Chapter 8: Meister and Hunter
"I don't think I'll ever be clean again."
"Come on, don't be such a drama queen."
"Shut up."
"And it took you twenty minutes to shower. I thought you almost fainted from all the steam that came out of the bathroom."
"I was assaulted by a naked cat thing!"
Margaret rolled her eyes. "You were spooned by Blair, it happens to Soul all the time."
"Oh and that's supposed to make me feel better?" Paul shudders to think.
"Can the two of you just shut up already!" Soul interjected. "All this bickering between the two of you is so not cool."
Maka nodded her head. "I have to agree, it reminds me of when me and Soul used to argue a lot."
"Used?"
"We didn't have the best start when we became partners, happens to a lot of students. Honestly, sometimes it feels we're looking at our past selves when we see you guys bicker."
"Yeah but I'm way cooler than Soul."
"Yeah right, Margaret, you're a seven out of ten at best on coolness."
"Same can be said for you shark face."
"You think you talk shit in front of me!"
"Maybe I can, you gonna do something about it?" Margaret and Soul were now at each other's necks with flames in their eyes.
"Ah great…" Paul and Maka both groaned.
It was early morning when the four headed to the DWMA, after getting rid of Blair which involved Margaret and Maka nearly destroying Paul's room to get Blair out of the poor boy's bed. The four decided to have breakfast together as Paul was in no condition to cook. Despite the awkwardness of having to deal with the cat witch, it seemed like the four were starting to get accustomed with one another. Paul and Margaret's bickering aside, Maka noted that both of their wavelengths were alike. When Margaret and Soul finished ruffling each other up on the table. They sat back down.
"Hey Maka, it's been over a month since you guys have received an assignment other than the one all four of us did a few days ago. Has it really been this quiet?"
"Yeah, Asura's defeat really lowered a lot Kishin activities, I have to stay vigilant though, I'm determine to make Soul into a Death Scythe."
"Oh yeah, I heard about Death Scythes before, ninety-nine Kishin souls and one Witch, seems like we have our work cut out."
"Well, actually we were one aw-" Maka covered Soul's mouth just in time before Soul began telling the story.
"Um, uh. Soul you should know better! That story is classified DWMA info. We don't want it spilling out to students so casually even if they are our roommates. Soul, what were you thinking?" As Maka facedly scolds Soul, Margaret sheepishly giggled to herself.
After finishing breakfast, the four headed to the academy for another day of school. By the time they got to the academy, Paul had finally picked up his schedule. The first thing he noticed was that it was the same as Margaret's, made sense to have it be the same as his partner, it was just having to have normal classes was what weirded Paul out.
Demon Hunter Academy was a very hands on school, lessons would usually be taught outside, with students having to demonstrate what they learned to their teachers. The curriculum ran the whole gambit from combat training to psychological analysis of what to prepare for during a hunt to years of formal education involving chemistry, biology, Demon behavior, history, magic, and other subjects. The lessons taught allowed a Hunter to be more knowledgeable, to be more analytical, yet at the same time, allowed a Hunter think sharply when making quick decision. When enrolled at DWMA, Paul thought the exact same kind of work would be handed to better the skills of a Meister. But Paul was realistic, he knew his first day's lesson wasn't a field expedition on how to properly track down a Kishin, most Meisters were after all, teenagers so it would seem natural to have basic tuition.
At the same time, Paul also wondered what the hell dissecting an animal meant for anything.
Was this what Professor Stein did? He knew he was a doctor, but did he really have to display his work in front of his students. The weirdest part was however, the students reaction, or rather, lack thereof. Was this normal? It seemed like everyone was more annoyed than anything else. This really was a strange school.
Classes went by without a second thought, Soul Studies was more of what Paul had in mind for curriculum in a school like this, but still, he found this whole experience to be strange. When both he and Margaret decided to head home, Paul still had a couple hours before dark and wanted to explore the city for a little bit. When he left his apartment room, almost on cue, Maka happened to show up and asked if Paul needed help in walking around.
"It's fine, I know where to go."
"Maybe, I just want to hang out with you."
"Is that so?"
"Well, maybe I want to get to know a little bit more about the mysterious transfer student from the Big Bad, Evil, Demon Academy."
