Family Get-Together
"They're...Going to throw you a birthday party?" Yukio repeats slowly.
I rub my neck sheepishly, laughing a bit. "Yeah, it's supposed be next week or something. Yesterday I mentioned how I -how we- are turning seven soon. Nee-san was really-"
"Don't call them that!" Yukio snaps.
I startle at his sharp tone.
Yukio sniffs, tears beginning to swell in his eyes. "Don't call them Nee-san, Father, or anything! They're not your family! Have you already forgotten about us?"
My chest compresses painfully. "No, no!" I panic, trying to reassure him. "I haven't! How could I?" 'How can I forget how Dad betted our lives? That he works for the people that killed mom -of how he and the other priests' jobs is to kill demons like me? How can I forget about all the times Dad read us stories at bedtime, of the times he played ball, took us to the park, helped with our homework? How can I forget about the warmth of his hugs, of the careful way he tried to teach me how to cook, his ever so rare proud smiles that he used to send my way? Of how I'll never get them again? How can I ever get the picture of his face twisting in disgust, seeing the demon in me, out of my mind? I won't. I won't ever forget, Yukio, just like you'll never stop reminding me.'
-"He does not want you if you are not human."
"Know that I never cared whether you are human or demon. You're Yuri's son, and mine, after all."-
"Then why do you call them your family?" Yukio demands pitifully.
I nudge the grass with my shoe. "You're both my families," I mumble.
Yukio grabs my shoulders harshly. "Can't you see, Nii-san? They're trying to buy you! The party, the baby dragon, everything!"
"Stop it," I shake Yukio off with a spark of irritation. "You're wrong. It's not true. I have to earn the dragon, and the party is just a party. Nee-san just wants me to finally meet the others. They're even arriving early to visit before the party. She says that they should have introduced themselves before anyways."
"You're going to meet more of them?" Yukio says, aghast.
'I don't think Yukio would like hearing about how I have to earn my dragon by fighting in an arena. In two days.' I bite my cheek and look away. I don't want to talk about this anymore. "Oh, hey!" I exclaim and point to a tall tree. "I bet I can climb higher than you!" I don't wait for him as I run towards it and start climbing.
"B-Be careful!"
I ignore Yukio's worries as I climb higher and higher. "Come on, Yukio!" I grin down at him. "It's fine, see?"
Yukio bites his lip, but hesitantly follows me. I shoot him a thumbs up once we're both settled on the highest branch we can manage.
"See? Isn't this so cool?"
Yukio smiles weakly, glancing downwards for a second. "Yeah, I guess so."
We both watch the setting sun in the horizon. I always visit Yukio after dinner because I'm too busy with lessons beforehand. Yukio got us walkie-talkies so that I could let him know when I'm in Assiah, and we usually meet up in secluded part of a forest at the nearby park. Dad and the other priests trust Yukio when he says that he's meeting up with a friend at the library that's a five minute walk from the church, although he's only allowed to stay out for a half n' hour. Yukio actually had to meet up with a classmate several times before they let him go alone, only watching him leave by the window. I don't know what we're going to do when it starts snowing though...
"Hey, how did you do on that math test?" I ask Yukio. Last time I saw him he mentioned that he was worried about it. Which is stupid, because he's really smart and he's always gotten good marks in the subject. Unlike me.
This time Yukio's smile is more real. "I got an A on it," he ducks his head shyly.
I grin wide. "That's amazing, Yukio! I knew you could do it! What did I tell you?" I would have hugged him, too, but we're sort of in a tree..."I got a language test coming up," I can't help but make a face. "Yen -They say that my 'penmanship' is awful, and that I keep picking up my words and writing them wrong. It's way harder than katakana, though!"
Yukio frowns, looking confused and troubled. "They're...Teaching you kanji? Japanese?"
I shake my head. "Nah, it's a demon language called Elopi. After I'm fluent in Elopi I'm going to do a minor language called Ouzygeni."
"I guess it makes sense...?" Yukio frowns his brows and mumbles to himself. He looks back at me with a determined glint in his eyes. "Nii-san, I'm going to help you with your Japanese!"
"Wha-?"
"They're trying to make you forget our culture with their own! But I'm not going to let them! Every time you visit we're going to spend fifteen minutes with Japanese and history, okay?"
"Yukio," I groan. Yenzo gives me enough work as it is! I don't need any more one top of it! But Yukio has that stubborn look, and I can only sigh. "No homework, though. I won't do it!"
Yukio nods. "Okay, it's a promise! This'll also help me with my own work."
