fic; Spiderwebs
For Numi's birthday. IT'S EVEN STILL THE SECOND IN YOUR TIMEZONE!
Pandora Hearts/Devil Survivor. Warnings for blood, death, and me doing horrifying things to both canons. I'm sorry.
No one ever knew where he’d come from, and Rufus Barma found that completely unacceptable. It wasn’t just that everything about Naoya was a mystery that people somehow conveniently forgot about, or even that the services he offered were dubious at best. None of that mattered to the Duke particularly. But Naoya had seen through his illusions with a single glance, a smirk sharper than any blade and a clear taunt. And Rufus Barma was a proud man.
But the spies he sent to Naoya’s home--a secluded place that very few people could find--never came back, or came back with their minds broken and useless. The ones that returned all gibbered about a strange winged Chain, but Naoya had never shown signs of being a contractor. It was a mystery Rufus intended to solve, one way or another--he’d stop at nothing to learn Naoya’s secrets.
It never occured to him he might not want to.
---
He moves the white bishop across the board, and there’s a chuckle behind him.
“The bishop? I thought you’d make him a queen, for sure.”
“No--he’s not nearly as strong as he thinks.”
--
It was more than a little uncanny how Naoya appeared whenever someone really wanted him--or really didn’t want him to show up, as case may be. Rufus, for his part, was simply left to wonder how Naoya had gotten into his library without anyone noticing, much less sit there and quietly flick through his notes without even having the decency to look upset at being caught there. But Naoya has no decency, and he taps the metal fan at his throat with a soft chuckle.
“Oh, don’t pretend. We both know I’m no good to you dead.”
But probably better for my blood pressure, Rufus thinks, and doesn’t move the fan. He skips over how Naoya got in here (he won’t get an answer), and takes a moment before speaking, hiding just how upset he is about this.
“Why would you come here?”
“Because you seem to think you know what game we’re playing.” The Duke Barma grinds his teeth together to keep his jaw from dropping at the sheer audacity of this man, and starts to speak, when Naoya meets his eyes.
He wasn’t unfamiliar with red eyes, not at all. His own eyes were reminiscent of the deep crimson in his hair, and Break’s--no, Kevin Regnard’s eye was the bright red of cherries, and Vincent Nightray’s red eye always reminded folk of freshly spilled blood. But Naoya’s eyes were reminiscent of a sea, far too deep, and ancient, and inhuman. For a single, delirious moment, Rufus wondered if Naoya wasn’t so much an illegal contractor as a chain himself, similar to the Black Rabbit that followed Vessalius around.
The moment passed, and Naoya chuckled, pushing Rufus’ fan to the side when he stood.
“I’ll tell you only one thing, Duke Rufus Barma--the world is not as narrow as any of you think, and time is not the only path on which humans may travel.”
’Time is not the only gate in the Abyss.’ They were words quoted in Arthur’s notes, and Rufus’ recollection had him distracted long enough for Naoya to get to the hall, his shoes clacking in the night--and stopping, as Naoya simply vanished.
Rufus took a deep, unsteady breath, and locked the doors to his study. Naoya’s secrets were deeper than he’d anticipated, and it had been a very long time since he’d been so excited about anything.
---
He never saw any of this coming. He never saw it, and he should have. The ruins of Pandora’s headquarters have become nothing more than a graveyard, shattered and broken from the power that’s awakened here today. No, not awakened, Rufus corrects himself, even half-delirious from the pain. It was simply a power that had been hidden.
Naoya had drawn him into a web over months, taunting and smirking and giving Rufus all the rope he needed to hang himself. He understood why now, too--The Barma family’s notes on sorcery might have been able to stop this. He might have been able to stop this, if Naoya had worked alone.
But he hadn’t, and Rufus had never even considered the existence of something other than a Chain. Never considered the Abyss could be a gateway through more than just centuries. He blinks blood out of his eyes, and stares up at Naoya--Cain, he’d said his name was, when he’d watched Gilbert die from the poison in his drink. A murderer from a different world, who’s laugh would haunt the nightmares of anyone who survived this.
Jack had tried to fight him, but Oz’s body was too young to keep up with Naoya’s speed. And his partner...
Rufus had never seen anything like him. The creature--demon--grinned down at him, yanking him up by his hair.
“Oya, this is a shame...You broke his face!”
