Chapter 42 - Explanations and a New Start

Yu - [Now how I am I going to explain this?]

Yu - Good morning, I didn't think you'd recover so quickly with all your injuries after all.

Valerie - Injuries? But my body feels fine?

Yu - It's more complicated than that, first off let me introduce myself my name is Yu. If I were to be more specific I'm the guy that took you away from Romania.

Valerie - Then where I'm I, and what happened back in Romania.

Yu - [Now this is where it gets hard to explain.]

Yu - Currently you are in my factions central areas recuperating from a damaged soul, and as for the Tepes Faction... I destroyed it...

Valerie - !?

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{Valerie POV:}

Valerie - !?

Destroyed? The Tepes Faction was destroyed! The shock from this piece of news almost caused my mind to stop functioning, but strangely enough, I soon calmed down and excepted it. This also shocked me. Why was I calm, shouldn't I feel sad?

Valerie - !!! *Groan*

Suddenly a wave of pain surged through my ċhėst before making its way to my brain. Though I tried to keep myself calm my blood felt like it was boiling and I spat out some blood. Losing myself to the pain I fell backward on the bed but was stopped midway.

After I stopped falling I felt warm energy enter through my forehead and the pain went away. Opening my eyes I saw Yu holding me in his arms while having his pointer finger on my forehead. He had his eyes closed and a dim glow surrounded his body. Focusing my eyes on the glow it looked like fire but it didn't burn, it was just warm.

Eventually, the pain went away and Yu released me and took a seat right by the bed.

Yu - I know you have a lot of questions and I will answer all of them just try not to strain yourself either physically or mentally. I'm not really well versed in soul related injuries.

Valerie - ...

I slow thought of some questions I wanted to ask before I eventually organized them in the order I wanted.

Valerie - Why did you attack the Tepes Faction?

Yu - Originally we went to Romania because it was your faction who requested us to handle some rouge vampire in the countryside. However, once my people got there we found out it was all a hocks so they could capture my people and use them to find out about me and my faction.

Yu - When I found out I was angry because I'm a guy who values those who work under me. Every one of them is under my protection and as their leader, I don't leave a man or woman behind who have chosen to follow me.

Valerie - ...Where is my father?

Yu - When I went to the Tepes Faction I wanted to have the main cause of all the bloodshed to be brought before me your father refused my request. He then began to spout things about vampire supremacy which I didn't care for. Eventually, tension built up between us and he threw the first punch. In the end, your father lost and died at my hand.

Valerie - Couldn't you have spared him?

Yu - Seeds of conflict already grew between us, and I knew that if I let him live he would only come and trouble me and my people in the future. Letting him live was not an option to me, once someone has become an enemy in my eyes I don't plan to let them walk away alive.

Yu - No, I didn't those who surrendered and chose to follow me survived and those who didn't were dealt with. Once again they could have become a problem in the future I couldn't take the chance. There are about 83 vampires pledged themselves to me in case you wanted to know.

Valerie - ... Who are you guys then? Their's no faction around the Tepes Faction territory that could destroy the who faction in one night.

Yu - We are the Haven Faction, and I am its leader.

I closed my eyes and processed everything I just heard. After a while, I came to the conclusion that if everything he said was true then the Tepes Faction is really to blame. Part of me didn't want to believe, but another part of me was fine with it.

Temporarily discarding those thoughts I looked back at Yu.

Valerie - How were you able to find me? I should have been far below the surface?

Yu - My detection abilities picked up some presence signatures underground, while I was looking for stray vampires. After some tunneling, I found a laboratory where I found you. Along with you, the culprit behind everything was in the same lab examining a vial of your blood. I hate experiments to involve the suffering of others so in my rage I beat him to a pulp.

Valerie - Where is my brother now?

Yu - Dead. Once I saw that lab any shred of mercy I could've had for him went out the door. Someone who is important to me was a victim of experiments like that so seeing what I saw in that lab hit a sore spot in my heart.

Yu - Due to the overuse of your sacred gear your soul has become damaged, and if you continued without rest your soul might have been shattered.

A cold sweat ran down my back when I heard this. I knew my condition was bad but I didn't think it was this bad.

Valerie - ...S-so what's going to happen to me?

Yu - I want to cure you.

Valerie - ...Huh?

Yu - Listen I pride myself on being a good doctor/medicine maker. However, soul related injuries are out of my expertise. While I might be fine since I have ways to cure my own soul, I can't say the same for those around me. With the small bits of knowledge, I have on healing a soul I'm can't be too certain that the knowledge is right. That's where you come in, I plan to cure your soul with everything I got.

Valerie - What do you plan to do?

Hearing his explanation, while I was grateful I had some fear in the depts of my heart. Due to past experience, I have developed a small fear or needles, and strange liquids.

Yu - Don't worry I don't plan to do anything involving needles or anything like that, my way of healing is more in the direction of Chinese medicine rather than modern medicine.

Valerie - Chinese medicine? Isn't all medicine the same? What's the difference?

Hearing that there are different types of medical knowledge I couldn't help myself from blurting out my suspicions.

Yu - Chinese medicine rely more on herbs and other remedies, but most of the knowledge I have is based on herbs and pills. Seeing is believing so if you can stand come with me.

After that, he stood up and walked outside. I don't know why but I followed close behind him and eventually set my sights on a wide variety of plants. Stopping at the occasional flower bed to pick some herbs Yu eventually started to make what I believed was medicine.

The process seemed simple, but I could feel subtle mana emissions coming from Yu's hands and knew that this was more complicated than it looked. Soon after he finished turning the herbs into a paste-like substance a fire erupted from his hands and surrounded the paste.

After that, the process became more complicated and I soon began to lose track of what was going on. In the end, once the fire went away 2 pills we found in his hand.

Yu - Okay here is some basic medicine for soul treatment.

Valerie - This is only the basic?!?!

Yu - ...Medicine refining is a complicated thing something of this level can be done by beginners. In the future, I might take hours to make important pills and such.

Unconsciously I picked up one of the pills and started to examine it. Sadly I knew nothing about medicine. Looking at it in my hand I thought of trying it but still hesitated not knowing if it was safe or not.

Yu - See there's nothing bad with the medicine if anything I feel really refreshed right now... Go on try it.

Having a new pill placed in my palm I still hesitated but in the end, took the pill. Once it touched my tongue the pill melted and I felt my previous drowsy mind clear up.

Valerie - Wow! This is amaz- *Growl~*

Just as I was complimenting the medicine both of us heard a loud growl. Once the growl ended my face started to burn and I was able to catch the small twitch in Yu's lips.

Yu - Are you hungry?

Valerie - ...

*Growl~*

I didn't answer but my stomach did. All I did was look at the ground hoping Yu would forget what he heard, but sadly-

*Growl~*

Yu - Let's go get some breakfast I just realized I'm pretty hungry.

Valerie - ...*Nod*

As I stared at the back of the boy who was around my age I remembered everything that happened in this short time I've known him. While at first, I doubted everything he told me but deep inside me I felt that everything he said was true.

In all honesty, I already accepted the deaths of my father and brother, I lost any familial feeling I had for them when they thought to use me as a tool. And as for the rest while I did have some pity for them that's all I could feel. Eventually, people pass on the only difference is when they pass.

Looking up at the bright morning sky I didn't know what the future had in store for me but there was a feeling in my ċhėst telling me that I would be okay.