Right beneath the luxurious and grandious snow city that was Belobog, there was another community that laid underneath it, comprised of the most simple and average inhabitants of Jarilo-VI's society, whose majority worked on the mines, the way of life from the people of the Underworld being different from those from the world above.
And altough the group of villages of the Underworld would never get to see the natural sunlight, the town would could still feel warm and generally lively despite having less population from the upper class city of Belobog. With the connection of both layers of Belobog having finally been restored after so many years, the help and resources from above could help the inhabitants of the Underworld live more easy lives.
And right now, the duo of Acheron and Morte were travessing the street of one of its many towns, namely, Boulder Town.
"This place. It has a lot of minerals around here." Acheron commented as she would catch sight of the heat crystals scattered at every angle down on the Underworld. "Now I see where the people of Belobog get all of the geomarrow as well as the origin of its source."
Morte was eyeing the place they were in with some amusement. "Now this is much more my style!"
"What do you mean? We've only just arrived here and you're already saying that." Acheron asked him. "Was the upperworld of Belobog maybe a little too 'sophisticated' for you?"
Scratching the facial hair of his sideburns, Morte was inclined to agree. "Hmm, yeah, you could say that. But mainly, because I know that down here I will definetly find it."
"Find what?" Acheron asked again.
"A good pub for a good booze." Morte smirked, sounding hopeful.
"You want to go drink?" Acheron found his answer a bit weird. "I believe they also have pubs up there. Why didn't you went to one at that moment?"
"Expensiveness. You do know that all of those fancy places from there, they would only serve the priciest of beers. And sometimes, the price is just not worth it." Morte explained to Acheron, giving a good look at the town's center. "Now, compared that with this 'impoverished' village. People who can't afford themselves to have all the lavish things the people of upper Belobog enjoy. Having to work hard all days and breaking sweat to earn honest money. And what people with hard and taxing lives, do with that money to monumentarily forget all those hardships?"
Following Morte's reasoning, Acheron reached to the possible answer. "In things that makes them happy and drowns their sorrows."
Grinning, Morte tilted his body torwards Acheron, playfuly pointing at her. "Namely..."
Sighing, Acheron looked sideways. "Booze."
"Correct!" Morte snapped his fingers. "Since they have it rough down here, the alcohol needs to be of the best quality so that they can end up smilling and laughing at the end of the day! The difficulter the situation, the better the ale is, in order to make one happy and forget the problems."
"Then what you're saying is...you only wanted to come here to waste yourself in beer and such?" Acheron questioned, thinking that was a bit of a piffling reason for wanting to visit the Underworld.
"Whatever simple thing makes this simple man joyful, Acheroni." Morte replied with peace and a fake benigness after labeling himself as 'simple'.
"Ugh..." Acheron just groaned lowly, not bothering anymore to tell Morte to stop calling her that.
"A shame that it is being difficult to find a pub here however." He said, going to grab up a cig. "They must guard their secrets well don't you think?"
Acheron would sware that if it wasn't for the fact Morte was anything but 'normal', he would by long be suffering from some lung disease. "Maybe you are just blind." She said with little emotion, moving her head to see if she could at least spot a pub that her travelling companion so much desired. Instead, the Self-Annihilator spotted trouble for them, in the form of an IPC squad strolling some meters away. "The IPC? They're also here?" She knew that it automatically meant that their trip to Jarilo-VI had stopped being peaceful, having the minions of the organization that hunted her on this planet as well. And presumably Morte too. "This is bad news. We need to-huh?"
But as she had turned her head to stare back at Morte, she found him not in front of her, but laying on a bench nearby, hands resting on his own chest, and a book covering his face, befuddling Acheron. "Already hidden."
"How is tha-...Nevermind." Opting it would be more alleviating for her brain, Acheron just roll with it and went torwards the bench as the IPC soldiers approached the area.
"And then I told him: Dude, don't you have legal person status?"
"...Seriously, how weren't you fired yet?"
As the IPC squad reacted with indifference and slight annoyance over the bad joke of thir colleague, the group was too focused on walking and maintaining their sight forward, not glimpsing at the bench on their left, failing to see the duo badly in disguise, Morte continuing with his same pose as Acheron had sat on the small unnoccupied part of the bench, covering her face with her own paper umbrella. Thankfully, even if improbable, it had worked.
"They left." Acheron spied over her umbrella, seeing the IPC soldiers getting further away. "I should have known...Even if this planet as opened itself to the cosmos for less than a year, the IPC would already have its grasps on it."
"They surely work fast." Morte replied, taking out the random book from his face while Acheron got up from the bench. "Has the IPC ever wondered about expanding to food delivery services?"
"I'm sure that must have occured on their minds by now. Wherever and whatever gives them profit, they will seize that opportunity." Acheron closed her paper umbrella as Morte sat on the bench to stretch his arms. "We must find a place to hide for them in the meantime. The underworld is not a safe place."
"For us or them?" Morte asked, grabbing up his scythe. "You know, if you don't want potential witnesses and enemies to notice you, there is always the most efficient method."
"We're not going to do that." Acheron rebuked Morte for considering that option. If anything,it would only attract more problem to them.
"Unless necessary?" Morte asked her, lifting up a finger as if he was doing a question to a teacher.
"...Unless necessary." Acheron replied, admitting that if they were indeed discovered by the IPC, there would be no other way but to fight.
"Great." Morte got up from the bench and excercised his neck a bit, the sound of bones snapping as he did that. "But first things comes first: Finding a pub." He said as he looked around, spotting a building right in front of them on the other side of the town's small square. "Hmm, that as the look of being one."
"It also has quite a good number of people entering it." Acheron replied, looking to the same place her travelling companion was looking at. "Let's go see what it is about." And so the duo went torwards the building under the assumption to be a pub. Yet, the couldn't be any wronger.
"This is..." Acheron's eyes went to observe the room they had entered in. A small spacious chamber with a couple of hospital beds. A chandelier on the ceilling alongside other lamps on the walls to illuminate the room. It was occupied with apparently sick and injured people. Some lying on the soft mattresses of the beds and recovering from whatever illness or wounds they were suffering, while other patients who were rather doing slightly better to stand and walk, were being examined and accompanied by some doctors and nurses, either sitting on a chair or on their feet with the help of a crutch.
