Right, I was going to update earlier, but got distracted. I wish college made a "Procrastination" degree, because I would have a doctorates by now. Maybe in an alternate universe haha
All right, next chapter in the end-of-all-chapters. Let's do this.
(I got the worst headache x_x)
((This chapter is dedicated to the reunion between Rin and co.))
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
Rin stared into the turquoise eyes that seemed so familiar, and yet so foreign. His mind raced and his hands itched, the blood burning underneath his skin. Rin recalled that the human's name was Yukio, but it was only that ... a name, with no meaning behind it.
If he was thinking logically, he would have killed the human that struggled in his grasp. However, something kept him from crushing Yukio's throat, and - despite knowing full well that Satan could use the human against him - he allowed the human to fall.
Rin suddenly felt exhausted. The sky was getting brighter as well; the night must have passed, let alone the day.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his wrist. For a brief moment, Rin felt the urge to rip his hand away and strike with the other, but the notion dissolved away to nothing. It was strange; he was on the battlefield, and yet he didn't feel threatened at all. Some hazy memory from his human life, perhaps.
But, as Yukio slowly got to his feet, Rin realized that it was more than a memory. It was a part of him that he could never let go, no matter how hard he tried.
Rin slowly turned his gaze to look at Yukio's fingers, which were currently locked around his own bloodstained wrist, and turned away.
"Why did you come?" he asked. He watched the battle continue to rage, and noticed that there were significantly fewer demons. Half were dead, a few more were dying, and the few left alive were either cunning or stronger than most, maybe even Rin himself. "You'll die."
"I'm taking you home," Yukio stated. His eyes were wide, betraying emotion that he rarely let show. "You don't belong here."
Rin couldn't help but laugh at that. "Don't belong here ... Look at me! No one belongs here more than I do," he hissed, his eyes flashing as the flame inside him burned, and he turned to Yukio. "I led half of the demons here into battle," he continued, his voice low. "I have to stay and lead them back out."
. . . . . .
Yukio paused, his eyes wide.
I led half of the demons here into battle ...
For some reason, Yukio's mind couldn't quite grasp that. Rin led these demons... an army? The last time Yukio had seen Rin, he had to be rescued from Satan's grasp ... literally. And he had been half-dead at the time.
"Rin, you ... what ..."
"Rin!"
Rin's eyes went wide and he spun, his hand automatically scrambling for a weapon. Yukio noticed that Rin exposed his back to him, and couldn't help but smile; Rin, no matter how he acted, still trusted him. That was enough.
Shiemi ran forward, her emerald eyes wide. Behind her were the rest - Shura, Izumo, Bon, Konekomaru, Shima - and all were staring at Rin, the blood-stained, armor-wearing demon. Rin froze before him face scrunched up in the all-too familiar way.
"The hell ..." he muttered under his breath, then took a step back. "Stay the hell away from me," he ordered before he turned to Yukio, his fangs bared. "There's too many. I can't protect them. You have to leave."
Shiemi took a half-step forward, tears in her eyes. "Rin ..."
"Shut up!" Rin snapped. Shiemi flinched, but Rin didn't seem to notice; instead he turned back to Yukio, furious.
"The hell is this?" he growled. "Your friends? I'm in the middle of a war. A war between demons. Humans don't belong here, and I don't have the energy nor the patience to protect you all. In fact, just staying near me might get you killed," he added darkly. "I'm not exactly a low-profile target."
Yukio wasn't used to this Rin; or rather, he didn't know this Rin at all, and wasn't sure how to respond. It was Shura who replied for him.
"Rin, would ya stop freaking out?" Shura said, walking towards Rin. Rin turned to her, his eyes flashing scarlet. She pretended not to notice. "Rin, all ya've been talkin' about is how ya have ta protect us. But," she added in a softer voice, "have ya forgotten how often we have protected ya?"
. . . . . .
Rin paused, confused. He had never been protected ... no, even as he thought that, he knew that it wasn't true. Raziele had protected him during those first months in Gehenna, as did Agni and even Sophiel, in her own way.
But before that ...?
He tried to remember, to remember what had happened before Gehenna ... but that time was indistinct and hazy, as if he was trying to spot a ship at sea through marine fog. He could make out the outline, but the pictures inside were little more than blurs.
Suddenly Shura swung her arm around his shoulders. Rin resisted the urge to shove her off; despite being uncomfortable, it was oddly familiar and - odder still - slightly comforting.
"Let us help you," she whispered. "There was this one time ...
Rin closed his eyes to listen, and the memories began to fall.
. . . . . .
Rin stood in 'the strongest prison', his gaze locked with the distant horizon. He was idly aware that he was standing on giant clock gears; how they got inside, he didn't have a clue. Maybe the demon prison had a craving for metal and clock gears were just about the best thing. Or, now that he thought about it, was this a stomach at all?
