The Paths of Sin and Redemption

Chapter 40

A/N: I'M BAAACCCKKK!!!!!!!!! *evil laugh*

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Mephiles didn't like this. No, he didn't like this not one gods-be-d*mned minute. There he sat on a tatami mat—having downed 6 cups of sake already as he tried to stop his claws from tapping the porcelain cup out of nervousness.

He just felt so....helpless.

As Lord Suno used his own turquoise energy to keep Silver suspended upon the waters, all Meph could do was watch on as his mate's sweet face remained blissfully asleep as he floated on the surface of that dreaded liquid that was so dangerous for him, and yet so beneficial to the mother of his children. The white male looked so serene, so elegant, almost like a water lily in bloom in the middle of a mythical glass sea.

....And if Silver was a soft water lily then he was a prickly, old thorn bush from how frayed his nerves were right about now.

His breath hitched when he saw the moment Lord Suno extended out one of his hands, the Cherub King saying in a loud voice, "I call upon the ancestors...I call upon the gods...I call upon you, Toketsu! I am here with your long-lost son, Silver. Please allow the powers that be to cleanse him of his afflictions—those seen and unseen—and make him whole once more," before allowing another ball of turquoise energy to appear in his palm which divided into seven smaller orbs that were absorbed into the surrounding Emeralds.

Mephiles then waited on bated breath to see what would happen.

Then, as if the very energy was being drained from the entire cave, everything that glowed within the vast cavern suddenly turned dark, casting the temple area in near darkness. Being a demon, Lord Mephiles could see in the dark just fine, but it caused for lanterns to be lit as visual aid for the others, with only the pool that Lord Suno and Silver were in retaining its otherworldly glow.

The healers then began to call upon the names of their gods over and over, creating a weird energy in the air that caused Meph's fur to stand on end—something else for him to dislike— and as Lord Suno's energy 'activated' the colorful gems, the Chaos Emeralds all suddenly flashed gold with a huge, loud pulse sending out a resounding wave of energy—like one giant ripple—across the pool of water and into the unconscious hanyou that floated in the water's depths with only the aid of Lord Suno's energy still keeping him buoyant.

Mephiles quickly stood up, the demon alarmed to see that the face of his beloved was contracting into a small frown of distress. Lord Suno remained unfazed, however, as he continued to keep the uke levitated on the water—the waves of energy merely washing over him and into his hanyou relative—no doubt because the Cherub King himself was not wounded and was indeed in good health. Both kings could only watch on in rapt attention as the sickly male's discomfort steadily grew with each powerful pulse of energy that the Chaos Emeralds sent into his trembling body. Mephiles' heart could only clench in pain as his mate's barely heard whimpers soon turned to small whines before his cries turned into full-blown screams of pain, each scream louder, agonizing, and more gut-wrenching than the last with each and every pulse.

The cries were beyond words as the healers' chanting continued, beyond heart-breaking, overwhelming the demon and causing him to fall to his knees, his clawed hands clenched over his ears to try and drown out the horrible sounds. He couldn't take this, he thought as he clenched his eyes shut that were starting to turn red, not caring of the tears that fell, that was his mate out there!! Mephiles was ready to throw himself into that water and perish, just to get to his mate so that he could hold him and take his pain away. He had told Suno that he would remain calm, that he would accept the consequences that the total revitalization process would have to wreak upon Silver ... but his wariness towards the angels' species had never completely abandoned him, and his distrust was starting to rear its ugly head again the more he heard his mate scream. Furthermore, in having discovered that these 'holier-than-thou' people have used that corrosive liquid against his kind, his assurance with them had drastically diminished.