Maka

Two days passed without much incident, but all of the hard work I had put in before our short vacation had left me and now I was feeling achy and tired after every exercise drill my mother made us do. After a lot of concentration and waiting for myself to feel recharged I was able to recreate the box I had sealed Soul's little demon in on everyone else's building Madness. Instead of trapping it like I expected it actually seemed to shred the madness away.

Now Stein was busy dealing with his messes as he was mostly sane, and my mother actually seemed a little apologetic for the way things had gone between my father and her. I had brought them all a momentary respite from the madness, something they had hoped for, but never truly thought was going to be possible.

It made me a little mad that my own mother didn't even have faith in the fact that I could control my gift, and it irked me to no small end. Even though honestly I hadn't truly had any hope in saving Soul in the first place. Just a lot of blind faith that if i tried hard enough I might be able to do something.

Soul gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder after I got up and huffed. Blackstar had knocked me down when I wasn't paying attention and my butt was going to be sore again. I gave him a small smile before turning my attention back on the task at hand. My blunt scythe was laying next to Blackstar and he kept giving me mocking looks and yelling taunting sentences to get me riled up. I could feel my power reaching outward, wanting to call my soul weapon, but I forced it down again.

"That's enough for today," my mother sighed before giving Blackstar a warning look as he began 'yahoo-ing' again. "Soul, a word." Soul nodded once before sending me a toothy grin. Liz and Tsubaki made their way over to me, trying to keep their grin's subdued.

"You think she's giving him the okay?"

"What 'okay?' Liz, I never know what you're talking about." I sighed as she puffed up her face in annoyance. I can't believe I was ever afraid of her for even a second. She may be a vampire but she's not a very good one. "Where's Kidd run off to? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Do not change the subject Albarn. Or should we call you Evans now." She raised her perfectly manicured eyebrows and decided to study her perfect nails while waiting for me to react. I decided to play innocent and shrug my shoulders, looking at her with my big green eyes.

"Haven't the faintest idea what you mean." I blinked twice before she sighed and her hands planted themselves firmly on her hips.

"Eater said the words 'marriage proposal' loud enough for anyone to hear it." I balked, then squinted at her.

"Only if 'anyone' had been at his old house." I shot her an accusing glare before she realized where she had miss-stepped. "Were you spying on us?"

"I was only trying to keep you an honest woman Maka I swear!" she backed a step away and I frowned, my brows knitting together. "You two burn hotly for each other and he's not the type for serious relationships. I was just making sure he didn't use you than lose you." After the words were out of her mouth I could tell she regretted them, but there they were, out and in the open. I scoffed, doing my best to stay calm. I didn't really want to know about Soul's past relationships. I mean I had always assumed there were some but I've always been more interested in his history with his family and music and how being a vampire had fared him all these years. I didn't want to know about what he had done with other girls.

"Liz just means to say that you're important to her and she wants to keep you from getting hurt." Tsubaki cut in, her eyes shooting Liz a warning glance. "Besides, I'm sure Kidd's been with lots of girls before Liz came along." Liz looked hurt and horrified, as if she hadn't realized exactly what kind of seed would have been planted in my head.

"Oh-my-god-Maka-I'm-so-sorry-how-could-I-be-so-insensitive," Liz wailed out as she forced her arms around my waist and cried into me. I tried shoving her off and muttering as many 'I-forgive-you's' and 'It's-not-a-big-deal's' as I could manage before Soul finally walked back over to us looking flustered and unsure of what just happened.

"Sup Eater," Blackstar grinned as he walked up to the group as well, tired of being out of the little circle. That just left Patty doing whatever a vampire of sufficient age does when she's bored.

"Maka, your mom just asked when I intend to actually bond with you." Liz stilled at my waist as Tsubaki let out a small gasp beside me, all amusement gone from the group. Well, most of it anyway.

"Wow! Looks like Mrs. Albarn is all down for her daughter to be getting down with a blood-sucker!"

"Blackstar you're tact is impeccable," Spirit's annoyed voice was emanating from a spot directly behind me but I couldn't turn to look and see how angry Papa really was with Mama. I sighed and gave Liz a pleading look and she sniffled once more before releasing me and standing to wipe the tears and unsightly vampire snot away from her face. In no time flat she looked perfect and princess like as she always did and for the first time it made me wonder what type of person Liz was before becoming Kidd's mate.

"Papa-" I began, looking for the right words but finding none. I just stared at him for a very long time.

"Your mother only asked because it will help you resonate. Stein intends to test your abilities as a unit before we begin sending you out to begin getting the Kishin problem under control. He also wants to poke around and see if the boy can finally transform into a weapon like your dear old dad." My father beamed, but I ignored him. I would ask him questions about what being a weapon is like later.

"What does that have to do with the bond?" Soul asked after shoving his hands in his pants and leaning closer to me. The warmth from our touching shoulders keeping me grounded.

"Like i said if you were listening," My father frowned at Soul, "it could increase your resonance capabilities. We're still not sure if you'll even be useful you little octopus head."

"Do Grigori have any bonding rituals?" I asked, studying my father's face. He sighed and shook his head.

"There are no rituals in recorded history and I'm sure even Lord Death would have forgotten if there were any by now."

"So you want us to make a decision right now?" I asked, tilting my head. Spirit nodded and I swallowed thickly, looking at Soul.

"If you're doing this to make sure i'll stay by Maka's side even if I'm unable to be a weapon for her it's a non issue. I chose to be with Maka then that's where I'm gonna stay. A bond would be nice, but unnecessary," Soul's short speech has Liz in tears again and Tsubaki smiling down at me.