I grumble quietly. "Not that you need any help."
The watch on Yukio's wrist goes off. His expression falls."I gotta go..."
I force a smile on my face, trying to cheer him up. "Okay. I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Promise?" Yukio pleads, like he does every time I visit.
"Promise," I reply like I do every time. I close my eyes and picture my bedroom. When I open my eyes I see a cross Yenzo with his fists on his hips looking down at me. I blink in mild surprise. "Hi?"
Yenzo huffs and shakes his head a little. "Young Master, were you perhaps in Assiah again?" He (not really) questions dryly.
"Yes...?"
"And did it perhaps slip your mind that all the Kings and the Queen is visiting tonight? That they took time out of their extremely busy schedules, and what it would look like if you were not here to properly greet them?"
"I was only gone for half n' hour!" I protest loudly.
Yenzo gives me a very disappointed look, and I wilt.
"Sorry..." I mumble. I'm not really.
Yenzo sighs. He does that a lot. "Let's get you washed up, in any case. Can't have you introduced looking like you bathed in a mud puddle." He herds me to the bathroom.
I shoot half-hearted glare over my shoulder at him. He's exaggerating. My clothes are dirty from playing with Yukio, yes, but not that dirty!
"Wash up and I shall get you new clothes," Yenzo instructs.
"Fine," I concede and do as told. Once I'm to Yenzo's satisfaction he leads me to the same entertainment room that I met Iblis-nee in. As Yenzo opens the door and steps aside, I hear someone shout:
"I swear to Father, If you touch my hair one more time-"
"...I am too sober to deal with all of you," a guy lounging on one of the couches says, reaching to the mini bar beside him and grabs two bottles, as two others argue loudly. The first thing I notice about him is the fact that he has four arms like Aiji, and only one eye. His skin is really the only normal human feature about him, aside from the dress pants and shirt.
Iblis-nee gives bottle-guy a disgusted look.
"Nuh-ah," bottle-guy wags a finger at her. "Don't even start. Just because you have a holy amount of patience to deal with them without help, doesn't mean we all do."
Azzy-nii, who is sitting on a chair by the sort-of-but-not-quite pool table, snorts. "Now, Beelzebub, we both know that's a lie."
"Little Prince!" Moldy (or "Astaroth" as Yenzo tries to correct me) suddenly stops mid-fight and beams when he spots me.
"Oi! Don't just walk away from me!" The other argument-er barks as Moldy breaks apart from him and stalks over to me.
I immediately take safety at Azzy-nii's side. Bottle-guy -Beelzebub?- looks amused by this. Moldy rests his big hand in my shoulder, pressing me to his side, anyways. Apparently, resistance is futile.
"Crush any bones or smite any souls since I last saw you?" Moldy leers.
I tense and lean away. "Let me go," I demand.
Moldy squeezes me closer and opens his mouth.
"Let the kid go," Azzy-nii frowns at Moldy.
"I ain't doing anything, right kid? We're good."
"Let me go," I repeat and struggle harder. How strong is this guy?
It seems like Moldy is going to argue further, but when Iblis-nee narrows her eyes at him he backs off with his hands raised. "What are you guys, his opym?" He sneers.
'What's a "opym"?'
"Does that mean you're the water?" Azzy-nii retorts with a quirk of his lips.
Moldy scowls, his eyes flashing as his hands fist. I inch away, hairs standing on end, at the show of anger.
The guy who was fighting with Moldy earlier pushes his way uncomfortably close to me -examining me with barely concealed disgust. "So this is the runt? He doesn't look like much. Jequir could take him," he scoffs. This guy is one of the most normal looking ones, aside from his unnaturally deep blue eyes and tall height. His rough-looking skin also seems to have a slight black tinge to it. It looks kinda like a dark grey. Sort of.
He's still a big jerk either way, though.
"Hey!" I protest, irritation flaring. "Don't call me a runt!"
"I'll call you whatever I want, runt."
"Leave the kid alone, Egyn," Iblis-nee commands.
"Or what?" Egyn challenges. "Going to run and tattle to dear old Father?"
"Please take your jealousy issues somewhere else," Beelzebub-nii drawls while cradling his drink.
"I'm not jealous!"
"Egyn is right, Beelzebub. He has envy issues, not jealous ones. Jealousy is when you're afraid that someone is going to take something of yours," Azzy-nii corrects lazily.
Beelzebub-nii raises his drink slightly in Azzy-nii's direction. "Point."
"Go choke on a cross -both of you!" Egyn snaps, glaring at the unimpressed Azzy-nii and disinterested Beelzebub-nii.
