Soul Eater Evans

The youngest son of the Evans family.

A delighted mothers face lights up in enthusiasm as she receives her new baby. The nurse only noticed the slight details of the strange newborn that made him difficult to dub a human. His red eyes, and white hair that somewhat sprouted through his bald head. It was unusual for a baby to even have hair after first being introduced to this world and the child before her had a tiny coat of white.

"What will you be naming him, ?", the nurse spoke in her brightest voice, trying to ensure a comforting atmosphere even while she's panicking in her head.

"Soul Eater.", she replied brightly.

"A weird name to match a strange child. Then again I guess it's no different from the name "Black*Star", and that child had just been born in the next room over! They should be friends, they might be the only kids able to get past the bazaar looks and names of each other. I'm not sure either of these kids have a very bright future, what a shame.", the nurse thought.

The father soon entered the delivery room, followed by his seven year old son.

"Wes, take a look at your baby brother.", the man guided the boy next to his mother, cradling the small child.

"Ooh! What's his name?", Wes cooed, mesmerized by the similarities in their hair and eyes.

"Soul Eater.", the mother softly stated, allowing the child to sleep peacefully in her arms.

"Wonderful, he'll be just as extraordinary as Wes!", the father exclaimed.

"Let's have this one play the piano, I'd love to have a pianist in the family wouldn't you? What do you think Wes? Piano?", she nodded towards her son who stared blankly into the baby's face.

"Piano!", he cheered.

The family rejoiced over their newborn son. He'd soon be another excellent, musical genius in the Evans family. A day later they were allowed to take the baby, after they requested extensive health check ups on the baby's blood pressure, mental health, and physique. They paid extra to ensure he'd be well maintained and that they'd have no issue with introducing him to a piano at such a young age.

The boy was two and a half when they introduced him to a piano for the first time. He'd already been familiarized with music, it was constantly played throughout the home and practiced by Wes for up to four hours at a time. Their everyday lives seemed to be revolved around music, and in no time flat they made sure their son would be an absolute prodigy when it came to an instrument. They purchased a piano and had it immediately delivered to their mansion.

"Soul Eater come here.", His mothers soft voice called him over to where she stood, next to a grand piano.

"Okay Mommy.", he stammered, failing to remember the words his mother requested she'd be addressed.

"That's Mother, dear. Not Mommy.", she corrected, guiding him towards the piano.

He didn't know what to say next, he took a seat at the long bench next to her as she'd requested.

"What is this?", he asked in a low voice, poking the keys as they made different sounds.

"A piano, Soul Eater. You're going to learn how to play with it.", she began to guide his hands to his sides as he made a somewhat unpleasant noise. He wanted to keep playing with it the way he had been, he thought it was quite amusing, but he'd still yet learn how to speak in complete sentences.

She began to speak in big words, in which he couldn't understand. Soon he found himself being commanded to play. He tried, unable to listen clearly upon her command and messing up from time to time. His mother began to feel irritated, as the boy hadn't taken to playing as naturally as she'd hoped.
After another failed attempt at playing she sent him to his room, where he'd be able to think clearly upon the lesson that had just been demonstrated to him far more than she felt necessary.

"He isn't learning as fast as I thought he would, what if he isn't as musically gifted as Wes?", she complained.

"Now now, calm down, he will pick it up eventually. It was his first time after all, even Wes took about a day or two to completely master the violin.", Souls father boasted.

"Yes I know but I think we should hire a teacher, nobody is musically gifted on the piano in this family. I wouldn't be able to properly teach him, we'll call first thing in the morning."

"Absolutely, and we'll call one of the best. This one will be an excellent teacher, and his student will be an absolute prodigy.", he agreed.

Not a day passed before one of the best music teachers in the country were called over to the Evans mansion. This teacher was an old man, at least sixty years old or over. He had a musky stench and large sausage-like fingers. Above that he was overly tall, at least six feet. In other words, Soul was terrified the minute he lay one eye on the strange man.

"Soul Eater!", called his mother.
Soon Soul found himself stepping extra carefully down the large narrow steps in hopes he wouldn't fall. He looked up at the man and shivered, fearing a monster.

"Monster!", he screamed.

"Soul Eater! That's terrible! is not a monster, he's much too nice. In fact he's willing to take time out of his day to teach you how to play the piano.", she spoke with no anger in her voice, knowing very well the only reason he'd been there is because of their large payment added to his salary.

"Sorry.", Soul mumbled.

"It's quite alright boy, take a seat here.", the old man said, patting a spot on the piano bench.

