While he slept, he didn't have normal nightmares. Well, none of his nightmares were ever normal, they were filled with fire, people on fire, and his father's psychotic laughter which was followed by, you guessed it–Hey, more fire!

But this one was downright funky. It didn't even seem like a nightmare, but it had the same foreboding feeling to it. Rin looked around, but all he could see was pure black and it messed with his vision enough for him to start wondering if his eyes were actually open.

Finally, a voice echoed from the darkness. It came from everywhere around him.

"เภк๏รเ ץค๓เ, รєкยץเรเкђคՇђเ єรเ๔є...."

Rin cocked his head. It was a language he'd never heard before, with vowels and consonants twisted every which way

So how did he understand it?

My King, it has been so long....

He turned in a full circle, but there was no source for the words to come from in sight. It was just....never ending. Desolate. Darkness. But even though darkness was supposed to feel empty and cold and sad, he felt warm. He felt a sense of belonging in this darkness. What did it mean? As he was wondering about it's purpose, the darkness spoke again.

"ภﻮเ๒คкђย๓๒ยɭє ค๒คภՇย ๒ค๓เ."

The voice was neither male nor female, strangely enough. It was soft, but resonant in the darkness. The twisting language was elegant, but with a sort of messiness to it, if that made any sense. And there was still the very interesting fact that Rin could understand it.

I have missed my people.

Where was it from? Where was he? What was this Darkness? Was it good or evil or neutral? Would it hurt him?

Some part of Rin knew that the Darkness would never hurt him. It would never want to hurt him. The longer he stood there, the more the darkness seemed to solidify and close in on his body. It felt like it was cradling him, so gentle that it gave him vertigo just trying to figure out what was happening. The darkness cooed again at him.

"ฬ๏չค єкђคץค кยภﻮєкย๔คɭค. ภﻮเץคкย๔เภﻮค, ภк๏รเ ץค๓เ...."

Come Home soon. I need you, My King.

He felt like he was being overwhelmed. Suddenly, his thoughts started spiraling, becoming less and less coherent. His mind became a jumbled mess. He had no idea what was happening, he felt like he was suffocating even though there was nothing limiting his breathing, whatthehellwashappeningwhycouldn'thebreathe-

§~•~§~•~§

Rin sat straight up, gasping for air and frantically clutching at the sheets around him.

"Breathe, Rin, you're okay." Amaimon was on his left, stroking a clawed thumb over Rin's hand soothingly, detaching it from the sheets.

"It's alright Darling, it was only a dream." Mephisto was on his right, running a hand through Rin's hair. He wasn't sweating like he would've expected. No, he was shivering and still struggling to breathe correctly. His mind was still trying to put itself back together after the ten seconds of pure mindfuck he just received.

Mephisto pulled Rin into his lap, cradling him, tucking his face into his neck. Rin could hear the Demon King's heartbeat and feel his body heat. It wasn't something he did intentionally, but Rin pulled the heat to him from Mephisto's body. The Time Lord shivered and Amaimon wrapped them both in the thick duvet.

"Whatever happened to him in that dream, it seems to have had a physical and mental effect on him and rendered him unable to call on his flames for heat. He's taking your body heat instinctively." Amaimon explained to the Time Lord. He was surprisingly fast to pick up on things that were happening to Rin despite being an Earth elemental.

Rin shifted in Mephisto's hold, latching onto the man, digging his claws into the silk pyjamas and biting down on the main artery in the Time Lord's neck, fangs sinking deep into the flesh and locking in as he swallowed mouthfuls of hot blood. The Demon King winced at the sudden stab of pain from the sharp fangs and he did his best not to tense. Rin had just immobilized and pounced on him like a predator–very unlike the normally sweet and careful half-demon.

"But Rin's body temperature is higher than a normal human's and our host bodies, so he'll keep stealing your warmth until he can either summon his flames or he can get his body and mind back in order to stop himself." Amaimon finished with a sigh.

"He's going to drain me is what he's going to do." Mephisto muttered, voice straining and face paling rapidly.

Amaimon sighed again and his tail slid around Rin's neck as he grabbed Rin's wrists. He pried the teen off of the Demon King and pinned him to the bed.

"Shhhh, you're okay. Just give it a minute, let your instincts settle back down." Amaimon murmured in Rin's ear. Rin's body finally went lax and the Earth King flipped him over, propping him up with some pillows and pulling the duvet up to his shoulders.

"Better?" Mephisto asked, laying down next to the boy as color returned to his face slowly. Rin nodded tiredly. "Do you want to tell us what you were dreaming of or do you just want to ignore it?" The Time Lord wondered.

"Ugh, It was....it was confusing. Everything was just darkness. There was a voice speaking in a language that sounds like something too complicated for humans to say, and I could somehow understand exactly what it was saying. But the end of the dream turned into a complete mindfuck and now I don't really remember what it said...." He did his best to recall, but even the sound of the strange voice was already fading from his mind. "It was like my brain was being overloaded and I couldn't think at all. My thoughts turned into a mess of anything and everything all at once." He shook his head in bewilderment.

"That's alright. For now, how about some tea and if you wish to sleep more, a charm for dreamless sleep?" Mephisto offered. Rin contemplated.

"I don't need the sleep, I've got enough lately. I'm done with any schoolwork I had, so I guess I have free time. Do you have anywhere for me to train that actually offers a challenge that isn't Shura's half-assed training techniques?" Rin looked to Mephisto.

He grinned, cupping a hand over Rin's cheek. Rin closed his eyes and enjoyed the contact, just for a moment. "I have plenty of obstacle courses that could be of use to you. What would you like to work on?"

"I should probably work on flexibility. I spend most of my time working on sword fighting, footwork, and flames. I'm tired of those. Do you have any gymnastics courses?" Rin mused. Both Demon Kings raised their eyebrows.

Mephisto snapped them to a conjured obstacle course and Rin grinned. Before he'd decided to just roam the streets and skip school altogether, he'd signed up for every extra credit class and activity he could, especially all the ones with a whole month of lessons free for trial runs. One of those electives he'd take had been gymnastics and he'd actually enjoyed it a lot because it was fun. Unfortunately, he'd grown up poor, so after the one month of free lessons passed, he'd had to find something else to do to keep away from the Monastery and therefore his shitty family situation.

And now, he even had someone to show off his skills for. He went to the beginning of the obstacle course, braced himself, and bolted forward.

And that was the day(or night)Mephisto and Amaimon learned just how flexible Rin was.