A/N - You know, considering that this arc is wedged between the reveal of the fanfic's resident Looming Threat and what I consider to be one of the more gruesome arcs, it's actually pretty nice and light-hearted. You'll see what I mean this chapter.
There's not much more to say besides that (except for the fact that I added an imgur link to my reference for Alecto's outfit to my profile page), so I'm just going to cut straight to the reviews.
To SmolderingBlackRose: Haha, it's good to see you again, too, friend! ^_^ One of the biggest things I've missed about writing was seeing regular readers leave a review! I'm glad you liked this chapter! (The bit with Black Star and a controlled environment was just something I threw in, but I like it, too. Hey, Alecto's not wrong. ;P) And the next arc is definitely something that will be interesting IE it will either be great or it will be a huge trainwreck. Only time will tell, I guess!
To Doragon no Namida: Every time someone says that this is one of their favorite fics I have to stop and make the verbal equivalent of a keyboardsmash because people are actually enjoying my work? I'm really glad you like it, and I look forward to providing you all with more.
To MegglesGG: Aw, jeez, I'm sorry. ^_^"" I'll be getting back into a regular update schedule, though, so something like this shouldn't happen again. At least, not in the near future. (I do feel really bad about the wait, though; it's not something I ever intended to happen when I started out, and it's not something that I intend to have happen again.)
To silent-raven98: Thanks! Chapter 30 continues to be my favorite, because when Medusa is allowed to be herself (IE not pretending to be a school nurse) she just kills it. And, unfortunately, that may be the only time I'll be able to have free reign with her like this again, since she's not a huge part of Alecto's story. Ah, well. Panthera will be getting a lot more screentime, though, and she's fun to write, so there's that!
Notes and translations of the Latin will be at the end of the chapter.
DISCLAIMER: Soul Eater is the intellectual property of Atsushi Ōkubo. I have no intention of monetizing my fanwork, and this is merely an enjoyable passer of time.
Chapter Thirty-Two - Goes The Clock - The Time Meister Seeks Extra Help, Part 2
"You know, I'm no expert on women's clothing sizes, but I'm pretty sure there's this special size group for women of you stature. You know. Short as fuck."
"Tace."
"Men don't have that, weirdly enough. Men have 'tall' and 'really tall.' Shame, really. I bet Kid would enjoy being able to shop outside of the junior's sizes."
"Taceeeee. This shirt is supposed to look like this, that's how it was tailored. It fits perfectly around the arms and shoulders, see?"
"Really? Why would you deliberately wear something that doesn't fit? That's just silly."
Alecto and Tempus made their way up the crooked sidewalk towards one of the many student houses in the city, where Maka and Soul lived. The two looked very different outside of their school clothes; Tempus wore the same blue hoodie and jeans that he had worn when he had gone to visit Nadia and her parents' pizza parlor, probably unrecognizable to those who only knew him by his bright yellow suit. Alecto wasn't quite as casual in her attire, wearing a pair of khakis and a light-pink button up that hung loosely across her chest. She had left her ribbon at home, letting her untamable wavy locks fall where it wanted, so she resorted to running her thumb along the wicker handle of the basket of cookies she carried in one hand. "Do you really think the cookies were a good idea?" she asked. "What if one of them has an allergy?"
"I promise you, Ally, if someone gets hospitalized tonight I will take full responsibility," Tempus assured her, ruffling her already messy hair. "Besides," he added, "those cookies don't have any nuts or peanut butter or anything like that. They're just plain old chocolate chip cookies. Really, really good chocolate chip cookies made by a really good cook, but beyond that, there's nothing special or sinister about them."
"Chocolate allergies exist, Tempus," Alecto pointed out. "I… guess you have a point, though. Maybe I'm just fretting over nothing." She stopped in front of a thin, three-story building, where familiar voices floating out the open window.
"Soul, careful where you're going with all those plates! You'll drop them!"
"You're too fussy. I'll be fine. 'Sides, it's not like they're made out of china or anything."
