Now, that was the asshole of all plot twists, because it only gave Duncan way more questions than the answers that he needed. Unfortunately, Yuri wasn’t inclined to elaborate further just yet, and Hilda was still too stunned by the revelation to properly react.
“Mother, what—” the girl began after a few more seconds of opening and closing her mouth like a gasping fish, but Yuri swiftly put a finger to her lips. Footsteps rattled the metal grille above them.
“Not now, sweetie.” The woman beckoned her daughter to follow her further into the basement. “This way. Everything will be explained.”
Duncan followed the two ladies silently, still wondering how on earth Yuri Kitagawa was still alive after all these years, especially when he saw her die with his own eyes. She didn’t take his elixir when he made it, so she couldn’t be an immortal like him.
Was she a ghost who possessed an innocent maiden’s body? It couldn’t be; Duncan could only sense one soul in this body.
Was Yuri some sort of changeling who could swap souls? That didn’t make sense, either. It had been five hundred years, but Duncan clearly remembered that she was a proper human back then.
What the hell was going on?
Yuri led them into a room that resembled a locked vault, which slid open after a small spark left her fingers. Duncan hid his surprise.
So Yuri was magic as well. Interesting.
“We’ll be safe in here,” the woman muttered as the circular iron door rolled shut behind her. “Only those with magic can access this room, which is why Miguel uses it as his command room. He believes himself the only one in the cult who can wield magic, after all.”
Duncan surveyed his surroundings. Not like there was much to survey, anyway. Other than a few filing cabinets around, nothing else was interesting. In fact, the room looked more like some kind of vault.
Cold bricks lined the walls and the floor, all of them uniformly made to perfection. And although they were dull-looking, they were relatively well-maintained. It was clear that this room was used often. Duncan could only hope that Miguel was still too busy up there to come in here.
“Alright, Yuri.” He folded his arms. “What’s with this cult of yours? Why did you kidnap us here if you’re going to save us anyway? Where have you been all these centuries? Explanation. Right now.”
“What is going on, Mother?” Hilda chimed in as well.
Yuri leaned back against a wall, a slightly guilty look crossing her face as she shifted her gaze to Hilda.
“Alright, alright. I’ll start from the beginning,” she said. “The Marked Emissaries is a paranormal cult founded by Miguel Chukyunwelu twenty years ago. They believe that the only way to be spared the horrors of war forever is to strive to be like God’s supernatural creations. Vampires, werewolves, mermaids, Kitsune… You name it. That ritual earlier syphons the magic of supernatural creatures. After which, it will release that magic into the human body to ‘perfect our flawed bodies’. Or at least, that is how it's supposed to work.”
“That makes no sense at all.” Duncan frowned. “Where on Earth did he come up with that idea?”
“Nobody knows, although there were rumours that Miguel was saved by some supernatural entity during the First Great War. Some say that’s why he views supernatural beings as the antithesis of violence, which is why he always tells us that they are divine wonders sent by God to save us from the horrors of war.”
The witch doctor rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the concept. As always, humans reacted badly to anything they couldn’t understand. Either they try to get rid of it— the Salem Witch Trials were still the most pointless, counter-productive things Duncan had ever seen— Or they try to take it for themselves like the Marked Emissaries were doing right now.
“Hang on, how do you know so much? Are you a part of this cult as well?” Hilda asked, her eyes going wide with revelation. “Those insects… I saw one of them in Father’s body. That sick ritual earlier. Did that happen to Father, too? Mother, did you know about this?!”
Yuri took a step back, flitting her eyes away from her daughter’s piercing glare. Duncan creased his eyebrows as realisation dawned on him as well.
“Mother!” Hilda stepped forward and grabbed her mother’s arm. “Please, I need to know…”
“I’m sorry.” The woman closed her eyes painfully. “I tried to save your father; I really did. But I was too late.”
“No…” Hilda shook with emotion. “Mother, why?”
“Your father joined the Marked Emissaries a few years after World War One. Like many others, he mistakenly thought this to be a therapy group for veteran soldiers. That’s where I met him. He was kind, patient, and so understanding. But this cult is a trap, and your father didn’t deserve to stay in it. So I told him the truth, fully expecting him to shun me for keeping secrets. But he never did. It didn’t take long before we fell in love and started going out. After getting married and having you, we chose to settle down with our new life and only went back to the cult recreationally.”
“So that’s what that was all about…” Hilda breathed. “All those times you said you had an appointment with Father out of town, even late into the night… You were actually going to a cult gathering?”
“They weren’t this extreme back then, so we thought it was alright,” Yuri replied, her voice soaked with guilt. “It wasn’t until four years ago that our leader started getting obsessed with these parasites and started kidnapping mystical creatures.”
“So both of you tried to leave after that?” Hilda asked.
“We decided that it was high time we should leave for good, so we tried.” Yuri nodded. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy to leave. They tried to stop us, and they even injected your father with something. I didn’t think much of it back then; I only thought he got lost on the way out. But when his symptoms finally showed, I realised I was too late.”
Duncan narrowed his eyes. “So they injected him with the parasite? Why didn’t he die immediately like that mermaid?”
A strange look flashed across Yuri’s eyes, although Duncan couldn’t quite figure out what it was. She was always good at hiding her emotions, even back when he first met her in Japan.
