Sorry! Sorry! I've been distracted and busy these last few months and it's been hard to write and post. But here is a loooooooong chapter.
We were all driving on in a stony silence towards the Paarl Mountains. Spirit-sensei was driving the car again as Soul, Maka, Stein-sensei, and Ramla rode on the bikes. Whenever I looked out at them Maka and Soul were quiet while Stein-sensei was saying something to Ramla, but I couldn't make out the movement of his lips enough to discern any words. Ramla looked tired and wired at the same time with her hair blowing wildly in the wind, but her posture alert and rigid.
Liz and Patty were both staring nervously at me, each other, and out the windows while Black*star was polishing one of Tsubaki's many forms. No one seemed interested in the apparent terror this witch causes in Ramla and yet she was the first to jump headfirst into this supposed Cave of the Unholy. Or the fact that you have to be pure to walk into this cave and Ramla's only response was 'I have a plan.'. This whole day seemed like it was going to end badly, I just hope we have Helena no matter what.
"We're here," Spirit-sensei says. Three huge mountain peaks loom over us as we drive around the outskirts of them. Stein-sensei and Soul both take a sharp left turn into a cave before we hear the engines die. Spirit-sensei follows after them and soon we find ourselves under one of the mountains in total darkness.
"Where are we?" I hear Maka ask.
"This is one of the many underground entrances. These mountains are scared for a reason," Ramla explains. "So, be careful how you walk."
"I can't see shit!" Black*star complains.
"Be careful!" Ramla hisses at him. "Maka I'm going to need you to cast your soul around all of us."
"W-what?" she squawks. "I can't do that!"
"You have to otherwise we will all die," Ramla deadpanned. "When we reach the Cave of the Unholy you are not going to fight. Do you understand? We will protect you from attacks, but if you can't protect us from the wavelengths in the cave everyone dies."
"But…I don't understand what you want from me…" Maka says dejected.
"It's okay," Ramla's voice was suddenly soft. "Reach for your soul with your palms open. Do not move threateningly otherwise your soul will not respond the right way. Souls are fragile, gentle things and need to be handled as such."
"O…kay," Maka murmurs.
"Everyone else transform into weapons form, I don't want anyone unprotected," she held a type of authority that only comes from experience.
"Right!" we all agree. Liz and Patty are soon warm in my hands as familiar comfort races through me. Their souls sing against my own as we prepare for whatever comes next.
"Maka do you have it?"
"I think so," came her timid response.
"Now stretch it," Ramla drops her Soul Protect. "And reach out to all of us. Wrap your soul around ours. You are not trying to connect with us but protect us instead." Ramla pauses for a moment as a strange sensation envelops around me. A few people make exclamations at the strange feeling, but otherwise it is quiet in the cave. "There you go, see you can do it. Now drop it and save your strength for the actual cave." Just as suddenly as it appeared the strange sensation was gone.
"What the hell was that?" Black*star rages in the darkness.
"Expansive Soul Protect," Stein-sensei breathes out. "How did you…" he trails off in a wondrous tone.
"It wasn't easy and we don't have time to discuss it right this moment," Ramla responds. "Now everyone follow me," her soul lit up around her illuminating the place, "and stay close." We all huddle together watching every way an enemy could possibly attack while Ramla maneuvered us around the cave with ease. It was like she had been here before.
"Ramla?" I suddenly ask, unable to keep my curiosity in check.
"Yes?" she whispers back.
"How do you know this cave so well?"
"Oh," she laughs lightly. "I don't but my soul is pinging off any obstacle and sending the signal back to me. Kind of like a bat so I just call it Soul Sonar."
"You can do that?" Maka asks incredulous. Ramla merely laughs as she skillfully dodges around a column.
"You have no idea what I can do," came her answer. After that we continued on in a tense silence as the cave went further and further down beneath the mountain. My ears were popping and the mild discomfort was irritating. I could see Maka and Black*star were both trying to adjust to the pressure as well. Ramla's overpowering soul didn't help, but it was nice to know that it was on our side. "Everyone be still…don't make any…sudden moves…" Ramla warned.
"The wind is different here," Stein-sensei comments.