“He’s not going to need it, Loki.” Naoya’s laughter was still the harsh, crackling sound it had been this morning, and Rufus just hopes they won’t drag this out too long. His lungs were punctured--his aging stopped or not, he was never meant for this kind of fight.
“Rufus...Barma. I suppose you want to know the truth, before dying? Want to know why I did all this?” Rufus didn’t answer, but Naoya chuckled anyway, twirling a blood-soaked knife in his hands.(He’d slit Alice’s throat with it, while she’d been transfixed by Gilbert’s death. Chains shouldn’t bleed so much, it wasn’t fair for them to bleed so much...)
“I just wanted to destroy Glen Baskerville’s soul.”
Rufus stared at Naoya, utterly aghast. All of this...all of this, for that? And that wasn’t even possible.
“Ah, I know that look. But then, who do you think taught Arthur how to seal it?”
“...All of this...just for revenge?” Naoya laughed, looking up at a tear in the sky.
“Not just revenge, and not on Glen, either. His destruction caused a mortal blow on someone else, as well.” Loki snorted, rolling his eyes, and caught Rufus by the chin. The blood on his claws still smelled fresh, and Rufus just wished they’d get this over with.
“You’ll have to forgive the princess, here, he just likes to hear himself talk when he gets like this.”
“Loki.” Rufus couldn’t see the look Naoya gave the demon. It was odd, his vision had never been that bad...ah. So this was exhaustion? If he passed out, he wouldn’t wake up. It was all a little more anticlimactic than he’d expected from his own death.
“...Ah...there’s a secret I meant to tell you, Rufus.” He feels the knife pressed into his hands, and wonders what Naoya’s planning. He can’t think straight, but the pain is receding some. Somewhere, he hears Loki protest, but...
But Naoya’s guard is down, and he’s leaned over him, making it so easy to shove the blade through his ribs, scraping against the sternum as it goes into his heart. Naoya coughs, and spits up blood...and whispers in Naoya’s ear, even as Rufus feels the crushing weight of ancient magic fall on him.
“Welcome to my hell.”
The sizzle of fire sounds in his ear, and Rufus wonders just what Naoya intends to do with him, before he’s consumed and he can’t think anything at all.
Pandora Hearts/Devil Survivor. Warnings for blood, death, and me doing horrifying things to both canons. I'm sorry.
No one ever knew where he’d come from, and Rufus Barma found that completely unacceptable. It wasn’t just that everything about Naoya was a mystery that people somehow conveniently forgot about, or even that the services he offered were dubious at best. None of that mattered to the Duke particularly. But Naoya had seen through his illusions with a single glance, a smirk sharper than any blade and a clear taunt. And Rufus Barma was a proud man.
But the spies he sent to Naoya’s home--a secluded place that very few people could find--never came back, or came back with their minds broken and useless. The ones that returned all gibbered about a strange winged Chain, but Naoya had never shown signs of being a contractor. It was a mystery Rufus intended to solve, one way or another--he’d stop at nothing to learn Naoya’s secrets.
It never occured to him he might not want to.
---
He moves the white bishop across the board, and there’s a chuckle behind him.
“The bishop? I thought you’d make him a queen, for sure.”
“No--he’s not nearly as strong as he thinks.”
--
It was more than a little uncanny how Naoya appeared whenever someone really wanted him--or really didn’t want him to show up, as case may be. Rufus, for his part, was simply left to wonder how Naoya had gotten into his library without anyone noticing, much less sit there and quietly flick through his notes without even having the decency to look upset at being caught there. But Naoya has no decency, and he taps the metal fan at his throat with a soft chuckle.
“Oh, don’t pretend. We both know I’m no good to you dead.”
But probably better for my blood pressure, Rufus thinks, and doesn’t move the fan. He skips over how Naoya got in here (he won’t get an answer), and takes a moment before speaking, hiding just how upset he is about this.
“Why would you come here?”
“Because you seem to think you know what game we’re playing.” The Duke Barma grinds his teeth together to keep his jaw from dropping at the sheer audacity of this man, and starts to speak, when Naoya meets his eyes.
