Where Do All the Good Kids Go? - worldismyne (2024)

Chapter 1: 30

Chapter Text

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 circ*mstance 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.

Chapter 2: overkill

Chapter Text

Witches do not grow at the same rates humans do. When Black Star agreed to look after Angela in Mifune's place, he did so knowing his children's grand children would have to look after her long after he died. But, to his surprise, Angela had started to grow. Something about feeling safe, and having a home and triggered it, or at least that's what Kim had told him. Rather than age slowly, they get stuck at certain stages.

It was no coincidence that most of the destructive witches they'd run into were trapped in their teens to early twenties. Once you had earned a certain amount of power, it was easy to stop maturing and learning. In Angela's case, is seemed the opposite. She'd spent most of her life running and hiding, too busy staying alive to do anything else. She'd been stuck as a child for a long time. Even now, he wasn't sure how long that had been the case.

After he finished training Tsubaki, he put everything else on hold to take care of Angela. With each growth spurt he had hope that she'd be able to take care of herself within his lifetime. Kid had no problems assigning him the occasional mission, even if he technically only made it to two-star meister status. Everything seemed to be going fairly well until Tsubaki was ready to take a position overseas.

Black Star wasn't comfortable taking Angela away from Death City. They had been talking about it for over a year, in the quiet hours while Angela slept. She thought meisters and weapons partnered for life. They had tried desperately to find an explanation that wouldn't hurt the poor girl. At the end of the day, Black Star was the one who agreed to adopt her, not Tsubaki. Tsubaki was ready to have her own life. She wouldn't be taking Angela with her.

He worried Angela would stop growing after that.

For two years she'd been stuck looking and acting like a thirteen-year-old. He knew her adjusting to the change would take time. As a single parent, he always had to be the bad guy. He was the one that told her what happened to Mifune, that the DWMA used to hunt witches when he was younger. He tried to persuade her to take up meister training, but all she wanted to do was play with her magic. It was almost a constant battle of wills at home now.

"Aren't you going to the party Lord Death is holding?" Angela has asked the morning before the party. Hearing other people called Kid Lord Death was still weird to him.

"It's not a kid friendly event." Black Star said. "Besides, I wouldn't want to make you miss magic practice just so I could go." She used a levitation spell to take the pan he'd forgotten about off the burner.

"I could stay with a friend." She said. He turned to her, a playfully suspicious look on his face. One of her favorite things was to complain about practicing magic with younger witches. "It's just for one night."

"Are you sure?" He asked setting a plate of almost burnt food in front of her. "You don't have to."

"It'll be fine." She swiveled back and forth in her seat, but kept her tone conversational. "It's not like I'll be with a babysitter or anything. It'll be a sleepover." He ruffled her hair and she silently cheered. Because she knew Tsubaki would be at the party too. Once they were face to face again, she knew they'd have fun, and they'd realize how much they missed living together. It didn't matter to her if Tsubaki came back or they could finally move to Oceania. They'd finally be one big happy family again.

A party without pizza and a mascot running around, it was like a dream come true. Truth be told, Black Star wasn't sure how to talk to most people his own age without boring them. Everyone around him was just starting to hash out the anxieties that came from starting the next chapter of their lives. He'd kind of skipped that step and went straight to rearing a tiny person that was getting into trouble. He couldn't even relate to those who were on their first kid, things related to anyone under the age of eight was a mystery to him.

It was still nice to be out and not worry about the clock. He was plenty happy to catch up with old classmates and hear what they'd been up to over the years. His friends all had their own table. Most of them were seated by the time he rolled up.

"Your god has arrived!" He laughed. There was a resounding cheer that he'd been able to make it and the traditional round of hugs from people he'd only talked to over the phone the past few years.

"Hey," Soul nudged him quietly, "just a fair warning. Maka's kinda of..." He trailed off. She walked up to the table with two glasses of neon pink drink, and started pounding one immediately.

"Is the world ending again and I missed it?" Black Star asked with a huge grin. He really shouldn't find it funny, but Maka was the last person he thought would be fighting with Kid over how many drinks she's had.

"Oh my god, you're here!" Maka sat down next to him.

"I know," he laughed, "I need to get on your level though. I was literally late to the party." She gave him one of her drinks.

"I'll go get another one." She slurred and downed the rest before getting up.

"This is going to be fun." Black Star said.

Everyone else seemed a little concerned, but Black Star figured they were just not used partying like they used to. He certainly was out of practice, two drinks felt more like five. It was still nice to see everyone again. Highlights included an elderly Stein racing the new hires down the dance floor on office chairs, beating Kilik and Ox at silly drinking games, and seeing his squarest friend try to dance.

He did, unfortunately, brag a little too much about Tsubaki's promotion. Throughout the night, he kept hearing people wonder why a bunch of Kid's top brass was hanging out with a two-star meister. To which he was quick to snap back, why would he need to train another weapon? He nailed it the first time.

Halfway through the night, his vision got hazy around the edges, and he had to admit he'd gone a little too hard on the drinks. Just having Maka lean into him was enough to make him think about his balance.

"Hey," he nudged her back on her feet, "I have to go."

"Boo." He wasn't sure where she'd been trying to poke, but she dug her finger into his cheek. "The song's not even over."

"You said that three songs ago." He grabbed her hand to guide it away from his face. Her head bobbed a little, and he glanced at their table. Everyone else was still talking and having a good time. "How are you getting home?"

"I'mma walk." Maka patted him on the shoulder.

"By yourself?" That was a horrible idea. Years of training or no, one drunk person stumbling in the vague direction of their home, was not a safe person. "I could take you home." She stared at him. Likely under the impression she was still okay enough to party. She was going to need a whole persuasive essay to be convinced she should call it quits. A task Black Star wasn't sure he could handle even while sober.

"Alright." Maka shrugged. "f*ck it, take me home." Black Star thanked whatever lucky star was shining on him tonight that he wouldn't have to worry about her. That was until they got in the cab and she couldn't tell him which hotel she was staying at. "I thought you were taking me home." She lolled her head to the side. "Or were you just saying that?"

"Your hotel is nicer." Black Star said. She made a face. "It's at least cleaner, I didn't think I was coming four hours ago." She laughed and he rolled his eyes. "You'd seriously want to stay with me?"

"I already said yes, didn't I?" She listed toward him and he gave the driver directions. He didn't question the way her arms snaked around his waist, or the small pliant kisses on his neck, or the hand that had somehow snaked up his shirt. He had liked her since high-school and even if she didn't mean it, it was nice to play in the innocent space where things had gone differently. Where he hadn't let the world almost ending and getting stronger take up his entire childhood. "Hey," he turned to Maka, "what are you-"

Her lips were on his. He heard the click of her seat belt and the driver give some vague threat as she crawled a little more in his lap. A rush of adrenaline, the edges of his vision faded in and out. She was warm under his hands, this had to be real, or she would have snapped him out of it.

"I said get out!" He cabbie shouted. They had made it to the apartments. He was reminded again, as they struggled up the stairs, that neither of them were sober. All the giggling in the world wouldn't change that. He had to convince her multiple times to stay on the bed while he showered. The cold water helped him a little. Everything was too bright, too loud, and he was leaning against every available object to get around. He came out partially dressed just as Maka threw her underwire across the room like it personally offended her.

She was framed by shadows on either side, the light of the bathroom casting a golden glow on her hair and skin. With one finger, she called him over, and he followed helplessly as his mind lagged behind. She cupped his cheek and pulled him close.

"What's the matter?" She asked.

"We can't." He said. She bit her lip, her brows furrowed, slowly laying back. He crawled over her, not wanting to break eye contact. "I'll never forgive myself if I mess this up." There was a sparkle back in her eyes as she locked her arms around his neck.

"It'll be fine." She grinned. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, with her hanging around his neck. She tilted her chin, waiting for a trail of kisses.

"You promise?" With a fistful of his hair, she pulled him down for a kiss, humming some vague consent. "Then you can wait." He said once she let him breathe.

"Boooo." She let her arms drop like wet noodles, but clearly wasn't too offended.

"I'm trying to make good f*cking choices." He laughed. "Go shower." He got up and watched her roll out of bed. When she realized she still had his eye, she walked slower, letting her skirt drop in the doorway of the bathroom. "Shower." He threw a pillow in her direction. His head was swimming again. That had been too close.

Reality came crashing back in the next morning. Maka was back to her straight laced apologetic self, unable to look him in the eye. Which was a bit of a bummer, but part of him knew it was inevitable. Angela standing in his kitchen, seeing Maka leave the bedroom in his clothes, was not.

"She's only been gone for six months!" Angela slammed the cooking utensils down. "You were supposed to bring her back, not some other girl!" She turned invisible, but it was easy for him to follow the trail of slamming doors and angry sniffles. He tried to explain while the breakfast Angela had cooked cooled on the stove, but it was no use. Tsubaki was the only one who could calm her down when she got like this. He called her as soon as he could, and explained in as short of detail what happened to his half-asleep weapon. Angela had run out of the house, she'd be near impossible for him to find now. As he left Angela's room, he hung up the phone just in time to keep Tsubaki from hearing Maka throw up in the trash.

"Don't worry about me." Maka waved him off. "Go after her." She needed to find her clothes. He didn't listen, instead helping her gimp to the nearest chair. "She'll hate you more if you don't." She knew from experience, and she didn't need to be babied right now. She just needed to keep down a glass of water and get out of here before Angela got back.

"She left without her house keys, someone's got to stay behind." Black Star offered her a hot cup of chicken broth. "It'll be okay, she just needs time..." Though, truth be told, he wasn't sure how long that would take. Part of him resented being stuck in one place for so long, but anytime he tried to rush things, it just made it worse.

"I'm sorry." It was the third or fourth time she'd said it. "I acted like an idiot last night, and I keep making things worse."

"Maka, really, you're fine." He laughed. "It's been an honor to see what happens when you get sh*t-faced." She buried her head in her hands and groaned. "At least you didn't think you could get honey out of a stadium light." She peaked at him between her fingers. "The graduation after party was crazy. Soul insisted we go to Ikea to find, and I quote, a Narnia closet. No one could convince him it wasn't real." He jerked his thumb over to a wall mounted stop sign. "I stole that on the way back. We never figured out what intersection it was from."

"Why did you steal a stop sign?" She asked.

"Because I physically could." He said. "One second, we were walking back from the ikea, the next I had a stop sign. So, considering the fact you didn't get kicked out of a store or commit any crimes, I can say with confidence not the worst I've had to deal with. Myself included." He checked his phone, still no update. "I do not mind that you find me incredibly bangable." Maka choked on her cup of broth, it almost came out of her nose. He had that smug look on his face, that told her he one hundred percent was just messing with her. Unable to speak right away, she wildly swung her hand and ended up smacking his arm. "Honestly, a little insulted you find that embarrassing. I'm obviously a 10."

"Okay, I get it." She said once her voice cleared. "I'll stop apologizing."

Angela didn't have anywhere to go. Her anger had gotten her far, but not far enough. She wandered the streets at dawn, imperceptible to others walking by. Mifune always said, once she was strong enough, she could go anywhere she wanted in the world. She could do it now, just runaway and never look back. Maybe then her sorry excuse for a guardian would actually feel sorry about what he did, instead of pitying her like it was inevitable. Humans loved to come and go in her life it was about time one of them took responsibility for it.

Her heart stopped. In the alley behind her favorite smoothie shop, someone was standing over a body with a large star tattoo on their back. She was still invisible. As quietly as she could, she disguised her phone and took a single picture with a trembling hand. They looked her direction just as the light from the flash faded.

Two long whips receded back into beaded braids that framed a soft face. The metallic mesh ware they wore rippled and reflected the street behind them as they came within inches of Angela's location. She minimized her presence as best she could. Their eyes narrowed. Just as they reached out a muffled voice shouted in their ear, causing them to flinch.

"There's a Shibusen student in the area, what are you doing lingering at the site?" They pocketed the ear piece, the shouting still evident, though fully incoherent. With a shake of their head they left.

She lingered a little too long in hindsight. Her magic had faltered and she ran in the opposite direction. There were no sirens. No one else knew that person was dead.

Chapter 3: 99 Luftballoons

Chapter Text

(1150 AD)

In the center of a vast crystal palace, a young girl sat cross legged over a crystal ball. Her audience was small, just the current queens of the magical realm and their closest advisors. In the left throne, an elderly witch by the name of Maba, who watched the performance with one eye. In the center, the pillar life in all it's chaotic nature, a white witch known as Iroha. They were the rising sun and the ever changing moon, with an empty throne on the right.

"Iroha's dream of finding peace between the realms will come to fruition." The fortune teller said. The two queens shared a look, having heard similar fortunes a hundred times over.

"That will be all." Maba said. The young girl collected her ball and bowed to the queens. "Tyche could have at least left us a hint who her successor would be, she could see into the blasted future." The old crone had been caught by old age, a pleasant surprise for everyone. So few witches ended that way. Clearly, she had the foresight to pass on her magic, but there were thousands of magic students who could cast a simple divination spell. Trying to weed out the oracle she chose was proving to be a headache.

"What's done is done." Iroha sighed.

"Send in the next one." Maba bit back a frustrated growl when yet another witch too young for schooling was let into the throne room. They literally had to check everyone. She was a gaunt little thing with stringy dark blue hair, no older than eight in appearance.

"Have you read a fortune before?" Iroha's smile was warm and inviting. The child shook her head. "Alright then, follow along with me." With her finger she used light to trace the pattern of a spell circle. "You open your spirit up to the universe and think of this symbol. If it's too hard, you can try using water or smoke to help you."

"Okay." The child seated herself on the floor. "What do you want to know?"

"We can't tell you." Maba sighed. "That's part of the test." The little girl nodded.

She squinched her eyes real tight and tried to make the symbol in her head. She wasn't the best at magic and these kinds of spells could be tricky. As soon as she opened her eyes, tears began to flow.

"Close the gates to the magical world." She said, her voice small and fragile. It had only been for a few seconds, but she couldn't unsee what the spell had shown her. "People need a place to hide."

"What did you see?" Maba asked. The young girl shook her head, she hardly had to words for it, let alone the heart to tell them.

"When will it be over?" Iroha asked gently instead.

"...when god-eating titans escape their cages," the child said, "and the first demon weapon is sealed."

"That will be all." Maba shook her head. Yet another drama queen grasping at straws.

"Please close the gates!" She cried. "If they stay open... There will be two empty thrones." Two staff members came to escort her out the room. The glass doors shut behind her after another girl was let in.

"Gosh, what did you tell them Cassandra?" One of the girls in line asked her.

"The truth." Cassandra wiped her eyes.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that." The older girl rolled their eyes. "If it's bad news, you have to sugar coat it and give them hope."

"I did." Cassandra saw the line of girls that stretched down the hall and out the door. "If they don't close the gates, everyone's going to have to hide in the human world. It won't matter how people use their magic, they'll all be put on the list."

"What list?"

"Selene," Cassandra bit her lip, "you have to give them the same warning. If all of us tell them the same thing, they'll have to listen." She could tell by the disappointed faces, no one wanted to risk their chance at becoming queen over her word. Even still, young and old, she went down the line asking all the applicants to ask for the gates to be closed, the same doomy aura hung around their souls. Within five years, all of them would be murdered and eaten.

(1981 AD)

Gone were the glittering lights and gorgeous crystals. Decades of war and hiding in secret had worn the Fate's court down from hundreds to tens. Palaces had been traded for secluded mad houses and other places humans didn't dare tread. Cassandra knelt in front of a humble replica of the Fate's throne, now closer to seventeen in appearance. As she predicted, only Maba presided over them.

"When last you sat before us, no one could predict the one-sided war Lord Death would declare on our kind. You did." Maba said. "The burden bared by The Inevitable, is to know when and how people will leave this Earth. In such dark times, it brings comfort to see such a kind soul will help guide our sisters home." The room echoed with the sniffles of her fellow witches.

Cassandra hung her head. The council was holding onto the idea that slaying the weapons Shinigami-sama created would allow them to retrieve the souls that had been taken. She had tried a few times, but once the ritual had been complete, there was no way to extract the soul of a witch who'd been eaten. Their magic was forever trapped in a demon that was not quite human and not quite witch; a shapeshifting parasite used against their kind.

"You will have to move in secret," Maba said, "but we'll see to it firsthand that our fellow covens know the third Fate walks amongst us once more. The people need hope now more than ever." That was the problem.

Traditionally, when a new witch takes the mantel of a Fate, there's a huge coronation, and a week long festival. Cassandra was welcomed into the court quietly, with a handful of witches to see her inherit the ceremonial scissors. They dolled her up in something far more modern and modest compared to her predecessors.

A tightly scheduled road trip was plotted for them, so she could greet the other underground leaders. They'd make it part of the way before getting ambushed, her retainers would die and she would be captured. She had told them this, and even still, the witches would march toward their destiny. Yes, some things were inevitable, but did that mean they should just lay down and accept it? At the very least they could try and bring more people for protection or plan a different route.

She was put on a cramped RV with her fellow witches. As the scenery rushed past, one looming mountain stood out on the horizon. In six months, she'd be taken there. The edges of the mountain ebbed and flowed as they followed the highway. Just because their ends were determined, didn't mean the future had to be set in stone.

Long grey clouds flickered with light as the first few drops of rain soaked the pavements. They had pulled over at a rest stop for gas and a break. By the time they were ready to get back on the road, Cassandra was gone.

Being a lookout was boring work. A village, at the top of a mountain, in the pouring rain wasn't in danger of being attacked right this second. There was just nothing else to do, but watch from the outer wall to see if any customers stopped by the black lion statue and place their coins over its eyes. Suzaka's attention was grabbed when a woman at the base of the mountain bypassed the statue to climb the stairs.

"Uh, boss?" He said into a pipe. "Someone wants to talk to you." He waited for someone, anyone from the bowels of the base to give him the time of day. He heard the clatter of plates as the rest of the clan finished their meal.

"What's the request?" A cold, stern voice rattled up the pipe.

"There uh, there isn't one, not yet at least." Suzaka leaned back over the edge of the tower. Through the rain and his thick red hair, he could see the tiny figure continue to climb. "They have to want to talk to a person, they're coming up the steps." People laughed at him.

"Don't worry about it." His boss said. "That's what the stairs are for." The other line went dead, leaving Suzaka in the howling rain. For the ordinary person, the climb up the mountain was a grueling hour-long chore. Most looked up the winding path and gave up at the base of the statue. He couldn't help but worry why in this weather, someone would look up at the tiny glowing ember of the gates and try anyway. Half an hour later, he called again.

"She's still here."

Training had been postponed until storm lightened up. So, when Suzuka's voice rang through the main hall, he had the attention of the elders and his fellow trainees. People crowded around as their young leader picked up the call.

"What do you mean they're still here?"

"She uh, she made it half way up, and now she's kind of crawling?" Genbu, a leather clad master of disguise and Seiryu, a master in hidden weapons, braved the weather to join him at the outpost. They saw the glittering silk, bogged down by the rain, act as a weight against the visitors arms and legs. She alternated letting it drag on the ground, or waddling up the steps with the skirt in her arms.

"Hey!" Seiryu shouted. The visitor looked up and waved. "What are you doing!?" She laughed when the woman pointed at the door. "Yeah, I can see that." Genbu grabbed her by the mouth and pulled her back into the tower.

"What part of stealthy secret assassin village are you not getting?" Genbu hissed through his teeth. Seiryu shrugged him off and rang the rain out of her blue synthetic hair.

"Can't be that secret if she's coming up here."

"Call me again if she makes it to the door." Their boss said and hung up again. The trio watched with amusem*nt as someone so frail battled to get to the top. Occasionally she had to rest, earning a few jeering shouts of encouragement from Seiryu and Suzaka. After almost two hours, she reached the iron door hangers and knocked once. The young assassin leader opened the door with a scowl.

"Hi." Cassandra said, a breathless dopey grin on her face. She had actually made it. The rain masked her tears, because how in a million years could she explain why she was so happy to have just gotten this far. He looked exactly like the hero in her visions. A stern warrior with grey hair and stars in his eyes. "Right, you don't know me." His scowl deepened as she floundered. In six months, he would have been sent to assassinate the demon lord that captured her. While all the prisoners slowly died from poisoned tea, she alone would bear witness to the faces of this village collecting the souls of the dead. Unable to kill her, she assumed she was brought here, since in further visions they were usually together. "I'm here to be your bride." The door shut in her face.

On the other side, several members objected, their curiosity further peaked by her outlandish statement. There were shouts as someone was pushed out of the way and the doors opened once more. A withered old lady in a gi and drooping robe gestured for her to step inside.

"You're early." She said. Cassandra nodded, the piercing glare from her future husband aimed square at the elder's back.

"Early for what?" His question was left unanswered as everyone was ushered inside out of the rain. The young man's objects swallowed by the howling storm. The first of several bridal candidates had arrived.

The Asuka village had taken great pains to bring the what they could from Kyoto to West Texas. The center of the village was lined with alleyways of rural homes, wattled together with steep roofs to combat the rain. She was led to a wide, sprawling dojo that divided the communal space and the training grounds. Converse and colored leather boots followed in the muddy geta footprints of the elders.

The interior of the dojo was lovingly decorated with artifacts from the clan's days in Japan. Ornate swords, ink paintings of epic battles, and clay pottery lined the walkway. Cassandra was able to slip out of her flats with ease, but her dress left a wide trail of water on the lacquered floor. The old woman grabbed her by the shoulder, waist, and hips.

"Go with Seiryu," the elder said, "she'll help you find something that will fit." Seiryu rolled her eyes, but motioned for Cassandra to follow. She was brought to a room, with a wall of different ornate fans. Cassandra lingered at the display, the slightest silver glimmer along the fan's edges suggesting a blade of some kind.

"Don't touch those." Seiryu said. She threw open a wardrobe full of different silvery-blue ponytail clips on the top shelf and rows of baggy, colorful cloths. A set of wide high-waist acid-wash jeans and a drooping orange sweater was thrown Cassandra's way. "No, tuck in the sweater. Have you never dressed yourself?"

"Not exactly." There were spells for everything, from washing your hair, to making modest clothes fit like a glove. To use magic in the human realm would involve dropping her soul protection spell. Any wrong move could invite death on their doorstep. So she fumbled with her buttons and wondered if such obnoxious clothes was some form of hazing.

"Did you bring anything besides this grandma dress?" Seiryu held up the angel-sleeved robe dress Cassandra had been wearing. Maybe in the twenties it had been fashionable to lounge around in sequins and silk, but that time had passed.

"I..." Cassandra hadn't really thought this far. "I was just so excited, I forgot to pack."

"Aww," Seiryu cooed, "you're going to be so disappointed. My cousin's a total Monet, nobody's got time to fix all that mess, but good on you for trying." She frowned, something wasn't quite adding up as Cassandra followed her to the main hall like a lost duckling. No one who came here was ever excited to do so, not even the clan members. She'd definitely have to keep an eye on this new girl. They entered the main hall; knives and other sharp objects embedded in the walls. "Looks like they finally told him." Sieryu said under her breath.

"It's part of your duty to carry on the bloodline White Star." Said an old man in a yellow suit long fur coat. He had deflected every blow with a gold cane. The current head of the Star Clan, Charon was a grizzled old man who gave up keeping pace with the outside world around twenty years ago.

"Why?" White Star threw a glare at Suzuka and Genbu, who passively watched from the sidelines. At least one of them should be on look out duty instead of foisting it on a newbie. "We have all the useless bums you could possibly need."

"I'm on break!" Suzuka said as he covered his teased curls in a cloud of hairspray. Genbu shielded his black leather top from the spray with a plate.

"They're not the ones demanding to be head of the clan, you are." Charon slammed his cane on the ground with deafening clang. "When those other girls get here, you better show them respect."

"Other girls?" Cassandra asked. Charon's demeanor softened as he welcomed her to sit down. Everyone in the room put their best foot forward while White Star glared.

"Yes, my dear," Charon said, "all members of our family are skilled warriors. Traditionally, the strongest of the bridal candidates marry into the family."

"The others drop out first." Sieryu whispered. Cassandra tried to picture their first meeting from the past, but events had already shifted, leaving it a distant memory. Without her magic, she wasn't stronger than the average human.

"You could be the first." White Star said. His cousin slowly stepped away, her comments no longer helping. "Save yourself the trouble."

"I did not come this far just to give up now." Cassandra said. Regardless of what he said, the visions she had of them together remained unchanged. "I'm not going anywhere."

"We'll see about that." White Star stalked away.

In the middle of the night, Cassandra was woken up by White Star. In all black, he narrowed his eyes and nodded toward the doorway.

"Come on," he said, "you think you want to apart of this, I'll show you exactly what we do."

He offered Cassandra a set of dark clothes and they waited for her to follow. The had a short cut down the mountain, taking all of ten minutes to get to the paved roads. White Star gave a run down of the mission to her on the drive over.

"Texarcana's in full lock down as soon as the sunsets." He said. "If someone shows up, I'll do the talking." He drove Cassandra up to a cliff overlooking the town. A full, laughing moon, bathed the city in a white light. The sparse drops of rain, chirped against the glistening pavement. For once, they were alone.

"You know, it's kind of funny," she said, "I've waited so long for this part of my life. Now that I'm here, I don't know what to say." She fidgeted with her sleeves. "I know it will take time to get used to each other... I'm sorry it's been a burden on you."

"It's not a burden." White Star shrugged. "It's a mild inconvenience at best."

"Still," she sighed, "I just wanted more time together, however much you'd let me have." She shook her head. At the end of the day, she'd been in love with the idea of them together. She didn't know much past the tiny glimpses she'd seen during other people's last moments. "It's one of the few things I've had a choice in."

A large, gangly shadow passed in front of the moon. Two glowing eyes peered at them from inside a burlap sack.

"What is that thing?" She whispered, afraid if she moved too much it'd spot them.

"That's the product of automation." The creature had six arms, and a heavy gait. "Ever since Lord Death let people's own souls guide themselves to the underworld, the stragglers have been getting eaten and turning people into Wraiths." It past by the car without a second glance. "I guess it doesn't think we're a couple either." He shrugged and reached for the car door.

"People are dying alone?" Cassandra's horror made him pause. He was about to say something, when the glass shattered. He grabbed her by the shoulder and both of them ducked as a bullet ripped through the car.

"About damn time!" He rolled out of the car and chased after the monster. A looming figure on spindly limbs, it walked waist high to the treetops. It was swarmed by attacks from all sides, and slowly fell to it's knees. All that was left behind was a corrupted red soul. She flinched, but no Ker or Fury came to collect it. It bobbed aimlessly in the air as White Star shoved it in a jar. He walked back to her and waved it for her to see. "People pay big money for us to exterminate these things. They're everywhere, and not always so nice." She took the jar, knowing only she could see how many threads this person had stolen to extend their own fate long past what it should have been. It shouldn't be possible. The dead shouldn't leave behind extra time. The corrupted soul in front of her had degraded into a shell of what it once was.

"How could he let this happen?" She asked. White Star took back the jar with a sigh.

"If they had a say, I'm sure they'd look like David Hasslehoff, but you don't get to be pretty and powerful I guess." He grinned at her. "It's not too late to go home." She felt ill. All her fallen sisters, none of them had a sympathetic soul in their corner when they died. No death spirits meant no witnesses. White Star's smug grin didn't last when his cousin punched him in the shoulder.

"You're going to get in so much trouble for this!" Genbu said. "Bringing an untrained mook as bait? Look at her, she's traumatized." White Star played keep-away with the jar. "This wasn't even your mission to take. Give it back!"

"It's not a Wraith." She said. "Whatever that thing was, it was alive."

Chapter 4: Your Mind is Not Your Friend

Chapter Text

Maka returned to an empty hotel room. Angela needed Black Star right now and she needed time to clear her head. All her things were still mostly packed. The sliver of a desk available to her was covered in a small stack of books she was reading. For the last couple of months, she'd been living out of a suitcase. Now her outgoing flight had been postponed so she could deal with a more pressing mission; a more common occurrence than she was willing to admit.

Once Kid had more information for them, they could get started. The nausea had long passed, but now she was just tired. Her mind stuck on a loop of planning for the next mission and replaying this morning in her head. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't anybody's fault really. What happened had happened, but she couldn't help wonder if there was something she could have said to make things less volatile.

We're just friends.

Nope, that would have come off as patronizing. Especially with how little Maka had been around. With what had happened in the cab, she couldn't even really say with a hundred percent certainty that was true. Something very easily could have happened if one of them had a little less self-control.

Nothing happened.

Angela wasn't five, she'd know an obvious lie when she saw it. It probably would have made things worse. At least on the surface, she hadn't lashed out at Maka. She just faded into the background.

I'm sorry.

That was probably the closest to what she wanted to hear, but it would trigger further questions. What was she actually sorry for, for not being Tsubaki? For getting caught instead of slipping out the back like any ordinary one-night stand? For hurting some kid just by virtue of her existence?

It was too late to do any of that now. The next time she saw Angela would be tainted by that awkward meeting and subsequent murder. She just had to accept, no matter what she did moving forward, she was going to be considered the 'bad guy'. As her consciousness faded, Maka fought with her hurt inner child. This was not an easy position to be in. Nothing happened, but part of her was disappointed that was true.

When Black Star and Maka got to DWMA, the school was a chaotic flurry of activity. At the base level of the school, younger meisters had clamored around the mission board to see what new assignments had become available over the weekend. The hallways had been overtaken by Kid's love of all things black, gold and symmetric. A far sleeker, colorless school than the one they had attended in the past. Maka couldn't help but notice how small the students were.

In the upper level, older meisters and weapons were manning incoming calls about potential kishen sightings. The phones busier than usual and some desks were empty. Inside the main death room, the graveyard had been carefully arranged so that each grave was an equal distance away from each other and the center platform. The walls reflected a flat overcast sky. All complaints about the character taken out of the school had been quashed at the inclusion of chairs for people to sit in. Having been a student himself, Kid had tried to make things as comfortable as possible for people coming in.

"On a scale of one to ten," Black Star said after Kid and Chrona greeted them, "how f*cked are we?" Kid's lip twitched, unable to use his favorite number, even though it would pain him to do so. He'd asked Black Star several times to stick to a color system instead.

"A four." He said.

"Hold on," Maka rubbed her temple, "we reported a crime that you know we had nothing to do with. Is there something else going on?" Kid and Chrona shared a look.

"Some people saw Angela in the area." Chrona said. "We know she did the right thing, but rumors spiral." A lot of work had been put into making Death City neutral territory for all its visitors, but some residents had their reservations about witches. "It takes more than a few years to change people's minds." They arranged fresh cups of green tea around the table for everyone.

"I can't help be suspicious of who was targeted." Kid said. "Mr. Sherman used to be a security guard for the school. We've done our best to classify the description of the perpetrator, but we got another report of someone with large star tattoo butting heads with some of our students on a mission. It's not looking good." The odd copycat had been a problem in the past. Every time it had Black Star on his toes and placed Angela in the students cross hairs at Shibusen. Somethings didn't get easier with time.

"I don't mind looking into it," Black Star said, "but Tsubaki's just getting settled in Oceania, I'd hate to pull her away." There were few weapons he could partner well with on long missions. Even his friend Soul wasn't usable by him.

"I can see if Harudori's available." Kid suggested.

"Why would you need to do that?" Chrona asked. "Maka's right here." The others grew deathly silent, much to Chrona's surprise. Between her burning resentment toward her father, and the teasing from upperclassmen, Maka's status as a weapon had become an expressly forbidden topic. As their powers had grown over the years, Chrona easily forgot how other people dealt with ill-gotten knowledge. Regardless of how obvious it seemed.

"I haven't transformed since I was a kid." Maka tried to laugh off the awkwardness. "I'm a far better meister anyway." The thought of trying to pair with Soul while he was in the middle of wedding planning was not ideal though. "Harudori's used to working with multiple meisters. It'll be fine."

One death scythe was usually enough to scare off most wanna-be kishens, let alone two. Patty had adapted to the role of a meister well after years of fighting alongside her sister in Brooklyn. She was a more aggressive fighter than most meisters, louder, but succinct. No point in drawing out a fight when there was a backlog of Ink Wars they hadn't gotten through. Acting as the DWMA's guard dog was her specialty, but the detective sh*t was not.

"The body's still here." Soul rolled the victim over onto their back. A coin lay in the street where the man's face had been. His coffee spilled in the street in a leisurely trail toward a burning cone of incense. "But no soul."

"So?" Patty leaned back with her hands behind her head.

"So, if someone had eaten their soul, the body should be gone." It was the second time it had happened within a week. Someone from Shibusen's staff turned up dead, but with remains in the mortal plane. "Where did it go?"

"Maybe he died of natural causes." Patty shrugged. He gave her a witheringly tired stare. "Murder's a natural cause." She shook her head. "Shinigami-sama never talked about what happened to the good people that died. Things just always seemed to take care of themselves." It was unsettling to see someone linger in the in-between like this. "Ugh, I hope Maka finds who's responsible for this soon. It's so gross to have bodies just lie there like rotting potatoes!" She bowed to the man. "Sorry Jeff, but it's true!"

"Yeah..." Soul turned in their report to Kid. He'd offered to pair up with Maka for the investigation, but for whatever reason, Maka had refused. No one could tell him why. Granted, he had a good idea who to ask, but that would involve stirring an already broiling pot. "Did Blair actually make dinner tonight?" He asked instead.

"Do pizza rolls count as dinner?" She asked, entirely comfortable eating nothing but bite-sized pizza for the evening.

"Let's get something on the way." He sighed.

"Alrighty!" She skipped up to the back end of the motorcycle. As the engines revved, Blair sent her a picture. "They're not burned this time." She said in sing song.

"I never said I wouldn't eat them." Soul pealed out of the alley into the brightly lit street. "That just can't be all I have."

"You just left him there!?" Kid bellowed at the mirror. Chrona lounged in one of the chairs with their legs over the arms, a golden tangle of thread only they could see in their lap. They picked and pulled at the knots in a vain hope any of them would give.

"What else were we supposed to do, take him with us?" Patty said with a plateful of food in her hand. "Soul's bike barely fits two people, let alone a dead body. You're the grim reaper, don't you have a clean up crew or something?"

"We've never needed one." Kid said through his teeth. Not that he'd trust anyone else to clean other than him. Usually, the bodies vanished on their own. "I'll send someone. Just, please, next time if that happens call me immediately." He hung up and lurched forward so his head leaned against the glass.

"I don't suppose witches have anything that could help this, would they?" He asked.

"Death works differently here." Chrona shrugged. "In the magical world, your soul doesn't get collected, it just comes back as a blank slate. Then Maba finds where your magic comes from and you're given your old name back. The old bodies get turned into plant food." They looked up from their thread. "You could do that! The fire would have to be really hot though." Gruesome imagery aside, it did bring up a different question.

"Does that mean Medusa could come back again?"

"No." Chrona fixated back on the threads. "Ragnarok ate her. You don't come back from that." Warm hands stopped them from picking apart the threads until they frayed. Kid knew he had touched a nerve, his curiosity had just got the better of him.

