Umm, so I loveeveryone who reviewed so far. You all fucking get me. THANKS YOU BEAUTIFUL SEXUAL PEOPLE. Yeah, I had a lot of caffeine like an hour ago and I'm freaking out. Alright, I have little else to say.
See you all at the end of this chapter. (;
Soul Eater: What Happens Next?
Chapter 12
When morning arrived, the fourteen weapons and miesters all met in the lobby. They chose the far corner by a big fireplace, as it was furtherest from the front desk and the route most of the maids and other staff walked.
"So all of our rooms were broken into last night, except for Kiara's?" The group nodded at Soul's question. "Was anything missing from any of them?"
"Not from mine."
"Mine either. Everything was exactly where I left it." The rest of them had come to the same conclusion as Maka and Liz, except for Chrona.
"W-well, nothing was missing.. But the room was all messed up. Ember helped me reorganize everything."
"Okay, so whoever got into our rooms only seemed to want something out of Chrona's? That seems kind of odd.." Tsubaki nodded in agreement with Maka. They spitballed ideas for why the invader had done this and came to a few answers: he had only been looking for Chrina's room, he wasn't seeing what he was looking for and got frustrated and took it out on the last room which happened to be Chrona's, he heard Chrona at the door and did the last minute mess to make some obstacles, and so on.
"Honestly I think that Chrona's room was the only one actually broken into." They all looked to Kiara.
"So it's just coincidence that all of our rooms were unlocked? Sorry, but that seems a little unbelievable."
"Not as unbelievable as you'd think. Wanna know why, Princess?" Maka's eyebrow twitched.
"Dazzle me.." Kiara smirked at the girl's attempted mocking.
"My pleasure. I think Chrona's room was the only one broken into because it was the only one trashed. And because my door was unlocked too. Which is odd because after you all left, I locked it from the inside. No one came near my door after you all left except for a staff member, and he was just locking every other door in the hall."
"That's a little weird.." Kiara held a finger up to Ember's lips.
"Not finished. Yesterday morning, before the 'break ins', I had woken up at 5 am. I went on autopilot and headed for my door to go out and take a short walk. I didn't try unlocking my door or having the staff open it, but when I turned the nob, the door opened. I'm fairly sure that these doors have trick locks." Ember's eyes twinkled.
"Wow, this place is more like home with every little find..." Kidd sent a suspicious look Ember's way.
"And where exactly is home?"
"Ohhh, you know, where the heart is." She sent him back a triumphant smirk. He just shook his head. Though Ember seemed to know exactly what a trick lock was, the others weren't so knowledgeable.
"There were a bunch of slang terms in New York, but I've never head of a 'trick lock'." Kiara looked to Ember, sending her a look saying 'explain it to them'.
"Righto, a trick lock is basically a non permanent lock. Like, it seems like a lock, but after a certain amount of time the inner workings holding it in the lock position snap back and the door basically unlocks itself. Each model can be made to hold for a specific amount of time too. A lot of crooked locksmiths use them on wealthy customers and just come back when they aren't home and rob em blind. Or in this case, a lodge had them installed because there aren't enough employees. They can't actually come and unlock every door right at 9am."
"Can someone mess with an already installed lock and make a makeshift trick lock?"
"Nope! You've gotta make it all from scratch. It's way too complex to turn an ordinary lock into a trick lock. These doors would all have to have been made specifically with trick locks."
"Well that clears that mystery up. Any chance we can get some food now?" Maka rolled her eyes at Soul. He saw the motion and nudged her softly. "What's that for? I haven't eaten yet today!"
"I'm pretty sure food is the only thing you think about..."
"Pssh, it is not."
"Is too!"
"Is not!" The pair continued their childish argument for a few more minutes before one of the others got them to shut up. Sierra got right to what they all needed to spend the day figuring out soon after.
"We know that speaking with the mayor is a priority today, but we don't all need to go. I think he'd feel threatened. Maybe four or five of us go to see him and the others stay here."
"I still need to find out what that sign says, so I'll stay here and do that."
"Not to sound sexist, but I feel like sending only a few of the the girls would go over better."
