Disclaimer: Soul Eater is copyrighted to Atsushi Okubo and all other third parties (characters, series, and concepts). I and HopeDiamond101 of DeviantArt claim no ownership to it. We do, however, own the original characters and content presented in this story.

Reborn: A New Lease on Life

A Witch stumbled on the rust-colored shag rug, a hand shooting up to the corridor's wall to catch her balance. It was a shame to have to be rid of the body she was born with, but she valued her life more than anything. It would take some time to get used to her new host. She heard people running and saw the guard dog-themed foot soldiers of the Witch Society coming to check on her.

"So they got my message. I'm sure they were expecting me." In case they thought otherwise, the witch lifted her hood to reveal her distinct, pink and blue irises. Confirming her identity, the guards nodded to each other, one of them moving ahead to the large, golden doors ahead.

Seconds later, the guard returned. "The Witch Council will see you, Shaula Gorgon."

Hating to appear weak in front of her superiors, Shaula sucked it up and walked herself into the room. The room was rather dim, but every chair was occupied in the spacious office. The guards closed the door behind Shaula as she walked to the middle and bowed. "I've come to report my progress."

Behind the desk, a woman took a long dreg of her pipe before speaking. "Then speak."

"Yes, Ms. Foxworth." Shaula cleared her throat. "Unfortunately, my Traitors failed to do lasting damage to the North American base in Death City despite circumventing the city's improved defenses. And we lost Meme Tatane."

She was interrupted by a few of councilmembers releasing a disappointed 'Awww' while one muttered a lazy 'Bummer.' They were silenced by Foxworth slamming her pipe on her desk like a gavel. "Continue."

Detecting the impatience in her voice, Shaula decided to get to the point. "However, I can say with certainty my older sister, Medusa Gorgon, is officially out of the picture. Also, Meme Tatane did retrieve some dirt on the DWMA."

Foxworth smirked and leaned back in her seat, chuckling. "Nice work, Shaula. We finally got rid of that snake. I'd knew you'd be able to handle the job." The woman then frowned as a snarl escaped past her lips. "Though, if it were up to me, I'd kill her a million times over, the same as the number of dead sentences she'd have if she were in front of me!"

"Good luck with that," the same lazy voice as before mumbled, prompting a few giggles from the other councilmembers. Foxworth shot a glare at her, and even though she sat in one of the darker spots of the room, the Witch Judge was sure she waved it off.

"Well, regardless." Foxworth redirected her attention to the youngest Gorgon. "You did excellently, Shaula, all things considered. Go get some rest; you deserve it. We'll figure things out from here."

"Yes, ma'am." With another slight bow of respect to the Witches in charge, Shaula slowly left the room. A sneer tugged at her lips, her eyes glowing in the dim hallway. "I'm not through with the Academy by a long shot. And, Arachne, you're next."

"Yahoooooo!"

Blackstar launched himself at Free, one hand holding an Execution Star-modified Chain of Blackness and the other crackling with light. Free responded by swiping his claws, but Blackstar leapt back, landed in a crouch, and slowly straightened. He and Free circled each other. Blackstar was focused, alert, and shockingly quiet save for the occasional battle cry. The werewolf has a high-caliber opponent that required him to pull out his best moves to achieve victory.

And that was just the way he liked it.

"Ice Spindle!" A spike of ice jutted from the ground near Blackstar, grazing him. The Star Clan boy strafed, wiping away the blood with his thumb. In one stroke, a black lunette projectile whizzed through the air. "Wolf Tail Wall!" Free moved his tail to the front as it puffed up in size, easily blocking the attack.

"Gotcha now!" Blackstar skidded behind Free after a burst of speed. Realization dawned on Free's face; he fell for the distraction. One hand filled with the blazing energy of his soul, Blackstar drove his palm into the base of Free's spine. "Soul Force!" This one made Free lurch over, unable to retaliate, and Blackstar kept up the pressure. The revolver-like guard spinning, shadows enveloped the blade as he delivered a slash, leaving a notch in the immortal's shoulder as blood flew out.

Blackstar looked over his shoulder at Kid and Rowena and yelled out, "Kid, blast him right after this! Rowena, get ready to send him flying!"

"Understood!" Kid sucked in air and crouched down, readying the cannons. Rowena blinked several times and pointed to herself. Seeing that, Kid casted a dry look to her. "Yes, he understands the value of teamwork too, Rowena. He used to be significantly worse."

Blackstar circled around Free so that he was in front, free hand brimming with soul energy. "Soul Force…" He then got seconds thoughts and scoffed when he made a final decision. "Nay!" The electricity condensed into a ball of light and the ninja drove it right into Free's prone gut. "World Destruction Cannon!"

Dust kicked up in a stream behind Free as the soul energy hit him directly, the werewolf howling in pain as he became airborne. "There's the signal!" Kid narrowed his eyes, using his scope to target Free. "Fire!" The black and blue bolas exploded from the cannons, striking Free and sending him higher, right where the open space was.

"Blackstar, quickly!" Tsubaki cued. Nodding, Blackstar deliberately broke the Joint Resonance. Tsubaki then spawned tendrils from Blackstar's shadow and grabbed Rowena, throwing the girl at the helpless immortal. "Now!"

Bracing herself against the wind, Rowena readied her weapon. "Nayumi, Meteor Hammer!"

"Right!"

