AN: This was an idea I was playing around with for some time now. Time line wise (and because the more current installments of the manga are a little too mind-boggling now), this AU happens before Christmas/Bday party and 2nd Kyoto trip. With that being said, I want to warn of triggers for depression and hints of drug use in this chapter.

The dates and locations of actual eclipses have been changed in this story, since this is all fiction anyways! Besides the astronomical eclipse, I also see a metaphysical one between Rin (sun), Sheimi (moon), and Yukio (earth).


[1] Black Hole Sun

"Be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life." (Proverbs 4:23)


The dull pain served as a constant reminder that he just wasn't able to heal quickly like his demon brother. Two months was the average time it took for bone to heal, and that was the length of time Yukio had for the multiple fractures in his ribs and his arm. He was still 'normal'. In addition, the medicine the hospital prescribed gave him the worse case of nausea, but going without any pain killers just made it hard to concentrate.

The younger Okumura twin had injected morphine a few times already in the last couple of days for want of something to erase the pain without any heavy side effects. Now he fought with the nagging temptation to continue using that as his primary pain killer. He knew full well the limited supply of morphine he had was to be used for emergency reasons only. Even if he found a way to get the authorization to replenish his supply, the narcotic would be detected in his medical check-ups.

The truth was that Yukio wasn't able to rest peacefully since he left the hospital. The pain reminded him of everything that went wrong during that mission at Aomori. Even though he was excused from teaching, the young exorcist prodigy insisted on coming into the branch office to work on something. Something, to keep his mind distracted.

On his way back home, however, his persistent fear grew to the point it started to crush in on him. His coat was too heavy, the scarf felt like it had been wound on too tight. The afflicted Okumura twin ran into the dark interior hallway of the abandoned dormitory before he buckled upon himself. The bandages felt tighter around his chest, constricting him as the pain throbbed with each pounding heartbeat. Something powerful was crushing, smothering, strange arms, limbs, monstrous faces.. trying to take him under. Trying to sieze his soul.

Stop it..stop it.. stop… it.

Yukio gripped his head, fingers digging into his hair, trying to calm down. It hurt to expand his ribs, his lungs seared with a sharp pain, he couldn't breathe in. He was slipping, loosing all control, but.. nothing stopped that feeling. The scared boy had no power to save himself from the cold, dark air suffocating him. The darkness of Hell.

And wondering why.. why his failures kept haunting him… was he not good enough for God as an excorcist?

Yukio almost died in the clutches of that snake as a result, because nothing from within himself saved him that time.

Nothing… not even Satan.

He was not even worthy enough for the Ruler of Darkness...

Who am I then?

The stars in Yukio's eyes danced in the dark, and he felt faint from his shortness of breath. He was just a miserable, weak human… not even regarded by others as a son of anyone. Well, a 'had been', more like, as Father Fujimoto's good kid. That sharp pain was still there when the genius boy tried to draw in another breath. Maybe that was caused from pleurisy, when the lining of the lungs stick together from dehydration. He forced himself to think about these more logical things in order to steady his pounding heart. Before someone found him there in this sad and weak state.

The sharp edge from the metal key pressing into the flesh inside his good hand also helped redirect that focus. That little, damned thing was what had brought on this attack. He had found the key, an Illuminati key, in the pocket of his long uniformed exorcist's jacket. All he could imagine was that Shima had slipped it to him earlier.

He closed his eyes, head falling back against the hard, brick wall. The lines were blurring again, and he still tried to understand where Mephisto Pheles stood in all this. There was no one to trust, really, if they all were pawns in some grander scheme of things. Even Shura had been asked to spy on his exwire class in the beginning, just to make sure he and his brother stayed in check.

Why..?

None of it was fair. The way the higher ups handled both himself and his brother in a shroud of secrecy that not even the people he felt closest with was allowed to share. Being regarded in this way ate at him. It made sense that they didn't want Rin to know, the idiot that he was, but he should at least have the right. Yukio had been trained so young, and given the authority as a professor, so why can he be trusted with more?

A new plan came together in his mind as the dizziness subsided. Yukio slowly rose back up to his feet to walk back outside. He couldn't go back to his dorm room now.


