Author's Note: Thanks for taking time out of your day to read my story! There's only maybe about 2 or 3 chapters left before the Grand finale of Masquerade!
Chapter 25: Confrontation in my Mind
Soul nearly dropped his phone in shock when he heard what Dr. Stein said.
"What happened to Maka?!" Soul managed to yell out.
"It's too much to explain over the phone; just come back to the hospital as soon as you can. The critical care unit is on the 10th floor." Stein replied back, before hanging up.
Soul growled and let out a curse under his breath as he gripped his phone tightly.
'Damn it, I never should have left Maka alone.' Soul thought anxiously to himself, as he quickly went back to his room and grabbed his stuff.
Soul ran as fast as he could to the hospital and was nearly out of breath by the time he finally reached the floor.
"So Stein told you the news also?" A familiar voice stated, walking up to Soul.
Soul looked up and realized it was Spirit who was addressing him.
Soul shook his head. "All he told me was that Maka was in critical condition and that I needed to come down here immediately."
Spirit sighed and nodded his head. "Stein didn't tell me much either, but he told me that you two were fighting some guy and Maka ended up poisoned?"
Soul frowned and nodded his head. "Yeah he set off a smoke bomb that Maka inhaled a bit of. She was just starting to recover from her earlier illness and now this happens."
Spirit looked down solemnly before turning back around.
"Well Maka is in the bed just down the hallway. Stein is still trying to stabilize her condition, so we'll have to wait outside for a bit." Spirit stated, as he started to walk down the corridor.
Soul sighed and followed after Spirit warily. The whole critical care floor brought back grim memories of when he had first been exposed to the black blood and had experienced disturbing nightmares.
Spirit eventually stopped in front of a closed curtain, causing Soul to bump into him.
"She's in that bed. Stein will come out when it's okay for us to see her." Spirit stated, taking a seat across from the curtain.
Soul took the seat next to him and casted a quick glance at Spirit.
Spirit seemed to be completely drained of energy. From what Soul could see, there were still remnants of faint tear stains along his cheeks and he looked completely numb with both shock and fear.
"You know when I first arrived here; I actually managed to get a brief glimpse at Maka. I've never seen her look so pale, even when she's been sick before. She had so many IV lines in her and all these machines beeping next to her and monitoring her. Though Maka is a strong girl, this poison really took a toll on her." Spirit mumbled quietly, as he gazed straight ahead.
Soul sighed and leaned his head back in the chair. An agonizing 45 minutes passed before Stein finally came out from behind the curtain.
Soul and Spirit instantly turned their attention towards him to hear what he had to say.
Stein exhaled and gave them both a small smile. "Glad to see you made it here quickly Soul. Maka's condition has improved, but it's going to take a while for her to regain back her strength."
Soul let out a breathe he hadn't realized he had been holding in and managed to smile back. "Is it okay if I go in and see her?"
Stein nodded his head. "I don't see why not, but just keep your voice down and try not to touch any of the machines."
Soul nodded his head in agreement and pushed the curtain aside to be by Maka's side.
Spirit stood up and held back from walking in. "Be honest with me Stein, Maka's condition hasn't improved that well has it?"
Stein frowned and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Well yes and no. I was able to remove the main organism that caused Maka to be poisoned in the first place, but too much of it has already multiplied in her blood that I can't remove."
Spirit groaned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "None of the stronger doses of antibiotics or antivenin worked?"
Stein shook his head. "I tried using stronger doses and alternative types of medicine, but all of them only seemed to help her condition temporarily."
"So nothing can be done to cure the poison, not even something like a blood transfusion would help? Is she going to eventually die from it?" Spirit asked restlessly.
"Well I don't believe she'll die from it, but she'll have to continue taking the antibiotics and antivenin tablets for the rest of her life more than likely. She'll also need to have check-ups every few months or so just to make sure the poison isn't causing any major damage to her organs." Stein stated.
