A/N - There's not really much to say before this chapter, I suppose. I suppose I should say overall that I've been planning this for a while, though certain details slipped in during the writing process (Stein's chair-fu was definitely thought up on-the-fly, in particular). I've always wanted Alecto's story to be one of growth and strength, both in terms of emotional strength and physical strength, so having her learn new techniques and become a better fighter was an absolute must.

Of course, this wasn't how I'd originally planned for her spar-with-a-canon-character to go. Way back in the first couple of arcs, it had been my plan to have Alecto approach Kid and ask him for a sparring match, because she was impressed by how much he owned that fight with Black Star and Soul. Eventually, though, I decided that didn't really fit, and changed things around a bit (read: a lot.) That's not to say that Kid-Alecto sparring will never happen or anything, it just won't happen the way past me had originally planned. Actually, now that I think about it, very little happens the way past me originally planned. Sucks to be you, previous self. Your narrative ideas were weak at best anyway. :P

Also, quick writer's tip: if you're writing action scenes, definitely try to at least get a bare-bones idea of what you want to happen written on paper, so you can figure out where to connect things and what happens when. Otherwise you might end up getting confused on which action goes where and suddenly your combatants are breaking the laws of physics and Euclidean geometry. Writing down how I wanted things to turn out really helped me with this chapter, I'll tell you what.

Also: If you're writing action scenes, look up references for the action you want your character to perform, especially if you're a visual learner like I am. So helpful.

Now that I'm done throwing metaphorical tomatoes at my younger self and passing advice on to fellow writers, I'd like to thank little101 and MegglesGG for reviewing!

little101: Haha, yeah. ;P She's not nearly at his level, obviously, but she's got strength in her own way, as will become evident with this chapter.

MegglesGG: I'm glad you liked this chapter! And yeah, that ending sure was a thing that happened. (God, I love writing cliffhangers. I have some in mind for way down the road that'll make you all hate me. :D) Like I said, Alecto and Tempus becoming better meisters is something that I've been working towards for a while, and since this is technically we're at the end of arc 10 out of 40 (assuming I don't get any funny ideas and add even MORE arcs like I probably totally will) it's as good a place as any to push towards that, don't you think?

Chapter Thirty-Four - Goes The Clock - The Time Meister Seeks Extra Help, Part 4

"It's not something to be worried about. You are a shield weapon, after all," Stein said, making his way over to the front desk and crushing the butt of his cigarette into the ashtray that sat upon the polished wooden surface. "The ability to protect the soul of one's meister from direct attacks is actually a fairly common technique among weapons like you. I am curious as to why you haven't been taught it before now. Usually it's one of the first things shield weapons learn, if they can."

Alecto could see Tempus fidget in the back of her mind. "We've had a very… unique education," he pointed out. "It's not like it's anyone's fault, the teachers did the best that they could with what they were given."

"I'm sure they did," Stein said, again with that faint softness.

"It's just that what they were given was me. And between our temporal wavelengths and my specific issues resonating with anyone who isn't tiny and pink-haired, well… Let's just say it was a bit of a challenge for everyone." Clearly a little uncomfortable with the topic of discussion, Tempus switched gears. Literally; his hour hand spun back and forth a couple times. "So, this shielding ability. I can use it to protect Ally?"

"Only from direct wavelength attacks, but yes, that's the general purpose."

"Then that's a good thing, then," Tempus declared decisively. "Yeah, it hurt a little, but I'm more than willing to deal with it if it means keeping my meister on her feet." He paused. "Wait, so is this the end of the lesson? I-is it over? Because this is a pretty big step, skill-wise, I'd like to think."

"No." It was Alecto who answered that, pushing herself away from the wall. "The objective of this lesson was to use our temporal wavelengths to land a strike on Dr. Stein. So far, we haven't done that. Isn't that right, Professor?"

"That's right," Stein answered. He reached out and grabbed the back of his chair, pulling it close to him. "While protecting your meister's soul is a valuable skill, and one I have no doubt you'll be utilizing a great deal, the purpose of this lesson was to help you improve and focus your temporal distortion abilities. So," he said, "try again."

