They stood there, in a large golden courtroom. Red pillars lined the walls and spectators sat on the sidelines up above. Hanging from the roof was a golden chandelier. Two large staircases sat in the front of the room, where three elders sat. The Gregory. Down below was none other than Mephisto Pheles. He stood on a platform while Rin, imprisoned in a large crystal, the paladin, and Shura Kirigakure stood at the base of the platforms staircase. Rin was the evidence, and Shura was the witness.

A court style hammer banged 5 times, calling for silence. The quite chatter that had filled the room went silent.

"The court will now hear the first case of Mephisto Pheles. The precept of the Japan Branch of the Knights of the True Cross. I, Timothy Tiborwon, Chief Justice of the Order and Arthur Auguste Angel, the current paladin, will carry out the interrogation. Presiding is the Gregory, advisors to the Knights of the True Cross. Sir Pheles, let's get straight to the point. Is this creature I see before me, the son of Satan?" A large man asked wearing a classical wig.

"That he is your honor." Mephisto bowed a smug smile on his face. "I simply can't hide the truth any longer."

"To clarify," One of the three Gregory spoke, "Yuri Egan, senior exorcist second class, gave birth to the Satan son. But the reports state Fujimoto killed him with the Koma Sword. And now you're saying that report was false?" She asked.

"Yes. The fact is two children were born, but only one inherited the power of Satan. And that child is the one before you now." Mephisto pointed to Rin that was behind him, "He would have turned into a demon, so I sealed the source of his power, his demonic heart, within the Koma Sword."

"Sir Pheles. You admit to having Shiro Fujimoto raise the boy in secret, my question to you is why? Explain yourself."

A sinister smile crept its way onto Mephisto's face, "To fight Satan. I was turning him into a weapon for the Order." With that, the courtroom broke into chaos.

"What did you say?"

"You'd use that boy to fight Satan?"

"That's monstrous."

"He's lying! I advise the court to think twice before believing this swindler. Have you forgotten what Sir Pheles really is?! Lies are the trade and stock of his kind!" The paladin argued.

"No one argues the fact that we view demons as our enemies. However, we've learned much from them over the centuries. The benefits of this knowledge can be seen in the countermeasures we've developed."

"Even so, no one of that can even begin to dispel the suspicions of treachery by Sir Pheles."

"And yet, he has cooperated with the Order for 200 years. Surely that is reason enough to trust him."

"This demon conspired with Shiro Fujimoto to raise the son of Satan." Arthur argued once more, "That fact is indisputable. He planned to betray the Order and destroy it from within. There is no doubt about Mephisto's treachery."

"But even so, the Order has had a weapon powerful enough to defeat Satan and his armies."

"The magnitude of this issue unprecedented. An error in judgment can spell the end of the Order. This could also give us an advantage over the Holy Hunters as well."

"And that brings us to the next proposition. Sir Pheles, is it true that you had Priestess Shukura Ryuunome at your academy?"

"Why of course." Mephisto smirked, "She was quite the student." With that, the court fell into disorder once more.

"If you had possession of her, why didn't you hand her over to the order?"

"Why, you see. Shukura is a very sensitive child. If she believed she was in any danger of being captured, she would have left. So I let her stay voluntarily and let her hide within the academy with a special deal of course." Mephisto stated.

"What was this so-called deal that you had made with her?"

"I simply let her stay if she gave me what everyone wants from her. She told me what she had predicted, and offer her skills at the academy, and she was safe." Sir Phelps explained.

"You do understand that the truce between the Hunters and the Knights of the True Cross only stands until Shukura Ryuunome is found. Do you know where she currently is?"

"No. She escaped with one of her light incantations, becoming undetectable. Once the Knights of the True Cross showed their presence, her guard went up, and as soon as they had presented an opportunity in which they could capture her, she fled." Mephisto continued to explain. "She wouldn't have fled if she had felt like she was in any danger, in fact, if she would've stayed any longer, I believe she would've stayed even if she was in any danger."

"Are you blaming the Vatican for Shukura's dissappearance from your clutches?!"

"Do you know of any prophecies she has recently spoken?"

"I am not pointing any fingers, but the Vatican did throw a wrench in my plans. However, she did keep our agreement, which has provided its fruit. When the deal was made, she recited to me a prophecy in which I have deciphered." Mephisto's smirk shifted to a smile.

"Well then. Go on."

"As you wish. Her words were 'When the blazing sun sets and the earth decides to make a move.The maiden of grass shall fall to the earth and a blue sun will rise. As his flames scorch the earth, the maiden he reclaimed shall awaken, and tame the sun's flames. As the sun rises, the moon shall disappear, waning from the light, showing only darkness left. When the flames can become part of the sun, and the second sun burns just as bright, the moon will return. Only by showing both darkness and light from both sides of the moon, the flames of hell will disperse.

I believe that the first part of this prediction has already passed. It refers to the fight between Amaimon and the Son of Satan before you. The second part of the prophecy I think is to come with the defeat of Satan." Mephisto continued and the Court fell silent.

Before anyone could say anything else, the ground rumbled with Amaimon's arrival.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rin walked over to Shuku's room. He remembered Shuku fighting to protect him and the others, he also remembered her getting injured. He wanted to check up on her and thank her. He raised his hand to knock, but when he made contact, the door creaked open, unlocked. He stared at the door in confusion, then walked inside.

