AN. I got a lot more chapters coming down the pipeline. That's why I was gone for so long initially. The next chapter has been written but is still undergoing severe rewrites. It's currently a mess from all the previous directions I had for it. Wish me luck. . . I'm really not looking forward to it.
Chapter 2
Yeager POV.
My brothers and I made a mad dash away from the pissed-off Meister with pale emerald eyes. Turning another corner, we were stopped at the disturbing sight of an enormous busk of Lord Death, well his mask really. It was held up by towering marble columns and an intimidating stone mason, domed roof.
"Wow! How did we miss this on the last pass?" said my brother Eric.
"I don't know, but I take it that that's the place we're looking for," I said horrified.
We stood there on the sidewalk in silence for about a minute just staring up at the strange clashing of architecture, between the beautiful Neoclassical structure and the abrasive eccentric visage of Lord Death.
Eric's twin Otto whistled behind me, "Subtle,"
"You think it's life size?" asked Eric.
I gave a snort and rolled my eyes, "No".
"Think about it! Reapers must be big boys, that's the only thing that makes sense." Eric defended.
"Psychology would dictate that he's more likely compensating for something," quipped Otto.
"What would Lord Death have to compensate for?"
"Architectural taste," I suggested.
We all sniggered, then fell in silence again, unable to look away from the imposing, if comical building.
"We don't have to go in, you know," whispered Ericquietly.
I whipped my head to my brother Eric. "What?" I said in disbelief.
"We could just go back home and tell Dad that we were rejected," Eric said, meeting my eyes carefully.
I looked from Eric to Otto and saw him shrug. "He's right you know, we could." My mind was racing now,
The atmosphere felt tense and serious between me and my father. He was sitting opposite me in the living room, only the sound of the ticking cuckoo clock.
"I want you boys to enroll in the DWMA. I think it would be good for all of you. I learned a lot there, especially responsibility. Since you boys insist on fighting, I'd much rather you guys fight to protect people, rather than trying to take their lives!"
"You're punishing me? No, you're punishing my brothers. They were not involved in this." Yeager thinks for a moment. "If you're going to send me away, why not the new Academy in Nuremberg? They have a good Headmaster."
"You and your brothers need to enroll in the DWMA and learn from the teachers that I learned from," responded his father.
"Why are you trying to convince me? Why are you not trying to convince them?Do they not get a say in this matter?"
"Because, Yeager, your brothers will follow you no matter what you decide," His father looks deeply into Yeager's eyes before continuing. "They won't go if you're not there, and they won't stay If you're not here. They may not like it, but in the end they will follow you."
"We have reasons to go…" I said,
"Yeager, we have reasons to stay."
"Don't you guys want to get stronger?"
"Of course we do, Yeager, but you know we are needed at home. So why are we here?" Otto questioned quietly.
I exhaled deeply, "The town needs more than we can give at the moment and we are losing ground. After Bjorn… we need more training than the commandant can give us, if you are even going to have a chance." I heaved a sigh and sat heavily on the curb. Of course they didn't want to leave, our home is in danger and we picked now to leave? "Why didn't you say anything on the train?" I asked.
"What, and ruin a perfect opportunity to woo Parisian girls?" Eric joked, "Not a chance."
"Bastard," I said half-heartedly, chuckling and shaking my head. Eric is a notorious flirt, and despite his young age, his unnatural confidence usually was well received by any women he turned his attention to, young or old. He would say 'all people like to feel appreciated', and they would share that appreciation in the form of his favorite lemon cakes from Charlu or a mended sweater or a stolen bottle of wine shared under the stars. In the case of Adeline, If Eric needed something sooner than later some women would gladly oblige.
"You know we will follow you, whatever you decide," Otto gently said, bringing me back to the present. I looked into Otto's eyes; I can see he trusted me. I could tell he would follow me even if he originally didn't want to. I could see that he trusted my decision. I looked back at the skull over the European Embassy.
"W-we're going in," I said hesitantly. Still a part of me didn't want to leave home, let alone Europe.
*Maka POV.
Running around another corner, I use Soul Detect, trying to find those boys who got away. Checking on my partner he looks kind of tired, but thankfully the bleeding has slowed down in his weapon form.
"Hang in there. I know that they are somewhere nearby. They couldn't have gotten far," I said reassuring my partner, busily scanning my surroundings.
"Maka, we've looked long enough. Besides, this is Paris, thousands of people live here. How are we supposed to find these three boys?" Soul asked honestly.
"You haven't forgotten I can sense souls?" I answered by gesturing with my hands.
