His
He stared at the girl lying in his bed, her chest moving erratically. Disbelief and shock never left him even when he drove back to the apartment. She'd been strong enough to hold on to him while he sped off the road but collapsed as soon as they stepped foot on the place.
It could be a trap. In their connection, she got mad at him for badmouthing her 'Mother' then the next thing he knew, she wanted to get away from her. The Witch might be using her to lure him in, though the fear and urgency in her voice made him think otherwise.
Sid and Nygus wouldn't be back until tomorrow and Azusa had gone to investigate the Orphanage. He released a heavy sigh, running his hand through his hair. It pained him to see her like that. They'd been together for years. Death knew how much she meant to him.
"Maka," he held her hand then squeezed it. "Please, tell me the truth. What happened?"
Instead of answering, her body shone before an apparition appeared. The spirit had a long blonde hair ending at her elbows. Her obsidian eyes stared at him. She had a defined features and stood a foot shorter than him with an air of grace. A splitting image of Peisinoe.
"I know you're familiar with me. You pushed me away from your soul after all." Her lips curled up in a humorless smile. "I suppose, I have to answer all of your questions if I don't want to disappear all of a sudden?"
"I prefer cooperation over threat but I'm glad we're on the same page. How did you became bound with each other?"
"Mother wants me to live again and take vengeance while at it." She rolled her eyes. "After the Kishin got sealed, a bitter partner came her for my soul. They couldn't accept that there wouldn't be anymore death scythe because of the new Shinigami's contract to Mabaa-sama. They took my sister as a hostage so I exchanged my life to hers."
"Why would I trust you?" He knew not all people agreed with the contract but they made sure to explain it. However, the daughter of a Siren couldn't be trusted since she could lie her way through anything.
"I guess, it can't be helped." She sighed then floated in front of him. Her hand reached out to touch his forehead. "See it from my memory."
A sudden bright light blinded him for a moment. When he opened his eyes, he found himself drifting in a series of images. One particular scene caught his attention. It played out like a movie in slow motion.
The spirit held the hand of a younger version of herself, grinning from ear to ear. They watched the sunset in the shore when a figure appeared. A boy around their age approached them, his arm shifted into a dull scythe. She stepped in front of her sister with hands held out.
Soul couldn't hear their conversation but he could read each movement of the lips. The spirit, Ren, turned furious when the boy said he didn't care about Shinigami-sama or the contract. She began to cast a spell when someone took her sister by force. Cris laughed while she held the crying girl captive with a crazed look in her eyes. The boy drove his blade through Ren's stomach. Before the memory faded, a flash appeared for an instant.
His surroundings returned to normal and he sat in the stool again. The revelation sent his thoughts into disarray. Now that Maka had been found, his mind drifted back to Cris. Only an insane person would follow someone in another country just to ask them to be their partner. Did she followed him on purpose to stop him from figuring out what they did three years ago? He would ask Kid to run an investigation about her and her partner. But for now, he had to focus on the girl in front of him. "How did you end up like that if you've been dead for three years?"
"I'd like to know too. When I became aware, I'm already tied with her." Ren pointed at his meister with knitted brows. "I always hear you call at her though Mother did her best to intercept. Last night was the only chance we had to stop her from successfully replacing her soul with mine."
"Don't get me wrong, I loathe your mother for experimenting with Maka and countless of girls. But don't you want to live?"
"I do. More than anything. I want to hug my sister again. Eat ice cream with her and travel the world… But I don't want to rob others of their opportunity just to fulfill my own." A tear fell from her face but it vanished into thin air. "At first, I didn't believe the rumors going around the Orphanage. And Maka didn't believe me when I told her of Mother's plan. So I took possession of her body to snuck us into the basement. Both to prove myself to her and to know the truth."
"What did you see?" He asked, hoping it wouldn't break Maka once she regained her memories.
Her expression turned grim as she looked at him. "Mother was experimenting with the water and children's souls. She was practicing how to remove one's soul and replace it with the other. We ran away as soon as we saw it but she noticed and cast a spell on us. For some unknown reason, I managed to block it with my own spell and something snapped within Maka, enabling her to win against the water's effect and Mother's deception."
Doubt and confusion lingered in his mind but he locked it up for now. Every lie starts with the truth. So, he'd hear out all of her story before deciding. "I need to report this to Shinigami-sama. It would be easier if you present yourself to him and explain the situation."
Kid and Mabaa talked to them. Both parties agreed to take responsibilities about their subject's harmful behavior which lead them to the problem. Banishment and life sentence would be placed on the suspects if Ren's claims proved to be true. However, they would erase her soul if they found her guilty of lying.
After their meeting, they went out the bathroom when they found Maka awake and talking to a crying Ivelle. She stared up at him, recognition flashing through her face. His lips twitched up in a smile despite the pain piercing at his heart. Kid said there might be a possibility where she wouldn't be able to remember them at all and the chance she would recover her memory was slim.
"Hey, kid. Let's wrap your Nana's present." He scooped the little girl in his arms, wiping her tears with the sleeves of his jacket. "We should let our big sister rest."
"No, it's Mamma. Papa can't you see?" She sobbed on his neck. "Mamma's not asleep. She came back like Papa."
Soul froze mid-step, at lost on how comfort the girl while explaining her parents wouldn't come back anymore. Deciding to try when she calmed down later, he lead her into the living room. The stuff they bought scattered on the table. He placed it back on the bag then laid it on the sofa. Ivelle clutched his shoulders as he patted her back, trying to comfort her.
Maka leaned on the hallway, watching him with an unreadable expression in her face, but turned back as soon as he noticed her.
