"I'm just saying, it's a question that plagued me for years, man. What's the point in buying a double cheeseburger if it has the same stuff - and sometimes even the same price - as a quarter-pounder? I know I wasn't the only one worrying about it. But I finally figured it out, man. It's the cheese. Yeah, they both got cheese on them, but the it's not the amount that matters; it's the composition. Take Janine's Diner downtown, it sells both burgers. Same amount of meat, same number of cheese slices. But with the double cheeseburger, one of the slices goes in between the two patties. So instead of a wad of cheese and a slab of beef, you're getting cheese, then beef, then cheese, then beef! It's the layers, man, and that makes a world of difference!"
Cobalt gazed blankly at Arrn. His bespectacled student was sitting in the window seat next to him, panting breathlessly after his unprompted tirade. Adjusting his tie, he gave him an forced smile.
"That's... very interesting, Arnn," the Incubus sighed, peering around the inside of the bus.
The entirety of Class 3-F had been packed into a jittery, diesel bus for the History trip, and even though they had only been on the road for around fifteen minutes, Cobalt was already beginning to feel exhausted. In order to hear one another over the rumbling of the engine, every single one of his students had to shout at each other, and down at the very back two of the boys had taken to smacking each other for no discernible reason. A few seats down, Quinn had taken off her seat belt in order to better accommodate Lottie's head on her lap, who was sleeping on both seats with her legs sticking out into the bus' central aisle. Opposite them, Izzbelle was shouting accusations at Bobby Talon, who had thrown a wad of paper at the back of her head. Jelli tried to calm her down, but at that moment the bus hit a bump in the road, causing her to hit her head off the bus window. Thankfully, this got the Oni to stop shouting in order to deal with her injured friend.
"I hope it's not much farther..." Cobalt murmured to himself, leaning out into the aisle in order to peer through the bus' windshield.
A few days into December, and Brimstone was already covered in a blanket of white snow. Seeing the town like this was a beautiful sight, of course, but it also made driving anywhere a task and a half. Silently, Cobalt regretted putting this trip off until now.
A cold hand clasped the Incubus' forward and firmly pushed him back into an upright position.
"It isn't safe to sit in such a way," spoke the cold monotone of Nurse Yalfre, seated in the chair across from his.
Everyone in the bus was wearing some form of winter coat, but Elya was still wearing her nurse's uniform. Columba the pigeon was sleeping on the seat next to her, seemingly unbothered by the noise of the bus and the roughness of the road.
"S- Sorry," Cobalt stammered, doing his best not to catch the Fallen's eye.
She didn't turn away for a moment; her violet gaze burning into him. Cobalt couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the way that Elya was staring at him... it was different from usual. Maybe it was a subtle shift in the way she held her head, or maybe it was nothing it all, but it disturbed him.
Swallowing hard, he peered further down the bus, over to the seats where Karazelle and Whitney were sitting. The Nymph was going red in the face as she yelled something at her Succubus companion, who was just smiling smugly at her. Upon noticing Cobalt's gaze, however, Karazelle faced him and gave the Incubus a soft smile. Feeling the telltale burn in his cheeks, he tore his gaze away before his veins could light up again.
"Now, triple cheeseburgers are a different story. They're a complete toss-up, but if you weigh the pros and cons..." Arnn Srenth continued beside him, drawing his attention away.
As the Imp launched into another spiel about fast food, Cobalt took a breath and refocused his attention on the documents spread out upon his lap. Thankfully, his class would be the only tour group there, so he didn't have to worry about his students disrupting the general public while they were brought around the excavation site. The only concern he had was the fact that it was more or less in the very middle of the town; there was sure to still be a lot of heavy equipment about.
"... now the one I had at Janine's was a bit pink in the middle, but-"
"Arrn, can you please stop talking about food?" asked Cobalt almost instinctively, furrowing his brow as he rechecked his itinerary.
The Imp pulled a face and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Ah, right. That a sensitive topic now?"
Cobalt shot him a glare.
"B- Because of the Devil thing? Y'know, the uh..." Arnn murmured, limply gesturing to the spot on Cobalt's arm where had taken a bite of himself.
Rubbing his arm consciously, he furrowed his brow and stared down at his feet.
"Let's not talk about this, Arnn."
"Right, yeah, I get it."
Arnn went silent for a moment. But only a moment.
"... what did it taste like?"
"Arnn!"
"Sorry, I'm only asking!"
Thankfully, the bus quickly pulled up to their stop, grinding to a halt outside of a set of empty lots cordoned off with corrugated steel fences. Giving his student a dirty look, Cobalt unbuckled his belt and stood up.
