What's this? A genuine update on this story for the first time in . . . idk how many years? I guess I got a little inspired when I was doing some editing of this story.
If you've read this fic before, I've done some editing and minor updates to the earlier chapters, so I recommend that you go back and check out the changes that have been made! I'm actually quite happy with how they turned out.
Enjoy!
"How are you feeling, Maka?" Dr. Medusa asks. It's a week after the disastrous London mission, and the nurse has just finished looking Maka over for any signs that her injuries are still affecting her.
"I'm feeling much better!" Maka assures the nurse with a smile. It's a genuine smile this time. She really is feeling good, better than she has in a long time.
After their fight in the church, Maka had almost forgotten what it was like to have a peaceful night's sleep, but now she's gone an entire week without a single nightmare. And her injuries from the wolf-man had healed remarkably quickly. They'd been covered with scabs from the black blood, which was weird, but those had fallen away to reveal unblemished skin, so she wasn't about to complain.
And her and Soul's partnership was more stable than . . . well, ever, really. Sure, Soul had been a little grumpy lately the past few days, but he'd also said something about not sleeping well, so she'd cut him some slack. If he doesn't want to talk about it, well, Maka can understand having bad dreams that are too disturbing to talk about. She doesn't feel the need to try to pry right now, not when they've been resonating so well lately.
It's probably fine. No need to pester Soul about it, and potentially break the trust that they'd worked so hard to build.
"Yeah, my hands and the cut on my side are all healed up. They didn't even scar." Maka is grateful for that. She has enough scars already, thank you very much. And she's sure that she'll end up with plenty more from fighting kishin. "And I haven't had any more of those weird dreams with the demon. I guess that whatever was bothering me before, I've managed to work through it. For now, I'm just trying to focus and study for the big test that we have coming up."
Dr. Medusa makes a small sound of acknowledgement, scribbling something down on her clipboard. Maka tries to read it, craning her neck to see it, but she can't quite make out the nurse's handwriting. "I see. Well, that's good to hear. And I'm sure that you'll do just fine, Maka. You've always been such a good student."
"Thank you, Dr. Medusa!" Maka blushes at the compliment.
"And how is Soul doing?"
"Soul?" Maka blinks in confusion at the change in subject. "Oh, he's been doing much better. Whatever was on his mind before, he seems to have moved past it. I guess he's been a little grumpy the past few days, but I think that's just because he hasn't been sleeping very well lately. I'm just hoping that he's actually planning on studying this time, and not trying to cheat like he always does."
"I see," Dr. Medusa says again, making another note. "Well, since you're doing so well, Maka, I don't think that I need to keep seeing you for your weekly checkups." Maka nods. "I'll plan on seeing you in one month, but please don't hesitate to check in with me sooner if anything changes."
The nurse's friendly smile doesn't quite seem to reach her eyes. "Of course," Maka replies, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.
"And please tell Soul that my door is always open, if he wishes to stop by."
"Of course, Dr. Medusa," Maka says, standing up and making her way to the door. She tries not to make it obvious that she's rushing to get out of there, even though she's immensely relieved to escape the nurse's piercing gaze.
Maka shuts the door behind her. Medusa lets the fake smile fall from her face and rests her chin in her hands, deep in thought. "So the girl seems to have already overcome the effects of the black blood inside her," she muses, frowning. "That's unexpected. And more than a little disappointing."
She tilts her head, pausing to think for a few moments. "But she did resonate with the boy, did she not? I wonder . . ." She falls silent and smirks slightly. "I suppose that I'll have to keep an eye on those two, especially the weapon. At the very least, this experiment doesn't have to be a total waste."
Elsewhere, a small red demon sits in a dimly lit room, staring at a grand piano. "Hard to believe that the little girl managed to boot me out so quickly. I suppose that it's not completely unexpected, given the type of soul that she has, but still, to lose my hold over her that fast, it's embarrassing. I must be losing my touch."
He shakes his head and glances around the room. "Perhaps it's all for the best. After all, despite his best efforts, I can feel that the boy is a much better match for me than she ever was, even if he loathes the idea." He grins to himself. "And of course, to make it even better, those two are a matched set! So the girl isn't free of me just yet."
The entire room seems to shift, blurring and twisting around him for a mere fraction of a second before stabilizing again. "Ah, good, here he comes." The demon's smirk widens. The door creaks open. "Showtime."
Once again, Soul wakes with a start, heart pounding and gasping for air. He narrowly manages to resist the urge to vomit or start screaming, instead, dragging his hands over his face to try to calm himself down.
He's been having the same dream every night since their fight on the bridge, and even though he's almost come to expect the nightmares at this point, they still leave him incredibly disturbed. The thought of hurting Maka is utterly horrifying to Soul, so why does he keep imaging it in his dreams? And why is the little red demon there? It's almost like—
Maka's knock on the door nearly makes him jump out of his skin. "Soul! I made breakfast! Come out and get it while it's hot!"
"Be right there," he calls back, making no move to get out of bed.
"And I'm planning to be at the library all day. Tsubaki is going to meet me so we can quiz each other. I do hope that you're planning on studying today. The test is next week!"
"Yeah, yeah," he mutters, letting his breath out in a sigh and throwing off the covers. Might as well get dressed and ready for the day, since it doesn't look like Maka is going to let him sleep in.
He shoves his thoughts about the nightmares and the demon to the back of his mind. Bad dreams weren't exactly uncommon in their line of work.
It's probably nothing.
Thank you for reading! If you liked it please leave a review.
I might end up adding more to this story in the future, if I ever end up getting inspired. I feel like both Soul and Maka would respond differently when they use the black blood after the events of this fic, but unfortunately most of those scenes are fighting scenes which I am terrible at writing. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.