Yay another chapter so soon. I was just in the mood I guess to write. God knows when I'll get another one done so yeah. Enjoy!

I don't own Soul Eater, sadly.

Augusty stood waiting outside the classroom, her arms folded over her chest as she tapped her foot . The red head was waiting for her teammates to exit the room so they could finally get some practice in. Her patience was running thin though, as the expression on her face went from calm to annoyed. When they had first become a group, she had told them they would start practice the very next day. However, that had turned into an entire week as it seemed her new partner had dissapeared for a while. Not to mention that Tria was goofing off every chance she got. Augusty sighed, and wonder why her weapon never took anything seriously. She was about to give up with waiting for them, when the familliar bubbly voice called out to her.

"Oggy! Sorry we're late again! I just stopped to talk with someone first and I asked Crona to wait for me." the girl smiled sheepishly at her meister, knowing that she wasn't exactly happy about wating so long.

"It's fine, but no more fooling around. We have to get some practice in. I'm sure Lord Death would like it if we started sooner than later." her eye twitched, as her annoyance became quite clear to Tria. "It's already been a week, and we've got nothing done at all."

"I know I know, and I'm sorry. But Crona had some things he needed to do so I said it was okay." she pleaded with Augusty, hoping for forgiveness. "Please don't be mad at him."

The red head only grunted in response, but Tria recognized it as the answer she wanted. The two waited by the door, as their newest companion joined them. Crona was jumpy as usual, but he made the attempt to be positive, seeing as this would be a new experience for all of them. Ragnarock popped out from behind the timid boy, resting on his head as always. Every time he showed Tria was excited to see him. The girl had grown pretty fond of the little demon sword, and Augusty could not understand why.

"EEEEE! Thats so cool how you can just pop out like that! I wish I could do that with Oggy." the tan skinned girl pouted.

"No you don't. The process by which that would be possible is not something you or I would enjoy going through. Trust me." the meister gave her weapon a hard glare, as she made her point. Crona only nodded as they all walked down the halls of the school and outside.

Augusty had found a place where they could do some training without causing any damage. It would be her first time resonating with more than just Tria, and she wasn't entirely sure how things would go. She was worried that Ragnarock would overpower them too much, but for the moment, all she needed was to focus on the task at hand. As Tria and Ragnarock took on their weapon formes, both meisters started to concentrate as their soulwavelengths began to pulse. At first, they couldn't match one another at all. The result was an explosion of chaotic soul waves hitting each of them. Crona looked away from his partner, feeling as though it was his fault. The red head only shrugged it off, demanding they try again. She was just as new to this as him, and she wasn't going to give up so easily.

Their second attempt went better, as Augusty adjusted her soul's wavelength to match Crona's. She found it easier to do this, rather than force the sword meister to her level. She was surprised that Ragnarock wasn't overwhelming them all. Once their resonance rates were stable they held it for as long as possible, before Augusty was satisfied. They would have to test it all in battle, but she was confidant now, that they could at least complete the link.

"Thats enough. I think we accomplished our goal." she spoke sternly, as they all tuned down the soul waves.

"Whoohoo! I think we nailed it!" Tria shouted as she returned to her original form. "Now we can tell Lord Death and he'll give us our next assignment!"

Crona fidgeted as Ragnarock took his place over the scrawny boy's head again, "Well its about time! I've been bored stupid just sittin around here every damn day!" the little demon stretched his arms as if to emphasize his point.

"Well then, I suggest we get moving." Augusty turned swiftly, and began headed back to the school. The others followed, Tria bouncing happily beside Crona as she poked at Ragnarock, who was screaming at the girl to stop pestering him.

Crona was surprised with what they had accomplished. He never thought that he would even be able to resonate with anyone. Maka had told him though, all he needed to do was try. It took a lot of cencentration, but he was relieved that the first practice had gone well. The poor boy was startled from his thoughts though, as Tria burst out with an idea.

