I wanted to put some song lyrics at the beginning of this chapter, but I couldn't think of any good songs. Surprisingly, Black Star's part here was the easiest to write, even though he's not one of my favorite characters. Stay tuned for the last chapter. Hopefully it won't take too long.

-Nir

The Sun had always thought of fire as being particularly fun to watch. The way it got out of hand quickly and nobody could stop it… It was funny. And it had been so warm lately… Maybe that was the Sun's fault though. Sometimes it got too strong without noticing and had to turn it down a little. Anyway, it had been very warm and dry in alto of places, and fires started so easily. They were more fun to watch lately than other things. Around the world people were still acting nervous, but they seemed to be loosening up a little. Getting boring.

Some of them had gone to the beaches. The Sun liked to watch them play in the water, but when they laid down on the sand, it got angry. Why didn't they ever say anything? No thank you to the Sun that was working so hard for them? It shone a little harder this year so they could get to the beach earlier, and they gave no thanks at all. So the Sun burned them, made their skin all red and peely. Then it laughed for a while, seeing how much discomfort they were in.

Then it felt sorry, and it was sad and didn't laugh any more that day.

--

"It's strange, don't you think?"

"What is?"

Maka rolled her eyes and bopped Soul on the head with her book. Not too hard, though. It was too hot for a full-power Maka-chop. "You don't think there's anything strange going on?"

The air conditioning in their apartment had gone on the fritz, so she and Soul had retreated to the subterranean Shibusen guest rooms to do their homework. Soul had previously been lying on his back on the floor, tinny music filtering from his headphones while Maka worked up on the bed. It was Chrona's room, but the demon-blader was current somewhere else. Maka hoped Chrona had at least had the sense to change into something lighter. In that heavy black robe, heatstroke would set in quickly…

Soul rubbed the back of his head. "So what? It's a little hotter than usual. It doesn't bother me. I'm too-"

"Too cool?" Maka interrupted, smiling slightly.

Soul grinned back at her. "So I'm that predictable now? Guess I'll have to find something else…"

"I'm serious, Soul. It doesn't feel right…"

"What doesn't?"

Maka sighed and let her head rest on the cover of the book in front of her. "I don't know. I might still be a little shaken up from a few nights ago, with the Kishin… It's just hard to believe that it happened so quickly. Maybe I'm waiting for something else to happen now."

"Hey, c'mon…" Soul sat up and shifted over to the end of the bed, peering at Maka from between the bars. "Don't say stuff like that. You sound like an old lady. You'll get wrinkles."

"I will not!" Maka snapped her book shut in front of Soul's face, making him flinch. She slipped it back into her school bag and got up from the bed. "I'm sorry… I'm just frustrated. I can't concentrate on anything. I think I'll go look for Chrona…"

"Sure…" Soul watched her go, then slid back down to the cool stone floor to replace his headphones and resume his CD where he'd left off. He couldn't blame Maka for being testy when something was preventing her from getting her schoolwork done. She was a little crazy when it came to that stuff. Maybe he'd volunteer to make dinner tonight. With how distracted she was, she'd probably burn it.

--

"Hm. I'm very glad that my dead skin cannot get sunburned. I always enjoy an invigorating walk on a hot day. That's the kind of man I was."

"Sid…" His weapon's voice was concerned. Sid paused his lurching for a moment. Across the street, the waves of heat rising from the asphalt made the other pedestrians' forms indistinct.

"What it is, Nygus?"

"I think you may be beginning to cook in this heat… You should probably go back inside."

"What? Really?" Sid sniffed his forearm. "Ah. So I am. Well, we'll have to do this another day. Otherwise we'll be battling flies the entire time."

--

A small crowd had gathered at Shibusen's front gate, keeping as well as they could beneath the shade cast by the building. A hot day like this was also a boring day if you didn't know someone with a pool or didn't have any homework you could occupy yourself with indoors, and any entertainment you could find was welcomed. And what could be more entertaining than someone making a fool of themselves?

"Black Star!" Tsubaki called, her hands held at either side of her mouth for amplification, as Black Star was quite far away by now. "Why are you doing this?!" Not that she didn't already know. This was just the kind of thing that Black Star did.

"I told you!" He shouted back, one hand at his mouth and the other gripping the tip of one of Shibusen's crimson spires. "I want to make sure I can get to the top in time for the eclipse! I want to be able to stand up there and align myself with the sun and the moon! Three celestial bodies, all in a line! It'll be awesome!"

