The 9th

Brothers Halfway United

"So....Satan is just, right there, huh?" Shima whispered nervously to Izumo.

Izumo was too caught up in staring at the portal to hell that was sitting in her kitchen doorway. Satan sat on his throne, and the other demon kings were surrounding him. Astaroth was next to Rin, his tail resting comfortably on his brother's chest to cool the burning demon down. 

Amaimon had woken up to the feeling of his big brother and was perched giving away nothing besides the anguish in his eyes. 

"I believe I know what this council is for."

Satan's voice sent chills down the human's spines. It was raspy and gave them the feeling that they should start packing. 

"Samael." 

"Yes, father," Astaroth said, his voice flaccid of anything but anger and cold wit. "I have seen what he did to Astaroth, thank Gehenna that he woke up, and I have seen what he's done to Rin." Astaroth looked down. "He has gained a fear of liquid."

Egyn stopped moving. 

"I don't know what they did to him, but the sound and smell alone caused him to panic. The feeling of it cast him into a coma. I do not know when he will wake up this time." 

"Why can't Lord Satan heal him?"

Shima really wished Izumo would stop speaking. 

"Because," Beelzebub growled, already sensing the useless amount of pride Izumo had, "Rin cannot enter Gehenna, nor can Father enter Assiah. Unless you would like to act as a host, refrain from saying useless suggestions."

Izumo looked away with a blush on her face. 

Tsundere, Shima internally sighed. 

Amaimon cocked his head, "Egyn?"

The others looked towards the middle sibling, who was frozen to the ground. In the distance, thunder sounded. "I can feel it, they dunked him in holy water." Egyn gasped the words out as if they were poisonous. 

"How?" 

Beelzebub sent a frustrated glare toward Izumo, "He's the Demon King or water, every piece of water on this earth has one of his kin in or around it, he knows when holy water is created and he knows where it's been used." 

"I can take it out," Egyn said slowly, "but I'd have to engulf him in water." 

"It's safe," said Satan in a pitiful voice, "even if he feels the water, his first instinct should be to bolt up or fall back asleep, it is the way of the tortured mind." 

Izumo and Shima wondered why Satan sounded so familiar with the habits of a tortured soul, Konekomeru looked away. 

"Do it," Satan said. "Take that poison out of your brother, he'll heal faster." 

Egyn nodded his head and crossed the barrier. His first step into Assiah sent a shrieking flame of fear into groups' senses. It didn't feel right, it felt dangerous to have such a being so close to them. It felt wrong. 

They all stepped back before Egyn raised a hand and placed it above Rin's chest. 

"Quaerere, Invenire, Apponere, Dissolvere." 

Koneko took a nervous step forwards to watch the blue stream from Egyn's hand and cover Rin's body. 

Rin twitched in his sleep and whipped his tail around instinctively. In less than a minute he had tensed and seemed to be mimicking a rock in sound and feeling. 

A pained look crossed Egyn's face as he felt his brother's fear spike through the water. He finished up his work quickly and drew the blue light back into his body. "There, it's gone now." 

"Good," Satan said, sitting up in his chair. 

Astaroth's tail swayed behind him, "Now that the immediate danger is gone, let's get down to business." He looked at Iblis and Azazel. "But first, you are angry too."

Iblis didn't try to hide it. "Yes, I am angry. I am furious, Samael has become cocky and downright horrid, even for a demon." For a moment, he dropped his natural demeanor and released a blood lust unknown to most of man. "I want him dead." 

Azazel waved his pure-white tail. "I was in charge of Amaimon's care, inside his body and mind, I got so tangled and scared. It was a mess, and it was ever so scared. The only souls I've ever seen like that were the ones of Assiahn humans that jumped with joy in their hearts for doing so." Azazel's tail burst into a pointed shape, the familiar and stereotyped devil look, "He twisted our brothers to such extents, I'm afraid to look inside Rin's soul and see that it is everything like Amaimon's." 

Beelzebub snarled in outrage, "He killed his people! He welcomed  filthy exorcists into our world for fun! He's responsible for the massacre of thousands up thousands. He tried to poison Azazel, and he tried to kill my moth. All of that behavior was released with the punishment of banishment, yet every day his people still suffer because he hasn't cut the cord." His ears flicked upwards like an excited dog's, a grim smile widening on his face, "Let's find the cord and sever it." 

The demon princes nodded along. 

"Wh-"

Beelzebub had to be restrained from flinging a spike at Izumo's face. The barrier being the only thing that actually stopped it. 

Iblis held Beelzebub down while explaining. "The main tether, or the 'cord' as Beelzebub calls it, is the main thing that connects a King to his people." He twisted his fingers to reveal a fiery red line. "We feel their pain, they feel ours. It's only for large scale things, like a stab to the gut or being burned alive." He pointed towards Rin and repeated the hand motion with difficulty. A blazing blue strand floated up from Rin's heart. "My hell." His attention was no longer on Izumo, but the dent in Rin's string. Only a King can operate or harm the strings, which means Samael had some personal fun or- 

"Rin tried to sever his bond." 

They all snapped their heads toward Amaimon in surprise. The younger demon was watering from the eyes. "He loves his people too much to let them go through his pain, he must have lost all hope." Amaimon twisted his tail to reveal a faint maroon strand, "As I had." Amaimon put his tail down and stared at Rin's tether. "Something," he said while reaching a nailed hand toward Rin's line, "must have stopped him." Amaimon's finger bounced off of a purple light that shrouded the line. 

"The bastard made Rin's subjects feel his pain?!" Beelzebub howled. Samael had forced them to hear the screams of both Rin and his people's pain. Beelzebub, whose kingdom was close to Rin's, had to endure through the hopeless echoing of pained wails and begging pleas. 

Satan raised his hands and clapped them together. All of the Demon Kings froze to attention at once. 

"I have decided," Satan said politely, "that Samael's punishment shall be death and that a new demon king shall be made to be his replacement. It is up to you to bring him to justice." Satan said the final words with remorse and hate, he didn't want to send his children to war. He pushed the other demons through the portal, but not before giving them a final hug. "Do not fail us." He closed the portal with a wave of his hand. 

Izumo, Shima, and Koneko stared at the Demon Kings that were standing in their kitchen. 

"So..." Shima said, rubbing the back of his head, "want me to show you to your rooms?"