Authors Note: First and Foremost: THIS IS A SEQUEL. I highly recommend reading Wild Fire first, though it's not absolutely necessary to understand the plot of this story. But, as it is a sequel to an AU fic I need to stress that Wild Fire and as a result Embers is canon divergent; the revival of Asura failed, the DWMA was able to prevent Medusa's group from bringing back Asura.
With that out of the way, do enjoy and do let me know what you thought.
After the defeat of the Acolytes and their leader, Kai Palakiko, in the frozen desert of Antarctica, life had been busy for virtually everyone. The DWMA was occupied with trying to repair the damages that the Acolytes had caused, to rebuild the lives that had been ruined, to help process those that survived and were being locked up. But, mostly, it was spent dealing with the aftermath of a slaughter, and comforting mourning parents.
A lot of people had died during the fight, a lot of people on both sides. Even if it had been a victory for the DWMA, the cost had been steep. The deaths had not just been at the battle of Antarctica, however, rather, there had been bloodshed all over the globe.
During the first year after the victory, things had only gotten worse; members who had not been present for the battle retaliated against the DWMA and against Death. They killed their neighbors in the name of the Acolytes, set off bombs in public places, slaughtered people left and right to avenge their so-called 'God'. It took so much time, but through suicide attacks and the DWMA hunting these lingering members down, the violence died down too. Still, there was so much left to heal, both personally and globally.
The battle had been horrible, bloody, cruel. Human against human, most of pure souls swayed by differing opinions, brainwashed through generations of cultic beliefs.
It took time before meisters and weapons were able to relax again, able to fall into their old routines. No longer was there a massive cult, an army of humans, sorcerers and witches alike waiting to topple the order of the world.
Everyone needed a distraction, something to let them forget, even if it was just for a single night, the horrors that they had seen and done. And so, the annual Winter Festival was born: a night to celebrate the victory against the Acolytes, and to honor the heroes who fought to the last breath to put an end to them. Every year for the past decade saw parties, festivals and celebrations lit up the sky all over the world on that night.
No place, however, was more festive than Death City, the seat of Lord Death's power, home to many veterans from the Battle of Antarctica, and the target and source of Kai's wrath. The city always goes all out for the Winter Festival, so much so that the roads were shut down all day so that preparations could commence, though the celebrations don't start until the sun sets. Lanterns in the shape of Death's face illuminate streets, flowers hang from signposts and windows, symbolic black and white ribbons and banners flowing about. Pictures of those who died in the fight were set up at a shrine that was set up, and people would leave gifts to their dead friends and family to honor their sacrifices.
Vendors set up booths and tents all over the main road, performers would be out and about, music and plays alike. Children would dash from booth to booth, spending their parents' money on games and food, while their parents would fight a futile battle to keep their kids in sight or at their side. Students and teachers crowded around stages, or showed off their tricks to enthralled children. People buzzed with life and joy as the moon hung above them, watching in delight. It was the night where everyone would have a good time.
Well, most of everyone.
Maka didn't hate the festival. She had been there in the fight, she knew how terrible it had gotten, she knew what happened. The festival was something that people needed. But, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy it, not really. It was a painful reminder of a terrible battle.
It was the ten-year anniversary of the defeat of the Acolytes and of the witch Kai, but it was so much more than that. For Maka, it reminded her of the day that Maleko died, and a part of her couldn't help but bitterly feel that they were celebrating his death, too. The festival was a reminder of a little boy who would rather die with his mother than live without her.
How could Maka bring herself to fully celebrate with that in the back of her mind?
Maleko had been a friend. He'd been family, during his time at the school she'd come to see him as a baby brother. He'd helped open her eyes, to see that the world wasn't quite so black and white, that someone's circumstances of birth didn't dictate if they were good or evil, that being born wasn't reason enough to die.
He had been a sorcerer, the enemy of the school, but she could never see him as an enemy. He was kind, he was sweet. All he wanted was to reunite with the woman he considered his mother, all he wanted was to be with his family. He didn't care about the war, he didn't care about who was good or who was bad, he just wanted to go home. But he couldn't, nothing would be the same ever again, even if they'd won the war and beat the DWMA during that fight, he had already lost.
