17 [[[THE PURPLE MIST]]]

"I have got to stop doing that" Valencia slowly got up off the bed. She realized she was back in the same room. Beside her was a beautiful purple dress. There was no one else in the room. She decided to clean herself up and put on her new dress. There were only two doors in the small room and one of them led to the washroom.

Her head was spinning but that was minor compared to the excitement she had. Through her power she sensed that the suffering around her had decreased considerably. She was happy to be useful coming from the imperial family trash. "What a crazy day" she thought.

She exited the house and realized that it was dark outside. She had not had the time to fully admire the wonders of the stone village. The streets were lonely, and it looked like a ghost town, but she knew it was Lucy's home, so she was not afraid. The adventurer in here decided to take a little stroll around.

After walking for a while, she eventually stopped at the center of the village. The center of the village was not that far away from the Chiefs building. Her first assessment about the village was right. It was not like the capital and that made her happy. No one here knows who she was. Here she would be a normal girl.

In one of the buildings at the outskirts of the stone village two silhouettes were having a private meeting.

"You have failed. How did she come back alive and with a healer at that?" one of the voices said angrily. "The chief must suspect one of the elders, I would take care of him, but that old bag of bones is resilient." This voice belonged to one of the elders.

"That's impossible, there is no way she could have made it out alive", the other voice was shaking. The owner of this voice was tony, who had ambushed Lucy and left her for dead. "I'll go finish the job tonight"

"Silence you impudent fool. I have already reported it and he is not pleased. This plan has taken years of preparation. There can be no interruptions". The elder shook his head angrily. This was his only chance of survival and he would be damned if he let this unreliable fool ruin his plan.

"How troublesome…. We have been given new orders until the boss returns".

Tony was scared the boss was returning and he wanted to prove to him. "what is my new order?"

"Your new order is to die!" The elder acted. Tony looked down and saw the elders had stuck his hand into his chest. Blood gushed from his mouth. He looked up and wanted to ask the elder why, but he could not speak. He was only greeted with dead eyes. "This is how you kill, remember it well in your next life"

The elder shook his hand and Tony fell to the ground dead. His face riddled with shock. In the next moment, fire erupted from his hands and Tony's corpse began to burn.

Back at the village center, Valencia started to see a little more activity. She could see a few people leaving their abode.

"There you are! I have been looking for you". Lucy was out of breath. She went back to check on Valencia but she was not there. She was frantically searching for her. She thought Valencia had left. Lucy was happy l but she realized that Valencia was gonna leave after fully healing the villagers. She did not know what she was gonna do but she would never show it on her face.

She took a minute to catch her breath. It was then she noticed Valencia looking at the sky. The loneliness she was exuding.

She was elated to inform her that the water had worked. It was not as strong as the effects of the pearl or as aggressive. It did not purify all the toxin, but she was thankful the villagers' lives were safe and not in pain anymore.

But she decided to wait.

"I have never been out this late before", Valencia looked up at the moon. She would compare how lonely the moon looked in the night sky and how lonely she was. Back in the palace, she would always talk to the moon.

She looked over at Lucy and smiled. In the moonlight, she did not know how beautiful she looked.

Lucy involuntarily blushed. She did not want to be away from Valencia. She did not know her background but she could tell it was not a pleasant one.

It was then Lucy said to Valencia in a soft and sure tone "I will be your side forever. As long as you will have me. For I'm nothing but a humble servant " she said. Valencia looked at her with a humble smile putting a hand on her left cheek saying you're no servant of mine. I'm proud to call you my friend. At that very moment tears fell from Valencia's eyes as she held Lucy's soft hand ."I will love that very much".

This level of vulnerability was rarely seen from Valencia. She knew she had found a true friend.

The villagers that were feeling better started to leave their house one by one. The smile and relief on their face made her feel warm inside. Shortly after, Valencia started to feel off. she felt a chill aura creeping about. It did not take long for a purple mist to appear in the surrounding. It was a strange scene, one moment the air was clear and in the next, the air was suffocating. It had the same feeling the poison gave off so she was very familiar with the feeling. The people that were about to leave their house started screaming in despair. Many of them rushed back into the house. The sound of screaming and door closing ran throughout the village. This was a nightly occurrence for the villagers.

Lucy instantly knew what it was and her face changed. With all the happiness, Lucy forgot about the mist, the main problem. It only took a few seconds for the poison to seep into her system. She winced in pain.

A white glow overwhelmed her and the pain immediately went away. Valencia had seen what happened and acted fast. She did not just heal Valencia, she healed the entire village. She immediately activated her skill and a huge butterfly of light appeared in the center of the village. It brightened the whole village. The butterfly flapped its wings and an intense glow was released followed by hundreds of smaller butterflies.

The smaller butterflies flew off and swiftly made their way to the houses of each villager. It was truly a spectacular sight. After a few seconds all the screaming stopped. Valencia was using her powers in public but she did not have a choice not only could she hear the villagers suffering but she could feel it. All that energy, their suffering was being poured into her.