Chapter 1
"Green eyed girl"
7:30am
It was a bright peaceful Friday morning. Nothing unusual about it. The soft breeze was playing with Roselda's pretty flowers, the birds were singing outside my window. I could hear the priest shouting at those little kids again, for stealing bread from the church. Poor fellows, they must have been hungry… But that's none of my business. I ate my breakfast as usual and dressed up. Waved at my dad, gave my mom a kiss and ran off to school.
8:00am
As I walked down the street, I kept saying "hello" to the random people greeting me. It was funny how everyone knew me, while I knew no one. My dad was born in this village, so all families knew him and my mom. But I was never able to remember names. I just kept on being nice and greeting them, even though I didn't really care. Anyway, I turned to the right and finally saw my school. I checked the time, 8:05am. Great, I had some time left.
I turned again and entered the park so I could go get some ice cream from the little shop at the other side. I started running, and as I reached the fountain, I stopped to catch some breath. And then I saw her. The girl that would change my life. The girl that would turn this lame everyday routine into a wonderful adventure. She was right there, leaning at some tree behind the fountain, looking at me with her gorgeous green eyes. Of course I didn't know who she was… yet. At that moment she was nothing more than a complete funny dressed stranger to me.
Seriously, that girl was dressed like a clown. Black leather boots, blue skirt with a rainbow belt, a white tank top and a tie with black and white squares on it, long rainbow gloves and on top of all that a red ribbon with huge stars on it. But the most strange part was her hair. It was bright brown that looked like gold under this morning's beaming sun. I stared at her and she kept staring back at me. We stood there for a while, until I finally realized I was late for school. "Screw ice cream…" I murmured and started running back to the street, leaving the girl and all her weirdness behind.
8:15am
"Now that was strange…." I thought as I entered my class. Who was she? What did she want with me? Because I wasn't stupid. I've read so many stories in my life that I knew strange occasions like that were never accidental. That girl knew me and she wanted something from me… The question is what?
The teacher's voice woke me from my thoughts.
"Kaylie, could you solve this equation for us?"
"Huh? Ah, yea sure."
I walked towards the white board, still thinking of that girl. I didn't notice I was standing there staring at the board until the teacher's cough made me realize I looked like an idiot. I glanced at the equation. Easy stuff, nothing I didn't know. I solved it really fast and ran back to my seat.
"Thank you Kaylie. So guys, as you can see here…"
"Yea… right… whatever…" I muttered falling deep into thoughts again.
2:00pm
At last, the bell rang and I heard the usual fuzz as all the kids ran to the door. I stood up slowly, only to fall back again when I noticed someone standing in frond of me. Oh no… Josef again… He was talking to me non stop, moving his weight from one foot to the other as he kept on shouting in my ears.
"No, Josef, you can't visit me today, I'm busy. I have to... erm… wash my dad's car" I threw out the first lie that came into my mind, just to make him go away.
Poor guy… of course I already knew that he was into me but one thing I know for sure, I'd never fall for a guy like him. Blond shining hair, bright blue eyes and so, so rich. Nah, not my type. To be honest, I was more into the nerd type. But anyway, I never thought of having a serious relationship yet.
2:10pm
I started walking nervously towards the park. I had to face that girl, find out what it is that she wanted. But as I reached the fountain, no one was there. I looked around, but the girl had disappeared. Damn you Kaylie… you have no luck at all girl. I started walking back, kicking and punching things in my way. It was true I was always looking for trouble, always looking for something out of the ordinary. All those stories about dragons and witches and magic fascinated me. But I guessed that weirdo must have been some crazy girl that came out of a mad house. Knowing I would have nothing to do at home, I decided to go get that ice cream. But as I turned around, I froze instantly. Because right there, only inches away from me, was standing the weird girl staring into my eyes.
Chapter 2
"What did I drag myself into?"
"Are you Kaylie Rohan?" Her glorious green eyes were looking at me fiercely.
"Y-yes it's me. How do you know my name? What do you want from me?" I was so scared, I started trembling.
She grabbed my arms and looked closely into my eyes. I couldn't help but look away.
"Who are you?" I whispered after a while but when I turned my head to see her, she was looking at the sky, with eyes full of anxiety.
"Meet me at the tower clock, at midnight."
"But..!" but she was already gone. Disappeared into thin air.