"I just wanted to know if there were more fires ahead, I'm sorry." Kid said. Chrona furrowed their brow, the metaphor a little too similar to their previous topic. "Doom prepping."

"Ah." Chrona nodded. "If the dead here aren't going toward the spirit channels or in a Kishen, where are they going?"

"Unfortunately, there's still too few victims for me to tell." Kid said. "Hopefully Maka and Blackstar can find out before it gets worse." He recognized Chrona's fidgeting at last, a slight panic in his eyes. "He's here, isn't he?" Chrona sank deeper into their chair. "I thought we agreed to keep him on the moon!"

"Maba says I've been working too slow!" Chrona said. "They don't get it. When someone's been alive for thousands of years," they held up a mass of threads tethered off into the corners of the earth, "thousands of people's fates get roped into it. Literally."

"I can't see what you're holding." Kid said.

"Believe me, you wouldn't want to." They added another freed thread to a pile of discarded fates. For all his inane ramblings, Excalibur carried many of the dead close to his soul. It was a nightmare making him let go. Kid flinched at the sound of a cane scuffing up the white marble floors and a nasally whistle.

"I'm sure you're doing great, but I really need to get on this whole dead lingering around thing." He ran into the sanctity of his private office. Meanwhile Chrona worked meticulously as the holy sword approached them.

"It is time for midnight tea, you are two minutes late." He shoved a can in Chrona's face. "Article 632 states explicitly no third Wednesday must go without tea at midnight." Chrona batted it away without a second glance.

"Did you read the poetry I gave you?" Chrona asked. The weapon's cane deflated like a limp balloon at the mention of such dark writings. "Fool!" He threw his top hat at her. "You're neglecting your duties with that pointless task." He was immortal like the great old ones, no matter what the demi gods wished. If there was an end to his fate, it could be miles away. "Your peers will be in their graves by the time you finish."

"That's the idea." Chrona threw the hat back at him, he caught it with the top of his head and a majestic leap. They had no doubt, that Maka and the others had defied fate by fighting Asura and living to tell the tale. On all sides they had people demanding proof their loved ones were cheated or proof they needed more time. Starting with Excalibur was the best way to put off disappointing everyone.

"You are the Allotter, you must live in the present!" Excalibur demanded, slamming his cane on the rat's nest of golden thread. "That means experiencing your friendships! Nourishing your meaty shell. Drink the sweet summer wine and roll in dandelions. Why, in 1542-"

"Alright, I'll take a break!"

All of Shibusen was on high alert. Another security guard hadn't come to work. Angela was thankful to have class as an alibi. As the first pseudo exchange student, she was the oldest in her class. A number of young witches, about nine in appearance, would run around before lessons started. They were all oracles, illusionists, or some other form of benign magic. Their mothers liked the appeal of Miss Kim's class for white magic, an art that had almost died out.

There was nothing wrong with white magic, but Angela knew she could do more than vanish into thin air and levitate object. She wanted to try seeing eye spells, making spikes grow out of the ground, or shapeshifting. It was all met with a resounding 'no', so she could set a good example for the little kids.

Bad witches fell prey to the destructive sway of magic, bad witches didn't follow the rules, bad witches got people hurt. Lately she had started feeling a bit like a 'bad' witch. It didn't help that Kim had given her an earful for running off without an escort the other day. The buddy system wouldn't suck so much if she had kids her own age to partner with.

"Alright everyone," Kim said, "I want you to think about the animal that's drawn to your magic." A chameleon; silent, frightened, helpless. "What good things are they looking for with your magic?" The little ones shouted out silly things like joy, or love. She shouldn't hate the younger kids for thriving under a peaceful time, but she couldn't help it. She wanted to be anyone else right now. "...Angela?"

"What?" Angela covered her mouth, two voices had come out, hers and Miss Kim's. She pulled her hands away from her mouth, they had an abstracted version of Kim's manicure, all just a little off. "I'm sorry!" The illusion faded, but it was too late. She accidentally used magic she wasn't supposed too again. The little girls giggled and 'oooed' at her.

"Maybe you should go home for the day." Kim said gently.

"No, I'm fine." Angela said. "I can stay. I'll focus, I promise."

"It's okay if you can't, you had a rough day yesterday and-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" She shouted, her skin fire-engine red. She was towering above the other girls, her chest heaved. She needed to focus, she needed to be calm. "Don't tell him." Her skin cooled down when she saw the frightened looks all around her. "Please don't tell him."

Black Star had just gotten a new mission. If he had to come get her from work, it'd be a whole thing, and then she'd have to tell him what happened during class. That she had been struggling for multiple weeks to keep her magic utterly suppressed. This wouldn't happen if she was able to go to real magic school, it just wasn't fair. She didn't want to get into any more trouble.

"Jackie, can you take her to the practice field?" Kim sighed. Her partner nodded and Angela felt the entire class watch her as she was lead away from the mediation circle. This was utterly embarrassing.

"It's okay." Jackie said as they entered the empty gym. "When I first started here, I'd accidentally lit things on fire all the time." That was okay for a weapon. Weapons were supposed to take their time learning and growing. Witches that couldn't do what they were told got cast aside.

Working with her senpai had always been her dream, but Tsugumi had to turn Maka and Black Star down. She'd gone so far to face time them personally just so they could see her bow her head in apologetic reverence.

"Ordinarily I would in a heartbeat," Tsugumi said, "but Meme's got urgent business back home and I promised I'd help her. I'm so sorry Maka-san!"

"It's okay." Maka said.

"I'm here too." Black Star said, feeling a little like a third wheel while the girls gushed over how Tsugumi had grown into her own on the EAT course.

"Doesn't Chrona-san have a weapon that can pair with anyone?" Tsugumi asked. The two meisters collectively cringed. Excalibur was Chrona's first project in trying to correct the chaos caused by the old ones. Only Chrona could put up with the sword's wretched personality. "That bad hunh? I thought if anyone could do it, you could Senpai."

"Yeah, even I have my limits." Maka said.

"I'm here too damn it!" Black Star said, causing the girl on the other end to flinch. Maka rolled her eyes, he honestly wondered why so many of their underclassmen were afraid of him.

"Ah, but if it's related to the Star Clan, I'm surprised they didn't ask Akane-kun or Ao to look into it." She tilted her head when neither meister agreed. "They're related to them." She covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew." Both her classmates had the fearsome stars in their eyes, even if their skin was free of ink. It was common enough knowledge in her class, that Akane always hid his eyes to avoid the stares. They must have avoided Black Star at school for the same reason. "They may not know much, but it's worth asking. Sorry I couldn't be more help Maka-san." She hung up before Black Star could say anything else. The phone slowly cooled in Maka's hands as she thought of what else to say. Black Star couldn't go on a mission this sensitive alone, there was always the chance people wouldn't talk to him, but they were running out of options.

"I could..." Maka hesitated, her nerves getting the best of her. It was a fool hardy idea, it might not even work. "I could try acting as a weapon." She had to know for sure if what happened earlier in the week was a fluke. This would be the quickest way. If they couldn't manage a single mission alone together, then there was no point getting all in her head about it.

"Yeah?" Black Star said, a little too eagerly maybe. "You'd really be okay with that?"

"What other options do we have?" Maka shrugged and avoided making eye contact with him. "Kid's going to get impatient if we can't find you a partner, and just send me with someone else. It hardly seems fair." Her fingers were getting tangled in her hair, she couldn't sit still. "I mean, it worth a shot. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work."

"Okay..." Black Star raised a brow.

"But no making fun of it." Maka warned him with a stern finger. "No 'daddy's girl' jokes, nothing. This is just for the mission." She was a three star meister, but a second rate weapon. When she fast-tracked the NOT class, she'd had her fill of getting gawked at. "Did Tsubaki ever have a polearm form?"

"No." He shrugged. How hard could it really be? He'd studied his fair share about weapons, just in case Tsubaki pulled another form out of mid-air. It was usually close-range or throwing weapons though. "What do you mean 'polearm', I thought you were a scythe."

"I am... kind of." Maka held out her hand. "I mean it, no making fun of what I look like." Like ripping off a band aid, he took her hand and she let go. Transforming after so many years of repressing her form was a little painful. Like standing after hours of sitting on the floor. She had a short, black scythe blade that jutted straight up from a mahogany pole like a spear. Only a little longer than a morning star, she had no embellishments or ribbons. She'd blend in with any historical weapon in a museum.

"A war scythe, hunh?" She was sort of dead weight in his hands, heavier than the weapons forms he was used to fighting with. "Well, you're not burning me, or electrocuting me." The few test swings he gave were a little awkward, but manageable. "This could work." She transformed back abruptly and landed roughly on her back on the floor. "You can't keep doing that though."

"Sorry." She covered her blushing face with her hands. "I'm out of practice." She rolled back onto her feet as Black Star texted Kid. They had a lead, and there was no point in delaying the mission any longer.

Chapter 5: Voices Carry

Chapter Text

The other bridal candidates were far more prepared than Cassandra had been. The first to arrive was Bonnie Hart, a bombastic blond who dressed like the starlets on the cover of Dolly magazine. All the bangles and boots didn't change the fact her previous fiances had mysteriously turned up missing.

"I mean," Bonnie said while shaking White Star's hand, "it was for the best. Freddie never thought I'd make it big on Broadway." She hadn't made it on Broadway, she was here. "And Clyde was just a total work-a-holic. They say love what you do, and it won't feel like work, so I figured I'd give this a go." There was a glimmer of something sliver in her mouth. "Oh, you're still here." She dropped her bags in front of Cassandra with a smirk. "Be a doll and take these to my room." They didn't have rooms. All of them were stuck sharing the same guest quarters, a vast tatami room with comforters for each of them.

"...you know she's going to try and kill you in your sleep." Cassandra said as she picked up the bags.

"That's kind of our deal, remember?" White Star shook his head. There was no reason for this girl to get pushed around by the new visitors, but at least it would keep her busy. Maybe seeing more serious assassins would finally scare her off.

The other to arrive was Elaine Brewster. She had an oversized sweater with a drooping bow knot and butterfly collar. Lace trimmed all of her belongings, and she greeted the household with a breezy smile. Her eyes were blocked out by a thick pair of glasses, making it difficult to gauge her expression.

"What a charming home." She attempted to bow, though far too shallowly to be properly respectful. "It certainly needs a woman's touch though." She dropped her bags in front of Cassandra and evaluated the decor with a shrewd eye.

"If she had her way, this whole place would be wine red with kitten porcelain." Cassandra sighed. They really shouldn't go trusting just anyone with their belongings.

"Now, is that anyway to talk about someone you first met?" White Star teased. "There's no need to be jealous. By the weeks end, all of you will be out of here." Cassandra picked up the bags with a little huff. The last time he was this smug was when he dragged her in front of a monster. He may be stubborn, but so was she.

With all of them there, White Star and Suzuka were charged with giving them a proper tour of the house. He made sure to point out every sharp weapon that had come in contact with human flesh. Elaine would coo at the mention of carnage while Bonnie rolled her eyes, neither of them could tell the difference between ceremonial swords and actual weapons.

"That's where we put the eye-balls of traitors to the clan." White Star said. "Don't get too close, the smell will knock you on your ass." Moldy, wet tobacco was more likely. Did humans just not know what a spittoon was anymore? "And when you die," not if, "you go in that thing." He pointed to an ornate standing vase. Cranes under a starry sky were baked into the glaze. For once, it seemed he was telling the truth.

"Can they hear us?" She asked.

"Can who hear what?" White Star's brow furrowed.

"There's dozens of souls in there, right?" Cassandra tilted her head. "Are they aware? Or is it like an eternal slumber type thing?"

"I don't know..." He shook his head. "The point is, you go in the purgatory pot. Grand tradition demands it." His shoulders slumped, none of the girls seemed the least bit rattled. "Dinner should be ready by now." The group meandered around the bend. Cassandra lingered behind to get a few steps closer to the vase.

"It was a pleasure to meet you." She said, bowing as deep as she could before running to catch up with the others.

Dinner was a tense affair. On one side of a long table were the closest family to Charon and the bridal candidates on the other. White Star glared at his grandfather from the far end of the table as the old man waxed poetic about the glory days of the clan. Cassandra was sandwiched uncomfortably between her rivals. Though, thankfully, Elaine was more than happy to help her keep her teacup full.

"We are named after the light reflected off the river Styx, the only children of the first ferryman." Charon said. "As future daughters of the stars, you will hone your skills and abandon your old name."

"I already did all that noise once." Bonnie said as Cassandra drank her fourth cup. "Don't see the need to rebrand right before I hit it big."

"Rebrand!?" Charon raise a brow. "Child, we live in secret to protect those close to us. We leave no trace behind." Bonnie rolled her eyes, clearly uninterested in upholding tradition. Suzuka and Genbu launched into a heated debate over who's turn it was to man the tv after dinner. Elaine tugged the on cup Cassandra was still drink from.

"Sorry dear," she said, "I just need to check something." She took a sip from the cup. Quickly she coughed, a small trail of blood on her lips.

"Is something wrong?" Cassandra asked. Elaine took out a blue pen and stabbed her thigh with it. "Are you allergic to hemlock?"

"Most people are." Genbu said. He took the cup before Cassandra could take another sip. "Nightshade and arsenic as well, impressive you managed to keep it from overpowering the green tea."

"Thank you," Elaine dabbed the blood off her chin with a napkin, "I was starting to think I lost my touch. It's a wonder you're still breathing dear." It was easy to forget how fragile humans were. Cassandra pretended to cough, even though she'd been given hemlock for coughs growing up. There was no way to fake any blood, but she could act a little faint.

"I'll be fine." Cassandra said. Elaine eyed her up and down before passing her a blue pen.

"No hard feelings dear." She said. "I just wanted a chance to show off my specialty. You understand." Cassandra bit her lip as the needle stung her leg. Maintaining appearances now was more vital than bragging that no one at this table could kill her, even if they wanted to. Charon laughed the whole thing off, but at his side, his wife narrowed her eyes in shrewd judgement. There was a time and place for everything.

"In the morning, Seiryu will show you around the training grounds." The lady Nyx said. "I suggest you all get a good night's rest."

Hours before dawn they were dragged out onto a practice field. Long wires connected the surrounding tree tops. A small creek had roped platforms that bobbed on the surface. Bulky wooden rigs and obstacles had been pulled out of storage. Cassandra only had the one set of borrowed clothes to take into the arena. Her rivals each in their own idea of tasteful sports wear. Seiryu was perched high above them on a single wooden post.

"Today you'll run this course as fast as you can." She pulled throwing knives out of her sleeves and hair. "You know what a rainbow looks like, right?" She threw one at each of the obstacles in the order they were to be preformed. "I don't care if this isn't 'your area', as the future Star Clan, you must be able to hold your own in a crisis." She launched herself up into the air, head over feet, before landing with a short sword pointed at them. "You'd be surprised how quickly an art is no longer impressive enough to carry you." She twisted her hand, and the sword retracted into a belt buckle. "As unfair as it is, regular mooks can turn their foot into a scythe and kill people nowadays. It takes more than the element of surprise to be a master assassin." She glared at all the girls and raised a hand in the air. "On my count, follow me!"

Cassandra blinked and Seiryu was already halfway down the river. The other girls leaped into action, following the dirt path and leaping across the creek from platform to platform. Back home, Cassandra had relied on her magic for everything. She never jumped around, or balanced on things, or climbed. She fell into the river immediately. Unable to climb back up onto the platform without dunking herself back in the water, she had to swim back to the beginning. Everyone else was on the third or fourth obstacle by the time she got to the other river bank.

Running as much as she could to make up for lost time, she pulled herself up into the trees. Her arms burned as she got to the top platform. Less worried about injury and more about starting over, she crossed the ropes like a sloth instead of running across it like she should have. She got down to the ground where Seiryu was waiting for her.

"The others have finished." She said.

"Five left to go, right?" Cassandra gave her a sheepish grin. The other girl was going to be stuck out here until she finished. Seiryu nodded and walked beside her as she ran up to a set of rolling logs that were a few feet apart. She was supposed to jump from one to the next, but it she frequently found herself dumped in the mud. "What were the other girl's times?" She asked as she pulled herself off the ground.

"I don't know." Seiryu winced when Cassandra narrowly missed the final platform.

"What about you?" Cassandra threw herself onto the far platform with an inelegant thud. "What was your time?"

"About five minutes." Seiryu said. "This is the beginners course." Cassandra dodged and weaved through moving pendulums only to struggle at a steep wall she was supposed to climb.

"Then I'll beat that." She gritted her teeth, ignoring how Seiryu laughed at her naivety. "I'll show all of them." Coming here wasn't a mistake, even if she no longer could see some futures with as much clarity. She was meant to be here. Any weird rule, or challenge, or snippy remark wouldn't matter. "I belong here damn it!" Her cathartic shouting devolved into a shriek as she tipped over into a watery, muddy pit. She was supposed to avoid landing directly under the wall. As she dragged her self onto dry land, she heard something cheep in Seiryu's hand.

"One hour and twenty two minutes." Seiryu said with a shake of her head. "If you're going to kill yourself on this thing, at least have breakfast first." Cassandra gave her a weak thumbs up before pulling herself up onto shaking legs.

Night had cooled the earth and disguised half the course in black shadows. A grinning moon watched her run round and round like a rat in a maze. Around noon she'd managed to get around it in close to fifty minutes. Her body was rattled with pins a needles, like her muscles had been scrubbed with brillow pads.

An hour twenty-five.

An hour fourty-two.

Each go around her time kept getting worse. Bruises darkened her skin as she stumbled into obstacles she'd previously danced around. Her eyes drooped shut at the worst possible moments. On the rollers, she slipped, and the wind knocked out of her chest as she landed on the dirt. The cool grass soothed her aching bones and fatigue threatened to weigh her down into sleep there in the dirt.

"Oi, stupid." She opened her eyes. White Star was leaning over her, a halo of moonlight trapped in his silver hair. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to beat those vultures." Her voice was hoarse and flat. For a second, she couldn't remember when she drank water today.

"That's what I heard." He offered her a hand. She stared at it, her hands refusing to move another inch. Feeling quite pitiful, she avoided looking at him when he bent down and pulled her up by her arms. "You're not going to do that over night."

"Yes I am." The very thought of standing now a far greater task than anything she'd done before. "...A little help." He rolled his eyes and got her onto her feet.

"How bad is it back home that you'd do this?" He asked. She was steady on her feet again, but slow. Like a long trudge to a shallow grave. "You seem like a nice, normal girl. That's not usually the crowd we attract." She'd been getting a lot of looks of pity from trainees and elder alike today. When she looked up at the sky, she saw hundreds of dying stars. Their light destined to linger long after they'd passed.

"To me, your family has been very kind. That's not the crowd I tend to attract either." She said. "There are some things in life you can't change, but being here..." All over the world her fellow witches were being hunted down for weapons. The witch queen Iroha abandoned her post and gave her magic to Lord Death. Standing beside White Star, the vision of his inevitable death was haunting, and no amount of kind words had made it waver. They were destined to part far too soon. "This is the one thing I have control over and I'm going to make the most of it." As she got to the steps of the house, she wobbled. "And when I conquer that thing, I expect an apology." She huffed, leaning on the wall for good measure. "And some roses too. You've been quite prickly about this whole arrangement like it was my idea." She stuck out her tongue, but her merely raised a brow. As far as he was concerned, none of the girls here were actually his fiancé. "You can be quite stubborn, you know that?"

She slide the rice paper door shut as roughly as possible. White Star left, that nagging suspicion something wasn't right had only grown. Her motivations were so earnest and pure and quite frankly misguided. The other assassins he could understand why they craved the protection the Star Clan had to offer. No doubt, once he rejected them, they'd try to charm a lower ranking member of the family instead. As much as he disagreed with his grandfather, this had been the way things always were done. It was just one of the traditions he'd hoped to get rid of as head of the family.

He could feel a presence lingering in his room. Only one of the girls was asleep in the guest room when he walked Cassandra back to it.. He cloaked himself in the shadows and quietly moved one of the heavy runner tables from the hall in front of his door. There were plenty of other places for him to sleep that wouldn't have a nasty surprise waiting for him.

Chapter 6: Pretty In Possible

Chapter Text

The door to the master bedroom swung open and shut. Angela tensed from her curled up position on the couch, her game controller clutched tightly in her hand. There was only so comforting the fuzzy avatars on screen could be when she's just gotten in trouble at school. She held her breath, counting to four. He didn't sound angry, but that didn't mean there wasn't a lecture on the horizon.

"Good morning to you too." Black Star said as he got his keys from the bowl. She faked a laugh and greeted him. "I see you brought in the mail... and a pamphlet for Royaume."

"It's not that far into the first semester." Angela powered through the suspicion. "I could start tomorrow, if you'd just sign-"

"Angela, we've talked about this." Black Star sighed. "I don't think going abroad to magic school is a good idea right now." There was a knock at the door. He immediately went to answer it.

"You don't know that, you haven't even looked at the place." Angela paused her game. "Miss Kim can't teach me higher level magic and all those little kids at the same time. It's embarrassing. We've been stuck on meditation for weeks." The rest of her argument died in her throat. He'd brought that blonde woman over again. She was in a professional uniform from DWMA and he had the school colors on too. Even if it was clear they were just working together, she couldn't help but turn invisible. Maka could tell where Angela was sitting, but was at least polite enough to pretend not to be able to see her.

"What's wrong with magic school?" Maka asked, like he was an idiot for disregarding the idea entirely.

"It's in another dimension!" Black Star said. "It's hard enough finding people who'll look out for her here, we don't know anyone there."

"Oh, so you don't trust her?" Maka hummed.

"I didn't say that." He felt a migraine coming on. "Don't give me that smirk like you're right. She could get bullied, or the teachers could suck, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"That sounds like every school." There was a sharp inhale as Black Star tried to think of an argument Maka couldn't refute.

"I hate when you're like this." He groaned. "You don't have to be right all the time. She's not even your kid!"

"I just think if you're going to tell her no," Maka said, "there should be concrete evidence why it would be a 'bad' idea." Her tone was light, having long recognized when she was able to get the last word in a debate. Were there any evidence he was genuinely mad, she might not have pushed the issue, but it was kind of amusing to see him flounder.

"...I'll think about it." He said.

Angela had sunk back into her seat, but was too skittish to touch the controller and let them know she'd heard everything. The whole thing left a squirrely feeling in her gut. That had been the closest he'd ever come to letting her go anywhere on her own. Tsubaki always folded the moment he told them he didn't want her going. As happy as she was that she might finally be able to learn magic like other witches, she couldn't help wonder why this woman wanted her gone.

"Is she staying here?" Angela asked as politely as she could. Traditionally weapon-miester pairs would share dorm space for schooling, but they weren't kids anymore. The look on Black Star's face was enough to make Maka falter. All polite smiles aside, it was clearly a non-starter. Kid had offered to cover Maka's living expenses while she was on the mission, though it wasn't ideal.

"No, this is," Maka pointed between them, "it's just one mission." She could tell she was just making things worse.

"As soon as we find the culprit, things will go back to normal." Black Star said. Internally Maka cringed, that was not much better. A few gentle clicks of the controller and the spell had lifted. Angela was now outwardly ignoring them. After all, if it was just work stuff, Maka would be leaving soon. As much as Angela didn't like him going on missions with a different weapon, it was still better than being in trouble. She didn't say goodbye when they left.

"What is everyone's problem?" Maka asked. All she'd done was try and check for directions, and the locals had given her the cold shoulder. The Hoshi family was well respected, and yet, people didn't want to give them the time of day.

"It happens." Black Star shrugged. He shot a glare at an elder couple who looked like they were about to say something. "The uniform only does so much."

"Well, it looks like we're going for a hike." Maka sighed. "North side of the mountain. How's anyone supposed to find this place?" They were talking about a reclaimed assassin's lair and she could feel him prepare some kind of joke. "Don't. I heard it." She made a wide gesture towards the path leading to the forest. "Go ahead, I'll see if I can track down Akane." She followed close behind. Trying to use her soul perception and walk at the same time was a little disorienting.

The Hoshi household was tucked away in the underside of a mountain. A rich labyrinth of caves carved meticulously into support beams and decorative filigree, all masked with rice paper and wood. Entering the home from the brightly lit quarry was like stepping into the dead of night. Only small lamps lit the way.

"The family's spent the last fourty-so years preparing like the apocalypse was coming." Akane said after welcoming them inside. Holding a brighter light source, Clay lead the way. "Seems less silly in hindsight." They navigated to the center of the home, where a vast sky light nurtured a small garden. "No one here's responsible for what happened to those staff members."

"I never said they were." Black Star and Maka took a seat on a wide stone bench that looked out on the garden. "It looks bad on both of us if things keep spiraling." He showed the blurry picture Angela had taken. Clay leaned over his shoulder and hit the view motion photo button. A short clip played, the star pattern on the assailant's back coming into better view.

"It looks like a copy cat." Maka said. "But we didn't want to jump the gun."

"It's an unusual spot for the mark." Akane agreed. "In the old days, the placement of the star showed what part of the family you came from. You'd see them on the arm, hips, even the neck, but never over a shakra like that." He played the clip a few times, though any time he zoomed in on the face, the details would get muddled. "If Angela wasn't invisible, I'd think this was staged. No one in their right mind would have a mark that large out on display by accident." He tossed the phone back to them.

"So it is a copy cat then." Maka breathed a sigh of relief, but Akane wasn't too sure.

"You'd have to check the eyes." He shook his head. "But regardless of where they came from, the method of assassination is similar. Have you checked the bodies recently?" He asked. "If they've been trained by a descendant, then the soul should be delivered to a spirit line by the 3rd day. Otherwise, it's just someone in distasteful cosplay." So they should know some time tomorrow. It wasn't ideal, but it would give them more evidence.

"If you see anyone that matches the description, please let us know." Maka said. "Are there any other places they may have trained at?"

"A branch of the family fled to Brazil in the thirties, then there's the ancestral home is somewhere in Kyoto." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "You'd have to get authorization first, but there had been an operation somewhere in Texas in the nineties. I wouldn't be surprised if Shinigami-sama tore it down during his reign." Most things Star Clan related had long been erased, even by the Hoshi family.

Black Star had pulled off to the side and answered his phone.

"Yeah, what's up?" On the other end distorted digital music played at full blast. "Angela?" There was shouting and someone cackling in the background.

"Come out, come out nark!" An unfamiliar voice giggled. He pulled the phone away. Angela had been with Kilik for beginner meister training, so she was in good hands.

"We have to go." He told Maka. The wrong person had found out what she'd seen.

Large base speakers had been kicked over into the streets. Vibrations reverberated through the stone and rattle the windows. A girl with neon pink hair in wild messy buns posed with twin flails on thin connecting chains. Her eyes were covered with a brilliant yellow fabric. The brutalist she'd been locked in arms with was quite distracting, but he wasn't her main target. She'd been summoned to fight something the other assassins couldn't see. Kilik could overpower her bubbly techno with fierce lightning bolts, so she had to rely on feeling the vibrations to find her target. She back flipped away from an arc of flame and sent out her flails in crescent swipes.

"Aww, don't be like that." She whined. "I just want to talk." She snapped her head toward the direction of a muffled phone call. "There you are." She flattened against the pavement and sent her flails toward Angela's feet. Nothing, was the witch invisible and levitating? What a pain. "This isn't your first time getting kidnapped, is it?" She joked.

"WHY ARE YOU TELLING THEM THE PLAN!?" Her commander shouted into her ear piece.

"I didn't-" A metal fist sent her flying back into a brick wall. "Don't distract me." She found her footing and launched herself toward Kilik. "And you, stop interrupting!" She twirled the flails. Four spiked balls orbited her and lashed out at the nearest target. "If you wanted subtlety, don't send me!" She threw all of the fails against the ground. Shrapnel rained at toward her opponents. She landed gracefully. It was quiet, too quiet. "sh*t, did I ruin both speakers?" A fist slammed across her stomach and knocked the wind out of her. She stumbled backwards. Kilik was still pulling himself out of the dumpster, and her target was somewhere to the left of her, watching. So, who attacked her? She was jabbed by the end of the weapon, thrown overhead in an arch and dumped on her head.

"The tattoo's in the same spot." Maka said. "But, she's not a kishen egg." She wasn't entirely normal either. Something foriegn was wrapped around her soul. Behind the neon mesh was a large star across the young girl's back.

"Get over yourself old lady!" The girl picked herself off the ground. "It's not like it's a tramp stamp."

"O-old lady!"

"I just came to pick up my new friend." She said, six flails orbiting her playfully. "It's apparently top-secret business." She sighed, getting another earful from her commander. "Well how the hell am I supposed to see that, hunh!?"

On instinct, Maka held out her hand. After a beat too long, she looked over at Black Star who was doing the same thing.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Right, she wasn't technically the meister on this mission. She transformed, and he caught her with ease. Though mentally, she could help but critique his stance. If he was planning to attack, he needed wider footing to throw his weight into the strike. "I'll work on that later!" He caught the girl off guard and pressed the blade against her neck. He was standing too close. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Black Star said to the girl. He cut off the blindfold she was wearing, her eyes a galaxy of stars with no pupils. She covered her face with one hand and launched herself backwards. "Hard way it is."

"I need an exit!" She smacked the device in her ear, and took a sharp turn. "Come on, come on." She climbed up a fire escape to get to the roof, Black Star close on her tail. "You're literally killing me right now, you know that!?" She took a defensive stance, her hands up while hiding the flails on her back. "If you were really from the Star Clan, you'd know this isn't right." She took a step up behind her onto the back wall. "Not to sound childish, but we didn't start this mess." She took a deep breath and trusted her leader would have the exit ready. "The monster Lord Death made did." She fell backwards off the roof before Black Star could grab her. It was old magic, but it was strong enough to give her a head start. She vanished through a fragile portal and popped out in another place in Death City.

"f*ck!" Black Star shouted. Maka transformed back, not wanting to be in weapon form in public more than necessary. They were both too experienced to let someone get away like this. But Black Star was used to working with short-ranged combat and speed. She took for granted that he'd be able to ease into a different fighting style when the chips were down. Clearly this wasn't something they could just jump into. This was so embarrassing. They were better than this.

"Angela's okay." Maka said. She could see the witch's soul clear as day from the rooftop. "We should go help Kilik."

Soul had finally taken Maka's offer to get a cup of coffee together. It was broad daylight, not the quiet intimate affair it had been when they were younger. The bustling traffic in and out of the shop was a welcome distraction from the long awkward pauses. She welcomed anything that wasn't wallowing in self-pity in front of Kid at this point. She'd need to start training from the ground up for this new arrangement to work.

"A triple shot?" Soul asked when Maka got her order out from the sea of to-go cups waiting to be picked up.

"I've been really tired lately." She said. "So..." Don't talk about the wedding. "How's Blair?" The cat had always been clingy when it came to Soul. It was a wonder Patty put up with her parading about their apartment. If the three even lived together, she had no idea what was going on in his life anymore.

"She's on her sixth or seventh life." Soul said. "Every time she gets towards the end of one, she gets forgetful. She thought Patty was you the other day." This man had a talent for walking into verbal minefields. "She keeps wanting me to get back into music, but I don't know. Kid pays better than any local gig would." He sighed. Originally, his plan wasn't to say anything, but after what he heard he had to know."Why haven't you asked me to join the mission?"

"I never said you couldn't." Maka said. Because that would be unprofessional and childish.

"No, but you were asking other weapons." She hid behind a long sip from her drink. Her other previous weapons were either retired or settled with other partners. Butting in for one mission seemed crass. "And now you're trying to be a weapon instead of asking for help." He more than anyone knew how uncomfortable the NOT class had been for her. "I'm the local death scythe, you didn't think I'd find out?"

"I didn't think it would matter." Maka said. "How's the wedding planning been going?" He rolled his eyes and she tightened her grip around the cup.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, alright? I thought you already knew." He had hoped someone else would have brought up he and Patty were together, it wasn't exactly a secret. Maka shook her head.

"And when exactly were you planning to tell me, on a save the date?" Of all times to suddenly loose her appetite. "I don't think..." They were still friends, and time healed all wounds. She'd come to accept what happened, even if it hurt right now. They were too old to play this game anymore. "If you don't feel comfortable talking to me about these things, I didn't think we'd be able to resonate." Even if it had been to spare her feelings, or make things easier in the long run, it didn't change how out of sync they'd become. Honestly, she didn't want find out if she was right. "I can't risk botching a mission over personal stuff." Even though that's exactly what she did. Still, it didn't seem fair to put Black Star in a position where he'd get pulled from a mission involving his family. When did everything get so messy?

"No, of course you can't." Soul said, even though it wasn't the ideal resolution. He always was good about picking up on when to leave well enough alone. "...Patty's been looking at maids of honor, but I didn't know if... y'know."

"Of course I'll be there." Maka said. "I'm a little off kilter, but I don't hate you guys. It was just a lot to take in at once." He'd strategically cut her out of four years of his life to avoid this conversation. "I'm going to need time to catch up."

"Thank god. Patty was talking about inviting Wes' stalker, because she'd think it'd be funny. Which, it would, but I need someone other than Liz to help with damage control." She laughed, even though she still needed a little time before sliding fully back into best friend mode. It would get easier. She just needed a little more time. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said. Eventually, she'd actually mean it. "Do you want any of this? I don't think I can finish it." She pushed the half-finished latte toward him. Even though she was feeling better, she still couldn't find her appetite.

Chapter 7: What I Am

Chapter Text

The next morning Cassandra woke up feeling like she'd been thrown down a mountain. Anytime she so much as sneezed, her shoulders and neck would seize up with shooting pains. Still, she and Elaine dragged themselves out to the obstacle course at dawn and made their rounds. Cassandra finished at an abysmal forty five minutes, but she was still able to beat Bonnie who hadn't returned that night.

"It's just a formality darling." Elaine teased as they walked to breakfast. "There's no need to try so hard."

"Says the person who tried to poison me for a laugh." Cassandra brushed past her tittering laughter and aimed to grab a seat closer to White Star. Being stuck in the middle had barely given her a chance to talk to anyone. Unfortunately, before she could even say hello, Bonnie had stalked into the room flushed and disheveled.

"Slept in did we?" White Star asked with a wicked grin. His cousins rolled their eyes or grimaced. Finding a bride was a tradition White Star was determined to make a mockery of. Bonnie ran her fingers through her hair and tried to mask her anger behind a sweet smile.

"In a way," she said, "I was up all night looking for a bathroom." White Star's smile dropped. He tore away from the table to check the state his room was in. Bonnie looked down at Cassandra. "You're in my seat." With a heavy heart, Cassandra scooted back to the middle of their row. Bonnie was full of agitated sighs as she got to her cooling breakfast. "Boys, a simple 'no' would have sufficed." She muttered under her breath. There was a thunder of activity as a shout of disgust was heard down the hall. A handful of trainees were sent to address the mess.

"We should get to the training hall." Suzuka said. He shoveled down the rest of his breakfast. More shouts were heard as something collided with a wall. "Like, now."