"I'd have to agree with Hunter. When Maka and I were there yesterday, I couldn't help but notice a picture on the mayor's desk of him, who I'd presume to be his wife, and three young girls. He'd probably feel more obligated to tell a female the truth, or at least have a harder time lying about what we want to know." The others fully agreed with the plan.
"Sierra and Tsubaki are probably two of the most approachable of us all, so I say they should definitely go. And he'll probably feel more comfortable if he sees Maka again."
"Should we have one more go? Just so it's even at the least?" Liz rolled her eyes at Kidd while Lance and Black Star couldn't help but let out amused chuckles. He failed to notice any of that and continued speaking. "Liz, how about you go too?"
"I'd rather stay here...so I think I'll pass." Ember had already eliminated herself from the candidates to go see the mayor, and Patti stated she was going to stay with Liz at the lodge. Kidd's head hung low.
"Oh well..." He mumbled softly. Patti looked over to Kiara. The black haired girl was lounging on one of the big chairs, her legs dangling over the arm of it.
"How about Kiara goes? She already found the witch, so she'd just be here all day anyways." Tsubaki grew a thoughtful expression.
"Actually..that would be a good idea. I know I haven't actually met this mayor before, so I don't know how good he is at lying, but I can't see anyone successfully lying to her."
"I think it's a good idea too." Sierra looked to her friend. "Are you on board for coming?" Lazily Kiara looked to the brunette beauty.
"Not particularly..but I really don't think I get a choice in this."
"OKAY! So umm, what are the rest of us supposed to do while you four go talk to the mayor?" Liz and Ember both stood up after Black Star's question.
"I'm going back to bed until I'm needed."
"I'm gonna find out about that sign." As they headed away from the group, Kidd sighed and began to stand.
"I should get in touch with my father and let him know about the added disappearance and apparent cover up. I'll also ask about any kind of terrain information, and I'll see if he's gotten any kind of update about the witch."
"I'm gonna get food."
"And I'm gonna go with Soul." Maka and Sierra both let out exasperated sighs at their partners' game-plan. Patti looked around at the emptying seats. She didn't want to go out in the cold, but at the same time she didn't want to stay cooped up at the lodge. Her eyes traveled around the room and a small movement caught her eye. 'Is that a ...cat?' She kept her gaze on the shadow and after a few seconds it moved again. 'IT IS A CAT!' Without saying a thing about the animal she just discovered, Patti stood and crept after the feline as it stealthily moved out of the lobby and down the hall. Sierra looked to her brother. He was just sitting and seemed to have zoned out.
"Hunter?" His head snapped up at her.
"Eh?"
"What are you gonna do while we're with the mayor?" He shrugged.
"I don't know. I'll probably just hang around with Trace or something." After hearing his name, Trace opened an eye slightly and upon seeing nothing new happening closed it. Tsubaki looked to Black Star.
"What about you? You did raise the question."
"Train of course!" Tsubaki sweat dropped when Black Star shot up and grabbed Chrona. 'Of course...' The pinkette was struggling in Black Star's grip but failed to escape it. Maka sighed.
"Poor Chrona." Tsubaki and Sierra nodded silently in agreement. Kiara huffed and stood up. The other three girls looked to her.
"Get your coats and let's go. I wanna get this over with." Without arguments they all shuffled off to their rooms and retrieved their warm clothing. In under 10 minutes the four were at the door and ready to head out. Snow began the moment they stepped outside and only got heavier as they walked. The winds picked up too and made walking fast a lot harder. It had originally taken Kidd and Maka around 15 minutes to walk from the lodge to Town Hall, but it took them near 30. Once they made it to the tall eggshell white building they quickly entered. An elderly woman at the front desk looked up at the sound of their entry and gave them a weak smile.
"Hello ladies. What can I help you with?" The woman had short curly grey hair and wrinkles galore. Her nose was small, her eyes were squinty, her smile was crooked and missing a few teeth, and her skin was pasty white. Sierra cast her a warm smile and walked over.
"Hello. We'd like to meet with the mayor."
"Oh I'm terribly sorry, but he's in meetings all day."
