I am free! Free at last! I will terrorise all those around me, and you will all pay!

No!

Yes. I am free, you are not.


The screaming had stopped, leaving an almost unnatural silence in its place. The cave had got warmer too, though all of the esquires were still shivering with anxiety as they walked. Rin's voice no longer carried down the tunnel. That could only mean one thing – he was no longer in pain.

Was he dead?

Bon's heavy tread faltered. They may have been heading to warmer areas, but he only felt colder. Blinking back the water that filled his eyes, he ran. He was sure that his new friend was dead – what else could explain the silence.

No, he refused to believe it!


Blue. It stared out at him from glowing eyes. The teen was blank-faced, his mouth a straight line across its face. The red pupils stared out from disinterested eyes, as they looked upon their dark surroundings. It was on fire; blue tongues of flame emanated from his hands, his feet, his tail.

This demon was powerful.

It was clear by the nonchalant way he regarded the strangers that brandished weapons at him, that this particular demon was strong. The demon suddenly seemed to wake, looking round itself with disinterest.

Alvar shivered. What was this feeling that he felt? The creature he had brought out emanated a dark aura, nothing he had felt before was like it, but this aura was not the complete source of this new feeling that pulsed through Alvar. It shuddered though his veins with every heartbeat, as the demon he had created watched him. Was it the way the boy was looking at him that created this feeling? Silent and unforgiving, the teen was still, too still. Was it the eyes? He had seen demon eyes before – it came with the territory, but never had he seen such fierce eyes as he did now. The blue irises were cold, and yet they burned with a molten fire. The pupils were white-hot ice ringed in red blood, and they stared right through Alvar.

Was it fear that pulsed through him?

Yes.

"W-what are you waiting for?" Alvar screeched, unable to keep the waver of fear from his voice, "Kill him!"

A hundred shouts echoed around them, as the beings closest to the demon charged forward, while the others shot at him with energy blasts. It was now that Alvar realised his tactical mistake; by having so many creed members, they all only got in the way of each other when they fought. Only a few of the members actually reached Rin, and only one knight actually connected. Blood spewed from the sword wound, but the demon barely seemed to notice.

Almost as soon as the sword wound was inflicted, blue smoke rose from the hole in the demon's stomach. The creed members watched in fear, as the wound knitted itself back together. They all stepped back in fear, as the demon began to laugh.

His tail glinted in the dark room, before it moved. Fast, so fast that they didn't see it. The knight screamed as the tail pierced him through the centre, before burning him whole.

What had he done?

It was a matter of mere seconds before the pandemonium began. The creed members watched their comrade burned to a crisp, and began to run. The demon was not satisfied with that. Its smile deepened and stretched, showing the razor-fangs. It licked its lips, straining against the metal that held it back. For a moment, Alvar was reassured, the machine had not failed him-

With an infernal roar, the thing lit up with blue flames. The streams of fire engulfed the machine that trapped the monster, eating away at the metal until it was a mere puddle on the floor. Out of the fire, the demon rose. The flames swirled at the disturbance; they were completely under his control and arced towards the creed members. Satan stood in silence as the flames feasted, gnawing at the thing that had once held him. They spread out, beginning to claw at the fleeing creed. Blue, glittering, smoke evaporated off the demon's crippled leg, and he stepped confidently forward. He took in deep snarling breaths that fizzed with blue flames, and created streams of black smoke that puffed with each breath. It was slow, but the mangled lungs that Satan had inherited were healing.

"Why so fearful," He taunted, grinning unnaturally widely, his razor-sharp teeth glinting in the firelight, "Weren't you the ones who wished for this?"

The voice was no longer remotely similar to that of the boy that they had captured. Despite having the same root, this voice was cold and taunting. It was the voice of something, not someone. The snarling tones somehow managed to reach everyone in the deathly cave.

"You should learn to follow through with your gambles,"


Screams. Not the voice that they expected, but many as one. What were the owners of these new screams afraid of? Was it the only the creed that screamed as one, or was Rin's voice among them?.

Had the creed succeeded?

Your friend has had it – no saving him now GG giggled, bringing his dark arm up to his face.

"You're wrong," Yukio whispered from the front of the party, "I'd know if my twin was gone"

How can I be wrong? GG murmered, I am the master of this realm, I know all that happens within this space. Your brother is dead.

