Walk me through the Valley
Disclaimer: Characters and premise are the property of Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit me through the Valley.
Chapter Nineteen: The King of Rot
Rin let the door to the dorm slam behind him as he practically flew down the stairs. "Stupid homework! I'm gonna be late!" he muttered jogging toward the cafeteria. He made his way down the path for the second time that morning, his previously forgotten bookbag swinging wildly behind him. Half-way down the path the sound of a small whimper brought Rin up short. He peered into the pre-dawn gloom, trying to locate the source of the pained cry.
A small puppy staggered on to the path. Rin's stomach twisted. It's golden fur was matted with blood and strips of skin hung off it like damp, red rags. "Seriously gonna kill him," Rin muttered knowing he was looking at Shiratori's handiwork.
Rin crouched and held out his hand to the puppy. "Hey, hey, let me see what I can do to help," he murmured gently trying to reassure the puppy as he crept forward.
The puppy stared up at him with huge, frightened eyes, unable to comprehend why it had been hurt. Afraid but still looking to Rin to make it better. Weakly it licked his hand.
Rin swallowed harshly as he rubbed the puppy's head with one hand while brushing back it's fur to get a better look at it's injuries with the other. "They're, they're not so deep," he said encouragingly. "You got away from him didn't you? Good job!"
Rin's fingers, now covered with the puppy's blood, tingled.
"I'm going to take care of you," Rin promised peeling his off his jacket. "You're going to be just fine, you'll see." He wrapped the jacket around the puppy, hoping it would help to stem the bleeding. Then he lifted it in his arms and started off, cradling it against his chest. Rin's first thought was to take the puppy to Shiemi but he didn't want the gentle girl to see this sort of deranged cruelty. He turned toward the Order's med-center, instead.
It wasn't long before the puppy's blood soaked through Rin's jacket and saturated his shirt. The tingling sensation spread and worsened. Rin began to feel a little light headed.
The puppy's whimpers tapered off into labored pants. Rin bit his lip and tried to go faster. He stumbled over a crack in the pavement and fell to his knees. Shocking bolts of pain shot up and down his legs. "Funny bone," Rin grimaced, got back up and hurried on.
He squinted at the brightening sky, a shaft of sunlight broke the horizon and seemed to spear straight into his eye like a burning arrow. Rin closed his eyes and shook his head. His arms sagged but he bit his lip and tightened his hold on the puppy, forging on.
He couldn't think why everything suddenly seemed so difficult. The puppy's weight should have been nothing, less than the weight of his sword. As soon as he thought of his sword the weight of it on his back became notable, pulling him off balance. He staggered. The breeze felt like icy knives slicing through his exposed skin and each street lamps was yet another attack on his eyes.
He could barely see for the explosions of light flashing across his vision. The ground dipped crazily beneath his feet, the trees spun overhead. Rin stumbled again and went down, wrapping himself around the puppy to protect it as he fell. His hip and elbow struck the sidewalk, it felt like the bones shattered on impact.
For a moment Rin lay on the concrete, gasping for breath, staring up at the twirling trees and street lamps, willing them to be still and sane. He heard shoes tapping against the pavement and for a moment felt relief.
"Aren't you a sight," Shiratori purred.
"Gonna kill you," Rin slurred, tightening his grip on the puppy.
"You can't even stand up and you're only getting worse hanging on to that worthless stray," Shiratori laughed. "Just like I knew you would. You're so easy, Okumura... Rin, you don't mind if I call you Rin?" He picked up a stick and used it to pry the puppy out of Rin's arms, being careful not to touch it himself.
"Leave it alone!" Rin snapped. He rolled over and pushed himself to his knees. The world increased the tempo it's dizzying dance around him. The gravel pressed up into his palms and knees like shards of broken glass.
"Sure, no problem. It'll die in a few hours anyway," Shiratori said carelessly. "But I knew I could count on you. I knew you'd pick it up, hold it against yourself, if there was even the slightest chance of saving it."
"What'd you do to me?" Rin demanded. He blinked and squinted, trying to make Shiratori come into focus.
Shiratori crouched down beside Rin and ruffled his hair. "I just listened to the voice in my head. It told me all about this little concoction, but it didn't believe me that the puppy'd work." He chuckled and slid his fingers deeper into Rin's hair. "Didn't think you were that stupid, but me I knew better. Knew exactly how easy it'd be to get to you."
"Get off me!" Rin exclaimed and tried to bat Shiratori's hand away. He lost his balance and crashed back to the pavement.
