A Completely Different Telling

Ladies and gentlemen please
Would you bring your attention to me?
For a feast for your eyes to see
An explosion of catastrophe

Like nothing you've ever seen before
Watch closely as I open this door
Your jaws will be on the floor
After this you'll be begging for more

Welcome to the show
Please come inside
Ladies and gentlemen

Boom
Do you want it?
Boom
Do you need it?
Boom
Let me hear it
Ladies and gentlemen

Boom
Do you want it?
Boom
Do you need it?

Boom
Let me hear it
Ladies and gentlemen

Ladies and gentlemen good evening
You've seen that seeing is believing
Your ears and your eyes will be bleeding
Please check to see if you're still breathing

Hold tight cause the show is not over
If you will please move in closer
Your about to be bowled over
By the wonders you're about to behold here

Welcome to the show
Please come inside
Ladies and gentlemen

Boom
Do you want it?
Boom
Do you need it?
Boom
Let me hear it
Ladies and gentlemen
[x6]

Soul Eater: Offspring

A rush of light and there it was. A soul. Floating before me, waiting to be devoured. My hand reaches out to take hold of it. I shove it into my mouth and swallow.
I’m on my hands and knees, panting, the rush, the power. I try and steady myself.
Standing up, and before I even know what’s happening, she’s in my arms, looking up at me with a face full of naked joy. I don’t even comprehend it. I whisper into her ear.
Back at the apartment, before anyone else even knows what’s happened to me. But somehow the events of the night have taken on a totally different sheen, and we’re seeing red.
Black blood boiling, panting, what are we doing? A small familiar voice of reason is speaking from the back of my mind. But for once, I’m trying to be like her, and I shove reason out the window of my mind. Is this a kind of madness?
Now she’s sleeping, half-on-half off me. I lie awake and reason has returned. How did this happen? Why did we do this? But I’m still feeling good and right now it doesn’t seem so bad.
Morning, Maka’s awake. A kiss. A pregnancy test, no stress.
Positive.
She leans on the doorframe. I sit on the bed. Madness, that’s what it was.
Before anything, I’m shouting. What have we done? Reason is screaming in my head. The presence inside of Maka. Black soul.
She’s so angry, tears are welling. Two words, “Get Out.”


