Memories Illusion (Blue Exorcist)

Prologue

It was snowing again.

The little girl held her hand out and laughed at the little snowflakes that dusted the surface of her palm. It was cold, so cold that she could barely feel her hands, but the girl was still too young to care about mundane details like that. She began to run, looking up at the sky as she did so.

The snow crunched under her feet as she ran, uncaring, into the forest at the back of her house. Her parents had strictly forbidden her from venturing there alone, and she had always respected their wishes. The old forest creeped her out anyway, and she had always been a good girl. This time, however, the pretty snow distracted her; the moonlight shining through the branches caused the crystals to glisten enticingly. She ran on into the forest. Her parents, with their backs turned, did not see her.

~~~~~

"Come on girls, we're going to be late and I need to help set up the offering bowls before church starts," the mother said quickly, rushing the two girls on the porch as she locked the door.

She ushered the two small girls towards the car and buckled them into their car seats each, ignoring their ceaseless bickering. When she pulled into the church parking lot a short while later, she motioned for the girls to unbuckle and wait for their mother's assistance in stepping down out of the car. She shoved her girls non-too-kindly up to the huge doors at the front of the church.

"Hey Yuuta," she said to the man standing in the hallway on the other side of the doorway "I know that the girls haven't learned to use holy water yet, but would you mind teaching them while I get the bread and the blood, or wine really, ready for the service?"

"Of course, Ayame, no problem. Come here girls."

"Ok!" Both girls replied to the man with glee.

As he lead them over to the bowl filled with water, he picked up a cup to draw the water. He demonstrated what to do with the water and what the girls had to say also. First, he poured the water for the taller girl and she went through and did exactly what he had taught her. He then put some holy water into the second girl's outstretched hand and she followed the steps of her sister. Suddenly, however, there was a sickening scream ripped from the second girl as her skin started to smoke and blister.

~~~~~

The little girl was still running, paying no attention to her surroundings. She was far too young to be cautious of where she was going, and she was far too much of a naive child to be bothered. All that was currently on her mind was the desire to catch the snowflakes as they fell tantalizing close, only to be blown away by a gust of wind.

The amount of snowflakes falling from the sky slowly decreased until none were falling at all. Frustrated, the girl stopped to catch her breath (it was exciting to her that she could see clouds of it in the air!) but froze when she noticed she was not in her backyard. As a matter of fact, she was not near her house at all.

Horrified, she slowly looked up, only to find that the trees above her were so thick that they blocked the sky entirely. As the terribly frightening reality set in, the young girl began to cry.

Her knees felt wobbly with panic, and she collapsed onto the snow below her, curling up into the tightest ball she could. She was so cold out here...she did not even have a thick enough jacket to last the night out here...she had never, ever in her life wished more than anything else that she had her ugly, furry mittens with her right now...

It felt like her tears were freezing to her cheeks, but she couldn't help it, not when all she wanted was her mother to be right besides her to take her home. Her father was probably building a large fire in the fireplace for their quaint family to make smores with and all she wanted to do was to be home safe and warm...

A figure crashed through the bush. The girl was too cold to make a sound.

~~~~~

The younger girl continued to scream. Tears were already streaming down her face as she stared at her burning skin. People around her were shouting for her mother and the pastor to come and feet pounded there and back.

"You! Take her to my office! Now!" The priest shouted to Yuuta. "Someone go get aloe from the garden! Quickly!"

She was suddenly picked up and rushed into the priest's office and sat in a huge leather chair. Then people started to rush in and out, carrying anything from bowls of water with washcloths to freshly snapped Aloe leaves and other plants. The priest then rushed in, cross and dark silverish bracelets clutched in his hand. He quickly took a washcloth and started to wipe away the remaining water that hadn't seeped into her arm yet and started to peel strips from the aloe that was sitting on the table, then placed them on her arm with a bandage wrapped tightly over it.

"Mrs. Suzuki, may I have a word concerning your daughter?"

~~~~~

"What's a little girl like you doing out here, hmm?" His tone was not pleasant and comforting; rather it was mocking and predatory. He ambled toward her. His eyes looked as if they were changing colors as he spoke.

"Please Mister," she whispered, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to create warmth. "I'm lost. Can you take me back home?"

He chortled spitefully. "What's home in a place like this? Don't you know where you are? This is the demon's lair and you're," he smiled, showing sharp pointy teeth. "right in the middle of it."

The little girl began to shiver even more. Her tears had vanished and she was trying her hardest to stand and run away from the man. But she was so cold... "I d-don't know w-what you're saying sir. This is the forest, right?"

He began to walk close to her. His image flickered, sometimes showing a man and other times showing a monster with ice dripping off its deformed body. It was hunchbacked and a mottled gray, making it stand out starkly against the little white snow that had managed to fall through the thick canopy. Its eyes glared a milky blue, and two horns wrought of ice protruded directly above its brow. And his face...his face was as ruined as the rest of it was.

She shrank away, but there was only so much she could do half frozen and backed against a rough tree. It came closer, breathing clouds of frost into her face as it did so.

"I'm hungry, Little Girl," he snarled, hooking an enormous claw through her clothing. He lifted her up as easily as a ragdoll and dangled her in front of his eyes. The monster stared at her as she kicked and screamed and cried her heart out. "I think I'll indulge today."

At the edge of the forest, where a little house stood, a man and a woman were calling a child's name in the hopes that she could hear them.

"Shimo!" They cried over and over and over, but no response was heard. No little girl ran out of the forest and into their arms. In the distance, they thought they heard her scream.

~~~~~

"Is it going to hurt?" the little girl now looked up at the pastor who was securing the pair of blessed iron bracelets that looped around her small wrists.

"It'll only hurt if the bad guy comes out, otherwise you'll need to keep these bracelets on, ok?"

"O-ok," she said, retracting her hands as he started to chant Biblical scriptures and held out a cross toward her.

Within ten minutes, he was done and he allowed her to go home but explained to her mother that she was possessed but as long as she kept the pair of blessed iron bracelets made from old temple nails then the demon that had possessed her would stay dormant. He ushered the family to their car, instructing their mother to never take the bracelets off, no matter the circumstances.