This is the third arc! If you didn't read the first one, you can't understand anything!
Hi everyone!
I'm italian and I'm translating my story in english because some not-italian people ask me to do it, so please forgive me for this poor and basic english!
I accept any advice because I really want to improve my english and I know there are many mistakes, SORRY!
Thank you for reading ~
Target 26 - Melody of the cloud
The three boys, being careful not to be discovered, are following the clone of Clover II, who is jumping on the roofs of the houses like a clever feline, then he goes down and reaches a railway station, slipping in the crowd like a normal traveller.
Shinji, Haname and Cloud have just the time to make the tickets and take place in the train, staying in their position, without losing eye contact with the creature on the opposite side of the crowded carriage.
Cloud: Ridiculous, he has taken a train like everyone else.
He adjusts his glasses and throws evil glances to the poor unfortunates who jostle him because of the movement.
Cloud: I thought that he would fly away or would be teleported.
Haname: I think it would be counterproductive... Maybe they decided not to make rash moves in the middle of town, or they could frighten ordinary people.
Shinji: That's good for us...
The mist shrugs, without really being concerned about something.
Shinji: If he had flown away, it would have been impossible to keep following him.
About an hour later, the train stopped at the station of Bologna and Clover throws himself out of it, reaching a couple of other guys completely identical to him, then they heads towards the opposite side of the station.
The three guardians notice the confused people, looking at the triplets with curiosity on their way to the train.
While continuing the pursuit, they find themselves first on a bus and then on a subway, arriving finally in the town of San Lazzaro, where in a short time they reach a sparsely populated area on the southern outskirts of the village.
Haname: I'm confused, we took a bus and a subway without anyone asking for the tickets ...
Shinji: Maybe in Italy it works differently ...
They reach the pillars of a building under construction, in front of a disused factory where the three clones stopped and are chatting with each other.
Cloud: Not to mention the smell.
The cloud covers his face with the sleeve of his shirt, glancing at the garbage bags around the perimeter.
Haname: I don't understand, why all this garbage? Shouldn't they clean here?
Shinji: ... Italy is a really strange country ...
He shrugs again, not breaking eye contact with the enemy, they are now talking with a bearded man in a white coat.
Haname: These scientists are easily recognizable. All dressed in a white coat.
Shinji: Maybe they don't want to get dirty …
The man goes back in the building and the three clones vanish in three different directions, probably back in search of the children, since Stanford desperately craves them.
The trio huddles next to the entrance door of the abandoned factory, casting furtive glances to make sure it's desert, and decides to sneak quietly going to an adjacent room, full of trash piled up in a corner and walls decorated with doodles and vulgar words.
With utmost attention and silent as predators, the three slip from room to room, crossing the corridors and finding many rooms rearranged and cleaned with filing cabinets and desks, some full of special machines, and other ones still empty but filled with garbage, probably some of them are toxic too.
The used rooms are few, they are mainly in the west part of the building and to the first floor, where the three decide to go. They narrowly avoided two men in lab coats, which were walking at a short distance from them, but without noticing the guys, also because they were looking at the documents they had in hand.
After making sure that there is almost no one on that side of the building, the three decide to make their way along a path to a particular room on the first floor that they immediately notice, because the scientists have installed an automatic iron door, and one of them opens it by entering a four-digit code.
Cloud: They're good at hiding important rooms...
The old man is crossing the room, while wearing off a mask and putting it in a nearby basket, finally heading toward the opposite side of the corridor.
Cloud: I bet that's where they keep important stuff.
Haname: Well, this building is abandoned, all the rooms are empty and some have no doors. It's obvious that they have hidden the important stuff by installing a complex system ...
Shinji: 2795. ...The password.
Cloud: I didn't know that among your skills there was the super view. Well, at least we're going to know what's in there.
The three are close to the door and the cloud types the code on the control panel.
The huge door opens and it seems to invite the three, Haname grabs three masks from the basket and hands two to her friends, before crossing the threshold.
However, they don't have the time to put them on because their attention is taken from something else.
They found themselves in an ultramodern room with dozens of computers and screens, stacks of papers and a glass tube the three infiltrators are looking at. The cylinder contains something that vaguely resembles a human heart, which beats rhythmically, surrounded by nerves and strange roots apparently alive, branching out into what looks like an incubator, the same as those used to hold Nozomi and Caesar.
Without even thinking about it, the three advance toward the center of the room and observe the strange "thing" inside the tube, whose name is printed on a label on the top.