"Alright everyone, remember what we discussed before departing?" he called.
"That this is gonna be borin' as shit?" Izzbelle responded, folding her arms.
He frowned.
"You said that, Miss Suyas, not me."
"Yeah, well I'm sayin' it again."
Whitney raised her hand.
"Sir, how come we're staying in Brimstone this year? Last year we went to London, right? And the year before we went to that village in Silatned," the Nymph told him, cocking her head.
Mr. Whitaker took a bunch of first-years to Silatned?! Hell's northernmost continent was not only home to the most politically-unstable and belligerent city states in the world, but it also hosted nomadic scavenger groups that just loved to ambush tourists!
"He's just playing it safe. The last international trip we went on, we wound up with Quinn," Karazelle responded with a cheeky grin, nodding at the Imp.
The woman in question glared at the Succubus, but dared not move for fear of disturbing her girlfriend.
"You better sleep with one eye open, Kara," she threatened, drawing a line between them both.
Before chaos had the chance to take root once more, Cobalt cleared his throat, drawing everyone's gazes back to him.
"Okay, okay! Once we're off the bus, everyone is to stay in a group, okay? Adhere to any rules you're told, and for the love of all that burns, don't touch anything!"
Quinn scoffed.
"Don't count on it, blood brother," she murmured.
"I heard that, Quinn."
"Heard what?"
Sighing, he shook his head and gestured for the driver to open the door. As his students unbuckled their belts and made to shuffle out, he disembarked the bus, shivering as the bracing wind nearly chilled him to the bone.
"Suck it up," Lilith said unhelpfully.
He didn't dignify her with a response. He was getting a little sick of her; acting so casual one moment, then berating him the next.
Once everyone was out on the pavement, Cobalt waved the bus away and gestured for them to follow him. They slogged through snow and slush, soaking their shoes through by the time they reached the front gate of the excavation site. An Oni woman in a pristine uniform stood before it with a clipboard in her arms, her face breaking out into a wide grin at the sight of the approaching Incubus.
"Ah, Mr. Trayer, you're bang on time!" she called in a jolly tone, seemingly unperturbed by the freezing-cold weather.
Tucking the clipboard beneath her arm, she marched forward and offered her hand. Cobalt shook it, wincing at the strength of her grip.
"Good to see you. I trust you're our guide?" he asked, adjusting his coat.
She nodded.
"That I am."
Taking a step back, the tour guide regarded his class with a gleaming smile.
"Welcome to the excavation site, everybody! As you all know, just below our feet are ruins of unknown origin, and you lucky lot are going to be among the first of the general public to lay eye upon them! Aren't you excited?!" she called.
The Oni was met with a chorus of less-than-enthused murmurs. Not dissuaded in the slightest by their lack of enthusiasm, she turned on her heel and whistled sharply, signaling for the gates to open.
"Alright then; let's get ready to learn!"
-----
"Between you and me, Mr. Trayer, how the fuck do you put up with these little shits all day?"
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Cobalt stared at the tour guide as she pulled a box of cigarettes from the inside pocket of her coat. Lighting it with a snap of her fingers, she took a deep drag and expelled two thick streams of smoke through her nostrils.
"Um... They're a rowdy bunch, I'll give them that..." he told her, peering over his shoulder.
They were inside a sizable prefab filled with securely-locked display cabinets, each containing detritus and artifacts dug up from the ruins underfoot. Mostly bricks and vessels carved from dark grey stone, but a few held what appeared to be old gears and machinery parts made of blackened steel. His students didn't seem particularly interested in it; only Jelli was genuinely fascinated by the examples of ancient workmanship.
"Fucking Hell... You sure you want to take this lot into the ruins? If anything gets broken or vandalised-"
Cobalt raised his hands.
"I promise you, they'll take pictures and nothing else," he said.
The tour guide pulled a face.
"Ah, I'm afraid there's no pictures allowed. Mayor wants to keep a stranglehold on publicity for some reason. Fat prick," she grumbled, flicking ash into a nearby dustbin.
Ah. The mayor. The same man who wanted anything and everything relating to the Damned Defence to be buried. And the same man who allowed the media to swarm Cobalt once he returned after the summer. He was... passionate about Brimstone's image.
"I see. I'll make sure they keep their phones off," he sighed.
"Oi Cobalt, this cog looks like a cock!" Quinn yelled from the other side of the prefab, laughing as she pressed her finger against on of the display case.
Scowling, the tour guide rolled her eyes and stubbed the cigarette out on her own tongue, much to Cobalt's alarm. It was easy to forget that Oni were resistant to heat sometimes.
