Part Two: Death and Madness


The next day, Angela had a class play which the Society showed up at, en masse (Black-Star cried at the end), so it wasn't until two days after the triumphant Thompson sisters returned to Shibusen that the Time Wasters were able to hold a proper celebration.

One good thing about attending the DWMA was that the cafeteria sold food most people would consider gourmet, so finding baked goods was simply a matter of making a trip to the cafe.

Blair had taken it upon herself to decorate the place with various floating pumpkins, and was currently giving Angela advice on using magic. Anya, Maka, and Kid were observing, fascination evident in their features.

Meme, Soul, Silver (one of the fairies from the caverns, who was introduced previously), and Patty were stuffing their faces.

Mifune, Excalibur, Marcus Law, Tsubaki, and Liz had formed the 'grown up' table, and were chatting in a corner of the room.

Black-Star, Chrona, Ragnarok, Tsugumi, and Sapphire (the other fairy) were in the middle of the room, testing out one of Kid's theories on resonance.

Hero was swinging Ragnarok's weapon-form around and Chrona nervously held Tsugumi's Halberd.

Sapphire, a fairy with brown eyes and greenish-white hair, frowned in confusion. "Wait..." she slurred in a high-pitched voice, fluttering drunkenly around. "What's happening? You-you're not—partners with them," she said, eyes going in and out of focus as she tried to articulate her question.

Black-Star answered. "We've may not have done much in the two months since we became weapons, but we did learn to match wavelengths with most of the people here. After all the time we've wasted together, it would be kind of pathetic if we couldn't..."


"So," Marcus was saying to Mifune, across the room, "Do you think there are parallel universes where different versions of ourselves made different choices and live different lives?"

"Define 'different lives'," said Mifune.

"Like... Chrona might be a guy in another universe, or the Kishin could have been defeated right after the siege of Baba Yaga's Castle, or maybe even Maka was born as a weapon," he shrugged. "Things that easily could have happened, but didn't."

Liz thought about it. "Well, I don't know... if they led different lives, can they really be called 'us'? What are we if not the choices we make?"

"If they have the same parents, then they'd be us," said Patty. "If it looks like an Excalibur, acts like an Excalibur, and uses circular logic like an Excalibur, who are they if not Excalibur? Even if they are maybe evil or something..."

"I take offense to that," remarked the Holy Sword.


"And what's the deal with the Feline Coven, anyway?" Maka was asking Blair over in their quiet little corner where the Cat was teaching Angela. "Why do Cats need a Coven?"

"Why do Witches need a Coven?" returned Blair, flipping her hair. "Magical beings simply seem fond of them, no particular reason for it."

"Hmm. By the way," said Maka, "do you know someone named Belzenef?"

"Sort of," Blair said. "He's my parole officer."

"Parole...?"

"I apologize for nothing," insisted the Cat, before making a face "... except for what I did a year ago."

"What was that?" Maka asked, suspicion evident in her voice.

"Not telling," said Blair, folding her arms.

"Hmm. So... why does Belzenef turn into a bat?" she asked, changing the subject.

"What?" asked Blair, who had been distracted by Black-Star laughing at something from across the room. "Oh, that's because he's the Bat Cat," she told them, shrugging her shoulders. "Witches have an animal transformation, don't they? We're the same."

Maka blinked. "... I thought you said Magical Cats weren't Witches?"

"We're not the same," said Blair, "but we're similar. Most people can't tell the difference at first glance. We don't have to worry about the Sway of Magic, because we're all evil... but most of us aren't very evil."

"So, Medusa could turn into a snake," remembered Maka. "And she was the Snake Witch."

"Yeah, and I can be a chameleon," said Angela. "That's why I'm the Chameleon Witch."

"Is Belzenef the 'Bat Witch', then?" asked Maka.

"He's a guy," said Anya. "Guys can't be Witches."

"Yeah they can," said Blair, glancing at the Halberd meister. "There just aren't as many of them.

"Regardless," the Cat continued, looking back to Maka, "Belzenef's not a Witch. He's a Magical Cat."

"But if he were a Witch..." pressed Maka, "he'd be the Bat Witch?"

"I guess you could say that," admitted Blair, after thinking about it for a moment. "Hey, Angela... are you all right?" Blair asked in concern.

The young Chameleon Witch's eyes had gone unfocused.

Maka moved to put a hand on Angela's shoulder.

