The director of dead - part 2

“Kei, you came to my shop knowing exactly who I was and what our shop did. That tells me you’ve been around for a while and know about the inheritance” Xiao began. Kei gave him a nod in return which caused Xiao to take in a breath to steady himself.

“The shop is inherited by only one family, but all the people who do are adopted into the family. There is no pattern to their selection, but no one ever ends up in the main family. Or so the rumour says” Kei replied.

He was right. That was how things progressed and how people knew the inheritance to be. Even if it was not the whole truth, it was enough for people to form their own opinion about the topic.

“Yes, but it’s not so random. You see, there are no wish granters. There has only ever been one” This was not something Xiao had ever told anyone.

There were people who knew like the family head and to some extent Ray when she remembered it, but it would be the first time he actively gave out this information.

He really was putting a lot of trust in Kei, but he felt that it was earned at this point. There had been no tricks till now and unlike most curious people, he had not breached the trust invested in him.

“So, if it has always been you, then why does the whole thing so tightly wrapped. Also, doesn’t the appearance of the wish granter change every few decades? Surely no one has the reserves so deep or we would have heard of such a long and permanent skill” Kei began with a curious tone and Xiao nodded.

“I’m not omnipotent Kei and it was not magic” Xiao confirmed what the child was no doubt thinking about.

“Possession then? That’s really immoral of you, but it would explain why the girl is so mad at you. Is the body of her brother. What about your name? Is it even Xiao?” The questions were fired off at a moderate rate which gave Xiao enough time to actually pounder them.

This was a delicate time for him and all he could say was a key factor he had to consider. Was telling Kei too much put him off? Or would the teen not care at all?

There was only one way to find out but the decision to take the final step made Xiao hesitate.

“It’s not possession in the traditional sense. All the bodies I have occupied over the years lost their soul to a wish and I made use of them as I saw fit. I’m a selfish creature after all. As for my name, why don’t you take a guess” Xiao summarised?

There had been a lot of factors involved behind his decision at that time and while some of the aquatics of his bodies had taken it in good measure, most had not turned out so great.

After all, even if he occupied the body of their beloved, he was not them in any sense. Even the initial job would sour over a period of time.

Kei passed him a look which could have been concerning or even bewilderment. Xiao didn’t want to look into it too much.

“And that justifies Ray’s actions? I’ll still call you Xiao for good measures since I have nothing else to address you with right now” Kei questioned him which made Xiao think about the old times.

What had happened to Ray had been unfortunate. Kei’s tone and patience with him was something he was thankful for. Till now he had not been able to talk about this with anyone else.

But maybe Kei would become someone he could confide in. He was a stranger detached enough that he had no preformed opinion of Xiao or Ray. Also, he seemed detached enough to not judge on sight.

Wasn’t talking with a third party an effective therapy plan? He should consider it.

And even if things slipped and this information got out, all it did was not affect anything but his peace of mind. Noah had only been quiet up till now because he was considerate of him and didn’t want to sour relations between them.

“Ray is like this because of the price she had to pay. Do you want to listen to her story Kei?” Xiao asked.

It would take them two hours to drive back. Since the north headquarters were in another country, they would have to take the express method to get there.

This meant he had enough time to talk this out with Kei if he wanted to. And he felt that he wanted to tell Kei about what had happened. Perhaps, he felt like he owed Kei this explanation.

“I do want to. We’re taking the terminal for north right? We will have a lot of time on our way if you decide to remain awake this time around” Kei nodded his consent. There was a curious expression on his face.

The pair made their way toward their car which was still parked in the middle of the road. Thankfully the road to the cemetery was usually abandoned so there had been no accident.

Kei slipped into the driving seat while Xiao sat on the passenger side. Even if he was an adult with a driver licence, Xiao felt it safer for Kei to drive. The teen genuinely seemed to enjoy driving and Xiao’s own skills were rather rusty, to say the least.

His licence was a gift from Noah and he had no inclination to know more about the issue.

“So, can I have the pleasure of listening about your past now” Kei’s quiet voice broke the silence and Xiao took a deep breath before beginning?

“I met the current director of the dead when I was still in my last body. She’s around 32 right now, so when I met her, she was around 11 and her brother around 5” Xiao started as memories assaulted him of that time. Kei listened to the story with attention as he drove.

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His body had been bothering him for a while. This only signalled that the poison had corroded the body far enough to become unusable.

Xiao looked at the mirror on the opposite wall, his pale complexion and blue-green eyes stared back at him. His current body was tall. It had not been the tallest or strongest one he had ever been in, but it still stood a good 6’1 above his peers.

Short white-haired were chopped and styled. A silver form-fitted T-shirt and baggy black jeans highlighted his slim figure. Perhaps he had once been healthy but the poison had far eroded it all.

Taking the over robe from the chair at his side, he lifted it above his head before letting it fall into place. It covered till his navel, showing his silver T-shirt underneath.

It was stitched at the side and heavily embroidered along with his baggy bottoms. It was pure black with his signature blue-green embroidery work. Spells were woven in the fabric itself with magic.

Once it was done, Xiao knew it was time. Donned in the official getup decided for the wish granter this century he made his way toward the shop.

He had occupied this body almost 30 years ago when the owner had died wishing for a prosperous future for his brother. The world tree had liked his soul well enough to engulf it in exchange for his wish.

And then his brother had made the wish to bring the body back to life. So Xiao had taken the opportunity to sow his seed into it and occupied this body. Had occupied it the same way he had a lot of others and will do a lot of others.

Extending his hand, his flawless skin suddenly darkened into a pattern. Black lines formed all over and many extended from his plan outwards to solidify.

Cupping the ball in both hands, he opened them again and the black shadows parted in the shape of a flower with a beautiful moth in the centre.

However, the body had a weird oval shape and Xiao knew it was no moth, but something which kept him alive. It was the seed that allowed him to occupy a new body.

It had been what had created him, the other seed of the world tree. Once planted in a body, it allowed Xiao’s consciousness to occupy as long as the body withheld the poison the seed secreted.

And now this one was at its end. He would need to find another host soon.

While he was moving through the complex, the sound of children’s laughter attracted him. There were quite a few families around with children of their own. One had been from the very far extended branch of the family whom no one liked.

Their parents had been decent but had gotten caught up with a bad crowd in the past. He knew then in his previous body when he had been with the hunters and had submitted to illegal experiments.

It had caused a big commotion at that time and the family along with their young had been outclassed here. Almost 4 years ago and shortly after the younger turned one year old.

He could see the children play in the distance. A group of them chasing one another and laughing merrily. The playground seemed like such a harmonious place for children to play around in.

However, one could also spot a pair sitting in the distance. There was an air of isolation around them and none of the children running around seemed to even move their head in the pair’s direction.

Ray and Xiao, the pair of kids that had resulted in the hunter’s busted experiment. Both kids had been modified while still in the womb which had resulted in the birth of mutants.

Natural mutants died soon after birth due to the reaction of different kinds of magic but these kids had survived. There had been no data found along with them and their parents had no memory of the part they played.

Preservation spells no doubt, to keep whatever had happened as a secret. When accused, hunters’ association had very politely brushed their hands off the case.

As far as he knew, Ray was about to turn 11 and the small boy, Xiao was around 5 years of age. And although Xiao looked two and a half years old, Ray only looked to be around seven.

This was because the exposure to magic had been far more in the girl’s case which had resulted in her slow ageing. The boy had the same ageing traits too, but they were much less prominent due to less exposure.

Suddenly, Grey eyes rose to meet him across the land. The small boy was looking at him from across the playground. No doubt he had recognised his clothes, everyone knew what they meant.

The boy pointed at him and said something to his sister but she only shook her head. The boy turned away from him and the pair continued playing as they were before.

He himself felt no need to linger around there any longer. He needed to get back to the shop because today was going to be a busy day. He could feel it.

By the way, what was the name of his current body again? He had had so many till now that he didn’t even genuinely remember. Not like most people called him by his name anymore. He was the wish granter, not a person to them.

His shop stood, not a thing out of place since it’s renovation. How long had he set it up? In his tenth life? Fifteenth?

Well, it was sometime around the council and the political structure of the supernatural world developed. He can vaguely remember someone wishing for its stability for years to come.

Not that it mattered in a functioning sense, but it did tie his importance in the council. Somewhat. Most of the time he preferred to stay away and everyone preferred it that way too.

“Mr Wishgranter, will you listen to my request now? Please, Xiao, his body will not last long and hunters are after us. They will be here any day now. They said so. Please, please. My only wish is that the fruits of my experiment survive. Please let my Xiao’s body survive all this”

The woman was back. She made her way to his shop once a week without fail.

The scientist behind the experiment that created Xiao and Ray. Their mother, as she liked to call herself - their creator. The siblings had been birthed from her womb, but for the woman, they had been nothing more than a result of her experiment.

Their father was a more sensible man and after getting caught had been content to stay under watch. However, the woman had not been as sensible.

And so she escaped, again and again, to come to him for a wish.

But Xiao could not help her because she could not meet the price she had to pay for it.

“I’m sorry, Mr Wishgranter sir. I’ll take the woman back and ensure that she doesn’t disturb you again in the near future” That had been her guard who was trying to coax the woman back with her.

For all his outer show, the guy was a pushover and in his opinion, too much taken with her to actually be able to contain her. Then again, as long as he took her away it didn’t matter at all.

They needed her for her information and the woman knew that. The shop was neutral territory for everyone and she took full advantage of it.

There was silence as the man began leading the woman away, but it was broken by hurried footsteps and a banging of doors.

“Sir, the experiments” the guard which had thrown open the door huffed out “They were taken away”

Suddenly there was noise and moment all around. The woman was screaming and more guards filtered into his shop.

All this before he even opened it officially.

“Stop it all. Who took them away” since he seemed to be the only detached party, it looked like he was the only one with his wits still intact. The guards were panicking at their punishment while the woman's screams shrilled around the.

“We don’t know. We’re speculating that they were from the hunter council but we can’t be sure. Actually, we were hoping that you could use your powers to help us” the guard confessed.

Useless, the lot of them.

But so was he in this situation. His current body was at its limit because of all the poison that had accumulated in it. His power was much more limited right now and the only way to utilise it would be for someone to ask this as a wish from him.

However, when he voiced their only option there were no volunteers. Of course, wishing was not free and no one wanted to pay the price for someone else.

“I’ll do it. They are a result of my love so I’ll pay the price” It was the woman. Their mother actually agrees and there seemed to be murmurs around them.

Well, at least someone was willing to do what needed to be done. Even if it was out of a sense of guilt and the wrong side of interest. Well, if it came down to that Xiao could not fault anyone but the circumstances for all that was going wrong.

(Your comments help a lot so make sure you do that. There will be another up today later so stay tuned for that too)