He did as commanded, taking yet another seat at the much too large piano, on the much too large bench, in the much too large house, next to the much too large man. Nothing seemed to make sense to him as the man spoke in even larger words to the mother, then demonstrated a play on the piano.
He tried the same thing, only to be corrected several times before they both took a break.
Before Soul could try to hoist himself off of the piano bench his mother stopped him, lightly gabbing his tiny shoulders.

"Soul Eater, are you sure you're trying your best?", she asked in a somewhat disappointed tone.

"Yes Mommy.", he replied, forgetting once more the word he'd been instructed to call her.

"Mother, Soul Eater, and are you really sure? That man is a very good teacher and you don't seem to be getting it.", she corrected with a stern look on her face.

"Sorry Mother.", he looked down at his dangling feet, trying to imitate the way in which she'd said the word.

"When comes back I want you to try extra hard, alright?", she lightly tapped his shoulders, directing him towards the piano once more.

Soon the man came back, not but five minutes later as he entered the room to find Soul Eater in the same spot at the piano bench.

"Didn't you take your break boy?", he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Mom-mother,", he vaguely corrected himself, "told me to stay put so I could learn better."

"Well alright then.", he shrugged it off, taking another seat at the wide piano bench.

"Let's start with keys first, put your finger here.", he said, guiding his tiny hand to the small key at the very tip of the piano.
He made a small sound as he pressed hard on the piano key at the very far end.

"Good, now try this one,", the man guided the toddlers hand to the next key, as Soul followed, repeating this step once more.

"Very good, now this one.", he said guiding his hand to yet another key.

The process went on until Soul was able to put two or more keys together to make a sound. At the end of the day, he was exhausted but satisfied with the warm smile his mother had given him, compared to the other day when all she'd given him was a stern look and a plastered, cold smile.

For the next few weeks the man came back and he seemed to stay longer and longer days at a time. Eventually it got to the point where he'd felt like he'd been playing all day. The man never seemed to leave, and when he did leave Soul often found himself either put to bed early or with rare minutes left in the day in which he had left to find a short game and play. Often times Wes would comfort him, reassuring he'd been doing great on the piano with much practice. Soul didn't exactly know what he meant, but he excepted the compliment as Wes often shortly after returned to his practicing on the violin. Everybody seemed to enjoy them, Soul hoped one day he'd be able to make the same amount of cheering erupt from his audience, no matter if it was in the small comforts of his large home, or a stage the size of the city itself.
The same routine took over his life, time to time messing up on his plays, receiving punishment. Other times, doing very well and receiving approval from his mother and father. A few times he'd played the piano for over a minute and a half, his longest run without messing up, and fail to notice pre-occupied with something else.

The piano teacher stayed, no matter how bad he played or how well. He was instructed to teach him to play and that's what he did. The cost in which he'd been paid was far too much to turn down, and soon Soul caught onto the reason he'd even offered. He was an Evan, he was worth money.

About two years passed, Soul Eater turned five years old. The only thing that changed in his routine life was the fact he was now home schooled, which his parents sometimes dubbed as an interference in his piano lessons. They made a very little deal every time he'd answered a question correctly and hardly paid any attention when he fell behind on his studies. They somehow managed to treat the piano as a mandatory part of life, just like breathing, and eating, and sometimes if necessary it would prove more often than sleeping.

One day, his mother had an infuriating melt down involving him and the piano. She yelled at him, using even more big words, such as "prodigy", or "nuisance". She instructed him to play once more and to get it right. He tried, this was a nearly three minute piece, he'd been unable to master. It was fairly difficult to reach the keys, the piano was so large and his arms were still so small and bony.

"Soul Eater, listen to me right now. Never in the history of the Evans family has someone been so terrible at learning a new instrument, your brother Wes completely mastered his instrument in under a week. It's his life and soul, and now you're given the opportunity to make Evan family history and this is what you choose to do with it? Go to your room and you will not be dining with us tonight, you'll be going to bed hungry until told otherwise. Now march.", she ordered, after he failed once more in his poor attempt.

That night, Soul went to bed crying, with an empty stomach. He didn't understand what he was doing wrong, he tried it just as the piano teacher had instructed but the keys were so far away and the piece was so long. It was difficult, and he'd disappointed his mother in the process of being unable to learn such a "simple" piece.

The pattern began to repeat, days went by and he only seemed to get worse and worse at the musical instrument. It seemed to sicken his parents and his brother had no comment. The piano instructor just sighed and drank out of a nearby wine glass once he'd been told to get back to work with the small Evans boy. As he only got worse, the punishments got longer and seemingly a bit more harsh by the failures.
"Soul Eater, if you don't start picking up on your lessons we will only have to resort to something more effective than the punishments you've been receiving, tonight you go to bed hungry and tomorrow you practice for an hour. Are we clear?", she commanded.

