A/N: Since I updated last Monday, I decided to keep that going on Mondays~ So, here's chapter four. Gettin' a bit of background history on Miiro and a determined/pissed/angsty Soul! Awww yeee (y)
Warning: Do I have to keep putting this or
Disclaimer: Also do I have to keep putting this
Chapter 4: Save Our Souls
"Lady who?"
"The Great Lady Miiro...of course you've heard of her, mew...!" Kiwi explained in shock. The pair shook their heads to her, though. She gasped. "Not possible...!" Again, they shook their heads.
"Well, who is she? You gonna tell us or just stare at us like we have seven heads?" Soul asked bitterly.
"Great Lady Miiro...she took me in when I had nowhere else to go. She gave me water and fed me and made sure I had a place to sleep. In return, I do whatever she asks of me, mew..."
"Okay, nice, but who is she?" Soul demanded.
"Well...I'm sure you both know of the witch Arachne?" The two nodded, "Well...Lady Miiro is her cousin."
Almost instantly, Maka wanted to face palm. They had already dealt with that woman's sister...now they had to deal with her cousin? Fantastic...
"And you're aware that Arachne was the first to give a human the capabilities of transforming into a weapon?"
Of course they knew that. They'd might as well hand in their student IDs of the DWMA, resign as students completely, leave Death City—the heck with it, leave Nevada even—if they didn't know that. They nodded yet again.
"Well...that was eight hundred years ago, mew. A couple hundred years ago, Lady Miiro decided that the weapon population had gotten too big and out of control..." She glanced over at Soul, expecting a reaction, but received none, and continued on, "Anyway, she and her sister Agnes—"
"Whoa wait, the same Agnes we fought a few days ago?" Soul asked.
"Yeah, the one who can disable your weapon form, mew~!"
He groaned in response, but let her continue.
"So they decided to use their anti-weapon wavelength to rid the world of Arachne's 'mistakes', as they called them. It took too long and their soul wavelength wasn't strong enough, mew. They started learning magic and using spells, but it took a while since they weren't full witches. Finally, they decided to create something that would amplify their wavelengths...I have one with me today, mew~!"
She flicked her tail, waving the object in front of them as if teasing them.
Maka had to use all her energy to not pounce on the feline and grab the device from her.
"Anyway, they created these and put pieces of their soul in them. Whenever they cast a spell to enlarge their souls, each piece of them in these cubes grew and they all connected to expand their soul wavelengths all over the country, mew. So, if a weapon were to walk by the wavelength, their weapon form would be disabled and little by little, their soul would be ripped to shreds because no matter where they were, they were always surrounded by these cubes, mew...their souls had no time to heal before they just started dying one by one. It was like an epidemic, mew.
"Eventually, because the sisters had pieces of their souls stored in these cubes, their power began to weaken. Sooner than later, the cubes shorted out and at one point, even got discovered, mew. They were all found and destroyed and the sisters went into hiding. Twenty years ago, they tried again, but quickly retreated because the DWMA had formed and she hadn't realized it 'till then, mew...then, a few weeks ago, Lady Miiro told me she wanted to try and rid the world of weapons once more.
"Before that...I thought she was a good lady, mew. But ever since a few weeks ago, she started making me spy on the DWMA and tried many times to get me to infiltrate it, but I had only successfully done so today, mew. She threatened me, mew~! She told me she'd kick me out if I didn't oblige! Imagine what would happen...she'd actually kick me out! Or kill me! Or worse, mew~!"
Maka said nothing as she tried to process the information. She had never known the tough past of weapons...To add, there was the fact that Nygus was around their age twenty years ago, and she had told Maka that she had gone through the same thing Soul and Tsubaki had.
Soul stayed silent as well, not realizing how, in the eyes of some, his weapon abilities were actually seen as...mistakes. Hadn't Arachne intended on her outcome? Had she not done it on purpose?
Kiwi twitched slightly, shifting her weight into a more comfortable position.
"Don't aim that thing at me," Soul protested quietly, taking a small step back.
"Don't worry, mew." Kiwi replied softly with a smile.
Maka sighed and put her hands on her hips.
