17: In Which Maka Loses Confidence
The sun rose bright and early as it always did.
Maka rose with it, more out of reflex than anything. She sat up and looked around blearily. At first it was though nothing had ever happened. Then she saw the dress that had been balled up and thrown in the corner. Maka swallowed and turned away from it. She was quick to dress and run downstairs for breakfast.
No one would have guessed anything out of the ordinary had happened the night before if it weren't for the police cars lined up outside of the bakery. Needless to say both Miss Marie and Dr. Stein closed their respective businesses for the day.
Maka noticed that Miss Marie was sitting with her back turned to her, talking to a woman wearing a smart suit and glasses who was jotting down notes in her notebook. There was a tape recorder on the table in between them. Maka tried to back away without being noticed, but the woman with glasses looked up at her and frowned. Marie turned as well.
"Maka, you're up!" Marie excused herself from the interviewer and came over to the young witch. "How are you feeling today? Did you sleep well?"
Maka nodded. Miss Marie offered her a small smile as she hugged Maka to her chest and began stroking her hair soothingly.
"Marie." The black-haired woman with glasses was still watching them closely. "I know you want to check on the girl, but we're in the middle of an important investigation right now."
"I know, I know," Marie sighed. "Let me just get something for Maka to eat."
"It's okay, Miss Marie. I can eat later. You should finish your interview first."
The lady at the table stood up. "May I at least meet this young lady?" she asked.
Marie blinked. "Of course. Let me introduce you two. Maka, this is my friend Azusa Yumi. She and I have known each other for a number of years now. She's in charge of magical abuse and was assigned to keeping my husband in compliance with the modern laws before he and I met."
So she's a member of the Witches Council, Maka realized.
Marie smiled. "Azusa was also the one to teach me how to keep Franken's powers in check, like what happened last night. I have to report to the Council for these actions as well."
"I never knew…"
"We all have our secrets," Marie said with a small smile. Maka couldn't help but wonder about the eye patch again.
She didn't have much time to dwell on those thoughts as Azusa coughed.
"Marie, we're not quite done here."
"I have nothing else to say," Miss Marie insisted. "I've told you as much as I know. You'll have to talk to Franken for more details about what exactly was used to hurt Soul and Kid."
"And where is your husband at this moment?"
"Sleeping. You of all people should know how draining using life-saving magic can be."
Azusa didn't seem pleased by the response, but she nodded.
"Do you know any other witnesses I may gather information from? For example, anyone who was at the scene of the crime?"
Maka bit her lip and stepped forward.
"If you don't mind, I could have an interview too."
The woman looked at her curiously over her spectacles. "Would you be willing to do it?"
"You don't have to," Miss Marie said.
"I want to. It it'll help Crona then I'll do it."
Miss Marie nodded and stepped out of Maka's way.
Ms. Yumi bowed her head slightly. "Thank you. I take it you're the young girl who transported Mr. Solomon Evans to this location last night at approximately 11:30?"
Maka nodded.
"Maka, was it?"
She nodded again. The woman jotted down something on her notepad before gesturing to the seat before her.
"Sit." It was not a request.
Maka sat.
"As Ms. Mjölnir—I mean, Mrs. Stein—said earlier, my name is Private Investigator Azusa Yumi. My field of profession is in magic abuse and code of conduct. Normally I work with warlock inclusion to the Council and the guidelines we place for magic users in the mundane world, but this case falls perfectly into my jurisdiction.
"I've recently been assigned to the case concerning Miss Medusa Gorgon and the experimentation she has been conducting on the two children in her care, Crona and Ragnarök. I'd like to ask you a few questions about what you may know about Miss Gorgon and her relationship with magic, as well as the two children. Is that okay?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. Now if you don't mind I will be keeping note of this for future reference. As we continue this investigation it may be possible you will be called in again for further interviews and to present evidence among the Council if that is deemed fit. As you can imagine we're doing our best to keep this away from a regular court of law due to the unusual circumstances surrounding this investigation.
"For this reason, we will need to record some personal information about you as well. Thankfully you have been registered as a witch in our central database by your father a few years ago, so we can bypass some of the more tedious paperwork. But I will have to check that everything is in order. Do you agree to these terms?"