"The beginner weapons are over here." He said, drawing their attention to a bunch of wooden swords and the like. "Pick whatever you're the most comfortable with."

"I'm good." Bonnie shrugged. Elaine worried her lower lip between her teeth.

"I'm not a big fan of inflicting pain." She said. "It's so... unkind." She held out the sword like it was a dirty sock. "Do you have anything more instant?"

"I doubt any of Shinigami-sama's warriors will give you an opportunity to poison them." Suzuka said. "If you get caught in the middle of a mission, you'll need to be able to defend yourself." Cassandra was drawn to the variety of weapons on long metallic chains. Something about them seemed more graceful, and she could see herself dancing with them rather than fighting. If she had to learn to use a weapon, it might as well be a pretty one. There were a set of bronze kunai, each attached to a leather cuff by a chain. "Throwing weapons like that are little more tricky." Suzuka pulled away from forcing Bonnie to take a dagger to join Cassandra.

"That's what the chain is for." Cassandra struggled to get the first cuff on, and had to have help fastening them on. The blades were heavy in her hands and the chains made it seem she had bells strapped to her. If she could just figure out how to use these, she wouldn't feel so scared walking alone on the streets.

"YOU!" White Star had found a way into the dojo. He stalked toward Bonnie, who crossed her arms and stared him down with a cold expression.

"What did you think would happen if you locked someone in a room?" Bonnie took a leap back when he tried to reach out for her. "We're not some unwanted toys. We're human beings." He kicked a short sword her way and drew his own. "You really don't want to do that." There was a silver glint behind her teeth and a metallic clicking noise.

"There's honoring the art of being an assassin," he growled, "and then there's taking a sh*t on my stuff! If you're going to fight back, fight honorably!" He lunged toward her. She opened her mouth to expose the barrel of a gun and shot the blade off it's handle. She grabbed his arm, and used the momentum to throw him to the ground. She pointed at him, her fingertips morphed into a new barrel.

"I didn't get this far by being 'honorable'," she said, "I did it by doing what it takes to survive." He glared up the barrel at her. "You don't like me, fine. You don't have to like any of us to pick a bride, but if you want us to treat you with respect, you have to do it first." Another metallic click. "You have to sleep sometime." She relaxed from the transformation and let him get up, but they stared each other down with hatred in their eyes. The moment her back turned, he grabbed the sword he'd offered her. There were sparks as the two fought back and forth. He deflected and evaded her bullets, now more wary she was a weapon. He held the blade at her neck and she flashed the barrel behind her teeth at him.

"There is no way to 'easy' path to becoming apart of this clan." He said. "Learn our traditions properly and stay out my room." He sheathed his sword and threw it at her. She caught it, with a sneer. He turned to Suzuka. "Don't go easy on them." He stalked out the training hall. The door to the dojo falling shut with a deafening bang.

The chains of Cassandra's pretty new blades had bit the palms of her hands and left them covered in ugly red marks and black streaks. Still, she took them with her out to the obstacle course, trying to run with the new weight on her arms. The overcast sky was forgiving and cool against her skin as she ran the same route over and over again.

Each new training exercise they had been given, she struggled to preform even bellow average at. Genbu had tried to teach them to suppress their wavelength and disappear in the shadows. The limits of her soul protection spell were put on full display. There was no way to suppress the illusion without exposing herself. Instead she stumbled through the halls like a sore thumb. The only solution would be to compensate with raw strength.

From up in the tree tops she saw someone with a train of silvery hair glide up the steps of the mountain with ease. Bells rang out through the village. Much like when she first arrived, there was a crowd of people waiting by the door. She used the kunai to help get her to the ground, a sinking feeling in her gut that another bridal candidate had arrived.

She ran to where the crowd was and tried to peer over the heads of the younger trainees. Unlike before, there was a sense of dread amongst the clan members. The woman was in her early twenties with pinpoint stars in her eyes. The second they made eye contact, the woman snapped and pointed at her.

"A-as I was saying Lady Venus, we've already started training the brides." Suzuka was left floundering in front of the wolfish woman. "There was no need to come all this way." Venus stalked toward Cassandra, a critical eye on every bruise and hair that was out of place.

"You call this training?" Venus tilted Cassandra's chin up to meet her gaze. "Who are the five current heads of the family?"

"Charon..." Cassandra tried to search her visions, but none of the other heads came up during assassinations.

"Abysmal." Venus took back her knife and circled her. "What do you know about running a household that's hundreds strong? Which doctors are safe to go to?"

"Umm," Suzuka interrupted, "we've been kind of focusing on making sure they don't die first." Venus clenched her jaw and turned to the crowd.

"Where are the other girls!?" Venus demanded. "And where is my brother hiding? This is completely unacceptable." The trainees parted like the red sea as she stormed to the main house hold. As soon as she was inside, everyone ran in a panic to their different stations. The head of the White Tiger branch had arrived.

"Do you remember anything from that three hour lecture?" Elaine asked the other girls as they turned in for the night.

"No!" Bonnie's hair was rolled into tight curls. "I don't care which old fart named their kid what. I just need to know who's going to throw a knife at me in the bathroom."

"I can't study and learn to fight." Cassandra agreed meekly. "I'm already in a fog by lunch." At least with a common enemy, going to bed felt less like entering a battle field.

"She's going to throw a fit during breakfast if we can't answer a single question." Elaine said almost close to tears.

"Well then," Bonnie pulled the curlers out of her hair, "I say we deserve a break." Elaine and Cassandra watched helplessly from their beds as Bonnie threw on some acceptable street wear. "Tomorrow's going to suck regardless, right?"

"...Last time I went outside, there was this monster." Cassandra said. They laughed a bit.

"I was made to kill those things." Bonnie said. "Besides, it's one trip to town and then we'll be back."

"There's more outside than monsters." Elaine offered her a gentle touch. "You'll always be afraid if you don't try." Between the two of them, they convinced Cassandra to join them. It wasn't as if they weren't allowed to leave. Just the thought of braving those stairs again made her shudder.

The three tiptoed out the front doors, none the wiser they'd already been caught. Venus leaned against the door frame of her brother's room with a bored expression. He really could be helpless with the oddest things.

"They've left." She said. "Any that come back won't stay long." With a sigh she looked up at the cobwebs on the ceiling. "Are you sure this is what you want?" In the darkness of his own room he had a stick of incense burning. He watched the ember flicker and glow.

"It wasn't what you wanted." He said with a fraction of venom. "You've seen them. They're squishy, entitled flowers; more of a liability than a help."

When the gods became mortal, the Star Clan remained loyal servants to the underworld. Charon and the other elders kept training for the day they would be called upon, but it had been 800 years of waiting. Within his lifetime, White Star had seen their way of life become obsolete. They had to find a way to adapt.

"As soon as I become head of the clan, I'm going to show everyone we can't be replaced by a damn assembly line." He didn't know how, but he had to prove to the new god of order that they were the best option for eliminating the Kishen-eggs. "I don't need some outsider interfering with those plans."

"Who closes at seven anyway!?" Bonnie pealed onto the freeway. Elaine and Cassandra held onto the doors for stability. "This damn podunct oil town has nothing for people to do."

"I saw a bookstore." Elaine said.

"Ladeeda, they have one place where you can buy books." Bonnie cycled through station after station blasting country. "Ugh, how does anyone live here?" They found a Whataburger off the freeway that was open and pulled in. "They better have a lot of money to put up with being in the middle of nowhere."

"I'll just be excited to finally focus on poison making again." Elaine sighed dreamily. "My great aunties would be delighted if they knew the Brewster method of assassination was adopted into the Old Ways." Cassandra tried to find a way to disguise her kunai, only to give up and uncouple one of them from the chains. She struggled to take off the leather cuffs while the other girls ran ahead of her. She perked up, hearing a jingle that didn't come from her chains. Across the road, a figure all in white with an abstract mask was writing something in a book.

Cassandra ran across the road, only pausing for the occasional oncoming car. In the full moon light, the Allotter was a rare sight to behold. Her throne lay empty while all witches mourned her disappearance. Cassandra grabbed then end of Iroha's sleeve, just to see if it was real. The emotionless masked turned toward her.

"Oh dear," they said in a deep voice Cassandra wasn't used to, "has it been that long already?" They flipped their golden book to a new section and started scribbling.

"Where have you been?" Cassandra asked. "Lord Death, he's taken over deciding when people will die. People's souls are left defenseless, and there are these monsters-"

"Yes, the experiment has been a great success." They said. "Of the entire population, only a fraction have ignored the rules and become corrupted. Humanity as a whole appears to be inherently good."

"You're letting people turn into monsters on purpose?" Cassandra let go of her and backed away.

"It's a test." They charted the stars in the sky, documented every word, but the only attachment they had was to pure knowledge. "If they can't pass it in life, there's no need to devote resources to aiding them after death. They're the perfect fuel to make better weapons."

"Are you listening to yourself!?" Madness, it could be the only explanation for what she was seeing. A cruel senseless desire to know all things. "You're not there when they're born or when they die. Why should they listen to you when you won't so much as protect them from the demons you helped make?"

"They make themselves, that's the whole point." They closed their book, 'Eibon' in gold letters reflected in the moonlight. "Because of them, you're able to walk among ordinary mortals and appear harmless. People fear something more immediately threatening than the old ones now." They turned their back on her. "I'm not the only one who abandoned my throne." Cassandra shook. She may have left the other witches behind, but that was because they refused to listen to her. Even out in the middle of nowhere she carried her duties close to her chest. She just didn't know how to fulfill them in a world that targeted anyone with magic.

"Cassandra!" Bonnie shouted out into the night. "You coming?" She looked back, and the fate was gone.

The shouts of the other girls running for help were drowned out by crackles. Thick, black smoke burned the inside of her lungs. What little protection she had from the heat evaporated once she got to the back of the shed. Huddled amongst the garden tools, a small child shivered. She scooped them up and ran out. It was too soon for someone so young to be consumed by flames.

She handed the child to the nearest set of hands, barking instructions to submerge his body in ice water to prevent further harm. Scanning the crowd she saw another young one flinch, evidence of a guilty conscience. Headless of the concerned questions she pulled the child out of the crowd.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Her tone was harsh as she towered over the child brought him to tears. "The only people who'll care for you are within these walls and you lit one of them on FIRE!?" It hadn't happened yet. The future of this family was an intrusive vision as real as the dirt beneath their feet. "Lord Death would gladly see this village burned to the ground. He doesn't need your help." One decade was all they had together. They couldn't keep spending it fighting amongst themselves over petty things like pride. "Go, apologize." She was covered in burns herself, but she couldn't be around people. She'd already said more than she should have.

Outraged voices were easy to tune out once she was far enough away. The silence of the training ground was welcoming, but still too close to the others. Past the river, she tossed off her outer clothes and submerged herself in the starlit body of water. The surface of the lake closed over her head. A blurry figure at the edge of an otherwise picturesque view of the sky darted back and forth.

All tension left her body. Her soul protection spell felt less exhausting to maintain, like the water washed away all the pent up magic she couldn't cast since arriving here. The figure darting around overhead threw something at the surface of the water. No point in delaying yet another lecture. She stood up, the water falling off her body to linger around her waist.

"What the hell were you thinking?" White Star threw the makeshift life preserver at her with his sleeves rolled up.

"I wasn't." She slicked back her hair and stepped deeper into the lake to cover her chest. "I didn't say anything that offensive. If I have to apologize to the mother I will." She twisted around to face him. He looked on in horror, his lifeline politely ignored for unknown reasons.

"What are you?"

"What do you mean?" Had she accidentally used magic to get out of the blaze? No one could have seen her wounds healing, she'd been so careful. White Star nodded to a faded warning sign of a soul getting drained.

"You're neck deep in the Kyukon lake and talking." A woman with no training should not be able to withstand having her entire essence leached off of like that. "You drink poison like it's regular tea. You keep forgetting we don't know each other." It couldn't all just be coincidence "What are you?"

Witches get slaughtered and turned into weapons. They are put on Shinigami-sama's list the moment they're born while Kishen eggs were left to fester and grow in the streets. As much as she trusted him, she couldn't trust the others.

"I can't tell you." Her body was starting to feel heavy. "All I can tell you, is I'm here to be your bride, and hope you will believe me."

Growing up, he'd heard a folktale about a crane taking the form of a woman to repay a debt. There were tons of stories like that, where people gained favor from something powerful, only to push too far and loose everything. He always wondered why the people in those stories couldn't figure out when to leave well enough alone and follow the one rule they were given.

"Okay." He held out his hand again. When she accepted it, he could feel the droplets on her skin wreck his body with exhaustion. She just shook it off with a gentle sway, like she'd been in a hot tub too long. If she wasn't an immortal, she had to be someone extremely powerful. "That thing you said, about people dying alone... you really think someone should be always there?" He averted his eyes as she dressed. "It's kind of a crummy job to put on someone. Don't you think?"

"That's how it used to be." She said. "I'm sure someone would want to do it."

"Like you?" He wasn't asking to be cruel, but she could feel the weight of the question hang in the air. She'd seen people's deaths so many times, it was numbing. She could offer no kind words or reassurance. All her power would let her do was witness the end of all things. The golden pair of scissors Maba gave her hung heavy around her neck. The previous fates in her position watched over people from the shadows, never making themselves known. It might be the easiest way to fulfill such a role, but with all the other old ones withdrawing from humanity, it didn't feel right.

"I mean, I'm only one person, but yeah."

"Next time I have a mission you should come." He shoved his hands in his pockets. Surely by now people would be looking to him to handle the aftermath of the fire. He couldn't have them see how close she'd gotten to sacred ground. "I promise to actually show you what we do."

Chapter 8: So Much (for) Stardust

Chapter Text

We didn't start this, the monster Lord Death made did.

Kid poured over old archives, the magic tools, anything that could be the potential cause for such a cryptic message. His father's legacy was littered with skeletons and monsters and other such unpleasant things. It seemed anytime they addressed one, another would come bursting through.

"When did you sleep last?" Chrona asked from the doorway of his office. They'd sent Excalibur on a fool's errand in hopes of getting some form of peace for the time being. Kid briefly glanced at the clock.

"What day is it?" Kid asked. Too many times it had been around five when he looked up, but it was all blurring together.

"That's what I thought." Chrona sighed and took one of the papers from his hands. "Eight hours. No one will blame you for resting for eight hours."

"You don't know that." Kid said. "It could be some other great evil my father stuffed in a closet somewhere. Or another experiment of his gone wrong. If more people get hurt because of this-"

"You're spiraling." Chrona put their hands on the sides of his face to pull his attention away from his desk. "I can keep looking, but you need to step away from this for a bit."

"Just for a while." Kid said, more as a warning for when he'd be back.

"And water." Chrona placed a chast kiss on Kid's forehead before letting him leave. For a moment there was peace. Then Excalibur leapt from the doorway onto Kid's desk. All the meticulously organized stacks of paper were sent flying. The reviewed and unreviewed information mixed on the floor. Chrona took a deep breath in, knowing they now had to merely replicate the state Kid's office had been in before he got back.

"When dragons ruled the skies, I rode among them and tasted the stars!" Excalibur said with a tap of his cane. "They made the finest jerky, but people get squeamish at the thought of eating something like them. To slay is to be righteous, to murder is to be cowardice. A monster by any other name is a rose."

Eight hours. They could fix this mess in eight hours.

All the lights in the house were out save for one end table lamp. Black Star had the Royaume pamphlet open on the kotatsu table. The bright colors and bubble letters almost mocking him, even though he was the one being stubborn.

Tsubaki was the one that let it slip there were schools full of magical girls in another realm. All the shows and books that were made to persuade children to join the DWMA ended up working against him. Even Kim had suggested looking into it.

He had a perfectly good reason for digging in his heals. Shinigami-sama had made it perfectly clear, there was a chance the destructive sway of magic might get Angela put back on the list. He trusted Kid and Chrona wouldn't do something so rash without intervening first, but the sneaking around, and lying about how classes were going; it wasn't encouraging. There was a good chance if she went, she wouldn't come back.

Now people were targeting her again.

He could pull out of the mission, risk the pay cut, move and see if that would be enough to shake the enemy off their trail. Or he could finally take everyone's advice and let her go. He saw the coats on the rack sway out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing up?" He asked, though he wasn't upset. She dropped her camouflage and he nodded towards the other end of the table.

"I..." She slipped out of the shadows. The pamphlet caught her eye and her heart skipped a beat. "Can I go?"

"I told you I'd think about it." Black Star said. She quickly sat down, a little more giddy than before. He had made up his mind, it was just coming to terms with what that would entail. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Maka, but if the magical world was really that much better than here, I think you would have been there already." He'd heard from Kid how eagerly the witches would sentence people to death over even minor transgressions. Bringing in an outsider sounded like one of those supposed crimes. "I'm sure things are different now, but I worry."

"I've paid attention in combat class, I can take care of myself." She puffed out her chest with pride. "I'm the strongest witch in my class. If I'm able to use magic freely, I'll be unstoppable."

"I'm sure you will be." That really, truly was the problem. He had no doubt a surge of power would go to her head. "If I knew sh*t about magic..."

"It's fine." Angela squirmed in her seat. Was this actually happening?

"It's not like I'm shoving you out the door." Black Star said. "As soon as the mission is finished, I'll let you know. One semester should be fine."

"THANK YOU!" She shoved herself across the table to hug him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"There wasn't anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"No?" She rolled off the table and sprinted to her room to pack. A ear-splitting shriek of joy rattled through the house once the door closed behind her. The other thing he'd been looking at was a list of potential spells Angela had been tapping into when she wasn't supposed to be that Kim had given him. He leaned forward with his head in his hands. Why couldn't she just play with swords like a normal kid?

Angela stood on the steps of Shibusen while Arisa prepared a portal. The younger witches had been dragged out to say goodbye, though they clearly didn't understand why so many people were anxious about her going.

"You're going to text me when you get there." Black Star said. "If anything goes wrong, I mean anything-"

"I'll be fine." Angela gripped the handle of her bag. "Like you said, it's just for a little bit. I'll be back for the summer when everything's over and done with." Part of her had hoped Tsubaki would have come to see her off, but she understood work made things difficult. The text she had received was a small comfort as she waved goodbye to the DWMA.

The swirling vortex closed and Black Star was left with a sick feeling in his stomach. This was for the best, even if it broke the oath he'd made to Mifune. When he found who was responsible for this, he was going to kill them.

Maka had no objections with an aggressive training regimen. Even if Black Star didn't blame her for their failure on the roof top, she did. Failing to capture a target was never acceptable. Even when she botched her first witch hunting mission, it was because they were after the wrong target, not because they let Blair get away.

She was used to training with a weapon in her hand, and trying to explain to Black Star the differences between fighting with a pole arm versus a sword had lead no where. They needed to at least somewhat predict each other's movements. Which was nearly impossible with how impulsive Black Star was.

"Wrong again." Maka used the wooden pole in her hands to redirect his strike. "You're still getting too close." The pole twirled effortlessly in her hand. "The whole point it to keep the enemy from touching you." She held it behind her. When Black Star got in too close again, she grabbed the tool he was practicing with and yanked him towards her. "Otherwise that happens." She let go and he stumbled away, his face flushed.

"I know how to fight Maka." There was no doubt he could over power her in hand to hand combat. The more direct his strikes, the easier it was to direct his momentum elsewhere. It was clear why other weapons had difficulty working with him. Tsubaki was a flexible fighter, able to accommodate to whatever the situation demanded. But to master one style of weapon required knowing the weapon's optimal uses and accommodating to it.

"You know how to hit thing with another thing." Maka teased. "You're not parrying, or juggling, or paying attention!" He had caught her running off with the mouth and tried to strike over head. She blocked, the force of it rattled her bones and cracked the earth beneath her feet just a hair.

"It would be easier to pay attention if we weren't fighting with sticks like kids." He said. She wrinkled her nose with a tight pursed frown, he was holding it like a sword again.

"How am I supposed to maneuver around you if I don't know what moves you're going to use." Maka said, she might as well be speaking Greek. "We can't coordinate move sets if there's nothing to match the hand signals to." He was a meister too, he should know these things already. The more she tried to explain the more confused he looked. She adjust her hold on the stick to demonstrate. "You know, the hand signals?"

"How about you just trust I know how to fight and let me get used to handling you." He said. "I'm not gonna get the hang of it if I'm practicing with something else."

"What if you need me to do something in combat?"

"...I'll tell you." Black Star said and used the practice stick to close her lower jaw. Shouting maneuver changes out loud, no planned move sets, how was any weapon supposed to keep up? "I assure you once they've figured it out, I've already hit them with 'a thing'." She shook her head, this was absolutely crazy. "Why'd you want to partner with me if you wanted to call all the shots?" She readied her excuses, the same ones she'd told Kid and Soul when they questioned her decisions. "What, are you into me or something?"

It was a joke. She'd been taking their first practice way too seriously and they were getting nowhere. Usually she'd call him a jerk and use that paper cut to her pride to fuel her fighting spirit. Instead she looked away, her quick wit kneecapped a hair too long.

"Oh my god." This wasn't the reaction he'd anticipated, laughing in spite of himself. "You totally are." He doubled down. Silently he begged for her to laugh too, or throw something else at him. Otherwise, he'd get his stupid hopes up over an offhand comment, which was so not worth the heartache.

"N-no." She cursed under her breath. "You're such a jerk. I'm just trying to help you."

"Right," Black Star rolled his eyes, "which is why you're putting off transforming until the last possible moment." He blocked her instinctive, overhead strike. There she was.

"If you want to embarrass yourself, then fine." She huffed. "I've only trained three other scythes; what would I know?" She transformed and he caught her with ease. She was lighter this time.

"See, was that so hard?" He adjusted his hold to counter balance the weight of the blade. This was exactly why he could learn jack with just a staff. He didn't need to do any fancy twirls to build up momentum for a proper strike. He could easily slice through a dummy with a single strike.

"I swear to god if you don't widen your stance, I'm going to have an aneurysm." Maka groaned.

Since Asura's death, the magical world was a far brighter and cheery place. The sun here was a gorgeous embroidered thing with wavy points. The cobble stone paths were rounded with flecks of glitter embedded into every stone. Royaume was like a white princess castle and the uniforms had rich purples and blues in it. Angela was so happy to be here, she could shout from the roof tops.

"Get down from there!" An older woman wrapped in a quilted shawl shouted at her from the courtyard. Angela lowered her scarf and plopped back down to the grounds below. "I don't know what those dogs teach over there, but that is no way for a young witch to act." Every witch she'd ever met was just as flashy and theatrical, but the girls at the academy just giggled as one of the teachers gave her an earful.

"How else am I supposed to find a partner?" Angela asked. Ms Bruixa adjusted her glasses with a stern glare.

"Your 'partner' is your familiar." She said. Angela's shoulders slumped. Their apartment had a strict no pets policy. The few Chameleons she had interacted with hadn't lived that long either.

"I don't have one of those." Angela said. The other students had moved on, whispering amongst themselves as they passed.

"Well then," Ms Bruixa sighed, "I suggest you get to class. You have a lot of learning to do." Angela left with a bitter feeling in her heart. If all witch teachers were like that, it's no wonder so many of them turned to evil.

Traveling for missions was a pain. Shakash*ta was a strange water-locked town that was only reachable by ferry. During the Kishen's reign, the inhabitants had torn the entire town down brick by brick and rebuilt the buildings to curve and spiral. From overhead, the streets formed the three eyed symbol of the Kishen. On foot the winding paths were tricky to navigate, but they finally found which dead end road Meme had asked them to meet at.

"Thank you for coming." Tsugumi greeted both of them. Meme seemed surprised to see them, her ribbon on the left side of head today. Tsugumi glanced over her shoulder and waved for her partner to go ahead into her family home. "I thought Shalua was the reason Meme's memory's, well, not the greatest." She grabbed Maka by the shoulders. "But everyone here is like this. They called us here to deal with a Kishen Egg that's already been executed."

"I thought you came here to talk to Meme's teacher." Maka said. Tsugumi thought for a moment, her eyes widening.

"Oh my gosh, it's contagious." Tsugumi wailed.

"Where's the dojo?" Black Star asked.

"Right." Tsugumi urged them to follow her inside. "There's so much wierd stuff, here I almost missed it." The bamboo interior was black, almost like curtains of hair lined the walls. In the kitchen, Meme was having tea with an elderly woman.

"Oh look dearie, your friends came to visit you." The woman said. "I'll make some more tea." Meme took them out to the garden. A path of rocks had been arranged in a spiral with a small totem in the center.

"Meme, where's the dojo?" Tsugumi asked. Meme walked up to the lion statue in the center and placed a yen piece in either eye socket. Nothing happened. Tsugumi was too afraid to pick the statue up. "Akane-kun had one just like it in his dorm." A small black lion statue with empty eyes. It's mouth was opened to hold something, but the piece seemed to long be missing.

"...This isn't the dojo." Black Star said.

"Usually that works." Meme said. "Tsugumi, I think something's wrong with my teacher."

"Yeah, that's why we came here." Tsugumi sighed. Maka grabbed Black Star's hand.

"Four O'Clock, on the roof." She said before transforming. Black Star nodded and dashed in the direction. Meme and Tsugumi followed close behind. A flash of scarlet rounded the bend.

The dojo was the only normal building in town. They chased the target inside.The walls were stained with russet splatters.

"Sensei!" Meme ran ahead to the training dummies. The body was long gone, but she kept searching. Black Star scanned the room, much to Maka's frustration, because she could see him plain as day.

"Maka, relax." Black Star said. This is why they needed some kind of code!

"Can we please just do this my way." Maka shot back. He rolled the eyes, but none-the-less relented. Her urgency made it easy to resonate with him. Soul perception was second nature to her now, she just needed him to see the little sh*t hiding in the shadows. Black Star winced, bombarded with hundred of lights, like an emergency flare going off. It was distracting as hell, but he got the point. Something was following them on the cieling. "Wait, that's not him, that's-" An emaciated woman with needles for teeth was crawling above them like a spider. Her ghostly white skin was soaked, her hair sticking to it in web like patterns.

"Meme, tell me that's not your teacher." Black Star dodge the pillars of hair that shot down from the ceiling.

"It's not," she said, "that's... I don't know who that is." A brand new Kishen Egg. Whoever it was, may not have been put on the list yet. Usually, it took at least two victims to identify where new hunting grounds had cropped up.

"Meme, Tsugumi; go after the other guy. We got this." Maka said. She still wasn't comfortable with just relaxing and let Black Star control where the blade went. "Fall into a rhythm of some kind so I can keep up."

"Then pull back." Black Star said, something finally clicked in his head. If scythes try and keep things at a distance, then instead of having her relax or predict what he was going to do, she should resist.

"Okay." Instead of reaching out to him with her wavelength, she pulled. Something finally locked into place, she could feel the tension as he pulled back as well. It was easier, she felt like she had more control now, rather than just being along for the ride. A consistent push and pull as he maneuvered around the enemy attacks and Maka felt like she could move again.

"There we go!" He was able to slice the pillars of hair with ease. There was less nagging about his footwork and he could feel how the shifting weight of the blade naturally circulated in fluid motions. The Kishen egg crashed to the floor. It crawled, it's body backwards on all fours as it scrambled toward him. With a sharp flip he nailed the creature right between the eyes. Doubt crept in when the red soul was freed from the corrupted body. "Well?" Maka pulled out of her weapon form. It was so unfair that she felt tired from a battle when she barely did anything.

"Well what?" Maka asked as she stretched.

"Tsugumi already has 99 souls." Black Star said. "Are you going to take it? Or are we bringing it back to Kid."

"Oh." The soul was warm in her hand. She had been curious about it before, but it wasn't necessary for a meister to consume the souls they captured. Sure she'd been using her weapon form more often now, but taking it felt like crossing some sort of line.

"You okay?" He asked. "You're making a weird face."

"We should bring it back to Kid." She put it in a bag for safe keeping. This was just for an investigation; she wasn't actually studying to be a Death Scythe. It wouldn't feel right.

Tsugumi followed Meme around to the back room, but they had lost the other pursuer. On the wall was a large faded mural. Asura's eyes were just below the surface of the earth with tiny hands reaching up to a creature made of the night sky with a large white star instead of a face. 'Death will die' was written in golden letters above it. There was a table below with a bunch of cards in yellowing plastic covers. Tsugumi picked one up, then looked at the others.

"Senpai," Tsugumi called to her friends in the other room, "what exactly did the Star Clan do?"

"Shinigami-sama and Sid would never say." Black Star said. "Just that the killed people who weren't on the list." They followed the sound of her voice to the dusty room. Tsugumi was holding a dated badge from DWMA.

"Death Scythes." She said with a hitch in her throat. "All of these belonged to Death Scythes." There were hundreds of badges, some had spilled onto the floor over the years. "Meme, who- where is your teacher?" Maka knew how proud her mom was that Spirit was the youngest Death Scythe, but now that she thought about it, the oldest would have been in their late 20s when she was in school. The Star Clan had tried to assassinate Shinigami-sama.

The ride back to Death City wasn't that long, but the emotional toll of the mission had drained them. Whoever Meme had been hoping to meet with had been eaten by the Kishen egg they found and the memory anomaly attached to the town kept them wandering in circles for a few hours. Maka had been nodded off in the passenger seat by the time they got to her hotel. He bid her farewell and returned to an empty apartment.

It'd been decades since he lived alone.

"Hey Tsubaki," he said as soon as she picked up the phone, "how's Oceania?"

"I think all Azuza-san did was work." Tsubaki sighed. "I don't know how anyone could over see it and East Asia at the same time." They likely had no other options at the time. "But the work's good. I've gotten through half the inital meetings with the countries now. A few sent little welcome gifts, but I think they're actually bribes. A lot of places haven't fully recovered from the Kishen yet."

"Yeah, I saw one of them today." Black Star laughed. "You would have totally wigged out. There was the Kishen Egg, with hair-"

"Stop, stop!" Tsubaki squirmed in her seat as he tried to describe it. He knew how she felt about horror movies.

"It's jaw unhinged like a snake."

"Black Star!" She scolded, laughing despite herself. She used the lull in the conversation to switch topics. "So Patty told me you're working with Maka now? How did that go?"

"How do you think?" He replied dryly. The apprehension in her voice showed clearly she thought it hadn't gone well. "It was fine. She's still a control freak, but we're figuring it out." He took a long swig of sake from the bottle. "I don't know how she sees anything with that soul perception sh*t. It was like walking into a room full of screaming toddlers. No wonder she's so distracted all the time." He shook his head. "Would you be able to do me a favor while your there?" He asked.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Could you look into the Death Scythes that were stationed there before Azuza and Marie?" What they found in the dojo didn't sit well with him for a number of reasons. He hoped it had been hidden from him because he was a child, but if there was more to it he wanted to know before Kid sugar coated it. "Somethings not adding up." Being able to defeat a Death Scythe could be considered serious bragging rights, but random security guards? If the target was Kid, they wouldn't have been in a back alley in the middle of Death City. "I can't compare motives until I know what really happened."

"I'll see what I can do." Tsubaki said. "How's Angela?"

"I got a 'fine' text after asking her how school went." Black Star sighed. "Tried asking her for more details and got crickets." He heard Tsubaki hiss on the other end of the line. "Why? Did she tell you something else?"

"She got in a fight."

"Did she win?"

"Black Star." Tsubaki groaned. She wasn't surprised he was somewhat proud, but that was part of the problem.

"Answer the question."

"Yeah, she did, but that's not the point." Tsubaki said. He shouldn't be congratulating himself over it either. "She's not going to a combat school, she got in trouble for it." Of course, the way Angela told it, the other kid wasn't in the right either. "The culture shock's gotten to her a bit."

"Well, better they know now not to mess with her." He said. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. She's a fast learner, she'll figure it out." Tsubaki had to go to her next meeting, and Black Star was left alone in the dark empty house.

His last few texts to Angela had gone unanswered. 'Fine' in all lowercase letters, the last thing she sent to him. It was too quite in the house. He threw on some show he'd seen a hundred times on TV to eat up the silence. Lulled to sleep by cold unfeeling light.

Chapter 9: Blasphemous Rumors

Chapter Text

Shin village was a rural part of Japan, secluded behind tall thick trees. The buildings and totems were barbed with large bamboo spires. The Star Clan had been given a request to collect a potential Kishen. However, when they arrived, the streets were barren of life. Only a few, farmers were milling about.

"You," White Star pointed his sword at an older man, "where Kenzo Tamaki?" The house had been completely abandoned. Even the building where supposedly his father worked had been walked away from.

"I-I don't know who you're talking about." The man said and tried to walk around them.

"He's about yay high." White Star held the blade out in the man's path. "Black hair, son of the god damn mayor. Where'd he go?" Cassandra inwardly cringed. They'd been given the run around all day, sure, but waving a sword around wasn't helping.

"Kenzo's a good lad." The old man said. "I already told you, I don't know where he went. No one does."

"He's attacked this village weekly for the past two months." White Star said, ready to tear his hair out. "He's still f*cking here, eating your babies and scaring your children. Where are you hiding him?"

"No one's hiding anyone." A different old lady said. "We told Lord Death that three days ago."

"AND THEN ANOTHER BRAT GOT EATEN!" White Star shot back. One corrupt human was not worth all this trouble.

Cassandra focused on the name of the target. He was supposed to get run through by a sword today, by that strange totem pole. She tried to trace back the moment in her head. He had been running west, from behind where they were standing.

"There." She pointed at a cellar door. "We should check in there." One of the villagers ran ahead and blocked there view of the cellar.

"That's private property." White Star shoved him out of the way and slashed the lock to the cellar door open. Large, steal needles shot out of the cellar. One got him square in the jaw, another nicked his shoulder and he was thrown backwards into the village square.

The creature had spikes lining it's back, it's face more reminiscent of a marionette than a human being. On it's hands and feet there were several attempts to chain it to a wall, but the deadbolts dragged behind it as it crawled out into the light.

"You were keeping it alive on purpose." Cassandra said as multiple villagers tried to talk the creature down like it was a frightened animal.

"We just need to find a cure." The mother cried. Of course the Kishen Egg wasn't targeting her, it'd already chosen more vulnerable prey. "This isn't any of your business."

From the ground, White Star threw a shuriken at the monster, drawing it's attention away from the crowd. His shirt was dyed red and blood dribbled out of his sliced cheek.

"That was a dirty trick, asshole." White Star said. People were coming out of their houses into the street. He weaved around the civilians to attack it. It shot an arch of needles his way. Rooftops were skewered, windows were shattered and still the people tried to defend the monster.

"Get out of the way." Cassandra twirled her kunai on chains. She still wasn't precise with her strikes, but she could make it difficult to cross into the battle field. "There is no cure! He's just going to keep hurting people in this state."

"He's just scared!" The mother lunged with a broom. Cassandra shattered the handle, cutting the woman's hands the processes.

"I said get back!" She couldn't control where the blades landed while twirling them. If people kept running toward her, they were going to get hurt.

White Star used one of the spires buried in the earth to launch him under the enemy's feet. He drove his katana into the soft palette under the jaw and dragged the blade down to the earth. He put the Kishen Egg in a jar while the mother screamed at them.

