Whispers

by Akire Rosales

Its been 10 years since the fight with Asura. Maka made her own life outside America, writting her happy ending with her husband, Soul. She has a good job, a nice married life, and keeps in touch with her friends... Why is she feeling so miserable then? Something is missing, and she knows what it is, she notices it everytime the letters of certain swordsman arrive in her mail.

24. Stormclouds

AkireRosales: For anyone still reading this... Welcome and Enjoy!

---

Whispers

Chapter 24

"Stormclouds"

Was it too late to ditch out Shibusen?

Of course she was on a permanent blacklist, just like Crona, the Mifune sisters and Free. The punishment for breaking Lord Death's order and threat the whole world was... well... death. The alliance with the Witch Council saved their lives with a high cost, which was their freedom. That was a suitable punishment, almost romantic really, to make them pay with the only thing witches and werewolves value the most. It wasnt the kind of slavery Medusa used, not even close, but being forced to help out in DWMA business, even if they got paid for it, was nothing but slavery.

And now, being forced to help in a mission she didnt agree with, was more than Eruka could accept. She could refuse, of course, she could blatantly say no and leave the school without looking back... but there would be consequences. For starters, she would need to pay the price of helping Medusa with the witch council... and that was even more scary.

Why!? Why did she have to step up in front of Medusa that night!? Why she had to act all brave when she didnt need to!? After 10 years she was still paying the price of that mistake.

"This is the worst... gecko..." Eruka sighed with tears in her eyes, scared, as she packed her clothes and other personal items in a large backpack with the shape of a colorful green toad.

Her small hands toyed with the fabric of her backpack, well manicured fingernails moving through the items inside to arrange them in a way that they wouldnt take much space. She wasnt quite informed about the mission, only that they would be looking for Soul and the meister he was traveling with. Apparently, the last time they made contact with the Director was three days ago, and after that they had vanished. Because of the nature of their mission, they were supposed to call everyday, otherwise they would be considered Missed In Action. Now, she being the only witch available in the moment and the closest to the mission location, she had to help out with her Calculation Spells to find them. What was that spoiled Death brat thinking!? That she was some kind of compass he could use at his leisure!? By no means she was a strong witch! Not in the way Medusa or Arachne used to be, she wasnt a brawler, her magical powers werent that impressive, there were a lot more other witches that could do such calculations!

She was scared, and that was the truth.

Suddenly, the soft knocking on her door called for her attention. She tried to shook off her shaking, knowing perfectly well who would be looking for her that late at night. Still, it was a shocker.

"Get in" She said, trying to sound as secure as possible, hoping for her voice not to falter. Quietly, the metal door of her room opened, and the shy insecure eyes of Crona peeked in.

"A-Are you okay?" He asked, hesitating about walking inside her room. Eruka sighed heavily, shaking her head. She glanced at the swordsman, watching him close the door behind him.

"No, I'm not okay" The witch answered with anger in her voice. She tried to sound angry, it made her feel less vulnerable than the growing fear biting her soul. "Its been ten years, for how long will I be a slave of Shibusen's demands?"

The shy wizard glanced down to his own feet, holding his right arm for comfort, staying silent in front of her. She saw that as a green flag to keep ranting.

"They ordered me to come to this school. They made me accept this job and teach those insolent brats! And now they force me to go search their own employees in the middle of nowhere!" Eruka complained, her voice rising in tone with every sentence, finishing in a loud yell as her hands tossed the now closed backpack to her bed. The aggressive action made the swordsman jump on his spot slightly, dark eyes staring at her oddly. "What gives them the right to play with our lives this way!? Didn't we pay enough with Medusa!? She was punishment enough!"

Eruka couldnt help it. She had choked on those thoughts for too long, and now as she had the chance to vent out her feelings, it was too much. The frog witch noticed how her sight started to get blurry, little buds of tears forming in the edge of her eyes. Her shoulders shook slightly, and she forced herself to look away.

Out of nowhere, much to her surprise, she found herself being held by Crona. His slender arms surrounded her small frame, her cheek comfortably pressed against his chest. Her hands moved up to his back, holding on him by his clothes, and after a few seconds she allowed herself to be comforted by him. He stood there in silence, without complaining, quietly giving her the support she needed so badly. Of course he would understand her... they were in the same boat.

"I'm scared..." She confessed, closing her eyes while resting her forehead against his sternum. Eruka felt a set of fingers gently combing her large silver hair.

"N-nothing will happen to you" The demon swordsman said, his voice sounding oddly secure of himself. "I'll m-make sure of that"

"Is not this mission what bothers me..." Eruka grunted, her hands moving in a caress from his back to his chest. Gently she pushed him away, feeling how his arms untangled from her. She took a small step away from him, her hands still resting on him. "How long before they send me to another stupid mission that is not my business? How long before they send me to die somewhere? I'm sick of not owning my own life..."

Crona eyes shifted slightly, staring down at her with a slight frown. Those words seemed to resonate hard in him, his hands moving up to hold the ones resting on his chest.

"W-When we get back... I'll talk with Lord Death about you" The meister's words sound hard and clear in the room, his dark eyes staring at her with determination. Eruka looked at him, impressed and hopeful.

"... would you do that for me?" The frog witch musited, large dark eyes staring straight into his own. He gave her a soft small smile.

"I promise" Crona answered, without a single stutter. Eruka went back at him, hugging him tightly, smiling at the feeling of his muscles getting tense for a second before relaxing in her arms.

After a minute of holding, the witch felt way too aware for comfort, releasing him with a small blush on her cheeks. On the other hand, he looked calm and at peace, his soft little smile still dangling on his face.

"I have something for you" She said all of a sudden, moving away from him and walking straight into the small drawer of her room, taking out a medium sized package. With a grin, the witch moved back to the swordsman and handled the package to him.

The swordsman blinked a couple times, his smile vanishing from his face, being replaced by a look of confusion. His large hands took a hold of the soft package, squeezing it gently before moving in up and down, measuring its weight, curious.

"W-what is it?" He asked, tilting his head slightly. Eruka couldnt help but think he looked like a confused puppy. "A-And why the present? I-I dont remember we are c-celebrating anything..."

The witch couldnt help but roll her eyes. The good sheltered Crona, oblivious as always.

"I'm pretty sure you already know you dont need a reason to give something to someone, right?" Eruka scolded him, noticing how his face flared in a dark blush.

"Uh... S-Sorry... I-I still d-dont know how to deal with p-people giving me things..." He apologized, looking embarrassed, holding the package close to his chest. "T-Thanks..."

"Dont open it until we get to Russia, understand?" The witch ordered, pointing at him with her best attempt of being bossy. He smiled at her.

"Y-yes ma'am... I understand"

---

The cold wind of early winter threatened to frostbite any uncovered piece of flesh available.

The old pick-up truck moved roughly through the snow. Its thick tires surrounded by heavy chains managed to give the vehicle a trusty grip on the soft snow, and even so, Maka had to force herself to not go too fast. The windows where up, barely visible through the fog that steamed the windshields. Although she was used to the merciless winter of Germany after living there for five years, she had to admit that was nothing compared to the biting cold of Russia's wilderness. Her hands were covered by a double layer of gloves, her body tightly snugged under two thermal sweaters and her good old white winter jacket. Her hair was combed in a high bun, covered by a thick crocheted wool beanie, matching the outfit of heavy wool and cotton brown pants protecting her from the raw cold outside the truck.

Right next to her, in the middle seat, was Eruka rubbing her hands, barely covered by a pair of light gloves. The frog witch have had the audacity of shoving off her recommendations of wearing proper winter clothes. Instead, she decided to rely entirely on her warming spell, wearing nothing but her usual polka-dot black short dress and thermal leggings, with a pair of leather white boots and a leather white jacket to match. Her silver hair was loosely falling down her back, hear head covered by a colorful green beanie with the shape of a toad face. Maka was positively sure she would start shivering again the moment they walked out of the truck.

On the copilot seat was Crona, looking through the window with a thoughtful expression in his eyes. He was using one of Soul's beanies, crocheted wool in black and red patterns, along with a pair of her own old gloves. She had to cut the fingers, since his hands were way too big for them, but that was better than nothing. Maka got into an argue with him from the moment she noticed he was going completely unprepared for the mission, relying way too much on his Black Blood and his ability to protect himself from the weather.

