Here is the third chapter, NO PLAN to update today BUT since I am stuck with my school work I figure I need a refreshing and somehow this chapter finished... XDDD

3rd Pillar: The Fallen Ones

Somewhere unknown...

Just a month ago he was a junior high school drop out in desperate need to find a job, and now those human need became mundane he even couldn't feel concerned about. Suddenly the world was not limited to his family and school anymore, but so much larger and it would be overwhelming if he forgot he used to be on the center of things. He wondered if he could still call himself human with this kind of mind set.

Who was he trying to fool? If he could being either human or demon, his life won't be so difficult and complicated. Because of his demonic blood, no matter how he wanted it he couldn't trully live as a human and as a demon he didn't really belong to demon world because of his humanity. He was a halfling, a child born of demon and human.

Perhaps fifteen years of believing he was a human was a reprieve, regardless of an abnormal human he used to be. Then again considering who and what he was, it could be considered normal. The process recovery of his memory was slow and painful, but it was inevitable once he took his heart back to his body. He would like to think it was his choice, even though it was between living as a demon and death.

At least he had a choice to choose which heart to take in.

He knew his comrades thought it was silly of him to reject power, he could take both demon hearts, he would get stronger. They didn't voice it out loud though and agreed that some power didn't mean to be taken recklessly. They knew very well that sometimes power brought nothing but grief.

Of course it was power who brought them to Solomon at first, but in the end that great power brought Solomon to ruin too. His death taught them that much.

That was why... this time they had no intention to repeat the same mistake. They would do anything in their power to regain what they had lost and protect it.

It was a fierce meeting, neither side wanted to give in too much but in the end they had to reach an agreement sooner or later. He can't say it was the best they got but acceptable nonetheless. It would suffice for their mutual benefit.

"Then it's decided."

He sighed exasperatedly, wondering why the other side had to make it sounded like they made the decision and in charge? Looking at his companions' expression they didn't like it either. "Calm yourselves." At the time like this he wondered if the world was really upside down now that he was the voice of reason in the group. "Well then, shall we get them down in paper?"

Their aides began to write it down and the finished contract was placed between two sides. He reread the contract, eyes skeptical to find loophole either side could abuse and find none that could cause serious harm. Then he passed it to the other side, and he was sure they were doing the same.

Blood spilled and sigil was drawn in it, bidding their very soul according to the contract.
"It's done, and from now on until the contract is fullfilled... our fates are weaved with each other..."

Assiah, Japan

It was already a month and a half since that fateful day, the day his brother disappeared from Assiah. Gehenna gate Astaroth made with mixing his vessel's blood and Rin's had disappared, but its effect remain as for a while demons were growing rowdy. However it was nothing the order couldn't handle.

In monastery they had settled down somewhat but it was not the same with his brother missing and their father was...

That night when he tried to protect Rin, his legs were wounded by Astaroth. Even though it was treated as immediately as they could in spite of so many things transpired by then, the wound was too deep and the poison had spread. It was a miracle he didn't lose his life, to have his legs paralyzed and losing his Paladin status in exchange was a hefty price but he was alive and that was the most important to Yukio.

And his brother...

At first Yukio and other exorcist in monastery thought Satan had him and he was in Gehenna now but a lot of demon were looking for him in Assiah and Mephisto himself confirmed that his spy in Gehenna informed him that Satan and his demons were searching for Rin. Mephisto unlike the rest of them was in cheery mood at the thought of someone pulled one on his father, and Yukio once again reminded himself this demon was on this side just to spite Satan before he snapped and tried to kill the demon himself.

In the end Rin was still missing and he was powerless. His father kept telling him it was no one's fault, they tried their best and he believed Rin was alive somewhere. They just had to wait for Rin to show up with pouty face and body full of scratch, then as usual Yukio will have to patch him up. Rin will return to them. It was a faint hope, but his heart wanted to believe in them in spite his logic said otherwise.

His thought was interupted when his phone rang and he quickly picked it up. A smile formed in his lips when he heard Izumi-san explained his father was complaining non-stop about horrible hospital food and he missed Ri... here, Izumi-san cut himself and said 'Risotto' from his favorite restaurant. Yukio understood they were busy and the cram school had ended so he had time to buy it for father.