The energy from their resonance became so intense that the hammerhead burst into flames. Roaring with effort as she swung, a burst of fire punctuated the attack on Free. Leaving behind a trail of smoke, the werewolf flew towards the horizon, howl growing softer and softer.

"I got you, Rowena." Tsubaki used her shadow tendrils to form a net to catch the Sledgehammer Meister.

Blackstar straightened up and grinned proudly, giving Kid and Rowena a thumbs-up. "See? You guys didn't have to do anything but that."

...

Eruka and the Mizune Family resurfaced, the sounds of the waterfall's distant roar greeting them. Tadpole Jackson carried the sisters, groaning as he let himself drift along. Once she caught her breath, Eruka looked at the Mizunes, all of them green in the face from seasickness.

Eruka felt responsible for their involvement with Medusa. After all, she told them a lie in order to get their cooperation. Sure, she had no choice, but she still wrought the consequences. Not a day went by without guilt eating at the frog witch, but all of her options led to a bad scenario. If she told the truth, the Mizunes would assuredly go after Medusa and probably get themselves killed. Then, Medusa might turn to her for disobedience. If she kept quiet, the Mizunes might eventually be killed by DWMA officers.

Either way, her friendship with the Mizune Family would be hurt. Eruka did not want that. As long as Medusa was alive, a broken guillotine would forever hang over her head – always there to remind her of her sins but never granting her the chance of absolution.

The silence was finally interrupted by a loud growl of Eruka's stomach. A knot formed and, as soon as she cradled her gut, it travelled up to her mouth with the speed of a bullet. With a heave, the vector snake Medusa planted in Eruka long ago came out. It was a dried husk, aged from time and its master "dying" twice. The vector dissolved, disappearing into the water.

"I-It's gone?" Eruka let out a weak croak, both disgusted by the sight and confused why it happened. When Medusa supposedly died during the Kishin's revival and then at the first Baba Yaga Castle invasion, nothing of the sort happened. So what made today different?

As soon as she made eye contact with Cobra Island, it hit her like a ton of bricks. "They really killed her."

The Mizunes released a tired 'chi' in unison, too sick to care about the announcement. The one thing that kept Eruka from telling the truth was gone. The only thing she feared was the consequences. Steeling her nerves, Eruka spoke, "H-Hey? Mizune? There's—"

"Look out belooooooow!"

The silhouette of a large man casted over Eruka, the Mizunes, and Tadpole Jackson. Looking up, they saw Free falling towards them. Tadpole Jackson immediately swam to safety while a blank look appeared on Eruka's face, leaving her to be the landing pad.

"I hate everything."

The Witch Soul fit perfectly in the palm of Crona's hand. The vectors around it wiggled restlessly, lost and masterless. Crona stared into it, unable to see anything within the purple depths. Ragnarok emerged from Crona's back. "How long are you going to stare at it? Ain't nothing pretty about her, even her soul."

"It's not that, Ragnarok. It's just…" Around his time, Crona noticed the blood-colored sky beginning to fade. Streaks of red were replaced by those of orange and yellow. Soon enough, the sun returned, a symbol of comfort and victory to those who weathered the storm. Closing its eyes, Crona took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the past finally leave its shoulders. "We're free."

Sprinting over, Maka threw herself into Crona and captured the Sword Meister into a tight hug. "Crona, I'm so proud of you! You did it!" She gushed, a bright smile stuck on her face.

"Great job," Soul complimented, grinning as he walked over. He took the liberty of carrying the still unconscious Kim. "Now you got yourself a Witch Soul. If you round up 99 Kishin Egg or Evil Souls, Ragnarok'll be a Death Scythe."

"Sounds like a load of unwanted headaches." Ragnarok looked at the broken entrance and something came to mind. "Uh, shouldn't we check on the others and make sure they didn't die?"

Maka tore herself away from Crona. "Yeah, you're right. We need to tell them our mission is done."

Maka, Crona, Soul, and Jacqueline returned to the rest area. When they got there, they saw Blackstar, Tsubaki, Kid, the Thompsons, Rowena, and Nayumi safe and sound. Then, a whistle sounded in the back. It was Kilik signaling their arrival. He himself carried an unconscious Krysa, Ox and Harvar both supported Caius, while Tsuji, Marcellus, and Claudia walked on their own.

Seeing everyone alive made Soul's grin widen. "See, Ragnarok? Nothing to worry about at all."

"Except the gray hairs I might have from stress," Claudia deadpanned.

Ox noticed Kim, riddled with cuts and knocked out, on Soul's back and couldn't stop himself from blurting out, "W-What happened to her?! What did Medusa do—"

"Slow your roll there, Ox Ford," Soul interjected, shaking his head. The casualness in his voice made Ox slump in relief. "She's fine. She's taking a much-needed nap." Soul then put his attention on Krysa. "So what about her?"

"She's in a coma," Kilik answered, "We found her like this on our way up here. Well, minus the dead, decaying snake coming out of her mouth."

Liz's stomach twisted into a knot, the mental image invading her mind. "Gross."

Thunder looked up the unconscious Krysa in Kilik's arms and titled her head. Now that she got a closer look at her face, there was something about her that Thunder found familiar. Unable to put her finger on it, the blond tugged at her brother's sleeve and whispered, "Fire, doesn't it feel like we've seen the pretty lady before?"