Spirit looked depressed at this news, but gave Stein a weak smile. "Thank you at least for being able to get rid of the main organism that caused the problem in the first place. I'm sure both Soul and Maka aren't going to take the news well though."
Stein nodded his head. "It's like dealing with the black blood all over again."
~X~
Soul sighed as he took a seat next to Maka's right and took in her appearance. Maka looked even paler than the time she had fainted back in class a few weeks ago. Her hair was slightly in disarray and was no longer in its usual pigtails with some parts of it sticking to her face due to sweat.
Soul stood up and moved her hair out of her face while trying to avoid the IV line in her arm. If it wasn't for the fact that Maka was sweating and had a fatigued disposition, Soul could have assumed that Maka was just resting from a long day.
Soul carefully grabbed Maka's right hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
'I wonder if she can even hear me or feel my touch right now…' Soul thought, before scooting forward to bring the chair closer to the bed.
Soul watched Maka sleep for a few minutes before deciding to speak up.
"I don't know if you can hear me Maka, but I'll be right here by your side until you wake up." Soul stated quietly.
Maka kept on sleeping and breathing evenly, so Soul decided to continue on.
"While you've been in this hospital, I actually found out some pretty interesting information. I know you'll probably give me a Maka-chop for going through your business, but I found that little reminder you wrote to yourself that you threw away. I can't believe you went through so much trouble to keep your life as Emerald away from me, but I'm assuming you must have been trying to tell me about it before all this happened." Soul explained.
"You know, I wouldn't mind hearing you play your saxophone someday once you get better." Soul finished with a sigh.
As Maka continued to slumber, Soul pondered if he should even bother to continue talking to her.
Soul rubbed Maka's hand gently as he thought over what he could talk about next. 'I wonder if it would be possible to resonant with her even though she's unconscious. Maka's been able to reach me in my Black Room in the past, even when it seemed like the black blood was about to make me go insane. Maybe it would be possible to do the same with her…'
Soul concentrated and lightly gripped Maka's hand. This probably wasn't going to work, but it was worth a shot. Soul focused on Maka and closed his eyes to block out all the noises surrounding him. After concentrating for a few minutes, Soul reopened his eyes and to his surprise saw that he was no longer in the hospital room sitting next to Maka.
~X~
Soul glanced around in confusion. It appeared as if Soul was now in a large library with rows of books surrounding him on all sides.
'Did resonating with Maka work? I'm definitely not in the hospital anymore; this must be Maka's own personal room in her mind. I guess that makes sense, Maka's favorite place to go is the library. Now I just need to find where she is…' Soul thought to himself, as he started to walk around.
Soul sighed as he walked through different aisles of books. Maka wasn't sitting down reading a book like he expected her to be. Eventually after walking around for a few minutes, Soul decided to pick up one of the books just to see what it was about.
Soul gazed at the title of the book in amusement: Book of Memories Age 5.
"These aren't normal books at all; each of them must be about something that's happened to Maka throughout her life." Soul reasoned aloud.
Soul opened up the book and found there were no words on any of the pages. 'That's weird. How do these books work?'
Suddenly, a picture of Maka appeared on the page Soul was open to and a voice spoke up that sounded like a younger Maka talking.
Today Papa took me to my first day of Kindergarten. He told me that later on, either he or Mama would be back to pick me up. I hope they start getting along better, I miss being able to go places with the both of them. I hope I make a lot of good friends here…
Soul continued to stare as the pictures on each page seemed to come to life and allow him to see everything through Maka's point of view. The next image that came up showed the younger Maka talking to what appeared to be a younger version of Black Star.
"Hey, how come it took you so long to understand the patterns during our music lesson earlier?" Black Star asked bluntly, as he munched on his sandwich.
Maka blushed and looked down slightly. "I didn't understand what each of the notes meant, so I couldn't keep up the rest of you guys when the beat for song started up."
Black Star laughed, causing him to spit food everywhere. "That's funny Maka! Normally you're so good at everything, but for once you actually suck at something!"
Maka huffed and glared at Black Star as he continued to snort and laugh. Maka eventually got up from her seat and picked up a nearby book.
