Chapter 11

Christian found his way to Stein's house about twenty minutes early. "Hey, Doc!" Brian yelled. They entered through the back gate and found Stein waiting for them on his porch sitting in his customary office chair. "Greetings once again Davises." Stein puffed his cigarette and smiled. "I'm afraid we're going to be deviating from our scheduled training session for tonight."

Stein let his head slip down to rest on the back plate of the chair. "I grew curious after last night's sparring, and I decided I want to see your soul resonance."

Christian frowned at that. "We, uh, we've never done a soul resonance, doctor." He scratched the back of his head. "And to be honest, we don't know how." Christian gave Stein a look that mixed all of his uncertainties together at once. Stein returned an unamused look that bordered anger.

"And you didn't tell me this earlier, why?" Stein asked rather crossly. "As a meister a the soul resonance should come second nature to you, even more so with your mastery of self resonance." Stein flicked his cigarette away. "Can your souls link? Can they exchange? If they can't then Brian is not the weapon for you."

"Yes and yes." Christian defended. "We have simply been hesitant to try a soul resonance because of my handicap."

"So hesitant that you never even bothered to learn how?" Stein asked, his answer was Christian head dropping in a shameful nod. Stein sighed and got out of his chair. "We'll start at square one then. Brian, become my weapon."

Brian shrugged his shoulders and took the form of a glaive. Stein took the weapon and changed his soul to resonate with Brian. "First your souls must become polar opposites." A light wind began slurring around them. "Next, you must let your soul energy flow to and from the weapon. Let it build, amplified by each revolution." Pebbles and dirt began to shift by Stein's feet as his coat began flapping in the wind. "Then build it, build it until you feel like you soul is going to explode." Stein's smile formed as he let the power build. Brian began to change too, his blade grew longer and sharper. The staff took a green tint and also grew another two foot backwards, resulting in a total of eight feet of staff and three of blade. Stein watched as a hook grew on the top of the blade and smiled as the rest of it assumed a crescent moon shape. "Finally, when you have maxed out your soul. Attack."

Stein spun on the spot and sliced with the blade. The air screamed in protest as a line of fire erupted from the blade. The air exploded with fire, growing like a tidal wave approaching the shore. It extended for meters in each direction and grew downward to scrape the ground, leaving a trail of scorched dirt and glass. It grew upward and engulfed the sky, burning the air itself. The fire roared, alive as the flames continued to grow. The solitary tree in the lot was clipped and simply disintegrated to ash, leaving what was let a smoldering stump. Suddenly it dissipated and caved in on itself, leaving the thirty yard trail of smoke and scorched earth behind.

Stein's eyes were as wide as they could be, mouth open and speechless. "Doctor?" His eyes were fixed on the trail, then to the shrinking blade and back. A solemn look took hold as he turned to Christian. "Doctor?" He asked again.

"Doc?" Brian's voice came through again. "Something wrong?"

"Doctor Stein, are you okay?" Christian asked.

Stein let the smile return and handed Brian back to Christian. "Lets see you try it."

Christian took the blade and stepped back. He let his soul grow, letting it form halfway to the chains. "Good, now pass off the energy." Stein instructed. Christian closed his eyes and allowed his energy pass into the glaive. He felt it leave, felt the warmth as Brian consumed the energy. The wind picked up around them, blowing his jacket tails in the heavy breeze. He felt his hair shift, the tips of his bangs tickling his brow. "Do the same you did for me Brian." Christian could smell the tobacco of the new cigarette, the scent teased his nostrils as he felt the soul return to him.

Again he passed it back to his brother, and again he received it. The weapon began to change in his hand, elongating once again, and becoming somewhat lighter. Christian opened his eyes and concentrated on his target, the stump of the ruined tree. Suddenly, he felt the power in his hands. It pumped between them, exchanging at the speed of light now. Stein took a step back as a light began to emulate from them. His eyes watched eagerly as Christian's soul grew to meet the chains.

