Chapter 1

Meister's Need a Weapon

LACEY

A freshman slouched over her cafeteria lunch tray, surrounded by fellow Death Weapon Meister Academy students. The mess hall buzzed with activity from students of different ages and classes. Especially Advantaged Talent and Normally Overcome Target students mixed with little prejudice.

The young lady sat among a few other NOT students, who were human weapons. Boys and girls from different age groups were interested in becoming her partner. She chatted with them in between bites and in her lap were their dossiers. She hadn't any luck finding a partner in her pool of fellow freshmen and the dossiers were given to her to review by Professor Sid. They all had shown interest and potential in joining the EAT classes, much like herself.

She tossed her recently dyed silvery hair over her shoulder. She took extra care of her appearance of late, wanting to make a good impression on potential partners. Which meant keeping her black roots from showing. Her hair being the only real thing she valued about her appearance. She straightened and for a 13-year-old freshman, she was struggling with growth spurts and unpredictable periods. Her face had begun to slim out while it was spotty with acne, having little to no curves made her easily undistinguishable next to a boy her own age.

Professor Sid told her to find a weapon to compliment her speed and flexibility. She had ranked rather highly in her free running fitness class. She knew that heavy axes, hammers, large guns and even scythes would be far too heavy for her current skill set.

"So, Lacey." The girl to her right caught her attention, "When should we start the last stage, the physical testing? I want to get going on this. I have a few other potential partners I want to try out with as well."

Lacey took a sip of apple juice, enthusiastically nodding. The girl's name was Julie, a weapon student who took the form of a one-handed axe. She had come to DWMA from the Southern USA and her family had supported her decision to leave home. She had studied at DWMA for a year and had needed a new partner after she had fallout with her old one. Julie was tall and slender; her chocolate-brown hair was neatly tucked into a bun.

"This afternoon would be perfect. I'm sure our souls will sync well enough-" Lacey began.

"Sid said you had a lot of trouble finding a partner because of your soul. He said…" Julie interrupted abruptly. She leaned in to whisper but the entire table had gone quiet to hear what she had to say, "He had warned me that syncing with you is like trying to sync with two souls instead of one."

Lacey scoffed and leaned back, flapping her hand in dismissal. "That was just a big fat lie. Sid was just trying to test your gullibility. It looks like you lost if you actually believed what he said." Julie raised her eyebrow at that, Lacey quickly clasped Julie's hand and reassured her, "But don't worry, I won't hold it against you. I can see us becoming best friends." Lacey's eyes shone brightly.

Julie forced a smile and said, "Whatever you say."

"Nope! That was too weird." Julie quickly transformed back to herself, "It felt like the person I was talking to the past couple of days was partying with another person altogether. It's really unstable and I don't think I can trust my life with that weirdness."

"That's ridiculous! Please, let's try again." Lacey said, desperately trying to convince her to have another go at synchronization.

"No way! I might hurt you with zero synchronization. Maybe you should stick in NOT for now. You still have a lot to learn." Julie waved her away and picked up her backpack as she exited the dojo. Lacey was left with a very alive Professor Sid who was the man he used to be, he had supervised the girls' synchronization attempt.

The dojo was pretty quiet for the early afternoon; a pair of students was around practicing and sparring with each other. The other students were too busy with sparring to even notice the three of them.

DWMA had rather large and spacious training rooms for students to take advantage of. Between the running track and outdoor gym facilities, the training areas catered to most skills and interests in physical development. Lacey personally had spent most of her time in the free running gymnasiums, where the school had set up safety nets to catch beginners and high walls to climb for advanced students.

"That was over pretty quick." Sid remarked. Lacey sighed loudly.

"Please Professor, let me try again with someone else. I know I can find a partner in time-" Lacey pleaded. The professor lifted his finger and inclined his head to silence her.

Lacey fidgeted in her spot. She wore a white loose fit off the shoulder shirt that had the death symbol outlined in black on the front. Beneath her white shirt she had a black tank top cover her midriff. She wore black shorts that fit tightly around her skinny thighs. For shoes she stuck to a reliable pair of black running shoes that were a popular choice for gym and exercise among students but Lacey choose to wear them all the time. Her bangs were kept out of her face with a black bandana. It also acted cleverly as a way to cover any spots she missed while dying her hair.

Sid stoically commented, "This is the fifth person you've tried out with. I think Julie might be right, you are still not capable of meshing well with a weapon and should stay in NOT until next semester."

Lacey's face fell a thousand miles, "No! I want to get a start on my EAT education as soon as possible and catch up to my classmates! I must be so far behind." She pleaded, "One more chance, your choice. I just want to do well and get better, Professor. Please know I am being sincere."

"Your sincerity isn't what's being tested here, Lacey." Sid sighed scratching at his headband. "I do have a pair in mind…"

Lacey leaped up and punched the air, "I'll do it! I'll meet with them and if it doesn't work out…" She recomposed herself, "I'll stay in NOT until I can find a suitable partner."

"Thing is, these two have had the same problem finding a meister." Sid explained, "They went separate ways until they decided that they wanted to team up and make sure they had a meister that synced with them. Saying that they would be better together than apart."

Lacey waited a beat and considered, "Two? Two weapons? Wouldn't that be even more difficult than just one person?"

How am I supposed to work with two people? I can't even work with a single person, Lacey thought with dread creeping across her mood.

