Chapter 13: Spilled Blood

Mephisto was being extra annoying as of late. With Amaimon often attached to my side I figured it was because I was his little brother's new toy. Unbeknownst to me, there was a whole other reason to Mephisto's constant check ups. There was a whole week where I didn't see the King of Earth. My first thought was that either Mephisto locked him up or he returned to Gehenna. I tried to not let it weigh on my mind.

Rin and Yukio had rushed out of the dorm one night after getting a call about an attack on the monastery where they grew up. I offered to join them but Yukio ordered me to stay put. I reluctantly listened to him. I decided to go see Kone, Shima, and Bon. The boy's dormitory was on the other side of the campus from where my dorm was located, reason obvious. Regardless, when I walked inside I found the three of them in the dining hall.

"Hey guys, mind some company?"

Shima grinned. "Hey Ryuu, come take a seat!"

I nodded as I returned the smile, taking a seat next to Bon across from the other two.

Bon turned in his seat to face me. "What's up?"

"I was bored. The Okumura's got called off on some family emergency."

"Family emergency?"

"The monastery where they were raised was attacked or something. Yukio didn't give me many details."

Kone frowned. "Well, I hope everything is alright."

I nodded in response as I adjusted my headphones. Shima offered me a ramune which I gladly accepted. We continued to talk about classes and other things as the night grew old. A few hours into the night the hairs on the back of my neck raised. I froze and straightened in my seat.

"Ryuu? What's up man?" Shima raised an eyebrow.

"There's….there's something here?"

Bon looked around the rest of the dining hall which was empty aside from the group of four. The rest of the students who had been in the dining hall had long returned to their rooms for the night.

"I don't see anything." Bon turned back to me.

"No you don't get it. I can sense something."

Shima leaned forward in his seat. "Is it a demon."

Bon interrupted me before I could answer. "You know that's impossible. There's too many barriers on the campus grounds."

"It's...something." I stood up and peeked out the window. The dining hall for was several stories up from the main floor. It was dark outside with no one around. I could not however shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Bon, Shima, and Kone glanced at one another in confusion. I turned back to them, almost convinced that I was imagining it. The feeling of danger spiked and I turned right as someone came crashing through the window.

The boys yelled in surprise and stood from the table. The person who had broken into the dorm was in a long trench coat and a mask with one open eye. Spiders crawled their way around the trench coat. The person was holding a wooden weapon in one hand. With their free hand they started shooting demonic webs across the room.

My eyes widened. "Guys RUN!"

The three of them barely managed to get away from their table before webs hit it. There was enough force to send the table over onto its side and skidding across the floor. The next string of webs fired from the man in the mask hit Kone. The young boy was wrapped in the demonic strings and slammed onto the floor.

Shima hurried to his friends side. "Koneko!"

Bon came up behind the man in the mask with a chair, swinging for his head. The man in the mask brought up his wooden weapon to block it.

Bon scowled. "Who the hell are you, ugly? Are you a demon or a human?"

The man in the mask turned as Shima got up. With his staff in hand, Shima charged. The man in the mask shoved Bon away and spun his weapon, also sending Shima flying across the room. Both hit walls. Bon was up again in an instant, swinging his chair at the man again. The man dodged and shot webs at the teen, managing to wrap him in the sticky substance,

I tossed my headphones to the side with a growl as Shima yelled for our friend. Spiders crawled across the mask of the man as he turned to Shima. Due to his fear of bugs, Shima screamed in fear and froze in his spot. Before I could stop him, the man in the mask also wrapped Shima in webs.

"HEY!" The man in the mask turned to face me. "Pick on someone your own kind!"

The man in the mask tilted his head. "I see. You're the surviving hybrid. It's a shame so much hard work has to go to waste."

I dodged the webs that were thrown my way. Baring my fangs, I allowed my demonic side to awaken full force. I had to protect my friends. The man in the mask took a step back when I launched myself at him. I managed to shred through the robe with my claws before he hit me with his wooden weapon.

I crouched on a table and hissed. "What do you want!?"

"Anyone associated with Satan must die!"

