Soul let out a groan as Melody began screaming.
"Melly's crying," Maka mumbled.
"I can hear her," he grumbled.
"Go take care of her…"
"I'm going, woman."
Soul got out of bed and went into the nursery, where Melody was kicking her feet as she cried.
"C'mon, Mel," he sighed, picking up his daughter. "You sound just like Kris did when she was a baby… course, you don't know who Kris is…"
Melody kept crying. Soul went and got a bottle, which he stuck in his daughter's mouth. She began sucking on it hungrily, making him smile a little. He began rocking her and singing softly as he tried to get her back to sleep.
"Ribbit."
He looked at the windowsill and saw Eruka sitting there in frog form. He almost yelled, but stopped himself just in time. Soul laid the now-sleeping Melody in her crib before turning to the frog witch.
"You'd better have a good reason for being here," he hissed.
"I need to talk to you and Maka. Ribbit."
"Can't it wait until morning?"
"Nope. It's about Melody… and Kristen."
That got Soul's attention. He turned back around and stared.
"Get Maka and meet me in the kitchen. Ribbit."
Maka sat down at the kitchen table, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. Eruka had transformed back into her human form and sat down, too.
"What's this about my daughter and my sister?" Soul inquired.
"It's about Medusa," Eruka replied. "She has your sister under a spell and is planning to take Melody away."
"What does she want with our baby?" Maka asked, shaking.
"Your daughter is the child of both Black Blood and a Grigori Soul. Medusa thinks she'd make an interesting experiment."
"Over my dead body!" Soul growled.
"That's the thing: she's sending Kristen to get the baby. She thinks you won't willingly attack your own little sister. I came to warn you because I felt it was only right. Experimenting on an infant—that's something even most witches are unwilling to do. I don't want to see a baby harmed."
"Thanks, Eruka," Maka told the frog. "We can take it from here. Just send us a message when she's on her way."
"I will. Be careful."
"SHE'S DONE WHAT?!" roared Holly, shocking everyone. Soul cringed. Despite the fact that his mother was a percussionist, she had vocal cords that could rival some of the top singers in the world.
"Put a spell on Kristen," Maka repeated, holding Melody tightly in her arms. "She wants Melody and she's using Kristen to get her."
"How dare she?!" growled Spirit. "Not my granddaughter!"
"What are we going to do?" Tsubaki asked.
"We're gonna kill the witch, obviously!" Black*Star scoffed.
"I mean about Kristen! We can't just fight her! She could get hurt!"
Kid got to his feet and took a confident stance that they hadn't seen him take in the four months since he'd broken up with the second-youngest (Melody being the first) Evans.
"I'll face her," he volunteered.
"Uh, no offense to you finally snapping out of your self-pity-party, but I'm not shooting a fourteen-year-old," Liz piped up.
"I'm facing her alone. No Weapons."
"Are you crazy?! We don't know what she could do—"
"And I don't want my apology to her for breaking her heart because I was a selfish bastard to be on her deathbed!"
That silenced Liz, and everyone began preparing.
It was decided that the Evans-Albarn families would live at the Academy for the time being. It was the safest place for Melody, and her family (both her mother and father's sides) refused to leave her. They awaited the warning from Eruka.
Maka found motherhood slightly easier with her parents and Soul's mother so close by. She still refused a lot of help from anyone but Soul, who had stepped into the doting-daddy shoes like they were made for him. Spirit was obviously jealous that his daughter and granddaughter preferred the white-haired annoyance, but he swallowed his pride for the sake of protecting Melody. Besides, he knew Soul was a good man and would never hurt Maka.
"Um… Mr. Evans…?"
Soul turned to see one of the newest NOT students, a shy girl named Ruby, peeking around the corner. She was a Weapon to her Meister older sister, Michelle, and they were pretty much attached at the hip. Unsurprisingly, Michelle was just around the corner holding something in a box.
"We found this outside, and it started talking," Michelle informed the Death Scythe in her typical bolder fashion. "It said to bring it to you."
She opened the box to reveal a heavily-injured Eruka in frog form. She was heaving shallow breaths. Soul took the box from Michelle.
"Thank you," he told her.
"Kimmy said it's a witch."
"Kimmy's right."
"Okay. Bye, Soul!"
Michelle turned to leave, Ruby right on her heels.
As soon as the sisters were out of sight, Soul ran to the infirmary. Stein was busily working, Kim reading a book on healing spells nearby.
"Eruka's here," he panted.
"Goodbye, book!" declared Kim, tossing it away before taking the box. "Give me a minute and she'll be able to give us the information. Go to the Death Room and let Lord Death know that she's here."
Eruka was transformed back into her normal human form and brought to the Death Room once she'd healed. She gulped as she stood before four powerful Meisters, two Death Scythes, three well-above-average Weapons, and the Grim Reaper himself. It was an intimidating situation for anyone and made the frog witch shift uncomfortably on her feet.
"So… what is it?" Maka asked.
"They're on their way," Eruka stammered. "Kristen… she found out I warned you and did the damage."
"Impossible. My sister wouldn't hurt anyone who didn't deserve it," Soul snapped.