That, and the outfit he was wearing... a gift from Eruka. A robe, large and pitch black, that resembled a lot the robes of dark priests. His shoulders and chest were covered by a dark purple vest. The long sleeves of the robe were tight fitting to his arms, hidden underneath the wider and broad sleeves of the long coat on top. Around his waist, a cloth belt separated his lower half. The robe had delicate patterns of purple thread carvings, giving him a kind of high mage vibes. It was a somewhat plain and sober outfit, but the Witch aura on it was striking.

"Are you okay?" Crona's worried tone caught her off-guard. Maka blinked a couple times, glancing at him for a moment before sticking her eyes back on the road ahead.

If you could call THAT a road. It was nothing but the tracks of other cars that had moved through the path before her. On the sides was nothing but the sight of far away mountains and large trees covered in snow. The same view over and over again.

"Yeah... how long before the next town?" Maka asked, moving her fingers while tightening her hold on the driver's wheel. She wasnt used to driving at all, Soul would usually be the one in charge of such things...

Eruka stretched on her seat, right between both meisters, grasping the large map on her lap before opening it. Her slender fingers moved through the several marks, trying to find the one closer to where they were.

"Have you stayed at 60km per hour?" Eruka asked back, snapping her fingers, summoning a small rule for measuring the map marks.

"Yes, Eruka, as you have told me five times already" The scythe meister groaned with mild frustration. Her feet were stiff and throbbing, pedaling back and forth trying to keep up the same speed as requested six hours ago.

"Well I'm sorry its an inconvenience! This is maths and I need exact calculations, Albarn" The frog witch huffed, her dark eyes fixed on the map for a minute, frowning slightly trying to count ever centimeter of the map.

"You were asleep for half the travel until now! If you are so worried about the speed, you could drive for a while!" Maka snapped at the silvery haired woman, who glanced back at her with a frown.

"We wouldnt need to use this stupid truck if you werent with us! Crona could fly and take me with him, but SOMEONE dropped a tantrum with the Director and forced herself along!"

"If you thing I would sit idly in Germany while my husband is missing, you-"

"P-Please dont fight" Crona soft voice interrupted their stand off, trying to soothe both women, who were glaring at each other. His hand moved to grasp Eruka's wrist, calling for her attention. "H-How long until next town, Eruka?"

The witch huffed, her dark eyes fixed in the swordsman for a minute, slowly calming down.

"If we stayed around 60km per hour for the last six hours, it should be half an hour away up north." Eruka pointed out, her eyes noticing in the map the large blank spot ahead. "That will be the last town in the map..."

The last town. That one was the last place inhabited by humans that Soul and Leon visited, before diving into the unknown wide lands of Siberia. Using the death scythe's reports, with the help of Eruka's calculation spells, they managed to make a map of Soul's whereabouts during his almost two weeks travel. Every stop, every resting spot, every place named in those reports with any kind of information was tagged in the large map on the witch's hands. With their plan settled, they should be able to reach the area where they got missing in a few days.

That of course wasnt soon enough for Maka, who had been driving for eighteen hours already. With barely enough time to rest, the scythe meister was working on nothing but coffee and adrenaline. The only thing keeping her awake was, amazingly, Ragnarok and his constant bitching about being bored out of his skull. Apparently the demon was asleep for the time being.

A heavy bump on the road made the scythe meister yelp, dragging her off her own thoughts, as the truck started to zig-zag dangerously. Cussing under her breath, she tightened her hold on the driver's wheel, trying to return to the road. After struggling with the truck, Maka managed to regain control, speeding steadily in the main road.

"For Death's sake, are you trying to kill us?" Eruka complained, her hands holding into Crona's arm tightly, fingernails digging into his skin slightly. The swordsman stared at Maka with a worried expression on his face, his hands tightly holding on his own seat. "I heard about Japanese women being idiots while driving but please! Dont be one of those, gecko!"

The scythe meister glared at the frog witch, ready to bark a very nasty remark, when Crona suddenly stepped in, scolding Eruka.

"E-Eruka p-please! S-She's tired... w-we are all tired..." The swordsman said, his worried expression fixed on the blonde meister on the driver's seat. Her eyes were sporting dark bruises, looking slightly swollen. "W-We are almost there..."

His voice managed to soothe the meister, who took a deep breath before focusing yet again on the road ahead. Maka couldnt help but feel a little guilty about their predicament... surely Crona could move faster without her, but how would they find Soul without her Soul Perception? They could track his whereabouts, but to actually find him... they would need her. Soul needed her. She had to find him.

Crona glanced with a worried expression at the tired face of the scythe meister. No matter what, Soul was her husband, her friend, her weapon partner, so he could emphasize with her feelings. If he was worried out of his skin about him, he could only imagine how Maka was feeling. And yet, the meister remained unusually tamed about the ordeal, except for her ill mood, but he could never blame her for that. Still... he knew better, he knew her enough, she was not okay.

The demon swordsman frowned, dark eyes looking through the white wilderness of Russia's most deep isolated towns. Except for a few stranded cabins around, it was a wide horizon of nothingness. It was truly a good place to go completely berserk and into a killing spree, without being spotted. The region was supposed to be warded by a Death Scythe and his meister, both born and raised in those lands, but still it was quite a large piece of land for just one couple to take care of.

Crona kept repeating her they would find him... but Ragnarok's words, whispered to him in a moment of quiet when they're were alone, resonated inside his head like a bad omen.

Until now, they hadnt found any missed meister or weapon abducted by Nebula.

Why would Soul be any different?

Was Maka thinking that too?

His eyes moved back to the figure of the blonde meister, who's tired emerald eyes were focused on the road, hands gripping tightly on the pick-up's wheel. Her fierce instinct of going faster was barely restrained by Eruka's constant reminder of logic and calculated speed. Both women were so different from each other, and yet they were really working together, as far as their colliding personalities would allow them to.

Both women reminded him of Soul and himself. They were friends... but more often than not his awkward and shy personality didnt suit well for Soul's chill vibes and reserved temper. The scythe didnt have patience for his constant neurosis, and Crona was quite bad at reading him all together. Nonetheless, they were friends... or at least they used to. Was this how their story would end? He wouldnt accept it, there was no way he could accept such fate on any of his friends, much less someone he owed so much...

No matter how complicated things were now, they were connected by much more than friendship. They had a connection of blood. His blood was merged into Soul, and that was a bond stronger than friendship. Crona owed Soul too much to abandon him.

They had to find him.

---

The inn was just a large house, with a few spare rooms for adventurers.

The small town was by no means a tourist spot, so the inn was suited for one night travelers. The entrance of the inn welcomed everyone with the sight of a small drink bar and a few wooden tables to eat. At the far end of the room, large old stairs stretched to the second floor, where four rooms were available. The trio parked the rusted pick-up and walked in, greeted by wary eyes and even some hostile glances. Maka walked with security in every step, glancing back with challenging eyes to whoever dared to hold her heavy stare. Fortunately it was enough to make everyone mind their own business. Eruka followed close, not even bothering to look at the people around, the safety her witch heritage gave her could be seen from afar.

And that was a problem.

"Chto ty zdes' khochesh?" The coarse voice of a large man called their attention, speaking a heavy Russian Maka missed to understand. The trio approached the bar, where the man was standing, cleaning the large wooden table with a piece of rag that had seen better days.

"Good evening, we would like a room for three, one night only please" Maka talked to the man with a clear tone of voice, hoping he could understand english. Apparently it was a well practiced language in the country.

The man frowned, his eyes darting from her to Crona, and down to Eruka standing behind. The swordsman tensed, immediately recognizing that condescending glance, that hostile look in his eyes... he knew it quite well.

"I only have room for one" The inn master growled in rough english, returning his attention to the table, scrubbing it clean. Maka frowned, her hands resting on each side of her hips.

"Your sign outside says you're empty" The blonde meister stated, noticing how the man was now completely ignoring her. Feeling the hot stab of anger slowly burning, Maka took out her DWMA ID card. "We are meisters on a mission in the zone, I know you can spare a room for us"

The inn master looked down to the card Maka placed on the table, staring at it for a second before returning his attention to the bar table, fixing wooden mugs around.

"I only have room for one" He repeated, not looking back at them. The scythe meister felt anger rising high on her face, until she felt a hand softly resting on her shoulder.

"W-We can use different rooms f-for one... I-If you c-could help us out, please?" Crona stepped in, his stutter giving away his nervousness. The man glanced at him, his cold stare forcing the swordsman to hold in a shudder.

"I only have room for the girl" The inn master insisted, leaving the bar table, attempting to walk away and into the kitchen when Maka hit the table with her fist, calling for his attention with a fierce look in her face.

"Wait just a second!" The scythe meister snarled, only to be stopped by Eruka who stepped in, moving beside her.

