Witch Way Is It? (Vixy and I)

It was after school. The bell had rung and now Asher and Alabaster were on their way to see how well they worked together. The Training Grounds to be more precise. It was a bit hot today, so Asher had decided to take his jacket and scarf off to prevent overheating. Asher still wondered if Alabaster really hadn't sensed anything wrong in his soul. He didn't seem thrown off or anything.... So there was probably nothing to worry about.

"Which way do we go?" Asher asked Alabaster. It was still his first day here and he'd only been in the city for a few days so he still didn't really know his way around the place yet.

Alabaster walked next to Asher as the two exited the school when the last bell rung. The short meister was quite excited but kept it to himself as they walked. Once Asher asked witch way to go, the meister thought for a bit and looked aroundfor a sign of some sort "Perhaps we should ask a fellow student-", but before he could finish, the blue haired boy overheard some students talking about heading to the training grounds, eheading nI a direction, "We should probably follow them?" He suggested.

Asher overheard the same students as well and nodded at Alabaster when he suggested they follow the two students. But before they started walking Asher stopped Alabaster and suggested something of his own. "Hey, lets not make it too obvious we're following them," Asher said, wanting to avoid conflict with people, "I don't want them to think we're threatening them or anything like that." Asher said. Waiting for them to move up a bit further ahead and out of hearing range, Asher gestured for Alabaster to follow.

While they were walking, Asher began to start thinking. He wondered how and why Alabaster wanted to study witches. Asher also wondered who his father was and why he studied witches himself. "Hey Alabaster," Asher said in his usual monotone voice, "Can I ask you a question?" Asher asked Alabaster, keeping his eyes on the people ahead.

Alabaster nodded "Indeed, we don't want to bring branded stalkers on our first day, eh?" He asked with a chuckle. The younger boy followed the two students casually as well, making it seem as if he was just taking a walk with a friend. When the weapon asked if he could ask a question, Alabaster nodded "Of course, in fact there's a question or two I'd like to ask you as well" the blue haired meister responded.

Asher realized that he must want to ask him about his soul. He'd have to think out his words carefully beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings with the young boy.

"Alright...." Asher took a deep breath, ready to lay down a barrage of questions on Alabaster. Then without a moment to spare, he let out all the questions that'd been welling up inside of him from the moment he met Alabaster.

"Who is your father? Why does he like to study witches?" Asher asked first off. He wanted to see if it was a possibility of him being able to meet this man sometime. "Why are you studying witches? And what type of experiments do you like to carry out on them?" Asher asked secondly, not giving the boy time to reply to the first set of questions. "And lastly, what is the final goal? What do you aim to achieve when all of this is over?" Asher asked, most curious about this one. Why would anyone carry out such a dangerous act? What was the point of doing something like this in the first place?

The blue haired boy's eye went wide with surprise when Asher asked his multitude of questions, caught off guard by them. After the questions were asked, Alabaster's usually sparkling eye dulled with sadness, So many questions about father...., he thought, the boy let out a long sigh "My father? He's Jeremiah Eisnheim...He...He was a great man, very thoughtful, he believed through studying witches the academy could get valuable information about their weaknesses, and where their hide out is...But...." Alabaster stopped walking, looking down and rubbing the ring on his left hand "He, my mother, and alot of other innocent people were slaughtered by a group of witches before he could finish his research.."

Alabaster clenched his hands into fists "The reason I study witches...Is to continue my father's book, the academy could use the information, and I don't want all of his years of hard work to be in vain..." He then looked at the weapon with cold determination in his sea blue eye "My goal is to help the academy rat out the witches, to help rid of the ones who harm, and contain the ones that might, and no, I'm not doing it merely because my parents would've wanted it, but because it's my duty to make sure no one will EVER go through what I've been through, what hundreds of innocent people have been through....." Just thinking about the horrible experiments made the socket covered by his eyepatch throb with pain, the boy put his hand on his patched eye, closing the other one in an attempt to calm himself. "Any other questions you want to ask before I ask mine?" The meister asked, opening his eye to look Asher in the eyes.