Shiratori, leaned forward, putting his knee on the back of Rin's neck, grinding his cheek into the sidewall. "But you almost screwed it up!" he snarled. "You were fucking late! Do you have any idea how hard it was having to stop once I started in on that pathetic dog? You made me wait! It's whimpering and crying and the blood smells so good, but I couldn't do anything more 'cause even you wouldn't have picked it up if it'd been dead when you got here." Then suddenly the anger drained away and Shiratori laughed. "But you're here now and I'm never going to have to wait for you again. Just like all my other pets, you'll be the one waiting on me, waiting for me to play with you, waiting to find out what new games I come up with. Waiting, until I get bored and slice your throat open. But don't worry it'll probably take a long, long time for me to get bored with you. I've never had a person, or whatever you are, that was mine to play with before."
Rin squirmed and struggled beneath Shiratori, he felt as weak and as uncoordinated as a newborn kitten.
"It's getting late," Shiratori commented. "This is fun but we better take it someplace private before some idiot jogger stumbles over us." He sat back, lifting his knee off Rin's neck. When the smaller boy started pushing himself off the ground, Shiratori grabbed the back of Rin's head and slammed his face into the concrete, putting all his weight behind it.
Rin felt his nose break, the spots still dancing in his vision exploded into supernovas.
"I'm going to have to have stern words with that boy," a voice huffed. "He tries to be a good son, but really this is going too far."
There was a gentle hand on his brow and a scent he'd never quite forgotten. "Mommy?" Rin asked.
"You remember me," the voice brightened, full of warmth and happiness.
Rin squinted and a woman with long, curly brown hair came into focus. "You smell like Mommy and you look like Yukio," he informed her.
Yuri laughed softly. "Yukio looks like me, I did come first after all."
"You look like little brother," Rin insisted stubbornly. Then he groaned, "Everything hurts."
Yuri frowned. "Your senses have been heightened. It'll be over soon, your body is already beginning to adapt, expelling the potion." She sighed. "Your brother's going about this in completely the wrong way but if it gets you away from those dreadful Exorcists…"
"No, Mommy they're my friends," Rin protested.
Yuri shook her head. "You don't know what they've done, what your grandfather has done. But it'll be alright soon. You'll be safe soon." Then she grimaced. "Assuming this doesn't blow up in his face, his choice of tools is extremely disturbing."
Rin woke up to the feel of overwhelming pain in his wrists and ankles. He tried to sit up and the pain intensified causing his vision to white-out. Rin blinked the spots out of his eyes and cautiously twisted his head. He was lying flat on his back on a stage in a dusty, darkened auditorium. The wood floor felt rough and cold against his bare back, sandpaper and ice and salt. His skin felt flayed away, his nerves raw. His arms were stretched over his head and any effort to move them brought more pain, waves of white-hot pain that erased all thought.
He lay still, letting the pain settle back to mere agony. Rin remembered; the puppy, Shiratori. Cautiously he craned his head back to try to see what was wrong with his arms. He saw the hilt of a knife protruding from each wrist and realized he was pinned to the stage like a butterfly.
Shiratori had been waiting silently while Rin took in his situation but now he stepped out of the shadows grinning maniacally. "I drove the blades right through you, buried 'em deep in the floor. Had to use a hammer to pound 'em in. The knives go right between the bones in your arms and legs. I remember how crazy strong you are, Rin. So go ahead and struggle. I'm honestly curious about what'll give first: The floor, the knife blade or you."
Rin shivered, his eyes wide as he looked toward the sound of Shiratori's voice. He forced himself to take a deep breath, to think.
"Oh, you're going to be boring," Shiratori pouted. "I wanted you to freak. To struggle, to rip yourself apart." He sighed. "But you're not cooperating! I guess I'll just have to make you." He poured some holy water in to a dish then reached down to playfully flicked it at Rin. "Ow!" Shiratori exclaimed in surprise. He stared at his blistered fingertips in confusion.
Rin gasped as his attention was drawn to the other boy's burnt fingers. "Shiratori, listen to me," Rin said quickly. "You're being possessed. Mephisto said like calls to like. Ya gotta stop what you're thinking right now! Do you know any bible verses? Sutras? Hymns? …Christmas carols? Everybody's gotta know Christmas carols."
"Too late little brother," Astaroth chuckled as spiral horns formed on the sides of Shiratori's head and his eyes turned blood red. "This one's been making a lovely home for me every day of his life."
"Where's Shiratori?" Rin demanded.
"Oh he's still here," Astaroth replied tapping the side of his head with a long claw. "Stuck in the dark and already screaming; because he knows me. He knows what's going to happen to him because he knows what would happen to anything small and helpless and trapped in the dark with him. Don't spend any compassion on him." Astaroth wrinkled his nose. "Compassion is unbecoming in a demon."
