Chapter 136 — Hades' Decision
Morning came without anyone truly sleeping.
Brook had remained awake near Henry.
Not because Henry had asked him to.
Not because Brook believed he could stop the Ectoplasm if it took control again.
He simply didn't want Henry to wake up alone.
Outside, Remus was beginning another day.
The sounds of carts moved through the streets.
Merchants opened their stalls.
Guards changed positions along the walls.
From inside the guardhouse, it almost sounded peaceful.
Brook hated it.
Peaceful meant normal.
Nothing about what had happened was normal anymore.
Henry opened his eyes.
Brook looked at him.
Henry stared back.
"You're still there."
Brook frowned.
"Where else would I be?"
Henry sighed in relief.
"Good."
Brook's expression softened.
Then Henry added:
"Because if you disappeared while I was sleeping, that would have been very inconvenient."
Brook stared at him.
Henry smiled.
Brook shook his head.
"You're an idiot."
"Yeah."
Henry looked toward the ceiling.
"But I'm still an idiot."
For now.
Neither of them said the words.
They didn't need to.
Sera entered from the adjoining room.
She carried two cups.
Henry looked at them suspiciously.
"What's that?"
"Tea."
Henry sat up.
"From who?"
Sera frowned.
"Shoyo."
Henry looked horrified.
"Never mind."
Sera stared at him.
"It's just tea."
Henry pointed toward the cup.
"That's what they always say before something horrible happens."
Brook took one.
Henry watched him.
Brook drank.
Nothing happened.
Henry waited.
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
Henry slowly took the other cup.
"Fine."
He drank.
Immediately, his face twisted.
"Oh."
Sera smiled slightly.
"Good?"
Henry stared at her.
"This is terrible."
Brook almost laughed.
Almost.
Crowley returned shortly after.
He looked exhausted.
Brook noticed immediately.
"You didn't sleep."
Crowley looked at him.
"Neither did you."
Brook shrugged.
Crowley walked toward Henry.
Henry lifted his cup.
"Morning."
Crowley looked at him.
Henry smiled.
Crowley frowned.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Crowley said.
Henry looked down at himself.
"Still human."
Crowley remained silent.
Henry's smile faded.
"Mostly."
The door opened.
Everyone turned.
Hades entered.
Four guards followed him.
Brook immediately stood.
Rick moved away from the wall.
Sera placed her cup down.
Henry stayed seated.
Hades looked directly at him.
Henry raised a hand.
"Before you say anything, I didn't do anything this morning."
Hades didn't respond.
Henry slowly lowered his hand.
"That was a joke."
Hades looked around the room.
Then at Brook.
"We need to talk."
Brook folded his arms.
"Then talk."
Hades's eyes moved toward Henry.
"Privately."
Brook didn't move.
"No."
Hades stared at him.
Brook stared back.
Crowley sighed.
"Brook."
"No."
Brook continued watching Hades.
"If this is about Henry, he stays."
Henry looked at Brook.
Hades's expression hardened.
"This is my city."
"And he's my friend."
The guards shifted.
Rick stepped forward slightly.
Crowley noticed.
He moved between everyone before anything could happen.
"Let's try something different."
Nobody listened.
Crowley looked toward Hades.
"You have a problem."
Hades nodded.
Crowley looked toward Brook.
"You also have a problem."
Brook frowned.
Crowley continued.
"And remarkably, both problems are currently Henry."
Henry slowly raised his cup.
"Glad I could bring everyone together."
Nobody laughed.
Henry lowered it.
"Again. Tough crowd."
Hades walked toward the window.
He looked outside.
Brook waited.
Hades finally spoke.
"Three people died last night."
The room changed.
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
Hades turned.
"Near the lower streets."
Sera's face tightened.
"The creature?"
Hades nodded.
Crowley stepped forward.
"The Ectoplasm left Henry?"
"No."
Hades said.
Brook frowned.
"Then how?"
Hades looked at Henry.
"We don't know."
Henry stared.
Hades continued.
"But witnesses described something moving through the streets."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"A second one."
Crowley looked toward Henry.
"Or a fragment."
Shoyo entered from the other room.
She had clearly been listening.
Hades looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
Shoyo approached.
"If the Ectoplasm is what I believe it is, Henry may not be carrying an entire creature."
