Timon and Leyth descended from Mt. Akhlys, shrouding the thick forest in a heavy haze of demonic energy as they walked. They had left the company of Demon God Maru and were anxious for their plan to be carried out. They walked in silence for a while before Leyth stopped in his tracks.
"He's made his move," Leyth said. His red demon eyes that peaked from under his curly hair were sharp and focused as he clutched his fists at his side.
Timon walked up to Leyth and placed a hand on the other demon's should before speaking. "Bastard couldn't even wait. It's alright, Master knows what is best."
Leyth nodded his head and together the two demons continued their descent from the mountain.
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Rin walked back home still reeling from what happened between him, Leah and Zel. In only a short time, he had revealed his true identity to the two people he didn't want to know. It frustrated him greatly, but on the other hand, a small part of him was also relieved. He had kept his secret for decades and it felt good for him to finally unburden himself a little.
At some point he would have to tell them if he wanted to stay and protect those important to him. It was exactly as Nessa had told him a while ago. He wouldn't be able to keep his true identity a secret. Now he had to worry about whether Zel and Leah would tell anyone else. Would they tell Kief and his family? Their families? He had hoped not.
Rin was deep in thought when suddenly a crash of thunder sounded overhead. He looked up to the night skies when he saw a flash of light crash down right in front of him. The air was so charged with electricity and energy Rin couldn't help but be frozen to the spot. This energy was different. It was heavy and laced with evil intentions.
Suddenly he was grateful that Leah and Zel had left. He feared what would happen to them if they also encountered whatever this presence was. The ground before Rin was charred from the sheer force of the lightening and Rin suddenly snapped into a defense stand. His eyes raced around checking every angle where the presence could be hiding. Something was there with him, but he could not locate it no matter how hard he focused.
"You're looking in the wrong direction," someone behind him said with a chuckle.
Rin turned around quickly, upset with himself for not sensing the presence behind him. Before him stood a man. Demon most likely. But from the looks of him he was very strong. Stronger than the last one to be sure. Just how many strong demons will he encounter tonight? Rin thought to himself.
"Who are you?" Rin asked the demon. The demon before him was tall with long black hair. He wore armor from head to toe and looked ready for war. Despite being battle ready. The demon looked to have a peaceful expression on his face. He was very calm and focused. It made Rin fell edgy.
"I'm not obligated to answer that question, just yet, little demon," the demon said to Rin.
"I'm really curious about you, however. A demon like you from the Demon Plane is residing in the Human Plane. That's really unheard of."
Rin didn't respond to any of this but just continued to stare at the demon before him.
"I suppose you can say the same about me. I'm from Demon Plane, yet here I am. In the flesh," the demon said with a smile. "I suppose we all have our ways."
The demon finally moved and walked towards Rin. He walked with such leisure, Rin knew he couldn't make any sudden movements. Not with a demon such as this. He was essentially at the demon's mercy.
"Yes, you're very interesting Rin."
Rin raised his eyebrows at this. How did this demon know who he was?
"You've been here for a while, but still don't have your powers back I see. How unfortunate," The demon said as he continued to circle Rin.
Rin finally spoke, "Hmmm you seem to know a lot about me. I didn't know I had so many admirers." He placed a hand on his hip and feigned calmness even though he felt anything but calm.
"Lately, I've been paid a visit by a lot of demons and spirits. They seem to know a lot about me and where I come from. Makes me curious about Demon Plane and what's happening there," Rin said. He wanted to get information out of this demon or at the very least stall for time.
"Hmmm?? Demon Plane? You want to know what's happening. I won't answer that for you. You'll find out soon enough." The demon stopped circling Rin and stood right in from of him. They stood within inches of each other not moving.
"For now, you should be focused on what's happening here, what's going to happen in the future….what I'm going to do to you. Your friends. Your little makeshift family. Your world," the demon said with such excitement. It made Rin's heart drop.
Rin's eyes widened at this proclamation and before he could retort he was on the ground. The demon was straddling Rin with a hand on his throat. He never saw it coming. All he could do in that moment was grab the demon's hand with both of his and try to loosen the grip the demon had on his throat.
The demon began to chuckle as he strangled Rin. He laughed in Rin's face as he struggled to break free of his grip.
"This won't do Rin! You have to struggle more! You'll never break free if you don't give it your all!" The demon was taunting Rin now. He relished seeing Rin struggle beneath him.
"If you don't break free and fight me, you won't be able to save anyone! I'LL KILL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!" And the look in the demon's told Rin he was serious.
"AHHHHH!" Rin yelled as he continued to struggle against the demon.