Classic Black Star. Up above, the Sun grinned down at them, sticky saliva dripping from its clenched teeth. To Tsubaki, it seemed to be willing him to fall. She'd never seen it look like that. Usually it just laughed. Was it possible for even the Sun to be in a foul mood from the heat?

Her musing was interrupted by the small crowd's excited murmuring. She looked up to see that Black Star had slipped down the spire and was clinging to the edge. He'd survived worse falls before, but it was so hot… Knowing him, he'd keep trying until he fainted from sunstroke.

"Black Star!" She called again. "Maybe… maybe you should try this later in the day, when it's cooler! It'll be dark during the eclipse, anyway!"

Her partner froze, one leg up on the ledge. He remained that way for about a minute, before raising his hand in a thumbs-up. "Aha! Great idea, Tsubaki-chan! Why didn't I think of that? It would make a lot more sense to do this in the dark, since that's when it would really count! Haa…" Deftly, but not as deftly as usual, he dropped down to the ground and started for the shady entrance. Tsubaki fell into step beside him. There was no way he'd ever admit it, but she was sure he was just glad for an excuse to get out of the heat. Nobody deserved to be stranded on a rooftop today. Not even a hyperactive assassin.

--

There weren't many people out today. That was okay, because there weren't as many people to look at you funny because you were wearing black when it was so hot out. Too bad it really hadn't been Chrona's choice to come out here. Staying inside was always easier, and safer. Mister Corner was nearby if you needed him, unlike out here where nothing looked friendly. It had been Ragnarok's idea. The little demon had insisted on traveling into town to get ice cream, because the ice cream in Shibusen's cafeteria was just not good enough.

So here they were, sitting outside beneath a bright canvas umbrella whose colors were still doing their best to be cheery. For once Ragnarok was eating slowly and with moderate neatness. After all, on a day like this it would be a crime to waste something as cool and refreshing as ice cream...

Maybe Chrona was a criminal, then. The second ice cream they'd gotten sat on the table, melting into itself. Chrona knew it was wrong to waste food, but it wouldn't do any good to eat it when you weren't hungry. The sun was at an angle now where the umbrella did little to shield the young meister from its rays, and the heat it gave off was somehow sickening. Diseased. Somehow like draining a cup of coffee and finding a bug at the bottom, or stepping in something cold and slimy when you only had your socks on. Slimy sunlight. Chrona shivered.

It was time to head back. The uneaten ice cream was discarded in a trashcan. Surprisingly, Ragnarok did not object. He only slipped wordlessly back into his home in Chrona's veins and arteries. Maybe he was feeling it today too, that icky film that seemed to lay over everything. The Sun was inescapable, looming huge and red and almost close enough to touch, glaring with sullen sleepiness at the world below. The shadows it cast looked wrong, long and twisted, stretched as if by invisible racks. They twitched and jumped in time with the echoes of Chrona's footsteps.

Where was Shibusen? Chrona was not terribly familiar with the city, and walking while looking at the ground had destroyed all sense of direction. The surrounding buildings were too tall, and the spires that topped the school could not be seen. Were they lost? Chrona hoped not. It would be scary to stay out here all night. Maka might come looking and be angry that Chrona had wasted her time. What did Maka do at night, anyway? Probably more important things than finding people who were careless enough to get lost.

The street turned, and Chrona followed it. Along the opposite side was a shaft of bright orange sunlight. It was like the Sun had forgotten to take it along when it set. As disgusting as it had felt before, the light was almost pretty now… much nicer than the dark, cold shadows and the oil-black windows that looked out from both sides of the street. Chrona felt compelled to walk alongside it. It was the least they could do, since the Sun had been considerate enough to linger just so they could have this little bit of light before the darkness came completely…

"CHRONA!" Ragnarok's scream pierced the silence for the first time in what seemed like hours, making his wielder jump in surprise and finally take notice of the other lights, two lights that were getting bigger and closer so that they washed out everything else, even the pretty orange sunlight. What happened next brought Chrona back to the last fight with Maka, and the feel of the scythe grabbing and throwing and slamming them into the ceiling so that the archway cracked and broke, only the breaking was inside this time and what had hit had not given in like the old, crumbling stone.

Now suddenly the sky was in front and Chrona's back was against the rough asphalt. Ragnarok was shouting about something, but Chrona's head hurt and what he was saying didn't come through very clear. It didn't matter, anyway, since it probably wasn't anything nice.

The Moon was out now, Chrona noticed, and it hung above them, pale and smiling like it had a terrible secret. Chrona thought it looked a little sad. Worried, maybe. What could it possibly have to worry about, so high up in the sky? What could hurt the Moon?