With the exam date for the Exwires set to take place later next month, after the beginning of the new year, the number of times they met to study became much more frequent. The more tedious of their studies happened to be on the types of demons, the effects of pharmaceuticals, and on scripture due to the importance in remembering every nuance about them. The three had met in the library, at one of the tables set apart from the rest of the shelved sections.

Originally they had started with Biblical scripture, but they were soon distracted by just wanting to find more answers on recent events. With the increase of humans being able to see demons, without any other reason, and demons appearing in unpredictable places, they wondered those were more forewarning signs of worse things to come. The knowledge that the Illuminati had declared war against the True Order at the festival a month ago felt to be the other reason.

"Gyah, I'm definitely not going to be an Aria, why do I need to study this too?" Rin finally grumbled, closing the old Bible. If he had to pick a second specialty for his meister, he decided it would be as a tamer. That was mostly due to how his empathetic demon connection with other spirits worked in his favor – even if his brother hated it. Sure, Rin may have Satan's powers, but he certainly did not have the sinful desire and bloodlust that the Demon God was known for.

"Because knowing what is going on when the verse is being chanted is why!" Suguro growled to the demon boy.

"But.. didn't Lightening say we could just simplify the whole process by just being on good terms with demons?" Rin refuted just as strongly.

Earlier, the reluctant Okumura twin had agreed to look through the book of Revelations earlier, after being told to stop paraphrasing the erotic lines of script found in the Song of Songs that he came across. (Or more like, that Shima said something about and he had to see for himself.) Rather than being enlightened, the doomsday warnings in Revelations were written in such a symbolic way, it only confused him more. Deep down, the verses also sickened Rin because they reminded him of his unfortunate lineage.

"Look, before you can simplify it, you have to know what you are doing first!" The elder Suguro just glared at him in disbelief, the creases in his brow becoming more pronounced.

"As long as I know what I'm doing for my meister, that's what really counts!" Rin also felt his temper flaring up more over this really annoying topic.

"Why is studying scripture even a problem? Didn't you grow up in a monastery?"

"I wasn't exactly what you'd call the perfect altar boy... like you!"

Suguro just snorted, then shook his finger at the ignorant teen. "All the reason why you need to study, if you want to pass!"

Well, even though Rin had spent fifteen years at a monastery and was raised by the religious teachings of the monks, the defiant teen had blew it all off as pomp and circumstance. Now he hated to look back at that, because he had taken it all for granted. He never really took any of it seriously before that day he actually became a demon. The rebellious teen was even bad about remembering to use the proper honorifics when addressing people.

But now, now the meaning in the verses ended up haunting him in a whole different way. It was harder to stay focused on the text through this. Plus if he had no interest in becoming an Aria, then why the hell would they be testing him on that?

Konekomaru was a little more understanding, looking away from his laptop to regard the silent standoff between the two. "Then.. how about looking through the first books of the New Testament, Okumura-kun? Just for clues at least on what's going on with the increase in demons?"

"Right…" Rin sighed after a moment's pause. He flipped back through the pages again in his text to locate the book of Matthew.

The young monk had been researching world news at the moment. Already he had been noticing some interesting patterns in the rise of terrorist activity, as well as an increase in destructive, hot forest fires, droughts, and wave after wave of relentless hurricanes from earlier that fall in various areas around the world.

"Oh... hey.. there's also a total eclipse that will be occurring in a few days from now," Konekomaru told them as well|.

"Really? Where?"

"The path starts in Russia and crosses over to Alaska."

"Where's the strongest point?" Suguro asked.

"Ah.. looks like it's at this remote, north-eastern part of Russia," he pointed to the map on the screen for them

"And that's not good either?" Rin wondered.

"Generally, yes. Eclipses are regarded with much reverence due to its supernatural effect on the spiritual world," Konekomaru explained, looking off more research he found about it. "During an eclipse, especially a total solar one, the ghosts and demons absorb more of its black energy to negatively affect humankind."

"Hah… so looking at a total eclipse can also burn your eyes with the Flames of Satan! Booo-sc-chh!" Rin joked with his hand exaggerations exploding all around.