"Yes Mother.", he said proudly, in an attempt to impress her.

It didn't work, she was neither phased by his new word nor his positive attitude, she pointed to the stairs gaping across the stretched house, leading up to the large corridor on the second floor. He once again stumbled up the stairs, this time with a little more ease as she dismissed him to his room for the third time that week.

That night he began to ponder the change in his mothers atmosphere, he recalled when he was only two or three years old and she would lift him in her arms and call him her little Soul Eater. Now she rarely held him, and when she did it was either because she absolutely had to, or it was requested by a photographer. He shrugged it off, once again returning to bed with tears in his blood red eyes, and an empty stomach.
Two more years later, he'd finally turned seven. The world around him began to shrink a little as it became slightly easier to get around, he could now walk down the stairs without so much as but one or two stumbles on the final steps. The piano became easier too, he could play perfectly for up to two minutes, messing up only once. Unfortunately, this wasn't good enough. It was enough to please his mother and father as he once again started receiving his familiar, comforting looks but once he managed to mess up their fury would only confine him, taking away a few privileges or simply grounding him. It seemed their moods revolved around his performance on the piano. Whether he was good or bad they maintained their blank, unusual faces until he was finally done with the piece. At the end, they started off by giving him small notes on his play and then if the piano playing was so bad that that their fury peaked they'd invent new forms of punishment. The most usual one was the going to bed without supper and the stern lecture, followed by the hour or so of practice in the morning, preformed with no breakfast.

"Mother do I really have to play the piano?", he asked one bold night, "It's boring! I hate it!", he had reached his first temper tantrum.

His mother looked sternly upon him, as if he'd just said something that completely diminished her reason for living. She looked as if he'd insulted her multiple times, before ripping up something she'd held dear to her heart. In turn, she placed a hand where her heart lay, and slapped him in the face for the first time.

"Soul Eater.", she said in a loud voice, "Go to your room!", she screamed, sending the crying child away for the fifth time that week.

It wasn't that he was bad at the piano, it was that he simply had no interest anymore. His playing began to slow as he was given boring pieces which only had very fast and irritable tones and melodies. None of it made sense to him, he just couldn't comprehend the melodies which were usually played at parties. The type of melody that would persuade someone to dance, it was the type of beautiful melody his mother always complimented. He however, thought it was boring. He found no amusement in the way it was played or the song that went with it. It was too simple, and had no true feelings put behind it.

The next day he ran down the stairs once more to find his mother waiting for him. She showed no sympathy over the small bruise on his left cheek, and no care for how small the boy was. He smiled up at her, despite her face, swelled with anger. She spoke no words and pointed to the piano bench once more. The first thing he noticed was , not being there. He looked up at her once more as she continued to point, saying no words.

Today's request was odd.

He would be required to play continuously until he'd perfected the three minute, lovely piece. This time he'd be receiving no breaks and no dinner until he'd master the piece, she even made it a point that if necessary, they would stay up all night. Nonetheless he obeyed and played as well as he could, putting every bit of effort into it. Whenever he'd finished the long piece he'd simply sit there covered in sweat and sometimes tears when his mother would stop him, look at him, and instruct him to play once more. This went on for seven hours. He'd missed his homeschooling session that day when his mother called and claimed him sick. He so badly wanted to tell his tutor she was lying, and that he so badly wanted his company, but if he had he knew very well that he didn't know the right words, and that he'd be receiving another slap.

"Soul Eater.", his mother interrupted his poorly preformed play, "I don't care how much you cry, or how tired you are, we will keep playing until you get this. In the name of the Evans family, you will be a musical genius Please, Soul Eater, don't disappoint your mother.", she stated in an utterly disappointed voice, which only struck a never in Souls little body.

He spoke no words and drowned out his mothers voice, preparing another play. This time he turned the page, to a melody that was a minute longer than the one he'd been trying to play. He showed no fear, he looked down at the keys, up at his mother, and then back once more. Before his mother could speak in disapproval he hit the first note. Then he hit another, and another, and a few more, until a symphony was playing. This melody was not at all like the one poorly executed before, this one was amazingly dark with a sinister appeal. He took much interest in everything about it, playing with perfect precision and failure to mess up or miss even one key. The recital was long, and left him drenched to the bone with sweat. In less than but ten seconds, he'd collapsed onto the keys, sleeping.

"Soul Eater Evans, you will be my little musical prodigy.", his mother cooed, carrying him to bed.