It Started With a Promise…
Ch. 14
A/N: I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD! It's been a while hasn't it? Ok, I have no real good excuse. . . just writer's block. This chapter ran way too long so I have decided to cut it up into two parts, so expect the next update soon; no seriously I mean it, I'm just tweaking the last part but it's still a work in progress, almost done too =^_^=
To all my readers I formally apologize for the long wait for the new chapter, please review and show this story some love, that will surely motivate me to keep writing. Love to all of you.
Liz waited patiently for Soul to finish his report, Ms. Marie had long since excused herself claiming that she had forgotten a very important errand that needed to be attended too. Liz was left to wonder the classroom as Soul wrote feverishly. The only sounds that echoed throughout the classroom was the mumbling that came from the weapon that scribbled quite loudly and sloppily all over the papers.
'Just what is he writing, a play?' Liz twirled, a lock of hair around her finger.
SNAP!
'Oh great he broke another one…' Liz had given Soul a box of pencils after he had broken his third mechanical pencil. Liz thought he was acting a little strangle, but then again under the circumstances who could act 'cool.' Besides, the tall blond had a much more important mission on her mind these days.
'How can I get that stubborn ass out of that fucken office.' Raising and eye brow she continued to think, but soon her thoughts wondered over her boldness the last time she was in his office. He seemed as though he was responding to her, but then again with Kid nothing is ever that clear. A horrible thought had finally crossed her mind, was Lord Death watching them through the mirror? Liz shuddered at the thought. Then again, it was his idea to go on like this. Although Liz was being instructed to do anything to get Kid out of the room, and they did mean anything, her bold moves really did come from deep inside her. After all, she wanted Kid for herself.
"I'm done, later Liz." The sound of Soul's chair screeching against the floor made Liz jump out of her skin. By the time she turned to respond, the door had already slammed behind him.
"Oh yeah..real cool Soul…" Liz sighed. "Well I guess my job here is done." She pranced over to the desk to collect the papers. Quickly she picked up page after page slowing down only to notice the transformation his penmanship had gone through. It began like regular writing but then turned into deep grooved etchings. Deciding Kid should see this first she shoved all the papers back into the envelope. Once the papers were all off the desk she noticed black pencil marks that carved full random words into the wood.
"Geeze, he write's like a maniac, guess he really was in a hurry to meet up with Maka." Deciding she would replace the desk later on she took off to report back to kid. The hold way there tapping the envelope against her chin contemplating her next move.
'Hmmm….I wonder if he would appreciate a back rub….a very hands on backrub." Her pouty lips became a slight playful smile. 'Yes, he had been tense lately, I should help him relieve it.'
Soul sat in the hallway across the room in which Maka had been ordered to report to. His back against the wall and legs stretched out, he idly looked around at the boring surroundings, only barely noticing the music that played through his earphones. In his mind he went over and over and over what he had written. In all the report had not been too long, it only stated exactly what they needed to know and what was asked of him; he knew Maka was not crazy but he also did know she needed help. Help that he was not able to provide for her. After all it was all his fault why she became this way.
Soul gathered up the papers that he had scattered carelessly around the desk before him. Ms. Marie fiddled with the teddy bear eraser that he had pulled off the pencil and Liz slouched over the desk avoiding eye contact while talking to him. Soul took this as a sign that she felt just as uncomfortable with the whole situation as he did. It offered Soul a bit of comfort to know that deep down Liz was still a friend to Maka, enough to at least keep this matter as private as possible. He looked down at the paper and wondered where to even start, he had asked Ms. Marie to help him out, but Liz insisted it needed to be his point of view, that way all the notes could be compared to better analyze the situation. Soul mulled it over a bit more, he almost felt time stop and the world around him melt away into bitch black.
'We were chasing Crona…' His mind began to recall. 'Crona….we had been searching for so long.'
Soul closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself, trying to remember every detail of the worse fight he had been involved in.
'Maka had wanted to be the first to find Crona…she wanted to save him….she wanted to be friends….but…' Soul's breathing slowed to shallow breaths. 'Professor Stein had gotten to the cave first…Professor Stein and Ms. Marie had found Crona first…this is where it all started.'
Maka and Soul flew as fast as they could; chasing in the direction that they had seen Crona head. Maka was silent the entire flight, Soul tried to call to her to rethink things or to at the very least come up with a plan on how to deal with Crona.
"This isn't the same Crona you used to Know Maka!" Soul put his all into trying to find a way to get through to his meister but no matter what he said she just keep silent. "Why are you such a stubborn woman!"
"Shut up Soul! Crona was my friend and also your friend, why can't you understand that we have to save Crona!"
"CRONA IS NO LONGER CRONA!" Soul's frustration could be felt down to his soul wavelength, Making Maka twitch at his coarseness. Still Maka ignored his feelings and never wavered from her objective. Soon they came to a large cave with drag marks in the sand. Maka quickly landed and hopped off of Soul who immediately reverted back to his human form and grabbed Maka by the arm.