Maka stood next to Black Star and raised the book high above her head. "Maka-chop!" Maka yelled out, as she slammed the book hard against Black Star's head.
"Ouch! What was the heck is a Maka-chop?!" Black Star cried out, as he tried to move away from Maka.
Maka let out a humph and set the book down. "It's a hit I give people when they do something wrong!"
Black Star frowned and let out a scoff. "What did I do wrong?"
"Make fun of me! Friends aren't supposed to be mean to each other!" Maka retorted back, as she sat down again.
Black Star sighed and sat back down. "If you needed help in understanding music, you should have come to me. After all, I know everything!"
Maka let out a laugh and shook her head in disagreement. "You didn't know the answer to that one math problem."
"That was different! Anyways I'm not going to need to know math in the future to be a God!" Black Star stated proudly.
"Maybe you're right, but I hate that I'm so behind everyone else in music. I wonder if Papa or Mama could help me a bit more…"
Soul closed the book and set it back down. 'So Maka's been bad at music pretty much her whole life. I guess I haven't helped her any by teasing her about it.'
Soul continued to walk through the rows of books, occasionally glancing at the title of different books.
Soul eventually came to the end of a row and noticed a particularly larger book that stood out from the rest.
"I wonder what that book is about." Soul grumbled, as he lifted up the book and glanced at the title. Book of Secrets
Soul was about to open up the book when a voice coughed from behind him.
~X~
"Why have you been going through my personal thoughts?!" Maka snapped, as she grabbed the book from Soul and placed it back on the shelf.
"Wait a minute; how are you even here? This is my own personal mind. Are you even the real Soul?" Maka asked, as she looked Soul up and down.
Soul huffed and nodded his head. "Well you're unconscious from the effects of the fight we had with Travis. I wanted to see if I could resonant with you like how you could reach me in my Black Room. I guess it worked."
Maka narrowed her eyes, still distrustful of what Soul had to say. After thinking it over for a few minutes, Maka let out a sigh and walked past Soul back out into the open area of the library.
Soul frowned and followed after Maka. He noticed that Maka was wearing a dark green emerald ball gown, similar to the one she wore to Kid's Gala with her hair down instead of in its usual pigtails.
Soul chuckled and let out a whistle. "You certainly dress up nicely just to read some books or think about different topics."
Maka blushed and let out a scoff. "You're always in your pin striped suit when I go to your Black Room, so I wouldn't talk!"
Maka eventually came to a stop and took a seat next to a pile of papers. Soul sat down next to her and picked one of the papers up.
"Hey these are music sheets. Were you trying to think up a new song to play on your sax?' Soul questioned.
Maka shook her head before realizing what Soul had just said. "How do you know about my saxophone?" Maka stuttered out.
Soul sighed and gently grabbed both of Maka's hands. "I did a bit of investigating, and I found out what you were trying to tell me. You've been playing your sax at the White Lily Pub and Café as Emerald right?"
Maka eye's widened before she slowly nodded her head. "I'm sorry I kept it a secret from you for so long Soul…"
Soul smiled and pulled her in even closer. "It's okay Maka; I guess I can kind of see why you kept it from me. I do make fun of you for being so bad at music sometimes."
Maka frowned and leaned her head against Soul's chest. "No, it still wasn't right for me to keep it from you! While it is true part of the reason was because I was afraid of dealing with the embarrassment of you teasing me, I also was being blackmailed by Travis."
Soul growled and tightened his grip around Maka. "That bastard still causes us trouble even when he's dead."
Maka shook her head. "It's my fault for making things complicated. If I had just told you from the start I was getting lessons from Hiro, he wouldn't have had anything to use against me or tell to the whole school about."
"Why were you so embarrassed by it though? And why did it take you so long to finally get the nerve to tell me?" Soul asked.
Maka sighed and twiddled her thumbs. "Well because I was getting help from Hiro! I don't like having to admit I needed help, especially from someone the whole school likes to make fun of. Still though, Hiro taught me a lot about music and I helped him gain a bit more confidence in himself at the least sort of."
