Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Exorcist or Winx Club, only my OC's and plot.
Summary: "Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong...or at least that's what it seemed like at first. But after I've actually been here for a while it seems more like fate wants to make one guy's life a bit better...either that or the Ethereal Fairies have a really twisted sense of humour." - Blue Exorcist/Winx Club Crossover -
This time I did not forget to upload here! Yay!
Last time:
"I'm going to Earth in an hour, and I want you three to be ready when I leave." Avalon announced.
The three girls just stared at the man in utter shock.
"You're taking us with you?" Amanda asked, "Really?"
"You girls did the right thing." Cuan said with a gentle smile, "You could have easily just decided that, since you know where she might be, you can just go find her yourself. Though, instead, you decided to be responsible about it, and talked to us first, which we all find commendable."
"Which is why I'm trusting you to assist me in this." Avalon added, "You three girls managed what all us faculty couldn't, which tells me your skills might be vital in finding her."
Magic and Exorcism
Chapter 15: Stalk the lantern
"I need to talk to you girls about something." Avalon announced, after they had boarded the small spacecraft and made their approach to Earth.
The three girls shared a concerned look as they followed him. His tone was eerily serious.
"Yes, Sir?" Clara asked as they took seats near the man.
"It's about the 'boy with blue flames' that Erica mentioned in her readings." he murmured.
"Is there a problem?" Erica asked, now increasingly concerned.
"There has been a rumour that Satan had a child with a human." he explained, "There's a high possibility that this might be that child."
The silence that followed was deafening, as his words sunk in.
"So she's really in terrible danger." Amanda was horrified, "I shou-"
"Blaming yourself won't solve anything." he cut her off.
"Bu-"
"No 'buts'!" Clara snapped and grabbed Amanda by the shoulders, startling the brunette.
"Clara?"
"If it's as bad as Professor Avalon thinks it might be, we're going to need your strength in battle." Clara murmured, still holding onto Amanda's shoulders, "Do you understand?"
"Yes." Amanda nodded.
"Good!" Clara let go, and gave her a small reassuring smile, "Now let's go get our friend back."
True Cross Academy - Lowest Level Forested Zone:
After dinner everyone was gathered and debriefed on their objective.
Find a lantern, bring it back, keep it lit the whole way.
Bianca frowned. Something seemed off.
Even if there were just three lanterns and they had to compete for spots, she couldn't help but feel like there was something they were being kept in the dark about.
However, she kept her mouth shut while Yukio finished the debriefing. Shura was getting smashed on cans of chūhai [1]. Suguro, of course, had something to say, given that the pink-head had previously stated that she was 18.
Bianca almost snorted when the woman 'accidently' threw a can at Yukio's head when he pointed out that she was, in fact, well over the legal drinking age.
After being given three days of food and survival supplies, the students decided to head out.
Bianca felt a bit uneasy, but she wasn't sure why. She could feel a strange presence in the surrounding forest. The way Shura was acting also didn't sit right with her.
Previous discussions with the woman gave Bianca the impression that she took her job quite seriously despite appearances.
'It's going to be ok.' she told herself, and sprinted into the trees.
She instantly got swamped by about a million moths. It was only when a few of them got too close and disintegrated that she realised they were demons.
In the distance, a scream pierced the night.
Shiemi.
She felt her heart race as changed her course.
Screw the objective, Bianca thought. She needed to make sure Shiemi was ok.
A flash of brilliant light lit up the forest, nearly blinding her.
It took her a moment to realise that it had been a dazzling BLUE light.
"RIN, YOU DIMWIT!" she screeched, running even faster now, wanting to suplex the half demon boy for using his powers in the open.
When she reached Shiemi and Rin, she noticed that Suguro was there as well.
Crap.
Tokyo, Harajuku Ward:
After the four found a small place to land without being spotted, they stepped out of the forested area, only to be met with bright lights and a sea of people in the street.
"We'll meet back here in two hours." Avalon announced, "I need to go confirm something."
The others nodded as he left.
"There's quite a lot of people, given how late it is." Erica noted as she looked around.
"The nightlife in Tokyo is quite bustling." Clara explained, "Especially in districts like these."
"How in Magix are we going to find her in a place like this?" Amanda grumbled as they walked down one of the streets.
"This is what I meant with preparing for Earth." Clara explained.
"No kidding." she sighed, "So now what?"
"There." Clara pointed at a small corner café.
Amanda gave her a dirty look. "Bianca might be in serious danger and you want coffee?"
"No, silly." Clara shook her head. "I need a place where I can try and pick up any abnormal energies without exposing our world. Erica also needs a place to do more readings."
"Fair enough."
True Cross Academy - Lowest Level Forested Zone:
"THE HELL?" Bianca spluttered, and pointed at the giant, stone lantern, "How do we take that back to camp?!"
She had been curious when Miwa had messaged Suguro and Shima for backup, and now she saw why.
Miwa, thankfully, had come up with a decent plan on the spot, and she now found herself sitting in the cart, next to Shiemi, catching demon moths to feed the lantern's flame.
"Shiemi?" Bianca asked, "What exactly happened earlier?"
"I.." Shiemi frowned, "I don't really remember...I think there was a big moth creature...or something like that..."
"I see." Bianca nodded
A flare went up in the distance. Meaning someone else had given up.
"Who do you think that was?" Shima asked, as he swatted moths away.
"Kamiki-san or Takara-kun, since we're all here." Shiemi murmured.
Before anyone could say anything else, the cart came to a sudden, grinding halt.
A loud thump followed as Suguro walked right into the back. He glared daggers at Rin as he rubbed his face, and Bianca was certain that he would have yelled at him if he wasn't in the middle of reciting the sutra that kept the lantern sealed.
