Soul Eater: The Complex Soul of a Witch? (Ch. 4)

Grogginess was in Kid's head as he slowly came to be. He was now thinking about what had happened since he had been knocked out some hours ago in one of the main halls of the hospital in Death City. Who or what caused this? Did he black out on his own? And why did he feel like his arms and legs were restricted while he was slowly waking? Was he somehow paralyzed?

As Kid's eyelids finally drifted apart from one other, he was granted closure to one of his questions. He was no longer in the hospital, from the looks of it. He was looking at a plain, blue sky, with wispy clouds passing overhead. But… there was no noise. There was no wind and not even a breeze to be felt. It was after cocking his head down that he realized the sights around him. The clouds were floating literally right next to his face. The ground felt like a fine tile instead of solid concrete. There were crosses, many disfigured in appearance, surrounding him in a circle. The dead giveaway of his location was that this "outside location" had windows.

He was obviously in the sanctuary of his father, Lord Death. Kid took note of everything in this room as he had been here so many times before.

What he did not understand, however, was what was going on right now. He was obviously sitting down, as the large, throne-like chair would indicate. His head and neck were free to move… but both his arms and legs were bound to the chair by tightly wrapped straps of leather.

He now made an attempt to escape, but for some reason, the material would not budge. Kid was a bit stronger than the normal boy around his age, so he found it so very confusing why he could not free himself.

In his attempts to escape, he grunted loudly as the veins in his scrawny, white neck truly started to show from the outline of his skin.

With these noises and movements, he immediately captured the interest of a few bystanders taking watch of the whole situation. The first of these faces so happened to be the tall, black figure, whose skull mask quickly jumped in front of Kid's face, upside down.

"Hello." The raspy, old voice said.

Kid, usually not one to be easily startled, screamed and jolted in surprised. He almost knocked the seat over and landed on his back.

"Sorry, but I really needed to get your attention." The being known as Lord Death stated, now standing erect and moving in front of the boy's direct line of sight.

"F-father? What… what are you doing? What am I doing here?" Kid asked, now calm after the quick scare which had come to him just a few moments ago.

"Well… you see, Kid, I've been informed by a certain pistol that you are afraid of facing the challenge in front of you regarding your partner, Patti. I am here to fix that myself." He stated in an unnervingly serious tone.

Kid had already been having nightmares and visions regarding the sins he had committed against his father. The boy was personally afraid that he would be shunned or perhaps even eliminated by Death all together. The idea that he did not live up to the name of Death itself was something the boy could not bear.

Within a few moments, another person was standing directly in from of him, but instead of the distorted image of Death, he was greeted with his only currently standing partner, Liz. She looked normal from her outfit and sharp ridged hat, but something about her face looked different. She didn't try to present herself as anything other than worried.

This made Kid even more fearful than he once was. Now another soul would be watching his ultimate demise in the hands of his own father. This must have been revenge also on Liz's part considering how desperate her own situation was right now, all because of his mistake.

"Father… Liz… please release me… please…" Kid sounded absolutely pitiful, far more different than he ever had been before. His voice rarely cracked over an octave with how monotone it was, but now he showed true emotion with his facial expressions and how he spoke to both of his peers.

Seeing as how Lord Death's face only bore that clear, white mask, there was no way to tell that any sort of emotion was being shown. To Kid, his father could secretly be enjoying all of this…

"I am sorry, my son, but there is no other choice. We must do what is absolutely necessary." Lord Death replied, keeping the same, dreary tone.

Kid was now stricken with internal panic. What exactly was he going to do now? He could not release himself from these restraints with whatever magic had been cast on these bounds. He could only sit here and squirm for freedom and know that there was no possible way that he could avoid his fate. This day had been coming and he tried so hard to evade it, but time had finally caught up with him.

"Liz." Lord Death called to the girl next to him.

Liz was aware what was happening. She knew what she needed to do just by one of the master's large fingers pointing at Kid's head. As soon as this non-verbal instruction was given, she found herself behind the large throne which her once-complying partner was sitting in. In hopes that he would stop trying to move about in his place, she took one of her hands and dug her fingers into the lower portion of Kid's head on the sides of his lower jaw. With her other hand, she forcefully pried open the boy's eyes, allowing him to see clearly what his fate would now be.

"Liz! Stop! No, I said let go!" Kid had enough composure to at least growl at Liz, but the young woman didn't reply directly to his pleas and eventual demands. She instead now kept a stagnant looking face and kept the boy's head and face perfectly in place, her strengths obviously outweighing that of her own meister.

"Son… I assure you… it'll all be over soon." Without pity or remorse, Death lifted one of his large, glove-like hands directly in front of Kid's face. Within moments, a faint ball of energy started to form in front of his hand, the formation slowly beginning to increase until the white light enveloped it.

Kid could no longer squirm or try to break away, but sit still and watch as the ball of light slowly blinded him. "Father… please… no… NO!" He screamed out in panic, his head still being kept firmly in place by Liz in the back.

With an act of sorcery, the energy from Death's hand dissipated by shooting into Kid's open orifices, mainly his open eyes.

Kid could no longer see anything. He screamed out to the ceiling as the light which was directly in front of him was now glowing through the openings of his face. Soon enough, his screams of terror were muffled and eventually snuffed out along with the light. Kid's body was no longer in the mood to resist; it simply gave way, his limbs no longer flailing and his head dangling down.

It was over. The deed had been done.

No longer feeling the boy move, Liz sighed heavily and let go of his head with her hands, returning to Lord Death's side.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Liz. I appreciate it." Lord Death stated, not looking away from Kid's now limp body.

"It was… no problem, sir." Liz replied, looking at the boy herself with a lot less worry on her own face now. "So… how long will this spell last?"

"Eh?" The tall, blackened figure replied, at this point more focused on Kid than anyone or anything else.

"The spell? The spell that you just placed on Kid to knock him out?"

"Oh right, exactly! The spell should last for a solid sixty seconds, if even that much."

"Then he'll be awake, right? Right?"

"Absolutely." If Lord Death could smile, he'd show that kindness and reassurance to Liz right now. "Although, you do recall that its effects lie a bit more outside of rendering him unconscious, don't you?"