Without warning, he shoved the chair towards them again, the small wheels skidding across the classroom linoleum. Alecto was ready this time, though. Tick. She dove out of the way, landing safely a few feet away. Tock. The chair clattered against the chalkboard wall harmlessly and careened off to the center of the room. Alecto whirled around to face Stein, her expression set in a look of stern determination. I guess he's not just sitting around waiting for us to attack him anymore.

"May he thinks a good old fashioned adrenaline rush will help us figure out how to use our wavelength better?" Tempus suggested.

Maybe. The thing about the fight-or-flight instinct was that it didn't leave a lot of space for critical thinking, But Alecto was always a bit of an on-the-fly learner. It seemed that Stein had picked up on that. In a way, she sort of admired that about him. For all the classroom dissections and more unnerving behaviors, he really did know how to fine-tune a lesson to the students' individual needs. And in a school where each student had a unique fighting style and a lack of knowledge could mean death at the hands of a Kishin egg, curricular flexibility was an invaluable trait.

If only she could figure out what he was trying to tell her about wavelength interference. How could she offset that? What did he mean by, "Think of how you perform a Soul Resonance?" If actually doing a Soul Resonance wasn't what he'd wanted, then what…

A small gear clicked into place in the back of her head. Not a Soul Resonance itself, but like one. I think… I think that's it!

But she couldn't afford to waste time thinking, because he was coming at her again, hand outstretched, and now it was her turn to start dodging. Tick. She tried to leap out of the way, but - tock - he'd found his way to her wavelength again, prying her soul's grip off the flow of time before she could take the necessary two steps to the right to avoid him. His palm grazed her arm, and as Alecto stumbled to the ground she could hear Tempus wince as he blocked blocked the attack. Damnare, she thought, reaching out to him mentally. How much does that hurt, Tempus?

"Not that much," her weapon replied. It's kind of a pins and needles sort of feeling, you know? Like when you sit on your foot too long and it falls asleep. Only this is quicker and goes over my whole body."

Do you think it's possible to… amplify the skill, with sufficient power? Alecto had an idea rapidly forming in her head, but it relied on luck, misdirection, and the answer to her question being a "yes." That was the only way she would be able to get the upper hand for even a second in a fight against a meister like the professor.

Well, it wasn't totally the right way, but Sundial Spear was a little bit too destructive to use in a classroom. Besides, she wanted to see if they could.

"I… I don't know? Maybe? I don't really understand what you're trying to ask, here." Tempus caught on quickly, though, at least to a little bit of her plan. "No. Absolutely not. So soon after our last one? That's insane! There's no way we'd be able to pull something like that off without practice and you know it!"

I don't know it, Alecto retorted, and neither do you. You call me reckless, and maybe you're right. But you have to admit, my plans do tend to work more often than not. She was running mostly on bravado now, and she knew it. But she needed to convince Tempus to give this a shot. We took down Hudine, we took down Nosferatu, we took down Borden. We won't know this won't work until we try. Qui audet-

"Qui audet adipiscitur, I know. All right, you have a point," Tempus relented. "And this is a training session, in any event. If there's a place where we can experiment with new techniques with minimal risk of damage to our souls, it's here." He sighed. "Oh, what the hell. What's the worst that could happen? Besides this backfiring horribly and us getting hospitalized, I mean."

Ibi animus bonum est. Alecto got to her feet and turned to face Stein. The professor had been kind enough to wait for her and Tempus to finish conversing, having lit another cigarette in the meantime. "I think I've got it figured out," she said, speaking to Stein, but not really looking at him or anything in particular. "I think… I think I know what I need to do."

Stein tilted his head slightly, curiosity flickering in those alarmingly pale eyes of his. "Then show me. Let's see if you've really got it figured out."

She did, but she couldn't show him right away. She needed to make sure that she could do it, first. So instead… "Tempus, you ready?"

"Am I ever ready for your crazy ideas? Don't answer that."

