Chapter 5: Good luck Izaya
Izaya was holding a book.
Nothing more nothing less- yet Carlyle was acting as if he had just discovered a corpse or something alike. "It's nothing of interest really, just a small collection-" hurried the words gushed forth from Carlyle's mouth like a damaged water hose. "I'm aware the church banned human dissection and won't act against it. Most of this is from my father anyway-" Flipping through the pages detailed sketches and theories were scribbled down upon the rough ivory paper.
This was another fact Izaya's historical knowledge and this world had in common. The folk seemed to be unreasonably scared of revealing a human's insides or blood. Seeing how Izaya found texts about demons and the like he guessed the act of dismantling a body was considered heretic and as a gateway to possession of dark spirits and the likes.
Superstitions at most of course, but he could see how they would arrive at such beliefs.
It was when Izaya arrived at a sketch of the human circulatory system that he paused his skimming. The drawing was surprisingly well done.
"This is pretty accurate actually," he hummed while letting his finger trail the rough surface of the page. While the heart still held a more symbolic shape Izaya figured the idea of blood being pulled and pushed forth from it like a muscle was a relatively new revelation.
"How do you-" Carlyle's voice faded out and Izaya lifted his face to look at his newest friend. An unreadable gaze of what might as well have been horror or decent surprise reflected in it as he had become mute.
Of course-
How would he know? He couldn't know- Not in this timespan. His earlier comment was serving nothing but trouble as he quickly put the book aside. "I swear, I'm no demon."
Carlyle laughed nervously, and for a hot minute Izaya almost expected him to turn tails and run for his life.
But he didn't.
Hesitation marked his words as he approached to pick the book up and put it into its respective place. "Yet here I am getting the feeling I'm talking to something I shouldn't."
Izaya sighed- he sounded anything but convinced. Great- what now?
A few options cursed through his mind, one of the ideas contained feigning innocence and arguing that he had just wanted to sound smart by accessing the sketches.
And yet- looking at the guy Izaya saw a chance to be taken.
"... would it be believable to say I came from a different world?" If Carlyle had been stiff before then he was a full fledged frozen icicle by now.
"Like hell?" he mumbled, awkwardly and with a slight hint of fear hidden in his voice.
It was nothing more than a gamble, really. Telling this guy about what no human in this era should know could backfire hard, but it could also present a chance.
Letting his palm run along a set of paintings, Izaya took a seat in a single chair in the corner of the room.
Hands folded and gaze as innocent as he could manage he tried to present himself as as non-threatening as possible.
"No. I think I died in my former life. I remember things that don't belong to this environment. I have knowledge about history, science, medicine that is not supposed to exist yet." A wild array of emotions displayed on Carlyle's face and for a moment Izaya found himself pretty amused.
This guy had just been looking for a nice date and maybe even nicer one-night-stand and now he was conversing with something he considered a demon.
Sucked to be him, didn't it?
Waiting for a few moments Izaya watched the roulette of emotions pass by, wondering just which it was he was going to settle in.
Curiosity paired with the will to hear more seemed to be his choice as he finally met his gaze.
"... you were reborn?" Laughter wallowed in the empty halls all the way from the banquet as if to underscore the amount of optimism Carlyle was willing to put into his conclusion.
Judging how gods and their sons were usually the only beings being reborn, Carlyle was indicating some superior power had given him another chance at life.
And who would receive such a chance?
Only a good human being of course.
It was optimism at its best and Izaya wasn't stupid enough to object to a more than convenient conclusion.
Compared to demons, ghosts and evil spirits he would much rather be compared to an angel or prophet.
A smile played around his lips as he gave an innocent shrug. "Maybe?" As expected Carlyle's demeanor quickly relaxed. Arms were crossed, a seat pulled over and he closed his eyes as he nodded to himself.
"I heard I fell out of the window. My best guess is the former son of the Montesquieu family died on impact and my soul somehow found its way here instead," Izaya continued. He had no intention to let this momentum go by. Who knew how much longer it would take until Carlyle changed his mind.
But he didn't really seem to pay any attention.
Surrounded by nothing but books, paintings and a closed curtain at a tall window, Izaya suddenly felt very much alone inside the room despite the presence of a counterpart.
… it was an unsettling feeling. More than he was willing to admit. And it occurred more often than he liked it to.
Looking at Carlyle as he was immersed in a string of deep thoughts Izaya couldn't help but feel out of place.
This area. This timespan.
The anger and frustration that he had shoved back upon waking suddenly did a very good job at resurfacing.
He felt out of touch- both physical as well as mental as he sat down onto the ground.
It was fine, wasn't it?
So what if he was reborn?
Or resurrected? Reincarnated?
Life was life. He could make this one work out as well as the former, right?
And yet no matter how much he tried to convince himself he only felt that lump in his throat grow bigger.
He didn't even properly remember what he had lost and yet there was this gaping hole in his chest, craving to be filled.
Shit.
Quickly swallowing down the uncalled spurge of emotion he raised his voice, "Are you going to hang me now?"
Startled by the rather crude suggestion he managed to capture Carlyle's attention again at least.
Hesitation marked his expression and his eyes averted Izaya's for just a moment. "Should I?"
There wasn't much backbone to the question. The way the words were spoken seemed more of a sarcastic nature than an objective order. An oddball, this Carlyle.
