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Illuminating the Darkness, parts 14 & 15
Without further ado, as there's been far too much ado already...


Tsuzuki and Hisoka reached the lobby, where the others sat waiting for them on a row of seats near the check-in desk. Alain was not with them. Finch studied a long sheet of well creased paper, his lips bloodless as he bit them in an expression of deep concentration. His hazel eyes rolled up slowly at their approach.

“Are you well enough to continue?” Finch asked, looking so exhausted that he seemed scarcely able to answer in the affirmative to his own inquiry. Tsuzuki nodded.

“Good,” Finch said, folding the paper back deftly and standing. “I have acquired evidence at last of something I have suspected for years. We have no time to waste.” He strode out to the street briskly, leaving the others exchanging looks of confusion before following.

The sidewalk traffic was heavy, and the men struggled to keep Finch within their sight as he effortlessly wove around the throng of early commuters on streets he knew instinctively. Hisoka shivered, feeling something distinctly odd, though he could not quite place it. It seemed that there was an urgency to the rate at which they traveled, and it unnerved him.

“I saw Finch and Alain leave the hotel last night when I was out for a smoke,” Hy called from behind Tsuzuki and Hisoka, lagging slightly behind. “I asked where they were going, but he was just a smartass to me as usual. He came back alone this morning.”

The almost comically single file of shinigami, nearly breathless from pursuit, nearly marched into one another as the one that led them came to an abrupt halt before an alleyway. Finch glanced back to where Hy was stumbling to meet them, his expression unreadable, and slowed his pace before stepping into the shadows ahead.

“I visited the office of Dr. Henri Romaine, a known associate of the Vemulakonda family last night. He had been murdered,” Finch said quietly, leading them through an odd labyrinth of alleys and less occupied back streets. “I found this map hidden in the bottom of a locked drawer in his office, and an appointment book with a vague reference that seemed to be about a delivery. Alain found -- there was also, this.” Finch stopped, reaching into his jacket and pulled out a torn, muddy scrap of paper in a plastic bag.

“Why didn’t you just tell us this back at the hotel?” Watari asked, taking the bag from him with interest and holding it up to the ray of sunlight that filtered weakly between the buildings they stood between.

Finch opened his mouth to speak, when his cell phone rang. He hastily answered, turning his back to them.

“Did you lose them?” Finch asked in English, before conversing in French.

“Because we were being followed,” Hisoka said. They watched in tense silence as Finch’s voice rose argumentatively, and he at last hung up the phone, shoving it into his pocket with an exasperated look that broke his usual composure momentarily.

“Where is Alain?” Tsuzuki asked.

“I sent him back to the office. His business is no longer in the field,” Finch said.

“Who did he lead away from us?” Hisoka asked firmly. Finch looked at him irritably, and sighed.

“I do not know. He sensed we were being followed last night, though I never saw anything. He has always been very sensitive to spiritual forces, and I do not believe our pursuers were human,” Finch said. “He says he no longer felt any presence when he reached the Ministry.”

“You were worried about him, weren’t you?” Watari asked. Finch gave him a withering look before glancing down at the bag the scientist held.

“What do you make of that?” Finch asked. Watari shook his head.

“I speak Romanian, but I’m afraid when it comes to reading it --” Watari stopped in surprise, as Michael snaked a pale arm around him and snatched the bag, giving him a sheepish half-smile.

“So, does that mean Alain is an empath, like Hisoka?” Hy asked, while Michael studied the ruined parchment.

“Empaths are attuned to the emotions and thought patterns of humans,” Finch explained. “Alain’s gift is different.”

Hisoka’s eyes sought Tsuzuki’s, who looked at him quizzically.

“No,” they heard Michael gasp softly, distracting them. The boy’s shaggy dark hair shadowed pale blue eyes that were tearful, as his knees seemed to weaken. He fell back against the wall, shaking his head.

“What is it Michael? What’s wrong?” Watari asked gently, steadying the boy with a hand on his shoulder. Hy looked on, biting his lip, and looking torn.

“This is a document from the Romanian sector of the Ministry,” Michael said, placing a finger to the bottom of the page. “I can make out my mother’s own seal, just there.”

“How would a mortal doctor have gotten such a thing?” Watari asked in wonder.

“What kind of document is it?” Hisoka asked. Michael frowned deeply, letting the parchment slip from his shaking fingers.

“From what I can make out, it looks like it concerns the death of a shinigami by the name of Viorel Lior. I knew him,” Michael said, gazing at where the page had fallen to the ground.

