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.
"So we've been promoted to 'EAT' classes already." Sam said smugly as she walked towards her new class with Danny, Kim, and Jackie. "Guess this is where the challenge starts."
"Great, now we actually have to try." Kim pouted. The look was enough to cause Danny and Jackie to blush at the cuteness of it.
"I guess putting further effort isn't natural for you, huh." Jackie said rolling her eyes and trying to fight down her blush as she opened the door to the classroom.
Looking in Jackie gave a scream and jumped back, the bun on the top of her head catching fire as her heart rate sky rocketed.
"What is it?" Kim asked looking into the room. Laying on the ground by the seat nearest to the entrance was a large dog, the size of Great Dane. It was narrowly built and covered in dark blue fur except for a sky blue fur around the back of its head and a white stomach and mouth. It looked lazily towards the door and Danny could see that the dog had a long scar over its left eye. It wore a collar with the DWMA skull logo as a tag. The dog's red eye seem unnaturally intelligent as he considered the new comers. "It's... so cute." Kim said gushing as she moved forward and started to pet the monster dog. Sam soon joined her and Danny just knelt down to let the dog sniff his hand.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to scare anyone." A kind voice said. Right next to the dog in that closest seat was a girl. She looked like she was around sixteen with light brown hair and eyes. She had a kind expression as she looked at all of them. She was wearing a white and pink dress but even Sam had to admit that the look suited the girl. "We're just new to the class. We didn't want any trouble."
"That's ok, we're new too. Well, except for Jackie back there." Danny said as the dog looked straight up at him instead of sniffing his hand. The look in the dog's eye reminded the ghost boy of Clockwork. His wolfish smile like he was laughing at a joke the world hadn't heard yet.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Sam, the boy is my meister, Danny... I mean Phantom." Sam said still getting used to introducing Danny as Phantom. "Kim is our friend and is also just joining the class."
"Oh, thank goodness, I thought we would be the only ones." The girl said with a sigh of relief. "I'm Estelle, and this is my meister, Repede." The large dog bowed its head in greeting.
"Your meister is a monster dog." Jackie voice came from behind her group. She sounded somewhere between fascinated and horrified. Sam and Kim however were commenting on how cool that was.
"Repede and I have been through a lot together. He'll like my older brother." Estelle said throwing her arms around the dog's neck. Both Estelle and Repede closed their eyes. When they opened them Estelle turned towards the group. "Repede says that it's a pressure to meet all of you."
"You can talk to him?" Kim asked excitedly.
"He can already understand what we're saying. And he can speak to me when we join our soul waves." Estelle said smiling as Sam and Kim gushed. "I wish everyone reacted this well to Repede."
Danny looked around the room. Sure enough they were being stared at by the majority of the other students. "Don't worry, I'm sure they're only staring because we are all the new students." Danny said trying to make the girl feel better. "You mind if we sit with you?" Danny asked. Estelle smiled and nodded and Danny went and sat in that first row. Sam sat between Danny and Estelle and Kim on Danny's other side with Jackie next to her.
One thing was made clear, Danny, Sam and Kim were the only ones who weren't uneasy about the monster dog. Well... that wasn't quite true. "Yahoo!" The familiar shout filled the room. Sam gave a soft groan as she saw the short meister enter the room. "I knew you guys would make it!" Black Star said ignoring the monster dog and going straight for Danny and Sam and putting them both into head locks. "I'm so proud." He said in a teary over dramatic voice.
"Black Star, you stink, get off of me." Sam said angrily trying to shove him off. "Haven't you ever heard of deodorant?"
"That's just the smell of a hard workout." Black Star said grinning. "You should be basking in its greatness." Sam was gagging.
"I'm glad you all got in." Tsubaki said as she entered the room and gave an apologetic glance towards Sam like she always did when Black Star entered a room.
Danny and Sam were hardly reacting to Black Star's antics, they were used to them. But Estelle looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "Estelle, is something wrong?" Sam asked.
Black Star looked over to her and the girl began the shiver violently and her breathing became rapid. "Huh, what's the matter? Is the new girl sick or something?" Black Star asked leaning over staring at her. But Estelle's eyes didn't look back into his, she was looking at the tattoo on Black Star's arm. Repede growled at Black Star confusing the ninja boy.
"The... the star clan..." Estelle murmured so softly that only Danny could hear her.
"Huh?" Black Star said but then looked at the growling monster dog. "Wow, that's so cool!" He said and jumped over the bottom row of tables to kneel down in front of Repede. "A real monster dog." Black Star reached out his hand offering it to the growling dog. Repede presided to bite his hand. Black Star just grinned like an idiot for a second before pulling his hand back and started to give a shout of pain. "What was that for!" He shouted angrily.
