Chapter 1: Dealing with Demons

Smiling softly to myself, I casually walked up to the unassuming brick office building where I worked. I stopped before opening up the door, mentally reassuring myself that everything would be fine. Taking in a deep breath, I wiped a few strands of my golden blonde hair that fell from its bun out of my face before opening the door. The doorbell chimed loudly as I entered, and the secretary, a kind, older woman with graying hair, looked over at me in surprise.

"Oh, Miss Kado - are you sure you're ready to get back to work? It's been quite a while since you've been to the regional office, but you're injuries were rather severe…" she said, concern and a trace of fear evident on her face.

"It'll be fine," I replied with a wry grin. "I've been working with local exorcists for the past month on smaller cases. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I even have my mission reports with me, and I've already been approved to get back onto the more interesting cases." With a quick snap of my fingers, the aforementioned papers fell from the swirling black and purple portal I summoned. The woman's face went white and I bit back a wince. Right, my… abilities weren't especially welcome here anymore. I gently laid the papers on the desk before tactfully retreating towards the elevator at the other end of white-walled room.

"R-right," the woman stuttered. "Mr. Vale said he'd like to see you right away, i-if you're up for it, that is…" Sighing, I pressed the "up" button on the elevator and awkwardly waited for it to come as the woman scooted as far away as she could get from my side of the room.

"Ok, I'll drop by his office first then," I acknowledged, idly fidgeting with my black leather gloves. She nodded jerkily and I looked away, muttering "thank God" under my breath when the elevator finally came.

I knew people would fear me after what happened this summer, and they did back at the local office too, but that conversation had been far more awkward than what I expected. Then again, my local office was used to my antics by now while the regional one was… not - or at the very least, not anymore. Sighing as the elevator made its way to the seventh floor, I was extremely thankful that no one else was in it with me. I didn't really feel up to dealing with any more people right now, but I didn't really have a choice since I already showed up today. Glancing at the red, blue, and silver pin on my long, black trench coat, I gripped it once for reassurance before the elevator dinged softly. Well, it was time to face the music.

As I made my way out of the elevator and onto the cubicle-ridden floor, I could feel the burning stares on me as I made my way to the back where Vale's office was. Hushed whispers followed me, and I could hear among the other exorcists, clad in their own black coats, the words "eyes," "strong," "menace," and "witch." Whenever I looked toward the sources of them though, they quickly quieted and looked away either in shame or disgust.

...Hoping for a warm welcome was a bit much, wasn't it?

Honestly, tamers used minor magic in grimoires all the the time and other smaller, but still useful, spells for exorcising demons were endorsed by the Vatican ages ago, so what was the big deal about-

I was cut off from my internal rant by someone running into me - no, hugging me - and I looked down in surprise. The perpetrator, a short woman with curly chestnut brown hair and pale gray eyes, laughed wholeheartedly at my expression. It was Lizzy Morrigan - of course it was her.

"Your face was scaring the others," she whispered in my ear before letting me go and gesturing wildly, hopping up and down enthusiastically. "I'm so glad you're back, Ari! It's been rather boring here without my partner, I kept getting stuck with newbies who just got their meisters or," she paused her loud rant to shudder, "teaching exwires. Teenagers! Gosh, I never want to go back to school, like, ever." I mouthed "sorry" to her as an apology for earlier after most of the others lost interest during her little tirade. Lizzy, bright and full of energy, had no doubt gotten on some of their nerves during my leave of absence.

"Ah, they can't be that bad," I said with a small smile, continuing my walk with Lizzy now trailing after me. "Though I was told Vale is expecting me, so I have to get a move on. See you at lunch?" I was hopeful that she would agree, she did visit me at the hospital out of sincere concern, unlike a few others…

"Mr. Rules on your first day back, huh? I don't envy you one bit," Lizzy said, stifling a small laugh. "Lunch works fine for me as long as I don't get called out or something. I'll send a text to let you know." Abruptly, she waved before turning on her heels and walking away, presumably back to her own cubicle. Finally arriving at the large oak door to one of the few decent offices in this damn building, I steeled myself and knocked on the door. A muffled "come in" came from the other side, and I carefully entered the room, closing the door behind me.