My eyes widened. "Rin-"

Webs came flying my way. My shirt shredded as my wings ripped through my shirt and came up as a shield to protect me. I back peddled off the table, straining my wings to pull away. The web was so strong.

"Ryuu!" Shima watched with the others worriedly.

The man in the mask stabbed his weapon through one wing and dragged me out into the center of the room. I let out a pained yell as I was covered in my own blood. In a panic, I used the injury to my advantage. I tore through my wing which freed me from the webs and launched myself towards the man in the mask. The man stumbled in surprise but shot more webs my way. My once free wings were caught again and I was hung from the ceiling. I thrashed around, trying to get free.

"My, you are dangerous. I'm happy to be the one to end you before Lucifer realizes you survived."

"What-?" My questioning was interrupted as I was wrapped in more web. My entire body was cocooned, save for my wings that I was suspended from. I tried to fight against the demonic webs but it was impossible to break.

"I wonder if you can regenerate just as quickly as most demons." The man in the mask brought his weapon up before striking down.

"NO!"

"RYUU!"

"NO STOP!"

My friends watched in horror so I screamed bloody murder. My body hit the floor, decapitated from my wings. The man in the mask merely chuckled and seemed to enjoy watching me wither in pain.

xDevilXDemonx

Yukio ran up to the boys dormitory with another instructor in tow. There were multitudes of students and security guards standing outside of the building. The dorm was all dark, save for the floor where the dining hall was located.

Yukio ran up to one of the guards. "Did you get a visual?"

"No, but according to some of the students it was a man. He was wearing a mask." Yukio tensed and looked up to the illuminated windows. "Most of the kids got out of the building, but there's still a few that we know of in the cafeteria. The witnesses say they're Cram School students."

"Great." Yukio clenched his jaw.

The instructor with him turned to the security guard. "Has he made any demands yet?"

The security guard swallowed. "He said if we want to get the kids back alive, everyone has to stay out of the building. Except…"

"Except who?" Yukio questioned as the security guard turned to him.

"Everyone except for the son of Satan, sir."

Yukio tensed and narrowed his eyes.

"To think that he'd attack my academy…" Mephisto narrowed his eyes at the dorm while the others stared in surprise at his sudden appearance. "A rather bold move, wouldn't you say?"

The instructor with Yukio stepped forward. "Sir Pheles."

"I'm going to make him regret this." Mephisto held out his umbrella towards the top of the school and started making a circle. A ring of fire appeared in the sky, a pentagram in the center. Everyone stared in a mixture of awe and fear.

The instructor furrowed his eyebrows. "Would you look at that? At last the director shows his true colors!"

Thunder rumbled through the sky. Lightning began to strike outwards from the fiery circle but did not touch the ground. The wind started to pick up a fraction as Mephisto continue his work with a grin.

"Ein, zwei-"

The circle was suddenly destroyed by a blast of water shooting across the sky. Mephisto stopped in confusion. The demon turned towards the source of water that had destroyed his work.

"You shouldn't play with fire! Especially at this hour!" Angel smirked from his spot on a crane as he turned the water house off.

Mephisto cocked an eyebrow. "Ah, it's you again. To what do we owe the honor of this visit?"

Angel was suddenly standing before Mephisto. Everyone, Mephisto included, blinked in surprise.

"The Vatican has issued a warrant for your arrest. You are suspected of being involved with the research of artificial lifeforms. Which, as you know, is prohibited by the Vatican."

Yukio looked shocked. "What?"

Mephisto held his head high with a cocky smirk. "I have no idea what you mean."

"If you have anything say, you can say it from your prison cell in the Vatican." Angel looked at some other exorcists present. "Take him away!"

The moment the two exorcists laid their hands on Mephisto he disappeared in a poof of pink smoke. The demon began walking away from the dorm a few feet away from the group, swinging his umbrella.

"I shall neither run nor hide." Mephisto announced. "Still, I wonder, why would you pick this particular moment to appear?"

Amaimon popped his little hamster head out of his brothers' pocket. "Brother I must go back!"

"You will do no such thing."

"Ryuu is in there!"

Mephisto glanced back at the dorm. Come to think of it he did catch a whiff of demonic blood being spilled. "Patience, little brother. Your devil will be safe in the hands of our little brothers."

