Seiryu sat in full armor before White Star as he finally came to terms with what had happened in the fifteen years since he was pulled under. Venus had been the only one that could talk him down then, and it had been the only thing that allowed them to rescue his son from the clutches of a crazed demon. She swore on her life to protect him, but no one else had done the same.
"Why would you allow anyone under the age of eighteen to venture out alone?" White Star had turned an old paperwieght into a stress ball. "They are too young to buy alcohol, let alone fight deadly criminals."
"The only assignments we allowed them to take were ones where Lord Death was watching." The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. "He was desperate to prove himself. I'm sure you remember what it was like to find out we're despised." They both had been just as hungry to prove themselves. White Star's affinity for quick solutions was what doomed them in the first place. "He's done well. Lord Death approved of him becoming an ambassador last week. He's made a good impression on some important people; you threw one of them out today." Surely he had to remember what it was like to fight the current death scythe, but all White Star did was roll his eyes at her. The DWMA's ranks still meant little to him. "You also shouldn't have taken that from him." She looked down at the phone on the table. "That's how we keep track of where he is when he runs away." She had no doubt that by the time she left the office, he'd be half way across the state.
"How often does he run away!?" He'd never heard of him doing this before. Anytime his son mentioned sneaking out, he thought it was to the surrounding town at the foot of the mountain.
"A lot less since we've tried giving him things to do instead of taking them away." She didn't flinch when he tore away from his desk with his arms crossed. "He has your most annoying traits." The stubbornness, the ego, it was all baked into their blood from generations of proud warriors. "But he takes after Cassie more. It's been really hard to watch the last few weeks."
"What do you mean?" The phone on the desk buzzed.
"He asked Elaine how to poison a shinigami." She nodded to the phone. "He thought it would make her happy." He picked it up, receiving Maka's warning from the day prior then scrolling up through the wall of texts back and forth. "None of us have been able to convince him to let her go." They had been bracing for a devastating storm when denial no longer held him together. "We weren't able to keep him from searching for a cure either." Outside, Suzuka ran down the hall frantically looking for someone with soul perception to locate Black Star.
"I just grounded him." White Star said, as if his word alone would have any power over his wayward child.
"Like I said," Seiryu wasn't fazed as every light in the house turned on, "he got the worst parts from you both."
The beautiful seaside town had welcomed it's new guests with open arms. Most were content to stay within the boundaries of the crystal blue canals, going about their day in quiet bliss. The shops raised their shutters at seven in the morning like clockwork. Many were filled with dolphin themed keepsakes, hand blown glass and freshly made chocolates. People eagerly stood in line for a piping cup of coffee before heading to work. At least, for those who wanted to work. Others busied themselves making art or music to share with the town at large. Everyone had a part to play, and this particular morning, one of their newest additions was trying to take advantage of the sleepy Sunday morning to prepare a surprise.
"Do you have anything in black?" The young man peered through the display case at rows of pink and white bouquets.
"We have black dahlias." The shop keep pulled out a bundle of flowers.
"Those are red." This was the fourth shop he'd gone to and he needed something fast before she caught on. All the flowers the shop keep tried to show him were red or purple.
"Do you at least have a black ribbon?" Again, the shop keep shook her head. "It's her favorite color, but I can't find it anywhere." He tried looking for gemstones or clothes. Even the dark chocolate had been diluted with milk. Anything dark or brooding didn't seem to have made it past the main gates.
"You must have a real Princess Kaguya on your hands." The poor young man had been so nervous when they first arrived. The past didn't matter here, but some fears were hard to let go of. For whatever reason he didn't seem convinced their elopement was anything more than a flight of fancy. Even though anyone in town could see how smitten she was. The shop keep laughed, as he was too deep in thought to notice the blond girl tiptoe up behind him. "I'm sure she'd like anything you get her."
"Get who what?" The girl rested her chin on the young man's shoulder and batted her eyes. He nearly jumped out of his skin.
"How do you do that Maka?" He swore she'd been asleep when he left, and yet no matter where he was in town, she had a way of finding him.
"I dunno." She shrugged. "You should have told me where you were going. I got scared when I couldn't find you." They had been exhausted and half-starved by the time they found civilization last night. Everyone had been so kind and didn't ask many questions, but he was still the only person she really knew. She felt much safer whenever he was around. Her arms wrapped possessively around his waist. He had a bad habit of trying to run off.
