Breathe in, breath out.

A week prior, Mifune had been demonstrated a complicated move when Pandora accidentally managed to bruise her ribs by twisting the wrong way. Ever since then, Mifune had her doing breathing exercises until the bruise was gone.

He really didn't like the fact that Pandora wanted to train with her wooden sword some more, despite the pain she had to have been in at the time. He had taken to enlisted Angela in forcing her to relax long enough to heal.

Every time she tried to strain her ribs, whether it was stretching or trying to exercise, Angela would appear without warning to poke her side hard enough to make her wince. She didn't like the fact that her 'big sister' was injured and refused to get better without a fight.

So Mifune tried another tactic to get her to heal. He borrowed a few witchcraft books from the others and told her that she was to study what spells she would use once she was healed.

It had more or less worked.

"So there's a sword going around controlling people?" she asked the lady who ran the grocery.

Mifune and Pandora always flipped a coin to see who would get the food for the week. Usually Mifune won the toss.

"It's called the Enchanted Sword. Supposedly it takes control of a person's fear and latches on to their soul. And when it has complete control it devours it," said the woman with a shudder.

"Where is this sword supposed to be anyway?"

"They say it was last seen in Las Vegas."

Pandora felt a shiver go down her spine. Vegas was a four hour flight from where she lived.

She could easily run into the sword and return in time to keep Angela from being upset. If Mifune allowed her to go. For the past three years since she had fled from Death City, she had come to view Mifune as a surrogate father/older brother. He even went to the same lengths to protect her that he did with Angela. She rather liked the feeling.

When she returned to the house, she found three near Kishin souls floating around. Idiots had come to claim their souls again.

She waited until dinner before she broached the subject about the sword she had heard about with Mifune.

He looked at her sharply, before he surprised her.

"You can go. But you're only allowed to look for the sword. If I find out you've gotten yourself into trouble, you're on your own."

She grabbed her pack, and told her little sister that she would be back before breakfast...hopefully.

In exchange for going to Vegas, she was only allowed to stay for eight hour increments before flying back. She had already mastered flying her personal broom, since her hovering using shadows was stiff iffy at best. On the plus side, she never had to worry about crashing into the ground.

She had learned very quickly to cast the hover spell without chanting.

Five hours later, over Las Vegas...

She stared. It had been years since she had been in a city this size. The light twinkled like stars. She found a good place to land and descended.

It didn't take long however for her to get into trouble. Even when she wasn't actually doing anything.

A Meister and his weapon had seen her land, and knew her to be a witch. They had ninety-nine souls and were eager to get the last one required to become a Death Scythe.

The Witch's soul.

She managed to catch them off guard by blasting them with her soul wavelength. Even after three years, she remembered the lessons she had gone to at the Academy.

Once the meister was knocked out, she ran.

She had no idea someone watched her from the shadows.

Her breathing was ragged. While training with Mifune kept her body in top shape, she had almost forgotten how to run like her life depended on it. It had taken her too long to remember how to run in such a way that she could keep up the pace indefinitely.

She sensed someone walking up, and pivoted on her right heel. The man looked so out of place that she stared for a moment.

"Who are you and what do you want? If you're trying to kill me for your weapon, I will strike back," she warned.

He lifted his strange hat and looked her in the eyes. Something was wrong with him.

"How strange... I sense a great deal of fear from you, yet it's not coming from fighting with those two earlier..."

She blinked, and without warning he was in front of her. Her body refused to listen to her command, and she found herself with a katana in her hands.

Something had latched onto her soul, and was attempting to take control!

Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She had come face-to-face with the sword she had gone looking for, and it was hungry for her soul!

She could feel his power trying to assert dominance over her body. But what the sword hadn't realized was that Pandora had experienced true fear once before. And had learned to overcome it.

No six year old child should ever fear their own family. Let alone their cousin.

And with the memory of her aunt coming at her with a iron club (Petunia was an Iron Club type weapon, as was her son) did something to her. Her fear was overcome by the feeling of rage and pain.

And just like that, she took control of the Enchanted Sword, and not the other way around. He was so startled by that fact that he was paralyzed. He had lost control of his ability to absorb her soul.

'Now listen here, Enchanted Sword. I am the Witch Pandora, and I will not allow someone like you to claim my soul!' thought Pandora fiercely.

To that, the sword answered "So you think you can claim me, little brat? Let's see who the owner is. I win, I get your soul. You win, you can claim me!"

'You have an agreement.'