"Where's this place ..." he wondered out loud. His mind went back to what Shura had just told him, that the Vatican had issued him a death sentence, and bit his lip. It wasn't like he wanted this ...!
He bit his lip and kicked a gear. It bounced over several others, and the sound of metal clanging together filled the air. "How can I - " he shouted, " - die in such a place!"
Die. Die just like his father - his real father - had done. And yet the causes were so different, he couldn't help but laugh. Die ... "How could I even die?" he murmured, standing among the wreckage. Will I really die this way? he wondered, thinking back to the time the Vatican had him in court. They had let him live then ... Maybe I should honestly be punished by the Knight's Circle, he mused, then added with a half-hearted smile, or I could just kill myself.
Neither option seemed great.
Rin raised his head towards the sky, or the top of the prison's stomach, or wherever he happened to be. "Go and die," Yukio had once told him. Maybe he had a point. Maybe, if he pulled out Kurikara again, he would just keep on hurting people...
Rin eyes hardened. And just when I thought that I was finally saved. Maybe, just maybe ... I should have been dead from the start. If that had happened, then maybe Yukio could have been a doctor, and the old man would still be alive. But now ... now he was dying, and he still hadn't made up with Yukio, the only family he had left.
Rin could feel his throat begin to close. "Father," he murmured, still looking at that endlessly blue sky, "why did you ..." - save me. But he couldn't get the words out and, his heart cracking, he tore his burning eyes away from the sky. "Tell me ...!"
"Rin!"
Startled, Rin snapped his head up and saw Shiemi running towards him. She was wearing her school uniform and also some sort of cloak, one that he didn't recognize.
Wait ...
"Sheimi ...?"
Now that he noticed, he realized that Shiemi was breathing hard, as if she had been running for a while. "Rin!" she shouted again. "I'm here to save you! I've heard everything from Kurikagure," she continued, taking another step forward. "You, Rin, are supposed to battle the Impure King, so we're here to save you!" She took another step forward. "So hurry and escape from here ..."
She took another step forward, one step too close, and suddenly all Rin could see were blue blames burning her alive ...
"Don't come over here!" Rin screamed, turning away from her. His heart hammered in his chest.
He could hear Shiemi pause before she murmured, "Why?"
Rin heard the hurt in her voice, and hated himself for it. Because there was nothing he could do. Because he didn't want to hurt her. Because ... "I have no confidence in controlling my flames," he murmured, and soon the words were tumbling out of his mouth without his control. "Until today, I thought that I could just keep on moving forward, keep on going and let my momentum carry me through. But that's impossible," he muttered. Somehow he had ended up on his knees, unable to look in her direction. After all, she was everything he wanted to be - everyone liked her, and she tried her hardest no matter what happened. But he was the son of Satan ... people were dead because of him.
"Maybe," Rin continued, suddenly tired, "I should just die like this."
Shiemi stopped breathing. "What ... What are you talking about?!" she suddenly shouted. Rin had only heard her mad once before, and that was when she had just found out that he was a demon. "You are ... not allowed to say this kind of thing again!"
I'm not allowed? Rin would have laughed, but all he had the energy for was a half-hearted smile that felt fake even to him. "You don't understand," he told her, then turned away and added, "and don't need to understand."
Shiemi suddenly stamped her foot. "Stop talking!" she shouted. Rin could hear the strain in her voice. "Don't chase me away with a smile!" Suddenly her voice grew a bit softer. "Rin, I ... I want to help you ..."
"Enough! Get away!" Rin shouted, whirling. He could feel the flames inside of him shift inside and burn, then spill out and coat him in the familiar, foreign blue fire that he hated and craved at the same time. And that was all the proof he needed. "I'm a monster!" The flames grew, darting in front of him like a living thing, and Shiemi took a step away with a faint scream, and her hands flew forward to protect her face ...
The flames disappeared immediately, and Rin could feel his eyes burn. "This ..." he murmured, but his voice cracked, so he tried again. "Me like this ..." but he couldn't finish. The emotions that he had shoved aside all this time now threatened to spill over and, ashamed, Rin turned away as tears slid down his cheeks one by one.
But there was faint movement to the side and, startled, Rin glanced up to see Shiemi suddenly reach forward in an embrace. He couldn't bring himself to push her away.
"I - Idiot, it's dangerous," he told her, but she only held him tighter.
"That's all right," she murmured into his ear, then suddenly drew back with a bright smile. "See?" she said with a grin. "I'm not burnt! You did it!"
Rin stared at her, unsure of what to say, before her actions caught up to him. With a startled cry he launched himself backward, his heart hammering away in his chest. "Aren't you afraid of me?" he asked, but Shiemi only smiled and shook her head no, that she wasn't afraid of him at all, and for the first time Rin thought:
If he was able to make her smile like that, then maybe he wasn't as terrible as he thought ...
. . . . . .
