A/N - Sorry about the wait! There was a point in this chapter where I just could not figure out how to progress, and it had be stumped for months. I'll point it out in the poster-chapter notes.

Anyway, here's how things are gonna go in regards to updating. I'm gonna do one chapter of Tempus Fugit, three chapters of Skin Deep, one chapter of Tempus Fugit, three chapters of Skin Deep, et cetera et cetera, until the two are at a relatively even state chapter-wise. (Unless I decide I wanna do more Tempus Fugit chapters first) Then it'll be alternating one chapter each.

So, you know, if you like Fairy Tail, be sure to check out Skin Deep! In the meantime, I'd like to thank Melody1818, MegglesGG, Drachegirl14, victoriaesteguy, SilverDragonsTail, LittleInsaneMe, the two (?) guests, and 7upvodka for reviewing! (Also thank ALL of you for over 200 faves!)

Melody181: Yes! Yes, I am very much alive, thank you! Sorry to worry anyone; I think it's safe to say that updates will never be at the rate they were when I first started.

MegglesGG: Oh, man, I can't wait for you all to see what happens next, too. So much being set up. So much is gonna happen in arc fifteen and beyond.

Drachegirl14: Hehe, I'm glad everyone likes the dynamic between Alecto and Tempus! I know I've said this a dozen times, but the dynamic between a meister and their weapon has always been one of my favorite things about the Soul Eater setting. It's just so neat to see the concept of a non-romantic soulmate/one true combat buddy in fiction, I love it.

victoriaesteguy: Awww, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

SilverDragonsTail: Aheheh. Whoops! Sorry about the not-soon update.

LittleInsaneMe: Yes, I am! This fic is planned for covering the entirety of the anime storyline. (Don't tell anyone, but I kind of like the anime ending more, which is why I'm going with that. Don't get me wrong, the manga is amazing, but the stuff on the moon confuses me.)

Guest: Holy smokes. Let me tell you, nothing jolts you out of writing block than getting six really in-depth reviews from the same person. I was not expecting that when I checked my e-mail, that's for sure! I'm really glad you like it so much! ^_^ I can't cover everything in detail, so let me go over a few key points. A) The inconsistency with the clock. Yeah, this is me forgetting that Alecto could do that, too. However, I've got three plausible in universe excus- I MEAN, reasons. *shifty eyes* Either Alecto was just doing it out of 13-ish years of habit from before she unlocked her time abilities, her sense of time was still a little shaky from her anxiety-fueled time warp, or Tempus simply has a much stronger sense of what time it is exactly due to his abilities being more precision-based in balance with Alecto's raw power and also because he is literally a clock. *gestures wildly* Take your pick. B) The Thompsons ditching. Again, this was just me forgetting that Alecto invited them, but making up an excuse so Kid ended up going to the date alone seems like something they'd do. Like, oh, we've been invited to have tea with that cute girl you've spent a lot of time with? Uh, we have to go do a thing, don't let us stop you, though! Or something like that. (Still doesn't excuse why Alecto forgot. I might go back and edit that chapter at some point.) C) Alecto's name pronunciation. Yeah, her name's a bit of a tricky one. It's pronounced uh-LAKE-toh bell-uh-TOR-ay. And I can guarantee you, she got all sorts of substitute teachers mispronouncing her names in elementary school.

The Other Guest: I'm pretty sure this is someone different? The writing style feels different. Anyways, I can't say either way WHAT the anomaly is, due to spoilers. You'll just have to keep on reading! ;)

7upvodka: Hehe, thanks! You're not the first person to suggest Tempus/Liz as a ship. Sad to say, I don't plan on pairing them together, but they do have a good back-and-forth, vitriolic friendship that we'll be seeing a lot more of in a later arc. And don't worry, we're definitely going to kid some Kidlecto fluff reaaaal soon. ;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 Forty-Six - Blood And Water - The Celebration in Maine, Part 1


"Geez, Professor Stein is late…"

Maka, Soul, Black Star, Tsubaki, Kid, and the Thompson sisters were all seated fairly close together, staring at the empty desk at the front of the classroom with a variety of expressions ranging from relief and hopefulness to exasperation and annoyance. The bell to signal class's start had rung a good few minutes ago, and yet the professor was nowhere to be found. "Didn't he almost pin a Ox's hand to the desk when he and Harvar showed up a couple minutes late for a dissection?" Maka asked. "It's pretty hypocritical of him to do that and then not even show up on time himself."