Despite the tense atmosphere, I can feel amusement bubbling inside me from the exchange.
"How rude," Beelzebub-nii drawls.
Iblis-nee grimaces. "You're starting to sound like Samael," she tells Beelzebub-nii.
Beelzebub-nii blinks, then his face twists up and takes a long gulp of his drink, as Egyn says:
"Shut up, eighth."
Iblis-nee raises her brows. "If we're bringing the hierarchy into this-"
"Oh, just because you're fucking Father's favourite-" Egyn starts.
Beelzebub-nii snorts into his drink. "I wouldn't be too sure of that, anymore," he murmurs and eyes me pointedly.
Both Iblis-nee and Egyn don't seem to hear him, though, as they continue to bicker.
I turn to Azzy-nii in silent question, confused on what's happening.
He sighs. "Honestly, it's best to just ignore Egyn as much as you can," he advises me. "He likes to pick fights, and is the quickest to anger next to Astaroth." He nods to Moldy, who has moved onto digging behind the mini bar. "But I still wouldn't flat out ignore him, either, if I were you. At least not until you can beat him to a bloody pulp without trouble."
"Okay..." I say, unsure.
"Oh, my apologies," Egyn mocks loudly, "My King."
In a blink of an eye and with a sudden BANG! Iblis-nee has Egyn gasping and struggling against the wall as Iblis-nee holds him above the ground with a single hand around his throat. "Call me that one more fucking time," she snarls viciously. "I dare you."
My eyes pop out of my head at the abrupt display.
"Iblis. Release your brother."
Iblis-nee recoils away from Egyn as if he burnt her. She swirls on her heels, hands clasped behind her, and locks gazes with Father with a stoic expression. "I apologize, Father."
Next to her on the floor, Egyn gathers himself while sneering at her and rubbing his abused throat.
Everyone is paying attention now, all standing or sitting up straight and staring at Father, who is by the doorway. Beelzebub-nii even puts his drink down. Father surveys the room and everyone in it. His lips thin in displeasure. "Where is Amaimon and Samael?" he questions.
"Still in Assiah, Father," a man at the far wall speaks up evenly. He's wearing a white suit with a couple of gold chains on it. His eyes are reptilian and a pretty green hue, and without possessing the usual white. His shiny short blonde hair has a funny cow lick at the back. Aside from the eyes and the obvious pointy ears, teeth and claws, his tongue is also unnaturally pointy and the only other demonic feature that I can see.
"When did you get here?" I ask loudly in surprise. I never even noticed him until now! I'm ignored aside from a few glances, though. I pout.
"He's Lucifer, thee eldest," Azzy-nii quietly informs me.
"And the official Ass-Kisser," Egyn snarks just as quietly.
Lucifer-nii hears him and glares. I get shivers up my spine even though he isn't looking at me.
"Egyn, behave," Father scolds.
Beelzebub-nii and Iblis-nee smirk slightly at each other.
"Father, please allow me to get them," Moldy eagerly steps forward with one hand on his chest.
Father considers him for a moment. "No," he decides. "Lucifer, go retrieve your late brothers."
"I understand, Father," Lucifer-nii replies evenly and steps forward. Father reaches into one of his pockets and takes out a glass vile with crimson liquid in it. Lucifer-nii leaves after taking it, thanking Father.
My eyes widen as I remember the same thing from right before I went to Assiah. 'So it's Father's blood! But how -actually, that makes sense. Father's blood has to be magical! He's an actual God, right? Wow...' My gaze wanders to Iblis-nee. 'Yeah, but what about...?' "Ah, Iblis-nee?" I ask hesitantly. 'Please don't get angry with me, please don't get angry with me-'
"What?" She turns and responds.
I bite my lip, before blurting out, "Why did you do that?" I gesture to the fuming Egyn.
Moldy snickers and Egyn's lips twitch. Even Azzy-nii, Beelzebub-nii and Father seem amused.
"It's because the exorcists always declare her as a king," Moldy dares to crackle.
"Why?"
"It is none of your business," Iblis-nee grits out.
"But-"
"The first time our dear sister was found out by the exorcists in Assiah, she was possessing the body of a man. Ever since then she's been known as the King of Fire," Azzy-nii explains.
"Thank you, Azazel," Iblis-nee glowers.
"You're welcome," he replies without missing a beat.
"Maybe you should wear a flower crown," I offer.
"Excuse you?" She blinks.
