Chapter 19! Have you forgiven me yet?
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
"Hello, hello!" my Father waved as he appeared in the full body mirror in my bedroom.
"Good evening." I greeted, feeling confident in how I looked despite what happened downstairs. It had already been an hour since I've been in my room, trying to get sticky food off of my clothes and hair. It took forever for me to feel clean and presentable.
"How yah doing?"
"I'm okay, Father. I know you're busy; I just wanted to ask a question."
He made gun with his giant fingers and pointed at me playfully, "Shoot."
"Why did you send Kuro on that mission with us?" I asked.
He answered with a question, "You sensed her soul earlier, right?"
I nodded, "It's the second one today. It's been happening more often."
"When was the first?" Father asked.
"When we just got into Death City," I stated, but then realized something, "You sent her on the mission to observe her." Father stood silently, confirming my statement. Anger started to simmer in my chest, "She could've gotten hurt, Father."
He merely smiled, "You really do worry too much. I know it was a bit of a risk, but she's a strong, adaptable Meister, and to be quite honest, I think she's a lot more than that. When she and Char did soul resonance the first time, you noticed the fire, correct?"
"Yes and what happened in the field back in Ukraine…"
Father nodded, "I was watching. I've seen Char soul resonance before, and fire was never part of her abilities."
"So you think Kuro has something to do with it?"
"Yes. There's something going on with her soul. It's not a witch's soul, but it's also not completely human. I've seen something like this before, but it's been decades, and I can't remember exactly what it is."
"Do you want me to do individual research tomorrow? There should be something pertaining to these happenings in the library."
"Most likely in the higher level books; your help would be greatly appreciated."
"I'll get on it tomorrow. Thank you for the information. I, um, have to clean my house now; we had a bit of an… accident." I said, nowhere near excited about seeing the state my kitchen and living room may be in.
"Bye, bye! Have fun!" he waved goodbye just as he began to fade.
I turned off the light in my room and stepped into the hall, shutting the door behind me. I turned to my left, seeing Maka and Soul descending the stairs a few yards away. I followed, putting my hands comfortably in my pant's pockets as I mentally prepared myself for the horror downstairs. I got down shortly after just as squeals erupted from the girls, taking my attention off the state of the room. The towels and sponges they were holding to scrub the walls and floors dropped in their excitement. I blinked, and then looked at Maka and Soul, just noticing their close proximity to each other, and her head against him. I didn't know exactly what happened since I was in my room, but whatever plan there was to get them together ended well; I smiled.
"You two are too cute!" Patti gushed and Tsubaki giggled. Char, Kuro, and Liz looked at each other with the biggest grins, probably mentally giving each other high fives.
"Nice!" BlackStar shot a thumb up into the air.
"Congrats," I said; leaning against the wood banister with my arms crossed as Soul grinned at me and Maka smiled with a slight blush coloring her cheeks.
My eyes nonchalantly swept over to the rest of the group, laughing and excited that everything fell to place. I caught Kuro's eye, but she quickly looked away. Why was she doing that? I didn't do anything to her, did I? Was it the hug in the hotel room?
I sighed inwardly just as Maka laughed, "Okay, okay guys! Let's get this house cleaned!"
"This'll be fun," Soul said, unenthusiastic, and I looked around the room, finally taking in its terrible state.
"Oh, no," I groaned, speeding to the kitchen and getting sponges and more soap and cleaner, "This is unacceptable!"
My arms were full of the cleaning supplies and I went to work, ignoring whatever people were saying to me and just wanting my home to be perfect again. When the areas looked clean on the surface they left to get ready for class tomorrow, but I kept cleaning. I wanted to make sure my house was spotless; I expected nothing but perfection in the domain I lived in. It was hours until I finished, but when I did I was finally able to relax.
"I won't be in class today," I told Liz and Patti the next morning, "I'm helping my father by doing some research on my own."
"Oh, okay," Liz nodded.
"We'll miss you, Kiddo-kun!" Patti pouted.
"It's only for today." I assured her as we approached Char, who stood by herself at the top of the academy steps.
"Where's Kuro?" Liz asked as we stopped in front of her.
It took her a moment to answer, "She went ahead." There was something about the look on her face that told me something was wrong.
"Is everything okay?" I asked her.
She nodded, "Yeah, I mean, I'm just worried about her. She's been quiet lately, and she had this wicked chest pain attack last night and a couple of times this morning. I think she should go to the infirmary, but she keeps saying she's okay."
"Chest pains?" Liz asked, "She had one of those last night, too! While we were on the stairs, she grabbed her chest and looked like something just punched her. She said it passed, but she's having more?"
She was having chest pains last night? Could they be in correlation with the soul's instability?
"I have to go," I said, breaking away from them and heading into the academy. Once I pushed open the door to the library, I headed straight for the main desk, my footsteps echoing through the large room.
