The director of dead - part 4
The extra can be skipped since it doesn't add to the story. Its more like background.
“Are you here to save us? You’re from the shop that mother likes to visit, the owner. Please help, my brother is not breathing” there was desperation in the girl’s voice which alarmed him.
She would not be allowed to pass out as well. There was no way he would be able to carry two children out of here by himself.
And time was of importance. He could feel his body degrading even in the current situation. The boy was not breathing, but his soul had not yet disappeared.
There was still time for him to act and fulfil the wish. All he had to do was to get the bodies of children out.
“Yes. Your mother wishes for your bodies to reach her safely. I’m here to ensure that it happens” he explained and could visibly see the girl relax. There were tears in her eyes, but she controlled the urge.
“Thank you” the girl was clearly trying her best not to be loud. A sensible creature, but there was something in her body language which spoke of discomfort.
Feeling around, Xiao could feel what must be the reason. This place was saturated with magic, but as soon as he neared the beds he felt it all melt away from around him.
Looking down, he could not see or feel an array visibly and without any magic in his surroundings, he could not check for it either. Going far away to check would waste too much time.
He needed to disconnect the children from those tubes. He did not recognise whatever was inside the tubes, but he didn’t like them either.
Getting the kids detached without hurting them further was tricky. Their veins would bleed out quicker if he pulled it wrong. And there was no magic to help speed up the process.
He had neither a gauge nor alcohol to get it out safely. However, what he did have he would make the best use of. Clearly, the people around him had not been careful with their belongings.
One of the scientists had left her purse unchecked and he made a throw search of it. In the end, he did come up with a tissue box and a mobile phone.
Quickly fishing the tissue out, he used it to apply pressure around the needle before taking it out. Handing the place over to the girl, he instructed her to hold the tissue till it stopped bleeding.
The tissue was already turning red, so he handled it another without question.
Getting the needle out of the boy was tougher. His body was getting colder and heavier like a stone. Also, the needle got stuck and continuously bled.
Picking up the boy, he knew he had to hurry if he was going to make it out here in time. What they needed was another transportation array or a warp.
“Here, take this and call 000. Ask them to track this phone. Hurry” he passed the phone to the girl before he quickly began walking. The child weighed a lot now that he was dead as all dead bodies were.
Although the mobile was locked, formatting it was an easy go. The model was old enough to be formatted even without any external help. He instructed the child to do so as they exited the room.
He led both of them toward the corridor they had arrived from. It was their safest bet and the only known transportation array to him.
It did occur to him that he should find the guard who accompanied him, but he could not leave two kids, one dead even, alone on their own. And he could not allow them to accompany him directly into danger.
They were too young to actually face all this and he felt terrible being here with them
“Excuse me, sir, how far do we need to go? I’m feeling sick” he turned around to see the girl’s sluggish movements. It was difficult for her to walk and he wanted to help her as well but he could not with Xiao still in his arms.
“We’re just there. You need to hold on just a little bit longer” he encouraged the child. He felt bad as he always did when kids were involved, but his own inability to do anything made him feel powerless.
However, before he could begin moving again the girl fainted.
Putting the kid in his arms down, he made his way over to the girl. She was burning to touch and her body twitched every few seconds his grasp..
As soon as his senses touched her, he knew what it was. Magic poisoning. Whatever she had been pumped up with had reacted badly with her magic and effecting her on a physical and mental level.
If she dies of this, there was no way her body could be salvaged. He had to purify her body as much as he could.
The only way to save her would make her into an abyss. They were creatures not of this reality and walked a fine line between existence and nonexistence. The only creatures who were outside the control of the world tree and thus had a different society.
Generally, there was no contact between them and the supernatural. If he did this, the girl was most likely lost forever to this side. Supernatural creatures did not like abyss people and vice versa.
And what would happen to the boy he saved? His energy would not last long enough to get everyone out.
His dilemma festered in his mind. His body was also at its limit and he could feel the seed pulsing inside his veins.
If he did not take care of it soon then he would just end up devouring the next person he came across without reason. It would be equally bad if the body was not compatible.
Something brushed his senses which brought him out from all the darkness inside his mind. His senses leading him toward the young body which laid dead in front of him.
“Use this as my next host? I can’t. I still need to get the body out of here fast. The soul is still there and I can save it” Xiao tensed as the thing brushing against his senses became more urgent.
The energy was pulsing around him and time was running out fast.
There was another brush of energy that pulsed around him and he could feel the poison inside his body festering at him. His current shell would not last.
He was breaking from inside.
The markings around his body were visible and pulsing in bluish-green shades. Then they began breaking away from his to gather into his extended hands.
It was the flower from the morning unbloomed in his hand and he watched in horror as the petals opened and the seed flew out.
He tried to reach out to it, to get it back but as it flew father, so did his consciousness. The body he was in began disintegrating into black sparkles and there was a voice of shackles breaking.
Feverish grey eyes were looking at him unequally, the adult disappeared in front of them and a black crystalline moth with a ball for a body entered the boy through the mouth.
Black veins crept up the boy’s body as it pulsed all over. The chocolate brown hairs turned white and the skin lost its colour.
Then, a pair of green-blue eyes opened to meet a feverish pair of grey eyes.
