Kid, Aisling, and Athena stood up. Athena grabbed a knife from the pack on her leg, holding it in front of her. Aisling clutched her ax, ready to swing. Kid got in a fighting position, weaponless. The ten soldiers were on them in a second, one landing a direct punch to Athena's stomach. Athena moved back, trying to cut the amour with the knife and failing undoubtedly.

Aisling dodged a few stabs from electric rods and then hid behind a tree. She landed a blow on a soldier that approached her by hitting his neck with the blunt side of the ax-head. She trembled in fear and excitement.

Most of the soldiers attacked the weaponless shinigami. Kid dodged some stabs and punches, but one punch landed right in the center of his face. He almost fell back from the force. He gripped his nose, which was the victim of the blow. Blood streamed out of it. He wasn't sure if it was broken, but it would make sense if it was. More punches were landed on his face, and his stomach. A punch to his solar plexus knocked the wind out of him and caused his to hunch over. He managed to get himself back together and landed a kick on a soldier's side, knocking the man over.

Two soldiers came at Athena, and her knife was knocked right out of her hand! She couldn't dodge all the attacks, though, and one of the rods sliced through the right side of her belly. She cried out in pain and grasped the wound, sinking to her knees.

"Athena!" Aisling yelled angrily. She moved out from the cover of the tree and cut through a soldier's armor with her ax. The man fell, clutching his side as he bled. She had gotten rid of the one for the time-being, and now she attacked the two who had hurt Athena. For one, she landed a blow to the back of his neck, knocking his out. She wasn't using the direct blade of the ax. The other one noticed her and was about to stab her when she knocked the rod right out of his hand with one swing. Again, the ax broke the man's armor on his side. He fell down, too, and she landed another hit on him using the back side of the ax. Against his head, too. He was out for the count. Aisling, though having taken down three, was quite tired from having to swing and dodge and all that stuff.

Kid had knocked too men down with his kicks. There were five soldiers still conscious. Kid didn't know why he was taking such a beating. Usually, if not in this kind of situation, he could take these guys down within a minute! This was just... an epic fail! Another punch to his solar plexus caused him to cough up blood. He took down a man with a chop to the soldier's neck. Four more to go. Aisling, still fighting, helped Kid out by knocking a soldier out with a similar method to how she got the others. Kid got the rest, and soon both unconscious and dead bodies surrounded them.

Right when the soldiers were down, Aisling rushed over to Athena with an odd calmness. "Kid," she spoke with slight urgency, "Get the medical box thingy."

Kid opened the two large bags. After searching one and finding a box filled with medical stuff, he brought the box over to Aisling.

Athena lifted her shirt, showing the slice. Blood was pumping out of the wound. "Kid," Aisling instructed, "Knock her out."

Kid thought about it for a moment, and then asked "How?"

"See this?" Aisling pointed to a blue rag and then a clear bottle with some sort of liquid. "Put some of that stuff on it, and put it over her mouth."

"Um... Okay." Kid did as told. It seemed familiar, the kind of rag. "What is this called?"

"Chloroform."

Kid knew what that was. It had been used on him before, after all. He went over to Athena and placed the rag over her face. Athena instantly was knocked out, and he removed the rag. "Why..."

"It's useful in cases like this." Aisling explained.

"And how did you get a hold of this?"

"Don't worry how I got a hold of it. I get a hold of a lot of things."

"Ah~"

"I don't steel things, if that's what you're thinking. I'm not some kleptomaniac. I just get things that I find necessary, like medical stuff."

Kid nodded his head. It didn't seem unreasonable. "Do I need to help you with anything else?"

"We shall see." Aisling pulled out a bottle of alcohol and another rag. She poured some alcohol onto the rag and rubbed it across Athena's bleeding wound. "It's not too deep, so this should be a simple procedure." Aisling was more talking to herself than to Kid or the unconscious Athena. She wiped up some more blood and threaded some alcohol soaked thread to a sharp, pointy needle. She began threading the needle into each side of the wound as if she was sewing cloth. Neatly, precisely, almost perfectly. It probably would have been perfect if she wasn't trembling. "I hate needles." she commented once she was done. The wound was closed and looked nice when it was over. The wound stopped bleeding and she wiped up the rest of the blood.

