Ardent Exorcist

by Cvicel

Althea (a medicine student or perhaps a spy) enrolls into the True Cross Academy where she finds new friends and turns Mephisto's carefully-planned world upside down. ***Rated M because it contains some mature content, but the focus is on my own story - characters, relationships and fights. The story does have an ending and you have much to look forward to.***

19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - This can't be true - Doctor Doctor Who?

The Lord of Time appeared in his office in a flash of white with the usual pink smoke of shimmering glitters accompanying him. "My lord, I wasn't expecting you until morning." Gin lifted up his head from the reports he had been collecting and organizing for the headmaster to go through. He then put his hand to his cheek in a feigned display of disbelief. "I can't believe you just left your lady at a time like this and came to do your job instead. I didn't know you were such a workaholic, Sir." the secretary teased. "I came because you have done your job." the principal answered with a soft smirk, casting a knowing glance in Gin's direction. "The moment I felt the presence of your spies, I knew it was safe to leave her. You put the surveillance group together at a remarkable speed, too." the demon lord praised, genuinely pleased with having such a capable companion at his side - especially at times like these. The spy's eyes widened for the slightest moment at the unexpected compliment, then he stretched his arms around a little. "Well, what can I say. I am your best right-hand man, after all. But yes, in all modesty - I kind of outdid myself with tonight's investigation." he rubbed his nose with a satisfied look on his face. "It was a good call to tell your men to hide their auras. Had I not been actively expecting them, I would not have felt their presence at all… But Gin, you know that there is no room for a promotion - you are already at the top." the demon lord winked, and the secretary swiftly jumped at the opportunity. "But there might be room for some rest. You see, I was wondering about the one… eeeh… what is it called again? It's been so long I cannot even remember… Wa-kai-shn?" he tapped at his lips softly as if in thought. The headmaster chuckled at that - lately, Gin had been bringing up vacation on every occasion possible. "Well, I might have tasked him with too many assignments at once. He is working most of his missions solo, too… And vacation…" The demon lord's eyes suddenly sparked and for a moment there, he looked completely frozen. "Gin, you really outdid yourself tonight!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "That's it! Vacation!" he said and bumped his fist into his palm, grinning like a child. True, the ecstatic reaction was quite a surprise to Gin, but he certainly wouldn't complain as long as the prospect of some free time was in sight. "Why, thank you, my lord. I was thinking that maybe…" before the spy could finish the sentence, his lord disappeared into the thin air just as suddenly as he had appeared. "...this weekend?" Gin sighed, resigned. "Honestly, Samael, sometimes you just… have the attention span of a Coal tar…" he shook his head and returned to the reports.

"So, where were we?" came a sudden question not ten minutes later, and Gin had to watch helplessly as the sorted reports which he had neatly arranged on the desk flew into the air in a wild disarray, marking his master's theatrical arrival. "...yes, the attention span of a Coal tar and the fineness of a Cyclops, indeed…" the spy muttered silently for himself, his eyes rolling. "Hmm? Come again?" the headmaster arched an eyebrow. "Vacation, Sir. As I was saying…" "Right! A truly brilliant idea, Gin. I have just made the necessary arrangements. You'd better prepare yourself, for this weekend's destination is the Hakone onsen Gora Kadan!" the demon lord threw his hands up, and the spy's eyes sparkled as he stood up - or rather shot up - from the paperwork. "Samael, that is… I always wanted to visit one of the Hakone onsens! The special aromatherapy, the delicious meals, the exquisite view! I can't believe… oh, wait…" Gin furrowed his eyebrows, then the realization finally hit him. "...you are not talking about my vacation, right?" he concluded flatly, scolding himself inwardly for ever getting his hopes up around his demanding master. "Of course not. Gin, you said it yourself - you are my best spy. And I certainly cannot entrust Thea to less capable hands, now, can I?" the headmaster gestured importantly with his index finger, getting a defeated sigh from his assistant. "Oh well, when you put it like that… I guess I could wait for a few more weeks, once this madness is finally over." Gin scratched his chin and Samael's lips curled up ever so slightly - the spy was always such a reasonable, intelligent individual… with such a soft spot for flattery and praise. Not that it was undeserved, quite on the contrary.

"So, Gora Kadan hot springs, hmmm? You sure know how to spoil your lady." Gin grinned, joining the demon lord at the tall windows overlooking the Academy grounds. "Spoil her?" the demon lord scoffed and shook his head. "The only reason I am taking her there is because she would find all the other options I had in mind… a little excessive." "You? And excessive? No way…" came an amused, ironic remark from the secretary. "I mean it, Gin. My Academy stands and many of my students and staff members escaped a certain death especially thanks to her. And you know very well that protecting my Academy is the equivalent of protecting my House." the demon lord said with an air of importance and Gin gave his master a silent nod of agreement. "True. Had she been a demon, she would have been raised to a higher rank, perhaps even given a smaller Realm to rule." he added. "Indeed. However, she does not know of our customs, and I doubt she would appreciate it if I sent her to hell, even if it were to rule there… You know, humans take it as an insult if you sent them there…" the demon lord smirked, and Gin's lips curled up at that remark. "Nor is she the type to be asking for a reward for her help. I bet that kind of idea has never even crossed her mind. Her being a human… an extraordinary human… a female human… requires me to be particularly inventive in this regard. At the same time, though, she must not think of my gift as excessive, or she will never accept it." the demon lord intertwined his fingers in thought, his eyes burning with anticipation, waiting for Gin to work out the meaning behind his words.

"I see… And the satie silk you ordered for the cloak you intend to gift her does not quite reach your idea of 'excessive'?" Gin rubbed his beard, eying his master sideways with a smug smirk. Satie silk was a true rarity, even among demons. Only a small number of demonic Bombyx mori moths were still alive. They reproduced at a slow pace, making the silk they produced all the more valuable. The silk which, when woven by a master seamstress and enchantress, would produce a fabric as light as a feather, but as strong as a plate mail. A fabric of bright white color that is self-mending, unstainable, and able to shield one from elemental damage, such as the acid rains or fires of Gehenna. A particularly useful thing to wear, especially when you were The Lord of Time. Or his lady… Samael's voice soon interrupted Gin's musings. "Not at all. If anything, it is an appropriate gift." the demon lord said firmly, nodding to himself. "Speaking of which, when will the caravans transporting the silk from Gehenna arrive? We do not have much more time." "Uhm… the caravan. Singular." the secretary cleared his throat, then explained. "Only one of the three made it. We lost half of the crew, too. The cargo was simply too tempting. Fortunately, the raiders took the bait and went after the gems and weapons, rather than food supplies and 'bandages'. Still, the losses are not negligible…" Gin exhaled with a troubled expression on his face - 'not negligible' was a terrible euphemism.

"You should really do something about that long face of yours, Gin. It is just gems and some low demons." the headmaster grinned at the secretary. "Samael, you know that with the gems that had been lost, you could easily build the whole Academy anew?" Gin fixed the demon lord with a meaningful look, getting only a carefree shrug from his master. "Oh, most certainly. And for the price of the silk, it could be the Academy twice over and one Amusement Park on top of it… But why bother with that when we have the marvelous human invention called insurance?" the demon lord said with a wide grin, then his face took on a more serious expression. "Besides, money is not an issue. It never was. Not in this world. And certainly not for me. The satie silk, however… more than compensates for all the gems and any losses, wouldn't you say?" the headmaster winked, adjusting his snow-white cloak. Gin subconsciously reached for the collar of his white shirt, which he always wore under the plain black suit, wondering whether Miss Heilbrunn even realized that one of the cloaks she forgot to return to his master, and which was still hanging in her wardrobe was worth more than the dormitory, the Tokyo University, and perhaps even its hospital. Samael should really ask to have it back. A small smile appeared on his lips, as he remembered all the occasions when he had simply walked off attacks which would have caused him grave injuries. And so, he just nodded in a silent agreement. "The way I see it, the expedition was well worth it. We could use the additional protection. I don't like this, Gin. I can't shake off the feeling that all this recent commotion is somehow connected to her." the Lord of Time furrowed his brows, his look focused somewhere to the distance, and Gin had to take a deep breath in preparation for what was about to come. "That's because it is, Samael." he said and the headmaster turned towards him in a swift motion, a shadow of horror on his face as he disappeared again in a flash of white, leaving Gin standing in the office alone yet again. The spy's palm found his forehead with a loud smack. "Right. The attention span of a Coal tar, the fineness of a Cyclops, and the patience of a hungry Goblin…" he exhaled and pulled out his cell phone.

The Lord of Time stood in front of Thea's door, his hand slightly outstretched, half-way from knocking on her door. "My ward… It's gone again!" he inhaled sharply, his panic rising, but he willed himself to calm down. "But that happens with Thea, it does not mean she has been attacked… I should probably knock before entering or she might burn me on reflex again..." he shrugged, remembering the pain. "Then again, if I do, I will wake her up and she will learn that I left her in the first place… Still, I need to cast a protective ward around her, perhaps another barrier as well. But the moment I start casting spells here, she will wake up… Maybe if I…" a ringing sound suddenly interrupted his train of thoughts. The headmaster swiftly picked it up, before the sound alone could wake the unknowing occupant of room 519. "My lord, please stop pacing in front of Miss Heilbrunn's room like a lunatic. The receptionist is on her third night round heading your way, and she has a very short temper when it comes to strangers creeping around the students' rooms, one room in particular. Now, I believe you have already realized how I know this, correct?" Gin made a meaningful pause and Samael nodded to himself in understanding and relief. "I take that nod as a yes." the spy said cheerfully while the headmaster chuckled silently, shaking his head - Gin really outdid himself that night. "Now, could you please return back? Both to the Academy and to your senses?" came another prompt, and the demon lord clasped his cell phone, ending the call. "I take that as a maybe." Gin mused with a smug smirk on his face. A few seconds later, his master appeared back in the office, omitting the usual grand entrance.