"You're wrong!" Yukio yelled, shaking his head at the words, and clenching his fist, "My twin is not dead! I can still feel his presence!"

Perhaps, but whose mind controls that presence, younger son of Satan?


He stepped to the side, readying his chants. Cold hands of fear grasped at him, as he watched the demon step forwards again.

Don't think about it - just say your words! He thought, as he began his chant. He knew that Satan had to have a fatal verse – all demons did – and he would continue to chant in the hope that the fatal verse was discovered. A knight and a dragoon stepped in front of him. Their movements were visceral, instinctive. They had fought many battles together, and they knew each other's fighting well.

The demon leapt forward, laughing as it did so. Its claws sprayed blood as another of the Aria's friends died.

The Aria clenched his body, as his hands formed another seal. He had only chanted a few verses, and already the demon had noticed!

Satan stood still, cocking its head to the size, listening to the words of god. It crouched, readying itself for an almighty leap. The Aria's knight moved to a more protective position, her hands tight on the sword that had protected the Aria so many times before. Satan leapt.

It swung a claw at the Knight, flinging her to the side easily even as she brought the katana in to parry. With a startled cry, she slid away from the Aria. She grunted with effort, as she fought to throw herself at the demon. Satan shifted in the air as she shot towards him, and she missed him with her sword. Satan followed her with its bright white pupils. She watched its face change from calm indifference, to mad joy.

Suddenly she was struck by something, it pierced through her centre and burned through her. The Aria, Her Aria screamed her name, and she couldn't help but reach towards him. Her half-blind eyes shed bloody tears, her mutilated throat screamed bloody words. Kana had been the worst affected by the experiments, but she had not been the only one affected. This Knight was nearly as bad; even now her scarred hands struggled with the sword.

Her body convulsed, and she forced her eyes away from her Aria. She needed to know what was killing her.

Satan's night-black tail pierced her chest, so close to her heart. Blood flowed freely from her wound, and her already painful throat coughed up blood. She forced herself to look at the Aria again, reassured to see the dragoon by his side. Wordless apologies fell from her lips, as the blood tears fell from her eyes. She made one last weak effort to slash at the tail that bound her, knowing that this was her last mistake. Satan spared her a vengeful glance, but she didn't see it – she was too busy ensuring that the last thing she saw was the Aria.

Her Aria.

Alvar watched the three from a distance, and saw the Knight drown in blue flames. A tear dripped from his eye, forming a jagged path down his mangle face.

Even as the Aria screamed the Knights name, Satan tore through both him and the Dragoon in one fierce slash and Alvar watched every second. Everyone in this room was someone that trusted him, loved him in one way or another.

He had killed them all.


The esquires rounded a corner and saw a blue, glowing room in front of them. They stepped forwards uncertainly, knowing that this was the place that Rin was struggling in. They knew that Satan was probably released. They knew that the lord of Gehenna was released, but they were not prepared for what they saw.

Bloody memories of people were strewn along the ground. Their burnt flesh no longer even vaguely resembled the people that had first entered this dark crypt. The torches along the wall no longer burned with comforting orange flames, but with cold, harsh blue flames. Twenty people were left, and they screamed.

Before he knew what he was doing, Yukio's feet had dragged him forwards.

Brother!

The other esquires joined him, running towards what they knew could be their deaths. They ran down the steps clumsily, tripping on lumps of discarded flesh that no longer even resembled something human. Shiemi clasped her hand over her mouth, swallowing the acid that rose in her throat, and choking on the unrestrained sobs that wracked her frame.

She stopped, feeling the innumerable tears in her eyes break free and pour down her face. She doubled over, as the acid rose again and spilled over.

"I'm sorry!" She moaned at the disfigured bodies beneath her feet, "I'm sorry!"

A hand on her back. Izumo

A roar of delight. Satan.

Her eyes widened, as she identified the undertone to the scream – in one past life, that scream could have been Rin's. Not any more.

Her head whirled, the bodies forgotten for a moment as she searched for the boy that had given her courage. He wasn't Rin. This monster may have been wearing the skin of Rin, the same muscles and bones, but it could never be Rin. With blood around his mouth, and all over his hands, there was no way that this beast could be Rin. The animal showed no hint of the brazen kindness of Rin, there wasn't a single sign of the boy that she had begun to love within those cold, demonic eyes.

