Chapter 1 : What came after
The ice in his glass cracked. A drop slided along to the counter. Soft music was playing in the background has the man was humming happily. At his right, his old friend drunk his glass of whiskey in silence. Such peace emaneted from this place. Outside the window, the world was all colored in dark grey.
"You need to go, Dazai." Odasaku said softly, with a sad smile. "They're need you."
Dazai takes a sip from his glass. He places the glass on the counter without saying a word, ignoring his friend's words.
"It isn't your time yet." Odasaku turned to face him. "Your friends need your help. I'll be waiting for you."
He open his eyes, slowly. The numb pain in his body beg him to go back into slumber. He has to fight agaisnt it. Above him, a white ceiling with neon light. At his right, her back facing him, Yosano is taping something down on her laptop. He gradually recognizes the room. Around him, several medical tools making up the agency's infirmary. Through the haze of his consciousness, he begins to remember the last elements before he lost consciousness.
This place was not real. He was probably in the universe of one of Poe's books. It was reassuring to be back at the agency after such a long ordeal. Flashes came back to him. Dazai had been injured after falling in the elevator. To kill him, Fyodor had sent Chuuya. When the redhead finally arrived, the damn rat had given him his gun. Probably the same gun with which he had killed his only means of communicating with the outside world. Things looked bad. Dazai planned to nullify the vampire infection ability from Chuuya. But with his broken leg and the gun, his chances of success were very low.
He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering from where the pain on his shoulder came from. Chuuya had shoot him. He was panting. Dazai had wondered why his partner seemed so exhausted. Didn't the vampire ability gave those infected incredible regenerative strenght? His thought were cut short as a despicable voice came from the intercom.
"Nice try, to turn Sigma in your favor. It such a shame he had to die after you gave him so much hope. Isn't cruel of you?"
Dazai did not respond to the provocation. He suspected that this monster fully savored this moment.
"Well, you will soon follow." said Fyodor. "Kill him, Chuuya."
Dazai returned his attention to Chuuya. He smiles kindly. He sees him still trying to fight off the ability.
"Seem like this is truly goodbye this time, Chuuya." he said with sadness, but still smiling kindly.
Chuuya's eyes went from black to blue, flickering between these two colors. He clenched his teeth. Dazai knew his partner was trying to fight the skill. However, it was far too powerful. He closed his eyes as he heard the walls began to creak under the immense pressure. But, Dazai didn't feel that pressure. As he opened his eyes again, he saw the camera on the wall shatter into thousands of pieces. Standing next to him, panting heavily, was Chuuya.
"I'm not gonna give you this joy!" he growled through clenched teeth. "I came here to save your sorry ass. Now, nullify this damn ability, you dumbass!"
Startled, Dazai obeyed anyway and extended his hand to Chuuya. His partner suddenly caught his breath. He was exhausted, but his attention quickly turned to Dazai. This one, sitting on the floor, had his left leg twisted horribly. There was also a lot of blood around him. Chuuya gently helped him up, even going so far as to use gravity on him. Then, he put Dazai on his back. The latter didn't even grumble.
"Hang in there, I'm gonna get you out of here." his partner whispered.
The redhead carried Dazai to the end of the hallway. Arrived in front of the wall, he used his ability to create a hole in it. Outside, the sun's rays blinded the injured man's eyes for a moment. Then, he felt himself falling several floors before sliding gently onto the ground. In their fall of several meters, Chuuya had discovered one of the members of the agency. This one was fighting against Akutagawa. Without the slightest hesitation, Chuuya hurried up to them. Suddenly, a dazzling light made him lose his bearings. But, having to calculate the distance to reach them and the force of gravity used with precision. He knew exactly when to increase the atmospheric pressure to pin the two fighters to the ground.
Dazai closed his eyes again, paying attention to the pain in his body. His fall had hurt him greatly. He noticed the pills coming in, trying to limit his pain. He suddenly thought of the poison he had taken with Fyodor. He recalled at some point having seen Nikolai giving the antidote to a confused Atsushi. But he couldn't pin point the exact moment of the event. Though, it didn't matter much, as he was still breathing. He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes.
Yosano watched him in silence. Their eyes met. They had the feeling of a deja vu from a very distant past. The doctor sighed.
"How are you feeling?" she said slowly.
"What happened of the Decay of angel?" Dazai asked, dodging the question.
Yosano crossed her legs and appeared to be deep in thought. After a moment, she shrugged dejectedly.
"I'll tell the other you're awake. Maybe one of them will have a better answer than I."