Amaimon sulked into his older brother's pocket. Knowing that if he disobeyed it would only cause more trouble than it would be worth.

The instructor watched as Angel walked away with the other exorcists. "Wait a sec, I have no idea what he's talking about. He said artificial life?"

Yukio pulled out his handgun and checked how much ammunition he had in his clip. Once satisfied, he reloaded the weapon and headed for the dorm doors.

"Wait a minute! Don't go in there!" The instructor ran after Yukio.

"The least I can do is find out how many suspects were are dealing with. I can't afford to make the same mistake twice."

"You should wait for backup to arrive first. Besides, shouldn't you call your brother? He could help."

Yukio stopped and turned to him. "Out of the question! Whatever you do, do not call him."

Yukio then hurried into the building, ignoring the instructors 'calls behind him.

xDevilXDemonx

"What the hell? Why don't you just get it over with already!" Bon scowled at the masked man.

"I told you. I am going to kill everyone that has anything to do with the Son of Satan."

The masked man walked over to the wall he had previously slammed Shima into earlier. Shima's phone layed open on the floor where it was dropped. The masked man picked it up, dialing a number before pressing it to Shima's ear. The boy flinched away in uncertainty.

The phone rang for a few moments before Rin's voice came over the phone. "Shima? What's wrong?"

"O-Okumura..?"

The masked man brought the phone to his own ear. "Can you hear me, son of Satan?"

"You're the bastard in the mask? What have you done with Shima and the others!?"

"Don't worry, I won't kill them. At least, not until you get here."

"Bite me!"

"Come to me. We can experience the pain of losing your friends, together."

"You piece of shit!"

"For every 5 minutes that pass however, I'll continue cutting limbs off this hybrid friend of yours. He's already losing a lot a blood so I wouldn't be late if I were you. Clock's ticking."

"STAY AWAY FROM H-"

The man in the mask hung up and tossed the phone away. Placing a foot on my cocoon, the masked man added pressure. I yelled in pain, gritting my teeth. I was surrounded in my own blood that was pooling and slowly growing bigger by the minute.

"Leave him along you bastard!" Bon strained against the webs.

The man in the mask turned to remark something but stopped. Something came rolling on the floor from the kitchen. Looking over, I spotted a holy water grenade. I quickly turned my head away as it exploded. Yukio came jumping over the counter. The younger twin fired twice, both shots hitting the masked man square in the chest.

The masked man grunted in pain before using his webs to hoist the young exorcist into the air. "You're his younger brother…"

Bon started helplessly. "Mr. Okumura!"

"Didn't you hear? If anyone other than the son of Satan came in, I'd kill the hostages."

Bon went pale. "Oh you've got to be kidding me."

Kone looked at his friend fearfully. "Bon!"

"This is your punishment for interfering." The masked man turned away from the young exorcist.

"Kill me if you want! But leave them out of it!" Yukio gritted his teeth in anger.

"I only need one hostage. And a younger brother would make it far more interesting!" The masked man held up a hand to the three students and began to shoot webs. "Die!"

The three began screaming. I felt a new surge of energy enter my body and let out a loud roar. Ripping through some of the webs, I launched myself at the masked man. I managed to knock him down to the ground, wrapping my tail and one hand around his throat. I panted heavily as I squeezed.

"Leave them ALONE!"

The masked man reached up and grabbed my face. I felt webs quickly cocoon my head and my air supply was cut off. I panicked, releasing him. I could vaguely hear people yelling but it was muffled thanks to the demonic webs.

Rin came bursting through one of the windows as the masked man stood. Unable to open his sword because of the webs on the sheath, Rin used his sword like a bat and swung it at the masked man. The man quickly deflected the attack with his own weapon.

"The son of Satan has arrived!" The man exclaimed gleefully. "But you're powerless against me because you can't draw your sword!"

Shura came bursting through another window behind the masked man, her own sword drawn. Shura placed the sword against the neck of the assailant.

"I have no problem with mine, asshole." More exorcists showed up at the doorway with guns. "Might as well give up. You're surrounded."

The masked man held his hands up. "You think you've won?"

