I own nothing, not the characters, the space where this story exists, or even the eyes that you are using to read it. This is for entertainment proposes only, no money involved.
Danny gave a long yawn as he entered the school cafeteria with Sam before their first real day of school. "Did you have to wake me up so early? We're still have thirty minutes until school starts and we weren't even rushing." Danny complained, he was still tired from the manual labor from the night before and was pretty used to sleeping in because of summer vacation.
"Well unlike you I don't feel like being late to class on the first day." Sam said taking some amusement in her partner's drossy state. "You need to learn to wake up earlier."
"You're the devil." Danny grumbled. "Haven't you ever heard about letting the dead sleep?"
Sam laughed at the bad joke. "Maybe I would if you didn't die so half-assed." Looking around the cafeteria they spotted the girls along with Eternal Feather at a nearby table. "Hey guys, you ready for the first day of the term?" Sam said dropping herself at the table with them.
"I guess so." Tsugumi said with a grin, but looked unsure at Danny as he fell to the table his face hitting it hard enough to make a fair sized thud. He didn't seem to care too much about the bruise on his forehead.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry, Tsugumi." Eternal Feather said confusing the group. "As it happens, I saw you getting your money taken from you by the witch of the girls' dorm, but I was too scared to stop her."
"Wait, so the witch of the girls' dorm isn't the housemaster, it's that cute upperclassman girl?" Tsugumi asked skeptically.
Eternal Feather nodded and looked down at the table. "Her name is Kim Diehl. She's in the same year as me. When we first started school, she had long, shiny hair, and the cutest appearance, and was quite the object of attention. But due to her bad behavior, people soon steered clear of her."
Anya learned forward. "What did she do that was so bad?" She asked.
Eternal Feather looked up and a pained expression was on her face. "All of you… go ahead and say my name." She said sadly.
"Um… Enyakora…" Meme started having had forgotten the girl's name, but Tsugumi cut her off.
"Eternal Feather." She said clearly.
"What do you think?" Eternal Feather asked her head in her hands.
"Well… it's a pretty name…" Tsugumi started but Sam was as blunt as ever.
"It's really corny and doesn't suit you at all." Sam said with a shrug.
"Sam… be nice." Danny mumbled but a heavy intake of breath made them realize he was chastising his weapon in his sleep. An act that got him a metal plate shoved into his side, jolting him awake. "Ouch! What was that for?"
"Sam's absolutely right though." Eternal Feather said miserably as she cried into her hands. "And Kim was the one who gave me this name."
"Huh?" Tsugumi said shortly.
"The DWMA is a unique school, so the students and faculty here can choose a stage name." Eternal Feather explained as she whipped the tears out of her eyes and sat up. "In fact, we even have a student who uses 'Soul Eater', of all the ridiculous names there are."
"So, Black Star is just a stage name then?" Sam asked thinking about the shorter meister.
"Actually his name really is Black Star." Eternal Feather said and the group sweat dropped. "But back to my name. When we first started school here she told me that I was to plain and that I needed a stage name. Then before I could object she started telling everyone that my name was Eternal Feather." The girl said miserably. "Then she even filed in the form that made it official, one that can't be changed for two years." She barred her head again but the group could still hear her saying the last bit. "And then she charged me my week's allowance for the name."
"Wow." Was all Danny could say. After all, Eternal Feather was an even worse name then Invisobill.
"What a fiend." Tsugumi nodded.
Eternal Feather looked up and scowled. "Speak of the devil."
Danny looked over in the direction Eternal Feather was looking in to see a girl with pink hair in a jogger's jacket and a pink skirt. Danny would admit to himself that she was pretty cute, but he knew that saying such a thing was taboo in front of Sam. She had her hands in her jacket pockets and carried herself in a 'don't bother me' fashion.
Then a boy ran up behind her. He was an odd looking one, completely bald, except for two long spikes that extended from above his ears and pointed straight back. With the thick glasses, Danny was debating whether he was before or after Point Dexter in the list of nerdiest people he had ever seen.
He stopped Kim and looked like he was trying to talk to her about something, but by her facial expressions it didn't look like she was listening.
"She's talking to that boy about something." Meme said.
"Maybe she still maintains some of her popularity." Anya nodded.
"That's Ox Ford. He's in the same class as me." Eternal Feather said. "He's an elite, with the top grades in our year." The group gave a collective cringe as Kim punched him hard in the stomach causing the boy to fall to his knees as she walked away. "Most of the boys keep clear of her, but apparently, Ox at least continues to be on the attack."
"Huh, what do you think Sam… Sam?" Danny asked looking over to his partner. Sam's head was dipped to make it hard to see her eyes. "Sam you awake?"