"We got what we came for." He glared at the crowd, his face still hurt like hell. "If I ever have to come back here, I'm killing everyone in this village!" He motioned for Cassandra to follow him, chased out of yet another town. Once they lost their pursuers, he dug around in his pack for some rags and shoved them against the gaping wound in his face. "In the future, could you point out where the damn thing's hiding before I eat sh*t?"

"Yeah." She said. His expression softened a little and she took the rag off his face so they could properly bandage it.

"Wait, really?"

"You shouldn't have said those things to them." She scolded lightly.

"Look what that thing did to my face!" The adrenaline from battle was wearing off and he could feel each searing wound. "Those kids-"

"By all means, resent them for allowing it to hurt people." She said. "But you can't blame them for caring about the person he used to be. He was turned into a monster against their wishes."

"Like hell I can." He grumbled. "You really can predict the future or some sh*t?"

"I can see people's deaths." She said. "The ones that were supposed to occur." That Kishen Egg should have died two months ago before eating a single soul. Perhaps the mother had something to do with it after all. "And the ones that will be." The gauze was already turning red. They needed to get him properly stitched up as soon as possible.

"So you've seen when I'll die?" He half joked.

"Yes." She lead the way back home. "I've seen when all of the Star Clan will die. I don't know if they feel me watching though. It would be nice if they could, the ending can be quite scary for some. I'd like them to believe they're not alone."

"You don't have to tell me." He said, a little wary of her somber demeanor. "Half the fun of a battle is not knowing how it'll end." He jogged to catch up to her. "You get to see anything else?" She shook her head. The limits of her power often frustrated her. "Then why the hell was all this your favorite part?"

"Because I love you." She said. "I loved you then, I love you now." Even if he had made a real nuisance of himself all of last week. She could tell he was trying to do right by them all in his own boisterous way. "And I'll love you in the future." If the people of Shin village were foolish idiots, then so was she.

She didn't experience time the way everyone else did. The future felt just as real as the present, and her past was clouded with the memories of two futures. The one she dreamed of and the one she was participating in now. "If there's one thing I can count on, it's you getting in over your head."

"Yeah, sorry your husband's gonna have a butter face." He said, a little woozy from the blood loss.

"...you really mean that?" She asked.

"I don't think stitches are enough to fix all this."

"Not that," she nudged his good shoulder, "the husband part."

"Well, yeah, isn't that what you wanted?" What she wanted? She wanted to hurry up and get to where they were at in a few years time. Where he trusted her visions without question and she knew he'd always be there to protect her. A time when he overcompensated for the devastating losses with a sarcastic remark or joke in poor taste.

Receiving a proposal because she seemed the most useful was not ideal. Though in hindsight perhaps their relationship had always started out as some sort of 'trade'.

"Am I no longer a minor inconvenience?" She asked with a wry smile.

"You know what, I deserved that." He said. They began a long trek back toward their home. "Seriously though, if anyone of our family turns into one of those things, no protecting them from hunters. You got that?"

"You don't have to worry about that."

In a graveyard with bone white trees, Eibon was writing more in their book. The accuracy of the soul collection tool was gradually improving. Satisfaction with living in a world alongside gods and witches was improving on a whole.

"How's the observational study going?" Shinigami-sama asked.

"It took 731 years for someone with potential to partially awaken and be found." Eibon said. "She's retained a descent amount of humanity as well. I think it's entirely possible to be able to train new role holders without causing any anomalies." They closed their book and looked at the reflection of Shinigami-sama in their mirror. "I have had multiple instances of people requesting more compassion."

"I'm plenty compassionate." Lord Death tilted his head. Evil people were being brought to justice now instead of milling about their lives unnoticed. The witches that lorded their power over the weak were also being dealt with. Weapons were slowly integrating into society without harming the natural order. Everything was finally calming down after Arachne's death.

"Agreed." Eibon said. "Human's tend to personify things with soft features as friendly. Perhaps a rounder mask would help?"

"That's a lot to ask of a mask." Lord Death sighed. "Who exactly have you been hearing this from?"

"Witches mostly." Eibon flipped through their notes. "Family members of Kishen Eggs and those old enough to remember the Old Ways as well."

"Well that's the problem." Lord Death stood up straight. "You can't please everyone, especially rule breakers."

"Nonsense. There is always a solution." Eibon skimmed the chapter of Envy. In order to learn about human virtue, they first had to understand sin. "Things aren't always black and white Mortis, there is a grey area between all things. What we've seen is just the tip of the iceberg." They could wax poetic about dialectics all they wanted, Lord Death rarely paid attention. "For example; if absolute power corrupts absolutely, why does the absence of power refuse to uncorrupt? Broken things have to have a way to be fixed, otherwise they're not broken, they're something else."

"Eibon, I need you to focus." Lord Death said. "I need a power source that doesn't come from someone's soul. The city can't run on man power alone. It's not sustainable."

"I thought for sure letting Maba's eye get stolen would balance out the birth rates." Another problem begs for solution. "Motion generates energy, but how to get it to feed into itself?" How do you make something that can do what is asked without micromanaging it? What piece is missing in order to have a 'compassionate' Death. Or perhaps was something added that should be taken out? An interesting puzzle indeed.

"Eibon, are you able to do it?"

"Of course."

"And please, nothing with dolls." Lord Death said. "They're getting confused with humans again."

Asuka village was full of light as lanterns hung in every home and lined the pathway to the main house. Live shamisen players accompanied the ceremony. Everyone watched Cassandra's old name burn inside a tea cup. The way the ashes lay determined which star she'd be known as now that she'd married into the family.

Charon was beside himself with joy that for once White Star had listened to him; chalking up his new found humility to botching a mission. Still, Venus couldn't help but eye the supposedly happy couple with suspicion. What possibly could have changed overnight to make him act this way? It was almost like magic.

Her concern fell on deaf ears. The older heads of the family were determined to drink themselves stupid over the slightest bit of good news.

"Elaine, was it?" Venus pulled the dark haired girl to the side. "You've been rather close with Genbu lately, haven't you?"

"In a way." She said. Good, the girl was just as perceptive as Venus had assumed.

"I need someone to keep an eye on my brother." Venus said. "I'd feel better if a smart girl like you were to keep me updated, rather than more biased individuals." She grimaced as the two in question laughed at an offhanded comment.

"Naturally."

The waves of people that came to congratulate Cassandra and White Star was exhausting. Many of them, they would never see again. The last person she expected to congratulate her was Bonnie. She took White Star's seat when some of the groomsmen tore him away for a silly game.

"So we're all supposed to call you Nova now?" Bonnie said with a tilt of her head. "Am I going to get my head cut off if I keep using your actual name?"

"No." She laughed. "Though it'll make things more difficult around here than it already is." They watched the party goers put a few small children on a brand new bed. "We're only seventeen." She wrinkled the nose at the practice. It was way too early to go speculating about children.

"I've never seen a family this big not hate each other." Bonnie laughed. "Or this drunk."

"Are you not staying?" Nova asked.

"I miss New York." Bonnie said. "I need to find some normie dork so the state considers me safe to be around other humans. Not a lot of jobs for guns out there. I don't plan on sticking around after that."

"I thought you were a trained assassin?"

"Me? f*ck no, they were accidents." She leaned back. "Can't say I miss them though. They were real sh*t heads." Casually she scooted closer to Nova. "Can't say I'll miss him either." White Star was politely nodding to whatever Charon was drunkenly telling him. "Say the word and that f*cker'll have his own accident."

"That's my husband you're talking about." Nova punched her lightly in the arm, though she appreciated the concern. She, more than anyone, knew what she was getting into. "The same goes for you." She waved back at her husband. One of the guests wanted to talk to her. "If you need help, I'll be there."

(1982 AD)

With persistent training, Nova was almost able to keep up with the other trainees. Her kunai slowly felt more like an extension of her arms. Her fighting style flashy and dramatic. Not exactly peak assassin material. White Star always hid his face around other people. It was a shame he felt the need to cover his scars in order to be taken seriously. Critiques from the other branches of the family that she'd brushed off as hazing started to turn more sincere.

"She's still years behind on training for her age." Venus said during her yearly visit. "She hasn't made a single attempt on anyone's life, let alone taken up a mission." They were accused of playing house. With no heir on the way, the elders of the family were getting antsy. "She's not a real assassin."

"Crazy as it sounds, I don't mind sharing a room with someone who doesn't try to kill me." White Star rolled his eyes. "There's no crime in being nice."

"There's no crime in being dead either. I'm sure she'll do both nicely."

"I have no problem taking missions." Nova said, testing another one of Elaine's 'surefire' poisons. "I just never seem to get any." White Star brushed off her pointed stare. No one else in the main house saw issue with him withholding her missions, but clearly it was a problem with the family at large.

"You're in luck then." Venus pulled an envelope out of her sleeve. "We've received a request, but everyone in my branch refuses to take it. I'm sure it'd be perfect for your skill level." White Star snatched the paper from her. He took one glance and ripped the request in half.

"No, absolutely not." He said.

"What's their name?" Nova tried to grab the torn pieces of the note from his hands.

"Arelete Lustosa." Venus said with a predatory grin. Nova focused on the name. There were a few out in the world, but only one had a fate thread that was overdue. "Is there a problem?"

"No, I'll do it." It's what they were paid to do.

In plain clothes, Nova and White Star were able to blend with a crowd of visitors that came to the hospital ward. They passed a hallway of grunting babies to a dark, private room. Once White Star was inside, she used a small cantrip to jam the lock. No one was to interfere.

"Hello sweetie." Nova approached a bed where a baby lay in the dark attached to a monitor by a curtain of wires. The baby followed the sound of her voice with her eyes, but was too weak to move her head. "No one wanted to be the one to say goodbye, is that it?" Her thread of fate was so badly frayed it was hard to tell how long ago she should have passed. Each breath was shallow, her skin pale and marred with red webbing. She tried to cry, but couldn't move her mouth to make room for the sound.

"Come here." Nova turned the alarms off and held the baby in her arms. "That's it, it's okay. You can go to sleep." With a heavy heart, she turned the breathing machine off.

"We should go." He said. There was only so long they could linger before one of the nurses found them.

"Not yet." She bit her lip. The baby's arms and legs went ice cold. "It'll be okay dear, I'm not putting you down yet." One last sigh escaped her lips before Nova set her back down on the bed. From down the hall, they could hear someone approach the door.

White Star opened the window. Nova lingered at the child's bedside. There wasn't a single picture or stuffed animal in the room. The tiny soul came to her easily as she put it in a jar. She followed him silently as they crept out into the hospital parking lot.

"Hey..." White Star broke the silence. Nova's solemn expression a shadow of what was going on in her head. "For a first time, it could have been worse... You were," he gently nudged her shoulder, "you did good." He shrugged off her silence. "Shouldn't go around touching things though, it leaves evidence."

"Lord Death has no right to interfere with people's lives like this." Nova said. "What good is extending someone's life, if no one is there to see it?" She clutched the jar tight in her hand. "Fixing his mess from the shadows will only make things worse."

"If we don't do it, who will?" White Star recited from heart.

"We will." Nova said. "We'll prevent those monsters from ever getting made, and we won't let innocent people suffer in the dark hoping someone hears them."

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" White Star asked. She held up her pair of golden sheers, the magic from past fate's lingered on it like finger prints. Without the help of the other fates, she would have to guess when things were supposed to happen. She might be off by a few days or months, but cutting a life too short had to be better than letting it suffer.

"We go by the original list."

San Fransisco California in June was a miserable, muggy eighty degrees. Inside the temple, people were being kept like cattle in boxes, barely surviving on rations. Nova memorized every plank of wood and felt the cyanide from her tea prickle at her tongue. At night, the demon lord would send his men to check on the captives. He had everything he needed to become a powerful Kishen, now he was just waiting for them to die.

The grinning plastic masks everyone was forced to wear was uncanny. With people lying through their teeth and looking for ways to make it seem like they'd accepted the poison without actually taking it. Nova looked her guard dead in the eye as she downed the cup in one swallow.

This was where it all began. Where she'd fallen asleep to the sounds of people gasping for air night after night only to be scooped up at the last second. She thought of her first vision, the rows of freshly plotted graves, the injustice that waited for all of them in the end. She sobbed fresh wet tears behind her plastic mask.

"Another." She held out her cup. "Please, I have to get to paradise." Instead, they unlocked her cage.

"On your feet." They dragged her out for the first time in days. She leaned into the pain, wailing out in agony as they dragged her before a golden stage at the podium. The demon lord was in poor health, with black beady eyes.

"Now, now," he said, "there's no need to fret my child." Long, yellowed nails hooked under the chin of her mask and lifted it off her face. "Where's that happy face?" She turned up the corners of her mouth as he poured a large glass in front of her. "See, we're just trying to help you." She nodded. "Just take your medicine like a good girl, and you'll start to feel better like the rest of us." He limped toward her, a symphony of grunts and coughs escaping him the whole way over.

"Thank you." She reached for the cup with trembling hands. "Really, I don't know what to say." With each word her voice was quieter. He leaned in a little closer. "I'd be lost without-" He grabbed her cheeks and forced her mouth open. Just as the glass touched her lips, she was able to grab through his chest to that golden thread he had tucked away. She pulled it taut, snipping it from his soul with her scissors. The shine dulled from his eyes. He lurched forward and he crashed into the floor. "Can you handle the rest?"

Members of her new family crashed through the windows and blinding the gunmen. She tidied up her face. Her armed guards now bleeding on the floor like roses thrown at her feet. There wasn't much that could be done for the other victims, but at least the bastard died before eating a single soul. Nova bowed at the emphatic applause of her husband.

"Stunning performance as always." He said.

"Thank you. I was trying to channel Telenovela." She stepped over the bodies to join him. "In another life, my name would be in the Walk of Fame." The only problem with assassinating Kishen Eggs before they turned, was people didn't pay as much for the job. She tried to ignore the members riffling through victims' pockets, hoping to scrounge enough to keep the lights on. "I hardly noticed you this time, did you see me secretly flip off the guard that hit on me?" The man was already dead, but he seemed a little extra brutalized compared to the others.

"Yeah, you should be careful about breaking character though. Dead Bob over there almost blew your cover." He rested his forehead against her, too uncomfortable to bring his mask down in front of the others. If she wasn't brimming with fresh poison, she would have pulled it down for a kiss. The moment was short lived when his eyes wandered. "How many times do I have to tell you guys," White Star groaned and pulled away, "cover the damn mirrors. That old voyeur is worse than J Edgar Hoover."

Chapter 10: Cold Reactor

Chapter Text

How does one answer a question like 'how was school'. There are so many unpleasant interactions that get filed directly into the waste bin, promptly forgotten to make room for the next onslaught of information. Random dirty looks in the hallways turned into wallpaper. The classmates that talk to their own friends are background noise. Angela would ghost through class after class of dry information that had nothing to do with why she came to the magical world. She had no doubt that if it bored her, it wasn't worth sharing.

The pictures she had received from Black Star's last mission were far more entertaining. Creepy houses, spiral paths with lion statues in the center, some local dish that didn't look safe to eat. His attempts to get her to change her mind about becoming a meister were not subtle.

"Before the magical world was cut off from the mortal realm, the Fates had more control over the world order." Her teacher flipped through slides on a projector of ancient pottery. "Like cogs in a machine; the Spinner would mold the nature of a soul, the Allotter would watch it's destiny play out, and the Inevitable would call for the spirit's return. After the portals closed, the ferryman shouldered the burden of guiding the dead to the underworld." The slide switched to a lion receiving a soul in it's jaws from someone with a star on their skin.

"Ms. Bruixa, that's not a ferryman." Angela said. "That's a member of the Star Clan."

"They're the same thing Ms. Leon." Her teacher said tersely. "Don't speak without raising your hand. Now, as I was saying," the slide switched to a domineering black figure, "these days souls are attracted to the underworld by actual machines. We've found recently, that magical individuals caught in the current, do return to the entropic void. In case any of you planned on visiting the mortal realm." A chorus of polite laughter from the students gave her teacher a chance to check who was paying attention. "Ms Leon, phone, now."

A lock box soared toward her and snapped the phone from out of her hands. Just when she finally had something of interest to send back. She flipped her note sheet over and started doodling on the back. Stupid boring classes, stupid boring teachers, magical school was supposed to be fun.

The incense Maka had brought to the training hall was supposed to help improve their resonance link. Something she had done with Soul under the guidance of Dr. Stein. Like most of his methods, it was hard to tell if it had really helped that much, or if Maka's stubborn determination had pulled her through freshman year. Black Star lit two more sticks for good measure. He'd barely been able to smell the first one permeate the room.

"This is already a difficult exercise," Maka scolded, "you don't need to make it more challenging."

"I'm just making sure it works." He said. "If one works a little, three should work a lot. It's basic math." The saccharine scent burned the inside of his nose. "So, what's next?" She had taken a seat on the floor a motioned for him to do the same.

"We point out each other's faults." Maka said. To her, it was kind of like a trust fall. It was easier to enter a high-stakes mission when everything was already out on the table. Black Star rolled his eyes and took a seat. He'd gotten his good training sweats on for nothing. "What?"

"Stein gave you the stupidest sh*t to do." He shook his head.

"Yeah, well sometimes it works." They were already getting off topic. "You're not supposed to point out his faults, you're supposed to point out mine." He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. "Black Star."

"I'm thinking!" God, she could be so impatient sometimes. Wait, that was it. "You're not always right you know."

"Yeah, and?" That wasn't really a fault.

"...nope, I lost it." He sighed. "Give me a second, I'll think of something else." He waved for her to continue on ahead. Next time he thought of something, he just needed to repeat it in his head over and over until it was his turn to talk.

"Part of why it takes you so long to do things, is you refuse to listen other people." She said. "I might not always be right, but neither are you."

"What the hell do you think we're doing right now!?" Black Star said. "You like these mind-numbing training things, that's why I'm trying to do them." He cursed under his breath. "Now I forgot the thing, I almost had one."

"I don't like doing training like this!" She said. "I do it, because it works. Or at least it usually does." They were definitely bickering, but no more than usual. Maybe it was because these were things they'd already told each other before the exercise. "Why is it taking you so long to come up with something?"

"Jesus Maka, it's not like I have a list of reasons you suck on file." He gave up, laying on the cold wooden floor. "Now the room's just stuffy and hot. The f*ck is wrong with you screw-head!?" Maka scrunched up her face, because that had never been an issue before. The people she worked with in the past always had an endless list of things to pull from. "Reasons you suck..." Black Star muttered to himself like mantra, until something broke through his foggy memory. He was used to people pretending he wasn't there, but nothing quite stung like looking down from the roof the first day of school and only finding Tsubaki applauding from the entry way. He was quiet for a bit as he tried to formulate it into a proper 'fault'. "You worry too much about what people think about you." He popped up onto his forearms to look at her, she hadn't said anything yet.

"I wish I didn't." She sighed. "I can't turn it off, it f*cking sucks." She usually wasn't weepy during this exercise. What was wrong with her?

"sh*t." He sat all the way up. "See this is why I thought it was stupid, I don't want to hurt your feelings." He fretted when she cried more. "Come on you masoch*st, say something back."

"I'm not a masoch*st." She punched him in the shoulder, hard. "You're an asshole."

"Generic."

"A megalomaniac."

"Old news."

"Ugh!" Nothing ever bothered him. The goal was to point out faults, not devolve into pointless name calling. Though really, he should consider having a shred of humility. At least she was back to being irritated, instead of embarrassingly weepy.

"Not so easy, is it?" She was going to kill him one of these days. He kept looking at her with that stupid smug grin, like he won some game they were playing. Only, he had problems maintaining eye-contact. "Hey Maka, what does that incense do exactly?"

"It's supposed to heighten emotions." She said. His smile dropped. He got up an opened the closest window. "What are you doing?" She'd never seen him bail on a training exercise like that before.

"It clearly isn't working." At least, not the way it was supposed to. She had been this close to laughing at the bullsh*t he'd been throwing out. All it took was that look, that she was trying to be above it all and had been carried away anyway, for him to feel like a teenager again in all the wrong ways. The heat in the room was stifling and the last thing he needed was more probing questions. "You were right, I shouldn't have burned that many." He closed his eyes, the fresh air clearing his head just enough for him to realize what a mistake that was.

"What do you mean I'm right?" She got way too into his personal space and grabbed his shoulder. "What's gotten into you?"

"Maka." He turned to her, his pupils blown wide and dark. "We've known each other since first grade, we can skip all the beginner crap. We really can." She was three inches away from him. The flush from her cheeks sparking far more hope than it should. "I know you pride yourself on being perfect all the time, but there's nothing wrong messing up every now and then." Her standards for what being a good weapon were had gotten so unreasonably high after years of working with Death Scythes and three-star meisters. He had no doubt she'd surpass them if she just allowed herself to learn through experience instead of forcing herself into some idealized mold. "It'll be fine."

"That's funny." Her expression softened into something more inviting. "I told you something similar earlier."

Earlier? Earlier when? The wind ruffled her hair, and she seemed to catch herself from stepping forward. She tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled back. More disappointed in herself than anything.

"Definitely too much incense." She muttered under her breath. "Well, if you have any bright ideas other than running into combat blind I'm all ears." First she needed a break from this, a break from him.

He watched her leave, still chewing on the puzzle she left behind. The missions had mostly been them fumbling for control. She'd told a number of people to stop questioning why she was serving as a temp weapon, but that couldn't be it. The only other thing that would come close was her slurring those words in his ear.

Oh.

They hadn't really stopped to talk about what happened, he just assumed most of those memories had been eaten up in a haze of alcohol, but she remembered. Then stubbornly insisted they take on this mission together for personal reasons. It almost seemed like an invitation, but Maka wouldn't cross professional lines at this point. There was no way.

It was all in his head.

Group projects were the worst. Everyone had their own little friend groups and Angela was stuck waiting from someone to put up with getting separated. At least by the end of this she'd get to learn some new spells.

"Spindle, Crystal, Sheers, shoot!" Two girls cheered as one dressed all in yellow and black hung her head in defeat.

"Not fair! The crystal should break the sheers and the spindle."

"Suck it up Penelope." One of the other girls said. "It's past beats present, present beats future, future beats past. Not present beats everything." Penelope came over to Angela sulking. Leopard spots decorated her buzzed hair, a strange choice for someone so outwardly timid. Everything about this place was backwards. Witches here had familiars that were large and powerful like bulls or horses, even wild cats apparently.

"What are you doing?" Penelope tilted her head. Angela had taken her starting position for combat practice.

"...sparring?"

"That's not what we're doing!" Penelope leaned back and let out a frustrated sigh. "This is AD Combat, as in 'avoiding deadly combat'." Angela's arms drooped to her sides.

"Then why am I here!?" Angela had just about enough of this. "I already know how to hide in the shadows and all that junk without magic. That's literally all I do at home." She'd spent decades learning how to hide from fights, she wanted to be able to overpower them. "I can't protect anyone that way. How am I supposed to prove my magic is good, if all I use it for is myself?" She couldn't disguise other people, or project soul protection charms onto them. The best she could do is make things conveniently float for people.

"Magic's not good or bad." Penelope raised an eyebrow. "It's just recycled energy that has to get out." DWMA kids were so weird, they got hung up on morality and rules that didn't really exist. No wonder the mortal realm was a mess. "You'd know that if you paid attention in class." Angela vanished, then popped up behind Penelope. It was just a gentle tap, but it was enough to scare the girl right out of her shoes.

"History and ancient tongues don't mean sh*t when people want to take advantage of you." She stalked toward the girl. "I've seen witches melt peoples memories into ash, make artificial blood that saved people's lives, bring entire sentient beings into existence just to lock them in cages; and all I can do is stupid sh*t like this!" She morphed into a mirror reflection of the other girl. The angle of her face just as doughy, and her clothes a mockery of how bright the yellow was. "Not looking like a threat, isn't enough to 'avoid' deadly combat."

"What the hell happened to you?" Penelope asked. The casting teacher was marching towards them, but Angela was too shaken by the genuine concern to maintain her spell. It's all noise, it's all wallpaper; the bodies, the loss, the young boy pointing a sword at her just to change his mind at the last second. Be calm, be sweet, be good.

"Nothing happened." Another trip to the office, another disappointment waiting to spiral into something more. "Everything's fine."

Condensation formed small, light clouds in front of Black Star's face as Stein welcomed them into the morgue. Rows of empty silver boxes sat pre-chilled in the event another victim showed up. Their old teacher giddily recounted his first dissection of a deceased body in graphic detail. Maka didn't bother to hide her disgust at the topic. Stein opened up the first antique door and rolled out the bed.

"Well, I'll be damned, it's gone." He said. "Pity, I was just making headway comparing the two. It's amazing how many things in the human body can be abnormal and go completely unnoticed." Maka had really hoped they'd have evidence of a copy-cat, it would have made Kid's addresses to the public so much easier. The number of angry phone calls to the school would only increase from here.

"Why's his heart the only thing left behind?" Black Star asked, the wicked grin Stein gave far more unnerving than anything they'd seen the last two weeks. "Who's heart is that?"

"Ah, the other one." Stein said. "Turns out transplants are only accepted while the brain is active. Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Did he..." Maka tried not to gag at the thought. "Did either of them rot at all? We ran into an incident in Shakash*ta." She described the crime scene as tactfully as she could.

"It takes at least five days of a soul lingering around to do that." Stein shook his head. "You should have seen Sid's body before I got to him, it was a mess." His ex-students vehemently objected to any further details. There was a reason, after meeting with his advisors, that zombification had been expressly outlawed by Kid. It was easy to get lost in that town, perhaps his soul had taken a while to find a fault line.

Overhead a red light flashed. An intruder had come to the school. Black Star and Maka ran up the steps. In organized lines, students were escorted to the nearest classroom. Windows were darkened and doors were locked.

One the steps of the school, a young man with plugs in his ears held three monstrous creatures on leashes. His two-toned hair an affront to the curated order of the new DWMA. He unclipped two of the leashes and removed their blind folds.

"Find it, and you'll get your reward." The two kishen-eggs ran like rabid dogs toward the school. They hooped and hollered to give themselves courage as they scaled the walls of the school. The first, a gangly creature with curly hair peered through each window in search of the shiny object his boss wanted. The second, a bowl-headed thing with a tongue dragging underneath him launched himself like a frog toward the nearest entrance. It rammed its head against the door like a battering ram, until Black Star kicked the doors open from the inside, with Maka in hand.

"Pl~please." It held up it's hands. "I need~ in." Each breath was a haggard effort to form human words. "Want to go back~" From the tallest tower, his accomplice let go. "Curl, don't. " From free-falling, the other Kishen Egg turned around and formed a giant stinger with his legs. Black Star slide out of the way and dodged the strike. He blocked multiple strikes overhead. Then, with all his upper body, launched Maka's blade into the tail and severed the stinger.

The Kishen Eggs' master held the one leash tight in his hands and blew on a whistle in a tone none of the meisters could hear. They had a mission to fulfill, instead, his assistants were bumbling around like idiots. The two that were loose tried to flee, but with Black Star hot on their trail, the furthest they could get was the tower roof, before getting cornered again.

The bowl-head one lashed out with his elastic tongue. Forward, forward, over; a pattern Black Star quickly picked up on as he tilted Maka's blade toward the ground and got it under the shoulder. It was thrown up onto its hind legs. Black Star kicked it in the left knee, then jumped. With a wide overhead strike, he sliced it clean through.

"Who'd be stupid enough to bring Kishen Eggs here?" Black Star joked. An ear-splitting scream from the roof reminded them of the other foe. It slithered at an alarming speed along the roof only to get cut through the middle by a soul-less scythe. "What the hell?" The other meister landed on the walkway with practiced grace. A glossy silver blade reflected her own flaxen hair and stern gaze back at them.

"Maka?" The woman held her tongue as Maka transformed back like her life depended on her. The once stable resonance like fell apart like pop rocks in a puddle, leaving Black Star's hands itchy.

"Mom!" Maka straightened her hair, slightly mortified she'd been caught in action by the last person she expected to see. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission in the gulf."

"I heard something strange had been going on in Death City, and had to check in on it." Kami stiffened when Maka hugged her. "Clearly things are dire if students are being ushered away from one-star level targets." She squinted down at the entry way, the other target was no longer on school grounds. He'd gotten away. She held her daughter at arm's distance, more concerned now that the immediate threat had gone away. "You look puffy. You shouldn't be exerting yourself in this state, especially when you're a perfectly capable meister." Maka brushed her mother's hands away from her face.

"I've done everything there is to do as a three-star meister." Maka said.

"Yes, well, Justin Law was able to be his own meister, there's no need to go partnering with some inexperienced-" She stopped herself, her eyes immediately drawn to the flare of violent emotions one offhanded comment brought out. "I see." Kami stood up a little straighter and adjusted her glove. "When I was a student, staff members weren't allowed to have tattoos." She narrowed her eyes. Maka held out a hand, a simple gesture to keep the two from butting heads.

"Mom, please." She shook her head. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you, I'm investigating the murders in Death City." She made her way to the stairwell. "Given the nature of the perpetrator, it falls under my jurisdiction. I'll handle things from here. You should get some rest."

"Is she always like that?" Black Star asked once the door to the stairwell closed.

"Like what?" Way of the assassin rule number one, blend into the shadows.

"Nothing, forget I said anything." He may love a good challenge, but he was not going to run straight into that hornets' nest. He long learned with Soul, when it game to parental junk, it was best to leave things alone. "She took the soul you reaped."

"It's fine," Maka said, "I was just going to give it to Kid anyway." They slid down the side of the building to the ground floor. No point in loitering on the roof when there's nothing left to gain. It was a wrap on another day. Another night in an empty house waited for him.

"Hey," Black Star asked, "do you want to come over?"

"What, like, now?" She hadn't had dinner yet. The prospect of another take out meal was hardly appealing, but she wouldn't be able to hide behind the vernier of professionalism again. They'd just be hanging out, alone. Which, they used to do all the time in school, but that was before.

"You don't have to." He said.

"No, it's cool." She felt feverish. "I'd love to."

Dinner was a quiet affair. It was still take-out, both of them too tired to want to cook anything, but it came from the shop next to Black Star's apartment. Warm salty broth and noodles did her body good. It felt like she hadn't had anything descent to eat all week. There was something cozy about sitting on a couch trying to decide what to watch. The last few months her nights had been episodes of the same podcast in an uncanny replica of a home while eating out of a plastic tub.

"You don't have to go back to the hotel." He said, the minute she let one comment slip about her room having wall hooks instead of shelves. When was the last time she felt comfort with closeness? The idea of sharing a space now less of a daunting task, and more of a welcome offer. He'd been sitting in the dip of the cushions with his feet up on the coffee table, like he was the most relaxed person in the world. Even though his eyes were trained on a movie he had memorized by heart. "I wasn't that against the idea, I just didn't want to make Angela uncomfortable." He felt her lean back against couch, her shoulders square against his outstretched arm. "It makes sense, kinda stupid to have you going back and forth all the time."

"I don't mind." The apartment was barely any bigger than the one he'd had in school. The living room and dinning room was the size of Maka's hotel with the kitchen in the eye line of everything. A small office of sorts had been converted into Angela's room, and the only other space was the master and a narrow alcove of a patio. "Where would I be sleeping though?"

"I've got an extra futon." He brushed a lock of hair out her face, still pretending like he was watching the movie. "The good kind, not those weird fake couches." He kept his fingers in her hair, absently twisting it around and messing with it. She hummed softly in agreement, whatever tension remained in her body relaxed against him. His heart hammered a mile a minute. "Why'd you take on the mission?" There was a million things she could say, but he needed her to say something that would clue him in on how platonic she saw this situation as.

"I guess, I'm just putting off going back." Maka said. "I don't hate my job, but I feel like that's all I've done. I know me, if I go back to doing routine management stuff, I'm going to blink and another ten years will have gone by. I just... I don't know what else to do." She laughed. "God, and finding out Soul was getting engaged made me feel like I missed all this stuff, and what do I have to show for it?"

"Soul's dating someone?" Black Star tried to think who it could be.

"He didn't tell you either?" Well now she really felt like an idiot. This whole time, she'd carried this bruise that he'd personally cut her out of something.

"Maka, I obtained one kid and instantly became invisible." He leaned toward her. "But, wait, who is it?"

"Patty."

"Hunh," his mind started to wander, "they did go on a lot of missions together after graduation. I just assumed Kid was playing favorites." That still didn't answer his initial question. "Who said you had to go anywhere? You could stay here." She should stay here, that would make all of the half-formed thoughts solidify into something more actionable. "You could actually give weapon training a try." Stay. "You said yourself, you're bored with the meister side of things." Please, for the love of god, stay. "I have more than enough time."

"I'd like that." Then she noticed how much she was leaning into him, and how long he'd been tracing idle patterns along her shoulder."It's just," she winced, "I know it's a silly hang up, but I try to avoid getting romantically involved with the people I pair with." His hand froze. She looked up at him, his arm still around her shoulders. He squeezed her arm, because he could do both. He knew he could, not that he ever tried in the past, but he knew why she'd think that was an issue. It wasn't a silly hang up, just one that put him in a very difficult position. Especially with them already playing jump-rope with that line.

"What about after?" He was an open book. There was no way he would lie about what was going on in his head. Right now, the torch he'd carried for his friend was in a vicious battle with the stupid little kid that thought they would have been weapon and meister during freshman year. "You know, training takes a year or two for you, because you're nuts like that. What about after you're done?"

"I don't know," she said, "no ones ever stuck around after." It's not like they ever ended on bad terms. They all had just moved on with there lives. "But I don't see why that'd be a problem." A lot could happen in that span of time. Her hand ghosted along the back of his. Perfectly innocent, and also, surely the death of him. Because Maka may have been able to train weapons like they were going out of style, but it'd taken him fifteen years to get Tsubaki to the status of a Death Scythe.

Chapter 11: Smashing Young Man

Chapter Text

(1987)

Goiânia had several gallery forests and more pleasant places to be. Eibon insisted Arachne should meet them at an abandoned hospital. There was little Arachne could do as a handful of spiders other than announce herself or watch from the shadows. She crawled through a shattered window into the bowels of the facility. Eibon was standing in the room, a blue glow coming from the substance they were handling. The entire room was lit up like a child's nightlight.

"Thank you for meeting with me." Eibon said. "I really need your expertise."

"It's expertise now?" Arachne crawled up on the ceiling to look down on the long-dethroned monarch of the magical world. "What happened to maniacal heretic?" Eibon's pale hair had been half shaven off, with feathers and random trinkets braided into the remaining tresses. The clothes they wore less structured now, more like random fabrics of clashing textures held to themselves with various sashes around the waist. Once a perfect beacon of light now waning into something unrecognizably callous. The witches had been quick to point the finger at Lord Death, but Arachne wasn't so sure. It was the same pattern as Asura. The gods were not meant to live and feel like mortals did, it did strange things to them. Asura's empathy had twisted into a fear of all humanity and Eibon's curiosity had turn them into this.