"Maybe he's sick and the substitute hasn't shown up yet," Tsubaki suggested.

"Ooh!" Black Star pulled his feet off the desk he'd been resting them on, letting the front legs of his chair collide to the ground with a clattering loudness that only Black Star could managed. "Maybe your dad will be the sub again, Maka!" He laughed brazenly at Maka's aghast expression, right up until the textbook that she had been going over slammed into his skull and knocked him to the ground.

"Don't even joke about that!" Maka hissed. "Once was bad enough."

"I'm sure that he's simply taking longer than usual to assemble his syllabus for today," Kid said. "Perhaps he has another dissection planned."

Maka made a face that suggested that she would almost… almost… prefer having to deal with her dad for a day. Liz yelped at the thought. "Oh, please no!" she whimpered. "I hate it when we have to do dissections! There's always gross organs and icky stuff and it smells awful!"

"Aw, but sis!" Patti pouted. "The icky stuff is so cool!"

"It's gross, Patti."

"Nuh-uh!"

As the two sisters devolved into whispered bickering, the rest of the group sat quietly, watching the clock tick further and further away from the class's starting time, until the classroom door slams open. The classroom collectively turned its gaze towards the door, expecting the professor to come wheeling his way through, only to see Tempus stagger in, panting heavily. "I'm here!" he gasped. "I'm here, I'm here, please don't stab meeeee…oh." His voice trailed off as his burnished gaze fell upon the empty teacher's desk. "Huh." He glanced at his curious classmates before reaching up to straighten his tie (which wasn't actually crooked to begin with). "All right, if anyone asks, I was always here and I arrived precisely when the bell rung because that's how I do things." He went to sit down near the far end of the classroom, the dark skin of his cheeks reddening slightly under the stares of his peers.

"Tempus was late, too?" Maka exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"Okay, now that's weird," Soul said.

Kid raised a brow. "An unusual occurrence, I take it?"

Soul scoffed. "Are you kidding? The dude's never late for anything. He makes a big deal out of it, too. It's actually pretty annoying how obsessed with being on time he is."

"Hey, wait a minute," Maka said. "Where's Alecto? She's not with him."

Sure enough, the pink-haired time meister was nowhere to be seen. "Maybe she's sick!" Black Star suggested.

"No, I don't think that's it," Maka replied, shaking her head. "Tempus wouldn't be here if she was."

"Yeah," Soul agreed. "You know how he gets. Dude's a total mom."

"Maybe something came up with her parents?" Tsubaki said.

"Strange," Kid said, frowning. His interest now piqued, he looked over at where Tempus had pulled out a book and was currently pretending to be very interested in the random spot he had opened it to. "She didn't mention anything when I was over at her apartment on Friday."

The ensuing silence was enough to cause a pin to drop. Kid looked up to see the others staring at him. "What?"

"What were you doing over at Alecto's house?" Maka asked.

"Kiddo and Ally were on a daaaate!" Patti sang, leaning down over the desk so she could pinch Kid's cheeks.

Scowling, he swatted her hands away, hoping that the sudden assault on his face would be a suitable cover for the faint pinkness that spread across his cheeks at the implication of her words. "Don't be ridiculous," he snapped. "She simply invited me over to talk over a cup of tea. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Nah, it's just surprising. I don't know if you've noticed, but Alecto ain't exactly good with people, y'know?" Soul said, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the desk. "Heard she even had troubles getting along with Tempus, at first, and he's not that hard to get along with once you get past the fact that he's a pretentious asshole."

"Well, I think it's great that Alecto's become more outgoing!" Tsubaki declared. "I remember what she was like when she first got here. She and Tempus are good influences on each other; it's part of what makes them such good partners."

"Yes, she mentioned that she had problems socializing when she was younger," Kid said. "Still, that doesn't answer the question of why she's not here now."

A vaguely annoyed voice drifted up to the cluster of students from the frontmost rows. "You know, you all should start a knitting club if you're going to gossip this much."

The seven of them all simultaneous freeze up as Tempus idly glanced up at him from over his shoulder. "I mean, seriously, not even a shred of subtlety or discretion? I'm severely disappointed in all of you. Especially you, Soul." His gaze homed in on the white-haired weapon. "I am not a pretentious asshole!"

