And so things are quite literally heating up indeed!
Chapter Four: Trials and Tribulation and Tag
"That is quite the understatement young man."
Dread pooled low in the navy-haired teen's stomach and with his tail curled around his ankle, clenched Kurikara closer to himself for comfort. Refusing to turn around on the principle of every scary movie he had ever seen ever, he wondered if there was even a remote chance of escaping another Demon King.
Right before two pairs of feet slammed into the front of his skull causing him to sprawl backward into the dirt for the second time that day/night. Hey, hey, w-were there stars in the sky before?
"Yer/ya Highnesses!"
Twin voices rang out, one in excitement the other as a groan of dismay as he was dragged along.
And Rin found himself staring up at a very tall, very male Demon, with a child in each of his hands. Wisp was hugging one arm and the other arm was currently holding Willow by his throat.
Broad in the shoulders but lean elsewhere, the man tried to comb his white and grey spiky hair back, the pair of odd-looking glasses tinted a pale slate perched across his aristocratic nose slid down the bridge of it as he did. When he couldn't reach his hair due to his new attachment, he sighed with an exasperated tint to his almost scholar like voice and attempted to remove the little fire demon from his white trench coats sleeve, "As for Willow, when I say scram he'll understand the full gravity of my meaning, yes? Or do I finally get to order the Ukobach in the palace kitchens to make Willow stew?"
The razor points of his dark pearl-tinted claws really hit home as they caught the skin of the water demon's throat, causing the small child to whimper while the elder shook him in annoyance.
Paling an even more lily-white shade then his previous skin color the kid shook his head—as much as one could being partially choked—so hard it almost tumbled off while squeaking, "No, ya Highness, I understand ya, ya Highness!"
And with a burst of greenish light, he exploded into a swirl of watery liquid-like fire, consolidating into a dog-shaped will-o'-the-wisp before slipping out of the Demon King's hold, shooting off to parts unknown. And nearly taking out another Demon who had just appeared bent over, panting next to Rin's sprawled form, raging, "Willow?! Agh! You brat, where the-?!"
Finished imitating a clam on the other man's clothes, Wisp jumped down and giving a quick curtsy as she skipped backwards she chirped charmingly, "Wisps will make suresy he gets backsy!" And then with a red flare and a loop de loop, a similar cat-like flame raced after Willow, warbling as she passed the satin-robed man—and nearly set his many colorful scarves on fire, "Ello, Good days yer Waterynesses~"
Leaving Rin all alone in an allay way with two very strange and—one sulking—Demons.
The one who had almost been bowled over by Wisp huffed, swinging his dark teal and sea foam green braid of hair behind his thin shoulder as he straightened, before turning his attention to the other child in their midst. Stomping over on his straw sandal-clad foot, he came to stand across from the other Demon biting out, with cheeks puffed up in ridiculous outrage "Honestly, children these days! If any of our brothers acted like that Father would skin our hides!"
When he suddenly bent over Rin's form, the ExWire got a good idea of just how tall he was. Skinner then Amaimon and almost the same height as Mephisto—if not the exact same—the suddenly grinning Demon King nudged Rin with his sandaled foot, "Wouldn't you agree kid?" Then giving him a knowing look over his own pair of navy-tinted glasses, he turned to the other male and snickered maliciously, "Seeing how you were running from Rothy-"
Cutting in the ash-haired man finished, a slight but completely vicious glee honeying his baritone as well while he dusted off his black dress shirt, "We saw your work with the pan. Must we say, we became instant...fans."
Swallowing at the show of friendliness/malice from them both the blue-eyed child smiled awkwardly. Before commenting in what he hoped wasn't too much of a squeak as he tried to subtly reach for his sword which had clattered only a few inches from his hand when Willow—who had dragged Wisp into the grasp of doom along with her—used him as a stepping stool, "Oh- Thanks?"
"Yep, Rothy didn't know what hit 'em!" Bouncing in a way that billowed his shiny robes everywhere—and sent the many beads sewn on his clothes a clattering—the taller male snickered; while clapping his hands together as he danced in a little circle seeming quite pleased by the turn of events, his glasses crooked on his face. "I haven't seen him that mad in aaaaages~"
Sliding his hands into his semi-formal white slacks the shorter of the two—even though it was only by an inch or two—smirked, managing to sound polite even though he had just stepped—gently—onto the tip of Rin's tail. "Such mischief! Ingenuous it was. Do try and stay that urge though."
