Bettering My Soul.

Sitting in the darkness of her home, Chroma was troubled. Gig and Feinne were next to her, in their weapon forms, as usual, since they cannot exit them due to the contract. Chroma was exceedingly distraught by that girl Leia... Not only was she another Scythe weapon, but she also had a similar soul as Chroma... Not personality-wise, but ability-wise. Hmmm... They would be rivals once she got stronger... And Chroma was going nothing to prepare.

"... Eeeeeh... That scythe girl... Beeeeh. She's out bettering herself while I'm sitting around doing nothing..."

Chroma fell on her back, looking up at the darkness even more.

"... Even though I am the prodigy of the soul wavelength because of my lineage... I shouldn't be slacking off..."

Chroma rolled over, now onto her face. Her little wings floated beside her and she sighed again.

Gig, on the other hand, had something else in his mind. "Yo, kid, instead of sulking around talking about 'bettering yourself' and all that bullshit, why not go out and get some souls already, eh? I mean, come on... You can at least get some for ME, right? Even if you hit 99 and need a witch, I can still eat some! Don't be greedy. It's like... Someone who doesn't share hotpods!"

Chroma turned her head to face Gig, looking rather dreary. "... But collecting souls is so boring when we just keep doing the same old things. We need to learn something new. We barely know any real soul abilities except for ones passed down from my Father, and some we made ourselves... But we need to know the basics! If we understand the basic mechanics of the soul... We can do anything..."

Gig: Who the hell cares!? If we eat enough souls, we can kill anything. Hell I could already DO anything I damn well pleased when I was still able to change into my old self. Now look at me. Stuck as being a sword and a scythe for eternity.. Or until this partnership is over.

Chroma thought hard about this... All of this was troubling her so...

As Gig continued to rant on about the consumption of souls, something started to happen to Chroma... A feeling was overwhelming her... Her mind, her soul, and her body... It seems as though she was sinking... Sinking... Down into her own soul.

After a good moment or two, she got up from the ground, which was now tiled black and white. The sky was made up of a black and white swirl converging into one... and the atmosphere was rather grim, but booming with life.

"... Hm? Is this a dream...? I don't think I've been here before... Damn mental powers acting up again. I need to control those..."

As she walked through, she found two doors. Above one was labeled DEATH, and the other, labeled LIFE. Now she realized where she was.

"... So, I'm in my soul? How did I do that...? Whatever. Death is for me~."

Without any hesitation at all, she entered the Death door.

Inside of the Death door, she felt a strange presence of someone... Or something. She couldn't particularly decipher it at this time, but she knew it was a part of her...

"Show yourself!!" she screamed out to it.

From the sky, a small creature started to float down... It carried a lantern lit with a forlorn flame, and a scythe stained with blood. It looked to be some sort of ghastly doll of sorts...



Once it got down to Chroma, it looked at her with its pitch black, half sewn, abysmal eyes.

Chroma: ... What.. The hell are you?

???: ... I am a manifestation of your own Death Soul... So just call be Death...

Chroma: ... Okay, 'Death,' why am I here?

Death: ... You seemed troubled about your soul... So you brought yourself here unwillingly... You seem to be rather... Inexperienced with your own soul, still...

Chroma: HEY, shut up. What's that got to do with anything!?

Death: .... I can help youuuuu...

Chroma squinted her eyes, not really believing this sort of thing.

"... Help me how? I need to have training out in the real world to get better with my soul. Hmph."

Death: ... That works for some... But not all... You're one of the few that betters themselves inside of their own soul rather than using their soul in battle... Because I'm here. To help you...

Chroma: ... Alright, fine. I'll bite. What's first, then?

Death: ... How about... Your Soul Perception ability...?

Chroma: Pfff, what about it? It's top notch.

Death: ... If you work with me... I can let you see special things... That only a Death Soul can see...

Chroma was intrigued now. Perhaps there was something to this 'self training.' Maybe after this, she'd visit Shibusen to brush up on stuff she hadn't learned yet.. She honestly didn't want to disturb her Father unless he was the ONLY one who knew how to use a certain technique...

"Okay then... Let's go. How can I better my Soul Perception?"

Death smiled, starting to snicker "... Your Soul Perception allows you to see and assess souls, correct...? How would you like to see... Death?"

Chroma's eyes widened momentarily, then went back to normal "... What... Do you mean by that?"

Death: With this little 'adjustment' to your Soul Perception... It will allow you to see the Death that flows into one's soul and body constantly... 'See the Reaper' one could say... Everything in existence is slowly 'dying' from pressures from everything... And you will be able to see those pressures...

