"Lady Kyomi???" Makoto asked as he looked up at Maru, who he was still clinging onto. His eyes lit up. "Of course it's you!! Only Princess Kyomi would care so much about a lowly human!!" he added. Maru instinctively covered his mouth and bent down to be more at his level.
"Shhhh, Makoto, I need this to stay a secret between us. You see, not everyone is going to be as happy as you are with my return. I'm still trying to develop a plan of action. So can you keep it a secret?" asked Maru. Between all of the chaos, she did not pay attention to what time it was. The spell of concealment had dropped. "Please, please don't bow. I am no one of consequence." Maru said as she moved to the mother to sit her up and back to rest. Then, she quickly performed the concealment spell. "My name is Maru, and this is my brother Haru. Just a couple of elves roaming the countryside." she said with a radiant smile. The mother sat back up and hugged onto Maru.
"I...I can't thank you enough, my Lady. Makoto and I will keep your identity a secret. You have my word. There is nothing I can do to repay your kindness, so it's the very least we can do!" she whispered through tears that fell down her face. Maru pulled her back and wiped her tears.
"That is more than enough for me. I'm just happy it was something I could treat." Maru answered as she ruffled Makoto's hair. She then looked at the girls who were sleeping still. "This world does not need more orphans. But these children still need their mother." she said as a tear streamed down her face. "Now you need your rest. Makoto? You hear that? Be sure to let her rest." she added. Makoto nodded as fast as he could with a smile. "Come on, Haru, we have a stop to make this morning before we head home." Maru said as she made her way out of the hut. Haru smiled at the family and bowed before he left. Maru stood by the road. A sigh escaped his lips as he saw the determination in his eyes.
"The apothecary?" he asked. Maru bit her lip and nodded. There was no way that the old bastard did not know what he was doing. The closer they came to the shop, the more her fury intensified. Before she even realized it, Maru was in the shop and holding the apothecary by his throat against the wall. "Maru!" Haru yelled to no avail. Her green eyes seemed to be glowing they were so bright. The apothecary was trying to speak, but maru had him pinned hard against the wall. "Maru! You haven't even interrogated him yet!" Haru exclaimed. What was she doing? Maru could not remember when or how she had grabbed the man. It took all she had to let go of him. The man was coughing as he held his neck.
"You sold medicine to a woman with three children. She showed symptoms of hives, troubles breathing, and facial swelling?" asked Maru. The man stared at her with wide eyes.
"You mean...the...mother of.. Makoto?" he asked as he tried to take in deep breaths of air. Maru glared at him. "Yes, yes. She had come to me originally complaining of headaches. Then the spots showed up, and she started to swell up. She didn't have..."
"Headaches?! Then why add the nuts?! They're not called for in the medicine!" she yelled. The man began to stutter.
"I... I didn't add them at first because, like... like you said, it's not needed. However, I noticed she was looking thin..." he began. Maru cut him off and looked at his workers, who were all staring at them.
"Bring me the batches of medicine that hers came from!" Maru said to the workers. They all quickly dispersed and brought them forward. "You didn't notice that the secondary symptoms came after introducing the nuts?! It had to be clear she was having a reaction to it! To anyone who works with medicine, it would be obvious the nuts were the problem!" she said as she looked over the batches of medicine. Her rage increased as she looked over them. Just like the man had said, he had added nuts to the second batch and on. However, the only thing he ever increased in the medicine was the amount of nuts used. "Looking at this medicine, all you changed in, it was the amount of nuts! You didn't increase anything else! You were killing her, and you knew it!" Maru yelled. The man turned pale white. He was now in a bowing position.
"I swear, miss, I had no idea..." he began. She rolled her eyes and kicked him in the stomach.
"Don't lie, you knew it!!! All too well!! You ignored it and increased it instead! I just don't understand why?! What could killing a mother of... Makoto! You wanted Makoto!? Why?! Cheap labor??? Cause you knew he would now have to support his two sisters?!" Maru kept grilling into him. The man was reeling in pain on the ground, begging for mercy. It took everything she had in her not kill the man on the spot. Suddenly, someone grabbed her hand. And she felt most of the anger and rage leave her body. She turned to see Takeshi! A groan could be heard from her as she ripped her hand from him. Then she made her way to the door but stopped. She glared down at the old man. "Believe me, your days are numbered. But don't fret, I won't kill you. I will destroy you slowly. Even if you beg, I will show you no mercy... just like you did to that woman! She trusted you with her life! And out of greed for a cheap workhand that you could work to death without consequences... now you see the consequences." she said as she turned and left the shop. Maru began to storm off down the road.
"Maru!? ....Maru?!" yelled Takeshi. "Stop damn it!" Takeshi yelled as he caught her hand and spun her towards him. She was crying! Falling against Takeshi, she began to ramble on about the situation. He did not know what to do with her. Glancing around, he could see everyone on the street staring at them and saying things like how he must have broken her heart. Or how a terrible guy he was. Takeshi let out a low growl. Suddenly, Maru went limp in his arms. Did she pass out from exhaustion?? She should not have. Elves do not fatigue so easily. Haru was confused as to what had made her pass out. Takeshi went to pick her up, but Haru tried to stop him. Takeshi's red eyes seemed to glow as he looked at him to back off. Haru did not know why, but he found himself unable to ignore the warning. Again, Takeshi bent down to pick her up. At first, he began to walk to the inn but then turned to Haru.
"Lead me to where you guys are staying." he said in a monotone voice. A discontented Haru began to lead the way. Takeshi knew exactly where they needed to go but did not want to raise suspicion in Haru even more. When they arrived at the room, Takeshi laid Maru down on the bed. He found it hard to take his eyes off her. "Tell me now, what was all that about?"
"Why should I tell you anything, dark elf!" said Haru, unable to control himself. Takeshi gave him another warning glance.
"Because I know. I know who she is. Yet I have done nothing nor said anything. If I wanted to bring harm to her, I would have done so already! Nor would I have helped back there! Though you're supposed to be protecting her, you sat back and watched!" said Takeshi. He felt annoyed that he even had to explain himself. Haru let out a sigh and then explained the whole situation. Takeshi nodded when he had finished. "Always being nosey... involving yourself in other peoples business when you should be worried about yourself." whispered Takeshi, staring at the past out Maru.
"Did you do something to her? You had to..." asked Haru. Takeshi's eyes never left Maru.
"I used a sleeping powder. It won't last on her much longer. To be honest, it was a gamble that it would work at all." answered Takeshi. "Your Princess is immune to a lot." he added. He had spent the last couple hours in the real world digging as much info he could on Princess Kyomi. 'This guy sure has a lot of dialogue for an npc,' thought Takeshi. There was movement on the bed. Maru was waking up. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked around the room. Then she slowly sat up.
"Takeshi??" she asked.