"Okay everyone, now that you've seen our collection of unearthed artifacts, do you have any burning questions for me?" she asked, her cheery facade returning as she faced the students once more.
Karazelle raised her hand.
"Yeah, who made these?" asked the Succubus, squinting at what appeared to be a black steel valve of some description.
Cobalt heard the Oni swear beneath her breath before she answered.
"Well, while we're uncertain as to who exactly built these ruins, we can say with certainty that they've existed long before the town of Brimstone itself! Carbon dating on a few tool handles we uncovered tell us that this structure could be well over a thousand years old!"
"One thousand, three hundred and fifty years. Give or take a decade or two," Lilith suddenly piped, surprising the Incubus.
"How...?" Cobalt whispered with a furrowed brow.
"Shh. Don't wanna interrupt this moment of learning, do you?"
Clasping her hands, the tour guide took a few steps forward and placed her hand upon one of the glass cabinets.
"Now, while these little tidbits of history are no doubt fascinating, they are nothing compared to what we have uncovered below. If you'd all be so kind as to follow me outside...?"
Most of his class dutifully followed her out into the site proper, save for Jelli, who was standing next to one of the display cases mounted to the wall. Her nose was pressed up to the glass, leaving condensation on it with every breath. She was dressed in a too-big duffle coat, pink in colour and covered in buttons.
"Meine Güte..." she whispered to herself, staring in amazement at the large stone tablet contained within.
It was huge and finely carved with hundreds of tiny inscriptions, each detailed in a difficult to parse dialect of Tongues. Cobalt squinted at it, but he could only make out a few words. It looked to be some kind of mantra or declaration.
"Hm... something about the 'might of iron'..." he murmured.
His sudden words scared Jelli, causing her to give an involuntary scream as she almost tripped over her own rapidly-beating tail. Eyes widened, Cobalt reached out to steady her.
"M- Mr Trayer! S- Sorry, I got distracted!" the Glutton gasped, her chubby cheeks reddening by the second.
Cobalt gave her a reassuring smile.
"I don't mind a little distraction if it means showing an interest, Jelli. This is some truly fascinating stuff," he said, gazing up at the tablet.
She stared at it as well, her eyes as large as ever.
"Over a thousand years, and in such good condition..." the Glutton breathed.
"A thousand, three hundred and fifty, I'd say," Cobalt added.
He heard Lilith growl.
"Oh, so I'm only worth listening to when you wanna impress girls, huh?"
Jelli took a shaky breath and nudged a little closer to Cobalt. She seemed to be trying to do it subtly, but the girl's natural clumsiness caused her to bump into him.
"Do you... Do you think it's safe down there...?" Jelli whispered, peering up at him.
Jelli's eyes. There was something about them that...
He took a shuddering breath and looked away.
"I'm sure it's safe. Old and dark, more than likely, but safe."
Shivering a little, the Glutton reached over and gently took hold of his coat sleeve. She seemed nervous, but excited as well.
"Could I, um... hold your hand when we go down there?" she whispered, audibly struggling to hold her nerve with every word she spoke.
Holding hands with a student? It wasn't a good look, especially when there were so many eyes on him. But then again... it would be dark down there, and Cobalt wasn't willing to leave Jelli hanging.
Nodding, he gestured to the door.
"Of course. Let's go catch up, shall we?"
With Jelli hanging onto his coat, the pair stepped out into the snow and followed the rest of the class as they made their way towards the massive hole dug into the earth. As they descended through a tangled mess of scaffolding, the Oni tour guide cheerfully explained what was going on from her position at the head of the group.
"When this lot was purchased by a potential new business owner, they wanted five - count them, five - basement floors to accommodate a brand new subterranean department store; the deepest anyone has ever built before! After digging through solid bedrock, a minor shifting in the stone unveiled the very ruins I'm taking you to right now!" she explained, gesturing for the students to descend a steep ladder.
"Boring~!" called someone from the group, though the echo was too loud to allow Cobalt to determine who's voice it was.
When it was Cobalt's turn to climb down the ladder, the tour guide gave him a look.
"You've got a class full of jackasses, Mr. Trayer," she scowled beneath her breath.
All he could do was give her a sympathetic look as he grabbed the ladder tightly.
With every rung Cobalt descended, he felt the air around him grow colder and colder as the light from the floodlamps gradually faded. He could hear Jelli whimpering as they descended into the darkness.
"Don't worry, Jelli. You're doin' fine," he heard Izzbelle whisper from somewhere beneath him.
