A/N - Hey. Hey hey hey. Hey. Heyyyyy. Did youuu know. That Minecraft is freaking awesome?!
Yeah, that's where I've been the past month. My sister got Minecraft and convinced me to get it too and we've spent all this time playing together in a local server we've set up for ourselves. (I even made an Alecto Bellatore skin for myself.) So, uh, yeah. Fanfiction got pushed to the side in favor of playing ridiculously addictive sandbox games. Sorry.
Since I've been metaphorically AFK, I'm more than a little out of practice, so it's going to take me a while to get back to the quality of writing I was at pre-Minecraft. On the bright side of all this, though, we've passed 5,000 views on Tempus Fugit and, as of this chapter, are officially 100,000 words in! And we're not even on the tenth episode of the anime. Ahehehe... heheheh... heh. Oh.
I do apologize for this chapter being so short, at least compared to my more recent ones. It's a transitional chapter, and I just sort of wanted to get it out there so that it's, well, out there. Also it's really late as I type this, so.
Lots of reviews to answer. Thank you to Superhero17, truesparks, Shape Without Form, Carolinefdq, a fan, and Fishy-Ninja for reviewing.
To Superhero17: I'm glad you like that I'm creating original arcs! :) I wanted to follow to story of the anime, but I didn't want it to be just a "transcript of the anime but with this OC sort of shoved in," because I'm sure that would bore a lot of people real quickly. The original arcs allow me to add my own little narrative spice, explore the world a little more and put a lot more depth into my characters. Just wait until I reach the Big Original Arc.
To truesparks: Thank you, and I'm really glad you think I'm keeping the characters, well, in character. As I've probably mentioned a billion times before, that's one of my biggest fears when writing fanfiction, because I love these characters and want to capture their essence as perfectly as I can, which leads to me spending ages agonizing over every line.
To Shape Without Form: Giving the exact point in which the ship sails would be a little bit of a spoiler, but I can say that it happens in the second half of the fanfiction, but pretty far before the end. Also, reading the note about your friend makes me really happy. I've had a basic interest in Latin as a language and Latin phrases for a long time, and I'll be real honest, everything about Alecto's Latin-speaking ways was purely so I could put Latin in there. I get a sort of thrill when I put effort into making to Latin as correct as I can, because strictly speaking I could just throw stuff through Google Translate and leave it at that, but I really wanted to go the extra mile for this. Besides, Alecto needs to be speaking grammatically correct Latin for reasons of Plot. Hm, I'm rambling. Um... Thanks for the lovely review!
To Carolinefdq: Thank you! People fangirling is what I am aiming for, here.
To a fan: Thanks! :) I'm really glad you like it, and I'm sorry I didn't update this sooner. Minecraft stole my life.
To Fishy-Ninja: I regret to say that Tempus is 100% taken in the partner department. Sorry. :p On a more serious note, I'm really glad you like him! He's tricky for me to write, so it's to see that all that hair-pulling is paying off.
Notes and translations of the Latin will be at the end of the chapter.
DISCLAIMER: Soul Eater is the intellectual property Atsushi Ōkubo. I have no intention of monetizing my fanwork, and this is merely an enjoyable passer of time.
Chapter Twenty-Four - Forty Whacks - A Collaboration Effort Between Two Meisters, Part 1
"I don't know why you're so upset. I thought it was quite nice of him."
"Tace."
"I mean, the Comic Sans on the banner was pretty ridiculous, you'd think a legendary weapon with a few centuries under his belt would know better than to use such a ridiculous font. But hey, he clearly thinks highly of you guys, I mean, why else would he send a big pretty wreath and a fancy banner to our classroom? Or do you think he does that with all potential 'great heroes?'"
"Tace tace tace tace!"
"I did try to warn you, though. Listening to your gossip-mongering friend about gossip mongered does have it's upsides, Ally."
"Taceee."
Alecto slumped against the wall and fell to her knees, staring down at the tiled floor with a look of abject mortification on her face. She'd yanked her ribbon out of her hair and was now wrapping it and unwrapping it around her palms, pulling it tight enough where it was a good tug or two away from ripping in half. She couldn't believe what had been waiting for her, Black Star and Kid in Class Crescent Moon that morning. Well, that wasn't quite true. She could believe it. She just didn't want to, and not because it made her a target of pointed giggles and whispered rumors. Though that was a pretty substantial part of it.
Tempus's grin vanished as he glanced down at her and noticed her horrified expression. "Whoa, hey, what's the matter?" he asked, crouching down so that their eyes were level. "Are you worried about gossip? Ally, gossip comes and goes in a matter of days. Give it a bit and they'll be talking about the next weird thing to happen. And we're at a school where we're instructed on the best ways to kill bad guys and eat their souls. There's not exactly a drought of weirdness."