"Hey! Since we didn't get to the last time, how about we get that pizza now?" she rubbed her stomache, as it growled quite intensley at the suggestion.

"Yeah! Now theres a good idea!" the little black blob agreed with his fellow weapon, "What do ya say Oggy? Hehe, pizza sounds good."

The red haired meister shot a venomous eye towards the demon sword, but he only laughed at her. She shook her head, knowing that she was also a little hungry. She gave in to the pleading cries of her own weapon, as the four of them headed off to order their well deserved pizza. They were off to an interesting start, and for the second time while with them. Augusty smiled a true caring smile , as she watched the other three.

Although she was back in classes, she didn't exactly miss all the dissections whenever Stein was teaching. Ayelis nearly lost her breakfast, as the proffessor performed his skills on a rather exotic looking lizard. She was certain she would have ralphed on Soul sitting in front of her, if it wasn't for the one person she could hardly stand. Black Star had been late again, and as the assasin burst through the classroom door he nearly missed the flying scalpel that whisped by his head. Ayelis tried to stiffle a laugh along with several other students, as she watched the look of terror on the boy's face. Stein was not amused by the constant late arrival, and he made it quite clear to the class. The room was silent as he gave an eeri grin, and Ayelis was sure he was intending to experiment on Black Star next. She turned to look at Tsubaki, and her face changed from amused to sympathetic. The poor ninja was wallowing in embarrassment as she watched her meister. Fortunately for the now cowering assasin and his weapon, the bell rang signalling the end of class.

"How dissapointing. Oh well, I'll be expecting an essay on the labs we did yesterday and today. Five thousand words and no less. If you were paying attention I should expect some well detailed reports." his voice was monotone as always, but held that creepy pitch added to it. Ayelis had to think the proffessor could rival her mother when it came to intimidation. "Class dismissed!"

Spinning away on his chair, Stein rolled out of the room cackling all the way down the hall. As the students all proceeded to pack up and leave, Maka approched the axe meister. She new Ayelis was pretty well up to par, and they would soon be getting a new assignment from Lord Death. Maka just wanted to make sure that Ayelis would be up for the mission. She tapped her friend's shoulder to gain her attenition and smiled as Ayelis looked up at her, wondering what she was going to say.

"So, you looking forward to the next lesson we get? I'm sure Lord Death has one ready." the pigtailed blonde asked happily. Soul came to stand next to his meister, curious what the girls were talking about.

"Well I'm a little stiff, but other than that I should be just fine. Lord Death can give us our assignment any time. Right guys?" she looked to her partners, but neither of them were there to respond.

Ayelis looked around, but she couldn't spot the two anywhere. They had come to class so she knew they were around, but she wondered where they had taken off to in such a hurry. Maka only shook her head, as Soul laughed. Ayelis hadn't noticed them leave at all. apparently she had been too focused on other things to pay attention. The axe meister frowned as she heard Soul's snickering. It wasn't her fault she zoned out in class sometimes. She would rather not focus on taking notes of the insides of helpless creatures, as their teacher pulled them appart.

"Care to elaborate on whats so funny Soul?" She raised an eyebrow at the scyth, unamused by his behaviour.

"I thought Maka was bad for beeing such a bookworm, but you're a real airhead too!" he laughed louder, earning him a book to the head from his meister.

"That's no reason to be laughing at her Soul." she turned to Ayelis after dusting off her book, "I think I saw Liz talking to them before they left. I'm not sure where they went though, sorry.'

"Its fine. I'm sure I'll find them eventually."

Ayelis smiled and waved good-bye to her friends, before departing from the classroom herself. She wondered where Vizy and Lyall had taken off to, and what they had spoken to Liz about before leaving. Her mood changed from content to rather depressed as she starting thinking about it more. Ever since she had recovered from her injuries, Ayelis had noticed both her partners spending less time at home or around her. If it were only Vizy she might not care as much, but Lyall was being distant as well.