"So you're not really doing this because you enjoyed it? Because it really looked like you were enjoying what you were doing earlier." Maka pointed out with a frown. Kiwi imitated her expression as she sighed.
"I was only happy because I knew Lady Miiro would be proud of me, mew..."
An eerie silence crashed into them, leaving them staring at one another. Maka put her hands on Soul's shoulders, turning him around so they were face to face. She glanced at Kiwi before looking back at Soul.
"What do we do?" She whispered to him, unsure of what she was supposed to think of the situation.
Soul thought a moment before shrugging.
"We could give her a chance...maybe take her away from Miiro or somethin'."
"Oh, no, we are not keeping two magical cats at home!"
"I never said that," Soul countered with a hard look, "Maybe Black Star and Tsubaki could take care of her."
Maka took a second to digest the idea. It wasn't horrible; if something should happen, they'd immediately take care of it for Black Star and Tsubaki. However, if the cat was as innocent as she claimed to be, then perhaps there was no risk at letting her stay with their friends...
"Just a week or so," Soul said in a hushed tone, "If anything happens, we get rid of her." He demonstrated his determination by transforming his right arm into a blade. "Eight more times," He added, "Or...however many souls she has left." He transformed back and nodded at Kiwi. "Couldn't be too much of a handful."
"Too much of a handful!?" Maka repeated in a whisper, though if she spoke any louder she was sure she'd explode, "Think of Blair!"
"I'd rather not," Soul murmured back.
"Exactly!"
Soul kept his firm look on her. There was an awkward silence before Maka sighed and agreed.
"Like I said, we'll handle it if she does anything stupid," Soul assured with a grin.
"Yeah, yeah."
They turned around and walked over to Kiwi, explaining to her what would be done. Kiwi jumped around excitedly, feeling thankful for a second chance. Maka and Soul offered her a weak smile, worried for what the outcome of the situation would bring. They—especially Maka—still didn't fully trust the shape shifting feline and didn't want to expect the best.
They slowly made their way to one of the back doors of the building, where they met Tsubaki and Black Star. The two pairs huddled into a circle while Maka and Soul told them what would be happening. At first, Black Star wanted to protest, but thanks to Kiwi's comparison to Blair (brought up by none other than Soul), he gladly accepted to take the cat into his and Tsubaki's care.
Stein eventually found the foursome who was still in the middle of chatting. For a second, he was confused, because he noticed Kiwi sitting on the other side of the roof on a banister, seemingly enjoying the soft breeze.
Maka was the first to notice his presence, and mentally cursed; they had completely forgotten about Stein! It was his idea to "eliminate" the damn cat, and here he was, watching them as they talked about God knows what for all he knew! Plus, it didn't help that Kiwi was sitting right there, as if to say 'yeah, bee tee dubs, they failed their mission epically'.
Stein stopped in his tracks, but showed no emotion. He tossed his cigarette onto the ground before lightly stepping on it. Adjusting his glasses, he made his way over to Kiwi and placed his free hand on her head, in between her ears.
"Oh, you," He said simply, scratching her scalp.
Maka turned around, ready with a full blown explanation, but Stein smiled at her. He told her not to worry, that he had chosen her and Soul for that 'assignment' because he knew they'd do the right thing. He then walked off, leaving the four and Kiwi alone.
"That was a bit strange, even for Mr. Stein," Maka admitted, slightly surprised.
"Whatever. He didn't get mad at us so that's the important thing." Soul responded, leaning against the banister of the roof.
After Black Star and Tsubaki left with the cat, Maka and Soul went to search for Stein to ask why he had suddenly disappeared like that. However, he ended up giving them another 'assignment'.
"I don't understand," Maka said, clearly irritated, "This is just more walking around aimlessly, which is what we were just doing before!"
"It's actually a pretty good plan," Soul stated, "Kiwi said this stupid device has a tracking unit on it, so we walk around and eventually, lead whoever's on the other side of this thing as far away from the DWMA as possible." He retold their plan to Maka.
"I guess," She commented.
They walked in silence a bit longer before a realization struck her.
"And what if those people on the other side end up finding us?" She asked suddenly.
