Stein flipped through the stack of large photographs, pausing from time to time to grip the edge of his seat as the bus hit a bump or rounded a corner. He was crammed into the seat behind the driver, long legs bent awkwardly. The driver was chain smoking. An overflowing ashtray full of spent butts was glued to the center of the dashboard along with a gilded icon of the Virgin Mary. Little wisps of smoke trailed out and over the edge of the tray, floating around the base of the golden frame. Whatever the guy was smoking smelled like burnt rubber. Stein lit a cigarette of his own to get the taste out of his mouth.
"This is not good... not good..." Spirit mumbled from the seat across the aisle. The Death Scythe was examining his own stack of photographs.
"Let me see." Said Stein. Spirit handed him the photo he'd just been looking at.
It showed a middle-aged woman holding a basket full of produce and standing in a small kitchen. She was smiling broadly at the camera.
"What's wrong with it?" Stein asked.
"She's HAPPY!" Spirit replied, gesturing with his arms.
"I thought happiness was generally accepted as a positive emotion?" Stein questioned.
"Not when your children have DISAPPEARED OVERNIGHT FOR NO APPARENT REASON!" Spirit said, poking his finger at what appeared to be a family portrait showing the woman with several children on the wall behind the her.
"Maybe she's happy about all of the cucumbers and squash in her basket." Stein said, matter-of-factly. Spirit sighed.
"I thought you were catching on to this kind of thing, old man." He said.
Stein reached up and turned his head-screw a few rotations.
"What's to catch on to? You people don't make sense most of the time. I just do what I'm told, and the rest is up for experimentation."
"You're really hopeless..." Spirit grumbled, snatching the photo back.
"And you're controlled by your emotions. I saw it in your soul when I dissected you." Stein stated.
"WAAaaah! You creepy bastard!" Spirit squealed, clamping his arms across his chest, and retreating into his seat.
As the bus rumbled to a stop, the passengers stretched and stood. The sun was just beginning to set.
Soul took in first impressions of Veridovo. It had similarities to other Eastern European villages they'd visited - a few structures - the school for one - were solid, stocky remnants of the Soviet era. An older Eastern Orthodox church with a few onion domes and a bell tower seemed to be the general center of town, and simple dwellings with ornately-carved details on windows and doors took up most of the real-estate. A few people were in sight - several older women with head scarves - stereotypical "babushka" style - a middle-aged man driving a tractor down the main street.
The town paralleled a small river, where a group of men were fishing from a rusty, barge-like boat. The houses all had small vegetable gardens associated with them - some with goats or chickens. Fields for agricultural production took up the bulk of the land that flowed away from the town - Soul couldn't identify what was being grown, but it seemed to be several different crops. Woodlands of birch and pine divided one field from another, and patches of forest dotted the landscape.
Maka exited the bus, stretching. It had been a long ride. She took in a deep breath. The air smelled fresh and clear. Sid, Nygus, Stein, Spirit, and Sergei had stepped off the bus as well, and were conversing with a woman Maka had never seen before. After a few minutes, the group of adults motioned the students to come closer.
"Welcome to Veridivo." The unfamiliar woman said, with a thick Russian accent. She looked to be perhaps in her mid-forties. She had long black hair, which fell over her shoulder in a thick braid. Her clothing was richly colored - teal green top, maroon skirt, and a mustard-yellow scarf pattered with red and black roses around her neck. She wore large, copper hoop earrings, reflected in the copper clasps on her black leather boots. She looked from person to person with a striking intensity behind her amber eyes. She continued in Russian, with Sergei translating.
"This is Nastya Ivanova" He said. "She is a witch."
A number of the DWMA students failed to hide their surprise. Kid turned his head to glare at his classmates.
"You will understand, that while my kind have not always been on the best of terms with the humans - particularly those of you in this line of work - I have decided to assist Sergei and your team in this instance. I have, truth be told, never lived a life consistent with most of my kind."
"I have existed among the humans for over five hundred and eighty three years in this vicinity. I live and walk this earth as if I am a human, and there are very few in this place who know of my true nature. Naturally, since I do not age, I must migrate from village to village as the years go on, to maintain this ruse."
"Sometimes, I become attached to a place. Or a person. As it happens, in this town, in this century, I am married to a man named Igor. We have two children."
Maka looked to her right and caught Tsubaki's eye. Tsubaki responded with an equally surprised expression.
