Chapter Text
I am not a medical professional and I’m pretty sure some of the medical staff in this hospital aren't either. Some yokai were floating and some were crawling throughout the halls of the place. The ceilings arched high, reminding me of some medieval Asian architecture. Vines of plants grew on the walls giving off strong herb smells. I watched as a feline looking nurse rushed out of Big Mama’s room and grabbed a yellow flower off a wall before rushing back in. Oh clever! I looked at a pink flower on my right side, my finger grazing its soft petals. I wonder what this bud did. Make burns go away? Maybe it puts someone to sleep. I could definitely go for some sleep.
Big Mama has been swarmed by healers (what Hitoya called them) for two hours now. I could hear chants hum in the room as I leaned against the wall. It was getting crowded in there and I couldn’t stand the energy any longer. I was still confused by my feelings earlier. The way I panicked when I saw Big Mama crumpled on the ground. Like I actually cared about her to that extent. Maybe that's how she had so many loyal followers, she poisoned them to admiration.
I looked to the door, hearing the shuffling of tired feet. Out came exhausted Yokai, one by one. They didn’t acknowledge me nor did they look pleased. Hityoa followed them, stopping at the doorway. She also looked exhausted. Shoulders slumped and dried dark purple blood smudged on her shell. I was too tired to jab, waiting to either hear good or bad news. I knew she was still alive, my bonds were still etched into my wrist.
“Mona darling.” It was barely audible, but unmistakingly her voice. So she was awake. I looked at Hitoya, almost like I was checking on her well being. She was calling for me, not the one that's been with her since an infant. She squared her shoulders tightly, staring ahead. Definitely bothered. Pushing myself on the wall, I slipped behind her.
The room was huge, seemingly endless. I learned to stop relying on physics down here. Everything that is impossible in the human world was possible down here. Just like yards and yards of spider webs hanging down from the non-existing walls. She laid in a bed in the center of the room, casting covering the majority of her body. It's a miracle she lived through that. I stopped at the side on her bed looking down at her eyes closed shut in agony.
She opened her red eyes to look at me, tears welling up. “I lost him.” She croaked, a shaky clawed hand to grasp my forearm.
“What.” clearly dumbfounded.
“Shadow Fiend." She whined like a child. “Gone!”
Yup, still the same Big Mama. “He was unstable.” My voice was emotionless, “ Even with the-”
“No Mona Darling, you don’t understand. I had control of him until diggy darn Foot girl stole the mystic ring.” she cried.
For a split second I tried to think of a foot yokai…werid. So that's how it happened. She was still in control, he didn’t break free. Somehow that made this whole thing worse. Thank God he wasn’t actually in control of his own body yet. That would be a whole disaster for the city. All that aside, I knew this wasn’t the reason why she called me in here. She wanted more than to share her woes. I narrowed my eyes, waiting for what I knew was about to happen.
“It would all be a shame if you haven’t got all those samples.” She tightened her grip on my arm.
“Well, I did.” My voice dripped with sarcasm.”Just let me move the mountain rubble on top of it all.” She didn’t like that answer at all. I hadn’t thought about any of those samples or even the destroyed lab. I wasn’t sad about it, I was relieved. Like when a teacher promised a pop quiz but couldn’t find the test sheets. I was not a bio chemist or anything like that. I was going to school to be a chemist engineer. When I told her this when she first came to me with this job she told me ‘Tomato tomato’.
“What a shame.” she mumbled before letting go of my arm to lay her head back on her pillow. Defeat was written all over her face. I would be too if I was on the very top of the food chain one moment and on the bottom the next. Deserves her right. Bitchhhhhh. I didn’t say that part out loud.
“We’ll go gather them.” Hitoya’s voice came from the doorway. Of course she did. I turned my head to glare at her. She still stood back to us, guarding the door.
“My loyal girls..” Big Mama said softly. A sharp pang in my chest followed her words. How easy it would be to give in to the temptation of belonging somewhere. It would be so easy. To drop all my walls and do anything to make her happy. What did it matter anyways? I would never have anyone else right?
I rubbed my face roughly. The thick haze left my body quickly. Even being on the brink of death did change her ways. Right when I met her, I knew she was powerful just by the way she talked. All her ‘employees’ hung to words, following her commands the moment they left her lips. I even fell victim to it. It felt so good to listen to what she said. It was like being in love under a warm summer sky or being lapped by the ocean waves. By the third time I figured she had some kind of hypnotic charm power. She was amused the first time I defied her command. It was like a game to her, to see if she could catch me with my guard down.
“Hurry,” she mumbled. “I can’t let him slip away again.” She spoke as if she didn’t just try to hypnotize me yet again.
“Did you guys just ignore the fact that the samples are under the rubble of the entire hotel? We would have better luck bringing him in himself.” I stepped back, shaking my arm from her grip. “Don’t you have bigger fish to fry? You almost died.”
Big Mama just shook her head, “I can’t lose him again.”
“ You heard her.” Hitoya said behind me. “Gus will stay behind to guard her.” The hound moved to find a more comfortable stop on the ground at the food of the hospital bed as she spoke. I have a disgusted look at Big Mama’s direction before turning to walk out the door. I wasn’t going to stay here with her and I couldn’t walk away. My bond wouldn’t allow it. It was like a mystical shock collar. If I wander too far from Big Mama or Hitoya I get a nice little electrocution to the brain.
“We’ll be back, my lady.” Kiss ass said before she followed me down the hall of the hospital wing. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to find the samples for Shadow Fiend. It’s a low chance. Maybe though, I can find the key to my freedom. The prison bars were destroyed now.