Chapter 21: Crumble

Satan slams the doors open, very nearly hitting one of Shiro's lackeys with how violently he storms in. They're cleaning and being generally useless because somehow a fucking Demon King manages to sneak into their territory and went unnoticed, so Satan doesn't even bother to acknowledge them. They fret over Yukio when he practically collapses in the pews, but Satan ignores them, knowing his child can direct even brainless fools such as them.

Satan marches directly up to the piece of shit priest, shrugging off the bag and jacket and watching him recoil at the sight of so much blood, "Oh hey there, how are you? I'm fine. My day was fucking fantastic; Yukio and I bumped into some family today. Why didn't you tell Yukio and I we had family visiting? Was it the horns? I bet it was the horns, right?"

"Rin, what are you…"

"Bastard, the fact that you don't even know what I'm talking about just proves my point! Want to fucking explain to be why you let a damn demon like Astaroth roam around this city like he owns the place?"

Someone behind him drops something that sounds breakable, but the two males ignore it. Satan, because he frankly couldn't care, and Shiro because he's so shocked he might as well have just been stabbed in the back.

"Astaroth…"

"Yeah, possessing some businessman and getting his shits and giggles by trying to rip Yukio's arm off! What the fuck were you doing here, sitting on your ass when he's out there!?"

"Rin, give dad a break." Yukio calls from the back of the monastery, sounding exhausted, in pain, and incredibly annoyed with the hand life had dealt him, "He didn't know, and neither did you."

That's more of a punch to the gut that Yukio probably knows, since keeping dangerous demons out of his territory was part of Satan's pride and duty. To fail so spectacularly was a spit in the face. Thankfully, the piece of shit priest interrupted Satan's thoughts before he had to think too deeply on it.

"Are you two alright?"

"Yukio isn't!" Satan gestures wildly to the back with a snarl. Yukio sits still as one of the worthless lackies finishes cutting away his shirt and the small gaggle hiss at the claw marks and heavy bruising.

"I'll live."

The wound is bad by a human's standards, so Satan thought for sure that that would serve as a perfect distraction. He starts towards his room where he's stashed his weapons, but Shiro catches him roughly by the arm and pulls him back. The king of demons growls, but the Paladin is unshaken by the typical behavior.

Rin is so much like a cat, Shiro muses, angry and hissing to hide the anxiety buried in his heart. "Rin. Are you actually alright?"

The shitty priest has started to learn to better weigh his words, and Satan hates how suddenly effective he finds them, "Yeah, he didn't get a chance to touch me."

"I'm glad." A simple smile because Satan is safe, and the demon wants to both embrace it and rip it to shreds so this feeling stops, "Now, let's get you cleaned up, and then we can figure out how to handle this problem."

Satan lets out a short laugh, "We don't have time for that. I say we have an hour tops before he shows up. Less if he doesn't feel like waiting until dark, and I'd bet on that since I pissed him off."

Shiro draws on all the strength being an Exorcist, a priest, and a father has given him for what he's about to ask, "What did you do?"

"I threw about thirty pounds worth of textbooks at his head and then pepper sprayed him in the face."

Yukio snorts in the back and someone drops something in shock.

"…Why do you do these things, Rin?"

"Because it was surprisingly effective. And fucking hilarious. I would've stayed to laugh if I wasn't pretty sure he was about to gore me. Once he stopped swearing and could see again, of course. But that also means he has this address, so I may or may not end up gored anyway." Satan rambles blandly as he walks off, though he isn't worried about getting seriously hurt. Not against someone as head-strong as Astaroth, who he could run circles around.

"Where are you going?"

"I need some more knives. I lost one when I crippled the ghoul Astaroth sent after us."

"You're surprisingly calm about all this."

"As far as I care, this is just another asshole looking for a fight." Satan shouts down the stairs, taking them two at a time because he feels naked without at least five weapons on him, "Plus, I seem valuable to him, being a prince and all. So, I have that to my advantage."

Yukio sighs at Rin's antics, wincing at the disinfectant is liberally applied. But he won't complain, not when he was wounded by the King of Rot- who knows what diseases the demon carried. But there was something bothering him… "I assumed that us two being half breeds would make us outcasts among Gehenna, but apparently not."

"They're more desperate than I thought." Shiro agrees, and he wonders just how many things he'll be forced to change now to keep the twins safe. They're strong, Rin especially, so he's sure they'll survive, but surviving isn't living.

