And so we have chapter eight. Enjoy.
I do not own Soul Eater
Inside the Death room, two figures stood side by side. Watching the progress of one of the students, "Perhaps she should consider a resonance partner. She's been solo for the majority of this semester. Of course that doesn't include her weapon."
"She'll have to decide that on her own won't she sir?"
"True. We'll see what she says soon enough."
Lord Death and Spirit had been discussing a young meister from the academy. Maka's group was full, what with them taking on Ayelis and her two partners. That was normally more than the average group had. It was usually three meister weapon pairs to a group. lord Death had made the exception for it though, considering it was an unusual case. However the student they had been discussing, was a capable meister on her own, but she would need to learn to resonate with a group.
"Well lets see her abilities then. She's off on an assignment now. From the looks of things she's doing quite well" Lord Death bounced as he looked back at the large full length mirror in the center of the room.
The mirror rippled, and both men watched patiently as it revealed a young red haired meister, walking calmly through a grave yard. Rain showered the entire area, making a mess of mudd and water. Her expression was solem, unwavering but not uncarring. She was heading towards a ragged figure, standing nearly twice her hight. In its grasp was a little boy, trembling for his life. She stopped about ten feet away, eyeing the shadow causciously.
"Grave Diggers. Preying on the souls of those who wander through here, be it children or adults." her serious expression never changed as she spoke,"I will have your soul."
The beast before her hissed, though it had once been human, that part was no more. The monster unveiled a mouth full of rasor sharpe teeth, as it grinned wickedly. Throwing the poor boy to the side, it lunged for the meister. Hungry for a challenging soul to eat. She never moved as it came strait for her. Raising her right arm, she readied herself for the attack. Her weapon's blades penetrating the creature's flesh, as she thrust forward. It reeled in pain, screetching and trying to pull away. She tore through its chest with one slash, stopping it in it's tracks. The body dissolved, leaving the red colored Kishin egg in its place. The little boy stared in awe at his savior, before she approached him.
"Are you hurt?" she received a shake of the head, indicating he was fine.
"Good. I suggest you get going. You parents are probably worried about you." her voice laced with a soothing tone, as she directed the boy to leave.
He nodded curtly, and ran off in the direction she assumed was his home. Once she was certain the boy was gone and out of harms way, she returned to the wayward soul. Her weapon resuming human form, as a short dark haired girl now stood next to her meister.
"We got him. Man those things are ugly." the shorter girl laughed, but got little response from the other.
"We'd best get going ourselves. Lord Death will want a full report."
"Yeah yeah, I know. " the weapon rolled her eyes, "Augusty, you think we could go for some pizza later or something? I'm starving!"
"Once we get back, I'll think about it."
As both girls made their way home, Lord Death nodded in approval. The pair he and Spirit were observing were indeed very capable, but they still needed to form a resonance team. He was going to have to assign her one himself it seemed, and he knew who might just fit the bill.
"Spirit, could you bring her to the Death Room for me? I'll need to speak with her about the issue." the reaper recieved a nod from the deathscyth, as he left to fetch the young girl and her weapon.
Class was nearly ending for Maka and the others, and the lesson for the day was on focusing their resonance rates together. Unfortunatley, Ayelis was still out of comission. It had been a week since the incident, and she had healed fast. However she was still far from top condition. Maka looked around the room, as she spotted the brothers. Both Visy and Lyall hadn't been themselves at all, and she was starting to worry. It didn't help they couldn't participate in the class activities without their meister. The two looked more gloomy now then when Ayelis had first been hurt.
The bell finally rang, and Marie dismissed the class. The woman could tell her students were troubled, but there wasn't a whole lot she could do for them, other than lend her support. Her other concern though, was not about Ayelis and her weapons. It was about a certain black blooded child, who was once again acting more withdrawn than usual. Marie was aware of the last time Crona had done this, but she wasn't sure what the cause of it was this time. The blonde haired teacher gazed towards an empty seat, wondering what could possibly be wrong. Gathering her things, she exited the empty classroom hoping the feeling she had wasn't one to be concerned about.
