Demon Blade
Chapter 6: Conflagration
Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Exorcist or any of the characters involved except Melody
The students gathered around the peg lantern as Konekomaru explained his plan.
"So, this thing likes to go after girls, right? What if we have Shiemi sit in a cart with it, but I'll have a talisman on it to prevent it from moving too much. Then we just have to cart it back to camp."
Melody nodded along with his plan as he explained it, "Sounds simple enough to me."
He smiled at her, "Save for the fact you'll have to hide somewhere so it doesn't sense you."
"Oh… right."
"Did you forget you were a girl for a second?" Rin asked with a grin.
"Don't make me hit you," Melody replied, the annoyance in her voice obvious.
He laughed as Konekomaru went about preparing the talisman.
"C'mon, help me get the cart will ya?" he asked as he waved a hand and led Melody away from the others.
She followed and the two were soon alone as they made their way to the cart.
"So… back there when Suguro, me, and you showed up to save Shiemi… did you… see anything?" he asked.
Melody tensed as she realized what Rin was asking.
"Should I tell him the truth?" She thought to herself.
"I… did. Why?" she asked, testing the waters.
"What did you see?" Rin asked as he stopped.
She went a few more paces before turning back to him.
"Blue flames."
His eyes shot up.
"I know," she said.
The two stood there, a breeze rustled the leaves of the trees.
"What are you going to do about it?" Rin asked after a few minutes.
"Nothing. It's none of my concern who's kid you are. I mean, I'm hardly one to complain or judge. Right?" She asked as she put her hands behind her head.
Rin relaxed, releasing a breath as the tension eased out of his body.
"Did you think I was going to tell the others?" She asked.
"I… don't know. You're barely around after class. We've only really hung out that one time when we fought Kuro. So, I can't say for sure if you're that kind of person or not."
Melody thought about that, looking up at the night sky.
"That's fair…"
"Remind me when we get back then. I owe you a day out," she said without looking at him.
"What?" Rin asked, suddenly flustered.
She smiled to herself before lowering her gaze back to him.
"It's not a date moron, just two friends hanging out without any demon fighting or school exams. Speaking of which."
She nodded her head toward the direction of the cart they were supposed to retrieve.
Rin nodded and followed after her. They continued in silence for a while before finding the cart and hauling it back to the others.
"Alright. Shiemi, you climb into the cart. The rest of you, get ready to pull it once I've got the lantern sealed," Konekomaru explained.
The group nodded their understanding. Melody disappeared into the nearby bushes while Rin, Suguro, and Shima stood at the braces of the cart. Shiemi sat down in the bed of the cart and waited as Konekomaru lit a match and dropped it into the lantern.
It immediately flared to life, the designs that they had thought were part of the lantern turned into eyes as it swiveled from left to right, eventually sighting Shiemi, and diving toward her.
Konekomaru was quick to react as he slapped a paper talisman over its head. The lantern went inanimate again and slammed into the back of the cart, tilting the braces up.
The boys managed to catch them and drag them back down, to avoid damaging the cart. Once things were settled, they began their march back to camp, Melody rejoining them after a few seconds.
It was an uneventful trip for the first hour, the group eventually agreed to let Rin pull the cart since he was strong enough on his own and the space between the braces was cramped with Suguro and Shima between them as well.
The group eventually came to a large ravine, with a mass of demon moths milling about in the bottom.
"Well, that's not good," Melody said as she looked over the edge of the ravine into the river of insects.
"How are we supposed to get the cart across that?" Shima asked.
Konekomaru was thinking as he examined the river of insects.
"I have an idea. Rin, you take Shiemi across on your shoulders while Suguro and Shima bring the cart across behind you. I'll let the lantern go, and we trick it back into the cart like last time, and Ban can seal it when it arrives on the far side."
"I assume you want me to go hide in the bushes again?" Melody asked, putting a hand on her hip.
"No, not this time. We don't know what could be waiting for us when we get into those moths. I want you on hand in case things get dicey."
Melody was taken aback, she had been expecting to be told to go hide in the bushes, not to stand guard.
She shrugged before unholstering her pistol and flicking the safety off.
The group assumed their positions, and at a signal from Konekomaru, he unsealed the lantern. Once again it came to life and its gaze flicked left then right, spying across the ravine and spotting Shiemi atop Rin's shoulders. It flew into the river of moths and began to chase the pair.
Rin took off, wading through the insects as best he could, and leading the lantern back to the cart with Shiemi on his shoulders.
The pair eventually made it safely to the cart, and as the lantern leaped after them Suguro intercepted it, slapping a paper talisman on it.
The group sighed in relief before resuming their trek. As they marched, Melody could not shake the feeling that something was watching them from the trees. She raised the point to the group, but they shrugged it off as lesser demons sizing them up and seeing if they were a target.
Eventually, the group returned to camp and found the others had already returned with two other lanterns.
"Well, well, took you long enough," Yukio said as he saw the group return to camp.
The group deposited the lantern and Yukio congratulated them all on a successful trip. As he was beginning to give out scores, they heard rustling coming from the nearby forest.
The class turned toward the sound and Melody tensed as she saw Amaimon exiting the trees, a creature in his hands.
"What's he doing here!?" She thought as she looked back at the class.
"Who are you?" Yukio asked as he stepped forward.
"That's none of your concern. I'm not here for you," Amaimon said as he looked over the class.
Melody looked at Rin and Amaimon caught the movement before spotting Rin.
"There you are," he said as he released the creature.
"Go ahead Behemoth, have fun with the others while I take care of the boy."
The creature grew to a massive size before charging at the other members of the class.
"Where'd he get this thing from?!" Melody thought as he dodged the creature's charge.
She leveled her pistol and fired a few rounds at it, but they did not seem to harm the creature as it spun around and came back for another swipe at her.
"Everyone get down!" Shura shouted.
Melody instinctively ducked, and the creature was thrown over her head, slamming into the forest outside the camp. She heard a softer explosion from nearby, and when she looked up, she saw Amaimon picking himself out of the wreckage of the trees he had toppled.
She looked down and saw the protection circle around the camp had been reactivated.
"Everyone stay here!" Shura commanded before heading toward Amaimon.
Yukio took off toward Behemoth.
Melody watched as the others readied their weapons in case either broke through. She took the opportunity to slip away, heading into the trees on the far side of the clearing from Amaimon and Behemoth.
"I need to find Dad and figure out what the hell's going on!"