Killing Death's Son
My name is Daemonum Flama Von Flumen de Sanguis IV. Also known as the 'Lady of Fire'. I'm a witch, and proud of it. My familiar is quite a splendid specimen of a Fire Demon. I have been sent by the Grand Witch to "take care of" Lord Death's son (that is just a fancy way to say "Eliminate him and bring me his head"); which is why I was now standing in the middle of a hallway in enemy territory.
I'm taking an enormous risk by enrolling in the DWMA, I thought, wouldn't it be easier to just wait till he's out of Death City and kill him then? But how can I be sure he'll get out?
"May I help you?" Came a voice from behind.
"Excuse me? Oh! Good morning, Professor Stein! I didn't hear you coming!" So, that was the skill of a three-star meister. He was as silent as a shadow. The reports had not been exaggerated.
"May I help you?" He repeated stubbornly.
"Certainly," I said, trapped, "I believe I am in need of directions to… Crescent Moon Class." What a ridiculous name…
"You're right in front of it", he replied, gesturing to a wooden door, "Do please get in, class is about to start."
Now that he mentioned it, there was a sign reading: "Crescent Moon Class" right above the door. I mentally slapped myself.
"Oh, thank you." I followed the teacher into the dreaded room.
"Class", Professor Stein announced, "Today, we will have a new student with us. Miss… Sanguis? Yes, Miss Liza Sanguis. Please introduce yourself to your classmates."
"Call me Demonia. I'm a flamethrower; old of approximately twelve years." That much was true.
"Thank you," Stein told me, "Now, please go take a seat."
I walked up the stairs to the very last desk of the very last row. I sat at the very edge of the desk, ready for trouble. Looking around, I spotted my target. Death the Kid. One of the students who destroyed Kishin Asura. A Grim Reaper.
I'll have to keep my guard up, I thought. He's a tough one.
Well, perhaps not that tough. According to my sources, he has a mortal fear of asymmetry. I personally despise disorder as well (the slightest disorder during a duel might result in someone's death, and the victim is not necessarily your enemy), but if destroying him requires my dressing asymmetrically, so be it.
"Hey, you! Are you Liza Sanguis?"
"I beg your pardon?"
The question was repeated in a smug, arrogant voice.
"Affirmative. Might I inquire as to your identity?"
A blue haired boy and a tall girl with black hair stood in front of me.
"I am the great Black Star! The best there is! Fear me!" The blue haired boy screamed.
"Black Star! We're in class! Hi, I'm Tsubaki." The black haired girl.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Call me Demonia, please. Liza is my birth name. I loathe it with a passion."
"Hey! Stop stealing my spotlight! I'm the centre of attention here, not you!" Black Star shouted indignantly.
"Please keep quiet. There are people here who do wish to learn, you know." I told him.
"What's going on back there?" Stein roared.
I tilted my head slightly to the left as a scalpel flew past my ear. I caught the blade between my index and middle fingers, then threw it back towards the scientist. The knife imbedded itself in the dissecting table.
"My apologies, sir. I did not have the slightest intension of disrupting your class. Please continue." Upon reflection, I added: "Oh, and, although I appreciate a scalpel or two once in a while to put my instincts to the test, I might be tempted to return the next one in the direction of your head, and I do believe you have enough scars as it is."
"Well, well. Looks like somebody's in a bad mood…"
Death the Kid. He dared mock me?
"I beg your pardon?" I growled menacingly.
"You have a stain on the left side of your shirt only. You are asymmetrical, and, thus, must DIE!" He roared the last word.
"I will gladly accept your challenge. But I warn you, if we do this, you'll lose." There was my chance to kill him.
"Kid? Should we really fight her? You saw how fast she is." According to my sources, that was Elizabeth Thompson, former "Devil of Brooklyn". The short-haired blonde on the Reaper's other side was Patricia Thompson, the other Devil of Brooklyn.
"She's asymmetrical." was his only reply. "Liz, Patty, transform."
"Halt!" I cried, "As I am responding to your challenge, it is my right to choose the duelling weapons, correct?"
