Chapter 9: Glitch
Spots of black jumped higher than Izaya could as the heavy body of their third companion met the sheets.
Disgust in a variety of layers topped upon each other as Izaya took his distance from the flea infested bed. He withdrew all former compliments he had dared to think about this room.
It wasn't clean after all, it only had appeared to be.
Closing the door to the room Izaya had been given by the innkeeper the maniac moved to the center.
Wary eyes quickly glanced towards the window and goosebumps traveled down Izaya's spine for a moment.
So far so good. There was no goddess to be spotted. Whether she traveled by mirrors, surfaces of glass, or possession of bodies was still a riddle overall, but had she had a chance to strike then she definitely would have done so by now.
Izaya would have simply dashed back down into safety if that had been the case.
"Alright, what now?" Izaya asked, and he wished he had not as he suddenly found a small silvery object tossed towards him. Reacting quicker than he thought possible he caught what was reeking with the intense smell of myrrh.
Silvery and small he could spot tiny stones in a sort of capsule spiked with holes.
"To fend off demons I suggest you carry this with you at all times," the maniac spoke and shoved his ragged clothes aside.
A piece of coal chalk was brought forth from a pocket and before Izaya knew it the guy was kneeling on the ground.
Patterns, symbols and circles were drawn in a fairly quick fashion whilst Izaya inspected the myrrh container.
It reeked. But it didn't smell worse than most of the people living in this age.
Therefore Izaya heavily doubted it was going to do anything when it came to fending off demons.
"Is this the magic rune you need to send me to hell?" he questioned as he kneeled down with interest. He didn't have his cheat sheet on his body at the moment but still remembered a couple of the symbols he translated. He could spot the most familiar and basic words on the circle, spelling "Death", "Hell" and "Immortality."
All in all this whole procedure struck Izaya as rather scammy. The only piece missing was a pentagram somewhere, crossing the entire circle and the number 666 somewhere to complete a collection of superstitions.
"I must ask you to hand me your palm," the maniac suddenly said, heaving himself up from the ground.
Looking at that extended hand that was asking for Izaya's he couldn't help but cringe. The texture of the guy's skin, the blemishes and dirt certainly spiked Izaya's reluctance to even touch it.
Swallowing the disgust he felt he quickly reached out, offering the palm of his hand before he was going to change his mind.
The piece of chalk was drawn forth once more and before Izaya knew it there was a simplified version of the patterns on the ground decorating his own skin.
"What's that?"
"A dark seal. You need to get in touch with dark magic first in order to slip past the barrier," the maniac explained, and finally let go of Izaya's hand.
Resisting the urge to wipe his palm on his clothes, Izaya watched the maniac as he completed the picture with a soft nod. "Now, speak after me, Ardeat." The maniac forced Izaya's fingers open and the raven cringed.
This guy really-
"Ardeat." Izaya said, and tried to suppress the overwhelming amount of cringe and embarrassment that forced itself onto his mind.
He felt stupid- like this was some kind of comedy show and he was being led by the nose.
Where were the cameras? Maybe he had been knocked out and set up into something more realistic after all-
It was then that Izaya suddenly felt a rush of fatigue. Harsh, as if someone had slapped all energy outside of his body his motivation drained- and then it was there.
A soft flame.
Flickering in the midst of his palm.
Surprise only challenged by that of children seeing father Christmas for the first time reflected in Izaya's eyes as he gazed at the flickering fire licking up the tips of his fingers.
It didn't hurt- it didn't burn-
He was genuinely surprised. This was an actual fire. He was smart enough to tell the difference between a magic trick and the real thing. And the maniac-
Eyes trailing to the pattern on the old guy's palm Izaya suddenly saw a trickle of blood seeping from the mark on the old skin.
"Did I do that?" Izaya asked honestly concerned for a second, and the maniac smiled.
"You needn't worry about such a small wound. Our victory is of much greater importance than a few drops of blood." With those words the maniac brushed away the patterns on his palm and the fire crackling in Izaya's hand ceased.
"Now, if you would kindly step into this circle," the maniac said, and suddenly Izaya felt a harsh sense of reluctance.
Somewhere in the back of his mind all of these assumptions, the talk about going to hell, the idea to fetch a demon to get rid of the goddess had all in all been a theory. Something worth trying for sure, but now with the slight smell of smoke lingering in the air and the very real blood droplets sticking to the ground, this plan they were executing became reality in a way that caused Izaya to hesitate.
Grumbling more words of old latin under his breath the maniac continued chanting what Izaya believed to be the spell needed to send him off.
Hair grew even more gray and within seconds it seemed as though the maniac had aged by another ten years.
And then Izaya saw it.
Dark black with edges of intense turquoise, an uncharacteristic type of flame circled along the outside of the floor's pattern. The symbols, the circles, everything lit up at once and the wooden floor in between seemed to disappear as the ground changed to glass.
More darkness, colors of red and purple clashed into each other and Izaya watched a blurry set of what he believed to be flames fighting each other below their feet.
A slight breeze was wafting up from the circle and Izaya swallowed hard.
This was actual magic.
The maniac had not been joking.
Expectantly looking at him the old guy was still standing there and waiting for Izaya to do as he had asked him to.
Step into the circle.
