Cale; Hi, so this is chapter five. Originally, it should have been just over twice as long however the word count was near 9,872 and so we split the chapter in half.
Jace; yer and the other half is going through serious modifications because to be fair it just didn't fit with the story and made very little sense.
Cale; Oi! I worked hard on that!
Jace; yes yes, I know. However if we left it how it was loads of people would get confused.
Cale; oh…right.
Jace; - rolls eyes – moving on, enjoy the chapter.
"I suppose you've heard the saying with great power comes great responsibility?" A fifteen-year-old Rin looked up and cocked his head to the side as he considered the question his master of six months had just asked him. The two of them sat on the edge of a desolate apartment building watching the sun go down just over the city skyline. It was peaceful and Rin could have happily spent hour after hour perched on the edge watching the world go by. Enjoying the way the wind ran in fingers through his shaggy long hair that was in desperate need of cutting after half a year of being left to its own devices.
The teenager gave a lazy one sided shrugged, flashing the elder male a wicked grin. "I think I got that line in a fortune cookie once". Niro snorted and delivered a sharp slap to the back of the laughing boy's head. It did nothing to stop the chuckles that the child had dissolved into however.
"Very funny" the hooded man muttered, the sarcasm dripping off every word. "In your case, boy, it holds a message that you should live by" Rin grunted and gave a vicious glare towards the melted candle stubs at that. They had climb up to the roof in the early hours of the morning and had been working on flame control all day with very little success.
"I know I know" the boy grumbled with a dark look "I need to get control over my flames or I could kill everyone within range" he'd been lucky so far, he'd never lost control that badly yet but Niro had told him that it was only a matter of time. Truth be told, the idea of accidently hurting someone terrified the teen. He was used to fighting sure but when he was fighting he was in control, every move he made was calculated and evaluated. With his flames, he did not have that type of control, he could not do damage control, and it frustrated and scared him even more.
"You are already very responsible with your flames, never using them unless you can help it however I don't believe that is because you don't need them, it is because you are scared of them" Niro told him quietly and when Rin looked up at him he could see that his master was gazing out across the slumbering city. "You have a gift most of our kind would kill for child; however that gift is useless if you cannot use it effectively"
"YOU BASTARD!"
There was a rather thin line between genius and insanity. Rin had always fancied himself a genius in his own right but as his back hit the ground and the air rushed out of his lungs the young man began to entertain the idea that maybe he was indeed insane. Especially when, instead of pushing his extremely pissed off younger twin brother away as he fell, Rin found himself gripping the brunet and pulling him close as they fell from the hole that they had just escaped from.
The two boys' rolled down the mountainside, locked tightly together as they bounced and crashed over rock after rock until they collided with a large bolder and both groaned loudly. Rin muttered a curse as he sat up, wincing as his shoulder pulsed with pain, – and damn could Yukio tackle! It felt like his shoulder was dislocated – he glanced down at his arm and scowled. His shoulder was dislocated.
"Damn it Yukio! That hurt!" Rin growled down at the other boy bellow him. Yukio groaned again and pushed his hair out of his eyes, which met his coldly. Somewhere along the fall the sea foam blue eyed boy had lost his glasses and for a second Rin wondered why Yukio didn't wear contacts – the boy looked kinda hot without his glasses, even more so with the slight glare he was wearing.
"Fuck off" was the ever-intelligent reply that the taller man gave. Rin snorted with a smirk that made Yukio's frown deepen into a scowl. "Anytime you wanna get off me would be great too you know," Yukio muttered, shifting himself underneath Rin's hips. Rin looked down and blushed darkly as he realised he was straddling the other, his ass just above Yukio's crotch.
"Ah…right" Rin muttered quietly and began to lift himself up off his twin when the sound of snarling and crazed muttering made both of them freeze. Their eyes met for a split second before looking back up the mountain. "Crap"
Crawling down the mountainside was a dozen or so monks.
"Never let anyone see you use your flames Rin. They will kill you because of it" Niro's voice whispered in his head a split second before he reached forwards and snatched Kurikara out of Yukio hand, leaving the younger boy clutching the scabbard.