"Could you double check that? I'm sure he has time to squeeze us in." Without even batting an eye the old woman responded.
"He can't. Sorry." Tsubaki stepped next to Sierra.
"Please? It's very important that we speak with him."
"He has no time for any unscheduled meetings today."
"I was just here yesterday and he saw my friend and me with no issues.. Are you sure he's booked?" The elderly woman turned her head to Maka.
"I'm positive. You young ladies need to learn some manors. The mayor is a very busy man and has no time for social calls. Now please leave." Her tone was harsh and authoritative. Her eyes sent a hard glare to Kiara when she heard the younger girl release a snide snicker. "Is something funny?"
"Yes actually. There are a few things that I'm finding comical here. One would be how you think you have enough power to tell us to leave, and another would be how you think there's some kind of option in letting us see this man or not."
"You watch your mou-"
"Excuse me, I'm speaking here. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to interrupt someone while they're talking?" The woman's eye twitched in annoyance. "Now, we'll be meeting with the mayor. If anyone else comes in, please be so kind as to have them come back later." With that Kiara turned and walked down the hall. Maka and the other two sped to catch up with her. Upon reaching the mayor's door, Kiara opened it without hesitation. The loud sound startled the heavy set man sitting at his desk.
"Hurmphh! Haven't you heard of knocking, young lady?" He had a friendly disposition to himself. His eyes quickly ran over the four girls currently in his office and stopped at Maka. "Ah! Molly! So nice to see you again!" Maka sweat dropped.
"It's Maka, sir..." He didn't appear to hear her and kept speaking.
"What can I help you ladies with?" The girls all looked to Kiara, hoping she'd pick a place to start. She rolled her eyes, but took the situation in her hands anyways. She was about to cut right to it but she stopped before any words came out. Sierra had nudged her subtly, which caused Kiara to take a quick second look around the room. Through her peripheral vision she noticed a small red dot in between two books on the shelf diagonal to them.
"Why on earth would you chose to live someplace this cold?" Maka blinked a few times, her mouth agape, and Tsubaki's expression was similar to her friend's.
"Kiara wh-"
"Shhh, Princess. The grown ups are talking." She turned her attention back to the mayor. "What's this town usually like? Close knit or what?"
"Ohh, we're all very close! When it's someones' birthday, we're all there. If someone gets sick, the whole town sends flowers. It's that place where you say 'how do ya do?' to everyone you pass! Wonderful people live up here. Friendly as puppies. Though we don't just trust and listen to anyone!"
"Sounds like a nice place, except for the cold."
"Ha, it can get a bit nippy out! But we don't really notice it. Most of the people are all 5th or 6th generations in in the family trees. The cold doesn't do much too us anymore." She nodded, taking the information in.
"How does it handle the wild animals around here?"
"Our town's butcher doubles as the protection. He can take down two full grown bears. We've watched him do it! It's gruesome, but it's necessary. Not a lot of trade up here, as you'd probably guess."
"How active is this town usually?" The mayor looked to Sierra.
"Oh very active! Children are always playing in the snow, and there's always a few adults out and about." After saying that, he got up and walked over to his door and opened it. "I'm terribly sorry ladies, but I have quite a bit of work to get too..." Without any arguments the four girls left the room. Once the door shut, it was apparent that Maka was about to lose it on Kiara. Before she had the chance, Sierra clamped her hands down over the blonde's mouth quickly.
"Shh. Not here Maka. Save it till we're outside." The walk through the building was quick, and Maka wasted no time in shouting at the black haired girl the second they were back outside. Sierra and Tsubaki both stepped back and let the two girls settle things themselves.
"What the hell are you trying to pull? You go in there and get us all to see the mayor, and then you fucking blow what was probably the ONE chance we had in finding anything out by asking questions that, in absolutely no way, help us! Why the fucking hell would you do that?" Kiara just looked at Maka as she screamed, her face showing no kind of interest in what she was saying. This action only seemed to infuriate Maka further. "So now you're not gonna say anything? I just don't get it! You don't want to help us, so why would you even bother? It's pretty obvious that you don't just get forced into things that you are against doing. And why the hell are you so against trusting and opening up to anyone? What the hell have we done to make you hate us! Why can't you just stop being such a self centered bitch, just long enough to finish this stupid mission faster?" After what seemed like an hour long staring match, Kiara closed her eyes and sighed.
