I watched the kids walked out. Feeling a little disappointed that the fight was stopped before I had a chance to do some proper damage. Black Star was the kind of guy who needed to be punched in the face before he learnt anything. I was glad I might be the person to deliver that blow. I smiled to myself; Spirit had transformed back and had gone to Lord Deaths side once more. He was smiling; I knew he enjoyed a fight just as much as I did. I straightened up my top, checking the fabric for any tears. When I looked back up, Soul was standing in front of me. He looked pale.
"Hey, what's up Soul? You look like you've seen a ghost." I smiled, still avoiding his eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asked suddenly, looking me up and down. I frowned, why should he care?
"I'm fine, he barely even touched me. Which is a shame, it's not a proper fight if you don't get hurt." I smiled, putting all my weight on my right leg and bracing my hands on my hips. But he still checked me over, only when he met my eyes did I stop smiling. I dropped my hands, clenching them into fists. Refusing to acknowledge the urge to grab his, my mind was whirling.
"Well, we should really get this meeting going. Soul, you go now, get some food before your next class." Lord Death said, coming up behind me. I shook my head and turned away, almost thankful to have broken the connection.
"Sure thing Sir." Soul muttered. I heard him walk off, daring myself to look, I watched his retreating back desperately hoping he'd turn back round ... No! My brain yelled. No, I am not going to think like that, ever.
"He certainly didn't want to leave you now, did he Amy?" Lord Death said, facing the direction of the door. I sighed, flipping back to my arrogant self.
"Well I am rather irresistible, wouldn't you say so Stein?" I faced the man who had taught me how to fight in the first place.
"Oh of course. Although, your soul is saying something completely different." Stein said, sparking up a cigarette. His eyes grinning like a big joker. He was enjoying the fact I was trembling.
"Oh yeah? And why are you spying on my soul? That's kinda pervy." I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest, hiding my hands under my arms, silently telling myself to get a grip. Stein laughed and started walk out.
"That guy always knows how to piss me off." I said. Facing Lord Death, I shook my head again. Images of Soul looking me up and down, with his worried red eyes, had started running through my head.
"Should we get started Amy?" Lord Death asked, he had moved to stand in front of the mirror.
"Sure. Where do you want me to start?" I sat crossed legged on the floor. I knew what was about to come, I wanted to be as close to the ground as humanly possible.
"Why don't we start on the day Daniel died?" Lord Death asked, not seeing the way my whole body shivered. I scrunched my eyes shut.
"You want to know what really happened." I stated, I knew what everyone thought about me.
"I need to clear up the rumours, Amy. I'm sure you can understand that." He said, I could feel his presence was closer that before. I nodded, still refusing to open my eyes.
Black Star didn't eat hardly anything. This was severely out of character for him. Tsubaki had even taken to putting the food on a fork and was putting it up to his mouth. Most of the time he gave her an evil side glance, causing her to withdraw the fork. Sometimes he sighed and took the food she offered. Either way, it was hardly anything at all.
"You know Black Star, there are always going to be meister's who will beat you." Maka said pointedly, taking a bite out of her sandwich. Black Star didn't answer. He just took the fork off Tsubaki and ate the rest of the food.
"It's okay, just think of Amy as a new challenge on your path to surpass God," Tsubaki whispered in his ear, "Every champion needs challenges, or they'll just get bored." He looked at her smiling face. He couldn't have asked for a better weapon partner.
"Thanks Tsubaki." He whispered back, smiling ever so slightly as he carried on eating. He looked up as Soul finally came to join them.
"Hey Soul, I grabbed you something to eat!" Maka said, taking a plate of food off her tray and passing it to him. He smiled at her and started eating. Something was bugging him, but Black Star was neither a talker nor someone who can read body language. So he just left Soul to himself. All guys knew to leave each other alone; they'll talk when they are ready. Even Kid, who was excellent at knowing what you were thinking, left him alone. Except for the small glances he threw in his direction every so often. Black Star smiled again, his friendship group was the most unlikely combination but yet, it worked well.
"So, dad says Stein is going to share his classes with the new meister. Wonder what she'll be teaching." Kid says after a while. Everyone looked up at him. Sometimes being friends with Lord Deaths son was a perk in itself.
"Really? Huh, maybe she's good at lecturing." Maka said.
"No I don't think she'll be doing any lecturing. I think she's more of a practical teacher." Liz added as she sat down with a tray of food, she passed a plate over to Patty then looked at Kid, "Wouldn't you guys agree?"
