Somewhat Talented

Alice walked into music class, holding a violin under her arm. She heard the teacher talking, most of it things that her butler had droned on and on about, when suddenly, the class was asked if anybody had heard of the song Illusionary Joururi. Alice raised her hand. "I have. It's beautiful. I especially like the part where it sounds almost like somebody is hopping over stones." She raised her violin and began playing her favorite part of the song. Pretty soon, she had played the entire thing. Her teacher was obviously surprised.
"What? My butl—ah, friend—plays it to me all the time on the piano. I sometimes join in."
"Really? You must be advanced, then."
"No, ma'am. That's the only song I know besides Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Chance sat in the back of the music room, his guitar sitting on his lap. He had his pick clenched between his teeth, impatiently waiting for the moment when he would be allowed to play. That was the only reason he was at the stupid school, was to play music. Not sit there and listen to the teacher drone on and on about stuff he didn't particularly care about.

This was not Chance's first time taking this particular music course, but it turned out that you actually had to show up to class in order to pass it. Not that Chance knew that. He'd never had the problem of failing out of a class for skipping more often than showing up before. But then again, that probably had something to do with the generous donations he secretly made to whatever school he'd been bounced to at the time. Of course, the donations had been made in his father's name, but a new "Dunway Fine Arts Wing" here or "Dunway Computer Lab" there was enough to keep Chance's grades at an acceptable level.

He was pulled from his musings by a girl with a violin answering a question, the first time since class started that the teacher had actually stopped talking. She began to play a song Chance didn't recognize, and when she finished, she earned a round of applause from most in the class. Chance, on the other hand, kept his hands still, instead rolling his eyes.

So the girl could play Twinkle Twinkle and a song no one but her and the teacher had ever heard of. Chance didn't exactly see the girl as a threat, but she definitely wasn't someone he wanted to keep around. So he did the obvious thing, and decided to befriend her.

Chance was a very firm believer in the age old adage "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." As such, he started to move closer to the girl, hopping from empty seat to empty seat while the teacher's back was turned. Soon, he was seated right behind her. He leaned down close, his chin hovering just above her cheek.

"That was pretty impressive," he whispered, "I'm Chance. And you are?"

Alice was taken aback. "Er—Alice. Alice Kirkland."
Remember, if he screams and runs away, he's most likely a demon, she warned herself. And then there's that art thief...he might be with the art thief, and you have loads of stuff he can steal.
"I learned the song from my butler—I mean friend." Thieves target rich people, she warned again. Keep. Your. Guard. Up.

Chance mulled the last name over in his head for a minute. Kirkland didn't ring a bell, but then again, he never really paid attention to the last names of his parents friends. He might've met a Kirkland or two the few times he attended some of his parents' formal events, but if he did, he certainly did not remember them. She seemed surprised that someone would take an interest in her, and Chance had to bite back a smile. He seemed to have that kind of effect on people.

He heard her mention the word butler, and he cast a sidelong glance at her. Why was she so afraid to admit that she had a manservant? If Chance had one of those growing up, he would've let the world know. Instead, all he was left with was his parents blind and elderly house keeper, Elsa. That hadn't been pleasant. Fortunately, she'd retired around the time Chance turned thirteen, and he'd been able to hire a house staff more to his liking.

He turned back to her, a friendly but almost wolfish grin on his face. "Don't worry, little miss money bags. Your secret is safe with me." He whispered to her.

He didn't let on that he had a considerable amount of cash to his name, instead deciding to let her think what she wanted. The less she knew about him, and the more he knew about her, the better off he was in this situation. It was especially important that he keep his identity as the White Wolf a secret.

Chance thought about the wolf mask hidden under a pile of clothes in his dorm room. He smiled to himself, thinking about how he was hiding in plain sight. A wolf in sheep's clothing, if you would.

"Tell you what. After class, I can teach you even more. I'm sure my musical knowledge extends a bit farther than just Twinkle Twinkle." Chance teased, figuring it wouldn't be hard to get under this girl's skin.