"Good to know," Spirit gave off a small smile before turning to walk away. He paused halfway to the door leading to Soul's kitchen before turning to look over his shoulder for a moment. "If you ever hurt my daughter I'll kill you."

"Not if I kill him first!" Blackstar yelled back to him. A soft chuckle left my father's lips causing his shoulders to shake slightly until he was in the building and out of sight.

"That's sweet of you Blackstar." Tsubaki smile at her mate. He made a snorting sound before turning to look at Soul and me.

"I only say it because if Soul were to ever hurt Maka she'd make the pain slow while I would make it a swift and an almost painless end." Liz snorted out a laugh and Patty giggled beside her, effectively scaring her older sister.

"Geez sis, one of these days you're gonna end up having a heart attack," Patty giggled again before her sister could come back with her stuttered retort. "Kidd's back."

"Already?' Liz's eyes went wide as she began searching the immediate area for her mate.

"Yupp, he brought a bunch of weird looking people too."

"Describe weird," I asked, letting my soul perception guide my eyes to the large group of soul's on the other side of the wall. There were at least seven.

"Well there's three of them, and they all have these weird weapons!"

"Like Maka's Scythe?" Blackstar looked a little excited.

"No. They're all real weapons. They feel weird though, like they're alive." Patty looked thoughtful for a moment.

"What do you mean by alive?" Liz asked, her eyes finally settling back in the group.

"Why don't you come see for yourself," Kidd offered, finally materializing out of nowhere, like smoke. I nodded and Soul followed after me as we made our way to the entrance hall. I was surprised to see two familiar faces when I entered the room. One was Kim, holding a lantern and muttering to herself while Ox was adjusting his glasses and doing his best to get her attention. Ox's bald head gleamed in the light of the lanterns spread around the room and I could feel the anger of three semesters begin boiling under the surface again. It took me a moment to realize he was holding what looked like a staff with a lightning bolt carved expertly at the top.

The last person in the group was a dark skinned boy with neat dreads down to his shoulders and glasses on the tip of his nose. He had two rather large gauntlets covering his hands which were rested comfortably on his hips.

"Good, you're all here," Stein began as he stepped out of the hallway leading to the library. When Soul told us Kidd left to get help, I was expecting a small army, not three more teenagers with big weapons. "This is the Spartoi, the last three weapon-meister pairs able to graduate from the Death Weapon Meister Academy, a school at the very center of Death City. They're going to help us clear out the city, and assist with finding Asura."

"There's only three of them," Blackstar squinted. "And one of them's a witch. Isn't it dangerous to bring her along, even if she is one of the good guys?"

"I've healed you more times than anyone aught to, you should be a little nicer Blackstar," Kim sighed and the lantern in her hand began glowing brighter, as if enraged.

"This is the idiot that jumped off the monument in Death City fifty years ago!" the lantern spoke and I balked, almost crying out. I was about to look around for confirmation that this was out of the ordinary but the other's simply paid it no mind as Kim began muttering things to placate her talking lantern.

"I sensed more souls in here before, where is everyone else?" I asked, stepping forward a bit. With little else to do the weapons each moved of their own accord, changing from steel to human skin and bones. I was in awe and for a moment I didn't know what to do. Four new people stood before us, a set of twins, a beautiful girl with long purple tinted hair, and a boy with the same dumb smile that was plastered on Ox's face.

"These are what true meister-weapon pairs look like," Stein gave a small smile. "Now let's see if Soul's a weapon or just another Grigori."

Liz

Another creepy ceremony was taking place and Elizabeth was having no part in it. Instead she found herself rummaging around in Soul and Maka's room (because they were definitely sharing one even if Maka would sometimes sneak off and wake up in a different one because of her overbearing father) when a little velvet box fell off the dresser she had bumped into. Liz reached down and had a slight tug of war battle with herself. She had been here to snoop into their relationship a bit. Maka was such a private person that it was hard to gauge exactly how she was feeling about anything unless she began huffing or rattling off facts that the blonde couldn't be bothered to remember even ten minutes later.

Finally curiosity won her over, but not before getting caught.

"You shouldn't snoop Liz," Tsubaki's frowning tone and disapproving posture made Liz want to put the box back down and never walk into their room without their expressed permission ever again.

However Liz's curiosity was nagging at her.

"Come look with me," a pleading whine left the vampire's lips and the werewolf simply frowned as a response. The simple downturn of lips did not suit the girl, she was meant for sunny smiles and thoughtful looks.

"Liz, leave them be." It was a warning the vampire didn't heed. She opened the box towards the dark haired girl and watched as the expression on her face turned from one of nagging disappointment to one that could only be described as 'oh.' A smirk lit Liz's face as the girl stepped into the room and shut the door silently behind her. Slowly Liz looked down at the contents of the small box and felt her own 'oh' look plaster itself upon her face.

Inside was a beautiful, simple, and expensive ring. Three beautifully cut diamonds adorned the silver sliver of the band.

"We should go," Tsubaki said quietly, her eyes transfixed on the contents of the little box.

"Yeah," the blonde nodded, her hand shaking a bit as she closed the lid and set it down gently on the dresser, not even sure if that was where it had been. Silently they left the room behind, not speaking until they were well outside of the estate.

"I've seen her wear his mother's jewelry before, but never rings. At least, none like this." Liz was nibbling at her bottom lip in thought.

"Liz," another warning tone which caused the blonde vampire to sigh, "Leave them to do this themselves."