The King of Rot stretched and popped his neck, reacquainting himself with the feel of having a body. "This time there's no annoying priest to get in my way. Father will be so pleased to see you."
Astaroth's words reminded Rin that he knew the verse to send the Hell King packing. He'd heard Shiro recite it and every detail of that night had played over and over again in his nightmares. "O Lord, reward them according to their evil deeds," Rin began.
Astaroth hissed. He grabbed one of the knives pinning Rin's wrists to the floor and twisted it viciously, ripping through the scabs that had already formed due to Rin's demonic healing..
Rin shrieked. "Repay the works of their hands," he continued his voice shaking with pain. "Avenge thyself upon them. Blessed be the lord. My prayer has been answered. The lord is my help and my shield! Thou shalt be destroyed."
"It didn't work." For a moment Astaroth seemed surprised. Then he threw back his head and laughed. "You can't force me out of this body that easily!"
"I should hope not," Mephisto said, announcing his arrival. A moment after he appeared in a puff of purple smoke a group of Exorcists, lead by Angel, burst into the deserted theater from all directions. Mephisto tilted his head down and grinned at Astaroth from beneath his hat brim. "Not after all the work I've done to make that body over into a prison for you."
"Traitor! Father will hear of this!" Astaroth hissed. As he stood his form swelled, his skin turned leathery, his horns lengthening as his lower body twisted, his legs becoming those of a goat. He yanked one of the knifes pinning Rin to the floor free.
The blade scraped along his bones as it pulled free, Rin's scream broke off in a gurgle as something broke in his throat and blood filled his mouth. Then Astaroth was flying into the first row of seats and Angel was standing over Rin. The Paladin crouched and carefully turned Rin's head to the side, blood ran out the corner of his mouth. "Don't move," Angel ordered. "You can drown in your own blood."
Astaroth struggled back to his feet, ripping the chairs from the floor as he did so. He threw the knife at Angel. The Paladin batted it out of the air as he charged. Caliburn sent the demon king flying again, several Exorcists scattered to avoid being caught beneath Astaroth as he crashed to the ground.
This time Angel didn't bother to wait for the King of Rot to make it to his feet again. He continued battering Astaroth, beating the demon into the floor, shattering concrete and the demon. Astaroth's major form shrank away, he dwindled back until Shiratori's form could be seen beneath the possession again.
"You may wish to hold," Mephisto suggested. "Kill the host body and he'll escape back into Gehenna."
Angel hesitated for a moment then reluctantly stepped back, his sword still held at ready.
"Now," Mephisto said pointing his umbrella at Astaroth and used the point to inscribe a pentagram in the air. "Now, that he's fully entered the host body, the last brick falls into place and his prison is complete."
"No!" Astaroth yelled. A collar with an old fashion padlock hanging from it appeared around his throat.
Mephisto strolled down the aisle to where Astaroth lay and knelt beside him. "Your greed betrayed you, brother mine," he whispered as he turned the key in the lock. "Did you truly believe I would leave such a hole in my defenses?"
"You can't do this! Turncoat! Betrayer! Apostate! You are one of us! You can't do this to me." Astaroth cursed and screamed as Mephisto slipped the key into his pocket.
"Shiratori Reiji resided in my kingdom for a full year and a day," Mephisto continued calmly. "Naturally I took measures to ensure that anyone who tried to use him to move against me would have cause to regret it." He glanced toward Rin. "Of course my bait was exquisitely tempting. Perhaps you can be forgiven for failing to think. But I won't spare you the consequences of your foolishness: Your heart is mine."
Mephisto stood and turned his back on Astaroth. "Take all measures to ensure that the host-body lives a long life in captivity," he ordered. "And congratulate yourselves. Today, Astaroth, the King of Rot and one of Satan's most loyal generals has been removed from the field of battle. And it was thanks to your efforts."
Angel took charge of the Exorcists and transferring their prisoner to the True Cross' most secure dungeon in Rome. "Use the full bindings, do not put faith in Sir Pheles' assurances that this body will resist the demon's power," Angel ordered. The Exorcists bound Astaroth in chains and hauled him out of the theatre. Angel took up the rear guard, at the door he paused and looked back at Rin and Mephisto.
"Do you require assistance?" Angel asked uncertainly.
"Very kind of you to ask," Mephisto replied with a quick grin. "I would estimate another few hours before Astaroth's poison runs it's course, until then there's little to do but offer comfort. Hardly your strong suit, his friends should be reaching the end of the scavenger hunt I sent them on any minute now. They will see to his hurts; feel free to focus completely on your prisoner."