That was as close to a yes as Alecto was likely to get. "Let's go, Soul Resonance!"

A bemused look crossed Stein's face. Good, Alecto thought. Her soul wavelengths collided with and amplified her partner's , and Alecto could feel their combined strength growing. She held her arm out so that it was parallel to the ground. We may only have one chance at this. Tempus!

"Right! Let's see…" She could feel Tempus concentrate as he pushed his soul wavelength out in front of the two, using the resonance energy to fuel the exertion. For a couple seconds, nothing happened, and Alecto was worried that they had failed. Then the buckler spear began to glow, a disk of pure whitish-gold light forming and growing from the shield section itself. It was a little shaky, and it flickered, but it was there, And Alecto pushed her soul wavelength even further to keep it there. Alecto tentatively reached out to touch the light, and her fingers met resistance as soon as she brushed their creation. "We did it!" she exclaimed. "Tempus, look, we did it! You did it!"

"Yup, sure did." Tempus's voice was strained. "Not sure how long I can keep doing it. Whatever you've got in mind, do it now."

"Right!" Alecto was awed by their success with this new technique, and she wanted to practice it more, but that wasn't the true reason she'd requested that they do a Soul Resonance. She needed to see Tempus's soul in her minds eye, watch each wave ripple out into the air. And now she could. She could sense the path his soul wavelength took, clear as a drop of rain hanging to a leaf.

"Impressive," Stein said. "Not many people can perform a Resonance Technique like that on their first try." Something glinted in his eyes. "Let's see how well you can keep it up under pressure."

Hook, line, and sinker.

Stein charged forward, and Alecto barely had time to raise her arm up to block his outstretched palm with this new soul shield of hers. Immediately she could sense what he was trying to do; he was trying to disrupt Tempus's wavelength, make them drop the Soul Resonance. If that's what he wants to do, Alecto thought, that's fine by me.

A large crack appeared in the disc of light as Stein pushed against the shield even harder. "Ally!" Tempus exclaimed. "He's gonna shatter this thing!"

"Quod acceptābile est."

"What?! No it isn't! How is this possibly 'achept-a-beelay?'"

His pronunciation was still terrible. "Crēdis meum, Tempus."

"I..." Alecto could feel her partner's hesitation. "All right. But you'd better have some damn good logic behind your plans."

Don't you worry, Alecto thought. I do. She reeled her soul wavelength back a little, watching the cracks in the soul-shield grow greater and greater. Finally, the disc of energy shattered, the shockwave from their Resonance suddenly collapsing sending her tumbling backwards.

Tick. This time, though, she didn't struggle to stay on her feet. This time, distorting time just enough to give her the edge in velocity she needed, she allowed the momentum to carry her backwards and out of Stein's reach. She focused on Tempus's soul as much as she could; she couldn't allow herself to lose sight of the directions his wavelengths moved in. Everything else was secondary.

Alecto hit the ground with a solid thump, her shoulders mercifully breaking her fall as opposed to her head for once. She rolled to her feet and, without a moment's hesitation, pushed herself forward, leaping forward. Tock. Just as she'd thought he would, Stein ripped through her wavelength once more and disrupted her desynchronization, moving to block the incoming attack.

But there was no incoming attack. Alecto wasn't aiming to strike him; far from it, in fact. She caught a glimpse of the surprise on Stein's face as she planted her hands on his shoulders and cartwheeled over him. As she did, she focused as hard as she could on Tempus's wavelength. I know how it moves. I know exactly how it moves. She closed her eyes, gathering up her own wavelength into a single point of energy, deep within the core of her inside her stirred in response. All I need is to push outwards, to sort of… shoot my wavelength along his. I just need to…!

Tick.

Alecto felt Tempus's soul jolt in shock as everything around them suddenly halted. She opened her mouth and was about to explain what she had just tried to do when she suddenly crashed into the chair in a very bizarre fashion.

