Soul searched frantically through the palace, looking for Liz and Patti. He hadn't really expected that Maka was going to take up his offer but now that she did, he had a million things to do.
After settling Maka in one of his many spare rooms, where she had promptly collapsed on the bed, he'd gone off to find the two valley nymphs that served him. He'd searched the kitchen for the millionth time before realizing that he'd sent Kid to have them take care of Cerberus.
He hurried out of the palace and down the stone path, fervently hoping that the two were on their way back.
"Hey, Soul!" Patti's voice rang out brightly behind him. Soul turned, away from the direction of the river where he was headed. Patti clasped several dull colored flowers in her hands while Liz carried an empty canvas sack.
"There you are," he said, relieved. "Did you take care of Cerberus?"
Liz shook her head. "He was where he should have been this morning when we fed him but when we looked for him right now, we couldn't find him."
"He's probably playing hide and seek," Patti said brightly. "He's gotten much better at it now."
Soul frowned. This didn't bode well. Cerberus was one of his best security measures in the Underworld. Without him, the snake was much more likely to get back into the Underworld.
If Apophis wasn't in here already.
"Listen," he said uneasily. "I'll go look for him myself. Right now, I need you to help me with some-"
"Why did you want us to check on Cerberus anyways, Soul?" Liz questioned. She wrinkled her nose. "If I had known that I would have had to deal with that three-headed nightmare for the rest of my afterlife, I wouldn't have let Patti convince me not to enter Elysium."
"Cerberus isn't a nightmare!" Patti interjected. "You just don't like him because he has worse breath than you do, when you wake up in the morning."
"You don't have to feed th-" Liz's face scrunched up in a frown. "Wait, what do you mean bad br-"
Soul interrupted. "If we could get to the matter at hand."
The two valley nymphs both glared at him with the same scornful look.
"What is it, Soul?" Liz sighed. "You look like you're going to keel over or something."
"Did Spirit send Hermes to visit you again?" Patti asked, giggling.
Soul scowled. "No, it's not that." He paused, unsure of how to proceed. "Uh, so there is a girl in my house and I kinda need your help."
"Our help?" Liz snorted. "I don't think that's the kind of thing you need help with, Soul."
Soul felt his face burn, blood boiling under his skin. "It's not that way!" He stared daggers at Patti, who had erupted into a fit of laughter. "Don't laugh-I'm telling you it's not like that!"
"Then, please enlighten us to how it is, Soul," Liz said.
"Yeah," Patti agreed. "If you don't like this girl, then why is she here?"
Soul quickly told the bare-bones version of what had happened in the past few hours, and leaving out that yes, he did actually like this girl and that he happened to think this girl was quite beautiful.
Patti let out a gasp when he explained why he sent them to place Cerberus at the tunnel's entrance. "That mean snake could have hurt him!" she exclaimed worriedly. "We have to find him!"
Liz placed a hand on Patti's shoulder. "Relax, Patti. Cerberus is strong. I'm sure he's fine."
"And it's safer if I'm the one looking for him," Soul said. "Right now I need you two to make sure that Maka feels at home here while I send a message to her mother. I don't want her feeling out of place or scared here."
"Why would she feel scared here?" Patti asked curiously. "This place is wonderful."
"Maka told me about the forest she lives in," Soul said. He glanced around the Underworld. "From what it sounds like, it's bright and colorful there and this place…is not."
"Patti is right, though," Liz said. "I know it is a bit gloomy here but it isn't bad necessarily."
"That's high praise coming from you," Soul grinned.
Liz grabbed Patti's hand, pulling her towards the palace. "Don't expect it often. C'mon, Patti. We've got a job to do."
Soul raised a hand in farewell and headed for the giant iron aviary beside his garden. Before he went looking for Cerberus, there was something he needed to do. With a wave of his hand, he called down a raven perched on a bar near the top.
