Daemon Academy
Chapter One: Welcome Freshmen, Prepare to Die

In a small, quiet neighborhood on a small, quiet street sat a small, quiet house. The first-light sparrows chirped merrily as they flitted between the trees in the front yard, and the morning sun began to minimally peek its way over the tips of the rooftops.

Inside the house, a young boy by the name of Mike was panicking. His sandy brown hair and deep burgundy eyes moved in time with the flustered movements of his body while he frantically threw dirty and clean clothes alike across the floor of his room. Growling in defeat, he tossed a worn red ballcap over his head, successfully concealing his coffee-colored dog ears. "Who stole my pants?!" He yelled, baring his large canines.

Meanwhile, a young girl with long multicolored hair that shone in the dim dawn light hid a pair of frayed jean pants in a cupboard. She, incidentally, called this cupboard her home. Her name was Yuri, and she made sure not to hurt her delicate feline tail or her sharply pointed ears as she entered her aforementioned "home". Her flaxen eyes glowed dimly in the gloom of her cupboard.

At Mike's sudden outburst, the other occupants of the quaint little house began to rise. Many of them were light sleepers, with the exception of one girl, Viktoria, or Viki aspeople called her, who treasured her slumber like the precious thing it was.

She did not wake up easily.

Mumbling inaudible phrases and words, she rolled over, her dark brown hair ruffled by the downy pillows and her glacial blue eyes closed in deep sleep.

The remainder of the girls, one with large, folded dragon wings, pointedblack fox ears, golden eyes, and long black hair walked down the stairs softly along with another girl with small, rounded brown bear ears, dark silver eyes, mid-length russet hair, and a small bear tail. They chatted idly as they approached the kitchen, taking in the sound of their friend, Nix, beginning to pull out the pots and pans for that morning's breakfast.

Nix was the cook for the sad little domicile that he and his friends had come to call their "family". He looked surprisingly normal in comparison to the others, only fitting in among Viki, the Succubus, and Damy, the Psychic. His shadowy blonde hair made his brown eyes seem dull in comparison, but he never seemed to mind.

Soon enough the boy who had been up in his room reading since five o'clock that morning began to shift slightly on his bed. His green eyes sharpened with interest as the words on the pages of the novel he was reading combined to form one long, drawn-out climax. Satisfied immensely by his personal accomplishment of getting as far as he had in that particular book, he marked it with his small bookmark, set it on the table, and got up to stretch. His long black hair, which was tied back into a low ponytail, glinted in the newly formed sunlight creeping through his window, and he walked over to the opposite bed in the room to rouse his identical twin brother, Vincent.

He shook his brother's shoulder softly. "Vincent. Come on, you'll be late."

The twin groaned and sat up slowly, revealing that he was, in all ways, exactly duplicate to his brother who was shaking him, Raphael. The only small difference was that his hair was parted in the front on the left instead of the right.

"I'm up, I'm up…" He muttered, rubbing sleep out of his equally dazzling green eyes.

"MY PANTS!!" Mike yelled again, fuming down the stairs. He jumped up on the furnished banister and slid down in his plaid pajama pants, a deep grimace staining his features. "You stupid cat, I'LL KILL YOU THIS TIME!"

Before he could reach the bottom of the stairwell, a strong hand grabbed him by the collar of his uniform shirt and jerked him backwards. He landed on the second to the last step on his rump, cursing.

The boy who had pulled him back grinned charmingly, making the diminutive "beauty mark" on his left cheek pull up towards his hazel eyes. He brushed his fair bronze-colored bangs from his face, and the two small braids that hung limp framing his face followed suit. "You know, you shouldn't do that. You could break your leg." He bent down to further inspect the banister. "Or worse, you could break the railing."

Mike growled. "Stay out of my business already, Daemion!"

Daemion chortled gently and passed the boy by, heading for the kitchen.

In the kitchen, all those who were awake were crowding excitedly around the immensely oversized table, talking about the day ahead.

The half dragon, half fox demon with the wings and long black hair greeted Daemion. "Hello, roomie! My name's Tuki. And this…" She pointed to her friend, the bear demon with silver eyes, "is Trista."