"Yeah, but-"
CRASH. "YAAAA-HOOOOO! TEN POINTS!
"Oh, please be careful, Black Star!"
"So," Tempus said, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie, "you think this is the right place?"
"There is a slight possibility." Swallowing the trepidation that rose from the pit of her stomach, Alecto handed the the basket of cookies to Tempus so she could keep a better hold on her thermos of tea (formosa oolong; she couldn't figure out which tea would go best with what Maka had said was for dinner, so she'd chosen one at random). "Hold that, please. And don't eat any more." Stepping forward, she climbed up the stairs that led to the top floor apartment, reached out and, a little bit hesitantly, knocked on the door.
The voices inside quieted, with the exception of Black Star, who was still bragging about his aim. After a couple moments, the door swung open, revealing the slightly exhausted face of one Maka Albarn. She, too, was dressed in casual wear, sporting an oversized pink hoodie and a green tartan skirt. "Hey, you two!" she said. "You guys got here at a great time; dinner is almost done!" She peered over Alecto's shoulder at the object in Tempus's hands. "What's that you've got there?"
Tempus held the basket up. "Cookies," he said. "A friend of ours loves to bake and is always bringing cookies around, so we thought…" he shrugged.
"There would have been more, but someone got a little peckish before we left," Alecto added, looking pointedly at her partner. "Sorry about that. Is it okay that we brought them here?"
"Are you kidding?" Maka said. "It's great! Now I don't have to worry about making desert, which is great, because Black Star's been making a bit of a mess of the kitchen since he got here." As if to emphasize her point, there was a crash and a whoop behind her as the fellow meister in question knocked something else over.
"G-great!" Alecto stammered. "Great that the cookies are great, I mean. It's not so great that Black Star is making an ass of himself. Etsi, non hoc inexspectātum." She didn't spend her days being constantly furious at Black Star, but that didn't mean that she had gone blind to his many, many faults. "Being obnoxious and destructive are just two of Black Star's greatest strengths."
"Tell me about it," Maka said. "Come in, both of you."
She stood to the side, holding the door open so that Alecto and Tempus could cross the threshold into the small abode. As she walked in, Alecto could see Tsubaki clad in a somewhat form-fitting purple turtleneck and white skirt and not-so-subtly guiding Black Star away from the kitchen. Soul hovered near the door, his spiky white hair freed from the confines of the patched headband he usually wore. "Hey," he said, giving the two a once-over before addressing Tempus. "I don't think I've ever seen you out of your suit for a while." He grinned, shark teeth flashing as he held out his hand in a closed fist. "You look cool."
Tempus rolled his eyes. "I always look cool," he said, bumping the proffered fist. "Wow, Mr. Cool Expert, don't you know anything?"
Alecto rolled her eyes and was about to tell Tempus not to be quite such an ass when something suddenly collided hard into her left side, causing her to stumble a bit. Clinging to her thermos so she didn't drop it and spill tea all over Maka and Soul's nice floor, she turned her head to see who had accosted her just as he slung a muscular arm around her neck and pulled her into a half-headlock. "Hiya, Alecto!" Black Star said, his extremely loud and incredibly close voice hitting her eardrum like a mallet hitting a drum. "It's about time you got here! I thought that you time meister folk were never late for anything?"
"We try very hard not to be," Alecto sighed. "Please let go? This kind of hurts a little," She shot a pleading glance toward Tsubaki, who shot an apologetic smile in return.
"Huh? Oh, right!" Black Star released Alecto, and she stumbled away, smoothing out the newly-formed wrinkles in her blouse. "Wow, Tempus, I didn't even recognize you for a second in that hoodie! Hahah, good to see you've finally ditched that lame suit of yours!"
"Lame!?" Tempus squawked indignantly. "I'll have you know that 'lame suit' was a Christmas present from me to me, and it was expensive!"
"Just 'cause it cost a lot doesn't make it cool," Soul pointed out.
"Yeah," Black Star said, "and it's bright yellow. You look like a banana when you wear it!"