Soul frowned and grumbled something under his breathe that Maka didn't catch.
"What was that Soul? Speak up!" Maka stated, gazing up at him.
Soul huffed and looked away with a blush. "I said: you could have gone to me for help if you really needed it."
Maka smiled and gazed back at her music sheets. "I did want to go to you for help at times, but I didn't want to distract you from your death scythe duties. And besides, I wanted to someday show you how much I had improved and maybe play a duet with you." Maka stated in a rush.
Soul nearly didn't catch what Maka said, but grinned and lifted Maka's chin up.
"Who said you and I couldn't have a duet?" Soul asked.
"Um, well no one really. I just didn't really know how to ask you." Maka replied back.
"Well I'm listening now." Soul stated, as he focused his crimson eyes on Maka.
Maka let out a breath and gazed back into Soul's eyes. "Soul, would you please have a duet with me?"
Soul grinned and nodded his head. "Of course I will Maka. Now let's seal the deal with a kiss." Soul finished, as he gently pressed his lips against Maka's.
Maka let out a soft moan and wrapped her arms around Soul's neck as he pulled her into his lap. Soul nibbled lightly against her bottom lip, before moving to press kisses along her neck.
Maka sighed in pleasure and tugged Soul closer to her, before suddenly letting out a gasp and pushing him away slightly.
"What's wrong Maka? Are we moving too fast?" Soul asked.
Maka blushed and shook her head. "I just realized that I probably shouldn't get too close to you."
Soul frowned in confusion. "Why do you think that?"
"Well you said it yourself. We're resonating so strongly right now; I don't want to possibly accidently infect you with the poison that's in my system." Maka stated.
Soul scoffed and leaned back in the chair. "I don't think that's anything to worry about."
Maka huffed and flicked a finger against Soul's cheek slightly. "Well I think it is. I would hate for you to be tainted with both poison and black blood at the same time!"
Soul sighed and kissed Maka's cheek gently. "Maka please stop blaming yourself for the Black Blood incident. It's my job as your weapon to protect you, and I would take that slash wound to the chest again if I had to."
Maka pouted and shook her head. "That's where you're wrong Soul. You stopped being my weapon as soon as I made you into a death scythe. You're Kid's weapon now, not mine."
Soul groaned and rubbed his head in irritation. "I don't care if I'm technically Kid's weapon now. To me, you'll always be my meister and no one else."
Maka sighed, before eventually smiling a bit.
"You know, I can't believe you went through the trouble of investigated all the places I went to as Emerald. How come you don't work this hard when it comes to training or doing your homework?" Maka asked.
Soul shrugged. "Probably because you're more important to me than any homework Professor Stein gives us or the training I have to do with Kid."
Maka blushed and looked down. 'Soul is certainly giving me a lot of compliments. I wonder if being in my mind is influencing his behavior to say all this stuff or if he really means it.'
"Of course I meant everything I said, why would you think I would make any of this up?" Soul asked, appearing to have read Maka's thoughts.
Maka huffed and hopped out of Soul's lap. "Stop reading my thoughts! Go back to the real world now!"
Soul stood back up and turned Maka around to face him. "Will you wake up once I go back?"
Maka didn't say anything for a second before nodding her head. "I'm still fighting the poison, but I'll try."
Soul frowned and looked around. "Where is the poison at anyways? You know like how the black blood in me manifests itself as that annoying little demon…"
Maka sighed and stepped back slightly. "It's different in my mind…I don't have a little demon who constantly tries to bother me."
"Well what do you have then?" Soul asked curiously.
Maka's forest green eyes seemed to go dull. "Something like a ghost who tries to take over me."
Soul didn't understand what Maka meant, until he noticed Maka's eyes go from their usual jade green color to a mysterious dark purple.
"Whoa Maka what's going on? Fight the poison!" Soul cried out, as he started to shake Maka's shoulders.
