Chapter 23: Tighter, Until You Bleed
I swear, there's only like 1-2 chapters before True Cross, during which the fic will become more like an actual story.
Three days later, and Satan could feel himself going stir-crazy with being locked up in the monastery. He and Yukio had supposedly come down with a case of the flue as far as the school was concerned, but even the homework and lessons they got delivered to their door could only keep him so busy for so long. Yukio's shoulder was healing with no complications thankfully, even if it would almost surely scar nastily. Satan hated sitting around and itched with the urge to patrol his territory after such a breach, but simply can't because he has to be, bah, diplomatic if he wanted to stay. So instead he idly takes pictures with the camera that had somehow managed to survive that crazy night and sharpens his knives while looking out the window with careful eyes. He and Yukio had had a few fights over what he was and wasn't allowed to do anymore, and Satan will play along for as long as the prying eyes are staring a bit too intently at him. But he needs to patrol and protect eventually.
It's been three days and Satan is incredibly bored, yes, but he quickly decides that he really shouldn't tempt fate when the doorbell rings.
He's the one to open the door simply because he's the closest and comes face-to-face with Samael, who looks at least 30% more ridiculous than Satan remembered. Still in a gaudy amount of white and purple, with stupid looking puffy-shorts and striped tights, and a damn cape of all things, and that fucking hat-.
"Well good afternoon! My name is-"
Satan slams the door in Samael's face. Or tried too, but the idiot had stuck his foot out to catch it just in time and laughed like this was a funny game. So Satan laughs right back and stomps on said foot and makes sure to lock the door. Not that it'll stop that lunatic, but hopefully the idea of being a gentleman will restrain him. Shiro walked around the corner just in time to catch the tail end of the exchange, and gave the boy a look.
"Hey old man, there's some weird moron dressed as a jester outside with a cape!" Satan shouts loud enough he knows for a fact that Samael can hear him.
Shiro twitched, "Rin, don't say things like that! Wait, 'jester'?"
"Yup. You should get your shotgun, he tried to force his way in and everything." Satan continued, stepping back to let the shitty priest past. Despite everything, Samael is smiling perfectly serenely when Shiro opens the door, as if he hadn't been assaulted and insulted.
"Ah, it's been too long, Shiro! I see your son is full of even more energy than your descriptions would have led me to believe!"
Ah, no wait, Samael was clearly angry, but just had the tact to not do anything, thinking the 'foolish child' was just baring his fangs. He did put up with Amaimon more than anyone else could, who Satan was pretty sure was a bit touched in the head and/or socially retarded. Well, even more socially retarded than any of his other kids. Well then…
Even Shiro could feel the annoyance permeating the room and sighed. There went any chance of a good first impression, "It's good to see you too, Mephisto. And please excuse Rin's behavior, he has…quite the mouth on him I just can't seem to curb."
"Of course you would know a guy like this..."
May God be merciful, Shiro prayed, "And just what does that mean?"
"Oh nothing, nothing." Satan said far too innocently, waving the question away. But he stopped and let his eyes drag over Samael's form (he could call himself whatever he wanted, but Samael was the name his mother gave him, and so he would forever be Samael) with heavy purpose before looking at the shitty priest with an evaluating nod, "This is one of those 'progressive churches', so I'll be good and just wish you two well in life!"
The implications take a full two seconds to hit Shiro, which is plenty of time for Satan to make his tactical retreat.
"Rin!"
Satan retreated with a cackle, flashing the hardly-phased Samael a peace sign just so he could see one of his brows disappear into his hairline in curiosity. It probably wasn't a good idea to make himself interesting to someone with absolutely no boundaries or morals like Samael, but screw it all, Astaroth was already involved and if things hadn't drastically changed over the past decade, then Amaimon would get wrapped up in this mess sooner or later, always chasing Samael's coat tails because no one else wanted to deal with him. He didn't even know what the other half of his kids were up to, or if they were involved in Lucifer's little club or not. No matter what he did things would get out of control, so he was fine as long as he didn't sprout wings and announce who he was. Well, it would get difficult for the 'adults', most of who felt morally obligated to deal with the problems themselves. Which, good on them, he would cheer them on as they solved his messes as he napped and taught Yukio how to slip a knife (and, one day, claws) cleanly between ribs.