"We all can share a room, gecko, if what you want is money we-"

"We dont help witches" The acid words force a silent wince out of Crona's lips. His dark eyes glanced at Eruka, who looked back at the man with as much rage as Maka. Oh boy...

"These witches are with me, they are workers of Shibusen as well, and we demand you give us equal treatment as any other client" The blonde meister stated with a firm tone of voice, taming her anger as much as she could, but Crona could see she was inches away of strangling the man.

"We can show you the treatment for witches alright!" One of the man sitting in a table far away yelled, visibly unlocking the safety lock of a large pistol on his waist. Eruka instinctively moved closer to the demon swordsman for protection. Although she could summon bombs to obliterate the whole place, she would hurt the other people who was watching on the sidelines. She couldnt use her magic in close spaces.

Crona frowned, quickly stepping in front of both girls, until another voice behind them talked with a drunk tone of voice.

"Witches working... they dont work! They do nothing but kill and steal! All cunts!" The drunk man slurred, moving a large shotgun from his back to his front, pointing at them with the barrel of his weapon. "Maybe you are the witches that stole my baby girl! I bet you are!"

"W-what!? W-we are not!" The swordsman stuttered, panicking, feeling a very well known stab on his back. He tried to stop him, way too late "R-Ragnarok dont!"

"You bunch of bitches!" The demon sword roared, popping out of his meister back, cross-like eyes looking back and forth at the armed man. "Try to use that shit, I dare you! I will shove a sword down your throats!"

"We better leave" Eruka whispered to Maka, who could do nothing but stare in disbelief what was happening right there. It was a world rule that now witches were supposed to be treated with respect... this welcoming was outrageous.

"I wont leave. Soul was here." The scythe meister stated, clenching her fists, emerald eyes glaring at the inn master who looked back at her unimpressed.

"Leave now" The inn master said firmly, his hands moving to the underside of the table, taking out a large hunting rifle. "If your witch friends try anything we will have the right to defend ourselves"

"They saw our faces! We cant let them go! They will search for us at night and make us disappear!" The drunk man far behind roared, loading the barrel of his gun. Crona tensed.

"R-Ragnarok wings!"

"Guppi!" The demon sword obeyed, quickly dissolving before turning into a pair of large bat-like wings, dark as night, covering both women from any harm.

The action alarmed the men, who suddenly started to shoot. The swordsman took a hold of both women, keeping them against his chest, while Ragnarok protected them inside the black blooded cocoon. It all happened way too fast, with Maka grasping on his torso while Eruka hid against his arm, closing her eyes tightly, terrified. Crona clenched his teeth, kneeling on the floor to avoid any bullet from reaching their legs, his large wings closing tightly around them. The smell of gun powder filled the small room, along with a heavy cloud of smoke and the sound of footsteps rushing out of the bar.

"What the hell is that!?" One of the slurred voices yelled, the sound faint due to the ringing on his ears. Crona opened his eyes, quickly looking down to the witch and meister on his arms, the three of them still covered by his wings.

"Are you okay!?" He asked with panic in his voice, looking down to Maka who stared back at him with a frown.

"I am fine" The blonde meister answered, looking down to her own body, unharmed.

"T-T-They s-shot at us!" Eruka stuttered, pale as a ghost, little buds of tears dwelling in her eyes. "Those bastards!"

"We need to leave" Crona insisted, biting down his lip, his eyes dangerously flashing a icy blue tone. One thing was people being nasty to him, he could deal with that, but for them trying to harm Maka or Eruka... he wouldnt stand it. If they didnt leave, the swordsman wasnt sure he could hold himself back. "P-Please..."

Maka noticed the stress in his voice, along with his effort for avoid the maddening giggling. It was true, she had to take him out of there...

"You're bleeding!" Eruka's voice called for their attention, her hand resting on one of his sides, unprotected by the large wings. The frog witch recoiled her hand, noticing it warm and soaked in a pitch black liquid, his blood.

"Not my fault! This moron didnt cover himself properly!" Ragnarok's voice resonated between them. "I already healed the inner wound, so you stop leaking, where is my thank you!?"

"T-Thank you Rag-" Crona tried to humor his partner, when he felt Maka trying to get back on her feet. "W-wait! I-Its not safe!"

"Eruka" Maka growled, her emerald eyes sharp with anger, thirsty for vengeance. "Bomb them"

"W-what!?" The swordsman gasped, watching at Eruka grinning with dark glee. All of a sudden, Maka took a hold of his clothes, forcing him back up on his feet, enough to keep their legs unprotected.

"My pleasure!" The witch grinned, her Soul Protection going off, her hands summoning a pair of burning hot toad bombs. With just a little warning, Eruka made them roll on the floor towards the shooters. "There goes a fresh one!"

Anticipating what was going to happen, Crona kept the protection of his wings around them, as a pair of small bombs rolled towards the source of the gunshots. The round black spheres moved towards the drunken man who was clumsily trying to reload, noticing the smiley toad face staring down at him, a few feet away. The man frowned, unsure if what he was seeing was real, until the toad face blowed him a kiss, before bursting into a loud explosion.

Through the thickness of his black blooded wings, the swordsman heard the screams of panic before the bomb's wave pushed him slightly. It was a fairly weak bomb, mostly a stunner rather than one designed to kill, but still was enough to hear the sound of a body falling on the floor.

"Grebanaya ved'ma!" The voice of the bartender roared, followed by the distinctive sound of a gun barrel being reloaded. Crona responded fast enough, moving his whole body as a shield, standing between the gun and his partners, thickening the blood of his wings. The deafening sound of gunshots resonated in the bar, now louder without his wings covering them fully.

"Crona!" Ragnarok roared, warning his meister, as the remaining man across the room pointed at them with his pistol, having a clear shot now that his wings were open and in guard. The pistol was pointing at Eruka, who instinctively opened her hand covered in his blood, trying to summon a bomb in time.

"Bloody Needle!" Crona ordered, and from Eruka's extended hand, the blood reacted violently, thrusting through the wind and stabbing the cannon of the gun, just in time before the man pulled the trigger.

The blocked cannon exploded, burning the gunman's hand in the act. The man fell on the floor, screaming in pain, holding his injured hand for a second before reaching to his other pistol, tucked in his belt.

"No you dont!" Maka roared, releasing herself from Crona's protective grasp, running towards the armed man and punching his face as hard as she could. The heavy strike send the man straight into the floor, knocked unconscious. The scythe meister breathed heavily, outraged, glaring around just to notice there was no one else around, except for the bartender who kept pointing at them with his large rifle.

The man was trembling, staring at them with disbelief, his clumsy fat fingers trying to reload his gun. Maka snarled, clenching her fists before running towards the man. The man yelped, rising his rifle pointing at the blonde meister... yet his eyes saw only a flash of black. The bartender blinked, unsure of what happened, noticing how Maka was standing still now in front of him. His fingers insisted on pulling the trigger, but nothing happened. Looking down, his mouth fell open when he saw the barrel of his shotgun cut in half, with Ragnarok's sword edge resting on the remnants of the wooden bar table, now destroyed. Reluctantly, the man huffed before rising his arms above his head, defeated.

Crona glared at the man, his icy blue eyes piercing through his soul, his body trembling with barely contained rage. For that human to dare and point at gun at them, at Maka above anyone else, the swordsman had no idea how he was able to control himself. On the other side, Maka's emerald eyes shot daggers, the frown on her face deepening before moving again towards the man, clenched fists moving forward with the whole intention of ending what that bartender started. She made all efforts to jump towards the man and crash her fists on his face, until a pair of arms stopped her.

"LET ME GO!" Maka roared, feeling Crona's arms surrounding her body, keeping her away from the bartender.

"I-Its over! W-we are okay!" The swordsman tried to calm her down, his arms holding her tightly, keeping her away from the trembling man who kept his arms raised above his head, surrendering.

"The bastard shot at us! They all did! If she doesnt punch him, I will!" Eruka demanded, summoning another small toad bomb on her palm.

"N-No! H-hurting unarmed civilians is w-wrong!" Crona stated, repeating one of the many trusty rules he memorized from his teenager years. Rules made to help him decide through his very limited moral judgement. "M-Maka, you taught me that! He's n-not armed!"

The scythe meister kept her teeth clenched, fists tightly closed, but her attempts to release herself from the swordsman's grasp stopped. The bartender kept his hands up, his trembling slowly dying, until the sound of the door opening called everyone's attention.

"What in the name of Death is going on here?" A large man dressed in quite thick winter clothes, looking almost like an astronaut, called out in english, showing a heavy Russian accent. At his side, a smaller man with a lighter more traditional Russian winter white coat, stood in silence.

