The chronicles of embodiment

Chapter 3

Ruhe woke up to the sound of coughing. Odd, embodiments don't usually naturally get sick. He got up and peeked into the doorway to see his mother coughing up her own blood, clutching her chest, and paler than usual. "Ma..." he muttered in a worried tone. It appeared she didn't hear him.

He unsteadily walked towards her. The closer he got, the more of an aura he felt. "Ma!" he yelled, yet again she didn't hear Ruhe. He got closer and closer until he finally touched her shoulder. She looked at him, her eyes red. However, the thing that worried Ruhe the most was the cheek where his mother had been slapped the night before. It was charcoal black, the skin was cracked, and inside the cracks were this purple aura. Its light poured out of her cheek.

Ruhe screamed, and his mother quickly hugged onto him. "I'm okay, please, I'm okay, nothing's bad!"

Ruhe looked up, tears pouring down his cheeks, and asked, "Are you sure?" His mother nodded. Ruhe miserably smiled and said, "You better be!" He hugged her and went back to his room.

His mother stood there for moments, trembling. "I hate lying to him..." she began to sob into her hands, coughing up blood at the same time. She knew her son was too young to be told of her pain. She knew she was likely cursed.

Soon enough, Ruhe ran to her and said, "You're coughing a lot, we should visit the embodiment of healing! He owes me a favor anyway," with a wide grin.

His mother smiled and replied, "What favor, and um, are you sure Hasbisis would keep up that favor? He's rather busy, you know..."

Ruhe smirked before boasting, "Of course! He owes me any favor anytime!"

Ruhe's mother quickly began to make up excuses, saying, "Well, what if he doesn't have enough energy? What if it's not in h—" Ruhe cut her off with a blank stare.

"You told me it's nothing bad. If it's not bad, it should be a simple healing!" he told her, puffing his cheeks up stubbornly.

His mother, in response, giggled nervously and said, "You are right, Ruhe. You're so smart, aren't you?" She got up, grabbing his hand and stammering slightly.

Ruhe began pulling her, saying, "Hurry!" He rushed her. Although her legs felt like they would explode, she giggled and joked with her son.

By the time they reached their town's medical center, she writhed in pain. Trying her best not to pass out in front of her son, she pulled him in, weakly smiling. The voice of a young-sounding man spoke, "I'm quite busy, would you mind wa—" he was cut off by Ruhe running behind the curtains and pulling him towards his mother.

"You owe me a favor, Mr. Hasbisis." Ruhe said.

Hasbisis looked quite annoyed, his golden eyes rolled as he pushed a lock of his green hair back. "Now at this time!? What could be so wrong that my work must be halted?"

Ruhe yelled, "My ma's sick!"

Hasbisis shrugged, "Tell her to rest, I can send medicine to your home." He then looked up at Ruhe's mother, scampering back in shock. "Oh honey! You look horrible!"

Ruhe took offense, saying, "Hey!"

Hasbisis continued, "I'm serious. You need immediate medical attention, Madam Daucuoi." She giggled, trying to brush it off while keeping the cursed mark on her cheek covered.

"No, I'm perfectly fine! We're just here to pick up some medication."

Hasbisis frowned and said, "No, no, Madam Daucuoi. I see now, you can barely stand! Such a pretty thing like you should be able to pick yourself up and be healthy and expressed."

Ruhe quickly confronted him, saying, "Hey! Are you flirting with m—" but before he could finish, he was cut off.

"Please sit down!" Mr. Hasbisis guided her to sit. He noticed Ms. Daucuoi covering something with her hand and said, "Can you remove your hand? I'm rather concerned now." he pleaded.

She became hesitant, though Hasbisis began to sound more troubled. "Ms. Daucuoi, I wish to help you, but I can't know if you continue to hide this from me. I understand why you hid some things from your ex-husband, but this is actually serious!"

Ruhe butted in, saying, "What!?"

Hasbisis continued, "Plus, we've been friends for a while. Come on, Miraul."

Ruhe once again interrupted, asking, "Aren't you married!?"

She sighed and replied, "Please don't be too shocked."

Hasbisis wholeheartedly responded, "Nothing has shocked me more than your beautiful face when we were in our youth."

Ruhe squinted and said, "Aren't you six years younger than her?"

Miraul huffed nervously and removed her hand from her cheek.