Chapter two
"Huff, Huff".
Mardi was running up what seems like an endless stairway. Step by step, the stairs are replaced by a longer set of stairs. This would replace gym class anytime. She was already soaked wet with sweat which she hardly makes until now. Her hair is a mess. Her emotionless green eyes filled with actual human emotion of irritation and tiredness. Her throat burning for the soothing touch of water, clean or dirty.
Her weapon partner Slice, morphed into a weapon after walking for 10 steps then blacked out. Lazy bum, Mardi thought. She's the one working her butt off while Slice is snuggly slung across her back by a cloth stick holder included on her dull green army backpack, not having to do anything. That's what I get for spoiling this ungrateful jerk, I guess.
She thought it was never going to be over until she found her Nirvana. She finally made it. The DWMA is so big, filled with lots of people walking about with cards that identify them as a weapon or Meister. The place is even symmetrical which kinda makes no sense to think about. The newbies are walking or standing about looking clueless as ever (including Mardi who's no longer one). The teachers or students who've been here longer are leading groups of the newbies, talking, or been practicing sparring with other people. Mardi felt tiny and she realized that she's intimidated by the people here. She went to very dangerous quests and faced watching her mother dying slowly in front of her. She was thinking about skipping classes and as soon as she turned, she bumped into another student. She fell back with Slice murmuring "ow" beside her.
"Watch where you're going, peasant," said the guy Mardi bumped into.
"Well, I obviously didn't mean it."
"Whatever, it must be an excuse just to be near a hottie who's out of your league."
"Pfft. When heck freezes over." Mardi just couldn't believe this. There's nothing good looking about this guy. His soft yellow hair, dreamy bluish gray eyes, slender build- whoa whoa! Cross that, cross that out!, she thought.
Then one of his buddies yelled out," Hey Malfoy, my man! Is that tomboy your honey?" His pals next to him laughed.
"No way, dude. I don't date a lady who looks like a little scientist boy, if this one is even a lady." He gave Mardi the disgusted sneer then strolls over to his gang, laughing it out. Malfoy. Malfoy, she thought. That sound's familiar. But there's no way that jerk over there is Draco Malfoy, who might be already in his oldies in this day. But the attitude and demeanor seems a bit similar though in different slang. But aside from that, she got burned on a first day of a new school year.
She was almost on the verge of tears until a hand offered a bottle of water and the other a tissue. She looked up and Slice, in his human form, was solemnly looking back at her, making the notion at his offering. Mardi took it, sucking out all the water in the bottle and dabbing the tears into the tissue.
"An eyelash went into my eye, that is all," Mardi murmured. Slice looks like he wasn't convinced.
"This is why someone like Slice doesn't like to be in school", Slice responded," There are people who bullied others and the people who were there don't do a thing about the bullying." Mardi just stared at her shoes and nodded.
"So, should... aa~iii.. beat them up for Mardi?", Slice asked. When did Slice acted (almost) his appearance's age? And he referred himself as "I" instead of his name for the first time. Another milestone TT_TT . Mardi would have been crying tears of joy except that this is public and she got insulted in front of people and no way she will blow her emotionless facade.
A girl with black pigtails and a childish face ran over to them. She wore the standard uniform of the Academy. It seems that she's a weapon because of the waves seems a bit similar to Slice's but otherwise not the same. She's somewhat the same age around Mardi's but so adorable to give an extreme bear hug.
"Konichiwa, I'm Harudori Tsugumi; the demon halberd," she says as she greets the duo.
"Mardi-Carlo Roux but you can just call me Mardi", replied Mardi," This idiot here is my partner, Slice." she gestures her hand in an indifferent manner toward Slice, who is chasing a stray butterfly like a little kid till he bumps into a black 80's streetlight and just laid there out cold.
Ms. Harudori looks at him and covers her face that would show signs of laughter. Mardi simply rolls her eyes at the scene.
"Wow, Slice-San really likes butterflies, does he?"
"Oh please, he chases anything that moves."
"That's...an interesting hobby he has, Maddie-Chan."
"Did I gave you permission to come up with a weird nickname for me?", Mardi would have lashed out but instead just shrugged it off. No use in making enemies here.
