The Price of Peace

Summary: It's 20 years later, and a new generation of meisters and weapons have risen. An enigmatic figure appears to threaten the world and it's up to another cast of eccentric characters to band together against the attack. It's nearly impossible that the students of the prestigious DWMA will fail, so the real question is: how much will peace cost them?

Chapter 1: Gina

Gina sighed, and looked down at her tightly clasped hands with despair. Her long, unnaturally pink eyelashes cast shadows on her cheeks.

Today had been the day where meisters and weapons all came together to find their pairs and form a partnership that would last for years. The weapon and the meister would stay together as partners until the weapon ate 99 Afreet eggs and one witch soul, became a weapon for Master Death, and then the meister would repeat the process and train another weapon. That was if everything went well, of course. There was another, overwhelmingly prevalent possible way that the partnership could be ended-if one partner died.

Reminding herself that the survival rate of weapons and meisters of DWMA was relatively high (at least in comparison to other similar academies), she forcefully steered herself away from those dark thoughts...and was plunged into another cloud of despair.

The day was almost over, and she still had yet to find a partner. Gina cursed herself at her own shyness. If only she were more outgoing...or friendly...or-or something. This was the last day of the week-long weapon-meister open meetings, and if she didn't find a partner by the end of this meeting, she would have to wait for an entire year for there to be another.

She had gone to every single one of the seven meetings with high hopes for finding a partner, but quickly realized that at every one, friends who already knew each other grouped together and partnered with each other. But she was new to Death City and its inhabitants, so she knew nobody. Along with her crippling shyness, she was unable to make new friends within the seven days.

Gina jumped a little when a voice suddenly crackled on, projected by loudspeakers that were stationed around the room, "Soon-to-be meisters and weapons, ten minutes left of DWMA's Meister-Weapon Open Meeting! Ten minutes left!"

It was foolish of me to think I would be able to find a partner on the first day, anyways. She thought to herself bitterly. She had had enough of this. Six days, from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M., standing around, desperately trying to find a suitable partner and failing.

Gina turned to leave, unclipping the pin that labeled her as "Meister" from her shirt. The little clasp thing wouldn't get undone, though, and she struggled with it, not paying attention to where she was going, when she crashed into the back of a blond boy.

"Oh!" she squeaked in surprise, her pin forgotten and hanging unevenly on her shirt.

After he regained his balance, the blonde turned to look at her. She noticed three things at once: One, he was a weapon. Two, she couldn't see his eyes. And three, he was frowning at her.

"I'm really, really very sorry!" Gina said, chattering nervously.

He continued to frown. She continued to apologize.

"It's fine," he finally said, seemingly exasperated.

Gina stopped immediately. Then, not knowing where else to look, looked at his tag that said "Weapon". He noticed her stare, and looked at her tag that said "Meister". They looked at each other for a little while.

"Do you want to be partners?"

Startled, Gina didn't respond. The blonde started to ask the question again, when she came to her senses and exclaimed, "Yes! Of course!" then, forcibly calming herself in order to be polite she added, "I would be honored to be partners."

Then, for the first time since they met, the boy smiled.

After they left, it occurred to Gina to ask, "By the way...what's your name?"

"Bertrand [LAST NAME] what is yours?"

"Gina." Bertrand looked at her, questioning, and she shook her head. "No, just Gina."

"Hm..." Bertrand thought for a moment, then started to walk down the street, leaving her behind. Surprised, Gina ran after him. He was moving at an unexpectedly fast pace. It felt as if he was just in her reach, but for some reason she couldn't get next to him.

Gina frowned and began to run as fast as she could to catch up to Bernard. As he turned around a corner, Gina was finally able to catch up to him, but Bertrand had suddenly stopped, and she ran into him. She blushed and regained her balance while apologizing.

" Ah...Sorry," she said, her pink bangs falling over and shielding her eyes as she bowed.

She quickly brushed her bangs out of her face, and saw Bertrand talking to himself at a barely audible volume. Gina focused on his mouth, and managed to make out a few words.

"-eight for stamina."

"Um...Excuse me?" Gina asked, politely.

Bertrand faced her and pointed to a building across from where they were standing. Gina turned to face the direction that Bertrand was pointing. Across the road, there was a simple restaurant. The lights were on, so Gina assumed that it must be open, but she noted that they seemed to be strangely bright in the early evening.

Wait a second... The pink-haired girl scanned the area and realized that it was already night. When did it get dark out? She wondered.

"Shall we go?" Gina snapped out of her thoughts to look back at Bertrand.

Realizing what he meant, she offered a small smile, "Sure."

They headed towards the restaurant together. When they entered, Gina noticed that the place wasn't very full, although the interior was tastefully decorated. At the front, there was a receptionist's counter, and she could see a few of the tables behind it. A couple of them were full, but most of them remained empty.

"Welcome to Hideyoshi's Restaurant," a cheerful voice said, "a table for two?"

Both Gina and Bertrand looked at the young man behind the counter. He smiled to them and then took out two menus. Bertrand nodded and the receptionist led them toward an empty table for two in the back.

"Thank you," Gina murmured to him politely, as the man left them.

He smiled even wider at her and enthusiastically told them to enjoy their stay. Gina opened the menu when she heard the receptionist greet another couple. She sneaked a look over her shoulder and saw a dark haired girl alongside a red-headed boy. She sensed that they were a weapon-meister pair as well, though they were complete strangers to her. She studied the two curiously.

"Where's the grub?" the girl shouted and tapped her nails on the receptionist's counter impatiently.

"What the rude girl means is can we have a place to sit. Please?" the redhead translated to the shocked receptionist.

