Capítulo 87: Colorno Hospital pt.1
The Equinox Flowers were in the midst of the tumultuous greenery of the Interworld.
Hell, I'm throwing up now.
That was Havel's first thought. He had never been to the Interworld and didn't expect a place like this at all. He wasn't going to blame himself for not carefully following the lessons on the worlds of the cosmos, but he realized that he should have. With one arm, he held on to Shirei while, with the other, he held on to Ada. His companion had her eyes closed in the middle of the stormy sea, but she didn't seem scared.
Thanks to her special ability, I guess, thought Sidal's son.
Havel had never been so envious of his friend, also because he was struggling to remain standing at that moment. The Interworld seemed like a stormy sea that was intent on pushing him left and right.
It was hostile. It wasn't satisfied with destabilizing him physically, it wanted his soul.
The demigod looked at Shirei with curiosity and a hint of respect. The son of Cragar kept them both close to him and walked resolutely through the turmoil, not letting it undermine his direction.
A willpower that Havel couldn't help but recognize. He wanted to sigh in frustration but, fortunately, the feeling of vomiting from that trip prevented him from doing so.
The more time he spent with the violet-eyed demigod, the more he began to think he wasn't as unpleasant as he had originally imagined.
Accepting that he had humiliated him, however, was a completely different matter.
At least a century must pass before this happens.
The demigods reappeared in total nothingness, among expanses of cultivated fields and nature in its most abandoned form. Shirei gave himself a few seconds to regain his strength, but the hot sun beating down on their heads didn't make the process easy.
"I'm pretty sure we're in the wrong place."
Ada glared at Sidal's son and approached Shirei to make sure he was okay.
"Shirei, how come we reappeared here?"
The purple-eyed demigod took a couple of gulps of air, "I can't recover my mana while keeping track of the route. I thought we were going to get lost."
"So are we still in the right direction?"
Shirei nodded, "Yes. One minute and I'm ready to go again."
Havel raised both thumbs and waited. Seeing him struggle to do something instilled a certain amusement in him.
Ada punched him in the shoulder, "Are you pleased with this?"
"You have no idea how much," Sidal's son replied softly.
The demigoddess sighed, "You're the boss and you treat your subordinates like this? Who knows what your father, the divine Sidal, will think of having a poor leader as a son."
Ada smiled, knowing she had hit a nerve. Havel suddenly darkened and remained silent. After a few minutes he decided to check on the situation of Cragar's son, trying to ignore the looks of his companion.
"Shirei, are you ready to continue?"
The demigod nodded.
"Great, then tell us when," Sidal's son called to Ada with a wave of his hand, "Do you have any idea how many stops you'll need?"
Shirei raised two fingers of his right hand and then extended his arm towards the boy.
"Got it, Purple," replied the demigod, after grabbing his forearm.
Ada joined them immediately and, once they were sure they were ready, Shirei catapulted them back into the Interworld. The journey became more bearable after the break, to the point that, by the third departure, Havel no longer felt any nausea.
If you take away the negative aspects… this power makes no sense, he thought.
In the end, Shirei's calculations proved correct. It required more stops, but they managed to stay on track for their mission.
The three Equinox Flowers reappeared in Parma, emerging from the darkness of the Interworld like shadows piercing the dawn. Shirei, Havel, and Ada found themselves at the edge of the city, their bodies still shaken by the energies of the passage. The sun hung high in the sky, a silent sentinel that illuminated their steps towards their final destination: the abandoned Colorno hospital.
Havel took the phone and took a quick look: "Okay, according to Ammir Maps, we should be a couple of hundred meters from the hospital. We need to head through downtown."
Sidal's son advanced following the directions and the two demigods complied.
Parma stretched around them like a labyrinth of streets. They walked through a historic center that seemed to have been carved in time, with Renaissance buildings with elaborate facades and stone-framed windows. The paved streets were slightly worn by time in some places. The buildings, tall and imposing, cast long, thin shadows that stretched across the narrow alleys. The sunlight, filtered through the red roofs, played among the shadows, creating a stark contrast between the warm golden glow and the colder shaded areas.
As they advanced, the heart of the city made itself felt. The buzz of daily life mixed with the distant ringing of bells from a nearby church, while the scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air from a coffee shop hidden in a corner. Artisan workshops proudly displayed their creations in shop windows, offering a touch of color and liveliness to the urban landscape. As they approached the hospital, the streets became narrower and less busy, and the architecture changed, becoming more austere and severe. The walls appeared bare, with the plaster peeling off in some places, revealing the rough brickwork underneath.
"And… we are here" concluded the leader, putting his phone back in his pocket.
The building stood before them, a colossus of bricks and broken glass, shrouded in an aura of decay. The windows, now broken, opened up like empty eye sockets.
