Once Rin had finished packing his things, he put his bag along with Kurikara – now wrapped in a red case provided by Shiro – at the base of his bed. Yukio had tried apologizing for hitting him later in the evening, but Rin shrugged it off. He'd known he'd been in the wrong with what he said to his father and told Yukio he deserved it.

They both went to bed, Rin not getting any success with falling to sleep between the thoughts flying through his mind and the voice singing in his head. It was approaching midnight and he was laid there staring out of the window at the night sky above. Yukio was sound asleep in the bed opposite.

He never thought his life would get so torn apart from a simple act of pulling a sword out of it's sheathe. The voice had given him so much truth but had also taken from him his family life. Now to be sent away to live with some demon.

Right now, his main recurring thought was the blue flame. Listening to Yukio's steady breathing from the other side of the room, he quietly removed the sheets from himself and got out of bed. He stood at the window looking out into the night – street lights were on outside still. He could go out and be back again before the lights went out. But if he went would the flame even appear for him?

As if answering his question, he saw a flicker of blue out in the street, his breath hitched at the sight and he didn't hesitate to quietly exit the bedroom and sneak towards the back door. The monastery was silent except for all the groans and creaks of the wood. Rin managed to shut the door to his and Yukio's room as silently as possible before making his way down the hall. He froze outside his father's room, noting the light shining from under the newly replaced door. He was still up?

Rin swallowed a lump and carried on; he could hear the shuffling sounds of paper from the room but nothing to indicate that he'd been heard. He quickened his pace finally reaching the back door. Grabbing a coat and slipping on some shoes he carefully unlocked the door and slipped out, silently shutting the door behind him with a click.

Rin turned away from the door, letting out a sigh of relief before taking a step towards the outer wall surrounding the monastery. Climbing on to some nearby crates, he hoisted himself to the top of the wall and over, landing gracefully on his feet again. Anxiety began bubbling up inside of him, his family would throw a fit if they knew he was sneaking out this late after everything they had told him. But he had to find the flame again the voice cheered with glee at being outside those walls – Rin wondered if that was a good sign or a bad one.

Not thinking about it any further he legged it through the outer churchyard, crisscrossing through the graves until he got to the exit and out to the streets. Taking one last look back at the front gates to the monastery before running down the streets into the night.

Rin soon arrived at the park, empty and devoid of any human life, with only a few black bugs floating around. He slowly walked to the overgrowth of trees he'd been to before. It was dark, the overgrowth seeming to block out the moonlight and any street lights. Was it always this secluded? He concentrated and called forth his flames, a small ball appearing in his hand so as not to set fire to the trees and bushes around him. As the flame lit up so did his surroundings, it was then he realised he was not alone.

The flame reflecting off lots of eyes staring at him from within the bushes and trees, but for some reason, he didn't feel afraid. He carried on, walking towards the clearing deep within the overgrowth. Now somewhat perturbed by the lack of gaps within the trees, he was sure when he had been here yesterday, he could at least see the outside, had the streetlights gone off early or was it just because it was the night?

He didn't have much time to dwell on it before the flicker of blue flame appeared in front of him on the ground, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked from the blue flame to the one in his hand, crouching down to the ground to compare the two side by side. The flame on the floor seemed to flicker happily at the interaction.

A rustling sounded from around him from the creatures that had been hidden away in the bushes, they soon started to emerge. Edging closer to Rin cautiously again before happily squeaking out the words "Prince!" and "one of us!" and nuzzling into his warmth. Rin was caught by surprise – he'd never heard them talk before.

"What are you?" Rin asked curiously.

"Goblin!" one shouted.

"Naga!" another hissed.

"Does that mean you're all demons?" He looked around at the little creatures hopping and slithering around. They nodded excitedly in response. He was sure he should've been afraid, Shiro had given the impression the demons would attack him or try to take him away. But they seemed harmless – even before when he'd found them, all they wanted to do was play. Even the blue flame, ever silent, just flickered happily in the background whilst Rin interacted with the small creatures.

"What about this?" Rin pointed to the flame on the ground.