Alice thought for a minute. "Yeah, I'll go..."
With my sword, she added to herself. Watch out, buster. "Little Miss Moneybags" has some tricks up her sleeve. I'm a demon slayer and we are not easily hoodwinked.
But for now, she added gloomily, I'll have to pretend I am clueless.

Chance smiled to himself. This girl was putty in his hands. All the easier to break her. As an only child, Chance never did well with sharing, playing well with others, or people he perceived as competition. But even as his mind worked on a plan to crush this girl's spirit, he began to wonder, what if she could be molded into his own image. He'd considered the idea of a protege more than once, and thought it would be nice to have an accomplice, someone he could pass the blame on if he were to ever get caught again.

That was one of the pitfalls of working alone. When he'd been caught at the Louvre, he didn't have anyone to frame. He'd been working entirely as a lone wolf, and every finger on every policeman in that museum had been pointed at him. So had a couple of guns. That was not an experience he wanted to repeat.

With a second pair of hands, he'd be able to pull of more daring heists. And he'd had someone to watch for security for him. Some mistakes you only make once. But as much as Chance was enjoying thinking about turning this girl to a life of crime, he knew that he would have to get her to trust him first. He could tell that she was wary of him, and he didn't blame her. Chance wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person on the planet.

He wouldn't even call himself the most trustworthy person in the school. But that was neither here nor there. The teacher spent most of the rest of class talking at the students, sending a couple of them to sleep. Chance himself had to fight to keep his eyes open, his head drooping forward so that his chin was resting on his chest.

When the class was dismissed, Chance waited for everyone to clear out of the room before moving to sit next to Alice. "Violin, huh? Can I assume you're classically trained?" Chance asked, resting a wrist on the neck of his guitar. He twirled his pick between the fingers of his right hand, ready to put it to the strings at a moment's notice.

"Um, yeah," Alice said. No drawing swords, your sword is hidden in your dorm. He is a HUMAN, not a DEMON. There is a difference.
"Swords...how fun killing de—" She put her fist in her hand. You can't let any humans know the secret. "I like roleplay websites..." she murmured. "I almost always play a demon slayer." Nice story, she added to herself. "Er, I am musically trained..." Do I have my scabbard on me? Yes, good. DON'T HIT HIM WITH IT!
A smirk crawled across Alice's face as she thought of dead demons everywhere, no longer terrorizing villages. She slapped it off.

Chance grinned when the girl replied that she'd been classically trained. That gave him a place to start. He thought that Saint-Saen's Danse Macabre would be a good piece, since it was so violin heavy, but the smile quickly fell as the girl began talking about swords. Swords. Where had that come from?

Chance wanted someone with loose morals, not someone who was an absolute psychopath. He was beginning to worry about the sanity of this girl, when she explained away the sudden outburst about swords with the fact that she played a demon slayer in roleplay games. Chance had to fight to keep from rolling his eyes. So she was one of those gamer geeks? Those sort of people were beneath Chance. His kind partied, did questionable things, and weren't afraid to push the boundaries. This girl, Alice, Chance was more than willing to bet her idea of a "wild night" included slaying a troll or something.

Definitely not someone Chance wanted hanging around him longer than was absolutely necessary. But that just meant it would be easier to break her spirit that way. Gamers, in Chance's experience, were the social outcasts. No friends. Which made it all the sweeter when someone like Chance swooped in and pretended to be their friend. They thought they were on top of the world because they were with the in-crowd. It was almost too easy, like taking candy from a baby.

Or a priceless piece of art from a poorly guarded museum.

Chance cleared his throat. It seemed obvious that both of them were rather distracted, him with thoughts of whether or not the mess he'd just gotten himself in was worth it, and her with...her swords, apparently.

"Are you alright?" He asked sweetly, trying to give his most sincere look of concern. It wasn't an emotion he had need for often, so he was a little rusty with it. "You seem a bit...distracted. If something's bothering you, I can go, and we can do this some other time."

He stood to leave, knowing the trap had been set. Now it was just a matter of her taking the bait.

