Faye jumped as the school bell rang. Gathering her notes, she looked at her fingers. They were splattered in ink. A smile twitched on her lips, so this was school...what a novelty.

"Faye!" the call came from Crona, who was standing outside the door. Mostly everyone else had left. Picking up her bag, she walked over to him. He was standing apart from a group of people; she didn't know most of them.

"Crona! School is so amazing, um...so what do we do now?" She ended her sentence in a whisper, moving slightly closer to him in the face of all these people. Crona was about to answer when Maka jumped in beaming at the two of them.

"Faye-chan! Let me introduce you to Black Star, and Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, they're back from the Spartoi unit today, wher-" she was cut off by Black Star, who leaped over to Faye and posed.

" SO! MAKA HAS FINALLY GIVEN ITO YOUR PLEAS AND LET YOU MEET ME! THE MIGHTY BLACK STAR!" he yelled, laughing manically at the end of his announcement.

Faye yelped and shrank away from him, moving behind Crona, who blushed as everyone stared at him in surprise. Maka was the first to recover, moving Crona aside to speak to the confused Faye.

"Anyway, were heading to combat practice, the teacher is...an old adversary of Black Star's, that's why they're here" she explained as she started to guide Faye down the hallway.

Faye glanced back at Black Star, who was still boasting loudly to thin air, or rather, to Tsubaki, who was smiling softly and nodding, while gently guiding him along. Faye wondered how she did it, already the small, loud boy was grating on nerves she didn't know she had. If she was his weapon, she would have to see him every day, right?

She caught sight of Crona, who was walking a little behind herself and Maka, and she exchanged a small smile with him. She felt a warmth in her cheeks as she turned back around. She wasn't sure what these feelings were, but every time she saw Crona, she felt a jolt of happiness. It was a wonderful feeling. She had never felt anything like it before, and she was have meant to have-She lost her train of thought as Maka announced:

"We're here!"

Faye's eyes grew wide as she took in the huge room they had entered. It was as big as a chapel, with different levels, like balconies all the way to the roof. All around them, students were battling, or practicing moves. They fought each other, or automated dummies that fought back, and the room was filled with noise and war cries. Faye's hands twitched and she bit her lip worriedly. Already, she could feel the adrenaline pounding through the fighters, the excitement, she could sense the fear, and in some, the anticipation of the kill. The emotions were too much.

The shadows awakened inside her, whispering, filling her head with fog. They wanted blood spilt, they needed to hear the death scream of an enemy, craved the last rush of power before the kill. They had been fed, but their appetite was never curbed. She needed to leave, now. She took a shaky breath and tried to step back, bumping into someone. Senses too acute, she whirled around, her eyes flashing black for a moment. She saw the shocked face of Crona before losing her balance and falling to the floor. The last thing she saw before the darkness overtook her was Crona's worried eyes, filled with concern. Then, she was lost.

Fayes eyes fluttered open. They were as black as night, yet her features were serene and she smoothly stood up, ignoring all helping hands. Pushing her way through the gathered crowd, she walked to the centre of the hall. As she drew the attention of the fighters with slow, deliberate steps, whispers flew through the crowd like a breeze.

"Hey, are you oka- !" her hand shot out before the sentence ended, and black shadows sliced through the air, slamming into the speaker. Blood flew through the air, spattering on the cold stone floor as he was thrown across the room.

A deathly silence filled the hall and all eyes were on Faye as shadows began to gather around her, sliding like living creatures from dark corners and pulled from beneath the feet of students. They crawled up her legs, coiling around her body like a living cloak. Crona took a step forward, a sick feeling gathering in the pit of his stomach.

This wasn't Faye, not the girl he knew. All around the room he could see partners silently motioning to one another, moving carefully, as though walking on glass. Other students moved to the door, which slammed closed, tentacle like shadows withering in front of them. They were trapped. He was directly behind her when he took another step and her head twitched towards him, a snake like motion. The tension was building, he could feel it.

He was terrified that one false move could snap it like a twig. Dragging his feet, he moved closer and Faye slowly twisted to face him, body contorting so she was facing him with her feet pointing the opposite way. They were inches apart, almost nose to nose. Crona stared right into the roaring, hollow pits of her eyes. There was nothing there that showed any humanity, any trace of the person he knew to be Faye. This was a vessel, currently in use.

Ragnarok formed and the faint "snk" of the blade tipping the floor broke the delicate tension. Faye untwisted, a grin painted on her face. Spinning around, she rose her arms and a wall of shadows rose and slammed into him, sending him flying across the room, hitting the wall with a crunch and falling to the floor. Ragnarok disappeared and Crona groaned, coughing black blood.

Through bleary eyes he could see the rest of the students rushing to attack, and Faye greeting them with open arms. Her maniacal laugh rose above war cries and she danced out of reach of the first few attacks, returning them with slashes of shadows that slammed into the students like a whip, sending then smashing against ceiling, the walls, each other. She giggled all the while, dodging fire and bullets, scythes and swords like it was a dance.

Maka was getting nervous. Several times she had a clear shot at "Faye", or whatever it was and every time she had moved away like it was nothing, sending a wave of shadows at then that were impossible to avoid. Yet the attacks weren't as harmful as the one Crona had been subjected to. Everyone who was hit could get up and fight again. Suddenly it hit her. This was all a game to Faye. A sick, twisted game. And they were the toys. Well it ended here, Maka was determined. Making a beeline for Faye she jumped, bringing Soul high above her head. Faye seemed oblivious, too distracted by attacks coming in from all sides. But she stopped, looking up at Maka, into her eyes, seeming to see into her very soul. Her smile widened and her raised her hands again. There was nothing but black.

Ribbons of shadows shot out of nowhere, slicing through the air and students. Blood spattered the floor and the students soon followed, one after the other in a sickening thud. Faye laughed out loud, the sound twisted and hysterical. She picked her way through the hall of bloody bodies, looking for something. Grabbing an outstretched, gloved hand, Faye pulled and Maka emerged from beneath a pile of injured students. Her clothes were in tatters, and blood running freely from cuts all over her body and below her hairline, matting her fringe and running into her eyes.

Faye grinned, the smile splitting her face in two "Hello Maka...we've been looking for you..." she hissed, her voice like a choir, raspy voices overlapping one another to form a sound that made skin crawl.

Still holding Maka's hand, she turned and walked from the room, the doors opening at her touch. Crona struggled to his feet, and the last thing he saw was Faye's retreating back as she dragged Maka like a doll down the corridor, waves of shadows washing away people who approached.

Then the doors slammed shut and he was left, trapped in the blood stained battle hall.