The Loser | by Isaac7525

Aizawa quickly summoned Olivia into the room, instructing her to find a medical professional to take the woman to. As the blonde-haired woman led her out the door, Leo turned back to Aizawa, whose gaze was laser-focused on the medical kit in front of him. 

"Why do you think this has such weird stuff?" He asked, pointing down at the box in front of the dark-haired man. 

Aizawa reached into the leather box and removed the small bell, ringing it in the air. The sound gently reverberated across the bathroom, hanging in the silence for a brief moment longer than it should. 

"Why would this be for my boss?" Leo continued to question the peculiarity of the medical kit, picking up the leather case and holding it up to the dim lights of the kerosene-powered lamp. 

"The other items are just as strange," he noted, grabbing the deck of cards with objects painted on them. 

One of the cards had the image of a rocking chair on its surface. When Leo flipped it over, it had the image of an owl hanging on a branch. In the background, he could see the sunset gently grazing a snow-covered forest. 

Another one of the cards had a spider on its front side, wrapping a bumblebee in its silk. On the other side, they saw a candle on a wooden table. Over the candle was a glass case, and the candle's light allowed them to see a clear view of the surroundings of the painting. 

The walls of the room were dark and made of wood, the paint colored a mixture between black and brown. Other items were sprawled on the desk, like an apple and a pocket watch. After looking through a few more cards, Leo looked back at Aizawa with a tangible puzzlement. The duo remained silent as Aizawa took another item from the case. It was the candle with the lighter. 

The candle was about the height of a pencil and as thick as a can of soup. The wax near the top was an ashen gray color, while the rest of its surface had a healthy, white sheen. The small matches accompanying the candle had mostly been unlit, but Aizawa and Leo could quickly distinguish between the ones that had been touched and the ones that hadn't. 

This was evident through the darkened, almost powdery substance on top of the matches, which was most likely ash or soot that had accumulated over time, or dust; who knew how old the leather case was?

At that moment, a small piece of paper fell from inside the case; it landed on the floor beside them with a soft thud. The surface of the paper wasn't the usual white—it was peppered with dust and other inscrutable materials. From the looks of it, the paper was also folded into fourths. 

Leo quickly knelt down and picked up the piece of paper, slowly unfolding it and revealing its contents. The words on the paper were barely legible in the dim lighting, but the duo knew that it wouldn't be an issue considering they had a multitude of other options. 

The red-haired man turned towards the bathroom door, exchanging a final glance with Aizawa before nodding his head. Aizawa then stood up and approached the door, opening it and stepping into the dining area. The group of men dating to the altercation earlier that night were still leisurely sipping their beverages.

A few of them were slumped forward, their eyes half-lidded and drooling as they succumbed to a drunk-embraced slumber on the cold countertop. 

"I was planning on wiping down the counters later," Leo chuckled with a smile.

In return, Aizawa sighed and took the piece of paper from the bartender, positioning it on the table under a much brighter lamp. Now, the duo would somewhat clearly read the contents of the paper. 

It was addressed to Sanson Cecilé, the owner of the bar. 

Leo slowly read the first line. 

"Following your visit, we were pleased that you had recovered from your issues. To celebrate this occasion, we had this sensory kit shipped to your establishment to prevent further issues." Leo read between the lines of the note, every word he spoke gathering in the back of his mind. 

"You'll find a series of wondersome items at your disposal, such as index cards, the candles and matches, along with the diary, which you can feel free to write down your thoughts inside."

"If you encounter any issues, visit this address for further conditioning: 827 Rue de Blaunches."

After finishing the letter, Leo turned to Aizawa and gave the man a curious look, his eyebrows raising slightly. 

"He sounds like he's been places." 

Aizawa grabbed the note from the table and read it over again, this time, he noticed something that the latter hadn't realized. The man flipped the paper back to Leo, pointing towards the bottom of the paper with his index finger. 

"This comes from the asylum—the same one that patented the wine." 

Upon hearing this, the man's eyes widened as he stood up. His gaze beelined to the front door, leading out into the snow-covered streets. "We should get moving and head to that address." 

"Alright," Aizawa agreed, standing up from his chair and dusting himself off. As the duo approached the door, Leo suddenly turned back to the group of drunken men sitting at the counter and yelled. "Go home!"

…

"What should we do to prepare for the Blood Moon?" Shinso asked, folding his arms. 

The dark-skinned man looked towards the bed, to my sleeping form. "Maloviolent spirits like wraiths heavily favor the dead and sleeping, so if any of your loved ones or friends are sleeping, immediately rouse them." 

"You mentioned the dead…" Shinso paused for a beat, his face contorting slightly.

"They'll be possessed by the wraiths, so they won't be what you'd call zombies," Humphry replied, sensing Shinso's weariness. 

"A few weeks in advance, us Pollinators always favor heading over to the graveyards and commencing with the cleansing ritual." Humphry pointed out the window, focusing his finger in the direction of a large patch of land just past the cathedral. 

