Chapter Eight

My baby.


Maka had stood in the kitchen and stared at the girl in front of her. It was amazing how much she had resembled Soul Eater. Except he actually had somewhat of a tan. On one hand she looked absolutely insidious, but on the other she seemed like she had been begging for help in some way. Maka couldn't quite find the feature that screamed she had been through pain.

"You know why I'm here?" Her voice was hoarse and unused. And it was almost like she never blinked.

"No, I don't even know who you are."

"I'm you."

"You can't be me, I'm standing here."

"So am I."

"No, no that's not what I meant-"

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No. No I'm not but you said you were the same person as me, I don't believe you-"

"I think you're afraid of me."

"I am not afraid of you."

"Think about it." Her red eyes averted to the bar and she slid a pale finger across the shiny countertop. "You're here without a weapon, defenseless. In front of the unknown."

"I am NOT defenseless."

"Oh but you are. You're whiny, bitchy, defenseless and you lack the strength to back up your own challenges."

Maka stared at her for a moment. "You don't know me."

"I AM you."

"If you were me then you'd know what you're saying is the biggest load of shit ever."

"You're delusional, if you could just wake up Maka Albarn and see what you really are. What WE really are. I'm the truth, you're what you want to be."

"You're confusing."

Her red eyes snapped up to her and she smiled. "I am you, Maka. I am Maka. I'm everything you are that makes you undesirably human. I'm all of your pent up emotions, I'm your turned cheek, I'm your source of anger, aggression, regret, and insecurities." Maka furrowed her brows, "Haven't you noticed how good you've felt these past few days? How vibrant you felt with your famous green eyes? You thought it was because of your lovers return? How sweet, but how wrong you were."

"I don't follow..."

"I allowed you to feel that way, because I left. Soul Eater Evans' return was the perfect opportunity for me to plan my escape. That way you thought it was him that made you feel all happy." She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You really don't believe that I am you? You're a stupid girl. You've been sickly mad for a long time, the only thing that's kept you safe from me is that silly Stein and his treatments. It was a pain to work around but I had already taken care of one obstacle, why not wait out Stein?"

"Wait- one obstacle?"

"Oh yes! Your little friend… what was the name...pink hair... always gave uplifting speeches to you...stuttered a lot..."

Maka's eyes hardened, "What did you do to Crona?!"

"Crona! That's the name! No need to worry, we set him away."

"We? Now there is a 'we'? I thought you were me!?"

Meanwhile, with Stein...

"What are we waiting for?!" Soul had almost ripped apart the entire hall with Stein in tow.

"Soul we can't just barge in, from what Black Star and Tsubaki described I believe I know what we're dealing with."

Soul hesitated before he'd stopped and gave him his full attention. "Well?"

"I need Spirit to accompany us, I need a weapon I'm most compatible with, you cannot go in alone."

"Where the hell is he?!"

Black Star looked at Tsubaki, "We saw him heading toward Maka's earlier."

"We'll meet him there and you can tell us what we're up against on the way, Stein."

Spirit had practically been frolicking to the home that Maka shared with Soul. He was so excited to see and check on his baby girl he could hardly contain himself. Once he'd arrived he only knocked twice before letting himself in.

"Maaakkaaa! Darling, daddy brought you some flowers!" Spirit pranced into the kitchen where he saw Maka standing, "You look a lot better! I'm glad I was so worried!"

Maka forced a smile and took the flowers, "Thanks, dad."

"Ohhh my baby!" Spirit hugged her and kissed her forehead before releasing her and looking around, "What were you doing? It's so quiet in here... why don't we watch some tv?"

"I don't think that's really the best idea, daddy..."

Spirit arched a brow. She had referred to him as her father two times in a row without even twitching or seizing. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, just...fighting with myself...dad." She smiled and nodded, "You know how badly I talk to myself at times..."

Spirit paused for a moment, "Let me get you a vase to put those flowers in, surely Soul has one or two laying around here..."

"I'll probably have to pick one up..."

Spirit stepped back and leaned against the bar with a more serious look on his face. His teeth played with his bottom lip for at least two minutes before he spoke again. "You can come out now."

Maka tensed.

"I can smell you from over here."

"What are you talking about dad?"

"Maka, are you hiding a witch?"

"W-witch?"

"I said come out!"

He stood straight and looked around the room until a white haired girl with red eyes entered his vision.

"A death scythe, huh? Just my luck."

Spirit looked unamused, "Can't believe I didn't smell your stink when I walked in, you must be good at this..."

"Oh please, I've become quite the local here."

"She's a witch? but she said she was me! She basically said she was the reason I was mad." Maka looked up at Spirit.

"It's possible, it would make sense anyway. You could be possessed by a witch and drove to madness but that's not something that happens very often. She's had to have been targeting you for some reason. It's okay, she'll tell me before I cut her tongue out and devour her soul."

"Save your speech death scythe, I don't plan to fight you now."

"No offense but I'm not exactly on your schedule."

Maka was ready. If her father had needed to resonate with her and kill this bitch she was full on ready to go toe to toe with her. She'd been messing with her emotions, fucking up her sleep, driving her insane at an agonizingly slow pace and her ticket was about to be punched. Her green eyes narrowed and she clenched her fists. "I don't care what you want or why you targeted me. The fact is you are not me and I'm going to kill you."

Spirit, for a moment, thought he'd heard his ex wife talking and glanced toward Maka. It wasn't quite his ex wife but her presence had been evident in Maka's determined eyes.

"Since my play time is up i'll be seeing a lot more of you two later I suppose." The white haired girl literally vanished in front of them.

Not a moment later Soul and Black Star barged through the door. Spirit looked surprised and smiled. "You missed it! My baby stared down a nasty witch!"

Maka slumped her shoulders and sighed, "Don't call me that!"