"Maka just wait and think about it for a second." His Ruby eyes dark with worry for the girl. "Just stop and think what you have to do and what you want to do." Soul was never the type to think things over, but the situation had become fairly dangerous fairly quickly.
"Soul, I know what I have to do, what I have been ordered to do and I know that there is another way!" Maka caressed Soul's cheek, trying to ease his mind a bit. He always gave in to her, how could he turn her down when she gave him that look. Those shining emeralds that told him she was resolved to change the world. He loved those eyes.
"Alright bookworm, lead the way." Holding tight to each other's hands they ran into the dark cave, twisting and turning along with the ever narrowing passageway. With no sunlight the duo was engulfed in darkness, using the walls of the cave as a guide. Faintly in the distance there was a noise.
"Hello again Soul." A familiar little voice purred in Soul's ear. "Go away." "Come now Soul, is that any way to greet an old friend." "Soul's body began to feel heavy but restless. "Hehehe…You feel it don't you, that's the black blood in you coming back to life." Breathing began to hurt Soul's lungs, his heart became heavy. "The closer you get to your little friend, the faster the black blood will devour your soul, I wonder if your precious one will be safe this time."
"Clank."
Soul could only hear the words of the little demon that little part of him that he tried so hard to keep locked up. Unconsciously he squeezed the hand that held on to him for support.
"Maka.."
"I know, I hear it too…" Soul snapped his head toward Maka. 'She can hear the demon too?'
'CLANK' Soul heard the sound Maka must have been talking about. He looked at her and saw her using her soul perception to determine where the sound was coming from.
"Someone found Crona first!" Maka pulled Soul along as she sprinted toward the sound. Her mind raced with worry, there could have been only one team that could have possibly beaten her here...
Maka came to a screeching halt when she saw a large chunk of rock fly in her direction.
"WATCH OUT!" Soul pulled her back and took cover behind a large boulder. Soul held Maka close to his body covering her head as they braced for the impact of the projectile.
"I don't know why you keep attacking me! You should just stop and leave me ALONE!"
Maka recognized the voice right away, Crona was being attacked.
"Soul, Crona needs help!"
"You don't know that yet!"
"I HAVE TO HELP!" Maka darted out of Soul's reach and ran toward the sound of the familiar voice.
"You aren't stable enough for me to leave you alone, I really must study you once I put an end to you." Maka and Soul came to the base of the cave where a fierce battle was already taking place. In the one corner Crona darted from wall to wall clumsily wielding the familiar black sword Ragnarock; In the opposite corner stood non-other than Professor Stein wielding his latest partner Ms. Marie, against the confused pink haired mess. Maka was horrified to find Professor Stein standing over a very wounded Crona, ready to deliver the final blow. Stein's face was distorted, sporting a wide malicious grin; his eyes hidden behind cracked glasses and bags that stuck to his face from the perspiration.
"Hehehe…I'm certainly going to enjoy this…"
"NO!" Maka ran forward pushing Stein away from her fallen friend.
"MAKA!" Soul Called out to her with a weak voice, the closer he was to Crona the more his mind clouded.
"Maka, move out of the way or I will have to dissect you too." Stein licked his lips in anticipation.
"Please move Maka, this has to be done."
"Ms. Marie, Professor Stein, I can't let you do this we can still help Crona!"
"Who is this girl? Oh I don't know what to do about this, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!" Crona screeched loudly as Ragnarock blasted his screeches throughout the cave. Soul's last restraint began to break, but still he staggered to pull Maka away from the chaos.
"Time to end this…madness…" Stein once again raised his weapon and aimed for the two people before him.
"BLOODY NEEDLES…"
"MAKA!" Soul slumped forward falling on his meister bringing her down to the floor leaving a clear shot for Crona's black blood needles to pierce Professor Stein like a voodoo doll.
"STEIN!" Ms. Marie fell out of her weapon from and held on to Professor Stein's body, Soul quickly transformed his arm into a blade and sliced Crona in two.
"No…" Maka sat up with wide terrified eye; her professor was just stabbed viciously by a friend she had tried so desperately tried to help.
"Stein?...STEIN?..." The blond woman was almost hysterical; she held on to his arm but he still did not collapse.
"That really hurt you know…Hehehehe…."
"Profess…sor?" Professor Stein slowly straightened up to his full height. His eyes covered from the glare off his glasses that now sported little spots of black blood.
"That hurt you know…a lot…and now my test subject is ruined…." Stein stammered over to Maka and looked down at her with a wide grin. "I guess…you'll have to do…" Maka looked back in terror.
