The 20th of Neir, 2nd month of year 3245
Their first night at the house was strange. Neither brother could really believe that they would wake up and be in the same place tomorrow. They sat in the living room at the back of Recovery Girl's clinic. The only thing that kept them from wallowing in silence was Recovery Girl and her random tasks. She pulled them into her workshop when she needed an extra pair of hands to help her mix salves or brew a batch of potions, observing them carefully while they worked. They got complimented when they finished and were sent back to the living room to sit. The brothers ate dinner with her, exhausted heads hung heavy with the weight of their problems.
She didn't press for conversation, or ask where they were at in planning for their future, but she did gently prod them into helping her with the dishes. Afterwards, she walked them to a small room with piles of boxes obscuring the floor.
"You can sleep here." She said as the brothers leaned into the room with a disbelief etched clearly across their faces, "It's all I got and you can't sleep in my living room."
"No, no no, its-" Shigeo grimaced looking around at the room that was about the size of his bathroom at the Keep, and he was being generous. On top of that, he and Ritsu were going to share a quarter of it with all these boxes in the way.
"It's better than anything we've had in weeks." Ritsu finished gracefully.
"Just make enough room for a futon in the center there. I'll set up some water for a bath." Recovery Girl started walking back toward the living area, her cane tapping along the wood floor.
"What do we do with the boxes?" Ritsu asked down the hall after her.
"Either stack them in the room or outside. Just don't block that door. It's my room." She said and pointed the door across the hall from them.
She left the brothers to clear out enough space to fit a single futon as she set up a small basin with water, soap and hand towels to clean themselves. The brothers made space, but the dust on the floor and in the air made this room feel even more cramped. It hardly felt like a change from the last three weeks. Shigeo wiped a clean place to sit with a dirty sleeve of his tunic.
"Have you been thinking of what we'll do now?" Ritsu asked sitting in the dust, unable to care if his space was dirty or not.
"I haven't." Shigeo replied with a sigh.
Ritsu nodded absentmindedly but there was a hint of disappointment in the movement. Shigeo felt guilt creeping into his chest. He was the older brother and he should have this figured out, but his mind was blank. Just like back at the Keep he was so consumed with his own stress. He was useless as an older brother.
"I'm really proud of you, you know that right?" Shigeo told him suddenly. He couldn't remember if he had even thanked Ritsu yet, Ritsu sat stunned while Shigeo had more to say, "I don't know what to do. I don't even know anything useful but you got us here. I'm sorry… I'm- if I was half the brother you are I'd have an idea but, I have nothing. I have nothing."
"You're a great brother!" Ritsu crawled across the floor to his brother, their knees knocked together as Ritsu grabbed Shigeo's sleeves, "I- I wouldn't trade any other brother in the world for you! I had to get you out of there. You were suffering."
"Now you are comforting me again." Shigeo wiped an eye, "That's supposed to be my job."
"Who cares?" Ritsu asked.
Shigeo was going to say 'I do' but he noticed Recovery Girl hiding by the door watching them. Ritsu followed his gaze and he broke away from his brother. Recovery Girl sighed out of sight before she entered.
"I didn't want to interrupt but I have a bath ready for you." She said and left the doorway, the order to follow her went unsaid.
They followed her to the sliding door along the wall opposite of the door to her clinic.
"I thought we couldn't go outside?" Ritsu asked to be sure, prepared to step out of sight as she reached for the handle.
"I set up something. Its temporary." She said, "I use the private room at the bath house but you can't just walk there for obvious reasons right now. There is a basin in the back for you two. Leave your clothes by the door here okay?"
They nodded and she slid open a door and sheets were hung from a wooden overhang that blocked off all view of the yard. To the right of the door was a tub, soap, and two short stools. She gestured to the boys to get moving and closed the door behind them. The brothers undressed and dropped their clothes by the screen door. The ground was mostly hard packed dirt, and it was cold and gritty on their feet.