"Not.. quite…" Konekomaru just smiled politely, because apparently they didn't find what he said to be that funny.

Suguro sighed, taking a moment to clarify for Rin's sake. "What he's saying is that eclipses make demons stronger."

"Especially those like.. Mephisto?" Rin frowned, because after all, that demon was the King of Time and a whole other load of bullshit. Rin could only imagine the tricks he could pull with more power!

"More like Lucifer... Sir Pheles stated he was on the side of humans," Suguro clarified.

"But isn't Lucifer the King of Light? How did he get on the wrong side anyway," Because yes, that was a question that also bugged Rin.

"Well, I read that he used to be one of God's best angels, until he challenged God's authority to the point He cast Lucifer down to Hell," Suguro crossed his arms, sitting back. "Satan succeeded at tempting that angel, because as the God of Gehenna, he had always envied the liberties that the God of Heaven provided humans."

Rin remained silent for a few long seconds when the words had brought up another carefully guarded memory of what Satan himself told him. How the Demon God's power was too strong to possess any human for long, and quite literally burned their body from the inside out.

Except for Rin. He could exist as Satan's half human son, with his demon power inside of him, and endure living in this world. Could he be strengthened by eclipse power too?

"Tsch.. like two brats fighting over the sandbox," was all Rin really cared to say.

"Hah, that's a funny way to put it," Konekomaru mused. But then he also had more information to add. "Then it also says the negative energy demons get from an eclipse can last a couple months afterwards."

"That could explain all this weird shit going on… " Rin twisted his mouth in thought, then sat up more. "Wait, but aren't eclipses regional? Would that one in Russia be able to affect us here?"

"Not sure really… unless Satan had other plans. I heard rumors of eclipses that could be conjured in the spiritual world by powerful sorcery as well."

"You think they are aware of it?"

"Hnn…" Suguro just sighed, sitting back into his chair.

"Aware and doing something about it, or hiding the fact? Mephisto is such a sick fuck about that stuff," Rin growled. He was clearly still worked up about the 'games' that particular demon liked playing with the Exwires, treating all of them like pawns. Sure, the others were playing it safe by doing what was expected of them, but he still felt like something else is going on. The fact Yukio had been getting even more stressed out about 'stuff' was another reason.

The others didn't really have anymore to say in response, apparently not wanting to get into a discussion about those kind of conspiracy theories. With a sigh, the demon twin began flipping through the pages of Matthew. Of course, that chapter starts off with the story of Jesus. Perfect.

"Okay, so this is the question: If Jesus is the Son of God and I am the Son of Satan—"

"How can you even compare yourself to.. to the Son of God!?" Suguro blurted out, bringing his hand down on the table.

Konekomaru seemed to look a bit started from the sudden racket.

"No, seriously!" Rin explained to Suguro without any hesitation. "From what I'm reading here, Jesus wasn't exactly all that great of a person… he caused a shit-load of trouble too!"

"And then got himself executed for it!" Suguro protested, the implication of Rin's own death sentence being left unsaid.

"But He was supposed to die… he was an offering!" Rin quickly refuted that claim. Simply because if Rin had been saved from the beginning, there must have been a greater reason for why he got these second (and third) chances to continue as the Son of Satan. Certainly he could not be an 'offering' too. ...Right?

"Where are we going with this?" Konekomaru wondered, finally showing his subtle impatience with their persistent arguing.

Suguro held his heated stare on Rin, as if he was hoping for a better answer to this crazy idea.

"What I'm saying is that Jesus was born for a purpose. It was to keep people out of Hell… Gehenna," Rin explained. He wasn't too sure how the rest of it worked, because yeah, from what these verses described, Satan tried so many times to tempt the Son of God away from what God expected too. "So that day when Satan came for me, he said that I was what he needed to bring Gehenna into Assiah.. which I guess is here, Earth."

"What?"

Rin realized he never told them all those details, quite like this. Mostly it was due to the secrecy he had to keep. But now since they all knew about his lineage, it felt weird that he hadn't told them after everything else they had been through. "Dunno what my brother told you... but after I found out I was the Son of Satan, I I got into an argument with my old man. Then Satan possessed him, and he started dragging me into Gehenna.. there was no way he was going to do that! The only way to stop it was to awaken my demon powers from my sword to save us.. to close the gate. My old man still died though, trying to get Satan out of himself…"

"S-sorry to hear…" Konekomaru murmured.

