Song 4: Battle Hymn of the Young Hawk

Into the wind, into the fire

Her wings cut away the doubt that binds her.

In between breakfast and lunch, which was all of three hours for me, Aunty and I did the house chores and went through old photo albums. Aunty had different pictures of grandma, most of which were taken by grandma herself. It seems like grandma back then liked to take a camera everywhere with her. Grandma must have loved those people, the other members of the Black Order. She had so many pictures of them. It was striking how young they were. Most of them were teenagers, younger than me, and there were some my age…it was a bit scary to note that in all the pictures she took there were only about three to five older Clergymen for the entire group of younger people. I saw a picture of the building they lived at- apparently they were still in the same place. I also saw a lot of pictures of demons. Lots and lots of different kinds were in Grandma's photo album. There were many pictures of grandpa too. In most of them, Grandpa looked like a spunky delinquent with a pair of boomerang swords.

Aunty told me a little about what was in each picture. There was a middle aged man in one of them that vaguely reminded me of a large, cranky panda bear. "Aunty, who's this person?"

"That guy was called "Bookman" if I remember right. He was a strange person. He'd always be drifting around, saying cryptic things that your mother and I never understood. He's a very good fighter though." Aunty replied.

"All the pictures of the Black Order building are on cloudy days…" I noticed after a while.

"Their weather is rather turbulent on most days," Aunty said, but didn't elaborate on it. "…Are you sure about this, Melody?"

"I want to find my saviour-" I started but she cut me off.

"Are you sure you want to go to the Black Order?" she said again.

"Yes. Whatever happens after that…I'll cross that bridge when I get there," I told her.

Aunty sighed again, and then got up. I think she went to make lunch. I spent some more time looking at the album. The demon pictures fascinated me, in a really macabre way. Some of the pictures showed grandma fighting a demon with a whip-like weapon. I noticed a small white cross-marking on the handle, where the pictures showed her using a different grip. I wondered if it was the same as the one on the amulet I inherited from her. I didn't get a chance to check, however, since Aunty called me up for lunch right then. I took the album with me, meaning to ask Aunty about some of it.

Aunty made pasta for lunch. I was happy about that- although I could eat anything happily, I had a particular liking for noodles. I forgot to ask what I had in mind- I never did get another chance to, at least, not in the way that I liked. Like, for instance, why was I being shown this particular album? It was almost she was priming me for something…

"Thank you, Aunty. That was very tasty." I told her when we'd finished eating.

"I'm glad you liked it. Oh, you brought the photo album with you. Why don't you keep it with you? There are still some empty pages you can add your own memories to. You're going to be moving into your own place after today, if I remember what you told me. You can take your grandmother's camera too, I'm sure she'd want you to have it." Aunty told me. I had a very strange feeling about it…it was as though she already knew something about me that I had yet to find out. "Well, let's not linger around here! If you want to go give your thanks to that young priest, we might as well do this sooner rather than later. I told you before they don't tend to last long in their line of work."

Aunty gave me a brown messenger bag, putting the camera and the photo album in it. Then she led me to her garage, where we both got into her car. "Thank you, Aunty." She nodded, smiling, though I'm not sure if that was a happy smile or not.

"Well, at least little sister brought you up properly. I wonder how much you'll be thanking me for doing this soon, though," she said enigmatically. I would be lying if I said I wasn't getting just a bit annoyed with Aunty. What was with the cryptic phrases, and the feeling that she was driving me to my execution or something? And yet, even as I pondered this, I knew she wouldn't tell me unless she absolutely had to.

We stopped at the university first. I found my suitcases in the foyer of the dorm house I lived in during my time as a student here. The house guard was standing nearby, handing the departing students their things so as to avoid thefts. The school wasn't liable for stolen goods, but still, this guard, William, he wanted to prevent it in any way he could.

"Melody Hunter?" he asked when I came up to the counter.

"Yes sir."

"Alright, just give me a moment…here, and here. Just two?" he asked.

"Yes. Thank you sir."

