After an interrogation by the Grigori followed by a mountain of official forms, Shiro knew he had to talk to that meddling demon. This was all his fault!
Shiro stormed into Mephisto's office, slamming the door with an explosive kick. Within seconds he held the fragile creature, shaking him violently by the neck.
"You bastard!!!"
"Now, now, Shiro." Mephisto grinned sheepishly. "Remember, Satan can see everything you do."
"I don't care!" He raged. "I don't give a shit!!"
"You will if harm comes to your children."
Rin and Yukio.
Shiro felt fear grip his heart. If he didn't control himself, Satan would know everything!
Shiro dropped the demon instantly, giving Mephisto his back. "Dammit!!"
"If you mind your emotions, the devil can't see or hear us." Mephisto demurred. "Calm yourself."
Shiro took a deep and aggrieved breath and began pacing the room.
"Shiro-pon," Mephisto asked knowingly. "Is something on your mind?"
"You know damn well!!! He's my son, isn't he?"
"Who?" Mephisto asked innocently.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Shiro pointed an accusatory finger. "That weird kid, he's mine!"
"Oh? You mean Lightning?" Mephisto smiled widely. "Why yes, he is."
"Fuck!!!" Shiro slammed a fist on the desk, causing Mephisto to jump. "When did it happen?"
"My goodness, it's pretty bad that you don't remember." Mephisto bit back a laugh. "But fine, I'll jog your memory. One night when you were the same age as your son--.you walked into the True Cross Cantina with a fake I.D."
"Yeah, and..."
"And...you had your way with a lady of the evening."
Shiro paused. He remembered her, but barely---
"As I recall, you were quite inebriated," Mephisto continued. "And the woman was both willing and knowledgable. A good partner for your first time."
His first time!?
"You set me up!!" Shiro's jaw dropped. "You knew I'd get that woman pregnant."
"Shiiiro....." Mephisto leaned on his hand coyly. "I knew no such thing. But as part of your demon contract with me, you asked for specific things. I recall it was money, fame and voluptuous women. So, I did what any demon ward would do. I called an escort service."
"You hired a hooker!!!"
"It was no easy task! I had to use an alias and buy a burner phone." Mephisto winced. "I am the director of a prestigious and very religious school, after all."
"Whatever. This makes Lightning's birth your fault."
"How is he my fault!" Mephisto answered with petulant ire. "I thought for sure someone so well-versed with sexual acts, detailed through years of reading trashy porn magazines, would have been on top of everything related to sexual protection..."
"What!?"
"Condoms, you fool."
"It happened so fast that I--"
"--Was so horny, you didn't even think about it." Mephisto laughed. "My, my, did you even know her name...?"
"Of course I did...it was...." Shiro drew a blank.
"Her name was Bunny." Mephisto crossed his arms. "And when she fell pregnant, I cleaned up your mess. The woman did not want to raise the child and I paid handsomely to become his guardian."
"And you got yourself another weapon!!" Shiro paced the floor in distress. "And I helped you do it."
"It was just a happy side-effect." Mephisto shrugged his shoulders. "I do need more help to eventually take on Satan. Lewin will become a fine exorcist someday."
"Why didn't you tell me!?"
"Tell you!?" Mephisto openly mocked. "A 17-year-old with a heart of a little demon? You couldn't even look after yourself."
Mephisto took a folder from his desk drawer and tossed it at Shiro.
"Lightning's entire life story resides within those pages. I kept the child away from section 13, sent him far away to the New World and had him raised in secret. Osceola Redarm then trained Lewin at the Mexican Branch. The boy has developed quite differently than you did. He still has a demon's capacity for emotion, but he at least respects humanity for its importance."
Shiro groaned in dismay at the entire narrative. It was his fault; he was young and stupid.
But wait a minute! How did Mephisto know so much?
"I have another question."
"Go on..." Mephisto leaned his head on his hand.
"Are you...." Shiro hesitated. "Possessing me?"
"Lewin told you this, I assume." Mephisto pursed his lips. "The boy studies demon physiology and life cycles. He's obsessed with the subject."
"Answer my question!"
Mephisto did nothing but stare at Shiro with a dumb smirk on his face.
"MEPHISTO!"
It was then that Shiro's arm slowly moved on its own accord, slapping him hard across the face.
"Ohhhhh!!" Mephisto groaned with intense pleasure. "I've always wanted to do that!!"
"WHAT THE FUCK!!!" Shiro shook his hand free of the demon's paranormal grasp. "It's TRUE!!??"
"Of course it's true." Mephisto leaned back in his chair. "Shiro, all of this is part of our agreement."
"The hell it is!!!"
"Listen closely. You wanted to survive section 13 and become the Paladin." Mephisto's voice became deadly serious. "I had to possess you to stop you from dying in those horrific experiments. It was the only way. When you endured that terrible pain, I was right there with you....feeling every bit of your torment."
"But I thought...." Shiro stuttered.
"That you were powerful, strong and special?"
"What are you saying?"
"It was all me, all the time," Mephisto whispered. "Keeping you safe at all costs..."
"But to seal the contract, I needed to absorb your blood."
"It was the inoculation you received at the lab, the one before the experiments."
The demon stood and walked to his liquor cabinet, and poured himself a whiskey.
"And someday I will become your body, then?" Shiro gritted his teeth. "And it'll all be over."
"Someday, when you decide to die. I hope that you will return the favour of life." Mephisto poured Shiro a shot. "That you will devote the last vestiges of yourself to--keeping me safe."