“I… I don’t know,” the woman muttered, before changing the subject abruptly. “Anyway, Miguel has twelve such sites all around the world, ten of which have already completed the ritual by now. All of his victims died instantly. Perhaps the parasite just reacts differently to the human body. But this is madness, and I must find a way to thwart his crazed schemes.”
“Hold on. Something doesn’t add up,” Duncan said. “If the two of you got away from the cult, why are you still with them now? And why are you working for them to kidnap Hilda and me?”
“I can’t leave,” Yuri mumbled.
“Why not?” Hilda asked. “Come home with me, Mother!”
“I…”
“You’re not human, are you?” Duncan asked sharply.
Yuri gasped in shock, although it only made him even more confused. It was a completely wild guess, really. In fact, he was actually expecting her to say no, maybe snap at him for even suggesting something like that.
Instead, she turned to her daughter and held her wrists gently. “Hilda, I need you to stay calm, alright?”
Hilda didn’t answer, only blinked in confusion. Yuri let go nonetheless, seemingly satisfied with her response.
“You’re right, Doctor. I’m not exactly human.” The woman nodded. “To be precise, I’m not even properly alive. My consciousness is a mere figment of the past, embedded in a resurrected soul, and housed in the body of a deceased woman.”
“What?” Hilda blurted out, but Duncan nodded slowly.
The concept wasn’t foreign to him. Hell, it wasn’t even foreign to the mortal world. The Haitians had a term for it relating to ‘god’ and ‘fetish’, but there was a more commonly known word for something like that.
Zombie.
“Who did this to you?” Duncan clenched his fists. “Was it Miguel Chukyunwelu? Did he use black magic to resurrect you?”
As far as he knew, being reanimated into a corpse was a religious punishment for committing unspeakable crimes. Since the victim’s soul had been brought into the living world, it would no longer have an afterlife to return to. Only oblivion awaited them if their physical body expired.
In other words, becoming a zombie was a fate reserved only for the true scums of the Earth. Yuri Kitagawa was merely an innocent girl who died on her own blade. As far as he knew, she did nothing to deserve this.
“Yes.” Yuri looked away after a pause. “Our cult symbol is a powerful rune that can soak up magic and control arcane entities. He resurrected me for a purpose. I cannot leave the cult, lest he severs my connection to the living world and cast me into oblivion. But do not mistake me for someone who fears death. I have been brought back for a reason, and I must complete my mission.”
Duncan blinked. He had never heard of runes that could control entities, much less one that came from black magic. Then again, it did give him one hell of a dizzy spell earlier. Perhaps he still had much to learn about the supernatural world, even after centuries of experience.
“What mission? Mother, why didn’t you tell me anything about this?” Hilda exclaimed. “I’m your daughter! Shouldn’t I deserve to know? So… So what am I? Am I human? Am I half… ghost or something?”
“The body in which my soul resides is completely human, and so are you,” Yuri reassured her, although it didn’t seem too effective. “But what’s more important is your safety.”
She turned to Duncan.
“You’re a smart man, so I’m sure you must have figured it out by now,” Yuri said. “Miguel was the one who sent you the invitation to my husband’s funeral in an attempt to embroil both Hilda and you in all this. He believes that you’re some sort of Living Angel, so he needs you for his final ritual.”
Duncan’s eyes unfocused themselves as he recalled the bellboy’s slurred Cuban accent when passing the letter to him. Now that he thought about it, he should’ve found it suspicious back then that someone even knew he was residing in that hotel. That sick cult leader must’ve been keeping tabs on him all this time.
“And obviously, he intends to use Hilda as leverage to keep me in line in case I even think of going against him. I can’t let them happen. Not my daughter. Not my family. Not again.”
The woman shook her head tearfully.
“Please, doctor. I know you already saved me from eternal suffering when I was alive.” She fell to her knees. “But I implore you, keep my daughter safe. I assure you, you will have my eternal gratitude.”
Duncan shook his head as well, his jaw clenched. “No. No, you can do that yourself, Yuri. Hilda is right; go home with her. You were given a second chance in life. Treasure it with your kin—”
“Dammit, Mister Ward! Didn’t you listen to a thing I just said?” Yuri exclaimed desperately, standing to her feet. “I can’t leave now! My life is an illusion, but my daughter is very much alive! Miguel is already at the last stages of his plan, and I need to stop him somehow. He’ll be on his way to his next site at the English Channel tonight. If he succeeds, the whole world will be in danger, including Hilda! Please… Please just promise me you’ll protect her as you protected me. Hilda’s the only one I have left…”
“I… I promise.” Duncan pursed his lips. “But look, Yuri. You have to let me know—”
Hilda stepped forward. “Mother—”
Yuri cut her off with a tight hug. “Whatever becomes of me, know that I always love you. I’m sorry for not being a better mother to you, my sweet child. Now go home, Hilda. Go back to your life and forget about all this.”
“Yuri, wait!” Duncan yelled to the woman, but she was already in the midst of casting her spell.
With sparks dancing around her fingertips and purple light shrouding her irises, Yuri tossed a blob of magic behind Duncan, which quickly expanded into a purple gateway. A gust of wind slammed into Duncan before he could protest as Hilda’s yelp swept over his head.
And both of them hit the concrete ground a second later.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6iKofiXf6
and then Add to home screen.