"Yes." Maka was still shocked that the Council was so organized. And that her papa had been aware enough to have her registered as an active witch.
Ms. Yumi nodded and flipped to a fresh page in her journal. "Let us begin. I'll start with the basics. Firstly, your full name?"
"Maka Albarn."
"Date of birth?"
"The summer equinox, June 20th."
"And how old are you?"
"Thirteen."
"Any relations we should be aware of in case we need to verify your identification?"
"Miss Marie and Dr. Stein are my contacts here in Dödenstad, but if you must you can write to my father in Litenby. I can also give you his number."
Per Ms. Yumi's request Maka gave her her old address and home phone number. The woman took down all the information without so much as batting an eye.
"Last personal question. How much magical training have you had and what do you consider notable abilities you possess?"
"I haven't had any formal training until coming to Dödenstad." Maka blushed at Ms. Yumi's somewhat judging gaze. "My mother left before I came of age. Dr. Stein has done his best to teach me herb lore and how to properly read the Old Tongue. Other than that all I can do is fly and talk to my familiar, Blair."
"I'm glad to hear you are taking your studies seriously, albeit a bit late. We rarely see this in younger generations." Maka thought of Kim and looked down at her tea guiltily. "And you do possess the basic skills every witch is expected to have. Do you know what your special ability is?"
"Not yet, no."
Ms. Yumi flipped to the back of the page.
"I will now begin the formal part of the inquiry. Please answer each question to the best of your ability with as much information as you can, okay? Good. Now Maka, can you tell me when you first met Miss Gorgon?"
Maka nodded slowly. "It was a few weeks ago, somewhere in the beginning of July. She came in requesting me to deliver a present to her nephew…"
マカの宅急便
Maka groaned as she collapsed onto her bed. It was now quite a bit past lunchtime. The questioning had taken over an hour. And it consisted of over an hour of things Maka didn't want to relive: meeting Medusa (now that Maka was aware of her darker side), befriending Crona only to be rejected by them in hopes of protecting her, the plan to break Crona out, the violence that followed it, and finally everything that happened the night before.
Her stomach growled loudly, reminding Maka that she hadn't eaten since dinner. She forced her exhausted body out of bed and to the little stove and fridge. There was a bottle of apple juice, a carton of eggs, some sausages, and a slab of butter. Maka was quick to grab her skillet and make a quick meal. She was running out of salt, but she couldn't bring herself to care at all.
As always Miss Marie had somehow managed to leave a few rolls on Maka's table without the girl noticing. They were still fresh. She buttered one for herself and placed it on her plate of eggs and sausage. Blair's plate was still on the table from the other day so Maka scooped an egg and two sausages onto it. She knew Blair was more or less bored of starchy food.
Suddenly tired again, Maka ignored her aching stomach and went back to bed. She lay on top of the sheets and tried her best to bury the sudden pain that seemed to squeeze at her soul. She couldn't put a finger on the feeling. It was as if she was drowning, except the thrum of power that Maka felt in her veins had become nothing more than a slow-moving sludge. All she could think of was Soul and Kid lying in white beds on the other side of town, Crona somewhere in the Council's custody, Medusa's high, cruel laugh, the soulless Ragnarök. Maka shuddered at the thoughts and buried her head in her pillow.
There was a light pat on her head. It was a paw. Blair.
The cat wormed her way into Maka's arm against her chest. Blair rubbed against Maka, purring comfortingly. Maka sighed and curled up with her. They stayed there in silence, Maka gently stroking Blair's silky black fur until the growling of her stomach was too much to ignore.
"Breakfast is on the table," she murmured. "I guess it's lunch now though."
Blair untangled herself and stretched. She hopped onto the table as Maka took a seat and began to eat.
"I'm sorry about last night," Maka said finally, the silence too stifling to bare. "I know seeing that blood must've given you quite a fright. It wasn't mine. It was…it was Soul's. He's in the hospital now. So is Kid. And it's all my fault."
Blair was watching her, so Maka explained as briefly as she could. "We decided to rescue Crona from Lady Medusa last night, but it went horribly wrong. There was a fight. Soul saved my life, but he almost died. And Kid's started Awakening. I just don't understand what's happening anymore, Blair. It's terrifying! All I know is that the boys are in the hospital. They might die because of me.
