Partners
It was a perfectly normal day in Death City, as far as most people were concerned. The streets were relatively quiet, most of the students were on their way to the Shibusen school for Meisters and their Weapons, and the oddly evil-looking sun was rising, almost appearing to shout at everyone to wake up. It was not, however, a normal day for one Shibusen student named Maka Albarn. Granted, it seemed normal so far, but she wasn't aware of just how much her world could be flipped upside-down in a single day.
Maka's first clue of how decidedly non-normal this day would turn out to be was the strange dream she had just woken up from. She decided it was early enough that she could lie awake in bed and ponder it for a little while. It had started out normal enough, but had eventually transitioned into her re-living her previous experience of dancing with her partner, Soul Eater Evans, inside of his very own soul. Going through it in her mind, away from the heat of the combat that had necessitated the brief descent into insanity that had followed, she was able to glean a little more from that event than she had at the time. First of all, she realized just how much she had enjoyed that dance--until she ended up stepping on his foot, at any rate. Second, she distinctly remembered what Soul had told her shortly before she slipped into insanity. "I really like you, Maka."--that was what he had said, and there had been a strange look on his face as he said that. It was almost as if-
"Hey, Maka! Are you awake yet? I made breakfast!"
She bolted upright in bed at the sound of Soul's call from the kitchen, the dream all but forgotten. "I'll be out in a few minutes!" she responded from her bedroom. "I just have to get a shower first!" She hastily ran into her bathroom and shed her clothes, stepping into the warm stream of water to clean herself off and get ready for the day.
By the time the pigtailed Meister had finished getting dressed and made it out into the dining area, her white-haired scythe partner had already gotten a plate of scrambled eggs and toast out for her, as well as a glass of milk. "Thanks, Soul!" she exclaimed before hungrily devouring her meal.
Soul, who had already finished eating and was sitting across the table from her, replied with his trademark toothy grin and said, "What can I say? A cool guy like me always treats his Meister right."
Maka simply nodded and continued eating her eggs, a slight blush showing on her cheeks.
Once breakfast was over, the pair headed over to Shibusen to start their class for the day. After class was over (and Professor Franken Stein attempted to dissect another endangered species) they made their way over to the mission board to select a mission for themselves. Maka hummed to herself as she scanned the available missions. "Hmm...Ah! Here's one that sounds great for us," said the small scythe Meister. "'Mysterious gang seems to be harvesting souls for some unknown purpose. Please get rid of them.' Sounds like we could get a lot of Kishin souls out of this one. What do you think, Soul? Shall we take it on?"
Soul looked like he was lost in his own world--either that or there was something very interesting on Maka's face. "Maka Chop," the girl quietly stated as she smashed the spine of the largest book in her bag over Soul's head, causing Soul to yelp in pain.
"Ow! What the hell did you do that for? Stupid tiny tits," muttered Soul. Unfortunately, this earned him another Maka Chop from his irate partner.
"It's your own fault for spacing out on me when I was asking you a question," stated Maka matter-of-factly. "And don't call me that." It's not my fault I'm underdeveloped, she thought. "So, did you wanna take that mission or not?" she questioned, pointing at the assignment on the board.
Soul just shrugged, rubbing his head where he had been hit. "Sure, as long as you don't hit me again." Sensing another book speeding towards his head, he instinctively ducked and covered his head, closing his eyes.
Maka just laughed as she held the book inches away from Soul's forehead. The instant he opened his eyes, she lightly tapped him on the forehead with the book, then proceeded to put it back in her bag, laughing to herself at his overreaction. When she stopped laughing, she said, "You know Soul, you're really cute when you do that." She then proceeded to walk towards the front doors of the building. "Come on Soul, we have to head home and get prepared," she called back.
Soul just smiled. "Not cool at all..." he muttered to himself, then took off after his Meister.
Later that day, the pair of Shibusen students hopped on Soul's motorcycle and made their way toward downtown, where the gang supposedly had their hideout. Once they arrived outside of the abandoned warehouse that the gang used as a base, they hopped off of the bike, preparing to enter.
"How many are there, Maka?" asked Soul.
Activating her Soul Perception, Maka peered into the warehouse, attempting to ascertain exactly how many souls resided in the building. "Well, there's a huge mass of human souls all packed in one location--those are probably the souls that the gang has been harvesting. I also sense a lot of Kishin souls--probably about 50--and one lone human soul."
"One human soul? Is that one crazy? Or are they just next in line?" mused the scythe.
"Well there's only one way to find out, isn't there, Soul?" she asked as she extended her hand.
Soul offered a smirk. "Of course."
