugged slowly. "As I was saying, I used my Soul Perception to track your soul. You fought with Medusa's child, didn't you?"

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"…Did something happen to you? For a few hours your soul was flickering."

Kid's hold on Joe weakened. "…Flickering?"

"I'd never sensed such a thing. Pretty weird stuff…" the man's voice trailed off. "I followed you based on what I could sense. When Stein showed up, I hid and waited for my chance… Before I knocked you out your soul got really weird, pal. I overheard Stein saying you died, and for a moment I believed it. Your soul had faded. But then…" he paused at a loss of words. "You used Soul Protect before I got a good look. What did you do?"

Kid had to swallow his own dread, as he heard Joe's tale. The boy's recollection of the events at the lab was hazed by fatigue and anaesthetics.

"Anyways, because of your shenanigans and that that you managed to surprise me and knock me out in the beginning, I thought you could be an asset, if not, then contain you."

"Contain me?"

"You'd be a handful if you turned to a Kishin Egg-"

Joe didn't even get to finish his sentence, as he was interrupted by a low growl. "A Kishin Egg?! Why would I want to be like these disgusting asymmetrical soul-eating monsters?!"

"Whoa-"

"I'd much rather be impaled again before falling to the level of a desperate coward-!"

"You don't like Kishin Egg much, do ya?"

"Of course I don't! Who does?"

"Some worship them-"

"They're idiots," Kid cut Joe off. "As if eating souls would help fill the void of their empty and pitiful existence… they're glorified cowards, unable to rely on their own, so they feed parasitically on souls… Disgusting." Kid shook his head, getting his priorities back in order. "But that's not important right now. Take us back."

"What?" From his tone, Joe did not expect such a request. "Back to the city? Why the heck would you want to go back to that place?"

"Gee, I wonder why? Maybe because that's my home?!"

"No can do."

Kid growled.

"I'm not trying to mess with you, kid!" Joe slowly brought his hands up in a calming gesture. "Think about it. You caught Medusa's interest. This never ends well for the other party. The only reason you managed to escape was because of that perfectly timed attack-"

"You orchestrated that as well?"

"Nah, you're overestimating my abilities. It was very lucky though…" Joe trailed off. "But back to our point. You managed to evade Medusa once, but don't expect to be able to escape a second time, especially if you'll keep living in the same city she's in. She'll find you. Apart from her own resources, her sister is the head of the Kishin Council! I give you max one week before you end up as one of her test subjects." Joe felt Kid's grip falter, but it was too brief for the man to escape. Maybe if he kept up this line of conversation… "No, your best bet is getting as far away from her as possible. It's the safest option for the people you care about too."

"This doesn't make sense."

"Gotta think from the enemy's perspective. Even if she did get a hold of your folk, they aren't interesting to her, and if-when she finds out you've left the city, they'll be useless to her."

"Except my folk are Marie and Azusa! They're already in danger!"

"But they're Deathscythes."

"What now?" Kid repeated in confusion. Marie had called Azusa and herself that the night that Nigus woman showed up on their doorstep.

"You don't-" Joe cut himself off, letting out an amused sigh. "There's a lot they haven't told you, right?"

"Not important right now. Get me back."

"Well…" Joe muttered. "That may not be easy."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the fuel meter, pal." Joe craned his neck slowly, so Kid could see the indicator behind the wheel. The needle was below the middle point. "The gas tank is below half-empty. I started with a full tank. Even if I did turn back, we'd ran out of gas way before we reached the city."

"We can't be that far."

"Care to try it out? Don't blame me if we get stranded in the middle of nowhere."

"Can't you buy gas?"

"Don't have any money. Feel free to check my pockets. And I take it neither you nor the sisters are carrying cash."

"Wait," Kid frowned in thought. Something about this man's story didn't add up. "If your tank is half-full… how did you plan to go all the way to the Academy? I find it unlikely it's in such close proximity to the Kishin Council."

"Good thinking. However, I planned a route before I even got to the city."

"What's that?"

"Well…"

Kid applied pressure.

"There's… a branch waiting for me in one of the nearby towns. Plan is to… use a moving truck to hide and cross the border."

"Dammit," the teen muttered to himself.

\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

It was many kilometres away, back to the outskirts of the convoluted concrete jungle known as New York City that Dr. Franken Stein regained consciousness. The 'mad' doctor found himself on the top of his tower, on the one room that could be characterized as living quarters. He was sprawled on the old patched-up green sofa which doubled as a bed whenever he did not fall asleep on his desk, or any other unconventional part of his 'adobe'. That was unexpected.