"I felt a witch nearby... who is it?" The smaller man talked, his dark eyes moving around the destroyed bar, noticing a tall very slender man holding a small woman, and a silvery haired girl with a very obvious witch outfit. "Is it you darling?"

Eruka croaked, her dark onyx eyes glaring at the man, her hands filled with a pair of bombs ready to be thrown at. Crona released the scythe meister, his icy blue eyes staring at the newcomers with a stressed glance, rising his black sword towards them. Maka frowned, looking at them in silence.

"Seems they gave you a good beating, Michail, did you deserve it?" The large man said, uncovering his face from the thick fur hoodie on his head. He was pale white, with a thick black mustache covering completely his upper lip, and equally thick eyebrows to match. His eyes were a shade of light grey.

"They started it" The bartender grunted, shivering when the small blonde meister glared back at him.

"You lying piece of shit!" Maka roared, feeling the regret of not punching that man.

"I-I... I d-dont want to hurt a-anyone... j-just let us go..." Crona stuttered, his worried blue eyes shivering slightly, yet despite his obvious fear, he stepped forward to protect Eruka and Maka.

"You ooze madness" The small meister said, his hands still safely tucked inside the pockets of his coat, in a non threatening pose. His words made the tall pink haired man wince, but the grip on his sword tightened. "A madman, a witch, and a short-tempered meister... you come from Germany dont you?"

The question took the trio by surprise, who now looked at each other in confusion. Crona slowly lowered his weapon, Eruka warily making her bombs vanish in her hands.

"You outdid yourself this time Michail, attacking Shibusen workers during a mission, you can get jail time for that, you know?" The words of the small meister made the bartender huff, finally lowering his hands from his head, lifting a piece of broken table for them to see it.

"They destroyed my bar!"

"You probably deserved it" The large man standing in the door grunted, stepping forward to meet the trio. "Seems you all finally got your Russian welcoming, I'm Tsar Pushka, and this is my meister Feador"

"Privetstvuyu tebya" Feador greeted, giving them a slight bow.

Crona was taken aback, unsure of what to do all of a sudden. Moments ago they were being shot at, they destroyed a local's bar, and now they were being greeted!? What kind of backwards place was that? Although the swordsman kept his stressful thoughts for himself, his weapon partner was a lot more eager to vent out his frustration. Vanishing from his weapon form, Ragnarok went back on top of Crona's head, throwing a fit.

"Russian welcoming my ass! I was shot! We were shot! This idiot is bleeding like a bitch and now you tell me I wont get my payback!? Fuck off!" The demon sword ranted, while Crona looked down to the wound on his left side. His skin was already completely healed, along with the fabric of the magical invested clothing, as if nothing had happened.

"I demand to have an explanation" Maka said with a firm yet displeased tone of voice, obvious anger showing through her words. "We could have get killed here"

"If a couple of drunk men could get you killed, lady, you wouldnt deserve the title of Three Star Meister" Feador chuckled, noticing how the blonde meister frowned at him, yet remained silent. "We got word from Lord Death that you would reach this town by tomorrow, you arrived sooner than expected"

"Feador caught you by the wavelength of your witch friend" Pushka pointed at Eruka, who kept on staring constantly at the unconscious man, wary of them waking up in any minute. "The warning is kinda pointless right now, but this town has a very marked dislike for witches"

"No shit" Ragnarok grunted, his ball-like eyes looking back at the bartender who kept on giving the stink eye to Crona and Eruka. "Keep on staring and I'll stab your eyeballs!"

"We need a place to stay, gecko... we cant travel any further" Eruka sighed, her onyx eyes looking at Maka, who remained in unusual silence, still clenching her fists.

"I dont recommend staying in any pub around" Feador pointed out, his eyes moving between the frog witch and the swordsman. "Your looks are awfully obvious"

"I'm not leaving" Maka finally talked, her eyes piercing cold and determined stared back at the Russian meister. "My partner Soul stayed here, I cant-"

"I met Soul" Pushka interrupted her, moving a couple steps ahead to meet Maka, who pressed her lips together, listening with interest. "Around 7 days ago, in this very place. I found him likeable... and I know he's missing"

"W-We are looking for him... any clue about his w-w-whereabouts would help us a lot." Crona talked, hopeful, looking at both meister and weapon who glanced at each other. The looks they had on their faces were less than comforting, to say the least. It was the expression of someone ready to tell you their condolences.

Suddenly, the sound of grunting and whimpering called their attention. The drunk man who was knocked out by Eruka's small bomb was starting to regain consciousness. The other man at the far side of the bar, was slowly getting back on his feet, sporting a swollen cheek that was turning dark, obviously stunned.

"I can give you the same information I gave them, but I suggest we talk somewhere else." Feador insisted, pointing out to the exit while his weapon partner moved out of the bar, without another word.

"Chto mne delat' so vsem etim der'mom?" The bartender roared to Feador, obvious anger ringing in his tone of voice.

"Ispravim eto, nadeyus'!" Feador chuckled merrily.

"Bespoleznyye tekhniki! Gryaznyye lyubiteli ved'm!" The man kept on ranting, much to Maka's discomfort. She was sure that whatever he was saying, was nothing pleasant.

"The next time you attack someone, I will lock you down" Feador said in english while leaving the bar, his rough voice sporting a hard Russian accent. "Have a nice day."

---

Much to Maka's disappointment, they had to stay somewhere else.

She had wanted to stay in that inn, just because Soul had been there. She had the fierce determination that following his every step was the right way to find him. But there was no way they could stay there without fearing for their lives, and Maka was too tired to stay in guard, unnecessarily.

The four start meister Feador and his weapon partner, the Death Scythe Tsar Pushka, happened to be a quite nice duo. In some way, they reminded them of herself and Soul, during their best times. Feador seemed to be an intuitive but somewhat impulsive meister, while his weapon partner was a lot more reserved and cool-headed. As the Russian meister insisted on driving, noticing how tired Maka was, Tsar climbed to the back of the old pick-up, followed by Crona who could endure the cold better than the girls. They drove for a couple minutes to the other side of the small town, straight into a well stablished wooden house. After they got greeted by an old man on his sixties, his wife soon took a hold of both girls, guiding them right into their dinning table while babbling Russian words they couldnt understand.

Crona took a huge relief sigh, slowly taking down his guard, watching the nice old lady hastily serving food for everybody. The old man that he guessed was her husband, was just sitting in the table, grunting in silence, taking small sips from a rusted metallic canteen. From the smell of that man, it was certainly a very strong liqueur. Although the house was big, it seemed to have been repaired recently, with quite a few parts of the walls and ceilings with rivets and hasty fixes around. By no means the couple was anywhere near wealthy.

Eruka was not comfortable at all, after being dragged along with Maka towards the unstable and decaying wooden table. She wasnt sure what she disliked the most, either the bad troublesome attention she was used to, or the asphyxiating politeness of the babbling old lady that insisted on touching her hair out of the blue. Witches were reserved when it came about physical contact, so having a stranger constantly petting her head was nerve-wracking. The frog witch let out a distressed croak, dark eyes glancing towards the sword meister who understood her silent scream for help. The male witch sat next to her, feeling immediately the grip of her fingernails on his arm, seeking some kind of comfort.

"You can stay here for the night. This couple work along with the Russian department of Shibusen, they are what you call volunteers" Feador explained, sitting next to Maka who nodded in silence, her emerald eyes glancing around the house with mild interest.

"Why we werent informed about this place?" The scythe meister asked with a small frown on her face. "Soul could have stayed here instead of that bar"

"When I met him I offered to come here, but he said that crashing into someone's home without notice was uncool" The Russian meister chuckled, watching the old lady finishing serving wooden bowls of steaming hot stew. "Spasibo babushka"

The old lady smiled, thin snowhite braids of hair framing her wrinkled tanned face, before retreating back into the old kitchen, her steps slow and wary. Her husband said nothing, tired eyes just following her every step, before taking another sip of alcohol from his water canteen.

Maka's hands clenched in fistfuls on top of the table, feeling the cold weather still nibbling on what little skin she had exposed. Nearby, an iron chimney burning wood tried to keep the room warm, slowly rising the temperature of their bodies. Her emerald eyes looked down to the hot soup in front of her, thoughtful.

"I'm goddamn starving" Ragnarok complained while sliding out of Crona's back, his little hands flailing in front of his meister "Go on! Gimme something!"