Alice tried to hold back a smile. This was one gullible thief. He honestly believed every word she said? She had heard of the phrase "stupid", but this was ridiculous. "I have to get something," she said. "It's SUPER important and SUPER expensive." Well, she hadn't lied about that part, but...
She walked back to her dormitory and took her sword out of its hiding spot. She put it in its scabbard and, just so she wouldn't arouse suspicion, put on her old diamond necklace with a little smirk. "And that is the intellect of a true demon hunter."

Chance had expected the girl to tell him to stay, to share his knowledge with her. Instead, she got up and walked out. Chance actually found himself speechless. He wasn't entirely sure what game he was playing, but it seemed like this girl kept changing the rules, and Chance wasn't sure how much he liked that. Actually, that statement was false. Chance knew exactly how much he liked that. And the answer was very little.

Instead, she talked about having to get something very important and very expensive. Chance had to admit, his interest had been piqued. Not that he would go stealing things while he was at school. He was only there because of an agreement where he would be watched like a hawk. This school was the only thing keeping him out of federal prison, and he wasn't about to go screwing that up for a girl with a superiority complex.

Even so, as she pushed past him, Chance found himself following her. He'd had enough experience sneaking past guards and alarm systems that his footfalls were almost silent behind her. The only thing different between this and his heists was that he had a guitar strapped to his back. While the instrument made moving quietly a bit more cumbersome, Chance made do.

He followed her to the girls dormitories, stopping in the doorway as she entered a room. She pulled a legitimate sword out of a hiding place, sheathing it in a scabbard. Chance felt his heart begin to pound. This girl was beyond a silly gamer geek. She was an outright nutjob. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his insane heartbeat.

Then he heard her say something about a demon hunter. Swords and demons. He was beginning to wonder if she'd been mistaken and thought that Masquerade was an insane asylum.

"I can't tell if I should call the cops because you have a lethal weapon at a school, or if I should call the looney bin because you just called yourself a demon hunter. Either way, intellect isn't the word I'd use. Psychotic, maybe. Insane, probably. But intellect? Not so much." Chance said, trying to keep his cool. He was no stranger to adrenaline rushes, but this was definitely not the type he liked. he was used to being in control of the situation, but right now, he knew he was at this girl's mercy.

And he had a feeling that there wouldn't be anyone around to hear him scream.

"Listen," Alice said. "This is not what you think it is." She heard a familiar roar and groaned. "What now?!"
That was real, all right. Alice sighed reluctantly. "Listen, I would love to explain this in detail, but you need to follow my every direction. Yes, you may think I am crazy, but—" She charged out the window and looked at her stalker. "NOT ANOTHER NORTHERN IRISH DEMON!" This one was red as coal and ten feet tall. She facepalmed. "Dang it, dang it, dang it....stupid demons...Sometimes I wish I never was a demon hunter..." She covered her mouth. "You didn't hear that! That," She motioned towards the demon. "THING is not real! You are dreaming! Oh, for cripes sake..." She charged at the demon with her sword. "YOU HEAR ME? THERE ARE NO DEMONS HERE! I give up," she whispered, avoiding its massive claws.

Chance was starting to come to the conclusion that maybe prison wasn't looking so bad after all. It would definitely be a step up from going to school with a nutjob who had access to deadly weapons and apparently preferred to keep them in her dorm room. And then the roar ripped through the room, shaking Chance down to his very core.

Yeah, this was definitely not the sort of adrenaline rush that Chance liked.

Instead, Alice tried to assure him that demons weren't real, the thing she was currently going after wasn't real, and that all of it was just a dream. Strangely enough, it felt very real to Chance. Real enough to convince him that there was a giant red monster hell bent on killing him. And this girl he had just met, this munchkin of a girl, was going to fight it with a sword.

Yeah, he felt really safe.

"Yeah, I think you're completely insane for thinking you can take on that thing by yourself!" Chance basically screamed at her. This girl was about to be ripped apart, and there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it. The only thing he had on hand that could be considered a 'weapon' was his guitar, and he didn't think that would do much damage against a bright red, ten foot tall hellbeast.

And even if he did have a weapon, he didn't have any sort of combat training. He was a thief, not a fighter. His entire goal was to avoid conflict, not run into it head first.

