On the horizon, sitting just below the afternoon sun, a faint, barren shadow. They were approaching Majakike. Even from that distance, the weather was clear enough that they could see some of the ruins dotting the island, as well as the sandy plains separating them. The island was rather flat.
They pulled the boat up onto a rocky beach. There was no wind, no bird. A faint sound of waves, but even that seemed more muted compared to the other islands. The sky was a stark blue. The sun was shining. It was close to noon. From the south, a small white dot was floating. That, they guessed, was the envoy. They wrapped the swords in fabric and strapped them on their backs. After all their effort to fool Ubu yesterday, they didn't want an angel to see them with the swords.
Ubu probably had the tombs of the swords under surveillance, and had to know the swords were missing. Ubu knew that the heroes of the mall had awakened- hell, Ubu was the one that had welcomed them after their awakening. They decided that they would help Saint Lucii in fighting the plague being.
The small dot grew, and eventually revealed its true nature. Four archangels were flying in a tight square formation, their swords meeting in the middle. On the swords, a figure in a white cloak adorned with a cross was standing tall. Quickly, the arrangement landed and the figure was let onto the ground.
"We were not expecting people to be here." A female voice had spoken, enunciating clearly. "We came to help. We take these matters uhh.. as very important," answered Jhin.
-Very well. We were not expecting help, but any help is good help."
"Let's begin to the grave." And silently, St Lucii went, surrounded by the archangels. The archangels stood tall, swaying white clothes lifted by the wind, ink black swords raised straight toward the sky, chained frankincense leaving lavender trails behind. Wind rose, and sand flew. Visibility fell.
Jhin and Melissa walked a few meters behind St Lucii. After a few dozen minutes of walking in silence, they arrived. In front of them, on a circular stone altar a few meters in diameter, a stone coffin was placed. This was the grave in which the plague being had been sealed.
The archangels stood around the coffin, one on each side. They raised their swords further still, and silently stabbed them in the lid. Effortlessly, they raised it. What was inside was... worse than they could have ever imagined.
The coffin was empty. On its walls, slimy green mold dotted with orange thrived. In the bottom, a disgusting dark sludge stagnated. A rotten smell filled the air. "Wh- what ?" exclaimed St Lucii, looking around "has it escaped ?"
The archangels put the lid back down, shaking slightly. "We must separate. Its probable that the target has not yet escaped, otherwise a trail of dead fishes would lead out of the island," ordered Lucii, in a cold, afraid tone. She had an angry look on her face, but was pale.
St Lucii and the archangels went to the west, and Jhin and Melissa went back eastward. A sandstorm was raging around them. In the shifting sand-winds, shapes appeared and disappeared. What was wasn't, and what wasn't was. Everything had a sick, greenish tint. They looked around, but they had no idea what for. The plague being could look like anything. Maybe it didn't even exist. Maybe it wasn't an Ideal, but just an old forgotten custom.
Then, Melissa heard a cry. The cry had come from ahead. She ran to the source, Jhin calling her. A child in a hazmat suit was in front of them, pinned to the ground by a fallen pillar. They recognized the child as the one they had seen on Kamute, who had been interested in the plague being.
"Thank god ! I came to watch the battle from far away, but this pillar fell on me when the wind started ! I'm stuck now, but if you could open the suit I could slide out !" Melissa got closer. Jhin, weary, called her from behind. To him, this was definitely a trap.
But Melissa didn't care about traps. She cared about a child on the brink of death. She got closer, and unmade the latches behind. Jhin ran to stop her. As soon as the latches were opened, a terrible smell spread. Jhin and Melissa both were projected backward.
An ugly, crushed voice that seemed like it came from a hundred radios back to back laughed. "I wasn't expecting you to be so gullible ! Oh my, how it feels good to be free again !"
Saint Lucii arrived behind, quickly followed by the four white shadows of the archangels. "So it is too late.
-Oh Lucii ! My dear small Lucii.
-Plague. Your face is not one I missed. For the past fifty years, I have spent every day anxious about your unsealing.
-And oh ! If you knew how I longed for you !"
The hazmat suit fell to the ground, unveiling the body of the plague being. Smooth, white, blueish skin. Long, thin limbs. A spherical head, dotted with too many eyes, speaking with the distorted voice of a hundred chattering radios.
-If only you knew how the body of your fellow tasted. How their flesh so pleasantly gave way to the far reaching hyphae of mold and rot... But they were not enough.
-Plague being, as sure as our Lord watches from Their rightful seat at the throne of Heaven, I will smite you down. Never again will you taint Their pristine kingdom.
-You have no idea how long I've waited for this ! Oh how you've changed, Lucii. But I won't be satisfied with just you... No, I will cross these seas and cover the whole world !"
Shutting the conversation short, Melissa shot at the plague being's head. It exploded, leaving almost nothing behind. Then, It regrew. This time, an angry look on its face, toward Melissa. Lucii whispered a short prayer, and the archangels sprung forth, stabbing their sword in the plague being. Suddenly, Lucii infused the swords with an I.T construct, which tore a hole through the plague being.
"Lucii, little girl, this kind of trick won't work twice," spoke the chattering radios. And the plague being rose in the air. The hole filled back with flesh, and the swords were taken in the air. They fell out, and levitated to stab themselves in the Ideal's arms.
Melissa took that opportunity to fire an I.T construct with her gun, and with a wave of his hands, Jhin made a spear shaped hole in reality that pierced the plague being. "No seriously, that won't work. I had hoped to have at least some resistance, you know..."
A dark cloud appeared above the being. It spiraled, and, pestilential and putrid, spread through the impromptu battlefield. They all began to cough violently. Melissa fell to her knees, her vision darkening.
"Archangels !" Lucii called out, "and you, unusual one," she called Jhin, "You will know what to do." And she raised her hands high. Their sword dislocking from the plague being, the archangels formed a strange mesh around Lucii's hands. Then, with a snap, they were cut, and a wave of light sweeped the area. She Put her cut wrists toward the plague being, and the sword-mesh followed. Then, with a prayer, a great beam of light passed through the mesh and hit the plague being. Jhin understood, and made a cage out of fractures in reality around the target.
The plague being crashed in the sand. "Arghh... I hate it when you do that, Lucii..." It turned suddenly toward Jhin, furious. "And you... Did nobody ever teach you to mind your own business ?" A swarm of bugs surrounded Jhin, and then, suddenly, each of the bug burst, covering Jhin in miasma. Jhin collapsed as well.
As his vision darkened, he saw Lucii ordering two of the archangels to take him and the two others to take Melissa. And with that, he lost consciousness.