HORIZON – CSC-E26
Haname slips to the floor, clutching her chest and finding herself breathing with great difficulty. Cloud is turned around, covering his face with his sleeve, trying to wear the mask.
The room seems to spin around, the brown-haired boy's eyes want to close and his vision is blurred, he can hardly breathe as if someone is pressing hard on his chest. The legs are shaking and collapses to his knees, while slowly trying to slip his mask, without success.
"... What is this feeling ...?" Shinji observes that heart beating at the same rhythm, although it seems that the sound dramatically expanded in his head. "It's ... not good ..." he wears the mask "All this …"
In his mind there are fragments of memories and cards scattered on the ground. With his fingers flowed on the surface, trying desperately for an answer, looking beyond everything, where others couldn't look. There was nothing but emptiness, the fog, the pressure on his chest and everything swirling in his head.
A deep breath, the mask already in place, he opens his eyes and everything seems to be back to normal.
The other two were also able to wear it, but their mental sanity seems to be compromised a little. The feelings are similar to being poisoned, yet they have done nothing but observe the strange tangle of nerves and membranes.
Cloud has recovered quite quickly and has started to look for answers, looking meticulously through documents ordered one above the other. Even Haname and Shinji, having recovered their breath and control of themselves, begins their researches. The mist rummages among other documents while Haname takes a look at the computer, although she's not as experienced as Masato. Yet, apparently, there are no useful clues beside strange data and incomprehensible graphs.
Cloud: Guess what's here.
He throws a dossier to the rain and she recognizes it instantly, it's about the design of the first Clover and the links with the poor Trevis, who died two years earlier.
Haname: So we are sure that this place has something to do with Stanford and his projects.
She observes the papers about the experiments conducted on Nozomi and Caesar, known as The Mother and The Seed.
Haname: Sampling, study of DNA, the study of the flow of Hado and the flames of the firmament ... what the hell did he want to do?
Shinji: He probably wanted to study them better ... maybe he wanted to give their flames to Clover ...?
Cloud: Or maybe he wanted to combine their capabilities. Extremely interesting.
He looks up from the paper he's reading, throwing it to the girl who catches it.
The automatic door is opened quickly, a gray-haired man with a whitish mask enters the room with ease and suddenly stops when he sees the three boys. His impassive gaze now is terrified.
- Who are you? What are you doing here? - he says, before throwing the documents in the air and escaping from the room, screaming through the halls. - Intruders! Intruders in the E26! -
The three are already out of the room, reaching a window in the hallway they had spotted before, thinking they could use it to reach on the fire escape stairs thanks to some beams of wood.
Haname: Damn, we couldn't do anything! We had to destroy that thing, it looked really dangerous.
She seems to reproach herself, following the two down the stairs.
Shinji: Horizon?
Cloud: It was an embryo.
He says, after reaching the ground and finding himself in a parking lot.
Haname: Embryo? Is it written in these documents?
She asks, showing the dossier he gave her just before.
Cloud: It's the result of the experiment Stanford was conducting.
Explains, as they continue their run towards the entrance of the parking lot.
They stop in front of the rusty gate, ten clones have quickly surrounded them and they also seem quite threatening.
Haname: Oh no.
She looks around, trying to remain calm and reflecting on the situation, while Shinji has seen some vans in the distance, prepared for departure. A strange man with a robotic arm is moving slowly towards the car door, entering the vehicle and starting it quickly.
The clones, probably called by scientists, increase in amount as other three guys join the mass of green-haired boys, all strictly identical to the original but more expressionless, like the first Clover.
Haname: If we don't get rid of them immediately, more will come!
She says, grabbing a grayish circular item that Cristal had given to them.
Should they really use their compact to get out of that absurd situation? The albino boy had recommended them to think carefully about what they wanted to materialize, because they could no longer replace the new weapon and armor.
Shinji has already thought about it and he's sure of his choice, but fight with creatures that possess his same flame isn't really the best thing to do and he wants to avoid it, if it's possible.
He wants to avoid any confrontation to devote himself to the discovery of new informations, also he wants to read the file found by Cloud, learn more about the beating heart that has almost intoxicated them with the strange feeling that he knows very well.
Cloud: So boring. It was supposed to be a quick mission.
He observes the enemies around the group with an annoyed look, then he adjusts his glasses, pulling out his compact and looking at it, as Haname has done just before.
Haname: What do you want to do? We have to decide our weapons right away, but Cristal-kun said that-
She is unable to finish her sentence, because his compact is already wrapped in a purple flame and is slowly changing shape, becoming bigger.
