A/N

Thanks for being patient with these updates. This chapter is slow but full of information that will be vital later on. This is also where I start deviating from Ao no Exorcist canon.

Happy reading, and as always―

Happy writing.

―IgnisVulpes

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"Unusual doors often take you to the unusual worlds!"

― Mehmet Murat ildan

._..._.

._.

Shura opened the door with a flourish. "Tadah~"

To say it was disappointing would be lenient.

"Well? Don't be shy. Come in, come in~"

"You suck this, don't you?" Rin asked, following reluctantly into the old wooden room. It was darker and dustier than originally thought, particles in the air filtering out any stray light from the grungy windows. The stench of damp wood and disturbed dust overwhelmed his sensitive nose and eyes.

"Where is this?" Rin sniffed, noticing his breath for the first time. "It's cold."

Shura moved across the creaking floors and pulled out two jackets from a hidden closet, tossing one to him. "Put that on, fire-cracker. Even yer flames won't keep ya warm here."

She also grabbed thick pants, gloves, and boots for them. When Rin continued staring, she asked, "What's wrong with yer face?"

"No... I just... there's more cloth than skin for once."

She frowned at him. Then snorted when she realized what he meant. Arthur once called her usual outfits "unprofessional" and "scandalous." She always rebutted that he was an annoying old geezer and justified it by pointing out his stuffy layers. Him and the rest of the population. "Disappointed, are ya? Liked what ya saw?"

He scoffed. "That's disgusting, considering yer such an old h―oof!"

She lashed out with a surprise attack, buckling his knees so he landed flat on his back.

"Still a kid after all," she sighed, raising her palms up forlornly.

"S-says the one that can't take a joke," he choked, trying to catch the wind that had been knocked from him. He rose with a grunt, shooting daggers at the high-spirited Shura while her back was turned.

"Ready yet, princess?"

"How can I when you haven't told me what we're doin' here?" Rin grumbled, shoving a leg into the snow pants.

"It wouldn't be any fun if I told ya everythin'." She threw an arm around his neck and led him to a door at the back of the room even as he struggled to get his other leg in the pants. A blast of cold air slammed into the cabin before he finished.

"Jesus! Has Hell frozen over? This doesn't feel like Japan!"

"'Cause it's not, smarty."

She unhooked her arm and shoved him outside.

Of all the unholy, cruel, sadistic―cold electricity ran up his claves and spine as Rin stumbled into thick snow. He turned, planning to drag Shura out but paused when he noticed the room was actually an isolated cabin in a forest. Charming, in a horror-movie kind of way. The sun was nowhere to be seen, but his heightened vision made everything clearly visible in the dark.

"You're not planning on offing me here, are you?

Shura leaned against the door post with a snort. "Not a bad idea, but I've put too much effort into you already to let it go to waste." She pointed upwards. Rin followed along and had to stop his jaw from dropping.

Lights. Green and yellow lights danced across the sky. And so many stars. He'd never seen such an incredible amount at once before.

Shura watched him carefully. Her arms in satisfaction when she felt some of his strain ease. "This place," she explained, "was a present to the first-class exorcists and high ranked officials in True Cross."

The snow-covered mountains were layered in tall and thin needled trees. The cold, dry night air was filled with countless stars and dancing lights, both of which brought life to a sleeping, frozen land. A hell of a gift compared to the gift certificate to Ichigo's he got from Shiro last year. "Where is this?"

"America," she said, relishing the baffled disbelief on his face. "More specifically, the Brooks Mountain Range in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A restricted area because of its untouched landscape and diverse wildlife. Or so the public is told."

"What do you mean?"

"The wildlife is diverse."?

He frowned. So what if there were a lot of different... oh. Oh! "There's demons in the park they want us to take care of, isn't there?"

Shura sighed even as Rin's tail wagged in pride. That should have been obvious from the get-go. Maybe she should have left him with Yukio...

"Still, for a place with demons, it's beautiful."

Shura glanced at him, how he nearly glowed with content and re-evaluated. Maybe it wasn't so bad an idea after all. If this place could heal his spirits like how it raised hers when… she shook away the thought. "So?" she asked, earning a curious glance. "Should we train here?"

Rin looked at her in awe. "Here?" The young teen's eyes swept across the landscape again. His tail swished. "Seriously?"

Shura nodded then became serious. "But first... Rin. About the classroom today..."

"Ah." His tail stilled. "Sorry, Shura. It's like you said; their reaction was normal. I just thought… anyways, I'll work hard. I'll show 'em I'm still the same old me!"

It was the second time Shura felt herself silent admiring the teen. Really. Talk about resilience. She smirked and tousled his hair.

"Oi! What are ya―"

"If it's you, you can do it."

