Eternal

Saliva worked its way past the lump that had taken up residency in his throat as he licked his lips, blue eyes raising to the sky, searching the stars for answers to questions he couldn't ask. His right hand played absentmindedly through the sea foam as it crept up the shore, the bubbles tickling the spaces between his fingers and fizzing against his palm.

The night air was cold against the skin of his face, but Chuuya didn't mind. He sat cross legged in the sand, watching the tide dance toward his legs as his mind poured over the event that had transpired a mere hour ago.

An event he had meant to avoid entirely. One he had reenacted so many times.

The story of how the sky loved the sea.

His tongue clicked in annoyance, his eyes tightening at the edges as he removed his hand from the sea and flicked it harshly, wet droplets scattering onto the sand and his pants.

"Bastard." The words came out as a breathy hiss, his mouth curving into a sharp frown as he raised a hand to his brow, stretching it across the length of his forehead and dragging his thumb and middle finger across his temples.

What could he possibly be thinking? Now is not the time for this...

A harsh beep broke through the silence of the night and Chuuya let loose a low groan, eyes flicking to the silver bangle on his left wrist. Raising his wrist to his face, he nudged the small touch screen on the bangle's surface with his nose, his right hand being too preoccupied with his temples to be of use in the situation.

"Oracle."

"Nakahara." The voice that came through the speaker was completely, utterly bored. Chuuya removed his hand from his head and stared out across the crystal surface of the sea, eyes lighting on the moon as it continued to rise over the water at the horizon's edge.

"You located him." It wasn't a question.

"I did."

"And?"

Dazai's face played across his vision, overshadowing the moon as he rolled his tongue against his teeth, mind miles away from the words he needed most at this moment. Fury burned in his chest as he considered the long, ominous road that lay ahead of him.

"I couldn't dispatch him."

"Oh?" The Oracle's tone switched to amused interest. "Does that mean-"

"Yes." The word came out with a bit more force than he intended.

"He attempted a reset."

A sharp inhale from the other end of the transmission caused it to crackle. The line was silent for several moments, and Chuuya began to wonder if they had been cut off.

"Oracle?"

"I'm here." He could hear the sound of a keyboard clacking loudly in the background. "Activate your tracker and leave it active at all times. Get back as quickly and as safely as you can. Lay low until we can confirm or deny the success of the reset and await orders from there."

Chuuya heaved his weight forward, unfolding his legs and pulling his chest over his knees as he raised himself to a crouch, reaching back to pull the hood of his cloak over his head.

"Aye, sir."

A set of two short, sharp beeps emitted from the bangle before it fell silent. Rolling his wrist so that the bottom of the device was exposed, he pressed a finger against the small gold button hidden there, holding it down until a green light flashed on the display.

Rising to his feet, he glanced over his shoulder at the rise of the shore, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the sparse trees at the peak of the slope, his left hand dropping to the sheath at his thigh, his fingers playing idly against the ivory handle of his knife as he took in the sight of a figure cloaked in dark tan crouched amongst the branches.

Despite the distance between them, he could make out the catlike slope of the shoulders and mischievous tilt of the head. His grip tightened on his knife as the wind picked up, wafting through the trees and bringing the scent of thyme and black pepper his way.

He could feel his lip curling into a sneer, a growl bubbling up into his throat as he watched the figure sway along with the breeze for a moment before turning its form away and leaping from the tree, ghosting silently out of view and into the night.