I shrug. "Well, girls at my old school liked to do that sort of stuff. So maybe if you wear a flow crown next time you're in Assiah the exorcists will believe you. And...Possess a girl too. Um, the humans don't get hurt when they're possessed, right?" I ask Father.
"They sometimes keep any injuries that their bodies get while possessed, like missing limbs. And any possession longer than a human year will result in the decaying of the human soul. Eventually the human soul, which is 'pushed to the side' will fade out while the demon soul inhabits the body," Father says unrepentantly.
My heart drops to my toes as my eyes widen in alarm. That-That doesn't sound good. "But that's not right! Why, but -you guys don't possess humans for longer than a year, right?" I demand from the others.
"Don't tell me you're another human lover," Egyn sneers.
What does he mean by that?! "I'm half human!" I glare at him defiantly. I really don't like him! Maybe even more than Creepy Moldy! 'His name is now Butt Hole!'
Butt Hole's face doesn't get any prettier. "Oh? And where's your mom? Dead? Or maybe not even scum like her wanted a halfbreed like you-" Butt Hole only cut off when Moldy sharply and non-subtly elbows him in the gut.
Meanwhile my blood boils more and more as Egyn speaks. "SHUT UP!" I finally scream at him, furious. My body explodes in blue fire and everyone aside from Father jumps away. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" I don't even care that I'm on fire. I'm just about to launch myself at him when everything suddenly gets so much heavier. I gasp, my knees buckling as I struggle to breathe. But I can't, can't do it -my lungs aren't working, can't draw a breath- blood rushing through my ears, I'm clawing at my throat, the very air is compressing, pushing me downdowndown-
And then it stop. It stops, the so heavy feeling is lifted, and I can breathe again. I wheeze and cough on the ground. 'Wha-What was that?'
I'm faintly aware of a hand that settles on my head as I try to understand. Warm arms gathers me and tucks me against a chest. "I apologize, Rin," a deep voice rumbles. I blink away the tears that are slowly forming. "Sssh, sssh. It's alright, just breathe."
I clutch the person's shirt tighter. "Da-Father?" I swallow, my throat dry. "Wha-Wha-" I pull away slightly to look up at him. I'm not sure what to make of his expression. His face may as well have been craved out of rock, but his blazing eyes are almost...Soft as he rubs my back soothingly. "Wha-Wha-" I can't seem to form the words. They keep getting stuck. 'What was that?'
"I did not think what it would be like for you if I unleashed some of my aura," Father admits. "It won't happen again." he hugs me closer. I rest my head against his beating heart and take deep breaths. This is...Nice. Warm. Though my skin still tingles with phantom..Whatever it was. I only know it was so heavy and everywhere and-
And I never what to experience that blinding panic again.
"You," Father commands and snaps his fingers at Yenzo. "Take Rin to his rooms."
Yenzo steps forward but I push myself up. "No, I'm fine," I shake my head and protest. "Really!" I try to force a smile, but it comes out shaky. Yenzo hesitates, glancing at Father. Father examines me closely.
"Very well then," he concedes, putting me down and straightens himself. He turns his attention to the utterly petrified Butt Hole, who is sprawled out on the ground across from us. His eyes are glued to Father as his body shakes mutely. His jaw moves a few times, but nothing comes out.
My gut twists and I shuffle my feet, uncomfortable with the sight.
It's not just the Butt-Egyn either. (It feels wrong to call him 'Butt Hole' now. Not while he's pale as a ghost and looking like he just saw one.) Everyone else are verifying degrees of white and unable to look away from Father and Egyn. All are the farthest away from Father as they can be without going through the walls. Beelzebub-nii is clutching a broken bottle to his chest. Azzy-nii just shakes his head, a whisper of the word 'idiot' falling from his lips as Iblis-nee stands completely stiff beside him. Astaroth is grimacing away, curling into himself.
Father, though...Any small traces of softness or soothing warmth is swiped away with the stifling heat of his wrath. "Egyn," he growls deeply. He stalks forward until he's inches away from Egyn, looming over him. "Do not speak of Yuri like that, or next time I'll burn your tongue off. Permanently. Do you understand?"
Egyn slowly shakes his head, as if that's all he can bring himself to move."I-I-I-I-...S-Sorry. I-I ap-p-p-apolo-apologize, Fa-Father. I'm an idiot. I-I don't, I won't do it again. P-Please, for-give me. I-I'm sorry. I didn't -I didn't know- I didn't-!" Egyn continues to stutter and fumble until Father visibly grows annoyed, and then he snaps his jaw shut so hard that I can't help but wince at the noise his teeth make.