"Mhm it is indeed," Ramla agrees. I strain to understand their conclusion, but to no avail. Both Liz and Patty are just as confused so we all waited silently for further instructions. "Maka now is the time that you need to get to the back of the group. Switch with Kid and Kid come stand on my left. Maka throw up that shield and make sure it doesn't come down for any reason. Black*star," she pauses.
"What?" he barks.
"You can't stray too far from the pack when the initial attack happens. If you do and Maka's shield is broken we all die—got it?"
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles. "Hurry up Maka!"
"Don't yell at me!" she snaps back before muttering something about men being pigs while taking my position. When that strange sensation is back up Ramla commands us forward and into the next part of the cave we go.
We passed under the Arch of Judgement and into the Hall of the Damned without any trouble. Maka's Expansive Soul Protect was working marvelously, but I was still on edge. No one was there to greet us into the lair. It was way too quiet and that made me nervous, so nervous in fact that I could feel Stein throwing me looks over his shoulder. I ignore him as we push deeper into the underground cave. Once out of the Hall we find ourselves in a large room with several tunnel options.
"Well shit what do we do now?" Black*star quips. I roll my eyes before sending my soul out to reach Helena's soul.
"Can you see them, Stein?" I murmur softly.
"More than a hundred by my count," he replies. I nod my head in agreement before moving towards the right furthermost tunnel.
"How can you tell Ramla?" Maka asks. "I can barely see anything beyond this stone."
"It's hard to explain…" I mutter. "Helena is this way." We walk down the path for some time before I stiffen, everyone tenses around me ready for a fight.
"Well, well the prodigal child returns," comes the purr of a very familiar voice.
"Nala," I sneer. The lioness growls lowly in a warning tone that tickled my spine.
"You still try to push my buttons," her growl was strained as she slipped into my vision range. "You shall not be getting any closer with your mad scientist and…team. Since when do you work in a team?" she howls with laughter.
"Ade," Stein says coolly. "It's been a long time."
"It has hasn't it mad scientist?" she crows. "Too bad this will be short!" and she jumped. Stein threw out Spirit-san without his blade to block her blow. I pull my soul around me into my clock and bow. Black*star yells out in excited exclamation as he jumps off of Stein's shoulder to nose dive Ade. I took out two others that crawled out of the shadow before they mauled him to death. Kid kept back to watch Maka and my left as I bounced from stalagmite to stalagmite taking out enemies rushing at us. Helena's soul has not moved luckily enough while Maka's was back there making a racket against my own.
"You're mine Nala!" I shout as I finally slay another one of my nightmares. When her soul was the only thing left the others backed off. The lions melted back into the shadows and disappeared deeper into the cave. I grab Black*star by his collar and drag him back towards the group. Stein and Kid stand around Maka while I throw the idiot back in his place. "What part of don't wander far from the group didn't you understand?" I growl.
He was about to say something, but Kid knocked him in his head before he could say it. I threw him a grateful glance before heading after the darkness and picked up a few tainted souls along the way.
It was a strange thing fighting alongside Ramla. Her style was unmistakably one that preferred solo settings. Yet at the same time she never let anyone near Maka and Soul she even took the brunt of a rather nasty blow to the stomach. Patty was having too much fun with this mission as we took out lion after lion. Black*star was just as excited as he and Tsubaki crashed through the throng of enemies with victory howls.
What was the strangest thing was watching Stein-sensei fight alongside Ramla. Their movements were on a whole other level. I've never seen a pair of meister's work so well together. Without apparent communication they knew exactly where the other person was and whatever move they were about to employ. Almost like dancing, except with a devastating outcome to our opponent, they moved gracefully. I stood back and was the final line of defense for Maka and long range support for everyone else.
Around wave six or seven of lions Ramla finally snapped. "Enough!" she screamed before jumping up onto a stalagmite. It appeared that she anchored her soul to the rock to steady herself as she drew back her bow.
"Get back!" Stein-sensei shouts before grabbing Black*star and throwing him behind me. He kicked a lion that tried to take his head off before jumping back behind Ramla.
"Soul Paralysis!" she launches arrow after arrow at the enemy line. "Soul Collector!" Once again in the blink of an eye she took out all of our enemies with a single shot. Maka and I turned to gaze at her waiting for the drop that came after the last time she used that technique. Instead she detached herself from the rock and jumped down to our level. "Let's go," she growls. Stein-sensei did not hesitate in following her and since he seemed undisturbed by her lack of falling over we all proceeded after them.
