CHAPTER 19

A/N – Hello everyone! (Damn, I always say that, I really need to come up with something new as a greeting LOL) Anyway, no more tedious author notes this time, on to the chapter! Enjoy! (And no, still not yet the time for the amazing Excalibur to appear and brighten our day...)

Maka glanced over the expanse of barren, darkened slabs dotted from place to place with piles of stone. For some reason it was getting cold and a sort of bizarre fog was rising from the ground, blurring the view. The blonde was beginning to feel chilly in her simple dress and hugged herself. This wait was maddening. Where were the Kishins? Why weren't they showing themselves already? Kid had fallen silent again and the other meister wondered if he'd been really bothered by her mention of defeating Asura where he had failed, or whether he was pondering on something he simply wasn't telling her. How was he thinking of defeating the Kishins without me in the first place? Because if he was ready to send me away but stay here and fight them, he must have had some sort of plan…One he's not telling me about, obviously… And Maka found herself gritting her teeth in annoyance at the thought that the reaper was probably keeping things from her because they involved putting himself in danger while treating her like she was made of glass. But she would not snap at him again about it, right now he needed to have her close, he needed her support.

"Kid…I… I'm sorry," she began, uneasy, her fingers creeping shyly on his arm. "I never meant to make it sound that way… I just wish you'd trust me more. I'm not a complete disaster, you know. And I'm not afraid, as long as I'm with you I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Huh?" The young shinigami turned around to look at her with the kind of confusion of someone pulled back from deep thoughts. And unlike her, he actually looked quite scared, if only for the briefest moment. Upon noticing his expression, the blonde flinched.

"Kid? Are you okay?"

He sighed, letting out a deep breath, like he had been holding it, and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I was just-" He stopped abruptly, turning around once more, rapidly, his gaze set upon something Maka was yet unable to see. "Maka! Weapon form! NOW!" he shouted, reaching out to her.

What? But the blonde knew better than to waste any time. Launching upwards, she rapidly transformed in midair, being immediately caught by her meister's firm hand. Her senses were even more alert in full weapon form – which was a bit of an oddity since she wasn't doing the actual fighting herself – but she still couldn't detect what exactly it was that was happening all the sudden. "Kid, what's going on? I can't see anything!"

"There," the reaper pointed in the direction he was now watching intently, holding her handle tightly with both hands. It was even colder now that her body had turned to sheer magic metal and Kid's hands were cold too, but she felt a strange sort of comfort seeping through her the moment their souls became connected and began to resonate as one. And then she saw it. At first she thought it was a column of dark grey smoke rising from one of the piles of stone, from where it had broken through the very ground, thick and impenetrable, but no, it was a body. A serpent like body soaring upwards interminably toward the cloud laden sky, covered in a myriad of tiny steel-like scales shining in the pale light. What… the…hell…? The head of the creature was already too high up to be visible, but Maka knew it would descend any moment now, seeking to take them by surprise. And all the sudden the empty space where the Temple had been became very small compared to the sheer size of that thing.

"Oh…" Kid groaned, glancing upwards with a morose expression. "This is gonna suck"

He jumped backwards, as far away as he could from the enormous creature which still continued to erupt from what had been the cave floor. Taking a deep breath, he then suddenly decided to go for a blow. "Maka, we're going to hit them in full, now, before they figure out what's going on!" the reaper shouted. "Remember, they don't know you're a weapon!" Saying that, he lunged forward, driving the scythe with full force into the enormous body. But the blade barely scraped the armor-like scales, leaving no slice in its wake.

Kid landed on the other side on one knee, then immediately rose and turned, as a sharp hiss resounded unexpectedly behind them. If she could, Maka would have gasped at the sight of the three hideous heads now facing them directly. The hiss turned into an open, ferocious and simultaneous beastly growl as the three heads roared, showing dagger sharp teeth.

"BY DEATH!" the blonde screamed inwardly, knowing that Kid could hear her, but it didn't matter. "What the hell is this thing?!" The Kishins looked more terrifying than anything she'd ever imagined, let alone seen before.

"A beast of ancient times, supposedly long extinct. It used to be called 'the eater of Death Gods', that's why they all left," Kid explained with unexpected calm, almost resignation. But fortunately, her meister was apparently unfazed by the sight and he promptly swung the scythe as hard as he could in the direction of the nearest head, just as it was preparing to attack them. This time the blade clashed against the teeth, before sinking into the apparently softer flesh of the neck, causing black blood to come out gushing, followed by a horrible growl. The injured head seemed to choke, but the others instantly moved to attack. Suddenly, Maka realised they were sent flying, as Kid had been grabbed by one of the other heads and tossed away.

"Damn it!" the young shinigami grumbled as he landed on his back, colliding painfully with a pile of stones. The blonde saw that pieces of both his cloak and sleeve were torn and his left arm was bleeding.

"Kid!" she whispered, oblivious to the fact that she herself could feel something like a sharp pain into her side. It must have been due to shock or something, Maka told herself, a weapon could not be actually damaged in combat, it was the meister who got all the blows.

"I'm fine," the reaper replied quickly, drawing a deep breath as he pulled himself up. Just in time, for the other two heads of the Kishin lunged forward to strike. Kid managed to jump to the side and avoid the open mouth aiming to grab at him again and drove his weapon down as hard as he could. Bones cracked and flesh tore with a disgusting sound, but the head dropped on the ground, severed from the rest of the hideous snake-like body. Maka could hardly feel any accomplishment, her blade being currently drenched in black blood. Being a full weapon sure was a messy business and clearly required a strong stomach. And there it was again, the pain in her side, impossible to ignore this time. A rapid check revealed that there was a scratch on the side of the blade – where the beast's teeth had scraped against her – and where now the black blood had infiltrated. Now on top of the stinging it was giving her somewhat of a burning sensation. But no, it didn't matter – she would grit her teeth and endure it – she could not, would not fail Kid.

