Chapter 14: Partners

Their mornings didn't involve much talking. There were some mumbles, a few grunts and a lot of stumbling and thumps, but otherwise, the only other sound was the music floating from each of their rooms as some form of motivation to stay focused. Hair free from its usually set of pig tails, Ayame shuffled around the apartment she shared with Zeke, looking for her missing boot, fully dressed yet not fully awake. "Didn't your mom ever tell you how to act in a skirt?" Halting her search under the coffee table, Ayame quickly put her hands over the back of her skirt, holding it down and glaring up at her partner. She had leggings on under her skirt, but that wasn't the point. Zeke was staring back down at her, shirt not fully buttoned, tie hanging loose and sleepy eyes.

"What're you looking for?" she growled and scowled further when she saw him holding her boot; face equally as annoyed with her now. She snatched it away. "Pervert."

"Can you finish getting dressed and stop screwing around. We're supposed to be at the school in 30." He muttered and walked away while his partner glared after him. Ayame huffed at his retreating form and shoved her boot on.

"What's your deal?" she grumbled, pushing herself from the ground and straightening her clothes. She stalked by his room towards hers, only to pause in the doorway and catch a glimpse of her partner casually running his fingers through his slightly disheveled hair while adjusting his loose uniform tie with his free hand. He moved effortlessly, paying no mind to her presence.

"What do you need, Aya?" The dark haired girl flinched and stood straight, puffing her cheeks stubbornly as her partner turned and looked at her expectantly.

"I was just making sure you were actually getting ready!" she answered swiftly and turned on her heal, marching to her room without another word. She hadn't noticed the slight smile that crossed her partner's face when he spotted the small tinge of pink that dusted across her face before she had stormed off.

"I'll be done in five minutes!" he called and Ayame glowered even further and slammed her bedroom shut in response.

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"Morning you two." Aiden called when the pair reached the top of the school steps. He was waiting outside the building with Gabe who was sitting on the ground, leaning into a pillar with his arms crossed and sleeping. Ayame looked over all annoyed, while Zeke had a stoic expression on his face as he raised his hand in a greeting.

"You two beat us here. Is ok to be surprised?" Zeke asked with an entertained smile. Aiden returned a smile.

"It took a lot of prodding to get this guy outta bed, not gonna lie." He answered, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at his snoozing partner. Ayame tilted her head to the side and an entertained smile crossed her face.

"I figured he'd be the most excited about this. After all, we are meeting up with the infamous Lyra Stein today."

"That's why he couldn't sleep last night." Aiden answered with a laugh. "I heard she's super strong just like Stein is, but she vanished after a mission in order to find an ultimate power." He informed. Ayame and Zeke perked up at this. "She's been missing for like five years now and even her parents were too upset to go looking for her."

"What about her partner though?" Zeke asked, frowning slightly. "I heard she's a meister so she had to of had a weapons partner."

"Her partner ran away," All heads turned to Gabe, who was still in the same position but awake and looking at them groggily. "I heard that her partner wasn't as powerful so her wavelength would overtake his so he ran away."

"Someone can be that powerful?" Ayame asked, looking at Aiden who shrugged.

"At the end, I think it's all about what's most important to the meister and weapon." He answered. "There are meisters who can easily fight without a weapon and there are even weapons who don't need meisters."

"And then there are reckless people who need their meister or weapon, but still tackle head first, alone into battle." Gabe answered with a grimace. "I honestly don't understand why we have to help her if she's so powerful."

"It was a request!" Aiden answered swiftly. "Do you realize how big a deal it's gonna be to go on this mission? It puts us ahead of most of our class! Gabe, you were the most excited about this!"

"That was until we had to report at the butt crack of dawn." The meister retorted grumpily. "And shouldn't she have beaten us here?"

"You're a whiny little bunch, aren't you?" Gabe's face fell at the sight of the person speaking. Stiffening significantly, Zeke, Ayame, and Aiden turned to see a young woman, clearly older than the four of them, with silvery white hair, golden eyes, and a not so modest outfit, frowning at them as she approached with Stein and Sid.