A trembling man in a crimson cloak was running from the not-Rin. It was probably the leader of the group, especially as he was the only one wearing a crimson cloak. Besides the dead, whose cloaks were so stained with blood that they had become crimson.

Alvar, Chided Satan, You spend all that time trying to revive me, and you just run away? We have a lot of catching up to do, you and I – you are one of the few people who survived my possession.

The man named Alvar stopped, tears dripping from his one good eye. "I have nothing to say to you, you probably only know that through your son's memories. You are just a tyrant, and it is time for your reign to end!"

I remember all of those that I possess, it's one of the perks of the job.

Alvar tensed, looking behind him, at the one that he had both destroyed and created.

She was tasty, wasn't she, that Meira?

Something snapped within Alvar.

He roared. His hands clutching at the sword at his waist. Satan raised his hand, a smirk plastered onto his face.

"No!" Screamed Shiemi, "Rin! Don't do it!"

Satan flinched, and his clawed hand fell to his side.

Alvar howled, his sword cutting through Satan easily. Shiemi gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in shock. Satan's head moved, and he fixed his gaze onto hers. With a very deliberate motion, Satan raised his clawed hand.

Shiemi shook her head at her the demon masquerading as a friend, her head moving slowly and the tears dripping over her clenched hands.

Satan chuckled slightly.

His hand came down.

Blood.

Blood.


Author's Musings: Hey guys, sorry for the lack of review responses/Author's Musings in the last chapter, it felt weird to put something as upbeat as one of those after the chapter – It didn't fit.

I am not overly fond of this chapter, but it's a lot better than it used to be, believe me. The problem with writing fanfiction about something as visual as manga, is that I've envisioned these chapters as manga chapters and not as writing. It's so hard to get this as… fluid and as visual as I want because of the lack of writing ability. I'm posting this now, but I might end up making the odd tweak – sorry about that!

Time for review replies!

Chapter 9

TheShadowInDarkness – I don't intend to stop, I just can't guarantee that it'll be good!

amenee – Thank you for sticking with it! Thank you also for the reviews in the past, I really am grateful! Things like that keep me writing this!

Panda Master X – (Cool name!) Sorry for always having a delayed release time!

Hartanna – Maybe they will, maybe they won't (waggles eyebrows). Heh heh I'm quite proud of GG, though he might not be quite so cute for long.

HipsterL – Eeesh, hope it didn't make you sick! It actually made my stomach churn a little when writing it – I hadn't really intended to go down the whump route at the end of that chapter!

ShiroHichi891 – Be careful not to go too close to the edge of your seat, or you'll fall off ;). I am glad you liked the switching perspectives, I've always used it as a way to build suspense, and it's great to know that someone can see what I was trying to do (means I was succeeding slightly!) Here's another chapter – I hope it satiates your thirst ;)

Fireminer – I'm glad! I had already written the first half of the chapter when your review came through, so I tweaked that a little, and then wrote the rest in a more literate style. I'm not really sure what you mean by 'breaking point', but I probably wouldn't tell you what I'm planning anyway (what can I say, the genre is suspense!). Kekkaishi is great, and the pairing there is very obvious in that. To avoid infuriating AnE fans, I'm trying to keep away from the pairings.

Chapter 10

KaeBird13 – It's not overly impolite, I just haven't really honoured your demand that quickly – sorry! Thank you for the very kind words, and indeed the kind offer - I'll be sure to keep it in mind! I hope this chapter is what you wanted! Thank you for reading! (Part of the reason why I'm writing this is so that more Rin whumpage is available)

rin-rules – …I hope you're not dead? I did leave this a long time!

Khaching – Mega-mega cliffie! Thanks for the kind words!

Crystal – He is the lord of darkness, I guess it's to be expected. Though, he was forced into Rin – maybe he's just making the most of an annoying situation?

Panda Master X – Waaaahhhh! Here you gooooo! please be less confused maybe? sorry for dropping that cliffie bomb on you ;)

Hartanna – Here is the next chapter – sorry it's so late! Thank you also for your continued support – I keep seeing your username in my review replies

ToscaThorCat - :3 I stopped the chapter there – muahahahahh! What's more, I gave you a mediocre chapter next – will my evilness ever end?

Rainboskittenism – Please keep reading though! I'll miss you if you stop!

Dowgma - :O indeed, hope you enjoyed this one

HipsterL – That comment is so cute because of your kitteh picture :3

Thanks for sticking with me! I hope you enjoyed it!