Chapter 89 - The Maiden’s Power

Yuzu let out a sigh of exasperation as she sat at the base of the shrine that looked like it was made out of pure white stone. She held Char Char’s thread gently in her hands. It was covered in a stick black residue that signified infection by the Devileyes, a fact that filled Yuzu with both irritation and relief.

Irritation, because she’d already saved her friend from certain death twice in the past week, and she still was in mortal danger, this time from the devil eyes infecting her body. Yuzu could sense that her friend was already struggling to hold on. Even Char Char’s prayers and joyful response had an undercurrent of strain that she was trying to suppress and hide.

Relief, because, well, Char Char hadn’t already passed on from the realm of the living.

After all, Yuzu had last predicted that Char Char would die on the night of the monster attack, succumbing to the devil eyes in the final hours of the night. Seeing that one of the other people on the plateau had black threads, Yuzu surmised that her last minute plea had succeeded in saving Char Char that night.

“Stop getting into so much trouble!” Yuzu had scolded in response to Char Char’s question.

Yuzu had let her facade as a mysterious unknown spirit drop for the moment. She was too exhausted to maintain the persona. Though she had felt momentarily better after consuming the fruit, she felt that her strength was quickly waning, her energy being drained like the sand emptying out of an hourglass.

What do I desire? Yuzu contemplated quietly.

She mulled over the question as she idly examined Char Char’s thread. As she brushed against the sticky residue with her fingers, a few black strands split from the residue and broke off. Her eyes narrowed as she lifted the thread up for a closer look, quickly realizing that what coated Char Char’s thread was actually an extremely fine weave of thin, sticky black fibers.

Rubbing her fingers against the fibers caused them to separate from Char Char’s thread, like unraveling a sleeve. As soon as the fibers lost contact with Char Char they became extremely stiff and brittle.

The devileyes requires a host to live? Yuzu theorized, As soon as it loses contact, it perishes.

As she rubbed against the residue more and more came off, flaking away in tiny flecks that turned into white dust as they fell down to the floor.

In the physical world, Char Char suddenly paused as she felt a subtle change in her body. She looked towards Firuzeh, whose eyes had suddenly widened in shock.

“Something’s happening.” Firuzeh said, “The parasite in your body is rapidly shrivelling up.”

“P-Parasite?” Edwin asked, surprised, “You don’t mean...”

None of the other people on the plateau noticed the changes that were happening in Char Char’s body. They all looked at her with concerned glances. Even Finn noticed the change in mood and walked over.

“Char Char has been fighting off the devil eyes parasite that infected her body on the night of the attack.” Firuzeh didn’t see any reason to hide the information, now that things were about to be resolved. She used the term that had now become popular in the city to describe the parasite. “But now it is suddenly dying.”

“The white maiden...” Char Char said, placing a hand on her chest, feeling her heart race in excitement, “She’s doing this.”

“That seems to be the case.” Firuzeh agreed.

The others, aside from Finn, also nodded. They could all sense the softly scented aura that had sprung up once more around the shrine.

Char Char pulled up the sleeve of her coat, revealing the countless dark, swollen sores that had pock marked her arm. These sores were rapidly fading as the body of the parasite simply gave way to her own latent spirituality. She didn’t feel ill, or like vomiting. She didn’t feel the parasite try to resist the method the white maiden was using against it.

What kind of spirit can kill such a parasite so effortlessly? A shiver ran up their spines as they thought of the countless hundreds of people in the city that were infected without hope for cure. What all the doctors, priests and exalted of the city couldn’t accomplish, the white maiden did without need for even a ritual.

The group stood in shocked silence for a few moments as they looked at the exposed skin of Char Char’s arm. In just a few minutes nearly all the dark spots had faded away. Without flair or fanfare, the parasite had wasted away just like that.

~

Yuzu released Char Char’s thread with a long slow exhale, once again starting to feel weak as she sank down into a sitting position with her back resting against the shrine. It hadn’t taken her much effort to clean Char Char’s thread of the sticky residue, less than moving threads and attaching them to others, yet she could barely manage it in her current condition.

She reached over to another one of the spiritually charged fruits in the offering dish and bit into it. Her body once again filled with vitality from the spiritual flesh of the persimmon, though she didn’t care much for the taste. She ate it while looking down at Char Char’s parasite-free thread.

It was pitch black in colour. Her spiritual intuition gave her an uncomfortable feeling as she hovered her hand over it.

Yuzu frowned, examining the thread carefully while comparing it to the threads of the other Exalted with black strings. She couldn’t perceive any difference between them. Her first thought was that Char Char had been infected by these people, but after some contemplation she came to a different idea.

