Innocent

The mortal grunted as he continued his path through the circles of Hell, clutching the wound on his side that one of the lesser demons he was fighting managed to nick him. Dante sighed, his body trembling from the excessive blood loss, fatigue and the horrors he was forced to face. Finally giving into the need for rest the crusader leaned against the wall and took even breathes his mind racing with images of his beloved and telling him to continue. Then he needed to hurry and save her but every time he came, even so, close the Devil himself kept taking her further in and reminded the man of his weaknesses and mistakes.

Then he heard demons racing towards him, and Dante was automatically on the move again; he barely had the energy to spare in this fight, and if he did fight them he would die. Rounding a corner to avoid the sight of demons he ran down the twisted path of rock, fire, and bones. He stopped when he came to a dead end and cursed himself at his stupidity. He was about to turn around to fight off the large group of demons that have managed to find him until a door caught his eye.

The door itself is completely out of place compared to what he has seen in this forsaken realm. It wasn't twisted and gave an off sense of further despair or pain. On the contrary, it was a white door, to human looking and Dante hesitated to place his hand on the handle and open it. The sound of demons and the next fight that would be his end made his move through the door and closing it behind him. Dante took several breaths; his eyes closed as he prepared his sanity to take the horrors that the door might reveal. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself dumbfounded and blinking in confusion.

The room itself felt comforting as if it was designed to be a haven for someone or something. The crusader took a step further; his boots make small noises on the wooden floors. There were no windows; instead, there were white walls with some decorations on them. Pictures that look like a child have drawn and placed up as if they were precious. Bookshelves that is painted entirely white have been placed carefully around the room, and full of books that were written by prominent figures Dante knew very well. Dante walked in further, his eye catching another closed white door but decided to not bother it for now.

The male examined the bed, it wasn't black with scarlet sheets and hold the smell of sins but white much like the rest of the room. It wasn't fancy but looked like a plain human made bed and when he ran his hands over the sheets on for his dirty hands to leave smudges of sin amongst the innocent colors. Dante pulled his hand away from the soft silk, expecting his touch to taint it and carefully watched the small dirt stain to spread in a mockery of how sin filled the mortal truly is. But it didn't. It just stayed there, a clash so easily seen in the holy feeling room.

The door he just passed by opened and Dante quickly turned around and reached for his scythe that he reaped off of Death himself and prepared for battle. Instead, he is faced with a teenager, a female teenager to be exact. Her eyes were closed, and her form relaxed, her nose then scrunched up, and she opened her eyes to reveal they were a doll like to show the most beautiful and intense blue eyes the crusader has ever seen in his entire lifetime. She stared at him, allowing the moment to sink in before her form became tense and her eyes widen slightly like he was some thief barging in and planning to rape a young maiden of her chastity.

She slowly moved her arms to take off the white cloth she had to dry her hair away from her head and seem to use it to place some barrier between the two of them. Dark blue locks of hair fell from their confines and stopped at her mid-back, caressing her small form even further like a delicate flower amongst weeds. This is the first time Dante had noticed her pale, milky skin and how much contrast it had to rest of her figure, curves that aren't fully developed but promised a beautiful maiden when she is older. A white dress stopped at her ankles and base on the design it was a commoner's dress, but the sight of it made it feel that it belonged to royalty, a treasure that no map or man has ever heard or seen.

Her doll like eyes glanced from him to something else in the room and repeated the process a few times until Dante's eyes slowly looked at what she might be glancing to. His curiosity is rewarded with the sight of the sheathed weapon, a sword that is curved and skinny. The sheath and handle of the weapon are blue with silver metallic attachments and colored bundles of thread hanging off of it. Dante blinked. He briefly wondered how he missed something that ultimately stood out in the room. Before either one could move a knock came from the door Dante entered from, and both of them froze, expecting the other to do something.

"Princess!" a snarl came from the other side and the angelic like looking towards it. "Are you well?! Will you allow us to come in?!" The female's eyebrows crease with conflicting emotions but most of all the sight of innocent curiosity.

"I am well Firn," her voice is like a harp singing beautiful melodies, "you know what happens if you come in here without my father's permission – so I must know why you sound so urgent." She continued, eyeing the door as if the plague is behind it. The demon outside is silent for a moment with the constant snarls and growls behind it before the lesser demon spoke up again – it's voice wavering a bit as if out of fear of being punished.

"A mortal is roaming, Princess." Her head snapped back at Dante, her eyes wider as she scans him once more and tilts her head even more out of curiosity. "We are just making sure you are well and if the mortal isn't hiding in there." The demon voice became small.