Then, then things began going wrong. Blood began pouring from Christian's nose, his gums became inflamed and began free flowing blood from his mouth. From his tear ducts came tears of blood and his ears gave way to vast amounts of the life fluid. Suddenly the soul gave an explosive burst and jarred the chains, fresh wounds visible on the surface. Physical evidence of this bared itself in the form of Christian falling to his knees and his head jerking back as if struck by a heavy blow. He dropped Brian and gave a cry of agony as the ground welcomed him.

Brian turned human and grabbed his crippled brother. "Chris!" He yelled, he fell to his knees in an attempt to catch Christian's lifeless body. He succeeded in softening the blow, but could not stop him from hitting the ground. "Turn him over." Stein said. Brian obeyed turning Christian's dead weight to lie on his back.

Stein fell to his knees beside the brothers and put his hand to Christian's throat. "Dammit, he's going into shock." Christian gave a hacking cough, blood spraying out like a fountain. "Turn him on his side, make sure he can breath." Stein looked up and stopped in his tracks as his eyes met Brian's, bright yellow eyes with slit pupils, slowly turning human. He shook his head, "Your jacket, give me your jacket." Stein said.

One hour later, Christian sat on the concrete porch, sipping coffee. "What the hell happened?" He whispered. Stein sat in his chair a few feet away, his glasses reflected the light of the rising moon. The chair creaked slightly as Stein shifted before answering. "You soul utterly rejected the resonance." He flicked the ashes off the cigarette. "It seemed as if the moment you channeled your energy into the attack your soul automatically sent pure energy from the source and overpowered your limits." A brief pause. "I think it's safe to say that you don't need to attempt a resonance until the chains are gone." He twisted the screw and smiled. "Sorry about that. Once you feel better you can go on home, your lesson for tonight is over."

"Good night, and have fun at the party!" He burst out and kicked off back into his house. His chair squeaked loudly as is crossed the threshold and made it about to the sitting room before falling over. Brian rounded the inside corner and watched as the scientist tipped over and hit the floor. "See you later Doc." He said as he clapped his hands together and put them in his pockets.

Christian upturned the cup and winced slightly as his throat was seared raw. "Let's go Brian." He sat the cup on the porch and began the memorized six mile path back to civilization. They walked in silence, not a sound beyond the repeated steps on the asphalt.

Back in the casè de Stein, Stein stood in front of the bathroom mirror and wrote the familiar numbers again. 42-42-564

"Hello, Stein! More bad news I trust?" Death asked in his normal singsong voice.

Stein scoffed. "Unfortunately." He finished his cigarette and tossed the butt into the sink. "There is no doubt in my mind that Brian is indeed the Green Dragon." Stein said with a frown. "His appearance, his eyes, and his resonance all match the lore to a T. What's more, he changes shape to match the Green Dragon upon activating soul resonance."

"What of young Christian?" Death asked. "Green Dragon is powerful no doubt, but without its true master it is just another weapon."

Stein kept his frown. "Christian is still up in the air, so to speak. The chains are still the problem in determining whether or not Christian is a reincarnation of the man." He let out a sigh. "It is possible that Green Dragon is alone this time, and is simply using a temporary meister before choosing his new owner."

"I doubt that completely." Death said crossly. "Green Dragon has only had one master, because only one could handle him." Stein produced a new cigarette and lit it without speaking. "That man defied my predecessor, my father, and breifly created a time without death. I will not make the same mistakes."

"I know, I read the stories." Stein took a long drag from the cigarette and let the smoke exit his nose. He took the book from the top of the toilet and flipped to the marked page. "He challenged the previous Lord Death to a duel, wishing to rid the world of the tyranny that he was. 'The warrior gave a great cry, screaming, fight me oh Great Murder, Thief of Souls.' After three days and nights of mortal combat with each other the challenger stood victorious over your predecessor and struck him down. 'Three suns and three moons gave spectacle to the battle before the hero stood where Death kneeled and claimed his head.' Old Chinese stories give no justice to the matter though." Stein slapped the book shut and smiled.

