Chapter 197 – Underground

[What’s next on the investigation block?] (Syrus)

[There are certainly suspicious points around everything.] (Luna)

[Not even counting the assassination attempt.] (Syrus)

[Those certainly are a point of worry...] (Luna)

[They could still be separate, so let’s not forcibly link them if not required.] (Eva) 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

[I know. It’s just not a pleasant experience.] (Luna)

With the talks with Havier, the trio’s investigation, and the clear assassination attempt. Recent events had certainly been interesting for Anlesa.

Looking into the events of the past, like before their meeting with Havier, was nearly impossible. If the city full of people couldn't tell the truth of the events of all those years ago, how was Anlesa supposed to?

[I think it is time to go grave robbing.] (Syrus)

[There is certainly a more eloquent way to describe that.] (Luna)

[We aren’t exactly robbing?] Eva also felt the term was a little harsh.

[Come on, it’s not every day one gets to rob a catacomb.] (Syrus)

The reason for their grave-robbing desire was due to a certain decision thirty years ago. Burn all infected bodies.

Havier called the plague a curse, and in a lot of ways, the way it acted from an outside perspective appeared that way. The curse that targeted only people who possessed Exotic attributes. However, that ignores one crucial detail. Curses were an extremely rare form of magic, and not a single instance of their effects had ever been something this widespread.

Denying the possibility of a curse would be a little hypocritical. Recently, they had seen magic that shouldn’t exist and even used a form of forbidden magic as well. However, even with their experience, Eva, who hadn’t ruled the possibility out, believed the answer lay elsewhere.

They weren’t ignoring the assassination attempt. Syrus had informed everyone she had been attacked, and additional security was provided to Mary and Max. However, there was a lot of information, and Eva was still processing all of it, but this last attack had pushed her concerns to the edge.

She was waiting for a little more information and completing their current task before addressing all these issues.

The only positives she found were that no one else had been attacked, but Syrus’s attempt to acquire information had fallen short each time. Thugs had nothing useful, and she missed the opportunity with the last assassin group.

They didn’t stand around for long, and they found an entrance to the catacombs they had planned to use. This wasn’t a spontaneous decision. Plenty of time was spent researching all the possible entrances and exits into the catacombs. The reason for exploring this place was simple: they wanted to find the corpse of someone who had died from the plague. Was finding a corpse like that even possible? A very good question indeed, and something the trio had been arguing about for a while.

In the end, there were two scenarios where the corpse of someone who should've been burned managed to be buried instead. They died early on before the plague was recognised, or they were buried thanks to the help of someone working in the catacombs. The former felt more possible, but the latter was still feasible.

What were they looking for exactly? Syrus and Luna had no idea, and Eva’s explanation was rudimentary at best. She wanted to see what the state of the corpses was. The others understood that, but thirty years later was such a long time; would there be anything that could be gleaned from looking at corpses that old? They were supportive but not that hopeful of this mission.

[Not a very welcoming place.] (Syrus)

[At least it is a place to respect the dead.] (Luna)

[Though I doubt anyone besides the keepers will come down here. The approval process you two looked into is tedious at best.] (Syrus)

Syrus quietly went around the corner as one of the catacomb keepers went walking by. There wasn’t a source of light anywhere besides the keeper’s torch. Anlesa was doing their best looking through the pitch black. Syrus could control a fire, but they would also completely give away their position to anyone else moving through here.

Eva used the information about how bodies were stored and began to trace when corpses from thirty years ago were added. There wasn’t much of an individual corpse; only the skull and a few bones survived the burial rituals that took place before being placed in the catacombs.

In a back-and-forth chat between Eva and Syrus, they slowly made their way to where Eva believed they could find some answers. Reaching the area, Eva began examining the skulls to see if she could find any signs of oddities. Luna was deeply questioning the morals of the situation.

Finding nothing in the current, Eva directed Syrus to move to the next. As they were moving, Syrus sensed something within the darkness.

A fire erupted within Syrus’s hand, revealing a hooded figure as Syrus went to grab the target, knocking the weapon out of the target’s hand in the process. Despite the shock of being revealed, the hooded figure tried to stab Syrus with the weapon in their other hand.

Syrus kicked the target in the chest, and Eva wrapped a wire around their arm with the weapon and pulled it to the ground.

[How did they know we were going to the catacombs…] (Luna)

[There isn’t no evidence. We did look into the structure of the catacombs…] (Eva)

[They could also be spying on us and just followed us in or, well, used a different entrance when they saw us come in.] (Syrus)

“Now—” Syrus was about to start a nice chat with the person they were currently pushing against the ground. “Fuck.”

She felt the resistance of the body fade as the target killed themselves.

[That fast…] (Luna)

[Why…] Eva was shocked that someone could do that without any warning.

Anlesa noticed many more footsteps; they were quiet, from people who didn’t want to be noticed, but they couldn't escape Syrus’s senses.

[I will hunt one of these batards down for answers. Eva, Luna, stay alert, we are going to need to work together so they don’t try to repeat.] (Syrus)

[Understood.] (Luna)

Immediately, they chased after the footsteps. Some people were moving towards her in the first place, which greatly satisfied Syrus's desire to beat the ever-living shit out of them.

Entering combat with two more who tried to jump her first. Eva’s wires, hidden within the darkness, made a deadly weapon as they tore past enemy defences unnoticed to strike. Syrus countered their strikes, and her fist left heavy blows on their bodies.

One of the two jumped back to retreat, and the remaining leapt forward with ice forming around them as they risked their life to end Syrus. In a quick motion, Anlesa pinned him to the ground, knocked his head, wires holding his body down, Luna healing actively, and Syrus watched for any motion.

“Now—” Syrus paused again.

[How is he still dead?] Syrus demanded. She felt his breathing suddenly stop. They had done everything right, Luna was healing him, but he had still died in moments.

[I… don’t know…] (Luna)

Eva and Syrus wanted to immediately investigate the body to find the reason, but they began to hear another set of footsteps. These ones weren’t quiet. Based on the sound of keys and boots, they were keepers of the catacombs who were moving towards the disturbance.

[So that is their operation?] Syrus noted that for a second time, the public security had been alerted to the trouble. She admitted she was quite loud in both incidents, but the response was equally quick. [We need to move.]

It didn’t matter if they were the ones attacked. Being caught down here with a dead body would result in deep trouble, and it appeared to be the strategy in place if the attack failed.

Accepting being the loser of this outcome, Syrus immediately headed towards the exit; they couldn’t stay here any longer.