Glancing sideways at the object that the younger kept darting his eyes towards he then eyed his fellow Demon and shook his head ruefully before raising a small eyebrow, adding almost sadly in the ExWire's direction, "As the King of Fire, and third in the line of succession I wouldn't want to be forced to make a point. Say, in case you don't cooperate, I might just break your tail. Nothing personal, but I have a reputation to keep. Even if Father would be furious if we brought back our little brother damaged."
Rin gulped and stopped trying to go for his Fallen Demon Sword.
At the sight of both of the Demon King's—and in Egyn's case, manic—grins a shear wave of terror rattled the Half-Demon all the way down to his bones. People didn't just spontaneously threaten to break other peoples' limbs!
The urge to flee though was solely on the fact that they knew who he was. Not good! Not good! RED ALERT! RED ALERT!
Smile taking a congenially tilt, as if his companion hadn't just glibly suggested to commit bodily harm on a teenager he had just meet, the taller of the two joked, "Of course, we could just blame it on Rothy ~ Father never listens to that little shit anyways!" Then with a wicked gleam in his eye, the Demon King turned his pale teal blue eyes onto Rin and cocked his head while getting up close and personal, a smirk that was more teeth then skin really hitting home the razor sharp points of his needle-like fangs. With lethal points, Egyn pinched Rin's cheek with dark teal talons, his own singsong tone tittering, "So ~ Wada'ya say? Can I can add some pretty scars to match that pretty face little bro? ~"
Without missing a beat the navy-haired Half-Demon grimaced while allowing his head to thump backward against the ground, wondering when in the hell did he become brothers with this psycho. "E... Please don't." He was so screwed.
Pouting, the man huffed, a slightly unhinged tone vibrating underneath his dismay, "What?! I'm the King of Water! Ya saying I'm not elegant?! That I suck?! That I'm a nut?! Psycho?! Unfit for the throne?! Why I outta-!" But before he could say anything else, the white-haired man beside him spoke in a deadpan, ignoring the shout of protest that he received when he reached over and slapped a hand to cover the taller male's mouth while fixing his heavily bronze-rimmed glasses, "Enough, Egyn."
Glancing away from his fuming brother and down in what suddenly seemed like disinterest he sighed, with a bored detachment tinging his voice. "I'm not going to hurt you, little one." He still didn't let up on the child's tail though, in fact he did quite the opposite of what he was saying, grinding down on the small, thin appendage, eyes curiously dispassionate from their vividness earlier. "Unless, of course you misbehave. Little siblings should do as their elders tell them to. Don't you agree?"
Feeling a shudder work its way down his spine at the others blasé tone—and the once more mention of some sort of familial bond between them—Rin winced at the pressure being applied to his sensitive limb. There really was only two options being applied here and one ended with him not being able to walk—or being able to block the pain long enough to stay conscious. Just the very thought of someone snapping his tail in two caused the small teen's stomach to roll in nauseous terror. The lesser of the two evils it is then. I can't run away if I'm whimpering on the floor in pain...
Struggling to hold his building abject horror of being brought before his birth father—because surely this Father they talked about was one and the same, if they were to be believed—Rin just nodded his head afraid that if he spoke that his voice would be several octaves higher then what was decent.
Groaning in disappointment, Egyn—who, sure did leave up to his name, the shark teeth were a big enough give away—just threw his hands up, spectacles almost going flying while he grumbled in the others direction, "Such a killjoy, Iblis!"
He sounded more like a whiny brat; then again, Rin was quickly beginning to realize that all Demon Kings seemed to be immature assholes. That liked to cause him emotional or physical pain.
The now named, Demon King of...Fire was it? Just allowed a half-sneer to grace his face before his emotions went blank again. "We are not here to have fun, Eggy. We are to bring our little brother back as soon as possible." Quirking a thin eyebrow at the dark teal-haired male he grimaced in disgust, "Unless, you want Astaroth to take credit for finding him."
Face falling into an equally as disgusted sneer Egyn crossed his arms and raised his nose up into the air. "AS IF! And don't call me that!" Whirling around, he grabbed the front of Rin's shirt and hauled him upwards before tossing him over his bony shoulder completely ignoring the startled squawk and growl that left the Half-Demon's mouth when he was unceremoniously manhandled. Luckily, the looped tassel on the handle of his Koumaken had been within reach so that came along with him on his sudden career of imitating a sack of potatoes.