"So I saw what that meanie, Klaus-senpai, said to you and I think what he said isn't true. Except for the "scientist-y part, you look almost nothing like a boy but pretty in your way, I guess", Tsugumi said.
"That's the nicest thing anybody has said about me", Mardi mumbled sarcastically. She knows she's the weirdest tomboy alive and the reason boys would stay away from her is because of the rumors spread about her that were only half true.
One such thing is that she cut open and experimented on her (later former) crush Vladius Heartstrings when he was asleep in his own dorm room. It is true she cut open through his skin but it is for surgery since he was suffering from a disease where a rock forms around an important organ like the heart. The rock seed inside was the size of thumb but if stayed longer, it will no longer be easy to remove and is very fatal if fully grown. The early signs of the disease is slower movements, cramps after walking for a few meters, coughing up blood and mucus and mild vomiting. You wouldn't want to know what comes after these since it is very graphic and visually scarring for life. Vlad has shown all these early symptoms and the no good doctors has done anything about it. Mardi had to do it. Even if it meant to see his gorgeous greenish-gold eyes for another day and later thought of Mardi as a wacko mad doctor who wants to find some guinea pigs and kept avoiding her for the last 3 years before he decided to transfer to another academy.
Then there was the time that she summoned a real demon by using voodoo to kill the monsters that were once human. She didn't hire a demon that looks hot for a butler, it's just that the demon's master, who's no older than her, was after the same target as a duty of "The Queen's Guard Dog". What idiot let's a boy do a task like that? Then again, he has the battle- ready demon butler to do the dirty work for him.
So on and so on, the rumors started getting nasty and everybody kept avoiding her and Slice (but mostly Mardi) because of these. It's what made her lonely and secretly loathe those who has pals to talk to. She would sometimes try to have a chat with her partner but let's face it; Slice is very hard to talk to. He got the attention span of a squirrel. You tried to get him on the same subject, the next you found Slice looking at some well endowed fellows that made Mardi wish she killed them.
So on to the point, Mardi never actually had friends till now. The trio, Mardi, Tsugumi, and Slice were walking along the school as they talk.
"You two are new here?", Tsugumi asked.
"No, I've been here for 8 years since Slice was born." Tsugumi made a 'what?' face.
"Really? He looks like as if he were 18 years old instead of 8 years", she observed.
"I'm serious. Slice, isn't a normal Weapon as you put it. Alors, how should I put this, he's an artificial living being who was just a simple weapon, if you call inanimate giant scalpels simple", Mardi explained.
" I was six and a half when he was created. He was originally my papa's scalpel until some evil witch came along and managed to swipe it from his scary long hands. I was close to my father at that time and I thought to myself, 'no way that [insert bad word] is going to get away with it'. Papa told me not to chase her because witches are awfully dangerous and most of them are hard to kill-"
" So scary. I hope I never encounter them in the future" interrupted Tsugumi. She was given a death glare by Mardi, which then she apologizes with tears.
"So okay, where was I? Oh oui, I did not take heed to my papa's orders because also at that time, I was very stubborn and arrogant. I obviously went to find the witch's lair. Il n'est pas difficile de trouver la sorcière. It is true that witches can hide their wavelengths but I have science on my side that helps leads me to the said witch. There she was, holding inanimate scalpel that would later become Andrew Slice, in her hands, standing over a human and over at a corner, a generally strong witch's soul. The helpless, scared look on the human's face influenced mine to follow suit. I was a strong brave girl ,then a foolish coward the next. I grabbed the sharpest rock I can find then rushed to the action, screaming 'banzai!' toward the witch. All I knew is that some force thrown me against the walls enough for me to collapse. Then when I woke up, I was bounded to chains looking up at a pendulum of some kind. Looking how sharp and stained it is, I panicked. I screamed for mama, papa, somebody to come save me. The only response I heard was that darn witch cackling behind the blanket covered entrances of the cave. You know what she said to me?" Tsugumi was so engrossed in this story, she eagerly waited for the answer.
"Tsk. Tsk. What a curious, stupid child. You know the old saying; curiosity killed the cat. And guess who's the cat?"