"Wake up Kaylie…." I thought while walking towards home, with no ice cream again.
Midnight.
It was freezing cold. I knew I should have brought my jacket. I have been sitting on this fence right under the tower clock for hours, cutting off the petals from the flowers that were growing all around. I just couldn't stay at home, was way too concerned for that girl and the reason of this meeting. At last when the clock announced it was midnight, I saw her approaching. This time she was wearing a long red cloak and was holding another kind of clothing and a plastic bag. When she came close, she threw me the clothing that turned out to be another red cloak. I wore it quickly to appease the cold. She then took out two ice cream bowls from the bag and offered me one.
"Want some ice cream?" her voice sounded so nice and warm this time.
"No thanks, I'm kinda freezing here"
"Oh come on, the cloak will keep you warm. Besides I know you really like ice cream"
"You got me there" I said, taking the ice cream and starting poking it.
"Are you going to eat or what?" she said after a while and her fierce looking made me pick some vanilla with my plastic spoon and eat it really fast. It was great, like no other ice cream I had ever tasted. I tried to check its name but the bowl was plain white.
"I made it" she pointed while throwing her empty bowl away.
"It's perfect" I muttered full of wonder.
I sat there poking my ice cream for a little bit more, with her looking at me. In the end I guessed I had to break the silence.
"What's your n-"
"So what do you say? Wanna be a Puella Hunter?" she cut my phrase out of sudden
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Come with me" she grabbed my hand full of excitement and started pulling me with her.
"I can walk you know" I shouted out and she stopped.
"Oh sorry…" she looked worried. She really wanted me to like her, and that seemed even weirder. "Come" she said again and started running.
I ran after her until we left the village and entered the woods.
"Hey wait up for a minute" I said and stopped to rest near some tree.
"You're tired already?"
"And you're not?"
"Not really"
"It's dangerous in there" I said pointing at the forest.
"I know it is" she said with a worrying look on her face.
"What if some wolf attacks us?" I whispered terrified
"Oh it's not wolves what I'm afraid of" she answered looking deep into the trees, maybe searching for something with her sharp eyes, something I couldn't see or feel.
"What are we doing here anyway? And I still don't know your name"
"You'll see. Are you still tired?"
"Not really"
She smiled.
"Okay follow me" she said while running deeper into the forest.
I tried my best to keep up. Besides I was really good in P.E.
"Hey! What's your name?" I shouted at her back, but she ignored me.
"Okay, here we are" she said after an hour of running. Now we were standing in the middle of a small clearing, so deep into the forest that I couldn't even see the starring night sky above us.
"I'm scared" I whispered hugging myself nervously.
"Don't worry" she smiled "I won't let anything happen to my future follower"
"Your what?" I heard myself ask.
But she just smiled and jumped (!) at some tree, vanishing from my sight.
"Hey don't leave me alone!" I shouted but the moment I did, I heard a huge angry growl behind me.
I turned around pulling my little Swiss knife from my sock, getting ready to face the bear or wolf or whatever it was.
Chapter 3
"The girl and the beast"
I felt myself standing still, frozen. For that thing was neither a bear nor a wolf. In fact it wasn't like any other living creature I had ever seen. It was ten feet tall, nearly touching the higher branches from the trees around. Its skin was pure white, its eyes pitch black. It had long arms and legs and an angry expression on its face. It was showing me its sharp yellow teeth, ready to eat me whole.
I wanted to run away, I wanted to scream with all my strength. But my legs wouldn't move and my mouth was shut from terror. The beast was walking closer, blood coming out of its eyes. Something moved near me. The weird girl jumped down before me, ready to fight the monster. She had removed her red cloak, revealing a shining red armor and a pair of beautiful black double swords in her hands. I heard her laugh while jumping again, this time towards the huge beast.
She seemed like dancing in the air. Her moves were so soft and harmonic, like a bird flying, like a ballerina doing pirouettes. And yet, they were so steady, so sure and strong. She kicked the beast, throwing it a couple of meters away. She rushed towards it, and with a slash of her swords that looked like dancing with her, she cut off its head. As she fell to the ground, she curved a little "P" on the monster's chest. The moment she touched the ground, the beast disappeared into hundreds of tiny stars. Now a small grey wolf was standing in its place, so frightened to move, staring at the girl desperately. She kneeled next to it, patted its head softly and whispered something that seemed like a song. Once she stood up again, the wolf shook its tail with joy and ran away into the woods.