The water was warm but it cooled quickly in the chill spring air. The brothers were shocked to see the water run brown off their skin. They took turns scrubbing their skin with the bar of soap Recovery Girl left for them until the water ran clear. What looked like a tan was a layer of dust and dirt that was turning into silt at their feet. With their skin clean and slightly tacky from soapy residue, they took turns washing each other's hair.
It was a careful process to scrub soap through each other's greasy hair, and rinse, without either brother touching any of their freshly cleaned skin to the dirt. They shivered in the wind and the water had gone cold a while ago. The bath had been nice, but without clean clothes to change back into, it felt pointless to the brothers.
So when they saw two clean kimonos and towels waiting for them at the door they were pleasantly surprised. They inspected the clothes, maybe a little big, but definitely not Recovery Girl's size like they first feared. Dressed in clean clothes and freshly bathed brought a sense of relief the brothers didn't realize they needed.
"No need to cry Ritsu." Shigeo pointed out Ritsu's watery eyes knowing full well his were the same.
"Yes big brother." Ritsu said with a breathy laugh.
They opened the door and Recovery Girl was reclined in a chair reading. The brothers brushed off their feet with the towels and went to their room without either party saying a word. The futon was rolled out with a pillow for each of them. The brothers climbed into bed and laid in the dark, listening to the other breathe, unable to start a conversation. Hard earned habits die harder it seems. They slipped into sleep without realizing it and didn't stir the rest of the night.
-The 21th of Neir, 2nd month of year 3245-
No one woke them the next morning. Ritsu came to in the dark, windowless room. The only light sources were from under the door than came in and the light from another door to his right he hadn't noticed last night. A stack of boxes obscured the bright line but it was there. Just beyond, Ritsu could hear a muffled conversation was taking place. Shigeo was already awake and he was staring at the ceiling with a serious expression.
"Good morning." Ritsu coaked, his throat was uncooperative this morning.
Shigeo turned his head, startled out of his thoughts, "Good morning Ritsu."
"What are you thinking about?" Ritsu asked, he arched his back and stretched his chest and shoulders but he didn't get out from under the covers, they were too warm.
"The future." Shigeo said flatly.
"Any thoughts to share?"
His brother paused, the corners of his mouth dipping down into a brief frown, "None."
"Me neither." Ritsu rolled his head so he was looking up at the ceiling again.
"You just woke up." Shigeo said bluntly.
"So I don't have any thoughts yet." Ritsu said lightly. He smiled to himself in the dark, then he rolled his head to the side to look at Shigeo, "Do you think that old lady is awake?"
He nodded in head, his hair was messy before, but it was fluffed into a halo around his head now, "She got up a while ago. I think she had an appointment with someone. I can hear them talking in the next room over."
Ah, so that's what that room is, Ritsu turned his head toward the door, just able to make out Recovery Girl's voice, "Do you think she'll really kick us out if we don't come up with some kind of a plan?"
"No," Shigeo said with a level of certainty Ritsu didn't share, "I think she is really nice. Nicer than she wants us to think."
Ritsu could see that. She seemed soft on them but they were rather pathetic sight to behold right now.
Being in such a dark room was disorienting. Not nearly as disorienty as it was waking up in some of the other places they have over the last three weeks, but Ritsu couldn't tell if it was morning or the afternoon. He was warm and tired enough to fall back asleep were it not for the gnawing hunger in his gut. Shigeo's stomach growled and he tried to play it off like he didn't hear it. When Ritsu's stomach growled in a call and response, Shigeo immediately sat up.
"Let's go and ask for something to eat." He said as he got out from under the covers.
Ritsu watched him fix his kimono and try to smooth down his hair, while Ritsu waited till the last second to pull himself from the warm covers. They padded lightly down the hall, the wood was cold, and slightly rough on their feet. It was in need was sanding and polish, but that seemed like work that was beyond the arthritic capabilities of the elderly woman. Breakfast hopefully, was not.
