Their new apartment was relatively close to the academy so they were there in no time. It was a small apartment complex on Death Avenue. Kidd mentioned something about a friend of his living just a few blocks away.
Veronica was still processing the fact that the street was called Death Avenue, when the young reaper gave Lance the key to room 29, their new home. The idea of having an actual home after traveling for so long perplexed her.
The cozy little apartment contained a living room, a kitchen/dining room, a single bathroom, and two bedrooms.
Wait. She realized. Two beds and three people don't add up.
"I hope the rooms are satisfactory, it s the best my father could find on such short notice." Kidd explained to Lance."I'll be back to check in little while with a few people I'd like you to meet."
"See you then."Lance waved as the Kid summoned a skateboard and flew away.
"Did that skateboard just fly?"Veronica asked astonished.
"Yeah, that's beelzebub."Lance yawned."His dad got it for him when he was eleven."
Mark turned to his sister with wanting eyes.
"Not a chance."She stated bluntly answering his unasked question.
The nine year old looked heartbroken as he watched the son of death fade away in the horizon. Turning her attention away from her pouting little brother the sword addressed her Meister.
"You know there are only two rooms, right?"Veronica inquired.
"Well…"Lance fumbled."I figured that maybe you and Mark could share a bed?"
It only took a moment under her cold stare before he gave a defeated sigh and agreed to sleep on the couch.
"How gentlemanly of you," She snickered as she yanked off the accursed scrunchie and flung it into the trash, shaking her scarlet hair in every possible direction around her neck.
Lance just heaved another sigh as he took a seat on his new bed and flipped on the television, scrolling through the numerous channels before settling on some superhero movie. He still hadn't had any sleep and occasionally was startled by the bobbing of his head as it drooped forward.
"Oi Lance."Veronica announced."Me and Mark are gonna go see a bit of the city, wanna come with?"
The drowsy Meister gently shook his head and removed his glasses, "Nah. I think I'm just going to stay here for a while and get some shut eye."He said as he plopped a pillow down and rested his head on it.
"See you later then."She said as she opened the door.
"Yeah bye," Was Lance's mumbled words to his departing weapons as he pulled a blanket over himself.
Death City proved to be a large and confusing place for the Arodights. Veronica had underestimated how death oriented the city really was; Death Avenue, Grim Street, Reaper park, the absurd names just went on and on. She was beginning to think maybe Lord Death named them himself, she figured it was his city after all.
They came to a street corner stand where a man was selling ice cream cones and decided to purchase a cone each, chocolate for her and vanilla for Mark. The duo continued their peaceful saunter around the city, no real destination in mind.
The ice cream was a revelation in the desert town. the laughing sun beat down on the city like a drum.
The city was indeed extravagant, high arching towers were abundant in the skull filled town. The narrow streets intertwined each other like a labyrinth. The two were soon lost in the maze of buildings and streets.
"Maybe we should ask for directions."Mark stated, as they tried with no avail to retrace their steps.
He was right and she knew it, she'd been too stubborn to admit it herself but they were hopelessly lost within the winding cobblestone paths of Death City. London had been so much easier to navigate, so simpler than this desert town under the Nevada sun.
She also knew that calling Lance would be a useless endeavor, he was more than likely still asleep and thus his seldom used phone would be turned off until he awoke.
"Fine," Veronica moaned as they stepped into a grocery store to ask for directions. A girl around her age was stocking up on as much food as she could get, she wore a long tan dress hanging below her knee. Her long black hair was stationed in a neat pony tail.
Discarding the remains of her ice cream cone, she tapped the girl gingerly on the shoulder to get her attention.
"Hello we're new in town and we were wondering if you wouldn't mind giving us a few directions?"Veronica asked politely.
"Of course," The girl smiled, extending her free hand."My names Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, where do you need to go?"
"Our apartment at Death Avenue," Veronica answered, shaking Tsubaki's hand."And I'm Veronica, Veronica Arodight."
"And I'm Mark."The shield stated as he introduced himself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."Tsubaki said kindly."What bring you two to Death City?"
Veronica indicated the new shiny weapon badge pinned to the front of her leather jacket."Just got enrolled this morning," She pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Oh I see."Tsubaki said."Do you know what class you're going to be in?"
"Hmm. class crescent moon I think."She said, receiving a nod of confirmation from Mark.
"That's my class. I'm a weapon just like you." Tsubaki said."Is Mark your Meister?"
Veronica couldn't help but snort at the very notion of her younger brother swinging her around like Lance.
"No Marks a weapon just like his big sis."She explained."Isn't that right Mark?"
"Yup, I'm a shield."Mark stated proudly.
"I've never met a shield before."Tsubaki noted."Are you a shield as well Veronica?"
"Nope, I'm a just a sword or "rapier" if you ask my Meister."Veronica answered, making quotation gestures around rapier.