Suguro seemed to have clammed up, evidently processing this new revelation of information in his own way.

"So.. that's why I want to be an exorcist and to stop Satan! I'm not sure why Father Fujimoto raised me, keeping all this secret before, but after defeating the Impure King… I realized I am in control of my flames. They may have come from Satan, but Satan is not going to be in control of me!" If he wanted to be bluntly honest, it still bothered Rin that his own brother chose to leave him in a jail cell to die instead of believing in him, like his classmates had. It was Shiemi's words that had made the biggest impact, helping him realize how he could control the burn.

While Rin wasn't also the most obedient of kids under Fujimoto's care, he at least had understood that God had more power than Satan, or any other troublesome demon. His foster dad had also told him to first try help others with mercy and grace. At least that was the idea. If Rin did get in trouble, it was because he was trying to stop the punks from hurting others. Unfortunately, his super strength and unbridled temper had somehow amplified his actions for the worse.

"Even though I'm no good at studying scripture, I do know what it takes," he finished with a nod.

Then as if realizing he had been silent for too long, Suguro laughed once and slapped Rin on the shoulder. "I guess you do have experience with kicking Satan's ass after all."

"Exactly!" Rin grinned openly, very much agreeing with that.

"But you still need to study," Suguro gestured to the books. A moment later, the big guy stood up, pulling out his phone to check a new text. "And… I.. gotta go. Until next time!"

The two watched him walk away, finding that the elder Exwire's departure seemed a little abrupt. "That was sudden," Konekomaru scratched his head.

"At least he was able to come this time," Rin sighed, propped his elbows on the table to rest his head on his hands.


Shiemi set down her clipboard after reviewing the current inventory in stock within the numerous shelves and cubbies within her mother's shop. Evening was setting, and going over the end of day details was all she had left to do. There were times she missed the friendships she had made at the Exorcist cram school, and the challenging adventures they went on. Not all of what she learned was wasted, as the young blonde teenager did appreciate knowing also the more formal names of the herbs and like pharmaceuticals in their inventory.

The chime of the door opening caught her attention, and she turned to greet her customer. Much to her surprise, it was Shima Renzou.

"Shima-kun.. hi," she acknowledged him, but soon had noticed how worried he looked. Apart from the fact he'd never visited her here before, the combination of Shima and worried was not normal. He also had his staff with him too. "What can I help you with?"

"Yes, help is what I need. Rin is in trouble!" her pink-headed classmate wasted no time in explaining why he was there.

"Wh-what? What happened to him?" she stepped around the counter to walk closer.

"There isn't time to explain. I just need you to come with me!" Shima's voice somehow sounded more bold and ominous this time.

"Oh.. okay, well, let me get—" she stepped away in want of getting her coat and other things.

"No, we really don't have time. We must go!" the insistent teen reached out and firmly grabbed her wrist. A for a fleeting moment, some of his mischievous nature played at the corners of his lips. His eyes flashed brighter as he pulled her along.

"Wha- where are we going?!" Shiemi really did not like how tightly Shima gripped her arm while he practically drug her towards the front door. "It's cold outside!"

"Hah-hah! Not where we are going. Don't worry about that, my dear!"

Suddenly her heart quickened a beat when a new fear seized her. That laugh really didn't sound like Shima's. Nor was she able to break her wrist free from his grip as the both of them stepped outside. "You're not— are you-"

The door slammed shut, and still not letting her go he pulled out a key. "This will take us to where Okumuru-kun is at," the words slipped out with that odd tone to it when the door opened to someplace outdoors where the sun still shone brightly. The Illuminati spy pushed her through, willing Yamantaka to keep his control over the girl.


"Hnn.. we should probably call it quits," Rin tapped his pen on the table, noticing the time. Just not staying focused on his studies for long was typical for him, but this time he had been feeling more restless than usual. That feeling was bugging him on and off all day, in fact, and also what had been making him more irritable.

"Yeah, might as well," Konekomaru nodded.