"A clinic." Morte groaned lowly in dissapointment, seeing that this wasn't a pub he was so much looking for. "Well, we clearly were amiss here." He said, turning around to already head to the exit. "Let's go Acheron. I ain't going through a whole day without-"
"Hi there. Did not see you enter. How can I help you?"
But as a voice came from behind, Acheron and Morte halted from leaving the building as both of them turned around to see a woman doctor standing behind them, having called the two.
"My oh my..." Morte's lips went up in a sassy smirk as he stared at the woman. "Looks like this mistakeful visit still had some up sides."
"Ahem." Acheron coughed in a reprimanding tone next to Morte, most likely calling him out for that comment.
"What? Can't eulogize beauty these days?" Morte replied, outright stating the female doctor being very pretty.
And the doctor for her part seemed to have taken that comment rather well, giggling. "Oh, I appreciate it. But I'm very occupied as of now, so you better state what are you here for other than medical assistance and treatment." The woman smiled gently to the two, putting a hand on her chest. "I'm Natasha. The head doctor of this underworld's clinic. Are you feeling sick by any chance?"
"Not really. We're fine, thank you for asking." Acheron said to Natasha, now knowing her name. "We just happened to stumble on here by accident. Name's Acheron. And the one here with me is-"
"Morty Jonhson, madam. But the lady can call me Morte is she prefers." Morte presented himself courteously, even doing a polite bow.
Acheron just stared at him with some mild annoyance, finding that act of him to be forced. "I won't have patience for this."
Natasha on the other hand found it endearing. "Hehehe, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr Morte. And Ms Acheron as well. So I do suppose you two are tourists, aren't you?"
"Yes." Acheron confirmed. "We've recently arrived to Belobog for the first time and explored the city above already. So now we came down here to see the underworld of the planet as well. But as Ms Natasha must have figured out by now...We're kinda lost."
"Yep. We are in need of a map and directions." Morte added before poking Acheron in the back of her head. "Altough for this one here, it will be both plus a GPS."
"Cut it off." Acheron remained calm and apparently unbothered despite Morte's teasing. There were things she was just good at controlling. Or perhaps her emotions weren't as responsive as years ago.
"Oh, you're a bit disoriented. Don't worry, you wouldn't end up being the first ones." Natasha told them. "Ever since Belobog as opened the borders of Jarilo-VI with the space outside, many tourists that come here to the underworld for the first time happen to also not know the directions and accidentaly stumble into my clinic. Maybe I should built a sign on the outside to tell people already that this is a clinic before it happens more times."
"So this situation has already happened to you a dozen of times eh?" Acheron crossed her arms. "Can imagine it mustn't be easy to manage the clinic here if that's an usual occurence then."
Natasha sighed sadly. "Pretty much." The head doctor frowned as she gave a look to her clinic in general. "We've been getting many injured and sick these past few weeks due to the on-going operations of trying to get the stellaron creatures fully expelled from the underworld. The Supreme Guardian has told to the inhabitants and miners from here to leave that job to the IPC already. But you know how some people are. Stubborn as bulls, stating that they won't be abandoning the mines and entrust them to some 'opressive organization' that came from space, leading to groups of miners to deal with the monsters on their own way."
"They foolishly deny to be forced out of their jobs for some time." Acheron got to understand the motive. "Guess I couldn't exactly blame them. If working was the only thing majority of these people had as a way to gain in life, what else can they do to occupy the free time with now? It is a thought process many aren't able to simply move on." The Self-Annihilator told to Natasha, knowing well how some people would have an hard time to let some things go.
Natasha nodded her head, altough she had a despondent expression on her face. "I do know how they feel and that it probably isn't easy to just accept it as you said. However, it is a situation not worth the risk of their own lives, putting themselves in unnecessary danger." The doctor then turned around and signaled with her hand for Acheron to follow her. "Let me show you."
Doing as she requested, Acheron walked behind Natasha, following the doctor into a corner of the clinic's room, approaching to a more isolated bed where Natasha pulled the curtains away, revealing a patient in a very awful state, surprising Acheron to some degree. "His leg and arm are..." The Emmanator of Nihility noticed how the right arm and leg of the person were missing.
"An 'accident' in the mines yesterday." Natasha revealed. "When he arrived at the clinic, the arm and leg were such in an awful state that we...had to do it." She said, not wanting to remember much of that memory despite being her job as the head doctor. "Now he has to spend the rest of his life without those limbs. Poor soul."
Poor soul indeed as Acheron looked to the unconscious patient. It certainly wouldn't be easy once he'd woke up from his coma and realize what he lost. The grief and depression would surely hit like a truck. But being a woman who was losing her own senses and emotions didn't translated to not feel for others and their sufferings. "Is there anything I could do to help?"
"That's very generous of you, Ms Acheron." Natasha gave a warm smile to her. "But that won't be needed. I have a contact with an acquaintance of mine that owns an workshop in the upper world. She will get to build this man a prosthesis of an arm and leg to replace the ones he lost right before the patient can recover from his unconsciousness."
"Hm, I see." It appeared a solution for the problem had already been found and being worked upon. Acheron assumed that it would be it. Even if it was mechanical, the man would be lucky to have an arm and leg than just not having neither at all. That was, until she remembered something. "Wait! That's it!" With an idea in mind, Acheron smiled and looked to Natasha on her side. "You know what? Today is this patient's lucky day! There won't be any need for protesis."
Natasha looked at the Self-Annihilator with puzzlement. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
"I can give you a more efficient and better solution to how we can replace this man's limbs. Or rather, how they won't even need to be replaced." Acheron then turned around, about to point it why. "Because the answer is...eh?" Having expected Morte to be behind her, Acheron was surprised when she found out that the man wasn't in fact standing behind her. "W-Where's he-" A question that didn't took long as Acheron spotted Morte right in the center of the clinic, sat on a chair and...smoking another cig.
Noticing Acheron staring at him from his peripheral view, Morte looked back at her as an absolute silence fell into the room, everyone looking appaled and in disbilief torwards him. "Hm? What is it? Got something in my face?"
Acheron just brought her hands to her own face in shame and embaresment. "You can't be serious..." She could only wonder how Morte was able to have the ability to act like a gentleman and deliquent at the same time.
Natasha, obviously upset, went torwards him. "Mr Morte, I know the sir might like to smoke a lot, but it would be for the best of your own health to abandon such harmful habit." She reprimanded him, taking the cig our of Morte's mouth while doing her best to remain with composure. "Specially when you are in. a. clinic."