"I'm a dark arm."Tsubaki said."That means I can transform into a multitude of weapon forms, though my standard form is a kusarigama."
"Kusarigama?"Veronica repeated questioningly.
"It's basically two mini scythes connected by a single chain."Tsubaki explained.
"Oh, I think I may have seen something like that on the tele once."Veronica said.
"Well I'm going to go buy these then we'll go find your apartment."She said as she turned to the checkout counter to purchase her groceries.
Tsubaki was able to navigate them through the maze of streets with ease, making casual small talk as she guided them along the many twist and turns."So you're from the United Kingdom, I was there on a mission once."
"Mmhmm. We met Lance a little less than a year ago."Veronica said."He told us he was part of this experimental travelling student project thing and that he had spent the last year looking for a weapon partner, quite unsuccessfully I might add."
"Because nobody wanted him," Mark chipped in.
"You know it's not very typical for a Meister to use two weapons."Tsubaki pondered aloud."That's why most Meisters only have a single weapon partner. It's easier for them to perform soul resonance that way."
"Believe me Lance is anything but "typical."Veronica chortled."Trust me on that."
"Yeah he's a bit of an oddball."Mark added good heartedly."But in a good way."
"He sounds like a great guy."Tsubaki said gently as they approached Death Avenue.
"Thanks Tsubaki."Veronica said."But I think we can make it back from here."
"You're welcome. I'll see you when school starts."She said as she waved goodbye, before heading in the opposite direction.
"She was nice."Mark commented while they headed up the stairs back to room 29.
"Yeah she was."Veronica agreed."She must have a really nice Meister."
A single turn of the key led the siblings to see that Lance was up and about, rearranging all of his possessions. He was feeling particularly jovial after taking his relaxing snooze.
"Hey guys."The young sword and shield Meister greeted as his weapons returned from there exploration of their new environment."Make any new friends?"
"We sure did."Mark replied."We met a katamarigami."
"He means kusarigama."Veronica corrected."And her name was Tsubaki, we met her at the market."
"And yet you bought no food."Lance scolded."What, did you think that Lord Death would have gone to such lengths as to stock our fridge?"
"Um… well no."Veronica confessed, the thought of groceries had entirely slipped her mind while they were out, only now did she feel the low rumble coming from her empty stomach.
Lance suddenly flashed her a devious smile, "Well you should have."He said as he pulled the refrigerator door open revealing an overloading amount of food, drinks, and sweets.
"Even got us ice cream," Lance said, revealing a half eaten fudgsicle from behind his back.
"That bloke did all this just for us?"Veronica asked skeptically."Seems a bit much doesn't it?"
"I'm sure all the other new students will be getting the same treatment."Lance said before jamming the remainder of the fudgesicle into his mouth.
"Who cares? we got ice cream!"Mark proclaimed as he began rummaging through the freezer.
Veronica simply sighed at the childish nature of the men in her life, of course Mark was a child but Lance was also an occasional victim to foolish immaturity. Lance was an eternal enigma to the young Brit, often reclusive or apathetic but at other times hyper and overly energetic, he was indescribable really.
Whenever she asked about his peculiar personality type he'd give the same answer, that it was part of his psychosis. Psychosis, what the hell did he mean by that?She thought.
Another thing was how obsessed he was with "staying in character"' as he called it, he was constantly practicing new voices and accents like the deep voice he used when fighting kishen eggs and other enemies. He even asked for notes from them on how to perfect his British accent.
"Hey, earth to Veronica."Lance said, pulling the sword out of her thoughts."Are you listening?"
"Oh…uh I'm sorry what were you saying?"Veronica stammered.
"I was saying that Kid and his guests are going to be here any minute."Lance announced."So I think it would be prudent if we started preparing some sort of meal for them."
"Meal?"Veronica questioned."Like what?"
"I don't know something simple like spaghetti or something."Lance said, shrugging."So let's get started."
It was a moment before either of them made a single movement.
"Well?"Lance inquired impatiently.
"What? I'm following your lead."Veronica said defensively.
"I don't know the first thing about cooking."Lance confessed."I was depending on you."
"What made you think I knew a thing about bloody cooking?"Veronica almost shouted.
"Calm down Ronnie."Lance said in a soothing voice."I'm sure we can figure this out together, I mean how hard can cooking be?"
They were about to learn. Lance quickly found noodles and sauce in the pantry, which was also stocked to the brim, and got to work. He grabbed a large pot and began boiling water to dump the noodles in it, while Veronica began work on the meat balls, tossing a few wads of meat onto the pan she rolled them around repeatedly with a spatula.
They took great pride with their work. Lance continued to stir his noodles until he was sure they were ready before dumping them into a pasta bowl and adding the sauce. Veronica on the other hand was in a rush to finish her meat balls as soon as possible, she quickly finished and contributed them to the finished project.
