Eating Souls, Act One: The Beginning

36: Separated! : Are you afraid?

Both pairs needed to pack for the trek, and they met an hour later by the gates. Amy met them for what seemed to Rivin like a pleasant chat, but Xander was different when they made it to the gates. Colder, more distant, and very, very angry. Rivin led the march out of the city.

Soul and Maka trailed behind. Maka whispered so that only Soul could hear her, "I think he's really hurting. His soul is really isolated and lonely, and there's this sinister voice there... I'm worried that his trauma is going to affect our group... And especially Rivin."

"The way he treats people sometimes is seriously uncool." Soul agreed. "But he's not a puppy, Maka. And he's not Crona, either. Are you really going to try to save him?"

"Obviously."

The dry, silent desert seemed to go on forever. Maka handed out water bottles.

Xander pulled a map out of thin air and frowned at it. He changed their direction. Soon they were deep in a forest path. There should not have been a forest in the desert. Death City was out of view, but the forest was definitely not natural.

Maka edged closer to Xander. "Hey, um..."

"Hm?" He looked around at the canopy, only half paying attention to the smaller Meister. He couldn't sense anything yet, but he was certain this was the right place.

"Xander... Is Amy..." She cringed when his eyes slid down to her and narrowed. "Is Amy a Shadow?"

He stopped dead in his tracks. It took the party half a step to stop as well. Rivin tilted her head at him, an overly curious glint in her sharp yellow eyes. He took a deep breath. "Where did you hear that term?"

It was Maka's turn to give Rivin a nervous glance. The weapon was focused on Xander. Should she bring up the funny man now? Or...? "I came across it when I was researching Diomedes." She felt a wave of pain from Rivin's soul. Pain, grief, and loss. Yet the Weapon's eyes remained locked on her Meister. Maka sighed inwardly. She had heard from Leila that Diomedes may have just been a father doing his best for his daughter, and Rivin's reaction to his name seemed to support that theory.

"Hm." Xander gave her a hard look. "So why do you think Amy-"

"Cool men don't tip-toe around yes or no questions." Soul stepped up beside his Meister with his hands in his pockets. "Is Amy a Shadow or not?"

He growled. Maka put her hand on Soul's arm. "We want to help you, Xander. And everything I know about Shadows... And what I saw in your soul..."

Xander flicked the tails of his vest back, shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and turned his face away. "Yeah. Amy is a Shadow."

"That's okay, Xander." Maka gave him her warmest smile. "Because we won't let any Shadows near our friends. Not Amy. Not... Anyone else."

Rivin tilted her head at the Meister with narrowed eyes and slightly open mouth. "Maka, What are you-"

She was cut off by a wave of soul energy ripping through the trees. It caught the party unaware and sent them careening. Rivin's back slammed into a trunk with a sickening crack. Soul managed to hold onto Maka, and they hit the base of the tree together. Xander's fingers dug into the first tree he came to. He was the first back on his feet when the wave passed.

"Rivin!" He dropped down beside her twisted body, but the concern was unneeded. She growled as her back popped back into place. "Wow. Okay. Five stars."

"COME OUT AND FIGHT ME LIKE A REAL MAN!" She jumped up and howled in the direction the attack came from. "UNLESS YOU'RE SCARED TO FACE ME!"

Soul groaned. "Rivin, don't be so uncool. You're not Black Star."