Angel nodded then turned and left without another word.
"What'll happen to Shiratori now?" Rin whispered raggedly, trying to distract himself as Mephisto grasped the hilt of the second dagger and put a firm hand on Rin's wrist to prevent any movements as it was yanked free.
"Nothing he doesn't deserve," Mephisto replied.
Even knowing what was coming, even when the knife was removed cleanly, Rin couldn't help himself from screaming, bringing up fresh blood as the knife pulled free of his flesh.
Mephisto's expression darkened as he pulled Rin up to lean against his shoulder, holding him for a moment until he'd finished choking up blood. "Perhaps not even all that he deserves. I expected Astaroth to constrain his appetites since he knew who you are and how our father wants you within his grasp." He removed the third knife and Rin curled up on himself whimpering, too weak to even scream any longer.
The door slammed open. "We saw Angel's squad hauling Shiratori off. Is Rin okay?" Bon demanded.
Mephisto yanked the last dagger free and smiled at the crowd of Exwires. "A bit worse for wear but nothing that won't heal. You arrived at the perfect moment." He stepped back to allow Shiemi to take over Rin's care. She immediately set to wrapping his wounds.
"You barred my familiars from campus!" Izumo accused. "Uke saw Shiratori ambush Rin. He went to intervene and the next thing he knew he was forced off campus!"
"Our trap would have been a bit pointless if someone intervened before Astaroth took full possession of Shiratori," Mephisto replied.
"Rin got hurt," Bon snapped.
"Within acceptable limits," Mephisto replied. "It is your goal to defeat Satan is it not? A window is opening, the likes of which has never before been seen: I broke ties with Satan the moment I realized I'd traded a benevolent dictator for one who would rule through fear. Amaimon's loyalty is bound to Moriyama-san for as long as she lives, and because it is our sweet and generous Shiemi-chan I have hopes that he will chose to remain Assiah's protector even after she is gone. And now Astaroth has been removed from the board for the remainder of Shiratori Reiji's days."
"It is your goal and mine to see Satan defeated," Mephisto repeated. "But I have waited for longer than you can possibly hope to imagine to see that goal achieved. After these last few months, I believe that the time is now. That the time to confront him will occur within your lifetime. But if even one Hell King stands with Satan on the day you face him you will fail."
"Rin-kun's injuries will heal. Astaroth, the King of Rot, has been neutralized. This was a remarkably cheap victory," Mephisto concluded.
Bon looked at the floor boards, stained with Rin's blood and shook his head in denial.
A week later Angel stood at the edge of the True Cross Administration Building's roof and peered down at the little knot of students having lunch in the quad far below.
Lightning leaned casually against the door jam at the top of the stairs. "Three minutes into a spar and you'd know everything you want to know about how he's recovering," the scruffy exorcist commented pulling his hat further down over his eyes.
"You know why I'm not teaching him any longer," Angel stated and resolutely turned his back on the quad. "I gave the Order my most solemn oath to serve their goals. I will not allow my loyalties to be divided, I will not break my word. Not even when the Grigori engages in manipulations worthy of- of Mephisto Pheles! I will not waiver in my faith that they serve the greater good of Assiah." He stopped and glanced back toward Rin and his friends. "I will follow my orders, but I will not have him trust me: his executioner."
"You're usually the last one to forget that you're the Paladin," Lightning remarked.
"Of course I haven't forgotten my position," Angel scoffed.
"Has it occurred to you that if you agree with Pheles' assertion that the boy is useful the Grigori will pay attention?" Lightning asked.
"They didn't appoint me for to the position on account of my brains," Angel replied frankly.
Lightning shrugged, "It wasn't just because you look pretty in white either."
"I look heroic," Angel corrected. "And they appointed me because, besides looking the part, I am also an awesome swordsman and unlike my infamous predecessor I follow orders... without undue applications of creativity."
Lightning tilted his head back to look Angel in the eye. "You've got a point. The Paladins since Fujimoto Shiro resigned have been selected for their inclination to follow orders and not make a fuss."
"Indeed," Angel nodded. He felt like he was getting the upper hand in their argument, it was an unsettling feeling. "The Grigori made a mistake in appointing Fujimoto; one they've been careful not to repeat."
"Fujimoto could have done a lot of damage if he'd raised a stink about his last mission as Paladin," Lightning acknowledged. "'Specially if he'd taken it out of the Order to the larger Church. No matter how you dress it up, killing babies is always gonna carry a taint. Sixteen years ago, right after the Blue Night, we weren't in any shape to weather a controversy… And it seems Shiro had his own reasons to want to fade into obscurity."
