March that year came in like a lamb. The air was softer than usual, less bitter. There were fewer showers, but plenty of clouds, and they rolled through Academy Town on almost-warm breezes. Daphne couldn't help feeling that the old adage might prove true—that March, having been so gentle to begin with, would go out like a lion—but that didn't mean the reprieve was unwelcome.
Mephisto summoned herself and Rin to his office the morning of the seventh.
"Please," he said and gestured to the set of chairs in front of his desk.
Exchanging glances, Rin and Daphne sat.
The demon king was quiet as he sat with a flourish, quiet as he put his chin in his hand. Mephisto seemed lost behind his eyes—lost in thought, or perhaps in how to phrase those thoughts to Rin and Daphne.
"I have…liaised with Spirit," he said, and the way he spoke that last word earned it a capital letter. Spirit was their spirit's name. "On numerous occasions. Over these past several months."
Daphne frowned. "How?"
"It is my spell, Miss Lux, I may enter its effects freely if I choose."
He practically barked at her. Daphne lowered her eyebrows. Mephisto sighed.
"Apologies," he said.
"That's all right," Daphne replied, her voice soft.
Silence fell in the office once more.
She didn't know what to make of it, and by the look on Rin's face, neither did he. If Mephisto had spoken with Spirit, what had he learned? If he had learned anything, why hadn't he shared it with them? She studied the demon king and waited for him to continue. He looked almost…haggard, if that was possible for Mephisto. It was rare to see him vulnerable, but lately that seemed to be the flavor of the day. Daphne didn't like it. Never would she have thought she might appreciate a return of the cryptic, implacable puppetmaster Mephisto usually was. Eventually, he looked up.
"She has made numerous threats," he said. "Against myself, and the rest of the kings. She feels no loyalty to demons of any kind, which is understandable given her treatment. I'm beginning to fear that in conversing with her, I may have done more harm than good."
"What does she want?" Rin asked.
"A family," Mephisto replied.
The response sent a chill through Daphne's blood.
"A family?" she replied, though she did not mean to speak aloud.
"Mm." Mephisto knitted his fingers together and propped his chin upon them. "Connectivity. To be at one with someone, or several someones."
"And her plan?"
Mephisto shook his head. "As of this morning, she will no longer speak with me. I fear the strength of my containment spell might soon wear thin."
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Daphne asked, almost demanded.
"There was little to tell, Miss Lux," Mephisto responded. "Talking with Spirit is like talking in circles, and I cannot spend long inside the spell or risk destabilizing it further." He shook his head. "The only demon she has not made threats against is you, dear brother."
Rin sat up with a small jolt. "Me?"
Mephisto nodded.
Daphne tried to share a glance with Rin, but his eyes had gone blank, staring at his lap, so she looked to Mephisto instead.
"Do you think that means we're safe?"
A humorless smile curled the corners of his mouth. "On the contrary."
"She felt I'd betrayed her," Rin put in, barely over a whisper. "When we summoned her and but her in that box-thing, she shouted something about betrayal." He lifted his eyes and flicked a worried gaze between the two of them.
"Her plan, whatever it is, likely centers around the two of you," Mephisto said. "For as much as her hatred of the demon kings is real, she feels no connection with us, or any other demons for that matter. I am uncertain why, but she has attached herself to the two of you." He pursed his lips. "Harm at the hands of a being you despise is one thing, but from someone you consider kin…"
Daphne swallowed.
Mephisto locked eyes with her. "It hurts ever so much more."
Her hands fell instinctively over her stomach, over the two tiny lives that flickered therein. The past eight months had been a waiting game, but she and Rin had been too distracted—both by worry and euphoria—to make plans of their own. She'd let her concern for Spirit fall to the wayside, and she realized now that perhaps that had been a mistake.
"How much time do we have?" she asked Mephisto.
"No more than a matter of months," he replied. The words caused Daphne's pulse to spike. "I am certain of that. I'll no longer enter the spell, which may help it stabilize, but all evidence points to Spirit activelyworking to free herself."
"And Akiyama?" Rin asked. "What has she learned?"
"Much," Mephisto replied. "None of it helpful."
Daphne grit her teeth and kept an irritated comment to herself. If the woman wasn't going to prove helpful, why bring her out? But she reminded herself of Akiyama's previous work in summoning and containing Spirit, all the things she herself had suffered at the demon's hands. Nine members of her team dead. Eight months of fruitless research.