They made it to the living space, the rectangle room was still a tightly fitted combination of kitchen, dining, and living room. The brothers couldn't help but compare it to the academy rooms. Even at the boarding school, their dorms were bigger, but Recovery Girl somehow made her whole life fit into this space. Maybe the extra space wasn't necessary to begin with.
Recovery Girl wasn't there, and the brothers sat at the table and waited. They discussed the future but their plans always seemed to fall apart under the slightest scrutiny. It was hard to plan for a new life when you didn't know how to live one on your own. When Recovery Girl returned the brothers were having a hushed conversation.
"Good morning. Are you two hungry?" She greeted them.
They nodded their heads earnestly, and Recovery Girl clenched her jaw to keep from smiling. She refused to believe that she was feeling the beginnings of a fondness for the boys. Shou couldn't have read her so well.
"Have you two decided what you want to do?" She asked on her way to the kitchen, she had some rice left over from her breakfast that morning.
It would be cold but a fried egg might make it easier to swallow. Not that they were in a position to complain about what she did or didn't give them. As for her question, she didn't get an answer. A hollow silence filled the room instead. She glanced back at the brothers who were looking down, their lips pressed in thin trembling lines and their brows knitted together.
"Have you thought about…" She started to offer ideas to brainstorm solutions but she stopped herself. She knew what she wanted to ask and she didn't give herself a moment to get cold feet, "Would you two like to stay here?"
The brothers heads' snapped up at the same time. They looked at her wide eyed and hopeful, waiting with baited breath for her to rip the rug out from under them. She preceded carefully.
"There is one condition," She stated with such a tone that ensured they understood this was a point she couldn't compromise on, "You would become my apprentices and you'd become Disciples when you were done."
That hopeful look from Ritsu was significantly more distrustful now.
Shigeo just seemed confused by the offer, "We aren't really looking for religion right now."
Blunt, Recovery Girl didn't betray her surprise or lack thereof, "You would be allowed much more freedom of movement, no one would question why you are here if they think you were sent here to be my apprentices."
That might be less of a farce than she was letting on if her suspicions of Shou's intentions were correct.
"While you are here I can teach you how to take care of yourselves. Eventually you'd be independent Disciples so I would be setting you up for failure if you didn't know how to at least cook for yourselves." She added.
"I don't understand how a veil and joining one of the most identifiable religious organizations will make us stand out less." Ritsu's lip curled slightly in disgust, "Also, why do we have to join? Why can't we just stay and wear the veils?"
"Because if you get found out that you are not in the order and wearing the veil people will ask a lot of questions you cannot answer. Especially if the Order decides to check in." Recovery Girl answered, then she gave a reason she hoped would sweeten Ritsu to her proposal, "You might not understand since you haven't seen Disciples and how people interact with them, but the modesty veil is highly respected. People respect the anonymity of Disciples of the Lady of the Mist. They don't ask questions as to where Disciples come from, where they are going, or who they were. A Disciple's time is considered valuable and people don't waste it. No one wants to lose the Lady or her order's favor by preventing them from saving someone because of stupid questions. Although, if it makes you feel better, think of it less like a religion and more like guild with a specific uniform."
Ritsu was looking less guarded, and he was considering the option more.
"Would you really not help someone if they asked too many questions?" Shigeo asked cautiously. Shigeo's doubt suddenly turned Ritsu against the idea judging how quickly the combative look returned to his eyes.
Recovery Girl sighed, these boys were going to fight her on this, and she'd prepared for this possibility but it was still annoying, "Of course not, but people believe what they want anyway. It just happens to work in your favor."
Neither brother made a move for or against her proposal but they were considering it greatly. During the pause in the conversation, she fried an egg for each of their bowls of rice and placed the bowls in front of them. The stone wear clattered noisily on the table. Ritsu reached up and stopped his while Shigeo let it settle on it own.
"I've got to go to the front, but take your time to think about it." Recovery Girl said and she left.
"I think we should do it." Shigeo said after a long moment of careful deliberation.
Ritsu cocked his head slightly, "Why? Are you saying we join a religious order?"