Rin reappears, openly armed with knives kept on a modified belt, and Shiro suddenly realizes just where the boy's allowance keeps going. Rin looks like he's perfectly ready to argue anyone who says something under the figurative table, but now isn't the time to be questioning the boy's ability to find pointy objects.

But seeing Rin armed to the teeth with weapons like a soldier causes foul emotions to swell in Shiro's heart and clog his throat, "I probably should have trained you two harder, better, for this since I knew it would happen one day, but I hoped you two wouldn't have to become soldiers until at least a little later in life."

"Dad?"

"Satan is missing." Shiro says, and he sees Yukio and Rin both freeze at the news, "He has been, ever since the day you two were born. And, like it or not, he was what kept Gehenna stable. It's taken thirteen years, but apparently Gehenna has a chance to devolve into complete civil war soon if one of his children doesn't take over."

Understanding flashes in Yukio's eyes, "But I'm assuming his other children wouldn't take too kindly to any of their siblings trying to take over, would they?"

"Exactly, so it's likely Gehenna will split along whatever territory each Demon King claims, then start waring among itself. It'll be bad for any King who isn't overwhelmingly strong, and weak demons will probably flee to our world to escape the chaos. Unless, of course, a proper heir appears. Satan wielded blue flames that could burn anything, including the very souls of demons, and yet not one of his many children has been able to inherit that power. If any were to come forth with that power, they'd almost surely take over without much fuss. Well, less fighting than an actual civil war would cause."

"Are you implying that, Rin and I…?"

Shiro shook his head with a sigh and looks over to the younger twin, "No. Just Rin. You were weak in the womb, so the power rejected you. I knew eventually you two would have to fight, and would probably spend your entire lives fighting just to keep the demons away, so I just wanted…"

That sentiment is soft and weak, and so Satan scoffs at those feelings. It would have been better to train them from as soon as they could walk in preparation for the brutal truth of the world. But instead the Paladin had coddled them, leaving Satan free to train Yukio on his own until very recently, and now the man dared to have regrets? Ha!

But Satan remembered that Yukio grew up happy, and found it just a bit harder to spit on the Exorcist's contradictory feelings.

"It makes sense, as Rin is the reason we're in the situation in the first place, hunting down demons often enough that a Demon King noticed and all."

"Hunting?"

"Damn it all, Yukio-!" Satan spits, angry and embarrassed and betrayed.

"Apparently Rin can kill demons." Yukio continues, talking over his brother's enraged swearing and promises of serious harm if he didn't "shut your shitty mouth". Rin talked big, but he would never actually hurt his twin, and Yukio shamelessly used that to his advantage, "For good, which is hard to do from what Astaroth said. But Satan's flames can do it easily, right?"

"You snitching bastard! I thought you cared about me!"

"I do, which is why I can't just let you off the hook!" Yukio shouts back, with a viciousness Satan had honestly thought his youngest son didn't have. It's enough to keep the demon silent long enough that Yukio can break into a full tirade, "You've been hunting demons, demons Rin! There's aren't some schoolground bullies who will run once you hit them once or twice, these are actual demons! They'll try and kill you, and you've been going after them, alone, and apparently using a power you know nothing about to do it!"

Satan knew his flames better than he knew his own body, but he couldn't exactly go around saying that, so, instead, "I was just trying to keep them away from you!"

"Rin, you could have been killed!"

"I would not have been!"

"When are you going to grow up and realize that you aren't invincible?"

"When I don't-"

"You can kill demons?"

Shiro's growing look of horror makes Satan's stomach churn in some unidentifiable way that makes him want to rip the organ out just to have it stop, and- "Are we really going to do this now? Astaroth could be here any…"

"Rin," Shiro grabs his shoulder, gentle but firm, to prevent the boy from turning his back on his problems once more, "How are you killing demons?"

The stare is uncomfortable and the feeling in his guts only grows until it explodes out of him and he rips away from the shitty priest and his serious eyes. "Fucking… Fine! Fine, but only because we do not have time for this."

Rin lets his own hand ignite into azure fire.

There's gasping and cursing, and Shiro sucks a harsh breath between his teeth.

"Rin…?" Yukio breaks the silence, eyeing the pretty blue flames with obvious fascination that Satan is glad everyone else is too distracted to notice. Because not fearing the flames of hell is something only a fool or abomination would do in the eyes of the Church.