"Seriously?" Soul snorted. "Dude, have you looked in a mirror lately?" There wasn't any real venom in his words, though, more the lackadaisical tone of two dudes taking friendly potshots at each other.

"Yeah, because a dude who calls himself Soul Eater is really in any position to judge someone else for being pretentious." Tempus sighed, leaning the back of his neck against the edge of the back of his chair. "Look, there's nothing to worry about, Ally's fine. Don't you idiots remember what day it is? The twelfth is on Saturday, she's just packing."

"Oh!" Recognition sparked in Maka's expression. "I almost forgot about that! I haven't even gotten her anything yet!"

"Ahhh, that won't be a problem. Just get her some tea or something. She'd never say no to tea," Tempus said. "Or maybe some old sci-fi novel about oppressive societies or something."

"Wait." Kid's brow furrowed as he spoke up. "What's on the twelfth?"

"She didn't tell you?" Maka said. "February the twelfth is Alecto's fifteenth birthday."

"Ish," Tempus added. "Birthday-ish. It's a lot more complicated than that."

"What do you mean by that?" Kid asked.

"Well, you know how Ally was adopted, right?" Tempus said. "See, the thing is… hold on, give me a second, shouting across the room is awkward." He shuffled out of his seat and moved up the rows to sit by Kid and the others before continuing, his voice dropped down to a near whisper. "See, the thing is, Ally didn't come into the system in the typical way. She wasn't given up at birth or pulled from a bad home. They just sort of… found her, toddling around the streets, scared out of her goddamned mind. And the kicker? She didn't speak English. I mean, most toddlers aren't exactly linguistically gifted, but when the state picked her up, she was speaking Latin. They could barely translate anything she was saying, and they couldn't respond in kind because conversational Latin is kind of a dead art. They managed to get her name and the fact that she was around three, but that's about it."

Kid frowned. "And they never tried to find her birth parents?" he asked.

"Of course they did! They didn't exactly have a whole lot to work with, though, and there weren't any other Bellatores around looking for a kid, no missing person reports, not even any hospital records. It was like she just sort of… happened. Eventually the state gave up trying to find her family and fostered her out to the van Dales, who ended up adopting her. Since they didn't know her birthday, they used the day they first found her: February the twelfth. So it's probably not the actual day she was born, but it's the legal date on all her records, so that's when we celebrate it. That make sense to you?"

"Sort of. That all does sound complicated," Kid said.

"Psh, you don't know the half of it. That doesn't even take into account all the time meister stuff."

"Wait, what?"

"Oh! See, the way our temporal desynchronizations work is that we're either speeding up or slowing down time in a very limited 'bubble' of sorts around us. It's not actually bubbled shaped, think of it more like saran wrap that we can extend through touch, but you get the idea. But the thing is, when we speed up or slow down our time, we're aging relative to our time, not the rest of the world's time. So if we speed up our time to to point where we experience ten seconds in the time it takes for you to experience one second, than we've aged nine more seconds than you in a single second. All things considered, it's not a significant difference; we've slowed our own time down as well, which balances it out a bit, and the disparity can't be more than a couple of months at most. The point is, the calendar isn't an exact measurement of how old we are biologically."

"I see," Kid said, mulling over this new information in his head. "So despite the fact that Alecto's turning fifteen this Saturday, there's a possibility she's already been fifteen for a while?" It occurred to him then just how very little he knew about time meisters and the details regarding how their abilities worked. It seemed straightforward enough on the surface, being able to manipulate time to a limited degree. But time's not straightforward, he reminded himself. It was barely comprehensible at the best of times and oh so very relative. Even Kid, a death god in the making with hundreds of years of near-immortality to look forward to, had trouble wrapping his head around the concept. When he remembered that, it made sense to him that a time meister's abilities would be more complex than initially assumed.

"Yeah, that's about the gist of it," Tempus said, reaching his arms over his head in a languid stretch. "Of course, neither of us can really be bothered to track our exact biological ages, and we don't really know what Alecto's exact biological age is, anyway, so we just roll with what the calendar says. So, we're going up to Maine for a few days to spend some time with Ally's parents for her birthday. And that's why she's at home packing. So don't worry, she's not dying or anything. Hell, we've both got clearance from the teachers and your dad to take the rest of the week off from studies. I'm only here to pick up whatever study material we might need from the Professor. So everything's good."