What was more unexpected was finding himself surrounded by a couple of people, most of them familiar.

"Hello," the scientist flippantly announced, as he brought himself up. His lab coat had been taken off, and he was in his stitched-up turtleneck and work dress pants. Stein's gaze immediately went to the most familiar person in the room, a red-haired man with two teenagers in tow.

The redhead gave him an unimpressed look. "So, you're awake."

"Spirit. Haven't seen you for such a long time."

"You know him?" Stein heard the young girl behind Spirit mutter. She had blonde hair, green eyes, and an uncanny resemblance to a woman Stein knew many years ago.

"She's your daughter?" The girl gave the scientist a surprised look, to which he responded with a nonchalant shrug. "You look just like your mother."

"Now's not the time to reminisce Stein," came a strict voice to his left.

"Yumi?" The scientist adopted a mocking smirk, as he turned his head to face the woman. "I'd recognise your overbearing soul anytime."

Azusa woman gave him a scowl. "And I see you're as unkempt as always."

The scientist looked at the last unidentified occupant of the room. An albino boy, standing awkwardly between Spirit and his daughter. "You're a Weapon."

The boy nearly yelped in surprise. "How the hell do you know that?!"

"Soul Perception," Spirit sighed. "Stein there is pretty good at it. He can tell everything about a person when using it." The redhead shivered. "It's creepy."

"I feel humbled," Stein joked, as he looked around the room. "How did I end up here?"

"I carried you," Sid crossed his arms. "I didn't know what was going on, still don't, so I called up Mira on my radio. Thank goodness she'd teamed up with three Deathscythes, am I right?" the man said in a light tone at the other two adults.

Spirit looked away and Azusa's scowl deepened.

"Sid," Stein brought up a hand to his temple. "So I didn't hallucinate you coming back to life."

The undead man opened his mouth but quickly closed it. He frowned in a mix of confusion and worry. "Yeah… Do you know what's going on?"

"I have my theories. Are we expecting other people?"

"Marie will be here with Nigus in a moment," Azusa informed him. "When the house collapsed she didn't manage to leave in time, but thankfully we got to her quickly."

"A house collapsed? Just what have you been up to?"

"We could ask you the same, Stein," Spirit spoke up. "We thought you were dead or worse, consumed by the Madness. I should have expected you wouldn't go down easy, but don't you think the whole 'mad scientist' lair is a bit much?"

"What can I say?" The doctor shrugged. "Had to keep up appearances."

Spirit simply frowned at the man, seemingly not trusting his words. Stein shrugged. Several pair of footsteps from outside the room halted the mini-standoff, as four new people entered the room. Stein recognised Marie, and remembered Naigus faintly, but he had no idea who the other teens were. Both of them were Asian, and the boy had a star-shaped tattoo on his shoulder, while the girl was clad in black loose ninja outfit, commonly used by one of the most renowned Weapon families….

Interesting.

"Oh my god…" The first to talk was the bandaged woman, her one visible eye widening in disbelief. "Sid?!"

Mira ran up to the man, grabbing both his shoulders in shock, eventually enveloping him a tight hug. "I thought your soul was eaten!"

The short boy frowned. "Why the hell are you blue?"

"Black Star!" The older teen exclaimed, still not used to her Meister's bluntness. It also confirmed the scientist's suspicions about the teen's origin.

"So you are one a member of the Star clan," Stein observed.

"Not exactly," Azusa quickly spoke up. "Long story, will explain later."

"Oh, well," Stein conceded. "Also, the blue colour is due to a lack of blood coursing along his body, thus giving his skin a more bluish hue-"

"Wait, what?!" Naigus said, disengaging from her hug.

"Mira…" the stocky man lamented. "I'm not the kind of man I used to be…"

The Egyptian woman threw her hands up in exasperation. "What are you even talking about?! Ok, you're a bit blue, but you're up, talking, breathing and living!"

"Last two were incorrect," Stein interrupted the woman. "See, Sid's body is technically dead."

"But his soul-!"