Chroma was beginning to like how this was sounding. Seeing the pressures of Death? From what she knew about her soul, if she could see these pressures... She might be able to control them, with time. "Yes... Teach me this new Soul Perception.."

Death floated over to a random place, and Chroma would follow. They stopped abruptly a few moments after they started walking, and Death turned around to her and waved his scythe around.

Death: Alright... Time now for you to learn this Soul Perception... Now... As I said before, being able to see Death will allow you to see the pressures of death as well as any changes to the pressures of death at all times... Such as if someone is about to be crushed by a falling piano... their pressure of death around them will increase as it gets closer and decrease as they get away... Even around you... There is such a pressure... And you will know death is coming if you can see it...

Chroma: ... Yes, so tell me, how do I use this?

Death: Riiiight.... First, your Soul Perception... Activate that....

Chroma activated her Soul Perception, though all it did was turn everything black, because she was inside of her own soul and Death was a fragment of her own soul, so she wasn't seeing anything, really. She just sat there, looking at blackness. "... Okaaaaay....?"

Death: Now, since it is active... Concentrate your Death wavelength into your Soul Perception... Let it naturally flow into your mind and connect your mind and soul... and you will see what I am talking about...

Chroma nodded, concentrating hard on her Death Soul and her own mind. Because of her lineage, she was already better than a majority of people at controlling her soul as well as her mind, and as such, could very easily connect the two. A few moments after her wavelength and mind connected... She could see them. The pressures of Death. They were all around her... They were bouncing off of the walls of her soul... It was a very sad sight to see.

"... Oh my... This surely is a very bad thing... Is there any way I can stop these...?"

Death: ... Khhheheheh. People try to cheat death all of the time. Even the immortals die. All you can do... Is wait...

Chroma thought about it... She could already control the generalities of death... So maybe she could extract the death pressures being put on someone's soul? Hm. It was something to think about, surely.

"... Hey. Can you also teach me how to do something with my Soul Menace technique?"

Death: Ehhh..? Hmmm... I guess I can... Though I would suggest after this.. You go to the other side and take a visit to Life... Hee.

Death: Alright... You already inherently know the Soul Menace technique... Which is a good thing. Now... for betterment of that technique... You already know how to use the Self Resonance... Obviously... And so now, I will teach you how to use your new perception of death to use this technique... For you will be needing it. Now... First, you must have your perception of death on...

Chroma nodded, indeed turning it on so that she could see the pressures of death.

Death: Now, go and use Soul Menace on that dummy over there...

A random dummy appeared out of nowhere, looking very similar to Death. Chroma ran up to it and quickly drove a stiffened hand into it, releasing her blackened wavelength into it. It naturally exploded, but she saw a difference in the pressures of death once she did that... They got more intense as her wavelength was released, making the dummy have a great deal of death pressure on it.

"... I see that the pressures of death have increased around it..."

Death: Good... Now, for the second part... I want you to go in for another strike... But this time, when you surge your wavelength into it, try to also concentrate on it to make it suck in the pressures of death at a rapid rate... Because naturally, if a large amount of the pressures of death are taken in at once...

Chroma: ... Then that means they're closer to their death.

Death: Correct... And it is especially good because those that are immune to your own wavelength... Such as those with a similar, opposing or flexible soul... Who can either match or reject your wavelength... You can suck some death pressure into them to maybe... Debilitate one of their body parts? Heeheehee... Now try it...

Chroma nodded, this time she had on the largest grin. She stabbed her stiffened hand into the dummy, using her Soul Menace once again, but the moment she did, the pressures of death around the dummy got sucked into it. There was so much that the dummy just started to fall to pieces... There was too much death for it to handle, and now the death caused it to dissipate into ash. Chroma snickered "Ooooo, this is gonna be fuuuuuuun!"

Death cackled "OH, you are ssssoooo fun to watch... Now, go and talk to Life in the LIFE room... your Life soul is ever so lonely...

Chroma nodded and walked out of the door.

Chroma had just walked out of the DEATH door, closing the black door shut. She immediately walked over to the LIFE door without a second thought... Because obviously Death knew that Life probably had something to teach as well... And that was always good to know.

Chroma opened the door, and everything was booming with life and color... It was all so vibrant... In a sense, Chroma was sickened by it. She really did prefer the DEATH room more. Some moments after walking in, she heard someone start to talk to her.

????: Hello there. You are just coming from seeing Death, aren't you?

Chroma: ... Yep. And I'm assuming that you're Life, huh?