"Yeah, and you two are just the height of fashionability, aren't you? Guess what, Soul; corduroy pants have never worked on anyone above the age of five."
As the three boys devolved into pointless bickering on the finer points of menswear, Tsubaki place a gentle hand on Alecto's shoulder. "Come on," she said. "You should take a seat, maybe get some of your hair out of your face?"
"Wha- oh." Face turning an interesting shade of red, Alecto tried to sweep the loose strands of pink away from her face, to no avail. "Yeah, my hair's always a mess. That's why I use the ribbon, but it didn't really work with what I'm wearing now, so…" As the two of them made their way into the small sitting room, Alecto figured that now was the right time to engage in that small talk that Tempus was so fond of. "So," she said, "how's the enchanted sword training going along?"
"Well, it's certainly going," Tsubaki said with a sheepish smile. "Progress is pretty slow, but Black Star hasn't let that stop him. He's pretty determined. He's been talking about how he wants to go on a mission and try out our new technique as soon as possible."
"Figures," Alecto said. "I guess I can understand that, though. If Tempus and I suddenly had access to a new technique, I'd want to practice it as much as possible, too."
"I guess. But Black Star doesn't really seem to be thinking about the dangers of using the enchanted sword mode without being ready. I guess I'm just a little worried for him, that's all." Tsubaki sat down on the couch, Alecto leaning on the couch arm beside her. "What about you and Tempus? Do you have any missions lined up? I know you like to keep yourself busy…"
"Non, nondum." Alecto said. She wasn't really fond of going so long without taking on a mission, and it was starting to make her a little agitated. But she had a promise to keep. "My fifteenth birthday is coming up soon, so Tempus is making me take it easy until afterwards." She shrugged. "It's frustrating, not being able to go out there and work towards making him a Death Scythe, but it makes him happy."
"Well, maybe the rest will be good for you," Tsubaki suggested. "You're always pushing yourself so hard, especially when it comes to missions."
Alecto sighed. "Not you, too. Next thing I know, you and Tempus are going to stage an intervention or something." She eyed Tsubaki's partner, who was now locked in debate with Soul over whether or not the latter's hair product was sufficiently capable of keeping his spiky mass of alabaster hair in place. Maka had headed back into the kitchen to finish dinner, if the clamor of pots and pans was any indication, and Tempus had no doubt followed her. "Isn't there some saying about sins and stone-casting?"
"Black Star does push himself a lot," Tsubaki said with a small nos of acquiescence. "But that's what works for him. It may not work for you."
Alecto wanted to retort that she knew her own limits and what she needed in order to become a better meister, to not be weak. But when a girl like Tsubaki gives you advice, you don't just ignore it. So instead she said, "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Tsubaki." And in a way, she meant it. Boy, advice from Kid, advice from Tsubaki… Is today give-advice-to-Alecto day and I just missed to memo?
As she tried to figure out what had suddenly made today the day that people decided to give her life tips, she heard a knock on the door. She immediately moved to go open it, but Maka's shout of "Oh, that must be Kid and the sisters!" from the other room reminded her that this was not her apartment and that was not Nadia at the door coming over for tea and chit-chat. She blushed slightly and sat back down. Way to play it cool, Alecto.
Soul opened the door and stepped aside to allow the three final guests to come in. This was the first time Alecto had seen Kid outside of his black suit. Like her, he had opted to not go too casual, wearing a pair of dark slacks and a white button-up with with four thin dark pink stripes, two on each side for perfect symmetry of course. (Alecto felt her face heat up just a bit, but she couldn't really figure out why.) Liz and Patti were far more laid-back in their attire, with the former wearing an ivory tank top and jeans and the latter wearing a pink t-shirt and a pair of dark grey tights under her puffy shorts.
"Hey, looking good, you two!" Liz said, shooting a grin at Tsubaki and Alecto as they headed into the living room, the sisters plopping themselves onto the couch next to Tsubaki. "Alecto, did you seriously bring that thermos over? Don't they have tea or whatever here?"