The demons hopped around happily with cries of "God!", God flame!" and "Father!"

Rin looked at the flame suspiciously "…father…" He laid on his front, face right in front of the blue flame – he could feel its warmth but it was not burning.

"Are you Satan?" He stared into the flame as if looking for some sort of change, but found none; Rin sighed. Getting back up into a sitting position he tentatively stretched out his hand, putting it into the flame. There was no pain or burning just like before but something felt different this time, he wasn't sure what though. With a frown, he withdrew his hand, but as he did so it looked like the flames were absorbed into him as they disappeared from the ground.

Rin looked around the clearing, as he shook the tingly feeling from his hand, the demons just stared at him waiting for him to play with them again. He shrugged it off and stayed to play with the demons for a little while before deciding it would be best to get back before he was found out for sneaking off again.

The demons went back to their hiding places within the bushes and Rin finally stood up, checking his watch it was 2am – still plenty of time to get back without being noticed. Hopefully, his father hadn't gone to check on them before he went to bed. As he moved from the clearing and through the trees it started to get lighter, which confused Rin if it was still 2am it should still be dark outside, right?

When he finally exited the overgrowth, he emerged to a park full of children and parents, his tail quickly finding its way underneath his shirt as panic overtook him. He looked at his watch again and his face went pale, it was already 4pm! How?! He'd been gone for over 12 hours?! Father Fujimoto was going to kill him, then beat him and kill him again.

He ran back towards the monastery skulking around the ally opposite to get a view of the gates. His father was outside talking to a police officer, photo in hand, ragged and stressed look on his face. Rin wagered he'd been out looking for him all day and finally turned to the authorities to report him missing. Shit, he was dead.

He slid down the wall in the alley, trying to calm his panicked breathing. How did he miss the whole day?! It was 2am when he checked the time, how did it suddenly jump to 4pm?!

He spared another glance around the corner of the alley towards the monastery, his father was still talking to the police officer, Yukio now joining him. He should probably show his face before the police leave and file a report…

Pushing himself up slowly from the cold damp floor, he shuffled towards the monastery secretly hoping his father wouldn't notice him. His tail twitched nervously around his torso before his whole body flinched at the shout directed at him.

"Nii-san!"

But of course, Yukio noticed him first. The sound of footsteps rushing towards him invaded his sensitive hearing. Before he knew it, his face was grabbed and inspected by none other than his father – red eyes full of fear and concern. He was vaguely aware they were asking him questions but his mind wasn't registering anything at that moment.

Rin just stood there silent, Father Fujimoto gave up trying to question the boy and returned to the police officer, thanking him. Yukio looked at Rin concerned but followed their father back into the monastery; guiding Rin along with him.

When they got inside, Rin walked into the kitchen sitting himself down on to the nearest chair at the table; placing his head in his hands. He still couldn't quite figure out what had happened; he'd only been out a few hours and as he left it had jumped 14 more hours. How was he supposed to explain where he'd been and for how long…?

Voices were slowly coming back to him, the rest of the priests joining in on the questioning as Father Fujimoto and Yukio were trying to break the cone of silence, he'd trapped himself in. He suddenly registered someone shaking him.

"Rin! Snap out of it!"

Rin lowered his hands and looked up at his Father.

"I'm sorry…" his voice came out a strangled whisper.

"Where have you been?! We've been looking all over for you!" His father sounded frantic; he'd really been panicking. "I told you not to leave the monastery and when I wake up, I find you gone. Anything could've happened to you! Anyone could've taken you!" It almost felt like he was bruising his father's grip on his shoulders was so tight.

"I only went to the park…I couldn't sleep – I just wanted to get out and think…" he was almost pleading with him.

"Nii-san we checked the park, we couldn't find you anywhere…" Yukio said in a concerned tone.

Rin snapped his attention to his brother; how could they check the park and not find him?! How could he not hear them? How did he not hear all the children playing?

"I was there…I didn't go anywhere else, I swear!" Rin sat there scratching his head in frustration. They all looked at him in disbelief – they had searched the park and found nothing. Nagatomo had even said about the overgrowth of trees that Rin had been hiding in before and found nothing. It was like he'd disappeared without a trace.