"So you've finally decided to come back," Vale drawled. He was a fairly muscular, imposing man in his mid twenties with slicked back black hair and chocolate brown eyes. Even if he was only a few years older than myself, he insisted that he be referred to by his last name. He outranked me and was a rather strict at times, not hesitating to put the exorcists he managed into paperwork hell for minor errors or infractions. Back when Lizzy and I were assigned to him right out of cram school, we often joked that working with Greg downstairs would be way more fun. I miss Greg, it was too bad that he was done in by a nasty seraphim last year. He was a real friendly guy too…

"Yes, sir," I said neutrally. "The local office deemed I was ready to go back to work as per usual."

"Very well, Kado. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're back," he said, flashing me a rare grin before ruffling through the papers strewn across his desk. Glancing out the tall arching widows behind him, I contemplated that this was probably the closest thing to approval I'd ever seen Vale give to… anyone, actually. "Here's the latest case," he said, shoving a thick stack of papers into my hands. "Williams turned traitor earlier this week, going off about releasing some demon so the Order can see 'the true beauty of chaos.' The demon he was referring to in his ravings, a kitsune, is a species found exclusively in Japan, so we've been monitoring any flights into or out of the country. We confiscated his keys slightly before then due to a few misdemeanors, mainly for using them in front of the general population carelessly, so he shouldn't be able to leave the country too easily, even if he's never been granted clearance to use an international key." I nodded, humming briefly in thought. That was one of the few nice things about being an exorcist - the keys made distant cities or far-off countries only a turn away. Hell, the only reason I walked in to work through the front door today was that I warped to a separate point and took a little detour to a cafe I liked beforehand to ease my nerves.

"Williams always seemed pretty stable, does anyone know what caused this?" I asked, and Vale sighed, rubbing his temples.

"That's the thing - there's nothing at all hinting why he would go do this. As far as the kitsune goes though, he checked out a book on Japanese demons from Canada's exorcist library a month ago, but that's it. Regardless, catching him is our top priority. If you-" he was cut off as his phone began ringing. It was a very boring default ringtone, and I liked mine much better (it was a soft piano tune rendition of a video game song). "Go handle general requests with Morrigan for now. Come back after lunch and tell me if you see Williams." I left the room as he picked up the phone, and his office quickly turned into a whirlwind of exclamations as even more papers spewed about. That phone call was apparently pretty important.

Making my way over to Lizzy's desk, I was thankful that most of the exorcists had already left for routine checks or exorcism requests. Less people meant less of a hassle for me, at least. Beige carpeting and white walls made for a dull walk - this place could really use some interior decorating. Lizzy's desk was a bit more noticeable than others though, superhero and anime posters seemingly adorning the walls of her cubicle at random, though I knew they were actually in alphabetical order. A few Batman comics were tucked neatly in the corner next to her cube-shaped computer monitor. If there was one thing I really missed from my past life, it was the technology. I knew that it would be back eventually, but for now I really missed smartphones and old (or future?) computers.

"Hey Lizzy, Vale said that I'm working with you today - we're taking general requests instead of… whatever you're doing," I said, tapping my fingers on the edge of her metal desk. Lizzy cheered.

"Yes! I was getting so bored, I was stuck on paperwork duty these past few days. It's a total pain in the ass," she quipped, pulling up the mission request board on her computer. "Let's see here… a leaper sighting near the beach, does that sound good to you?" I hummed.

"Sure, sure, let's get a move on then."

Thankfully, it was a quick job. Lizzy just summoned one of her familiars to take care of it (I didn't even have to draw my gun), and we got back with enough time to grab some take-out on the way back to the office. We chatted a bit on the way back, and once again I found myself internally reminiscing on my past life. I really missed some of the stories from there, the MCU and Fullmetal Alchemist in particular were ones that I still remembered in detail. I did watched anime once in a while nowadays, but considering the limited options compared to the golden age of the internet, well… there were only so many times one could rewatch Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hell, Trigun wasn't even out here yet! I tried to watch some of the other shows Lizzy recommended once in a while, and it was rather fun, but they also left me feeling vaguely homesick. I'd spent over twenty years here, so I'd mostly gotten over it, but I'd still go reflecting on back then once in a while.

Unfortunately, this peace did not last. Once we got to the office, the whole place was in an uproar. Lizzy asked someone about it, and apparently Vale had called for an emergency meeting in the main hall for all available exorcists. We rushed down to the main floor, barely making it in time. The heavy wooden doors slammed firmly closed behind us.

