A/N:
Hails: *sings* Yukiooooo is still redeemableeeeee in canooooooon~~~
Also, I use too many alliterations and I love them. Screw you.
Also, I apologize in advance for the short chapter. I couldn't find another way to fill up the 5000 word quota.
AI disregard any claims to the characters, setting, or plot of Blue Exorcist/青の祓魔師, which are a property of the mangaka Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.
"It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he'll look for his own answers."
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear
Konekomaru was falling.
The sky around him went from pitcher than the void blown into bluer and brighter than aquamarine embedded into a silver ring. The wind whipped around him and he could barely focus with how hard it hit his eyes. He wanted to scream, cry out in terror but the gale drew his breath from his lungs.
He was under immediate panic mode as he passed through the clouds and into the brambles and shrubbery of a massive forest of trees. He fell through countless branches, grappling for handholds, vines, anything he could to slow his fall. He managed eventually, grappling onto some string of loose stems that jerked with his weight, decelerating him before he finally made a landing flat on the soft soil of the jungle floor. Quicker than a jack rabbit, he scrambled to his feet and began to scrutinize his surroundings.
"Trees, mud, vines, sky," He listed off aloud. He adjusted his glasses, not thinking much of their red framed presence until he pulled at the collar of his shirt. "Shirt? Shirt! I have a shirt! And pants and gloves and boots, thank God I'm not traversing the jungle in boxers!" He prattled on to himself before the reality of his lonesome kicked in. Splitting off was certainly not something he wanted to commit to. Some part of him wanted to put this on Yukio but he knew better, he was beyond a petty game of blame. And if Rin trusted him, even after all that has happened, then Koneko would at least tolerate his presence just as he'd done for Shima.
With the brush of his hands over the folds of his shirt, he marched forward. Wherever he was, wherever he had to go, he had something to prove.
∞§•§•§∞
Shima looked around. He was wary of the darkness but not frightened. Okay, he was frightened. Warily frightened. He was in a cave and in caves God knew what dwelled. It wasn't like it was a mystery to Shima either, there were bats and bears and badgers and bugs- oh god bugs! Bugs, where?! Wait, there weren't any bugs, not here. He was safe. This was fine. He was fine. Just count to ten, Renzō, it's gonna be okay.
(Not!)
Something crawled along lazily, menacingly that Shima couldn't see. But it would culminate himself as his worst fears soon enough.
∞§•§•§∞
Suguro swears, up and down, to his ancestors and back, he never knows how things come to be and why things come to be so quickly. One minute he walking through a cave, the next he was scaling a peak, wearing a parka and looking like a mountain sherpa. And if the rocks tumbling off the rocky face spelled out anything, he was in this for the long haul.
The rumbling of a particularly large bolder thrummed against his eardrums as it headed straight for him, accompanied by the sound of impish laughter.
"What the-" Suguro barely got a chance to respond as he shoved his weight toward a short ledge jutting out of the cliffside. He hastily got to his feet and composed himself enough to locate the sound of mischievous chittering from above. He glared at the culprit, a small black monkey with a white front. It reminded him vaguely of the tamarins Rin had been chasing around not too many days ago. It danced and taunted him immaturely, almost like a kindergarten child pointing a finger and laughing, sticking out their tongue as if to say 'Ha-ha! You almost got crushed!'
Another rock went rolling by. This monkey really wasn't gonna quit, was it?
But Ryūji Suguro wasn't a quitter, either. He would not be resigned to a mini mammal telling him he couldn't do something. Not in a million years.
∞§•§•§∞
Rin found himself deeper than he'd ever been. He couldn't quite place what was so off about the cave he ambled down but it buzzed on the tip of his tongue. It was uncomfortably close, so within reach that it almost hurt to try to figure out what he was missing. He swallowed the growing lump in his throat and continued on, running his palm against the rough cave wall before gracefully, unintentionally ramming his nose against a dead end.
Thunk!
