They both ran as fast as their legs would carry them. "Come on Amaimon!" She gasped, her breath escaping in ragged pants as they ran to their brother's room. She hoped that their father was wrong, that he wasn't leaving. But when they reached his door, he stood before them, surprised that they had suddenly appeared. "Aniue, please, say it isn't true!" She panted. Mephisto said nothing. "Aniue, you can't leave us!" Amaimon added. "I have to. Father gave me permission to use the gate and I must leave." He said, whilst walking past them. Astarte, her eyes glistening with tears, flung herself at him and latched herself to his waist, her legs and tail wrapping around his. "You can't leave us!" She cried, clinging to him like some strange monkey. Amaimon added his weight to help and clung to Mephisto's other leg. "I have to." The older demon sighed, still walking away though now dragging the two young demons along.
"But Aniue! The others will pick on us!" Astarte sobbed, burying her face in their brother's shirt. Several lesser demons had stopped to watch this strange scene unfold. Mephisto just continued towards the gate, still dragging the two crying demons with him. "They won't pick on you." He said, whilst slowly working out a way to extract himself from his two siblings. "They will." Amaimon sniffed. "They always pick on us." Mephisto let out a sigh as he approached the gate, ignoring the questioning stares of the demons guarding it. "Listen to me. The only reason they pick on you is because you are both too reliant on me. That is not how a prince or princess of Gehenna should behave." He said. Two pairs of glistening eyes looked up at him, stabbing him in his heart.
He let out another sigh and extracted himself from their grips. He crouched down on their level. "Can we go with you?" Amaimon asked. Mephisto said nothing, stunned by the request. They look too cute He thought, as he registered the glistening eyes that stared innocently at him. "Please Aniue, take us to Assiah with you" Astarte pleaded, taking a step towards him with her claws extended. He shook his head and pushed her back gently. "I'm sorry my darling little ones, but Assiah is too dangerous for ones as small as you." He said softly, sensing his own eyes tear up and his lower lip begin to tremble when he saw the pure looks of disappointment and pain on their faces. "Then stay here Aniue!" Astarte begged, the tears freely flowing down her face. "Astarte, this is not suitable behaviour for a…" "I DON'T CARE! I JUST WANT YOU TO STAY!" She shrieked at him.
Her cries echoed through the air as her words sunk in. Mephisto suddenly decided he had to make them understand. He embraced his two siblings, fighting not to give in to the side of him that wanted him to stay in Gehenna just to please his two sobbing siblings. "Now listen to me." He said, his voice trembling with emotion as he heard their sobs. "You can't come with me right now and I can't stay here. But when you're both stronger, I'll summon you to Assiah, ok?" He asked. A small sniffle and a sob, then in unison "promise?" He pulled away from them to look at their tear-stained faces. "Cross your heart?" Astarte asked. "And tail promise?" Amaimon added. He let out a small chuckle and wrapped his tail around theirs before crossing over his heart and holding up his claw. "Promise." Their ears both perked up. "Fine then. We'll become stronger, just you wait Aniue." They said.
He nodded and turned to leave. "Aniue, could we get a kiss goodbye?" He turned, suddenly mindful of the two guardian demons watching his every move. "I suppose so." He said, crouching again on their level. But instead of a kiss on the cheek, he was surprised by two pairs of small lips coming into contact with his own. "We'll get stronger Aniue." They both said as they watched him leave through the gate. But once it closed, Astarte felt tears begin to fall again. "Stupid Aniue, when have you ever kept your promises?" She snarled.
They both sat in her chambers. Amaimon hugged Behemoth to his chest whilst Astarte attempted to suffocate herself in a leather coated pillow, her tail coiling around and throwing the numerous stuffed demon toys she had at the servants who dared to come close. "Please, young mistress and master. I'm sure everything will be alright." A small, quivering demon with a heron's head said. His reward for this was being smacked upside his head by a stuffed hob-goblin toy. As he reeled back, blue flames licked the door as Satan entered. "Now what's wrong with you two?" He asked. "Aniue's gone!" Astarte's voice was muffled. "Astarte, why the fuck are you trying to suffocate yourself? Get your face out of that pillow now!" He commanded. Both teary-eyed children looked at him briefly then buried their faces into their knees. Satan let out a sigh. Now, there were fewer candidates for his "paternal instincts" and since these two were the cutest of his children, they were going to receive it, whether they wanted it or not.
He sat down on the bed and prodded Amaimon in the side of the head. "Why were you so attached to him? You can split the earth into two fucking halves and you…" He thumped Astarte on the back, causing her to smack her forehead off of her knees. "Why, every fucking element bows before you. Every damn thing in that shit-hole known as Assiah cowers at your feet." "But Aniue was nice to us." Astarte said weakly. "Hmm, so why didn't he take you with him? I watched you both clinging to him and being dragged to the gate." He laughed, the sound vibrating in the room. "…He…He said we weren't strong enough."
Satan laughed louder. "Not strong enough? You two! He's having a fucking laugh! If anything, the last thing you two need to do is become any stronger." He stopped when he saw the two of them going teary eyed again. "But…he…he promised" Astarte began to sob again. Unused to having to deal with any form of emotion, let alone his own crying children, Satan wrapped his arms around the two of them and squeezed, nearly crushing them in the process. "If he promised then the logical thing to do would be to become stronger." He said. "So I won't stop you." He suddenly laughed. "In fact, I say go for it. If anything, it'll be fucking entertaining to watch you two kick the shit out of the others." He got up and walked out of the room. I wonder if you realise, just what you've gone and set in motion Mephisto. He thought as he left the room. As he shut the door, he heard the yelp of the first unfortunate victim in Astarte and Amaimon's trial to become stronger.
Aww, I didn't like writing this chapter. It's so sad. But it kinda shows where Astarte first became the psycho she is today. Obviously, Mephisto, Amaimon and Satan are copyrighted to Blue Exorcist and Astarte is mine.
Should point out, next chapter will feature some gore and a hell of alot of swearing so be warned. Also, in answer to a review posted on another chapter, Astarte is the half sister of Mephisto and Amaimon so it's not as bad in terms of incest. But there won't be any of that until later chapters. So, until the next chapter this is sayonara from you psychotic author