It's hard to believe how innocent things had been when we were all younger. We had looked upon the world with a wonder and curiosity to explore the unknown. This magnificent mirage ends when the phase of innocence is over, and reveals the world for what it is. We can then see the harsh reality, and this reality only grows darker and darker with each passing day. The bravery and excitement we once felt when facing the unknown is replaced by fear, because by that time we only expect the worst out of the unknown.

I do not own Dark Souls or Soul Eater

Ch. 29 A new threat

Soul and Maka now walked the streets of Chicago, looking for the target Lord Death had assigned to them. Though they were not having much luck, who ever this guy was, he could hide better then any kishin the duo had ever encountered. Soul had told Maka to use her soul perception ability, but every time she did so, nothing would come up.

"Maybe you're not doing it right?" Soul suggested, getting an unsure look from Maka, she just wasn't sure what was wrong. This kishin could somehow hide his own soul wavelength, it was as if he hadn't had a soul at all. Still Maka knew it was out there, she could sense that terrible aura growing stronger by the minute, and she was sure it was their target.

"Soul...do you feel that?" Maka asked, getting a nod from her partner. Soul could feel it to, and he was sure that it belonged to their target. Since they had arrived, the duo had only found hints of their targets last known location. When he would leave, he left this terrible feeling, along with his...waste. The stench of it smelled of rotting flesh and death to the duo, they were starting to wonder if this had anything to do with their missing teacher.

Hollow had just completely disappeared with absolutely no trace, and had been missing for a week. The two had to wonder if their teacher had gone mad, since their target had the same aura Hollow had when they first met him. Though Maka wasn't sure, last she checked Hollow's soul had changed frequently, never staying at a specific power level, and always changing personality.

This person's soul hadn't changed like Hollow's did though, no this soul seemed to be somewhat more eerie then Hollow's. It was like it had no personality at all, as if it's only purpose was just to be there to fill a shell. This is what bothered Maka, the soul acted as a way to keep this person going, but it did not think or feel anything. Maka could understand why Lord Death would want this person destroyed, it not only feasted on the souls of the innocent, but had no fear or hope or anything that would say that it was human.

Hell it wasn't even a kishin, even they had a small shred of humanity left in them. They felt fear, hunger, and an unreasonable anger toward other people, yes, but they weren't as empty as this person they were chasing. The only time she had sensed this kind of being was when she, Soul, and the others fought those monsters back in Ireland.

They too had no personality, and there souls were just empty, and devoid of anything. Only one of those things had a personality, and it had been the one their teacher had killed with some strange power. That beasts soul was filled with torment, emptiness, longing, and some kind of...darkness. It wasn't evil from what she sensed from it, but it neither had any good intent, the only thing that made it different was the despair it gave off.

"Maka, are you there?" Soul asked, getting his partners snapped out of her thoughts, and nodded saying, "Yeah...just thinking about some things." This caused Soul to ask, "Is it about our teacher?" Maka just shook her head, and answered, "No, it was about the creatures we fought with Mr. Hollow on that one mission."

"What about them?" Soul asked, wanting to know why she was even thinking about them. Maka hesitated, not really knowing what to say about them, she just found what they did strange. When she finally spoke up, she asked Soul, "Soul, don't you think it's weird that those things just attacked for no reason?" Soul just shrugged, and answered, "For a kishin it doesn't matter who you attack when you're crazy, you just do it to get a kick out of it."

"Exactly," Maka confirmed, "A kishin does it to feel something, but those things...they didn't feel anything. They just did what they did for no reason, they weren't evil they were just...empty." Not getting it, Soul asked Maka, "So they were empty, what's your point?" Maka's face then became more serious, as she told Soul, "But they didn't kill us, they had the chance but they didn't take it, they just went back to their world when Mr. Hollow killed their leader."

"So what?" Soul asked, not getting what his partner was talking about, "Maybe we just got lucky, or they thought we weren't worth killing. Either way they made the mistake of letting us go." Maka just shook her head no, and said, "Soul we may have been lucky, but that was because Mr. Hollow had killed their leader. Think about it, those things are empty like I had told you, right?"