Daemion smiled and sat down. "Really, now…do you have to be so formal? Just call me Damy. And we met over the summer vacation, right? When we were moving in our stuff?"

"Yes…" Tuki drawled, giving him a sly sideways glance. "But I was testing whether or not you remembered our names."

Trista smiled shyly.

Damy put a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Let's see… You are, of course, Tuki. And next to you is Trista. In the cupboard is…Yuri?"

Yuri mewled in appreciation from inside her cupboard. "That's right! Don't you forget it!"

Damy laughed. "Right. And the one cooking is Nix…the German raccoon boy!"

Nix looked at Damy over his shoulder, grinning widely. "Yeah! You've got it right!"

Through the door, the twins came, wearing their school uniforms as everybody else was. "Hello, everyone." They said in unison, though it was quite accidental.

Trista and Tuki giggled, and Damy laughed out loud. "And these two are the infamous Raphael and Vincent…the astrological Cancer twins. Identical if not for the part in their hair and for the fact that one turns into the shell of the hermit crab, and the other turns into the crab itself."

Vincent smirked. "And in the same respect, the infamous DAEMION." He sat down at the large table, Raphael joining beside him. "You're gay…am I right?"

Damy nodded. "As gay as rainbows and extra-large sunglasses."

Everyone laughed, and Vincent leaned back, folding his arms above his head. "As long as you don't hit on any of the guys, including me, and keep that sense of humor, you're fine by me."

Once more, the people in the room introduced themselves to each other, exchanging warm smiles and handshakes.

"Who are we missing?" Raphael asked quietly, his voice sounding soft in comparison to the hissing noise of Nix's sizzling bacon and eggs.

"Viki." Damy immediately said.

"And also the dog demon, Mike." Trista chimed in.

"Oh, yeah…" Damy said. "He was saying something about his pants…"

A muffled laughter was heard from the cupboard before a random pair of frayed jean pants flew from it, landing on Nix's head.

Nix sighed and pulled them off calmly, tossing them over his shoulder at the group sitting at the table.

They landed on Trista, who blushed an even deeper shade of red. "Oh!"

Tuki made a weird face. "Aren't those…Mike's?"

Trista's face turned even darker, if possible, and she quickly tore the pants off of her shoulder. "Where is he? I should give these to him before he loses his mind."

"I'm afraid there's not much left of it, my dear." Damy said, smiling.

Vincent broke out into laughter as Trista left, patting Damy's shoulder in approval. "Oh…I have a feeling you and I are going to get along just fine, Damy."

"Yo, Nix!" Yuri finally reappeared from her "home". "Are we having any fish?"

Nix shrugged. "Sure, I can whip some up. Any more requests?"

"Yes. Soup, please." Raphael said.

"Of course." Nix said happily. "It should be done soon. Oh…where's Viki? Does someone want to go get her?"

Damy stood. "I'll go. I'm afraid that if she saw anyone else in her room upon her awakening, she might maim them."

Vincent looked up at him. "Why are you any different?"

"I'm not." The Psychic replied, blinking. "I've just learned to evade her attacks." And with that, he left.

Moments later, the dog demon Mike appeared alongside Trista, wearing the exact same pants Yuri had hidden in her cupboard not minutes ago. He huffed and plopped down at an empty seat at the table that was nowhere near the others.

Trista reclaimed her seat beside Tuki.

Tuki leaned over to whisper to Raphael, "He's not very social, is he?"

Raphael turned pink at the sudden voice in his ear, but he replied, nonetheless. "No, he's not. I heard he has a horrible demon inside his body."

Unbeknownst to the two of them, one of Mike's ears twitched restlessly beneath his hat. Oh, they thought he couldn't hear, but what good was a dog demon without his acute senses of smell and hearing?

"You know…" He interrupted loudly, scowling at the two of them. "You don't have to whisper. I can hear everything you're saying."

Tuki and Raphael stared at him, shocked. Instantly, Raphael apologized. "I'm so sorry, Mike. I didn't want you to be offended. Would you mind telling us the truth?"

Mike scoffed. "You seem to know a lot better than me. And yes, I do mind."