Rin's eyes widened at the state of the room. Everything seemed to be thrown everywhere. But everything of value was gone. Chairs seemed to be snapped, sheets lie all over the floor, The mattresses were ripped. There were small scorch marks on the walls. Shuku was nowhere in sight. Rin knitted his eyebrows in confusion and thought. He then spotted it, a neatly folded piece of paper. Slowly, he made his way across the wrecked room. Despite the rooms disastrous state, it still smelt like vanilla. It was the only constant in the room. Everything else was unrecognizable.

Rin picked up the paper and unfolded it. It was a handwritten letter. It wasn't addressed to anyone in particular though. Rin started to read it.

Hey everyone, but I guess it's a little late for that huh?

I'm sorry, but I had to go. There are things I got to do, and I need to get stronger as well. This may not make sense, but Rin's still Rin. I've known about him from the start. Just because of what he doesn't make him any different than who we know him as. New information can be very misleading in the way we treat someone, despite knowing who they are. No one has control over who are parents are. I know I've lied too, and if I was still there, you would treat me differently as well. That's just how people are. But it was for the best. And so is this. Both actions I could've taken were selfish of me, and this was the least harmful one, even if my heart disagrees. But it was also a cowardly decision on my part. For running, I am sorry.

It's true I'm the priestess, but I never wanted to be. Life's a bitch. So, I guess we might see each other again, or we might not. I don't know If I'll be able to come back one day. I might just get myself killed. Ha, wouldn't that be funny. That way, there would be no fights over me. But, if we do meet again. I hope it won't be on the other side. So don't die, and stay strong. You guys are the first friends I've ever had in my entire life. Learn to accept others even if they're different from you.

Goodbye,

Shuku.

Rin's eyes widened in realization and the letter fell from his grasp. Shuku was gone.

~~~~~~~~

Rin had gone back to class, and things had gotten bad quickly. First with Konekomaru being afraid of him, then Izumo saying something obvious. Then out of frustration, Rin had punched the wall, and a bunch of Koltars had come out of the vents onto Shiemi, then he had burned them away with his flames, which had freaked everyone out. Bon had started yelling at Rin then for using his powers. Yukio had come and interrupted their fight. The words had hurt Rin, severely, but Shuku's words quickly healed him.

Yukio walked over to Rin, and grabbing his arm, and started dragging him away.

"I'm not done talking yet!" Rin pulled his arms back from Yukio, "There's something else." Yukio stopped as Rin reached into his pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled, and folded piece of paper.

Rin outstretched his hand towards Bon, a stern look in his eyes. "Take it. It's from Shuku to everyone. I found it in her room this morning. It was the only thing still in one piece in there."

Yukio's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of checking Shuku's room for anything. But Rin had, and he'd found something she'd purposefully left behind. He could see the pain in Rin's eyes, but also the determination too. Cautiously, Bon quickly snatched the piece of paper from Rin, as Rin was dragged away by Yukio.

As Bon read the letter, then passed it around, to the next person, he started regretting his words. 'this may not make sense, but Rin's still Rin.' He hadn't meant so say those things to Rin, but they had just come out. Shuku had always had a way with words, whether it was lying or just simply pissing him off. He didn't know what choices she could've made, but whatever it was, Shuku clearly had planned it all out. Now she was gone, and Rin was hurt. He'd fucked up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On their walk, Yukio had asked Rin what the paper was.

"It was a letter. It was from Shuku to everyone saying that I'm still me, no matter what. It made me have the courage to face everyone today." A sad look passed over Rin's eyes. "Hey. Yukio?"

"What's up, Rin?"

"Do you know where Shuku could've gone? I would also like to know more about her since you always seem to know the most."

"I have an idea, and we won't be seeing her for a while either way. Did you know Shuku's name, the one she uses was a nickname given to her by Dad?" Yukio offered.

"Wow! I didn't know they knew each other."

"Mhm"

And the conversation went on.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A tall man sat behind an ebony desk, his dark, piercing green eyes filled with anger. His dark brown hair colored with grays and his face steely. He wore a pristine white dress shirt and a large silver knife sat in his hands. That brat, she's done it again.

"L-lord Kazuko. I have a report on the whereabouts of Princess Shukura!" A man dressed in full black barged into the room and the man behind the desk looked up. At the mention of his daughter, his gaze hardened.

"What of it?" He ordered. He had sent his best tracking units after her for the past year, and the lack of results for the past three months had aggravated him.

"She was last spotted at a training camp at True Cross Academy, in Japan. Reports say she was injured and couldn't move fast. She escaped from the Exorcists, who have a son of Satan. I believe this is a cause of con-" Kazuko raised his hand and the man shut up suddenly.

"I care not for the Son of Satan unless he knows where Shukura is. How did she escape? I'm going to assume with the same incantation she used to escape the elite tracking unit." The man nodded in affirmative.

"The reports also state she grew fairly fond of both Sons of Satan. The one that's qualified as an Exorcist seemed to know where Lady Shukura could be. But he hasn't said anything. Would you like us to take him into custody and interrogate him?" The man offered.

Kazoku shook his head, "No, that would bring us unwanted attention from the Vatican. Continue searching for her. If she was injured beforehand she's probably resting someplace. Locate her immediately before the lead goes cold once more." He ordered and the man saluted him before rushing out.

He placed his hand on the crook of his nose and let out a long sigh before reaching into his shirt and getting out an old amber necklace connected to a thick silver chain. The same chain was wound around the stone. The beige stone was vaguely shaped like a teardrop. His eyes hardened at it. Inside, if one looked hard enough was a small black and purple energy. This necklace, no one knew about it. It had been his wife's and held something of great power inside of it, and it was much more active than it had ever been. The silver chain was also broken in one area, but not enough to snap the chain.

Wherever Shukura was, this chain and stone were the only things keeping her in check, and from her real powers.