"Mm…"
Maka flung up waking with a start. Her hands trembled and sweat dripped from her face. One droplet fell into her eye distracting her from the fading images of her nightmare. After blinking her eyes clear, Maka finally looked around her.
She was in a small room with a high ceiling. The walls were painted a deep red and instead of a door there was a thick velvety black curtain. On the wall to her left, there was a large rounded full-body mirror. Its frame, thicker at the bottom and thinning the closer it got to the top, was silver and made to look like the twisting flames of fire. The mirror itself shone brightly. No a streak could be seen in its flawless glass.
Maka looked up into the blinding light of the low hanging chandelier. She quickly closed her eyes to block the light. Once settled again, Maka got off the padded bench she had been laying on and stood. Her legs wobbled for a moment but Maka soon gained control of her balance.
Curious to find out more of this strange place, she walked over to the curtain slowing down after she passed the mirror. Backtracking, Maka stood in front of the mirror. She looked down at her ragged and torn clothes from her fight with Wes. Her skin still held the battle scars – most having turned a dull white while the skin around them was darker than normal – while most of her bruises healed themselves save for the larger ones which had only shrunk and dulled.
"Wes…" Maka thought with a sigh as her shoulders slumped at the memory of the tall white haired boy that was Soul's older brother. She quickly shook off her sudden sorrow before it consumed her and looked away from the mirror just in time to watch as the black curtains slowly began to peel back and a tall dark figure appear.
Maka's muscles instinctively bunched defensively. She took a deep breath and relaxed a bit though she didn't allow her guard to slip even in the slightest.
The light from her room didn't reach all the way out for Maka to make out much detail of the figure's features but she was able to tell that the figure was standing tall and its hands were hanging at its sides.
The figure smiled. Its sharp teeth glowed in the light that did reach out of her room and Maka shivered as a cold chill wound its way up her spine. She stared at the mysterious figure as it lifted its hand to her. When she didn't move, it tilted its head to the side a bit and its smile widen a bit.
Maka still didn't budge but instead asked, "Who are you?" When it didn't answer she tried something else. "Where am I then?"
This time the figure lowered its hand and Maka watched as its teeth quickly became hidden then reappear again laughing silently in the dark where it stood. The figure suddenly turned on its heel and with a final tilted look back at Maka began to walk away.
Before she could stop herself Maka yelled wait and hurried after the figure into the dark.
Soul pressed Maka's limp form against his body. He could still see the rise and fall of her chest and he smiled glad to have not killed her.
Yet.
He looked down at Maka's wrist which sported a new cut where Soul let his own dark blood flow into her and her own through the open portals. When he had knocked her unconscious, he forced himself upon her and kissed her deeply in her sleeping state. A flutter of hope that she may fight back or, less plausible, wake and kiss him back with the same burning passion fell away when her heart rate slowed and her chest rose and fell slower.
Soul look down at Maka again. He gingerly wiped away stray strands of hair that fell into her eyes. He looked back down at her wrist and sighed. Closing his eyes Soul maneuvered his way through the dark before materializing in the Black – now changed to the Dark Room. The Demon was nowhere to be found but Soul didn't bother to look either. He silently clicked his tongue then left again. Though back in his body, Soul left his eyes closed as he remembered the Demon's words:
"Oh Master Evens, I have a question for you"
"What is it?" Soul hissed without bothering to look up from his piano.
"Would you be glad to keep the girl Maka Alburn?"
Soul finally looked away and at the Demon. His eyes narrowed. "You persuaded me yourself that because she still cared for my - that bastard child, I should just end her. She was always my obstacle for gaining real power," Soul stood "the power of a kishin. It was her betrayal that created me, the Kishin of Ire as you called me." He moved closer to the Demon, "So why would I want her alive to continue to be a useless barrier?"
The Demon sighed, undeterred by Soul's cross interrogation. "Though you refuse to say it I can clearly sense your deep affection for the girl underneath your rage Master Evens."
At the time Soul simply responded with, "And your point is?" though he knew the Demon's words to be true.
The Demon gave a small grin. "I know of a way to save her. End her past sins and renew her soul," Soul's heart gave small hopeful lurch, "but it comes at the price of your own blood." The Demon hissed the blood letting it slide off his lips.
Soul backed off some and leaned against his piano crossing his arms against his chest. "What do you mean, it'll cost my blood?"
"Well Master Evens I plan on erasing her memory of the boy Wes"
Soul rolled his wrists willing the Demon to continue.
The Demon shook his head and sighed as if the answer was obvious. "I need to get her head but her body rejects me. To get to her head, I need a constant stream of your blood in her body before I'm rejected again."
Soul was quiet while he nodded. He looked the Demon in the eye and asked "What do I need to do?"
The Demon grinned, showing off his pointed teeth. "Just cut yourself and her open and let the blood mingle. I will take care of the rest"
Soul opened his eyes and looked down at Maka. Her skin had paled and he was sure his had as well. Soul planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Just hang on…meister"