"Look! Look! Awake!" A high pitched voice was the first thing Rin perceived when he woke up.

His shoulder hurt and he was still tired but he felt that he was lying on a comfortable bed which gave him a feeling of safety.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, seeing a small green creature jumping up and down on his chest.

"What is it, Nee?" The familiar voice of a girl reacted to the baby Greenman's shouting.

The person came closer to the bed and he recognized the familiar blonde and green eyes; he knew where he was.

"Shiemi? What happened? How did I get here?" The Prince sat up, accidentally dropping Nee who had still been on his chest to fall down.

After a quick apology, he looked back at Shiemi, waiting for answers.

"Well, Nee and I were searching rare herbs to treat severe burns in the woods yesterday. Nee suddenly started running away and I followed him to a small hut and you were just lying before the front door." She started telling him.

"Yeah right, I collapsed thereafter esc-" Rin stopped. He couldn't tell Shiemi what happened. She was only his friend because she didn't know who he really was.

There was an awkward silence after that.

To Rin's surprise, Shiemi broke the silence after a few minutes.

"You were running from the exorcists, right?" She asked slowly.

The Prince was shocked. How could she know about this?

Unable to say anything, Rin had to listen to what else she had to say.

"I had to remove a Naiad Bullet from your shoulder and Nee gave some Mr. Homily. I wasn't sure if your wounds could get infected by something so I just used it to be sure."

She was talking about it like it was a totally normal thing for someone to be shot with a blessed bullet. Rin came to the conclusion that she had to know about his heritage.

"Aren't you afraid?" He asked scared of her answer.

"Why would I? You're my friend, right?"

The Prince didn't know what to say.

"I was a little shocked when I found out that you were," She stopped short to take a breath, "a demon but you were always so nice to me and you helped me in the garden, also Nee really seemed to like you."

"How long did you know?" The Prince almost didn't dare to ask.

"A few weeks after you started working in the garden. You always talked to the Greenman like you could actually understand them and you always avoided certain plants. At first, I thought you were just a little odd but then you saved me from that Dekalp but you said that you weren't an exorcist. You even laughed about it when Suguro asked you." She explained, staring at her fingers as if she was ashamed that she didn't say anything.

"If you knew the whole time why are you helping me? They've probably declared me an enemy of the Vatican by now."

"I already told you, you're my friend. I know that you're not a bad person. Whatever you did, there is probably an explanation." She smiled warmly.

Rin couldn't believe it. Shiemi wasn't afraid of him and she was willing to help him even though she was human and he was a demon. The Prince had never thought about it but Shiemi was probably his first true friend. He wondered if this was what friends were for. Shiemi didn't care where he came from and believed in him. She didn't have any prejudices about him and helped him without question when he needed her. Thinking about this moved him to tears.

He pulled her close to himself and hugged her.

"You're awesome, you know that?"

"Rin, wha-" She wanted to protest against the hug at first but when she noticed how sentimental he got she just let him.

The hug lasted for quite a while. When Rin calmed down he let her go.

"Sorry. I usually don't do that. Father would banish me if he saw me like that." The Prince laughed slightly embarrassed.

"Your father? I thought demons were created or they would just appear."

Rin made really confused look.

"No. I mean some are but I have a father and a mother. I should really go back, he is probably angry at me." He sighed. Did Satan already know about him stopping the Impure King? Would he be angry? It was a really stupid question, of course, he would be angry. Rin didn't regret saving all those people but his father would definitely not agree.

"Why would he be mad?" Shiemi asked concerned.

"Well, I revealed myself to the exorcists and I fought a demon that was supposed to destroy Kyoto."

"But why are the other exorcists hunting you if you another demon? You helped them, right?"

"I did help them but it seems like that doesn't count when you're the son of Satan."

Shiemi was shocked.

"Your father is Satan? That is-"

Rin interrupted her, worried about the look on her face, "I get it. You didn't expect that and now you're scared. You don't have to help me. It's okay."

He sighed disappointedly. He should have known. Helping a demon was a whole other story than helping the fucking antichrist.

"No. I meant that it must be hard. Sorry, I don't know anything about him. He is probably not like everyone says." Shiemi reassured him.

"Does that mean you're still not scared?"