Shura furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Demon spiders that were on the ceiling began shooting webs. Shura was soon held high above the ground like Yukio. Both were suspended and unable to use their weapons. The same thing happened to the other exorcists at the doorway, wrapped up in webbing that left them defenseless.

Rin dodged webs left and right, swatting at them with his sheathed sword.

"Get out while you still can, Rin!" Yukio ordered as he watched his twin. "There's nothing you can do if you can't use your sword!"

"Shut up!" Rin burst into blue flames despite the fact that he had not drawn his sword. Any webs that were touching him quickly dissipate into nothing.

Shura's eyes widen in realization. "The flames burned the web… Rin, torch the bastard! Do it!"

Yukio shook his head. "What are you saying!? Don't listen to her Rin! You can't control your flames yet!"

"I'm not gonna let them jerk me around anymore." Rin stated. " Goddamnit!"

Rin drew his sword. Flames exploded from him, drastically increasing the temperature in the room. Everyone watched worriedly, not sure if Rin or the masked man was more of a threat.

"He's out of control. Rin NO!" Yukio called out to his older brother.

Flames went flying across the room towards people who started to panic. Shima shut his eyes with a fearful yell. When he realized there was no burning sensation he opened his eyes. Rin had controlled his flames to only burn the webs holding everybody hostage.

"They're my flames." Rin stated as he pointed his sword at the masked man. "You think I can't control them!? Think again! You Bastard!"

The masked man charged at Rin. Rin swung his sword at him with a yell, sending him flying out the window in an explosion of blue. Shura went out the window to investigate.

"Ryuu!" Shima hurried to my side, shaking my gently. "Ryuu come on man! Wake up!"

I wheezed weakly, finally able to breath with the webs melted away.

Kone joined Shima's side. "He needs a doctor, he lost too much blood!"

Bon scooped me up, wincing when I yelled in pain and arched my back. Following our friends, we hurried out of the dorm. Bon handed me off to Doctor class exorcists as soon as possible. I drifted off into darkness, no strength left in me to stay awake.

xDevilXDemonx

"Hey Rin, c'mon wake up!" Kuro patted at the kid's face, trying to wake him. Huffing, Kuro attacked with both paws right into Rin's face. This finally woke the son of Satan who yelped. Kuro grinned as Rin blinked at him. Rin sat up, rubbing his neck as he glanced at his brothers folded up bedding.

"Yukio didn't come home last night, huh?"

"That damn Yukio. If he was gonna stay out all night, the least he could've done is called."

Rin checked his phone for any missed messages. The time clicked to 8:10 and he panicked. "CRAP! I'm gonna be late!"

Rin put on his school uniform as quickly as he could manage before booking it out the door. If he was gonna be late to class again he was sure to get detention. However, when he arrived at the school building he was surprised to see a multitude of students standing outside. Rin slowed down in confusion, looking for his fellow classmates.

"What's with all the commotion?"

Kone turned. "Oh, hey Okumura."

Shima waved a hand. "Hey man, how's it going?"

"Hey." Rin greeted. "So, what the hell is going on?"

Bon turned to him. "So remember that hostage crisis a couple days ago? That's what. And there's a rumor going around that the director took the blame for it and was forced to resign."

Rin was shocked to hear that.

Kone added on to what his friend had stated. "They're shutting the academy down for the time being. They won't even let us get in the building to get our books and stuff."

"That's only half of it." Izumo walked up to her classmates.

Shima smiled. "Good morning, Izumo."

"The Vatican's higher ups have all been kicked out. The pope's bene removed and a new one's been named."

Kone furrowed his eyebrows. "They couldn't have picked a worse time."

"Do you think this has anything to do with the director getting canned?" Shima questioned.

Bon shrugged. "I dunno. But one thing's for sure, there's some big changes going on here. For the Cram School and the Knights of the True Cross."

"If you ask me." I started as I approached the group. "The Vatican is up to something suspicious and this is only the first step."

Everyone's eyes widened before they bombarded me with questions. No one had been allowed to see me since the night of the hostage situation. I was deemed critical the moment I came into the hospita;. Thankfully, I had healed enough to be let out but I wasn't 100 percent again. Having your wings cut off does that.