Having been rebuked for this action, Morte just stared at Natasha for a couple of seconds, rather unimpressed. "Kay." The man got up from the chair, just accepting it. "I'll go smoke outside then."
"Wait a moment there!" Acheron however prevented him from leaving the clinic just yet. "You are not exiting this building until you restore that man's limbs back."
Morte glared at her with a tedious face. "Good lord...Do I have a face of a charity or of someone that contributes to one?" He said, making clear he had no intentions of healing the patient.
"You could at least try to once in a while. Nobody's forcing you." Acheron replied. She knew that simple begging wouldn't do on someone like him. So she added another approach. "Or don't tell me that performing such thing costs highly from you. And here I thought you were way stronger than that. But clearly that does not seem to be the case." She teased Morte, thinking that if by doing so the man would be a bit presuaded in doing it as a matter of pride.
Yet, it didn't seemed to be that effective on him. "Eh. Not even a 'please'." Morte smirked as he once again turned around and was about to walk away.
But once again, he was stopped. This time by Natasha.
"Please, don't go!" The doctor pleaded grabbing Morte by the arm, gaining his attention. "That man will have to forever live with the fact he won't ever feel his organic arm and leg ever again! If your friend here is ensinuating that there's a chance to avoid such tragedy and sadness through one of your methods, then please do it! Avoid that poor person from getting such terrible sadness!"
Despite that, Morte remained unwilling to do something about it. "Sorry miss. But that guy can only blame himself for those limb losses when he wakes up. It was his choice to end up like that. Not my problem." He said with a cold and uncaring voice, truly showing that he wasn't the kindest or altruistic person in the cosmos.
"If you heal the patient, I'll do anything!" Natasha said in a moment of heat, not wanting the possible cure and solution to the poor miner to just walk away in front of her own eyes.
Morte halted, his face pensative, not even looking behind. "Anything, you say?"
"Yes. As a medic, I will owe you one for saving a patient from a huge lose." Natasha reaffirmed it. "As long as we can prevent as small damage as we can to him, both physically and emotionally, I won't mind doing whatever favour you ask me!"
"..." Slightly turning his head, Morte gave only a brief and silent stared to the doctor before showing her a smirk. "Eh. Then you can tell that guy that today was his lucky day."
"Prick!" Acheron said in her own mind, displeased on how Morte wasn't willing to be kind to help unless receiving something in return. But she should have already counted for it with a type of guy like Morte was. And the Self-Annihilator already imagined what type of 'favour' Morte would request from Natasha, being too predictable.
"T-Thank you, Mr Morte!" Natasha said with relief, her hands both together. "I-"
"Don't go thanking me when nothing has been done yet." Morte told her, beggining to walk torwards the bed at the corner. "I can still change my mind." Standing next to the mattress, he looked to the unconscious, recovering patient. "So, is this the unlucky fella I have to be altruistic with?"
"He lost an arm and leg entirely." Natasha told him, standing right next to Morte while Acheron was a bit more behind. "Think you can heal him from that?"
"Pff. Is that even supposed to be a question?" Morte grinned slightly as he stared to Natasha, taking out one of his hands from his pants pockets. "Just watch this. Witness a miracle."
And so, Morte did his part, positioning his hand right above the man's chest. In an instant, a sick green light beggining to emanate from his palm, shinning the surroundings. First, from the zone of the limbs that had been amputated. the calcium fragments of the bones started to form in small particles, composing themselves into full fledged arm, hand, leg and foot bones. Following it shortly, threads of flesh begun to regrow and sprout from the bones, sewing onto one another nicely, covering the bones into muscles of meat. And finally, the skin that regenerated, small chuncks appearing on the limbs before connecting themselves all together perfeclty, covering the muscles.
The entire process left Natasha and all of the doctors and nurses that where in the clinic and came to see it as well, completly agape. "I...It..."
And it was done. Both arm and leg of the patient had been restored fully, almost as if he had never lost them in the first place.
"And I'm doing all of this without being payed." Morte said, backing his hand away from the man now that the job was over. "I hope you have that in consideration."
"He...He restored that patient's limbs!"
"But how? I never thought it could be possible!"
"Who cares if it is or it is not! The guy got his limbs back!"
"This is historical! Way beyond the scope of the medicine we know!"
The group of doctors and nurses behind Morte and Natasha all murmured in awe and surprise, never having seen something like that before.
"..." Acheron watched the entire procedure silently, already aware of Morte's abilities.
Natasha on the other hand was almost speechless. "This...This is...I can't..." Her state of bewilderment was such that she even brought both hands to her face. "How did you done this?"
"Welp, I did said you were going to witness a miracle, didn't I?" Morte replied to Natasha, smirking at her as he approached his face. "Now, can you please...hum..." Giving it better tought, Morte's face lacked a bit as he decided to ask something else from the doctor. "Can you tell me where I can find a pub in this place, please?"
"Huh?" Acheron reacted a bit with surprise. It seemed the favour Morte requested was different from the one she had thought about.
Being talked to, Natasha snapped from her bewilderment as she heard Morte's request. "O-Oh! Sure thing." She replied, ending up to give directions to Morte of where he could find a pub in Boulder Town.
"Well, thanks. I shall be on my way now." Morte smiled to Natasha as he begun to walk torwards the clinic's exit as everyone stared at him leaving. "See you...hum...Whenever I feel like coming back here!" He said, giving a brief glance to Acheron on the side as he passed by her, likely asking her if she would also leave the building with him without having to say a word.
Natasha however, had a question to make. "Wait! W-Who even are you to perform such things? Are you a doctor by any chance as well?"
"Me?" Morte stopped right at the clinic's doors. "I'm just a simple man who loves to live as free as ever." He turned around, smirking to Natasha and all of the clinic staff. "A man that wherever life is, he will also be there. Have a good day!" And so he left the building.
"Aah..." One of the nurses felt weak after being charmed by Morte's appearence and personality, having to be grabbed by other members of the staff.
Meanwhile, Acheron headed to Natasha. "Are you alright?" She asked, seeing that the doctor was still looking a bit off.
"Y-Yes. I am. Don't worry. It's just..." Putting a hand on a chair nearby, Natasha was still processing the wonder she had witnessed. "To think limbs could be entirely restored out of nowhere like that. It's...amazing."