Now the Kishin was furious – it had lost one head and another hung sort of withered after it had been stabbed – and the remaining one had become vicious. The enormous snout, now closed, swung like a mace, swiping the reaper off his feet and sending him flying again towards the other end of the former Temple grounds. Maka was torn from his hand upon the impact with the hard ground and she fell down, slamming against the hard slabs with a striking clatter. And that hurt too. Oh, by Death! I'm fine, I'm fine, it's nothing! I'm okay! It was beyond frustrating that she had to remain in weapon form and simply lie helpless on the ground as her meister was struggling to pull himself up, instead of running to help him. But Kid was strong and resilient, she needed to have faith in him that he was going to be alright.

And he was, sort of – the young shinigami crept towards her and gripped the handle firmly. "There, are you okay? I've got you-"

But then Maka saw the remaining head diving at incredible speed and biting down on the reaper's shoulder and side, the horrid fangs sinking into his body, tearing flesh and crushing bone. Kid screamed in pain, yet his good arm shot swiftly and swung the scythe, driving the blade into the attacking head, causing it to withdraw and release him.

"MAKA! Maka, can you hear me?! Maka, answer me!" His voice was faint and distant at first, as if coming from a dream, before becoming clear and loud again. And then the blonde realised that for a short while there she had lost consciousness.

"Kid… I think… I'm hurt… it hurts…" By Death, she hadn't meant to sound so pathetic! But her voice was shaking and the meister realised in utter horror that she had reached her limit.

"Switch to human form, now," the young shinigami said softly, "you can't go on like this"

Maka obeyed mechanically, her exhausted body leaning against him as he was kneeling on the ground. The Kishin had apparently retreated, but squinting hard enough through the fumes still emanating from the ground, Maka saw that the remainder of his body and his severed head had begun to morph, gruesomely splitting and transforming.

"Oh. Fuck." Kid sniffed and shook his head, watching how the Kishin parts had now shape shifted into at least a dozen of several smaller snakes. But they were just as dangerous looking and they were crawling in their direction.

"We can't defeat them… they're too many," the other meister breathed out. She had her palm pressed to her side, where the pain came from and where she could even feel a deep, bleeding gash, but she refused to look at it, to acknowledge it.

"No, not this way we can't… I need m-more blood," Kid stuttered, propping himself onto his palms wearily. "Maka, morph your right arm, now. I need a sharp blade"

The blonde shook her head, much too tired to actually show her shock, but tears beginning to well from her eyes nevertheless. What on earth is he saying? "NO! What… what are you talking about?! You're already wounded badly! What do you need blood for?! Listen to me – I'll fight it myself, somehow… "She paused to draw her breath. "I won't let them touch you, Kid! Do you hear me?"

"No, listen to me… The Kishins like my blood – it will slow them down, enough for the spell to take effect…"

The blonde scowled, now completely confused. "What do you mean? What spell? Have they not restricted your magic?"

Kid shook his head, sniffing again and muffling a coughing fit with a dirt smeared hand. "I cannot use any kind of reaper magic, it's true… but I can use the worst magic of all, even if it destroys my soul, but I don't care! I won't let them kill you…"

Maka only gripped his good arm tighter, shaking her head, oblivious to the fact that the snakes were inching closer to them, hissing menacingly. They would be upon them any moment now, they were trapped, beyond escape.

"Your arm, now!" Kid demanded, almost shaking her and the blonde obeyed absentmindedly, as everything went past her momentary comprehension. She saw the young shinigami slice his wrists open with her own morphed arm and begin to chant something the other meister could not understand. His head fell backwards and his eyes turned a full black as blood poured from his wounds and down onto the ground in crimson rivulets, ever growing and beginning to form a sort of pattern, reaching in the direction of the snakes. The blonde watched, blinking sleepily, as Kid's blood, countless ruby red drops now sparkling oddly in the pale light, ran across the slabs gradually forming a large web-like and intricate pentagram all around them.

The snakes halted their advance, still hissing menacingly and their muddy green eyes shining malevolently. But they were already caught inside the magic web and when the droplets of blood suddenly burst into fiery flames their hissing turned to shrieks of agony as they began to burn. The flames were horribly hot and the smoke choked the blonde, but she remained motionless, still holding Kid's now limp body, no longer caring if they would consume her too eventually.

But the fire soon died out, leaving nothing but ashes all around. Maka lifted her head and glanced around indifferently, numb, to discover there was nothing left of the Kishins and their evil magic. Now the sky had cleared up, the dark clouds were gone, revealing a bright blue and even a few gentle rays of sun. But it wasn't worth it, not this beauty, not this peace, this serenity, none of it. And the sun would never warm her again, because the only one she had ever loved with all her heart, with all her soul was no longer breathing. Her fingers absentmindedly caressed his cold cheek as her world sunk into darkness.

"… free now. Summon Beelzebub…"

Green eyes squinted and narrowed as the blonde meister struggled to focus and pull herself out of numbness. But then a sharp surge of pain in her side instantly reminded her of her condition and she doubled over, clenching her jaw as she pressed the wound.

"I… fucking… hate this…" Maka shook her head and it took her another few moments to realise the words had not been hers. Once, because she hardly ever swore like that and second because the voice resounded again - however faint - and she felt Kid's fingers weakly squeezing at her arm.

"KID!" she cried, as reality sunk in. He was alive – barely, but he was. "Kid, open your eyes! Look at me! By Death, I can't believe it!" she whispered, cupping his face with both her hands. But the shinigami's eyes remained closed and he only murmured some more profanities, to which his wife couldn't help rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry, my love. I'll get us home!" she promised, smiling in relief.

To be continued