The small girl shuddered for a moment... and the next had transformed into a perfect replica of Maka Albarn.

She looked at her hands, and whimpered, before changing back into herself and looking up at Blair in confusion.

"What's happening to me?" asked Angela in a small, horrified voice.

Blair morphed into her true form and nuzzled up against Angela reassuringly. "You're finally starting to develop your powers, kid. Happens to everyone."

"Does it normally happen this young?" asked Mifune in concern. He along with everyone else in the room, had come over to see what was wrong.

"I don't know," said Blair, frowning in concern up at the Samurai from Angela's arms. "For a Cat? Yes, but I have no idea as to whether Witches develop in the same way that we do."

The two fairies were stroking Angela's hair, comfortingly.

...which would have been a good deal more touching if Sapphire hadn't been murmuring, "shiny-shiny-shiny..." to herself.

Silver, at least, was sober, so one out of two wasn't bad.

And Angela did appear to be taking comfort from their actions. Just had to hope that Sapphire wouldn't vomit and distress the Witch further. With a glance to Maka, whose eye she'd managed to catch, Silver eyed Sapphire and raised an eyebrow.

The Kishin-killer caught on immediately and snatched the the fairy silently away from the young Witch with her whip-arm, tugging at Tsubaki's sleeve to indicate that the Shadow Weapon could take the drunken fairy's place if she'd like.

Then, she placed the rather disoriented fairy down on her lap, where Sapphire promptly vomited into Maka's tea.

"Well, I guess we can always go find Kim," said Kid, who was trying to reason out what would make the young Witch feel better. "What do you think, Angela? Feel like talking with Kim and Jacky? They might be able to help."

"Okay," said Angela, who was looking a bit less freaked out, some of her trademark brattishness showing through again, now that the shock had worn off.

Chrona knelt next to Angela. "My mom didn't get her powers until she was twelve," she said, nervously, "But—but she did say that the younger a Witch gets her ability, the more powerful she is. I know it's scary... but this means you'll probably be really special," the black-blooded meister gave an anxious kind of smile that was almost painful to look at, but which was probably meant to be reassuring.

Angela was lifted out of her dark mood altogether by Chrona's words, if not her expression. "Really?" she asked, her voice laced with surprise.

"Probably," Ragnarok told the young Witch. The Screaming Sword had decided to take Chrona out of the spotlight before she fainted from anxiety. "I've seen a lot of Witches in my time," he continued, "and they're usually teenagers by the time they're a threat. Whereas you," he smiled conspiratorially. "Well, I wouldn't even have crossed you on the day we met."

Angela smiled nastily, and morphed in to a doppelganger of Ragnarok, briefly, before returning to herself.

The others were surprised, but covered it admirably for Angela's sake.

Then, with expression of congratulations to the young Witch on the onset of her powers, the members of the Time Wasters Society returned to their previous activities.

Maka, who was sighing over her vomit-tea, looked behind her to see that Kid was biting his own lip in an effort to keep from freaking out and ruining the mood. The Demon Whip, after a moment's thought, realized what it was that had caught the young death-god's interest and chuckled.

"Kid, I think you're good," she said kindly.

"Symmetry!" he said, eyes sparkling and hands clasped together rapturously, "Just think about all the symmetry you could create with powers like those!"


Later, in the Death Room, clouds scurried about the sky-blue walls while Lord Death and Kim spoke quietly. Both looked up as Death the Kid entered the room.

"Father?" asked the young Shinigami, announcing his presence.

"Hello, Kid," said Lord Death. "We were just discussing what to do about Angela. Since you'll be running things, one of these days, why not start making decisions now?"

"All right," said Kid. "Hi, Kim," he said, nodding to his former comrade-in-arms.

"Hi, Kid," said the Tanuki Witch. "We've missed you in Spartoi."

"Missed being there," returned Kid.

"Well, then," said the headmaster of Shibusen, once he'd sensed the two students were done with small-talk. "Kim's healing wavelength doesn't seem to be enough to keep Angela from being affected by the Sway of Magic." His shoulders slumped glumly at the admission. "Any ideas on what we can do about this? I'd rather not use the machine unless absolutely necessary..."

"For now, at least," said Kid, "she's still doing fine."

"I think that's good." said Kim, but her expression still bespoke worry.

"You think?" asked Lord Death and Kid.

