Ok, again maybe not the best but after a review from a guest I decided to edit my plan. Now I included more of the development with how the children in the class have gained more control.
A knock echoed through the dorm they lived in early the next day. In the silence, it sounded loud and cold. Kaito was the first to get to the door as the others slowly began to stir from slumber. A sombre looking exorcist greeted them when the door opened.
"The Vatican has ordered your presence for the trial of the demoness Astarte." He said coldly, as if he had far better things to do then look after a bunch of half-breeds. "You have five minutes to get ready." He added. Kaito glanced at him before turning back to the interior where most of the group stood on the stairs.
"We've got to go to the Vatican." He said simply. Everyone glanced at each other before turning and heading to get ready. A few moments later, they were all gathered outside as the exorcist locked the dorm and then led them away. He opened a door to the Vatican and led them to a set of doors that Amaimon and Mephisto stood outside of along with the older class.
"What's going on?" Hikaru asked, looking from Mephisto to Amaimon. The two of them glanced at each other before Mephisto began to explain.
"Astarte was only allowed to return to Assiah under two conditions. One was that she would train others how to control their powers and familiars. The other was that she would maintain control of her own abilities so that another dawn of the purple flames could never occur." He waited to allow the information to sink in.
"But, she hasn't broken any of the conditions." Ame murmured.
"The fact that her flames were unleashed, even briefly is enough to convince the Grigori and the Vatican that she can't maintain control." Mephisto continued. "Which means they have only one option in their eyes."
"And what's that?" Leon asked, despite knowing deep within him that they all probably had an idea as to what it was.
"She has to be exorcised in order to keep Assiah safe. Effectively...They've sentenced her to death." Small gasps emerged from some of the girls in the group at this. None of them could believe it; they didn't want to believe it.
"But...that's not fair!" Noel said, getting murmurs of agreement from the others. "It's not her fault."
Yukio stepped forward to try to explain it better to them. "The Vatican wants to protect the residents of Assiah. The dawn of the purple flames was a horrific tragedy that we can't have repeated. If Astarte can't maintain control of her flames, then we have to remove the threat in order to protect humanity." Still, they could not see how this was the better option.
The doors behind the two elder demons opened to reveal the courtroom. They were herded in, earning murmurs from the gathered exorcists. Cassandra glanced to see Moreau was amongst those gathered, but he was looking towards the centre of the room. She turned her head, along with the others to see what they were looking at. There, kneeling in the centre of the room, was Astarte. Chains held her fixed in place, her head bowed towards the ground with a collar and chain around her neck. Symbols glowed brightly on the ground as she was held within a sealing circle. She glanced back briefly to see them and forced a small, sad smile before the chain around her neck was pulled and she was forced to face forward again.
"Demoness Astarte, queen of Gehenna and angel of Satan, do you know why this trial has been set?" The head of the Grigori asked. Astarte said nothing, merely kept looking at the ground. The Grigori glanced at the Paladin who nodded and snapped his fingers. An electrical charge ran through the chains, shocking her briefly in response. She nodded, glaring at the Paladin.
"You are charged as a threat to the residents of Assiah. We find you guilty of the charge. Your lack of control with regards to your abilities and your unstable mentality and emotions make you too big of a risk to have here in Assiah. We had planned to exorcise you but our sources suggest that without a ruler, Gehenna will destroy this realm due to a lack of control and authority. So, we will send you back to Gehenna another way." Everyone stared in confusion at the Grigori who glanced at the Paladin once again.
"You will be locked in a room with a nightmare under our control. It will force you to see the things that scare you the most, breaking you." Astarte stared at them. This was too cruel, even for them. Shadows began to stir on the edges of the room and move towards her.
"Wait!" Noel cried, running forward with the others. Everyone stared at the class as they stood near Astarte.
"You said she could stay if she trained us right?" Ron said, sensing the distrust for the demoness.
"Along with the condition that she kept herself under control as well." The Paladin growled. "She has not kept under control so she broke the condition."
"She never attacked anyone though!" Takao growled. "The Princess kept her flames under just enough control to stop them from attacking someone." Sachi nodded furiously.
"The fact they appeared when it was unnecessary is evidence of a lack of control." The Paladin snapped at them, unable to believe these half-breed freaks were standing up for the monster. Astarte stared at her class in disbelief. She couldn't believe that they were standing up for her.
