The stale, oppressive air of smelled faintly of tea leaves and high-strung discipline. I sat slumped in a high-backed wooden chair, hands resting on my knees, my goggles reflecting the sharp glare of the afternoon sun filtering through the blinds. Across the desk sat Sona.
Her lips were moving, standard protocol for when someone wanted my attention, but my focus had already drifted elsewhere.
Mmm, look at you, looking all stoic.
Get off.
You look so serious when you're pretending to care about school business.
She whispered, her shadowy hands sliding up my chest and wrapping over my shoulders.
It's actually kind of hot.
Sona: ...and so the territorial balance must be maintained. Are you listening to me, Legend?
Legend: Always am.
I lied through my teeth. The specter in my mind climbed right into my lap, straddling me in broad daylight while Sona adjusted her glasses. Her fingers snaked beneath my jawline, tracing the hard, jagged contours of my mask.
Ignore her. She's boring. I'm not. How about I show you just how not-boring I can be right now?
She leaned in, biting playfully at the rim of my ear. My pulse spiked. Blood rushed through my veins, hot and sudden. My hands tightened on the wooden armrests of the chair until the oak groaned under the pressure.
Sona: —and if we do not act immediately, the situation in the canyons will escalate. LEGEND!
Sona's voice slammed through the fog. I snapped my head back toward the desk. My tormentor burst out laughing, draping herself across my shoulder like a triumphantly lazy cat.
Legend: Yes. I agree wholeheartedly. The jews were at fault.
Sona: I never said anything about jews. Tell me, are you currently being interrupted by your... "companion"?
I narrowed my eyes. My hearing picked up the faint rhythm of Sona's steady heartbeat, she was entirely serious.
Legend: How in Uncle Sam's name do you know about that?
Sona: Rias informed me. She mentioned you occasionally stare off into space and argue with empty air.
Figures. Loudmouth crimson-haired spoiled brat.
Legend: Rias talks too much. And for the record, she stopped visiting months ago. I'm fine. Just tired. Give me the brief recap of what you actually need so I can get out of this velvet cage.
Sona crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing behind her frames.
Sona: Fine. I sent a member of my peerage out to investigate reports of an unidentified creature lurking in the canyons of Jarbidge. He was supposed to check in twelve hours ago. He hasn't returned.
I scoffed, my voice raspy behind my mask.
Legend: Jarbidge? The wilderness out there is a meat grinder filled with every flavor of monstrosity the desert has to offer. You sent a greenhorn into a hostile environment alone? Outstanding management, Sitri.
Sona: It was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission.
Legend: Nothing is simple. What's the beast?
Sona: A bipedal humanoid. Highly aggressive, with a recorded craving for human flesh.
Ooh, a maneater! Is it a Tsawhawbitts? Remember those ugly bastards from the mountain passes?
YOU ARE READING
Madness: DxD
FantasíaWe are taught that strength is what keeps us alive. So he became strong. Strong enough to endure the battlefield. Strong enough to command men into hell and lead them back out. Strong enough to win a war that should have destroyed him. They called h...
