When in Gehenna

A New Start

*We are finally getting back to our favorite character, Rin!

Slowly, Rin became aware of his surroundings.  The first thing he noticed was Amaimon, the Demon King of Earth and his recent enemy, looming over him and giving him a blank stare.  As Rin began to scramble away and look for his sword, Amaimon remained frozen, blinking at the panicking half-demon.  A few seconds later, Rin backed into someone else, still unable to find the Kurikara blade.  Arms reached around him, securing him and forcing him to still as a soft, smokey voice began to speak.

"Calm down, little brother.  Amaimon is not going to hurt you.  Unfortunately, the trip through the gate destroyed your sword and completely released your demon blood.  The shards can be reforged into a demon blade, or you can dispose of them."

Rin struggled to see the person who was restraining him, too nervous to relax his guard. "Who are you?  What is going on?" he asked, desperate for answers.

"I am Iblis, the Demon King of Fire, and one of your brothers.  Samael, or as you know him, Mephisto, sent you to Gehenna so that you could meet your other family and learn to embrace your demonic heritage.  Amaimon seems to have taken a liking to you, and demanded to accompany me to greet you."  As these reassuring words were spoken, Iblis loosened his hold on Rin and allowed him to turn around and face him.

The man before Rin was fairly tall, with chiseled features and dark skin.  His eyes were a blazing red that complemented his flaming orange hair.  Iblis had the pointed ears and teeth that were apparently common among the sons of Satan, although his tail was orange in color, matching his hair.

"But why would Meph- I mean Samael send me to Gehenna?  I thought he didn't want Satan to be able to conquer Assiah?  Isn't this playing right into his hands?"  At this point, Rin was very confused and tired of not understanding what was going on around him.

"Big Brother sent you here because you have been lied to.  Our father does not want to take over Assiah, he simply wants demon kind to be able to interact with the humans if they wish.  Certain demons are unable to remain down here, and need to spend time in Assiah in order to eat and survive.  Unfortunately, Exorcists kill any demon they see, whether or not they have caused any harm or acted aggressively." Amaimon began to answer Rin's questions, once again moving closer to Rin while continuing to give him a blank and emotionless stare.  "Big Brother is currently working on the exorcists' end to try and show them that not all demons are evil and to try and rescue many of those that the Vatican captures."

"Finally, you are the only one of father's sons to inherit his blue flames, and are thus his heir and the Crown Prince of Gehenna.  Father has spent years trying to find you in order to raise you and teach you everything you will need to know to help rule Gehenna.  Samael knew that you would have to make the choice to come here of your own free will in order for you to accept father's and our help."  Iblis finished up the explanation.  "Now then, are you ready to meet the rest of the family?"

After a moment of hesitation, Rin nodded his assent and prepared to meet his new family, wondering what the new future had in store for him and if he would finally be able to find the love and acceptance he had been craving since his secret was revealed.

**A/N: Yes, I am finally back.  I wanted to make this chapter longer, but felt like this was a natural stopping point.  Thanks to those of you who left reviews asking me to continue this story, I have decided to give this another go and continue writing.  Hopefully, I will be able to average a chapter a week.