Alright, this is the new version of this chapter, I modified a few things and merged the two part that existed previously into one.
The forest around him grew quiet. Warren had the feeling that something was about to happen, or at least it had happened in his dream. He tensed, looked around, waited. Layla, however, simply turned around and told him to follow.
They passed huge trees, colorful flowers and thick vines, but Warren didn't even notice them. He wondered what had happened to Will in these two years, why Layla needed to hide the two of them all the way out here.
After a while the trees parted and they reached the heart of this strange oasis, a circular pond of water, surrounded by giant leaves and white lilies. So there was actually water here, more than just a little, but how was that possible?
He never got to ask his question, however, as a plant ascended, a plant of tremendous size, with a giant white blossom at it's top. The stem bowed, the blossom opened and a person slid onto the ground before their feet.
"I don't know what happened to him", Layla breathed, clearly at the end of her line, "He was horrified by his parents' imprisonment, and after Ethan didn't return from his visit to his own family's house, Will was adamant in finding him."
Layla kneeled down, stroked Will's ivory skin and seemed lost in her memory. The boy looked more dead than alive, with dark shadows under his eyes, colorless lips and his bony body. "One week after Ethan vanished, we met a man, a man with yellow eyes and a big raven on his shoulder. Will somehow knew that he was one of the men responsible for the destruction of Sky High and attacked him. I tried to help, but finally he did this to Will, simply by looking at him."
Sighing Warren soothingly lay a hand on Layla's shoulder, seeing her helpless and distraught was never pleasant. Trying to sound comforting he informed her: "We are already trying to identify and locate this group and their location. If we go back to our headquarter, I'm sure we will find a way to help Will."
Layla nodded, still distant, then she silently said: "Fine, lets go."
The town was filthy, nothing more than a few solid buildings, a single street, with the casual car driving by, surrounded by many corrugated-iron and clay huts.
Warren regarded his surroundings intently, spotting some children with close to no clothes playing some sort of tag. All the adults that were seen behind broken windows or on the paths between the huts looked pinched and bitter, scarcely anybody seemed to notice him and Layla standing at the side of the road, waiting.
They were supposed to meet Mancu here, who would take them to their new hideout, the old one had been abandoned just after Warren had set off.
Sniffing and taking in that sour scent of desperation Warren tried to ignore the villagers and Layla's discomfort, soon they would leave here.
Suddenly, a roar echoed from the crumbled facades, telling Warren to get ready-
As expected, the figure of a jeep could be seen a few moments later, the orange haired teen sitting on the driver's seat, grinning warmly at the two people at the road.
"Why couldn't you just teleport here to get us?", Warren asked, already knowing that his complaint was futile.
Mancu in return huffed and rolled his eyes, replying: "You know my powers don't work that way. I can't take people with me through these portal, and you know that I can't control the exact point of their appearance. I could completely miss you, land in the desert or something, or even worse, open a portal into a wall or inside a human. I guess you understand that the outcome wouldn't be favorable?"
Warren almost smiled at the boy's tone: "Whatever you say... just let me drive alright?"
The new base was located near a town, Warren had remembered its name to be something like Haakberg or something like that, in the Netherlands, where Kira, the girl with the power to change the weather, had bought a small farm.
Getting there was tiring, taking the jeep, and as soon as it was possible the train, always feeling Layla anxiously sitting next to him while her plants transported Will underneath the earth. It took them more than a week to finally reach Europe, and another two days to finally arrive at their goal. Warren regretted yet again that they didn't have enough money to spare to buy a plane ticket, but it couldn't be helped at that point.
When they finally entered the headquarter, it was a surreal scenery, one second standing on the yard of a rural looking farm, the next entering a hightech base, equipped with the latest technology, thanks to Royal Pain.
As soon as they entered Warren heard footsteps, and before long Nivia came around the corner of the hallway, smiling as she recognized them.
"You are back", she gave Warren a quick hug, then turned to Layla, "And you chose to join us, I suppose? Welcome at our base."
Layla took her hand hesitatingly and squeezed it lightly: "Thanks for having me."
The common room was equipped with gadgets of all sizes and forms, some of which Warren didn't even know what they were used for. Two doors lead to the hallway and the kitchen, which was rarely used for more than heating something up in the microwave, they didn't really have the time to cook everyday.
The hallway also featured the stairs, which lead to the first floor, where two bathrooms and the several bedrooms were located, one occupied by Will who was currently being examined by Sophia, a middle aged woman with light brown hair, who had studied medicine and possessed the power to create torrents of water wherever the ground was loose enough to break open.
Warren and Nivia had settled on a sofa in the main room, which also served as a living room to the group.
Nivia had formerly persuaded Layla into eating something, and Lia had gone out of her way to create something nutritious for the girl who hadn't had a proper meal in several month.
After another thirty minutes had passed Sophia came down the stairs and Layla was instantly at her side, questioning her about Will. Warren also joined them, a sense of foreboding at the back of his mind.
Sophia looked at them with a worried face, then began explaining: "I wish there was something I could do, but I haven't ever seen a patient like this. Whatever is killing him, it is no normal disease or wound, to be precise there's nothing wrong with him."
Layla swallowed, and Warren tensed as the big potted palm tree in the room withered and died.
The days became a monotonous routine. Watching over Will, spending time in the living room, waiting for Royal Pain to inform them of any news, sleeping. It was a rhythm, which was somewhat comforting, but Warren would have preferred to have an overconfident Will and an upbeat Layla around.
They had even considered bringing Will to a normal hospital, but every time the thought came up, the odds that it could help him at all seemed so low that it was quickly discarded again.
The only comfort that he found these days was in the presence of everyone else, Royal Pain working her magic with the machines, Lia meditating and trying to locate their targets. Mancu and Joshua playing chess and video games, Ron and Jeannie trying to look useful, even when there was nothing they could currently do. Nivia, who made sure to be near him whenever possible, as if she suspected that he would set off to burn something if not watched. She was probably right, though.
Meena, who was constantly eating something, had settled in the garden, as she wasn't good in handling the grave atmosphere that engulfed the house. Sophie spend most of the time at Wills side, mainly to watch over Layla, as Warren suspected.
And with that, the days went on, without Will showing any signs of improvement, and with the group finally getting closer to finding the people that were responsible for this whole situation. Two weeks after Layla had arrived, the heartbeat of the boy was reduced to a faint tap, a week later he gave a little cough.
And just like that, died.
They buried him on a sunny day, the sun smiled down upon them mockingly as they dug out a hole in the garden by hand. But Warren didn't pay attention to the sky, he simply stared at his friend's wooden coffin as it was lifted into the ground.
Joshua, who had the power to manipulate minerals, had erected a beautiful gravestone for the boy, but Warren felt sick looking at it.
A few clouds caught his interest as he felt an anger rising up inside him, an anger stronger than anything he had felt since his mother had died. He had sworn to bring the group down that had destroyed the school. But now he wasn't sure if he could hold back once he would meet them. But maybe they really did deserve to die.
Gripping Nivia's hand tighter, he tried not to think to much about it, but his head wouldn't comply with him.
Quietly he went inside, went to bed early.
The night was cold.
I still feel kind of bad for killing Will, however, I will not change it now =_=