"The processes of creating new life was undeniably unethical." Eibon used a screwdriver to scoop out fine powder into a sieve. "But the weapons have been incredibly stable, and the trait is hom*ozygous dominant. It truly is uniquely, new life." They flipped through the book of Eibon and pointed to the chapter of Envy. "If the process is sound, it should be replicable." They had all the necessary pieces for a child's body tactfully in a cauldron. "It is possible make a human child in the image of an Old One?" Possible, yes, but Asura had been an unmitigated disaster. The only reason Arachne had succeeded making weapons, was she had been days away from being crowned the new Spinner. If she hadn't been caught, she could have gone on to make all kinds of new and interesting things with that magic.

"It took all the magic from one witch's soul to make a weapon." Arachne receded into the corner of the ceiling where she'd be hard to grab. "Humans are incompatible with most types of magic, but the shapeshifting always seemed to stick." Humans were born to change and adapt, perhaps that was why they took to shapeshifting so well.

"What about necromancy?" If they could make a Shinigami that grew and looked the way humans did, then that would achieve a compassionate Death. One that had as much as an affinity for the living world as well as the underworld.

"It'll animate the body, but you need to give it a soul first." Arachne said. Eibon put a little water in the vial and swirled it around until is was a vibrant glowing ooze.

"That's the easy part." They drank the ooze. "The hard part will be waking up after." They reached into their own chest, and dug their fingers into a large chunk of their soul. They pulled, taking one grigori wing and severing it from it's pair with long stringy threads. They let go, and flipped a lever so the other ingredients tipped into the cauldron one after the other. As the soul floated down into the old heart, a ripple broke the water's surface. "It's beating." Eibon leaned against the metal container for support. They wouldn't have to worry about what they'd forget, the book of Eibon contained everything they ever learned. "Write this down spider, write it down." The limbs sewed themselves together in all the right places, by sheer will of the soul fragment. "If I'm as close to death as I can be, surely this one too, will feel its presence." Bubbles rose to the surface.

"It's going to drown if you don't fish it out." Arachne said.

Eibon plunged their hands into the cauldron and pulled out a squalling child with black hair. A long, healthy thread of fate was coiled deep inside the soul as it closed itself up with little fan fair. It was so squishy and helpless.

"Take what you want from the room." Eibon squeezed the wriggling thing a little too tight. "I got what I need." Not quite a shinigami, not quite a witch. The perfect balance all wrapped up in a brand new homunculus.

(1990)

The headlines that circulated around the murder of 'just some guy' Cali Jones and his legion of followers was, in a twisted way, an advertisem*nt for the Star Clan's skills. White Star made shrewd use of the misinformation surrounding the event. Loathsome people who died of natural causes? Star Clan. Corporate big-wigs, religious zealots, doomsday scam artists; all of them could fit on the list for the right price. Though due to high volumes, their assassinations may have to be bumped back, to align with the stars or whatever Nova used to determine when people's times were. She hadn't been wrong yet.

The only thing they didn't mess with were kids. Nova was the only one who'd listen to those kinds of requests, and even then, only in extenuating circ*mstances. She'd seen a lot of children succumb to illness and received violent messages from the people she rejected. Every time she brushed it off, she didn't pick when people died, but she could pick how. The toll it took on her cheerful persona etched into every new wrinkle on her face.

Still, the notoriety, and the prosperity it brought was a blessing for the family. As much as Venus had fought for Nova to leave the family, she couldn't deny the results. The dining halls were filled with new trainees and the speed it took to fulfill missions was increasing by the year. Elaine and Genbu were particularly proud of how easily they could slip poisons into cocaine and other party drugs. Seiryu had her hands full teaching rouge weapons how to act as their own technicians, and Suzuka had been able to leave the field to focus on what he called brand consulting.

"White," Nova burst into his office, "sorry, didn't mean to interrupt." White Star waved her over.

"As I was saying," the man continued, "I didn't get a chance to kill her, some kid did."

"...A child killed Madame Forrest?" White Star asked, knowing by now Nova needed a name to see someone's end. "The ax murderer dressed as a bunny got Home Aloned?"

"I know it sounds bananas," the man said, "but I swear to god. This little teeny bopper comes down from the roof and electrocutes her with this hammer thing. They had a little school uniform skirt on and everything and just fed the soul to the weapon."

"I can see it." She said.

"Thank you Lady Nova." The man was close to tearing his hair out. "I'm not the only one. Bonnie saw some ten year old running around Brooklyn with a scythe in broad daylight the other day. I don't know where the hell their parents were." A twelve-year old girl and her fourteen year old weapons had been sent to assassinate a Kishen Egg? The uniform she was seeing, it had Lord Death's sigil on it. "I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want to accidentally hit some kid flipping all over the place like it was gymnastics class, but what the hell are we going to tell the client?"

"Same thing we always do." White Star said. "If the target is gone, they need to pay up." The trainee nodded begrudgingly and left the office. Nova gripped White Star's shoulder, barely able to contain her excitement.

"A boy!" She said.

"It was a boy in the skirt?" She was hopping in place, the glitter from her outfit covered the walls in bright, dancing sparkles as she shook her head.

"We're having a boy!" He got out of his chair. Six years of trying and finally Nova had good news about it. For all her abilities to see into the future, this was the part she was always uncertain about. "It's super early, but I checked and this is the one. We're finally going to get to hold him."

"Nova that's great!" He held her tight. Her shoulders shook and she buried her face in his chest. As happy as he was, the way she clung to him was a little unsettling. "Don't torture yourself looking, please." Because, if she checked to see if this was it, then she had to have seen the end. "I'm right here, we're all right here."

"I know." She suppressed a tiny squeal. "We're all here."

Lord Death's attempt at a school was confusing to most at first. The decor screamed of someone trying to appeal to children's tastes, but grossly misunderstanding that maturity levels varied between six year olds and sixteen year olds. Previously, Shinigami-sama had trained weapons himself. Suddenly, he was outsourcing help to anyone willing to lend a hand. The promise of being branded as a 'safe' weapon offered to anyone who entered.

Spirit had potential. He had a classic scythe form, he got along with pretty much anyone he met, and he had the worst partner. Instead of pairing up with a pretty girl, he'd gotten stuck baby sitting his underclassmen, Stein. He just needed nineteen more souls and he'd finally be done with this whole mess for good. He been venting his frustrations to his fellow weapons when a blonde meister exited Lord Death's chambers with her head held high. From the ribbon in her hair to the color of her shoes, everything was dress code accurate down to the last hair.

"Looks like the partner poacher's done it again." Azusa said. Two stars shown prominently on the plastic badge the girl had pinned to her blazer. "Jinn was at seventy a few months ago, so it's not surprising." The smug look of superiority Kami had when looking down on her fellow meisters was not the best look. Most people found her grade grubbing off putting and her methods demonic.

"She could poach me any day." Spirit leaned against the locker and gave Kami a wink. She rolled her eyes and kept walking. "I'm going to be stuck with Stein forever. He hasn't taken a mission in months. It's like he's waiting to harvest my other kidney."

"Oh Spirit, you're so funny." Marie said.

"I'm not joking!" He felt around his abdomen. "If it's not my kidney, it's something else. I've lost twenty pounds in the last week."

"If you spent your money on food instead of... magazines, you'd be in a better state of health." Azusa tilted her glasses and blinded Spirit with the glare.

"Those beautiful angels are my only reprieve," Spirit's eyes glistened with tears, "I could be nourished by the dew of a ginko leaf if I had to; but don't deny a man his only passion in life."

"Pig." Marie shook her head and walked away.

The bathroom stalls in the girls bathroom always has dumb things written on the walls. People claiming ownership of the stall, or their partner, or little stick doodles piddling on things. Kami had seen her name written a few times, but it didn't matter. She was the first in their class to become a two-star meister.

"God, she's so annoying." A gaggle of girls from Kami's class entered the bathroom in a herd like they always did. "She acts like I'm in third grade. Just because I want to have a party, doesn't mean I have to invite everybody in our class. Just people, I actually like."

"Mom's suck." Her friend smacked her lips after reapplying her lipstick.

"I wasn't talking about my mom." The first girl cackled. "I was talking about Kami. So don't say anything, or were going to have to act like we all have mono again. I'm thinking nachos and then get the roller TV out by the pool so we can marathon Back to the Future."

"You got the third one already? Lucky." They all giggled. "I wish my dad bought everything that came out. I'd be a total cinephile if it wasn't so expensive." Kami exited the stall and the other girls rolled their eyes and looked at each other. It was deafeningly quiet as she washed her hand. As soon as she was out in the halls, she could hear them start laughing again. Jinn hadn't called her since he got stationed overseas. Her other partner too, once they became Death Scythes they just stopped talking to her. Who cares what lesser students thought of her? She certainly didn't. She definitely wasn't going to hide her face in her locker so people couldn't tell she'd been crying.

"Kami!" She braced herself, but the locker door couldn't hide her from this weirdly persistent guy. "How's the most beautiful girl in the world?"

"What do you want Spirit?" She shuffled her text books around to make it seem like she had somewhere to be.

"I was thinking, since you're between missions, you'd finally have a chance to get some ice-cream?"

"No." She slammed her locker door shut.

"Aww, why not?" He was following her around again like a lost puppy.

"Because I will have a mission tomorrow, I need my rest."

"With who?"

"I don't know yet," she gritted her teeth, "that's what I'm finding out after fifth period."

"But you just-" She stopped halfway up the stairs and glared down at him.

"I know!" Kami stomped the ground. "But if I take breaks and slack off, I'm going to be stuck with everyone for another year. I just need to get my third star and then I'm out of here." She started skipping steps to get to the upper floors faster.

"No, I get it." He jogged up the steps after her. "I'm trying to do the same thing too." And there it was. Another lazy weapon just trying to use her skills to get ahead faster. She wasn't going to fall for it again. "You know, it could be fun if we hung out a little bit at the same time."

"Do you want to be my partner?" They were at the half floor bend in the stairs. The afternoon light streaming beams of gold through Spirits hair, the blue flecks in his eyes glistening as he stopped short. "Don't pretend to be so surprised, that's clearly what you've been hounding me for."

"I was hitting on you." Spirit said, the back light making Kami look more like an angel than ever. Her face flushed as the gears in her head started to turn. "I wasn't even trying to be subtle." Granted, he hit on everyone, but that was beside the point. "I've been 'hounding' you for a date."

"You're an idiot." Before she could run off, he reached out for her hand.

"Did you really want to partner with me?" Was it finally happening? Had salvation in the form of a cute girl at long last come to separate him from his tormentor?

"Sure, whatever." She hid her blushing face and snatched her hand back. Now she was only twenty souls away from graduation instead of a hundred. She could manage that just fine.

"Ice cream's on me."

Life can be quite cruel sometimes. Nova had watched as the weeks went by and the tiny soul grew, but the thread of fate stopped weaving. It was like the Spinner's magic gave up, and left the wild wefts to fray into thread bare whisps. How much time was in two inches of fate? It was just a blip dwarfed by the lives of everyone around her. White Star worried she'd drive her self mad like this, and she felt nearly there.

"Hello again." She approached the large porcelain vessel in the family head's office. It was the dead of night, no one else around to hear. With one hand against the cool glaze she tried to sense the souls that had been memorialized together. "I don't know if you can hear me, but..." This was, a long shot, but she had to try. "I need more time. I'll take hours, minutes, anything that was left behind. Please," she rested her forehead against the vase, "I don't know what else to do." A tiny golden fleck floated up out of the jar. Then another, and another. Like flaming kindling kicked out of the fire, she collected the fragments in the palm of her hand. "Thank you." It wasn't much, but it was more than she asked for. "Soul Protect drop."

For the first time in years, she let her magic flow free to her fingertips. She rolled the fabric of time between her hands into long thin strands and braided them into the breaks in her son's fate. It wasn't seamless, but she hoped that willpower alone would keep the repaired thread from unraveling once she stopped her casting.

There was a clatter on the other side of the door. She recast her soul protection spell and eased to her feet. One of the daggers White Star collected in her hand as she silently crept toward the door. She threw the door open with the knife overhead, a teapot pointed at her face like it was a gun.

"Elaine?" She relaxed. "What are you doing up? It's the middle of the night."

"I thought someone broke in." She said. "No one's supposed to be in there after hours."

"White Star won't mind, I assure you." Nova sighed with relief. "Put that thing away, I almost shattered it." They parted ways, for their own rooms. As soon Elaine was alone, she pulled out a pager and sent a code. Venus was right, her brother hand been bewitched.

Kami is everything Stein wasn't. She was sweet, she laughed at his jokes, and she was going to be the death of him. Every single day after school, she'd drag Spirit out on another mission. He was creeping closer and closer to their goal to graduate, but at what cost?

"Ooh, here's a good one." Kami took a wooden tile off the wall. "Little kids sacrificing people to a Kishen Egg. This should be easy extra credit." She was so excited, he couldn't bring himself to tell her no. "You said you wanted to check out a corn maze."

"Yeah, at the fall carnival." Spirit said. "Kami, I don't think we should be taking missions for lower-level meisters. It's not fair the new kids."

"If they wanted the quickest mission, they should have gotten up earlier." Kami shrugged. The sun hadn't even woken up yet. "It's right here in the handbook, new missions are posted at five am on the dot." She snapped her little book shut. "Besides, now we can have breakfast together." She really was sweet, and getting to go out every day before classes was kind of nice. He missed his sleep though. "See, I'm not the only early bird. Good morning Stein!"

"Hello Senpai," Stein picked a wooden tile, "they finally opened up the farm with talking animals." His expression was dark as he chuckled to himself. "I can't wait to see how different their vocal chords are from humans." He slipped the tile into his jacket pocket. "After I get some good data, I'll let you know when we'll go."

"Haha, yeah." Spirit could feel Kami's eye twitch as they waved goodbye. She promptly grabbed Spirit by the ear and pulled him toward the nearest supply closet.

"You haven't told Stein!?"

"Well, I mean, I was kind of hoping to tell him after..." Spirit fumbled his words. His previous partner was a living nightmare, he would not take well to poor innocent Kami snatching him up at the last minute.

"You can't go on that mission!" Kami poked him in the chest.

"What's the big deal? It's just one mission."

"A weapon can't have two meisters!" She smacked him on top of his head with her book. "If he reaps the last soul with you, he gets all the credit. It isn't fair." Spirit agreed, but Stein was the one who'd done most of the work. He still needed to practice on missions too. There wasn't exactly a line of other weapons hoping to partner with him. "You have to tell him."

"I... I don't know." Stein took so few missions; it would be easier to just get what they needed and then leave the school. He had full faith Stein would disappear for a week or two doing weird tests on those animals. "It's not like he'll notice."

"Spirit," she sighed, "you like me better than him, don't you?" She batted her eyes at him. "You asked to be my partner."

"Well yeah," he stammered, "of course I like you." His eyes drifted down to her front for all of a second, before meeting her eyes again.

"You want to see them? Then you'll go tell him you're my weapon now, not his." She left the storage closet while he was shell shocked. "And we're going on our mission after school tonight." He could do it, he could tell Stein to his face that he'd been going out on missions with another meister for weeks. Even if there were scalpels and tesla coils and Stein would have to find a new weapon to experiment on. His resolve crumbled a little. He had to think of what lied at the end of the tunnel. He just had to be strong and accountable...

He could do that tomorrow.

The whole car ride over, White Star had tried to debrief the team, but he was definetly starting to loose his patience. The couple's request had been simple. A whole one-horse town had been taken over by kishen eggs. The tricky bastards had the whole thing laid out like a rat maze to trap random wanders.

"For the last time, it's not one kishen, it's a bunch of them." White Star sighed. "All the little buggers got it in their head to eat their parent's souls. All of them."

"But what if one of them is innocent?" Seiryu asked.

"Nova will let you know if something's changed," White Star said, "but as of right now it's all of them. Even the lil ones. They're all little demons."

"And then they listen to the one that lives in the corn field." Suzuka nodded. White Star hit the steering wheel.

"Nope, there's no big one, just little ones." He needed out of this car. "Remember Chuckie? It's a giant Chuckie factory. All of them are little Chuckies. That's the whole reason they're still running around killing people. They go asking for help from some monster in the corn maze and then they kill you." There was a large pop as the driver tire blew out and grinded against the pavement. "We're here."

"...I don't know boss," Suzuka said, "this kind of goes against my moral compass."

"You're moral compass is a roulette wheel. Get out of the car!" He riffled around in his pocket for a cigarette and his lighter. "Nova, can you-"

"Yep, I got it." She herded them out, giving each a detailed description of what their targets looked like and where to find them. They had a spare tire in the car, but he wouldn't be able to change it until all the little Kishen Eggs were dealt with. Normally Nova would handle a mission like this one her own, but fifteen was a lot for one person to handle in the middle of nowhere Nebraska. He hoped, for the love of god, this would go quickly. Through the cloud of smoke, he saw a preppy girl with a red scythe walk in from the distant cornfield toward the town.

"Of all the mission for one of those little sh*ts to pop up." He smashed his freshly lit cigarette in the ashtray and got out of the car. He could see Seiryu crouched on the roof of the local church, ready to strike. He gave an exaggerated signal to her not to attack, with a solid shake of his head. That wasn't one of the ones they were after.

"Hey, kid." He casually walked over to her. "It's a Tuesday, don't you have cheer practice or math class you should be going to?" He wasn't the best decoy, but he could at least give his team time to deal with the actual problem at hand.

"I'm a two-star meister." Kami stood up a little straighter.

"...yeah that mean nothing to me." White Star shook his head. "Look, I got diaper bills to pay, and a client waiting for results. So while I applaud your blind determination to get underfoot, kindly go be brainwashed somewhere else."

"There's a witch here." Kami furrowed her brow. Nothing about the mission said anything about a witch, but she could see the uncanny flicker of a fake human soul. He looked over his shoulder and saw his wife turn in alarm.

"Starlight, a little help." She was caught in the abandoned intersection like a dear in headlights. "They're talking about witches now. I've had it to here with this day." Kami pointed her scythe blade toward Nova. "Woah, what the hell are you doing kid?"

"Get out of the way sir." Kami hopped up onto a lamp post. "I'm Kami Ta-"

"I know who you are." Nova had seen that face and that stance many times before. This was the wrong place, but that time was coming closer. "And you're mistaken." Kami sprung into action, twirling just to be blocked by the flat side of a blade. She was instantly over powered by the strike and tumbled back into the lamp post with a deafening clang. White Star winced; it was probably just a concussion, but still. "We have to leave now."

"Nova, the hell are you on about?"

"You trust me?" She was shaking. "Then fix up the car. I'm calling everyone back in." Kami was already getting off the ground. Nova fled into the corn field. The plotted stalks provided minimal cover as Kami slashed through them with the perfect tool. Nova activated every touchpad the Kishen Eggs had buried. Scarecrows on clothing lines, zipped by, from all around them. Kami sliced through the dolls without hesitation only to block two strikes from Nova's kunai. "Dear Mrs. Albarn." The title shook Kami's concentration just enough for Nova to get a solid strike across her temple. The wound was shallow, but it drenched the left side of her face in a river of blood. Her ears rang like a siren going off in her head. "Right now, you have a choice to make." She used her kunai to throw Spirit a few yards away. "You can choose any other target to finish your weapon, and leave my family alone. Or," the twin blades knicked her hair as they were buried in the dirt on either side of her face, "this will be the rest of your life."

"Leave her alone." Spirit came rushing from Nova's left. She blocked it just in time to see the headlights of their getaway vehicle flash. Grey feathers rained down from above as she soared overhead as Paradise Crane. She landed on the roof of the car. As quickly as possible, she transformed into a her human form before she slipped in through the passenger side window, right into Genbu's lap.

"Nova, the blood." White Star shook her knee to pull her out of her vision.

"The child's fine, both of them are." Nova said to the relief of everyone in the car. "They'll take care of the remaining Kishen Eggs." There was a good chance, after this, Lord Death would have them on the run. "We should collect payment before the client catches on."

Chapter 12: Always Get This Way

Chapter Text

The headmistresses office was a time capsule of the 60s. Tall wooden walls with set in book shelves made the ceiling look miles high. Random geometric shapes were hung on the wall. All the furniture was sharp, sleek, and green. Blue shag carpet held generations of incenses and ash in it. It was all a little too sculpted, too uncanny.

"This is the second time in two days." Endora pushed down on a plastic bird head and set it in motion. It would dip into colored liquid and come back up for air. Her silver hair was curled in a slick bob, looking like sheets of metal. "Apparently you said some upsetting things to your classmates."

"I only said the obvious." Angela couldn't slouch in the perfectly curated plastic chair. "They act like they never went outside."

"They haven't." Endora got up from her glass desk and opened a door to the garden. "Walk with me?"

Her office lead out into a lush greenhouse. Grass peaked through the grey cobblestone path. All the trees and flowers had been left to grow wild, reclaiming the chiseled columns and fountains left behind.

"Every witch has their own familiar." Endora said. "Sometimes they are similar, but they are all unique." The edge of the path was marked with stone platforms that supported sculptures of different animals: cats, bats, and wolves. "All the ones you see here have been lost, permanently." There were some newer ones further into the garden, a python and a black widow. "There are many witches who believed that if you left the magical world, you deserved what happened to you." She tapped the top of the snake's head. "A divine punishment of fate." She stopped at a large featureless statue of a crane. "But people still go, even knowing the risks."

Angela hadn't left the magical world on purpose. She had followed her mother back and forth like she was supposed to. She waited as patiently as she could, but after a few days of being alone, she'd left the apartment looking for food. By the time Mifune found her, her human father had long passed away.

"It's that kind of thinking that has the new Allotter refusing to return. Though we're all grateful one has appeared at all." Endora took an orb out of the claws of the crane. "Does this look familiar to you?" She held it out to Angela who shook her head. "It's a very old test."

Angela took the ball and rotated it in her hands. It was warm despite living in stone. Endora made a wide spell circle in the air.

"Picture this symbol in your mind and tell me what it shows you." She said. "It doesn't matter what you ask of it, just think of whatever comes to mind."

A divination spell? Angela rolled the ball in her hands. She would love to have some sort of grand destiny. Something only she could do. Mifune, Kim, Tsubaki, Black Star so many people risked a lot just to save her; and what did they have to show for it? Why her?

The crystal went pitch black. Tiny lights one after another appeared like paint splatters. One towards the bottom brighter than the rest.

"What does it mean?" Endora asked.

"I don't know." Angela rotated the ball, the dots remained firmly in place, like a peephole in a planetarium. "I think they're stars."

"Are they good stars or bad stars?"

"What are you talking about?" Angela pursed her lips. "You can see the same thing I do. It could be a location, or a constellation, or an event. It could mean anything."

"Exactly." Endora took back the orb, a little disappointed. "It is what you choose to do with it. When your vision comes to pass, you should have the answer by then, but that takes time. More than two days." With the orb back in it's resting place, she turned to Angela. "Everyone here is training in the hopes that they one day will be chosen by Maba to take her place. It is the only position a witch can hold that challenges Lord Death. Is that what you want?" If she became the next queen of witches, peace talks between the two sides would be so much easier. She'd be like a hero.

"Sure."

"Then that is why you're here Ms. Angela." Endora said. "Not to pick fights or compare yourself to other witches. If it happens again, I'll have to actually punish you." She looked back at the statue. Another dead end. The last time the Inevitable hid for this long, horrible things happened.

In the dead of night, a woman with a white rabbit hat stumbled across the pavement. Magic wasn't outlawed in the mortal realm anymore, but seeing a skull mask in the audience of her show sent shivers down her spine. Lord Death's old, grim mask had become a symbol of pride for the old guard of meisters and weapons. So as soon as she got her payment, she packed everything she could in her trunk and wheeled out to her hotel. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, even though every time she glanced over her shoulder, no one was there.

The lady at the front desk spared her a glance and a nod. The dim lighting of the lobby hardly enough to chase away the chill as she punched the number to her floor only to remember she needed her key first. She riffled through the front pocket of her bag to find it missing. Then, with a few delayed taps, waved her phone in front of the sensor pad before punching in her floor.

As the silver door slide shut, she breathed a sigh of relief. The rattle of the elevator a comfort as she could see in the mirror wall that she was at long last alone. There was a chirp as the elevator opened up to an empty floor. The rest of the building had gone to sleep, or at the very least, were observing the curfew set by the hotel. In the privacy of her own room, she kicked off her heels onto the tacky carpet. Her trunk hit the floor with a thud. She dialed and groaned as her manager insisted on calling her back instead of texting.

"What do you mean you can't kick them out?" The bunny witch huffed when she was met with a bunch of corporate babble. "I don't care that they aren't 'hurting' anyone, that was clearly meant to scare me." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Then tell the venue it scares the kids. Wasn't that the whole reason they retired that look? If another one of those freaks shows up at my show, I'm walking off set." She threw the phone on the bed. "Unbelievable."

Something black and gold skirted out of view of the bathroom mirror. The feeling of being watched back and more present than ever. She turned, a set of golden sheers plunged through her chest painlessly and then snagged on something deep inside her. The warmth from her limbs drained instantly and someone roughly grabbed her soul before she could figure out what had severed her connection to her body.

A white gloved hand popped the soul with bunny ears into a jar. It bumped against the glass walls helplessly, but ultimately aimless as it settled into blissful unconsciousness. Two gold coins were placed on the body's eyes. They placed the plastic key card they'd stolen next to a burning pile of incense and left the room.

Black Star and Maka arrived at Kid's office bright and early. After thinking about it all night, Maka had gone ahead a grabbed the paperwork for a permanent weapon training permit. It felt a little drastic of a change, but she liked training with someone again, instead of doing it all on her own.

"Love what you've done with the place." Black Star said. The walls of Kid's office had been desecrated with what could only be described as a shrine to Tim Curry from his Broadway days in Spamalot. "The paper flowers are a nice touch."

"That's where your report on the case went." Kid said, his eye twitched. "Someone broke into the archives and while we were investigating, that happened." He loved Chrona dearly, but the sooner that disaster of a weapon was back on the moon, the better. "Though it's good to finally have some good news." He said. Maka and Black Star looked at each other and then back at Kid.

"Umm, thank you." Maka said.

"See, told you he be happy to have you go into the weapon track." Black Star nudged her. Kid tilted his head, ever so slightly in confusion, then hastily changed the subject.

"Of course." He flipped open a pad of paper, each page carefully cut in the shape of Texas. Complete with all the ridges and valleys. Kid closed the pad and shoved it to the side. He needed a better lock on his study. "How is the investigation going?"

"...I was going to ask you that." Black Star asked. "Maka's mom showed up and said she was taking over."

"Kami told you this?" Kid hit a button under his desk. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday, during the break in." Maka said.

"She was here at the school?" Kid said.

"Yeah," Maka said as Chrona walked in, "why would that be a problem?" Kid turned to Chrona.

"We fired her." He said. "You saw me, I gave the whole speech, she got her two weeks, she's off the payroll." He paused to clarify. "Kami Tanaka."

"Yes, I was there." Chrona said. She saw Maka and Black Star shell-shocked in their chairs. "What's going on?"

"She's still taking missions."

"What do you mean you fired her?" Maka couldn't fathom a scenario where that would be the right thing to do. "What did she do?"

"There have been several meisters and weapons that have refused to abandon my father's list. Kami was," he corrected himself, "is one of them."

"It has to be a misunderstanding," Maka said, "I know she can be kind of stubborn-"

"She threatened to kill me Maka." Chrona said. Granted, a lot of people had over the years, but they weren't on the payroll either. "No hard feelings or anything, but she knows she's not welcome at this school." It was a logistical nightmare trying to part ways with someone who still had the respect of several high ranking DWMA members.

"We can't have her interfering, especially since the goal is to question the suspects before making a decision." Kid said. Chrona was able to weed out the authorization request they needed from the origami roses. "Go to Asuka, see if you can get any leads on where they moved to. We'll handle the rest."

"Oh, and before I forget, Maka-" Chrona paused when Kid tapped their arm. They tried to get some kind of explanation, but Kid kept trying to say it silently with his eyes, which he should know by now told them nothing. "G-good luck?" Maka and Black Star left the room with their new instructions in hand. All the while Chrona and Kid were confusing each other with half whispers and vague pantomiming.

"Those two get weirder every year." Black Star said.

The set of stairs to get to Asuka were cracked and overgrown. The look out towers that once loomed past the treetops had long caved in on themselves. Maka used the skull key they'd been given to unlock the fortress door and pushed it inwards.

She hadn't expected the grounds to be so green. Wildflowers in yellows and purples thrived as far as the eye could see, masking the shacks that once had been homes in a quaint, picturesque frame. No birds were chirping in the trees, no fuzzy little creatures called this place home. Besides the distant babble of a stream, all was silent.

"Hello?" Black Star called out. Maka smacked him with the back of her hand against his chest. "Don't want to be rude." Black Star joked. Walking through the waist high plants carved a path through nature as they made it to the main training hall. Maka spared a glance back at the broken flowers they left behind. If someone had come in this way, they would have known.

"Hello~" Black Star sang out to an empty hall. "I'm home."

"Black Star, no one's here." She said. A long table laid smashed to pieces next to the far wall, blanketed in a thick layer of dust. The scars of swords and knives preserved in the wood grain.

They past room after room frozen in time. Dead landline phones with gimmicky covers, rotted posters, moth-eaten clothes; it was all so normal looking.

One of the larger rooms had a bunch of baby things shoved in a closet. Maka dug through the drawers looking for diary entries, maps, anything that could point toward a secondary location. Black Star poked through a chest at the end of the bed. He pulled out an old cookie tin full of labeled crystals to find a sparkly blue thing folded up in the corner.

"Hey, Maka." He held the vintage dress up. Each bead fogged over by age, but still trying to shine. "This your style?" She gave him a flat look as she snapped one of the draws shut. "I guess that's a no." It was really pretty, but it was more the principal of the thing that got her. Black Star dropped it on the bed and closed the trunk with his foot.

"There's nothing but old photos in here." She flipped through the pages as Black Star rounded toward the back hall. Generations of weddings and birthday parties left to mold in a drawer. She rounded the corner, seeing a brief glimpse of Black Star in some kind of office. A shelf of different kinds of jars, some shattered from years in the sun, lined the uppermost wall. Maka stepped around a broken end table to where Black Star was putting a stack of papers back where he found them. "Find any secret passages or fake drawer?"

"You read way too many detective novels." He bit his lip. "Let's go check around the back." He forced himself to laugh. "People always like to leave stuff in the yard." An old obstacle course had been left to be consumed by grass and dead leaves. Signs with different colored stripes had faded in the sun. Long lines for rope dangled from the tree branches like popped balloons. "Race ya?"

"What are you-" Maka saw him jump up on one of the old platforms. "Can you at least try and take this seriously?" He whistled the same notes as a driving game count down.

Three.

Two.

"HEY!" He dashed away from her, able to leap up into the trees while she ran to catch up. "Black Star!" It wasn't long before he changed courses, traveling up the mountain side. The over grown trees melded into tendrils of wisteria caught in the breeze. For all his ducking and weaving, he couldn't avoid her soul sight. She dashed right where he was planning to land. As he touched the ground, she looped her arm around his waist and sent them tumbling off the grass to a flat plane of rock. "What has gotten into you!?"

He was on top of her, but she was the one who had him pinned, too afraid he'd take off the moment she let go. She could feel his heart beat bludgeon against her chest. Heat radiated off the toned plains of his back, which she was not going to let herself get distracted by. Not when he'd acted so childishly.

He laid there for a while, finding his breath a little too close to the shell of her ear. He kept his face out of sight until he could plaster a smile back on that would sooth her growing apprehension. The adrenaline could only postpone reality for so long. He'd be damned if he let her see a stupid gut reaction he had to something he should have already known.

"It was bad." He knew she'd have more questions. There wasn't much more he could say about it. The reason Shinigami-sama had banned any of the teachers from telling him about his family a betrayal and understandable all at the same time. There was already more pressing things to worry about. The last thing he wanted was for Maka to coddle him over something neither of them had control over. He pushed himself up onto his arms to finally look Maka in the eye, hoping she'd ignore any trace of vulnerability and let it go. This case would keep stirring up old resentments she had no idea about. They'd been lucky they hadn't run into anyone who noticed so far, but if they continued like this. "Maka-"

"Move your head." She gently pushed his face out of the way. They were under some kind of pavilion. Embedded into the ceiling were five small mirrors and a large circle around it. "It's a trap." Black Star leapt off of her. He hadn't sensed anyone. "No, up there. Isn't that the trap star formation?" She pointed and he slowly walked to where the center of the target would be. Bellow them was a faded mural of Japan. "That one lines up with the Hoshi dojo." Maka realized. "And Shin village over there."

"Well Ms. Detective," Black Star gestured to his spot on the map, "up for a trip to Kyoto?"

All of the magical tools had been locked up in the underbelly of Shibusen. Kid had a small research team devoted to studying and classifying the different items, as well as how to counter their effects should they fall into the wrong hands. So far, the initiative had been an effective way to rehabilitate those that fell under the Book of Eibon's curse.

"The good news is, all the magical tools are accounted for." Gopher said after they had recovered from the break in. "The bad news is, something else was stolen." A sketch was held up to the mirror of a pair of sewing sheers.

"What does it do?" Kid asked. He'd never seen anything like it on one of his missions.

"We're not sure. The piece predates Shinigami-sama's era." Noah said going through what little notes he had. "It's ritualistic artifact dripping with residual magic, we found it along side other deadly objects like the Ark of Famine. It likely belonged to a witch."

"So it kills people?" Kid asked.

"Probably." Gopher sighed. "They'd have to know how to use it first." Kid would have to send Soul and Patty out to look for it. "On the bright side, we looked into that painting from Shin you sent us, you don't have to worry about it."

"It's a scrying painting." Noah showed a close up image of the mural. Each stroke was made with small circular motions. "The ash changes colors when used with divination magic. This wasn't someone's desire, it's a prediction." He zoomed out and gestured to the black hands reaching out from Asura's eyes to the sky above. "One that's already come to pass." Someone had predicted the Kishen's release, a world covered in black blood, and the lengths he'd gone to hide. Tsubaki said the Kishen Egg that had hunted Death Scythes was already taken care of, but then why had someone gone into the home recently?

"Who's the other figure in the painting?"

"Fool!" Excalibur leaped in front of the mirror, startling everyone.

"We have to go." Noah hung up immediately. Kid furiously turned towards Excalibur.

"Why are you-"

"Morai!" Excalibur pointed his cane at Kid's face. "Sweet princess of the stars. Consumed by Asura so he could defy her tapestry of fate." One of the Old Ones who passed during his father's fight with Asura. "Her fragments are but pale imitations; children playing with leftover scraps of destiny." Kid fought the hypnotic pull of Excalibur's fantastical delusions. "This new world would not have blossomed under her tyranny. She always cheated at chess!" A board laid out of only kings on one side and queens on the other. "You shall be red, and I shall be white."

"We don't have the correct pieces." Kid said as Excalibur captured one of Kid's kings.