"Owww," Rin whined, his voice going a pitch or two higher as he nursed his face injury. "Right in the sniffer."
Absently, like instinct, he summoned forth his ethereal flames to chase away the darkness and hopefully broaden his vision and jutted his hand out, feeling for what exactly it may have been that he smacked into. Once the shadows had fled, he noticed something off about the texture of the wall. Embedded into the craggy end of the cave was a smooth, wooden-
"A door?" Rin murmured, hand moving to grasp the frigid metal handle. "What's a door doing here?"
With a thoughtful, rough push, the door budged forward and opened up into a warmly lit room. He went through, eyes scanning the structure. From the clay-stained countertops to the pots collecting residue in a nearby sink to the cracked ceiling, where muddy water and sludge oozed through the loose slits. He watched in fascination as thick till dust danced in and out of the layers of light flooding from oddly spaced hanging lamps.
In the corner, an abandoned painting of a snowy, evergreen landscape stood in its solitude. Next to it, a clear, silver-based mirror revealed he was now donning a simple white tee, dark jeans, and snow boots. The Kurikara's red sleeve was slung tightly over his back. He didn't want to think much of what had been gifted to him but made a few noises of confusion as he patted down his body to check if this was real and not some demon mirror.
"I don't know how that happened," He said aloud, hugging his frame as a form of self-comfort. He had picked up on it from years spent sleeping alone and times when there was no Yukio to guard him in his sleep. His chest squeezed at the thought and his vision blurred with the threat of tears. He couldn't think of that now.
The old floorboards groaned and creaked with his weight as brushed his fingers across the countertops, deep in thought. He came to an abrupt stop, eyes landing on a shallow puddle of blood. He didn't even need to touch down on the wet, shiny substance as the metallic smell was enough to give off his freshness.
Rin brought an arm over his nostrils to block out the assaulting scent. "That's rank." He seethed. His eyes followed the puddle until it became a trail that led out a door which rasped on its hinges. An unwelcome shuddered racked his spine, his heart raced as it climbed into his throat. "What the hell happened here?"
"Mrooow."
Rin stiffened as a broken noise that sounded more like a mix between a goblin grouse and a rattlesnake hiss rather than a meow made him whip around. In the middle of a staircase that led up to a darkened God knows where, a white as rice cat with a smushed face and sunken, crystalline eyes glared at him. He tried not to squeak or do a double take as the menacing feline leapt down the stairs.
"Uh... um..." Rin said quite intelligently. "Do... do you know what happened here?"
Oh, for God's sake. Why was he talking to a cat? A cat that was sniffing a puddle of blood to boot? Rin exhaled, placing his head in his hands. There was no one around to watch him and yet he still felt stupid, embarrassed. See, this is why he was always around someone. It gave him a confidence boost.
The cat meowed again, looking at him before skittering off to the door. "Hey, wait!" Rin exclaimed as the cat squeezed through the crevice. He rushed outside into the bitter cold and inhaled sharply. The blood didn't stop as it made a trail through the once pristine snow, staining it an ugly scarlet until its end led to the passed out form of a woman.
"Oh, my God," Rin breathed. He didn't think twice about rushing out into the snow to save her.
∞§•§•§∞
Shiemi ogled and gawked, enraptured by the glittering fairies that hummed and zoomed about, lighter than air as they emerged from florescent flowers and paper lanterns, which hung from the tangled branches of hundreds of connected trees. The forest formed a roof over her head, almost entirely blocking out the glittering night sky. Her brilliant green eyes sparkled as she grabbed at the folds of her airy white dress and spun. She wiggled her toes as she stood on the grass then halted for only a moment to examine the green and white bracelets and anklets on her limbs.
But soon a fairy took her by her dainty ring finger and pulled at her to follow the path the trees made for her. She nodded, eagerly leaping and bounding down the passageway like a beatific bouncing baby bunny. She could care less about how dirty the soles of her feet became, she could care less about the brambles she might trip upon, she was used to it by now. Such is the life of a cursed gardener.
