Chapter 3: Demons in the Architecture
Issei awoke strapped to a table by his wrists and ankles in what appeared to be a cell. The first thing he noticed when waking up wasn't the dank mustiness permeating the thick, wet air, it was the device that hung above him. He looked at it as it dropped water onto his forehead every two seconds. He could barely comprehend what had happened to him, he couldn't remember how he got here, he remembered walking out to spar with his teammates, and then everything went dark.
Issei sat listlessly in the cell, waiting for whatever was supposed to come next. He could feel his magic slowly leaving his body along with his energy, and soon his hearing amplified. He could hear the soft putter of water as it dripped from the device down onto his head , the noise of the water splashing onto his head growing increasingly louder.
Soon, footsteps filled his ears, and a shadow eventually stood over him.
"Oh. Did you sleep well?" The figure above Issei asked.
"Who are you?" Issei asked, the man did not respond, instead he pulled out a clipboard.
"Issei, I am going to ask you a few questions. I want you to answer yes or no, if you answer yes for any of questions asked, say moderately , severely, or normal. Do you understand?"
"Yes-" Issei replied, stopping as a fat, cold drop of water hit his forehead exactly where a previous drop had landed.
"Do you feel nervous of anxious?" The doctor asked.
"No." Issei replied, a drop splashing on his head again.
"Do you feel afraid?" The doctor asked again.
"No." Issei responded, a drop hitting him again, this time the drip sounded louder than the previous.
"Okay, vital signs normal, moderate metal stability, responses are quick. Good. I will return within the hour." The doctor said, turning and walking away from Issei, leaving him alone in the cell.
*Drip!*
Issei's ears started to ring, the only sound in the room was the dripping of the water slamming into his head at a now unbearable pressure.
*Drop!*
He squirmed under that drop, the shackles wrapped around his arms and ankles pulling and digging into his skin.
*Drip!*
…
*Drip!*
Issei jolted awake, lunging up from the bed he was laying on. He was in a dark room, through a window resting at the head of the bed he was on, he could see rain pouring down outside, and traced the droplets of water with his eyes as they skimmed across the window pane.
Out across in the distance, trees formed the edge of a sharp clearing, their shadows moving in their own sweet ways that seemed too similar to be real. Fear began to come over him, the remote kind of fear that lies inside of all humans, the primal fear that takes flight only at the very end of life.
Two red eyes opened in the rustling leaves of the trees canopy, looking directly at him, peering into his soul through a glass pane. The eye closed, and a loud 'caw' entered his ears. The bird was a raven, blinding perfectly into the darkness of the tree's shadows. The raven, a sign of death and destruction, a sign of chaos and eternal darkness.
The moonlight refracted through each descending drop of water that fell from the sky as a beam dots on the ground below. Thunder cracked outside and shook the bed and window to rattled confusion.
Lightning streaked across the sky in magnificent arcs that were out of control zig-zags. The outside world lit up, the first thing he noticed was the flock of black birds, all perched and watching him, the second thing he noticed was that slightly beyond the trees was a drop-off of magnificent depth.
He choked on his breath and turned, his room was lit up. Carvings of demons and angels hung outward from the walls, engaged in grotesque scenes of torture and evil beyond any of his comprehension. The most peculiar thing about the carvings was how every head of the carvings faced him, like they were going to enact their torture on him too.
More ravens began to call raucously, this time from the forest that was now behind him. A part inside of Issei's head registered the fact that the new cries were agitated rather than merely a quarrel; the cries sounded like the birds had been scared up and away from the trees they were perched on.
Issei turned back to the window, only to find there was no trees or birds, or a window for that sake. Issei turned back around, and his breathing stopped almost instantly. A painting was hanging on a wall in front of him, words written on it in a strange font.
Long ago, in the place of ancient guided wisdom, the prophecy foretold of black wings in the cold. That when supernatural roam the world, my forever closed eyes will open, and death and destruction will become unfurled! My name is Ddraig, destroyer of earth, he who stole the principle of Domination from God, my ancient shadow shall soon be unbound, and I shall return as you, with a hunger to swallow the earth!
