In A Particular Way (III)

The Last Healer,

The dreamer,

The ripper,

And the last lover.

***

THE YEAR 1904, a century away from the present time.

Qing Long breathed again and muttered, "I know this sounds crazy. The reason why you can hear me in your subconscious was that your soul was connected to me. And that was absurd, yes, but I think you can understand it when the time comes."

Althea was stunned at her place and she didn't know what to feel. She felt like she needed to ask it over and over again, her mind was so befuddled by that fact. She parted her lips slightly as she looked to Qing Long's back while the petals of the peony were circling around the air. The wind blustered as Althea shook her head while she asked, "I could not... understand... your.... soul...?"

She was confused too, as much as Qing Long would have anticipated her reaction, it would still be the same. She was the Last Healer, and yet, she was not acting like one, which made Qing Long smiled inside.

"Your soul is connected to mine. That means... you are born with the purpose to lift off the curse on mine. That's the layman's terms that I wanted to say. But... I think it will take another bloodied battle before you can understand everything," Qing Long smiled and turned his back once again but Althea hitched him. Qing Long was surprised by that sudden bolt of Althea.

"Does it mean that... my grandmother, Ai Xi, was also connected to you?"

Qing Long chuckled as he spoke softly, "Ai Xi, your grandmother, shared the same name with the acting Queen of my Empire. But... if I can see her face, I might be correct with my instincts."

"What does it mean when my soul is connected to you? Does it mean that if I will be dead... you will be dead too?" Althea was stuttering at every single pace that she could come up with while glancing carefully at him. Qing Long shone those shadow white eyes in a second while the azure ones were linking on his.

"The Healers were intended to lift off the curse, but every one of them... before you... went dead for no reason. The time that they had given on healing me didn't conceive me for a bit. It was a bloody battle between the Nian beast and me, with the healer by my side. I never wanted to say this but... I am afraid that the Elixir, who served as the cure for me, will not take effect on everything," Qing Long explained while they were both standing at that place, at the corner of the street, away from the Crescent Hall, and no one could observe them from that distance.

"Elixir... cure?" Althea asked.

"The time I got punished as the Azure Dragon and everyone who was loyal to me, we had been granted the time to find the Elixir and the Cure itself on the higher mountains. But... I don't know where it was. We searched for answers every single day, but every day that I will wake, it was a nightmare to me," Qing Long mumbled while he placed his hands behind his back. Althea was looking at him skeptically, the befuddled emotion that was written all over her face.

"We scramble everything, in a nitpick, every sand that we could find, but there was no elixir and the cure that had been shown," Qing Long's huffed voice made Althea thought that he must have been exhausted with the punishment that had been granted upon him. Qing Long nodded as he said, "We should continue walking. You can ask me questions here and there, just relax."

Qing Long walked again while Althea was still gluing her feet on the sand. She sighed as she glanced the other way and walked, catching up with Wang Qing Long.

"So the Healers intended to heal you but the elixir and the cure will be the only key for you to finally be a human?" Althea asked while she walked side-by-side, muttering every question that was bugging her mind.

"I will never be a human again even with the help of the cure, or so it was only my thought," Qing Long was unsure of his response while Carmela scrutinized the road across from her. She sighed as she looked down and took her steps leisurely. The silence filled once again between the atmosphere that surrounded them as Althea breathed in exasperation.

"So how come you can become a human and a dragon at the same time?" Althea asked that question that Qing Long wanted to hear. Qing Long pursed his lips in a little bit while he swallowed and pulled off his step. He turned to Althea and saw the very corner, where they could see the long narrow street, where the sound of waves crashing on the side of the lawn could be faintly heard.

"I can only become a human when Chinese New Year happens," Qing Long nearly choked with his words, in which Althea hit off that switch button, her heart was beating louder than usual. She swallowed as she tilted the corners of her lips, picturing a bewildered and uneasy look.

He lied. And he doesn't know why.

"I can be like this because this year, 1904, is the Year of the Wooden Dragon," Qing Long raised his hands a little and slapped it lightly on his hips. There was something that he could feel through his heart, it was like explaining that he could die in a matter of days to her. Althea looked down and nodded. She understood everything in a split second.

"Is that so? Does that mean the only time I get to see you is when Chinese New Year happens, and not any other day onwards?" Althea blurted it out unnoticeably. It was the only question she wanted to ask earlier, but it turns out that the situation was jointing with what he was indicating. Qing Long was taken aback by that question.

His breathing rapidly coursed through his veins as he pursed his lips. It was not exactly like that, because he could only turn to a human whenever the calendar predicted. But he doesn't want to hurt Althea's feelings, and he doesn't know why. Althea anticipated his answer and waited.