Alecto had adopted a small smile at being complimented, but that smile quickly faltered. "W-was I not supposed to do that?" Her gaze flicked frantically over to Soul. "Mē miseret! Non intellegō fēsta, et-"
Soul waved off her worries. "It's cool. Probably wouldn't have been able to pry you away from it even if we wanted to, anyway."
Tempus's voice floated in from the kitchen. "It's true! I tried once back when we were first paired together. She threw a teapot at me. Still got the scars on my arm, too!"
"It's was a plastic teacup, you fibber," Alecto grumbled, sinking further into the couch. "The tea was lukewarm, too, all it did was stains that tacky sweater vest of yours.…" The "scars" he mentioned were tiny, and had actually been gotten on a mission of theirs during their early partnering days, when he'd completely failed at trying to climb a tree tree and scraped his arm on a branch on the fall down.
"Was it really? I forget the details."
"Kind of a difficult thing to become confused about." Clearing her throat, she changed the subject. "Kind of surprised to see you three here. Weren't you all heading to Hungary for a mission?"
Liz shuddered. "Ugh, don't remind me. Still can't believe we decided to take that one on…"
"We're leaving tomorrow morning," Kid explained, sitting down on the loveseat. Next to him, Soul vaulted over the back of the mini-couch with casual abandon, landing on the seat cushion with a fwoomph. "We figured that it would be nice to spend some time with friends before heading out."
"Hungary?" Tsubaki asked. "Isn't the only mission in there the Elizabeth Báthory one?"
Liz nodded. "Yeah. Not really looking forward to it. Hey, wait a minute, why have the last couple of missions been Kishin Eggs with the name 'Elizabeth?' Lizzie Borden, and now this lady… Is there something you're trying to tell me, Kid?"
"It's just a coincidence," Kid assured her.
In the other room, Tempus shouted. "Weren't you the one who first pointed out the Borden mission?" This was followed by a loud clatter and Alecto's partner hastily babbling, "Crap sorry didn't mean to drop that whoa hey put the spoon down spoon the spoon down-" WHACK "-owww, Maka!"
"Looks like someone got drafted into kitchen helper duty," Soul said, grinning. "Just glad it's not me anymore."
"'S what he gets for lurking," Alecto mumbled.
"Whether or not I pointed the Borden mission out is not the point," Liz said, steering the conversation away from its tangent. "Even if it is a coincidence, it's a creepy one."
"It's not that creepy," Alecto said. "Elizabeth is a pretty common name, after all."
"Eh, I guess…"
Patti spoke up, having seemingly paid very little attention to the conversation at all. "Hey, Liz, how much food do you think there is in Hungary?"
"Wha-? Patti, what sort of question is that."
"Well, I was thinking, maybe if there was more food, it wouldn't be Hungary anymore! It would be Full."
Alecto stared, totally lost. I can't tell if she's being serious or if she just made the worst pun in the history of mankind. I live with Tempus, I should be able to figure out the difference.
Before she could ask if there was some sort of joke she was completely missing out on, Maka entered the living room, carrying a large bowl of beef and broccoli noodles. Tempus trailed behind her, carrying an equally large bowl of salad and several plates with a resigned look on his face. Looks like Soul was right about kitchen duty. "Dinner's ready, everyone!" Maka said cheerfully, putting the noodles on the table. "Dig in!"
That was amazing.
Alecto leaned back against the couch, having wedged herself on the floor between Liz and Tsubaki's shins. She hadn't tasted noodles that good in weeks, probably even months. She wouldn't say it was on par with Nadia's baking, but it was still pretty damn good. She wondered what Maka's secret was.
Slouching in his chair with one foot propped up on the table, Black Star rubbed at his rounded belly, a huge Black Star Grin on his face. "Well, it may not have been tasty, but it sure was filling!" he declared.
"Hey, I've got an idea," Maka said through gritted teeth, glowering at her blue-haired classmate. "Next time, you do the cooking."
"Don't listen to him, Maka, it was delicious," Tsubaki said.
Tempus, who'd been standing by the lamp during dinner, nodded. "Yes. I need the recipe, like, yesterday."