"Still attached." At times like these, Stein felt the need for a cigarette. "The explanation is a bit complicated." On cue with Naigus' narrowed eye, the scientist continued his talk. "Normally, when people would die, their souls would pass on and their body, having lost its function would decay… The two processes occurred simultaneously, as the body supports a soul and vice versa. However, ever since…" he paused briefly, "fifteen years ago, that process was altered. What happens now is that the soul cannot pass on, meaning people don't really 'die'. Instead, when their body stops functioning the soul remains attached to the decaying flesh, until it gets eaten." Stein motioned at the undead man. "What's going on with Sid is unique. His body did 'die'. However, it started working again."

Naigus frowned at his words. "Is that even possible?"

"First time I see it happening. There have been reports of people with damaged bodies walking around, but their bodies never stopped working entirely."

"So…" Sid's face was blank. "It's like I came back to life?"

"In terms of the body, yes." Stein gave them a wide smile. "I remember reading an old story once, and these people were referred to as zombies."

"But how did it happen?" Azusa asked the two men. The scientist's explanation did nothing more than describe the phenomenon, but not what caused it.

Stein shrugged his shoulders, while Sid's frown deepened.

"I don't remember much. But there is one thing. First thing I saw after 'coming back' or whatever happened…"

Everyone caught their breath.

"Was your kid, Azusa and Marie, looking down at me."

\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

A long distance away from the unorthodox gathering, Kid found himself wanting to sneeze. He quickly suppressed the feeling.

The next minutes in the car passed in silence. Joe seemed surprisingly calm for someone with glass pressed to his neck, while Kid was racking his brain to find a solution for the lacking-fuel conundrum in vain.

A short static beep came from the radio. It paused, then the sound returned again. And again. And again.

"I'm being called," Joe said, calmly. "…I have to take this, you know…"

"Do you, now?" Kid demanded, eyeing the radio device.

"Yup. Need to check in, or they'll send people over. How do you fare against a group of highly skilled Meisters?"

Kid grip loosened. "Take it. But if you say anything…"

"I know, I know. So stereotypical, there's no originality in the youth nowadays…" the man muttered in disappointment, before taking hold of a walkie-talkie-like device. "This is Joe, calling in."

"Evening. Everything alright?" came a gruff female voice from the radio belonging to an older woman.

"Yup, just peachy. The coffee sucks though…"

A small pause. "…Does it?"

"Yup. Got one from downtown; too little time to brew."

"Don't worry, I heard Uncle Bob's reopening again."

"Really?! Save me a cup, would ya Auntie?"

"Just get here in time, Joe. Over."

"See ya soon, over," the man said and closed the connection.

Kid gave him a look.

"What? Can I not talk about coffee now?"

Kid ignored the snarky comment, his attention faltering to the shifting sounds coming from behind the two.

Liz and Patty were waking up.

\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

"Kid?! You saw him-!?"

"Oh, thank goodness! Is he ok? Where is he now, did something happen to him-?"

"Wait," Spirit caught the two women off. "Sid, mind giving more details? And don't be so dramatic, we need to be rational about this."

"I wasn't the kind of man, who lies, Spirit. Honest to God, Death, whatever, my memories cut off from the Library, a huge statue coming my way. Then… I got this feeling of talking with someone like I'm in a dream. After that, first thing I remember is a bloody pale… something looming over me, looking exactly like your kid!"

"What do you mean? Was Kid bleeding-?!"

"Do you remember anything else about the boy?" Stein asked, ignoring Marie's indignant protest.

"Uh…" Sid scratched his head. "Their voice sounded weird? Kinda compelling…"

"Why did you attack me?"

"Oh that! Uh… don't really know how to explain this. I felt I was in a dream, not in full control of my actions. Whatever it was, it was pissed off at you, Stein. Does that make sense?"

"Woah, hold the phone now, both of you!" Spirit cut the two off. "What the hell happened? Why was Kid with you, how did he end up here, and he was angry at you, Stein?"

"Long story," at this, the three Deathscythes were ready to protest, but Stein's next remark cut them off. "Has your kid been eating souls?"

"What?!" Marie and Azusa looked decidedly pissed.

"Only way to explain this mess. And don't feel guilty about not noticing, I've observed the after-effects take quite some time to manifest-"

"That's wrong!" Maka spoke up. Stein gave her an inquisitive look (i.e. mildly threatening), but the girl stood her ground, minor shiver notwithstanding. "Kid would never do something like that. We've known each other for all our lives, and he'd always react to eating souls with revulsion!"

"Your point?"

"My point being that whatever happened with Kid if it even was him, since this is all wild mass guessing, couldn't have been because of Kid eating souls! He'd never do that, and I have no reason to believe he'd start now!"