Athena slept peacefully. Aisling packed up the medical gear. "Athena's gonna be in pain when she wakes up, but that's not a big deal. I can give her some drugs or something to numb her. Maybe more chloroform..."

Kid sat down against a tree, pinching his nose. It didn't seem broken, but he had already lost a lot of blood from the simple nosebleed. After a few minutes, it stopped bleeding. He closed his eyes.

"You have a black-eye." Aisling pointed out with a yawn.

"Which eye?" Kid asked. He coughed up some more blood.

"You right eye."

"That's too bad." He wanted to cry, considering that black-eye made him more asymmetrical. Crying wouldn't help him too much, though, so he didn't. "Aren't most of the soldiers not dead?"

"I didn't kill them... I think." Aisling stated. "Some I did cut real bad, though, so they may die from bleeding to death. I may have killed some on impact too, by accident. I hope I didn't."

"You don't want to kill them?"

"Not really. I don't want that on my conscience. Plus, so many people are already dead. Sometimes I wonder if we are the last people left."

Kid took a deep breath and asked "So what happens when they wake up?"

"We knock them out again." Aisling laughed. "It will be a long, viscous cycle. Eventually they will die."

"But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of not killing them?"

"Well... It's not as messy."

Kid face-palmed, causing his nose to bleed again.

*.*.*

Soul walked around the auditorium of the newly built theater in the morning. The room was large and dimly lit. Beautiful. It was surprising people had the nerve to make an entire building like this at a time of war. War, if that's what you could call it.

The room was empty aside for him. At the left side of the stage, a beautiful grand piano was placed. Soul's fingers twitched, wanting to play but... what if someone heard? He had left the others while Maka, Crona, and Amber did girly things together, to explore and relax. The city of Seattle was large, so there was plenty to see. He felt like removing himself from the war for the time being. He didn't have to wear the disgusting ointment anymore, and so he could feel the effects of the sunburn to the fullest, which by now was minimal.

It would be calming to play the piano at least once. It had been so long, anyways. On the right side of the large stage were two guitars, one white electric guitar, and one normal acoustic. Behind the guitars was a blue drum set. Even now, people generally needed some sort of entertainment. So that must be why this place is here; to calm the people down; to ease the nerves. Soul thought.

He made a steady stride over to the left steps, glancing behind his shoulder to make sure he was still the only person in the room. He didn't like performing for audiences, but if he was alone, he would be fine. He walked up the steps and headed over to the piano. With one last glance, he sat on the black, smooth bench. His now normal outfit of blue-jeans, sneakers, and his favorite jacket comforted him since he no longer had to wear that weird blue hospital stuff.

He flexed his fingers, cracked his knuckles, and felt the cool of the white key caress the ends of his fingers. Arching his back, he lost any tenseness is his shoulders. Exhaling, he pressed the keys gently, listening to the sound they made. He wanted to make something special. Something that would match what was going on in the world right now.

So the song would be sad. But... shouldn't he make something motivating? Something cool, of course. To get his mind working, he decided to play a little song before coming up with anything. He was in a good mood, and so he played Rondo alla Turca by Mozart. He liked that song even though he was more of a jazz person. This was still nice to the ears. After getting that out of his system, he decided to try to work out an original piece. "Hm..." he said to himself, "Maybe the song for this war can go a bit like this." He moved his left hand to the low notes and started a steady beat. Bum... Dum... Da-bum... Bum... Dum... Da-bum...

His right hand moved to the higher keys as his left played the minor Cm. He moved his left to a G#m/Abm. Then his left went to a major A#/Bb, all following the same beat. His right hand, up on the high notes, played single or a couple notes at one time, but not the constant three-finger chords like his left.

Before he knew it, there was a song in his head that he was determined to put on paper. He had none, so he would have to memorize now what he was playing before he could do anything with it.

He had memorized the notes to the best of his ability when he stood up from the seat. Looking out into the dark room, he saw it was still empty.

Peacefully empty. Soul thought with a smile, I could get used to this.

*.*.*

Liz looked down at the food provided for the prisoner/slaves. Today was a cheap version of pasta. It didn't even taste much like pasta. It was a weird pasta that seemed old and gross. Tsubaki, Angie, Keira, Patty and her sat in a circle on the cold metal ground, eating what they was supposed to be food. "This is pretty disgusting." Liz frowned at her plate.

Keira nodded. "I agree. At least they bother to feed us things we are able to name."