"Yummy, yum!" Patti added, which basically summed up Alecto's thoughts on the matter.
"Yeah," Liz said, "thank you for the snacks. Those cookies were pretty good, too. Alecto, you said a friend made those, right?"
Alecto let out a hum and nodded, still too content with the meal to say anything coherent.
Meanwhile, Kid was looking around the apartment admiringly. "You guys have a nice place here, it's so tidy," Kid said. Alecto hadn't noticed it, but everything was pretty clean and well-kept. "You must make a point of keeping it clean."
Soul shrugged, his hands clasped together behind his head. "It helps that Maka yells at me whenever I make a mess."
"I see. So is it just the two of you living here, then?"
"Yeah. Well, us and-"
A mildly familiar soprano of a voice called out. "Yoo-hoo, is everyone having a good time?" A woman who looked to be in her early twenties walked into the room, with purple hair and cat ears and clad in nothing more than a towel that left very, very little to the imagination. The newcomer learn forward, revealing even more of her, erm, assets as she winked. "Which one of you boys wants to come and take a bath with me?" she asked. "The water's nice and warm. She then lifted her arms over her head, letting the towel fall to the floor in the apparent decision that disrobing in front of a bunch of teenagers was a good idea.
Alecto's face turned beet-red once again and her brain quickly forced itself into a soft reboot to save data. Kid looked scandalized by the display of full-frontal nudity, and Soul promptly tipped backwards and crashed into the table with blood gushing out his nose, breaking a few dishes in the process. "Is it always like this over here?" Kid managed to choke out.
"Oh, yeah," Soul replied, his voice a little strangled. "Anybody wanna take the sexy kitty home? She's free."
Kitty?
"Blair!" Maka shouted, flying out of her seat and bounding over to the woman in two large strides. "Geez, get out of here! No fish for you tonight!" she snapped, trying to shove at the intruder while simultaneously trying not to touch her at all.
"Aw, but Maka, I was so bored!" the woman whined.
"I- don't- care!" Maka had given up any attempt at modesty and was just pushing the woman out of the room. "Get out of here! And take you towel with you!" Once the woman had been ejected, she turned back and let out an exasperated sigh. "Stupid cat…"
"C-cat?" Alecto stammered. "That was the cat from earlier? But she… and…cattus? Quid?"
"Yeah, that was her," Maka said, grabbing the towel off the floor and throwing it out of the living room. "If you think that was bad, try living with her. We didn't even invite her, she just… stuck around!"
Tempus had retreated to the farthest corner, crouched in the fetal position. "I don't wanna be seduced by a cat," he whimpered. "I don't think that's even legal, I'm only fifteen and she's a cat…"
"She's just needy for attention," Maka grumbled. "Soul, do you think you could help me clean up a little and get the tea set out?" Alecto's cheeks continued to burn as she realized that yes, the tea she'd brought was unnecessary. "You did just break a bunch of stuff…"
"Yeah, sure," Soul said, sitting up as best he could, rubbing at the back of his head. "Freakin' sexy cat, coming in here being all naked. Not cool at all, Blair."
Maka and Soul quickly set about putting dishes away and bringing the after-dinner tea out. As they did, Alecto noticed that Maka was the one doing most of the work, often shooing away Soul's outstretched hands as she carried the largest pieces of the broken chinaware. She couldn't tell if it was because Maka was physically stronger (being a meister and all) or if Maka was worried about Soul because of his recent injury.
Maybe it was a little bit of both. Maybe it was neither. People were weird that way; they had so many motives and emotions behind their actions that it was hard to tell which ones were dominant. Unsure of what to do at this point, she huddled down and took a sip of her own tea as the atmosphere of the room returned to the state it had been before everyone had been flashed by a catgirl. Everything quickly went back to normal.
That didn't last very long, though. As Maka was putting the teapot down after having giving everyone their tea, she suddenly blanched, her eyes growing wide with horror. "Witch!" she exclaimed, standing up straight.
