CHAPTER 17

A/N – Hello my dear readers! So, a big question was asked in several reviews – will Excalibur appear in this story? And the answer is … probably YES, because, as we all know, he always appears where he's not wanted, if only for the sake of annoying the hell out of all of us. (FOOLS!) As for the rest, yeah, I know this story is dark but - like the song says – it's gonna get bad before it gets good. Also, guys, if you have the time check out my latest SE Kid/Maka project – Rise of the Emerald Princess.

Great! Guess he lied about that one… or perhaps it's an acquired taste? Maka felt slightly faint and nauseous after taking in her first soul and the sight of what had remained of the Older One wasn't helping at all. Surprisingly, what was left of the enormous, reptile-like body consisted of a mere handful of whitened old bones, since the flesh had practically disintegrated in a matter of minutes. As if it had long become putrid… as if he had been dead for a very long time already… It wasn't as unsettling as a normal corpse would have been, particularly the corpse of that monstrous thing, but still… Her gaze snapped up when she heard Kid groan and the blonde meister saw him stooping and carefully picking something from the small pile of bones.

"What's that?"

The young shinigami sighed and rolled his eyes. "See, I really hate this. Ever since you had that dream I had a feeling… Damn it!" He held up his hand, shaking his head with a morose expression. A thin silvery chain was wrapped around his pale fingers and a sort of key was dangling at the end of it.

"Key!" Maka realised. "It's a key! And it was… inside him? That must be why the Kishins had called him Key!" She gasped, shaking her head. "Key! Key…. but he was the key to what?" And why was this key hidden inside the creature known as the chief Brother?

"It is obviously the key to a magic tool," Kid replied dryly, grimacing. "Which means… that there is a magic tool here somewhere, just as you suspected. And guess who makes magic tools?" he asked, beginning to tap his foot in annoyance. "Fucking Eibon makes magic tools! For fuck's sake, I can't believe this!" he shouted, scrubbing a hand over his face.

"Kid, calm down. There's no need to jump to any conclusions just yet," the blonde pleaded. "Besides, you were the one who said we shouldn't mention anything to Lord Death about the possible existence of… of that"

The reaper snorted. "As if that would have helped us in any way, if anything it would have only made things worse. He would have said that, aside from the destroying the Kishins, our mission would also be to retrieve whatever magic tool lies around here and bring it to Death City"

Maka didn't understand what the issue was, just now. If there was indeed a magic tool in the Kishins' possession, then it must have been also a dangerous object, so capturing it would have only made sense. "Yeah, I guess, but…?"

The young shinigami stepped closer, sighing and placed his hands on the other meister's shoulders gently."Look, I've done this before, yeah? Gone to find magic tools and capture them before the forces of evil could get their hands on them, only to find myself, on several occasions, feeling confused, or guilty, or just dumbstruck upon discovering – completely by accident - my father's involvement in their creation. And our purpose has been from the beginning to get us out of this place and back home before we would consider any other measures, so why would I now risk your life for something my father probably wouldn't even talk about?"

Maka reached out to brush her knuckles against the side of his face. "Oh Kid, you know I'm not made of porcelain," she said with a sad smile, "and the last thing I want is to come between you and your father. And shouldn't we focus that anger elsewhere? It was obviously Key who brought that poor child in here at the Kishins' orders and who knows, what if it was them who made her sick in the first place? I could never forgive myself if I didn't do everything in my power to make sure that such a terrible thing never happens again"

Once again, Maka found herself scooting blindly into one of the tunnels leading deep inside the mountain. She knew that they were in the right direction as the stone walls beneath her fingers were gradually becoming moister and she could even hear water trickling down in small unseen rivulets somewhere in the darkness.

"Does this have to happen now?" she wondered out loud, although aware that it was somewhat of a stupid question. Of course it had to be now – whatever was meant to happen had already begun with Key's death. Surely the Kishins must have found out by now that their favorite servant was dead. But maybe they didn't know who had killed him? Even so, it was unlikely that they would remain impassible.

"We're going after the blasted magic tool! We have to, isn't that what you were actually saying earlier?" Kid grumbled, his grip on her hand tightening as he pulled her forward a bit faster.

The blonde's stomach cringed painfully. "But Kid… I only said… I didn't mean to upset you," she whispered.

"You didn't upset me. I'm upset that the magic tool exists in the first place, and it exists because it was probably created by my father and his blasted friend Eibon and now they'd be like 'Oops! There's a magic tool which has fallen into the wrong hands, we must retrieve it at all costs so just go fetch. Oh, thanks a bunch!' Well they could at least realise that there's no damn merit in pretending you're out to save the world when you're actually out to fix your own fuck-ups!"

Maka gave his hand a light squeeze, feeling reassured as she felt the ring on his finger. "But… seeing how I am a Shibusen meister, should you be telling me all this?"

"Certainly, Mrs. Death, after all this is the family you married into. Why should you be spared of any details?"