Aside from the words on the painting he couldn't understand or remember, the most fear inducing thing in his vision was now the carvings, which were now on the floor like statues, all facing him, all with a single step taken towards him, their faces trapped in wide expressions of eternal misery and violated despair.
"Let me out… Please let me go…" Issei mumbled out, his voice sounding slightly deranged. He put his head down between his legs and arms, and the sounds of stone grinding again other stones filled the room like a knife running across rough skin. Issei lifted his head suddenly at the noise, and the statues moved closer to him, this time their arms extended to him.
Fear and despair wrapped around Issei's heart like it was a soft candy, and his began to blink through tears that wouldn't fall. Each time he blinked, the statues moved closer, and soon enough, they were all touching him.
*CRACK!*
Blood fell from Issei's still body, still warm and coppery, holes coated his body bones hung out and muscles were torn and ripped asunder. A drop of blood fell from his mouth, falling to the floor below.
*DRIP!*
…
*DRIP!*
Issei jolted awake, lunging up from the bed he was laying on. He was in a dark room, through a window resting at the head of the bed he was on, he could see rain pouring down outside, and traced the droplets of water with his eyes as they skimmed across the window pane.
Issei stood up and walked through the room, not entirely sure where he was going or why. A painting on a wall caught his attention, the painting was hanging from the jaw of a demon that was carved out of marble in the wall. The painting was blue, white fluffy clouds filled the sky and sun light reflected off the grass in the painting in such a way that made it look real.
Issei looked away from the painting and continued to walk, finding a mirror hanging above a table. He looked at his reflection, his eyes glowed red, a think black aura fell around him extending on his back that resembled… Wings?
Boney, reptilian scaled wings that were as black as nothingness. He looked away shocked, a red door was waiting at the end of the room, the only possible exit aside from the window.
Issei turned back to the window, and noticed the painting had changed, changed to words written in a strange font that resembled someone in a hurry. Issei read what the writing said aloud.
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust." Issei read the sentence aloud, shocking himself at the amount of desolation and despair in his voice, shocking him so much it was almost fear instead of shock.
Issei rushed over to the door, opened it and ran through. He felt like he was being followed, he felt like someone was behind him, the hairs in his neck stood straight. The door closed behind him, and he stared at a large hallway, maids running through carrying a wide assortment of things. The painting was hung on the wall again, this time with a symbol.
Issei looked at the symbol confused, it was familiar, and it made him angry. Fury overwhelmed him, and couldn't understand why, the symbol was the exact same symbol that white haired girl had, the girl he saw while venting his anger about Kiba.
"Where am I?" Issei asked one of the passing maids, but she paid no attention Issei at all and continued her trot down the hall.
"What is this place?" Issei asked, not fully expecting a response, but hoping for one nonetheless.
Thunder exploded outside, the lights in the hallways flickered before going out. The hallway he was in became empty, tables began to rattle, and when the lights came back on, he was no longer in the hallway, but in the room he started in. He looked out the window, which was in the same place as before.
Rain was still pouring outside, but now red eyes watched him. Lightning arched across the sky, and the tree were revealed to be filled with ravens, all watching him.
He looked down at his feet, he saw marks, tally marks like someone was keeping track of something important. He looked back through the window, and heard stones grinding together behind him. He turned in a hurry, the carvings had moved out of their spot from the wall and faced him with extended arms, expressions of torment on their faces. Ravens cawed outside the window, agitated, their wings beating against the wind and feathers ruffling together with each flap.
Issei turned back to the window in curiosity, as soon as he did the stones moved again, forcing him to turn to examine, Issei looked at the carvings that had now turned into statues, and the while scenario seemed familiar to him.
Memories came at hit him with a fatal force, implanting a fear so profound it could only be described as surreal. He remembered being here, he remembered the statues, the Ravens, the loud dripping and the he remembered the strange water torture.
Tears began to swell in his eyes, he fell to the floor and placed his finger on the ground, using a nail he carved a mark into the floor beside the others.
Twenty-four.
The statues wrapped around him, and began to tears at his flesh, ripping and severing his muscles and bones. Blood fell from his mouth to the floor.
