**Hell readers. This cold has been last forever... I have been really tired, and for the most part, unable to think clearly enough to write. I have the next chapter written, sorry for the wait...
Enjoy Chapter 64! :)**
Chapter 64: Farewell to Warrior's, Journey to the Blood Roads
Hiro and Eiji were bantering among the pair of worried parents, and there were opinions on all sides.
"I think it's dangerous." Said Haku.
"Though I can't argue that training from an actual blood mage trainer would be beneficial..."
Chihiro sighed. "I don't know... Isn't Loki training him? Then there's also the fact that the blood mages they run into may not be the friendliest."
"Which is exactly why traveling in pairs could be life saving." Said Kuhn.
"It's true." Said Linn.
"Eiji wants to help Hiro, Hiro doesn't want to be alone... I don't blame her. Honestly? I'm okay with it."
"Remember, Hiro has no choice." Said Haku.
"Eiji has a choice, and that's why we're less okay with it. It's noble, but risky at best."
Chihiro was silent for a moment.
"He can go." She said.
Haku stared at her.
"Are you serious? We're just, letting him go?"
She looked down.
"We pulled a LOT of risk cards to get where we are... Don't forget the battles at the bathhouse. Sometimes we get so caught up in keeping our kids protected, we forget how they're growing... We forget when it was us, and we were fighting for someone... How big a risk seems until your loved ones are dying in front of you."
She looked at Eiji.
"This is what you'll be facing if you go with Hiro. The constant chance that one of you will die... I can't hold you back forever, so this is your decision."
Haku nodded. "That's fair, I stand by your mother's decision."
Eiji nodded. "Alright then. I'm going with Hiro... I couldn't let her go alone, even if I wasn't a blood mage. I would try."
Haku sighed. "Very well..."
The parents gathered their kids and prepared them for their journey.
I didn't expect Eiji to be leaving as well.
Tira was sitting alone, her eyes stained with tears.
I sat next to her.
"They'll be alright." I said.
She sobbed. "Yeah, but... I'm really going to miss them!"
I sighed. "Yeah... Me too. Hiro is my niece you know, excellent at chess. She hasn't had the chance to do that much lately, because of all of the things that pile up... I would have liked to see if she could beat me before she left."
I laughed. "Not that I would have made it easy!"
She smiled. "Yeah, Hiro's awesome! She's just the coolest! She's so brave and powerful, and, and... Well, just awesome!"
Her face fell. "She showed me that I really matter at least somewhere... She completely changes the way people look at things sometimes, and then she thinks so little of herself... It makes me worried."
I smiled. "I'm not worried about that. She'll figure it out... She's a smart girl."
...
Eiji was sitting in an armory, waiting for his mother to finish sewing. It sounded strange, and to Eiji? It was very strange.
"What am I waiting for?" He asked his father.
Haku smiled. "You'll see."
Eiji scoffed. "You've said that for the past thirty minutes... When will I see?"
Haku laughed. "Be patient! You are just like your mother that way, always wanting to jump ahead, and quick to rash decisions."
"I heard that." She mumbled.
He grinned. "I'll make it up to you later."
Eiji cringed internally.
No! Bad imagination! ...Okay think positive. That's not what he meant.
Chihiro laughed. "You'd better! And hey... Sometimes you like my fighting style!"
Haku laughed. "Well, should we spar then, for old times sake?"
Sparring... Right. No! Bad!
BAD IMAGINATION!
Okay... None of that.
He probably meant actual sparring.
Chihiro grinned. "Okay, but this time Kahn gets to join us."
NO! That IS what they meant!
Haku went red. "Don't bring THAT up! Besides, it never happened."
She laughed. "Hey, you never know! Linn may or may not have pictures."
"You guys!" Eiji yelled.
"Just please stop talking!"
Haku laughed. "Oh, sorry Eiji! I think we've sufficiently scarred the boy..."
She shook her head. "He never used to pick up on stuff like that..."
I will refrain from thinking to the past...
No... Bad Eiji. Bad...
BAD IMAGINATION!
Eiji sighed. "Now I'll be all red and embarrassed when I leave... You guys... How am going to focus on fighting when THAT pops into my head!?"
Haku smiled. "All the more reason to focus more on fighting, and less on Hiro... And THAT."
Eiji glared at them. "Ha! Ha ha!... Ha... You're all hilarious."