The blonde couldn't help but feel her cheeks instantly beginning to burn at hearing this. Mrs. Death! Oh, by Death, did he really call me that? A smile crept on her lips involuntarily and she was grateful for the darkness, so that the young shinigami couldn't see her grinning like an absolute idiot. As if that wasn't the worst place possible for one to experience such happiness. As fragile as it may be…

"So…" the blonde meister said, clearing her throat to get past the previous surge of emotion. "What do you think the magic tool does?"

"I don't know, do I?" the reaper replied, once again sounding ill-humored. "But now I begin to suspect why the Kishins wanted your Grigori soul – the key to the magic tool isn't enough to open it, or put it in motion, a soul was required as well. I saw that before, the key of Brew had Eibon's own soul attached to it to make it function."

Maka shuddered. No, that couldn't be… "But then… Eibon was dead, wasn't he? Doesn't it mean that I should be dead as well in order for the tool to work?"

Kid tsked. "Yes, but it's the Kishins who want to make the damned tool work, or to open, or whatever. Which means that must not happen, under any circumstances! So we'll just try to get the tool and then… well I don't know what then, but they mustn't use it"

Much too soon they were at the door leading to the Kishins' hall and there they stopped, thinking what to do next. For one, Kid was sure that The Three were probably guarding the magic tool with their own presence, but that meant facing them head on if they wanted to get their hands on the tool. Having drawn that conclusion, he cursed some more.

"But… are we ready? And there's no way of knowing if there aren't any more 'surprises' awaiting inside their lair," Maka whispered, observing as the pale blue flames always burning in the large hall cast eerie shadows on the countless statues of Brothers and Sisters frozen as if in prayer.

Kid stuck his palms onto the wall near the door, then flattened his ear against it as well, all his senses alert and for a short while he just stood there like this, completely motionless. "This is so odd… I feel like they're asleep"

"The Kishins?"

"Yes. They slumber… but how can that be? Why now? Could it be that they haven't yet realised that Key is dead?"

"There isn't much time! Take the ball! Free us!"

Maka flinched violently - she had heard that unearthly whisper as if it had been uttered in her very ear. Horrified, she gripped the young shinigami's arm, her body instinctively seeking his protection. "Kid, did you hear that?! Who the hell said that?!"

"Take the ball! Free us! Free us!"

"Did they say 'take the ball'?" Kid wondered out loud, frowning. "What ball? Oh well, I guess we'll have to find out…" Saying that, he cracked the door inconspicuously and pushed through the opening. The blonde wanted to protest (why the hell was he rushing in like this?), but it was too late and she couldn't risk making any more noise by speaking, so she just crept behind him silently, almost holding her breath.

The hall seemed to be completely empty, except for the bizarre statues and the unlit portion in the back. In fact, it was impossible to see what was there, what lay concealed in the shadows. But no, wait… Maka thought, squinting and momentarily ignoring the mad pounding in her chest. There was something there, like a very pale, barely there flicker, not a flame but rather something like an object reflecting light.

"Kid, look!" she whispered, pointing in the direction of the peculiar sight. "Over there! What do you think that is?"

The reaper didn't answer, instead he simply poofed away from her side (a magic trick Maka suspected he employed often and she for one found it rather annoying), only to return a few moments later holding a small crystal sphere in the cup of his palm. The pure, translucent object had no other flaw than a sort of hole, visible as it was running right through its core. A keyhole.

"I believe this is the ball that voice was referring to," he whispered back. "It's the magic tool. The Kishins are there, I can feel their presence, but like I said, they're sleeping. There's no knowing for how long they'll be asleep though, therefore we must hurry and leave. Now"

"But I don't understand!" Maka argued, as they sped up back through the corridor leading back to the habitations area. "This is very weird – them sleeping and all - and what the hell was with that voice? Why did it want us to take the magic tool? And how do you know it's not a trap of the Kishins?"

"That voice is familiar, I've heard it before, in my sleep," Kid explained hurriedly, "But it wasn't really saying anything, just asking for help, asking to be freed. At the time I simply assumed it was a lost soul which had escaped devouring but was still trapped between worlds. I knew that I couldn't help it so I chose to ignore it"

Maka blinked in confusion, slightly inclined to snap at him. If only he hadn't kept so many things to himself! "And now?"

"Now it becomes clear that the voice belongs to someone else who wants the magic tool for themselves, but never had the means (or the balls) to get it themselves and they needed us. Not a bright perspective, we could have done without another enemy…" the reaper grumbled, causing the blonde to shudder at hearing this. Another enemy? Aside from the Kishins and their servants? Her meister was right – the damned magic tool was a new and terrible complication they could have done without. She didn't understand the nature of Lord Death's involvement in its creation, but she felt that Kid had every right to resent it. She had no idea what the magical crystal sphere could be used for, but it sure was a magnet for trouble.

And then the blonde meister forcefully opened the door leading outside on the terrace and her breathing stopped.

A/N - Oops! What was it she saw, I wonder? (FOOLS! It was me, of course!) But no, seriously now, it wasn't him :))) Not yet. Now, I know that this chapter was fairly weird, but I assure you – there is an explanation for everything.

To be continued