Puppeteer
Chapter 1: Puppeteer
Rin sat on his bed and apparently being occupied by a leather inbound grimoire. But instead of studying he secretly flipped through the pages of Mephisto's small, pink diary, which he hid from his twin brother's eyes inside the foliant. Namely sat at his desk, poring over his curriculum, while occasionally throwing controlling sideway glances at his older brother.
Unfortunately the entries were anything but exciting. The principal apparently mistook it for a protocol journal. Apart from daily routine, there was nothing noticable, as it didn't have any secrets or even emotions to reveal.
Maybe the pink ink and the heart shaped dots, Mephisto kept using all of the time were at least a little bit intriguing – unless one didn't already know that the demon was more feminine than it would be appropriate for a man. Then again, one just had to take a look at the colours of his clothes to get the idea.
Despite the boringness of the text the teenager kept on reading through the pages eagerly. Somewhere had to be something, some hidden interesting information. Apart from that, it also kept him from having to study the boring text inside that stupid grimoire Shura gave them for homework.
After 10-15 other entries Rin felt his confidence slowly drop to a low level. There seemed to be nothing interesting at all. Why did the demon have a diary in the first place, when he only wasted it on boring protocols? Annoyed, the teenager moaned and let himself fall backwards into his soft pillow. This was no fun!
"Nii-san, do you have problems with the text? The book is quite difficult to understand, right? "
"No piece of cake, it's just plain boring ...«, Rin replied. Shortly after he recognized his mistak: He talked about Mephisto's diary, while Yukio was referring to the grimoire. Inwardly, the half-demon cursed himself for his stupidity. He knew full well that his younger brother would question him now.
"Boring? Ah, well .. "The teacher of anti-demon pharmacology's stated. If that was interesting!
Rin always found homework or theory in general rather boring. That wasn't any news to him. However, the text in that foliant was very cryptic and difficult to understand, even for himself. If Rin said that it wasn't for him, something was utterly wrong – especially when considering that Rin's understanding of Japanese Kanji was poorer than poor.
The guilty look on his brother's features confirmed his assumption. Yukio narrowed his eyes to small slits, rose from his seat, crossed the room and stopped at his siblings bed, towering over Rin with crossed arms and a stern expression. "You read manga again in secret instead of focusing on your homework, right? Give it to me, now! " He requested and stretched out his hand.
Angry the older twin jumped off the bed and glared up at his brother. "I don't read manga! And in this room you are just my younger brother, not my teacher, so you don't have the right to force me into giving you anything at all!"
He didn't notice that his blue flames flared up for just a moment, barely visible at first, before they eagerly jumped from his whipping tail onto Mephisto's diary on the bed.
Ignoring the fuss his brother was making, Yukio stared for several seconds at the blue inferno. He never recalled those flames reacting like this before. Yes, byk then when Rin fought Amaimon in the forest grounds they engulfed his brother completely. But, momentarily, he was being hot-tempered and stubborn at the most, not out of his mind.
Before he deepened his considerations furhter, Yukio simply dived for the fire extinguisher. This was top priority now!
Rin didn't notice the chaos, up until then, when he registered the resolute gaze of his younger brother. He turned around and froze in terror.
Mephisto's diary was ablaze!
"Shit, damn ... do something! That stupid thing mustn't burn-!" His younger twin pulled the trigger on the extinguisher and spreaded white powder all over the bed, the ground and also on Rin, who had been standing in his way. »-to ashes... yeah, well, thanks, four-eyes!" irritated the elder got rid of the powder in his hair, skin and clothing by shaking like a wet dog.
"Be happy that I helped you out at all. Freaking out over such an unimportant thing like a manga, this is beyond daftness. You almost burned the whole dorm to the ground!"
Rin snorted and crossed his arms defiantly, before he muttered a defence: "Blah-blah! A huge building like this doesn't burn down so quickly and there's, apart from that, no one else is here but us! And I wasn't pissed at all... just a bit overreacting maybe, pretty harmless actually! Dunno, why the flames became so aggressive... they never did something like this before! Has to be Mephisto's blasted diary's fault, I guess...«
"Sir Pheles diary? Nii-San ... "
"Before you even start on lecturing, better help me to find that stupid thing ... even though there's nothing interesting written inside at all. "
"Nii-san ...! What do you presume the word privacy means? " Yukio questioned outraged and ashamed at the same time.