"All right, then," Kid said. "As long as there's nothing to worry about." In the back of his mind, he idly wondered if it would be inappropriate of him to get Alecto a present of his own. He did consider her a good friend, but he had only known her for a few short months, which paled in comparison to how long the others had known her. And what would he even get her? He didn't want to just get her tea; that would have been a cop-out. Tempus had also suggested a book, but Kid possessed very little knowledge of her preferred genre, and the last thing he wanted to do was get her something she ended up hating.

The all-too familiar sound of office chair wheels grinding on tile caught his attention, and Kid looked up to see Professor Stein enter the classroom with a stack of papers tucked into the crook of his elbow, dragging his chair behind him as he did. "Sorry for being late, class," he said. "I was busy preparing some of the study material you'll need for the upcoming exam. I won't count anyone in here as late if they came in here after the bell rung. That includes you, Tempus."

Tempus flinched. "H-how did you…?"

"You were trying to use your distortions to try and reach the classroom quicker. I could feel your soul wavelength as you passed." Stein's cold green gaze swept across the classroom. "I take it Alecto isn't attending class today?"

"No, sir," Tempus responded. "Alecto and I have been cleared from attending classes until next Monday, remember?"

"Ah, yes, of course. Please see me after class to pick up the reference material you'll need for the next week." Stein set the papers he was holding down on his desk. "Now, for our lesson today we'll be going over some sub-categories of Kishin Eggs, starting with soul parasites. Can anyone give me the basic definition of what a soul parasite is?"

Maka raised her hand. "A soul parasite is a type of Kishin Egg who attaches a fragment of its own soul wavelength to that of a human soul, weakening it and making it easier to consume," she stated, quickly and confidently.

"Very good." Stein turned to the chalkboard and grabbed a piece of chalk, drawing out two rough representations of souls. He added a small, colored-in circle onto one of the souls, no doubt meant to represent the small part of a soul parasite that it attached to a host. "There are a few different ways that a soul parasite can weaken the soul it's attached to. The first..." he drew a wavy line connecting the small circle to the drawing of the soul parasite, "...is by draining the wavelength and using it to feed the main portion of the soul parasite's host. This is also generally how they kill and devour the host soul; many cases people suddenly dying without any known cause can often be attributed to an encounter with a soul parasite."

He used the sleeve of his lab coat to erase the lines he'd drawn. "The second is to constrict the soul, preventing its soul wavelengths from expanding." He drew a ring around the human soul. "Think of this like an insulator of sorts. The host soul will start to be suffocated and weakened by its own wavelength. If a soul parasite infects any of you, this will be how they will most likely try to weaken your soul, as a constricted soul will make it impossible for meister and weapon to resonate their wavelengths."

He erased the circle. "The third and most dangerous method is for a soul parasite to sever a soul's connection from its body, making it unable to control its own body. Can anyone tell me why this is the most dangerous and difficult method to combat?"

For a minute, there was silence. Then Ox spoke up. "Well, if the human soul can't control its body, wouldn't that allow the soul parasite to take over?"

"Yes… in a manner of speaking. The soul parasite would be able to take over the body, giving it more time to devour the soul at its leisure, but the host soul would retain its consciousness and will, and could possibly retake control if strong enough. So it's just as dangerous for the parasite as it is for the host. Of course, many parasites will combine these methods, so the chances of a soul being strong enough to regain control in the event that its body is hijacked aren't very good." Stein turned back to the class, his glasses glinting eerily in the light shining in through the window and down from the ceiling fixtures. "The soul parasite's biggest strength, as well as its greatest weakness, is the pace at which they devour souls. It can take months for a parasite to fully devour a single soul, and the host is almost never near the main parasite at the time of total consumption, so tracking down a parasite can be next to impossible. The length of time between kills also contributes to this; usually, we can triangulate a Kishin Egg's location based on how many people are killed in a certain area, but that method doesn't work with a parasite. However, because of this, soul parasites gain strength very slowly; it could take years before a soul parasite is a match for a full-fledged meister-weapon team. And while soul parasites are difficult to detect, they can leave an impact on the host soul's physical body, especially if they're trying to sever the host soul's control. In addition, a meister with advanced Soul Perception can sense a fragment of a soul parasite within a host body. Any questions?"

