V - II

“You know they say that great minds think alike,” Anna manifested herself upon V’s shoulders as she were walking away from Mikel’s mansion.

“They also say that self-flattery is a sin.” V replied.

The girl leaned down and planted her upside-down face in front of V, “Just admit it, I was right. That chick is suspicious from the start.”

“Alright, I admit, your somewhat slightly biased opinion might be correct.”

“So how are you gonna investigate that chick now? She thinks you are having an affair with the man she loves. Be surprised if she even wants to see your face.”

“Maybe she would if someone didn’t explode in her face.”

“My bad for trying to educate people. You still haven’t answered my question though.”

“We will try to talk to her, and if things go south, we’ll use my blood.”

“But V didn’t you tell me that we shouldn’t be messing with people’s minds” The girl leaned down again.

“If it doesn’t leave them comatose or dead, it’s fine.”

“That’s just hypocritical.” Anna frowned.

“My bad for being influenced by humans. Anyway, is there something you need to tell me?”

“Oh yeah, the records… There were quite a few named Mikel, but there are only two alive. The first one is Archmage Mikel Vanir Shien of Yahanam, an Imperial Battlemage, and a Royal guard of the current Lady of Oracle, Lilian. The other one is an Acolyte by the name of Mikel Ead.”

“This Mikek Ead. He is a bloodless right?

“No, I think they classified him as an Enchanter.”

Hm… That could potentially imply a few things, “What is his affinity for Invocation?”

“Relatively high. The reports from his advisor mention that he could invoke something call a repeating crossbow in under a minute. Apparently, that’s pretty impressive.”

“What is his scholar status?”

“I believe he doesn’t have one.”

That one made some sense at least, “Thank you, Anna. That’s it for now. Unfortunately, I can only fulfill my promise to you later. I might still need you for this job.”

“You better keep your promise this time.”

They walked on for a bit longer before arriving at the house Mikel marked on the map.

The owner was reluctant to open the door when V knocked, but when she said she was investigating the death of Laila, that changed rather quickly.

The woman’s name was Jenny, and she and Laila had worked together in the past. Laila knew how to read and write well, so she and Jenny decided to open a school to teach the local children.

If V took anything away from her conversation with Jenny, aside from the surface level stuff like Laia was kind, outgoing, optimistic, and so on, it would be that from time to time, Laila would be upset with her family, but she never elaborated when Jenny asked.

“It was like she wanted help, but when offered, she refused.” Jenny had said.

They made it back to the Mayor’s house when the sun was at its peak.

“Well, this is not good.” Anna said before V knocked on the door.

“What is?”

“That chick is not in the house.”

“Really? must have not come home then.”

“There is something very interesting in her room, though. You should have a look.”

“Let’s do it now.” She knocked on the door.

It was the old man that answered her, “You’re back… How was it?”

“I can’t say anything just yet… I need to have a look at Liss’s room.”

The old man gave her a hesitant look, “She is sleeping right now… you sure it’s important.”

“What? but I thought she… Yes, it’s important.” She turned to look at Anna floating above her shoulders.

The girl smiled, “You will see.”

The old man sighed, “Liss is a hard one to wake, but whatever you do, just make sure you are careful not to wake her.”

V nodded.

The old man wasn’t lying. Liss was in her room, lying in bed and seemingly sleeping.

“It isn’t her, is it?” V asked Anna.

“Nope.” The specter appeared beside the bed, “Can’t see anything from her, no leakage signature, no trace, nothing. Even if she died, it would be too recent for the corpse to be this… empty, unless it’s just an empty husk in the first place.”

V approached the bed and touched the body, “It felt like real skin, and the face too, it looks almost exactly like the real one.” Only the freckles were missing.

“Invocation.” She concluded. V wondered what was used for the initiation.

She searched the room next. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting except for a drawer by the bed that was locked.

V reached for the Ivory Dagger she stored under her coat, still covered in dried blood. She slashed her hand for some fresh blood and sent them in to fill the keyhole using Blood Control. She then twisted the blood, unlocking the drawer.

“Pretty.” Anna said as the drawer slid open, “Who is this?”

V pointed to the small words written in the corner of the canvas, “Beloved Sister.”

