Before you begin reading:
The fanfiction you are about to read has been entirely written by non-native English speaker! Keep in mind that I've been studying English for only 3 years and that there will be mistakes. Instead of bashing my work I would truly appreciate if you guys could gently correct me to make my improve. :)
Chapter I: Prelude
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Take a foreign girl who can't speak a single word of Japanese, drop her in the middle of True-Cross City and enjoy the result.
She was lost. Hardly had she exited the train than she was already lost. All the streets looked the same, crowded places filled with people, colored ads and luminous panels that would make her dizzy just by looking at it for too long.
What a peculiar view...
The auburn haired girl had never been to Japan before and eventhough she used to travel a lot for her recitals, that was the first time she was left on her own. She found nothing special about Japan, or should we say; she didn't know much about the country. For as long as she could remember, her life could be summed up by only one thing: music. She, the international violin prodigy was now alone at the opposite side of the world only to return on school seats. She let out a deep sigh and looked around her, hoping to land her forest-green eyes on something she could read.
Nothing. How can the train station of such a renowed international school not have any English indications?
Pitiful.
She looked pitiful.
What brought her here? That's simple: demons.
Her only escape to all the pressure her reputation came with was nature. Often tired to play for people, she used to wander alone in the forest to play her instrument for herself. What a relief this was to her... Being free to play whatever she wanted, free to miss a note or even improvise her own melodies without having multiple pair of eyes staring at her, all alone with the only sounds of the forest to accompany her art... Well, that was what she thought.
In fact, she has never been alone.
A few years ago after a particularly stressful day, she found herself in the forest discharging her rage through her violin and got bitten by a very strange creature. A monster, did she later tell her family. Of course, nobody believed her. They even thought she made up the entire story to draw attention on her.
The said monster was a demon and that day, the girl accidentaly received her Temptain. Since then, she was able to see a lot of weird creatures which nobody else seemed to notice. That's how everything changed.
Demons came in all shapes, colors and sizes. They were wherever she went: her home, the forest but most of all: demons aflued in music rooms. They loved music just as much as she did. She had noticed that the sound of instruments attracted them and althought she was scared at first, she quickly got used to their presence and learnt all their behaviors and reactions: while a fast tempo had this amusing tedency to excite them, a slow one would, at the contrary, appease their souls. How funny was it to observe these strange creatures react to her playing and how wonderful was it to interact with them by only using music. This is how the girl learnt how to speak with demons.
She loved what these creatures taught her and would have spent her whole life this way: playing for humans during the day and for demons during the night. However, just like a sonata, life has ups and downs.
- "Excuse-me, miss?"
A voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She jumped in the air as she noticed the man in front of her, causing her luggages to fall on the ground. Confused at first, the man then crouched to take them up. He slightly smiled when he hold her the black violin case to her.
- "A musician, aren't you? You must be miss Veracini if I'm not mistaken?"
He spoke to her in English with a barely noticeable accent. She took a better look at the stranger: althought he seemed very mature, she could tell that he was about her age, maybe a little younger. Quite tall with brown hair and blue eyes, black glasses and coat which she recognized as the common Exorcist uniform. Finally, she wasn't alone anymore. The only presence of this man let her feel better already. She gratefully took the case out of his hands as a warm smile appeared on her lips.
- "In person! Fiore Veracini." She added. "Thank you for the luggages, that was a bit clumsy of me I must admit. And you are?"
- "I'm sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean it." He said, bowing his head respectuously. "I am Mr. Yukio Okumura, Exorcist of the Japanese branch. Sir Pheles send me to look for you."
Mephisto Pheles, also known as Johann Faust in public, was the headmaster of this renowed institution as well as the man she was supposed to meet upon her arrival. She was kind of relieved to hear that the man had sent someone to help her out of here.
- "Nice to meet you Mr. Okumura. That's very kind of Sir Pheles to send you here. To be honest I was totally lost."
He couldn't retain a smile. This city was a true maze for foreigners.
- "I guess it must be difficult if you don't speak the language. This is your first time in Japan, right? Are you enjoying so far?"
- "Well, if getting lost in the middle of an unknown place and being called 'European shrimp' twice counts as it, then I can say I'm enjoying a lot!" She joked.
- "Oh is that so?" He chuckled. "I'm sure you will learn to love this place, miss. It has everything an exorcist in training can dream about. We also have many music facilities that would love to receive a talented musician such as you."
