So. I just came home from lunch with a few high-school friends. Two of them are honestly really nice; one is like a little bouncing ray of sunshine, and the other is like a rock who knows exactly what's up and rolls with the punches. The third is a girl who relied on my for about two and a half years with her severe depression. I had been happy to help; she called me when she was feeling suicidal, I held her when she randomly had a crying fit, told her nice things when she felt like anything but. I wanted to help. I really did, but she needed more help than I could give her. Long story short, I spiraled into depression and suicidal thoughts for a while until I left the entire friend group and went off on my own, dragging one of my now best-friend with me. It literally took less than a month for me to recover from that.

Well, to be honest, it was hard to see her again. She was looking better than she had been a year ago, but every time she opened her mouth she didn't have a nice thing to say. Needless to say, I am NOT all right right now. I'll feel much better in a couple of hours, no worries. :) I'm not the type to be upset for long hahah

Anyway you guys! :D I got the rough draft of my book! Have I already mentioned that?! Well, make a fist; that's about as thick as my novel is. Aaahhhh it's a beautiful thing. A nightmare to edit, but beautiful. I'm planning to have it finished before June, specifically at May 29th (my birthday!) so hold me to that. :) Comments at the end!

Enjoy the chapter!

...

Angel's POV

...

The Paladin had his back to the wall and his gaze locked with one opposite of him, but it was as if he didn't see it at all. The sword in his hands trembled slightly, the flames reflected on its platinum surface wavering. Laughter - Satan's laughter - echoed on the stones around him.

For the first time in Angel's life, he knew what terror was.

He could hear Yukio's gasping breath, could hear Satan's knuckles crack as the demon tightened his grip. Amaimon was standing beside Angel, his eyes wide and his mouth pressed to a thin line. His gaze was cast upon the floor in an unbroken stare, but when Angel flicked his eyes to it, all that was on the ground were thin lines where the stones were laid and . . .

. . . and speckles of blood.

Angel's eyes widened. There was blood on the floor . . . and he had been wondering what the scent was in the stale air, the smell of iron and rot. Now he knew, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to in the first place.

Yukio's scream snapped him back to reality, and Angel slammed his back against the wall in a spasm of movement. His heart was erratic in his chest.

He, the Paladin, was destined to kill Satan. He had thought that he had been ready, had thought that he had prepared himself. After all, hadn't Angel trained for years upon years upon years for this moment? Hadn't he often daydreamed about the glory, the honor, the wealth that would come from killing the greatest killer of all? Hadn't Satan always been his target and his death Angel's dream? Hadn't it been?

So why, Angel wondered with clenched teeth, did I feel so afraid?

Satan's laugh bounced off the walls again, and with a faint shudder Angel leaned his head back against the cool stone and resigned himself to his fate.

At the very least, he could collect Yukio's body for burial detail.

. . .

Amaimon's POV

. . .

Amaimon heard Yukio's screams and hardened his heart against it. Why should he, a demon king, care about a human's cry? It wasn't his fault that the boy flung himself before Satan, just as it wasn't his fault that the human was now being toyed with.

Brother would be furious, Amaimon realized, if he learned of this.

The demon king scowled into the floor. That would be a problem if Mephisto hated him. A big problem, and if that happened, Amaimon wouldn't know what to do.

And there was one other thing he realized. Something that he hadn't even thought of until now. Maybe, just maybe, Amaimon was starting to see himself in Yukio. Like Yukio, Amaimon has a brother, and like Yukio, his brother had been banished to a different world on a whim. Like Yukio, Amaimon had chased after his brother . . . which was why he now lived in Assaih with Mephisto.

Brothers stood together through heaven and hell, and in a few cases, quite literally.

Amaimon raised his gaze, his eyes harder than stone and his heart even harder than that, his resolve being to save Yukio's life . . .

. . . and suddenly the hallway exploded in blue fire.

. . .

Yukio's POV

. . .

The fingers that was tight around his neck suddenly let ago, and Yukio felt heavily to the ground. His hand automatically flew to his neck as he choked, and to his surprise, he could see though his arm. Then he remembered that he was a soul, simply a soul, and he could have lost it forever.

That thought was flung to the back of his mind and locked there when suddenly his world exploded in blue. Yukio squeezed his eyes shut and covered his head with his arms as he lay prostrate on the floor, determined in his own way to live.