Suddenly, the demon pulled out a short blade and hovered it above Rin.
"Rin, how disappointing you are," The demon taunted. He took the blade and surged down into Rin's side. The blade separated the flesh with a sickening sound and Rin cried out in pain. The ground flowed red from the wound and the demon cocked it's head at Rin's yells.
"Ahhh so that's not enough to get you angry? So I guess death and destruction it is," the demon said as he removed the blade from Rin. He stood abruptly and started to walk away.
"No!!" Rin yelled as he grabbed his side and sat up. He grimaced in pain and bared his teeth. Rin was so angry and felt as though he couldn't control the anger rolling off of him in waves. In his anger a sudden transformation took place. His teeth started to change into fangs and his eyes glowed red. Placing both hands on the ground to stand up, he focused all of his anger on the demon before him and took off in a charge.
"That's more like it Rin," The demon said with a wicked smile.
Rin ran and threw a punch at the demon. The demon easily evaded this punch but the force of the punch passing the demon still tore open a small gash on his cheek. The demon whistled, impressed with Rin's surge of energy.
Rin didn't stop there and kept throwing a flurry of powerful punches at the demon. The demon, however, was very efficient and dodged every single one with a smile on his face. This only made Rin angrier. He decided to change tactics and quickly dropped to his knees before swiping out his right leg to trip up the demon, but the demon was faster in his evasive technique.
He jumped into the air avoiding Rin's leg and instead swung out his leg mid-air and swiped at Rin's head. The kick connected and flung Rin straight into a concrete wall. Rin's impact left a huge crevice in the wall as his body slid down. Rin growled while holding his wound on his side.
The demon landed on his feet gracefully and crossed his arms with a smile. He cocked his head as if waiting to see what else Rin would try. He was thoroughly amused.
Rin couldn't stand seeing the smile on this demon's face so he hopped to his feet and in an act of desperation he focused his mind on manifesting all of the demon energy he could. Please let this work! Rin thought to himself.
He lifted his right hand and his nails suddenly became sharp claws. He dragged his claws down his left forearm until thick pools of blood ran down his arm.
At this, the demon frowned. His arms dropped to his side as he watched Rin mutilate his arm. When Rin saw the demon's reaction, he actually smirked. Once Rin was satisfied with the amount of blood pouring out of his wound he set off on a charge towards the demon. Faster than he was earlier, the demon was startled for a second before taking a defensive stance.
Rin in the middle of his charge held his bloody arm out and took his right hand to draw the blood out of the wound and into his hand. The vast amounts of blood gathered into his hands forming a tight ball before the shape elongated. Finally the shape took on it's final form, looking more like a sword.
The demon was not expecting this and only had moments to try to evade. The blood in the boy's hands was a blade! The blood hard hardened and a bloody blade was about to connect with the demon.
Rin took the blood sword in his hands and swiped at the demon hoping to lop of his head. The demon retreated backwards, just narrowly missing the tip of the sword. Rin did not let up and instead continued his assault at the demon with his new blade. He swiped down and to the side with such efficiency as if he was born to sword play.
He moved so quickly all the demon could do was try to evade. Suddenly the demon leapt into the air and over Rin's head so he stood behind him. Before Rin could turn, the demon took his own claws and dug into the wound a Rin's side.
Utterly spent from the exertion of attacking the demon and the sheer energy spent from summoning a mass amount of demonic energy, Rin dropped his blood blade and as it hit the ground it splattered into a mass of blood, painting the ground red.
Rin dropped to a knee and held his wound, hissing in pain. The demon looked at Rin incredulously before laughing. The demon threw his head back holding his stomach, laughing thoroughly at Rin before he finally calmed down.
"You almost had me there!" The demon touched his neck where a thin red line could be seen. Rin had almost sliced the demon's throat but the demon moved too quickly.
"I'm impressed! I didn't know you could summon that much power in your current form. But I won't let you get the opportunity to do that again," the demon said with a smile.
"It's my turn…," the demon spoke as his smile dropped. He looked angry now. Being wounded by a demon like Rin in a weakened state was something he couldn't tolerate. So he took his blade in his hand again, intent on making an example out of Rin.
Rin panted but couldn't do anything in his current condition. He was utterly spent. The demon approached Rin and grabbed him up by the neck. Rin was now dangling from the demon's hands and continued his struggle to break free. The demon didn't give Rin much time before taking his blade and stabbing Rin over and over again.
He stabbed Rin in the side again, the chest, and stomach over and over again until Rin's struggles slowly stopped. The demon's eyes were one of pure hatred and animosity as he spoke to Rin.
