The Abyssal Ch. 1

AN: Alright so I'll let you all know right now, I haven't played the PtD edition yet, I'm waiting for the dlc very impatiently. I've noticed there haven't been much crossovers for Dark Souls, call that a good thing if you will, and I've been a mood to write but couldn't find something, so here we are. This is just a test if anything if no one likes it, and I do ask for your guys help if you're willing to give it, then I'll take it down, I've been doing that a lot recently... It's been a while since I've seen Soul Eater, but I plan on brushing up on it over the next couple days and if I get someone's feelings or acting wrong, don't be afraid to call it out, some of the better stories are helped by the community.

I think Artorias is an awesome guy, and I'm fine with what they did in the new content, this is just a 'what-if' scenario, I guess most crossovers are but that's beside the point. Hope you guys enjoy it and let me finish by saying I own NOTHING, nothing in Soul Eater or Dark Souls. Now, without further a-dew…

Artorias let out a deep breath as he fell back onto a stone pillar and slowly slid down it as he felt his strength fade still. This place, this wretched place known as the Abyss, it was not meant for those of light, those who were not human. The longer he spent here the weaker he felt, he had placed his shield with his companion, Sif, and hoped that the wolf would one day find his way out. He grasped his pendant tightly and felt strength fill his heart and limbs and stood slowly.

Whatever lay ahead he did not know if he could best it, but he must try, the fate of this place and the realm depended on it, he must not fail. Artorias fought on through the strange creatures ahead, what was left of the residents of Oolacile and the strange black sprites that were repelled by his pendant. He fell to his knees at last in front of a white gate of fog as he regained what strength he had left and stood, what lied ahead he did not know, but he was not simply going to give up now.

He took a shaky step forward and pushed through the gate, he stood on a ledge to a black chasm and looked down, he gripped his pendant with his left hand as his other tightened on the hilt of his sword. Suddenly a large hand burst from the darkness and as he rolled back, but the hand gripped his leg and pulled him into the darkness.

Artorias was slammed into the ground and rolled, lying where he stopped for a minute before his hand searched and found his sword. He used it as a prop as he pulled himself up; the strength of the Abyss was its strongest here, he could feel it in his bones, and as he looked up, he saw his target.

The beast was large, massive, but he stood strong, he had killed dragons bigger; he would not let his courage falter, could not. His grip tightened on his sword and he brought his other hand up to grab the hilt as he held it out in front of him and began to circle the creature. It roared at him and charged, Artorias dove to the side as it slammed the ground where he was a moment before. He jumped forward and slammed his sword into the creatures arm, it sunk deep, but the creature hardly paid mind to it and smacked him away.

Artorias hit a pillar, flying through it and rolling, he got up as quick as he could and dove back as the creature did an uppercut with its giant arm. He ran around behind it and sliced at its leg, it buckled and Artorias got another hit in on its waist before diving back as the creatures arm reached around behind it to try and grab him.

He ran back a bit as the thing roared and went into a rampage, thrashing the area around it; he was about to move in when it batted at him with its staff. He blocked it with his sword and spun back with the force of the blow, ending the small turn facing the creature again. Its staff glowed black like the sprites from before, he clutched his pendant and as the waves of black magic came at him he heaved his chest out and light surrounded him, the darkness flowing around him.

The creature was on him in an instant however and he barely got his sword up in time as it brought its cruel staff down on him. He groaned in pain as his legs and arms screamed fighting the massive force. Artorias was helpless as the creature brought its hand up and grabbed him, throwing him across the fighting ground. He got up in a run and stumbled forward as the creature again slammed its staff into the ground where he was moments before, it felt impossible to get up, his strength was nearly depleted.

He held up his sword however, he may lose this fight, but he would not give up. He ran forward and dove under the creatures massive arm as it swung, but grabbed its fur on its arm as it passed over his head. He flew through the air and let go when he was above the creature, falling onto its back he plunged his sword down into the creature.

It roared in pain and tried to grab him but he pulled his sword out and stomped the creatures head with his metal boot, causing it to falter, before bringing his arms over his head to bring his sword down on its skull. However, the creature managed to grasp him, and Artorias felt himself leave the creatures back as his arms were held above his head where its wicked fingers grasped him. It slammed him into the ground and flung him into the air, smacking him away before he could hit the ground again.