"Dest… shal… itch…" Sam was muttering something that was too soft for most to hear. But Danny heard it loud and clear. She was constantly repeating the same phase, 'Destroy the shallow witch'.
Standing up Sam started walking towards where Kim was sitting eating breakfast. Danny's eyes widened. "No, Sam calm down, you don't want to do this." He said reaching out and grabbing her wrist. Sam's other arm came back and hit Danny hard, knocking him aside.
"I must get rid of the embodiment of pink." Sam said with a far way rage in her eyes. One of her hands changed into a metal plate as she continued forward.
"No, Sam." Danny said grabbing her from behind in a bear hug. She was struggling and Danny was starting to panic as the others in the group started to realize that Sam was trying to attack the upperclassman girl.
But right as Danny was worried about what he could do the school bell sounded and Sam snapped out of her trance. "Oh shoot, we need to get to class." Sam said as Danny let go of her. "Come on Danny, I'm not going to be later here because of you." She said grabbing his collar and pulling him along out the door.
The group of girls were left watching them go. "How does he survive her?" Eternal Feather wondered out loud.
"The power of commoners." Anya said with awe.
Danny was sitting next to Sam in their first 'NOT' class. But his mind was somewhere else. Eternal Feather had said that Kim was a popular girl before she started acting up. Something about that just didn't sit right with him. If she had popularity, then why did she act out? Jazz said that people who acted out were usually trying to gain some form of social recognition of some kind. But Kim's case was the exact opposite. It was like she wanted to drive everyone away. 'Witch of the girls' dorm, what are you hiding?' Danny thought to himself.
"The DWMA is divided broadly into two kinds of courses. You all, like 90 percent of the students at the academy, are attending the noncombatant classes, 'Normally Overcome Target' or 'NOT' for short." Sid was saying from the front of the classroom. Danny could only think that Black Star was right, what the names stood for didn't exactly shed any light on anything. "Some of you in the future will advance to use your abilities in classes for those who fight against evil, known as 'Especially Advantaged Talent' or 'EAT'."
"Those names are stupid." Sam muttered from next to Danny. "But it looks like the shorty was right, if we want to do anything here we are going to have to get into those 'EAT' classes."
"However, despite being called 'NOT', it will be extremely dangerous if you are unable to control your weapon abilities." Sid continued. Sam chocked down a laugh at that. Sure she couldn't always fully transform when she wanted to, but she didn't have any mishaps anymore. Though she couldn't help but to think of when Danny had first got his ghost powers and kept losing his pants. "You may end up injuring people in unexpected ways. As such, being weapons, you will sometimes be feared, avoided, and discriminated against."
"Just like ghosts… or witches." Danny muttered. He was shushed by a nearby student and when back to just thinking.
Just then the door to the class opened and Akane and Clay walked in. "Sorry we're so late." Clap said rubbing the back of his head.
"He was playing around at the arcade again." His partner snitched.
"Again…" Clay mumbled angrily as Sid walked over.
"The arcade, that's outrageous!" Sid said angrily but his face didn't look it. His voice drop so that only the two in front of him should have been able to hear, but Danny's ears still picked it up and he started to write what he heard on the note pad in front of him.
"How did it go?" Sid asked.
"This man was creepy, and acting weird somehow. Normally, we would have just sent him home, but just to be safe, he's in custody." Akane said softly with a serious expression.
Sid gave a small nod. "I see. Good work." He said before raising his voice again. "Sit down, I'll continue the class!"
Danny poked Sam and showed her the notes from the conversation. "So, it looks like Clay and Akane aren't really 'NOT' students." Sam said with a little interest. "I guess they are probably body guards for Princess Anastasia."
"Who?" Danny said looking around the room not recognizing the name.
"Anya is really the princess of a small country. I've seen her picture before in one of my mom's magazines. I guess she didn't want to live as someone's Barbie doll, so she ran way." Sam whispered approvingly. "I wonder if I could get her to go Goth."
"That would be making her your doll wouldn't it?" Danny pointed out.
"Good point." Sam whispered back before they were shushed again.
"Now, not all of you are weapons, so let talk about what it takes to be a meister." Sid said from the front of the class. "Meister as those individual are the ones that are able to use weapons in combat, but more than that they are people who have gained power over their soul wavelength in order to fight." Sid said folding his arms. "If you can't do this yet, don't worry. Almost no one can when they first arrive here. But I believe that there are two meisters in this class that can already call on their soul's power." He said looking at Danny.
"Wait, what?" Danny said realizing he was being singled out.
"You and Akane are the only meisters here that have access to your soul wavelengths." Sid said with a shrug. "For now anyways. Perhaps you would give a demonstration to the rest of the class."
"What… but I…" Danny said looking around to see all eyes on him. He felt a squeeze on his right hand and looked to see Sam nodding at him.