"So, a squad of men from the special task force?" the demon lord inquired, hands clasped behind his back. The 'receptionist' turned out to be one of his best Tamers, and the 'student' who rushed past him in the long corridor carrying books and coffee belonged to a secret ninja-clan. "Two squads, in fact - considering the circumstances." Samael's eyes widened. "So, that would mean… that with the exception of teachers, half of my top agents are there? And here I thought I was the one being paranoid about Thea's safety, not Gin…" he thought, then turned to Gin. "The circumstances?" he inquired, and Gin lifted his finger with an air of importance. "She is being watched, Samael. It would appear that your lady has raised the interest of other parties as well… It took me a while because they are being extra careful, but I can now confirm that it is the Grigori." he explained, then he had to fight the urge to rub his shoulders as Samael's malevolent smile sent shivers down his spine. "So, my suspicion was correct, I see. Tsk… that meddling, self-righteous lot of greedy hypocrites mingling in my affairs again." he gritted his teeth. "I would compliment you on the excellent choice of words, Sire, but as strange as it might sound, they are currently far from meddling. Actually, they seem to be holding back, and I suspect - a hunch, really - that they are not there mingling in your affairs… They are there for her sake." "That is… rather uncharacteristic." the demon lord stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Exactly my thoughts, Sir. That is why I assembled the second squad. To keep an eye on the Grigori's agents." Gin explained, gaining a nod of approval from his master. "Good move, Gin. Keep me posted on their actions. And most importantly…" the headmaster turned to face Gin with a serious expression, but the secretary quickly jumped in. "We will keep her safe, Samael." Another nod came in response, if somewhat troubled. However, Samael's eyes were soon afire with determination. The Grigori's involvement brought another variable to the monstrous equation he had yet to solve. Oh, he would succeed, he merely needed some time to think. However, as ironically as it might have sounded, even the Lord of Time did not have all the time in the world at his disposal…

"Very well, Gin. We will get back to the Grigori soon. For now, tell me - what do you think connects Thea to all the recent attacks?" the demon lord asked with an impatient edge to his voice as he was pacing along the windows. "I'm not quite sure just yet, I'm still finalizing the reports. Based on the current results of my investigation, though, it would appear that the attack was not really aimed at you. The enemy wanted you as far away from the Academy grounds as possible at the time of the attack. Keep you occupied long enough to destroy your barrier, storm the Academy and create chaos. Some artefacts were taken from one of the vaults, not to mention the terrible damage to the buildings, and last but not least, casualties… But I don't think that this was about destroying your Academy and acquiring its riches. I checked with multiple teams of Exorcists, Exwires and other school staff. Another, smaller action was taking place while all eyes were on the main attack…" "So, a diversion? On such a huge scale?" Samael's expression darkened. "Where?" he asked. "Training area No. 5, Sir. 7:10 PM. Just in time of…" "... the lesson in Holy scripts and chants." the demon lord filled in, stopping in his traces. "Yes. It was a small infiltration, during which the Exwires were attacked by a group of demons." Gin explained, briefly filling in the details about the attackers.

"And are you absolutely sure they were after Thea? After all, my little brother is in the very same study group." the headmaster pointed out, going for the most probable scenario. "I thought so too. The Son of Satan is of interest to many - be it dead or alive." the spy admitted, then flicked over through one stack of reports on Samael's desk. "There is a good chance the enemy was after both of them, so I have both of them watched carefully. Judging by the way the whole attack transpired, the demons wanted them alive and preferably unharmed. First of all, the small infiltration group did not join the main fight after having secured their position and captured the Exwires. Mr. Miwa reported that the demons kept searching the cottage and its surroundings, looking for their missing classmates. Both Miss Heilbrunn and Mr. Okumura had been late for their lesson and arrived at the Academy after the attack had started. Second, the enemy was well prepared to counter the attacks your Exwires would usually use. Rabies against Miss Kamiki's familiars, dark curses prepared in advance against three Arias. They even resorted to using holy water only to extinguish Mr. Okumura's flames. The Exwires first thought that your younger brother was the only one the demons were after. However, once he was subdued and unable to fight, instead of finishing him off or perhaps taking him away with their mission complete, they seemed to ignore him and turned their attention to Miss Heilbrunn…" the spy explained, getting a displeased frown from his master in response. "So, it seems that they were after her from the very start. However, instead of taking her at her dorms or literally anywhere outside of my Academy, the enemy launched a massive attack instead… Just like the recent invasion… diversion, stirring the waters…" the headmaster concluded, a sinister shadow cast by his hat covering his face, emphasizing his glowing eyes. "Exactly my conclusion, Sir. They didn't want you to know that it was her they were after. Now the question is, why her?" the spy rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I did present her as my current romantic partner… And we both know what it means to be that close to me. I knew it would come to this eventually…" the demon lord said with an air of inevitability. "Samael, even if that was the only reason the enemy is after her, she is no damsel in distress, threatened by a dragon, waiting to be saved by her knight in shining white armor." Gin gestured at his master, trying to lighten the situation. Apparently, his efforts proved effective, as a wide grin spread across Samael's face. "Forget the damsel, she is the bloody dragon." "True that. And a bloody good Dragoon, too. You know, she never returned the shotgun, so I was slightly worried when you decided to go and make up with her so quickly after the fight." Gin filled in and both demons shared a silent laugh. "Still, I do not think the reason she is targeted is that simple. There is more to it… If I should take a guess, it would be her peculiar powers. We need to learn more of them, Gin." the demon lord looked at his secretary meaningfully. "What about her? Does she really know nothing about the reason why her powers are so inconsistent? I mean, she should at least have a hunch, considering she is already a quarter of a century old. That should be sufficient time to draw some conclusion." the spy inquired, hoping to find some missing piece of information hidden in the girl's observation. "And here is where you are wrong, my friend. Considering her past, she had to keep her powers hidden most of the time. The only part of her abilities she truly trained was the use of healing waves - and that only came during her time in Japan, and only once she learnt enough about human anatomy to do more good than harm, so mostly at the university. Had those good-for-nothings in the Vatican done their job properly and found her in time, she could have mastered her powers long ago instead of spending her youth being brain-washed at the Asylum, then working herself to find her place in a foreign country." Samael clenched his hands into fists and Gin's sensitive ears picked the sound of grinding teeth. "But perhaps a soft brain-washing at the Asylum is preferable to the hard brain-washing the Grigori call their 'training'." Gin remarked, hoping to redirect his master's thoughts, then added. "But she does know that her power level varies greatly, right? She should also know how immense it sometimes is..."

"We talked a little tonight… She is only aware of the instability, but not about how much disproportion there is between the normal level and the peaks. She admitted that sometimes, she is able to heal herself or other people a lot faster while feeling less tired. But she tries not to 'push her luck' too much and keeps her output at normal level, lest she knocks herself out in the process. She has to focus extremely well, especially when using the waves. She avoids overexerting herself, as tiredness could prevent her from thinking clearly - and she knows how easily she could hurt someone with that technique." he explained, then filled in. "However, I managed to put down the exact days and time when I witnessed her power spike. She also helped with some dates and mentioned that she feels quite energized especially at nights - that is why she can study or work late, and why she only needs those four or five hours of sleep." "I see. Well, that is a start… Do you already have any hypothesis?" Gin inquired, already writing down some of his own in a small notebook. "Possibly… powers spiking at a certain time of a day or in specific cycles usually hints at a connection with astronomical events, such as planets and stars in specific constellations." the demon lord offered, and Gin's eyebrows rose up. "Interesting! I thought it might be an internal influence, not external… Maybe there are rules to how and when her powers can work…" he tapped a finger on his lips. "Good point. Very well, assemble a research team for me, then meet me in the Observatory Tower, I will open the gate to the Training area No. 12." Samael ordered, his eyes burning with determination. "Right away, my lord." Gin bowed, then disappeared in a flash of black. He had to hurry. If his master decided to use the Training area No. 12, he really did not want to lose even a second and did not hesitate to maintain a special dimension just to speed the research up.

OoO

Thea rubbed her eyes as she slowly woke up. She yawned and stretched sitting on her bed, feeling surprisingly well-rested, even though yesterday was a crazy day full of fighting demons, healing the wounded, and sorting out the new challenges of her romantic relationship. Speaking of which, her boyfriend had apparently left her small dorm apartment before she woke up and was nowhere to be found. "Such a shame… I would make him a nice breakfast of… oh, wait… the fridge is empty. No wonder he's gone, I would have left, too…" The blonde sulked a little because she hoped they would spend a bit more time together. However, she also understood that the True Cross Academy needed its headmaster more than ever. "I bet he'll have tons of work now. Maybe I should stop by again, bring him a warm, home-made meal of my chicken and pineapple pie…" she tapped her finger on her lips in an intense thought, then she suddenly blinked as she caught a whiff of an irresistibly sweet scent. She followed it curiously to her desk, where she found a cup of tea, two croissants, a white rose and a pink envelope adorned with hearts. A soft blush settled on her face. "Gosh, he's so thoughtful!" Thea mused and reached for one of the sweet pastries, then let out a pleased moan as she bit into the best croissant she has ever had the pleasure of eating in her entire life. So sweet, puffy, and simply delicious! She washed it down with a fresh mint tea with honey, enjoying the moment of peace. "I can't believe he left another rose… I have told him there was no need to, haven't I?" she shook her head, then took the rose and headed towards her window with a soft smile on her lips. In the long flowerpot, white roses bloomed, their fresh, gentle smell filling the room. "Hmm… OK, let's find you a nice warm spot." the blonde mused, dug up a little hole in the dirt and positioned Mephisto's rose in it and concentrated. Soon, the rose sprouted roots which grew through the soil until the flower could hold still on its own. Mephisto had been quite surprised when he had seen how his flowery tokens of attention ended up. She had to explain that she didn't really like receiving flowers because she simply liked them much more when they were alive, growing and flourishing instead of withering away in a few days. However, she found a way to deal with such gifts - 'healing' flowers was, after all, a much easier task than healing humans. The blonde was certain that once she would explain properly, Mephisto would understand and simply stop bringing her flowers. Or perhaps switch to flowers in pots. What happened was the exact opposite, though, and for some reason, the demon seemed almost determined with every next flower he brought her. Her window was starting to resemble the ones princesses had in fairy tales - overgrown with beautiful white roses which threaded their way along the window. "I need another flowerpot." came a soft giggle, and Thea was already thinking about talking to Shiemi about some fertilizer and gardening how-to's.

