Of Ghosts and Demons

Chapter 8: The Deal

"Wh-what's going on here?!" Bon exclaimed in surprise, upon seeing the Headmaster just land in the middle of what used to be nothing short of a battleground.

"The hell are you doing here, Mephisto?!" Rin added to the noise of the room.

"Oh, dear. It seems that the theatrical entrance is out of the question now. Good work you all, pages. Except for you, Daniel. Why did you have to ruin the fun of it all? Well, of course there was a reason I, the Chairman, allowed the invasion of the upper class demons here."

At a snap of his fingers the entire room seemed to be disassembling. And from the holes in the floor, from the ceiling jumped several other exorcists in black coats.

"These Doctor class senseis will heal everyone's wounds. That's right! Don't you see? This training camp has also served the purpose of an authorisation exam! Although I am a bit at a loss as to how YOU seemed to figure it all."

Everyone in the room looked at Danny in question. Sighing, he rubbed the back of his neck.

"First of all, you took me for a moron. It is as if I don't know hundreds of demons and their power. Naberiuses are an upper class, yet you seemed to downplay the issue. Furthermore, in the conversation we had you lied to me about the principles behind the barriers. You are the one allowing the demons to come in. So, you not only let the demon on the school grounds, you tried to cover the tracks. Since murdering students cannot be your goal, I naturally concluded that there must have been something else. The final clue was the way Neuhaus went inside. Quietly, which I have assumed was odd with what demons he chose to use. An awful selectiveness to approach, why would he break a lock when he could break a door? Also, Naberiuses found us too quickly, like they knew where to look, and, by extension, their summoner did too. One of those alone may be a coincidence, but when there is a number of inconsistencies, I naturally suspect bull."

"Wait..." Rin said, "Does that mean you have kept us in the dark, too?!"

"It was an exam. Would you have given it your best, knowing that nobody is going to actually be hurt...much?" Danny shrugged.

"Oh, that was good, Daniel!" Mephisto exclaimed joyously, "You did pass attentiveness test, I give you that."

Everyone sweat dropped.

"As per the results of the exam...our teachers have been evaluating your efforts. They will send the reports to me and I shall grade you all. Please, look forward to tomorrow's announcement."

"GODDAMNIT, MEPHISTO!" Yelled Rin.

"Oh, and Daniel. A word, please."

Everyone blinked once again. With a curious look on his face, Danny followed Mephisto out of the room, away from the prying eyes and eager ears of a large group of people. From this Phantom realised that the matter was indeed important.

"So, how are you liking the school so far? Socialising?"

"Get to the point, Pheles. Otherwise it would look suspicious."

"Bah, you worry too much. It has been obvious that you are not all that willing to advance in the exorcist ranks. Thus, I am curious as to what exactly you are planning to do."

Danny gained a thoughtful look on his face. He had contemplated the options beforehand, and he had reached a proper decision. Staying here would bide the time. Vatican would not act against him, whilst Phantom could finally consolidate the power over his own domain. And from that moment forward he would be able to spend his afterlife peacefully, like his involuntary brethren. Besides, this was starting to get interesting, Phantom had to admit.