The world of the Enchanted Sword was a dismal place. Spindly shadows in the shape of souls. The moon was a pale shade of itself. And everywhere there was water.

Sitting on one of the shadow creatures was the Enchanted Sword, in his dark glory. He cast aside his hat, exposing a rather young man with worn eyes.

"I go by the name Pandora. What is your real name?"

"My name...is Masamune."

The two nodded to each other, and drew their swords. Pandora was very, very glad that Mifune had allowed her to move on to an actual sword.

The sound of blade clashing blade was heard in that empty world. Pandora didn't hesitate for a moment. She had learned quickly with the Dursleys that hesitation could kill you. The one time she had hesitated, Petunia had nearly brained her with a frying pan for not weeding the garden fast enough.

That had happened when she was three.

Masamune was very surprised to find Pandora a worthy opponent.

Then, when he left himself open for a fraction of a second, she struck.

He looked at her with clear shock as he coughed up blood. She had hit him in a vital spot. She narrowly had missed his lung.

"Kill me."

"Why?" she asked in return. It would only take swift twist to finish the deed.

"Because I don't deserve to live," he answered. He had lost any real reason to live after his sister inherited the family weaponry and all he got was a sword form that would hurt any partner he took.

Her cold heartless laughter at that response shook him to his core.

"You think you have any right to say whether you should live or die? You know nothing of what a real hell looks like. You merely play at being lost in a world full of light," she told him in a cold voice.

"How could a child like you know what hell is?" he asked. He was terrified of her answer.

"I read about you before, Masamune. You grew up in a house full of love and abandoned your family because they chose your sister to inherit over you. My family loathed and despised me. My own aunt, my flesh and blood, tried to kill me so her wretched son could get a Witch's soul. You have no reason to wish for death."

Shaken by such conviction and sensing that she spoke every word was truth, Masamune admitted defeat.

Pandora woke up in time to jump out of the way of a blade.

The meister that had attacked her was back. And he was furious that she had beaten him without magic.

He had thought her an easy kill, because she was barely ten.

She looked at her new sword. Masamune's soul had calmed down after she had beaten him. Then she looked at the man who wanted her death, simply because of what she was.

'What do you say, Masamune? Shall we test our new partnership?'

Startled by such a question, he matched his soul wavelength with hers easily. Her magic was so strong that he started to absorb that rather than her soul.

"You're going to die, you little Witch!" growled the meister.

"The only one who's going to walk away right now is you," she replied calmly.

She took a familiar stance, and waited for him to enter her kill zone. Mifune's voice came to mind as she stood there.

Not all battles should be fought with your blood on fire with battlelust. Sometimes the best strategy is to let your opponent come to you, and entering your area. When he enters your kill zone, then you strike with your blade.

The man charged without thinking. Once he came in reach of her blade, she struck with precision. He cried out in pain as the back of her blade broke his rib. And then he coughed up blood as she struck him with her soul wavelength.

His partner changed from weapon mode, fury in his eyes. She gave him a cold look, and that rage died as quickly as it had begun.

"Go ahead (cough) finish me. That's all your kind ever do!" he coughed.

"Why should I bother wasting my time killing you when the humiliation is more than enough punishment for attacking me unprovoked?" she said in return.

"You're a Witch. I don't need any more reason than that to kill you."

"Wrong. DWMA regulations specifically state that the only Witches that are acceptable to attack or kill are those that attack you first. Or didn't Sid tell you about the communities that are around the world full of witches that have never harmed a human?" she said coldly.

He stared at her in shock.

"How would you know the regulations?" he demanded.

"I used to be a student. Why don't you ask Lord Death about Meister Aurora, before you attack people for no other reason than their genetic disposition?" she told him, and then got onto her broom.

"See you later, creep!" she called out.

Mifune stared at Masamune in disbelief. He hadn't expected her to find him so easily.

He listened to her account of the fight, and looked at her in approval. She had not only held her own against a skilled opponent, she had actually won the battle.

"You do realize what this means, don't you?"

The two looked at him.

"Now we'll have to work on your team work before either of you are allowed to go anywhere alone."

Angela of course, was delighted to have a new big brother around. Masamune sometimes even smiled at her childish antics, or stared in disbelief when his partner joined her. He found a silent friend in Mifune, mostly because the man was a master swordsman.

"Soul Resonance!" they called out in unison.

Angela watched with childish wonder as Pandora's soul became marked with the power of the Enchanted Sword. Masamune was rather surprised to find that unless they were resonating, his ability to drain his partner's soul turned off. The markings on Pandora's face were not tribal like before, but rather impressive.