Next, she reached for the envelope, curious about its contents. Inside, she found a letter from Mephisto, which looked a little different than she had expected, though. Actually, it was printed with The True Cross Academy's watermark and adorned with an official sigil. It read: "Miss Althea Heilbrunn, you are herewith summoned to the Principal's office at the True Cross Academy on August 22, 2 PM. Yours truly, Sir Johann Faust V." The blonde gulped, unsure about what the strange summons and the formal tone meant. She looked at the paper from all sides again but found nothing else. However, she found another, smaller piece of paper in the pink envelope. "Thea, my dearest, my apologies for the sudden summons, but your attendance is necessary, and it had to be done officially. I will explain everything in due time. P.S. I hope the croissants were to your liking. I stopped in Paris to try a new patisserie and I am very much looking forward to your impression and looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at 2 PM. Mephisto 3" Thea's cheeks went from pink to red as she pursed her lips and let herself fall on her bed. Then, unable to contain all the excitement, she pulled Mr. Wooly over her face and screamed as silently as she could, rolling left and right like a silly love-struck teenager. "It's settled then - I am making a Sachertorte for sure today!" Feeling absolutely energized and optimistic, she decided to hit the books right away, so she could use the spare time in the afternoon to bake for Mephisto and her friends from the 'cram school'. After all, she was ahead of her schedule when it came to her preparations for final exams, so she could skip one afternoon of studying. She turned on her laptop swiftly to go through her learning materials when she noticed a new message in her mailbox from the university student department from yesterday. It read: "Dear Miss Althea Heilbrunn, due to organizational changes in the attending committee, your final oral and practical exam date has been moved from September 12, 10 AM to one of the earlier free time slots. Your examination takes place on August 22, 10 AM. All necessary changes in the university IS have already been taken care of and…" Thea didn't read the rest. She couldn't. She didn't want to. No amount of rational explaining or sugar-coated coaxing from the university's staff would change the way she felt about the sudden decision to move her exam date. The decision robbed her of almost a month worth of preparation time. She shot up, filled with adrenaline, toppling over the cup of tea in the process. She felt herself shaking all over and had to gulp down the lump in her throat. "Mr. Wooly… but that's… tomorrow…"

OoO

"Yes, Sir Pheles, we managed to…" Mr. Satou, one of the Exorcists present in the headmaster's office, tried to report the progress of the 'cleaning activities' to his employer. To the Exorcist's eyes, the headmaster looked surprisingly focused for someone so nonchalant - he kept listing through a pile of documents on his huge wooden desk, rubbing his temples in an intense thought. "Wow… If Pheles is being so serious, then the whole incident must be bigger than I originally thought." Mr. Satou gulped, growing even more nervous about the current development. The only thing the veteran Exorcist with growing bald spot on his graying hair knew for sure was that the night raid happened to be the second incident within half a year aimed at the True Cross Academy - a situation unheard of during the whole time of his service under the peculiar demon lord. He shifted uneasily in place, waiting for the headmaster's orders, but none really came. "Sir Pheles?" the Exorcist tried again.

It was early in the morning after the attack on the True Cross Academy. Mephisto's ears picked up a soft sound through all that turmoil of voices which filled the corridor in front of his office at the moment. "Finally." he thought, slightly surprised by his own impatience - for if there was something he had mastered through the long years of his existence, it would be patience, no matter how much Gin would disagree with that claim! He swiftly checked his cell phone for another of the hourly reports from the teams tasked with protecting Thea. According to the message, she was safe and sound, enjoying the breakfast he had left for her. A relieved exhale escaped his lips. As much as he wished to, he couldn't stay and watch over his lady personally. The True Cross Academy needed his attention more than ever. "Sir Pheles?" However, now that he also knew that Thea is not a demon hunter out to get him but rather the one being hunted by demons, he naturally had to take certain precautions - thus the special task force of spies assembled by Gin. "Uhm, Sir?" an urgent voice finally managed to tear through Mephisto's train of thoughts. "Oh, honestly now… Focus already!" the demon scolded himself for the unfortunate slip - the third one since he has left Thea out of his sight. Gin, who was standing next to him and taking notes the whole time, cleared his throat - the smugly lifted-up corners of his lips did not escape Mephisto's attention.

"Yes, Mr. Satou, good job at the Inner Square." the demon lord swiftly returned his focus to the task at hand, eying the old Exorcist standing in front of him. "Now, when will the Main Hall be ready?" he asked expectantly. "Teams twenty-six and twenty-seven have been working on it since late night, but they would need approximately three more hours, Sir." the Exorcist leading the cleaning activities responded. "Hmm… That won't do, Mr. Satou. Make it one, I cannot be fending off the media for much longer. The Vatican, as well as the local authorities are expecting a briefing on the situation. And while I can persuade them that everything is under control with some piles of debris laying around, it will not be possible with all the blood and bits of demon bodies in the background…" Mephisto mused while listing through the reports Gin had brought to his attention just a few moments ago. "But Sir, many of our colleagues are still recovering in the hospital wing. We need either more time or more manpower." another of the Exorcists, Mr. Kaoru, protested with visible effort. The headmaster stroked his beard in thought, then nodded. "Very well, you have team seventeen at your disposal. Fetch them at the Main Gate - they were helping out team twenty with the glyph restoration, but it would appear that most of the work has already been done." Mephisto finally decided and Mr. Kaoru's face beamed with relief and gratitude. "Thank you, Sir! We are on it!" came a nod from Mr. Satou, then both Exorcists set off, replaced by yet another of their colleagues who also came to report on the situation and discuss further actions with other teams.

"Sir Pheles, I bring the results of the analysis you requested." a female Exorcist in white lab coat stepped towards the headmaster's desk. "And?" Mephisto lifted his eyebrow curiously. "The samples you found in the Warding Room and sent to us for an analysis all come from various vines and climbing plants, mostly the sorts which usually grow thicker branches." she summarized briefly, then she adjusted her glasses and handed a piece of paper to the headmaster. "Now, I won't waste your time with naming all the plant sorts, you can go through the list if you wish. The tests showed that these are actually the remnants of a dead Greenman." Mephisto's eyes widened for the slightest second, then he exchanged a swift meaningful glance with Gin. "I see. Thank you, Mrs. Yukiji. That will be all." The practical, stiff-looking middle-aged woman simply nodded and turned on her heel to leave - no prying questions and no formal pleasantries either. Just as Mephisto preferred it when he wanted something done. With his office finally empty, he turned his head to Gin, eager to discuss the interesting outcomes. "So, that would be the Greenman you were talking about in connection with the flowery spying net set all around the Academy." he concluded. "Yes, it would appear so. The spies must have known about the Warding room and the protection spells you had in place. So, they sent a Greenman to do the job - no malevolent intentions, just a few branches growing around, stretching their vines, and your cards in their way…" Gin shook his head, a sour grimace on his face. "Why the long face, Gin?" the demon lord smirked and arched an eyebrow. "Well, maybe because only a number of your most trusted staff knows about the Warding Room? And now they are all suspects…" "Exactly, Gin. A number of my staff, a very specific number. The investigation can now be narrowed down to only a few individuals. Also, let us not be hasty with the judgement about who might be a traitor and who not just because they fit a certain theory…" Mephisto pointed out meaningfully - he had been reminded of that the very same night. Gin just grinned. "I see you and your lady have…" Gin suddenly stopped himself in the middle of the remark, pointing to the door. "Uhm-uhm, a company."

The voices outside of his office grew louder, one of them in particular. A second later, yet another individual burst into his office, not bothering to even knock. Mephisto frowned - his office started to resemble a large anthill which was buzzing with activity as the staff kept pouring in and out, carrying important news and updates. The opened door soon revealed Shura, who seemed even more eager to ruin his day than usual. "No, it can't wait, all right? Bear with it." she eyed her colleagues with a firm stare, then turned towards Gin. "I need to talk to the principal. Alone." she practically gritted out. The demons exchanged a quick, knowing look, then Gin bowed and excused himself. "So, Miss Kirigakure, what seems to be so urgent that you barged into my office in such an uncouth manner?" Mephisto leaned on his hand and cracked a grin, making a point of showing off his canines. "Cut the crap, Mephisto!" the red-haired teacher slammed her hands on the huge desk, looking the demon pointedly in the eye. "What game are you playing with the Heilbrunn girl?!" "I beg your pardon?" the headmaster arched an eyebrow. "Don't play the fool! That's her barrier out there, ain't it?! Not to mention the work she did at the hospital wing tonight. Why did ya' let us train her with basics when she can do all… that?!" Shura pouted angrily and Mephisto just folded his hands and leaned back in his chair. "Are you complaining that you got a talented student under your supervision?" he grinned. "That ain't about friggin' talent, and you know it…" she leveled her voice to a dangerous whisper. "Just what is it you are planning this time?"

However, the headmaster merely leaned back in his chair and spread his hands, a ridiculously annoying mask of utmost innocence plastered on his face. "I assure you that I only have the best intentions with Thea." he said calmly, which only sent Shura to new levels of fury. "Tsk…" Shura grit her teeth, then reached for Mephisto's tie, leaning over the huge desk, pulled out her Serpent Fang sword and placed it at his throat. "Listen to me, you pompous ass… I told you before and I'm tellin' you again - stop messing with people's lives! As if Rin wasn't enough already, now you sink your claws into Thea?! She might be naive enough to believe all the nonsense about 'love', but we both know you're just using her for some twisted plan." she practically growled. For a moment there, Mephisto's expression was absolutely unreadable, and his green eyes seemed to pierce her very soul. Or maybe she was just imagining it because the demon was back to his nonchalant demeanor in a fraction of a second and cracked a smug grin. "If you wish to execute my chair again, please do so soon, so we can cover it under the same insurance as the attack. I assure you that the insurance company won't know." he winked, which only caused Shura to press her sword more tightly to his neck. Mephisto arched an eyebrow. "My, my, Shura, you have sure become rather protective of your students. Or is there perhaps something more to your interest? You do remember the talk I had with Mr. Okumura regarding the Academy's Code, right?" the headmaster smirked suggestively, and Shura's face took on such a bright red shade that it matched her fiery hair. "W-What the… stop misdirecting?!" the teacher blurted out then pulled at his tie even stronger. "This ain't a friggin' game! Listen here you arrogant demon - if anything happens to her, you're going down. I'll be watching you. And her…" she gritted out, shooting him a malevolent stare. She was so fed up with his schemes, by his arrogant attitude that everything and everyone in the world was just a part of his twisted playground.

Surprisingly, the demon's look was suddenly thoughtful, then almost… excited? Shura could already feel the wave of unease caused by his unpredictable behavior hitting her stomach. She gulped audibly. "An excellent idea!" the headmaster exclaimed suddenly and snapped his fingers. A folder appeared out of thin air in his hand. "I could use another set of eyes. Thank you for volunteering, dear Shura." he handed it over to the teacher with a triumphant look in his eyes. "Huh? What's this supposed to be?" the red-haired teacher asked perplexed, pulling her sword away and letting go of the grip on the headmaster's tie. "Why, it is your assignment. You said that you will watch Thea, correct? To keep her safe, I would assume. Well, this is one of the ways to do just so." Mephisto explained smugly, fully enjoying Shura's perplexed expression. The teacher briefly scanned through the first piece of paper with the guarding details, then her eyes widened. The mission details were clear - they all revolved around finding out the way Thea's powers worked and keeping her safe from some unknown threat with unknown motives. "You're spying on her?!" she exclaimed irritably, causing the demon to frown. "That is a rather unfortunate choice of words. She is merely under a keen but discrete observation and protection of my capable staff in order to ensure her safety." he grinned. "So that would mean… you are investigating her. And the prophecy…" Shura breathed out, casting an angry look towards Mephisto. "Damn, of course he would know about the prophecy… The Grigori assumed as much… So irritating!" she thought, trying to fight her own rage about the fact that the scheming demon knew about a secret the Grigori were going to great lengths to protect so much. Even from her. "You are well aware of what she can do, aren't you? You know about the prophecy." Shura accused.

