So writing this was weird and kind of difficult. I tried to mirror some canon here, and I hope I did it justice enough to make sense since it's kind of a mish-mash of three different encounters from the manga. I'm also not entirely sure where this black blood part of the storyline is going, so I apologize for maybe some vagueness or the feeling of loose ends. I promise I'm going to try to answer the questions I've left open about this.
Maka had complained about being tired but since it had been for a room full of attendants Soul hadn't been entirely sure whether or not it was all part of the act. The possibility still ground into his gut, that sour feeling taking hold even in the face of all his reassuring yesterday. But that's you, isn't it? You can be strong for her, soothe and strengthen, but inside you're still just a ball of worry.
That knot was only growing while he watched her toy listlessly with her breakfast as she sweetly answered the barrage of questions from his mother about the temple visit. Maka was planting the seeds, her voice fluttering with hope as she recounted Mira's supposed positive observations. Soul dared to let his mind wander, trying to force his memory to relive yesterday analytically, to study the curves of her body for change rather than for pleasure. That was impossible so he broke the dreams almost as quickly as they came.
"Will you escort me?" Maka seemed to be finished with not only talking but the meager offerings she put on her plate.
Soul stood, bowing his head at both of his parents before giving her his elbow. Maka mimicked him before taking it and as he turned her he whispered, "Where to?"
Maka didn't lower her voice, letting the room know as much as him, "Back to our room, please."
"My poor, exhausted darling," he cooed, earning him a barely reined in eye-roll from Maka. Soul smirked, making her glare only intensify. "Should I carry you back, my dove?"
She made sure to be out of earshot of the hall before she groaned, "Call me darling or dove again."
"What?" Soul scoffed, "Would you prefer my treasure? Or maybe my sweet?"
"You're making me nauseous." She attempted a laugh but pressed her hand to her mouth instead, her miming suddenly becoming closer to reality.
There was no more amusement on his face especially as the color had started to drain from hers. "You alright?"
"Well, you're helping how I feel about breakfast along, anyway." Maka took a long, deep breath as she let that hand slip to her chest. "I think I'm just worried."
"About?" Soul couldn't help but quicken their steps, urging towards the safety of their room. Maka was on the same wavelength, holding her tongue with only a soft smile to answer him. When he finally snuck her into the door he sighed, "I'm sorry, that's a stupid question. Kind of have a lot to worry about."
"Yes, but…" Maka eased onto the bed, collapsing back into the covers to speak to the ceiling. "We're going to try the resonance today and, well, you can guess."
"Shit, speaking of that…" That knot was back and he was instantly to the bedside and leaning over her to search her face. "You think Black Star should be here? Or at least Liz if, just in case-"
"Soul," Maka cut him off firmly. "No safety net. We have to do this to become stronger so your only chance is to keep whatever this is under control. You'll have my help but you have to be aware of it too."
"The last time-"
"The last time was Medusa's fault. You're healthy, I'm here, and you're going to come at this thing with all that bravery I know is in you." Maka reached up and caressed his cheek, "Stand up to it and be the Soul I know you can be."
"The one you remember," he sighed.
"No, the one you are," Maka urged. "It's simple, Soul. The boy I loved grew into the man I love now," she added sweetly as she smiled.
He answered her with a smirk before stealing a quick kiss. "Then let me at this thing."
"That's more like it," Maka laughed as she pulled him onto the bed but deposited him next to her rather than the usual alternative. He turned to fluff the sheets out of their way. "Just relax, alright? Close your eyes and try to follow what I'm saying."
Soul grabbed her hand as the best affirmative he could give before he forced his eyes shut.
"I'm listening for your soul, so listen for mine," Maka murmured, her voice already bordering on trancelike. "You and I are linked, unbreakable, your soul feeds mine and I do the same…"
There was more, Soul could swear there was because her voice was echoing somewhere in the darkness but he was trapped back in that inky, shadowed room, that odd little gremlin standing at his feet. He was dressed in something close to his finest robes as if he were reliving his wedding day and the strange imp was wearing the same.
