(Hello my fellow readers! So sorry for the long wait time in between! As much as I love my fanfictions and my writing, sadly, real life must come first! I recently wrote and published my very own book so that had me on hiatus from here for awhile! If you'd like to know the name of it and where to find it, let me know! Anyway, here's the latest Chapter! I considered not writing this chapter only because it took away from the suspense but I wanted you to also get a look at what's going on now, versus what happened before. Two stories in one, so to speak. I hope this chapter is alright! Let me know in the reviews if it sucked and you never want me to veer from the main story line again! Anyway, I'll let you continue on! Thanks again for your continued interest!)

PRESENT

Unfortunately, it was the lack of warmth that woke him up. He hated to admit it but he'd grown used to the feeling of Iza sleeping beside him. The fire in the hearth had gone out sometime during the night which left the room frigid, a layer of thick ice on the windows. Rin shivered and got out of bed. He found his clothes Iza had taken off of him that night and quickly pulled them on. Just like in Assiah, Gehenna also had it's fair share of seasons, just much harsher. Winter in Gehenna was brutal and being caught outside the protection of Satan's fortress would spell death for any demon. As much as he wanted out of this life, to erase the guilt he had about betraying his friends and Yukio, he wasn't ready to end his life. For now, his return to Assiah would have to wait until the weather returned to a temperature that wouldn't kill in an instant.

He left his bedroom soon afterwards, the door closing with a loud bang behind him. Satan's fortress was so large that everything echoed. Even the smallest of sounds sounded like a herd of elephants. Unfortunately for RIn, his departure hadn't gone unnoticed. Across the hall, standing like a statue, was his every present guard. When he'd first come to Gehenna, he hadn't needed a guard. He'd been free to roam wherever he pleased. However, he'd still been under Iza's spell. It wasn't until after the wedding and the celebrations, when the shock of seeing her, that everything melted away and he realized the significance of what he'd done. It was at that point that he was appointed a guard. Once, he'd tried to slip his guard, even fight him off when he found him and he immediately regretted his decision. This demon hadn't been appointed his guard for no reason. He was incredibly strong and hadn't even blinked an eye when he'd broken his leg, hauling him back before Satan and unceremoniously dumping him at his father's feet like a common thief. He'd healed within days thanks to his demonic blood but that didn't mean it hadn't hurt in the meantime. He'd been stripped of his freedom from that point on and was only allowed in certain parts of the fortress, so long as he had his guard with him.

Rin glared at the stoic figure on the opposite wall. "I don't suppose you're here to tell me you're taking a long overdue vacation today?"

The guard remained silent, glaring with such hatred back at Rin that Rin was forced to look away. He knew his presence here in Gehenna was not accepted by many of the population. After all, he'd been born in Assiah and had human blood running through his veins. Not to mention, his obvious hatred for the world, and people, around him.

Rin 'tsked' before heading down the corridor. He no longer cared where Iza went before he woke up. As long as she wasn't around him, he didn't mind. Gave him more time to figure out what he was going to do about getting back to Assiah. Whenever he was around her, she still managed to spin that web of spells that kept him enamored with her. It made it harder for him to think and to act on his own. She'd been so sweet, so innocent, at True Cross and now, he thought of her as nothing more than a snake; one that had succeeded in wrapping herself around him and squeezing tightly till he could no longer escape.

He let out a sigh as he turned down yet another corridor and pushed open the doors of the massive dining room. Once used in the celebration of his marriage to Iza and his accepting of his place as prince of Gehenna, it double as a dining room with a table that could easily seat a hundred or more guests. A large floor to ceiling fireplace sat against an opposite wall and a massive blue flame made an eerie glow around the already dark interior. As per usual, there was a place set for him at the table but today, he wasn't alone. She was sitting at the head of the table, completely at home and waving him over.

He sighed before walking over towards her, slumping down into the chair directly beside hers and wincing at her radiant smile.

"Rin! I'm so glad I finally get to have breakfast with you! We haven't spent much quality time together!"

Once, Yukio had seen what their mother had looked like but had never told Rin. For eighteen years, he'd spent every mother's day simply imagining what his mother could have looked like. When he found out she was dead, he knew the chances of ever knowing was forever lost to him; until he came to Gehenna. It wasn't clear how his mother managed to find eternity here but it really came as no surprise. After all, she was Satan's wife, his Queen. She had the secrets of Assiah no one else had and was more than willing to tell her husband. Their goal of joining Assiah and Gehenna was still in full swing. Though, she much desired to have both her sons at her side, she was more than happy to mother Rin as much as she liked. And, surprisingly, Rin let her. Eighteen years he went without a mother, or a mother figure, and she was the only one in the fortress that showed him any kindness. She was the one person in here he didn't hate.

"Morning, Mom…" he murmured, shying away as she attempted to straighten his hair.

She 'tsked' at him, giving him what he'd already dubbed the "mom look" as she gave up with his hair. "As a Prince, you should at least try and looked presentable!" she said, patting his hand as she dug into her own plate of food. "After all, you have to set an example as your father's son."

He bit his own tongue from the angry retort he was about to fling at her. He kept his hatred for his father and Iza away from his mother. The time he spent with her, he wanted to actually spend with her instead of ruining the mood with his venting. Besides, trying to explain to her that he, in no way, wanted to be here was about as good as explaining to a rock that it was pointless for it to be heavy.

The ate in peace for a few moments, the only interruption of their silence being the crackling of the fire and the occasion 'tink' of their silverware. Finally, after an awkward twenty minutes, Yuri spoke up once more.

"Your father and I have something for you to do."

