Maka and her friends tried not to cower before the massive three-headed dragon. Their teachers were too injured to fight alongside them, and their numbers were dwindling. The middle head of the beast snorted a small jet of fire, a picturesque example of the ancient beast. The earth disturbed from the summoning clouded everyone's vision, but merely drifted about the beast's ankles. Each head was different; on the left a serpentine head covered in sleek grey scales, on the right a head whose necrotic flesh threatened to show bone in several places. It lurched forward, encumbered by the weight of a graveyard on its back. The size of which, would be equivalent to a ballroom, was inhabited by thirty or so decrepit graves. A single tail swished back and forth, knocking down the surrounding trees. The third head struck first and snapped up a fallen miester. It roared through the mouthful of flesh and swallowed with a sickening squelch.

"Any bright ideas?" Liz squeaked. The huge dragon began to pick up speed towards them.

"Beat it until it stops moving?" Kilik suggested with a weak chuckle.

"That's it?" She shot back.

"It's about all we have time for at the moment." Kilik said.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Black Star smirked. He dashed toward the middle head. It snarled and opened its mouth which could have easily held the ninja inside. It clicked its tongue, making a spark in its throat that roared into a stream of fire aimed at Black Star. He jumped and sliced at the scratched-up jaw. It growled and nipped in his direction, but the ninja was too fast. He landed on the dry ground and snorted. This dragon was tougher than it looked, not that he wanted to admit it.

Kilik wasn't having any better luck with the serpentine head. His thunder wave would only stun it briefly. It was definitely the most agile of the three. The head moved like a snake, perhaps it thought like one too. Kilik stood as still as possible. The head paused, then extended its head tentatively. A long slimy tongue tasted the air, smelling around for its foe. When it found him it hissed, however, it never got the chance to attack. The moment it got close enough he shot a torrent of fire toward the head. Flesh sizzling, the head recoiled.

"Woo!" Kilik shouted. "Take that you overgrown lizard!"

Gun shots echoed as Liz desperately tried to stop the third head. The upside was it was completely blind. In the heat of battle all of the sounds and smells seemed to meld together to the head. However...

"Eww!" A long trail of rancid saliva fell from the beast's jaw and onto the blonde gun. "I've been slimed!" She groaned. Liz moved directly under the dragon's head. She raised the gun over her head and fired three shots into the dragon's throat. Maka clutched Soul's hand, readying him for a transformation. Someone had to rescue the captured teachers, and she was the only one not pinned by combat.

"They won't be able to stop it until they destroy Claudia's symbol." She sighed. Kid looked to his friend.

"Claudia, who's Claudia?" Kid said with a frown.

"What? Oh, she was the witch who gathered information for the Book of Eibon. Its probably her magic that's keeping those things alive." She gestured to the dragon. "But look at it, we'd never be able to find it." Kid was about to press harder, but Maka was right. The dragon was more pressing, and it wasn't affected by the attacks.

"Guys, I think we have a problem!" Kilik shouted. The burnt skin on the dragon's face cooled and peeled to reveal a fresh layer of scales. The middle head no longer had a scratch, and the last head was still fully functional.

At this rate Kid's friends were doomed. If Noah took control the whole world would be set ablaze. All that was perfect world; one with nothing in it? He watched as his friends fight while their teachers could do nothing to help. No, the world wouldn't be perfect, and he wanted to be the one to protect them. So why was he standing here?

"Liz! Patty!" He called. His weapon looked at him, confused.

"Kid are you crazy? You remember what happened last time!"

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Kid stated. "Maka's right, we don't have time to find a weak spot. We'll have to do this with brute strength."

"Just don't hurt yourself, O.K. Kid?" Patty pouted.

"I promise, now come on." The guns transformed and Kid grabbed hold of them. There was a tiny zap, like a static shock; but it vanished just as quickly. "Everyone I'm going to need you to distract the heads for a bit longer. Maka, do you think you can handle the last one." The pig-tailed miester nodded.

"Don't be deceived by these bruises, there's still fight in me yet!" She chuckled. "Soul!" The scythe transformed and Maka left Kid to his devices.

"Liz, Patty; Soul Resonance." Kid focused and felt the first two of his lines in his soul connect. "Execution Mode: Father's Seven Lights." Five launchers appeared behind him. They clicked open as Kid pointed his pistols to the sky. He fired and the five launchers behind him fired as well. Seven beams of light shot up and pierced the dragon. The symbol in the graveyard disintegrated and the dragon fell into a skeletal heap. The blast's path unwavering, it continued to head for Noah.

"A soul burst..." Gopher murmured in horror. She went to run to him, but promptly fell on her face. She looked to see her one of her feathers pinned her to the ground. "No, please no. NOAH GET OUT OF THE WAY!" But he didn't. He stood entranced by the light, opened his arms, and a smile spread across his face. He could feel it, and this feeling was his.

When the light hit him, there was a huge explosion. It was brilliant and when the dust settled there was no evidence Noah had ever stood there. All that was left was the book.

The index had watched the whole thing transpire from inside the book. It sighed, the only victory had been in the destruction of Shibusen's portal into it's domain. A thin piece of paper floated down and landed before him. Spontaneously, it began to burn until all that was left was a tiny fragment of a soul. It began to float down toward the darkness to its owner, but was stopped by Eibon.