"She was wound up by someone else which is why they responded." Leon said. "She was put under stress and someone kept hitting her buttons making her react. She only did what anyone would do in a similar situation and respond."
"Besides, she's actually been helping us gain more control." Ame said. "Watch. Um, Astarte, could you summon some of those damned souls for us?" Astarte tilted her head to one side but still summoned the souls. Each of the class selected one and began to demonstrate. Ame slowly broke each of her chosen soul's bones and melted their flesh. She also summoned her rat which gnawed at the soul before returning to her side.
Leon slowly used his blue flames to burn the soul, keeping them under control despite not being with the class for very long. Drake shift quickly from his armour to a blade taking his arm and chopped his soul into little pieces. Nao, Hotomi and Saturn used ice to freeze and slice the souls they had chosen into thin slices.
Sachi and Takao used their mind control to force their souls to take weapons from exorcists and kill each other. Autumn, Gen, Yuki and Kasai each maintained their animalistic auras and tore into their victims but maintained some humanity. Eda poked one of the souls and it rotted at his touch, Megumi formed weapons from the earth itself and stabbed her soul whilst Ron, sensing the fear that once filled the room was slowly fading, shot his victim. Kaito attacked his victim with its own fear, making it kill itself in a vain hope to escape its fears. Eve summoned her familiar Grim and sent it to attack the soul as Noel summoned her hell bat and did the same. Meiko summoned wormholes that Emiko knocked the souls into with the elements which Jenna used a spell that set her victim on fire, blasted them upwards then had them explode like a firework. Those gathered stared in shock.
The Paladin realised Cassandra wasn't attacking and decided to seize what may be his only chance at getting rid of Astarte. "What about this one then?" He asked, pointing at Cassandra. Everyone else began to murmur in agreement. Mephisto stepped forward to explain.
"She is the kin of the demon Zarathos. Her other side sees the sins of all and punishes them. Due to this, we cannot let her access that other side until we have a way of securing it so then it can be trained without harming others. But we have made some progress with the pendant. It holds back the demon side and helps the child stay in slightly more control by stopping the demon form from having any access to her mind and heart unless she wills it." Astarte nodded in agreement.
"You created that pendant yourself Sir Pheles?" The Grigori asked.
"Actually, Astarte made it. She took a crystal from one of the coves hidden within the land of the chimeras back in Gehenna and placed some of her own magic into it. Her spell and the demon rune carved into it using the claws of the famed feathered serpent demon Quetzalcoatl or Teufel as he is now known, act in unison to force the other side back and keep it back." Mephisto said. Everyone stared at the pendant that sat around Cassandra's neck. "Even in the presence of Samael, the demon will not break free." Mephisto added.
The Grigori glanced at one another and began to have a quiet discussion. Astarte sought this as her opportunity to turn to her class, despite the chains. "Why are you doing this? After everything that's happened." She asked them quietly.
"Because you're our teacher, the only one who is willing to teach us control princess." Takao said. They nodded in agreement.
"But...what about what happened yesterday?" She asked, confused by the entire situation.
"Yeah, you lied to us, but everyone lies at some point. Sometimes, we lie to protect those we care about." Ron said, going all philosophical on them. It was then it hit Astarte. They were fighting because they didn't want to be taught by someone who didn't understand them on the same level as she did.
She looked at each of them in turn before nodding firmly and getting to her feet, despite the chains and holding symbols. Her flames flickered briefly to give her strength before she stood to her full height. She looked regal and let out a long sigh before turning to face the Grigori and her fate.
"May we speak with the Outcast?" The Grigori suddenly said, startling everyone. Gasps emerged from those gathered. Astarte glanced at Amaimon and Mephisto before nodding slowly. She closed her eyes and gently coaxed the outcast forward using gentle words of demon tongue. Her left wing changed from its usual demonic form to an angel wing with purple and black feathers. A purple blindfold appeared over her left eye. A second demon tail appeared but was white with a purple tuft. She opened her right eye and revealed that the whites of that eye were replaced with black.
Well, I don't know if I should be impressed that you sought my opinion with this matter or suspicious as to why you sought to contact me. The Outcast said before glancing at the class who looked at her in shock. Oh yes, most of you do not know about me nor the others. Well, I'm sure the young one will tell you when she regains control.
"Young one?" Meiko murmured. Amaimon quickly responded to her unanswered question.