Soul nodded his head, and was starting to get an idea of what his partner was about to say next. Maka then said, "That means those things don't think for themselves either, they just do as their leader commands them. It's like a bee hive, their the drones, and whoever controls them is their queen in general. If we can find who ever it is controlling them, then they'll stop attacking people, and go back to their world."

"Maka," Soul spoke up, "Remember, we're only here to find out where this guy came from. Lord Death had only told us to find the portal, and report back to him when we find it." Maka only smiled, and asked Soul, "What's happened to you Soul, I thought you were too cool to follow rules?" Soul just snickered, and answered, "Of course I am, but I know what you're planning to do. You want to find who's ever controlling this guy, and stop him. Believe me, I want the same thing you do, but you know what happened last time we fought something like this guy."

This caused Maka's smile to grow bigger, as she told Soul, "Oh I get it now, you're just scared." At this Soul's face became more serious, as he told her, "Fine, but if I have to save your ass again don't say I didn't warn you." Maka just nodded as she and Soul rounded another alley way, and saw a shadow with a huge bag on it's shoulder.

This caused Maka to use soul perception, and see that this person's soul was some kind of black sprite. "This has to be him." Maka declared as she held out her arm. Soul understood this, and turned into a scythe which landed in Maka's left hand before she twirled it to get a feel. Once she did, she held Soul with both arms and creeped slowly towards their target. "So what's the plan?" Soul asked, wanting to know how Maka would handle the situation.

Maka answered, "I'm going to follow him to wherever he came from." and then began to follow this person. From what Maka could see, this person did not wear the same armor those other beings did, but it was hard to tell what he looked like with the bag he was carrying. All Maka could say about his silouwette, was that he was very tall, and seemed to be wearing ragged clothes that also stink.

As the duo followed the strange being, they noticed that he was collecting trash or half eaten food off the street, and placing it in the bag. "What do you think that guys doing?" Soul asked, disgusted at the creatures need for garbage. Maka didn't answer, she was still trying to get a better look at the being, but the dark made him hard to see.

An hour later

The strange being had finally collected it's fill of trash, and luckily, had not killed any innocents. He then made his way to the streets, where cars were still running the streets. This caused the drivers to stop and yell at the man, only to shrink back in fear, and drive around him. Once the strange being was in the center of the street, he made his way into a man hole that lead into the sewer.

'Eeewww' Maka thought, did their target live in the sewers the whole time? "They live in the sewers," Soul asked in disbelief, thinking that this was some kind of cruel joke. He then asked, "You're not really gonna follow him into there are you? I mean we don't have to go down that stinking hole, we could just contact Lord Death, and let the three star meisters do the work."

Maka just ignored this,and continued on to the streets, having cars stop when she walked in front of them. "What are you doing?" Soul asked, not believing his partner was crazy enough to actually chase the strange being into the sewer. Maka just answered, "I need to know where this guy is going, this may have answers." Soul was just confused,this wasn't like Maka at all, so he asked, "What answers? What are you trying to find?"

Maka wouldn't answer, she just opened the man hole, and jumped into the sewers;. Once down there, the stench she and Soul had smelled earlier took effect immediately, Maka just wanted to puke, the stench was nothing like she had ever known. It had the smell of human waste and other disgusting fluids, along with the smell of rotten flesh.

Despite the terrible smell, Maka walked on, with Soul at the ready in case they ran into a fight. At first it seemed like a normal sewer, but as Maka walked on the walls and ground started to change into something else. The walls seemed to have been covered with some kind of rotten colored flesh, while the ground became squishy with each step she took.

Twenty minutes later

The sewer had turned into a sight that you could only see in your nightmares. It was almost like being inside the body of someone that was sick and dying of some terrible illness. This thought frightened Maka, the idea of the sewer possibly being alive and digesting them was just...disturbing. She really wondered what these beings were capable of if they could turn the sewer into something out of a monster movie.