Kai was dying, poisoned by her own companion. Maleko would never have the life he wanted, not when he'd already lost the one person who mattered.
After Maleko had saved her and Soul, she had lost track of him, unable to find his soul in the chaos around them. But she had seen him fall, wrapped up in Kai's arm, as the final tower she erected crumbled, saw them both fall and be swallowed up by the freezing sea.
She had held out hope, her, Soul, and others who had befriended the boy, they had held onto a sliver of hope that he had survived. But, when the official death tally was counted, when Stein, Sid, and Marie had fished the bodies out of the sea, she couldn't pretend. Maka had to accept the reality; Maleko was dead.
At first, Maka wanted to hate him. Hate him for choosing to die when he still had so much life to live, decades, centuries even left to live. She screamed, angry that she had lost a friend, heartbroken that she hadn't been able do anything, something that could have prevented all of this. Soul and Crona had been there for her during that rough few months. Had consoled her while she consoled them. After the grief subsided, she was able to find reason once more.
Maleko, even if he had survived, would never have returned to the DWMA willingly. At the end of it all, he had come to hate them. The school was the reason Kai died, they hunted her down. He'd only have been driven into the arms of the other witches. With his magic, the anger he felt towards them, there was no doubt he would have grown to become one of their greatest enemies, one who only wanted revenge. And, a part of Maka knew that she wouldn't have been able to blame him.
It had been hard for her to return to the DWMA after that fight. She had been seriously hurt during the fight, and even after she and Soul both recovered, it had been hard to go back to how things had been after the bloodshed and slaughter she had witnessed, had been a part of.
There was little doubt that Maka had her ideals and beliefs, that she believed in the mission of the DWMA, it's strive to protect the greater good, to be defenders of the people, to fight the monsters that normal men and women couldn't. She would always believe in that, would always agree with that. But, because of the Acolytes, because of Kai Palakiko, words she had said, truths she had brought to light...well… it was harder for Maka to be as dedicated as she had been. She realized that there was a lot that the school did that was morally ambiguous, that there were decisions the leaders, that Death, made that felt wrong.
Children could be seen as enemies deserving death if they weren't human. Humans with pure souls could be executed if what they believed in went against the order Lord Death tried to maintain, even if they didn't think they were in the wrong. The Acolytes had thought Death a false God, thought him to be a wolf among sheep, monster because he was Death, because he recruited children and teens to fight the wars of adults.
Maka could understand where they were coming from, she could see their reasoning for why they would hate him so much. But, they worshipped a witch, they worshipped Kai, who had killed more than any could count, believed her to be a true God and waged war on Death and the DWMA.
And so, they were killed.
They hadn't been good people, many of them had become killers, fanatical killers. But, they were human, not Kishin Eggs.
It was hard knowing what the right thing was. When things were black and white, it was easy to know what to do, but she had learned the world wasn't quite that way. There wasn't a true 'right' choice.
Many of the people they fought may never have had a choice, or maybe their were doing what they had been told their whole lives they had to do, and she was killing them without giving them a chance to see that they don't have to be bad.
Crona, oh Crona, they were a perfect example of it. They had been raised by Medusa, someone Maka would forever consider the worst of the witches, they had been conditioned to be a killer, to be a monster. Crona and Ragnarok had been well on the path of becoming a true Kishin, living a life of bloodshed and madness because they hadn't known anything else, because they hadn't been allowed to. But, once given the chance to be something better, Crona blossomed and became something amazing.
Why couldn't they give others the same chance? Why was it to kill first, question second?
It wasn't like she could just stop, though. She and Soul were a team, and she was to make Soul a better Death Scythe than her father had ever been. But, it was harder for her to look at the missions and job requests and not question them. Did these people have reasons behind their actions? Were they hurting others because they were protecting someone else? Were they the victims and they just finally lashed back after years of abuse and pain? Had there been a force outside their control that drove them to such drastic means that their souls became tainted?
Could it be resolved without taking their soul?
