Rue: The Hunt for Harmony - Part 1

With Harmony's sacrifice fresh in their mind, and having just delivered the bad news  to Jocelyn Green, Rue makes a detour to the hospital room of Jeremy Black, still in a coma due to a previous attack  but able to talk via his astral projection.

Walking through the corridor towards room 326, Rue feels a buzzing under their skin, their ears ringing slightly as they struggle to take in every beep, every shuffle and cough. The fluorescent lights overhead are flickering ever so slightly, and they wonder if the backup generator at the hospital is strong enough to power everything in the building until the main power can go back on.   Despite the chaos a few floors below, the corridors up here are mostly empty, save for the odd nurse or concerned family member. Standing in front of Dr Black’s room, Rue reflects on finding themself here in the middle of the night once more  .   To Rue's surprise, they don't see Susana Black at her husband's bedside this time. Just the bleeping of the heart monitor and the mangled-but-healing form of Jeremy Black still lying in his hospital bed. His stitches seem to be healing nicely, but the casts on his arms and legs remain in place.   "They say I'm probably not going to be doing any competitive gymnastics for a while," Rue hears the jovial voice of Jeremy in his ghost form emerging from behind them. As they turn around to face him, he gives a polite smile and one over their shoulder, "Hey, Rue. Jazz."   They look between the unconscious form on the bed and the chirpy ghost in front of them, “Hey, can we talk here?” They ask seriously, skipping any further niceties. Their eyes are sharp despite the shadows underneath, and there’s a gravity to them as they wait to be allowed into the room.   "Yeah, sure. Come in," he says as he and the emergent form of Jasmine float into the room, "Susana's gone home for the night. She needed the rest," he takes an unusual seated position cross-legged at the foot of his own bed, in a position that Rue is certain must be on top of his own broken legs under the sheet, "What do you need, Rue?"   “I need to know how to exorcise a demon from a living person…” They say seriously, the calmness in their tone thinly concealing the fury beneath. They cross their hands over their chest, the bruised knuckles brushing against the fabric of their coat. “…And how to kill the demon or seal it away for good after.”   "An exorcism is serious stuff, Rue," he says, sitting back in his seated position, his eyebrows raised as he tries to even begin thinking about the task at hand, "Has something... happened? Is it," he pauses, glancing over at Jasmine, "Is it something to do with her?"   “Do I look like I’m joking?” Rue quips not unkindly, the tension evident in their shoulders and jaw. They purse their lips, knowing news of what happened will spread through Vigilant Tower soon enough, “Harmony… made a deal with Zaebos. It promised to release the corruption on the people at Century HQ and to get rid of the demonic taint on her family in exchange for her body," The buzzing under their skin gets stronger as they retell the situation once more, a heat building in their chest, “I need to bring her back.”   "You need to exorcise an Archdemon?" He says, even more surprised than before, "I'm not even sure such a thing has ever been done. Regardless, I think you'll need some... specialist help." He floats over to the bedside table and opens it up, pulling out a piece of paper with some writing on it, "I made some calls for you. There's a... , of sorts. A priest, a monster hunter, and a witch. They'll be at this address this coming weekend. I've worked with them before. They're... Good at this stuff."   Taking the note, Rue reads the address as "Room 22, The Oakview Inn, Haytham Street," a hotel outside Sigarda, a small village about thirty miles from Bathala City.   Had it been any other day, Rue would have commented how that sounded like the start of a bad joke, but they simply slip the note into their pocket, nodding their thanks to the incorporeal form of Dr. Black, ''Thank you,'' They say quietly. ''I appreciate it.''   They sigh wearily, not entirely pleased that they'll have to wait this long to find a way to help Harmony, but there are other matters they need to attend to, ''Who should I ask for when I get there? Or will they be expecting me?''   "I'll let them know you're coming," He says, smiling sympathetically at the young hero, "Just, don't do anything rash, okay? I'd rather not be the reason you went off and got your whole team killed."   ''Doing something rash is how we ended up in this mess...'' Rue replies with a huff, ''Thanks again. Feel better.'' They give Ghost a final wave, eager to leave the hospital and get out into the fresh air.   They fish their phone out of their pocket to check the time, then debate sending Rachel a quick message before they realise that the message simply won't send. With a groan, they slide the device back into their coat. They feel like the buzzing under their skin won't fade until they've confirmed that the entire Green family is safe, and so they pull their hood up as they turn towards the suburbs rather than to Vigilant Tower.   The night continues to warm up since there's no longer a crazed insurance adjustor bringing on an unseasonable blizzard and, as Rue finds themselves among the smaller houses surrounding Bathala City, they see the streetlights beginning to turn back on.   ''Well, that's something at least...'' Rue mumbles to themself as they look up at the lights, opening the zip on their parka.