The girl picked up her red cloak and put it on again. Then she started running. I followed her. We reached the village's outskirts and she stopped so I could rest a bit. We both sat on the grass.
"Mind explaining what the hell that was?" my voice was trembling, and I couldn't blame it.
"Demon soul" she answered while looking worried at the night sky.
I waited for more details, but as she wasn't really willing to give any, I asked again, trying to remain calm.
"What's a demon soul?"
We stood there for a while. Finally she spoke, not taking her eyes off the sky.
"Guess I have to choice, do I?"
She looked at me with her gorgeous eyes.
"I'll explain everything" she smiled "but first, you need to rest"
"I'm okay. Tell me" I insisted.
"All this was too much for you. I shouldn't have dragged you into this without any preparations. I'll tell you everything tomorrow morning. It's Saturday right? You don't have school on Saturdays, do you? Ok, meet me at the fountain. I'll be waiting!" she got up and smiled "Oh, and my name is Luisa"
And with no other words she vanished again.
"You are in serious trouble Kaylie Rohan…" I whispered as I got up and started walking home.
Chapter 4
"Wanna be a Puella Hunter?"
My dreams that night were cold and full of shadows and fears. I woke up several times, with pale and sweaty face. Once the day's first sunrays appeared in my room, I got up. At first I thought everything that happened last night was a bad dream. Then I saw the mess of the clothes I was wearing. It was true. At 8am I left a note for my parents, dressed up, made my hair into a ponytail and went outside.
I thought Luisa wouldn't be there, as it was too early. However I found her sitting on the fountain's edge, playing with the water. I looked at her, hidden behind a tree. She seemed so young and innocent, nothing like the girl I saw yesterday in that armor. Back then her face was cold, full of hatred. Now it was sweet and full of kindness.
"You can come out, I won't bite you" she shouted happily.
I walked near her with my face turning red from the shame. I sat next to her, but she kept playing with the water.
"Boo!" she said suddenly looking me in the eyes. Even though she wasn't scary, my heart skipped a beat.
"Haha, so funny" I said and laughed.
"Good morning" she smiled at me.
She looked so nice. I felt her close to me, as if she was a long lost friend and not an almost total stranger.
"Hey" was the only thing I managed to say, still shocked from the change.
Her eyes were warm and welcoming. I felt safe. All the fears from last night's nightmares flew away. She was so sweet. She was the exact type of friend I would like to have.
"So, I owe you some explanations right?" she said, turning to face me.
"Yep, you do"
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything, everything that happened last night. About that monster and your armor and that wolf and your song and the reason you are always looking at the sky. I want to know everything."
"I have to admit, Kaylie, I never thought you would be so smart when I first met you. And so brave. Your heart is truly strong. I think I made a good choice this time" she smiled again.
I started feeling nervous. Is she really going to give me details? What are her true intentions?
"Let's start with your first question. You asked me about that beast from last night."
"You told me it was called a Demon Soul. What the hell is that?"
"Yes indeed, it is called a Demon Soul. Basically Demon Souls started appearing hundreds of years ago. Some people think they are myths. Others even write songs for them. They say they are good spirits, visiting you in your dreams to fight the nightmares. Pathetic. Only us, Hunters know exactly what they are. Lost souls, evil and desperate. Those things don't fight for the evil, they are the evil. All they want it to kill and cause harm."
"Why did it attack me? What did it want from me?"
"Ah, well for that you'll have to blame me and my silly ideas" she said laughing, but getting serious again. "I'm sorry about that. I wanted to test you, and I know I should have explained everything before. But everything went well, so no hard feelings, kay?"
"I still don't understand…"
"That soul was after you. I brought you there for that reason, to drag it out, so I could kill it. Demon Souls can sense people's potential in life. They smell your will, your heart's strength. That's why they follow you and try to kill you. See, it would be really bad if a person with great potential is alive. It means they are in danger, if that person decides to hunt them."
"What was the wolf about? That wolf that appeared when you killed the soul?"
