Madness: DxD

A Quiet Signal in the Static

I'm leaning back in a chair that's seen better eternities. Charlie's across from me, hands wrapped around a mug that's smiling too much to be sincere.

Y/N: The guy gave me a gem and a photo of the woman. Used it to unlock a door hiding a submarine.

Charlie's eyes sparkle. She always looks like she's watching the world through a hopeful filter that hasn't been recalled yet.

Charlie: Oh my gosh, did you thank him?

Y/N: Yeah. By serving him water contaminated with dog feces.

She laughs, bright and earnest. It's contagious. I hate that.

Y/N: Anyway, turns out he and his brother were trying to achieve immortality. Funny thing though, they tested the elixir on a dog who suffered no changes. Thinking it works he gulped it down only to—

My medallion twitches. Not a polite shiver. A violent, animal thrash.

That can't be good.

Charlie: Um. Y/N? Your necklace is vibrating. Is that... normal?

The medallion bucks again. I've felt this before. Right before everything goes bad in creative ways.

Y/N: No.

The lights flicker. The air tightens, like reality's holding its breath. Then—

A shockwave. Magic, raw and ugly, tears through the hotel. I'm airborne for half a second before the floor slams into me. Something cracks. Might be the floor. Might be me. Luckily Charlie landed on her butt.

Charlie: Y/N!

I'm already up. Pain's a suggestion. I bolt for the doors.

Charlie's right behind me. I should've told her to stay. Too late.

The sky is wrong. Redder. Deeper. And there he is, Alastor. Floating like he owns the place, grinning like a certain dead clown.

In his hands is a golden staff. Old. Hungry. The kind of thing that whispers in dead languages and means it.

Horrors spill from it. Shadows with teeth, screaming geometry, things that don't agree with being seen. The city's already bleeding.

I know that magic. Eldritch. Got to be. Not something you wave around unless you want the universe to notice you.

Charlie: Y/N... Is that Alastor? What is he doing?

She sounds small. I don't like that.

Y/N: Listen to me. Real close.

I grab her shoulders. She flinches, then steadies. Brave kid.

Y/N: You're going to close the hotel. Barricade it. Then you take everyone to your secret room underground.

Charlie: What's going—!

Y/N: I'll explain later. When you're down there, you don't open the door for anything. You might start hearing familiar voices. Do not, under any circumstances listen to them.

I pause.

Y/N: Especially not mine.

That lands. Her eyes widen.

Charlie: You're scaring me.

Y/N: Good. Fear keeps you alive.

Another wave of magic ripples out. I stagger. The medallion is practically clawing its way out of my chest.

Alastor laughs from the sky. Where did he get his hands on eldritch artifacts.

Charlie: What about you?