Chapter 1

When Percy convinced Hermes to help him take Annabeth on a romantic vacation, Percy was thinking something along the lines of dinner in Paris, or a boat ride in Venice. Percy did not expect to be dropped off in a random city in Nevada—a city he had never heard of, mind you—talking to Annabeth's cousin, Maka Albarn, about her school, Death Weapon Meister Academy. What kind of name is that for a school, anyway? It implies death. Death was certainly not something Percy was fond of. And while on the subject, who names a city—a city! Where people live!—Death City? Who wants to live in a city called Death?

"So Percy, do you go to this summer camp that Annabeth tells me about, as well?"

Percy sat up when he heard his name. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Yes, Maka. Percy does go to camp with me. But enough about us. Tell me about that new roommate you've been talking about!"

Maka grinned sheepishly. "Oh, okay. Sure." The girl turned, her pigtails bouncing, and looked to see if her roommate was already in the room. When she noticed no one was there, she sighed. "SOUL!" she called.

"Soul? What kind of a name is that?" Percy asked, chuckling.

"What, Maka?" The voice was fairly masculine… Why would a young girl be rooming with a dude?

"Get in here!" she yelled back. Then Maka turned to us. "Just to let you know, Soul can be… stubborn. Don't worry if he doesn't respond to you readily." A boy with white hair walked in to the room. This, Percy assumed, was Soul.

"Maka, why are these people in our house?" Soul asked as he took a gulp from the milk carton in his hand.

"Soul, this is my cousin, Annabeth," she pointed at Annabeth, "And this is her boyfriend, Percy." She pointed at me. Soul looked at me and grinned. Percy caught a flash of sharp teeth, like a shark.

"So you go to that Death school, too, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah." He replied steadily, obviously keeping a guard up.

"Soul and I are partners at school. In the DWMA, everyone has a partner, some people have two, and they will do everything together. Beyond that, partnerships will be combined to form teams. For example, Soul and I are teamed with two other partnerships: Black*Star and Tsubaki, and Death the Kid, Liz, and Patti."

"How intriguing!" Annabeth shouted in glee. "And why is this?"

Soul looked at Maka and raised his eyebrows in a gesture that looked like it meant, They don't know?

Maka shook her head back at him. No, Annabeth and Percy didn't know about weapons and meisters. Of course, Annabeth seemed to be keeping secrets from Maka, so it wasn't like this wasn't a thing between them.

"So," Annabeth said, "while we're here, do you think you could get us a tour of the school?" Percy groaned.

"Only Annabeth would want to tour a school while we are on vacation." Soul grinned.

"I guess they must really be related, cause that is a total Maka thing to do." Percy looked up at Soul and grinned. Soul seemed amused.

"Um… I guess I can talk to the Headmaster," Maka said slowly. "But you'll probably need to meet him first. I'll go call him." Maka stood abruptly and stepped into the bathroom.