"Fuck privacy! The clown behaves far too suspicious! I thought it wouldn't hurt to take a peek..."
The second-class Exorcist sighed, stoically readjusting his glasses. It was probably too late now for scolding his brother and his inadequate manners. Before Yukio could jump to action, though, a sharp pain went through his body. Panting, he crouched down and clenched at his right hand side of the upper-body. "Nii-san ..."
But Rin also seemed troubled from pain, his eyes went wide and his skin turned sickly pale. Then he dropped to the ground, panting as well and looking at his brother for an answer about his current condition. "What the... is it some kinda attack or something...?« he gasped.
"Not sure! I-I never heard... of such a-an incident... before! "
What happened? Was it really some sort of mind-attack or something? Were there demons who possessed such skills? Or was it one of those mysterious demon king's secret powers?
The questions remained unanswered for now, as Yukio felt the dark embrace of unconsciousness wash over him.
Rin stirred. He felt like he got hit by a train, his throat was all dry and a biting cold air crept through the fabric of his clothes, making him shiver. Yet he recognized that he lay sprawled on hard, dusty grounds instead of the floorboard of his and Yukio's bedroom.
With some difficulty he scrambled up on all fours, moaning over his stiff joints and looking for his younger brother, even though he had trouble seeing anything at all. The lighting in this area was dim and of some weird reddish color. But he didn't have to search for long. Right next to him the middle-class exorcist groaned and rolled onto his back, coughing.
Rin pushed himself on his his feet and noticed that he grew accustomed to the dim light rather quickly. Now, he could spot his surroundings clearly, so he took a look around to get an idea of where they had landed. After a couple of minutes he sighed and slouched his shoulders. He had no clue at all.
He could tell that it looked like a desert, though... everywhere seemed to be that dirty, dusty ground and a hell of a lot of rough rocks resembling pointy fangs in a grotesque sort of way. The sky was illuminated by three sun-similar light sources. The redness of them created some sort of creepy atmosphere while the parched bushes and trees raised a feeling of desolation. The smell of sulfur clung to the air and crept into the half-demon's nose, almost making him vomit right on the spot.
"Where... are we...?« Yukio asked hoarsly, his face displaying a mixture of confusion and astonishment. He stood beside Rin now and seemed to look just as lost as his older sibling.
"If you don't know, how am I supposed to?" Rin responded kind of frustrated.
The twins looked at each other in frustration. Of course they had an idea of where they were. But neither one would admit that this place could possibly be Gehenna.
"Let's see if we can find a clue somewhere." Yukio finally said and took the lead. Rin was about to follow him, when he suddenly noticed two figures marching across a dusty path not too far away from them. Quickly Yukio grabbed his older brother's arm and pulled him behind one of the large rocks. Both of them peered at the two people, ready to jump into action if they necessary. Rin placed his hand on the hilt of Kurikara, while Yukio grabbed for his two guns, unlocking them almost soundlessly.
It was a boy, about their age, with dark purple hair and a cheeky curl twirling up from the middle of his scalp accompanied by a beautiful fair lady with waist-long, golden hair cascading down her delicate frame.
Her beauty didn't seem to matter at all for the boy at her side automatically drew all the attention to himself. Maybe it was due to his smooth way of walking and his outstanding handsomeness. He was dressed in an inconspicuous burgundy satin shirt, a tie with a black and white checkerboard pattern imprint and black pants. The clothes almost seemed boring compared to the vivid white colored lace dress the young woman wrapped herself in. Still the boy's attention lingered on the guy and neither of them knew why.
And was it just Rin's imagination or did this young boy really look like a younger version of Mephisto?
"You know this guy reminds me of…" he started musing.
"Sir Pheles!" the younger twin added, utterly aghast.
"Wow, did you gain the ability of reading one's mind? If so, tell me how it works! I wanna do it, too!"