However, she approached something that made her dig her heels into the ground akin to a cartoon character. Something wonderfully awful, something horribly, wonderfully, enticingly awful. There Rin and Yukio sat, dressed by fae and donning flowers as they relaxed on the plump pink petals of a massive bloom.
In tandem, they spoke in matching, unsettling timbres. "Come sit with us, Shiemi!"
∞§•§•§∞
Yukio wasn't one to question the pace of magical entities, he knew their timing was far beyond his mere mortal comprehension (See: The end of his path looked exactly as Shiemi had described her first visit, a piece of the ocean, and he decided to go swimming which then landed him in a pot of hot water. Or in this case, freezing cold water.) However, he was well aware his situation wasn't a favorable one, especially as he pounded his fists against the thick sheet of ice that demanded to be broken if he wanted to breathe again.
Just like in his nightmares, Yukio was embroiled in a freezing cold ocean that he couldn't escape, left scratching at the surface and trying and failing and trying and failing to break through until he inevitably drowned.
But not this time. No, he refused. By Boreas he was going to make it out of here alive, he was going to discover the truth of his past and gain the power he'd always wanted. And nothing would stop him! Not now, not ever again.
This he vowed.
"Do you think they'll be okay?" Izumo inquired. She tried not to think much of Shiemi or Rin or Ukemochi forbid her teacher, even that pink-headed creep, that bullheaded gorilla, and the little kitten she never paid any attention to. Her heart couldn't help but pound irregularly for their lives and what they must be experiencing. They were as close as she'd gotten to a family after all.
"I wouldn't fear for them, vixen," Lilith reassured the young woman, utilizing the nickname she had fondly dubbed Izumo. "As long as they pass the tests the fae give them, there won't be any problem at all."
Izumo pursed her lips, still unsure despite the comfort. "Whatever you say."
"Come on," Lilith beckoned, gesturing back to the ginormous tree. Her stride was strong and steady as Izumo trotted behind, tying her once brand new jacket around her waist. "While you may not be exploring something old, I will teach you something new. They should not be the only ones to learn something."
Izumo cocked an eyebrow but stayed nearby, on the ground, on the steps, and in the nest. She kneeled opposite to Lilith, who seated herself Indian style.
"Listen close, child," Lilith murmured solemnly, wisely. "What I am teaching you now will not only strengthen the bond you have with your familiars but give you a way to fight the blackest evils in moments of hardships."
Lilith waved her pointer finger about, a golden glow emanating from the tip. A sprout of golden magic grew, twisting and spreading like roots and ferns, becoming warm and growing. Izumo narrowed her eyes, observing the wondrous phenomena with the utmost seriousness of her usual class-is-in-session behavior.
"Teach me what you know."
Dragulesc had long since left the room, pushing an anxious Paku into a depressed episode. She shuddered and heaved against the unforgiving bite of the metal table, wiping away stray tears. She was supposed to be saving Izumo but instead, here she was, crying her heart out at her failure and feeling sorry for herself. She scolded herself repeatedly, telling herself she should've done better and how it was her fault she'd never see her friend again.
The sound of a rattling, wiggling door handle and the click! Of the lock made her head shoot up. She instinctively scrubbed her face in hopes her flushed cheeks wouldn't betray her. She went rigid, holding her breath as the door swung open to reveal a much-needed breath of relief. A sight for sore eyes.
"Godaīn?" She asked, shakily getting to her feet.
"Oh, Ms. Paku!" Godaīn exclaimed, lighting up as soon as he saw her. "I'm glad this is the right room. Come on, we have to get out of here!" He reached forward, holding out a hand as if afraid of what might happen if he offhandedly grabbed her wrist. Paku went along with him, grasping his warm hand with her fingers.
"Wait, where are we going?" Paku inquired. "We can't exactly go back to school. Not now, anyway!"
