- Izanami, Lucifer, Peter, Yvere -
Yvere and Peter were staring up at a purple sky while sitting across from Izanami and Lucifer. The two pairs were both seated at wooden tables. Peter and Yvere's table had food and drinks, while Lucifer and Izanami's were covered in books.
"Does it change?" Yvere asked.
"Once every few days," Peter answered. "Enma's magic seems to be at full strength right now."
"Well-informed," Izanami complimented Peter. "Now then."
Lucifer leaned back. "The Seventh Day Theory, also known as The Reverse Creation or The Dream."
"Dream? Like Cthulhu?" Yvere whispered to Peter.
"Sorta," Peter whispered back.
Lucifer tapped his fingers on the book in front of him. "There's also the Bleeding Cloth Theory, but that falls into a different category than the main three names."
Izanami's eyes perked up. "Wait! I'm not overly familiar with that one."
Lucifer tore a piece of his shirt's sleeve and pulled out his dagger. He moved all the books on the table to Izanami's side. He waved for Yvere to come over. He cut deep into his hand and then wrapped the cloth around the wound.
As the blood dripped through the cloth, Lucifer explained, "Our world is the wound, the cloth is the 'barrier' between our world and the humans', and the blood is the mental information of our world."
Yvere's hand was shaky as she healed Lucifer's wound.
"Are you okay?" Lucifer asked as he wiped his hand.
"Just colder than I was expecting," Yvere lied.
Lucifer and Peter could tell she was lying.
"Maybe blood would help?" Peter suggested. "Uppin' yer blood flow would warm ya up."
Lucifer looked from Yvere to Izanami. "Would you mind if she tries yours? She's been cataloging the analogous flavors she can taste in blood."
Izanami seemed hesitant but obliged. She held out her arm and rolled up her sleeve. Yvere bit down slowly as she shivered.
"Hey!" Izanami winced.
Yvere released her bite and healed Izanami. "I'm so sorry, I'm used to draining Lucifer and demons."
Yvere quickly shuffled back to her table with Peter.
"She meant nothing by it," Lucifer defended.
Izanami rolled her sleeve back down. "Right..." she looked at Yvere. "So? What does it take like?"
Yvere was taking slow breaths before answering. "K-kind of like the ocean, in a good way."
Lucifer's face was calm but there was an immediate defensiveness he could feel boiling over in his mind. He was ready to leave depending on how Izanami responded.
Izanami wanted to respond harshly but knew better. Even under different circumstances, where she wasn't trying to keep Lucifer around long enough for the plan, she would have responded the same way.
"I'm just not used to it, sorry," She rubbed her arm. "It felt colder than what I've heard."
"Colder?" Peter mumbled while glancing at Yvere.
Peter tapped Yvere and used sign language under the table while keeping his eyes on Lucifer and Izanami.
"How much did you take?" he signed over and over.
"Too much," Yvere whispered.
Izanami changed the subject, "I think I have heard of that theory, but it was under a different name. 'Falling Sands' Theory, I think. I probably stopped following it because of the problems with its logic."
Lucifer responded, "One of the main problems being that it doesn't explain why humans haven't been getting updated information on our world."
"W-what if the 'wound' closed or the 'b-barrier' got stronger?" Yvere added.
Lucifer looked over curiously.
"S-sorry," Yvere apologized. "It's just because of what I was taught about medical science."
"No, it's a fair point," Lucifer admitted. "But ultimately still doesn't explain a few things. Those questions you have, however, are the reason the theory still exists, if only barely."
"What things?" Izanami leaned in.
"Well," Lucifer scratched his face. "Origin words, inconsistencies in names, inconsistencies in magic, Cthulhu and the eldritch in general, along with-"
"Slow down," Izanami was riveted, "explain the first part. Origin words have been one of my greatest curiosities."
Lucifer grabbed one of the books. It had blank pages and a pen attached to its side. Lucifer started drawing Japanese characters on the page along with a non-human language. He held out the page to Izanami.
"The idea that despite this world having its own language, the different beings in it have 'origin words' that are perfect matches with the human world's languages. Your name, my name, even the names of the species. 'Vampires' for example called themselves that despite that being a clearly human word."
Izanami was completely enthralled by what Lucifer was saying, to the point that she forgot what her original plan was for a moment.
"'Vampires,'" Lucifer continued, "were originally called [Blood fangs] and angels [White wings], and yet there came a point where we, without human intervention, changed our names."
'Why?' Izanami was questioning in her mind. 'Why do I have to kill him? I finally have someone I can discuss this with and I have to kill him? No...no it isn't that simple. He isn't the only being in this world with this information. Still...'