Mephisto watched the impossible child flee up the steps with a cackle that was a bit too familiar for comfort and wondered. The malice that Shiro had once liked to report and complain about was nowhere to be seen, even though he had been sure it would destroy the 'happy family' facade the Paladin was desperate to maintain with every Gehenna report he received. "Well, he's certainly lively! And how are you doing on this fine day, Mr. Fujimoto?"
"He's a brat with a mouth that's gotten him in trouble more times than I or the school office can count, and you can't even begin to imagine just how much he worries me." And yet the man somehow sounded so fond of the literal hell spawn. Honestly, Mephisto would never truly understand these contradicting creatures, as much as he was fond of their creativity and spirit, "He sassed Astaroth. Sassed a Demon King with a small army of ghouls behind him as if it was just some playground spat. And I'm managing. Somehow."
"Well, Astaroth did intrude." And was successfully repelled, not by the Paladin (directly), but a tiny demon who shouldn't have had a chance even when blessed with father's illusive flames. Interesting, but old news.
"Yes, I know. But that's not why I called you here to talk."
Maybe it was foolish to rely on a demon to tell him truths that no one else would, but Shiro had long realized that the deeper he treaded into a web of lies and conspiracy, the only people he could trust were those who wore their intentions one their sleeves.
"Ah yes. There have been some interesting developments lately. Lucifer has officially refused to claim the throne, leaving it open to any who wish to take it." Mephisto began, and maybe he was just a touch disappointed when Shiro didn't ask the obvious question. He really was becoming predictable, "I myself cannot take the throne without abandoning Assiah, and I can't do something like that when my dear brother is clearly planning something. Lucifer does nothing in halves, so this behavior is worrying even me, I'm sure you understand. Therefore, Iblis has mounted an assault against those who believe that only those of the blue flame should rule."
"Iblis is the one who wants to lead war against Assiah, right? So where does that leave us?"
"With my aid and favors, it'll take some time for him to win, but he will win, make no mistake there. Without a proper heir, the blue flame faction will slowly lose support and crumble from within. I imagine that's why dear Astaroth paid you a visit. Don't worry, I've taken care of him, though I doubt he would have made another attempt even without me." And wasn't that something, already successfully cowed by and practically worshiping the youngest prince, calling him the second coming of Satan.
As if- the boy was far calmer than Satan had been for the past several hundred years or so, what with his declining sanity.
"How long do we have?"
"A year, at most, before Iblis takes the throne." Mephisto admitted, and he could feel Shiro doing the mental calculations and preparations, "However, he won't be ready to properly assault Assiah for another decade, maybe five years if he rushes things. But plenty of his brothers are against him or at least neutral to him, so he'll have very support there, and they hold most of Gehenna's power between them."
Still, "This entire situation is terrible."
"Yes, yes, it is all very dire and dramatic, making it the perfect stage for an unprecedented move to occur, no?"
It took only a few more painfully boring days after Samael's visit for Satan and Yukio's house-arrest to be lifted. Honestly, it was overkill, considering how Samael had reassured them all that any possible issues with Astaroth had been taken care of, and even going so far as to lay some rather powerful seals around the monastery. Sure, the demon had openly admitted to wanting to use "Rin" as a puppet ruler to keep the balance between Assiah and Gehenna once he had grown some more, but that wasn't anything Satan hadn't considered once his warward son had shown up (who was in charge of a school, what the fuck. He knew about the Exorcist thing, but a school?! Yukio's future school!?). It was hilariously ironic, but to anyone who wasn't "in the know" it made perfect sense: "Rin" had strong ties to Assiah, so having him on the throne of Gehenna had to be better than any of the others.
"Yes, become more vicious, become more powerful, and become the strongest!"
Samael really had too much of a taste for the dramatic. While Yukio had gotten angry over the thought of anyone using his 'big brother', Satan had barely prevented himself from laughing himself sick over how neatly everything had decided to fall into his lap. He was allowed to stay in his city, he had an easy in to True Cross and could stay by Yukio, and he was going to be plopped back on his own throne with others doing most of the fighting for him.