There can't be anything anymore strange than this whole situation.
"This is it," I breathe out quietly. I was crouched down behind a rock with Maka while Black*star and Kid hid behind another with Stein standing a couple paces in front of all of us. I know the bitch can sense me from this distance, yet she isn't doing anything. From the looks of it she is just sitting calmly with her minions surrounding her. My breathing has become unsteady as I try to focus my eyes in the darkness.
"You okay?" Maka whispers to me.
"Y-yeah," came my shaky response. There is another Grigori soul here, but it was somehow foggy. Like it was deliberately being blocked by something else so I couldn't get a read on the person it belonged to.
'No time to really worry about that. But it does explain how she has been down here without being affected by the cave's curse.' I pull the hood of my cloak up and motion for everyone to fall into line. We all move out in formation to burst through the last big pieces of rocks to stumble into lightness. The cave finally opened up and it was beautiful. Like something straight out of dream of your comfort zone. Bioluminescent creatures swam lazily in two giant ponds that were only disturbed by water dripping from the ceiling.
Everyone seemed to stand still for a moment and in that moment I wanted to vomit again. She was sitting on a natural stone throne with her legs causally swung over the side. Her jet black hair was pulled impossibly high on top of her head in a sort of crown while her bright green cat eyes stared directly at me. "Hello Ramie," her deep tone was ridiculous in her childish voice. "I've missed you." She was wearing a ball gown that sparkled in the blue light.
"Kaluwa," I snarl.
"I suppose you want my play thing?" her uncaring nature has always rubbed me the wrong way. "Hello mad scientist it is so nice to see you again."
"Kaluwa," Stein said cordially. "I'm afraid we require Helena back. If you would be so kind," he holds his hand out like she was really going to give Helena back so easily.
"Mhm," she responds thoughtfully. "I just don't know if I am through with her yet."
"Give us back our friend you cow!" Black*star screams at her. Suddenly the air in the room became very still.
'Fucking idiot!' I seethe. Kaluwa brought her legs around to plant them firmly on the ground.
"I'm so sorry," she starts. "What did you say?" She stands up to her full four foot six inches—that's while wearing heels. Yes she was heavier set and she was definitely sensitive about it. So, of course Black*star had to go and make a comment on it and now she is royally pissed. "It sounded an awful lot like you were making fun of me," her voice was wavering with unshed tears.
"Oh no…" my heartrate went through the room. 'It's okay…you're okay, but you have to get Helena back.'
"I-I don't like it wh-when people make—fun of m-me," she stuttered. I was suddenly snapped out of my stupor. Kaluwa doesn't stutter or mumble or stumble she was mimicking Helena!
"You bitch!" I seethe with fire. My soul responds happily to my rage as it danced around me in a fierce purple hue.
"Ah Ramie you're no fun," she pouts as she slowly walks down the stairs. "I mean it is just the cutest when she stutters like an imbecile? I mean isn't that why you kept her around? To make yourself feel smarter?"
"Shut up," I ground out as I notch an arrow in my bow.
"Still using that tired old thing?" she huffs at me. "Honestly Ramie you hold onto the past to tightly."
"Shut up," I spit. I launch the arrow straight at her heart. "Just shut up you wicked thing!" I send another arrow flying. I follow closely behind it as it embeds itself in the body of a minion and punch the next one in the face. "I'm going to kill you." Just like that a fight erupts in a chaotic symphony behind me. Kaluwa jumps back to stand on the top of her throne as her minions crawl out of the darkness again.
Stein and Kid do a good job watching over Maka as Black*star finally lets loose and cuts through the lines of lions and lionesses. I ward off the few that get in my way, but it didn't take long to get into a one-on-one battle with Kaluwa.
"Li-Li-Lioness!" she summons her staff that she made from a scared elm tree many years ago. A lions head adorned the top of the staff while runes were scribed up and down the shaft so she could cast spells faster. Her battle cry is one that has been perfected over the years and could—has—terrified lesser opponents into surrender. As she swung her staff with expert ease I threw up barriers to deflect her.