"H - Help me!" Rin could hear his screams echo inside the too-small of room. Deep down inside he knew that no one was coming, that he was going to fall into this hell-hole - literally. His old man - or Satan - stood in front of him, laughing hysterically, the blood continuing to poor from the bloody stubs from where the fingers had been. "Help me!"
Satan threw his head back and laughed. "Such lovely screams! You're about to be reborn, my son!"
Rin heard his words, but couldn't decipher their meaning through his terror-stricken panic. Hoping against hope, he screamed again, "Somebody - !" right as Satan began to cheerfully sing the 'Happy Birthday' song, which was punctuated by his hysterical laughter.
But suddenly the laughter stopped and Satan fell to his knees, groaning. Rin couldn't help but stare with wide, terror-stricken eyes as Satan gripped the old man's chest, right above the heart.
"What ... is this ..." he growled as he suddenly ripped the exorcist brooch off the jacket and slammed it into his chest. Rin's breath caught in his throat as Satan - now as Shuro - chuckled, a familiar chuckle that squeezed at Rin's heart.
"This boy ... is my son!" Shuro shouted even as blood continued to drip from his eyes, nose, mouth, and then turned to Rin and smiled. "And," he continued, his voice softer still, "I'm taking him back."
. . . . . . .
Rin remembered.
He remembered how Yukio had made a promise to the old man to protect him, no matter what. He remembered how Bon would always help him with studying, Konekomaru had always answered any of his questions, how Shima would lend him his 'books', and how Izumo had always accepted him for who he was without any judgment. He remembered how Shura promised to take him on as her student, after the Vatican had their way with him, and how Shiemi saved him from himself in that prison a lifetime ago. More than that, he remembered his father - his real father, Shiro - and how he gave his life to save him.
And, for the first time since he had come to Gehenna, Rin realized that he had never been on his own at all. Human, demon, or a little bit of both, they had always been there for him.
He had just been blind to it until now.
Rin's hands went limp at his side, his mouth opening and closing as he tried - and failed - to find the right words to say. They had come all the way to Gehenna for him, and now ... "You guys," Rin began, "I ... thank you ... "
But Yukio just placed a hand on his shoulder. "Of course," he smiled. It was a rare smile, the first real smile since Rin had disappeared. He had found peace on the battlefield, a peace shared by Rin and the others.
Shura was the first to break the calm. "But day-um Rin, ya have gotten tall!" Rin blinked at her outburst, and she suddenly took two large steps until she was standing directly in front of him. "I mean, ya about six foot now, at least!" she added with a scowl.
Rin flashed a crooked smile - some things hadn't changed at all. "Sorry?"
She glared at him, but everyone could tell that she didn't mean it. "Well, since ya apologized, I'll forgive ya," she said with a faint wave. "But don't we have something to do now?"
Rin's expression darkened. "Yeah," he replied. "Let's go kill Satan."
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
CHAPTER EXPLANATION BELOW! !IMPORTANT!
Long chapter! That's due in part due to the flashbacks; I used direct flashbacks from the manga, mostly to describe pivotal moments in Rin's emotional rollercoaster of a life. :) I also had Shura play an important role in this chapter; I always kind of saw her as an older-sister character to Rin, and as an older sister myself (oldest out of the entire family, extended and everything!) I was easily able to write it from her perspective, from the soft-nurturing-older-sister moments to the my-only-job-in-life-is-to-tease-you moments. And of course, Yukio's always there to help Rin out, even when Rin can't find the right words to say. :) They're like a family of sorts haha
Anyway, I'm also going to explain the whole memories-thing, since I don't think that that really translated well from my mind to the page. Basically, Rin has slowly been forgetting what living in Assiah was like while he has been in Gehenna. This is due partially to the shock and trauma of it all, and now with Rin's new-found responsibilities as a Prince of Gehenna who is currently dealing with a war, he's changed too much to really relate back to his Assiah life. This is made especially clear during the actual war scenes; Rin killed a lot of demons in a lot of different ways, and when he enjoyed using his flames, he threw away his right to be called human, and in doing so threw away his Assiah life forever ... or so he thought. But, thanks to Yukio, Shura, and the rest of them (typing their names out every time is monotonous, sorry), he remembered that he's not as terrible as he thought he was (Shiemi flashback) and that Shiro saved him as his son, not as a weapon made for killed (Satan flashback). Basically, he remembered not only his Assiah memories but the feelings and emotions behind them, and so - officially pieced back together - he's able to fight Satan.
But to do that, he had to run into Mephisto, who is currently trying to hold Satan back in order to buy time for Yukio and co. But what about Raziele and Beelzebub? And what has Sophiel been doing all this time?
Next chapter tomorrow! It's midnight and I have to go to work. :( Sorry I didn't post more chapters today! I honestly thought that I would ... I guess saying 'I'll finish the story tonight!' was a bit too ambitious haha! I'll post another tomorrow!
Stay awesome,
Random