It didn't take long to finish his errand and reach the hospital. "It's 5:36 PM now... I guess I can tell the nurse to put it in fridge and heat it up for father's dinner." He murmured to himself, looking up from his watch he spotted the window that connected to his father's room.

The sun was almost set and yet the light was still off and the curtain is open. He stopped on his track, "Someone is standing in front of father's window, who?" There was a tall figure standing just outside of the window, wearing dark clothes so Yukio couldn't see the figure very well.

Yukio stepped closer towards the mysterious person, he was just a few feet away from the said person when his lips moved faster than his thought. "Nii-san?!"

"Yes?" The stranger answered, whirled around in surprise so he was face to face with Yukio.

That was when he got closer look on the person he mistook as his brother from behind.

Not Rin, was the first that come to mind and he must be hallucinating to mistake this person with his brother. The only resemblance they shared was the color of their hair and eyes, but not quite either. This person had dark blue hair while Rin's was almost black like his, and it was long enough to reach pass his shoulder with slight curl in the end. His eyes were blue in lighter shade, and narrower than Rin's. His skin was fair with no blemish, unlike Rin who was slightly tanned.

And the most deciding factor was...

"My apologies, I mistook you for someone else..." Yukio apologized, blushing furiously.

This person, he was a few inches taller than Yukio while Rin was three inches shorter. Growth spurt or not his brother couldn't shot up by five inches in less than two months, he also looked older than Rin.

"Ah..." The stranger blinked owlishly and Yukio was surprised to see pain flashed in those eyes. "It's fine..."

His voice was also different, deeper with gentler speech. "I am really sorry if I startled you, by the way do you come to visit my father? Are you an aquintance?"

"Ah actually I..." He was cut off when he saw someone approached them.

It was a foreigner, a man with chesnut hair dressed in formal attire in deep gren color."It's time to go back." The man said in English with British accent.

Yukio eyed the newcomer warily and shocked to see him smirking, and for a moment Yukio thought the man was inspecting him from head to toe. "Already? I see..." Yukio's attention once again was drawn by the blue haired man, "Excuse me then..." He switched to Japanese.

"Ah, yes..." Yukio responded in a daze.

He was about to walked away when Yukio heard the eerily familiar voice said, "See you later." But when he turned around the two foreigners were gone.

Shiro's room

"I don't know anyone from England." The soon to be ex-paladin said to his adopted son. "Or anyone that match your description just now."

Yukio narrowed his eyes, "I see... could it be he is our colleague from England? A messenger or sort perhaps?"

The paladin shook his head, "That's impossible... because..."

"Because England is not under True Cross Order's authority." Familiar drooning voice continued as the door opened, revealing a demon in white suit.

The younger exorcist frowned, "But Christianity is strong in England so why?"

It was Fujimoto who answered his son, "Because other Exorcist organization stand there independently from True Cross Order, they're called The Hand of God. Church of England's very own Exorcist army." He explained with a sigh, "Well... we don't talk about it but Vatican and English church is not in the best term because of a lot of reasons." Which meant they just pretend the tension wasn't there or it was classified information Yukio was not privy with. "So it's understandable young folks like you didn't know..."

Mephisto grinned, "The boring politic talk aside, what made you ask about whether Shiro have any aquintance from England?" He asked with obviously morbid curiosity.

"An Englishman was outside just now and he seemed like about to visit father but for some reason he didn't come in." Yukio explained, "It really bothers me... especially because for a moment I mistook him for my brother, I don't think I have apologize properly because he was pretty flustered I callled him out of the blue."

The demon in white suit narrowed his eyes, "You mistook him for your brother? How come? Does he looks like Okumura Rin?"

Yukio shook his head, "His coloring resemble Nii-san a little but other than that not at all..."

"Oya? Give me a better description, Okumura-kun." Mephisto rubbed his palms with a grin and Yukio took a step back. "Maybe I can find this person for you."