"Good morning, Professor." The kids swiftly greeted, standing side by side and straight, though all eyes were trained curiously on the woman with their professors. The woman eyed them momentarily before looking up at Stein.

"How old are these kids? They look like they just learned to spell their names!" she scoffed.

"What?" Ayame snapped and Zeke held out an arm, halting his offended meister.

"These kids are for more than capable of keeping up with you today." Stein spoke up, pulling his cigarette from between his lips. He glanced to his side at the glowered silver haired beauty. "Besides, beggars can't be choosers, Lyra." She only huffed. Placing her hands on her hips, she eyed the four teens.

"How old are you brats?"

"We're thirteen." Zeke spoke up.

"How old are you?" Ayame followed up with a scowl. The pair stared at each other intensely. Aiden looked nervous, Gabe seemed to finally be waking up, and all Zeke could think about was how they were either going to get dropped from the assignment or killed in the wilderness. Lyra smirked slightly and shrugged a shoulder.

"You're fiery. I might like you." She said and turned on her heel, beckoning the kids along. "You can tell me about yourselves as we go, though I can't promise that I'll be listening the whole time." As she began walking off, the four teens turned their attention to Sid and Stein.

"D-do we just go with her?" Aiden asked.

"Where are we going?" Gabe followed up.

"I don't like this…" Ayame had grumbled.

"Are you guys coming too?" Zeke asked. Lyra never stopped walking as the group stared their professors hopefully.

"She'll take good care of you." Sid answered easily. "She has a tough exterior, but you guys are an important part of this mission."

"Plus, this is very important to her." Stein added, glancing in the direction of his vanishing daughter. "Lyra never asks for help. She left home nearly three years ago and for her to have come home to ask for help means a lot."

"So the rumors about her are true?" Gabe asked, eyes widening. Stein took a long drag from his cigarette and shrugged a shoulder.

"While they are far from the truth, I know there is some truth that led to her leaving." He answered. "Trust me, we wouldn't be sending you if we thought you were in immediate danger. This will be a worthwhile learning experience for all four of you. Trust me." There was hesitance, but they all nodded and began to follow Lyra. They weren't sure how this was going to be beneficial for them, but at the moment, their main concern was the story of this woman.

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On a normal occasion she would have been enjoying the light breeze, maybe napping or lost in her own thoughts, but will the four set of eyes that kept drifting towards her in curiosity, Lyra couldn't help but to become easily annoyed on this otherwise calming trip. Not only that, she hadn't necessarily learned anything about any of them, but the white haired boy looked far too familiar. But then again, so did his loud mouth partner. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she turned to the messy haired boy with an expectant expression. "What do you want, boy?"

"My name's Gabe," He spoke easily. "But what I wanted to know is where the hell are you dragging us?" Lyra rolled her eyes and went back to staring off into the water as the ship they were on continued to sail speedily toward their destination.

"You'll know when we get there." She answered easily. The boy glowered.

"But I wanna know now!" he growled. Not looking at him, Lyra reached out and flicked his forehead, ignoring the outraged yelp that followed.

"You're being a pest. Why don't you go help out pig tails over there? She looks sick." Gabe scowled but obediently went over to the dark haired girl's side.

"You're not too social are you?"

"Oh, it's the handsome one here to complain now?" Glancing up from her seat, Lyra raised an eyebrow at the white haired boy who was frowning down at her. "Why aren't you over there helping your brat of a partner? Isn't that what a proper weapon is supposed to do?"

"You sure have a lot to say about how a weapon and meister should act." Zeke retorted. "Is it cuz you don't have a good relationship with your own weapon just like the rumors say?" At this, Lyra raised a brow.

"What does a brat like you know about any of that?"

"I heard that because you were so powerful you chased your partner away like he was worthless." The white haired teen answered, his green eyes judging. "If that's the case, then who are you to judge the bonds of others?"

"And who are you to come to me about something you know nothing about aside from petty rumors?" Lyra countered and turned away, staring back into the distance. "Listen closely, little boy. The closest bonds can be broken based off of the smallest bit of doubt. No matter who is strongest, partners are strongest together and it's important for both members to understand this, otherwise you find yourself of missions like these."

"What?"