Soul glanced at her questioningly before asking why she'd think that out of nowhere. Maka ignored his question and put a finger to her lips, signalling him to be quiet. She dragged him by the wrist and pulled him down as she kneeled behind a tree. Still, he questioned her, but she didn't reply. He finally stopped asking when he heard footsteps from across a few bushes in the forest they were walking in.
"Are you sure? It's too quiet for people to be here. And this place is in the middle of nowhere..." A voice asked out of the blue.
"Well, if Kiwi really is with someone else, they would've heard us by now." Another voice added.
"Then this stupid thing is broke. Let's go back to Lady Miiro and see if she can give us a new one." The first person suggested.
"Alright, alright, but after that we seriously needa find Kiwi."
"Don't sweat it, geez."
The crunching of leaves and twigs started to fade, as did the voices. Eventually, Maka was no longer able to sense their wavelengths. Sighing in relief, she stood up and motioned for Soul to do the same.
"What was that all about?" He asked, stretching.
"No idea. Obviously, though, they were looking for Kiwi."
"Yeah. I wonder what they want."
"From the sound of it, and from what Kiwi told us, I bet they want a status report or something."
"Who cares; clearly got them confused, so let's just drop that thing here and go back." Soul mentioned, beginning to walk away.
"Wait." Maka interrupted, suddenly serious.
"Wha—"
"They're back."
Without warning, Maka tackled Soul to the ground in an attempt to hide them both.
"I'm sure I heard something this time!"
"You better not be making this up, Kuso!"
Soul shifted in place, feeling uncomfortable with Maka practically sitting on him. He huffed, not wanting to cause a scene, but wanting to alert Maka of his improper posture. She hushed him, knowing that even if she moved slightly, she'd might as well summon fireworks, it'd be so loud.
Maka's breath hitched when she saw the two figures from before passing right by her and her partner.
"It says Kiwi's right here." One of them said.
"Well, she's not..."
From under Maka, Soul peeped open one eye to see the two people standing mere inches away with their backs to them.
"Maybe Kiwi isn't here," The one seemingly named Kuso said, "But someone else is."
Maka and Soul tensed as they felt the bushes from behind them being pushed apart.
Don't see us don't see us don't see us don't see us...!
"Oh, lookie here, a meister and weapon pair...interesting..."
"Shit!" Soul cursed in a gasp, standing up quickly after his partner.
"What do you two want?!" Maka asked, positioning herself into a fighting stance. Soul copied and glared at their two 'guests'.
"We're looking for the pest who's supposed to be right here." Kuso explained, "But apparently, you've obtained her Soul Extractor and have lured us into the middle of nowhere..." He seemed to have said the last part mostly to himself.
Without hesitation, Maka launched herself at Kuso as her partner did the same to the other unknown visitor.
"You're not the only weapon and meister pair here, you know!" The muffled voice from under Maka spoke.
"Yeah!" The other in Soul's grasp agreed. With a flash, Soul was no longer detaining a person, but a sword that was sticking up and poked his chest slightly. He halted and stopped himself from moving at all—if his chest had been an inch lower, he'd have been stabbed.
"Not what I meant, you idiot! Your soul's gonna get scrambled in weapon form!" Kuso fumed, trying to pry Maka off of him.
"Oops, right, sorry!" The sword cried, changing back into human form. He placed a hand on his chest and panted, already feeling the effects of the two mysterious devices in Kuso's and Maka's pockets.
"You better be," Soul warned, turning his arm into a blade.
"Soul, what—?" Maka asked, having seen the light from the corner of her eye.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." He replied casually, pushing the other weapon out from under him.
The latter grinned when he noticed Soul's arm.
"That's gotta hurt," He taunted, standing up slowly.
"There's a difference between being in pain," Soul began, swinging his arm at his rival weapon, "And letting it hold you back!" He exclaimed, slashing the guy in front of him in shoulder.
Right after, Soul lost his balance and toppled to the ground, his arm transforming back to normal as he did so.
"Dammit," He uttered, getting up slowly.
"Soul!" Maka exclaimed, looking up from her spot on top of Kuso.