Sid nodded, "In your case, with your apparent duality two weapons maybe able to handle it. It wouldn't be weird to them." He cracked his knuckles, "Question is will you be able to handle the extra workload?"

-The Next Day-

I stood fidgeting again outside Professor Sid's office door. I knew on the other side sat my last chance of getting into EAT classes this semester. The pressure was mounting on the two weapons Sid had personally chosen for me. I want to prove that I had the potential to be something great, someone successful in what I choose to do. I huffed my chest up and straightened my shoulders, stepping through the door to see the two weapons sitting in front of Sid's desk.

They turned simultaneously and regarded me with disappointment. One wore glasses and cropped his hair short and stylish. I glanced at the one on the left, he had an incredible amount of curly brown hair I could hardly see his eyes through all the hair. They stood up at the same time and folded their arms in unison.

I could see the stark difference in their outfits and personalities before they even opened their mouths. The curly-haired boy was wearing a worn out red flannel shirt with black buttons and a pair of stone washed jeans. The shirt he wore beneath it was a band shirt; it was a prism with a rainbow shining through. I wasn't entirely sure what it meant. The boy wearing glasses was wearing dark grey dress pants and a vest matching the colour of his pants, with a dark blue tie. His dress shirt was black with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

Professor Sid stood as well and introduced them, "Lacey, please meet Henry." Sid pointed to the boy with curly hair, "and Peter Halloway." He motioned to the boy wearing glasses, "Twin brothers and twin daggers. Henry, Peter this is Lacey Malta, meister."

"It's a pleasure to make your-" I stuck out my right hand and was interrupted.

"Malta? You named yourself after a cartoon character? What a typical freshmen." They shrugged again, in unison.

"It was the first thing I could think of." I said defensively.

"Poor choice, obviously." Peter tsked and turned to address Sid, "A freshmen? That's all ya got?"

"Lacey, the brothers are a few years older and are seniors here. They've collected a few kishin egg souls on their own but when they switched partners they had to give up what they collected to start fresh." The professor sat again, folding his large hands over the desktop. "They are reasonably good students and obviously have some decent experience."

I nodded and hesitated as I closed the office door behind me.

"I feel they would be a good match to help you catch up in class and guide you in combat." Sid finished smiling pleasantly.

Henry spoke up this time, "That's assuming a bit. Who knows if we'll even get along with the pipsqueak? She's so small."

I crossed my arms and gave them both a hard look, "That's among my strengths. I am small and agile." I said proudly.

Peter scoffed, "Compared to what? A falling brick?"

Sid supplied before I could reply, "Lacey has excelled at free running and she is among the fastest freshmen. Someone I believed would compliment duel wielding daggers such as yourselves."

"Speed won't account for much if she can't think for herself." Henry commented drily.

I fumed, "I'm smart enough to tell that this meet and greet has already taken a nose dive."

"Well then eager beaver, since you're so sure that this won't work out. We'll take the only test we'll need to do." Peter suggested and Sid sighed in response.

"What test?" I asked wringing out my hands.

"The touch test." The twins said in unison, holding out their hands palms up.

Peter explained, "It's how we tell whether your soul has any potential. We skip a lot of the stages and processes."

I rolled my eyes, "you can't honestly expect me to agree to this silly-"

"The only thing you have to offer to the table is a lot of hard work, freshman. We need to know it'll be worth it. This is how we figure it out, our hands and a single touch will create a circuit and if it's smooth and uninterrupted that means you have some potential." Peter cut me off.

"Circuit?" I turned to Sid waiting for an explanation.

Sid sighed again, "These two aren't only daggers they are kind of like soul magnets. They claim to sense positive and negative charges of the soul." He shrugged. "I've never seen them in action or act like magnets. Just play along."

"This is stupid, professor!" I hissed, "How are these two supposed to be my last chance to get into EAT if they don't even like me?" I pressed my hand to my chest.

"Wow, judgmental." The twins said in unison, to my irritation. They're synchronization was starting to get on my nerves.

"Okay, fine. You know what, first impressions aren't everything. Despite how abrasive you guys are being right now, I know you need my help as much as I need yours." I replied, the twins exchanged a look and I figured they weren't convinced I was even worth the time. For my last chance, Sid wasn't going to make this easy.

"So, what do I do?" I ask.

"Just with one finger you touch both our hands at the same time." Henry replied unfolding his hand.

"Piece of cake." I said reaching out. The twins rolled their eyes in response and were clearly not expecting what happened next.

I gently poked both of their palms and was about to comment sarcastically about how dry their hands were but before I could even begin to form the words I was shot off my feet and thrown out the door to the opposite wall.

I landed haphazardly and saw stars. I put both my hands on the ground and tried to see straight. It happened all too fast. I mumbled the comment I had ready and blinked out of sync.

I saw several different shoes and heard a ton of voices, all of which sounded concerned. My arms suddenly were lifted and I was on my wobbly feet. My head spun and I couldn't distinguish who was speaking and who was holding me up.

"That's never happened before!" I heard someone whisper excitedly.

Another person replied begrudgingly, "It had to be the freshman."

"Who cares? We've never gotten a reaction like that before!" The first voice argued.

"Lacey!" Professor Sid took hold of my face and made me focus.

I smiled and said, "Did I pass?"

"We're heading into physical testing stage tomorrow. These two will take you to see the nurse." He replied.

"Cool. Super cool." I mumbled as the twins continued to chatter excitedly and drag me away to the nurse's office.

-End of Chapter 1-