With Angel's Love

Part XIII: Arthas's Tragedy

Azrael continued to eye Rin like a hawk, who herself was looking around at her fallen comrades, utterly stunned. "Why…" she started, sounding dazed, "This was only supposed to be a side mission. How is it that we were all so easily defeated?" Azrael too looked over at the monks, and Arthas, his was replacing his overcoat to where it had been. Well, they shouldn't be a problem for a while, he thought. He walked over to her, and then knelt down before her. "Rin," he said gently, setting his hand on her shoulder, "You have to remember. Please…just remember…"

She closed her eyes, deep in thought, when an angry voice was heard behind them. "Sister Maria…conferring with this false idol is surely heresy. Destroy him now, and you may have a chance of not being excommunicated. Look at what he and his satanic companions did to our comrades. Would you truthfully want to leave the warm embrace of the Church for murderous beings such as these?" Azrael gave a low, menacing growl, and then turned. "Would you shut up?!" he hissed. The brother drew his blessed blade. "And let you corrupt our brave leader? Never!" he yelled back.

Growling even more fiercely, Azrael threw a blast of sacred energy at him, knocking his backwards against a tree. As he slid unconsciously down to the ground, Rin cried out his name. Azrael held her forcefully at arm's length. "Rin…you have to realize what they did to you! You were such a sweet girl…and now you're trying to kill us! Dammit, we're practically you're family!!" he said. Rin struggled to free herself. "No! I have and never will have a family of evil creatures such as you!!" she yelled back.

Azrael glanced over at everyone else. His sister was sobbing, Gina crying a little too. Sesshomaru was looking away the best he could, the look on his face was sheer guilt. Even Vaul was looking on with compassion. Azrael looked down at Rin once again, gazing into her once peaceful, chocolate eyes, which were now full of fury and rage. The same eyes that he had gazed into those five long years ago…and then, with the help of his reminiscent musings, it hit him. He realized how he could make her remember. He leaned forward, whispering her name again, and then lightly set his lips upon hers. This put a shocked look on everyone's face. Even Selene's.

~--**--~ Flashback ~--**--~

A young woman, around eighteen, sat on the wall of a great castle, peering off into the distance. She wore her shadow-colored hair back in a braid, with simple white pearls woven in through the strands. As a light breeze blew by, ruffling her jade colored kimono, she sighed a little, shutting her eyes for a moment. She opened her eyes when she heard someone stepping out onto her balcony. "You know you're gonna end up falling eventually if you sit out there, Rin."

Rin looked up, seeing the teenaged boy with dark hair and golden eyes. "And good afternoon to you too, Azrael," she said, looking back out to the horizon. The twelve-year-old smirked a bit, leaning against the wall. "Hey…Rin?" he started. "Yeah?" she asked, still gazing out at the landscape. Azrael shook his head a little. "Aww…never mind," he answered. Rin smiled at him, getting off of her perch and leaning her own arms against the stone.

"Is there something you'd like to ask me, Azrael? Perhaps something…well…" she started, smirking quite sharply. Even with his tan skin it was easy to see his dark blush. "Azrael…?" Rin continued. "Uhhh…Rin?" he asked, turning to her, "Would you just close your eyes for a minute?" She looked at him strangely, but then did ask he asked, smiling. "What are you planning, Azrael?" she asked, laughing slightly. Azrael gave no reply. As Rin began to open an eye, Azrael laughed a little. "No peeking!" he scolded sweetly. Rin gave a slight sigh. "Alright, I won't try to peek again," she said, "Honest."

A moment later, Rin felt the gentle warmth of his young lips upon hers. Her eyes shot open, and he quickly pulled away, jumping up onto the stone railing of the balcony. "A-Azrael…" she stuttered, "What was that all about?" He dropped down to the point where he was only hanging onto the balcony, blushing like he had red paint all over his face. "Uh…I'm going for a walk--"

With that, he jumped down to the branch of an extremely high tree, and the disappeared into the green. Rin placed a finger on her own lips, blushing slightly. "Whoa…I had no idea he had a crush on me…" she muttered

~--**--~ End Flashback ~--**--~

As this sweet memory began to fade, Azrael pulled away from the kiss that he had started, looking down at Rin's weakened and nearly limp form. "Rin…it has to have come back to you now," he said. A small whimper came from her, and a few tears ran down her cheeks. "Oh, Azrael……I'm so…sorry," she said. With this, she fell forward, passing out against his chest. He slid his arms around her, sighing. Azrael rested his heads on hers, shutting his eyes.

Seeing this, the three surviving exorcists stood. "Sister Maria…or Rin, or whoever you are, know this: you will never be allowed to enter any house of God, nor perform any exorcisms, lest they be invalid and sully the Church's name. Know well that you are going to be excommunicated, and never allowed into the Church's warm, loving embrace." Azrael gave a low growl, and without even bothering to look, spoke. "I'll speak for her, but I'm pretty sure that Rin would be screaming this. Your 'Church' can burn to the ground, and you and everyone of you other exorcists can rot in hell!"

"Fine, then," the monk said, taking a few steps back. The other two that had been brutalized by Arthas joined him, and the crosses they wore around their necks began to glow. "Simply remember, Sister Maria," the brother said, "That any power not granted by God means certain damnation." They all joined hands, and the same ominous snow formed around them. A moment later, it disappeared, as had the tree exorcists. Azrael stood, holding Rin in his arms. She shook a little, apparently in shock. Of course, who wouldn't be? "We should get going. But I don't think it would be wise to return to the village. I think we've already done enough damage for one night."

