"Siegfried... it's good to see you again!"
"Yeah, you too, Joe."
"I'm really glad we were able to meet up here. This is your home town, am I right?"
"Right as rain."
"What?"
He took a sip from his hot chocolate.
"Never mind. But yeah, I live a mile or two from here. This place is huge."
"True, but this... this is a landmark. I still can't believe Bob has a shop way over here... you know what they say about his coffee?"
"Yes yes, makes you do the Ramba and what not."
"That's sad, friend... you're not even drinking coffee. Aren't you always tired?
"Yeah, but I'm the sort of tired person who accepts it and just sleeps through his day."
"Fair enough... by the way... how's your sweetheart doing? She's back at the DWMA, right?"
"Yeah. Hell if I know how she's doing, I haven't written her yet. Things have been... difficult."
"I meant to ask, how did you end up all the way out here? Heck, how did you even become a Demon Weapon? Wasn't your family the most uptight here in Germany? And further more..."
"Whoa whoa, take it easy JB, it's a long story."
Joe Buttataki leaned back in his chair, an easy grin on his face.
"Lay it on me; I've got all the time in the world thanks to this coffee."
Siegfried Cyprus drummed his fingers on the cafe table; a habit that was only starting.
"Fine, fine." He stretched his arms and sighed. "Just don't expect it to be all that exciting..."
It's insane, really... one moment you're training for the fifteenth week in a row (yes, I counted) for your strict father and one of the most prominent families in Germany, the next you're holding hands with the two-star Meister you're madly obsessed with. Of course, between those two moments, just to make things interesting, you're struck with some mind-bending disease that no one can put their finger on, not even the top scientists and doctors in the whole freakin' world...
...
...Guess it's just another day for the DWMA's #1 Home-Schooled Shut-In...
"Ugh, dad, gimme another five minutes... I don't want to train today..."
"Shut up and get dressed, you're going to miss your first break. You're lucky that I'm even reminding you."
Siegfried opened his eyes slowly, Stein's damned head-screw killing his eardrums, his cigarette burning his sense of smell.
"Ugh, fine. Thanks, Doc."
Siegfried Cyprus' schedule at the DWMA was rather straightforward; it consisted of waking up, a 45-minute period in which he was free to roam the school while classes were going on behind closed doors, a check-up (where he was forced to eat inside the Dispensary while students ate lunch in the cafeteria), a second free period, then back to the cell for the rest of the day.
Yep, seven more hours stuck in the Dispensary, sunset flooding through the windows. Of course, it wasn't all bad; there was always the library, where Siegfried always went during his breaks. He would walk in and immediately start searching the shelves for two or three promising novels (horror stories were his favorite) and crack one open on a comfortable looking chair.
The sound of an old book cracking open has always been one of his least favorite noises, despite that he loved to read. It wasn't his fault and it wasn't the book's fault; it was whatever was inside of him, whatever made him cough blood five times every hour. Remembering the fact that he was completely alone made opening a book in the empty library sound eerie, almost unpleasant. Sometimes he felt like crying. Hell, sometimes he did cry a little. Maybe a tear or two would slip down his cheek and he had to wipe it with the back of his hand. Then he would push the thought of being completely alone to the farthest corner of his mind and start to read. That took care of the problem.
Same-old, same-old.
As for his home life before the Academy, well, let's just say that he couldn't complain about his life now after the train wreck that was.
"Siegfried! Work on your stance, your footing is off!"
"Siegfried! Grasp your Zweihänder properly! So sloppy!"
"Excellent work, son! Train for another sixteen hours, and you may get some rest."
Shut up shut up shut up shut UP!
But, of course, Frederick Cyprus refused to refrain from having his son go through his "diabolical" training process. Poor Sig got barely any sleep, at the most three hours a day. Even while his parents were off visiting family, Siegfried was told to stay home and train his poor ass off. Of course, training was the farthest thing from his mind while his parents were away... all he did was sleep and read. Thankfully, it always worked in his favor and he never got caught.
Of course, even with the horrendous training and strict protocol, life got worse.
Around his tenth birthday, he got sick. Really sick. He started coughing blood about five times an hour and he started vomiting, almost uncontrollably. Even though his son was bedridden for months, Frederick showed his son no mercy; he constantly reminded his son that it was right back to training as soon as he was better.
To put things simply, Siegfried deserved a break.
Little did he know that he was about to get one real soon...