They journeyed through Gehenna with Yuri in the lead.
Naomi caught up to Yuri. “How many times have you been here?” She asked.
“Many times,” Yuri said. “I’ve been keeping track of Gill’s adventures for quite some time, but I’ve never actually entered the hospital.” He stopped. “Can you guys see it?”
They all halted, and Zeke could see the dark blue building far from them. It had a beautiful art nouveau aesthetic with a Scottish accent. Twisted black tree branches and blue and black flames were spread across the hospital’s exterior. The most notable piece of the landmark was the giant screaming demon skull at the top of the center of the building. There were two smaller buildings of the same architectural style to their sides.
Winged demons descended from the skies to the entrances of the buildings; other wingless demons appeared from portals approaching the building.
“Yup, we see it,” Ugo said.
“I’ve been told that what you see on the outside doesn’t compare to what’s on the inside,” Yuri said. “Demonstone Hospital. Opened by the Demonologist of the First Tainted Generation of Healers.”
“Gill has definitely added some modern touches to the architecture,” Zeke said.
Aida crossed her arms and blew at her bangs. “I don’t think Gill is going to perform the procedure in a regular delivery unit that every other demon uses,” Aida said. “And then there’s the problem with the cloaking Gill has over Kimberly’s Container.”
“What reason would he have to keep her cloaked while in the hospital? Gill doesn’t know we followed him to the Netherworld unless he could somehow sense us from Abaddon when we arrived,” Ugo asked.
“Maybe he doesn’t want every soul in the Netherworld to know yet,” Naomi said.
“Or just being cautious about other Tainted who could be in the Netherworld at the time,” AJ said.
“Yeah, the Rebirth Seed without cloaking could probably be felt across the entirety of the Netherworld,” Aida added.
“Even if she wasn’t cloaked, would we be able to discern her Black Magic energy from all the other energy radiating from the hospital?” Zeke asked and crouched, taking out some potions from his bag.
“She feels different. Trust me,” Yuri said firmly.
“I guess our best shot is to pay attention to Gill’s and Ashlin’s Garb’s output and follow it, but then there’s the caution thing again….” Ugo sighed and put his hands on his hips. “So, we’re going in blind.”
“The good thing is that, from what I’ve studied, Rebirth Seed deliveries can take up to 39 hours,” Aida said, and then she accepted the Mana potion given to her by Zeke. “Thanks.” She drank it all in one go.
“Gill most likely has means to induce labor,” Yuri said.
“Still,” Aida responded, turning to him. “There is a risk of complications like the death of both the mother and the demon. From what I know, the shortest time to force someone to complete delivery to a healthy Rebirth Seed is about four hours, and that’s pushing it, but I could see Gill doing it. Any less than that would be inefficient.”
Zeke gave Ugo, AJ, and Aida the White Magic-based solution made from Naomi’s white feathers and unicorn-heart blood.
“Okay, so we have time,” Ugo said, downing the purity-raising medicine.
“We’re going to have to split up,” Aida said. “Look, there must be something in there to help us find the delivery room. Talking to personnel, following any suspicious things we see or feel. Something.”
AJ finished the medication in two gulps. “If we do that, how will we communicate with the other groups to come to us?” she asked.
“Fetch Spell,” Zeke said, explaining the mechanisms of the Gray Magic spell to AJ. It was a simple spell of great convenience as it allowed one to summon anybody to them as long as they were in possession of something that came from their Physical Container, like how Violet brought him to her with his curls. The spell also worked in reverse, like when Isaac brought Ugo and the rest to him since they were with his severed finger.
After Zeke helped himself to the whitish-blue liquid, which had an odd, buttery taste, he returned to his bag and took blood packets from it. He had everyone extract a sample of their blood into the pack and sign their names on it with the marker he always kept in his bag. They agreed to split into three groups: Zeke was with Yuri (they had Aida’s and Ugo’s blood packets), Ugo was paired with Naomi (they had Zeke’s and AJ’s), and AJ was teamed up with Aida (they had Yuri’s and Naomi’s).
Yuri removed his sunglasses and stored them in his jacket pocket. “As you can see, unlike me, there are three buildings,” he explained as he kept his eyes closed. “The main one, one for the psych ward, and the miscellaneous building.”