"Maka, are you alright?" Soul asked again, he didn't like what this place was doing to his meister. Even in weapon form, he could feel the fear and dread of this place, it was as if the whole place was against them. This made Soul shiver, the idea of going into a vile place like this alone, was just terrifying. You would have to be dumb or suicidal to brave a place that looked like hell. He only wondered why Maka was not turning back, it just didn't make any-

Maka jumped back as a black blob fell on to where she had just been standing. On the floor she saw it slowly move towards her as it became bigger, like it was trying to...eat her. This caused Maka to swing at the black blob, but when she cut it in half it just kept coming after her. Maka's eyes only widened in complete fear, 'What is that thing?' she thought.

"Maka," Soul called out, "You can't fight that thing move." Maka did as Soul told her, and ran into another direction, until she was sure she had lost the blob. She then took a moment to catch her breath, and scan her surroundings, only to realize that this wasn't the way they had came. "Are you ready to go back now?" Soul asked, hoping that Maka would finally decide to go back.

"I can't," she answered "I don't know the way back." This caused fear to rise up in the duo, they were lost in some god forsaken sewer, that grew worse and worse as they went on. Now the walls were covered in red flesh, while piles of what looked like waste littered the floors. Not only that, but the rats living in the sewers looked deformed and unnatural as they scurried about the place with dead gray eyes.

'Those eyes,' Maka thought, 'They look like Mr. Hollow's.' "Soul," Maka spoke up, "These rats, they...their...their dead." Soul just didn't believe it, and told her, "No way, that's not possible. If they were dead they wouldn't be moving, maybe their all just sick." Maka didn't think so, the little vermin looked as if they had been mutilated. One of them even appeared to be scurrying away with only half a body, but then where was it's-

Maka's eyes widened as a terrible thought came to mind, she only hoped it wasn't true. When she lifted her foot, she saw the lower half of the rat's body crushed beneath her shoe. Maka wanted to scream at that moment, but had a feeling that in doing so, she and Soul would never live to see the sun. She then wiped the mess sticking off her shoe on the ground, and started to walk in the direction that hopefully lead back to a man hole.

"Soul," Maka began with a quivering voice, "Do you remember the way back?" Soul breathed a sigh of relief when she had finally decided to go back, but there was a new problem, he didn't know the way back either. "Great we're lost, I told you we shouldn't have followed that guy into the sewer." Soul told Maka, with frustration.

"I know." Maka replied, "Then why did you follow him?" Soul asked, wanting to know why Maka had done something that wasn't like her. Maka didn't know how to answer the question, "I...I...I just wanted to-" Before she could finish the question, Soul had shouted, "MAKA MOVE TO YOUR LEFT." As soon as she heard that, Maka rolled to her left as something landed where she had just been standing.

Said thing had the appearance of a red eye dart frog, but much, much,...much bigger. Both Maka and Soul's mouth were agape as they stared at the overgrown amphibian. "What kind of things do those people flush down here?" Soul asked, still with a face of pure disbelief. The amphibian just stared back at Maka as if preparing for an attack, informing the teen that this...animal was smart enough to think of self preservation.

Swallowing her fear, Maka readied herself for a fight, causing the overgrown amphibian to charge right at her. Maka dodged this attack, and swung Soul down vertically, only to hit nothing, the creature had moved out of the way. Maka then followed up this attack by running at the creature, and swinging Soul around three times, making the beast resort to jumping over Maka.

Maka had seen this coming though, and swung Soul upwards to catch the creature in the stomach. Maka then tore open it's insides as it landed behind Maka and fell to the ground dead. "You got it." Soul said, still in disbelief at how huge that thing was. Maka just smiled, as she told him, "You can thank Mr. Hollow for that painful lesson. Now how do we-"

Another sound caught both Maka and Soul's ears as they turned to see two more of the frog creatures coming toward them. Instead of running, Maka faced them both head on, and swung Soul downward to pierce through the closest creatures head. The overgrown amphibian saw this coming, and hopped to the side, using it's tongue to grab Maka's leg, and knock her down.

This caused Maka to drop Soul, while the other creature hopped close to Maka's head. Then it's throat began to poof out as Maka stared in fear at what the creature was going to spit at her. But before the creature could spit, Soul had jumped into the air, and switched back to his scythe form, gutting the overgrown frog through his back to his stomach.

