It has come to my attention that I have been neglecting responding to reviews. ;.; And unfortunately I cannot remember which one was the last one I responded to. SO! Starting from the reviews of the last chapter, I WILL RESPOND! AHAHAH! YEAH BEWARE!
Disclaimer: If wishes were fishes no one would starve...except people who hate fish. I don't own Soul Eater!
Soul felt torn between need and responsibility. If he slept with this Maka who wasn't Maka and the real Maka found out then he would be dead before he could explain. But it was so damn tempting. He continued contemplating things while the fake Maka cleaned up the spaghetti dishes. Then he struck on an ideal. He could have the fake Maka sleep next to the radiator while he slept on his bed. With this in mind he ran out of the kitchen area and began dragging the extra mattress from what would've been Maka's room to the radiator. By that time she was done cleaning up and came to watch him questionably.
"What are you doing Soul?" Her innocent green eyes and cocked head were really cute, but somehow he managed to pull his attention back to the job at hand.
"I'm making you a bed by the radiator and you can sleep there. I'll turn the heat on a bit so you won't be cold." He left the room then, to bring sheets and when he came back she was gone. But he felt he had a pretty good idea where she went and the sound of running water confirmed his suspicions. With one last tug, the bed was all set and he retreated back to his room, changed and collapsed into his bed.
Sleep nearly had him in it's clutches when Maka burst into the room in all her naked glory with water running down her creamy skin. Soul's eyes bugged out and he immediately felt blood rush to 'that' area.
"Soul where are your towels?" Defiance radiating from her posture and face, daring him to question why she hadn't searched the bathroom before running out. Because Soul KNEW there were towels above the toilet in a small cupboard. So this was obviously another try at seducing him, albeit a much more direct way. However, just as with the first try, he managed to logic himself out of his arousal by repeating the mantra 'it's not Maka' over and over in his head. His eyes had fallen to the floor to avoid inciting further desire and he shooed her away.
"They're in the cupboard over the toilet. I trust you can open it." Sarcasm dripped on his last words and she huffed before racing back to the bathroom. In the darkness Soul let out a sigh of relief; if he had caught another glance of her body he would have caved. It was all so confusing though. Unless she had an unknown personality disorder, it couldn't be anyone but her. She wouldn't normally act this way though, so he was left inventing crazy theories as he waited for sleep to claim him again.
Bright sunlight craftily pierced the small crack between Soul's eyelids, causing him to bolt upright and dislodge the lump that was gripping him under the blanket. It was Maka, or at least her body. He had no idea how to refer to her anymore, it could be Maka and yet it couldn't. Ugh. At least it was a Saturday so he wouldn't have to face Kid's persecution. Or maybe he should; Soul hated to admit it but Kid was a lot smarter than him and would be able to figure out what was wrong with her. As he deliberated, Maka sighed and snuggled closer to him. About an hour of unsuccessful wriggling passed and Soul was still trapped by her embrace.
5 more minutes passed until she woke up, sitting up and stretching. Soul immediately scrambled out from under her and ran to the bathroom. After making sure the door was locked, he removed his clothes and stepped into the shower, cursing at the cold water. Even over the noise of splashing water he could hear her yelling at him through the door, wanting to be let in. He ignored her though and finished washing himself. With a towel around his waist he peeked out the door to make sure it was all clear. The smell of bacon cooking assured him that it was safe to go back to his room and grab some clothes. He carefully crept out and tried to still his breathing. Maka was scaring him with all her seduction tactics which would eventually wear down his resolve. Soul made it back to his room safely and rummaged about in his closet for clothes. A black band shirt emerged and was donned followed by a pair of red-tinted jeans. As a last touch he slid a headband in his still wet hair.
Breakfast was eaten without speaking, the only sound being the crunch of chewing bacon and the swish of swallowing milk. He cleaned up while Maka went to dress and when she came back she was back to her peppy attitude. Sleep had apparently turned it off. She chattered on and on as he locked the door and dragged her outside. Kid had given Soul his address the other day in the hopes that a new idea would occur to him. A sigh escaped Soul as he thought of all the explaining he would have to do. It was so not cool. Then one of Maka's questions caught his attention.
"Are we going to see Ash? I hope so because I haven't seen him in years and-" So she was still in love with Ash while trying to seduce him? That made even less sense than her loving Ash in the first place.
"Maka you do not want to see Ash. He broke your arm once! And beat you up multiple times!" She smiled at him and skipped on ahead. Soul growled in frustration until he saw where Kid's address was. A freaking mansion. A freaking HUGE, gothic mansion. What the hell?
He caught up with Maka on Kid's doorstep and pounded the old-fashioned door knocker as hard as he could. Voices could be heard inside and then both giant doors opened simultaneously. Just to keep the symmetry. A butler showed them in and put their shoes away in a closet before ushering them up a staircase, down a long corridor and into a sitting room. Compared to Soul's tiny apartment this place was like a monster house. He shuddered to think of getting lost in such a sprawling place. And there were gargoyles, columns, creepy paintings and an overall symmetry that just added to the air of mystery and forboding. At least the sitting room had color. The rest of the mansion was built out of black granite stones with no wall hangings or anything to break the monotony. Even the paintings were drab and blended in with the walls.
