Maka knew something was wrong the moment she stepped out of the office.

She had gotten off the phone will Soul an hour ago. Her flight was at six but she wanted to get back to her hotel and be ready to leave the moment it was time to go. Her meetings had all finished and she was good to go, but something felt off the moment she started to leave.

She was missing something. It was like there were souls here… Souls that were not here before and were not meant to be. Or simply soul's that couldn't have gotten here so quickly. No, that didn't make any sense. Maybe she was just feeling a little off since she missed Soul and the kids so much.

Maka shrugged but kept her guard up as she made her way to the elevator. It was empty when she stepped in and pressed the down button, excitement finally starting to flutter in her stomach. It had only been a couple of days but Maka never knew she could miss people so much. She leant back on the wall of the elevator as the doors closed and it began to descend.

That's when Maka felt it.

Witches.

About eight of them released their Soul Protect at exactly the right time, which was extremely disorientating. Maka tried desperately to get her wits about her but the moment she did, there was a long, almost inaudible high pitched frequency that got louder and louder before she heard a terrible, ear splitting bang.

The whole elevator shook. So hard that Maka feared the chords holding it in place might snap. She threw out her arms out to press on either side of the walls and hold herself up. Finally, the shaking and noise ceased and all she could hear was the whimpering and groaning of people around the building. That told her all she needed to know.

A bomb.

Maka pressed a hand to her mouth and crouched to the floor. The amount of souls in the building had gone down so much she couldn't help but release a tiny sob. All those people… What terrified her more is those who somehow survived the blast were being picked off one by one by the witches souls she'd felt.

Maka's eyes narrowed into slits and she stood straight and slowly. She couldn't give herself away now. She closed her eyes and zeroed in on the witches souls. Unsurprisingly, they were weak. That must have been why they used bombs, the only way they could have any hope of killing meister's and weapons was to weaken them first.

"Absolute cowards," Maka muttered, her voice barley audible. She shook her head and concentrated. It wouldn't be hard to get past them, the only issue was her retreating could result in them getting away.

Maka knew better than to use her phone right now. The witches were weak in soul but they would probably know if someone was trying to contact someone on the outside using a phone. Maka pulled a clutch mirror from her bag and clicked it open.

"42-42…" Maka mouthed the numbers as she drew them on the glass, only to fight a growl when nothing happened.

"So, they're not that stupid…" She muttered and quietly snapped the mirror shut and put it back. They had found a way to evade Death himself. She looked up to the flickering light on the ceiling and smiled when she saw a small hatch.

She jumped up with ease and pushed the hatch open with little difficultly. When she finally pulled herself up, she stood on top of the elevator and located the ladder to take her back to the upper floor.

"Alright," She murmured and secured the strap of her bag. She climbed as quickly and quietly as she could. The only problem was prying open one of the elevator doors without being heard.

"Is that everyone?" She heard a voice ask. The voice was kind but stern, making Maka frown in annoyance. Just like Medusa's was.

"Yes. A handful escaped but it's fine. They won't be getting far."

"Borders are sealed?"

"Of course."

"What are we going to do about the dead and their souls?" A new voice asked. This one sounded younger.

"Nothing. Leave them."

Maka felt a flood of anger as rage started to boil in her stomach. Such disregard for human lives…

"Fine. The mirrors are cut off and so is the signal. Make sure all the locals know that if any of Death's people get into Oceania they will regret it. They saw what we could do with just one bomb."

There was no response but Maka heard feet scurrying away. She bit her lip in attempt to remain quiet. Getting out of here was going to take much longer than she thought…


Maka was right about that. She had to wait all day and night before the witches finally vacated the building in pursue of those who escaped. By that time, Maka was weak with hunger, thirst and lack of sleep. It took ages to finally pry the doors open without any tools and drag herself from the elevator shaft.

She didn't have time to search for food but she did find some water. It made Maka sick walking past all of the disregarded bodies of her colleagues but there was nothing she could do for them now, only hope Kid was doing everything he could to try and get in and give them the burial and respect they deserve.

Maka didn't realise that the hardest task would be exiting Oceania. The locals were all terrified, so much so that when any of them tried to leave, they all turned on each other. The witches were unskilled. The only thing they succeeded in was killing the innocents, turning the locals on each other and securing the borders and stopping any contact with the outside.