Estelle throw herself behind the growling Repede and buried her face in his fur. They could hear the soft sounds of crying.
Clang! Black Star grabbed his head as the pain of being hit by Sam's metal hand caused his to wince. "Look what you've done you idiot!" Sam yelled at the hyperactive ninja.
"But I didn't do anything!" Black Star complained, but Estelle was still shivering.
"What's going on here!?" Sid shouted as he entered the room. Looking over at the seen he gave a sigh as a look of understanding crossed his face. "I guess we should have seen this coming. Sam, could you please escort Estelle to the nurse's office. Black Star, I need to talk to you for a second."
Sam did as she was told and Repede followed as she lead the terrified Estelle out of the room. After they were gone Sid took Black Star and Tsubaki to the corner of the room and started to whisper to them, but Danny could still hear. "Teach I swear, I didn't do anything wrong." Black Star said. "I was just welcoming them to the class when the girl had some kind of panic attack."
"I know Black Star... I know." Sid whispered his voice was full of understand. "I should have seen this coming, but I guess that's just how it is. You see Black Star, that girl is Estellise Sidos Heurassein, the last surviving member of the Heurassein family."
For the first time in Danny's memory the smile fell off of Black Star's face. The look that replaced it was... sad, almost apologetic. "I know you didn't mean any harm, but this is something thats just out of our control. I hate to ask this but... please try to keep your distance from her for now." Sid said putting a reassuring hand on Black Star's shoulder.
"I understand professor." Black Star said but by the time he rejoined the rest of the room he was all smiles again, even if his eyes constantly went to the seat where Estelle had been sitting.
"Alright class, settle down! Today we are going to be reviewing the basic idea behind Soul Resonance! Now can anyone tell me what Soul Resonance is?... Maka!" Sid started the lesson. Maka gave a word for word definition from the book about the harmonizing of two souls in which one soul passed their waves to another who amplified it and sent it back. The process would be repeated until they produced a wave more powerful than both combined.
Danny was only half listening. He was more worried about Black Star and Estelle. When Sam came back he passed her a note about what he had overheard. They knew that Black Star would blow it off if they asked him saying that it was nothing a 'big man like him' couldn't deal with. Tsubaki would never say anything about Black Star behind his back and Estelle was out of the question as well. So at the end of the class they cornered Sid before he left the room.
"Professor Sid, can we ask you something?" Danny asked cutting off the teacher's exit.
"What do you want to know?" Sid asked but he could already guess what they wanted.
"Why did Estelle freak out about Black Star?" Danny asked.
"Oh, that. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, know if you will excuse me..." Sid started and was about to try to move past the kids but Sam cut him off.
"We already have the words 'Star Clan', and the fact that Estelle is the last of her blood line to go on." Sam said shocking the teacher. "You can either tell us your version of the story or we can just do research and you might not like the conclusions we reach by ourselves."
"How do you..." Sid started to asked.
"I could hear you talking to Black Star about it. He looked real upset when you said that Estelle was from the Heurassein family." Danny said simply.
"You could hear us when we were whispering on the other side of a noisy room?" Sid asked incredulous. "I really need to stop underestimating my students." Sam began to tap her foot waiting for him to give. "Fine, I'll tell you. Just promise me one thing. Don't hold any of this against Black Star, he's a good kid." Danny and Sam nodded.
Sid looked around closed and locked the door to the room. "The story goes back to thirteen years ago. There was a group of eight elite assassin that went under the banner of 'The Star Clan'." Sid said returning to the black board as if it was just an ordinary lesson. Danny and Sam returned to they seats. "They were a viscous bunch that would do anything for money and power. Their leader was White Star, Black Star's father by blood." The students were quiet, trying to absorb what was being said.
"In the beginning they only killed for jobs, but as their desire for power grew... they began to eat human souls." Sid said sadly as Danny and Sam both winced. "They slaughtered entire villages and killed thousands in order to collect their souls. Naturally the DWMA sent agents to stop them, but they were skilled and deadly assassins, we lost a lot of good man and woman to them."
"As for how Ms Heurassein fits into all this, the Star Clan eventually came to the conclusion that Weapons' Souls would give them more power than ordinary human souls. They tracked down the Heurassein family, one of the strongest bloodlines numbering in the hundreds, all living together in a small community . And in a tragedy that is referred to as the 'Starless Night', they slaughtered the entire town... and devoured their souls." Sid had to stop and take a breather. "Estelle was found in the forest outside the town ruins two years ago. She was rescued that night by a pack of monster dogs, and as a three year old girl she was raised by Rita, Repede's mother and the leader of the pack."
