Sorry this took me so long, I literally retyped some parts like four or five times. I really hope I don't disappoint you all! Oh, and thank you for the reviews! Made my day! :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
"Gods can find anyone, anytime, anywhere!" BlackStar's unnecessarily loud voice reverberated off the walls as I sprinted down the hallway. If anything he was certainly back to normal. I thought he was a bit quiet last night, except when he was told to clean up. Then he just kept saying that "gods don't have to clean" and continued stuffing his face. Eager to get to Kuro, I stayed in the direction I heard his voice from, hoping that if Liz and Patti weren't with him then he'd at least know where they were.
"Kid!" I heard close behind, Maka and Soul just about caught up to me, "She's getting farther and farther from the academy!" we rounded a corner then, stopping when we saw five people a couple of yards away, walking towards us. Relief washed over me at the sight of my Weapons, but we had to go, now.
"Kiddo-kun!" Patti waved, "We were looking for you!"
"I told you I could find them!" BlackStar grinned, fists on his hips.
Liz noticed our urgency first, "Is everything okay?"
"Have you seen Kuro?" Char asked, what concern lacked in her demeanor revealed itself in her voice.
"She didn't come to class today…" Tsubaki trailed off.
"Kuro's in danger," I said, "She's in the forest behind the school-"
"What the hell is she doing out there?" BlackStar interjected.
"Someone else is with her." Maka said, and it slowly hit them that she may not have been moving willingly.
"Let's go." Char urged and we ran in the direction of the target area.
"Look!" Liz pointed to the ground ahead of us just when we reached outside. Dirt streaked into the direction of the trees; someone had been dragged away.
"Kuro-chan…" Patti uttered. I summoned Beelzebub, my chest heavy with anxiety that my face didn't show. Patti and Liz followed my lead, turning into pistols and I caught them.
"We know which way she is," I looked at Maka, who nodded, and Soul turned into his scythe.
BlackStar clutched Tsubaki in her Weapon form, ready to start running. Char boarded Beelzebub before I could stop her.
"I'm coming with you." She said.
I shook my head at first, "Char, it's not safe. Kuro's-"
"My Meister and I don't plan on sitting here and waiting while she's out there." By the look on her face I knew that nothing would change her mind, and we didn't have time to argue. After a moment I nodded, and as we made our way through the darkening trees, the dirt became tossed and upturned. She was conscious when she was taken away, it seemed, and she was trying to get away; tearing into the dirt for something to hold. The sight disturbed me more than comforted me, but her soul was closer now, seeming to stop moving. We would be there soon.
I'm coming.
Suddenly, a third soul emerged; mere feet away.
"BlackStar!" Maka called to him.
"What?" he inquired, wondering what the hold up was.
It wasn't until too late that it came into view. We didn't even see it, didn't have time to warn him; it seemed to come out of thin air. The sound of tree branches falling to the ground, then a disc of wind slicing through anything in its way, went straight for him. There was the sound of metal hitting something hard, the disc bouncing off Tsubaki's weapon and shooting straight into the air. The force was so strong the he was thrown off the branch.
"BlackStar!" Tsubaki cried out. He recovered, landing crouched on his feet.
"Please!" he scoffed, but I knew he was just as surprised as we were, "You'd need a lot more than that to hit me!"
"Kid, behind you!" Maka exclaimed, both of us getting distracted from the attack. It was closer now; right behind us. Char grabbed my waist and the bottom of the skateboard as I tilted it up with my feet, using it as a shield from whatever attack could follow. Something struck the deck of the board and sent us back towards the ground. I managed to straighten us out before reaching the ground, stopping inches above the dirt. Beelzebub disappeared, and I stood on my feet as I raised Patti and Liz, aiming at the girl who levitated in front of us, her clothes and hair blowing softly as wind currents moved slowly around her, keeping her afloat.
BlackStar ran at her, and she swung her arms out to her sides, multiple discs flying out at us this time, dust and dirt rising as they hit the floor. Maka twirled Soul in her fingers, deflecting them and Char and I dodged them, shooting at the girl. BlackStar ran in between them, finding openings to get closer to her.
"Hah!" BlackStar grinned, "Get ready to be defeated by me, the great BLACKSTAR!" he rose the chain scythes, about to strike, but he went right through the dust, his face squinted in confusion when he went through the other side. When the dust settled, she was gone, but her soul wasn't.
"The right!" I directed, spinning around just as she reappeared in the direction we had to go.
"What is she, a witch?" Char asked from behind me. I shook my head.