Maka gazed at him with an empty and cold expression for a few seconds, before eventually coming to.
"Sorry about that, that must have startled you. I know it might sound strange to you, but the poison in me is not like your ogre. It's more like a disembodied spirit that I can only I see and hear that tries to manipulate me. It's just a matter of me learning how to control it before it controls me." Maka explained.
Soul frowned before eventually nodding his head. "I don't completely understand all of it, but I know you can find a way to master it like how I did with my black blood."
Maka smiled and agreed. "You should go back now Soul. Don't worry I'll be there with you."
Soul sighed and pressed his forehead against Maka's. "You'd better be. It's annoying dealing with your Dad alone.
~X~
Soul focused his mind on returning back to reality and slowly opened his eyes as he came to.
"You certainly picked an odd position to go to sleep in." Stein stated, walking up next to him.
Soul frowned and took a good look around. It seemed like he was back in the hospital room again as if nothing had happened.
"How long was I out?" Soul asked.
Stein shrugged and took a quick glance at his watch. "I would say maybe about an hour now. Spirit was wondering if you had passed out since you weren't moving or talking."
Soul scoffed and looked around for him. "Why didn't he just check up on me if he was so concerned?"
Stein smirked and pointed a finger back outside. "As soon as he saw Maka was okay, he went to go flirt with some of the nurses nearby."
"Typical. Wait, Maka's okay?" Soul stated, as he turned his attention back towards the bed.
To his surprise, Maka was staring right back at him, a small smile on her face. "Yeah, Maka's okay." She whispered.
Soul grinned and squeezed her hand in delight. "How long have you been up?"
Maka yawned and shook her head. "Only for a few minutes, I woke up shortly before you did."
Soul let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you're okay."
Maka sighed and tried to sit up. "I feel more like crap though. Professor Stein, what exactly happened to me?"
Stein looked over Maka's chart before glancing back up at her. "The poison you had inhaled in from that smoke bomb made you even sicker than before. You developed a high fever and were barely breathing when I came in."
Maka frowned and looked down. "That sounds scary. I'm glad I don't really remember any of that."
Stein nodded his head. "You've been under a lot of anesthesia and pain meds. That attack you got to your shoulder blade I had to stitch up in surgery."
"That probably means it's going to leave a scar then huh?" Maka asked, as she brushed her hand against the bandaged area.
"Yes probably so, but look on the bright side. Now you'll be able to match with Soul!" Stein said with a grin, as he noticed his statement caused both Soul and Maka to blush.
"We'll keep you here for another day or so, just to make sure you recover properly, then you can head home okay?" Stein stated.
Soul and Maka nodded their heads in agreement as Stein pulled the curtain back and left to update Maka's current progress in the computer.
Soul turned his attention back to Maka and stood up. "Well we're alone again." Soul stated, as he waggled his eyebrows.
Maka flushed and rolled her eyes. "It's not like we can do anything with how I am right now."
Soul shook his head. "We can still seal the deal again."
Maka's cheeks reddened even more as she looked away. "But we already sealed the deal!"
"That was in your mind, so that doesn't count. We need to seal the deal in the real world, unless of course you really don't want to do a duet…" Soul finished with a smirk.
Maka huffed and turned back towards him. "Of course I still want to do the duet!"
Soul grinned toothily and pulled her face closer to his. "Then what are we waiting for?" He whispered, as he pulled her in for a rough kiss.
"Oh my darling Maka, Stein told Papa that you might want some juice now that you're awake and I just wanted to know-"Spirit suddenly stopped midsentence when he saw Maka in the midst of a make out session with Soul.
Spirit let out a shriek of terror. "What on earth are you two doing?! Brat, get away from my daughter immediately!" Spirit cried out.
Soul sighed and broke away from Maka. "Should we piss him off even more by just pretending we didn't hear him?" Soul quietly asked Maka.
Maka smiled and nodded her head. "Anything to make the rest of my stay in this hospital less boring is fine by me!"
Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 25, let me know what you think with a review! And as always thanks for reading!