Author's note: I continue to own nothing
The damage was extensive.
The damage was extensive and the panic it caused was palpable. The air smoldered with the fumes of burnt plastic, charred rubber and human stress. It was thick and acrid in Arikado's nostrils and left a coppery bitter taste across the back of his tongue. He had seen far worse in his time of course but he had seen everything by now, hadn't he?
From his elevated perspective on a high rise rooftop Arikado looked down the stretch of the metro track. He noted the curled and stripped steel of the rail, the chipped and broken pieces of platform shorn free by the trains that had hurtled by in the early morning. Bits of metal, twisted and broken from the heat, cast muted glimmers of light where they lay from the fires still burning along the path. It looked like nothing so much as the lingering death throes of a giant steel serpent, far more like that than a disaster of modern means. Perhaps it was some maligned joining of the two; something malignant and not of this age had run the track today.
All of this had started with a single metro that inexplicably broke into two before crashing into the airport platform. The incident had been so sudden and inexplicable that there had been no warning to prevent the next train from traveling the damaged rout. The second train had jumped its savaged track on a bridge spanning a multi-lane highway. That derailing killed most of the passengers upon impact and crushed vehicles across eight lanes of traffic. The city was almost completely in a state of lock down. Police and emergency personnel were everywhere examining wreckage and remnants, digging into rubble and putting out fires, and questioning the countless witnesses in their search for answers. They were trying to contain the spreading panic that uncertainty causes.
In this age an accident of this kind raised questions en mass, but always the wrong questions. They were searching for faulty wiring, indicators of a terrorist plot, some signs of poor design based in company corruption or negligence. That was all it could have been. This was either an attack or tragic accident. Let them think that, he mused. Let them accept what they can and cope as best they will with the answer they find. He had learned long ago it was best to let humans choose their own answers.
The wind shifted, carrying other unpleasant smells to his perch. There was death and its telltale scents in the breeze, he couldn't suppress his wince, or stop from raising his hand to cover his nose. Even after all these years the smell of burned hair made him ill.
"What can you see up there?" Yoko's voice buzzed in the device against his ear.
"Little more than you see on the ground, simply more of it." He lifted the collar of his shirt to further block the stench. "There is a distinct miasma hovering over the track, however I cannot identify the source at this time from the remnants. The wind has dispersed it. It is a safe assumption that it was left behind by the entity who attacked the first train."
"So we are going with a single entity?" Her voice was thin with exhaustion. Though Arikado had just arrived Yoko had been facing this crisis for almost 12 hours. "Not a cult?"
"I cannot be certain, there is only the impression of one malignant manifestation here. It is possible that it may have been summoned by a group, even probable, but I could not swear to it." He spread out his hand, palm down. Beneath his fingers the currents vibrated with suppressed energies, always stronger where humans gathered and influenced by their electric systems. He felt the pulse of the city and it was merely mortal. "There is no remaining charge and no indicators that another being may be arriving. We have a window."
"Julius should be here in the next hour. He's all sort—at it could b- with the flight delays he w-" Short buzzes of static muffled her. "—oon as he can."
"Your audio quality is fragmenting. I am coming down." Out of the wind, out of the smoke from the fires, away from the smell. Arikado moved to the alley side of the high rise and stepped off. The speed of his plummet and his dark suit against the dark sky would help to conceal him, as did his dark hair. That had been one of the easiest changes he'd ever made to blend in among people. There was no hesitation to his jump, no question to his safety at all. The upward rush of air gave him breathing room and a chance to center himself. He took full advantage of it, closing his eyes and taking several steadying breaths as he prepared for his landing. He'd need all his patience for what was coming.
And that would be difficult, because just beneath this veneer he was a snarling, writhing monster.
Soma was missing. There was no chance that he hadn't been caught up in this most recent disaster and he was missing. He had probably been riding the first train to the airport and it had been attacked, destroyed, and he was missing. Neither Yoko nor Mina had heard from him and he was missing. And Arikado hadn't been present to prevent it. He had been halfway across Europe, looking into a matter far too small to warrant his attention and he hadn't been here when he was needed. He'd been attempting to manage his exceedingly conflicted feelings on the entire situation that Soma was just breathing and he hadn't been here. Now Soma was missing, the entire world was once again vulnerable to the possible return of his father, and he…
He hadn't been here.