Kim raised her hands and grimaced. "I never had to deal with the Sway myself: one of the benefits of being the Tanuki Witch, but now it means I have absolutely no idea how to help."

Lord Death nodded. "Have you ever heard of Witches being able to resist the Sway of Magic?" he asked.

"Well, yeah..." said Kim, "but which stories to believe? Before they fall to it, literally every Witch tries everything in their power to avoid it. There're a lot of scams out there..."

Kid and his father exchanged a glance.

"But if I had to pick one," Kim was saying, "I'd go with the idea of forming a Coven. It's said that if multiple Witches band together, they can keep their sanity."

"... but, she's been around you and Blair since she got here," Kid pointed out. "That doesn't seem to have kept her from being affected."

Kim sighed. "Blair's a Cat, and I'm only one Witch. Maybe the fact that I'm immune means I'm harder for her to relate to?" Kim shook her head. "I don't know!" She paused to steady her emotions and took a breath. "But, regardless, finding a Coven for Angela would mean seeking out other Witches. Where would we even start looking?"

"I wonder..." said Kid. "The Ouran Alliance might have sane Witches. Do you know if they do, father?"

"What's the Ouran Alliance?" asked Lord Death, tilting his head to the side.

"I've never heard of them either," said Kim.

Kid sweatdropped.

Then, he regained his composure. "From what I understand," Kid began, "they're a weapon's rights group which opposes a Shinigami known as the 'Death Emperor,'" he told the other two.

"... Doesn't ring a bell," said the elder Shinigami. "Are you sure these Witches aren't insane? Seems like they're fighting death-gods who aren't even there."

"Not in the least," admitted Death the Kid. "But it's the only idea I've got right now."

"I'll see if I can find any defectors from the Witches Council. They might have better advice," said Kim before taking her leave.

"In the meantime," Lord Death told his son. "Would you like to assemble a team to go and investigate this 'Ouran Alliance' lead?"

"... all right, father," said Kid, wondering silently whether he was about to open Pandora's box.


"Hey," said Kid, entering the club room. "Anyone want to go on a mission to Japan?"

"I do!" said Black-Star, immediately knocking over his king on the chessboard where he'd been playing a game with Tsubaki... and losing badly from the looks of the board. "Why?" asked the Assassin.

"Word on the grapevine," explained Kid, "is that forming a 'Coven' can help Witches stay sane against the Sway of Magic. That means we need to gather a few Witches or find an existing Coven... and that reminds me." He turned to Hero, who had been playing poker with Meme, Excalibur, and Ragnarok.

"Do you have a long-lost brother?" Kid asked the meister, with nothing but seriousness in his expression.

Hero thought about it carefully, getting the impression, from the looks the other Society members were giving him, that a great deal rode on his answer. "...I don't think so," he finally answered, standing to join the conversation.

"Okay, then," said Kid. Immediately, all heaviness vanished from the atmosphere in the room.

"Well," the Shinigami went on, "you see, before you joined the club, there was this guy who barged into one of our meetings and acted kind of... insane. Like you when you were partners with Excalibur."

Hero winced.

"—put that together with the blond hair and blue eyes," Kid continued, "and a few of us thought we were seeing double."

"What does that have to do with Japan?" asked Anya, who'd been playing a piano piece for two hands with Soul. "Are you going to join Tamaki Suoh's Ouran Alliance or something?"

Kid shook his head. "Do you guys remember who Suoh said the Clowns in his alliance were usually with?"

"... 'the Coven,'" said Maka, who'd been in a corner, reading a book. "Oh. You think they might be able to help Angela?"

"That's what I'm hoping, at least," Kid said. "So I'm making a diplomatic mission out of it."

"Count me in," said Hero, "I'd like to see this guy."

"I'll come, too," said Tsubaki, who was putting the chess pieces back in their starting positions.

"I should probably go," admitted Blair. "I'm overdue to talk with Belzenef, anyway, and the Feline Council is on the way."

"Suoh did say that the Ouran Alliance was in a 'different Japan,' whatever that means," said Kid, "so it might be rather difficult to find."

"Oh, I know," said Blair. "I also know how to get there, which isn't at all obvious."

"That will help immensely" said Kid. "Thank you, Blair."

Angela, who Kid had turned to look at next, frowned. "You're going to visit the annoying guy?"

"Tamaki Suoh, yes."

"I'm staying here," she announced.

"Much as I'm tempted to go," said Mifune. "It's probably best that I remain with Angela."