It was a hot, humid, windless day in Hermosillo, Mexico. Even experiencing the windchill traveling on beelzebub and the setting sun couldn't stop the trickle of sweat that ran down Death the Kid's neck and the searing heat coming from the twin pistols in his hands. The streets he travels above were nearly abandoned. They were, after all, on the outskirts of town; it's not like there was going to be a lot of nightlife.

The trio of Kid and his two weapons were returning home from a mission in San Salvador. This Kishin egg was so frighteningly asymmetrical it left Kid in a grouchy mood for the whole of his trip.

"Hey Kid! Look look look!"

Kid was startled by Patty's sudden burst of energy surging in her soul wavelength. Kid could tell somehow that she was referring to the street. He looked down towards the barren dirt road and saw a thin dirty woman holding some sort of sign. He couldn't quite see the details, but he could only assume she had her hand perpendicular to her body and sticking one thumb out.

"Do you see her? Do you see?" Patty exclaimed.

"I think he sees her, Patty". This was muttered by her older sister Liz. The elder of the Thompson sisters was more level-headed and mature than her little sister. Most would see Patty as a helpless little baby, meant to be coddled and protected, when in actuality it is Liz who is the scaredy cat of the two. Patty is a lot tougher than she looks.

Kid urged beelzebub to lower towards the ground. As he did, the young green-haired hitch-hiker gazed up in amazement with her big brown eyes. Kid landed and noticed the details of the sign in front of him. It was beige cardboard, and on it was written, "Death City or BUST". Kid was wary. "I see you're heading to Death City"

The girl gave him a blank look and spoke in a confused voice. "No hablo íngles".

Kid assumed because the sign was in English, that she would 'hable íngles'. His face was calm and well composed, but he spoke in a sort of bashful yet irritated voice. " Perdon señorita. Nosotros-" it was at this moment the urchin started to laugh. She laughed a laugh that was as innocent as a jingling of bells, yet hardy. She spoke once more, but this time all seriousness aside.

"Ahaha! I'm just messing with you. I speak perfect English"

Kid exhaled with an audible 'phew!'. It was at this moment that Liz and Patty decided to change back to their human forms. Liz stretched, happy to be back to normal rather than have her soul confined to such a small place for so long. Patty stared at the girl in wonder, happy to see a new smiling face.

"Thank goodness!", Liz sighed, "We'll be able to understand you". The dirty girl however said nothing to greet the two girls. For only a moment, she just stared, but with how fast her mind was reeling, it felt like hours. Before the awkward silence could deafen them, she whispered "You two are weapons". Kid and Liz seemed confused by her reaction. Has she never seen a meister and his weapons before? Patty wasn't at all fazed.

"That's right!" She cheered. The stranger was quick to respond. She seemed to finally wear her excitement on her sleeve. Through a great big smile she said:

"That's amazing. I-I am a weapon too!". This piece of information caught Kid's attention. He squinted his eyes. Why was she, a weapon hitch-hiking in the middle of nowhere? Why is she not at the Academy? Scouts travelled the world looking for weapons and meisters to bring to to Nevada, so why wasn't this girl among them? He began to circle her, scrutinizingly. She sensed his suspicion and immediately stiffened, not daring to move a muscle.

"If you're a weapon, then you should be a student from the DWMA. But you can't be. I'm a student there myself, and I've never seen you before." Finished with his inspection, he stood in front of her with his arms crossed and the sisters on either side. The now deemed suspicious girl gulped, and said with as much confidence as she could muster, "That's where I'm heading", as she pointed to her sign. Kid wasn't convinced.

"What's your name?"

"Salix, what's your-"

"Where are you from?" At this Salix puffed out her chest. She had a feeling something like this would happen. Someone would ask a series of questions that she would have to answer. And each of Kid's inquiries was given a quick response.

"Durango"

"How did you get all the way out here?"

"Hitch-hiking"

"For how long?"

"Weeks"

"How did you get food and water?"

"People gave me money for it"

"Why would they give you money?"

"Because I'm homeless"

Kid said nothing after this response. The girl didn't hesitate to say this at all. She wasn't ashamed of her predicament, then again she wasn't proud either. She wasn't angry or upset for speaking of her living conditions, or lack of, she was just honest. After a moment waiting, Kid asked his final questions.

"What is your weapon form?"

"A shashka"

"That's a Russian sword, right? Why do you, a Mexican girl, transform into a Russian weapon?"

"I'm Russian on my mother's side". Just like all other questions, she answered immediately and unwaveringly. But that didn't hide the sadness clouding over her face from Kid.

"Demonstrate." He said.

Salix's eyes widened and then quickly narrowed. They thought she was lying? Well, it is time for them to be proven wrong. She squatted enough to looking like she was sitting in a chair, and then leapt up and into the sky. The shashka she transformed into, danced and turned gracefully in the air, then it landed with its blade stuck into the sand hardly two inches from Kid's toes, causing him to let out a yelp. Triumphant, Salix turned back to her normal self, twirled back to her original stance, and waited for their response.

Liz poked her meister's shoulder blade. "You know Kid, we are going back to the Academy".

Patty joined in. "Yeah Kid, we could totally bring her along"

Kid snapped back to reality. "OH no no no no no no no no NO! Liz! Patty! We do NOT pick up hitch-hikers!"