Henry's face tightened.
"What am I carrying then?"
Shoyo looked at him.
"A piece."
Silence.
Brook looked toward her.
"And the rest?"
Shoyo didn't answer.
Hades did.
"Somewhere in my city."
Brook immediately looked toward Henry.
Henry shook his head.
"I didn't—"
"I know."
Brook said.
Henry stopped.
Hades continued.
"The city cannot remain like this."
Brook looked back at him.
"What are you saying?"
Hades's expression didn't change.
"You leave."
Silence.
Henry stared at him.
Brook stepped forward.
"No."
Hades looked directly at him.
"Yes."
Brook shook his head.
"We're not leaving."
"This isn't a request."
Brook's voice hardened.
"And I'm not abandoning him."
Hades looked toward Henry.
"I did not ask you to."
Brook stopped.
Hades continued.
"Take him with you."
Henry looked away.
Brook stared at Hades.
"You want us out."
"I want my people safe."
Brook didn't respond.
Hades walked closer.
"If another fragment of that creature is inside Remus, every person here is in danger."
Sera stepped forward.
"How do you know it isn't here because of Elias?"
Hades looked at her.
"I don't."
"Then forcing us out—"
"Changes nothing."
Hades interrupted.
His eyes moved between them.
"But keeping you here gives whatever is coming another target inside my walls."
Brook's jaw tightened.
Hades wasn't entirely wrong.
Brook hated that.
Henry stood.
Everyone turned toward him.
He looked at Hades.
"He's right."
Brook immediately faced him.
"No."
Henry looked at him.
"Brook."
"No."
"Listen."
Brook shook his head.
"Don't."
Henry's expression hardened.
"You're not the only person who gets to decide things."
Brook became quiet.
Henry continued.
"He's protecting his people."
Brook stared at him.
"And I need you to protect mine."
Henry looked toward the floor.
Brook understood.
Henry was blaming himself.
He stepped closer.
"This isn't your fault."
Henry looked up.
"Isn't it?"
Brook didn't answer quickly enough.
Henry smiled bitterly.
"Exactly."
Crowley folded his arms.
"If we're leaving, where do we go?"
Hades looked toward Shoyo.
She knew.
Brook noticed.
Of course.
Shoyo stepped forward.
"There are places outside Remus."
Hades nodded.
"Old settlements."
Crowley frowned.
"People?"
"No."
Shoyo said.
"Not anymore."
Henry looked toward her.
"Comforting."
Brook turned.
"What happened to them?"
Shoyo's expression changed.
"I don't know."
Crowley watched her.
"You've been there."
It wasn't a question.
Shoyo looked at him.
"A long time ago."
Crowley waited.
Shoyo continued.
"Before Remus."
Brook frowned.
"You've never mentioned this."
"No."
Shoyo said.
"I haven't."
Brook almost laughed.
"Everyone is really committed to that."
Sera looked at him.
"Brook."
He sighed.
"Sorry."
He wasn't.
Hades spoke again.
"You have until nightfall."
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
"By then, you leave Remus."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"You're giving us orders now?"
Hades stepped closer.
His voice remained calm.
"Yes."
The guards behind him remained still.
Rick watched them.
Brook watched Hades.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Crowley stepped between them.
"Enough."
Brook looked at him.
Crowley didn't look back.
"We should leave."
Brook stared.
Crowley continued.
"Not because he's ordering us to."
Hades raised an eyebrow.
Crowley ignored him.
"But because he's right."
Brook's face hardened.
Crowley finally looked at him.
"Henry isn't safe here."
Henry looked down.
Crowley continued.
"And neither is anyone else."
Brook looked around the room.
Sera.
Shoyo.
Rick.
Henry.
Nobody argued.
That was the worst part.
The meeting ended.
Hades left with his guards.
Brook remained near the door.
He watched them disappear down the street.
Then turned back.
"We're not running."
Nobody responded.
Brook continued.
"We leave because we're choosing to."
Crowley nodded.
"Fine."
Henry raised his hand.
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
Henry smiled.
"Can we eat before we choose to leave?"
Brook stared.
Henry shrugged.
"What? Could be my last meal."
Sera's face immediately changed.
Henry noticed.
He stopped smiling.
