Chapter 7: The Beldams
For an associate of Mephisto's, Shiro had been expecting someone a little more…unorthodox. But the most seemingly 'unorthodox' thing about the woman in front of him was her dark -blue hair. And maybe that she was accompanied by a cat.
She wore an Exorcist uniform, though it was different to their own, Shiro recognised it as the English uniform for Exorcists. And a metal summoning circle as a necklace around her neck, marking her as a Tamer.
"So, I hear you've been having problems with an unknown demon." The woman said, Japanese was clearly not her first language, though they didn't have an issue understanding her.
"'Problem' is an understatement." One of the team said.
"It's moving fast, two of the recovered children have already been taken." Another said.
"I'm not surprised. This demon is nothing without her children." Coraline said.
There was a pause.
"You know what this demon is?" Shiro questioned.
"Given what I've been told about her, I believe I do." Coraline answered, walking over to the desk and opening her bag.
"What? What?" The team asked impatiently.
Coraline took a hand-bound book out of her bag and placed it on the table.
Her cat jumped up onto the table beside it as Coraline opened the cover to the first page, not needing to go any further than that.
There on the first page was the rough sketch of a skeletal woman with extra needle-like legs and hands, and buttons for eyes. The sketch did look similar to Mami's demon-form, thought there were definite differences.
A name was printed at the top of the page in large lettering.
"A Beldam." Coraline said.
"My," Mephisto said as he looked down at the drawing, ignoring the cat's hissing at him. "I haven't seen one of those in quite some time. Such a rarity."
"What's a Beldam?" One of the team questioned.
"Yeah, I've never heard of one before." Another joined in.
All of them were confused.
"I would be surprised if you had." Coraline said. "They're a very ancient and secretive type of demon, able to conceal their presence from even the most expert of demon hunters. It took me years to scrounge up all my information from old folktales and where Beldams have set up their lairs, and that was only because experience allowed me to know where to look."
"So, what is a Beldam exactly, then?" Shiro asked, picking up Coraline's book to leaf through it.
The entire book was in English and distinct handwriting, making it hard for Shiro to read, but he knew enough English to make some of it out. It went into detail about blocked off doors, keys, dolls and buttons on the first few pages before including information and sketched that were obviously added later on given the difference in ink and handwriting.
"They're a type of demon that feasts on the emotions of children." Coraline answered. "Each Beldam is different in what they do, but the common thread is that they lure children away from their families and feast on their emotions and life force until their all dried up, and then discard that child once done with them. They usually feed on a child's love for them, creating a situation to foster that love, it can take the form of a child's paradise, or as with your Beldam, a situation where the children had to rely on her to be safe."
"What's this stuff about sewing buttons into eyes, the demon didn't do this to the children?" Shiro asked, reading through some of the text in the book.
"Like I said, each Beldam is different." Coraline said. "The first Beldam I encountered lived in a pocket dimension where she took the form of my 'other mother', presenting me with a world made to please me, and then told me that in order to stay I had to allow her to sew buttons into my eyes, which would have allowed her to feast on my lifeforce until I was nothing but another ghost added to her collection."
Everyone but Mephisto winced and covered one of their eyes.
"It was only after I started researching Beldams that I learned no two are the same." Coraline continued. "Some employ pocket dimensions to take their victims too like the Other Mother, others trap their victims in a dream world like your Beldam. Some require the child to enter a contract of sorts to feed on them, others are able to feed on the children as soon as they grab them. I've had to add to my book many times over the years each time I find a new Beldam."
"You've fought them before." Shiro said, putting the book back down for another member of the team to look at. "How to we defeat a Beldam?"
"Mainly starvation." Coraline informed. "If a Beldam can't feed on a child's life force, they'll eventually fade away. That involves locking the Beldam away, great for the ones that employ pocket dimensions as those doorways can be sealed with them on the other side, not so good for the ones that have free reign."
"The demon already has two children, and even if doesn't take the rest of the children, it could always take new ones. I don't think it's going to starve." One of the team pointed out.
"I think she has to form a trust and bond with children before she can feed on them." Coraline theorised, picking up her book and skimming through it. "That's why she created the illusion of the abandoned city I was told about, to quicken that bond by being the children's 'protector'. And since it's going to be much harder for her to do that again without her companion, she's stuck retrieving the rescued children if she doesn't want to starve."
"Do you know who that other demon we fought was, we couldn't find any information on it either?" One of the team asked.