Flashing his most innocent smile, Izaya negated the question. "I would appreciate it if you didn't."
Again it was quiet.
Nothing but a small streak of moonlight forcing itself through a gap in the curtain was willing to interrupt the silence.
Laughter was heard from afar again and the music that had stopped previously picked back up.
"... then what is your goal now?" the words were whispered so quietly Izaya almost overheard them.
"Goal?" he repeated, not quite following what Carlyle was talking about.
Tilting his head to the side he opened his mouth only to close it again as he chose his next words carefully. "You said you were reborn. What are you going to do now?"
Nice.
This guy really had a knack to ask the most uncomfortable questions.
A deep frown carved into his forehead as a headache started to act up. "... Well first I would need to convince my father of me not being a demonic entity. He wants to kill me after all. After that… he sighed deeply, "... I don't know. Maybe get some progress into the city. The local medicine could really use an upgrade," he laughed, and yet that laugh never really reached his eyes.
It was bullshit.
The words he said felt like bile to his tongue.
Why should he care what that duke thought of him? He wasn't there to please anyone but himself. Same for that woman, his sisters. Not to be misunderstood, it wasn't like he hated them or anything. The opposite-
He didn't know them.
He had no connection whatsoever. To nothing. Not to the people, to the landscape, the history- he had nothing to do, nothing to wish for.
Resurrection in fiction and stories always seemed like the most epic sensation, like a powerful move. Protagonists always knew what power to wield and what goal to achieve right off the bat. Yet now finding himself in that exact situation he couldn't help but feel as though it was living hell.
Left with nothing except a memory of loss.
It was almost as if someone had tossed him in this world just to spite him.
Carlyle had asked what he wanted to do- there certainly was one thing.
A glare, probably more intense than he intended it to be flared in his eyes as he pushed himself off the ground.
What did he want?
His old life.
Unknown anger surfaced and Izaya's palms turned into fists.
Yeah. That's it. That's what he wanted. He wanted his god damn life back, he wanted his memories back- who in the world had the right to take that from him?
Who the hell acted half assed like this and resurrected him with only half of his previous memories?
It was bullshit!
Utter bullshit!
"I will search for a way to return." The answer he gave Carlyle was filled with an unreasonable amount of confidence and he reacted accordingly with an expression of confusion and surprise.
"What?"
But Izaya wasn't really up to spoon feed his decision to a guy he was going to ditch in a minute.
This entire party, his family, the mansion. He would leave in under a hot minute anyway. Looking around he searched for anything valuable.
He probably needed money to get by until he found what he was looking for. A leather bag in the corner filled with what was probably not more than pocket money was grabbed and Carlyle ignored as he protested.
"Raphael?"
But Izaya didn't even pay him any attention.
No.
He had made up his mind.
"Fuck this bullshit, what the hell am I supposed to do here? Play house with a family I couldn't give less of a damn about? To hell with that-" Looking down at his body he accessed what else he could possibly need except the clothes he was wearing.
But there was nothing, was there? He was smart. He was witty. He would get by just fine with nothing but his tongue.
"So you want to return to your old life?" Carlyle asked, and Izaya stopped barely at the door's entrance as he had just been about to head out.
He could give the guy an answer at least before he ditched this goddamn world entirely.
"I will."
His gaze must have been hard, unwavering and surprising as well as Carlyle's face reflected nothing but perplexion.
Perplexion, and a full blown laugh. "Wow, that's some confidence," his shoulders shook and he wheezed as he tried to hold it together.
… it was- oddly unsettling.
Standing still in the doorframe Izaya's notion came to an abrupt halt as he watched the guy lose it over his words. They hadn't been quite as funny as he was acting.
He was crying tears in laughter- and then he stilled.
As if never having had the time of his life Carlyle's expression suddenly shifted.
Nothing but immeasurable calmth radiated off his eyes as his stance straightened and his lips turned into an eerie grin.
"Good luck with that, Izaya."
Cold.
Like ice the words shot up to Izaya's head.
That was his name.
HIS name.
Dread drowned the music coming from afar and Izaya suddenly was way too aware of how he was completely alone with Carlyle. The room he had judged as a simple drawing chamber suddenly held a dangerous air and suddenly one of the paintings fell over.
It was the one with circles, resting on Archimedes' back.
A mirror had been hidden behind the piece of art and resurfaced to reflect what was to offer in the study and Carlyle spoke.
"I'm sorry, Izaya, but this life is supposed to serve you nothing but demise." Sweet, like a scoop of icecream on a hot summer day the words were spoken and Izaya stilled. "I brought you here." Because he saw Carlyle's reflection.
A reflection that was not human. That was not Carlyle.
Eyes of black, spider's legs replacing arms and a woman's rotten corpse, two times taller than Carlyle himself stared at Izaya with hungry eyes as he looked at the goddess that was depicted in the small cult booklet.
To be continued
YOO xD Sorrryy I have neglected this story, or Shizaya in general, for a while now C': Buuuuuut I will give my best to update weekly again xDD The schedule of updating on Saturdays does work quite well, so with a new year and new years resolutions let's aim for a weekly 100% updating rate xDDDDD
Let's see how long I can keep that up haha
With that being said~ Things are finally taking the turn I need for this story to go where it's supposed to be xD
See you next Saturday~!
