Mi:…h…hello…everyone…Erik and the others…aren't here right now. So….I'll just start today, like I did earlier, okay? *gulp* A sound Soul, dwells within a sound Mind, and a sound Body.
Erik lay on his back, basking in the desert sun. Though normally it would be unbearable, Erik had been able to find a nice little oasis, and the cool water from the spring did plenty to alleviate the heat.
"Haah…" he sighed, his coat, a long black duster he had been bought by Kid as a gift for saving Patti and Liz, sat nearby. Along with the coat, he was given extra money to buy whatever else he would need, much to Eriks dismay. He didn't need, nor did he want, any of this gratefulness. One way or the other, he still used it to buy his current wardrobe: a white tee-shirt with a large gray logo that, not surprisingly, was in the shape of Deaths mask. It took up a good portion of the left part of the shirt, and went over the shoulder a little. Along with the shirt he wore a pair of black jeans (Liz and Patti had suggested skinnies, which he refused) and a pair of black combat boots, the boots sitting next to the coat. Erik yawned and closed his eyes as a single cloud covered the ever laughing sun. As it the shadow of the cloud descended over him, he began to enter the dark room where his soul was housed. He had decided to give it a name: The Inner Chamber. After a moment of pure darkness his soul appeared, still as pure blue as always. "No…" he thought, "Not quite as pure." He noticed that the crack in it had grown a little bigger…not a good sign.
"No, not a good sign at all," he heard a voice say, and looked up to see none other than Dracula.
"How do you get into the Chamber, anyway?" asked Erik, looking the man in his crimson eyes, noticing the way his elongated canines glinting maliciously in the light of Eriks soul. He chuckled darkly and said, "We are connected, my friend."
"My only connection with you is Lilith, vampire," replied Erik, deciding that if there were any vampires, then this man would undoubtedly be one.
"Ah, but that is where you're wrong, friend. Our connection lies deep down...down to our very souls. You know what I'm talking about…" he smiled widely, his teeth shining, "The Dark Wavelength."
Eriks eyes went wide at the mention of it, then he said, "Yeah…yeah I know what you're talking about."
Three Days Ago
"Erik….I…I need to tell you about something…" asked Minora quietly. She never really liked talking to anyone, but had gotten used to talking to Erik, and Tsubaki, for some reason. Maybe it was because they were both kind of timid. She was wearing a tee-shirt a lot like Eriks new shirt. However, the fabric was black, the skull mask logo was white, and it was on her back, rather than on her chest. Other than the shirt, she wore plain white skirt that reached down to her knees, and a pair of sandals.
"Wow, Minora, you never have to talk about anything, this must be important!" he said, teasing. She laughed nervously and said, "Well, it is important, so I think you should listen!" She couldn't explain it, but she was always more confident when she was around Erik. Well…maybe she did. After a moment of silence, she said, "Lord Death…told me to teach you about the darkness within you…and how to hold it back…"
"What darkness? I've turned my soul around. I've been doing good lately, too," he said, feeling somewhat proud that he was able to fix his soul.
Minora was aghast, and said, "Don't tell me you don't feel it! I know you do…" she got quiet, "I see it in your eyes…I feel it in your soul…a dark cloud that hangs over your soul….the Dark Wavelength." Erik was surprised at her outburst. Granted, it had only been three days, and he knew how she felt (she made it obvious) but he didn't think she would yell at him like that, "Easy…it's okay I know what you're talking about," he remembered the crack on his soul, "What do you need to teach me?" And that was when Minora taught him the Dark Suppression technique, one she had mastered after years of being the captive of Count Dracula. "Without it…" she had said, "My soul would have become a Dark Soul a long time ago…"
Present
"Yes," said the Count, "I'm sure you were told all about the Dark Wavelength from Minora. She would know all about it, seeing how long she was under my…" he licked his lips, "guidance."
