Chapter Twenty

The students and staff at DWMA came together and helped clean up the mess made by the attack. Kid was in charge of the clean-up crew even with the injuries he took in the battle. He assisted with salvaging parts that weren't destroyed and could still be reattached to whatever it fell from.

"Kid!" Black Star called to him.

Kid met him and Tsubaki halfway on the court. "How's everything on your end?" he asked.

"We finished cleaning the lower interior." He told Kid. "A lot of the parts were crumbled because of those damned ogres. But some parts were spared and are being held in storage."

"Good. Keep up the good work."

"Um, Kid, aren't you going to report to Lord Death about what happened here?" Tsubaki asked.

"Maka's father is reporting everything. How are the others recovering?"

"Maka and Soul are patched up." Tsubaki reported. "Maka took some heavy damage it looked like, so Stein is keeping her in the infirmary until she's able to walk again."

Kid looked up at everyone still gathering debris. "Anyway, I'm going to get back to work. Black Star, Tsubaki, mind giving me a hand?"

"Not at all." Tsubaki replied with a smile.

"Leave it to me!" Black Star went right to work, picking up material twice his size and moving them as fast as he could just to show off to the others. "Yahoo! I'll get this mess cleaned up in no time! So says the Great Black Star! YAHOO!"

"Careful with those, you idiot!" Kid exclaimed, nervously watching Black Star carelessly move in tact debris. "If you so much as damage any of the salvageable parts, I'll have your soul!"

Tsubaki quietly chuckled, taking Kid's side that Black Star needed to be more careful. "I'll make sure he doesn't damage anything." She quickly walked towards Black Star and helped him carry a pillar.

In the Death Room, Stein and Spirit stood before Lord Death with the most serious expressions they've ever worn. Spirit gave Lord Death the full report of what had happened. Lord Death examined the two of them, uneasy by the situation they were currently in. "So how is Blood doing? From what you told me, I expect he's in a critical condition." He asked Stein.

"He's in the infirmary resting." Stein said while blowing a puff of cigarette smoke. "He wasn't as bad as I thought. It was mostly over-exhaustion from the Soul Resonance he and Misao attempted to perform." His eyes went narrow as he remembered what Blood told him before all of this happened.

"I come from a clan of weapons. We are trained from the moment our powers emerge, to learn how to fully utilize our abilities without the help of a meister. This symbol on my arm is supposed to help me channel my power so I don't lose control of myself. I was able to perform Soul Resonance with Master Isame because he was a skilled meister who knew how to control any weapon he wanted; like you. But…Misao is a different story…"

"Blood told me that because of the way he was raised in his clan, it has been hard for him to adjust with being used by a meister." Stein told Lord Death and Spirit. "He and Misao have tried many times to perform their Soul Resonance. Every time they did, he'd always unleash more power than Misao could handle."

The room fell into a long and uneasy silence as the heaviness of that story lingered over the three of them. Spirit let out an exhausted sigh. "Those two are special, there's no doubt about that." He said with a small grin on his face.

"Indeed they are." Lord Death spoke. "I saw everything that happened. It was amazing at how much energy they were able to generate as they were performing their attack. But…Blood lost control of his energy as it was mixing with Misao's, and temporarily threw off their wavelengths."

"That's when Misao's soul was damaged." Stein finished off.

"Oh dear, this is a problem."

"I was going to penalize them for refusing to show me their technique, but after hearing Blood's excuse and seeing it with my own two eyes, I guess that's out of the question."

"We have more serious business to attend to than evaluations." Spirit said in a dark tone. "The Kishin is gaining more power by the minute. It won't be long before he takes that orb from Misao's body. Sending someone in there to take her back won't work either, since he'll have more security on her than before."

"You're right Spirit. This is no time to sit around." Lord Death said, facing his mirror. "If Asura takes Misao's orb and swallows it…it'll be the end of humanity as we know it." An ominous feeling dropped on Stein and Spirit as they heard Lord Death say those words. "Misao doesn't quite know how to use the orb's power on her own. If she did, she could tip the battle in our favor and defeat Asura quicker than we ever could alone."

"But that's not the case, is it?" Spirit asked, already knowing the answer.

"Correct." He turned back around to face them. "The orb's power is too great for her. She is able to channel a small portion of it, but it's not enough to fend off the Kishin or his influence."

"We need to tell Blood what's going on when he wakes up."

"That will be my responsibility." Lord Death said, approaching Stein and Spirit. "If I explain everything to him, I think he'll take it easier."

"That's a god idea." Stein agreed while Spirit nodded his head. "He's still asleep right now. I'll go check on him. Excuse me." Stein turned and exited the Death Room. He adjusted his glasses while continuing down the hallway with a slightly sadistic expression on his face. 'Misao and Blood are both fascinating creatures.' He blew out another puff of smoke and then chuckled evilly. 'I'd give anything to dissect them and see what makes them tick.'

He entered the infirmary where the first thing he saw was Soul sitting beside Maka. Maka looked up at Stein with a smile when he approached them and stood at the end of the bed. "How are you doing, Maka?" he asked her.