"Never had seen anything like that before, have you?" Acheron replied. She could understand the amazement from Natasha and the clinic's staff part. While she herself had seen many things beyond believe during her aimless journey across the cosmos, these people from Jarilo-VI certainly hadn't, only recently becoming aware of what laid out there beyond their planet. So while seeing lost limbs being regenerated back completly wasn't a crazy thing for Acheron, it certainly was for them.
"It is. And I don't know exactly what to think of it. It feels so surreal that..." Natasha's mind begun to play some distant memories of her past. "My brother always dreamed of achieving something like this one day. If he could be here to see it..." Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, composing herself. "Sorry. I shouldn't be venting to someone who I just met a few minutes ago. Hope I didn't make you feel disturbed." She apologized to Acheron.
The Self-Annihilator however didn't mind. "No worries. There's no problem to let out what's troubling you out. It can be healthy sometimes." She told to Natasha. "If you're feeling stress from the work, then lay down and sit. For an hour, a day, a week, how much time you feel like necessary to put your mind together."
"Eh, thank you, Ms Acheron." Natasha smiled, having liked Acheron's advice. "However, this clinic as basically become my life. For so many years, I've spent majority of the days here. I work, sleep and eat in this clinic. Because deep down, I can't see myself abandoning my duty to care and heal others." She explained why she couldn't just take a rest. "I feel that if I take a day to relax, a person that I could be saving on that day is dying. So as long as this body can steel function well, I'll always be here to take care of the ill and wounded."
"I see. You sure have a huge dedication to your job. I respect that." Acheron told to Natasha. "But remember this: you're still human with limits. Don't try to break the ones of your body and take a rest when you feel tired. We only live once." She said, not wanting Natasha to overwork until exhaustion, knowing that she wanted to care of others health but also look for her own health as well.
"You are very kind for worrying about me." Natasha gave her a warm smile as she gently picked Acheron's hand. "But I guarantee you, Ms Acheron, that my body is fine. And as long as it continues like that, I'll keep working."
"Well, if you feel that it is to that level of importance, then I hope you continue doing a good job." Acheron said to Natasha, seeing how connected she was with her duty. "And I don't want to disturb you from doing it any longer. Continue with the good work and have a rest of a good day."
"Likewise, Ms Acheron." Natasha told to Acheron as the Emmanator of Nihility had decided that it was time to leave the clinic, not wanting to be wasting more of the doctor's precious time. "However, can I make you a question before leaving?"
"What do you want to ask me?" Acheron accepted, turning to Natasha one more time before leaving.
"Mr Morte. Who exactly is he?" Natasha made her question, having gotten a sense of mystery shroudded around the man. She knew that no ordinary or even great doctor could pull off something Morte had just done.
To that, Acheron responded in the most honest way possible. "I myself want to know the answer to that."
Having left the clinic, Acheron saw, as expected, Morte waiting just right outside the building, smoking another cig.
"Do you have a comically amount of cigs in your pockets or something?" Acheron asked him, wondering how much did he smoked per day.
"Wanna take a look to know?" Morte replied back, exhaling out the nicotine substance. "Anyways, got her number?"
"In your dreams." Acheron stood besides him, paying little importance to that question.
"You know, I do had some charm with a lady doctor once." Morte grabbed the cig and let it fall on the ground, squeezing it in order to put it out. "But that can be a story for another time. First, we shall go to the pub for one of my favourite activities."
"Eh. I wonder what the other ones are." Acheron crossed her arms before giving a general look to the small square of the town. "Better get there quick and smoothly as well. We do not want to be seen by the IPC on out way there."
"Great thinking!" Morte snapped his fingers and pointing to Acheron, not even looking at her as he already imagined the beer waiting for him. "So we better start movi-!"
"Ow!"
However, Morte didn't even gave two steps forward as someone ended up accidentaly bumping into him while on their way to enter the clinic, not noticing the tall man on their way.
That person being a young woman with long purple hair and purple eyes. "Oww. Tsk! Watch where the hell you're going you stupid walking pole!" The girl rubbed her head in pain before looking angrily and throw an insult at Morte.
The man for his own part, stared down at her with a mildly discontented expression. "And you better watch who you're speaking to."
"What?! Do you wanna pick up a fight? Is that what I hear?" The irritated young woman immediatly got up from the ground.
"Uh, quite the spunky one this girl here." Morte cackled, whispering it to Acheron. "Also, since when do you have a daughter?" He said, pointing out the simillar color features Acheron and the girl shared for both their hairs and eyes.
"I don't." Acheron replied almost with boredom, her eyes still on the newcomer.
"Hphm! If you're looking for trouble, I'll make sure you regret it pretty fast!" The young woman quickly summoned a purple-blue scythe, her fervent demeanor only escalating the situation.
Looking at that, Morte grinned almost mockingly as he brought forwards hiw own scythe. "Eh! As you wish." He said, the lower tip of his weapon hitting agressively the ground.
"Oh crap! That's big!" The young woman exclaimed in her own head, comically dumbstrucked by how taller and menacing Morte's scythe appeared to be when in comparison to hers. That led to her to calm her head down and reevaluate her actions. "T-Thinking better, let's not fight. That would be only stupid."
"Agree." Acheron replied, also wanting to avoid any meaningless conflict that would certainly get the IPC troops attention. "Keep your head cool next time, will you?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. I precipitated, my bad." The young woman scratched the back of her head with a slight look of guilt, admitting to have been in the wrong. "Anyways, you two. You seem to be tourists, aren't you?"
"And what makes you think that we are?" Acheron asked her, receiving a prideful smirk from the girl.
"Heh. I've spent my entire life down here. I know ever face and every street of Boulder Town like the back of my hand! I'm Seele, by the way!" The young woman presented herself to them. "And you are..."
"Acheron. Nice to meet you, Seele." Acheron told Seele her name, proceeding to point to Morte. "And he's Morte. And we were on our way to a pub."
"Before a wild spunky girl appeared." Morte added, smugging.
Seele didn't seemed to take it lightly. "Ha? Who the hell are you calling 'spunky girl'?" But before she could go at him, Seele took some self-restraint, calming herself down. "Grr...Easy there, Seele. Easy. You don't have to pick up a fight with strangers every now and then."
"And could you not instigate her?" Acheron said to Morte to not provoke her, with him just shrugging his shoulders and arms. "Anyways, you looked to be in a rush to enter the clinic."
"Yeah. I kinda am." Seele confirmed it. "It's that we came here to pick some medicine."
"Hum? 'We'?" Acheron said, addled. That was before the three of them all heard a loud voice coming in the distance.