'Fuck that' Instantaneously the world around them exploded in a fury of burning blue, the ground ripping away from the earth in a flurry of power leaving only a two meter circle of green zone(1).
The poor souls too close to the brothers had instantly been incinerated as blue filled their vision and expanded until there was nothing else. The monks that had been further back did not have such luck, their screams were deafening over the sound of the blue as they purified. Originally, Satan had used this aspect of his flames to punish, not save but Rin decided he did not particularly care what his father used it for; it was useful.
It was almost as an after though that Rin remembered Yukio between his legs and realized that whilst Yukio would have with him in the "Green zone" he would have been blinded and dazed – possibly even more pissed off than before – from the explosion of blue.
Looking down Rin froze 'Yep…defiantly pissed off' he thought as foam blue eyes burned into his. At first Rin thought, he was mad because he had stolen the sword back off him, or because they had very nearly been chewed to death because it looked like, Yukio was fighting between shooting him again and punching him.
The only thing Rin could do as Yukio gripped his hips and rolled them over so that he was on top instead was yelp and frail about for a moment or so until Yukio pinned his hands above his head, hips pinning his to the cold forest floor and his breath ghosting across Rin's cheeks. Kurikara clattered to the ground beside their heads but neither boy took any notice, their eyes locked on each other instead. Rin had froze and was pushed away the little voice in the back of his head whispering that this was a really suggestive position, especially with how Rin's legs – like they had a mind of their own – had wrapped around the other boy's hips when Yukio growled at him; "How did you get that sword?"
When the raven-haired-boy did not answer Yukio grit his teeth and growled again, pushing Rin's hands further up causing him to gasp in pain as his shoulder popped back painfully and it was only with the quick inhale of breath that saved Yukio from having his spin snapped. Rin closed his eyes and grunted before opening his eyes to glare at his twin.
"Ow" he bit out, resisting the urge to roll his shoulder back to reduce the cramping pain. "Was that really necessary?" Yukio's answer was to snarl again and pull his arms higher. This time Rin could not bite back the gasp of pain in time and for a moment, his vision blurred with blue as his still activated flames pulsed around the two boys. Yukio did not pay them any mind however.
"This sword should have been buried six feet under in a coffin made of ash wood (2). How did you get it?"The brunet yelled, his usually calm eyes sparking with a fury that Rin had never seen before, turning foam blue eyes to something more electric. It sent shivers down Rin's spine to watch as his brother became more like him. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts Rin closed his eyes and took a calming breath, he had to keep a grip on reality or someone was going to get hurt. Yukio did not give him much time to answer before he was talking again, venom dripping from every word. Each word driving a stab of pain through Rin's heart as he saw the pain his brother was holding at the idea of his, Rins, gave being defiled.
"Did you steal it? Did you dig up the grave? DID YOU DIG UP MY BROTHER!" Yukio yelled angrily, his nails biting into the flesh of Rin's wrists, drawing pinpricks of blood that swelled to raindrops and rolled down his arms the bare floor. Rin said nothing. What the hell could he say to a man who thought his brother had been disturbed by the man before him, without knowing that the other was his brother? That was right; he could say nothing.
'This is so messed up' Rin thought to himself as he watched Yukio struggle with himself. 'He need to calm down' and with that Rin pushed his hips up into his brother and for a split second he enjoyed the shell shocked expression on Yukio's face before Rin forced them to roll back towards the rock that had stopped their decent earlier. Using his flames to catch the brunet's hands and hold them down for a moment or so as Rin placed Kurikara back into the forgotten scabbard that Yukio had dropped when he pinned the raven.
"You need to calm down mate," Rin told the younger boy as he caught the punch thrown his way effortlessly. His thighs tightening around the others body as he tried bucking him off. "Oi" He snapped sharply, drawing Yukio's furious attention. "I didn't steal Kurikara, it was given to me by a friend before he died" He was of course talking out of his ass but it was better than telling the irritated teen the truth.
"Yer right" Yukio sneered, his face twisting into something ugly and Rin felt his heart wrench at the sight. "My brother would never have befriended a killer like you" the pinned boy snapped back and Rin considered the possibility that Yukio was about to spit at him but then the moment passed and the blue eyed boy settled for glaring.