"Come on, let's go! The faster we get this brat to Father the faster we can rub it into Rothy's face!" Cackling like a mad man, he began to saunter off at a pace reserved for Olympic marathon runners.
"Uh?! Wait- You idiot, don't run off-!"
Having just taken a corner at top speed—completely leaving Iblis behind in his not-so proverbial dust—the Water Demon took to the rooftops, a bounce in his step as he tottered precariously across the town's shambled slates, headless of any sort of obstacle in his way.
Unable to keep totally silent in the face of his capture and kidnapping Rin—who, by the way, was never to one to keep silent long in the face of adversity anyway—hissed out, tail flailing, whilst being jostled roughly as Egyn spun around an industrial water tower's scaffolding, "Oi! I have legs you kno-!"
Unfortunately, said adversity had the nimbleness of a minnow… And the attention span of a goldfish.
It was only after Rin finally batted the Coal Tar from his eyes and dusted off the now sticky sawdust from the demolished scaffolding he was stuck hanging half off, that the world began to make sense again.
And it was one in which the water tower had been demolished, water sluicing everywhere from its fractured hull onto the splintered wood by none other than Astaroth.
"OKUUUUMORRRRRRAAAAAAAA!"
Who was back in Minotaur-mode. And hella pissed.
Squeaking in fright as the Demon King of Rot eyes turned towards him, the navy-haired teen wobbled and then toppled off the pile of wood he had been stuck to, only to fall face first into a puddle of water. Damnit! Not the face! And his weapon followed, falling down with him, smacking the back of the blue-eyed teen's head with a metallic clank. "Gngh…"
Clutching his once more smashed nose and dripping wet from the slightly disgusting water he was soaked with, Rin attempted to scramble to his feet in haste, not wanting to be caught on his ass when the murderous Demon King eventually came for him.
He need not have worried for the second it took for Astaroth to make a move toward him a giant molten hammer found itself lodged in the others cranium by one irate Demon King of Fire.
Of course, the blow sent him spinning head over hoofs several meters away—casually demolishing three or four houses as he did so.
Twirling the long handled grip of the gigantic war hammer in his bare hands, the stoic Demon grinned a grin more fit on Egyn's face. Throwing all his smug prowess into his voice, the molten metal and dark swaths of ash staining his hands and clothes lending him a more regal yet sinister aura then before, "For someone who wishes to win Father's favor you seem to lack the…finesse…of one that is supposed to have been born of godly blood, eh, Rothy."
A shower of metal and other debris rained across the impromptu battlefield as the Demon King of Rot emerged from the collapsed rubble of what would have been several poor Demons' homes, screeching. "What the fuck did you just say?!"
Arching an eyebrow, the Fire King hummed, amused, "Deaf as well as dumb?" Teeth flashing in the light given off by his weapon, Iblis allowed his glasses to tilt rakishly upon his face as he ventured, "Perhaps," Here he shrugged, tone laced with sardonic, insincere pity, "What everyone is saying is true?"
Growling at the elder Demon the younger prodded with a sneer while crushing a bit of a stone slab that was in his way to pebbles, "And what gossip is it that you, the oh so mighty King of Fire belittles himself to sneaking around and mingling with peasants to learn?!"
Undaunted by his blustered snipe, the more poised and collected of the two turned his back seemingly dismissing the other with no more than a smirk, tossing over his shoulder glibly, "Oh, just that your blood is as filthy as the trash heap Father lets you rule over."
The wind blew for several tense seconds across the razed remains that constituted as a makeshift fighting ring before Astaroth, who, whilst snarling in utmost fury, wasted no time in pouncing upon the goading Demon King of Fire. The intent was, of course, on wrapping his behemoth hands around his neck and ripping his smug head right off for his blasphemies dig at his linage. "MOTHERFUCKER!"
With a nimble side step, Iblis ducked to the side bringing his mighty hammer down upon the raging Rot King's spine whilst he barreled past.
The resulting pile of wood and rubble buried the stemmed—more like volcanic—Demon King, leaving the white and grey-peppered male to snicker snidely to seemingly no one, "So weak. There's a reason even a dunce like Amaimon is more capable of ruling the 8th Circle then you."
Rin had watch all this play out with great trepidation and no little amount of awe from his hiding place until, and with a great shudder, the very water he was soaked with and that had pooled in vast amounts upon the devastated area reared up and with a horrendous speed gathered in the sky.
The Water King's voice filtered through the torrent of water, distorted by the very mass of it, "Owwi! No pulled punches, you went straight for the jugular, little bro~" Before it all swirled inward and disappeared into thin air.