"Wait, there's more to it?"

"It's just a small bit, but yes. The intention of this spell wasn't to knock him out. In fact, it isn't as much of a spell as it is a form of hypnosis."

"Hypnosis?"

"That is correct, dear. In Kid's mind, most of his actions are dictated by unconscious thought, those being things not even in his control. For example, he has… a slight problem with things being symmetrical and in perfect alignment. If we can somehow tap into the portion of the brain which dictates that instinct, then we could actually get Kid to think what we want him to."

Liz was surprised by this entire revelation, as Lord Death had not informed her of the procedure beforehand. However, it all made perfect, logical sense to her, and it made her happy inside knowing that her own grievances with the young man would soon be eradicated.

"That's awesome! And that's exactly what we need for him to do. But… when is Kid going to wake up?" Liz asked.

"Well… if I were to make an estimate, it would be-"

A few groans and movements suddenly came from the boy strapped to the chair, prompting Liz to squeak in surprise and hide behind Lord Death.

"…now." He briefly stated.

"K-kid? Can you hear me?" The young woman asked, slowly making her way away from the company of Death's back and closer to the chair. She received no response other than a series of groans.

"He can hear you, but you won't have much success in getting any feedback unless you snap him out of this state of hypnosis. However, it'd be best if you gave your demands to him before you do so."

Liz nodded in compliance. Knowing that Kid was ably sound, she stood directly in front of him, lifting his drooping head up so she could face him. Upon doing so, she noticed the slobber slowly dripping from his lips and immediately let go, leaving him to dangle once more.

"Liz…" Death said in a rather stern voice.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Liz replied anxiously, slowly bending over to Kid's level. This time, she did not grab onto his head as to prevent him from slobbering all over her. "Kid, this is Liz. I'm here to help you, but you've got to do everything I say, okay?"

She received a loud, bellowing snore. That was enough of a response for her.

"Kid… I need you to wake up, but before you do, I need you to listen. I'm sick of your problem with symmetry. It annoys me. In fact, it frustrates the living hell out of me. I'm tired of all of the shit you've put me through! I'm sick of all the times we've stopped missions so you can go home and align the sides of your coat! I'm sick of-"

"Liz, calm down! Take it easy, girl!" Death suggested, getting nervous himself as the girl slowly raised her voice to a threatening roar.

After turning around and receiving this response from Lord Death, Liz chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. "Heh, sorry…" She meagerly said before turning back to Kid. "Well I'm sick of it. So what I want is for you to forget all about that. Don't think about symmetry anymore. It doesn't matter to you at all, as it never should have to begin with. When I snap my fingers, I want you to wake up and keep all of that in mind."

Kid, of course, did not reply, as there was no possibility of him doing so yet.

Liz then stood up, brought her hand up so it was close to the boy's head… and slapped him square on his cheek. This immediately caused Kid to stir where he was right now.

Death jumped back as the pop from the girl's palm echoed throughout the room. Returning to his spot after a moment, he pondered to Liz: "What happened to snapping your fingers?"

"Oh, I snapped my fingers. I snapped those and my palm on his face." Liz replied with a smirk.

"…clever."

Soon enough, both of them watched on as the once unconscious lad lifted his head up slowly, followed by another series of distained groans and mumbles. This time, however, it was in an attempt to speak.

By the time his head was up and his blurred vision had mostly cleared, he was confused just as he was moments before. "F-father? Liz? What are you both doing here? What am I doing here?" The disoriented young man asked, seeming much calmer and restrained now than after waking up for the very first time.

Liz and Death had already planned this out, as Liz had informed the boy's father of the lie she had told Kid in order to actually knock him out right where he stood. "Oh, it's finally nice to see you awake, son! It's been a good amount of time since you fell asleep." The boy's father stated, again a lie.

"Yes… it was… a truly eventful slumber." Kid, after conversing with his father for a moment, noticed (once again) the straps that tied his wrists and ankles to the throne-like chair. "Um… what is going on here, exactly?"

"Well… you see, you were doing fine at the hospital. When I came, you were asleep, so I decided to pick you up and bring you here so your father would be able to see you." Liz stated with a rather cheery tone of voice.

"Alright… that's fine… but why am I tied up to a chair?" Kid asked, not out of anger but just general curiosity.

"Well… that's somewhat of a complicated story." Lord Death began to answer. "While you were at the hospital… I wanted to make sure that everything was kept spick and span at your home. However, I sort of did something on the way out through your dining room…"

Kid blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Go on." He said.

"Well… on the way out… I managed to bump my head into your chandelier. It caused one of the candles on it to fall out of the frame and onto the floor. It scolded one of the areas on your carpet and there was no way that I could completely restore it."

Upon hearing these words, Liz turned her head and covered her ears with her fingers, as if an explosion of calamitous proportions was about to occur. After a few seconds, however, there was no noise, and Liz, startled at the lack of a generated response, slowly rose to meet the boy.

Kid didn't look angered. Not even upset, for that matter. For a person as compulsive as he was about alignment and tidiness, it was an other-worldly experience to see him react without so much as a frown. "Oh… okay then… well… why am I in a chair, then?" The boy asked, still not growing anger or resentment.

"We just… didn't know how you'd be able to handle the news." While Liz now explained the "situation" to the boy, she slowly undid the straps keeping him linked to the chair.

Now free from his binds, Kid stood up. "Handle it? News? There's nothing to worry about, Liz. I honestly think you may need some sort of help. What do I look like, an absolute narcissist?"

It was mind-boggling to Liz; the spell had actually worked! She could no longer see the boy's OCD with symmetry getting the best of him, for when those binds were cut, he would have regularly darted back to his house in any attempt to remedy his self-diagnosed issue. That wasn't the Kid in front of her now, and she could not be any happier in seeing that.

Without warning, the girl quickly turned around and lunged toward Lord Death, now wrapping her arms tightly around his jagged build. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you, Death, sir!" Liz was still missing a key missing element in her life right now, but considering that she had powerful senses and a strong connection with that missing link, she knew that this link, her dear sister, was still alive. Now that Kid's problem was alleviated, for the time being, they could focus their attention on what really mattered again.