"That partner of yours has a bold soul while yours is quite modest. I noticed it when I first met you both." She said in a calm tone. "You balance one another out, but when you get older there may be a moment when you may doubt your ability to protect her… or she'll doubt her ability to use you. That's when things can fall apart."

"Ayame and I are fine. We've known each other all our lives. We'll talk to each other if either of us feels some kind of way." The young weapon answered confidently. Lyra gave a distracted hum in response.

"Go away, would you. You're bothering me." The boy gave an annoyed huff and walked over to where his partner was being soothed by Gabe. The dark haired girl looked up at him with a pathetic look which was returned with a comforting smile before she was escorted to a place to lie down. They were still young. Of course they were optimistic. She had been that way herself at their age.

"Miss," She glanced up as the captain came up with a slight smile. "We'll be at our destination in five minutes if you'd like to gather your group together." She nodded in response.

"Thank you, I'll take care of it." She answered and pushed herself from her seat. In the distance she could just barely make out the coast of their destination. "You can't hide forever."

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They had been dragged along on a ship on a three hour trip of nausea, had walked around a village asking about any new comers and suspicious activities, and were now scaling a large mountain in the blazing sun. To say the least, Ayame wanted nothing more than to have sit through a eight hour lecture on the importance of soul resonance in everyday situations from Maka-sensei. To make matters worse, they still had no idea what exactly they were looking for since Lyra refused to speak. The young girl couldn't help to glare at the young woman's back as she led the way.

"So, we're looking for your partner aren't we?" Aiden had been the first to speak up. Well considering how silent he had been since they left Death City, it had caught everyone by surprise. Finally sitting for a small break, the group of teens were now looking at Lyra intently. "I've been listening to what you've said since we were on the ship. Your partner ran away for real, but it's not because you chased him away." She smiled slightly, leaning back on her palms.

"You're an observant one aren't you?" she hummed. "But I guess it's a good point to tell you kids the truth since there's literally no turning back." An outraged look crossed Ayame's face and Gabe looked dumbfounded, but Lyra continued. "My partner did run away and the reason he ran off isn't because I was stronger than him. In fact, together we were at the top of our class in strength."

"So then why'd he leave?" asked Gabe.

"A misunderstanding."

"What?" Confused looks crossed all their faces.

"I learned quite a few things from my father. How to use my soul wavelength in battle. I could see souls of people. Just different things that set us apart. He was always the brains though." Lyra began to explain. "However, I suppose he crossed paths with some people that weren't too fond of me…" She trailed off, letting her head fall back as she stared up at the clear sky. "I'm not sure what they said to him but he started acting strange towards me. Then one day, he was gone. Up and vanished without a trace."

"You're kidding?" Ayame chocked out.

"I was told that no one could find him. I suppose he concealed his soul to not be found and I refused to get a new partner so I left to find him…"

"And you still have no idea where he is?" Zeke asked.

"This sounds like a wild goose chase then." Gabe added, frowning. "How do we know this coward is even here?"

"We don't." All of them stared in clear confusion once again and Lyra sighed. "I know him better than anyone else. Each place I checked isn't something I pulled out of my ass. They have a connection to the two of us and this place is where it all began for us. If there's any place out of them all where he would be, it would be here."

"You spent three years going to places that were connected to the two of you?" Aiden asked.

"That's right. We were partners for two years before everything changed so of course we've got quite a history with one another. I had to make sure I left no stone unturned." With this, Lyra pushed herself from the ground. "I heard that you kids have your own self reflections that you need to do as partners. I would hope that what you just heard may open your eyes to staying true to one another."

"O-of course!"

"Good, now get up and let's go. We've got another hour of climbing before we're where we have to be." A collection of groans were heard.

What the hell were they being dragged into?

Author's Note: Hey everyone I'm back! Super sorry about the extremely late update but I was distracted by life... Guess who's officially a college graduate! WOOT WOOT! Right now I'm on a hunt for a new job cuz I'm not at all content with mine, but you should otherwise begin seeing some consistency once again.

Anyway, Lyra is not the same age as the kids as you may have come to notice. Her actual age will be revealed though and as for her partner, I'm kinda excited to introduce him ;)