All around them, the roughcut stone of the dig site gave way to polished grey bricks, each regularly spaced and looking almost new despite their age. When he touched down on solid stone, Cobalt and his class found themselves standing within a large, circular chamber, filled with excavation tools and research equipment.
"This was the first chamber that was uncovered by the original construction workers, the highest point in the ruins! We're not certain as it it's purpose, but we found a lot of intricate devices here that are still undergoing study!"
"Observatory," Lilith said again, sounding almost smug.
For a few minutes, the tour guide gave various explanations and theories as to the purpose of the ruins, but before long, Cobalt found himself focusing on Jelli. The young Glutton was so taken by the ancient history all around her that she seemed to have completely forgotten her fear of the gloom. It was only when he went to walk around the chamber did she reach out to grab his hand. Her grip was surprisingly tight.
"Now, we haven't made too much progress admittedly. The stone all around you is incredibly tough, and the doors alone took a month to cut through," the guide told them all, gesturing to a huge steel door set into the wall.
Sure enough, it looked as though it had been forced open, and the floor around it was littered with broken saw blades.
The Oni led the group down a darkened set of stairs, into a similarly shaped chamber below. The walls were covered in pipes and dormant machinery, and a timeworn fresco had been set into the floor.
"This is as far as we've gotten, as you can see. Our archaeologists are sure it'll be less than a month before we can progress deeper. Now, does anyone have any questions...?"
As his class began to ask questions - inane or otherwise - Cobalt took a second to step away from the main group, standing over in the very centre of the chamber beneath an ancient lamp.
"Lilith, what is this place?" he asked, folding his arms.
"Don't ask questions you don't need to know the answer to," came the Devil's snide reply.
"Lilith...!"
"I'm not divulging Devil secrets just to satisfy your curiosity."
"You already told me fun facts about this place; just tell me what it is!"
"I can't tolerate lower demons getting the facts wrong. I can tolerate leaving you in the dark. Just drop it, kid. Best leave this place buried."
"Mr. Trayer? A- Are you okay?" asked the sudden voice of Jelli.
Eyes widening, he whipped around to see the Glutton standing there, her tail slowly swishing behind her. Cobalt smiled at her.
"I'm alright, Jelli. Just taking a moment," he told her, stretching his arms.
She smiled in return. It was small and uncertain, but she was doing her best.
"I- I've always liked visiting ruins. And, um... reading about them. B- But seeing them up close is the best," she breathed, hunkering down to look closer at the fresco on the floor.
The Incubus joined her. The tiles underfoot were masterfully arranged.
"D- Do you think they'll allow rubbings?" Jelli asked, pulling a little notebook from her pocket.
Cobalt glanced over at the tour guide. She wasn't paying them any attention.
"Be quick," he whispered back with a smile.
Pulling out a pencil, the Glutton hastily got to work with her teacher keeping watch. The rest of the students didn't even notice that they were gone, but at the edge of the group, he saw Izzbelle frantically looking around for her Glutton companion. Honing in on the Incubus, she bared her teeth and marched over.
"The fuck are you doin' with her, dumbass?!" the Oni hissed, pointing at Jelli.
Cobalt held a finger to his lips.
"We're... bending the rules a little. She said no pictures, but nothing about rubbings."
Upon seeing Jelli fervently working with that little smile upon her face, Izzbelle's face softened.
"Oh, right. You, uh... need me to distract her or somethin'?" she asked, nodding to the tour guide.
The Incubus chuckled and waved his hand.
"No, we'll be fine. Just need to-"
"What's that noise?"
Cobalt frowned at the Devil's sudden statement. The Oni raised an eyebrow.
"What's-?"
He raised a hand to silence her. Straining to hear past the tour guide's rambling, he focused on the sound that Lilith alerted him to. Like a deep, rhythmic rumbling in the distance, steadily getting louder every second. Stilling his breath, the Incubus pressed his ear to the floor.
His eyes widened.
Not rumbling.
Explosions. A string of explosions, getting closer and closer.
"Get back-!"
Cobalt's warning came too late.
The ground beneath them was ripped away as a massive explosion tore through the chamber floor, obliterating the fresco and deafening everyone within. Cobalt and Izzbelle both made a dive for Jelli as the floor fell away. He could hear people scream, but as he held the two demons close and shut his eyes, the cries of his class were quickly drowned out by the screaming of the air rushing past his ears and the crumbling of bricks all around as they plummeted deeper into the ruins. His heart pounded in his ears.
A rock struck him in the back, forcing him to let go. Another hit him in the back, dazing the Incubus as he was smashed against the wall. Finally, a chunk of rubble hit Cobalt square in the head.
Everything went dark as he was knocked out, mid-plummet.