Rin's cut bleed onto the ground, holding the Kurikara in his other hand.
His blood dripped onto pure white snow, staining it red. After he recited the right phrases, the Gehenna Gate started forming itself and the wound healed. The newborn demon smiled as he imagined what his father would say to him. Would he be proud? Maybe he would make him a Demon King and he could travel to Assiah whenever he wanted to.
Rin stepped into the gate and darkness surrounded him. The warm, dry air of the Demon Realm greeted the Prince. He was standing in a small village in front of Satan's Castle. He put away Kurikara and the blue flames around him disappeared.
"It's working like a switch." Rin noticed looking at himself. His flames were gone but other features like his tail were still present. "Did you see that? Those were Lord Satan's flames." He heard a demon mumbling. He had never been able to understand non-humanoid demons, but now he could hear what they were saying. "I've seen him before, when I was in the castle once. He was standing in a corner watching a trial. But I remember him being. . . human." The other small demon answered.
Rin ignored them and slowly walked up to the front gate. "Hello?" He asked knocking on the gigantic door. He cleared his throat so he would sound mightier and more confident. "Open the gate!" He shouted and battered the gate. It opened for a tiny bit and one of the tall guards looked down at Rin.
"Who wants to enter the castle of the great Satan?" He asked harshly. Rin could understand that the guard didn't recognize him. He had never been near the gates and was never allowed to go outside either. Even though every demon had heard about Rin almost nobody knew what he looked like.
"His son. Please tell him that Rin has returned." Rin had to look up to look into the guards face.
The demon grunted amused. "I need a proof for that, you brat." He said smirking and not taking Rin seriously. The Prince took his sword from his back and unsheathed it. Instantly, the blue flames danced over the boy's body and formed two little horns on his head. Immediately, the guard kneeled down. "Forgive me, my Prince. I should have known it was you. Please have mercy. No one expected you would be back so soon." The guard whimpered.
"It's fine, really. Just tell my father, I'm back." Rin was getting uncomfortable. He didn't like the fact that the demons were afraid of the blue flames. He wanted to protect them after all.
The guard escorted him to the throne room where Satan already seemed to be waiting. Rin should have known, that his father always knew what was going on in the castle.
"So you returned, my son." The Demonic God welcomed the Prince.
"Yes, father." The raven haired Prince smiled. Proudly, he presented Kurikara by unsheathing it and releasing his flames.
"How did it go?" Satan asked expecting a flawless execution. "Well. . . umm. . ." Rin didn't want to tell his father that three of the four demons that accompanied him had died.
"Speak." He demanded an answer. "Only Behemoth survived the mission. I tried to sneak in, but I was discovered. I pretended to be a runaway and they let me in. I guess they suspected that someone would try to steal the sword and it came to a fight. . ." Rin looked to the ground and let the sword he had proudly presented before fall.
"You obtained the sword but you haven't really shown any leadership skills. If you had planned everything through and ambushed the exorcists, you could have carried out your mission with less fatalities." Satan sounded disappointed maybe even a bit angry. "I'm sorry, Father. . . I" Rin said ruefully. But Satan interrupted him. "Originally, I had planned to make you a Demon King. Since Lucifer and Samael seem to reside in Assiah now, their domains remain without a ruler but you disappointed me, my son." He stated harshly.
"After your official coronation as the Prince of Gehenna, I will see what your assignment will be. Don't expect an important position until you proved yourself. Now hand me the sword. I will take care of it until we release your powers completely at your coronation." His father's words hurt Rin. Discouraged, he gave Kurikara to Satan and went to his chambers. He knew that he could have prevented the demons' deaths somehow, but he thought that it would have been wrong to just ambush the exorcists. Before they knew who he was, they were actually really nice and this guy named Yukio. . . maybe it was true and they really were brothers. No, although Rin knew that he was born in Assiah, there was no way that he could have a brother and his father hadn't told him about him. But why would they tell lies? Why should Yukio say that they were brothers, if it wasn't true.
On his way, the Prince bumped into someone. "Little Brother, you're back." Amaimon stated while looking at his depressed little brother. "Did you bring the candy? I'm running out of lollipops." Amaimon stated with a sense of urgency.
"Oh... I'm sorry, Amaimon, but I needed the money you gave me to buy these clothes. Otherwise, I would have stood out too much." Rin apologized.
"You forgot it? Well, if you're that sloppy it's no wonder why father won't make you a king. . ." The King of Earth said carelessly.
"How. . . how do you know that? I just talked to father!" The fire demon clenched his fists. Why did Amaimon have to make fun of him right now? "My coaltars told me. So, since you won't be a King, maybe you become my underling. I'll make you call me Master Amaimon then. . ." The Earth King teased. He was really bored and now that Rin was a demon, maybe he could put up a fight against him. The newborn demon still was a bit on edge because he had to get used to his newfound powers first.
