(Read the revised chapters *all the chapters before this one* before you read it 💀)
For many days y/n did not stop fighting.
But, there was the occasional situation where she had no choice but to stop. Especially when she was being turned into a living pin cushion.
The pain was borderline blinding as y/n did everything she could to remain standing, refusing to move despite the spears and swords her adversaries had pierced her with.
She understood she'd been doing nothing but slaughtering everything that breathed in the last few days, but seriously, wasn't this overkill?
"Now's our chance! Kill the demon!" one of the faceless creatures shouted, "Don't let it—!"
Demon, huh?
She wasn't used to enemies calling her that.
There was the occasional "heretic", "ungrateful swine" and "small minded vermin", but never demon.
'Huh. I'm actually quite flattered.'
There was a flash of brilliant light as colors burst from the broken sword in y/n's hand, striking the creature in the throat and cutting off its sentence.
She didn't spare it a second glance as just a little bit of resistance was eliminated, allowing her to step back and tear free from at least some of the sharp pointy 💩 she'd been stabbed with.
"Quickly, kill it before it recovers!"
'Kill me before I recover? A bit too late for that.' y/n cut her way through the little crowd of enemies who'd gathered to stab her to death, 'Don't you think?'
The light split the very air itself, and the little group of soldiers were all reduced to dust in an instant. Despite the very fatal amount of blood y/n was losing, she did not halt, headed right for the lone archer who still remained up front.
The soldier seemed paralyzed with fear, eyes wide as y/n lifted her sword to kill them. But... she saw a glimpse of someone else.
Eyes that were unique, a combination of pink and blue. Eyes that seemed desperate, and she seemed to be shouting something.
"Y/n." She was saying "Y/n."
The face disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, but the light which formed her sword's missing half flickered out just in time to avoid cutting the archer.
Upon realizing they still had a chance, the archer lifted their bow to fire at y/n only for her fist to strike them in their chest.
Y/n could feel the ribs breaking, she could hear them cracking, but she didn't look as another sword made of light which seemed to shed mist plunged right through the archer before dissipating.
'Something... doesn't feel right...'
.
.
.
"I think it worked a little!" March exclaimed and shrieked when y/n almost punched her in the nose, "Okay, maybe not a whole lot..!"
It was a team effort for March and Welt while Tingyun and Caelus were handling Kafka.
Welt slowed y/n down with ✨gravity✨ while March was shooting y/n with ice cold arrows while demanding that she snap tf out of whatever hypnosis 🐂💩 she was put under.
Aside from the occasional missed hit that would've most definitely landed had she not come to her senses for a split second, she showed little to no signs of improvement.
"Hurry up back there, Caelus!" March shouted.
"I'M TRYING!!!" Caelus shrieked back from where him and Tingyun were battling it out with Kafka (more like Caelus kept tanking hits while Tingyun gave him attack boosts).
'Caelus and Miss Tingyun can't continue fighting alone.' Welt realized as y/n targeted him, ready to cut him or some 💩 with that damn sword of her's, "Apologies, y/n."
The moment she got close, dude smacked her on the side of the neck with his cane. Knocked the ♀🐶 right back into her senses as she flopped, only for the man to catch her before she could faceplant on the ground.
"Nice job, Mr. Yang! Wish you would've done that five minutes ago!" March chimed as the man passed y/n to her, the young woman out cold.
"Sorry, March, hitting her like that was the last thing I wanted to do. But the good news is that she's not trying to kill us. For now, at least."
"You know, she wouldn't be mad at you for hitting her. Y/n would probably enjoy that 💩."
"What?"
"I mean she'd forgive you in a heartbeat."
Before Welt could further question wtf March meant, Caelus suddenly screamed a, "YES!!! 🚚 YEAH, CAELUS SOLOS!" as Kafka backed off with her hands raised and her two lil guns held loosely in her hands.
Had she surrendered?
That look on her face said otherwise...
"Finally." the woman hummed before pointed her guns into the sky and firing a barrage of bullets into the air.
The target? Some lady with pink hair.
Girlie walked on those bullets, flicked them out of the way like they were nothing, and landed gracefully before turning to face the criminal and the silly goobers who'd been tasked with tracking her down.
