The streets of Kirkwall were peaceful and quiet, perfectly oblivious to what was lurking in the shadows. There sat a demon, grinning as he spotted a young girl. She looked to be at least 17 years of age, if not younger. Her dark hair blew back with the wind as her trousers and shirt ruffled underneath her armor. The demon's mouth watered as he smelt her scent.

"Hungry..." He moaned. His smirk grew wider as she passed the building he was perched on. He growled, gritting his teeth together to keep himself as quiet as possible. As hungry as he was, he prefers to chase his prey. His favorite game. He hunched his shoulders before jumping off, landing on all fours. His hair was shaggy and greasy, clothes tattered, exposing the bladed fingers along with the blades that protrude through his elbows. His dark eyes never left her body as he trailed behind her. Soon, the hunger took control.

"To the Void with the game!" He growled. He charged after her, fingers outstretched with the intent of embedding themselves into her skin. The girl turned to face him, her bangs covering her eyes. He was closer now, just a few more inches-

A blade stood before him.

"That's not very nice," they said. Another girl stood between him and the girl. Her blonde hair swept across her face as she grinned.

"You're late, Petra," the dark haired girl said.

"When have I ever been late, Emily?" the blonde girl, Petra, asked. Her body began to glow a golden hue before replacing itself with a sword. The dark haired girl, Emily, grabbed the hilt of the sword and used the blade to block the demon's attacks.

"Too many for me to count," was her reply. The demon began using aggressive attacks towards the girl. Emily countered, clashing her blade against the demon's weaponized fingertips, then jumped back to create some distance. As the demon charged towards her, Emily leapt into the air, just above the creature before she drew the blade across his back, barely penetrating through its armor. The creature snickered before charging once again, gaining much more speed this time around. Being graduates from an unknown combat school, Emily successfully blocked the creatures attack. She felt her heart beating at a faster rate as her blood rushed through her veins. She narrowed her eyes as she locked her sword with the creatures fingertips. She analyzed how close they were-not just their faces, but their bodies including limbs. She tilted her sword to the side before kicking underneath the demon, completely throwing him off balanced. Suddenly everything went slowly. She raised her sword, brought it down and pierced its chest, the blade almost when completely through him if the armor on the back hadn't stopped the sword. The creature would have possibly howled in pain if the death hadn't been instant.

Emily withdrew the sword as the creature slowly began disintegrating, leaving only a glowing, pulsating, red orb. Petra changed back to her human form, walking up to the orb, eating it. "That should be the last of them. For now." Petra said to her meister. Emily nodded. Petra looked up at the night sky. "It's late, we should head back."

Emily nodded and followed her back to the Hanged Man, where they were staying.

The two began their shift at the Hanged Man; one working behind the bar, while the other worked as a waitress. The mornings had always been the easy part of the job with few customers, maybe one or two regulars. The busiest they have ever been was during the afternoon or the night. They would work for an hour or so during the afternoon shifts, before switching with their co-workers. It wasn't ideal, but it payed the rent. Occasionally a drunk person would flirt with one or the other, sometimes both if the two were close enough or to get out of paying their tab. Petra worked behind the bar, Emily as a waitress.

As they finished their hours, the two decided spending the rest of the day reading or playing card games, before heading out and begin the night patrol. It was peaceful as they wandered around Kirkwall. Unsurprisingly, there was a lack of demons around the area, since Petra and her partner had just defeat a few the previous night. Their search in Lowtown was completed, they made their way towards Hightown.

"Hm.." Emily hummed thoughtfully as she slowly stopped walking.

"What is it?" Petra asked her partner.

"Somethings...off..." Emily wandered towards that direction, Petra following without question, until the two stumble upon a large mansion. It seemed abandoned; the mansion was covered with a thin layer of dust, a few spiderwebs here and there, and whatever plants were nearby drooped, dead from dehydration. What was unsettling was the eerie aura that surrounded the mansion. What was in there?

