They all exited the book safely. When Lord Death realized that Eibon wasn't with them, he got concerned.

"He wasn't there," Kid explained rather begrudgingly.

"He wasn't there," Ame repeated in an exaggerated tone. Her body made an odd curve as she put her hands on her hips in obvious annoyance. "So, Death, explain that."

"What is her problem?" Lord Death asked Kid.

"She has a thing for time management?" Kid shrugged. "I really don't know."

"Time management?" Spirit asked. He let out a short laugh. "Yeah, then this little adventure must have really pissed her off."

Ame turned her head slowly to glare at him. He held his hands up defensively and backed away.

"Easy, girl, stay," he mumbled quietly.

Eibon's Return; Into the Lost Island?

After some consideration, Lord Death decided he'd send Kid out alone to find Eibon. There was only one other place Eibon would be.

"Kid, I'm sending you to Lost Island," Lord Death told him the next day. "That's the only place I think Eibon would be."

Kid recognized that name. He'd seen Eibon on Lost Island on a failed mission to retrieve the Magic Tool BREW. He wasn't really sure about Eibon, but if it was between a wizard and an entity of pure evil, what choice did he have? Ame tilted her head uncertainly. Was she going to stay behind?

"I'll be going alone?" Kid asked.

"Yes," Lord Death nodded. "Ame, you'll have to stay here. Until we either get more death scythes here or news on the Demon Lord, I can't let you go on a mission like this."

Ame looked down. "I understand."

"If he already knows all, why is he waiting for us to come get him?" Kid asked. "Why won't he just come on his own?"

"That's the thing," Lord Death said thoughtfully. "The reason Eibon is not an absolute god. He thinks of the world as a game, you see? There is no absolute right or wrong, and he doesn't take it seriously enough sometimes. In a way, he doesn't value life, and he doesn't honor death."

Kid frowned. How could someone not consider life or death?

"He holds gods equal to humans," Lord Death continued. "That's all it is."

The island was cold. I mean, really cold. Liz and Patti curled up next to each other to conserve heat.

"I don't know why we came along," Liz said. "We're just waiting outside while Kid spends who knows how long with that Eibon guy?"

Meanwhile, within the magnetic field, Kid was walking along the pathways around the research facility. Images of witches moved around him, flickering every so often.

"I guess Ame wouldn't have remembered this," Kid said. "This was after Ikiru went into hiding."

Kid stopped walking and glanced up. Eibon was close; he could sense his soul wavelength. There was a figure just to the side of the pathway, standing next to a pillar as if he had been hiding behind it at a different angle. He was covered in layered robes, and he wore a very odd mask.

"Eibon…" Kid said, more in mutual acknowledgement than greeting. "You are the real thing. I need to talk to you."

"You're here about the Demon Lord, who has been resurrected from manifestations of sin," Eibon said matter-of-factly. His voice was unsteady. "That's what you came for. However, there are many other things weighing on your mind, Kid."

"You can see through everything," Kid noted.

Strange, Kid thought. Why do I feel like this is familiar? It's like… déjà vu or something.

"You know why I'm here, right? I don't have to explain everything?"

"You've grown up well in this world," Eibon said, his voice raspy. "Very well, indeed."

Kid's eyes widened and he felt his body freeze. Is he talking about Ame…?

Eibon let out a laugh.

"You came here knowing that I know everything," Eibon spoke again, his voice filled with amusement. "Yet you're surprised that I know about how our souls have travelled from universe to parallel universe. It's simply for this reason that I choose not to know her."

"You choose?" Kid asked. "Why wouldn't you want to know everything about Ame?"

"It's not that I don't want to know her," Eibon shrugged. "I'd just like to meet her and find out for myself. I know that it will be more fun that way."

Kid didn't understand any of this, but he didn't come here to talk about Ame.

"Fine," Eibon sighed. "I'll come with you to Death's school. Just let me gather a few things…."

Eibon turned and began searching the field nearby. It seemed that he'd stashed more than a few things in various hiding places while he was staying there.

He's a hoarder! Kid thought, waiting patiently.

Eibon muttered to himself as he gathered a couple of madness artifacts, a string of prayer beads, and a box of paper?

"It's a little something I made for Ame," Eibon explained.

"I thought you chose not to know her," Kid said.

"I cheat a little bit," Eibon admitted. Kid suppressed a grin as they began to travel to the edge of the magnetic field.

Soul Eater

"So, you've really never met Eibon?" Lord Death asked. Ame shook her head. "Never? I mean, you reset the world 800 times…."

"I don't know him," Ame said. "I guess he just never showed up."

"What are the chances," Lord Death sighed. "Okay. He and Kid should be here any moment now. Remember to be nice."

"Why do you think you have to remind me?" Ame asked. "I know not to tackle people I just meet, and I should look them in the eye and shake hands and ask them how they are."

"Well, that's for when you meet a normal person," Lord Death said. Ame turned her head.

"Myu?"

"There," Lord Death looked up to greet the two walking down the guillotine hallway. "Hello, hello! It's been a long time, old friend. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you," Eibon nodded. He turned sharply to look at Ame, who was staring at him shamelessly. "So this is O-kami Amaterasu… in the flesh."

"Okami?" Kid questioned too quietly for the others to notice.

"Yes, you remember Ikiru, right?" Lord Death asked. Eibon cringed and looked away.

