Cursed blood

When morning came, Sheyken woke up feeling like he was from a deep slumber. He had woken up at the usual time he always had and next to him still by the center of the room sleeping was Ningal.

"Beautiful."

He said in a small voice while looking at her face. He then looked up again.

'Apophis, just let this be my life. Waking up to a caring, honest beautiful girl like this is what a man needs in his life, hahaha.... and stop wanting me to get stronger for reasons you do not want to tell me, I'm sure you want grandkids. That's if I was not stacked in a kid's body.'

He thought while hiding his face with his hands like he was embarrassed.

'Since when have I never wanted to be strong? Her beauty must be making me complacent. Since I'm in a kid's body, what happens if you like a girl that's older than you in this world but that is around your age when you died on earth.'

He squinted his eyes, thinking hard, trying to find references in the novels he had read, only to get a piercing pain in his stomach by his belly button. He moved the blanket aside and saw a musical note carved on his stomach by his belly button where he thought the pain came from. He let out a scream that woke Ningal up.

"What.... what is that?"

He said pointing at the carved symbol. It was constantly oozing out a black liquid that he could only smell right when he had noticed it and it smelled horrible. He had never smelled something so horrible in his life.

"Mom!"

A little girl's voice rang out from the corner of the basement. Sheyken looked in the direction where the voice came from and saw a little girl on a pink bed holding her mount and nose with one hand and the curtains that are used to hide her bed with the other. He did not know what to think but noticed that a quarter of her hair was white and the rest of it was brown. For whatever reason, it reminded him of the tree that almost ate him in the protective barrier Apophis had put up for him in the Benevolent woods. On the floor next to her bed was the pink ball he had seen on the first day he met Ningal.

Ningal looked at the child. Noticing that she was awake and holding her nose because of the small. She ran to her and closed the curtains.

"Nanna, stay there and don't look. No matter what you hear you should stay in bed ok."

"Yes, mother... Cough, cough..."

Ningal then said an incantation and with-it fresh air filled the girls' side of the room removing the smell. She then went back to Sheyken who's mind was at sixes and sevens at that point.

'What the hell is going on and what the hell is happening to my stomach? Why did she use an incantation to freshen up the air when the boys in the woods did not have to when they fired their spells?'

"Ahhhh!"

He had to stop his thought as he screamed out loud. A shooting pain had gone from his belly button to every part of his body.

'Why is this happening. Isn't he only seven years old?'

Ningal thought while now rushing to him.

'I thought when he woke up I would introduce him to Nanna but..... why is this happening now. He does not even have a spell formation or a Reactant.'

"Sheyken, this is very important.... how old are you?"

She said trying to hold him down. He was now in pain all over his body such that he did not know what to do with himself.

"I'm... I'm 7 years old."

"Mmmmhh... was it triggered by me removing the curse then?.... Then what kind of curse was it to be attached to his Solace to this extent?"

"What curse are you talking about?.... Please, just please make this pain stop."

Sheyken did not know what she was on about. All he knew was that if you combined all the times Zararloch had cut him during training, the pain would be way better than what he was feeling right now.

"Wait here. I have to get someone. I will not be long. You are a strong young man. Even though you do not have a Coolant, I am sure you won't die. Just be strong and do not dare close your eyes."

She said getting up to her feet and quickly leaving the basement. She ran up the steps and to the shop's exit door where she stopped for a while, took a long breath, and for the first time in years she stepped out of her house. She went to the butcher shop on the other side of the street which was about 100 meters from her shop.

"Vitula!... open the door."

Hearing a voice he never expected to hear outside his door Vitula panicked and rushed to open it.

"What are you doing outside?"

He said in a low voice so as not to course a commotion since it was early in the morning and if anyone saw her, it would be the talk of the town as Flosbris would have a field day.

"Is it Nanna?"

He asked with a whisper.

"No, it is Sheyken. I do not know what is happening. Come, we cannot talk here."

