Demon Blade
Chapter 4: Genetic Mysteries

Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist or any of the characters involved except Melody

Melody landed and took aim again, firing a trio of shots into Kuro's shoulder who growled in frustration before turning his attention to her. He began to charge, and Melody braced to leap out of the way to dodge when a wave of despair hit her, rendering her immobile.

"What the-?" She was cut off as Kuro slammed into her and sent her flying into the truck.

"Melody!" Rin shouted as he rushed back towards Kuro. He leapt into the air and landed on Kuro's back, wrestling with him as he grabbed handfuls of Kuro's fur.

"Liars! You're all liars! He's not dead! He can't be dead!" Rin heard the voice in his head again.

Melody meanwhile was still paralyzed from the waves of despair, as she lay there she felt the source of the waves coming off of Kuro.

"What is this?" She asked as she struggled to stand from the dent in the truck she'd made.

"Kuro! Please! You need to calm down!" Rin shouted to him.

Kuro bucked furiously, dislodging Rin who was sent flying, he landed on the road and rolled back to his feet.

"Kuro!" He shouted.

Kuro turned to face him and stopped, before him wasn't Rin, but his father, Shiro.

"Shiro? I knew you couldn't be dead! They were all ly-" Kuro's joy was stopped as the image faded to reveal Rin standing there with his arms spread wide.

"I know you were close to dad, and I understand how you feel, but you can't keep rampaging like this! Dad's gone, and you need to accept that and move on!" Rin shouted to him.

Melody felt the waves begin to disperse and she regained control of her limbs. She pulled herself free and watched as Kuro began to tear up, he let out a sorrowful meow before he began to shrink down to the size of a normal house cat.

"Rin… well played," She said to herself with a smile.

She felt a presence appear behind her.

"Hey dad," she said without looking.

"I can never get the drop on you can I?" Mephisto asked.

"No, what brings you here?" She asked.

"I came to see how you and Okumura were doing. It seems you two have everything under control."

The two of them looked to Rin who had picked up Kuro and was hugging him tightly as the cat continued to cry.

"Yeah… Hey, I have a question about-" she turned to look at her father.

"That paralyzing feeling you were hit with?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"That's your mother's side of things… come, we can discuss this in my office."

He took Melody's shoulder and the two of them disappeared in a flash.

Meanwhile, Rin and Kuro slowly approached the security line, the exorcists there let out a cheer as they saw Kuro riding on Rin's shoulder.

"How did you talk him down?" Yukio asked.

"I just told him the truth, and I think that's all he needed to hear."

Yukio shook his head in disbelief, and then noticed Kuro staring at the grenade he was holding. Kuro leapt down and knocked it out of his hand and twisted the lid.

"Hey! Kuro! That's dangerous!" Yukio shouted.

"It's a gift from Shiro!" Kuro shouted in Rin's head.

"Wait a second Yukio, he says it's from dad."

Yukio looked to Rin then back to the barely open container. Yukio picked up the grenade and twisted the top off, revealing a small container instead of the holy water that was usually placed inside. He pulled it out and unscrewed the lid and took a sniff.

"It's sake, but, something's off about it…"

"It's for me!" Kuro shouted.

Rin looked down at Kuro then back at the container and nodded as he flipped over the lid of the grenade and poured some of the liquid out for Kuro to lap up.

"That's just like dad isn't it?" Rin asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He never would have hurt Kuro, he was too nice. This wasn't meant to kill Kuro, it was meant to help calm him down."

Yukio was taken aback at Rin's analysis, but nodded in agreement as he turned to watch Kuro.

Meanwhile, back in Mephisto's office, Melody and her father appeared in a flash. Amaimon was sitting on one of the chairs reading a book, but he looked up as his brother and niece appeared.

"So, you said that feeling was from my mom?"

"Not from her, but from her bloodline inside you," Mephisto walked around to his desk and sat down.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you know of your mother?" Mephisto asked.

Melody was taken aback at the question. "Uh… the nuns who raised me said that she had white hair and eyes, and that she was abnormally pretty… that's it."