She said bizarre because coming into contact with the chair should have dragged it into their desynchronization, and the force of crashing into it should have sent it skidding away. until it was out of her range. Instead, it stayed stock still, and Alecto crumbled into the seat awkwardly and painfully. "Gah! Ouch," she grumbled, untangling herself from the piece of office furniture. "What the hell…?"

"What the hell is right!" Tempus snapped. "Just what was that, Ally? Any why didn't you warn me before you did… whatever it was you did?"

"Sorry," Ally said, getting off the office chair and standing upright. She brushed off her jacket and romper. "I was just sort of rolling with the plan as I came up with it."

"Uh huh. Why did we even do that Soul Resonance if you weren't going to do anything with it?"

"I needed to get a real sense for your soul," Alecto explained, "more that I usually do, I mean. My sixth sense is kind of horrid, even when it comes to my own partner, so to really figure out your wavelength like I did I needed to get our wavelengths both amplified to overcome that. I figured if I used your wavelength as a path for my own, it would end up creating that constructive interference." She rolled her shoulders and winced a little for turning her attention to the office chair, giving it a solid kick. It didn't budge. "Strange. Why isn't this moving?"

"No, wait," Tempus said. "It is moving a little. Just really, really slowly from our perspective."

Alecto knelt down and peered at the chair. Sure enough, after staring at it for a few seconds she could see what he was talking about. It had moved a little bit, but so slowly she hadn't noticed it from far away. "That's still strange," she said. "It's like it's barely reacting to our touch. We should be able to move it, right?" She grabbed the chair and pushed at it. It was still immobile. "Why won't it…?"

"Ally, wait, think about it." A note of awe had graced Tempus's voice. "He said that people getting dragged into our distortion was one of the symptoms of the problem we were struggling with. Maybe this means that we did it. I can't feel Stein trying to disrupt our wavelengths."

Alecto glanced over her shoulder, where Stein stood still as a statue. "He's not doing much of anything to us at the moment."

Tempus sounded very pleased with himself. "No, he is not. Nice move with the misdirection, by the way. Was that another reason why you wanted us to do the Soul Resonance?"

"Partially," Alecto admitted. "If he thought that we were taking our strategy in a certain direction, he'd move to counter it that way. That gave me the time I needed to figure out what I needed to do so I could enact an actual strategy. Though I wouldn't call it exactly a strategy, more of something that just sort of happened."

Tempus whistled. "That sounds just implausible enough to be something you thought up. It also sounds tricky; not exactly something we'll be able to do in the thick of a real battle without some careful planning. and coordination"

"No, I suppose it isn't." A wide grin stretched across Alecto's face as an unfamiliar surge of pride rushed through her. "Hey, Tempus."

"Mm?"

"We did it. We passed the lesson."

"Not yet, we haven't," Tempus pointed out. "The point of the goal was to land a hit ole' Doc Stein, remember."

"Right." A pause. "You think we could have taken him in a real fight?"

Tempus scoffed. "Pfft, fuck no. He was holding back and you and I both know it. If he'd been playing for reals we'd have both been dead a long time ago."

"Yeah, I guess." Regardless, it was good to know that she was making progress, that she was becoming a stronger meister, one that both her weapon and the people she'd sworn to protect deserved. "Let's get this over with." She slowly made her way around Dr. Stein, facing him with a resolute look on her face. Then, with a careful and steady hand, she reach out and lightly rested the edge of Tempus's buckler on his chest. Done.

Tock.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the office chair roll backwards a few meters. Stein stared down at the polished shield pressed against his collar, shocked for a fraction of a second before returning to his usual state of "vague curiosity." "Very good," he said. It was his voice that showed what he was feeling; he sounded impressed, and Alecto felt the wave of pride rush through her again. "You finally figured out how to use your partner's wavelength to amplify your own temporal desynchronization, and you," he was addressing Tempus now, "managed to figure out how to use your soul to protect that of your meister." Stein took a couple steps back. "You both have passed this lesson. You may head home now; try to give your souls a bit of rest before your start practicing your new techniques."