"You really know how to cut to the point, don't you Princess?" When her eyes opened and looked to Maka again, they were different. They didn't have any kind of annoyance or anger within them. They were just blank. "I didn't blow anything. I asked the things that I did because the mayor wasn't going to be able to answer anything we'd originally wanted to ask. He was being watched."
"What? But there was no one else in there but us.."
"He wasn't being watched by a person. He was being watched by a camera. I almost didn't notice it, but lucky for us, Sierra is sharp with things like that. Whoever is behind all the covering up has the mayor wrapped around his finger. I had to edit my questions, and I actually got more information out of that man than I thought I would." Tsubaki looked quizzically to her.
"Want to share that with us?"
"He said the town is tight-knit, that they don't notice the cold, that the butcher is their main form of protection, and that everyone is usually out and about."
"Okay, yeah.. We all heard that. How is that useful?"
"Think, Princess. What is there a lack of right now?" Maka stopped for a second and thought. The silence around them made it easier to organize her thoughts, and that's when it hit her.
"There's no one out! He said there's always someone out, but since we've been here, we've had to go to them in their homes or at their places of work!"
"Exactly. Then there's the fact that the butcher, their one line of defense, has gone missing and it took Liz and Patti finding his empty shop for us to learn that. And from how tough the mayor made him sound, that's not what the case should be. If he could fight off and kill two full grown bears, yet be taken by these monsters, that means that their a lot bigger and tougher than what was originally suspected. Also, he said that it's a tight-knit town and that the people who live here don't just trust and listen to outsiders. That means whoever is forcing everyone's silence is someone who has lived here their whole lives and was a very trusted person." Kiara turned and walked a few steps before pausing. "And I'll trust you and your friends when you all give me a damn good reason too. Got that, Princess?" Maka looked down, her face showing signs of embarrassment.
"Got it..." She mumbled under her breath. Sierra came up behind Maka with Tsubaki.
"Come on, let's head back. I'm sure Ember figured out that sign two seconds after we left, and we need to start really piecing all of this together."
At the Lodge
When the four girls returned to the lodge, they immediately saw Lance and Soul almost exactly where they left them. Lance noticed them first, as he was facing the door.
"Looks like they're back already." Soul turned in the oversized chair he was occupying and was met with Maka and Sierra walking towards them.
"Have you two really been here the whole time?"
"It's all you can eat. And because of Kiara we get it all for free!" Sierra rolled her eyes.
"How are you not fat?"
"You won't let me get fat. Every time you think I eat too much you work me till I pass out. Remember when we were all in Paris and we didn't end up doing much and I gained 3 pounds? You worked me till I lost 5 pounds.." He grew a thoughtful expression. "Though that was one workout I wouldn't mind you using all the time. Heh, who knew beds were that wimpy in France..." Soul started choking on the breath he'd just drawn in while Maka's face turned bright red at what Lance was insinuating. Sierra mockpunched him in the arm, though there was still a lot of force behind it.
"You're such an ass!"
Later... (like, 20 minutes later.)
It took the group awhile to get everyone together and in one place. A few had thought they'd be meeting in Kiara's room and the others had assumed they were all to go to the lobby like they had that morning. It took multiple switches and messages to come to the decision to gather in Liz's room, as it was
"Okay, so uh, who wants to start this off?"
"I will!" All eyes went to Ember. "It took some prodding and a white lie or two, but as it turns out, none of the staff has a key to the mystery door. And I found out what the sign on it says. 'General Manager'."
"You mean the general manager that fucked up our room reservation but wasn't here to own up to it? Seriously?" Hunter wasn't the only one to let out an unhappy groan. Everyone did.
"Well, that explains everything else. The people here are staying quiet because they had so much trust in him before all of this."
"Not to mention the fact that he can take away their electricity." Kiara nodded in agreement with Maka.
"And then there's the witch. There are just too many forces working against these people."
"Do we know why Chrona's room was broken into?"