However, the demon simply rubbed his beard, then asked calmly. "Would you believe me if I told you that I have no knowledge of any such prophecy?" "Like hell I would!" she put her hands on her hips, trying to stay calm. "Naturally…" the headmaster sighed. "Well, in any case, you are most welcome to join my special squad." he offered. "Unless you would like to join the other squad watching her…" the demon smirked and with another snap of his fingers, several sheets of paper with photos and descriptions of the Grigori's agents appeared on his desk. Shura's eyes almost popped out of the sockets when she recognized some of her colleagues from the Vatican branch. She had no idea they were even stationed in Japan! "You could probably re-check free positions with the Vatican HR department, but I believe that had the Grigori wanted you on the mission, someone as capable as you would have been among the first candidates on the list." he grinned devilishly, leaning on his hand. The red-haired teacher gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists. "Dammit' to hell! Why do I only hear about this now?! The Grigori won't tell me a thing. Me! A member of the elite, most trusted Angelic legion! And now this… aaargh, this bastard even knows about everything! Just what is going on?! Damn… Just what are you, Heilbrunn?" Shura was fighting her internal tempest, trying to find some way to use the unfortunate situation to her advantage. The pleased, self-assured smirk on the headmaster's lips was not helping it, rather it was causing her hand to twitch in an irresistible urge to ram her sword through his head. "Stupid clown, thinking he could use me again to do his bidding! But maybe… maybe I could go with it. Then, I will at least have the opportunity to find out more… Or… I'll just go right to the source." she decided with determination and scooped the folder from the desk. "Tsk, fine, I'll consider it." "Splendid!" Mephisto started, only to be interrupted by Shura. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Mephisto. I'm doing this for her, not for you. And I will be watching." she shot him one last menacing glance, then turned on her heel and slammed the door behind her.

"Samael… Remind me never to play poker against you. That was some poker face when she mentioned the prophecy!" Gin's urgent voice sounded as he appeared to Mephisto's right. Once again, Mephisto had to acknowledge his spy's undeniable skills when it came to concealing one's presence. During the whole conversation with Shura, Gin has never left the room and even Mephisto would be unable to notice him. "I know, Gin. So, there is a prophecy regarding Thea… It seems we have a new lead. And just when I thought she could not get more interesting." the headmaster mused, then started pacing again, an almost predatory look in his eyes, his body shaking with excitement. Gin just nodded but his voice and pose betrayed his own eagerness to solve a new mystery. "This is the first time a prophecy was mentioned." "Indeed… What an intriguing turn of events. Yes, that would also explain the Grigori's involvement." the demon lord kept nodding to himself, his steps becoming strides. "We need to hurry and find out as much as possible before the enemy strikes again - for they will strike for sure. You have much investigation to do, Gin. You need to look deeper." he looked at Gin meaningfully. The spy rubbed his chin as in thought, then casted his master a smug glance. "I don't know, Samael. When it comes to deep infiltration techniques, you are the proved expert here." he noted, causing his master to stop in his traces. "My, my… I must not be keeping you busy enough when you have the time to think about nonsense." the demon lord's eye twitched. "Oh, quite on the contrary, my lord. I must admit, Sir - it's been some time since one individual kept me so busy. And judging by the current situation, it would appear that Miss Heilbrunn even keeps whole organizations up and about without even realizing it." the secretary chuckled and continued in an amused tone. "Not to mention she keeps one particular demon up all night." he grinned and raised his eyebrows twice. "Oh, I never realized you were so interested in night shifts, Gin. Never you worry, I am sure I can think of some very creative way to keep you up all night, too." the headmaster grinned devilishly but before he could share the details of the fateful ordeal with Gin, a knock on the door interrupted him.

OoO

"That's it. Right to the source." Shura nodded to herself as she practically stormed through the long corridor of the dorms of the Tokyo University. "She must know something, for God's sake! It's her power, her prophecy. I'm gonna find out what she knows even if I have to spend the entire night showering her with questions, so I swear to God!" the red-headed teacher pouted. She stopped right in front of Thea's door and knocked. Nothing. She knocked again but received no response. Shura's temper started rising and she was determined to kick the door down if she had to - at least she would let out some steam. She couldn't help it, the demon somehow managed to get under her skin. Again. "No, no, no, no, no…" came a soft voice from the dorm room, interrupting Shura's irritated thoughts. "Thea, is that you? Hey, are ya' there, girl? Open up!" Shura slammed her fist at the door. Thea's panicked voice sounded again, and this time, the teacher did not lose a second and actually kicked the door down, feeling perhaps a little too enthusiastic about the act. "S-Shura?" the blonde stood in the small kitchenette with mouth open and eyes wide. Her hair was a wild disarray of golden locks, she was wearing old pajamas and holding an empty metallic bottle. "Thea! What is it? Are you OK?" Shura dashed to her side, Serpent Fang already drawn as she scanned the surroundings carefully. "Shura…" Thea was staring at the teacher with such intensity that it almost threw her out of her calm, level-headed inspection. "Why didn't ya' open the door, stupid?! I thought you needed help!" Shura fixed the blonde with a scolding look, but soon, she felt Thea grabbing her strongly at her shoulders. "Shura, I do! Quick! I need your help." the blonde blurted out, then reached for something in the shelves and pushed it to Shura's hands. "What the… Hey, the hell is going on?" the red-haired teacher questioned, but Thea didn't seem to even hear her. "No time! I'm out of coffee. Here. Money. Buy as much coffee as you can!" the blonde started pushing Shura out of the door. "H-Hey, cut it out! Are you out of your mind?" Shura stuttered from all the confusion. "No. Out of coffee. Out of time. Need more time. Can't get that, coffee must do. No matter. You have to hurry, Shura! Every second counts." the blonde kept pushing her unexpected visitor out to the corridor. "Are ya' serious?! Slow down a little, let's…" the teacher found herself in the corridor again. "Aaargh… Geez, fine, I'll go. But we have a lot to talk about. You will answer my questions, girl!" the teacher poked her with a finger. "Oh yes… I do…. Thanks! Oh God, so many questions! And Ayami is not here to ask them! Still at Toshiro's…" Thea started pacing nervously, so oblivious to her surroundings that she bumped into the door which was already hanging on its hinges. It toppled to the ground with a loud smack. The blonde did not even seem to notice - unlike the rest of the students on the floor who rushed to peak. "Hey, you sure you're gonna be all right?" Shura leaned closer, looking the girl up and down. "Shura… What are you still doing here? Go! Go!" And Shura, to her utmost astonishment, went…

OoO

"My lord…" Gin appeared in the Warding room and scanned the surroundings carefully, his senses alert. He soon spotted his master, who was but a blur of white to his eyes, teleporting from one place to another with an abnormal speed. That could only mean that the demon lord was using his powers to alter the time-flow to make himself faster in comparison to the 'outer world'. It was, in a fashion, his personal area No. 12. In a fraction of a second, the demon lord stopped right in front of him. "I believe I told you that I did not wish to be disturbed in the afternoon hours, Gin." the demon lord said with a slightly annoyed tone. "This better be important." he added. Gin regarded his master more closely, then everything clicked in - the bags under Samael's eyes, the color of his skin reduced to vampirish pale, the quickened breath, and drops of sweat running down his temples - he had been overusing his powers again. "Sir, the barrier is…" the spy started explaining, then stopped, his brows furrowed in confusion. He had rushed to the Warding room because he had felt the barrier around the True Cross Academy vanish, but he could not feel a thing all of a sudden. A knowing look appeared on Samael's face. "Ah, I see. So, my timing was a bit off…" the demon lord raised his hand to check his watch. "You felt the barrier disappear, correct?" he raised a questioning eyebrow, and Gin nodded in affirmative. "I have been working on the wards, but something kept interfering with their proper working. They were malfunctioning or started to fall apart. Some were completely dispelled, not a trace left of them. As you have probably guessed by now, Thea's barrier was the reason for this peculiar occurrence. At least that is what I think most likely happened… the barrier fueled by her power kept interfering with countless wards fueled by mine." he explained with a tired but amused smirk on his lips, which only widened as Gin bulged his eyes at the piece of information. "Yes, indeed. Her powers seem to disrupt or at least clash with the demonic ones in a most troubling manner."

"Satan's Flames, … So, you had to tear down her barrier?" the spy asked, and the headmaster nodded calmly. "And set up my own again. Only then could I resume the work on the wards…" he explained. "Your barrier is already set?" Gin blinked in confusion and Samael nodded again. "Yes. And the fact that you cannot feel it only confirms that I managed to fix the two torn cards from my deck correctly." "This fast? But that would mean…" Gin pinned Samael with a displeased look. Well, as displeased as one could afford towards his master. "Sir, we've talked about this… Why have you not called for me?" the spy demanded. After all, it was their agreement that Gin would see to his master's safety during times when he risked depleting his energy to dangerously low levels. Tearing down the huge barrier and setting up a new one, fixing the enchantments on the magic cards, and preparing the wards while working from his special time dimension would definitely fit those conditions. Not to mention that Samael was also holding several Gehenna gates time-frozen and the Area no. 12 running for the special squad of investigators. Gin could already feel his temper rising to dangerous levels at his master's recklessness. However, the demon lord merely started rubbing his sore neck in an unconcerned fashion. "I've got this, Gin. Your presence was not necessary." "I am serious, Samael. How much time have you spent in that altered dimension of yours?" the spy pushed. "Not enough to finish my work, Gin." Samael folded his arms and said with an air which left no room for further questions or arguments. A sour grimace appeared on the spy's face but since Samael decided to pull his 'demon lord card', he did not comment on his master's foolishness any further. Gin would have face-palmed himself but thought better of such a gesture.

