" Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." (Revelation 12:7-9)
Everyone knows that at one point Satan was God's favorite angel. They also know that no one is irredeemable in God's eyes for he is our Father and loves us. So, it was no wonder that when Okumura Rin was born, child of God's once favorite angel, a demon with nothing impure about him, that he was given a second chance. And that child although unaware of it made good on that chance.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Rin would never say it, but he had wanted to be a minister when he grew up. That was his dream and when his brother came home one day saying that he wanted to be a doctor the world fell into place. Yukio would heal people physically and Rin would do so emotionally.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Rin could never imagine loving any other religion as he did the one he was raised with. Although the priests of the church wore Catholic garb they spoke more of Christian teachings.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Although Rin didn't believe that cussing involved taking the Lord's name in vain he tried to avoid doing so. What was important to Rin was that he never used his heavenly Father's name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Every Saturday Rin took a break he didn't study, work or cook. He knew school was important and that he had to help out with Sunday service so that left Saturday.
Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Rin never knew his birth parents; he and his brother were taken in by the church but were mostly raised by Father Fujimoto. So, Rin did his best to respect him. However, Rin knew that there was a difference between respecting and following blindly, which is what Yukio did. Rin knew thatFather Fujimoto pushed Yukio too hard and often babied Rin. While Rin did appreciate everything his earthly father did for him, it didn't dismiss what he did to Rin's twin brother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Rin never knew his own strength and has hurt people badly, even Father Fujimoto, but Rin had never killed, never thought about killing someone.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Rin couldn't even imagine committing such an act. Why would he do that with someone else's lover/partner/husband/wife?
Thou shalt not steal.
Rin didn't understand why anyone would want to take someone else's belongings. They were theirs no matter how nice other people's toys were RIn liked his own just fine.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Whenever he lied Rin felt like he had swallowed a rock that was stuck at the bottom of his stomach. Rin didn't lie often, but when he did he paid the price.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.
Envy was an emotion Rin understood because whenever he looked at a family with a mother and a father he felt it sting his heart and Rin hated it. When envy slipped into his heart he felt so ungrateful. After all, the men of the church had taken him and his brother in and introduced the both of them to such a wonderful and loving religion, so why did RIn look at families with such longing.
Rin knew he made mistakes and when he did he prayed for forgiveness God must have forgiven him because after he did he always felt better.
"How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."But you are brought down to the realm of the dead to the depths of the pit." (Isaiah 14:12-15)
When Rin was born he was swaddled with blue flames. The other child, Yukio, was normal, human. Fujimoto could barely contain his relief at the lack of blue on the younger twin. While Rin's eyes were already a shade of deep blue almost navy, Yukio's eyes were a pale blue that would most likely change as he got older. Fujimoto almost killed the older, but then he smiled with toothless gums and Fujimoto was besotted.
Mephisto was in awe; Fujimoto had no idea how rare twin demons were the chance of them even being conceived was around 2% and the chance that one didn't kill the other in the womb was even lower. To think that a human would bare twins belong to the morning star bloodline.
Mephisto was there and had been cast out of hell with his other siblings. To say that he and the rest of the demon kings were children of Satan wouldn't necessarily be incorrect. They just weren't related by blood. Demon kings were just satan's favorite, not unlike how the Son of the Dawn was once their Father's favorite. It had been fun a first like a teenager's first act of rebellion, but slowly Mephisto just wanted the warmth that his Father's light brought, not the unbearable heat of Satan's flames.
With the birth of these twins, Samuel knew times were changing.
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." (Revelation 13)
Rin thought that the weirdo cosplayer was going to scalp him. Obviously, that kid needed help. Rin was concerned for the kid's mental health; he was more concerned about the immediate danger to his life. He was pretty sure that scalping people killed them. As the switchblade cut into Rin's flesh the stupidest thought entered his head:
I won't be able to help him…
Then Rin and probably everyone else in the ally was blinded by a light as bright as the sun. It took a moment for Rin to realize that the light was coming from him.
"It's not possible…" the person that had a knife to Rin's head not a moment before gasped softly and reached out to touch the flames covering Rin's body.
The flames seemed to reach out to him to as soon as it made contact with the kid the flames took on a life of their own crawling up the cosplayers arm and onto his mouth. The kid started to hack and gag until black… something regurgitated onto the floor of the ally and the flames followed to burn the blackness to nothing.
As the blackness faded so did the not-so-cosplayers tail, horns, teeth, claws, and elongated tongue. The poor kid seemed so confused and horrified at what had happened; Rin couldn't help but want to reach out to him.
"Um… Are, are you okay?"
"How can you ask me that? I saw the one who was holding a knife to your head. God, this is so fucked up!"
Rin winced at the use of the Lord's name.
"All I wanted to do was fix my parent's marriage and he said he could help me if I did him a favor. I mean, yeah, I'm a fucked up person, but like who the fuck would try to shave someone's head like that. Fuck!" the kid was crying.
"Hey, hey it's okay," Rin tried to comfort the kid, poorly.
Never of the two noticed that the flames covering Rin's body were trying to touch the previously possessed kid like a father trying to protect his child.
"Rin! Wha- those… those aren't blue. Why aren't they blue?" Father Fujimoto was standing at the open to the ally.
So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I am has sent me to you.'"
God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.'
"This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.
"Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.'
"The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.' But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go." (Exodus 3:3-20)
As Father Fujimoto half guided half dragged Rin back to the church, Rin thought about the implications of what had happened verse what the priest said.
"I daresay you can see them now, the demons...Assiah… Gehenna… You are the bastard son of Satan himself..."