He hit the ground hard and bounced as he rolled to a stop in front of a pillar, he grasped it desperately and looked up as he saw the creatures black magic surrounding it. Artorias used the last of his strength to crawl around the pillar and rest his back against it as he heard the blackness assault the stone, it crumbled from the cursed magic, nothing but a stone stump when the assault stopped.

He stood shakily, he would not give up, he would not. He held his sword in his hand but fell forward onto his knees, he would not give up. Artorias looked up as the malevolent being swung its staff, a wall of black rushed at him and he slammed his swords blade into the ground in front of him and what magic it had left deflected the black around him, but it closed in slowly. It was all too soon when it was flung away, his fingers barely holding onto it as it was thrown back with the force of the magic.

Artorias was hit full force in the chest, spiked right through by one of the abyssal sorceries. His grip loosened on his sword as he sat still on his knees, but he gripped it lightly with the last of his strength as he fell forward and lay still on his stomach as light drained from his vision. "Ciaran…" he whispered quietly as nothing but black remained.

He remained still for what felt like millennia before his eyes slowly opened beneath his hood. It was dark, not abyssal dark, but there was no light around to tell him of his surroundings other than that he was in an open room and that his sword was right before him. His arms felt like they did not belong to him, but they responded the way he wanted them to and his fingers tightened on the hilt of his sword. Artorias tried to get up, hoisting himself up on shaky arms he just fell forward, rough stone rubbing his hood against his cheek.

He propped himself up on his forearms and slowly pushed himself onto his back, his strength was returning to him slowly, but his limbs felt like they hadn't been used in ages. He took deep breaths and held his hands up in front of his face and opened and closed them to make sure he could do so, he felt in a trance as his arms felt detached. His arms dropped to his chest and he stared up into the black above him as he tried to regain his senses.

He could hear and feel a light breeze blow across his face after many minutes and turned his head to his right, nothing from what he could see but there may be something over there. Artorias again rolled himself over and pressed his blade into the ground and held it with both hands as he used it to pull himself up. He took a step forward, and another, and another, his sword dragging in the dirt behind him as he limped slowly in the direction of the wind.

He reached a wall and pressed a hand against it for support before leaning his shoulder into it and gripping his pendant, or tried to as he found it was no longer there. He cursed to himself, and to the creature he had been fighting, wherever it may have retreated to…or transported him to. Artorias looked up the wall he was leaning against and saw stairs, following them he saw where they reached the floor and limped over to them. When he reached them he looked up the large stair case and reached into a small pouch on his belt where he found another thing to draw strength from, a gift from Ciaran, it was a small talisman she had carved for him.

He did not know where he was, but this certainly wasn't where he had been fighting that infernal abyssal beast. After a while of climbing he saw a torch inside of a dark stone passage, grabbing it he lifted his sword up and rested it on his shoulder. There was no explanation for it, but he was no longer in the Abyss as he felt its leeching grip no longer held him, instead he felt his strength slowly returning.

Artorias explored the passage as it took him down many more before opening into lit chamber with large stone pillars and a large doorway opening to sunlight. He discarded the torch and limped slowly to the exit, covering his eyes as the light stung them. He reached back into his pouch and gripped the wooden talisman tightly as he stepped out into the sunlight, he fell to his knees and fell forward, his arms stopping him as the talisman dropped from his hand and his sword clanged to the ground.

While Artorias was still regaining his strength, he was still very weak, all the walking after just waking had drained him. He took deep breaths and looked down at the talisman from Ciaran and his heart felt as though it had been pounded with a blacksmiths hammer. He fell back a bit on his legs and reached down for the talisman, lifting it gently with both hands and holding it to his chest as he sat hunched in the entrance to the structure he was in front of.

He looked up after a while and examined his surroundings, he was in a chasm of sorts, there were high cliff walls on either side of him, but not close enough as to not allow trees to form a path in the dry dusty ground. The structure itself was old and overgrown with vines and ivy, the sandstone color barely poking through some of the lower greenery. Artorias looked at the trees on either side of the path ahead of him, how they grew he was not sure, but grass grew alongside them in the sandy ground.