"Maybe I should get out more?" speaking to herself again, as she walked down the halls of the school. "I've been so cooped up , it might be good to get out for a day or something."

The last time she was out of the house just for fun, was the night at Kid's party. It wasn't a terrible night, and she had gotten to know the group since then. Ayelis was lost in thought again, as she tried to decide what she would do. She was unaware of the pair of narrow brown eyes watching her. The person they belonged to stood quietly observing the teenage girl, silently contemplating on a plan. She would get her daughter back if it was the last thing she did, and her opportunity was knocking. A wicked grin passed over her face as Devilda plotted to herself.

Ayelis made her way home slowly. Taking her time to enjoy the walk, but the fact she was alone still bothered her. Her parents were still in Death City, but she hadn't heard from them since they dropped in to her appartment. To Ayelis It seemed like her family was avoiding her. Maka and the others still came around often enough. In fact it seemed like even Liz and Patty were around every day, besides in class anyway. She always had someone asking her how she was doing or if she needed help. Ayelis was getting used to having company around most of the time, and she enjoyed it. She was slowly becoming more sociable as she continued to spend time with everyone. When she reached the appartment, she found nobody home. Loup was out doing whatever he pleased during the day, and Vizy and Lyall hadn't made it home yet. She though for a moment or two, then decided.

"Another walk sounds good to me." She told herself with a somewhat sad smile, before heading back out the door.

"So what was the result Professor?" the boy stood beside his brother, waiting patiently for the results of the current test Stein had done on them. It had something to do with measuring and analizing their soul wavelengths.

"Well we can't be comepletely sure until we have a direct result with your meister." Stein explained, taking a long drag from his cigarette. "But I've got a feeling that our assumptions are correct."

Lyall's face dropped as the words coming from Stein's mouth dug deep into his mind. Vizy just stood there quietly, knowing exactly what his brother was thinking. The two boy's didn't want it to be, but the fact was that they could be the ones putting their meister in danger. If not both of them, then at least one of them was giving off a negative wavelength when resonating. Not the news that they had wanted to hear.

"So... after three years, it's been us this whole time?" Lyall asked quietly. His fists clenched at his sides.

"Like I said, it isn't confirmed yet. But by the looks of the test we just conducted, I'd say thats the case." Stein frowned at them, knowing this was hard for both boys to take in. "We won't tell her untill the two of you are ready, but I suggest it be done as soon as possible. Or you may not have a meister to resonate with much longer. At the rate that her soul wavelength has been changing I'd say about six months to a year befor she goes completely berserk."

"Six Months!" the boys replied in unison, obviously disturbed by his answer.

"To a year. Don't blow this thing out of proportion." he corrected them, "It's possible to find a solution within the timeframe. Right now though I need you both to keep an eye on her. Lord Death has Maka watching her as well, but she isn't aware how serious this is yet."

The brothers only nodded, as they fell silent once more. Stein explained that they were not to say a word to Ayelis untill he was ready to conduct the necessary tests. Additional observation would help in the diagnosis anyway, so it was best for them to wait. Vizy huffed, but agreed to it, and Lyall just nodded in response. They had no words for what they were feeling at that moment. A thought came to the younger brother's mind though and he was sure it was relevent to the issue.

"What about her mother? As far as I know she's still in town." Lyall looked at the professor, waiting for an answer.

"Lord Death has been keeping a close watch on her. Something about that woman doesn't add up. That and I'm positive she'll try something soon."

The three were quiet, as they sat in an uncomfortable silence. Lyall understood what Stein was talking about, and it made his skin crawl. Devilda was up to something and whatever the outdome of it was, it wouldn't be good for Ayelis. Thanking the professor before leaving, the brothers headed for home in a much more somber mood than before. Stein watched them leave as he took another drag. This was much more complicated than he would like to admit, but if there was even a chance that the problem could be resolved. He would have to get working on it. His own insanity was enough proof that a girl like Ayelis didn't deserve to suffer the way he did. He was going to have to talk with Marie about the next step.