"Shut it, Amaimon." He growled while the blue flames ignited again. "Wow, you really can summon father's flames whenever you want now. But they're so small no wonder, that father thinks, you can't handle responsibility." Amaimon said with a shrug. With that, Rin had enough. He attacked his older brother who underestimated him by far. The King of Earth broke through one of the windows landing in the courtyard. "That's what I'm talking about." He smiled standing up and blocking Rin's next punch. They threw a few punches at each other before Amaimon's interest faded. "You're not even using your flames. Come on, little brother!" Amaimon's smile widened, "Or are you too weak?"
He scratched Rin across the face leaving a few bleeding claw marks in his cheek and nose.
The Prince stumbled back, "Stop calling me weak, you green-haired bastard!" His words shocked Amaimon. Rin had never been disrespectful to anyone. He concluded that Rin's awakened demonic side fuelled his anger and made him lose control more easily. The younger pulled two daggers from his belt which where instantly covered in blue flames. He gritted his teeth and stormed towards Amaimon but the King of Earth didn't really have a hard time dodging Rin's attacks. Then, he used his chance and grabbed his little brother by his tail which he let carelessly exposed. His body froze in shock and pain. "Don't you know that it's really dumb to leave your tail exposed like that?" The King of Earth asked and threw Rin against a stone wall. That helped Rin to recover his senses. He was still angry at Amaimon but he realized that he didn't stand a chance against his brother. Not yet. He got up and walked away while mumbling curses.
After a week, Rin had mostly gotten used to his powers. He had to. After all, it was his sixteenth birthday and a loss of control at his coronation would be more than inappropriate. The Prince looked at himself in a mirror. The sight of the pointy ears, sharpened canines, and tail still felt strange to him. He wore a black, gallant doublet and an also black mantle covering his shoulders. It was so long that the tip of his tail was barely visible at the bottom of it.
Rin took a deep breath. He prefered the clothes he bought in Assiah, but everyone seemed to insist that he should wear traditional, formal clothes for his coronation.
Today, Satan would break Kurikara. Today, he would officially be introduced as the heir of Gehenna's throne and every demon would know his face. Today, he would not become a Demon King, but get assigned to a rather unimportant task. He left his room and made his way towards Satan's throne room. Before the festivities started, he wanted to talk to his father. Maybe he could prevent getting sent to Egyn's domain. Everything was always wet and there were seas everywhere. For a fire demon like Rin, it was the worst place he could imagine. When he stepped into the throne room, the first thing he saw was his father talking to a man he didn't expect to see again.
Mephisto Pheles was leaned against the throne and casually telling Satan a story about his time in Assiah. When they noticed Rin, the white and pink dressed demon gave him a bright smile which seemed kinda off.
"Rin, I heard you've already met your second oldest brother. Why didn't you tell me about it when you came back?" Satan asked. It wasn't like he was really interested in Rin's answer but he liked to know if the boy maybe had kept more things that happened in Assiah a secret. "I guess, I didn't think it was important." The Prince didn't dare looking into his father's eyes, because he didn't know if Satan was still mad at him. He had thought about his encounter with Mephisto but the way he stood there next to Satan, it didn't seem like he was a traitor. So maybe the story about Mephisto playing the exorcists was true. "I'm sorry, Father." He quickly added.
"Nothing is unimportant when it has to do with one of your brothers." Satan lectured his youngest son.
"I actually have to ask you something about my brothers. . ." Rin said with a little more confidence. Satan was a bit surprised but with a wave of his hand he allowed him to speak. "When I was in Assiah there was this boy, one of the exorcists, and he claimed to be my twin brother. I didn't believe him of course. You told me that humans lie about a lot of things but his words kind of stuck with me and since I was born in Assiah. . ." Rin began to explain.
"You want to know if the boy said the truth. Well, I don't see a reason why I should keep this from you any longer. It is true that your mother gave birth to twins but your brother was weak and not able to host the royal flames. Does that answer your question?" Satan told Rin nonchalantly.
The teenager was speechless. He was just staring at Satan. He actually had a younger brother and no one had told Rin about. He took a deep breath to ask Satan if he could go back and look for him but he hesitated. He realized that it was a stupid question and his father would never allow it. But secretly, he made a plan to go back to Assiah and search Yukio. Rin was a demon and Yukio was an exorcist but they were also brothers, maybe he would listen to him. Only Mephisto seemed to notice the Princes' hesitation although he didn't say anything.
"It's time. Every strong demon of Gehenna is waiting in front of the gates. Now get prepared for the ceremony and go fetch the sword, my son." Satan ordered Rin. The Prince left the room and made his way to Kurikara's repository.
Since he came back it was placed unsheathed in a protected room. The guards greeted him and opened the steel door for their Prince. He went in and took Kurikara.
When he returned to the throne room he heard hundreds of voices inside.
"There is no turning back now." He muttered to himself standing in front of the gigantic gate. He strengthened his grip around the koma sword. The door opened and everyone looked in his direction. He could see all kinds of demons: salamanders, furfurs, ghouls, reapers and many more; even a seraphim, a demon of Lucifer's kin was present.
At the end of the hall sat Satan on his big, black throne, next to him stood seven of the eight demon kings, Samael, Azazel, Iblis, Egyn, Astaroth, Amaimon and finally Beelzebub. Confidently, Rin started walking towards them while his black cloak waved behind him. He could here some muffled voices from the demons that watched the ceremony.