"Much better, professor. Thank you."

"I gave her something to snack on a while ago." Soul told Stein."

"That's good." Stein placed a hand on Maka's forehead and then gently tapped a few of the bandaged areas on her body. "Do any of these places hurt at all?"

She shook her head. "Not anymore. It's just my hip that's hurting a little bit." Maka admitted.

"I see. I'll look for some pain killers. Soul, can I trust you to change her bandages there?"

"Sure thing, teach."

Stein walked towards his cabinets to look for some medicine. "Has Blood showed any sign of waking up?"

"Not yet." Soul answered in a disappointed tone. "But he has been talking in his sleep, though. He keeps apologizing to someone named Master Isame or whatever, and then repeats Misao's name over and over."

"The last time he talked was over an hour ago." Maka added. "They were low mumbles, but we could understand what he was saying."

"He must be punishing himself for letting Misao be taken away again."

"Their bond is really strong, isn't it?" Maka asked while she allowed Soul to remove the bandages from her hip and place an icepack on it.

Stein put out his cigarette in an ash tray on his desk as he looked at the bottle of pills he held in his hand. "It certainly is. One of the reasons is because of Blood is thankful to Misao's father for taking him in when his clan was under attack. He has sworn undying loyalty to her family."

"That's pretty cool of him." Soul said. "A weapon should be dedicated to their meister. Their job is to protect the meister."

"That's correct, Soul. You and Maka have demonstrated the weapon/meister unity since you first arrived at the academy."

"But I think Blood and Misao have a stronger bond outside of meister and weapon." Maka added.

"What other bond do they have?" Soul asked while putting on a new bandage on Maka.

"I can't believe you're so blind to it, Soul." Maka looked at him with a smile. "Tsubaki and I were talking a while ago, and she got the vibe that Blood might be in love with Misao."

"In love?" Soul asked in confusion. "Are you serious, Maka?" He looked over at Blood who was still asleep in his bed. "I don't get that vibe from them at all. Maybe you and Tsubaki are misreading their signs. What do you think about it, Professor Stein?"

Stein handed Maka some water and then two small pills in another cup. He chuckled as he adjusted his glasses. "It's hard to say." He looked at Blood while wearing a small smile. "Their bond is very strong and Blood is overly protective of Misao. To be honest, it's not my place to say whether they are in love or not."

"Maka is right." Blood spoke in a low tone, breathing deeply several times before opening his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "I do have feelings for Misao. Which is why I try to keep her in my sights."

Everyone was happy that Blood was awake but no one made a big deal out of it. "Good to see you're awake, Blood." Stein said with a small smile.

"Blood, you really do love Misao as more than a meister?" Maka asked.

"Yes, I do." He sighed. "From the first day we met, she was friendly and accepted me right away. Her father helped me hone my skills when it came to fighting with a meister. But I never thought…that Misao and I would be a compatible team."

"It is rare for one meister to match wavelengths with another meister's weapon. But I wouldn't say it's unheard of." Stein said. "Like you said, you experienced instant chemistry with Misao the moment you interacted with her. When the two of you first paired up, you were in perfect sync. Your friendship was strong, your loyalty to protect her was strong, you two had passed every test to make you guys a weapon/meister team."

"But I still can't protect her from the Kishin. He's more powerful than I am, or will ever be. I failed Master Isame, Misao…even myself. I vowed I would do nothing that would harm Misao. But I did. I allowed her to be brought here where I thought she'd be safe. And I lost control of myself during our Soul Resonance." He gripped his arm tightly, remembering the first time he and Misao attempted to use Soul Resonance. The results weren't as bad as they were in this battle. But still, Blood couldn't get over the fact that he caused Misao pain.

Everyone stared at him for a moment, taking in the heaviness he was emanating in the room. It was a heaviness no one wanted to feel…not even Blood. But he couldn't help himself. Stein closed the silence. "You still regret coming to the academy? The situation that occurred cannot be changed. The academy is meant to protect the good of everyone, including its students and other meisters and weapons outside of the academy."

"That's a load of bull." Blood sat up, ignoring the slight pain he felt in his chest and stomach.

Stein's eyes narrowed, as well as Soul's. "What's that supposed to mean?" Soul pushed off of the window, speaking in a slightly threatening tone.
"You better explain yourself."

"You say that the DWMA is meant to protect everyone and maintain the balance between good and evil. Yet…you all judge certain individuals and believe a single group of people are evil."

"Are you speaking of the kishin eggs?" Stein asked.

"No, not them." Blood answered. "The ones I'm speaking of are the witches. You judge them just because of what some of them have done to hurt individuals. But have you considered that not all witches are evil or associated with the witch council?"

Stein, Maka and Soul all stared at each other for a long moment before they looked back at Blood, who gave all of them a disapproving look; the same look they were giving him.

Sorry this chapter is sort of short. I kind of have this story organized in my head and I have a plan for each chapter to keep it interesting and somewhat suspenseful. Misao is going to explain the whole witch thing in the next chapter. The final battle is coming soon.

Stay tuned and R&R!