"She's not herself, remember? I've seen her in the past, and this spell is making her insecurities her driving force. Medusa got into her head and now she's hell-bent on revenge."
"DAMMIT!" Soul punched the floor.
"How'd you get here, then?" Liz asked.
"Mizune. She carried me most of the way before Medusa got her."
"How long do we have?" Kami, ever the practicalist, asked.
"I'd say until tomorrow morning at the latest. At the earliest, this evening."
"Not much time to prepare, but we can do it."
The plan was simple: Maka, Holly, Wes, and Blair would protect Melody directly. Soul, Black*Star, Stein, Liz, Patti, Spirit, and Tsubaki would back Kid up as he went to break the spell on Kristen and get Crona on their side. If all went well, they'd send a blade right through Medusa herself and end all the nonsense.
By evening, the Kishin army Medusa had attacked the wedding with had arrived, already putting massive strain on the school's forces. Kimmy, one of Michelle's friends who happened to be Weapon to a Meister named Cody, had almost lost it at the sight of Ruby and Michelle being struck down. Instead, Cody rushed at the Kishin, fighting harder than before.
Kid was alone.
No Kishin were coming towards him, no battles raged nearby.
He was completely alone.
"Just like you'll always be," a familiar voice sneered. He looked up to see… Kristen?
The young Scythe had changed in the three months she'd been missing. Her long white hair, once smooth and silky soft, had been made grungy and dirty, streaked with black and purple. Her red eyes glowed with hatred, an emotion he hadn't even known the girl he loved was capable of possessing. Even her teeth seemed more intimidating.
"Kristen…" he murmured.
"Surprised to see me, Kid?" she asked, flicking a lock of hair over her shoulder.
"No, because I'm going to help you."
"How are you going to help me?"
"By breaking the spell."
"HA! You can't do that, Mr. Reaper. The spell brings out a person's most buried feelings. For me, it's how much I'm unloved. By my parents. By my brothers. By the woman who's supposed to be my sister. Even by someone who swore up and down he loved me. Unfortunately, the Kristen who rolled over and just wanted everyone to be happy is dead. Bitchy Kristen is in her place."
Kid shot a blast of energy in her direction, catching her off-guard. She dodged it with ease, but he tackled her to the ground.
"I don't want to hurt you, Kristen."
"That's too bad, because I can't wait to hurt you!"
She managed to kick him off her and dove between his legs. He felt her land on his back and her tiny hands covered his eyes. It reminded him of when she'd flirted with him—back before everything went to shit.
"This is for breaking my heart!" She dug her nails (were they sharpened?!) into his temples. He began trying to throw her off him, but she had a death grip.
"What about your brothers?!"
"Please! Soul has his stupid girlfriend and Wes has his career! They probably didn't even notice when I was gone!"
"They've been worried sick!"
"Then why weren't they in the search parties?"
"Wes had to take care of your mother and Soul couldn't leave Maka when she was so close to birth!" Finally, he managed to loosen her grip and throw her off his back. She fell to the ground but quickly got back on her feet.
"What happened to the woman who gave birth to me?"
"She had a nervous breakdown right after you went missing."
"And my father?"
"Didn't even care, but we do! Stop fighting and just come home!"
"KID!" Black*Star appeared behind Kristen using Speed*Star. Kristen whirled around at the interruption and Kid took the opportunity to attack. He hooked his arms around Kristen's upper arms and held her there.
"LET GO, YOU IDIOTIC BASTARD!" she shrieked.
"Not until we break the spell!"
"Well, we're gonna be here a while, because I'm not doing anything with a heartbreaking j—"
She was cut off as Kid turned her face towards his and kissed her on the lips.
The change was almost immediate. Her hair returned to white, the excess strength granted by the spell leaving her body as she closed her eyes and kissed him back. They broke apart for air, Kristen's eyes tearing up.
"OMIGOD, KID! I'M SO SORRY!" she wailed, her arms wrapped around him. He hugged her to his chest and buried his face in her hair.
"It's alright," he whispered over her sobs of apology.
"No! I was horrible and I attacked you and tried to kidnap my niece and—"
"Shhhh… remember how I said I had something I needed to talk to you about at the wedding?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry for breaking up with you. I… I was only thinking about the heartbreak that might lay decades down the road. I didn't realize that it was ideal for you, and… if you'll take me back… I promise I won't break your heart like that again."
"…you realize I still don't forgive you, right?"
"I figured."
"But I'll take you back, dumbass."
They hugged and shared a quick kiss before heading back towards the battleground.
And that's chapter fifteen!
Kristen: I'M BACK, BITCHES!
Kid: Kristen, please don't refer to Katie's readers as 'bitches'.
Kristen: It's a saying, Kid. And yay! We're back together! *kisses Kid on the cheek*
Katie: So next time we get Medusa taken out. YAY! Also, I have a consultant on this story who also happened to appear in this chapter: Kimmy Dixon! She's my friend who really likes Soul Eater and reads this story, so Kimmy, this chapter is dedicated to you! So long and thanks for all the fish!