"Tell you what, I'll make sure they put something really nice on your headstone." Chance muttered, trying to back as far away from the fray as possible.

"I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS!" Alice screamed, hitting the demon repeatedly across the eye with her sword. "AND I HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE!" She looked carefully at it. "Ah—so it has a skinny neck—now how do I—" She scanned the demon again. "There is one way—take the hand up—"
She waited until it had punched the ground then scurried up its arm. She then carefully aimed her sword and cut its head clean off.
"Can't take it myself, you say? No, no. I have known this since I was a kid. My mum and dad, you see, were demon hunters." She covered her mouth. "Shouldn't have told you that."

"Shouldn't have told me that?! SHOULDN'T HAVE TOLD ME THAT?!" Chance outright bellowed at this girl. His adrenaline was still pumping, coursing through his veins like red-hot lightning, but the fear that had kept him rooted to the spot had quickly burned away into anger. He'd expected the day to be relatively simple: go to class, toy with people's emotions, chill for the afternoon. The same things he did every day.

Oh no. Now he was with a girl that was apparently frequently attacked by demons, had a couple of demon hunter parents, and carried around a frickin' sword for instances exactly like this. And now this girl had just cut off the giant red demon's head, and she was telling him that she'd been doing this since she was a kid.

When Chance was a kid, he was playing with toys and hanging out with his friends. Not killing the denizens of hell.

"This is a joke, right? I'm being punked, aren't I? Ashton Kutcher is around the corner somewhere, isn't he? Yeah, haha, let's play a joke on the kid with the guitar. As if he doesn't already have enough problems, let's throw some psycho with a sword who thinks she's a demon hunter into the mix. No thank you! I'm going to go back to class. You know, where things MAKE SENSE!"

Chance turned on his heel and stormed out of Alice's dorm room, his head pounding and his sense on overload. He didn't want to believe what he'd just seen, but at the same time, he couldn't deny that he'd just seen something completely out of the ordinary.

Maybe Alice was right. Maybe he had been dreaming. Yeah, that was it. He'd fallen asleep in music class, and he was going to wake up any moment and everything would make sense. He could write everything off as a crazy dream and that would be that.

Not that Chance was ever really that lucky, but hey, a guy could hope, right?

Alice couldn't tell if she was relieved or not that he didn't believe her. After all, it did make sense. She then slumped to the floor and muttered, "Even the humans don't accept me for who I am. I. Am. So. Pathetically. Stupid." She laughed. "Whatever. I am a weird human, but I am not crazy." She groaned. "Right?"
Alice swung her sword around, slashing at midair. "I am not crazy, I am not crazy..." Something occurred to her. "I'm not crazy. I'm eccentric. 'Where things make sense'...there is no such place..."

As Chance tried to put as much distance between himself and the dorm room as possible, he heard Alice muttering about how she wasn't crazy. He had to hold back a snort. He wasn't sure what definition of crazy she was working with, but to Chance she seemed like a grade-A lunatic. Despite his better judgement, he turned around. Someone had to get this girl help, and it seemed like he was going to be the one to do it.

Chance actually allowed himself a small laugh at that. He'd spent his entire life looking out for no one but himself, and now he was actually going out of his way to help someone. Although, his definition of help was 'have this girl committed and put in a straight jacket as far away as possible from any sword ever,' so really, he was helping himself out more than anything.

If she was locked up, she couldn't hurt him, and that's what the important part was. However, there was still the matter of the ten foot tall red monster that'd she'd killed right in front of him.  That was also a problem, and he figured he was going to need therapy for that. Even if he was dreaming, that was some pretty messed up stuff for his subconscious to be making up.

When he got back to Alice's dorm room, he found her just casually swinging a sword around.

"Okay, why don't we put the big sharp pointy blade down now?" Chance asked in his nicest, most soothing voice. He realized that a crazy person with a giant sword probably didn't like being talked to as if she were five, but it was his first instinct and that's what he went with. He ducked and dodged the blade as he tried to near Alice to wrestle it from her hands.