Ayelis had somehow found her way to the basketball court downtown, and was now sitting on one of the benches starring at the unmoving ball in the center. She hadn't played the game the last time she had been there, but she was in the mood to do something active. With or without anyone there to play with her.

"Might as well." Ayelis told herself, before walking over and grabbing the orange ball.

She dribbled for a moment then took a shot at the net, watching as the ball bounced off the backbord and through the net. She smiled, before running to grab the ball again. At least she wasn't as bad as Maka. apparently the scythe meister didn't even know any of the rules. Ayelis at least knew the basics of the game. She coninued to drill herself a little, just a few things she happened to remember but nothing too intense. Ayelis only wished there was someone else around. She stood bouncing the ball, thinking to herself. The poor girl was stirred from her thoguhts though when she heard a voice behind her. She squeeked in surprise and dropped the ball, letting it roll towards the newcomer.

"Well who do we have here?" stopping the ball with her foot, Liz yelled back to her meister who was trailing behind her with his hands in his pockets. "Hey Kid! Hurry up will you?" Patty was standing next to her sister smiling brightly as always.

"Ayelis? What are you doing here by yourself?" he inquired as he stopped in front of her.

"Well I... I was just out for a walk, and I ended up here. Why?" she looked at the trio still a little shaken from them catching her off guard.

"No reason. We just saw you here and thought you could use some company." Liz replied, looking around as if she expected to find somthing or someone. "What happened to Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum?"

"Huh? Oh you mean the boys." Ayelis had to think who Liz was reffering to, "Well I'm not sure where they are right now." she frowned as she remember going home to the empty appartment.

"Well screw them, how about we stick around for a while?" Liz grinned at the smaller girl, hoping to keep her from another gloomy evening alone.

"Hey sis, why don't we play two on two? You can be on my team!" Patty chimed happily.

"Sounds good to me. Ayelis?" Kid glanced in her direction as he waited for her reply. Ayelis' face lit up with a surpised but happy grin and she nodded. She wasn't expecting to meet up with anyone, but this was a welcome surprize indeed.

The game stared and the four of them were having a blast. It was more amusing than anything else when Liz tried to dribble the ball past Kid and he ended up stealing it from her. She wasn't that great at the game to be honest, and Patty was screaming at her for not paying attention. The younger Thompson was pretty scary when she took things seriously, and apparently sports was one of those things.

"Come on sis! They're Kicking your big fat butt!" Patty whined, while she waited for her sister to pass her the ball.

"HEY! MY BUTT IS NOT FAT PATTY!" Liz made the mistake of stopping and holding the ball while glaring angrily at her younger sibling. When she realized she'd stopped she tried to turn around away from Ayelis and keep going.

"Hey! No travelling!" the axe meister caught her mistake, calling it out.

"She's right Liz, you can't walk with the ball like that." Kid added.

"Dammit! I'm so tired of this already. I'm not a sports person!" Liz had been complaining every time she was called out on a mistake or foul. "Besides it's getting dark. Shouldn't we get going?"

Ayelis looked at the sky, and Liz was right. The sun was sleepily setting and their daylight was fading as the moon seemed all to happy to take it's place. She didn't want to stop the game, but it looked like Liz was about to quit anyway. She had been enjoying herself so much that the time just sort of flew right by. Ayelis had gone into dream land again, or so Liz thought. She decided to wake her up and see if they could all head home.

"Hey Ayelis! Think fast!" Liz huffed the ball in the axe meisters direction, but unfortunately Ayelis didn't snap out of it fast enough.

The basketball smacked her right in the head, and she fell forwards in shock. Liz deadpanned, wondering if she should try to help the girl, or just die laughing. The taller blonde picked the latter, and nearly doubled over as she cackled away. Patty was on the ground laughing her heart out as well, as Ayelis picked herself back up and dusted herself off. She sent a hard glare in Liz's direction, but it didn't do much to stop the older girl from laughing. Kid just watched, shaking his head and smiling at the three girls. Apparently Soul, Black Star and Vizy weren't the only ones who found humour in the mishaps of others.