"Uhm..." Yukio trailed off, a little uncomfortable by Mephisto enthusiasm. "Tall... around two to three inches taller than me, pale skin, dark navy long hair going past his shoulders." Yukio added, "Eyes in lighter shade of blue... he is wearing formal suit, white undershirt, dark blue vest, and everything else in black."

Mephisto rubbed his chin, "Let me make a guess..." He raised his forefinger. "Is this young man very beautiful?"

His left eye twitched, "What kind of question is that? I am giving you an objective description, Lord Pheles!"

The demon rolled his eyes, "Fine, different question... is he ugly or good looking? A or B?"

"I guess... B?" It was an understatement, but as a man Yukio felt weird to call another man good looking or beautiful. But that man was indeed pleasant to look at.

Fujimoto frowned at how Mephisto interrogated his son, "What make you so curious? Probably the poor boy was just lost."

He snorted, "Well... have it ever cross your mind he was a demon?"

Yukio's left eye twitched again, he did that a lot around Mephisto. "Excuse me Lord Pheles, are you insinuating that I was fooled by a demon?" He was a trained exorcist damn it!

"I didn't say you were fooled, Okumura Yukio-kun." Mephisto corrected with amused voice. "What I meant you didn't notice..." That was worse! "And understandably so if this mysterious person is what I thought."

The Paladin narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean? A demon that can catch an exorcist off guard?" Of course Exorcist was not infallible and on occasion demon could look human enough to fool them but Yukio was special, for him to be completely unaware he was talking to a demon...

Mephisto cleared his throat, "What I mean is... Okumura-kun never faced this kind of demon before, in fact I am sure the number of exorcist of True Cross Order who have met any could be counted in one hand if not none..."

"What kind of demon you're talking here?" Fujimoto asked with a frown. "Even if a demon is hiding in human skin, no matter how good it's hard to hide their demonic aura."

"It's a fallen one."

Somewhere else...

"Rin, that was close but... perhaps I should leave you alone with your brother?" The brown haired man asked.

Rin shook his head sadly, "No, thank you for calling me out... it would be bad if my cover was blown in this form." He laughed softly, "Yukio is too sharp for his own good... but I am glad even though I looks like this now..." He looked at his reflection at the pond, it was already dark but they were standing near a lamppost at the park. "He instinctively know it's me... we're twins after all..."

"Rin..."

Rin tilted his head to the side, "You know... you don't have to force yourself to call me Rin, he was me and I am him... you can call me with that name." He was glad they made a lot of effort to make him comfortable with his new identity but he wished they didn't have to. At least he wanted them to call him with the name they were familiar with.

His companion shook his head, "You cherish the name Rin... and even though you never told me, I know your old name brings you pain... " He tensed at that, "Even though that person meant... well with giving you that name."

Well was one way to call it. "I know... it's a reminder for me..." He murmured with a smile, "A reminder of sin I committed even before I was born... that I never was innocent..." He shook his head. "Unlike what you guys thought, while that name brought me pain when I was young... it was the smallest form of atonement a demon like me could afford... Right? My dear friend, John Dee..."

He smiled sadly, "If that's what you want but this time..."

"It didn't erase my past sin..." Rin pointed out. "And as much as I should move on, I shouldn't forget it either... so call me with that name... beside I am still the same person, John..."

He knew the look John shot him and how the other demon as usual gave in to his whim. "If that's what you want..."

Exactly what he wanted.

"Camio..."

Back in hospital

"The fallen one?" Yukio echoed.

Mephisto nodded, grinning maniacally. "You know the theory that demon was angel fell from grace? Well... a shame but I wasn't born with white wings and halo, and I didn't exchange them for horns and tail either LOL!"

Was that LOL necessary? The two human wondered mentally.

"Demon like me were born of demon parents... you know when Mom and Da..."

Yukio was ticked, "No one wants to hear that, just get to the point!"

The demon had the nerve to pout. "Fine, spoil sport... Eins, zwei, drei!" They gasped as infinite darkness stretched before them and quickly calmed themselves as this was Mephisto's power. "Most demons like me were born as one and my ancestors were too..."

A poof and before them appeared a cartoon looking typical devil, red body, with horns and tail, and it was grinning at them mischievously. Another poof from Mephisto's head and this time what appeared was a statue of angel with torn wings, and it was cradling them. "However there were angels who fell to hell." He explained, pointing at the statue with his umbrella. "They're fallen angels... although at some points they also categorized as demon... usually they're extremely attractive, because well... for obvious reason... They were heavenly beings."

Yukio adjusted his glasses that had fell from his nose. "I see... but how come the True Cross Order exorcist rarely find them? Are they on the verge of extinction or there are so few of them?"

"Or they didn't meddle with human to begin with?" The paladin added, curious that even a Paladin like him knew so little of them.

Mephisto shook his head, "You're right about their number is not large... not to begin with, as for on the verge of extinction who knows?" He shrugged and then an illusion of moon appeared. "They lived separately from us... on the moon of Gehenna, so we didn't know much of each other's affair. We're not on the best term with them, we live in the same world but not really. Then again by unspoken agreement we opted to not bother each other..."

That was hard to imagine, considering Satan was... Satan.

"Contrary to popular belief, Satan was not blood thirsty enough to the point of idiocy..." Mephisto explained, obviously he knew what was running through their mind. "The fallens had lots of hatred for their former home and kin, so they and heaven... Zion, keep each other occupied for centuries... and we don't want them to have reason for temporary truce and turn on us."

Instead Satan let them slaughter each other, very Satan of him.

"However... for who knows why, or perhaps they know Satan is waiting to prey on weaker side... they never warred to the point of dealing fatal blows... in fact by now they're just keeping status quo and moves their rivalry... else where." Mephisto sighed loudly here, "However unlike low level demons that just make nuisance out of themselves... fallen ones are tricky when dealing with human..."

Fujimoto narrowed his eyes, "Could it be... fallen one, their name means..."

"Yes." Mephisto drawled. "It means angels and humans that fell to hell... " This time an illusion on punny angel like doll and human fell to a hole. Did he has to show everything literally? The humans wondered. "Unlike human and original demon their fertility is low so they seek to make contract with human to increase their number..."

Yukio swallowed at that, demon that could turn human to demon?

"A scarier prospect ne?" Mephisto grinned, "Death is a better option for exorcist than becoming the very creature they hate..." He laughed out loud. "Both kind... origin and the fallen can take human souls but we can't take it by force without some sort of contract, in the other hand the fallen ones can force you..." Although using contract was preferable because a willing pawn was better, especially considering how important their pawn was to them.

Fujimoto Shiro rubbed his chin, "I see... but what make you suspect the man Yukio saw was a fallen one?"

"Because Church of England contacted Vatican just now." Mephito answered in deadpan tone as if it was not important, "Or to be exact, Hand of God Order contacted True Cross Order, informing us they want to send their exorcist to Japan... so a draft of alliance is being written as we speak in Vatican." A temporary one, but an alliance nonetheless.

"What?!" They gasped in shock. "Then are you doing here?!" He was the head of Japanese branch!

Mephisto rolled his eyes, "Okumura-kun I get it, but Fujimoto-san... you know why Hand of God dislike our organization.. do you think they will want me to be there even though the said agreement involves me?"

The Paladin winced, "Oh... of course." At his son's inquiring look he explained with a sigh, "Unlike us... Hand of God loath to involve demon in their midst, if Mephisto is brought along they will exorcise him first and ask later." He doubted they could though. "They did use demonic familiar like tamer on occasion though... but they see our cooperation with Mephisto and any other high level demon as a form of betrayal and sacrilege to Christianity... and when we open ourselves for other belief, they cut every form of contact with us... because we're consorting with pagans."

Yukio frowned at that, "But it's a necessity! We have to extend our alliance to survive!"

"Well..." Fujimoto rubbed the back of his head, "That's true but... "

He crossed his arms, feeling offended for his non-christian comrades. "Then we're better off without them..."

Mephisto shook his head with a sigh, "Okumura-kun, there is a big BUT in their case... if they choose to be wiped out instead of asking for alliance from pagans as they put it... not even a demon like me would hold it against them."