It made her reluctant, hesitant where she would have been decisive. Soul had noticed. Crona had noticed. All her friends had noticed. None mentioned it, perhaps understanding her moral struggle. Even so, Maka did her best to push on with a smile, to continue working hard.
After a few years, they graduated. They went their separate ways, followed their own paths.
BlackStar and Tsubaki were in Japan, training at Tsubaki's family home, while also helping Death Scythe Azusa in keeping local witch covens and yakuza clans from getting out of hand. From the letters Tsubaki regularly wrote to her, it seemed that they were doing well, that BlackStar was enjoying himself, and that he was right at home there.
Kid came back now and then, but he, Liz, and Patty were usually on the move, going after one witch or another, communicating mostly through call. His father couldn't leave the city, so Kid did the work for him. Liz had even gotten a job as a journalist for a fashion magazine that she worked on while they travelled. Maka always kept an eye out for any of her articles.
The only ones who stayed in the city were Soul, Crona, and Ragnarok. The Demon Sword often complained that if he was able to, he would have left them a long time ago; Maka doubted that was true, he loved his meister, he wouldn't abandon Crona. Her relationship with both Soul and Crona had deepened over the years, it had felt completely natural for them to grow so close.
Spirit had suggested she apply to be a teacher at the academy. Maka had considered it, she was suited to be a teacher, she knew all the material, she felt that she was good at mentoring others. The idea of teaching the newest generations of meisters and weapons was tempting, it really was. But, Maka didn't want to be anchored to Death City. She wanted to be out in the world, doing good, taking missions and helping people, protecting people. She still had to make Soul into a Death Scythe.
Staying in Death City would mean that her opportunity to do so would be limited. So, she refused and continued to take jobs with Soul. Maka was careful about the jobs she took, no longer blindly accepting that everyone on the lists were irredeemably evil. In a way, it had made her all the better of a meister.
Some missions, though, even Maka had trouble trying to see the others view, had trouble thinking of ways they might not be as bad as the missions made them out to be.
"And, so you see, this makes the seventh child in the past month to go missing in the area," Death said, bouncing in his spot as he stood before Maka and Soul. There was a map showing on his mirror, a large area of England circled in red. "A further study showed that there have been almost fifty reported abductions in the area in the past two years where the child has yet to be found, even more likely to have been unreported."
No matter how much Maka may try, she couldn't fathom what reasoning a person might have to justify child abduction.
"And you want us to go and investigate, correct?" Maka asked, standing straight and stiff as she faced Lord Death, ignoring her papa who stood at his own side.
Death gave a slight bow. "Yes, that's is correct, The police have done all that they can, but haven't made much progress. It will just be the two of you, however, I don't want to send a large group in fear that the kidnappers may notice. If they know more people are snooping around, they'll get cautious. At worst, they might even flee before we catch their trail."
"Going around and stealing kids, how uncool can you be?" Soul shook his head, hands stuffed deep into his pockets. His expression was his usually relaxed, lazy one, but Maka could see the underlying disgust in his eyes, that unspoken hate towards these kidnappers. "Not a single one's come home yet?"
"Unfortunately, none have been found," Spirit spoke up, holding a stack of papers in his hands and glancing through them. "The police can give you more information when you get there, and since we expect you to be down there for a while, we'll arrange for a place to stay in the meantime, as well as some financial assistance so that you won't be lacking necessities."
"Considering that it is the Winter Festival tonight, we can assume there is a high chance another child may go missing during it," Death added. "Which makes it even more important that we find who has been stealing these children, and more so, to find the children and bring them home."
Maka frowned, he was right. Everyone would be out during the festival, not just in Death City, but all over. It'd be easy for someone to snatch a child when they were constantly running from their parents side during the night. They could disguise themselves as a vendor or performer, lure the child away. "There's no way we'll make it there in time for the festival," Maka warned. They'd be there by morning at the earliest. It was a ten hour flight, and they were only human.
"I'm aware," Death agreed, "I would have arranged for this sooner, but until now, the police have insisted on handling this on their own; our aid has only just been requested."
