The Loser | by Isaac7525

Seeing this, Shinso didn't waste any time surveying the scene, along with the captain's spiritual aura. When he gazed downwards into the streets, the captain's aura had turned an illusory, transparent white hue. Whilst not knowing much regarding spirituality, Shinso deduced this was a sign of death. 

His body was slack, the snow slowly covering his form. The insect-like wings on his back twitched weakly in protest of his own demise. In the distance, Shinso heard the sound of a dog barking, either at the unfamiliar figure, or something he couldn't exactly know about.

He then turned in my direction, seeing that my form had stopped twitching on the bed. My expression was soft and placid, my lips parted slightly. In the crimson moonlight protruding from in between the clouds, Shinso took notice of my skin. It was still a dark shade of gray, and a few of the pores that had previously formed were still latched to my skin. 

The pores twitched and throbbed with what seemed like a mind of their own. Seeing this, Shinso's eyes widened.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath.

He removed the blanket from my body and tossed it aside. When he pressed his hand to my forehead, he let out a low grunt when the palm of his hand was greeted by scalding hot temperatures. My fingers twitched and moved involuntarily, as if I too sensed these changes in my body. 

The entire time his spiritual ability was activated, which allowed him a valuable insight into my condition. The illusory colors around my body had turned black and green, though the shade of green wasn't like the captain's; it was lighter. The boy either took this as a good or a bad sign. 

After falling silent for a few seconds, he looked towards the door, which had been closed. Did anyone hear what happened? They would have heard the shrieks and immediately entered this room to investigate. Feeling a surge of peculiarity, Shinso stood up from the bed and approached the door before opening it and stepping into the dark hallway. 

Either side of the hallway had been darkened, only the red light from the moon filtered in through the linen curtains. He stepped forward, feeling the soft carpet against his bare feet. His next course of action was simple enough—he had to get the others and have them watch over me whilst he handled matters regarding the captain's mutation. 

Rap rap rap. 

Shinso knocked on Aizawa's door with an uncharacteristic sense of urgency. A few moments later, the door opened. Aizawa, who was clad in nothing but a pair of pants, rubbed his eyes groggily as he gazed at Shinso. 

"Did any of you hear that?" Shinso asked. 

The black-haired man's eyebrows twitched. "No."

Hearing this, the boy quickly dropped the subject. "Isaac isn't doing too well, mind watching over him whilst I handle something?"

"What's wrong with him?" Aizawa's voice lowered.

"I don't know exactly, just do as I say," Shinso was reluctant to address Aizawa in such a way, but due to the peculiarity and urgency of the situation, he didn't refrain from ordering him to do something. 

The boy headed downstairs into the lobby. For the most part, the entire space was silent, aside from the distant hum of the generator beneath the floorboards in the basement. The water pipes grumbled in the ceiling, circulating water throughout the space. 

Shinso mustered the strength to step through the front door of the apartment complex, trodding into the snow. Either side of the road, which was now illuminated by the kerosene-powered street lamps, was dead silent. On the far side of the road, Shinso caught sight of the corpse of the captain, which was now leaking a brownish liquid and emitting a faint smell of rotting. 

His bug-like mouth was wide open in a silent scream. The metal fence post stuck through his forehead, the tip covered in the brownish liquid. On the tip of the fencepost, Shiso also spotted what seemed to be brain material and bodily tissue. His limbs still twitched slightly on his still body; the remaining arms on his side were slack, the fingers already submerged in the snow. 

The boy looked both ways down the road, silently scanning for an oncoming carriage or horse. On both sides of the road, there was nothing but the empty road and the street lamps dimly lighting the road ahead. The road stretched into the darkness, gradually shrinking back into the snowfall. 

Shinso's boots crunched against the snow as he crossed the cobblestone road, approaching the corpse of the captain. His blonde hair had been entirely torn off, the surface of his shiny head entirely surfaced over with the glossy sheen of bug scales. Letting out a low sigh, Shinso looked to his right, scanning the rooftops of the city in hopes of catching sight of the cathedral.

After a few seconds, Shinso spotted the building described as being the tallest in the kingdom. It stuck out among the other rooftops, the pointed top erecting past the others, extruding at a height that might have touched the clouds above his head. Upon knowing his destination, Shinso rolled up his sleeves and took hold of the man's head, slowly raising it upwards out of the fencepost. 

The sickening sound of flesh tearing echoed throughout the street as the head found respite. With a pop, Shinso removed the head and allowed it to fall slack like the rest of its body. He then took hold of one of the captain's many arms with both of his arms, ensuring he was careful not to damage his current form. 

The texture of the arm was akin to touching the arm of someone who hadn't shaved at all, except the hair was covered in tiny spikes that felt like barbed wire. The skin underneath them was cold and clammy, almost like solidified gelatin. 

The boy began to walk forward, hauling the corpse of the man behind him. The cold body continued to leak a brownish liquid behind him as it was moved, leaving a trail like a telltale sign of relocation. The snow continued to pummel down gently as he dragged the body down the street. 

