I desperately clutched the piece of paper in my hand as I burst into my mother’s room. The scent of herbs and medicinal mixtures hung cloyingly in the air, tainted by the thick stench of sickness, as it always did near my mother’s bed. She had been sick for long. I had attempted, and failed, to find a cure so many times that my hands shook as I approached the bed.

“M-Mom, l-look what I brought!” My voice shook quaveringly as I called out to her, “I think you might finally get healed! Th-The Saintess, she’s invited us to her next healing session. I don’t know how she heard about us, but a nice lady named Fae handed this invitation to me!”

Tyra, my beautiful young mother, stirred in her bed as she called out to me, “Vance, my dear little boy, you work too hard. I’m sorry your mother is so useless, forcing you to spend all your hard earned money keeping these old bones alive.”

“No!” I shouted, “It’s not your fault! It’s your illness to blame….. I curse whatever god or demon did this to you.... I’d do anything to save you. So…… that’s why, we need to go to the Church today. Just one more try, please believe in me!”

Mom gave me a wan smile as she said, “Today? That’s halfway across the city……”

“It’s okay mom, I asked the Church to send us one of their horseless medical carriages. They're fast and there’s no shaking, so you should be able to make the trip.”

The horseless carriages are a relatively new sight here in the capital and still pretty rare. They were invented shortly after the induction festival of the Saintess, primarily ferrying around nobles or the super rich merchants. However, the Saintess had apparently pressed the Church to buy a few and then had them used to transport the ill or injured to the Church for her to heal. Over the last three years, everyone became familiar with the sight of the golden cross on a white carriage and knew not to obstruct them.

Once a month, the Saintess would call people to the Church so she could heal them. Rich and poor, man and woman, she would heal all without discrimination. Her popularity had swelled immensely among common folk due to this practice. It couldn't even compare to the excitement they felt since she became the Saintess three years ago. People have taken to calling her, ‘Little Angel,’ out of respect. And that Little Angel had sent her white-haired messenger, Fae, to offer to heal my mother!

*Beep* *Beep*

Hearing the distinctive horn of the medical carriage, I knew it was time to go. “Come on, mom. They’re here!” Using my water magic to strengthen my thin arms, I lifted her gently off the bed as she weakly protested. She felt light as a feather and oh so frail. Quickly walking out the door of our small flat, I went to meet the unknown priestess who stood next to the carriage.

“Hello, Mr. Vance” The adorable, brown-haired priestess said to me while crossing her hands in front of her body. Opening the pure white door, she motioned for me and my mother to enter. The second we did, she hopped on the seat located at the front and got the carriage moving forward.

Mom looked around the interior of the vehicle curiously, gently stroking the rich leather of the bench while eyeing the clean white walls.

“This carriage is wonderful, Vance…… So clean and pretty, you can’t even feel any shaking!”

“You’re right! I wonder how they get it to float and move like this…… I tried asking Boss, over at the Dawn Guild, but even he had no idea. Supposedly, it was the latest research from the kingdom or something…”

“I’m really so sorry, you had to get a job as clerk over at that merchant company in such a hurry because of me…… You’re just a boy, barely 15 years old, and you’ve been forced to spend the last 5 years working for them. You always talked about wanting to be an alchemist when you were a boy....” Mom said while sounding extremely apologetic.

“It’s okay, mom.” I said while holding her hand gently. “The Boss takes care of me. Can you believe it? One of the leaders at the Dawn Guild is taking care of me! I’m not just a kid anymore, so let me help you. Besides, I believe the Saintess will cure you. After today, you’ll be able to do whatever you want. Aren’t you looking forward to it?”

My mother gave me a kind, noncommittal smile, clearly not having much hope, but not wanting to refute me. I had faith in the Saintess. If all the stories are true, then she’d be able to help mom for sure.