Chapter 34: Fear and despair

What had happened?

Izaya couldn't help but think about it. Again and again.

He had been pulled inside the current. Yes. And he knew Shizuo had warned him about it. But it wasn't like he had jumped in there for fun. It was an accident. And he heavily doubted Shizuo didn't know that.

So it wasn't the accident itself that seemed to have freaked the demon out.

Because something had.

He had seen it in his eyes. The way he looked. It was filled with fear.

Fear of what?

The sound of rustling tore Izaya out of his thoughts.

Shizuo had been gone for a while. Half an hour maybe. Or less. But inside hell, alone and in an unfamiliar environment time seemed to pass much slower than it actually did.

His new environment certainly didn't help either.

The currents of water had reduced to a single one moving ever so slowly towards the ground. Izaya suspected that the crab's absence of extra power was slowly but surely causing everything to revert back to its initial state.

A rough surface made up of mossy stone seemed to mimic their earlier destination, but the anilas were gone.

He didn't know how far they had traveled before, or whether they had gotten closer or farther away from Crysteria, but seeing as the stream of energized water was slowly calming down he figured the latter was more likely.

Pushing his palms towards the fire Izaya closed his eyes for a short moment and relished in the warmth that that it left behind.

Shizuo had saved him.

Despite his earlier warning he hadn't paid attention to his surroundings. To be fair he didn't think the current would actually move into his direction, but it happened nonetheless.

Was that why Shizuo was mad?

… no.

Something about his whole demeanor had changed at a single glimpse. It wasn't anger that he had directed at Izaya. It was fear. Fear mixed with sadness.

Was his demon power running wild?

The thought was no pleasant one and Izaya's eyes opened again as he looked at his surroundings.

With Shizuo nearby he hadn't really been anxious for the darkness shrouding the plants, or the various noises coming from all directions. He also had a hunch that Shizuo was close enough to watch him, but far enough for him to never spot his exact location.

Maybe it was something he said.

He had already fought and almost killed another demon before by accident. Maybe he just happened to look alike, or spoke like her?

Questions over questions swarmed Izaya's head and he sighed as he brought his hands back to his body.

Cracks had formed inside his palms. Almost like porcelain.

Trailing one of the marks with his finger, Izaya swallowed upon the light sting.

That's what the water had done to him in under a few seconds. Almost froze him alive. If Shizuo hadn't been there he would have burst like a fine pottery of porcelain on a marble floor.

Gruesome visuals of his body bursting and his blood decorating the ground in the form of the smallest crystals filled his mind and he frowned in mild anger.

He was ridiculously weak.

It wasn't like he had ever been a powerhouse or anything worth battling in a hand to hand fight when it came to pure strength, but he had had his own share of power.

Despite not remembering most of his conversational partners and reactions, he remembered his cunning personality. His words, flowing like liquid silver on a hot summer day.

Power was something that came in different forms and his own kind of it had run on words. Words that held the ability to keep people in place. Words that made people act in the ways he liked them to, without raising even a finger.

It was a kind of power and thrill much superior to that of raw strength.

But now? Here? Inside hell?

With the laughable creatures that were mere critters in Shizuo's eyes and monsters like the mimic? Any attempt of persuasion failed when there was no presence of a livid mind. Sure, he could have talked to the shapeshifter- but what kind of arguments would he have had to keep him in check in a world that was set to survival of the fittest?

Only a chance at another victim would have satisfied the creature, but even if he had had such a thing to offer, no creature or living being in hell had any reason to believe his words.

There was no reputation. No use of names or stats.

It was equally horrifying and amazing that Shizuo had managed to get by in such an environment for an entire millenia.

Even if he lost most of his memories in the process.

What had it been? A hit to the head? A curse? Some creature swallowing the memories up as an energy source?

By now Izaya had a feeling nothing happening inside hell was able to surprise him anymore, so the option of someone eating memories for dinner only seemed viable.

And yet… the timing and coincidence somehow kept nagging Izaya's mind.

Something about Shizuo, about their first meeting inside hell, just seemed so off.

Almost forced.

In a world as vast and empty as this, filled with almost nothing else but ravenous hunters, the coincidence of Izaya meeting the only sane demon available stuck out like a sore thumb.

Shizuo's fire crackled softly, gnawing away at the ground as it searched for fuel to its flames and Izaya frowned into the darkness.

Questions, one after the other, more and more started forming in his mind and before he knew it his legs had started carrying towards the planty forest. Away from the flames and towards the darkness.

He was tired of playing hide and seek, tired of hiding what would most likely not even bother the demon at all. So what if the goddess was out for his life?

It wasn't like she could enter hell.

So what if he was gambling on the demon lord to kill her off?

Shizuo had made it sound like he knew the guy personally the way he easily negated Izaya's suggestions of actions that he could take once he faced a human.

And this nostalgia-

Eyes narrowing, Izaya slid down the edge of a mossy stone.

"Where are you going?"

Slightly startled, Izaya's grasp failed to hold onto the mossy ground beneath and he gracefully slipped down the last part of the elevation.

Groaning slightly as he had landed right on his ass he tilted his head backwards.

Shizuo was back.

Sitting on top of the stone he had just descended and looked at him with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

A mask.

And not necessarily one he was wearing for Izaya's sake.

Mellowness defined his stance and his eyes held the same expression of fear and sadness as before.