"And no one knows if Crona is okay. If they do know, they won't tell me anything. I'm afraid for them too. What if they're all alone with no one there to tell them it'll be okay? What kind of friend and I if I can't even help Crona from this?"
Blair meowed.
Maka went from scared and sad to angry very fast. She frowned, stabbing her sausage a little harder than she anticipated. It spun off the plate and onto the floor. She huffed, but glared instead at the black cat.
"You know, I had a very awful night as you probably noticed. And all you can do is meow at me at a time like this? Really?"
Then the oddest thing happened. Blair cocked her head to one side. And meowed again.
Blair never fake-meowed more than once, and she'd only done it when Maka would say something insulting or wouldn't stop rambling about one thing or another. It was always jokingly. And she would always stop when Maka was feeling down. Like now.
"Blair?" she asked.
The cat looked up from her plate questioningly.
Maka swallowed hard. "Blair, speak to me. C'mon, it's not funny now. Just say my name. Say 'Maka.'"
Blair mewled a few more times before taking her uneaten sausage into her mouth and hopping out of the window. Maka stared at the spot where her familiar had just been. Ice was slowly crawling up the young witch's spine. The sluggishness she'd been feeling was being drowned out by the fear constricting her chest. What in the world was this feeling? It was as if all the warmth from her magic had vanished. That was impossible, unless…
Maka gasped, the realization hitting her. She stood up and dashed to the doorway her broom was leaning against. She quickly mounted it and hopped off the ground. Maka felt her body hover forward a bit before she hit the floor with a heavy thump.
Maka sat there, frozen in shock. She couldn't breathe, or blink, or think. Her hands were shaking. She saw black around the corners of her eyes.
I can't feel my magic.
Maka tried to fly again, but the same thing happened. This time her shins smacked against the floor faster than they had before.
Ignoring the pain Maka ran down the stairs and into the bakery. She stopped in the entryway from the kitchen to the front, deciding to stay out of view. There were still investigators everywhere. She narrowed her eyes and focused on darkening her vision. There were several people moving around the café. It shouldn't have been hard to pick up their souls from such a close distance.
Yet as she squinted into the room all Maka could make out was a haze of blue. There was no clear definition to speak of. She couldn't make out the shape of a single soul, just the aura. Maka gasped and her vision snapped back. She began to shake, leaning against the wall for support. What was happening to her? First Soul, then Kid, and now her? Impossible.
"Maka?"
It was Dr. Stein. He looked half-dead, grey and tired, but his eyes were alight with energy. His magic had replenished then. The doctor regarded the young witch with curious eyes.
"Are you feeling okay? Your wavelength seems very faint today. Or maybe it's me."
Maka felt ready to cry. Her throat was closing up and she was choking on her suddenly thick tongue.
"Dr. Stein…is it possible for a witch to lose her magic?"
マカの宅急便
The soft knock on the attic door made the young witch finally lift her head from her desk. There was a piece of paper stuck to her cheek, which she pulled off gently. On it were notes she'd scrawled the night before. Maka stretched, feeling a few joints pop back into place, before responding. Marie came in with a tray of freshly-baked biscuits and a glass of milk.
"How are you feeling?" she asked gently.
Maka shrugged.
"A lot of your friends from town are here. Kim and Jackie are on break too."
They don't go on break until 2 o'clock, thought Maka. How long have I been sitting here? How long was I up last night?
Maka rubbed her eyes and peered out of the window. The sun was high and blinding. So it must've been early afternoon after all.
"Do you want me to tell them now's not a good time?"
"No, I'll see them." She stood up slowly. "Can you tell them I'll be down in a minute?"
"I'll let them know."
As Miss Marie left Maka stood up and stretched again. She washed her face in the bowl by the mirror. She dried off and got ready to leave, but not before catching her reflection.
Maka hated to admit it, but she looked terrible. There were dark circles under her eyes, an obvious red line where the book she'd fallen asleep on had dug into her cheek, and her dress and hair were rumpled. Maka did her best to straighten up before going downstairs to join the others.
Kim, Ox, Jacqueline, Tsubaki, Harvar, and Liz were all sitting in their usual corner. They greeted Maka as she pulled up a chair and poured her a cup of tea.
It began with simple updates.