"What do we do, Mephisto?" Rin asked.
The demon king shook his head. "I cannot tell," he replied. "For the first time in my life, I truly do not know where any of these roads may lead."
Silence again. Chill and deafening silence. Daphne looked at Rin, but he simply shook his head. Baffled, the both of them. The twins fell still inside her.
"I'm sorry I cannot do more than provide warning," Mephisto finally added.
Rin drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Warning is warning. We'll take what we can get." Glancing at Daphne, he reached across the space between their chairs to take her hand. "I wish we had more to go on."
"If there is anything I can do to help, do not hesitate to ask," Mephisto said. "Director Akiyama is working tirelessly. As am I. I assure you."
Rin's fingers squeezed tight around hers. Daphne returned the gesture.
"We know, Mephisto," he said.
The words seemed to comfort the demon king, if only a little. He released a slight breath from his nose and let the tension in his shoulders ease. A small smile graced his mouth and he nodded at the two of them.
"I am remiss in not thanking you for your trust throughout the years," he said. "You're invaluable exorcists. The both of you."
Daphne couldn't help smiling a little herself. "We'll always be here to pull your ass out of the fire," she said, and earned a laugh from Mephisto. "And while I'm not sure you've always had ourbest interest at heart, I'm glad we're on the same side. Thank you."
Mephisto grinned. "Sometimes I think you understand me a little too well, Miss Lux."
Daphne shrugged. "We're similar people. It's part of the reason we don't always get along."
His toothy grin settled into a pleased smile and his eyes flicked briefly to Rin as if to share in an appreciative expression, but Rin mostly looked confused. Mephisto chuckled.
"I only hope that between the three of us we'll be able to handle what is coming."
Rin lost focus after that meeting with Mephisto. The rest of his day passed in a nebulous blur of easy exorcisms and cram school teaching underscored by a vague sense of dread. Spirit was coming back. That had always been certain, but never quite so close. He didn't really know what to think—much less do—about it.
In a rare show of arms, Daphne was cooking when he arrived home. Two hamburger patties sizzled in a pan in front of her, and she lay a slice of cheese on each as he entered the kitchen. They smelled amazing. As did the French fries in the oven.
"Oh, say can you see," Rin sang, coming up behind Daphne to wrap her in a hug.
She laughed, leaning against him in this lovely, friendly way that made Rin's heart go all warm. Turning her head to the side, she touched a kiss to his cheek.
"Pretty good pronunciation there," she said with a smile.
"Thank you." He settled his chin on her shoulder and was quiet for a moment. "What's this for?"
"I knew you'd be stressed today," she replied, fishing the patties out of the pan and setting them each on a pair of buns she'd already toasted. "Given the…news. I wanted to do something for you."
She kept talking even as Rin pressed a kiss to her shoulder.
"You've done so much for me, and I also really wanted cheeseburgers."
Rin laughed. "Lucky me."
Daphne turned off the burner on the oven and titled her head back to smile at him. "Lucky me."
They set the table together and sat down to eat. It was almost hard to believe how different the vibe in their house was from the vibe that had dominated the whole front end of his day. Sort of like the outside world didn't exist. Daphne seemed to sense that Rin wasn't ready to talk about what Mephisto had told them that morning, so she left it alone, and the pair of them settled into conversation about the only thing either of them were capable of talking about at the moment: the twins.
"Shiro's still not gaining the weight they'd like him to," Daphne said. "He's still several pounds smaller than Easter, but healthy."
"That's what the nurse said?"
Dapnhe nodded. "They're not worried about him. Not yet, but if Easter keeps growing, and he doesn't, that might change."
"He might not inherit the flame, if that's the case."
Daphne raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
Rin shrugged. "Yukio was too small or weak or something when we were born to sustain it," he replied. "But he still got a temptaint, and, well…is kind of crazy good at being an exorcist? So being in the sire line has affected him somehow."
Daphne let her breath out. "I wish we knew."
Rin nodded. "Me too."
They did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, made their way quietly to bed and curled up side-by-side, neither of them aware that they would know much sooner than they thought. Several weeks sooner.
It was maybe only two hours later that Daphne shook Rin awake, her grip tight on his arm, her teeth grit like she was in pain.
"I think I'm in labor," she said.