They gave it to Mark as an impartial judge to their craftsmanship. They waited in anticipation to hear of the fruits of their labor.
The young shield slowly stabbed a fork into the spaghetti, slowly twisting it to garnish a maximum amount of noodles before lifting it to his mouth and inserting it slowly inside, he did everything rather slowly. He gulped them down before taking a bite from one of the meat balls, still agonizingly slow.
His reaction wasn't immediate. He paused for a mere moment before pushing it away in disgust.
"Barely edible," He stated bluntly. "The noodles are soggy and the meat balls are doughy."
"That's it. I'm ordering pizza."Lance said angrily as he went to retrieve the phone from its deck.
Just as he got up a knock hit the door eight times. The three gulped as it was hit another eight times in a precise rhythm. Lance had no choice but to open the door revealing Kid and two similarly dressed girls, they looked like they could be sisters in their matching cowgirl outfits. One, the older it appeared, was tall with dirty blonde hair drooping around her shoulders, the other was more around Kid's size with short blonde hair. They both had the same bright blue eyes.
Lance tried not to stare at their very well endowed chest as he welcomed them all into their humble abode.
"Hello Lance."Kid greeted formally." I'd like to introduce you to my weapons Liz and Patti Thompson."He said indicating the two girls behind him.
The taller one, Liz, politely gave a small bow to Lance as she introduced herself to him and his weapons.
Patti on the other hand was much different in her approach in making a first impression.
"So you're the one who was babysat with Kidd right?"Patti inquired.
Everyone in the room simultaneously sweat dropped at the blonde's impulsive question.
"Patti!"Kid and Liz yelled in unison.
"What? I just asked him a question."Patti whined as Liz escorted her to the corner to give her a brief explanation on proper social etiquette.
"I apologize for my weapon's rudeness."Kid grieved."She can be rather impulsive."
"Don't mention it."Lance said nervously.
"I see you've prepared dinner."Kid stated, spotting the spaghetti in the kitchen.
Lance and Veronica both mentally cursed as their worst fear came to life.
"Um…yeah…. we just made it."Lance stammered.
"Good I'm starving."Liz muttered as she took a seat on the couch next to Patti.
"Mark set the table."Veronica grimaced."And I'll heat up some tea."
"Okay."Mark obeyed apprehensively.
"Sis, they talk funny."Patti pointed out from her place on the couch.
"That's because they have accents Patti. Sometimes people from other places talk differently."Liz explained.
"Oh."Patti responded with curiosity."Do you think to them we sound like we have accents?"
Mark quickly set the table while Veronica prepared the tea. Lance scooped a fair amount of the spaghetti on each plate as the guest took their seats.
Veronica returned moments later, brandishing a kettle filled with fresh tea. Lance by now was accustomed to drinking tea with his European companions. The other members however did not share his familiarity with the beverage. Kid accepted his without question of course, but Liz and Patti eyed their cups skeptically before hesitantly taking a sip.
Lance instinctively added several spoonfuls of sugar into the creamy brown drink in front of him before bringing it to his lips and taking a large gulp.
"Ronnie you've simply outdone yourself on the tea as always."Lance curtseyed.
The same could not be said about the spaghetti, though they tried their hardest not to show it Lance could see how everyone winced with every bite of the atrocious noodles. The conversation around the table was sparse and mainly consisted of idle chit-chat things like symmetry, fashion, and African wildlife seemed to be the main centers of discussion, none of which Lance found particularly captivating.
As the night went on the air around the apartment slowly became duller as Kid desperately tried to keep the room alive. Lance awkwardly played along for old time's sake if nothing more. He was never good at dealing with strangers and tried hard to stay calm around the unfamiliar Thompson sisters.
Kid thought the night was going well considering the people he was dealing with, Patti hadn't had another rude outburst since her initial encounter with Lance, and he seemed to be much more comfortable around strangers than he had once been or at least was able to cope around them.
Yet in spite of his best efforts all the life seemed to be draining from the room, he supposed it was getting rather late and was about to give up and go home when something unexpected happened, something extremely unexpected.
He and Lance were discussing the final battle that defeated the kishen.
"So it was you and who else?"Lance questioned half-heartedly.
"Maka Albarn and her scythe Soul Eater landed the final blow."Kid explained animatedly."But only after he was weakened by me and my friend Black-."
He was interrupted by a loud thud at the door.
"Who could that be?"Lance asked.
Kid could only shrug before another thud, louder than the first, hit the door. Lance moved to answer it but it was a pointless effort for at the third thud the door flew off its hinges, nearly hitting Lance in the process.
"YAHOO!"
(A/N)Sorry for the cliffhanger, make sure to review!