"I have a theory about that actually." They all looked to Kidd. "The manager probably gave the witch our names. While I was speaking with my father earlier, I brought the break in up. He called for Medusa and she actually shed some light on the situation. It was apparently very known to all of the other witches that Medusa had a child and that she was doing unheard of experiments. The three of us came to the conclusion that the witch up here sent a small, abnormally intelligent monster to the lodge to go and snoop through Chrona's things and try to understand more about him and Black Blood."
"That would actually make a lot of sense."
"Alright, so what's the plan? Do we wait around here for the manager to show up and confront him, then get the witch or get the witch and then the manager?" Trace looked to Soul.
"Witch first. The manager left just before we got here and hasn't made an appearance since. We'd be wasting precious time sitting around here. Maybe by us leaving he'll come back to check on everything and make sure he hasn't been found out."
"I'm with Trace on this."
"I'd say everyone is. Will we head out tomorrow morning?"
"No. We'll leave tonight." Maka and the others looked to Kiara. She seemed completely serious and that confused them.
"Why on earth would we leave tonight? It gets colder at night no matter where you are, and we wouldn't be able to see properly!"
"Kiara, I usually go along with your plans, but this doesn't seem like a good one... We don't know the terrain at all. Besides, you said it yourself; there may be something else out there to be afraid of besides this witch and her monsters. We'd be sitting ducks out there at night." Most of the others nodded in agreement with Sierra and Maka. Even Trace seemed to be put-off by his miester's plan. It was Ember who came to Kiara's side.
"We'd be walking right into a shitfest if we left in the morning. If everyone is being watched as closely as we all think, then the manager and the witch both know that we've talked to the mayor twice. They know Liz and Patti found an empty butcher shop and that that would make us suspicious, and I doubt that the manager left the generator's room without cameras. By this point they're expecting us to show up, but they wouldn't be prepared for us to come this soon. It'd give us a little bit of an advantage over them and that's all we need."
"Well when you spell it out like that.. I'd say let's go with Kiara's plan." Hunter and Kidd nodded in agreement with Lance.
"What time do we leave?"
"More importantly, how do we get out? They lock the main doors first."
"They don't lock the windows. We'll have everyone who is on the forth and third floors just hide out in someone's room on the second or first floor." Liz looked to Ember.
"You expect us to jump out a window? Absolutely not!"
"Oh calm down! The snow is deep around the lodge so we won't break any legs. Besides, I'm sure you've jumped out of things a lot higher than 2 stories."
"Actually she hasn't.. she's always either in her weapons form or has Kidd carry her. Liz is a scaredy-cat." Liz glared over to her little sister.
"PATTI! Shut it. I am not a scaredy-cat!"
"Are too!" As the siblings started their petty argument, Tsubaki posed an option to Liz's concerns.
"How about everyone who doesn't want to jump out of a window goes to Maka and Trace's rooms, and everyone who is up for it goes to the rooms on the second floor?"
"Why don't we all just go into Maka's and/or Trace's room?" Trace spoke up again.
"I'm not letting more than two people in my room. It's too small for anymore than that."
"There's no way that thirteen people could quietly hide out in my room. Three others can." Sierra sighed.
"So who gets the first floor escape?"
"Definitely Chrona." Lance said, looking to the pink haired boy. "No offense, but I can't see you calmly jumping out of a two story window." Chrona sheepishly laughed.
"M-me neither.." Ember leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling.
"Why don't we figure out who's cool with jumping out of a window if need be first, and then go from there? I'll be the first volunteer."
"I CAN MAKE ANY JUMP! I'll jump from the fourth floor if I have to!"
"Always the willing volunteer, Black Star.. Hm, if I absolutely have to, I'll do the jump too."
"I've jumped from higher. Two stories is nothing." Unsurprisingly enough, all of the boys who were on the other floods said they'd jump, as did Tsubaki, Kiara, and Ember.
"Looks like you don't have any reason to jump after all, Kidd. Chrona, Liz, and Patti can stay in Maka's room and you and Sierra can go in Trace's." The grim reaper let out a sigh of relief. Sierra called everyone's attention to her.