"Oh no you don't!" He hissed. "I'm not done with you yet." He bottled the fragment and slapped a few seals on it. "You'll have to sleep a little longer." He sighed. "So, Greed has been conquered; and he was such a loyal vassal too. I'm afraid without a body, my options are still limited."

"No, he can't~" Gopher stuttered she pulled at the feather pinning her down and ran toward the book.

"Hey, this book looks like-" Maka began.

"Don't you touch it!" Gopher shouted. She snatched up the book and held it tight. "This book is Noah-sama's, it always will be." She felt her knees grow weak underneath her. "You monsters, I'll never forgive you for what you've done!" Black Star groaned. The tired teens circled around her.

"Looks like we have one more nut to crack." He sighed. Gopher looked up at them like a wild animal caught in a trap and Kid froze. At that moment, on the verge of tears, she looked like Crona had when she had been banished. So hurt and betrayed, surrounded by the skeletons that had once been her dream. 'You really don't know how lucky you are.' He held an arm out before Black Star. The ninja frowned. "What are you-"

"We have already done enough." Kid stated. "As wounded as we are, we would only end up destroying each other." Kilik sighed.

"Kid has a point," he agreed, "we got what we came here for, let's get out." There was a murmur of agreement and the miesters turned to collect their teachers who were now free from the leaches' grasp. One by one they began to leave, until only Kid lingered behind. He watched as Gopher entered the church, the book still clutched tightly in her arms.

"Noah, you idiot." She sobbed. "Why didn't you run when I told you?" Kid felt sympathetic toward the girl. Even if she was a horrible, mean-spirited person; it didn't mean she had no feelings. He sighed and returned to the group.

Battered and bruised, the Shibusen staff had safely escorted the children back home. Kid's friends had gone home to like their would and recuperate from a grueling mission. Kid had done his part as a dutiful son and visited his father's room in the school. The comical gravestones and bright colors brought him less comfort now than they had a year ago.

"Kid!" His father called from the room. "Thank goodness you're alright."

"Yes, I am fine." Kid said. He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed as his father gushed over his return. It was hard to think such a caring man would turn away people who needed help.

"Not only that but you've even connected two of the lines of sanzu. I'm so proud!" Shinigami chimed. His bliss blanketed over the high tension in the room. Spirit on the other hand, was deeply troubled by the state Kid came to them in. He knew that tone Kid used all to well, the boy wasn't being entirely honest with them. "Your friends told me you were kidnapped by a strange man, he didn't do anything to you, did he? If he touched your-"

"FATHER!" Kid objected, then froze. "No, now that I think about it, he didn't. It didn't seem like he was going to anything actually. The only time he paid me any mind was when his servant was caught harassing me. It was like there was no substance or depth to his soul, just a hollow shell." He tried his best to describe it, but couldn't quite find the words to describe the uncanny feeling he got. Noah was definitely human deep down, but something was missing.

"And what happened to his servant?" Lord Death asked.

"She ran off, somewhere to the East. The others wanted to chase after her, but we were too battle worn to put up a good fight. Without her idol, I doubt she'll be much of a threat. It was really Noah who was behind the assault on the staff."

"He did seem peculiar, like a embodiment of one of the chapters." Shinigami-sama muttered.

"Father, do you know something?" Kid narrowed his eyes.

"Nope, not a clue. These sort of things were never my specialty." Shinigami-sama shrugged. As far as he knew, humans couldn't survive in pieces, so some kind of magic had to be involved. Try as he might, the laws that governed magic and the living were too complex for any one person to master. To find what caused this would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. As of right now, they still had a eldrich abomination driving people mad from the moon to worry about.

"...father." Kid tried, slightly baffled by his father's bluntness.

"You should go home and rest, I'm sure it will be nice to be in your own room." He chuckled and waved his son goodbye.

"Now where have I heard that?" Spirit said darkly.

"And what are you implying by that?"

"Nothing," He sighed, "I just know how your mind works. We shouldn't rush things." The shinigami turned from his scythe. "We both know that the lines normally wouldn't be connecting this fast. His powers are maturing faster than he is."

"My child deserves a chance at happiness." Even if they were gods, they were mortal to a certain extent. Having Kid snatched away had reminded him of that fact. If for whatever reason, Asura overpowered them, Kid could fall before ascending the throne.

"I understand that, but I think it would be better from Maka if we at least wait until after the Kishen nonsense is over with." Spirit suggested. "She isn't ready for this."

"You lost your right to decide Maka's future, Yumi made that quite clear." Shinigami said. "And you have never been allowed to choose my son's either." As much as he hated being harsh, Spirit was overstepping his position. The words stung the Death Scythe.

"And yet I've raised them both." Spirit said. "If you recall I was the one that took care of him while you pulled your head out of your ass." The shinigami whipped around in anger but withheld himself and sighed. Spirit had kept his secrets, even as it destroyed his fragile marriage, he deserved a modicum of respect. It didn't change the fact this was something he and Yumi had agreed upon over a decade ago.

"I'm sorry Spirit, it's just- I don't know if we'll ever be able to fix this mess." He trembled. "I almost lost my son today because of it and if the next time he runs off to save the world and he... doesn't make it~" He shook his head. "I want my son to have the chance at something I cheated myself out of." He felt Spirit's hand rest on his shoulder.

"We all want what's best for our kids," He sighed, "especially if it prevents them from repeating past mistakes."

"Then you'll support my decision." Shigami asked. The Death Scythe sighed.

"I don't agree with it," he admitted, "but I'll be there from my little girl."