"Good morning," I said.
"Good morning, sir," the librarian greeted, "How can I help you?"
"I need a list of books from every level that have any information on soul abnormalities and the soul fluctuations of all beings known to this day that aren't human or witches."
"Oh my," the librarian blinked, "I'll get right to it."
"Thank you."
"Shit." The whispered curse startled me, and I turned around at the sound of footsteps tapping quickly across the marble flooring.
"Kuro," she was six feet away, a book in her hand, about to run past me until I called her. She stopped and turned to the sound of her name.
"Oh," she blinked, "Uh, hi. I really can't talk, class is about to start."
"Oh," I said, nodding, "Well…" I trailed off, sensing something.
She yelped, her hand flying to her chest as she fell to her knees. I hurried and got on the floor next to her. Her legs were folded underneath her as she bent over, taking deep breaths.
"Kuro?" I said, my hand on her back, "Kuro, are you okay?" her soul was pulsating wildly; the copper color now starting to glow.
"It-It'll pass," she struggled to get out between breaths, "It just hurts more and…"
"Sir, I've got your – oh dear," the librarian said from behind me.
"She's having chest pains;" I told the librarian, "Just hold on to it for me," I turned back to Kuro, "I'm taking you to the infirmary."
"I said I'm fine," she said, wanting to squirm as I hooked an arm under her knees and around her shoulder, but it didn't help the pain so she stopped. I ignored her and picked her up, breathing an apology when she winced, and the librarian opened the door for us. She stayed silent with her head resting against my chest; I glanced at her every now and again to make sure she was still awake.
"Can you put me down? I can walk." I paused for a moment before obliging, setting her gently on to the ground. She sighed, straightening her blouse, "It went away. I told you it would pass."
"I don't care," I said, "We're still going." I was sure now that her chest pains were caused by her soul, and even though I knew nothing in the infirmary could help, she'd at least have someone watching over her.
"No. I have to get to class." She shifted the book into the crook of her right arm and turned to leave. I grabbed her arm before she could walk away, the book falling onto the floor.
"Kuro, please."
She pulled her arm back, "I said no. I don't need to go."
"If your avoiding me has anything to do about the hug I gave you a couple of days ago, I'm sorry. I know it was completely random and uncalled for. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or freak you out, but right now I'm concerned about your well-being. Can you please just go to the infirmary so that if this happens again I know you're in good hands?" her attitude was probably worse than her avoiding me. I wasn't used to Kuro being this distant; both emotionally and physically.
She didn't say anything for a long time, "Why don't you take a hint and realize I don't want you around?"
Something dropped in my chest, and I don't think I've ever felt so hurt in my life. I didn't even know what to say, but all I knew was that she was walking away, and I watched her until she disappeared down a flight of stairs. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair and looking down at the book she left on the floor; a textbook about the makeup and composition of different types of souls. Considering she wasn't a two-star Meister yet, it wasn't even a level one book; I didn't expect it to tell me anything of use. Definitely needing something on my mind now, I headed back to the library, flipping through the textbook on my way there.
"Souls can affect the body, just as much as the mind, but never usually in a way that could harm the Meister or Weapon," I read out loud, knowing this. The key word being usually.
"Oh, you're back," the librarian said, placing the list on the desk, "Here you go."
"Thank you."
"Is she all right?"
I took the list, skimming the hundreds of titles I'd have to read, not wanting to look at him just in case my face showed how I felt, "I don't know."
After collecting all of the books I'd have to read, I separated them by level. Level one's and two's, I knew, wouldn't provide with a lot of information; only enough information that was needed for students to be knowledgeable two to three star Meisters. Level three's and four's would involve more, in depth information; those were only available to staff, Senior Meisters, Death Scythes, or Shinigami like myself. It may have been for nothing, but I started with level one's then ascended, reading through various books that reworded the same things. One sentence from a level two book caught my attention.
Souls that affect the physical body in a painful or uncomfortable way are anomalies. It is extremely rare for such a thing to occur in any type of soul.
"So why is it happening?" I muttered to myself, ending the level two stack and continuing to the level threes. I looked at every angle of this, searching from werewolves to vampires, demons, angels, and even Kishins. Nothing could point to a being whose soul caused them physical pain. It had been hours and almost 200 books later until I came across a book in the level four stack.
De Animae Natura; which roughly translated to The Souls of Nature in Latin. I flipped through the thin pages, reading the first word, then skimming the first paragraph. All of it was written in Latin.
