Authors note: Well hello again! I am so so so sorry for the two year delay on this chapter! I have been unbelievably busy! I got married, had a baby and started school so please forgive my absence! But I am back and ready to really kick this story into Anxt-ville! Buckle up friends, its going to be a lot.

Chapter Nine: When there were three.

"Gah! It smells like an old lady in here!" Blackstar whined while pinching his nose closed with his free hand and scrunching his face dramatically to block out the offending smell. Soul started looking around the space as the sound of their feet swishing across the long dirty carpet began to drown out Blackstars grumbling. It seemed to be an average enough space although it definitely had some kind of uneasiness about it. The hallway had peeling and yellowed floral wallpaper and small piles of dust in the corners confirming Souls suspicion that this hallway had long been unused, there were pictures hung along the walls that sported blurred yet smiling silhouettes of smoke eyed, human shaped shadows that all seemed to be looking at you despite the fact that they had no definite eyes "who used to be in all these pictures on the walls'' Tsubaki wondered aloud as they continued cautiously down the nearly never ending corridor.

Before Blackstar could complain again a splinter riddled door appeared at the end of the hall. Solid wood and rough around the edges the door had a stained glass window in the upper middle section and an old iron knocker above the handle. "What a lovely little window" Tsubaki mused as they approached the door "just looks old to me" Blackstar muttered under his breath, stopping just short of the door to get a good look at it. The entirety of it was fairly standard but it was the stained glass window that really caught Soul's eye. An uneven grouping of thick white candles all burned down to different heights took up most of the frame, the candle flames were backlit which gave them a life of their own and cast a soft orange glow on the carpet at their feet. Soul snuck his free hand out to touch the intricate swirls of color on the glass; half expecting it to actually burn him, when the door creaked open on its own.

At the sudden movement both men dropped into protective stances flanking Tsubaki who did her best to allow them as much movement as she could without letting go of their hands "Uh. That wasn't creepy at all" Blackstar croaked as he slowly pulled away from his blushing partner. The three then stepped into a brightly lit room and began to slowly take in the space. It seemed to be a very dated one room apartment with a small kitchenette off to the side next to a set of balcony doors that had yellowed muslin curtains blowing on a light breeze. A living space took up the majority of the center room, and on the other side of the space there was a door that could have been a bathroom if the ceramic toilet paper sign hanging from the knob was any indication. Then just to the side of that were two beds, one full sized and the other small enough for a child.

Without warning a woman that looked to be Maka but with short cropped hair swept into the room and began tidying around a young Spirit who was suddenly lounging motionlessly on a dilapidated floral couch with mismatched throw pillows. "Oh thank fuck, there you are Maka. let's get out of your freaky brain already" Blackstar griped, but as he reached for her his hand passed right through her shoulder. Shaken Blackstar pulled back and quickly inspected his palm as a small voice broke the shocked silence "mama, mama, mama look!"

A child who could only have been the childhood version of Maka ran into the room then holding a paper over her head proudly, the older woman turned then with a throw pillow still clutched in her delicate hand and a smile on her face " let's have a look shall we?" she cooed as she sank to her knees to be on the same level as her daughter "Oh look dear, a one hundred percent on her test! our Maka is above average, she sets the curve, she's well ahead of all the other children in her class!" she boasted proudly to the still unmoving Spirit.

The light in the room then seemed to take on a shimmering quality as the child Maka squealed in joy and began hopping in circles around her mother who seemed to be suddenly frozen in place, same saccharine smile plastered on her face and same ugly pillow in her hand just… still as a statue. Child Maka then trotted over to the corner of the room with their beds and began rummaging through a small pile of children's books, Soul watched her closely, allowing a small smirk to slice through his confused frown "Always a bookworm I see" he chuckled to himself.

"Papa, will you read this one tonight?" her tiny voice begged as she emerged from the pile and stumbled over to her father who still hadn't moved from his spot on the old couch. Once she reached his side Spirit suddenly sprang into action, lifting his giggling daughter from the ground and onto his knee "this one again Maks?" he asked with a very put-upon sigh "If we always read this one story the other stories might start to get jealous!" he finished the last word digging his fingertips into little Makas ribs and delighting in the hearty laugh the action pulled from her small lungs.

Once Spirit had tickled little Maka into exhaustion and their story was in full swing Blackstar turned to Soul with a grimace "this is fucking creepy. Spirit being a good dad and Maka all small and- I don't even know, it's just weird" he finished with a shudder. Tsubaki watched the father and daughter for a beat before shrugging bashfully "I don't know guys, it's kind of sweet. Like how it should be with them you know?" Souls face scrunched up at the comment as he pretended to gag "That witch Maab was right, this is a nightmare ugh" Blackstar pointed back at him as if to say 'yes, exactly that'.

Slipping from the couch as the boys volleyed colorful jokes back and forth, little Maka had wandered away from the once again statuesque Spirit and was on her way back towards them with a glass of milk sloshing dangerously with every unbalanced step. A small sharp "Uh-Oh-" was their only warning before all the air was sucked from the room like an airlock leaving their breath stuttering to a stop. The glass lay shattered on the floor at little Maka's feet as the milk slowly crept over the floor. The shimmering warm light shut out entirely leaving behind cold spotlights on little Maka and her parents who still had not moved from their positions on the couch with a storybook and the ground still holding that same ugly pillow. The following silence left their ears ringing before sound erupted from all around them in the form of a screaming match.

Makas parents both shot up as if pulled by an invisible rope until they were left facing each other in defensive stances, the sounds of their screaming began to rise, their mouths open and their brows furrowed. Although their movements were robotic the noise around them slowly became deafening, Souls' shocked gaze snapped to little Maka as he was able to make out a single small cry. She was still standing in front of her shattered glass but now had her little hands over her ears as she watched her parents with wide frightened eyes. The screaming continued to build into a roar as little Maka squeezed her eyes shut and began to cry in earnest.

The very next moment Soul blinked and found himself back in the empty vestibule with anxiety churning in his stomach and unease creeping down his spine. Voice shaking along with his hands, Soul finally swallowed the lump in his throat with a curse "that- that was a lot" he finally bit out as he glanced over to his equally shocked friends. "They were like dolls or something" he finished as he drug the back of his hand across his mouth. "They were like some kind of fucked up puppets" Blackstar added with a kind of forced indifference as he bumped shoulders with Tsubaki who had silent tears streaming down her face "we have to get Maka out of this place" she whispered.