"I used to be the young one." - Bo Burnham
It had been twenty years since Asura's defeat at the hands of Shibusen's students. The time seemed to fly by for Maka. School had kept her busy, and her skills as a meister made partnering with weapons fleeting. After graduation, she went on countless missions reforming the other DWMA branches as apart of Kid's initiative to focus more on cleaning up the mess Asura had left behind and less on witches. It was so hard to meet up with everyone at once, so she was glad Kid was hosting something at the old school. She missed her friends terribly.
Loud music shook the main hall. The ceiling decorated in intricate patterns like the stars. All the tables glowed with their own colors and the flatware shimmered under the black lights. There were so many people she didn't recognize at the party. It seemed since ascending the throne, Kid had taken the reigns of multiple generations of weapons and meisters. She was thankful when she spotted a familiar long ponytail.
"Tsubaki!" Maka hugged her old friend. The shadow weapon's formal attire had a cloud motif. "How have you been?"
"Pretty busy." Tsubaki laughed. "I didn't realize how many languages Azusa-sensei had to learn until she was ready to retire. Everyone's been really understanding though, six months isn't enough time to learn everything right away."
"You're stationed in Oceania now!?" Maka practically squealed.
"I know, I can hardly believe it myself!" Tsubaki smiled. "I'm glad you're happy, this whole promotion thing's been a mess. As soon as the other death scythes heard about it, they were quick to drag out how long it took to for me to finish training, amongst other things." There had been a fierce debate if other experienced weapons could be considered 'death scythes' after hunting witches became taboo. The older generation was quick to dismiss weapons who'd only collected a hundred souls.
"You've worked so hard for this though." Maka said. "Of course you deserve it."
"Thanks Maka." Tsubaki grabbed them both a glass of something bubbly and fruity. "What about you? What have you been up to lately?" Maka wasn't sure how to answer that. All the missions had started to blur together a bit. Nothing stood out as particularly noteworthy, not compared to the huge promotion Tsubaki had received.
"Oh, you know, just making sure the schools are following through with the new curriculum. Eastern Europe and North America have been the biggest hold outs, they still blame witch society for releasing Asura." She idly swirled her drink, Tsubaki probably knew all of this from her end of things as well, but she was nice enough to smile and nod.
"I'd heard from Kilik it's been pretty bad."
"Yeah, it's been hard." A couple of Tsubaki's underclassman came up to congratulate her on her promotion. Maka felt bad dipping out, but they started talking about work related things, and she really had hoped for a night off from that. She knew Tsubaki would find all of them again once she finished catching up.
"Maka!" Liz had ran up to her and practically crushed her. It really was just like old times. "Oh my god, you've barely changed! Ugh, I'm so jealous. In my industry I'd kill to have your genes. I look like a grandma when I stand next to Kid nowadays."
"But, you're a death scythe." Maka flinched when Liz started laughing.
"Are you kidding? Kid only had us around to make his dad happy." Liz sighed. "After graduation, he asked if I wanted to keep going with it, but it never was for me. I'm much happier modeling heels than fighting in them." She snapped her fingers. "That reminds me, I get mad discounts for the designer I'm working with. The next time you need a dress, call me." It was a kind gesture, but this was the first thing Maka had gone to that required formal wear. Liz's tastes usual ran more wild than her's anyway.
"What about Patty?" Kid had always said they were a matched set. He refused to fight with just one gun on multiple occasions. Liz fanned her face, trying to keep herself from crying.
"I don't want to ruin Kid's thing, this is their night, but- she's engaged!" Liz motioned for Maka to stay quiet. "The in-laws are a pain, but they're loaded. I just- I always hoped coming here would make sure she wouldn't have to struggle like we did in the past, but- it still feels so soon. She's my baby sister, you know." Maka couldn't agree more, her heart going out to the older Thompson sister. "Don't ask her about dates, or anything, when I said a pain. I meant a pain. They haven't told anyone; I don't think his parents even know yet. It's just been a crazy week."
"Well, if you guys need it," Maka said, "I'm happy to help."
"Of course, you're such a good friend." Liz sighed. "Food's all along the back wall and I think Kid's making his usual rounds. I saved all of us a seat towards the front so we can all sit together. I just, I have to go check my makeup. If anyone takes a pic of me with runny eyeliner, I'll want to burn it." Maka bid her goodbye, slowly making her way to their table. A dull ache threatening to take hold of her heart.