The room was packed to the brim with exorcists, and thanks to my… peculiar reputation, Lizzy dragged us to the front without much fuss from our coworkers, all the way up to the large stage with gold curtains. The main hall was one of the few rooms that was tastefully decorated, with larger windows than the rest of the building, hardwood flooring, a silver chandelier, and dark blue wallpaper with intricate silver and gold vines adorning it. The room was loud, with people eagerly talking with those from other departments that they rarely saw about the latest demons they've slayed. Vale, though, had his business face on so the crowd quieted rapidly as he walked onto the stage, his footsteps echoing loudly in the large room.

"Good afternoon, I am Erin Vale, Upper Second Class Exorcist. As many of you may know, Roger Williams, Lower First Class Exorcist, turned traitor earlier this month. This morning, he was spotted near Academy Town in Japan," he said sternly, and the room once broke out into hushed whispers. "As it was our failing for letting him escape the country, the Canada Branch has determined it vital that, alongside their own select forces, we send some of our own to help clean up this mess. Like any international mission, we will be given translation seals to accommodate for the language barrier. I will be leading this mission myself, and how long we will be there is uncertain, so if any of you cannot leave the country for personal reasons, please leave the room now." Vale paused in his speech to gesture towards the doors.

"A chance to go to Japan, an all inclusive work trip too! This'll be fun, right Ari?" Lizzy asked, bouncing on her heels enthusiastically. My lips twitched into a small smile.

"Yeah, but we'll be hunting down one of our own the whole time, so it's not all fun and games," I replied, twirling some of my loose hair with my left hand. "Besides, his keys were taken which means he must've had some outside help to get so far. That also means some of the Japan Branch will be suspicious of us the whole time, and vice-versa." Over half the room was gone now, not wanting to go one a wild goose chase. A lot of the younger exorcists stuck around though, and some of the really old ones did too. They probably either wanted a vacation or to prove their branch of the Order competent.

"But they'll be equally suspicious of all of us, at least. They won't be excessively hostile to you since they have no way of know about… that, and no one will want to bring Vale's ire by informing them either," she responded. I perked up at that.

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She laughed.

"Surprised me too, but Vale doesn't really like it when the others talk about the incident. It's supposed to be classified, so to see them being so open about it…" she shrugged. "It's not to say he trusts you - he doesn't, or at least I don't think he does - but he doesn't outright hate you for it, so that's a plus? Actually, even with you back the gossip is way better than right after the battle." I nodded, slightly fearful for my safety if constant whispers and glares were considered "better."

"I suppose that makes some sense, still surprising though."

Vale tapped the microphone and it blared loudly, catching the attention of the forty or so people still in the room.

"Right, it's good to see so many familiar faces. From those of you remaining, my picks for this mission are…" Vale began listing names rapid-fire. I recognized most, but didn't pay them much attention. Since they were his personal picks, I doubted I'd get to go. Lizzy cheered when she heard her name, and surprising I was the last one he listed. I stilled, pleasantly surprised. The rest of the room, however, was not.

"Why does she get to go?"

"We can't trust a witch!"

"Who let her back in here anyways?"

"Silence!" Vale shouted, face pale. "I chose who I deemed worthy for this mission and those capable as front-line fighters, just in case Williams gets his hands on the fox demon that he set his sights on. Regardless of how or your personal feelings on the matter, Intermediate Second Class Exorcist Arianna Kado is certainly a capable front-line fighter. This will be the mission team and that is final. We cannot and will not show this kind of internal fighting to the Japan Branch, understand? If you can't hold your tongue, leave." The room fell silent, and though the offer was there, no one dared to leave the room. "No further issues then? Good. Those participating in the mission, get ready immediately. We will be leaving in two hours. Any other missions you have are suspended, go get your belongings packed." With that, Vale stormed out of the room through one of the stage's side exits. The rest of the room fell into loud gossiping, mostly about me, and Lizzy dragged me out.

"Don't worry about them, this'll be a great trip! We'll catch him for sure and definitely have enough time for some minor sightseeing," she said in an attempt to distract me from the curses and glares being thrown my way. "Your dad's side of the family is from Japan too, right?" I nodded, grateful for her help as the pair of us made our way to the room of empty doors used for warp keys.