This was not Oolacile, he wasn't sure this was even Lordran, but Lordran was a wicked place, anything was possible. Artorias looked around and ripped a small but thick vine down and stripped the leaves from it in one sweep on his hand down the small greenery. He wove it through a hole in the talisman carefully and reached into his hood with each hand grasping an end of the vine, he tied it behind his neck and let go.

Artorias gently grabbed the talisman and held it closed to his face as he bowed his head, making a silent prayer as he set it against his chest and rested his hands against his legs as he looked around one last time. He took a deep breath and stood carefully before reaching down and grasping his sword, swinging it up onto his shoulder he took a step down the small staircase and into the dusty sand. He could feel the heat of the sun above despite being in the shade and not being able to see it but he would not let that stop him as he walked.

He did not know what his next goal was, but for now, he would walk, what he found next, he knew, would decide what it was he did next. He didn't have to wait long.

"You sure this is the place?" Tsubaki asked Maka as Soul and Black Star stood beside them as they looked into a large dark canyon that was in the middle of the desert. They had been called by Lord Death earlier that day to be told that they had found a very strange soul wave that they couldn't identify, as it was weak and was like nothing they had scanned before.

"I think this is where Lord Death told us to go," Maka said looking at a map they had been given, "Of course us being in the middle of the desert doesn't leave much room for interpretation, but there aren't that many canyons around." She held a hand up to her head to block the hot sun and looked around at the sandy wasteland around them before looking back into the chasm. "So you wonder what's in there?" she asked.

Black Star laughed and held a thumb to his chest, "It doesn't matter, a man big as myself doesn't need to worry because I can handle everything," he said loudly. He frowned and crossed his arms, "Why Lord Death even had you guys go with me I don't even know, I can handle myself."

Soul chuckled to himself, "That why you guys haven't gotten a single Kishin egg yet?" he asked.

Black Star waved a dismissive hand, "I'll have you know Tsubaki could very well be a Death Scythe by now, but a man big as myself doesn't need someone else to do the work for him," he replied casually referring to their mission from the other day.

"Come on," Maka said slightly annoyed and walking forward, "We came here to find that soul for Lord Death, not bicker about who has how many souls," she said and the others followed her. After a minute they were consumed by shade from the tall chasm before it opened up to another grove.

"Whoa," Soul said looking at the path ahead of them, before them was a sandy path that had trees on both sides with some green on the sand around them going down the long pathway. It looked beautiful with the trees leaves creating patches of sunlight on the path and blowing clean air around them as the gentle sound of the leaves wavered in the breeze.

"Let's keep it moving," Black Star said rolling his eyes and walking ahead of the group as they gaped at their surroundings for a moment longer before following him. Beautiful as it was, the pathway was long and winding and after a while Maka felt the air grow strange as she felt something.

"You feel that?" Soul asked quietly after a while looking around them, he felt it too.

"It feels like a soul," Tsubaki said mimicking Soul's reaction.

"HAH!" Black Star laughed loudly, "You guys shouldn't worry so much, if there is something ahead a man like myself can protect us, you don't need to worry."

"Black Star this is serious," Maka snapped, there was something wrong, this soul was definitely different and she was fairly certain it was powerful, despite how weak it might be.

He waved a dismissive hand and placed his hands on the back of his head and continued to walk, Maka fumed inwardly but they continued on until they made a turn around another corner. Everyone stopped and stared at the large figure as he rested against one of the trees down the path, they could faintly make out what looked like a temple way further back.

He had silver armor and blue cloth on him, one hand held a massive sword as it lay flat on the ground beside him as the other held a charm of some sort in front of his chest, the string going into his helmeted hood, which obscured his face. His head was leaning back against the tree as far back as his dark plume would allow him, he didn't seem to notice them.

He looked pretty tall, like maybe a bit taller than Tsubaki, but it was hard to tell with him sitting down and with how far away they were. "Hey you!" Black Star shouted at him.