Patty giggled "I think I'll name the spaghetti Joe. This spaghetti looks like a Joe."

"That sounds great, Patty." Liz played along with her sister. "But now you'll have to eat Joe."

"Ah! Do I have to?" Patty pursed her lips, causing Angie to laugh uncontrollably.

"Yes. You do." Liz answered, taking a bite of her own meal.

Tsubaki smiled at Angie and said "You have to eat your meal too, Princess Angie."

"I don't wanna!" Angie laughed some more. "This is yucky! Princesses shouldn't be fed this stuff."

"I'm so sorry." Tsubaki spoke with forced cheer, "Even princesses need to eat sometimes."

Angie and Patty ate their food happily while Tsubaki simply smiled encouragingly at them. Liz and Keira shared worried glances every time a screaming prisoner was brought in through the water-transportation system.

Once Liz finished her meal, she stood up and called down to Lord Death and the others.

"Hey Lord Death! Death Scythe! Professor Sid! Nygus! Anyone!" she called out.

"Hey!" She heard Spirit call back. "How are things going?!"

"Surprisingly well!" Liz answered, gripping the cold metal bars. "Aside from all the bad stuff they make us girls do here, we are actually in pretty good shape!"

"I really am sorry you have to deal with this!" Spirit sounded genuinely concerned and saddened. "I wish no child to go through something this awful!"

"Only monsters can wish for such a thing to happen!"

Lord Death burst in the conversation with "Are you all feeling okay?"

"Yes, sir!" Liz replied. "We're hanging onto what we've got! For now, none of us appear to be sick, so that's good! By any chance has Kid floated by without our awareness?!"

"Not from what I've seen!" Lord Death assured. "Whatever you're doing that's keeping you strong, keep doing! You're going to need all the strength you can get!"

"I know!"

"If we get out of this, or at least you do, remember you are always welcome with Shinigami!"

"..." Liz soaked in that sentence, feeling oddly at peace. Finally she got the words out. "Thank you! I promise we will all stay strong for ourselves and generation ahead! And don't think so down! Who knows who's coming out of this alive!"

"I know it's not certain!" Lord Death sounded goofy, thank Death. He wasn't depressed sounding in the slightest. "But if anyone is to get out, I'd rather it be my students than me!"

"Got it! Be careful!" Liz sat back down with the others.

"How are you feeling?" Tsubaki asked, noticing the relaxed look on Liz's face.

Liz yawned, stretching out of the floor. "I'm feeling fine."

*.*.*

Blackstar was given a new pair of clothes, blue-jeans and an orange t-shirt and gray sneakers. He was comfortable in the clean clothes. He had showered, which was needed after so long. He had a big meal for breakfast and got lots of sleep after arriving and being assigned a hotel in Seattle. Isabel and Phoebe had been following him since the night before. They were getting along well, surprising enough.

Phoebe and Isabel had kept their clothes, but had the outfits washed before putting them back on.

"Blackstar, you're a meister, right?" Phoebe asked curiously as the sun shined above them while they walked through the streets of Seattle.

"Yes." Blackstar answered enthusiastically. "I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Is it fun to be in battle?" she asked.

Blackstar nodded, still enthusiastic. "It's the best thing ever! It's so cool to feel your heart pumping, and then it's rewarding when you've defeated something evil, cause you can show your opponants how awesome a person you are. Anyone who fights me knows I'm the biggest man there is! No one can beat the mighty Blackstar!"

There was a moment of silence with Isabel and Phoebe at the answer Blackstar gave. Blackstar had his hands rested on the back of his neck, breathing in the fresh air. It seemed his arrogance was likable with Phoebe, who seemed to step closer to him. Isabel just laughed after taking it in, not sure how exactly she should react to something like that. Phoebe continued with "Are you the strongest meister in DWMA?"

Blackstar smiled so wide it was comical. "Of course I am! No one can ever defeat me!"

Isabel stepped forward so she could look at his face closer. "Who's the second strongest meister?"

Blackstar laughed and answered "I don't know. If Lord Death is considered a meister, I'd say it's him."

"Then who's the strongest student aside from you?" Isabel cocked her head.

"Death the Kid." Blackstar admitted. "He's a reaper too, though. I beat him by a long shot either way."

"You must be really powerful." Phoebe's eyes widened, kind of buying Blackstar's BS. "How do you know you're stronger than him?"