Shiro sighed "Okay, the important thing is you're back and unharmed…You are unharmed, aren't you?" He gave Rin a look just to confirm he'd not been in any fights in his absence.

"Yes! I'm fine!" Rin put his hands up in surrender "Nothing happened!"

Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose "If I could get any more grey I would, you know? Go to your room, I'll call you when dinner is ready."

"I'm not allowed to help?" Rin looked at him confused.

"That's part of your punishment for leaving the monastery and mine for letting you out of my sight" He grunted; mumbling that last part to himself.

Rin nodded and left the room, leaving the others to pass worried glances around the table.

"I don't think he was lying about where he was, dad." Yukio looked to Shiro.

"No, which has me more worried…" Everyone looked at him questioningly "Since Rin drew the sword…he" Yukio could almost hear the disgust in his voice as he spoke "has been abnormally quiet. I'm worried the voice Rin was hearing was Satan."

"Nii-san's hearing a voice? Is that why he's been so spaced out recently?" Shiro nodded.

"It's also how he found the sword and everything else. I'd wager him sneaking out is something to do with this voice calling him as well." Shiro lowered his gaze to the floor.

"Is he still hearing it?" Nagatomo asked.

"I don't know, I think he is but he's not made any mention of it since the other night. It would explain a lot though. It doesn't help a lot of us haven't been around to notice if he's acting strangely." He looked around the group, they'd all been too busy since the incident with the sword to notice any changes besides the obvious. Kyodo spoke up.

"He did seem a bit in a trance the other day in the church, he turned all the candles blue…I didn't think much of it and told him to go practice in the basement where no one could see the flames."

"Was that when I stopped him from going out the main doors as well? He seemed in a trance then to…"

Shiro hummed, something was at work here and Rin wasn't telling them everything.

"I think we need to assume he can still hear the voice and keep a closer eye on him. At least until Mephisto takes him this weekend, I will have to hope the seals of True Cross can keep whatever it is out of his head…"

Rin stood at the end of the hall, listening to the conversation they were having about him. Shaking fists clenched by his side; voice still humming in his head. The voice wanted him to go back, the flame calling to him all the time now. Satan was possibly calling him…the thought made him shudder. His hand still tingled with a phantom feeling of the flame or maybe it was just his imagination. Would this all go away once he was taken to his 'new home'? Did he want it to go away…?

He liked the demons; they were friendly and now he could even talk to them; given their vocabulary was limited but it was still nice. But if he left, he wouldn't see them again, right? Not that he would be able to see them anyway, what happened was weird and Rin couldn't stop thinking about it. It was like time had slowed down whilst he was in there and sped up again when he left. He wouldn't be able to risk sneaking out again before he left…after seeing the fear in his father's eyes he didn't really want to either. He'd caused enough stress for his family over the last few days.

Rin returned to his room; he might as well occupy himself before dinner. He picked up the Koma sword from on top of his packed suitcase – unwrapping the sword briefly before re-wrapping and slinging it over his shoulder, strap in hand.

He began making his way towards the basement when it struck him, he should probably tell someone where he was going; lest more panic ensues. He walked back towards the kitchen where everyone was in full swing for dinner prep – he just realised he'd been gone all this time and didn't feel the slightest bit hungry yet.

As he entered the kitchen a few unbusied eyes turned towards him, noting the sword slung over his shoulder.

"I hope you're not thinking of going somewhere, Nii-san." Yukio asked with a suspicious glare. Rin just shrugged it off.

"No…Kyodo suggested I go to the basement to practice with my flames. So, I was just letting you guys know where I'll be." He kept his gaze down, he almost felt ashamed to admit he wanted to practice with his flames. "So ya know, dad doesn't have a heart attack." He added to lighten the mood. Shiro laughed.

"Thank you for letting us know, Rin. I'll come find you when dinner is done. Try not to burn anything down there." He gave Rin a reassuring smile; Rin nodded in response and left for the basement.

"Is it a good idea to let him use his flames?" Yukio asked his father. "What if the more he uses them the more like—" Shiro put a hand up to stop him.

