Chapter 2: The First Mission
The metallic view definitely caught Maka's attention. Okay, maybe it totally freaked her out. After a couple of seconds of trying to find words in her momentarily catatonic brain, she finally managed to yelp out an understandable sentence.
"Oh, goodness! What the hell happened to you?"
Blithe tightened his fists in anger, the fingers turning white.
"And here I was thinking you would live up to your promise. I told you to leave me be, so why don't you shut up, and leave me be?" The boy pulled his cloak over his face, grunted in what Maka noticed was a slightly mechanical way, and stalked off in a hunched position.
It took Maka and the others several days to get over the brooding presence of Blithe in their classroom. The whole time, Maka could only see half of an iron face, staring into the depths of her soul. When she blinked it would be gone. But the vision always came back.
Even Dr. Stein seemed slightly put off by the shape over in the back corner, not quite a human shadow thanks to the cloak constantly draped around its body. Nobody was quite sure where Blithe went after school was over. Some thought that he lived in the school, like Crona used to, others came up with stranger ideas and rumors, such as him disappearing when he was not at the school. Still, it was not long, Maka suspected, that he would be assigned a mission, and then she could find out more about him.
She was partially correct.
To Maka's luck, she and Soul was assigned to the same mission as Blithe on his first mission, to show him the basics. Maka acted very cheerful about it, knowing that this was her chance to figure Blithe out. Blithe acted less than cheerful, being silent the entire train ride to Shallow Town. Soul got bored and fell asleep.
"Why do you think they call it Shallow?" Maka asked sullenly. Blithe replied with a shrug. Maka sighed deeply and started performing the intellectually thrilling act of removing lint from her coat. As they arrived at Shallow Station, the three of them looked out of the window, and did a double take. The entire town was cut out like a bowl in a mountain valley. No doubt the land was located beneath sea level.
"That answers your question," said Blithe as they got off the train.
Maka shuddered from the cold. Somehow, a breeze managed to get into this basin. It was uncanny. "They say a string of murders has been occurring here, and the one to blame is a Kishin egg named Terren the Silent." Maka recited the mission briefing. Blithe went stiff.
Maka looked up at Blithe. "Is something wrong?" Blithe shook his head. "No. Nothing at all." However, he kept up this composure through their entire walk down a mountain to get to the town. Now that they were there, they noticed that there was a choking fog around. No one seemed to be on the streets. "How strange," remarked Soul.
"Watch yourself, the both of you. Soul, transform." Soul complied, turning into a scythe, and then flying into Maka's hands. Maka was baffled. Aren't I supposed to be the one showing Blithe how to perform a mission? "What's going on?" Blithe looked over. "I know Terran. He attacks from the fog on a silent day. A day like today." Blithe proceeded to take off his cloak. Maka was stunned. "You know a Kishin egg?" Blithe gritted his teeth. "He wasn't one when I knew him. He used to be a good person."
Now that Maka saw him with his cloak completely off, she wondered why he wore it in the first place, besides to cover up his face. Underneath the flowing black fabric, Blithe wore a suit not unlike one someone would wear to a funeral, tie included. She heard Soul gasp at the sight of Blithe's iron face, but she hushed him. "He doesn't like to be asked about it."
The trio continued down the road in silence. All the while, Maka watched Blithe closely. He seemed to be walking stiffly still, jerking his head to look around. Something was obviously bothering him. "Really, there is obviously something wrong. Just tell me." Blight turned towards her with an angry look on his face. "I do not require your attention. Focus on the task." However, Maka still noticed his visible eye nervously darting back and forth.
A call broke the silence. The call was obviously a human, but the emotion could not be pinpointed. It sounded like a cross between one note in a belly laugh and a scream of terror. Maka immediately thought, fight. Blight's face read 'danger'. Suddenly, the town seemed to be filled with these yells, resounding all around the group. Maka covered her ears, dropping Soul in the process.
"You idiot!" Blithe hissed. "Pick him up immediately. Terran could arrive any minute now!" A gust of wind swept down the road, and suddenly, a figure stood there. It was a tall young man, looking older than most of the students at the DWMA, but not quite like an adult. His hair was short and brown, and his skin deathly pale, his cheeks sunken and eye sockets deep and empty. Maka once again felt the discomfort of being around a Kishin egg. He spread his arms wide, and the calls ceased.