“Mom, I don’t think I can do this.” I protested one last time. I adjusted the unoriginal grey-brown uniform and nametag and took a deep breath. Mom put her white gloved hand on my shoulder and turned me to look at her.
“Lilly, please. This has been what you wanted to do for the last sixteen years. Don’t give me that crap. You can do this, and you will.” I could tell that this was hard for Mom. She didn’t want me to do this, to enroll at Death Weapon Meister Academy. But she was using my real name, something she hadn’t done since I was ten, and she was reminding me of my own dream. I couldn’t back out now. I squared my shoulders and picked up my bag. I ran my fingers through my silvery white hair, it was unnatural for someone my age, but the truth was that was what I was born with. It hadn’t grayed; I’d just been born with white hair.
I hugged Mom hard. Her floor-length black jacket billowed around me. She squeezed me tightly and let go. “I’ll be here for break, and then we’ll talk about all the awesome things that you’ve learned. You might even be able to show me a thing or two.” We laughed. She began to walk away. I watched her back until she turned a corner off Main Street and was no longer visible. I sighed.
I faced the imposing Death Weapon Meister Academy gate and pushed my way in. The strange gatekeepers recognized my uniform as a non-threat, and allowed me through. My nametag read, “Ripper Albarn, Weapon.” I hadn’t always been called Ripper. My real name was Lillian Albarn. But when I was ten, and we found out that I had inherited my Grandfather Death Scythe’s powers as a Weapon, my Mother had nicknamed me Ripper. I had the ability to transform into a scythe if I wanted to, and with a Meister partner, I could help to fight the kishins (monsters who ate human souls) of the world.
I made my way up the large cement front steps of the academy to join the small crowd of other freshman. Most of their nametags read Weapon like mine, but a few read Meister. Not all weapons need a Meister to fight; some can do it on their own. There have even been Death Scythes that were able to fight all by themselves, like Justin Law. But most Weapons, like me, had to have a Meister partner to resonate with. I could see that the Meisters in the group were already eyeing the Weapons. One big guy whose name tag read, “Bull Ratkin, Weapon.” was chatting with several Meisters at once. But no one was really making moves yet; that wouldn’t start until after orientation.
Finally the huge double doors of the castle opened, and out stepped a tall cloaked figure. Lord Death! Murmurs broke out. Lord Death was about six feet tall and thin as a rail. But that was pretty much all you could tell about him from his appearance, because he wore a traditional black reaper robe that obscured his features. His white scull mask glared out on us imposingly. On either side of him stood the Thompson sisters. Though not identical in human form, every young Weapon and Meister had heard stories of the famed Demon Pistol Twins. Trained by Lord Death himself, as his personal Weapons of choice, these two Death Scythes were the stuff of legend. They stood, in identical black dress suits, staring out on the students with amused smiles.
“Welcome new Meisters and Weapons!” Lord Death called to us, his voice had a curious double tone. “My enrolling at this academy you have made a lifelong commitment. A commitment to keeping the balance of the world intact. Thank you. The road before you is a hard one, full of troubles, and joys. I have no doubt that you will all persevere and do well at the DWMA.” He bowed to us, we bowed back. “Please, would Meisters follow Liz,” he gestured to the twin on his right, “And Weapons follow Patty,” he gestured to the twin on his left, “They will take you to your temporary living quarters.”
We split into our respective groups and followed our twin inside and down the hallways of the school. I was one of few people not talking up a storm at that point so I’m pretty sure that I was one of few who noticed the third person who had come to the door with Lord Death. He had hung back behind Lord Death and the twins. He wore a black pin-striped suit, set off by a red tie. His face was shadowed, but I could make out a pair of dark red eyes and a soberly set mouth. He slouched, hands in pockets, aloof and apathetic. Overall he seemed to emanate a rather effortless cool. His hair was as white as mine. I watched, fascinated, as Lord Death turned to him and spoke, I couldn’t hear what he said over the din of the other students, but the pin-striped suit nodded, and disappeared through a doorway.
We were taken to a hallway full of dorm-like living quarters with industrial furniture and bunk beds. We dumped our luggage.
“It’s only temporary though.” Patty trilled in her ditzy blonde voice. She seemed awfully silly for a Death Scythe. It was hard to imagine that she had eaten over a hundred Kishin souls and defeated a Witch. “Most of you will pair up with a Meister partner and move into a dorm together. Won’t that be fun?” Pairing up…. The thought scared me halfway back home. There was apparently no real way to find a partner for sure, and some Weapons never found a Meister. I wished that I was the kind of Weapon that could fight by myself.
We were led on to a lecture hall where the Meisters were already seated, whispering to each other and being watched over by their twin, Liz. She fit my idea of a Death Scythe better. She was taller than her sister, Patty, and wore her long hair in a professional looking bun. We took our seats and waited.