Black*Star had been released within a day, after thorough checks. His broken arm was slung in a cast the same astonishing blue as his hair. He was pretty badly concussed too. The boy was more restless than usual, arguing with Tsubaki when she finally told him to sit down from his seemingly constant movement.
Kid was still in a comatose state. His condition was unknown. Soul had apparently woken and was in and out of a drug-filled haze to keep the pain at bay until he'd heal enough to move around. He seemed pretty confused as to why he was in the hospital. Apparently he'd asked for his brother and his friends a few times when lucid.
The first thing Maka noticed was that a couple of people were missing.
"Where's Patty and Kilik?"
"Kilik's babysitting," explained Tsubaki. "He said he's coming in about thirty minutes."
"Patty refuses to leave Kid's side," Liz said. "I tried to make her go, but she wouldn't come with me. And the nurses and doctors tried as well. Patty threw a fit and made them let her stay."
Liz sighed. "It's getting ridiculous. But I can't blame her, ya know? Kid's pretty much the only family we've got, and Mr. Shinigami's been so busy with the entire situation we haven't seen much of him."
"Is she…okay?" Tsubaki asked the question on everyone's mind. "At Medusa's house, she seemed so different. We were all worried."
Liz bit her lip. It took the older Thompson sister a long time to respond.
Tsubaki ducked and looked away. "I'm sorry I asked. You don't have to tell us."
"No. It's fine. We're all friends here. You guys have a right to know. I mean, all we've told you guys is that we're from New York and that Kid took us in since we were orphans. You guys don't know the baggage we carried from our lives back then. As you can imagine we weren't angels. New York's the kind of city that chews up and spits out anyone too weak to fend for themselves. So we became strong in the only way we knew how. We learned how to fight, how to steal, how to hurt others. The name 'the Thompson Sisters' was infamous if you knew where our turf was.
"What you guys saw the other night? That's what Patty was always like. Before were came here to Dödenstad, before we were given the chance to do normal things like normal people. I was hoping I'd never have to see that side of her again."
"Why?" asked Harvar.
"Why do you think? How do you think I feel as an older sister, huh? I couldn't give her anything she needed: a normal life where homework was the biggest complaint, and food was always on the table, and where we had a roof over our heads with beds to call our own. Instead Patty got the eyes of a killer, and I knew it was because I couldn't protect her that she looked like that!"
Liz gasped at what she said. She looked away guiltily.
"The first time I saw her laugh genuinely, like she used to when we were little, was a whole year after Kid took us in. I'd forgotten what that laugh sounded like. It was the best thing I'd ever heard in my life.
"The two of us, we owe our lives to Kid. I don't want to think about what would've happened to us if we'd been left to our own devices. Having this huge unknown is scary. We don't know what'll happen to him or his dad. I guess I've been dealing with it a bit differently than Patty."
Everyone nodded sympathetically. There were a few minutes of silence as people mulled over their tea.
"How are you doing, Maka?" Kim asked, breaking the silence. "Have you had any luck finding out about your magic?"
Maka swallowed her tea and shook her head.
"I still can't fly… I can barely sense any souls. And Blair, she doesn't speak to me either…" Maka clenched her shaking hands together under the table. "I honestly have no idea what to do."
"Could it be part of the aftereffect of the strange tea Medusa gave you?"
Maka shook her head. "Dr. Stein took a blood sample last night. He told me all of the drug is out of my body. There's no way it's still because of that. And even when they were affecting me I could still sense souls and fly. It was just harder."
Kim chewed on her lip, deep in thought. "I've never heard anything like it from my grandmother. I always thought magic was a sort of constant."
"So did I," Maka admitted. "Now it feels like I took it for granted."
"I'll ask her about it again tonight. Who knows what'll come up."
"But your magic'll just—oh, I don't know—come back or something, right?" asked Liz.
"I don't know," Maka whispered.
"Has the doctor found any information in his books?" Ox asked.
"Not yet." I doubt he will.
Harvar spoke up. "If you'd like we could go to the library later today and see if we can find anything. I know you don't have a student ID so you can't get into some of the restricted sections like us."
"It's fine. I don't want you to take to much time on this. But thank you Ox, Harvar. I'm going to try flying again tonight. There's a hill with a few ditches I can glide over that's about a ten minute walk from here."