"How is that crazier than anything we've done up to this point?" Shigeo asked and he forged onward despite Ritsu's objections, "We don't know how to take care of ourselves and we have just been presented an opportunity to have a place to stay and have a job. I don't know how we got so lucky to end up a place where our schooling would make us fit in more than stand out."
"Yeah but, this sounds like a forever kind of deal." Ritsu dug his heels in for a reason Shigeo could sense but not identify, "I don't want to become a priest."
"I don't think we are becoming priests, but more like doctors." Shigeo countered, "I know you'd be great at it."
"I'm not sure." Ritsu's opposition was softened by the compliment and he looked away to blush, "What about mom and dad? Would we have to give up our family to do this? Does joining mean we are giving up our names?"
It was certainly a good question that Shigeo didn't know the answer to, "We can ask, but I think this might be our answer. It's not ideal."
"It's not ideal." Ritsu echoed sourly.
Recovery Girl returned about an hour later to the brother still sitting at the table with their empty bowls. Their conversation stopped as she entered and got up and stood in front of her. Their determined faces bored straight into her soul.
"If we join does that mean we give up our mom and dad?" Ritsu asked sternly.
"What?" Recovery Girl exclaimed, "No! You don't cut ties with your family. I kept in contact with my family until they all died. You just take on a new public name, you can keep your original names to address each other in private if you want."
The boys whole bodies relaxed. Then they stiffened up and bowed.
"We accept your offer! If you'll still have us." They said in unison.
"Already?" Recovery Girl stepped back slightly, "I was going to give you a few days to think about it. It's a big decision."
The bothers flinched, hesitation evident across their features but once it had its moment their faces steeled.
"We're sure." Ritsu spoke for both of them.
"You are going to wear these veils all the time for the first week. When you eat, and even when you sleep." She gave them two veils from a small basket in her room.
Shigeo took the rolled veil from Recovery girl. It was tied with silk cord that came undone with the slightest tug. The veil unrolled into about a foot of white semi-translucent fabric what obscured the edges of his fingers. The brothers shared a concerned look. This was the point of no return.
"You need to get used to wearing them all the time." She continued sternly, catching them both in the eye with her commanding gaze, "I better not catch either of you without them this next week. If I do, I will add a day to your time until I get my seven days from you."
They both glupped and nodded. Ritsu tied his veil with deft fingers behind his head and Recovery Girl checked his knots and placement with a pleasant smile. Shigeo was still struggling to get the veil high and tight enough when she came over and helped him. She tied it higher on his head than he thought was necessary. It held for about two seconds before it started to slip down his smooth hair. Without blinking, she took two pins out of her hair and clipped the silk stings behind his ears. Shigeo blushed a little embarrassed at his incompetence compared with his little brother.
"Thank you." Shigeo said softly.
"You seem to have some knowledge already of components and the process of potion making but don't think for a second you know anything about medicine. I know the academy doesn't teach or give access to their archive of medical spells to anyone other than their medical students. Starting today you will be studying every book I own in my library. You'll read one chapter a night until you can identify every plant, mineral, material and tool you could ever come across. I'll review with you in the evenings and throughout the day. "
Shigeo and Ritsu took steadying breaths, it was an intense schedule but nothing compared to their time at the Academy.
"You will also be working in the clinic, cleaning and restocking. In addition, you will be observing my work and running errands." Recovery Girl added, "You are considered my apprentices and if people ask for your names you tell them that. Although, you should also think hard about what names you are going to go by once you are both Disciples."
"When is that?" Ritsu asked, he was tugging gently on the veil.
Recovery Girl tapped his hand with her cane and he tucked it behind his back out of her reach, but he stopped messing with the veil.
"When you save your first life. There will be a ceremony where you will give them your name. Right now, neither of you could even save yourselves." She said.
