"Okay~ then…explain who the fuck you are." Before Othello could even register the words, his fingers effortlessly retrieved the revolver at his side and spun it into action, a thumb against a scratched chamber as he pointed the firing end at her.
"Wowowow! Even without your memories, you can still be prompt with the hostilities! Amazing…" Othello gawked before smiling even wider, seemingly enthralled with his actions. Her cheeks visibly darkened with hints of azure.
Before she could get ahead of herself, she steadied a hand on her quickly rising chest. Vere was tempted to shoot her down right then, but he DID need information from her. Besides, just gunning someone down for no reason would cause him to question his conscience, especially since he seemed to feel nothing negative towards the prospect of murder.
"Hmm…alright! So, I'm a demon. Like, the real thing. Tadah~!" With those words, a hand clenched, and she ripped out her heart. Pulling it out without a care in the world, sinister energy leaked out of the organ as the runes atop the blue portions of her skin glowed. Her looks seemed to shift to become more diabolical, but she quickly put her heart back into her chest and healed the wound.
"Okay. That's not much explanation, but it's a start." Vere dryly said. He didn't have a problem with her race at all; he got the feeling that he didn't have much impression of the supernatural. Either way, it clearly exists wherever he found himself to be.
"Sorry, sorry. I just had to prove it; it gets SO annoying when people don't believe you because you're not an ugly old chunk of scales and flesh that wants to feast on your soul or something. Glad to know you're not the type!
Anyways? You're Vere, and you're someone who has a whole group of followers among our demonkind. We've been watching your exploits for quite a time now, and honestly, we've kinda become devoted to your whole little thing. So I made a liiittle deal. I maybe shouldn't have to come to see you in person, just to offer you my help.
And before you ask, no. I can't reveal who you are; honestly, you'd have no reason to believe me if I did. That information is top secret, and only you can find it. Honestly, if I say too much of your past right now, I might get wiped out of existence." Othello seemed nonplussed by this information as she made a casual shrug. Vere didn't get the sense that she was lying; his hunch didn't develop any conjecture apart from what she was saying.
Though he was quite conscious of the Conspiracy Rami, the best at lying. Even so, he still didn't suspect her. That meant that either she had ways of concealing the truth so deep that he wasn't powerful enough to detect it, or she wasn't giving him the runaround.
He did have a question, though.
"If you're a demon, why are you so weak? You're not a mortal entity, I don't think? Even that display of power seems a bit lackluster." He asked with a slight hint of prodding. There was a bit of laughter in his voice, something the demoness basked in wholeheartedly.
"I'll tell you why later, but I have more than enough power to help you. Well…not completely. But here, look at that skyscraper and watch me. Don't worry; you can keep your finger on the trigger if you doubt me even the smallest bit." She turned on her heel in a seductive 180, flicking her finger at the mall. Deep blue mysterious energy emerged from her body and surged towards her fingertip, coalescing before shooting towards the skyscraper.
Darkening blue spread out in curved waves as tremors rocked the ground. The middle of that fallen skyscraper seemed to waxen, taking another complex shape as it steadily changed.
The broken foundation remained, and the tip of the skyscraper stayed the same. But the contents of the building morphed into a mall that seemed a bit unfinished and runs down as of yet. It was because Othello didn't have enough energy to achieve everything she wanted, and she had to leave a present for the object of her adorations.
A cursive sign with deep blue light filtering past the neon receptacles formed, spelling the words "Shattered Skyscraper Mall." The tremors stopped as soon as Othello faced Vere again.
She cooed with delight as she took in the sight of Vere placing his revolver back in his holster. But, unfortunately, there was still a hint of suspicion and hostility radiating from him—demons could pick up on those emotions, and Vere's Conspiracy Insight wasn't strong enough to resist her senses.
She walked a little closer to him, stumbling gait foretelling the fall. Her hands met a firm, robust sensation as they settled on his shirt.
That was because Vere caught her mid descent. Making sure she was okay and offering his arm for her to lean on—which she promptly took—he felt pure, unadulterated puzzlement.
"You feel even weaker than before. Is helping someone you don't REALLY know that important?"
Vere asked as they made for the Shattered Skyscraper Mall.
Othello shook her head. "Not at all; I'm quite selfish, in fact. It's cause I like you a whole lot."
"That's weird," Vere remarked.
"It is," Othello replied.
————
From a distance, three sets of eyes shook and looked around. Then, influenced by the…earthquake Othello's actions created, they looked towards where they felt the sensations were strongest.
"No fucking way." A man in blue, a badge on his chest, a cap, and dark black pants with combat boots spoke. Two other men with similar garb reeled their heads towards this man, who cussed and exclaimed as he ran a hand through his beard.
"What is it? Logan, the hell are you looking at?" Asked Manter, the oldest and tallest among them. The dubious-looking young man staring out a broken window waved Manter and Jamin over.
"Come see." He said, not going to be bossed around easily. So what if Manter was the oldest—he didn't get to easily dictate what he said and what he did? He had eyes so he could look for himself!
Manter swept the auburn locks out of his eyes and looked into the horizon, missing a large amount of the skyscraper that was there mere minutes ago. Instead, as he kept scanning it, there was an unfamiliar building sequestered by the shadow of the formation of the once whole skyscraper.
"Jamin, you seeing this? Someone must be here…." The stubble-faced man in his 30s exclaimed as he rubbed his chin. The handsome youth fixed his cap and grimly nodded, his meek voice replying to his superior officer.
"Yes, sir. It's weird; there just aren't people around this place anymore. It's literally ruined from so far in the past that we just don't have any documents. A lot of the Morlundites just don't care for this kind of stuff anymore!"
"Yeah, yeah, cram it. I say we investigate. Who knows? We might be able to get rid of that thing." A sleazy smile spread over Logan's face as he gestured towards the darkness of the room. It was odd that that specific place was obscured, as a cracked lightbulb cast an uncontrollable brightness into the whole room.
"Don't be so anxious, Logan," Manter warned, wary of such a significant change. He picked up on the cognitive force still radiating off the site of the change.
"Psh. We've been here for a while, doing what we need to. We can't return; we might as well go!" Logan aggressively shook his hand towards the mall, not content with a no. Before they could reply, he hopped over the sharp edges of the broken window, deftly climbing down the sides.
"W-what are we gonna do, sir?" Jamin nervously shook as he watched Logan leave.
"If he leaves and we don't follow, we'll get our asses killed. So we might as well acquiesce to his wishes, just this one time."
"F-fine. But…"
"I know." Manter shook his head with a resigned look as he approached the dark spot of the room, the sound of something unzipping hitting against the walls.
"I know." He muttered again, his firm eyes becoming even more honed.