Godaīn slowed, fishing around his pockets for the flash drive he used to suck the information from the computer. "I have this! It's like you said, the Order shouldn't be allowed to keep quiet on this. We can take it to a police station or a studio that can contact the media. The sooner the better but we have to go now, those security cameras have already given us away."
Paku wanted to curse and make a scene, be as unladylike as possible. But now wasn't the time to do so. So she rushed forward, letting Godaīn pull her along, veering around multiple corridors when the alarm bells went off.
"Well, they certainly took their sweet time on that," Godaīn muttered. Paku almost rolled her eyes at the crack but followed along regardless until they were out the door and rushing down a street in the middle of the night.
Little did they know, however, there was a certain gun-wielding, tobacco-smoking, devil-child-rearing son of gun spirit helping them get out.
Shura hurried along, quick and light on her feet. While Mephisto was never straightforward in his answers, she got enough out of him to be worried. She had received an update on the exwires' statuses, just how close to madness they were, and on top of that, the Blightseed had picked up the pace. That thing was carving a road in the Earth and it was headed straight for True Cross Academy. There were innocent civilians all over campus, there was a preschool not half a mile away from the main campus where she had seen a sweet young teacher having her students learn how to play percussion. Shura couldn't bear the image of their bloody, rotting corpses at the monstrous claws of this foul beast.
Lightning and Angel were spewing off quick orders to surrounding exorcists, somehow understanding the magnitude of the situation before she could even tell them. Trouble certainly does spread like wildfire. Each little glowing ember was a person who could be extinguished, so fragile and faint, she didn't want to imagine what would happen to them. Too horrid a thought.
"What did you find out?" Shura snapped the question like she was in the middle of an interrogation and only had a minute to withdraw the truth from the lips of the perpetrator.
"Yunokawa admitted to having help that wasn't just done by Mephisto," Angel said, crossing his arms. "But it seems we have more important matters at hand."
"We better set up perimeters and begin directing our attention to the Blightseed," Shura admitted. Her hands were on her hips as she stood tall and menacing. "I'm going to alert the higher-ups, see what we can do about this high-level."
"Shura, I hate saying this but with how short-staffed we are..." Angel trailed off. Even he knew the two flanking forces such as these couldn't both be taken out at the same time. He didn't even have to say it.
"I know..." Shura answered, pushing past them. One of them was gonna damage them exponentially, leaving the other to consume what was left of their broken, shoddy defenses. Would it be the Gehenna Gate eating them alive or the embodiment of the Earth, Rot, and Pestilence Kings?
She went around, knocking on doors, dragging exorcists out of their offices, from hospital rooms, and research facilities. From every nook and cranny, single meister, double meister, triple meister, young and old, meek and bold, barely any similarities between them all and that was an instinct, a drive to survive. They wouldn't go down without a fight, that's for sure.
"Was that really necessary?" Mephisto inquired, sitting up straight and shooting somewhat of an amused glare at the spirit sitting on top of his bedside table. He still felt ill, yucky, but he had no time to dilly-dally with the approaching demon coming to attack his territory. How dare Lucifer, how dare he start a war on Samael's turf. He would surely regret the day, no the whole year he thought it a good idea to screw with him. Very well, the King of Light will soon have hell to pay.
"Maybe," The spirit shrugged, chewing on the end of an unlit cigarette. "What can I say, I'm feeling youthful."
"That explains your appearance," Mephisto murmured, grumbling almost half-heartedly as his fingers wrapped around a glass of dissolved medication. He tossed it back, trying not to choke on the vile taste. "Must you go to such lengths to influence what's mine? Can't you just let them go their own ways, let our youngest defect?"
Azazel shrugged again, smirking mirthfully at Samael's misfortune. "Well, that's not much entertainment. It's only fun if I can watch the twins interact."
"You're too attached," Mephisto pointed.
