Flames of the Hell Spawn

Chapter 12: Things that Crawl

I think I'm over my writers block... hopefully
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Gehenna: Beelzebub's castle

Beelzebub's castle, much like his kingdom, was dark. It wasn't surprising though, he was the King of Insects, and just like his kin, Beelzebub loved dark places. He didn't like to be seen. He wore sweatpants, a sweatshirt, runners, and always kept his hood up. Only his father and brothers actually knew what he looked like. For the King of Insects, he was attractive, but he was also shy, and hated the attention his looks caused him. So he kept himself covered.

Rin walked through the hallway, looking for Beelzebub. He thought he heard something behind him and turned around. What greeted him was the upside-down hooded face of his brother. The sudden appearance of Beelzebub had startled Rin, and with a yelp unbefitting a demon, he fell back.

"Little brother, what are you doing?" Beelzebub asked as he climbed down the wall and righted himself.

"trying not to have a heart attack." Rin got back on his feet. "But seriously, I need to talk to you.

Beelzebub nodded and led them out of the hallway into a more private room.

"Now, what is it you want to talk about."

"Three hundred and fifty years ago, that spider demon that attacked me..."

Beelzebub didn't like where this was going. This was not the first time they'd had this conversation, and if things weren't resolved, it wouldn't be the last.

"Big brother, what do you know about it?" Rin didn't mean to sound so mistrusting of his elder brother, but he was sick of not knowing, and one way or another he was going to get answers. Beelzebub only sighed.

"I've told you, little brother, it was not one of my kin." Beelzebub was telling the truth. That spider did not belong to him, and if he really wanted to be specific, he was the King of Insects not the king of arachnids. Though, he was lenient and would let spiders, scorpions, and other such creatures, be a part of his kingdom.

"Father said it wasn't even a demon from Gehenna."

"So, one of Isolde's creations then." One of his brothers had already informed him of Isolde's actions.

As they continued to discuss the events, a little bug came scurrying to its king. It climbed up Beelzebub, and stopped on his shoulder. It whispered into his ear, trying to make sure Rin didn't hear the message. Unfortunately, it failed, Rin heard everything. The very spider that the two demon kings had been discussing, was just seen in Gehenna, on the edge of Astaroth's territory. Rin's eyes were wide, and he took off.

"Don't you dare!" Beelzebub grabbed him. "I know you want answers, but you can't just leave!"

"Back off!" The fire behind Rin's eyes was vibrant and unyielding. It was times like these that he was reminded just how similar his father and youngest brother looked. Startled by this he let go of Rin's arm and watched him run off in the direction of Astaroth's territory.

Snapping himself out of his trance, Beelzebub went to go see his father, deciding it was better to warn him, than chase after his foolish younger brother.

Rin ran to Astaroth's territory, and frantically searched for the creature. His pupils turned into slits when he found it. He wasted no time. Rin summoned his sword and released his flames. The creature lunged at him, but missed. Rin jumped above the monster, using his flame covered sword to slash its back. Though his flames did do some damage, his attacks were still as ineffectual as they were that day three hundred and fifty years ago. Rin aimed at, what he had identified as weak points. The less his attacks worked, the more enraged he became. He had forgotten about finding answers, and his sole purpose turned into revenge. Revenge for what that monster did all those years ago. Revenge for his old friends. Revenge for Yukio. Revenge for himself.

Rin started to lose himself. He swung his word over and over again at the monster, but each attack was either countered or meaningless. His flames were exploding everywhere. The forest the two were fighting in was no longer dark, as blue flames engulfed everything around them. The creature grabbed Rin, and threw him into the trees. Tree's toppled down as Rin was smashed through them. He tumbled on the ground, and came to a halt upon reaching a clearing. His sword landed several feet across from him, with a clatter.

The monster pinned both of his arms down, Rin screamed in blinding pain, as blood spilled from his wounds and pooled on the ground. Rin's flames were sputtering out, and he was losing consciousness, as it raised one of it's arms, ready to impale the young half demon.

It never did.

Sharp claws embedded themselves into the monsters back, and tore through it's flesh. Astaroth had seen his younger brothers flames, from his castle. At first he just though Rin and anther one of his brothers were sparring in his territory...again. But closer inspection of the flames showed that they were angrier and out of control, nothing like how Rin normally fought. He had almost perfect control over his flames, except for when he was overwhelmed and desperate. Astaroth knew something was wrong at that point and went straight to find Rin. He was glad he arrived when he did, because Rin was seconds away from beingimpaled.

Astaroth jumped behind the two. The spider abandoned Rin to face its new challenger. Astaroth's attacks had more of an impact on the monster then Rin's, but he still wasn't able to stop it. The creature cornered Astaroth about to give a deadly blow. Blue flames lit up the monster. Rin had regained just enough strength and sense to realize that Astaroth was in trouble. The two attacked the monster together, but it still only toyed with them. And soon after it ran away. It just vanished, abandoning it's fight with the demon kings.

By this point Rin didn't even care. He was far too exhausted to even attempt to go after it. Astaroth saw Rin's eyes roll into the back of his head, as he moved to catch his little brother as he passed out. Rin collapsed into Astaroth's arms, and he gently laid him down on the ground.

The two were covered blood, and the beast was now roaming around Gehenna, but that was the furthest thing from Astaroth's mind, as he only just became aware of the audience that stood before him.

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I can't picture Astaroth as anything other then a possessed Reiji Shiratori