"Why didn't I tell you? I'm already the son of Satan, so I assumed the literal hellfire was a bad thing and I didn't want to get exorcised or something." Satan shifts with very real nervousness, since this was a delicate situation. He needed an advantage, something, anything so they wouldn't look at his story too hard. "Since that's supposedly your job, so... I thought that you only kept Yukio and I because we were still mostly human, so the fire would be…well…"

He's embraced before he's even finished a fraction of the half-baked sob-story he's cooked up on the fly and that stops him cold. Cold, yes, because he's suddenly aware of the coldness in his heart without his fire he's grown to ignore when surrounded by warmth like this. The arms around him send such contradictory feelings shooting up his spine, Satan couldn't have reacted even if he knew what to do. Warm and nice, caging and disgusting, comfortable and choking, warring feelings threaten to tear him apart from the inside.

"Oh, Rin. It's fine, it's going to be ok."

Cheap and easy pity was always a good thing. It secured his position, made them less likely to prod and ask questions, and it was always fun to take ignorant fools for a little ride through an elaborate web of lies he had crated and honed himself.

So just why did Satan no longer feel that satisfaction as he watched the shitty priest before him swallow his lies whole?

He is spared from thinking about the warm flutter in his heart that feels a bit too much like the strength Yukio gives him by a large crash outside.

The Paladin's grip is suddenly nothing but a nuisance, so Satan breaks free and rushes to the door. He can feel the weak barrier that protects the monastery waver like a mirage under a second assault of…something. Pushing through the front door, Satan instantly sees ghouls- dogs, cats, birds, rodents, it's like a small zoo -scrabbling and drooling against the barrier. It burns their rotting flesh and chips their claws, but they have orders from their master that will surely be there soon. And the barrier that protects and blesses the monastery is weak, slowly decayed from the inside out by Satan's very existence. He hadn't paid it much attention, but now the demon is acutely aware of the holes that the humans probably hadn't even noticed. Tiny, insignificant scratches, but enough purchase for something powerful to grab onto and rip apart.

"There's a lot of them..." Satan mutters, wondering just how he'll have to handle this when they break through. He's not afraid of even the largest dogs and his blood was fire and wouldn't let any of the lowly diseases take hold. But Yukio is human and one bite by the wrong demon and it could be over. So he should-

Shiro grabs Satan's arm and drags in away from the edge, "Rin get back inside!"

"Hey, wait a second-!" But he's thrown inside the doors where Yukio tugs weakly to stop him and let the other Exorcists rush about. It doesn't matter anyway, because the shitty priest waltzes back inside, ignoring the two boys in favor of shouting instructions with a clear determined authority Satan's never heard from him before.

"We're behind on preparations: pour the most concentrated Holy Water we have down every sink and drain, and then directly into the sewers! That barrier feels weak, triple it, now! I want stocks of whatever ammunition we have, summon any familiars you have under your command! Astaroth will surely be here soon."

Satan's eyebrows disappear into his hairline when Paladin reaches the gaudy central podium and casually pulls a shotgun from a hidden compartment. There's several more goodies hidden inside Satan isn't interested in since he hates guns, so it's a surprise when the priest walks over, shotgun in one hand, a box in the other. Yukio hesitantly takes it after a nod from the man, opens it, and his eyes blow wide at the sight of a clean black gun and several magazines lying in protective foam.

"Dad?"

"This was going to be your next birthday present since you've finally passed basic gun training. I understand that you're injured, but it's better to have something to defend yourself with if anything happens. And Rin, I need you to follow me-"

There's a crack beyond human understanding, and suddenly Satan feels the pressure on his shoulders he's come to associate with safety be blown away. Foul air rushes in, carrying the scent of rot.

Astaroth is here.

Satan plasters a trademark grin he hasn't used in years on his face and boldly struts out the door while the humans are gagging on the sudden smell. He's missing his usual fangs and eyes and hellfire, but if the way Astaroth loses his cocky smirk when they meet eyes is any indication, it's still just as terrifying. Maybe even more so to see such a familiar look after over a decade without.

