A/N: Ah, downtime episodes. I actually really enjoy writing these, because they give me a chance to not have to worry about putting a specific chain of events into words and just let things they do. That's always nice. Not to mention, There's a lot more room for subtler character growth and interaction. There's also quicker to write, so I can publish them sooner.

If you read the chapter title, you probably already know what this chapter is going to cover, so I won't beat around the bush: Nadia Chamomile is making a comeback. This is a very good thing in my eyes; I deliberately created her to be a foil to all the wacky Shibusen shenanigans (say that five times fast) and to provide a viewpoint of someone who doesn't fight bad guys for a living.

On another note, I added a couple more images of Alecto and Tempus to my profile page ("Alecto 3" and "Tempus 2") If you want, go check them out!

Thank you to SmolderingBlackRose, Drachegirl14, Lady Silverfrost, little101 for reviewing!

To SmolderingBlackRose, you have no idea how happy this review made me! I didn't dive into this project expecting to be anyone's favorite anything, so hearing you declare otherwise is just leaving me delightfully giddy! Thank you!

To Drachegirl14, I dunno the relationship between the real Lizzie Borden and her parents, so I have no idea on that front, but I do know about what Lizzie meant, and I do know that while I can't say anything, I can say that when you find out what The Deal is, you will hopefully not be disappointed. (That's not a confirmation or a denial though) RE: The matter of time-slowing opponents, the biggest factor that makes it not useful in combat is that Alecto and Tempus are primarily slowing themselves down and not others. The only way that she could slow someone else down is if she got real close to them, which presents problems of its own. And even then, from her perspective they're still at the same speed, everything else is just really fast. On a one-on-one fight, this is fairly unnecessary at best. When fighting multiple foes, she just makes herself a big sitting duck for the other foes. The only way it would be useful is if she were fighting one creature alongside another student; IE if she had a pretty Reaper boy on the sidelines to lay on the heavy fire. If she could slow other critters down without slowing herself down, I've no doubt that it would be a very useful trick indeed. (And don't worry, I've probably over-thought this at least twice as much as you have. Trying to create a non-overpowered time-controlling character took a lot of painful brain-work, let me tell you ;P)

Lady Silverfrost: I'm really glad you like it! And oh, gosh, I didn't even notice that! o/o Thank you so much for letting me know, I've fixed it. Man, there's typos and then there's freaking TYPOS. That's what I get for writing at 3 in the morning, I guess. And for having a beta reader who is literally 12. :T

little101: If you think her and Kid are sweet now, just wait until later chapters. The cute has only just begun! :3

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-Seven - Forty Whacks - Death City's Finest Pizza Maker


Tempus loved Saturday mornings.

Saturday mornings were an important part of the lives of many people, full of memories of sugary cereal and cartoons. For Tempus, though, there was something especially significant about those first few waking hours of the weekend. As a child, those early Saturday hours before anyone else woke up were one of the few times when he could relax forget about the fact that he was constantly being jumped from foster home to foster home, when he could pretend he was a normal kid doing normal kid things.

Now, as an adolescent and student at the DWMA, Saturday mornings were a time of rest between classes and mission and extra lessons and whatever else was thrown his way. While there weren't any classes on Saturday, more often than not Tempus would find himself being dragged along on some hopeless mission on his one day of rest. He adored Alecto, but the damn girl never gave herself and by extension him any time to rest. So he took his seconds of respite when he got them.
As Tempus lay in his bed, eyes closed and only vaguely aware of the gentle morning sunlight streaming in through the window, he allowed his thoughts to drift back to the night before, just after they had killed Lizzie Borden in the old abandoned textile mill.

After the three weapons had held an impromptu game of rock-paper-scissors to see who would get to eat Borden's soul (Patti had won), Tempus had turned his attention over to their meisters. "Well," he had said, cracking a smile, "all things considered I'd say that was a pretty successful mission. Borden's dealt with, the general populace is safe, and as an added bonus none of us have been seriously injured!" He glanced over at Alecto, who looked a bit pale and unsteady on her feet. "Maybe. Either way, net positive."