"Woah, woah, slow down. One at a time." I begged, putting my hands up.

"How are you feeling, Ryuu?" Rin narrowed his eyes. "I tried to come see you, but they wouldn't let me in."

"I feel horrible but I'm alive."

Shima pursed his lips. "Shouldn't you be resting, man? I mean you had limbs chopped off."

"And you lost a lot of blood." Kone added.

I waved a hand. "I'm well enough to walk around. I heal relatively quickly. It's just taking me a bit longer this time around. I'll be fine."

Kone and Shima nodded slowly.

I looked around at the crowd of students and narrowed my eyes. "No class…maybe we should head to the cram school? The instructors will have more information to give us regardless."

"That's true. Let's do that." Kone started to lead the group.

"Ryuu." I turned to Rin. "Hey man, I'm sorry you got so hurt because of me…"

"It wasn't your fault."

"If you weren't friends with me, you would have been fine."

"Rin. I was protecting our friends. Besides, they would've come after me regardless. I'm Lucifer's experiment. I'm a threat."

The son of Satan rubbed his head. "Yea, I guess you're right."

"Relax. I don't blame you. But if you still feel bad I won't say no to some suckers."

"You got it."

xDevilXDemonx

"You're giving me..a gun?" Bon questioned as he held up a shotgun rifle.

The Cram School crew as well as many other exorcists were in a huge armory underneath campus grounds. Aisles and aisles of cases were full of different weapons, mostly firearms.

Another exorcist turned to Bon. "It's a gun made specially by the Vatican. It absorbs the powers of the demons you kill and boosts your efficiency in battle."

Shima held up a small automatic weapon with a smirk. "Holding this really puts me in the mood for some action."

"C'mon Shima." Kone frowned at his friend. "It's a gun, not a toy, okay?"

I picked up a knife that was completely black. Rolling it over in my hands, I flipped it to test the weight. It was weighted perfectly.

"I'll stick to this. I hate guns."

Shima shrugged at me. "Suite yourself."

"Even though you've been cleared to use weapons, you don't have experience using them yet." An exorcist looked at our little crew. "So, be careful out there and make sure that while you're completing your missions you don't get in the way of the other exorcists."

All of us nodded. "Yes sir."

I raised an eyebrow at Shiemi and Izumo who were holding bows and quivers of arrows. Bon made a noise of confusion next to me. I glanced at him. Bon was examining a symbol on the gun he was holding. It was in the shape of a cross, with a large circle at cross section, a red dot at the center.

"That's odd." I commented, looking over the weapon I had selected as well. "I have the same symbol. I wonder what it means."

"I have no idea. But I may know someone how does." Bon glanced up at me.

I nodded, looking at the symbol again. A chill ran down my spine. There was something very suspicious about this.

xDevilXDemonx

"I don't like this. It doesn't seem right, does it?" Izumo questioned.

The Cram School crew were aiding exorcists in eradicating all the demons from the nearby forest. It was the same forest we had our lantern test in and where Rin had a dangerous battle with Amaimon.

Amaimon. I paused, setting my hand over my heart. Where was he?

Shiemi looked over to Rin and I. "Hey Rin, Ryuu. Is this really what an exorcist's job is? I don't feel right about this."

Rin narrowed his eyes at the flames that were being used to kill lower class demons floating in the air. Kuro clung to Rin's shoulder, unsure what to say about the situation at hand. I bit down on my sucker. The girls were right, something was not right about this.

As the day turned into night, tents were set up in a large clearing of the first, a protective barrier circle surrounding the came. I sat down next to Shima, staring at the sky. My back still ached something awful.

"Hey man, aren't you gonna eat?"

I glanced at the boy with pink hair. "In a minute…my back is killing me."

"Still?" Bon questioned. "I thought you were a fast healer."

"I am. But I lost limbs that I don't think I'll get back."

Bon nodded and the group of us fell silent again. Not a single one of us felt right about this demon hunt we were on. I'm glad I wasn't alone in this, since I was part demon. Nonetheless, it was a slaughter. These demons weren't hurting anybody and here we were like exterminators. There had to be a reason behind this.