The other creature then let go of Maka, and prepared for an attack as she got up, and grabbed Soul. She then got into a ready stance as she and the creature stared at each other, waiting for each other to make a stupid move. After a moment of waiting, the creature began to hop away, leaving Maka and Soul dumbstruck.

When the two recovered from the surprise, Maka set after the monster, despite Soul's plead of letting it go, and getting out of the "Sewer" if he could call it that. Maka just ignored him, and followed the overgrown amphibian down different corridors in the sewer. "Maka," Soul called out, "What are you doing?" She didn't answer, she just kept following it, despite knowing that it was stupid.

"MAKA," Soul finally shouted, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?" Maka's only answer to the question was, "Mr. Hollow might be here." This only confused Soul, why would their teacher be in a place like this? Sure the guy was weird, sure he seemed like he had something to hide, and sure it did seem like he was one of the monsters they were fighting, but he wasn't with them. Hollow had proven it that day when the monsters they fought had killed him.

Moments after chasing the strange animal through the sewers, Maka had lost the damn thing. Worse, the area of the sewer seemed to be covered in slime as the walls dripped flesh. There were even dung piles in the sewers water that made the smell so bad that Maka wanted to puke. Everywhere they looked, the walls, the water, even the floor was covered in what appeared to be human flesh.

The whole place made Soul and Maka feel that they were in hell, and that this place would consume them. Wanting to distract himself of this feeling of despair, Soul asked Maka in a shaky voice, "U-um Maka w-why do you t-think our teacher i-is in here?" Maka didn't answer, the whole place just made her feel like she was going to die. Soul noticed the look of fear and despair on her face, and was going to say something, but he couldn't.

Maka had begun to speak, and said, "Why...why is it getting darker? Why is it that I feel so...alone? Why isn't anyone coming for us, did..do they hope we never come back?" "No, Maka that isn't true." Soul clarified, "We're down here because you wanted to find our teacher. No one sent us down here, it's just this place...it feels...so...wrong."

Soul's words had snapped Maka out of her despair, as she said, "Y-you're right, this is my fault. All I have to do now is tell Lord Death everything we've seen." Maka then pulled a mirror from her uniform, and put in the numbers to contact Lord Death. Before she could utter the words to contact Death, Maka had been knocked out cold. This took Soul by surprise,as he went back to his human form to defend his partner.

Once he was human again, Soul shaped his arm into a scythe, and stood over his partner as two figures loomed over him. Soul couldn't believe what he was seeing, they looked like deformed people, all covered in grime with twisted limbs. Their faces were all crunched up, they had no necks, their bodies were pale and misshaped, they had mortal scars all over their bodies, and they bared sharp teeth.

"W-what the hell are you?" Soul asked, afraid of the answer he would get. The two monsters did not answer, one only smiled, while the other swung what looked like a rusty sword at Soul's neck. Soul saw this coming, and ducked under the blade, trying to deliver an uppercut with his weaponized arm. This plan did not work, the monster just deflected the blow, and smacked the handle of it's blade into Soul's face.

This brought Soul down to the ground hard, whatever those two were, were very strong. Soul then rolled out of the way as one of their deformed foots tried to stomp him, but as soon as he got back up he was knocked to the floor again by the other monster. Soul then tried to get to his feet, but he only ended up getting kicked in the face, which sent him back to the floor.

The two monsters then started to stomp on Soul, who was trying to fight back. He had swung his arm around to get them off, but they were quick, and moved out of the way of the strike. With one final punch to the face, Soul was sent falling backwards as his body began to shut down, he couldn't take any more of the beating. The last thing he saw before blacking out was one of the monsters smiling at him with razor teeth.

When Soul blacked out, the two monsters looked at each other as if thinking something. Of course the most logical thing to do was eat their souls, but it has been a while since...oh yes, they knew what they would do to these two. Both picked up one, and started to walk to their base, they had a feeling "She" would like their offerings.

So yeah...this is the chapter. Sorry for the long wait everyone, I've been dealing with writers block. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this, since we'll be taking a break from Hollow. This story is as much the gangs story then it is just Hollow's, so...I know it's a short chapter...so uh yeah, hate it love it review.