"Fear, fear, fear," the grumbling, scratchy voice filled the room.
Stand up to it. Do this for her. "Fear's important. It's foolish to forget fear," he snapped back.
The imp let out a coarse laugh, "The most important thing is power, a power so strong you don't feel any fear." Soul was searching for the next thing to say when the monster grabbed him, starting to pull him away. "I don't think you can understand yet. You're not ready."
"No," Soul started to struggle because it was all coming back to him, sinking him back in the old nightmare. "I don't want to leave this room!" Because killing her is next, ripping her apart, tearing her to pieces and it has to be- Air flooded his lungs while coughing filled hers as the world came back to him. It was nothing more than a waking nightmare now since her lips were once again tarnished with black. "Maka!"
"It's OK." Maka fended off his fingers, clearing the inky liquid away from her mouth. "It's just, I don't think we were working together. I think… we're both still too scared."
Fear, Soul let echo again in his head. "That disgusting gremlin doesn't want fear."
"Then we can't give that to him." Maka brushed her clean hand across his face. "Let's try again."
Soul hesitated. "You sure you feel up to it?"
"No fear, Soul," she reminded him before manually shutting his eyes.
Again the room, the dress, the demon looking even less enthused to see him, that was until Soul opened his mouth. "Show me what you want, whatever this power is," Soul started towards the imp, "but I'm going to have it my own way, you got that?"
The demon gave a joyous smile, "Then follow me, towards madness, insanity, and joy."
And it was something like that, or maybe more like a hunger, a deep incessant need that dug deeply into him. It was as if he could still see himself with her, his jaw stretching out unnaturally as saliva oozed off his lips because Maka, having her, swallowing her whole would be the only thing to fill it. Pushing both of them to the brink of insanity was the only way, or at least that was a second's worth of a frantic thought before he hooked a finger into his lip and reeled himself back. "I'm fine, it'll be alright."
"Soul?"
Some of that had bled into reality, Soul waking to find himself hovering over her, straddling her with teeth clenched from a bite denied. "That was closer," he muttered as he rolled off her quickly.
"It felt like…" Maka drifted off as she pressed a hand to her chest. "Like your soul was going to swallow mine."
"Tried to," he answered with all the honesty he could muster. "But I'm fine. It's alright. That's not going to happen. But… just one more time, Maka."
"One more," Maka nodded.
The demon started on him as soon as he returned. "You're not taking this seriously! It's time to finish this!"
"I am!" Soul screamed back, "And it'll be me who decides."
"Maybe not." The demon snapped his fingers and another corner of the room lit up, Maka standing there in an extravagant gown that he wished was real.
"I don't know if he'll listen to me," Maka murmured playfully.
"That's a trick," Soul scoffed. "She can't be in my head. This is just something you're doing." He pointed wildly at the imp.
Maka approached him, her hands gently soothing his pointing finger. "Remember, our souls are resonating. Makes it easy to be with you where you need me." As she got closer, Soul hesitated, but Maka still planted a soft kiss on his lips.
"It is you," he whispered with a laugh.
"Why don't you two relax?" The demon snapped his fingers again and soft music started to drift all around them. "Take a turn around the room."
"You should lead." Maka smiled as she eased into his arms, a hand at the small of her back while the other clasped her fingers tightly.
"Why did it bring you here?" Soul muttered though there was a strange elation to all of this. He wanted to dance with her, wanted her in this eerie dark room, and wanted something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Maybe it's because…" Maka sighed as her eyes searched the room. "Maybe I know more."
"What does that mean?" Soul prodded quickly.
Maka's eyes searched his. "Crona has it too, the black blood, and they use it when they fight. It's from their weapon, the one you saw that day that's less of a sword and more of a being. It lets them do terrifying things with the blood, dangerous things, and if you-"
"If I what?" Soul was bordering on a frantic shout and he could hear the imp cackle in the background. "If I harness all this what's to say I'm not going to go crazy? Hurt you. And with the way we've been connecting, the blood obviously transmitting to you, doesn't that put you in danger of going off the deep end too? You said it, I almost swallowed your soul, and what the hell happens if I don't stop myself from doing that? It's fucking dangerous."