"Uh… I… love you too?" Death hastily replied, not bothering to wrap his own arms around the much smaller girl as she held onto him for a few moments.

Kid was obviously perplexed by what was happening between the two in front of him. Were they delusional? Had they somehow suffered some sort of head trauma which was causing them to act in this fashion?

Within moments, Liz was finished expressing her satisfaction, and she soon stood next to a risen Kid's side once more. "Anyway, now that that's been taken care of, there is a more pressing matter for you both to attend to: finding your colleague in order to continuously succeed as a team. Patti has been gone for a solid two days now, and it is the responsibility of the both of you to return her into your custody and back within the safety of the academy."

Liz understood perfectly, as the confident look on her face along with the nod would indicate. Kid also displayed an understanding of what he was going to be jumping himself into now. He remembered far back enough now to understand that he was knocked out by a peculiar looking witch. He also recalled the last time he remembered being woken up; at that point, he was in a hospital being informed that Patti had been captured. Whether or not he had caused this fate mattered little to him, and in fact didn't even cross his mind. He just wanted his partner, his friend, next to him once again. "Yes, father. I understand." Kid replied, before turning over to Liz. "Do we know where we're going? That she is even safe or alive, for that matter?"

"She's alive, Kid… and I can feel it. I can feel the pulsation of her soul wavelength as we speak. I don't know what's happening to her right now, or what's going on in her mind, but I can feel her presence. I can sense it… like a scent trail. If we follow that select trail, then I assure you that we'll be able to find her." Liz explained.

Kid nodded and turned back to Lord Death. "Father?" He asked for conformation.

"Yes, son. She has a point. If she has the ability to directly track down her sister, then why not let her be the one to guide you to where she is?" The dark one inquired.

Kid could not argue with such logic. "Alright, then I suppose we should go ahead and set out."

"Right. Thanks again, sir. We appreciate your help." Liz said with a smile.

"Why of course, dear. Anything to help a person that I deeply trust." Death replied, giving the girl a thumb's up with one of his massive hands. "Just remember that we're counting on you two to save her. If something is wrong, simply tell me and I'll have a few students to come and pick you all up. Now run along, you too! Time is of the very essence!"

The two partners nodded and started to run out of the room, leaving the figure of darkness behind in order to reclaim Patti and destroy the evil witch once and for all.

As the two made their way closer and closer to the exit, Lord Death quickly remembered something. When he had talked to Liz earlier about Kid's spell, he forgot to mention a slew of things regarding it. "Liz! Wait! I have to tell you so-"By the time Lord Death knew what he was going to say, both Liz and Kid were completely out of sight. "Hm… perhaps I should have told her that my spells usually fail. Oh well, no harm done."

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hana, her head cloudy and devoid of current thought, slowly opened her eyes, the paneling of the ceiling and the side of the couch now completely in view. She was certainly tired after the nap with Patti. Most of the emotion she felt for the girl had pressed so much into the witch's mind and caused her to relax into a deep sleep.

Now that she was awake, one major problem surfaced; Patti was no longer there.

Hana quickly rose and looked around the living room in which she currently was, including underneath the couch in which they both were resting on around the time that she fell asleep. "Baby?" The woman simply stated, hoping for some sort of response. She received absolutely nothing in return. Not a voice, not a giggle, not even a crinkling from the girl's padded behind. It was just overwhelming silence.

Hana, of course being the compassionate person for the girl that she now was, was a tad bit nervous, but that didn't mean that the girl was completely gone. Therefore, she stood up and made her way around the house, circling around it and hoping to find the girl exploring.

She first went into the bathroom; there was no one there. She quickly went into the room containing the shrine of "baby" pictures and she was not there. Then she made her way into her nursery. She was not there, but there was something obviously different in this one room than the others. Around the entire room, supplies were scattered everywhere, a bottle of baby powder was spilled onto the ground, and toys looked to be thrown all over the place. It was an obvious sign that someone was here… but who?

Hana was fixing to lose her mind by peppering in pessimistic thoughts to her current situation. She immediately rationalized that all of this was due to some sort of struggle between Patti and a complete stranger, and that this intruder had taken Patti away without a scream heard and without any knowledge of it while asleep. The witch was now kicking herself heavily for this; why did she have to be so stupid and not stay awake to keep her eyes on the girl?

Suddenly, the sound of crashing metal bounced off of the walls and in the room she was now in. Somehow, for whatever reason, the woman could sense something nearby. It was a wavelength which she did not know exactly but one which didn't seem completely foreign to her. It certainly wasn't Patti's… but she could sense that, as well. She must be close… and the witch's prediction must be right! Someone is stealing her baby from her!

The witch gripped her fists tightly and growled underneath her breath. Knowing that she'd be facing resistance from the sheer force of the wavelength of the oppressor, she readied herself by focusing her energy through the necklace around her neck and through her palms. Without warning, the young woman ran out of the room and to the area in which she heard the loud noise from, the kitchen.

The woman wasn't ready to make nice or talk reason; she was going to kill the bastard who dared to lay a finger on her little Patti. With that mindset, the woman ran to the kitchen, and seeing it get closer with every elongated step, she readily gripped her right fist tightly and prepared a blast of dark energy which would surely lead to this intruder's downfall.

With a sudden jolt, the woman was in the entranceway of the kitchen, her arm raised back and in preparation to catapult the ball to the kidnapper. What she saw, however, made her stop dead in her tracks and hold her erect arm where it now was.

There was no kidnapper. It was just Patti, completely naked save for the diaper she was wearing, sitting amongst a pile of metal pots and pans. From the looks of it, she had apparently opened the cabinet only to have the many cooking supplies pour out and onto the floor where she was sitting.

The moment the woman arrived, Patti slowly twisted her head to the side. Her body followed suit after she discovered who it was, a smile enveloping the lower portion of her face with her puffy, scarred upper lip jutting out. "Mommy!" The girl giggled, lifting her arms up in hopes that the woman would pick her up now.

