The bell rang and everyone slowly made their way to the front of the building. At first glance it looked like it was just a bunch of ordinary girls attending school but in closer inspection, you would notice they had horns, tails, and fire in their eyes and most importantly… weapons? Yes, weapons. From bows and arrows to cannons three times their size. You would think they were going to war- which in a sense they were- rather than going to school. But that's where they were headed, to the School of Dead Warriors.
Rock checked the electronic bulletin board to see if she had class or battle today. Like everyone else in the Realm of Death, she loved her mortal soul mate, Mato, and would do anything to keep her from suffering but sometimes she hoped Mato would get hurt just a little by her friend Yomi so that she could get chance to pulverize that annoying, green-horn freak by the name of Dead Master, who was Yomi's soul mate. Rock knew it was against the rules to have feelings, especially for those in the mortal world but she hated both Yomi and Dead Master. She hated them for different reasons but with the same intensity. She despised Yomi for causing Mato pain and hated Dead Master for being, well…HER. Ever since she had awakened as a warrior in the Realm of Death she had hated her and her atmosphere of superiority. She was really hoping to get to battle her but was disappointed when she saw she had no battle again. Rock was about to go to class when she suddenly noticed that Yuu was just walking into the building looking as gloomy as always. No one really cared about Yuu, not that they were allowed to care for others in the first place, but Rock couldn't help but notice her everyday as she walked in the hallways. Yuu had never gotten into a fight or gone into battle. That had a simple explanation. She did not belong there.
Yuu was from the mortal world, yet she and been able to exchange places with her soul mate Strength. Black Gold Saw, the school's head master, had approved and helped with the process of switching places. It had never been done before but they saw it as necessary for the safety of both Yuu and Strength since Strength's battles were not helping Yuu enough in the mortal world. Once the exchange had been done, things went back to normal and Yuu was enrolled as a student at the Dead Warrior Academy. Most people just referred to her as Strength since they were almost identical even though everyone knew she was Yuu. Yuu never got into battles because Strength kept true to her promise-and the rules- and did not have feelings. Rock had never had any feelings or cared much for Strength when she had been at the Realm but was glad she had gone to the mortal world. Her presence there had helped Mato go back to being her innocent happy self. Rock had just awakened as a warrior when this was going on so she was not able to battle for Mato's happiness.
Rock went and got in line for roll check in sector 2B. This was the first class of the day and Rock could not wait any longer for it to start. Unlike most of her classes, where she had to read books about the mortal world and how to destroy different kinds of emotions, she actually got to practice her fighting techniques here. They were allowed to do as much damage to each other, even kill if necessary, in this class. It was her first time attending it and was hoping Dead Master had that class too. "Dead Master?" The instructor called. Silence responded. Just for Rock's luck, the day she actually was in that class, Dead Master wasn't there. Rock wondered, "Battle? With who would she…?" She noticed Yuu wasn't in that class either. Could it be…? Nah. Why would Yuu battle Dead Master? Strength had no feelings so Yuu shouldn't have to fight. Unless Yomi….
Rock ran to the bulletin board after class was over. Their names weren't in the bulletin. Then why? Just as she began to think of all the possibilities as to why they hadn't been there she spotted the green horns and the tail. Dead Master looked down at Rock and smirked. Why was that insignificant blue-headed chick staring at her? She looked at her with arrogance before turning her head and walking right pass her. "Of course, little Miss Perfect doesn't NEED to go to class." Thought Rock as Dead Mater walked pass her with her long greenish-black tail trailing behind her. Rock smirked as she stepped on it. The room went quiet as Dead Mater turned around to face her aggressor. Rock knew it was a bad idea from the beginning but impulse got the best of her. Dead Master's eyes glowed green with anger as she glared at Rock. Rock's eyes lit blue with excitement and anticipation. "Just one punch; that's all I need." Thought Rock but just then, the bell rang. Neither one of them cared much about class but the others hurried and disappeared into the classrooms. With them gone, Dead Master and Rock were quickly spotted by Black Gold Saw. They both turned to face the headmaster, automatically turning their eyes back to normal. Dead Master was more than furious now that, not only had someone stepped on her precious tail, but was also being forced to go to class. They were being escorted down to the dungeons, Sector -1D. It was not a favorite class for most warrior but they all knew it was necessary. This class showed them how to open the portal. While they weren't allowed to go through the portal, they were allowed to see through it. Both Rock and Dead Master knew how to open one during the day (Memories of mortals) and so they sat down on opposite sides of the room and each opened their own portal. Rock was pleased to see Mato was laughing with Strength. She noticed Strength was laughing along with her and wondered if she would one day be able to do the same but quickly stopped as she knew it would mean trading places with Matos and going to the mortal world.