"Oh she's defiantly good with the practical side of things. Maybe Stein wants her to teach the practical side of his lessons. It could be useful. Having someone demonstrate as well as the lectures." Kid replied, shooting Black Star a look. Kid wanted him to react, but Black Star wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Instead he changed the subject to more important matters, himself.
"Tsubaki, tell everyone how long I can handle the Enchanted Sword for now!" Tsubaki laughed and nodded.
"A whole 2 hours. It's pretty impressive." Black Star did his signature smile, forking more food into his mouth.
"Good old Black Star," Liz muttered, "No matter what happens, he always has something to boast about." Everybody laughed, the tension slowly dispersing. Black Star finished his food and leant back against the chair.
"Hey Black Star, what was that remedial lesson Stein gave you?" Soul asked, smiling at him. Black Star rolled his eyes, fishing the piece of paper out of his back pocket.
"How am I supposed to know," He threw the slip at Soul. He opened it up, his smile growing wider as he read each word. Black Star eyed him curiously, "Well come on, tell me."
"Are you sure you really want to know?" Soul asked, he was trying not to laugh.
"Just tell me you idiot." He was staring to get annoyed. Soul had started chuckling.
"All right, you have to show the newbie to our next class." He said plainly, his eyes dancing with laughter. There were only a few times that Black Star had wanted to hit his best friend. This was one of those times. As he went to stand up, Tsubaki grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back down, digging her nails into the skin to keep him there.
"You had better be joking, Evans." Black Star growled, taking satisfaction from Soul's reaction to his family name.
"Read it yourself, dumbass." He muttered, screwing the paper up into a ball and chucking it his way. The rest of the group has stayed silent up to this point. Kid had swiped the paper away from Black Star's reaching hand and had read it himself. Sighing, he passed it to Tsubaki, who still had a death grip on Black Star's shoulder.
"Sadly, Soul is telling the truth. You have to take Amy to our next class. Stein will be introducing her," Kid got up, taking his tray with him, "If you like, I'll go meet her. I'll explain to Father that you got into a fight and couldn't been drawn away."
"That's awfully generous Kid. What are you planning?" Liz asked, eyeing the reapers son suspiciously. Kid has returned back to the table, smiling slightly.
"Oh, nothing drastic. I was just merely going to get on her good side, can't blame me for that. I can only imagine what kind of punishment she would deal out if someone pissed her off."
"I don't think she'll be that bad Kid," Maka added, "She's only a year or two older than us. Surely Amy will go a little easier. She knows what it's like to be a teen in an academy."
"Now that is where you are wrong, Maka Albarn." Maka jumped to the sound of Stein's voice. She spun in her chair, cheeks glowing from being caught off guard.
"What do you mean, Professor Stein?" Tsubaki asked, finally releasing her grip on Black Star's shoulder. He rubbed it slightly, turning in his chair to face the Professor.
"I mean, Amy never attended the DWMA. Or any academy for that matter. She, and her weapon partner Daniel, were tutored by Spirit and myself. They were … little experiments of mine," Stein rubbed the back of his head, looking around himself, before pulling a chair up to the head of the table, "This does not get repeated. Amy, herself would kill me. She wanted to explain this herself, but oh well. Early bird gets the worm." He smiled, lighting up a cigarette.
"So, you and Death Scythe tutored her and her weapon?" Tsubaki asked, just as Soul said, "But she doesn't have a weapon."
"Yes, and not anymore." Stein looked at each of their faces, clearly debating on whether to share this information. He shrugged, "Amy is obviously the meister. Daniel, her brother, was a scythe. They were, by far, the strongest pair I had ever taught at such a young age. I first met them by accident. I was on a mission with Spirit when we bumped into them. They were both around 9 years old at the time, and yet they were capable at using techniques even I can't do myself to this day." He looked around himself again, "The reason I was so interested in the pair, was because of the fact she has used Witch Hunter on our mission target. At that age, she shouldn't have even been able to swing a scythe such as Daniel anyway. But she did, and after that, I started to tutor her."
"So why isn't Amy a scythe like her brother?" Kid asked.
"Ah, they are only half siblings. Their father was a bit of a player before they were born. He slept with Daniel's mother and Amy's mother around the same time. There are only a couple of days between the two. Of course, Amy's mother, being a prostitute if I remember correctly, shoved her new born daughter into the man's arms and went off. Never to be seen again. Daniel's mother was a kind woman. Took Amy in without even blinking, treating the two like they were twins.
