I was itching to get this one done so here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater!

"You can still leave."

I turned to Kaori, much younger than the last time I saw him. Maybe fourteen; his light hair just started to brush his ears; in a couple of years it would grow even longer and I knew it would give him a rugged look that would only compliment his features more. I pressed my lips together, putting my attention back on the intense creature before us. Four legs, three heads; it looked like something straight out of mythology. Their jaws showed barred teeth and it's body was so large that it almost reached the tall trees within the forest. Engraved stones popped out of the flesh on its massive back like some type of four legged graveyard. Two bore masks - one of them seeming to be sewn to it's face - while the other's face seemed scarred from intense burning. "You can run away." I whispered.

Kaori shook his head. "No."

My parents nudged us to be quiet just as Noah turned to us, a proud grin on his face. Gopher and Giriko stood at his side as they waited for him to announce his newest piece. "Every time it devours someone a stone grows on its back like a trophy. Its attacks are just as fearsome and devastating as its looks. I've been searching for a beast of this potential for ages, and I've finally found it. Isn't it... beautiful?" he smiled... such a nice smile for someone so wicked. I tightened my grip on the back of Kaori's shirt while he remained still and stone faced. I was afraid. I was afraid of my future here and of this beast in front of me, and I was afraid that Kaori had no idea what he was getting into. I didn't have a choice; I had to stay. He didn't.

"Beautiful, sir. Absolutely. Why have you graced us with such a presence?" I heard my father ask.

Noah seemed pleased by his words. "I wanted to show you how strong your leader is truly becoming. Why, you've given me your daughter's abilities; it's the least I could do to show you that she isn't being used by someone incompetent."

I noticed Kaori's hand twitch; his jaw tightened. He was angry.

"And what should we call your piece, Noah?" my mother this time. He turned away, gazing at the monstrosity for some time before answering.

"The Horror Dragon."

I never understood why it was named that, it looked nothing like a dragon; in fact, it looked more like a three-headed dog. Its ability to frighten me to the core never changed but... there was something different about it. It was smaller, and could it always talk?

"Kuro!"

I blinked, my eyes not wavering from the creature in front of me. No matter the difference, it was still the creature I witnessed all those years ago. There was no doubt about it.

Noah.

"Kuro! Snap out of it!" Char was shaking my shoulders.

I shook my head, suddenly realizing the weight that I was holding up on my left side was easier to hold up. Liz was on the other side of Kid, his arm around her shoulder to keep him up. He was still unconscious. Bleeding.

"Liz, Patti," I managed breathlessly, trying to calm myself down. "Get him out of here."

"Wait-"

I ignored Liz and had Patti take his other side. I took Char's hand and, taking the signal, she turned into a bow. I was glad that we hadn't gone home first to drop off our stuff. My quiver was still strapped to my back. I ran forward before they could say anything else to try and stop me, and shot at its jaw as it began scooping up unlucky survivors who got to close to swallow them whole. Only a small ball of fire lit the tip of that arrow. It was enough to make to keep it from taking anymore people, but it angered me that I couldn't do what I did in training just a couple of hours ago.

"What happened to you back there?" Char.

I ignored her question, "This is Noah's doing."

"What?" she exclaimed, unable to hide her shock. I didn't blame her; he had been distant the past couple of months. The only reason I could think of for his appearance was the obvious one: he wanted the souls of the Elementals.

It barred its teeth at me, snapping all of its jaws in my direction. I held my hand out and a spark lit before a ball of fire blazed in the air above the skin. "Looking for me?" It roared before lunging after me. The earth shook as its enormous paws slammed against the ground, but I kept my balance and turned to run. My first objective was to get it somewhere isolated. I couldn't fight it here without harming anyone else. The issue was its stride was two times my own, so I wouldn't be able to outrun-

"Get on!" Dominic appeared beside me holding out his hand so that I could get on the boulder. I took it and pulled myself on.

"How did you find us?" Char asked him as I tried to keep my balance.

"Soul Perception." He thrust both his hands in front of him and then spread them wide, a wall of stone emerging from the ground and moved to push anyone and anything off of the road. "Was this what I sensed earlier?" He looked behind him at the creature, who was closing the distance. He threw a boulder in its direction but it merely lowered its head, the stone breaking and not making seeming to phase it in the slightest. "Tch."

"It's not a pre-Kishin. Its a creature Noah summons from The Book of Eibon." I forgot he may not have known about Noah but I had no time to explain. I looked at our surroundings, "We need to get it away from here." Noah had to have been in the area to summon it. He might be here, and just the thought made me feel incredibly uneasy.

"I sensed something that piqued my interest when Adria just got back from taking you back to campus. It disappeared almost as quickly as it came, but it was enough for me to tell Adria to be on guard. It wasn't whatever the hell is chasing us, it was darker-"

"STOP RUNNING!"

I heard metal being hit, and I turned around in time to see a car that was throw toward us get blown away into another direction. Adria appeared, throwing her arm down to cast a heavy gust of wind; one so heavy that it pushed the creature back into a building causing dust and debris to cover the area. "We can't keep running; it's going to smarten up and use our concern for others against us. This area is empty enough. We have to fight!" Adria landed on her feet and swung her arm to the right, a wind blowing away the dust just as it bolted forward out of the cloud, blades appearing on the side of the burned head's face.

