Chapter 91 - Making Things Right

“Make things right...?” Xiang asked, his eyebrows knitting together. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m asking you to join us.” Dr. Baolan said. “Years ago, you begged to become one of us, to let you help us find your parents’ murderer. At the time we refused, for various reasons. But today I spoke to Sansen. You’ve become strong, capable, trustworthy. Everything we need in this fight.”

“These are good people.” Sansen said, “If there’s something you want, we can help you achieve it.”

“Something I want...” Xiang said quietly.

“I want my family to be safe. I want Yuzu to be healthy. I want Zwei to live a peaceful life.” He said, his fists still clenched. His whole body trembled as his tone remained calm and measured. “I will never forgive you for the loss of my parents. For the pain you put our family through. But today you saved Yuzu, so I at least can give you my gratitude.”

He looked at Sansen and at Dr. Baolan each in turn. “I used to think I wanted revenge, but that’s not important to me anymore. More than anything, I don’t want a repeat of six years ago. Yuzu, Zwei, me. All we have is each other. Sorry, I can’t help you.”

“Very well.” Dr. Baolan nodded solemnly, releasing a soft sigh of disappointment. “I suppose that that way, too, is a way to make things right. As right as they can ever be.”

One floor above and a few doors down, Yuzu realized that she had been holding her breath. She released the string of fate, looking down at her trembling hands. She sat alone in the room as her heartbeat calmed down.

~

“I want to bring the clinic patients here.” Char Char said resolutely.

They were at the edge of the forest now at the point where the road was wide enough for horse drawn carts. There, a black carriage had been waiting for them. Char Char stood with her back to the carriage with her hands on her waist as she faced the group.

There was Firuzeh from Red Lion Security, Finn from the police, Edwin from the Heavens Gate Monastery and Chloe, her grandfather’s maid.

She looked at each of the individuals of this fairly diverse group with a firm gaze, seeking their input.

Though each person clearly had their own thoughts on the matter, they didn’t offer them straight away but instead waited to see who would speak first.

“I... I agree.” Edwin said, his gaze averted, “The white maiden talked to me back at the plateau. I-I think she helped my master contact me, and if she’s helping my master, then she must be good.”

Finn’s ears perked up at this new information. He was actually a little at a loss for where to proceed with the investigation, but he was on the lookout for any connections or leads on Edwin’s master or the Cloud Gate monastery. His gaze grew thoughtful, though he didn’t speak.

“We must be careful.” Firuzeh said, speaking her thoughts clearly for the first time. She had purposefully waited until this point, when they were far away from the shrine. She was concerned that if she were to speak ill of the maiden in her presence that it would draw unwanted attention from the spirit.

“We do not know the maiden’s origin or motives. Praying to unknown entities is extremely dangerous.” Firuzeh said. She glanced over to Chloe, not knowing whether or not the maid was familiar with these topics.

The quiet, dark haired maid with a petite frame was always simply standing respectfully to the side with her head lowered. Char Char called on her fairly often to help with various minor tasks - the young girl was obviously used to having hired help around to cater to her needs.

She has to be at least a Candidate. Firuzeh surmised. No normal person would be able to remain reserved in this manner, especially considering what we all experienced up on the plateau.

“Chloe?” Char Char took the initiative to ask the maid for her opinion.

Chloe only smiled politely and bowed, “I’ll leave the choice to you, young miss.”

Definitely a Candidate. At least. Firuzeh nodded to herself.

“I think it’s a good idea to explore.” Finn spoke an opinion for the first time in the trip, “From what I understand, no one as of yet has been able to cure the disease. Many people have already succumbed to the parasite. If we don’t come up with a solution, many more will die.”

He glanced at Firuzeh, nodding in acknowledgement towards her, “I also concur that we should be cautious about how we handle this new spirit. Since the safety of the citizens of Noga is one of the primary roles of the police, I propose to take what we know of the maiden and present it to my superiors. If I can acquire their approval, then perhaps we can move forward with a plan to safely receive assistance from the white maiden.”

“Really? That sounds great!” Char Char said, elated.

Firuzeh held her chin in her hand as she thought about the proposal from Finn. Truthfully, she didn’t expect much from this line of action. The official bodies were far more likely to eradicate a vagrant spirit than enlist its help. Especially on this continent, where spiritual related topics had been censored and kept hidden for centuries.

The officer, who seemed familiar with the Exalted world, would clearly know this as well. Therefore Firuzeh concluded that he wanted to take charge of the situation while giving Char Char a sense of peace, thus preventing her from taking dangerous action on her own.

This officer looked young, but in actuality he was quite clever.