As Marie was left to ponder on her thoughts, the group of teens was already on their way to visit their currently handicapped companion. Maka and most of the group had been there to visit her every day, and she was glad to see Ayelis was gradually healing. She could use her arms almost normally now, with little to no pain at all, and was allowed to leave the dispensory to recover at home. The ashen haired axe meister was frustrated, but glad to finally be back in her own bed. Lyall had kept her up with class and did what he could to help so she wouldn't fall behind again. That was the last thing she wanted. One thing though, had been driving the poor girl nuts since she got home. The entire week she'd been away, none of the boys had done so much as a load of dishes. There were take out boxes everywhere, along with dishes piled high in the sink. Clothes littered the livingroom, as it was obvious the three had free run of the appartment. Lyall had attempted to clean up, but his brother and Loup's mess was a lot to handle on his own. He wondered how Ayelis kept up with it all. It had taken her two full days to get half of it done.
"Ayelis?" the younger brother had returned home first, to find his meister nearly hanging from the ceiling, with a spray bottle, rag and a determined look on her face. "What in the world are you doing?"
"What does it look like? I'm still trying to finish cleaning the mess you three left me." she shot him a dangerous look, as he cringed. She had been scrubbing something that looked like gravy off of the ceiling. She didn't want to know how it got there to begin with.
"It wasn't so much me you know. Visy is a total pig, and Loup wouldn't help at all." Lyall whined, trying to defend himself on the issue.
Ayelis only rolled her eyes sighing. She didn't want to argue, and at this point her arms were aching pretty badly. Fortunately this was the last of the disgusting mess, and she could finally relax a little. She had been pushing herself hard, just so she could get back into school and continue with her lessons. As she moved to step down, the front door slammed open and two blurs ran past. Knocking her down in the process. Though she knew whos voices they had been yelling at one another, she couldn't do much about it. Ayelis yelped in shock as she figured she'd be lying on the floor in pain. To her surpise and relief, she was held by Lyall, who had a rather annoyed expression on his face.
"I swear, those guys." Lyall set his meister down, before chasing after the two boys that had barrelled through the room.
Ayelis was about to head after them, when she heard a friendly voice behind her. Tsubaki was standing in the doorway, an appologetic look spread over her face. The ninja had seen what happened, and as usual felt she had to appologise for her meister.
"Sorry Ayelis. Black star wanted to visit, and well... yeah." the taller girl smiled nervously.
"It's ok, but why is Visy screaming at him now?"
"Well, they sort of had another fight on the way here. Black star won, and Visy got pretty mad." Tsubaki explained it all. Visy hated losing to the short assasin and would try almost aything to get an upper hand on the wild boy. So far though, nothing has worked.
"YAHOOOO!"
The axe meister rolled her eyes as she heard the loud yell and crash from up in the boys' room, Some rather loud shouts of profanity were heard soon after. Black star came flying down the stairs again, a huge triumphant grin plastered to his lips. Ayelis wasn't happy with the noise, as it meant another mess to clean up.
"I'm not even going to ask what happened." her flat expression showing her displeasure.
"I just showed that jackass whos boss! ME! The amazing BLACK STAR as always!" he laughed hard as he proclaimed his greatness like any other day. Ayelis hated it. She wondered how Tsubaki didn't have a nervous breakdown from his constant stupidity. She froze though when she saw a certain white haired feline grinning from ear to ear at her. Tsubaki watched her a little confused as to what she was so disturbed by. Turning around to the doorway she had just been standing in, Tsubaki spotted the reason.
"My Mistress! I'm home, and I see we have company." the blue eyed feline entered the appartment. Things were getting so loud, Ayelis' head was starting to spin.
"Loup, please don't call me that."
"You saved me from a dreaded life on the streets. I'm simply expressing my grattitude." he winked at the unamused teen, and turned to Tsubaki. "And who is this lovely lady? A friend of yours miss Ayelis?" The ninja's face lit up like a tomato, unaware of Loup's usual flirtatious bahaviour. Ayelis simply shrugged it off, knowing he didn't mean anything by it.
