Chapter One: The Beginning
I concentrated, trying to remember an old number from so long ago. Without thinking, I let my older memories take over as I subconsciously dialed a number that I haven't dialed in ages. Ring,... Ring... Ring... "Hello?" I nearly jumped at his voice, I hadn't heard it in quite a while, and I didn't really expect him to pick up so quickly.
"Hey, Uncle Spirit! It's Lana." I said, brushing a strand of golden hair from my eyes, something I usually did when I got nervous.
"Hey Lana! How've you been? It's been a while since you've called, how's your mother? Do you have a weapon yet? What've you been up to? It's been a while since I've heard from my FAVORITE NIECE," Uncle Spirit said all in one breath, practically singing the last part.
"I'm your only niece, Uncle Spirit," I said. "But, I've been good, not up to that much, yes I do have weapons now, and my mom sort of… er… died. Three years ago."
"WHAT?!" he shouted. "Why didn't you tell me? Where have you been living? Does this mean that I'm your legal guardian now?" he asked.
"Technically, yes, Uncle Soul, you are now my legal guardian."
"Where are you, I'll come pick you up, I can enroll you in the DWMA with Maka, and then I'll have my two little girls!" he sang.
"Well….. That's a problem. You see, I'm not very good at explaining things, so I'll just hand the phone over to the nice policewoman so you can talk to her." I told him.
I handed the phone over to the policewoman, and walked over to the bench where my best friends, and weapons, sat. Kate was just leaning back and relaxing, as if she was in jail every day, her brunette hair pulled back into a ponytail, her bangs barely grazing the tops of her blazing blue eyes. Leon, Kate's twin, just stared straight ahead, his dark brown hair looking messy, like it usually did.
"Well, kiddos, looks like today is your lucky day. Your uncle is on his way to come pick you up, he should be here in about an hour," the policewoman told us after she hung up the phone. "Of course, you'll have to stay here until he gets here and pays your bail."
I groaned, sitting back and just zoning out. I started to think about different things. I started thinking about my parents, my old house, and how much I missed my old life. I sat there, thinking about the one woman who ruined my entire life, who forced me to leave my old, normal-ish life. I clenched my fists, remembering the vow I made five years ago. "Hey, Lana, it's time to go; your uncle's here," Leon told me, shaking me from my thoughts.
"Wow, it's already been an hour?" I said
"It's been three," Kate told me. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just daydreaming." I told her. However, the look in her eyes told me that she didn't believe me.
We walked down the hallway together, following the guard out the door into the reception room. I looked around, my gaze resting on Uncle Spirit. I looked at him, noticing how he didn't look like he had changed that much since the last time I saw him. He still had a suit on, like always, and he still had that fiery red hair. Before I could say a word, Uncle Spirit started yelling. "YOUNG LADY, WHY ARE YOU IN JAIL? WHAT DID YOU DO? WAS IT HIM?" he asked, pointing to Leon. "I BET IT WAS HIM! YOU STAY AWAY FROM LANA; SHE'S LIKE MY SECOND DAUGHTER! I COULD TELL YOU WERE A BAD INFLUENCE FROM A MILE AWAY!"
"Uncle Spirit, Leon isn't the reason why I was in jail. He didn't even do that much!" I told him. "Look, I can explain if you will just let me."
"Fine, but you can explain on the way back to Death City. And, as of now, you are grounded for a month!"
I groaned, hoping that Uncle Spirit would lessen my grounding when he heard what happened. We all walked out of the police station and got into Uncle Spirit's car. He started it up, and we rode off to Death City. "Alright, Lana, start explaining," Uncle Spirit said to me.
"Okay, well, it started out like this; Kate, Leon, and I were walking down an alley trying to get to the store, when these thugs started telling us how it was their territory, and to back off. Well, that's what they said to Leon, they were trying to get Kate and me to go home with them. So, Kate started telling them about how it was a free country, and how they didn't own the town, which got them really angry. So, they started throwing punches at her, so I joined in, because it was, like, fifteen people against one girl. And, well, one thing led to another, and we wound up kicking all of their asses to Timbuktu. Right when we were about to leave, the cops showed up, and we got arrested for disturbing the peace, even though we tried to tell them that it was self-defense, but they wouldn't listen. So, that's how we ended up in jail." I concluded, quite happy that I was able to summarize what happened.
Uncle Spirit looked at me as I finished, an expression of pure shock all over his face. "Since when did you curse?"
"Really? Out of that entire story, THAT'S what you're shocked most about? Well, I started cursing last year." I said.
"It's just a shock, because I haven't seen you in a while," he said, an expression of pure sadness on his face. As quickly as it was there, it was gone, an expression of glee written across his face. "But now I can see you every day! Because, since I am your legal guardian, I am enrolling you in the Death Weapon Meister Academy!"
"WHAT?!" Kate, Leon, and I all said at once.
"I am NOT going to some school!" Kate proclaimed.
"Neither am I!" Leon chimed in.
"Don't worry, it's a lot of fun, my little Maka loves it there!" Uncle Spirit said. "Besides, I've already gotten it all sorted out with Lord Death, you all start school on Monday!"
Kate and Leon groaned in response. I, however, started bouncing up and down in my chair, excited at the prospect of actually being able to go to a school. Well, not quite excited about the actual school part; more like being excited about the chance to actually have a normal life. I could tell deep down that this was going to be fun.
The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, occasionally interrupted by the usual "I'm bored!" (Kate), or "Are we there yet?" (Leon) and, once or twice, a "CAN WE GO TO DISNEY WORLD?" (Kate and I).
Finally, after three hours, we arrived at the DWMA. I stared up at the gigantic structure that I would soon call school. It was a magnificent building. I followed Uncle Spirit in, until we finally got to a hallway that had guillotines lining it. Uncle Spirit started to walk down it. Kate, Leon, and I shared a look that said the same thing, "What are we walking into?" But, we all followed Uncle Spirit down the hallway, nonetheless.