"You're strong I'll give you that, but an idiot nonetheless," I say coolly as I wait for the drug to turn completely black. "And I am going to need you all to pay close attention," I state as I turn swiftly around to face them. "Clarabelle!" I shout at the little witch who comes scampering back into the main lab with a metal box.

"I have it," she squeaked. She really did not like strangers, especially ones from the DWMA. "Miss Fallon can you help me?" she turns to her mentor and guardian. Boss Lady walks up and opens the cage. She lets out a high pitched wail causing all the others to fall to their knees while I simply swished the liquid around in the test tube. A moment later the wailing stops and a full grown lion is splayed out on the floor unconscious.

"This is a minion to a very powerful witch that resides here is Africa," I state as I walk over to it. "He is a low level player with limited access to the witch. However, he is a perfectly fine specimen for this experiment."

"W-what are you going to do to it Ramla?" Maka gulps. A wicked smile spreads across my face as I step closer to the beast. Boss Lady and the little witch move back to give me space, Boss Lady grabs a pad with our previous notes on it and is ready to write down the results.

"Why I'm going to kill it of course Maka," I say coldly. "Of course it will be slow…and painful. It's the only way to properly torture a living thing after all," I smirk. I rest my hand on the lions head. "Soul Stitching…" I whisper as thread after thread lashed out and binds the animal to the floor. "Now, wake up you vile thing," I hiss with a snap of my fingers. The lion wakes up and starts thrashing.

"You! You wretched little girl!" the lion snarls as he snaps his giant maul at me. "When Mistress Kaluwa finds out you took me there will be hell to pay."

"Kaluwa will not care about you and that is the precise reason as to why I kidnapped you," I purr. "Now be a good kitty and open your mouth," the lion roared and I threw the black substance into his mouth. He sputtered and slung curses at us while the drug took effect, his eyes dilated and his breathing became ragged. Soon his whole body violently shook before he collapsed and blood dripped out of his mouth. Boss Lady wrote down everything while the little witch undid my stitching. I turn back around and turn off the other flames before moving to the computer in the corner and writing down the results and outlining the work still needed to be done.

"This is what we are up against," I finally state. When I turn around everyone is backed away from me, Boss Lady, and the little witch.

"What a-are you?" Liz breathes out in horror.

"A complete and total monster," I respond without hesitation. "Now you see why your attempts to beat me were useless and sad really," I look at Black*star again. "I am a product of terrible circumstances and right now is not the time for a sob story."

"The hell it isn't!" Soul shouts.

"Soul! We need to find Helena!" Kid interjects.

"Right," I agree. Kid shoots me a dirty look and a sharp pain flashes through my heart, but I ignore it and move on. "I felt Helena's wavelength last night. Obviously she got close enough to feel mine through our shaky resonance and that pushed her forward faster. She was caught in a trap…" I trail off.

"A trap set by who Ramla?" Tsubaki asks.

"Kaluwa," I hiss.

"Ramie can I help capture the specimen?" the little witch begs. I roll my eyes at her as I sling my lab coat over the back of the desk chair and change out of shorts and a shirt into my breast plate and a pair of tight running pants.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"He's been stalking us for weeks! He has been terrorizing the other animals around us since before you came back!" she snaps. "I want him dead too, you know."

"Ramla?" we both turn around to see Boss Lady standing in the doorway. For a wailing banshee she can really move quietly. "Take Clarabelle with you and make sure there isn't more than the one enemy." I roll my eyes because she and I both know it's only the one lion.

"Yeah, yeah, yea—" I cut myself off abruptly. A familiar wavelength has just entered into my Soul Perception radius. "No…" I breathe out as I rush from the room. I run out the front door and jump on the bike without a second thought. It roared to life and leapt forward as I followed the trail. Suddenly there wasn't only one enemy wavelength in my radius, four more appeared near the familiar one. "No!" I roar as I release my Soul Protect and push the bike harder.

By the time I reach the souls there is only one left. A younger looking lion with a smug grin on his face. To my absolute horror the familiar wavelength and the four others were nowhere to be seen.

As I told the story they all seemed to grow quieter and quieter until the silence itself was deafening. "I've been looking for Helena long before you realized she was gone," I snap. "So, if you want to stand there and judge in your mock superiority then you can leave."

"Ramla," Kid walked over to me stiffly. His eyes held a deep emotional turmoil that made my heart lurch. His soul was chaotic and I couldn't get a read on what it was he wanted from me. "I'm sorry." My eyes went wide and those broken pieces shuddered at the words.