Yukio blinked owlishly, not expecting Mephisto, a demon to defend them. "Is that because... they have deeper grudge against demons than we do?"

The demon waved his hand in negative gesture, "No, not really... the problem is..." Then Mephisto pointed his finger up and didn't say anything else.

They stared at his finger and then Yukio asked, "What is that finger for?"

Mephisto gave Fujimoto a look and Yukio felt a childish urge to pout because they were treating him like a clueless child. "Church of England... is constantly in direct contact with their patron, Arch Angel Uriel..."

His eyes widened, "An angel?"

Mephisto nodded, "Uriel... is the angel of repentance and cruelty, he has reputations among us demons... we call him a sadist." He shuddered, "With a patron like that do you think The Hand of God would dare to even entertain a thought to fight together with non-believer for survival sake?" He snorted, "Uriel himself will personally punish them for such transgression... "

They winced in harmony, because as a believer to be punished by the heaven itself was a fearsome prospect.

The master of time and space cleared his throat, "That's why unlike True Cross Order their main enemy is not origin demon... it's the fallen ones. We won't dare to touch them, not the high ranking one at least... in fear to invite Uriel's wrath upon us." The last time one of his brothers dared to tread on Uriel's territory, the angel turned Iblis' territory upside down without mercy.

"The reason they approached us now is..." Fujimoto trailed off.

"Most likely related to the fallen ones." Mephisto finished, "They mainly operated in Europe where belief in angels is strong... but it seems a wave of change is coming..."

Yukio gritted his teeth, "Are you implying that we are..."

Mephisto nodded, for once the demon was not acting funny, he was seriously grim about the prospect. "We're on the verge of three ways battle... no..."

"A battle-royal is more like it."

The next day..-

Because of his previous encounter of a presumably fallen angel, Yukio was given an honor by Mephisto to be the guide for incoming exorcists from Hand of God. He also knew the look Mephisto shot him, that he had to be careful to not reveal his heritage because human or not he was still the son of Satan. As if Mephisto needed to warm him that.

He was always well prepared.

Even though when Mephisto office door was knocked he almost jumped in shock much to Mephisto's amusement. "Come in." Mephisto called.

A young man that looked to be in his twenties stepped inside, he had short curly hazel hair, eyes in lighter shade, and fair skin. He was dressed in long black coat like exorcist of True Cross but the design differ with the turtle neck, and aiguillettes on chest part and the red trimming.

Red, color that represent Uriel, the ruler of the sun.

"Welcome to to True Cross, I am Mephisto the head of Japanese branch..." Mephisto greeted the exorcist grandiosely with crackers, ribbons and stuffed toys.

Yukio waited for a reaction from the infamous Hand of God exorcist to a demon's greeting. "I am Raguel Cecil... exorcist of Hand of God." He gave his name curtly in accent-less Japanese, batting away bunny doll that almost fell to his head. His voice was stoic, painfully neutral when talking with a hated existence.

It was just for a moment but Yukio swore he saw Mephisto's eyes was widening and his mouth ajar in shocked expression, then as far as it came, Mephisto's face was back to its usual mischievous expression. "I see..."

Something was wrong with this person, and Mephisto saw it. What transpired between them in that split second? What did Mephisto see? Raguel Cecil in the other hand had no visible reaction to Mephisto's word, very calm as if challenging Mephisto to say what he saw out loud if he dare.

"By the way, this is Okumura Yukio..." The mentioned exorcist stiffened when he realized the focus was shifted to him. "Even though he is just fifteen, he is already a middle first class exorcist... he will be your guide for today."

Much to Yukio's shock Raguel Cecil's face softened at him, extending his hand that Yukio accepted readily with his. "Nice to meet you, Okumura-kun... I am Raguel Cecil from the Hand of God." He said as shaking Yukio's hand in gentle grip. "It's an honor to meet the prodigy of True Cross Order."

"Nice to meet you too... Reverend Cecil." He returned in the calmest voice he could muster. "Uhm, pardon me but I heard there would be a pair of you..."

