I do not own Soul Eater or Owl House.

If I did I might have a better idea of where this is all going.

"You can open your eyes now, human."

The Witch's voice was a mix of a soothing reassurance and a mocking sing-song as Luz leaned back against her, eyes screwed shut and teeth bared as she tried to keep the tears down, the screams locked in her chest but threatening to break loose at the slightest break she took to breathe. The wind whipped at her face and hair, there was nothing under her feet, and the only thing she had to cling to was the wooden staff beneath her.

Despite this, she obeyed with a weak, wordless noise akin to a gurgle… and in a classic moment of foolishness, her first impulse was to look down.

The orange-dyed plains and forests hundreds of feet below shot past in the blink of an eye, with such speed that her eyes could only barely pick out individual trees before they were carried away a fraction of a second later.

She couldn't hold back the next startled yell that escaped her, losing her grip on the staff briefly and slipping off to the side, wrapping her arms and legs tightly around it to keep herself from falling, hanging upside down from the burnished wood.

"W-We're flying," she managed, dumbfounded, "We're actually flying…"

"First time, huh?" Eda grinned, reaching down and gripping Luz by the hood and pulling her back up, "Make sure you grip the staff with both your legs and your hands. That way you won't slip, fall and crack your head open."

Again, the Latina obeyed, redoubling her chokehold on the staff as the owl at the tip flapped its wings once more, eyes glowing a brilliant gold; in turn, their speed decreased, the wind no longer so harsh on her eyes and ears, and allowing her to clearly take in the world before her.

"… whoa…"

The entire landscape was dyed with the colours of the sunset. The land and trees below were a myriad of oranges, ranging anywhere from pale, barren, trodden down sand and dust to grass the colour of peaches and trees that were almost red. Mountains of solid bone arched towards the sky in the distance, much the same as the ones in the city from before, gouging into the cloud-line by the dozens, each and every single one of the individual curved, rib-like spikes stretching high above the Witch and the human without any real effort. In the distance, the same fuchsia sea and purple sky stretched out without end, broken only by the golden clouds and the faint silhouettes of islands in the distance, the white light of the sun glinting off the waves and making the Latina wince, raising a hand to shield her eyes.

"… I'm guessing I'm not in Kansas anymore," she murmured, "What is this place?"

"Cute," Eda snickered, "This is the Boiling Isles, a part of the Demonic Realms that exist beyond the Human World," she gestured as a dark shadow rose from the trees below, "Every myth that you humans have is the result of a little bit of our worlds bleeding into yours, despite the best efforts of the Grim Reaper."

As if to accentuate the Witch's point, an absolutely massive winged beast erupted from the forest, screeching as it flew past them with only a couple of powerful wing-beats; grey feathers and a pigeon-like head and talons accompanied the lower body of a lion, the creature seeming completely disinterested in the pair as it drifted past, larger than Luz had ever dared to dream in the many hours she had spent reading about the last ones seen in her own world.

"A griffon," she breathed, her lips stretching into a smile.

It shuddered, seeming to briefly hack before unleashing a veritable deluge of spiders from its maw upon the world below; each one had to be bigger than one of the Latina's hands, judging from the distance, but she could not be brought to care for even an instant as her eyes shone, a hand shooting up to point at the creature as she practically bounced where she was sitting, "It even has spider breath!"

"Never seen one before?"

"Only in pictures," Luz watched as it beat its wings again, flying further and further away until it disappeared into the distance, "Never in real life. They're almost totally gone in my world."

"Well, you'll find them in abundance here," Eda assured as they finally began to descend, "And they're not the only ones who cross over every now and again," she raised a hand, extending a finger with each word, "Vampires, werewolves, leprechauns… good luck finding any of that last one, though, even in Ireland. Buuuut if you do, be sure to cut 'em open, Lucky Charms'll spill everywhere."

"Seriously?" Luz gawked.

"Ha! No," Eda shook her head, "Oh, and giraffes."

"Giraffes!?"

"Oh, yeah. We banished those guys," they finally came to a stop in a small clearing, Eda stepping off the staff with a hand on her hip, "Buncha' freaks."

Luz moved to get off, struggling to catch the ground with her legs, which weren't nearly as long as Eda's. A sudden tapping noise rang out behind, her and she craned her neck-

-to see Eda's hand, detached from its owner, tapping its fingers against the wood, all the bones of her wrist joint exposed for the world to see.

The Latina gasped, slipped, and unceremoniously crashed to the ground for the second time that morning.