"I beat him in every battle we've fought!" Blackstar announced, even more of an obvious lie for anyone who had attended DWMA. Blackstar wasn't too big of a liar, so he added quietly "At least I've beaten him almost every time."

"Cool! You must be a great meister! Do you have a weapon?" Phoebe knew about DWMA, but had never been there or met someone and talked to them from there.

"I have a weapon." Blackstar said. "My weapon's name is Tsubaki, and she's the strongest weapon out there!"

"Wow, you must be a great team." Isabel commented. She was quiet at first, dark looking, but now she seemed bright and loud almost. "What's Tsubaki like? What kind of weapon is she?"

"She can actually turn into all different sorts of things." Blackstar stated proudly. "She can turn into a smoke bomb, a sword, and other stuff, too."

"Sounds cool." Phoebe closed her eyes as if dreaming. "I wish I was a weapon, or a meister even. I just wanna be apart of something as cool as that."

"I don't know how exactly people can tell who's what." Blackstar said. "I know sometimes discovering you're a weapon can be random. I do know you need some sort of gene to be a weapon."

"Like a recessive gene?" Isabel suggested.

"Yeah. Whatever a recessive gene is." Blackstar nodded. "I think meisters are harder to tell since one of the few differences between a meister and human is that they have an exceptional soul wavelength."

"You sure know a lot." Phoebe laughed. "Are you a genius or something?"

"You could say I'm a genius." Blackstar liked the sound of that. "I'm not, but at DWMA we take classes where we learn about this kind of stuff. Anyways, if someone is a meister or weapon, Lord Death can tell and has them come take classes at DWMA. I guess that's it."

Isabel smiled and said "Being a weapon or meister does sound like fun. It also sounds like a lot of work."

Blackstar shook his head. "Nah! Not too much work if you skip half the classes!"

Isabel raised her eyebrows. "You skip your classes and find that a good thing? It doesn't sound too professional."

Blackstar laughed "I'm the life of the party! And the classroom, and anywhere for that matter. I don't think the teachers care. I do it all the time, anyways."

Phoebe grabbed Blackstar's wrist and stopped them from walking. She looked over to a group of white cloaked and armored men and women. One approached them. It was Stein!

Blackstar was shocked to see Stein there. The only familiar person he had seen recently was Azusa.

Stein looked down at him, the armor glistening in the sunlight. "Blackstar, I see you've arrived fashionably late."

"Hm? Oh! Ha ha! Yeah. It took forever to get here. I was picked up on a helicopter and Azusa was there helping fly it." Blackstar said, ever so carefree.

"Who are these girls?" Stein referred to Phoebe and Isabel. "Hm..."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Isabel asked.

"Are you looking at our chests?" Phoebe crossed her arms over her chest and shouted, "What's wrong with you, man?!"

Stein smiled creepily, sending shivers up and down the three kids. Blackstar, even now, still found Stein creepy.

"Are these two good friends of yours?" Stein asked Blackstar.

Blackstar shrugged and then nodded, putting an arm around their shoulders. "This is Isabel," he cocked his head to Isabel, "and this is Phoebe." he did the same for Phoebe.

"By the way, Blackstar, there is a human, weapon, and meister training area not very far from here. Would you like me to show you three where it is? We all have to put effort in if we plan on winning this war." Stein added.

"Sure! Show us." Blackstar followed Stein with Phoebe and Isabel pursuing just behind him.

"So... Uh... Why were you looking at us like that?" Isabel asked, getting closer to Stein.

Doctor Stein didn't look at her, but gave an explanation. "I was looking at you and the other girl's soul."

"Eh?" Phoebe and Isabel emitted simultaneously.

"Isabel, your soul is small, but energetic. You are often active, no?"

"I do some sports." Isabel furrowed her brows. "What does that-"

"Also, your soul has a tendency to waver a bit. Be careful not to over-exert yourself. The excitement may be harmful."

"Whoa! You're like a doctor!" Isabel felt her heart beat in her chest. "How did you know I have an Arrhythmia?"

"You have an irregular heartbeat?" Stein hadn't known, but he did sense something was wrong. "Then you should be extra careful. Actually, I might be able to do something about it if you give me the chance to examine you."

"Uh... No thanks... I'm not that worried about it."