"Maybe," Kid had replied, his expression dark. "I'll need to report to my father when we get back to Death City. If a witch is facilitating the creation of Kishin Eggs in this area, he'll need to know about it as soon as possible." Holding out his hand, the young Reaper summoned his skateboard, and Tempus held back an exhausted sigh. He'd spent the majority of the day in weapon form, and he had longed for a chance to stretch his legs before they began the long skateboard ride back to Nevada. Oh well, he had thought. I suppose a few more hours won't hurt.

The return to Death City had been very quiet and uneventful until about the halfway point. Tempus had been pretty wrapped up in his thoughts, most of those thoughts being that he was glad that Lizzie Borden hadn't been closer to the river because he really did not want to fret about falling into the water (damn his inability to swim and subsequent aquaphobia), when he noticed that Alecto's weight had suddenly shifted forward and her arms had limply fallen to her sides from their position around Kid's waist. Eh?

Kid had noticed it, too, and he stopped the skateboard mid-flight. "Alecto, are you alright?" he asked.

Alecto didn't respond, and a jolt of panic had washed through Tempus's soul. Shit! he thought. Was that blow to the head worse than she let on? It wouldn't be unlike her to hide something like that. "Ally?" he ventured apprehensively, reaching his soul wavelength out wavelength out towards hers, dreading what he might find. As soon as their souls had touched, Tempus had been barraged with a wave of fatigue, a bizarre sense of tranquility, and… snoring?

He let out a relieved laugh. "Pffha-ha-ha, oh, wow," he sighed, pulling his wavelength back into his weapon form. You really had me worried there for a minute, Ally. What the hell.

"What?" Kid had demanded. "What's so funny?"

"She's fine. She just fell asleep, that's all. S'pose a little adrenaline crash was inevitable at this point. It's nothing to worry about." He was a little glad, actually. It was nice to see Alecto actually sleeping, and he wasn't counting classroom naps as "sleeping," considering that those were the direct result of her constant overworking of herself.

"Hmm," Kid had said. "Patti, can you wake her up?"

"Okie dokie!" The younger weapon exclaimed. She took a deep breath (a remarkable feat, given how her current form lacked a mouth or lungs), but Tempus cut her off before she could do anything else.

"Whoa, there, cowgirl," he growled. "You're not waking anyone up. Ally doesn't allow herself to rest often, it's one of her more infuriating habits. If she's asleep now, it's healthier for her that she stays asleep, because she definitely needs it." His soul shifted, reaching out once more to his meister's. "So I swear on every power in the universe, if you wake her up now I'm going to kick your ass, understand?" His sensible side told him that threatening the son of Lord Death was probably pretty high on the surprisingly long list of "Stupid Things Tempus Has Done," and any attempt to follow through on said threat would likely end with him in pieces. His protective side didn't give two damns.

Kid hesitated for a couple seconds before nodding. "All right," he had said. "As her weapon partner, you know her better than I do." He took Alecto's arm and held it closely, keeping her steady as the skateboard began to move forward again, soaring through the sky and leaving only a thin trail of smoke behind them.

Damn straight I do. Tempus had pulled his soul inwards and began to relax himself, spending the rest of the trip in peace.

Now, the morning after, Tempus was still a little lost in his relaxed state, sprawled underneath his blanket with his hair loose and eyes only half open. Yawning, he forced himself into a sitting state and scratched at his collarbone. Huh, he mused. I was so eager to get to bed that I didn't even take my tie off. He distinctly remembered taking off his blazer and vest; in fact ,he could see them draped across the back of the nearby chair. But his tie hung half-untied around his neck and he was still wearing his button-up, with only a single button at the top undone. He had been more tired than he'd originally thought if he didn't even bother to remove his tie.