"Oops," Eda picked up the escaped appendage by the wrist with an annoyed frown, not even hesitating before bringing it up to her arm and physically reattaching it – spinning it against the muscle and bone as if she were just turning in a missing bolt or handle, flicking it to test the range of motion, "That happens sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Luz couldn't help but stare at the formerly missing hand; there wasn't even a break in the skin anymore.

"Just something that happens as you get older, don't worry about it," the Witch waved her off, picking up her staff; the owl's wings folded, and the golden glow of its eyes faded.

"… I have so many questions," Luz murmured, "Tantas preguntas. Ni siquiera sabes cuántos."

"Creo que puedo adivinar," Eda clenched her fist again, and the tent-turned-sack rose off the ground with a golden glow, "And I'll be happy to answer all of them, and get you home…"

"Really?!" Luz grinned, opening her mouth to fire off her first question-

Only for Eda's staff to appear right in front of her, faster than lightning, stopping just short of her nose; the Latina could practically smell the aged wood.

"… only if you help me first!" she cackled, a harsh, echoing sound accompanied by heavy snorts of breath as she turned around, raising a hand, beckoning the bag to float after her, "Now, come along, human."

Luz quickly fell into step behind the Witch, "It still blows my mind that you know Spanish."

"And why's that?" the Owl Lady glanced back over her shoulder, "You know that Witches exist, and that they live among you every now and again. Why's it strange that I'd know a human language or six?"

"… well, it's just that you didn't know what batteries are, or how the mini-television worked, or…" the girl shrugged, "It's just strange that you speak perfect Spanish, but don't know the difference between candy and deodorant."

"Pff. Like the average Snow knows a human foot from a shoe," Eda turned her eyes forwards, holding up the croc for emphasis before tucking it back into the bag, "I wasn't all that sure that you weren't faking until you figured out that little shadow-box."

"Still strange," Luz insisted, "Those are pretty decently old now. Think they came out… I wanna say over twenty years ago?... might've even been thirty, actually."

"Oh, lay off," Eda huffed, "It's been a while since I was in the human world. I'm not up to date on all your little toys."

Luz arched an eyebrow, but before she could ask, they broke free of the forest; the clearing stood alongside the sea, the magenta waves gently lapping at the rocks of the cliffside below.

The structure itself was some strange combination of house and castle; their construction was wildly different, the stones that made up the base of the house cut and stacked in an entirely separate manner from the stones that made up the castle walls and tower, the weather and moss upon the latter seeming to suggest that they were far older, as if the house had been built around and into the ruins of a crumbling, long forgotten fortress.

Further entrenching this idea in Luz's mind was the fact that the tower itself was cracked, lacking any sort of roof that Luz could see from her low angle, the top seeming to have been broken off entirely somehow, while the house, though undoubtedly old, was in remarkably good condition, the white stucco of the walls only slightly cracked with only some variance in tone, and not a single shingle missing from the blue roof. No smoke rose from the chimney, and a beautiful stained glass window fashioned into an eye with a cat-like pupil stared down with its multi-coloured gold and purple panes.

The only thing about this place that seemed crooked was the golden owl weathervane that poked out of the top.

The Latina's eyes were wide with fascination as she followed Eda to the door, though she did glance back over her shoulder, "Seems a little high profile… aren't you worried about people like that guard following you out here?"

"Nope!" again, that sing-song tone, "Even if someone were to follow me out here – which they couldn't, I'm the best and fastest flyer on the Isles – I've got a state of the art security system."

"Hoot hoot!" a high pitched voice rang out from the door, making Luz blink and take a step back, "Password please!"

Eda proceeded to jam her fingers into the eyes of the ornament on the door – a simplistic, circular owl carving with polished brown stones for eyes. The voice cried out as if in pain, and again, Luz was left wondering where it was coming from.

"We don't have time for this, Hooty," Eda stated, eyes half lidded, staring at the ornament, "Let us in."

"Alright, alright, jeez!" finally, Luz noticed it – the movement of the ornament's beak, the sudden frown formed by its 'brows' as it spoke, "You never wanna have any fun! Ow. Hoot!"

With that, the door clicked, and swung open, Eda stepping in without missing a beat. Luz only paused for a second before following suit.

"Heeeeey, who's the new kid?" the ornament – Hooty – asked, his – its? – head turning in place, "Do we have a new housemate? Where's she from? Is she gonna be staying with us for a while-?"