From out of the bushes, an animal girl about the same size at Chroma popped out. She resembled a sort of cute bunny. Her ears were long and floppy, her fur was soft and a peachy-white color, and her tail was cute and FLUFFY!!!



Life: ... Yes, I am Life... And even though you do not use my wavelength often, I am very glad to see you!

Chroma nodded slowly "Riiiight... Okay, so, what can you teach me, Life?"

Life: ... Mmm... Personally, I do not prefer anything that is brutal or destructive... Maybe that is why you do not use my wavelength a lot... But I can upgrade your Soul Perception, just like Death did... Mine will allow you to see the lifelines of anything... What holds it together in existence... And sense the life of those around you by upgrading your Soul Feedback at the same time...

Chroma could probably use those two abilities... If she could feel the life of others, she could know where everyone was all of the time because of their life signatures... And then being able to see lifelines.. She'd be able to pull and tug on them to her will. Heh heh.

"Alright... Teach me."

Life: Well... Do you remember how you learned your perception of death from Death?

Chroma: Yeah-- Wait, how did you know that?

Life: ... I'm part of your soul. So is he. We're technically the same thing, just on different sides. I am on the side of the Life wavelength, he is on the side of the Death wavelength. Together we form your soul.

Chroma: ... Makes sense.

Life: Now... If you take the same ability you did with the Death wavelength and do that with the Life wavelength... you will be able to see Lifelines. And just apply that to your Soul Feedback ability as well and... There you go. Simple.

It was very simple, and Chroma was happy, for she didn't need any complex shit right now. Just a simple little connection of her wavelength... Oh, but due to her inactivity with her Life wavelength.. It was a little more difficult than planned. She strained for a few moments trying to put the Life wavelength in check... but eventually, she got it. It would be connected with her mind while she was using Soul Perception... And after a few moments, the lifelines were clear. She could see her own on her body. They were all over the place... But there was one giant one that stood amongst them all. That was probably the main one that if stuck, would kill her. Ohhh boy...

Chroma: ... Yeah, I can see my lifelines. Now what?

Life: ... Just use your Soul Feedback while your wavelength is still active... it will speak for itself...

Chroma started to use her Soul Feedback, which started off very faint... But soon, she started to feel the very lives of her two weapons, Gig and Feinne on the outside. Hmmmm... It must be working.

Life: ... So you see now, hm? There's one more thing I have to teach you, though...

Chroma cocked her head to the side impatiently "Okay, shoot. I kinda wanna go and play with my new toys, ya know?"

Life nodded "Yes, yes, I know... This is something that involves Self Resonance... Because as you know, I really dislike all of that destructive and harmful stuff... I prefer serenity. And so this self resonance is something I like to call the Serene Resonance... It will cause your soul to match the wavelength of life itself.."

Chroma couldn't figure out what she was going to do with her wavelength matched up with life itself, but it could be useful, perhaps.

"Alright, so how do I do it?"

Life: You must resonate with yourself until you can actually feel life around you... once you can feel life, then you have resonated enough and must quickly start to resonate with that life you feel... Alright?

Chroma: Got it...

Chroma closed her eyes, starting her own Self Resonance with her Life wavelength... Again, it was naturally harder because of her inexperience... The wavelength was very flimsy and didn't fluctuate the way she wanted to at first.. But she kept going at it. Her wavelength kept going... and going... and going... and eventually, it stabilized. Once it was stable, then she could progress forward to make it amplify itself. And so, in a matter of moments, she continued to amplify her own life wavelength until it hit its maximum potential within herself... And just as Life said, she felt life flowing around her. Because the pressures of death were absorbed into the body constantly, they forced out the pressures of life into the atmosphere... And that is why everything could die. But some thing continued to pour life back in, cleansing the death from the inside of the body and filling it with life once more... That is what made the immortals immortal. Everything was quite clear to her now... And with that clarity, there came resonance. She had accepted life. She had accepted it as her wavelength.. and the resonance started to grow. It felt nice... warm... revitalizing... as if her body was being restored... Perhaps this was one of the perks of this Serene Resonance. Heh. She could get used to it.

".... Mmm.. It's so nice, Life.. I don't know why I have been rejecting you so much.. Mmm.. I promise to balance both Life and Death equally, so that I do not overuse one nor under use the other..."

Life smiled cutely "Aw.. That is what I wanted to hear... Well, looks like you're done here... Until next time..."

and with that, Chroma was back. It seemed as though she had been gone for hours. Gig and Feinne were asleep. She smiled, not wanting to disturb them, so she just flew out of the Pit of Havoc to look for someone to test her skills on...