This was the kind of mission that Maka could do, that she could do and not feel doubts, not second guess the guilt of her enemy. There was no way to second guess or to doubt, there was no way that those responsible weren't a terrible person. She knew this was a mission she would be focused and steadfast on, and there was little doubt that her papa and Lord Death knew. She'd do what she had to in order to find these kids. If they were still alive, her mind added. There was no guarantee that they were still okay.
She just had to hope that they were.
"When we head out there, where do you suggest we head to first?" Soul asked.
Clapping his hands together, the reaper gave them a nod. "Yes, yes. Once you arrive, you'll be meeting with Detective Caine from the local police department. He'll debrief you on everything that's going on," he explained. "He's the lead detective on the case who you'll be working with."
Spirit took a step forward, "He's apparently pretty charming, but Maka, you can't fall for anything he might say," he was quick to say. "If he tries anything on you, too, just give me a call and I'll take the first plane down there!"
It took all her willpower not to roll her eyes. Maka was a grown woman now, and her father was still acting like this. She could take care of herself. "We haven't even met him," she chided her father instead. "I'm not going to fall for some guy I just met, what year do you think this even is?"
Even if she was the sort of person to believe in love at first sight, what could this detective potentially have to offer that could trump the ones she already had in her life? But, that was beside the point. "Is there anything else we need to know?" she asked the two instead.
"This has been under investigation for a few years already, so there is quite a case file already formed. That being said, I'm sure the police will be more than happy to assist you and Soul in whatever you need," Death said, his voice was far too cheery considering they were talking about a case revolving children being stolen away. "We've already covered your expenses for the plane, all that needs to be done is for you two to pack what you need and head out."
"Make sure you call me once you land, too! Call me every day!" Spirit added, which Maka promptly ignored.
Instead, she gave Lord Death a bow, "Understood. We'll head out as soon as we can."
"We'll catch these kidnappers in no time," Soul added with a crooked smirk and a nod towards Spirit and Death. "Those kids will be back home before you know it."
At the completion of the mission debriefing, the two had gone straight to their shared apartment to prepare for the coming trip. They still shared their home with Blair, and for the duration of any mission away from home, this one included, she was the one who would tend to their home in their absence. As such, Maka needed to make sure that Blair would have enough money to cover groceries and emergency expenses. Some of these expenses would probably end up being fish or wine, but so long as the cat caused no trouble while they were gone, she would be fine with it.
The two were going to be joining an investigation that had been in the works for a few years by now, so it was hard to gauge just how long to pack for when Maka didn't know just how long they would be gone for. In the end, she decided that a weeks' worth of clothes and other necessities should suffice. If they were there for longer, which she imagined they likely would be, then they could use local laundromats to clean their clothes and buy what else they needed while there. So, by the end of it all, she and Soul both had about two bags packed and ready to go.
There wasn't much that Maka could say happened within the next handful of hours after that. She and Soul had gone to the airport and took a plane to England, to the small city where the heart of the investigation was taking place. There hadn't been anything of note that had happened during that time.
The plane ride had been smooth, save for a few bouts of turbulence and a small bit of drama between some screaming children. Maka had taken the time to start reading a new book while Soul napped.
When the plane landed, it was getting late.
Carrying her bags as she left the doors, Maka looked at the throngs of people coming in and out of the airport, Soul right behind her. "Well, here we are," she said. The sun was setting, the moon rising, people didn't' seem to be too anxious. "Where do you suppose we should go? Find a hotel or go straight to the police?"
Soul yawned, somehow still sleepy despite the nap he took on the plane. "We should probably check in with the station, let them know that we arrived," he licked his lips and moved aside for a mother and her son to get by. "That way they know to contact us if something happens."
"Right," Maka nodded and started walking. They'd need to find a map, or maybe they could ask someone to point them the way to it. "Let's give Crona a call when we settle in to a hotel later, too. I wanna know how their mission is going." And it had been a while since she got to hear their voice; they'd been sent on a mission by Lord Death two weeks ago, and since then they only got to talk over the phone a small number of times.