Before the door could ask any more questions, Eda spun, grabbed it, and slammed it shut with far more force than was probably required, Hooty letting out a muffled "OW!" as the room fell into darkness, the girl only barely able to see the world around her in the sunlight that filtered through the windows.

"… sorry about that, kid," the Witch sighed, finally dropping the bag, "Hooty gets excited when people visit."

"N-No worries!" Luz stammered, "Talking doors! We have those!... except usually they can't think for themselves or ask questions like that!"

"I'll take your word for it. At any rate, welcome to," again, that grandiose tone as Eda raised a hand, and snapped her fingers, "The Owl House!"

All at once, light flooded into the room as candles were lit throughout the room, kindled by yet more of Eda's golden Magic; on side tables, on cabinets, on candelabras and across the entirety of the crossbeams as the fireplace roared to life, the blaze casting a brilliant golden-orange glow into the room alongside a pleasant warmth, a warmth that banished a chill from Luz's bones that she didn't even realize she had. A broom and cauldron leaped into action, the former sweeping up a storm, the latter already filled with warm water.

Overhead, the light worked its way through the pattern on the ceiling, the seemingly random etchings quickly forming into yet another stylized owl, though this one was different from the ones that came before; those were simple, with folded wings and a smooth head. This had its wings outstretched, with its talons, tailfeathers and horns on full display, stretching nearly from one wall to the other and seeming to be less a carving or etching and more of a constellation. A long, thin crown stretched over its head, and Luz had a hard time trying to tell if the light in the center of its head was a beak or a singular eye.

"Where I hide away from the pressures of modern life," Eda glanced about, her voice fond as she spoke, "… also the cops, heh… also, ex boyfriends, ha!"

Slowly, Luz took a step, then another, taking in every detail, "… this place is amazing…"

Dark hardwood stretched up the walls, stopping at waist height and being replaced with a dull-grey plaster or more of that weathered, dark stone, and what few windows had been set into the walls were made of the same stained glass as the one Luz had seen outside, the panes jagged and irregular. The fireplace was shaped to resemble a gigantic maw, stone fangs arching up from the floor and down from the mantelpiece, and above it stood a gigantic, cracked mirror with an ornately carved frame to resemble that familiar bird of prey, with claws in the bottom that dug into the cracked marble. Velvet curtains of a deep burgundy flowed like red wine from the ceiling, edged with golden tassels and tied off in the corners to keep them from covering the walls entirely.

A slightly worn, red couch sat off to the side, ornately carved so that the arch of the back resembled the wings of a bat, the feet carved into claws that dug into the Persian rug that stretched out over the floorboards, one of the cushions damaged and exposing the stuffing. A knee-high coffee table sat in front of it, and side-tables and wall-shelves were scattered throughout the room, holding anything from a half open chest Luz could have sworn was an actual Mimic to a stone bust beside an empty blender, from lopsided picture frames of people and places Luz didn't recognize to an ordinary lamp with no plugin for its cord.

And above the couch itself was a collection of objects as strangely varied as the tent from before, all proudly on display on the wall as if they were trophies; a large, heavy axe hung alongside the skull of what Luz assumed was a bull, both sitting beneath an old, dusty boom box. A sword with a steel blade and a grip and guard of bone was set beneath a severed hand with an eye in the center of its palm… both just to the right of another one of those foam "Number 1" hands, and an umbrella. Small picture frames dotted the entirety of the wall, all of them lopsided and some partially hidden behind the couch…

But the centerpiece of the display was the same parchment that the guard from before had held.

An exaggerated picture of Eda from the side, her mouth thrown open wide in a cackle and her bright golden eye fixated on whoever dared to stare into the image. In one hand, she held a flame, and in the other, her staff, eyes glowing gold and orange wings stretching out before a relief of the sun. In the bottom left corner stood a strange, black imp-like creature, with a skull for a head and a single eye with a cat-like pupil. The entire image was encased in a simple, but beautifully carved wooden frame, the glass that separated it from the rest of the room catching the light.

WANTED.

OWL LADY.

REWARD.

"… million… billion… trillion…?" disbelief was rife in the girl's tone as she counted up the zeros – twelve in total, "You're wanted for a trillion dollars!?"

"Snails, actually," there was a note of genuinely smug pride in Eda's voice as she stepped over, "But yes. I've gathered quite a price on my head over the years. And not just here, either."

The human whistled, "I don't know how much that would be in my world, but that sounds like a lot of money…"

"Oh, you have no idea."

