Another difficult chapter to write. I really can't get Satan's persona correct, but hopefully it doesn't distract too much from the story!
Also, thank you for all of the reviews! I don't address them in the story, but I read and love every single one :) So thank you!
oOo oOo oOo
Something cracked.
Yukio felt the break deep in his chest and resonate there, a wild thumping that matched his own beating heart. Heat flickered and roared in response, and all of a sudden blue light was dancing across Rin's pale cheekbones and the sunken bruises of his eyes. It took Yukio a moment to realize that it was not Satan's flame. No, not at all. It was his. He had finally broken, and now his inner demon could finally crawl out.
Though, it not so much as crawled out of his broken heart but galloped, roared, and rattled the stars. Flames licked the sky, flames so hot that even the air itself hissed and popped. Heat rippled across the landscape. Those still remaining on the ground tilted their head towards the sky; a blue sky, not the usual burnt, blackened cosmos. For some, it was the first time seeing a blue sky.
But Yukio did not notice. No; as the world shifted into shades of red and blue, he lifted his head and met Satan's gaze dead-on. Satan stared at his son and, for the first time, truly saw him. No longer was Yukio the weaker human half. Not at all. His power lacked Rin's training and was wild and untamed; a storm compared to Rin's tempered skies.
Satan grinned, then tilted his head back and laughed. "More," he screamed to the hidden stars. "More, Yukio."
Yukio obliged.
Like a puppet on a string, he stretched out one hand - the other was still grasping Rin - and the flames followed. The air hissed and roared, and Satan's smile widened as he also stretched out his hand. Fire collided like waves crashing onto shore, then collided again. And again. And again. Every collision echoed across the landscape, and soon the air grew thin and Yukio's lips sticky from burning lipids. His hand tightened across Rin's shoulder with every blast. It was bonier than he remembered.
Suddenly the flames parted, revealing a pair of bright, sapphire eyes. "You'll have to do better than that," whispered Satan moments before he disappeared back into the fire. "Much better."
Yukio grit his teeth and, drawing back his hand, willed more fire to burn. It needed to be hotter, bigger, more power than Satan himself. It didn't matter if he burned his entire arm in the process. Hell, he didn't care if he burned to ash himself. There was nothing left for him in either Assaih of Gehenna, anyway. Everything he mattered about was gone.
His tears hissed and evaporated on his cheeks as sapphire flame swelled around his arm, formed what appeared to be a ball of fire bigger than any living human or demon.
"Yukio!" Mephisto's faint shout echoed through Yukio's mind, but the voice was hazy, indistinct, and distant. "Don't do it! You'll die!"
So? Yukio kept his gaze leveled onto Satan, who was awaiting his fire with a smile and open arms. Who cares?
"Rin -" A pause, followed by a cough. "Rin ... he isn't dead!"
Yukio's flames flickered, and his eyes widened. Something cold bled through his veins. What?
"I froze his time; he isn't -"
"Let the brat try," Satan shouted. It was strange; Yukio did not think he had ever heard Satan shout like that before, not that he had much experience in the matter. "Let him try."
Yukio's eyes widened a fraction. There was desperation in Satan's tone, a strange sort of hurry that made Yukio pause. It was almost as if Satan wanted to die. But why?
"Don't -" Mephisto shouted again, but suddenly Satan was moving; moving to either shut Mephisto up forever or kill Yukio. It didn't matter. Yukio, though his sapphire, slitted eyes could finally see Satan's movement, his body simply was not fast enough. It was all he could do to open his mouth in warning, to hold Rin's body a little closer against him, and to pray that a miracle occurred. That was what Yukio needed: a miracle.
He happened to be holding one.
Because the moment Mephisto froze the time around him to keep himself safe from Satan, Rin's own frozen time began to move.
So the Prince of Gehenna cracked open one sapphire eye, then the other, before murmuring, "The hell?"
oOo oOo oOo
So I think that the next chapter may be the last one? Well, maybe to second to last if you count the epilogue, which I'll be sure to write :)
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And, as always, if you have any questions, please let me know :) Have a great week, and good luck at school/ work/ life!
-Random