That unnecessary barrier between Soul and I? Gone. And good riddance. I guess what it took for Soul to have an open-minded conversation with me was me almost dying. But, yeah, whatever. Lesson learned was: never go swimming when there's a wave coming unless it's necessary so you and your best friend can not have some awkward silence anymore.

"Okay. Let's get to the Death Room quickly." I said to Silara.

"Right." she agreed.

We picked up speed and ran down the corridor. There were so many twists and turns, that it confused us terribly. But, eventually, we found the big red door with the brass knob that I had seen on my first day at the academy.

"You wanted to see us, Lord Death?" I asked kindly.

"Oh, yes. Thank you for coming girls. I have another mission for you two."

"Another? Good! Will we be working with the team again?" Silara wondered aloud.

"Eh, no. I want to see how well you girls work on your own!"

"Sounds fun. At least this time there won't be any squabbling about who gets the freaking Kishin egg." I replied.

"Yes, but we did get the egg last time."

"Only 'cause that was our first battle."

"Mmm, yeah probably."

"Hello, girls?" Lord Death spoke up.

"Oh, sorry Lord Death."

"It's fine. Now, best be on your way."

"Uh, yeah. There's one problem."

"What's that?"

"We dunno where we're supposed to go."

"Yes, yes. I almost forgot! Now, let's see… oh yes, you'll be headed to Thread Valley against Ekans."

"Thread Valley. Got it. Silara, let's go."

We left the Death Room and made our way down to Thread Valley.

At Thread Valley

"So, where's the kishin?" Silara asked.

Just after she spoke, there was a deafening scream.

"I think I found it!" I shouted.

In response, Silara transformed into a katana and I started running in the direction the scream came from. There was hissing noise, and another ear-splitting scream that was cut short. Upon reaching the scene, I noted the dead woman and snake-person with shimmering green scales covering his bald head, back, arms, and legs. The only coverage it had on was a pair of shredded shorts. It held the blue, wispy soul in one hand and its fork tongue was flicking back and forth.

Ekans, as I assumed was the snake-person-kishin, swallowed the soul and licked his lips.

"More supper? No, I couldn't possibly!" he said once he saw us.

"That's right, 'cause you're not." I said, swinging Silara around.

"It's gonna take more than a little girl with a blade to defeat me."

"I know. This blade is my weapon, I'm the meister. We're a team. And teams often win."

"Ekans can't be beaten at all."

"We'll see about that."

He stood there, arms out and tongue flicking, ready for a blow. I gave him what he wanted, too. I stabbed him in the stomach, only have him pull Silara out and run around behind me.

"You're making me dizzy! Knock it off!" I shouted.

I closed my eyes and waited to hear where he was. I could hear the wind rushing and his footsteps pulsing the ground. Finally, I took a lucky shot and threw Silara behind me. I heard a loud thud and opened my eyes. With a smirk on my face, I whipped around to see Ekans lying on the ground with Silara plunged into his ribs.

"That was quick." Silara said, appearing in the blade.

"Only one problem." I told her.

"What's that?"

"He isn't turning into a Kishin egg."

Ekans smiled and stood up. "I was wondering how long it'd take for you to figure 'at out."

He winced as he pulled Silara out of his slimy little reptilian body.

"You know, Ekans. You. Are. Really. Starting. To piss me off." I informed snake-man.

"I know!" he said cheerfully.

I gritted my teeth and lunged at him. I threw a couple punches at him and kicked him in his jaw. There was a sickening crack and I smiled wickedly. My breath was ragged as I stood in front of him. Ekans still wasn't dead, obviously.

"Tsk, tsk. I really thought you were better than this." Ekans told me.

"Shut up!" I barked.

"Shut don't go up, prices do. So just take your own advice and shut. Up. Too." he said in a sing-songy voice.

I narrowed my eyes and was squeezing Silara so hard my nails dug into my palms.

"Oh, am I upsetting you?" Ekans mocked me.

I stood there with my eyes closed and breathed deeply.

"Are you afraid? Are you, now? I can end this quickly if you would just put the sword dow-" he started snidely.

My eyes flew open and my face became very, very grim. "That's enough!" I shouted, interrupting him.

"W-well. You sure are fierce now." Ekans stuttered. I had caught him off guard.

"Yeah I am! And you know what you are?"

"Wh-what?"

"An idiot Kishin who's gonna get his ass kicked!" I yelled.

Silara smirked in the blade and her eyes shone. I took another deep breath and closed my eyes again. I stood very still, and I may have even looked like I was turned into a statue. But, in reality, I was searching for something. Silara's soul to be exact. Finally, I found it, right at the heart of the battle. The whole thing is kind of hard to explain, but there it was. I-well, my soul- moved closer to her soul and touched it.

"Silara." I whispered. Her soul opened its eyes.

"Angel?" she whispered back.

I smiled and held onto her. "We have to beat Ekans. He's difficult, but we really have to connect to do this."

"Yes, Angel. I know."

"Good. So, are you ready?"

"You know it!"

I smiled again and connected my soul to hers.

I opened my eyes and there was a light coming from the hand I held Silara in. And suddenly, her blade was bigger and tints of red and very dark purple shone on the edges.

Is this… Soul Resonance? I wondered. But I didn't really care at that moment. I lunged at Ekans and slashed him in half. I never could have done that if Silara hadn't all of a sudden changed.

Ekans disappeared, leaving behind a red Kishin egg, wrapped in black bandages. Then, just the egg. Silara changed back into human form and grabbed the egg.

"Soul told me to eat it. I ate the last one. Should I? Like, just eat them?" she asked me.

I nodded my head with a smile. "Sure. There's no reason not to."

"Okay. Here goes."

Silara opened her mouth and lowered the egg. She chewed for a second, then swallowed and let out a sigh.

"So? What did it taste like?" I asked her, a bit on the curious side.

"Like… really tangy, yet sweet. Like kiwi. I like it." she told me with a smile on her face.