“That name sounds familiar, somehow,” Tsuzuki said, his brow furrowing. Michael looked up at him with confusion, his eyes shining.

“It shouldn’t. He died over forty years ago,” Michael whispered.

“Perhaps I’m mistaken,” Tsuzuki said, looking at him sympathetically. “Was he a friend of yours?”

Michael shook his head, avoiding Tsuzuki’s eyes by gathering the sheet and handing it to Watari. Hisoka glanced at Hy, a succession of conflicted emotions playing across the young man’s face.

“We will not find any answers here. Come,” Finch said impatiently, and led them from the alley.

XXXX


“What is this map of?” Tsuzuki asked, as they followed Finch onto a deserted street, in a neighborhood that looked all but abandoned, the buildings in ill repair, and many of the windows broken or boarded up.

“The catacombs,” Finch answered, heading into an overgrown path beside an empty building. He glanced back with a frown. “Watch for roots, Hy. It would be inconvenient if you were injured.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Hy grumbled, looking embarrassed.

Finch dove into the thigh high grass and brambles, making his way to a rusted gate blocking the back yard, and kicking it with a curse. Watari made his way to the front of the group, inspecting the padlock.

“Um, this one isn’t booby trapped is it?” Watari asked with a nervous laugh, fishing his tools from his lab coat. Finch shook his head.

Watari made short work of the weathered lock, stepping aside and allowing Finch to pass. They followed him into a small yard behind the building, as Finch made his way towards a dilapidated tool shed.

Finch darted into the old wooden building, the others rushing forward, as what sounded like a scuffle came from inside, a surprised high pitch yelp echoing off the surrounding buildings. They stood back with surprise as Finch drug what appeared to be a very dirty young boy in ragged clothes from the shack by the ear.

“Ow! What the hell, Finch?” the child screeched in English, squirming indignantly, and letting off a stream of what were no doubt curses in French.

“You’re coming with us, Sophie. I need your help, and you owe me,” Finch said, releasing what, on closer inspection, was indeed a girl.

“Yeah, yeah, what is it this time?” Sophie grumbled, stopping her protests with a startled look as she spied the others. “Who the heck are they?”

“They are the same as I. We need to get into the catacombs,” Finch answered. “I have found a map.”

“A map?” Sophie said, her piqued interest taking her attention from the others. “Let me see it.”

“No,” Finch answered, crossing his arms across his chest and smirking. Sophie pouted, tugging at the filthy newsboy hat the concealed her hair.

“Where’s Alain? I like him better. He’s nice,” Sophie muttered.

Finch ignored her, taking her arm and leading her towards the street.

“Sophie knows the catacombs. She will guide us,” Finch said.

“I’m not going anywhere until you feed me,” Sophie protested. “I haven’t had anything to eat in months!”

Chapter 15


The men sat at a sidewalk café a few blocks from where they’d found the girl, Finch sighing impatiently all the while. The motley group of shinigami escorting the ragged waif earned a few strange looks from the other diners, as Sophie seemed to order every desert off the menu, and attacked them with fervor. Hisoka watched in amusement the mirrored acts of gluttony sitting on either side of him, Tsuzuki matching her enthusiasm in attacking his own meal.

“Did you say that you had not eaten for months, child?” Watari asked, as Sophie licked her plate before turning to the next. “I’m sure this is an exaggeration, but watching you keep up with Tsuzuki makes me wonder.”

“Of course she’s exaggerating, silly. If she’d gone that long without eating, she wouldn’t be alive,” Hy said with laugh.

“M’not alive,” Sophie mumbled around a mouthful, shrugging.

The men stopped, looking at her curiously, then to Finch.

“He was supposed to make me go, but I didn’t want to,” Sophie said, pointing at Finch with her spoon.

“You were supposed to take her to the other side? But --” Hisoka started.

“I convinced my superiors that she could be a valuable contact, and she has been,” Finch cut in, sipping his wine and looking thoughtfully out into the street.

“Do you have that many cases that end up underground?” Watari asked. Finch looked at him with a sardonic smile.

“You’d be surprised. The tunnels run at least 300 kilometers throughout the city They are very difficult to navigate, much less patrol. That is why I always suspected that the Vemulakonda may use them as a refuge. We’ve discovered their above ground facilities too easily,” Finch said.

“You think that they’ve managed to conceal an entire underground laboratory for their experiments down there?” Hisoka asked in disbelief.

