"Maka, we've been out here forever. I don't think we're going to find anything. Let's just go." Rhiannon complained. Maka spun around, narrowing her eyes angrily at the girl.
"I'm not going back, Soul wouldn't let me die just because it's taking a long time to find out what's going on. What about Cyan, don't you want to help him get better?"
"Of course I do, he's my friend, but what we should be doing is looking after them and letting them know how much we love them...before it's too late." tears fell from her eyes as she finished speaking and turned from Maka.
"You don't know that we won't find anything, we can't just give up when it's too hard, you know, if Soul did that, I'd be dead already and-"
"Not everyone is like your precious Soul, you can't keep saying that!" Rhiannon fired back.
"Enough, bickering isn't getting us anywhere. Rhiannon, you can go back if you want to, no one will stop you. That goes for all of you, but I'm going to keep looking a while longer, you can either come along or not." Kid said.
"I'm going with you, I came to find a way to get Soul back on his feet and that's what I'm doing." Maka declared.
"I have to agree with Maka and Kid, nothing will be gained by quitting."Akane added.
"Nothing's being gained by wandering around, looking for something that obviously isn't there!"Rhiannon shot back.
"Then turn back, we can't afford to waste time."Maka said "Just remember you gave up, you're the one that;s not going to accomplish anything How can you just turn your back on-"
"Shut up!" Rhiannon shrieked closing her hands into tight fists as tears ran down her cheeks. "You don't understand anything, we're not all like you and your precious Soul. Did you see how much pain they were in back there, some of them actually died Maka, and we have nothing to fight with how do you expect to take on a powerful witch with nothing, we're going to get ourselves killed and Cyan will-" She covered her face with her hands sobbing quietly, seconds later she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright, I know this isn't exactly an ideal situation for anyone and you're scared, a lot of people are, there's no shame in it but you have to make a choice. If you can be okay with going back to the academy then do so. If you can't then try to calm yourself down, it'll only get worse if you keep going this way," Kid said gently,
Rhiannon looked into the young reaper's golden eyes.
"I feel so conflicted, I want them to get better, but Cyan needs me there. If he's dying then I need to be with him." Kid nodded.
"Then you should take some time to think about it. Black Star can walk back with you. To make sure you get back okay."
"No way, if you think I'm going to let you guys have-"
"Go." Kid growled interrupting what was sure to be a long winded rant about how gifted Black Star believed himself to be,
"Black Star, can you check on Soul for me, and Crona?" Maka called after him, he gave no sign that he heard her, causing her to sigh deeply.
"He'll be fine Maka, it's Soul, he always manages to find a way." Kid comforted. "Let's keep going now, I'm hoping it won't be long until we-" Kid was interrupted when the ground beneath them began to shake and the blue sky above them became dark with what appeared to be small flashes of lightning over their heads.
"What's going on Kid?" Liz called moving closer to Patty.
"I don't know. Whatever it is we should be ready for it." The sisters nodded, transforming into their weapon form.
"Maka, Akane, We can handle this. If something happens, I need the two pf you to go to my father and let him know what we've found." Kid said sternly.
"I'm not turning back, Soul-"
"Maka, if you want to save Soul and Crona, you have to get out of here, otherwise-" A flash of lightning lit up the sky before the bolt struck the ground, splitting the ground between the group. Maka could see a figure in the now nearly blinding light.
"Go Maka, I'll help Kid hold them off." Akane said pushing her out of the way just in time to avoid being struck.
"But-"
"Run, now, Kid has his weapons we've got a good shot at this. Soul needs you to pass this information on to lord death and maybe bring some more help." Maka hesitated before turning and running from the scene.
Stein stood beside the bed where Soul was lying, he had taken Soul and Crona from the infirmary to a quieter, setting withing the DWMA having sent for his own equipment. He watched as the two slowly woke and scanned their surroundings sleepily.
"How are you two feeling?" Stein asked catching the attention of his patients.
"I don't feel very good." Crona admitted closing his eyes again.