"Watch out!" I exclaimed, shooting an arrow just as it swung its head around to slice her open. She was caught by surprise and was almost hit when my arrow struck its eye. Dominic took this chance and flung a huge chunk of rock in its direction, making it dive into another building. He took in a deep breath, seeming winded by pulling such a heavy amount out of the ground. "It'll use its concealed blades to distract, but its main goal is to devour you. Stay away from its mouth as much as possible!"

Dominic took a moment to catch his breath before addressing me, "What's with you? Where's your fire?"

"I don't know." I replied, thinking about the arrow I shot earlier. As soon as I realized where this thing came from, I've barely been able to harness it. I can't concentrate. It'll especially want to eat us for our powerful souls, yet I can't even use it to save my own skin. Sure, I didn't need it before, but this wasn't a regular pre-Kishin... I have no idea how Noah found out, but if it means he'll be coming after us too, I might not be able to... No...

I can't stay.

"Three..." I heard all the heads growl as it stood from the building, but underneath the guttural sound was echoes of pleased laughter.

Adria shot a barrage of discs just then, slicing into the creature like numerous paper cuts; they barely went deep enough. It lifted itself up and slammed it's front feet into the ground. She then lifted herself up with the wind, only to be thrown into the side of a building by its swiping paw.

"Adria!" Dominic exclaimed, momentarily distracted enough for it to strike again at the boulder we stood on. Next thing we knew we were pinned underneath its paw with its heads hovering over us. Through my choked coughs, I grabbed an arrow from the ground, thinking about nothing but getting us out of this situation. It hit the head in the middle, the arrow setting it ablaze and causing it to screech in pain. It lifted its paw and shook and slammed it's head into buildings in an effort to extinguish it only to make air even cloudier with dust and debris.

I didn't waste any time. "Char! Let's go!"

Dominic flew into the air, "Whatever you're doing, do it quick. I'll try to distract it."

I only had one skill that was guaranteed to work. I readied Char, "Get ready! Soul Resonance!"

Char nodded, "Soul-!"

"Kuro!" I heard Adria scream, racing toward me just as I saw a glint within the dust.

After that, everything seemed to go in slow motion.

I threw Char away from me, my arms flying up to my face. I knew it wouldn't protect me from the blades or from getting mauled. I closed my eyes. I knew what was coming.

Liquid flew onto my arms and face just as something soared past me. I opened my eyes in time to glimpse the rock Dominic threw at it inches before it could catch me, but when I looked to see what was on my arms, it was-

It was blood.

My heart sunk, and I looked in the direction I threw Char. She wasn't there.

Oh no.

I looked around.

No.

I dropped onto my knees when I spotted her on the floor yards away in a pool of blood. I looked at my arms. I touched my face. Blood.

It took me a long time to realize the scream I was hearing was actually my own. Then all at once a cloud of fire expelled from me, causing everything in the surrounding area to be engulfed in flames. I heard the screeching cries of pain from the creature as it was set ablaze by the cloud.

"Parent's Seven Rays!"

I heard someone just as a beam of light came bursting past me. It was blinding even though I didn't look directly at it and what came with this light was a blast so powerful that the fire was actually blown away. Everything was extinguished but I remained on the floor staring at the blood I was covered in.

"Awesome! It worked!" Soul grinned as Liz and Patti became pistols again. It was a powerful move that required a bit of time to get right, but by the end of it there would be no sign left that it existed. I was yards away from the scene, but this seven cannon shot still obliterated the creature.

"I thought I sensed something an hour or so ago, but it left and I didn't think much of it." Maka looked at me, probably for confirmation that I had sensed the same.

"I did as well." I replied, "But it wasn't what I just killed. It was someone else, someone I remember very well." I sensed it just before getting blown off the bench. That thing threw almost the whole building at us and I guess I hit my head pretty badly. Liz and Patti said my head was bleeding, but when they told me that Kuro ran off I jumped on Beelzebub and got here as fast as I could. Maka met up with us with Soul about half way there.

"Something's wrong..." Liz trailed off. That cloud of fire made all of us uneasy. When we got here, Kuro was readying Char for an attack and Dominic was by the creature, but suddenly she threw Char away from her. There was too much dust to really tell what was going on, but I was already rushing over there before I could think about it anymore.

When we finally got to them, I went straight to Kuro. She was covered in blood, but she didn't seem harmed. I lowered myself to her but she was looking at her lap. "Kuro, look at me. Kuro." I shook her gently.

"Are you guys okay? What the hell happened?" Soul asked the siblings.

"Where's Char?" I heard Maka ask.

"I was able to deflect the fire away from us," Adria said, her eyes lowering, "Char..."

Patti gasped and ran in another direction. Char was lying still on the ground, her midriff and chest coated in dark blood. My breath caught in my throat. "Char!" Patti cried.

"Kuro-" I looked back at her to see that she was looking at me. Her eyes were wide and welled up with tears.

"It's not my blood..." she uttered, her blank expression cracking as a sob ripped through her. I pulled her to my chest and looked in Patti's direction as her hands flew to her face. She was crying. I tightened my grip on Kuro as she screamed, "It's not my blood!"

End of Chapter XXV

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