Erik felt anger build up in him…and felt the Dark Wavelength react to it. He felt its power, almost infinitely vast…and infinitely evil. He watched as the crack spread a little more, and forced himself to pull his anger back. "It won't do to let the Dark Wavelength get a hold of me."
"Indeed it wouldn't." Dracula said, answering his thought.
"Get out of my head, and get away from my soul," replied Erik, no longer looking at the man, who laughed and said, "I will always be near to your soul. Just try to keep your soul intact until we meet once more…face to face." Then he was gone, and Erik was left alone. When he opened his eyes, he was lying in the oasis. "I guess I should go back to Death City…"
The melody Sarah could hear wasn't in Death City, but it was somewhere close. And it was coming closer, she could feel it. So, she wandered around Death City, meeting up with old friends, meeting some of the new one star Meisters and Weapons, and of course visiting Professor Stein in his lab. (Crying Papa Stein and tackle hugging him when he answered the door) Then, as she was walking through the town, she heard another strange wavelength, not far away.
[It sounded like someone was singing, but it was a song full of pain. However, joined in the pain was something that sounded hopeful. Like the other wavelength, this one also had a haunting melody, as if influenced by darkness.]
Fortunately for her, the source of this new song was actually fairly close, coming from somewhere in Death City. Now all she had to do was find it. She followed the melody all over the city, the person it belonged to seeming to just roam the streets randomly. At one point she even passed by ChupaCabras in her search. It wasn't until she came back to the gates of the DWMA that she finally found the source: a girl, older than she was, with long black hair and pale skin. She was wearing a black tee shirt with a white skull on the back. At first, Sarah had the feeling she was looking at Lord Death, but she knew better than that. The girl turned and looked at Sarah with wide eyes and said, "Who…who are you?"
"She isn't evil..." thought Sarah, somewhat confused, "I wonder why her soul wavelength sounds like that…"
"Hi," Sarah said sweetly, trying to at look and sound as friendly as possible, "My name is Sarah Albarn! What's your name?" The girl merely shied away a little more and said, "You've been following me all day…why?" Sarah was taken aback for a moment, but was understanding. She knew how hard it could be to trust people. She pushed backs thoughts of her elder brother, William, and said, "You had an interesting wavelength, so I decided to look into it. I'm sorry if I scared you, I really didn't mean to. I won't hurt you I promise…won't you please tell me your name?" She pouted a little and tried to look as innocent as possible, which finally won the girl when she said, "My…my name is Minora…nice to meet you." Minora extended a hand to shake and, once done with that, she withdrew it quickly, wrapping her arms around her midsection as if she were holding herself in. This action, paired with the nervous look in her pale green eyes, reminded Sarah of a certain pink haired boy she knew.
There was a moment of awkward silence between them before Minora finally attempted to make some kind of conversation, "So…you said your last name was Albarn…like Maka Albarn?" Sarah looked Minora in the eye and said, "Oh, so you know my cousin?"
"No…no not really, but my Meister Erik says she's one of the more decent people at the Academy…and…and he says that she and the others are probably the only people he'd be able to trust here…"
"The others?" Sarah asked, wondering if she meant Soul (Kikami mutters "kun" at the end of this) and the others.
"Someone named Soul-Eater Evans…a..and Black Star…and Death the Kid…and" she said, stopping when Sarah giggled and said, "Yeah, I know who you mean now. Are you a new student here? What kind of Weapon are you?"
"I'm…what was it the man with the screw said…a Demon Gauntlet…yeah…that's it." Minora replied shakily, still obviously nervous about talking to Sarah. Sarah smiled and stayed patient with the fearful girl, finding it kind of cute that she could be so scared. Sarah gave her a somewhat confused look when she said Demon Gauntlet, but she didn't question it. She supposed she would see it soon enough.
"That's really cool. Hey, do you like anime?" Sarah asked, putting her arm around the girls' shoulders and walking with her, trying to help her relax. She looked way too tense. As they walked, they talked about all sorts of things: anime (Sarah was very enthusiastic, even though Minora didn't really know what she was talking about) life at the DWMA, and many other things. Finally, they came to a stop, having walked all around Death City (for the second time) in front of an apartment building, the same one Soul and Maka lived in.
