Chapter 36:
"Creator!"
"Save us!"
"Please!"
"I just want out!"
"Help Me!"
"I beg you!"
"Free us!"
All those pleading desperate voices of those reaching out for Henry through the wall. All of them begging for his help and it broke his heart that he had no idea how he could help them. Even as the voices and vision faded away, Henry could still hear them echoing his head and his heart. They were in such pain and they were looking to him for help, to find some way to save them. He to find some way to fix this nightmare, to find some way to end this misery.
"Did you see something again?" Marinette asked Henry. Even though he wasn't crying, it was obvious something had deeply upset him. Marinette almost wished she had seen what Henry had just so she would have a better idea how to comfort him.
"Just a reminder that we have to undo everything that Joey did to the victims here," Henry muttered, shaking himself out his thoughts. There wasn't anything he could do right now for the people trapped here. He could only focus on what he could do right now and that was to keep the kids with him safe and find a way to rescue Boris. "Let's go."
The teens followed along silently as they went down the hallway. Alya and Nino felt terrible. Adrain, Marinette, and Henry have all sacrificed so much to keep them safe. And as a result, they were slowly losing their friends to the ink. Adrian was already transformed into an ink monster and was who knows where. Marinette was infected and who knew who long before she was taken over. And Henry, something was seriously wrong with Henry even if they had no idea what. In all likely hood, this place had probably infected him too at some point. All of this because Nino and Alya were being protected.
It hurt Aly and Nino to watch their friends slowly deteriorate with nothing they could do to stop it. All they could do was make sure that the sacrifices their friends have made weren't in vain. They would make sure they stayed safe and stay out of their way and watch their backs. It was the only thing they could do and hope that they didn't lose any more of their friends before they got out of the studio.
The group came out of the hallway into a large shaft with stairs going up around a gap in the center. Chains were moving down into the darkness below.
"I see you there, my little errand boy,"Alice's voice came over the speakers, making the group look around and glare. "Your angel is always watching."
Henry decided to ignore Alice and head up the stairs. The teens scrambled after him.
"What is it that keeps you going?" Alice continued mockingly. "Is it the thrill of the hunt? The thirst for your freedom and those that you protect? Or perhaps… You're just looking for a little, friendly wolf…"
"Don't you dare hurt him, Alice!" Henry shouted into the air. "Or I'm going to make you regret it."
"My, my… you're feisty today," Alice teased, unconcerned by Henry's threat. "I would suggest a trade, a wolf for the ladybug, but I know you'll never go for it. Besides, it looks like the ink has already sunk its claws into her. Better to wait to see how she turns out. Who knows, she might even become good enough to become the next guest on my table. Better hurry errand boy. Boris is having trouble staying in one piece."
"Don't you even think about laying a hand on the kids!" Henry shouted, slamming a fist into the wall. "If you do, I will show no mercy!"
Alice gave no response and Henry hurried up the stairs. Marinette had stopped when Alice had talked about her, making her shudder in fear. Alya hugged in comfort, but when they saw Henry speeding up the stairs they quickly went after him with Nino trailing after them. They soon came to the end of the stairs and into a small room with a couple of couches. Henry barely glanced around as he marched forward to the door on the other side.
"He's going to find me…" came a voice from above Henry, making him and the teens freeze in place. It wasn't Alice and it wasn't coming from a speaker. They looked around and spotted and inky figure on the balcony above them. It looked a lot like those statues, like Emily, though it didn't seem to be paying attention to them.
"He always finds me…" the ink person said, looking back and forth. "I just want to go home. When do we go home?"
The ink person walked off to the side out of sight, sobbing and hugging himself. The group waited for a moment until they could no longer hear the cries of the ink person.
"How could a searcher look like that without Marinette purifying it?" Alya wondered out loud, breaking the silence. "That couldn't have been Emily, it didn't sound anything like her."
"The corrupted magic is so unpredictable almost anything could happen," Tikki reiterated. "It's probably just an ink creature that is closer to the original human than a searcher. So when Marinette attempted to purify searcher, that was the next closest thing."
"So if I were to purify a creature like that one, it'll become even more human?" Marinette theorized.
"That would be my guess," Tikki replied slowly. "But it still wouldn't be stable. You need to find the source of the magic. It's the only way you can safely and permanently undo what's been done."
"We'll find the source," Henry declared firmly, still looking at where the ink creature has come. "Even if it takes everything I have, I won't stop until we can free them from what Joey's done. But we won't do that standing around here. Let's keep moving."
The teens nodded with conviction and followed after Henry across the room. Henry threw the door open, only to freeze at seeing what was inside. It was a large room with a crowd of ink people standing within, huddled together and sobbing. As soon as they heard the door open, they all looked up and stared at Henry with their glowing yellow eyes.