"Hmm." Fire squinted his eyes to get a good look at her, cupping his chin. Eventually, he shrugged his shoulders. "I got nothing."

"Of course you don't."

Kid adjusted his suit and tie and brushed his hair down, trying to make himself look presentable. "I'd better contact my father. Please wait patiently, everyone." He excused himself to another part of the area.

At this point, Rowena took note of something softly glowing in his Crona's hand. She looked more closely, and her eyebrows rose at the sight of the Witch Soul. "Yo, Crona, is that a…?"

"Dude! It's a Witch Soul!" Blackstar shouted, running up to Crona and grabbing its hand to examine it. He flashed the pinkette a knowing grin. "Heh. So you did it. Not bad, kid, not bad at all."

"Good riddance." Caius muttered, a frown firmly entrenched on his face. He closed his eyes, wanting to rest them; the lack of visual aid was beginning to hurt them. "Now if only I could get back at that other Witch for breaking my glasses."

Not wanting the happy atmosphere to be tainted, Tsubaki offered the Vladingham a smile. "If it makes you feel better, Caius, you look better without them."

Leaving Caius to Harvar, Ox approached Crona as well, giving his newest friend a smile of his own. "Well, I'm happy for you, Crona. I wish I was there to see it." He could see the difference – Crona stood up straight, proudly, and no death grip on its arm. Quite a transformation between now and the Innsmouth mission. "But since that's all over with, I recommend you changing your surname."

"That's a great idea, Ox," Maka piped in. For Crona to truly move on, all tangible remnants of its past needed to be eradicated. The intangible was up to Crona. She placed a finger to her chin as she looked up, as if the ceiling would give her inspiration. "How about…" Shifting her focus to foreign languages, the lightbulb went off in her head. "Makenshi! It roughly means 'magical swordsman' in Japanese."

Blackstar, Liz, Claudia, Soul, Rowena, and Ragnarok all stared blankly at her. "How original."

Crona blushed darkly, nervously playing with its fingers, and gave Maka a sheepish smile. "W-Well, since you came up with it, Maka, I'll take it. I don't mind."

Nayumi shrugged her shoulders. "At least it sounds pretty. 'Gorgon' just makes you want to vomit after you say it." To make her point, she stuck her tongue out and gagged, earning giggles from Patty and the Pot Twins.

"Hey, hey!" Ragnarok barked out, waving one of his stubby arms to get everyone's, particularly Maka's, attention, "You know what you can do to help us? Get us out of those dang rooms in the school. I want a real room!"

Maka beat every single person to the punch. "You can move in with us, Crona!" She then considered the state of her and Soul's apartment and then pointed at her partner. "Okay, Soul, as soon as we get home, you and I need to clean our junk out of the guest room. No questions asked."

Soul hated it when Maka got like this; she was as bossy as she was stubborn. "Hold on a sec, Maka—"

"I said no questions asked!"

Everyone burst out laughing, watching the two squabble like an old married couple. A brief but sharp whistle silenced them. Kid was beckoning them over. Jacqueline, Harvar, and Kilik gently put Kim, Caius, and Krysa down on the ground before they joined the others. A magical skull circle was on the ground, and in a flash of purple, a pillar of light rose from it.

A hologram of Lord Death appeared, giving a wave. "Hello, hello, how's the—" One look at everyone, and Lord Death dropped his hand, the eyeholes in his mask growing in size. "W-W-What happened, Kid?! You all look terrible!"

"Long story, Father." Kid relayed everything that happened on Cobra Island, his friends speaking up whenever necessary. In turn, Lord Death told them about the attack on Death City while they were gone. "—So, it appears Medusa and Shaula Gorgon were in league."

"I'm terribly sorry, you guys." Lord Death bowed his head, sad-faced. "I'll send over help right away. So, sit tight and keep each other healthy, ok?"

"Yes, sir."

The call abruptly ended. No peace sign, no 'take care' or anything. It was clear Lord Death was disappointed in himself for letting Shaula attack their home and Medusa trick them all.

Aware of that, Maka spoke up, "I'm going to say this right now, gang," She looked at everyone dead in their eyes, wanting them to realize how serious she was, "We got lucky. You guys don't realize how lucky we are to be alive. Now, I'm no foreseer, but I don't think things are going to get any easier. We need to step up our game. Who knows who else has a target on our backs?"

An image of Cancer and that creature from Venice flashed in her mind.

"You got that right, Maka." Blackstar crossed his arms, scowling. "Soon as we get home, I'm gonna train so hard, no curse'll ever affect me."

Claudia sighed, shaking her head. "That would require mental conditioning, and I do believe you lack in that capacity." He shot her a glare but nevertheless said nothing; he'd let his actions do the talking.

"If I may say something?" All eyes fell on Marcellus, and he nodded his head in the direction of the sun. "You guys are aware of how long it took us to get here, right? It's no different for the adults." The sun hung low in the sky, laughter reduced to drowsy groaning, drooling from one corner of its mouth. Nighttime approached.

Marcellus crouched down until he sat on the floor and then laid out, putting his arms behind his head. He was all too eager to get some sleep. "Might as well get comfy. Looks like we're spending the night here."

Month 2, Week 2, Day 4 (Thursday, February 12th)

Before the crack of dawn, the group made it to the harbor and awaited their rescue. Soon, the distant sounds of a helicopter broke the silence. Jacqueline turned her arm into a lantern and shot fire into the air, acting as a signal to let them know where they were. Eventually, the DWMA-edition helicopter landed near the students.