“I guess that chick was being honest when she said you aren’t half as pretty as her sister.”

“I would say even you pale in comparison.” V returned.

“Someone’s eyes are getting old.”

V chuckled, “There isn’t anyone out there as old as I.”

She put the woman’s portrait aside and moved on to the canvas underneath, “Look at this. It’s Mikel.”

“He isn’t this good-looking though.” Anna said, “Must be how the chick envisions him.”

“Really? I think he just looks younger. Gotta admit though, you weren’t wrong when you said she got a colorful imagination,” V said.

They cycled through the rest of the collections. Even though there were drawings of the town and the festivals and even a few from what V assumed was the nearby forest, a lot of the arts they viewed focused on Laila, depictions of the woman contemplating, smiling, talking, cooking, bathing, and even… sleeping.

“At least we know where her knack for Innovation comes from.” V put the canvases back in and closed the drawer.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” The old man asked when she met with him downstairs.

“I suppose you can say so. By the way, do you know if Liss… Does she go somewhere when she’s upset?”

“Liss is a shy girl.” The old man said.

“Is she now?” Anna’s voice echoed inside her.

“She doesn’t leave the house often. If anything, her room is where you will find her.” The old man coughed again, lightly at first, but then it turned violent.

“You ok?” V found herself asking.

“It’s just… my lungs… Withered things.” He held his head and grasped for airs, “I think… I… need… to sit down…” His breath became more and more unstable until he would have dropped down had V not catch him.

“V, I don’t think it’s his lungs,” Anna said.

“I know.” V put the old man down gently and reached for the Ivory dagger. She jabbed her hand to draw some blood, “I am sorry.” V said as she cut open a wound in the old man’s wrist, though his mind was too far gone to react.

V started bumping her blood into the old man and commanded it to circulate around the bloodstream, searching. She found the culprit not long afterward, a clogged vein in the neck area that served to supply blood to the brain.

V liquified the clog, forcing the blood to bleed out of the old man through his nostril.

After she cleaned up, V carried the man to his room and laid him on the bed.

“Where are your children when you need them?” Anna said.

“She would stand there and watch him die.” V pulled the blanket over the old man, “This kind of stroke is lethal at their current level of medical technology.”

“Well yeah, but at least he wouldn’t die alone. What if you weren’t here, V? Imagine how horrifying that would be.”

“I suppose you have a point. We both know how it feels, do we not?”

“Good thing we were here. So what do we do now?”

“We have to stay until I finish healing him.”

“I thought you already did.”

“I only suppressed the problem. It would happen again if we simply let it be.”

“Oh… I will let you work then.” Anna said and disappeared.

V transfused some more of her blood to the man, then she took a deep breath before setting her mind to restore the blood vein in the neck. She turned the old man over, then initiated the invocation of a precision knife. She started by cutting open the area of the neck where the clogged vein was. She then made an alternate pathway for the blood to flow to the brain using Blood Control. Dissecting the clogged vein came next. Using the precision knife, V made a cut near the clogged area of the vein, then commanded her blood to push out the deposits that clogged it slowly and steadily.

It took an hour or so to clear out the vein, and when she was done, V gave the old man a large portion of her blood to speed his recovery. She dropped down to the floor afterward, gasping for air and feeling a pain in her head. Even her vision was blurring out.

“Are you ok?” Anna reappeared, sitting next to her.

“Just lost about half my blood volume.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“Normally if you lose that much, your body will stop pumping blood around.”

“I am sure hope it doesn’t kill you. What would do this poor soul do without you?”

That got a laugh out of her, “An actual funny joke.”

Anna only smiled.

They sat there for a bit no longer until they heard someone opening the front door.

“What the… I thought the tension was high” Anna commented when they saw Mikel carrying what seemed like an unconscious Liss on his back, and they were both soaking wet.

“I can explain.”

“Tell me later.” V said.

“What? That’s not fun.” Anna made a face.

V ignored the specter, “I will take her to her room. You go in there and look after her father. He almost dies from a stroke.”

Mikel’s eyes widened, then he sighed, “Is he ok?”

“He should be, though I suggest keeping a close eye on him.” She took Liss from the man and carried her up the stairs.

