Sickness

While Shinobu and Akane had discovered the abandonned village, the strange trees and its peculiarities, Soren and Lafitte had gone of towards the mountain. They had spotted a settlement a bit up there from the ship.

As Akane and Shinobu were looking for a village in the low lands, they would go to the one up the mountain.

With Soren running at a fast pace on the ground, Lafitte surveyed the area from the sky. On their way they had come across many houses, all empty.

One such house was in front of them. Yet the reason they had decided to investigate it, was the state the building was in. Compared to all the broken down houses around them, this one was still well-maintained. The windows weren't broken, the woodwork wasn't rotten and the walls and roof were rather clean.

Stepping forward, Soren knocked on the door.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

The sound left a long lasting echo. No lights were switched on, yet footsteps were heard coming towards them. Taking a step back, Soren waited for the door to open.

The door creaked loudly, dust sprinkling down as it was opened by a crack.

"Hello?"

Soren tried to glance inside, but the inside of the house was pitch black. No one had appeared in front of them since the door was opened, leaving the open door as an empty invitation towards them.

Pushing the door open further, only darkness greeted them. There was no sign of people anywhere.

Slowly making his way inside, Soren was followed by Lafitte, who kept a close eye on the surroundings. The whole situation was odd. This was the only place that was maintained in the area, there were no people, yet someone did open the door for them.

Things didn't seem to add up.

"Lafitte. We should update the captain and Ban-san about our findings. It would be problematic if something happened."

Soren cautiously looked around, sparking the electro on his hands to create some light.

Maybe it would have been beter if he hadn't.

Though the building had seemed decent from the outside, the inside was a whole other story.

The walls were damaged, the wood rotting and crumbling, as if someone hadn't lived here for more than a decade. Water dripped down from above at multiple places, yet there was no sound of it landing on the floor. The tiles below their feet were the only clean thing here, as they reflected their images as if it was a mirror.

Lafitte took out two den-den-mushi, calling both the captain and Ban. As it rang, there were no signs of anyone responding.

"Try again, maybe they are busy."

Soren muttered, staring at the snail in unease.

"Try it yourself. I will scout the surroundings."

Lafitte threw the snails in Soren's hands, walking further into the corridor in front of them. Soren looked with mouth agape between the snails and Lafitte. He didn't want to remain here alone.

Soren called after Lafitte, a tremor in his voice betrayed his anxiety.

"L-Lafitte. Let's go together."

Soren ran after Lafitte, who had suddenly stopped as if he was waiting for him to come. Soren sighed in relief when he was near his companion.

"We should leave and wait for the captain to come. Her fox fire would be a lot more help than my electro."

Soren chattered on, trying to rid himself of the anxiety that didn't seem to decrease. He continued to feel that something was wrong. Lafitte hadn't responded yet, but they were going deeper inside the house.

"L-Lafitte?"

Soren halted, as Lafitte had become a bit odd since a while ago. He would surely have responded to any of his chatter if it was before.

Putting a hand on Lafitte's shoulder, the other felt freezing to the touch.

Turning around 'Lafitte' smiled at Soren like usual, but the pale white face had become even bleaker than before.

Backing away, Soren raised his guard.

"You are not Lafitte."

He was certain the thing in front of him wasn't Lafitte.

'Lafitte's' mouth opened and a giggle escaped from it. It was long, consistent and somehow nerve-racking. The movements of 'Lafitte' had become more stiff, as it continued to walk further into the building, leaving Soren behind.

Soren shivered, not easily scared but was more than happy that 'Lafitte' had left.

"Only question remains. Where is the real Lafitte?"

Soren looked back over his shoulder, only to discover he had no clue as to where he currently was. His only option for now was to continue further inside and see if he could find Lafitte first.

Proceeding along the dark corridors, the lights on the walls would occasionally flicker, buzzing softly in the eerie silence. With every step Soren took, an echo of footsteps followed. On the walls, faded paintings showed the previous owners of the mansion. A portrait with a little girl was the last painting, yet the splatters of blood tainting the face of the girl only made it look frightening instead of pretty.

As he passed, Soren could feel eyes staring at his back, but when he turned around, he was only greeted by the empty corridor.

A shiver ran down his spine, but Soren chose to ignore it.

There was a time to be frightened later.

Opening the doors on the left and the right, he found empty bedroom, a kitchen with rotting food and rusted knives.

Nothing to aleviate his increasing sense of dread.

The last room he found was a bathroom, one where steam was rising from between the cracks of the door. Water was running, pooling from the bathroom into the corridor.

Inching closer, he could hear a woman humming a gentle tune.

Yet the lyrics was anything but that.

[Pretty little Alice, fair as she could be,

Went far up the mountain, what she found scared me.

Obsidian black bark it grew, a hunger never sated,

In creatures it lives shortly, their deaths already fated.

Pretty little Alice, fair as she could be,

regretting having found it, her soul is never free.

The people all but gone, the house all left to rot,

the dread is spreading freely, hope al for naught.]

Freezing on the spot, Soren's hand hovered above the doorhandle, disputing if he should even open the door.

Before he could even begin to take action, the singing stopped, as did the running water.

Against his better judgement, Soren entered the bathroom, coming face to face with a young lady and young man.

The boy was barely alive, as obsidian black bark was cosuming it whole, growing larger and larger with the second, turning him into one of the many trees Soren had passed outside. Black murky liquid was spilling over the remaining parts of his body, increasing in volume as the bark grew, intensifying the growth wherever the liquid touched. The lady who had sung was clad in a wet dress, trying to wash away the black liquid.

It didn't help, as the young man cried in pain, his remaining normal hand holding the young ladies hand tightly.

"I-I'm.... sorry....."

Was all he said before the tree had consumed his whole body, leaving only an obsiding black tree. The face in the bark shed blood for tears, painting the ground in a crimson color.

The woman wept, he hands still clasped around the hand, now turned into a branch.

"Don't leave me. What do I do without you?"

She wept, no response returning to her mournful sobbing.

Stretching out his hand to help the woman up, Soren backed away at the last second, noticing that the woman herself had started to grow tree-like branches along her hands as well. The black liquid had clearly infected her with the disease.

The woman only now noticed Soren, glaring at him.

"Leave! Leave me alone!"

She hysterically screamed as she threw the mirror towards him.

Dodging, it sailed past his head into the bedroom.

This was all the woman needed, as Soren had stepped out of the bathroom. The door was slammed shut and firmly locked.

"I will be with you soon, my love."

Soren could hear her mutter from behind the door.

Leaving the distraught woman behind, Soren picked up the mirror with a cloth. It was splattered full with the black liquid, which squirmed slightly under the light.

"Shinobu might know more if she saw this."

Soren carefully wrapped the mirror in multiple layers of cloth and other materials and stuffed it into a makeshift cloth sack.

Now his only remaining concern was finding Lafitte in this anything but normal house.