"I think ya lost her, Luce," Peter said.
Izanami realized she had been staring at the table. She quickly lifted her head and apologized. The look of regret on her face didn't go unnoticed by Lucifer.
'Fascinating,' Devil said as he stood behind Izanami in Lucifer's mind.
- Devil, Lucifer, Izanami, Yvere, Peter -
"Can you give me a moment?" Lucifer asked Izanami. "There's something minor I want to check," He grabbed a random book and pretended to read.
'What's fascinating?' Lucifer asked Devil.
Devil leaned over Izanami. 'Just that your kind in this world might have been created by such a lowly species as humans. It makes sense, really,' He laughed. 'That your pathetic imitation of my world would be some failed species' accident.'
'Says the dead one,' Lucifer retorted as he continued to pretend to read. ''Your' world doesn't exist anymore from what I can tell. Whatever you were, all you are now is an apparition that haunts me for a reason I intend to find out someday.'
'You do that, 'Luce',' Devil chuckled. 'I'll enjoy being on your shoulder when you finally get put down.'
Lucifer gripped the book. He made Devil disappear but couldn't hide his anger.
"What's the matter?" Izanami asked.
Lucifer put the book down and sighed. "Just remembering the arguments I've had with humans in Hell about my origin. It's a frustration I usually don't think about but I guess this discussion is dredging up old memories."
Lucifer lied with such ease that Izanami and Yvere were immediately convinced. Peter only knew better because he knew Lucifer was long past the days of caring about what newly reborn humans in Hell had to say about him.
- Susano'o and Shiri -
The sound of metal clashing as Shiri's maul hit Susano'o's blade echoed throughout the snowy plains. Electrical sparks spilled off Susano'o's sword with every clash.
"Such weight!" Susano'o grinned as he backstepped.
Ice was constantly spreading out from Shiri's frozen-over feet. Chunks of ice started to float into the sky as an aura of sparks surrounded Susano'o. Shiri charged forward, swinging his maul one-handed. Susano'o dodged the swings and shot lightning at Shiri's legs.
"Sorry, but I'm not breaking my sword," Susano'o joked.
"No worries," Shiri growled. "Your lightning is far weaker than your sword strokes."
Susano'o was surprised by the durability of the ice around Shiri's legs. He jumped high into the air and landed upside down on a floating piece of ice.
"Thank you, for putting up a fight," Susano'o sheathed his sword.
Susano'o hands surged with lightning.
"You think I can't deal with an aerial opponent?" Shiri mumbled as he threw his maul into the air and stomped both feet.
Gigantic spikes of ice jutted up from the ground. Susano'o glanced at the spikes before barraging Shiri with bolts of lightning. As Shiri skated around, narrowly avoiding the bolts, he twitched his hand.
Susano'o saw Shiri's maul out of the corner of his eye. The maul started to fly toward him. He bounced around from the floating chunks of ice, avoiding the maul while continuing his assault on Shiri.
The snowy plains were turned into a massive cloud of white as the battle continued. Susano'o was in the air, pinballing between floating ice chunks and avoiding the maul that was chasing him, while Shiri was on the ground, gaining speed as he skated on the ice he was creating.
'Can't overwrite his magic on the floating ice from this distance,' Shiri thought. 'Need this battle over quickly so I can get to Lucifer,' He released a slow breath as bits of ice shot up around him. 'He won't kill me if he can help it, but Lucifer doesn't have that luxury...'
Shiri stopped and fully encased himself in ice. The bolts of lightning he had been avoiding all connected with his icy cocoon. His maul fell from the sky.
"What are you..." Susano'o questioned as he kept up his barrage.
Shiri launched himself into the sky, taking a deep breath as he went.
"Surely you don't think-" Susano'o was interrupted.
Shiri exhaled with as much force as his lungs could muster. An icy mist poured from his mouth and skin, engulfing the sky. Susano'o was swallowed up by the cloud.
'What is this?' Susano'o questioned as felt his entire body seize with cold.
The cold around Susano'o's skin was unlike anything he had ever felt. The only comparison he could make in his mind was a story he had heard from Enma about the air of Helheim. How it seemed to drain the strength of almost every being that comes into contact with it. This cold didn't feel as if it was draining his strength, it felt like a serpent coiling itself across his bones, tightening as it went.
"N-n-no you don't," Susano'o surged his body with electricity and shot to the ground.
Susano'o landed with an explosion of snow. Shiri fell to the ground shortly after, quickly joined by his maul flying into his hands. Blood on Shiri's arms and chest gave Susano'o some amount of confidence but not much. Susano'o glanced up at the icy cloud above him before locking eyes with Shiri.