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." He redirected her attention away from the shop. People in love were supposed to exchange trinkets to prove they were together, but all the stuff he found didn't seem like things she'd like. She put up with the new clothes the way he did, but he wanted something he could give that was just for her. Maybe then it would feel more official.
"I don't like surprises Black Star." She'd latched onto his arm as a compromise, walking arm in arm down the street. It wasn't quite as comforting as having say, a weapon, but it made her feel better. "Especially if you have to lie to do them."
"I didn't lie." Black Star puffed up his chest. "I went out. That's exactly what my note said." She buried her face in his arm and he felt extremely guilty. "I'm sorry, it just doesn't feel like a present if you tell me what to get you."
"You don't have to get me presents." She was flushed to her ears. Everything was new and exciting. Just the fact he wanted to get her something was enough. If she wasn't careful, he'd go out into the ocean of trees looking for an unknown treasure to show her. He seemed like the type to do that, as far as she could remember. She was still exhausted from traveling and had looked forward to a nice, quiet day.
Soul had exhausted almost every number in his phone. When he woke up, Maka was nowhere to be seen. Her phone was still plugged into the wall. He checked in with Blair to see if she had an early shift, then Maka's father to see if either of her parents had swept her away before she could get her things. Spirit loved to drag his daughter out for surprise outings she detested. No one had seen her. Kid couldn't find her anywhere in the city and the longer it took for him to check his map, the more dread welled up in his chest.
"She's still not back yet?" Blair was out of breath, still in her work clothes from Chupacabras. Soul stared long and hard at Maka's phone left connected to her laptop.
"No." He was thankful she didn't have a lock screen and flicked through to find the one number he didn't have. "It's like she disappeared off the face of the planet." To his surprise, Kid finally called. "Kid, thank god, where is she?"
"It's not just Maka, multiple people have gone missing." Kid glared up at the map in his mansion. A wide blank spot had crept far past his old hand drawn outline. It was like someone was erasing the screen underneath. Souls good and bad disappeared as soon as they entered the area. "The meisters and weapons we've sent to investigate the anomaly have also gone missing. Can you think of anything out of the ordinary that happened yesterday? Something she did that you didn't?" Everything seemed benign, but Soul walked him through what happened the day before. "What was the cafe called?"
"Lotus coffee?" Soul pulled the receiver away when Kid cursed.
"Lotophagi, their kind supposedly died out when the witch Ponera disappeared. " He went through the archives. Even if it wasn't her specifically, it could spell disaster. "Her magic erases the memory of anyone that eats from her garden. To think it had spread this far." Of course, by the time anyone noticed what was going on, they'd already have fallen under the spell. "I will deal with this immediately." He was met with a roar of objections from concerned parties. "We will deal with this immediately."
Finally back home, Tsubaki was reminded of why she hadn't been eager to return. Her brother's room sat in the same state he left it, even close to a year after his passing. Dirty laundry left to fester as dust had collected on his things. It had been too painful for her mother to acknowledge and her father couldn't bear to throw anything away. The onus of cleaning up after him would fall on her.
His name had become a forbidden word. The photo used for his alter far younger than what he looked like when he died. All evidence he'd done something wrong had gently been sanded out of her parents memory. It was an accident, and now they only had one child. One child to pin all their hopes and dreams on. One child to take care of them once they were old. She hadn't coped well with walking through the door an immediately being bombarded with chores. Her disappearance becoming another thing that wasn't spoken of.
She had gotten a few calls from Black Star. She ignored them at first, hoping he'd get the hint she wasn't ready to talk to them. Then she received a confusing text of random letters and another phone call. When she finally answered, it was to a voice she didn't recognize.
"Please tell me he's there."
"Umm..." She wasn't quite sure how to navigate outside of typical formalities.
"This is Black Star's father." She nearly dropped the phone. He sound human, and very worried. "He didn't come home last night. I told him he needed to pay respects, but he left without anyone from the clan. We were hoping he just went there alone."
"N-no, I'm sorry." He'd actually done it. He'd brought a demon back from being a kishin. "I know you have other things going on, but could you tell me if it can be done again? Can we bring more than one person back?"
"Yes." Light poured across her bedroom. "The other girl isn't answering. You're the only person from the DWMA I can trust. Has he been captured by them?"