"In order to attack someone, Demon Souls need a body. If they don't take over a living creature, they are just ghosts, unable to cause harm. They conquer animals, mostly wolves. That's why we are called hunters, because we hunt them down. That wolf you saw last night was really scared, that's the reason the demon was so weak. Some Hunters kill the animal once they release it, to make sure the soul is lost. I don't do that. And this is what the song is about. Back when I was still with my master, she taught me that song. It helps to purify the animal's soul, make it invisible to demons. Quite handy, right?" she said blowing me a smile.
"Do demons take over… like... human… bodies?"
"Sometimes they do, although that's really rare"
I was sure she was making fun of me, even though I'd really love something unusual like this to happen in my life. But I saw it. I saw that beast with my own eyes. She must have been telling the truth.
"This is way too much for me" I said covering my face with my hands.
"Ah, don't worry, you'll get used to it. I got used to it too, eventually. So what do you say, you want to see my armor?"
"Sure!"
If there is one thing I love about stories like this, it's the armors and weapons. I love admiring their shining and the precious stones they are decorated with. Luisa started walking and I followed her.
"You said you wanted to test me" I said quietly as I walked beside her, without noticing where we were going. "What exactly did you want to test? It's not like I have magical powers or something"
"I'm glad you asked that" she said blowing me a smile again. "See, every hunter has a special power. You can call it a gift for becoming a hunter. My gift is to be able to see the potential in people. I must admit, yours is truly amazing. I was shocked when I first saw you, that day at the park. At first I thought I was wrong. But how could that be? I was never wrong before. So I decided to study you a bit. That night, I realized it was actually true. I was hunting that soul for a while, but it was too scared to come out. Your potential made it appear though. You really are special. You would make a great hunter."
Lost in her words, I didn't realize we had reached a cave's entrance. I knew this cave. I used to come here and play when I was little. But one day I heard a little boy died in there. 'Bear attack' the police had announced, even though the boy's corpse was never found.
"Wait!" I said and stopped.
"What is it?" Luisa seemed worried.
"They say this cave is cursed" I whispered. Even if it was just rumors, this place gave me the chills.
"Nonsense" she laughed "Don't worry, I won't let bogeyman get you" she said, still laughing.
I laughed too and followed her, although I was still scared. We walked for a bit, until the sunlight coming through the entrance disappeared. Then Luisa lighted a candle and stopped.
"How did you-"
"I always carry things with me" she raised her shoulders.
She put the candle down and turned to face me.
"Ready?" she said, and without waiting for my answer, she grabbed something that looked like a white feather from the inside of her boot, held it in her hands and closed her eyes. At once a beaming red light appeared around her, making my eyes hurt. I kept them open though, trying not to miss anything. And then it was gone. Now Luisa was standing there, wearing her beautiful red armor and holding her awesome double swords.
"Wow" was the only thing I could think of. "Wow!"
"Cool, huh?" she laughed.
"Awesome!"
The details were perfect. Red stones were decorating the armor's shoulders and a big calligraphic "P" was curved on its frond. The swords looked like black katana, but a lot longer than usual ones, with silver hilts. I felt my mouth wide open and I closed it nervously. My expression must have been really stupid, because Luisa wouldn't stop laughing.
"What's with the feather?" I asked while looking around for it. "Is it some magical item?"
"Nah, just special effects" Luisa said and threw it away, while we both busted into laughs.
"What's that little symbol on your shoulder?" I asked her, noticing the small blue stone with a silver "P" and five stripes on it. The stone seemed to be curved on her bare skin. "Is it the same as the one on your chest?"
"Ah, no. The one on my chest stands for Puella, my clan. Hunters are divided into clans. The one on my shoulder is my rank. It means "Pro". When you become a hunter, you start as a Rookie and you have a yellow symbol. As you keep fighting, you will gain experience and you'll see stripes appearing on it. The first ten stripes will make you a Semi-Pro. Then, another 30 stripes will make you a Pro and, finally, another 50 will make you an Expert."
"Tell me about the clans" I asked. Ranking systems always gave me headaches.
"That's a long story, I'll tell you some other time. Tell me now, you wanna be a Puella Hunter?"
"Eh… I…"
But suddenly, a loud cracking sound cut my phrase.
"Oh, no!" Luisa whispered grabbing my hand and pulling me behind her back, becoming my shield, as black figures started appearing in the cave, surrounding us. We were trapped!