He blinked the sleep from his eyes and threw his covers to one side, pulling himself out of bed and to his feet. He figured that it was about nine-twenty in the morning, which was a decent time as any should be waking up. He pulled his tied off and tossed it over his shoulder without regard to where it landed. It was a Saturday, he didn't care. And he was feeling very "casual" today.

Still bleary-eyed, he changed from the remaining articles of his suit into a simple pair of jeans and a blue hoodie. He didn't wear this sort of thing often, but he was too damn tired to worry about making a good impression. Besides, he didn't plan on going anywhere special.

He still tied his hair back into its usual ponytail, though.

Once he was suitably dressed, he left his room and made is way out into the main room. He'd expected the living room and adjacent kitchen to be filled with the kind of quiet you only get in the early morning. He hadn't expected to hear the familiar vrrrrrmm of the microwave running, nor the sound of bare feet on linoleum. He ambled into the kitchen, raising an eyebrow at the sight. Alecto was in the kitchen, still in her pajamas and leaning against the counter as she waited for a bowl of instant oatmeal in the microwave to finish heating up. The stove was on nearby, with the kettle for tea water placed carefully atop the frontmost burner. As Tempus entered the kitchen, his weapon meister looked up at him, the fatigue still evident in her black eyes. "'Morning, Tempus," she said, waved at him.

"'Morning, Ally," Tempus replied. "What're you doing up? You had a rough night, you should get some more sleep."

Alecto rolled her eyes. "We had the same night, Tempus," she pointed out. "And besides, didn't I fall asleep before you did?"

Tempus opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He couldn't really argue with that logic. Letting out a huff of reluctant acquiescence, he plopped himself down at the nearby table, shaking his bangs away from his face. "If you're making tea," he said, "can you please get me a cup, too? Something suitably breakfast-y."

"Breakfast-y, huh?" Alecto said. "You're just in luck. I stopped by Montalvo's Brews And Blends the other day to pick up some more strawberry-and-hibiscus herbal tea, and it turned out that Montalvo made a new blend." Opening up the tea cabinet, she pulled down an unopened box of tea bags. "It's a citrus blend, sweeter than it sounds. Want some?"

Tempus nodded. "Citrus sounds great right about now, thanks."

"No problem!" A few moments of quiet passed before Alecto spoke again. "Hey, Tempus…"

"Mm?"

"It's just… mission wise, we've been doing pretty well, haven't we? I mean, we dealt with Nosferatu easily enough. And between us and Kid, Lizzie Borden didn't even begin to stand a chance."

Well, this is new. Tempus nodded. "Yeah, we've been doing great. Why?"

Alecto shrugged. "I was just thinking that, since we've been doing so well, we could have a special lunch today."

"Really?" Tempus looked up at her through his bangs. "I'm down. What'd you have in mind?"

"Well, I heard of this pizza and pie place that apparently makes amazing food…"


"Well, it's about damn time!"

Nadia Chamomile placed her hands on her hips and grinned cheekily at the weapon and meister pair walking through the door. "Geez, I thought you guys would never show up!" she exclaimed. She mock-pouted. "I was beginning to worry that you just didn't want to try our food."

"You caught us," Tempus deadpanned, smirking as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "We didn't want to try your pizza because we were scared that it would be so good that we'd never be able to enjoy any other food again. We didn't want to take that delicious risk."

Nadia laughed. "Wow, Tempus, you are so full of shit," she said.

"It's a gift."

Alecto smiled apologetically. "Mē miseret," she said. "We've just been pretty busy these past couple weeks. Heck, we just had a pretty intense mission last night."

"Oh?" Nadia tilted her head. "Well, you can tell me all about it! I'd love to hear about you guys being awesome."

Tempus glanced down at the red apron she was wearing. "Aren't you working?" he pointed out.