Tuki frowned, and Vincent shrugged. "He's got a point, Raph. You shouldn't have been talking about him."

Raphael sunk into his chair.

Damy appeared through the doorway, practically dragging a now fully dressed and tired Viki behind him. "Sleeping Beauty is awake."

Viki growled up at him. "Shut up, Damy. Not all of us are chipper fucking doo-daa's in the morning like you." She stalked off to the table and unconsciously sat beside Mike, letting her head fall against the table with a resounding "slap".

Damy laughed nervously. "Haha… Aha… Viki's not exactly what one would call a morning person. But she's really not like this! In fact, she's quite a sweet, loving, compassionate person when she's fully awake."

Yuri emerged finally from her cupboard and sat at the table, having smelled the breakfast being prepared by Nix.

Nix yelped suddenly, though, and rushed to turn off the stove.

"W…what is it?" Trista asked, wide-eyed.

Nix ignored her momentarily and sucked on his burnt finger, muttering random German under his breath. "Verflixt, schlecht Herd! Sie haben meinen Finger verbrannt!"

Several odd stares were cast his way, but he just groaned and announced that breakfast was finished.

"Well!" Damy said between bites. "This is delicious. And isn't this just going to be a great day today?"

Yuri rolled her eyes. "Hardly. It's going to get windy, and that means that the bugs will be out."

"It's spring, you retard. There will always be bugs in spring." Mike retorted.

Yuri hissed low in her throat, holding up a forkful of scrambled eggs threateningly. "You want this shoved up your—"

"Hey, now!" Nix said, sounding a bit peeved. "I worked hard to cook this. The least you can all do is not fight at the table!"

Yuri and Mike let out synchronized huffs.

"Besides…" The cat girl said, wanting to have the last word as she gloomily dipped her scrambled eggs in her milk, not caring if people disapproved of this heinous act. "It looks like it might rain."

Vincent and Raphael shuddered. Even though only salt water made them turn into their crab-and-shell forms, even the mere mention of water irked them.

"Aww…" Mike said mockingly, licking ketchup off of one of his fingers. "Is the little kitty-cat afraid of some water?"

Yuri cast a deathly glare at him with her slitted yellow eyes.

"Enough!" Damy bellowed, slapping his hands on the table. "I will not have my day ruined by your constant bickering! Now let's just please finish up our breakfast so we can get out of this hellhole and get to our classes, shall we?"

Stunned, everyone around the table hushed and finished up their food.

"Damy…" Mike said after a while.

Considerably calmed down, Damy looked over at the boy in question.

"You're weird."

"Well…" Damy chuckled proudly. "I AM gay…"

A fork abruptly made contact with the side of Damy's head.

"Don't use that as an excuse." Viki said coolly, getting up to rinse her plate. "Anyone else finished?"

Everyone but Raphael and Tuki nodded, handing her their plates with small cries of "thank you!"

---

The little incident at breakfast aside, it had turned out to be a pretty nice day, after all. There was wind, but hardly enough to draw the insects from their hiding places, and the group of newfound friends walked happily to their school, wearing (almost) matching uniforms.

The school they now attended, Daemon Academy, was a very prestigious school, indeed. Various multitudes of accolades and honorable mentions sat in display cases in the elaborately decorated main office, and the school required that all its students be forced to wear uniforms.

The boys' was simple. Black shirt, black pants, red tie, and black shoes.

And the girls' was also simple. Black skirt, red shirt, tiny black tie, black shoes, and optional stockings (of knees to thigh-length) or either red, black, or white.

Dress code violations were punished severely.

Mike had been told this quite a bit after he had reclaimed his precious frayed jean pants, and right before they had left, he had been forced (by Viki and Trista, the two girls who actually cared for following the regulations) to change into proper uniform pants. Unfortunately, his uniform pants had "accidentally" ripped, so for the time being, he was borrowing some of Nix's.

Viki and Tuki wore knee-high stockings, Trista wore thigh-highs, and Yuri wore a pair of Raphael's pants underneath her skirt so as to hide her very obvious tale which was now twitching in her right pant leg. Tuki and Trista also had to wear red caps to cover their demon ears. Yuri just had to let her hair cover her pointed ears, and Viki had human ears.