Suddenly, a smug grin spread on his face and he leaned towards his master. "Oh, I see. Are you, per any chance, hoping that your lady will show up today and work wonders to your body again?" Samael's pale cheeks burnt with pink shades, but he soon collected himself, returning a devilish smile. "Another suggestive comment and you will be the one praying for her to work wonders with her healing skills." "Ah, so you were hoping to see her today… Hmm… as it stands, it would be a close call for her to make it to the summons you sent her for tomorrow." Gin mused while rubbing his chin. "Well, I am afraid she does not have the time to respond to your messages, let alone come visit you again." the spy shook his head lamentably, noticing a slight tension in his master's pose. "That is quite alright. She deserves some rest after all the commotion yesterday." the demon lord said calmly but his disappointment was apparent to Gin. "Ah, but she is not resting, my lord. In fact, she is currently being questioned by Miss Kirigakure." he filled in. "Good old Shura. She headed right to her, undoubtedly hoping to squeeze some answers from poor Thea." the demon lord chuckled. "Just make sure she does not push her too much." he added. "Actually, your lady would be the one who does the pushing here." Gin smirked. "She insisted, quite persistently, that Miss Kirigakure asks as many questions as possible. You see, while your teacher was already there, Miss Heilbrunn used the situation and had the teacher quiz her. She seems really eager to use the last remaining hours for the preparation for her final examination tomorrow." the spy explained, getting a confused look from his master in return. "Tomorrow? As far as I know, her exams take place in about three weeks." the demon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"And that is one of the reasons I am here, Sir. The official message states that there were some organizational changes, and the exam was moved from the original date to tomorrow. Apparently, some members of the examining committee have been replaced as well…" Gin said, while scrolling through his cell phone, then met his master's eyes, half-expecting for him to vanish on him, only to rush off to his lady's side and 'buy her some time'. However, he was surprised to find the headmaster standing still where he was, his eyes burning with an emotion he had difficulty to place. Soon, a viscous grin appeared on Samael's face and sent shivers down his spine. "My, oh, my. Someone does not know when to stop~" he mused with a disturbing sweetness to his tone. "I want names, Gin. Members of the old as well as the new committee, and a list of people who have a say in the organization of the final exams. Now." the headmaster ordered while entwining his fingers in thought. "Right away, my lord." Gin nodded and handed him a list of people he had prepared beforehand. He too had found it suspicious that Miss Heilbrunn's studies had yet again been in jeopardy due to decisions of the Board. And so, he had done what he was best at - he had investigated and come up with a list of people that might be interfering with Miss Heilbrunn's studies. "Do you already have a main suspect?" the demon lord asked while scrolling through the list, not tearing his eyes away from the display. "No, unfortunately not. However, I've been meaning to start with Professor Isao, Miss Heilbrunn's thesis leader." Gin said and Samael arched an eyebrow. "That seems quite unlikely. Why would a thesis leader try to sabotage the work he himself is leading?" he asked, shaking his head in disagreement. "I do not think he is behind it. But he seems to know something. When the deadline extension regarding the thesis submission was denied to Miss Heilbrunn, he was the one who made a personal call to apologize to Miss Heilbrunn. He also mentioned some 'third party's involvement', indicating that he might know something but cannot share any further details, nor influence the outcome. He just seemed troubled enough by the events to make that call. "That is enough of a lead for me." Mephisto said, then disappeared in a flash of white.

OoO

"Another one, Shura." Thea prompted while pacing around the room with a cup of fresh, warm coffee in her hand. Her twelfth one, if she counted correctly. "No, girl. Not until you take a break." the red-haired teacher clasped the huge script and stood up, only for her path to be blocked by a certain persistent blonde. "Next question, Shura. Please." she insisted. "No way. You gotta eat something." Shura poked her in the ribs. "I'm good. I've got coffee with loads of sugar and milk. What I don't have is time. Next question." the blonde said almost too fast for Shura to register. "Geez, slow down, ya' friggin' squirrel. I'll just order some fast food, cuz' this is gonna be a loooong night…" Shura said, reaching for her phone. Once she was done with her order, she regarded the blonde with a frown. "Listen… Why didn't ya' call that clown? You know, he could probably help ya' out since you are his girlfriend or whatever." she finally voiced the question she had been meaning to ask Thea the whole day. The blonde just shook her head. "No. Not gonna happen." "Why?" Shura pressed. "Because, Shura. I'm not going to risk his health. Now, next question." Thea tried to re-direct the topic. "Whoa, whoa. What do you mean 'risk his health'? You know how fast demons regenerate, don't you? And as much as I hate to admit this, he's a ridiculously strong one…" she made a grimace. "He was injured yesterday. Badly. I managed to patch him up, but he should still be resting. Healing takes time. When you speed it up, you put strain on your body. With the situation as it is now at the Academy, I don't think he has even slept, let alone rested. So, no. I will not let him overexert himself just to buy me a few hours. Even days would not help me at this point. I just need to make do with what I have." Thea said with adamant resolve, leaving no room for further arguments. "This is ridiculous! You should go and complain or somethin'." Shura threw up her hands, but the blonde just shook her head. "That won't help. I've got a feeling that someone there just hates me…" she chuckled dryly, then added. "Well, it's fine. I still have a chance. Besides, I studied regularly - I'm not learning the stuff, just revising it. And it's not like I have to ace the exam. Now please, next question."

OoO

"Thank you kindly for having me at such a short notice, Professor Isao. Believe me when I tell you, though, that this is a matter of utmost importance and urgency." Mephisto tipped his hat and took the offered seat in a sturdy chair in front of a desk stacked with various folders and papers. The room was rather spacious, but every square centimeter seemed to be filled by books and even more folders and papers, so in the end, the demon lord felt almost cramped. "So, what would the urgent matter be?" the elderly man with graying hair asked carefully and seated himself in front of the peculiar visitor clad in white. "I am here to speak with you about Miss Heilbrunn and her studies. More specifically, her final exams and…" Mephisto started, but before he could elaborate, the old man's mouth twisted into a disgusted grimace. "Oh, great… another one." he snorted audibly and regarded 'Sir Faust' with a visible revulsion. "I beg your pardon?" the demon lord arched an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Tsk. How many of you will come until you are satisfied? Bullying a student in such a way… it's disgusting! What is it this time, hm? Should I perhaps claim that Miss Heilbrunn's thesis has been a work of plagiarism all along? Or make up that she cheated at her exams and is thus not even eligible to take her final exams? Or that she stole some lab equipment?" he gestured around almost theatrically, casting Mephisto a hateful look. "My, my, look at that. To think that someone would go to such length just to see to Thea's failure. Now the question is - which side is the professor on?" the demon mused, a strong thrill of the game practically pulsing through his veins. "None of that, professor. I've got something… different in mind." he said with a playful smile on his face, entwining his fingers.

"Tsk. I despise your kind of people the most. Thinking themselves wealthy and influential enough to mess with people's studies, careers, and lives. Now, listen to me…" the scholarly man stood up and leaned with both hands on his desk, looking the Lord of Time in the eye. "I have no idea what the girl has done to anger the lot of you aristocrats so. But I am telling you - just as I told them - no. I refuse to participate in your shady schemes and put the name of this university or my own reputation at stake." he spat angrily, his dark black eyes burning with spite. "You may have taken the funding off my research, but you will not take my dignity!" he emphasized by putting his hand to his chest. "I have no intention to do any such thing, professor." Mephisto said calmly, catching the professor off guard. The older man was looking at him as if uncertain what he meant by that. "In fact, I find your honesty and integrity most welcome." The demon stood up and cut a perfect smile, causing the professor to back off ever so slightly, suspicion written all over his face. "What is it you want, then? Why are you here?" "The reason I am here is to make sure that Miss Heilbrunn receives a fair chance to prove her knowledge at the final examination. And although I am afraid we are long past 'fair' when it comes to the preparation time she received, I should think that it is still well within your competency as her thesis leader to ensure at least a fair evaluation of her skills. Wouldn't you agree?" Mephisto clasped his hands behind his back and held the professor's gaze patiently. "So… Now you want me to ensure she passes?!" the man exclaimed with a sardonic chuckle - as if that would make any difference, it was still a manipulation to him. Mephisto interrupted him by raising his hand.

"I am not asking you to ensure her success. She is talented and skilled enough to succeed on her own. In fact, I am sure she would have passed, perhaps even with highest honors, had it not been for a certain some pulling the strings, refusing the standard application to prolong the time for thesis submission, and rescheduling her examination last minute, so to say… I am merely asking you to stay true to your own values - which is, I believe, treating her as any other student and giving her a fair chance to prove her knowledge in the field. Would that be acceptable?" the demon asked, and the professor just stood there gaping at him, then he ran his fingers through his graying hair and exhaled, a soft smile on his lips. "Believe me when I tell you that it is the only thing I wish to do, Sir Faust. And I would have done so with or without your visit." he stated, standing more straight than before. "I have no doubts about it now. Still, I am glad I could hear it personally from you." Mephisto inclined his head and professor Isao finally seemed to relax a little.

"That reminds me, you mentioned that your research funds have been cut?" the demon inquired. "I am afraid so… Tsk. At first, a representative of the Board offered more money for my research if I bend the rules in Thea's case. When I refused to comply, they outright threatened to cut the funds. And well, they cut the funding by half…" he explained, then added. "I cannot exactly go against them and their despicable interests… Lives depend on my research! But… I cannot look young Miss Heilbrunn in the eye if I let them do as they please… I try to compromise, and I hate it." he shook his head and clenched his hands into fists. "May I know what your research is dedicated to?" Mephisto inquired. "Simply put - cancer cells and their connection to the evolution and regenerative abilities of a human body." the professor explained in short, and Mephisto's eyes blazed with fire in an instant. First, because any research which had something to do with making human bodies more durable and self-regenerative might contribute to his own little research activities focused on creating more suitable vessels for demons to possess. And second, because he finally knew who exactly was pulling the strings in that charade. After all, the Mitsuhide family was well known for their interest in the latest medical procedures and products, especially in fields of oncology and cardiology. They also made sure that their family name appeared near any important discovery they funded, rather than remaining anonymous. And Kaoru Mitsuhide, brother of the fair lady Mitsuhide, was a member of the Board. "Oh, my dear sweet lady… Making enemies on every step without even realizing it… Seems like that Mitsuhide hag does not know what it means to let go and lose with grace. Not to mention she decided to blame Thea for her failure to seduce me…" the demon mused inwardly. Refusing Lady Mitsuhide's invitations to two 'business' dinners and talking his way out of one beneficial ball had probably not been the best course of actions.