"Makaaaaaaaa!" Spirit sprinted out of the copter like a cheetah pursuing prey, capturing his daughter in a tight embrace. Maka tried to push him away, but Spirit held her prisoner in a bone-crushing grip. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry all that happened to you! Don't worry, Daddy's here now!" Rivers of tears and snot poured down his face as his comforting words devolved into unintelligible gibberish.

"Cronaaaaaaa!" An equally hysteric Marie rushed over to Crona and pulled the swordsman into a hug, stroking the child's tousled hair. "Shh, shh, it's okay, dear, I'm here to punch away all the bad demons."

Ragnarok's head poked out of Crona's back, staring expressionlessly at the woman. "You're a little late for that."

"Claudiaaaaaa!" Diane tackled Claudia hard, embracing her tighter than the other two and crushing the smaller female under her own weight. The woman didn't even care her favorite blouse and pants were getting sandy. "Oh, my sweet little princess, my darling, my pride and joy, please me tell you're all right! I hope a hair isn't out of place!"

"No, but she is turning the same shade of blue as my suit from a lack of oxygen." Claude shook his head, but he couldn't help but smile, glad everyone was safe. "Please, honey, I'm sure Roger and Francis want to see her too before they have to fly us back home."

Sid walked over to Blackstar, examining every inch of him – his posture, his condition, everything – to make sure he wasn't going to tell a lie. "Everything good and well, Blackstar?"

"You got nothing to worry about, zombie dude." Blackstar folded his arms behind his head and flashed a grin. Sid couldn't help but reciprocate it. "We took care of business."

"Mr. Ricardseeeen!" Nayumi jumped up and clung to Noel's arm when he approached her, Marcellus, and his twins. She looked up to him with a bright smile, her eyes shimmering even in the darkness, a stark contrast to his stoicism. "Hi. Did you miss us? Did you miss us?!"

Noel ruffled Nayumi's hair with his free hand. "No."

The less time spent on this island the better, Nygus figured. Lord Death already told them his intentions of quarantining the island. "All right, everyone! I have my equipment and a few helpers on-board. Let's get you guys properly treated. Everyone else, let's prepare for departure!"

Maka hurried to the helicopter, trying to get away from her franticly sobbing father, Soul laughing at her misfortune. Diana carried her daughter bridal style while Claude and Caius talked about getting him contact lenses for combat to replace his glasses. Soon, everyone but Noel and Tsuji entered the helicopter, the blades spinning faster and faster.

Noel looked at the archer over his shoulder, noticing he was slow to board. "I know you don't want to stay here."

"Nope. Sure don't." Tsuji chuckled, forcing himself to smile at his dad before he rushed past him.

The effect was lost on Noel. "Thanks a bunch, Medusa. You gave my son PTSD."

Month 2, Week 3, Day 5 (Friday, February 20th)

Days passed since everyone left behind Cobra Island. Once they settled back at home, Maka and the others were checked on by Stein and Nygus to make sure the Ouroboros curse was completely gone. Krysa's homeland was discovered and she was promptly escorted back to her village and family in Africa. In the meantime, even though they still went to class, Lord Death told them to relax and recover for several days.

...

Caius burst into the library. No other students were around, but he did catch the attention of Kathi, who jerked awake. Readjusting her glasses and straightening up her shirt, she watched Caius approach her desk. "O-Oh, um, good afternoon, Mr. Vladingham. I did not expect anyone to come during this time."

"I came because I knew you'd be here, Ms. Rumeri," Caius replied. He leaned against the counter, his eyes boring into her own, "Listen, are there any textbooks, studies, or whatever that talks about Soul Blaze? I want to check out everything or maybe even buy them."

Kathi pushed her rolling seat back to create distance from Caius's prying gaze. "Well, this is strange, Mr. Vladingham. I'd figure you know all about your family's trademark. I'm quite frankly disappointed."

Caius slumped against the countertop. "You'd think that, yeah." His lack of knowledge was all his fault. He was a "late bloomer," only deciding to join the DWMA a day before the massacre, and what he knew about Soul Blaze was from watching and deductive reasoning. He straightened up. "But it's time I learned. There's too many questions that I want answers to."

Kathi smiled and stood out of her seat. "Wait here right then." She walked into the back where all of the books for higher-leveled personnel were. Knowing exactly where to go, she got a blue book, returned her desk, and handed it over to Caius. "There you are. For the Blue Flame: A Comprehensive Look into Soul Blaze by Katrina Vladingham."

As soon as he heard the name, Caius fumbled with the book, dropped it to the ground, but immediately picked it up. He then checked the front and back cover and saw his aunt's distinct signature in overly elaborate cursive. "I can't believe she actually finished it! What's it doing here?"

"It was published posthumously." Kathi said with a smile. "And where else would it go? I'm just surprised you never considered asking for it earlier."

"Well, for starters, I never thought I'd need it," Caius mumbled, fingering through random pages, "Secondly, didn't even know it was here. Yeah, this'll do nicely. Aunt Katrina was 'The Greatest Vladingham' because Soul Blaze was like child's play to her." With an excited smile, he looked at the librarian. "So how much for it?"