"Don't worry Danny. Remember what Stein said. No one will discriminate against you here for you soul's strength." Sam said winking.
Danny was unsure, but Sam's presence calmed him and he wasn't panicking anymore. "All… all right." Danny said.
"Good, come up here to the front of the class." Sid said to the young boy.
Once Danny was up there he continued. "Now just reach inside of you and feel the nature rhythm of your soul and amplify it until you can pull it out… like this." Sid said. Everyone felt a breeze in the room as Sid's soul expanded. The papers on the nearby table shifted a little. Sam saw an orb around the same size as Sid's body surrounding the teacher. "Some of you might have a higher level of soul persecution, in which case you will be able to see my soul at some level right now." Around three people nodded including Sam. "This is the power of a real meister. The power that you will need, if you want to join the 'EAT' class. Now you try." Sid said looking at Danny.
"Ok…" Danny said and took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Sheets of paper were blown off the nearby desks as Danny's soul rapidly pushed out from his body until it was the same size as Sid's. Sid staggered back in shock. "Did I do it?" Danny asked as he turned to his teacher.
Sid just stared at the boy's eyes for a second. The soft icy blue eyes had turned a venomous and powerful green. Whispers shot though the class. Sid had to shake himself a little before he could speak. "Yes you did. Very well done." He said coughing into his hand. "Now, once you draw out your soul wave and learn to control it you can do a variety of things. A meister can send his soul waves through a weapon in order to strength his attacks or to sharpen the blade. But if you become strong enough you can use the soul waves to perform direct attacks by concentrating your soul waves into your hand, like this." Sid raised his hand and concentrated his soul waves through it. Sparks began to jump from finger to finger and he hit the ground sending out a wave of energy that kicked up dust.
Danny looked down at his own hand. He pushed his energy into it. "Now this is pretty advanced and I wouldn't expect anyone to learn how to do it before they get…" That was as far as Sid got before he noticed what Danny was doing.
Danny had poured his soul waves into his right hand which was completely engulfed in bright green energy. The light jumped around like electric sparks and Danny brought it down to the ground like he had seen Sid do. The energy blasted out and left a large charred mark on the floor. Everyone went slack jawed and the sound of Sam's laughter filled the room. "Did… I do something wrong?" Danny asked completely oblivious to what was going on.
"You were so cool, Danny." Tsugumi said at the lunch table after their class was over.
"Danny is stronger than he looks." Meme agreed.
Danny looked embarrassed at all the attention he was getting. Sam looked pretty pleased with herself. That is until they started coming.
"Um… excuse me." They looked up to see three girls from another class standing over them. A red head and two blonds. "Hi, um Danny right. I heard you were really cool in class and… I was just wondering... you would partner with me!?" The red head said shouting the last part and bowed.
"No, partner with me!" One of the others said grabbing onto Danny's arm.
"Wow, girls get off the poor guy." An Indian boy said coming up. "He's going to partner with me. Bros before hoes, am I right?"
The unpartnered weapons swarmed them and Danny was quickly overwhelmed. "Ha, knock it off! He already has a partner!" Sam shouted at the people who were trying to take Danny away from her.
"Yeah right, why don't you get lost little farm girl." One of the blonds laughed at Sam.
Danny was getting freaked out and Sam was about to bust some heads when a loud blast shot though a nearby column reducing it to dust. The people all looked up to see Black Star standing there with Tsubaki and the pair from orientation, Maka and Soul. Black Star had used a soul wave to demolish a stone pillar to get their attention.
"That's Maka Albarn, the scythe meister of the 'EAT' class and her partner Soul Eater." One of the weapons murmured.
"And that's Black Star, the loss cannon of the DWMA and the magic dark arm, Tsubaki." Another whispered.
Black Star looked over them and murder was in his eyes. He suddenly didn't seem so little. "He already has a partner, so scram." He spat. The weapons scattered but all stayed in the room, watching from a safe distance. As soon as they were gone Black Star was all smiles again. "Looks like you're getting some attention huh Danny. Keep this up and you might even become as big as star as me!" He laughed taking a seat at the table. Tsubaki also joined along with Maka and Soul, to the great pleasure of Tsugumi. The other however looked like they were going to have a heart attack from the experience.
"What was that about?" Danny said staring to regain a scene of reality.
"Oh that. After you made a big entrance on the scene like you have, you've gotten a bit of a name for yourself already." Black Star said with a shrug.
"So that's why they want to partner up with Danny?" Sam said angrily.
"The true is that he has used a lot of 'EAT' class level skills already." Maka said smiling. "I'm Maka by the way. I saw you all at your orientation." She introduced herself.
"This place is just like any other school. Some people are just losers and slackers that want someone else to do all the work for them. Not wanting to try very hard and winning from just being on the band wagon, so uncool." Soul said as if such people were beneath him.