"Not a clue." Coraline answered honestly. "Though it is common for a Beldam to form a symbiotic relationship with another demon to aid in their child snatching, both benefiting from it and becoming stronger. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it was a low-level demon mutated through the Beldam feeding it."
"Could she find another demon to partner up with and set up her dream world again?" Shiro asked.
"She could." Coraline nodded. "It all depends on the Beldam's abilities. I may be the expert on them, but there are still things I don't know."
"Are there any other ways to fight a Beldam?" Shiro asked.
"I've found that a lot of animals are the enemies of a Beldam." Coraline flicked to a page in her book showcasing sketches of animals. "They're able to sense when a Beldam is near and that she's bad news, they're also good for protecting children against a Beldam's influence. So, Tamers with animal-based demons should prove effective."
Coraline's cat pawed at the page where a sketch of itself was.
"Cats specifically are effective." Coraline added, smiling down at her cat.
That gave Shiro an idea, though he'd have to wait before he could act on it.
"So, do you have anything in here about tracking down the demon? Because that's our biggest issue right here." One of the team brought up, looking at the book.
"All Beldams have a lair, and it'll be somewhere remote enough to not draw attention to her but close to civilisation, so she can access children." Coraline said. "For this particular Beldam, her lair will be set up not far from the city so that she can access the children she took, since she still has to travel to the houses and then back to her lair. Though, she'll definitely move lairs once she's got all the children back rather than stick around and risk getting caught again."
Coraline turned her book to another page displaying sketches of old houses.
"They usually set up their lairs in old houses or caves, the house doesn't necessarily have to be abandoned for there to be a lair there, but I doubt our Beldam would be able to sneak herself and the children into an occupied house. So, we should be searching caves, abandoned houses, and old houses where the owners have just died, or the owners aren't known for being seen, if our Beldam doesn't mind killing the normal way." She continued.
"Are there any other ways?" Coraline was asked.
"The rest of my information is about how to work out whether a Beldam has set up residence somewhere, not about tracking newly built lairs. So, unless we're willing to use the children as bait to lure her out or track her back to her lair, this is what we can do so far."
"Using the children as bait is out of the question." Shiro shut the suggestion down before anyone could vouch for it, not that anyone was really willing to.
"I'll get to work finding all the caves and old houses in the city and surrounding area then." One of the team said.
"I'll contact some more Tamers to join the team." Another member said.
"Thank you for your help." Shiro said to Coraline.
"You can thank me when this is all over." Coraline waved off.
"I look forward to being able to thank you, then." Shiro responded.
With the case well and truly underway, it took a while before Shiro was able to take a break, taking the opportunity to quickly visit home, but not before quickly stopping off at True Cross Academy to pick something important.
It was way past midnight when he got home, so everyone was fast asleep.
Quietly, Shiro made his way up to his sons' room, pushing the door open to peer inside.
Yukio was sound asleep in his bed, probably having finally passed out from working too hard if Shiro had to hazard a guess.
Rin's bed, however, was empty.
Just as Shiro was getting ready to panic, he heard the sound of someone moving about in the kitchen.
Moving towards the kitchen, he was able to smell food being cooked. And going inside, he found Rin walking around with ingredients and a pot on the stove.
"Rin, you know you're not meant to use the hob without supervision, especially in your state." Shiro smiled.
Rin jumped slightly before turning around to look at Shiro guiltily.
"Sorry." Rin mumbled. "I was hungry."
"If you were hungry, you should have asked one of the others to cook for you." Shiro told his son good naturedly.
"I didn't want to be a bother." Rin mumbled again.
"You're not being a bother." Shiro put his hands on Rin's shoulders and knelt down to his level. "You were only just rescued from a very bad experience and are still recovering, it's understandable that you'd need help."
"I guess." Rin said, understanding his father's words.
"I know, it's hard to let go of what you're feeling, even though you know something's not true." Shiro said.
Rin only nodded.
"Now, you sit down, I'll finish your food for you." Shiro said, guiding Rin to sit.
Rin was too exhausted to protest, allowing himself to be put in a chair.
As it turned out, Rin's food was almost ready and was quite well-prepared considering Rin's physical condition. There was enough for a bowl each, so Shiro placed two bowls on the table and sat down opposite Rin.
"This is really good." Shiro complimented after taking a bite.
"Thanks." Rin said, eating his own food. "I was the designated cook of our group."
