The chapel's interior was as breathtaking as the outside. The walls stretched up to impossible heights, supporting a beautifully painted ceiling. Stained glass windows filtered in the waning moonlight, casting vivid shapes on the carpeted floor. Rows of pews led up to an ornate altar surrounded by candles, its waxy shadows flitting about on the floor.
A tall figure was hunched over the altar, a long string hanging from his lap. It was the man from the beach the night before. He stood at their entrance, the string dangling his hand turning out to be a barbed whip. 'That other girl, Haley.' Tsugumi remembered. 'She's the whip.' She started to tell Anya, but a metallic sound echoed of the walls, followed by a laugh.
In front of her, Maka had dropped Soul on the floor. Soul changed back, rubbing his head and crouching on the floor. "Ow, Maka! That hurt, damn it!" Tsugumi changed back too, a seed of an explanation starting to grow in her head. 'Please, let me be wrong.' The laughing had stopped, and the leader's cold voice filled her ears, making her sick. "Oh, no. What's wrong, girlie?" Maka's face had paled slightly, and her normally sharp green eyes were unfocused, as if she was in a trance. She dropped to her knees, breathing heavily. Tsugumi knelt next to her, a sick sense of knowing coiling in her stomach.
Soul, however, didn't seem to catch on. His earlier ease had faded away to panic, both from the looming enemy and Maka's behavior. "Maka? Hey, Maka!" He yelled and grabbed her chin and turned her face towards his, his red eyes fearful. "Maka?" he whispered, and Tsugumi suddenly felt like an intruder. She tried to tell him what was wrong, but the tall man beat her to it. "You know, the fear of churches is called something…ecclesiophobia, I think." He let out another harsh laugh. "But in her case, I guess it's just called trauma!"
Soul went still for a minute, before the realization hit him. His face went white as paper, and he went back to shaking his meister. "Maka! This is not the time!" He yanked her hand over his heart, his knuckles white from gripping her wrist. "There, see? My heart's beating. I'm okay. You need to wake up now." His voice had relaxed during his speech, and Tsugumi got the feeling that this wasn't the first time he had said this.
A scream pried Tsugumi's attention away from Maka. Anya stumbled back from the leader, her hand clutching her bleeding arm. Blood dripped from one of the barbs on the whip, and Tsugumi knew it would be an image that would haunt her late at night. But when the whip was raised again, her body moved on its own. One second she was with Maka and Soul, the next she had her spear point driven into the carpet of the chapel with the whip wrapped around her shaft. Adrenaline sharpened her blades and pumped through her system, the noises of confusion coming from both weapon and meister filling her with a sense of satisfaction.
"Sorry I'm late." Tsugumi declared, the strength in her voice surprising her. The whip unwound itself from her shaft, Anya's hand gripping it with a steely firmness.
"No worries, you didn't take long at all." Anya responded. She spun Tsugumi's spear point around with the same practiced ease she had with everything she did, ending with the tip just under the man's chin. She felt Anya's determination as if it were her own. "And neither will I."
Anya jabbed forward, only to clash against a red and black blade. Soul stood slightly in front of them, his scythe blade curving out from his shoulder. He straightened and slightly turned his head, fixing them with a sad look. "Maka…Maka isn't listening to me." His voice sounded fragile. "I'll handle this, if you guys will try and break through to her."
Anya didn't move, and Tsugumi spoke to Soul. "What do you mean, she won't listen to you? You're the only one—"
"Don't tell me I'm the only one that can fix this. I'm not, I'm the problem." His voice was rough. Tsugumi felt his blade harden against her spear's tip, and she tried again.
"Don't say that. I was going to say that you're the only one she trusts." The weapon froze, and his arm dropped slightly. He turned back to look at her and Anya, his expression unreadable.
"Maka doesn't need my kindness right now," he said firmly.
Anya's grip tightened. "We'll try. But I will say this, Tsugumi and I can only do so much, Soul. You are the source of her fear, so you will have to be the one to bring her back." Tsugumi thought she saw Soul flinch, but she decided it was her imagination. Anya could be harsh, but he didn't seem like the type to be affected by words.
He turned back to the surprisingly patient meister with a nod. "I know. But I can't do this one by myself." He leapt forward, continuing the battle.
Tsugumi stayed in Anya's grip while she ran back to where Maka was resting, hoping Anya knew what she was doing.