A/N: So, there's the prologue. I predict about 2-5 more chapters until we reach the beginning of the manga/anime. Please don't expect any frequent updates, I don't often have time to write so get use to short chapters and sporadic updates.
Also, I don't like the title. If you guys have any suggestions, I would love to hear them!
Please leave a review! Constructive criticism is appreciated!
A/N: Hi all and welcome to the official first chapter! Sorry for taking so long to update :/ I've already warned ya'll that I'm a really crappy updater so yea… Thank you to everyone who followed/favorited/review my story, it really means a lot when I know people actually enjoy reading what I write. Hope you enjoy!
This fic has not been proofread/betaed. All mistakes are my own.
WARNING: This fic contains strong language, child abuse/negligence, torture, violence, dehumanization, and human experimentation. It will be graphic. If this isn't your cup of tea, turn away now. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
I don't own anything except the plot. Ao no Exorcist belongs to Kazue Kato.
Chapter 1: The Forest
The forest stretched for as far as the eye can see. Glittering white blanketed every available surface while a frigid wind whistled through the trees. The forest was unnaturally silent and still, as if time had frozen it with the cold.
The peace did not spread throughout the entire forest. Along the easternmost edge, a company of people broke through the icy spell that ensnared the rest of the woods. The group consisted of five individuals - three men, two women and one demon.
Fujimoto shivered and pulled his scarf higher over his face. Damn this cold! He doesn't get how anything could survive in this stupid forest when it was twenty degrees below freezing.
The dark-haired woman to his right offered him a sympathetic smile before tugging her own scarf higher. She called out, "Kantaro-san, how much further?"
"Not much. She can't be more than a mile away."
"Tsk. How the hell did that woman travel ten miles deep into a forest on foot? And pregnant too!" A large, blond man complained as he trudged through the snow.
"Isn't it obvious Ryo?" A young, woman in the back replied. "The slut had demons to help her." Her gray eyes narrowed as something flashed in the corner of her eye. She cautiously placed a hand on the holsters at her hip. "And they're still here."
The entire group tensed at her words and multiple hands reached for weapons. A slight breeze picked up, making the branches of the trees swish lazily. Killing intent leaked off the exorcists as they slowly began forming a defensive circle. Their eyes darted through the trees, hoping to catch the slightest movement. Not one of them moved, bodies tense and poised for action until -
"Boo!"
The gray-eyed woman reacted instantaneously. Without looking, she whipped her right hand ninety degrees to the right and fired four times towards the direction of the voice before turning her head and spotting Mephisto Pheles smirking at her. She stared at him in shock as he opened his left hand and displayed the bullets caught between his fingers. "Excellent reaction time Irina-chan! If I wasn't as powerful as I was, I'd be dead ~"
"Why you -"
Ryo marched up to the demon and grabbed his shirt collar. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
Mephisto offered the large man a lazy grin. "I'm just clearing up the tension! All your killing intent was putting me off my mojo ~ "
"What the hell is that suppose to mean?!"
Mephisto's smile didn't fade, but his eyes took on a harder glint. "You all need to relax." His eyes flashed to the gray-eyed woman. "Especially Irina-chan. Didn't you learn that hostile intentions attract demons?" His grin grew wider, "even more so since we have such a talented group here! All the high-leveled demons are gonna come running in a few minutes ~ "
Ryo snarled angrily and lifted the demon off the ground. He drew back his other hand to punch Mephisto, but paused when he felt a hand on his elbow.
"Pheles-san is right." Shiro's eyes bore into the others'. "We all need to calm down. These forest are infested with all sorts of demons and we don't have the time to deal with them. The mission comes first."
While Shiro was by no means a short man standing at 5'10, Ryo dwarfed him by a foot and weighed nearly twice as much as him. But Shiro wasn't an Arc Knight for nothing, and he knew that if it came down to a fight, he could beat the red-head five ways to hell without batting an eye.
Ryo slowly put Mephisto down while glaring at him. Shiro walked up to a scruffy-bearded man.
"Kantaro-san, which way?"
Kantaro gestured through a copse of trees. " 'bout another half-mile or so."
Shiro adjusted his glasses and started picking his way through the snow.
"Let's move. We don't wanna stay in one place too long."
"We're here."
The team lingered along the meadow's edge, still hiding amongst the tree's shelter. Ahead, pale blue light spilled from the cave's entrance, illuminating the snow surrounding it.
"So the slut actually fucked him after all." Ryo growled.
"Be on guard everyone, Satan may be present to guard his mate." The dark-haired woman warned.