Hana let out a deep breath of relief and lowered her arms, the magical properties of her necklace slowly beginning to fade away. As the girl insisted on being carried, the woman obliged the girl by lifting her from underneath her arms and moving her body outward to cradle her. "Baby girl! You scared the daylights out of me! Mommy was worried that a mean man could have taken you away from me forever." Hana explained to the girl.

It wasn't as if Patti could understand anything that she was saying. The only thing that she absorbed from this was that the woman's face told more than her words could. She was visibly upset, and this reflected upon Patti, as well. The diapered girl sulked and brought her head down as if an act of shame.

Hana was indeed upset, and used these first words as a way for it to register in Patti's head that what she did was naughty. She knew that the girl meant no wrong from what she did. After all, Patti was only a baby now, and she would need to be taught morals and standards all over again. That'd develop just like potty training… or if Hana truly got her way, perhaps not. "It's alright, sweetie. Mommy isn't mad at you…" The woman said with her once intimidating tone turning into a sweet, gentle series of coos and adoration.

Patti, upon seeing the woman being nice to her once again, begin to ease herself and curl up in Hana's arms, cooing to her like a very young child would. She no longer cared about the antics she had gotten herself into earlier (including rearranging her nursery and the items in it), as the most important thing she could think about was looking down at her right now.

The woman certainly felt happy about having the girl in her arms now… but something still didn't feel right. The woman could still sense something. The soul wavelength that Hana felt from before had not disappeared or synced to Patti upon seeing her. She still felt it… but as she delved deeper within her powers, she noticed there wasn't one strong soul nearby, but two.

The girl hadn't been taken away… yet. These two souls were probably those which belonged to whatever placed Patti had previously belonged to, more than likely performing a search mission to help find the girl. Hana couldn't allow these souls to aimlessly wander. She'd need to tell them that they were not welcome here.

But then the most pivotal matter of this entire situation popped into mind. What was the woman going to do about Patti? She couldn't just take her up to watch her fight. It'd be too risky and much too violent for her baby to watch and be a part of.

The woman then remembered her own powers and the manipulative abilities that her necklace possessed. Perhaps she could use something to keep the girl repressed while she was out and away fighting…

Hana had an idea. Quickly, she rushed back to the girl's nursery, with Patti still in her arms. She searched around the tacky-looking room and noticed a bright-pink pacifier placed on the ground. Without hesitation, she walked toward it and snatched it up.

"M-mama?" Patti asked in her usual lisp, confused what all of the frantic movements were all about.

The woman temporarily ignored the girl's concerns and placed her into her crib. She then took a glance at the pacifier in her hand and used her other one to hold her dark pendant. Soon enough, the same mystical energy as countless times before seeped from the black amulet and into the pacifier until it became shrouded in a field of darkness.

"Mama!" Patti whined. She was now starting to grow impatient with the woman. In hopes that she would be lifted once more, she lifted her arms up high and wiggled her fingers, all the while giving Hana a pleading look.

"Don't be like that, sunshine." Hana replied, easing closer to the girl down below and popping the pacifier in her mouth. "Here, hopefully you'll be nice and safe with this."

Patti continued to whine for only a few short moments, but with the pacifier taking up the majority of space in her mouth, she could not fight off the urge to suckle upon it like the plastic tip of a baby bottle. As she started to grip onto it and bite the plastic, she could feel the sedative spell taking effect which Hana had personally placed into the binky. Patti's eyes were soon watering and growing heavy. With the magic taking its toll, the girl found herself easing back into the padded surface of the crib and laying her head down on the pillow. Continuing to suckle from the pacifier, she closed her eyes and refused to open them once again, allowing sweet, blissful sleep to kick in.

Hana smiled knowing she was now perfectly asleep and unable to cause any trouble. The witch took comfort in knowing that it'd remain this way just as long as that pacifier stayed in the girl's mouth.

The witch took a few seconds to adore the now sleeping "baby" in the crib before turning her attention back to the real issue plaguing them both now. Knowing the girl was free from harm, she ran out of the nursery and into a room where a ladder stood standing upright against a wall. The witch started climbing to the ceiling of this room until she could clearly see a square outline, this being the entrance and exit of this entire sanctuary. The woman punched the area hard, so much so that the handles of the hatchback door broke off and sent the whole thing flying up into the air. Hana then quickly ascended the latter and used her powers to lunge herself into the air, all before landing on the ground with her fist firmly dug into the dirt.

"Alright, who the hell is-"When the woman finally rose and lifted her head, she froze. She could not move after glancing about 20 feet ahead of her.

Indeed, there were two souls… but they were the ones she would have expected the very least. It was Kid and Liz, and they both looked heavily determined and angered.

Hana couldn't believe it. How were these two still alive? She had clearly taken them both out! She never had second thoughts on the matter. Once she "killed" them both, she could no longer detect the essence of their soul wavelengths, only those of the others who were surely there to recover the bodies. And now they were standing here, glaring into her with their mad, squinted eyes, intent on plucking the life of the person who took their companion away from them.

"I told you she was around here." Liz chuckled, not flinching as the witch jumped from her hiding zone. In usual circumstances, the girl would react much different, but considering that her dearest sister was taken from her, she didn't care about the creepy factors around her any more.

"Heh, I had no doubts, Liz." Kid replied with a slight smirk of his own. After the procedure which changed him earlier on in the day had occurred, he had absolutely no reason to doubt the girl.

Hana didn't care under what circumstances brought them back or what they did during their time away. She was in awe that these two had not fallen before her… at least just yet.

"How… how did you know where I was?" Hana asked.

"We didn't. We weren't following your wavelength because we knew you would use your abilities to slip right underneath our noses… and judging from how you scurried out of your burrow like a snake, that seems exactly what was happening." Kid starkly replied.

"That doesn't answer my question. HOW did you get here?" Hana growled. Honestly, however, she was perplexed at how they had both managed to pinpoint her exact location and meet at this very direct time.

Kid was about to speak on behalf of him and his partner both, but before his lips had even split apart; Liz was standing promptly in front of him. "Remember when you knocked both of us out after forgetting to finish the job? Yeah, turns out we were still alive after you did that. Do you want to know our reason for coming back? It also so happens to be the way that we found you." Liz stated.