The nature of Char Char’s existence has changed fundamentally. Like when my thread changed from golden to white...

Her eyes glanced over to Edwin’s thread. This monk’s thread which had also been golden was now a shining silver. She thought back to all the various threads that she had seen and interacted with in the past few days. The meaning of the change in colours was clear.

Both Char Char and Edwin were now Exalted!

Yuzu idly rubbed her chin as she recalled the image of watching Edwin’s golden string flying off into the night sky on the night of the storm. She had connected his fate string to the string of the tin, which clearly had some spiritual significance. Presently, upon making contact with Edwin’s string Yuzu intuitively understood that that connection had already been realized.

She reached over the the monk’s thread and said softly, “So you received the tin from your master.”

Edwin blinked, looking up at the sky upon hearing the illusory voice. While everyone had their focus on Char Char he quietly stepped back and responded in a silent prayer, “Yes... How did you know?”

Yuzu took a moment to think of how to respond before saying, “It was me who arranged it.”

Edwin’s eyes widened in awe as he digested those words. He thought of the strange circumstances around how he had obtained the catalyst from his master. My Master... knows the white maiden? Furthermore, my master‘s status is high enough that he could receive direct assistance from such a powerful spirit?

Edwin’s reverence towards his master and the white maiden increased several fold after learning this new piece of information.

Without hesitation he touched the tips of his fingertips together and prayed with sincerity to the white maiden, extending his deep felt gratitude.

When Edwin prayed to her Yuzu felt a connection form between him and the shrine. A soft opaline light shone from his thread, through the shrine before radiating into her body. She felt her spiritual energy swell from the prayer, washing away a small portion of her fatigue.

This... Yuzu felt the tingle of energy flow through her body, feeling that somehow she had come across the solution to her weakness. The energy that she gained from the prayer was not as radiant and ‘filling’ as the fruit, but the energy from the fruit dissipated quickly, whereas she could feel the power from the prayer lingering on inside her.

In the physical world no one had noticed Edwin’s brief interaction with the maiden. After saying his short prayer he stepped forward to rejoin the group as they were still discussing Char Char’s miraculous recovery.

Their spiritual intuitions all triggered as they heard a soft, ethereal voice speak out to them.

“If there are others in need, ask them to come here and pray to me.”

There was a pause, then the voice added,

“I prefer peaches.”

~

When Yuzu woke, she was in an unfamiliar, luxurious room. It didn’t take her long to recognize the vaulted ceilings and the classic yet refined decor of Sansen Zhao’s manor.

An old man with thick glasses and a thin white goatee held her hand palm up, with two fingers on her wrist. His eyes were closed as he focused on her pulse, listening to the subtle flow of blood in her veins.

Beside him sat an anxious looking Xiang. Sansen Zhao was standing behind Xiang with a hand on the latter’s shoulder.

“Good.” Said Dr. Baolan, “Her chi has stabilized for the moment.”

As her eyes landed on him he smiled warmly and said, “It’s been a while, Yuzu. How do you feel?”

“Tired.” She replied. “And a little weak.”

She hadn’t seen Dr. Baolan since six years ago. It was just after her parents’ deaths - Yuzu had fallen incredibly ill and had nearly died herself. She didn’t remember much of it, only that at the end Dr. Baolan was the one that helped her get better. She had only been told that he’d helped her get better, but she didn’t know what kind of sickness she had or any of the details surrounding her recovery.

The old man who had age spots on his nearly bald head smiled again and released her hand, sitting back to look at Xiang and Sansen Zhao.

“Well.” He slapped both of his hands on his knees as he stood up, “I think she will be fine for now, how about some tea?”

Sansen nodded and gestured towards the door, “Let’s go to my study, then.”

“Come join us when you’re ready. I’ll have a maid watch over Yuzu for us.” Sansen patted Xiang on the shoulder and left with Dr. Baolan.

This left Xiang and Yuzu alone in the room. He remained sitting in the chair, looking uncomfortable as he seemed to have trouble coming up with something to say. She looked at him quietly while he kept his gaze averted.

“How are you feeling?” Xiang asked somewhat awkwardly as the scratched the back of his neck.

“Fine.” Yuzu said.

“Good.” Xiang nodded. “Good.”

A silence filled the room again and he suddenly cleared his throat. “Are you hungry?”

“Okay.” Yuzu replied.

He stood up, glancing at her briefly. Their eyes met and he immediately looked away again.

“I’ll get them to bring you something to eat, then.”

Xiang walked over to the door, pausing briefly at the doorway.

“Be right back.”