"Tell me about me!" Phoebe demanded excitedly.

Stein talked about her soul. "Phoebe, you have an attention-seeking soul, but it is also a nervous soul."

"Cool!" Phoebe blushed slightly. "How do you do that? How do you see souls?"

"I am a meister." Stein said. "The ability is literally in my blood."

*.*.*

"Look at the sun!" Aisling pointed up to the sun. "Actually, don't look at the sun. You'll go blind." She knelt down next to Athena. "How are you doing, Greek god of wisdom?"

"I'm fine." Athena answered. "Thanks for knocking me out before sewing me up. That would have hurt like hell."

Kid looked down to the two girls. He felt a pulling sensation on his chest, a rapid shock of pain, and then fell weakly to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Athena asked, sitting up against a tree. They had moved away from the soldiers while the men were still out cold. Aisling had to carry both the large bags since she was in the best shape.

"Nothing." Kid whispered in reply. His throat was back to being damaged and he didn't feel like coughing up his own blood. "I'm just a little tired."

"Then you should rest." Aisling stated. She came up to him and felt his forehead. "You don't feel hot. In fact, you're frozen."

"I'm death." Kid couldn't help but grin. "That's normal."

"Can I help you in any way?" Aisling's eyes were wide with anticipation. She was on her knees, hands folded neatly in front of her.

"Not really. Oh, can you hand me my water bottle?" Aisling handed him his water bottle and Kid took a sip from it. It was almost gone, the water. "Thank you, Aisling."

"No problem, Sir Kid of the Death."

"Why do you always call me weird things?"

"I don't know."

"... I see."

"So Kid," Athena spoke up. "I have decided you can do whatever you want."

"Oh. Can I leave?" Kid raised his eyebrows.

A sudden pain crossed Athena's face and she nodded. "Yes. You are free to go. Really, you always have been, but for some reason you listened to us when we wanted you to stay."

"So I have your permission to leave."

"I just said so, didn't I?"

"Yes. Yes you did."

Kid stood up, still feeling a bit weak in the knees. Looking at Athena, she wore such a stoic expression it almost hurt to look at. He was tired of waiting for permission. "I... I should probably go then."

Kid turned his back to them, facing the long, lonely woods. Was he really prepared for this? He took a step forward, away from the girls. Then he heard such a depressing sound his heart was pretty much crushed.

Aisling choked on a sob and bolted forward, wrapping her arms around Kid from behind. She was crying hard, wailing, really. "I don't want you to go!" she sobbed. "Please! You might get killed! They're gonna hurt you and torture you! Please, listen to me! You can't win alone! You just can't!"

"Enough, Aisling." Athena snapped. "Let him go so he can go and be the hero."

Kid was too shocked to turn and look at their faces. The fact that Aisling even had this outburst was crazy. He hadn't known her for very long, yet she sounded so deeply effected.

Aisling tried to calm herself and let go of Kid, wiping the tears from her face, her eyes reddened. "He can't leave without anything." She slowly went and got a fresh water bottle, and then handed it to Kid. Kid took it, facing her finally, unsure of how to react. She then grabbed him three of Athena's food packs and handed it to him. She got a plastic bag out from one of the bags and gave it to Kid, and he put the bottle and lunches in it. She went over to Athena and grabbed one of the older girl's knives.

"You don't have to give me all this." Kid felt his eyes burning. Something about this was so... off.

Aisling grabbed Kid's hand and placed the knife in it, holding the knife in between his and her hand. "Don't forget that I'm here, okay? I promise I'll see you again, maybe sooner than you think. Just... be careful. When you get there, there's something you can climb to get over the water."

"W-what does that mean?" Kid paled, uneasiness washing over him.

"Do it for me." Aisling didn't answer his question. "Just climb over that branch and get inside."

"Uh..." Kid was confused greatly, but the words were now imbedded in his mind.

Aisling's hazel eyes penetrated him. It's like she could see right through him. Those eyes... The eyes in his dream... It was those eyes. It must have been. "I'll see you again." She chuckled playfully, breaking the serious tone. "Just you wait and see."

Kid nodded slowly, taking steps back with the knife firmly in his hand.

"Go." Athena said from the ground. "Be careful!"

Kid swallowed and nodded, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead.

He then turned his back on them and walked away.

It took all his willpower not to look back.

(Please review! I put stuff up when I can!)