Laughing, Soul followed beside her. "I'm sure Ragnarok has been making it miserable," he joked and shook his head. "But, yeah, I'd like that. Be nice to check up on them, make sure they're doing okay."
They could talk, maybe not for too long—it was late, and even if Brazil was roughly three or so hours behind them, Maka didn't want to keep Crona up for too long, especially not with how dangerous a mission Crona and Ragnarok were on. Maybe just a short call, a hello, make sure they were okay, that'd be fine.
Before Maka could go another step, a hand landed on her shoulder, bringing her to stop and firmly tugging her backward.
Instinctively, Maka reeled away, wrenching herself free from whoever had grabbed her and reaching for Soul, readying to face some thug who thought he was trying to be tough and probably preparing to mug them.
However, it wasn't some street thug who had stopped them, not even a witch or Kishin Egg. When Maka turned around, what she saw—who she saw was a young man, a good few years older than her and Soul, dressed in a white button up and slacks, holding the suit's jacket over his shoulder. The stranger had a handsome enough face, Maka supposed, and had a head of long hair that was a shade more orange than red, tied back in a messy ponytail. He looked like he could be some hired thug, but at the same time there was something about him that made her feel that he wasn't one.
His eyes were gold in color, yet were much like Soul's in shape. Even as he stared at the two, with one hand hanging onto the jacket he draped over his shoulder, the other—the one that had grabbed Maka—pulling back to hang at his side, he watched them with a look of disinterest. Maka's eyes went lower on his body, taking in the sight of the likely loaded gun strapped to his hip.
Giving them both a once over, he tilted his head to the side, looking unimpressed with what he saw of the two. "Maka Albarn? Soul Evans?" the stranger asked.
Soul took a step forward, staring up at this man with a frown. "Yeah. And you are?" he asked carefully. Like Maka, he was a bit suspicious of being stopped and called out by a complete stranger, and it was clear by the look on his face that he didn't appreciate Maka being grabbed and yanked back the way that she had been.
Maka frowned, tearing her gaze from the gun to look up at the mans face. He was taller than both of them, and in a way he looked like he easily intimidated others—but not Maka, and not Soul. They'd faced people scarier than him, tougher than him. He was going to have to try a lot harder to make either of them nervous.
As if to answer Soul's question, a police badge was held up. "Elijah Caine," the stranger introduced, holding the badge out for the two of them to see. "You two will be coming with me."
It wasn't a request.
He had already turned around and was walking away, his badge back to where it had been hung on his belt. He didn't wait to make sure that Soul and Maka agreed, didn't stop to make sure they were, indeed, following him. Elijah Caine just started walking away expecting the two to do just as he told them to do.
Soul frowned, "That's Detective Caine?" Soul muttered to Maka, picking his bags up and following behind the man, making sure to keep enough of a distance from him that their whispers wouldn't be heard.
Following suit, Maka shook her head. She had only heard of the man during their debriefing, and neither Lord Death or her father had painted that much of a picture of what kind of person he would be. Even so… "I expected him to be a bit…"
"Less of a dick?" Soul finished for her.
"Yeah," Maka chuckled.
Elijah didn't even turn to look at them. "How about you two quit your jawing and pick up the pace?" he asked them. "Or did you forget you're here for a job and not a vacation?"
He was unpleasant, and Maka was finding that she wasn't too big of a fan of him. However, she did quiet down and walk a bit faster; as much of a grump this detective seemed to be, he had a valid point: They were here to help with a series of children going missing, not to have fun. She couldn't blame him if he was temperamental, this was a pretty serious issue.
So she followed Elijah through the streets with Soul scowling at her side, making sure to keep any snide remarks she had to herself. Now was not the time or place to be snippy.
Eventually they were lead to the precinct, a rather nondescript building on the outside. Elijah only said a few quick words to a few others on the way in for the cops to ignore Soul and Maka, and with that he had them being taken to a glass meeting room with a long oval table in the center of it.
There were a few whiteboards littered with case notes, scene photos, and names. A few carboard boxes were on the table, stuffed full of files that Maka could only assume were about this case. A couple of other officers were moving about the room, talking and discussing theories and ideas while flipping through one file and writing on the boards. The trashcans were full of empty Styrofoam coffee cups.