"I'm glad you see it my way," Angel said suspiciously.
Lightning smiled slyly. "But the Paladins since Fujimoto have been placeholders. You called Fujimoto Shiro your predecessor and didn't spare a thought for the ones who held the title for the last sixteen years," he said. "You don't have to disobey your orders, just speak your mind. If you think Okumura Rin is dedicated to Satan's downfall and loyal to Assiah, people will listen. Enough people that the Grigori will have to listen to you or appear fools."
Angel looked dubious.
"Arthur," Lightning said firmly. "There doesn't have to be a contradiction in your orders. Maybe we all know that Grigori meant when Okumura becomes a threat, but even if it was a polite fiction they said if. If you think he's worth standing up for, do it. They can't object to you being literal-minded; after all, they selected you for the position because you follow orders without getting creative didn't they?"
For a moment Angel just stared at Lightning. Then he started laughing. "My friend, you are the only person who can make these tedious word games amusing."
Wednesday evening Angel let himself into the Old Dorm, upon finding Rin in the middle of a spar with Tsuzo, Izumo and Shima he crossed his arms and leaned back against the door jam to observe.
Tsuzo held her staff at the midpoint for increased speed. She spun it lightly between her hands using both ends to attack in an irregular rhythm, hoping to catch Rin off guard. Rin parried with a katana-length bokken in his right hand and a wakizashi-length one in his left. Izumo and Shima were trying to edge around the perimeter of the room to catch Rin between them.
The moment Tsuzo's barrage let up, Rin engaged Shima, forcing the pink haired boy to give ground, driving him back toward his sister's position.
Izumo took advantage of the moment when both Tsuzo and Shima went on the offense and darted behind Rin.
Rin slid his wakizashi into the sleeve of his jacket then grabbed Tsuzo's staff and shoved the slight middle class Exorcist back. She hit the far wall hard and fell to her hands and knees. Rin knocked Shima's staff away and ducked the dulled blade of Izumo's practice naginata.
Before Izumo could renew her attack, Rin spun and grabbed her weapon just below the blade. He pulled her forward, dragging the naginata out of her hands. Her body slammed against his. Rin wrapped his sword arm around Izumo, pinning her to his side and threw the naginata at Shima.
The pink-haired boy twisted to avoid the clumsy missile. Tsuzo scrambled back to her feet and moved to regroup with her brother.
Rin reclaimed his wakizashi and touched the blade to Izumo's throat, "Sorry, you're dead," he said as he released her.
Izumo let herself drop to the floor. "I can still be a trip hazard," she informed him.
"Way to support the team," Shima sniped.
Angel decided there was no point in allowing the spar to continue, if three of them weren't skilled enough to outmaneuver Rin, the remaining two didn't stand a chance and Rin wasn't even trying to access his demonic powers. He stepped into the room. "You're tardy," he informed Rin. "So if you've finished playing with your girlfriend…"
Izumo, Tsuzo and Shima shot Angel outraged glares. Rin rolled his eyes, "Says the guy who's been cutting class for the last three weeks."
"I am the Paladin, when I miss class it is because I had something more important to do," Angel informed Rin haughtily. "You are an Exwire, when you are late for class you are tardy."
"So you got your 'important stuff' cleared out for awhile?" Rin asked suspiciously. Izumo gave him an approving look.
"Yes, I believe your training as an exorcist has become one of my higher priorities for the next few years," Angel stated
"I'm gonna pass the Exorcist Exam next winter," Rin declared.
"We'll see," Angel replied.
Rin turned to the three staff-knights. "See you guys later, it looks like I've got class after all."
Author's Note: One thing that makes Angel an interesting character to me is that in the Anime he remains loyal to the Order and it's hierarchy until it blatantly obvious that Egin is endangering the world. Getting demoted with no explanation and replaced by an unqualified teenage did not shake his loyalty to the Order (apologies to Yukio, but Egin jumped him at least two classes, three if the Arch Knights count as class rather than a subset of the upper 1st class to make him Paladin and I can't help but think that Egin's main reason for wanting Yukio in that position was because he believed that he could control Yukio). It's one of the main reasons I try to write Angel as "Lawful Neutral": he continued to respect his authority figures even when they were mistreating him. I do want it to be a very big deal for him to consider the possibility that his superiors are wrong (I try to avoid crossing into "Lawful Stupid" territory because even if Angel isn't the sharpest crayon in the box, that sort of character only really serves as an obstacle for the protagonists).