She took his hand and ran back to her shop. He was already wearing his butchers' outfit so he had no problem leaving in a hurry, but if Sheyken would have seen her holding his hand, it would have absolutely worsened his condition.

They arrived at the basement and luckily, she had let go of his hand. The room was so smelly at that point no living thing would want to be near Sheyken. Vitula knew what was going on as soon as he arrived at the basement and saw the black liquid around him together with the empty bottle of potion on the floor. He ran to Sheyken and put both hands on his face so to make Sheyken look and focus on him since he was still in so much pain.

"Son, listen to me carefully. What's coming out of your body is cursed blood. Your body is rejecting it. I do not know what happened here, but you have let out enough of it from your body such that I am sure what is left will be of no harm to you if you infuse it with your healthy blood, but your body will keep on discharging it. You must be strong Sheyken. You have a Blessing, use the method you use to develop your Blessing in order to stop your body from casting out the cursed blood or you will die of blood loss. Try to keep it in and circulate it in your body. Your healthy blood will dilute it and because of this you may become even stronger."

After those words, he let him go and stood beside Ningal with a concerned face. He looked at the corner of the room and saw the little girl trying to peek through the curtains.

After what Vitula said had sunk in and now knowing that if he did nothing he would definitely die, Sheyken set up in a meditating portion, and even though he was in great pain, he started to meditate.

Seeing him in great pain and him trying his best to get to a meditative state, Ningal was now thinking she was too rush in trying to treat him of his curse. Together with the fact that Vitula said he might die because of her trying to remove it, the words were now eating her heart away. She was facing the floor wallowing in regret only to be taking out of her state by Vitula giving her a light slap on her back.

"I know what you are thinking. Trust me, after seeing the one and only fourth circle portion we had left you used to heal him, you missing a finger together with the fact that you did not hesitate to use it on him shows you did everything you could to help him. This is what it means to be a White witch. Sometimes you do everything you can to help your patient but in the end, it is up to them if they want to live or die."

"But he might die because of me. If I had left it alone, he might have found someone more competent to remove it. I..."

"Stop it Ningal. Whatever that curse was, for it to have this kind of reaction after you removed it, it means it must have been of the 5th circle. That means your actions were the right choice. Do not forget that you are an Initiate and you achieved something even a third circle mage would be envious of. This also means your Spirit dram is one of the strongest out there. Seeing the blood, my guess is...."

Vitula had to stop his conversation with Ningal. Sheyken was now in his meditative state and the room had gone quiet.

'I couldn't even guess how much pain he should be experiencing right now. The fact that within minutes he could cast it aside and go to a meditation state is just simply amazing. He must have a strong mind. His aptitude must be high'

Vitula thought to himself. He and Ningal both looked at each other and with eyes of understanding, they both knew right then what they needed to do. As Ningal set next to Sheyken together with Vitula in a meditation position, they each took one of Sheyken's hands, holding it tight and they too held hands.

"Wait. I am sure you know this is going to be dangerous. Make sure your energy flows outwards to him and never vice versa or you will be tainted and the curse will also corrupt your body. Remember, Nanna needs you."

Ningal smiled and then let out a smirk.

"You seem to forget that Falgur needs you as well."

After a smile from both of them, they closed their eyes and started to meditate. Nanna was still peeking through the curtains and was just in awe of what she was seeing and hearing. Throughout her life, no significant event had happened except for when they celebrated her 3rd birthday which she could still remember like it was yesterday.

Seeing the black liquid on the floor starting to vibrate now and then, she could not help but think of when her mother would heal her, but seeing Sheyken, she could not help but be curious of the first child she had ever seen who was not that older than her and who her mother could not stop talking about.

"Brother Sheyken."

She said in a whisper and together with sparkling eyes that would put any other cuteness to shame.

"Will you play with me?....cough, cough"

She said, hoping whatever they were doing would finish so she can finally talk to someone who wasn't her mother or Vitula for the first time in her life.