'He really is a lot like him…' I think forlornly. My fingers twitch at my sides as I attempt to not hold him as Stein held me only a few weeks ago and all those broken parts fit back together again. "You have nothing to be sorry for Death the Kid," I say formally. He flinched at his full name. "There are many things you do not know about a lot of connecting topics. As of right now, the priority is to find Helena and bring her back to you and the DWMA."

"What do we do, Ramal?" Maka interjects. She and Soul both step forward and look at me expectantly.

"I guess we got no choice Tsubaki," Black*star drawls. Liz and Patty laugh as they all surge forward and push me back against a table.

"Um…" I start with a tremble.

"Ramie!" the little witch launches herself at me and hits Kid in the head with a pair of tongs. "We can find her all on our own. We don't need them," her voice turned acidic.

"Ow! Ow! That hurts!" Kid whines as Liz pats his shoulder.

"Let's just get the experiment started shall we?" I say calmingly. I walk over to Boss Lady and hand the little witch to her. "I recommend waiting in the other room if you're squeamish," I offer.

"Why?" Soul inquires.

"I'm about to cut this lion open and read its last thought," I state clinically. His red eyes nearly bulge out of his head.

"Un…" he trails off before sprinting into the other room. Liz looks green as she quickly follows after him with her sister under her arm.

"I'll be with my partners," Kid says through clenched teeth. He looked like he was going to pass out. I turn to the others expectantly, but they all three stood defiantly still. I shrug and pick the lion up and haul him onto the exam table Boss Lady wheeled in.

I pick up a remote and turn to look at them again. "You all must be quiet during my examination," Then I press the record button. "This is Ramla Underling performing a postmortem examination of an African Lion. Known associate and minion to the Lion Witch Kaluwa of Africa. The lion was given a drug known as 'Lions Claw' in a highly concentrated dose mixed with distilled water."

The little witch picks up a scalpel after putting on her protective gear. Boss Lady has arranged the lion so he was lying stomach up with all extremities angled outward. "Clarabelle if you could start with the 'Y' cut and open the ribcage."

"Aye," she confirms as I too put on a mask, goggle, gloves, and an apron. Boss Lady retrieves her pen and paper to await results. I look at the other three and Maka's eyes look blurry while Black*star was holding his breath. Tsubaki, however, seemed unaffected. "Snake Witch Clarabelle of Africa starting incision into the chest cavity of the African Lion." Her light and airy voice heavily contradicts with the current situation, but I always found that funny.

"I-I can't!" Maka suddenly states as she flees from the room. Without a word Black*star follows. I silently hand Tsubaki protective gear and she smiles in appreciation before putting it on. Once all the organs were taken out and the observations written and recorded it was my turn to dissect.

"Removal of the brain to perform the Reading is done by Ramla Underling," Tsubaki gives me a strange look. She had helped in removing the organs and seemed fascinated by the postmortem process. I cock my head to the side and give her a quizzical look before grabbing the bone saw Boss Lady brought out. "Starting now." The little witch took possession of the top of the skull while Tsubaki helped me to remove the brain. Once it was out and on a tray I pulled off my gloves. "Removal complete, this is the end of the recording," I press the stop button.

"I'll clean up," the little witch states before moving towards the sink.

"Boss Lady I'll take a break for a minute if you need to go outside," I offer as I throw my bloodied clothes into the hamper. Tsubaki follows suit before calling out to everyone else that we were almost done. Instead of replying Boss Lady starts wailing and ghosts her way out the door.

"What the hell was that?!" Soul shouts as they all come running back into the lab. "Oh, my god!" his complexion paled as he fell to his knees. Liz and Black*star both looked like they were about to vomit.

"Don't you dare throw up in here," I growl. The little witch hissed at them at the same time.

"I told you we were almost done," Tsubaki sighed. Kid and Maka for the most part were okay, at least they weren't gagging. "Patty don't touch the lion okay?"

"Aw man," the demon weapon cries. The little witch continued to clean up around the lab, throwing out bloodied gloves, sanitizing used tools, and tossing all the bloodied clothes into the hamper. A distant wailing can be heard through an open window somewhere in the lab. "Is that a ghost?" Patty asks.

"Tsk," the little witch chides with a roll of her eyes.

"Boss Lady Fallon is a banshee," I iterate while I wash my hands.

