Hey Snacklets,
Welcome back from break. I hope you enjoyed fun times and good drink. Anyway a few announcements:
1) Verdant flames has been discontinued due to a lack of interest on both my part and the community. I still have the whole thing planned out in my head so it may come back at some point but not right now.
2) I am losing interest in this story as well. There are only a few chapters left but they are getting harder to write. Please send fan art, pm's, review ect to get me more motivated please. (like the amazing ones CrazyCow leaves: I didn't forget you. Thanks!)
3) This officially marks the beginning of the end. Were ending in about 5 chapters now, sad to see you guys go. Well enjoy and leave me nice gifts to write more!
=om
"Soul 'Eater' Evans" Kid's father boomed from his perch above the group of young adults. He had been watching the exchange with interest. When Kid had come with the proposal of holding on to souls he instantly rejected it. However, with the promise of their happiness he relented. It was hard to say no to his son, especially when it was in the best interest of the humans.
However, as he allowed Soul's sins to filter through his mind he sighed sadly. He had already bent the rules once, he couldn't do it again.
As the last coin fell into place behind him with a resounding thud there was only silence remaining. The scales had fallen and not in his favor. The poor girl had grown on him and for more than himself it hurt to see the pained look on her face. It reminded him so much of the one who had roped him into this whole predicament to begin with.
"You have sinned a great many sins. You have left your responsibilities behind for your own selfish needs. You have hurt many with your acts and ignored others who were in need. You have taken more from this world than you have given. Now you must give up your soul as penance."
"No!" The girl screamed out. He was forced to watch as he son visibly held her back, her small hands clawing to be released.
"Oh… I shoulda guessed, huh?" The white-haired man before him rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. It reminded Lord Death almost of a child knowing they were caught doing something naughty. "So what happens then?"
Soft cooing from Kid had calmed the hysterical woman and her rough breathing was the only sound in the small room.
What now, indeed. Death found himself in quite the predicament. Normally the boy would just be sent for Chaos to burn away his sins and send him back into the cycle. But he was not blind to conflict that had been set upon his son. He knew if he left the boy to Stein, the man may never send him back into the human world choosing instead to use the boy to attack the weakness Kid had made for himself. While many things went unsaid in his household, no one ever questioned his love for his son and his happiness. Yet again he found himself bending the rules, well more so making a special circumstance.
"Be grateful and wary as I offer you a choice." The Lord of Death ignored the others in the room focusing only on the young man. He seemed surprised at the offering yet contemplative. "You must pay for your sins to be reborn… and yet due to the fickleness of the Gods this is a difficult situation. If you chose rebirth, many things could happen. You may never be reborn, you may be tortured for longer than your sentence, and perhaps most drastically of all, you will be used against her. "
He gestured to Maka whose voice had grown sore with the massive amounts of emotion she had sustained throughout this small time. She looked shocked and then furious before settling on the realization that she was keeping this boy from his humanity.
"Or, you may stay in the Underworld, stripped of your memories, your humanity, and your soul." It was a difficult decision for the Death God but the best option he saw at hand. He knew the many stipulations that may come with it but could not influence the boy in anyway. Still, the death of a soul was a tragic thought indeed.
"Why would anyone want to hurt Maka?"
"As I said, Gods are fickle." Maka stepped forward as if to explain further, or perhaps she wanted to tell the boy that he should take his chances to be reborn. But, just as Death could not intervene she could not as well.
"Maka, this is a choice he must make on his own." Lord Death swelled in pride at his young son. He spoke with the authority of a true reaper and yet, had always felt so different than Lord Death himself. The Shinigami was curious to see what would become of his child.
"I- I'm scared. I really never could have imagined I'd find myself in a place like this." Soul answered truthfully. There was no way to lie in this chamber, which made it all the more difficult for the boy. Death could read his soul and the answer was obvious to him. "But it has given me the chance to see Maka again. For that, I am grateful. I chose the easiest path for others, I have been selfish way too long anyway."
"Very well." He was proud of this human as well. In giving up his humanity willingly he had made the greatest sacrifice possible. It was rare one would ever see it happen. Souls buried themselves in self-preservation, for once the soul is dead there is nothing human left.
"Soul… you can't-" Maka attempted to intervene but it was too late.
"The decision has been made." A breeze of cool air blew through the room, symbolizing the binding contract. The reaper would have to take his soul soon.
"Where will he go? If he stays here where will he be?" Maka asked quietly as Kid had finally released her. She approached the young human before winding her arms around him sadly. She clung to him like it was the last time she would ever see him, and depending on her definition, perhaps it was.
