Chapter 264 - Vol. 4 - 63

Although they hadn't killed the dragon, Ash had succeeded. As she walked back to Amber, she felt a sense of relief building inside of her as she looked down at the dragon eye in her hand. One that clashed with some other feeling, one that she refused to focus on. 

Some curiosity did bubble up as she looked over at Sinneah and saw the woman's eyes low and melancholic. She hadn't talked at all about what happened back there, though Ash could piece together that at some point she'd picked her and her stuff up and left. Still, Sinneah had appeared fairly determined up until Ash had gone unconscious. She wondered if losing her as an ally during the fight had been enough to shake her confidence. 

They remained in silence the entire time, even as they walked into Amber as the sun was beginning to retreat behind the horizon, and Ash clutched the eye tightly, making sure no one around her got any ideas. Eventually, they arrived at the Manor, and Sinneah just walked straight indoors, scaring a couple of maids who had been heading out as soon as she appeared in front of them. 

"..." 

Ash looked down at the eye in her hand. 

It's done. 

She went to the garden first, intent on telling Keiko that she'd succeeded, but the group wasn't there. 

... Guess they went somewhere. 

Disregarding that, she decided she was better off heading straight for Tyl's shop and giving her the ingredients. The Savior hurriedly walked into the Manor, through the back, and went for her door. 

As she walked in, she gazed upon Kaori's body and stopped. 

"No," she let out a deep breath, speaking aloud in case Kaori was next to her right now. It was weird that this was even possible, but, apparently, there was a chance that Kaori was standing right there. "Let me do this first." 

She grabbed the sand reaver's claw, the mistborn flower, and put the dragon's eye into her bag with it all, before turning around to leave. 

However, as she was about to go into the main corridor, she passed by Sinneah and Yumi's room, where she saw that the woman's door was open. Peeking inside, she found Sinneah sitting at the edge of her bed, her head hanging low with her hair covering her face. 

Ash sighed, before turning around. 

I'll ask later,  she decided. 

Exiting the manor, she tried her absolute hardest to keep her mind empty as she made a beeline straight for Tyl's store. And, once she was standing in front of it, the half-demon had to will her legs to move forward, and her hand to open the door. 

"I told ya to add TWO cups, not THREE!" She heard Tyl yell at Martin as soon as she went in. 

"I did!" 

"Are you stupid? Don't answer that, I know the answer. LEARN TO-" 

They both stopped this little interaction halfway and turned to look at Ash. When Tyl saw the huge bag she was carrying, her eyes widened. 

"... You're joking," she said. 

Ash took a deep breath as she walked forward. 

"No, I'm not." She kept that wide-eyed look as Ash went up to her and dropped the bag in front of her.  "It's all there." 

"B-But..." Tyl stuttered as she opened the bag up and searched for all three ingredients. She pulled out the flower, the eye, and kept the reaver's claw in the bag, before looking up at Ash with wonder. "How the fuck...?" 

"Does it matter?" Ash asked, feeling tired. "I don't really want to go through the whole backstory for all of these things. Can you make the potion now?" 

"Of course," Tyl laughed, continuing to stare down at those things. "Martin, stop working for a second. We're doing something special!"

Her student got out of the seat and Tyl took the giant pot to the backroom and tossed the contents out somewhere that Ash didn't see. She came back out with an empty pot that she proceeded to fill up with water. 

"How long is this going to take?" Ash asked. 

"Ehm... Maybe a little over an hour," Tyl replied. "Most of that time will just be the mixture setting."

"Maybe?" Ash raised a brow. 

"Yes, maybe," Tyl scoffed. "It ain't every day that I make this potion! Forgive me for not being clear on how long this actually takes to do." 

"... Whatever," Ash shook her head and sat down, a short distance away. 

I'll just wait it out then, I guess. 

With that being said, Tyl got to work in the background. Ash sat in much the same position that she'd caught Sinneah in earlier, only she was lifting her head every couple of minutes because she caught Martin looking her way. She stared at him during one of these moments, but the boy would just blush and turn away from her, and Ash would go right back to looking down. 

Half an hour passed, and a sweet smell began to fill the room as the pot boiled. 

"Okay!" Tyl said. "Just let it sit for another half an hour and I'll give you a flask. Ready to pay up?" 

"How much?" Ash asked. 

"A hundr-" 

Before she even finished, Ash took a couple of white royal crowns from her bag and tossed them at her. Just one was enough to cover whatever cost she was about to say. 

"W-What!?" She asked as she caught them both. 

"Keep the change," Ash muttered, as she got back to her sulking. 

