“I’m not sure,” I say as I rub again at the ache in my chest. I see him note it, as I say, “There are two angels in the crowd watching me.”
“You or the band?”
“Me.”
“Fuck,” he says harshly. Then, after a brief pause, he says, “Give me a moment,” and disappears in a swirl of shadow.
There’s a knock on the door. “What’s going on in there?” asks the guard outside.
“Sorry,” I yell back, “just talking to myself.” I wince as I register how that sounds.
Just as I’m preparing myself for her to break down the door, there’s another swirl of darkness, and Malam materializes in front of me again.
“Take this,” he says, holding out a sword in a sheath with straps hanging from it. “As you know, this isn’t my fight, and I can’t stay. I can’t be involved directly in violence against them, or I will break the tenuous truce, and we aren’t ready for that,”his eyes flash as he speaks, and I can see by the set of his shoulders that he is worried.
“Be safe, please?” he says after another moment, and his voice breaks slightly at the end.
Then, without another word, the shadow swirls around him, the sound of wings in the air, and then he’s gone.
Another knock resounds in the small room, which snaps me out of whatever thoughts I was lost in. I quickly strap the sword to my back. With that done, I go to the door and open it to see the guard raising her hand to knock again.
As I’m trying to figure out my story for the sword, I look at her face and see how harried she looks, the crowd pressing against her trying to get to the open door. Because of the chaos, I’m saved from needing to answer. She leads me back through the crowd to the alcove.
Thankfully, neither guard seems to notice my new weapon. As we arrive back at the alcove, I look out to the crowd, searching for the two angels, but I don’t see either of them.
I’m distracted through the rest of the concert, constantly scanning for them in the crowd, even as I enjoy the feel of the sword against my back.
DIO’S JOURNAL - ENTRY 198
Annum:5614
Entry 198 - colligere fragmenta
Gods be damned, that concert was amazing. We all put on a good show, but I, in particular, was at the top of my game. The crowd was massive, and we were all so immersed in the music that hours passed in what felt like moments. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a natural high. This is becoming my new favorite drug.
Thanks to all our hard work, the new material went off without a hitch, and the crowd went crazy for it. It’s been nice to be able to add my stamp to things and not just parrot the previous lead singer. It’s nice to have some of my own stuff out there for our fans now.
That was the good stuff, and man, was it good. The bad though…
I haven’t been able to prove it yet,but I’m quite sure now that Chaosta is using again. Whatever Malam might say, there are too many inconsistencies with her, and her behavior is just too odd. Thankfully, my plan to keep her, all of us, and our fans safe at this concert worked. Of course, it took hiring two extra security guards and setting up a space as though we were containing a fucking wild animal instead of a girl, but it worked.
However, she still manipulated the guards so that they would allow her to go to the restroom, and there was some oddness. She somehow found a fucking sword.
She, I’m still laughing at this one, said Malam gave it to her. Not only is that ridiculous on its own, because why would a demon ever give anyone a sword, much less a mere girl, but she claimed she’d summoned him.
Ridiculous, I know.
When she initially mentioned Malam, I even gave her the benefit of the doubt. I asked if he was there to watch the concert because that would honestly make sense. He’s sort of an acquaintance, and our music is top-notch. I don’t know what he does with his free time, but he could do worse than attending one of our concerts. When she said she’d summoned him, I couldn’t stop laughing. Even the other guys thought it was funny, and you know how she has them fooled.
Of course, she can’t have summoned a demon. The ritual takes a group of dark magic users and at least six hours. She obviously doesn’t know dark magic. Even ifshe did, she isn’t part of a coven, so it’s impossible. My guess is she took it from someone in the crowd. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on one of our fans reaching out about a stolen sword.
Then there was the incident where she threatened to break my hand, but I’ll forgive her for that. Not unlike a wild animal, I had her well cornered, so it’s not a shock she lashed out. Besides, it’s not as though she can follow through with it. With my boxing skills alone, I’d have her on the ground before she got close enough to try.
I have been thinking a lot about the conversation the other day, and I must admit, even though I continue to doubt Malam’s story about her seeing trees and believe he’s covering for her, if it’s true, I’m envious. She kisses someone in a crowd, starts a riot, and gets taken to the demon stronghold. What do I need to do to go there myself?
THE ONE WHERE THERE ARE MORE FRIENDS
After the concert, the boys sleep for nearly a full day. I take advantage of their absence and spend as much time as I can practicing with my new sword. The rest of the time, when I’m not eating meals, I admire it while trying to read in my room.
