Sorry for the MIA! I have no excuse, not counting schoolwork. Lab reports are a bitch, pardon the language - twelve pages and all about transformation of E. coli (a bacteria that lives in your gut. Yes, you.) using GFP from a jellyfish whose scientific name escapes me, and then analysis of the transformed proteins using SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. In short, while the lab wasn't hard, the paper sucked. My professor is awful. Nice lady, but . . . meh.

On the flip side, I'm 90% certain that I'll be going to Australia for the fall semester! Well, I guess it would be spring over there, huh. :D But anywho, I submitted my application and everything, picked out most of my classes, and all that's left is to acquire a student Visa and renew my darn passport that's expiring this month! But anyway, I'll be more-or-less sort-of close to Sydney! How awesome is that?!

Anyway. Enough about me. Enjoy chapter two of the second arc :) Basically, a ridiculously long Rin spiel. Comments on bottom.

The sky was dark and ominous. The cloud cover was thick and streaks of light crashed in the sky like giants wrestling, crashing, crashing upon the distant ground. The lighting was jagged yet beautiful; awe-inspiring, yet cruel, the clouds opened in a sudden downpour.

Rin's sapphire gaze was locked on the sky. Rain slid down the contours of his face like icy tears. Once, he had thought that hell would be a blazing inferno, a boiling pot of the sinful dead with demons picking at them like vultures on a fresh kill.

Yet, against all of his expectations, hell was cold. It was a chilled wasteland, a type of chill that cuts right to the bone like a dagger. Rin lowered his gaze, his dark clothes drenched and clinging to his skin, and an involuntary shiver ran down his spine. He closed his eyes . . .

. . . and he was a human, staring into a mirror as he was being dragged across the floor. Broken shards of glass littered the ground like dry autumn leaves, but Rin didn't even notice, didn't notice when he kicked out and a shard cut into his foot. All he was aware of was the . . . the thing bringing him closer and closer to some screaming hole in the floor - the Gehenna Gate.

He screamed that he was human. That he wasn't one of them, but then he saw himself in the mirror and froze.

The face that looked back at him wasn't human. It was a monster, a monster with fangs and slitted eyes, a monster that could kill as easily as it could breathe. It wasn't a human. It wasn't his face. It couldn't be, because if it was, then he was no different from the demons he had killed over and over and over . . .

A sudden hand clasped his shoulder and Rin started, surprised, and the memory faded into the tortured corner of his mind he tried to keep buried.

"You'll catch a cold," Raziele told him. Raziele's rose eyes had darkened over the months; now, they were a glossy scarlet, though a shade lighter than rubies, maybe closer to a bloody sunrise.

Rin shook Raziele's hand off. "I won't catch a cold," he murmured, his eyes focused on the distance. He could see Satan's castle, a jagged edge on the horizon that made his stomach clench at the sight.

Raziele remained silent behind Rin before whispered, "Come inside."

Rin hesitated for a moment and bit his lip, then squeezed his eyes close and forcibly tore himself away.

He was still in the rehabilitation phase of his recovery. Not a physical recovery; he would have healed that without help. No, what Satan had truly gashed was his emotional health. Ever since the Pit, ever since his time spent in jail, his mood had gotten worse and worse. He had recovered - but he had only recovered so far. It seemed like death was constantly one step behind him, always there with his blade grazing the soft of his throat, and no matter how far he ran, it was still there.

He hardly slept. Hardly ate, and Sophiel wasn't around to make him, he probably wouldn't. The constant alertness and terror had dwarfed his emotions considerably. Raziele and Sophiel were trying to help him, but these days, he couldn't even bring himself to smile.

. . .

After Rin's retrieval from Satan, preparations were made to recruit an army. After all, counting himself, there were only three against the entirety of Gehenna.

"If Satan could convince angels to fight against God," Rin had stated, "then we can convince a few demons to overthrow Satan."

The only problem was, how.

And yet it was surprisingly easy. The death of Xavier had spread far, and once it was learned that Rin had been the one to do it, demons had come just to meet the fabled Prince of Gehenna. Sophiel had also managed to spread a rumor among the other slaves that two half-breeds fought against Satan and won. It was a bit of a stretch, but now the rumor had permeated through Gehenna. Demons were not a very loyal bunch, and Raziele had managed to convince Rin that they would follow the most powerful. If they could make it sound like that one person was Rin, demons from every level of hell would come for him.

Rin wasn't sure whether to be comforted or horrified.