The swordsman sighed, looking at the old couple who were obviously staring down at him with surprise. He was expecting a few exclamations at least, but the woman chuckled and merrily talked to her husband with an amused tone, receiving nothing but a grunt as response. The old woman reached up for an empty water jar, pouring hot stew in it before handling it to the little demon.

Ragnarok blinked a couple times, staring down at the dark red liquid with bits of potato, carrot and meat.

"This looks disgusting" The sword said, toying around with the jar making the stew stir inside.

"T-that is rude Ragnarok, they are being very kind" Crona scolded his partner, frowning at him. The demon scuffed back, opening his mouth before drinking the stew as if it were just water. "Say thank you"

"Who's gonna make me uh!? You!?" The demon hissed, throwing the jar back at his meister, who barely caught it before it fell to the floor.

"Say thank you" Maka's sudden stern voice warned the sword, her emerald eyes glancing at him with a frown. Ragnarok held her stare, frowning back.

"THANK-YOU" The weapon said slow and loudly, trying to be obnoxious as always. The old lady smiled, clapping at the demon sword, pronouncing a few words with a pleased tone of voice.

"She thinks you're a small child" Tsar chuckled, taking the wooden bowl in his large hands before giving it a long sip. "She's praising you for eating your food, like the little good kid you are"

"WHAT!?" Ragnarok roared, feeling offended. Crona had to raise his hand close to his mouth, trying to cover a chuckle. Eruka on the other hand did nothing to hide her amusement, laughing with the back of her hand covering her mouth. 'What are you both laughing at!? I'll kick your ass!"

"Eat your vegetables Ragnarok" Eruka snorted, laughing a bit more while watching the sword ranting on top of his meister's head.

"I'll make you eat my fist!" The sword hissed, delivering a hard punch on Crona's head. "And you! If you're not going to eat that, give it to me!"

"N-No, I-I'm eating it" The witch meister warned his partner, pushing him away from his bowl. Before the little demon could try and snatch away his meal, he took a wooden spoon and started to eat the thick stew. The taste was odd, but not unpleasant.

Eruka sighed with a small smile on her face, her onyx eyes glancing to her right just to see Maka still sitting stiffly in her chair, emerald eyes lost in the half eaten bowl of stew in front of her. The frog witch frowned, keeping her stare on the blonde meister until she noticed her prying, staring back at her. Eruka seemed to try and communicate with her, worried dark eyes silently asking her a question that wasnt answered. Maka's eyes looked tired, but most of all, worried and desperate.

"You all better eat, if you are going to try and find Nebula" Tsar's rough voice called everyone's attention. Crona frowned, moving away his now empty bowl, both of his hands gripping the edge of the table.

"You know about the witch?" Eruka asked, intrigued, leaning closer to hear the Russian weapon talk.

"Know her? No, I dont" Tsar said, his large hands moving to the heavy clothing covering his body. Thanks to the meal, their body temperatures started to rise, and apparently he now was feeling hot. Taking his time, Tsar opened his thick fur coat, removing the scarf covering half of his face and neck. "She doesnt want us to meet her"

"W-What do you mean?" Crona asked, feeling his weapon partner rest his weight on top of his head, paying attention.

"We've been chasing her for almost a year now... but she's quite elusive" Feador explained, removing his winter gloves from his hands, leaving them next to him on top of the table. "Disappearances in Russia are not odd... but we had our suspicion. Although I'm able to feel her when she drops her Soul Protection, we always get there too late... we havent even seen her human form yet"

"I saw her" Maka's sudden voice made everyone stare at her direction. Sitting between Feador and Eruka, Maka kept her gaze in the thick stew in front of her, barely touched. "Me and Soul found her once, I can find her again"

"If you find her again, it will be because she wanted you to find her" Tsar said, his voice sounding loud and clear despite being on the other side of the table. "Lady, dont make the mistake of underestimate her"

"I saw her. In her owl form. I saw her human form. I saw her plans and how she works. Even after all that, I managed to escape" Maka repeated, more to herself than to everyone else in that table. Her hands were locked stiff in front of her, clenching her own fingers.

"And you havent stop to think she wanted you to know all that?" The Russian meister scolded her, heavy eyes looking down at her. "After reading Soul's report, we started to chase after her. Even with all the information provided, she manages to stay away from us."

"W-wait, for starters, we are not chasing after a witch. We are in a search and rescue mission, remember?" Eruka interrupted their conversation, her nervous voice quivering slightly. "We are here to find Soul"

"... If thats your goal, I have to encourage you all to give up" Feador words fell down into the room like a loud hammer, leaving everyone in complete silence for a couple seconds.

Crona's eyes frowned deeply, his dark eyes shifting to icy blue, staring down at the Russian meister with a cold gaze. Eruka chocked a croak on her throat, feeling the sudden awful tension in the room, her small hands going down to her own lap, tugging at the fabric of her skirt anxiously. Maka's emerald glare was filled with killing intent.

" Feador..." Tsar warned him, reaching up to his thick dark moustache, rough fingers combing it in place.

"What?" Maka musited, frowning, her voice coming out of her mouth slow and threatening "How dare you say that..."

"Girl, Im sorry for your loss, but mother Russia is a wide and unforgiving land. If your partner got missing here, chances of survival without knowledge are close to zero" Feador pointed out matter-of-factly, his light grey eyes looking back at the scythe meister without fear, much less any sense of empathy. "You three risking your lives trying to find him is nonsense"

Maka couldnt take it. As she got up hastily from her seat, the movement of her body against the table forced it to quiver slightly, the sound of a couple knocked empty glasses breaking the tense silence. Her fists were clenched, so were her teeth, and Crona couldnt remember the last time he saw her so angry.

'You dont know him!" She yelled at the aged meister, not caring anymore about ranks or having some respect for her superiors. "Dont you dare to say what he's capable of!"

"Maka..." Crona tried to reach her from his seat, his hands moving towards her, unsure of what to do. Eruka quickly took a hold of his dark coat, forcing him to look at her. The frog witch shook her head slowly, and the swordsman bit down his lower lip, holding back his urge to be close to the blonde meister.

Feador took notice of her anger, yet he answered with a long deep sigh.

"You're right. I dont know him... but I know this land" He said, his grey eyes staring straight at Maka, almost defying her. "If you think that witch doesnt know you're here, you are wrong. She knows, from the moment you stepped on this town, she already knew. She knows what was your first meal here and will know your last word before going to sleep."

"Every trap, every plan to catch her, every raid in every hiding spot we managed to find... she knew before we got there" Tsar complemented Feador's warning, his rough deep voice contrasting greatly with the softer more calm voice of his meister. "If Soul got caught by her, I highly doubt you will find him... at least not in his original body"

"D-Dont say that..." Crona warned him, his voice unable to hide the tone of dread, feeling the sharp stab of worry in his chest. Maka remained in silence.

"IF he managed to escape... and remained hidden long enough to keep himself out of her radar, how could he survive the cold? The hunger? The wildlife?" Feador pointed out, trying to shove some sense into the scythe meister's head. "I admire your determination, I truly do, but you're seeking for a corpse, not a human-"

"E-enough already!" Crona suddenly yelled, angry icy cold blue eyes staring at him with a deep frown on his face. Ragnarok, for once, was completely in silence.

"Too straight forward, as always Feador" Tsar scolded his meister, dark eyes glancing at Maka with concern. Feador followed his weapon partner's eyes, looking at the young meister who remained silent, her eyes hidden beneath the blonde bangs on her forehead.

"I'm sorry... that was out of touch from me" Feador apologized with a heavy sigh, remaining in silence while staring at Maka. Eruka's onyx eyes were glued to the meister, studying her, her eyebrows frowning slightly.

"I'm tired. Can you point out where will we rest?" The scythe meister said, her voice coming out in a monotonous quiet tone. It was obvious for Crona that Feador's words affected her, but he knew her enough to know she wouldnt listen.

Without saying anything else, Tsar got up from the table, and in a few words pointed out the guests rooms at the end of the house's corridor. She would be sharing a room with Eruka, apparently, to which Maka only nodded. After bowing with silent cordiality to Tsar and Feador, and saying her thanks to the old couple that were listening in silence, she left the living room.

Crona couldnt help but feel remorseful and worried for Maka. After leaving Germany, he understood quite well that the blissful time of being with her had come to an end. And yet, in that moment, he was feeling that leaving her alone was wrong. She needed help, she needed some kind of comfort, this situation was unbearable for her and he needed to be at her side.

"She will need a lot of help to accept what happened to her weapon partner." Feador now soft voice called his attention. The swordsman glancing at the old meister with a frown on his face.

