Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater nor Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Chapter 2: Pool of Drool
Maka would have liked to curse her literally growing problem, but she was too startled to say anything except, "Curiouser and curiouser."
The rotten apple of which she had bit triggered a sort of rapid growth spurt. In the recesses of her mind, she was yelling at herself for being stupid at eating a rotten apple in the first place. Then again, another part of her scolded, 'Now look what you got into—you're over nine feet high!' A third aspect was fervently trying to look for a way to solve the problem. The fourth and currently most dominant aspect Maka held was of awe of the strange and bizarre place.
Then again, 'awe' could not be the right word, either. Sure, she was baffled at the aspects of the chamber. Apples that made you grow and tiny suns used as lamps couldn't get much peculiar. However, there was a lingering, almost hospitable fear tugging at her mind. It was a constant in this place, swaying every move and decision Maka tried to make.
The meister hunched over in an attempt not to be scorched by the chained, sulking suns. They were still glaring at her with a ravenous look, their boiling drool pooling to the ground even more. One drop singed her exposed leg, leaving a raw red streak. She recoiled, backing away from the lights, only to feel some resistance in her step.
Maka involuntary glanced down at her feet, which now appeared so distant at over three meters tall. She felt herself let out a soft chuckle, and smirked at the situation. If she got any taller, maybe her feet would need their own address—wait. What was she thinking? She shook her head. Now was not the time to be distracted.
The rubber bottoms of her sneakers were pegging to the twig ground. She knelt down for a closer look only to find that the soles had partially melted. A flash of a thought crossed her mind that she was now in danger of being severely burned. She looked from the suns to their slobber and then to the ground, putting the cycle together. Apparently, the spit was hot enough to heat up the ground and melt the bottom of her shoes.
Which made absolutely no sense to Maka. If it melted the bottom of her shoes, why weren't the twigs burning? On the other hand, it was the only explanation of which she could think. She questioned herself here, asking why the ground had not been so hot before. Her own answer was this: when she had bitten the apple and grown, she had accidently hit the suns. That angered them, and they proceeded to expel more of their extremely hot saliva.
A different part of Maka then offered another explanation. Perhaps the suns had not seen her to begin with until she had grown. 'Look at how starved the suns look,' this Maka suggested. 'They want to eat you right up, boil and digest you all in the same go.'
Maka winced, but then came upon the revelation of the word to describe the situation, "Terrific."
What an appropriate word, she mused. For some odd reason, she was oblivious to the danger, turning all her thoughts from trying to escape to self-praise of the single-world description. At its first meaning, it was her courage using sarcasm in the face of danger. Within the word's roots, however, was her true feeling of terror.
She snapped out of her thoughts, quite frightened that she could be so easily distracted by vocabulary. Maka took one step and reached the glass table, snatching the small golden tool from its surface. In one other stride she reached the small door and unlocked it and opened it once again. Not that it would matter—there was no possible way she could reach the frozen place on the other side.
She paused here, relishing the cool air that blew the opening. She savored the fresh, icy wind in the now steaming chamber. Why had she even bothered to open the door, if there was no way to get though? Why had she been so absent minded to leave the key on the table or to try that stupid apple? Why had she followed Soul down the well in the first place?
That was where she stopped herself again. She did not regret following her partner. The fact that she had questioned her decision in following Soul made Maka cross-analyze what she was thinking. For one thing, under no circumstances would she lament a decision concerning Soul. Another point was the fact that she seemed to be seized up in the moment.
No matter what situation, Maka tried to keep herself cool and collected. She would try to act as best she could in dangerous happenings, opting for the best solution. In dire circumstances, she would never give up hope and never reanalyze her train of thought. But this new place made her rethink situations, question her decisions, and ultimately realize that what she had initially believed was false.
"Is this really me?" she asked aloud. Never before had she been so absent minded. This was not normal. She couldn't believe what was happening at the moment. There was definitely something odd about this place.
Cool salvation on the other side of the door was within arm's length, but it was her own absent mindedness that prevented her from reaching it. This was a crushing fact, a total buzz kill on her hope and confidence. There seemed to be no solution. How would she ever get out of this chamber?
She gulped at the dripping saliva. It puddle around edges of the chamber. Her sneakers were now burning her feet. She wondered if it would be safer to remove them so she could move and not be pegged to the ground by melted rubber or keep them on in case she needed them later.
Later! As if there would be a later if she didn't get out of this. "C'mon, Maka, snap out of it," she whined. She just really needed to calm herself. Where there was a will, there was a way: somehow, she'd make it out of this place. It was just so mind-boggling that she was being distracted by her own thinking.
Maka then thought about her height: perhaps the way out was back up the well. Now that she was tall enough, perhaps she could climb her way back up. She instantly brightened at this new hope. 'See?' a part of her praised. 'All you had to do was think some more. There's always a solution.' Maka couldn't help but smile.