"No…" Kantaro whispered. "Satan isn't here."
"What? How do you know?" Irina asked as she pushed her waist-length, ash-blonde hair behind her ears.
"The killing intent present during the Blue Night isn't here." Kantaro answered. "These flames feels far more… gentle"
"He's right." Shiro said. He turned to look at the younger woman. "You'll be able to gauge the amount of killing intent the longer you're in the field, Kirai-san."
Shiro looked towards the dark-haired woman. "Naomi, can you send some greenmen to scout the area?"
"Of course." Naomi pulled out some summoning paper and whispered a chant under her breath. Two greenmen, about six inches tall poofed into existence and beelined towards the cave entrance. Naomi then pulled out a pair of black goggles and slipped them over her eyes. The lense of the goggles were charcoal gray which were held in place by a black leather frame etched with several runes. Naomi chanted another spell and the two glowing, green runes materialized on the lenses.
"There are about fifteen to twenty demons present." She reported. "The strongest seems to be a mid-level hellhound. Most of them are mid to low leveled snowmen and plant demons. The target is resting on a giant flower in the middle."
Naomi paused and frowned. "She's already given birth and it's a...twins?" Naomi said in a surprised voice.
"Twins? There's two of them then?" Ryo growled.
"No…" Naomi hesitated before speaking again. "Only one of them has the flames. The other one seems human."
"That doesn't mean it is human though." Irina said. "We should kill them both along with that bitch"
"No." Mephisto finally spoke up. His icy voice cut through the whispered silence. "We will not kill any of them. The Grigori ordered all of them to be brought back alive."
"If possible. They want them to be brought back alive if possible." Irina snapped back, grey eyes flashing.
"We are not killing them." Shiro growled, killing intent flaring towards Irina, who shrank back at the Arc Knight's anger. "We are not slaughtering two innocent children."
"Children?!." Irina's eyes blazed with hate. She marched up to the Arc Knight and shoved her face right up against his. "They are not children! They are monsters, spawns of Satan. They are the cause of the Blue Night! They killed dozens of skilled exorcist, including my mother!"
Shiro gazed down at the young woman with pity. Irina's chest heaved, her beautiful face red with anger. Her shoulders shook with grief and fury, her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"Kantaro-san, control your subordinate." Shiro said.
"Irina…" Kantaro placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her away from Shiro.
"I'm sorry about your loss Kirai-san." Shiro said not unkindly. "But all of us lost someone that night, including me. Yes, those children may have been the reason for the Blue Night, but they did not kill anyone. Satan killed your mother. Keep that in mind."
Irina turned her head away from Shiro. "I apologize Fujimoto-sama. Please forgive my rudeness."
"It is forgiven and forgotten." Shiro replied kindly.
"Great!" Mephisto piped up, breaking the awkward tension. "Let's go get my little brothers! The sooner I get out of this snow the happier I'll be ~"
Exorcist File #6175
Name: Irina Kirai
Rank: Middle First Class
Meisters: Dragoon, Knight,
Partner: Kantaro Kouta (see file #5987)
Age: 19
Birthdate: 7/12/XXXX
Height: 5'7
Weight: 127 lbs
Hair Color: Ash Blonde
Eye Color: Grey
Nationality: Japanese and Russian
Father: Ivan Alexei Makrovich (see file #5471)
Mother: Sakuya Kirai (deceased) (see file #5693)
Weapons: Glock 17 semi-automatic handgun 9x19mm. Two 11-inch tantos. Misc. supplies
Extra Notes: A prodigy - youngest exorcist age 14. Extremely skilled hand-to-hand fighter. Quick, agile, flexible. Observant and smart. The perfect exorcist. Areas of improvement: Teamwork. Must learn to control bloodlust - often times risk team b/c charges into battle.
A/N: Welp, this is the end of my first chapter. I have no knowledge of guns whatsoever, so any weapons mentioned are just stuff I pulled from Wikipedia :/
As many of you can tell, I've already made many changes to the universe. One example being the goggles Naomi uses. I've always thought that the tools in AoE could be expanded to even more than just weapons. Especially since runes seem to be the source of a lot of power that I feel Kazuo-sensei neglects to expand upon. Goggles like Naomi's are normally used for surveillance as tamers can see what their demon's are seeing through the goggles. Throughout the fic, I'll expand much more on weapons/tools as well as demon types besides the ones mentioned in the manga (One example being the aforementioned hellhound).
Anyway, thanks for reading Inhumane and please leave a review if you enjoyed!