“Strange things have gone on there undiscovered before. There was once an entire bar and cinema that operated secretly beneath the Palais de Chaillot. The authorities probably do not know half of the secrets to be found there. Artists, vagrants, explorers, people of all walks of life have made it their playground. Sophie does not know the entire system, but she spent many years on the streets and beneath them. Her sense of direction can be uncanny. Many grown men have lost their way in the catacombs,” Finch said.

Sophie beamed with pride, licking chocolate syrup from her fingers.

XXXX


The shinigami and their guide walked across a vacant lot on the outskirts of town, shouldering the supplies they had procured from a shop in the city. The grass was mostly brown, and the ground littered with bottles, old clothes, the remnants of trash fires, and other signs of habitation by the city’s homeless, though the place was unoccupied by anyone else and eerily silent for its proximity to an urban area. The ground steadily sloped before reaching a steep drop, where train tracks ran through a shallow trench.

“We’ve got to go down there and follow the tracks for a bit,” Sophie said, pointing down, before clambering down the steep bank. Hisoka saw Hy grimace slightly, and offered him a hand. Hy smiled at him in surprise and gratitude, and using Hisoka’s shoulder and arm to steady himself, the two followed behind the others, finally reaching the narrow strip of gravel below that was mostly taken by the railroad tracks.

“Thanks, Hisoka,” Hy said, looking embarrassed.

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to make it okay?” Hisoka asked. “If we’re going underground, we’ll probably have to move through some pretty treacherous places.” Hy sighed, and pulled a small bottle of pills from his pocket, shaking it.

“I can get around pretty much as good as I used to, it’s just the pain --” Hy trailed off, shaking his head. “I’ve been avoiding taking these things, but once we get in there, it’s going to be important for me to move in my corporate form, as Jarrett always called it.”

“If they help, why haven’t you been taking them?” Hisoka asked.

“My mom,” Hy said with a shrug. “Well, she used to take lots of pills, and I didn’t see that they did her anything I’d call good. They‘re what killed her.”

“I’m sorry,” Hisoka said. He saw Hy look ahead briefly, and followed his gaze to where Michael was looking back at them with a frown.

“So, what are we supposed to do if a train comes?” Watari asked loudly up ahead of them, where he was holding his arms out on either side and walking along one of the rails like it were a balance beam. Hy giggled nervously, his wide gray eyes showing a touch of unease.

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of room to get out of the way,” Hisoka said, looking doubtfully at the wedge of space between the gravel and the side of the hill.

XXXX

After a thankfully train-free hike, the group came upon an overpass, where the train ran beneath an empty road.

“This is it!” Sophie called, scrambling beneath the concrete bridge, and approaching one arched side of the inner wall. They circled her as they caught up, watching her disappear with a grin back at them into a low, jagged hole that looked as though it had been made with a sledge hammer. Finch and Michael followed without a word, while Tsuzuki looked at Watari with alarm.

“You first,” Tsuzuki said. Watari rolled his eyes, crouching beside the hole.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” Watari said, crawling into the gap. “I guess this isn’t the ideal time for me to remember that I’m not particularly fond of closed in spaces,” he called back with an uneasy laugh.

Hisoka and the others followed, and were soon in darkness, the cold rock somewhat damp beneath them. Hisoka started slightly at the eerie, echoed sound of Sophie humming a children’s song ahead of them. As his eyes adjusted, he could just make out the dim glow of her flashlight.

After just enough time to make Hisoka begin to truly sympathize with Watari’s earlier fears, he heard a splash and reverberating giggles and curses ahead before emerging into narrow but thankfully higher ceilinged tunnel. Tsuzuki caught him by the arm before he could step into the sluice that ran slowly along the side of the wall, and lifted him over it and onto the damp stone beyond.

“Tsuzuki! I think I could have managed,” Hisoka grumbled with embarrassment, before turning to warn Hy to watch his step.

“Are any of these caverns open to the public?” Watari asked ahead of them as they fell into single file. Hisoka fished out his own flashlight, watching his step along the uneven rock beneath him.

“Only about two kilometers out of hundreds,” Finch replied. There is a path through some of the ossuaries that is closed off from the rest.”

“Oh, how fascinating! I shall have to go there sometime when I’m not here on business,” Watari said cheerfully. Hisoka didn’t have to see Finch to know his eyes rolled as he gave a grunt in reply.

“Over here, guys!” Sophie called out. Hisoka looked ahead to see an opening as roughly hewn as the one they’d gone through at the overpass, but much larger. “We’re officially entering the catacombs now.”

Sophie and Finch went through, Watari lingering briefly to observe a brightly painted line off graffiti above the hole.

“Welcome to hell,” Watari read. “Well, that doesn’t sound very pleasant.”