Spirit was screaming. Though he made no sound, he was screaming; his eyes wide in fear and anger, as he looked at his arm.

He wasn't in control of his actions. He knew that now. It didn't stop the emptiness that was filling his soul, the despair that was overwhelming him. It didn't stop the fact that he wished he was anywhere else but here, anywhere but here with his arm a blade and through his daughter's chest.

He was taller, and as much as he wished he couldn't, he could see his blade protruding from Maka's back. He almost sobbed in relief when whoever was controlling his actions turned his head away from the sight.

Unfortunately, his gaze landed on Stein, and Spirit's heart contracted into a small knot in his chest. He felt his other arm transform, the witch in full control of his actions. His voice was strained and forced as he looked at the other man.

"Don't worry, Auril-san, when I am finished with you I will finish them as well."

"Yu-yuki-onne-"

"I am tired of fearing for my life, Auril-san," Spirit said, his other arm plunging into Maka's abdomen. Blood splattered his face and chest, and both could see the fear in the other's eyes. "And those in my charge should not fear for their lives either!"

'Maka, Papa's so sorry…'

Tears slipped down Spirit's face even as he laughed in the other witch's face. His arms pulled apart and as he watched Maka collapsed to the ground, a pool of blood surrounding her. Then there was terrible wrenching sensation and Spirit hit his knees beside Maka, his body trembling and shaking.

Yuki-Onne appeared beside him, her body coalescing from the air and she looked down at him and then at Maka. Her face twisted into a sneer.

"It was so easy. You thought that such a flawed plan would work, that you could bring down these? It was easy to sit back and let you plan. It was easy to watch you plot your own downfall. I would have been content to watch them take your soul, but no. You had to involve me. You had to threaten the lives in my care. Auril-san, you made an error. I could forgive you for threatening me, but you will not threaten them!"

Her hand drew back, frost riming it as the woman knelt beside Spirit- the death scythe didn't even notice, his eyes focused on his daughter's body. There was a sudden crash and the witch flew back and into the wall.

Spirit looked up, tears in his eyes, his body heavy and leaden, and found himself looking at Stein; the meister uninjured and holding a black cross-like scythe. It took Spirit a moment to realize that it was another fake, and he tore his gaze over to the real Stein. The man was breathing shallowly, his hand clenched lightly against the wound and his face smooth in unconsciousness.

The not-Stein cracked his neck, his grip tightening on the not-Spirit's shaft; his eyes flicked down to Spirit, then to Maka.

"Apply pressure or she'll bleed to death. Hold her against your chest, her back to you, and cover the entrance wounds with your hands. Your suit jacket would have been better, but you appear to be missing it. You wouldn't want her to die, now would you?"

Spirit just stared before pulling his daughter into his lap and doing as the man had said. Her head rolled back against his shoulder, and Spirit pressed his forehead against the back of her head, tears streaming down his cheeks.

They had lost Marie; they were going to lose Maka. Stein was going to die. He would be left here, alone in the middle of who knows how many enemies, and no one would know where he was.

'I am such an idiot…' Spirit thought morosely as he listened to the sounds of combat.

Yuki-Onne picked herself up from the ground and turned to face the pair that had just entered the hallway.

"You will leave now, mimesis."

"Now you see, that isn't something that I'm inclined to do. I have orders that anyone who would harm her," his eyes flicked back to Maka, "is to die. And as I saw, you did just that."

"Then you will die!" she hissed out.

"If that is what it takes." Yuki-Onne's eyes opened wide as the man charged her, bringing the fractured representation of Spirit against her.

"We saw what you did," the weapon said, the voice far too high. "You injured her; you tried to get around it by using someone else to do it, but we saw the truth of it!"

The weapon's cross shaped blade collided with the witch and she slammed into the wall. A moment later snow erupted around the room, causing Spirit to shudder and shiver at its sudden intensity, his body arching protectively over Maka's.

A hissing laugh made him look down.

"She's not good at the game she plays."

Spirit's eyes opened wide and he found himself staring down into ice blue eyes, his daughter's face contorted in hatred. A moment later he hit the wall beside Stein, his head snapping back and darkness overtaking him.

All Stein could feel was the pain that was threatening to rip him in half, and he fought with all his strength to ignore it. He fought for consciousness; he fought to be able to just move his body.

With a great deal of effort he fought back to consciousness for the second time, his body in agony. He could feel something close to him, and his hand reached out slowly before his Soul Perception did, encountering something warm and soft. Flesh and after a moment he realized that the second substance was blood.

He was almost too weak to open his eyes, but he forced them open to see Spirit lying beside him. There was blood flowing from a gash in the back of the death scythe's head; it trickled down his neck and was staining his dress shirt. Stein let his own head roll against the wall, fingers pressing against the gash in his stomach as he looked over at the sounds of combat.

He could see the witch that had injured him squaring off against what he could only assume were more mimesises. He blinked slowly, his body beginning to shake from the effort of ignoring the amount of pain and a blood-soaked hand reached up to turn the gear in his head. He had to try twice, the hand slipping from the apparatus.

He watched helplessly as blows were exchanged. He knew, logically, that the two mimesis that were fighting a losing battle against a witch. He watched until the snow became too thick for him to see through, and then he closed blood-soaked fingers around Spirit's, taking comfort in the fact that the other man was there. His other hand wrapped around the ragged gash in his stomach, and he realized that he couldn't feel the pain anymore.