Zeke glanced at the buildings and then looked back at his group. “We will take the main building, Aida and AJ will go to the psych ward, and Ugo and Naomi will go to the—
“Zeke, I apologize for interrupting,” Naomi said, stepping towards him, “but can Ugo and I go to the psych ward?”
Her red eyes adopted a steely look as they focused on Zeke’s.
"W-W-Why?" Zeke asked, feeling both confusion and fear. He knew otherwise, but all his brain told him from her look and her new voice was that a full-fledged demon was in front of him who wanted to tear his heart right out of his chest.
“I… just want to,” Naomi said, her eyes losing some of its hardness. “Please.”
“Okay,” Zeke said quickly on instinct. Not wanting to upset her.
“Thank you,” Naomi said and turned back to Aida. “Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah, sure,” Aida responded. “Oh, right, I almost forgot. Concerning the changes I’ve made to everyone’s genes. I did more than mess with the voice. You can understand demon tongue and will speak it without realizing when with other demons. And your voice, it’s something you can turn off if you want. You’ll know how with the new genetic coding I gave all of you. And one last thing,” Aida folded her hands together with the palms facing upwards and the tips of her thumbs pressing onto each other. Her hands glowed, and then she extended her hands at the group.
Their regular clothing was morphed into something more appropriate for the hellish landscape to complete their demonic disguises.
“There we go,” Aida said with a smile and then applied the same spell to herself.
"More kitsune magic?" Zeke asked.
“Having the ability to change your body just isn’t complete without being able to change your clothing, don’t you think?” Aida said and gave him a wink.
“Alright, let’s move,” Zeke said, tossing his medical bag aside.
----------------------------------------
The group neared Demonstone Hospital and split, venturing into their respective routes.
Zeke and Yuri moved up to the main building, and the giant demon skull grew larger the closer they got to the entrance. The rest of the building was to either of their sides.
Zeke halted to study the skull, wondering if it belonged to a real demon at some point, and the first Demonologist slayed it and made it a headpiece just to make an example of their power.
Yuri bumped into Zeke, pulling him out of his reverie.
“Hey, Zeke, do you know what demons hate the most?” Yuri started. “Exorcize!” He hunched over as he let out his ear-piercing laugh.
Zeke looked at him stone-faced and then walked away, moving up the entrance steps alongside other admitting demons.
There was more art nouveau architecture to see in the hospital’s foyer. Everything was coated in dark, cool colors. Intricate, swirly mosaic work covered the floor, and sinuous flower motifs took over the walls and climbed up the massive arches in the room.
Multiple benches with undulating shapes were around the room where legions of demons were seated. Some were black; some were gray, some were blue; some were red; some had horns; some had way too many horns; some without horns at all; some had human-like bodies with goat-like heads; some were the opposite; some had large vampiric wings; some with black feathered wings, some had gooey skin; some with skin that looked as craggy as dry desert land...
The idea of what horrific ailments these creatures were carrying made Zeke want to run out of there. Even with his demonic modifications, Zeke felt out of place with his plain black T-shirt that had morphed into a long-sleeved tunic and his tacky pants that had become gray breeches.
Yuri’s leather jacket became a long overcoat of the same material that closed up from top to bottom.
The two wore dark boots lined with fur at the top.
They found signage bolted into a wall and approached it. Zeke leaned forward and started reading, realizing Aida’s gene editing also allowed him to understand the demonic text.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Cardiology, curse casting, dermatology… emergency unit, exams, general medicine, general surgery, spell reversal….” Zeke pulled away, giving up reading the rest of the extensive list. “Where do we even start looking?”
“Can I help you?” a vexed voice said.
Zeke turned back in the direction of the voice and looked at the receptionist’s desk. Each disinterested demonic employee had their own window compartment, attending to other demons.
Zeke approached the one who asked.
“Let me guess, another chastity belt removal?” the demon lady behind the window said. “When are you guys going to stop trying to have sex with elves? It’ll never happen. One of these days, they are going to put a spell on you that not even our best doctors are going to be able to take care of.”
“Um… that’s not what I’m here for.”
“Oh, you looked like the type.”
Zeke smiled nervously as he waited for an apology.
It never came.
“Well… what do you want?” she asked again, her pink, rocky face contorting in anger.
The receptionists in the Netherworld weren’t passive-aggressive like in his world. They were just flat-out mean.
Yuri appeared behind Zeke and whispered: “I have an idea. Follow my lead.”