"Fu Xuan, Divination Commission." the lady introduced herself with a stoic expression, "I'll be taking the criminal from here."
At that, Kafka dropped her weapons.
"Who of where when what now?" Caelus squeaked.
It was only after some Cloud Knights took the lady away that the Astral Express crew gathered to greet the Divination Commission lady who'd arrived so suddenly.
They all seemed to be paying very little attention to her, though, as March was helping wrap Caelus's hand which y/n had stabbed with the ice while Welt was holding up the unconscious attack dog— I mean train guard.
"Greetings, crew of the Astral Express." Fu Xuan greeted the group as they partially paid attention, "This is our first encounter, though given that I have encountered you in foresight, perhaps I should say the second."
Caelus gave her a perplexed look, '...what?'
"I am Fu Xuan, Master Diviner at the Divination Commission and one of the Six Charioteers." the pink haired lady continued as Caelus slowly began to register just how short she was, "Far-flung friends ought to be received with fine wine, but alas, the heavens, earth, and body are not aligned for such an occasion. You'll allow for a postponement of the usual formalities, I trust? We should begin with the matter at hand."
March paused in her task of wrapping Caelus's injured hand, "What the actual heck is she saying?"
"Even my Synesthesia Beacon can't make sense of what she said..." Caelus agreed in a wary tone.
Fu Xuan's cheeks flushed a little before she cleared her throat, "Ahem! If the method of my speech is offensive to you, you need but say."
"Oh, no, not offensive at all. I can understand you perfectly, actually." a tired voice mumbled and everyone turned their shocked gaze to y/n.
"Y/n, I thought you were unconscious!" March shrieked, "Are you okay? Are you back to normal?"
"Oh, yes, yes, I'm fine. I woke up shortly after Mr. Yang hit me with his cane, but I just decided to catch a nap." y/n replied with a little smile, "Also, I quite like being held."
Caelus clenched a fist, 'Lucky...!'
"Anyways, Diviner Fu Xuan, was it?" y/n hummed sleepily, "She means to say that under normal circumstances, we'd be treated very well and would be allowed time to chill and enjoy ourselves, but the current situation doesn't exactly allow it. She was apologizing, and asking if we could save all that for later."
"Woah... you actually understood that?" March breathed and y/n nodded with a proud little look.
"Word vomit just so happens to be one of the many languages I speak." she replied before snuggling up closer to Welt's neck with a content little look on her face. Caelus was in very visible pain while Welt looked like he didn't know wtf to do.
"Erm..." he took a moment to collect himself, "We received an assignment from General Jing Yuan to arrest the Stellaron Hunter Kafka. Thank you, Diviner, for coming to our aid, but we were instructed to bring the fugitive directly to the General."
"Inessential." the petite woman replied, "I hold a proclamation from the General here, if you care to see. Upon detaining the Stellaron Hunter, questioning and all further arrangements are to be undertaken by the Divination Commission."
March looked relieved, "Seems like the General just spared us a walk with Kafka. I knew he was a good guy~!"
"You just think he's hot." y/n and Caelus said in unison and March cleared her throat awkwardly.
"W-Well, yes, but still! I don't wanna be around that woman a moment longer!" March huffed.
Welt looked visibly exhausted as the two simps and the possible recruit *March* all bickered quietly, "Understood. However, the General promised that all intel would be shared with us. We have a right to know anything that Kafka divulges."
Fu Xuan blinked, "...Oh?" she let out a sigh, "That guy... can't I go one day without him throwing me under the—"
"We won't make things anymore complicated than they need to be." Welt said quickly, "We just want to listen in on the questioning."
Fu Xuan was quiet for a long moment, regarding y/n carefully as the young woman was giving Caelus's injured hand a rueful look.
"Very well, urgency demands fluidity..." Fu Xuan murmured, "The four of you shall accompany me to the Divination Commission."
"Sweet." y/n said with a grin before clinging to Welt like a koala, "Mr. Yang, please carry me, my legs hurt."
"Are you serious..."
"Very."
Y/n ended up hitching a ride on Welt's back, the poor man looking absolutely done as the group followed Fu Xuan's lead with Tingyun accompanying them.