"Dammit."
"It's much too late to back out now; it's been years," Mephisto added.
"I know." Shiro sighed painfully. "Maybe, I always knew. Having you around was the only safety net I had. You are the only constant person in my life. If you were gone, I'm not sure what I'd do, I haven't known anything different."
Shiro took the glass from the demon's long, clawed fingers.
"So, as it stands." Shiro scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Those kids...they're our kids, aren't they?"
"In a roundabout way." Mephisto nodded, quickly regaining his composure. "Because I have lent you my power, you, in turn, pass my temptaint onto your children."
"I see."
"If anything were to happen to you, I would become the legal guardian of all three boys," Mephisto added. "Since we are having this rare heart-to-heart. Do you have any other burning questions you are simply dying to ask?"
Shiro narrowed his eyes. "You didn't spy when Yuri and I were together....did you?"
"No, no, of course not," Mephisto replied softly. "I respected your privacy and the sanctity of that union. But I did return your body to Assiah with the key."
Ah, so that's how it happened!
"Wait, you just left Yuri? Sneaking out like a one-night stand?" Shiro was flabbergasted. "She must have thought I was such a bastard."
"Don't be so dramatic. It was fine." Mephisto waved him off. "We snuggled for a while, and I kissed her goodbye like a gentleman. I told her I loved her...and.."
"YOU DID WHAT!?"
"Oh, please." Mephisto put his hands on his hips. "You are the most unromantic man. I made Yuri feel loved, not just fucked. All you can do is fuck people or fuck them over."
Shiro recoiled from Mephisto's words as if he'd been slapped.
"I can make love to a woman!" He defended. "I'm not a goddamn robot!!"
"Fine, give me an example." Mephisto challenged. "Just one."
Shiro paused but, once again, drew a blank.
Mephisto rolled his eyes. "See."
"Okay, fine. What do I do about Lightning?" Shiro growled. "Do I tell him? That I'm his real father?"
"I'd rather you didn't," Mephisto responded. "He knows his demonic history quite well and knows that the Azazel line died out many years ago. If he starts poking around in your genealogy, he will unearth secret horrors that might jar his confidence in me and our mission to save Assiah from Satan's return."
"Yeah." Shiro conceded. "Osceola has been a real father figure to him, and he's done a fine job. Considering that he's my son and all. It must have been hellish at times."
"Yes, Lewin is now almost tolerable." Mephisto slowly sipped his whiskey. "Almost."
"So, what happens to the kid?" Shiro crossed his arms. "Is he my replacement for Paladin."
"No." Mephisto smiled proudly. "I expect even more from him."
"What more could he possibly be?"
"Someday, he will be a King."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Next Day
Shiro's phone rang, but he already knew the early morning caller. It wasn't even 7 am, and he was pissed. After finally getting two crying babies to sleep, Shiro drank himself into a stupor and passed out in his chair. He needed at least three more hours of rest to function.
"Somebody better be dead," Shiro grunted. "And if they're not, I'll kill them."
"Guten Morgan!" Mephisto chirped. "You are on duty today, or did you forget?"
"I'm done looking over these new students." Shiro griped. "I met my illegitimate son yesterday; I thought maybe you'd allow me to wallow in self-pity."
"For what?"
"For missing Lewin's entire childhood."
"That's bothering you?" The demon teased. "Not the barebacking part...?"
"Oh, fuck off, Mephisto." Shiro groaned painfully. "I'm not playing games with you today!"
"Sorry, Shiro. Get dressed." Mephisto giggled. "We have a new problem to deal with. You can revisit this dour mood of yours later."
"Christ! What kinda problem?"
"Your former apprentice was very, very naughty last night," Mephisto explained. "So naughty that she has a disciplinary hearing assigned by the top brass."
"You're fucking kidding me, right?"
"I thought perhaps if you took a moment to speak with her--"
"--Not happening!!!"
"Please, hear me out." Mephisto was losing his patience. "She used complex magic that only the top arc knights or demon kings can muster. The Grigori has gotten wind of it...."
Shiro's voice faltered at the thought. "Do you think those pricks might hurt her?"
"They want the girl interrogated," Mephisto replied stonily. "They have left this ugly business to me. She finally has shown her true self and is now a powerful and gifted problem."
"What did she do?"
"She apparently summoned a Lernaean Hydra," Mephisto explained. "Or rather, she hatched it in her dorm room. The girl then set it loose in the school."
"Where?" Shiro was intrigued.
"The boy's swimming pool."
Shiro chuckled into the receiver.
"Ah, c'mon, Mephisto. It was just a prank. She was testing her capabilities and scaring a few jocks."
"But Shiro, the Lernaean Hydra, only answers to demon kings." Mephisto huffed. "And it was exiled by the Grigori. Yet, it came back to Assiah to do the bidding of that girl. The monster adores her, which has raised some very high suspicions amongst the Vatican."
"Fine, I'll talk to her." Shiro grabbed his cowl from the door. "Send me a babysitter. The boys need their early morning feeding."
"Yes, Shiro-pon." Mephisto grinned evilly on the other end. "I will see to it."
Great, the Paladin hissed inwardly. Shura was in trouble again.
She was just another kid he refused to raise, yet he was somehow still responsible for her.
But the monster she conjured, Shiro smiled to himself. That was beyond impressive; Mephisto was more interested in Shura than suspicious. Shiro had to make sure that Demon didn't get too interested.
That sort of attention was guaranteed to ruin a woman's life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------