Ada, her long dark hair flowing in the cold air, stopped, a hint of hesitation crossing her face. "I thought it would never happen again…" she said, her voice a whisper in the wind.
Shirei, noticing the change in her partner's attitude, approached her. "Is everything ok?" he asked with veiled concern.
She nodded, but her gray eyes betrayed a disturbance that couldn't be ignored. Havel grimaced, he knew the real reason for Ada's reaction, but he preferred not to mention it to Shirei. With his usual bravado, he shook his head.
"Come on, let's go in and see if we can find the rift. We didn't come here to be scared of monsters."
Or from the past, thought Ada.
The group slowly approached the main entrance, their footsteps echoing in the oppressive silence. Shirei paused for a moment, his violet eyes scanning the surroundings of the hospital. He felt something, a presence he couldn't define, something waiting for them. When they crossed the threshold, a wave of cold air hit them, as if the building itself had welcomed them with an icy breath. The wind whistled through the deserted corridors, bringing with it the echo of distant days, when life still inhabited those walls. The walls, once white, were now covered in layers of mold and graffiti. The lamps dangled from the ceiling, flickering and unlit, making the atmosphere even more sinister.
"They could have kept it in better conditions…" Havel muttered, looking at the rooms from time to time with a grimace of disgust.
Ada followed her companions, trying to chase away the feeling of unease. Every step seemed to bring her closer to something threatening, and a feeling filled her that she couldn't shake.
As they moved further and further into the hospital, the silence became almost deafening. The ground floor was empty, the sound of their footsteps echoed through the bare walls, creating an eerie echo.
"Shouldn't there have been demigods from the academy waiting for us?" Ada asked.
Shirei stopped suddenly, his heightened senses sensing something strange. He fixed his eyes on a point in the darkness. "There are monsters."
Havel drew his axes without doubting his words, ready for whatever threat might emerge from the shadows. "Let them come forward, then."
"Shirei, what monsters are these?"
Cragar's son ignored the demigoddess's question and let a shadow fall from his feet. Reno appeared in the corridor like a ghost and greeted the two Equinox Flowers, then disappeared over the wall.
"Where did he go?" Havel asked.
A few seconds passed before Shirei replied: "The demigods are here, the monster that is coming has escaped from them."
Suddenly, a noise like a slithering snake filled the corridor, quickly approaching. From the darkness emerged a humanoid figure, its deformed body covered in monstrous growths. Bat-like wings sprouted from his back, flapping frantically. His face was hidden by long, straight gray hair.
"What the hell is that?" Ada exclaimed, readying her blades.
She didn't have time to think about anything else as the fight had already begun. The creature crawled up the wall and attacked with surprising agility, but the Equinox Flowers were prepared. Shirei summoned his blade of discord, cutting the air right at the point where the being's long serpentine tail was present. Havel and Ada fell back side by side, their weapons gleaming in the dim light. The corridor was too narrow to fight, but Shirei was not to be left alone.
The creature approached and tried to slash Cragar's son with its claws, but Ada's darkness hit it and forced it back. Havel smiled and activated his 'bloodlust', then leapt towards the enemy.
"Take this!"
Seconds later, the mysterious creature's head was laying on the ground, cleanly decapitated by Sidal's son. Shirei turned to his companions, curious for new information.
"What are these creatures called? They weren't in the books at Lilies Park."
Ada smiled nervously. "We have never met them before. Right, Havel?"
Sidal's son also looked worried. He was reminded of the day they met Shirei for the first time. Together with him, they had met a race of creatures never seen before: the chronomorphs. The only one who knew what they were was Darryl, but the reason remained an unsolved mystery.
"Let's find the demigods of the academy and let them explain what's happening."
Shirei turned to Ada, the girl's gray eyes betraying a concern that didn't need to be expressed in words. The three continued through the corridor with the utmost caution, just to make sure they wouldn't be ambushed again. The hospital structure, with its broken windows and peeling walls, seemed to want to swallow them alive.
Ada tried to hide her discomfort. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to stop and bend over, but Havel's presence helped her stay upright. They advanced down the main corridor, passing empty rooms and rusted beds. Every now and then, Shirei stopped to listen, but there was no longer any noise to attract them. They continued until they reached a large room, probably once a waiting room. The walls were covered in graffiti and signs of vandalism, and in the center of the room there was a huge dark stain on the floor.
"What a terrible place," Ada murmured, as her gaze wandered restlessly over the bush. "It must have happened here too…"
"Don't think about it," Havel replied, moving toward one of the side doors. "We have to find the entrance to the fault, right? We can't afford to waste time."
As soon as they crossed the threshold of the door, they were greeted by an even more intense stench. The corridor before them was narrow, with walls that seemed to close in on them. Ada felt panic rising inside her, but she forced herself to continue. After a few minutes, they heard another noise, this time closer, but they were unable to distinguish what it could have belonged to.
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