Witch's Blood

Chapter 7

Art By Arisa on Twitter!

"Does she not even have any animal companions up there?" Kirishima asked.

I shook my head. "Only bugs and some birds."

"We should bring her an animal!" He suggested.

I pondered his suggestion and shook my head again. "There are no animals in the forest of dreams, at least not normal ones..."

"Really?! None?!" I stared at him with a hint of annoyance.

"It's not easy for anything normal and no brains or skill can survive here."

"Then... should we leave and come back?"

Bakugo shouted behind us, "We've wasted a lot of time handling those treasure hunters!" We turned around and he had his usual angry expression. "We don't have any more time to waste!"

"We'll be fine!" I reassured the worry-wart of a prince.

"You say that a lot! Every time you say that it makes me even more anxious! You know how hard it was to find a doctor who seems to know how to cure my mother?!" He paused. I knew the answer. He's lucky he found me. "Extremely difficult I'll tell you!" Bakugo then says, "On my search for doctors, most of them genuinely tried to help, but only made it worse. Some didn't do anything because they didn't know what to do and just studied her like some experiment! Others tried scamming me as well. Every village I went to recommended me to you saying you can cure any illness for free even though you weren't an actual licensed doctor. I didn't trust you, still don't, but I have no other lead! I always thought my mom was an annoying woman, but I didn't want her to die. I still loved her, you know? I found out from one of your previous patients where you lived and took off to find you immediately."

My face softened with empathy. I understood why he was suspicious now. "Thank you for telling me. It would've been much easier to understand your situation if you had started with that from the beginning. I assure you, I know what I am doing, I won't scam you."

"How come you know what illness my mother has and how to cure it even though you never officially practiced medicine? It makes no sense!"

I kept quiet. I didn't know how to respond to his question. They were so stuck on figuring me out.

The prince pressed on in his questioning. "How do you expect me to trust you when you don't trust us? You're making yourself even more suspicious by not telling us what you know!"

"I can't tell you..." I mumbled.

He stomped up to me and while I looked down at his feet he glared down at me. "And why not?" He asked me.

I didn't answer him. He could question all he wants, but I don't imagine myself telling him about myself.

"Hey, I asked you a question!" he shouted as he grabbed my arm. I didn't want to be on this subject anymore.

"The flower nymph likes receiving gifts. You have to give her a gift in return for one of her flowers, but it can't be just anything. She has to like the gift and the person offering her the gift."

"Why are you avoiding the question so desperately!" Kirishima asked softly.

"I... don't want to talk about it... It's just... extremely personal..."

"I'll share something personal if you tell us!" he offered.

"Please drop this... I don't want to talk about it..." I hugged myself and stared at my boots peeking from beneath my skirt.

The prince gripped tighter on my arm. "You always say we have time to waste, we can waste some more time to talk."

Taken aback by my own words, I stumbled on my response. "I know, but-"