She glanced at the top of my head, and I had to swallow my self-consciousness; this was not the time to think about asymmetry. Instead, I focused on her soul; the same type as the one I sensed with Kuro earlier. Not a witch, but then it hit me; her attacks were created by manipulating the air around her. She was wind. "You must be the Shinigami." She said, taking my attention off of her soul.
Kuro was still gone, and until she was with me I wasn't going to be pleasant, "What's the meaning of this?"
"You don't need to know."
I clenched my teeth, nowhere near the mood to play games. My patience was wearing thin, especially with the state Kuro's soul was in. She was with a stranger, and if she was having an attack like last time she was left completely vulnerable. I clenched my fists, feeling her soul launch deeper into the woods. We needed to get to her before her wavelength went out of our range.
"Kid..." Liz muttered, feeling my anxiousness.
"Kid," Maka spoke just below a whisper, her eyes were still on the girl, "Go find Kuro."
Suddenly she's in front of Maka, throwing her arm down to strike even though she had no weapon. A crescent shaped wind current formed down her arm just as Maka lifted Soul. When the attack hit the scythe, a shling sounded; it was like the wind was an actual blade. I rushed forward, shoving the muzzle against her abdomen and shooting. She yelped, bending over as Maka lifted up the blunt tip of the scythe, hitting her chin and sending her upward. BlackStar sped forward, punching her stomach, making her fall on her back. He raised his blades and plunged it towards her neck. She swiped her hand before it could get too close, and the air deflected the chain scythe like a shield. She yelled as she forced a blast of wind outward, blowing all three of us back.
"Now's your chance!" Maka urged, plunging Soul's blade into the dirt to keep the wind from taking her too far. She noticed my hesitation, but continued, "Go to Kuro, Kid!" BlackStar rushed back at her as I motioned to Char to get on Beelzebub with us. The girl got up about to find a way to stop me, but was distracted by BlackStar who attacked from the side, causing her to put up another wave of wind to shield herself.
I heard Char mutter something but I couldn't catch what it was.
"What?" I asked, picking up speed as I piloted us through the darkening forest.
"I heard her scream..."
I gasped for breath, my body writhing under the pain I couldn't escape. Make it stop, I pleaded, but not allowing myself to say it. My fingers tore into the dirt, trying to find something to squeeze, to channel the pain. He stared at me, expressionless, but suddenly looked back in the direction he came from.
"Adria..."
"Is that your... friend?" I struggled, even every word I spoke hurt. He turned back to me, not saying anything, but I knew he sensed the malice in my tone.
"That's none of your business."
"It doesn't... matter," I groaned as a wave of pain swept through me, "You're dead either way."
He didn't say anything for awhile. He looked like he was deep in thought, and even though I could barely make out his face in the darkness of the night, his stare was making me uncomfortable. "I don't know about that."
"What?"
"They're dead."
"You're lying," my chest feeling heavy all of a sudden, "That's... impossible."
It was so dark now I could barely see his face, "Apparently not."
"Shut up!" I shouted at him, my breathing became unsteady. That wasn't possible; one against the three of them? Impossible. Impossible.
"The blue one put up the biggest fight, I'm sure." he continued.
"Shut up!" I shrieked, my chest beginning to grow hotter, and hotter, and hotter.
"Then the one with pigtails-"
"You're lying!" tears clouded my eyes just at the thought, the simple notion of them in danger because of..."Shut up! Shut up!"
"But the Shinigami was the most difficult-"
"Liar!" I wailed, "LIAR!"
At that moment my chest seemed to explode; all the heat building up and then suddenly spreading throughout my body in a rage of fire so hot I felt like I was going to burn from the inside out. My mind went blank, a scream tearing through my raw throat just as fire filled the air.
She was close now and I didn't slow down, my speed only increased as I maneuvered around the trees. I've felt her soul's changes intensify as I flew to her, it started pulsating, every time it did so a red orange glow from within it.
"What is that?" I heard Liz. I squinted my eyes, trying to spot what she could be seeing in the darkness.
"A wall?" Char inquired. It was circular and made out of solid rock. It was more than twenty feet in diameter, surrounding a large chunk of forest, and it was as tall as the trees around it. That's exactly where I was sensing Kuro's soul.
"Kuro!" I called out to her, her soul bursting just before we went over the wall. It was like there had been an explosion; flames licked at the stone and the ground, not touching her but around her fallen body. If it weren't for the wall surrounding them, the whole forest would've been in flames. A couple of yards away stood a guy behind a slab of rock, the fire around him but the rock protecting him from whatever could've burned him. Char began to cough, the onslaught of smoke getting to her. Beelzebub disappeared from below us, Char and I landing on our feet as she went to Kuro and I went straight for him. He rose his arms, another slab of rock rising in front of him as I shot, protecting him from the purple bullets.