"Now, you move here." Excalibur pointed to a square.

"That isn't how you play." Kid got up. "I'm not playing with you. I have other important things to take care of."

"You have to play." Excalibur said. "You can't go making up rules, just so you can take more of my pieces. I made this board, and I say it's your turn to move here."

"The rules are there so it's fair for both sides, there's not point in playing if you're going to say what everyone does." He hated getting swept up in all this. "Chrona, he's in my office messing with my stuff again." Excalibur laughed to himself as he scooted all the pieces around the board. In many ways, Kid was exactly like his father.

Maka and Black Star landed in Kyoto. It was late in the evening, Maka had been jumping through their contacts on the mirror, updating the others on what they found. She'd barely noticed the dirty looks of the locals as they'd gotten to their apartment like hotel.

Black Star hadn't realized how much Maka had openly been staring at him the last few weeks until now. With those weapon papers signed, she'd tried to build back up a wall of professionalism. No more searching his eyes when she made vague, cryptic statements or studying his scars as if they'd change without her noticing. Now, he'd get a prickle at the back of his neck and turn just in time to see her look at her phone or whatever was handy. If she was going to pay him special attention, the least she could do was let him enjoy it, instead of working brick by brick to be a 'proper' partner.

The subtle implication he should probably do the same was even more frustrating. Not that she had ever said anything to suggest it. The most harmless of actions, like glancing at her exiting the bathroom after a shower, felt like a trap. The image of her darting out in his old shirt to pull clothes she'd forgotten to bring back into the humid room burned into his mind. He was left staring at the open suitcase like she'd reappear, when he should have been paying attention to Angela's finally opening up about how school had been going.

"And then, she said if I did really good, I could become queen!" Angela told him over the phone. He could hear her pacing around the dorm, close to bursting with excitement. "Penny showed me her familiar, and it's this little leopard gecko. They use the same cages as chameleons, so she said she I could have all of her old stuff. When mine finally appears, I could keep it in the dorm here."

"Penny?" Black Star asked.

"Yeah, Penelope," Angela said, "we're partners in ADC, but I've been secretly teaching her actual combat. She can detach her limbs and grow new ones. It's so gross. We're going to see if she can make like, a mannequin out of them for training purposes. The teachers here are so weird about 'fights'. They said I can't touch anyone at all and that 'stupid' is a bad word. So I figure if we make a person out of arms, it's a something, not a someone."

"That's great, I'm glad you've made a friend." He would need pictures of their horrifying creation whenever it was finished. "That thing you drew, Maka said it looked like the constellation Orion." At the mention of her name, Maka perked up and came over, back in her own clothes. The towel she'd been using thrown over a chair to let the air do the rest of the work, and as soon as she looked him in the eye he turned his attention to the phone.

"Yeah, but what does it mean?" Angela waited until Black Star had her on speakerphone.

"Orion's the oldest Greek hero in written record." Maka said. "Though, by today's standards, he wouldn't be the most heroic. He definitely was the most powerful, the greatest hunter to ever live, envied by the gods. The constellation is made of some of the brightest stars in the sky." There was a deafening silence on the other line. "It appears the brightest at the end of winter. There was also a cult around it."

"Maka, she gets the idea." Black Star said. "Why do you want to know?"

"...no reason." Angela sighed. There was still no way to narrow down why that was what she saw. She'd hoped since it was stars, it had something to do with Black Star, but he was just as miffed as she was. "Thanks for trying though. I'll talk to you later, it's supposed to be light's out right now." She hung up without another word. Black Star stared back at the call screen, they'd only talked for ten minutes.

"See, she's having fun." Maka came up behind him shook his shoulders a little, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Too much fun." He muttered under his breath. That had been a terribly suspicious 'no reason' to end on.

"Listen to you." Maka rubbed his shoulders a little. "Has hovering helped any of this, at all?" His silence spoke volumes. "You have to let her figure it out on her own."

"I just don't want her to think I abandoned her at some school." She squeezed his shoulders one last time. He brought one hand up to hold her right one against him. She easily forgot that some people didn't see school as the escape she did. "We got to figure out if you got any abilities that'll trap those rookies."

Typical, anytime Black Star didn't want to think about something, he'd dive head first into some crazy exercise. Training was diversion, punishment and exoneration all wrapped into one. They had a long day tomorrow, and Maka wasn't up to running around a new city in the middle of the night.

"How do you plan to do that?" She asked. He patted the seat beside him on the couch bed and turned to face her.

"You gotta transform first." Black Star said. "Then I'll go in and ask whoever else is in there." He raised an eyebrow when she seemed concerned. "You've done it before, the little red guy."

"That was the black blood, that wasn't apart of Soul." Maka said.

"If there's nothing there, then we'll figure something else out." He rested his hands palm up on his lap. "You said if I had any bright ideas, you'd try them. This has always worked in the past."

"Alright." Maka sighed. It was easier for her to transform in and out now. She relaxed into her weapon form. "Now what?"

"Now's the hard part," Black Star said, "you have to relax." It'd been a long, stressful day, and he really wanted to feel like they accomplished something other than running around in circles. Despite his frustrations, they maintained a steady resonance link. His eyes slipped shut as he went into a meditative trance, like many times before.

Golden stalks of wheat stretched out as far as the eye could see, glowing like fireflies under a moonless night sky. Black Star was standing in the heart of an observatory. The walls were lined with shelves full of knickknacks and figurines of the things Maka had studied in the past. Large standing maps marked the places she had gone to for missions and the floor was covered in disorganized piles of charts, and other resources pertaining to the case. In the center, an ornate golden telescope. The stairwell down was covered by a thick black curtain. Maka pulled it back just enough to slip by before closing it again.

"I was expecting a library." Black Star said with a wry smile. "This is much prettier."

"Shut up." Maka ushered for him to follow her up to the telescope landing pad. "You can see everything from here." He took one look through the lens and immediately pulled back. The glowing dots in the sky weren't stars, they were the souls of other people in the hotel. "The closer they are, the easier it is to see."

"That's great for finding things about other people, but we're here for you." Everywhere else the telescope would show him was just more wheat fields. "What's out there?"

"Nothing important." She said. He went back down the stairs and towards the curtain. "What are you doing!?" She ran over and blocked the entry way.

"Trying to go outside." He said. "This is the only way out." She squirmed a little in place, feeling him push with his wavelength even though he was just standing there. "It can't be that bad."

"I'll lead you outside." She said finally. "But no getting distracted, no poking at things until we're out." She led him down to a dark part of the observatory. Slick black walls were hidden by a dense maze of broken trinkets. He recognized some sports equipment, a torn-up wedding dress, a first-place trophy for hand-to-hand combat, and something that looked like Soul's favorite headband from high school. "What did I just say?"

"I'm coming." Black Star hurried up behind her. "Sorry, just a lot of cool stuff down here."

"It's just junk." Maka pushed open the exit, briefly blinded by the golden light. "Alright, here we are." The occasional breeze made the wheat bend in waves. He put his hands in his pockets and started to wander. "What are we looking for exactly?"

"I don't know." Black Star shrugged. "Last time, it approached me." He wandered out further, the stalks sparser as they stumbled across a small pond. In the center, a blue crane was nudging it's beak against the water's surface. Like it could move the position of the souls in the sky just by touching their reflection. "Hello." It looked up at him and co*cked it's head to the side. "My name's Black Star, who are you?" It rushed forward, it's talons sunk into his shoulder and a beak pulling at his hair. "Hey, woah, what the hell?" The bird settled a little, still inspecting him for any flaws before dismounting onto the ground. "What's your name?"

"Black Star, you're talking to a bird." Maka said. He cupped Maka's face in his hands.

"I know what I'm doing, but you have to let it do the talking." He said.

"I'm not-" She saw the bird ruffle its feathers in disagreement. "Fine." She pulled away from him. "Go ahead." Black Star turned back to the bird.

"What's your name." The bird tilted it's head left and then right.

"Don't remember." It said, with a tight anxious tone. "Too fresh. No point in picking. It'll change anyways." It looked him up and down and nudged him in the shoulder with it's beak. "Wrong. Too still."

"What do you want me to do?" Black Star asked.

"Something new." It's eyes sparkled. "That bloody, rage-filled snake-thing, it always craved courage and power. So boring, so droll. I crave more than the mere envy of the gods." It circled them overhead. "The path of the warrior leads down one well-trodden road. Show me something new."

"Maka, you trust me, right?" He asked. She nodded, as he firmly grabbed one of the stalks of wheat and broke it in half. "I'll do whatever you need me to." He separated the stalk from the flower. The spirit overhead sung out a chaotic song as the wind howled. "So, show me what you're hiding." He took a bite of the flower, and instantly felt grief on his tongue again. There was something more benign underneath it. The rush of emotions that comes at the final chord of a song, all joy and satisfaction and hope another will start again. The flower belonged planted in the ground, not harvested.

"Blind faith," the bird landed in the pond, "I remember it. Your's is a warm sort." It co*cked it's head up toward the sky. "I can't unbury what I haven't hidden, but a bright light can go a long way." Somewhere buried in the things Maka called junk, was what they needed. "Please, continue to surprise me."

Black Star opened his eyes, and stared at the silver grommets that held the blade to the rest of the polearm and pressed on one. It slipped down easily and with a slight tug, the blade popped off. As he pulled, a coil of chain followed it. Now he had a scythe blade and a staff. He kept feeding out more chain and let it coil over his lap. There was enough to use in some of the smaller trap techniques he used. If he could just teach Maka the formation, she could help him out.

"See, I told you." He laughed. Suddenly her weapon form was encased in light and she was human again. "Maka?" She was out cold. The mediation must have taken more out of her than he thought. "You should have said something." He nudged her awake, earning an incoherent string of questions. "Come on, we already agreed, you get the real bed." She groaned as he helped her to her feet.

Chapter 13: Zombie

Chapter Text

Blindsided by a witch, Kami had never been more embarrassed to return to Lord Death's chambers. The bandage on her temple a puffy reminder she assumed that someone who relied on magic wouldn't know how to fight. All the other witches had counted on their soul perception to hide them. It was how she'd gotten this far as a meister. To add insult to injury, her weird followers had taken half the souls Kami was expecting to get.

"We've had some issues with that death cult in the past." Shinigami-sama said. "But they've never attacked a student before. And you're certain it was a witch leading them."

"I saw it with my own eyes." Kami saluted as proudly as she could. "Unless something else can use soul protection magic, it had to be a witch."

"I see, I see." Shinigami-sama nodded. "Bummer." Now he had another thing to look into. As if getting people used to the idea of collecting Kishen Eggs wasn't hard enough. "Well keep up the hard work. I'll let you know if anything comes of it." A little praise was enough to have her beam with pride.

"Come on Spirit." Kami lead them out of the death room. "For our next mission-" Spirit crossed in front of her.

"Kami, you're still bleeding." He cupped her cheek. "We can give it a rest for one day."

"I already rested for two of them." She pulled away from him.

"Because you had a concussion." He blocked her path to the mission board.

"Exactly, we've already lost too much time." She said. "The witch knows what we look like now. She must be planning some sort of counter attack. If we could just get enough souls, we'll be able to get her before she's changed locations." He threw his hands up in the air, utterly frustrated.

"There's a movie I've wanted to see with you." He said. "It's going to be out of the theaters in three days. Can we please, do that instead of going on a mission tonight?"

"Why?"

"Because that's what you do when you're dating." He said. Slowly her face went red. She looked down at her feet. "...we are dating, aren't we?" All the sharing lunch tables and compliments Kami had tried to chalk up to a sort of training exercise. She was so used to her partners leaving after they became a Death Scythe, she didn't want to get hurt again.

"Yeah, sorry." She said. "It's just... kinda weird doing something just for fun."

"I like hanging out with you." She averted her gaze, blushing all the more. "Why is that so hard to believe?"

"No one else likes me." Kami sighed. "It's different for you, you're friends with everyone. I'm just trying to get by. Besides, I failed the mission, I don't deserve-" He hugged her, the sudden embrace startled her.

"You deserve to have fun." He said. "You're smart, and talented, and you're pushing yourself way too hard." He pulled away and squished her cheeks. "A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and body. You have to take care of those." She hung her head and sighed.

"Fine," she said, "but tomorrow, we should get a new mission."

From the day he was born, Nova refused to set her son down. The elders scolded her for spoiling him, but there truly could be no such thing. The only time she'd step away was if someone else was carrying him around the compound. They questioned her choice of name as well, but to be named after a star that couldn't exist, it seemed fitting to her.

"I know you're young, but you have to understand. Not everyone's going to like you right away. Or at all." Nova held her infant son in front of her. His eyebrows were raised as she talked to him in a serious tone. To him the world was one big, loud blur. "You just have to accept that. Everything will be okay. So please," she pulled him in so she could look him in the eye, "leave that poor girl alone." It was no use; the visions remained the same. "You can't rush these things, you just have to let them happen."

"Nova, you lecturing a baby." White Star said as he came into the living room. "He hasn't figured out how to eat solids yet, there's no possible way he could have gotten into trouble."

"I'm his mother." Nova grumbled. "He needs to listen to me." White Star took a seat next to her on the couch. "I did not give him life just for him to go risking it every opportunity he gets." She knew no one else in the house could see how fragile his fate was, but she could help fixating on each fuzzy fiber that threatenedto come loose.

"You have a wonderful gift." White Star smoothed back her bangs and kissed her forehead. "Don't use it to punish him for things he hasn't even done yet." She grumbled more nonsense under her breath, staring her son down like she could reach to the future through his eyes and shake him. "I take it he's an accomplished assassin if you can see that much of his future." She squinted at their son. "You're hesitating."

"He certainly kills things." She said halfheartedly.

"I don't want to hear it!" He covered his ears.

"But you just asked-"

"I told you, he needs at least one parent not prying into his business." He stood up and took Black Star away from her.

"I'm not prying!" He was halfway across the room by the time she got up. "I'm just reasonably-"

"Don't do it, don't say another word." White Star held his son so she couldn't grab him and covered the baby's ears. "You're a bad liar, so just don't say anything about the future. His or mine, you know how I feel about this." It seemed like all she did nowadays. "You're tearing yourself up about something that hasn't happened. If you could change it right now, you already would have done it."

"If you set him down, I'll know!" She teased, then pulled herself up from the couch to start writing again. Every potential Kishen Egg, from now until her hand spasmed with pain, would be put on a card and sent off to an assassin as soon as they got back from their last mission. Before, she languished in the present, but now it was a matter of urgency. If anyone had a problem with spending every waking moment looking for their next target, now was the time to leave. She assigned the worst cases she could, ones that boarded on unethical. They'd think she was mad either way, but at least this way she could rest a little easier knowing they were given a choice. If after three months of this, they still followed every order, they were the only ones to blame. She warned them the clearest way she possibly could. "Give him here."

"He's asleep!" She ignored him and ventured into the bedroom to scoop Black Star out of the bassinet.

"Then he can sleep on me." Three months was all they had left.

Everything had been going so well. Ever so slowly, the rigid walls Kami had built up were coming down. The sweet, shy demeanor she'd shown Spirit she started to share with the other students. She wore his jacket in the hallways, and the breakneck pace of their missions had slowed down to a reasonable amount a week. They'd even started talking about what colors they'd wear for the school's anniversary party. Spirit willingly bragged to anyone at school that he was dating Kami.

"Excellent job Kami," Shinigami-sama said, "now all you need is the soul of a witch."

"Hunh?" Kami opened her little notebook and counted the tallies. "Is that, no, no we should be five short." Spirit slowly walked backwards towards the door. He may have left out in all his loving tyrraids to the other students the other reason he hung out with Kami all the time.

"Ah, yes, Stein got those." Her notebook fell to the floor with a clatter. "It's good to see him helping out another student instead of, well, vivisecting them."

"I don't need his help." Kami said in a low, dangerous tone. "When was this?"

"While you were out of commission." Shinigami-sama said. "Is something the matter?" Kami whipped her head around just as the door to the Death Room closed. "Oh dear." Kami stormed out of the room after him.

"SPIRIT!?" She bellowed. He flinched, halfway down the hall, but not far enough to run. "You never told him, did you?"

"I- uh," Spirit stuttered, "told who what?"

"Why was Stein still taking you on missions!?" Kami shouted, a crowd slowly gathered in the halls. "You promised you would tell him. You said you wouldn't go on missions with anyone else. We talked about this."

"Technically, I never actually said-"

"I trusted you." She turned away from him, hot tears carved down her cheeks.

"It's not like that Kami!" People parted as she ran down the hall. "I was trying to protect you. You don't understand how dangerous he can be, even without a weapon." She found where Stein was unpacking his locker. He took one look at her and the mess of a weapon chasing after her and laughed.

"Duel, now." Kami said. "I win, and you stay the hell away from my weapon."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" He asked. "I heard what happened the last time you lost a fight." Her soul had always teetered toward negative emotions, and her strength came from forcing weapons to adapt to her rather than the other way around. She called over the teacher, and the two were escorted to the practice field. She had a practice scythe in hand while Stein stood there rolling up his sleeves.

At the signal, she charged forward. Stein ducked, and she rolled over his back and landed behind him. He blocked her swing with his forearm, and used the force to throw her into the dirt. She sprung back, a fury of quick slashes easily avoided as he cracked his neck. He swept his leg under her left knee, pulled back and shocked her with the pure force of his soul. He stepped back to watch her squirm back onto her feet.

"You actually withstood that?" He raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating." He cracked his knuckles, relishing that now he could test the full limit of this new technique. She charged again. With one hand, he grabbed her by the face and shocked her again. "You're too emotional." He said as she fell to her knees. "The fact you want to win is why you're fighting so carelessly." She growled and sliced toward his legs. He kicked her back, readied another shock, and was intercepted by Spirit.

"Don't hurt her!" The soul force didn't hurt him as much, but the jolt of electricity made it feel like someone was sitting on his chest. "This is all my fault I- I've been her partner for a month now."

"I know." Stein let go of him. "I give it two more months." He could see how unstable their resonance had been at the beginning, it was only going to get worse from here. She headbutted Stein in the stomach. He stumbled back, a little winded but mostly annoyed.

"Get your own weapon." She hissed through her split lip. It was a dirty move, but technically Spirit wasn't the one who could call off a duel, only the teacher could. Stein held up his hands, a dark look in his eyes. It'd be interesting to see how far pure stubbornness would take them.

"Kami, I'm so glad-" Spirit began, he stopped short when she glared at him.

"Every day after school, we're hunting that witch, and we're not stopping until we get it." She said with a trace of angry tears. "You owe me that much."

Nova and White Star scoured the city and found flyers for the DWMA. Children were more trusting, so surely it was easier to find compatible weapon and technician pairs. White Star found the whole thing distasteful. It took years of training to be physically able to take on the role of an assassin, but even then, they didn't do field work unaccompanied. Kids were impulsive and reckless, he'd gotten his face scarred up at eighteen, he'd hate to see what that'd do to a middle schooler.

"It's a different way of doing things," Nova agreed, "but at least it's better than doing nothing."

"The voyeur lacks common sense." White Star held the door open as they entered the ramen shop. "And the parents. Anything that makes you sign a waver that says the school's not responsible for deaths, right in the trash." There were tons of people at their tables, muttering amongst themselves in their own quiet conversations. "You oughta be this tall before going... to a trampoline park."

"Yes well, I think when you own a trampoline park, you don't get to criticize other people for letting their kid go to one." She accidentally kicked the bag a patron left on the floor. Several sword slid out into the walkway. She leaned down to try and put some of them back. The guest's chair scraped the floor as he knelt down to help her.

"It's fine," he said, "I've got it." Long blond hair blocked his face, a dozen swords wrapped in caution tape. She pulled her hands away in an instant. Blue eyes, a battle field battered by the rain and slashes through the earth. He wasn't a meister or one of Death's weapons. He was just some ordinary samurai.

"I..." She stood up and bowed as respectfully as she could. "I'm sorry." Her voice trembled and she had to look the away. "And... thank you. Truely."

"What are you thanking him for?" White Star tapped her back with the bag of take-out. "He didn't do anything." He motioned for her to follow him. She spared Mifune one last bow before leaving the restaurant.

They were here, all of them were here and they were supposed to be getting formula for the next few months. "Hey, you alright?" She wrapped her arms around his free one. So, it was one of those things she wasn't supposed to talk about. "Ninjas are cooler than samurais, there's no need to get all worked up." She laughed in spite of herself.

As soon as they got home, Nova left with Black Star to give him a bath. The other warriors were milling about, enjoying drinks after particularly rough missions, knowing now that the lady of the house was here, more would soon come.

"White," Genbu looped an arm around White Star's shoulder, "we gotta talk." He humored them, sitting at the long table with his own sake in hand. "Ever since Nova's had the baby," he chose his words carefully under his boss's reproachful glare, "she's not been herself. Everyone's been worked to the bone, and we're really starting to worry."

"I still think it was the Nebraska mission," Seiryu said, "but he's right. She's not making any sense. Anytime we try to bring it up to her, she tells us to leave. Like, literally move out." White Star understood where they were coming from. She had tried to hide it, but he'd heard her crying in the bathroom when she thought no one could hear her. Clung to him and their son like security blankets whenever she wasn't distracted. For someone once so assured they'd have a happy life to suddenly become so fragile, it couldn't be good.

"A guy starts drowning in the ocean." White Star held up a hand so they'd let him finish. "He prays to god for help, and then along comes this boat. They throw him a hand and he tells them 'no thanks, my god will save me' and the f*cker drowns." He downed the rest of his sake. "When he gets to heaven, he demands to know why god didn't save him, and god tells him 'I sent you a boat'." He slid his empty glass toward the cluster in the middle. His family stared at him, hardly amused. "My point is, Nova doesn't say sh*t for no reason. If her answer to your complaints is 'you should leave'..." He shrugged. No one at the table was willing to accept that answer. "I'll try talking to her, but I make no promises."

When he entered the bedroom Nova was sitting on the edge of the bed. He pulled her close and she melted into his touch. Tear stains still crystalized on her face.

"Hey, can you give the guys a break with the missions tonight?" She nodded, her bottom lip between her teeth. "Everyone's really worried about you." She nodded again. "Is there anything we can do?" She shook her head and grabbed his right hand so tight the wedding band dug into his skin.

"I love you." She sniffled. "I love you then, I love you now, and I'll love you in the future."

"You've been saying that a lot lately." He buried his face in the back of her neck. "I love you too."

"We were supposed to meet in San Francisco." She admitted. "I broke several rules by coming here when I did. When Shinigami-sama finds out, he's not going to let that go. But..." She wiped the beginning of new tears from her eyes. "I wanted those six more months. No matter how selfish it was. I will never regret that." She kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry I dragged all of you into this."

"He's coming here?" She nodded. All the intense training and drills, it was coming to this.

"You know what the craziest thing is?" She asked, a little hope in her voice. He hated her revealing things too far ahead, but everyone needed a little hope. "It works. Within your lifetime, the will of the gods will start to shift. Our son's going to grow up in a whole new era with a new Lord Death on the throne." She leaned against him. "I'm sorry I've been out of sorts, it's just... That era can not get here any faster."

"It will if you get some sleep." He said. She laughed a little. Her heart still ached, but it was a little lighter in her chest.

In the dead of night, Nova let her Soul Protect drop for the last time. The soft notes of a music box accompanied her as she went to each room in the village. A single drop from the Shakash*ta well was put in their drinks that night. She magnified the potency as carefully as she could. They needed to forget just enough not to panic in the morning. This was something she had prepared for, for a long time.

She rang the last doorbell, a hitch in her throat as the owner answered. Venus was alarmed, the knife in her hand even tighter in her grip. With a heavy heart, Nova took the swaddle out of her sling.

"I know you hate me." Nova said, though she never could understand why. "So, if you won't do this for me, do this for your brother." Venus, warily took the bundle, her little nephew still sleeping inside. "Hide him. I can't know where he goes, neither can White. Shinigami-sama can never know he's ours. Please."

"Why are you asking me to do this?" Venus asked, with a raised brow. She had heard rumors that Nova had gone off the deep end, and now here she was blubbering on her doorstep.

"You're the only one that stays off the list." Nova said. "And I know you won't keep him here." She left, taking the long way home. The cool night air and the grass beneath her feet kept her grounded, as the last ten years threatened to reply over and over again.

Venus closed the door and set Black Star on the tatami mats to be investigated by the family's cat. He was out of frame when she pulled back a sheet and wrote a series of numbers on a glass mirror. It rippled calling up the grim reaper to her dark bedroom.

"The witch is alone right now." She said. "They're expecting you."

Chapter 14: $20

Chapter Text

Angela was finally getting the hang of shapeshifting. She could make herself taller or shorter now, and it was easier to mask her voice. She tried playing with it during her secret combat training with Penny, but it always left her off kilter.

"The first thing I'm going to do when I'm queen is fire Mrs. Bruiax." Penelope huffed. "I do not need a hat to be good at magic."

"Who said you're going to be queen?" Angela lightly teased. "You can't even land a single hit yet." She was great at dodging, even taking the time to file her nails, but Penny didn't make a single attempt to strike.

"It isn't the right time." Penny shrugged. She bent over backwards to avoid a hit than stood back up. "Besides, now I'll know all your moves, so you can't assassinate me." She dropped her nail file in the grass like it was a microphone. "What about you? What would you do?"

"I'd rework the treaty with Lord Death." She said. "If he ever finds out how this school is run, there will be way less meisters, I assure you." She could see him running with the strict, genderless uniforms and the arbitrary curfews. "There should be more spots for witches to attend the DWMA. Everyone here wouldn't be so scared of weapons if they actually meet one." She knelt down to pick up Penny's nail file. Ever so gently, Penny kicked her shoulder.

"And the great patience of Penelope pays off again!" She congratulated herself with a little dance. "You never said time out."

"I barely felt it." Angela dusted off her shoulder and gave her the nail file back. Her new friend seemed a master of waiting for the perfect time to strike. "It doesn't count."

"Yes, it does." Penny said. "Technically, in order to win I had to hit you, and I did. You never said how hard, or where, or even when. Finding loopholes in the rules is what makes a good witch." She said. "Why do you think there are so many here?" She immediately got out her phone and vigorously started searching. "Oh my gosh, check this out, I could wear a little doll hat to her next class. Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

"Is this all you do?" Angela asked with a laugh.

"Kinda?" Penny said, searching for the smallest hat she could find. "It's more like, how I feel safe. The first Penelope used every trick in the book to end up at the bottom of Shinigami's list, and I've survived 3 lifetimes doing that, supposedly. I don't remember any of the others."

"Yeah, I don't know how much of that junk I believe." Angela said. "I shouldn't call it junk, but you know what I mean." She walked over to the brick wall of the garden. A few floors below all the other witches were running around having a good time. "Even if I met another Dart Frog witch, she wouldn't be my mom. She'd be some little kid."

"...There's a Dart Frog in Principal Endora's garden." Penny bit her lip. Somewhere out there, there was a weapon that had stolen that magic.

"You get what I mean." Angela shrugged. "I'm not a thief or an angel of death, even if my magic would make it really easy." Angelos stole from the wicken queens and hid from Lord Death amongst other corpses. There were not many records past when she went into hiding. "The first thing I'd do as queen, would be to make a soul protect anyone could use." If she could have learned that spell sooner, no one would have been able to find them. They wouldn't have had to keep running. Over head, a warning siren wailed from every mermaid statue on campus.

"A fire drill, really?" Penny groaned. They were forced to leave all their combat practice stuff in the grass. "Next order of business. Less stupid drills!"

The closer they got to the ancestral home, the more dirty looks Maka caught thrown their way. Black Star seemed immune to it as they rounded the corner. In the past, the area on the map was surrounded by lush trees and rock formations. Everything had been cut down to make room for more coffee shops and densely packed housing.

"We should get Nishin soba tonight." Black Star said while Maka squinted at the map on her phone.

"Before we leave?" Maka asked.

"We don't have to leave right away." Black Star laughed. "Have you never poked around places after a mission?"

"Of course." She said reflexively, then added a little sheepishly. "Kind of." He laughed at her again. "I had to study sometime. I couldn't do that if I was constantly goofing off."

"Kid's paying for the whole day." He raised his eyebrow suggestively. "We can always leave in the morning. Besides, there are some small Kishen Eggs in the area. We can knock out a few missions on the side while we're at it."

"A few?" Maka grinned. "What's the rush?"

"Is this some kind of joke to you!?" A woman they didn't know yelled at them from a passenger window. Maka narrowly avoided a cup being thrown there way.

"What they hell is their problem?" Maka straightened her jacket with a huff.

"Eh, it happens." He never brought up the rude people he ran into during missions when they were kids. It wasn't exactly a prime conversation topic and nothing would come of shouting about how unfair it was. It would be impossible to avoid now they were partners. "Not as much as it used to, but word gets around." He felt around the outer rock wall to the building. There was a whistle, like air escaping a crack. If he could find where the door was.

There was a sharp crack from above. Two whips lashed out at his hands. The digital camo the weapon was wearing made it hard to pin down her location as she dove for cover near the garbage.

Black Star held out his hand and Maka transformed with ease. He let her guide his sight, by focusing in on the soul that was trying to sneak around to the other vantage point.

He stabbed through the recycling bags. The weapon slid to the left, using her hands to man the two bull whips that bled up into her hair. With wide circular strikes, she tried to gain more distance. The ends of the whips danced on the ground like snakes waiting to strike.

He lunged between the whips and rotated the blade so it'd hit her right down the middle. She pulled her braid through to stop the blade. Her shoes grinded against the concrete as she braced against the powerful blow. Then she noticed the tattoo on Black Star's shoulder.

She dropped to the ground and scurried back up the cliff side. Black Star was halfway up when she flipped over head. He dropped to the ground, and came face to face with a board and a sharpie.

"You want an autograph?" He asked. She emphatically nodded. He tucked Maka under his arm as he uncapped the pen.

"Black Star!"

"I've waited my whole life for this Maka, let me have this." He scribbled out his name. The girl turned to show off the tattoo on her back before taking the signature.

"That's the main murder suspect!" Maka shouted.

"Oh right, I forgot that's what we were doing." He took the blade off the staff, the chain gleamed in the sun. "We need to talk kid." She held up her arms in a giant 'x' followed by a bunch of hand gestures. "You can't talk?" She nodded, repeating the sequence of gestures. "You literally can't talk." Another nod. "Well, sh*t."

"Is there anyone we can talk to?" Maka asked. The girl grimaced in a way that eerily reminded them of how people thought of Excalibur.

Underneath the ancestral home, was a sterile metal base. The girl they followed kept trying to sign to them, but the most Maka could understand was a bunch of 'I's, 'no's and a motion that looked like her blowing a kiss with two hands. Whatever it meant, she didn't seem to mean any harm.

They all came to a laboratory, with a line of empty holding cells. At a desk full of monitors, a boy with two headset microphones sat with his arms crossed. He was expecting them.

"You threw out the earpiece, didn't you Kiro?" He ran a hand through his two-tone hair as she wildly signed at him. "I am not distracting! If you'd listened to me, we wouldn't be in this mess." She flipped him off, then signed something else. "Are you sure?" He looked at the other two. "She wants to take you to meet auntie." He held up a hand. "Not the weapon, just you."

"It's okay Maka," Black Star said to her, "meister's aren't completely helpless without a weapon." The element of surprise was their best bet if this was a trap.

He could feel Maka follow him with her soul perception as he rounded the corner. Kiro offered him a mask. She signed for him to cover his nose and mouth before opening a wine red room. Poisonous plants all grew toward a giant porcelain doll. Lace masked the ball joints and mingled with the overgrowth.

"What is it Kiro?" The creature's voice was like stone grinding into pavement. She looked him up and down with glass eyes, pulled by the vines like a puppet on a string. "It can't be." She went to reach out, then thought better of it. "Kiro, my glasses, please." Kiro put a set of spectacles on a rod into the grasp of the doll's frozen hand. It's eyes set in and then up as amber liquid streamed down the porcelain cheeks and nourished the plants at her knees. "Hello dear, it's been a long time." She lowered her hand to the ground. "You were this big when I saw you last. You may call me Elaine." A Kishen Egg, rooted in place by her own design. There was a sharp crack when she frowned. "We're being watched."

"That would be my partner." He said. Kiro signed something as well. Elaine's jaw unhinged when she laughed.

"On behalf of your departed parents, I wholeheartedly approve." She said. "Especially if you can help us."

"I don't need your approval." He said. "We're here because she's killed people." Kiro held up a single finger.

"One person." Elaine translated. "A man that knew her name." Kiro cycled through a few signs and finished with her pointer fingers and ring fingers at her mouth arching outward. "He attacked her first, she's innocent."

All Maka could see was that Black Star wasn't alarmed. The girl had taken him to a room with something similar to a Kishen, but he hadn't tried to attack yet. Perhaps she was just mistaken.

"Where's the small one?" The boy at the front desk asked Maka. "It's like she disappeared off the face of the planet."

"You mean Angela?" Maka asked. "She's somewhere safe. What do you need her for?" At the back of the room, a doorway opened. A sickly person with steel colored hair lingered in the brilliant white light of their office.

"We need her to say she lied." They said and motioned for her to come forward.

Large cloth Ofuda hung on the walls of the inner office. Thick incense smoke cloaked the inscriptions in a haze. Various healing herbs hung in the window to dry. On the far wall, rows of tiny wooden drawers reached up to the ceiling.

The new leader of the Star Clan was called Sirius. Under all the kimono was a conjoined soul, one part burning brighter than the other, a few years younger than Maka. They gestured for Maka to sit, with the pink haired assassin guarding their back.

"I apologize for Roz's ineloquent attempt to get in contact with you. We had no other options." Sirius said. "She's our best fighter, but she wasn't able to recognize either of you."

"I did!" Roz crossed her arms. "After I made a boob of myself, but I figured it out... sort of."

"My mother came out of hiding to meet with the new Lord Death," Sirius explained, "but we lost contact with her. When we sent Kiro to find her, she was attacked by an old member of the DWMA staff. At this point we could only assume the worst." They could tell Maka didn't believe them. "Ryu went to the school to see if her soul was there, but it wasn't. We found her empty body on the outskirts of town, Ryu's still looking for her head." Cold, calculating, no way for a child to talk about their mother's remains.

"When did this happen?" Maka asked.

"Two weeks ago." She could chalk it all up to shock, or even their profession. It was still a lot to swallow. "She was hoping to speak with the person who purified the Allotter." They tapped on a set of papers with different seal designs on them. "It might be the key to reversing kishenism. Now that the god perpetuating madness is gone, we have our best chance at succeeding." They wanted to talk to her?

"What about the magical tool?"

"What magic tool?" Sirius furrowed their brow. "If there was a tool that could help, Shinigami-sama would have given it to mother years ago." Akane said that no one in the Star Clan would place a tattoo over a chakra, but theirs lined up with the heart, a symbol of compassion. "Someone didn't want us talking to the new Lord Death. That's why we need the little witch to say she lied. Kiro's not the perpetrator, she was supposed to be the third victim."