"Do you understand?" Father repeats with another rumbling growl.
Egyn bobs his head so fast it may just fall off his shoulders.
"Good. I believe a...Visit with Maikio will help you remember this warning."
"No," Egyn croaks quietly, eyes even wider than they were before.
"No?" Father echos.
Egyn's whole body shakes harder. "N-No, I-I...T-That not what I -not what I-!" He swallows. "Th-That isn't n-necessary, Fathe-er."
"Oh, I-"
"Father," I tug on his sleeve, cutting him off. I feel more than see people tense further. Father slowly turns to me, arching a fine brow. I try my best not to flinch at the pure fury in his eyes. I fail. I lick my bottom lip. But no matter how mean Egyn was, I don't like seeing this even more. Besides, aren't you supposed to give people a second chance? And I can't remember who this Maikio is, though it rings a bell somewhere, but Egyn really seems like he doesn't want to go to him...And I don't think I want to remember who Maikio is. "I-He said sorry. I'm sure he won't do it again, right?" I glance at Egyn.
He's staring at me with a desperate, crazy look that sends another spike of unease through me. "Yes, yes!" he agrees hastily. He looks back to Father. "I-I won't do it again! Just...Please, Father, don't..."
"Um. Maybe just ground him instead? Or a long time out?" I suggest.
Someone makes weird, muffled strangled-laugh noise behind us.
Father's upper lip curls, revealing his sharp fangs. "I do not take insult to your mother lightly, Rin, and neither should you. No matter who utters it." He turns back to Egyn and says, "Take him away, and tell Maikio that he is free to do as he wishes until I personally speak with him further."
Out of no where guards appear and drag a helpless Egyn away, closing the doors again after themselves. I want to say something, but my words are getting stuck whenever I glance at Father or the others.
"Now," Father says while running his hand through my hair, the fiery anger in his eyes slowly turning to a simmer as he looks at me. "What do you wish to do, Rin? This is your first birthday here in Gehenna, after all."
I try to get rid of the image of a terrified Egyn out of my mind, but's extremely hard to do. When Father's question catches up to me my first impulse is to play ball but...That's what Dad and I used to do. "Uh, what about a cooking contest?"
"A cooking contest?" Father repeats, sounding faintly amused.
I visibly relax at his tone. "Yeah! I once saw a show on the TV. We'll all try to make the same meal, but whoever the judges says is the best will get a prize." Plus, I really can't think of anything else. I doubt the others would like to play 'explore the castle and spy on the servants' with me. I turn to the others, who are still where I saw them last. "What do you guys think?"
A few of them glance at Father with uncertainty.
"I'd love to," Azzy-nii finally replies smoothly.
Beelzebub-nii mutters his agreement.
"What shall the prize be, Rin?" Father muses.
I shrug. "I don't know. Some sort of dessert?"
"I shall allow the winner a small, free favour of their choices," Father decides.
I can see that this interests everyone else.
I grin at their sudden desire. "But what if you win?" Ask Father. He can't really earn a 'favour' with himself.
"I don't need a prize."
I shrug again. If he says so. "Oh, wait, I guess we have to wait for the others..." I deflate.
"Who will be the judges?" Iblis-nee questions. "It can't be any servant. We wouldn't receive any honest answers."
"Why doesn't Father be the judge? That is if you're alright with that, of course," Moldy hastily adds towards Father.
"No!" I immediately protest, gaining strange (and some oddly shocked, for whatever reason) looks. "He can't be a judge if he's one of the players!"
"Who do you suggest, then?"
I think about it for a second. "What about Hasc and the other head chefs?" That's their job, after all, right? And it's not just one person judging so it'll be more fair?
It looks like Iblis-nee is about to argue, but when Father agrees her teeth click shut.
"I say the losers have to eat all of the worst dish," Moldy offers gleefully.
Beelzebub-nii gags while Iblis-Ned's face twists up in disgust.
"I am not eating whatever Samael makes!" Beelzebub-nii flatly refuses.
It seems like Moldy suddenly remembers something as his face turns a bit green.
"What?" I question them curiously.
Azzy-nii shakes his head. "You don't want to know, Rin. It's best to just leave that horror in the past."
'I really do now.' "Fine. But, um, what should we do now?" I change the subject. "When will Clown-nii, Lucifer-nii, and Amaimon-nii come back?"
Both Azzy-nii and Beelzebub-nii choke while Moldy grins viciously.
"Excuse me, but what did you just call Samael?" Beelzebub-nii sputters.
And just like that, the tense atmosphere is evaporated. Even if only by some.