"I imagined him taller. He is so much smaller than Lord Satan."
"Maybe, it's because he is half-human."
"Maybe, I hear he is a weakling."
"I heard, that he screwed up his first mission."
"I heard, he has never killed anyone. Maybe, he really is weak."
"Stop it. He's the future king. Show some respect."
The Prince tried to ignore them but it wasn't that easy. His advanced hearing and the telepathic connection he had with most of the demon races were really hard to turn off.
Finally, he reached his father's throne. As soon as he stopped, Satan raised his voice. "You've all come here today to witness the official coronation of my son who succeeded to wield the noble blue flames. From this day on, he will be able to embrace the full extent of his powers after the seal the humans placed on him is completely broken."
He reached out and a few little flying demons took Kurikara from Rin, placing it in the Demonic God's hand. Rin closed his eyes, at first, nothing happened, but when Kurikara made a first cracking sound, indescribable pain spread near the Prince's heart. He clenched his chest crying out in pain. His flames bursted out uncontrollably and with every split Kurikara got, they became bigger and more violent. He fell down on his knees struggling for breath. At the moment, the sword was completely snapped in two the flames had disappeared. Rin could breathe again and the pain in his chest was gone. He was left gasping, sweat running down his forehead.
"Stand up. You're a full-fledged demon now." Satan commanded. It took a while until he could find the strength to get on his feet. The prince tried to hide his shaking hands by doubling his fists. He looked up and saw that Satan signaled him to come closer. Rin followed the request and finally stood next to his father who placed a slim crown made out of blackened metal and sapphires on the teenager's head.
"Welcome the heir of Gehenna's throne!" He declared while laying his arm around Rin's shoulder. The boy was still too perplexed to show any emotion, he was just staring at the crowd of demons that shouted, clapped, and roared. Everything around him seemed muted and his head hurt. He lost track of time and found himself in a great ballroom standing next to his father.
"I think, I should go to bed." He muttered holding his head. Dizziness overcame him and he stumbled back to his room. He didn't really notice what was going on around him. Everything was so loud and fuzzy, Rin was relieved when he reached his chambers and the noise was shut off.
"What's going on? Shouldn't I feel better? Stronger?" He muttered to himself. "Well, if you really want to know," A flamboyant voice caught his attention. "What are you doing here, Mephisto?" Rin asked growling slightly.
"Oh, so you don't want to know. I guess I leave you alone then." The King of Time made his way to the door.
"Wait! Tell me!" The Prince stopped him.
"Na gut, Kurikara wasn't just sealing your powers away. It acted like training wheels. After a week, you just weren't ready. Your half-human body suddenly became almost fully demonic. Just take a long nap, you won't sleep very well, but you will give your body the time to accept itself." Mephisto explained.
"And that's it? After that I will go back to normal?" That question made the purple haired man laugh. "Of course not! Your human half is now completely suppressed. You will probably develop some rather unusual habits, well unusual for you. They're pretty normal for a demon and you will need a lot of training to overcome them. I remember Amaimon needed almost a century to manage."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rin clenched his fists while glaring at Mephisto. "You will find out. I will go back to the party now. Cheerio, little one." Before Rin could say anything, Mephisto had disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Very helpful, jerk." He mumbled, laying down in his bed. "Becoming a demon is far more stressful than I thought."
Earlier that day, Satan had gotten a rather unusual visitor. "Samael, what brings you back to Gehenna? Aren't you playing with those pathetic humans anymore?" He greeted his second oldest son who had just entered the throne room. "Well, I can't miss my brother's coronation, can I? You'll probably make him a king, since Lucifer and I aren't around very often, right?" The King of Time asked grinning. "Actually, that was my original plan." The Demon God admitted.
Even though Samael was considered a traitor among most of the demons, Satan knew that he was just playing with the exorcists like a child was playing with a pet. "Oh? You're so you changed your mind?" Mephisto was indeed surprised by his father. "He is not ready to be a leader, although, he cares about his subordinates, maybe even too much, he is too weak to actually command them. Sometimes I think, he takes too much after his mother. Until he learns, what it means to be a king, I will probably assign him to Azazel, since he is his oldest present brother." Satan told him with a bit disappointment in his voice.
"Azazel? But he is so boring. With time he has become as tiring as his spirits." He exclaimed dramatically.
"I have an idea. How about I take care of Rin? I'll take him to Assiah with me. Believe me, he will want to return either way. I met him shortly before he came back here and he was almost ready to betray you and stay there. I think, it's better when he returns with me instead of alone and uncontrollably." Mephisto offered in a playful manner. "What? I should entrust the heir of the blue flames to someone, everyone thinks is a traitor?" Satan gave him a short, sinister laugh. "Of course! The more he can learn about Assiah, the easier it will be to conquer it, right? And as I said, he will return either way." The white suited man insisted.
Hey!
Hope you liked the chapter.
"Na gut" is german and means "Very well then"
Special Thanks to ichika aono, who comments a lot under this story :D