"Soul is alive... h-he has to be" Crona said in a low tone of voice, angry and fearful. Noticing how the Russian meister didnt react to his words, he decided he had to go after Maka. He just couldnt leave her for the night in that way.

Alas, his determination was cut immediately by a pair of gentle hands tugging at his wrist. As he got up from the table, Eruka stared at him with worry.

"Dont follow her" The frog witch warned him, her hands tightly holding him down.

"She needs me"

"No she doesnt. She needs Soul" Her words, although cruel, were true. He knew that, as his dark eyes glanced away with hurt. "Right now the least she wants is you being close to her"

Eruka got up from the table, her hand holding his wrist moving up to his face, her soft palm resting on his left cheek. Crona felt unable to hide his hurt from her, yet closed his eyes when the witch gently caressed his face. Slowly opening back his eyes, midnight dark again, he stared down at Eruka with attention. She smiled at him, the cute dots on the edges of her lips moving with the gesture.

"I'll go talk to her on your behalf, gecko, so stop sulking, okay?" The witch said with determination, her hand sliding down from his cheek to his chest, giving him a few pats. The swordsman couldnt help but drop a long frustrated sigh.

"O-okay..." He agreed, his left hand moving up to the one resting on his chest, giving her a soft squeeze with silent gratitude before Eruka broke all contact with him, following the scythe meister into the guest rooms.

Watching her go, the swordsman stood in the living room, feeling completely useless.

---

The sound of shifting chains echoed in that dark place.

What was that place anyway? It smell like humidity, enclosure, some kind of fungus... mold maybe, and wet wood. The sound of water falling in droplets against metal was another sound that prevailed in that place. Was it a cave? No, the walls were all surrounded by decaying wood. It looked more like a very old underground facility. Maybe an abandoned bunker, or a forgotten trench from the war times.

The figure of a tall dark skinned woman walked down one of the narrow corridors of that labyrinth, holding an oil lantern in her left hand. Her dark hair moved in soft waves with every step, adorned with a few owl feathers here and there. Her piercing yellow eyes glanced around the place, as the subtle light of the lantern illuminated her surroundings. As she turned left on one of the many corridors, the witch reached a small enclosure where the shifting of chains was more audible. In that room was a medium sized iron cage, barely tall enough for a large dog to stand on its paws. Laying in there, there was a young man coming and going from consciousness.

"You really need to stop fighting, my little bird" The soft voice of the owl witch resonated in the room. Her tone was calm and almost gentle, but her eyes remained cold as ice. "I cant keep you sedated forever"

The young man grunted in the floor, struggling to open his eyes. At the sound of her voice he groaned, his muscles twitching in an attempt of regaining some movement. He was too weak.

"Chemistry has never been my forte... but even I know to differentiate between red and black color..." The dark skinned witch kneeled in front of the cage, her golden eyes looking carefully at the man slowly opening his eyes, finally looking at her. "This black blood you have... how you active it?"

The man snarled at her, sharp teeth showing through his lips, ruby red eyes looking at her with a mixture between hate and fear. The witch sighed.

"This rebellious facade you're playing wont take us anywhere darling..." She said, smiling at him almost warmly. The gesture send a shiver down the man's spine, shuddering on the floor. "I've studied all the desires and fears of your soul... I know what scares you... and yet you refuse to give me what I want"

The witch got back up on her feet, cleaning what little dirt could have stained her white fox fur coat with the back of her hand.

"Soul Evans... I'm not joking when I tell you I can let you go, if you give me what I want" She insisted, delicate long fingers curling around one of the iron bars of that cage. She leaned closer. "The Black Blood is the bonding agent I need for my creatures... if you supply me with it, I wont need to experiment directly on you... dont you get it?"

Soul said nothing. His white hair was tangled and muddy, his clothes torn in several places, with traces of dried blood. Around his wrists, a rusted pair of shackles formed angry lacerations, the wounds looking swollen, maybe even infected. He frowned, his red eyes glaring at her with killing intent. Slowly, painfully, the weapon kneeled on the floor of his cage. It was big enough for him to kneel, but not to get on his feet.

"Where is Leon?" He growled, wincing slightly with the movement of his wrists against the shackles.

"Oh... he's doing just fine darling... adjusting to his changes" She said with a gentle reassuring tone of voice, that only managed to make the weapon's face lit red with anger.

"If you hurt him I swear I-"

"Oh, even now you still hold high the principles of your school? A weapon must protect their meister with their lives... isn't that right?" The witch repeated with amusement "His suffering will be immeasurable without the Black Blood... why dont you help him by numbing his mind? Keeping the secrets of your blood to yourself is quite selfish honey..."

"You keep laughing... but Shibusen will find you, my meister will make sure of it" Soul said with half a smile, his red eyes glaring at her.

"Oh... my dear caged bird... I'm counting on it" She snickered, releasing the cage and moving a few steps away from him. "The little rabbit will come... and I'm hoping he comes with her... Medusa's child"

That word slowly forced Soul's grin to vanish, leaving a dumbfound expression on his face.

"I didnt understand it at first, but your memories filled the missing pieces of the puzzle. It seems your mental strength is enough to keep the black blood dormant..." The witch pointed out, her index finger resting on her own chin in a thoughtful expression. Soul watched her from behind, trying to control the trembling of his body. "But he cant control it, can he? How could he? Being infected as just a baby..."

"He has more control of it than you think..."

"Using something is not control, dear... you should know that" She interrupted him, her golden eyes looking back at him. Soul stared back at her, his gaze steady and hardened with hate. "We'll find soon enough, my handsome little bird"

"When Maka comes, I'll be delighted by slicing you in half!" He roared, trembling with rage against his binds. The witch kept looking at him with mild interest.

"What makes you think you will still be human when she gets here?" She asked, tilting her head slightly. Her words managed to silence the weapon, who frowned at her, biting down his lip. "I've been thinking, little bird, what animal suits your soul... maybe a snow leopard, what you think?"

"You can try bitch... I wont fall without a fight!" He hissed, showing his sharp teeth to her with a snarl.

"To remove a soul from it's original body, its necessary to break the link between mind, body and soul... disease to the body, madness to the mind... and a spell for the soul" The witch grinned, looking down to her right hand before returning to Soul in quick sharp movements.

The weapon wasnt expecting such a sudden attack. He was too tired, hurt and sore to move freely, so the witch's hand grasped easily on his torn shirt, pulling him closer to her. From her hand, sparks of magic started to form, burning his skin. He yelped in pain, both of his hand moving up trying to take her off him, but he had no strength.

"I've seen your doubt and your fear... I've seen your jealousy, your hate and your pain..." The witch said in a clear tone of voice, despite her hard accent. Her words sound like the chanting of some ancient spell, her golden eyes staring straight at Soul's own ruby gaze. The weapon couldnt take his glare away from her. "Your soul is agonizing, what little you have in this world has been stolen from you... give in to me, let me take it all away..."

Soul said nothing, his red eyes still glaring at her, the grip of his hands against her wrist faltering slightly. The witch grinned, and with a firm thrust, shoved her claws inside Soul's body, piercing flesh and blood.

Soul screamed in agony, as his soul was being tore away from his body.

---

Maka had nothing but nightmares that night.

Her eyes were swollen and dark, her face looking slightly pale, and all around she was exhausted. After a few hours driving early in the morning, her mind was already too worn out to properly focus on the road. That had earned a few temporary loss of control on the vehicle, along with Eruka's angry yelling and constant worried glances of Crona. What else they could do? It was the fastest way to reach the area where Soul and Leon got missing, and until yesterday she had been the only one who knew how to drive... What where they supposed to do? Fly?

Crona proposed to carry the girls on his back and fly, in the morning before they departed, but Feador and Tsar strongly opposed to the idea. More than that, they forbid them to do so, telling them they would just make themselves notice to the witch. The Russian duo was suspecting the witch was using tamed animals as spies... and truthfully, it didn't sound that crazy to Maka. Before parting ways, Feador recommended them to stay low and try by all means to travel as quietly as possible. The scythe meister couldnt believe they didnt join them to their search, but if the witch really had spies in animal disguise, a big group of travelers would be quite troublesome.

The loud motor wasnt the best example for "as quiet as possible", but Maka wouldnt take the option of walking as viable. Although a lot more discreet and safe, it was much more slow. As the scythe meister sighed heavily, her body resting on the co-pilot seat, her emerald eyes kept her attention on the anxious swordsman that was clumsily steering the wheel of the pick-up truck, actually driving.