"Maybe the mysterious transfer student wants to know more about his cute roommate who happens to be a student of Death himself."
"Oh, is the new student trying to flatter me?"
"Maybe he is, depends on if he's roommate is willing to accept it."
"Maybe she will, only if she lets you walk with his roommate."
Paul sighed
"Where to?"
"How goes the research, Professor Stein?"
Stein was in his lab, when Lord Death had arranged a personal meeting between the two.
"Not much to uncover, it's mostly been sanitary when it comes to finding any Demon essence within Mr. Begtse. That's biological though, his soul is a completely different story."
"Oh, how so?"
"By this point in their age, a Demon Hunter's fusion with a Demon should be fully assimilated. Not only is their still a Demon soul within Paul, but it's remarkably young, same age as him. If I had to guess."
"You wouldn't think..."
"It's a possibility."
"More like a miracle, I've known Demons since the start of the first invasion and I've never seen it happen before, how could something like that be even possible."
"We've seen Asura get released after god knows how long, the impossible gets less and less relevant as time goes by. Does anyone else now?"
"The Demon soul? I've spoken to their headmaster, only he and Paul's father know about it."
"This is the real reason why we had Mr. Begtse transfer to here isn't it? Soul research is far more advanced than it is on Demon Hunter Academy. If this gets out of hand I may need to start giving him more advanced medicine."
"Cutting off Paul's Demon Brand may not be the best situation."
"Why's that?"
"His Demon Soul is that of a full Demon unconsented which means it's still resisting Paul's assimilation. Any great Hunter powers shown off by Paul hasn't been major but cutting off the Demon Soul would potentially mean killing it and would strip Paul of any of his powers as a Hunter."
"And it would let him live his life out as a normal person."
"How much do you know that boy, Professor?"
"Enough to know that Alice wouldn't want her son to end up like her!"
Silence fell between the two.
"I'm sorry, Lord Death. I let emotions take over."
"No need Stein, I understand."
"Hunters have very painful lives. After enduring the horrific process of assimilating a Demon Soul they gain unnatural powers to combat Demons and have the pleasure of slow age growth. What Stein told you about Hunters going crazy is just what we say to people so that nobody notices how long our life spans go. Sounds great, but any Hunter past 100 years would tell you it's a curse. It's not the fighting that tires us out, quite the opposite, it's the addiction. After a while living like a normal person stops being a desire, even a guy like Soul would give in, after decades of hunting, it's the only thing they care about. We don't really get the benefit of a partner, most social Hunters are the first to die, so you end up with some great company."
"Sounds like great fun, why are you a Hunter then? I imagine little kids aren't told of this when they sign up to be one."
"I don't know, why are you a Meister? Sounds like being a professional Monster Hunter is a bit too crude for a girl like you."
"No fair! I asked you first didn't I?"
"Yes, but I asked more nicely."
"How about we both say. At the same time so we both won't get embarrassed."
"Deal."
Paul and Maka breathed in to prepare themselves.
"Because of my mom!"
"Because of my dad!"
Their words practically synced together with their reasons.
"I'm glad we were able to have this talk Professor."
"Thank you, Lord Death. It's just been…"
"Strange, having Alice's child running around, knowing who she really is."
Stein began igniting a cigarette.
"Alice talked a lot about living in seclusion. Not the extreme kind, but enough so that she'd be off the grid. She wanted a quiet life, all to herself, no more stress, no more hatred within her, she just wanted inner peace. She must have really loved Paul's dad to have abandoned all that towards getting married and having a child. The last time we met, she told that if anything were to happen between her and her husband, they could trust me to take care of their child. I agreed. This was years ago, before I became a teacher. Before what happened to her."
"I'm sorry, Stein. I shouldn't have waited before I told you that Paul was transferring. Go get some sleep and let's postpone research on this. Looks you've been restless for days now."
"I appreciate the concern, Lord Death. Some time away from all this and more time with Marie might help."
Stein and Lord Death bid each other farewell before Stein began to head outside. Lightning his last cigarette for the day he puffed it out into the air.
"Dammit Alice, you were always more trouble than anything I've ever dissected."