Shiro put down his fork to look at his son.
"Each week we would go on a supply run, we'd work out how much we'd have, and then I'd cook it for everyone. Mami said that I could make even the worst packaged foods taste amazing." Rin continued, staring off into space.
"Rin…" Shiro said.
"We'd always go to the same shop. It was the safer to do that because we all knew our way around it." Rin didn't seem to hear him. "Always the same shop."
Shiro stood up and walked around the table, moving Rin to face him.
"Rin." He repeated.
"For years." Rin looked up at Shiro, eyes watering. "It never ran out of food for us. Why didn't I realise?"
Shiro pulled Rin into his arms as the young child fell into another round of hysterics upon realising the clues that he'd been living in a false reality he'd missed.
"Shh." Shiro comforted as Rin sobbed into his shoulder. "It's not your fault."
The emotional episode was thankfully a short one and the two were able to sit back at the table. Though, this time, Rin was perched on Shiro's lap as they ate their now lukewarm food, still too fragile to be away from his comfort.
"How are you feeling?" Shiro asked once they finished eating.
Rin shrugged, he didn't know how to put what he felt into words.
"Are you leaving again?" He asked instead.
Shiro sighed. "I am. I'm sorry that I can't spend all my time with you like I want to, but it's important that I finish this case."
"It's Mami, isn't it?" Rin asked, shocking Shiro slightly with his perceptiveness. "You're trying to find her, so she can't take me again."
"I am." Shiro decided not to lie.
"Will you kill her?"
It was a difficult question for Shiro to answer in front of Rin.
"Rin, remember that Mami is a dangerous demon who took you away from Yukio and I, and she hurt all the friends you had while she had you too." Shiro said instead of answering.
"I know." Rin said. "Mami loved me…But…but…daddy…I'm scared of her coming for me."
"I won't let her take you, Rin." Shiro said, giving his son another hug. "That's why I'm working so hard to stop her."
Rin obviously didn't know how to feel about it all.
"Actually, I've brought home someone to protect you while I'm gone." Shiro said.
Shiro guided Rin out of the kitchen and to the living room, setting the young boy down on one of the sofas and leading down to pick something up.
"This is Kuro." Shiro placed the Cat Sidhe on Rin's lap.
Rin's eyes widen at the cat, cautiously petting him.
"He has two tails." Rin said.
Shiro hoped that his son's experience with Mami had given him a mashou, and not that his demon soul was starting to awaken.
"He's a demon called a Cat Sidhe." Shiro explained. "He's my familiar, and he's going to protect you from now on."
"You're giving him to me." Rin looked down at Kuro in awe.
Kuro looked back up at him, meowing.
"I am." Shiro nodded. "Now, I want you to keep Kuro with you at all times."
"Even in the bathroom?" Rin questioned.
Shiro laughed at Rin's question.
"Okay, he doesn't need to be in the bathroom with you. But he'll be by your side everywhere else." Shiro amended.
When Kuro turned to Shiro, the Paladin could see the determination in his familiar's eyes, assuring him that the demon would guard Rin with his life.
"And when this is all over, I'm going to spend all the time in the world with you, and we can go to any theme park that you want." Shiro promised.
"Can Kuro come too?" Rin asked, smiling.
Shiro laughed again. He should have guessed that his son would get instantly attached.
"If you want him to." He told his son.
Rin then yawned, clearly still tired.
"Alright, bedtime." Shiro said.
They skipped brushing Rin's teeth in favour of heading straight to bed. Shiro tucked Rin back in and Kuro jumped up to lay at the child's side, one of Rin's arms over him.
"Goodnight." Rin yawned, closing his eyes.
"Night." Shiro replied.
With how exhausted he was, it only took Rin seconds to fall asleep.
Shiro smiled down at him and patted his head before standing up.
He turned around to look at Yukio, who was thankfully still out like a light.
"Goodnight." He whispered to his other son, patting his head too before leaving.
Author's note: Please comment
So, what do you think. I've tried to integrate Coraline into the world of Blue Exorcist and give the Beldams their own lore, but I don't know how well I've done it. So, tell me if you think there are any details missing or if I didn't explain something properly.
In regards to the part about Beldams teaming up with other demons to help them catch children, it's a reference to the original book. In the book, the tunnel connecting the real and other world is basically alive and Coraline feels that it's aware of her presence. The Coraline stuff added is basically a mash-up of the book and movie.