Warning: slight depression and minor suicidal thoughts in this chapter. Also a couple of swears.


"What was Maka talking about?" Kid asked as he opened the door to Lexi's room and walked in. She was shoving everything she had into her bag, her knife out and resting on the bed. "Who's Calix, and why is Spirit dead?"

"It doesn't matter anymore," she responded, going into the closet to get the extra set of clothes she owned and putting them in her bag on top of everything else. Kid clenched his fists, then went over and took the bag from her, holding it away so she couldn't reach it.

"What are you doing?" she asked, reaching for the bag. He moved it over her head to her other side.

"Why are you leaving?" he asked her. He held the bag away again, not exactly playing a game as much as he was trying to stall her departure. She reached again.

"Give it to me!" this time she snatched the bag away and he couldn't stop her. Instead, he went and stood in front of her door so she would have to get past him to leave the room.

"Why are you leaving?" he repeated, though his voice was softer now. Lexi sighed, putting the bag down on her bed by her knife.

"Because if I stay any longer, all of Death City will be in danger."

"How?"

"Kid, this isn't the time for asking questions! Just let me go."

"No. I don't think you understand. I'm not letting you leave here without a full explanation." Then again, he probably wouldn't let her leave at all. He would find a way to keep her in the city, even if it meant he had to take the blame for Spirit's death. His father, after all, was Lord Death. He could pull a few strings to get her off the hook. He watched as Lexi's expression changed from angry to just… frustrated. Frustrated and tired. She sighed and began explaining.

"It started when I was eleven," she began. "It was the middle of the night on Christmas. I woke up and I heard someone walking around in the hallway, and I smelled something burning. I figured it was my brother cooking ramen again, so I shut my eyes… but then I heard my brother scream." She looked down at her hands, which were folded in her lap. "I ran out, and I saw him… he was on the floor in his bedroom, and his bed was on fire. I didn't have to check to know he was dead. And before I could even do anything, I heard my sister scream too. Her scream got cut short. And I knew my parents were next, so I ran to their room… and…" she took a deep, shaky breath and continued her story. "They were still in bed. I figured they were still asleep and hadn't heard the screaming, so I shook my dad to wake him up and there was just… blood. Everywhere. Their eyes were open, and so were their mouths, and I realized they had died before they even had a chance to scream. I saw shadows in the hallway. They were flickering, and I realized the fire was spreading, so I grabbed the picture of my family that my mom kept on her desk and ran into the hallway. The fire alarms went off and everyone ran into the street."

Kid was flabbergasted. Of all the horrible things to happen to someone… he came over and sat down next to her, debating whether or not to take her hand and deciding on not. She glanced up at him, then looked out the window at the city.

"I was in foster care for two years after that before I ran away. They stopped looking after three months. I tried to make friends, but they always died. I learned to stop talking to people after the fourth time. When I was in Detroit, I finally met him. I was fourteen. I had been run out of a small town in Arizona about two weeks earlier, so I was upset, and he came and sat next to me. And he said 'you know it's your fault, right? They're all dead because of you. Well, indirectly. I killed them. But I killed them so I could get to you.' He was so straightforward about it… he told me his name was Calix. I think he explained everything to me because I was so young. He wouldn't have done that if I was older. After that, he just… let me go. Which was stupid, since it would have solved a whole lot of issues and saved a ton of people if he had just killed me on the spot-"

"Don't say that," Kid interrupted, his voice firm. "Don't ever say that."

Lexi just sighed. "He's followed me everywhere since then. I get two weeks max, and then someone dies and I know it's him. For some reason he left me alone longer this time. I wasn't expecting to have a whole month. But now Spirit's dead. So I'm leaving to draw him out of the city. Maybe he'll finally kill me and this will all end."