The only person who had to wear a red vest was Tuki to conceal her wings properly.

Mike was the only one of the boys who had to wear a cap. Nix, Damy, Vincent, and Raphael all had normal human ears.

Viki scuffed a rock as she walked, slightly dirtying her polished black shoes. "What do you think it'll be like?" She asked, innocently curious.

Tuki shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's scary being a freshman, huh?"

"If you're optimistic about it, it's not." Damy said, falling in step beside Viki. "Just keep your chin up, love, and nothing can scare you." He grinned gently and tickled the underside of her chin with his index finger in warm abandon.

Viki giggled and pushed him away. "Eh…I want to apologize to you all about this morning. I'm not very…happy…when I first wake up. So…sorry."

Vincent waved it off, chuckling. "No problems."

Everyone else agreed.

"So, Viki, Damy, how do you two know each other?" Raphael asked, giving the both of them that meek smile.

"Well, Damy and I went to the same junior high school. So we've known each other for about three years. He transferred there in the 6th grade, and from the time he was elected my lab partner in Earth Science, we've been inseparable."

Damy nodded in agreement. "It's pretty simple. What about you and Trista, Tuki?"

"Trista and I met over summer. We saw each other at the local café and gave each other our numbers." Tuki replied, reaching back to adjust her wings slightly. "What about you two, Yuri and Mike?"

Mike scoffed and crossed his arms. "Me? Know that damn cat before this? Hah! Don't make me laugh."

Yuri shot him a glare. "Likewise. We met just this year when we moved into the house, but I already hate the bastard dog."

Raphael grimaced. "Like cats and dogs, I see. I suppose the Law of Opposites still stands."

"Pff." Vincent said, rolling his jade eyes. "'Law of Opposites' my ass. If you ask me, opposites attract. Like me and that really short girl over there…"

Yuri looked at him out of her peripheral vision. "How is she your opposite? She's a Witch."

Vincent chuckled. "She's short, I'm tall. She has short silver hair, I have long black hair. She has blue eyes, I have green eyes. She has pale skin, I have—"

"You have pale skin, too." Yuri spat.

Vincent shrugged. "Hey, she's opposite enough for me." He began to walk away, but Viki grabbed him by the back of the shirt.

"Not so fast, you little man-whore. We've still got to get our schedules, and I am not about to go and collect yours for you so you can try and score with a Witch."

Vincent pouted his lower lip. "What's so bad about a Witch? You're a Succubus."

"Hmph." She released him and folded her arms. "Succubus have class. Grace. Poise. Brains. And Witches have…cauldrons and broomsticks."

"That's being a bit harsh, Viki." Damy reprimanded.

Viki snorted. "It's true. They act like sluts to lure in guys, and then BOOM."

Vincent was staring at her intently, as was every other boy in the party wanting to get laid anytime in their high school years. Which was every boy except Nix. Because Nix had, surprisingly, morals.

After a long silence, Mike couldn't take it. "Well? What's 'BOOM'? You never told us what 'BOOM' was!"

Viki blinked. "Oh. I thought you would figure it out. 'BOOM' is they get pregnant. A Witch's sole aspiration in life is to have children. Lots of them. And they all want you to be the fathers."

Raphael frowned. "You shouldn't be so racist. I'm sure that's not true."

Smiling arrogantly, Viki pointed towards said Witch. "If you don't believe me then go ask her. I'm sure she'll tell you."

Raphael blushed and shook his head vehemently. "N—No! I couldn't do that!"

Vincent smirked. "Alright. I'll go ask." He took off towards the silver-haired girl, showing everyone a haughty gait.

"Excuse me, miss." He said decorously, extending a hand to take hers.

She smiled at him and let him take her pale hand.

He kissed the top of it gently. "I have a question for you: what would you say if I said you were beautiful and I'd be honored to take you as my girlfriend?"