"Miss Fallon comes from a long line of nobles and you would be wise to respect her," the little witch interjects. After a few more minutes of silence with the occasional banshee wail the little witch and I finished cleaning everything and sewing the lion back up. Boss Lady comes gliding back into the lab with a flush coating her face.

"Alright everyone I am going to perform the Reading. I will require silence so I can concentrate on the spell."

"Will you answer our questions after that?" Maka asks.

"Probably not," I answer.

"Sh!" the little witch snaps before Maka can protest. She then opens a jar and a snake slithers out to wrap around her wrist. "Let the darkness descend…" her voice turned hollow and much older than she looked. The room was washed in darkness as she continued to chat her spell. "Allow the night to never end. In this place of pain and sorrow let us commence with the devils dance!" The eyes of her snake glowed an unearthly blue as the candles we placed around the room last night lit up.

A few people gasped and someone was fidgeting from foot to foot, I was able to enter into the trance. "Soul Protect…Off," suddenly the room was suffocating on my power. Utilizing Soul Stitching I raised the brain out off of the tray and suspended it in midair. My soul wrapped around me in my tight suit and thick cloak as I pierced all of my fingers into the brain. My eyes fluttered shut as a slight sway took hold of my body.

"Ramla," came the slippery voice of Boss Lady. "Show me what you see, Ramla."

"Yes Madam," my voice was thick with the spells magic. As the little witch's magic zapped against my own I opened my eyes and the truth was finally revealed.


I didn't know what to make of it. One minute the weak morning light was filtering in through the windows and the next we were in complete darkness. Ramla seemed perfectly content to stand next to the witch who reminded me eerily of the Witch Medusa. When the snake's eyes started glowing blue I about shot the thing right then and there. However, the lighting of the candles and Ramla's sudden decision to turn off her Soul Protect startled me.

Liz was clutching my hand in hers while Patty started flailing around at the sudden pressure change. Maka and everyone else's souls were grinding against mine in their different feelings of the situation. I was too distracted by Ramla's soul to really register the chaos, again.

Her soul was something completely different from anything I've ever seen before. It glowed a soft purple, like her eyes, with a strange golden tint around the edges. Its wavelength was beautiful it in its idiosyncrasies, which is not something I would normally think. There must be something behind my relaxed state when subjected to her soul, but I just don't understand it. I can feel my anxiety from all things asymmetrical fall away as her wavelength pulses out around us.

I felt startled when Ramla suddenly sunk her fingers into the floating brain and when that banshee commanded her she opened her eyes. Glowing blue orbs, like the snakes, looked back at us without seeing us. However, we could see. The room was filled with images that didn't quite make sense. Lots of shots of the savannah and hunting prey shuffled across the room. "Stop," the banshee commanded again. Without blinking the images stilled in thin air and she moved around until she found what it was she saw. "Here this one. Ramla enlarge this one."

A tiny picture at the edge of the mass of images moved to the center of the room and grew twice its size. It was a picture of Helena and she was fighting with the lion they just killed. "Roll the memory," the banshee says quietly. The image started to move and we watched in horrific detail as Helena was thrown from the Soul Vehicle and pounced on. Liz's grip on my hand tighten and all the air in the room seemed to evaporate. Too quickly the fight was over for the unprepared Demon Weapon and she was dragged off by the lion through some kind of portal. Three other lions appeared and only a few seconds later so did Ramla.

That was where it cut off, and the image faded to black. The little witch moved about before producing a tray and holding it under the brain. "Emergence of light I summon thee, let those blind now see," suddenly the room was washed in the bright light from the sun. The brain fell from Ramla's hands as the witch's snake slithered back into its jar. The brain fell onto the tray and the witch moved to put it somewhere else while Ramla crumpled to the ground.

"Ramla!" I shout as her soul is suddenly pulled back and the world tilted from the loss of pressure. Luckily Tsubaki stood closest to her and was quick enough. She caught Ramla in her arms and slowly sunk to the floor. Patty also fell to the floor in tears while Soul was holding Maka up. Liz and Black*star looked sick but otherwise standing and I felt worse for wear. The banshee and witch have been moving those whole time, preserving the brain, cleaning up the rest of the blood, and talking quietly to each other. "I demand to know what is going on!"

"Tsk," the witch snarls. "The big bad Shinigami wants to be told everything," her sneer would have curdled a lesser beings blood. "Can't you wait until Ramie is at least conscious again before acting high and mighty?"