Asher went quiet for a moment. He felt a bit of sorrow having to hear what the boy had had to go through. But he also felt a bit of anger, a bit of anger that someone would put a child through any pain like that. Asher contemplated asking Alabaster whether or not he knew who the witch that caused him all his troubles were, but decided against it. Maybe he'd convince him into hunting her down some other day.

Asher remained quiet for a minute. Taking another minute to prepare himself for whatever Alabaster had to ask him. He thought he already had a good idea of what Alabaster was going to ask, so he went ahead and asked. "No, I think that's all. Sorry for making you retell that whole story...." Asher apologized, "Now.... What do you want to know?" He asked with a straight face.

Alabaster sighed a bit "It's alright, besides it wasn't the whole story....Anyhow, as for my question..." The blue haired meister suddenly looked at Asher with a serious expression "Earlier, when we were resonating, I sensed something odd about your soul, a slight corruption, what is that about?" He asked.

Asher looked at Alabaster with a tint of darkness in his eyes. It was just as he suspected. Sighing, he looked Alabaster in they eyes and asked, "Do you want the gist of what was wrong with my soul, or the whole lengthy explanation?" Asher said feeling a lump develop in his throat. He then looked forward, at the people in front of them. Despite preparing for what'd he'd have to explain, he wasn't sure he really was ready. Vulnerability was what he feared the most right now.

Alabaster kept the gaze without flinching "I believe that a full explanation is needed, Asher.." The meister said with a nod, though he didn't fail to see the trace of discomfort in the weapon's eyes. I wonder if Asher had a rough past as well, May be that's the reason for the disturbance in his soul, the boy thought.

Asher gulped the lump down, attempting to regain his composure. “Alright….“ Asher began to speak, but stopped. His voice came out gruff, showing that he was indeed having a hard time trying to get his words out. Asher looked at Alabaster from the corner of his eye, examining the boy. Hopefully he’d be understanding of what Asher had been through, hopefully.

“Alright then….” Asher began again, with his throat a bit clearer, “First off, let me admit that my mother was a witch.” Asher reached into his pocket and dug around a bit. Once he found the photo he’d told Alabaster to find earlier, he asked him to hold it again. “Please hold this while I tell my story….” Asher said, handing the photo over to Alabaster. “As a child…. My mother neglected me. I think that being a witch was affecting her sanity,” Asher looked down at his cross necklace while he spoke, “As a child, I never knew that witches, weapons…. Any of this existed. I just assumed my mother was an unfortunate victim to a mental disability.” Asher said, his vision going blank, as though he was reliving the moments he was speaking of. “She and I were always moving around Europe. Belgium, France, Germany, we’d always move between those three nations. We were originally from Belgium though. I never really understood why, but I’ve just discovered it was because she was trying to flee from DWMA pursuers.” Asher said, vivid images of those three places coming back to him. It was nice going to those three countries. He’d especially liked Germany. Asher took a moment before he spoke again, drawing in another deep breath and exhaling. This is a habit he developed when he was about to undergo a difficult process.

“Ok….” Asher said to himself while staring down at the cross necklace Norah had given him. “You’ll be fine.” He whispered under his breath so Alabaster wouldn’t hear him. “We moved back to Belgium last year, this is when and where everything you want to know about happened.” Asher said, looking up from his necklace and to the people ahead of them. It appeared that they were at the Training Grounds now. “I think we’re here.” Asher looked at Alabaster. “But anyways,” Asher said, getting back on topic, “So we moved back to Anderlecht, where we originated from. This is where I made my first and only friend….” Asher paused, taking his necklace off and staring at it. “Since my mother had….” Asher was beginning to feel a pain in his chest, “Other things to worry about….” He found it increasingly difficult to get the words out now.  It was taking a lot out of him mentally to speak about this. “She never really taught me practical life skills.” Asher willed himself through the pain, “But back here in my hometown, I made my first friend, Norah.”

