Chapter 11: Peace of mind

Alright.

This was a short story.

An incredibly slim and boring one. After waking up in this world and determining it as some form of reincarnation Izaya had figured there was something he had to do in order to return to his own. He figured this was the stage of the play that the goddess wanted him to enact. That's why he moved to hell.

That's why he was searching for the demon lord to get him on his side and abuse his power to defeat her.

All in all Izaya had accounted for a lot of possibilities.

But dying again had not exactly been one of them.

Sitting on the ground of burnt ashes he couldn't find any sense in moving his limbs.

What for?

The golden haired demon was looking at him. He had already spotted what he probably viewed to be his next prey. So why make a fool of himself and run?

Into which direction even?

He had no idea of the topography, not to mention the creatures or means to survive.

Simply running wasn't going to cut it, the monster from before had really done its best to show Izaya how useless his kind of speed was compared to hell.

And so he sat with his head low.

And waited.

What was going to happen once this demon chopped his head off his shoulders? Was he going to be reincarnated again? Into which world? The same? Was this some kind of video game where he would restart at the last checkpoint?

And if so, where was the last checkpoint? At the mansion? Ikebukuro?

Would he get back to his own world?

What a delightful idea that was.

And so he waited.

He was no fan of jumpscares and had wanted to avoid looking at the demon as he came for his body, so he had decided to avert his gaze.

But the pain in his shoulder grew more annoying by the second. Thrumming like a waterfall perpetually hitting stone, the throbbing increased steadily.

Could this demon please hurry up?

Annoyance called to Izaya's expression and so he lifted his face.

He expected to see the demon smiling, licking his lips maybe, or have him rush close up- except… he was gone?

Head turning quicker than supposed to Izaya felt a light inkling of lightheadedness as he jumped to his feet.

Gone-

He was gone.

That demon-

No, wait.

Body freezing quickly, Izaya glanced to the side.

There he was.

A small body of water, not larger than a big puddle laid bare in between a few heaps of the ashen ground. It was the same kind of liquid Izaya had seen his reflection in upon arriving in hell.

Scooping up as much as he could, the demon abused the water to rinse most of the creature's blood off his body. It was a surreal sight but even more than that it was a relief.

Slit eyes darted back to Izaya for just a moment and he held his breath. But strangely enough the demon's eyes didn't trigger fear.

…they hadn't done so earlier either.

Sure, Izaya had awaited his death somewhat, but the act of being killed hadn't quite evoked that sensation. Maybe because he had already died before? Because dying seemed more like a reset now instead of a definite end?

Izaya couldn't tell. And yet, looking at the demon he couldn't shake the feeling of control that suddenly overshadowed the pain in his shoulders and the frown on his face.

This demon.

Why did he seem familiar?

It was an odd sensation for sure because he was pretty damn confident to never have met a demon in Ikebukuro or Shinjuku- … or had he? The thought itself seemed to tug at a memory locked away in the back of his mind.

Wordlessly turning the demon's eyes averted as quickly as they had settled on him and Izaya realized he was simply of no interest to him.

Leisurely as if having all the time in the world the demon steered away from the clearing and back towards the edge of the forest.

They had a conscience. Demons that is.

Whatever the creature before had been, it seemed to differ from the demon in front in one fundamental aspect.

The creature was hunting prey to kill to survive.

The demon had killed the creature in order to take back what belonged to him. It proved a certain amount of intellect and will to differentiate.

And washing the blood off afterwards didn't exactly leave the impression of the demon indulging in needless killing day in and out.

Basically, from what Izaya witnessed right now, this demon was acting with reason.

Slow movement from behind caused Izaya's body to jerk.

The corpse was shifting slightly and for a horrifying second Izaya thought it to be still alive and ready to attack. But the actual truth proved even worse as another creature of the same kind rolled the dead body over.

Fangs of dripping poison and saliva rushed into the creature's guts, feasting on their fallen companion. The sight was as sickening as it was dangerous and Izaya quickly backed away.

A mistake-

The second he did, the creature's attention shifted.

Its tail propped up, its eyes focused on Izaya and holding his breath he remained still. There was a meal right in front of the monster- and running was only going to kill Izaya anyway- so he waited and hoped.

Hoped for the monster to realize it had a perfectly fine dinner right in front of it and that there was no need to kill another prey.

Because he was dead as soon as that monster decided securing two meals at once was the favorable option.

Slow and threatening its body moved- the harsh clacking of its hard shelled body segments clicked in the air and Izaya held his breath.

And then it shrieked.

As if having burnt itself with searing flames of fire the creature suddenly shifted and jumped back. The tail was brought close as if to defend itself and its fangs parted to reveal a hissing jaw.

It took Izaya a hot minute to unfreeze and actually turn his head to follow the creature's gaze.

