Chapter 26 - Information Sharing

As she watched the threads of the Master and the tin fly off into the distance, Yuzu felt a sense of wonder fill her.

Was she really experiencing this? This wasn’t a dream, was it?

She pinched herself in the arm hard to make sure.

The white world was at peace, with no signs of any humans or monsters nearby. The world around her shimmered softly with hints of golden smoke. The waist-high stone shrine, too, had an aura of energy around it. She raised her hand toward it and the aura reacted by growing stronger. As she kept her hand raised towards it, the aura began to shimmer and sparkle. It felt like the shrine’s energies had changed in quality to be more in tune with Yuzu’s spiritual body.

A white thread extended from Yuzu and wrapped around the shrine. It wasn’t a pure white, rather it shifted in hue and glimmered like crystal. Another thread extended from her body to the chest. And yet more extended out of her into the world beyond. As Yuzu cast her gaze around herself, the threads would brighten or fade with her focus on them. Just as she could feel the owners of the other threads, Yuzu knew that these white threads belonged to her.

Yuzu intrinsically understood that something had fundamentally changed about her existence. Her body felt more in tune with the energy that was coming from within the ornate chest. As she concentrated on that feeling, she understood that even though the chest augmented her and granted her strength, she had gained several qualities that were now independent of her possession of the chest.

First, an imbalance in her body had been somewhat resolved, improving her vitality and health.

Second, she could see fate threads in the world, and even interact with them to some degree. Her ability to influence the threads depended on her spiritual strength, which the chest augmented significantly.

She could also touch a thread and “travel” up and down it, looking into the past or the potential future. Again, the distance she could look was limited by her spirituality.

Finally, she gained a connection to the spiritual world. She was able to sense things that were rich in spirituality. It was this spiritual intuition that she had followed when she first visited the shrine.

As she contemplated these changes within herself, she also realized two properties of the ornate chest that she still held in her hands. First, that the item within it was incredibly rich in spirituality. And second, that the chest was sealing most of that power within it, only allowing a small amount of that power to leak out.

One aspect of the chest’s power was the one that had brought her into the white world. Feeling that it was now safe out in the physical world, Yuzu extended her hand to the shrine and activated the power of the chest to open the door back.

She felt the sense of lightness and rising into the air as the white world blurred around her.

A low rumble filled Yuzu’s ears.

Plop! Plop!

Yuzu was surrounded by darkness and she was suddenly soaked in a deluge of rain as she returned to the storm in the physical world. She pulled up her hood as fast as she could, but already felt the cold rain running down the inside of her coat.

She found herself shivering as she turned away from the shrine and started walking back in the direction of the town. The golden threads shimmered in the night, guiding her back, but they didn’t light up the surroundings so much as lead the way. She found herself stumbling over bushes and running into trees as she fumbled her way down the path.

As she thought of the hour and a half that it would take for her to head back home, she found herself cursing out into the storm at the top of her lungs.

“Stupid Char Char!”

~

Inside the small clinic at the edge of the forest, gusts of wind rattled the windows as sloughs of rain battered the walls and roof. Hakuya led Reid down the hallway and into the private room at the end of the hall. He opened the door with the brass number seven on it gently, leading the way into a dark shadowed room. A candle sat on a small stand just inside the door, which Hakuya lit with his fingers.

The orange light of the flame dimly lit the room, casting flickering shadows along the walls.

Reid’s expression darkened as he saw the blond woman lying on the bed on the far side of the room. Three long fern-like fronds stood up from her arm, shoulder and leg. The mature dark green, almost black leaves oscillated slowly in a sinister fashion. Bright green tendrils protruded from various places on her body, some of them unfurling leaves, others wrapping around her wrists and legs.

Hakuya watched Reid closely, reading his reaction. The half-bald monk was tense, because he was worried that the Hunter would do something rash upon seeing the parasitic plant. The look of familiarity in Reid’s eyes surprised him.