"No need to worry Firn." She said and relaxed a bit and tilted her head towards the door to listen further to the snarls and growls before it became quiet. She stayed like that before she lets out a breath of relief and looks up at Dante, scanning him completely with those soul piercing orbs. "You're injured." She said, eyeing the cut on his side that is still bleeding. Dante fidgeted and moved a bit, so his injured side is more protected. The female blinked in surprise and seemed to sadden a bit. "You should bathe and clean your wounds so that they won't get infected…" she offered and moved a bit to reveal the pristine, white room she emerged from. "I can wash your clothing as well if you like while you bathe." She offers. Dante examined her, ready to deny the temptation but the look in her eyes showed no ulterior motive, just honest compassion to a stranger.

"I suppose…" he started off hesitantly. "A bath to wash off some of this taint isn't a bad idea." She gave a kind smile that seems to warm up his heart and give him a little bit more hope and peace of mind.

The bath was much needed, and Dante was caught off guard of how much he stood out in the white room and next to the seemingly divine being. The once crystal clear, clean water became dark with dirt and blood as he scrubbed himself in attempt to rid of Hell's taint he has ventured through. The crusader gave a satisfied sigh of the feeling of being clean, happy he wasn't leaving any dirt on the white material in the out-of-place room. When he emerged out of the bathing room with on a cloth around his waist to cover his most exposed parts and when he opened his eyes only to see the female examining him – mapping each exposed muscle and scar on him until she became aware he caught her watching her face became flushed to the tips of her pointed ears, her neck, and her shoulders. She instantly turned her back to him in embarrassment and pointed at his equipment on her bed.

"M-m-m-my apologies sir!" she stuttered, and Dante finally noticed the tail that swayed frantically in embarrassment, it is the same color as her hair, long, and fur-tufted and looks incredibly soft to the touch. "Your clothes have been washed and dried, and I have taken the liberty of cleaning you armor and sharpening your weapon." She said in one breathe and kept her back to him. Dante took the hint and nodded at the little privacy he is being offered and got dressed, appreciating being clean for once in his mortal life.

"What is your name, My Lady?" Dante asked, wanting to thank the maiden properly.

"Rin…My name is Rin Okumura…" she said. "May I have your name as well sir?" she asked, and Dante paused.

"Dante…I'm Dante Alighieri." He finished, missing the nod the female gave.

"A good name."

"Thank you My Lady…" he responded and thankful for the pleasant conversation – even if it is a demon, "I thank you for your hospitality and…protecting me from the other demons." He said, even though he holds hateful and maybe bias opinions about demons; he felt a strange urge not to insult or upset the young maiden. The female is quiet, and he turned fully to face her since he is now properly dressed, she had her head down, and her hands are clenching her white dress.

"We're not all evil…" she mumbled and turned to him, and Dante saw the tears threatening to fall, "I know it's wrong to torture the souls that are forced to be here to suffer for their sins but we're not evil." She said and looked at the ground as if it's the most interesting thing out of the entire room, "I know it appears we enjoy it, but we don't…We don't like hearing the screams of humanity, and it weighs heavily on us, we see what the world of material looks like through those souls eyes and the few of us that manages to leave to explore the mortal world go insane because of the sensory overload it gives us…" she said and walked to one of her four bookshelves and picks out a few books. "We just want to know the world mortals know it by, and we want to see the vast colors, feel the changing seasons on our skin and…and feel peace there since it is the closest to heaven any of us can manage to get to." She seems to explain. Her tail close to the ground and her compassionate, kind, understanding aura that reminded the crusader so much of Beatrice now has a melancholy atmosphere t it. Dante falls silent, taking in her words and shifting his hateful opinions to more of understanding.

Rin walked to a large dresser with a mirror on it to show her beautiful – no – angelic reflection off of it, clear casings of bloomed flowers of multiple colors rested on there with a few books open on what the plants might be and detailed them further. She sat on the stool and stared at her complexion, sadden and the first time Dante saw her being a beautiful bird – prized and exotic – trapped in her beautiful cage. Dante shifted, he saw the souls sins and virtues and their memories, he thought his heart felt heavy by watching them suffer physically, but this bliss before him is another form of suffering he doesn't know how to face.

"Dante…" his thoughts were snapped when the female looked at him, a look of curiosity and hope that lifted his spirits. "If you don't mind…well you answer a few questions of about what your world looks like o-or a portion of it. I read and re-read the books my father and brothers bring, but I can't grasp the feelings they are trying to tell since I never…" she left the rest of her words to be filled in. The crusader nodded and walked towards her and picked up one of the preserved flowers; a rose – fully bloomed – with yellow coloring before it transition peacefully to red to the tip. Rin gave a smile, and her tail wagged happily to being able to have some knowledge about the realm he is born in.