"They probably think that just because Danny has some raw power means that he would be their free ticket into the 'EAT' classes and then on to becoming a Deathscythe." Black Star sounding a bit bored. "What a bunch of parasites. A real man wouldn't try something like that."
"But Danny already has a partner." Sam said again.
"You can say that all you want. But you don't officially become partner's until the end of the first trimester." Maka said with a shrug. "And even then partners can change. Like if Tsubaki and I got tired of these two idiots we could partner up and leave them." Maka said point to Black Star and Soul.
"Wait what." Black Star said in a panic but then tried to play it cool. "I mean, these no way that Tsubaki would leave someone as big as me… ha ha ha…"
"Don't even joke like that." Soul said looking at his meister. "But she's right. I still have to fight off some weakling or other that thinks they can get between me and my meister. For you it's even worse because you aren't official partners yet."
"That's insane." Danny said shaking his head.
"They should just give up." Tsubaki agree. "No one would turn their back on their partners."
"How about we get off this depressing subject." Maka said smoothly. "How's your first day going?" Talk continued throughout lunch and the presence of the 'EAT' students kept the weapons at bay.
But Sam was secretly wondering. 'I'm I just taking advantage of Danny's power?'
"Alright class, I know this is your last class of your first week and you're excited about how you're going to spend your first weekend, but let's try to give it our all." Sid said standing in front of the 'NOT' class.
It had been five long days for the students, especially for Sam, who try as she might, had yet to turn back into a till after her first day. She was getting harassed by the other weapons that wanted to take her place as Danny's partner. They were saying that he needed a real weapon instead of a piece of farming equipment, that she was holding him back, and just using him. Sam had tried to ignore them and Danny openly defended her whenever he heard them say it, but she couldn't help wondering if they were right.
"So everyone pick up where you left of yesterday, spilt up into partner, meister with weapon and practice controlling your transformations." Sid said before walking around the group to give pointers.
"Ready when you are, Sam. I'm sure you'll get it this time." Danny said supportively and ignoring the snickers from the class bullies. Sam was the only one in the class that couldn't fully become a weapon if given time to concentrate. Even Tsugumi could become a pretty white halberd if she wasn't pressured. Sam felt guilty as she looked into Danny's smiling face.
"Right." Sam said gritting her teeth and closing her eyes. She started trying to transform her entire body. But her right foot became a metal plate and she slipped and fell to the floor, earning her a few chuckles for some of the other students. Sam gave a squeal of frustration.
"Ignore them Sam, you know they're just idiots." Danny said holding out a hand to his partner. "You can do this, I know you can."
Sam looked up at Danny's icy blue eyes but then had to look away. "Danny… tell me the truth… I'm I holding you back? Am… am I just using you?" Sam murmured.
Danny looked taken aback. Sam waited a few seconds for the reply but was a little upset when Danny started chuckling. "Is that what's been bothering you? Sam, you're nothing like those shallow jerks." Danny said warmly.
"Real, how? How am I any different." Sam snapped.
"Because you were my friend before I became like this." Danny said simply. Sam's frustration with herself seemed to melt away. "Think about it Sam, they only want to be with me because they think I am strong. When we first became friend I wasn't strong. If anything I was the weakest guy in the whole school." Danny said thinking back. "I wasn't strong or smart, I had no friend, and was the son of the most embarrassing people in the city. But you stood up for me. You became my first real friend and I don't think I could have done half the stuff I've done without you." Danny said holding out his hand again. "So don't compare yourself to them. You're anything but shallow."
Sam realized what an idiot she had been. Sighing she reached up and took Danny's hand. She could feel it, his soul, it was cool and strong and as familiar to her as her own. She could feel his faith in her. 'I can do this.' Sam whispered deep inside of herself. 'Imagine it. The sharp blade that lies dormant within my soul. Awaken it, for the sake of what I believe to be right.' Sam thought through the words that Sid had drilled into them. 'I believe… in Danny.'
Danny was surprised when Sam's body glowed bright purple and he was left with a weapon in his hand. He was not at all surprised that she managed to do it but… "Sam… you turned into a spade?" Danny was holding onto the handle of a large shovel, nearly six feet in length making it longer than Danny was tall. His left hand quickly moved to support the weight around the middle of the long black body of the spade. Twisting Sam slightly Danny could see that the slightly rounded steel gray head of the new form was extremely sharp.
"What? But I thought I was a till?" Sam's voice could be heard coming from the spade. "Why is it different this time?"
"I don't know?" Danny said puzzled but then he grinned. "But we might as well see what you can do." Their soul waves merged and Danny swung Sam above his head in a wide ark. The wind it kicked up shot through the gym and startled everyone.
"Oh yeah, this work." Sam voice said confidently. But then the spade began to glow purple again and Danny had to change his grip as Sam changed from a spade back into a till. "Wait, what now?"