"This is what you deserve. This is what happens when you drop your guard and give into to the lie of this world. When you lose who you are, there's always someone else who comes along to show you exactly what you are and how powerless you truly are!"
The demon finally stopped his assault on Rin and dropped him. Rin fell to the ground with a thud bleeding out of his fresh wounds. He gasped for air, likely choking on his own blood. The demon stared over him, with the bloody blade still in his hand.
Rin was losing consciousness and was starting to see double. He had lost so much blood that he was starting to welcome the darkness that clouded his vision. He stared up at the demon, half-seeing, trying to speak but couldn't get one word past his lips.
The demon stared down at Rin with a solemn look on his face and finally spoke.
"You wanted to know who I was earlier. I'll tell you now." The demon squatted next to Rin so he could hear his next words.
"My name is Nostos. And I'm here to make your life hell."
Rin's eyes widened in surprise and he tried to speak but choked on more of his blood. He wildly tried to grab at the demon who called himself Nostos but couldn't reach him. Rin couldn't speak but his eyes communicated everything to this demon. LIAR!
The demon smirked and stood up. He took one last look at Rin and then disappeared into the darkness.
Rin's red demon eyes flared before they changed back to amber. The claws he had changed back as well. Human. That's all Rin could be right now. It was such a suffocating revelation that he had wished the demon had finished the job. Would he never be able to break free from this human shell and have his powers returned to him?
Rin lay on the ground for who knows how long as his blood ran out of his wounds and onto the cold hard ground. All he could do was stare up at the moon and welcome death. Death. So that's what this is? His eyes started to close and his surrounding blurred. Before he finally lost consciousness, he felt another presence different from the demon before. A figure made it's way to Rin where he lay, and as much as Rin tried, he couldn't make out who stood over him. Finally exhaustion crept in and Rin passed out.
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All he felt was warmth. The place he was in was dark and void of anything. But the warmth made him feel somewhat revived. He could feel his body, but for some reason he couldn't move it. In this dark place he tried his hardest to move, but his body was still.
Hands. Someone's hands were on him. They were small and delicate from what he could tell. They touched his forehead before he felt something cool replace those warm hands. Who is there? Where am I? And why can't I open my eyes?
He heard someone speak but couldn't make out what they said. It sounded muffled. He focused all of his attention on the voice and finally could tell that it was a woman's. It was a soft voice, it sounded almost like a lullaby. Is it the witch's voice? No, her voice was annoying. It was the last thing he wanted to hear at this moment. Wait, who is the witch? It's…Nessa! And I'm…Rin! Finally Rin's consciousness was starting slowly sink back and he was becoming more aware of himself and his surroundings.
This voice did not belong to Nessa's. Or Leah's. He couldn't place it. Okay, one thing at a time. I still can't wake up for some reason, but maybe if I try to move my hands and feet. Rin made an effort and before he knew it, his fingers twitched. He then tried to move his toes with success. Okay, I have to try and open my eyes… Rin concentrated and before long, the darkness faded and he opened one eye to a bright light over him. He squinted to hide his eye from the light before he was able to adjust to the brightness. Blinking his eyes, he finally realized he was in a room. He was laying down on something…A bed! He was in a bedroom. It wasn't his though, although it did seem familiar. Before he could ponder more, that soft voice spoke next to him.
"I'm glad you are awake. You had us scared for a moment."
Rin looked over and into the face of the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Her pale face looked sick with worry. She had pale grey eyes that rooted him to the spot. Her hair was a white/silver color that made her look ethereal as it framed her face. So this was who the voice belonged to, Rin thought to himself.
"We had to bring you here. You were covered in stab wounds. It's a miracle you survived, you know, " the girl spoke again. Suddenly, Rin came to his senses and asked her, "Who are you and where am I?"
After a beat, the bedroom door opened and Rin saw the same figure who stood over him earlier after he had fought the demon. The blood drained from his face as he laid there looking at the man who had saved him.
"To answer your questions, this is Sarra. She's a god from the Heaven Realm, currently in exile. And as to where you are…You're home, Rin."
Rin gaped at the man who he had known for almost three years. The man who had become an adoptive father to him. The same man that had taken him in when he had nowhere to go. Stood before him was Kief.
Kief entered the room and closed the bedroom door.
"I had to put you in my room for now. I don't want Rury and Arty asking questions about your condition," Kief said as he pulled a chair up to the bedside. "Shocked to not see any porn in my room? This must be why you're speechless."
Kief plastered a small sad smile on his face before continuing, "We have a lot to discuss, Rin."