Magic Hunt at MFing Aokigahara

[disorder_heaven]

The fact that Urushihara had a keen eye for patterns and trends was one of his less appreciated skills. As one of the war generals in Demon King Satan's army, it made his division highly feared and nearly unstoppable.

Here, it had gotten him something more along the lines of a snarky comment from Ashiya. "About time," or something like that. Hard to tell. Urushihara hadn't really been listening.

Either way, upon Urushihara's elaboration regarding the Suicide Forest, Ashiya had grown more and more uncertain. Eventually comments about warning signs and body sweeps deteriorated into snide remarks about cell phones failing to work and the pitch blackness that came with noon.

A bowl of miso soup full of something-whatever beta took care of the bitching, but Ashiya managed to come out of the bathroom just long enough to lob a thick volume of Maou's favourite manga at the back of Urushihara's head. So, when Maou returned home from his long, hard day at MgRonald's, it would be to the sight of Urushihara on the ground and Ashiya in the bathroom groaning dramatically.

Just another day at the Devil's Castle.

Comments

[mickeyd_emon]

"Considering he thinks I already look like a vagrant, I think he'd restrain himself," Maou said dryly, still a little miffed by the memory of Ashiya's passing insult.

Urushihara was right, though. He could get another pair, so that wasn't the issue here. Maou gave Urushihara a sweeping, considering look. After a moment, he smirked and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Demon General Lucifer. If you can't even quip without shaking, how are we gonna win this battle?"

Despite appearances, his voice held companionship. He patted Urushihara's shoulder, then released him. It was hard to tell if he was trying to assuage fear or feed it, but he was smiling.

[disorder_heaven]

"Dude, please. Last time I saw you take this form you beat the Hell out of me. Literally. Human form get."

But it wasn't necessarily that which freaked Urushihara out. At the sound of his name, his real name, he loosened up quite a bit. He raised his hand to his mouth and chewed at a shred of loose skin on his thumb, clearly ill at ease.

"This forest is like... It isn't actually scary. It's more like waiting for a battle to start. That waiting is worse than actually fighting."

[mickeyd_emon]

"No kidding. This build up better lead to a helluva finale."

Maou would still call it scary, to himself, silently, then never again, but he was at least pleased he managed to get Urushihara to relax a little. At times, it was difficult to reconcile the Lucifer he knew with the hermit he shared an apartment with, but Urushihara was, if nothing else, adaptable. Still, he liked him like this. Maybe Maou ought to take him out more often.

With a jut of his chin and a new spark of hope for their mission, he strode forward, expecting his subordinate to follow.

[disorder_heaven]

Urushihara followed without question, obedient to his lord despite his constant complaints within the apartment. Every now and then there was a rustle as he crossed or uncrossed his arms or shifted his wings in discomfort. Before long, the forest was pitch black. A normal human would not have been able to see their hand in front of their face. There was one source of unease that came from Urushihara himself; his eyes seemed to glow violet with a light that gave no light, his pupils a slitted glimmer in their centers.

"I feel heavier and heavier with every step, man. What'll we do if we even find a source?" And was there one? The deeper they went in, the more Urushihara began to suspect that there was no true source of magic. If possible, the forest itself was just plain evil.

[mickeyd_emon]

"We could gather magic whenever we want. Picture it! Our own convenient energy drink, fear blend," Maou said, heaping on way more optimism than he actually felt. He was beginning to suspect the forest was a dead end as well, but Hell if he was going to admit defeat just yet.

"But it's kinda hard to sense where it even is. All I'm getting is 'forward'." And major exhaustion. Mostly exhaustion. Maou turned a glinting red eye to Urushihara. "What about you?"

[disorder_heaven]

Urushihara's eyes widened, but he didn't respond to that. Yet. An idea was brewing in his head, but his instincts were setting it on edge. He would have to consider it more deeply later.

In answer to the demon king's question, however, he inhaled shakily before speaking. "Something tells me if we keep walking straight, we'll see or feel exactly what humans do before they're driven to end their own lives. That, or we'll walk forever and gain nothing." He also had a slight fear that if they did come out of the forest, it'd be at the exact point at which they'd entered it.

[mickeyd_emon]

"As curious as I am to know the why anyone would kill themselves, let's, you know, not," Maou grumbled, lifting another heavy hoof and stomping another deep print into the earth.

He opened his mouth to speak again before a twig snapping behind them cut him off, and his eyes darted back. No. No, he didn't sense anyone, but for a hot moment he could have sworn someone actually snuck up on him. He had even felt a presence that very much wanted to end him. The specter wasn't scary; the fact unease had fooled the Demon King's senses very much was.

"Iiii'm thinkin' I might level this whole freakin' place before we get much further. Just, you know. A heads up."

[disorder_heaven]

"Yeah, great. Great idea. That'd be subtle. Meanwhile I'm just messin' with the idea of bailing out and telling Ashiya that we found literally fuck-all besides about a dozen human corpses."

It was an exaggeration, but he'd seen at least two, which was far more than he'd seen on this planet yet. And they'd been walking in a straight path through the forest. If they'd seen that many, how many could there have really been?

He flexed his wings, which quivered, lightly brushing against Maou's arm for a moment before drawing away slowly.