"This is… unexpected." Sid said walking up to the pair. "Being able to realize yourself as multiple weapons is… rare to say the least. And you're from a reawaked blood line as well. This explains why you've been having such a hard time taking on your weapon form. Several different forms are fighting for supremacy within your blood."
"How am I supposed to control what I become?" Sam asked as she turned back into her human form.
"I… don't know." Sid said scratching his chin. "Like I said it's rare. You will just have to ask another weapon that can do it."
"Alright, who do we need to ask?" Danny asked politely as Sam groaned.
"The only one at the academy who can would be the magical dark arm, Tsubaki." Sid said with a shrug. "She's one of our 'EAT' class students and the advantage of having multiple different forms makes her one of the most talented weapons we have. I'm sure she would help you if you asked her. Do you want me to get you in contact with her?"
"That's ok, she lives on the same floor as us in the dorms. I'll talk to her myself." Sam said a little surprised that Tsubaki was such a big shot. She seemed so timid, but then again, so did Danny.
Sid nodded. "Alright. Keep practicing the best you can for today."
They continued to practice and now Sam was managing to achieve weapon forms, but she was switching between them uncontrollable. Will trying to become the spade she ended up turning into a hand shovel instead, bringing her number of weapon forms up to three. Danny was stumbling around and falling over time and time again as Sam's weight and shape would shift dramatically at unpredictable moments, sometime in mid swing.
"Alright class, you made some real progress today. Go home and enjoy your weekend, you've earned it." Sid said dismissing the class.
"Alright Danny, we're supposed to go and help build a playground down by the park today." Sam said looking at her partner.
"No rest for the wicked I suppose." Danny muttered as he started to follow her.
"I thought you two were working on repairing some roads?" Tsugumi asked as she walked over to them with Meme, the partner she had been paired with that day.
"We finished that one the second day. We've been doing volunteer work since then." Sam said shrugging.
"In other words, she volunteers and I get dragged along." Danny said rolling his eyes and wincing when he receives an elbow in the gut for his comment.
"Wow volunteer work?" Meme said surprised. "That's something huh, Anya… Anya?" The dazed girl looked around to see the last member of their trio was missing. "Where's Anya?"
"I don't see her around?" Sam said look through the gym. "Maybe she already left?"
"Uh, but she gets lonely so easily." Tsugumi said looking around. "Come on Meme lets go look for her!" She grabbed a hold of her remaining meister and started to run off.
"I will never understand those three." Danny said shaking his head.
"I don't even think they understand themselves." Sam agreed then looked like she was remembering something. "Oh, I forgot. I should probably go and see if I can find Tsubaki and ask for that help before I go help at the park. You go ahead I'll meet you there." Sam said and went running off towards the dorm leaving Danny behind.
Danny had left the DWMA and was on his way to the park when he ran into a problem. "Where the hell is Death Park?" He asked himself as he looked left and right down the alleys he was going down trying to find anything that looked like a park. Sam had been the one that found the job and the won that looked up the actual address. 'Maybe I should just fly up over the town.' Danny thought but quickly dismissed the idea. If his soul waves grabbed people's attention will he was in his human form, his ghost form would definitely not go unnoticed.
"I guess I'm just going to have to… ask for directions." Danny said with a sigh. "This is around the time a tractor would fall from the sky."
"Someone, help!" A familiar voice's scream filled the air.
"By the ancients!" Danny swore as he began to run for the scream.
Rounding a corner Danny saw Anya down on the ground with her back against a wall. She was clutching her left arm and looking up in terror as a man stood over her. The man was tall and looked like he was around ninety. He had a dark blue sleeveless hoodie with the hood pulled up in such a way that it hid most of his head. But Danny's ghost eyes could still make out some of his face from underneath the dark hood. The man had hard features and a weak expression as he stood there. But the most striking feature was his right eye. There was a strange pink symbol, like an 'm' with a tail added to the end, tattooed into his eye.
He was slightly crouched with his center of mass shifted forward and his right hand held out wide pointing towards the grounded princess. Danny could just see a curved metal claw on the end of the index finger.
The man made a lung for Anya reaching out for her with the claw. Anya clenched her eyes closed. But before the attack could get to her Danny moved in the way and intercepted the attack with his right arm. The finger claw dug through Danny's jacket, skin and muscle, and hit bone. Biting down on the pain, Danny swung out his arm pushing around the claw but further tearing up his arm in the process.
The assault was surprised by Danny's appearance, but still managed to move back out of the reach of Danny's short arms as Danny attempted a weak left hook.
Not feeling the claw digging into her, Anya opened up her eyes to see Danny standing over her. "Danny!" She said in surprise.
