Eating Souls, Act One: The Beginning

45: Happy Valentine's Day, Rivin: How long did they know?

Xander stormed through the crowd, looking for Maka. He didn't think anything could be repaired with Leila at this point, and he wasn't feeling emotionally strong enough to try to bring Rivin here by himself. Unfortunately, someone else caught his eye first. He sat at Amy's table, leaning forward on his elbows. "Who in their right mind would invite you to a Valentine's dance?"

"No one invited you," she pointed out with a sigh, "Xander, please... Just go home... You don't always have to put others down to feel good about yourself."

He narrowed his cold brown eyes, "Did I hear you right? Are you sure you want to do this now, in front of all these nice people? Because I'm not sure you're ready to be outed."

"Where's Rivin?" She smiled, dripping sweetness. No one watching them would realize she was the aggressor.

Xander popped his jaw. "She won't be here. Thanks to your visit. And that's exactly what you wanted, isn't it? Of course it was."

She just giggled. "Xander, you say such funny things. Why ever would I want your weapon to stay home? She's a friend of mine, you know."

"You don't know what friendship is." He snarled. "Rivin deserves to be here."

"Rivin... Should stay away from Kid."

He bared his teeth. His and Maka's plan was ruined thanks to this woman, and she knew it. He hated that she had won. Hated that Rivin was at home, hurting, unable to control her madness. Hated that he couldn't protect her from anything. In that moment, he truly hated Amy.

Kid's soul twinged slightly as he approached Amy's table. Had he heard the name he thought he had? It didn't seem likely. Amy hadn't arrived until after Rivin had left. They wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet, and everyone had started talking about her less and less...at least around him. He sighed.

It had most likely been his imagination. It wasn't as if he hadn't already been thinking about her. On top of Xander's peculiar vocabulary, Valentine's day had brought with it plenty of thoughts, feelings, and memories...

He placed a plate of food, arranged as symmetrically as possible, in front of Amy. "Oh hello, Xander," Kid addressed the witch meister with a glare. "I didn't expect to see you here. Who invited you? I'd like to have a word with them."

"I believe my weapon may have mentioned something about it," Xander mused with a casual glance at Amy, "Perhaps something about wanting to meet a particular red soulled meister she keeps hearing about from Maka and Soul...Red is her favorite color, you know. Pity she wasn't feeling well, huh, Amy?"

Amy took a deep breath, forcing a smile. "I mean, she does have you as a meister. But as mean as you are, if your weapon isn't feeling well, maybe you should go check on her?"

He wanted to shout. To scream what she was at the top of his lungs. To free himself from her cold, sadistic clutches and get Rivin the help she so desperately needed. Instead, he smirked.

Kid scowled at Xander. There it was again; pointed words, taunting him. His own soul was red; Rivin's favorite color. Not to mention she was the type of person to want to meet someone based on the color of their soul. "Yes, I think that would be best. You wouldn't want to leave your weapon at home alone." It occurred to Kid that any weapon who had to tolerate Xander would probably be better off if he stayed away, but he kept quiet.

His scowl deepened when he realized that he didn't actually know the name of Xander's Weapon. Even Amy only ever referred to the mysterious partner as 'her' or 'Weapon'. It was almost as though they were directly avoiding saying her name. He felt the anger and panic creeping back up. What is her name?