Murmurs filled the hall as those gathered waited. Silence reigned when the doors opened to reveal Astarte walking through, flanked by Mephisto and Amaimon. It was easy to see that she was royalty by how easily she commanded attention when necessary. Occasionally, a purple flame would flicker near her form, but she seemed to be maintaining her control to some degree. She paused as she spotted the exorcists all waiting for a briefing. "I have only two words for you lot." She said. "They are "Fuck" and "Off"."
"Look, I know you're upset about what's happened but we..."
"UPSET?!" She spun to face the head of the branch. "That's a fucking understatement! You have no idea what this is like!" She turned away and walked towards her class. "I want every exorcist, including my so called "security" to leave." She snapped. Slowly, the exorcists began to leave, the stragglers being chased out by her familiars as she faced her class. "How many of you have willingly accessed your partial demon forms?" She asked suddenly. A few, like Emiko, raised their hands and she counted. "I'm going to teach you how to access them. Because for this fight you will need them." Some of her students shifted around nervously.
"Don't you think you're rushing us?" Megumi asked. The look she got suggested that it was a bad idea to question her.
"Rushing you? I'm not rushing you. I'm ensuring that some of you have at least a thin chance of surviving this!" Her flames erupted but didn't lash out. "Do any of you know why you lose control of your demon sides?" She asked them. They all looked at one another and shook their heads. "It's because you cling to the hope that you're still human. You needlessly cling to the hope you have a shred of humanity remaining within you. Well I have news for all of you."
She walked away briefly before turning back. "None of you are human! There's nothing remotely human in this room! All there is in here are a class of demons!" She snarled. "If you keep clinging to that stupid belief, you doom yourself to never gaining full control. To tame your inner monster, you must cast out what makes you weak. You must throw away your humanity." They stared at her like she had gone insane. "I know this seems hypocritical coming from me but unless you do that, you're only going to end up hurting those you care about."
She paused and heard some almost silent arguing coming from Noel and Autumn. "And you need to learn to work together!" She snapped, making them jump. "You cannot rely upon me in this battle; I have to save my children. You must rely upon each other. Which is why we're going to do a little trust building exercise." The room darkened and shook violently. They looked at their feet to see fissures opening and jets of flames erupting between them, separating them into ten pairs.
"What's going on?!" Their united cry echoed out from the walls. But Astarte was far from done. Shadows erupted out of the walls and gagged one of each of the pairs before tying a blindfold and placing plugs in the ears of others.
"Welcome to the Labyrinth des Wahnsinns. In other words, "the maze of madness"." Those who could still see looked at the dark, foggy paths that stretched endlessly before them. "In this maze, you will encounter things that have driven many of those who have dared tread its foggy pathways to insanity. Those of you who can still see must guide the other who cannot. But you cannot speak to them; you must guide them through touch." A chorus of angry yells emerged from the pairs.
"Enough! Be wary of the amount of noise you make, for creatures patrol this maze that even many demons would not dare to encounter. They will not bother you if you work together to remain quiet. Make your way to the centre of the maze. If you are caught, I will know and send in a familiar to get you out. Now, the pairs are as follows; Autumn and Noel..."
"WHAT?!" She smirked at the angered yell of Autumn and the muffled yells of Noel.
"Drake and Cassandra, Sachi and Takao, Saturn and Emiko, Kasai and Yuki, Hotomi and Ron, Meiko and Amixtri, Ame and Megumi, Eve and Gen, Kaito and Eda." She waited as some murmurs emerged from the remaining pairs.
"What about Leon?" Emiko called.
"He will stay out of there. I want to keep him as a trump card. Should things start to go wrong, I need the blue flames of our father Satan to scare Lilith." Astarte explained. "Now, Begin!" The walls behind them suddenly moved forward, forcing them to the first intersection for their pathway. Growls emerged from a multitude of directions as they made their way slowly through the labyrinth. As they did, they slowly began to warm to each other more. Even Autumn and Noel weren't attempting to kill each other. Outside the labyrinth, Astarte paced backwards and forwards.
"You know if you keep doing that, you're going to dig yourself a trench." Mephisto stated, trying to lighten the tension that hung heavy in the air.
"Just shut up Aniue!" She snapped, not breaking her stride. Those with her stared in shock. Suddenly, yells and screams emerged from the labyrinth.
"That was Hotomi and Ron!" Rin yelled, leaping to his feet.
"Teufel! Bring them out!" Astarte commanded as she paused in her pacing. A large, black dragon rose out of the maze of walls and flew towards her, the two now unconscious students in its claws. It dropped them before her and bowed before going back to the maze.
"Why did they call out if they have no injuries?" Rin asked Astarte who ignored him and continued looking at the students with narrowed eyes.
"Teufel is a demon of fear. He can capture victims by using their fears against them. He is one of Astarte's oldest familiars, he has existed for thousands of years." Amaimon said. "Perhaps you would know him better through one of his more famous names as "Quetzalcoatl"?" They all stared at him before looking from Astarte to the dragon that was now landing back in the maze.
"The past of my familiars does not matter to them Amaimon. Instead of idle chatter, you should be helping me get this lot ready to save our sons!" She snapped. More yells emerged as more of the students encountered the creatures in the maze.
