Chapter 11

Rin

"What the hell are you talking about?" Rin asked the blue cat impatiently.

The cat replied. "Last night, Asteri and I found out Kagura was in the library. We wanted to see her then a threat appeared. Asteri told me to leave so that I can bring reinforcements." He looked at the sky. "Damn! It's already morning! I hope they're fine…"

"Why did you take so long to tell me?"

"How should I know you're in Mephy Land?!"

Rin sighed. "Take me there, quick!"

"Not just yet." A new voice spoke. The three whipped around to see someone standing on the rails of the roller coaster nearby. The boy looked freakish. He had green hair with a solitary spike at the centre of his head. Even his eyes were green. Sharp fingernails like claws glinted. A lollipop rolled in his mouth. "Kitty here is going to take me, not you."

Happy shrieked and hid behind Rin. Shiemi took a few steps back while Rin glared venomously. Who the hell is this bastard? Happy's timid and squeaky voice answered him. "Amaimon, the Earth King, a demon king and son of Satan!"

Amaimon took out his lollipop and licked his lips. "That means, I'm your elder brother." He stared at Rin. "It's the first time we meet. Nice meeting you."

"Not nice," Rin retorted angrily as he was eager to rescue Kagura. "Leave us or else."

"No…" Amaimon jumped off the rail and landed on a golden statue of Mephisto. "I want the blue kitty. He knows about the abomination's location and nii-san wants me to find her."

Happy tensed up. Rin kept his eyes on the demon. "What abomination, punk? Who the hell are you talking about?" He glanced at Happy, whose blood had been drained from his face. The boy before him was a potent threat since he was a demon, definitely had powers to obliterate Rin and his friends. Rin instinctively stretched his hand to grab Kurikara on his back, but stopped when he remembered Shiemi's presence. Of course he couldn't reveal his true identity at the girl. "Shiemi, go and find Yukio and get help."

"But, Rin…" Shiemi said.

"GO!"

Shiemi's eyes darted from Rin to Amaimon and back to Rin. She nodded and ran off in search for help.

Finally alone, Rin unsheathed his sword and blue flames enveloped him. Happy floated a few feet behind him, keeping a distance from Amaimon. Rin balled his fists. He need to finish this quick and save Kagura before it was too late.


Kagura

Her eyes fluttered open as dawn broke across the sky. She sat up from her bed and noticed Asteri sleeping soundly beside her. The cat looked so peaceful and calm now, unlike the one last night with claws and teeth sharp enough to shred humans into ribbons. Kagura gently caressed her fur and she purred in contentment.

Last night was like a nightmare. Taroko-san dead. She and Asteri nearly killed. The shadow of the blonde that haunted her nightmares before now loomed her reality, her life. She remembered how incapable of herself, unable to save Taroko-san, nearly failed to protect herself and Asteri. Such a weakling she was when she faced a solitary hostility. And she called herself an Exorcist of Middle First Rank. She didn't deserve the title of an Aria. Not strong enough.

"You're awake," the silky voice entered her world. Grisia sat by the window panel, soaking in the strong sun rays. He was already good-looking at first, and the sun rays only made him more of that. His blue eyes stared at the raven-haired girl. "Took you long enough. You're always like that."

Kagura did recall the man rescuing her and Asteri. "Always?"

He smiled. "Never mind."

"You stayed up all night?" Last night, they rented a room in a nearby hotel when Asteri suggested that the dorm would be unsafe. And here they were.

Grisia nodded. "Just in case Iaoth decides to drop in."

Questions begin to renew in her mind. And she knew who she could direct them to. "What's a Holy Exorcist? Who's Iaoth? Are angels true? And are you one?"

He held his hands in the air to surrender. "Slow down!" He took a deep breath. "A Holy Exorcist is a—"

"Enough," Asteri spoke. She floated in the air. "There are some things you shouldn't know." Her eyes glared at Grisia, who shied away.

That ticked her off. Kagura's blood seethed. She was angry. Of all the questions, all the mysteries, the enigmas. Why was her life like a mystery? She had enough. "That's it!" She yelled. "Why are you guys keeping things from me? First father, now you! I'm sick of my life full of questions. I want answers to who I really am! I want to know my true identity!"

"Kagura—"

"Stop telling me what to do! I deserve to know!" she yelled back, which made the other two more startled. "Goddamn it! If you're not telling me, I'll find it myself!" And she stomped out of the room, ignoring their yelling and calling.

It was a blur for her. She didn't know where she was going. But her feet insisted on walking. And she walked and walked… until she stopped for some air. Her hand found support on the nearby wall. As she grasped for air, her eyes scanned the area she was in. She wasn't near the hotel any longer. In fact, she didn't know where she was. It was a new neighbourhood for her, with strangers, alien streets and weird scents. She strayed very far away. However, Kagura didn't care. She propped herself on a nearby bench, taking large intakes of air to calm herself. Her knees folded before her chest and she wrapped them in her arms. And she began to cry. Didn't even know why. But the warm streams of water flowed down her cheeks endlessly.