"Yeah, though I've never been there before. He didn't exactly leave them on the best of terms from what I understand. He only really talks to one of his sisters anymore," I rambled. "I do know the language though, so I won't always need the translation seal - though I'll definitely wear it just in case, even if they feel a bit weird." Lizzy smiled.

"I totally get what you mean, wearing it in Germany was pretty awkward - like, you get to speak and understand the language with no effort, but at the same time you're always conscious that you're doing so. It feels really weird on my tongue, you know?" she bantered lightly. "Though it works for written language too - hey, maybe I can read some manga to get ahead while I'm over there!" Her face significantly brightened at the suggestion, and I laughed.

"Good luck with that, if you buy any you won't be able to read it once we get back." At that, her face fell.

"Damn, you make a good point! Guess I can't take any books home, though figurines on the other hand…" she trailed off, smirking. "Well, here are the doors - see you!" I gave Lizzy a smile and wave as she used her key to go back to her home while I took my own out to warp to my apartment. Once I was surrounded by the familiar setting - cool beige tile and pale blue walls at the entryway, ever-so-comfortingly mine - I felt tension leave my shoulders that I didn't even realize was there.

I wouldn't be back here for a while, but maybe Lizzy was right. Japan would be a nice change in scenery, and maybe - just maybe - I could find people there to talk to that wouldn't treat me like I was cursed or made of glass.

After I finished packing, I quickly glanced at the clock on the wall. It had only taken me a little under an hour to throw things together, though admittedly I probably grabbed more than what was strictly needed. Fortunately, it wasn't that big of a deal since I had simply thrown everything in a pocket dimension anyways, so it wasn't like I had to carry any suitcases. Sighing, I triple checked my weapons one last time. Pistols? Check. Knives? Check. Ammo - live and tranquilizers? Check. Big pointy swords and rifles in that one specific pocket dimension? Check. I was as ready as I'll ever be.

Looking one last time in the mirror, I stretched, making sure my outfit was comfortable enough for a fight. Dark blue skinny jeans, black knee-high combat boots, my exorcist coat, black gloves, and a maroon turtleneck to match my eyes… I accidentally met my own gaze, red eyes slit like a snake's, and scowled. My eyes had always bothered me in this life, as they were so very different than my old ones. They used to be black here, which was at least a natural color, but now…

I shook my head. This would have to do. Taking out my keys, I warped back to work and made my way to the main hall. Lizzy was nowhere in sight - she was probably still packing. As I entered the room, an older exorcists asked me to show my ID before pointing me over to a few secluded booths that had been set up at the left side of the room. There were a few others milling about, but they all gave me a wide berth.

Inside the booth, an exorcist was waiting with an open book and some permanent markers. This was the easiest way to apply a translation seal for a limited time. Occasionally, temporary tattoos were used, but they come off too quickly for longer term missions like this one. Actual tattoos would be ideal, but unfortunately permanent translation seals were reserved for Arc Knights, the Grigori, the Paladin, and very select few international operatives. Interestingly enough, the Vatican Headquarters actually had translation seals woven into its barriers so the exorcists inside could always understand each other, regardless of where they came from. I took off one of my black gloves, revealing pale skin covered in burn scars and dark veins. The man grimaced.

"That looks… pretty bad," he said, rubbing his right hand behind his neck. He must've been from the national branch, as seal appliers often were, because he didn't shirk too far away from me at the obvious signs of magical backlash. I was relieved that the room was mostly empty and no one seemed to be watching me - the ones from the regional office would probably use this as more evidence that I was unfit for this mission, as twisted as it was.

"Yep," I chirped. "Though, as you can see, I have no real reason to take these off, so at least the seal will remain covered." The man nodded. It was standard procedure to cover translation seals at all times, for if a smarter enemy attacked them, it would fracture teamwork between the local and international exorcists if they could no longer understand each other. This was also why everyone had their translation seals in a different place that only they and their applier knew.

"Right, I'll get started then," the man said, taking the marker to my skin and chanting as he drew. Once he was done, he turned to me and said, "You can understand this, right?" I could, and prepared myself to reply back in the same language.

"Yes, the seal appears to be in working order. Thank you very much," I replied, and the man grinned.