The entire time, Shinso's teeth were gritted, his whole being engaged in a herculean conflict to not discard the body and go back to bed. But at this moment, he had to let the Pollinators know of this situation, that their captain had fallen to this infection. If I had succumbed to the same situation, he had to find a way to alleviate it. 

When he approached the cathedral, the building seemed to stretch upwards for an eternity. Its pointed roof looked like it could scrape the sky. Shinso hauled the corpse onto his shoulders as he opened the front doors of the cathedral. The stone doors were immensely heavy, letting out a deafening creak as the interior of the cathedral came into view. 

Among the countless rows of pews, an uncountable amount of candles were lit, glowing with a gentle yellow hue. Within the pews, vines adorned with flowers gently slithered out and into the alleyway as if they possessed a consciousness. At that moment, a hidden compartment behind the altar opened, causing the wooden floor to split open like a cavern, revealing a staircase. 

The staircase descended into darkness. Unlike the manor, more candles on either side of the chamber lit up, allowing him ample enough light to descend without much problem. Shinso's breath hitched as he began to walk downwards, the wooden stairs creaking as his boots pressed against them. 

When the boy arrived at the bottom, he was instantly greeted with the sight of what looked like a hidden lab similar to Aaron's. Lining the dark chamber were numerous pots of flowers. One of the flowers was sealed under a glass case, its petals an ashen gray color. The head of the flower spread open to reveal numerous rows of razor sharp teeth. 

Suddenly, the flowers forked tongue shot out, snapping against the protective glass case. The moment the two forces collided, the flower seemed to let out a noise of disappointment upon realizing it couldn't break free. 

"One of our marvels," a female voice sounded from the darkness. At that moment, a figure walked out. She had long brown hair tied into a bun above her head. Her eyes were a deep brown color, and she was clad in a white and green robe similar to the ones the other Pollinators were wearing back at the manor. 

"Who may you be?" she asked, leaning her head to the side.

Shinso didn't respond. Instead he dropped the corpse on his back onto the floor. The entire cathedral seemed to fall silent as the woman's eyes widened. 

"Oh my god," She whispered, her voice laced with fear. 

"That's Captain Moffin," Shinso said, pointing down at the corpse. 

"Why…what?" She seemed too stunned to speak. The woman strode over to the corpse, picking it up with gloved hands. Shortly after, she turned back to the darkness. Within the darkness, a light suddenly flashed on. The space which was darkened was now lit up, revealing a myriad of operational equipment accompanied by an operational table. 

 "James!" She yelled. 

A door in the chamber opened, and a boy with neatly combed hair, wearing a gentlemanly suit, walked out. He looked a little older than Shinso. His dark eyes locked onto the figure, and his solemn expression gradually diffused. 

"We're already dissecting the Tremebrus, now this abomination?" He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. 

At that moment, the woman turned back to Shinso. "We'll attend to him shortly."

Shinso remained silent, his face paling slightly. "You have the Tremebrus here?"

She turned around, completely facing Shinso. "This is the first sighting of a Tremebrus in almost five years. We'll need to dissect it to study its anatomy for research purposes."

The boy wasn't ready for a lesson. He took an authorized step forward whilst looking at the captain. "I heard something about Demon Maggot disease from him."

She nodded. "Demon Maggot disease. It's something we know frighteningly little about."

"So…you don't have a cure?" At that moment, Shinso felt his face pale, and a cold sweat overcame him. 

She shook her head. "No, we don't. Though, we're currently developing them using the Tremebrus DNA."

The woman pointed to the side, where Shinso saw numerous test tubes bubbling with a black, viscous liquid. 

"We believe due to the devilish nature of both organisms, we can intergenetically connect the cells of them both and protrude an antibiotic shortly after."

"Well…what if I told you I think one of my friends might be in the early stages of it?"

Hearing this, her lips parted slightly as she hauled the captain onto the operating table. "Parden?"

Shinso nodded his head. "Before he lost control, the captain put some of the strange Demon Maggots onto his tongue. Before he transformed, they left his mouth and reunited with his body."

Shinso's explanation seemed to send chills through her body. "Earlier tonight, he and a division were sent to investigate a strange case regarding patients in the middle of the road."

She reached into a drawer and extracted a few pieces of medical equipment. "Shortly after, they gravitated to Madame Fitzgerald's house after sensing a negative spiritual presence."

"Me and him collected samples of the Demon Maggots in the basement of the house. In the basement, we also found strange cocoons—a few of them contained my friends."

"Well…" She turned back to him.

"Where are your friends at the moment?" 

"I believe Oboro's back at his apartment, while my friend is inside a room at the flower apartment about a block from here."

"The Parterre de Fleurs?"

Shinso nodded. "I recommend you hurry."

The boy then turned around and headed up the stairs, the crimson moonlight filtering through the multi-colored stained glass windows of the cathedral, casting the interior in a variety of hues.

Shinso looked up at the elegant figure inscribed in the stained glass. She was a plump woman made of stone, with vines and foliage crawling up her body. Vines stretched downwards to form her hair, and her two eyes were made of gemstones.