"Black Star," Tsubaki hissed quietly, worry in her usually gentle tone, but the figure did not move.

"Are you strong?" he shouted, "because I'm going to beat you in a bigger way you can ever imagine!" The figure lowered his hand to his chest and let go of the charm and leaned forward as he rose.

"Black Star," Tsubaki said with her tone now full of worry, the man was tall, very tall, if Maka were to guess he must have been almost as big, if not bigger, as Lord Death. They all tensed as the figure rose to his full height and raised his giant sword to his shoulder easily before looking at the group of kids.

All except for Black Star, "You better get ready, we're going to beat you to a pulp and get your Kishin soul!" he shouted.

Maka frowned as the figure stood still, "I don't think he's a Kishin," she said, there was always that certain essence around Kishin's that made you know what was one or not, but this guy, whatever he was or however powerful he may be, wasn't a Kishin.

The figure just stared at them for the longest time, Black Star grumbled, "Well are you gonna do anything or not?" he demanded.

Finally he took a step toward them and Soul prepared himself to transform, but the figure simply walked up to them, looking down on them from his height; sheesh the guy must have been, like, eight feet, maybe taller. After a moment he looked back up and walked right through the middle of their group, his armor clanking with each step he took through the sand.

"Don't turn your back on me!" Black Star shouted angrily as Maka debated whether they should follow him. When he didn't stop, "Tsubaki," he demanded and she bit her lip and looked at the figure before turning into a chain scythe and dropping into Black Star's hands.

He yelled as he charged the figure, "Black Star, wait!" Maka yelled reaching out to grab him, but it was too late, the idiot jumped at the man, or whatever he was.

He quickly looked over his shoulder and stepped to the side, catching Black Star's leg and swinging him around over his head as he spun his giant sword in his other hand. He slammed Black Star into the ground and his giant sword slammed down into the ground, kicking up a lot of dust.

Soul and Maka coughed and closed their eyes as they fanned the dust, looking after a moment to see Black Star on the ground and the figure crouching over him with is giant sword imbedded in the ground right beside Black Star's head.

"Soul!" Maka said holding her arm out.

"Right," he replied and grabbed her hand and transformed into a scythe, she stood tensed and ready as Black Star scoffed.

"Stupid, you can't even hit me, but that's okay, you wouldn't have been the first to try and harm me and fail," he said. The figure pulled the sword up a bit before slamming it back into the ground, causing Black Star to flinch. He stood and pulled the sword from the ground, reaching down and plucking Tsubaki from the ground also and tossing her away, she transformed again and landed looking at the tall man.

He looked at them, "Who are you?" Maka demanded, her grip tightening on Soul.

He was silent for a moment, "My name is Artorias, one of the four knights of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder. My title is Abysswalker, and at the moment I am not going to fight a group of children I can easily kill, even in my weakened state." His voice was calm and cool, despite talking of being in a weakened state he definitely was fast enough to pluck Black Star out of the air. There was something he said that caught Maka's attention, several things actually, one of the four knights of Gwyn, the supposed Lord of Cinder? There were three more like him and who was this Gwyn? Then there was the other thing, his title was Abysswalker, that was certainly interesting, maybe they could ask him a couple questions. "Though you must be very skilled in sorceries despite your age to be able to transform your flesh such as you do," he added causing more questions to fill her head.

Maka lowered Soul, "Maka?" he asked cautiously.

"Sh," she hissed, "Just trust me," she whispered and he nodded, but remained in weapon form. "Where do you think you are?" she asked nicely, they hadn't heard of anything he just talked about, maybe he was delusional.

"Lordran," he said calmly, "Surely even humans such as yourselves should know that."

They all looked at each other, except Black Star who didn't seem to even notice as he stood. Maka looked back at the tall man, "You're…just outside Death City, you're on earth, not…Lordran," his face was obscured by his hood, but it was obvious he must have been confused. "We were sent here by Lord Death to find a strange soul wave, we guess that's yours," she said.

The man looked down at himself as if to look at his soul and looked up at them, "Take me to this Lord Death of yours, if I am in a new land I'd prefer to not hear it from a group of children," he said.