"You're wrong," Maka murmured as she slowly shook her head. "I know that won't happen."
"Why?" he bleated back just before she latched her lips on his again. Soul abandoned her hand, instead moving to cup her cheek. "It's because I goddamn love you, isn't it? That's why I'll do everything I can to keep us safe, to keep us from the madness."
Maka hummed a sweet affirmative against his lips.
The little demon clapped his hands, "It's done!"
There was no sudden tear back to reality, just like waking from a dream that maybe still bordered on a nightmare. I can use this, but I have to keep us both steady, save us both from the edge. He waited for Maka's eyes to open, the green hitting him with joyful relief. And she believes in me. Knows I can do it, that I'm strong enough and that she is, too.
"How do you feel?" she murmured.
He ran a thumb along her cheekbone. "For once? No fear."
"I didn't think Stein could get back this soon," Soul sighed as he trailed after Black Star.
"Not like he went home or anything," Black Star shrugged. "Just had a few more Stein-y stuff to take care of. Plus, he needed a decision from you two, remember?"
That spurred Soul's footsteps faster as he entered the barracks, ending up pushing past Black Star to get through the door first. Stein was sitting patiently, his feet up on the table as he leaned back in the chair. "Soul, you look-"
"Sick and tired of this sneaking around?" Soul spat.
"I was going to say well," Stein shrugged. "I guess I can tack on spirited. Where's Maka?"
"She's not feeling good," Soul muttered.
"Oh?" Stein offered a glance at Black Star who instantly broke out in a sweat.
Soul huffed as he hit the seat of the chair hard. "We've been resonating souls, working on that black blood bullshit and it's been draining her. I want to take a break but each time I mention it she just threatens about leaving and…" he threw up his hands in frustration.
"I doubt the resonation is doing her any damage," Stein tried to reassure him with a soft nod.
"Yeah, well, either way, she's sleeping it off," Soul grumbled as he dug a fingernail into the table. "Which is fine because I'm well-versed on this stupid plan."
"How did the temple go?" Stein offered, calmly pushing him in the right direction.
"The priestess, Mira, OKed announcing three weeks after Maka's first visit. That means we're down to a week before Maka is officially pregnant." Those words might as well have been a curse since Soul was still aching for some kind of verification of the reality. It was sinking into him that most likely she'd be leaving him without him actually knowing, and he was sure that was worse than any other kind of punishment.
"Which means within a week of the official announcement you should send her to Marie's. There's an antiquated blessing that women used to do in their home villages after conception. Talk that up like the two of you are returning to tradition. You'll be buttering up some in the crowd but at the same time offering a valid excuse as to why you'd send your bride away." Stein tented his fingers before rubbing his pointers together in thought. "A two-week journey by carriage will get Maka and Black Star halfway, where I will be waiting."
"For the kidnapping?" Black Star was struggling to contain his excitement. It was the first chance in a while that he was getting to actually test real skill, have a real fight since no matter how smoothly Stein planned anything, Black Star was always ready for chaos.
"Yes, where you will take Maka on horseback to her father's. She'll be able to show you the way."
Soul sighed, "And that trip takes how long?"
"Calculating the months?" Stein offered innocently.
"I have to," he hissed back. "So?"
"Five weeks, if they take their time," Stein shrugged way too easily for Soul's liking. "And then the plan is for Black Star to keep them there for ten weeks' time." Even with the dramatic groan leaking from Soul's mouth, Stein continued. "After that, they're to move back to Marie's, just in case, which would be another two weeks. That would leave her only a four-week journey from you at that point."
"And how far along would she be?" Soul demanded.
Black Star wanted to playfully nudge him, laugh 'do the math' in his face but the way Soul's fingers were digging into the wood spelled out that this was no time for teasing.
"Let's suppose the two of you are lucky, and that your wedding night was enough," Stein was trying to stay as analytical as possible but Black Star was snickering in the background, telling him what he had already assumed that Maka and Soul may have taken their time. "Around thirty weeks at her arrival at Marie's. Remember, birth would come any time after thirty-eight."