"Then how would you explain what happened?"

"Well," Maka hesitated. "There's a lot we don't know. Jumping to conclusions won't do us any good, especially we don't have Kid here to tell us his side of a story. Besides, Kid was always kinda strange… Not in a bad way!" she immediately said. "Like, he is very good with using Soul Perception, even if it's 'foggy', and he's surprisingly strong."

"Maka's right," Marie said. "Me and Azusa took care of Kid since he was but a baby. We know him, and the last thing he'd do is eat souls."

"Could…" Naigus said, her voice carefully neutral. "Could this be magic? Maybe Kid is a necromancer Witch?"

"No." Azusa replied, arms crossed. "Kid has never shown any signs of magic."

"Are you sure? There was nothing…" Mira hesitated, "…out of the ordinary?"

Marie shot a quick worried look at Azusa, who looked away and frowned.

"There have been little things…" Marie quietly admitted.

"It could be a family thing though." Azusa sighed. "We don't really know."

Naigus gave the woman a long look, and rubbed her brow. "Well at this point, it helps if you take things from the beginning. How did you find Kid?"

\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The battle was over. They had lost.

Azusa was in the Nevada desert, fifteen years ago. What was once an oddly beautiful land in its harmonious quiet scenery was now a ravaged battlefield, fresh with the stench of destruction. The sky was filled with grey smoke, skies long turned red in the battle of deities that ensued, no matter how short it was. The craters were filled with bodies, human and not. Blood pooled in shallow puddles, running through the dips and forming a grotesque network of rivulets, like a spider's net. The buildings, which once stood on the area, proud displays of the vicious fort-city, now lay scattered in a state of slow collapse.

It was near one of the almost collapsed walls that Azusa regained her senses. Her head was throbbing, glasses long gone. She could feel liquid running down her temple, probably blood. The brunette let out a pained moan, as she forced herself upright, gingerly holding her ribs. Judging from the swelling, she had probably broken few. Her Meister was also sprawled on the field a few meters away from her… they'd lost something more important than ribs.

Azusa's stomach lurched, as she laid eyes on the form of her Meister… or what was left of them. The woman felt bile rise up her throat. Even through blurred vision she could make out the clothes, the style among a cover of blood… Her broken rib made it hard to breathe.

Azusa's willpower caved, and the woman collapsed back into the pile.

They'd failed. They'd been utterly and soundly defeated. She had witnessed it too, as the dark blob supposed to represent their biggest hope burst like a grotesque party popper, dissolving along with her hopes and faith.

Maybe this wasn't so bad, Azusa mused, as she stood motionless on the pile, a stench of decomposing bodies surrounding her. After all they, or at least she, had tried as far as they could. It didn't matter that it didn't work. 'Fight till the end' that was the motto, right? The motto her Meister had. Maybe Azusa would as well…

A baby's cry.

Azusa was abruptly pulled from her grim thoughts and focused on the sounds in confusion.

That was definitely a baby's cry. How…?

With renewed efforts the woman managed to lift herself up and then on her own two feet. She wobbled at the beginning, the muscles too overworked and fatigued to the point of collapse. Using a nearby wooden pole from the fallen fort, Azusa limped towards the sound of the noise, careful not to trip on any bodies.

It was at the base of another mountain of corpses that Azusa detected movement. She inched her way closer.

It really was a child, a baby to be exact. Skinny, sickly, and accidentally wrapped in one of the remains of her God, it didn't fit the image of a year-old baby.

Azusa took a tentative step towards it.

The baby, as if sensing her, locked eyes with the woman. The woman was surprised at how hazed the two golden orbs looked, almost as haunted as hers.

The baby let out another scared wail, and retreated further into itself, in a fetal fashion. One of its hands tried to clumsily cover its head, briefly obstructing the bloodstained black tuft of hair from view.

At that exact moment Azusa made her mind. Taking a few more determined, though bit wobbly, steps she gingerly knelt down next to the baby, and picked it up as gently as she could.

This wasn't helped by the baby struggling in her hold, resulting in her almost dropping him.

"Come on, I'm trying to help," the woman muttered more to herself, as she was sure the baby couldn't understand her.

To her surprise, most of the thrashing subsided, though there was the occasional kicking.