“The eyes haven’t grown yet.” Reid said softly.

A chill ran up Hakuya’s spine as his gaze left the hunter to examine the girl. “...Eyes?”

“The wolves in the woods had the same parasite.” Reid said, staying near the entrance of the room. “At the end of those leaves, disembodied eyes will grow.”

“What other details did you notice?” Hakuya asked.

“The wolves were starved and had many wounds that were diseased and not healing. Also, they were attracted to the girl - the eyes, not the wolves. I attempted to calm the wolves, but the eyes overrode my powers and drove them berserk.” Reid seriously tried to recall all the details of the fight for the cleric.

After some contemplation, Hakuya spoke. “The parasite devours the life force of its host to sustain itself. Once it reaches a certain phase of maturity, it probably starts actively killing its host, while looking for spiritually rich targets to devour.”

“You’re familiar with this creature, then?” Reid asked.

“No. I’m just thinking out loud. To be honest, I have never heard of this life form before.” Hakuya sighed, “I don’t even know what to call it.”

“Devileyes.” Reid muttered a suggestion.

“Devileyes...” Hakuya frowned. “If it wasn’t affected by your powers, then perhaps the Devileye itself doesn’t have any conscious thought or desire, preventing you from influencing it.”

“It’s not thought.” Reid said simply, but didn’t elaborate.

Hakuya nodded quietly, slightly surprised. Reid had shared an intimate detail about himself with this simple refutation. With those three words, Hakuya had gained a deeper understanding of Reid’s path of attunement.

In the world of the Exalted, powers were separated into three major groups called Kingdoms. These were the Kingdoms of Humanity, Gods and Demons. Each kingdom was further divided into four major domains, which each had their own unique qualities and attributes. The power to specifically calm creatures likely came from the Kingdom of Humanity, specifically from either the Domain of Psyche or the Domain of Emotions.

Psyche based powers affected the mind. Emotion based powers affected emotions. By revealing that his powers did not affect the thoughts of the wolves, he had also told Hakuya that the Hunter pathway was likely based in the Domain of Emotions.

For an Exalted, the details of one’s pathway was a closely guarded secret. Although there were many paths within a domain, all the paths generally shared similar characteristics. Knowing a person’s domain was the first step in understanding their strengths - and their weaknesses.

On the surface Reid had provided the clarification as a way of providing useful information to Hakuya about the Devileye, but Hakuya was sure that he was also keenly aware of the information he was revealing about himself as a Hunter. Perhaps he felt that Hakuya might already know his domain, and thus was not worried about divulging the information?

Hakuya kept his expression neutral as he suppressed a thoughtful frown. No. Most likely it had to do with something that had been secretly bothering Hakuya from earlier in the evening.

This had to do with shared knowledge. Since he was a Cleric of Yuima, Goddess of Nature, it was no surprise that Hakuya’s pathway was in the Nature domain. Reid would have known this before they’d met, and would have confirmed it when Hakuya had concocted the elixir in front of him. This wasn’t information that Hakuya considered secret.

However Reid had now observed how Hakuya had reversed the injuries of the girl. From that, he had definitely gained a deep insight into Hakuya’s path. This was because Rewind was clearly not a power from the Nature Domain!

Most pathways stayed with a single domain, for a variety of reasons. This was the most common case and in general it was simply assumed that a path followed the One Domain rule. The Cleric of Yuima pathway, however, started out in the Nature Domain for the Candidate and Apprentice ranks, but at Disciple it switched to the Domain of Spacetime. This shift in domains was a vital and well kept secret, even within Yuima’s followers.

Reid had likely become uncomfortably aware of the intimacy of the secret that Hakuya had inadvertently shared by revealing Rewind to him, and sought to try to even the balance. It was a way of preserving their friendship. Since I know your weaknesses, it’s only fair if you know mine.

“It acts more like a parasitic plant, rather than a creature with desires.” Hakuya finally said. “Perhaps I can use this to find a cure.”