And then a heavy heat haze appeared over Iblis's shoulders and Egyn fell out of nowhere right onto the smaller male's back, catching the younger in what looked like a bone-crushing headlock, singing uproariously, "Like I got yer aorta Iggy! ~" Right before he received the self-same hammer to the face via the annoyed looking Demon's flick of his wrist.
"Kindly keep your paws off my person Eggy!" The sheen of light from his currently molten hammer sending a murderous look streaming across his glasses towards the smoldering heap that was his sibling sprawled halfway off the building they were on top of currently.
That caused a meltdown on the Demon King of Water's part and all of a sudden all-out war was being raged as whip of pure water wrapped around Iblis's neck yanking him clear off the building and into the adjacent one with an almighty "smack."
As those two continued to squabble amongst themselves the navy-haired teen still hiding behind a stack of wooden debris a few meters thick realized that in the ensuing fight all three Demon Kings had temporarily forgotten about him. Now's my chance! Crowing in delight Rin set to start sneaking away but barely made it a foot before his boot crunched down on something.
Startled, he whipped his head around to see if that had alerted his attempted kidnappers to his whereabouts but they were still fighting—Iblis interestingly enough pulling Egyn's braid while grinding his likewise booted foot into his back.
Sweat dropping at their lack of concern for the other Demon King who was no doubt lurking nearby nursing his bruised ego—and back—ready to rip them both limb from limb Rin glanced back to what he had stepped on that had made such a loud crunch. It would be easier to make his escape attempt if he could avoid its brothers scattered about the place.
Lo and behold completely in line with his abysmal luck what he found was the crushed screen of his own mobile phone—who upon falling out of his pocket earlier and still surviving the gigantic puddles of water that had once flooded the gravel coated ground had finally met its demise at his own hands—eh, feet.
Shoulders and tail slumping with a sinking feeling in his heart tinged with just a little bit of annoyance and bitterness at all the horrible things that had happened to him that day Rin wondered if maybe this was all a setup by some jerk ass of a god. One who made him just to laugh at his pathetic struggling through life. It was during this—and the angry mashing of the power button to see if anything was salvageable from the phone his foster father had given him—that the blue-eyed child saw through the cracks of the screen…the unbelievable sight of three white bars. No way…
And once again, hell broke loose just as a little bit of hope was found.
Oh, you have got to be kiddin' me!
Astaroth had, for once, used his brains and snuck up behind the two other Demon Kings while they were duking it out. Which resulted in Egyn being used bodily as a club to punt the Demon King of Fire clear across the destroyed section of the slums they were in.
Ducking behind a fallen beam not seconds after Iblis had been struck right through another building by his own brother-turned weapon—who had also been sent flying somewhere—Rin clutched the phone to his chest afraid that it too, might fall prey to the madness happening now not just 10 yards from his hiding spot.
Which consisted of more yelling of very explicit, impossible things that one could possibly do to themselves and things being pulverized into itty-bitty pieces. But Rin wasn't worried about that. In fact, he used it to his advantage and after several frustrated attempts finally managed to hit the call button. Now all he could hope for was that Yukio would pick up.
10 Minutes Earlier; 5:03 AM, November 25, 2013; True Cross Order, Japanese Branch Meeting Room
"And so, Okumura-san, you are testifying that Okumura Rin was indeed pulled into the Phantom Train? And that upon further investigation and searching that the front car where you had last seen the son of Satan was gone…quite possibly returned to Gehenna at midnight with your brother inside?"
A young man of fifteen with his right arm in a sling stood in front of a long wooden table, his features slack and eyes dully staring straight ahead. The perfect picture of business. However, on inside he was anything but. "Hai."
A different but just as somber voice heaved a heavy sigh and followed with, "The very existence of a Phantom Train is to lure victims inside until it reaches Gehenna where it devours their souls… Even if he survived the crossing…"
Head bowed, a young female wearing the female version of the True Cross Academies uniform stood silently behind the dour, younger twin, wondering if she would ever see the elder one ever again. She watched the heart-wrenching sight of Yukio's shoulders losing their stiffness only to slump downwards.