"Great, good luck and have fun!" he said, and I gave him a small smile on my way out of the booth. Lizzy still wasn't here, so I found myself an unoccupied corner of the room and sat down, pulling a Harry Potter book out of a portal to kill some time.

I made a point to glance up to check the room after every few pages or so, and just as I thought, Lizzy was one of the last few to enter the hall out of the fifteen of us going, dragging a rather large suitcase behind her. I put my book away and made my way over to her after she got her own seal. She grinned at me, but we couldn't talk as Vale called the room to order.

"Thank you all for arriving on time," he said clearly, making use of the translation seal. "We will be using the international door, obviously, but don't let this fool you. We will be immediately warping to True Cross Academy, where we will be convening with both the Canada and Japan Branches' exorcists that have been assigned this mission alongside us. We will work cordially with both, or there will be consequences. Sir Pheles himself will greet us as soon as we get there." I rolled my shoulders, loosening them up from the building stress. The name sounded familiar, but it was of no consequence. The bigger concern I had was about the other exorcists that were awaiting us. Would they already know about me, or was Lizzy right? That was the question that would make or break our trip.

"Sir Pheles is the manager of the Japan Branch, right?" Lizzy whispered to me. I hummed in affirmation.

"Think so, that would explain where I've heard the name before," I replied softly.

"Everyone, please do your best!" Vale exclaimed as he swept aside the stage's golden curtains to reveal a large, intricately painted door - the international door of the Vancouver office. Gently inserting a key into the door, he opened it, and the rest of us piled in one by one. The Japan Branch's main headquarters was gorgeous - golden bridges in a circular room, below which was an endless abyss - but I unfortunately didn't have much time to admire the architecture as Vale immediately used another key on a smaller door to warp us to True Cross Academy. There, we were met with a seemingly infinite hallway. It had a black and red checkerboard floor and was lined with large, imposing doors separated by yellow and green pillars. Its design, while a tad eccentric, was certainly more visually interesting than the Vancouver office's. Vale closed the door and began leading us down the hallway towards the meeting room.

"This is a pretty cool building, to be honest," I commented, and Lizzy stifled a giggle. Out of the corner of my eye a noticed something small and white observing us from behind one of the pillars, but paid it no mind. I doubted a high-level demon would be running around a building used frequently by exorcists, different country or not, so it probably wasn't a threat.

"Of course you'd be eyeing the architecture, miss artist," she quipped, referencing the sketchbook I used to carry around to doodle in when I was bored at cram school. "I personally am more interested in all the new anime I can watch now - I heard that Cowboy Bebop was pretty good and just finished airing, think I can pick it up to binge back at the hotel or wherever we're staying?" I tried not to smirk, knowing that it was indeed a good show, though where she heard that I had no clue. Movement caught my attention and I turned to the pillar from before, noticing that a small white dog wearing a pink bandana with white polka dots and an exorcist pin was watching us intently. I had a strange feeling of deja vu, but shrugged it off. It couldn't be that important, right?

"Yeah, I'll watch it with you if you want. I'll even pay for it too as long as I get to keep it when we go back. I'll at least be able to enjoy it at home," I replied, and Lizzy hugged me.

"Thank you so, so much - it'll be a blast!" she said, smiling goofily. The other exorcists simply ignored us, whispering among themselves. As we walked towards the room, I kept looking back once in a while, noticing that the dog was trailing us. Eventually, I decided to say something to Lizzy, especially since the dog felt like something (magic, perhaps?) and seemed to be far more intelligent than a regular canine from how he was looking at us.

"Don't look now, but behind us on the right wall there is a small white dog following us," I said in English, just in case it could understand Japanese for whatever reason. Of course, Lizzy being Lizzy, she immediately looked behind her, and I resisted the urge to facepalm. I glanced back at the dog, since all subtlety was lost at this point, and it smirked back at us knowingly. I sighed.

"Yep, there's certainly a dog there. A rather cute one too! I would go pet it if it didn't have that pin on it. It might be someone's demon familiar, and I wouldn't want to make a bad first impression, you know?" she mused, her brown hair bobbing up and down as we walked. The dog twitched, seemingly offended. I covered a smirk with my left hand. It was a rather funny expression to see on a dog, after all. Although, him being a demon would certainly explain that aura.

"Ah, I'm not too sure about that, but it looks like we're here," I replied as Vale stopped in front of a slightly larger door that the others.