He wished he had planned this, he really did wish he was that good. But sometimes fate was fickle like that, and Samael liked to think himself so clever and above everyone else.
Even Samael getting petty revenge for the equally petty door incident by disguising an attempt to scalp him as a 'friendly' hair-ruffle couldn't damped Satan's mood. Ok, maybe it could because that had both hurt and been insulting, especially when he could see some of his hair on the bastard's gloves, but whatever, that didn't mean much in the end. Not in the face of a simple fact.
Satan had a familiar now.
He would give the crappy priest credit for one thing at least: he had good taste in demonic guards. Cat Sídhes were fairly powerful while still being discrete and agile enough to get around almost anywhere without being noticed. They also tended to be fiercely loyal and, if the split tail was any indication, this one had survived for some time. So it wasn't some random straggler.
It, well he, was also 'gifted' with the ridiculously uncreative name of "Kuro".
Satan rolled his eyes when he realized that the black cat was named exactly that: black.
"Of course you named him that."
Shiro ignored him in favor of handing the currently small bundle of fur to Yukio, who clearly didn't know what to do or how to hold a cat. Satan may or may not have taken a picture instead of helping, and Shiro gave him a look that clearly said he was going to want to see any copies that got printed.
"As I was saying, it's impossible for us" Shiro gestured to his generally useless lackies, "to follow you constantly, so Kuro here will become your shared familiar. He doesn't need to be summoned and technically his contract is with me, so there's no threat to either of you."
"I didn't know you had a permanent familiar, dad." Yukio said, nearly fumbling the squirming demon that was very insistently demanding attention.
"I tamed him when he was harassing a construction site some time back, and he's been a sort of guardian for True Cross Academy for a while now. I talked to Mephisto and he was happy to give Kuro back to serve as a guard for you two."
Kuro finally had enough of being held and leapt to the floor, where he very promptly whined, 'I want food already! I was promised food if I stayed in that stupid stuffy cage!'
"Hey, I think your cat is hungry." Satan said when the cries got on his nerves and Shiro was too busy trying to explain the specifics of the familiar contract with Yukio.
"Oh, right, could you feed him, Rin? It'll be good for him to be comfortable around you two before you go to school Monday."
He thought about telling the shitty priest to not be so lazy, but stopped, "Fine, I'll use that turkey that's going to go bad."
Satan led the demon cat into the kitchen and fed him exactly as he said he would. Once Kuro had devoured the mean, he let his hand absently stroke the demon's silky fur and began his real objective.
"Now, Kuro was it?"
The Cat Sídhe looked up at that, and it looked like that stupid nickname was going to stick around, 'Yes? Do you have any catnip wine, err…'
"You can call me Rin. And no, I don't."
Ears flicked up and green eyes widened,'You can understand me? Wow, not even Shiro can do that, and he's the best!'
"I have demon blood, but that doesn't matter nearly as much as what I'm about to tell you." It wasn't like the Cat Sídhe would be telling anyone about that little tidbit so long as he was playing guard for the twins. "You may be told by that shitty priest to protect both of us equally, or even to protect me first, but I want you to protect Yukio exclusively if anything ever happens, ok?"
'But-'
"But nothing! I can defend myself, and I'll do my best to protect Yukio, but he's a lot more fragile than I am." Humans in general were so breakable and often couldn't properly heal. Scars, imperfections, living itself slowly wore them down to dust, "And, one day, hopefully far into the future, something big will happen. And when that happens, Yukio might not want me to protect him, at least for a while. So that's where you come in, alright?"
'But why would Yukio not want you to protect him if you're strong?'
Satan thought of how Yukio's world was destined to shatter to itty bitty pieces one day, shards of memories and jagged feelings that would cut his mind and soul to bits. He would surely bleed, surely cry, and surely hate whatever happened to Satan's human body when his demonic blood was set free. Claws and wings, scales and skin like leather, fangs and fire- a revolting sight ripping free from a human shell.
Yuri had still had the courage to love such a beast, but could a miracle ever occur twice?
Maybe it wasn't wise, but Satan would push the answer to that question as far down the line as he could.
"It's complicated."