"But… but how-"

"Listen." Liz fiercely stopped the witch in mid-sentence. "The person you took so happens to be my sister, Patti. When you took her, your magic could prevent others from sensing her soul wavelength. However, I can see past that masquerade. All of the magic tricks in the world will never change the fact that Patti is my baby sister. I love her more than anything. She is a part of me. When she is in pain, I feel it. When she is happy, I am overwhelmed with joy. And when she is in trouble or needs my help, I will always be there to protect her."

The witch could see it in the girl's eyes; she was not playing around. Here stood a confident young woman, a figure which stood taller than a mountain. Next to her was a sly-looking young man, whose unnervingly dead glare could pierce through metal. Hana could sense that the two warriors were both driven to be here once again, and would stop at nothing to pry Patti away.

"So… what choice will it be, madam? Will you come quietly…"As Kid exclaimed this, his partner quickly morphed into the form of a pistol and landed into Kid's right hand, which he seemed to snatch without any second thought. "…or is this going to be difficult?" Kid assumed his regular stance to fight, but this time only one gun was drawn. He no longer felt divided by the lack of two partners instead of one. He knew that he would be able to make use of just Liz as her capabilities exceeded that of his greatest expectations. He had absolute faith in his partner (along with a warped mindset) and knew that Liz would lead them both to success in this most important of undertakings.

Hana could no longer stand here and allow these two to intrude upon her business, to interfere with her chances of being happy for once in her life. In a fit of rage, she balled her fists up together and trembled. She then glanced up, conjured all of the indescribable power from her amulet into her body and charged the duo in a solid dash.

Kid extended his arm and drew the barrel of the gun towards the one. "Bad choice." He said before beginning to unload upon the woman with a hailstorm of bullets.

Hana knew what her safeguard from this attack was; her magical amulet could shroud any portion of her body with a thick, impenetrable barrier which covered the skin. As she rushed forward, she summoned this and covered the front of her entire body. The bullets, as she predicted, bounced right off of the safe haven she had created for herself.

After dashing ahead, the woman lunged into the air and broke the barrier away, before channeling her power into her right fist. Her intent was to pound her knuckle forcefully into the ground or- if nothing else- knock him down and follow with a fatal blow to his heart.

Kid easily dodged by flipping backward, watching and feeling as the ground quaked at the witch's wake. In mid-air, the young man faced his body toward the woman and started to shoot once again.

The woman, trying to focus in more on simply crushing the both of them finally and less on her own safety and defense, caught two stray bullets in her left shoulder. After surrounding herself in the familiar, mystical veil, the witch grunted and tried to attend to her fresh wounds.

Kid simply wouldn't allow that. Not only did he keep firing once he hit the ground, but he slowly walked toward the woman who sat in a retreated stance.

After the shots drew closer and became more accurate, this temporary shield started to wear down, literal cracks forming. Before Kid could pull in close enough for the kill shot, the witch broke her magical safeguard and at the same time used a sliver of her magic to shoot a bright light into the boy's face. Kid, being relatively sensitive to light, automatically stopped shooting and groaned, covering his hands to his face.

The witch grinned and backed up a solid few feet before harnessing her magic from her amulet once more. The woman extended her arms, and, as if clapping, quickly clamped her hands together, causing a stream of fine, dark energy to shoot at the direction of the boy.

Kid had not yet recuperated, still pinching his eyes in order to regain his vision. He stood right in the line of fire.

"Kid, watch out!" Liz shouted from her weapon form. The moment the girl said this, Kid opened his eyes and brought his hand down to uncover his face. Seeing the hazard careening towards him, he had the reflex to jump clearly above the thin line. By the time he had planted his feet back on the ground, the stream had cleared a series of trees behind him before finally dying away.

The witch growled and rushed the boy, propelling herself off of the ground with her fist once again brought back to prepare a crushing punch.

Kid completely anticipated it, and not only did he avoid it, he actually knocked the witch off balance by knocking his ankle against her lower legs. As she fell forward, Kid used his elbow to drive it into the woman's spine, contorting Hana's back in the process and slamming her into the ground.

Hana certainly felt it, but she did not understand why. The woman was rarely sensitive to pain because of her power and the simple fact that hardly anyone tried to stand against her. The only pain she ever felt was loss. This, however, was a literal pain, one she could not just feel in her now-wounded body, but a sharp pain piercing through her heart.

The woman shuttered on the ground for a moment. The very instant Kid shot towards her direction at the ground, she faded into nothingness.

Kid was at first startled by this, but knew exactly what the woman would do. Considering that the woman had so foolishly explained the idea of Soul Camouflage to him, he predicted that the woman used the ability to mask her soul wavelength, while using the rest of her power to temporarily cloak herself. When she would prepare to strike, she would remove the camouflage and charge at him with all of the power that her body held.

It was just a matter of when that exact moment would surface. He could obviously see that the woman was growing weak, and that only kept his moral high and reassured to him that he would prevail. He just needed for this expectedly failed move to seal the deal.

As to be patient and wait for that opportunity to arise, Kid closed his eyes and dug deep within his own mind, using the ability of sensing souls to wait for the fly to surface so that he could clamp his jaws shut upon her.

Liz, whether it was out of confusion or just an understanding of her partner, said absolutely nothing and used her own abilities, assisting in helping to find the evildoer which stalked them in their moment of silence and absolute stillness.

Without any warning, Hana brashly reemerged directly in front of Kid, screaming and ready to knock the heathen's head clean off of his shoulders. Kid and Liz were braced to fight once more, but Kid could see clearer than Liz that the woman had just caused her own undoing. "That was a big mistake." Kid stated with a chuckle, twirling his gun around for a moment before shooting towards the woman.

The boy only needed to fire three times because every single bullet hit their mark. Hana received one to her right leg, one on her shoulder (lodged right next to the bullets from before), and one now stuck in the cavities of her chest. With every fresh wound forming in the multiple areas of her skin and flesh, blood oozed out of each and to the ground. Hana, mentally cursing to herself for making such a bitter lapse of judgment, soon found her legs trembling, her kneecaps soon finding a platform on which to land on.