"… it really is beautiful, though," Luz once again glanced about, constantly finding new objects to feast her eyes on, "You live here all by yourself?"

"No," she inspected her nails, "I've got a couple of housemates. You've already met Hooty, and the other-"

There was the sound of splashing, followed by several small, padding footsteps; a distant door opened before there was a creak of wood, slight, but audible, as if a small child were stomping on the floorboards as hard as they could. With each creak, the noise grew closer, gradually rounding the corner towards the entrance to the hallway.

"… is only just now getting out of the bath, apparently," Eda crossed her arms, tone dry.

"Who dares intrude upon I," the entity's voice was small, lightly pitched, as he finally came into view, stomping on the wood as hard as he could, "The King of Demons!?"

Luz's eyes shrank to the size of dots as she stared at the tiny creature before her; between his black fur, tiny claws and the skull he wore on his head like a demented Cubone, he should have been at least somewhat intimidating… but he was as far as one could get from that descriptor as one could get without dressing him up in a bee costume. His head was disproportionately large compared to the rest of his body, complete with a set teeth jutting down from the skull, most prominently the two large fangs at the end of his snout. His stubby arm only reached the top of his head, his brow furrowed beneath the skull, his large, purple eyes joined by a yellow scalera… and his entire form was absolutely tiny, only about the size of a particularly hefty house cat standing on its hind legs.

The blue towels wrapped around his head and legs were decorated with hearts and ducklings, and a red collar with a golden tag was fastened around his neck, only added to the rising scream in Luz's mind, a scream she knew too well to try and stop.

To her credit, however, it was only when he squeezed the rubber ducky in his little claw that the dam broke, a gasp escaping her.

"¡Ay, que lindo!" she squealed, and the little beast only had an instant to process that his fuming attempt at intimidation had immediately fallen apart before he was scooped up into the Latina's arms, carried effortlessly up and off the ground and crushed to her chest, her cheek rubbing against his.

"Eda, he's so cute!" she held him up, his towels having fallen away to expose the horns atop his skull helm, one of which had been broken off, and his lower legs and tail. His legs were every bit as stubby as his arms, and his tail was possibly the fluffiest and softest thing Luz had ever touched, which only caused the cute alarm ringing in her head to ring even louder, "Who's a widdle guy? Who's a widdle guy? Is it you? Is it you?"

"NO! I don't know who your little guy is!" he shouted, desperately trying to wriggle out of her embrace as she once again squeezed, concern turning to terror, pushing against her face as he looked to the Witch, "Eda! Who is this monster!?"

"Oh, this is Luz," abruptly, the Latina found herself hoisted up by her armpits, her arms pulled apart, allowing the tiny creature to escape; somehow containing her laughter, Eda hauled Luz back, lifting the girl completely off the ground with not even a hint of effort, and after a moment of squirming and trying to reach for King, Luz was once again left in wonder at just how tall the Witch was, and how easily she could pull the girl around.

Just how strong was she?

"A human," Eda elaborated, finally setting the girl back down, "She's here to help us with our little… situation."

"Oh!" the little creature – a wolf, maybe? – hopped up onto the coffee table, throwing out his arms, "Hooray!"

"Wait, situation?" Luz turned, blinking, "… right… you said you needed my help with something?"

"Yep."

"… but… but you're a Witch," Luz gestured to herself, "I'm just a human. What could you possibly need my help with?... I mean, if it's electronics I might be able to help put batteries in whatever you need batteries in, but I'm not an electrician or anything, I don't know how to wire things up-"

"No, no, nothing like that," Eda assured, "It should be fairly simple."

"… then… what?" the Latina inquired, "I'm just a kid. What can I do that a powerful Witch can't?"

"Pass through a barrier made specifically to keep a powerful Witch like me out."

"… what?" Luz asked.

"Just… let me explain," Eda stepped back, her fingertips glowing as she outstretched her arms, and drew a circle in the air, each hand leaving trails of light behind to complete the glowing golden shape; when it was complete, the inside of the circle went pitch black.

"King, here," Eda indicated the small black beast, "was once a mighty King of Demons."

The inside of the circle suddenly shone with colour, settling into a stylized tapestry of a mighty, demonic creature that looked like some fusion of wolf and dragon, black scales intermixed with fur both horns intact, a golden crown shining on his head. His jaws were open in a roar of victory over the image of a castle in the background, a great many other demonic creatures bowing as if to pay their respects.

