Venturing Graces

Chapter Seven: Understand Me

(Cursed Sword Arc)

"Women in bikinis.......Women in short skirts and long socks.......Women in blindfolds," Ren thought. They stared up at the gray ceiling of the hotel room. Hex floated their blanket off them. "Give it back!" Ren yelled. "I was warm and comfy!"

"We need to meet up with Yuka to look for the sword," Hex said. 

"Where's Auntie and the dogs?" Ren asked. "That could be a killer band name....Anyways, Baguette must be out of range of my telepathy."

"Yeah, good thing too," Orochi slipped back into Ren's shirt. 

"That's cold!" Ren cried out. 

"Rose went to load up the car," Hex answered. Ren jumped out of bed to get ready. After that they ran down to the lobby. 

"You were with that girl yesterday. You do know she's on a no service list right?" The woman asked. 

"No, I'm new around here. What's wrong with Yuka?" Ren asked. They felt oddly cold even in their heavy jacket. 

"She killed ten people and fled the village. One of them was her own father, she's an awful girl you know? She's cursed," The woman answered. "You need to stay away from her." 

"Murder?" Ren questioned. 

"Ren! Hurry up!" Hex yelled. Ren sighed and rolled their eyes. "Yuka murdered someone? Why does this keep happening?"

Ren muttered out a quick thanks before running outside to find Rose. They found Rose standing outside of Lola. 

"Can you go find Yuka?" Rose asked. Ren handed her their bag. "I'll have everything in Grace later, I'll meet you near the outskirts." Rose handed Ren a capsule. Inside was a red 1999 Toyota 4 Runner. Ren opened the capsule on the street and the car became car sized. Rose also took the dogs in the car and drove off. 

"Alright, let's go Cinnabar!" Ren opened the car door. "It's been a while." Hex got in the shotgun seat, although he floated over it. Ren set Schrod in the backseat. The cat snoozed on the blanket on the back. "Alright, Hex, any idea where Yuka went?"

"Just use magic or something," Hex responded. Ren dug their book out of their bag and read through it. "What sort of mage needs a little notebook?"

"Lots of them! You can't even do magic, so shut up before I exorcise you?" Ren snapped. 

"Yeesh, what's your problem? Why the hell do you think I did something?" Hex asked. 

"Have you met yourself?" Ren asked. Orochi shifted to their hood before Ren buckled up. A wave of darkness washed over their mind. That's what they had been told before all was said and done. "Fucking morons," Ren thought. 

"Come on, focus on your spell," Orochi said. Ren closed their eyes while chanting silently. 

"Okay, she's at some placey place," Ren said. They started the car and drove off. "I wonder if that demon is still hanging around?" They wondered. They drove the speed limit down some roads. 

"This is taking forever," Hex commented. He almost floated through the seat. "Can I drive?"

"You don't even know how to drive," Ren answered. 

"But I've never even seen a car until I died! Come on, I never got to see a car when I was alive, let alone drive," Hex said. Ren pulled over into a supermarket parking lot. Yuka ran over to the car. She looked the exact same as yesterday. 

"Hi!" Yuka waved and Ren rolled down the window. "Where'd you get the car?"

"My parents bought it for me for Christmas," Ren answered. They shooed Hex away from the shotgun seat. "You can enter." Yuka sat down next to Ren.