"This is it, folks. Remember to be unified in our approach, we stand as one organization," he said before prying the door open. Light flooded into our eyes as we were met with nearly thirty other exorcists. I recognized a few faces from the Canada Branch, meaning that they must've gotten here before us. Vale nodded in acknowledgement, and we filed into the room.

The exorcists from Vancouver all ignored me as expected, and though a small handful of others, presumably from the Canada Headquarters, seemed to avoid Lizzy and I, the majority didn't mind our presence at all, treating us as merely international colleagues. Lizzy and I ended up in a friendly conversation with a teacher at Japan's Cram School. He was an awkward man with light blue hair named Yamato, though he warmed up to Lizzy quickly when she mentioned she was a tamer. He taught Summoning and Demonology, apparently, and was enthused to find a knowledgeable soul from across the ocean to converse with. I checked out of the conversation shortly after they began comparing the demons of rot exclusive to their countries and instead glanced at the chalkboard and desk at the front of the room. The other desks were pushed to the side and the chairs were piled high; this seemed to be an old classroom that was half-heartedly deemed a meeting room at some point. The whole room, once again, felt vaguely familiar.

This whole trip, whatever little there was of it so far, was giving me a strong vibe of "definitely seen that before," even at the Japan Headquarters, which I knew that I've never been to before. Hell, I had never even been to the country before! Maybe something from my first life? I remembered that seeing coal tars for the first time reminded me of something too… an anime series, I believe?

That's right, an anime that took place in Japan, so I ignored it, deeming it irrelevant as I made room in my mind for more important things like sword fighting, shooting, and eventually magic. I was now regretting that I had forgotten most, if not all, of it because I was on a different continent that went untouched by the plot. What was it called again? Blue… something.

Great, a color. How helpful.

Besides, it was something I watched in middle school, so how the hell was I supposed to remember much-

Out of nowhere, pink smoke poofed into existence near the front of the room and a tall man with purple hair donning a white suite and cape emerged from it, standing atop the desk by the chalkboard.

"Guten morgen, exorcists!" he preened. I raised an eyebrow. He gave a German greeting in Japan to a group of mostly Canadians. Very… multicultural, I suppose. "My name is Mephisto Pheles, Honorary Knight and Head of the Japan Branch of the True Cross Order. I am honored to welcome our Canadian compatriots in an effort to smoke out a traitor of theirs, who was last seen on the outskirts of our very own Academy Town earlier today. I leave the rest of the explanations to Erin Vale, Upper Second Class Exorcist and leader of this mission." He smirked deviously and hopped down from the desk, gesturing to Vale who, at some point, had made his way to the front of the room. Vale began talking, all recap about Williams and his goals, but I was tuning him out.

My mind was reeling. Mephisto Pheles. Mephistopheles, as in the demon from the Faust legend? I never thought I'd thank the English teacher from my first life for those darn allusion projects but… well, I suppose it did come in handy after all (not in my original lifetime, but still, it's the thought that counts). That was probably why the name "Pheles" was vaguely familiar, but there was something else about him… that aura-

Oh, he was the dog from earlier.

I looked at him curiously. He wearing the same pink and white polka-dotted scarf/necktie thing, and it was no wonder he was offended when Lizzy called him a familiar.

…It was also pretty ironic that his dog form was so tiny when he himself was easily over six feet tall.

Tuning back in a little, Vale was still going on about Williams' behavioral patterns, all of which I knew from glancing over the report on the way to go fight the leaper. I turned to Lizzy, who was also barely paying attention and instead was intent on counting the ceiling tiles. I gently tapped on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Lizzy," I whispered, and she looked at me curiously. "Sir Pheles is the dog from earlier. Same necktie and magic aura." Her mouth formed a small 'o' in recognition.

"That's why he looks so familiar," she mumbled back. "I see it now, though I think he's looking at us." And indeed he was, sparing us a quick wink before going back to paying attention to Vale's speech. Taking that as our clue to pay attention again, Lizzy and I looked back to Vale, who actually began telling us useful information.

"We'll be splitting up in groups of two or three to cover as much ground in and around Academy Town as possible," Vale began. "Please try to split up from those you usually work with as well. Once the groups are formed, I will hand out patrol routes and schedules for the remainder of the week. All international exorcists will be staying in the old dormitories provided by the academy. Thank you for your time, and is there anything you have to add, Sir Pheles?" The man in question clapped his gloved hands and smiled widely.