Moldy positively crackles. "Oh-! I can't wait until he hears this! 'Clown-nii'-!"
"Why do you call him that?" Iblis-nee wonders with raised brows.
I shrug. "Cause he looks like a clown," I respond bluntly.
"Got any other nicknames?" Moldy grins.
"You're Moldy and Egyn is Butt Hole." My eyes widen and I slap a hand over my mouth. 'Oh, crap! I actually told him that!'
Now it's Beelzebub-nii and Iblis-nee's time to laugh, though they do it inwards. They smirk at the highly offended looking Moldy.
"It's quite fitting, actually," Iblis-nee teases cruelly.
Moldy begins to growl, but goes silent aside from deadly glares when Iblis-nee bares her fangs in response.
The others do eventually arrive, in which they find Father and Iblis-nee discussing ruler-stuff, Beelzebub-nii drinking on the couch again, and Moldy trying to talk me into going hunting with him which I stubbornly keep resisting. There's no way I'm going off with a creep like him! Nah-uh!
Amaimon looks the same since I last saw him, but not Clown-nii. But I guess that's because he was in a host then. Now, his smooth and shiny purple hair reaches his knees. His skin is unnaturally white, and he's wearing a yellow and blue suit with a black vest. He also has the same dopey eyes.
"Finally," Moldy stops pestering me to sneer at the new arrivals.
Clown-nii smiles pleasantly. "I would warn you about your face sticking like that, but..."
Moldy's eyes flash with anger and I inch away. For a second it looks think he's going to get physical, but then he relaxes into his chair and smirks up at Clown-nii. "You sure like to hear yourself talk, don't you, Clown-nii?"
His right eye twitch. "Now, where did you come up with that, my dear little brother?" He purrs without looking away from Moldy.
Moody's grin is shark-like.
Meanwhile, Amaimon-nii -still with that ridiculously thick tail for his more-or-less normal body size- turns to Father with his eyes downcast. "I apologise for being late, Father."
Father hums. "Don't do it again."
I can't help but notice that Clown-nii doesn't make an effort to say sorry. I suddenly snicker at a thought.
"What's so amusing, Rin?" Father questions me.
"The King of Space and Time was late," I giggle.
Someone snorts while Father's lip twitch.
"And here I was, so looking forward to meeting the newest addition in person," Clown-nii frowns at me. There's a sharp warning in his eye.
"Can we do the cooking contest now?" I ask Father.
"A cooking contest?" Clown-nii echoes, incredulous with high brows.
"Yeah! We're all going to try to cook the same thing, and the winner gets a favour from Father!" I explain excitedly.
"Oh?" Clown-nii glances at Father. "Sounds like fun. Where will we be holding this contest? I assume Father will be judging if-"
"Nope! Hasc and the other head chefs are!" I interrupt.
Clown-nii's right eye twitches. "Right. And where is dear Egyn? We can't start with him-"
Once again, he is cut off. This time by Father.
"Egyn will not be joining us," Father informs coldly.
To his credit, Clown-nii only pauses for moment, makes eye contact with Azzy-nii, before picking back up as if Father didn't speak. "Let's head off, then! I don't have all day -things to do, you know!"
"Such as abandoning your lands and kin for your little games?" Iblis-nee retorts scathingly with a narrow eyed look.
"Exactly," Clown-nii winks, somehow with flourish.
Iblis-nee huffs.
I get the feeling that those two don't get along.
Eventually, Father leads us to Hasc's kitchen after sending an unseen guard to summon the other head chefs.
Hasc is waiting by the kitchen's door with two others that look similar to him but with different coloured furs, and then they notice Father they immediately get on their knees and bow deeply, heads down.
"High Lord Satan. Your Highnesses," they echo reverently as one.
Father examines them stoically. "My son wishes to have a cooking contest. We will create a dish and you shall judge the end results. Know that I will know if you lie and any falsehood to flatter us will not be appreciated."
Their heads dip in acknowledgement. "Yes, my Lord."
Father turns his attention to me. "What shall we make, Rin?"
I glance at the chefs, who are still kneeling. I shift my feet awkwardly as I feel my older siblings' gaze bore into me. "Um," I bite my lip, "Hasc, do you know any good Gehenna-dish ideas?" It wouldn't be very fair to the others if we did an Assiah dish, or one I've already practised, after all.
"If it pleases you, Prince, I know of a dinner-" Hasc cuts himself off when the sound of thundering footsteps outside grow louder before skidding to a stop, and two flustered demons open the door. The bigger one of the two immediately falls to the kneeling bow, but the smaller one is a second later.