Rin shook his head and peered over at the sleeping monks, silently counting the human heart beats rushing over the mountain towards them "…as if my luck couldn't get any better" he muttered before glaring down at his brother, patience finally spent. "If you think your brother wouldn't have befriended someone like me then you didn't really know the crazy bastard," Yukio's face went white with rage and Rin took a moment to enjoy the look. His slightly sadistic side coming out as he fucked with his brother's head.
As Rin opened his mouth to continue his point, his voice died out half way into a strangled gurgle sound as his body went as ridged as a board, his eyes wide. Yukio stared back, his expression also shocked as they both looked at the silver blade of a sword as it pushed through Rin's shoulder – the same one that had been dislocated earlier.
'Oh for the love of god!' Rin cursed as he turned his head slightly to see the fucking bastard who had stabbed him. His mood darkened as he recognised the man as his once adoptive father. 'Brilliant, just brilliant'
A light gasp left him as the blade was twisted in his shoulder in an act of pure sadism, the very point of the sword was just narrowly missing the end of Yukio's nose by now, but of course, Shiro was too angry about something to care. Rin felt his eyes glaze over as white-hot pain laced through his arm, shoulder, and spine. Unconsciously the Halfling gripped the exorcist's forearm as he pushed down his animalistic instinct to kill, kill them all, and laugh hysterically as he stood over the bodies.
Rin blinked at that. 'Ooooookkkkkaaaay' he thought 'that was…weird' then he remember the staff strapped to Yukio's back and cursed the stupid stick some more.
"…Ow" Rin mutter for the second time that passed hour. "That…was uncalled for" he informed the elder male grudgingly, his eyes locked with Yukio's as a way to ground himself to reality and not go on another rampage – destroying everything within range – particularly when Niro wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to his location to calm him down. Yukio stared back at him an unknown emotion swimming in the depths of his weird eyes.
"You will stand up slowly and release the boy" Rin stiffened. 'Aaaaah, that is not good' passed through his mind before he tensed his legs and slowly rose off his brother, his grip however never left and as he moved Yukio stood as well. The tailed boy grunted as he swayed, fighting a creeping darkness at the edge of his vision that threatened to consume him. He really did not want to collapse with scary boob lady stood so close to his back, probably holding her own snake blades.
"Father" Yukio said in a low voice, clearly trying to calm the elder male. 'Not that it's much use; he's probably being influenced by the Stupid Stick' the raven noted. "It is okay, I am fine. I was-" Shiro – the once kindly old man who had adopted both sons of the Devil himself and raised them as his own, – snarled in the back of his throat.
"He has Rin's sword, Yukio. He has just insulted your brother and released the monks of the temple from their prison. He is lucky I missed his heart, Boy" the Paladin bit out through his teeth, sounding to the world as if he was planning to withdraw the blade in his shoulder only to lob his head off with it. Rin swallowed and bit his tongue against the grimace and gasp of pain caused by Shiro twisting the sword, yet again.
'OWWWWWW! That hurts! I bet the fucking asshole did that on purpose…dick," he thought with a gasp as the silver edge skimmed his heart, sending a flush of white agony down his spine. For a moment of two, the only thing that existed was white nose that had the Halfling wanting to sink to the ground and whimper. When he came back, someone was reading him his Miranda Rights.
"-under arrest for working for and aiding a known and inactive enemy of the Holly Lord" Boob lady was sneering in disgust "Nothing you say will save you. May God have mercy on your soul"
Rin snorted at that, turning his head so that he could see the woman clearly, flashing her, a wicked evil grin.
"That Bastard doesn't have mercy on his own followers, never mind 'Soulless beasts' like me" the son of the Father of Lies saw the blow coming and grit his teeth as pain exploded across his skull and the last thing Rin saw was Yukio wincing before everything went dark.
His eyes were different.
It was stupid, to notice the boy's eyes after hours of watching the young man thrash and whither on the cold cobbled floor. After listening to him gasp, growl, and groan, trying not to scream his agony to the world as he was…questioned and punished for his crimes. Most of the others who had been watching had left soon after it had began, their stomachs and consciences unable to cope. Even Yukio – who was usually so iron hearted – had left, muttering something about him looking too alike to someone. Shiro did not need to guess whom his stubborn son meant.