Though they mostly served to make her look like a cat. At the age of twelve, Pandora had become an accomplished swordswoman. Every day she either trained with Masamune and Mifune with her sword, or she practiced her magic with Angela.

By fourteen she had finally earned the right to join the Witch's Mass with her little sister.

While she was officially a Witch in the eyes of the DWMA, they didn't actually have a warrant out for her. Mostly because she never attacked humans or meisters without being attacked first.

Of course it baffled and confused the students that there was a Witch who was still considered a student of the Academy, whose primary reason for existing was killing her kind.

Then again, most of the Witches they ran into often harmed humans.

It wasn't until a meister came looking for trouble that she knew she would have to make a choice.

Either become a Witch permanently or return to Death City to become a student again.

Though if she ever ran into Black Star again she would whock him upside the head. If only for the headache he had given her.

Pandora was worried. If someone as dense as Black Star could find them, then who knew when someone with actual skill would come looking for them?

So she made a decision. Depending on how Death answered her, they would either move far away or...back to Death City.

"Let's see...what was the number again?"

Mifune had heard of her plan. While he wouldn't mind living in Death City, if she had to choose between Angela's safety and her own peace of mind, she would chose Angela every time.

He honestly could care less, as long as it meant Angela was safe.

"Oh yeah!"

"42-42-564, whenever you want to knock on Death's Door."

Lord Death turned when he heard his mirror ring. And the person on the other end surprised him.

"Hello Meister Aurora. It's been a while."

"Hello Lord Death."

"I'm sorry about what happened back then. Had I known what your aunt was going to do I would have never allowed her or her son to come to Death City. I'm glad to hear that you're alright."

Pandora was nervous. She had tried very, very hard to forget the two over the years.

"Are...are they still there?"

"Right after your aunt attacked you I kicked them out. They won't be back again if I have any say in it."

Considering that he ruled the city, it would be very hard indeed to bring them back.

"So what's the occasion?"

"..."

"You do realize that you can always come back to the Academy. You weren't at fault for their actions."

"Even if I'm a Witch?"

"Your mother had that gene in her too, and she was still an excellent Meister. It wasn't her fault that she ran afoul of a Kishin without her weapon."

"My mother was a Witch too?"

"A rather brilliant one at that. She fell in love with you father after I sent her on an undercover mission in the magical communities, but she always kept in touch."

"Can I really come back? Even if I brought a fellow Witch with me?"

"Depends on the Witch, but I don't see any problems."

"I gain a little sister in the Witch Angela, and Mifune's always been nice to me."

"Is this the same Angela that Black Star decided to go after by any chance?"

"How do you know about that?" she asked with suspicion.

"I sent him there so he wouldn't get ahead of himself. I never expected him to actually meet her."

"She wasn't too happy he hurt Mifune."

"I see no problem with Angela or Mifune living here, so long as they don't cause any trouble. And you are always welcome to return."

"I finally found a partner I can use."

"Really? What's their name?"

"Masamune."

Lord Death seemed very surprised to hear that. Last he heard, Masamune was still causing trouble, though it had gone down a bit in recent years.

"He's welcome to come too, though Tsubaki might have some issues with it."

"We're moving? To Death City?" said Angela with surprise.

"Only if you want to. You can prank that meany who beat up Mifune if you want."

"Let's go!" said Angela. She was all for pranking people.

Pandora had some awesome ideas when it came to pranks.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Mifune.

"I ran away once because of my family. Now that they're gone, I can finally go back. Besides, he said so long as Angela didn't cause problems they would leave her alone."

"Do I have to go?" whined Masamune. He really didn't want to deal with his sister.

"You're living with me, so man up," snapped Pandora.

Ever since she became a teenager (and had to deal with that time of the month) she became a bit more aggressive. Every time the moon was new, Masamune would vanish for a week. Pandora would have to go and retrieve him.

Personally, if he could escape during the new moon Mifune would have joined him in a heartbeat.

Pandora was positively evil to the boys whenever that time of the month rolled around. The only good thing about it was that she never took it out on Angela.

(It was rather amusing really. Pandora had yet to find anything to deal with the stomach cramps she always got, and it really annoyed her. None of the more mature witches would even help her with the problem.)

If Pandora, who was one of the sweetest and most polite girls he had ever met turned into an unholy pranking demon of hell every time she had cramps, then Mifune really, really dreaded what Angela would be like at that age.

He had never been more glad that Witches aged slower than mortals in his life.