"I still don't understand why he's chasing you," Kid responded, mulling over her story in his head. "Maka said something about you being the Soul Master-"

"Yeah. That. I'm still not entirely sure what that is, but I know I have weird soul powers. I'm not, like, a typical meister. And my knife can change into any weapon I want it to be. I don't have anyone to teach me this stuff, so I don't know. But I do know that it's Calix's only purpose in life to kill me. I've been fighting him because I'm not ready to die, but now… I don't know. Maybe it's better if I let him kill me and all of this will finally be over."

"Stop saying that," Kid said, sighing and taking her hand. "It wouldn't be better if you were dead."

"How can you say that? Hundreds of people are dead already because I got too close to them. Do you even realize how much danger I'm putting you in just by sitting here and talking to you right now?"

"I don't care!" he snapped, then quickly calmed himself. "Lexi, we can fix this. I know we can, we just have to figure something out. You're not going to die."

Lexi stood up, grabbing her bag and stowing her knife away in her shoe. "Yes. I am." And with that, she walked out of the room, leaving Kid alone.


She didn't want to leave. She was sick of leaving. All she'd ever wanted since her family died was somewhere to belong, somewhere to live, where no one would die because they talked to her. She'd figured Death City- home of meisters and weapons and soul-seers- would be her home, but god, had she been wrong. Now everyone in the whole city knew what she was. She had really grown to love the city… especially the people. Kid was so… nevermind. It didn't matter anymore. She walked towards the edge of the city, planning to walk through the desert to get to the bus station. It was just her and her thoughts and her shadow and her regret. Calix could have been disguised as anyone- Maka, Soul- even Kid. The thought made her sick to her stomach. If Calix had been disguised as Kid, that would mean she had never had any friends at all. In fact, now that she thought about it, it was very likely that he was disguised as Kid. He had taken advantage of her affections… It was equally as likely that he could have been Maka. She had distrusted her from the day they met. Could it have been Calix's life she had saved from that monster on her first night in Death City?

Her thoughts were disrupted when she saw a flash of red on the horizon in front of her. Death City was now a good few hours behind her, a small pinprick on the horizon of the vast, flat desert. She squinted against the sun and yes- there it was again. She began jogging, curiosity piqued, and saw that it was a person, stumbling along in the sand dunes. She couldn't make out who it was. Maybe they were trying to get back to Death City but had lost their way- they seemed to be heading in that direction. When she finally got close enough to make out their face, her heart dropped into her stomach.

It was Spirit.

Her jog turned into a sprint. He was weak, that much she could tell from a distance. She would take him back to the city and then leave. But if he was here… she didn't have time to continue the thought as she reached him, immediately slinging his arm over her shoulders and supporting some of his weight.

"What… what are you doing out here…?" he said weakly, his voice cracking. He must have been out there for at least two days. She dug a bottle of water out of her bag and held it up to him, and he grasped it with his other hand and drank. He drained half the bottle before stopping to breathe.

"I should ask the same of you," she responded. "I thought you were… everyone thought you were dead, Spirit."

"No!" he said. The water was helping, and he held up more of his own weight. "There was a man. He knocked me out. When I woke up, I was out here and he was standing over me. He said… he said he was going to blow the city up, and I could watch. And then he changed into me. I don't know how he did it-"

"Calix." There was a growl in her voice as she spat out the name. "He took your form. He's a shapeshifter. He pretended to be dead to run me out of the city. But if he dropped you here a couple days ago, who was he before that?"

"I don't know," he responded, drinking more of the water as they walked. "But we have to get back to the city and get everyone out."

"He's done some bad things, but this…" she shook her head. "I can't believe he'd destroy an entire city just to get to me. That's it. This ends now."

And they walked on.


Maka ran into Stein on her way to the library the next day. She had been silent in class, which was completely unlike her. And Stein wanted to help.

"Maka. I'm glad I ran into you. Would you come with me, please?" he asked her, gesturing to his office. She shrugged. This wasn't really out of her way. She followed him inside and they both sat after he closed the door.

"I know you're upset about your father's death," he began, but Maka interrupted him.

"I don't want to talk about that."

"Maka, listen to me. I know you're upset, but I want to help you get revenge."