"Her name is Tsubaki. That crazy, blue haired monkey is her meister Black star." she pointed to the boy who was now hanging off the banister, avoiding Visy's angry fists and shouts of revenge.
"Well it looks as though we have a full house then." Loup smiled, amused by the boys fighing.
Ayelis ony wished Maka and Soul were around. A good chop to the skull was what all of them needed right about now. She was too tired to argue with anyone though, and was now nursing a headache that had been brought on by all the shouting. She would be glad when she could get away from home, and back on the field.
Lord Death sat in his death room, sipping on tea and patiently waiting for Spirit to return. He remained quiet as he thought carefully to himself. The students his deathscythe was bringing to him would have a few things to work out, but that was all part of learning. As he enjoyed another long sip of his tea, Lord Death could hear the foosteps of his expected guests. Spirit strode up to the reaper, with two young girls following close behind him. Both girls were quiet, but only one of them had a serious expression. The other had an aloof sort of grin on her tanish face, not seeming to mind being called by their headmaster to talk. Lord Death greeted them, motioning for them to take a seat.
"Welcome girls. Would the two of you care for some tea?"
"Oh sure! I'd like some sir." the less intimidating girl smiled, accepting a cup of the hot beverage from the reaper.
"And you Augusty?" Lord Death tilted his head.
"No thank you." her face remained stern, "What is it you called us here for sir, if I might ask?"
"Ah yes, well since you asked, and I'm sure Tria is curious as well." he recieved a nod from the dark haired girl. "I would like to congradulate you both on another successful job. Grave diggers seem to be becoming more of a problem lately. You gave quite a stong performance as always."
"Thanks! It's really all augusty though, she's super awesome." Tria laughed lightly, giving her meister a pat on the back. The solem face still remained though, as the conversation continued.
"I did bring you here for another reason other than just congradulations." he paused to take a sip of his tea, "I'm sure you are both aware that the rest of your class are all assigned to groups."
"Well yeah, for that dual arts and resonance thing right?"
lord Death nodded, "I brought you two here to assign you resonance partners."
Augusty made no motions, her face remained as it was. Tria however was excited to hear the news. "Oh wow! So we get our own group to hang around with?"
"Yes, although it isn't so much a group. I actually thought you two would do better with one set of partners. Is that okay?" he inquired politely, hoping that both girls would agree.
"The numer of people doesn't matter to me. Is that all Lord Death?" Augusty stared strait into the unreadable mask.
"One more thing. I want you to meet with the weapon and meister I'm assigning to you." he nodded to Spirit who exited the room quickly, and returned with one person next to him.
For the first time since entering the Death room, Augusty's expression changed. Her face went from serious to surprised, as she stared at the person standing next to Spirit. Tria simply smiled and waved, not really knowing just who this student was. The red headed meister knew exactly who it was though. To say the least she wasn't exactly impressed.
"Augusty, Tria. I'd like you to pair up with Crona and Ragnarock. The four of you will be working as a team from here on. So play nice together okay."
Lord Death bounced happily in his seat, as the group stared each other down. Crona fidgeted under the hard glare of the girl in front of him. Tria was completely ok with it all, but Augusty wasn't so sure. Wasn't Crona an unstable person? She huffed lightly, shrugging off the initial reaction she had, and resumed her stern outlook once again.
"All right then, I'll see you all later. Get some practice in with group resonance and we'll see about giving you an assignment tomorrow. Bye bye!"
As the students walked towards the door, Lord Death waved at them. Though he could tell Augusty was not happy with the situation, he knew it would benefit them all in time.
Tria walked backwards, facing her meister and their new partners. She watched them closely, before deciding it was far too quiet. She ran behind them, slinging an arm over each of their shoulders and smiling like a mad woman.
"Sooooo, how about some pizza? I'm starving!" as if to prove her point, the dark haired girl's stomache growled. She laughed and simply kept walking between the two, "See? Told ya, even my stomache agrees."
"I suppose it would be a good idea to get some supper. We haven't had anything since we returned." Augusty sighed in defeat, as the three headed out towards the nearest pizza place.
