I yawned. It was the early morning and I was awake out of habit and found nothing to do. The inn took care of the laundry and most of the cooking. The carriage was being repaired by someone else and everyone's equipment had been left at the blacksmiths to be cared for. Even at home in Axel there was always something to do but now I was standing in the centre of the inn's lobby looking around aimlessly.
"Found you," Earnest's voice and hand clasped around my shoulder causing me to jump. "Your body has recovered has it not?"
"Maybe…," I replied stiffly knowing where this was leading.
"Good enough, follow me." Without a choice I was pulled away to be beaten.
Earnest's training gave me something to do and it almost made it worth it. Almost. Despite being bored I could also just go back to sleep, which compared to being chased around the inn's courtyard, forced to attack only to be hit back, knocked over to the ground, stabbed and many other forms of torture, I much preferred sleep for obvious reasons. I seriously thought I would die at points and in reply I actually fought for my life only to have Earnest take that as me being motivated.
"Rain are you dead?" he hovered above me after throwing me to the ground for the umpteenth time. I stayed where I was hoping he would think I was unconscious and leave. "Hmm looks like you're still breathing. Good session. We'll start again tomorrow."
A minute passed before I realised he actually left me. The bastard actually just left me pretending to be unconscious on the ground. He didn't even try to help me up. The jerk! Next time I cooked his portion was going to be smaller. I rose up from the grass with a huff.
"Ah!" Lara screamed in surprise. "W-what are you doing?"
"Sorry didn't see you," I huffed and brushed off my dirtied clothes. It looked like she had come to the courtyard to do her morning practice swings. Why Earnest didn't train with her more was beyond me. My one possible regret the past cycle was catching his eye.
"Were you training with Earnest?" Lara asked me sympathetically.
"What gave you that idea?" I rolled my eyes.
"You know you've been a lot more sarcastic lately," she eyed me curiously.
"My apologies Hero. I'll be sure to fix my attitude immediately," I bowed deeply.
"Okay stop!" she raised her hands at me and looked away distastefully. "I didn't say it was bad." She turned back as I smiled, "Did you need me to call Marley?"
I shook my head, "I'd rather not owe her anything more. I'll head to the apothecary and fix myself up."
"Are you sure? You look like you're in pain…."
"Oh I am," I laughed. "But it's nothing that'll kill me."
She paused in thought as I was about to leave, "Actually I'll come with you."
"No you really don't need to," I said immediately. While we had become somewhat closer she was still the Hero. There was a line that needed to be drawn.
"I'm interested in the apothecary anyway. Back in the palace there was always a healer and now we have Marley but after what happened, I thought it might be a good idea if we had something in reserve."
I knew by the way she was looking at me that 'no' wasn't going to cut it. Instead I nodded and led the way. Greytree was large enough to have multiple apothecaries and some even belonging solely to the army stationed at the fortress. Most towns would have one and would be lucky to have anyone able to cast healing magic like Marley. From what I knew of Lara even she couldn't cast it as she had some of the key mana used inversely talented. Axel barely registered as a town with our population. The only reason we had an apothecary was because it was one of my mothers' hobby.
The shop we entered was a few streets down from the inn and quite large, taking up a sizeable chunk of the block. It doubled as a warehouse and I had visited several times before to buy the reagents I needed. Lara and I made our way there at a leisurely pace not saying much between us. However as we entered the usually quiet place was a bustle of noise.
"You said you could fix my sister!" a small boy was yelling at the middle aged man behind the counter. "You said if I paid you you'd make her feel better!" the boy was close to tears. I recognised him as the kid from yesterday.
"Sorry boy but I just don't know what's wrong with her. Money's not the problem here," the man looked at the boy apologetically.
"B-but…," the boy curled his fists frustrated.
"Is there a problem?" and like I expected, Lara being the Hero she was stepped in.
The boy looked at her with surprised eyes, "You-you're the nice lady from yesterday. Please help my sister!"
"Your name was Michael wasn't it?" Lara leaned down to talk with him. "What's wrong?"
"This old man won't help my sister. I even paid him for the medicine but it did nothing!" he growled angrily.
The man in question could only sigh, "The boy's been coming and going for medicine for near a week but I'm no charity here. Problem is when he finally had the money none of my treatments worked. Kid's sister is beyond me."
Lara straightened herself, "Is there anyone else who could help?"
"Maybe one of the apothecaries with the army but you'd need something special to get their attention."
I raised my hand before Lara had the chance to ask me, "If you'd like I can try give her a look." She was bound to ask me anyway and if I was the one who suggested I'd earn myself some brownie points.
"Really Rain you'd do that?" she looked at me with earnest eyes.
"You can do that?" the boy Michael did the same.
My expression complicated, "I'll give it a go but if the man here couldn't figure it out, I'm not sure I'll be much better."