She caught a fleck of gold from the edge of her eye. As expected, the handsome blond sat beside her. What unexpected was Grisia took her in his arms and gently caressed her hair. It was soothing, with the combination of the caressing and the warmth like the sun's near her. She bawled, snot non-stop flowing until tears drenched his shirt.

Somehow, she wished Grisia will never leave her side.


Rin

"Damn it!" Rin cursed. Eyes glared daggers at the boy claimed to be Amaimon, the Earth King. For the umpteenth time, Rin failed to land an attack on the man. Instead, Amaimon was able to hit him with nothing but fists as his weapon. Facing such a strong enemy, Rin now knew how weak and puny he was, even with the flames of blue strengthening him. The demon's power was formidable.

Amaimon had Rin pinned down on the ground, landing deadly and powerful punches one after another on Rin's face. Slowly, the boy was battered, scarred, bloodied and disfigured. Still he was powerless to fight back. His sword was far away from him, lying somewhere in the rubble. All the muscles in his body ached and failed to muster enough strength for escape.

Amaimon didn't grin. He continued to punch Rin like he was a dummy. "I don't get why father and brother are so obsessed with you. But I don't care about that now. Under brother's orders, I need to find the abomination, and kill her. Her name is Kureha Kagura, right? The spark that will ignite the flames of war. Must not let that happen."

Kill… Kagura? His Kagura?

His blood boiled with anger. The blue flames of his burnt more vigorously as the demon riled him. Raging anger thickened in him. The half-demon was pissed off. He grabbed the demon by his neck and flung him away to a pillar that sustained the roller coaster rails. Eventually, the pillar broke and steel and iron that weighed tons rained on Amaimon. Rin took the chance to stand up, grasp for air and frantically scrounged for his sword. A blue object closed in on him, which was revealed to be Happy carrying Koumaken and the sword was returned to Rin.

"Rin, we have to go!" Happy begged. He tugged on his shirt but Rin didn't budge.

Rin's eyes stared at the rubble of iron and steel which buried the demon, knowing well Amaimon will soon rise. "I need to know why he is after Kagura."

Happy tensed up again. He circled the boy, pleading him to leave. "We got to go! Seriously, Amaimon will slaughter you before he kills Kagura!" Rin ignored him.

As expected, the Earth King rose from the rubble, stretching his limbs. He looked fine, no scratches, no lacerations. Green eyes stared at the blue-flames-coated boy. "You are annoying." As he prepared to launch himself at Rin, this time eager to kill him, he didn't notice a new presence standing not far from them, watching the battle.

"Devour the Seven Princesses, slay the Serpent." The three whipped around to find Yamata, the quiet boy from Rin's class approaching them. Then, he drew out a purple sword from the markings on top of his chest. The sword's tip pointed at Amaimon. "The Earth King, Amaimon. Fancy meeting you here. Who let a big fish like you slip into school perimeter? Mephisto?"

Amaimon raised an eyebrow. "Ah great. Reinforcements."

"More to come if Aoife knows you're here."

Rin perplexed. Aoife? The woman Kagura mentioned?

Amaimon spit with distaste. "Oh well, I'll be leaving." His eyes darted to the blue cat hiding behind Rin. "I'll kill Kureha Kagura later." And he ran off in high speed, without bother finishing the fight with Rin.

"Ooi!" Rin wanted to pursue the guy, but Yamata stopped him.

"You won't juice out anything from him," Yamata said while keeping back his sword.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Rin yelled back at the boy. He remembered Yamata, who was the quietest in class, isolating himself from everyone. Rin will not take orders from him.

"You wanna know?" Rin felt Yamata's grin under his hoodie. Meticulously, Yamata removed his shirt to reveal layers of white cloth wrapping his chest. Layer by layer he removed them and the results surprised Rin and Happy. Large boobs donned with a red bra were unveiled. Apparently Yamata wasn't a 'he'. Yamata's dark red hair with yellow ends was tied in a ponytail. Her purple eyes glinted with mischief. "I am sent from the Vatican and am an Upper First Class Exorcist. The name's Kirigakure Shura."

Rin and Happy were still finding hard to believe the truth. Just by the moment, Shiemi leading Yukio arrived at the scene. Both of them were quite stunned seeing the redhead here. Yukio was the most surprised. "Shura?" He gasped, as if he knew her before.

"Oh, Yukio," Shura—not Yamata any longer—raised her eyebrow. "Long time no see, punk."

"Hold it!" Rin yelled, drawing everyone's attention. "Why are you doing here anyway?"

Shura smirked. "I'm here to investigate the dangerous factors lurking in the Japan Branch. That includes you," she pointed Rin. "But my priority is… under Vatican's orders to apprehend Kureha Kagura for the crime of provoking a war between demons and Exorcists."


Kagura

Kagura had stopped crying for quite some time. But she refused to speak. She wanted time to herself. Some tranquility and peace before she steps back into the reality where numerous questions await her. Grisia had been on her side ever since, waiting patiently for her. Sometimes he fiddled with his own hair or maybe bask himself under the sun. But he never let the girl out of his sight. The silence between them was awkward.