Asher looked at the photo he’d told Alabaster to hold, wishing she could still be here with him. “That’s her.” He said, pointing to the grinning girl in the photo next to himself. Sighing, he continued with his story, “She was the greatest thing that happened to me. She comforted me when my mom would hit me, her family took me in as their own, we would play nearly every day. She would take me to the church, it’d given me something to believe in…. That maybe my mom would get better someday….” Asher’s voice trailed off. He ran a hand through his hair, realizing that he was beginning to get off track. “One day, I came back home late. I saw my mother going somewhere…. And this is strange because she never left home for ANY reason. So I decided to follow her. It surprised me…. She knew about Norah. Apparently she’d been stalking us for a while. It surprised me. Without going into too much detail, I followed her to Norah’s house. She had her at knife point…. She threatened to kill her because I was weak…. That I hadn’t unlocked my weapons powers yet.” Asher began to tear up a little, but sat down on the ground and kept his head down so Alabaster wouldn’t see. What he feared was happening right now. “I was so angry at my mom, that she would do something so horrible…. I came at her and….” Asher paused for a brief moment to wipe his face with his sleeve, then continued, “I accidentally killed her....” Asher’s voice cracked as he spoke, “She forced me to eat her soul…. Told me it wouldn’t be the first I’d be eating….” And with that, Asher got up, covering his face with his scarf. He stopped speaking altogether.

Alabaster stood there, with a mixture of shock and anger on his face, he couldn't believe someone's MOTHER would force there own child to be a dark weapon. The indecency, the brutality! How barbaric, how cruel, what type of sick minded monster..., Alabaster continued to think up a few choice words about Asher's mother he would most likely think twice about saying aloud. Alabaster reached up to put a hand on the weapon's shoulder "Be strong for Norah, Asher..." Is what the meister said instead "I won't judge you because of the ignorant choices your mother made, you're free to be your own person, I'm not going to put you I'm the same group as your mother, you chose to fight for justice, and that's all that matters now". Alabaster would've also pointed out that Asher had only ate one soul, but since Norah was so close to the weapon, it probably felt like the equivalent of eating a hundred souls...

Asher removed the scarf from his face and looked down at Alabaster. For the first time since he'd moved here to Death City, he'd given somebody a genuine smile. A real one, not just one you use to try to convince someone you're alright when you're really not. "Thank you, Alabaster. I appreciate that." Asher thanked the boy, rubbing his bloodshot red eyes, "And you're right, I won't gain anything by sitting around mulling and grieving over her death." Asher said, a new found confidence in his voice. "So lets get to work then." Asher grinned at the young meister, ready for anything that he threw at him.

Alabaster gave Asher a determined smile "That's the spirit! Now let this day mark the beginning of our journey to be the best we can be!" He said, not holding back his excitement this time. Alabaster looked around, rubbing his chin in thought "If we're going to practice our skills, wouldn't we need a sparing partner?" He asked.

Asher was completely better now, returning to his usual aloof and cool self. "What do you have in mind?" Asher asked Alabaster with a straight face, down for whatever. Even though he looked like he didn't care on the outside, on the inside he was truly moved. Moved by Alabaster. A boy with such determination and will had unlimited potential. These are the type of people Asher should affiliate himself with. "Who would we spar with anyways?" Asher asked Alabaster, unaware of anyone they realistically could spar with at the moment.

Ooc: Would you want to ask actual members to spar with, or rp with NPC characters?

Alabaster scanned the training grounds, looking for an opponent or opponents for him and Asher to train with. Suddenly, his eye rested on a pair of students that were walking into the training grounds, the blue haired meister pointed to the two "Maybe we should ask those two? He suggested, hoping that the two weren't at too high of a level for them.