Class was about to end when Dead Master stood up. She closed the portal and marched towards where Rock sat, calmly looking at her own portal and closing it. With green fire burning in her eyes she made her death scythe appear on her hand. Using the bottom portion of her weapon, she knocked Rock's head causing Rock to fall over. Rock stood up, gridding her teeth and glaring at her with blue flames in her eyes. A weapon appeared on Rock's hands just as Black Gold Saw appeared on the doorway. Her expression was calm but her tone of voice and atmosphere made everyone turn towards her in fear. Rock's flames even died out. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked looking back and forth from Rock to Dead Master. "I request a battle; RIGHT NOW." demanded Dead Master whose eyes were still burning with green flames. "Denied" answered Black Gold Saw, her expression cold. "Battles are decided by me and other members of the school board. We then give them to warriors if they seem fit for the battle. Warriors, however, are not allowed to request a battle and nor are they allowed to decline one." Continued the head master, seeing Dead Master was not backing down and was still burning with anger and determination. "I DEMAND A TRI-WAR" The room went quiet. Rock looked up at Dead Mater in disbelief. A Tri-War? There hadn't been one of those in ages! Rock, along with most of the other warriors, had only read about them in sector 3H. "A tri-war? Foolish girl. Who is your soul mate?" asked Black Gold Saw, her eyes now glowing red. She had never had a warrior student stand up to her. "Yomi Takanashi" answered Dead Master with pride. Black Gold Saw looked at her records. Only once before had Yomi Takanashi been in need for a battle. Well two if you counted when Dead Master was awaken. "And with whom would you have this Tri-war with?" she asked still examining Yomi's records. "I request my battle with Black Rock Shooter and Yuu." Black Gold Saw stopped examining her records and stared at Dead Master. "Yuu? You know you can't battle Yuu. Why do you even want a Tri-war with us?" asked Rock before Black Gold Saw could even ask the same thing. Dead Master glared down at her and hit her with her scythe again before answering. "Yomi is in pain. Mato and Strength are the cause of it. I demand a tri-war to take away both pains, after all, the job of a warrior is to destroy our soul mate's suffering."
The electronic bulletin board showed the event of the day: Tri-War for Mato, Yomi, and Strength. Rock was getting her weapon-canon ready while Dead Master was sharpening her scythe. Neither was planning to lose. As they entered the arena, Rock realized she hadn't seen Yuu. She wondered if she'd even show up and what would happen if she didn't. Just then, however, Yuu appeared in her orange vest with two massive canons on both arms and a full metal armor under her vest. "Pffft mortals" hissed Dead Master with distaste. Everyone was there to watch. Even Chariot had gone.
With every second that passed Yomi suffered more. That was the thing about battles. They relieved the mortal from all their pain but in the process they suffered. The ones causing the pain to that person suffered a little bit too so battles were only done when necessary. Black Gold Saw announced the names of the three warriors who would be battling that day. In a matter of seconds, the battle began… and both Rock and Dead Master were on the ground.
As they looked around looking for who ever had shot them, they noticed the gray smoke coming out of the orange canons. "Yuu?" asked Rock and Dead Master in unison. They had never pondered on the possibility of Yuu winning. Dead Master didn't wait; she stood up and ran at full speed towards Yuu. Yuu's eyes opened wide in fear and shot again. The blast of the canon was not enough to stop Dead Master this time. She swung her scythe and caused a slash on Yuu's vest. Yuu looked around in panic trying to find Dead Master but then she felt it and stood petrified in fear as she felt Dead Master's cold hands caress her face. A cold laugh escaped her green lips. Yuu started to panic. She had seen Dead Master fight once before. She had fought Chariot a few days back and had finished her off in the most dramatic way she had ever seen. Dead Master had a thing for being dramatic so she had sneaked behind Chariot and whispered something to her ear before slashing her neck with her scythe. Something told Yuu that Dead Master wasn't going to do that this time. No, she would do something worse.
She looked at Rock, who was still lying on the ground with fear in her eyes. Rock saw as Yuu's lips started to form a word but the sound never came out. In the blink of an eye, red blood stained the arena. There, in the very center, stood Dead Master hugging Yuu. Yuu let out a small scream/yelp like a wounded dog before falling to her knees; Death Master's tail having gone through her armor and chest. She quickly took her tail out the armor and kissed Yuu's cheek before pushing her head to the ground. Everyone's eyes turned towards Rock who had finally stood up and was now holding her cannon, ready to attack. There was a black out and the only light in the arena was a blue glow coming from Rock's cannon. There was a low growl and then a massive light beam was shot from the cannon. The lights came back on and there stood Rock, smiling… alone? Everyone looked at the wall where the light had hit, expecting to see a wounded Dead Master. But there was no sign of her. Rock stopped smiling and went to check that spot up close. Just then, a loud scream was heard from the sky and something green crashed down on earth. It was Dead Master. She had landed right behind Rock and managed to throw her to the ground with her scythe. Rock looked up and saw the anger and satisfaction in Dead Master's face. Rock tried to stand up but Death Master stopped her and scratched her legs in the process. Rock knew this was for the best and it was going to happen anyways so she closed her eyes and laid on the floor. If she didn't die, they would kill Dead Master. Or at least that's what she had heard. Rock felt herself being lift up with Dead Master's scythe, the blade cutting on the back of her neck. Dead Master brought her close to her face. She stabbed her with her tail and whispered into her ear "No one harms MY Yomi. No one causes pain to MY little bird." Before pulling out her tail and slashing Rock one more time and then throwing her into the distance with her tail. The battle was over. Dead Master had won but… where was Yuu's body? Black Gold Saw and the other members of the school didn't think it was important and forgot about it. They took Rock's body to the clinic and took away Yomi's memory of pain. Rock should be fine by the next day; death was only temporary after all. As Dead Master was being rewarded with Yomi's happiness, she thought she had seen a shadow. She didn't pay much attention to it but that shadow had actually belonged to Yuu. Yuu went and hid in her house, almost unable to breathe. She had awakened a little after the battle had ended. She didn't understand. Her wound was gone even though there was still a hole in her armor. She felt empty inside, no longer shy or scared. Her canons were gone too! Just then, she felt rage and anger consume her. She looked down and saw the canons appear in her hands. She then ran to look at her reflection. Yuu stood back and gasped at what she saw. Her eyes were bright orange flames and her hair was snow white rather than the usual brown. She was no longer mortal. She was one of them.