A bare foot slapped the ground by his head and, surprised, Yukio raised his gaze.

Blue eyes were looking down on him, eyes bluer than sapphires, with red irises a shade darker than rubies. Elongated canines gently pressed against the soft skin of Rin's bottom lip and his long ears were drooped slightly, and despite the blue flame alight on his head like a burning crown, his gaze was soft, kind, and more than a little surprise.

"Yukio . . . ?" Rin murmured.

But Yukio couldn't say a word. His eyes were wide, mouth wide open, and after a while his lower lip began to tremble slightly. Maybe because it was because he was still alive, maybe it was because the sheer impossibility of it all, maybe it was simply relief, but Yukio bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut against the tears that threatened to fall. He couldn't break down here. He was better than that.

Suddenly Satan's arm lashed out. Yukio gasped and Rin's name got stuck in his throat mid-cry, but Rin had already ducked. It had been faster than his human eyes could follow, just a blur of blue, when Rin snarled. Blue flame burst in the air, raising the temperature at least ten degrees. Sweat trickled down the small of Yukio's back as he stared in disbelief.

When had Rin become so strong?

"We're running," Rin muttered, his eyelids fluttered, then reached down and hauled Yukio to his feet. "We have to r - !" A sudden fit of coughing sent him to his knees, and blood splattered on the ground. Yukio was beside Rin and went to throw his brother over his shoulder . . .

. . . but a pair of hands beat him to it.

"Let's go," said a voice, and when Yukio raised his gaze, a pair of rosy eyes pierced him like a dagger. Yukio went rigid and curtly nodded his head, thus solidifying their roles. This demon was clearly in charge and, following his orders, Yukio helped put Rin on his back.

Suddenly Satan roared, and batted away the flames that had caged him. "Did you think that would stop me?" he demanded, eyes alight with rage, and Yukio flinched even as he raised his twin pistols that he hadn't been able to grab before.

Suddenly the demon beside him laughed. Laughed. And yet when Yukio turned to him in disbelief, the demon was a shade or two paler. "I had hoped," the demon shrugged, "but I guess not."

"Shut up, hybrid," Satan growled, "or I will cut your tongue out of your throat." Suddenly the King of Gehenna smiled - a dangerous, thin smile. "It wouldn't have been the first time, would it?"

"No sir," the pink-eyed demon replied. Sweat beaded on his brow, sticking his rosy hair to his forehead. "But may I make a proposal?" He seemed to be grinning, though it was little more than a twitch at the corners of his mouth.

Satan's eyes narrowed, and after a few moments of silence, curiosity won him over. "What?" he demanded.

The pink-eyed demon's smile widened. "Go fuck yourself," he stated, and suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. Satan roared and there was a spark of blue flame . . . but in an instant, it disappeared. Yukio stared in disbelief - why would Satan call off his attack? - when a thin hand latched onto his wrist.

"Remember why you came here, Rin's brother," hissed the demon. "Start running."

Yukio didn't have to be asked twice.

. . .

Satan's POV

. . .

Clever.

Too damn clever.

When the blinding light finally faded away, Raziele and the human boy had gone. So was the other human and demon presence from behind the wall, now that he thought about it. Satan had been furious for the first few seconds, and then he realized the brilliance of it all . . . pun intended.

Raziele had been using Rin, Satan's son, as a meat shield. He had gambled that he, Satan, the King of Gehenna and catalyst of the Blue Night, would not attack them for fear that Rin would be killed in the midst of it. Raziele had won his little bet, and Satan had called his attack off.

Satan laughed at the absurdity of it all; a lowly half-breed outsmarting him, the King of them all. Then without warning he slammed his fist into the wall, and with a shudder it crumbled to the floor, revealing the next three consecutive rooms that had collapsed due to the instantaneous aftershock.

There wouldn't be a second.

All done with this chapter! :) Hope you liked it! Well, I'm all story-ed out and am feeling a lot better. Don't want to go back to school though :( Speaking of which, I really need to buy my books. Gah. I should really get started on that, huh?

Comments!

DarkestDemonsInTheSoul - Thanks for all of the reviews - it made my day just reading them all! :) You're totally awesome!

Canis-Audax - Aww that's so sweet! Thank you so much! :) I love making OCs (maybe that's because I write original novels haha) so I'm glad that you like them!

Guest - I could hug you right now *hug* Thank you so much. I just might :)