Demons and Ghosts, Hell's King and King of the Dead

Worries and Meeting Clockwork

Rin stared at the disk in his hands, the design glowing a vibrant blue amongst the dark background of his room.

This artifact in itself would do nothing to get Rin home, but perhaps this disk needed something else to get it working.

The question was what? What was needed to activate one of the ancient artifacts of Gehenna? It wouldn't be easy to find, that was for sure. This disk wasn't, after all.

The only people Rin could think to help would the the Infamous Trio. Even still, Rin had no plans in dragging them into his mess of a life if he didn't have to. Rin was sure Danny and his friends had enough stress on them as it was. Rin wouldn't add to it if he didn't have to.

Rin trusted Lizzy, more than he thought he should, but did, nonetheless. Same problem, he didn't want to drag her into it either. Lizzy was just human which made it just that much more dangerous. Rin thought of Lizzy as a foster mom of sorts. He was not going to traumatize her. He knew she was already overwhelmed with his PTSD, dark past and mysterious personality included.

He prayed to God, that despite being Satan's son and the King of Gehenna, the Lord would help him choose what was right.

For the millionth time, Rin didn't know what to do.

For the first time, Rin wasn't sure he wanted answers to his problems.

Everything Rin touched turned to ruins sometime, but Rin didn't want to see it fall, not again.

Yukio.

"Four Eyes isn't going to last much longer if we don't get him to an infirmary!" Shura barked.

"What about Rin?" Shiemi cried.

"Rin will be fine! He can hold his own, especially now!" Shura told the shy blonde.

Rin's conscious was focused on Satan, nothing else being of importance to him, not after the bastard had hurt his little brother.

Rin didn't know how long he went on, slashing and growling, snarling and screaming. He didn't know how bright his eyes burned or how bright his flames glowed. All he knew was that Satan had hurt Yukio. It was enough for Rin to be angry.

Rin didn't remember much, but it wasn't because he lacked control, more over the fact that the adrenaline rushing through his veins seemed to have had him moving faster than he'd ever moved, making it hard for him to even contradict his own movements. It was probably also the fact that most of the battle was too horrible for Rin's PTSD-infected mind to even want to dig up memories of it.

Really, the only thing Rin could remember was that after what seemed to be forever, Rin couldn't tell, Rin slashed the demon straight through his heart, making Satan explode into nothing.

Satan had been forced to expose his own demon heart, thus allowing his very presence to exist within Assiah.

Doing so, Satan had also exposed his greatest weakness, and a killing blow that would usually send a demon back to Gehenna, killed and erased the King of Demons completely.

Rin managed to calm down enough to glance hurriedly around for his brother and friends. His eyes caught no glance of them, and he realized that they had probably taken Yukio to get medical help.

This eased Rin's worries, but his body still shook with his previous - and still present - emotions.

Though he had managed to calm down a bit, his demon form was still burning brightly.

He fell to his knees, hands tearing at the dirt and blood-stained grass beneath him. His head was bowed, eyes shut and tears glistening down his cheeks.

Sobs wracked his body as he shook with fear, sadness, grief, guilt, and so many other emotions he couldn't begin to describe.

He may have defeated Satan, his brother might be okay, but the consequences still tore at him.

Rin was glad his friends had taken Yukio to get help, he didn't blame them, he wasn't angry at them, not at all.

Still, he wished they were there, to comfort him, to help him, because he could still feel the blood that stained his nails, his arms, his legs, his lips, and his face. His shirt torn and tattered, jeans ruined beyond repair, bloody and never to be worn again. His hair was matted with sweat and blood, his face tear stained.

He shook and hugged himself, wishing that somebody, anyone, was there to tell him that it was over, that it would all be okay.

Nobody was, though, and Rin suffered alone.

His memory vaguely replayed Shura and Shiemi's words in his head, words he hadn't even know they'd said before now.

"Four Eyes isn't going to last much longer if we don't get him to an infirmary!"

"What about Rin?"

"Rin will be fine! He can hold his own, especially now!"

Rin let free choked sobs. His sharp nails tore into the earth, digging, as he placed his forehead on the dirt floor.

They didn't know, they thought it was okay, they thought Shura was right. Rin was strong, his classmates knew. He would be fine.

Rin was far from fine.

Rin gasped, reality once again grasping him.

He quickly realized he was crying and wiped away the tears, desperately trying to compose himself.

Once he did so, Rin set the disk under his bed and curled under the covers, Kuro cuddled to his chest and purring, as both demons fell into a blissful and dreamless sleep.

__________________________

"Rin Okumura?" A voice echoed.

Rin narrowed his eyes. "Who are you, and what do you want with me?"

"My name is Clockwork. I am the Master of Time and Space, and I know you seek answers."

"I'm not sure anymore," Rin replied, "I don't want to be forced to drag anyone else into my problems."

"Daniel can help you," Clockwork said.

"Maybe, but..." Rin trailed off.

"Daniel's fate, along with yours, are tied. Avoiding Daniel will do nothing, because he and his friends will find out eventually. If you continue to avoid dragging them into this, it will only lead to destruction. There are many timelines and many fates, but only one is the right choice." Clockwork's voice echoed.

"I take it you know Danny personally?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I am a ghost. It would only be logical." Maybe Rin was imagining things, but Clockwork's tone sounded suspiciously amused.

"Fine, you stopwatch," Rin muttered.

Before Rin woke up, a faint echo of "that blasted nickname" was voiced, and Rin couldn't hold back the small chuckle that slipped.

Chapter Nineteen complete! Bye my doggies!