"HEY!" Black Star shouted, "I'm not a child, I'm a bigger man than you can ever hope to be!" the man slowly turned his attention to the kid.

"Did you save your land and watch as friend and ally died beside you as their flesh and bones were burned to cinder by dragon flame? Did you ever step foot into the Abyss and live to tell the tale? Have you ever loved…" he stopped himself and looked down at his charm before looking up at the ignorant kid. "When you see what I have seen and still be sane, then you can say you're a bigger man than I," he said and looked down the path behind him. "You may follow if you wish, but lest Nito is not this Lord Death you speak of then I may need your guidance, if so I prefer we not speak otherwise," he said and began down the path.

"Can you believe this guy?" Black Star said, Maka rolled her eyes and Soul transformed again as they kept their distance from the figure ahead of them.

"You think this guy's coo-coo in the head?" Soul whispered to her spinning his finger next to his head.

She shrugged, "No clue, I'm fairly certain he's not a Kishin, but I don't know, he has a very strong soul I can say that for certain though. If anything he thinks we're the crazy ones so maybe he's just lost, I mean his soul just randomly appeared out of nowhere so we have no idea what happened to him before." She felt like asking him questions, who was this Gwyn he talked about and who were his other three knights? Why did he say unless Nito wasn't Lord Death he would need their help, who was Nito? What's up with the dragons and the Abyss and all that? And then there was that sentence when he was going off on Black Star, had he lost a loved one or something?

Then their was the charm, Maka could see his step waver a bit but his hand moved up to his chest about where his charm was and his steps seemed to right themselves, Maka had taken a look at it but it was just a piece of wood with some carvings on them. Maybe he was from somewhere else, the guy was skinny, but really tall, and he seemed to believe really heavily that he was in this Lordran place. After a while they stepped out into the desert and Artorias stood ahead of them a bit out in the middle of the sand looking up at the sky, not seeming to mind the heat.

They followed his gaze to the laughing sun, "What an idiot, who stares at the sun?" Black Star muttered angrily.

Tsubaki frowned and walked up to him, she tugged at his small blue cape, he looked down at her. "Are you okay sir?" she asked and he looked back up at the sun.

He was silent for a while, "Human, have you ever loved something?" he asked and she was confused a second.

"Yes," she said looking up at him.

"Have you ever had that thing taken away from you, separated by death or the simple knowledge you will never see them again?" he asked.

Tsubaki lowered her gaze, "Yes," she said quietly after a moment.

"Then you have an understanding of the emptiness," he said and she looked up at him surprised, "There has only been one thing I have ever loved, and now I will never see her again. I know not if she knows of my fate, my fight within the Abyss, my loss, but I know that while I know she may live on elsewhere she only knows me as missing and I do not wish her to be filled with such anxiety thinking of such things. We never announced our love to each other as our knighthood demanded it, but we knew of the looks we would give one another and I wish Ciaran better than anxious thoughts of my fate; knowing of my death will provide some closure, I have seen many knights lose their minds to thoughts of their loved ones. I know not if you understand what I am saying child, but when there has only ever been one light in a sea of darkness and war and death, when there has been love where before there was nothing, there is no feeling like it. To have that taken away is no different than to go Hollow, she is strong, but all have their limits," he finished.

Tsubaki stared up at him, his words were a bit confusing to her, he seemed like he wanted to say different than what he did or that he just couldn't put his feelings into words, but she knew what he meant. She smiled and walked around him and grabbed his free hand, he looked down at her and was still for a moment before nodding and she pointed in the direction of Death City.

"Death City is that way, we can show you the way if you need us to," she said and waved the other three over. He nodded and allowed them to walk ahead of him.

"What did he say?" Maka whispered after looking over her shoulder.

"I think he knows he's not where he thought he was," was all Tsubaki said, "If you want specifics you can ask him yourself, I think he should be the one to tell you." Though she had just met him, she wanted to respect the mans privacy, if he wanted more than just her to know, then he would tell, that was how secrets worked usually and she knew, she could relate. After a long while they stopped outside Death City as Artorias fell to his knees and used his hand and sword to support himself.