"Yoooooo Seele! You could've waited for me y'know?" Crossing the entire square, an energetic young man, with short red hair tied into a small pony tail, reached them on the clinic's entrance. "I mean, next time you decide to dash off, warn me first will ya?"
"The faster we do this, the better, Luka!" Seele replied to the guy, saying his name. "If you wanted to go slow and strolling in this situation, you could've stayed at home or in your gym instead!"
"Hey! Easy there, Seele!" The guy, Luka, lifted his arms in self-defense, one of them being a metallic protesis. "Look, I know you're worried about her. We all are! But we also need to keep our minds steady during this!" He then noticed on the duo next to her. "Woah! And who are these two here with you?"
"Some tourists I bumped in literally a minute ago." Seele replied.
Forseeing another introduction, Acheron presented herself to Luka. "Hi. My name is Acheron and-" But she couldn't even finish as Luka quickly got close to her, a big radiant smile on his face.
"Pleasure to meet you ma'am! You do have a face of looking like a strong person! I'm Luka! The strongest brawler that Belobog and Jarilo-VI have ever seen! Just not of the entire cosmos because I'm on my way to there yet, eheh!" He jabbered incessantly, gaining a small look of wierdness by Acheron, surprised with his extroverted personality.
"Don't mind him. As you can see, Luka's all brawl and no brains." Seele told to Acheron as a way to get used to it.
"That's not true! I do know some simple math y'know?" Luka replied back to his friend, defending himself from the accusation.
Seele just scoffed at him. "Yeah right. That's why I never saw you doing a simple math equation ever in my life, right?"
Ignoring that, Luka proceeded to then go greet Morte now, amazed by the man's body. "And holy molly! I didn't expected to ever see a guy as tall as you! I mean, Svarog exists, but still, look at those muscles man! What gym do you go to, dude?"
Morte, hardly even caring to pay attention to Luka, just bothered to look at him some seconds after. "Wouldn't you like to know, boxer boy."
"Oh! I would a whole lot!" Luka said, extending his mechanical arm to Morte. "Here! Let's shake hands! But be careful for me to not crush your fingers haha!"
Giving a brief stare at Luka like if he was just some sort of clown, Morte then grinned, accepting it. "Eh, why not?" And shook hands with Luka.
And it was at there, that Luka realized how strong Morte was exactly, able to tell how rough the man's bare hand was, feeling it through the metal. "E-ehehe, wow dude. Y-You're quite strong, aren't you?"
And the handshake continued. And continued to get rougher. And rougher. And roug-
"That's enough, Morte." Acheron called him out, making Morte immediatly undo the handshake.
"Hey, he asked for it, not me." Morte replied in self-defense. "Plus, I can always give him a new organic one."
"And what the hell did I told you about bothering others, Luka?" Seele reprimanded her friend, thinking how stupid he was for wanting to challenge random people to do strenght contests with him, since it could go wrong one of these days, not being the first time.
Luka, holding onto his mechanical arm a bit painfully, tried to calm Seele with a smile altough forced. "N-No biggie, Seele. I'm fine! This Morte guy is just quite strong!"
Seele ended up sighing. "Sorry if he's annoying you. He can't help buy be a nuisance."
"In that case you fit each other rather well." Morte commented, gaining dumbstruck and perplexed looks from both Seele and Luka.
"W-What do you mean by that you big-grr!" Seele holded up her anger, being the second time Morte got in her nerves.
"Me and Seele!? Nah man! She's more like...an overbearing sister to me-" Luka said just before Seele proceeded to punch him in the shoulder. "Ow!"
"I'm not overbearing, idiot! You're just stupid!" Seele shouted at him, smoke coming out from her head.
"Keh! Quite the comedy they're delivering us." Morte whispered to Acheron next to him.
"I assume it must be routine for them by now." Acheron replied, eyeing Seele calming down.
"Excuse my and his behavious today. We wanna go to the clinic to get something and be over with quickly." Seele explained to the other duo as she brought her hand to the forhead.
Acheron couldn't help but notice by the girl's expressions that something was off. "Is someone you know feeling sick?"
Seele got surprised by that question. "Huh? H-How do you know that?"
"Those facial expressions and voice tones aren't really helping to hide a thing, spunky girl." Morte told to Seele, having noticed it as well.
"Is there a problem happening? Do you two might need help?" Acheron asked to Seele and Luka who both looked at each for a few seconds before deciding in wether they should tell to Acheron and Morte or not.
"Yes, there is something 'bad' happening." Luka speaked. "But it needs to be maintained secret from everyone else in Belobog, or panic and rumours will install amongst the people."
"Maintained secret you say?" Acheron's eyes narrowed a bit, ending up discovering that something terrible could be happening behind the curtains of Belobog.
Seele nodded her head, doing some quick check on their surroundings. "It's thing we better tell more in private and not in the main square of the town where many people could hear us." She proposed the idea. "Let me and Luka first get something from the clinic and then we will share the secret with you in a more private place. Let's say, a pub."
Morte liked the sound of that. "Now you're speaking my language, spunky girl! But you better be quick!" He pulled a threatening face. "Because if I have to wait a minute longer..."
"Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!"
At the pub, it was a mood of party taking over the establishment, everyone in there happily drinking and enjoying themselves. Specially Morte, seated at the bartender's table with a middle-aged man.
"I can't believe you really did that, you senile bastard!"
"I did! And you know what's the funniest? That jerk probably hasn't figured it out to this day!"
Both Morte and the old man laughed and wheezed as they would pour concerning amounts of beer down their throats while the old man told stories about his life to Morte.
"Hahahaha! Oh Oleg, I do have to say! You are one genius son of a bitch!" Morte cackled some more while tapping the old man in the back, he and Oleg clearly being already under the influence of the alcohol.
More in the distance and at a more isolated table of the pub, Acheron was watching Morte having fun and laughing while drinking more non-stop with the old man he was sitting with. "Hm. Perhaps he is a man of simple likings." She noted to herself, deep down wishing to feel the same amount of happiness he was probably feeling now. The Self-Annihilator then proceeded to speak to Seele and Luka who were sitting on the same table as hers. "So, to be clear: You made sure there is no IPC inside here?"
"Every corner of every perimeter!" Luka responded, he and Seele having analyzed the place. "Why are you asking it again?"
"Sorry. It's just that me and the IPC...aren't in good friendly terms currently." Acheron responded, wanting to tell them without outright telling it.