"Hi there. Came for a family visit, hmm?" Satan says with cheer as fake as his human skin, indulging in his more dramatic tendencies. If anyone askes later, he'll cite that he was buying time, since he doubted "I wanted to fuck with him for running my day" would be an acceptable answer. "But you should have given me some warning, Astaroth! I could have prepared some food, cleaned the house, offered you a glass of Holy Water, taken your things…" he eyed the backpack the demon is holding in a tight grip.

"But until then, I want you to get the fuck out of my territory." Satan finishes plainly.

Astaroth laughs at what must seem so much like a kitten baring its claws. "Such a strong spirit, young prince! But it's no good that you've gotten attached to this lowly land when you should be home you know! No, no good at all."

Satan ignores the implied threat, "We're family, so I'll let you off light if you leave now." Family, love, the things that Satan had sought so desperately he had instead driven them away. It was in his grasp now and he wanted to hold tightly and never let go, but he also wanted to be more selfish and have more things to hold. Yuri would have wanted to mend his tatter life, so he owed it to her to at least try, "Come back later without your pets and maybe we can talk things out a bit?"

"Talk?" Astaroth starts slowly, letting the word droll out of his mouth like something so disgusting he can't even process it, "You want to talk and spit whatever lies these Exorcists have been feeding you?"

"Because I'm going to trust whatever shit some flea-infested glorified rat that hasn't been a threat since the dark ages tells-"

Astaroth flings the backpack at Satan's with lethal force, something he easily ducks. He hears many things (everything) inside it break to pieces when it hits next to the door to the monastery and nearly takes a peaking Exorcist's head off.

"You missed, asshole!" Satan jeers, ignoring the fact that he gets stared at like he's nuts. But he can't help it, his blood is rushing at the idea of his first real fight in years. Oh he's hopelessly outclassed in raw power and killing capabilities, but Satan is fast and crafty and knows all of Astaroth's patterns and weaknesses. He overextends, he relies too much on brute force, and he's bad at seeing the bigger picture.

This would be easy.

They both go low and start circling each other like the apex predators they are, Satan with glinting knives and Astaroth with dark claws. With the way Astaroth is trying to corral him closer to the gate, the plan is painfully clear: pin Satan between the surprisingly quiet pests the demon had hoped he had forgotten about and then swarm him. But a surprise is only effective if it's unknown, and Satan readies himself to sprint and slide his knives between those ribs-

A thunderous crack and Astaroth went flying from a gunshot.

Shiro sprints out, shotgun in hand and looking pissed, a whole gaggle of Exorcists behind him spilling out to attack the ghoul swarm, "Rin, what part of stay inside do you not understand?!"

The ghouls scatter and attack viciously, and Satan curses as he stabs and slashes at a poucing cat, all while trying to crush a dozen rats trying to bite through his shoes. "Actually you old told me to get inside, you said nothing about staying there!"

The Paladin chucked a Holy Water grenade into a pack of ghouls, their dying screams not enough to fully mask his frustrated sigh, "Go protect your brother."

"Which one? The one you just shot?" Who had bulked up to eight feet of pure rage and was currently ripping some poor Exorcist's familiar to pieces, "Or the one you just left alone with a gun?"

"Go inside already!"

"I'll do whatever-!"

Another crack of thunder and the ghoul that had been sneaking up on them turned to dust. Slowly, the two looked over to the doors of the monastery and state at the sight of Yukio leaned against the doorframe, gun glinting in the light. And did he ever look mad.

"Would you two stop fighting already and focus!?"

"R-Right!"

Satan takes a moment to drink in the situation and actually think of a plan instead of blindly throwing himself at the enemy like the fodder had done. Astaroth had just finished goring a scarecrow familiar and was using part of it to bat some poor Exorcist across the lawn. Ghouls kept encroaching and growing even as the Exorcists destroyed them with fists and fire and water, ignoring the seals that should have kept them away in order to assist their king.

Satan knew a lost battle when he saw it, and it was only a matter of minutes before they were overrun. So he would just have to cut off the head. "Hey, old man, how good are you at negotiations?"

"This situation is beyond negotiation, Rin!" A whole book's worth of fatal verses spill from the Paladin's lips and a line of demons goes up in smoke.

"Sorry, I meant threats." Satan grunts, losing his knife to pin a crow covered in boils to the wall of the monastery, "Eh whatever, just stand there with your shot gun and look menacing when the time comes, ok?"

"Whatever you're planning to do, don't."

"Hmm…No."

"Rin!"