“Hm, where did the body go?” Anna said when they entered Liss’s room.

“Here.” V picked up the Canvas on the bed. It depicted the full body of the girl, “She must have used this to initiate the Invocation.”

As V undressed the girl, she noticed there were bruises all over her back, and arms. Judging from the difference in colors of the bruises, the girl must have gotten them at different times. The newest ones seemed to be just one day or two days old.

V also noted the small vial around Liss’s neck due to the liquid inside looking like blood. She placed the girl down on her bed after putting her in a new dress.

“Such an innocent face for someone who harbors so many secrets.” Anna appeared, looking at the girl with an unpleasant expression, “What are you doing?” the specter asked when she saw V reached for the Ivory Dagger.

“Preparing a backup plan.”

“Hm more like taking advantage of an unconscious person, and being a hypocrite… So this is why you tell the hunter to babysit the old man. That’s disgusting, V. What happened to trying to talk to her?” Anna said with a frown.

“Still gotta do that. As I said, this is a backup plan. Besides, I won’t let an opportunity like this slip.” V cut her hand to draw out some blood. She made a small cut on Lisss arm and transfused her blood into the girl.

After the transfusion, V left Anna to look after the girl while she went down to check on the old man.

“How is he?” V walked in.

“I don’t know. He seems fine. Keep calling out my late wife’s name.”

“Must have loved her dearly.” V came up beside Mikel.

“He did. Laila looked like her mother.”

“Speaking of whom, How did she die?”

“She died giving birth to Liss.” Mikel sighed.

That explained a few things.

“The old man must have been devastated.” V commented.

“Aye, according to Laila, his alcohols problems started when her mother died.”

“Look what it brought him. A common cause for the type of stroke he suffered is excessive alcohol consumption.”

“You should tell Liss that you saved her father.”

V shook her head, “I pass.”

“Why not? It could help clear the tension between you two.”

“I dislike giving people the feeling of indebtedness. If somehow they still know, so be it, but I would rather not tell.”

“You are a strange lass.”

“You are not the first to say that.”

They had a quick break before V started asking him about what happened between him and Liss back then.

“Ah, right. You see when Liss is upset, there is a spot by the river that she always goes to.”

She did remember seeing a few drawings about a river in the middle of the forest.

“After we talked, I went there, and there she was… trying to drown herself in the river, so I… took action before she did something stupid.”

“That’s just pathetic.” V said.

Mikel looked at her, “You didn’t have to put it like that.”

“I didn’t mean it to you.”

That only made Mikel angrier, “You don’t know her. You don’t what she has endured.”

“I have done my investigation, but you are right I do not know her, but the fact remains.”

“What fact? What are you talking about?”

“She runs away from her problems. Death is intended to be a gift, for those who have lived a full-filled life, not the out to your petty issues.”

Mikel frowned, “What about Laila? Is her death a gift too?”

“No, it’s a tragedy.” She said, “If it wasn’t, she wouldn’t be out there crying for help.”

“She… does?” Mikel seemed to be in pain.

“Every lost soul does. They are trapped, and they need help finding Death.”

“Is there anything I can do to help with that?”

“Frankly I don’t know yet. Need to know what actually happened.”

“I hope you are close to that then.”

“Soon enough I hope.”

Mikel nodded, “If there is anything I can do to help, lass, just tell me.”

Hearing that somehow made V felt bad that she couldn’t do anything to help him aside from killing him, and even that might prove difficult the longer she remained hesitant. If she could barely felt her blood in him being this close… V wasn’t sure if she had more than a few hours left.

“Say, Mikel, if you are to die… How would you like to die?”

Mikel gave her a cautious look, “finally decide that you want to kill me?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Never thought about that.” Mikel then paused for a while, “I guess it’s what every man would want… in bed with the woman he loves by his side… and the children as well…”

“Ah…” V uttered, “Of course… Of course.”

Mikel chuckled and looked down, “Sadly that’s just a dream.”

“If you think that it is, it will forever be a dream.”

Mikel seemed taken aback when he heard that.

“What is it?” V asked.

The man shook his head, “Nothing.”

It was then that Anna came down and informed her that Liss just woke.