"Kid-kun," I look down at Tsubaki. Ramla's face was drawn tight over her bones and a sheen of sweat could be seen dripping down her body. "She needs rest. Her heartbeat is weak," Tsubaki looked down at her troubled, I grit my teeth and concede.

"May I have my student?" the banshee slithered over to Tsubaki who gave Ramla to her. The banshee brushed a few limp curls out of Ramla's face before taking her down the hallway. "I suggest you all have something to eat. Clarabelle will you be so kind?"

"Yes Miss Fallon," the witch obeys without hesitation. She washes her hands quickly while the banshee disappears into a room down the hall. "Follow me please," her tiny sweet voice is back in full force. We all follow her back into the room we ran into earlier and then through another door. This building was deceptively small on the outside it seems. "This is the kitchen you can use whatever you would like. I am no cook therefore I leave it to you to feed yourselves. I must finish the reports and cleaning," with that she walked right back out of the room.

We all stood there in shock at the whole transgression.


Several hours have passed and Ramla was still knocked out in the other room. The witch and banshee have been zipping around the lab touching flasks, pushing buttons, and scribbling on notepads. Tsubaki snapped Maka out of her trance long enough for the two of them to make everyone food. Black*star snapped out of his funk as soon as he smelled food while Patty lifted her sister out of hers. Kid and I were still reeling from the shock of this whole fucked up situation.

Now we were sitting in the room just off the left of the lab drinking tea and not talking. Liz still looks green and Tsubaki is becoming more and more tense the longer Black*star fidgets in his chair. "Black*star!" she finally snaps. "Will you sit still, please?" her voice is tired and strained.

"Tsubaki what is going on?" Kid finally asks. A collective breath seems to have been let go now that someone is talking.

"Why are we still sitting here?" she asks.

"I don't understand," Maka intones.

"We saw what happened to Helena-chan. Why are we still here?"

"You want us to track a disappearing portal?" I ask. "We don't even know what the hell just happened and you want us gallivanting around the dessert to find a disappearing portal?"

"Soul…" Maka starts.

"No Maka," I snap. "This whole situation is fucked up and following that crazy girl out here was a stupid idea. I would say we should just go home, but now we have to find Helena." My temper flared up hotly while everyone else shuffled uncomfortably. "What?" I snap.

"Obviously they find you speaking so bluntly about a person while said person is standing behind you to be…uncomfortable," I turn around to see Ramla leaning against the door. "Wouldn't you agree?" her smile was smug, but it didn't reach her eyes. She had an arm wrapped around her middle and her color was still drained.

"You look like shit," I mutter.

"Soul!" my meister snapped. Ramla waved her off with a strained laugh that turned into a cough. The witch and banshee come up behind her and guide her into a chair by a window.

"What you saw was a spell," Ramla finally says. "Called a Reading. The Reading is a spell that can look inside someone's mind. This spell is usually used on living things, however I have adapted and evolved it. Ow…" she groans. "Anyways—ouch—what you saw were memories. That lion was one of the minions of a very powerful witch," we all looked at the witch standing next to her.

"So help me if any of you attack Clarabelle I will end you before you can move," she narrows her eyes at us. The witch clutches at Ramla's arm as the banshee moves in front of her. "She is an orphan that I picked up several years ago, Boss Lady needed a helper," she shrugs. "End of story."

"So what were we looking at then?" Kid asks. "Besides memories," he adds before Ramla could say something snarky.

"The lion's memories from the moment Helena went missing. However, I saw much more," this time her grin was feral and it lit up her whole face. Instead of cowering it seemed to embolden us all.

"What do we do now?" Tsubaki asks.

"Yes Ramla," a new voice singsonged. "What do we do now?" we turn around in time to see Stein blowing out a drag with Spirt standing right next to him.


"Go fuck yourself Stein," I growl. I was up and across the room before anyone else could move or speak. "If you hadn't taken me away—if you'd have just left me alone!" I tackled him to the ground. "She's gone you incredibly insensitive moron! She's been taken by the one person I couldn't find!" I roar as I pound his face in. His glasses shatter and blood trickles down his face. "I should have left you for dead! I shouldn't have fixed your face all those years ago! I—hate—you!" I enunciate each word with a hit.

"Papa!" I barely hear Maka protest behind me. Whatever Spirit-san said was lost to me as I continued to beat in Stein's face.

"I…I can't re-reach her…Stein you bastard," my voice wobbled. I slumped forward and rested my head against his on the tile floor. "Ow…"

"Your body is still healing from the magic," he says. I felt him spit out blood and it trickled down his face and landed on mine. "You can't go out in this condition."