With the witch now reduced to a crumbled mass of bone and skin, Kid knew that there was absolutely no point in fighting anymore. His goal had been accomplished. It was time to collect the soul and reclaim Patti.

Kid clutched the gun and took a few steps forward, but after only gaining a few feet, he stopped dead in his tracks. For a few moments, there was nothing but silence, save for the witch's pained groans.

"Kid, what are you doing? Kid? Can you hear me at all? She's right there! Let's finish her!" Liz insisted. She was heavily confused as to why her partner stopped so abruptly.

Liz couldn't see the fact that Kid's eyes dawned a new look, a new persona. He himself now had no clue what was going on, only that there was a mortally wounded being lying in agony in front of him as well as something else of the gravest importance.

The young man heard the voice coming from his gun and looked down to it. He examined his hand which bore the weapon, and afterward he switched his direction to his other palm. Nothing.

"Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right…" Kid thought to himself, before coming to the plain realization which soon sprouted from out of his lips. "Oh god, this is mad!"

"What? What's going on, Kid?" Liz inquisitively asked.

Kid's response was to shriek and toss his partner to the side. He then cowardly ran to a tree behind the line of action and curled up into a ball, hiding from a returning fear which plagued his mind for so long: his fear of the lack of symmetry.

Liz temporarily ignored the situation with the wounded witch and soon transformed back into her regular self. "Kid, what the hell are you doing?" Liz asked, although judging from his actions it was more than clear what had happened.

"I… are you absolutely insane? I can't fight in such a barbaric manner! I need even division! I need equality and balance! I need… SYMMETRY!" Kid shouted in anguish out to the branches hanging above him.

Liz was more than pissed off at this situation; how was she to know that this spell wore off over time? It wasn't like Lord Death would lie or forget to tell her something so important. "Kid, there is nothing wrong! Come out now so we can finish this!" Liz yelled at the boy, furious at how his self-imposed fear could get the better of him at such an inconvenient time.

Kid did not respond. He instead simply sat where he was and wallowed in his own pity, rocking himself back and forth like a child who desperately needed tender consolation.

Knowing very well that there was no stopping this fit now, Liz groaned and turned her attention back to the witch, ignoring the distraught partner for now. She'd have time to worry about Kid's "dilemma" later, but her sister regained its spot in her mind as the girl's most important ambition.

"Where is she?" Liz asked, propping down on one knee as she tried to get down to the bleeding witch's level.

The witch at first replied with only the same pain-induced noises that she had the moment she was struck with the onslaught of bullets. With her oppressor now standing in front of her, however, she slightly lifted her head to meet with the girl's eyes. "No… she is not yours." Hana replied, her gaze not seeming defiant and cynical, but weak and pleading.

"No, she doesn't. I know that. She has her own spirit and she can do whatever she wants to. The thing is she didn't WANT you to take her; you forced that upon her. She is not property, nor ransom being held up, she is a person. She belongs to no one: not me, not Kid, and especially not you." Liz retorted.

Hana had never felt this hurt before in her life. Her opponent spoke with absolute conviction, but every word sounded just in this situation. Her tone was hurtful and malicious… but deep down inside, Hana knew that Liz spoke the absolute truth. What right did she have above anyone else to control the well-being of another person? Was it truly the right thing for her to do?

This was her morally sound mind thinking. This had nothing above the emotional turmoil which loomed over her head, thoughts of loss and hardship dominating her already fragile mind. The woman started to rise off of the ground slowly, now with tears forming in her eyes as pain rushed throughout all parts of her body. "No… she is my child! My joy, my innocence, my happiness! She's my baby and I won't let you take her from me!" Hana screamed at the top of her lungs, ignoring her powers and using whatever strength she had left to swing at the girl in front of her.

Liz saw weakness in the witch's attempt. She noticed it in a strong amount just by how the witch cried and used confusing rhetoric. Liz could see it plainly and she didn't need to brace herself, for she knew exactly what to expect from the woman now.

As soon as the witch raised her arm up to strike, Liz used her left hand to snatch the woman by the neck, managing to grab only her amulet. Liz yanked the necklace, ripping it right off of the woman's neck and causing Hana to fall forward just a bit. Liz concluded the exchange by bringing her right hand down onto the witch's head in the form of a karate chop.

Hana blacked out immediately. She fell to the ground, all of the power she held and the basic will to even stand up gone now.

Liz knocked the woman out on purpose. The girl was a strong and determined fighter, and considering how feeble the witch was during those last few moments, Liz could have easily killed her alone. In a sense, she somewhat felt bad for Hana considering how distraught and desperate she seemed to be. She was just overwhelmed with the last statements that the witch had made, those referring to Patti as "a baby" and "her child". What did this mean?

Liz certainly wouldn't be able to find an answer from Hana right now. She could only look toward the amulet now clutched in her left hand and wonder what purpose it served, and for what intentions the heartbroken witch had in store by using it.

Liz's pondering was cut short by the disgruntled noises coming from behind the bark next to her. It was obviously Kid, still sunken in his sea of self-depravity and worthlessness. With a major sigh, Liz placed the dark amulet into her pocket and returned her attention to the boy. "You know that she's out cold, right?" Liz informed her partner.

Kid, hearing this small tidbit of news, no longer needed to worry about his fears, as the threat which once highly presented itself was put down. "She's… dead?" Kid asked, soon walking from behind the trees and into the opening of the forest were all three of them were.

"No, she's not. I just had to knock her out in order to keep her from hurting herself anymore."

"So you chose not to kill her?" Kid's attitude changed within moments, going from his frantic and nerving attitude to his usual, monotone voice and blank expression.

Liz raised an eyebrow. "Well YOU chose not to help me. I can't do everything on my own, you know." The girl partially lied to herself and Kid in order to satisfy a guilt trip.

Kid was unmoved by the girl's words. "Fair enough." He simply replied, not wanting to escalate this into an argument.

Liz shrugged her partner's bluntness off of her own shoulders after this callous remark. She would certainly have to address this whole matter to Lord Death later, but right now her sister was more important than anything going on between herself and Kid. "I can sense her. She must be down there." Liz said after turning to the open cellar next to an inconspicuous tree.