She was happy for her friends, she really was. Part of her just felt guilty for not being there to see these major events take place. They used to be so much closer and now she was finding out about things months after they happened. She really needed to get better about reaching out.
Maka felt more at ease once she found their table. She felt the soothing presence of his soul before she fully saw him. Her first and longest partner Soul, was relaxing at the table like it was invisibility cloak. He never was one for large parties you could barely talk at. Though most of that posturing was to seem cool. They had parted ways after graduation, with Soul training to take over watching Death City and Maka constantly on the move, it had happened gradually. He was still the person she kept the closest contact with.
"What happened?" Soul asked. "It's way too earlier to look tired." Maka collapsed in a chair next to him.
"Oh, you know, just nostalgic I guess." Maka shrugged. "I took the ambassadorship thinking it'd be a five-year gig not fifteen."
"You can always quit." Soul shrugged. "Don't look at me like that, you could."
"There's two problems with that." Maka said. "One I'm too good at it, if I had a decent replacement, I wouldn't feel bad about letting Kid down. And two..." Maka shook her head. "I don't what else to do." There wasn't much better you could do than saving the world. She taken on the hardest missions and conquered them, and her soul sight was unrivaled. "I'm way too young to retire."
"Become a teacher?" Soul teased.
"I just said I'm too young to retire." Maka took a sip of her drink and grimaced. It may have looked fruity, but it was mostly alcohol.
"Your idea of retiring is another job?" Soul laughed. "No wonder you can't relax. You don't know how to." He nudged her shoulder. "You never will learn working for Kid either, his one purpose in life is to find every problem with it and fix it. It's a divine compulsion and there's no one left to stop him." They both laughed.
"I don't mean to be a bummer," Maka sighed, "it's just disorienting. The last time we were all together was... oh gosh five years ago I think."
"Eight, you're forgetting about Black Star." Soul shook his head. The poor guy barely had free time of his own anymore. "He said he'd actually be here tonight. Shocker, I know, I haven't seen that man and the night sky in the same place since high school."
"After the party," Maka asked, "did want to grab a coffee or something?" It been so long since they had hung out just the two of them. She missed when they used to sit in hole-in-the-wall shops til close. Granted, they were adults with responsibilities now, so it was a shot in the dark.
"I can't." Soul hung his head. "I gotta meet up with my brother in the morning."
"Really?" Maka perked up. "I heard he was on tour, is he coming to Death City?"
"No," Soul hesitated, "but he's the only one that knows how to predict our parents. I've been out of the game too long." He bit his lip. "I mean it wouldn't be weird to not invite them, right? You won't invite your dad to anything and he's mostly harmless." He had a far-off look in his eyes. "I have managed to cut them out of everything else, but that's cause it's stuff they won't care about." The one time she'd seen his parents had been at his graduation and it had been quite the dramatic spectacle. It seemed the rest of the Evan's family were very impulsive and antagonistic individuals. The same creative drive that fueled their music also fueled their inflated ego.
"What would you feel the need to invite them to?" Maka asked just as Patty showed up to the table.
"There was no fancy tuna left, so I just got one more of everything else." She glanced up a Maka with a wide smile. "Oh, hey Maka-"
"You're engaged to Patty?" She had to be mistaken, but Soul immediately glared up at Patty.
"What happened to not telling anyone?" Soul asked.
"I didn't!" Patty squirmed in place. "Okay, I told Liz, but you can't seriously expect me to keep things from my own sister."
"She already knows." Soul hid his face in his hands. "That's why she's been so passive aggressive lately, my mom already knows."
"Hey, hey; you're seeing your brother tomorrow anyway. It'll be fine." Patty squeezed his shoulder. "Maka? You okay?"
Engaged.
To someone they'd met in high school.
It shouldn't hurt, not like this.
"I didn't even know you were dating." Maka said carefully. Why hadn't he told her? The whole reason they were comfortable parting ways was both of them agreed high school romances didn't pan out, especially weapon and meister pairs. She didn't want to repeat her mother's mistake. If he'd changed his mind, why hadn't he said something sooner?
"Really?" Patty tilted her head. "It's not like we were that secretive about it. It was in all our friends' only posts." Patty closed her eyes and leaned back. "You do that old person thing where you have accounts for things, but don't use them, don't you?" Patty was giggling, but Soul looked at Maka's rising anxiety with a look she'd only seen when she caught him with Blair. The look of someone realizing they'd done something decidedly not cool.