Chihiro laughed. "And that would be you Haku! When-"
"No." He said. "Not going there again."
She smiled. "Finished!"
She handed Eiji a pair of gloves.
"They'll sway you away from avoidable harm... They're lucky."
Eiji sighed. "But its not cold... Will I need gloves."
"If anything, just carry them with you." Said Chihiro.
"I have a feeling you might need them sometime..."
She gave him a hug.
"You be careful..." She said softly.
"I've lost you once... I don't want to do it again."
He hugged her back.
"I'm not going to die on Hiro, and definitely not on you guys... I promise."
...
Hiro was armed with her armor the Leviathan's had made her. She held the queen of clubs...
She was actually starting to get nervous.
"Mom, Dad?" She asked.
"How long is the trip going to be?"
Kuhn looked down.
"I don't know... I'm sorry."
Linn sighed. "Well, it's not going to be short..."
She looked away.
"It hasn't even been a year since I left... And now I'm leaving again."
She teared up.
"I'm sorry... I wish I would have stayed then. You probably won't even know me when I come back!"
She cried.
They hugged her.
"Are you kidding?" Said Linn softly.
"I'd recognize you in ten years from a mile away..."
Kuhn smiled. "Swinging around that club of yours."
"I'm just scared..." Hiro sniffed.
"I have no idea what the training is, or what I'll find on the blood roads... I'm kind of glad I'm not going to be alone."
Now that she thought about it? She really was. She was lucky Eiji was a blood mage, or she would be... No choice.
Kuhn sighed. "No making out with him okay?"
She looked away. "Fine, alright... I won't."
That was a flat lie.
Kuhn nodded. He knew she probably wouldn't keep to that, but it gave him some comfortable that she at least agreed.
Linn wasn't sure if she would accept that.
"We're serious." She said.
"That stuff leads to other things, and sorry, but you're double dosed with the fertile gene. We both have siblings, and your father was in a family of triplets. Now let me ask you, do you really want kids to worry about on a dangerous road? Or at all at the so wisened age of thirteen?"
Hiro went pale. She never thought of that...
"Oh... I don't. I REALLY don't..."
Linn smiled. "See? So none of that. You don't need that kind of stress, you have enough of your own."
That actually convinced Hiro to at least not go that far.
Linn figured that there would still be making out... They were young hormonal teenagers. But at least she wouldn't have to worry about grandchildren.
They made sure Hiro was ready to go with Eiji, and sent her to meet with them.
They were about to follow her, and Kuhn stopped Linn for a moment.
"You're my hero! I was pulling my hair out over what to say, and you just blew it out of the water... You really are amazing..."
Linn smiled, and blushed softly.
"Well, it's a lot easier to talk about that, because we're both girls... If we had a son, you'd be the one that would talk to him."
Kuhn nodded. "That makes sense... Come on, let's make sure she at least leaves safe."
...
Hiro and Eiji were ready to leave. They had said their farewell's, and now it was off to the blood roads. Shisuta had given them directions...
There was faint voice, and a girl running toward them.
Eiji squinted. "Who is she?
"Ey! EY!" She yelled from a distance.
"Ya guy's are headin to the blood road's, RIGHT!?"
"Yeah!" Hiro yelled. "What about it!?"
She was still kind of far away.
A crowd appeared over the horizon... They were chasing her.
"Can I come with!? These watchers're out for my blood! Hurry, I got short legs! I dunno if I'm gonna make it!"
Eiji was put in a tough spot. He didn't want to see her get killed, but she seemed like not the most pleasant company.
He tensed.
"Are you a blood mage!?" He asked.
"Just answer my damn question! C'mon! And... Yeah! I'm one of them caster's!"
"Fine then! Just... Fine! Come on."
The crowd was getting closer.
The other's gaped at him.
"Wow... Just like that I guess." Said Kuhn.
Linn sighed. "Oh god... A criminal record. Dammit... They don't need that."
"Can ya come get me!?" She yelled. "They're gainin' on me!"
Eiji rolled his eyes as he shot out his threads, and pulled her over.
He set her down, and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks! Well, they're gonna try and strong arm ya into givin' me up. Just say I wanna come with on the blood roads. Yeah... That'll do it. Watcher's can't chase ya if her under a flush's protection."
Haku sighed, and held the bridge of his nose.