Yukio rolled his eyes and shook his head, massaging the brink of his nose with his thumb and index finger in complete annoyance. "I don't read minds. It IS Sir Pheles. Just look at him! The hair-colour, that curl, the appearance, the stature, his height, even the burgundy shirt! He always wears a similar one underneath his blazer... "
Rin raised his eyebrows surprised. Grinning, he poked his younger brother's side with his elbow and couldn't resist on teasing him with a suggestive comment: "I better not ask how you found out what that clown wears underneath his blazer, hm?"
"I'll just ignore this latent insinuation, Nii-san!" Yukio rambled, his face turning as red as a tomato.
Rin laughed out loud, but quickly stopped the sound by covering his mouth with his hands. "Hush, Yukio! Stop the joking! This is serious! They might hear us!"
Mesmerized Rin's eyes wandered to the boy again. That bloke really had some attention-drawing air around him and he resembled the principal a lot. Yet he somehow lacked of some of Mephisto's trademark aspects.
First of all, the guy was just way too young, 15 or 16 years at the most. Second, he didn't have that distinctive goatee. And last but not least, this boy was missing this flirtatious, cocky grin that seemed to be permanently plastered on the chairman's lips. This bloke over there looked almost as nonchalant as Amaimon, while at the same time he also seemed to boil with anger. Rin just couldn't recall Mephisto ever acting like that even once.
The half-demon perked his ears, trying to catch some of the strangers' conversation. Fortunately, he could understand their words soon enough. They seemed to be in a heated up discussion about something.
"... Don't make a face like that. It's ugly! " the female demanded.
"That's just fine for me!"
"Samael...« she growled warningly, but was cut off before she could finish whatever she was about to say.
"Silence! I don't need to listen to your sly words, mother, " the handsome boy turned around with bared demon-fangs. Angrily, he paced up and down in front of her, evidently undecided whether to attack her or leaving her be and continue his way. "I'm aware that demons usually don't take care of their offspring, but your behavior simply disgusts me. You could have turned away from me long ago, but instead you decided to wallow in my misery. Whenever he calls out for me to take my pride and dignity you'll come and watch, only casting your eyes away when I start looking for your mercy."
The young demon paused and clenched his fists so tightly that soon his own blood trickled downwards, gathering in a small red pool beside his boots. His body trembled with rage and his eyes were shooting daggers at her.
The sound of a slap cut through the air like a snapping whip. "You pathetic wimp." The woman looked at her offspring with icy blue eyes, before she sighed theatrically and ran her fingers through her long hair. "It should be an honour that your father takes so much interest in your pretty face... if he'd pay me with half the affection than he does for you, I'd be pleased till the end of days! Instead I have to listen to your unnerving whining... If it was for me to decide, I would have torn you to pieces the day you wimp were born! You're not a demon, you're a disgrace to our respectable ancestors!"
Mephisto dropped to his knees. He trembled no longer and rubbed his swollen cheek. An insane smile plastered his lips as he narrowed his eyes dangerously, while shooting death glares at the ground beneath him. Razor-sharp teeth flashed inside his mouth as his twisted smile broadened into a cruel grin.
It was that very moment, Rin could no longer deny that this bloke over there was the real Mephisto Pheles, even though he had a different name here. The similarity to the principal was just too obvious. The half-demon gasped and looked at his brother who must have drawn the same conclusion by judging his facial expression.
"Oh, I despise you! At the momen you may be stronger than me, but just you wait. One day I'll get back at you ... I'll leave Gehenna and learn how to fight you and father in Assiah. I'll learn how to do it in the most painful and cruelest manner imaginable! And you, mother... you will be the first one to suffer. Then you'll be the one whining and begging for mercy!"
The demoness snorted. "Don't be a fool! No one gets to Assiah without passing through Gehenna Gate... So if you want to go there, you have to explain it to your father... and he'll certainly not let his precious, little toy escape so that it can happily plan his downfall. "
Rin stared in shock at the scene. He was still paralyzed by the fact that this teenage demon was Mephisto... or rather used to be Mephisto. But that woman... the clown's mother in fact... how could she treat him so harshly, mock him even though he seemed to be upset and raging? And what about Mephisto's father? There was only one demon considered powerful enough to call forth Gehenna Gate if Rin recalled correctly... did that mean... Mephisto was another son of Satan?
