The Innocents' Hospital

Chapter 4: Of Sorrow and Sunflowers

Allor mi dolsi, e ora mi ridoglio

quando drizzo la mente a ciò ch;io vidi,

e più lo 'ngegno affreno ch'i' non soglio,

perché non corra che virtù nol guidi;

Then sorrowed I, and sorrow now again,

When I direct my mind to what I saw,

And more my genius curb than I am wont,

That it may run not unless virtue guide it;

Dante, Inferno, Canto XXVI vv. 19-22

Jace was the first one to step outside of the portal in front of the entrance door of the Florence Institute. He waited for everyone else to come through as well and said, "We should get our stories straight in case anyone asks us questions about what we did and where we went today. I would keep it short and just tell the Cacciaguidis that we spent the whole day downtown trying to set up meetings with the Downworld representatives to gather more information on the victims."

"Well, that version is actually not too far from the truth. We're going to be talking to Downworlders anyhow," remarked Julian.

"The odds of us stumbling into Beatrice and the others still seem unrealistic, but regardless they've already helped us immensely." asserted Clary.

"Yeah, a little too unrealistic. Let's just hope we won't come to regret their help." rebutted Julian.

"You need to learn to be more trustworthy," chuckled Emma while shaking her head at Julian.

"One last thing," added Jace, "we should probably use the name Hestia while we're around the Institute. We made her a promise after all."

Everyone else nodded and they all stepped inside.

Leonardo Cacciaguidi emerged from behind one of the cypress trees that surrounded the Institute. The name Beatrice was echoing in his ears. Beatrice... A pair of big chocolate brown eyes looking up at him flashed in his mind. He forced the memory aside, and started wondering where the four American Nephilim had spent the whole day if they were not downtown.

***

Once inside the Institute, nobody came to greet them or seem to care that they were back, and Emma was thankful for that. The day had been extremely intense as it was, and all she wanted was to talk to Julian. After showering, Emma went to sit next to Julian who was waiting for her on the bed.

"Feeling better?" The boy asked with a tender look in his eyes. The events that had occurred in the past 30 hours or so felt like a whirlwind. It would seem that as far as Emma and Julian were concerned, they were not destined to have even one ordinary mission together; forget a mission, an ordinary week together. Lost in her thoughts, the girl simply nodded and attempted a timid smile.

With a worried tone, the boy inquired, "Are you alright? I knew you should have rested after the ravener's atta-"

"Julian, I am fine," said Emma assertively, "it's just that seeing Bea, I mean Hestia with Wolf and Lucilla made me think of home, of our family. Honestly, they remind me of us, a group of misfits who rallied together and are trying to survive as best as they can in spite of all the loss they've experienced." Julian kissed Emma's cheek and started, "I felt the same way today. They are a weird assortment of characters but they love each other fiercely, just like us."

After a pause, the girl inquired, "What do you think of this whole situation?"

"I am not sure yet. Wolf and Lucilla seem like honest people, although they're definitely covering something up when it comes to Hestia. Have you noticed how at any mention of the Institute, she freezes? I believe we should start doing a parallel investigation inside here to see what we can discover about the Cacciaguidi and the Buonaventura families." responded Julian.