The sporting goods store was deserted, and the floor looked like a Jackson Pollock painting if he had only used one color.
Zeke punched Gill left and right with his giant fists, made of swollen veins and arteries, moving as fast as possible. His body heated up, and his arms and neck muscles ached as he kept up with the swinging of heavy, enlarged fists.
The rampage ended once one of Gill’s yellow-eyed monsters caught Zeke’s fists in its mouth, and another one chomped onto his other fist.
Zeke shrieked in pain and glowered at Gill. The rush down left him with plenty of bruises and blood leaking out, but it wasn’t enough to get rid of the smug look on his face.
“So, you focus your magic just to throw stronger punches?” Gill said and then shook his head. “What a waste….”
“You’re the waste!”
Gill laughed. “That’s your best trash talk? Holy hell, mate, ya gotta work on that.” Suddenly, Gill frowned, and he looked off to his side. “Idiots,” he scoffed.
He turned back to Zeke, re-equipping his smug look. “Sorry, mate, I gotta go. We’ll continue this later.”
“You can go when I….” Zeke halted as he took notice of the sources of Mana surging in various places.
“It looks like you’ve got to go, too.” The yellow-eyed abominations let go of Zeke, and Gill opened a yellow portal behind him. “We’ll take a rain check on this scrap, Azaekias,” he said with a wink and fell back into the portal.
After the portal vanished, Zeke turned to the store’s exit and ran towards the closest source of Mana he could sense.
----------------------------------------
Ugo hit the floor hard on his cheek, breaking some facial bones, but he got to his feet quickly, ignoring the fresh throbbing coming from his cheek.
He could see the monster’s red flesh contract and its body shake with ecstasy as it made loud swallowing noises after consuming AJ’s soul. Fury took over Ugo; he gripped his knife until his hand became numb.
Then, using a liquid metal puddle, Yuri skated into the scene on just his shoes. He veered and halted in front of Ugo. “Hold on there, friend.”
“Out of my way, dude!”
Yuri waved his hand around while nearing Ugo until he touched his shoulder. “You need to calm down and use your eyes. Focus!”
Ugo recalled the breathing exercises he taught himself. Once his nerves were under control, he looked over at the monster and focused. He saw AJ’s thin soul tether extending from her collapsed physical Container on the floor with concerned people gathered around it. Most of them were on the phone with emergency services.
“She’s not dead,” Yuri said.
A gray flame ring shot into the scene and hovered over the funnel-mouth monster. It descended and shrank around the freakshow, constricting it and making it fall over to its side.
Naomi and Aida came running. Naomi first noticed AJ’s physical Container and looked back at Ashlin’s creation with widened eyes.
“No!” she cried.
Ugo sensed another Tainted from behind. He turned and saw Zeke rushing to the scene.
He halted and scanned the hectic surroundings.
Getting Zeke’s attention, Naomi pointed at the monster. “AJ’s soul has been swallowed by it,” she said while pouting.
“Ashlin always loved to talk about her sick ideas for weaponized Containers,” Aida said. “I think this is one of the kinds that has a portal to another Realm inside it.”
“Can’t we just pull her out?” Ugo asked.
“That wouldn’t be a good idea now,” Yuri said.
“Yeah, look at how thin her soul thread is. Forcefully pulling it has a higher risk of it tearing,” Aida said, scratching her fox ear while eyeing the struggling monster. “Ashlin’s Container finished its job, so AJ must be in another Realm right now.”
Naomi closed her fist and squeezed; the flame ring around it tightened accordingly, but AJ’s soul wasn’t spat out. She relented. “AJ is too deep within it.”
“So, let’s go in and get her out of it,” Ugo said.
“Wait, what happens if Ashlin summons it away again?” Naomi asked.
“Good question,” Yuri said. “And if she sees the soul tether extending from it, she can just cut it, no problem.”
Zeke stepped towards the monster and stared at it in silence. Ugo smirked, knowing that deductive greatness was to follow.
“Theoretically,” Zeke started, “there’s a portal inside this thing, right? Can we remove it?”
Yuri smiled. “That’s a bonkers idea!”
Zeke looked over at Naomi. “Can you—?”
“Yes!” she said, pointing at the flame ring constricting the monster. As she lifted her finger, the monster rose.
“Mora,” Zeke called. “Open it up!”
Without asking any questions, Ugo prepared his knife and made a midline incision, revealing the innards of the monster. Nothing was inside but a human stomach organ emanating a demonic aura.
“The portal is definitely in there,” Aida said. “Zeke, you’re a genius!”
“Mora, remove it quickly before Ashlin calls it back,” Zeke ordered.
Ugo nodded, expertly cut out the organ, and held it in his hand. It reeked of sulfur and felt cold and gooey, like a rotten meaty dessert.
