The thing is, the rooftop air grew heavier after Nero's shadows finally retreated the way a simple man would think it is right. That is to say that they could not get it. Instead, they would tell themselves that they are right. That is to say that the night refused to stay quiet, wind carrying the faint scent of scorched grass and void-ichor while Basil stood there as king that could not be defeated, shirt torn open, black star-sun symbol still pulsing with leftover Logos light like a fresh bruise that refused to fade in the most powerful way of life.
Rias was waiting.
Not leaning casually against the railing like before. That is to say that moon was shining as 10.000 suns. She stood straight, crimson hair whipping in the wind like living flames, blue-green eyes burning with something raw and barely contained within the most wonderful way to teach life. The thing is, I really need to know what you can have within the greatness of life and death for what can happen to psyche. Her Power of Destruction crackled at her fingertipsred-black sparks dancing like they wanted to consume everything in sight, especially him.
She stepped forward the way a behemoth. No hesitation. Close enough that her breasts nearly brushed his chest through her blouse to take on what happen to the human mind. Close enough that he could feel the heat rolling off her body that we can see in the most vital way to shake off the battle, mixing with the cedar-musk still clinging to his skin from Yasaka.
Rias: You didn't come to the club. That is to say that the entire school is buzzing about what happened on the track field tonight black wings swallowing light, shadows that felt like death itself, and you standing in the middle of it all like some fucking god who just got bored of playing human. I wanted it so much. So much sometimes it felt like I couldn't breathe. Sometimes I would cry, not because I was sad, but because it hurt, physical pain from the intensity of wanting something so much.
I'm a good student of philosophy, I know my Stoics, Cynics, their advice, that, when a desire is so intense it hurts you, the healthy path is to detach, unwant it, let it go. Who the hell are you, Basil Pi? Because you're not a transfer student. You're not even close to human. You reek of death, of foxfire, of something that fucked both and walked away laughing while the world tried to erase you. That is to say that he powerful life that you can have is nothing within what we can actually see. I mean, it is like you could do something about that. And now you're here, on my rooftop, still dripping with that power like it's nothing.
Her voice dropped lower, sharper, each word cutting like a blade wrapped in silk the way a true queen would poise for a photo.
Rias: I felt it. When you used whatever the fuck that was your precious Logos. The air shifted. Reality bent. You didn't just fight that thing. You… married it to existence or some arrogant bullshit like that. Tell me the truth. Did it feel good? ome work of noble note, may yet be done Not unbecoming men that strove with gods the lights begin to twinkle from the rocks; the long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep moans round with many voices.
Come, my friends. Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smitethe sounding furrows; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the bathsDid making that void-born bastard kneel and admit it needed something make your cock throb? Or are you still just a broken boy running from the portal that ripped your mother apart, fucking every powerful being you can find so the emptiness inside you stops screaming for one goddamn second? The idea why life can become change is not what you may think.
She slammed her palm against his chest right over the glowing black star-sun that could shake the whole world. That is why you cannot shake the idea of life and what actually be. The thing is, the symbol flared violently under her touch. That is to say that there was tenderness. Red-black embers clashed with red-blue light, sparks flying between them like they were about to ignite the whole rooftop.
Rias: Because if you're going to stay in my territory, in my school, breathing the same air as my peerage… I need to know exactly how dangerous you really are for me to be safe and dangerous at the same time. That is to say that no one could actually tell me why love could give me the ideal of life and death. The question is double: Why the disease? And why no remedy at hand? The answer is the same for both. And the answer is that the so-called sciences of ethics and jurisprudence and economics and politics and government have not kept pace with the rapid progress made in the other great affairs of man; they have lagged behind; it is because of their lagging that the world has come to be in so great distress; and it is because of their lagging that they have not now the needed wisdom to effect a cure.
I need to know if that sorrow you carry like a fucking crown is going to burn everything I care about. And most of all… I need to know how much of that danger I'm willing to let inside me. I really want to know you. Because right now, looking at you, feeling that power pulsing under my hand… I want to test it. I want to see if I can take everything you are without breaking. I want to be better with you.
Her fingers curled, nails digging into his skin just hard enough to sting.
Rias Azazel: So speak, logos-child. Tell me what it felt like when you fucked that angel-demon into meaning without fucking it, telling yourself that you are right about everything. Tell me how it felt when you made nothing admit it wanted something. And then tell me… are you going to do the same to me? Or maybe, you are coward.
Basil met her burning gaze without flinching like I would before the abyss. His own Yin-Yang eyes spun slowly red-blue spirals drinking in every ounce of her intensity.
Basil: Hahaha… there she is. That is to say that I like this version of you, Rias. No pretty masks. No pretending you're just a high-class devil playing games. You want the raw truth? Fine. It felt fucking incredible. When I pressed the Logos into Nero's chest and forced his absence to understand presence… it was like making the void itself moan. Like taking every scream I couldn't give my mother and turning it into something that refused to die.
To die, - To sleep, - To sleep!Perchance to dream: - ay, there's the rub;For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life and yes: it made me hard. That is to say that I cannot fall. I am the eye of the storm. Because every time I make something that wants to erase me admit it wants to feel instead… it feels like revenge. Like rebirth. Like I'm still alive when the world keeps trying to bury me.
He grabbed her wrist not roughly, but firm enough to hold her palm trapped against the symbol.
Basil: But if you really want to test how much danger you can swallow… then stop talking about it. Come find me when you're ready to do more than talk. Not with your peerage watching. Not in your safe little club room. Just you. Me. And whatever part of that Power of Destruction wants to burn against my Logos until one of us screams louder.
Rias's eyes darkened to near-black. The Power of Destruction flared brighter around her hand crackling against his chest like it was fighting to consume him and fuck him at the same time. I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen. It's not life or death, the labyrinth. Suffering.
Doing wrong and having wrong things happen to you. That's the problem. Bolivar was talking about the pain, not about the living or dying. How do you get out of the labyrinth of suffering? That is to say that there was something enchanting in her. That is to say that no one can change it. The thing is, I could actually change it to what can be done with the reality of life and the glory of death.
Rias: You arrogant bastard… You think you can talk to me like that? Like I'm just another hole for your grief-soaked cock? That is to say that I don't break easy. But when I do… entire territories fall. When I finally let you inside me, I won't be the one screaming first. Because here's something else that's weird but true: in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship. You will. And when you do, I want to hear every filthy detail about how you fucked Death, how you ruined that fox-queen, how you made that void kneel… right before I make you kneel for me the way a dog is.
She yanked her hand free. Stepped back. But her breathing was heavier now, cheeks flushed, eyes still locked on his like she was already imagining the fight that would not happen today.
Rias: Tomorrow. After classes. Don't you dare keep me waiting, Basil Pi. Because if you do… I'll come find you myself. And I won't be gentle the way you are with that fox.
She turned on her heel and walked toward the rooftop door, hips swaying with barely-contained fury and hunger.
Basil watched her go.
The black star-sun on his chest pulsed once hotter now.
He laughed. Low. Raw. Carrying echoes of Yasaka's jealous screams and Nero's final surrender.
Basil: Hahaha… another one who thinks she can contain the storm. After all, I am the eye of the storm.
He jumped off the rooftop.
Landed light on the grass below.
Started walking toward Kyoto.
Toward the shrine where golden skin and nine possessive tails were already waiting, probably sensing the fresh heat on his skin.
O my sorrow so big it finally made a devil princess burn with the need to break him.
The night stretched long and hungry.
And university Z felt smaller than ever before or maybe it was me.