Alone?

"What the hell was that?" He shouted. A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead. "It was horrible."

"I can't be sure," Gene said. 

"But you have an idea?" 

"I think so. I think it's demonic power. Like I said I'm not very good at this stuff." He grabbed Cyrus' shoulders. "But you are. You have to follow it, see where it's coming from. It's poisoning everything."

Cyrus thought about the feeling of horror that had washed over him. Demonic energy, he could believe that. "I'm not sure I can, it was horrible."

"Try, this is connected to them, I know it is."

He meant the Undertower of course. Cyrus set his resolve, took a deep breath. He sat down on the ground this time, exactly as Thalia had taught him to do. He practiced his breathing, settled his mind and when it was quiet, he reached out.

The grass was there again and it still felt faintly wrong. He went deeper down into the ground and found the line of power again. The feeling of revulsion was still there and he could almost smell something. 

He followed the line back as it twisted and turned through the earth beneath the city. Where it met another, thicker line he suddenly realised what they were. Tree roots. It was Thalia's tree. 

He moved faster, with a sense of urgency, barely thinking, he acted. The tree roots had grown deep and thick, spread out to every inch of the city. They pulsed with power, but it was all wrong, dark and twisting.

He sensed malevolence coming off them in waves, but resisted the urge open his eyes, ignored the signals his body sent. As they got larger and more tangled together he knew where they were leading.

It was the tree. He was directly under it. With every pulse, a wave of pain washed over him, accompanied by nausea and fear. 

"What have they done?" he opened his eyes, his face screwed up in disgust. A faint smell of sulphur and brimstone hung in the air for a few seconds whilst he adjusted to having a body again.

"It's the tree," he managed to say, before twisting his body away from Gene and vomiting black coffee up on the grass.

Somehow, Burns and Mizer had managed to poison the tree. Did that mean they'd poisoned Thalia? Cyrus' pushed the thought away. He could save her. No, he would save her.

Gene waved away his apologies. "This is bad, Cyrus. Really bad."

Cyrus wiped his mouth on the back of hand. "I've never felt anything like that before, it was…" He couldn't find the words to described what he'd felt.

"Like swallowing pure malignancy?" Gene supplied?

"Or evil. Like every nerve in my body was screaming to run away. It felt unnatural and wrong."

Gene tilted his head back to stare up at the blue sky overhead. "Because it is," he said. "Both evil and wrong."

"I can't do that again," he said, pulling on his socks. "Sorry." His shoes followed. His body was shaking, trembling. He felt soiled somehow having touched it.

Gene stood, shaking his head. "No, sorry for putting you through that, I wasn't sure but I should have prepared you. Come on, lets get you some sugar."

"I could do with mouthwash," Cyrus said. "And a shower." He laughed, but it was true. He could still feel the wash of dark energy play over him, could still feel the disgust he'd felt at touching it.

They went back inside and Gene made him a cup of hot, sugary tea. "Here, drink this. It'll help," he said.

Gene went off to check up on the shop and Cyrus sank into the sofa behind the curtain, sipped at his tea. It made him feel better. As he finished the tea, he heard the shop door open and close. Muffled words drifted in from the shop floor, he couldn't make them out.

Gene popped his head through the curtain, his face flush with excitement. "Come through, Cyrus. I think they've found him."

The face disappeared again as Cyrus scrambled to get off the sofa.

He fought his way through the curtain to find Gene on one side of the counter and two people he vaguely recognised from last night on the other. One was a young man, roughly ages with Cyrus. Dark haired and brooding. 

The other was a woman, slightly older than the man, Cyrus guessed. Suddenly her face clicked into place in his memory, she was the lady who had said talking to animals was a high level gift.

She had long, wavy hair and a similar shaped face to the boy. Cyrus guessed they were related, if not actual siblings. 

"This is Amelia and Ethan," Gene said. "You guys know Cyrus, go ahead, tell him."

"We found them!" Amelia said quickly. "Birds, hundreds and hundreds of them, sitting around on buildings downtown."

A spark lit in Cyrus. Excitement and fear coursed through his veins. Finally, he could do something. "Where about? Did you see Thalia?"

"In the old business district," Ethan added. "We didn't see anyone, sorry. But the birds, you should see them. There's so many and all different kinds, just like Gene said."

"Okay, can you show me where?"

Gene put a hand on his shoulder. "Hold on. We don't know what you'd be walking into. We should call the others."

Cyrus shook his head, "There's no time to wait. I need to know if Thalia's there. Now."

Gene moved so he was standing between Cyrus and the part of the counter top that swung up. "Listen to me, if Mizer and Burns spotted you, you'd be dead. You'll need backup."

Cyrus had been thinking about this. He had been right to come seeking help, but he couldn't let these people, these strangers, risk their lives for him and Thalia. The next part he had to do alone.

He wasn't sure how to explain it to Gene though.