Kathi dismissively waved her hand. "No charge. As the so-called "The Last Vladingham," you're literally the only person who actually needs it, so keep it." Turning in her seat to shut off her computer, she kept talking, "Just read it extensively and don't give in. Stay di—"

When Kathi turned back around, Caius was already gone, and a 100-dollar bill was on the counter.

Caius slowly closed the door to the library, making no noise. "Sorry, Ms. Rumeri, it's still property of the DWMA." He then took off his book bag and put his aunt's book in it, intending to read it when he got home. Just then, he saw a flash of orange hair down the hall. Curious, he followed and eventually caught up to Rowena. "Fancy meeting you here."

Slinging her blazer over her shoulder, the Sledgehammer Meister turned to greet Caius with a wave of her hand. "Hey, Caius. What's up?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"I'm about to go meet with Maka for some help," Rowena replied, cocking her hip. "Gotta keep my body in good shape, you know? To crack some skulls!"

"I understand." Caius glanced at the muscles in her arms and small showing of abs on her midriff. Nothing radical like the feminist caricatures he read in certain stories. He thought she was a mix of cute and strong. "Speaking of Maka, can you give this to her?" He removed Albert Cornwall's Illusions of the Mind from his book bag. "It's hers."

"Can do." Rowena accepted it. "Isn't it a bit late to do last-minute reading at the library?"

"I was getting something to help improve my Soul Blaze. I refuse to be helpless." His performance against Mizune and his shadow was appalling. That needed to be rectified. He smiled at Rowena's approving grin. "Well good luck with your agenda. Just don't overdo it. Lord Death told us to take it easy after what happened on Cobra Island."

"Don't worry, I got that." Rowena stretched her back until it popped. She released a content sigh. "A lady needs her beauty sleep as they say."

Caius blinked, giving the girl a quick once-over. "U-uh."

Rowena titled her head, noticing the Vladingham had frozen up. "You okay?"

Clearing his thoughts, the blunette tried to gather his thoughts, but his mouth moved on its own. "Uh, well. It's just… I never pegged you, of all people, for the type to care about beauty and such."

Rowena crossed her arms. "What are you trying to say?"

Thinking he offended her, Caius held up his hands and offered an apologetic smile. "Uh, I mean- It's not like that! I mean, uh—"

Pinching herself to stop a fit of laughter, Rowena figured she'd calm him down. "Man. I get that you ain't had the best of lives, but jeez, your people skills..."

Caius narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "My social skills are fine! On both a professional and a casual level." He turned his head, like how Claudia would, as he inwardly admitted how much better they were pre-massacre. "It's just that it's hard to envision you needing beauty sleep, that's all."

No response.

The bespectacled teen noticed Rowena simply standing there staring at him. A lump filled his throat, and he forced it down. "Oh, that did not come out right." Berating himself, he prepared for Rowena to deck him in the face or throw him into the wall.

Instead, a titter rippled across the otherwise silent hallway. Lurching over, great booming laughter rolled from Rowena's mouth. "M-My, my s-sides!" She craned head to look at Caius, speaking as best she could. "D-Dude, you GOT to start working on that! J-Just be, just be glad I'm not that type of girl!" She keeled over, rolling on the ground while kicking her legs, unable to stop laughing.

Caius rolled his eyes, masking his embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah. I'm leaving. I have an eye appointment to get contacts." He walked past her, face turning red like a tomato once no one could see. "Smooth work, Caius."

In the dance studio, Maka and Soul waited at the bench nearest to the exit. Soul sat on the floor against it, eyes threatening to close from boredom, while Maka patiently read a book, legs crossed at the ankles.

"They're late," Soul remarked, "We still need to make sure Crona can move in with us."

"Let's give them five more minutes, Soul." Maka said, flipping a page.

Soon, rapid footsteps echoed into the dance studio. Nayumi and Rowena burst into the room. "S-Sorry!" They said at the same time, taking in air, as Rowena put on her blazer like normal.

Soul rose from the floor. "It's about time."

"Our fault. We got caught up in some stuff," Rowena informed. Nayumi transformed into a sledgehammer, and she grabbed it. "So, Maka, gonna show me how you do that Color Flag Guard spinning stuff?"

"You mean my scythe-spinning technique?"

"Yeah, that." The redhead shrugged her shoulders. "It looks cool so I wanted to learn how to do it."

"Sure. Here's how to do it." After Soul transformed, Maka grabbed him and assumed a stance. "First you have to acknowledge Nayumi's wavelength. Let your soul wavelength sync with hers. Soon, everything will go naturally. Just watch." Maka span the scythe, making slashes and thrusts in the process. During some points in the demonstration, the scythe moved so fast that streaks of white, red, and black surrounded the ashy blond.

All the while, Rowena leaned on her sledgehammer and studied her every move. She kept her eyes on Maka, for watching Soul himself made her eyes hurt.

Maka's movements were fluid like water, leaping and landing in one motion, not a step out of place. After some time, she planted her feet into the floor, span the scythe above her head, and executed one last, powerful slash. Finally, she relaxed and faced the other female. "And that's pretty much it."

Rowena shook her head. "You make it look hard yet so easy."

Maka chuckled nervously, one hand rubbing the back of her head. "Soul and I are used to this, so that's probably why." That out of the way, Maka wanted to test Rowena. "Okay, let's start off slowly. Try doing this." Starting off with three regular spins out front, Maka's hand motions on the fourth and final one made the scythe follow a complete lemniscate path.