"Well I suppose we should get going then." he turned to Ayelis, "Will you be okay on your own?"

"I should be fine. I imagine Vizy and Lyall are home by now anyway." She smiled, but for some reason it seemed hollow to Kid. something was off about her. Was she hiding something?

"Come on you two. It's cold and I wanna go home." Liz groaned, but stopped when she noticed the look on Kid's face. Something was up, and she didn't like the feeling of it.

"Um... Kid?" Ayelis was a little nervous from the way he was looking at her. His face was serious and his gaze made her feel like she was half naked. That feeling you get when you know someone is picking you apart or figure you out. Not a comfortable feeling at all.

"We'll walk you home. It's a nice night, so I don't mind." he stood beside her, gesturing for them to get going.

Liz protested as she just wanted to go strait home, but that didn't stop her meister. Patty just laughed and followed. She was never bothered by the cool air and she was happy to be spending more time with friends. Ayelis was flattered. She had said she would be fine, but Kid insisted they go with her. In a way she was grateful for the company. She had been feeling down most of the day, and she couldn't figure out why. It only made things worse when Vizy and Lyall took off after class. Maybe she was just overthinking it. Patty came up beside her lacing her arm through Ayelis' and kicking her feet up in a goofy looking march. Ayelis laughed and almost joined in on Patty's parade. Whatever the reason, having these three show up was making her day. When the four of them reached the appartment, they were greeted by Lyall at the door who was already on edge with worry.

"Ayelis! Where were you?" he was nearly in a panic. "We tried calling Maka and everyone else. Although this does explain why Liz didn't answer."

"Obviously. Where's your dork of a brother?" the elder thompson tried to look in past Lyall, but couldn't really see anything.

"He's upstairs. Now back to my question, Where were you?"

"Playing basketball. When I got home you two weren't back yet, so I went out for a while." she gave him a sheepish grin.

"We just happened to find her on the court." Kid added in to the explanation.

"Yeah! Ayelis and Kid kicked our butts! It was awesome!" Patty jumped up, mimicking some of the movements from earlier in their game.

"Well at least you're home. Thanks you guys for walking with her."

Kid nodded, as Lyall thanked the trio for being there. He was starting to get the feeling that something really was up with them. Ayelis was spacing out more than ever and her partners were always wondering off on her. He wondered if it had anything to do with Ayelis' mother still being around. Lyall seemed concerned about something and Kid had a feeling it was something big. In any case though they all said good night, and the three headed back towards Gallows Manor. He would have to keep a look out for anything suspicious, in case his hunch was right.

Ayelis was glad to have had the company for the evening, but she didn't like how Lyall was treating her like a little girl. Why was he so upset that she wasn't home? It's not like she wasn't allowed to go out once in a while too.

"What the problem? All I did was go for a walk." she eyed her partner carefully, "I can take care of myself you know. There's more to being a meister than just relying on your weapons."

"I was just worried okay. You usually leave a note or something." he shrugged.

Ayelis sighed, and headed upstairs to take a shower. The day had been an odd one, and she was tired. Hopefully though the next day would have a new assignment for her and she could get back into the swing of things. Her soul collection was too far behind and she wanted to get going. She couldn't quite understand it, but the thought of Lyall being so overprotective gave her the sudden urge to fight along with a small pain in her chest, before it vaished just as quickly.

"What was that?"

And another one bites the dust. I know theres been a lot of school and less action, but even a good story needs a build up to the best parts. I promise I'll be getting to some of the action and more exciting stuff soon. You have to remember though, Ayelis just got back into the swing of things so she needs time to loosen up ^_^

Anywhoo! Please leave me a review ~.~ they help me get inspired and bring more chapters sooner.