"Like the rest of the children, my two darlings, Masha and Vera, have gone missing. I seem to be unaffected by the apathy that has overtaken the human adults, and so have used everything at my disposal to find them - with no success. The human adults here are useless - there is something suppressing their memory, their reality - I'm not sure. My fellow witches...they find it disturbing - the way I live - I cut ties with them long ago. And my children - because they are half human... they would not help me."
Without skipping a beat, Kim strode to Nastya's side, took both of her hands in her own, and said "We'll get them back. That's a DWMA promise."
Nastya blinked in surprise, looked Kim up and down, and spoke in Russian to Sergei.
"You're a witch?" Sergei asked. He looked surprised himself.
Kim looked Nastya in the eyes and nodded.
"And a meister. Pleasure to meet you."
Sergei shook his head as if it might help the new information settle. He spoke again to Nastya, and they conversed for a few moments.
"Nastya has secured a base for us. Quickly, let's unload and get going."
Maka scanned her new accommodations - an ascetic cot in a small chamber with a curtain for a doorway. The structure was wooden, with exposed timbers for walls. A well-worn rug was hung on the wall beside the cot - probably for keeping cold drafts out during the long Russian winters. The defunct monastery would provide adequate shelter, and a place to sleep for as long as it took them to tackle this problem. Maka was thankful that their host was a witch - though she said the structure had been unoccupied for seven years, she'd used her magic to tidy it up.
Maka looked for a place to sit. She needed to focus. Finding no good sitting options, she laid down on the cot. The leaders had given them two hours to settle in and rest. They couldn't afford to burn out the team, but they couldn't afford to wait much longer either. Maka was angry they'd given them that long.
"There are children missing, for Shinigami's sake!" She'd barked at Sergei- probably way out of line, but she didn't care.
"Yeah, and you'll be no good to them if you run yourself ragged." Soul had replied, in a slow, measured way that irritated the hell out of her.
"What are you, my mommy?" She'd whirled at him and growled under her breath "You and I and everyone else here knows I don't need a mommy. I know what I'm capable of. I get to decide what's worth running myself ragged for!"
"Jeez - chill, will you..."
"No! I won't "chill"! This is serious! It's not just some everyday evil witch hunt or something - there are kids involved! It's ridiculous to be wasting time..."
She'd grabbed her stuff then and stormed down to the end of the hall, picking the last chamber on the left. Bickering with Soul was nothing new, but she usually wasn't one to openly challenge authority like that. Her own actions had surprised her.
As she lay on the very worn cot and closed her eyes, her fingers went to the the thin red ribbon around her neck. She tugged it out from beneath her shirt. It held the ring Spirit had recently given her - her mother's wedding band. As she focused, she turned the thin silver between her fingers. She wasn't going to wait to send out her Soul Perception - those kids needed her now.
"Maka. Hey Maka, can I come in?"
She dropped the ring, and opened her eyes. Soul was standing at the edge of her curtain-door, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Hey! Even if it's just a curtain, you have to wait until I answer to come in!"
"I called your name like ten times. I figured you must be dead or something, so I had to check."
Maka felt a smile start faintly across her face. Even in the worst situations, her weapon could usually pry a smile out of her.
He took a step in, and stood awkwardly near the door, with his hands in his pockets.
"Nice place you got here." He drawled, looking around. "Mind if I sit down?"
"Make yourself at home." She grumbled. She grabbed the dark green wool blanket from the end of the cot and pulled it over herself, cocooning her face grumpily.
He sat down on the wooden floor across from the cot, leaning his back against the wall and drawing his knees up in front of him. His knees almost touched the edge of the cot.
The room seemed much smaller with another person in it.
Soul looked at Maka dubiously.
"You were going to do Soul Perception by yourself, weren't you?"
Maka shifted so her back was towards him.
"Stupid Maka."
"We can't wait." She said, face turned toward the wall. "If you don't want to help me, get out."
She waited a few minutes. When she didn't hear anything, she started to turn back toward Soul.
"I said, If-"
She felt something digging into her back. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Soul poking her with his foot.
"Fine. I don't see the point in waiting either." He said.
Maka propped herself up, and rose to take a seat next to Soul on the floor.
"Thanks." She said
He offered her his left hand, and she took it, locking their fingers together. With his right, he remembered a melody, playing a silent tune against the floorboards as his soul recalled the music. Maka closed her eyes and sent her Soul Perception out.
And it hit her like an avalanche.