"Good luck out there, Melody. We'll miss you here. You'd better not stop singing, no matter what, you hear?" he said suddenly, breaking a small grin. "It'll be terribly quiet without your joyful singing, little lark. …I'm sorry about Clara."

"Thank you, sir…I'll miss everyone here too, and…I'm sure…Clara is a better place…now…" I couldn't stop myself from choking on the last bit. Clara. Why did it have to be you, Clara?

I took my bags with me and got back into Aunty's car. After that, we drove for a long time. At least, it felt like a long time. We were on the road for a few hours and neither of us was talking much. Even the air felt tense and moody. When we left it was still somewhat sunny, but being in England, it didn't take long for the rain clouds to return. As we travelled further and further away from the heart of the city, it seemed to become chillier and the clouds were thicker and darker. At last we stopped in front of a tall hill whose only way up was a thin, winding path that didn't look very well used.

"Goodness, I've heard that the path of virtue and goodness was narrow and hard, but these people seem to have taken it a bit too literally." I tried to lighten the mood as we climbed up.

"Indeed," Aunty replied with a small smile. "But so is the path of life. Harsh, unforgiving, it has a few nice patches, but many places where the road is broken off."

The climb was long and arduous. By the time we'd gotten to the top, which felt like it had taken hours, the sky was nearly black- I couldn't tell if that was because of the time or because of the clouds. That was unsettling. And it didn't help my nerves when I started to get the distinct feeling of being watched.

"…Aunty, I feel like something's watching us." I said quietly, even as we approached the door. It made no sound, so I couldn't tell if it was a friend or foe.

"Pretend you didn't notice anything. Draw it out. If it's a friend, nothing will happen. If it's an enemy, well, we're near help," she answered tersely.

As I soon found out, we didn't have to wait for very long. There was a faint clicking sound, like the barrel of a gun. Before I could even think the profanities appropriate to the situation, my Aunty had tackled me to the ground. My glasses flew off and the world went out of focus.

"Get down!" she shouted, and the next thing I heard were bullets whizzing through the air. They smelled kind of odd as well, not like the regular bullets that left a burnt scent, but an oily scent…like blood, almost. I twisted around, trying to see if I could at least make out the shape of what was firing on us.

I wish I hadn't.

I couldn't see what it was, exactly, other than that it had some dark splotch for a face, a really big, round body and lots of rod-like things that I guess are gun barrels. It looked like a misplaced sea mine or a mutated balloon. Faintly, I thought I could hear wailing or screaming coming from it, but I hadn't had time to ponder further. Its guns were turning again and both Aunty and I were just getting to our feet. If one of those bullets hit us, I was sure it would be the end of us. Aunty grabbed my hand and dragged me to the side of the road, thinking to hide in the boulders.

"Wait here," she said quietly, slipping away into the dark. "I'll try to go get help, and pray, pray that your grandmother's amulet will protect you while I'm out."

"No-" I tried to stop her, but it was too late. She'd gone, and whether she was well or not, I didn't know. I was stuck alone behind a rock, unsure of what was out there, and blind as a bat to boot. I could hear explosions, clunking, whirring noises, getting closer to me. "Oh Lord. Please let me get through this alive, please don't let Aunty die trying to get help…" I felt the amulet around my throat start to burn as though in response to my thoughts. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Last night when it started doing that I was being chased by a demon… and I just had to look up!

It was much closer, practically on top of me now, and yes, it had to be a demon. It had the most grotesque clown mask I have ever seen. Also, I think it saw me, since it had all of the gun barrels pointing at me and I had no place to run. In fact, by the time I'd noticed, it was just about to fire, so I definitely couldn't escape. Again, for the second time in two days, I found myself mentally preparing for death.

The blow never came. I did, however, hear a loud cracking noise and saw, in my horrible vision, a large part of a tree fall close to where I was sitting. I probably didn't notice it in my panic. I was allowed a few more moments to live, apparently. The amulet was glowing quite fiercely, though, so it wouldn't take long for the demon to home in on me. Regardless, I was glad to be alive.

