When in Gehenna

The Truth Hurts

Sorry for making you wait for the chapter!  I was sick last week and then spent this past weekend in Disneyland.  For your patience, I will try to get two chapters out this week, as well as the regular one on Sunday.

Miri was the first one to notice Yukio's presence. 

"What are you doing here?"  She spat at him.

"I heard your voices.  I am the only one who lives here, so I came to see if some students were messing around up here."  Yukio tried and failed to answer nonchalantly before returning the question.  "What are you doing here?"

"Mephisto has arranged for us to stay here until our meeting with the Vatican."  A melodious voice came from behind Yukio.  He turned around to see a beautiful woman with long golden tresses and clear blue eyes.  Although her ears were pointed, she had no horns and no tail.  Instead, she had beautiful iridescent wings on her back.

"It isn't much, but then I hardly expected any better from those stuck up exorcists."  A man joined the group.  He was tall, with pale white skin and dark brown hair.  He had normal ears, but his irises were ruby red, and he had pointed canines.

"It was incredibly rude of them to change the meeting time again.  One would think they would want to show how superior to us they are, rather than revealing how petty and rude the Vatican has remained."  This speaker had pointed ears similar to the woman, but his hair and eyes were the color of ice, and his wings looked to  be made of crystal, with jagged edges.

"At least they gave us an excuse to stay up here longer.  After all, it is their own fault that we are forced to remain here for another three days.  I wonder how annoyed I could make them by wandering around. . ."  The last member of the group was shorter than the others, with tan, freckled skin, vividly red hair, and piercing green eyes.  His ears were also pointed, and his wings were the texture and color of leaves.

"What, that is, who are you people?"  Yukio's hand was hovering over his gun and his body was tensed, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

"I am Titania, Queen of the Seelie Court." The woman introduced herself with the slightest tilt of her head.

"Prince Dirk of the Unseelie Court." the icy voice complimented the white hair and pale eyes of the third speaker.

"Lord Aldin, also of the Unseelie Court." The man with the crimson eyes continued with the introductions.

"Puck." The redhead smirked as he gave his name.  Enjoying the irritation in Yukio's eyes that their minimal introductions had caused, he continued to introduce the rest of their delegation. "Princess Miri, the young girl in there, is the daughter of our fair Titania.  The green-haired one is Amaimon, the Demon King of Earth.  And of course, you already know Prince Rin, heir to the Demon Throne and future High King of Gehenna."  Puck ended with a flourish and a bow in Rin's direction.

"And what exactly brings such exalted beings to our humble school?"  Yukio couldn't keep the mocking tone from his voice.  Inside, he was trying to come to terms with Rin's titles.  How could anyone expect his immature older brother to rule anything?  And what are the Seelie and Unseelie Courts?

"We have come to try one last time to arrange a peace treaty with the Vatican.  We represent the three peoples that the Vatican has declared war upon and cast out of Assiah.  If once again an agreement cannot be reached, then we will have no choice but to declare war upon the Exorcists."  Titania answered the question Yukio had asked, ignoring his rude manners.

"What do you mean, the three peoples that the Vatican declared war upon?  We only fight demons.  They would sneak up here and wreak all manner of mischief, chaos, and evil.  We had no choice but to fight them."  Yukio was quick to defend the order he belonged to.

"Is that what they tell the little Exorcists in training these days?  Of course they would change the story to make themselves look good.  But do you actually believe that the Vatican can do no wrong?  Blind faith only leads to destruction little boy."  Lord Aldin's voice was smooth yet cruel.

"Shall I tell you what really happened?  Long ago, humans, demons, fae, vampires, werewolves, and all manner of light and dark creatures walked the earth.  Granted, many of the demons made their permanent home in Gehenna, but there were certain demon clans that couldn't survive in Gehenna, and required the sunlight of Assiah and the emotions and presence of humans in order to thrive.  The members of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts had always lived in Assiah.  They depended on the imagination and belief of the mortals for their longevity and their powers.  However, humans are often envious and easily led astray.  One particular group of humans resented the long life enjoyed by the members of the three Courts and envied their power.  They slowly began spreading rumors of demon attacks.  They spoke of monstrous creatures who used their abilities to influence mankind to spread chaos and evil.  Then, once people started to hate and mistrust members of the Demon Court, the group began to attack and kill the demons in Assiah.  They were quickly able to destroy many of the weaker, more peaceful races who made their homes in Assiah.  When word of these humans who began calling themselves Exorcists reached Gehenna, the bigger demons began traveling to Assiah and attacking the instigators, who in turn used these actions as further proof of the evil of demons.  Although they were unable to destroy many of the stronger demons, the Exorcists found and were given ways to cast them from Gehenna.

Once the Demon Court was gone, the Exorcists turned their attention to the Unseelie Court.  Most of your tales of monster attacks and ways to defeat the creatures of the night were created by the Exorcists.  Since the members of the Unseelie court tended to live alone and travel around, they made fairly easy targets for the Exorcists.  Eventually, the remnants of the Unseelie Court sought asylum in Gehenna.  Finally, the Exorcists turned humanity against the Seelie Court, and they were forced to join their fellow Courts in exile in Gehenna.  Over time, the Vatican was set up and schools were created to teach new Exorcists.  The schools taught that demons were evil and would destroy Assiah if it weren't for the Vatican and its Exorcists who defend humanity from that threat.  That is the truth behind the noble order of the Vatican." The disgust in Puck's voice was evident as he sneered through the last sentences of his tale.  Yukio was caught between shock at the idea that the Vatican might not be as good as it claims to be, and disbelief at there being any truth in such an outlandish tale.  However, there was a small part of him that wondered if there might not be some truth to the story.  After all, Father Fujimoto saw fit to take in and raise two half-demons.  Surely he wouldn't have done so if he believed that all demons were bad.  He turned without saying a word and walked into his room, the same one he used to share with his Big Brother, Rin.

As he lay on his bunk, Yukio began to reevaluate his initial reaction to Rin's reappearance.  He knew that Izumo was right and that he had overreacted.  His brother had seen no other choice two years ago when he accepted Mephisto's offer to leave the world that had been so cruel to him in order to see if he could find his place in a new world.  It was obvious that Rin had grown a lot in the time he had been away.  He carried himself with a much more confident and proud air.  And, Yukio finally admitted to himself, he was also jealous of the way Rin treated Amaimon and Miri.  Once, long ago, Yukio knew that Rin had looked at him with the same fondness and love that he now showed Amaimon and Miri.  Rin had been willing to do anything and everything to protect his family, but Yukio had thrown that love back in his face, not once, but twice.  He deserved the uncaring and cold glances Rin now gave him, but it didn't lessen the sting, or the jealousy that was eating at Yukio.  As Yukio began thinking of ways to get his brother back, he drifted off to sleep, unaware of the contemptuous red eyes that were watching him from the window of his room.