"No." She bit her lip. "Try the other number again. If a boy answers, it's probably her weapon. I'll see what I can do." Something wasn't right. She went to her mirror and called for Lord Death. If anyone knew what was going on, he would.
Lord Death was no stranger to angry parents. When meisters were killed in action or students dropped out of the school, he'd have to sit their parents down and allow them to process the news fully. Spirit had cycled through mirrors endlessly, trying to find a glimpse of his daughter. Anywhere the world map couldn't see, the mirrors had been covered by overgrowth. The only way to find her was to send someone in blind.
"What do you mean we can't go!?" Kami demanded. "She's my daughter."
"We've already had meister, weapon pairs vanish in the witch's territory." Lord Death said gently. "The students need Spirit here to protect them and I need someone who can calmly inform the public what is going on. I know how frustrating it must be to hear you have to wait, but it's going to be okay."
"Can't we send Stein with them just in case?" Spirit asked.
"Not Stein." Kami glared at her ex-husband. She didn't care he taught at the school now, he had no liscensure of any kind and a nasty habit of dissecting her loved ones. "Are there any other death scythes available?" Back and forth one parent would propose a guide and the other shot it down. When they worked as a team, they were a devastating echo chamber, but apart they were constantly at war.
"Kid has been properly briefed and will have Soul with him. That should be more than enough." Lord Death said, hoping the compromise would be accepted. "As much as we'd like to send an army, it's important they find the witch without getting caught."
"Kid is leading the mission?" Kami asked. Inside her were two impulses fighting for control. One was to keep demanding more support, more man power to bring her daughter back home. The other knew how easy it would be to use the mission to solidify the engagement. It was the sort of fairy tale set up they'd been trying to create artificially.
"He helped stop Asura from reviving." Spirit said with more confidence. "Soul has come a long way self wielding as well." He would have felt more comfortable if one of his old partners could go, but Kami had remained staunchly against it.
"I will draft an address to the public." Finally accepting the news, she knew what she had to do. One draft would be for when Maka and the other missing persons were brought home. The other would be for in case they failed.
Maka thought she'd feel better after a few days of rest, but every morning she woke up in a cold sweat. Her throat would feel scratchy and a headache would draw her back under the covers until Black Star came to her rescue with hot coffee and breakfast. Until she was feeling better, he didn't want to try finding a more permanent place for them to run off to. Which as much as she wanted to insist she was fine, the pins and needles she had after waking up demanded otherwise.
"What were we running away for again?" She remembered it had been her idea. After one kiss he'd been quite enthusiastic about it, and she'd been so relieved that everything else at the time had seemed less important. Now that she was trying to think on it more, she was coming up blank.
"Parents?" Black Star shrugged at the end of her bed. She nodded, that did ring a bell, especially if the wave of nausea at the mention of them was to be believed. "You're not having second thoughts, are you?" That was the other thing, despite his memory of events being worse than hers, his instincts had been firing on all cylinders. He was hyperalert, and constantly worried she was downplaying discomfort with their situation. When she noticed she didn't have a phone, the first thing he did was try to offer his, but he didn't have one either. It felt like she should have one.
"No." She took a long sip of coffee, the warm floral grounds warming up her chest. "I feel a little guilty that we left in the middle of the night."
"Maybe you left a note?" She seemed like the type of person to leave a note. She was very responsible about with the few things they had. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that she had left a note.
"You're probably right." It instantly went to his head, and she found him trying to share the space where her drink was. "Hey!" She laughed, lifting the cup over head so nothing would spill on the sheets.
"I like when you say that, I can tell you mean it."
"Let me finish breakfast at least, I don't want to get anything in your hair." He had melted against her chest with his ear to her heart.
"Don't care." He'd been doing that more lately. Anytime the strange bandages on his soul started to peal up, she'd find him up in her personal space as close to her soul as he could get without touching it. He liked to joke it made him feel better than the herbal remedies that had been given to them. Trying her best to finish her coffee without spilling, she shifted to sit up more with the lead weight against her. "As soon as you feel better, I'm taking you somewhere else." Convinced this place wasn't good enough for her, he made grand plans in the folds of her shirt. This town was nice, but no place for an angel.
Soul saw the Thompson's hot pink car parked outside of a lush green acreage where a forest once proudly stood. He pulled up with Tsubaki in tow and the two entered a brick laid kingdom. The rain forest was trying to reclaim the place, first with the local wild life hunting squealing hogs that had run amok. All over the place people were slouched over tables or laying in the streets. Liz had knelt down to check a pulse on one of them.
