Extended Summary: Ikebukuro is a strange place, and its residents know it - at least, the residents that pay attention do. It's such a strange place, in fact, that said residents find it difficult to imagine any place stranger… but a place doesn't have to be easy to imagine to exist, and when some of those residents find that out the hard way, it's going to take all of their abilities together just to survive - let alone find their way home. Luckily, Izaya has some tricks up his sleeve... tricks that even ihe/i doesn't know about yet.
Author's Note: Hey guys, guess who's back? (Hint: it's me.) Anyway, I got inspired to start a new fic today - this time one with magic. Also dragons. I don't know when, or where, or why, but there will be a dragon at some point. So... yeah. That should be fun, lol. Anyway, I can't think of anything else to say here, so... enjoy!
The tall, shadowy figure slinks silently throughout the night, the neon lights of the city doing nothing to pierce the strange, heavy darkness that permeates the air around it. Despite the streets being filled with the raucous laughter of drunken night-owls straggling out of closing bars and clubs, not a single person pays the figure any attention - in fact, it's almost as if they can't see it at all, every glance in its direction sliding past to fall on whoever or whatever happens to be behind it.
The figure eventually turns down a seemingly empty alleyway, blood-red eyes searching for the source of the life-force it senses; it finds it in a pile of dirty rags next to a chained-up dumpster, barely recognizable as the person it is. The figure grows closer, taking in the gaunt, dirty face of the homeless old man crumpled up before it - it can tell at first glance that the man doesn't have long in this world, the slight scent of death enticing the figure into taking a deep, appreciative inhale.
Yes… yes, this will do nicely.
The old man has no time to scream before the blood starts spilling from his throat, the figure catching the majority of it in a rune-covered skein that looks to be made of human skin. With this, it finally has enough to complete the first ritual - decades of preparation have gone into this plan, the figure's long, spindly fingers shaking in excitement as it ties the skein closed and places it in a pocket hidden in its thin, moth-bitten robes.
Soon. It whispers to itself, its voice raspy and foreboding - it's more of a feel than a sound, the kind of voice that reminds you of your darkest thoughts and makes you wonder if you even really heard it at all. Soon, I will be able to return - and when I do, I will ruin them all. Its laughter echoes unnaturally throughout the empty alleyway, the figure stepping over the homeless man's lifeless body before continuing its journey through the dark, urban jungle.
Celty does not often dream.
It happens every now and then, usually after a long or particularly stressful day - and even then, it's generally the kind of dream that you don't even really remember having once you wake up. That's why it's so strange to her when she wakes and finds the dream still fresh and vivid in her mind, the only thing keeping her from screaming in horror being her lack of a mouth to do so with. It's only by chance that Shinra happens to wake at the same time - or so she thinks, until the sight of his pale face causes her magical instincts to immediately kick in. She's not the only one that's had this dream tonight.
'Are you okay?' She asks him, with help from her PDA.
"I'm not sure… I just had the strangest dream."
'I know. I had it too.'
It's a testament to how shaken he is that he doesn't immediately make some stupid comment about how romantic it is to share a dream with his lover, the atmosphere too heavy and unnerving for him to want to joke. Instead, he looks at her curiously and asks "How do you know? I didn't even tell you what the dream was about."
'I don't know how I know, I just do… I think maybe something's about to happen. Something big…'
Shinra frowns. He doesn't know why, but somehow… somehow, he knows she's right. "Not just big, I imagine… but bad, too." He says, a shiver running up his spine. He's never been the type to be afraid of the unknown - but the dream itself was enough to make him nervous, and knowing that Celty had had it too… well, it wasn't a good sign.
'What do we do? If something bad is going to happen, we have to stop it!'
"Well, first things first, we need more information. I know you're not the biggest fan of him, but… I think we should contact Orihara-kun."
'...'
"Unless you can think of anyone else that might know something?"
If she could sigh, she would have. 'No… no, I don't.'
"Then Orihara-kun it is." Fumbling around for his cellphone, Shinra selects the informant's number and hits the call button.
Izaya wakes in a cold sweat, his breath caught in his throat - he just had the worst dream in his entire life, a dream so terrifying he decides he no longer has any desire to sleep. Even worse, something about the dream keeps nagging at him, keeping him from being able to calm down - he just has this unshakeable feeling of wrongness, like something bad is about to happen. He drags himself up out of bed and onto his feet, about to leave the room when his cellphone starts to ring; his heart still beating furiously, he checks the caller I.D. "Shinra? What's he calling so late for?" He frowns, answering the call. "I don't suppose there's a good reason you're calling me this late at night, Shinra?" He asks, trying not to give away just how apprehensive he's currently feeling… but the attempt proves to be unsuccessful.
