The Death We Seek

A Complex Mass of Circuitry and Wires [Chapter 7]

Issei couldn't sleep. He didn't even try.

His thoughts were running at the speed of light, and yet weren't moving an inch from their place.

He stared up at his ceiling, reminiscing on the good times of his past. The friends he had, even if they were scumbag perverts, the lovers he had picked up. The people that taught him everything he knew, the people he cherished, the connections he made. The cycle of hatred he had broken between Dragon Emperors.

Simpler times. Before every single one of them had died. Some had fought, some could not.

He isolated himself from his friends because he was not the same. He was too focused on building his lovers' trust to make any moves. He had no opportunities to meet the people that tutored him yet. It felt like he had made no progress since coming back. Like it was all pointless and it would all be the same as it was the last time.

Sirzechs was due to come soon. He should at least shower and present himself fairly well before his past brother-in-law.

But he was glued to his bed, bound by his thoughts.

When said in-law teleported directly into his room, his face had look grievous. Either he didn't notice the smell or didn't care.

"Tell me what happened Ise."

"...The mirages are active. Something has changed since last time."

Issei didn't move when answering, still staring at the ceiling. The gift of future knowledge was his only saving grace, and if it wasn't reliable, there was no guarantee he could save anyone.

"I see. We'll put every devil territory above ground on high alert and make sure they inform us of any movements."

"Don't bother. These things, even before killing any notable numbers and evolving, were stealthy enough to carve a teleportation gate directly onto the magic circle that prevented transmission into Heaven."

"But if something has changed, surely that information has questionable accuracy? I'll inform them anyway, what is it that changed?"

"It spoke."

".......Could they not before?"

"Azazel spent a lot of time dissecting both models in the past. Neither had the capability for speech, nor the desire to create it."

"That is more worrying. Were there any outliers?"

"Some had unique adaptations, but not a single one out of the hundreds of millions determined speech was important. As far as we observed, at least."

"Interesting. What about the one you encountered?"

"It was entirely passive. In the past, they would sometimes act weirdly dramatic in conflicts. Like they wanted to see you put on a show before you died. Never passive, and never speaking. I captured the one I found, if you'd like to see it."

"That may be for the best. Right now, we're relying on information purely from you. A first encounter would help drastically."

Issei outstretched his hand and, upon Sirzechs placing his own atop it, made the magical link to his teleportation rune connect properly. Following a rather prolonged transfer, they both stood facing the door of a decadent cabin within a dense deciduous forest still holding hands. Breaking their grip gently, Issei approached the woodworm-infested door and twisted the rusted handle while pushing forward gently.

When walking inside, Sirzechs expected many things. Nothing was not one of those things. It was a fairly damp abandoned shack barren of life larger than insects. There was another door to the left in the rear, but besides some standard furniture, that was all. Issei broke the tense silence.