As the Surgeon of the Tainted Generation, Ugo had variants of his cutting magic. He learned three different kinds: The first allowed for regular cutting, severing a part from its source, which could be done painlessly or not (clean cuts or bloody cuts). The second allowed him to do the severing painlessly without cutting off the connection (the subject could still move their arm after amputation). The third, also painless and most Mana-consuming of them all, was a technique that, upon separating anything, creates two entirely new parts as if they were never connected and had always existed on their own (what he had used on Yuri to prevent him from reattaching his limbs). Ugo had done the third option.
“Now what?” Ugo asked.
“We take it back to the Infirmary,” Zeke said.
----------------------------------------
Zeke summoned his medical bag into the Astral Realm, caught it as it fell from above, and led the group to a door only mall personnel could go through. He took a piece of chalk from his bag and drew the Infirmary’s sigil. Hopefully, no poor soul was looking at the door that time, or else they would’ve seen a flying piece of chalk casually drawing an occult symbol. When it came to writing or drawing, even from within the Astral Realm and using items in the Astral Realm, the results would be visible to those outside the spiritual domain. It is how ghosts pulled off their most signature scares on the living.
This was the norm concerning writing or drawing on something while in the Astral Realm, but there are means to ensure the writing remains unseen.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Wait,” Aida said as Zeke opened the door. She turned back, stabbed her palm with her sharpened nail, dragged it across her skin, and then crouched to draw a summoning circle. A few hand signs were made, and Aida planted her cut hand on the drawing, and a smoke cloud blew out.
The creature that appeared as the smoke began to thin had Ugo point and scream like he was about to get murdered, “Ahhhhh! What the hell is that—?” A scowl from the creature’s caretaker changed his tone and demeanor. “I mean, it’s beautiful.”
“Her name is Cherie.” Aida snorted. The beast resembling a cross between a dragon and a porcupine, was covered in an entanglement of green hair with quills protruding off its back. It had a scaly neck, head, and tail to match and was about the size of a well-fed lion. “She’s French—a peluda. Beautiful animals,” she said as she caringly petted its shaggy head. “Cherie can store things in her fur. I summoned her into the Astral Realm so our Containers will be invisible to regular people.”
Cherie, the peluda, shook with excitement as she flicked her slimy tongue out and then bolted.
“Godspeed, Cherie,” Zeke said as he watched the monster. Then, he turned back to the door and made sure to clean off the chalk after everyone stepped inside.
“Oh, wow, this place feels amazing!” Yuri said, looking around the waiting room.
For a moment of panic, Zeke wheeled back to Yuri and stared with widened eyes, realizing he just let a stranger into their sacred haven.
Ugo walked past Zeke and approached the trestle table. “Guys, let’s figure out our next game plan,” he said.
Unfortunately, Zeke would have to deal with his blunder internally; there was no point in trying to do something about it now. Zeke closed the door behind him, put down his bag, and moved up to the trestle table with the others as Ugo placed the pale pink J-shaped organ in the middle. It looked normal but felt like it came straight from the Netherworld.
This was the first time Zeke (and the other Infirmary team members) entered the Infirmary in astral form. He felt great relief as it seemed as though it didn’t take much of a mental strain to interact with physical objects while inside the hospital. Was it because of where it was or the spells set in the structure’s interior?
Zeke looked at the tapestry over the altar behind him, thinking about the incident again.
“What’s the plan here?” Ugo asked, pulling Zeke back to reality.
“We open it up and save AJ, that’s it,” Aida said, looking at Zeke as her tail swept behind her. “Or do you have another idea, head doctor?”
Zeke’s infinite capacity to worry didn’t allow him to relish what the Geneticist called him endearingly. He fixated on Yuri as he scanned the room with an infantile smile on his face. Infatuated with all the Mana in the air, he must be seeing.
He felt a strong tug on his shoulder and turned over to Ugo, who was beside him.
“We can worry about him later,” he said. “AJ is our priority right now.” Ugo pointed at Yuri. “Hey, blind guy!”
“Yeah, buddy?” Yuri said without turning to him.
“If you turn out to be a spy, we’ll kick your ass, okay? We’ve done it before, and we can do it again!”
“Of course, I am well aware of that!” Yuri said and then laughed.
Zeke winced as he fixated on Yuri.
“You’re not satisfied yet, are you?” Naomi asked. She frowned and walked toward Yuri. “Don’t worry, Zeke. I’ll make sure he doesn’t pull anything.”
Yuri stopped scanning the area as Naomi halted before him. “Your Mana output feels so strange and wonderful!”
Naomi scowled up at him, making Zeke grin. He was reminded of her more austere side, and she was an over two-hundred-year-old otherworldly being after all; whatever test she had in mind to ensure Yuri wasn’t going to screw them over would undoubtedly be a suitable one.
“Yuri, do you have any ulterior motives?” Naomi asked.
Silence filled the air, and even Yuri’s smile went away.
“No,” he said.
Naomi’s scowl grew more intense, and then she raised her pinky. “Pinky swear?”
With an unyielding expression, Yuri locked his pinky with Naomi’s. “Pinky swear.”