"You ok, Anya?" Danny asked not taking his eyes off of the hooded man.
"I'm alright, but be careful, this man isn't normal." Anya's said worriedly before noticing Danny's arm. "You're hurt bad." She said as she started to tremble.
Danny shock his head. "Don't worry, this is just a scratch." He said gritting his teeth as he lifted up the injured right arm and formed a fist in front of him, he dropped into something he hoped was a guard for in close quarters fighting as the hooded man returned to a stance of his own. The man bent his knees and lifted his left arm across his chest and put the clawed right finger over it as if he was using it to help him aim.
'Unless that guy managed to tattoo his eye I'm going to guess that he's being controlled. His face is glazed over, and his breathing is to steady for someone in combat. Those aren't normal signs of an overshadowed victim. He must be getting remote controlled, harder to control the facial muscles that way.' Danny observed as he prepared for the fight.
'This would be so easy if I could openly use my ghost powers to just blast him.' Danny thought grudgingly. 'But I'm not sure about letting the academy know I'm a half ghost is a good idea. Besides, I don't want to kill the guy, especially if he is just a victim in all this.' But Danny really didn't have many options. He wasn't the most experienced meister at close range combat and his limbs were short and slow. If the man was able to beat Anya, Danny was in trouble.
"Another DWMA student." The man said in a rather dreary voice. "Tell me… did you sleep well last night?"
"Not really, my roommate has the air-conditioner turned off so the cold air doesn't kill her plants." Danny said with a slight shrug. 'I have no choice. I'm going to have to take another hit.' Danny thought quickly. 'After that I can try to grab that arm of his. If I enhance my grip, then I should be able to stop him from using that claw again after that.'
No sooner had Danny made up his mind did the man attacked. The man ran straight for Danny, dipping the left side of his body as her raised his right arm up above him like a snake preparing to strike. As soon as the clawed hand whipped towards him Danny positioned his right arm in the way again absorbing the attack. Then before the man could pull his hand back Danny shot his left hand up and grabbed the clawed hand. Pulling it out of his right arm he tried to throw a punch with his still heavily damaged right arm at the face of the attacker.
But Danny's punch was to slow. The man's left arm shot forward and hit Danny hard in the stomach and knocked the breath out of him. Danny let go of the man's right hand and the claw dived down and went straight across Danny's left side.
Danny collapsed to the ground, his head hitting the asphalt and splitting his temple open. Danny could hardly see through the pain but then heard Anya scream again. "Anya." He murmured and started to try to push himself up. 'Ignore the pain. Anya needs me.' He shouted through the waves of agony inside of his head.
Danny had pushed himself back up onto his knees but then he was kicked hard in the left side over his injury. He rolled over onto his back and pain shot up his arm and he let out his first shrill scream. The man was standing on Danny's injured right arm. Danny could no longer stand it. He was screaming with the pain and thrashing about.
"Get off of him!" Danny heard someone shout but his mind couldn't interpret who it was, it wasn't Anya's voice or Sam's. He couldn't think of anyone else in the world at the moment. Danny wished so badly that Sam was there. Sam would be able to help him. Sam was always able to help him.
The pressure was let up off of Danny's arm as the figure of the man was pushed off of him. After he blinked some of the stars and tears out of his eyes he saw Meme standing over him panting. Tsugumi ran up behind her and after a moment of gasping for air she straightened herself and put up her hands as if preparing for a fight. "Guys…" Danny murmured. "Get… Anya… and get out of here."
"We aren't going to leave you." Meme said seriously for a change. "Don't worry, I'm so scatterbrained, I fear nothing."
The hooded man looked at his two new victims as if weighing which one was the easier target. The answer was obvious; Tsugumi.
The girl backed way in panic as the man charged at her. "Tsugumi, change into a weapon!" Meme shouted.
"What, but I can't do it so suddenly." Tsugumi cried. Her leg turned into a white metal blade and dug into the ground causing her to trip and fall backwards.
"Tsugumi!" Meme shouted and tried to position herself between the man and her partner. But the man merely kicked her aside and continued for Tsugumi.
"No!" Danny shouted lifting up his left hand which came to life with vibrant green light that shot off like a rocket. The man turned to Danny with a look of shock right before the weak ghost ray caught him in the chest and knocked him into a pile of garbage by the side of the alley.
But the ghost rays from Danny's human form were too weak to do serious damage. The hooded man pushed himself up out of the garbage. His hood had been knocked down making it easy for the group to see the man's buzz cut hair and creepy eye.
"How did you do that?" The man asked looking at Danny. Squinting, he then continued. "Your wounds… they are already closing."
The unhooded man started to walk towards Danny, seemingly having forgotten the others. Danny wanted to stand up. He wanted to fight, or run, or do something. But his body was in too much pain.