But then she took a step, and tripped. She felt her center of balance shift on the wigs, her feet fly up in the air before her, her arm reaching to something that wasn't there. Maka also realized that a big puddle of clear sun spit was before her. She wondered how convenient it must be to the person who set up the room, to have salivating suns as lamps. Probably not convenient, she concluded.
Her eyes widened in shock as she splashed into the thick, droopy liquid. Her heart was pounding, ready for that initial shock of pain that came with being burned, but it never came. For some disturbingly odd reason, the drool that had singed her earlier did not harm her at all.
Maka blinked once, twice. She looked at the red streak from earlier—yes, it was still there, and now blistering. However, what she was doused in now did not harm her. It was just extremely gross. Maka tried to rattle off the saliva from her hands saying, "This makes no sense at all!"
At this point, she heard some footsteps on the twigs and splashes of the slightly acidic, digestive solution. Who she saw next made her hesitate. It made her scared. It made her distracted. Soul was running across the chamber, now wearing his tasteful striped suit. Maka always though he cleaned up well, but the question remained as to why he was running around in expensive attire. That, and why he did not seem to notice the nine feet tall Maka.
Within the empty chamber, Maka heard him talk to himself. Soul looked at his wrist watch and stated nervously, "Crap. The Duchess is gonna be pissed if I keep her waiting." In his hands he held a pair of immaculate gloves and an old, Victorian fan.
Maka really wanted to ask 'Who's this duchess?' but instead said, "Hey, Soul, what is going—"
The dressed up Soul literally jumped when he heard her voice. It was peculiar, seeing him surprised by her, even if she was bigger than usual. He stared at her gigantic form like he was looking at a clock tower counting down to the apocalypse. Out of surprise did the Weapon drop the objects he was holding and sprinted off into a shadowy part of the room.
"W-wait!" Maka started, but Soul had once again disappeared. She hurriedly picked up the small objects that were on the ground. The gloves were of thick, white dyed leather. Dots and lines were arranged in numerical patterns on each finger. Maka recognized them as the Mayan number system, though she had no idea why anyone would want to number their own fingers. Especially since most people had five per hand anyway.
Maka looked at her hands. Yes, indeed. Five on the left, five on the right. Five plus five equals ten. It was strange that when counting backwards from ten starting on one hand left a finger labeled the number six—
"Maka! Concentrate!" she scolded herself again. She supposed it was the temperature; Maka found herself unconsciously fanning herself with the small device. Meanwhile, the suns continued to salivate and increase the volume of liquid on the ground.
Maka approached the shadowed wall where Soul had scurried off too, only to reveal nothing. The sides were desolate; her only way out was climbing up or finding a way through the small door. However, now that Soul was here, she simply had to get to the bottom of it.
"A sound soul resides with a sound mind and sound body. Even people now have square souls, ideas in file, I declare, and on their shoulders, angles wear. Just yesterday I shed a tear and it was square," Maka recited calmly, but blinked in confusion what she just stated. Fanning wind on her face she said, quite disturbed, "That doesn't sound right. Now, what was it…?"
After a moment, she said, "Now I sound like Black Star, remembering things wrong. Maybe I'll glow blue hair, too, for all I know…" She instinctively touched her pigtails, which were still a dirty blonde. She sighed, disappointed that she couldn't have noticeable hair like the assassin-type Meister.
Then Maka realized that she had discarded her own gloves in exchange for the ones Soul had discarded. She looked puzzled at the situation, wondering how her hands were able to fit into such coverings. Putting two and two together, it dawned on her that she had shrunk once again.
Which mean that she could escape! Maka rushed towards the small door covered by the curtain, dodging cascading dribble. She placed her hand on the doorknob, twisting the handle. To her dismay, it was locked. "No way," she said as her heart fell. Just as before, she had left the key on top of the glass table.
The ground was like marble in the desert; waves of heat could be seen radiating from the twigs. The only sanctuary was the saliva that had burned her leg earlier. There was something inherently wrong about herself today. There was no way she could have made such a careless mistake. In contrast to the situation, Maka felt that the gaffe was not life threatening. Somehow she would make it out of the room, find Soul, and finish her essay.
At the same moment she was nurturing her positive attitude, she slipped. Yes—that's right. She was slipped while standing up. Maka was now immersed in the sun's cool saliva. For some reason, it was now deeper than she was tall. Like a think pudding draining down the sink, it swept her off her feet. Maka stroked to the surface and took deep breaths as the liquid churned all around her.
She glared at the drooling suns, thinking how annoying they were to her in this situation. She felt grateful that he wasn't made of simple sugars; otherwise, the digestive enzymes in the saliva would break her down. Maka brushed this silly thought aside and murmured, "Might as well go with the flow."