"Eh. Would you know? It seems you share the feeling that we and the entire townsfolk has for the IPC." Seele said with some scorn when pronouncing the faction's name.
"Mm. Then the IPC doesn't have a good fame down here by the looks of it." Acheron said, now aware that pretty much everyone here didn't liked them.
"Oh, they sure have more infamy than fame." Seele was about to explain. "For days now they've 'tried' to clean the contaminated areas from the remaining monsters and fragments of stellaron, and yet they continue to stay here. They even patrol the streets down here as well. Some Wildfire memebers and scavengers have already got trouble with them, And me as well. I know it will sound ironic but, these streets just don't feel save with the IPC around."
"They are everywhere! In the pubs, my boxing ring, the square, even in the hotels! Those lamers excuse is that they're doing it for 'protection' of everyone, guaranteeing that no one is scheming or hiding something from them." Luka added, displeased by how much the entire underworld seemed to be monitored by the IPC.
"Pff! I dunno about you guys, but to me, they look to be the ones stealing here!" Seele said without checking if any IPC soldier had walked into the pub to hear it in order to avoid problem. But the girl was just like that. "I bet they want to steal all of our geomarrow resource from the mines, occupying the contaminated areas near it as excuse to get closer to the materials."
"That definetly sounds like a thing they would do. Selfish goals in mind first above anything else." Acheron replied now with the explanation done. "As the Supreme Guardian got to know of this situation down here?"
"It ain't that simple. She is indeed aware of the people's general unhappiness with the IPC." Seele told to Acheron, continuing the topic. "However, as the leader of Belobog, she and the IPC ended up striking a deal when they first arrived to Jarilo-VI. A deal that IPC offered to give Belobog all the financial and material help it needed due to all the ages it went in isolation from all the cosmos. But in return..."
"The IPC have the legal permission to roam and secure perimeter on the mines territory. Namely, all of it." Luka finished, a look of injustice on his face.
"It wasn't easy for the Supreme Guardian to choose but, it was either that or the entirety of Belobog to drown in a huge generational debt, putting the entire planet into poverty." Seele crossed her arms in frustration. "How laughable. We people of Belobog finally put an end to the infernal blizzard that had been tormenting us for countless ages, and now that we could finally have the liberty to do more than stay at one place, these snakes of the IPC appear to put a price tag on our homeland!" Upset, Seele ended up punching the table. "They're opportunistic vultures! Every last one of them!"
"H-H-Hey, calm down, Seele!" Luka tried to make his friend to cool her head. "You will attract attention like that! What if one of the IPC guys appears here?"
"Your sentiment is no short of being invalid. After all, no planet should be hostage of a corporation that exalts itself for inter galactic peace." Acheron also went to request Seele to stay steady and not get into an uproar. "However, we cannot let the emotions get a hold of ourselves in specific situations. Ranting and being ired about it now won't change a thing."
"...You're right. It won't." Seele said with some sorrow as Acheron told her some sense.
"Now, let's talk about the secret you promised to share with." Acheron wanted to move subjects to the one she was wanting to hear, proceeding to look at some meds on the table near Seele and Luka, having grabbed them from the clinic. "So I presume someone you know must be sick. May I know wh-"
"Passing through! Sorry!" Morte exclaimed as he passed near the table, holding an unconscious Oleg over his shoulder.
Turning her head around to see where he was going, Acheron was caught off guard by what she saw. "What a-"
"What happened to him?!" Seele exclaimed, seeing old man Oleg all passed out.
"Nothing bad. Poor fella just drunk too much and now is dreaming wonderfully." Morte responded quite normaly and calmly in contrast with Acheron's slight incredulity and both Seele and Luka's astonishment. "Now I'll find him a nice place to sleep."
"J-Just make sure to put him in a good place! Preferably not out in the open!" Seele told to Morte.
"And make sure a little girl with blonde hair doesn't sees him in that state!" Luka added, with morte replying with nothing more but an 'okay' hand sign as he exited the pub while carrying the drunk Oleg.
"Oh boy, I hope Hook doesn't see him out there." Luka muttered with some concern.
"When was the last time since old man Oleg drunk that much?" Seele wondered.
Meanwhile, temporarily at a lose for words, Acheron went back to talking. "Don't worry. I'm sure that he will be alright in the end." She said to the two, hoping that would be the case, because with someone like Morte, she feared the worst a bit. But judging by how he and Oleg were all chatting happily and enjoying the drinks, she doubt Morte would do anything bad to the old man. "Hmm, he also didn't seemed very interested in wanting to know what's the secret Seele and Luka have to tell us." Acheron pointed to herself how curious it was that Morte didn't seemed bothered to wanting to know what trouble Seele and Luka were referring to, having only came to the pub to drink and nothing else, not even sitting at the table to hear the information. It was clear he could care less of it.
"So, about the problem happening right now in Belobog that we said no one else could know." Seele put both her thumbs together, about to reveal it with Acheron.
"Yes. Do tell what is it." Acheron replied, making sure that she would listen to it carefully.
"It's about the-"
"Ahaha! Make room everyone! We've arrived!"
"Nobody move now and better be quiet!"
But as Seele was about to reveal it, a bunch of deliquents kicked down the pub's entrance, making a noisy entrance as if they owned the place. And apart from Acheron, Seele and Luka, everyone else cowered and hide in fear at the sight of the gang.
"Who are they?" Acheron asked to Seele and Luka, wondering why the people at the pub were so afraid of them.
"A group of scavengers known to be law breakers." Luka said with distaste in his voice altough speaking lowly while eyeying at the group. "They steal things and disturb the small peace people here in Boulder Town have."
"They're a middle finger to the IPC. But also a middle finger to us!" Seele said angrily, despising the group of deliquents. "Jerks that don't care about other's safety as long as they have fun!"
In that moment, one deliquent swinged his pipe at a cup of glass, breaking it in front of a person that was sitting on the table near the group. "Didn't you heard the boss and vice-boss? Step away unless you want the same happening to you!"
"N-No! S-Sorry! I d-didn't mean it!" The person gagged in fear as exited the table and retreated from the deliquents, the entire body trembling with fear.
"Geh! You're lucky that today we're feeling generous. So I can let that mistake slide today." the leader of the gang said with a presumptuous smug. "However..."
The minion holding the pipe smashed the entire table with it, horrifying and panicking even more the people at the pub, resulting in some more screams.
