Demon

At this moment I found myself in a dangerous situation. I was facing a demon. A demon who wants to eat my soul.

My life was never really exciting. I was a normal high school kid with high grades in school. I didn't really have close friends, I tended to keep to myself. I had the usual family, a loving mother, an annoying younger sister, and a well-regarded father. The house I lived in was a normal two-story house, it was well kept, not a spec of dirt on the floor. My life was normal. That is until I received a letter from a school called Death Weapon Meister Academy, or DWMA for short.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Nagendra, 

We would like to inform you that your son, Ark, has been accepted into DWMA as a meister. Now you may be wondering what our school strives for and what being a meister is all about. Well, to start off DWMA is an academy dedicated to controlling and eradicating Kishins, or in simpler terms demons. Students will learn the best fighting techniques, how control their souls, and how to battle with their partners. As for being a meister, their responsibilities in this school is to gather ninety-nine demon souls, and one witch soul in order to strengthen their partner.

The list of items needed are included on the sheet attached to this as well as how to contact the school in case of any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

DWMA

"Mother, w-what's this DWMA letter," I ask her as soon as I was finished reading the letter.

"I signed you up for this school because this is where your father and I graduated from," she replied. "Trust me you will be fine, and your sister will join you in a few years."

"But why didn't you ask me if I wanted to go to this school," I accused.

"Unfortunately, Shiniga- I mean, the principle expects those who go to his school to send their kids in the future," she explains.

"Oh," I reply dropping the subject because it was apparent I was being sent to DWMA if I liked it or not.

As soon as I got the letter my life became a flurry. My parents were buying what I was required to bring, I got new clothes, I received my school schedule for the next semester, I was required to go to a few classes on hand-to-hand combat, to prep me a bit for my new school. Not to mention I had to still get my plane ticket. This flurry finally ended as I said goodbye to my family and boarded my plane to DWMA.

The plane was small and smelled like car fresheners. The only passengers were teens, so I automatically assumed them to also be new DWMA students. My seat was next to a short haired blonde girl who was playing on a 3DS, and had music blasting from her earbuds. I awkwardly take my seat next to her after putting my carry-on bag overhead. After a few more people found their seats the usual ding vibrated in the plane and the flight attendant did the health and safety spiel. As soon as she was done the plane moved onto the runway and took off. It was around an hour or so when the girl next to me finally put away her electronics and mumbled out loud, "So, only been one hour. I'm bored."

"Yeah, even if flying cuts travel time down it's still a long trip,'' I absentmindedly said to her.

"Mhmm," she turned her head towards me just now noticing that I was there. "So, changing the topic, may I ask who you are?"

"My name's Ark," I quickly answered with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Ark, my name's Crystal, but most people just call me Cry," she said.

"Uh, Cry are you going to DWMA by any chance," I asked quizzically.

"Well, that's where the plane's heading, so yeah of course I am," she answered. "I'm a weapon!"

"A weapon? What do you mean," I asked confused at her statement.

"You don't know? A weapon is a meister's partner," she stated.

"But why are you called a weapon," I ask rewording my question.

"Because I can transform into a weapon," she gleefully said. "I'm a dagger!"

For the rest of the flight Cry and I talk about DWMA, ourselves, and what we expect when we arrive. She told me that as soon as we land we would be going to the school to be introduced to some of our teachers, and our principle. We would also find our partner during that time. And that was just what happened. They took our bags and carry-ons to our dorms, and then pushed us towards the school. I got a quick look in a store's window to see that my black hair was messy from the flight so I quickly fixed it back into the usual position as best as I could. When we made it to the front of the building in the center of the town we found out it was actually the academy. People handed us a tag with either meister or weapon written on it, and they told us to wear it on our chests. Suddenly a man appeared wearing a skull mask and black formal wear.

"Welcome students," he greeted us cheerfully. "I am the principle of this fine academy. My name is Shinigami." Shinigami continued on and on about the academy, the teachers, and what we were to learn here. "And now finally I would like to end this introduction with having you, students, find your partner," he stated, ending his speech. I stand there watching others find some friends to pair up with when a guy with a tag with weapon written up on it comes up to me. He wore a basic white tank top with black jeans and a pair of black converse shoes. He was a little intimidating with some of the piercings he had, and with the skull tattoo on his left arm.

"Hey, wanna be partners," he asks holding out his hand. "My name is Jakov, and I'm a wakizashi blade." Before I could answer him Cry comes and latches herself to my right arm.

"No way Ark is going to be my partner," she says to Jakov.

"Hey, you didn't even ask him," Jakov accused her.

I start to become flustered as the two fought over who would be my partner. "H-how about you both be my partners. I-I'm sure Shinigami won't mind," I quickly stammered out. Suddenly Shinigami appeared behind us.