"Hey you guys." Rin called as he finally rejoined us. "What's for dinner?"

Kone turned to him. "We were wondering where you were."

"Hope you like army food." Bon held up a meal container. "Here, I grabbed one for you before they ran out."

"Thanks for hooking me up man." Rin smiled, cheerful despite the group's somber demeanor.

Kuro meowed and patted Rin's shoulder. "I want some too! I want some too!"

Rin looked at his little familiar. "I know, you'll get some. Everything's 50/50 with us."

Izumo stared at Rin. "I can't believe you're hungry after today."

Rin paused and look at the group. Everyone was picking at their food save for me and Shiemi. The blonde was sitting a bit away from the rest of us by the fire, staring into the flames. The experience had been scarring for her. Rin frowned worriedly.

A loud crashing sound came from the depths of the forest, shaking the ground. Before anyone could react, a giant boar came barreling through the trees and right into the came. The protective barrier did nothing to even hinder the creature.

"It's a wild boar!" An exorcist yelled from within camp. "Evacuate! Evacuate!"

I stood hurriedly, watching the creature rampage through camp. Yukio appeared out of nowhere, standing at the edge of the barrier in the path of the boar. The young exorcist, now the Paladin, held up his gun and fired.

The boar raced past him and into the trees where he eventually collapsed. Rin and I raced into the forest to see what had happened.

"You cursed humans." I heard the boar speak as he began to cry bloody tears. "How dare you hurt the children of my forest? For 2,000 years they helped me protect this place from the ravages of man."

"So...he's the god of this forest." Rin stated in shock.

I nodded slowly, tensing when I spotted Yukio. The younger twin had climbed on top of the boar, gun aimed at his head. I started sprinting towards them.

Rin stared at his brother. "Hey hold on! You don't have to-"

Yukio fired the gun, but instead of hitting the boar he hit me in the shoulder. I grabbed his gun and pushed it away from the baor.

"You don't have to hurt him! He didn't do anything!"

"Ryuu get out of the way!"

"NO!"

Yukio kicked me in the knee, causing me to lose my balance. I lost my grip on the gun. Yukio pointed it between my eyes. I froze in shock, staring up at the twin.

"Yukio…"

"Don't force my hand. Move."

I clenched my jaw, pushing my forward flush against the gun. "I won't move."

Yukio scowled before quickly redirecting his aim and firing into the boar's head. I was too late to stop him. My jaw went slack in shock as I watched him fire shot after shot into the boar. My ears were ringing from the nosie. Yukio jumped off the boar when he was out of bullets.

Rin approached his brother. "What the hell did you do that for, Yukio!?"

"What? We're on a demon hunt."

"That boar was the god of this forest! He was just pissed off because we killed all his buddies!"

Yukio's expression remained unchanged. "Our orders are clear. We have to eradicate every single demon off the face of this earth."

"The hell!" Rin glared at his twin. "What about Kuro and Ukoback? What about Izumo's familiars huh? They're demons, what are you gonna kill them all too!?"

I clenched my fists and raced towards the twins.

"You know what Rin, you're absolutely right." Yukio raised his gun to Kuro. "We must exterminate all demons."

Before Yukio finished pulling the trigger, Rin burst into flames and moved the gun. "STOP IT!"

"Yukio, are you out of your mind!?" I scowled at him.

"You better let go of me, Rin."

Rin kept the gun pointed away from him. "So anything that calls itself a demon is going to be hunted down and killed, is that the plan? Since when are exorcists murderers!?"

"I said let go of me!" Yukio's composure snapped and my eyes widened. Yukio grew demonic claws and swiped them right into his brother. Rin was sent flying a few yards before he landed out cold.

I turned to Yukio. "Oh my god, your power-"

Yukio slammed the butt of is gun square into my nose. I felt a bloom of pain before everything went dark and I dropped to the ground.

xDevilXDemonx

When I came to, I groaned and held my face. My nose was healed but there was still some tenderness. That damn Yukio… I looked around, finding myself in a cell alone. There were other cells around me, the area in a circular shape. I stood, looking outside of the bars. Across from me was Mephisto, sitting in a chair he had summoned.

