When in Gehenna

You Want a Battle?

Angel was furious.  Couldn't the Vatican see that he was merely watching out for their best interests and defending humanity from these monsters?  Instead of thanking him, he was removed from the position of Paladin and cast out.  Fortunately, there were still many exorcists loyal to him.  They  were even now planning a hit against a group of vampires that was gathering for the blood moon that was due to occur in a month's time.  Although the vampires claimed to only drink animal blood or blood freely given by a human donor, Angel and his group were convinced that this was a lie told to appease the Vatican, and the other Exorcists were fools to trust them.  Bullets were filled with holy water, silver, and wood shards.  Although Angel knew it was likely that most of the mythical weaknesses of these unnatural creatures were false, he decided that they were better off safe than sorry, and a one of the three materials should be effective against any citizen of Gehenna.  

"Claude, what do you have to report?" Angel inquired as his second-in-command, a French Exorcist, approached him in their newly established headquarters.

"Well sir, our numbers have been holding fairly steady over the last few days.  It looks like a third of the Exorcists have left the Vatican to join us against the demons and monsters that have been invading our world and threatening humanity.  Each group that left has brought as many of the weapons and supplies that they could take with them.  We have enough food to last us a year, and enough weapons to arm a group three times our size.  Our people have been gathering all of the information they can on the movements of the abominations from Gehenna, and are excited for the attack next month.  Overall, I would say that moral is high and we are ready to fight." Claude gave his report before meeting eyes with Angel.  There was a fierce fire burning in his eyes that all of the men and women shared.  They were prepared to take any action necessary to destroy the citizens of Gehenna.

"Good.  We need to be prepared for anything.  I won't have us hesitating in battle, even if the Vatican decides to offer protection to the monsters.  Are we prepared to fight our fellow Exorcists?"

"Yes, sir.  We knew when we decided to break away from the Vatican that the day would likely come when we would have to fight our old comrades.  The men realize that it is a necessary sacrifice for the good of humanity." Claude didn't hesitate to respond, which pleased Angel immensely.  

"Very well Claude.  Make sure that everything is ready, and give me a list of people to choose from for the strike team." At the unspoken dismissal, Claude turned and left the room, leaving Angel to his anger and plotting.

*****One Month Later******

The vampires were gathered in the courtyard of an old castle in Europe.  The moon was bright and red, and as the midnight hour approached, golden goblets filled with a mixture of finely aged wine and freshly donated blood.  Inside the castle, the donors were being served a sumptuous feast to accompany the monetary compensation they were being given for their service.  Amaimon and Rin were offering extra protection for the group, as a personal favor to the leader of the vampires, who was unable to attend the gathering himself.  Although everything seemed quiet, the two demons were alert for anything out of the ordinary.

As the clock struck midnight and the vampires raised their glasses in a toast, the rogue exorcists struck.  The demon brothers were the first to notice, and quickly sprang into action.  They were each able to take out two exorcists before the attackers even realized they were there.  Unfortunately, four of the ten vampires were struck down as they drained their goblets.  The other vampires were quick to turn on their attackers, and the exorcists in the courtyard were swiftly dealt with.  As Rin was pulling his blade from his opponent's corpse, screams became audible from inside the castle.  He and Amaimon quickly ran into the banquet hall, where they found four more exorcists slaughtering the donors.  As he was fighting one of the exorcists, Rin gave voice to his confusion.

"Why did you kill the humans?  I thought you lot were all about protecting them!"

"No true human would willingly bleed for you monsters.  They gave up their humanity when they agreed to donate their blood!" the female exorcist spat. Rin simply sighed, unable to comprehend how humans could destroy their own so easily.  Although demons often fought each other, the fights were rarely fatal.  There were a few unforgivable crimes that could result in a death sentence  from Satan or one of his sons, but such actions were rare.  Humans, on the other hand, seemed  to constantly be fighting and murdering each other over the most trifling things.  Yet they called the people of Gehenna monsters.

After beheading his opponent, Rin glanced around the room.  Most of the corpses at the table, cut down where they ate.  A few seemed to have tried to escape, their bodies were strewn between the table and the door.  However, none had survived.  Amaimon looked at Rin, sharing his disgust at the bloodshed.  

"I will never understand humans."  Were Amaimon's only words as he and Rin turned to identifying the deceased exorcists.  Although they had no personal knowledge of the murderers' identities,  they could tell by the uniforms that they were all low-level exorcists.  However, outside they found a few higher-level exorcists.  Two of the vampires claimed that they had been chasing after a blond, sword-wielding exorcist who had seemed to be in charge of the mission.  Rin knew that it had to be Angel, the ex-paladin.  The group quickly packed up and Rin opened a portal to Gehenna, unwilling to take the risk of travelling back to the official portal in Japan. 

The rogue exorcists were officially making a nuisance of themselves.  This is was the first big attack since the incident with Ayame's family, but there had been quite a few successful hits on individuals or small groups.  To make matters worse, the exorcists had now shown their willingness to attack humans who worked with or assisted the citizens of Gehenna.  Although only the rulers of the Seelie, Unseelie, and Demon courts could declare war, Rin was certain that they would respond to this latest travesty.  Angel and his followers had shown that they wanted a battle and would go to any lengths to get it.