"That sounds truly interesting." Mephisto returned back to the conversation. "I have been meaning to expand my own funding activities in that particular area." he stroked his beard thoughtfully, then clasped his hands. "Very well, Professor Isao. I would like you to resume the work on your research. Whatever funds your 'kind sponsors' supplied, I shall double the amount." the demon said lightly, leaving the stunned professor gaping at him. Soon, the elderly scholar recovered from the initial stupor and blurted out. "What? Is this a game of some kind?! I told you, I will not manipulate the outcomes of her exam just because of…" he could not even formulate the sentence coherently. He had no family, as he had dedicated his whole life to his career. The research was everything to him. But so was his honor. Lately, a lot of influential people had been messing with both of those, and he did not like it a bit. "I assure you that my interest is honest, and the offer is serious. Simply put - I will fund your research whether Miss Heilbrunn passes or fails her examination tomorrow. However, should one of the examiners treat her obviously unfairly, I would like you to step up and, professionally, make it fair. And should they go too far, be not afraid to threaten with resignation. I doubt they will risk losing your research, but if they do, with the funding I offered comes a job offer at the True Cross Academy hospital, as well." he looked at the speechless professor meaningfully. "Now then, if you will excuse me, I still have some important matters to attend to. Thank you for your time, it has been a pleasure meeting you, professor." Mephisto tipped his hat and left the office. He would have gladly talked about the research in more detail, but he could always discuss the specifics later. Mephisto knew that he was nearing his limits, so as much as he wanted to, there was no way for him to buy Thea some time. The Academy was not yet completely secure, the situation still too turbulent, and he needed his reserves in case of emergency. However, he had other resources, and he would not hesitate to use them…

OoO

"That's her." came a low growl from Mur'Kage, the leader of a small vampire clan. "That blonde wench?" the other member to his right scratched his chin, his bright red eyes peering through the shadows at the young woman who was rushing through the Tokyo University grounds with a stack of books in her hands. "Let's be done with it, I'm starving." said another vampire from the group, flexing and stretching his fingers, eager to draw some blood. "Sssuch a ssshame." the serpent-like demon hissed. "I gotta hand it to Sssamael. He'sss got a very good tassste. Ssshe sure looksss delicioussss. Perhapsss we could play with her a little before we sssink our teeth into her flesssh." Thueban sipped, then licked his lips hungrily, the poison dripping slightly from his teeth. "Thueban, what did I tell you?!" the leader growled even more, baring his fangs. "We don't have time to play with food. And Satan's mercy be upon you if you eat her whole! Don't look at me like that, you damn snake. You know very well that we need to leave her dead body behind. She's a message. Our rightful revenge!" "Asss you wisssh…" Thueban bowed his head calmly but could see the undeniable bloodlust in his three vampire companions. Not only did they crave vengeance, it had also been a long time since they last feasted on human blood. All of them had been punished terribly by the Lord of Time for breaking the rules he had imposed on all demons staying in Assiah. For harming and killing his precious humans. Half of their clan was killed by Samael's men… And for what?! A few meals! A few humans no one would ever miss…. And so, they would do anything to see the demon lord or at least his plans fail. However, they were not foolish enough to try and confront the second most powerful demon of Gehenna directly. And so, there they were, covered by the shadows of the night, waiting out their opportunity to strike at the one human who was rumored to have gained Samael's interest and protection for some reason. As if reading Thueban's thoughts, Kage spat suddenly. "Samael is a fool for offering us a second chance. His life around humans made him weak. Now, he even protects those puny, insignificant worms… Unforgivable. He betrayed the whole demon race by aligning himself with them." his lips contorted into a disgusted grimace, revealing his fangs. "That one is special." one of the vampires interrupted, well aware of how their leader could go on and on with voicing his opinion about the traitor of a demon lord. "Whatever value she has to his plans, it will be gone once we have dealt with her. He has plans for her. He always has plans. By killing her, we send him a message and hurt his interests, whatever they might be." he grinned wickedly, his body trembling with anticipation. "We'd better launch the attack sssoon, massster. Ssshe's in perfect posssition." Thueban pointed out, and the leader nodded. "Get in the position. On my mark."

It was almost 3 AM and Thea was rushing from the library back to her dorms. Even though she had already prepared some study materials, she could not find her notes about the eye and retinal surgery. And so, she finally let poor Shura take a shower to energize herself and went to the library to fetch the study material, so that the teacher could resume the quizzing. In times like this, Thea was especially thankful for her seemingly inexhaustible source of energy. Of course, after all the fighting and healing at the Academy, she had not had the chance to recover properly, and so she was left with the last resort - coffee. Lots and lots of it. The night was pleasantly warm, just as she liked it in summer, but the wind was picking up and her head pulsing lightly - a storm was coming. Soon, she could feel goosebumps on her skin as another, stronger gust of wind passed by. Strangely, the wind did not feel so warm and pleasant as before. Quite on the contrary - it sent shivers down her spine. The darkness of the night seemed to grow deeper, making it difficult for her to see. Her breath got caught in her throat and her senses spiked, warning her that something did not feel quite right. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she realized that her shadow cast on the ground looked much bigger than it should have. Someone was standing behind her. From the corner of her eye, she spotted further movement closing in on her. "Oh great… Now of all times! A demon attack…" the blonde cringed inwardly, cursing her bad luck, then prepared to dodge the claws she saw extending in the shadow.

Abruptly, she found herself surrounded by a group of five, no, eight, twelve… so many figures! She had no idea where all of them came from so suddenly, but screeches and grunts soon filled the silence of the late-night hours, and Thea could see people and demons killing each-other all around her in a bloody fury. Just a second ago, she had been alone there, and now, the night was full of violent movement. She ducked quickly, dodging a dagger, then she felt someone grabbing her at her arm. Thea was tossed to the ground away from the fight, the books and scripts spilling all around. "No… Not the books!" she whined, then her fury reached new levels as she had to witness the books being trampled and splattered with blood. "Oooooh, ihr gottverdammte Dämonen!" She gritted her teeth and her hands formed into fists, her eyes flickering between the usual chocolate-brown and golden. Before she could unleash her anger at the ignorant lot of demons though, a high-pitched hiss of tires announced the arrival of a huge van. Its side-door slid open, revealing men clad in black soutanes. The fighting mass of individuals eyed the newcomers with confusion, as if unsure how to react. In a blink of an eye, the blonde had to clutch her ears to protect them from the loud gunshots and started crawling on the ground, away from the confusing slaughter. The whole place was a complete chaos, and she had no idea who the people were, what they were after, what they could possibly want from her or whether she even had any role in all of it. The people in various uniforms and the demons seemed content to be killing each other. Thea scrambled from the ground. "I don't have time for this. Not now. I do NOT have time for this NOW!" she thundered angrily while picking up the books and scripts around her. Finally, she picked up the last one and started sprinting away at a break-neck speed, yelling through German swear words all the way. "I do NOT have time for STUPID DEMONS!"

OoO

"Where is my report, Gin?" Mephisto was pacing impatiently in his office talking on a phone - he had been supposed to receive the regular hourly report a minute ago. "Ah, apologies for the delay, my Lord. Your lady is safe." the spy said, breathing a little heavily, then a terrible screech reached the headmaster's ears. "Gin! What is happening? Where are you?" Mephisto demanded, the impatience immediately transforming into alertness. "I'm kind of… in the middle of something, my Lord. If you could give me…" the sound of a gunshot interrupted "...two more minutes…" another loud thud sounded, accompanied by grunts "... that would be most welcome." the spy somehow managed to formulate through the ruckus in the background, then the connection disappeared. In a blink of an eye, Mephisto stood in front of Tokyo University dormitories, then rushed up to the fifth floor, scolding himself inwardly. "I am such a Vollidiot! They really were after her. From the very start! I should never have…" To his bewilderment, he found Thea's door hanging awkwardly on one of its hinges, and there was no mistake - it must have been kicked out. Despite the wave of a particularly unpleasant feeling which caused a knot to form in his stomach, he quickly calmed his mind in preparation for a potential fight, when he suddenly heard a surprisingly pleasant, musical voice from the kitchenette. It sounded strangely familiar, but it was not Thea's. He couldn't quite put a finger on it. Abruptly, Gin appeared at the end of the long corridor - his hair was messy, his attire was slightly disheveled, and the smell of blood and gunpowder was unmistakable. "I knew I would find you here, my Lord." he said with a knowing smile, although short of breath. "If you could please follow me… Miss Heilbrunn will return any minute. She's a surprisingly good runner." the spy pointed out, and Mephisto looked at Thea's door in confusion, then back at Gin. "Ah, right, that would be Miss Kirigakure. Now, she… she is a surprisingly good singer." Gin chuckled, then motioned to his lord one more time to follow him, adding. "Please, Sir. Your lady said - and forgive me for saying this - that 'she does not have time for stupid demons right now'. And well, that clearly includes you…" he chuckled. To his relief, the Lord of Time did follow him, giving him the chance to explain just what the whole attack was about.

"So, three other groups, you say?" Mephisto arched an eyebrow. "Indeed. I know your orders were to keep a low profile, Sir, but the vampires attacked, so we intervened in order to keep Miss Heilbrunn safe. Then, another group of demons joined the fight. And finally, the Grigori showed up. Miss Heilbrunn seemed to be… merely annoyed at the inconvenience. She decided to ignore the commotion all together and left. The nerves some humans have…" he shook his head, sincerely impressed by such a level-headed reaction. However, his master did not seem quite as amused as Gin, so he swiftly continued with his observation. "Apart from the first group of vampires, none of the other groups seemed to want to harm Miss Heilbrunn. However, the situation was so chaotic that everybody chose to fight, not really knowing whether the other was a friend or a foe, resulting in a bloody skirmish. We knew about the Grigori, but we have no idea why a group of vampires would attack her, and we have absolutely no knowledge about the other group of demons jumping in, seemingly to protect her..." Gin stated with concern. "This is getting out of hand, Gin. I need to take more direct measures." the demon lord said, running his hand through his hair. "I need her closer, preferably on my grounds, behind my barrier." he concluded with resolve, seeing no better option. "My Lord! I didn't know things had gotten so serious already. To think that you are actually going to move in together!" Gin clasped his hand to his cheek, hoping to lighten the mood. However, his master's annoyed look made it quite clear that it was not the right time to joke around. Gin cleared his throat. "Well, then let me at least advise caution in this matter. You would not want to make her feel like a bird in a golden cage. Bring it up carefully… Perhaps this weekend? On the little vacation in hot springs?" he offered. "No, the weekend would be too late. I have re-booked the reservation. We are going tomorrow." the demon lord said in a way which left no room for further discussion, then teleported away to tend to further business.