"Getting hungry too," Rin added, pushing aside the books. He was fancying a new idea of inviting his classmates to his dorm for dinner later, when his phone rang.

The demon exorcist-in-training recognized Shura's caller ID and automatically had that unwanted feeling of dread that he might be in trouble. She wasn't training him as rigorously now that he was showing improvement, but he still had that knee-jerk reaction when she showed up unexpectedly.

"Have you seen Yukio?" his mentor asked him with urgency in her voice.

"Not since yesterday afternoon… why?" Rin's concern changed from his own to wondering about what happened to his astute twin. Despite his younger brother's recent injuries, he still kept odd hours. That was really starting to bug Rin, because he thought for sure that Yukio would take the needed recovery time to actually rest. Yukio wasn't in the dorm anywhere either when Rin got up early to meet with Shura for training that morning. Plus it was Saturday, and their winter break had started. What would be keeping his brother so preoccupied now?

"He's not answering either one if his phones, which isn't like him," she continued over the phone.

"Yeah, he always answers his calls," Rin knitted his brows as he spoke. "All I know was that he was out again last night." Even more unsettling was when he asked Shura about his older brother's 'special training' earlier that day. She had echoed the same question in return, indicating that she had also wondered about it.

Shura sighed loud enough to be heard over the phone. "Lemme get back with you."

She hung up before he could say much else. Rin clenched his jaw, now feeling if this was also why he had been on edge all day. Something really wasn't right.

After their mission to rescue Shura from that perverted snake demon, Rin noticed how much more dedicated she had become about her actions, and in her follow through with teaching him the sword. That made him happy in knowing he helped her realize that she had the power to take control of her life. Rin could relate to a degree.


"Hey, watch yer form, okay? One hand close to the hilt and the other close to the end of the handle. That will give you better control!" the reclined redhead shouted at him from the side of the room.

The demon boy clenched his jaw, trying to remember that stupid detail again. Now that he had demonstrated his understanding behind the techniques using his flames, she wanted him to become familiar with more traditional sword maneuvers that demanded precision. Rin had no problem applying the power to make the blade sing. It was just his agility and reaction time that needed work. Learning how to stay fluid and light in his movements proved to be the real challenge since he tended to be heavy-handed with the amount of power he packed.

"Not every demon's going to be as big as the ones you've fought so far!" Shura winced, after Rin's twenty-something time of missing many of the small targets placed around the room. What made it tough was that she had also turned off the lights, otherwise making them harder to see in the erratic flicker of his flames.

"Okay.. take five," she sighed, after pocketing the stop watch in her jean jacket.

Rin grumbled under his breath about how lame this was while sheathing his sword. The lights came back on soon after.

"We'll get back to that after another round in the batting cage."

Rin leaned on the wall next to her and drank from his bottle of water. More reflex training , yey. He was getting better at that, much better, when he could actually see what was coming at him. But he still had a long way to go before he was as good as her.

"Hey.. so is Yukio doing any better?" Shura dropped her instructor front for a moment to be more personable. During their battle to save her from Hachirotaro, the snake god had injured the younger Okumura enough to make Shura worry. He could tell she was being serious, because she didn't say 'Four Eyes'.

Some of what Yukio said to Hachirotaro in his ruse to trick him, about wanting to be stronger and to regenerate, still hung in the back of Rin's mind. Ever since they started at the school together, Rin had discovered more things about Yukio that seemed surprising. The most troubling issue was how the younger Okumura felt about him now that his powers were awakened. At first it was fear, but now it felt more like envy. After all, Yukio was the only one with the most injuries after that mission.

Rin shook his head, unable to find the accurate words to describe their current situation. "I'm not really sure… but it seems like he's been avoiding me lately. Anytime I try to talk with him, he just.. shuts down."

Shura just nodded her head. "I saw him asleep at his desk at the branch office when I stopped in earlier to get something."

"Really?" Finding his brother asleep in weird places was also becoming a reoccurring thing.

"Something's been bothering him…" the fire-orange redhead sighed, before continuing more quietly. "When Hachiro forced me to make out with him, Yukio was absolutely terrified, and he kept his eyes shut the whole time – which was weird."

