Chapter 16: Traces. Because of You, My Love?
Nearly a month. Nearly a whole month since she last saw him. Leads upon leads that got Maka nowhere closer to finding her loved one. Logan Lieben. Every day was spent searching for him. Lord Death was understanding and let Maka's group search for him. It wasn't turning up anything. Maka could feel that today was going to be different. The group was running into a village that was thought to be wiped out by a Keshin Egg. Yet, when the word got out a boy with a black blade ripped apart the evil being and swallowed the soul. Witnesses also said that the boy kept repeating only two sentences.
"I'm sorry, so sorry." and "I miss you Maka."
As Maka was running carrying Soul across her back in scythe form. His voice came from the silence of the trek,
"Do you really think we will find him? It has been three whole days since the incident. Well even if we don't find him we might find a clue."
"Yeah. I miss him so much. I hope this lead doesn't end up being a dead end."
The village came up and Kid and Blackstar along with their weapons by their side. With a nod they fanned out looking for the wayward student. The village was quite small but a hint could be anywhere around the village. The only place Maka went was the middle of the village. Blackstar saw the leaves of the trees swirling around and stopped dead in his tracks. Tsubaki spoke up,
"Blackstar why have you stopped? We need to keep-"
"Tsubaki, over there. Is that...?"
A shadow was moving just away from the pair. It carried a black blade.
"Kid, what exactly are we looking for?"
"Well Patty, we are looking for any sign that Logan has been here. We need to find him, for Maka's sake and for his own. How are you holding up Liz?"
"I'm okay. I just want to find him and tell him how I feel. I want to save him from himself. I told Maka."
"What exactly did you tell her?"
"I told her that I still love him. I told her that I'll...tell him."
As they moved along a black blade shimmered through the leaves.
"Maka. Are you alright? We can take a break if you want."
Maka thought it was sweet of Soul to be thinking about her well being, yet her hands and knees kept shaking. The closer she got to the center of town, the more anxious she got. All the hope she had, was building up. Maka found a small totem with a light emanating from the middle of it. As she got closer it became a clear image of a flower. Maka ran and put her hand close to it. A Rose and a Lily next to each other. They both were glowing a light blue color. When her touch graced the small glowing flowers a large shockwave of light covered the village. An image of Logan appeared in front of the girl and her partner. His eyes had a sullen look about them. Maka's eyes welled up and she let out one word,
"Logan."
The image started to speak with a sorrowful tone,
"Maka. I see you found my message. This is being relayed to only you and those around you because I set it to only play when your wavelength was close enough. The first thing i want to say is I am sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I had been losing track of minutes then hours of myself to the black blood. Now I fear I can only take control of myself for a few minutes each day. It's all horrific. I miss you so much. But I am driving myself to stay away from you and everyone. I don't want to hurt you. Now I must go. If my mind and body allows it, you'll see more of these, more flowers."
The Image faded as Maka saw a tear come from Logan's cheek. She reached out and watched as he faded away. She was about to cry when Blackstar jumped back with a cut across his chest. He was screaming out,
"Damn it Logan knock it off."
Soon after a shadow figure that looked like Logan hopped by without a word, its hair blocking view on its eyes. Kid jumped back shooting several times as another shadow Logan attacked, swinging a black blade missing Kid's neck. They all went back to back as one last Shadow appeared and leapt towards them. Maka flipped upwards and kicked one in the face. it twisted its body and grabbed her leg pulling her to the ground. Maka used Soul to bat away the creature, while slicing one of its arms off. The severed arm crashed to the ground in a puddle of black inky substance. The creature wasn't phased by the loss of a limb as it attacked once again. With a swift change in formation, Blackstar cut one's head clean off. It fell to its knees then to the ground. It turned to the same substance as the arm. After about thirty three more minutes of fighting they had stopped the two other shadows. Maka turned to see that Blackstar's cut was gone and that all the injuries they had sustained we disappearing. Kid took a deep breath,
"It's just as i thought; Soul Phantoms."
Everyone looked confused at his words so he just had to explain,
"See a Soul Phantom or Phantom if you want to be short, is a manifestation of inner turmoil of a powerful being. When the wavelength of a powerful soul becomes erratic it can leave traces behind that form and reside in a place for as long as it isn't slain. It is like a memory or a type or ghost if you will. They can kill mortals and anything that crosses into their domain, but if defeated the injuries you obtained, fade with the phantom. Some believe phantoms to be evil some don't even believe they exist since of their rare occurrence."
Maka looked at the ground and saw the black smudge where the first one died,
"So every time we get closer to Logan, we will have to fight these, phantoms."
"It could very well be the fact. The more Logan loses himself, the more phantoms will appear. If we do not find him soon, we could be fighting an army of those things."
"Even so, we should maybe get more help before we head off again. Let's call Lord Death and ask him for assistance. I feel like we will need it in the near future."
The call was worthwhile. They were sending the best miester that the DWMA had. Professor Frank N. Stein.