Then, a green hand entered the tapestry from above and snatched the crown off of the Demon's head, "Until his Crown of Power was stolen, and he became…" the Witch wrinkled her nose, gesturing vaguely to him, "… this."

"You mean this little bundle of joy?" Luz had once again snatched King up into her arms.

"The Crown," Eda continued pointedly, the circle now displaying a large, bulky, humanoid figure in a beaked mask under a hood and white coat, "is being held by the evil Warden Wrath, who locked it away behind a force field that only a human can pass through."

The image slid down towards a brilliant white light, a figure standing in front of it – this one recognizably human, with rounded ears and a long cloak fluttering behind them, staring into the light with straight shoulders and a determined grace.

Luz felt her heart begin to hammer away in her chest as she slowly began to realize the implications of Eda's words. Her lips parted, excitement beginning to build in her chest.

"A human… like you," the circle glowed one last time before fading entirely, Eda's smile gentle, "If you help us retrieve King's Crown, we will send you back to the human realm," she threw out her arms, "So whaddya say?"

Luz wanted to say a hundred different things, all varying from another squeal of pure delight to a declaration of heroism against great evil and oppression, vowing to help the Witch and the little… did she say Demon?... against the wicked Warden who so cruelly withheld the Crown of Power.

But two familiar voices echoed in the back of her mind.

A voice of reason.

A voice of caution.

'You don't know these people, Luz,' Mami's words reverberated through time, the shadow of her hands firm on the Latina's shoulders, 'You don't know what they really want from you.'

'It's good that you want to help,' Dad's voice now, adding to the warning, 'But be careful you're not taken advantage of.'

She bit her lip, begrudgingly letting the words curb her eagerness, at least for the moment.

"Plus," Eda quickly interjected, clearly having noticed Luz's moment of hesitation. She snatched up King by the head, gently squeezing his cheeks, rocking his skull back and forth, "Who could say no to this cute face?"

"NO! PLEASE DON'T ENCOURAGE HER!" he begged, letting out a "NYEH!" as Eda let go, letting him drop to the floor.

Luz snickered, then frowned, "… can I ask a couple questions first?"

"Well, considering what we're asking…" Eda crossed her arms, "I suppose a couple questions is fair. Just keep 'em on topic."

"Alright. So you're the most powerful Witch on the Isles, right?" Luz began, "Why bring me into this? Couldn't you just… dispel or somehow break the barrier yourself?"

"Startin' to think you're too clever by half, kid," Eda's smile grew, tone approving despite her words, "I could just break the barrier with some powerful Magic of my own, but that would cause a pretty big ruckus. We're going into the heart of enemy territory to get that Crown back, and sometimes, a little bit of caution is the better part of just going in and throwing power like that around. We're looking to be in and out within about twenty minutes without being noticed, with any luck at all.

"Besides," she leaned forwards, bringing herself to eye level with the human, "Sometimes it's more fun to show off how tricky you are, instead of how strong you are. Just imagine the looks on their faces when the crown is gone, and no one knows how it happened."

"Okay," Luz clarified, "So, let me see if I understand this. You need me, because I can get through the barrier easily, and thus keep this whole thing quiet?"

"That's pretty much it, yeah."

"… what happens if I say no?" she ventured.

Eda straightened, a hand on her chin, "Well, it would put you in a bit of a sticky situation. On the one hand, I could just go storm the Conformatorium-"

"Conformawha?" Luz interrupted.

"Boiling Isles prison," the Witch simplified.

"Ah."

"But yes, I could just break in, take the Crown, and stir up a ruckus doing so. We don't really need you, so much as you'd make our lives easier," Eda explained, slowly circling the room, "… but you, on the other hand, need us."

'And there's the catch,' Mom's disapproving voice rang in her ears, though Luz stubbornly ignored it.

Instead, she tilted her head, "How do you figure that?"

This time, Eda's smile was a bit more sinister than the ones that had come before. She reached into her mass of grey hair, and pulled out the key with the eye set in it, holding it up – the one to the door that had led Luz to the tent in the first place, "Because I have your only way home."

At this, Luz felt her throat go dry, a pit forming in the bottom of her stomach as she stared at the key. So close, but in the hands of a Witch, it may as well have been in another world entirely – she was under no illusion that she could somehow defeat Eda, even if that were a fight she somehow wanted to pick.

'… she hasn't hurt you yet,' the girl reminded herself, trying to push her apprehension down, 'She went out of her way to help you with that guard. If she wanted to hurt you, she probably would have already. Just… keep your cool.'