OoO

Shura stood in Thea's little kitchenette, finishing the preparation of another round of coffee for when the persistent girl would return from her little trip to the university library. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, still unable to comprehend the girl's peculiar energy reserve. Soon, she could hear the door opening. Well, rather sliding to the side. Still, she was quite pleased with her timing. "Welcome back, girl. I made you another cofff-for God's sake, what the?!" the cups slipped from Shura's hands, smashing loudly on the ground, and her eyes almost popped out of her sockets at the sight of the blonde. She rushed towards her with her blade drawn. "What the hell happened?!" she carefully peered through the corridor, then ushered the blonde inside. "Not important. Here, these are the scripts for neurology and ophthalmology. You can start from page thirty-four in this one." Thea handed over a bloodied book to Shura with a completely straight, matter-of-factly look on her face. "Are you for real? Thea, this is… hey, are you bleeding?!" the teacher blurted out, looking the girl up and down. "No." she waved her hand. "Then whose blood is that?!" Shura shouted silently, pointing at a red stain on Thea's shoulder. "No idea. Really. Many people and demons, bleeding all over the place. Not important now. Priorities. We need to focus. Coffee. Ophthalmology. Where's the coffee? I need some coffee. Oh, and you will need some too. The night is still young, and we have a lot to do." In that moment, Shura cast a special barrier against eavesdropping, then completely lost it. Soon, Thea's eyes kept widening with her teacher's every argument for why she was apparently out of her mind. It had been some time since the blonde was scolded like a little child. She was not sure whether she should be offended or awed by the variety of swear words her teacher had in her repertoire. Subconsciously, her mind was sorting through them and storing them in a very special place in her brain she barely had the need of. Shura was absolutely furious. However, on the way through the long vent, the teacher soon realized that it was herself she was so angry with. She left Thea out of her sight for half an hour and even though the girl had been guarded by other Mephisto's agents as well, it was obviously enough time for the enemy to strike. Unfortunately, she couldn't help it but scold the girl, just as she did Rin when he was too reckless and put himself in too much danger, thinking he could manage on his own. However, unlike Rin who would have probably argued back stubbornly, the girl was just quietly standing in front of her, looking at her and nodding intently, as if she was actually raising some very valid points. On top of that, she spent a significant part of the night asking the girl hundreds of questions, without getting the chance to actually ask those which were the most important to her, for which she had come in the first place. And so, she vented it all out. When she was finally done with her outburst, Thea nodded one last time, then finally spoke. "I see. I understand. You need a cocoa instead."

OoO

Thea was rushing down the stairs of the dormitories, adjusting the navy-blue jacket on her white blouse, hoping to ensure a neat, representative look. She had decided against wearing Ayami's high heels. First, she had already managed to completely ruin the pair she had borrowed for her theater date with Mephisto, and second, she didn't want to trip herself to death on the stairs right before the exams even started. Yes, that kind of death would be quite lame. She was clumsy enough, so she could at least die with grace. If she had some saying in her last moments of life, she would appreciate something… well, cool. Something that nobody would see coming, not even her. Something mind-blowing. Surprising. Like a Kinder Überraschung, but more spectacular. The blonde soon sighed and face-palmed herself, chuckling silently. The train of thoughts her caffeine fueled brain came up with when she was sleep-deprived would be worth some serious neurological study. She hasn't slept a bit ever since she learnt about the crazy shift in her examination date, and it was not because of all the coffee she has drunk in the course of the night. The sheer adrenaline was enough to keep her awake. Usually, she would try to boost her morale by encouraging herself, by making herself believe that she would overcome any obstacle. However, it was terribly difficult to do so, especially when she had the suspicion that no amount of her academic knowledge or the lack of thereof would change the outcome in the slightest. She felt almost doomed, destined to fail. "No! Stop that right now!" she clasped her hands to her cheeks, shaking her head. "There are worse things which could have happened. The Academy was attacked, and we survived! I even helped save some lives. What matters the most is that my friends are safe and sound. And so is Mephisto…" she nodded to herself with determination, then quickened her pace, hurrying to the examination hall. "It will be alright, Thea. You'll see… Because of opf-hfpt-lama-logy. How do you spell ophthalmology? Funny word…"

OoO

Thea's heart was beating loudly in her chest as she was rushing through the huge hall. She was clutching the precious documents in her hands, looking at them with disbelief. She truly couldn't believe it. She could have sworn that someone out there must have hated her because of all the trouble around her exams but the examining committee was absolutely wonderful. That is, apart from one professor she did not even know, who seemed to be going out of his way to completely humiliate her. To her relief, professor Isao stepped in each time, questioning the other professor or outright ridiculing his dubious inquiries. Asking about some questionable alternative procedures to treat hemothorax developed in Greece or various vaccines still in clinical trials and not yet approved or even introduced to medical professionals was highly inappropriate, especially when not even the examining committee members heard about those. Professor Isao seemed to be in particularly high spirits, especially after she had successfully defended her thesis. Even her opponent was surprisingly reasonable - her most negative comments about Thea's thesis were raised regarding sloppy formatting and poor usage of the correct document template. The reputation of the teachers proved to be true - they all had very high standards, expected flawless answers and allowed no room for doubts. The last one she learned the moment she had finished her answer with an intoned question mark, and so the committee delved much deeper into that particular topic. Well, one could only review so much during one night… She couldn't very well blame her teachers for the performance they expected from her. After all, mistakes in medicine could cost a life. However, she was convinced that all of them judged her knowledge fairly. And she performed a flawless appendectomy practice, too. She passed. She had not exactly aced the exams, but she was perfectly fine with that considering the circumstances. She passed! And that was the important thing. After years of study, she passed! She was so happy, she was excited, relieved, thrilled, she was… hit in the face!

"Oooow…" she put her hand to her nose to lessen the pain, spilling all papers on the floor in the process. Yes, she was so hyped that she actually walked right into the glass door in front of her. Well, her spirits were so high that not even her usual clumsiness would spoil the moment for her. A low chuckle soon reached her ears. Alright, being laughed at was a tad spoiling it for her. "Need a hand, Doctor Heilbrunn?" came an amused, but pleasant voice, which sent the blonde back to seventh heaven. "Mephisto!" Thea's eyes shone and she flung herself at the demon, squeezing him tightly. "It's so good to see you! Oh God, I'm so sorry for not answering your messages. Things were a little crazy. I was out of coffee. And out of time. And books! They moved my examination, you see… And… wait, what did you just call me?" she blinked in confusion, interrupting her nonsense rumbling. Mephisto cut a disarming smile. "I believe congratulations would be in place, Doctor Heilbrunn." he winked, rendering the blonde speechless for a few seconds. Finally, she chuckled and shook her head. "Seriously, I'd rather not know how you could possibly know about all of this…" "A demon has his ways…" Mephisto grinned mysteriously, amusement playing in his eyes. "Riiiight… Does the demon also have any cool and sophisticated way to explain his terrible medical condition to this doctor?" Thea arched an eyebrow, eying him disapprovingly. She didn't even need her healing abilities to tell that he was exhausted. Quite terribly. "Let me see…" she said and took his hand into hers, already concentrating on her healing wave. "Don't." Mephisto cupped her hand. "But you…" she protested, only to be interrupted again by the demon kissing her hand lightly. "My dear, it would appear that we both have a long, exhausting night behind us. Had we spent it together, the exhaustion would actually be quite welcome, but what can you do…" he shook his head lamentably, his eyes glowing playfully. Thea chuckled, her cheeks beautifully pink. She couldn't even think of any smart answer. Her brain seemed to completely stop working and she felt as if all her exhaustion finally caught up with her. She exhaled and leaned on him, struggling to form coherent sentences..

Suddenly, she tensed and gasped, the sudden surge of panic managing to kick her brain back on. "Wait! The summons! Mephisto, the letter! At 2 PM!" she blurted out with alarm. "Ah, yes. The timing is… purely coincidental, but perhaps all the more fitting." he stroked his beard with a smirk. "But Mephisto. The time! What time is it?" the blonde pressed with rising panic, and the demon looked at his watch. "Relax, dear. It is 1:07 PM. Just in time…" he said, but Thea interrupted swiftly, looking somewhere to the distance and thinking out loud. "Only fifty-three minutes! No, it's OK. It's OK. I can still make it. It will be a close one. Line 5, then 7. Ten minutes of walk. No. Gotta run from that station. Yes. I can do it." she said, accelerating her pace. He caught up with her with a few long strides, reaching for her hand. "Actually, I am here to give you a ride, Doctor Heilbrunn." his lips curled up, and his limousine arrived right in front of them. Thea came to a halt, eying the pink nightmare incredulously as the images of one particularly embarrassing night rushed through her mind, then shook her head and actually took a step back. "No. It's OK. I can make it. I just take the metro." Mephisto just chuckled and put a hand over Thea's shoulder. "My dear, you are - of course - free to take the metro. But you see, public transportation lacks certain… perks." he grinned, producing a Mozartkugel out of thin air. The blonde gulped audibly, her eyes sparkled, and her mouth watered. "There is more in the car." the demon winked mischievously. "But a dessert would taste better after a proper meal, wouldn't you agree?" he opened the door for her, and a familiar smell reached Thea's nose. "Yes, the Golden Sparrow." came a nod from Mephisto, confirming that the noodles she could smell were from the place Thea had taken him to on their first date. "I have become quite fond of them." he admitted with a soft blush. In a few seconds, the blonde was sitting in the limo, wolfing down her first meal in twenty-four hours that was practically pure sugar or caffeine. Mephisto soon supplied the promised sweets, then coaxed the fresh doctor into taking a short nap until they would arrive at the True Cross Academy, silently making sure that her well-deserved two hours long nap would only take twenty minutes outside of the limo.

OoO

Feeling surprisingly energized after such a short nap, Thea took a deep breath, then pushed the huge door in front of her open just as the clock struck 2 PM. She had never been in that hall before, then again, the True Cross Academy was gigantic. The room setting and decorations looked ornate and rather ceremonial with all the Academy's insignias, symbols, and even parts of the furnishing in the Academy's colors of magenta and white. Mephisto stood at the end of the room in front of her, wearing an official-looking white uniform, and surprisingly, with a cord at his side. She walked in until she stood in front of him, just as she had been instructed to do, silently glad that she was still wearing her best suit she had on for the finals. She passed nine figures clad in white cloaks with hoods covering their faces, so now they stood slightly behind her and to her left and right side, holding long staffs of some kind. She gave a start, as the door closed itself behind her, and the people left their positions at the sides to come stand behind her back. Silence fell. Everyone was apparently waiting for something, and Thea suddenly became very nervous. Well, Mephisto had mentioned during the ride in his limousine that she should be ready for a little bit of ceremony. This was his idea of a little bit of ceremony? He had also mentioned, she only needed to enter the room, walk up to him, and once prompted, state her full name including her academic title, and just face forward. Easy enough of a task, right? At least she had managed to walk there without tripping over… well… literally anything, including her own feet. So far so good. Her train of thoughts was soon interrupted by the headmaster's sonorous voice. "Who comes to stand before the Magistrate?" he asked, eying her expectantly. "Doctor Althea Heilbrunn." she answered, sounding surprisingly confident considering she had no idea what was going on. At the same time though, she was also fighting the urge to turn around to catch the reactions of all the people standing behind her, unsure what to do next.