Praelocutio
Hoc sensu, non solum docuisse eum , qui potest et animam viventem , quæ est : Meisters , arma , sagae in orcum messores , pre - Kishins , Kishins, werewolves , lamia , et alia terra uiuentium. Natura animae tamen nunquam tractari solet , quia non credidit illis animis plerumque tamen in nobis est. Ad punctum, non inesse in natura anima est vera, necesse est ad hoc quod anima sit in corpore et anima ad praesens. Dementis animae (ut ignis et terra et aqua et caelum ) non elementis continetur , sed ex humano genere ingeri rhoncus massa. Vasa quam electi et quod ignoratur ; sed notum est quod anima hominis aliam priorem statim moritur. Semel vas electionis , cum patitur series corporis mutationes solent spiritualia per corpora tunc afficit corpus acerbum , tandem electus potiri elementum patitur invitus dabantur .
I didn't even finish the introduction before I stood up and left the library, hurrying to my Father's office with the same book in my hands, the word fire repeating over and over in my mind.
"Father," I burst into the room.
"Oh, Kiddo-kun!" he bounced, standing in the middle of the room.
"I apologize for barging in, but I just came from the library. This is incredibly important."
He nodded, holding out his gloved hand as I turned to the page. He read it silently, as I mentally went over the translation that was still fresh in my mind:
Introduction
We are only taught of souls that can embody living things: Meisters, Weapons, Witches, Shinigami, pre-Kishins, Kishins, Werewolves, and other creatures and beings on Earth. The souls of nature, however, are never usually discussed; mostly because it isn't believed that they have souls; however, we ourselves are nature. To a point, a soul not being present within nature is true; in order for a soul to exist there needs to be a body and mind present. The souls of the natural elements (such as fire, earth, water, and air) are not embodied within the elements themselves, but rather thrust upon members of the human race through a random selection. How the vessels are chosen is not known, but it is known that the soul of the certain element moves to another person once the former one dies. Once a vessel is chosen, though, the body undergoes a series of changes, usually spiritual, that then affects the body in a physically painful or uncomfortable way, eventually allowing the chosen to take control of the element that they were given unwillingly.
I heard Father mutter something under his breath just as Maka's voice emerged from the entrance.
"Shinigami-sama?" she and Soul let go of each other's hands to bow, and when they stood up, her eyes went to me, "Kid," she blinked, "I've been looking for you."
"What about?" I asked, turning to her.
"Kuro," she said, then looked to Father, "Something strange is going on with her."
"You noticed as well?" I asked her.
"I'm not surprised," my Father said.
"What's going on?" Soul asked.
"That's why I came; I wanted to know if you two may know… I've never read about something like this before. Her soul literally alters itself; I felt something like this last night, and before school began."
"When she started getting chest pains," I turned to Father, "I was with her. Her soul is causing these random chest pains whenever it begins to pulsate and flux. It's affecting her in a way that causes physical pain."
As they walked up to the two of us, Father slid his gloved finger down the page, the Latin letters rearranging into a language they would understand, "Read this."
She took it from him, allowing Soul to read it as well and when she was done she looked up, shocked, "I've never heard of this."
"It's a level four book," I replied, "You wouldn't be able to check this out."
"Why isn't this taught to us in class?" Soul asked.
"Because of the rarity of meeting one. There is only one person chosen per element, so there are only four people with this type of ability in the entire world, and they usually keep themselves hidden using Soul Protection. Though I have met one in my lifetime, I don't remember exactly what element they controlled, but they died many years ago. They are unable to keep their Soul Protection up while attacking because of how powerful their soul wavelengths become, so I was able to sense it. It's almost the same as Kuro's when it starts to change." Father answered.
"Attacking?" I inquired.
"He was fighting off a pre-Kishin that was stalking a man," Father said, "They are sought after countless of times for their souls, which is why they keep their Soul Protection up. If their souls were to be absorbed, we'd have a strong Kishin on our hands."
"But if this is true, what element would she have?" Maka asked.
"Most likely fire. Char's soul resonance never included the ability to burst into flames until Kuro began to wield her." I took the book back when she handed it to me.
"If Noah still had her under his influence when these changes began, could you imagine what types of things he could've ordered her to do? She'd be a dangerous weapon, even without a Weapon partner." Soul said.
I added, "And an incredible piece to his collection."
"Then why would he order her to be killed?" Maka asked. The question stumped us, but before we could think of any possibilities, Maka gasped, and I knew why.
"Maka?" Soul looked at her, caught off guard by her sudden outburst.
"It's in the direction of the outdoor target practice area," my Father said, his voice hinting worry, "I sense two of them."
"Kuro's and…" I trailed off, this one was different, an entirely developed version of Kuro's, and it showed up out of nowhere.
"The second isn't using Soul Protection," Maka looked at me, alarmed, while I replayed in my head what my father just said moments ago.
"They are unable to keep their Soul Protection up while attacking because of how powerful their soul wavelengths become, so I was able to sense it."
"Kid, wait!" I heard Soul, but I was already running, hoping Liz and Patti were still in the academy.
End of Chapter XIX
Ohohohoho.
- Limiterlys