"I will find a place for him. He cannot stay with us however. You are too much for him to be near. Once his soul has been stripped away his body will desperately look for one to cling to. It will be too dangerous." Lord Death flicked through his mind thinking of many lands he had in his grasp, all of them far from the palace but not nearly isolated enough.
"Father." While he wasn't paying attention his hands had fallen into a mock prayer position the humans used. It was something he found very interesting. Despite all the time humans had spent of earth the gesture always returned in some form.
"Speak."
"May I suggest sending him with The God of Darkness?"
"Why?"
"Shadow is a handful but I know he is lonely. He is left with nothing but the stars for his comfort, perhaps he could use a companion." At times Lord Death wondered how it was his son found answers where he himself could not.
"You may call him if you wish to ask." Kid nodded before he retreated tapping at the band on his wrist. It wasn't long before the beautiful blue gem lit up. While Kid was explaining things Lord Death watched the exchange between the two former humans. The way their souls intertwined he smiled briefly. The beautiful match they made just reinforced the boy's decision. A soul would be miserable knowing its mate could never wander the earth with it again.
"Yahoooo!" Death drew his attention to the small darkish green hole that seemed to form in midair. After just a moment the exuberant God of the Shadows and Stars came bounding through. "Where is my newest subject Princey-boy? He must bask in my awesome Goditude."
"So I would assume that you accept BlackStar."
"Well, it's only fair that since I am so powerful I need to spread it around to the rest of you." He ran up to the toothy human before throwing his arm around the boy's neck. "Although he does seem kind of scrawny. What does he eat?"
"Excuse you I am NOT a pet." Soul growled out, forcefully removing the God's arm from his body.
"No! You are my loyal subject and I will see to it that you are fed the best! Now Kid, was it like Fancy Feast or Science Diet?"
"You little." Shadow hollered as the white haired boy chased him around the room, not gaining any distance but not really giving any either.
"I like him." He stated after the two had worn themselves out and collapsed in the middle of the room. Maka had retreated to his son's side once again. In a rarely seen serious moment the jokester looked gravely at Maka. "I will keep him safe."
"That's more than I could ever ask of you."
Soul remained quiet, being most sensitive to the Death God in the room. His soul was finely tuned to respond like putty in a Shinigami's hands, ready to be reshaped and molded as needed. If only he could scrub away the dark spots. It hurt him so to say goodbye to another one of Life's children.
"It's time, isn't it?" Soul asked, silencing the room. The Shinigami simply nodded. "Okay better now than later. What do I do?"
"You must drink from the river of oblivion. Only that can erase your very soul."
"There's no way he can ever go back? Or that he can be like Liz and Patti?" Maka asked meekly with her hands folded in front of her.
"No," Kid answered for him. "Not without the help of the other kingdoms. He must drink his soul away to oblivion or else he will completely fade from existence."
"What will happen then?" Soul asked resigned to his fate. Death gave him credit, he didn't look as scared as he should.
"Your soul will be gone, completely empty. In its place will be something akin to what the gods hold. A mockery or a soul without any of the humanity. I am sorry. It is the only way."
"I'm ready." Soul smiled sadly at Maka before offering a sad wave. "I'll miss you more than anything, Maka."
"I'll miss you too, Soul." The god reached out to the far lands of his kingdom to the cave where the river flowed. He called forth a cupful and called it to his side. With a flick of his wrist a cup appeared for the liquid to settle into. With a measured descent it reached the boys waiting hands.
He smiled one last time before moving to sip away his humanity.
"Wait!" He paused as the girl reached out only to retract her hand again. "I saw Wes… He told me to tell you how much he loved you."
"Thank you, Maka." Hidden tears pricked the corners of his eyes. "That's a great thing to go out on."
Without another second of hesitation he flung back the goblet as the water drained down his throat. Kid observed with him while the others were forced to wait blindly. He saw the glowing light blue ball that was the human's soul flicker into existence as the rest of the room went dark. He watched it waver with life and power. It was an ancient soul placed back in the world many times. It had seen more things that his human mind could ever remember. It was nearly as old as his own, if not older. It spoke volumes of the man that could have faced the hellfire so many times and yet powered through once again for one more glimpse of life. It would be a shame to see this soul removed from earth.
However, slowly it started to die out as his human form began to fade away as well. In its place a more solid body grew, one that could stand in the underworld. The color faded from his soul leaving nothing but a smooth white ball.