"It's a pretty slow day," Nadia replied, shooing his questions away with a wave of her hand. "You're the only ones here right now, so I don't think my parents will be to upset if I talk to you guys. Plus, you know, you did save my life way back when and all that. I wouldn't be surprised if they came over to talk to you themselves." She turned and began to stroll off towards the back of the restaurant. "I'm going to go let Mom and Dad know that you're here. You take a seat and look over a menu; Mom will be out in a couple seconds to see what you want." With that, the blonde hopped over the counter and disappeared into the kitchen.

Tempus took the opportunity to look around. Donald's Plenitude of Pies was a very warm and homey-looking restaurant, with a sunset color scheme and a brick veneer that wrapped around the bottom of the walls. A small TV in the upper corner was on, playing a show about meals from around the world. There weren't any tables, but there were several booths, most of them next to the large, open windows. Nadia had been right; the two of them were the only ones there. Welp, more for us, I suppose.

The two of them sat down at the nearest booth, and true to Nadia's word, a woman in her mid-forties with silvery-blonde hair who was most likely Nadia's mother walked up a minute later, a wide smile on her face. "You must be Alecto and Tempus!" she exclaimed. "Nadia's told us so much about you. We're so grateful for what you did; thanks to you, our little girl is still alive."

Alecto's cheeks had turned an interesting shade of pink. "Erat officium noster," she said. "That's what the meisters of DWMA are here for. Protecting the people, and all that."

"Going into danger like that for others," Nadia's mother gushed, "your parents must be so worried all the time."

Tempus held back a derisive snort.

Alecto shook her head. "I'm sure they are," she said, "but they've always been supportive of it. They know that I can handle myself, and that I don't intend to die." She tilted her head quizzically. "What about you? Nadia mentioned one time that she had a twin brother who was in the DWMA. I've never met him, but…?"

Nadia's mother's smile faltered for a few moments, and Tempus realized that they'd reach a touchy subject. Then she returned right back to her cheerful demeanor. "Oh, don't you worry about anything like that for now," she said. "What would you like to eat? Don't worry about costs; we wouldn't dream of charging you for this after you saved Nadia."

Tempus looked down at the menu, golden gaze scanning over the options presented to him. There were a lot, and they all sounded absolutely delicious. How am I supposed to pick just one? "Uh… I'll have… uh… darn, I can't choose." He scratched at the back of his head. "Do you have any recommendations, Mrs. Chamomile?"

"Recommendations?" Mrs. Chamomile put a finger to her chin, her brows furrowing thoughtfully. "That's not a question I get very often. Usually if people aren't sure they just order a cheese pizza… hm…" Leaning over the table, she pointed a pale, slender finger at one of the options on the menu. "That one. Barbeque chicken. My husband's homemade barbeque sauce is absolutely divine, if I may say so myself."

"Okay!" Tempus nodded emphatically. "Then I'll have one of those."

"Excellent." Mrs. Chamomile turned to Alecto. "What about you, dearie? What will you be having?"

Alecto scanned over the menu quickly. "The stuffed-crust alfredo pizza, please."

"All right. Nadia will be out with your pizzas in a bit. Make yourselves comfortable!" Mrs. Chamomile hurried off to the back of the restaurant with a cry of "Donald!"

Tempus leaning back in his seat, fiddling with the drawstrings of his hoodie. "This is nice," he remarked. "No classes, no monsters, just us and some delicious food."

"Mm-hmm."

Tempus glanced over at Alecto. She had a rare look of serenity on her face, and her shoulders lacked the tension that they had carried. This is good for her, he decided. It's good for her and its good for me. They needed to just get out and enjoy the city more, no strings attached. He stretched, sinking further into the booth's cushioned seats. Lizzie Borden felt like an eternity away now.

After a while of waiting and idle chatting, Nadia came out, carrying two small pizzas with her. "Made with the special Chamomile touch," she said cheerfully, placing the pizzas onto the table and sliding into the opposite seats. "Dig in!"