"Why don't you just give that to me and we'll go to the office and talk to the headmistress and the cops and possibly a crazy person doctor?' Chance said, holding out his hand to take the sword from her.

Alice couldn't believe this person. "Oh, so you're going to lock me up? Lock me up because I am crazy. How about this?" she said as calmly as possible. "You give my sword back and I show you where the principal is? No, seriously. It's a family heirloom."
She sighed in annoyance and walked briskly to the office. She knocked on the door. "Sir," she said. "We have a problem. A mortal that isn't like me knows the secret—and wants to throw me in an asylum."
"Come in," a weary voice said.

Chance put up his hands in a gesture of surrender, deciding that it probably wasn't in his best interests to cross the psychopath with a sword. Especially one that was a 'family heirloom', as Alice put it. When Chance thought family heirlooms, he thought about things like fine china and his mother's jewelry. Not giant lethal weapons capable of taking his head of with a single swing.

If Chance had known this was what he was signing up for when he'd taken that plea bargain, he would've risked prison. Prison had guards that were supposed to stop other people from pointing large sharp objects at him. This school, on the other hand, let people keep them in their dorm rooms. As Chance followed the girl through the school, his hands clasped behind his head and his steps slow and controlled so as not to look menacing and risk evoking her anger, he lamented the security measures of the current education system.

He made a promise to himself to write his local government representative, and let them know that there were some schools allowing sword-wielding maniacs to walk through the halls, and that something should be done about that as soon as possible.

Not that promising himself that was going to get him out of the situation any faster.

They soon stopped outside of the office, and Chance began to panic. Getting into trouble was not part of the deal. As much as he might tell himself that prison would be safer, he wasn't entirely sure he was ready for such a drastic change of scenery.

"Tell you what? Why don't we just forget any of this ever happened, never speak of it again, and pretend that each other don't exist? Leave the administration out of it. What do you say?" Chance said, pleading. He could feel his heart pounding, and was mildly surprised it hadn't ripped itself from his chest yet.

Daniel was lost in thought when he heard a knock on the door and a little blonde girl opened it and said a mortal that wasn't like her had found out the secret and wanted to throw her in an asylum.

"Come in." He said wearily. It had been a long day. Yet again, he'd had to deal with a girl who Lucien Davis had taken advantage of. Honestly, that boy was a problem that wouldn't go away. And the school couldn't get rid of him because then he'd just cause trouble worldwide.

Whoever was with the girl obviously didn't seem very keen on coming in, so Daniel stepped out of his office and looked at the poor unfortunate soul. He recognised the young man from the warning and files he'd received when the individual in question had started the school. Chance Dunway, otherwise known as the White Wolf, infamous art stealer.

So, he'd managed to be able to cope with the intense situations of getting past art dealer's security and museum alarms, but a little thing like finding out the supernatural existed was a bit too much for him. Poor kid.

"Would you like to come in, Mr Dunyway?" He asked. Looking at the girl, he said "And if I were you, young lady, I'd go put that sword away where no one else can find it. You shouldn't be carrying it around school like that."

((Sorry to just jump in like this. I thought it'd be the perfect place to introduce the counsellor though. Chance, would you like to me to start a new thread to carry on from this one?))

Chance stared at the door. He'd met with the counselor once or twice since coming to Masquerade, mostly to talk about how he shouldn't steal from the other students, and that there was a moral code of ethics or something that he should follow. Chance hadn't really paid attention. He was just glad to have made it to the school, and he wasn't going to intentionally do something to screw it up.

Getting involved with a demon slaying, sword wielding nut job was not intentional. In fact, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and the crazy girl as possible. In fact, what he really wanted to do was go drown his sorrows in whatever drinkable liquid he could get his hands on, sleep for a couple of days, and pretend like none of this ever happened.

But something told him that he was never ever going to forget watching a little blond monster hunter cut off the head of a ten foot tall bright red hell beast. There were just some things that were burned into your memory, and he was willing to be that this was one of them.

Chance took in a deep breath and pushed through the door, giving the guy before him a pointed look.

"You are not gonna believe this."