That last phrase made her blush. Obviously that young man was well informed.
- "Thank you Mr. Okumura."
- "You're welcome miss. Well, let me show you the way to the academy, I wouldn't want to make Sir Pheles wait."
The two of them headed toward the Academy, having a pleasant talk about their culture difference and their activities. The young man was kind enough to point out some interesting places and stores as they passed by. Very soon, they could see the astonishing huge gates of True-Cross Academy standing in front of them.
Rich kid school.
Luxury and sumptuosity wasn't new to Fiore. That was a standard working environment for musicians which she had known for many years. However the haughty behavior which the place extolled had always displeased the girl who would by far prefer the serenity and beauty that she could only find in nature.
Instead of entering by the main gate, Yukio asked her to follow him a little further to a small barely noticiable entrance. He took a weird-looking set of keys from his pocket and inserted one in the rusty lock. A glaucous sound broke out of the door as he opened it. She followed him without any question as they walked in what looked like a large and luminous hallway. Curious, Fiore took a quick look at the window and gasped:
- "Oh!"
They weren't on the ground-floor anymore. In front of her was displayed a breathtaking view: the immense courtyard of the academy, boarded by gardens and European-styled buildings all around. In the distance she could even see the huge gates in front of which they walked a few seconds ago. For a short moment she forgot she was in Japan.
- "Is this some kind of exorcist magic?" She asked, her gaze still lost in the beautiful landscape.
The boy let out an amused laugh.
- "This truly is some kind of magic indeed."
In less time than it takes to say it, they arrived in front of an elegant door on which they could read "Johan Faust". Yukio looked at her, surely asking for permission to knock the door. She nodded. But before his hand could reach the wooden door, a voice came out of the office:
- "Entrate ragazzi!" (Come in, guys!)
That man spoke with a perfect Italian accent which made Fiore freeze for a second. She didn't dare asking for an explanation and stared blankly at Yukio who was now opening the door.
- "Good afternoon, Sir Pheles. I went to pick our new transfer student as you asked me."
- "I know, I know! I've been thinking about you the all day long, young miss! It's been a very long time since we last welcomed an Italian student in our academy~" Said the man, bowing in front of her.
Man or... clown? Fiore was lost in contemplation: so he was the famous Mephisto Pheles? The weird man had purple hair, deep green tired eyes and was wearing a kind of white suit dotted with a multitude of pink ornaments. Not to mention the white hat. The image of Harlequin from La Divina Commedia suddenly popped in Fiore's mind. Eccentric was the word.
- "Should I repeat in sign language, maybe? I heard Italians are very fond of it~"
His voice pulled her out of her thoughts. He was standing in front of her, holding out his hand with a grin on his face, showing sharp and pointed teeth. Was he even human?
- "Oh sorry!"
She quickly shook his hand.
"I am Fiore Veracini, nice to meet you Sir Pheles."
- "Hmm, Veracini..." He mumbled. "Sounds like a pasta brand to me."
She tilted her head, unsure about what she had just heard.
- "W... What have you said?"
- "Oh, nothing my dear! I was thinking aloud~"
- "But..."
He abruptly turned to Yukio, cutting her phrase off.
- "Thank you for your help Mister Okumura, you may leave now!"
- "Sure, Sir."
Before leaving the room, he looked at her and told:
"See you in class miss!"
In class? Didn't he tell he was an exorcist already? Mephisto patted a chair, indicating the girl to seat. He briefly looked in the pile of paperwork displayed on his desk and extracted a file on which she caught sight of her name.
- "Well well, let's see..."
He opened the file and started reading it.
- "17 years old Italian violinist, has been playing on international scenes from the age of 9. Pretty impressive if you ask me."
She ignored his monologue as he continued to browse through her application form. A grin appeared on his lips.
- "A reputation that you somehow managed to ruin in one single night during an important contest where you suddenly started yelling at the judges, telling them to 'go back to fucking Hell' as noted here... My, what an impulsive young lady we have there!"
She covered her entirely red face with one hand, too ashamed to even look at the headmaster in the eyes. Well, life has ups and downs. Was she naive to the point of thinking this story wouldn't follow her at the opposite corner of the world? Well, she certainly was. Seeing that she would do nothing but remaining silent, Sir Pheles added:
- "A payoff would sure have been a better option than yelling at the judges if you were that much concerned about your talent, my girl."