“Once the eyes grow, it will probably be too late.” Reid said darkly.

“You don’t know that.” Hakuya grunted.

“All I’m saying is, before they “bloom”... You should tie her down to something solid.” Reid turned to leave out the door. “I’m going to get some rest. Is it alright if I use the bench in the lobby?”

“It’s not a problem.” Hakuya said quietly.

“If it gets to that point and you need someone to...” Reid mimed a shooting motion with his hand, “I can do it if you don’t want to.”

Hakuya locked eyes with Reid, who had a deadly seriousness in his hawk-like eyes. Neither man moved for several seconds.

“That won’t be necessary.” Hakuya replied with gritted teeth.

Reid shot a quick, casual glance into the room again, looked back at Hakuya, then turned to leave down the hallway.

~

While Hakuya and Reid were talking down the hall, Char Char was sitting on the examination bench, which had been wiped down and disinfected. With the help of Rosalie, she had been completely cleaned of dirt and blood, and had changed into a hospital gown. Even her hair had been washed in the shower across the hall. Her left arm was wrapped in cloth bandages, hiding the bite marks from sight. Aside from various minor nicks and scratches she was otherwise unharmed.

Her eyes were bright with energy as she found that she was feeling completely invigorated. One wouldn’t have been able to tell that she was on the brink of death only half an hour ago.

She and Dr. Ilec were alone in the room while Rosalie did her rounds to check on the other patients.

“How do you know the bald uncle?” She asked Dr. Ilec, who was sitting down at the desk writing down notes. “Can you tell me about him? What about the man who brought me in?”

“Don’t call him bald.” Dr. Ilec scolded, before answering, “His name is Hakuya. He is a Cleric and a follower of Yuima, the Goddess of Nature.”

“Goddess of Nature...? So he doesn’t worship Lord Noga?” Char Char asked.

“He isn’t from Kumin, so he wouldn’t worship Lord Noga.” Dr. Ilec answered. “But whether he worships Lord Matsuhara, or Yuima, or both - I’m not sure.”

“Do all followers of Yuima have abilities like him?” Char Char asked.

“Abilities...” Dr. Ilec looked at the door wistfully, “I didn’t even know they had abilities like that until today.”

“Maybe he’ll teach you.” Char Char smiled.

Dr. Ilec found himself smiling back at the girl. Now that she had been cleaned up, he realized that she was indeed quite pretty. Her bright eyes and authentic smile helped him relax and feel at ease.

“Char Char, do you live nearby?”

“Not too far.” Char Char said, nodding.

“What is your address, and your parents’ names? We can send for them right away.” Dr. Ilec said.

“Ah... You don’t need to...” Char Char averted her gaze. Her heart sank as she wondered how she would explain the gruesome bite wounds to her grandfather. “I can just go back in the morning, or something... I’m feeling quite alright now. My arm doesn’t even hurt that much.”

“Your mom and dad must be worrying about you.” Dr. Ilec said gently.

“Well, my parents aren’t here. I’m visiting my grandfather right now. His name is Sansen Zhao” Char Char said.

“Where does he live?”

“22 Whitehare Crescent.” Char Char replied, frowning, “But do you really have to call him? Can’t it wait until morning?”

Dr. Ilec took a moment to process the address. That was one of the richest neighbourhoods in the city! To think a girl from a Whitehare family would find herself alone in the forest at night, attacked by wolves...

Dr. Ilec shook his head, “No, but thank you for telling me his address. It’s not too far from here, I’ll send Rosalie over right away. Is there anything you’d like her to tell your grandpa?”

“I guess, that I’m okay, and not to worry about me.” Char Char said.

“Alright. I want you to stay the night so we can make sure that nothing unexpected happens. Are you fine with sleeping alone? I have a private bed you can use.”

“Okay.” Char Char sighed.

“Wait here for a moment then while I talk to Rosalie, and then I’ll bring you to your room.”