"I won't allow mistakes to repeat again! Is that clear?" The leader exclaimed, laughing.
Acheron saw that they really weren't that great for a bunch of people. "Does the IPC knows about them yet? Do they really let a band of deliquents to terrorize the underworld like this?"
"Unfrotunately." Luka replied. "Unless the group gets in their way, the IPC will turn a blind eye to their antics as long as it doesn't affect them.
"Oi oi! Bartender! Go fetch us the nicest drink of this splunk! I'm thirsty here!" The second in command ordered to the bartender, threatening him.
"O-Oh, t-that's-"
"That's what you shithead?! Impossible? Unlikely?" The vice-leader grabbed him by the collar. "Do we need to remind you who we are?"
"A bunch of losers that are in need of a serious beating!" Seele exclaimed loudly, getting up from the table and catching the gang's attention.
"Ooh! Would you know? Is that chick from the Wildfire everyone! I'm scared!" The leader of the gang said with sarcasm before bursting out laughing alongside his group.
"And the toy arm of her friend is alos here too!" The vice-leader said, pointing at Luka.
"This toy arm is enough to send you to the hospital asshole!" Luka replied, also lifting from the table. "You're lucky that the IPC ignores you for the most part and Nat implored us to resolve things with in friendly terms at first!"
"Yeah! You're the ones pushing your lucks here!" Seele added, putting a smirk on her face. "As if a group of wanna-be criminals lead by a guy named Jimmy would ever pose as a real threat! Get real!"
The leader, Jimmy, seemed to not having taken that comment lightly. "Eh? You're making fun of my name? Do you really wanna do this?" He said menacingly, he and his group slowly approaching to their table. "I always knew you were just a stupid girl that talked big, thinking to be hot stuff ever since the first moment I saw you. Perhaps it's time to teach you a lesson!"
"Pff! Look who's talking!" Seele replaid back as she, Luka and Acheron saw the gang drawing out their weapons, beggining to surround them.
"If there's someone here who will be humbled, it's you buddy!" Luka said, ready to wipe the floor with them.
Jimmy still continued with his arrogant smug. "Hahahaha! Please! As if I-huh?"
"If you're smart, please stay back and leave." Acheron told to the leader as she stood right in front of him, talking calmly but also with hints of danger. "This isn't a fight you wanna pick."
Jimmy however looked at her with incredulity. "Eeeh? And who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"Maybe some dumb bitch that's already gotten way too drunk!" The vice-leader responded. "I mean, look at that sword! Is she cosplaying at samurai or something?"
The entire gang laughed at that.
"Kahahahahaha! True, true! Perhaps she really thinks to be one!" Jimmy laughed, not taking Acheron's warning. "Anyway, it will be one more we will send to the clinic!"
"..." Calm and quiet, Acheron just sighed internally for the lack of conscious thinking and awareness these group of deliquents displayed. They were no real threat at all. Just some average people thinking they could own the underworld. But by ignoring her advice, they force Acheron to have no other choice but to fight them. Some of her weakest slashes here and there to knock them out would suffice. That was...
"Hmmm? Ahoy there! Are you doing new friends, Acheroni?"
"Wha-"
"!?"
Seeing a shadow towering over them from behind, both Jimmy and the vice-leader turned around with apprehension to see the tall figure of Morte right behind them, emanating a defening and bone-chilling aura despite the smile on his face.
"T-This guy...where did he came from?"
"Not really. We were having some mere disagreements. That's all." Acheron replied as her hand retreated from grabbing the sword's hilt. With Morte here, she hoped that the deliquents would understand that this situation was in no way favorable to them.
"Ah, I see. Very well then, kiddos!" Morte put both his hands on Jimmy and the vice-leader's shoulders while maintaining a friendly smile. Perhaps the most eerily 'friendly' smile the two deliquents had ever seen. "Keep it down back here while I get one last drink for today. Got it?"
"U-Uh? W-Who the hell are you?!"
"Ugh! Your hand and cloths reek of alcohol!" The vice-leader said, detecting it.
Upset, Jimmy grabbed Morte's cloth. "You dare stenching my clothes and getting close to me with that awful sme-egh?!" But the leader of the gang was cut short as Morte nonchalantly grabbed his head and abruptly pushed him away, sending Jimmy crashing onto a table, not even looking behind while walking torwards the bartender's table.
"BOSS!" The entire gang went to their leader's aid.
Even Seele and Luka were impressed.
"H-He just sent the guy flying..." Seele muttered in awe.
"I-I know the dude was strong!" Luka said with a smile despite also being bewildered.
Acheron for her own just closed her eyes, letting out a repressed breath. She clearly dismissed the damage caused by Morte, but if it could calm down the situation by having put some sense into the deliquents then she wouldn't object it.
"Another drink, please." Morte told to the fazed bartender who got out of it upon hearing Morte's order.
"U-Uhmm-Y-Yes! As the sir wishes!"
However, things didn't seemed to be over.
"C-Cough!"
"I-Is the boss alr-"
"YOU BASTARD!" Screaming in rage, Jimmy, now with his face partially broken, got up and walked torwards Morte, having his pride hugely damaged by what the man had just done to him. "You think you own this place like I do?!"
Barely paying attention while waiting for his drink to arrive, Morte replied. "You're saying you want to divide the business of this establishment with me?"
"Ghg!" Feeling hugely insulted, Jimmy took out a gun from his pocket and pointed at Morte. "Enough of your bullshit, drunktard!"
The sight of the weapon made everyone else go into panic again, with Seele about to step up.
"You dirty-" However, she was stopped by Acheron who put an arm in front of her. "Huh? Acheron?"
"Don't go. Stay where you are." Acheron told to Seele and Luka as well.
"But isn't he your friend? Will you really let him take a bullet?" Luka said, incredulous.
Acheron however kept the two from going in. "No worries. He will be alright." She told to the two. After all, even if she barely knew Morte yet, the Self-Annihilator was aware that a meager bullet would simply be unable to kill him.
"Jeez! All that shouting for what?" Morte cackled with a grin while turning around to look at the pissed off, Jimmy. Presumably, Morte was still probably drunk. "You wanna a drink? I can share with you if that's what you want?"
"You...!" Jimmy cleenched his teeth, baffled at how the man dared to make jokes at gunpoint.
"Do say, you and your group of welll-mannered and civic people." Thinking 'randomly' on his mind, Morte came up with a question to the deliquent group. "Which one of you is closest to their birthday?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Birthday?"