"Stay back!" Someone shouted. Akane jumped down between Danny and the attacker and hit his hand against the ground. A blast of soul wavelength kicked up dust and pushed both Danny and the attacker away from each other. Standing up to his full height at around six feet tall and with his partner, the six foot long claymore, Clay, swung over his shoulders.
"Akane, Clay?" Tsugumi said in surprise.
"You all stay back!" Clay's voice said.
"Neither they nor we are DWMA agents." Akane said to the unhooded man. "I doubt we will prove much of a challenge to a Traitor."
The man looked annoyed but he backed off chuckling as he went.
"He sure left without too much trouble, huh?" Clay said reclaiming his human from.
"Anya, Danny are you two ok?" Tsugumi asked running up to Anya before casting a look at Danny. Danny thought that she looked like she was going to throw up.
"I'm fine." Danny said assuredly as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"Your wounds really are healing." Clay said in amazement as he watched the deep cuts on Danny's right arm and left side slowly stitch themselves up, not nearly as fast as the light cut to his back he had received on the first day but still unnatural.
Danny looked away feeling like his own body was betraying his secrets and trying to will the wounds to stop healing in front of people. But then Akane started talking. "A healing soul wavelength must be very handy. Being able to keep going after most would be left in a hospital. You are almost healed already."
Danny realized that they thought that his wounds were healing because of his soul wave. Which in reality, they were. "Yah, I'll be fine." Danny said getting up. He reached up with his left hand and pushed the blood out of his eyes. "They aren't as bad as they look. The pain is already gone." He lied. "The only thing that really hurts is my injured pride."
"I would still suggest going to the school nurse." Clay said looking skeptically at Danny.
"No!" Danny shouted a look of fear crossing his face startling the group. "Sorry. Bad things happen whenever I go to hospitals… or need to ask for directions." Danny said remember that he was supposed to be at the park. "Speaking of which… I don't suppose you know how to get to Death Park from here do you?"
"You were trying to get to Death Park? but it's just down the road from the academy." Clay said confused. "If you left the double doors from the cafeteria and turned right you would just have to walk three blocks."
Danny's eyes widened. "Oh man. Sam's going to be pissed." Then he looked down at his blooded shirt and jacket, some of the blood had even run down onto his pants. "Scratch that. She is going to be really pissed." Danny started to jog away from the others ignoring his body's screams of protest. He didn't want them to look at him. Not the way he was now.
He was just out of sight of the others when he finally stopped. He leaned over to the wall and started to wheeze from the throbbing agony that filled his every muscle. "I can't believe… I lost to… some possessed street punk." He cried a bit.
Danny's eyes shot up when he heard something hit the ground nearby. To his relief, it wasn't the hooded attacker, or Tsugumi and her partners. But to his surprise, it was Kim, the witch of the girls' dorm. She had dropped a bag full of groceries down beside her and was staring wide eyed at Danny.
"What happened to you?" She asked a note of concern in her voice as she moved quickly forward.
"It's nothing, I'm fine." Danny said but his body was tired from the regenerative process. It would have been so much easier on him if he could just 'go ghost'. His legs bucked and he slide to the ground.
"Yeah right your fine." Kim said moving over to him and looking at the wound that covered his left side. "This is serious. You could die of blood lose." Danny chuckled at the thought. He couldn't die of blood loss. It wasn't even possible for him. His soul would provide the energy that his body needed to continue to function and then it would replace the blood he lost. "You're already delusional." The pink haired girl said biting her lip and putting a hand to Danny's forehead. "And your freezing."
"No I'm not." Danny said trying to wave the girl off. "I'm just tired." He said and his eyes flutter a bit. 'Why is she so nice. I thought she was supposed to be cold.' Danny wondered thinking back to what he had heard about the girl. 'She always just avoids people.'
Suddenly Danny felt warmth going though his body. His eyes shot open and he looked down to see Kim's hands over his chest. Her hands were glowing and she had a look of concentration on her face. Realization came slowly to Danny. "You really are a witch." He whispered.
Kim's head shot up and she looked into Danny's eyes. She had really pretty blue eyes. Not like Danny's sharp ice blue, more of a calm ocean blue. But those eyes read terror. "You… I thought you passed out." She said in panic.
She jumped up and ran leaving a dazed Danny sitting there watching. "She left her groceries." Danny finally muttered. He got back up. The pain was gone from his chest. Looking down he saw that the wound on his chest was fully closed and that there wasn't even a scar. "She healed me."
In that moment three things about Kim registered with Danny; she really was kind, she was afraid of people finding out she was really a witch, and she was all alone. "I'll have to say I'm sorry to Sam later." Danny said grabbing the groceries and running towards the girls' dorm.