Crona wasn't sure just what to do or say. This was the first time he'd ever met the two, and he wasn't known for his social skills. He decided to stay quiet, until Ragnarock opened his mouth. "PIZZA! All right now this girl knows her stuff! Hey Crona hurry up, I'm hungry Dammit!"
The Little black blob popped out from Crona's back, his tongue hanging out like a dog at the mention of food. Tria was thrown off by the demon swords sudden appearance, but she wasn't afraid. More like she was highly intrigued by him. Augusty only snuffed him off, ignorring the rude outburst from the weapon. She wasn't exactly looking forward to resonating with the little monster. She could probably work well with Crona alone, but Ragnarock would be a hard one to deal with. Their first attempts would have to wait though, seeing as both weapons seemed to be starving and causing a bit of a scene. While the teens had arrived at the pizza place, Tria was decided on an all meat lovers extra large pizza, for herself. Ragnarock was leaning over Crona's shoulder, stretching to see the choices. The greedy little demon sword, was looking to get the same thing. Two whole extra large pizzas, one for each of them alone. Augusty could only imagine what she'd be paying for all of them.
Crona spoke for the first time since leaving the Death room. "Um, I..I'll have whatever you're going to order. I'm not r...really that hungry."
"Ah, so you can speak for yourself." Augusty gave him small satisfied grin, "We'll share a small one then. I don't have the appetite that my partner does and it seems that you don't either."
"Hey! Are you calling me a pig again Oggy?" Tria had stopped drooling long enough to respond to her meisters remark.
Not much bothered the red headed girl, but when her weapon had mentioned the nickname, Crona noticed her twitch, before sending a chilling and dangerous glare in the other girl's direction. Obviously she didn't like the name very much. Tria only laughed heartilly, knowing she hit the nerve she'd intended to, and went back to ordering. Ragnarock laughed loudly, pointing at the red head as he did.
"Oggy? What a nickname! What'd you do to get that one girly?" he laughed, trying to regain what little composure he had.
"Ragnarock! That isn't nice!" Crona tried to defend her, but it didn't do much good. The sword began pounding on his head, telling him to shut his mouth.
The four of them were drawing so much attention, Augusty refused to get them anything. She appologized to the staff, and waltzed out of the pizza place angrily. Tria whinning behind her, and Crona following. She was embarrassed and not amused one bit by the situation. Did Lord Death really expect her to cooperate with these delinquents? Her own partner she could handle, but along with the other two she would most likely go insane before they ever achieve anything. This was the whole reason she had avoided a resonance partner for so long. Although she knew it would be necessary at some point, she wished that now wasn't it.
Lost in her annoyed thoughts, Augusty hadn't noticed they were back at the academy. Tria waved at hand in her face, waking her from her daydream. Crona waited quietly while the girl regained her senses and addressed them all once more.
"I would rather save the practice for another time. Crona, We'll see you tomorrow." she stated curtly and turned on her heel.
"Hey! Don't ignore me like I ain't here! HEY!" the little demon sword shook his fists.
Ragnarock yelled at her, but she kept on walking. Tria waved at the two, before catching up to her meister. Augusty sighed, realizing that this was going to take a lot of work, and getting used to. It would be like babysitting, only worse. She shook her head from her thoughts as they walked along. All the while Tria's stomache still growling, since none of them got to have any Pizza.
Crona had waved to the girls as they left, then let out a loud sigh as he finally relaxed a little. He'd hoped things could have gone better, but as usual that was not possible. Maka had warned him that he'd have to start advanced lessons, and she had been right. Crona however, wasn't sure if he could deal with partnering up with two girls. To top it off the meister seemed to hate him. She was so cold, even her dark green eyes reminded him of icy water, and a certain someone that he'd rather forget if he could. The fact that he was afraid of the black bird that had been visiting his room regularily, didn't help much. Things were going to get much more comlicated, and very soon.
Well how am I doing? Had to give Crona some lovin here too, although there wasn't much actual love there. And nobody got any pizza, bummer. But I'll be eating some tomorrow night! :D
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