However, when it stopped and the child was allowed to collapse back against a wall in his cell, panting heavily and bleeding just as much. It was only after everyone had left that his eyes reopened, Shiro felt his heart contract as his slate grey eyes met acid blue. A small, almost silent voice told –begged him – the older man to flee-to run from this injured beast before he lashed out. The voice was ignored and the man swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. Forcing his legs to work, Shiro moved over to the chair bolted to the middle of the cobbled floor and sat down, his legs crossed, hands folded elegantly in his lap as he watched the child before him.
The boy watched him the entire time and it was only after Shiro had been sat for at least five minutes without any movement did the boy snort softly to himself. He then shifted his back against the wall, keeping Shiro and his chair between the bolted door and himself. The action reminded Shiro of a cat licking its wounds after a fight with a dog.
'It makes sense, considering Mephisto is like a dog with a bone when he's pissed off…and then there's the thing where he turns into a dog' The Paladin sighed and shook his head. Mephisto has clearly gone too far with this boy's questioning. He was bleeding everywhere and from under the ripped shirt, Shiro could see the shiny glint of burn skin that told him that Mephisto had released his own demonic flames onto the child. There was a large welt on his temple that was still bleeding profoundly, running into his eyes and the back of his head was matted with blood as well. His face and chest were a mass of bleeding sores and cuts with black, blue, and purple bruises freckled across his body, particularly around his rips.
Then there was the large dark red – almost black – stain on his right shoulder where Shiro had stabbed him. The elder male winced at that, he had been furious beyond comprehension and a red mist had settle over him, as the boy had the demon sword in his hands and the insult on his lips. Now, after watching all that he had gone through the exorcist wished he had never done it. Yukio reckoned the Staff had swayed him and Shiro found it hard to disagree.
The other shoulder was clearly dislocated and it looked like his left arm was broken as well, both of his wrists had crescent shaped incisions as well as red burn marks from where his hands had been shackled. The right leg was also broken, the left – where Yukio had shot him last time – was bleeding from where Mephisto had sank his claws into the flesh, and then thrown holly water over the broken skin. That had been the only time that the boy had screamed and he had cut it off sickeningly when he was kicked in the ribs.
It was a surprise and a miracle that the boy was not dead or unconscious yet.
"You know…"Shiro began softly "It doesn't have to be like this. You could just answer our questions, you don't have to go through all this pain" his voice never reached more than a soft whisper and for that he could tell the boy was thankful. He most likely had a killed headache and would have to be checked for concussion – their eyes met and the urge to run made itself known once again. The man chuckled and lent further back into the wall, his uninjured arm gripping at his broken ribs, his head tilting back so he could look at the grimy ceiling.
"Sure. Because helping you goes so much better. I've done nothing but help and you've stabbed me with a fucking silver sword, your youngest son shot me and that damned clown has been playing "Tell me when" with me for the past fucking eight hours because my Master happened cut off his tail before I was even bloody born" the boy muttered sarcastically. His dislocated shoulder shrugging slightly before his eyes narrowed and his teeth clamped down on the pain of the movement. Shiro arched an eyebrow. 'He was aware of how much time had passes?...impressive' he thought dully. It was not exactly a skill most had.
"You said youngest son. And you were talking about Rin before you were arrested" The boy snorted and shot him a disdainful look that said 'arrested? Oh so that was what that was?' "Am I to take it that Niro told you about my eldest, Rin?" Shiro inquired, gritting his teeth against the guilt, anger, and pain associated with his eldest son. The injured beast smirked coldly, as if he would like nothing more than to rip him limb from limb. Shiro could not suppress the shiver of fear that escaped at the look. Somehow the Paladin realised he had just offended the boy.
"Nope" the white haired man frowned at his answer but the look he was being given gave him the idea to move on and ask his other questions.
"Okay…What is your first name-"
"Face(3)" the response clipped the end of the question and for a split second Shiro thought he had something on his face before he realised that that was the boy's name; Face. Shiro arched his eyebrow again, there was no doubt in his mind that that was not his real name but it was a damn sight better than referring to this misled child as "Boy" or as Yukio and his students had been calling him "Raven".