Cloud: Don't tell me you haven't thought about your weapon yet, girl.
In fact, they have received the compacts since almost a month, they should have already thought about it, despite the many situations in which they found themselves in the last few days.
The mist looks curious, has no idea what the cloud has in mind, but he's quite interested in his behaviour. The young maestro is too far-sighted and self-confident.
The flame of the cloud which surrounds the object is now divided into two different elements and slowly begins to materialize something that looks like a violin and its bow.
The light brown item has some whitish decoration on the right and the crest of guardian of the cloud at the bottom, under the strings.
Haname and Shinji look perplexed at the just materialized tool, noticing also that he didn't create an armor for physical protection.
Haname: Is it ... a violin ...?
She is puzzled.
Cloud: ... I recommend you to plug your ears.
He places the violin under his chin and puts the bow over the strings.
He hasn't even finished speaking that Shinji pulls Haname back, both of them put their hands over their ears, while the cloud begins to play the instrument in front of the perplexed clones.
The flame of the cloud still hovers around the instrument and now it surrounds the boy, who keeps playing while the sound increases, it becomes more acute, loud and annoying, almost deafening.
The two boys aren't able to completely eliminate the sound from their heads, it's so strong and it seems they have set up headphones at maximum volume.
The mist opens his eyes and vaguely notices the disoriented, dizzy, confused clones, some of them leans forward on their knees, trying desperately to put an end to the horrible sound, even though it's just a beautiful violin melody, but the rumble sound so inconceivably high makes it impossible not to feel pain in ears and brain.
The guardian of the cloud is peaceful, tranquil, keeps playing carefully, focusing on the melody as a true professional.
He scrutinizes the clone with satisfaction, probably knowing that he paved the way with a simple and stupid disorienting skill.
Vongola: Concerto in A minore.
Shinji meets his eyes, they are ready for escape. He grabs Haname by her arm, she understand what's happening and immediately takes self-control, following the two boys through the painful enemies and heading quickly toward the street beyond the buildings under construction, while continuing to run without stopping and reaching a sort of open dump, which is actually only a moat full of trash and garbage.
They throw themselves into the dirt, still confused and very tired, glancing toward the point from which they arrived, hoping that no one followed them.
Haname: So...
She is still panting.
Haname: A violin, uh?
Cloud: Sanbyoushi.
He says, coldly.
Shinji: Interesting. Amplify the sound of a violin to confuse the enemy ...
Haname: I had never thought of this use of the cloud propagation... Anyway ... we were talking about that Horizon ... It's an embryo, you say?
She glances to the crumpled file, she has held it in her hand all the time.
Cloud: It's written there.
Haname: This is the experiment he was doing, then.
The girl turns the pages, reading here and there the printed information.
Haname: The Horizon experiment ...
Cloud: If we have to be honest, that... Zon, is something like a... result.
Shinji: ... result?
He is curious. Next to him, Haname shudders while reading.
Haname: ... Created by... merging the two different DNA ... not yet fully formed ... during the last stage will be introduced in an empty shell called Clover II ... The complete creature will obtain the name of the experiment, Horizon, Zon.
Shinji: ... It's terrifying.
Although he loves horror games and terrifying situations, can't not to be frightened by that creature, which looks like anything but reassuring.
In addition, the disgusting feeling he always had is because of him.
Cloud is looking at Haname, she is somewhat disoriented. He seems to be waiting for something.
Haname: ... One moment.
She reads the paper again.
Cloud: I think you've got it.
He adjusts his glasses, regardless.
Haname: ... "By merging the two different DNA" ... the experiments he was conducting long ago ...? So... it means that ...
The girl turns to Shinji, frightened.
Shinji: I ... I already know that feeling.
The mist takes his tarot cards and rests them on the ground, starting to move them carefully.
Shinji: ... The reason why I can't see the future.
Cloud: Oh, good. At this point, it can also be the crisis that the shamans had predicted.
Haname: Or maybe, Arashi's dream ... The destroyed future, the brown-haired boy ... and Nozomi and Caesar on the ground next to him ...
Cloud: Apparently we can put the pieces in place, at this point.
He looks at the mist, he's putting the tarot cards in his pocket.
Shinji: Yes, the feeling that we had in that room ... it's the same as I feel when I try to see the future.
Haname: It's Zon ...
Shinji: It's possible that it's the famous crisis ...Nozomi and Caesar's son.