"Hey!" the girl playfully punched her partner on the arm. The boy just shrugged and smiled, but Gina saw him rub his arm where she had hit him and wince a bit.

The receptionist quickly led the pair to a table next to theirs, and laid out two more menus.

"Enjoy your stay!" he chirped, and then hurried back to the front desk again. Gina looked away when the new pair sat down, and buried her nose in her menu again.

"So, um, what are you getting, Bertrand?" she asked her new partner politely.

"...Mushroom...deluxe." he quietly stated, looking at Gina over the top of his menu, "You?"

"Onion soup, I think," she responded, equally as quiet.

"8.76 plus 6.89 equals?" Bertrand suddenly asked.

She was a bit startled, but answered automatically, "$15.65!"

Bertrand continued to stare at her as he placed his menu down. Everything was silent for a bit until Gina realized that she forgot the tip.

"No, sorry, it would actually be around $18 in all," she said, correcting herself.

Bertrand just smiled, thinking to himself. Suddenly, a loud yell from the neighboring table caused them to look over.

"Hey you!" the dark haired girl shouted, glaring in their direction.

Gina nervously looked around her to see if the girl was looking at someone else, but nobody else seemed to be a candidate. A few tables over from them, some people glanced over at the girl, but when they realized they weren't being addressed, they simply went back to eating. Bertrand didn't respond, and just candidly looked over at the loud girl.

"Yeah you!" she yelled, standing up noisily, and pointing directly at Bertrand.

The girl's partner rolled his eyes and sighed, "Haya! Is this really a time to be doing this?"

Haya ignored him, and instead marched over to stand over Bertrand threateningly, "Bernard"

"Bertrand."

"-Bertrand you really got some nerve, pretending as if you don't know me-"

"I don't."

"-and showing up to test some other girl-"

Gina gasped, drawing their attention to her. The dark haired girl had the audacity to smirk, which caused Bertrand to really glare at her. It was hard to tell, because his eyes were hidden by his bangs, but Gina could practically feel the heat. Haya, who was right in front of him, had to flinch.

"Haya, get back over here. You're making a scene and it's embarrassing," Haya's partner cut in sharply. He was leaning back on his chair in a carefree manner, but his tone of voice and expression were serious. The three of them turned to look at him.

Haya whirled around to glare at her partner, "Shut up, Charles! This guy," she stabbed a finger towards Bertrand, "is someone I really need to yell at, so I don't care what anyone thinks right now. Just let me give this stuck-up kid a lesson!"

Charles clenched his teeth together and scowled at his partner, but after a moment, turned away, "Fine, then. Have it your way."

Gina stared at him in shock as he completely transformed, all his deadly seriousness seeming to melt away. He picked up his menu, and flipped through the pages casually.

"Just don't blow anything up," he joked.

Is he really just going to let it go, just like that? She thought incredulously. She kept her gaze on Charles for a few moments more, but he didn't change his blithe attitude. Mood swings, much? Her thoughts were interrupted when Bertrand suddenly stood up.

"Let's go," he said to Gina, and began to walk towards the exit of the restaurant.

"Wait a sec-" Haya growled, lunging at him.

Bertrand sidestepped and Haya's grab for his arm missed. She tried frantically to regain her balance, but her momentum carried her forward and she fell rather ungracefully. Gina gaped at the display, and stood up to offer help to the fallen girl.

"Um, are you alright? Do you need any help-"

Haya brushed her off with a sneer, "I'm fine. No need to throw me a pity party." She pushed herself up, pointedly ignoring Gina's outstretched hand.

Bertrand glanced back, "Come on, Gina."

Gina gave the other girl a small smile and a quick "sorry" before hurrying after Bertrand. The two walked out of the restaurant (politely rejecting the receptionist's pleads to stay a little longer) but before they exited, Gina turned her head to get one last look at Haya and Charles.

Haya had sat down at her table, finally, and Charles was laughing at her. She blushed and said something sharp to her partner. Charles responded by simply laughing even more loudly at her, clapping a hand over his mouth in an effort to contain his laughter.

Gina smiled wistfully at the sight, and was startled when Bertrand broke the silence between them with a question.

"Do you trust me?"

Gina drew her eyebrows together in a confused expression. She opened her mouth to answer but then closed it, choosing to think it through instead. Bertrand patiently waited and gazing off to the side.

The question must have been asked because of what Haya said in their fight, Gina thought logically, trying to puzzle it out.

The restaurant was a test, obviously.

But then Haya and Charles came along. Haya recognized Bertrand and said: "-and showing up to test some other girl-" So Bertrand had tested Haya (or one of her friends) before me.

But Haya wasn't part of the plan. Bertrand never meant for me to find out that I was being tested, because he was angry when Haya unintentionally revealed it.

So the only reason he would ask me if I trusted him, is because he is wondering if I still want to be partners. Even after knowing that he had tested me, and others before me.

Do I trust him?

Gina wasn't the type to keep a grudge. And if she really thought about it, it wasn't a bad idea to test a bunch of weapons to see if they were suitable partners. It actually made a sort of sense (even if it was a kind of twisted one).

And what other reason did she have to not trust him? At this point, she knew more about him, than he did of her. She should be the one asking the question of trust.

He certainly wasn't perfect, in fact, she could already see that he was more than just a little twisted. But she wasn't looking for perfect. And he wasn't a bad guy.

"Yes," Gina finally answered, offering him a smile.

A breeze moved the blond bangs that covered his eyes, and Gina thought she caught a glimpse of green. He smiled back, relief evident on his face.

She had finally found a worthy partner.