Now he wandered the tunnels of the distant mountain, his - and his people's - new home.

His people.

Rin briefly glanced at his hand. With these hands, he had somehow managed to scrape together a city, and now he walked towards the ledge and inspected the world below.

The mountain had once been a volcano. That said, there had been plenty of old tunnels and hollows to work with, and the largest was in the middle of the mountain. A fire burned below and constantly spat out black soot. From the fire, swords and armor was being made by demons that had once served in Satan's own armory. There weren't nearly as numerous, but they had been discontent under their previous master.

Rin was their new master now, and despite being clueless on the matter, Raziele did his best to keep him informed.

Supplies were being made in a different tunnel; the heated stone acted as an oven for bread and such. Agni had escaped Gehenna to come here, and with her, her personal slaves. Sophiel had convinced many of her fellow slaves to come here as well with the promise of freedom.

Looking down, previous slaves made up most of the population.

Suddenly a figure darted up the staircase to meet them. Rin turned, eyes cold and narrow, but his gaze softened when he saw who it was.

"Sophiel," he said, his tone not unkind.

Her pale hair had grown out a bit and her visible violet eye seemed to be more gentle as she lightly bowed in greeting. "A visitor," she murmured. "He states that he comes from Satan."

Rin's blood went cold for a moment and his stomach tightened, but he forced himself to exhale. "I'll go," he informed her and Raziele, then focused his attention on Raziele only. "If I don't come back in an hour, come for me."

Raziele's expression darkened, but he only nodded. Both knew that when Rin said 'come for me', he wasn't talking about his living body. He meant a corpse. "Make sure you come back in time, then," he stated.

Raziele's light-hearted jabs were one of the few things that could set Rin at ease, if only for a moment. That moment passed the moment he turned around and followed Sophiel down the stairs.

The visitor was not who Rin had been expecting.

"Astaroth," he said darkly, taking a seat across from one of the demon kings. Firelight danced on the dark walls.

Astaroth smiled, her gaze bright and mischievous. "Hello, little Prince."

. . .

Plot so far, since it might be a bit jumbled!

Last arc, Mephisto had traded Rin for his freedom, but Satan betrayed him and now Rin is stuck in Gehenna indefinitely. After being in Satan's care for a while, he made a friend out of Sophiel, the servant girl, and later made a friend out of Raziele. After a series of events, Rin's "training" began, which ended up with him in the Pit, an arena where demons kill other demons, sinners, or types of foul beasts. After Rin killed Xavier, Satan took the battered and unconscious Rin into his own care. Meanwhile, Yukio, who had entered Gehenna with Angel and Amaimon with the help of Mephisto, found Satan and Rin in a hallway and confronted them. After Raziele managed to get them to safety, Rin recovers his full consciousness and they all decide to go to the mountain in the distance (the one from the manga).

This arc, to date, Rin has declared war on Satan and, thanks to Sophiel and Agni, recruited a mass amount of slaves. Rumor in Gehenna is that Rin might potentially be stronger than Satan and a civil war is in the throws. He also made a blood oath with Astaroth, his previous enemy, and they vow to end the oath when her enemy Asmodeus is dead and Rin completes his mission to kill Satan. Back in Assaih, the students of the exorcist cram school are trying to find a way to enter Gehenna and Yukio has sunken into deep depression after his failure to retrieve Rin.

Hope that makes sense?

Anyway.

Yami - The Devil's Advocate: Yeah, arc two will probably just continue with arc one. I've done the whole sequel-thing before and trust me, it's not that organized. :) Expect to see more of Yukio in the future! :D

optimustaud: Really!? :D :D :D Thank you! Hopefully it continues to meet those high standards! :)

UltraPandaRoll: (amazing name by the way) and thank you! :) Sorry that this chapter is so late!

ScarletRose88: Really?! You're from Sydney?! :D Omigosh dude, that's awesome! Please tell me all about it - I have no idea what to expect, and my grandparents have literally given me like 4 books on Australia and it's crazy how different it is from here! :D I'm so excited to go!

Dowgma: Felt like I died last weekend! I had to write three giant essays last weekend and spring break was the weekend before... ah, dude. Life. Anyway, I posted :) Thanks for being so awesome! Please don't cry 3 hahahah

Jay: Badass hottie indeed! *provocatively wiggles eyebrows* xD

Anyway, that's it for the comments, but thank you for being so patient! Love you all, and I hope you've had an amazing time when I was gone.

Love you all, and stay awesome,

Rand0mSmil3z