[mickeyd_emon]

"Quietly leaving to never return is tempting. But we can't just give--" Maou flinched as Urushihara's feathers brushed him, then settled at the familiar touch. He stopped, mulled it over, then spun around on his hooves.

"Yeah okay this is pointless all aboard the nope train, headed that-a-way!"

[disorder_heaven]

The touch of his wings had been an accident, but Urushihara soon realized that it was him that had made Maou stop speaking mid-sentence. A moment later, he was grateful for it.

"You lead, I'll follow." His drawl sounded a lot more bored than he really was.

[mickeyd_emon]

"That's the idea!" Maou boomed, a smile knifing across his face. It had taken him jumping at the sensation of his friend's feathers against his skin to make him realize the embarrassment they'd find further in was not worth it. Maou wanted to keep the loyalty of his subordinate as well as his dignity.

Also the forest was really really creepy. Mostly that.

With every step, the weight on his chest lessened by just that much, for which the Demon King was grateful for. His heavy hooves, however, still made no noise against the earth.

"So we've got an excuse for Ashiya. Now I've just gotta expend a Helluva ton of magic."

[disorder_heaven]

"Yeah, that's something else. I shouldn't be researching how to get magic, yet. I should be researching how to hide whatever magic we can get hold of. Humans are super suspicious of anything like that."

Maou might have felt a little better knowing they were leaving, but Urushihara wouldn't feel any better until they were actually out of the forest. Preferably back at the apartment, with take-out that he didn't have to share with Ashiya.

[mickeyd_emon]

"Emi bein' the most suspicious of 'em all. Just add that to the list. We can't exactly hide magic we don't got," Maou said, stooping under a rotting rope tied to a broken branch. Had they really passed that before?

"I like my convenient-packaging idea, too, so that makes three research topics."

[disorder_heaven]

"Hey, come on! You have one job and get food, shelter, clothes, and spending money, plus you actually get to go out. You can't give me three topics and no pay raise."

He glanced up, hesitating for only a moment. Surely Maou knew where he was going... Right?

[mickeyd_emon]

"But I don't actually pay you." Maou hummed a moment, thoughtful. "Alright, let's say . . . you find a good lead, I'll bring you back somethin' that's not konbini food."

[disorder_heaven]

"Or MgRonald's?" Urushihara aimed a lazy glance his way, his eyes the only part of him really visible in the darkness. "You promise?"

It wasn't like Urushihara didn't take more than his fair share when he got the chance, but it was questionable whether he still would if given an equal one to begin with. His foot caught on a branch, but he instinctively kept himself from stumbling.

[mickeyd_emon]

Maou glanced back at Urushihara's near miss, the glow of his own eyes squinting with a wry smile. Oops, he got caught.

"Or MgRonald's," he said honestly. "Cross my hearts."

[disorder_heaven]

"So no konbini food, no fast food, and no leftovers. Something real and good. Right?"

Urushihara's paranoia might have been well-placed, but either way, he interrupted anything Maou might have said.

"Um. Dude? P-Pretty sure I almost tripped over that boot over there earlier..."

[mickeyd_emon]

"Yeah, on our way in," Maou said as breezily as a brick wall could. Though truly, he didn't remember Urushihara tripping when they were headed toward the source. He hadn't gotten them turned around, had he?

No, of course not. "Relax, I know where I'm going."

[disorder_heaven]

"F'you say so." His voice was steady, but a bit strained. He moved closer to Maou, flexing his wings again as a sign of unease. "Personally, I'll be glad when we actually get to the exit."

There was a glint of many colours as his eyes flicked up to what he'd hoped had been a brief flash of sunlight. If there had been, it was gone just as quickly. This forest was like a black hole.

[mickeyd_emon]

"We'll be out in no time," Maou said, caking on a thick layer of enthusiasm. He sounded too at ease. "It'll be getting lighter before ya know it."

As they trekked onward through the dense forest, it did not, in fact, get lighter before anyone knew anything. In fact, the darkness was static. No more light, no less. It was as if, rather than going down the spectrum toward white, they were pacing back and forth within its very opposite.

Maou ducked to avoid a familiar, rotting rope.

He ignored it. A bead of sweat inched down Maou's temple.

[disorder_heaven]

Urushihara was a lot of negative things, but one positive about him was that, as a general, he was steadfastly loyal to his king. Even through his doubts, he remained obedient, even silent.

The silence was broken an indeterminate length of time after Maou's reassurance, not by his voice, but by a sudden bright light from the palm of his hand.

"...Um, Maou... We've been heading back longer than we've been heading in."

[mickeyd_emon]

"So we have. Must be another magical effect o' this place," Maou said, his own voice cheerily strained. He surveyed the darkness around them, then decidedly headed right.

There was no way they could be lost in this freaky forest. Absolutely no way. He couldn't accept it. Maou knew where he was going. He just had to walk faster!

[disorder_heaven]

"Maou--" Urushihara's burning question was cut off, first by his own hitching breath, then by a sigh. He tightened his wings close to himself, lowering his head and his lashes in the same movement.

"...No wonder humans kill themselves in here. I might kill myself if we don't get out soon."

[mickeyd_emon]

"Please, don't." Maou looked back to his friend, expression anxious. "Neither of us are gonna die in here."

Said Satan, as he led Lucifer deeper into a suicide forest.