Ray had seen everything, but her brain could not determine if this was fantasy or reality. Her body was still in the middle of her transformation and trying to repair the poison it had suffered.
Now that he was in a new body he knew what had happened. Her brother’s soul had made a wish and the tree had taken the liberty with it to save its host in return for his soul.
The body he currently occupied had no connection to any other soul and it only meant that the existence of the soul was erased fully.
Soon the girl would forget that she was her real brother and take him for a brother. Just as the others before her had done.
“Sir, we found the kids. However, Master Ethan is not here” damage control had arrived at the scene. 000 was the emergency contact for the border. They were a kind of police force and kind of protector of their race. The highly-trained ones and not like the flimsy guards from before.
The girl was quickly picked up along with him by the guards and when he turned his head he could see a very familiar figure in the crowd.
Council Head Anon was there and as soon as he was seen, he was sure that others knew what had happened. The man had lived long enough to see this many times.
However, he was not alone. There was another figure with him and he instinctively knew who that other figure was. Someone who was outside the influence of the world tree.
Someone from the abyss had arrived and he was sure he would never see Ray again. Maybe it was for the best after all.
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“That’s what I thought would happen. But I saw the girl a week later and as soon as she saw me she attacked. She knew that I was not her brother and was only occupying this body. But not for long. She never remembers for long whenever this spell hits her” Xiao finished his story.
Taking a look at Kei, he expected outrage or something not this calm collective gaze of detachment.
“And, what about that guard who went with you? Did he make it out alive?” Kei asked and Xiao was taken back. There was so much he could have asked and this was what Kei chose to go with?
Well, at least he listened to him patiently and Xiao found that he liked this feeling. So, he could humour the teen a little more.
“I inquired about that guard discreetly but no one knew about such a thing. It was not like I could actively go around asking. I was a child at that time who was just rescued from a traumatic experience” he explained and added the last part with a spectacular look from his car mate.
“How did the girl remember that. Doesn’t the world tree make sure that the memories are rewritten completely” Kei quickly avoided the car speeding toward them as he asked this? His attention was once again perfectly divided.
“It does and there is no explanation for this. We theorized that it was because of her transformation into an abyss. But we can’t go actively asking about this and I still needed to preserve whatever I could for landing her into this situation” Xiao explained and Kei nodded.
Abyss was a mystery for everyone and one no one was willing to breach willingly.
“Is that why you keep your long and not cut it? As a way to honour her?” Kei asked in a subdued voice. The atmosphere inside the car had tensed considerably.
“No, not for her but for him. This is a remembrance for the brave child who chose to save his sister all that time back. That’s also why I use their names when I pose as them” Xiao’s voice was soft and contained a melancholic hint to it. Kei had nothing more to add to it.
And so the pair arrived back in the town they started. Back to the place that had been Xiao’s home for a long long time.
They were back in front of the wishing shop.
The pair had been out since morning and it was well into the evening when they returned. Era was closing up the shop when they pulled up in front of the shop. She looked content while doing so.
“How was the day? Any problem I should know about? What about the help Noah got today? I’m sorry you had to do this in your first week here” Xiao asked, making sure that everything was alright.
The girl smiled at him gratefully. He could see her easy demure and untensed posture and it seemed like nothing was wrong here.
“It was alright. Sir got one of your previous helpers Theo to come around and he showed me the ropes. I feel like he was doing more than I was. He even got me a gift” there was adoration in the girl’s eyes and understandably so. Her hand held a locket with a blue ruby.
Theo had been one of his longest workers who had been an undercover agent and had joined him after his job finished. His job as the shop was kind of like a vacation before he headed back into the field.
He was also a charmer with the ladies. His flirting was something that had made Xiao uncomfortable but he had come around to it.
One bad trait could be tolerated for good company.
“Alright, off you go. I’ll take care of everything here now” Xiao dismissed her as he checked the shop once again.
The girl left with her hands clenching her locket tightly and her gaze filled with affection. Xiao smiled softly and at Kei’s questioning look shook his head.
“What's wrong?” Kei asked with a hint of curiosity waking in his voice.
“Just good memories. A long time ago my only friend promised to get me one, but the time never came” Xiao said with a fond look. His gaze held sadness and longing too.
“Well, would you like? I mean, I’m your friend too” The teen flushed at his own words, but they touched Xiao. No one had ever claimed him as a friend genuinely.
People did it to gain his influence and to further their agenda with him. However, he felt that Kei meant it in the total sense.
How depressing. A guy he met one day ago seemed more genuine in his affection than people he had known for his lifetime.
“We are, aren't we? Friends I mean” Xiao felt his voice soften at the confession. Whatever Kei’s intentions were, at this moment and time Xiao didn’t care and probably never will from this point onwards.
The blush on the teen’s face got worse at his words and seeing him one would think that he had a fever. It made Xiao chuckle.
“Let’s retire for today. Knowing Noah, we will have an early morning tomorrow” Having friends was the best.
(I really feel motivated to see people read this although I would love to hear your thoughts too. So can you add some of them in the comments? they're free after all. Also, it would help me to know what you find appealing and what you do not. For example, do you want one big update or two small ones in one day? This question is really important so please answer carefully)