Darkness greeted Nana when her lids fluttered open slowly. She blinked away the sleep from her eyes to start adjusting to it, trying to figure out where she was. She barely remembered falling unconscious or at least losing the mental capacity to register her surroundings at some point while talking to her husband.
Sawada Iemitsu, who, as she was aware, has been part of the criminal underbelly since before they even first met, all those years ago. He promised her to bring forth a person that would help them solve their crisis, she was sure of it. But all she could do in her current state was pray.
A sting in her right arm distracted her for a second, making her realize that she has been connected to something like an IV-drip standing by her bedside. This bed is also not the one she normally uses and the vague details of the room she's in don't seem familiar either.
It's obvious she was brought somewhere else while she was out like a light, but it also didn't seem like a hospital to her. She was sure, Iemitsu wouldn't take her anywhere where she wasn't safe and knowing that as a matter of fact, was the only thing that kept her calm in that very moment.
»Is someone there?«, she asked with her voice constantly cracking, since she couldn't seem to find a light-switch anywhere around.
A heartbeat later, the room lit up with a click. It seemed too loud in her ears and the light was so bright it burned her eyes. Getting over the initial disorientation caused by the sudden overstimulation, she tried her best to understand what was going on.
A man she had never seen sat there. Going by his outfit, he could have been a doctor, but it was impossible to know for sure. Said man stood up from his seat, he was apparently the one who switched on the lamps on the ceiling, he's the only other person in the room.
Looking around she saw empty shelves, white walls and a curtain used to separate spaces in the room. It wasn't drawn, as there was nothing that needed separation in this empty place. The bed looked like a generic hospital bed as well. Her own garments seemed almost unfitting in that setup.
It all looked so sterile and foreboding, she couldn't shake this uncanny feeling of hostility instead of hospitality. Then again, there was something there – a small table beside the bed, holding up a tray with apple slices and a fruitknife beside it. Someone sat there, looking at her, wondering when she would get up to greet her with these. That was the second thing that made her believe she wasn't on enemy territory here.
She swallowed her worries and firmed up. »Can you tell me where I am? Where's my husband?« The woman was sure he would know who she was talking about, as there were not many places Iemitsu could have brought her, if not into an actual medical institution. Something told her, this wasn't it.
»He should be right outside.« His curt answer felt oddly annoying to her, but he left before she could berate him for it.
Her eyebrows furrowed, while she could hear the rustling of footsteps, people moving and distant voices from beyond the door. She wasn't in shape to understand anything that was going on and the throbbing pain in her skull made her realize how weak she still was.
She could feel a little bit of her energy being restored, but she mustn't have been out for too long. It would have been around 9:00 am when she fainted, maybe a little later than that, closer to 10:00 am. If only she had a watch on her or anything of the sort.
Irritation mixed into her initial confusion. If there's something she hated the most, it was being unaware of things that were important. Like not knowing what her son was doing, if he was alright or if she had to go and help him. Not knowing how much time she wasted, being out cold like that.
Not knowing things was a weakness. Not understanding something could cause her demise. That's the two truths she had been brought up with. That, and that understanding was more important than raw knowledge.
That was the problem right now: She understood barely any of the things that were going on. All she understood was the breaking of the contract. She did not know how much damage was taken by Valhaym for it. She didn't understand who could have done the deal of breaking it in the first place. She would also have no idea of what repercussions would await them after all of that.
One could clearly feel the unrest within the shadows, they were like an infested wound, balling up to protect themselves. That only contributed to her being detached from her usual suave self and had her feeling unhinged in every way.
Groaning, she rubbed her face with her flat hands, clapping her own cheeks lightly to heighten her focus. When the door reopened and the blonde hair she knew so well came into view, she internally braced herself. She wasn't forgetful enough to not know what they were talking about before.
»Nana, how are you feeling?«, he asked, sounding profoundly worried.
»I …«, she started, trailing off into a pause. »What happened to my request?«
For a second, he only looked his wife up and down. The way she sat there, looking like she wouldn't even be able to walk ten feet without taking a break. Her usually energetic demeanor lost, nowhere to be found.
›What was it, that was so important about that?‹, he wondered. Was she still confused?
»I have not contacted the Varia.« And his matter-of-factly voice and the way he phrased it left no doubt about the fact that he wasn't going to be doing so either.
Her expression hardened at those words. »So you didn't believe me.« It was no question.
And he did not answer. »Would you have?«, he asked in reverse instead.
»I don't know.« She could only assume. »Probably not.«
That's when she threw the thin blanket to the side and ripped out the needle from her arm, before getting up. Iemitsu could only watch in shock, reacting way too late to what transpired in front of him, before closing in on his wife to stop her.
»You still need to rest! What could three hours of sleep do?«
Three hours? A stuffy feeling filled her stomach, but it wasn't as bitter as it could have been. Three hours. That was somewhat okay still. It was not as long as she feared it was.
Sighing, she pushed his meddling hands away to get on her feet. Looking at the bedside table again, her thoughts stumbled and came to one conclusion: She had to prove it to him. Three hours were already lost and couldn't be recovered, so she had to do her best as to not waste any more time.