"Maybe so," Azazel admitted. He pulled the cigarette from the tip of his tongue and flicked it lazily into a spare panda-themed trashcan, which bounded to catch the supposed treat. "But you stole them from me first, I'm just taking back control. You and Lucifer need to stay out of my territory and keep your filthy claws off of my stuff. Seriously, your manipulation is more than annoying."
"Oh, let me have some fun, Shirō," Mephisto grinned toothily. He was going to complain about the scorch marks in his room from Shura and Tōdō's fight but far more interesting things had happened in the past few hours. Two students getting into trouble despite not being exorcists being the main center of attention. Namely, Noriko Paku and Sei Godaīn. He didn't think the quite mundane children were gutsy enough for it, perhaps he'd underestimated them more than a bit.
"Keep quiet, you old goat," Azazel snapped. He pushed against the table and landed a few feet on the ruined plush ground. "You're still healing and are, therefore, prohibited from talking. Doctor's orders."
"What doctor?!"
"Me."
"You know, you weren't nearly as spritely or in the mood for joking a few days ago," Mephisto pointed out suspiciously, wagging an accusatory finger in the spirit's face. "What on Earth happened in just those seventy-three hours, eighteen minutes, and now counting twenty-seven seconds?" He pointed at his bare wrist as if to indicate telling time like some smug pop star from one of those music videos the kids were watching these days.
"Show off," Azazel scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And I don't know. Maybe I'm just feeling up for a bit of trouble."
"What, like usual?" Mephisto jabbed, innocently investigating his blacked cuticles.
"Oh, can it, Hasselhoff," Azazel barked a bit of a laugh. Mephisto wasn't a liar in this context, that's for sure. Azazel was always up for a little bit of trouble. A little bit at someone's expense, a lot at a Nazi's expense, and a little effort on his part, this would turn out more than just your usual compelling story. "Behave yourself, I've gotta go talk to my kid."
With that Shirō up and left the eye-achingly florescent pink room.
Tōdō was blithe, with a spring in his step and a sparkle in his eyes as he passed down every long corridor that was as metal and shiny as every other. He had grown used to the humdrum. Lucifer was a bit of a bah-humbug kind of person, he didn't celebrate holidays or overindulge and Tōdō was just fine with that. Everyone within the Illuminati could care less for the recreation most humans brought upon themselves. Christmas was meaningless, birthdays just another solemn reminder of how old you were getting. Well, unless you just so happened to have swallowed Karura and retain the age of your early twenties.
Ah, yes, being a Demon Eater certainly had its upsides.
With that in mind, Tōdō sauntered along confidently along until he met a metal door in which he'd see his sister and boss. He knocked, listening to the voice to bid him ingress, and entered. He bowed respectfully before the commander, where Homare seemed approving of his behavior.
"I have returned," He said, rising from the over-exaggerated gesture. Lucifer couldn't tell he was overdoing it, so Tōdō would attempt to get away with what little he could. Even if Homare would tell him to knock it off after the initial meeting and treat him with genuine respect. "And I come bearing gifts!"
Lucifer leaned forward as Tōdō held his hands out. From one hand a singed, exhausted, and terrified two-tailed Cat Sith was hanging by the scruff of his neck. Kuro's large, sad green eyes seemed to plead with Lucifer for a release from this prison of a sky fortress. In the other, there was a key, branded and made by Samael that would certainly lead to their long-term hunting prize. Lucifer couldn't have been more excited as Tōdō dropped the key into the palm of sickly, weak hands. He examined the gleaming object, green eyes trailing down every inch of like it was an object of worship.
"Leave the Cat Sith to wander the fortress, I could care less for it," Lucifer commanded with a broad, sharp gesture. "Deploy the top soldiers for Yukio Okumura's retrieval.
"It's time we finish this."
A/N:
Hails: I'll sketch something for the first person who figures out where the panda trashcan reference came from.
Also, remember to review if you liked this chapter. Support your local authors!
Stay savvy, my friends.
~Hails