"You spoke of the undead as if they're regular. You doing the ritual makes it sound like you seal off the threat entirely." 

At that moment, Humphry fell silent for a few seconds. "Well, in a way, we seal off most of the corpses in the vicinity." 

His finger darted to another patch of land. It stretched beyond the outskirts of the Victorian-style city, stretching into the evergreen trees that lined the area just before the mountains. "Dwellers outside the kingdom tend to bury their folk within the ground instead of a graveyard. Due to laws prohibiting trespassing, we can't perform the corresponding ritual on the dead outside the graveyards." 

Hearing this, Shinso's blood almost ran cold. "What do you do with the undead that enter the kingdom? Won't they cause panic among the partying civilians?"

"Trust me, they won't notice, they'll be too busy partying and drinking" Humphrey's voice lowered to almost a whisper, his bottom lip quivering slightly.. "That's how my spouse died." 

At that moment, Humprhy regained his thoughts and huffed. "But that's the past. If we can head over there, we can perform the ritual." 

His lips twitched up as he turned towards Shinso. "Maybe that's how we'll invite you into our ranks." 

"I-I'd have to receive permission from my friends-" Before Shinso could finish his sentence, Humphrey's large hand wrapped around him as he was yanked towards the door. The boy didn't have time to put on a coat as he was led down the hallway and down the flight of stairs.

When they stepped out into the bitter cold, the man immediately began walking down the streets towards the cathedral. "I'll have the division who's not working on the Tremebrus and the captain assist us."

The duo walked in silence for a few more moments before ceasing before the stone stairs. Humphrey turned back to Shinso and instructed him to wait in front of the building before he turned around and entered the cathedral. As he entered the stone doors and shut them behind him, Shinso huffed, a small torrent of smoke leaving his mouth as he sat down on the stone stairs facing the rest of the city. 

Snow had now ceased falling from the sky, the clouds had completely departed and allowed the crimson moon to shine down upon the kingdom. The moonlight bathed the slanted rooftops and gave wake to a myriad of complex shadows that crept down the sides of the buildings and spilled into the streets. 

In one of the shadows, Shinso spotted a pair of green eyes boring into him. His heart burst out of his chest upon a first glance, but he quickly collected himself and stared back into the shadows. A moment later, a small, black paw outstretched from the darkness, followed by another. The furry face of a cat emerged from the darkness, meowing softly at Shinso. His body relaxed as the cat slowly made its way over to Shinso, making its way up the cathedral stairs and curling up beside him. 

The cat possessed a mostly relaxed demeanor, the only contrast was the swishing of its tail back and forth on the steps. Suddenly, Shinso heard a flurry of footsteps hurrying in his direction. When he turned his head, he caught sight of a group of Pollinators entering the cathedral with large wooden boxes in hand. One of the boxes had a long head of hair protruding from the slightly ajar lid. 

Was that the servant that was found in such a state back at the manor?

Before Shinso could finish his question, the doors opened once again behind him, and Humphry, followed by a small team of Pollinators stepped out into the street. They all faced Shinso, the dark-colored man's expression left judgemental and critical than the others. 

"This is his rite of passage," Humphry explained to the others. His gaze flickered to the cat sleeping beside him, his lips curling up slightly. 

"It appears you have a friend with you."

Shinso slowly stood up, not making eye contact with the others as they proceeded down the street. When they arrived at the graveyard, Shinso felt a cold shiver course through his body upon seeing the tombstones, which were covered in snow. Unexpectedly, the black cat had actually followed them, the feline brushing against Shinso's leg with its furry head whilst letting out a continuous, low purr. 

The group of Pollinators made their way into the graveyard, taking out candles from their pockets and lifting them with the flick of their wrists. They then scattered the candles across the graveyard, enough to vastly illuminate the space.

"With the blessing of Mother Nature, I command a cleansing of this domain during the period of tribulation," Humphry lowered his head, humming in a low voice as he clasped the candle in his hands, which had begun to tremble. Across the graveyard, other Pollinators proceeded with a similar action, all reciting the honorific statement and lowering their heads.

Shinso's eyes widened in astonishment as the ground below him began to tremble slightly. The indigo-haired boy watched as roots and plants began to sprout from under the ground, erecting upwards into the sky and coiling around the gravestones. The vines sprouted with colorful, vivid flowers that contrasted the dreary, almost desolate landscape of winter.

The flower's petals all fell off in unison, sinking into the powdery snow and diffusing into balls of radiant light. The lights all faded away, sinking into the snow and melting it in small patches across the graveyard. After everything had fallen silent was the moment Humphrey could finally breathe again. At this moment he looked towards Shinso whilst stuffing the candle back into his coat.

"Welcome to the Pollinators," he said with a smile.

The other members of the group all turned to Shinso, gazing into him with partially indifferent yet casual expressions.