The entire class shook their heads.

"Good. I wouldn't worry too much about it, though; it's very unlikely that any of you will encounter a soul parasite while you're still in school." He turned back to the board. "Now, moving on to the next category…"


"We're seriously supposed to read all of that?"

"Eyup." Tempus dropped the thick stack of papers and he was holding onto the coffee table in front of his flabbergasted meister. "Clearly he wasn't kidding about us needing to study for the big exam." True to his word, Stein had helpfully supplied the necessary reading material for the next week once classes had ended. "Teachers and their study packets, I swear. Better than typical homework, though, I guess."

"Ecastor." Alecto sighed and slumped forward, resting her head on her knees. "The curriculum was never this demanding before Professor Stein started teaching. I mean, yes, Sid had a zero-tolerance policy on students slacking off, but still."

"Well, think of this as just another challenge," Tempus supplied. "You're all about not giving up on challenges, right?"

"I didn't say I was planning on giving up." Alecto lifted her head to look up at him. "If dealing with all the bookwork Stein gives us is what it takes to be a meister, than sic fiat. I'm not going to let whatever Stein throws at us get in the way of my duty."

"That's the spirit! But don't worry about that right now. Right now we need to focus on anything that isn't school!" Tempus jabbed a finger at her. "You're on vacation right now, remember!"

"I'll relax when we finish packing. By the way, have you seen my winter coat? It's not in any of the closest, and it's way too cold up in Maine right now without it."

Tempus frowned. "Hm, no, I haven't. Have you tried the coat closet?"

Alecto shot him a flat glare. "No, Tempus," she deadpanned. "I didn't look for my coat in the coat closet."

"Alright, I'll fess up, that was a really stupid question. Have you checked underneath your bed?"

"Yes."

"Have you checked underneath my bed?"

"Quod infernum would my jacket be under your bed?"

"Idunno, maybe because we lump all of our laundry together and stuff gets mixed up all the time?"

"That's… okay, that's a good point." Alecto ran a hand through her hair, knocking the ribbon askew. "And your room's enough of a mess where it'd probably be really easy to misplace clothes. Which is odd, given how much you love organizing things."

"Books. I love organizing books."

"It's times like there where I wish I knew what the Latin equivalent to 'nerd' was so I could call you it. Clothes aren't that much different than books."

"Clothes don't have the Dewey Decimal system, Ally, that's a very important element and should not be discounted so callously!"

"Pro dii immortales…"


A/N - So here in this chapter (and in this arc, really), we get more about what Alecto was like pre-DWMA. Don't worry, we'll get back to actual plot eventually. (Arc fifteen is actually when we'll be starting to fire some of those Chekov's guns I've set up!) Alecto's got a backstory that sounds pretty strange and implausible, but once the rest of the pieces fall into place it'll all start to make sense, don't worry. We also learn a bit more about soul parasites! That's probably not important.

I've mentioned Alecto's birthday a few times before in the story, but I never really drew too much attention to it because overall it's not really that important? Yeah, this is another character-building arc. Don't worry, like I said, actual plot will be starting again soon. Actually, once arc fifteen starts, there's not going to be a whole lot of character-building fluff. It won't go away completely, and canon filler will still be canon filler, but overall it's gonna pick up real good. After over fifty chapters. WELP. :T

Like I said above, there was a point in this chapter where I got stuck and couldn't figure out how to go any further, and that's the point just before Tempus joins them in their gossipy gossipness. See, the original plan was for Kid to approach Tempus after class and for the two of them to have a talk alone, but I couldn't figure out how to get from the scene I was working on to that scene, so I ended up merging the two together. I lost a little development between the two character in the process, but I'll be able to make that up later. Don't worry, there'll be scenes where Tempus and Kid get to have a one-on-one conversation.

Now, onto the Latin!

Ecastor: This is a Latin interjection that can be used to express surprise, annoyance, or excitement, similarly to "my god!" It literally translates to "by Castor," so it's not even that far off on a literal level. In this context, it's definitely meant to indicate annoyance.

Sic fiat: "So be it."

Cur infernum: "Why the hell..."

Pro dii immortales: "By the immortal gods."

Chapter forty-seven will be up soon, and the arc will be around three chapters long. In the meantime, please feel free to favorite and leave a review!