"Hey what happened?" Soul asked as the four of them went to see what was wrong with him.

"I told you before, I am weak from a hard battle and my strength is still recovering. I do not fall to my knees for any other reason than they have been wanting to for over an hour and have finally reached their limit," he breathed out. Black Star scoffed with crossed arms and Artorias looked at him, despite the sun it was as if the hood absorbed all light and his face remained further obscured. "Child, you insult my honor, another outburst such as that and do not think I will not challenge you," he said and Black Star looked at him with a wicked smile.

"Black Star!" Tsubaki warned harshly before he could say anything, he looked at her with a disappointed look on his face and shrugged, turning and walking away toward the academy.

Artorias sat back and set his sword down as he gripped the charm around his neck, what looked like a dried vine now being the only thing holding it. He held it up to his face for a moment before taking a deep breath and standing, he allowed them to guide him to the large school at the top of the city.

He stared at the building and the others looked back at him, save Black Star who was already climbing the steps. "Everything okay?" Maka asked him.

He lowered his gaze to them, "Yes, it is simply strange is all," he said glancing at the giant candles around the large building. "What is the purpose of having a castle such as this?" he asked as he had never seen such an odd sight.

"Oh, it's our school, this is where weapons and meisters go to learn how to use their powers and help get rid of Kishin's," Maka told him as they walked up the steps.

"Kishin's?" he asked slightly confused.

"They're weapons who have killed humans and consumed their souls, corrupting their own and turning them evil," Maka replied.

Artorias absentmindedly fumbled with another pouch on his belt and pulled a small box from it, his bottomless box. "What's that?" Soul asked as Artorias opened the lid and reached his fingers in as he slipped his sword into a small leather loop on his back that held it.

He felt something with his fingers but dug around for a moment more before pulling out a golden sprite that floated in the palm of his hand. "What's that?" Tsubaki asked, the group staring at it mesmerized.

"'Tis a dragon soul, have you never seen one before?" he asked, they shook their heads and he placed it back in his box and snapped it closed, putting it away and pulling his sword back onto his shoulder. "There are all sorts of sprites, each soul has a certain amount of power, to crush one within ones palm can fill you with their power temporarily; though if I were to guess, these souls you hunt are not the same things." They now looked tense as he described how souls worked where he came from. "If you must know, I defended my land with my life, no time soon do I plan on consuming a human soul if there is no need," he said and walked up the steps.

The three watched him and whispered among themselves, "I thought you said he wasn't a Kishin?" Soul asked.

"He's not, at least, not from what I can sense," Maka snapped, "He did say he was from somewhere else, maybe souls there work differently," she said with a shrug.

"I think we should trust him for now," Tsubaki said glancing back at the figure as he stood at the top of the stairs looking up. "He doesn't even know where he is, if he is a Kishin then we'll stop him, but for now I think we should help him."

They looked at her but then Artorias, "He is powerful, if we can get him to work with us it'd definitely benefit us..." Maka thought aloud, though sounding unsure.

"Well Lord Death does still want to see him, maybe we can decide then," Soul suggested and Maka nodded.

"Alright, we'll take him to Lord Death," she said and the other two nodded and walked up the stairs where Artorias stood. When they approached him he was mumbling something to himself very quietly, none of them could understand what he was saying. When they drew closer he stopped and glanced back at them, "Did you say something?" Maka asked curiously.

"Just a prayer," he said and gestured for them to lead the way, they opened the doors for him and he had to duck a bit to fit through, he seemed used to it though. As they walked down the halls Artorias drew many stares but didn't seem to care as they led him to the Death Room.

"Ah, so this must be the soul we detected, hello," Death said in a jolly tone. Artorias studied the creature; it definitely wasn't Nito by far, if anything this 'Death' hardly looked threatening at all. "And what is your name now?" he asked.

"I am Knight Artorias, one of the four knights of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, my title is Abysswalker. I assume you are the Lord Death I've heard these children talk about." Black Star scoffed but remained silent.

"Yes, I must admit though, I've never heard of a Gwyn before…" Death began.

"I have made amends that I am not where I once thought I was, but the fact still remains to what I once was," Artorias said with a raised hand.