Luz took a breath, speaking, her words coming out with more nervousness than she would have liked, "… so I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Nope!" a note of cheer immediately booted the sinister mischief out of Eda's voice as she slipped the key back into her hair, "Now we have no time to lose."

Before Luz could react, the Witch had leant down, and hoisted the girl up and onto her shoulder, carrying her back towards the door.

"Wh-whoa, wait!" she protested as the door opened, "Where are we going!?"

"Weren't you listening before?" Eda picked up her staff, striding outside as King followed close behind, "Somewhere super fun. The Conformatorium!"

Luz gaped, "You want to break into Witch jail!?"

"Prison. There's a difference. And it's not just for Witches."

The door slammed shut, and Luz found herself taking to the sky once more, heedless of her own accord.

"… I was not ready for today."

Maka's ears twitched at Soul's confession; throughout the morning, every student seemed to be in a similar state of cold shock, clearly having not anticipated the possibility that they would be spending their very first period cutting into the skin of dead amphibians. Even Black Star had seemed off-put, his initial cuts clumsy, forcing Tsubaki to take over from him lest he turn their shared frog into poorly-made sashimi.

The Scythe Meister shuddered, leaning forwards on the knees as her hands shook. It was stupid, she knew it was stupid – during the lab itself and after, the rational part of her mind had come in with a scathing lecture about how inconsequential this was compared to what she'd been doing on a fairly regular basis for over a year.

She was a Meister. Cutting into things with a blade was, for all intents and purposes, her job. Over a hundred times now, Maka had been out in the field, cutting through creatures both dead and very much still living with a blade far larger than a scalpel. The cuts with that blade, with her partner, were bigger, messier, and much, much more brutal than what she had just performed, bodies left severed in twain, most of them human or at least humanoid. All to get at the glowing red sphere of a Kishin Egg Soul.

A pre-killed frog shouldn't have even made her bat an eye.

But the rest of her mind had only been half listening to her internal monologue. Part of it even seemed to argue that a dissection was intrinsically different from a battle. The cuts of conflict were quick and heavy and violent. These were slow, precise, opening up skin and cutting through muscle to examine tendons and organs and bones.

Even after it had ended, for a long time, she had struggled not to squirm in her seat.

And now, here they sat in an empty classroom as their new teacher boiled a kettle, silent as he idly graded the labs from that morning – as if they weren't even there, like he hadn't asked them to stay behind after class.

"… I don't think anyone was, Soul," she finally stated.

"Coffee?"

Stein's voice broke the silence as if it were glass, making both Weapon and Meister jump in their seats. The new professor had only inclined his head towards them slightly, but it was enough for Maka to know he was addressing them.

"… no thanks," she managed.

"I'm good," Soul agreed.

"Suit yourselves," Stein shrugged, then went stock still as he continued waiting for the kettle.

'…how can anyone be so freaky just standing there?' she wondered, staring at his slightly hunched shoulders. Throughout the entirety of class, Stein seemed like he couldn't just sit down, constantly rotating the screw in his head or rocking back and forth in his chair like a child, chair creaking as he moved. Something about him was always in some constant motion – it seemed chronic, like he was literally incapable of simply standing in place without rotating or bouncing something in place.

But then, at times, he would just… shut down, going unnaturally still, even his fingers seeming to cease twitching. Maka couldn't even tell if he was blinking, the man's lanky back turned to them, and he looked for all the world like a taxidermied corpse propped up on a stand.

Finally, the kettle went off, and the stillness broke, Stein quickly snatching it up and pouring its contents into a cup through a strainer filled with freshly ground coffee.

She cursed internally; she'd been expecting it that time, and it had still made her heart leap out of her chest.

He pulled his chair behind him before settling down in front of them, once again leaning forwards into the back of the chair as he sipped from the cup, legs on either side of the spine.

"… you like your coffee black?" Soul asked.

"It's best undiluted," Stein set his cup down on the podium, settling into a slump, "I find it doesn't work as well if anything's added. It might just be a nocebo effect."

"… undiluted is one way to put it," Maka muttered, retching internally at the prospect of drinking bitter, unaltered coffee.

Soul squinted, "Don't you mean placebo?"

"No. Placebo is when your mind induces a positive effect on you through your belief, even when there are no external substances imposing any sort of effect on your body or psyche – like when you take a sugar pill instead of a Tylenol, but your pain fades anyways," he reached up for the screw, rotating it; clickclickclickclick, clickclickclickclick, the sound seemed to echo through the near empty room.