It sounded like a lot, but there's not much they could do after that. Maka could sense the wariness in their souls, which she kept an eye on as much as she could to stay out of their reach. They didn't know where to go from here. They did what they wanted to do, they blew up one of Death's bases, but what were they to do now?

Nearly five days had past when Maka finally found her opening. Kid had sent countless troops to invade Oceania and fight the witches, and one finally got through. Maka wanted so desperately to join the fight but she was so tired. She found food every now and then but evading the witches watch was so taxing on her body. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't find shelter with the locals because they were so frightened…

Maka didn't even bother going to her hotel to collect her things when the witches were finished off. She made her way from the shadows and collapsed, knowing that one of Death's men would recognise her and send her home.


Eventually, Maka woke up and looked around to find herself on a plane. A solider she didn't recognise and his weapon sat before her, worry etched on their faces.

"Scythe Meister Maka Albarn?" The meister, Maka assumed, asked. They looked quite young. Only around seventeen or eighteen. The meister was a large brown haired male and his weapon was a petite girl. Maka couldn't sense what kind of weapon she was but she did sense potential.

"Yes," She responded, her voice cracking. "We're on a plane?"

"Yes," The man responded. "You were in pretty rough shape when we found you. We had to take you to a hospital first."

"What?" Maka asked, sitting up straighter.

"Yeah, you were extremely dehydrated and exhausted. We couldn't find any injuries but – "

"I stayed out of sight," she said quietly. "The witches were watching all of the hotels and homes in case any of the escaped tried to find shelter."

The man nodded, her face still worried but holding respect.

"I understand. I'm sure you're anxious to be home but we couldn't take you without getting you medical attention."

Maka nodded in understanding, smiling lightly at the man.

"I know. You did the right thing."

The man and his weapon smiled in pleasure.

"How long has it been since I was found?"

"Two days."

Maka clicked her tongue, her brows scrunching up anxiously.

"Is something wrong, Miss Albarn?"

"No – It's just… My kids and my boyfriend expected me home a week ago... How aware of the situation was Death?"

"Quite. The witches did a good job at keeping everyone in the dark. The spell they cast keeping contact to a minimum was strong, so we could only contact him once we got quite far from Oceania."

"Did you tell him about me?"

"No, Miss. He sounded really worried so we didn't want to add to it."

"You probably already have…"

"I'm sorry?"

"Death and I trained together. He's my friend. I'm worried he may think I'm dead."

"Oh," the pair sat back a little in their seats, anxiety clear on their faces.

"It's not your fault," she told them. "You didn't know. You told him everything he needed to know at the time and that's good."

They nodded again but their faces still expressed their guilt. Maka turned her head away to face the window. She'd be home soon. The moment Soul and her kids were with her everything would be fine.


Maka only realised that she probably shouldn't have hurried from the airport and gotten straight into a cab was a bad idea when it was too late. She fell asleep after eating on the plane, irritated that she still couldn't contact Soul. When she awoke the plane was landing and she didn't hesitate to run off of it at top speed and jump into a cab without ringing Soul.

"It's okay," she told herself. "Home is only fifteen minutes away. Fifteen minutes."

It felt more like hours but the cab finally pulled up at her home and she nearly forgot the pay the man before jumping out and slamming the door.

Maka was nearly sprinting to her door when she got out the of the elevator. Oddly, she found herself hesitating when she reached for the handle, a noise making her whole body freeze.

It was Soul.

He didn't sense her, she realised. It was only when she read his soul that she found out why.

He was grieving.

Maka's heart felt like it was shattering when she felt the pain in her soulmate's soul. It was like it was smashed into fragments of agony. The devastation was nearly too much for her to handle. The pain sent strength to her limbs and she grabbed the handle to push the door open.

It took a split second to take in the scene before her. Soul had his back to her as he sat on the couch. He had buried his face in his hands while Blackstar stood behind him, holding his shoulder and trying to fight tears himself while Tsubaki stood to the side and cried openly. Kid stood a little away, his mask and cloak gone so the pain and guilt on his face was clear.

Maka's face crumpled in guilt as she put her bag on the floor beside her feet before trying to grab their attention.

"Soul?"

Everyone in the room froze except from Soul, who pulled his face from his hands to snap his head towards her. His crimson eyes were wide with shock as he stood to make his way around the couch to face her.

"Maka?"