"Not going to school today?" Bernkastel asked Maka over breakfast the next Saturday.
"No, it's a Saturday," Maka replied, taking a sip of her coffee. "We have Saturday and Sunday off. Haven't you ever been to school?"
"When you have all this power, you don't need to know anything," Bernkastel replied arrogantly.
"Right," Soul said sarcastically. "Anyway, we're going to meet the others at the basketball court for a game. Do you want to come?"
"Basketball?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"She really doesn't know anything, does she?" Soul and Maka thought, each giving her their own look of questioning horror.
The Punishment Game; Retrieve Excalibur, You Can't Be Serious?
"Okay, the rules are simple," Soul explained once they were at the court. "Do you think you understand?"
Bernkastel nodded her head, her lively blue hair floating exuberantly about her child-like face. Her enchanted hair seemed to be the only thing immediately lively about her. Did her endless power give her such disinterest?
"Don't try to out shine me, witch girl," Blackstar threatened. "And no magic."
"I think it would be reasonable if magic wasn't allowed," Maka agreed. The others nodded. In response, Bernkastel laughed and held up her right hand. The court became blood red and captions began floating around the group.
"I will not use any ability I have as a witch at an upper hand," she swore.
"We got it; can you please stop using that creepy font all the time?" Liz shuddered.
"How about we play the punishment game afterwards?" Blackstar grinned devilishly, looking at the pathetic witch that clearly had no idea what she was doing there.
The game proceeded as follows. At first, Bernkastel watched from outside of the group, observing every move carefully. Once she became more confident in herself, she was an invincible machine. No matter how hard Blackstar and Soul played, Bernkastel was always faster and stronger. Her thin body was light and swift, and with the right leverage, her arms could shoot a basket perfectly from any corner. She could also block quite well.
"It's weird, I've never even played this before," she said. She was only rubbing it in their faces. "And anyway," she shot another perfect basket, "that's thirty. It's over, right?"
"Yep; it's all over," Soul sighed. "Try harder next time, Blackstar."
Blackstar was about to take his anger out on Soul by coming up with a short retaliation, but Bernkastel cleared her throat.
"Punishment game time," she hissed. A red glint shone in her eyes and her hair trembled like a million writhing snakes. "I want you to go retrieve the holy sword Excalibur."
"What?"
"Excalibur?"
"Are you crazy?!"
"It's a punishment game, you have to do it," she said, still smiling.
"She has a point," Soul said.
Soul Eater
"Provision number 365, you must always praise Excalibur," the sword was saying as they approached Maka and Soul's apartment. Liz was listening to music, Maka had her ears covered, and Blackstar was just trying not to kill anything.
"Hey, Bernkastel!" he yelled up the stairs. "Your punishment game is here! You'd better like him."
Bernkastel appeared at the top of the stairs and took in the short white being. She inhaled sharply, and for a second, the others thought she would scream. In two flashes of teal smoke, she apparated from the top of the stairs to the foot of the stairs, kneeling in front of Excalibur and hugging him furiously.
"Penguin-thingy!" she cried with delight.
"Fool! I demand that you put me down this instant!"
5 Minutes Later
"I'm positive it was a Monday, but it could have been a Wednesday, although Sunday sounds about right…."
"He's boring, take him back," Bernkastel said dismissively, taking a sip of her cider.
"What?!"
"Unless you'd rather he stay here…."
"NO!"
"Didn't think so."
Sunday
"Maka," Bernkastel began awkwardly. Maka looked up from her book curiously. The four of them were seated around the breakfast table, eating French toast and bacon.
"What is it, Bernkastel?" she asked. Bernkastel fiddled with her dress, as if she was a guilty child.
"I'm going out today and I won't be back until late, so I don't want you to worry."
"Oh… alright. Thank you for telling me," Maka didn't turn back to her book. "May I ask where you're going?"
"No you can't," Bernkastel snarled sharply. The reply was so unexpected that Maka jumped back. Soul and Blair looked up as well, concerned. Bernkastel pushed away from the table and stalked towards the door.
"I'm sorry," Maka apologized quietly. She really shouldn't have been expressing regret, but she didn't want Bernkastel to be livid and God-knows-where all day.
"I'm going to…" Bernkastel gritted her teeth. She couldn't tell them. "I'm going now."
She opened the door slowly and walked away. A strand of her long, tentacle-like hair brushed at a tear at the corner of her left eye.
"This is why we witches are…" the witch at the head of the chapel paused in her sermon. "It looks like we have an Endless Witch in our midst. Teal Endless Witch Bernkastel, will you please come forward?"
The blue witch stepped forth from the shadows, holding her broom at her side. The crowd of worshipping witches gasped at the sight of her; it wasn't often that they saw the legendary creature. They dare not shorten her title or scoff at her excessive youth. She could kill any of them without lifting a finger.
"I haven't come here to worship with you," Bernkastel warned. Her voice was cold but smooth, like a vicious cat's growl. "I came to warn you." She turned to the front witch. "I don't want another Keshen witch to set forth a threat against me. Am I understood?"
"We can't help it if the darkness takes over," a warlock from the back row said, his tone marred by a deep accent. "Whether it be Black Blood or Madness, we can't withhold from it. Even you can't hide from your own darkness forever, witch."
"All you need to defeat darkness is a little light," Bernkastel made her curt reply.
"What are you? The witch of hope?" He was definitely mocking her now.
Bernkastel waved her hand in warning. The warlock flinched and crawled beneath one of the pews. She sighed, turning to the front witch once again.
"There's one more thing I want…."
"He's not here, Bernkastel," the front witch replied. "You should be safe."
"I have what I came for," she said, turning around, refusing to admit the disappointment she felt. She glanced at the rows of witches and warlocks once more. "The word from all of you… lesser witches… that I will not be disappointed again."
The crowd shuddered; they were all tense under the eyes of the omnipotent witch. Bernkastel made her leave and walked down the cobblestone alleyways. If Maka knew all that Bernkastel was, she would try to take her soul in a heartbeat. However, it must be a good thing that Bernkastel's soul can't be claimed that easily.
Pause! Author Time! Imma listening to Bad Apple by Kasane Teto! It's about to get SRS BSNSS in the fanfictions! Yay! Oh, by the way, just so you all know, Bernkastel did throw the basketball game. Instead of using her magic to create an upper hand for herself, she created a lower hand for the others. They were playing it as if everyone had their own team. Please leave me a review and keep reading! :DDDDD