"I need to talk to Black Star," Maka said, "now."

Victim one, Venus Suta, a double agent from the Star Clan that had been working with Shinigami-sama for decades. Victim two, Yuu Suta, a mentor to Meme, Akane and Ao. He'd trained other members of the Star Clan in his youth. Victim three, an ex member of DWMA security that was trying to attack Kiro, the child of a deceased member of the Star Clan. Victim four, a different member of DWMA security with no connection to the case. Staff had been doubled by then, and that's when the break in happened. She hated to admit it, but it was clear the person they were after changed targets once they realized they'd been caught. Stein had gotten back to her immediately; the fourth victim's corpse was still lingering. Which made the only victims that fully passed on, the one eaten by a Kishen Egg, and the one Kiro delivered to the underworld. Whoever was behind this had to have been the one to take the magic tool.

She was led to the wine-red room, where Black Star was casually talking with a Kishen Egg. Maka had seen the soul wrapped in seals before, but now she understood why. It was the only thing holding the Kishen Egg's humanity together. Maka's bravado faltered a bit as she neared Black Star. They were outnumbered in a closed room that was difficult to breathe in.

"This is the one we were told about auntie." Sirius said. "The purifier."

"I did not agree to that name." Maka hissed under her breath when Black Star snickered at her. She couldn't help notice Roz stand between them and auntie.

"It's okay dear." Elaine placed her large, gold coated hands on the ground and bowed her head as much as her porcelain body would allow her to. "She's just as afraid of me. If I must die for my crimes, I would like to do so as a human. Or, at least, as human as possible." She lifted her head. "Is that agreeable to you?" Black Star nudged Maka's arm.

"She wants you to try that soul dive thing on her." Black Star said. "They've been protecting her for the last twenty some years just to see if it works."

"I don't know..." Maka saw the vines constrict the doll's hands in place. "The only people it's worked on so far aregods. I'm not sure a regular person could handle it."

"Then they'll know for sure." Black Star offered her his hand. "I'll help you." Maka took his hand. She didn't need his help, but it would be easier to transform if things went south. She focused with her soul perception and the seals glowed. The will of Maka's weapon form wanted to see something new, this was it's chance to prove it.

Cracks ran across the dolls arms and legs. Maka could see the white silhouette of a person inside the doll. The seals ripped apart. All of the doll's glamor melted back into a misshapen monstrosity. A ceramic nightmare of a dragon that burst through the vines and right toward them. Maka transformed, her blade now made of glittering onyx. She could feel the chain better as Black Star muttered his instructions for the trap star under his breath.

He darted around the room as the dragon chased them. Left, then under and through. He pulled tight on the chain, it glowed a brilliant gold as it constricted around the target and shattered the porcelain dragon. What was left in the trap was a woman with cracked, glassy skin. She lurched forward and dry heaved. Whatever Maka saw come out was viscerally nauseating. Then the trap constricted once more and she was gone. Sirius held Roz back as the dust settled.

"It worked." They said. "I know this isn't what you wanted, but it worked." Twenty innocent souls floated in a room of wilting plants along with one weak Kishen Egg. "It's not their fault she wasn't immune to her own poison." Maka transformed back, practically shaking when Black Star caught her. Sirius gave them a book of the seals. "Take these to the new Lord Death. It's the only proof we have we're on your side." Anyone who once knew about their deal with Shinigami-sama was dead.

"Oi, let the kid go." Black Star said. Sirius let Roz go. She fell to the floor, the stillness in the room made her weak. Kiro punched Black Star in the shoulder. "You're not going to feel better until you can land a real hit." She tried again, but it was just as weak as the first one. She was too upset to do any real damage. "We're going to get your name off this list."

"Black Star." Maka whispered under her breath. "We can't go around making promises like that, we can't-"

"And when your name is off this list." Black Star continued. "You can learn from real weapons how to throw an actual punch instead of hiding around in garbage. Okay?" She nodded and wiped her eyes. "Maka and I have to go, but we'll see you around." Kiro nodded, flipping them off for good measure on their way out.

Daylight had long passed when they made it out of the ancestral home. The street lights flickered as Black Star kicked on of the cans that got loose during their previous fight.

"You don't have to worry about me making false promises." Black Star said. "I got the kid's name earlier, remember? The autograph." He held his phone up with a little twist. "She was never on it to begin with. She was a suspect, but Kid and Chrona hadn't made a decision yet."

"She still killed someone that wasn't on the list." Maka said.

"Mifune wasn't either." Black Star let the implication hang heavy in the air. "Did she look like a Kishen Egg to you?"

"...No." Maka followed close behind.

"Then I believe her when she says she had no other option." So much for going out to eat tonight. "You should be more excited." He pulled her in by the shoulder for a side hug and squeezed. "You didn't just execute a Kishen Egg today, to got it to spit out the souls it took. It'd be like a vegan diet. No innocent souls used in the making of this weapon." That got her to finally lighten up a bit. She rolled her eyes and tried to act like he wasn't being funny.

"You realize that might mean it will take longer to get to the number of souls we need." She said.

"No, no, no," Black Star crowed, "we need a positive attitude right now. We've narrowed down our suspects from the world to one city, and likely another annoying internal investigation. Which means it's soba and sake time."

"Ugh, I'm never drinking again, thank you." Maka said. "But I will take you up on the food."

The lights were low in the soba shop and fairly empty for a weekday. There was a low chatter and the clinking of flatware at their backs as they were lead to the bar, were one of the chefs had fresh lump of dough he was rolling and folding into a throng of noodles. A small pot of green tea sat between them, the first cup Maka poured still obscured by a cloud of steam. In the limbo between their order and when food would arrive Black Star recounted the trilling tale of one of his many botched missions from their youths.

"Why don't you cover it then?" Maka asked with a laugh. Her finger grazed the edge of his tattoo, a flare of gooseflesh left behind when she pulled away.

"Listen, listen." Black Star leaned toward her, his elbows firmly routed on the table. "Tattoos are cool." He complimented her laughter with a shot of sake, happy to have pleased his audience of one. "What about you, worst mission you ever went on? And don't bring up Blair, I already know that one."

"Okay." Maka said as she combed through for something similarly light in tone. "Alright, so when Faith was still a newbie- I feel so bad, I would not shut up. Like it was way past being a good senpai and slid straight into teacher's assistant territory. He wouldn't interrupt me, even when I was basically repeating myself." Black Star swung back and forth on the bar stool, every now and again he'd bump into her leg or the wall of the bar. "So we're deep in this forest looking for a raptor-like kishen that has been attacking local researchers, and we're following the river because at this huge waterfall is where it's main hunting grounds were. The whole time, I can see it as this blip far at our right, so we're close." She bit her lip. "I'm going off about how terrain affects your fighting, and how sometimes there's illusions that warp your perception. It had been over an hour of walking next to this dang river when I finally wonder out loud 'how far are the falls anyway?' and Faith points towards the target and says about four miles that way." She sighed. "The river we'd been walking by, that I insisted would lead us to the falls, was one giant circle."

"No." Black Star laughed.

"The researchers had been studying the area to figure out how the water fall connected to this big loop of a river." Maka groaned. "It had been in the news a week ago, and I was so embarrassed that I changed across this river. Wet socks, climbing up this weird mountain with Faith apologizing to me even though he did nothing wrong. Just as we get to the top of this water fall, a tail decks me and I tumbled right past Faith sixteen feet down the cliff side right into a tree." It was funny now, but at the time she had been so furious. Black Star had stopped swinging around, his leg up against hers under the table while he snickered at her. "At the very end of the mission, we're on the bus back. He looked down at his lap and in the quietest voice goes: 'Senpai, could you wear shorts under your uniform?' I just about nearly died inside."

"I'd pay money to see that." He easily blocked a rogue swipe at his head.

"You saw plenty," Maka said "you referred to it as torture, remember?" He just laughed it off. When their food arrived, Maka was more aware of her bare leg pressed up against his shin, and the gap of warmth from where her skin rubbed against his. The fact he didn't just pull away to focus on his food rattled around in her head and made it hard to focus on what else he had said. Face flushed toward her bowl of soup, she berated herself weighing just how harmless it would be to not pull away either, even though she was the one that said they shouldn't cross any professional boundaries.

Once the check was split, it was easier for her to calm her racing heart and act like nothing had happened. It was all in her head, a mountain out of a mole hill. He didn't say a word about it on the drive back to the hotel, too content to fill the silence with the sound of his own voice.

In many ways, Tsubaki had been excited to come into her own as a Death Scythe. The Oceania offices were bustling with large slopping rooftops. Inside, gifts from the many countries they served were neatly arranged in glass cases like a museum. In contrast to the colorful art, the uniforms they wore were monochrome with the slightest sheen of a skull embroidered in the sleeves and pant legs.

"We have a confirmed ghost citing around Apia, Samoa." Said Mere, one of the two-star meisters working under her.

"Who you gonna call?" Tsubaki asked when she took the paper work.

"You." Mere didn't crack a smile.Azusa had run a strict office, full of people who took their job seriously. It was something Tsubaki had been looking forward to, but she hadn't expected her coworkers to be this severe. "What's Lord Death's policy on shades?"

"I'm not sure." Tsubaki flipped through the report. An innocent soul was luring children to a tree to play in, from as far as two towns over. No one had been harmed, but it was unusual. "Back in the day, Kid was the one to go on those kinds of missions. I'll have to ask if he's appointed someone else to the role." The ghost in question had only passed a few weeks ago. Usually with a shade that recent, it was due to a Kishen Egg hording to avoid the prying eyes of Lord Death.

"This is the one of many." Mere shook his head. "We can't leave it all up to one student."

A familiar scent and soft sheets greeted Maka in the morning as she buried her aching head under the covers away from the sunlight. Maybe she had overdone it with the battle and training yesterday. She didn't usually wake up before her wake-up call. If she wanted to get to Black Star's before their meeting with Kid, she had to get dressed soon.

Only, she was still in her clothes from last night. From the sweet darkness of the covers, she opened her eyes and searched the perimeter. She felt her own soul, the smallest twinkle out of the corner of her eye, and Black Star somewhere in the other room accompanied by the dull hum of the TV. Right, they stayed in Kyoto for the night. She must have fallen asleep as soon as they got back from dinner. Black Star didn't have to take her back to the room though, she could have taken the couch.

What the hell was that other thing though? It wasn't quite a soul, more like a spark. A pinpoint dot drifting, that kept escaping her focus anytime she tried to look at it too long. She pulled the sheets back, fear reminding her how Arachne had fractured herself into little pieces when they were kids. There was nothing. Except for the sudden blinding migraine from sitting up too fast. She was getting too old to just fall asleep wherever and be fine the next day.

She moved slowly to the table in the other room, her eyes still blurry as she adjusted to the light. White rice with some kind of topping, and a side of miso. Black Star was waiting impatiently for the coffee maker to spit out the last cup.

"Aww good morning sunshine." He laughed as she fumbled for chopsticks. She'd have to manage a thank you for breakfast once she could form more coherent thoughts. "That's mine." She'd already eaten a decent portion of it. Leave it Black Star to put something sweet on all of his breakfast food.

"Sorry." She covered her mouth, still halfway through a bite.

"It's fine," he grumbled, "I can make more." He trailed off when he put the coffee down. "You're eating my salmon too?" She notoriously hated raw fish, and the rice she was eating was slathered in natto, but it all tasted fine.

No.

"Maka?" He took the plate from her. "It's just food." Her brow furrowed, that thing she'd seen earlier floating around in the bed. It had just been a migraine coming on. She hadn't actually seen something. There was no way.

"I need to go to the bathroom." She ran into the only place in their hotel that had a door she could lock. It was just her imagination. People's tastes changed when they got older all the time. She was tired and achy from fighting in a way she wasn't used to. It was all perfectly rational. As soon as she used her soul perception, it would be just her and Black Star begrudgingly making his breakfast again.

And a little drifting spark.

"sh*t!" She was hallucinating. Left over madness from the black blood. She'd been pushing herself too hard. Even the other day, her mom said she was in... a state. "f*ck." Maybe, if she had a break from training, and wasn't under slept all the time, her sight would go back to normal and not see some spot. Who was she kidding? They weren't going to stop training unless she had a good reason. It was too early to go making rash decisions on a hunch, because it was just a hunch. There was no way.

"Tsubaki said your paperwork got approved." Black Star called from the other room. "After we report back to Kid, we should properly celebrate." There was no way she'd gotten knocked up by her partner, they weren't even dating.

No, no, no, no, no.

"Maka?" She returned to the table, glaring at the half-finished bowl of natto rice, because she was still hungry and it still looked good. "You're allowed to like new things, get over it." He flicked a spoon towards her. Defeated, she sat down, and ate the rest of her breakfast.

"Thank you for the food."

Chapter 15: Terrible Lie

Chapter Text

The lush mountainside surrounding Asuka was teaming with operatives by the time Nova got back. Young and old, forty or so glowing souls that danced around the trees like fireflies. In the moonless sky, Nova's hair looked black, her hands limp at her sides from being up all night. If death had come out this far to find her, there was no point in holding back.

"Tetsuo Sato~" Nova sung in a low whisper. "What a lovely knife you've brought into my forest." With a long golden nail, she drew a line from her chin to her sternum. "Put it to good use." She saw the soul wink out as the weapon panicked. "Simone Ashton~ goodness, what have you done?" She flew up into the trees as two pairs were closing in on the scene. "You need to warn them dear." Nova pointed two nails toward her eyes. "Show them what happens when you get too close to my family." The first anguished scream of the night rang out. Birds, startled from their slumber, exited their nests to find shelter amongst the stars. "Why didn't you stop her?" Four souls trembled as Nova watched on with starry, emotionless eyes. One operative had their bow drawn taught, the other scanned the dark perimeter of the forest with their riffle. "It's not out there~" Nova twirled her hands, like turning chess pieces on a board. "The monster's right there dears." A loud bang sounded off as both meisters fell limp on the ground. "One more time." Then the weapons.

Kami shivered as the trill of a bird song she didn't recognize echoed through the trees. Calming like a lullaby, but there was malice almost as palpable as the smell of blood in the air. The souls of her teammates were slowly being drawn to the same area, only to remain stagnant shortly there after.

"It's a trap." Kami typed out a series of numbers on her pager. A chorus of beeps rang out in succession all around her. Then the bird in the trees sung back a similar melody. A cheeping brick dropped down from over head, her message staring back at her amongst the dead leaves.

"Kami, don't look up." Spirit whispered. "Just back away." Kami could see a shoe swinging at the edge of her peripheral vision. She held her breath, the first step back broke a twig, and the silence that followed made room for her heart to cloud her senses. She ran deeper into the forest. Behind her, the gun-shot like crack of a branch buckling under the weight of a body chased her through the night.

"Kami Albarn~" A voice so sweet, Kami could almost taste it called to her. "Or is it still Kami Tanaka?" The sound circled around her in perfect symmetry, buried in the base of her skull and lingering in the shadows all at the same time. "You're going to have to change that soon. What would your parents think?" Kami could only assume it was the witch. She held onto Spirit and tried to focus on the souls around her. One of them had to be out of place. "That poor, little baby." The witch's voice was dripping with disappointment. "No matter how many times you try, she'll be with you, unless..." Kami looked up at Spirit's crimson blade, and felt the urge to vomit. "He doesn't know, does he." In the reflection, she saw a crane watching her from up in the trees. "It's not too late~"

"Shut up!"

"Kami?" Spirit yelped when she darted toward the trees.

"Ignore her Spirit." Kami locked onto the crane as it dove down out of sight. "She's getting into people's heads. Don't listen to anyone other than me, got that?" Rain, from a cloudless sky, started to spit down through the breaks in the leaves.

"If only you listened to me sooner, you could have been happy~"

"I said," the glow from their witch hunter strike illuminated the night, "SHUT UP!" She swung wildly, leaving a trail of devastation in it's wake. "Spirit, I... You're the only partner I've liked, probably loved, ever." Kami said, before the witch could do anything else. "And that's been scarier than any Kishen Egg or witch, because... because there's no right way to do it." It could all go away, and she could feel that witch try to use that fear to throw her over the edge. "Once we get this witch, you won't have to be nice to me anymore. I don't want to loose you."

"I love you too, you dork." Spirit said, beaming despite the fog that circled around her feet. "I'll say it as many times as I have to until you believe it." Nova latched onto the envy that twisted around in her gut. The girl was trying with all her might to resist her thrall, so she'd have to try something else. She dared to come out of hiding like a wounded animal.

"Spirit Albarn~" she purred, "come here dear." She kept a hand on the chain around her neck. "I have something to show you." She let her tears flow freely, her grief hitting the two students like punch to the gut. "It will only take a minute."

"Don't listen to her." Kami said, though she could feel their link weaken. If he completely disconnected, she wouldn't be able to shield him from the witch's madness with her wavelength.

"A kind soul like you is often taken advantage of." Nova said. "I can help you change that fate." She reached for the blade. "The people you'll grow old with are closer than you think, but they're not here." She absorbed their anger as she approached. The pain of walking away from her sisters, regret toward the unchanging futures, her final words to her husband and son. She channeled it all into pure crackling, electrical energy. As soon as Kami struck her, Nova's wavelength went off like a bomb. A blinding beacon of light that withered the surrounding trees and reached up to a blackened, uncaring moon. Kami held onto Spirit for dear life, blood trickled from her nose and lips.

Nova fell to her knees, hollowed out inside but no closer to victory. She could only hope that display of power would be enough to draw the remaining opporatives away from the village. Instead of finishing her off, Kami reached for the magical restraints Lord Death entrusted to her. She wasn't sure they could kill this weakened witch at their level, they could at least bring her to justice.

Nova knelt before Lord Death, her magic blocked by shackles around her wrists. The girl that had brought her in had a smug look on her battered face. A long golden thread was woven through the graves and pooled at Lord Death's feet, far too much time for any mortal to have regardless of godhood. Eibon had long passed away, but it smacked of his handiwork. He had to have done this before going mad.

"Let's see, witch Nova," Shinigami-sama tilted his head, "that's odd. I don't have anyone here by that name, but you're definitely a witch, and you were running a death cult." This goofy farce of a god wasn't acting like the man that hunted down her kind. Perhaps it was because there were children present. He was weaker now, but that didn't mean much. There was nothing she could say that would change his mind.

"If I may ask one question," Nova felt the thread beneath her fingers, "how many Death Scythes could you possibly need?" She pulled on his thread of fate as discretely as she could.

"How many?" Shinigami-sama tilted his head and thought to himself. "Hmm... I suppose it's more about, how many witches out there are throwing things out of balance. There's plenty of those."

"Then you could stop." Nova lowered her voice as she talked. "At anytime, you can choose to stop." She loved her family dearly, however short her time with them was. This was the only thing she could do to help them. "And when your son finally kills you, it will be mercifully short." She yanked the thread taught, too far away to get any closer to his soul. She tore the thread on her open shears so he felt each fiber of his fate cut short.

"Shinigami-sama!" Kami kicked her in the shoulder, but it was too late. Nova used the shears to cut the chains of her cuffs apart. She may have her magic suppressed, but she could still fight. A tiny spark, a glimmer of hope, and a truly wicked idea. She'd pass what little magic she had left to a human that couldn't use it. The people who killed her would only earn a scrap of that power. The shackles groaned at she stretched out towards Kami. Two fingers opened and elongated like sharp gold pliers lined with feather like teeth. A wide smile pulled past her ears and her eyes slid to either side of her face. Just a little closer, if she could only just graze the inside of the girl's abdomen. "Spirit!"

Nova had seen this moment play a hundred times over. At first, to find a way out, to somehow extend her life by seconds. That failing, it was to find the perfect combination of words that would sit in her enemy's heart for years after she was gone. She was roughly pulled back into a human form as a blade first broke her skin. In these final seconds, as the past and future solidified into one collective destiny she turned to face Spirit. He couldn't look her in the eye while slicing her in half. Gently she placed both her thumbs over Spirit's eyes. His crimson blade cut across her midsection and she showed him the profecy that plagued her, her whole life.

A blonde woman with a broken neck, laying on the ground next to her favorite painting in the house.

The birth of a Kishen Egg fueled by grief.

Rows of freshly dug graves rushing past into a sea of swords and a single motionless corpse.

Her family, his friends, all collected by Shinigami-sama.

A girl with pigtails turning toward two conjoined souls alone in a basilica and running toward a black sword.

The moon watching people writhe with three elongated eyes.

Make a better choice.

She forced Spirit to stand in her shoes. Helpless, as Elaine succumbed to demonic madness after years of trying to reclaim her humanity. Then showed him Stein, a shadow of himself, getting gored by an unfamiliar weapon.

You won't be there.

Her husband skewered by a thousands swords, Kami lying alone in a cage.

You can't stop people from doing what they really want to do.

Genbu poisoning everyone around him, Justin Law surrounded by clowns in a white wasteland.

Even if you warn them.

Seiryu being pulled apart limb by limb, Joe Buttakaki suffocated by a snake.

Even if they trust you.

Bonnie lying amongst broken porcelain, Sid run through the head by a statue.

We don't always get to choose what happens to us.

Three DWMA students huddled around a basket.

But given the chance...

A blond girl run through by a sword made of black blood.

You'd try too, wouldn't you?

The weight of her body pulled his head down. She could feel her magic fading.

Please.

She showed him Asura waiting to die in a prison of his own skin.

Make a better choice.

There were lost souls within still fighting to escape his belly. His weapon trapped as a helpless object for all of time, a metal corpse, still waiting to be set free. Her body fell apart at the seams. Unable to maintain the connection, all Spirit could see was the floor beneath his feet.

"I tried to warn you." Nova said.

What was left behind was a glittering soul. Spirit stared past it at the concrete. Something had been down there, writhing in agony, and then it was gone. Kami kept yelling at him. Shinigami-sama was still recovering from whatever spell the witch cast. His insides twisted as Kami said something about eating the soul.

"It's just a spell, snap out of it!" She shoved the soul in his hand. It was cold. "You owe me!" He ate it, chilled by how easily it went down. The texture more akin to a rotting mango than the gelatinous souls he was used to, like it wasn't meant to be eaten.

"Oh dear." Shinigami said. The two teens asked if he was okay, but he shook his head. "That technically was a witch, but... I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Why did you say it like that?" Spirit asked, feeling now more than ever he might have made a mistake.

"Nothing major." Shinigami said. Though he wished he could ask Eibon if that was true. "Let's just keep you stationed around Death City for a while to make sure."

"To make sure of what!?" Spirit asked. Shinigami-sama gave them two thumbs up.

"To make sure you passed." He said.

"I'm supposed to be the youngest three star meister!" Kami said. Her heart in her throat. All that effort, her classmates, if they had risked people lives and still managed to fail, she didn't know what she'd do.

"You are." Shinigami-sama said with a nod. "At least, I think you are. We'll have Dr Hyde take a looksey over the next couple of months. Maybe next time, don't jump the gun."

"A couple of months!?" This was no good. She could not be in school in the next couple of months. Especially not now.

"Kind of congratulations you two," Shinigami-sama cheered, "on your presumptive, sort of, graduation." Spirit buried his face in his hands. He was just making this worse. Kami was going to loose her mind being forced to wait and see what their grade was. As soon as Stein found out Dr. Hyde was looking into the matter, it was all over.

The Life Span of a Fragment: An Observational study.

Fragmentation will occur when a role holder passes, regardless of their wishes. With no guidance, a fragment of a role holder may live up to eight hundred years without awakening, even when in contact with their power source. Once awakened, subject fell under the influence of their own madness wavelength. Mortals have yet to be affected by the awakening, even ten years later. Subject's methodology in carrying out their role differs from predecessor, despite feeling the compulsion to affect the world order.

Extraneous Variable: Subject raised in the magical realm then left for mortal realm of their own volition. Unclear if the environment impacted fragment's development.

Conclusion, fragmentation contains the power of predecessor without immediately damaging world order. Maintains biases and bonds formed in unawakened state.

Follow up hypothesis; the first ten years after awakening will determine whether a fragment will take up designated role or defy it.

Lord Death had gone through the research left behind, but it hadn't explained how Asura been consumed by fear and despair. A fragment of order should have become something akin to justice. His corruption into a Kishen didn't line up with the way Morai's fragment wallowed in denial and grief for centuries to the point of paralysis. This last year, something had pulled the world further out of balance, and now cracks had started to form in the mirror to the outside world.

Their machines could only do so much to maintain the world the way humans knew it to be. Lesser gods with no guidance would rise from the ashes and misaligned the gears he set in motion. He had to let go of his perfectionism if he ever wanted to accept the world would permanently change. The new god of order would make his own rules, and the chaos from the dark ages would happen all over again. The best he could do was hope his teachings would be taken to heart.

It was the Cali Jones gambit, White Star had been sure of it. When she let herself get captured by those kids, he'd followed quietly behind in the shadows. He'd seen Nova use the same trick countless times before, but this time it didn't work. Lord Death was still standing. Nova was gone. White Star was headstrong sometimes, but even he knew he was no match for a god. She'd done something, but whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Lord Death must have been their next target. Or maybe it was an act of desperation? After all, she hadn't briefed any of them on what she planned to do this morning.

She had to have known. People died in the field all the time. It was always a risk and she'd proven time and again she could predict when someone's time was. She knew, and she let them take her anyway. There was no soul left behind, no parting words. The future he laid out unraveled and instead of returning with Nova in hand, he had a stack of papers. The mess hall was alight with people in a panic. Elaine had woken up demanding where her child was, pointing to a pile of ash where cribs and toys might have been burned in the middle of the night. No one knew what she was talking about.

"That witch must have done it!" She said. "When I find her, I'm going to kill her."

"You can't." White Star said. "She's already dead." He went into his office and locked the door.

Nova didn't do things for no reason. It had to mean something. Otherwise, she was just gone.

"What are you doing here?" He'd seen movement out of the corner of his eye. It'd been years since Bonnie set foot in Texas, the look of pity on her face was unnatural.

"Ellie told me what happened, she thought maybe they were with my girls." She took a step toward him to offer a tender hand and he flinched. "Did she really get executed?"

"No." He slapped the papers down. The injustice of it all made his blood boil. "See, if she was executed, we'd be able to put her in the pot, but he needed fuel for another god damn weapon!" They just assumed she was responsible for the Star Clan's recent activity, when anyone could see he was the leader. He should have been the one they tried to dethrone, not her. He grabbed the lip of the vase and upended it into his mouth.

"What are you doing!?" Bonnie tried to grab it from him. He was able to throw her like a rag doll against the table and her neck snapped. Another soul to add to the collection. He'd seen his fair share of Kishen Eggs in the past, how horrifically deformed they became after seeking power. He still looked the same, even with the amount of souls he consumed. It was all the proof he needed to affirm he was right. Death was their next target, he just needed to be strong enough to do it. He walked back out the mess hall and scattered the pages he'd stolen across the table.

"Ten souls each by the end of the night." He said. His scars had started to close over and a blissful numbness set in.

"Boss..." Suzuka said flipping through the pages, "these are all kids." White Star ran him through with his sword. Suzuka fell to the wooden floor with a thud.

"Quota's twelve now." White Star wiped the blade clean on Suzuka's shirt. "If you can't do that," he ate Suzuka's soul in front of them, "I'll find a different use for you."

The room cleared out. Where was there to run when you were an enemy of Lord Death and the demon behind you knew your every move? Would there even be time? Theassassins moved quickly through Death City in and out of apartment windows and dorms. Would it be enough? What if someone fell behind and he punished them all?

If I were strong like a weapon.

If I could disappear in the crowd.

If I were too dangerous to approach.

Maybe then failure wouldn't matter.

Elaine had called Venus for help, but it was the middle of the night, no one answered. A drop of poison under her victim's tongue, a single soul to lend her strength to make it through the night. Lord Death would come for them in the morning either way. She just had to survive the night.

That was when she heard Asura's laughter and felt an insatiable pit in her stomach. One wouldn't be enough. Lord Death was a god, and White Star had consumed hundreds of warrior's souls in one night. What good would that do should their wrath turn toward her.

One for the quota, two for her.

She needed to bring him twelve, but she was guarenteed to live if she was stronger than the person next to her. The others must have thought so as well. At dawn Seiryu was an unrecognizable, mechanical mess of chains and blades. Genbu, a rippling mirage, though she wouldn't be able to hold him with her cold, porcelain body. They'd brought enough with their wretched hands to put off the inevitable one more day. The Kishen's voice a source of comfort as he promised to share his power with anyone strong enough to kill Lord Death.

Everything was going to be okay.

Kami arrived at school to see a few adults lingering around the front entrance. A mother glared at her as Kami used her student ID card to get inside. The lights were on, drowning the empty halls in an artificial day. If she had kind of, sort of graduated; she wanted to kind of, sort of do extra credit, just in case. There were no new missions posted that morning. It was ten past five, so she had to assume no new Kishen Eggs had been spotted over the weekend.

"Kami!" Spirit pulled away from a cluster of staff members that were leaving Lord Death's office. He ran up and hugged her. "Thank god!"

"We graduated!?" Kami asked. Spirit held her tighter, she could see more parents gathering in the courtyard out the window.

"All students, report to Lord Death." The intercom rang through the city. "Do not leave your homes."

"...Spirit, what happened?"

"All students, report to Lord Death." People were banging on the front door. She heard someone wailing amongst a sea of angry shouts. "Do not leave your homes." Spirit had a black mourning band on.

"We graduated..." He said quietly.

"All students, report to Lord Death." Photos wrapped in black ribbons were hung up on the wall one after another. By this time, a symphony of lockers and squeaky shoes would by the soundtrack to her day, not the intercom repeating like a broken record. "Do not leave your homes."

"Stein didn't answer his phone," Spirit held her tighter, "but you didn't either." The witch, she'd been working with someone else when they first met. Usually, the hold they had on people broke after they died.

"Spirit..." Kami felt his shoulders shake. "It's my fault, isn't it?"

"Kami, no." Spirit pulled away and faced her. "You can't think like that. We did the right thing." She pulled his hand away from her face.

"Would this have happened if I didn't reap that witch?" She asked instead. Spirit looked at the ground. A staff member came by with a stack of tablets for the mission board. Kami held out her hand. "I'm a three-star meister." She said with a hitch in her voice. "Anyone that hurt a student will answer to me." She shoved all of them in her bag. "Let's go report to Shinigami-sama." As she walked down the hall, the row of portraits was five high and counting.

When the rage was properly numbed, there was emptiness. A cold side of the bed that felt sacrilegious to touch. Blank spaces where things had once hung on the walls. A brand new can of formula in the trash. The ever-present rattle of the air conditioning in a house where people once talked over each other in the halls.

"You told them this would happen." White Star said as he watched the life fade from another of Venus' spies. "It's not your fault." Did members of the family outside of their branch even count? Probably, she would have taken a peak, even just briefly. "I'll kill him before-" Before what? There was definitely a deadline. The last things she said to him were all hazy. "As soon as possible."

How long after they passed did she get to see?

How long before?

He'd tried so hard to follow the damn rules, and in doing so he didn't ask any important questions. Too afraid one slip of the tongue would cause their whole world to come crashing down. He'd never get any real answers, just halfhearted hunches from the people that knew her. They could have come up with a code or some way to prove she had a connection to the future like she said. It's not like he didn't believe her, she was so bad at keeping secrets.

She promised she'd love him, no matter what happened. She knew he'd make Lord Death regret casting the Star Clan aside to replace them with children. This was the natural consequences of the god's choices.

People needed to think more about idealizing an adult force feeding souls into child weapons for mere adoration. It was only fair. The cost of a making a Death Scythe, everyone would feel it. Even people who didn't know their names would feel it. He'd break that goofy mask and announce to the world that the Star Clan had been the ones protecting them from kishens long before Shinigami-sama. They had been plotting Asura's assassination for almost a decade, and Lord Death valued his collection of trinkets more than any one human. He'd kill both those guards and then...

There it was again.

That feeling someone should get to see this. Not the useless cowards groveling for his mercy. There was something else Nova had told him before she disappeared. Something important.

Who had brought in the least amount of kills last night?

"Bring me Shin." White Star told Seiryu. "I need to ask my wife something."

A little insurance never hurt.

Chapter 16: Some Type of Skin

Chapter Text

The young witches were sitting in the dark of their classroom, whispering to each other about how long things were taking. The last time a lock down drill was this long, someone's pet bee had been flying around the campus high on black blood. Or rather, it had played in black paint and couldn't shake it off. The teachers here were always overly cautious. The lights came back on, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief that no one had to use the emergency bucket while waiting for the all clear.

"All gates into the magical world have been closed." Endora said over the intercom. "Teleportation into Death City will result in immediate expulsion."

"What!?" Angela checked her phone. Nothing from Black Star at all. She tried to send out a text, but the signal dropped. The principal repeated the order again and promised to announce any new information when it would come. "How long do these things last?" Penny bit her lip.

"I don't know, this was the first time the gates had been open in centuries." Penny said. "If someone broke the treaty..."

"I can't wait for someone else to be queen to talk to my- to talk to Black Star." She started packing up her bag. "If he finds out about this, he's going to freak out and I won't be able to tell him I'm fine. And he can't tell me what's going on." She should have asked him more about how his last mission went. Supposedly he had news, but he'd been super vague about it, and kept asking her about school instead. The last thing she told him was she was going to bed, only to ignore his texts and watch tv instead. How could she be so stupid?

"Ms. Leon, control your emotions." Ms. Bruiax hit her desk with a ruler. "This is merely a measure to keep all of you safe. There's no need to panic. In a few years, they'll have finished the investigation, and then we'll know what's going on. Now take your seat." They didn't understand how little time people in the mortal realm had to wait for things to change. "You were finally showing progress in class."

The text books in her bag were a heavy reminder of how much more there was to learn. She'd finally been able to mimic people's wavelengths as well as their appearance. Higher level magic was still way out of her skill set. She slowly sat back down.

"Very good, now, where were we?" Ms Bruiax resumed her lecture about transmogrification. Penny passed her a folded piece of paper under the desks. 'Do I get to be queen now?' was written on the top. She winked at Angela. The two girls quickly pretended to have been paying attention to the board. In her pocket, Angela felt the note like a lead weight.

Maka knew Chrona too well to tune out how frequently they forced themselves to maintain eye contact with her instead of looking elsewhere.Chrona didn't know how to deal with avoiding talking about something. There were too many subtle social cues to keep track of. She was thankful Kid hadn't said anything either, but loathed the fact either of them had anything to be awkward around her about.

"Sorry we haven't collected more Kishen Eggs." Maka said while Kid reviewed the papers they'd sent.

"If we wanted someone dead, we wouldn't have sent Black Star." Chrona said, slightly shocked the thought had crossed either of their minds. "I mean, you're fully capable of assassinating people, you just don't." Kid closed his eyes and found his center.

"Ow." Black Star said. "It's an impressive hole your digging though, by all means keep going."

"It's a good thing you talk to people instead of killing them." Chrona said. "You can't help it."

"That wasn't a real invitation." Kid said.