"You sound a little off, Orihara-kun."
"I just woke up." He states flatly.
"...Did you now?"
"I did indeed, so forgive me if I'm not at my most cordial. Is there something I can help you with, Shinra?"
"You say you just woke up - that doesn't happen to be because you've just had a terrible, terrible nightmare, does it?"
His eyes widening, he's still too shaken up to stop himself from asking the other man how he knows that.
"Celty and I just woke up, we had it too. You don't happen to know what it means, do you? Wishful thinking, I imagine, but I have to ask. If anyone would, it's you."
"You're calling me in the middle of the night over a nightmare, Shinra? And how would you know we've had the same one when I haven't even confirmed if I've had one at all?"
"It's not the nightmare, it's the feeling… the feeling like something very, very bad is about to happen. If you and I had the same dream, we'd have the same feeling… and something tells me we do. Am I wrong?"
He wants to argue, wants to tell him that yes, he is wrong… but he can't. For some reason, some strange, inexplicable reason… he knows he's right.
Well, this is Ikebukuro… I suppose I shouldn't write the possibility off immediately.
"Alright. Say it was the same dream, and it is the same feeling - what are we supposed to do about it? There's not even enough information to call either a lead."
"Hm… I don't suppose the alley looked familiar to you at all, did it? I feel like I recognized it but I can't place it, and you know the streets better than me."
He thinks about it for a moment, until he realizes it actually does look familiar. "I… I think… I think that might be Kabukicho, actually..."
There's a bit of murmuring as Shinra deliberates with Celty for a few seconds before responding. "Celty says she doesn't know Kabukicho that well, but that from what she knows of it, you could be right… the only way to know for sure is to actually go there and check it out for ourselves. If you want to go on ahead, be my guest - it'll take us a bit to get there. I wouldn't suggest it, though."
"It was a dream, Shinra… even if there was some meaning behind it, dreams aren't usually meant to be taken literally."
"Then a shared vision, perhaps? I wonder if anyone else has had the dream, too? And if not, why not? Ahh, it's so interesting! I mean, I'm absolutely terrified, but it's also absolutely fascinating!"
Izaya rolls his eyes. "I think I'll go on ahead, after all." He informs the other man, hanging up the phone before he has a chance to continue. He's never understood the other man's obsession with the supernatural - what kind of human falls in love with a woman with no head? Still, Shinra was his friend, and Izaya was curious… so it wouldn't hurt to humor him, right? Besides, it's not like he's going to find anything, anyway.
Grabbing his phone and keys from their place next to the door, Izaya pulls on his jacket and heads out of his apartment.
Shizuo takes one last drag of his cigarette before putting it out on the ground of the debtee he currently has cornered, Tom a safe distance away to avoid ending up as collateral. He's not in the best of moods at the moment, mostly on account of the fact that the aforementioned debtee happens to live in fucking Shinjuku, of all places. He hates Shinjuku… it always smells too much like Izaya.
Whether by coincidence or by fate, he doesn't know, but it's at that point that he notices the tell-tale fur-lined coat flashing in the distance. He's about to run after him when the man in front of him lunges at his throat with a knife, missing just enough to avoid an artery but not enough to stop blood from dribbling onto his stark white dress shirt. Immediately zeroing in on the panicked debtee, Shizuo narrows his eyes and grabs his wrist before he can make another attempt. "You got blood on my shirt." He begins, his voice low and threatening. "Do you know how much I hate when people get blood on my clothes? Huh?!"
A few seconds and one berserk Shizuo later, the man is unconscious on the ground and Tom is shaking his head with a sigh. "I forget sometimes that you're not as well-known here in Shinjuku… well, if he's smart he'll pay up next time. You wanna go get something to ea- Shizuo?" The other man is staring off into the distance with an annoyed expression, looking very much like he's about to take off in that direction - sure enough, before Tom has a chance to say anything, the blonde breaks into a run.
"Damn it…" Tom sighs once more and scratches his head, confused for a few seconds before he remembers whose domain this is. "He must have caught sight of him… guess I'll go find us some food while I wait for him to get back." He opens up the map app on his phone and searches through the local restaurant list, then starts heading in the direction of the first one that looks decent.
Hopefully he won't take too long.