"Yeah, but don't all humans just look blue to you?" he shook his head out of doubt.
I was taken aback by that strange statement, "It's not exactly like that, I don't see souls necessarily..." I stopped pondering on how to explain. Soul perception was a combination of the five senses; some people might just say it's a sense all on its own. "It's like a Sixth Sense, if you will. Meister's don't all sense it the same."
"You mean like Black*Star."
I nodded, "One of those boys is different."
"Different, how so?" He questioned.
"Well, human souls are blue, like how you said. His soul seems to be… A bit red, no purple…" I paused in thought, 'What color is it? It isn't purple, cuz that would be a witch, but it's also not red. I just can't seem to nail it down, it feels like it has some kind of taint to it's color.' I just couldn't shake the strange feeling, "I don't know, it just feels... bruised?"
"Bruised?" My partner echoed looking at me like I'm crazy.
'Clearly he doesn't get it. How can I even expect him to understand, it's like explaining to a blind person what red is.' I shook my head giving up on explaining to him "Forget it. You wouldn't get it anyways. It's a Meister thing." I said teasingly.
"Whatever, Maka. We're wasting time. We need to report to the Big Guy, and get me patched up."
We stopped walking in front of a store. Soul wrote out Lord Death's number on the front window. It shimmered and rippled after writing down the last number. An image of a dark room appeared on the window, with a strong spotlight shining down, illuminating the image of the black-robed Lord Death.
"Hi-ooo. Soul and Maka, how did it go?" said the tall crooked figure wearing a large skull mask.
I took a sharp intake of breath to stall before answering him. I don't want to admit my failure.
"The target got away," Soul cut the crap.
"Soul!?" I exclaimed
"At least we got his associate," Soul continued.
"Hmmmm... I'm sorry to hear that, Maka."
"I know, and It won't happen again?"
"You know the mark of a good meister is one that is prepared for the unexpected."
"We'll be able to go back out tomorrow," I quickly inserted. "We know his identity and we have a pretty good chance of finding him again."
"Cheer up, I'm sure your mother and father would be proud of how you were able to turn the situation into a partial victory."
"Sir, could you please hold off on telling my father until I get our target?"
"Weeeeeeeell…" Lord Death said uncomfortably.
"It's okay, Maka, Papa's here," Spirit suddenly became visible next to Lord Death, blubbering and bawling his eyes out. "When you get back we'll have a father-daughter date to cheer you up."
The word date felt like an ice cube stuck in my throat. My face visually turned to disgust at the mental image of spending time with my father. Death was kind enough to shove him away from the mirror.
"Were you able to ascertain any information from them?"
I reiterated the conversation as well as I could remember. "And that's all I remember before those boys blew my cover."
"Boys?" Spirit sneaks back in front of the mirror before being pushed back away again.
"There were just three boys trying to find the European Death HQ."
"Oh, I see. So that's how it happened." Lord Death said remorsefully.
"Lord Death, do you know of anyone who, errrh… encountered a soul that was, tainted?"
"Hmm, is it related to the boys you encountered?" Lord Death pondered.
"No!" I lurched backwards, "Well, maybe. I'm just not sure that I saw what I think I saw?"
I stumbled my way through explaining how it felt sensing that unusual soul color.
Lord Death stroked his mask. "Did anything else unusual happen on this mission?" He asked me directly.
"Yeah," Soul cut in. "The target's associate tossed him some sort of object. He called it a Tool. Didn't look like any tool I've ever seen. Looked more like a necklace."
Lord Death straightened, "A Tool!? Do you remember what it looked like?"
Soul shook his head, and I could only say, "Sorry, Lord Death. They were whispering to each other and we could barely hear them. But then they spotted us and he just said to take the tool, throwing him the object." My mind just couldn't stop wondering how I was able to lose sight of them. "But what I do remember is that when I was chasing the target, I repeatedly found it hard to pick him out from the crowds of humans."
Lord Death turned his head away from us, "Spirit, do you think it is some sort of new development of Soul Protection?"
"Soul Protection? What is that?" I asked.
Spirit and Lord Death continued whispering to each other. "But, it's a kishin egg. They don't have magic," Spirit whispered back.
"Yes, not ordinarily. But this is the witch-cult we're talking about. They do work with them," Lord Death continued to whisper to Spirit.
I looked over to my partner. He seemed to be just as confused as I was.
