Father felt a sharp pain climb up his leg, and soon it became a burning sensation as he grabbed the creature. It was difficult to pull out as it became infused with his skin, forcing him to rip out flesh along with the centipede. It was a disgusting sight, causing Father to become lightheaded. Once the centipede creature was out, it curled up into a ball. Father thought it might have died, but it seemed to twitch while it lay there. Father took this time to heal his leg as Anemone walked up to Father. She had no clue what was going on and assumed the wound was from the battle.
"Are you okay, Father?" She said in a concerned voice.
"Remember, it's Calder around others. Otherwise, yes, I'm okay, young one. No need to worry about this old man. Though, could you give me your bag?"
"Of course, what's wrong?"
Anemone gave Father the bag, clueless about what he was planning.
"I want to ask around, ask if anyone knows anything about this creature," Father said while putting the centipede in a jar.
"Ewww, that's disgusting, is that the flesh of the minotaur? That makes me want to throw up."
Father decided it was best for Anemone not to know, as she would be too worried if she did, or maybe even become angry for letting it happen. As he sealed the jar, he looked at the creature. From an outside perspective, it seemed like any normal creature, just a bit more crimson colored than most. It was a terrifying fact that this thing, this parasite, could take over bodies, causing them to become monsters, losing their sanity, if they had any to begin with, and was able to cause mass destruction depending on what it took over. So far, there was no telling if it was purely a parasitic relationship or if, when certain conditions are met, the host would accept it and have negative side effects.
"I did help Astrape recover, but we need to go report to the Adventurers Guild. We need to take her home and let her rest, and ask people if they know anything about this creature."
"Okay, Fa-Calder, though I think I need rest too." She replied with a small chuckle.
"Well, for now, you may call me 'Father' as Astrape is asleep, and if she becomes an ally, then you may continue to call me Father. Also, I'm not carrying you; you can walk on your own. Astrape, though, I will carry."
"Ohhh, cmon!" Anemone began to give Father puppy dog eyes, to no avail.
Father then hoisted Astrape onto his back, holding her legs, and then began to ascend the stairs, while hoping that no more death would come to be. Anemone decided to stay in the room a little bit longer, hoping to find some clues to who this person was. Something caught her attention, though; some of the slaves were still alive, but they were beaten, chained to a stone bed, and were asleep. Anemone decided it was best to come back, with more healers to help in the near future. She felt sorry they had to stay there, but she found comfort knowing that they wouldn't be used anymore.
Anemone kept searching and then stumbled upon Theseus' dead body; she wished she could do more, but the past can't be changed. She can't miraculously revive him, and even if she could, who was to say it wouldn't be similar to the monkey's paw? He may come back, but as a different person, missing part of his soul, or missing his humanity. If that happened, what would Astrape think?
Upon mourning Theseus, she found a necklace attached to him; it was a small locket attached to a silver chain, inside was a picture of two beast kin, a woman and a man, both elderly and looking eerily similar to Theseus and Astrape.
'It must be their father and mother.'
Anemone put the necklace in her pocket and then rushed to catch up to Father.
***
Upon reaching the Adventurers Guild, Astrape was quickly put in a room to rest. Anemone sat in the room while the moon shone brightly, casting a dim light throughout the room. Astrape was safe, but Anemone still worried; she wanted to ensure everything would be fine. Father left them alone and instead went to the night clerk with the container with the centipede inside.
"Hello, miss, do you know anything about this creature?"
"No, sir, I do not. I apologize."
"Thank you. If you find out any information, my name is Calder. Please notify me, or go to the young adventurer named Aurora."
Father felt as though people were eyeing him, and he was correct, but how could he know this?
In the background, a pair of men was resting against a wooden pillar.
"It seems as though the public will soon find out about Nossith."
"We need to tell master to start being more careful about who he hands them out to."
Father couldn't find any information on the so-called 'Nossith,' but he still had yet to even know the name of this creature. So he instead wanted to call it a day.
***
Father woke up with a sharp pain in his leg, and he soon found that the place the creature was digging at turned black. As if by necrosis, it seemed as though his leg was falling apart. Father sat up in the bed and began to heal the wound with high-level magic, one that would exhaust him completely.
The spell reversed the necrosis effect, healing the wound like last night. He had no idea if the necrosis would take days, weeks, or months. Currently, it has only grown to about one centimeter in diameter, but it still worries him. Nonetheless, he would hide it from Anemone to ensure she didn't feel at fault.
