Chapter 74: Exploration
Drenched from head to toe, the cold water from the river pearled off Shizuo's skin as he returned from the river. The blood from his face was gone, but not from his clothes. Brown like earth the stains remained like a scar of a previous battle, serving an awfully reminder of what he had done.
And yet Shizuo seemed awfully calm and collected.
A quick nod was directed towards Izaya and the woman on the ground treating Leo's wounds, signaling that he was ready for whatever it was that would be thrown their way.
It was assuring and disturbing at the same time how everyone in this group seemed to deal better with this new situation than Izaya himself.
"Let's go," Izaya ordered and returned to the route they had taken.
No more words were spoken. No questions asked.
The silence of a few hundred years ago was all that shrouded the night and somehow Izaya wished he could have stayed behind.
Which was stupid.
He knew the most about their current surroundings, so it only made sense that he was going to check out the monastery first.
Branches slapped in his face and a few trees were passed as Izaya had memorized a few hints on their path.
"We have to sneak in as quietly as we can," he whispered as soon as they were out of hearing range. "Once we do we should look for Marcius. Or no, maybe get proper clothes first. and then-" but his words came to a shortstop, when the feeling of warm flesh circled his wrist and for a second Izaya's heart skipped a beat.
Because it was dark as hell.
And Shizuo's hair dyed black was anything but a familiar presence. For a second Izaya thought about the idea of the demon that was responsible for their genes being alive and lurking around in the shadows of the forest- but no. It was just Shizuo who had circled Izaya's wrist and stopped him in his walk.
"Are you okay?" he asked, as if he had not just served the greatest jumpscare in Izaya's life- but the question didn't regard his most recent reaction.
He was talking about before. About the way Izaya had panicked upon realizing their newest fate.
This area. What laid ahead-
A hard smile forced itself on Izaya's expression at the honest inquiry.
He wanted to say yes, wanted to say no, but neither felt completely right.
He felt like he was falling into a pit with no end, a limbo of some sorts, keeping him from steady ground.
There was no force to Shizuo's touch, no reason to stay in place. If he wanted to, he could pull away, but instead his shoulders sank and suddenly he just felt extremely small.
Overwhelmed.
As if he were a barrel filled with water, already overflowing with no restriction, but still being poured into.
There was no safety in these times. No sense of reason apart from superstitions and rudimental politics in the form of who knew who and was able to threaten someone better than the other.
Torture was still a thing too. Burning witches really was the least of their worries out of everything ahead, and somehow Izaya's lips turned heavy as iron as the smile slipped.
"If I said yes it would be a lie."
And Shizuo somehow understood. And that understanding forced his own face into one of worry and bitterness.
"Izay-" he wanted to speak, wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay- but there was no time left for that as they suddenly heard noise.
Voices.
Pressing against two trees not too far the two quickly hid in the safe shadows of the night.
A few men, probably belonging to the church, were walking near the forest and talking loudly about the calamity that was the fire that had befallen their church.
Two tall figures with sunken eyes, clothed in old tunics were walking away from the monastery. Buckets void of water dangled from their arms. Now that the fire was extinguished they were probably carrying them back to their initial destination.
"To go that far…" one of them whispered, slightly slower than the other. He seemed fatigued. Streaks of ashes clung to his body and a few of his gray hair had been burnt by the searing flames.
He has obviously given his all to save the church from its fate.
His partner, not so much.
Tunic fairly clean and only stained with water in a few places he seemed fairly unfazed.
"He had it coming. We warned him too," his heavy voice filled with anger traversed the nightly air. Hiding in the shadows of the wood, Izaya listened in.
It was dark, and he couldn't make out much except their clothes and white hair reflecting in the moonlight, but he figured they were around forty.
"Brother, you know he is doing it for the children," his old friend scolded, but didn't seem to be quite convincing.
"Do you cut your own flesh when a peasant asks for food?" his partner asked ludicrous and Izaya blinked at the harsh words.
Monks were supposed to help the poor, both in their spiritual needs as well as their physical ones. He had to be a rather grumpy kind of human.
"Aren't all the same in God's eyes? What do you think he would have done in priest Marcius' stead?"
Perking his ears at the usage of the one responsible for their current demise, Izaya took his chance to step a bit closer.
