I was swimming in the ocean, watching the bubbles coming out of my mouth. The bus ride had been terrible: I sat beside Kid, who went on about how 'wonderful' Crona was, and how she was his 'other half' and that she 'made him symmetrical.' Kid even gave Crona one of his skull rings. I couldn't fall asleep fast enough. I noticed Maka swimming towards me and came up for air.

"How did you manage to stay underwater in waist-deep water?" Maka asked.

"Irish sink." I said.

"You'd know about that, wouldn't you?" Black Star asked.

"I will drown you!" I shouted.

Ms. Marie blew her whistle. "No drowning."

"How about stabbing?" I asked.

"No." Stein said.

"Aye. I got ya'." I said. "How 'bout kissing?"

"Riley!" Maka playfully slapped me, red-faced, as Black Star laughed.

Kylie

I sat on the beach under an umbrella when, suddenly, I was covered in sunlight.

"Hey!" I said.

"C'mon. Swim." Soul urged me.

"I sunburn easy. And besides, the water's probably cold." I said.

"If the water was cold do you really think Riley, who got hypothermia from cold water, would be in it?" Soul asked.

"Guess not." I said. "But I can't swim."

"You're Italian. You guys made Venice. How can you not swim?"

"Soru, I'm not Rye. I don't declare my ancestry like he does. And besides, I'm half Irish. I sink." I explained.

"And I thought I had a sexy Italian girl." Soul smiled.

"You got a sexy half-Irish, half-Italian girl."

"Back to the real world, kids!" Ms. Marie shouted.

A pale figure with dark blue eyes, black hair, and a giant black scythe stood in front of us. Every Weapon was held by their Meister but Soul and I.

I jumped, changed into my Claymore form, and was caught by Rye. Soul did the same, and was caught by Maka.

Riley

"Who are you?" Stein asked, holding Ms. Marie's weapon form. It probably looked comical: a whole bunch of teenagers and two adults wearing beach clothes while a man in a black suit with no tie stood in front of us. But, if you were one of those teenagers, it was anything but comical.

"Abel. My Weapon and Master is Cain." The skeleton of a man said. His voice was hollow, though, and suddenly I saw his soul. Or, rather, what was left of it.

"What happened to you? Your soul is all...dried up." I said.

"You can see soul wavelength?" Stein asked.

"I just saw his . Something isn't-" We all jumped away as Abel attacked us, causing sand to go everywhere.

"You all have so much power." Abel said, his hollow voice causing me to shiver. He flexed his bony fingers and looked at me. "You." Abel rasped. "Black-blood. No...Better than black-blood. Experimental black-blood. So much energy."

Abel lunged at me, but I turned quickly, avoiding the blow, and sliced his side open. Black powder came out, and he looked at me.

"What the-?" I asked.

"This body is dying. Not enough energy. But you? Energy. Enough to keep me going for so long. All because of the pain you have experienced." Abel lunged forward again, and I tried bringing Kylie down on his head, but he caught her between his skeleton hands. Abel opened his mouth and drew in blue energy from Kylie. Kylie screamed, and, out of nowhere, Soul tackled Abel, his arm a scythe blade.

"Get off of her you freak!" Soul shouted. The scythe turned into dust and Abel grabbed a handful of it, throwing the dust in Soul's face. "That was so-" Soul stopped suddenly as Abel went limp.

"I am Abel." Soul said, voice hollow. His hair changed color so that it was black, and his eyes changed to a dark blue color. "You are Cain. You are my Master."

The scythe materialized in Soul's hand, and a demonic eye was in the reflection of the scythe.

"Oh piss." I muttered.