Anemone continued to watch over Astrape, and she soon awoke. Astrape sat up, the sunlight enveloping her as it became a picturesque scene. Astrape had dark green eyes with long dark hair; the sun gilded her hair, bringing out golden highlights. Her beast ears were very short, barely rising above her hair.
"Good morning, Astrape. Did you sleep well?"
Astrape hurriedly hugged Anemone, beginning to cry tears of joy.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving me!"
Anemone held Astrape, not saying a word.
"So, what's your name, savior?"
"Please call me Anemone."
Anemone stuck out her hands, with the small necklace in her palm.
"I felt I should give this to you."
Astrape had no idea what it was. She took the necklace and opened the locket, and tears once again began to fill her expression. Astrape put the locket onto her chest, holding it closely.
"Th-Thank you.. A-Anemone."
Anemone hugged Astrape once more, acting as caring as possible, and then stood up.
"If you need anything, my adventurer name is Aurora, just leave a letter for me and I will retrieve it."
Anemone then turned to the door, exiting the room to leave Astrape alone. Anemone had plans for today, and now that Astrape was up and okay, she could focus on those plans. Her small list of things included retrieving the ordered item from the leather worker, talking to Father about their next step in their prolonged quest for the Thirasil seed, continuing to ask people about the information on the centipede creature, and trying to relax enough to counteract the past few busy days. She decided to let Father receive the money for the quest from the Adventurers' guild
These things were simple to do, but the one that she really needed to focus on was information about the creature; it was dangerous and was popping up more and more often.
'How could others not know about that thing?' Anemone asked herself as she walked towards the leatherworker's shop.
She decided not to think too much about it and just focus on the task at hand. She entered the shop and was immediately overwhelmed. There was a fireplace directly to the left, which had logs of hickory wood burning, completely covering any foul smells that may have arisen from the man's job. It was a lot better than the small amount of oud due to the massive amount burning, though if he obtained large amounts of oud, the man would most likely be using it instead.
The man welcomed Anemone with a bright smile, his hands quickly grasping hers and beginning to shake them.
"Welcome, welcome. Your item is ready. It was quite challenging to do, but it was worth it in the end. Please follow me!"
Anemone was tugged along by the man to a room in the back. In the back were an assortment of items, presumably other orders by customers, such as gloves, tools, sheaths, armor, and many additional objects. It was a sight to behold; there were hundreds of gold worth of commodities back here. And in the center was just a large wooden table with special items on it, including Anemone's request. Anemone's was in the front, followed by a pair of black leather gloves with metal where the knuckles of a fist would be. Behind the gloves were many pairs of items, and at the very back was a glass casing, inside which were a green pair of boots, with a yellow ribbon near the top, attached at the bottom were two white feathers that looked like small wings.
Anemone couldn't continue looking at the artifact-looking item as the man presented her with her object. A pair of black bracers, they were designed to match her dress. It had a singular rose that seemed to climb from where the wrist would be located, wrapping around and ending near the ulnar region, the outside of the arm. The inside of the bracers, where the wrist was located, had a brown lace that was used to tighten or loosen them. And then on the outside of the arm was located a pouch for a dagger, up to seventeen centimeters (~7 inches). It was everything she imagined.
"The laces are made of special thread, which was quite expensive, that aids you in wind magic."
Anemone had to hide her excitement; it was exactly what she wanted, maybe even more. She thought a rune of some kind or a gem would be placed on the bracers, but that would be quite ugly. So this made her extremely happy.
"I will accept the rest of the hide as payment, or eight gold."
'We made enough gold from the quest, and I could sell the rest so-'
"Here's six gold."
A hint of disappointment crossed the man's face as Anemone stuck out eight gold coins as payment.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Any time, please come back anytime, I would love to work more with the hide."
Anemone was given the rest of the hide, which wasn't turned into leather. And there was still quite a lot, though she wasn't too excited to be holding it again, as it disgusted her. Anemone slid her hand through the wooden grooves on the table as she exited with the bracers equipped and the hide in her arm. She exited the building, the bell chiming as the door opened.
As Anemone stepped out of the building, she took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh, unfiltered air that she missed just from being inside the building for a short time. Anemone made her way to the Adventurers' Guild. Anemone didn't want to spend much time there, as she wanted to make plans with Father, so she quickly went to the clerk just to ask one question.
"Hello, Ms. Helen, when is the Adventurers' guild most busy?"
"Oh, hello, Miss Aurora. I hope your day has been going well. The guild should become busiest in about three hours. May I ask why you would like to know?"
"I just have some questions I would like to ask adventurers."
"Well, good luck, miss, and I hope you have a wonderful day."
"And you as well!"