His heels took the shock with a sharp rifle-esque crack that broke the pavement and swept out like spider webs across the ground beneath him. The sound startled him back to himself, he swore softly beneath his breath. That level of melodrama hadn't been his intention. At least it appeared he'd picked a good spot as, save for Yoko's surprised face, no other stares greeted him.
"Holy crap! Are you okay? What the hell Arikado!" She hurried over looking livid. "People are scared enough without thinking there are jumpers! You can't just do things like that in places with this many windows! Why on earth didn't you fly down?"
"I hadn't intended…" He began.
"Nevermind," She cut him off, her hand gesture was stiff and the expression fell from her face to be replaced with tired indifference. "Just, just please don't do that again?" She brushed a fistful of hair away and sighed. "God you scared me."
"It was unintentional," he demurred. "You have my apologies." He motioned to his earpiece. "What were you saying about Belmont?" Now that they were eye to eye the devices were creating an echo. Arikado removed his, switched it off and then slid it into a pocket.
Yoko blinked, "Oh right, sorry." She reached up quickly to turn off her microphone as well. "Julius is on his way but the airport situation had been causing trouble. He's on a boat of all things, but he's coming as fast as he can." She also removed her earpiece and dropped it into her bag. "He wanted to know what we're running into but I couldn't give him specifics. Until today I thought I was chasing a spell, a curse at the worst, but not something that could think for itself. Now I don't know what to think." She looked at him, her gaze level, disciplined. "Arikado how bad do you think this is, really? If this is like our last incident with Celia then somewhere out there we've got another proto-castle and Soma is…"
There. She didn't need to say it, they both knew. Yoko shook her head, "Do you ever wish we could leash him? For his own sake? I have to be honest that there's only so far I can stretch the tolerance of the Church on this matter. The only reason I've managed as well as I have is they're scared; no one knows how he may respond if push comes to shove. They're happy enough to let him live as a student but if the alternative to direct intervention is an annual adventure with the forces of darkness… well, it's an impossible position. They may decide to take their chances."
Arikado knew exactly how much he trusted the restraint of the church. Not at all. "That would be a mistake."
"I know that!" She threw her hands up. "I know that, I know you know that, and Julius knows that, and anyone who's ever met Soma knows that! He's an overall a good guy who has a really scary side when things go insane, or if someone doesn't treat Mina properly, and I can get behind that any day of the week. But he is also a literal magnet for evil bullcrap! And I wish we could just take that away, I really do. Short of that I wish we could just stick a bungee cord on him somehow so at least I'd get pulled along for the ride."
Despite himself Arikado smiled. He needed it, she needed it, and it was an interesting if impractical plan. "I understand the sentiment but suspect something stronger than rope would be required for such a task. A chord that can hold what he is doesn't exist in the world now, if it ever did. You would have to pull it from a legend."
Yoko laughed faintly, it didn't reach her eyes. "You've put more thought into this than I have, haven't you? That makes sense." Her smile faded, the smudges of dirt and soot on her cheek looked all the starker without it. "You would have to what with how… with what you… You must be beside yourself; I'm being thoughtless, aren't I? I can't imagine how all of this makes you feel. I'm so sorry Arikado."
"Please don't apologize." He didn't want sympathy, certainly not now. There wasn't time for it. He would be fine until this crisis passed, and the one after this, and the one following that. She couldn't comprehend how accustomed he'd grown to dancing through disasters. His feelings had no place in this setting regardless. They were not safe to express among humans. "Let's focus on the task at hand and leave the rest. Our situation will improve once Julius arrives. The Vampire Killer is a complicated weapon uniquely attune to evil, in all likelihood it will be vital in guiding us to the heart of this matter."
"Guidance would be good. I'm flying blind but I'm sure this is connected to my latest assignment. If whatever did this is lingering nearby there will be a lot more trouble soon, with or without an evil castle. And whatever it is Soma will-" Music, loud and boisterously cheerful cut Yoko off as it blared out of her pocket. "Sorry, that's Mina's ringtone. I'd better take this." She fumbled slightly but pulled the cellphone free and placed it to her ear, cutting off the annoying tune. "Hey Mina I'm here, have you heard anything from Soma yet?"
Arikado could just make out the voice of the young Mikado on the other end of the call. He wanted words, but his instinct zeroed in on the fluctuations in her tone instead. She was shaken, she was frightened…
Yoko was offering assurances; they were coming, they were on their way, they would be there soon. She hung up and looked at him, lips pale and face white. "Mina's at the Hakuba Shrine and we need to join her. There's been a terrible accident."