The words from the punny weirdo with closed eyes made Zeke panic, but he had no choice but to go along with it as he started speaking.
“That’s an awfully sharp tongue ya got there,” Yuri said, which was true, literally and metaphorically. “How courageous of you to speak to an inspector like that.”
There was a short pause. The receptionist’s red eyes scanned Yuri’s smiling face silently, and then they widened. “Wait, are you with—?”
“That’s right, and so far, I’ve already deducted many points from the receptionists’ evaluation.”
###
Ugo entered Demonstone Hospital’s psych ward with Naomi by his side.
The sensations of Black Magic energy he was picking up were so intense it made him dizzy. He fought against the intensity by clenching all over.
The foyer was colored with dark shades of red-orange and decorated with curving lines, fancy ornaments, insect motifs, and a single fleshy column in the center of the room. Light seeped into the foyer from a round window just over the door they entered from—the window’s contents made it seem as though it was day outside.
Ugo wore a black medieval cowl hood, dark brown breeches, and black sandals, while Naomi wore a red, lean kirtle dress with a low square neckline and detachable sleeves.
As Ugo walked further into the deserted room, scouting the place, he realized the space was annular. There were multiple, unlabeled doors on the curved wall with no distinction from one another, like a Choose Your Own Adventure — the only way to know what was behind each door was by stepping through it, thus choosing your playthrough.
“So, where do ya wanna start, Naomi?” Ugo asked, getting a bit startled by his new echoey demonic voice, and waited.
He got no answer.
“Naomi?” Ugo turned on his heel. “Naomi?” He halted and stared at the former sunflower blonde as she stood on her toes with her body arched back a bit while her eyes stayed closed, and a look of ecstasy was on her face.
Ugo felt a surge of Black Magic energy that almost toppled him over. As he straightened himself, he witnessed long gray horns with tiny spikes across them grow from her head. He rushed to Naomi and tapped her shoulder. “Naomi!”
She snapped back to reality and looked around in confusion for a moment before adopting a joyful look. “Yes?”
Ugo pointed at her demonic horns.
Naomi felt them and snickered. "Oh… um… I didn’t mean to do that. But… it felt good,” she said. “This is my first time in the Netherworld, and from everything the angels told me when I was in the cage, I thought it’d be scarier, but it isn’t. It feels like….” she backpedaled on whatever she was about to say and turned to the column. “Do you feel that?”
“What?” Ugo said as he turned to the column as well.
Engorged veins descended from the top of the fleshy column till the middle, and a skinless demon head emerged.
“Hello!” the meat-faced demon said in its native tongue that Ugo was able to pick up.
“Um… hey, you!” Ugo approached it cautiously, having no idea if it was a female or male demon.
“Visitor, touring, or admission?” the demon head asked.
Ugo wondered who would come to a psych ward in Hell for a tour but couldn’t ask and had to stay focused on the mission. Just as he was about to open his mouth—
“It doesn’t matter!” The demon head exclaimed without directing its black eyes at any of them. “As Dr. Rathru emphasized, this isn’t a prison or a place of punishment. Admissions here are completely voluntary, and so is roaming and leaving.”
Naomi neared the demon. “Well, we were wondering if—”
“There’s no need for formalities nor systemic organization around here. Do what you’d like here, and our staff will accommodate you accordingly.”
Ugo realized that the demon head was the Netherworld equivalent of an automated voice message system.
“For any further questions, please find Dr. Rathru in his office. Thank you.” The demon head smiled and absorbed itself into the column.
“At least it was nice,” Naomi said.
“Like Aida said, if we want to get to Gill, talking to staff members could be a good bet,” Ugo said as he stroked his chin, remembering that’s how it usually worked for the beginning of numerous main quests across many role-playing games. “Let’s try to find Dr. Rathru.”
“Which door do we start with, though?”
Motivated by the same determination that led him to beat and find every hidden collectible in all 3 Black Souls games, which were games utterly devoid of an in-game map. Ugo pointed at a door randomly but with a firm, confident stance. “That one.” He marched towards it, and Naomi followed.
Past the chosen door was an intricately decorated dark corridor illuminated with weak red-orange lighting from candle sconces on the wall.
Skipped breathing and strings from a broken guitar playing filled the air.
“I wonder who is playing the music,” Naomi said.