Dante answered each of questions, seeing how absorbed she is with the information he presented, her eyes shining with a strange fire of her innocence's through those intense blue eyes. He saw how she carefully worded her questions and recorded his answers in an empty leather bound book of hers, and it was sweet really – like watching life through a Childs' eyes. He saw how Rin tried to immerse herself in what he might have been feeling at the moment, but the crusader never went too far in his own experiences, he left out his sins (Which he thought the female is aware of) and only focused on that child like view of an innocent, naïve person.

"Dante." The crusader is cut off from his most pleasant memories and turned his head to face the soul of the poet that is assisting him on his ordeal. "We should go…" he silently regarded Rin with a small bow of respect. The female waved at the soul before she gave a sad smile, her intense eyes softening and still revealed of what she might be feeling in his shoes. Dante said his goodbyes, and she murmured hers and wished him good luck on his ordeal before turning back to her reflection of a cage bird and continue to write in her leather bound book (perhaps it is her diary, a secret of what she feels). As Dante walked through the twisting halls, following the poet and only glancing back a few times to the white door that stood out.

"I see you met the Princess of Hell…" the poet said and the Crusader's head snapped back to her.

"She didn't seem entirely demonic to me…" Dante said honestly, doubts starting to flood his mind. The poet nodded at his statement. "The way she speaks, one would think she would leave this place." The poet stopped and looked at him.

"Even though she has the power to, she couldn't wait for a personal reason." Dante looked at him confused. "Dante think about it, out of all the demons you have faced here – why is she the only angelic and most human looking one other than the shadow of Lucifer's former self and Cleopatra?" Dante blinked, he had realized her appearance is different but the aura she presented helped him relax around her, making him feel welcomed and protected.

"She may want to leave, but she knows she will have no protection if she does and completely exposed to the world that may want her dead because of what she is and who her father is." The poet said and Dante eyebrows creased.

"What do you mean Great Poet?" The crusader asked.

"Her father is Lucifer himself, Dante. She is the first daughter and the only one that is born with the cursed blue flames of Hell." That would explain the lovely feel she presented, and for a moment Dante started feeling betrayed, "But she is also a half-breed."

"A what?" that question came out more like a snap than he intended it to.

"A half-breed, half human and half demon; she can understand both sides, but she knows many will harm her because of the two pieces of information I presented. She isn't hateful to humanity, and the only reason is trying to understand it is because Lucifer wants to preserve that part of her, to help keep the piece to opposite things that he once dreamed alongside a mortal woman to unite demons and humans and stop a pointless fight."

"Who is this Mortal Women?" Dante asked, not understanding how a mortal could love something as tainted as the Devil himself.

"Rin's mother is Yuri Egin. She is the only creature that lived after being touched by Lucifer's fire, and she is the only mortal God has created in hopes that he can deter the fallen archangel path of destruction of humanity." The poet said as they continued walking down the road that is currently empty of demons, "Yuri was the only one that was patient enough to teach Lucifer about humanity, to teach him about 'love' and 'life.'" The poet said. "She showed him Assiah through her own eyes and gotten rid of the icy feel of hatred and loneliness."

"Did he love her or did he use her?" Dante asked and shivered at the thought of Rin being conceived through rape.

"They both loved each other." The poet then fell silent. "She willingly conceived Lucifer's offspring and was set to the pyre because of her 'greatest' sin. However, Lucifer killed many to rescue her from the fire, and she gave birth to the mountains two days after the birth of Christ. She gave birth to a set of twins, one inherited Lucifer's fire, and the other didn't."

"What happened to her?"

"Her soul withered away as an attempt to protect her children and to feed them, Lucifer found them an hour later, and he buried the only women that he loved and raised the two children as best as he could. Making sure they avoided the sins that tempted man kind in hopes that heaven and hopefully God wouldn't punish them or maybe take them in." The poet fell quiet for a moment before speaking again. "He had to kill his youngest to protect his only daughter."

"Why? If he loved his children so much then why?" Dante recalled the drawings in Rin's room, of a constant three individuals as if telling a story before it became dark and finished leading to the grave and followed by two people.

"His youngest son destroyed his human half in hatred and tried to force his older sister to give up her humanity but when she wouldn't he attempted to kill her only for Lucifer to destroy him…It was the saddest and most heartbreaking moment in Hell's long history, and no amount of human suffering will match the cries and tears Lucifer and Rin shed that day."

"That made her aware that many didn't like her…" Dante seems to finish, and the poet nodded and fell silently to allow the mortal to think. Dante then recalled Rin's words of how demons aren't evil, that he is misunderstanding them. She wasn't talking about hell in general (even though it seems like it); she was talking about her father and herself. How she tried not to cry when she is saying that, like she is silently pleading to forgive them for everything because it was their job to…it was how God fated them, and Dante could only see a caged, beautiful and exotic individual. One who is the only innocent being out of the entire torturing pits of the tainted and sin, even when he tried so many times to see the very being that has abducted his Beatrice in her but he couldn't – he only saw an Angel.