-Lacey Malta Meets the Twins-
Lacey stood fidgeting outside Professor Jekyll's office door. She knew on the other side sat her last chance of getting into EAT classes this semester. The pressure was mounting on the two weapons Jekyll had personally chosen for her. Lacey wanted to prove that she had the potential to be something great, someone successful in what she choose to do. Huffing up her chest, she straightened her shoulders, stepping through the door to see the two weapons sitting in front of Jekyll’s desk.
They turned simultaneously and regarded her with disappointment. One wore glasses and cropped his hair short and stylish. While the other on the left had an incredible amount of long brown hair she could hardly see his eyes through all the hair. They stood up at the same time and folded their arms in unison.
The difference was stark in their outfits and personalities before they even opened their mouths. The long-haired boy was wearing a worn out red flannel shirt with black buttons and a pair of stone washed jeans. The shirt he wore beneath it was a band shirt; it had a prism with a rainbow shining through. Lacey wasn’t entirely sure what it meant. The boy wearing glasses was wearing dark grey dress pants and a vest matching the colour of his pants, with a dark blue tie. His dress shirt was black with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
Professor Jekyll stood as well and introduced them, “Lacey, please meet Henry.” Jekyll pointed to the boy with long hair, “and Peter Halloway.” He motioned to the boy wearing glasses, “Twin brothers and twin daggers. Henry, Peter this is Lacey Malta, meister.”
“
It’s a pleasure to make your-” She stuck out her right hand and was interrupted.
“
Malta? You named yourself after a cartoon character? What a typical freshmen.” They shrugged again, in unison.
“
It was the first thing I could think of.” She replied a tad bit defensively.
“
Poor choice, obviously.” Peter tsked and turned to address Jekyll, “
A freshmen? That’s all ya got?”
“Lacey, the brothers are a few years older.. They’ve collected a few souls on their own but when they switched partners they had to give up what they collected to start fresh.” The professor sat again, folding his large hands over the desktop. “They are reasonably good students and obviously have some decent experience.”
She nodded and hesitated as she closed the office door behind her.
“I feel they would be a good match to help you catch up in class and guide you in combat.” Jekyll finished smiling pleasantly.
Henry spoke up this time, “
That’s assuming a bit. Who knows if we’ll even get along with the pipsqueak? She’s so small.”
She crossed her arms and gave them both a hard look, “
That’s among my strengths. I am small and agile.”
Peter scoffed, “
Compared to what? A falling brick?”
Jekyll supplied before she could reply, “Lacey has excelled at free running and she is among the fastest freshmen. Someone I believed would compliment dual wielding daggers such as yourselves.”
“
Speed won’t account for much if she can’t think for herself.” Henry commented dryly.
She fumed, “
I’m smart enough to tell that this meet and greet has already taken a nosedive.”
“
Well then eager beaver, since you’re so sure that this won’t work out. We’ll take the only test we’ll need to do.” Peter suggested and Jekyll sighed in response.
“
What test?” She asked wringing out her hands.
“
The touch test.” The twins said in unison, holding out their hands palms up.
Peter explained, “
It’s how we tell whether your soul has any potential. We skip a lot of the stages and processes.”
She rolled her eyes, “
You can’t honestly expect me to agree to this silly-”
“
The only thing you have to offer to the table is a lot of hard work, freshman. We need to know it’ll be worth it. This is how we figure it out, our hands and a single touch will create a circuit. If it’s smooth and uninterrupted that means you have some potential.” Peter cut her off.
“
Circuit?” She turned to Jeykll waiting for an explanation.
He sighed again, “These two aren’t only daggers they are kind of like soul magnets. They claim to sense positive and negative charges of the soul.” He shrugged. “I’ve never seen them in action or act like magnets. Just play along.”
“
This is stupid, professor!” She hissed, “
How are these two supposed to be my last chance to get into EAT if they don’t even like me?” She pressed a hand to her chest.
“
Wow, judgmental.” The twins said in unison, irritation growing in the girl’s expression. Their synchronization was starting to get on her nerves.
“
Okay, fine. You know what, first impressions aren’t everything. Despite how abrasive you guys are being right now, I know you need my help as much as I need yours.” She replied a tad smug, the twins exchanged a look and she knew they weren’t convinced she was even worth the time. For a last chance, Jekyll wasn’t going to make this easy.
“
So, what do I do?” She asked.
“
Just with one finger you touch both our hands at the same time.” Henry replied unfolding his hand.
“
Piece of cake.” She said reaching out. The twins rolled their eyes in response and were clearly not expecting what happened next.
Gently, she poked both of their palms and was about to comment sarcastically about how dry their hands were but before she could even begin to form the words she was shot off her feet, thrown out the door to the opposite wall.
Lacey landed haphazardly and saw stars. She put both my hands on the ground, trying to see straight. It happened all too fast. She mumbled the comment she had ready and blinked out of sync.
She saw several different shoes, heard a ton of voices, all of which sounded concerned. She was lifted by her arms suddenly then found herself back on her wobbly feet. Her head spun, barely able to discern who was speaking.
“
That’s never happened before!” She heard someone whisper excitedly.
Another person replied begrudgingly, “
It had to be the freshman.”
“
Who cares? We’ve never gotten a reaction like that before!” The first voice argued.
“Lacey!” Professor Jekyll took hold of her face, forcing her to focus.
She smiled deliriously, “
Did I pass?”
“We’re heading into physical testing stage tomorrow. These two will take you to see the nurse.” He replied.
“
Cool. Super cool.” She mumbled as the twins continued to chatter excitedly, dragging her to the nurse’s office.