"No they don't." Death bowed his head. "Watch him Stein, don't let him know who he might be." Death disappeared from the mirror.

Later that night a group of teenagers sat around the crowded table at Death Desert Wing House laughing and playing a game of nonalcoholic coin shots known as fire shots. Christian smiled as he bounced his last quarter off the table and laughed at the resounding groan as it clinked into the shot glass, joining the three others. Kenji, Brian, Adam, and Lovell all raised their glasses and drank their respective shots of flaming fury hot sauce.

Kenji made a face that only turned funnier as the spice hit him, a cough sounded as he began to choke on the devilishly hot liquid. Brian mirrored Kenji as he placed his shot glass next to his other three on the table. Adam caved and grabbed his glass of milk before even half of the dark red liquid was gone. As for the Frenchman, Lovell, he finished his shot and placed it on the table defiantly as Christian placed his feet on the table.

Lovell, a weapon, stood just shorter than Brian and had less meat on him than Adam. "Next round if you please." He said with barely any accent, his time in the states slowly decaying it. His lanky frame made it hard to believe that he was indeed a trident halberd, a huge weapon. His meister sat beside him, a girl of about fourteen named Luban. Only one word ever described her, as only one would work, petite. She stood just over five foot and weighed just eighty five pounds being generous. Despite this, not anyone at the academy, save Blackstar, would trifle with her.

Luban, Diana, and Jade sat across and next to each other, watching and laughing at the stupidity of their respective weapon or meisters. Amy sat next to Christian, she had grown close to him and now hero worshiped him. "Good job Chris." She said as he gathered the coins. "Who's ready for round five?" She asked.

"Another round of fire shots!" Christian called. A waitress nodded and walked to the back. "God no." Adam gasped. "I'm going teh feel this in my stomach for weeks, how can you fellas keep going?"

"Pride." Lovell answered. He stuck out his hand and muttered something under his breath. "My shot right?" Christian nodded and handed him the quarters. "Watch me mon ami." A waitress came to the table and dropped the tray full of the flaming shot glasses. He placed a quarter between each fingertip and threw three at once. Each clanked as it left the table and gave a clink as all three entered the designated shot glass. "Battre ce, garçon de la campagne!" He cried.

"You're not human frenchie!" Brian said as he downed his shot, Christian upturned his own, followed by the next two shots. The paste like sauce burned like liquid magma as it slid down their throats. Kenji felt his nose begin to bleed as the liquid flowed down his raw throat. He gave a cough and winced as his nostrils burned from the residue that escaped his nose. "I'm out, I can't do anymore." Brian conceded too as a thin stream of blood came frm his own nose.

Christian downed his last glass and smiled as Kenji gulped his glass of milk. "You know what Lovell?" Christian motioned for a waitress. "Let's up the ante, five bucks says I can last through the next part longer than you can."

"And what would this next part be, country boy?" Lovell asked.

The waitress came to the table. "Two new glasses of milk and a ginger root, and two raw ghost peppers, please." Christian said without looking at her, she scribbled down the order on the note pad then turned and left.

"Ghost peppers?" Lovell asked. "Mon ami you're making that up."

"We'll see." Christian tossed a five dollar bill on the table and motioned with an open hand. Lovell glared at him with a quizzical expression before calling his bet. "One piece of advice Frenchie, don't let air touch it."

Brian smiled devilishly and whispered to Kenji as they waited for the peppers to arrive. Kenji shook his head and smiled as the waitress returned. Luban, who had been ignoring the last few minutes of conversation, glanced up to see the girl place two glasses of milk and shaved ginger between the two boys. "What have you gotten yourself into Lovell?" Her annoyed furrow quickly disappeared upon recognizing the two dark red peppers being placed between them. It was replaced with a mischievous grin.