"I'll be fine," I grit out.

"Come on up you go," he pushes himself up. I slump down against his chest begrudged and allow him to pick me up.

"Stein-sensei!" Tsubaki yelps as he stands up. He cradles me against his chest as unconsciousness tried to pull me under. "You're bleeding everywhere!"

"Don't worry," I hear Boss Lady say calmly. "It's easily cleaned."

"That's not the point Fallon!" Spirit-san snaps.

"Papa you know these people?!" and the world fades out again.


When I woke up I was laying down on a cold metal surface. My whole body felt like it was put through a meat grinder. "You're awake," I turn to see Boss Lady sitting in a chair near my head.

"What happened?"

"Pent up aggression and anger," she says quietly. "You beat Franken into a bloody pulp," she smirks. I wince at her smug tone, she never like Franken Stein. I struggle to sit up a couple times before giving up and laying back down heavily. "You haven't used your magic in a long time Ramla," she states clinically. "You must rest."

"Can't," I grunt as I push myself one more time. This time I manage to make it into a sitting position. "Gotta find Kaluwa, save Helena, ya know the usual."

"You are more than some average hero Ramla," her tone was stern. "There is more for you to do for this world than save one soul. Remember the last time you tried to do that?" A shot of guilt racked through my body at her words.

"Won't be alone this time," I shoot back. "Gotta get the girl back Fallon," she gave me a quizzical look at the mention of her real name. "How many times I gotta say sorry before we can move past that day?" it was a rhetorical question. Boss Lady knew I knew she wasn't angry at me anymore, that the little witch has forgiven and forgotten, and that no one blames me. The only thing is I still blame me. "I should have been stronger…" I whisper. "I'm sorry."

"Well," the little witch's voice cuts through the moment. "Are you going to sit here and whine or are you going to chase after those people?"

"What?" I say dumbly.

"Ramie for being so smart you sure are dumb," she chides. "Those DWMA people and Franken Stein have gone off to search for that girl."

"How?" I say exasperated. I never got to tell anyone the other things I saw in that lion's mind.

"They just ran off didn't even make sure you were okay. Well," she cringed. "Franken Stein checked, but ultimately he left with them as well." The little witch looked ready to strangle someone with one of her pets. Boss Lady merely nodded along with her without giving her feelings away. "I made this for you by the way," she hands me a beaker with a thick goo in it. I only look at it for a moment before throwing it back and allowing the goo to slide down my throat.

"Ick," I grimace. "Thanks." I can feel the goo working its way through my bloodstream. "Hold on I gotta take Soul Protect off," I shudder as the shield is released and my soul reins free once more. My Soul Perception awakens and buzzes in the background as souls around me zap against mine. I release the illusionary magic around my right eye and blink when the thin film that is usually over it disappears.

"You always look better this way," the little witch comments. "More…you."

"Thanks," I grumble as I roll my shoulders to loosen the muscles. I expand my Soul Perception to track the group of idiots wandering the savannah probably lost. "Alright," I say. "Time to work. Did you record everything from my memories Boss Lady?"

"Yes," she moves towards the computer. "They are all categorized here and I have pulled the relevant ones and printed them." She grabs the stack of papers from the printer and handed them to me. "I can't believe the results."

"It makes me sick," the little witch hisses. "She picked such a sacred place and desecrated the pure magic of it." Her voice turned icy as she crushed a beaker in her hand. "Find them, find the girl, and then kill that bitch."

"Will do," I say over my shoulder as I walk down the hallway. I enter into the room were my clothes were to change out of my lab coat. I strip down to nothing before pulling out my favorite top. Well top was a strong term, it was a high necked bra that I laced over it with straps that I wrapped it around my stomach, over my pants, and down my legs until I clasped them around my ankles. Without thinking I strap my holster belt around my waist with the two metallic hooks resting against my lower back. I sigh and leave it on as I slide a few bracelets up my left arm.

Finally I pull my hair back into two buns and tie them with some black ribbon. As I walk out and down the hall I pull my soul wavelength around me until I'm wrapped in my tight soul suit and my dark cloak. The quiver appears on my back while my flat bow manifests itself in my right hand. Without a look back I walk out the door, hop on the bike, and drive off after the idiots.


Sorry sorry! My BFF just got married! It's been a real stressful time for us all so I haven't been posting lately. My B ya'll, but here is the next chapter.

Keep it sparkly!

xoxo

Sparkles