"How can a group of eight people do so much damage?" Danny asked no one in particular.
"What happened to the Star Clan?" Sam asked.
"They made a mistake. They became too powerful to be able to hide from us anymore." Sid said gridding his teeth. "I was part of the team that was sent to wipe them out. It was probably the roughest fight of my life. That's just the kind of fighters these guys were, even without Weapons, they could still match us in a fight. But eventually we won. That's when I found him... Black Star, the ninth member of the Star Clan."
Sid sighed, his face looked pained to the point that Danny almost wanted to say that he could stop, but he did continue. "Like all members of the Star Clan, Black Star is marked by his soul. That tattoo on his arm is no tattoo. Everyone of the Star Clan blood line had a Star shaped birth mark that makes them easy to identify along with their unique soul wavelengths and fighting styles. Most people in the DWMA were still enraged by the tragedy of the Starless Night. So when we brought Black Star back to Death City with us... they tried to have the two month old child executed as a war criminal."
Sam and Danny were struck dumb. "That... that's insane." Danny said horrified.
"I know... but the motion still passed with a super majority vote among the counsel of three star Meisters and Weapons." Sid said looking as if he was going to throw up. "But being the kind of man I am... I couldn't just stand by. I appealed directly to Lord Death and begged him to overturn the verdict, and Lord Death, in all his mercy, agreed with me. So instead of being put to death, Black Star became a ward at the DWMA. Nygus and I did our best to look after him, did a pretty good job too, considering we were only fourteen at the time." Sid gulped in air before adding. "He was raised at this very school... by the very man that killed his real father."
"Because of this... his childhood was terrible. Many of the students that were here were children of the people who had tried to sentence the boy to death. The bullying was beyond what words can describe and Nygus and I couldn't always be there for him." Sid said but then a small smile crossed his face. "Then, one day when he was only five years old, Black Star stood in front of us and declared that he was going to become a big hero, a star like no one had ever seen before. One that shined so bright that everyone would forget about the Star Clan and people would beg to be his friend. He began to train day and night and put his whole heart into everything he ever did."
"And that is Black Star. The boy who will surpass god, so that he can win the hearts of as many people as god does." Sid said and turned his head away to whip some tears from his eyes without his students noticing.
"That's... wow." Danny said thinking about the younger meister. All this time Danny had assumed that Black Star was older than him. But he was only thirteen. Everything he did was so that people would notice him, and see that he wasn't his father, he was Black Star, and he desired to live.
"So we know what the problem is now... but what do we do to fix it." Sam said sadly looking to the ground.
"Nothing, Estelle will either show that she can overcome her fear and accept Black Star's presence or she will be removed from the 'EAT' class." Sid said a little coldly.
"That... that's not fair. Couldn't she just be transfered into another 'EAT' class so she doesn't have to be around Black Star if she is so scared of him?" Sam asked incredulously.
"'EAT' class students need more than just raw power, they need strength of character. They had to be driven, brave, and kind and possess a strong sense of right and wrong. Anyone who lacks any of these qualities has no place here." Sid said sternly.
"She can't help being afraid of Black Star. Would you expect someone who is afraid of heights to be able to stand at the edge of a building?" Sam argued.
"Yes... bravery is not the absents of fear, but the ability to deal with it to reach your goals. Only the reckless can ever exist without fear." Sid said walking to the door and unlocking it. "Remember that... it will be on your next test." As he walked out the door he paused. "You should have more faith in her. Lord Death put her in this class for a reason." He said before he left.
Estelle was just a short distance from the school in a little clearing in Death Park that she had always gone to in order to get way from all the other students. "I didn't think that one would be here Repede." She said softly burying her face in her brother's fur. "I thought that they were all gone. That the DWMA got rid of them." Her voice was reaching a sob. "What should I do?"
"Do not despair, Estelle." Repede's smooth voice echoed inside her connection with the monster dog. "That demon cub cannot touch you here, Death would not permit it. And I will always be here to protect you, little sister. I won't let anything hurt you."
"Thank you... big brother." Estelle whispered into him as she started to calm down. She let herself have a moments peace. But she was not permitted that much. Repede's head shot up and he began to growl. "What's wrong, Repede?"
"We're surrounded." The monster hound told her as he raised the hair on the back of his neck.
"Looks like the monster has noticed us." A snide voice said from behind the tree line. The voice was followed by several laughing voices. Out of the trees came several dozen academy students, thirty in all if you counted the weapons. And at the lead of the group was the class president from Estelle's 'NOT' class, Barbos. The large brut of a man was dressed in his red trench coat with his partner, the bronze club Ragou, at his side. "I hear you managed to snake your way into the 'EAT' classes. Congratulations." Barbos said his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"What do you want, Barbos?" Estelle spat though she could already guess. They were going to attack her, but she wasn't afraid of these people.