"Stay awake for just a little longer, I need to talk to the two of you about something important. This could be the difference between a lot of people dying or living and I know that's a lot to put on your shoulders but I need to have some understanding of what this is and Soul, so far you're the only one that's gotten this far into the illness and is still here. I would need to run some tests on you both. Soul, I know you're really weak right now and you're in a lot of pain but honestly your participation would be extremely helpful in possibly finding a way to treat and cure this. I should warn you that it could pose a slightly higher risk to your health at this point. You may remember me mentioning to you that you have some internal bleeding, seeing as it presented itself the way it did suggests that it could possibly require surgery to stop it, if you would-"
"Whatever you have to do to find away to stop this, just do it." Soul replied weakly. "Right now it doesn't seem like there's too many options, if these tests you talked about don't kill me, the sickness probably will. Just try not to let Maka find out too much about it. She'll Maka chop us both into oblivion."
"How do you do it Soul, you're always so brave?"
"I'm not always, only when I have to be. I told you, sometimes you surprise yourself. Just remember, if something happens to me, I need you to be with Maka. She'll really need someone to be there. You'll need to encourage her to-"
"I'll remember, but please don't leave her. Maka really does need you. She won't know how to deal with that." Soul turned his head to look at his friend.
"That's why she'll need you. I'm going to do this and if it works out, it could make you better. That means that you can't-"
"I won't, I promise." Crona vowed, he knew what Soul was asking.
"Good. Crona, your part in this will be one of the first to be treated and as soon as the other three I've selected are stable enough, I'll begin administering the medicine I'm hoping to develop to more students in the hopes that it does its job. It's not going to to be easy." Soul sighed.
"It never is." He replied. Stein nodded.
"I'm impressed. Each time we ask too much of you students, you rise to the occasion without hesitation, you make this academy the extraordinary place it is."
"Coming from the best meister to graduate, I guess that's a pretty big complement." Crona said in awe.
"That's right, now what I'd like to do is start with checking vitals, while I'm doing that,you two should lie still and rest, I'll do my best to give you a break as often as I can. Rest is still vital." Stein said placing a stethoscope on Soul's chest. The young weapon closed his eyes quietly.
"Soul, how do you feel about getting started within the next few minutes?"
"That's fine, like I said, do what you have to do." Stein rested a hand on Soul's forehead.
"Still burning up. I'll have to try to bring it down a bit before I do anything." he moved to Crona and did the same.
"you're cooler than Soul is but your temperature is still up there. I'll go get a few things and be right back." He exited the room. Crona sat up in bed, turning to let his feet touch the floor.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Soul, with you being so sick and everything, I don't think Maka would like it."
"She wouldn't but sometimes you just have to do these things no matter who doesn't like it. If I can do something to help everyone else, she'd understand eventually. Either way as it stands I don't have much time, you heard Stein."
Crona bowed his head, how could he tell Maka, would he even have the chance?
"If you thought that, why didn't you try harder to stop her from going?" He asked.
"She needs to know that she did everything she could for me or it's going to be worse for her. I don't want her to constantly feel like she could've done something when she couldn't have. Anyway, do you really think I want her to see this, I don't want her to watch me die do you have any idea how painful that would be for her..how hard it is to see it in her eyes and know those tears are there because of me, I can't lie here and watch her heart break like that."
"You really do love Maka don't you?"
"More than anything."Soul coughed harshly, causing his ribs and stomach to ache badly. It didn't go unnoticed. Crona stood up and reached out, placing a hand on top of Soul's.
"I'm sorry Soul. I wish I could give you back to her. She needs you, not me. If I could take your place and give you a better chance-"Soul smiled faintly.
"That's why I asked you to take care of her." He said.
"What do you mean, I don't think I understand." Soul did his best to ignore his pain, it was getting the best of him now.
"I asked you because I know you love her just as much as I do." He replied closing his eyes once again. He knew he would need to save the little strength he had now, whatever time remained for him wasn't going to be easy.