Because, yes, Maka rarely looked at stuff like that. And while Soul was content with indirect communication like status updates, it was not a replacement for talking to her directly about it. He knew it would have been a hard conversation to have, and he'd tried to avoid it.
"How did-" No, not the right question. She didn't want to sound cruel. It was just so much to take in at once. "When did this happen?" She sucked down the drink Tsubaki had given her ages ago, she barely noticed the taste this time.
"Oh gosh," Patty grinned, "it was the funniest thing. So, I was supposed to go to one of his brother's concerts with this other guy I was dating." That was four years ago, Patty had asked if she'd be going as well. "The dude 'forgot his wallet' and I was trying to be a good girlfriend and play it cool, but they wouldn't let us into the venue without ID." She said it with the same rhythm of a monologue. She's told this story before several times. "So, I called Soul to pull a few strings, but he recognizes the guy's voice over the phone. Turns out, he was only dating me to get into the concert and had been banned from like, four other venues for stalking Wes. Could have been the worst night of my life, but-"
Maka could hardly focus. She could see Soul trying to change the subject, not out of fear that he'd been caught, but to spare Maka's feelings. Of course, because there was nothing to hide. He'd moved on a long time ago and just assumed she'd done the same. She downed another drink.
The center stage lit up, and there was Kid looking barely nineteen next to a pale figure all in white. It was a long address thanking everyone for coming and the support they've shown during the transition of leadership. The person standing next to him looked just as uncomfortable and frightened as Maka felt.
"-It is my honor to official introduce the future crown of Elysian and my partner Chrona." Kid said. Chrona smiled, but the minute they made eye contact with Maka, the look in their eyes screamed for help. After Kid's speech they waded through the crowd and came up to their old friend. Chrona was taller than most now.
"Thank you for coming." Chrona bowed and caught Maka by the sleeve. "I want to kill him." They turned and greeted an offput couple on their way out. "Thank you so much for coming." Chrona tugged Maka further to the side. "We agreed close friends and family only; there's like a thousand people here!" Another fake smile and wave to eager onlookers. "I can't talk with this many people around. Get me out of here." Maka nodded and eagerly lead Chrona through the back hallways, where they wouldn't be easily spotted. As soon as they could catch a breath, it was like a rod had been removed from Chrona's spine. They leaned against the stone wall, but didn't dare soil the white robes. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with this, this is not what we talked about. Or maybe it is? And our ideas of what small is vastly differ."
"I'm glad you're back." Maka half laughed. "But what are you doing here? I thought you wouldn't come back until you fixed the situation on the moon."
"I'm doing both." Chrona pointed up at the full moon, it's light wide enough to engulf the city. "Winter Solstice. When the moon is this close, I can visit, just not too far." Maka was taken aback, what at first she assumed was the moon's halo, was the width of Chrona's soul. Similar to how Lord Death had been rooted to Death City for so long. "We tried to come see you, but if I'm out of range, my body turns into a corpse. That and there's still millions of people who'd like to see me dead." They groaned. "Which is why I wanted to keep this small. Things are turbulent enough right now without people being worried the boogey man might be walking amongst them."
"A lot of people seem to be getting married lately." Maka said with a smile, despite the twinge in her gut.
"Oh, we're not getting married." Chrona shook their head. "Not in this century. It took him twenty years just to plan an engagement announcement. The announcement! That whole," they waved their hands toward the main hall, "isn't considered a party. By the time we have a date picked out, your great-great-great grandchildren-" The manic anxiety fled them as they truly looked at Maka for the first time. They didn't look like they used to be old classmates anymore. The difference would only grow more apparent with time. "Right, for us it's an announcement, but for you guys..." Maka didn't want her old friend contemplating her mortality for long.
"What's this Elysian stuff he was talking about?" Maka asked. Chrona's eyes sparkled and slowly they became more animated.
"Well, Lord Death's old list was just a list of Kishen eggs and witches, it had no nuance to it." They explained. "After going through it, it turns out there's other people like me, who were forced onto it by circumstance rather than their own choices. We wanted to figure out a way to help people like that rather than reap them, so that'll be my job. We haven't worked out all the kinks yet, but, I don't want another innocent soul to be punished for something they never wanted to do." Chrona squinted their eyes at her. "Why are you asking about work stuff at a party? Did something bad happen?"
"No!" Maka picked herself up the ground.
"Why are you lying?" She should know better than to fib to a demi-god, especially one dealing with the morality of souls. "I wanted you to be here to have fun and see everyone. If you need to leave, it's okay." Right, she was here to have fun.