"No, I told you that you're my friend. It doesn't matter who your father is. You are your own person."

"You're right. Thank you." Rin smiled.

"So do you really have to go back?"

"Of course. Sooner or later I will have to return home. I'm the Prince of Gehenna, I can't just abandon everything there."

He stood up.

"Thanks for your help. Please don't tell anyone I was here, especially not Yukio."

"Yuki? I thought you were friends or something like that."

"We are brothers actually. It's a really long story but he isn't really fond of me." Rin looked to the ground, still hurt by Yukio's betrayal.

Sensing that Rin didn't want to talk about it, Shiemi let it slide even though she was more than curious.

"Thank you again for everything. I'll come back after I talked to Father." Rin said, hoping Satan would actually let him return to Assiah.

"Good luck, Rin. I hope he won't be too mad." Shiemi said goodbye, accompanied by Nee who did the same in his own taciturn way.

Entering Gehenna, Rin immediately noticed Astaroth standing in front of the Gehenna Gate Rin stepped out of.

"This time you really screwed up." The King of Rot greeted him obviously boiling.

At first, Rin didn't know what his problem was but then he remembered that the Impure King belonged to Astaroth's kin.

"Listen, I'm sor-"

"Save this for Father." He interrupted Rin, heading towards the throne room.

The Prince cursed mentally before following his older brother.

The throne room had never felt this intimidating before and walking up to his father seemed to take an eternity.

Astaroth stood next to the throne, glaring at his younger brother who was kneeling down before him and his father.

"Father, please let me explain." The Prince started. His voice was desperate. He had never been afraid of his father until now, intimidated yes, but never afraid. He knew that he made a grave mistake in Satan's eyes and being his son alone might not be enough to save himself this time from his father's wrath.

"Who allowed you to talk? You are here because you are charged with high treason. The only reason why you aren't locked up or dead yet is that you are my son and your brother Iblis asked me to hear you out. So know your place." Satan growled, making Rin shiver.

Iblis put in a good word for him? He really hoped that this was enough.

"I'm sorry, Father." Rin lowered his head.

"To be honest, I would have never expected this from you. Firstly, you kill the Impure King who almost succeeded in taking down most of the higher ranked exorcists of Japan, including the Paladin. Secondly, you reveal yourself to those pathetic human beings, taking away our element of surprise in the inevitable coming war. And then I hear that even when they attack you, you are too much of a coward to fight back, fleeing instead." Satan's voice was cold.

"I know but I ca-"

"You purposely killed one of the first demons I created, basically my son. Do you really think you can wriggle yourself out of that?" Astaroth took a step forwards, clenching his fists, "Do you even understand how important he was for the war?"

"That is enough, Astaroth." Satan tempered his son.

"Rin, what do you have to say to these accusations?" The God of Gehenna finally allowed Rin to explain himself.

Of course, he couldn't tell him that he didn't want a war and wanted to protect Assiah and its inhabitants.

"Father, the reason why I defeated the Impure King was that he spread too far. He was destroying everything. And I tried to talk to him he didn't listen to me."

"And why did you think it would be a problem if he destroyed the land around him?" Satan didn't seem to be convinced.

"Pathetic excuses," Astaroth muttered, rolling his eyes in disbelief.

"I just thought that we," Rin paused shortly to find an excuse, "that we wanted to rule over Assiah and the humans. How can we rule over something dead?"

He felt so bad saying things like this. He averted his eyes, afraid that Satan could catch him lying.

"So you're saying that everything you did was for the benefit of Gehenna?" As far as Satan knew Rin had never lied to him. The Prince knew that lying to him was far more than a traitorous act. So what if his son was just misguided? What if he was really believing that his actions were benefitting Gehenna?

"Yes, Father. Please, I didn't mean any harm."

"What? Father, he is obviously lying! How could someone be so stupid to think that killing a demon would be good for his kind? He did nothing but disappoint you since he first went to Assiah." Astaroth intervened.

Rin's heart skipped a beat. Astaroth could ruin everything by exposing his lies.

"You are actually right, Astaroth. This all started when Rin first visited Assiah." Satan thought out loud.

"What? But that wasn't what I wanted to say." The King of Rot interrupted him just to be immediately silenced by Satan's glare.