Naomi pulled away and turned to the others with a satisfied smile. “Okay, he doesn’t have any ulterior motives.”
Zeke stared at her blankly as Aida slapped a hand over her face, sighing.
“He swore!” Naomi shouted while pointing back at Yuri (who nodded with his arms crossed).
“Okay, if Naomi confirms it, then I’m convinced, and you should be too Mano,” Ugo said, turning to the stomach as he brandished his knife. “I’m cutting this open.”
Ugo did so, and dark energy rose from the organ and swirled into a dark portal.
“What Realm does it lead to?” Ugo asked. “It feels like...”
“The Netherworld,” Yuri said matter-of-factly. “It’s a portal to the Netherworld.”
“I guess we’re going to Hell,” said Aida, walking over to the waiting room’s entry door. Cherie, the peluda, stepped in. “Good girl!” Aida dropped to her knees and scratched the beast’s fur all over.
“Poor AJ, she must be so scared...” Naomi said.
Eyeing the portal had Zeke think about how this would be his first time venturing into the Netherworld—a place with a one-in-a-eleven chance of being his permanent residence after his death.
What would it look like? What would it smell like? What would it feel like? Would it feel wrong… or like somewhere he belonged? The image of the figure that appeared during the festive get-together in the Infirmary sometime after eradicating Kian’s specimen flashed in his mind.
He dreamt of its burnt, zombified face every other night. Remembering the unsettling imagery of the missing top of its head and demonic yellow and green eyes had Zeke shake slightly where he stood.
That figure was—
“On you go!” Ugo said, grabbing him by the wrist.
“Mora, wait!” Was the last thing Zeke managed to say before screaming in terror with his eyes closed as he was pushed into the portal. He fell on his stomach and then turned over, looking up at the rest (including Cherie, the peluda) as they stepped through the dark gateway.
Ugo looked down at Zeke. “We both know ya would’ve stayed in your head forever.”
Zeke got up and dusted himself off. “You didn’t have to be so rough…” he said, frowning.
“That’s what she said,” Ugo replied, suppressing his dorky laugh before turning away. All there was genuine shame on his face, having Zeke study him for a bit until he concluded that perhaps he was overthinking it, which deserved a pat on the back for self-awareness.
It was time to take a look at the Realm, and it was a hauntingly beautiful landscape. The blackish-blue barren ground was littered with rock fragments and had multiple light red puddles.
Pinkish-like colored flames flickered from various spots across the ground. Overhead was a clouded sky with a dark blue hue that grew lighter in the distance, with mountains radiating the same hue visible.
Zeke’s legs finally started moving, and he increased his distance from the portal behind him. Expecting the usual stench of rotten eggs, Zeke instead got a spicy fragrance of musk and burnt pepper. The only noises he could hear were from the flames and the footsteps of himself and his group.
The area looked like a battlefield after the war was settled.
“So, this is Netherworld,” Ugo said nonchalantly.
“Abaddon, to be exact,” Yuri said. “Remember that the Netherworld is composed of many, many Realms.”
Then, under a bizarre, twisty rock formation in the distance, Zeke spotted AJ kneeling before something.
“AJ,” he shouted while moving up to her and halted in shock once he saw the skull-faced flower snapping before her.
“Watch out!” Ugo exclaimed and rushed past Zeke. He sliced the demonic plant in half and stomped on it before it could do any damage.
“Are you okay?” Zeke asked and then realized how weird of a question it was to ask someone in Hell.
AJ stood up. “I…” she glanced down at the crushed plant, sighed, and smiled softly as she looked back at her friends. “I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to you in time!” Naomi said, running up to AJ and wrapping her arms around her.
“Thanks for coming for me,” AJ said stonily, then noticed Cherie. What is that?”
“She’s Cherie,” Aida said and then snarled a bit.
“The peluda,” Ugo added, earning him a nod from Aida.
“Okay…” AJ said. “So, shall we get out of here?”
“Wait…” Yuri said, having everybody look over at him. “Kimberly…”
Zeke thought back to what Gill told him before they started trading blows. “Gill said that he was at the mall to: ‘Give her one last outing before it begins.’ Does that mean…?”
“He is going to deliver the Rebirth Seed. They are probably at his hospital preparing the procedure as we speak.”
“Okay, then, point us in the direction of Gill’s hospital, and let’s keep it from happening,” Ugo said.
Aida turned to AJ. “The portal leads back to the Infirmary, so—”
“Use it to get back home while you guys leave me out?” AJ replied and pushed Naomi away from her. “Do you expect me just to stay back? I’m coming, too!”
“Oh, okay, I just thought—”
“You thought what? I would be too scared for this?”
“I didn’t say that.” Aida sighed and kneeled to the peluda. “I was going to suggest for all of us to return to the Infirmary because of Cherie. She can handle it, but I don’t want her in the Netherworld for too long. And we can get back into our Containers.”
“If we’re going to do this,” Zeke said, “then yeah, we might as well do it in our Containers so we don’t have to worry about our soul tethers.”