Several hours later the four were waiting on a train traveling from the border of Mexico to Death City. On their ride towards the border (which was extremely awkward because Salix had to hold onto Kid throughout their ride on Beelzebub), they discovered a few things about their travel buddy. 1. She was orphaned at a young age. 2. She ran away from the orphanage at 12. 3. She's lived off of garbage and the good will of others before she left for Death City two months ago. 4. She plans to live in an apartment as soon as she has enough money and a steady job. And 5. She is 17 and super grateful to be so close to fulfilling her dream of joining the DWMA. Meanwhile she discovered that Kid was 18, Patty was 17, and Liz was 20. Although they were already of graduating age, they still attend their school. Kid had twice as many weapons as the average meister and must collect twice as many souls, so the deadline was pushed back by a couple years.

They rode in the observation car; Patty sitting next to Salix while Liz and Kid sat across from them. Kid was hunched over, his elbows on the table supporting his weight and his hands were supporting the wait of his head. He glared at the green-haired girl, dressed in her dirty rags, sporting her bobbed hair and-. . .wait a moment. She was wearing a silver locket around her neck. Kid wondered at this.

"Ahahaha hahaha!", came Patty's little duckling laugh. "Salix! What should I draw?". Kid's thoughts have been interrupted. Patty had taken an immediate liking towards Salix and Salix tolerated her surprisingly well. In fact, she seemed to revel in her company.

"Um, well I usually like to draw plants or animals, but in the end it's up to you."

Patty put a dainty finger to her chin and hummed in thought. A second later, she exclaimed "Maybe I'll draw a little red crab!"

"Oh, but all crabs are small and red. Maybe you could change yours to make it special."

"Yeah! That sounds more fun! Maybe I'll make it blue, or green! What do you think?"

"It depends on the shade, like, would you want a dark green like on a tree, a blue green like the ocean, or a yellowish green like my hair?"

"I like your hair. I've never seen hair that color before! OOH OOH! Maybe we could make it a hairy crab!"

They talked on and on about how they could make their drawing more creative. It disgusted Kid how the crab in their picture would be going against nature, and he voiced as such. He called them simple and random. They called themselves imaginative.

"You should be praising Patty!", argued Salix. "How do you think Francis Picabia has gotten to be such a great artist? By being original and straying from the status-quo!"

Kid looked like he was going to be sick. "I really hope Patty becomes nothing like that."

Salix straightened her posture so she was taller than Kid. Of course, he wasn't fazed by this; he simply continued to watch her dully.

"What was that?" said Salix, "Do you have something against Picabia, Kid?"

"His art, if one could even call it art, is eerie and very off-putting"

"That's the point! Picabia shows the darker side of people. Not everything is about beauty you know"

"While I see your point, I still dislike him". At this comment, Salix wanted to stomp her foot like a spoiled brat, but she was sitting under a table. So instead, she leaned back and slowly exhaled. She then muttered "I suppose next you're going to say you despise Claude Monet".

Kid sat up. "Actually, I do appreciate his paintings. But I prefer abstract paintings like those done by Robert Delaunay."

Salix's eyes began to twinkle with excitement. "Really? He's one of my heroes! My favorite piece is his auto portrait". Has she finally found a fellow fanatic?

Kid leaned back in his seat, amused at finding someone who appreciates good art, if you can excuse her liking of Picabia of course. "I find it a bit narcissistic to paint one's self. I suppose the contrasting colors are what caught your attention. I however love Le Premier Disque."

"Really? That's a bit of a plain piece, although I guess I can appreciate all the colors of that one, but I bet that's not what you want to hear. If anything else, I'd say what is most admirable is how if one were posterize just where the colors met to create a solid black and white picture, then there would be 4-way symmetry."

Now it was the eyes of Kid's turn to sparkle with joy. He leaned forward, jaw dropped. He whispered flabbergasted, right into his apparent new best friend's face, "Y-you. . .you appreciate the glory of symmetry?". Has he finally found a fellow fanatic?

Now it was Salix who was flabbergasted, however instead of in awe it was in confusion. "Um, I suppose. I usually like art that is messy, then again, an elaborate artwork with 4-way, or even 8-way symmetry, would be pretty incredible".

It was at this moment that Kid looked down, bangs covering his eyes and tears running down to his chin. This caught the attention of the three girls, and Liz was the first to comment. "Woah Kid! Are you alright?" The shadow casting over Kid's face vanished. He looked up revealing his rosy cheeks and moist eyes. "Finally" he whispered. But his next speech was a loud rejoice. He brought his arms up in celebration. "SOMEBODY FINALLY UNDERSTANDS THE PERFECTION OF SYMMETRY!"

He brought his knees to his chest and then stood on his seat, intending to give a joyous "WOOHOO", but was stopped mid-phrase when he accidentally hit the top of his head against the ceiling. He kneeled down, clutching his head while Salix looked on in confusion. She looked towards the Thompson sisters, who didn't seem phased at all. "Could it be. . ? Is he usually this. . .enthusiastic?"

Patty's bubbly voice answered, "When it comes to symmetry. He's ssoooo OCD!"

Liz's cooly remarked, "You sound like an art major when you talk. How did you learn so much?"

"Oh I wish I was an art major! But for obvious reasons I never attended college. I usually find books when I go dumpster-diving. You wouldn't believe what some people throw out!"

Kid was calmed and back to his spot on the cushion, peaked with interest. "I don't suppose The Book Thief was among the books you've read?"

"No, it was. I guess you could say I'm a regular Leisel." Kid laughed at the literary reference while Liz looked at them in confusion. Patty didn't get it either, but she giggled nonetheless.

"That's not the only books I've read", said Salix, " People normally throw away old classic stories, so I've read Les Miserables, The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera. . . Both Gaston Leroux's and Susan Kay's."

"I've heard the story of The Phantom of the Opera is a bit different in the musical" Liz mentioned.

"Oh yeah. I think the biggest difference is that the deformity is on half his face and not all of it like in the book." Salix agreed.

"I sympathize with him. . .", sighed Kid.