"Looks simple enough." Rowena held the sledgehammer out with one hand and rotated it thrice. On the fourth one, she used her free hand to nudge it like she saw Maka do. The hammerhead rose at the end of the first loop and struck Rowena on the side of her head. "OW!" The girl collapsed, dropping her weapon as she held her head.

"R-Rowena!" Maka kneeled down beside the older girl, seeing her eyes spin. "You okay?!"

"I-I guess so." Rowena shook her head, getting rid of the dizziness. "Geez. What was that?"

"You have to keep guiding your weapon," Maka explained. She'd be lying if she said she didn't expect that to happen. That required subtle but constant hand motions to keep the Weapon going without hitting the Meister's body. After the initial nudge, Maka could tell from Rowena's body language she assumed the sledgehammer would keep going.

With a snarl, Rowena shot back to her feet and picked Nayumi up. "Again."

"Sure thing. Watch me carefully." Maka demonstrated once more, hoping the Ricardsen paid closer attention to her hands. "Go for it."

Rowena tried it again, but this time wound up hitting her leg. The girl dropped Nayumi again, jumping up and down as she held the afflicted area. "I think I just kneecapped myself," she said in a strained voice.

Maka shook her head, noticing the nudge wasn't forceful enough. She figured Rowena wasn't as confident after the first error. "Perhaps you should practice with the less dangerous training weapons in the dojo?"

"Yeah. Before you make yourself crippled and concussed," Soul lazily added in. His image appeared on his blade, red eyes drifting to the purple and grey sledgehammer. "That sure looks heavy."

Nayumi's reflection showed on the hammerhead. "My weapon form weighs roughly three hundred pounds." Stifling a giggle at Maka's and Soul's eyes bulging out, she continued, "It is a good thing Rowena is literally perfect for me. Sure, I could match wavelengths with someone, but picking me up is another story."

Rowena stopped jumping around and started putting weight on her knee again. "And, even then, when we first started, I had to take long breaks between sessions so I didn't strain or tear nothing. I still sometimes wrap up my wrists or back."

"I understand the feeling." Maka traced the outline of Soul's cutting edge with a finger. "See? Soul's cutting edge faces me, so I have to be extra careful not to hurt myself. It was almost a problem at first, but they have books in the library written by past Scythe Meisters and Demon Scythes to help future ones."

"That's cool." Rowena sighed and placed her hands on her hips. She wasn't one for giving up but nearly bashing her head in and breaking her leg discouraged her. "We'll stop here for today. I need to hit the gym anyway."

"Trying to become the world's strongest woman, Rowena?" Soul joked, reverting to a human state. Nayumi did the same.

Rowena chuckled but shook her head to let him know he was wrong. "It's out of necessity. If I don't work out consistently, I'll lose strength. Kinda need that."

"You go do that then, Rowena." Maka said, offering a smile, "See you two at the party tonight?"

The girls smiled back. "Of course!"

Garbed in martial arts robes and armed with training greaves, Tsuji maintained a kickboxing stance as he eyed the practice dummies circling him. At his feet was a button meant to activate them. Breathing in air through his nose, Tsuji held up his hands, clenching imaginary tennis balls.

Pressing the button with his heel and approaching the first one, the training session began.

The dummies' arms mimicked straight jabs and uppercuts. Tsuji brought up a leg one at a time to block or retaliate with various kicks. Before he became accustomed to one dummy, he danced around to meet with another, reacting as quickly as he could to their automated movements. His body jerked from one direction to the other in rhythm to the opposite lines of each attack.

He shook things up, stopping a dummy's uppercut with his hand and retaliating by spinning his heel into its head. He flipped out of the way and jumped high enough to avoid a jab, striking with yet another kick. Tsuji rolled into the safe zone and contemplated his next course of action.

As soon as he decided to go back to the first dummy, he saw its face.

The Kishin Egg that nearly killed him five years ago.

He froze. The arm of the training dummy landed a precise blow to his face. Blood splattered from his nose as Tsuji staggered into the safe zone. Lurched over but oddly quiet, Tsuji slammed his hand on the stop button to deactivate the circle of training dummies.

Just like on Cobra Island, fear regained its hold on him.

"Son of a… bitch!" Tsuji lunged and punched a dummy so hard he broke its head off. Panting heavily, the boy leaned against the damaged dummy, suddenly sapped of his will to continue training.

"Uh, Tsuji?"

Tsuji's eyes shot open, covering his nose with his sleeve, as he turned to face Soul and Maka, who poked their heads in the entrance. "Oh, hey, guys!" His eyes shifted around, trying to look for something to help save face. "I was I just… I was just…" With a defeated sight, he slumped over. "Yeah, I got pissed."

Soul helped himself in, looking at the blood soaked on the robe's sleeve and the head of the training dummy rolling away. "We can see that."

Maka retrieved a towel and tossed it to Tsuji. "So what's the matter?"

He caught it and replaced his sleeve with it. At least his nose wasn't broken. "I guess you can say I'm still shaken up." The two stared mutely at him. He was sure they remembered his egregious reaction back on Cobra Island. With another sighed, he confessed, "Okay. A lot shaken up. I get flashbacks every and now then. It sometimes keeps me up at nights. It's got me all kinds of stressed out. I'm tryin' to move on but, goddamn it, it's so difficult!"

