Soul wasn't wasting any time as he lunged for the witch. He expected her to step away from his Scythe, instead she met it head on. She deflected his attack with her left horn. As he surged past her, she wrapped her right arm around his neck and pulled his back against her front. He felt her arm tighten against his throat as she chuckled in his ear.

"Amateur move boy. And here I though this fight would be a-"

Her words were choked off by a scream as Soul brought his Scythe arm up in between his neck and her bicep. Sure, he cut the side of his face as he did it but he didn't have time for this shit. He pushed outwards as hard as he could and cut clean through her arm. While she grasped at the blood gushing from her new stump, he ended it as quickly as he could, separating her fucked up head from her shoulders. He willed his arm back to flesh and picked up her head by one of the horns and brought it up to eye level.

"You messed with the wrong girl you venomous bitch."

The remains of the witch disintegrated as her soul lost its hold on Maka's mind. Soul looked around but there wasn't much to look at. It was unrecognizable, not looking at all the way it looked before, instead the only thing visible was this large wall coated in some sort of black tar.

"Maka!"

His shout just reverberated back to him.

"Where are you?"

He held his breath waiting for an answer.

"Hello lover."

He spun around and was able to breathe again. There she was. Her blonde hair, long legs, her eyes…wait. Her eyes were all wrong. Where there should have been green was black. There were no pupils, no irises, no whites, it was just all black.

"You're not Maka."

She waltzed up to him and trailed her hand across his chest.

"And you're observant, but not totally right. I am Maka in a way though. I'm part of her, like the fish in the ocean hidden by its depths until someone pulls it to the surface. I like fish, but why can they only be red and blue?"

She started laughing. Soul was having a hard time following this conversation but he knew he had limited time. He gripped 'not Maka' by the shoulders, shaking her to gain her attention again.

"Where is the rest of her? I have to save her."

Just like that, she was dead serious and focused on him.

"Save us. You want to save us? You can't save us! There isn't anything left! Maka is dead, DEAD! YOU KILLED HER!"

She was screaming at him now, her nails digging into his scalp as she dragged his head towards hers.

"She can't be dead. I'm here, you're here and I am going to save her so just let me go you psycho!"

He pulled back out of her grasp and her smile returned.

"My name's not psycho it's Madness, but you can call me Ms. Madness, lover. You think there's still something left to save? Go then, take a stroll down memory lane. Don't get mad at me when you can't separate your metaphors from the literal anymore though!"

She walked to the wall and placed her hands on it, leaning in and licking it. The tar started to dissolve and after that the bricks started to crumble. Behind it, there was a hall that seemed to stretch forever. There were doors lining each side, and from behind each door there were screams, Maka's screams. Soul took one look at Madness as she seemed to be distracted by something on the ground and took off running.

He reached the first door and threw it open but he was wholly unprepared for what he saw. Maka had a spear lodged through her shoulder and fell to the ground. He rushed for her, tried to catch her but she ghosted through his arms. Then the entire scene reset and she was on her feet now, being stabbed again, screaming again, falling again.

"This is where I was born. Isn't it glorious? I think the redness of her blood is especially pretty. Red like roses not like violets. I don't like violets."

Soul paid no attention to Madness who was hovering behind him, he kept trying to reach Maka, to tear her out of this nightmare that she kept reliving.

"It's no use pretty boy. That isn't her, this is just a memory. Get it? Memory lane? I'm so funny!"

Madness grabbed him by his wrist and dragged him back into the hall, closing the door behind her. Once it was closed, the door disappeared into the wall and the hall seemed to shrink just a little bit. She crossed to the next door, dragging him into the next room.

"You have to see it Soul, you have to see it all. That's the only way you'll know the truth. I won't let you go until you live it with us. I've been so lonely since she's been gone. There's no one to play with!"

Soul had stopped listening to her. The scene in front of him was his worst nightmare. Maka was tied to a chair, being water boarded and he couldn't take it. He rushed over, tried to stab Damien in the heart but it was no use, he couldn't touch them. This is when the tears started. Had this really happened to her? His precious Maka, had they truly done this to her? He couldn't stand it, he rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. It too, faded into nothingness, shortening the hall ever so slightly.

"I've seen enough, take me to her. Please, I'm begging you."

Soul fisted his hands in Madness' coat, tears streaming down his face. She laughed right at him.

"You're begging me! Begging?! We begged, we begged so much but you didn't hear it, so why should I listen now?! You have to see it, all of it, it's the only way."

The screams started again, this time from the door right in front of him, and even though he knew that only despair could wait behind it, he couldn't leave her, even in her own memory. He opened the door. He thought he had known hell before but this, this was true hell. He tried to rush out of the room, but the door slammed closed.

"You can't leave! You have to watch it! WATCH!"

Madness' voice echoed against the walls and Soul slid down to his knees. In front of him he had to watch Maka, his sweet, innocent Maka, the love of his life have her virginity stripped from her. He could see it from her point of view, she was chained in her mind, weeping, screaming, unable to stop it just like him.