A few hours later, the odd family rested in an abandoned hut they had found in the woods near a stream. Both Rin and Selene lie on discarded futons, Gina next to her daughter, tending her wounds. "Do you think Rin'll be changed back to normal?" Azrael asked, sitting in a corner, directly across from his father. Gina gave a slight nod. "Most likely. If you joggle a certain memory, and you can usually help someone to remember many things. Though I don't know why you kissed her…unless it was to bring back a previous incident," she replied.

Hearing the last part, Azrael began to blush. "Oh…ah…no, nothing like that's ever happened…just…" he sputtered. "Don't worry," Vaul laughed sarcastically, "I have a thing for older women too. Definitely something you inherited from our side, seeing as though your father is into woman half his age." Gina simply eyed her brother ferociously. Sesshomaru picked up a rock from the worn floor, and then threw it at his head. "Why don't you shut up before I have to use my blade?" he asked sarcastically.

Azrael snorted a little. "Uncle Vaul, Uncle Vaul, Uncle Vaul. You'll earn many a scar saying things like that," he chuckled. Vaul glared at Azrael for a moment, and then threw Sesshomaru another disdainful look. "You know, you never attack a man with a sword he forged. I know every weak point in that blade, and I could easily break it," he growled.

After letting out a low groan, Selene's eyes opened a little. "Ah! You're awake!" Gina exclaimed. Selene flinched a little, then turned her head, looking at the unconscious Rin who lay beside her. "Do you think she'll be okay?" she asked. Gina smiled widely and nodded. "Yes, she should be," she replied happily. Arthas scoffed at this. "Fools. I don't see why you're so concerned with these pitiful humans. And she's just like the rest. One moment she claims to be your family, the next she's trying to kill you." With these harsh words said, Arthas slipped outside, into the darkened forest.

Sesshomaru shot the vampire a sharp look, and when he disappeared, he shut his eyes. "I think its him that we shouldn't be trusting…" he growled lowly. Selene groaned again, then tried to sit up. As she nearly collapsed, Gina caught her. "No…you should be resting. It'll take a while for you to recover…the only reason you're alive right now is because you have the blood of a tennyo in your veins," she said. Selene smiled up at her, lying back down slowly. "Yes…I guess you're right," she said, pulling her blanket back over herself. She weakly nuzzled against the pillow sighing. She shut her eyes, and all went dark.

A few hours later, Selene awoke once again. She looked around, and everyone was asleep. Gina nestled in Sesshomaru's arms, Vaul sleeping in the corner, and Azrael sitting dutifully by Rin's side, his sword hugged against his chest as a warrior. She gave her brother a silent smile, but then looked back up at the ceiling. Selene could feel Arthas nearby, but she couldn't even pick up his death-like scent. Why am I even thinking about him? Of course, one answer was clear. He saved my life earlier…but…why?

Selene, gathering her strength, sat up and examined the room even more. The sword that she usually had strapped to her arm lie next to her, and so she reached down, grabbing its polished black sheath. Mustering all of her strength once again, and using sword as support, stood. Moving as silently as she could, exited the hut, and stepped out into the dark, her path lit by the shining stars and full moon.

She took a few more steps, then collapsed. "I shouldn't still be this weak…" she uttered frailly. "You shouldn't be out," a male voice hissed sharply. Selene immediately looked up, and her eyes met Arthas's red ones. He crouched down next to her, brushing a strand of her wavy black hair from her face. "Your much too weak to be up walking around. You'll strain yourself," he said. As he got up and turned around, once again about to go back to the forest, she called for him gently. "Please…will you tell me?"

He stopped, turned his head, and glared at her sharply. "Tell you what?" he asked harshly. Before speaking, Selene set her blade down. "Would you tell me why you said that about humans? And why you saved my life like that! " she asked. She had struck a cord. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Humans…" he started, "They hate half-breeds like us. I wouldn't let someone like me die for a meaningless cause."

Selene gaped. "H-half-breeds? Arthas, what are you talking about?" she asked. Arthas sighed. "That's how we're alike. Creatures born of both light and dark…a pure mother and a father considered a devil," he replied. "You mean…you're half human?" she asked. Arthas nodded simply. "But then…" Selene continued, "Why is it that you hate them so?" Arthas looked down at the ground for a moment. "It's because of miserable humans who feared creatures they did not understand is why I had my entire family had to suffer. It's because of miserable humans who wish to exorcise the world that I had to watch my parents die…"

Selene's gape grew, but she said nothing. "I'm guessing you want to know how it happened," Arthas said. She tried desperately to act ad though she showed no curiosity at all, but it was impossible. "It was the villagers that lived near our castle that thought we were creatures of evil. One night they stormed the castle…and there's no way that only one vampire can fight off a small army of humans, weak as they may be. They captured my mother…and accused her of being a witch because she was married to my father. They took her head without a passing glance. My father…they bound him in chains to a stake, but instead of burning him with fire, they simply left him there for the sun."

She could feel tears forming in her eyes. "Arthas…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to dig up bad memories…" she said. He smirked a little as the sun rose. "No…it's alright," he said, holding his hand up to the fresh light, "And that is why the sun does not burn my flesh." He turned once again, and then knelt down next to her. "Come…you should get inside," he said gently. He began to help her up, but Selene stopped him. "Arthas…I truly am sorry," she said. He gave the slightest smirk, and then, as if in a trance, they neared each other. But before their lips could meet, they heard a voice. "Get away from her!!"