Petra glanced at Emily, who nodded, then tested the door to see if it was unlocked. It was. They entered the first room which was very spacious and almost completely empty except for the few crates and vases that sat on the floor. However, what confirmed her assumption was the musty air. As the two moved further into the room, they saw a flipped over bench in the far corner as well as a few coins and paper that were scattered across from them. They stepped into the other room, immediately jumping back as fire began emitting from the walls.

"Petra."

"Right."

Petra transformed; Emily gripping the hilt of the sword. The trap seemed to have alerted some unwanted guests as a few Shade demons emerged from the ground. Once the fire was no longer in their way, Emily charged into the room, sword raised in the air. She slashed the nearest one, dodging as the second went to swat at her with its claws. Emily drove the sword into the demon's abdomen, then rolled away as the others slid their way towards her. Petra shivered at the hollow feeling of the shade demon's flesh touching her blade. Emily felt overwhelmed by the number of shade demons. She was forced to take a defensive stance.

"Petra, I'm cornered." Emily whispered to her weapon as she back came closer to the wall behind her.

"Ready." Both girls closed their eyes as they focused. Emily gently exhaled and opened her eyes. "SOUL RESONANCE!" They called out in unison. Emily felt the electricity in the air as she sent her soul wavelength towards Petra who passed it back. The process repeats until both partners feel their souls connect. The connection sent a surge of power through both of their veins.

Petra's blade grew thicker and larger, transforming her form into a buster sword. The sword itself was black with the exception of the blade which had white intricate patterns that practically glowed.

"DEATH'S JUDGEMENT!"

Emily swept the large sword across, sending an energy force that traveled through the shade demons and across the room. The creatures howled in pain before suddenly bursting like bombs, leaving behind blotches of black blood and entrails that scattered around the floor. The blood didn't scare them since they were trained to fight demons, some powerful than these. Emily panted as the boost of energy and adrenaline wore off, leaving her slightly winded. Petra returned to her original weapon form. The attack left her somewhat drained. Her human body shivered as she remained sitting in front of the mirror. The mirror allowed her to observe their surroundings as well as to make suggestions to help her partner in battle, while also illuminating the dark room her body was kept in.

Unfortunately, the pair were not allowed to rest as they heard footsteps just ahead of them. Emily heaved Petra in the air, ready to attack. Emily relaxed once she saw two humans, a dwarf, and an elf. Her stance was still there, however, Petra could tell by Emily's grip that she allowed her guard down a bit. Petra sighed mentally. "Emily, they may not be demons, but that does not mean they won't attack." Emily gave a small nod and focused on the strangers. She tilted her head in confusion. This doesn't make sense.

"There's four, but I sense five souls."

"Emily, we have to go."

At the moment, Emily felt wrong. She could not leave these civilian there and escape, but something about them intimidated her. The blonde seemed to be at war with himself while the elf glared daggers at her. Emily took notice to their weapons and blood stained armor and clothes. She glared back. Why were they there? Why is there blood on their clothes and why do they have weapons? Its possible that they could be meisters and weapons on the same mission as they were, but Emily and Petra would have known them during their time at the academy. Or Lord Death would have notified them of other meisters and weapons in Kirkwall. She could attack - hell, she wanted to attack and find out what they were doing, but there were too many. And she have never seen them in battle to properly categorize their skill set and strategize how to defeat them. However, Petra was right. They have done their job, so there was no reason for them to stick around.

Emily lowered Petra's weapon form, blade sticking out from behind her and pointed to the ground, and ran out of the mansion. She moved faster as she heard heavy footsteps from behind her and voices calling out, saying: "wait", "slow down", and a hostile sounding "she's getting away". She turned this way and that, hoping to loose them as she made her way back to the Hanged Man. Emily paused, trying to sense their souls, but came up with nothing. She sighed in relief and signaled Petra, letting her now that it was safe to revert back to her human form.

Petra stood in front of her partner.

