Eating Souls, Act One: The Beginning

25: Madness with extra cheese: Luke is great?

They arrived the next morning in Rotorua, a smallish town in New Zealand. It was nice and sunny, yet breezy--a beautiful day. Despite the weather, no one seemed to be outside. They're probably hiding from Rivin... Leila took a deep breath. She turned to Stein. "So where are we going?"

"Lord Death gave me the address where Marie is staying, we're heading there. It should be only a few more blocks."

"Alright." Leila smiled. "So, this Marie, she's one of Lord Death's death weapons, right? I can't wait to meet her."

Stein didn't respond.

"Oh yeah, Marie!" Black Star had his hands behind his head, "Hey Stein, why did you two break up? I can't remember..."

"Black Star...Is that an appropriate question?" Tsubaki sighed.

"Break--huh...?" Leila stuttered. Break up? They were together? "You two...were..." After awkwardly failing to speak for a few more moments, she fell silent. She walked behind Stein, her emotions suddenly confused. She wasn't sure she wanted to meet the death weapon anymore.

Stein still said nothing, pretending to ignore the situation. His face felt somewhat warm. He wished it were just because of the spring sun.

"Oh yeah," Black Star continued, oblivious to the couple's obvious discomfort, "Stein and Marie were together all the time. She was his weapon, too... Huh. Hey Stein, why didn't you ever accept her proposals?"

"I'm hungry," Leila interrupted, sounding grumpy. "I hope Miss Marie has a damn good kitchen. Are we there yet?"

"Um, yes, this is it," Stein said awkwardly.

Leila strode up to the front door and knocked a bit harder than was necessary.

A tall man with messy brown hair, a strong chin, and hazel-green eyes answered the door. He had a black trench coat on over a white shirt and ragged jeans. "Can I help you?" he asked gruffly.

"IT'S STEIN!" squealed a voice behind him. Marie pushed him out of the way, gave Stein a quick, tight hug, and held her hand out to Leila, "Hi! I'm Marie. You must be Stein's new partner~"

Leila shook Marie's hand a bit too tightly. "That's right. I'm Leila. Stein's weapon. It's nice to meet you." She fought to make her tone match her words.

"Hey, Marie!" Black Star grinned, "I don't think Leila likes you."

"O-oh...?" Marie blinked at Black Star, then at Leila, but she smiled, "That's okay. I don't mind."

Her overly innocent and accepting demeanor nearly infuriated Leila. "I have no idea what you're talking about Black Star. Why wouldn't I like her?" She took a subtle deep breath and, as if to prove her point, turned to address the death weapon with a polite smile. "This probably sounds weird, but do you mind if I use your kitchen to make coffee? Maybe even breakfast?"

Marie looked surprised. "Oh you don't have to do that! But if you really want to, I don't mind! Make yourself at home!" She smiled. "Stein and I have a lot of catching up to do anyway!"

Leila stomped off to find the kitchen, not bothering to return the smile this time. She found the living room first. The warm tan and red couches were set up to create a cozy square facing the large bay windows on the wall with the front door. The dining room was straight through, with the kitchen just to the right, behind a full wall. She paused to take in the surroundings, feeling suddenly tired.

The floors were a pale hardwood, shining from the mid-day sun. The walls were so bright of a blue that they were almost white, but compared to the white trim were definitely still blue. There were nail holes in the walls where pictures used to hang.