It settled onto his extended arm, its head tilted to one side. Soul murmured a few words to it, speaking softly. Then he raised his arm and the bird took flight, wide wings beating against the air.
Maka woke to the sound of excited voices.
"Hmmmph," she said into the pillow, rolling over. She snuggled into the blankets. "I'm not home. I'm sleeping."
Her eyes flew open, taking in the unfamiliar room. "I'm not home."
"That's right," someone said conversationally. Maka sat up, blinking blearily.
Two blonde girls beamed at Maka. They wore one-shouldered white chitons, their golden hair wrapped in an elegant updo. The girl on the left spoke. "I'm Liz," she said. "And this is Patti, my sister." The girl beside Liz waved merrily. "We used to be valley nymphs."
"Used to?" Maka asked, rubbing her eyes. She reached for her crown of flowers that she had left on the table beside the bed before collapsing in exhaustion. The feel of the petals under her fingers was reassuring in this alien world.
"Some things happened and we kind of work for Soul now," Liz explained evasively.
"I see," Maka said slowly, turning the crown over in her hands. "Not to be rude but why are you in here?"
"Soul sent us," Liz said matter-of-factly. "He wanted to make sure that you felt at ease here." She gave Maka a onceover. "It looks like you need a bath."
Maka chuckled a little, putting the crown to the side. She stretched, feeling her sore muscles ache. "I certainly feel like it."
Liz stood up. "Patti, you take Maka and I'll go find some clothes for her to wear."
"Sure thing, sis!" Patti said as Liz walked out of the room.
"C'mon!" Patti grabbed Maka by the hand, pulling her out of the bed. Maka let out a sound of amazement, surprised at how strong Patti was. She led Maka out of her room and down the hallway opened the door to the room next door. The room was completely covered in white tile. On the far side of the room was a bath tub, almost as large as Maka's room back home.
Patti pulled a lever by the door and steaming hot water began pouring from the faucet of the tub immediately.
Pointing to a row of several containers sitting on a built-in shelf of the tub, Patti explained, "Those are some shampoos and perfumes you can use while you get clean. There's another lever you can pull when the bath is full by the shelf."
Maka stepped further into the room and gave her a smile. "Thank you, Patti."
"Take as long as you need," Patti sang. "I'll be outside if you need me." She closed the door behind her.
With a word of thanks, Maka quickly stripped off her robe. It dropped to the floor, covered in dirt stains and rips. She picked it up and looked at it sadly. It had been her finest garment and now it looked like the robe her mother wore to work in the forest.
She placed it to the side and stepped cautiously into the tub. Maka let out an involuntary sigh of contentment as the scorching water nipped at her skin, raw from her many falls today. Sinking into the water, she felt her aches fade away into nothing. She dipped her head back, lying quietly in the rising water for a while.
When the water nearly reached the top, she pulled the lever Patti had shown her and examined the bottles on the shelf. She put a few experimental drops of each one on her hand, inhaling their heavenly smell. It wasn't until she heard a knock on the door and a cautious "You all right in there?" from Liz that she quit playing around.
After she was finished bathing, Maka quickly rose from the bath, wrapping her shivering body in a towel. Drying her hair with another towel, she opened the door, peering her head out to look for Liz and Patti.
"Ready?" Liz asked, appearing out of nowhere.
Maka jumped slightly. "Y-Yes, I am."
Liz led her back to her room, where Patti held out an elegant black chiton. It molded to her body as she slipped into it, so soft that it felt as if it was made out of water. It was detailed at the shoulders with little red embroidering.
"What do you think?" Liz asked as she directed Maka to a table with a mirror fitted above it.
Maka's eyes widened as she took herself in. She didn't look like herself. Her hair, which was almost always in pigtails flowed past her shoulders, making her look more grown up. And the chiton, with its black color, contrasted sharply against her skin, giving her an ethereal look.
She looked beautiful.
Maka smiled widely. "I love it."