"I see, then it is an honor to meet you ser," Death said with a small bow of his head, Artorias returning the gesture. "If you wouldn't mind me asking, would you accept an invitation to be apart of the DWMA, I am sure you don't carry that sword around for show and we're always willing to accept help."

Artorias' gaze drifted down some as he thought, there was much he didn't know of this land and how it worked, nor did he know what his duties were to be, but he'd figure it out sooner or later. He looked back up, "I will accept, though I have no place for which to stay if I were to be apart of this place, this…school."

"Hmm," Death said looking among the kids that had gathered, "I'm not sure you'd like it here within the school, but I'm sure one of these kids would gladly take up the offer," he said.

Artorias turned and looked at the kids, "Hey, we already have Blair to deal with, I'm not sure there will be enough room for him too," Soul said with slight irritation.

"I'm sure you could stay with Black Star and I," Tsubaki said looking at the blue haired kid, "Right?"

Black Star crossed his arms and looked away, "A man as big as me could accept, but I don't just let random people into my house whenever they feel like coming in," he said stubbornly.

Soul sighed and looked at Maka as they knew no amount of arguing was going to change Black Star's mind, "Well, I guess we can find something," Maka said rubbing the back of her neck.

Artorias nodded, "I will not try to take up important space, I won't have need for much," he said and the two nodded and he turned to Death.

"Then it's settled," he said, "Artorias, you'll stay with Soul and Maka. As you are not a student there will be no need for you to come, but if you want to learn how we do things here you can go classes with them if you choose to," the knight nodded.

"I know not what brought me here, but if I am to stay, then so be it. I look forward what the future may hold," he said and looked at the kids, "Thank you for showing me the way. If you will grant me the knowledge of your accommodations I would be further in debt to you," he said and Maka bowed a bit, smacking Soul on the back of the head so he did the same.

"You're welcome, I promise we'll do our best to help you if you need it," she stood straight and held out her hand, "My name is Maka, I'm a meister, and Soul is my weapon," she said.

Artorias stared at the hand for a moment, he had seen humans greet each other with such things before, but never had one approached him with such a gesture. He reached out slowly with his left hand and took the smaller hand, she smiled and shook it with a firm grip and let go.

She waved her hand to her other friends, "And this is Tsubaki and Black Star, if you didn't already know," she said and Artorias nodded. "Lord Death, is it alright if we leave the school to show Artorias where we live?" she asked.

"Well I don't see the harm, I'm sure while you're at it you can show him around the city too," he said and the girl nodded. "Tsubaki and Black Star, why don't you head back to class while Maka and Soul show Artorias around, if we have another assignment for you we'll call you down," he said and the two nodded and walked out.

"I would assume I may have to lower my standards as there seem to be things I can foresee offending either myself or my honor. I will try to control myself but there are certain things I may not let pass," the knight said and Lord Death nodded.

"So long as you don't kill any students I'm sure there shouldn't be any problems," he responded.

Artorias bowed, "I am appreciative of the hospitality and I am looking forward to returning the favor, now, may we be off?" he asked and Maka nodded.

"Goodbye Lord Death," she said and Soul waved and the three walked out.

Death thought as he watched the trio walk out of the Death Room. The knight's soul was very shrouded, not even he could detect its power level, but he could feel it, and it grew seemingly stronger every moment. He was interested to see how Artorias fought, but he didn't know exactly what kind of power he had so determining what kind of mission to send him on would be tough. In any case, it was good the knight was fighting for them, he was bound to prove valuable in the future; that was for certain.

AN: Hello again, I hope you enjoyed the story, and if not then that's fine, I know I'm still not the best at this. Like I said before, I hope you guys can leave a couple reviews to maybe tell me what it is I might be doing wrong, such as the way a character acts or whatnot. I'm also sorry if it got a bit confusing at parts, like I said, still not the best at explaining things sometimes, especially emotions. Thanks for reading though and please leave a review telling me your thoughts, if it does need improvement then certain mistakes will repeat unless pointed out. I'm still not 100% on the direction i'm going to take with this but I hope you guys enjoy and have a good day!