"Blithe. Maka. Soul." The voice was a whisper that cut its way into their ears. "Hello. My name is Terran. I am here to make your lives a total misery, and then to eat your soul. Now doesn't that sound like fun?" Maka gripped Soul tightly. Blithe seemed to steel himself. Maka prepared her speech, but suddenly Blithe beat her to it.
"TERRAN! You traitor! You will pay for all that you have done! To me and ours! We used to be good people, Terran, but you and your pals went bad! For this, I will TAKE YOUR SOUL!" Blithe dramatically pointed at Terran. The latter started sarcastically clapping, a disdainful look playing on his face. The whispering voice sliced through the air again. "You act like some sort of hero. I think...that the soul of a hero might taste better than those of others. Let us begin!"
A breeze started blowing through the town again, and it caused strange a sensation to the ears of the group. A hypnotic kind of sensation, that made them want to just lie down and...no. Maka snapped out of it. If we fall asleep, we'll never wake up. Suddenly, Terran was standing above her. Before she could reach, he backhanded her face with explosive force, sending her toppling back.
Blithe took this opportunity to take Terran from behind, but the corrupt soul was expecting this. Elbowing Blithe in the stomach, he turned around, and started sucking air into his mouth with impossible force. Any stray item seemed to fly into the gaping void. This lasted for five seconds, but to those who had to hear that awful sound of forced air movement, it felt like hours. Then, Terran did the reverse. He released everything that was just inhaled point blank at Blithe. The air and debris hit the boy at full force, and he flew into a dumpster.
For one of the few times in her life, Maka was genuinely afraid. This egg was strong. Impossibly so. There was no way he could be beaten like this. It's as if he expects every move that comes at him. She needed to think quickly.
She grabbed Soul and shouted, "Hey, egg! You think a slap in the face would put me down?" Terran scratched his head. "Well, whenever girls did it to me, that pretty much stopped me."
Maka and Soul thought the same thing at the same time. "SOUL RESONANCE!" The two shouted in union. Their soul wavelengths rose and diminished to match equally. "WITCH HUNTER!" Soul grew in size and started to glow, signs of an anti-magic resonance. Maka brought the Witch Hunter above her head and charged Terran. She brought it crashing down on him before he could dodge.
Then, one of the most terrifying things that had ever happened to Maka occurred.
The Witch Hunter had been stopped, as Terran's hand pushed the giant scythe blade away from his body as if pushing away a kid who was leaning on him. The Witch Hunter shattered.
"That was puny." Terran's voice stabbed the air like a needle. "You can't-cuh-cuh...urk...blargh." Black blood spewed out of Terran's mouth and nose. A long piece of glass stuck through his stomach. Blithe appeared from behind him.
"You dumbass, Terran. You always would pay attention to one thing at a time. Your calculations were always off, too." The glass twisted in Terran's intestines. "Give back all of the souls you stole from everyone. Now. Vanish."
A cold chuckle emitted from Terran's mouth. "You always were a naive fool. Now, I'm dead. Because of you...you. Thanks for...m-making...my...life...a...living hell...brother."
The body of Terran erupted into darkness, leaving behind only a glowing red soul. Blithe hung his head. "Not him. He was not the one who did it."
Maka stood up. "What did he mean, 'brother?'?"
Blithe looked at Maka with a pained expression. "He meant what he said. Terran was my older brother." Then he shook his head. "No. I had no brothers. Never did. Terran is not someone I would ever consider my brother. It was his entire fault. However, he is not the one I search for in my dreams." Then, realizing what he had just said, he looked at Maka coldly.
"I never said that. You got it? Any of that."
Maka nodded cheerfully. "You got it!"
"Hey, um, you guys? Don't forget about me? I'm still here? Do I get the soul or not?"
Maka almost leaped in the air. "Oh, Soul! I'm so sorry. Yeah, eat up! It's all yours."
Maka's Thoughts On The Encounter: That was the first mission Blithe had experienced at the DWMA. All I knew now was that he was searching for something. That something was very obviously dear to have rippled his emotional pond like that. Well, I guess I have to keep boring my way into his trust. But I'm sure of it. Soon enough, we'll be friends.
End of Chapter 2