"Are...um...all those demons in there your familiars?" Leon asked. Astarte nodded and clicked her fingers. Numerous familiars rose out of the maze, a variety of shapes and forms appearing, each one carrying a pair of students. Only Cassandra and Drake and Emiko and Saturn were still within the maze. As the students began to come around, a jet of flames emerged from the centre. The walls rumbled and fell, revealing the two pairs congratulating each other. Astarte just watched, un-amused.
"Why are you all relaxing?! We need you lot ready! Keep training!" She snapped. Exorcists began to creep back in, only a few getting in before a jet of purple flames erupted near them. "I WARNED YOU!" They instantly backed away from the door. One exorcist moved towards her, striding confidently whilst smiling at Cassandra.
"Whilst I understand that you want them to be prepared, I feel you may be pushing them too hard, do you not agree?" He asked Astarte. The glare he got made the students cower.
"Who the hell do you think you are to question my technique?!" She snarled, flames flickering on her shoulder.
"My name is Moreau. I actually came to borrow Cassandra so that I could see how she is doing." He said.
"More to see if she agrees with you at me being an apparent "crazy fille", right?" Cassandra looked pale. "Yeah, I heard you two talking Cassandra but I chose not to say anything."
"Well, you cannot blame her really. Now, I understand that you are probably a bit upset at the moment..."
"A BIT?! Did I just hear you right?! A FUCKING BIT?! I am not a bit upset! I am sickened to my very core with worry!" She yelled, rounding on him.
"And I understand but really, this is insane." That one phrase was a big no-no around her.
"Insane? Really? Well, why don't I give you a little taste of what I go through daily and we'll see who's insane." Moreau stared then suddenly clutched his head and fell to the ground, yelling in pain. Cassandra went to run forward but was pushed back by Teufel.
Do not interfere when my mistress issues her will and punishes those who wrong her child the dragon hissed. Everyone stared in horror as Moreau writhed as Astarte walked around him.
"Acting like this and you've barely experienced anything. Let's add a little more." More screaming emerged. "And more."
"Astarte! That's enough!"
"No! It's not Aniue! Not until he knows what it's like!" She snarled, looking even more demonic
"He will never know! Don't you understand? They can't cope with what you have to." Mephisto said.
"Fine! Then he will perish!" She snapped. Cassandra looked horrified.
"You can't!" She stared in horror.
"Astarte, I know you're upset about losing sight of Sora and Chikyuu, but we'll get them back. We won't lose them." She spun around, expressing an emotion that was a cross between anger and sorrow.
"YOU KNOW I'M UPSET?! I'm not just upset Aniue! This is killing me."
"I know, I understand..."
"YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND! I've already lost one child, I can't bear the thought of losing them as well." She said, tears streaming down her cheeks. Everyone looked in shock at her.
"What? There was a third?"
"A little girl. She looked exactly like me, just like how Sora looks like you Aniue and Chikyuu looks like Amaimon. But she was weak, she couldn't survive without me supporting her. She died in my arms. My heart broke that day with that loss, and was mended by Sora and Chikyuu. By being separate, my heart is breaking again." She said.
They all stared at her, the mask of the emotionless demonic queen slipping to show the frightened mother that existed behind it.
"That's why you're so desperate to get them back." Rin asked. She nodded, fighting to bring her emotions back under control.
"Cassandra, you can go. In fact, I think all I can do is hope you lot will trust your demonic instincts to help you survive. And...to rely on me to get rid of Lilith." They all stared. "Despite what I previously said, I understand that I am asking too much too soon. So, I will need you lot to deal with any familiars she will summon. And I want you to distract them whilst Meiko uses a worm hole to get Sora and Chikyuu."
Meiko nodded, her usual playfulness replaced by a serious expression. Astarte gave them all a strained, sad smile despite the tears. Amaimon walked up to her and embraced her gently, an unusual display of affection for demons.
"We will get them back." He murmured in her ear. She nodded, sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"Tomorrow, we will destroy that bitch once and for all." She said. "As a little incentive, if you survive and I get Sora and Chikyuu back, then...I will give you a day free from training and we'll have a party to celebrate when we get back to Japan." A laugh emerged from the group as some of the tension was lifted briefly. But as they left, they knew that as of Midday tomorrow, they were no longer going to be humans, they were going to be demons.
Hmm, not how I had originally planned for this to play out but still I feel it works pretty well. Explains why Astarte is even more freaked out over the fact her sons were kidnapped than normally expected. And when a child is kidnapped, the parent's are truly freaked out. I mean they will seriously kill the one who did it given half the chance. Astarte is just gonna obliterate the one who stole her babies. Which reminds me, where is our psycho princess? *Looks over to emo corner and sees Astarte there* What are you doing?
Astarte: You made me feel emo by reminding me that I lost my little baby girl. *Hangs head* Bitch.
Oh cool your jets demon girl. You get a chance to beat a whore up.
Astarte: *Spins and starts shuffling forward* Really?
Yeah, btw do you want a Kigurumi?
Astarte: *Nods* Hell yeah, then I can rub it in Animae's face.
*Holds out dark purple fox kigurumi with three tails and horns* You will get it, IF, you wear the bunny costume for the easter special.
Astarte: Hell No.
Emiko, would you take over whilst I deal with this?
Emiko: Uh, ok. *Watches as we start fighting* So, she only owns Astarte, Teufel, Chikyuu and Sora. To get a description of Moreau, go and read "The Runner" by Operaghost96. And until next time, this is sayonara from the psychotic author, the demonic angel and the draconic princess.