"I'm alright, I'm alright."
Maka didn't push the thought of Soul getting hurt to the back of her mind, but immediately went back to tackling Kuso, trying to obtain his copy of the Soul Extractor from him.
"This is getting lame!" The sword exclaimed, "I'm ending this!"
"John, wait—!"
However, the weapon ignored his meister and turned both his arms into two sharp edges of a sword. He ran for Maka, who was still attacking Kuso, and was about to hit when Soul yelled in frustration.
"Get away from her!" He exclaimed, turning his own arms into blades. He made a run for the other weapon and swung his arms at him, but kept getting blocked by the other's swords.
"You're being ridiculous, John! Stop this!" Kuso shrieked, running over to his partner.
"Leave me alone!" John seethed, still dueling with Soul.
"Stop it!"
"Kuso! Leave. Me. Alone!" The sword yelled, enraged. He turned around and went to stab his partner, but instead was found face to face with Maka, who had been the one to yell at him, demanding he stop.
"Maka!" Soul breathed, transforming his arms back to normal. He dashed to her side, which was on the ground by Kuso's feet.
"For Christ's sake, John! You always get angry and do stupid things! We weren't supposed to freakin' kill them. Dammit all!" Kuso cursed.
Soul looked over Maka for a moment. She seemed to have been knocked out—from either pain or shock, the scythe wasn't so sure. Perhaps it had been both. Upon further inspection, he noticed the cut wasn't too bad; John must have realized what he was doing before he struck her any deeper. Still, Soul couldn't bring himself to be apologetic any time soon. He stood up slowly, and, without looking at the other weapon, he addressed him with a threatening tone.
"If you wanna live to see that damned breathing sun one more day, I suggest you run."
John smirked when he heard Soul's warning. Kuso, noticing this, immediately looked at him as if to say 'you better not do something idiotic again'. This apparently went unnoticed to the weapon, and he took a step forward as if showing off some form of superiority.
"Why? She your girlfriend?"
Soul growled, and, not a second later, he was so close to John that the sword could feel the scythe's breath on the back of his neck. The former's arm was in blade form, curved around John's body. One wrong move, and the latter's torso would be sliced open. Soul, however, remained silent, as if his blade was doing the talking.
"Oh, how very menacing..."
One wrong move.
John let out a pained cry and fell to the floor, arms around his heavily bleeding chest.
"Kuso, go to Lady Miiro…!"
"What the fuck? Am I tattling on this kid or something?" Kuso asked with wide eyes, still surprised at what had just happened.
Soul watched them bicker as he panted; weapon form, be it an arm or his entire body, was exhausting with those Soul Extractors nearby. It pained him, but hadn't Maka done the same thing once?
"Soul…I can't hold you, you're too hot..."
If she was going to dwell on the past, then hell, so was he.
A bit.
Kinda.
Because too much dwelling was uncool.
Stomping and running pulled him from his mini-epiphany. He looked over his shoulder to find Kuso running away, presumably to go see Miiro like John had asked. Soul furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief; he couldn't imagine having his meister just run away from him in his time of need, or vice versa.
Speaking of his meister...
"Maka," He rasped, pushing aside a strand of her blonde locks from her forehead. He received no response, and he bit his lip so hard he could've sworn he was about to draw blood. He lifted Maka up and onto his back and started making his way passed the barley living enemy beside him, then out of the forest.
He was so tired. Incredibly and utterly, tired. Every inch of his body ached and his vision swam in and out of focus, but he was determined to get Maka medical help. Every step he took was harder than the last, and a few times down the road he felt his knees buckle and was almost prepared to give up. However, he continued on, every so often calling out his meister's name to see if she had awoken.
It was only when he was forced to climb the many, many stairs leading to the main entrance of the Academy that he found himself completely worn out. He let out a barely audible and involuntary groan as he collided with the steps beneath him. Maka landed safely on top of him, and he didn't budge. He couldn't move; his limbs felt numb and his mind was feverish.
"Sorry, Maka," He sputtered, voice wavering from exhaustion. One of her pigtails landing on his face and tickling his nose was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out.