"Last name?" Shiro asked, writing down Face's response and only just looked up in time to see the half-hearted shrug and wince that Face gave. The elder took that as a sign that the criminal did not have one, either that he did not know what it was.
"Age?" Silence met his question and Shiro looked up to see Face watching him with a smirk. Both eyebrows dangerously close to his hairline. It was no relief to the man that the child looked amused rather than offended, instead unease settled into the pit of his stomach.
"Does it really matter?" Face shot back, with a grin that showed off his bone white teeth, he had somehow managed to avoid getting blood in his mouth. Shiro gave him a pointed look before moving on to the next one.
"Why were you at the First Temple (4)?" Face cocked his head to the side, a soft frown brushing his battered features. Shiro arched both eyebrows at this, not understanding the boy's expression.
"The where now?" Face eventually asked, looking extremely confused and probably trying to decide if the old man had finally lost it. Shiro gave him an incredulous look.
"The First Temple. The Temple in the mountains" Face made an O with his lips as he realised what the old man was on about and Shiro let out a sigh shaking his head. How could he not know what the First Temple was? It was clearly written about in the Midrash
"I was looking for the Stupid Stick that your son stole off me" Shiro chocked as his jaw dropped to the floor at that. 'THE STUPID STICK!?' Face did not seem to notice his horror and continued. "I think you really should have worlds with that boy. He has got a bit of a stealing issue. And he's down right assholy. Did you know that the threatened to release the Crazy monks on me if I didn't give him the stupid stick" he didn't get chance to say any more as the door suddenly swung open and Mephisto stormed in, looking ready to kill. Shiro leapt to his feet but the demon head master was quicker however and easily got past his friend to slam the injured teen into the wall he had been leaning against.
Face had leapt up despite his aching bones the moment he heard the door click, but as he was forced back against the wall all the same, a snarl slipping past his now pale lips.
"Mephisto!" Shiro yelled in panic. It truly looked like his friend was going to kill the child without a second thought and for some reason the Paladin could not bear to watch the tormented boy die.
"Guess who I've just had a little chat with, Boy," Mephisto snarled at Face, ignoring Shiro despite his friend pulling out a gun, uneasily. Face grinned through a grimace, his eyes meeting the enraged demons confidently and without fear despite the torture, he went though.
"The owner of your tail I'll guess" Face sneered back, and Shiro prayed that the boy did not spit at the clown again. Lucky he did not but that didn't matter to Mephisto as he pulled Face away from the wall only to slam him back. This time Face could hide neither the grimace nor the whimper of pain.
"Don't play games with me Child" Shiro glanced back at the door, frowning when he saw a very pale looking Yukio hovering in the doorway. "Why did your Master interfere with our operation" Face coughed and tried to push the demon away.
"Above my pay grade" He gasped, trying to escape from the other male.
"That is enough, he can't breathe" Shiro snapped loudly and this time Mephisto grunted and let the child drop back to the floor where he curled up and coughed repeatedly, breathing heavily. "Mephisto, out. Now" Shiro commanded with a glare. As they walked out neither man noticed the smug smirk Face gave before the door slammed shut.
Cale; Sorry for the cliff hanger yet again but that's us done for this month we should post the next chapter at the end of May, failing that it'll be the beginning of June. Also thank you to all the lovely reviews we got for the last chapter, they really made me smile xxxx
Jace; Ummm…okay, review if you find anything wrong with the chapter. It hasn't been through the usual amount of checks our chapter go through because we promised to update this month. Let us know and I'll fix it as soon as I can.
Both; thank you for reading
(1) Green zone is sort of like a safe zone. Like what Byakuran from Bleach has with his Senbonzakura thingie. It explains it better in there. Do not ask me where because honest to god I have not the foggiest.
(2) I read somewhere once that ash wood was used in witch burnings so Rin's coffin is made from ash wood to stop something (or someone) from processing Rin's dead body. Charming, right?
(3) Face is the translation for Rin :D now that's cool xx
(4) We are aware that the First Temple is not on a mountain but it would be brilliant if you could all pretend that it is :D