Azusa tried her best to find a way to hold the child which was comfortable to it and her pained arm. Eventually, she settled for laying it sideways along her forearm like a cradle. Along the way Azusa wrapped the black fabric-like remains around the baby in a way she had seen Spirit do with Maka, in which she found out the baby was a boy. Also, thanks to Azusa's inexperience, the baby boy now resembled a burrito.

"Azusa?" A familiar blonde woman appeared from the wreckage. Her hair covered one of her eyes, and from what little she could make, a thin trail of blood was running down her cheek.

"You're alive…" The woman's defeated expression switched to one of pure joy, and moisture began gathering at her eyes. "I'm so glad," the Scandinavian woman said rubbing her one visible eye. "I thought everyone…" She paused upon noticing the small bundle Azusa was carrying.

"Is that…?"

"It's a child," Azusa stated, shifting the kid so Marie could get a look at the baby's face. "I found it here but-"

Marie however, seemed less interested in the baby's backstory and threw a scandalized look at Azusa. "Why is it wrapped like that-Do you want to suffocate the baby?! It's a human being, not a tortilla!"

The taller woman looked at Marie in embarrassment. "I don't know how to care of a baby!" Her gaze drifted to said child, who was now watching the two women with a blank expression.

"It's not that hard…" The blonde let out a sigh, and put her hands on her shoulders. "Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Can I hold the baby?"

"Why are you asking me? He's not mine!"

And Marie completely ignored her. "Ah so it's a boy! Hi there, cutie~"

Azusa now looked decidedly uncomfortable at the other woman, who was now making cooing sounds at the child. Having the blonde woman as a classmate for many years, she knew better than to try arguing with her in vain. "There you go," she handed the child to Marie. "Go nuts."

Judging by the exponential increase in cooing sounds coming from Marie as she spoke in baby talk to the child, it looked like she followed Azusa's advice to a T. Well, not entirely. The first thing Marie did was skillfully disentangle the baby from Azusa's accidental prison, and wrapping the dark fabric with such grace only experience could yield.

"You've done this before."

The blonde nodded. "I've told you about my brothers and sisters, haven't I? I was the eldest, so I took care of them whenever my parents couldn't." She held up the baby, who let out a giggle. "Aw, he's adorable!" A tiny hand reached out from the cover, and Marie practically squealed. "What is it, big boy?" she crooned, in full baby talk mode, as the tiny hand grabbed a lock of hair. "You like my hair?"

The baby pulled.

"Ow!" Marie exclaimed, as she hastily grabbed hold of her lock and disentangled it from the baby's vice-like grip. "Well, you sure are strong…" she muttered, rubbing the hurt spot in her cranium. The baby let out another giggle and Marie was back on mother-mode.

Meanwhile, Azusa was watching awkwardly from the side. It was surreal, the two women and child were surrounded by Death, yet the two gleefully enjoyed the macabre scenery in favour of playing with one another.

"Marie."

The woman stopped her playtime with the baby. "Something wrong?"

"We need to get out of here."

"Eh?" As if a magic spell had been lifted, Marie became aware of the scenery around them. "Oh, right." She took in Azusa's form. "We need to find you a doctor too. You don't look very well…"

"I'll live. What about you?" She motioned at Marie's obscured eye. "Is it…?"

The blonde hesitated, looking away from Azusa. Silence fell between the two. Eventually, the baby shifted in Marie's grip, and as she hoisted it on her lap, the Scandinavian woman gave Azusa a rueful smile. "3D vision was overrated anyways."

"Marie…"

"It's fine, I patched it up as much as I could." The blonde sighed. "The wound was pretty deep so I unless we find a way to magically regrow eyes, I'd better get used to having one, right?" Marie said in good humour, ignoring the other woman's disbelieving expression.

"No." Azusa adopted a determined scowl. "We'll find you a doctor too."

"Azusa-"

"No buts," Azusa insisted. "There's no telling what could happen if you caught an infection. You're coming with me, and that's final."

"Sir, yes, sir…" Marie remarked, giving her a mocking salute. "Not that I'd leave you in the first place." She gestured to the baby. "We got a child to raise."

"What?!"

"We can't just leave him here-"

"Yes, but…!"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Marie interrupted. "My turn to order you around. First, we find a doctor and then I teach you how to change diapers."

Azusa found herself unable to disagree. "…Ok…"

"Great! Onwards then!" Then Marie began humming the Norwegian version of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' to the child, and Azusa figured that any life was better than no life, as this unconventional family slowly walked away from the remnants of the bloody battle.

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Beta'd by Sakura23165. Feedback is appreciated.