"STEIN STOP!" Ms. Marie grabbed his arm but Stein was a lot stronger, he pushed her aside and hit Maka with a dose of his soul energy sending the young meister flying across the cave. With the wind knocked out of her Maka collapsed on the floor, her body aching in and in need of oxygen.
"I wonder where I'll start the incision…" Stein was interrupted by a horrible sound that made his head want to explode.
"Maka is off limits asshole…hehehehe…..no one touches my meister…" Soul stood where he had first fallen, his arm transformed into a keyboard scythe, a wide chilling toothy grin spread across his face though his eyes remained hidden behind white spiky locks.
"Hehehe…I'll take over from here now, just go to sleep now." These were the last words that Soul heard, and Maka being thrown by Professor Stein was the last image Soul could remember before being swallowed up completely by the black blood. "Maka…help me…"
Soul could hardly remember what he had written on the pages, the images of that day were something he tried desperately to suppress. Taking his hand out of his pocket he began to flex it, for some reason it felt very stiff and sore.
'Fuck my hand, I didn't do this much writing even when I was in regular classes here.' Looking over his fingers he noticed his middle finger had a red mark on it. 'Guess I must have been holding the pencil too hard.' Finding no more fascination with his hand he placed it back in his pocket, random thoughts going through his head. 'Maka's been in there way too long, oh well just gotta wait it out I guess….' He began tapping his foot. 'I could just barge in, slump her over my shoulder, and take her home.' His eyes looked down now finding his tapping foot very entertaining.
'When is Kid going to lay off anyway, she's just stressed, hmm….if she's stressed I have the perfect way for her to relax.' A sly grin crept on his face, then quickly disappeared. Suddenly he remembered why Maka was ordered to report to a specialist, of all the cruel things to do separation was number one. She only had to do one session and they would be allowed back to work, there was never any rule that said she had to go back after wards. On the other hand, maybe getting some help would benefit her, after all, her anxiety seems to have gotten much worse; too close to dangerous for Soul's taste. Maka had been unable to eat or keep anything down; with all the pressure on them to be top weapon and meister and the entire school keeping a judgmental eye on her at all times Maka couldn't relax. Soul couldn't blame her, he knew adolescence was going to be hard but this was just ridiculous.
In three days they could go away though, in three days they will be on a plane to Siberia to investigate the threat Kid had been talking about. At least in three days Maka and Soul will be taken seriously again, and for a brief time Soul will have her all to himself.
Soul by now had slumped to the floor, his hands still inside his pockets, while waiting for Maka to finish her session with the specialist. Without a watch he had no idea just how long he'd been out there waiting in the dark hallway. So lost in thought he hadn't even noticed that there was no longer any music playing from his earphones. Looking at his player he noticed the battery had gone dead. Taking the earphones off he noticed the door creek open.
'Finally.' Soul rose from his seat on the floor, put the device in his back pocket and put his hands in his jacket pockets hoping Maka felt better than before. A familiar blond bounced walked out of the room and closed the door slowly behind her. He watched her linger at the door still holding on to the door knob.
"Maka?" He whispered softly to her, his husky voice almost inaudible. Maka let go of the door knob and turned to reveal puffy eyes and a red nose. Soul smiled brightly at her and tossed her bangs away from her eyes. Maka averted her eyes but Soul cupped her chin and brought her up to a chaste kiss. "How'd it go?" Her tired eyes looked straight into crimson eyes that seemed to pierce through to her own soul.
"I complied, one session and we get to go on the mission." Her monotone voice almost gave Soul the chills. Maka saw him look away with a scowl; she mentally berated herself for lashing out at him of all people and leaned his forehead on his chest. "I'm not crazy…" She spoke almost inaudibly.
Patting her head he whispered back his response. "'course you're not crazy, you're just Maka." Maka pulled back in a huff. Soul gave her a wide toothy smirk and gave her a light Maka Chop. "Come on, I'll take you on a date and then we pack!"
"Sounds fun." They walked off and down the hall. For once Maka could ignore the looks and snickers, after all she was still a death scythe meister, partner to the coolest weapon at the academy. Maka Albarn Evans was on her way to a special mission and wouldn't be seeing them again for a while. Once outside the air felt fresh and the sunlight warmed her skin. Stopping for just a moment to take in the new feeling of peace, she looked around and enjoyed the happy city below. Lost in the nostalgia of her younger days, better days when everyday was fun; had it really been only a year ago?
"Hurry up bookworm." Soul snapped her back to reality with a hard smack on the ass.
"SOUL! YOU FUCKER!" Maka turned beet red and looked in every direction hoping no one had seen the sight. Seeing the coast was clear she sprinted toward an escaping white haired jerk that laughed freely at his clever work. "JUST YOU WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU BASTARD!" Maka rand after him toward Death City, she just couldn't help but smile at the trill of being carefree; at least for a couple of hours.
A/N: Remember, If you want to read more please review!