"Are you kidding? She's probably the only one I fear." He rather awkwardly looked up. Ame was still staring at him. Eibon took her in, but realized there wasn't that much to take in. "Although I don't think this pipsqueak could do near as much damage as Ikiru."

"Excuse me?!" Ame snapped. There was obviously nothing the others could do to stop her from transforming into a white wolf and showing off her divine power by setting off a series of explosions that landed Eibon on the ground a few feet away from them.

"I wouldn't be so careless, Ei," Lord Death said. "She'll still put you on your ass, just like Ikiru did."

"Forgive me," Eibon said, sweat-dropping. "I should be more respectful to a being of your great power. I should introduce myself properly. I am the wizard Eibon."

"And?" Ame prompted.

Kid facepalmed. How could she be so… herself? At that moment, he felt as if he had failed in teaching her how to be polite to people. However, Eibon didn't seem to mind much. He actually laughed as if he enjoyed Ame's behavior.

"You have a lot of your mother in you," he said. Ame looked surprised, but shook her head and gave him a stern look.

"That's not what I wanted to hear from you!" Ame snapped.

"I know what you want," Eibon continued. "But I refuse to fight you."

"You refuse to know who'd win," Ame said.

"This is true," Eibon said.

"Want some tea?" Lord Death asked. He and Kid had moved to sit at the table with freshly brewed tea.

"Kid, you too?" Ame asked.

"It feels odd being the one that doesn't take things seriously for a change," Kid admitted.

"You didn't drag me here to drink tea," Eibon hissed quietly at Death as he sat down.

"Shut up and stop being a know it all," Lord Death shot back. "You aren't on Ame's good side yet. Stop being so stand-offish all the time."

"Fine." Eibon sighed and turned to the table. He removed his hood and mask, revealing his face for the first time. His hair was a shade of brunette, and his eyes were a deep green. Not the bright green of Ame's left eye, but a deep, forest green. Ame averted her eyes.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't come to Lost Island to meet you," she apologized. "I had a few things to attend to in Death City."

"She's being polite now," Kid noted to himself.

"It doesn't matter," Eibon said indifferently. "Maybe you'll come visit me later."

"Maybe, huh?" Ame asked.

"There are infinites in this world, Okami," Eibon said. "Life and Death being among them. There is an infinite chance that you could drink the tea, but there is also an infinite that you could not drink the tea, or drink something else. It's all about decisions. However, there are some infinities that are unknown, thus undecided. Perhaps if this tea was actually sake and no one knew. Would time consider we be drinking tea or sake? This is the limit to my power. I only know this world as it is. I know not what it can become if choices made by certain people… change."

"Well, I'm not drinking the tea," Ame said as if she didn't really care. She'd probably stopped listening a long time ago. She traced her finger around the rim of her tea cup, filling it to the brim with rice wine. She handed it to Eibon with a friendly smile. Eibon took it hesitantly before taking a sip. He smiled.

"Friends, then?" he proposed, holding out his hand.

"We're friends," Ame said, putting a small hand on his. Eibon suddenly realized how small she was. Not just her body, but her mind and her soul. Her soul was abnormally small for the amount of power it held. Eibon couldn't really resist reaching forward and patting Ame on the head like a dog. She seemed to like it, if anything.

"So, tell me, Amaterasu—"

"Just Ame," she corrected him.

"You've gotten the world into a bit of trouble recently."

"Don't remind me," Ame put her head down on the table.

"It seems that the Demon Lord, with the help of Inuyasha, was able to replicate your body and power. The Demon Lord is now an infinite identical to yours. However, with your endless power is a certain limit."

He seemed thoughtful as he said this, staring into the cup of rice wine on the table. Ame tilted her head.

"The Demon Lord… what are you implying?" she asked.

"If you look to broaden your skills as a god since the Demon Lord recreated himself as you," Eibon said. "Do you think that the Demon Lord would know how to fight a being of ultimate, ungodly knowledge?"

"I thought you said you weren't going to fight," Kid said.

"It's just a theory," Eibon said. "What if Ame began perfecting skills that she, as a wolf or Inochigami, could not master on her own? For instance, you can't swim!"

He pointed an accusing finger at Ame, who sniffed arrogantly.

"I can swim fine," she said. She ducked her head and began to mumble. "I just can't go underwater or go very fast or anything." She snapped her head up. "Why would I need to be able to swim when I can walk on water, anyway?"

"That's the point!" Eibon said. "You can walk on water; the Demon Lord can walk on water. You can't swim, so the Demon Lord can't swim. If you learn how to swim, you'd have the upper hand in a water battle."

"I guess I understand," Ame said. She turned to Lord Death. "But, Death, I doubt you'll allow me to grow stronger than I already am with this state of distrust in the academy."

"We'll get that taken care of," Lord Death replied. "Our next ally arrives tonight. He'll be able to clear up any doubts about you."

Ame blinked. "Just who is this guy supposed to be?"

Outside the city, said ally stopped to take in the city.

"Death City," he said to no one in particular. "It's been a couple years. I haven't been here since the defeat of Asura. I even missed the last coming of the Demon Lord. Well, I guess now's as good a time as any."

This man was none other than Joe Buttataki, the head of the academy's "Internal Affairs" division. His special abilities include superb soul perception and exceptional combat skills. The most notable of his skills, and the skill that will clear up any doubt harbored against Ame, is his ability to detect lies.

But we all know Ame will find a way to screw that up.