The brothers looked away. Ritsu with annoyance and Shigeo with a hint of shame. She didn't let them dwell on it for long as she led them to her "library". It was nothing more than a single bookshelf of identification guides and field notes. She took down four large manuscripts. Two were focused on plants and their uses, one on medical components, and the last was on medical terminology, illness, and treatments. The last one was one of a twelve part series. She shepherded them to their room and the brothers set the books down and cracked open the book on identification of plants when Recovery Girl tapped her cane loudly on the ground. The brothers heads snapped up.
"You study after chores are done." She said with authority.
The brothers got up and followed her through the relatively simple list of chores. Cleaning, sorting, and taking turns cooking, but as the day went on that list was only the base of what they had to do throughout a single day. One, or both brothers would be pulled from a task to help with a project of Recovery Girl's. They did repairs for her, ran errands, or helped her with appointments and house calls. Any of these tasks could be five minutes or several hours and when they were done, they had to finish their daily chores. In the evenings they poured over the books in the living space under her watchful eye. Throughout the next day she would quiz the boys on what they studied the night before, and incorporate the information in their extra tasks and duties.
That was their life for the next week. Doing chores, trying to keep their veils from falling off, studying, and sleeping. At the end of the seventh day the two lay exhausted in their beds listening to the movement of another military procession outside.
"Hey, Ritsu." Shigeo said from his bed.
Ritsu looked over but it was dark and he could only see the rough shape of his brother in the lightless room. Ritsu readjusted his veil when it pulled weird.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"Isn't it weird how everyone gives us stuff for the shrine to the Lady of the Mist but no one actually asks to visit themselves?" Shigeo said slowly. He sounded tired.
Ritus thought about it. Getting used to walking out in the open with just a veil to hide their face was a slow process but Recovery Girl was right. People respected the Order of the Lady, and left them to go about their business with merely a respectful nod. Even mages gave them only a cursory glance if they thought the brothers weren't looking. Yet, when they purchased items on their errands they always got something extra for free. The venders smiled pretty and said "for the shine" or "for The Lady".
"I didn't think anyone worshiped anything other than the Divine Tree. So, what do we know I guess. We were very sheltered growing up." Ritsu shrugged.
Shigeo hummed. He was unconvinced but when he didn't say anything more until Ritsu prompted him.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I-" Shigeo stopped to think a little longer before saying, "I don't think they do. Not... officially. Are people not allowed to worship other beings in the Empire?"
"Huh… I don't know." Ritsu said, "I don't worship anything." Ritsu felt Shigeo suddenly shifting around on his side of the futon. His brother was now watching him closely. Ritsu said carefully, "I don't think I have for a very long time. This Order is just a way to hide for me. What about you? Do you really believe in a Lady of the Mist? Or a divine, world tree?"
Shigeo gave a non-committal noise.
"I don't want to think that there is something out there deciding who gets to be weak, or who get to be strong you know?" Ritsu said into the dark, he gripped the blankets tightly, "At least if its just random chance, than people can just be responsible for people."
He felt his hands sweat a little. He'd never really talked about this before and with Shigeo not taking a stance for our against his statement, it felt like maybe his brother didn't approve. It was suddenly very vulnerable to share such big thoughts. Maybe is was the exhaustion loosening his tongue and making him tread into territory he shouldn't.
"Makes sense." Shigeo said not leaning for or against in a way that Ritsu could detect.
"Yeah." Ritsu said awkwardly.
"I think there is something out there." Shigeo said after five minutes of silence startling Ritsu from the cusp of sleep.
"How?"
"I have felt it." Shigeo said ominously without elaborating.
Ritsu swallowed thickly. He couldn't sense things like Shigeo even before his illness, but at that moment Ritsu felt like a thousand pairs of eyes were watching him. He pulled his covers up closer to his face and tried to steady his heart.
Ritsu jumped when Shigeo asked him another question, "Little brother did Recovery Girl give you extra days at the end of the week to wear this veil?"
"Yeah, she assigned me thirteen extra days." Ritsu admitted.
Shigeo pulled the covers off Ritsu when he sat up to exclaim, "Thirteen? We've only had the veils for seven days?!"