"Don't push it," warned Tsubaki. "We don't want you to hurt yourself too."
"I'll be fine, Tsubaki. It's just flying. I'm not going to jump off a building of anything."
At that moment Black*Star entered the café, followed closely by Kilik. Seeing the group sitting in the corner they quietly joined them. There weren't enough seats so the boys stood.
Tsubaki was the first to speak. She looked surprisingly angry.
"Why are you here?"
Black*Star shrugged. "I was chilling at Kilik's house and he mentioned you guys might be here. So I tagged along."
Tsubaki immediately began scolding him. "Go home! You're still concussed, you shouldn't be out and about like this. Especially hanging out with Kilik. I don't think you two have ever stayed still in a room together!"
"Don't kick us out yet!" Kilik hissed. He made sure the other patrons weren't staring before lowering his voice and saying, "Black*Star and I were doing some digging on the case and we have some more information about Medusa and her creepy experiments. And why she had Crona and Ragnarök in her house."
That got Tsubaki to stop. She stared at them with wide eyes.
"What?"
"It's true," said Black*Star. "We came out this way just to tell you guys. It's important."
"Are you allowed access to that information?" asked Harvar.
"Technically no," he replied easily. "But I have my ways." When everyone stared at him expectantly Black*Star added, "I basically used my dad's ID to get Kilik in and out."
"Isn't that illegal?" Ox asked.
Black*Scar scowled. "Look four-eyes, do you want the details or not?"
"Don't be rude!" Tsubaki scolded. She sighed. "I guess you should grab some chairs."
The two took them for the nearest table. Everyone scooted in to give them room on the end. Once they had settled Black*Star began.
"Thanks to us finding the entrance to the basement the other night the police were able to retrieve a bunch of files in it. Ends up Medusa's been keeping up with these crazy drug experiments for several years and has been filing all the information since she graduated with her medical degree. She had papers, graphs, bloodwork, and several journals. It looks like she tried to destroy some of it in that fire she set. But there was enough left to charge her!"
"That explains Dr. Stein's involvement," Kim said. "He's been supplying the herbs and potions used on them, right?"
Kilik nodded and continued. "The police just did some more searching last night and found a fireproof chest with birth records for Crona and Ragnarök in it. Ends up they're paternal twins. Same mom and dad. Crazy, isn't it? They don't look anything like each other."
"Twins?" Jacqueline gasped.
Black*Star nodded.
"Are you serious?" asked Maka.
Black*Star's jaw was set as he said it. He looked away, unable to meet anyone's eyes.
"What an awful woman!" Tsubaki exclaimed, hands over her mouth. "How could she do something like that? Experimenting on her own children? How can she live with herself?"
"That's not all…"
Kilik met eyes with Black*Star's. They nodded and leaned in further.
"We also found Medusa's confession tape," said Black*Star. "She didn't deny anything. They even got Kid's dad in to interrogate her because she requested it. It was really intense. I don't think I've ever seen Mr. Shinigami that angry ever."
Kilik nodded. "It was mad scary. She didn't even flinch and we were getting worked up just listening to it. Medusa said that those two are her twins, and get this: they're both Dr. Stein's also."
Shocked silence followed.
"Impossible…" breathed Harvar. "Is there any way to prove it?"
Kim said, "With magic, yeah. I've seen it done before. It's what my grandmother specialized in."
Black*Star spoke. "The Witches Council's going to call a meeting tonight to see if it's possible. I heard the doc's consented to going out to meet with them. Miss Marie too. There's a way to prove it using magic, but it'll be taxing on both the kids and Dr. Stein."
"When will they do the testing?" asked Ox.
Kilik shrugged. "That we couldn't find."
"We think it'll probably be after Kid wakes up. The Council'll probably want to talk to him and hear the whole story before making charges."
"Do you know what they're going to do with Crona and Ragnarök?" Tsubaki asked.
Kilik shook his head. "All we know is that they're both in the Council's custody right now. It looks like they're trying to determine what to charge Ragnarök since he's just fourteen. They've got witches, psychologist, and doctors checking to see if there's any way he can be reintroduced into society or if he needs to be taken to a special facility."
"And Crona?" Maka asked. "What about them?"