"They couldn't have been any less different from one another. Amy was hot headed. Ready to jump into any fight, just to prove she was the best. Stronger than everyone. A God, she used to call herself. Quite humorous now that I think back, she was a lot like you are Black Star." Stein smiled in his direction, "Then there was Daniel. Quiet, kind, sensitive. Everything a girl dreams of when they look for the perfect man. Though their differences were apparent, they were inseparable. Daniel had a calming effect on Amy. Pulling her away if anything had annoyed her, forcing her to think before she reacted. Almost like she had a living, breathing conscious. This is lucky in everyone else's case."
"I'm guessing that she's violent then? I mean, Lord Death was too happy to stop her scrap with Black Star. Can she really do that much damage?" Liz asked, her eyes suddenly showing her worries. Black Star stayed quiet. I'll show you whose hot headed, he thought to himself, there is no way I am being compared to that show off. She doesn't even deserve to be here.
"Violent? If it wasn't for Daniel, she could have easily turned Kishin. No questions asked. That's what interested me so much, she had all this strength and power at her disposal, yet she chose to listen to her partner and stay sane. Her will power was amazing, that was for sure. At least, until Daniel died." The whole table stood still. Even Black Star's eyes widened. She lost her partner? Maka looked at Soul. She was probably the only one who could relate to this, seeing as Soul was nearly killed two years ago.
"H-he died?" She asked, lacing her hands together to stop them shaking.
"Yes. The correct term would be murdered." Stein whispered. It even got to him.
"W-w-w-who would do that?" Maka asked again, Black Star looked at her face. Her eyes had started watering, without even thinking, he slid his napkin in front of her. Nodding when she smiled.
"The only opponent Amy has lost against. And it's also best not bring that day up. 6 years is still not enough time to get over that. She and Daniel were following us on a mission, I'd told them to watch the entrance to the forest while myself and Spirit went in. Little did I know, the enemy had already gotten out of the forest. Amy and Daniel fought hard, but she was panicked. Every attack this thing landed, hurt Daniel physically. She said there was blood pouring out from him, even in his weapon form. Of course, protecting the one person she could trust, she stopped blocking, started to retreat, but it grabbed Daniel as she backed up. Breaking him in half. Out of sheer terror, he transformed back, both his legs broken. Only to have his neck broken by one flick of its wrist …." He stopped, watching every meister's face turn into a mask of horror. There is one thing watching your partner writhing in pain with nothing you can do, but to have them killed in front of you. Its every meister's worst nightmare, not being able to save your own partner. Stein continued, realising he'd gone down the path of no return. "Somehow, Amy used her wavelength to scare the enemy away, then with the last bit of strength she had left, she picked up Daniel's body, and ran. I found her 30 miles away from where she had fought, up a tree, sobbing into his chest. Screaming for someone, anyone to help him. Spirit had got her down while I looked at his body. Even if I hadn't wanted to, there was nothing I could do. His body was broken. It was only when his soul finally replaced his body, did Amy stop crying. She just stared. Unsure of what she was seeing …."
~Flashback – 18th March 2005~
Stein looked again at Daniel's soul, floating there in mid-air. Seeing it, this small and fragile was saddening. He looked up at Amy's lost face, her blue eyes wavering again, tears threatening to spill.
In the 4 years that he had known the girl, she had never once cried. Not even when she broke both her arm and leg in a training exercise. He admired her for her strength, it reminded him of himself. Never letting anyone show your weakness. Weakness means death in this life.
"… Stein … what do I do?" She asked, her eyes meeting his.
"Take it Amy. Use the weapon inside of you to absorb his soul into yours." He said, ignoring Spirit's glaring eyes.
"I can …. Do that? I can keep him with me forever?" She looked back at Daniel's soul, moving out of Spirit's embrace, she crawled forward. Her face was wet with her tears, the dirt from Daniel's shirt staining her forehead. She cupped his soul, caressing it slightly before looking back at Stein.
"How ….?"
"Just concentrate, imagine seeing your soul mix with his, and push it towards your heart." He said, Spirit had come up behind Amy, placing both of his hands on her shoulder, holding her still as she swayed side to side. She was close to passing out, Stein could see that, but she needed to take the soul now.
"Daniel … I'm … I'm so sorry …I love you …" She whispered, as she pressed his soul into her chest.
Stein looked at all the meister's around the table. Seeing the terror in their eyes dance around. Maka had grabbed Soul's hands as she tried to stop crying. He knew he shouldn't have told them, but this group had nearly faced this reality many times. They would be the hardest to tell. He didn't think Amy could deal with all of their tears at once. With one hand on Maka's shoulder, he stood up.
"Black Star, I still expect you to take Amy to our class. Her meeting will be finished in 10 minutes." He said, squeezing the girl's shoulder once before turning away.