Alecto frowned slightly. Was she really so transparent? "Who said anything about gossip? I don't care about gossip!" she lied. "N-non habeo sollicitūdinēs!"
Tempus rolled his butterscotch eyes. "Ally, my Latin's just a little bit rusty. You have no what now?"
"Worries. I have no worries," Alecto clarified. She'd taught Tempus some rudimentary knowledge of the language over their time together as their bond grew closer; if they were to work together, he would need to understand her occasional bilingual outbursts. But she couldn't teach him the entirety of a complex language like Latin in only a few short years.
Tempus raised a skeptical brow. "Really," he said. "No worries."
"Nope!"
"Not even about your date?" he prodded.
Now it was Alecto's turn to roll her eyes, settling a stern gaze upon her partner. "Why are you so dead-set on calling it a date? You weren't calling it a date on the co-op we did with Maka and Soul."
"Well, yeah," Tempus said," because you didn't specifically ask Maka and Soul to go out hunting with us that time. And because that was the first time we met them and we didn't even know their names until after the mission. And because you're my best friend and I know you better than you give me credit for."
"You're wrong, though. It's not a date." Alecto retorted, taking a sip of her tea (rooibos caramel with added honey, soft and sweet). She wasn't saying this out of some half-baked sense of denial, no matter what anyone thought. "He showed an interest in our combat abilities, and if you'll remember his duel with Soul and Black Star you'll know he's a damn good fighter himself, so I suggested going on a mission together so that we could see each other in action up close."
"Yeah, that doesn't make it sound any less like what it totally is" Tempus pointed out. "I thought you didn't like it when people paid more attention to your abilities as a meister or your more superficial traits than who you are as a person. That's sort of why you have the issue with gossip in the first place…?"
"This is different."
Tempus scoffed. "It's totally a date."
"What's totally a date?"
The third voice in the conversation startled Alecto, and she jumped a little before looking up to see Maka and Soul standing there. Soul had only just gotten out of the dispensary, and save for being a bit on the pale side and with a couple dark circles under his crimson eyes he looked none worse for wear. It was Soul who'd spoken, looking at them with an interested expression on his face.
Alecto could feel the heat rushing to her face, and her mouth opened and closed ineffectually. Before she could find her voice and explain that there was no date, just two decent acquaintances teaming up to hunt bad guys, Tempus spoke, weaving a lie like a master of the verbal loom. "Oh, a couple of our friends are going out to the movies and a local pizza place later tonight," he said, a lopsided grin crossing his dark features. "Ally here thinks that the two of them are just good friends spending good-friend time together. I think otherwise."
"R-right," Alecto said, averting her gaze. "They've new-er shown any interest in each other before, not in that way. There's no reason to think that their excursion is anything other than platonic. You guys agree with me, right?"
Maka nodded. "Of course!" she said. "Not everything has to be about dating."
"Are you kidding?" Soul said. "Movie and dinner? There's no way that's not a date."
Maka shot Alecto an exasperated men-am-I-right look, and Alecto's gaze flicked to Tempus before replying with an equally exasperated I-know-that-feeling glance before changing the subject. "It's good to see you up and at 'em, Soul!" she said, beaming up at the scythe. "Medusa finally let you leave the dispensary?"
Soul nodded, grinning and showing off each and every one of his shark-like teeth. "Yeah. She still wants me to do some physical therapy before Maka and I start going on missions, but I'm pretty much all cool now. Thanks for the cookies, by the way." He made a face. "I don't like dispensary food all that much, so it was cool to have something else for a change."
"I'll let my friend know that you liked them," Alecto said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maka's smile drop at the mention of Soul's recent hospitalization, and felt a twinge of guilt at bringing it up. Tempus must have noticed her shift in demeanor as well, because he pushed himself off the floor, adjusting the hem of his blazer. "Well," he said. "We'd best get going. We're going out on a mission at some point today with Kid and the sisters, and we need to go meet them down at the mission board."
Maka blinked at the mention of Kid before nodding. "All right. See you two later, then!"
"'Later!" Tempus replied, strolling away.
Alecto shot a final smile at her classmates before heading off after him. "Thanks for not being a complete jerk back there and telling them that the mission with Kid is a date," she said, taking another sip of her tea.
"Never let it be said that I don't do anything for you," Tempus smirked. "Besides, if you say it's not a date, then I'm not going to broadcast otherwise to the whole world or anything, that would cross a line. I'm just going to tease you mercilessly about your state of denial."
"Oh, fantastic." Alecto grumbled. "Come on, Kid and his partners are probably already at the mission board."
Sure enough, when Tempus and Alecto arrived at the mission board, Kid and the Thompson sisters were already there, looking over the available missions. Alecto cleared her throat as she approached, catching the attention of the young Reaper and his partners. "Salve," she said.