While Tingyun, March, and Caelus were all up ahead trying to decipher Fu Xuan's odd way of speaking, y/n's smile and easy going facade began to fade as that hopelessness from before really started to set in.
She let herself get finessed too easy.
It wasn't a complete loss, though, as she'd learned something a little new. About that tree, and about her past due to the memories which resurfaced during her attempts to kill her own friends.
"Mr. Yang..." y/n began in a small voice, "What do you know about that tree you and Miss Himeko found me in?"
"The tree?" Welt echoed before turning his head just a little to give her an inquisitive look, "What do you want to know about it?"
"I recall Miss Himeko sharing that initially, the tree seemed very adamant on keeping you far away. But it eventually let you close enough to get me out." y/n mumbled, "Was there anything else odd about it despite its behavior?"
"Well... the roots were very wide spread. They took up just about the entirety of the planet, based on what we saw through scans Herta had in her possession back on the Space Station." Welt began carefully, "The entire planet was barren, devoid of life, but that one singular area where the tree and you were located was flourishing."
"You all had to cut me free because the thing had practically welded itself to my back, the cuts never fully healed, and the tree withered and died in an instant as soon as you removed me." y/n recounted the information Himeko had shared with her before nodding, "Yes... yes, I see now. Thank you, Mr. Welt."
"Did you remember something?" he asked.
"No." the lie flowed from her lips as smoothly as any other truth she'd tell, "Nothing important, at least."
Nothing important, my 🍑.
Now that Kafka's words and Welt's cane to the head managed to hit hard enough to ♀🐶 slap some coherent memories back, y/n was beginning to understand.
"Our first encounter was brief, but we meet again. I wonder, as you continue to walk the path of the Hunt, does Yaoshi still look upon you as fondly as they did back then?"
Y/n's eyes widened, 'That's... that's not-!' "You're lying." There was no way that this information wasn't complete 🐂💩.
"I could be, but think about it. What reason would I have to lie to you?" Kafka replied with a little tilt of her head, "A rather boring thing to lie about, don't you think."
She leaned a little closer, flipping up y/n's eye patch to reveal her fully healed eye. The woman smiled, a smile that sent shivers throughout y/n's body.
"Well would you look at that." Kafka hummed as she just barely brushed her finger below y/n's newly healed eye, "Seems as though they do."
The tree.
The way it withered and died after she was taken away from it. They strange scars on her back, her healing abilities.
Y/n hated to consider it, but it made sense.
Her ability to regenerate, and the scars upon her back, were both linked to that tree. And Yaoshi, the Abundance, had something to do with it.
. 。 ⋆ • ﾟ 。 . . . 。 . 。
⋆ 。 ⋆。 ඞ 。 . • . . ⁎ 。 . 。 . ⋆. 。 . . . ⋆. 。. ⁎ 。• ﾟ 。
They were all dropped off at the Exalting Sanctum Plaza, Fu Xuan instructing the group of Trailblazers to find someone she had waiting for them.
They were left alone, without detailed instruction, and with two injured boneheads. So... what next.
"We need to find this person, right? If that's the case, we should head into the Exalting Sanctum Plaza to take a look." March pointed out.
"I've got no issue with it." y/n hummed with a shrug before glancing at Caelus, "Are you up for it?"
"Mhm!" he gave a nod, "Absolutely!"
"That settles it, then. Let's take a look." Welt announced as y/n slid off of his back to join her friends.
As they walked further into the Exalting Sanctum, y/n smelled something. Then she saw a group of people near the center of the plaza.
She frowned, "That smell..."
She immediately took off running and March stopped with an angry, "She's running off again! Y/n!!!"
Welt was so tired... he needed a nap.
Y/n paid her no mind, running over to the commotion as a Cloud Knight became stricken with mara. When they moved to attack someone, y/n came out of nowhere and tackled them to the ground.
Securing their arms so they wouldn't harm her, y/n kept the Cloud Knight stationary as a petite girl came rushing through the crowd, "Everybody stay back!"
As she got closer, y/n realized she had two little horns and a long tail which was unmistakably a dragon tail.
She shoved a gourd in y/n's face with a, "Give him this medicine and make him lie down!"
"Huh, wait..." y/n mumbled but was interrupted as several other mara-struck soldiers appeared behind her.