Mephisto sighed, "There's a reason for that, and the reason I liked her enough to have her bear my child. Your mother is a Guardian."

"A Guardian?" Melody asked.

Mephisto nodded, "They're a very powerful and ancient race. Your mother being no exception. Her abilities lend herself well to being an empath, or one who can sense the emotions of others."

"And that's what happened with Kuro earlier?"

Mephisto was silent for a moment as he gathered his thought "Your mother is strong enough to resist the effects of others on her own body, and perhaps, the effects you experience of the same caliber as what your mother senses, but you are not trained to feel such emotions while in such a tense situation, or perhaps that has helped you so far…"

"How do you mean?"

"Think about it, the emotions you sensed today were not something you would normally sense when fighting for your life. In a life-and-death situation you would likely feel the anger and adrenaline of your foe. Such energies would likely drive you to do more and fight harder because your own sense of survival is coupled with theirs. Today however you experienced a different feeling: grief. Overwhelming and disabling grief, the sense of loss that only death can cause in any creature that can feel emotions. I think Kuro's sense of loss at the death of Shiro Fujimoto paralyzed your untrained body and mind with its overwhelming power."

Melody nodded, "So how do I train to fight when my opponent's emotions are going to mess with me?"

Mephisto leaned back in his chair and looked to the ceiling "That does make it difficult. I wish your mother were here, she might be able to help explain this a bit more than what I can theorize."

Amaimon leapt out of his seat and approached the desk "If I might make a suggestion brother, perhaps I could try to train with Melody while emitting different emotions? As it is I have been utterly bored while fighting her since I've had to hold back, but if I am forced to emit an emotion while doing so it might make it more interesting for the both of us."

Mephisto leaned back down and stared at Amaimon for a moment, "Can you do that?"

Amaimon nodded and his normally blank face descended into a frown which sent a wave of negative energy into Melody who dropped to a knee in surprise.

"Yeah, that works," Melody gasped from the ground as the wave receeded.

She stood up and shook herself to regain full control.

"Then we have our answer," Mephisto smiled as he clapped his hands together.

Melody immediately felt her spirits lift and realized that it was her father's cheery attitude.

"What I'm curious about is why this is all happening now and hasn't been bothering me my whole life?" Melody asked.

"I have a guess about that," Amaimon replied as he raised a hand.

"Up until now you've only dealt with basic human emotions: sadness, joy, boredom, and anger just to name a few. You have yet to deal with such a powerful emotion as the sense of utter loss that death can cause, and because of that your powers were awakened by Kuro today."

Mephisto nodded with a grunt "My thoughts exactly."

Melody looked from her uncle to her father before shaking her head, "I suppose that makes sense…"

"Is something else bothering you?" Mephisto asked.

"I just… it's weird, before now I've never wanted to meet my mom, but after you mentioned her earlier I can't get the idea out of my head that I need to meet her."

"Typical of Guardian children from what I've heard," Mephisto said dismissively, "Perhaps Okumura feels similarly, considering his father is something more powerful than the Guardians… I think."

"You think?"

"Well… the true limits of a Guardian's power have never been tested to the fullest, they always seem to be able to draw more power as needed to accomplish whatever task they have been set to. Not that it matters, I'm sure you'll get your chance to meet one soon enough."

"What makes you say that?" Melody asked.

"There's this feeling, a disturbance- you aren't strong enough to detect it, which is why you haven't sensed it- something isn't right and that's the calling card for a Guardian to make an appearance."

Melody nodded slowly at her father's explanation, "And you think it could be Mom?"

"I think it could be anyone, the Guardian's don't care about personal preference from what your mother explained to me. They send whoever is most qualified to handle the mission and it's that simple, but meeting one of your mother's kin might be enough to quench your thirst to meet her, or at least abate it for now."

Melody looked to her father before a determined look overcame her. "Well, if I'm going to meet her, or even one of her siblings, then I need to be ready."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Mephisto said with a huge grin. "Let's get you started on that new training regiment then. Amaimon, if you would?"

Amaimon nodded before putting on another frown, Melody staggered from the wave of pressure, but she was prepared for it this time as she drew her sword.

"Let's do this."