Wait… what? Stein would help her get revenge on Lexi? But they had already sent her out of town, and Lexi knew that Maka would hurt her if she ever came back. It didn't even have to be said.

"She's already gone, Professor. What do we need to get revenge for?"

"She took someone from you," he responded, almost too calmly. "I've lost people to the cause of the Soul Master as well. And this will happen again, somewhere else. It always does. The only way to stop it is to kill her."

Maka couldn't say she hadn't thought about doing just that. It would be the ultimate revenge, and the deaths would stop…

"…I don't know, Professor," she said, looking uneasy. "I don't think it's right to kill her."

Stein leaned forward and put his hands on her shoulders. She wouldn't be able to feel the madness he was putting in her, but it would take effect momentarily. "Maka, come on. She's the reason your father is dead. Don't you want revenge?"

Maka's eyes glazed over a bit before sharpening again. Anger filled them, and she nodded, brushing his hands off of her shoulders. "Yes. I do. I'll steal Soul's bike and find her before she leaves the desert."

"She's stronger than an ordinary human," he instructed. "You'll need more strength. You'll need Soul. Don't steal his bike, just lie about where you're going. Understood?"

Maka nodded and left his office. Stein began to chuckle. The Soul Master would be dead by nightfall. He wanted his revenge too, he just didn't want to get his hands dirty. And he could always lie to Lord Death to get his brightest student off the hook.


"Maka, where are you going?" Kid asked, following her and Soul outside. "It's pouring rain, you'll catch a cold."

"Do I look like I give a shit?" she snapped back, wiping off the rainwater off of the seat of Soul's bike and getting on. Soul didn't like this- she was too eager, and there was something in her eyes. Something unnatural.

"Maka, just hold on," Soul said, crossing his arms. "You can't go anywhere without the keys, and I'm not giving them to you until you tell me what is going on."

"It's important, Soul, that's all I can tell you. Now get on the damn bike!"

But before he could say another word, they all heard shouting. Two figures came into view at the end of the street- Spirit and Lexi.

"Maka!" they were both shouting, and began running as soon as they saw the three of them out by Soul's bike- or, mostly just stumbling, since Lexi was still supporting most of Spirit's weight. Maka stopped dead when she saw them.

"…Papa?" she whispered, unable to tear her eyes away from the limping form of her father. Kid's eyes lit up when he saw Lexi, and both he and Maka ran up to grab Spirit and get him inside. Kid put some paper towels down so he wouldn't get the floor wet. He then went to Lexi and pulled her into a hug, not even caring that she was soaked to the bone and his suit would get wet.

"I don't understand," he said when he pulled away. "I thought you left, I thought Spirit was dead, I thought-"

He was interrupted when she pulled up the sleeve on his right arm, pushing it to above his elbow and twisting his arm to get a look at the inside of it.

"Good… good. You're not him."

"How can you tell?" he asked, and she showed him the inside of her own right elbow. There was a jagged scar right across the vein.

"Calix has the same scar as me. He keeps it even when he changes form. I'm willing to bet it was on him when he was pretending to be Spirit, and we didn't see because his jacket covered it up."

"That doesn't change anything," Maka said, standing to face Lexi. "Even if it wasn't my dad, people have still died because of her. And they'll continue to die unless-"

"Unless I die," Lexi finished for her. "There's something black in your soul. Just so you know. I don't think it's your personality, though it might be. I could be wrong."

Maka snarled and lunged at her, but Soul and Kid caught her and held her back.

"It's madness," she continued, watching her, as if she was looking right through her. "It's small, and it's there on purpose. Someone put it there."

"Now who would do something like that?" Stein asked as he strolled in the front door. "This has gone on long enough. I didn't want to get my coat dirty, but I suppose if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." He pulled a scalpel out of his jacket pocket. With a golden flash, it changed, getting longer and longer until it was a full sword. He then took off his jacket and tossed it aside, and Lexi snarled, pulling out her knife.

"So how long have you been pretending to be Stein, Calix?"


Thanks for reading!