She turned her eyes towards Mephisto again, but he seemed to ignore her at the moment, and addressed the assembly behind her in a clear and loud voice instead. "Is this Althea Heilbrunn, a Doctor?" came a question, and Thea's eyebrows furrowed. He has just asked that, hasn't he? Before she could ponder about it any longer, she suddenly recognized the voice of one of her teachers. "Yes, Magistrate. This is Althea Heilbrunn, and her mind is keen and quick. She has demonstrated the depth of medical knowledge, both of humans and of other beings. She is a Doctor." Yukio said, finishing his short speech by a loud thump of his staff, and all the others thumped their staffs once in response. Mephisto nodded to that with what seemed to be a satisfied look, then asked again. "Is this Althea Heilbrunn, a Meister?" "Yes, Magistrate." another voice confirmed, this one it belonged to Mrs. Yamagami. "This is Althea Heilbrunn, and she has shown her mastery of healing techniques, and her exceptional skill with waves of healing. She is a Meister." the teacher said with a pleased voice, and similarly to Yukio, she ended off the claim by a thump of her staff, the others joining her, thumping their staffs twice in response. Thea's eyes widened, her cheeks burning pink "Such a praise from my teachers! But… wait a moment… they are talking about 'Meister', aren't' they?" the blonde thought incredulously. "Is this Althea Heilbrunn, one of you - Meister Doctors of the True Cross Academy?" the headmaster asked with his head tilted, and Thea gulped. "Yes, Magistrate. This is Althea Heilbrunn, and she has shown her compassion and dedication to the art, tired and beaten, and still caring for those in need in the aftermath of the recent attack. She is one of us. She is a Meister Doctor of the True Cross Academy." Mr. Kaoru said with a strange mix of thankfulness and pride, then thumped his staff once. Breath caught in Thea's throat, her heart beating incredibly fast all of a sudden as all the others thumped their staffs three times in response. "Is this what I think this is? Can it really be… they accept me as one of them?" her thoughts got interrupted once again as Mephisto asked his last question. "So, this is Althea Heilbrunn, a Meister Doctor of the True Cross Academy. Or do you claim otherwise?" Silence. His lips curled up, so Thea guessed that the absence of any further statements was a good sign for her.

The headmaster soon turned his attention to her and approached. "Kneel." he ordered. And so, she did, if somewhat nervously and clumsily. Mephisto soon reached for the sword at his side. He must have noticed how nervous she got by that gesture, for he winked at her, his eyes playing. Thea relaxed but her head was still a turmoil of thoughts she had a hard time to process. "Are they really… Am I to become a Doctor? A Meister? But that doesn't make sense… I've been around only for about half a year… What about some tests? A trial perhaps…" she fidgeted nervously. Slowly and deliberately, Mephisto pulled out the sword out of the intricate sheath, raising it in front of him. "The Magistrate hereby recognizes Meister Doctor Althea Heilbrunn. And the Magistrate swears by this sword and by Their mandate to honor Althea Heilbrunn as a Meister Doctor of the True Cross Academy." The ceremonious words sounded absolutely unbelievable to her as he gently touched her left shoulder with the tip of the sword and told her to rise. "Is this really happening? Is all this true? Because it feels so unreal, almost like a… Oh no…" a wave of horror washed over her. "Passing a final exam at school, becoming a doctor, AND receiving the title of a Meister Doctor on the same day? Too good to be true… I knew it! It's a dream. Oh God, it's a dream! I must have passed out during my night of studying for the finals tomorrow… And now, I'll just wake up with a loud thud as my face hits the desk or something…" she whined inwardly.

Abruptly, a different kind of a loud thud reverberated through the room. "Ah, here we go…" Thea thought with a calm serenity, giving herself up to the inevitable fate. She looked around, awaiting the scenery to change back to her dorms, but none of that happened. Instead, she felt a surge of blue flames filling the room. She turned, only to see some of her classmates standing in the kick-opened door, ready to fight. "Thea!" Rin's voice reached her ears, then she could see the young half-demon bursting through the confused assembly of Meister Doctors, rushing towards her at demonic speed, the classmates right behind him shouting at everyone to stop. The blonde felt a holy aura envelop her, and she found herself covered by a spirit barrier of some kind. A second later, a blue ring of flames appeared around her. Rin was at her side in a blink of an eye, meeting Mephisto's sword with his, pushing it as far from Thea as possible. "Don't you dare, you BASTARD! She's not a traitor, ya' hear me?! She saved this place, dammit! I won't let you execute her!" he gritted through his teeth, meeting the demon lord eyes with a challenge. Mephisto just bulged his eyes, and after a short pause, he started laughing hysterically, which Rin took as an outright mocking of his resolve to protect his friend. Rin growled in response and Mephisto merely calmed his outburst to a laughter, as Thea jumped in, smiling "It's fine, Rin. I'm not being… executed… or anything." she said a little laboriously, fighting the urge to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. "B-but he… He held a sword at your throat! I saw him!" Rin exclaimed, but his outrage was gone as easily as his blue flames. He kept a suspicious eye on Mephisto, though, while the demon was just wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. A moment later, Rin found himself smacked from behind by two hands. "Ouch! What the..?!" he rubbed his head, then noticed Shura and Yukio standing behind him with utterly annoyed expressions on their faces. "The hell do ya' think yer' doin', ya' little twerp?!" Shura stared him down while his brother adjusted his glasses, his eye twitching in irritation. "Do you have any idea how long it took to set the whole room up so quickly?! Interrupting the Meister ceremony like this! What were you thinking?!" he crossed his arms in front of him, looking at the group of Exwires, waiting for an explanation.

Bon was the first one to collect himself, so he bowed swiftly. "We are terribly sorry! But we couldn't get hold of Thea after the attack. She was missing during yesterday's… 'cleaning activities', too. We knew she had a disagreement with Sir Pheles, who more or less accused her of being a spy or a traitor… Today, Izumo and Shiemi went to check on her at the dorms, but she was not there either. They just called us saying they found the door to her room kicked out, and there were papers and books scattered all around. The whole place was a mess…" Bon kept explaining while Shura's and Thea's faces burned with colossal embarrassment at that last remark. "So, we rushed in to… inform…you, Sir Pheles." Konekomaru added. "One of the teachers told us you should be here with Thea, so we… uhm… we checked the situation." Konekomaru tried to find some fancier words for spying on them, but Rin soon destroyed his efforts by his usual bluntness. "I saw you through the keyhole with a sword in hand, preparing to strike her! A poor girl kneeling on the ground! Just what was I supposed to think, anyway… we just…" Rin said red-faced, gesturing awkwardly, unable to finish the sentence. However, Mephisto smoothly took over. "...rushed to aid your friend, I see." he grinned widely. "Jumping to conclusions, true, but I appreciate the comradery. Nevertheless, you are just in time to congratulate Meister Doctor… Doctor Althea Heilbrunn." he grinned, causing the girl to chuckle at the double-doctor title. Then, he handed her tall staff with a snake curled around it, just as the one the teachers were holding. "The Rod of Asclepius!" the blonde breathed out, completely enchanted by the symbol of doctors. "Thank you." she clutched it more firmly, fighting the tears of joy, successfully managing to keep them at bay. And so, she just bowed, then looked at the teachers happily, feeling incredibly honored. Everyone cheered and Thea was soon showered by curious questions from her friends and teachers. "Congratulations, Thea! You're a Meister Doctor!" "Wow! How did you do it?" "Thea, where were you? Why haven't you answered the messages?! We were worried sick!" "So, you made up with that ugly bastard? What do you see in him, anyway…? And how could you forgive him so easily?" "Miss Heilbrunn, Sir Pheles said 'Doctor Doctor' is it true that you have just passed your final examination at the Tokyo University, then? Why didn't you tell us the great news?" The blonde looked around with a slight confusion, trying to answer the questions one by one as best as she could, but she was getting quite overwhelmed, and having pinched herself painfully a few times, she started accepting that perhaps this was all really true. Now that it was all over - years of studying for her M.D. and countless weekends and nights of cramming and fighting demons for her Doctor Meistery - she felt the remnants of caffeine in her veins could no longer keep the extreme tiredness at bay. She was happy, but thoroughly exhausted. Fortunately, she soon felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder, as Mephisto approached her, allowing her to lean on him inconspicuously. "Yes, yes, your congratulations are well noted." the demon lord waved his hand, trying to calm the turmoil down. "Thank you everyone for the swift preparations. Now, please excuse us, but we still have some important business to tend to. Auf Wiedersehen~" he intoned playfully, then winked at Thea and they both disappeared in a pink smoke, leaving the confused teachers and Exwires behind. "Mephisto… Where are we?" she blinked in confusion, scanning the surroundings with a slightly defeated look in her face. She was sure she couldn't handle another crazy, action-packed minute of her life at that point. The demon's lips curled up and his eyes sparkled playfully. "On vacation, my dear Doctor Doctor Heilbrunn. On a well-deserved vacation."

OoO

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Disclaimer: Blue Exorcists belongs to Kazue Katō. Please, do not re-post or publish my story without my consent.

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Author's note: Hello everyone! This chapter is dedicated to all students out there struggling with finals. Believe in yourself and it will be over before you know it!

I would also like to thank my friend TheNightOwl4340 who always cheers me up saying that it's OK even if I write so slow because apparently it's worth the wait. I hope you guys see it the same way and enjoy my FanFiction. Speaking of fanart, there is a first FanArt of Thea! It was absolutely beautifully done by the very same NightOwl and you can check it out here: thenightowl4340/art/Blue-Exorcist-Fanart-878677240

As always, I will be happy to hear your feedback - on my writing in general or if you liked or disliked a particular part of it, just let me know. I need to hear it to improve.

P.S. Next chapter is already underway and will hopefully be released before summer vacation :D.