"Not bargained with the devil himself, that I am sure of, brother," the monk argued but his brother merely raised his hand to gesture to the church in the distance. His tunic resembled more of a robe as it flowed in the silky night.
"Look at what it got him."
Their sight was impaired by trees and the fall of night, but no vision was necessary to know that he was talking about the fire that had lept up its walls just a few moments prior.
But his brother seemed hardly impressed.
"It were the farmers that set the church aflame, not the devil," he reminded with no shred of doubt in his voice and his friend clicked his tongue as he sped up in his steps.
"Is there really a difference?" he grumbled under his breath, and his friend followed.
Answers lacked and quicker than desired the two had proceeded out of hearing range.
Eyes expectant, Izaya looked towards the church.
"What does that mean? Did that priest already sell his soul?" Shizuo whispered what Izaya had in mind, but seemed fairly less thrilled about that fact.
"I doubt they would truly know, but the chances are high he did."
"Fuck-" Shizuo cursed, and Izaya smiled as he stepped into the moonlight.
"No, that's good."
Confusion displayed on Shizuo's expression as he looked at Izaya.
"How on earth is that a good thing? I thought we were trying to keep that from happening?"
After all the complaints Izaya had had about their genes, about their abilities that they never asked for, he thought the goal was to keep exactly that from happening.
Smile spreading, Izaya shook his head, "Imagine, what if this priest had taken another ten years until he met the incubus that started this? Would you have really wanted to stay here for that long? Or longer?"
Right.
That would have sucked.
Having arrived had already provided way too many obstacles and rules to stick to. Staying here for longer than two weeks appeared to already be risky enough.
Shizuo ignored the way Izaya talked as if he already knew how they would return to their own timespan. It was obviously some kind of self defense mechanism.
"But if the deal has already been made what can we do?" he asked instead and Izaya tipped his lips in a moment of deep thought.
"First we need to check out whether these monks are just superstitious. After all, a lot of actions are labeled as demonic or witchcraft in this age," Izaya announced and stepped forth towards the old representation of the monastery. "But I really hope they are right. Because if priest Marcius already made the deal, then there is a good chance the demon is still around."
Shizuo followed quickly and his eyes narrowed.
"To kill him?"
He was no fan of murder. And yet after having killed Vincent, after taking care of those officers having the root of all evil in range of their grasp it was the only solution he saw.
But to his surprise Izaya shook his head instead.
"To negotiate."
Obvious confusion must have reflected in Shizuo's expression at the statement, because Izaya elaborated with no need to ask. "Think about it, the demon has long died in our times. Yet we still carry the priest's curse. If we follow that logic, then the chances are high that killing the demon won't change a thing."
Right.
That made sense.
In that case trying to talk to the demon might really prove to be the only way to change their fates. But-
"What would you negotiate with? We have nothing to offer," Shizuo pointed out.
After all they had just dropped into this world from the future with nothing to present worthy for a demon to reconsider his deals.
Their abilities stemmed from the very same demon and if it were human lifes that he wanted in exchange to take back his contract Shizuo would never let Izaya agree to it.
"That depends on what the demon desires," Izaya argued, perfectly avoiding to dive further into the topic as he looked towards the church. "And that's exactly why we have to find this priest Marcius and have him show us the way."
And with that he moved.
Quick steps lead towards the church and wary eyes scanned their surroundings as they left the forest border.
The people gathered outside the church had disappeared.
Whether they had returned to a nearby village of some sorts or retreated inside the monastery as something Izaya couldn't determine yet, but it was of no importance as long as they weren't seen.
Fire stopped and water staining the walls, the church looked awfully shabby. Cut down to half the size Izaya and Shizuo had been presented, they looked at what appeared to be half of the monastery they knew.
Parts of the building had already been constructed.
Aiming for the front door, Izaya approached quickly and quietly.
"In and out, if no one is there we stay if the hall is filled we leave," he announced quickly with his palm on the handle and Shizuo nodded before their time stopped.
Izaya was awfully glad that he was at least fully charged and free to use his ability as he pleased as the door to the monastery was pushed open.
The candles inside the church had stopped flickering and luckily only a single nun of old age stood besides the altar.