He also had a tired look on his eyes, but that was because he didnt sleep that night, taking a rushed class of driving from Feador. Crona had wanted to help her, in any way he could, and once an idea stuck into his mind, not even herself could take him out of it.

"Okay dont step too hard on the gas" Eruka pointed out, shivering slightly from the cold, her hands unrolling the map of the area so she could have a look at it. "Are you going at 60km per hour?"

"Uh..." Crona mumbled, his eyes darting quickly from the road to the board of the pick-up, and back again at the road. His naked hands holding the wheel were sweating. "Is that when the arrow points at the number 60, right?"

"Wow, you're truly a genius, moron!" Ragnarok scolded him, yet kept his large eyes on the road, helping his meister. "How funny would it be to crash on a moose, uh?"

"T-there are no moose in Russia! T-thats Canada"

"Actually there IS moose in Russia, Free once told me he hunted one" Eruka pointed out, her eyes navigating through the map, her fingers moving on the paper with a compass and a small ruler at hand.

"Pfff! Not a good source if you ask me! Knowing that dog, he probably confused Russia with Antartica" Ragnarok mocked with a grin.

"Ah come on, Free is not that dumb"

"Uh... really?" Crona tilted his head, dark eyes glancing at the frog witch. She gasped.

"Oh my god! Above all people Crona! I wasn't expecting that comment from you!"

"Eruka, he cut himself in half by teleporting his legs to another country" The swordsman reminded her with a deadpan expression, his eyes focused on the road while his hands gripped tightly on the wheel. Ragnarok roared in laugher at the memory.

"Now youre not being fair, he was recently out of jail that time!" The witch kept on playfully arguing with him, earning a quick glance from the scythe meister at their side. Maka stared at them for a minute, her eyebrows slowly frowning.

"How about the time he froze his own tongue trying to cool a beer with it?" Ragnarok pointed out with an amused grin. Crona's lips twitched slightly.

"Crona are you smiling!?"

"N-No..." He blushed, glancing at the frog witch nervously.

"You are! How very rude of you! He was on rehab with his powers!" Eruka teased him, poking at his left side with her finger. He yelped in surprise.

"W-well s-sorry! But he do was a little... you know..."

"Stuuuupid" Ragnarok screeched, amused, just to notice Eruka's scolding glance at him. "What!? He is!"

"May I remind you the time you ate wax fruit from a stand?"

"O-Oh dear..." Crona winced, too focused on the road to look at his partner. Nonetheless, he felt him shifting his stance on his back.

"That is completely different! They are made to deceive you! I was a victim of a madman making decorations that look like food!" Ragnarok ranted, making the frog witch cover her mouth in amusement, giggling. "What's next!? Detergent packed in candy-like bags!? And they say we are crazy!"

"B-But we are crazy" Crona pointed out with an innocent tone of voice, only to receive a strike on the head from his weapon partner.

"Not helping me out here!"

"Ey! Don't hit the driver!" Eruka scolded the demon, yet remained with a soft smile on her lips. "He's bad enough without you distracting him"

"A-Alright now t-that is workplace harassment!" Crona stuttered slightly, pouting at the witch that grinned back teasingly. "R-Ragnarok write t-this down, may I inform Lord D-Death that today-"

"STOP!" Maka's sudden yell scared Crona out of his skin, forcing him to stomp on the brakes harshly. Eruka felt herself jumping off her seat, only to be stopped by the swordsman arm who instinctively moved to hold her in place. Both witches looked at Maka with pale faces filled with confusion.

"You stupid mad cow! Dont do that!" Ragnarok roared in anger, only to be ignored by the blonde meister.

"Drive there!" Maka pointed out to the right of the road, right through Crona's window. Far away, a small cabin was barely visible.

Crona looked through the window on his side, squinting his eyes to have a better look at the small house. With a deep sigh, trying to vent out the anxiety rising back on his body, he glanced down to the gear lever before moving it at the right place. For someone who was trained from childhood to follow orders, doing exactly what Feador taught him for basic driving turned out to be quite useful. At least they hadnt crashed so far.

The snow proved to be thicker, the pick-up truck moving slower and more clumsily, but going further. As they drove closer to the cabin that caught Maka's interest, Eruka started to feel slightly disturbed. The frog witch frowned, glancing at the swordsman just to see if he was feeling the same. He had a serious look on his face, his hands gripping tightly on the steering wheel.

As soon as the truck got close enough, Maka opened the co-pilot door and jumped out. The snow was thick, reaching up to half of her calves, so she moved through it with effort, determined to get inside that wooden cottage abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Crona got out of the truck, helping Eruka to step out before rushing to meet the scythe meister.

"Jesus Christ, its freezing" Eruka shivered, feeling the biting cold through her leather boots. She clasped her hands together, close to her mouth, trying to increase the heat of her warming spell.

"No shit Sherlock" Ragnarok growled, shivering slightly before deciding he had no reason to stand such weather. Without another word, he returned inside his meister, who was oblivious to the cold in the air.

"M-Maka?" Crona asked, following the scythe meister who relentlessly walked through the thick snow, reaching up the wooden door, trying to get it open.

"This place... is just like the cabin we found the last time" She said with urgency, her hands trying to force the door open, to no avail. Growling in annoyance, she raised her right foot, stomping on the door knob trying to break it. After a few hard strikes, the door gave in with a cracking.

"W-We dont know if someone l-lives here" The swordsman warned her, holding into his own arm, slightly anxious. The place looked fairly abandoned, but it was rude to go inside unknown houses anyway. His words fell on deaf ears, however, as the blonde meister went inside the cabin in a rush.

The place was abandoned, and the inside looked empty except for a few worn out furnitures. What seemed to be the living room, had nothing but a decaying sofa, and the kitchen lacked everything but an old coal stove, rusted and broken. There was an odd scent in the air, between moldy and wet, but there was a subtle hidden smell that forced a frown on Maka's face. It had a faint smell of manure... like a zoo.

"Its just like the other time... no vehicles, no signs of anyone living here..." Maka musited, walking around the empty living room, emerald eyes darting back a forth between every corner and crevice.

Crona stepped in warily, squinting his nose before rubbing it in discomfort. Eruka followed him close, frowning while sniffing the air, her face turning serious, onyx eyes looking around with suspicion. As she closed the door behind them, Eruka tried to shook of the cold on her body, rubbing her arms.

"What made you come here Albarn?" The witch asked, shivering slightly, looking at the female meister who was inspecting the kitchen.

Maka didnt answer the question, but glanced at the witch before looking at Crona, who seemed to understand her silent request. As the scythe meister kept looking around with the focus of a relentless detective, Crona moved to the other side of the large living room, staring down at a large wall with decorated worn out paper.

"On Maka's last mission... t-they found the Owl Witch in a cabin like t-this..." He remembered, his doubtful hand moving towards the wall, lingering in the air, unsure of touching it. "But it was an illusion... an abandoned cabin used to hide a secret passage..."

"An illusion?..." Eruka asked with a frown, her arms around herself to fight off the cold.

"She made the cabin look like a normal house, but as I went inside, she made the place look different... as if I were in a completely different place" Maka explained, frustration reaching to her voice as she huffed in annoyance. "Soul and I got separated because of it, we couldnt see or hear each other"

"There's something odd here..." Crona whispered, his dark eyes looking fearful, as his hand warily rested on the large wall in front of him. "I d-dont know... but it feels odd..."

"Illusions aren't real... even the strongest mirage can be destroyed by a Soul Resonance, thats why Illusion witches are so weak" Eruka stated, onyx eyes glancing at the swordsman, who kept his eyes fixed in the wall next to them. "What's wrong?"

"T-this reminds me of..." He gasped, his eyes turning icy blue, shaking slightly. His shoulders trembled as he forced himself to stay put, his hand quivering against the wall.

Maka frowned, walking towards the swordsman until her hands rested on his shoulders, feeling him shaking. Silently, the blonde meister caressed his back in up and down movements, trying to soothe him, worried emerald eyes fixed on him. His breath hitched, mad eyes glancing at her for a second before slowly returning to normal, shaking slightly.

"Medusa's Lair?" Eruka ended his sentence, onyx eyes staring down at that wall. Indeed, it looked slightly different from the rest of the house. For starters, it was decorated with a paper wall that, although worn out, looked as recently fixed. Mimicking Crona's movements, Eruka raised her hand and placed her palm on that wall, closing her eyes for a couple seconds. "... there's traces of magic here"

"What does that mean?" The scythe meister questioned, her hands still resting on the swordsman's back, feeling his breathing slowing down.

