Gaia had frozen over.

Nearly nine months had passed in the mortal realm by the time Maka and Soul arrive at the little mill house. They are both shocked to find the entire world icy and barren. The babbling brook behind Soul's home is nothing but an icy ditch.

Soul bursts into his house, swearing loudly. "For harvest's sake, Wes!"

Wes, bent over and stoking a fire in a wood stove, whips upright in surprise. "Where have you been."

"You put the entire world in famine?"

"You didn't leave me a note and you've been missing for NINE MONTHS! What did you expect- daisies and rainbows? I can't help it, it just happens! You should have said something!"

Soul's hands fly to his head, fingers tangling in his wild hair. "You should get a girlfriend! I was in Hades, I just wanted to say hi-"

Maka feels the need to say something, feeling partially (a lot) at fault. "He's not to blame! You have my apologies. Soul was not aware of the time zone difference."

By the looks of it, Wes Evans had not been aware of it, either. She supposes the God of the Harvest would have little interest in the inner-workings of the realm of the dead. "'Time zone'," he hollowly repeats.

"For him, it felt as if a few hours had passed. He didn't honestly know!"

Wes walks across the small house to her, his height looming over her. Like his younger brother, his eyes are red-tinted and, when swimming in fury, somewhat intimidating. He nearly growls at her, "And what were your intentions with my brother for those few hours?"

Wheezing, Soul interjects with, "Wes, don't. She's not like that."

"Like what?" Maka asks.

"Did you know? Soul is my only brother. My pure, untainted, innocent, sixteen year old-"

"Oh gods," Soul says, desperate, "If you say it, I will MURDER you!"

"-virgin little brother!"

Maka is startled when Soul makes an inhuman noise and dramatically staggers to the nearest corner, mashing his face into the walls.

Soul is sixteen?! Maka's face burns scarlet at the impossibility of such a handsome boy. How many times had she looked at his butt on the shores of the Acheron?

"You stole him to that realm to doubtless force him to stay and become your servant!"

What is she, some kind of kidnapper? It's not like she burst out of the ground and grabbed his butt and hauled him to Hades like a piece of meat! Her cloak billows as her anger refuses to be contained, the corners of the mill house beginning to darken and glitter like the underworld. "I most certainly did not! You dare accuse the Keeper of Hades of such depravity? ...Also, I'll have you know my servants have the best insurance benefits in any realm-"

Wryly, Wes replies, "I find it hard to believe an Olympian wouldn't jump at the chance to ensnare a virgin." Soul groans again in his corner. He appears to have some kind of word-allergy. "They go through them like a first-harvest feast."

"In the first place: I live in Hades. I'm not considered an Olympian. Secondly, stop generalizing! Not everyone is like my sister! I see you are trying to protect your brother, but that doesn't give you the right to starve mankind with your uncontrollable moodswings-"

"Our lives have nothing to do with you," he throws back, the temperature in the house plummeting. "Your business is with the dead, not the living!"

Shocked, this twists something she had not known was sore in her heart. Even her anger freezes over, her cloak falling into stillness.

Quietly, Soul moans from his corner, "Stoooop." His sigh comes out in a cloud of frozen mist. "She didn't drag me anywhere, Wes. I went to see her because I wanted to." He turns around, red-brown eyes hollow and barren as the entire earth. "Gods, I just gave spiritual guidance to a soul that died of because of me."