Eventually, through the doors came four people, including the pin-striped suit. The light was better in here and I could see that he had a sarcastic face, adult, but not wrinkled, probably about my Mom’s age. His companions were a strange crew. There was an old man in a metal wheelchair with spokes looked like knives, a real live (or not) Zombie with blue skin and tattoos, and a Mummy in a nurse’s uniform. We all fell silent because the old man in the wheelchair was fixing us with the look of a scientist examining his new test subject, or perhaps it was the look that a vulture gives carrion.
Anyway, it freaked me out. Stay cool, I thought. He was a very strange character, wearing a dark turtleneck and slacks underneath a stitched up lab coat. His face was covered with stitches as well. But none of that was very strange compared to the giant screw that went in one side of his head and out the other. Some idiot behind me made a crack about “Screw Head” I covered my face with my hand in embarrassment. I peeked out from between my fingers. The old guy rolled himself behind the teacher’s desk and the pin-striped suit followed him. He must have said something funny, because the suit smiled, he had pointed teeth.
“Hello new students, my name is Franken Stein, Professor Stein to all of you.” The old man in the wheelchair wheezed at us, “I have been asked by Lord Death to give you all some pointers on how to get along here and introduce you to the staff, and otherwise orient you in general. Though I’m not sure why Lord Death asked me, I was never a very good student here.” That made my mouth twitch into a smile.
He gestured to the Zombie to his left, “This is Sid, he’s the teaching assistant, coach, and general handyman here at the school. If you have any questions after the orientation, he’s the one you should ask. Though I believe that he reserves the right not to answer.” He looked to Sid for confirmation. Sid nodded; he didn’t look at all like someone that I would want to ask questions of. “This is Nigus, she’s the school nurse. Yes, she is a Mummy, but that just means she’s good with bandages. If you get sick or injured in any way you can go see her. You’ve all already met the Twins, Liz and Patty. They are Death Scythes. Don’t ask them questions, don’t bother them. They have better things to do.” Finally he looked up at the suit who nodded, “This is your temporary Professor, Soul Eater. He is also a Death Scythe, but will be standing in as your teacher until we find someone to fill this post permanently. You may call him Professor Soul.” So he was a Death Scythe! I had been right. I wondered why there was no permanent teacher for this class. Then Professor Soul stepped forward with a clip board. He looked up at us in a way that made me think that he really wasn’t looking forward to teaching us. I resolved not to get on his bad side.
“Ok then.” He had a deep quiet voice, we all listened closely, “I guess I should take role, so that I know who all you squirts are, and we know that none of you have mysteriously disappeared since registering. When I call your name raise your hand, if I call you something that you would rather not be called, please correct me… politely.” We waited for him to begin. “Risha Acban?” a hand raised, “Christopher Agenis?” a hand raised and the freckled boy asked to be called Topher. Soul Eater nodded. “Tarna Alan?” a hand, “Lillian,” He stopped and seemed to stare for a long time at my name, “Lillian… is it Albarn?” His voice was different with my name, unsure at the pronunciation maybe.
I raised my hand, “Sir, I’m registered as Ripper Albarn; no one really calls me Lillian.” This was a bit of a white lie, but I didn’t want him to think that I had changed my name for no good reason.
He looked up at me and made eye contact. I swallowed. Keep it cool. His expression was unreadable but I felt his red eyes take in my thin body, pale complexion, nametag reading, “Ripper Albarn, Weapon,” and unnaturally white hair with a focused and analytical air. Professor Stein cleared his throat noisily. Finally he nodded and said, “Ripper… alright,” He moved on to the next name. I let out my breath quietly, what was that all about?
After a while the list was done with and most, if not all, of the students were accounted for Professor Stein began speaking again, “Well, now we get down to the important business. Would all Weapons, planning on completing their education here at the academy without a Meister partner, please follow Sid.” My heart began to beat a bit faster. He was about to talk about pairing up! A handful of students from the Weapon side of the room got up and warily followed Sid out the door. The rest of us nervously waited for Stein to continue. “You are all anxious to find your partners I take it?” Stein asked. We all nodded. “Well I’m sorry to say that there really is no exact formula for finding a partner. We don’t give you some kind of evaluation and then pair you with who we think will be best for you. We prefer to let you find your partners on your own. The next three days are going to be something of a free for all for you children. You will live together and have no particular duties except find your partner. You’ll see that some people will immediately find each other. Others will take longer. Depending on your soul’s wavelength it will be easier or harder for you to find a partner. If you do not find a partner by the end of the next two days, then you and I will talk about options. Very well, you are all dismissed.” Damn! I was worried that this might be how it was; I was no good at this sort of thing! What if no one picked me? What if I didn’t find a partner? I was a scythe; I had to have a Meister.