Satan takes off at an inhuman dash, drawing just a bit on his power to leap over ghouls with long strides. He slashes apart a decayed fox that's hassling one of the useless fodder Exorcists with easy, scattering the pieces to prevent it from ever getting back up. The man, who Satan had seen punching demons with little more than his fists and some blessings, tries to thank him, but Satan ignores him and grabs the container of Holy Water he had dropped. It's half empty and unwieldy large for a speed fighter like Satan, but the lost weight is enough to make it manageable.

He takes off at a sprint to the fire-breathing Exorcist, who was desperately trying to hold of Astaroth to little avail, "Hey, fatty! Boost me!"

He ignores the indignant cries of "My name is Maruta!" from the fat man and rushes him. If the idiot doesn't get the message, he'll just use his face as a springboard instead. But no, the man finally processes Satan's shout and scrambles to get into position to boost the demon's jump high into the air, over even Astaroth's towering form with the power.

A perfect height to upend the entire container of Holy Water on the demon's face.

Astaroth roars and lashes out blindly, but Satan lets the plastic container shield him from slashing claws. Falling, he plants his feet square in the demon's face and shatters that stubby nose to pieces and jumps straight up with an elegant flip from the toppling titan. The pain and weight is enough to send Astaroth falling to the ground like a great beast toppled by a mouse, and to add insult to injury, Satan uses his downed form as a crash-pad, driving a his heels into a soft stomach. Astaroth tries to move, is a heartbeat away from ripping Satan's mortal shell to pieces, but the elder demon is ruthless and grabs the thick tail that is lashing angrily about and lets his flames just barely kiss it. It's not enough to burn, but it's uncomfortable warm, and beneath him Satan can feel the great body of Astaroth lock up with fear.

Finally.

"Now, you're going to calm the fuck down, and you're also going to listen to me, ok?" Satan isn't mad that Astaroth decided to throw a hissy fix, his kids did it all the time, but he is still rather pissed that the demon had threatened Yukio. Normally he wouldn't give a damn how many times his kids destroyed each other over petty things so long as no one actually dies, but Yukio is still fragile and mortal and would die if his body was destroyed.

"Y-Yes, young prince…" Astaroth chokes on his words and Satan barely gives Shiro a glance when the Paladin appears by his side to point his shotgun at the demon's face. Well at least the man was on board with the plan, even if he hated it.

"Good. See, we can talk things out. Now, you're going to leave this place and you aren't going to ever come back, or else I'm taking your tail as a trophy. We might be family, but don't think I won't burn a shitty brat like you until you learn to listen to me." A warning flicker of flames against skin gets a frantic nod, "Oh, and you're going to say sorry to Yukio for hurting him. That's not what big brothers are supposed to do, got it?"

Forgiveness was important, as Yuri would say.

"Forgive me, please forgive me!"

Yukio looks immensely confused, and, not knowing what else to say, mumbles "Ok…?"

"Good. Oh and don't tell anyone else that we're here, ok? You lost so you have to listen to me, that's how it goes. Don't even send over someone you don't like because you want me to kick their ass, go do that yourself you lazy bum." Astaroth is looking at Satan with open admiration, even if his distorted face makes it hard to identify, "What?"

"Nothing. You just truly are so much like our fathe-"

Shiro shoots his shotgun and misses Astaroth's head by millimeters. "Be silent with your lies, demon!" And then he starts to rapid-chant Astaroth's fatal verse.

Astaroth doesn't even fight, "Please come to Gehenna before it collapses, my prince."

"I'll do whatever the hell I want." But there's no bite to the reply, it's just a simple fact in Satan's mind.

Astaroth smiles, and is driven from the human's body in a burst of black and bile. The demon's soul flees, and Satan feels even the tail in his grasp disappear into the ether and he lets his hand go slack, fire once again curling deep into his body and behind a crumbling seal. There's no real fuss – the ghouls that had gone silent flee – and less fight than Satan had thought there would be from one of his kids. He knows this isn't over, but also knows that Astaroth won't share what happened here, if only for his own pride.

Satan stands up, dusts off his knees, and lazily stretches. Everyone is staring at him, a child who took down a Demon King without a scratch, a child with flames of hell, and he can't care what they think about what they just heard. Instead, he flashes them a grin that's all teeth, "Well, that went well I think!"

Shiro smacks him upside the head.