AN: Alright, we're back in business. Had a bit of writer's block, so I took some time off, and decided to try a different approach to the chapter. And, this is what I've come up with. Dreams of an Epilogue isn't like Prologus, as it's going to be separated and infrequent, due to the nature and mechanics of the chapters. But, without further ado, Chapter 3.
It was night. An unnatural red darkness surrounded the world as a gigantic ether-like sphere completed its form in the night sky. The object was so monumentally large it eclipsed the moon in its entirety. It hovered in the sky as a slaughter underneath unfolded.
The ground has been rendered asunder. Rocks and crags littered the landscape, with a gleaming city fostering the background. No plant life remained, as all had been either blown away or incinerated. Wind blasted the ground as artificial wind currents were created from the airborne satellite.
Black Star was heavily wounded. He held Tsubaki in his hands in her Enchanted Blade mode. Scratches grazed the blade, and reflected in it, Tsubaki too was wounded. Yet he stood his ground, mouthing words that did not sound.
Kid kneeled; both Liz and Patti had assumed their Soul Resonance form, small chips of metal had been knocked off from the apparent battle. Kid's wounds were not as grievous as Black Star's, but regardless he was no longer in fighting condition.
Maka used Soul in his Scythe form to keep herself on her feet. She had a large cut on her waist, along with smaller wounds all over. Soul too, was in bad condition, reflecting in how his blade had been cracked and chipped.
Natsumi lied on the ground, a large, gaping wound which spanned across her chest and her waist, bleeding steadily. In addition, a pitch-black blade pierced through her shoulder, but the pressure was enough that it caused no bleeding. It sparked with black electricity as Natsumi's eyes slowly wandered. Her eyes were glazed over, and she seemed to be on the verge of passing on. Either through subconscious means, or the last of her will, her eyes fixed on the new moon in the sky.
Facing the group was Asura, perfectly calm. He had nearly no wounds, as he had been able to fend off most of the attacks thrown his way. Several feet above Asura, a white Kishin, cloaked in white robes riddled with spikes and chains, hovered. This man's eyes were wracked with madness, but it was separate and somehow different from the madness gushing out of Asura. Above him was a large crack in the sky, a sliver of some substance which reflected nothing, branching out asymmetrically.
The Kishin in white raised his arms fanatically, laughing- all without making a noise. Taking out a white blade identical to the black blade embedded in Natsumi's shoulder, he pointed at the object in the sky. He yelled, but no noise seemed to travel. His expression slowly turned serious as the bottom of the gigantic object lit with a black blaze.
The orb fully lit: a process taking around a minute, eventually changed again. Maka's eyes flashed as she looked at the orb at another perspective. Natsumi too, used her Soul Perception, but only Maka was able to comprehend what she saw. Two giant horizontal slits appeared on the surface of object, which as they suddenly jolted open the form of a gigantic black soul was revealed. The two huge white eyes developed silver pupils, and the danced around, observing everything. A mouth developed, large, fanged, and sharp with teeth.
Both groups exchanged dialogue, but no words were able to be heard. The white-cloaked Kishin moved with such speed it appeared he had teleported. His hand reached out to the black blade. Electricity jolted through Natsumi as the Weapon resisted the Kishin, but Natsumi appeared to be so far gone that it had little to no effect on her. He tore the blade out of Natsumi's shoulder, and everything went black.
Natsumi woke, gasping for air, one hand instinctively reaching towards the wound she had just received; only to find there was no wound. In fact, she was perfectly fine. She examined her perfectly unwounded body, still shaking as she realized it had been a nightmare.
"Hey, are you okay? You don't seem to be doing all too well." Tsubaki asked, placing a hand on Natsumi's shoulder. She jumped, just now becoming aware of her surroundings.
She was on a plane, next to a window. Engines hummed in the background. Black Star could be heard loudly whooping as he watched the scenery go by, on the opposite side of the plane. Natsumi didn't recall nodding off, but in hindsight, the sound of the plane's humming could have easily let anyone drift off.
"Hey? Is something wrong? You look shaken."
Natsumi caught her breath. "It's nothing. I just had a bad dream… That's all." She rubbed her shoulder and gave a falsetto grin.
Tsubaki looked worried. "You don't look like it's nothing. What was it about?"
Natsumi's grin faded. "It was a nightmare, I think." She paused, reflecting. "Remember in our class three days ago, there was a picture of that Kishin Asura?" She asked. When Tsubaki nodded, she continued. "For some reason, he was in my dream. Just like he looked in the portrait of him we saw. Then… You guys… You were all beat up. I… I might have been dead. I had this huge cut on my chest," she traced where the cut had been in her dream. "And this weird black sword in my shoulder. Oh, there was this giant black soul even bigger than the moon, and another Kishin all dressed in white."
"A black soul bigger than the moon itself?" Tsubaki wondered aloud. "Well, that I think we can dismiss, but why were you dreaming about something like that?"
Natsumi shuddered. "I dunno. I have strange dreams like that a lot. One of my dreams was about my uncle being a vampire in my old school. No idea what caused that, but…" She paused. "Normally I don't have nightmares."