Rin quirked his mouth briefly at that crazy thought, despite her concern. But it was brief, and he nodded as his eyes fell to the floor. He knew why, from past experiences when Yukio used to get bullied a lot in middle school. He rarely had any friends to stand by him either. "Yeah.. he never liked feeling.. powerless."

Shura nodded, pursing her lips. Rin felt he didn't need to say anything more. While he himself just started training with her, he knew the sorted relationship between Shura and his younger brother went much deeper.

Rin set down his water bottle before picking up a wooden bokken leaning against the wall. He gripped the smooth wood lightly, glancing once to his mentor. "I don't think Yukio's gotten over the old man's death either," the older Okumura twin added solemnly.

"Yep," she stood up, indicating break time was over. "Because Four Eyes hasn't accepted who he is."

"Well, yeah… he can't even take care of himself!" Rin sensed her change in tone and attempted to follow suit. There really wasn't much more he could say about his younger half anyway, besides agreeing that Yukio still hasn't accepted him for being a half demon with Satan's powers.


Rin exchanged worried glances with Konekomaru, when he remembered that Shima had declined their invitation earlier to justify together.

"Would Shima know? The nosey butt that he is..?" Rin asked him.

"I'll give him a call."

Rin sat in silence, listening to the faint dial tone purr repetitively many times before switching into voicemail. He glanced at his own phone, just in case he missed anything. He didn't, and then tapped on Yukio's contact listing to try to reach him also.

"Wait, I'm going to text him too," Koneku added, his fingers tapping across the small screen.

Rin rose in the seat, awaiting a pick-up. Instead the operator explained his phone service was not available, not even for voicemail. Why would he turn off his phone? He frowned as Konekomaru looked at him, shaking his head about not getting any response yet.

The two decided to head out of the library so they can find the others, because this was getting worrisome.

They had started down the steps outside the building when Rin's phone buzzed again. Hoping it would be his brother, he answered it right away without checking the ID.

"Hey, where—"

"Rin, it's me," Shura interrupted him.

"Oh.. yeah... did you hear from Yukio?"

"No, Yukio's still MIA. But I just got word that Mrs. Moriyama called to let us know Shiemi wasn't at the shop. She wondered if she was with any of you?"

"Ut.. no," Rin make a face, then looked to Konekomaru. "Have you heard anything about Shiemi?" he whispered. His monk friend shook his head 'no'.

"Well, her mom is also very angry, just to warn ya. Apparently Miss Moriyama left unexpectedly, without leaving a note or locking up," Shura explained with a stern but cautionary tone.

Either way, Rin didn't like the pretentious nature to this news. Driven by a protective, almost territorial instinct, his first hunch was that she must be with Yukio. Those two did like to meet up at random times for stuff.

"..Rin?"

"Yeah, I heard you… Shiemi's not been with us. My only guess is that she's with Yukio.. somewhere!"

"You think so? I'm not sure… we found that Yukio left both of his phones behind in a drawer of his desk," Shura continued.

"He did?!"

"Yeah, no notes or anything. He hasn't said anything to you..?"

"No.. and that's what's so weird about all of this!" Rin sounded more exasperated. Not knowing where his brother went was bad enough, but Shiemi too? More than ever, he wanted to head out to look for them, except he didn't know where to start. "Has Mephisto said anything? What can I do?"

"Rin.. just hold tight until I find out, okay?"

Rin gritted his teeth, not happy with that answer however. "Fine... but if I don't hear anything soon!"

"Rin, I'm serious."

The demon boy just hung up on her, his mind now churning with possibilities that he could start with.


AN:

Apparently, I love stories with profound character building, and dynamic brother/ team building relationships. Took a break from Big Hero 6 and Voltron Legendary Defender to write this. (So… has anyone else find it funny how the Shiro's in both Voltron and AoE are like father figures, and clones, and handing off leadership roles, etc etc and stuff…)

I grew up following a lot of archangel lore, so seeing Kato's version of the demon world is interesting. In AoE, Satan and Lucifer are different entities, but some insight observed from other fans studying the concept helped. Satan is more like a stand alone superior in between the likes of Samael and Lucifer, as I understand it.