The people looked tired and stressed.
"Those are the files," Elijah said, dragging a box over and shoving in to Maka. "Look through any of these that you want. We've got a list of suspects, but all of them have solid alibis for each kidnapping. What have you been told so far?"
Maka picked up the first file in the box, flipping it open and skimming the contents. "Kids have been getting stolen away. You've had about fifty in the past few years," she answered, closing the file and picking up another, it's information was fairly similar to the other; child had been alone, parent had left them alone for a few minutes to do something and when they came back the child was gone.
Taking a seat, Elijah threw his jacket over the back of the chair. "Half-right," he said. "There has been fifty-eight reported cases of children going missing within a twenty-mile radius of this city, all within two years. Considering not all parents actually care, the exact number of children who are missing is no doubt higher."
That didn't make Maka feel any better.
Soul took a seat, leaning back and staring back at Elijah cooly. "And if it's been two years, why haven't you asked for help sooner?" he asked. "You sure waited a long time to ask Lord Death to send someone to help you, waited until there were too many kids gone. This an attempt to save face or something?"
He was baiting him, looking for a reaction, but Elijah gave him none. His gaze wasn't stoic, it wasn't uncaring, it was tired, it was the look of a man who didn't have a single fuck left to give to the two of them. "You're barking up the wrong tree, mate. Call it bureaucratic bullshit." Elijah reached over to grab a coffee from the table, probably cold by now and already half-drank. "Politicians wanting to protect their bloody pride by not accepting outside help."
"You don't sound like you agree," Soul continued.
"I don't. They sat on their hands too fucking long and look where we are now," Elijah responded, drinking the cold coffee.
Maka ignored them as they talked, instead focusing on the files as she went through one after the other, skimming through and taking in the information quickly until she had gone through half the files in the box. It was then that she looked up at the detective.
"You said it had been two years, right?" she asked, and when Elijah hummed a response, she continued. "Who was the first recorded victim?"
Elijah watched her evenly for a few moments before getting up from his seat. He pulled over another file box, rummaging through the folders before pulling one out. "Amanda Lewis," he answered, opening it and sliding it across the table to Maka and Soul. "Twelve years old. Two years ago she left school but never made it home."
Maka took the file into her hands, looking at the girl in the photo. She was small, long black hair, dark eyes. What Maka noticed first was that it was a school photo that was used in the file, not a personal one, not the kind of photo the family would have kept in their home. She moved the paper to look at other photos, her school, the route she was known to usually take, her house, her room.
Leaning over to look at the file, Soul glanced at the papers and then at Maka. "What's going on in that brain of yours, Maka?" he asked.
She frowned, looked at the papers. This was the official start of it all, the first child who went missing. Well, if Maka and Soul were going to be on the case, they needed to start from the beginning. "Detective Elijah, is there any way we can speak with the Lewis family tomorrow?"
Elijah raised a brow, "You have their statements right there," he pointed out.
"I have questions I'd like to ask that aren't found in here."
There was a small pause, Elijah once again assessing her, "We'd like to avoid causing more distress to the families," he said slowly, carefully. "But, if you think it's important that we talk with them again, I'll make the call and arrange for a meeting with them. Anything else?"
Maka began reorganizing the files, putting them back into their boxes. "Can we takes these with us? So we can read them and be ready for tomorrow?" she asked him. They'd need to familiarize themselves with the details of the case, and it'd be easier for them to do so when they get to their hotel rooms rather than try and read through the files all right here."
"We've got copies of the files, so take the boxes with you," Elijah nodded, grabbing the other two boxes and shoving them towards Soul and Maka. "If that's all, then you two can leave, do your readings, and I'll call you both tomorrow about meeting with the Lewis'. Get your sleep, and get ready because I can guarantee this isn't going to be some easy hunt a monster and be done with it case like you're familiar with."
Soul chuckled as he stood, picking up a box and holding it in his arms, "If that's your way of saying we're not up to snuff, then you're in for a treat."