Chapter 7: The Ketuinkin Effect

The air hit them like a slap as they emerged from the suffocating tunnels into the chaotic remains of Yorktun's streets. The sky, perpetually choked by a haze of industrial smog, cast the city in a sickly gray light. Buildings leaned like wounded soldiers, their facades scarred with decades of neglect and propaganda posters peeling like dead skin. Broken signs flickered weakly, the electric remnants of a city too tired to die but too broken to live.

Retsuki's glow was a faint hum against the darkness as the group surveyed their surroundings. The silence wasn't peace—it was the kind of quiet that hinted at watching eyes, unseen predators waiting in shadowed corners.

Retsuki: (Breaking the silence, gesturing to a crumbling building with a faded red cross painted on its side. "Humans need food. Come on. They probably have food for you all."

The doors creaked as they pushed inside, the sound ricocheting through the hollow, decaying halls. The hospital was a monument to forgotten hope. Rusting gurneys lined the walls, some still holding skeletal remains of abandoned patients. The air reeked of antiseptic and rot, a foul mixture that clung to their lungs.

They passed by rooms where the floors were stained with dried blood, walls etched with claw marks and desperate words: "SAVE ME," "I SEE THEM," "THE LIGHT IS LYING."

Verena gagged, pulling her scarf tighter around her face.

Verena: (Whispering) "What is this place?"

Marten: (Coldly, his voice tight with suppressed anger) "It's not a hospital. It's a graveyard."

But Retsuki's eyes, glowing faintly in the dim light, were fixed on something deeper, something pulsing in the distance. A psychic disturbance that felt like fingers scraping against his being.

They reached a hallway blocked by a thick metal door. A flickering red light above it pulsed weakly, and the word "ISOLATION" was smeared across it in peeling paint. Retsuki touched the surface, his energy seeping into the lock mechanism. It groaned open, revealing a scene that made even him hesitate.

The ward was filled with makeshift containment cells—iron bars hastily welded together, surrounding citizens who were no longer themselves. The infected twisted and writhed, their bodies grotesquely contorted, their eyes hollow and black. Each one whispered or screamed incoherent words, their voices blending into a cacophony of despair.

Retsuki: (Quietly, his voice wavering) "What... are they?"

Alitha: (Grimly, swallowing hard) "Ketuinkins."

One of the infected slammed against their cell, their face a grotesque mask of swollen flesh and sharp angles. They grinned at Retsuki, their voice unnervingly clear amid the chaos.

Ketuinkin: (Mocking) "So much hope... You'll burn with it."

Retsuki stepped back, his energy flickering as the voice scraped against his psyche. Verena stumbled away, clutching her head, tears streaking her face.

Verena: (Panicking) "They're... in my head. Oh God, they're in my head!"

Marten grabbed her, shaking her slightly.

Marten: "Focus! Don't let them in. They feed on fear, on despair."

One cell held a woman whose transformation seemed incomplete. Her face was split, half human and half twisted into a monstrous parody of itself. Her hand clawed at the air, her voice a fragile whisper.

Woman: (Desperately) "Help me. Please. I didn't mean... I didn't mean to feel it. I didn't mean to envy her..."

Retsuki approached her, his light illuminating the cell. The woman recoiled as if burned, her twisted half snarling while the human half sobbed.

Retsuki: (Softly) "What did you envy?"

Woman: (Sobbing, her human eye wide with terror) "Her life. Her freedom. I just... I just wanted..."

Her voice twisted into a guttural growl as the monstrous side took over.

Woman/Ketuinkin: (Snarling) "She wanted what wasn't hers! Now she'll take NOTHING."

The woman lunged at the bars, her body contorting grotesquely. Retsuki stepped back, his energy dimming further.

Alitha: (Pulling him away) "Don't. You can't help her. No one can."

Marten pointed to a corner of the ward where a young boy sat curled up, his body untouched but his eyes black as voids. Around him, the air shimmered with a faint, sickly energy.

Marten: (Darkly) "They don't need to touch you to infect you. The Turkerin's influence lingers everywhere. It's like a stain you can't wash out."

Retsuki turned to him, his voice sharp.

Retsuki: "You knew this was here?"

Marten: (Meeting his gaze, unflinching) "We've all known. But what can we do? You can't fight despair. You can't stab a thought."

Retsuki: (Firmly) "Then we'll find a way."

Marten's laugh was bitter, echoing through the ward like a death knell.

The psychic energy in the ward grew thicker, pressing down on them. Verena stumbled again, her breathing shallow. Alitha gritted her teeth, forcing herself forward.

Alitha: (Urgently) "We need to get out. Now."

Retsuki hesitated, his gaze lingering on the infected. He saw their pain, their suffering, and something inside him cracked. But he nodded, leading the group back toward the door.

As they left, the whispers followed them, echoing in their minds like a curse.

Whispers: "You'll fail... You'll become us... You can't save them..."

Once outside, the group collapsed against a wall, gasping for breath. The air felt lighter, but the weight of what they had seen pressed down on them.

Verena: (Still shaking) "We can't let this happen to anyone else. We can't."

Retsuki: (Resolute, his light is flaring brighter) "We won't. The Turkerin did this. And we're going to destroy them."

