Ren's heart was still pounding hard. He could feel the energy from… that girl… no, Uta, Shanks' daughter, Luffy's friend.
Ren wiped the sweat from his forehead. "How did she appear here? And I could feel she was aware of what was happening." (Well… that can wait.) He looked toward the fight of the second round.
Yoh deactivated his Oversoul upon seeing that Faust wasn't getting back up. Anna stood beside Manta, giving him first aid. Well.. it basically tying her jacket around his chest so the wound Faust had cut open wouldn't remain exposed.
Anna adjusted the rosary around her neck and commented, "Well, it's time to send Yoh and Manta to the hospital, or they'll end up dying."
Yoh had a wound on his side that was still bleeding, and Manta's chest was left exposed by the surgeon's cut.
Silver approached Ren angrily. "That's cheating and you know it."
Ren smiled at the referee. "If it's cheating, then why did your Great Spirits give Yoh the victory? I was simply cheering him on. I didn't do anything to help him, according to your own words."
The hawk shouted, "What do you mean you didn't help him? Yoh's spirit recovered! You made his Furyoku regenerate!"
Ren looked at Silver and asked, "I know you can check how much he has left. Did I really help him recover it?"
Silver raised his arm and searched through his bracelet's functions with his fingers, checking Yoh's Furyoku. It hadn't recovered, it was still at 20/440. Ren watched him and said, "Well then?"
Silver sighed. "The boy didn't break any rules." Ren lifted his guitar and walked toward the others. "That's what I thought," he said to the Apache and his spirit companions.
When he reached Yoh, the boy smiled at him widely. "Hey, you helped me. Thanks. Are you a friend of Manta's?"
Ren shook his head. "I don't know Anna either, nor Silver. Let's just say the Great Spirits allowed me to come here to help."
Anna cut in, "You two can keep your cheesy talk for later. Yoh, you need to get to the hospital and take the runt with you. I won't let my future husband die and leave me a widow."
Yoh struggled to straighten up and moved to carry Manta, but Ren stepped in front of him, blocking his way.
Yoh stopped smiling and asked, "What are you doing?"
Ren looked at Manta on the ground, then turned to the young shaman with a serious gaze.
"You're weak. Today you could've lost your friend."
"Because of your carelessness and lack of preparation, you let your emotions consume you."
"I helped you today... I changed your fate... but that doesn't mean I'll always be here to save you."
"I don't know how or when I'll show up again, but you'd better train and grow stronger, or next time it won't end with just a simple 'sorry'…"
Anna eyed the boy with the guitar and added, "You know… he's right. You've got too many distractions. Once you recover, it'll be time to stop dragging people into these fights who don't belong."
Yoh grabbed his head, frustrated, and snapped back, "I get it! But right now what matters is helping Manta and taking him to the hospital. He could die, and I can't let that happen."
While they argued, Ren was racking his brain trying to think of music that could heal.
(Is there any character who heals and has a soundtrack for that?)
Ren rubbed his chin, mumbling, "Mercy from Overwatch… but she doesn't really have music. Healing spells in Dragon Quest… maybe Maam, but she doesn't have an OST, or at least I don't know it. Some healer from Genshin… but no music either… ahhh this is tough."
Ren scratched his head in frustration. "I wish there was a healing song or something… wait. Healing… song?"
"Mexican healing song. Sana sana colita de rana? No, Ren, focus… there has to be another healing song."
Ren's head whipped toward Silver, and he nearly shouted, "Among your Apache merchant stuff… do you have an ocarina?"
The turtle spirit answered, "What do you want that for?"
The hawk added, "Silver, do you even know what that is?"
Silver glanced at Ren, then reached into his clothes and pulled out a wooden ocarina. "Here. But what do you need it for?"
Ren took it from his hand and said as he walked away, "Just wait and see."
Yoh was about to lift Manta when he saw the musician return. "I can't talk to you right now, I need to get him treated."
Ren looked at Anna. "You can read lies. It's possible I can heal him. Will you give me five minutes?"
Anna stepped back slightly, startled. "How do you know that?… Damn you, what do you know?"
Ren's expression softened. "I don't know how much I can tell you, but I promise I'll explain everything I can, after I heal them."
Anna narrowed her eyes, jaw clenched, and muttered through her teeth, "Do it… but be ready to answer."
Ren simply nodded. Yoh was staring at him, alarmed and fearful.
With a smile, Ren said, "This song is for everyone who needs to heal their soul, and for our bodies to recover. Manta, Yoh… I hope you can also heal your hearts."
In one motion, he lifted the ocarina to his lips. As the song began, Ren thought, (I'm glad I learned to play the ocarina when I played Zelda.)
Song of Healing – Majora's Mask version.
The notes of the ocarina echoed, and instantly an aura surrounded Ren, glowing in shades of pink and orange. As the melody gained cadence, Yoh's body began to itch and burn where his wounds were.
Anna moved closer and pulled off his shirt, watching as the largest cut knit itself closed, while the smaller ones sealed quickly as the guitarist's aura washed over them.
Alarmed, Yoh dropped to his knees and laid Manta's body bare, removing the jacket and opening his clothes so the wounds were exposed. Manta's body began to twitch as his skin closed cleanly. The cut Faust had made, surgical and precise, healed even faster than Yoh's.
Ren kept playing, pouring the healing music over all the wounded.
........
As everyone watched Yoh and Manta recover, Ren Tao observed silently from the top of the cemetery.
He was about to leave when he felt the aura brush against him.
Old scars, wounds he'd carried for years, began to fade.
Smiling broadly, he whispered, "Interesting."
......
Eliza, lacking any spiritual power, lay still on the ground, her husband still unconscious. The notes and aura of the guitarist reached them both.
Eliza's legs were enveloped and lifted by the energy, her body restored, returned to its original form.
The skeleton, no longer held by an Oversoul, rose to its feet.
With arms lifted to the sky, it wept silently, no sound for the real world.
But its soul screamed in pain and release.
........
Author's Notes
We won't leave Shaman King just yet, there's still Anna's question, and what happened with Uta.
What do you think about an interlude to see what's happening in the other worlds?
I'm open to your suggestions and comments, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.