Sneaking in between a few seats made of wood, Izaya and Shizuo hid before Izaya was forced to let time flow once more.
"Sister Monica," another nun announced as she burst inside past the door leading to the sleeping chambers. Illuminated by the candles, Izaya was able to see her face and recognized her as the one he had seen earlier, looking at the burning church outside in absolute horror.
The color of her hair was partly hidden by her veil, but a strand of hazelnut peeked forth from the side of her ears. Same as a soft scar, settled right above her eyebrows framing eyes of deep blue.
"What do you need, sister Eclair?" the old nun questioned and turned, allowing for Izaya to see her face as well. Wrinkles told stories about old ages and pained joints, but none of that was shown on her positive attitude as she faced her younger colleague.
"The farmer, his condition worsened, father Marcius asked for your aid," the nun called Eclair answered and her mentor nodded as her steps sped up.
"Lead the way," she said, and the nun quickly opened the door she had come through.
Quicker than expected the two of them were left alone inside the church and Izaya stood from the row.
It was a little uncanny how awfully similar their surroundings appeared.
The burned marks on the walls were arguably fresh, but still represented the same patterns he had been shown by Roy.
The same halls, filled with different tables and candles made of fat were brought together only by the smell of myrrh that was present even in this time and age.
Quickly heading towards the very same door the nuns had left through, Izaya advanced from their initial spot.
"What does a priest even do except for praying and preaching?" Shizuo questioned as he glanced towards the altar.
Priest Marcius wasn't here of course, but the idea of this place was still the same.
"Usually monks and nuns were asked to nurse sick people back to health or assist those in need. Housing travelers is also something they occasionally do with the excuse to obey God's will. The priest is more like a headmaster of a school, surveilling their actions and serving that connection to God," Izaya answered quickly, while stopping the flow of time once more.
The candle's flames paused and the door to the corridor was opened. No living person was to be spotted and so Izaya ended his ability as quickly as he had started it. "Apart from praying he does everything the monks and nuns do if needed and serves as a spiritual outlet. Depending on his status he might advise their current ruler too."
Time was stopped, and the room to the right that they had used to sleep in was opened. It was a gamble, really. But Izaya doubted all rooms were being used at the same time. And opening any of the doors was going to bring them to their goal quicker than to wait for anyone to emerge.
"So they are… advising doctors?" Shizuo asked as soon as Izaya realized with joy that luck was on his side.
Their room was empty.
"More or less, yeah. But they are a far inferior version," he explained, before moving to a wooden box on the side.
"Compared to what we call medicine, these people use nothing more than trial and error to cure a patient. A simple paper cut might kill you as much as a sword piercing your guts. Not to mention actual illnesses," Izaya explained, while finding exactly what he had been looking for. A set of simple linen blankets with no symbols or otherwise recognizable patterns. "Of course it's partly their own fault for not understanding the simple concept of cleaning themselves."
Standing on the side, left to do nothing but watch Izaya, Shizuo's expressions darkened.
"... is that why you are so worried?"
Halting in his motion, Izaya hesitated. A bitter smile spread across his lips, albeit half hearted as he met Shizuo's gaze.
It wasn't a true answer to his question but more than enough to know he was right.
The blankets Izaya had found were pulled from their confinements and quickly brought to Izaya's chest.
"This should be enough," he announced, and Shizuo showed light confusion as Izaya's words sounded like an implication that they were going to leave.
"Didn't you want to check out the monastery?" he asked, but Izaya quickly shook his head.
"As much as I would love to analyze this whole situation myself, I don't want to leave them out in the woods for too long."
Right. Namie and his siblings were still out there. And with Leo's condition-
Eyes narrowing, Shizuo started to understand why this age was unsettling to Izaya.
"The smallest injury might kill them, I'm not about to leave them to nature's whim," Izaya continued, only proving Shizuo's suspicion further.
"What about Leo?" he asked, and Izaya's gaze hardened.
"Namie is treating him so his chances are better than what most people of this age would expect."
He was avoiding the question. That was not what Shizuo wanted to know.
"But he might still die?" he asked again, and an oppressive silence rendered Izaya's lips shut as he glanced towards Shizuo.
No answer was needed as Shizou found his worries confirmed and understood Izaya's hurry.
"Let's head back."
to be continued~