Three Spheres

Chapter 70 - Stealth

A knock causes the Priestess Nina to walk to the door, while Aruane argues with a local doctor about the redistribution of hospital beds. The woman opens and is taken by surprise: The Aberration of the Body covered with grotesque wounds, blood and earth; the Paragon pale, sudoreic and hypotensive. Nina supports them inside the inn.

_ Is he also sick?! _ The doctor exclaims.

The team comes for the rescue. Johan initially refuses care, still upset, but Aruane forces the compresses against his injuries. He watches, with shaking hands, as the doctor injects some kinda of drug in Amadeo. He exclaims that the boy is dehydrated and...

_ It's the worst case I've seen so far...

The catastrophic day ends with intensive care.

_ Boy, what happened? _ Aruane asks; he massages his temples _ What happened to the Veneficus girl?

_ Ah... The Pixies spoke about that place, and there... _ He looks around _ There was a Fabulare and so Amadeo slept... Before, he and Katia were already strange; feeling sick... But he passed out because of Katia's smoke, not because he overloaded. _ He pauses _ Katia and I went down to the underground... There were a lot of those Banshees and Chindis (?) there... The Banshees attacked in the Pixie tree too. _ He stops, realizing that Aruane is as confused as he is; the silence is prolonged _ In that place... there was a woman...

_ A human?! _ Aruane interrupts.

_ I don't know. She attacked us, but... Katia... She saved us, I think. _ He rubs his eyes _ I don't remember well. _ Clenches his fists _ We ran away and left her behind... because she told me to... And now...

_ Calm down, lad. She is also a knight from the ACU, right? She must be held hostage by the "woman" you spoke of. _ She puts her hand on his shoulder _ You coming back was the right choice to make. The three of you could have died. Now we know that the disease is probably being caused by a person and where they are hiding. We have already called a rescue team from our District. Trust me, will sort this out.

Johan remains silent. In his mind, he responds with profanity and various rudeness compatible with his revolt. But he opts for silence. His logic, his way of acting do not apply there. Silence.

While many fall ill, he remains healthy. Aruane and Nina told him to wait at the inn for the rescue team. "As if I was going to obey", he concludes, escaping the Rangers without difficulty. In his wavering wander, he thinks: "What am I supposed to do? What would a smart person do?"... He stops. "If I knew, I'd be a smart person, wouldn't I?".

Unconsciously, he arrives at the chaotic hospital. "What would Amadeo do?", he thinks, staring at the undulating curtains of the windows. That blonde bastard wouldn't stand around waiting; after all, he isn't the type to listen to his superiors. "He would try to find out who that woman is... But how?"

A trio of Pixies passes by him, leaving their sparkling trail in the air. The glow turns into an idea: "The Pixies spoke of that place, so they must know about the woman". Indelibly, he decides to return to the city inside the trees... On the way, he feels the discomfort of loneliness that had always been so natural to him. Sighs.

Once again in his tiny charcoal doll form, he slides down the cobweb ziplines, trying to remember who previously provided the trio with information. He can't, though.

After going up and down the walkways, he arrives at the lowest level square, where the roots form tunnels. He feels a chill.

_ Ay, fellow lad! _ An old Pixie approaches him _ Good to see you again. _ Johan looks at her, vaguely remembering the figure during the Banshees attack _ Where are your friends? The boy with starry eyes and the girl with flowers scent? I hope they're fine. _ She pulls him by the arm and sits on a bench _ Y'know, you look lost today, unlike when I saw you before. Do you want grandma to help?

She smiles very gently and holds his hands. He doesn't understand how, but he accepts the offer. The fairy's eyes light up and she hums magic words before concluding:

_ You see, the future is something very uncertain, but I saw three important things in yours: The well-known girl discovered a secret... the horrible machine wants to break the taboo of time and... the albino woman will fail. The answers to your mission are hidden there. Does it help, Johan? _ She giggles _ Y'know, clairvoyance isn't perfect, so humans don'it like it very much.

The elderly Pixie gets up and walks away, but suddenly exclaims:

_ Since you're going back to that dangerous place, take this here. _ She gives him an amulet of feathers and petals _ It wards the evil eye!

Johan accepts the delicate item. That simplistic prophecy fills him with immeasurable motivation. He does not care about what is the "taboo of time" or the "secret" that has been discovered. What matters is that the woman will fail and that will likely dispel the disease and save Katia. Amadeo's hypocratic facies flashes through his mind.

With a crossbow on his back and the "silencer" arrows he got from Emília in his quiver, he returns to the crypt alone, without permission from any of his superiors in charge. His goals are clear: Kill that woman, destroy that machine and save Katia. A stealth mission.

He enters the same sewer passage that he had fled from. His heart is beating slowly. He uses the sludge to mix with the stones, and leaves the boots so that his steps become imperceptible. Gradually, as he walks close to the ground, his eyes adapt to the deep darkness. He almost laughs: "I never really needed a flashlight".

Concurrently, Johan focuses his attention on the smallest noises that fill the place. He remembers the shrieks of the ghosts and tries to avoid them, fleeing the fatal gaze of the lurking shadows. "I'm not afraid", he repeats to himself, without breathing. He doesen't know that the Pixie 's amulet protects him from cruel claws.

Suddenly, he stops: A discreet familiar laugh echoes through the halls. "This voice...". This time, he continues towards it, crawling through cracks that form a maze. At this point, he has no idea how to get back to the surface. "But Katia will know when I find her", he concludes.

To his surprise, however, an intense white and green light begins to fill the passages. The voice becomes clearer. Johan decides to climb a conduit to observe the bright hall. For the first time so far, his "plan" is an absolute success: Through the crack in the wall, he sees the white-haired woman, holding something that splashes a liquid that she uses to draw on the floor with her own feet. The metallic smell of the air makes him suspect that it is blood. He supports his crossbow in the ridiculous small opening and cockes the arrow.

His whole body is in an abnormal state of serenity, like a predator on the verge of an ambush. He barely recognizes himself. "I think this is why people call me a...", he thinks and pulls the trigger...

The arrow stops in the air, caught between two slender fingers.

_ Well, do we have a guest? _ The woman says, looking around with her dead fish orbs.

Johan freezes. He himself wouldn't have been able to escape that shot. His heart is now racing. The woman staggers. She lifts the object she is holding and says:

_ If you came for the human, I am sorry, but she has already died. In fact, it was an accident.

Johan covers his mouth with his hands, trembling. Is that... a head? The blood, along with thick clots, hits the floor generating a disgusting noise. Where the eyes should be, there are holes filled with... something. "Katia?". He is terrified, and, this time, there is no one to guide him by the hand.

_ Well! I found you!

He turns back, startled, but the other's filthy heel crushes his chest against the floor; it cracks. "What..."

_ So it's you, ugliest thing. _ She has an expression of legitimate loath _ You shouldn't exist, nameless monster... But before anything... I'll use you to bring that child here!

In the city, suddenly Amadeo awakens. He wipes the sweat from his face and takes a deep breath. "What", he thinks, "I feel so much better!". He smiles, feeling himself to make sure it isn't a dream. He looks around.

"Where's Johan?"