"My deepest apologies for being late, your Majesties," the first murmurs.
Father's expression hardens, but then he glances at me and seems to sigh. He dismissed them with a single annoyed look and instead gives me a pointed one.
"Um, Hasc, what were you saying?" I say.
Hasc clears his throat. "There is a dish that should take no longer than hour, and contains that sweetener that you so enjoy," he suggests.
My mouth is already watering with the heavenly, mentioned sweetener. It's perhaps my favourite Gehenna-ingredient so far. "What's it called?" I wonder.
"Geeji, my Prince."
"Can we do that one?" I ask Father with a grin.
"Of course," Father replies smoothly. He tells the chefs to raise and they do.
One of them disappears and reappears with several pages of the same recipe and hands them out. At Father's say-so a timer of one hour is set, and started once we're all in our own corner of the huge kitchen.
I rush to the pantry with my recipe and quickly try to grab all the right ingredients, although it's difficult to gather them all when other people take advantage of their greater height and snatch some of them away.
"Hey!" I protest loudly as Clown-nii takes one right from my hands.
He just snickers and dances away. I glare at his retreating back, but I can't actually bring myself to be angry when he's the one reason why I can visit Yukio.
The following hour is complete chaos. It's loud, people are darting here and there, food occasionally flies, alliances, betrayal, colourful curses, sly attempts of sabotage, and graphic threats of murder and bodily harm when some of those sabotages are caught. Meanwhile people slowly grow more and more panicked as the time continues to count down, some more than others.
Most of them didn't try anything with mine, but I one time caught Amaimon-nii about to add an "unholy amount" (as some of the priests back in Assiah would describe) of spice on my meat when I returned from stealing the veggies from Beelzebub-nii. From then on I made sure to submerge my food with my fire, although it did make it twice as hard to concentrate on the temperature of it and to finish my preparation at the same time. It was worth it, though.
No one dared to try anything with Father's, to no surprise.
Although throughout it all I began to feel more and more eyes on me as they realised how well I was doing.
Finally, the one hour is up and we all present our work to the five judges. Geeji is a dish with mixed, shredded and soft sweet meat -which sounds rather disgusting, but actually tastes surprisingly good- diced and fried veggies, and Gehenna's version of rice. In my opinion mine looks the best with it's blackened-to-perfection meat (drizzled with the golden liquid-sweetener) which is placed nicely on top of the mixed veggies and orange-tinted 'rice.'
Father's is tested first. He did a good job from what I can immediately see, but he didn't put enough sweetener on top and I can spot several burnt 'rice.'
I also can't help but notice how flustered and nervous most of the chefs are hinted to be, though a couple of them could be carved out of stone. I grin at Hasc, who has a scoreboard, and who gives a small smile and a dip of his head in return. There's hesitance in most of them, the atmosphere is very tense as one by one they sample Father's food. They glance at each other.
"So?" Father inquires with a small, amused twitch of his lips. I get the feeling he likes to watch them squirm.
'It is kinda funny...'
"The meat is very good, my Lord, however you did overcook the rice," Hasc admits with downcast eyes and while fidgeting with his fork. "I apologise, my Lord, but I'll have to rate it at a four."
The chef of Hasc's right eyes bug out at him.
Father simply hums. "And what do the rest of you think?"
The other chefs give Father a six, three, five, and another four. That makes Father have a grand score of seventeen points. Next is Lucifer-nii, who seems to have forgotten to fry his veggies. He got a two, three, and three fours, giving him the same amount of points as Father. Clown-nii...
I don't know what Clown-nii did to his dish. Somehow it's bubbling. It should not be bubbling. I can't help but gag just looking at it -I feel so much pity for the chefs. I received a stink eye via Clown-nii.
The chefs are more hesitate to judge Clown-nii's, even compared to Father's. I don't blame them.
"Hurry up already," Moldy snaps, causing one of them jump in surprise. There's an unkind glint in Moldy's eyes.
They do, as one -and then promptly passes out.
Moldy howls with laughter and doesn't even stop when Clown-nii glowers at him. "Oh-! Oh, that's hilarious! Now, Samael, it's not very nice to purposefully poison the judges before the contest is even finished!" He slaps his thigh. "Oh, wait," his expression transforms into fake shock, "That wasn't even on purpose, was it?"
Clown-nii retorts with a leer; "I simply based it off of your-"
I don't recognise what Clown-nii said next, but it makes Moldy stop laughing and scowl darkly.
Iblis-nee smirks.