There was not much witchcraft, nor magic she could produce in her current state. Her head was far too unorganized; her thoughts way too jumbled right now. Though there was one thing she was able to do.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the fruit knife from the tray and slid it firmly across the length of her forearm, in diagonal fashion. Stunned, not realizing what he's witnessing, Iemitsu watched deep red blood flowing from the line she had drawn on herself with a sharp blade. A blade which was on the floor right away, after the Mafioso slapped it out of her hand with force.
Shock was visible on his face, as he subconsciously took off his jacket, trying to cover her wound. »What the fuck are you doing, Nana?!«, he screamed at her face, then turned his head towards the door he foolishly closed behind him when coming in, »We need help! Help!«
All the while, his wife remained calm and put the unharmed hand on his shoulder. »Everything is fine, this is not going to be harmful«, she explained in an unsettlingly tranquil voice, »I'm simply calling forth my familiar.«
She really meant it. The familiar would leave her abode through the cut on her arm. It had to be a big artery, as they house the most shadows and energy, pumping most of the blood with a close connection to your heart. She could have ripped her neck or thigh open too, but that would have been a little dangerous, also a lot more messy and overall very inconvenient.
No, this was the method usually used, because it was the most cost-efficient. Of course, the wound was going to close itself either way, since a familiar always closed the ›door‹ whenever they came and went. That's why there was no fear in her demeanor; she had done this a myriad of times already.
But as she looked down, wrestling her arm out of her careful husband's grip, the blood wouldn't stop flowing out of the deep cut. Edges of her skin started to swell slightly, opening the wound further and she could swear there was a slither of black, like a tiny cloud forming around one particularly wayward drop.
»Look!«, she exclaimed, as finally a bunch of people barged in. How much time went by?
»I don't know what I'm supposed to see«, Iemitsu exclaimed and if he was out of his depth during the talk they had before, he's utterly lost now.
After a momentary confusion, Nana was sure she could finally show them what she meant, so they could get a move on with the next step in her barely structured plan. But then she frowned, watching still red blood leave her body in a pace faster than ever, as if nothing was holding it back. There was also no further black, no bad blood, not even the slightest shadow on her arm. Instead, it made her feel lightheaded.
The new people in the room tried to move her, took her arm and pressed onto the wound. She was starting to feel cold and then there was this pain. She never felt a surge of energy flowing through her like this, it's as if she had touched a damaged power cord.
Hyperventilation kicked in, as she tried to stabilize herself, feeling as if she was about to give birth but without a child. At the same time, it felt like a million needles poking the skin all over her body again and again. That's when she knew what had happened, even though it was the first time for her. She could feel the base of her powers cracking. It wasn't outright crumbling, but it had cracked indeed.
At the time she came to that understanding, she felt the poke of a needle being pressed into her skin and this time, it was a syringe. A cool feeling in her bloodstream made her realize what had happened, though it was too late to react before her eyes closed yet again. With whatever wit she had left, a slurred word rolled off her heavy tongue: »Mammon.«
She hat to accomplish at least that.
Without a doubt, he hadn't known something like that could happen. If he had, he hadn't let his beloved woman to her own devices for so long. What happened to her? Did she simply go crazy?
But that couldn't be the case. There was more to it and the physical component couldn't be explained by her being mentally ill. Also, he would have known if she had been like that, right? He had never been the type to be naïve.
His missing son was weighing on his mind as well. Of course, he could take care of himself now, to a certain degree, but most of that was only possible due to his comrades. If he was all alone, without any of his tools and without, what could he do? By now, he went through all scenarios that he could think of and not many were in his favor. Sawada Iemitsu was someone who considered himself strict, but lenient at the same time. His son was allowed to do what he wanted, but there were things he had to do and he wouldn't let him slack on those.
He felt that was the right thing to do. But right now, with his wife in a state of mania and his son gone, for the first time, he wished he had been with them more; had been there for them during complicated times. He wished he had been more caring – and he never felt as if he hadn't cared. On the contrary, he cared a lot about them. It's just that his efforts seemed so lacking at that point, as if it simply wasn't enough.
What was it ever for? For his son's or his own sake? Why did he want his son to become part of the mafia? He never regretted making him the successor of Vongola. It was where his heart belonged, right after his wife and son and CEDEF, which he led.
All he knew for sure is that it felt odd, how he couldn't even think of his son's name. As if saying it out loud would make him sound like a hypocrite. It's the first time in his life, even after all they went through, that he had no idea what happened around him.
It wasn't simply his family. During the three hours his wife had been unconscious, information about weird happenings within different families had reached him. For instance, the Coronado-Familia, a family from Naples with not much of a reputation, was now hunted by the Vindice. Apparently, they caused a massacre in the city and then vanished. Random explosions in woods or buildings in the middle of the city starting to shake; storm warnings conveniently during bank robberies. There was chaos everywhere.
It might not be enough to call it out officially, but it happened all over the world, spreading out like a pandemic. As if the whole world had turned into some sort of Limbo, where one could say it's not yet hell, but we are close to the gates. He wasn't religious, even with a lot of Mafioso being just that, but he couldn't help but think so.
Not knowing what to do, he pulled out his cellphone from his pocket. He was given his jacket back earlier and he simply put it back on. The stench of his wives blood filled his nostrils, having seeped into the device he now uses to dial a certain number for a long-distance call.
He heard his answer coming from an all too familiar and already annoyed sounding voice.
»Pronto! I'm busy, you bitch.«
