Two Sides of Me » ao no exorcist

Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four: Home

{Orphia's POV}

I had forgotten the horrors of such a place. Though crossing through the gate boosted my regenerative ability tenfold.

I can smell you, child.

My hand instinctively shot to my side but Arisha was not there. I was defenseless. Her voice tore through Gehenna, the emptiness foreign.

Satan isn't home...

Young child, come face your mother.

It was teasing me. It's echoes lifting me, pushing me toward her location. Beyond the nightmares, further than the ghouls and other abominations.

Yes my dear, that's it.

It was getting louder. Like a booming thunder in the distance, threatening to crush me like a bug.

I looked up. Her smile twisted and vicious. Her eyes dull, distant.

Welcome home Orphia.

<>

My body ached. I was so accustomed to Assiah, the effects of that on a demon are supposed to be lethal.

Yet I survived. And Gehenna has claimed me as its own once again.

She hadn't changed much since I left. Though, it was weighing on her mind. Slowly killing her soul, until it reached her body.

My father, Domestius, fallen in battle against Satan. A dispute about the ideal world. Father supported Gehenna's absense from Assiah. Satan wanted to merge the worlds, to live alongside the humans as superiors.

Mother grieved her loss—up until her very own demise.

It doesn't take much effort to show mercy. The heartbroken, the weak-willed, the fools, they never put up much of a fight. It was simple.

I sat on her throne looking down.

I'm home.

The atmosphere was strange. Heavy and light. Painful and calming.

It was bittersweet.

Orphacles and Domestius, the strongest demons under Satan that ruled the depths of Gehenna. Both gone.

What does that make me?

A daughter?

An idiot?

A murderer?

A Queen.