The group exchanged glances, their fear replaced by a burning resolve. Whatever it took, they would fight for themselves and the souls trapped in the abyss.

Retsuki: (Standing firm, his voice calm yet unwavering) "No. Let's stay here a bit. The Upbringers won't notice us yet."

The silence that followed was anything but calm. Marten's face contorted with anger, his fists clenched at his sides.

Marten: (Spitting the words) "You're joking, right? You saw what's in there, what they've become. And you want to stay here? Risk all of us for what? Your guilt?"

Verena, still trembling, stepped back, her face pale and tear-streaked.

Verena: (Softly, almost pleading) "Retsuki... it's too dangerous. We can't help them."

Even Alitha, who often held back, couldn't contain her frustration.

Alitha: (Sharply) "This isn't your fight, Retsuki. You don't understand what this disease does to people. You can't understand!"

Retsuki turned to them, his light flickering faintly but his expression resolute.

Retsuki: (Quietly, almost sorrowfully) "I can help some patients."

Without another word, he turned away and began walking back into the hospital. The group stood frozen, a mixture of shock and fury burning in their eyes.

The ward seemed darker as Retsuki reentered, his energy dimming under the psychic weight of despair that clung to the air. The whispers returned, louder now, a relentless cacophony of anguish and malice.

"You'll fail... You'll break... You'll join us..."

He ignored them, his focus narrowing on the twisted forms behind the bars. A man clawed at his skin in one cell, tearing at invisible insects crawling beneath the surface. In another, a young girl sat cross-legged, her head tilted unnaturally to the side, her mouth stretched into a smile that didn't reach her dead, black eyes.

Retsuki: (To himself, almost a prayer) "I can help. I have to."

He stepped closer to the man, his glow illuminating the cell. The man froze, his bloodied hands dropping to his sides as he stared at Retsuki with hollow eyes.

Man: (Whispering, his voice cracked and raw) "Are you the light? Or the shadow?"

Retsuki reached out, his energy pulsing softly. The man flinched but didn't move away.

Retsuki: (Gently) "I'm here to help. Hold on to yourself. You're still in there."

The man's body convulsed as Retsuki's energy touched him. The blackness in his eyes seemed to recede for a brief moment, revealing a flicker of humanity. But then, the whispers surged, louder, angrier, pushing back against Retsuki's light.

Whispers: (Screaming now) "YOU CAN'T SAVE HIM. YOU CAN'T SAVE ANYONE."

The man's body contorted violently, and he let out an ear-piercing scream. Retsuki staggered back, his energy flaring erratically. The man collapsed, his eyes once again void of life, his body twitching with unnatural spasms.

Retsuki moved to the next cell, where the young girl sat. Her smile widened as he approached, her head lolling unnaturally.

Girl: (Singing in a haunting, lilting tone) "They all come to play... but the game never ends..."

Retsuki knelt, his voice steady but strained.

Retsuki: "You don't have to play anymore. Let me help you."

The girl's smile faltered, her black eyes glistening with something close to tears.

Girl: (Softly) "I wanted to be brave. I wanted to fight. But it hurts so much..."

Retsuki reached for her, his energy forming a faint barrier around her trembling form. She shuddered, her voice cracking into sobs.

Girl: (Desperate) "It's still in me. It's still there. It won't let go!"

And then her body snapped rigid, her sobs turning into guttural growls as the Turkerin's influence surged through her. She lunged at the bars, her smile returning, now feral and bloodthirsty.

Girl/Ketuinkin: (Snarling) "You think you're light but nothing. NOTHING."

Retsuki stumbled back, the psychic pressure overwhelming. His glow flickered dangerously, his energy draining under the weight of the despair around him. The whispers grew deafening, echoing inside his mind.

"You'll fail. You'll fall. You'll become us."

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. It was Alitha, her face pale but resolute.

Alitha: (Snarling through gritted teeth) "Enough. You've done enough."

Behind her, Marten and Verena stood in the doorway, their expressions a mixture of anger and fear.

Marten: (Coldly) "You can't fix this. You'll only get us all killed."

Verena: (Whispering, tears in her eyes) "Please, Retsuki. Let's go."

For a moment, Retsuki hesitated, his gaze lingering on the girl, who now crouched in the corner of her cell, her black eyes glinting with evil glee. Then he nodded, his energy dimming as he turned away.

The group moved quickly through the hospital, the whispers following them like a curse. Outside, the air felt suffocating, but it was a relief compared to the oppressive weight of the ward.

They leaned against the crumbling wall, catching their breath. Retsuki's light was faint, his energy nearly depleted.

Marten: (Harshly) "What the hell was that, Retsuki? You almost got yourself killed. You almost got all of us killed!"

Retsuki: (Quietly, his voice heavy with guilt) "I thought... I could help them."

Alitha: (Sharply, but with a trace of compassion) "You can't, not like that. This isn't just a disease. It's the Turkerin. It's bigger than us."

Verena: (Softly, almost to herself) "They're still human. Somewhere in there... they're still human."

Retsuki looked at her, his light flickering faintly.

Retsuki: (Resolute) "Then we'll find a way to save them. No matter what it takes."

The group exchanged weary glances. The road ahead was dark, but there was a spark of unity among them for the first time—a fragile but burning determination to fight for themselves and those lost in the abyss.