Lord Death stroked the bottom of his mask. "Maka, I want you to take the first flight back to the DWMA…"
"Lord Death, please don't," I begged. "I'm sorry they got away last time, but if you give me another chance I believe…"
He held up a hand interrupting, "This is not a punishment, Maka. There is sensitive information I believe that could be gleaned from your experience. Once me and Spirit are able to hear about this information, I promise you I'll give you the opportunity to go back out there."
There was no use arguing with Lord Death.
*Yeager POV.
After being tested and processed, we were given lodging for the night at HQ. We were scheduled to take a plane in the morning with the other meisters and weapons called on missions or to Death City itself.
We all took a step forward as the line moved closer to our seats on the plane.
"Whoa, who knew they had their own airport?!" Eric spoke, taking another step forward. He continued in an excellent imitation of a stewardess, "Thank you for choosing Valkyrie Air, the only airline where you are encouraged to bring weapons! We ask that you keep your explosives and blades safely stored in your overhead compartment. Weapon transformation is strictly prohibited for the duration of the flight."
Me and Otto chuckled at our brother's joke.
"Hey, get moving already, I have an important intelligence security meeting I have to get to!" A rude man in a business suit yelled at us.
"Sorry." I answered by pushing my brothers so we could sit down.
"Prick!" Eric yelled back.
"You little brat." The business suit man tried pushing his way through the line to get at us.
"Sit down, Eric!" I grabbed his shoulder, forcing him into his seat. "Listen, I'm sorry for what my brother said, and I know you're an important big guy and the bureau, so why don't we just all calm down."
"Ummm, sir. Do we have a problem here?" A flight attendant politely asked, taking his attention off of us.
"Dammit Eric, you should just learn when you should keep your mouth shut." I whispered, taking my seat.
We had a long moment of silence, as we watched the rest of the line continue shuffling down the aisle. Eric stood up watching the angry business suit man complaining to the flight attendant.
"She's cute." Eric commented.
"Yeah, maybe you should thank her for saving our hides." I suggested
Eric looked back at me with a wry grin. "What are you planning now?"
"You'll see, big brother." Eric said sarcastically.
I close my eyes not one thinks about who's playing on attempting. I chuckled thinking back, thinking of all of the crazy events that happened the previous day.
"Guys, don't you think it's a little strange that they were expecting us?" Otto asked hesitantly.
"Kind of," answered Yeager, "but obviously Dad called ahead to make sure we didn't lie."
"I think it might be a bit more than that. I mean, don't you think that the test taker was a bit ...?" Otto trailed off.
"A bit what, Otto?" asked Yeager.
"Weird... eccentric," Eric supplied.
"Eager, I suppose." Otto finished.
"In what way?" asked Yeager.
Otto slowly shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure, it's a feeling I had. How did he seem to you?"
"I guess, during the Physical, they asked me to transform into my weapon form and he was a bit, how should I put it… a bit expectant?" Eric said at a loss for words.
"Yeah, I thought so," Otto agreed then looked over to me.
"Umm well, he did for a portion of that exam but then…" I trailed off in thought, I wonder if he knew? Was he able to see how I was ...different?
Eric cleared his throat. "Umm, miss?"
The flight attendant turned from the overhead compartment.
"Yes, how can I help you boys." "Oh wow, What a beautiful pin." he indicated towards the swan brooch on her chess.
She beamed. "thank you. My family's name is Swan. My grandmother gave this to me."
"I should have guessed that you had such a lovely name. Miss Swan."
"You can call me Clara." She answered.
"Well, Clara Swan, this is my first time flying so… I'm wondering if you can run me through it, you know, what to expect." Eric said with a friendly smile. "If it's not too much trouble that is,' He added quickly, "I'm sure you are busy"
"Of course. That's my job! " she said brightly. "Is this the first time for all of you?"
Otto and I nodded,'Yes ma'am"
"Well, there is no need to be nervous. Air travel is very safe.' Clara assured us warmly, "We will spend the next 15-20 minutes waiting while the crew finishes pre-flight checks, so you have time to get settled. Then we will do seat belt checks and move to the tarmac and wait a few minutes for clearance to take off, that's normal. Then we will take off, it's a bit like a roller coaster. Have you boys been on a roller coaster before?"
Otto and I nodded, "Yes" But heard Eric say "No, I haven't," He looked down and leaned towards her, "I was nervous, what's it like?"
I shook my head and sighed, I couldn't believe what I was hearing, on second thought I could. Our first and only rollercoaster was two years ago. There was a faire set up in a town 50 miles away and Eric found out about it. I thought there was no way it could happen but Eric somehow convinced Ada that it was an event that couldn't be missed, so our militia Commandant drove us all. When we got to the line it was clear Eric was shy of the height requirement, nonetheless, he hopped up and stuck out his chest with a big grin and the lady taking tickets smiled and waved him through.