He wasn’t unfamiliar with red eyes, not at all. His own eyes were reminiscent of the deep crimson in his hair, and Break’s--no, Kevin Regnard’s eye was the bright red of cherries, and Vincent Nightray’s red eye always reminded folk of freshly spilled blood. But Naoya’s eyes were reminiscent of a sea, far too deep, and ancient, and inhuman. For a single, delirious moment, Rufus wondered if Naoya wasn’t so much an illegal contractor as a chain himself, similar to the Black Rabbit that followed Vessalius around.
The moment passed, and Naoya chuckled, pushing Rufus’ fan to the side when he stood.
“I’ll tell you only one thing, Duke Rufus Barma--the world is not as narrow as any of you think, and time is not the only path on which humans may travel.”
’Time is not the only gate in the Abyss.’ They were words quoted in Arthur’s notes, and Rufus’ recollection had him distracted long enough for Naoya to get to the hall, his shoes clacking in the night--and stopping, as Naoya simply vanished.
Rufus took a deep, unsteady breath, and locked the doors to his study. Naoya’s secrets were deeper than he’d anticipated, and it had been a very long time since he’d been so excited about anything.
---
He never saw any of this coming. He never saw it, and he should have. The ruins of Pandora’s headquarters have become nothing more than a graveyard, shattered and broken from the power that’s awakened here today. No, not awakened, Rufus corrects himself, even half-delirious from the pain. It was simply a power that had been hidden.
Naoya had drawn him into a web over months, taunting and smirking and giving Rufus all the rope he needed to hang himself. He understood why now, too--The Barma family’s notes on sorcery might have been able to stop this. He might have been able to stop this, if Naoya had worked alone.
But he hadn’t, and Rufus had never even considered the existence of something other than a Chain. Never considered the Abyss could be a gateway through more than just centuries. He blinks blood out of his eyes, and stares up at Naoya--Cain, he’d said his name was, when he’d watched Gilbert die from the poison in his drink. A murderer from a different world, who’s laugh would haunt the nightmares of anyone who survived this.
Jack had tried to fight him, but Oz’s body was too young to keep up with Naoya’s speed. And his partner...
Rufus had never seen anything like him. The creature--demon--grinned down at him, yanking him up by his hair.
“Oya, this is a shame...You broke his face!”
“He’s not going to need it, Loki.” Naoya’s laughter was still the harsh, crackling sound it had been this morning, and Rufus just hopes they won’t drag this out too long. His lungs were punctured--his aging stopped or not, he was never meant for this kind of fight.
“Rufus...Barma. I suppose you want to know the truth, before dying? Want to know why I did all this?” Rufus didn’t answer, but Naoya chuckled anyway, twirling a blood-soaked knife in his hands.(He’d slit Alice’s throat with it, while she’d been transfixed by Gilbert’s death. Chains shouldn’t bleed so much, it wasn’t fair for them to bleed so much...)
“I just wanted to destroy Glen Baskerville’s soul.”
Rufus stared at Naoya, utterly aghast. All of this...all of this, for that? And that wasn’t even possible.
“Ah, I know that look. But then, who do you think taught Arthur how to seal it?”
“...All of this...just for revenge?” Naoya laughed, looking up at a tear in the sky.
“Not just revenge, and not on Glen, either. His destruction caused a mortal blow on someone else, as well.” Loki snorted, rolling his eyes, and caught Rufus by the chin. The blood on his claws still smelled fresh, and Rufus just wished they’d get this over with.
“You’ll have to forgive the princess, here, he just likes to hear himself talk when he gets like this.”
“Loki.” Rufus couldn’t see the look Naoya gave the demon. It was odd, his vision had never been that bad...ah. So this was exhaustion? If he passed out, he wouldn’t wake up. It was all a little more anticlimactic than he’d expected from his own death.
“...Ah...there’s a secret I meant to tell you, Rufus.” He feels the knife pressed into his hands, and wonders what Naoya’s planning. He can’t think straight, but the pain is receding some. Somewhere, he hears Loki protest, but...
But Naoya’s guard is down, and he’s leaned over him, making it so easy to shove the blade through his ribs, scraping against the sternum as it goes into his heart. Naoya coughs, and spits up blood...and whispers in Naoya’s ear, even as Rufus feels the crushing weight of ancient magic fall on him.
“Welcome to my hell.”
The sizzle of fire sounds in his ear, and Rufus wonders just what Naoya intends to do with him, before he’s consumed and he can’t think anything at all.