"Right," Maka confirmed, taking the opportunity in hopes that the trivia would take her mind off her own anxiety, "Nocebo is when your mind induces a negative effect on you through belief. Like when you display symptoms of having a severe illness despite there being no presence of any sort of virus, bacteria or parasite in your body because you believe you've been cursed. It's actually quite a fascinating phenomena."

Stein's brows shot up, "… I'm impressed. I didn't think either of you would be familiar."

"I've done a lot of reading on psychology," she smiled, letting her chest puff out in pride, "It was for an essay on the potential benefits and dangers of taking advantage of the placebo effect."

"… I think… I think I've heard of that," the Scythe sounded surprised at himself, blinking, "Nocebo…"

"Really?" Maka cocked an eyebrow, "I didn't think you'd done any reading on psychology."

"… I haven't," Soul declared, seeming to stare off, "… how do I know what nocebo means?..."

"… you don't, Soul," Stein stated simply, recapturing the attention of both partners.

"I'm… sorry?" the white haired boy inquired, words slow.

"It's actually more accurate to say that you didn't know, rather. The knowledge isn't your own; you got it from Maka," the scientist explained, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"… wait, what are you talking about?" Maka started, rising to her feet, "How could he know things that I've learned?"

"Come now, Maka," Stein smiled, "You're smarter than that. You've been studying Soul Wavelength for a year now; surely, you have some idea of what happens when two Souls come into contact?"

"When two Souls come into contact, they either reject each other outright, or they perform a Basic Resonance," she recited, "Their Wavelengths align and bolster the capabilities of both parties, allowing for greater physical and mental strength, alacrity and precision."

"And a level of telepathy," the professor reminded, raising a finger, "Something Sid told me you and Soul employed extensively, if your on-the-fly strategies in the graveyard were any indication."

"Yes," she nodded, "The conscious transference of thought from Weapon to Meister, and Meister to Weapon. A form of communication that allows for direct transference of not just words, but concepts, all without so much as saying a word, which is invaluable in the field."

"Along with the ability to sense the basic emotions of your partner, if not necessarily what's causing them," Soul added.

"Astute," Stein nodded, "Now… following that logic, what do you think happens when a Weapon and Meister take a step beyond Basic Resonance? What do you think happens when they allow their Souls to interact beyond a surface level and perform an actual Soul Resonance?"

At this, Maka stopped. If thought and emotion transference was what came with just a Basic Resonance…

"… memory transference?" she murmured, the realization sending a cold shock down her spine.

"Precisely," Stein bobbed his head, raising his index and middle fingers to point at them, "That's why I asked you both to stay after class. The other night, you successfully performed a Soul Resonance, but ended up going too deep."

"A Resonance Overload," Soul recalled, "That's what you called it, right?"

"Yes," Stein confirmed, "It's a common occurrence in Weapon and Meister pairs that attempt a Soul Resonance for the first time. It's when two or more Souls attempt to draw too much power from the Resonance; if Basic Resonance is simply skimming the surface of your partner's Soul, then Soul Resonance is you diving into each other. The deeper you go, the more power you can draw from the Resonance – but in turn, the more you directly expose yourself to your partner, which holds a myriad of risks for the unprepared, memory exposure among them. And in your desperation to kill me, you went far too deep for your first attempt."

Maka glanced down, meeting Soul's gaze; they weren't connected at the moment, but she could tell just from the look on his face that he was thinking the same thing she was, despite his attempts to keep it neutral.

'So it wasn't just a hallucination…'

"I wanted to check to see how you two have been doing the past couple of days," the stitched man rested his chin on his arm, "Have you experienced any instances of Rejection since? Has your dynamic shifted in any particular way?"

"… no instances of Rejection, no… although we haven't really done much Weapon and Meister material the past couple of days," Maka confessed.

"It's gotten quiet," Soul noted, "Normally we try not to badger each other too much at home, but it's been… more than usual. I guess we just wanted to give each other some space?"

"That sounds fairly normal," Stein stated, "But I'd like to confirm that you aren't experiencing anything adverse."

"Something you want us to do?" the Weapon asked.

"Just transform into a Scythe for Maka," Stein gestured, "A Basic Resonance should be all we need to confirm that there's no signs of Rejection."

Soul raised an eyebrow, "I don't think our relationship's been shaken up that much, Doc."

"You'd be surprised, Soul."

It was the heavy tone of Stein's words that kept the Weapon from arguing further. He stood, and transformed, the flash of light leaving a spinning Scythe in Soul's place.