"You bastard!" I seethed, sensing him underground and spinning around, jumping into the air. He emerged from the dirt in a sphere of rock that crumbled away as he came out of the ground.
Earth's soul.
He spotted me about to land a kick on him, and flipped backward before spreading his arms out. Boulders floated off the ground, ready to be chucked at me and I pointed the pistols at him. Our eyes didn't waver from each other during the pause.
"If you hurt her-"
"I didn't." he said, "At least, not on purpose."
"Not on purpose?"
"We didn't come here to hurt anyone."
"Then why did you attack?" I narrowed my eyes, "Why did you kidnap her?"
"It's too dangerous for her to be near anyone once she's awakened. My sister was stalling you."
"That doesn't-"
"If we would've went to you, you'd want to join her," he admitted, "You know what's going on with her, and don't you say you don't. I know you have Soul Perception; that's how you knew I was behind you."
"Dominic!" A female's voice said as the flames died down, and the girl who attacked us appeared in front of her brother, hugging him, "I smelled the smoke!" the breeze she caused increased the oxygen, making the fire burn brighter.
"What are you doing here? You'll make things worse!" the guy, Dominic, exclaimed.
"What the hell did you do?" she yelled at him, looking around and coughing from the smoke.
"You told me to find a way to speed up the process!"
She shook her head, then spotted us, "This isn't good; she's highly unstable-"
"Kid!" Maka and BlackStar jumped to the ground inside the wall, and Maka gasped at the scene before beginning to cough.
"Oh my..." Tsubaki muttered.
"What the hell's going on?" BlackStar asked.
"Kid, she's just unconscious, but she's okay!" Char yelled over the roar of the fire.
The boulders fell, Dominic suddenly spinning around, "Stay away from her!"
Kuro gasped, her eyes flying open as cloud of flame sent Char into the wall, "Char!" we cried.
She groaned, Maka hurrying to her and helping her up, "I'm okay," she said, just as surprised as we were, "I'm not even burned."
"I-I'm so sorry!" Kuro cried as she sat up, and looked around with wide eyes, "I did this?"
"We're here!" Maka exclaimed, getting closer to her, "Kuro, it's okay!"
"Maka!" Soul called to her, "Not too close!"
"No!" Kuro cried, holding her head between her knees as flames spewed out towards Maka. Dominic rose a slab of rock, keeping them from burning her, "I can't control it!" fire rose like a wall and surrounded Kuro, separating us from her. I dropped Liz and Patti, the two turning human before hitting the ground.
"Kiddo-kun?" Patti inquired.
"You control air, right?" I asked and she turned to me, nodding, "Blow the fire away!"
"I can't!" she shook her head, "Maybe for a second, but the air will feed the flames!"
"I need the opening! I need to get to her!"
"Whoa, Kid! Wait!" Liz exclaimed, knowing what I planned on doing.
I noticed her reluctance, "Do it!" I urged.
She took a deep breath, making a circular motion with her hand as a strong gust of wind blew, the flames lowering slightly. I ran forward and jumped in before they grew stronger, but my ankle still got caught and I winced.
"Kid!" I heard a few of them, noticing I was hurt.
"I'm fine!" I shouted before coughing. I ignored the pain I felt and turned in the small, unbearably hot space, seeing her on the ground in front of me. I needed to snap her out of it, but how? "Kuro." I said, kneeling beside her.
Her voice quivered, "Kid, no! Get away! I can't control it! It's everywhere! I don't know how to stop it! I can't stop it! I can't!" she looked at me, tears of fear in her eyes, "I'm a mon-"
I pulled her into my arms, "Don't say that." I said. She whimpered, clutching the front of my coat as I held her tightly. Just my touch seemed to ease the intensity of the flames surrounding us, and in that moment I knew what to do. Without thinking, I released her, my hand finding her cheek as I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers. My heart skipped when I felt her pull me closer, her body now pressed up to mine; the raging heat of her being the only thing I could feel as my fingers slid down her cheek to the back of her neck. I wasn't expecting her to kiss me back, but she did, and she filled every space that could still possibly exist. All at once the wall of fire vanished, the temperature dropping around us, but I still felt the heat of her body. We parted just in time to see the rest of the flames scattered within the stone wall disappear, the moon being our only source of light now.
It worked.
"You did it," I laughed breathlessly, just before her body went limp and fell against mine.
End of Chapter XXI
- Limiterlys