Mephisto smirked. "Did you sleep well?"

I opened my mouth to respond but Rin beat me to it in the cell next to my own. "Mephisto! Where the hell are we!?"

"We are all in the basement of Vatican Headquarters. It's a dungeon known as Cocytus."

"Co-what?"

"This is probably the last place in the world I thought I'd be seeing you."

I turned to the cell Rin was in. "Rin?"

"Huh? Ryuu? What are you doing here?"

"Your asshole twin knocked my lights out."

Rin gritted his teeth, turning to Mephisto when he spoke. "Now, do you terribly mind telling me how you two got yourselves locked up in here?'

Mephisto held up a piece of food to Amaimon who came skittering across his brothers hat in hamster form. My eyes widen and I gripped the bars. It had a long time since I had seen him. Amaimon went to eat the food but spotted me first.

"Ryuu!"

I watched the little hamster leap off his brother and hurry past the bars. Mephisto smirked as he watched, listening to Rin explain what had occurred since his arrest. Amaimon crawled through the bars of my own cell before there was a poof of green. Back into his human form, Amaimon held me to his chest.

I clutched his coat, inhaling his scent that instantly soothed my nerves.

Amaimon grabbed my chin as he began looking me over. "I could smell your blood in the dorms that night. Were you injured?"

"Yea...she cut my wings off."

Amaimon's teal eyes widen a fraction. "What?"

"I almost bled to death." I rubbed one shoulder. "I'm fine now though, just really tender."

The demon hummed angrily in the back of his throat, pulling me flush against his chest. "I knew I should have gone to you but big brother said not to."

"I'm alright."

Amaimon sat down on the cell floor, yanking me into his lap. I yelped and flushed red in the cheeks. Amaimon kept me in his lap while boredly listening to Rin explain the current events to Mephisto. I squirmed some as he kept running a nail down the back of my earlobe. The demon grabbed my chin again, forcing me to look at him. Amaimon bite his lip to draw blood before kissing me. I latched down on his lip in the kiss, sucking on his blood.

"You don't say." Mephisto leaned forward in his seat. "Mr. Okumura is the new Paladin? And they have him hunting demons too. An intriguing turn of events, no?"

"Yeah I guess." Rin said from his cell. "But why did they arrest you?"

Mephisto pulled his hat off and reached inside of it before pulling out a picture board with terrible drawings. "Ein, zwei, drei…Once upon a time, 500 years ago."

Rin groaned. "Not show and tell…"

"I, Johann Faust, was on the cutting edge of science. I specialized in the study of artificial life."

"Someone needs to take an art class when they get out of here."

"Everyone's a critic. Back to the story. As you already know the Vatican prohibited the creation of artificial life. Having left my laboratory to my disciples a long time before that decree, I was out of the game. My disciples however continued their research."

I furrowed my eyebrows as I pulled away from Amaimon. "Wait, you're talking about-"

"Yes~ The research lab for artificial life in Poland. Noihaus was my disciple's disciple's dis- anywho, that's how we knew each other. The end!"

Rin raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Noihaus was saying that he didn't resurrect his wife, he was just keeping her body preserved. He said someone else did it."

Mephisto stuffed the picture board back into his white hat. "No doubt he was frame by that very same someone."

"Do you know who it is?"

"For the answer to that, look for the person who thinks of me as the thorn in his side." Mephisto disappeared in a pink poof and was a dog again. "Thank you for getting me up to speed with current events, my boy. It has been fun but I have to be shutting off now."

"You're just going to leave me here!? C'mon take me with you!"

"Oh, I'm afraid not. Do you hear that bell? Signaling the rise of the curtain? The show is about to begin you know, and one cannot afford to miss a single moment of it. Anyway, Amaimon let us go."

The King of Earth tilted his head. "Only if Ryuu comes along brother."

Mephisto sighed in front of the cell. "So needy little brother. Very well."

Mephisto poofed back into his human state. Before I knew it, Mephisto shrunk me down and stuffed me in his hat which disappeared. I looked around the dark space in confusion as Mephisto left Rin behind in the Vatican's dungeon.