Rin shut his mouth. Shura was giving him a strange look, one that reminded him of Shiro. It made him feel a gentle warmth. "A-anyway, was that all you had to say?"

Shura brought her hand back to her hip. "On that subject, yea." Her eyes drifted to the sky. "There's one other thing... How are ya feeling?"

Rin blinked, immediately suspicious at her rare concern. "Why are you asking?"

"Because o' where we are. It's not a trick question. Do ya feel even a little different?"

He paused and focused on his body, testing movements, tensing and relaxing muscles. "Now that you mention it, I feel... kinda light."

"It's probably because o' those," Shura explained, pointing to the dancing lights. "Those lights are produced from an interaction between the sun's charged particles and the earth's magnetic field." Shura turned and found Rin's eyes glazed-over. "The giant light show is from too much energy in the atmosphere."

"I see," Rin hummed, barely understanding at all.

Shura went on, "The lights usually appear between September and March here, and that's the height o' the demons' activity. They feed on the energy like a cold dessert. But it's not unique to just demons."

In a low voice, Shura began chanting and extended her arm. Rin watched as a small ball of golden light came to life in her palm. "Right now, I'm using my own energy to maintain this, but if I tap into what's around..." Her eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly, the ball grew three times its original size. The intensity of the light easily doubled, causing Rin to shield his eyes. The incantation ended quickly, and the young teen couldn't hold back his amazement.

"That's so cool! I didn't know exorcists could draw energy from around them!"

Shura took a few breaths. "'ts not that simple." Did she seem a little tired? "Not every exorcist can do it. Arias and Tamers are more attuned to this type o' trick. They summon demons or instill energy into fatal verses, so they have a compatibility with the energy around them. Even so, only disciplined exorcists can perfect the technique. Yukio hasn't been able to and I can barely hold the connection for more than a few seconds."

Rin hummed in disappointment. "What good is that if it just tires you out so quick? You barely held onto that light for ten seconds."

"True, but in a pinch, that little bit of energy can mean the difference in defeating a demon or losing to one." Her nose crinkled. "Though yer a giant ball o' flames, so I doubt you'll ever need to rely on this."

Rin snorted.

"However, since yer part demon, the energy should flow to ya naturally."

Her pupil's brow furrowed. "So I'm a magnet?" he asked, looking at his hands suspiciously.

"More like yer body naturally draws in the energy to keep it functioning. It's a natural adaptation demons have to survive here. Assiah and Gehenna are mirrors, reflections of one another. From what our scientists understand, there isn't much compatibility between the energy in both realms. That's why a demon's miasma has negative effects on anything it touches. That's also why many demons can't survive here and don't cross the border."

"That doesn't make sense," Rin realized. He considered himself a prodigy for discovering a paradox. "If energy from Gehenna and Assiah is so different, how do demons exist here?"

"Are you a baka?"

Rin's ego was crushed. "Hah? It's a good question!"

"You learned that on day one o' cram school!" Shura scolded.

Rin paled, his pride dispelling into a wisp of smoke. "Oh. Well... let's pretend I was absent that day."

"Yeah, absent in the head," she growled, smacking him for good measure. "Demons survive by drawing in and transforming this world's energy. It's a natural process for them, one they've evolved. Coal Tar are a simple example. They possess dust an' dirt. It takes energy to do that, an' bein' low-level demons they get a majority of it from the surrounding area. 't's why Coal Tar are common in industrial areas an' cities. Some demons are strong enough to use a living being's energy. However, only upper-class demons have the control necessary to possess an' take over a living being's body. They have to have enough of their own energy to overpower whatever they're possessing. In essence, it's a battle of will between the possessor and possessee."

Shiro briefly flashed into Rin's mind. He ignored the pang in his chest. "So this area, being that the lights are energy, is highly attractive to demons," Rin concluded, glancing at Shura for confirmation.

She nodded in approval. "The rangers here have numerous reports about wildlife behavin' oddly. Bears active in the dead of winter; horses raging through snow drifts instead of warmer areas; birds flying North instead of South for the winter; even plants growing too large or blossoming in extremely cold temperatures. The wildlife is plain odd when the Aurora is out. So, they called in True Cross an' lo 'n behold-we found a demon hot spot. Now it's a great place for upper exorcists to train. I hadn't planned to bring ya here until ya advanced some more but..."

She gave him a Cheshire grin. Rin paled.

"We're going to have such fun here."

That smile never boded well for him.

Thanks for reading. Your reviews/comments kep me motivated.

WriterKillsReader― glad you've found it interesting. Unfortunately, this is the beginning of where I begin to stray from Blue Exorcist canon. It'll only get crazier from here, but I hope you'll stick around!

Cheers~

IgnisVulpes