"Fair knight, I need you assistance." Excalibur shouted from another room.

"Thank god." Chrona sighed. "I mean, I like talking to you guys, I do- I'm going to go." After Chrona left the room Kid opened his eyes and kept going through the papers.

"We've had a rough morning." Kid said. "A few witches who tried to retrieve the sheers for us have also turned up dead." He fanned out the papers on his desk. The witches ranged from known combatants and party clowns, to member of the DWMA. They didn't have anything in common. "Their bodies have also remained, but there isn't a trace of their wavelengths anywhere. None of this makes sense." He leaned back in his chair. "I'll have the research department look into the seals you brought in. I've never heard about trying to purify a Kishen Egg before. Let alone, a whole group of people dedicated to the practice. I trust what you've told me, but still..."

"Your father didn't keep a rollythingy of allies for you?" Black Star asked.

"Rolladex." Maka and Kid corrected.

"That's what I said." Black Star shrugged.

"Unfortunately no," Kid sent the seals down to the lab, "though it'd make sense someone on the inside would have told him who the Star Clan were. It doesn't explain how the other victims were found. None of them were on the list. The person responsible isn't trying to become a Kishen Egg, so it's just created more of a mess for us to try and track them down. We just have to hope they get co*cky and slip up." Whoever it was had worked closely with his father. Or at the very least, had seen the sheers in action, but the only missions for retrieving magical tools had been his. "I'd appreciate it if you could stay in town until the internal investigation is over."

A dark cloud hung over their celebratory dinner. Black Star had been in a horrendous mood after Chrona fumbled his job title of ambassador onto the floor. She was used to Kid keeping things curt and professional, but it hadn't helped either of them in the slightest. Checking that little spark inside her was like peaking under a band aid. Every time she hoped it was gone, there it was. The rabbit hole google had thrown her down hadn't been that encouraging either. There was a chance there would be nothing to talk about, but not enough to put her mind at ease.

"Utter horse sh*t." Black Star shoveled rice into his mouth. "We did something that should be f*cking impossible, and they just went, 'oh neat' by the way no more missions until we pull our head out of our ass."

"Black Star..." These were still their friends they were talking about.

"Do you like me?" She asked. His car keys hung limp in the air as he stared back at her.

"Maka, what kind of question is that?" He said nervously. "Of course I like you, we're- If this is about what I said at the restaurant, I'm sorry." Her shoulders were up to her ears, practically swallowed by her jacket. "I'm just impatient."

"No more stupid bets or games or whatever. I have to know now." She needed to know before there was some external pressure to say the right thing. "Did you actually want me as a partner, or did you just want me?"

"Maka, you said-"

"I know what I said!" Maka's hair covered her face, battered by the wind. "I promise, I won't bail if that's the case, but I have to know." They had already crossed that line a while back and were struggling to find where they fell. She'd run out of time for guessing. How could she be so stupid, to put her heart in the same position it had been broken in years ago.

"Yeah." She took a step closer. "Yeah, I wanted to be your partner since we were kids, but then you went into the meister track instead." His keys chimed against each other. "And I wanted to ask you out in high school, but you liked someone else." She took another step closer. "You're the one who said I couldn't have it both ways, so..." She looked up at him with glassy eyes. "Why?" Her hand traced up the side of his neck and pulled him down to meet her lips. He pulled away an inch. "I swear, if this is some kind of test, I'm going to kill you."

She kissed him, his back rested against the side of the car. She could taste her lipstick on his bottom lips, felt her hair get pulled half out of her hairband by his wandering hands. One normal night wasn't too much to ask. Not after their entire world had been turned upside down.

"Take me home?" She asked while catching her breath. He unlocked the car before she could even finish. Six minutes felt like an hour as Black Star breezed past the evening traffic. Her heart hammered in her chest, because this was really happening. She couldn't blame it on a bad night, or a drink too many. She was practically chasing him up the apartment steps when he stopped short at the outer hallway. His temper flared immediately, and she only had a fraction of a second to guess what set him off. "Mom?" She squeezed his hand. Definitely a mood killer, but not the end of the world. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to check on you." She said, a quiet apparently hanging in the dead space of the conversation. "I heard you were still choosing to have a meister, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You weren't answering your phone." Maka felt Black Star squeeze her hand back.

"Would you like to come in?" He asked through a forced smile. Any sane person would think twice about accepting, but her mother knew no fear.

"That would be lovely." She said.

"That was very big of you." Maka whispered.

"Don't you start that now." Black Star muttered. He unlocked the door, only to be reminded the rush they were in when they left the apartment. Old dishes were in the sink, and the recycling hadn't been taken out in a while. Apparently they needed more soda. "We weren't expecting company."

"You live here?" Kami raised a brow at Maka. "Like this? What happened to that nice place in downtown I got set up for you?"

"Mom, that was when I was a kid." Maka went to help get tea, but backed down when she realized Black Star needed a task to avoid talking. "I've haven't been back for that long. There's no point in getting a new place when we'll be on missions for a while."

"Still, no daughter of mine should be forced to share a room with her meister." Maka flinched at the sound of something clattering in the kitchen. "I have a nice flat in Weathered Heights, you should stay a few days while you get back on your feet."

"I'm doing fine mom." Maka frowned, it was like she was seeing double of her mom's soul.

"Just fine?" She looked behind her. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing..." Maka shook her head. Something golden was peeking out of her mother's pocket. "As I was saying, we're doing fine, just a little tired from getting back from a mission is all. Everything else is going great."

"You know I can tell when you're lying." Kami sighed. "Did that no-good reaper make you become a weapon? I know he's short on real death scythes, but this isn't the answer. It's clearly too much for you." Ever so slowly the gold thing was easing up, out of her pocket. "You're seeing things again, aren't you?"

"Get out of my house." Black Star said. "You just insulted multiple people I care about in a single breath. Maka's fine. You can go now."

"Well, I never-" She looked to Maka and rolled her eyes. "Maka, there's nothing here." She reached out blindly and hit something. Kami looked down and noticed the sheers almost leave her pocket. She looped her fingers through it and tugged them right out of Angela's reach. The young witch had just enough combat training to avoid getting grabbed and receded back into the empty space of the room where she couldn't be seen.

"I should have f*cking known," Black Star hopped over the counter, "you were the one that caused the alarms to go off, not the damn kid." Maka was shell shocked that her mother had the stolen magical tool.

"Mom," Maka's heart fell into the pit of her stomach, "why did you come here?"

Target one, Star Clan.

Target two, Star Clan.

Target three, Star Clan.

Kami eyed the exit. She saw shaky numbers scrawl out on the living room mirror. Kami threw a cup at the glass and it shattered.

Black Star lunged for her, she rolled out into the outer walkway and up onto the balcony railing. With more room, she could wield her soulless scythe. He hit the blade with his soul burst, the energy reverberating through the metal like an earthquake. Kami swung it around to hook onto the roof and propelled herself up. As much as he wanted to chase after her, there were three masked figures following close behind. She wasn't working alone, and he couldn't leave Maka and Angela alone. He cursed to himself and contacted Kid.

Call me.

"I'm sorry!" Angela said, breaking her spell to reveal herself. Maka was still shaken and Black Star was chomping at the bit for a fight. "I tried to get it from her without her noticing, but she caught me." Black Star's expression softened.

"Are you kidding? You were amazing. Neither of them could tell where you were." He hugged her. "What are you doing back here? Nothing for days, and then all of a sudden-"

"They were closing the gates, I panicked." She looked over at Maka. "Is she okay?"

Maka's ears were ringing. The right side of her body felt cold. She was sitting down. Still, her heart rate was through the roof like someone sitting on her chest. Why hadn't she moved? Why'd she just sit there like an idiot when the person they'd been chasing for weeks was right in front of them? Why was she only seeing out of one eye?

"Maka!" She was white as a sheet. He helped her to the kotatsu where she could sit knee to chest and the heat from the blankets could warm her back up. The adrenaline kicked in and she was shaking. He made her drank something sweet and nodded along when he finally got a hold of Kid, but it all went in one ear out the other.

Her mother was always at work, so anytime Kami came home, it was like a mini celebration. Maka treasured those memories. She had a collection of books she'd pick to have her read to her before going to bed. After all, mom let her listen to fantasy chapter books that were made for adults instead of boring kids' books. She was nine, almost ten when she first could partially transform. She practiced by flashlight in her room every night to try and get her moon shaped blade to have a sharp edge. Most kids her age struggled to do that much without proper training, but she wanted it to be perfect when she showed her mom.

"A War Scythe?" Kami looked at Maka's blade with an inquisitive brow. "I haven't seen one of those before." Maka swelled with pride at the idea of being the only one with her type of weapon form. "They were used for peasant uprisings all over Europe." Immediately Maka put the blade away.

"Aww, my Maka's the prettiest scythe there is!" Spirit scooped her up from behind.

"Papa!" She squealed out a giggle and tried to worm out of his grasp.

"You don't have to be an EAT weapon." Kami said. "It's not too late to sign up for NOT classes and get them out of the way so you can train alongside meisters your own age."

"Kami," Spirit sighed, "not everything's about school."

"I'm just trying to plan ahead." Kami sighed. "Shinigami-sama's son has already rejected five other weapons for not looking symmetrical enough. She doesn't stand a chance. At least this way they could be in the same classes." Another fight Maka couldn't mitigate. Another nick in the chain-link.

How could she forget it was her mom had wanted her to get engaged to Kid. That was the only reason she cared about Maka being a weapon. If it wasn't perfect, it didn't matter. She'd always been like this and her parent's marriage had never been perfect.

She woke up in the middle of the night. Red and gold shards danced on the ceiling, cast by the broken electric fireplace. She had tried to get up sooner, but every time she stood, she felt dizzy. It was unbelievably frustrating to be so physically helpless over something as silly as emotions. At least now she could stand, almost seven hours later, and she beat herself up about it all the way to the bathroom.

After washing her face, she felt more herself. Cold, damp strands of hair clung to her face. She made sure the door was closed and eased herself back onto the floor. Her legs were still shaky, even though she'd give anything to pace right now. She sent a quick text, hoping there'd be someone on the other end. It was too late in the night for most sane people to be awake. On the cold hard tile, refreshing the screen to no notifications, she never felt so alone. Black Star was sleeping just a few rooms away, but it seemed rude to wake him.

A single red dot on her phone gave her hope. Her face was a mess, and there was no way to mask she'd been crying, but she needed to hear someone's voice right now.

"How's my girl?" Her dad slurred on the other end. The muffled bass of Chupacabra's and the clinking of glasses a more comforting sound than it used to be.

"Sounds like you having fun." She held the phone away from her as she tried to find a way to sound normal.

"What's wrong?" So they hadn't told him yet. She really didn't want to be the one to tell him. Definitely, not tonight, but she had no where else to turn to. She could hear him excuse himself from the table to get to a quieter place in the club. Maybe the balcony, there were some street cars honking at each other in the night.

"I..." Maka didn't know where to start. "I f*cked up dad."

"Maka, what are you talking about?"

"Everything. I'm doing everything wrong." She said. "I just wanted to feel I was in control of something again and it just snowballed. His kid's going to hate me. I'm never going to get close to being a Death Scythe, if ever. I just need one person to not threaten to kill him, because I'm the one that f*cked it all up. If I'd just gone home like I was supposed to, someone else would be on this mission, and I'd find out later instead of..."

"Maka, slow down." Spirit said.

"Mom tried to kill Black Star." She said. The look on her face when she'd seen them together, it'd been crushing. She had to know she was pregnant, the way she was talking, it was like she thought Maka had hit rock bottom. "Dad?"

"...I'm sorry Maka." The ice in his glass clinked as he drank. "She went to the ends of the earth for Shinigami-sama, and saw what happened when you broke the rules. I think she's just scared that people are going to take advantage of Kid's forgiveness and start the cycle over again, but this... This wasn't the way to go about it. I wish I could tell you I was surprised." He finished off his drink. "But what's this nonsense I hear about you messing up? You're a perfect little angel."

"Dad, I'm thirty three."

"I stand by it."

"I think..." Was it too soon to say anything? "I think I'd be a bad mom. I work all the time, my life's a complete mess right now, and I... I don't want to make someone else deal with that." He was quiet for a moment, the hum of traffic a steady heartbeat as he thought what the right thing to say would be.

"You remember that hamster we got you?" He asked. "Not the first one, the second one. You were so frustrated it didn't like you, but you still took care of it. You read every book and did all the right things even though it never stopped biting you. I didn't see you once yell at that little guy, no matter how angry you got. You'd be a great mom, if you ever wanted to be."

"...Did you ever feel stuck with me?" She pulled her knees in close. She never wanted to do that to someone, with her or anybody else.

"No, of course not." He said. "You're one of my favorite people in the world. Do I need to come get you?"

"Dad, you've been drinking." She'd heard the jingle of keys and slightly panicked. Sleeping on the couch in a cigarette perfumed room was not going to make her feel any better. "I'm fine, really. I just feel like I don't have enough time to make good decisions anymore. I just blink and they happen."

"Life doesn't slow down until retirement." He laughed. "You'll be fine. You're the smartest person I know." She asked him about his day. Let the inane mantra of names and places ground her back to where she was. She was sitting on the floor of her partner's bathroom at three in the morning. Tomorrow she'd find out what Kid planned to do about her mom, and if it was something she had the stomach to follow through on. Everything else could wait until they did that. It wasn't all one giant emergency. "It's last call. I gotta get one more round to fill out my punch card."

"Okay, dad. Talk to you soon." She hung up, let the phone screen go black in her limp hand. Her head rested back against the door. Golden light peaked through the cracks to the other room. She combed through what she said, looking for anything damning that might have slipped out. There was so much she didn't want to talk about right before going to sleep. At least now, she felt tired instead of shaky. She tidied up her face, one last glance in the mirror told her she'd be okay if Black Star asked any questions.

The broken glass in the living room had been swept up. It was a lot more presentable, too presentable. She wondered how long he'd been awake after she left the room.

"Hey." She leaned in the doorway of the bedroom. Black Star ran a hand through his hair as he tried to make it look like he hadn't been pacing in circles looking for a distraction. He leaned against the back of the couch and looked away.

"What are we going to tell Angela?" He asked. Maka's stuff was all over the house. They had a plan a few weeks ago, but after last night, they hadn't had a chance to really talk about it. Everyone talked big game about being okay that he had a kid at home until she was actually in the room. "I mean, obviously we're partners but..."

"Girlfriend is fine." She said. His shoulders relaxed and he nodded. "Am I going to have to find some place else to stay?"

"No..." He winced a little. That's what he wanted, that didn't mean it would be easy. "You don't have to... I mean, she doesn't need a new mom or anything. As long as you're just nice, things will smooth over eventually. It's just going to be an adjustment." So, he had heard her on the phone. She walked up behind him. With her knees on the couch cushions, she looped her arms around his waist, her chin rested on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry."

"Maka, what's there to be sorry about?" He asked. "Something like this was bound to happen. I know you and everyone else at school treated me like a god, but..." He hissed the last part out like it was a dirty secret. "The old farts at the DWMA were really not a fan. Tsubaki's still dealing with the fallout of being my weapon. I should have warned you." He hadn't wanted to bring up any of the messy sh*t that might make her change her mind. It was selfish as hell, but the last couple of weeks he felt like he'd finally woken up after years of being stuck. "You mean the world to me." He craned his neck to meet her lips. She loosened her grip so he could fully turn and hold her like he wanted to. "You sure you're okay? You scared the crap out of me."

"I'm fine." She can't bring herself to say why just yet. For all she knew it could happen again. "Who's mom hasn't killed a few people?" It was a bad joke and her laughter was little bitter and stilted.

"Soul's and Tsubaki's," Black Star said, "maybe just Tsubaki's. I heard Soul's mom is a piece of work." She melted into him, the crease at the back of the couch pulled her down and further towards his chest. A tiny, disgruntled moan escaped from where her face was flush with his shirt.

"We should have done it in the car." He sighed, disappointed in himself. She smacked the back of his shoulder lightly. "I'm not hearing a no." The awestruck wonder in his voice made her shoulder shake and she sank further into the couch away from him. Her face flushed all the way down her neck, she couldn't bear to look at him or she would loose it. "Oh my god, are you serious?"

"Keep your voice down." She begged.

"I will get the keys so fast." Maka shook her head, hungry for air.

"It is three in the morning. We have a meeting in five hours." She slipped out of his grasp. "We have to be responsible." She was still shaky on her feet. He sighed, because once again, Maka had a point. Part of him still wasn't sure it would last if Maka saw what his reality had been the last few years. Let alone the grueling mission that was undoubtedly ahead of them. For all her protesting she still flopped onto his futon to change instead of rolling out the spare.

"So not in the car?"

"Not tonight." She said pointedly, still unable to shake the blush crawling across her skin. "As in not 'tonight', not tonight."

"You so want me." He teased. Again, she didn't say no.

Chapter 17: All I Really Want

Chapter Text

She thought she was hallucinating. On the CRTVs in a shady storefront, holding a can of Jolt cola, was Seiryu in bubble-gum pink overalls and a faded tee. She'd heard the jingle a few times while out on a hunt, but this was the first time she had proof and a witness.

"It's me!" Sieryu ran up and pressed her face against the glass. "I thought they'd gone with a different actress." Genbu came up behind her silently. The flashy camera angles and bright colors reflected off their faces. Suzuka had pushed her to do a number of auditions up until Nova went crazy with the missions. He thought she might have had what it took to compete with the crop of DWMA idols Shinigami-sama had created to promote the school. Everyone thought they were crazy to even try promoting her at her age, but by some miracle it worked. She made it. "He should have been here to see this."

The screen went blank for a moment. A mechanical monstrosity stared back at her in the reflection of the window. No one would book a Kishen Egg for a local gig, let alone a commercial. If the company was smart, they would pull the campaign soon. Being associated with a murder wouldn't look good for the brand. Just as quickly, another show started up, and swallowed her reflection in a blinding light. She stayed rooted to the spot as Genbu lost interest.

"I could have made it out." Seiryu was a shadow of a person, haloed by the stobing television sets. "I gave up everything to protect our family and now it's too late." What was the point of scrounging for souls day after day when this was all there was left? "We're doomed." Fear tore down her chest like claws sinking into prey. Asura was cackling in her ear at the mere notion of thinking of a way out.

"Hey," Genbu's voice pulled her away from the screen, "no one's doomed." He couldn't touch her, but he acted like her could, with a hand on either of her shoulders. "The girl that got Nova, you got a good look at her face, didn't you? You even heard her name."

"Kami something." Seiryu agreed.

"Here's what we'll do." He said. "One of those weapons you've taken has to have a trick or two to help track her down. We bring her to White, and the weapon. If he has who's actually responsible, maybe he'll finally let this go." She could see straight through him, the smog coming off him coated the inside of her lungs with a thick film.

"And then what?" Silence hung heavy in the air. His expression was hard to read, as it flickered like heat vapors, but through it all he smiled. If not to reassure her, than to comfort himself.

"We have to try something."

There was no time to mourn the dead. The faces and names of her targets all blurred together. It was easy, methodical, collect a soul and then move down the list. Each passing day, another Death Scythe wouldn't come back to work the next day. The Kishen Egg that had targeted them, fanned their weapon forms out like a peaco*ck tail. A hideous metal dragon that flaunted her hoard.

"Don't think about it Spirit." Kami squeezed his scythe form to comfort him. "We're going to take her down."

Red lanterns bobbed as the Kishen Egg zipped back and forth. It gained speed and aimed for her legs. Kami flipped in a backhand spring, the uneven cobblestone tweaking her wrist. She switched her dominant hand, and gave Spirit the signal for his witch hunter form. His blade expanded, with a murky rainbow galaxy glimmering in the festival lights. The Kishen Egg put her hands together and made a thick shield out of her own skin.

"When I turn you in," the Kishen Egg cackled, "I think I'll go on a vacation." Her hair made a chain whip. She pulled her head behind her shield and let the destructive force of the segmented blade chase the scythe meister down the road. "If only he let me kill you when I had the chance. None of us would be in this mess."

"You've got this." Spirit shouted. Kami barreled a strike toward the Kishen Egg, the force tore up the road. There was a collection of clicks followed by the rain of sparks from a gatline gun. "Julia-senpai..."

"I can feel your murderous ambition." The Kishen Egg's toothy grin gleamed through the settling rubble. "It'll make the perfect seasoning when I snap that pretty little neck." Kami rushed through the dusty haze and twirled Spirit around. The weapons the Kishen Egg used were like accessories, they weren't an extension of herself. Kami cut and scattered as many as she could. Her face cut up and bruised from one too many close calls with a mace or a gun. As soon as she got a clear opening, she shoved the end of the staff down the Kishen Egg's throat. The creature gagged, and when Kami changed her grip, was eviscerated from the inside out by a flurry of new blades.

Spirit retracted the extra blades. The Kishen Egg staggered and Kami twirled around to sliced it from shoulder to hip. A large red soul was their prize. Spirit eagerly took it, ready to burn the carnage out of his memory. The festival stalls had been shot up and crushed. Torn up red paper hung where the beautiful lanterns once were.

"It really is amazing how powerful you got over night." Kami said, though the pang of guilt she felt seeing the inky black hadn't faded from his blade. Spirit never was the same after their fight with that witch. She approached the nearest window and dialed the number by heart. Another day, another Kishen Egg. The screen blanked out after the report and all she could see was her wrist starting to bruise and her oozing cuts. "You don't have to come on all these missions with me." She said, guilt pooling in her stomach. "You're probably one of the strongest Death Scythes out there, I'm sure Shinigami-sama wouldn't mind you taking over watch of the school." He came up behind her and tugged gently on her right wrist. It popped easily back into place and the throbbing subsided.

"And miss out on seeing miss perfect with a hair out of place? Not a chance." She quickly started fixing her hair and he couldn't help but laugh. "Here, try using this." He handed her something small. When she tried to thread her fingers through it, it when flying out of her grip and rolled a little down the side walk. She saw the gold ring and chased after it. Held it up in the lamp light and looked back at him about to cry. He held up his left hand, a matching gold band on his own ring finger. "Kami, would you-"

"YES!" She bounded over to him, her arms locked around his neck as she shoved the gold ring over her gloves. "Oh, my god." She came back to solid ground to see his smiling face. "This is really, oh my god."

"Now I don't want to hear you wondering who my next meister's going to be." He said. "There's not going to be another one. It's going to be you and me."

"Spirit." She clung to him and lightly smacked his chest. "Try using this." She said in a low, joking tone. "What if it'd gone down a drain?"

"I know," he said, "I just- We've been so busy lately, I didn't want to wait another second."

Kami closed her eyes. Somewhere in the shifting crowd downtown, the Kishen Egg was hiding. The cars that past expelled thick plums of black smoke that burned her lungs through her cloth mask. Acidic gutter water poured off the roof above and ate at the soles of her shoes. She sensed the Kishen Egg watch her from the fire escape.

Bleach coated the railing as she fought to climb up after him. The caustic fumes from her contaminated heels against the bleach made her dizzy. There wasn't enough room to swing a scythe, each time she got close, it would round the bend. He kicked Spirit's blade, and used the force to attack Kami with her own weapon.

She was lightheaded and her hands tingled. Still, she fought at a slow crawl up the steps to a roof covered in melting tar.

The Kishen Egg stood at the center. Her shoes kept sticking, unable to charge ahead like she wish she could. He lifted a heavy boot, the tar pulled up off the ground and with a stomp he created a molten wave. Kami struggled to find balance. Each step created burning ribbons that licked at the backs of her legs. The Kishen sighed as another wave of caustic fumes permeated the roof top.

Kami's eyes watered as she sent a witch hunter slash across the roof. He oozed out of the way effortlessly.

She made her strikes longer, wider. If she couldn't get close, she would hit him with everything she had. Figure eights, twist and turns, there had to be something he couldn't dodge. She brought Spirit's down into the tar, conducting her wavelength across the burning surface like an electric shock. She pulled his blade back out, the ribbon of tar lashed out like a whip.

"Finally!" Without the Kishen's power, the tar cooled into an inky black pavement. She stepped out of her shoes, and ran at full speed to make sure this attack stuck. He dissolved into ribbons, exposing the Kishen Egg for the taking.

Kami's cheers were cut off by a fierce coughing fit. Her lungs felt like sand paper, and her mask had pink tinges seeping through the cloth.

"Kami..." Spirit saw how she tried to pocket the evidence and smile through the discomfort. He learned a while ago, it took more than a few kind words to get her to take a break. "We should check in with a doctor." Her smile fell.

"It's fine." Kami ripped her shoes out of the cooled tar. "I can feel her moving."

"I don't think a flu mask is enough to block out whatever literal poison that Kishen was spewing out." He said. "You were having dizzy spells."

"I'm not going to check in with some idiot that thinks a meister can take it easy." She could feel the texture of the ground through her torn up shoes. "He's still out there Spirit. I'm going to take him down and show everyone exactly what being a three star meister means." She doubled over, an intense wave of nausea had her frozen in place. With a cold sweat running down her back, she stood up.

"You're not the only three star meister now." He helped her get off the roof. "The world won't fall apart if you take care of yourself and the baby. No one would blame you." Her shoulders were tense, she nodded, hating every second of it.

The pages were blank. A green notebook from his office, that's where he asked her to write the answers to his questions. Could she not hear him after all? Or was this her way of discouraging him from hurting their own. Either was possible. She always was of the mind they should all stick together, no matter what.

He ripped them out one after another, all the empty pages. It didn't matter who he killed, she would not answer him anymore. He threw the used up cover at the far wall.

No one more trainees, no more family to pull from. The mess hall was littered with requests from clients that had gone unanswered. Every bottle of sake, every bag of tea had been laced with poison by Elaine before she had disappeared. Anyone who was still standing had run off, too far gone to care who caught them in the end.

Wrong, it's all wrong.

He shouldn't be here.

He's killed hundreds. All of Lord Death's precious Death Scythes had been slain. His warlords devoured, his soldiers scattered. All the DWMA sends anymore are stupid little kids who sh*t their pants the minute they see him. They shatter like glass in his hands. He warned them to give up and some do. Still, Lord Death refused to come out of hiding and face him head on. Asura's laughter rang out in a mocking refrain, for thinking this was enough to impress anyone.

Empty chairs, empty crib, empty bottles.

If Lord Death refused to come for him, he'd have to go find him himself.

A woman with long silver hair, and a bandage on her shoulder walked into a dive bar. There was all manner of men of ill repute lounging at tables in hopes of work. None of them would last a second. She saw a couple of Alcapone's men hanging around with a dull eyed samurai. She took a seat next to them at the bar and ordered a drink. Masked men with fine suits and cigars offered her a few lewd comments. She took a long drag on her thin pipe and drowned their cigar smoke with her own perfume of vanilla tobacco.

"If you don't want your whiskey to become my ashtray, you'll give me some elbow room." She said, her voice raked over the coals from the week she'd had. "My husband just died, I'm not in the mood." Big burly men were just as meek as children at the mention of personal death. She slid the drink she ordered toward the blond samurai.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"If you want to kill a hydra properly, you need to cut it down at the core." She motioned for him to lift the drink. "Shinigami-sama's wasting his time aiming for mere heads." On the napkin, in bleeding ink, she'd hastily scribbled her brother's name.

"My job is to protect people." He covered the writing and slid the drink back towards her.

"Shinigami-sama has been sending children to fight him." She said. "My own men couldn't take him down. It's just going to get worse, but you," she took a drink from the glass the ink a bleeding red mess now, "he'll underestimate you. He's so used to overpowering anything that comes his way, the moment you make him think. That may be all it takes."

"Why not take care of him yourself?"

"I have to look out for my own son." She said. Mifune saw the basket on the floor and looked back at the drink. He took it back, though he made no other conversation. "Thank you." She knew White Star would come looking for strong warriors to take down anyway, but at least this way his prey wouldn't be so helpless. She picked up the basket, leaving her tab open for the samurai before exiting the bar. All her lavish clothes, her symbols of her family, she had cast aside. "Young man." She saw someone in a DWMA uniform about to leave town after a successful mission. "Would you be able to do something with this?" She held out the basket. "I don't need it anymore."

As soon as the basket was in his hands, she disappeared into the shadows. Let Shibusen decide what to do with Nova's 'gift'. She didn't need anything else that tied her to her brother.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stein asked as Sid showed him and Spirit the blue haired bundle that had been shoved into his hands. The star mark on the infant's shoulder was unmistakable. Spirit's stomach flipped at the mere mention of leaving the basket for someone else to find. He'd already been forced reenact the dismembering of the blue-haired Kishen Egg. "Seems like inviting trouble."

"It's just a baby." Spirit said. No one could keep a secret from Lord Death for long, but it wasn't completely impossible.

"Ah, I forgot," Stein joked, "you've got your own on the way." As if Spirit had been anything other than a huge softy his whole life. Even given the war they were in with the demonic remains of the Star Clan, Spirit couldn't bring himself to shake those horrifying visions. "Do you need to keep all of it? I've always wanted to see if those stars are soul projections or physiological."

"Spirit." Sid shifted the bundle away from Stein's leering stare. The other meister cackled maniacally swearing up and down it was a joke. Still, Spirit made sure to stand in between them. "You sure Mira can keep the Kishen Egg? You were the one that got it."

"Yeah." Spirit stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I just came to help out, and Kami... Don't tell Kami. She's been under a lot of stress lately, and with the baby-" He groaned as the two meisters jeered and laughed at him.

Strict bed rest.

It might as well be a death sentence. Kami stared up at the ceiling as reruns of some show played in the background. A stack of books next to her the only companions in the apartments. The first day she'd caught up on rest. The second she ate her fill of anything she could stomach. Now she lay restless on the couch. Anytime she thought it was safe to get up and wash a dish, her body screamed out that she shouldn't move.

There was nothing to distract her from the number of days that had passed. Her mind ran in circles, counting the number of people left in the Star Clan that were running amok and the meisters that had been told to take over her missions.

She had gone back and forth with doctors and nurses on the phone. If her body couldn't handle this last stretch of the goal, couldn't they just scoop the baby out early? Let her finish growing in an isolette while Kami hunted down the people who'd thrown the entire world out of balance. She was met with a resounding 'no' and highly suspected they'd blocked her number after the last phone call.

There was nothing left to do but sit and wait. The same intro song on the television playing yet again, another thirty minutes staring at the ceiling. She had three more weeks of this and was hating every second of it. Crying came too easy now. Useless and bored and trapped in her own head. Over two hundred people had died in one night, how many more would be gone in three weeks?

All she could do was lay on the couch while the same handful of Golden Girls episodes played on loop.

He moved from town to town like a plague on the land. An overcast sky blocked out the sun and the stars. Blood splattered walls and nameless faces melded into one hazy blur.

The flat desert landscape bled into a mountainous region. Ice lined the roads, even in the heart of spring. The first few cracks in the ice let frigid waters pour through the mountain side. The rural town stead built into the rock-face was all still, with lights out in hopes he'd pass onto a less cautious home.

Caution tape was wrapped around the trees. The chilled mountain air froze the still drying blood against his skin. Swords were buried in the ice all around him. A lone blonde samurai stood with his sword drawn.

"Do you walk the path of a warrior or a demon?" Mifune asked. White Star couldn't help but laugh.

"None of that matters." His eyes glowed red. Asura's annoying laughter in his ear. He didn't have enough souls to pose a threat to Lord Death, he needed more. What was the point of bloodying his hands with the souls of his family, if he couldn't make the Grim Reaper drown in regret? "I have to win."

When the numbness failed him, it was like opening a shaken can. Rage, to drown out the voice of the Kishen. He wasn't the puppet of any god. He'd take their rules and their whims and crush them with his own hands.

Mifune raised his sword to White Star's heart, like many would be hero's before him. White Star grinned, his own blade drawn. Another distraction to keep him entertained has he marched to his destiny. A strong soul to feed his own.

The samurai faltered as each slash from White Star shattered the blades with pure force. A predator toying with it's prey. Mifune acted on the offensive and tried to draw their battle to the heart of the clearing.

His swords barely grazed his attacker's arms and face. Mifune threw his case of swords in the air in a last ditch effort to make a dent. He slashed at the air, sending each blade raining down against White Star. More demon than man, White Star dashed through the storm and caught Mifune in the gut.

I'm sorry.

"I remember you." Mifune said. White Star's eyes widened. Three swords had stabbed him through the back, pulled by threads he hadn't seen.

And thank you... truly.

Nova was soaking in the kuzon lake, just as she had every night after they got married. He can't see her, or hear her voice, but he can feel her presence below the water's surface. He can't even turn his head to catch a glimpse of hair or milky skin. He's rooted in place facing toward the trees. The cold ground beneath him damp from the water not too far away behind.

She needs to be stronger.

"Stronger for what?" He said, the taste of iron on his tongue, a ringing in his ears.

So it can be there, her power, feared by the gods and ending this wretched era at long last.

"Why can't I see you?"

Because she's not really here.

A single high-pitch tone grew louder, drowning out the sound water. He'd give anything to plunge his hand below the surface, drag her out so he can know she's okay. That by some miracle, she's waiting for him on the other side.

"This is it, isn't it?"

The river flowed past him, soaked into his cloths and crushed his chest. His arms legs numb and frozen. Each breath harder and shallower than the last. He wanted to hear her voice, but all he saw was trees and dirt and swords.

You have to be alive to watch over someone, to love, to feel peace. There was a jolt of panic in his chest as his vision darkened with nothing to catch him. The river over took him. His mind searched for their faces, to relive that moment, but there is nothing.

Cold, unfeeling hands pulled his consciousness into darkness.

The thread runs out and looses it's sheen.

The soul unteathers.

A sea of mechanical teeth in tartarus grinds another soul into entropy.

Bright, colorful balloons bump into each other overhead. There was no table space for Kami's food, everything had been over taken by stuffed animals, baby clothes and flowers. Spirit insisted he didn't tell anybody she'd been having a hard time. This many people came to see how she was doing and to take a peak at the sleeping bundle next to her hospital bed. Even her own parents had sucked in their pride to congratulate her.

"You're so lucky Kami." Marie said as she picked Maka up for the first time. "She looks just like you too." She held the baby up, a tiny, puffy face lost in a blanket.

Across the room Kami saw the other girl her age forced to share a room with her. There was a single mylar balloon that had lost quite a bit of helium during her stay. She had never had a visitor, and clung to her child like it was her only life line in the world. Their nurse came in to ask her who was coming to pick her up.

"...I have no where to go..." The rest of their conversation was eaten up by Kami's loud friends passing Maka around like a new toy. Kami had everything she was supposed to have. So why did she feel so empty?

"Someone's hungry." Marie cooed.

"You can feed her." Kami said. Marie was eager and talkative, just like you were supposed to be with babies. Maka had been eating better for visitors or the nurses and that mean she would sleep longer.

"They caught him." Spirit sat down on the bed next to Kami and showed her the headline. "Someone killed the leader of the Star Clan, they found his soul floating around in the mountains. It's over."

She was supposed to be happy right now.

"Kami, what's wrong?"

She didn't feel anything.