The reaper stared at me, looking rather bewildered. "Is that how duels are fought where you come from? Alright, then I shall accommodate you. Which weapon would you prefer to use?"
I smiled. "Perhaps a traditional English fencing duel would be best suited? Should it be a twelve-point match?"
"Allow me to modify a few points: Perhaps a duel to the death with real swords? And I simply cannot fight with a single sword." The reaper embryo's obsession with symmetry would be the death of him.
I grinned. "I agree with the first points, but I am afraid you will have to accommodate me once more on the last point. I feel more comfortable fighting with a single sword. No magic or other capacities will be used during the duel. This will be a normal, mundane fight. Agreed?"
He sighed. "Well, I do not have much experience with a sword, but I suppose I cannot deny you of your right to choose the weapons. I agree to your conditions."
I chuckled. "I am not a fencing master, either, and that is why I chose this weapon. I will consider this training. Now, would anyone be so kind as to provide us with a pair of non-enchanted swords?"
Dr Stein threw a sword to each of us. I tested the point. "As sharp as a needle. Good."
"Are you sure that's smart, Kid? I didn't know you could sword-fight." Elizabeth asked.
He chuckled. "I did not know either. But, somehow, I feel as if I can hold my ground." He twirled his sword like a professional. "Alright."
We moved to stand back to back. "Allez! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten." We counted in unison.
We both pivoted on the tenth step, and Dr Stein marked the start of the duel.
I smiled at him and lunged immediately. My sword was only centimetres away from his neck when he came to his senses and met my blade with his own. He reposted right after that with a thrust, which I sidestepped. I tried a 'tranche'. He parried it and attempted a 'Blind Foe' manoeuvre. I countered with a 'Passata Sotto'. We both rolled away.
As he was catching his breath, I dropped and rolled to his left side, stood up, and performed a 'Stunning Blow' manoeuvre. I hit the reaper for the first time. He stumbled back, choking blood. Then, catching himself, he tried a direct disarming move. I blocked, and, too late, realized that was a 'Coulé' feint. His blade grazed my arm, drawing a slight quantity of blood. I returned the favour by karate-kicking him in the stomach. He seemed relatively undisturbed, but still stepped back and wobbled a little. I tried a quick succession of jabs at his upper torso and solar-plexus. He stopped me with a 'Quarte', then performed a perfect 'Fleche'. I knocked his blade aside with a 'Circular Parry' and tried an extremely complicated move: From the 'Circular Parry' to the 'Blind Foe'. It was difficult since the boy was actually slightly shorter than me, but I managed to move my own body between his sword and his head, and block the sword. The weapon penetrated into my stomach, but I was already aiming at his face.
My blade penetrated the exact centre of his forehead. I pushed it in and soon hit the back of his skull. The reaper collapsed, blood gushing everywhere.
I smiled, pulled out my weapon, stared at my foe for a few seconds, looked at my own wound, dropped my sword, and collapsed as well.
My last visions before I fainted were the faces of my old friend, Kim Diehl, and her weapon, Jacqueline O'Lantern Dupré.
~Later~
"Hey! Demonia! Wake up!" I slowly opened my eyes.
"Hello, Kim…" I muttered weakly
"You okay? I had to use magic to heal you, you were dying. You had punctured lungs and a hole through your stomach! I thought you'd die for sure!"
"Slow down, Kim. She's not well yet." Jacqueline had sneaked up behind her meister. "Hi, Demonia! Did you do something wrong?"
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Jackie. I did not do anything wrong yet, why do you ask?"
"Well, I thought you were hiding out at the DWMA. Why are you here, then? And how did you do that? You blew up the whole room!" Jackie started prattling endlessly about how "cool" that was, how I could have died, how nobody knew if Kid would die, how Stein was "furious", how Liz and Patty were rather emotionally "disturbed", how they had vowed revenge and wanted a rematch, just them against me, how…
"Jackie! Stop prattling, please. My head hurts!" I whined, clutching my skull. "So they want a rematch, huh? So be it."