"The Outcast refers to Astarte as the "young one" because of how old the Outcast actually is." Amaimon explained. The class glanced at one another before the Outcast explained.
You see, little ones, I am the creator of the universe and the three realms as well as their residents. If not for me, none of you would exist today. But the humans' so called "God" realised that as long as I was in control, nothing could take my place. In the end, he forced the realms to rise up against me and cast me out of the realms without a form. I was stuck there for many millennia until the young one was born. She enabled me to exist within the realms. The Outcast turned to the Grigori who glanced at one another.
"Outcast, do you believe the demoness Astarte is in control of her flames?" They asked her.
Whilst not in full control, she is far better control than one would expect for one of her age. She is gaining the last few pieces of control with my help. I am giving her the power to set up her barriers and limitations. So, to answer simply, yes. The Outcast said. The Grigori glanced at one another before making a decision.
"Will you ensure she remains in control of her flames if we let her go?" They asked, ignoring the cries of outrage from those gathered around them.
I will. The Outcast replied with a nod.
"Then you may return to your slumber and we will release her." The Outcast nodded again before Astarte returned to her usual form and the chains released. "Demoness Astarte, you will be given one final chance. Break it again and you will be exorcised. Understand?" Astarte nodded rapidly. The Grigori disbanded the meeting and sent her away. As soon as she was out of the room, she tackled both Mephisto and Amaimon, her body shaking as they held her.
"What's all this about?" Mephisto said, trying to lighten the mood as the students let out a collective sigh of relief.
"I was so frightened when they said about the nightmare. I was frightened that I was going to lose you both." Her wings and tail drooped as tears streaked down her face. "I don't want that to happen. I've met so many amazing people with this class that I don't want to have to go back to Gehenna or worse, end up in the Garden. I can't after this. My heart can't bare the thought of losing you both." She cried. Amaimon and Mephisto both hugged her tighter.
"But you won't. You're safe now." Amaimon murmured, giving her a brief kiss on the forehead. She leant back and smiled as he wiped her tears away. Rapid footsteps sounded from the end of the corridor.
"Mummy!" She turned to see Sora and Chikyuu running and tackling her waist. "You're alright! You weren't sent back by the nasty people!" They cried. She shook her head, hugging them tightly.
"You have the class to thank for me staying here. If not for them showing how they are gaining yet more control, I would not be here to hug you both." She said. The two boys nuzzled into her shoulder. Rin watched, unused to seeing such displays of affection from demons. Many exorcists could only think of demons as lovers of mindless destruction and unable to display affection. Astarte stood and turned to the class.
"I, once again, have you lot to thank. If not for you, I would not be standing here right now. So...Arigato gozaimasu." She said whilst bowing. The class glanced at each other.
"So...do we get another day off?" Drake asked. Astarte looked up and grinned, making them think that they were getting the day off when suddenly she pulled out her blade and sliced his left arm off. Everyone stared in horror.
"No! We are now training for as long as we can each day! You will be trained to your full potential with your powers." She summoned Baphomet who appeared in a slightly smaller form to fit in the building and began to herd them out. "Let's go! Your training starts again tomorrow! Come on! Hayaku! Hayaku!" They quickly moved as the chimera chased them out. As they ran from the great beast, Astarte giggled. Things were not getting even more interesting.
Outside of the Vatican, in his base, Daniel threw his phone at the wall as his source informed him of what had happened. He growled as he realised how badly his plan had backfired. He paced up and down. "Well, no matter. I can still eradicate her by my own hand should it be necessary." He said. He walked over to the folders telling him everything that was known about Astarte. He read the file again and thought. He grinned as a new plan formed in his mind. No matter how long it would take, or even if it ended his own life, he would kill her.
Astarte: I dodged a bullet there.
Can you actually dodge bullets?
Astarte: You know...I don't actually know.
Let's test it. *Pulls out gun and fires it at her*
Astarte: *Falls to ground clutching hip* ARGH! SON OF A! WHY'D YOU SHOOT ME?!
To test it. You can't dodge bullets. At least not at close range. Anyway, I hope you lot enjoyed this chapter. I decided to explain the role of the pendant slightly more as well when I realised whilst reading operaghost96's story "The runner" that I never actually explained the purpose of the pendant. So there's the explanation.
Astarte: *gets up slowly off the ground* I hate you so much!
Quiet you. Now, until next chapter my dear readers this is sayonara from me the psychotic author
Astarte: Ciao