An auburn and blonde-haired beauty wearing the Exorcist's working coat but little else protested, gripping the wood table harshly, "But surely there is some way-"
The third and final member of the Grigori framed in blue finished slightly more sympathetic to the witness before him and the woman then the other two, "I'm afraid that if Okumura Yukio's and Moriyami Shiemi's testimony is indeed what happened…then Okumura Rin is no longer alive-"
"Well, now that may not be true." All heads turned to the Demon King of Time, who sat just two spaces down from the Grigori three at the nearly empty conference table. Mephisto, clad in his white suit—instead of his normal, even more clownish attire—folded his hands and spoke in a slightly more upbeat tone, clarifying, "Seeing how during the previous investigation of the late Paladin Fujimoto Shirou's death at the hands of Satan concluded with the opening of a small Gehenna Gate of which Satan attempted to drag Okumura Rin through…"
Yukio's head snapped up in shock, having never heard of that part of the tale of events leading to his foster father's demise.
Everyone else was equally stunned. Including the impasse features of one Arthur Augusto Angel.
Seeing this, a smile of fanged proportions graced the amethyst-haired male's pale yet sharp features. "Well, a measly, if quite gentle transition into Gehenna on board a Phantom Train would hardly kill him."
Eyes glowing like lantern's the Demon finished spreading his palms wide, "It only stands to reason that from what we saw of the recordings right before the Phantom Train's front car vanished that Okumura-kun may have been able to vanquish the Train beforehand. If that is truly the case, and I do believe so that it is, that he entered the tear created in between our two worlds made by the Train then he will still be alive. Trapped in Gehenna but alive none the less."
Staring at the smirking Demon sitting at the table the younger Okumura started forward a desperate hope in his eyes and a plea on his lips, "So Nii-san is-?!"
Grimacing, the powder blue robe-clad leader returned, cutting the teen off, "If that is a reasonable assumption then it is still a moot point. Without a means to return he might as well as be dead for he cannot leave, and we cannot retrieve him." In what was perhaps the most astonishing display of apathy on the Grigori's part the man addressed the young Exorcist who had visibly wilted at his statement. "You know this, Okumura-sensei… I regret this. I truly do. Okumura Rin was…without a doubt- Had shown the most astonishing determination I have ever witnessed among even our Human ExWire candidate's."
"What's more…" The eggshell pink clothed Grigori member nodded as well adding regretfully, "Gehenna is the Demons' realm it goes without saying. Satan, no doubt, has already laid claim to him. …I believe Okumura Rin is lost to us. A grave loss for all I should think. To have fallen into the hands of such beast… I pity the child…"
The final member wearing varying shades of verte and grass green cloth followed wistfully, "He had shown such promise too-"
Agreeing, the feminine sounding one began, "Yes, this is truly a loss for the Order. A weapon of such proportions has fallen into the hands of Assiah's most dangerous enemy… The Branch Chiefs should be contacted and all of our holdings fortified thrice fold-"
Just then the brunette haired male who had been wallowing in his own self-pity ever since waking up to the news that his brother, his only sibling, was lost to him in Gehenna never to return felt his phone vibrate, it's mechanical jingle alerting him to a call. Numbly bringing it out with a slight tremble to his hands and hitting the Answer button the Exorcist robotically yet still dutifully answered, his mind elsewhere within the dark confines of his own mind, {This is Middle First Class Okumura Yukio, I'm cur-}
{"YU-KIO!"}
Nearly dropping the phone in shock the beryl-eyed teen shot straight up from his standing slouch with a gasp, eyes wide in disbelief as he grasped hold of the phone with both hands, {"NII-SAN?!}
Everyone turned to look, confusion on their faces at the normally calm and silent Exorcist's seemingly random outburst.
Shura was the first one to respond, eyes furrowed. "What's-?"
He caught her questioning statement and then everyone else's looks before answering numbly, still in shock, "It's- It's Nii-san…"
Then loud enough everyone could hear him from the other side of the connection, Rin yelped, {"OH FUCK!"}
Realizing what was happening the crimsoned-haired Exorcist jumped into action and catapulting out of her chair jabbed the frozen twin before her in the side, nearly shouting, "Turn on the speaker, you Moley Four-Eyed Scaredy Cat!"
Fumbling for what felt like an eternity Yukio did as she commanded once he too was finally lucid enough to focus and managed to hit the correct buttons despite the shaking he could not will to stop, all the while the sound of a fight began to escalate on the other side of the line. All of a sudden the quiet meeting room was flooded with the self-same noises, before abruptly a taunting voice full of rough undertones came across-
Oh, and Satan makes an appearance next chapter.
Tarry a while. Thou art so fair. ~ Wild-Tama