It was her voice startled him. "Did we meet a long time ago?"

Grisia stared at her. He nodded. "You probably don't remember. It's probably best for you, considering the tragedy occurred."

"Tell me," she demanded. "No lies. Just the truth. And don't even try to change the subject."

He sighed. "We met ever since you're an infant. I was four that time."

Four? Before I met father.

"My parents adopted you. They let me grow with you. And when you started to remember, we became very good friends. I acted like the older brother of course, protecting you from bullies who despised you. We were inseparable. You always said the silliest things. When you were 8 and I was 12, you said you wanted to marry me when you get older."

Kagura didn't recall any of that. But she couldn't help blushing. "I… what?"

"Silly, right?" He smiled genuinely. "We all lived in a peaceful village free from war. One day, the village was raided and nearly everyone was killed. I survived, my parents didn't, and you were lost. I lived with the other Holy Exorcists since. Aoife Barachiel, my legal guardian."

Father mentioned her. Who was she? She was about to direct that question at him when Asteri entered the picture. Her white wings fluttered behind her, her face showing guilt. She wedged herself between Kagura and Grisia and her head held low. All her pride and glory of being a Warrior cat was lost in that instant.

"I'm sorry I'm being harsh to you. There are some things you should not know," Asteri said. She took in a deep breath to steel herself. "But I decided to tell you now." She glanced at Grisia, who nodded in approval and back to Kagura. "Happy and I weren't sent by Aoife Barachiel. We were bonded to you ever since we were born to this world. We are your Guardians, Kagura. And only angels have Guardians."

Kagura moved away from the two with utter bewilderment. She was right. "So… I'm an angel?"

Asteri nodded. "Angels don't really exist. The name 'angel' is just a title to suit some humans who are completely afflicted with Light and God. It happened a long time ago when God decided to grant those humans the ability to thwart evil, not just demons. That's why you can summon swords of Light. These humans are the mirror images of angels, since angels have the similar power."

"Technically, these humans are just like any other humans, only slightly different," Grisia added.

"Ancient times, demons from Gehenna tried to wreak havoc in Assiah. Angels thwarted them, but they were outnumbered. So they trained normal humans to become Exorcists. Thus the True Cross Knights," Asteri continued. "While angels were given the title, Holy Exorcists. Because war raged on between angels and demons, the heads from both sides decide to create a pact to maintain peace and harmony. From demons came Satan and King Baal, while from angels came Gabriel I and Barachiel I."

"Aoife Barachiel is the fifth of the line while my father, Gabriel IV, was fourth in line," Grisia explained.

"While most angels and humans agreed with the pact, some angels didn't. They believed that demons are evil and always will be. So they went on slaughtering innocent demons. Gabriel I was so mad he banished those angels and ripped them from the title of Holy Exorcists. Those became Fallens, or Demon Slayers. They are still some, though."

"Like Iaoth, the blonde," Kagura said. "But why did she kill Taroko-san? He's human!" She balled her fists.

"That we don't know yet. We know they are brewing something," Grisia replied. "Their head is stirring."

"Head?"

"Abaddon III."

"His name meant destruction."

Kagura didn't like it. She loathed it. Something bad was about to happen. The idea of killing demons was a taboo to her, because she believed the demons are lives too. No use killing them if they weren't evil. She stared at the ground, kicking some pebbles. The information was too much for her to digest. She was an angel. An angel.

Grisia rose from his seat. "Let's go see Aoife. She would love to meet you."

"Not just yet." Kagura rose from hers too. "Rin and Yukio are my priority. They need to know." Or else they will murder me for sure.

Asteri agreed. "That silly blue cat worries me too."

"Then let's go back to the dorm first." Kagura missed her two friends, and she knew they missed her too.


Another long chapter done. If you guys noticed, I uploaded two chapters at the same time. Just before I'm gone.

I would like to emphasize that sometimes I changed the order of the character names. Eg: Grisia Sun and Kureha Kagura. The underlined are their first names. For Japanese names, I will go with the last name first than the other. For Western names (like Aoife Barachiel or Arthur August Angel) I go with first name then last name. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Hope you enjoy reading and please review~~ Thanks for those who did. Many love~~~

And also...

Kagura: Merry Christmas!

Rin: And Happy New Year, guys!

Yukio: May all your wishes come true this year, 2013!

Happy: Aye! Luckily we didn't die on Dec 21...

Asteri: That's ridiculous. Never believed in it at all.

Kagura: If you guys have any wishes, Rin will fulfill them for you!

Rin: What?!

Yukio: Can I wish for a more obedient and less mischievous brother?

Rin: Four Eyes, you traitor—

Happy: I want many fishy!

Asteri: I wish for Kagura's safety... and many gifts too.

Kagura: Ooh... I want delicious food! Cook for me, Rin!

Rin: I am not Santa Claus, and I'm not your servant!

Kagura, Asteri, Happy, Yukio: Deal with it.

Rin: What the hell?!

Grisia: Can I wish for Kagura?

Rin: No freaking way, punk!

Whiteraven95: you guys are getting out of hand...

All: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you for all of your support and love!