"Do I really need to spell it out for you?" Barbos asked lifting up Ragou and pointing it at Estelle and Repede. "I don't know what the teachers were thinking, but monsters and monster lovers don't belong at are school, let along in our advanced classes. And being the good Samaritans that we are, we're going to get rid of you. After all, it is the duty of DWMA students to kill monsters and people who reject the path of man."
"Estelle, weapon form." Repede voice entered Estelle's mind. Estelle nodded and her body shined a bright white color. The light collapsed into an orb the disappear reveling a pearly white one sided short sword around three feet long with a slight curve. The blade was adorn with several golden runes that glowed in the shade of the trees.
Repede caught the handle in his teeth and growled, challenging any who dared to approach. As their soul waves united, weapon with meister, Repede's sky blue soul expanded surrounding his chest and kicking up the scattered leafs about him.
Repede's eyes darted about looking for a gap to escape but there were just to many attackers. The first of them to charge was a balky kid with a large spear. Repede batted the weapon to the side and slid between the man's legs knocking him to the ground. Next was a tall girl with a hammer. Repede barely managed to dodge the first swing and staggered from the group.
He knew he couldn't attack them back. Any injury that they sustained would be used as proof that the monster dog desired to be put to death. Repede had not risked so must to let it end that way. Using the opening made by the hammer girl's wide swing, Repede made a mad dash to get out of the circle. He managed to get to the edge of the wooded area when a sharp pain in his hind leg caused him to trip. "Repede!" Estelle shouted as he slid across the ground. An arrow fired from one of the students had grazed his leg.
"You thought you could get away?" Barbos said standing over the monster dog. "Die like the dog you are!" He raised his club above his head. He moved to drive it down on the defenseless monster, but something was pulling him back.
"What do you think your doing?" A cold voice said from behind Barbos. He turned his head to see Black Star standing there, Tsubaki was in her chain scythe mode and was wrapped around Barbos's weapon. "If your going to have a fight, wouldn't you prefer a big opponent, like me."
"Fights between students are forbidden off campus, and must be done with a teacher present." Tsubaki said angrily.
"Fight? This isn't a fight." Barbos said mockingly as some more of the students surrounded the new comer. What did he have to worry about, it was still fifteen on two. "We are just doing our job as DWMA students. We're hunting a monster."
"You're job?" Black Star repeated through gritted teeth. "Sound to me like your talking about murder. That's not very big of you." Some of the surrounding student throw unsure glances around.
"What we do is justice, it is the will of Lord Death." Barbos said straightening up.
"That's wrong!" Tsubaki shouted.
"Tsubaki..." Black Star said unnaturally quiet. "Lets go."
Tsubaki was stunned but then she understood. "Right."
Black Star pulled Tsubaki back off of the club but then through the other sickle straight past Barbos's ear causing the thug to stumble back. The sickle hit a tree bouncing off, but the chain followed the path of the sickle. It hit four more trees before Black Star caught it again. The trail of the chains created a star around the entire clearing. "Soul Resonance!" Black Star and Tsubaki shouted together. The chains came to life and all pulled in shrinking the star and pulling everyone in the clearing in with it, except for Repede who had been to close to the ground. "TRAP STAR!"
"Wha... what the heck?" Barbos shouted. He along with all of the students that had tried together by Tsubaki's chains. But Black Star sent a Soul Wave through Tsubaki's chain, shocking the students until they were all unconscious.
"You know what, ever with all of you it wasn't even a fight." Black Star said annoyed. "What a drag." Black Star looked over at Repede, Estelle had transformed back into her human form and had her arms around the dog. She looked at Black Star, her eyes were still filled with terror, and not from being attacked. She was afraid of the boy. Repede still growled defensively. Black Star sighed. "Tsubaki, Can you take all these losers back to the academy yourself?" Black Star asked.
Tsubaki was about the protest, to say that it was a bad idea for him to be alone with Estelle, but Black Star just gave her the same smile he always did. "Sure thing Black Star... just be careful ok." Tsubaki said transforming back into her human form except for the long chain that came from her ponytail that was wrapped around the other students as she pulled them away. 'Don't do anything stupid.' She prayed silently as she walked away.
After Tsubaki was out of sight, Black Star walked over the a tree and broke off a thick branch that was bare of twigs and resembled a club. Estelle shut her eyes tight as he approached her. But she was shocked when he laid the club at her feet and then sat down in front of her with his legs crossed.