"Sounds like you need a break, man." Soul elected to help Tsuji out by beginning to move the training dummies to their proper place.

Tsuji rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Do we get breaks?"

"Well yeah," Maka answered, "For starters, there's summer vacation that starts at the end of April. Lord Death also usually gives us days off around the DWMA Anniversary Celebration on April 1."

Tsuji deadpanned. "You're talkin' about stuff a month away, Albarn."

Maka shrugged her shoulders. "Then just go to school until then. We all need some time away from missions. I mean, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, you being a rookie and all." Seeing him hang his head, the Scythe Meister walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Tsuji. You can get over this. That fear should empower you, not weigh you down."

"Right, right." Tsuji removed the towel and noticed his nose stopped bleeding. "I'm gonna change, wash up, and go home."

"Don't forget to come by to our apartment for the party," Soul said, done putting up the equipment, "I'll text you the directions."

"Gotcha." Tsuji gave the two a parting, lazy salute as he strolled off. "Catch ya'll later."

Gunshots rang in the Academy shooting range. Laughing manically, Patty emptied the pellet gun into the targets in front of her. Wielding it onehanded, she shot over head, from between her legs, in an onehanded handstand, and in pretty much every pose except the proper one. "Look, Sis, I'm doing it!"

"You sure are, Patty!" Liz cheered on her younger sister, applauding. "Keep at it!"

Liz couldn't hear the sounds of someone entering the shooting range over the gunshots. Marcellus glimpsed Patty's form and approached the older Thompson. Hands in his pockets, he slouched in posture. "You are aware she's doing it all wrong, right?"

Liz turned to Marcellus, blinking. "But she's hitting bulls-eyes."

"She's practicing bad habits."

"Oh, whatever, Marcellus. What are you doing here anyway?"

The African-American grabbed a chair and plopped into it. "I wanted somewhere to rest but didn't feel like going home yet."

"I don't think this is the best place to do that." Liz watched her sister reload her pellet gun and move on to more difficult targets. Since Kid for some reason never was cursed, the two of them agreed to improve their marksmanship should something like that happen in the future. The gunshots resumed and Liz stifled a giggle when Marcellus jerked back to wakefulness. Other than Patty, silence lingered between them, Liz unable to find a way to start up a conversation. She didn't know much about Marcellus.

Except for…

"Um, Marcellus?" Liz thought about her choice of words. "I still remember the circle, and I don't meant to be nosy—"

"Then don't be," The Demon Bow wanted to say but lacked the guts to, instead keeping his mouth shut, even though he knew what she was about to say.

Liz deliberately paused to see his reaction. When he made no reaction, she interpreted his silence as a sign to continue. "What's being in the Chicago Underground Association like?"

"It's not as glamorous as I think you're trying to imply it is," Marcellus replied in an even tone, removing his lollipop.

"W-what? No!" Liz shook her head and hands frantically. At this point, the gunfire ceased. "I'm not trying to imply anything at all! I just wanted to know how you survived. That's a tough life to live; I can relate."

"Aww, Lizzy," Patty turned around, one hand on her hip and frowning. "Why you gotta bring up the past?"

"I mean, it helps me appreciate what I have now, Patty." Liz looked down somberly, her hair threatening to fall over her face like a curtain. "You, Kid, and the others. You're all precious to me. Family even. I look back and say to myself 'I never want to go back to that path,' but I know there will be times I'll be tried." She lifted her head again and smiled at Patty. "So, it helps to get inspired by those who went through worse."

Marcellus's chair creaked as he stood up and began walking out. Thinking she offended him, Liz called out him, "W-Wait, Marcellus! I'm sorry! U-Uh, hey! Did you start on that report due—"

"Haven't cared enough to start." Marcellus answered offhandedly, leaving the shooting range. "I don't get this. Crona severs the only filial bond the dude has, yet Liz is over here preaching about family. …Why am I even thinking about this? I'm trying to be a lawyer, not a philosopher or politician. Ah, forget this, I'm going home."

Patty stared sadly at her sister, went over to her, and hugged her. "It's not your fault, sis. It sounds like he's going through some things." She then looked at the door where he exited and added in, "Besides, you couldn't tell from the Kumbaya Circle? Unless you're Nayumi, don't bring up his past."

The Ricardsen household was quiet. Too quiet in fact. As Noel checked around his house early evening, he could hear the wind blowing against it and the trees swaying outside. With his children and Nayumi, it never got like this until it was bedtime. Sure, Rowena and Nayumi had left for Maka and Soul's apartment twenty minutes ago, but Tsuji was still around.

Brow furrowing, the single father went upstairs to the room Tsuji and Marcellus shared, thankful his footsteps didn't make that much noise. Before he knocked on the bedroom door, they started speaking.

"You going?"

"Are you?"

"Don't know now."

"Me either. I just want to lay here and read these poems."

"You? Read? It must be raining cats and dogs somewhere in the world."

"Looks who's talking. You aren't asleep."

"I have a lot on my mind."

"Same here."

Noel crossed his arms and leaned on the wall beside the door. They stopped talking, but he knew they weren't doing anything. Quietly, Noel left to get the cleaning equipment, knowing the room – mostly on Marcellus's side – was a sty. Noel didn't have many real friends, you could count the number on one hand. But he kept them for a reason. He wasn't going to let Tsuji and Marcellus throw theirs away – some of them knew came from good people. Going back up the stairs, he said in his usual dry baritone, "Wonder if I can get all this cleaning done. Wish I had some help."