Asher looked over in the direction Alabaster had pointed. Of course, the two students that they'd followed here. They appeared to be the only one's currently in the Training Grounds, besides Asher himself and Alabaster. "You're sure you wanna go up against those people?" Asher asked the young boy. Asher, doubted they'd be able to take on the two, seeing as they probably had more experience, but what did he know? "If you want to, let's go ask." Asher said, beginning to walk towards the other pair.

Alabaster nodded "Indeed, but it wouldn't hurt if they were slightly above our level, there's nothing wrong with a challenge once and a while" the blue haired meister said as he walked over to the two students. When they got to the two students, Alabaster cleared his throughout before saying "Excuse me, but can we ask you two a favor? You see, me and my partner here need a pair to spar with so we can evaluate our skills"

Asher examined the other two students, remaining silent while he and Alabaster waited for a response from the two. One of them, a male, seemed to be even to Asher's height, maybe an inch shorter. The other, a female, was of average height, and was a foot taller than Alabaster. They didn't seem like much of a threatening pair. The boy seemed to be 17, maybe 18 years old. He had very dark skin, probably of African descent, had his head shaved, and didn't really seem like a mean guy. The girl herself was fairly pretty, she was a caucasian with long curly blonde hair.

The two students looked at the strangers that'd approached them, asking for a spar. The girl had a flame of determination in her eyes, a look the boy was all too familiar with seeing. Knowing she'd say yes, the boy put a hand over her mouth, and replied to the strangers' request with, "Give us a moment." Afterward, he dragged his partner a bit further away from where the other two wouldn't be able to hear them. "Listen, you ALWAYS do this and it never ends well! The reason we're even here is to improve our fighting skills!" He lectured the girl, wanting to put some sense into her. "Yeah, yeah, yeah.... And you're always too scared to fight!" She taunted the boy, wanting to get into his head and push him to fighting the others. "Don't be ridiculous.... I just don't want us to get hurt." He said with a concerned voice, worried about the girl's well being. "We'll be fine! It's just a spar!" The girl reassured him. The boy let out a sigh of frustration, and finally agreed to go through with the sparring idea.

Asher watched the two. They seemed to switch emotions like a high tide and low tide, excited one moment, and calm the other. Asher waited for what they would say, watching them return to him and Alabaster. "Sure," The girl said with a smile on her face, "But we're warning you.... This is gonna be the biggest mistake of your life!" She told them. Asher's nose wrinkled up in disgust at her arrogance and determination to fight him and Alabaster. "What do you say, Alabaster?" He asked his young partner.

Alabaster examined the two as the conversed with each other, keeping his expression calm and observant, The girl seems rash, maybe I could use that to our advantage.., the meister thought to himself. When the two students turned back to speak to him and Asher, when the girl claimed that battling her and her partner would be a big mistake Alabaster kept his expression cool, but allowed a small smirk to spread across his face, This girl is very confident in her abilities, isnt she? This will be an entertaining practice battle, Alabaster thought before nodding "Well, well, I'm looking forward to this spar, are you ready Asher?" The meister asked, looking up at the weapon.

Asher looked back at the pair with a chilling look that almost screamed 'death'. A look of calmness, one that only the most levelheaded of people could maintain, even under situations of imminent hazard. "Sure, Alabaster." Asher answered his partner in his usual calm and cool voice. Only this time, their seemed to be a tinge of frustration in. This frustration was fueled by the girl's display of arrogance and foolhardiness. Despite Asher's doubt in his own abilities, he didn't want this girl to think she could take on the world and be crushed by it's weight. No, he was determined to put her in her place.

The boy felt a little uncomfortable at Asher's tone of voice and attitude toward him and his female partner. They should head into this battle with caution. The girl didn't sense the boy's threatening demeanor however, and was more than content with getting to be in a fight. Her partner was right in saying that the fights they got into usually ended horrendously, but she was more than sure in her's and his abilities to be able to beat these two strangers. After all, they didn't seem like much in her eyes. They were probably just a couple of pushover that had just learned to walk.