Rin didn't get it at all. Did this mean that everything he was taught up until now was a lie… no, that couldn't be… after all, if there are demons, then God too must also exist. What stung the most was… the indication that Father Fujimoto himself didn't believe in… but that couldn't be true… could it?
Fujimoto handed a sword, a cover for it, a duffle bag full of clothes, and a cellphone. Rin wasn't really paying any attention to what he said. When Fujimoto finished talking Rin asked a simple question:
"Was it all a lie?
"What- not Rin I always loved you and your brother-"
"I know that!" Rin cut him off, "But what about our faith, do the words in the Bible mean anything to you, but to be used as a weapon? Is the Priesthood a joke to you, was it just a convent coverup?"
"Rin now is not the time for your childish tendencies-" Fujimoto made a gab for Rin's arm.
Rin pulled away from the man, "Childish… What exactly is so childish about finding comfort in unconditional love? What's so childish about eternal forgiveness? Is it because you don't think it exists? Why did you... Why don't you…" Rin looked at a man he once idolized and saw nothing he recognized.
"Don't you ever pretend to be a Father again! How dare you mock the word of God in such a manner! How can you stand yourself?"
Fujimoto's hand flew before he could stop it and Rin's head moved so fast he should have had whiplash. Instead of getting angry, Rin looked at his once father figure and offered the other side of his face.
And something in Fujimoto broke.
"The LORD our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;" (Daniel 9;9)
Rin felt the change before he saw it. Whatever was happening, evil and wrongness filled the air. Then Rin saw him in Fujimoto's eyes, the king of lies.
The Old Serpent spoke of nothing but murder and lies even as he haulled Rin to bring him through the gates of hell. One line stuck with him not because of the temptation, but because of the bald-faced lie.
"The name's Satan. God of demons and your one and only father."
"No," Rin knew the truth as he was dragged past a mirror, he knew the truth.
The Father of Lies paused confused, "What do you mean 'no' did the old bastard not tell you?"
Rin sneered at The Evil One, " And call no man your father on earth, for you have one FATHER, who is in heaven!" and like that Rin erupted into the pure white flames again.
The Tempter was so shocked he dropped the blade he had taken from Rin when he possed Fujimoto. Rin wasn't and had never meant to be violent by nature, but he would not be killed by the Fallen One. So, he unsheathed the blade. And was engulfed in agonizing pain.
"And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides, they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus." (Ezekiel 1:5-8)
When Rin could focus on something other than pain, he noted a few things: his back felt incredibly heavy, his shirt was torn to shreds, thing were protruding from his skin, and the Father of Lies was no longer residing in Fujimoto's body, nor was there a gate to hell on the floor.
The first to find them was Maruta, one of the other not-quite-priests that worked with Fujimoto. Rin turned to the man, eyes no longer the navy blue they had once been, but the color of molten gold and his hair once black was as white as fallen snow. The blinding white flames no longer surrounded him but flickered at his fingertips. A pair of wings so, large if Rin wished he could have used them to hide in, the color of pine needles with flecks the same color as Rin's eyes. There were lumps all over his body. What looked like horns were circular and connected to Rin's head, reminiscent of a halo. The sword once used to house the half demon's power was shattered with only the sheath remained not too far from where Rin was kneeling.
"Is he alive? Yukio would be upset if he wasn't," Rin eyes were unfocused and he wobbled as he stood up, "I'm going… to go pray…" Rin swayed as he walked away and as he passed one of the lumps of his arm trembled and flickered open to reveal an eye
"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy." (Micha 7:18)
Fujimoto did not survive Rin's awakening; the funeral was a somber affair. The once half demon was not allowed to attend as he could not hide his new appearance. No one aside from Maruta had seen what Rin looked like, but word had spread fast.
Yukio didn't want to hold his brother in contempt, but Fujimoto was one of the strongest exorcists. The only thing that could cause his death was an enormous amount of demonic energy. Which could only equal Rin's power or Satan himself and with the changes the Maruta had described it wasn't hard to figure out which one.
While everyone though Rin had hidden away in the church he had been praying for seven days and seven nights. God appeared to him from the flames wisps on his hands. He was given a mission. So Rin entered the Sanctuary of the church and called the man on the phone Fujimoto gave him.
As he waited for the person on the other side of the phone to pick up Rin hid behind the altar which as big enough that with his wings wrapped around him no part of him could be seen.
"Okumura Rin, I know you're there~... Somewhere in here... Ah, well, never mind. I'm Mephisto Pheles, a friend of Father Fujimoto's. My sympathies for what you have been through. I was told to offer you protection, however I have certain responablites and I cannot confuse Personal and public interest. You are the son of Satan. You must be killed before you present a threat to humanity." this voice was one of the most obnoxious things Rin had ever heard.
"As I told the Tempter last week, I have one Father, a heavenly Father," Rin commented, not at all caring about what had been said after that.
Mephisto carried on like he hadn't spoken, "You have two, not three options: let yourself be killed by us, kill us and flee, or suicide. Which would you prefer?"
"None of the above, the first and last are the same thing and the greatest sin that you can commit and if I killed anyone it would be breaking one of the Ten Commandments which I promised I would do my best to follow," Rin answered.
Rin stood up from behind the altar (because even he could admit that this was the perfect opportunity to be dramatic) his wings stretched out and although his golden eyes never left Mephisto, other eyes on his body flickered between the other men in the room. Rin tilted his head from side to side sizing the men up, "Also I was giving a mission by our Father, Samuel, to help you and the other ones like you restore your Blessing and to help you defeat the Father of Lies once and for all."
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