The worst part was that although she was feeling this way, she had no idea why. All she knew was that as the pot boiled, her heart gradually felt heavier. Closing her eyes was the biggest mistake she made because, at that moment, her mind was filled with images of those two half-demon families she'd run into before. 

Ah... Annoying,  she thought, as she rubbed her temples. Time flew after that, and soon, a flask filled with a blue liquid was held out in front of her. 

Tyl was there, holding it with a proud smile. 

"Here you go." 

Ash took it and stared at the potion for a few seconds. 

"How does it work again?" 

"Just have the girl drink it, and let her take the rest of the day off. When she wakes up the next day, it'll be finished." 

Ash nodded, taking a deep breath and standing up. 

"Thanks." 

"Well, shit, Savior, if you get in the mood to help me find some other rare ingredients, let me know! We could make a lot of money together!" 

"We?" 

"Of course," she grinned. "If we partner up, you'd get half the cut. How does that sound?" 

"Yeah, sure, I'll think about it." 

With that done, Ash took her bag and walked out, still holding the flask in her hand. 

I did it,  she thought, as she started walking back to the manor.  It's... It's just done. 

---

Ash spent a large portion of the evening just sitting in the garden, with the potion by her side, waiting for Keiko to come back. She didn't think about much at that point. All she did was sit there, let her head rest against the railing, and stare up into the sky. 

Her mind was simultaneously so loud that she couldn't hear anything around her, and so quiet that she couldn't come up with any cohesive thoughts. Every now and then, she'd just let out a soft sigh, until, eventually, a group of people walked into the garden from the right. 

"That was fun!" Metsumi said. 

"Sure. I'm going to bed," Kasumi replied, walking ahead of everyone as she went into the Manor. She gave Ash a passing glance and a bit of a nod, but that was it. 

"I will admit, I may be developing a taste for wine," Yumi said to Metsumi. "Thank you for introducing me like this." 

"It was my pleasure. Now, if only Satsu can stop worrying so much, maybe he'd join in on the fun!" 

"Someone has to keep us from getting robbed," Satsuhiro replied. 

Keiko, who was with them, remained quiet though. Instead, her eyes met Ash's, and it seemed like she understood that something important had happened. When she saw the potion by Ash's side, Keiko's eyes widened. 

That sight, at least, did bring some satisfaction to Ash, as she took the flask and stood up. 

"Ash," Satsuhiro approached her, as did everyone else. "How did it go?" 

"..." Ash just held up the potion. "It's over." 

"I see," Satsuhiro said. "Good work." 

Ash didn't respond to that. Instead, Metsumi looked back at everyone else and said:

"H-How about we go in and have dinner?" 

"We already ate," Opah said. 

"We can have dessert!" 

"Ohhhh!" Opah replied and she ran in. Seeing that, Luvine ran in after her. Metsumi placed a hand on Keiko's shoulder then, smiling back at her, before they all gave the two of them some space. 

Keiko approached Ash then. Her eyes went to the potion for a few seconds, but soon, she turned her eyes up at the half-demon and kept them there. 

"You did it," Keiko said. 

"Yeah. Here you go," she said, and she held out the flask. 

Keiko took it hesitantly, as though worried that if she grabbed it too quickly it would disappear. But, no. Instead, she just held onto it, looking back up at her. 

"Thank you." 

"... No problem." 

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds. 

"So, I just drink it?"

"Yeah." 

Nodding, Keiko opened the flask up. Then, as Ash watched, she drank the contents down, and when she was finished, she let out a long breath, before giving Ash the warmest smile she'd seen on Keiko's face. 

The woman threw herself on top of Ash, wrapping her arms around her. 

"Thank you," she said again. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." 

Ash returned the hug, firmly. 

"You're welcome." 

When Keiko separated, that smile was still on her face. 

Only for a second, however, because soon, it disappeared, and a look of worry came over her. 

"Ash?" Keiko asked. 

"Yeah?" The half-demon replied. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Mhm," Ash replied. "Why do you..." 

But then, she felt it. 

A single tear slid down her cheek and dripped onto the cold stone under her feet. 

Huh?  Ash narrowed her eyes down at herself, confused. 

That tear was followed by another, and then those two became multiple, all while Ash felt stunned. 

Why...? 

Keiko looked back at her sadly. 

"... Ash..." 

"I'm fine," Ash said then, quickly. "I-It's... I'm..." 

She balled her hands up into fists. 

The tears didn't stop. 

Keiko hugged her again, but this time, it was an embrace meant to soothe her. And, Ash's tears kept falling, getting Keiko's shoulder wet as Ash remained standing there, frozen.

And the entire time, she had no clue why.