"You know it's kind of embarrassing…" Eric leaned closer to the flight attendant. "But umm, I don't know how to put the seat belt on."
"Oh don't worry I can help you there. I'll get you some ginger ale to help your nerves." She beamed brushing off.
"So, you were talking about your test?" Eric turned to me.
"Well, during the Psychological portion it's just he asked about our father and what he was up to. He seems quite interested in him, excited even." I stopped as I was thinking about it, "That was strange, that he knew of him."I said staring off into the distance.
"He knows Dad?" Eric asked.
"No, he seemed to know of him." I shook my head, and my brows furled as I thought back, "His expression changed halfway through the exam."
"Changed to what?"
"I don't really know, surprise, fear? No... but that's when he strangely said he needs to go out for a bit. I don't know what he saw or what would warrant that response but that's when he was gone for like a half an hour, and when he came back… he seemed back to normal," I spoke staring off into the distance as I was deep in thought.
I was brought back to the conversation I had with my father at our home. The atmosphere felt tense and serious between the two of us. My father was sitting opposite me in the living room, only the sound of the ticking cuckoo clock.
"I find it hard to believe that you would be involved with this…" My father gestured to the camouflage uniform and an MP 40 on the coffee table.
"That's because you don't understand; none of you adults believe us…"
"You told me that this was a reenactment group. And these 'camping' trips? What have you boys really been doing?" my father searched my stoney face for answers I could not give. "I didn't train you to fight in a gang," my father concluded.
"We're not a gang, we are a militia," I said, holding back the emotion inside.
This entire mess started 10 years ago, when wild animals around our small town began acting strange, started attacking our town folk. Violent crimes started to escalate in neighboring towns. Our happy alpine communities seemed to be going mad. The older kids in our village at the time came together and formed the Folk Militia. It all got out of hand when the migrant crisis hit us. Arabs and European gangs sprung into existence fighting each other; they've gone mad and began eating Human Souls.
"The gangs are kidnapping our town's little girls. They're not people anymore, they are ke…" I said, before being cut off by my father.
"You don't know that, Yeager! You're dehumanizing those immigrants, and blaming them for crimes you have no evidence for." My father paused looking back at my brother's room, "Your responsibility is to protect your brothers, not encouraging them to put themselves in danger." He looked over to the picture of our mother on the wall. "This is not what your mother would have wanted you to have done. Your younger brothers look up to you, Yeager, and whatever you do will influence them."
It wasn't normal for us to be at odds with each other and not see eye-to-eye, but we've all tried too many times telling them what happened, but no one believed us, except for our local pastor. 'I know they did it. As a Meister, like my father before me, I could detect their Evil Souls. I had seen them first-hand kidnapping our town girls. I've seen the Keishin Egg devour innocent humans. My brothers and I fought off a bear attack out in the forest, driven mad by the same source that everyone is being affected by.'
"I want you boys to enroll in the DWMA. I think it would be good for all of you. I learned a lot there, especially responsibility. Since you boys insist on fighting, I'd much rather you guys fight to protect people, rather than trying to take their lives!"
'DWMA? That's all the way in America. Is he punishing us? I couldn't blame him for trying to get us out of the town. One of our friends died because of my mistake, I couldn't protect them all. I didn't even know he was missing until it was too late, the gangs had taken him away. We only found out that he was dead two hours ago by the police, butchered and dumped in the river.'
"You're punishing me? No, you're punishing my brothers. They were not involved in this." "If you're going to send me away, why not the new Academy in Nuremberg? They have a good Headmaster?"
"Yeager!..." my father said forcefully with a pained look in his eye.
The room fell silent again, only a ticking clock. I was stunned by his outbursts. 'What's the problem he has with the Nuremberg Academy?'
"I have my reasons…" His voice hitched as he held back the sadness showing in his eyes, "You and your brothers need to enroll in the DWMA and learn from the teachers that I learned from."
"Why are you trying to convince me? Why are you not trying to convince them? Don't they get a say in this matter?"
"Because, Yeager, your brothers will follow you no matter what you decide. They won't go if you're not there, and they won't stay. They may not like it, but in the end they will follow you."
AN. And that's where I'm going to have to end it here folks, Introductions are now finished, and now we can start the next chapter with the academy. Where our two main characters will clash together at school.
A special thanks to my sisters for reading, reviewing, and suggesting. And thanks to you for reading, I hope to continue to entertain you.