In record time, the bedroom door burst open, Tsuji and Marcellus putting on their respective blazer and peacoat. "See ya, Old Man, we're going to Maka and Soul's." His son gave him a parting, quick hug before he and his partner descended the steps.

Noel shook his head, entering the bedroom. "I knew that'd get them out of the house."

A parent had instincts, and Noel knew from the moment he landed on the island something went horribly wrong. He wasn't as talkative as usual, aimlessly roamed in the house in the middle of night, and had less passion. Marcellus neglected schoolwork, slept in class more often, and even skipped physical education on occasion. It was unacceptable.

"As soon as I find a reason to get Rowena and Nayumi out of the house, I'll have a sit-down with those boys."

Noel gave the room an once-over and sighed, opening up a trash bag. "First, let's get this place decent."

Everybody settled in the living room in Maka and Soul's apartment. As it turned out, Crona had prepared a meal for each person out of gratitude for seeing them in their new home. Most of the dishes' presentation stood out, such as Kid's finger sandwiches being arranged in an eight, Blackstar's in a star, and Patty's and Nayumi's in the shape of giraffe and monkey respectively. Special mention went to Ox's dish, which featured a delicately-made Mobius strip.

"Wow, Crona, you made all this yourself?" Kim asked, giggly lighting as she poked the crouton in her salad that marked the tanuki's nose. "I didn't even know you could cook."

Crona smiled softly and nodded. "Well, I have to cook my own food and Ragonarok's. So yes."

Ragnarok licked his lips, saliva falling out of his mouth. "And Patchy the Pirate helped a little before everyone got here, so Crona can't take all the credit."

Crona frowned and pushed the Demon Sword away so none of his drool got in the food "Her name is Ms. Marie! And I used a cookbook too."

Ragnarok inhaled deeply, savoring the smell of the fried chicken in front of him. "If she keeps making fried chicken like this, I'll call her 'boss,' man"

Kid cleared his throat, getting ready to speak. "Well, nonetheless, Crona, we all thank you for this. Maka, Soul, we're glad that you could have us all."

Maka smiled brightly. "You're welcome, Kid, everyone." She grabbed the tea kettle and started pouring herself a cup. "I won't lie. Even though we got lucky, there's nobody I'd risk my life with besides you guys."

"Oh great. We're gettin' mushy up in here." Rowena chuckled sarcastically, accepting the tea kettle once Maka was done with it. But before she poured her own cup, she noticed a cat walking along the headrest behind Marcellus. "Huh. You guys didn't tell me you had a cat."

"Hm?" Soul noticed Blair eyeballing Marcellus's fish over his shoulder as he ate slowly. "Oh, that's just Blair. She's been with us for a while now." Swallowing, he leaned back his seat, remembering something. "Oh yeah. This is yours, your brother's, Marcellus's, and Nayumi's first time coming here."

"Yep." Rowena sampled the tea and hummed in satisfaction at the hint of orange extract she tasted. "Hey, Crona? What kind of tea is this?"

"Orange Spiced Black Tea." Crona ducked its head, bracing for any kind of opinion. "You don't like it?"

Rowena shook her head. "Oh, no. In fact, I wanna know the recipe. I plant my own tea leaves and make my own tea, so I'm always lookin' for ways to improve."

Feeling Blair paw at his shoulder, Marcellus relented, breaking off a piece of fish and offering it to the cat. Blair greedily ate it, savoring the taste as he mewed repeatedly. "So good. So delicious. So heavenly!" Then, the unexpected happened. Pink smoke enveloped Blair and, when it disappeared, Blair was in human form, sitting sideways in Marcellus's lap as she continued eating his fish.

"…Can you please stop eating my stuff?" Marcellus demanded, uncaring that a cat turned into a woman. Or that Blair's position gave him a plain view of her cleavage.

Setting her fork down, Nayumi glared at Blair, losing her usual cheer. "And can you get off him? You're making him uncomfortable."

Blair titled her head at the purple-haired girl, a grin forming on her face that showed her fangs. If she was anything like Claudia, it would be a cinch to rile her up. Wrapping one arm around his neck, she pressed herself against Marcellus but garnered no reaction from him. "Really? I think you're just jealous."

"…What?"

"All implications included."

"Why you—!"

Nayumi's hand shape-shifted into a hammerhead. It took the combined efforts of Patty and Kilik to keep her from disfiguring the chuckling cat-woman. Meanwhile, an apathetic Marcellus continued to eat even with Blair still in his lap heckling Nayumi.

Soul sighed and smiled at Crona, who was wondering what to make of the scene. "I guess all there is to say is welcome home, Crona Makenshi."

"Home." Crona looked around at them all. Gone was the past, gone was her. Just a new future with new family and friends.

Tears welled in Crona's eyes but the meister blinked them away before it looked back at Soul. "Thank you. Thank you all."

"For everything."

Author Notes

I personally would like to apologize. This particular arc took too long to finish. Between various setbacks, more important matters, and a dip in drive in the past, I can only imagine how it felt to wait for this arc to finish.

I hope to rectify the pacing with the Chicago Gang arc to start in the next chapter.

By the way, Kitsunetsuki Foxworth is the name we selected for the nameless Witch Judge that loved to give out improbable numbers of death sentences.