Eating Souls, Act One: The Beginning

16: I love you: Life goes on?

Dear Leila

I'm sorry for leaving you. But you're not alone. You have Professor Stein and Maka and Black Star... And you can play dinosaurs with Patti and dress up with Liz. So don't be lonely, 'kay?

Thanks for taking care of me. Keep cooking.

Rivin

Leila had found the note in the kitchen the night before, in Rivin's personal drawer, while looking for bandages for her hands. She'd kept the living room just bright enough to read, and she had sat there, all night long, reading the note over and over again. Every word felt like a razor blade to her soul.

Rivin was gone. Leila's companion, her best friend, her little sister...gone...and she had done nothing to save her. She hadn't even been able to protect Stein.

She clutched the tear-stained note tightly in her hand. The sun was starting to come up. Leila glared at it. Go away... She buried her face.

A knock on the door pulled her briefly from her misery.

"Come in," came Leila's muffled reply.

She was sitting on one of the sofas in her small, rundown living room, her face buried in her knees. She hadn't changed out of her dress.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he sat beside her. He looked her over. He was relieved to see that staying in weapon form had kept her from being injured too severely. Despite the severity of the ice attack, the only evidence of damage was a series of bandages on her hands.

She looked up at him. It was clear that she hadn't slept. "She's gone...he took her...what if we never find her?"

"We will look for her, but at present, it appears that none of us are ready to fight a god. Not after what happened to Lord Death and Kid. They aren't dead, but they're in critical condition."

He twisted his screw and stared absently at a potted plant in the corner. "But perhaps, while you have no one to look after, you could relax and focus on our training. Think about yourself, for once." An abrupt change in her soul told him that it had been the wrong thing to say. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He reached over and caught her wrist just in time to prevent her from slapping him.

"That's not funny!" she shouted. "She could be hurt...or becoming a Kishin...or dead!" Her eyes filled up with tears. "You don't understand...I need her to come back..."

"Why?" Stein kept a hold of her wrist, eyeing the distraught whip curiously. "Why is she so important to you?"

Leila hesitated, but then she spoke. "I found her...on the night that my Meister died." The tears spilled over.

Stein was surprised at the heavy response. Leila had never mentioned her previous meisters. Although Stein had always been curious and slightly suspicious of them, he hadn't pressed the topic. "Go on," he said simply, but Leila shook her head and closed her eyes, dislodging another surge of tears. With a sigh, he pulled her closer to him. He swiped his thumb across each of her cheeks, drying the tears, but more fell to take their place immediately.

Her breathing was heavy and labored, and her shoulders shook as she continued to sob. A dark indigo streaked her soul, the usual violet glow becoming dim and pale. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. He expected her to block his wavelength again, but instead, something in her soul seemed to be calling for help. He pressed further, hoping she would allow them to resonate.

It was pitch black. He walked a few steps in the direction he was facing. He couldn't see anything but darkness in any direction. It was a heavy darkness that seemed to bind and suffocate, like being buried alive. He couldn't even tell what kind of surface he was walking on. A faint whispering came from everywhere, but no matter how much he strained his ears to listen, he couldn't make out what it said.