"Watch this Amy." Christian said as he took the pepper in hand. It was barely bigger than his thumb but seemed impossibly heavy for its size. "On three Frenchie."

"Qui, can we get on with it?" Lovell asked. "How bad can it be?"

A loud snort was heard from the Americans collectively at the table. Christian shook his head in what might have been pity before looking back up at Lovell. "One, two, and three." Christian opened his mouth and spread his lips as far as he could from the red skin of the devil's fruit. His teeth found a bite at the base of the stem and severed it in a quick chomp, then shut his mouth and began breathing slowly through his nose. He chewed slowly before swallowing.

Lovell on the other hand bit just shy of the base with his lips touching the pepper. He chewed with his lips parted and swallowed the pepper in seconds. "You call that a burn Christian?" In response Christian's smile grew and he reached over and collected the two five dollar bills. "Hey, you have to win first." Lovell protested.

Christian held up his fingers and began counting down from five. Almost on command, as Christian's pointer finger fell, a throbbing began to emerge on Lovell's tongue. This was followed closely by the reddening of his face and throat, and sweat forming on his brow. "Okay, that's got a good burn." He said. Christian's cheeks and brow began to turn a similar shade of red, though not as dark, and an absence of sweat could be observed.

Lovell's face grew a darker and darker shade of red as blood began to drip from his nose. Lovell coughed and immediately regretted doing so as it felt as is the fires in his mouth had intensified tenfold. "Merde, that's hot." Christian smiled as the Frenchman hit the table, his neck was a red as his face. Tears came streaming out of his eyes as he finally reached for his milk. After finishing it in three gulps he looked at Christian and smiled. "You're the one who's not human."

Christian reached for the ginger and popped it into his mouth. Almost immediately the redness in his face disappeared and he began breathing through his mouth again. "I told you not to let air touch it." He said as he sipped his tea. "You have to smother it like a fire.."

The fire returned to Lovell and he downed his coke without a second's hesitation. "No," Christian was too late. "Caffeine only makes it worse." Lovell doubled over as the fire returned tenfold, saliva began to dribble from his mouth as it hung open. "Here, this will kill it." Christian pushed the ginger to him. Lovell took it and nearly gagged from the taste but immediately noticed the soothing release.

"Well it's been fun you guys, but some of us have to kill a witch tomorrow." Kenji stood up and put his coat on Jade's shoulders. "I'll see you guys when I get back." Jade stood and exchanged goodbyes with the other girls. They left, Kenji with his arm around her shoulders. "Cute couple." Christian commented.

"If you say so." Diana responded. "We need to get going to Adam, Amy is up way too late tonight." Adam glanced at his watch and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right" he said. "See you guys at the sparring match tomorrow."

"Oh, that's tomorrow?" Brian asked.

"Yep, you ready teh get your ass whipped?" Adam sneered.

"Language!" Amy yelled.

"Right, sorry" Adam said.

Diana stood behind Amy and pulled the chair out for her "Good night Christian, hopefully you'll come up with some better lines next time."

"Once again the mighty huntress has pierced my heart with her tongue of ice!" Christian joked. "One day I shall charm the fox into my arms."

"Maybe one day country boy, but definitely not tonight." Diana took Amy's hand and followed Adam out of the restaurant. Christian turned to Lovell and made a toast motion with his tea glass before picking up the check and walking to the front desk. "Brian, leave a tip." He called over his shoulder.

They entered their dorm thirty minutes later. "Did you have to do that to the Frenchie?" Brian asked. Christian smiled and took a seat on the couch. "Boy was a little too cocky for my taste."

Brian shook his head. "Get to bed soon, we either have to face Adam or Luban tomorrow. Either way it won't be easy." Brian threw his jacket on the back of the couch and threw his shirt in the clothes bin by the bedroom door as passed the threshold. Yawned and eventually went to his own bed before midnight. His dreams welcomed him and he drifted into a deep sleep.