"Hallelujah, hallelujah, I'm not dead yet." I choked out. The amulet got so bright I couldn't even see in front of me, before suddenly jumping onto my head and taking the form of what felt like a headset. I heard steps approaching me.

"MELODY, IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE, SING!" Aunty roared over the noise. Sing?! What kind of weird command was that? How could I sing when I was being fired at? "STOP THINKING AND JUST DO IT!" Aunty yelled from somewhere behind me. Then again, if she can give such a weird instruction, she probably knows more than I do as to what's going on. So I sang.

"Sáncte Míchael Archángele,

defénde nos in proélio,

cóntra nequítiam et insídias diáboli ésto præsídium.

Ímperet ílli Déus,

súpplices deprecámur: tuque,

prínceps milítiæ cæléstis,

Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos,

qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in múndo,

divína virtúte, in inférnum detrúde.

Ámen."

All I could remember at that point was the prayer of St. Michael the Archangel, so I sang. Then things got strange again. As soon as I'd started the hymn, the large bulbous…thing froze on the spot, and started twitching as though it were paralyzed. Then it started to vibrate violently, before I heard another sound…the sound of an organ symphony. That was followed by the metallic sound of a blade, finally ending when I got to the "Amen". The demon screamed and disappeared. I thought I heard a relieved sigh, but I couldn't be sure, it was so fleeting and faint. So that's what my aunt meant when she told me to sing. My voice has power like this…come to think of it, if I'd used it at the cemetery…no, I don't think I could have killed Joshua again. Even I could see that I had only managed to bind it.

When I got used to the newly-restored quiet, I noticed two blobs of colour coming towards, and with it, two sets of footsteps. The set closest to me was light, swift and purposeful, while the one a bit farther behind was more relaxed and heavier. I squinted up at…him, I think it's a man. The rhythm of footfalls seems to be like a man, don't ask me how I know that, I just know. I had the distinct feeling he was looking me over or something. I tried to return the stare, but I couldn't really see where his eyes were. He was Oriental, I could tell that much by his colours.

"Che, another string bean. I don't know or care why you're here, little girl, but if you can't even fight off a level 1 on your own, you shouldn't be here," he said coldly before walking off to somewhere. Well, that wasn't very nice! I mean, sure they probably didn't need any help but I did something.

"Don't mind Kanda," said a deeper, calmer voice from somewhere above me. "He's probably grumpy from sentry duty and only getting a level 1 akuma to fight." If I could see, I think he might have been smiling. I nodded to show I heard him. I saw a movement and flinched in reflex. When nothing hit me, I looked closer. I couldn't make out much of it, other than it had rings and that his skin was dark. "I'm Noise Marie. Are you alright?" I reached out to shake it and felt myself hauled to my feet. I could feel callouses on his palm, signs of a hard life.

"I'm a bit shaken, but otherwise fine," I said, smiling back. "My name is Melody Hunter. Er…you wouldn't happen to have seen my glasses, would you?"

"No, I'm afraid I haven't. Do you need help getting to Headquarters?" he asked. His voice was deep, and it rang with patience and kindness. There was also a certain reserve in there, and overall, it gave me the mental image of a bear.

"Please, if you wouldn't mind. I'm sorry to be a burden, I cannot see at all without my glasses." I saw a blur that was a person walk by.

"I'll take point then. Follow me and don't fall behind." It was Kanda, I think his name was. The grumpy samurai. I could hear his sword clicking against his side.

"Well, it's a good thing he's here." Noise Marie said, a smile in his words. "Otherwise it would be the blind leading the blind, haha." That joke was so…wow. Even I couldn't help laughing, even though logically, it shouldn't be funny.

So the three of us walked towards a cliff. I didn't know why we were just going there, but I kept a grin on my face and followed without question. That Kanda guy wasn't nice, but I was sure he knew what he was doing. He pressed a few buttons and said some things I couldn't make out into an intercom, and the cliff face opened, revealing an elevator.

"Whoa…"

"Are you coming or not? I'll leave you here if you're just going to gape," Kanda said.

"Ah, I'm sorry." I stepped inside, and went up, up…towards destiny.