"Well, if you were to do that you would need to collect the double the amount of souls originally needed," he says thinking it over.

"I can do it," I quickly say.

"Okay then, Ark," he says happily. "Jakov and Crystal will be you partners!"

We all dispersed to explore the city and the campus. Jakov, Cry, and I started to stroll to the park near by the academy. I could still sense a bit of tension between Jakov and Cry after their small fight over me.

"Hey I didn't get to ask you guys how you transform," I said. "I'm really curious about it."

As soon as I said that Cry grabbed my hand and started to glow. After a sharp, blinding light she was a dagger in my hand. The dagger was two pronged instead of the usual one, and it had some gold trimming in the handle and in the blade itself.

"That's how we transform," a metallic voice came from the dagger. Suddenly the dagger started to glow again, and soon Cry was back in human form holding my hand.

"That's really cool," I admire her ability.

Over the next months in DWMA I learn how to connect my soul to my partners, see other's souls, and how to wield my partners in weapon form to become a stronger team. Jakov, Cry, and I all became great friends. Once, Jakov and I challenged each other over who was the strongest and the loser would have to get a tattoo whenever the winner chose. I ended up losing, and that's how I got the tattoos of the four red circles under my left eye. Cry ended up buying us all battle gear for the future, but I didn't really like it so I stuck with my original attire of a red and black trench-coat-like jacket and a pair of red jeans, even if it isn't the most practical for fighting. Lately other teams have been sent out on their first hunting missions. It was only a matter of time before we had our first mission. I am nerve-racked of facing my first demon, and I can also tell that Jakov and Cry are as well. Jakov has been tense and jumpy, and Cry has been even more chit-chatty that usual. Soon enough Shinigami appeared while we were lounging outside the school to tell us that there was a low level demon that we needed to collect the soul of. With that being said we were immediately shipped off to a town a few miles away. 

We arrived in a small town. It almost seemed abandoned from how few people there were around. "So there should be a demon around here somewhere," I said my thought out loud while I started to look for the demon's red soul among the few blue human souls.

"Man, I'm nervous it's the first demon we will face," Jakov laughed nervously. "But more importantly who will get the soul, me or Cry?"

"Ha, of course I get the soul," she retorted. "Ladies first."

"You a lady," Jakov quickly retorted back. "I would hardly believe it."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean," Cry yelled back at him.

"Guys, please I need to concentrate," I tell them. "Your bickering really doesn't help!"

"Fine," they both said.

I return to trying to find the demon soul, but I have no luck in finding it. There is no red soul anywhere To be seen. I try to expand my range of sight to encompass a larger area than before, and there I see it. A small red dot at the edge of my sight.

"Found it," I report. "Let's go."

I keep my sight on that red soul as Jakov, Cry, and I make our way through the winding paths of this small town. We ran into a dead end more than once, but luckily the demon didn't seem to be moving. We finally made our way to a small square, there was a woman sitting on a bench staring lifelessly at the fountain. No other people were around.

"No way that woman is a demon," Jakov scoffed.

"She looks too frail," Cry noted.

"Trust me she's it," I whisper back to them. "Don't be so quick to judge it based on appearance."

The demon suddenly turned to look as us. It smiled a smile that was not human, and then attacked us at a high speed while transforming into a gruesome monster with sharp claws. It all happened in a flash, one moment Cry and Jakov were at my sides as humans then they were in my hands as weapons. I go into a defensive pose repelling the demon from it's first attack. I quickly go in for the attack while it was off balance and strike it in the side. It screams and lunges at me in a rage. I try to dodge, but I was nicked on my right arm by it's claws. I slow down cringing at the pain as the demon and I have a momentary stare down.

"Come on Ark," Cry's metallic voice rang from the dagger in my right hand. "Don't give it anymore chances to attack you."

I lunge at the demon this time, but it easily dodges and gets behind me. It slashes at my back causing me to fall forward. I quickly rolled off to the side before it could trap me under it's body.

"Ark let's go," Jakov's voice rang from the wakizashi blade in my left hand. "Don't die on us now, it's only our fist mission!"

"Sorry guys I'm just a little low on stamina," I panted out. "It doesn't help that it gave me some deep scratches on my back." I dodge the next attack just barely. This goes on for awhile before I finally land a finishing hit. I did it I survived my first mission. Cry and Jakov turn back into their human form and celebrate while I grab the demon soul.

"Haha," Jakov laughed. "We did it!"

"Yeah," Cry shouted. "One down one hundred and eighty-eight more to go!"

"Thanks guys," I pant out. "With out you guys I doubt I would've gone on. I really wanted to give up when it clawed me on my back."

We made our way back to our pick-up site. A medic there patched me up as best as he could at that point of time, and then we headed back to DWMA. When we got there Shinigami greeted us, "Congratulations you three on your first demon soul!"