"We have three hours until it's 11. Go and get a small bag together. Make sure it's got anything you think you'll need. At, like, 9:30 or 10 head to the room you want to and just wait from there. But try to avoid any staff." They all nodded and everyone headed off to their own room. Packing a small bag was more challenging than they all had thought it'd be. Mainly because no one was sure how long they'd be in the mountains, or what it'd be like there. There was also the issue of food and water. It took most of them all the way to 10 to get everything together. They avoided any and all of the employees and made their way to the rooms. Soul, Sierra, and Kidd left their doors unlocked for the people making the jumps. Liz didn't even bother since her room was located far away from everyone else's and at the front of the lodge, not the sides and back like everyone else's. At 10:50 they were all quiet. Maka's room was the first to hear the the click from the door being locked, and then Trace's heard it. They waited a few minutes just to be safe, and then the two rooms occupants opened the windows and exited. Maka looked to the window's above.
"How long do you think until they get out?"
"Give it five more minutes." The younger girl nodded at Sierra. Sure enough, five minutes later a window opened and blue hair become visible. Black Star stuck his head out, looked down, and then looked back as if he was listening to someone. He jumped up to the windowsill and then jumped down. He landed in a deep pile of snow.
"YAA-mphh"
"Keep quiet, you idiot!" Sierra whisper shouted as she shoved her hands over the boy's face. Moments later Tsubaki jumped down, then Lance, followed by four bags, and then Hunter. They heard another window open and out jumped Soul. His bag flew threw the air and landed next to him and then the window shut. Kidd scratched his head.
"Uhm, that's not supposed to happen. Where are Ember and Kiara?" Hunter and Trace watched the closed window intently. The light in the room had shut off.
"They probably heard someone outside the door and had to keep quiet."
"I hope they hurry up..it's way to cold for any complications." Minutes passed by but there were no changes in the window.
"I have a really bad feeling about this.. Should we go back in and find them?" Trace shook his head.
"They're coming." He looked over at Hunter. "Be ready to catch one of them." The brunette boy grumbled and looked up.
"Yeah yeah.." Everyone else sent the two questioning looks. Hunter just motioned up to the roof, making the others look there. Sure enough two bags came flying down and landed in the snow. Ember came into view first, her bright red velvet hair shining in the moonlight. Without hesitation she jumped off of the roof and started plummeting down towards the snow covered ground. Moments later Kiara was falling right behind her friend. It became a panic among the current DWMA students as to who was closest and could catch the two falling girls in time, though by the time they had reached them, none of them had any time to react.
"Seriously? You jumped with your eyes closed?" Purple irises came into view through dark mascara covered eyelashes and she beamed up at the one who caught her.
"Nice catch Tracey!" He rolled his eyes and dropped her into the snow.
"Always the gentleman..." When she looked over she saw Kiara standing by Hunter. Lance broke the silence.
"What happened with you two? How'd you end up on the roof?"
"Yeah, you guys were right behind me when I jumped." Ember stood and wiped the snow off of herself.
"We heard some employee outside in the hall. He was talking to his buddy who said something about one of the rooms being empty and how they needed to check all our ours. Kiara threw your bag out the window, shut it, and we went into the closet to hide. They came in, saw the empty room, and one started to pull out his walkie talkie. We exited the closet, had a little mini brawl, won, knocked the still semi concious one out, and tied them up."
"But there was the problem of other employees checking the rooms for them, so we bundled them up in some warm blankets and coats and put them in the doorway on the roof." Kiara went and picked up her and Ember's bags, tossing the latter to her friend, and started walking towards the mountains. "Let's go."
Yeah! That's all I have for now. I'm currently working on the next chapter, and lucky for everyone I wrapp up this absurd mission. Which means everything movies forward! Fiiinaalllyyy! Like, I'm so excited. I have so many things to put in place and I cannot fucking wait. Like you all find out where the hell Ember is from! (and trust me, it'll be a huge letdown when it finally comes to light :P)
Okay, I'm done for the night. I hope that I wake up to new reviews and favorites and adds to story alerts!(: hehehe, okay, peace friends3
Mwah. Byyeess!