The little girl cringed away, looking a little sheepish as she processed the situation, "I—I mean... make them lie down..."
Before the duo could be attacked, March and Caelus rushed to their aid with their weapons ready.
"Don't you dare kill them!" the little girl snapped at the duo, "There will be hell to pay if you do! Got that?"
"Uh, sure..." Caelus mumbled.
Thankfully, they were able to do as they were told and safely knock out the mara-struck soldiers so y/n and the little girl could give them some medicine.
When they were done, they went into the usual dialogue sequence— I mean they chatted.
"Thanks for helping to stabilize the patients." the little girl chimed, "Your assertive sedation techniques are quite effective."
"Assertive sedation techniques..." March murmured with a perplexed look, "Does she mean beating people up?"
"Sounds about right." Caelus said as he gave the soldiers an almost guilty look, "Maybe we could've been a bit more gentle ..."
"Glad you realize it! These Cloud Knights were already sick, and now they're injured too!" the little girl snapped, "I've gotta bandage up their wounds, realign their bones... ugh, as if I didn't have enough on my plate!"
Y/n raised a hand, "I can help."
The petite girl looked y/n up and down suspiciously before inquiring, "You got the right qualifications?"
"I've reset my own bones and bandaged my own wounds. Others too." y/n declared with pride, 'This first part is true, but the second part could be complete 🐂💩. I probably did do it, though, considering I was initially a Cloud Knight.'
"Woah, woah, woah, aren't you a little young to be realigning bones?" Caelus questioned and the little girl let out a long, irritated sigh.
March knelt down to the little girl's level, "Where did you come from little one? Is your Dad around?"
The girl blinked, "I don't have a dad."
March visibly began to sweat, looking around nervously, "Uh... what about your mom?"
"I don't have a mom either." the girl stated.
The pink haired woman inhaled sharply, "..."
"I get it. You think because I'm small I must be a runaway child." the little girl spoke in a flat tone, "Hmph, welcome to the Xianzhou my short-lived outsider friends. Appearances can be deceiving here! The Vidyadhara race is self-reincarnating! No mum or dad required!"
Woah!
Amazing!
...
It wasn't all that amazing to y/n.
She didn't feel the slightest bit of surprise upon having this information shared with her for some reason.
"I've been studying the art of healing ever since I cast off my old shell!" the Vidyadhara girl exclaimed, "You're looking at a recognized, practicing, dedicated doctor."
"Belobog kids are making snowmen while children here are writing prescriptions..." March whispered.
"Things haven't been very peaceful on the Luofu recently. Make sure you don't—"
"Go running around, right? Well, your general gave us an errand, so I'm afraid we have to."
"Sorry, kid, but what's your name again?" y/n blurted and the little girl scowled up at her in response.
"I'm not a kid."
"If your head doesn't reach my shoulder, you're a kid." y/n retorted, "Name. Or I continue calling you kid."
Caelus gave her a side eye.
"Charming."
Y/n returned it with one of her own.
"Oh, yes, I know."
"Hm, well, my name is Bailu." the little girl huffed, "Seeing as you all saved me just now, if you're unlucky enough to acquire any breaks or sprains... I'll treat you for free! As for medicine, I'll give you a 20% discount."
"I— that's not free at all!" Caelus cried.
"Ha, do you have any idea how many people on the Luofu are waiting for an appointment with me?" Bailu demanded as y/n removed dirt from beneath her nails, "You should count this as a blessing!"
"Why go to some kid when I can treat my own injuries?" y/n challenged and Bailu visibly fumed.
"I'm not a kid!" she snapped before pouting, "If I hadn't left my purse at home, I wouldn't have to... ugh, enough of that. I have patients to see."
Y/n shrugged before standing and wandering back over to the exhausted Welt who looked like he was about ready to drop and sleep for a decade.
"Our little miracle worker here seems very different from everyone else around." March chimed, "Don't you think Mr. Yang?"
Y/n and Caelus looked to the man expectantly.
'Speak so that we may be blessed with your amazing voice.'
March cringed.
'They're doing it again... now I'm really staring to wish that Dan Heng came along with us. What's he doing anyways?'
(Changes have been made)
(1.1 update crushed my hopes so I'm taking a break from the missions to do the special chapters)