"Which would leave me with a dangerously small window to get to her." Soul collapsed onto his elbows, letting his hands clutch into his hair with an agonizing breath.
Black Star's voice rang like a tired complaint, "I'll get her back in time. Have a little fucking faith." His hand came to Soul's head, ruffling the hair he could reach between Soul's desperate fingers.
"If she's pregnant," Soul reminded the tabletop.
Black Star's lips crinkled into a frown as he looked to Stein. "You got anything more for the prince?" he urged, sure this was the end of his rope.
"I've got something else," Soul interrupted as he raised his head. "Do you love Marie?"
"What?" Both Stein and Black Star echoed each other.
"Answer the question," Soul ordered flatly.
Stein tilted his head, trying to suppress a wistful smile. "I don't see the relevance."
"She's pregnant again," that was a statement to stab Stein in the gut and as Soul raised another finger Stein found himself oddly holding his breath. "And now you're about to probably risk your life to finish this thing with me."
"Killing witches is what I am trained to do," Stein tried to keep that even, to not give in to those thoughts in the back of his mind.
Soul narrowed his eyes before letting out an irritated sigh, "Is it really that hard to admit it? I get the secrecy, Maka told me, but even when we were kids it was obvious you weren't just the captain of her guard because you were the best fighter."
Stein let out a harsh laugh, "It's unfair to say it to you when she's never heard it herself."
"Well, you better fucking say it to her," Soul grumbled as he reached into his pocket. He took out the pile of paper and placed it in front of him before sliding the top letter of the stack to Stein.
He eyed it before breaking the seal. His eyes darted across the page as he read, his mouth going a little slack.
"What is it?" Black Star leaned down to whisper in Soul's ear.
"My offer," Soul tried to answer flatly, holding on his scowl in vain. "And this is the royal proclamation of your appointment to the war council," Soul slid the next letter off the top of the stack. "And this is the official decree of awarding lordship."
"Lordship? Lord Stein?" Black Star offered a jovial laugh until his eyes focused off of Soul's shoulder back to Stein's face.
All of him was frozen, from his eyes to his lips to even the heart beating in his chest. The paper was taut between his fingers as his eyes focused on that singular line: "As reward for duties completed in the field and in exchange for the promise of loyalty to the council of war under the crown of Prince Soul, future King, Franken Stein is to be given the title of lordship and all responsibilities under it…"
Soul let the annoyance drop away, an act that he had almost perfected but could no longer hold on to as he watched Stein falter. "All of it is binding, even ran it past my father and he thought you were a great addition, and honestly I couldn't give less of a shit about anyone else on the council's complaint. It'd mean you'd have to spend maybe a week or so here a month but for the most part, you could keep your position with Marie."
"My position with Marie," Stein murmured in a hollow echo.
"Though, you'd be equals," Soul let that settle between them, knowing better than to nudge it further than that.
Stein flexed his fingers in the paper. "All I have to do is sign this?"
"Yeah, the other two you keep." Soul pressed the other letters closer and then held his palm up.
He eased the letter to the table and Black Star was quick to get him a quill. His fingers felt fat and clumsy as they trembled through the line of ink he scribbled on the page. There was barely any air in his lungs to blow across the page but he took his time, making sure that there wasn't the chance for smudging before he slid it across the table to Soul. "Why would you do this?"
Soul rolled his shoulders effortlessly before letting out a sharp laugh. "Don't think I'm trying to buy your loyalty or anything." He only glanced momentarily at the paper before folding it and stuffing it back in his pocket. His easy red eyes came back to Stein, a forlorn smile starting to tug on his lips. "I think about what could have happened if Marie hadn't given Maka the opportunity to be a lady. Marie deserves the same kindness."
Stein was silent for a moment, his jaw working as his mouth stayed closed. "Everything I've planned… I have tried to keep you both safe."
"Don't doubt it," Soul answered quickly as he stood. "Guess I'm just hoping we can keep it that way."
"We will," all of that trembling fell from his voice. "All of us are in this together."