The whole group of deliquents were oblivious, not comprehending what Morte meant by doing that question.
"Hmm, then how about this one? Which of you had their birthday more recently?" Morte made them a new question.
Taking serious thinking, Jimmy thought of it. "Uuuuhhh, that would be you, Miller, right?" Jimmy speaked to his vice-leader. "You made birthday two days ago."
"Yes it was!" The vice-leader, Miller, replied. "If that wasn't an heck of a birthday party we had!" The entire group of deliquents agreed.
Morte chuckled. "Hehehe. I'm glad you enjoyed it to the fullest then, Miller." Looking up, Morte gave an eerily grin to the vice-leader. "Because that will be the last birthday you ever had."
"?!" Terryfied by the glance, Miller took a step back in fear.
"Eh? What nonsense are you saying?" Jimmy confronted Morte. "You saying you will kill us all now?"
"No. Not really. But your friend over there, hmmmm, I'd say he dies in ten seconds." Morte told, shocking the entire group of deliquents.
"W-Wha?!"
"Ten seconds?!"
"Tsk! Don't play mind games with us, you fucker!" Jimmy yelled, fear already showing on his face as he leaned the gun on Morte's head. "It will be you who dies here!"
"What are you even planning here, Morte?" Acheron looked with a cynical glare, trying to figure what was Morte's trick here, having payed attention to his words.
Meanwhile, Seele and Luka were urging her to go and help him, not aware of what Morte was capable of.
"Are you really sure he's gonna be alright?" Seele questioned Acheron's decision.
"Yeah! We have to intervene right now!" Luka added, also worried.
Meanwhile, his life 'threatened' Morte just scoffed it off right at Jimmy's face. "Oh please, what a joke! You clearly never got in a real life ending situation, have you? You think guns are cool toys to show around like your deliquent play? If you mean to ki-"
*BANG!*
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
All of the people that were in the pub immediatly exited, screaming and fleeing, terryfied by the moment the shot was heard and the blood spilled.
Inside the pub, now only Acheron, Seele, Luka and the deliquents remained.
"I...I cannot believe..." Luka eyed to the situation in front of him in absolute startlement.
Same for Seele. "He...He's really dead..."
Achero narrowed her eyes. "In ten seconds. So that was your play here."
Jimmy, having pulled the trigger and killed Morte, was initially dazzed. "...Eh. Ehehehe." Until he realized that he had shut up a guy criticizing him for good. "HehehAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! See? I told you that nobody messes with me-"
"V-Vice Boss Miller!"
"Crap! This is bad! He is not responding!"
"...Eh?"
"Someone do something! He's bleeding a lot!"
Slowly turning around, the confused Jimmy went to see why was his gang in such turbulence and uproar. And upon seeing it, his pride and bravado diminuished to a state that was non-existent, replaced by the huge terror and shock once he saw Miller, the vice-leader, dead in the floor with a bulle wound on the head.
"B-But...I thought I-" His mind barely even able to process how his friend ended up dying with the gun he had just shot Morte with, Jimmy felt a liquid dropping and hitting the top of his head, running down on his face. Looking up, the terrified gang leader saw Morte fully up and recovered, holding an half empty glass of alcohol on top of him, the wound around his head completly healed, as if he had never took the bullet. Jimmy couldn't help but feel petrified of Morte at that moment. "W-W-W-Who... are y-you...?"
Grinning from ear to ear in a mouth slitting smile, Morte's empty eyes with two green lights looked down on Jimmy. "Who's next?"
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Almost than likely having messed his own pants and with the heart beating faster thn ever, Jimmy and his gang immediatly stormed out of the pub in fear, carrying the dead body of Miller with them, the memory of Morte and the event that happened today most likely to never dissapear from their minds.
"Wow. I guess...that was a lesson for them." Seele said, still trying to understand what had just happened.
"Yeah. After this one, I think they won't be back to business for a long time. If ever." Luka said, pondering the mental scar the deliquents must have received with this experience.
"Well, a job done is a job done." Morte replied, drinking the rest of the empty glass cup. "Happy for doing a service to the community."
"Was having one of them dead and the rest traumatized also in the plan?" Acheron said, wishing that Morte would have handled the situation slightly better.
"Unfortunately, we don't live in a world that is a giant bed of roses, my dear Acheron." Morte gave a smug to her, not feeling bad at all for what he had done.
"If it's done it's done. At least we won't have to deal with them anymore." Seele said, trying to see things on a more positive side, looking around to the damaged pub. "But better hurry and leave the pub now! I'm sure all of this confusion must've alerted the IPC!"
Into an alley, the four of them were able to get out of the building in time before the IPC arrived and investigated the case.
"They are totally focused on the pub. But we better go way more distant from here before they do a search on the surrounding areas." Luka said, taking a peek at the pub at the other side of the street from the alley they had entered.
"Ah." Acheron realized something. "Our faces. They are gonna ask the witnesses who was behind that ruckus."
Morte lighted a cig. "Welp, we can always say that we were just protecting people from a group of bad people." He then smirked. "Or else..."
"We won't be doing that!" Acheron told him.
"But I was honestly considering that." Seele admitted. "If we are caught perhaps we should."
"Thank you." Morte told to Seele for taking his position. Kinda, assuming if Seele was either referring to kill them or just knocking them out.
"Eitherway, like Luka said, we better be moving away from here before they search rhe surrounding area." Acheron told the three, and so they begun to walk down the alley. "By the way, Seele. You were about to tell me something back at the pub, right?"
"The secret?" Seele replied.
"Oh yeah, right? The secret." Acheron's mind remembered. "Anyways, can you tell us what it is. This place also seems appropriate to say it."
"Hmmm, sure I guess." Seele said, stopping from walking so that she could tell it to Acheron. "Lately, these past few weeks, Bronya-I mean, the Supreme Guardian, has gotten sick. Psychologically."
A bit surprise, Acheron's eyes took an interest, sounding as bad as Seele and Luka had told. "Really? How so?"
Altough leaned to a wall and relaxed while smoking his cig, Morte was also listening with attention to what Seele was saying. "..."
Taking some courage to say it, Seele stared with apprehension and sadness to Acheron. "By what Bronya herself told me, she has been tormented by some type of hallucinations almost every night now, having trouble sleeping. She told me... That she hears the voice and sees the visiting figure of her late mother, Cocolia."