"At this stage in the game Yukio, it would be far worse to stop him from using them, at least in private. He needs to get used to his body and the changes that have happened. The more handle on his flames he has the less likely he'll expose himself or hurt someone by accident…" Yukio seemed to be satisfied with that answer, but he still held a deep worry in his gut for his brother. He didn't want his brother to become their birth father.

Rin lowered himself down to the basement, his footsteps echoing as he walked down the steps; closing the door behind him. He fumbled around for the light switch, pulling on the string to the old lamp once found. It was still quite dark, but light enough for Rin to see where he was going; not that he'd need the light so much in a moment.

Looking around the room, there wasn't a lot down here besides spare bits for the church. He managed to find a sack of candles; the same ones used at the altar. He pulled the sack over to an empty spot lining up a few candles on the floor before pushing the sack aside again.

He spent the rest of his time before dinner lighting and extinguishing the candles with ease – which surprised him greatly. He'd not had that much practise at all since pulling the sword but it seemed to be coming easily to him.

Before long, it was time for dinner but Rin returned to the basement straight after. The voice had been whispering in the back of his head constantly – Rin swore it got louder again after his recent trip to the park. It was getting harder to ignore with each passing day.

Rin spent the next few hours in the basement – nobody bothered him at all, which was a relief. His eyes kept moving over to the sheathed Koma sword stood up against a wall in the darkness. Every time he looked at it, he felt the voice rise in his head. He stood up and walked over to the sword, bringing it back to his spot on the floor. Somehow, he'd subconsciously placed the candles in a circle around himself – all lit with a little blue flame.

He pulled the sword from its red bindings and chucked the fabric to the side, he sat there examining the finer details on the sword, the urge to draw the sword was strong again. No one was around this time, he'd already pulled it once so nothing bad would happen if he did it again, right? The voice practically screaming at him to pull it out and feel the power again.

Without thinking about it anymore he gripped the hilt and pulled the sword out of the sheath. Blue flames lit the room again but not quite the explosion as the first time he pulled it, he sighed in relief. He stared at the blade and the flames, holding the sword upright in front of him and resting his head against the flat of the blade. He could feel his heart hammering against his chest so hard like it was trying to break out and join with his demon heart inside the sword.

He had almost felt too entranced to realise the tingling from his hand had spread throughout the rest of his body but when he noticed he realised it felt good. Like this was who he was supposed to be, a being of power wreathed in blue flame. The better he felt the more the tingling intensified until he heard a voice clear as day speaking words in his mind.

Break the seal

His eyes snapped open, the voice and tingling louder and stronger. Dropping the sword, he slapped his hands over his ears trying to drown it out. It didn't help, still getting louder. He grabbed the Koma sword again and slammed it back into the sheathe. The voices and tingling stopped; candles extinguished all at once. Rin was panting, sweat dripping from his face – he quickly composed himself when he heard the door open and footsteps approach.

"Nii-san, your still down here?!" Yukio looked somewhat shocked.

"Uh…yeah, I was just finishing up – I'll be up in a sec." Rin gave a nervous laugh and proceeded to tidy up his mess. Yukio noted the melted candles dotted around the floor and the Koma sword next to Rin. He nodded after a while and went back up, the door closing behind him. Rin dropped in relief.

He finished tidying up, maybe he would leave the sword out of his practice next time…picking up the item in his hands and putting it back into its case he made his way up the stairs. As he put his hand out for the door, he heard something crack, looking around the room he couldn't see anything broken where he had been and he shrugged it off – pulling the light switch and exiting through the door.

A single blue flame appeared in the middle of where the candles had been before disappearing again.

Thank you thank you thank you for all the faves,follows and reviews!

This is somewhat taking a darker turn than originally intended...but I like it so I'm gonna have fun with it :D! But I think this is going to go a bit longer than I said as well. I blame asteroulik - she gave me ideas! (Thank you 3).

I'll put here since god knows when an update will be - regards to Lost Prince and Take Flight - I'm struggling writing the current chapters right now but they are being worked on...just slowly.