Chapter Forty.Down, down below, down under the skyscrapers and well-traveled highways of the city, down to where the lights hung from wire-stripped lampposts, and were windows steamed with condensation. People had been packed in on all sides, some high on hash, some exhausted, others smelling of euphoria.
She breathed it in. She let her fingers run along the laminate of the closest wall, feeling its coldness against the wet heat of the night. She looked up, and saw the smear-glow of entrances, vivid in neon. She heard the beat of drums, and the whisper of flutes.
She'd taken it. Hash. Before the change. They had a new name for this substance. One she hadn't bothered to learn, but it sounded like has, so they all called it hash. It was as good as she'd been told it was - she was giddy, free, even. Every face she saw was one of a friend. A nameless friend, but a friend nonetheless. Music thumped away, spilling from the open doorways of the dens of dealers and bar owners, they threatened to drag her in, to swallow her whole.
She could have walked along the street forever, just listening, smoking on her hash-pipe. She liked the smell, almost as much as she enjoyed the afterglow. There was no comedown, just an afterglow. One that brought her back again and again. But that didn;t matter now, did it.
A man, no, a young man, ran his hand over her shoulder and down her arm. His hand was big, rather big in fact, given his youthful face. His face was so very clean, pretty, even. It seemed as though it had been drawn and sculpted. 'Hellow, my pretty lady,' he said, his words cold against the crowd's heat. His words were accented and well pronounced, like a gentlemens of a distant nation who had forgotten that art. 'Are we enjoying ourselves?'
She turned to him fully, seeing his other hands, with a bag of the hash-stuff swinging between his thumb and pinky finger. 'Oh yes,' she said, giggling. 'And looking to have some more, with a man like you, honey,' she purred, as his arm went around her waist.
'Oh, i'll give you some honey, dear lady.' The blonde youth said, walking on, dropping the hash-stuff in disgust.
She danced for a while. The man seemed to have gone, but that was fine. She thought back to the past, to the rules of her parents, of the teachers and foreign deacons, to all that mathematical equations and wanting to scream out in anger. Now she smiled in joy, finally free for the night. Her limbs moved, clumsily, because she has never done this before, she thought. But it was the hash-thing now, making her tired. She would sleep through the comedown, and not even know it. Only awakening to the afterglow.
'How despicable,' the man said as he caught sight of the sleeping one. 'Junkies, they never change. But then again, no one ever cares about their deaths,' said Dio Brando, as he went to work draining his dinner. Then came the knock at the large, iron door, which gave him pause. He reached for his mask and braced.
Julian watched as his young lord entered the apartment complex with his arm around a young woman's waist, his eyes catching the moon's light, turning his eyes a vivid gold, mixed with a deep carmine, unusual.
The Physician and Pet Shop were nearby, ready to enter when they saw the police emerge from the corners. He could see it now, looking up at the uppermost apartment balconies. Drug bust. Not good. This would make things… Complicated.
The Medusa lashed forwards. The police and Quirk-born could not see it, only experience it. They leapt in surprise as it made an impact. The Physician, Pet Shop and the Chimera slid in, then. Weaving through the ensuing chaos as they gathered themselves. No one seemed to have noticed yet, but they would, soon.
Pet Shop flew into the small room, clawing at the stone-mask, taking in the strong scent. Master. The scent. The master was here, his scent was here, the mask, Pet Shop knew this scent. It paused, stopped. It called out in affection. Leapt back and spread its wing, the blonde with the mask settled, examining the helmed Eagle.
'Pet Shop,' said Dio Brando. 'Is that anyway to treat your Master? I see we brought a friend with us, perhaps he can help us clean up,' Dio said, removing the mask for a moment. 'Hmm… I don't seem to know you. Though perhaps you know me.'
'Lord Dio,' the Physician said. 'Yes Physician, it is I. Though I have never met you, I have seen you in my mindseye, along with one Julian. You have something of mine, take me to it, now.'
Short Chapter, I know. Sorry. Well, I'll see you all around.