"Uhm...what do we do about this?" Rin questioned, pointing at the rickety bridge in front of him.
Shima peeked into what he believed to be a river, and promptly freaked out.
"What?" Bianca asked him and he pointed at the river bed.
She peeked over and shuddered, as she realised that it was filled with giant, squirming worms, "Ok, that's pretty gross."
"I think I might have just wet myself." he blurted out, and looked like he was about to throw up.
He started crying in horror when Suguro grabbed his staff and stabbed it straight into the worm river.
Miwa pointed out signs of a sealing ritual, noting the torii [2] on either side of the bridge, making Bianca frown. She closed her eyes and could confirm that there was indeed a dark presence. She turned back to Miwa, "So what do we do now?"
Suguro gave the staff back to a gagging Shima and pulled a sketchpad out of his bag. While still chanting the sutra, he wrote something down and turned the book.
I have an idea.
"Really?" Rin questioned.
"What do you have in mind?" Bianca probed.
Make the lantern cross by itself.
"How?"
Bianca looked in utter disbelief as he continued to chant while drawing out a detailed pictogram of their plan. She had to give him credit, he was really good at multitasking.
"Are you telling me to dive into a bug swarm? With Moriyama's thighs around my head?" Shima gave a very nervous laugh, "I will surely die..."
Bianca facepalmed at the pink haired boy's antics and turned to Shiemi "I can take your place if he's being a pervy creep."
"No it's ok!" Shiemi reassured her, "I'm glad I can be of help in this."
"Ok then." Bianca nodded.
Shima looked back at the bug swarm, "On second thought, I don't think I can do this even with Moriyama..."
"Geez, I'll carry her." Rin huffed.
While Suguro, Rin and Shiemi prepared on their end, Bianca helped Shima and Miwa carry the cart through the riverbed. Or rather, she and Miwa carried it while Shima cried and screamed about the worms.
When Rin gave the signal, Suguro stopped chanting and ripped the talisman off the lantern.
The lantern immediately began moving, quickly pursuing Shiemi after noticing her. However, the lantern came at them much quicker than Rin had calculated.
Bianca quickly jumped up on the cart and yelled out, "HEY! OVER HERE!"
The lantern then took note of her. She jumped a bit, flailing her arms, "LOOK, A TASTY GIRL OVER HERE!"
It quickly changed course, charging at them. Thankfully, Miwa had been well prepared, and managed to reseal the lantern as soon as it landed on the riverbank.
"Phew..." Rin breathed out as he and Shiemi reached the other side, "Thanks, I thought we were done for."
"No problem." she winked, as she helped Shiemi up onto the bank.
Rin got out after, and leaned against the one pillar of the giant torii, "Well, glad that's over."
A loud, creaking sound was heard as the torii collapsed. Bianca felt the darkness from earlier rise up as a giant moth monster rose up out of the river of worms.
"RIN, WATCH OUT!" Shiemi warned, although a bit too late, as the moth grabbed him.
'You've got to be KIDDING ME!' Bianca screamed internally. She knew Rin could probably take this thing by himself, but not without revealing his secret.
After struggling for a bit, Rin yelled out, "I'll be fine! I can deal with this and catch up!"
Bianca bit her lip, realising that even if they did what he asked, the others would become even more suspicious. And she knew that he'd be in a lot more trouble if his secret was exposed than if she were to reveal her own.
A sacrifice she was willing to make if it meant Rin would be saved from execution.
She stepped forward, "As if we'd let you!"
She recited a simple light spell, careful to only stun it so she didn't accidently hurt Rin or expose his identity. It didn't do much to the moth when it hit, but it was enough to make the creature let go and drop Rin.
The moth reared up and Bianca prepared a second spell, more powerful this time. It screeched when she hit it again.
It came at them once more, this time a bit slower.
"Now's our chance!" Suguro yelled out, as he dragged Rin to the cart, "Let's go!"
They made a break for it without second thoughts.
"Valerio-san." Suguro asked when they were a good distance away, "What... what was that?!"
'Ok, be cool. You got this.' Bianca breathed, "It's a special purification ritual which has been in my family for generations."
Suguro gave her an odd look, "I've never seen anything like it."
"Is that why the coal tar never go near you?" Miwa asked.
She blinked in surprise, "Uh...yeah."
Rin's POV:
His palms felt sweatier than usual.
Like he was going to be sick.
He had felt the energy when she attacked the moth. It almost burned. Like holy water.
He then remembered the first encounter they had.
The first time they shook hands.
She said something about static shock back then.
But what if?
He glanced back at her, noting her chatting to Shiemi about something. She noted his gaze and looked up at him, "Is something wrong? You look pale."
"Yeah, I'm great!" he forced a smile, but judging by the way she frowned, it wasn't a convincing one.
He swallowed hard and turned back, 'Be cool, Rin. Just be cool. It'll be ok.'
It took me quite a while to decide where Avalon and co would actually land. True Cross Academy is supposedly in Tokyo, but that's about the extent of info given in the series.
I eventually settled on Harajuku, given that it's next to the Meiji shrine area (which is quite a forest).
For reference, when we visited the shrine in 2019, it took us about an hour to walk from the Shinjuku entrance to Harajuku exit.
[1]
Chūhai (酎ハイ or チューハイ), short for shōchū highball (焼酎ハイボール), is a an alcoholic drink found in Japan, often sold as a canned drink.
Chūhai is traditionally made with lemon flavour, but other flavours have started becoming more frequent and popular. (I personally think peach is a great flavour.)
[2]
Torii (鳥居)
A traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred.
It's less an actual gate and more an archway (despite lacking the necessary curve), as it can't actually be opened or closed.
