Chapter Seven

Meeting your maker.


Maka tried not to lay around the house and she tried to look as non-lazy as she possibly could but the throbbing pain in her head prevented her from properly doing so. Now that she knew she could resonate with Soul Eater she wanted to practice, practice, practice, and perfect it! It was almost like hope had filled her lungs and expanded her heart to the point where she thought she might burst from happiness. It had been so long since she'd resonated with anyone and the after effects of her and Soul's resonation proved to be absolutely salubrious.

With new found liveliness the blonde jumped to her feet and made haste with cleaning herself off and ridding the atmosphere of her hospital garb. Once in the shower she sat in the floor and allowed the hot water to purge her of the foul odor left to emanate from her skin cells. It had been nice to be alone like this when she was in her better moods. Any other day she would've been constantly zoning out and trying to find her way back from the hell encased inside her mind.

Maka's shoulders slumped ever so slightly as she recollected the memories she had of her and Soul. Back when she had nearly lost him to the thing called madness. His was much more complicated though, and she was pretty sure he still had short comings due to the infectious monstrosity labeled 'Black Blood'. Crona came to her mind for an instant and a single tear fell from her face. He vanished a mere six months after Soul left with Black Star and no one had seen or heard from him since.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the slamming of the front door. Which indicated that Soul had made it home. Maka stepped out of the shower and slipped into her green fuzzy sleepwear.

Maka trotted down the stair, her hair still wet, to ecstatically greet the newly arriving Soul Eater. "Soul!" She stopped at the bottom of the stairwell and glanced around. There had been no Soul...

"Soul, I heard you come in! What did Stein want?"

She made her way to the kitchen and paused suspiciously. The house had been quiet, way too quiet for a clumsy Soul Eater to have previously trampled through. If it wasn't the door... then what had made that noise?

Carefully, Maka walked around the kitchen's bar and made sure to be extra quiet as if she was trying to hear foreign footsteps. She stopped and took another look around the room until her eyes landed on the glass oven door. She could see her reflection perfectly.

Beautiful green vibrant eyes were staring back at her. She'd never felt so happy in her life to see that much color in one reflection.

A smile graced her face and she took note of how her skin was absolutely glowing with a sun kissed tan and a few freckles.

Maka wasn't at all conceited but she enjoyed a good view like anyone else. She inwardly giggled at her own antics and her almost neon green eyes rested on a setvoff red ones reflecting off the oven also. It had been the mere shock of the moment that caused her reaction to be so delayed.

She glanced back at her own green ones then looked again at the separate pair of eyes that seemed to be standing behind the bar.

Those eyes didn't belong to Soul Eater.

Tsubaki swayed her hips as she made her way down the street to Soul and Maka's place. She wanted to see Maka and check on her properly. Unfortunately, Black Star had tagged along with his big knock down drag out attitude reigning on her glorious parade.

"Now we are going to be optimistic and only say nice things to Maka, okay Black Star? No matter what you think we are still her friend and she needs us more than ever right now."

"Sure thing! Glad I can help."

Tsubaki smiled, "I'm very proud of you Black Star. It's no often I see you putting your friends needs before-"

"I mean this face could make anyone feel better, right? She should be thanking me for blessing her with my appearance today." He smiled wolfishly.

Tsubaki sighed and mumbled, "Never mind..."

The two reached the large home and Tsubaki gingerly rang the doorbell. She smiled to Black Star as they awaited the footsteps approaching the door. "Hello?"

A slightly high pitched voice met their ears which caused Tsubaki's eyebrows to furrow together. "Maka? A...are you...okay?" She was taken aback by the sight before her and wasn't sure exactly what to say.

"Maka? I'm sorry, I think you're mistaken. You have the wrong house."

A slightly paler Maka with long white locks of hair and piercing red eyes stood in the doorway. "B-but-"

Black Star put a hand on Tsubaki's shoulder, "She's right, we have the wrong house. Sorry to bother you, ma'am." He took his weapon's hand and walked toward Lord Death's office.

"B-black Star what just?"

"Don't worry that wasn't Maka. But we need to get to Soul and Lord Death as soon as possible."

"How do you know that wasn't her? Maybe the madness finally-"

"Trust me."

Maka had just pulled what may have been the riskiest move in her entire career so far. She wasn't exactly sure who rang the doorbell but she knew she had to take an opportunity when it was presented.

Carefully, and discretely she recognized the blue haired figure sanding outside the door and she held her hand up just high enough to catch his attention. With the techniques she'd acquired from reading an assassins journal a few years back she used a secret sign language to describe her current situation in hopes that Black Star wasn't the complete moron everyone perceived him to be.

His eyes connected with her green ones as the door closed and she knew he'd understood.

Now, she had been let with a female who possessed odd white hair and red eyes. She didn't talk much but the way she carried herself had been unsettling enough. Her physique was long and stiff, nearly no curves at all. She didn't look like that, did she?

Her eyes bore into Maka's green ones and the room was filled with complete silence. Maka felt she couldn't remove her own gaze from the girl in front of her in fear of what would come next.

So as they stood staring at one another Maka realized the unspoken truth. She was finally meeting her monster and greatest enemy; herself.