Before he could deepen his train of thoughts, the strange, nauseating feeling from earlier returned full force. Instantly the stinging pain cut through his chest like a knife. Yukio next to him looked as if he, too, underwent that odd procedure again. Panting, the two boys collapsed drifting off into the blackness once more.
Rin got up first. Frantically, he jumped onto his feet and looked around, before he sat down on the edge of his bed, clm and pondering. Both returned to their dorm.
Was it just a dream?
Rin shook his head. No, it had to be real... he didn't have enough imagination to invent such a macabre scenario inside his mind, even if he wanted to. His gaze wandered to the open, pink diary beside him. Horrified, he noticed that the previously blank pages were now filled with red letters.
He scanned the text on the pages in a hurry and his eyes widened in shock. Everything that happened inside that strange vision – if one could call it that - was now written down in words: the dialogue, the events, even the thoughts of young Mephisto... Samael.
...It used to be that special day I decided to go seek the legendary Portal. I would go to Assiah, cost what it may. Even if it meant that I'd die trying, it was still worth it... for my existence meant nothing if I couldn't change my supposed-to-be-destiny and had to keep on living in Gehenna... fearing every day to be called by HIM and letting him do as he pleased. I would become an exorcist and then I'd learn how to destroy mother and fath...no...Satan!
Yukio looked over Rin's shoulder, appalled. "It seems, Sir Pheles kept his diary safe with a magical seal. Your blue flames probably broke it... I just don't get how. And it seems that Sir Pheles memories are kept inside this book... not only in words apparently. We kind of lived through his memory like eye-witnesses." The younger twin silenced for a short period of time and cast his eyes down, looking troubled and uncomfortable. "Nii-san... you have to return this thing to Sir Pheles as fast as possible. We learned things from his past we are not supposed to know. I'm not sure how to deal with it yet."
"What? Returning the diary? Are you nutters? I mean, we just found out that he's another half-brother of ours! He's a goddamn son of Satan just like us, just like Amaimon! With that information we have him in our hands! I could make him pay me more pocket money by blackmailing him or something! And there's still so much more to find out! No way, I'm gonna return it!"
Yukios expression changed from anger to bewilderment and back to anger again. The vein on his temple started pulsing as he began to lecture his older brother with harsh words and raised voice: "Rin! How can you even consider this after that! This is perverse," Uh-oh ... It was rare that Yukio didn't address him with his fraternal salutation. This was always a sign that the younger twin would not tolerate any argumentation on the matter. Yet all of a sudden Yukio stopped his scolding. He looked his brother up and down, before giving him a skeptical glance. "No, wait ... Don't say you didn't get what they were arguing about...?«
Rin mused, recalling the displayed scene, before summarizing in his mind what little information he gained from the short conversation. "Well, Mephisto was angry about something, his father, Satan, did to him ... and his mother behaved like a bitch... uhm … oh yeah, and Mephisto wants to kick both their asses because of that... that's about it, right?" He paused as he recognized Yukio's deepening frown. Obviously, he missed some essential information.
"Yeah, it's so typically you … your pea brain doesn't know anything about subtexts, does it?" The younger threw his hands in the air in frustration and groaned in annoyance. "Whatever ... then I'll have to deal with this knowledge on my own. You, dear brother, will return the book by tomorrow afternoon the latest and you will apologize to Sir Pheles for taking it. Understood? "
"Yeah, got it, scaredy-cat" the elder grumbled angrily and scratched the back of his head thoughtfully... what the fuck were subtexts anyways?
TBC
A/n:
Oh my gawd...
so many reviewas on the prologue! ö_ö
Thanks so much to everyone! I'm really flattered and happy and excited and overwhelmed, all together! Q/w/Q
And sorry for the long wait, but the chapters are longer and I'm very lame in translating texts... gomen ne! /0/