The smell of freshly-baked dough and cheese and warm barbeque sauce hit Tempus's olfactory senses like a wave of deliciousness. "Oh, don't mind if I do," he said, grabbing a slice of his pizza and sinking his teeth into it.

It was basically the best pizza he'd ever tasted. Mrs. Chamomile had been right; her husband's barbeque sauce was divine, with a sharp bite that was mellowed out by the sweetness of pure, raw honey that melded perfectly with the cheeses used. "Nadia, I'm going to start a cult that worships this pizza," he said between bites. "It's going to be the greatest cult that ever culted because it's going to be based around the greatest pizza that ever pizza'd."

"So, you like it, then?"

"I love it."

"Good. My parents will be glad to hear it." Nadia turned to Alecto, who was happily munching on a slice of her pizza crust-first. "So, tell me all about this mission you went on last night…"


Shrouded in the darkness of a single, large windowless room, a figure paced.

"It doesn't make sense… I have tested every possible variable I know of. Age, location, family life. And yet… And yet I am unable to replicate the results of my first success," the figure mused to herself with a soft, deep voice as she crossed the floor once more. "I cannot afford to maintain these tests for long. There are only so many unimportant souls in the world. I need to know what I did right."

The figure stopped in the middle of the room, balancing on bare and calloused toes as the contemplated her situation. "If I still had that girl, I could examine her soul more thoroughly and see what made her so agreeable to the process." A hissed curse through sharp teeth. "No matter. I cannot allow myself to fail. I am already at risk of exposure as it is. Letting her out was a dangerous risk, and not one I will repeat. This will work, even if I have to tear apart a thousand souls to make it do so."

She spoke the last words with a determined finality, and allowed silence to once more overtake the room. For several minutes, she was alone with her thoughts before a low growling began to erupt from the far corner of the room.

"Oh?" the figure spoke. "Oh, you poor dear, I almost forgot about you." Her voice had pitched upward an octave, as if she were talking to an infant in a stroller. "Leo sum, lee leo."

A candle on a table lit up, granting a flickering light to the dark confined of the room. The figure's well-defined figures were thrown into sharp relief, her chartreuse eyes and wild mane of lustrous, flame-red hair illuminated by the warm glow. She strode over to the table and grabbed both the candle and a large lump of bloody meat.

"Don't worry, precious," she cooed, tucking the meat into her elbow as she approached the source of the growling. As she brought the candle closer to the corner, the cause of the commotion became clear: in a large, barred cage, a malnourished lion sat. It looked truly pathetic, little more than skin clinging to bones. The woman knelt down, revealing her pointed canines as she grinned at the weak big cat. "Here's your dinner. Dig in, but don't eat too fast, or you'll make yourself sick," she said, tossing the meat into the cage and taking a step back as the beast ferociously mauled its meal, tearing the flesh apart and devouring it ravenously.

As she watched the spectacle, a thought entered the woman's mind, and her grin grew wider. "Perhaps," she murmured, "it is time to try something else entirely…"


A/N - Huh. That was a totally random scene that I'm sure has absolutely nothing to do with anything. I actually didn't plan to have that scene in there, but by the time I got to it I was like "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if…" so I wrote it. So, who is this mysterious redhaired lady with a pet lion? Well, she uses a magical spell, so she's probably a witch. That's just conjecture, though, she could be anyone.

Also, I believe this chapter is the first time that Tempus interacts directly with Kid. Cool.

Beyond that, there's nothing much to say about this chapter, so let's go on to the Latin Lesson of the Day.

Erat officium noster: "It was our duty."

And… that's it. Huh. A surprisingly limited amount of Latin in this chapter. Oh, well, less work for me. Chapter twenty-eight will be the start of a new arc, and will be up soon. The next arc will be returning back to the canon events of the story, and will focus heavily on the development of relationships between characters. In the meantime, please feel free to favorite and leave a review! Reviews are radical.

- Diana "Nocte"