"Behave," Father reprimands mildly.
"Ah, Hasc? Hey, wake up," I try to shake him and the others awake. They slowly arose, and then snap fully awake when they realise who is waiting for them. I step back in line, across from them.
Hasc and some others flush as they quickly straighten themselves. (They all avoid Clown-nii's heavy gaze.) The one on the far right, the most stern Grandpa-looking one, speaks up. "Please accept our deepest apologise. The flavour was...quiet a shock..."
Beelzebub-nii snorts.
He clears his throat and continues, "I'm afraid I'll have award this a zero. It does not taste anything like geeji."
There's murmurs of agreements and winces. The other chefs gives Clown-nii a one, two, and two more zeros. Clown-nii's final mark is all of three points. Which Moldy and Iblis-nee seem to and vocally take great satisfaction in.
"Well, I never said I was a great cook," Clown-nii huffs at them. "I at least didn't starve on my survival test as a child."
"You just used your ridiculous umbrella to cheat by summoning your food!" Iblis-nee snaps back.
Clown-nii arches a brow at her. "And your point is...?"
"If you persist to act like a bunch of children..." Father leaves the threat hanging with narrowed eyes.
They crease, although they keep sending each other pointed looks and messages via their eyes alone.
Next up is Azzy-nii, who gets fifteen points and then Iblis-nee, who earns eighteen points. Beelzebub receives the highest score so far with twenty points, then Moldy and Amaimon-nii get the second-lowest rank with eleven. (It's clear that all of Moldy's food is under cooked -he was probably pressed for time. Like, really pressed for time. Amaimon-nii, for whatever reason, decided to add in wild mushrooms and other herbs that don't mix well.)
Finally, it was my turn and I passed each chef a plate of mine with butterflies in my stomach. I'm not worried about Hasc -I know he likes my cooking- but the other chefs...I really hope I did good.
Hasc sends me a reassuring smile before taking a forkful. "Well done, Prince Rin, your sweet meat is very tender, and with just enough sweetener. Although you could shred it better next time. I give you an eight."
I beam. "Thanks!"
The other chefs seem to be pleasantly surprised at the appearance of my food. It causes my stomach to do flips and I nervously await their judgement. I end up with another eight, a nine, a seven, and a ten. Forty-two points. It takes me a a moment to absorb this information, but when I do-
"YES!" I cheer loudly and punch the air with my fist. My grin is so wide that hurts as I jump and hug Father's waist without a thought. "Yes, yes, yes! I win!"
I hear Father chuckle as he places a warm hand on my back. "Yes, you did, Rin. I can't say that I'm surprised. What do you desire for your small favour?"
I bite my lip, looking up at him. 'Mm...' "Ah, can I invite Kazeko over as my guest? For my birthday party?" When I asked Yenzo, he said that Kazeko might not be able to come because she's just a commoner. That her mom shouldn't have even brought her to work in the first place. I think me not being able to have her over is stupid, because she's my only friend that's also a kid. And I don't know any of the other nobles' kids, either. They're probably stuck up, too.
"I'm sure it can be arranged," Father responds, still with that amused twitch of his lips and glinting look in his eyes.
I beam again. "Thank you!"
Dear God, it's finally done! This entire chapter was only supposed to be a couple of scenes, yet somehow it completely bulldozed me and ran away like some giant snow ball! And then some! Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed and appreciated this chapter, because I am exhausted.
Grima: Thanks for the review. And you are right that the baby mabic reminds Rin of Yukio, although it is on a more subconscious level. As for Iblis she is referred as a 'King' by the exorcists in canon, however the small glimpse we get of her in the manga is in the body of a woman. So I decided to add a funny spin on things. If Rin gets the mabic, he will name it something so childishly 'awesome' that'll make the adults cringe.
Ansy: Thanks for the review. Unfortunately, Yukio is a difficult character for me to write about, so you'll read about Rin the majority of the time. However there is an upcoming chapter that is entirely dedicated to Yukio and his life in Assiah. Can't give you an exact number though, since now the order of my chapters and the timeline of events are messed up thanks to my ideas steamrolling away. Sometimes my creativity and desire to make characters' psych and reactions logical can be very inconvenient
If you'd like to review, but don't know what to say, please answer these questions:
1. What do you think about the rest of Satan's kids, and consequently their relationship with Satan? Did you pick up on any of the little hints that I planted -and if so, which?
2. What was your favourite part(s)?
3. What was your least favourite part(s)?
4. Did you see any mistakes? If so, please point them out so that I can fix them.
5. Do you have any questions?