"...Maka?" Kid's eyes bugged out just as Soul's had last night. Then he made the assumption that Soul knew he would and began to advance on the white-haired Kid menacingly.
"You! You fucking bastard, you had her all this time! And then you hired Ash to put on that elaborate show and...and...!" His golden eyes bored into Soul's red ones while their noises practically touched. Maka had flounced down on a sofa and was looking around with interest. So it was left to Soul to save himself.
"Why would I Kid? What reason would I have? And then why would I bring her here? You aren't thinking straight." As his reasoning slid into Kid's mind, Soul slipped away and sat across from Maka on another sofa. It took Kid a little bit of time to calm down but eventually he did. And then Soul knew he wasn't in danger of being thrown into a torture chamber which most definitely existed in such a scary house.
"Okay then how did she end up with you?" He joined them in an armchair that was adjacent to both couches. Again with the OCD.
"Well after I had left, Ash reappeared just before I got out of the building. We...talked and it ended up with him calling the witch there. When she arrived...or at least I think it was her. But it was Maka. Then I fainted and woke up at my apartment, with her cooking spaghetti in the kitchen. I was too tired to bring her over here so I decided to do it in the morning. And here we are. Now tell me, what the hell happened to her?" Both of their eyes turned to the girl who was shamelessly showing her panties while laying down on the sofa. When she caught them looking she smiled and waved a bit.
"I don't see that anything's wrong. She just seems...happy." He looked puzzled but not the least bit bothered by the change in Maka's demeanor. Soul just had to prove how changed she was.
"Hey Maka do you want to go see Ash?" At his question she bolted upright and gave them her brightest grin.
"Would I ever! Do you think he'll like my outfit? Oh I wonder how he's doing! Where does he live? Is it far? Will my hair get messed up if we walk there?" During her stream of pointless inquiries, Kid's eyes met Soul's and it was then he knew that he knew that something was wrong with her. Seriously wrong.
"Maka what the hell's the matter with you? Ash has been your enemy since before I met you. Why the hell do you like him?" She stared at him in blatant astonishment and then went off on another one of her rants about how charming and good looking he was. Stealthily Soul and Kid snuck out and had a whispered conference in the hall.
"So Ash said the witch was coming and then Maka appeared?" Soul nodded in response to his question and then asked one of his own.
"Do you think the witch could've like...brainwashed her or something?" Both of them pondered that for a second but then Kid shook his head.
"No if she was brainwashed Ash would have said Maka was coming. But he said the witch was coming so..." Their faces lit up with enlightenment as they thought of what that meant. Soul spoke first.
"So that must mean the witch possessed Maka or something! But how do you get rid of a witch?" This was the reason he had come to Kid. It was time to see those brains in action.
"Hold on, we have plenty of books in our library and I'm sure at least one will explain about witches. Let's get Maka and go, it's rather far away from here." And so they went, trailing a curious Maka behind them. Indeed it was a long ways form the library even though it was in the same building. When they arrived Soul was staggered by the sheer size of it. Shelves went up to the shadowy ceiling and extended in rows, filling the huge hall. Another servant sat behind a desk at the far end and it was to him that Kid strode purposely.
"Where're the books on witches?" The servant clicked lazily on the computer and typed something in. Then he turned the monitor around so it was facing them and showed the 943 results of books involving witches. Kid scanned the first couple, looking at the location and then walked quickly off to a corner of the library. Soul followed him and grabbed Maka by the wrist so she wouldn't get lost.
A whole shelf in the corner was filled with spines that reflected the same word. Witches. Kid scanned the titles and then left to go find a ladder so he could reach the books at the top. When he came back he immediately began climbing while pausing to look at titles every now and then. Eventually he gave an exclamation of surprise and descended with an old volume in his hand. It's title was Witches; everything you could ever need to know about witches. Soul leaned in to get a look as Kid opened it to the table of contents. Sure enough there was a chapter on possession. It went as follows;
Some witches possess the ability to jump into another's mind; be it human or animal. The witch can take absolute control over the mind it inhabits but it's personality will be warped in the process. For example if a witch took over a girl's mind, it would undoubtedly don some of the girl's preferences. How such possession is done is unknown due to the discreet nature of witches, but there have been some instances where priests have tried to exorcise them out of a person's body. Results have been varied; ranging from death to success. If you suspect someone has been possessed the best thing to do is to wait for the witch to grow bored and leave of it's own accord. If it's absolutely vital to be rid of it, read up on Morton's The Trouble with Witches. He provides a detailed explanation about attempting an exorcism of your own.
There are many theories as to how this ritual is done. One expert, Jabus, claimed that it was an intricate spell that required pentacles to retain the person's mind in their body while the witch slips in. Now many argue against-
Kid shut the tome and looked at Soul. His face told all; that the huge library didn't own a copy of The Trouble with Witches. He sagged in defeat and they grabbed Maka by the wrist and set off for the public library. It was smaller than Kid's but perhaps it had a different selection that included the illusive Morton's book.
So there 'tis. All set up for the next chapter. Will they find the book? If you review you will know!...Okay that was a lie. You don't have to review to find out...but it'd be nice. :D