*DRIP!*
…
With the ORC
"So, I know it's a odd time to ask, but does anyone know what is happening with Issei? He seemed so… different in that fight." Akeno asked, a small blush with a smile appearing on her face.
"I don't think any of us have a single idea, but it can't be good. I need to get my brother to look at him while he sleeps. Maybe he will know." Rias replied, walking away from the group, a magic circle appearing near her right ear.
"Koneko, you got close to him, do you have any idea what wrong with him?" Akeno asked, turning to Koneko hoping for an answer.
"I… I don't know, it was unlike anything I ever felt before. It was more evil than all the devils we have ever fought before. His aura, it was pure black, it was a cloak that was eating endlessly." Koneko said, secretly leaving out a key detail. The detail being his influence on her, she felt like killing people under his gaze. She was terrified of herself, and more so of him.
His influence. Issei's spark.
…
"So you want me to take a look at him?" Sirzechs said, pointing at Issei, who was laying still on a bed.
"Yes, please, he has been changing recently, acting like he is someone other than himself." Rias explained.
"Well, I can try. I wouldn't expect much, it isn't entirely strange to see such things, he did die and come back as a devil, he might just have problems coming to terms with it." Sirzechs said, walking over to the sleeping Issei.
Sirzechs reached over and placed a single hand on Issei's chest.
Sirzechs screamed, pain washing over him. He saw images that shook him to his core, flashes that depicted unfathomable tortures, destruction beyond even his magic's capability. He hung his head over and stopped screaming, the images residing, and found himself in a different room.
Carvings etched the walls of the room, depicting tortures he would never dare do. Every figure stared at him, blood was sprayed carelessly over the room. The hands of each carved figure was coated in that same blood. On the ground as his feet were tally marks, so many marks it was too many to count, but there were easily a few hundred.
A picture hung against one of the walls, suspended by the jaw of a demon. The picture was a image of a table, a strange device hung above it, and a boy strapped onto it. The device above the boy seemed to be dropping water onto his forehead, a form of torture he had read a lot about. It was physically harmless, but it was mentally shattering.
Sirzechs turned and looked out the window in the room. Rain poured from the spiraling clouds above, ravens were perched on the branches of the trees in the distance, all looking at him. Sirzechs turned back around, and stopped dead in his tracks.
Statues surrounded him, some floating above the ground with wings extended. All of them had their hands reaching out to him, his heart began to pound. For the first time in a long time, he was afraid. Statues didn't just move freely, especially not to kill. He began to move towards one, he went around it to make his way behind them, his eyes never leaving the statue.
But that wasn't a good plan either, as soon as he took his eyes off them and focused on one individually, the others turned and faced him, leaving only one not facing him. He blinked, longer than normal, and the other statue was now facing him. The one that turned was holding a picture frame, but instead of a picture, there were words.
'The roses have withered. The times have changed. Far to long I've been locked away. The cloak of death falls on the plain, and all the things you know will change. Yet all those things will remain the same.'
A thought came to Sirzechs, what if he closed his eyes? Maybe he was in a dream, an illusion, and maybe if he used magic, he night be able to escape. Energy formed at his right hand, the same hand he placed on Issei's chest.
"Wake up. For the sake of survival, wake up!" Sirzechs shouted, the room began to change, it changed to the room where Issei was sleeping. Rias and the others looked, shocked and waiting for Issei to awake.
And he did.
The Godhand
…
The ORC looked at Sirzechs and Issei, waiting anxiously for their beloved group member to awaken. Red energy formed around Sirzechs body and began to move into Issei's.
Issei lunged up from his sleep, and inhaled with a scream of pain, as if he had been drowned in his sleep. He threw his hands up to his head and clutched at the hair on his head. Issei brought his head to his knees, and smiled wickedly. With a low laugh, he began to mumble words that made every eye in the room widen, confusion along with uneasiness filled their hearts, and when the laughter stopped…
Their Issei would never be the same.
End of Chapter 3 (?)
Honestly, I don't know
Call it trash if you want, here it is, and I am going to try to make the next chapter not so filler-ish and try to make it good, I just had no idea where to go, and I didn't really get any ideas either.
Sorry.