"Unknown. They're not as 'damaged' so to speak. Their soul is intact unlike their brother. However, they've developed problems interacting with people due to the long time in confinement. Apparently Ragnarök was trained to hurt Crona whenever Medusa's experiments failed so they've determined that the two should be separated. That's all that we could find before we had to leave."
A few more questions were asked, but since Kilik and Black*Star had to leave the police station in a rush to avoid getting caught they didn't have much more to offer. Still, the information proved to be quite a weight to carry. Almost everyone left soon after that with Ox, Harvar, Kim, and Jackie going back to work.
Once they were gone Maka went back to her room. She stared at the broom leaning against the wall. Maka was filled with a newfound determination. She had to do something, anything, to help Crona. But she couldn't do that being weak. She'd have to get stronger. And to do that she needed to get her magic back.
マカの宅急便
At dusk Maka left her room with her broom. She'd spent the remainder of her day digging through Dr. Stein's thick tomes and found absolutely nothing. It had been an aggravating experience; almost all of them were in the Old Tongue. Dr. Stein's search also proved to be unhelpful. He offered to look some more the next day, which Maka was grateful for.
The hill was steep and grassy and near the highway. It had several ditches spaced out along it. It was completely abandoned except for a few fireflies. Perfect. There was no one watching who could distract her.
I bet I can fly over this all with a running start, she thought.
Maka took a deep breath and began running down. She almost tripped over the first ridge, barely able to float over it. Her feet hit the ground hard. Keeping the broom between her legs Maka continued to run. She leapt over the next ditch. The same thing happened, though the broom tried to lean a bit to the left. Maka straightened it as her feet touched the ground. She jumped again. She was at the bottom of the hill in less that a minute.
Cursing, Maka dismounted and ran up the hill. She didn't bother to pause, getting right back into her flying. Each time she went down, she hovered above the ground less and less. The time between each leap seemed to be shortening too. Panting, Maka climbed back up the slope again. And again. And again. And again.
After the sixth time the witch stopped. She sat down after tripping up the slope and took a breather.
Maka tried to remember what it felt like to fly. It was always weightless like a feather, but strong like beating drum. Magic would flow like a river. It felt warm, orange for her. Like a mild summer day or a southern breeze. She had all these analogies in her head, yet Maka was still unable to sense anything. She shook her head and tried to remember how her mama first taught her how to fly solo.
Concentrate, her Mama would always say. Letting go of your focus is what makes you unable to stay strong. Empty your mind except for what you need to drive you. So when you want to fly, spread your own wings. The broom is only the harness. The will to fly comes from within.
Taking another deep breath Maka got up and began to run down the hill again. She tried to focus her mind on the feeling of flying, the force pulling her away from gravity and up higher and higher into the sky. The ditch was approaching. Maka held her breath as she leaped. She cleared her mind of everything other than the jump.
And there, just for a second, she felt the familiar weightlessness in her body.
I can do this, Maka thought, closing her eyes. I can fly.
And then that moment ended as a vivid image of Soul's bloody body flashed behind her eyelids.
Maka couldn't contain her shriek as the ground jumped up to meet her. She fell straight into the ditch with a sickening crunch. Maka groaned, feeling for any pain. Aside from the dull throb of her back and bottom from where she'd landed she was fine.
Then Maka realized what had made that splintering noise and gasped.
The broom, the beautiful wooden broom that had been in her family for three generations before her, was broken in half.
"It's okay," she muttered. "I can fix it. I, I can f-f-fix it. I-I can…"
Fighting back tears Maka stood up and climbed out of the ditch, broom in hand. The walk home was a slow one. She refused to acknowledge that there was a half-broom in each of her hands.
She arrived home soon after that. Maka closed the door of her room softly behind her. Suddenly all of her earlier energy was gone. She dropped the broken broom and slumped into the nearest chair. Blair gave Maka a pitying look before hopping out of the window. Somehow she knew her witch needed to be alone.
It had been three days since the accident and Maka was no longer sure what to do.
Finally getting to the Witches Council excited me so much. And a bit of background on poor Crona and Ragnarök. Unfortunately, I also wrote about Maka losing her magic. There won't be a blimp rescue mission that gets her magic back, but don't be too concerned. I won't kill anyone.
Next chapter: On the road to recovery Maka is visited by a familiar man from the woods who invites her over.