Raguel Cecil released Yukio's hand and shot him an apologetic look, completely ignoring Mephisto-who had higher ranking- in favor of Yukio. "My apologies, but my comrade is delayed by an important call from HQ but he will be here soon."

As if responding to his words, sound of knocked door echoed through the room. "Come in!" Mephisto droned on, expecting to be ignored by his new guest too.

"Excuse me." This time the exorcist that come in had the hood on, shadowing half of his face. His exorcist uniform was slight different than Cecil's, it wasn't a coat but more of a jacket, black pants and black boots with red rimming.

A mishevous grin stretched in Mephisto's face and suddenly Mephisto had teleported right in front of the newcomer and shook his hands enthusiastically with him. "WELCOME! Welcome to True Cross Academy, I am Mephisto! The head of Japanese branch!" He beamed, and showered the exorcist in ribbons and confetti.

Much to Yukio's surprise the newcomer didn't pull away in disgust and returned Mephisto's handshake heartily. "Thank you for welcoming us, nice to meet you too Lord Pheles."

"Do you have a problem that I am a demon?" He queried, cutting the newcomer from introducing himself.

The newcomer looked confused before he answered. "No."

Then Mephisto did the unthinkable, he hugged the newcomer, crying. "Oh you're a good guy!"

Faster than Yukio could react, and neither Mephisto could, the demon's hand was seized and the next thing he knew he was thrown out of the window of his office with an impressive one arm shoulder throw.

PRANK! CLANK!

Yukio didn't blame Raguel's friend, as anyone in his position would want to throw Mephisto-who had no sense of personal space- out of the window although this was the first time someone did it for real. He surpressed his urge to clap for a job well done, at some point someone had to do it.

But still... Mephisto was a high ranking demon, to be caught off guard or not for a human to do it by pure brute force was... inhuman. Yukio turned to the newcomer's direction and shocked to find an empty spot.

"Oi! Are you alright?" The guy was yelling through the broken window, his voice sounded sincerely worried for Mephisto. The demon however was back to the office through teleportation, just a little ruffled with some leaves on his head and his top hat was missing. "I am really sorry!"

Mephisto dusted his clothes with a grin, "Never mind... it's an accident!"

Inwardly Yukio thought, You had that coming.

Raguel Cecil cleared his throat and Yukio was reminded he was still here. "Ehem... introduce yourself now, we have wasted enough time... Don't bother with that." Mephisto's left eye twitched dangerously that he referred as something that the exorcist won't even bother to name. "He has been assigned as our guide for today so we shouldn't keep him waiting."

"Oh, I see..." The newcomer murmured as he pulled his hood off and Yukio gasped in shock. "Nice to meet you... True Cross-minna-san... I am Okumura Rin, exorcist of Hand of God..." A smile etched to his face. "I will be in your care throughout our stay in Japan."

Mephisto who was once again forgotten in the corner commented, "Well, I didn't see this coming." The board was getting too full to the point pieces were spilling out, and an unexpected piece that defied the rule appeared too.

On whose side Okumura Rin belonged to?

Assiah?

Hand of God?

Or perhaps...

Lots of back story... hope you like the AU setting XD I racked my brain for it LOL BTW don't mistake that the fallen is superior than other kind of demon. They're just... different variation of demon.
Makai Ouji, is a series that take a twist on Solomon and his 72 pillars... so DON'T rely on bible to guess what happen in the past. In the series what written in Bible is a history written by winners, and so on...

As you can see from this chapter, Rin is reincarnation of Camio, one of Solomon's pillar. Like Rin he is also a halfling that born from a demon and a human. The reason I choose him is not just because they're alike in that regard but also '"I have walked more years in my life alone in this earth and yet my demon blood 'prevents' me from 'truly' living as human, and my human half leave me 'no place' in hell."

When I read this I just feel it's SO Rin...

ps: If any of you are curious what's the deal with Camio's name, here is some clues...

-Go look for demonology of Camio and see etymology of his name.
-Lucifer, father of Camio is the older twin of Michael.
-The reason Yukio can see demon since he was little

Call me silly but when I read over these info, I see an epic back story in the making LOL