Hey hey! So since this chapters a bit on a short side, so this is going to be a double! Yay! As always, special thanks to ImaginaryEngineer, my fantastic Beta! Couldn't get through this without you!

I do wanna take a second here and mention that Arya has nothing to do with the Arya in Game of Thrones, in case anyone was wondering. Shes been my main OC for about... wow almost 8 years now. Believe it or not my 14 year old self modeled her physically after Arya from the book Eragon but personality wise, shes all original.

Gonna take a second here for special shout outs to everyone who took the time to leave a review!

MysteriousQuake: Cant remember if I thanked you or not. So thanks, glad you're enjoying the story!

Rando: I'm not going to lie, I was a little worried that this was going to be too out there, but I'm glad to see I was worried over nothing! Yeah, I felt maybe having Diana stand up for her would help kinda strengthen their relationship a bit! Haha thanks, I'll try not to!

Omaomae: Thank you so much for all the feedback, its really appreciated! I'm glad you mentioned the dynamic between Akko and Dianas souls. I was a little nervous about how that would be received. Nux and Trinity are OC's. Actually its funny you mentioned Soul Eater Not because at the time that chapter was written, I hadn't watched it ether! I've watched it since then and totally recommend it. Its really cute! Lord Death is the bomb XD I love writing him! Also I'm glad you like how I've got the characters written out, and the way I've developed them, but I cant take all the credit for that. ImaginaryEngineer has helped me quite a bit in making sure the two stay true to their characters. Really couldn't have done this without her. And thanks for catching the two errors in my writing. I'll make sure I address them!

Chapter 9

Professor Ursula shuffled through her papers. She was in another meeting with Lord Death and several professors, meisters and death scythes over a developing situation in Greece. Normally this kind of thing was classified for top-level teams only, however Lord Death wanted her there, especially after the insights she offered at the last one. It was a little nerve wracking she had to admit.

Finally, Lord Death arrived. "Hey, hey, hey team! Thank you for your patience, now let's give the floor to Ursula, who has a few good thoughts on Greece!"

Ursula smiled nervously and stood. "Thank you sir!" She crossed the room and dimmed the lights before heading back to her spot at the table and starting her slideshow. "Okay, as you all know there has been a recent spike in disappearances around Athens. Which might not sound like much, however whoever has been doing this has slipped up." she tapped the space bar and the first slide popped up. It was a picture of a dead man laying on what appeared to be a sandy beach. He was badly bloated and clearly had been in the water a long time.

Ursula continued. "This is our John Doe. Now, the coroners report says he was strangled and thrown in the water postmortem. But if you look closer at the bruising on his neck-" she tapped the button again and the screen zoomed way in on the bodies neck "-you will notice two puncture marks here and here." she used a laser pointer to point them out.

"We know that Ursula, are you only going to tell us things we're already aware of?" A woman stepped forward out of the shadows. She was mid height with black hair worn in a graduated bob. Her eyes were a piercing blue, and seemed to break you down to your core even while hiding behind her glasses.

Ursula hid her dislike. "Azusa, I didn't think you would be coming today."

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this for the world."

You could cut the tension with a knife.

Lord Death jumped in "Okay ladies! Azusa I saved you a seat! Let's listen and see what else Ursula has to say, I don't think she's quite done!"

Both women glared at each other for a few moments longer before Azusa took her place at the last empty chair. "Now, as I was saying, the bruises cover the puncture marks. I believe these are either made by a large needle or a smaller snake. There is one other thing I found odd." she tapped a key and moved to the next slide. This one had several pictures of sheep, goats and cattle, dead, with fur shaved off to reveal strangulation marks on their necks "While not uncommon for a twisted teenager to attack livestock, these animals all have the same thing," the slide changed to show pictures of the strangle marks close up. All of which had "Puncture marks. Just like our John Doe. I believe this is the work of the witch Cerce."

Cerce was a twisted witch known for seducing men, sleeping with them, then turning them into animals. She was very powerful, and very dangerous, especially with her love of blood magic.

Azusa wasn't won over. "You forgot one thing, I killed her myself."

"That kill was never confirmed. The body burst into flames that left no trace. In addition, the body's all had lower blood counts. I believe Cerce is back and practicing her magic again, or storing up for something big."

The room was quiet for a long minute. Finally, another death scythe, Lord Death's current weapon Spirit, spoke up. "While there are holes in your theory, I believe this is worth looking into. To ignore it and have you be correct poses far too great a risk."

Lord Death nodded "I happen to agree. Ursula, this is your theory, so I'm going to be sending you out to look into it. I know you prefer sword type weapons, however I am going to have Azusa accompany you and have Jinn look after eastern Asia in her absence."

Both women cringed on the inside but nodded their consent.

"Alright now if that's all I have to be on my way! I have a date with a piece of cake my son made!"

The entire room sighed.