“Let’s go with that, then.” Firuzeh nodded after a moment.

“Once we get in the city, I will charter a carriage to the police station to handle this matter.” Finn said, “You said the East Cato Clinic is handling the majority of devileye cases?”

“Yes, it seems that way.” Char Char said.

“Then that’s where we’ll focus our initial efforts, if we get approval from the higher ups.” Finn nodded.

“We have business to attend to as well.” Firuzeh said to Char Char. She was referring to Char Char’s Exalted training, which the Boss had assigned to Firuzeh to administer.

Char Char nodded. “Okay. After we’re done for the day I’ll drop by the clinic and see if there’s any news.”

With that, the group boarded the carriage and took off towards the city.

~

The afternoon had passed peacefully at the Zhao manor as Yuzu recovered in the guest bedroom. Xiang had been silent and contemplative ever since he returned from his conversation with Sansen Zhao and Dr. Baolan. Of course, Yuzu hadn’t mentioned anything about what she’d learned from listening in on the talk.

“Looks like rain.” Xiang said, looking out the window.

Outside the elegantly framed windows thick clouds gathered on the horizon. The sun was nearing the horizon as the day was quickly coming to an end.

Yuzu watched Xiang quietly as he stared out the window, not sure what to say to him. All these years, he’d kept the truth of his parents’ death from her and Zwei. She wasn’t sad or angry. Knowing the truth didn’t change reality, it only coloured it in a different shade. As such, she didn’t blame her brother for his decisions.

She only felt a little empty inside.

Yuzu looked out the window at the indigo sky as she said, “Let’s go home before it starts.”

“Are you feeling better?” Xiang asked, looking at her.

“Yes, a little.” She lied.

“Let me call Dr. Baolan to check on you before we go, then.” Xiang said, standing up.

When he left the room, Yuzu immediately stood up from the bed and made her way to the window. She stared out at the horizon with an irritated look on her face.

She already knew what Dr. Baolan was going to say:

“Make sure you rest a lot. Avoid stress or exciting situations. Hopefully your body will be able to recover over the next few days.”

Yuzu knew that Dr. Baolan was hiding the truth from her. All of the adults were. But using the strings of fate she’d listened in on their conversations throughout the day and knew the truth of her situation.

“Yuzu only has a few days to live at most.” Dr. Baolan had said. “The wound that is leeching the life out of her is not going to heal. I’ve been able to bolster her spirit by directly channeling my own energy into her, but this is only a temporary solution. If we were to continue with this line of treatment, the strain placed on her body would only speed her towards the end.”

“All we can do is make her as comfortable as we can in her final days.”

~

Dressed in a light gown, Yuzu closed her eyes and concentrated. Dr. Baolan’s assessment wasn’t wrong. She could feel her life force draining away. But there was no way she was going to just “comfortably” lie around and die.

The golden strings in the room glimmered and bloomed to life around her as she turned from the window and decisively left the room.

She walked down the hall, meeting Xiang and Dr. Baolan as they were on their way up.

“Yuzu, what are you doing out here?” Dr. Baolan said with surprise. “You should be resting.”

“I want to go home.” She said.

Dr. Baolan repressed a slight frown as he nodded, “Very well. I can come check on you tomorrow to see how you’re doing.”

“It’s fine.” Yuzu continued to walk towards the stairs as she passed by Dr. Baolan. The men let her pass, following behind her. “You don’t have to come.”

“Thank you for helping me, Uncle Zhao.” Yuzu bowed to the older man, “I’ll be heading home now.”

“I’ll have Paul take you two home.” Sansen said, referring to his chauffeur. With a meaningful glance a nearby maid bowed respectfully and left down the stairs to carry out the request.

Towards Yuzu he smiled and said, “Take care, come by any time.”

“Are.. Are you sure?” Baolan said, “It would be best to check on your health-“

“If she says she doesn’t need your help, then she doesn’t need it.” Xiang said bluntly.

The old doctor stopped in his steps as he looked at Sansen. Sansen stopped as well, an amused grin on his face. They didn’t follow, but simply let the siblings walk down the stairs towards the front entrance.

“Their whole family is always so stubborn.” Dr. Baolan said eventually with a sigh, “Even Yuzu. I remember her being so timid... I can’t imagine how she has the energy to act the way she does, given her condition.”

“Maybe that’s why she’ll hang on.” Sansen said, “Looking at her right now, you can’t imagine that she’d leave us so easily.”

“I wish that were the case...” Dr. Baolan shook his head, “I’ll pay a visit in a few days, regardless.”

“Thank you, doctor.”