"Yes, actually. I need a brave volunteer to be my secretary for the week since my usual one is… out of commission, I dare say. Normally, I wouldn't ask an exorcist to do something like this, but since there are so many of you now, it's not an issue, is it?" he said, shrugging. Vale looked constipated, but couldn't really deny him since he was an honorary knight and all. Besides, one exorcist wouldn't really make or break this mission. The room shuffled awkwardly, no one wanting to step forward. Actually, Yamato didn't even looked that surprised. Lizzy looked at him questioningly.

"He sometimes calls us teachers to do paperwork or carry stuff around for him too," he explained, running a hand through his blue hair. "Even though he doesn't really need anyone one for that, considering… I think he does stuff like this anyways just to show that he can. It's kind of annoying, and depending on how interested he is in you, it can be really weird too. Just don't let him get under your skin and you'll be fine - not that I think any of us will be called out for it. It's such a small chance with a room this big, after all." Unfortunately, as I should've known from the start, luck wasn't exactly on my side.

"No volunteers? Oh dear, it seems that my reputation precedes me," Sir Pheles mused. "Alas, whatever shall I do without an assistant? Hm… I suppose I'll have to choose someone then, you force my hand. You, in back. Blonde hair and red eyes? Come forward, dear." I sighed. Yeah, I was definitely the only one with red eyes in the room. The other exorcists parted, allowing me to easily make my way over to him. As I got closer, I belatedly realized that, between his sharp teeth (fully on display due to his wide smile), pointy ears, and slit green eyes, he was certainly a demon. That would explain why he was able to turn into a dog, I suppose.

"Very well, you'll do nicely. If you'll excuse me, Mr. Vale, we'll be on our way then. Good luck and auf wiedersehen!" he exclaimed before grabbing my arm with one hand and snapping his fingers with the other. In a puff of pink smoke, I was suddenly transported to a large office with deep red walls decorated with dark wood. A large desk sat in front of me, and behind it, in front of a very comfortable looking pink chair with golden cushions, stood Sir Pheles. The other exorcists, Lizzy and Yamato included, were nowhere to be seen. He smirked before picking up a towering pile of papers and shoving them at me.

"Chop chop, darling - we haven't got all day," he practically sang, gesturing to the coffee table and the brown and gold striped couch behind me. I realized he was speaking English, but I quickly brushed it off. That meant he probably knew that Lizzy and I were talking about him earlier, unluckily for me. He sat down and began working on his own stack, so I brought what papers I was saddled with over to the aforementioned coffee table and was pleasantly surprised that he had at least given me generic exorcism requests and completion forms that I could actually fill out and finalize. Sometimes, higher-ranked exorcists would give others more complicated or near impossible to complete forms to "break in the newbies" (surprisingly, Vale was actually very against this as he considered it "inefficient" and "a waste of time for everyone involved"). Realizing a bit too late that he hadn't given me a pen, I simply summoned one of my favorite gel pens from a pocket dimension as I didn't want to break his concentration by asking for one. This seemed to be a wrong choice as, though engrossed in his paperwork he seemed, Sir Pheles immediately looked up to catch me in the act. His grin grew shark-like.

"My, my, how did you manage that?" he crooned. "I don't believe I caught your name, dear." I sighed internally, resigning myself to my fate while externally schooling my face to hide my annoyance at being caught. Lizzy was right, why didn't I just carry around a pen like a normal human being? Right, because I could summon whatever I wanted as long as I put it away in a portal beforehand.

"Airi 'Arianna' Kado, sir - just another average exorcist." At this comment, he chuckled.

"That, Miss Kado, I highly doubt."

AN: I couldn't really resist writing this - I binged Blue Exorcist again for the first time in ages, and this idea wormed its way into my brain. It may be an OC story, but it's also very different in setup than what I've seen before. Hopefully it's interesting at the very least. I know this chapter is really OC heavy, which can be a bit difficult early on in a story, but it was a necessity with this concept. There are also a quite a few original ideas in here, so I hope that turned out alright in execution. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed reading!

3/7/19 - Minor grammar edits for ease of reading.

4/2/19 - More grammar edits, fixing a few sentences here and there for world building purposes.