The Witch suddenly smiled brightly. "YES! Oh my GOD! When do you want one? Boy or girl? You know, I can arrange it with a spell and I can choose so which one do you want oh please say girl I've always wanted a girl I'd name her Sophia what do you think of that I think it's great so what time can you come over tonight I think 6 o'clock is fine because parents have night shifts and—"

Vincent was gone before she could finish.

He appeared to the group, looking wide-eyed and frazzled. "Viki… Fair warning. Thank you."

She smirked and nodded. "Now let's go get those schedules before we're late to our first class!"

The nine of them walked on towards the front of the school, past the looming iron gates and round labyrinths of corridors.

Yuri groaned as they passed by yet another seemingly endless hallway. "I think we're lost."

"No…" Trista said, glancing around her. "I can tell we're pretty close. The arrows are pointing this way, anyway."

Damy blinked. "Arrows? What are you talking about? I don't see any arrows…"

Raphael pointed to a wall. "You see? The bricks make out the shape of arrows. I suppose it's to help freshmen find their way to the front office."

They all nodded with newfound understanding and followed the arrows as best they could until they came upon a rather large building. The front of it was covered with spider-like ivy that slithered up the brick walls, and the windows were barely visible beneath the masses of greenery. Nevertheless, a sign above the double doors read Front Office.

"I guess this is it." Tuki mused, blinking.

"Yeah." Trista agreed.

After taking a deep breath, Viki nodded and stepped forwards. "Well? What are we waiting for? If we don't hurry we'll be late."

Yuri agreed and followed, and the rest of the group trailed behind slowly.

Upon entering the office, all anybody could do was hold their breaths. They had never expected Daemon Academy to be so incredibly expansive, or so incredibly rich! The marble floor shone and made their rubber-soled shoes squeak, and the even the office ladies were dressed to impress.

There was a long (very long) outlined walkway that led to the front desk, and the group of people loitered for a minute, deciding who should go and represent them.

After much deliberation and a very intense game of rock, paper, scissor, Viki and Vincent were chosen, as the two losers of the game.

With fearful steps, the two of them walked to the desk. Viki folded her hands in front of her after smoothing her skirt, and Vincent tightened the hair-band that held together his long black hair.

They strode up to the mahogany desks, their heads held high and their shoes scuffing slightly on the floor.

It was Vincent who spoke first.

"Excuse me, miss?"

The woman typing looked up. She had iridescent white, pupil-less eyes, and it almost frightened Viki and Vincent.

"Yes?" She asked. Her voice sounded ghostly and her very words seem to wail within the space of the office. "Can I help you?"

After regaining his composure, Vincent continued. "We're new student's here—freshmen—and we'd like to know where to get our schedules."

The woman was silent for a moment. "Have you registered over summer?"

Vincent looked to Viki nervously and shrugged, signaling for her to take over.

She did so. "No, ma'am, we are all transfer students. We probably aren't entered into the database yet."

The lady sighed and tapped her computer screen. If flicked on with a crackle of blue light. "Are those students back there with you two?"

"Yes." Viki replied. She turned around and motioned for the rest of her friends to come to her.

They did so.

"First thing's first…" the lady drawled, readying her long, pallid fingers on the keyboard. "Are you all freshmen?"

They all nodded.

"And you're all transfers?"

Once more, they all nodded.

"As new students, I am obligated to inform you of the Codes of Demonic Behavior and Appearances. It looks like you all already know, but for those of you with demonic physical traits, you must keep them hidden. This school prides itself in its secrecy, and any discrepancies with the Code will be punished severely."

"Punished severely?" Yuri questioned, folding her arms. "Like how?"

"Like expulsion and a Juvenile Hall sentencing." The woman's voice was deathly grave. "We understand that humans are well aware of the presence of demons, half-demons, and those of psychological stature, but it is still requested that we act with courtesy. Now… stand in a line, all of you, and I'll take down your names. First name, last name, race, grade."

The seven of them filed into a line—Vincent being at the front and Tuki being at the back—and began to give the woman their information.

"Vincent Prith. Half-demon crab. Grade 9."

"Viktoria Circe. Succubus. Grade 9."

"Daemion Telemachus. Psychic. Grade 9."

"Trista Howards. Half-demon bear. Grade 9."