"We need to be more careful," she said, walking the rest of the way to the Hanged Man.

"I know," Emily agreed, following her weapon partner.

"Let's just hope that they don't catch up." Petra yawned. The night patrols were starting to take a toll on her, especially since they used Death's Judgement.

"I can't wait to get in bed," Emily stretched her arms, enjoying the cracking sound of her joints.

"Me, too . . ."

"Lets hope tomorrow's shift is slow."

That morning was anything but uneventful. The bar had its usual morning crowd as Petra tended to her customer's drinks. While she was preparing drinks, she kept her eye on the group in front of her. Three men crowded over a woman leaned against the bar. Petra noticed how armed they were. She glanced at Emily who also watched carefully.

"You owe us, Isabella," The man closest to her said.

"Well, Lucky, I'll tell you what," Isabella poured herself another cup, "since the information you gave me was nothing . . ." She took a swig, waiting to but her cup down before continuing. "That's what I'll pay you."

Petra didn't risk a glance at the man's face, but she could guess how red he must have been from anger.

"Me and my boys will get our money's worth, bitch," Lucky said as he prevented Isabella from refilling her empty cup.

Isabella gave Petra a look, then turned towards Lucky. "Oh, you poor, sweet thing," she said. Isabella gripped onto his arm and slammed his head onto the bar's surface several times, letting him collapse onto the floor. One of Lucky's men went behind Isabella and wrapped his arms around her to subdue her. Petra wanted to intervene, but she couldn't without revealing her abilities or drawing attention to herself. Though she found that Isabella was more than capable of handling things herself as she slammed the back of her head to the man's face, making him drop her. She ducked as the other man went to slam a glass bottle on her, only to miss and hit his friend instead. Isabella began punching and kicking the man until he collapsed. Lucky unsheathed his sworded, raising the blade into the air, but stopped once Isabella brought her inches away from his neck.

"Tell me, Lucky," she began, "is this worth dying for?"

Petra imagined the fear and embarrassment on the man's face as he sheathed his sword, backed away from the bar, and exited the Hanged Man with his friends following behind. Isabella returned to the bar and took a swig of her drink. She chuckled, "I didn't think so."

Petra sighed and glanced at Emily. Emily shook her head, but continued with her job. Petra looked up from the bar, ready to greet new customers.

"What can I . . . " She trailed off once she noticed who approached the bar. Her stomach churned as the group of four walked passed her and towards Isabella. She risked a glance towards Emily who was visibly tensed. She noticed them, too. Thankfully, their co-worker came and swapped places with Petra. Petra rushed over to Emily and dragged her out of the Hanged Man.

"Petra, what are we going to do?" Emily was stressed. Ever since they graduated from the academy, Lord Death had informed every student not to reveal their existence as to not be mistaken for abominations, or demons.

"Nothing . . . They don't know who we are, so we just have to keep our heads down. And hopefully, they'll be gone before we know it."

"Hello, Petra! Hello, Emily! What can I do for you?" Lord Death said cheerfully.

"Hello, Lord Death. We actually just finished with the remaining kishins in the Kirkwall area." Emily reported to the mirror. Lord Death's image displayed onto the mirror, clapped his hands.

"Excellent job, girls! Now, there is actually another job I would like for you to do, if it's not too much trouble. There are caverns in the area with kishin activity. This happened recently, so I would like for you two to investigate."

"Of course, Lord Death. We're on it," Petra said.

"Thank you, Petra, Emily. Buh-bye!" He waved before their connection cut off.

Petra sighed and flopped onto their bed. She did not want to go to some cavern in the middle of nowhere, but it would seem they were the closest to the area, or Lord Death would not have assigned them the mission.

"Do we have enough money for supplies?"

"I think so," Petra groaned.

"Should we get going?"

"Yeah . . ."

The two packed their supplies and left the Hanged Man to begin their journey. Petra felt relieved and a bit disappointed how no one seemed to notice their absence.

They passed the gates and left Kirkwall.