Tempus immediately shifted into his weapon form stretching his arms above his head. "That's not going to be a huge worry. We were planning on taking it easy for a bit anyway, right, Ally?" He shot alecto a look that clearly said, "don't think that just because we've got cool new techniques that you can go dragging me off on missions that are way out of out league."

Alecto nodded. "That's right. We'll keep this all in mind; thank you for taking the time to help us, Professor." She moved towards the door to leave, her partner hot on her heels. As she reached the door, though, a thought crossed her mind. "Professor Stein?"

Stein looked over at her.

"Back in our… first encounter," Alecto began hesitantly, "you said that I was weak. Did you really mean that, or were you saying that to get me to lose my focus?" She really, really hoped that it was the latter, but the doubt was beginning to gnaw away at her, despite the leap between skill levels that she and Tempus had just taken.

For a couple seconds, Stein didn't speak. Then, "As a time meister, you naturally have a lot of potential. It takes a great deal of raw strength to manipulate the relative state of time itself, so you're certainly not lacking in that. But there's something holding you back." He suddenly looked very interested indeed. "Some part of you is keeping the rest of you from reaching your full potential, and you're allowing that weakness to control you."

"Really?" Alecto said. "What is it?"

Stein shrugged. "You're going to have to figure that out on your own." He waved them away with an idle flick of the hand, returning his attention to the papers on his desk. "Get going, the both of you. And don't forget to review those notes I mentioned in class. Your written exam is coming up in a couple of months, and you'll need to know the material covered."

Alecto silently nodded, and she and Tempus left the classroom. As they made their way down the hall, neither of them really speaking, her thoughts couldn't help but wander back to what Stein had just said. Something holding me back… I don't know how true his statement about my potential strength is, but I don't exactly have a lot of reasons to doubt him, do I? But if that's the case, what's stopping me from reaching that strength, from becoming the best meister that I can be?

What's making me weak?

"Ugh, so sore." Tempus rolled his shoulders, rubbing at the back of his neck and letting out an unhappy groan. "I always forget this part of learning new techniques. This sort of thing can really take a toll on you."

"So you've said." Alecto pushed aside boxes of tea, searching for the herbal mixtures. She didn't use them a lot, so they'd been pushed to the back of the tea cupboard by the flavor blends she preferred to drink. "I know I've got some bai shao tea in here somewhere. It's pretty bitter, but it's good at taking care of this sort of pain. You want me to brew you up a cup?" Truth be told, she was feeling a bit sore her

Tempus leaned back in his chair and nodded. He'd let his hair loose from its ponytail and let his golden hair loosely across his shoulders. His jacket was haphazardly tossed on his chair in the living room, and his tie was half undone. He looked exhausted, and Alecto couldn't blame him. "That sounds a hell of a lot better than downing a couple painkillers. Sign me up." He watched her sift through her collection of tea tins, stifling a yawn. "You think everyone else is having a better time than we are?"

"I dunno," Alecto grumbled. "Sounds like Ox was pretty thrilled about the idea of going to Scotland with Kilik. And Maka and Black Star are off in London, which is pretty cold this time of year."

"It's London, it's always pretty cold over there. And gray. Cold and gray."

"True." Alecto pondered a couple seconds more. "Kid and the Thompsons are still in Hungary dealing with Elizabeth Báthory. That can't be easy; they don't call that Kishin 'the Blood Countess' for nothing. I just hope they're doing all right."

Tempus shrugged. "Pff, hell if I know. I'm just glad it wasn't us who had to go clean up that mess."

"I wanted to. But we're one-star meisters, we're not allowed to take a job like that." Alecto pushed aside a box of peppermint tea, and her charcoal gaze fell upon a small box behind it, wedged in the far corner of the cabinet. "Hah!" she declared. "Found the bai shao!"

"Excellent. So, erm, how bitter is it again?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough, trust me."

Interesting. She's a fascinating subject, to be sure.

Stein returned to his desk, where he went about the mundane undertaking of sorting out which papers had been graded and which papers he still needed to look over. It was a task he performed primarily on autopilot; he was much more interesting in the new information he had gathered and the two young time meisters.