"Go ahead. You hate me right? Get it all out of your system." Black Star said and then waited.
'This can't be real.' Estelle thought looking at the club. But then memories came back. The small things she could remember of her real family; her mother and father, her cousin. And then... the face of the man that murdered them. The same face as the boy who sat in front of her now.
She reached out... and her fingers wrapped round the club.
"Professor Sid." Tsubaki said as she entered the front office dragging along the unconscious students.
"What is this? What happened?" Sid asked looking at the students.
"These students attacked Estelle and Repede over at Death Park. One of them confessed to intending to kill them." Tsubaki said fingering the boy in question. "Black Star and I interfered though."
Sid sighed. "Great, even more trouble." But then he notice something. "Where is Black Star?"
"He... stayed behind with Estelle." Tsubaki admitted.
Sid groaned. "Go get Nygus, she'll know what to do. I'll deal with these trouble makers." Sid said as the girl released her chains.
Estelle was starting to pant. She had been beating on Black Star with the wood club for over ten minutes. But Black Star never moved. He just sat down with his legs crossed and took it. "Are you done?" He asked looking up. Blood was dripping down from a large cut on his head he was twitching slightly from the pain but he was not going to fight back.
"You think that this will make thing alright?" Estelle asked through her tears. "I lost my family because of your clan. I lost everything. Do you know what that is like!?"
"Not really, I never knew my parents." Black Star said his voice a little unsteady as he was fighting not to black out. Estelle froze. "The DWMA killed my mom and dad when I was only a few months old. But I guess they deserved it." Black Star spat a little blood to the side and whipped a bit more from his eyes before looking back up at Estelle. "But they're gone now, so everyone always blames me for the things that they did."
Estelle felt slightly ashamed but Black Star wasn't done. "I'm not going to let them and what they were hold me back. I am going to become a hero. A hero so great that everyone will stop talking about my parents, because they will be to busy talking about how great I am. I won't ever stop, not until I surpass god. So go ahead and hit me. A big guy like me doesn't care about things like that."
Estelle's gritted her teeth and close her eyes raising the club again. But she felt a tug on her sleeve. It was Repede. "Estelle... this isn't right. This cub is not the monster that hurt you." Repede said sadly to his little sister.
Estelle looked back down at Black Star. His eyes were still serious and she could still see the monster that killed her family in his face. But she finally notice... he was young. He was younger than her, far too young to have been a part of what had happened to her family. She remembered back when Repede had gotten the scar across his eye. He had sat willingly in front of a man who had came to get Estelle and was beaten badly. He was trying to show that he was not a threat even though he was a monster.
The club slipped between Estelle's fingers and landed on the ground behind her. She felt to her knees and then she cried. She cried until Nygus came with a first aid kit and patch up Black Star. Nygus yelled at the young ninja. "You always do this Black Star! I swear, I don't know were we went wrong with you."
"Sorry, Mari." Black Star said but he did't look sorry, he had a long grin across his bandaged face. But he gave a shout of pain as Nygus tightened a bandage a little more than she needed to.
"You're not sorry, and that's Professor Nygus to you." She said angrily before looking at Estelle. "Sorry for any trouble he caused you." She said before swinging the small ninja over her shoulder and walked away ignoring his weak protests.
"Estelle, are you ok?" Sam asked a little worried about the other girl. They were starting their second day of class.
"I'm alright." Estelle said a little weakly. The truth was she was being weighed down by guilt and apprehension. Just the day before she had beaten Black Star with a club for a crime he never committed and when he wouldn't defend himself. How was she supposed to look at him now.
"Yahoo!" Black Star shouted as he entered the room. Sam groaned and looked over to the entrance but then stopped.
"Black Star, what happened to you?" Sam asked a little worried. The blue haired ball of energy had his head bandaged over the right eye and some bandages were on his arms as well.
Estelle felt herself chocking. 'Is he going to tell everyone what I did?' She worried. Such a thing would reinforce what everyone thought about her and Repede. Why didn't she think about that before she had done it?
"What this... I just... tried to mountain climb while upside down." Black Star said trying to think of an excuse. "You should try it Phantom, it was a lot of fun."
"Black Star... why... that makes no sense." Danny said gulping a little. He was a little worried that Black Star would make him do it as part of his training.
"Sense? Why should I make sense? I'm Black Star, I'm going to be bigger than god! Does god make sense?" Black Star shouted clearly proud of himself.
"Black Star, you are a unique kind of special." Kim said rolling her eyes. But the whole group stopped and stared as Estelle and Repede began to laugh. Even though they didn't know what happened, they were all happy to see it. Estelle had gotten over her fear with Black Star.