His words made her choke. That was a very sensitive topic and he figured that out pretty well. Fiore was ready to undergo all the mockery and humiliation possible about that night's events but talking about her lack of aptitude was something she would not tolerate: she had already have enough with her own parents.
- "With all due respect Sir, you are completely off track: I did NOT yell at the judges! Anyway why did you make me come all the way from Italy to criticize my art?"
In fact she wouldn't be surprised if he did. The more time passed and the more that unpleasant feeling grew in her chest. There was something wrong with that freaky guy. Mephisto chuckled slightly, revealing his sharp fangs once again. Leaning his elbows against his desk, he brought his head closer to the girl who instinctively recoiled.
- "If that wasn't at the judges then who were you yelling at, dear girl?"
His voice had changed. His unsetting tone made Fiore shiver. She didn't want to look at the headmaster in the eyes but somehow felt that she had no choice. Their green eyes reflected each other as the two sides of a miror. She nervously gulped.
- "During my performance that night... There was a group of demons messing around the jury. They seemed very excited and I... I was afraid that one of the men would get bitten like I was. Nobody else in the entire hall could see those demons but... The fact is... That night, I yelled at the goblins, Sir."
The man now looked at her with a satisfied smile and grabbed her application form again.
- "Received her Temptain by a hobgobelin at the age of 12 as she wandered alone in a forest at night..." He read. "Didn't your parents warn you about the scary monsters in the forest, mmh~?"
- "There is nothing scary about nature, Sir. That's even my favourite place to play music."
His eyes opened wide.
- "You play violin alone in the forest?"
She nodded.
- "Everynight. That's my daily training. Or should I say nightly training."
- "How peculiar. Nota bene, I'd die to hear the Moonlight Sonata in such a scenery~"
- "That's very cliché."
- "Indeed." He chuckled. "So I guess it is time to talk about the special classes you'll be attending?"
- "That's the only reason I am here."
A nasty grin emerged at the corner of his lips.
- "Tell me... Why do you want to study exorcism, my dear?"
That was actually a good question. Being the only person able to see demons in her family, she was called a fool and saw her parents slowly turn away from her. The incident at the contest two years ago was the straw that broke it all. The more she grew fascinated for those creatures and the harder she wanted to leave her place to learn about them.
- "I guess I only want to know more about the beasts who ruined my life. I aim for Tamer as my meister, if I can get demons to cooperate with me instead of arguing with them that would be a good thing."
- "Tamer hm? How girly."
- "That was very cliché again, Sir."
His smirk widened to eventually turn into a hearty laugh.
- "Very well then... Ein, zwei, drei..."
With a cloud of pink smoke, a set of keys magically appeared in his hands. He held it out to a somewhat unphased Fiore. Nothing from this weird man could surprise her anymore.
- "The golden key will take you to your exorcism cramschool. Put it in any lock and it will open the way. Oh, make sure you're alone everytime you'll use it. Classes begin at 5pm every afternoon except on Sunday."
- "Thank you. But what about the other keys?"
- "I'll let you find out by yourself my dear."
As he finished his sentence, the sound of a cuckoo-clock rang across the room.
- "My, so late already? I'm afraid I'll have to shorten our talk dear miss Veracini. I'll have someone taking you to your dormitory."
- "Fine, thank you Sir Pheles."
- "I'm sure we'll meet again very soon~"
She left her seat and headed to the door with her new set of keys tinkling between her hand.
- "However..." He added.
She turned her head, giving him a side-look.
- "... I would advise you not to venture into the campus' forest at night. You're free to access the music room anytime you want instead, one of the keys will lead you there"
- "Is there anything I should know about this forest?"
- "Well... I've heard some rumors about a very territorial monster lurking there. That would be a pity if something happened to such a beautiful young lady like you."
Strangely, his words sounded more like a threat than a warning. Warning that Fiore decided to ignore.
- "That's fine then, I love talking to monsters."
- "Oh I doubt you can talk to this one. From what I know he doesn't seem very skilled with words."
A warm smile appeared on her now relaxed face.
- "Words? I don't need those." She said, pointing her violin case. "This is the only language I'm fluent into."
With these words she left the office, letting the headmaster alone with a thoughtful face.
- "I look forward to hearing you two converse then, dear girl."
.
I hope you enjoyed this prelude... ahem, prologue. As I am not sure about my writting skills in English I'd like to hear what you guys think about it, so please don't be afraid to review!