Eni froze in her tracks, her fingers reflexively tightening around the hilt of the sword hidden beneath her uniform. Three times. Bartolomeo had appeared to her three times in completely different corners of the world, and each time he possessed a new home, a new forge. This couldn't be a coincidence. The old man was certainly no mere blacksmith, and his gentle demeanor now felt more dangerous to Eni than the fury of a Cyclops.
"Um... Excuse me, but... no. I think I'll be going," she tossed out nervously, taking a cautious step back. Bartolomeo didn't move. He simply followed her with a gaze filled with a strange, almost paternal sorrow.
"Fine, fine. I see you’ve grown stronger; that is good. Do you feel safe now?" he called after her, but Eni wasn't listening. She turned and practically bolted into the forest.
After fifty yards, the trees abruptly gave way, and Eni gasped at the sight before her. Spread out beneath her was the Abandoned City. This wasn't just a settlement; it was a vast, once-majestic kingdom now being slowly digested by nature. High stone spires were strangled by massive, thick vines that looked like the veins of some titanic organism. Houses stood without doors or windows, gaping with the blackness of empty eye sockets.
What terrified her most was the absolute, sterile cleanliness. No skeletons in the streets, no bloodstains, no discarded belongings. The city didn't look like it had been conquered; it looked like it had simply been turned off. The vines crawled over the cobblestones, cracking the rock, and heavy clusters of unknown flowers hung from the eaves, filling the air with a sickly sweet, intoxicating scent of decay.
Eni walked toward the central square, the sound of her footsteps echoing with deafening clarity. Ahead, near the walls of a dilapidated church whose dome had long ago collapsed inward, she spotted a black silhouette. A figure in a long cloak and a wide-brimmed hat was busy at the base of the wall.
As she drew closer, Eni realized she was looking at a Plague Doctor. His form was entirely concealed by heavy black fabric, and his face was hidden behind a distinctive long-beaked mask. The Doctor was occupied: he was carefully snipping bits of vine, dropping them into a vial of murky liquid, shaking it, sniffing it, and scribbling rapidly into a weathered journal.
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Eni cleared her throat nervously, trying to get his attention. "Um... Hello?"
The Doctor’s head snapped—with a distinct, dry crack of bone—rotating 180 degrees backward to look directly over his shoulder at Eni. She shrieked and recoiled; such a movement of the neck was physically impossible for a human.
"Oh, hello! What is your interest?" the Doctor asked casually, his voice sounding muffled beneath the mask.
"I... well... I was just passing through," Eni stammered, staring in horror at the twisted neck.
The Doctor slowly rotated the rest of his body to match his head, studying Eni. "Ah, how rare to encounter a female... Hero. Forgive such a strange question and... I ask in advance that you do not resort to violence, but... Have you ever been a victim of sexual assault?" he asked, striving for the neutral tone of a physician during a routine check-up.
Eni flared up, her hand instantly diving under her uniform to grip the hilt of her blade. "Excuse me? No! What exactly is your problem?!" She began to drop into a combat stance, feeling her magical stockings compress her thighs, priming her body for a spring-loaded lunge.
"Ah! No! All is well!" The Doctor waved his black-gloved hands frantically. "I am engaged in the study of incurable and potentially dangerous diseases. I am trying to... prevent their spread."
Eni involuntarily relaxed a fraction and even shook the bony hand offered to her. "So... what are you doing here in this dead place?"
"I am studying the local microflora," he pointed to the vines. "I am attempting to reconstruct the scenario in which every inhabitant of this kingdom either perished or evacuated. This 'void disappearance' is highly suspicious."
"What do the vines have to do with it?" Eni asked, bewildered.
"You must be new to this unjust world," the Doctor sighed. "Since you have made it this far, you won't die by the sword, but you could certainly burn away from disease. Medicine here is crippled in both legs. Come, let me show you..." He suddenly reached out and seized Eni by the wrist.
"No!" Eni yanked her hand back violently and drew her sword. "How do I know who you are? You think I’m stupid—trusting every stranger in a mask?"
The Doctor froze, looking genuinely taken aback. "How bellicose... Unfortunately, the only way to prove my reliability is through verification by the Archons, and it's unlikely you know them by sight... I am one of them. But since you don't trust me... how about this: you shall personally observe the process of creating the cure. That way, you will understand there is no danger."
"Actually, I do know an Archon. Captain Joe," Eni declared confidently. To herself, she thought Joe was an idiot, but his status as an Archon was currently her only yardstick for the truth.
"Good! Excellent!" the Plague Doctor cheered up. "Then, using the Obelisk, we shall travel to your home. There, we shall begin the research on your body in safety."
Eni hesitated, but the prospect of having her own Archon-tier physician on hand, even for a few hours, was too tempting. They walked to the center of the square, where the ancient stone pulsed amidst the vines. Eni and the Plague Doctor touched the Obelisk simultaneously, and the abandoned city vanished in a blinding flash of teleportation.