"Good morning," Kid replied. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show up. Class ended a couple minutes ago."
Tempus snorted and spoke, cutting through Alecto's hastened apology. "A time meister is never late. Nor are we early; we arrive precisely when we mean to," he said, grinning carelessly as he did.
Alecto lightly swatted him on the shoulder for interrupting her attempt at an apology (so lightly, in fact, that she wasn't sure that he'd even noticed). "Mē miseret," she said. "I was still reeling a little from that, ah, dōnum that Excalibur left in the classroom." It was then that she noticed that her ribbon was still wrapped around her left hand, and instantly moved to remedy that pulling her curls back away from her face. "I'm still kind of horrified."
Kid grimace. "Ah, yes, that," he said. "I asked Professor Stein to burn it at his nearest possible convenience. I hope you don't mind."
Alecto finished tying her hair back. "Mind? The only complaint I have is that fire's too good for it."
Patty pouted. "Aww, but it was funny!" she said.
"It was ghastly," Kid replied.
Liz cleared her throat, uncrossing her arms from their previously folded position and walking over to the mission board, the heels of her cowboy boots clacking against the tiled floor. "So, which mission are we going to take?" she asked. "I hope it's not like that one mission in Egypt. I could do without any spooky, dark, dirty crypts."
Tempus tilted his head. "The Pharaoh of Anubis?"
"Yeah," Liz said. "How did you know?"
"Oh, that mission was pretty infamous, being a three-star one and all. Those missions only get taken by teachers or really famous meisters. Most people in school were talking about it. Anyways, whatever mission we take is going to have to be a one-star mission because, well, Ally and I are one star meisters."
Liz nodded, her brows knitting together as she looked over the placards detailing the available missions. Her blue eyes lit up as her gaze fell upon one near the top. "How about that one? I've always wanted to go to Vegas."
Alecto could feel her blood turn to ice at the mention of her name, and one glance at Tempus's expression showed that he felt the same. "No," the two of the stated emphatically and simultaneously.
"Nequaquam."
"The last mission we went on that was in Vegas, well…"
"Calamitās erat."
"What she said... whatever she said."
"Sanguis tantum fuit."
Tempus rubbed the back of his neck. "So, uh, yeah. Neither of us really want to go back anytime soon."
Liz frowned slightly in unhidden irritation, but didn't inquire further, to Alecto's relief. She really didn't want to explain what had happened in Vegas to anyone, certainly not someone she barely knew. "Hm," the tall weapon said. "Well, how about that one?" she said, pointing to another placard. "What do you think, Kid?"
Kid was silent. Alecto glanced over at him to notice that his amber gaze was locked onto an area somewhere just above her head, the corners of his mouth pulled downward in an agitated frown. Wondering if her hair was messy or something, she reached up and felt the top of her skull. Her hair was quite fine, but her bow was a little bit off center. Remembering how he'd reacted the day before in the library (and turning pink-cheeked at the memory), Alecto adjusted it so that it was sitting squarely and evenly on the crown of her head, then shot him a raised-eyebrow look, wordlessly asking if he was satisfied with the result. He didn't speak, but the slight frown disappeared and he look away, so she assumed he was done glowering at her head.
"Kid?" Liz repeated.
Kid blinked and turned his attention to the elder of his weapon partners. "I'm sorry, what?"
Liz sighed. "I asked," she said pointedly, tapping her finger on the placard in question, "what you thought of this mission."
"Oh." Kid stepped forward to get a closer look, Patty quickly following suit. Alecto lingered behind, still fiddling with the edge of her ribbon a bit. She could feel Tempus's inquisitive eyes resting on her, and promptly ignored him. She'd explain later. Kid, meanwhile, was focused on the placard. "Axe killer Lizzie Borden," he murmured. "Apparently, she was a young girl who brutally murders her victims with her family axe before bringing their souls back to her home."
"Hey, she has the same name as you, sis!" Patty commented.
Liz grimaced. "Great."
"Axe crazy little girl?" Tempus said. "Sounds like something out of a cheesy horror movie. Where is she?"
"Fall River, Massachusetts," Kid replied.
"Fall River," Alecto said. "In Bristol Country, right? That's a pretty big city, but Massachusetts is an area that's usually overlooked. If she's not stopped, she could do some serious damage." As three pairs of curious eyes turned to her, she shrugged. "What? New England is a pretty tiny region and I grew up in Maine. I know a lot about the region. Hell, I've been to Fall River, I know the general layout."
"That could be handy," Liz said. "Better than blindly wandering around a city we don't know."
"True," Kid said, looking as if he was turning the possibility over in his mind. "It does sound like a good mission to take on."