A hoarse laugh escaped him. He really was dying, his body already in shock. He wondered how long it would take his soul to realize that the wound was quite probably going to be fatal.

There was pressure on his hand, and Spirit opened his eyes to the worst headache he had ever had. He couldn't see whose fingers were wrapped around his, but the callous on the thumb was a dead giveaway.

"Stein."

There was no response, and Spirit realized just how weak the hold on his hand was. He moved from the wall, forcing himself upright, his head swimming as Stein's hand fell limply from his. The death scythe staggered a bit, his hand resting against the wall before he bent down and grabbed Stein's arm. He pulled the meister to his feet, nearly falling when Stein collapsed against him, a weak groan coming from the meister. Spirit slipped Stein's arm over his shoulder and, with one last glance over his shoulder and into the swirling snow, began to move away from the combat.

"Senpai."

Spirit didn't stop walking, his eyes closed as he used the wall to guild himself. Tears were threatening to slip down his face, but he knew he had to get Stein somewhere relatively safe before going back after Maka.

"Senpai," Stein's voice was weak, but he tried to force Spirit to a stop. Spirit just readjusted his grip on the man, dragging him along beside him.

A sudden gust of cold air rushed down the hallway, causing the pair to nearly fall as Auril appeared in front of them. The wounds that had been inflicted on her were frozen over, and Spirit almost broke down crying in relief; he hadn't killed his daughter.

It wasn't until a second later that he realized the dire circumstances that they were in. The witch across from them no longer appeared to be injured and she stood there with a smirk on her face. The weapon and meister facing her were in no condition to fight her.

They could both very well die here.

"As it seems to me, you two are the only ones that would be able to refute my story were I to return "home"," she said. "Which means if I kill you now I will have no problems when I return. Her little boyfriend will believe whatever story I feed him. It's so tragic that the two of you perished rescuing "me" isn't it?"

Spirit dove to the floor, bringing Stein with him. He landed hard, making sure to cushion the meister as much as he could, the witch's spell flying over their heads. She cackled as Spirit surged to his feet, putting himself directly in the way of her next spell.

It tore through the death scythe, and he barely managed to keep himself on his feet. He stumbled forward, a curse on his lips as another spell hit him. Cuts opened up on his arms and chest, and one sliced across his shirt's pocket. The soul of the not-Marie fell from where it had been kept, but Spirit didn't pay any attention to it, even as it bounced and rolled towards Stein.

The witch in front of him hissed out another spell, and Spirit barely transformed his arm in time to meet the icy blade that sprung from her body and formed in her hand. It pushed him back a step and he slid in his own blood. He became aware of a light from behind him, but he didn't dare get distracted now. The witch sliced down again, spells bubbling from her lips, and Spirit was forced back another step. His free arm transformed and as she brought the blade down yet again he hit his knee, the blade trapped between his arms.

"You will die here," she promised.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." The witch's eyes widened as Stein's wavelength surged through her, sending her flying backwards. "Spirit, transform."

Spirit hesitated, looking up at the meister, his arms blades still. He could see the wound on Stein's abdomen, the edges cleanly healed. Blood still coated the meister, and Spirit was in shock.

"Transform!"

A moment later he was in weapon form, held in Stein's capable hands. There was no doubt that Stein was the one wielding him; the man's soul was as familiar to him as his own. Stein darted toward the witch the moment that Spirit settled in his hands, and Spirit's wavelength spiked.

"That's my daughter!"

"Trust me. Witch Hunter!"

Auril just laughed, darting backwards and out of reach of the weapon. "You think that you will hurt me with such a cumbersome technique? I know not how you managed to repair your damage so quickly, Franken Stein, but I will pry the secret from your corpse."

Stein didn't waste time on words, just darting at the witch again. Spirit's blade nicked her neck and he felt the weapon's wavelength spike even though it was obvious that he was doing his best to try to trust Stein not to maim or kill his daughter.

Auril flipped away from them. "I tire of this game."

Snow and ice filled the room and Stein charged forward. There was a scream as metal met flesh, Spirit's blade slicing cleanly into Auril's side, Stein's wavelength funneling through the weapon again.

In an instant the snow and ice was gone, and a glow surrounded Maka's body. Stein released Spirit, the weapon hitting his knees to support Maka's falling body even as Stein's wavelength crackled around his hands, the meister darting forward.

"You would catch a snowflake?" Auril's voice asked from around him, laughter tingeing it. "You have won a battle, but you have not won anything beyond more time."

"That is where you are wrong, witch. Soul Force."

Spirit watched in surprise as Stein's wavelength exploded from his body, Auril screaming in pain and agony. He blinked stars from his eyes as the light faded, and watched as Stein pitched forward to the ground. Hovering in front of the unconscious meister was a witch's soul.

A/N: This is the actual ending; I will post an epilogue, so there will indeed be only one more chapter. I just want to say thank you all! At the time of posting this there are 135 reviews for my 17 chapters… that is a single review shy of being an average of 8 per chapter. It boggles my mind how kind you all are to me :3 Thank you, so much.

I'll try to get the last chapter up soon :)

/Lialane