Everyone looked up at her. "What's up, Maka?" Liz said. "You startled us."
"It's two witches," Maka asserted, not looking at anyone at all, her cat-green eyes focused on something far in the distance. "What are they doing in Death City? Sorry, guys, I'll be right back!" She turned on her heel and ran out.
"Hey, Maka, what gives?" Soul called out, but Maka was already out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. "Shit." He got to his feet and followed after her. "Shit shit shit…"
The rest of the students watched him leave, expressions of equal part confusion and concern adorning all of their faces. "There's no way a couple of witches would be stupid enough to go wandering around in Death City!" Black Star exclaimed, but for once he didn't sound quite so sure. "Maka's just seeing things, right?"
"No…" Kid murmured. "I can sense it two. They're not powerful, but they're definitely there, two of them…"
Alecto and Tempus exchanged a frantic glance. It wasn't too uncommon to see the occasional witch parked outside of Death City, but that was always temporary, and they stayed in the desert until they were chased out by meisters. And Kishin Eggs could be born anywhere. But no witch anywhere would possibly have a death with strong enough to actually try and infiltrate the city, especially not without a Soul Protect in place…
...would they?
"A witch…"
Alecto and Tempus headed back down the sidewalk, the path home illuminated by the yellow moon hanging in the purple sky. Alecto kept her gaze low, troubled thoughts bouncing around her already busy mind. Witches in Death City? What next? "You don't think the witches are getting bolder, are they?" she asked of her partner, who seemed entirely disaffected by the whole thing.
"I think they're getting stupider, is what they're getting," he grumbled. "They figure out a way to circumvent a meister's sixth sense and they refuse to use it right in the heart of the city." Tempus shrugged, shaking his ponytail off its resting place on his shoulder. "Whatever. At least one good thing came from this."
"Seriously? What?"
With a wicked grin, Tempus pulled a small cookbook out of his hood and waved it in her face. Realizing what it was, Alecto scowled. "Tempus, did you seriously steal their recipes?"
"I needed the recipe for those noodles!"
"You don't even cook that often!"
"It's always a good time to learn."
"Oh for the love of Iuppiter… Tempus, go return the book."
"But-"
"Tempus."
Tempus pouted. "Oh, fine. I swear, you're no fun." With a tick, he disappeared, Alecto sensing his soul wavelength several meters back in the direction of Maka's apartment. She sighed, looking up at the chuckling moon. And here he is, acting like he's the responsible one keeping me from doing dumb stuff…
From the distance, a furious voice cried out. "Maka… Chop!"
Idiot.
A/N - Like I said, pretty lighthearted. Lots of small talk in this chapter, but small talk is good for characterization, and I think that one thing Soul Eater could have done better is just some space for them all to spend just hangin' out. Soul Eater is one of those few animes that could have been improved vastly by some filler, in my probably-unpopular opinion. It's not like there's a shortage of bad guys in history and mythology that could be translated into Kishin Eggs, and not all filler is bad. Look at Avatar: The Last Airbender's filler, that was top-notch.
Tempus's line about Blair's antics being illegal is actually very true and one of the biggest problems I have with that scene. Like, Blair. No. The age of consent in Nevada is 16, Blair, and the youngest of the group is like 13. Put your goddamn clothes back on, Jesus Christ.
Most of the jokes in this chapter, with the exception of the very last one, were added in on-the-fly, but I consider them to be some of my funnier moments. Especially the bit about boys bickering about clothes. Oh, Tempus. Bright yellow suits only look good on you.
Latin time! Or as Alecto would say it, tempus nam lingua latina!
Etsi, non hoc inexspectātum: "Though, this isn't unexpected."
Non, nondum: "No, not right now"
Mē miseret! Non intellegō fēsta, et-: "I'm sorry! I don't understand parties, and-" Well, technically "festa" means "holidays" but I couldn't find the appropriate word for this particular kind of get-together.
cattus: "cat"
Chapter thirty-three will be out soon. In the meantime, feel free to favorite and leave a review! Those are always nice.
- Diana "Nocte"