"Yuri Ottirin. Demon cat. Grade 9."

"Raphael Prith. Half-demon crab. Grade 9."

"Nix Theilig. Demon raccoon. Grade 9."

"Michael Greiggs. Demon dog. Grade 9."

"Tuki Herma. Half-demon fox and dragon. Grade 9."

The lady nodded. "Alright. I'll have your schedules printed out in just a second." She tapped the screen again, and the large printer beside her purred to life. In moments, pristine white papers were spewing from it. After it was finished, it died out with a mournful, low growl. She handed each student their respective schedules. "Have a nice day, boys and girls. And hurry on to class. You'll be late."

They left as quickly as possible.

---

As soon as the small group of bizarre newfound friends found their way to the very heart and soul of the school—the main halls—they froze.

Hanging above lockers was a large, slightly torn drapery that read "Welcome Freshmen", and next to that writing was scrawled sloppily: "Prepare to DIE!"

Yuri frowned and Raphael and Tuki squeaked slightly.

"Aw, cut it out, you two." The cat girl said, waving a hand. "It's just a scare tactic. Do you think they'd actually try to kill us?" She snorted in amusement. "That's ridiculous.

As soon as those words left her mouth, though, three shadows appeared around the corner.

Nix paled. "Yuri…"

"They're probably just trying to scare us out of our wits," she continued proudly, "so that they can 'reign dominant'. This is just a damned Alpha Male Complex that seniors, particularly the men, tend to get. It's so—"

"What's that? Did I hear you insult me?"

Yuri stopped talking and whirled around to face the voice that had hissed so low in her ear. She stared up at the owner of said voice.

He was extremely tall and lanky with white hair, blue eyes, and slightly bluish skin. Next to him was a short, chubby boy with curly red hair and a flushed face. And beside HIM was what seemed to be a bird demon. He had yellow feathers for hair and his eyes were a deep green.

"Well…?" The blue-haired boy said, putting his hands on his hips.

Yuri tried to contain a hiss, but failed, and her more primal instincts took over. Her pupils dilated to slits, and she drew her lips up in a deep-throated feline growl.

Panicking, Nix grabbed Yuri by the arm. "Yuri! What're you doing? Don't start a fight!"

She pulled her arm out of his hand. "Shut up! They're just begging for me to kick their ass!"

The bird demon chuckled and shook his head, his yellow feathers moving in time along with him. "Such tiny, naïve children. You should run off before we decide that we don't like you."

After Nix had been unsuccessful in his attempt to restrain Nix, Damy tried, and he succeeded. "Hey…" he reasoned, smiling awkwardly. "We don't want any trouble. We just want to get to class, okay? I apologize on her behalf."

The boy with red hair glowered down at Damy. "You smell like faggot. Look at you, pretty-boy! With your perfect hair and your cute little beauty mark. I should punch in that wonderful face of yours."

Damy shook his head. "Really…that won't be necessary! In fact, we're just going to leave now, okay?"

Viki nodded, glancing momentarily at Tuki, who stood beside her. "Yes. We're sorry for offending you."

Yuri struggled in Damy's hold.

The blue-haired boy grinned, and he bent down to come face-to-face with Viki. "Well, well…what do we have here? Looks like a Succubus to me." His breath on her face was icy cold, and she began to shiver as ice crystals formed in the air from his exhales.

"Yes, I am a Succubus." She retorted, growing slightly agitated. She hated it when people made fun of her for her race. "And you're an ice demon."

"And she's smart to boot! We may just have to take you and the bear girl away from these losers."

Trista squeaked. "Wh…what?"

The red-haired boy laughed. "Take her, Danju."

Danju, the ice demon, grabbed Viki and Trista's wrists.

Damy growled, unconsciously tightening his hold on Yuri, who was still thrashing. "Hey! Let them go; they're just girls! Have some dignity!"

Danju gave Damy a lame look and continued to pull the two girls along.

"HEY!" This time, Mike had shouted. "Either you put them down, or I put you down."

Smirking arrogantly, Danju released the two girls. "Ganging up on me, are you? That's fine by me. Boys? I'd say we have a fight on our hands."