"I know you'll do just fine," Lara smiled at me with complete faith, where it was coming from though I couldn't guess.
"So where's the patient?" I asked.
The man pointed upstairs, "We have her here. She was looking bad so we carted the girl in the room upstairs. Don't worry about the payment the boy had enough money for it." Of course he did, his money was ours after all.
I followed Michael upstairs and into a small well-kept room. A single bed sat in the middle against the wall and laid on top was a pale girl a few years younger than Marley. Her black hair was plastered to her skin from all the sweat she was producing.
"What did you give her?" I asked the man as I rolled up my sleeves and moved to get a closer look.
"Basic cold tonics, strengthening serums as well as nourishing supplements. Aside from that I couldn't narrow down what was wrong, doing more could only do worse," he answered professionally and I nodded. At least the man wasn't a quack. He did everything by the book and running a place like this he had to be pretty knowledgeable. Luckily for the girl, my teacher had always been more of an eccentric.
Lara and Michael stayed in the room as I moved about poking and prodding the girl. It was a bit awkward at first especially when I licked her sweat, don't worry it wasn't direct, but as the minutes passed the room faded and I was completely focused. I had all the tools I needed and any basic concoction was already downstairs. After half an hour I finished with a sigh.
"How is she?" Lara asked seeing me move away.
"I can't help her," I frowned.
"Bu-," Michael began tearily.
I interrupted him, "But if I had some help I might just be able to. Lara come over here."
"Me?" she looked at me panicked. "I can't cast healing magic. Are you sure we shouldn't call Marley?"
"It's not healing magic we'll need," I pointed to the girl. "She's not sick or at least not really. She's being possessed by a monster."
"What?" Lara looked at the girl in surprise.
I turned to the boy, "Michael what does your sister do for a living?"
"She helps gathers herbs in the nearby forest," he looked at her anxiously.
"And when she first came home was anything weird?"
"Umm she was really tired and said her head hurt. Then when she went to sleep she didn't wake up."
"Anything else?" my eyes pressured him.
"Ah-umm," he gripped his head trying to remember. "That's right! There was a black spot on the back of her neck but it disappeared when she slept."
I nodded, "Thought so." It was no wonder the poor man downstairs had no idea. Monsters capable of possession were very few. Luckily those that could and lived near towns weren't too serious and only sucked a person's energy rather than kill them or control them. A normal apothecary would never encounter something like that. Thankfully again, my teacher wasn't normal.
"So exactly what did you want me to do?" Lara asked hesitantly.
"Kill the monster when it comes out," I replied bluntly. "If the girl dies the monster will as well so if it feels threatened it'll try jump ship. Kill it when it does."
"O-okay," she nodded determined. "But how are we going to get it out."
"Easy, we poison her."
"What!?" Lara and Michael both looked at me as if I was crazy.
"It's fine. I have the antidote," I waved away their concern and moved closer to the girl's mouth. I took the vial of poison out from the selection of goods the man had prepared for me. Poisoning was the easy part, giving her the antidote was going to be a lot more awkward…. I took out a needle and pricked her skin with the poison. The effect took on quickly as the veins around the wound began to bulge and spread.
"Lily!" Michael yelled and tried to approach.
"Stay back!" I pushed him away. "Lara get ready. Here it comes."
The girl's body convulsed and a dark spectre sprung from her mouth. It shrieked and shot straight towards me. It only lasted a second before Lara grabbed the darkness and in a flash of light it vanished to nothing. I'd just like to point out that ordinarily you couldn't just grab them.
"Okay," I stepped closer to the girl undeterred. Now for the awkward part. The poison was still raging in her body and there was only one way I knew for her to drink the antidote. I took out the vial and was about to drink it when Lara stopped me.
"Hold on!"
"What?" it was my turn to be surprised.
"You're going to do mouth to mouth right?" she looked at me seriously. "Let me do it then."
I paused…. Sure the girl was pretty but to think that Lara swung that way… maybe Taylor really did have a shot if she pushed for it.
As if knowing what I was thinking she blushed, "I'm doing it so you won't! Don't get the wrong idea. A girl's lips are important."
"Her life is in danger," I folded my arms.
"I just have to make sure she drinks it right?" she reached for the vial.
"Fine," I handed it to her. If she screwed up I'd still have time to do it myself. Sure me doing it was awkward but it was for medical purposes so it really didn't matter.
Lara took the vial and after a calming breath poured it into her mouth before moving to the girl. She was struggling but with Lara's strength she easily pressed her down and soon after their mouths locked together. A small stream slipped through the cracks and after several seconds Lara broke it off wiping her mouth. Her breath wasn't quite steady. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the sight a little.
The effect of the antidote kicked in quickly and the girl calmed down. Michael was finally able to approach her and as he did so tears began to fall steadily down his cheeks. For a brief moment the girl's eyes opened looked at her brother and ever so softly she smiled before returning to sleep. It was an unexpected job and it was finally over.