"I take it you're from Deadmarch? What did you do to get so many watcher's chasing you?"
"Well, ya see, I was mindin' my own business! These Watcher's've been on me since this cockered plush right out said I stole'is cufflinks! The man had bitch hands anyway... Douche wagon..."
The crowd was approaching them.
"Well, did you?" Asked Haku.
She scoffed. "No... That plush's had it in for me since I socked'em for tryin' to strong arm my sis into a brothel."
Haku thought about it...
It didn't seem like she was lying, and there were a lot of brothel's in that area.
Haku nodded. "Alright then, that sounds plausible."
They walked up.
"Hey! This little wench is on the block for Larsen from a noble! I'll need to ask that you hand her over... There are consequences for handling criminals."
Hiro glared at them.
"You may want to investigate the noble... I don't think she stole the cufflinks, and I'm sure there are laws against trafficking, which he tried to do to one of her relatives."
They laughed. "I don't care!" Said the man.
"The nobles got rights. These little mudlarks are nothing but trouble!"
"Well then." Said Haku. "You wouldn't mind if we took her under our protection then, would you?"
He looked to the side.
"Well, um... She's a criminal! Do you really want a filthy-!?"
"I highly doubt she stole the cufflinks, and nobles bribe the watch all the time. We'll take it from here... You can leave now."
Note, he only said the cufflinks. He wasn't sure if she had stolen other things. He just knew that what she WAS being accused of was wrong.
They gave the group one last glare before they walked away.
"I had been to Deadmarch in my travels before the bathhouse... It's not a very pleasant place."
Haku looked at the girl.
"Are you really a blood mage?"
She shrugged. "I dunno... Maybe. Never got a good meanin' of it."
Shisuta teared up.
"You poor DEPRIVED CHILD! Ask me anything sweety! I will give you the best answer I have!"
Karo and Haku sighed. "Uh oh..."
Her eyes widened. "That bag... Yer a witch doctor ain't ya? I can tell! They cook up some neat potions those ones..."
Shisuta refrained from strangling the girl.
"I'm an Alchemist." She said.
"Do you have any questions?"
She looked down.
"Uh, yea... Do ya have somethin' for curses? Sorry, really... My sis... I think she's got the taint, but, I'm not sure..."
"What are her symptoms?" Shisuta asked.
"Well, she's been sick for a time now... She hacks up a lot, and her skin's been... Well, bad... That, and she won't wake up. She's not truly my sis, but she's like blood. She's a flush, and the only one who can prove that the other one's a teller... If she'd said somethin' then, she wouldn't be in this fix."
"What is her skin like?" Shisuta prodded.
She looked down.
"It's... Darker... And it peels off in... Big chunks. It's bad... One of the casters said there was magic in it... I dunno. Whad'ya think?"
It wasn't the taint... To Shisuta, it sounded like a lover's scorn curse.
"Was he... Interested in her, this... Noble?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Yea... He's such a slack! When she wouldn't take to it, he got mad... Douche wagon..."
Shisuta nodded, ignoring the last part.
"It sounds to me like lover's scorn. Here, take this..."
She handed her a syringe filled with the antidote.
"This should work in a matter of days... It will also restore the damage done to her body. Inject it directly into her torso, preferably the heart."
She nodded. "Thanks! Wow... Yer some witch doctor lady!"
Shisuta's eye twitched. "Yes... I have been an 'Alchemist' for some time now..."
She nodded. "Well yer great! Maybe I'll head back, and... Would ya show me how to cook up a potion? Maybe not..."
Hiro sighed. She might be sorry she said that...
Shisuta's eyes possessed the sparkle of madness that it held when wanting to share knowledge.
She pointed her finger out, and her eyes gleamed with excitement.
"You will be a MASTER by the time I am finished! Come! COME AND SEE THE WONDERS OF ALCHEMICAL SCIENCE!"
She sighed. "I'll do it later... I need to fix my sis, ya know?"
Shisuta hung her head.
"Okay... You have momentarily killed my joy. I will be waiting..."
"So... Should we go to Deadmarch then?" Eiji asked.
Haku sighed. "That is a very dangerous town..."
He looked at the girl.
"Fine... Just help her with her sister, and then head to the blood roads."
Eiji nodded. "Alright then, sounds like a plan."
They headed off toward Deadmarch, their journey taking an unexpected turn.