"Yeah, they're still alive." She stood up and eagerly took a wet wipe from Kid. "No clue how long they've been like this." Everywhere they looked well-dressed people were frozen in time, like toys left out in the sun.
"You there!" A voice called out to the DWMA students. "Why are you defying the queen's orders?" A woman dressed in emerald green marched toward them. When no one seemed to know what she was talking about, she sighed. "Her royal highness requires more sleep, thus it is the duty of every citizen of Aeaea to provide it for her."
"That doesn't make any sense." Kid said. Sure witches had been known to steal magic or souls, but sleep? "If she needs more sleep, she should be the one sleeping." The Countess faltered, unable to quite argue with the logic.
"Ah, yes, while her instructions may seem unclear..." She had both needed more sleep and refused to go to bed. This had been her proposed solution. "It is not our place to question the magnanimous decisions of those in charge." Kid had a clip on his front that boldly declared he was in charge of worldly affairs, but the woman didn't seem to have an ounce of respect for it.
"Oh, oh, I know!" Patty jumped up and down with her hand raised. When Kid and Liz stepped aside, she skipped forward and pretended to courtesy. "Our prince comes from a far distant land. We've come to seek audience with her royal majesty." A glimmer of recognition lit up and slowly the people around them rose back to their feet.
"A prince!?" The Countess cheered. "My, what a glorious occasion. We shall take the young suitor to her at once. Of course, you need to be dressed in a fashion more suited for the palace." In a move Soul would long hold a grudge over, Kid gave him a gentle shove forward.
"Hey!" He was caught arm and arm by two eager seamstresses. "I'm not- He's the son of a lord."
"I am but a humble butler." Kid said in a way that would only convince people who weren't paying attention. Unfortunately for Soul, that was the entire town. "Nice work Patty." The gun cackled as everyone was lead in a grand procession to the palace, all while Soul shouted his objections onto deaf ears.
There were gasps from the royal court as Ponera swayed during her mid afternoon tea and her cup fell to the floor. On her left someone was fanning her, another maid went to work loosening her corset straps from behind. She had just started to feel okay when suddenly a wave of exhaustion poured over her. Framed by pink flowers that reminded her of her sister, she realized she made a mistake.
Letting too many new people in might have caused more problems than she had anticipated. To throw them back out into the world ran by Lord Death seemed too cruel a punishment for those who'd treated her so kindly. It was an endless cycle of needing more dreams to fuel her paradise, and more places to put them all.
"Don't worry about me." Her words were mushy and slurred. Another servant rushed to brew a stiff cup of black tea to perk her up some. When the queen dropped the royal visage, they new matters were dire. "We were merely struck with a wondrous idea. Arrange a ball for all the new citizens. We should like to grace them with Our presence."
"With all due respect your highness," her lady in waiting recused Ponera's doll from the creeping puddle on the floor, "it seems as though you are not up for public events."
"You are mistaken." Ponera uttered under her breath in a low, threatening tone.
"I-I just mean, there is mystique in a monarch that watches the people from afar." She stuttered. Ponera rose from her chair on unsteady feet. Her own doll used to shield the lady in waiting from her as she stalked forward. "If people were to suspect weakness from seeing you at an inopportune time-" Ponera grabbed her doll, then with her golden nails, pinched the woman's hand until she let the toy go. "I was mistaken."
"Too late for that." Ponera sighed. She hated to throw away her precious friends, but she needed iron clad loyalty in her court. There was no telling who had sent the assassin to kill her or who might trick her into falling asleep again. It was a matter of survival.
The woman's hand turned a fiery red, as something swelled and crawled up her shoulder. The pinch marks darkened and opened into festering wounds. When sweet words weren't enough, it paid to have a powerful bite.
"Take her to the garden," Ponera said, "the flowers need more attention." She turned away from the collapsing corpse, a sad look on her face as she joined the other ladies of the court. "I really liked her, why did she have to go and say something so mean. I'm not weak, am I?"
"N-no your majesty."
"A wealth of strength your majesty."
"A symbol of the people, your majesty."
"Exactly." Ponera cleared her throat. "It is just was We suspected, no matter how generous We are, some people just don't know how to listen." When she found who had caused the sudden drain on her soul, she would turn them into fertilizer for her garden.