"Alright. Shall we go in, then?" Kid asked.

"Sure, but let me go first. I want to make sure that my feeling is completely alright."

"By all means, go ahead."

With that exchange, the two slowly walked towards the opening in the ground and noticed the rickety, wooden ladder. Liz climbed down first, slowly followed by Kid. Once they were both down, they found themselves in a rather dark-looking basement, an area settled by dust and occupied by the old remnants of times before.

"Oh, this is… simply fantastic!" Kid exclaimed in surprise behind Liz.

"Yeah, all of these things are pretty nice, but that's not why-"

"I mean, look at the absolute marvel of this, Liz!" Kid said. Once the girl turned around, she beheld a large, 19th century grandfather clock, a tall standing piece of work which looked perfectly even on both sides. "This is simply astonishing! The majesty, the beauty, the wood of both ends, the absolute symmetry! This is divine! The dust hasn't even settled on this amazing-"

Liz wouldn't let the boy finish. Instead, she grabbed his ear and yanked him away towards the upper other rooms of this sanctuary, gaining a few yelps from him.

Once they were further up and into an actually lighted room, Liz let go of her meister. Kid didn't go back to the sight which he had marveled before, fortunately enough.

"Alright, let's split up. Look around in all of the rooms and call me if you see anything." Liz instructed.

"Right." Kid replied. With that, the two broke apart and started to search the rooms one by one, with Liz starting in the kitchen and Kid in the living room.

Liz could sense it so very clearly. Patti was certainly here. It was almost if their souls were slowly combining with one another in glorious reunion.

While Liz searched the large cabinets of the kitchen (in belief that her sister was being held hostage), Kid noticed something very peculiar in the living room: a baby bottle filled to the brim with cold milk. He found this to be very strange for a witch with indescribable amounts of power. What was it for and why was it just sitting on the table?

The boy said nothing and therefore Liz gave up her search in this area without bothering to look at her partner and the item he was carrying. Now she walked to the kitchen, doing as she did before and searching for the girl in various cabinets, turning up no result.

Liz soon walked out of this area and passed by another room, not taking note of anything in it. Kid had already taken this responsibility already as he walked from the living room to here. He so happened to be in the shrine which doubled as a private room for the witch, at one time.

Kid obviously didn't know what to make of it. He noticed the many faces and shapes of children and teens that he did not recognize, but the thing which rang the loudest in his mind was the clothing which they all wore. In every single picture, there was a person placed in a very childish outfit geared towards babies. In fact, the majority of these were just pictures of children in diapers and nothing else, their faces showcasing a sense of overwhelming joy. It was just mind-boggling to see people like this.

Liz cycled through a few other rooms and did the same routine: shuffle through the drawers, look around the corners and go to the next room. By the time she had explored the whole home, there was only one room left, the one with the very bright pink door which stood out among the other plain doors.

Upon drawing closer to it, the girl noticed the small lock on the outside of the door. She at first asked herself why a lock would be on the outside, but the motive was more than clear; her was locked in there from the inside and couldn't get out, a cruel act by Hana who had so heinously abducted Patti. Liz could only imagine the sort of disgusting things that lied behind that door.

With her heart racing, she slowly undid the lock which kept the door from moving. With a sudden urge coming over her, she literally kicked the door off of its hinges, causing it to topple over and in front of her with a loud, crashing sound.

When she peered through the now empty doorway, a sight so completely unexpected came into view. She thought of a dark and decrepit crawlspace, but that perception was changed by the most adorable and innocent of places: a nursery. The colors all around the room were bright and popped. The scenery didn't speak of anything sinister, but rather gentle and comforting. The biggest thing she noticed was the sheer size of this room and everything in it, for that matter. Everything seemed to be designed for babies but was sized for an adult in mind.

It was then that Liz glimpsed over to the very right corner of the room where she noticed the most arresting sight of the room, or at least what occupied it. In what appeared to be a large crib, a light blonde head of hair poked out, and on its face was an open mouth and cheeks which blushed as red as a fresh cherry blossom. Through the thick bars, the body was unknown, but Liz could see as clear as day that it was her sister.

Liz hadn't been separated this long from Patti since her birth, so it was truly an overwhelming feeling to her beautiful face once again. With an extreme sense of joy, her eyes slowly started to water in knowing that the very person who was wrongfully taken was soon to be brought back to humanity.

"Little sis! I missed you so much, Patti!" Liz yelled out, quickly rushing over to the crib.

Patti didn't move or even change that wide-eyed, wide-mouthed expression of hers. She just sat and watched as the girl quickly ran in her direction.

Liz ignored the strange look that Patti gave her. She even dismissed the fact that she was in a nursery sitting in a crib. She threw that all away as she ran up towards her and closed her eyes, giving Patti the tightest and warmest of hugs around her neck.

Patti sat there for a few moments, not returning the favor and obviously not saying anything back. The only noise which left her lips was that of whining, and when she moved, it was just in the hopes of being released by the girl by trying her hardest to wiggle out of her grasp.

Liz showed some concern from this. She therefore let go and brought herself back up again. "Liz, what's-"She didn't finish after opening her eyes and looking down. She stood silent for a few seconds trying to absorb this. She didn't see her regular sister, one with energy and eagerness radiating from her, but instead a different version of Patti, one of innocence and carefreeness. Liz didn't know what to make of the girl's attire, which only consisted of a large diaper. She couldn't understand what purpose everything around her served. She didn't know what the witch had done… and whether or not it was actually bad.

"P-Patti?" Liz said, hoping the girl would be able to explain this to her.

Patti couldn't. Instead she sat there, her arms to her sides, wondering what had happened and where her "mother" was. This was only for a brief instance, however, as the girl slowly took a better look of the person now in front of her. Patti's look went from curiously confused to spontaneously excited, her mouth forming a wide, open smile. She did not try to form words, but instead random babbles and giggles to indicate that she was trying to speak to the other girl but no longer having the ability to do so properly.