Maka reached out, but not without a moment of hesitation; Stein was staring at them intently, eyes sharp and piercing, already evaluating the pair and making the Meister question whether or not she would even be able to hold Soul this time.

'… No,' she banished the thought, lips curling downwards, 'Soul and I have been partners for over a year. He's stuck with me through thick and thin. I'm not gonna doubt him now.'

She breathed deep, and reached out, catching Soul by the handle.

As naturally as if he had meant to be in her hands, he spun between her fingers, twirling with the familiar, easy weight before finally coming to gently rest on her shoulder, the razor sharp blade glinting in the light.

"… so?" she asked, a surge of confidence flooding her stomach as she met Stein's gaze once more.

"Hm…" he adjusted his glasses, looking the pair up and down, "… I'm not seeing any adverse effects, just at a glance. I'd like to do a more in-depth examination to make sure, but unfortunately, we don't have that kind of time right now," he sighed, slumping to the side, "It'll just have to wait."

"Okay. So what should we do in the meantime?" Soul inquired.

"Just take care of yourselves for now. If any issues arise, we can address them as they become apparent."

"Alright," Maka released her grip on the Weapon, allowing him to return to human form.

"That being said," Stein began, tone once again serious, "I would talk about whatever it is you two got from each other sooner rather than later. These sort of things rarely turn out well if they remain unaddressed."

At this, Maka couldn't contain her flinch; she still remembered the jumbled flashes and voices from the night they had fought the man before them.

What exactly did Soul see?... what did he know?

"We'll keep that in mind," Soul stated, "In the meantime, can we go eat now?"

A coy smile from the scientist, "You may. Sorry to eat into your lunch like this."

"It's alright," Maka said, turning away, "Thanks, Professor."

Stein simply waved them off turning in his seat and returning to his coffee as they left the room.

"… well, he doesn't seem too bad a guy, in a classroom setting," Soul noted.

"I know what you mean," Maka crossed her arms, "He seemed… oddly disarming in there, honestly. Like all of a sudden he knew how to get us comfortable."

"With weird anecdotes of trivia and a genuine concern for our wellbeing?"

"I wouldn't call it a genuine concern," the Meister huffed, "It still seemed like he was giving us that weird petri-dish look for a few minutes there."

"Well, chances are we're gonna have to put up with him for a while," Soul sighed, hands behind his head, "I'll take what I can get."

"Fair point."

A moment of silence passed between them, broken only by the bustle of the students around them.

"… hey, Soul?"

"Yeah, Maka?"

'How much about me do you know?' she wanted to ask, but she pushed the question down, "… you think we should talk about what happened the other night?"

"… I don't see any reason to rush it," he ventured, eyes gently closing beneath his headband.

"But Stein said we should talk about it sooner rather than later."

"And I can see his logic. But by the same token, you're obviously not comfortable with it," Soul's nonchalance was taking Maka entirely off-guard, "Healthy communication doesn't just mean telling your partner everything. It means being careful, not broaching subjects that they aren't ready to talk about. We've both got things we haven't told each other for a reason; I'm not saying nothing's changed, but I think we can afford to wait until we're both ready to talk."

… a small smile crossed Maka's face once again, "… thanks, Soul."

"Nothing to thank me for, Maka. Just basic decency."

"… I am mandating one thing, though," she felt her expression harden slightly.

"Yeah?"

"No Soul Resonance until further notice," she declared, and Soul's eye opened, crimson meeting green out of the corner.

"You heard what Stein said. There's a lot of risks that come with performing a Soul Resonance," she elaborated, "I can only assume it hasn't been explained to us in full yet because we're not ready to try it."

"So you want to hold off until we are ready?"

"Or at least until we have a better idea of what it is we're dealing with. You know the phrase. 'Walk before you run.'"

"Too true," he acknowledged, lowering his head again, "Alright, I'm good with that."

The Meister and Weapon made their way to the cafeteria in relative silence.

SO MUCH FOR GETTING EPISODE ONE OF THE OWL HOUSE WRAPPED UP IN TWO CHAPTERS!

I ended up having to split the damn thing into four parts total, including chapter 10. FOUR. If you're wondering why this took so long, that's why; I wanted to get the episode wrapped up before posting anything else regarding this.

Ah well. At the very least, you guys should have a blast with the three parter.

Please be sure to let me know what you think! I hope you all enjoyed the eleventh chapter of Owls and Souls, Witches and Resonance!