He glanced over at her, her blue eyes like hard sapphires as she watched him. He didn't like the shudder that went up his spine at her look. That "something", wasn't going to be good, he already knew.

"You might be excited to know that you'll be going back to Assiah to do it."

He froze mid bite, the food falling from his fork and onto his plate. Yuri continued to watch him, an unnerving feeling like she was testing him. He didn't dare move or say anything but his heart was hammering away in his chest.

"It's come to our attention," Yuri spoke quietly, eyes never wavering. "That the power you possess is only half of what you could have and, in order to get the full might of your power, we need your brother." She paused a moment, watching him but Rin couldn't even breath now. "You're going back to Assiah and you're going to bring your brother back with you. Oh and, if you try to flee, Satan has promised to lock you in the deepest and darkest dungeon in Gehenna and forget about you."

Rin felt the weight of Satan's threat crash over him like an avalanche. He had no doubt that the King of Gehenna would do such a thing. The demon had no humanity. He didn't care who he hurt in order to get what he wanted. In fact, it was plain even to Rin that Satan was only using Yuri because of their shared ideals, even if his meant destruction and hers, peace. But Yuri, being human, was blind to such evils and believed Satan also only wanted peace; and to have her sons reunited to her once more. But if Satan was the one who wanted Yukio here, it certainly wasn't because he was feeling fatherly.

Rin carefully laid his fork down, choosing his next words very carefully. "How do you suppose I convince my exorcist brother to come to the one place he'd rather die before coming here?"

Yuri shrugged, going back to her food. "I suppose that'll be for you to find out, now won't it?"

He narrowed his eyes at his mother as she munched away her food like this was everyday life for her. The problem wasn't going to be how to get Yukio here-because that wasn't going to happen-it was how he was going to lose his leash to Gehenna and disappear. Every demon at Satan's disposal would be after him and he'd have nowhere to hide.

"Riiiiiiinnnnnnn!" The call echoed across the dining room from the main doors and Rin groaned, shutting his eyes tightly, hoping that that would be enough to get her to leave. But Iza strode across the room like nothing was wrong and grabbed his arm, pulling him from his chair.

"There's something I want to show you, Rin!" she said happily, completely ignoring Yuri who smiled at her.

Rin sputtered, pointing to his food but Iza ignored the hint and tugged on his arm, pulling him away from the table and his barely eaten breakfast.

His guard followed a few steps behind them as though not wanting to get in Iza's way but kept his eyes firmly on Rin. Satan's fortress was dizzyingly confusing with all it's twists and turns, staircases that spiraled and mazes of corridors and rooms. Iza, however, traversed the confusing layouts as though she'd been born here and, for all Rin knew, maybe she had. She had never really talked about herself before.

Being the mirror image of Assiah, Gehenna wasn't without it's own faults. The biggest, and most important fault the dimension had was the destruction. Everything in the world was destroyed in one way or another and thick clouds of miasma coated everything, even the sun, forcing the lands and everyone in it to appear red. It was a ruined world, one of disease and chaos and destruction. When Yuri appeared, Satan created her a garden that mirrored those in Assiah; the only green in this world. Rin had only ever been by it once, when he first got here and that had been the first time he'd laid eyes on Yuri. Now, Iza was leading him through the glass doors into the garden, a large smile on her face as she went. Rin couldn't deny his sudden feeling of comfort at being around things that reminded him of home. He could understand why Yuri spent her every days here.

"Iza, where are you taking me?"

They mazed through the endless rows of colorful flowers and Rin was even sure he'd spotted a butterfly bush, complete with multicolored butterflies resting on the flowers before he was rushed past, Iza only giving him a smile in response to his question.

Finally, they turned the last corner and Rin with Iza. She was staring ahead at a distortion that seemed to hang in the middle of thin air. He looked at it with confusion as Iza walked up to it.

"I found this this morning and just knew I had to show it to you." She ran her hands over it and the distortion seemed to ripple like waves on water and it expanded, opening up to bright lights and colors. For a moment, the sudden influx made him shield his eyes-having spent too long in the always dark-Gehenna but when he grew used to the brightness, he blinked at the distortion and gasped.

Like looking through glass, Rin was looking down at True Cross Academy. Life was progressing as normal and, when Iza ran her fingers over it again, the distortion rippled and they were zeroed in on the Cram school classroom, each one of his friends sitting where they always did and there, at the head of the class.

"Yukio…" Rin whispered, taking a step forward.

Iza slid in between Rin and the distortion, a coy smile on her face. "It's called a rip and they are really rare between dimensions. I don't know how it got here but I figured it would be useful."

With the image of his friends covered, Rin was forced to turn his eyes from them to Iza's mysterious amethyst eyes. "What do you want from me for showing me this?"

Iza smirked. A much darker version of Iza then he'd met at True Cross. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him, her tail coiling around his leg. "We all know you don't want to be here. Even Satan knows. You aren't fooling anyone. If given the chance, you'd be back to Assiah in a moments notice. I tricked you here and, let's be honest, it's because I'm selfish. But I'm not heartless, Rin. I can tell when you're unhappy and pains me to think you don't want to be here with me anymore." she leaned closer, her eyes fluttering as her lips brushed his. "If I let you go," she whispered. "You have to promise to return to me in a week. Do whatever you want in that week but at the end, you return to me here, in Gehenna. Do we have a deal?"

Rin didn't even bother with thinking about it. He accepted her deal with a kiss, crashing his lips into hers, hands on either side of her head as he put all this thanks into that one kiss. But, before it got any more serious, he stepped around her and leapt from the rip before she could stop him.