Chapter 158: Peaches Of Clarity.

『"You have till sunset."』

The Medic Bay was tense and quiet, broken only by the steady beeping of monitors.

Amara, Raj, and Hiro lay unconscious on three separate beds, fever burning across their skin as the perfume ravaged them from inside out.

Their bodies were drenched as sweat soaked their clothes and beaded across their foreheads. Their breathing came in uneven waves, sometimes quick, sometimes frighteningly slow.

Ethan sat beside Amara’s bed with one hand wrapped around hers. He hadn’t let go since carrying her here.

Sophia stood nearby with her arms folded tightly across her chest, watching Hiro and Raj with growing concern.

"The Perfume of the Gods," Ethan said quietly, looking up at the Director. "What is it? And how do we stop it?"

The Director exhaled. "Exactly what the name suggests. Temptation bottled up."

Sophia tilted her head. "I’m sorry, what?"

"The gods created it long ago," he elaborated. "They used it during certain indulgent celebrations. It was designed to be an aphrodisiac. A single drop could overwhelm mortal desire."

Ethan looked at the unconscious trio. "Why the hell do we even have something like that in the Library?"

Director Hale walked toward a nearby cabinet. "Because in 1723, in a small town in northern Italy, we discovered what happens when it escapes," he said.

The room fell silent.

"The Institute arrived three days after the outbreak began." He removed an old leather case from the cabinet. "We were too late."

Sophia, standing nearby, frowned. "Too late for what?"

The Director paused for several seconds before answering. "Everyone in the town was dead."

Her eyes narrowed. "Dead how?"

He gave her a meaningful look.

Sophia’s expression slowly crumpled. "No. No, no, no. You don’t mean they..."

"Those exposed to the perfume became consumed by supernatural desire," Hale said. "They sought desperately to satisfy the urges it created."

Ethan looked at Amara and his expression hardened.

"Anyone they were intimate with fell under the influence as well." Hale opened the case. "The ailment spread from person to person until the entire town was infected."

Sophia stared at him in horror. "They... they literally—"

"Yes."

She covered part of her face with both hands and took a shaky breath. "That’s insane."

"Worse," Hale continued. "The ones who couldn’t satisfy those urges weren’t spared. The perfume burned through their minds and bodies anyway."

Sophia’s gaze moved from bed to bed, and her fingers curled into a tight fist.

"They developed violent fevers, unbearable pain, and delirium." The Director looked at the three unconscious patients as well. "...Just like these three."

Ethan’s grip tightened around Amara’s hand. "How long? How long do we have?"

"By sunset, the damage will become irreversible."

The words struck them like a gut punch.

Ethan stood immediately. "Then tell me how to cure them." His thumb continued rubbing slow circles across Amara’s fingers. "There has to be a way to fix this."

Director Hale nodded. "There is a way." He reached into his pocket and removed a piece of pale blue chalk wrapped in silver thread.

"Transportation Chalk?" Sophia read from the faded label.

"A relic." Hale crouched and began drawing a large circle across the floor. "Anything inside this circle can be transported to another dimension, realm, or plane of existence."

As he drew, faint blue light followed the chalk. "There is one condition. The traveler must have visited that realm before. The chalk follows memory."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. "Whatever this place is, you’ve been there."

"Once," Hale admitted. "You must hold the destination clearly in your mind. When the circle is completed and activated, anyone who steps inside with that intent will be transported there."

The circle completed itself with a soft hum.

"The Realm of the Gods."

Ethan walked over to the circle. "Alright. What exactly do we have to do?"

Sophia’s eyes widened. "Wait. Wait. We’re actually doing this? We’re going to a realm of gods? Oh shit... this is real."

"We don’t have a choice," Director Hale said. "You need to retrieve the Peaches of Clarity. They’re the only antidote strong enough to purge the perfume’s influence."

Sophia laughed nervously. "Realm of gods? Peaches of Clarity? Are you making up words? Or has it gotten that bad?"

Hale rose to his feet. "There grows a fruit there known as the Peaches of Clarity. One peach can purge nearly any mental or spiritual corruption caused by something divine."

"And that’s our cure?" Sophia asked.

"It’s their only chance."

The circle glowed brighter and Ethan stepped into it without hesitation.

Sophia took a deep breath and followed him. "I don’t like that you’re chill about all of this."

"Believe me." Ethan looked at her. "I’m not."

Hale stood outside the circle. "Listen carefully. This is a priority mission. Retrieve the peaches and return immediately. You have until sunset."

Sophia ran a hand through her hair. "This is unbelievable. On any other day you’d send an entire expedition. Maybe even Naomi from the Storm branch, since she’s contracted to a god."

"On any other day, yes." Hale’s expression hardened. "Tonight we don’t have that luxury."

The light surged, and then nothing happened.

Sophia blinked. "Uh... Director? Your magical sidewalk chalk appears to be defective."

Hale sighed. "The chalk responds to intent. You must truly desire to reach the destination."

Sophia closed her eyes. Ethan looked at her and did the same.

He remembered Amara collapsing in his arms. Raj’s laughter. Hiro struggling to breathe on the Library floor.

When he opened his eyes again, the circle flared brighter.

Sophia looked at him and gave him a small, awkward smile.

"That’s better," Hale muttered.

He then tossed the chalk to Ethan. "For the return trip."

Without warning, the floor vanished beneath them, and they were hurled into a tunnel of spiraling light and multiple flashing colors.

Distance stretched and compressed at the same time. Entire landscapes flashed by like reflections on shattered glass while thunder rolled through the void.

"This is actually kind of exciting!" Sophia screamed as they spiraled through the chromatic vortex to their destination.

Ethan, however, remained calm.

A moment later, they were thrown from a portal and crashed onto solid ground.

Wind rushed across an endless plain.

Sophia pushed herself up first and froze.

Everything was enormous.

The trees rose like emerald mountains. Their trunks were wider than city blocks, and rivers of silver water wound through the land like flowing highways.

In the distance, colossal palaces floated among the clouds, connected by bridges woven from light itself—some a single color, others shifting through the whole spectrum.

Creatures larger than dragons glided through the heavens, their scales reflecting the colors of dawn. And the air... the air tasted impossibly pure.

Sophia slowly turned in a circle. "Holy shit."

Ethan stood beside her, staring toward a forest where every branch carried fruit the size of houses.

"What now?" she asked.

Ethan took a breath, placing the transportation chalk inside his pocket. "Now," he said, "we find a peach tree."