He had to be joking- the translucent glass mirrored that of a frozen pond's icy surface. There was no way a layer that thin was going to carry Izaya's entire weight-
"Come," the maniac spoke, and Izaya felt the urge to laugh at his face.
There was no way in hell he was going to step into that-
The surface was going to crack. He was going to fall, break his neck, burn alive or suffer any other kind of gruesome fate.
And demons- they were actually residing down there weren't they? Recalling the goddess Izaya's smile dropped to one of bitterness. What they called a god was looking like the worst nightmare, so what in the world would an actual demon look like?
Like the goddess? But darker? Faster? More cruel?
He could already envision bodies spiked with teeth in places no one had thought of before. Walking abominations of rotten flesh- monsters ready to sacrifice anything for a good time of joy.
This guy wanted to send him to hell-
No way.
He would stay here, chase this weirdo out of his room, away from the inn. Dark magic or not, hecwas old, Izaya could overwhelm him easily even in this unfamiliar body.
He would tell the innkeeper to throw him out, lie about how he was trying to steal.
It would be easy too. And once the maniac was gone Izaya would come up with a safer plan.
One that didn't include stepping into a burning ring of fire with nothing but an abyss below-
Mind going in circles Izaya tried to rectify all sorts of reasons why he couldn't trust this maniac- why he shouldn't do as he was told-
But did he really even have a choice?
The conclusion was reached faster than he liked and suddenly Izaya's reluctance dropped.
… did it really matter?
The goddess wanted to kill him, in the most gruesome way. A demon might tear him apart, but he would certainly be faster and probably more merciful than that wrenched woman- and if he stepped back, and actually believed everything this maniac had told him so far… then wasn't there a chance to arrive in hell unscathed?
Taking a deep breath Izaya stepped forward.
No matter how much he wrecked his head, this was the only way.
And the maniac smiled.
"Now, once you drink this you will find yourself at the devil's throat," he announced and pulled the vial he had shown earlier forth from his clothes.
Taking the object Izaya uncapped the magic fluid.
He might be killing himself right now. He might be serving as a good joke to anyone watching this absurd scenery. Or he might be saving himself by relying on his silver tongue and confidence to get a demon on his side to kill the goddess.
A bitter smile spread across his lips and he sighed.
… what were the odds?
"Then let's choke him, shall we?" Izaya said, and downed the liquid in one go.
He didn't know what to expect, really. A light? Transporting him to where he wanted to go? Maybe a flying sensation lifting his body?
It was a lot that his mind came up with, really-
But the harsh crack breaking the glass he was standing upon had not been one of them.
As if in slow motion Izaya suddenly found himself falling right down into the darkness and his eyes searched for the maniac-
He was waving. He was smiling.
And with utter stupidity Izaya realized that he was falling through the world.
Through the surface.
Because if heaven was something viewed to be in the sky, then hell was obviously below.
A choked scream that never made it to the surface stuck in Izaya's throat as gusts of wind grazed past his body.
He had not once jumped from a helicopter in search of a thrill- walking atop the highrises was the maximum when it came to the danger of standing at immense height- but this was probably what he would have imagined slipping and falling off a highrise would have been like if he ever had.
His guts dropped and panicked nausea struck as he curled up on himself- readying himself for the impact that would crack his spine and wipe his existance-
It was then that gushes of light raced past his closed eyes and he immediately snapped them back open.
Runes, words and markings that the maniac had drawn upon the floor were suddenly swarming all around his body.
Glowing bright and only creasing in intensity, Izaya suddenly found his body slow down- As if having fallen into a fishing net the air around him seemed to increase in density. If he had to compare the feeling to anything he had ever experienced in real life, then it was the sensation that one felt when he jumped off a tower in a public bath. Enclosing around him with the force of parting waves Izaya suddenly found all air torn off his chest.
The pressure was increasing, his body spinning, and before he knew it everything stopped and his knees met sand of black.
His palms had met the substance next, and his head connected with the silky ground for a second as he tried to regain his senses.
Up and down, left and right, everything seemed to swirl- and before Izaya knew it his stomach lurched at the sensation and he emptied himself on the spot.
Heaving and choking on his own gasps of breath Izaya groaned as the heavy nausea crashed and left him with nothing but a searing headache.
Curses dropped from his lips in a manner that couldn't have been less typical for himself as he wished for the maniac to go to hell.
To literally hell.
To die.
For real.
That god damned bastard could have told him what was about to happen, not just shove him in here without a god damned word.
Seeing nothing but the black sand he had landed on Izaya took a moment to analyze his body- because it felt off. It felt lighter, more familiar.
Off by a mere glance Izaya spotted a puddle of liquid that might as well have been water from some kind of demonic rain and paused.
His face-
Reaching towards his cheeks his palms connected with his skin in reality as well as the mirrored reflection alike and he smiled.
He had regained his appearance. His real appearance-
Body shape, hair color, eyes everything was as it should be-
How?
Why?
Izaya had no idea, but either he belonged to hell or he had somehow managed to glitch the goddess goddamned game.
The faintest hint of hope blossomed in his chest as he looked around and whispered.
"Welcome to hell, Izaya."
to be continued~
Alright this was a little short, but for one thing the scene was too good to not cut there xDDD and for the other- I was lazy xDDD But I promise Shizuo will be making his entrance next chapter and I think you will love it xDDDDDD