The river forced open a door and pushed her though a dark corridor. This hallway had an ornate, decorated ceiling painted with renaissance -like frescos. Candelabras lined the wall, but only one of the flames was lit. At least this soft light gave enough illumination to see some feet ahead.
In the near distance, Maka caught sight a large, slimy form. It croaked in a strange girly manner, and its webbed feet beat against the water in a bored fashion. It appeared to be a frog. Maka took one stroke closer to the amphibian, but the animal somehow transformed into a young girl.
Maka instantly recognized the girl as Eruka—the frog witch. She was part of Medusa's band when the Kishin was released. The Meister narrowed her eyes and swam closer and stealthily towards the unsuspecting witch. Maka couldn't be sure that without her Weapon she would be enough, but she couldn't just let Eruka get away.
Maka leapt upon the witch, locking her hands around the neck in a tight strangle. Eruka grasped in surprise—but Maka doused her yell as she shoved Eruka under the surface.
It wasn't enough—the frog witch resurfaced without much effort. After all, water seemed to be her environment. Maka, however, did not release her grip; her thumb and finger were locked on the trachea, ready to cut air supply or rip the organ out entirely. "Witch!" the Meister cried. "Tell me where this is!"
Eruka literally croaked. Looking into her eyes, Maka got a strange feeling that Eruka was not herself (not that Maka actually knew her on a personal level). "What are you doing here?" Maka threatened, tightening her grip. She then threatened, "I'll feed you snakes!"
Logical, right? Because snakes eat frogs…yeah…
At that point the current shifted and both Maka and poor Eruka were plumed under the saliva. Maka had no choice but to release the witch in order to swim back to the surface. After submerged in the dim darkness of the liquid for what seemed like a full minute, they resurfaced into a calm plunge pool.
Eruka was floating nearby, a horrified looked on her face. "S-snakes!" she clawed at her face in terror. "Not snakes! Please, no!"
Maka raised an eyebrow. She did not quite understand what was making a witch freak out, but it seemed to be working to her advantage. Maka grinned mischievously. "That's right—snakes," she swam lazily towards Eruka. "If you don't tell me what's going on, you'll be eaten by snakes."
Eruka gulped, making a frog-like ribbit noise. Suddenly, her face turned a sorrowful dark. She spat, "I have enough snakes to deal with." She then rapidly swam away from Maka, greatly disrupting the surface tension of the water.
"Get back here!" Maka yelled, sprinting after her. A part of her mind was yelling 'I can't believe I'm swimming through drool.'
"B-but I hate snakes!" Eruka sobbed back. "I can't stand them! They're horrible creatures! They eat you from the inside out! They are poison!"
Conscious Maka did not understand what Eruka the frog witch was saying. The only thing that mattered was catching up with her. On the other hand, another part of Maka instantly made the connection between snakes and Medusa. This part of her also realized that Eruka was extremely fearful of snakes.
"Frog-lady! Come here! I won't talk about snakes anymore!" Maka yelled ahead.
It was like the previous Eruka completely disappeared. In its place was a puffy-eyed sniffing girl. "Y-you won't talk about them?" she stuttered.
"U-uh…no," Maka tilted her head in confusion, all anger forgotten.
Her eyes watered profusely, "Then, come with me to the shore—I'll tell you why I hate snakes."
If Maka was confused before, she was really bewildered now. Didn't Eruka just say that she did not want to speak of snakes? Now, it seemed like was willing to tell her life story of her snake infestation. Maka gave a small smile and nodded, grabbing a hold of Eruka. The frog-witch quickly escorted them to the shore.
Sand-colored marble steps came up from the depths of the saliva. Both Maka and Eruka ascended them onto the river's bank. The marble here loosened and disintegrated into small shells and sand. Maka glanced backwards only to find the river completely gone. Where it had flowed had turned the sand and marble into glass. It sparkled like champagne.
"This way!" Eruka called and motioned Maka over.
Standing around a pile of blue, purple, and green glistening shells were some other forms that Maka immediately recognized. Off to the side stood Kim, a classmate of Maka. She was Jackie's Meister, but the Weapon was nowhere in sight. For some reason, small animal-like ears were on top of her head, and a striped furry tail poked up from underneath her school skirt.
Maka also caught sight of the Mizune witch. The pink haired magic user was of her so called 'adult' form, a combination of four little Mizune sisters. She was tapping her foot in impatience. Staring slightly amused at the shells was another tall, pale woman with dark hair. Her eyes flashed of cobwebs in the candle light. Arachne, a matron of spiders, a player in the development of Weapons.
"What is she doing here?" Maka whispered. She sorely wished that she was able to use her soul as a weapon like Professor Stien.