"It won't be particularly difficult either, with the five of us," Tempus nodded. "And I'm all for that. Seems to be like we get knocked around a little too much these days." Out of the corner of her eye, Alecto could see him fidget with his tie. "And it's not like the area's completely devoid of anything beyond crazy girls with axes, so maybe we could squeeze in some sightseeing between the killer hunting and soul devouring Ally, didn't you say that the worlds largest historical navy exhibit was there or something like that?"
"That I did," Alecto said. The more they talked about this mission, the more she wanted to go. It had been a few years since she and her parents had gone on a road trip around New England, but she had fond memories of those days. To imagine some despicable Kishin Egg causing havoc in a place where she harbored good memories planted a seed of resentment in the pit of her stomach. "So, are we all in agreement about this mission?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Yup."
"Yes."
"Seems to be it, then," Tempus said. He placed a hand on Alecto's shoulder, and she could distinctly sense that he was looming, his gaze focused sternly at Kid. That wasn't something he often did. "You three can go on up ahead to get it stamped. Ally and I need to wrap things up real quick in temporal limbo or whatever."
Before any of the other three could give an answer other than a quick nod, there was a distinct tick and Tempus pulled their time out of synch, tugging Alecto several meters away as he did so. "Temporal limbo isn't a thing, Tempus," Alecto pointed out, not bothering to pull away from Tempus's grasp. "We're not in some weird alternate dimension or whatever."
"What, you wanted me to launch into a mile long explanation for how our time powers work without prompt?" Tempus asked. "That's your territory. Anyways, I just have to ask; what the hell was that all about?"
Alecto blinked. "What was…what?"
"Earlier. Kid was glaring at your ribbon until you fixed it. What the hell was up with that? Who even glares at a ribbon?"
Or I suppose I can explain now. As Alecto opened her mouth to explain, Tempus adopted a protective stance, and Alecto could notice him attempting to be subtle as he shifted to stand a little between her and Kid. She glowered at him for that. She may not have been the most socially aware of people, but she didn't need to be babysat on a mission. "I told you a while back, he has a thing about symmetry. It's not the first time something like that has occurred. He fixed my hair bow when it was askew back in the library yesterday. Didn't you notice?"
Tempus shuffled his feet. "I was preoccupied. How are you not even slightly weirded out by that?"
"It was…sudden and unexpected, yes," Alecto said, her cheeks burning as she remembered Kid's fingers lightly brushing through her hair and tucking the carnation locks underneath the sky-blue satin of the ribbon. "But I didn't mind or anything. It's just a hair ribbon being out of place, not the Spanish Inquisition beating down my door."
Tempus sighed. "Yeah, you've got a point," he conceded. "I was making a bit of a mountain after a molehill, wasn't I? It's just…" he trailed off, glancing over at Kid. "This is totally a date and you know it. I mean, look at you, Ally. You're blushing redder than a cardinal's feathers."
Alecto scowled. "I'm not blushing," she said, "and it's not a date. It's a collaborative mission, and that's all. In fact, you're the one who's suggesting that we go sightseeing and the like. What's with that, anyways? Thought you weren't that into sightseeing on missions, and now you're talking about going to go look at the naval exhibit? What gives?"
A self-satisfied grin crept across Tempus's copper-brown features, as if he'd been waiting for her to inquire on that exact topic. "Well, what can I say?" he said. "I like big boats and I cannot lie."
"What's wrong with you?"
"I made a poor calculation."
Tempus tenderly rubbed at the spot on his upper arm where Alecto had punched him as he answered Liz's question. Alecto would apologize properly once the poor-humour-fueled rage had finally died down.
In her defense, though, that joke had been absolutely wretched.
She just hoped that he found his sense of humour before they arrived in Fall River.
A/N: I swear I'm writing my own characters OOC and for the life of me I can't freaking figure out how. I wasn't kidding when I said that this would take me some time, people. Sigh. :( I'm real sorry that the quality takes a nosedive after a certain point. You can tell when I stopped writing to play Minecraft with my sister. (Sorry if typos are worse than usual, I finished this up when it was real late.)
The worst part about Tempus's joke is that I'm 100% that he is not the first to make that pun in the slightest.
But puns or out-of-practice fanfiction writers are not the important issue here. The most important issue is: Is this really just a collaborative mission like Alecto says or is Tempus totally right and this is a date? The answer, of course, is yes.
Latin time!
Non habeo sollicitūdinēs: "I have no worries." Okay, yeah, this gets clarified in the fic itself, but hey, you can never have too many translations, right?
dōnum: "Gift" or "present."
Nequaquam: "Absolutely not."
Calamitās erat est: "It was a disaster."
Sanguis tantum fuit: "There was so much blood." This is a little bit of an exaggeration on Alecto's part. There wasn't that much blood.
Chapter twenty-five will be up sooner than this was up. In the meantime, feel free to favorite and leave a review telling me what you think! I'm going to bed now. Goodnight.
-Diana "Nocte"
