Chapter 25, Camp Trials
It had been about a week since Ms. Kirigakure became one of the new teachers at the True Cross University, and the head professor of multiple classes. Each day, the men would try not to stare at her tits, while the girls would give her a look of contempt; however, Shima wouldn't even try to hide his interest in the new teachers' form. Something had come over Rin since he got dragged off with her, that day after the ghost hunt, and since then he was even more determined and much more focused on the study work that needed to be done.
The girl continued pursuing her goals, training hard with Yukio and honing her skills as an Aria and Dragoon; but every time the young teacher requested that she practice her Tamer talents, she would freeze up and refuse. Something about the massive black wolf had terrified her even more than before; if he was a high class demon, why was she able to call on him? Why did he vow to protect her? Could she continue to control him, or was he another powerful, unstoppable force like the green haired demon?
She sat around the fire at the makeshift camp, sipping on her malt beer, intensely watching the red flames crackle in the pit. The sound of Shura's babbling laughter caught the girls' attention, only for her to see the redhead pester Yukio, already drunk off her ass, cans strewn about on the forest floor. She had often wondered why this woman had been selected to be the new teacher, taking the place of other, good instructors. Obviously a First Class Exorcist had a lot of knowledge and skill, but so far, she just seemed like a lush.
Shiemi sat chatting quietly with a giggling Rin as they ate, enjoying the late summer evening. Things might not have been completely back to their original standing, between the girl and Rin, but at least the two of them were on speaking terms, and had since apologized for his behavior, telling the girl that he just wanted to be friends. It seemed that since she had turned him down on that summer afternoon, he was instead beginning to realize his own feelings for the sweet Shiemi. It was good, the girl thought; but she had a feeling that the two twins might have similar emotions about the little blonde girl, and during their talks, Shiemi would renounce any suggestion that she may hold romantic feelings for either of the boys.
Yukio stood up from the large circle of exwire's, pushing his drink into the dirt to keep it steady. He explained that the reason for the three-day camp in the woods was to test the cram school students. Each person would depart from the sigil engraved around the camp site, and head into the woods, with only the provisions provided – he plopped a backpack down in front of his feet. He informed the group that there were three lanterns that must be lighted and returned to camp, and those who accomplish this task would earn the right to serve in real combat missions. The class murmured to one another and the teacher buzzed on, and most of them began rummaging through their packs to see what items they were allowed to use: food, water, sleeping supplies, hygiene necessities, a compass, a small torch, a bottle-rocket firework, and a single match. If they were to get into trouble and needed assistance, they could light the firecracker into the air as a signal, or they could try to save the match to light the lantern. The choice was theirs.
The exwire's all stood and prepped themselves, spacing far apart at the edge of the circle while Yukio went over the rules of the trial. Suguro started hollering about how no one could help one another; the girl just rolled her eyes, focused on getting the task done. She was not allowed a gun, so she needed to be as attentive as possible.
With a bang, everyone darted off into the woods, turning on their flashlights as they entered the thick. Thinking quickly, the girl left hers off, hoping to spare the batteries for when it was most necessary, and let her eyes adjust to the moonlight as best as possible. As she jogged through the thickets, maneuvering herself as best as possible, occasionally tripping over a root, or getting tangled up in vines, she felt the faint flutters of wings around her. Stopping in her tracks, she listened, closing her eyes so that they would search no farther through the dark.
"Chuchi demons," she mumbled, waving an arm in the air to keep them away. She repeated the same protective barrier chant that she had used during the ghoul attack, so long ago, and continued on her way.
"I see she's grown quite a bit," an unenthusiastic voice muttered to itself. The demon watched from the treetops, unseen by all the humans below. Moving his blue eyes across the forest floor, he settled on Moriyama. "Oh good, they're planting an egg in her like I ordered. It seems our younger brother has turned his attention to this human—for whatever reason—so this should be fun."
As the girl trudged on through the forest, using her skills as an aria and tamer to ask the spirits of the forest to move some of the branches and thickets that she would have otherwise been unable to get through without a machete, a bright blue flash illuminated off in the distance, lighting up the whole forest. It quickly dissipated, and she stared off into the growing darkness. "I wonder what that was." A fiery, blue light, just like the one's Satan was said to use. Some voices shouted, bouncing off the trees throughout the forest, too far away for her to make out what was being said.
"Oh, there you are, elder brother," the boy said plainly as Mephisto's bat umbrella flapped forcefully. "I was afraid you would miss the show."
"I had things to attend to. How are they doing?" he questioned.
"Your human is doing well enough," he started, a ping in his belly as he referred to the girl in such a way. "But that woman has noticed us—what a nuisance." His eyes shot down at the drunk redhead, sitting in the sigil around the camp, staring up into the night sky.
Feeling a familiar presence, the girl looked up into the darkness around her, wondering what kind of demon it was as she continued on her journey. Coming to a small clearing, the light of the moon shined down brightly on a small building, like an outhouse or a water house. She flicked on her flashlight to get a better look, and that's when she noticed something: It wasn't a building at all, it was the lantern.
