Page 69 of Runes To Rain
I chuckle to myself at still thinking of the apartment as Lily’s home. I spend so much time at the stronghold or on tasks such as this that it is not as though I’m fully living there. I do spend more nights there than anywhere else.
Once I have removed all traces of the human’s blood and changed into fresh clothing, I walk into the hallway. Pointingthrough the open door at the magic circle, I drew on the floor of the bunker, I send my energy to it, and the fire begins. The magic will cause the fire to quickly consume everything in the room without needing more air. It will burn hot enough that nothing will remain other than a little ash.
I press the door shut quickly and trace a rune on its surface to lock it. Despite my general ambivalence regarding their kind, I wouldn’t want a human to mistakenly open it while the fire burns. They must be guarded against their own stupidity.
With that done, I dematerialize, transporting myself to our stronghold to gather the last pieces of information I need before I speak with Chaosta.
I stumble as I materialize and nearly fall. That isn’t like me. Resisting the band’s summons just over a fortnight ago was agony, physically and mentally, and it clearly depleted my energy. I have continued to struggle with transporting myself ever since, though it does seem to be improving with time.
I hope they don’t try to summon me again. If they do, someone is going to end up dead, and it is less likely to be me.
DIO’S JOURNAL - ENTRY 341
Annum:5615
Entry 341 -praecantopraecantatio
It’s been almost a fortnight since I wrote in this journal. This time it’s because we’ve been making so much progress.
As I write this entry, I can say confidently that we’ve mastered the basics of weather magic. Chiron isn’t nearly as good at teaching as Malam was. However, between the passages and runes Chaosta has found for us and the consistent help we have finally figured it out. Despite that, I have to admit I’ll be glad when Malam returns and replaces this new demon. This one is even more irritable and is quite prone to rudeness. I didn’t think I’d ever say it, but I think I prefer Malam.
There is so much more magic to learn, but this was our first real step. To have achieved this is a significantrelief. Of course, it also means it is time to pick up the magical item we need for our end goal. The guys and I talked about it last night after Chiron left. This magical item was part of Malam’s plan, and I’m not sure if we should include the new demon or not. Since we aren’t sure of his relationship with Malam, to be cautious, we decided to keep it to ourselves.
The plan is to pick the stone up on the way to our next concert. The shop that has the stone is near our concert venue, so we decided it made the most sense to add a stop rather than taking the time to go separately. It feels to me as though we are combining two worlds we have attempted to keep apart. That seems like asking for bad luck, but I’m probably just being grim.
We have also made time to focus on our music again. Since we’re on a strict schedule with Chiron, we’ve moved band rehearsal to earlier in the day. Reem is coming apart at the seams with the stress of the upcoming concert, and Fem, Lent, and I agreed to daytime rehearsals mainly to try to calm him. That man sure cares about the band. Earlier rehearsals have meant that most of the time, Chaosta is researching by herself. However, I’m not at all surprised at this point that she seems to be doing as well on her own as the three did together.
Also, thanks mostly to Reem and our new assistant, who has the strange name of Pepper, our record was released without a hitch. While I despised dedicating time to posing for photographs and being asked nearlyan infinite number of times to review wording and layouts, it is good to have it in physical form, finally. We’re planning to do a signing at the upcoming concert as well as another independent signing a few weeks later. I can’t even begrudge the time for band shit now with how we’ve improved with our weather magic. Also, anything to settle Reem.
WELL, THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Iflinch as I remove this final stitch from the wound at the bottom edge of my ribs. I’m glad I am nearly done with this now. Just one more wound to go.
I take a minute to compose myself. Looking in the mirror, I see a tendril of my pink hair stuck to my forehead by perspiration. There are still dark circles under my mismatched eyes, but my nose is mostly healed. A mix of scars and still-healing wounds covers my entire torso. Because of the fortnight that has passed, even the freshest wounds have healed considerably. I’ve had to re-tape my fingers as they aren’t healed yet, but they are feeling better. Time and demon healing magic have done wonders, and I’ve been feeling more and more physically capable again.
Taking another breath, I steel myself and begin on the last wound. As a distraction from this unpleasant task, I focus on how well things have been going with the boys. The atmosphere of the house changed completely once they successfully released their album. They have also been telling me how much progress they’ve made with their magic work.
I am honestly not seeing much of them at this point. Sincethey have nightly commitments with Chiron, they’ve been rehearsing their music during the day. It means I’ve been on my own for research, which is lonely. It also feels slower, but based on what they have told me, it sounds as though the information I’ve been giving them has still been helping.
Dio still isn’t speaking to me, but because I barely see him, things between us haven’t felt as tense. Other than the incident where he showed up with a black eye and bloody knuckles, he seems to be recovering from whatever was bothering him before. His clothes aren’t hanging on him like they were, and the dark circles under his eyes are mostly gone.
Knowing now what addiction means, when I got released and saw Dio looking so unkempt, I thought perhaps my gut reaction was right. Perhaps Dio thought he was seeing something in me that had plagued him and had begun to struggle again. Now, though, as he has begun to look better, it seems unlikely. It must have been my imagination. Or maybe I was grasping for something to hurt him similarly to how he’d hurt me.
With research, sword practice, and the pain I am still in, I’ve had plenty of distractions, and yet there is still far too much time available for me to obsess. I have made, and then promptly not acted on, so many plans regarding my relationship with Dio. Finally, deciding the intense swirl of emotions was too much to deal with all at once, I made a different plan. I am going to talk with him and see if we can manage an easy relationship. I would like to at least feel as though I can consider him a friend.
I wish I could have that with Reem as well, but I have been a thorn in his side for too long. I know how much I have distracted from the band. Also, I don’t have much motivation to deal with that relationship until I have things figured out with Dio.
Suddenly, I am hit by the sound of wings in flight. I knowwhat I’m going to see before I look up to the mirror, but I do so anyway. Malam is standing behind me, as I suspected, only this time his eyes are wide and fixed on me.
I had been trying to keep the evidence of my torture from him. Malam seeing what the angels did to his creation isn’t something I felt would help anyone. I have known he was aware there were wounds he couldn’t see, but I had hoped to keep the significance of them from him.
Nothing else for it now, I look down and focus on removing the next stitch as I say, “Hello Malam, what brings you here?” Silence hangs over the room as I continue with my task.
Just as I am about to ask again, he chokes out some sound, syllables that don’t make sense.
Without looking at him, I say, “Are you going to answer my question or are you going to make me kick you out of my room?”
Silence again fills the space. By the time he responds, I’m removing the last stitch, carefully controlling my breathing in an attempt not to further upset him.