"It means magic has been used in this place" The frog witch stated the obvious, taking her hand off the wall just to rest her palms on her own hips, thoughtful. "How did you notice the cabin of your last mission was different?"

"When I opened the bedroom, instead of a bed there was an underground passage, like a basement"

"S-Soul said that when he went inside, instead of a decorated house, he found an abandoned cabin" Crona added, finally taking his hand off the wall, rubbing his palms with discomfort. Turning back at Maka, he took a hold of one of her hands, silently rubbing her palm with his thumb, dark eyes staring down at her before something caught his eye. Looking around, he noticed. "... why is t-this the only decorated wall?"

"Uh... true" Eruka hummed with interest, looking around the room, just to confirm that no other side of it had decorative paper wall.

Suddenly, Maka released herself from Crona's grasp, hands shoving on the worn-out paper wall and scratching on it with her fingernails. Under both witches questioning eyes, the scythe meister relentlessly searched for a weak spot, managing to claw at the paper before tearing it off the wall. Underneath, the image of black lines greeted her like a bad omen.

"Help me take this off" Maka growled with feverish excitement, fingernails clawing at the worn-out paper, tearing off large chunks of it. Crona joined right away, searching for little tears in the wall he could peel off, while Eruka stared down at them with a frown.

They didnt need to remove all of the paper wall, when Eruka figured out what those lines were, and what they meant. Her dark eyes were fixed on the circle that was slowly taking form with every chunk of paper removed, decorated with hand-made ancient symbols, drawn in black ink. Soon enough, she told both meisters to stop, as her hands grabbed them by their shoulders, forcing them to step back and take a look on what she was seeing.

Half covered, but completely visible now, an unknown painting was visible. Doubtfully, Eruka stepped in front of the wall, her hands resting on it before sliding through the dark lines and symbols. It was a circle with a pentagram inside, and decorated with what seemed to be a strange language.

"An ancient rune" Maka whispered, reaching close to that symbol, standing next to Eruka.

"You know about these?" The frog witch questioned, arching her eyebrows with interest.

"I read about them in Shibusen's library... but they're supposed to be a dead magic"

"W-What is this?" Crona asked, looking down at both girls who seems to know what they were seeing.

"An ancient rune, a very old way of summoning magic" The scythe meister explained, stepping back a couple feet so she could have a better look at the wall.

"Runes are a way of summoning any kind of magic, from a wildfire, to a tsunami, or a blizzard, sometimes you can even use it to make a forcefield or even make you disappear for a while... as long as you know how to draw it." Eruka explained to him, her fingertips tracing down the dark lines on the wall.

"A-And... what kind of rune is this?" The swordsman questioned, his scared eyes glancing at the picture with suspicion. "Why is it here? In the middle of nowhere?"

"This kind of magic was discarded a long time ago, we rarely see runes even inside Maaba's Castle... I dont know how to read these"

"She was here" Maka said with certainty in her voice, clenching her fists with restrained anger. "Is just like last time... this one is not working, but I'm sure she was here"

Without a word, Eruka took out of her jacket the map she had been using during their travel. Kneeling on the floor, she spread the large map and carefully traced the location of that cabin with a cross. Her onyx eyes traveled through the many marks on the map, all save points Soul and Leon used to contact Shibusen before going missing.

"Maka, where was the cabin you both found?" The witch asked, calling the attention of the scythe meister who walked towards her, looking down at the map before pointing a cross far away from their current location. Without another word, Eruka took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "... Calculation Spell"

'W-We shouldn't stay here" Crona musited, wary eyes staring at Eruka concentrated on her spell before looking around the cabin, feeling on edge. It was not about his usual cowardice, but finding that place only meant they were on the witch's domain. They had to be cautious.

"She's using different cabins... does she travel through them? That could make her easy to spot... It would be too easy to ambush her in one of them" Maka bit down her nail, trying to solve the puzzle in front of her. "Feador said he's been chasing after her for a long time... if these places are so easy to find, why he hasn't found her?"

"... y-you said you found her underground, right?" Crona said, walking next to Maka, dark eyes looking down at her with worry. "Why would she need these places if her lair is underground?"

"The cabin is just a decoy, like a portal to..." She caught her own words, emerald eyes opening wide, looking back at Crona who seemed to catch her train of thought. "... its a portal"

"She's teleporting" The swordsman said, his eyes following Maka's own excitement, looking at each other with renewed hope. "T-The rune... i-its probably a teleporting spell, s-so she can travel anywhere she wants without being spotted"

"And the illusion spell is to keep her portals safe, so no one can find the entrance to her lair" Maka followed his logic, determined emerald eyes looking up to Crona, slowly feeling hopeful again. Her hands moved up to his coat, taking a hold on him. "If we can make the portal work, we'll find her... we'll find Soul"

"Wrong" Eruka said, opening her eyes, dropping a long tired sigh as she returned from her small trance. Shaking her head slightly, the frog witch marked the map with a few dots spread all through its surface. She looked tired, her lips curled in a small pout. "Soul talked on his reports about 6 cabins just like this one, aside from this and the one you both found... these cabins are spread aproximately 100km around each other. The Siberian plateau is 3.5 million square kilometers, thats two thousand wide and two thousand in lenght... you really want to know how many portals there are? If we dont know exactly what portal is working and where it leads to, we can end ourselves lost or worse..."

Maka bit down her lower lip. Crona could tell she wanted to argue Eruka's reasoning, she wanted to force her idea to work, because he knew... that portal was the closest they were to find Soul. Yet again... Eruka's calculation was flawless, and the scythe meister knew it. Her silence was everything the witch needed, as she quietly rolled the map again, saving it inside her jacket.

"We need to stick to the plan, follow Soul's steps, any attempt to take a shortcut could make us lose his tracks"

"... if these are really portals, following him is pointless..." Maka whispered, emerald eyes looking down to the decaying wooden floor, releasing the swordsman coat. "He could be anywhere..."

"Not quite" Eruka sighed, raising her hand for someone to help her to stand. Crona reacted right away, taking her hand and pulling her back on her feet. She shook the dust out of her skirt, shivering with the subtle cold that slithered through the closed door of the cabin. "Its impossible to keep a full web of inter-connected portals, you need to link a few of them and build a net around it"

"Uh... l-like the subway?" Crona asked, tilting his head slightly. Eruka glanced at him with surprise, arching her eyebrow in amusement. The swordsman blushed slightly. "Y-you know... a subway has different stations and different stops... a-and if you take the w-wrong one you can get lost"

"Exactly... thats why we need to reach Soul's last resting place" The witch said, patting Crona's shoulder. "I bet we'll find a cabin nearby, and then..."

"We'll find Soul" The swordsman ended her sentence, feeling the pinch of hope returning to him. It was doable, they could actually find him...

"Lets go" Maka sudden commanding voice made both witches raise their heads, staring at her. The meister wasted no time, walking towards the cabin entrance and opening the door.

The air was colder than before, a mildly strong wind moving the leaves and branches of the large pines around them. Maka glanced to the sky, that slowly started to turn grey, dark storm clouds covering the light of the sun. With a frown on her face, the blonde teacher walked back to the old pick-up truck, sitting on the driver's seat and turning on the machine with a loud engine roar. Crona stared at her with apprehension, truly worried about her. As both witches stepped out of the cabin, Eruka's fingers dug on his arm, stopping him.

"I-Its freezing out here!" The witch complained, shivering like a wet cat in the snow. The swordsman sighed.

"W-We told you to get winter clothes" Crona gently scolded her, looking down to her short polka-dot skirt and the leggings that struggled to keep her warm even with her warming spell.

"Y-yeah t-thanks for reminding me that! So helpful!" She shivered, walking towards the truck with the help of the sword meister. The thick snow hugged her thin legs like icy jaws, biting down her lower lip to avoid her teeth from chattering.

Once they climbed the pick-up truck, taking their seats, Maka wasted no time in moving the vehicle, the clacking sound of chains around the tires announcing their departure from that place. If they hurried, they might be able to leave those stormclouds behind them.

Soon enough the trio noticed that, for some strange reason, those stormclouds seemed to be following them.

And they were getting closer.

---

AkireRosales: 1 month delay... I'm so sorry about that.

The same thing about Chapter 19 happened again... this chapter was enormous. I decided to split it in half, so here's part one!

In other news, I decided to open up Commissions for fanfic requests and fanart. If youre interested in making a request, or just want to check out my other work (including fanart about this story and constant updates on how the next chapter is going) please visit my profile for more info!

Its SoulEatober! I will be updating SE related fanart and little quick stories on my tumblr! Follow me my dudes!

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