He extended his hand as well, and Maka grasped it. Instantly, the human form of Soul Eater Evans was replaced with a giant black and red scythe, and Maka was gripping the handle, expertly twirling him around behind her back to rest on her shoulder. "Let's go!" she exclaimed.
The pair burst through the main doors of the warehouse, not seeing the point of sneaking in when there wasn't a single particularly strong soul in the building. The gang members, obviously not expecting anyone to have found out about them, looked toward them in a panic. In the few moments before anyone could react, Maka took in her surroundings. There were gang members everywhere, but they weren't much to worry about as long as she kept her wits about her. There was a large glass ceremonial-looking container in the back of the room containing all of the souls, and right in front of it stood a lone man in a long black cloak with a high collar, facing away from her. That man was the lone human soul, but there was something suspicious about him. He didn't look like a helpless victim, but then again he didn't look at all like a brave fool daring to take them all on, either. He seemed calm, in fact--like he was in full control of the situation. At that revelation, warning sirens went off in Maka's head.
Just as she was making a mental note not to trust the man, he turned around to face her. He was deathly pale and had a sinister look about him, and all of her suspicions were confirmed when he finally opened his mouth. "It seems we were found out, boys. Kill them." He let loose a frightening, pointy-toothed smile, punctuating his statement.
Before Maka could even so much as blink, she was suddenly being swarmed by all of the gang members in the warehouse. Not one to be caught off guard, however, she quickly sprang into action, letting out a yell as she and Soul sliced their way through all of the thugs in the room with a grace and acrobatic flair that one would not expect to see in a girl so small wielding a weapon that was larger than her. Her apparent frailty belied her true strength and skill with the scythe named Soul, and proved just how well her soul wavelength aligned with her partner's. It was battle where she and Soul truly shone, and their prowess was no match for the petty thugs following Kishin's path, who were consumed by the insanity of the Kishin Asura radiating throughout the world.
"That's the last one, Maka," said Soul, as he sliced the final thug in two at the waist. "Now let's see about that weird guy up there."
"Yeah," agreed Maka, twirling Soul to come to a stop pointing at the dark man. "Alright, who are you, and why are you harvesting all these souls?"
"I guess there's no sense hiding it anymore," remarked the man. He then gave another sinister smile, and said proudly, "Soul Protect, release."
"Soul Protect!" exclaimed the scythe Meister. "Then does that mean..."
"A witch..." Soul remarked in disbelief.
"A warlock, to be more politically correct," stated the man simply. "My name is Nosferatu, and I do believe you are in my way here. For that, and for killing all of my precious subordinates, I'm afraid you'll have to die by my hand. Or, rather, by my spell." He drew his arm back over his shoulder, his hand flat like a blade. "Battu, Bats, Bat, Bats...Air Blade!" He brought his arm down in a slashing motion, and a blade of wind shot out from his arm toward the unprepared duo. The scythe Meister managed to dodge in time, but as soon as she looked up, she saw another shooting for her head. She rolled out of the way, just barely making it out of its path before it sliced through a steel beam directly behind where her head had been only moments before.
"Damn! We're at a disadvantage at this kind of range!" cried Soul as his nimble partner continued to dodge to and fro in order to avoid dismemberment at the hands of this obviously very powerful magic-user.
"What should we do, Soul?" asked Maka between volleys of slicing wind.
"You know what to do, Maka." said the scythe to his Meister.
"Right!" exclaimed Maka confidently. She suddenly made a quick dash for cover, forcing the warlock to pause briefly to re-orient his attack from a better angle. Maka and Soul took this opportunity to make their move.
"RESONANCE OF SOULS!" cried the pair, and their soul wavelengths merged, becoming completely in sync with one another. "Witch Hunter!" yelled Maka, and Soul's edge re-formed into a giant, crescent-shaped blade that seemed to be made of pure energy. "Eat this!" With an almost animal-like howl, the girl charged at the dark man with her over-sized scythe, swinging it vertically from above.
Without warning, the man reached up and caught the blade with one hand, stopping it inches away from cleaving him in two. "My, my," he gloated. "A weapon like this is dangerous. I can't have you swinging something like that around, can I?"
Too paralyzed with shock to even budge, Maka could only watch as Nosferatu ripped Soul from her grasp and flung him across the room. The only thing that pulled her out of her daze was the hand of that vile man grasping her around the neck and lifting her a foot in the air. She gasped as she struggled to breathe, clawing helplessly at the man's hand as he seemingly effortlessly proceeded to strangle her with just that one hand. Just as her vision started to fade, she heard Soul cry out her name and a yell of pain from her assailant, and then felt herself thrown to the ground roughly.
When Maka opened her eyes, she realized she was not where she expected to be. The world around her was very dark, and she couldn't make out much--her vision was still a little blurry. "Uh...what? Where am I?" she questioned to no one in particular.