Tsubaki rubbed her friend's shoulder. "They say that nightmares are caused by one's soul-wavelengths being messed with. Once, people thought it was done by Witches, but recently some are thinking it's the soul's way of showing what to avoid."
Natsumi laughed bitterly. "Yeah. I think we all want to avoid dying." She poked at her heart. "I think I know I don't really want to die. Thanks for the reminder, me." She laughed legitimately this time, followed by Tsubaki.
Natsumi stretched. "Anyways, I have to do this practice homework thing that Professor Stein gave me."
Tsubaki watched as Natsumi ruffled through her backpack and brought out a deck of playing cards, their backs a picture of a soul. "A deck of cards? What's he trying to teach you, poker?"
"No, it's a Soul Perception training thing." She held up a card, the three of hearts. "Each one of these cards is unique. But what they all have in common is the fact that they all have a soul inside. There are fifty two regular cards, along with two Joker cards."
"What're you doing, some card games? I know some pretty cool ones!" Black Star laughed, joining in on the explanation.
"No, Black Star, she's just explaining her homework assignment." Tsubaki commented.
Black Star was taken aback with shock. "WHAT? You mean her homework assignments are playing with cards while we have to do actual assignments and stuff?"
Tsubaki grew irritated. "No, Black Star." She said firmly. "Let her explain."
Natsumi chuckled, then flipped the card twice. "Each one of these cards has a soul in it. They used to be Kishin eggs, but they were purified once they were sealed in this card." She looked at it carefully, her eyes flashing a shade just darker than her normal dark eye-color. "These were made to hone someone's Soul Perception abilities, and since they're so difficult to create due to the demand for creating Death Scythes, they aren't handed out to just anyone."
She carefully flipped the card to show Black Star and Tsubaki. "Cards in the suit of Hearts are supposed to be the easiest to see, followed by Clubs, Spades, and finally Diamonds. Lower numbered cards are the easiest per suit. So this Three of Hearts is pretty easy to see. What do you two see?" She asked, the card in her hand just barely shaking.
Black Star stared intently. "I see… A card. That's easy. Of course it's easy; it's a test for the great Black Star!" He laughed.
Tsubaki shook her head. "I see it. There's a small little soul that pops out of the card." She said, her eyes flashing. "But even with my senses, it's tough to see. And Black Star can't see a soul if it bit him."
Natsumi recalled a conversation with Stein. "'The cards are embedded with seals and disturbances so only those well adapted to Soul Perception can see the souls within. So if I take the Two of Hearts, someone like that block-head Black Star wouldn't be able to see the soul inside.'" When Black Star gave Natsumi a glare, she raised her hands defensively. "I was quoting Professor Stein, honest!"
Black Star folded his arms. "Then what else are these cards supposed to do?"
Natsumi shrugged. "Not much else. It's just a test to see how competent an individual's Soul Perception abilities are."
Tsubaki watched the Three of Heart's soul bob around. "And how far can you see up to?"
Natsumi skimmed through the cards, and proudly picked one. "Ten of Spades! Well, sort of. I can just barely see it, so I should say Nine of Spades."
Tsubaki clapped. "That's impressive… Right?"
"I'll find out when we get back to Death City. This Supplementary lesson you guys had took had priority to my most of my Extracurricular classes, so I had to do the hunt with you guys."
Black Star looked livelier. "That reminds me, I was wondering why you tagged along. I mean, it's not like I'm against it, but without a Weapon, you can't really do much alone. Besides, if it's me, I'm more than enough for a whole army of Meisters! Ahahaha!"
"… More homework. To put it short, watch and learn."
The plane eventually landed, and the trio made their way back to Death City. After re-convening with Lord Death, the trio split, Black Star and Tsubaki leaving to their home, while Natsumi returned to her apartment.
Soul sat in his apartment's living room, watching his TV. Blaire was close by, in her cat form and resting on top of the couch Soul rested on. The channel changed to a news anchor, describing the week's weather. As a small band of clouds were supposed to go by, the week would remain sunny, from the forecast. The news continued on, describing in detail how small villages had begun to disappear. Just before the story was about to pique his interest, Maka opened the door to their apartment, groceries in hand.
"This would be a lot easier if you helped with the errands more often." She scolded. However, she wasn't looking at Soul, but at Blaire.
"Nya? But I'm just a cat. I work at Chupa Cabras anyways; I pitch in on the rent to ya know nya." Blaire stretched lazily, then made herself comfortable on Soul's lap.
Maka sighed. "Anyways. I'm going to my room for a bit. I want to get a little bit of studying out of the way."
"Ever the studious one, nya." Blaire commented as Maka entered her room, leaving the groceries on a table.
After an hour, Soul heard activity in Natsumi's apartment. Blaire stood and walked around as Soul made his way to the bathroom. She expertly jumped outside and onto the balcony of Natsumi's apartment and stared inside. She seemed odd to Blaire, but she shrugged, and jumped off into the city.