"Is that all you've got?" I bark in laughter as I launch another arrow. She tries to flick it away with her staff, but it had a tacky quality to it and stuck to the wood.
"What the he—?!" she was cut off when it exploded and sent her flying back into her throne. A solid thud and sickening crack rang out through the cave.
"I will not ask again Kaluwa," I snarl as I rush her at the throne. I pick her up by the neck and slam her against the chair. "Where is she?"
"My Lady are you in need of assistance?" a purely male voice intones from behind the slab of rock behind the throne. My heart drops into my stomach and an acidic taste fills my mouth.
'No way…'
"Oh my pet," Kaluwa coughs out. My fingers tightened around her throat in response to her words.
"Of course My Lady," the voice moved closer and suddenly the person the voice belonged to was standing right next to us.
'No…no way….' My startled purple eyes met the brightest blue eyes right before I felt the hit. Straight into my ribcage the punch was solid and I completely missed it. I was arching up into the air before any sense returned to me. I managed to roll onto my side and land harshly on my right shoulder and hip.
"My pet you are just so—so good to me," Kaluwa purrs.
"Ramla!" Stein yells my name, but I can't really hear him. My eyes are glued to the boy with the blue eyes. Kaluwa is fawning all over him and my irritation levels skyrocket.
"Never let a peasant do a god's job!" Black*star shouts as he flies in to punch the boy.
"B-B-Black*star!" I scream as I try to roll into a sitting position. "No!" Kaluwa of course did not let Black*star get close enough before she blasted him with a spell. He went down hard right next to me, Tsubaki went flying out of his hands and landed near Maka.
"What the hell Goat?!" he growls at me. I struggle to my feet while ignoring him and limp closer to the boy.
"Ramla!" Stein manages to finally rush over to me and pick up Tsubaki in the process. "Black*star get back!" once again Black*star is picked up and thrown behind him. He lifts me up before turning his weapon towards our opponents; all the minions have stopped attacking.
"Do you want to see my new play thing Ramie?" Kaluwa quips. "She really is quiet beautiful. Then again you've always had a weak spot for beautiful things," she gives a side eye to the boy. With the snap of her fingers Helena appeared at her feet. She was covered in dirt and blood, her shirt was torn into shreds, and her hair was matted to her face. When she opened her eyes the bright light that usually shinned out of them was dulled. Her lips were swollen and busted in two places.
I didn't even struggle in Stein's arms as I continued to stare at the boy. I think someone was screaming my name, but the roaring in my head was too loud. The boy moved to pick Helena up and it was only then that I realized Helena was the one screaming at me. "R-R-Ramla! Please! Please!" she sobbed.
"Kaluwa!" I roar as I shove out of Stein's grasp and manifest my bow. My soul flared out in a red hot wave of anger as I notched a bow and pointed it straight at the bitch. I let the arrow fly and she dodges it easily with a cackle.
"Is that the best you can do Ramie?" she says condescendingly. With a smug smirk I look at her from under my hood and pull the Soul String in my hand tight. As soon as I let it go I get pulled forward at a break neck speed right for her face. I manage a solid blow to her face and the smell of blood fills my nose. My chest tightens with anticipation for more blood as my soul pulses out in waves that rattled the cave walls.
Kaluwa staggers to her feet and with shaking hands points her staff at me. "I don't think so! Soul Stitching!"
"W-what?!" she sputters as she finds herself locked into place by my move. Just as I was about to take her head as a trophy a familiar feeling bounced against my wavelength and I moved at the last moment to avoid having my head taken off. My focus was scattered and the Soul Stitching dissipated allowing Kaluwa to back up and her minions to flood in around me. When I spun around I made a quick check of everyone and they seemed more or less intact. I landed my gaze on the boy who was now strangling Helena.
I grit my teeth as I mow through the minions to make my way to Helena. One of the lions managed to bite my shoulder ripping through my cloak and breaking skin. I merely shoved my fist through his eye with my other hand and punctured his brain. Another minion managed to scrape my right leg, but even bleeding profusely I broke through their ranks and came face to face with the boy. Helena was struggling to breathe as his arm continued to crush her windpipe. Before another minion could take a swipe at me I jump and attempt to dislodge Helena from his arm.