"Sorry."
Sera looked away.
Brook walked toward him.
"Don't say that."
Henry looked up.
"Brook."
"Don't."
Henry nodded slowly.
"Okay."
The preparations began.
The group gathered supplies.
Rick inspected weapons.
Sera packed the books Shoyo had been studying.
Crowley spoke with Hades's people about the roads.
Brook remained with Henry.
That became the unspoken arrangement.
Henry wasn't allowed to wander.
He noticed.
Of course he did.
"You know you don't have to follow me into the bathroom."
Brook looked away.
"I wasn't."
Henry stared.
"You were outside the door."
Brook shrugged.
"Security."
Henry shook his head.
"You have problems."
Brook almost smiled.
"You're possessed by black goo."
Henry nodded.
"Fair."
By midday, Crowley returned.
He looked toward the group.
"The road outside the eastern gate is clear."
Rick frowned.
"Clear?"
Crowley looked at him.
"Nothing attacked the scouts."
"That's not what I asked."
Crowley smiled faintly.
Brook looked toward the window.
The eastern side of Remus stretched into open land.
He could see distant trees.
Beyond them—
nothing.
No walls.
No guards.
No certainty.
Sera approached.
"You think Elias knows?"
Brook didn't look at her.
"Probably."
"Then this could be exactly what he wants."
Brook nodded.
"Yeah."
Sera waited.
Brook finally looked at her.
"But staying could be what he wants too."
Sera sighed.
"You're not making me feel better."
"I wasn't trying to."
She smiled slightly.
"Obviously."
As the afternoon faded, Henry disappeared.
Brook noticed immediately.
One second, he had been sitting near the supply bags.
Then—
nothing.
Brook stood.
"Henry?"
No answer.
Crowley looked up.
"What?"
"Henry."
Everyone froze.
Brook walked toward the back room.
"Henry!"
Rick drew his weapon.
Sera moved toward Shoyo.
Brook opened the door.
Henry stood inside.
Facing the wall.
Brook stopped.
"Henry."
Henry didn't move.
Brook stepped closer.
"Henry."
Henry slowly turned.
His eyes were normal.
Brook exhaled.
"What are you doing?"
Henry looked confused.
"I was looking for something."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Henry opened his hand.
A small black piece rested in his palm.
Everyone became still.
Brook stared.
Henry looked down at it.
"I found it."
Shoyo stepped forward.
"Don't move."
Henry looked at her.
"I wasn't planning to."
The black substance moved.
Slowly.
Across his palm.
Henry's breathing changed.
Brook reached for his weapon.
The substance stopped.
Then it sank into Henry's skin.
Henry screamed.
Brook grabbed him.
Henry fought against him.
The blackness moved beneath his arm.
Crowley shouted something.
Sera ran forward.
Brook pushed Henry against the wall.
Henry screamed.
Then suddenly stopped.
Everything became quiet.
Brook held him.
"Henry?"
Henry slowly looked up.
His eyes were black.
Brook froze.
Henry smiled.
But the smile didn't belong to the Ectoplasm they had heard before.
The voice that came from him was different.
Younger.
Frightened.
"Please."
Henry began crying.
Brook stared.
The voice whispered:
"Don't leave me here."
The blackness disappeared.
Henry collapsed against Brook.
Brook caught him.
Henry opened his eyes.
Normal.
He looked at Brook.
"What happened?"
Brook didn't answer.
Henry looked at everyone.
Their expressions told him enough.
"Oh."
Brook helped him stand.
Henry looked toward the eastern gate.
Then back at them.
"We should leave."
Brook stared.
Henry swallowed.
"Before more of them find me."
Nobody spoke.
Brook finally nodded.
And for the first time—
he agreed with Hades.
That evening, Xcution stood at the eastern gate of Remus.
The gates were open.
Beyond them waited the empty world.
Hades stood above them.
Watching.
Brook looked back once.
Then forward.
Henry stood beside him.
Still human.
Still himself.
For now.
Brook tightened his grip on his weapon.
"Stay close."
Henry looked at him.
"I was planning to."
The group began walking.
Behind them—
the gates of Remus slowly closed.
And somewhere deep within the city, beneath the streets and stone—
something black moved through the darkness.
Following.
End of Chapter 136