One final figure was purring on the ground, twirling her hair in a playful and suggestive way. Maka knew this one as Blair—the cat that had tricked Soul and Maka into failing to capture their 100th soul.
"Kim, Blair! It's great to know that there's someone else here," Maka began, but checked herself. They weren't the same as usual. Kim seemed to be more interested in the ceiling, craning her neck at the painting. Blair was too bust attempting to braid her hair.
"Image you have been imprisoned all your life in a dark cave," Kim muttered aimlessly. The candles flickered like death blowing on their wax.
"Your hands and feet are shackled and your head restrained," Blair continued, "so that you can only look at the walls straight in front of you."
Maka felt all of their eyes on her. She noticed that her friends, as well as the enemies present, were not behaving as their usual selves.
"Behind you's a fire, and between you and the fire is a walkway on which your captors carry various…stuff," Arachne interrupted slowly, as if saddened by the fact she couldn't think of a better word for 'stuff.' Nevertheless, she offered a devious smile to the Meister.
"The shadows cast on the wall by these objects are the only things you and the others have ever seen, all you have ever thought and talked about," Mizune added. She added a staccato laugh, "Chi chi chi."
Maka felt herself fall into a defensive stance. Arachne, Eruka, and Mizune were one thing, but even Kim and Blair seemed hostile. All eyes were on Maka now.
Finally, Eruka said calmly, "Behold. Human beings living in an underground den, like ourselves…they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave."
Eruka and the others had a wide-eyed look plastered onto her face. They seemed a mix between boredom and wonder, like an avid movie-goer wishing to be scared by the latest horror flick.
"Let's have a Carcass Race," Blair cheered, tossing her hair off her slender shoulders.
"A…carcass race. As in…corpse?" Maka said.
This definitely wasn't the Blair she knew so well. On one account, Blair would never recommend racing for a game. No, the cat happened to enjoy strip poker and other adult games. For another reason, there was no way she knew about Plato's Cave, the philosophical scenario of which the group had described. One part of Maka thought why they were discussing such an idea when it seemed as if it had nothing to do with her situation. Furthermore, didn't Eruka want to talk about her fear of snakes?
And there she went again—being distracted by her own thoughts.
Arachne the spider witch let out a great cackle. Four other arms extended from her body in awkward, disjointed positions. Mizune broke down into four identical small mouse-like witches. Kim emitted a light glow, becoming more puppy-like. Blair reverted into a slick black cat, her silver tag on her collar catching the light like a mirror.
Maka half expected herself to transform.
"Nyah!" Blair purred, a deadly playful sound emitting from her throat. "The one who comes in last dies on each lap."
"W-wait. I don't even know the bounds of this race!" Maka protested.
"You're going to find that nobody will tell you the rules here," Arachne said. She extended web towards the ceiling, lifting herself above the rest.
"Chi chi chi! Ready, set, go!" the Mizunes laughed in unison, flying about the chamber.
Maka was quickly filled with dread. There was no way she would be able to catch up to the witches. The sand provided no help either. Its loose surface provided no friction or base to propel into the next step at full speed.
No! I can't think that way, Maka yelled at herself. Despite her optimistic hope, she could not help but feel that the race in the sand would not end well.
So this chapter was very wordy...because Alice talks to herself. A lot. Maka just didn't seem like the talk-to-oneself kinda girl, so her feelings were mostly kept as thoughts.
Why saliva and not tears? Because, again, Maka is not a crybaby like Alice.
When was the key put back on the table a second time? It just happened. Maka, in other words, is being distracted by the odd place in which she fell.
Why the witches instead of the Mouse, Duck, Dodo, Lory and Eaglet? Because witches in SE seem to have animal counterparts…and none of them were birds. [And I know Blair is not a witch—just bear with it ;) ]
Why extend this chapter into the next? Because the next is the race! Finally, some action!
Don't get how Maka got from one room into the next? It doesn't make sense in the original, either...
Why a carcass race? Because the caucus race wasn't too exciting. Needed more dead people.
And as to when this story takes place? Manga-verse, right after Baba-Yaga arc, before Soul becomes a Deathsythe. In other words around Ch61. [For those who aren't familiar (warning, spoiler), this means: Kim is revealed as a witch, Arachne's done with, Chrona's gone AWAL, Medusa has achieved the status of Magnificent Bastard, and Kid's being a good little punching bag for Waffles Gopher.]
Also, to the readers: Chrona will be making an appearance. The chapter its already written, with "s/he", etc., in place when Chrona is refereed to in pronouns. BUT-- a lot of people review and say they want a female Chrona, I'm just going with the Funimation translation of changing the ambiguous Japanese "that person" to a masculine reference.
Review, please!