"Let go!" I shout as I kick his feet out from under him. "Give her back to me!"
"Ramla!"
"Ram!" I turn to see the minions have ganged up on the others and there was no shortage of blood to be sure. I curse inwardly before notching my electric arrow and taking out a handful of the lions and lionesses. Maka is starting to look pale and sickly while Stein and Black*star beat back the others. Kid is trying to keep Kaluwa at bay with is long-range attacks.
'We can't keep this up…' I think quickly as I turn back to Helena and the boy. By this point Helena has passed out and the boy was staring at me blankly. "Soul Force," I whisper quietly as I slam my hand against the ground and send out a shockwave to knock down the enemies. The boy was startled enough that he didn't react in time and was sent back a few feet, slamming into the wall. Kaluwa fell off her perch and was caught by a lioness.
"Enough of this!" Kaluwa screeches as she reaches out for her staff and hits it on the ground. "My pet let's go! Minions handle the rest," she growls before her and the boy disappear in a cloud of smoke. All the lions and lionesses started to growl and snarl as I looked at the spot where the boy had been moments before. I slid my gaze over to the rest of the group and saw that they were beaten and bloody enough without going in for another round. I pick up Helena and throw her over my shoulder as I squash my soul back under Soul Protect.
"Let's play…" I hiss as I cut through the minions without a second thought.
Maka was breathing harshly in my arms, she looked terrible. Not that any of us looked any better. Ramla has started to tear through the enemy lines with her bare hands and Helena was slung over her shoulder. Blood was soaking through her battle suit and Helena looked the worst of all of us. At the end of the slaughter Ramla stood in the center of the cave breathing heavily. Luckily Black*star did not jump in to fight near her, he would have certainly lost his head.
Stein-sensei walked over to her slowly with Spirit-sensei casually laid across his shoulders. With his left hand he pulls Helena up and cradled her to his chest and with his right hand he grabbed Ramla and threw her over his shoulder. Her face was blank and unreadable as Stein-sensei turned back to us. "Let's go." No one argued as we walked out of that killing field and back into the sunlight.
Back at that lab the Snake Witch Clarabelle was attending to Helena while the Banshee Fallon took care of Ramla. Stein-sensei patched the rest of us up with little more than three words uttered. It was too silent in the lab, Liz and Patty were passed out with Tsubaki in one of the rooms down the hall while Soul and Maka were sleeping on the couch in the adjacent room. Black*star was pacing in front of the computer while Spirit-sensei sat in the chair with a dull look. We were all waiting on the other Deathscythe and meister to show up before calling my father.
'We accomplished our mission of rescuing Helena. However, our primary objective of bring Ramla back to the DWMA has failed…if anything we've accomplished making her want to stay as far away from us and the DWMA as possible.' I sigh in frustration as Clarabelle came into the room. "How is Helena?" I ask.
"She's fine," the witch says in a clipped tone. "A little banged up and a little shaken, but she will be fine."
"Thank goodness," I breathe. "And Ramla?" I ask cautiously. She merely shrugs before moving towards the sink to wash her hands.
"Miss Fallon is still in there. She said not to disturb her," Clarabelle said nonchalantly. At that moment the front door banged open and Dengu-san and Alexandre-san walked in. Spirit-sensei and Stein-sensei both got up and walked towards them in greeting.
"Is it true?" Dengu-san said. He sounded royally pissed off, "is it true Stein? Was he there?" Stein-sensei, ever true to character, pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"Yeah," he finally answered after blowing out smoke. "It's true." Alexandre-san and Dengu-san looked like they were about to put someone's head through a wall. "Shall we call Lord Death?"
I stumble out of the room in a haze. The last couple of days have been a blur of voices and movement that I didn't quite understand. Whenever I asked for Ramla a voice always said she was away. 'All that work to get her back…wasted,' I think as I slowly walk down a hallway. I hear voices, muffled and tired sounding, from the end of the hall but I could not make out what they were saying. As I finally reached the end of the hall the bright lights burned my eyes.