Alabaster gave the girl an innocent smile before saying "Once we begin the fight, I'll let you make the first move, ladies first~" he said, knowing that his statement would either anger her, so her first move would be clumsy and rage filled so it would be easier to predict, or boost her confidence in thinking that she had the advantage if she had the first move, whatever the result his statement caused Alabaster would have a surprise move up his sleeve.

The meister looked at Asher, keeping his smile "Alright, I believe it's time to get ready for our spar, don't you think?" He said, implying that Asher should transform into weapon form.

Asher looked at Alabaster from the corner of his eye. The boy seemed serious enough about this fight. Asher didn't like fighting for senseless reasons, but he couldn't help but enjoy his young partner's determination. Asher took one more look at the strangers in front of him, analyzing them. They obviously had conflicting temperaments. The boy was cautious, and the girl served as his foil, being reckless. It was quite ironic that somebody like these two could even stand to partner up. But.... Opposites do attract.

"Alright, Alabaster." Asher took a deep breath. A bright white light engulfed Asher as he turned into his long sword form. Once the bright white light died down, Asher lay at Alabaster's feet in his weapon form, ready for battle. "I'm ready, Alabaster." Asher told his meister, "Let's teach these two a lesson." Asher said with his calm voice.

The girl and boy watched in awe as Asher transformed. The boy felt more and more reluctant to go into battle as the time passed. If they couldn't win a single battle they'd been in lately, what made his partner think they'd win this one? On the other hand, the girl believed this was her destiny. Taking losses was a part of learning, and obviously she was set up to take these losers down. "Transform now!" She shouted at the boy with as much enthusiasm as the human body could muster. The boy sighed and turned into his weapon form. His light wasn't nearly as bright as Asher's, hinting that he wasn't really in the mood to go through with this spar. The boy took the form of a golden dagger that shine brightly in the sunlight. It sure was a beauty. The girl smiled at being offered the first move and took the offer gladly. She picked up her weapon slowly and charged at Alabaster with all her speed. "Element of surprise!" She screamed as she sprinted towards her opposers.

Alabaster nodded as he picked up the weapon "Indeed, Asher" he said calmly, before getting into a defensive stance. He observed that the girl didn't get angry at him for offering the first move, but her confidence surely did increase because of it, he watched patiently as the meister hollered for her weapon partner to transform and then rushed at him, screaming. Alabaster almost wanted to chuckle at the way she screamed 'element of surprise' seeing how her screaming would surely take the 'surprise' out of her attack.

But the blue eyed meister kept his expression calm and focused as she rushed at her, but when she was a few feet away from him a smirk spread across his face and then suddenly the blue haired boy dodge to the side, and with a twist of his feet he swung the flat of the sword at the female meister, so if it did his it wouldn't slash but it would equal being hit with a metal paddle.

Asher loved that Alabaster could keep a cool and collected head against such reckless opponents. To be fair, he didn't really know what Alabaster had in mind, but since he seemed secure and calm in this moment, so did Asher. A smirk grew across Asher's face. Although Alabaster was young, Asher knew he'd picked a good and intelligent meister.

The girl didn't really understand why or how the two could remain so still and calm with someone as dangerous as her coming at them full force. Oh well, it's not like she's the one that should be worried about it. With her dagger in hand raised high above her head, she put her arm in a swinging down motion, about to stab them with her partner. But just as she was about to reach her adversaries, she gasped, attempting to slow down before she ran into the sword face first. But to no avail, the sword came into contact with her face dead in the center, and she went flying back from the impact. "Oof!" She gasped as she landed on her back. She was in shock, leaving her susceptible to another attack. Her partner knew this and yelled at her to get up.

"Nice one," Asher complemented his partner, "Let's get her while they're down." Asher suggested to Alabaster.