"This complicates things a bit…" she sighed as she walked closer, examining the object. It was made of a stucco-like material, and had some engravings on it. It was then that a small beam of light bounced through the trees and into the clearing—Izumo jogged out of the brush and seemed quite shocked to see the girl already by the lantern.
"Isn't this one of those demon lamps?" the girl asked, realizing she had read something about them on a page in her Demonology textbook. Suddenly, Yukio's warning at the beginning of the mission made sense. These types of lanterns had a way of moving themselves once they were lighted, because it signaled the demon that had possessed it that someone was near enough to attack. "Why can I see it?"
"They typically want to be seen, so someone will light it," Izumo started. "After all, you are a girl. It would want you to see it over any man that walked by."
"How are we supposed to move it? Wont it try to eat us?" the girl shuddered a bit at the thought. There was a silence, and when she looked over to Izumo, the girl found that she was staring right at her.
"Can your familiar carry us?" Izumo finally blurted.
The girl's body froze yet again as the thought of summoning the great beast entered her mind, and she found that she was unable to speak any solid words. Her knees began to quiver as she pulled out the summoning paper, uncertainties flooding into her like a dam that had just busted.
Seeing the girl's expression, Izumo put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. He protected you before, didn't he? Just be brave." She ended her reassurance with a slight scoff at the end, trying not to get too chummy with the girl she viewed as a spoiled brat.
Nodding, the girl pricked her thumb and smeared the blood across the strip of paper. "O Lord, I ask you to release your bonds, so that your servant may in turn serve me…" her voice trembled weakly as she spoke, and trailed off before she could finish the original chant she had used to summon the demon wolf the first time. The forest grew quiet as the wind died down to nothing.
And then suddenly, the sandstorm came just as it had before, blowing out from the sigil on the scrap of paper like a tornado and into the night sky, until the matter condensed into the great wolf Fenrir. Izumo's flashlight moved up his front leg; was it her, or had the wolf gotten even bigger than before? Stopping on the face of the demon, his eyes sparked at her as he growled lowly, causing Izumo to drop her flashlight to the grassy floor.
"And what do we have here?" Mephisto sneered as he rested his chin in his palm, watching intently as the demon wolf lowered his great head to the girl on the forest floor.
Fenrir was quiet before her, waiting patiently. Izumo abruptly elbowed her, sending the girl's arm flailing out into the air ahead of her, and her hand shook like a leaf. He was still. Perplexed, and humbled, the girl reached out her hand hesitantly, until it rested upon his cold, moist snout, and she beheld in awe at how massive he had become already – just his nose was nearly the size that her outstretched fingers took up. She could feel the start of his soft fur on her fingertips for just a moment, before he withdrew his head, raising it up.
The moon reflected off of his gleaming eyes. "How may I be of service?" the demon asked in a bellowing voice.
"Can you carry us?" the girl stuttered, clasping her hands together.
"Anything for you," he rumbled, resting a front let down on the ground to make it easier for the girls to climb up onto him. Their hands wrapped around his long, course fur as they used it to pull themselves into place.
Izumo then summoned her small fox demons and handed them the match, ordering them to light the lantern and to tail it once it began moving. It should chase after the girls, who would be carried at a much faster pace while aboard of the wolf demon – if however the lantern deviated from following Fenrir, then they should put it out immediately
"Delightful thinking," Mephisto resounded to himself as he sat in the sky, undetected, "using a demons' motivation against itself for their own benefit; bravo, girls!"
The two girls arrived at the camp without incident, and once the lantern crossed the finish line, Izumo's familiars put the light out. Takara was seated by the fire, already finished with getting his own lantern.
"That sure is a beauty," Shura said casually as she approached the girl, eyeing Fenrir carefully, ready to strike at any moment. She wasn't sure how skilled the girl was at taming demons, or how loyal he might have been playing, and she wasn't going to take any risks.
Fenrir's orbs rolled to the woman with red hair, finding her to be a measly human who posed little threat to the girl who he had devoted himself to. Lifting his nose into the air, he began growling lowly, staring into the night sky. Shura smirked, following his line of sight, knowing exactly who he was watching.
"Is he going to be a problem, brother?" Amaimon asked bluntly from the trees.
"Not at all. I told him that if he doesn't stay out of my way, I would have him bound up for eternity this time."
After releasing Fenrir by breaking the seal, and taking some time to relax by the fire with only half of the campers, Rin and his group finally made their way back to the camp as everyone was getting tired. Panting wildly, they were shocked to see that the girls and Takara had already accomplished the task, and Shima flopped to the ground, kissing the dirt. It seemed all was well, and everyone had passed the trial. Rin began going off on an elaborate story about how he defeated the giant moth demon with the help of Suguro, and how he had pulled the cart to camp with his team.
"We just used our familiars," Izumo said bluntly.
"It appears your time has come, Amaimon," Mephisto began. "Now, it took me a lot to allow her to come to this camp in the first place. If I find you so much lay a finger on her, I shall find no greater satisfaction than burying my nails into your eye sockets," he warned with a sharp look. "Do you understand me?"
Amaimon's insides did a flip. "Yes, brother."
"Good. Now go."