Liz listened on and watched the girl as she made no sense of the situation. She then looked to the left of her and noticed a bright, glowing pacifier to the side. She examined it for only a few moments before deciding to hold onto it, for whatever reason. It seemed as if the girl had been using it considering that the plastic tip on it was slobbery.

As Liz looked back to the girl, confused, Kid walked through the door. "Liz! I've found something! You need to-" Kid stopped talking as he looked into the room in almost the same way Liz had done before. "What… what is this? Did… did you find her?" He asked, trying to rationalize what all of this was right now.

"Uh… yeah… but, I think something may be wrong…" Liz replied hesitantly.

"What are you talking about?" Internally, he was happy to know that his partner was safe and that his unit was a whole once again, but it was clashed with the perplexity of this home and the many things which it held. It was then that Kid walked forward and peeked into the crib, seeing an ecstatic Patti naked from the top up. He shrieked and immediately looked away. "Patti! For the love of god, put on a shirt!"

Patti didn't respond, but instead looked at the boy and simply giggled in the same way that she had for Liz before him. She thought that he was acting absolutely silly. At least that hadn't changed.

Seeing the girl inactive and trying to piece everything together, Liz left Patti where she currently was and went over to a dresser on the opposite side of the room, picking through the drawers. With every article she threw out, she noticed that each one was themed around the principle of being absolutely adorable and geared towards babies, yet were sized for adults or at least older children in mind.

Not being able to find any truly "adult" clothing, she settled for a light-pink shirt which read "baby girl" on the front, spelled out entirely in blocks. "I'm working on it, Kid." Liz stated, walking past the boy and back to the crib where Patti was eagerly waiting. "Alright, Patti. This will have to do for now." Liz said, now starting to dress the girl in the shirt by herself.

Liz found a little difficulty in it by Patti slightly whining and moving her torso about as the shirt was being placed over her. However, this didn't stop Liz from successfully managing to dress her, the cute shirt now covering her upper torso but not being able to conceal the area beneath her belly button.

"You're good, Kid." Liz said upon turning back to the boy. Kid uncovered his eyes and walked over to the crib.

"What is wrong with your sister?" Kid asked, bringing up the most obvious of queries.

Liz sighed. "I don't know, Kid. I just walked in here, saw all of this, and looked at Patti with… a diaper on."

"Well this is all certainly strange. For one thing, it's remarkable that anyone can so happen to fool others with such an obscure location."

"Yeah, the hiding spot is really nice and all… but what about Patti? Are you even looking at her right now?"

Patti gave the boy a sudden smile as they both exchanged glances. Kid didn't reply to her and turned back to Liz. "I do in fact see her. But there was something else here which I noticed, as well. It may give us some sort of clue."

"What's that?" Liz asked.

It was then that Kid pulled out the numerous photographs that he had taken from the walls of the one room. "I found these while I was searching around."

Liz took the photos from Kid and looked over each of them. She noticed in every picture how each person had on practically the exact same attire on as Patti, that being a standard adult or teen diaper. But as Kid had taken note for himself, Liz was confused by how content every single one of them looked. The ones who looked sad didn't look like they were in actual pain or were suffering; it just looked that they were doing it as a plea of attention for themselves, something that real babies were masters at doing.

Liz thought for a few moments before giving the photographs back to Kid. "If there are anymore, get them when you leave." She instructed.

"I can do that. I suppose you'll wait here for the others, to come pick you up, then?"

"Yeah, we don't really have a choice." Liz briefly replied.

"Alright, but what about the witch, though? I think we should go back up and kill her before she has time to-"

"No." Liz quickly interjected. "She needs to stay alive. We need to bring her in front of Lord Death so she can explain this herself."

"But Patti can just do that by herself. What makes you think she is incapable of doing so?"

Liz wanted to prove her point, for she started to draw her own conclusion on the girl's mental state and babyish attire. Without warning, Liz walked over to the crib and lifted the girl out from under her armpits with relative ease.

Patti replied by happily cooing and allowing slobber to run down her cheeks, also wrapping her arms softly around the other girl's neck.

Liz wanted to associate the girl with how a real baby would act or behave. She therefore put the girl down and extended her legs so Patti's feet were now touching the ground. Liz let go of her sister and for a moment, Patti's legs wobbled. It took a second for Patti to fail to keep her balance and fall back on her bottom with three sounds: a thud from the impact, a crinkle from the diaper, and a peep which came from Patti as she harshly fell back on her bottom.

Liz then turned back to Kid and pointed out what had just happened as clear as day. What she and Kid failed to notice was the developing water in the eyes of the padded girl and her lips starting to quiver.

"Do you see what I mean now, Kid? How is she going to say anything? She can't even-"

Liz was caught off as Patti began to cry while sitting on the ground. The older sister was immediately alarmed by this, and for that matter, so was Kid.

"I see your point now. I'll go get the witch and pictures. I'll be off now. See you back at the academy." Kid quickly said. His words were as rushed as his body was after he spoke and darted out of the room, taking the photos and witch with him as he soon made his way back to Death City.

Liz groaned and looked to the girl on the ground. Unlike Kid, however, she didn't show that much hesitation or fear of the girl's sudden, uncontrollable mood swing. She was simply glad to know that her sister was safe and slowly started to look passed her appearance and attitude… for right now.

"There there, Patti. It's alright, I'm right here for you." Liz cooed down to the girl, immediately scooping her up and holding her closely. If this were any other child, Liz would have more than likely panicked, but surely enough she stayed composed at knowing this was just her little sister she was now dealing with.

It seemed that the diapered girl had just forgotten about her little tumble. She stopped bawling seconds after being picked up, and as if nothing was wrong, she returned to the previous series of giggles which she had so defined who she currently was.

"Phew, well that's better." Liz said with an anxious smile.

Liz had many issues to think about right now: How did Kid's spell wear off so quickly? What had happened between the witch and her sister? What did this mean for Patti? Whatever thought came into mind, the reality was that she had her dear sister back. Although there were many questions and concerns to be faced, she could take pride in the fact that they were sisters once more.

"Come on, Patti. Let's go home." Liz said, popping the pacifier into her sister's mouth and walking outside, where her transport back to Death City was surely waiting for the both of them.