The demon.

He was still there.

Pulling at one of the thistles' branches he mindlessly ripped a leaf from the stem as he walked on.

His attention wasn't even on the monster and yet it acted as thought the demon was threatening its life by his mere presence.

And that's when Izaya realized that thought actually rang true.

That's exactly what this was. The monster was shunning away from the demon.

Whether it had seen him take apart one of his kind or somehow realized the difference in strength by other means was unclear, but as soon as the connection was drawn Izaya knew he was right.

It was afraid.

Ignoring the jabs of pain shooting up his shoulder Izaya quickly moved- into the direction of the demon.

Of course he exercised utmost caution while doing so.

The plan was easy and the route to survive crystal clear.

Follow the demon.

As long as he stayed close to someone of shunning strength like him, what appeared to be the critters of hell wouldn't dare to approach.

These creatures were stronger, faster and sturdier than Izaya could ever hope to be. Facing one would only end with his certain death.

The demon on the other hand didn't seem like he cared even the least about Izaya.

Carefully, as if trying to catch a bird sitting by a trinket, Izaya moved.

The goal of following the demon was one thing, executing the task without being spotted or getting on his nerves another.

The demon was going to notice Izaya sooner rather than later and so the gear in his head turned and twisted. The demon's words spat in annoyance earlier resurfaced in Izaya's mind and the option of negotiation made itself apparent. But how was he going to charm a demon? He knew his silver tongue never fell short on a witty reply and he trusted himself to come up with something the moment it was needed, but the thought still lingered.

What did demons want?

Souls?

A contract?

Amusement?

Sex?

Neither of those ideas struck Izaya as fitting as he watched his involuntary savior force his way down the shrouded hill.

While he might be astoundingly good looking and his kind raping women left and right the second they dared to summon one of them, Izaya somehow felt a different desire in his behavior.

He was behaving quite.. peaceful.

He didn't know why, or how, but as soon as the idea came up it forced itself into him as nothing but absolute truth.

The way he behaved, the way he spoke, the way he ignored Izaya- yeah, he just wanted to be left alone.

Increasing the distance held towards the demon Izaya tried to align with that goal in mind.

He had a feeling as long as he didn't aggravate his nerves he was going to be safe.

Eyes traveling left and right Izaya looked at the bypassing landscape.

Not much had changed except for the ground. The ash that had taken up the place reserved for grass had disappeared and warm obsidian stone supported Izaya's weight instead.

Sharp edges and sparsely spread stones pointing upwards reminded Izaya to watch his feet.

Tripping in this area might as well deal a nice cut and following blood infection as it was.

Palm covering his shoulder, Izaya was suddenly very glad about his injury being an internal one rather than an exterior.

From what he could discern it seemed to be dislocated.

Painful perhaps, but not deadly.

He wasn't bleeding, there was no risk of infection- and as long as he found a proper way to pop it back in place he wouldn't have to worry about inflammation either.

He had been lucky despite his quite unlucky encounter.

And what more?

The demon seemed to be heading into a favorable direction as well.

he was moving towards one of the mountains. If nothing else then it would serve a good viewpoint- and who knew? In best case the demon lord's castle would be visible from there or sit on the very top of exactly that mountain.

Pushing a farn aside the familiar sound of quiet chirps returned and Izaya lifted his gaze.

The sugar gliders- they had returned.

Carefree as if not having a single worry in the world they jumped from thistle to thistle in excited dashes.

Left and right, behind and up front-

One steered right for the demon's body and for a second Izaya choked.

He expected the demon to slice it midair, spraying its guts onto himself and the ground when he lifted his arm-

Quite the gruesome picture of course, but considering this was a demon the only viable conclusion.

But he didn't.

Gracefully, as if executing the task daily the small flying creature of fluff descended onto the demon's arm and jumped to his golden hair.

Curious glances were cast left and right before the sugar glider deemed the demon's hair just right to curl up in and build a nest to rest.

Hand stilling on top of a moss covered stone, Izaya blinked in surprise.

This demon seemed awfully gentle.

Thoughts trailing back to the tavern, the castle and mansion Izaya had seen a lot of actions- all had stemmed from impure thoughts, envy and greed. All overly humane of course, but the worst aspects.

Seeing how demons were supposed to hold the crown when it came to dark impulses and evil deeds it was quite astonishing to see one act so differently.

It was when that demon moved beyond a particularly huge piece of farn that Izaya quickly picked up the pace.

Face scrunched he grit his teeth as he jumped across a set of fallen thistles.

Farns were shoved aside, hands moved and before Izaya knew it his body jerked as he came face to face with no one else but the demon himself.

"Why are you following me?"

to be continued~

Now why are you Izaya? Do you have a good excuse? xDDD