Blue Jay
Chapter 02: Family Reunion Pt. 2
Somehow, they made it back to the monastery.
Rin didn't remember walking- everything was a blur.
How could…any of this stuff be happening? Everything had been perfectly normal- more than normal- just an hour ago, and now she was being told demons were real and out for her head? That her old man was an exorcist? That there was a parallel world of hellish monsters just out of sight? She couldn't process any of it. Everything was happening too fast.
The monastery was strangely quiet. Yukio was gone, along with the other priests. They were alone.
"Here," Fujimoto said hurriedly, unlocking an ornate cabinet Rin had only ever seen gather dust her entire life. He withdrew a long katana, still in its sheath, from one of the drawers and handed it to her.
"This is Kurikara- the demon-slaying blade. It's been passed through many hands since time immemorial," he explained quickly. "Your powers have been transferred into this sword and sealed by its scabbard. If you draw it," he grasped her hand holding Kurikara in his, looking her dead in the eye. "Then you will return to your demon form. And, most likely, never be able to live a human life."
Rin's throat went dry. Fujimoto let her hand go. "Never draw it."
"W-Wait a sec-"
The older priest ignored her, in favor of handing her a small key and cell phone. "But keep it by your side at all times- when you're safe, you can hide it again. Once you leave the monastery, call the number on the phone- there's only one. The man on the other end should give you protection. He's a friend of mine."
Rin fumbled the phone and sword in her hands dumbly. "W-What-?"
"You won't be able to live as you have ever again, but he should help. Now go! Get someplace safe-!"
Confusion and rage bubbled out of her before she could stop it. She threw the sword and phone on the ground. "Screw that! I'm not going anywhere until I know just what the hell is going on!"
"Rin!" Fujimoto said sharply, eyes flickering around the monastery, as if waiting for something to jump them any second.
"No, shut up!" she snarled. "What are you talking about, me being a demon? What about Yukio?"
"You were fraternal twins, but Yukio was too weak to inherit any powers. They passed onto you alone," Fujimoto explained, exasperated.
"But…why didn't you tell me?" Rin asked, her voice cracking.
The priest looked away. "I wanted you to live a normal life. And you could, so long as you remained an ordinary human."
Ordinary? Rin felt fear and rage over come her senses. All this time, she'd been some sort of monster, and her fathe- no, guardian, had been lying to her her entire life? Everything he ever told her about what she was, and reassured her of what she wasn't- it was all lies?
Everything?
"Wait, is that what all this interview crap was about? Your "friend" is probably some exorcist too, isn't he? At the restaurant? You wanted to get rid of me, didn't you?" she laughed dryly, and her eyes stung.
"That was for your protection-!"
"Sure. Protection. Why stop lying now? It's not like I'm smart enough to tell the difference," she coughed, words just spilling out of mouth without a thought. "I'm just some screw up random kid. Not like Yukio- I cause nothing but trouble. I've just been this big mess-up you've been dealing with, and you want me gone. You don't want to play dad anymore!"
Fujimoto stayed silent, watching her, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Admit it!" she was yelling at this point, and took a step toward him. "I…!"
Rin clenched her fists. "Don't you ever act like you're my father ever again!"
Something broke in Fujimoto's eyes and- Slap!
Rin stood, blankly, hollow, her cheek stinging. The priest slowly lowered his hand, shaking ever so slightly. Gingerly, she touched the side of her face, all her anger suddenly leaving her feeling…tired.
"We don't have time for petty arguments," he said, but his voice sounded like she'd said something anything but petty. "Just do as you're told!"
Rin looked away. "…fine."
She leaned over, her hair obscuring her face, and picked up both the sword and phone from where she'd thrown them. There was a brief silence as she stood and turned her back to him, she legs suddenly very heavy, when-
Fujimoto gasped and doubled over in pain. Rin instantly spun around to see him shaking, and seemingly struggling to breathe.
"….what's wrong?" she asked, and when he continued to shake, she was on her knees beside him, reaching out to his shoulder. "What's-?"
"Get back!" he shouted at her, pushing her away weakly. She complied, mostly because she had never, ever seen him look so-
-scared?
"Get away, Rin!" he said desperately, grasping his chest. "To think that now, of all times…!" he cursed under his breath. "Get away from me!"
The small, selfish part of her wanted to scoff- she was right, he wanted her gone. But everything else was telling her something wasn't right- and that she wasn't going to start listening to his orders now. She took a step toward him.
"I'm not just going to leave you," she began, but stopped dead when the priest suddenly stopped shaking, his head down and face obscured. She got down to his level, awkwardly moving because of the dress she was still in. "Get a hold of yourself-"
And then the old man looked up and met her eyes.
"…my dear little daughter…"
Except the eyes she saw weren't even human anymore.
"Oh, I've been looking forward to this moment!"
Blue flames erupted around them. Rin fell back on her hands, Kurikara falling to the floor beside her. Her old man- no, the thing that looked like him- with sharp teeth and pointed ears, fingernails suddenly like black claws, and eyes wild with power- laughed hysterically, his voice a horribly distorted parody of the one Rin knew and loved.
"GRAHHHAHAHAH!" he laughed. "Look at you, all grown up! How ya doing'? That's right, the big guy himself has come all the way out here just to see you! Don't you feel special? All your brothers are going to be jealous!"
Rin backed herself up until her shoulder hit the wall, terrified. "Y-You're…"
Blood spilled from every crevasse of Fujimoto's face- from his eyes, ears, mouth and nose. "The name's Satan, god of all demons. But you can call me "Daddy" if you want!"
"I'd love to stay and chat, catch up on lost bonding time, but it looks like this body won't last much longer," Satan said offhandedly, tearing off a few of Fujimoto's fingers like toothpicks. Rin felt bile rise up in her throat as he discarded the appendages over his shoulder. "Ah well. We'll have plenty of time to talk back home, won't we?"
Satan spilt some of Fujimoto's blood onto the ground, and it began to take the shape of a large doorway. He began chanting something in a language Rin couldn't understand, and the blood took shape of a giant gate. "I'm the only demon that can open gates to Gehenna like this."
Rin shakily got to her feet, staring wide-eyed at the demonic doorway on the floor, and then over at Satan. Fujimoto's body was breaking apart every second, more blood coating his features than ever, but the demon didn't seem to mind.
"Let's go, kiddo," Satan took a step toward Rin, but stopped at the sight of Kurikara on the ground. He picked it up like a piece of trash, smirking. "But I guess I have to destroy this first- so you'll be free of that stupid curse binding you." He rolled his eyes and started toward her again. "You look too much like your mother in that pathetic form."
Maybe it was the mention of her mother- or maybe she'd just gotten sick of watching the demon walk around like he knew her- but Rin snapped, blue flames coated her own body. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Stana blinked, amused. "What was that suppose to be? Were you trying to impress me? That was pretty shitty impersonation of your dear old dad. No problem, once you're a full demon, you won't be nearly as pathetic."
Rin tried to get away, but Satan grabbed a fistful of her hair and slammed her to the ground, before dragging her across the floor. "Let go of me! I'm human-!"
Rin caught sight of her reflection in a window pane across the room. Her pupils were like balls of fire and her teeth were slightly sharp. The tips of pointed ears poked out from under her hair, and her body was covered in patches of withering blue flames. Dark, sharp nails dug into the wooden floor as she tried to claw away from the demon dragging her.
That's…me?
"You know," Satan said, snapping her attention back to him. "I'm a perfect entity with all the power I could possibly want. But there's one thing I can't get. Do you know what that is?" he glanced down at her, sharp teeth coated in blood. "A vessel in Assiah powerful enough to contain me! Everything I inhibit in this world dies too quickly. Just like your mother. Just like this body. It's falling to pieces and he's suppose to be the most powerful exorcist in the world!"
Satan grabbed her arm and thrust her into the gate before she could react, and instantly began sinking into it.
"It's Assiah I want," he said, stepping into the gate as well. "Oh, I was just bored when I decided to make you- but since your birth, I realized it was a masterstroke. I would have preferred you to be my son, but I can make due with a girl. Hell, I've got too many sons already. You exist with my powers within Assiah peacefully. You're exactly what I needed all along!"
Rin couldn't believe any of this. The gate was swallowing her whole, and she knew she had to do something- anything.
"Help!" she screamed, hoping someone would hear her. "Anyone! Help me!"
"Such lovely screams! You really do remind so much of her," Satan laughed wildly. "You'll love it back home! Welcome to Gehenna~!"
"Somebody! Anybody!" Rin screamed herself hoarse.
"HELP ME!"
She shut her eyes, preparing for the worst, when-
"What-?" Satan jerked strangely, falling down on his hands and knees. "What's happening-?"
Fujimoto's arm jerked out, gabbed a hold of the pendant Rin had always seen the old man wear, and stab himself in the chest.
Satan coughed up blood. "Damn you, exorcist!"
And then a voice, a voice Rin had thought she'd never hear again, graced her ears.
"That girl is my daughter- and I'm taking her back!"
Satan collapsed in front of Rin, laughing. "You mean to kill yourself? What a dutiful priest you are. But you're too late! Once the gate takes hold, only I can release it! So…what do you plan to do now, exorcist?"
Rin didn't know how, but after that, she knew Satan was no longer in the room- or even the same realm- but she didn't even have time to care.
"Old Man!" she cried desperately, grabbing him before he could sink any lower into the gate. She tried to get out herself, but she felt like she was moving in tar.
"Help! Please!" she yelled. "Help!"
Rin looked around, and caught sight of Kurikara, sticking upright out of the gate.
A split-second decision graced her mind.
("I'm the only demon that can open gates to Gehenna like this.")
("Your powers have been transferred into this sword and sealed by its scabbard.")
Rin reached out, her finger tips brushing the katana's grip.
("If you draw it, then you will return to your demon form. And, most likely, never be able to live a human life.")
She clutched it tightly, one arm around Fujimoto's limp body.
("Don't ever draw it.")
"I'm sorry."
She pulled the sword free of the scabbard, and felt something akin of pure, undiluted power rip through her body. For a moment, all she could see was white, and a bestial, inhuman roar erupted from her throat. Her body was abuzz, and she sprang to her feet, blue fames covering her body.
"Don't you dare die on me!"
Rin rushed forward and slashed downward, cutting the gateway- causing it to burst into flames. It disintegrated instantly, leaving Rin panting, blood rushing with something more addictive than adrenalin. She wanted to kill something. She wanted to rip all the disgusting humans who had ever made her life miserable to shreds- nothing could stand her way-
She brushed something with her foot. Snarling, she looked down, ready to burn it away and saw-
And saw…
The body of Father Fujimoto.
The power drained from her system as quickly as it came.
She knees shook and collapsed beneath her, leaving her to rely on Kurikara for support. Something wrapped itself around her torso- a long, black tail, she noticed with hardly any interest. She looked down at herself, shaking, and let Kurikara drop to the ground. Rin threw herself on the priest's chest, sobbing. His blood strained her bare arms, still dripping freely from his face.
Fujimoto was dead.
Her old man was dead.
Her…father was dead.
Tears fell unrestrained from her eyes and down her cheeks. "Dad…!"
Rin stayed there, crying, even after people began to arrive.
The other priests, people she didn't recognize in black coats, and some normal police- they all flooded the monastery mere minutes after the entire ordeal. Time passed and she didn't move. She felt like if she did, everything would have to be real.
Eventually, minutes or hours of staying still, someone wrapped a blanket over shoulders and lifted her to her feet. She almost collapsed, but stayed up right. She was lead to her room, and the same person dropped Kurikara by her bedside before leaving her alone.
If Rin thought hard enough, she could remember the person having glasses, and nothing else.
(A/N): Two things: one, this chapter is not beta'd.
Two, I cut this chapter short just to get it out of the way. And yes, I'm sorry if this was immensely boring because all I did was shamelessly rehash canon events- BUT, when I thought about it, Rin as a girl wouldn't behave too differently than her counterpart in the beginning bits.
But have faith- things will be getting interesting come next chapter. Oh, and it seems people want to see Yukio/Rin. Thoughts? I kinda like the idea of Bon/Rin, but it's up to you guys.