Izaya knew the demon had been watching him. After all he had promised he was going to take him to Crysteria. And after exerting something like holy magic to save his life his doubt for Shizuo's actions was nonexistent.

Getting up from the ground with shaken legs, Izaya tried to regain control over his limbs. Walking had been alright but the coldness from the stream still stuck in his veins and caused a certain stiffness to reign over his body.

"I was hoping for you to come and ask," he replied, and as expected Shizuo seemed anything but delighted over the fact that Izaya had lured him back out.

What was it that he had done?

He didn't understand.

All he saw was sadness of a degree that could never possibly have stemmed from anything he had done and so he sighed softly.

"Sorry."

The word sounded awfully faint, but genuine in the way it carried itself across the familiar sound of the forest's noise.

And somehow, it seemed to be an apology that the demon didn't want.

"What are you apologizing for?" Shizuo asked, and the carefully crafted mask, mostly made to convince himself, crumbled like a fresh layer of wrongly baked clay.

"I don't know. Nothing? Everything?" Izaya tried. He was well aware he wasn't at the center of whatever it was that troubled Shizuo to this degree.

But that's exactly why he was apologizing.

"What kind of answer is that supposed to be?" Shizuo groaned, but it seemed he was very well aware of his contradictory behavior.

"A sufficient one?" Izaya tried and shrugged, "I don't know, you tell me."

Answers.

He wanted them.

No matter what kind, no matter which direction they led them into. Izaya just wanted to know what it was that seemed to bind their fates.

But Shizuo was far from willing to talk, and as quick as his expression had shown honesty, it was back to stoicism.

"You can rest assured. I am watching you. You won't have to worry about being attacked or anything," he suddenly announced, despite never having been asked anything alike and Izaya blinked.

"Of course you are. Why would you need to point that out?"

A breeze combed through the landscape and for a moment the demon seemed to hesitate. But whatever it was, that he was contemplating, his fear seemed to be winning.

"Just saying, even if you don't see me around I'm there," he announced, and with that he moved.

Away.

Because he was going to leave. Or at least stay as far away as possible from Izaya until they reached Crysteria- and somehow that thought caused an unfamiliar sense of despair in Izaya's chest.

Why?

He didn't know.

But all of a sudden he had the impending feeling of doom that parting from Shizuo was the worst action he could take at the moment and so his legs moved-

"Wait-" he called, but of course the demon was nowhere near slowing down.

Stone after stone was skipped, plants shoved aside.

Izaya followed, as quickly as he could.

He perfectly understood Shizuo's intentions.

In other words, he was going to leave while assuring him of his promise to get him to Crysteria.

But why?

Limbs still stiff and nowhere near back to his old speed, spurred into quicker motions and Izaya's teeth grit at the uncanny sensation it brought.

Shizuo was getting away. Farther and farther by the second.

"Why are you running away again?" he provoked from afar, hoping that his insinuation towards his past mistake would make him stop.

But it didn't.

Didn't even cause him to flinch.

"Didn't we agree to face the demon you almost killed together?" he tried again, but the plants were starting to move in between his eyes and Shizuo's silhouette.

Farns, stalks, wild bushes and stones of moss- it was only by movement that Izaya kept track of the demon's steps and in a last effort Izaya sped up.

"What happened to your request?!" he yelled from afar, and suddenly he stopped.

Because there was a wall.

A wall of stones, reaching up just a couple meters, and Shizuo on top.

It was insurmountable for Izaya in his current condition, if ever at all, and just for the brink of a second Izaya spotted Shizuo on top and yelled-

"Shizuo, wait-!"

Sudden despair, regret, longing and a sense of dread filled Izaya's request with more emotions than should be able to be carried. Izaya didn't even know anymore why he was this obsessed to get Shizuo to stop, but he was, and even Shizuo seemed to have noticed.

Stopping in his run the demon stood atop the wall. He didn't seem to be contemplating returning, nor did he seem to consider changing his mind.

Izaya didn't even know what it was that had caused him to stop, but he was glad he did.

"What's your problem?" he called from afar, loud enough to make Shizuo hear. There were many other questions he could have asked of course. But somehow this one was the first to drop off his mind, and it seemed it hit bull's eye as Shizuo finally groaned.

"You-" he announced, loud, louder than expected, and turned. "You are my problem! You- "

But then he froze.

Immediately.

As if having been pierced by a searing arrow of liquid fire and all emotions were suddenly wiped off his face.

Strain instantly forced his body into tension and his horns grew in the manner Izaya had last seen when Shizuo tried to convince what he believed to be a mediocre demon to turn back.

His eyes had formed slits, his expression shifted to one made for combat.

Loss of sanity. The number one danger Shizuo had warned him about, struck Izaya like a cord and his body stiffened.

Was he losing control? Was this what it looked like before he went on a killing spree? Was it what this female demon had seen before being torn to shreds?

Madness and strength in purest form beyond anything Izaya had ever seen straightened Shizuo's stance.

And suddenly he spoke.

"Izaya, don't move."

And Izaya did.

Because that's when he realized.

Shizuo wasn't losing control.

He wasn't preparing to tear Izaya to shreds.

He wasn't looking at Izaya.

He was looking past his body, at something Izaya had failed to notice.

And it was insanely dangerous.

to be continued~

C: C: C: C:

This one is a tiny lil bit shorter, but the next one will be longer in exchange xD

See you next friday~ C: