The origin of new life - part 2

(April's fool. Or not I guess. How about a chapter instead)

With one of the best nights of sleep behind his back, Xiao felt more ready than ever to face what was to come.

Perhaps it had been his coming to terms with himself or his will to move forward from at least one of his shackles, but he felt much lighter. He almost felt like he had regained a part of himself he kept hidden from everyone.

The first thing he did when he worked up was to check on the cat. Although it was in a deep sleep with the proper treatment provided, it still looked too close to death.

He moved his hand to pet the cat but she shifted and fell on its fat belly. It was soft to touch but it felt uneven. When he applied a little pressure, some parts could be felt more prominently than the others.

And those were not ribs. It was a fascinating feeling for sure, but before he could discover any further, his wrist was seized by a large hand.

“Don’t do that, she’s with babies” the voice sounded directly in his ear, still holding a thread of sleep to it.

A shiver passed through his body and he felt himself colour a little as the hand released his wrist and the weight behind him disappeared.

“Pregnant?” he asked in a small questioning voice as Kei stepped at his side, his hands much more gentle stroked the belly.

“Yes. Did you not notice? I only took notice of it when I treated it. She’s pretty far along in her pregnancy but isn’t showing much. Honestly, it’s worrying” Now that it had been pointed out to him, Xiao could make out the obvious bump of the cat.

How he had missed it yesterday was a mystery to him. It made her defence of him that much more precious in his eyes.

“I didn’t” his voice came small and broken, but he was ignored. He was glad that there was no follow up at his answer. He was not sure he wanted to discuss the topic at hand.

“So, what are we doing now?” Kei asked, turning to him.

“Kei, I don’t think the root got demolished fully. There was no doubt that the one present there was destroyed fully, but it’s possible we both missed something crucial in all this. I would like to check the place again” Xiao said and with a nod of agreement from Kei, they now had a plan to work on.

The morning routine was followed in quick succession and the pair made their way back out.

Just as Kei had promised, there was no indication of blackness anywhere. The butterflies had vanished and the portion of the area which had crystallized no longer held their properties.

It looked as normal as it would have had yesterday never happened. This really made this reconsider Kei in a new light, but only better for his self-control and resilience.

This time when he approached the sealed area, he paid much more attention to the seal kept in place.

A circular hoop formed the circumference of the plot. He could feel the disconnect with his power the nearer he got to the hoop.

It was a tool with abyss power and had not been retrieved yet. Crossing it was easy enough and soon they both were inside the boundary.

The place looked wrecked with markings all over the place. The earth and vegetation were uprooted in many parts and not a single speck of space looked stable enough to stand on.

Just how much power had been invested in this place?

However, despite all this, there was a small shoot of black originating in the centre, directly above a patch of white. The root was back and had apparently decided to use the grass as the medium.

He had never considered this as a possibility and with one look at his side, he could tell that Kei had missed the cue too.

“Destroying it here won’t work. We need a better alternative than that. We need to isolate it fully before destroying it” Xiao observed as he drew closer to the small shoot.

Kei followed at a slower pace, an expression of failure on his face. Xiao waited for him to speak.

“I’m sorry. I told you I would destroy it and boasted about my powers but I failed and missed this spot” Kei’s voice sounded heartbroken and for a second Xiao saw only fifteen years old teen observing his failure.

But he soon shrugged it off since there could be nothing that can change what had happened except to make a wish for it. And he didn’t want Kei to be that person.

“It happens, don’t worry. At least you got rid of most of our problems here” Xiao consoled as he dug around the root a little more to see the damage.

He could see the end to blackness, so it had probably not spread far. If they could seal it away and destroy it soon it would be great for everyone involved.

If not, the whole thing would just be repeated again and again till they reached the correct correspondence.

“Xiao” Kei’s sharp voice alerted as he was observing the deepness of the roots.

The leaves around the pair were whistling but there was a feeling of eeriness to it. The smell had shifted to something dangerous and much too familiar.

And then the hoop around them began shrinking.

The pair jumped up just in time to avoid getting caught in the loop. Now almost half a diameter in circumference, the loop fell down and the pair landed on either side of it.

Someone had triggered it manually and there was only one person in their vicinity who was able to do this.

With a shared nod, the pair separated a few meters, their vigilance tuned to opposite directions.

“Tch, I missed the opportunity” the voice was much too familiar to the par, despite one of them only meeting the owner once before.

The long-haired girl stood on top of a branch in a distance. Her pigtails blew with the wind, exposing her face and body. No longer covered by a nun outfit, the girl wore a long coat along with shorts.

Her dull grey eyes looked at the pair down below and with one look they could tell which one it was.

“Ray, can we do it sometime else? We’re busy at the moment” Xiao tried to reason but the girl ignored his voice. Her eyes seemed to focus on something behind the pair and with a jolt, Xiao recognized what she was seeing.

The black branch.

“So it does exist, the world tree and the wish keeper. I really thought my superiors were pulling my leg when they told me about it” the girl obviously tried to mutter the sentence under her breath, but her voice was far too loud.

Xiao took a sharp intake of air as he cursed himself in his mind. Now that the girl knew the truth, he didn’t know what it meant for their relationship.

“What do you mean? Didn’t you already say you were going to retrieve your brother’s soul from the world tree?” Kei voiced his question out. The girl looked annoyed at his question but she answered anyway.

“I thought they told me that to pacify me. Are you seriously telling me that my brother’s soul is lost forever because he made a deal? Just what was important enough for him to go through this? And you” she pointed toward Xiao, “Don’t use his body as you please. I was serious about retrieving it”

This was the tamest their interaction had ever gone but the tension and promise of violence were still there. The situation could turn volatile at any given moment. Sensing this, Kei took a stance before him as protection.

But Xiao decided to hold him back by placing a hand on his shoulder and a soft whisper of relaxation.

“I’m sorry. I was exactly given a choice at that moment as I was dying too. Your brother made sure you were my priority at that time” Xiao’s voice was dry and as sincere as his words were, he was a little tired of being polite all the time.

The girl looked stunned as she stared at him. And then it looked like she had taken a look at him the first time.

“Y-You, it can’t be. That’s why you succeeded as the next wish keeper? Because you are inside it? All this time” disbelief coloured the girl’s as if she could not believe it herself.

Had she truly been unaware all this time? It seemed like so which meant that Xiao had overestimated her mental growth. Maybe her one side’s growth had stunned her a lot.

“By the way, would you go back to your other self? It’s much more polite and easy to get along with” Kei was really getting good at egging people off and Xiao should really have a talk with him about this.

Ray looked ready to explode and Xiao could swear she would take her weapon out any time. But the moment never passed as in a show of great restrain, Ray actually took deep breaths before she calmed down.

She jumped down from the branch in front of the pair and held their eyes. Despite being a lot shorter than the pair in her front, her presence was the strongest in the vicinity. Her eyes held a strength that was unmatched.

“You’re the wish granted, right? Then, I have a wish I’m willing to do anything to fulfil. Will you take my wish?” never in his whole life, Xiao ever thought he would get a wish request from that side.

And now it had come from a person who had till this moment wanted to kill him all the time.

He didn’t know what to think about all this. Things had been strange for a while now and this was the strangest it had gotten.

“We’re in the middle of work here. If you want to get your wish fulfilled, find us in our working shop hours when we have the time” Kei was the one who took charge when Xiao looked like he would short circuit if he so thought anything more.

The short girl hummed in response before she picked up the hoop on the ground. Her face didn’t betray any of her thoughts and her body language was closed off.

“Then expect me to be there. As for the other me? You don’t need to worry about her anymore since she no longer exists” with that said, the girl raised the hoop above her head and let it drop around her.

As the hoop fell, the upper part it passed disappeared till the whole figure was gone. The hoop shrunk itself till it disappeared from existence.

Xiao however focused on the girl's last words.

“I knew it was only a matter of time. In her case, her other personality was due to the hold of the world tree. Looks like the incident yesterday finally snapped the seal inside her” that was the only explanation that made sense.

“Does it bother you? That she knows the truth now? How will you treat her in the future?” Kei asked and Xiao found himself shaking his head.

“She’s dear to my host body so I cared about her just the same. Now however is a different case. Next time we meet, it will be all business” Xiao concluded. His feelings had changed a lot in a few days.

He saw things much more clearly and had decided to let go of what he could not hold onto. While he was not a new person, he could try to be better for himself.

“Let’s go inform the elders what we know of. We still have work to do and a wish to fulfil” Xiao said as he turned back to go inside.

So much had changed in the span of the last few days. He was not sure what it would lead to, but he could feel something in him move after a long time.

(Me: Does Xiao have any wishes of his own?

Others: Doesn't seem like it.

Xiao: Can I provide you with a list?

I'll see you on Tuesday next. April is a busy month for me so updates are a little slow. Once this busy time passes, you shall get a better update schedule. Also, views have been a little slow with low feedback so I'm just slowing down for a bit. Maybe a bonus chapter?)