Who cares if her best friend and high school crush was married to another or her friends had amazing careers? The literally rulers of the world wanted her to have fun and celebrate. She could have fun, even if she had to force herself to.
Maka woke up in an unfamiliar room. The light streaming through the curtains were painfully bright. She could make out blue and white linens on the bed. Her hair was damp and cold. She hadn't had that much to drink last night. There were the two drinks at the table, and after she talked to Chrona more people showed up, and she had half of someone else's drink.
Oh god, did she hook up with someone?
She certainly tried to, she remembered that much. Someone sat down on the bed next to her. She froze up, trying to think of an excuse to dart out the door.
"Hey, you up yet?" She popped her head out of the covers, just to make sure her ears weren't deceiving her. Black Star was dangling a black singlet over her head. "I have no idea where your shirt went, but you can borrow one of mine." She snatched it up and pulled it under the blanket. "Sorry for passing out last night." Oh, thank god nothing happened! "Ambrosia is apparently stronger than moonshine."
"Who told you that?"
"Kid did, after we both tried to have a third round." She shimmied the larger shirt over her body. Right, Kid preemptively tried to cut her off after Chrona talked to him. Black Star had managed to get his hands on one, and she demanded they share. He offered to take her home, but she had them change course. His place had been the compromise they came to.
"I'm so sorry." She'd been way too handsy in the cab. "I was a complete idiot."
"Don't worry about it." He shrugged. "But since I know you're going to keep apologizing anyway, do you want to do it over breakfast?" Despite the headache, being around him was like a breath of fresh air. She still needed to get her thoughts in order, but there was less pressure to. They exited the room and Black Star stopped in his tracks.
"Who's that?" A young girl with rose dusted hair looked at Maka like a giant spider had crawled out of the bedroom. The cooking utensils fell out of the happy pose she'd had them in as fear and denial slipped into anger.
"You remember Maka," Black Star laughed to ease the tension, "Maka, this is Angela she's-"
"He's not my dad." Angela slammed the utensils on the counter and ran out of the kitchen.
"Thirteen." Black Star finished, having no better way to describe what just happened. "I'm sorry, she hasn't dealt with Tsubaki leaving very well and-" Something slammed in the background. "I have to go talk to her, but I'll be back." She was left standing in the kitchen alone. "Ang-"
"She's only been gone six months!" Angela shouted. Maka's blood ran cold. The bacon on the stove was starting to burn, she took the pan off the burner. "You were supposed to ask her to come back, not bring some other girl home!"
"I never said I'd do that." Black Star said.
"You promised we'd be a family." Maka could see through the girl's invisibility magic as her soul burst out of the room. Otherwise, it looked like a backpack floating in the air. "I hate you!" The front door opened and slammed.
"Hey, yeah;" Black Star came out of the room on the phone. "No, sorry to call you this early. Ang just ran out of here and she won't listen to me. Can you try talking to her? I think if I chase after her, I'll just make things worse." Maka felt nauseous. "Thanks." He hung up the phone. "I thought she was at a friend's house. I'm so sorry." Maka rushed to the trash can. "Maka!?"
She'd heard a hundred versions of that argument growing up, but she'd always been the one storming out the door. It didn't matter that Tsubaki and Black Star had never been together romantically or that Tsubaki had left for work reasons. The results were the same, and it was all too familiar. Her body couldn't take any more stress. She spent her whole life trying to be like her mother, instead, she was standing in the shoes of the women she hated and throwing up in her friend's trash can.
AN: Alright, super excited to finally post this you have no idea! Literally could not wait another week.
I've tried to write this so if you haven't read Daughter of Madness, you'll still get the general idea of what's going on. It's all manga compliant the only lore bits that don't line up with the manga are...
1) Ragnarok is dead.
2) Kid was primarily created by Eibon, then raised by Lord Death.
3) Chrona is an embodiment of life, the way Kid is an embodiment of death.
My friend asked why I shipped Black Star and Maka? The Book of Eibon arc smacked me with the childhood friends trope, a classic, we love it. But it's mostly this last scene, the comedic potential of Maka being exactly like her mom.
This story will include the rise/fall of the Star Clan in it. I will be sticking to the canon context for it. (I.E they'd kill anyone, and I mean anyone.) I'm a big fan of tragedy, and I feel in a Black Star heavy fic, it is something worth exploring. That said, these parts of the story will their own chapters, and TW for specifically upsetting missions during that time will be included.