It was pretty easy for Danny to find Kim's room at the girls' dorm. He had already visited the place once with Sam to see Tsugumi and her partners. Kim's room was right next to theirs. Most people were standing clear of it, though whether that was because of her or because Danny was still covered in his own blood, Danny didn't know.
Standing at the threshold of the room Danny gave a sigh before reaching up and knocking. After a few seconds he could hear someone moved quietly to the door the lock click and the door budge open ever so slightly revealing one of Kim's blue eyes. "Oh… it's you." She grumbled from the other side of the door. "What do you want?"
Danny swallowed and held out the groceries. "You… forgot these." He said looking at his feet. "And… I wanted to say that I won't tell anyone what I saw." Kim looked surprised and the door opened a bit more as she accepted the groceries. "But… could I talk to you about it… in private I mean?" Danny asked looking around.
Kim's glare deepened. "You want my time you'll have to pay me for it."
"Fine." Danny said without hesitation surprising Kim a little more. She stepped back and let him in to her room. After he entered she closed the door behind her and locked it. After a moment of silence Danny spoke again. "I'm guessing you haven't had anyone to talk to about the… witch stuff since you came here. Since I already know… I'd be willing to listen."
Kim didn't seem to know what to make of Danny, but she had been holding all of her true feelings back for so long that it all just started to break through at the opportunity. "I hate the other witches." Kim mumbled. "Everyone thinks that witches are automatically evil, for the most part, their right." Kim sat down on her bad and looked at the floor. "It's called the 'sway of magic'. Anyone who is born with an affinity for magic feels it once they first hit puberty. Then the nature of their magic starts changing their personalities. It's the reason witches crave destruction."
"Some can fight it, but not forever. A young witch is too inexperienced to hold it at bay for long and a witch that has already fallen to it can't get out, or doesn't want to." Kim said miserably.
"But you're different." Danny said calmly.
Kim glared at him again but the glare didn't stick. "My… my magic isn't the same as the others. Most have destruction or control based magic, so their personalities are twisted by that. My magic is regenerative." Kim said and her hands started to give off the same glow as before. "Because of that… I'm not affected by the 'sway of magic' in the same way as the others."
Kim clenched her hands and the light disappeared. "But the other witches in my covenant were doing such terrible things. I couldn't stand it anymore. So I ran away and joined the DWMA thinking that I could stop things somehow. But once I got here… it didn't make a difference. I am still a witch and to a certain extent bound by their laws." Kim said tears coming to her eyes. "I can't ignore the summons of the grand-witch and if they found out that I was in the DWMA… they would probably execute me." A knot formed in the back of Danny's throat. "And the DWMA would probably do the same if they found out that I was a witch." Kim buried her face in her hands.
"I understand." Danny said sadly.
Kim looked up, her teary face full of anger. "'You understand', you don't understand anything!" She shouted. "How could you possible understand what I'm going through?"
Danny took a breath and prepared himself to do what he had already planned to do from the beginning. "Kim… I already know your secret. So I'm going to show you mine." Danny said and the witch girl stopped. 'I'll have to keep it short. I don't want my waves to attract any attention.'
Kim's eyes widened as a white ring appeared around Danny's waste and his soul exploded, expanding past the boarders of her room. Danny disappear and in his place was a boy around the same size and shape as Danny, but this boy had snow white hair and vivid green eyes. His entire body glowed with the strength of his soul and his clothes had been changed into a black and white jumpsuit.
"Dan… Danny? You're a ghost?" Kim said in surprise.
"This is my secret… I'm a half ghost." Danny said and the ring appeared again turning him back to normal. "That's why I can understand. Most people think that ghosts are evil by default. And there obsessions have a way of driving them to become evil, just like the magic with witches. The thing that makes me different is my half human status. But other humans have always tried to hunt me whenever I went out in ghost form, even my own parents." Danny said looking over at Kim. "Most of the other ghosts think I am some kind of abomination that should be destroyed, or just hunted for sport. But… it's not like I wanted to become like this…" Kim was unable to speak. She had had the same thoughts before. "The main difference I see, is that I wasn't all alone. I had Sam, and my older sister Jazz, and my best friend Tucker. So… if you need someone to talk to… you know." Danny said rubbing the back of his neck. "You don't have to be alone."
After a moment of silence Danny got up. "I guess you still want to be alone right now huh." Danny said and headed for the door.
"Wait." Kim said and Danny stopped looking back at her. "I… thanks." She said looking away. "But I'm still going to bill you for my time."
Danny couldn't help but the laugh a bit. "Fine just put it on my tab."
Right outside the girls' dorm, the hooded attacker stood after following Danny there. He witness the large soul suddenly erupt from the building before disappearing as quickly as it came. He smiled. "Well well… the child will make a perfect weapon against the DWMA." The man said his voice a little feminine. "Watch out Death, your days of tyranny are numbered."