"Shhh!" Ritsu hushed him and yanked the cover back over himself forcing Shigeo to flop back down onto his side of the futon but Ritsu was smiling, "Be quiet."
"We were only supposed to get one extra day for each day we messed up." Shigeo said breathlessly laughing.
"You are too loud." Ritsu whispered.
"How?"
Ritsu laughed quietly, "I got tired of the veil and took it off a few times. I might have done it whether or not she was in the room watching me."
"Ritsu…" Shigeo disappointed tone was marred by his own amused smile.
"Don't think I haven't see you do the same thing. You are the older brother. I'm just following your example." Ritsu accused Shigeo, he could hear his scandalized gasp next to him.
"Never in front of her." Shigeo said before he threw his pillow and stuck Ritsu in the gut.
In revenge Ritsu clutched it close to his chest and said, "I'm keeping it."
"Wait…" Shiego whispered as he realized his mistake. Then he snorted.
This in turn made Ritsu choke back a laugh but the horrible gutteral noise he made doing so spurned more giggles out of the two brothers. Neither could stop the giggling once it started. If they commented on it, they broke into a bout of laughter. If they avoided addressing it they laughed harder. The brothers were breathless after about ten minutes struggling to contain themselves. Of course, as they started to calm down, Shigeo had to start hiccuping. A pause of thirty seconds of silence interspersed by Shige's high pitched squeaking was all they could handle before they both roared with laughter.
Ritsu looked over at his brother and saw him glowing slightly and when he turned to him, his wide, dimpled smile arched joyfully below his bright, red eyes.
"Shigeo!" Ritsu didn't feel like laughing anymore, "Stop! Your magic!"
Shigeo looked down at his hands and the smile died on his face. The glowing stopped right as a very exhausted Recovery Girl burst into the room.
"Go. To. Bed." She said somewhere between a demanding and begging them to stop.
The brothers shut up and threw their covers over their head to hide from her burning glare. Shigeo waited until the door closed to ask, "Can you pass me my pillow?"
Ritsu handed it over and asked, "What was that? Don't you have the artifact on you?"
"I do!" Shigeo replied in a frantic whisper, "I haven't been without it since…"
"Okay, okay." Ritsu whispered back to assure his brother, "I believe you... but why didn't it work then?"
"I don't…" Shigeo paused to think about it, the silence was uncomfortable, "I sometimes… recently in one of my- my classes…"
Ritsu didn't like the way Shigeo chewed his words when he mentioned the Advanced Course.
"...my emotions sometimes affect my magic. Like it pulls more power from my Root. Well it happens to everyone but not like it does- We left before my teachers figured out why it started happening." Shigeo said shamefully.
Ritsu was uncomfortable about those implications, but explained why his brother's control appeared to be slipping. It didn't explain why the artifact didn't suppress his Root. Unless, Shigeo was drawing magic in greater quantities than it could absorb.
"I thought… So does it matter what emotions?"
"I don't know."
"Can you-"
"I don't know." Shigeo turned away from Ritsu, his voice was tight with regret, "Do you think they'll find us now?"
Ritsu wasn't sure but he said, "I don't think so."
Because it felt like the right thing to say.
"I'm sorry." Shigeo said softly, "I liked it here. I thought this is a place we might belong."
Ritsu shifted in the bed suddenly, "Big brother isn't that a little hasty?"
Ritsu sounded more confident that he actually was and he was thankful for the dark cause it hid his apprehension.
"Is it?" Shigeo's voice was muffled.
"I'd think so."
Ritsu heard Shigeo shifting on his side of the futon. Ritsu liked to think Shigeo wasn't facing away from him anymore based on the thoughtful hum his older brother made.
"Goodnight Ritsu." Shigeo said with a slightly shaky breath.
"Night." Ritsu said.
The following two weeks were very tense for the brothers, but no one came for them. Ritsu relaxed but Shigeo seemed more reserved as time went on, although Ritsu didn't pay it much mind.