“Maybe one of the inmates—”
And then, a pack of small creatures ran across the floor. Creatures that Ugo had no idea what species to identify them with. Their entire anatomy consisted of a human head and an oozing demon hand stretched out from under its neck. They made a distorted mix of wailing and laughing as they scuttered on their leaking fingers, leaving a trail of red slime behind. One of them slipped and let out a siren-like scream before using the hand that made up the other half of its body to get back up and join the rest.
The breathing in the air grew louder as the two courageously moved further down the corridor.
“Sorry, Ugo,” Naomi said, “but we’re going to have to move faster than this to get to Kimberly in time!”
As Naomi sped up, Ugo was having a hard time keeping up with her quick steps. The scenery was straight out of a personal fantasy. There he was, walking down a corridor that looked like it was ported right out a level from President Evil, and with a companion, who was a beautiful demon girl. Yet, there was no bounce in his step, no showing of excited thrill on his face, nor the need to fight against an urge to let out his dorky laugh.
If Ugo, from just as early as one year ago, could see the unfun bastard impersonating him, he would proceed to kick his own ass.
“Hi, do you know where we can find Dr. Rathru?” he heard Naomi ask.
He caught up, and she was talking to a demoness in a lab coat. She was red-skinned with several yellow eyes, and the horns stretched from her forehead curled back like a ram’s.
“Dr. Rathru?” the demon asked. She paused and studied Ugo up and down.
Ugo kept himself from reacting to her blatant Mana inspection. There is nothing to worry about. She has no reason to suspect you being a part of the Tainted Generation. Just focus on keeping Rutapexy suppressed.
The demon’s eyes retreated and settled back on Naomi. “What for?”
Naomi curled her lip to the side and hummed. “Well, we were wondering if—”
A red-haired beast pounced on the demon doctor from the side.
Ugo and Naomi stood and stared idly, not out of shock from the creature’s sudden entrance or even its appearance with its hyena-like anatomy, bulging eyes, and jagged black teeth, but what kept them still was confusion as the doctor laughed as she was being mauled.
The creature was incessantly clawing away at the doctor’s face like a dog trying to dig through a marble floor.
“Trikaz!” The demon said after taking multiple lacerations to the face. “We’ve been looking for you!”
Ugo and Naomi took a back step as pitch-black blood spurted toward them. The doctor’s red face was now coated in black, and her head dangled limply as the beast pierced its teeth into her neck and held it up.
“Could you please specify what you need from Dr. Rathru?” the mauled doctor asked as she smiled. “It’s just that so I can tell you where to find him before it’s too late.”
Ugo turned to Naomi as he sensed her Mana energy swell. She had bloodlust in her eyes as she stepped forward and raised her hand with an open palm.
“No, stop,” The doctor shouted as she pointed back at Naomi. “I will not let you hurt a patient on my watch. We love our patients and have no problem dying for their sake.”
Naomi halted, taking back the look of confusion she had almost a minute ago.
As the beast released a demonic growl, the doctor chuckled and caressed its fur. “Oh, he’s starting to hit bone.”
Ugo and Naomi shared a look.
“Okay…” Ugo started and recollected himself. “We need to talk to Rathru for—”
Naomi let out a cry.
The doctor wasn’t going to be giving any directions any time soon. The creature tore off a fist-sized chunk of meat from her throat and bolted, gobbling the meat in victory.
Naomi was the first to act, rushing and kneeling to the doctor. She raised her hands with open palms before her.
“Naomi,” Ugo said as he reached out his hand. “What’re you going to do?”
Naomi’s nose scrunched. She lowered her hands and let out a sigh. “Ugo, can’t you do something?” she asked, looking up at him with her red doe-eyes.
It didn’t take the ability to sense Mana energy to know that the doctor was dead for good. Ugo looked down at the mangled corpse with zero energy emanating from it, surrounded by puddles of its own black blood. “I don’t think resurrection is in my toolbox, Naomi, but...” Ugo recalled another important action to do in video games when it came to corpses—searching them for loot.
Although his hands were raised, ready to search, noticing the feminine figure of the demon made a painful tremble spread along his fingers. He turned his hands into fists and then said to Naomi, without looking at her. “Search her and see if you can find anything useful.”
As Naomi nodded and did as asked, Ugo looked away until she said something.
“I think this could be useful,” Naomi said, getting back his attention. She held a brass-plated skeleton key and directed it to Ugo.
“That does look useful,” Ugo said as he took the key. “Let’s keep looking around.”