For one, he'd finally figured out how Alecto and Tempus were able to perform so well together, despite Tempus's uniquely uncooperative soul and Alecto's somewhat uncooperative personality. There was the fact that they both shared the same time distortion ability, of course, but it was deeper than that. As a shield weapon, Tempus needed someone to protect, somebody who he could defend from harm. It was in his nature and (whether he was consciously aware of it or not) it was the primary reason he'd joined the Academy. Alecto's headstrong and reckless tendency to jump headfirst into the fray without a reasonable plan of attack made her the perfect person for Tempus to look after. If Stein were a strong believe in fate, he'd say that they were made for each other.

Not that Alecto needed that much protecting; even at a young age she was quite formidable, and Stein figured that, with sufficient training, she might one day become a better time meister than even Daiyu Zhan had been. He couldn't quite figure out why, but Alecto's awareness of the flow of time around her was strong than the other time meisters he'd met. She seemed to… understand it better. Stein wished for the opportunity to pick apart her soul wave by wave to see what made it tick, for lack of a better term.

But her untapped potential wasn't the most interesting thing about Alecto's soul, not be a long shot. No, see, Stein had gotten a good look at her soul during the extracurricular lesson, and he had caught a glimpse of something that intrigued him, a phenomenon that he had never before witnessed in a living human being. Part of him wanted to report it to Lord Death; it seemed like something the Grim Reaper wouldn't want to know about. But he was curious beyond belief, and as a proper scientist he knew that changing a variable would change the outcome of an experiment.

He wanted to see how this would play out, if it would make any difference in the end. Observation and experimentation, that was the key to learning. And he wanted to learn.

He wanted to learn just why there was a small fragment of another human soul lodged deep inside Alecto's, beyond the notice of even her own partner.

He'd have to keep a very close eye on her.

A/N - Move along, nothing plot-important to see here. Nope, nothing at all. *whistles innocently and shoves notebook full of notes and plot details under the nearest bed*

I think that's the first time I've ever written 100% from a canon character's perspective in this fic. It may or may not be the last time. Haven't decided yet. (That was a lie. I've totally decided.)

And it's not an arc about Alecto's prowess as a meister without lots and lots of self-doubt. *pats Alecto's head* Oh, you poor dear. Don't worry, things will get better. Of course, they're gonna get a whole lot worse first. :3

Writing the bit where Alecto and Tempus first use their new technique (which I've been calling Soul Shield in my notes, though I'm not sure if that name will stick or if it'll get a cooler name. I'm open to suggestions!) was a little tricky, and I'm still not of the opinion that it was the best piece of work that I've ever done, but I finally managed to get around the parts that were giving me trouble and write the rest of the chapter all out in time for my promised weekly update schedule. Really, the writing of this part didn't need to be "the greatest thing I've ever done," it just needs to be "good enough where I can move on to the bits I REALLY REALLY want to write," and I think it's at that point.

*Still refusing to talking about the obvious Main Plot stuff because that is a mystery and you will find out all about it in due time but not right now. I encourage speculation, though I'd be surprised if any of you guessed what the Deal is before it gets revealed in story.*

Also, yeah, we've officially wrapped up arc ten out of forty (or more, depending on whether I get any more plot bunnies), and have breached the 150K word mark. A toast to me for making it this far, and a toast to all of you for sticking with me all this time. In a couple of months it'll be TF's one-year anniversary, too! Can't wait!

Now that I'm done pointlessly rambling, Latin time!

Ibi animus bonum est: Literally means "there's the good spirit/attitude," which is basically a not-terrible way of saying "that's the spirit!" I'm not sure if I translated it totally accurately, though. Probably not. *shrug*

Quod acceptābile est: "That's acceptable."

Crēdis meum: "Trust me" or "Believe me."

Chapter thirty-five will be the start of the new arc sometime next week, and will be something I'm cautious but also excited about writing. Here's hoping all goes well! In the meantime, feel free to like and leave a review!

-Diana "Nocte"