"Good job there," I complimented Lara seriously.
She looked away, her fact reddening, "Please forget what you saw just now."
"B-," I was going to say that what she did was commendable and there was nothing wrong with it, however she shook her head.
"Please just forget… and don't tell anyone else."
"Sure," I still had to laugh a little.
*
With the excitement over Lara and I waited at the apothecary till Michael's sister woke up fully. While we waited I used the equipment downstairs to make a few mixtures of my own and talk with the man who ran the store. His name was Mala and had been living in Greytree for the past twenty years. Truly he was an exceptional apothecary and business man but when I told him about the cure he was still surprised. If anything it just went to show how much of an oddball my teacher was. We ended up getting into a conversation about brewing techniques and I even taught him how to mix potions inside your mouth. His reaction to that was interesting to say the least.
Michael and his sister Lily thanked us gratefully for our help and when Lara was sure they'd be fine we left the apothecary in the afternoon. There wasn't much else to do aside from relax in the town. Together we met with Taylor, found Earnest drinking alone, took Marley to eat some ice cream, discussed some issues with Ronalt and inspected the carriage again with Ardent. It was peaceful.
When night came and I laid myself onto my bed I couldn't sleep. It wasn't that I wasn't tired. Instead it was an odd feeling of everything being too calm. Was it really alright for us to just spend time here so leisurely? Sure we had to wait for the carriage to be repaired before we could leave but after all that I had experienced it felt wrong to have this opportunity.
I brushed off my blankets and opened the window leaning out to take in the fresh air. The town was darkening and only a few lights could be seen. The inn was a higher class place and had a nice view of streets leading towards the main gate. I breathed in deeply and sighed. At home during this time the outside world would be almost pitch black aside from the light of the moon. There would be barely any sound but here even now I could hear the quiet shuffles in the dark as people walked the streets.
"It's too quiet," Taylor's voice came from beside me and I turned to see her leaning out her own window like I was.
"I was just thinking the opposite," I laughed softly.
"I don't mean literally. This place… it's so close to the border but they're living like nothing will ever happen. We're on the cuff of war and yet they just go on with their everyday lives. I- I don't understand." Her eyes stared down towards the far buildings. Though her words said one thing there was a longing in her blue eyes.
"It's normal for them, and people usually like it when things stay that way. Change is hard."
"Yeah… it really is," her hands tightened almost unnoticeably.
"What, still feel like stealing things?"
She nodded, "Honestly yes." I was taken aback, my question wasn't meant to be serious. "Staying in the one place for this long… it's not something I'm used to. Like when we had dinner, the waiter recognised us. He recognised me. He even tried to flirt."
"I'm surprised you didn't take him up on the offer," I poked fun at her.
"I was tempted," she smiled as if mocking herself. "Rain have you ever fallen in love with someone?"
"Can't say I have," I replied easily, at least on the surface.
"Of all the things I've stolen a person's heart is the most satisfying. Spend a night, a day and in that time make them yours. Women, men, it didn't matter to me. What I wanted was their love, to know that they thought of me. And when I was gone, to know that they could never forget me."
I didn't know what to say. Yes, I had seen Taylor do just that. When we passed through on our previous cycles. The town's we stayed in, she'd sneak away and come back the next morning.
"Do you still want to?" I asked awkwardly. My eyes flicked towards her, "I mean go out and steal someone's heart."
"Like I said before, yes… a little. I'm not sure. It feels like I lost the point of it all," she turned and looked at me. I had gotten used to it but Taylor was really a beautiful women. However she was still young and right now seemed fragile. Her hair swept softly in the wind, the light of moon lit up her face, "Rain what should I do?"
I couldn't reply. No words formed. For a moment I said nothing.
"You really like springing this stuff on me don't you?" I couldn't help chuckle.
She laughed herself, "Sorry, it's just I feel like I can talk to you."
"I think…," I paused. Did I really have the right to give her this advice? Before she said that she started to care for us and now she was having trouble adjusting. I shook myself and continued, it was the least I could do, "I think that you no longer need to. You stole for the attention right? Well me, Lara and everyone else, we remember you, we know you and we want to know more about you." I smiled whole heartedly, "You're not alone."
A red tinge crossed her face, "W-wow Rain way to say something so embarrassing." She fanned herself as I reddened myself realising what I had said. Then she looked at me again and smiled, "Thank you though, I needed to hear that."
"No problem." I stretched, "Well I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."
"You could always spend some more time with me if you want, of course it'll be in my room," she winked at me. And there it was, the part of her that never really changed.
"Ha try again later. I might actually take you seriously," I waved her away.
"I will," the words were said so softly I didn't know if I actually heard them.
"What was that?"
"Goodnight Rain," she moved away from the window.
"Yeah… goodnight Taylor."