"Well, this is me. I'm renting out an apartment here for a little while before I figure out exactly what I'm going to do. It's been about a year since I've been back to I have to get things back in order," Sarah said as they approached her door on the top floor. Minora, having become more comfortable with Sarah, said, "This place is nice…I wish Erik and I had a place like this?" Sarah looked at Minora for a moment then said, "Well, where do you guys stay?" to which Minora replied, "Well, Erik and I just sleep in one of the classes at the Academy. I don't think anyone notices," she blushed then and said, "even though we only have one blanket and pillow, (she didn't mention how Erik had taken them from the infirmary when they had gotten out) he always gives them to me...he sits against the wall and he never falls asleep until he's sure I am..." Sarah was looking at Minora confused for a moment, and when Minora noticed she said, "It's not like I'm complaining about it…" she blushed brighter, which was quite a feat seeing as how she was already beet red, "I'm very grateful for all the kind things he does…" Sarah shook her head and said, "Hm…I'm sure he's a wonderful Meister," then, more mischievously she said, "And I can tell you think he's a wonderful Meister, too." Minora looked shocked (her blush deepened, defying all possibility) when Sarah smirked and gave her a wink. At this, Minora turned and began to walk down the stairs, saying, "I…I should probably get going…it was nice meeting you…"
"No no no, I can't just let you sleep in a classroom! What kind of friend would I be?" Sarah laughed, gently grabbing Minoras arm and ignoring Kikami as she whispered, "A good friend minds her business, and we both know why you chose this apartment complex…heehee."
Minora looked at her newfound friend and said, "No…I really don't think I could intrude…and Erik will probably be waiting for me…" to which Sarah replied, "It's no problem, really. You can sleep in the extra bedroom and Erik can have the couch! It'll be like a slumber party!"
"Don't let them stay here, Sarah. After all, how will you get Soul-kun with a whole bunch of people in your apartment?"
After about half an hour of convincing, Minora finally agreed to stay with her, if only for the night. And together, they went to the classroom that Erik had deemed livable, and Sarah left a note for Erik to find,
"Dear Erik,
I stole Minora, and we're going to my apartment, where she will be staying from now on. If you want to see her, come to the apartment building on the map below, room number 312. That is, if you would rather sleep in a bed rather than classroom.
Hope to meet you soon,
Sarah Albarn."
Erik finally made it back to the Academy at around 8:00 that evening, the moon high in the sky when he came up to the door to the classroom he had been calling "home" since he had come to the DWMA. The moonlight filtering in through the window revealed a piece of paper taped to the door. He ripped it from the door and read it quickly.
"Hope to meet you soon," he muttered, finishing the note, "Sarah Albarn." At the bottom he saw a crudely drawn roadmap, with a circle drawn around where the building was supposed to be.
"Hmmph…" he said, crumpling the paper and letting it drop to the floor, "Albarn, huh? Well, at least I know she's okay. Might as well go see what this girl is like."
Around 9:00 that night
Sarah and Minora were talking over tea when she heard it, the haunting melody coming from that strange wavelength. And it was close. She looked at the door, the over to Minora, who was now looking at Sarah with a worried look on her face.
"What's the matter, Sarah?" she asked, the fear and anxiety she had felt for this new person almost completely gone with their quickly growing friendship, and he first friend she'd ever actually made. Sarah stood and went to the door and said, "Stay here, I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm just going to check something," she turned and gave Minora her best smile before closing the door and immediately charging for the stairs, knowing the elevator would take too long. As she made it outside, she heard Kikami giggle maniacally and say, "Goodie goodie, time for some fun!"
Mi: *looks around nervously* I wonder where they are….
Sa: Ah, don't worry about it, I'll just talk for them! Thanks for reading, I hope you all liked it! The author should be back next time, so be sure to check back!