When the process was complete he gazed upon the new resident of the underworld that had rose to take Soul's place. He looked no different and held himself the same, but his eyes held no emotion.
"Yo, the fuck am I doing here?" He asked broadly as he stretched his new body. Before Lord Death could answer Shadow did it for him.
"HELLO MY LOYAL SUBJECT!" He jumped on the 'younger' boy before pulling him into a hug. "It is so fantastic to meet you. As your God I will give you all the Fancy Feast you want!"
"What in the hell is Fancy Feast?" He responded as he struggled with the God.
"I don't really know. Something Tsubaki's subjects often speak of. But I will make sure you have it!" He gripped the pale boy harder and Lord Death couldn't help but chuckle.
"Get off me you punk!" The taller of the boys wrestled the blue haired God off him and into a head lock.
"Is this a challenge? Only my loyal subject would dare challenge me. I will beat you and show you the might of a GOD!"
"Not in my palace you won't." Lord Death answered tiredly. He rubbed his eyes through his mask and thought of all the time this whole ordeal had taken up.
"Right, off we go." Blackstar pulled something out of his bottomless pockets that resembled uncooked pizza dough before slapping it into the air where it hung open.
"What is that?" The boy pointed to the greenish-black thing that Shadow had already stepped on foot through. The God looked at him strangely before answering.
"Wormhole? Duh." Soul rolled his eyes before they landed on Maka. She waved half-heartedly before dropping her hand.
"Hey," Soul continued to stare at her as he held back the God with confusion on his face. Maka looked up hopefully as if wanting to call out to him to stay. "Who's tiney-tits over there?"
Maka's smile faded into a scowl and her face turned bright red. Lord Death chuckled as his son backed away to a safe distance.
"Uh oh!" Shadow pulled his new charge through the rip in space just in time to avoid the book heading straight for him head. Lord Death didn't even see where it had come from.
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After being curtly dismissed from the judgement room Kid lead Maka back to his room. He asked if she and wanted to go to the library but she simply muttered something about not being in the mood for reading.
Now they were sitting on his bed and he couldn't help but worry. The firecracker of a woman was never in a mood that didn't involve reading. She seemed very deep in thought and more than a bit confused. In its own way, it attracted Kid to her. She was always emotive and passionate. He could always see something working in her mind, just beyond her jade eyes.
He had laid back and decided to rest while he waited. After some previous experiences with the girl he found that pestering her with questions more often than not landed him in hot water. Slowly the thoughtful look became sadder until a dark realization dawned on her.
"Kid?" He glanced at her face and shivered. She had a small, sad smile on her face. Nothing about humans concerned him more than that. A smile was supposed to be a product of joy and happiness. Seeing any negative emotion connected to it made his skin crawl.
"Yes?"
"How long have I been down here?" He was fearful of her questions most of the time bit this time it was different. Almost as if she already had an answer.
"We don't really have time. A second here could be a year or a year here could be second."
"How long?"
Kid thought for a moment of the best way to answer. "In the cycles of sleep you have expirenced it has been about 360 'nights'."
"I know it's been longer than a year Kid." Kid had forgot how different she was from him. Time was something he was oblivious to. He never made a mental note to keep track. After all, the earth has been reborn hundreds of times since his birth why should they keep time when the concept itself was so fleeting.
"You mean how many human years you have been away." He supplied helpfully. He would like to think he had gotten better at picking up on the hidden meaning of words.
"Yeah." She was still sitting on the edge of the best with her eyes staring hauntingly at the floor. She was so beautiful and yet at the same time so tragic.
"It has been around 500 years on earth."
"Oh." She was calm she scooted closer and leaned her head on his shoulder. Hesitantly he wrapped an arm around her waist in an attempt to comfort her. "That long huh?"
She didn't move again. Kid was scared, he never seen a lack of emotion from her like this. He ventured a question. "Are you okay?"
"Everyone I have ever known is long dead. I feel so empty, so alone." Her eyes had lost their beautiful shimmer and sat dead in the socket while she stared at the floor.
"Why do you not weep?"
"Because I have no more tears to give." They rested like that for some time. It could have been hours or mere seconds, Kid was unsure.
"Maka?"
"Yeah?"
"You are never alone."
Muhahahaha! You thought Soul was going to get a happy ending? Nope! Lots of closure for our poor human girl. Well like I said story is wrapping up in the next 5 or so chapters. Hope you enjoyed. (I wish I was better at writing emotional stuff.)
-Om