"What is different since you first visited Assiah?" Satan continued his thoughts.

"Nothing, Father." Rin had the feeling that the conversation went into the completely wrong direction.

"Yes, it is. The first time you have been to the human realm was also the first time you met your brother Samael."

"No, I mean yes it was the first time I met him but he has nothing to do with this. Meph- I mean Samael taught me many things and he looked out for me while I was in Assiah." Rin tried to defend his second oldest brother. They may have had their differences but Rin was not going to blame him for his actions.

"Samael has always been a risk since he left Gehenna. I thought that could just let him have his fun as long as he didn't intervene in anything. I knew that his loyalty was wavering and I left you with him because I thought you signs of betrayal to me. I didn't think you would be manipulated by him."

"He didn't manipulate me, Father. Samael has nothing to do with all of this."

"Are you denying that he was present when you killed the Impure King? Because the demons summoned by those exorcists say they sensed him there."

"No, I'm not saying that he wasn't there but-"

"Then let me ask you one question. Where does your allegiance lie? Gehenna or Samael?"

"But there is no difference between tho-"

"Don't make me repeat this question."

"I can't make this choi-"

"RIN!" The flames around Satan grew bigger and wilder. The Prince flinched, noticing that he couldn't talk himself out of the question. Even Astaroth took a step away from the Demon God.

Nobody dared to say another word for minutes.

After a while, Satan spoke up again, calmer but not less dangerous.

"I give you one last chance to prove your loyalty. Do you understand? One. Last. Chance."

Rin nodded slightly, still trying to keep himself from trembling. He felt like a small child, completely helpless.

"After this mission, you will return to Gehenna immediately. Living in Assiah doesn't seem to be a good influence for you."

Having to leave Assiah broke Rin's heart but after his father's outburst, he still couldn't say anything.

"Your last chance is to force Samael to return to Gehenna by killing his vessel. Here, he will stand trial. I'm stripping him of his privileges as Demon King of Time." Satan stated calmly and determined.

"You're banishing Samael?" Astaroth couldn't believe what Satan said.

In thousands of years, it had never happened that a Demon King had to stand trial, let alone have his vessel killed to be brought back to Gehenna.

"It's something I should have done a long time ago." Satan simply commented.

"I have to kill Samael?" Rin finally found his voice. Like Astaroth, he was too stunned to properly react.

"I can't do that. He's my brother. I would never kill a single one of my brothers. It's just wrong. He is your son. How can you just pass judgment over him?" It was that moment when Rin realized his father's true nature.

"Is that your answer?" Satan leaned back in his throne.

Rin gathered all his courage.

"Yes, it is. What kind of father treats his sons like that? I never thought about this before because I didn't know it better."

"How dare you? You are my son and I am ordering you to kill your brother!"

"I am sick of following your orders! You made me hurt, no, kill innocent people. This is MY life and from now on I'm making my own decisions!" Rin finally stood up, looking directly at his father.

"With you as the God of Gehenna, it's no wonder that the humans hate and fear us!" The Prince's voice got louder. Nobody ever raised his voice against Satan. Astaroth was baffled by his younger brother's actions.

"Are you saying that someone else should sit on this throne? And who would that be? You?" The Demon God growled.

"If I had to. Not every demon is like you and hates the humans." He thought about Nee and Kuro, even Mephisto didn't particularly hate them, "And I'm not like you either."

After a small whistle, guards stormed the throne room.

"I'll send someone else to take down Samael. You will rot in the dungeons for eternity. Guards! This child is no longer your Prince. Take him."

The guards hesitated, attacking the heir to the throne was not an easy decision but Lord Satan said that he wasn't the Prince anymore.

Before any of them could act, a wall of blue flames surrounded Rin.

"Please don't attack. I don't want to hurt you." The young demon held them at enough distance to open a new Gehenna Gate.

"I won't just let you run away!" Satan growled, sending his own blue flames towards Rin.

To the surprise of everyone in the room he missed.

The flames just passed Rin, hitting an unfortunate guard and guaranteeing the boy's escape.

Hey!
I hope you liked the chapter.
I don't know if you noticed but the title of this chapter is actually a line from the second opening.
I still don't know what else to say down here...
Leave a review, I'm always happy about feedback.