"Oh, come on," said a familiar voice. "Don't tell me you've forgotten what the inside of my soul looks like already."
"Soul..." Her vision finally returning to her, the young girl looked around and confirmed that it was, in fact, the same place she had seen when she had first glimpsed the innermost depths of her partner's soul. Looking down, she also noticed that she was wearing the same dress she had been wearing then, as well--apparently that was how Soul visualized her in his mind, or something.
"Maka, are you alright?" questioned her weapon (who, she noticed, was also wearing the same outfit as the last time). "You scared the hell out of me there."
Maka saw the worried look in his eyes, and just then the full enormity of what Soul was feeling hit her. Maybe it was because their souls were so closely linked at the moment, or maybe it was because she had known Soul for so long that she was finally starting to be able to read what he really feels, but right then, she knew that this wasn't just a simple concern for his Meister's well-being, or simple camaraderie. This was something more...personal. More intimate. She gasped as she realized it for what it was, and threw her arms around him, tears freely flowing. "Soul...you're always protecting me, even to the point where you get hurt yourself. You don't have to do that for me...I'm not worth you getting hurt over."
"Maka...I said I'd protect my Meister with my life, and I meant it. That's just the kind of cool guy I am," stated Soul with a smirk. He let his smirk fade into a small smile. "Besides, I couldn't bear to watch you get hurt. Maka...I love you."
"Soul...I..." started Maka, unsure of what exactly to say. After what seemed like forever but was only a few moments, she decided on what was, if she was really honest with herself, the truth. She smiled against his chest. "I love you, too."
At that, Soul gently wrapped his arms around her as well, until she stopped crying. "So," he started. "What do you say we go kick this guy's ass and head home?"
Maka laughed a little. He was still the same old Soul. "Sure," she said, as the world around her faded into nothingness.
Maka's eyes snapped open, and she pulled herself off the ground where Nosferatu had thrown her. It seemed that even though several minutes had gone by in Soul's inner world, it had been only a moment here. Nosferatu was still where he had been standing when he had thrown her, and Soul's arm was formed into a blade, protruding from the hand that had been strangling her and drawing blood. Good, she thought to herself, since no real time has passed, this means that me and Soul are still synced. She called out for Soul, and he sprung to her side, instantly re-forming fully into a scythe and landing in the palm of her hand. She held Soul, her love and her weapon, behind her to ready for her next strike.
"Demon Hunter!" screamed Maka, and Soul's blade changed yet again, but this time into the form that was even more deadly than Witch Hunter--that of a straight blade that then arched around the end of the pole, forming an axe-like shape on the end of the pole. Maka let out a cry as she slashed at the stunned Warlock, who had obviously never seen this form before and noticed just a moment too late that this was far more deadly than Witch Hunter. Soul's edge cleaved the magic-user in two, slicing diagonally across the man's chest. The man's dismembered parts both fell to the ground, but when Maka noticed his expression, it was not one of pain or shock, but one of triumph.
Suddenly, the warlock's body burst into a black cloud of bats, which all scattered in every direction, finally making it out of a window at the roof of the warehouse. As the bats faded into the night, the Shibusen students heard his voice echoing behind him. "You shouldn't show your strongest attack to me without killing me, children!" His laughter resounded throughout the huge space inside the building. "You may have stopped me here, but we'll meet again, I assure you!"
"Shit," Soul swore. "He got away." The weapon then proceeded to transform back into his human form, and began collecting all of the Kishin souls that they had obtained earlier in the fight. After eating them all, he returned to where Maka had sat down, exhausted.
"Nosferatu, huh," Maka mused. "He's a powerful enemy. We'll have to watch out for him in the future."
"Yeah," replied Soul, as he sat down next to her. He looked over and locked his gaze with hers. "I'm glad you're alright," he said with a smile.
"Me too," she agreed. She suddenly became nervous, and looked down at her feet. "Soul, about what we said to each other...does this change anything?" She looked up at him anxiously.
Soul smiled and lifted her chin with a hand. In one smooth, gentle motion, he captured her lips with his, but only for a moment. He pulled away, leaving Maka in a state of joyous shock. "Not a thing. I'm still your scythe, and you're still my Meister. I'll still protect you with my life. That is, of course, as long as you still want to." The white-haired boy held out his hand. "So what do you say...partners?"
Maka smiled and took his outstretched hand. "Partners."
Fin.
Author's Note: Well, tell me what you think! I saw that there was a serious shortage of Soul Eater fics, and that just inspired me to go out and write my very first fanfic! I may do more if I get enough positive reviews and/or I'm bored enough at work. Later!