"Oh, Helena," a soft female voice chides. "You should be in bed asleep." There was no way to form words. My lips haven't been working properly and I can't seem to remember how to speak. "There, there girl," a small figure approaches me. "Let's sit down, how about a cup of tea?" The figure maneuvered me around the room and placed me into a chair. It was hard and uncomfortable, but I didn't know what else to do other than sit. Other figures were milling about in and out of my line of fuzzy sight. "Here," something was thrusted into my hand. I did not manage to hold whatever it was. A sharp clatter and a shout followed the thing slipping from my hand.
"Oi, oi, oi what's all the noise?" another voice growled.
"R-Ramla?" and just like that the world came into focus. At my feet was a pretty teacup shattered into a million pieces, a little girl was glaring at me, Stein-sensei and Spirit-sensei were standing near a computer, while everyone else was sitting and standing in various places. At the entrance to a hallway Ramla stood hunched over wrapped in bandages, only thing covering her is a bedsheet. Her hair is matted to her face by sweat.
"Ramla," another female voice scolded. "You need to return to bed right this instant." I turn to see a tall willowy woman with long red hair making a scary face at Ramla.
"Ram," Stein-sensei says. "Go to bed."
"No," she snarls. "Don't tell me what to do. Neither of you can tell me what to do."
"Ramla," Dengu-san growls.
"Shut up," she snaps back. "I am in pain, I am hungry, and I am very, very angry." Her voice dropped to a dangerous level. Both Maka and Black*star did not say a word during this whole thing. "What I need to know is what in the bloody hell happened in that cave?" A very tense silence follows her question and I shift uncomfortably in my seat. Her eyes snap over to me and suddenly a flash of panic crosses her face. I watch in mute horror as she stumbles forward and trips over the bed sheet.
When it falls away I can see the extent of her injuries. A bloody bandage covers her right shoulder while her entire right leg is wrapped in gauze, a zig zagging wrapping is pulled tight across her chest and stomach while something akin to shorts covered her. "Ramla!" I scream as I surge forward trying to catch her. Luckily, Kid and Liz were close enough and they caught her before she face planted and the little girl grabbed my arm to hold me back.
"Stay put," the little girl hisses at me. She sets me back in the chair and rushes over to Ramla. "Can't you follow directions for once in your life?" she snapped before hauling Ramla over her tiny shoulder and marching back down the hall. No one spoke as she slammed the door shut and the echo rattled the windows.
"W-what just h-happened?" I ask. A headache was starting to form behind my eyes as the light became too much to handle.
"Helena Boughwright," the tall red headed woman said. "You were very lucky."
"L-lucky?!" I hiccup. "Ho-how on e-earth can y-you think I-I am lucky?"
"Ramla must care very deeply for you," came her breathy response. Her faraway gaze seemed to look right through me. Stein-sensei moved away from the computer and walked down the hall and entered Ramla's room.
"I am just so confused," Liz huffed finally. "Miss Fallon isn't there anything you can tell us?"
"There are somethings that are better left in the dark," this Miss Fallon turned her gaze towards the hallway. "You should go home."
"W-w-what?!" I screech. "After everything—everything that has just happened you want us to just…just leave…" I lost steam at the end. My headache came back with full force and I doubled over.
"Helena!" Maka rushes over to me. "You still have a fever," she chides. "Come on. We gotta get you back into bed. Soul help me," she orders. Soon enough I am being hauled down the hall and back into the room I started in. Maka tucked me in like a child as Soul walked back out into the room.
"Maka?"
"Yeah?" she says quietly. She looked tired and beaten.
"Are you okay?" she looked shocked by my question.
"Y-yeah," she mutters. "I'm just exhausted by this whole thing."
"Me too," I admit.
"Why did you want to partner with her, Helena?" I stare at the ceiling for a long time before answering.
"She was nice to me," I answer. "I ran into her and she didn't yell at me. She didn't make a face or hit me," I felt tears bubble in the corner of my eyes. "She didn't even make a big deal out of it. And then she let me be near her," the tears started to fall. "She saved me from the two times Black*star almost squished me and then she actually let me be her weapon. I just wanted someone to fight with, that's all." Maka was silent for a while. When I looked at her there was a curious thing in her eyes. "What is it, Maka?"
"Did…did someone hit you Helena?" my chest constricted painfully at her words. I was just so tired and confused and sad that lying seemed so pointless.
"Yes."
