Some Wings Must Bleed

Chapter 77 - Too Many Thoughts

I took the book from the man's hands and rushed to a table, sitting down and flipping the pages to the table of contents. "How recently was this written?" I asked, looking up to the man, who was calmly sitting across from me.

"I'm not sure, probably a while back, why do you ask?"

So there's no way the head of the clan is gone, at least, not the head clan I know of.

I stayed silent at the man's answer, flipping the pages to the history of the clan.

. . .

CHAPTER 23: THE STORY OF THE FAMILIES

The head family was one to behold, being able to imitate any parts of any organisms, shape shifting into thousands of plants and animals.

Unlike their branch family, the heads of the clan didn't have to create contracts with these organisms, instead using the contracts to summon them out of the earth or water. Contracts are made by using the head family's blood, and cannot be made by the branch family.

Because of this drawback, once the head family was exterminated no more contracts could be made, causing the branch family fade into the darkness of the mountains they reside in.

The branch family is still one to fear, able to shapeshift into any animal they have contracts with, although the contracts are limited. If a contract is destroyed, the branch family cannot transform into said species due to the emotional and physical agreement being invalid.

. . .

I went back to the table of contents and scanned the chapter titles until I found the one I was looking for.

. . .

CHAPTER 12: THE FALLOUT OF THE HEAD FAMILY

Although some bad blood remained between the hierarchy of the clan, it is still a mystery why the head family died out in such a way. Scientists have stable and conclusive evidence that states the disease that killed off the head family was completely natural, a sickness that lived inside all of them and infected more and more of their body as they used more of their magic.

But then, if the science so clearly states that the virus had always been in the family's DNA since the beginning, why had the sickness not taken over until more recent generations? And why is the branch family not affected by such infections?

To this day, it is one of the most baffling and two sided questions of all the famous clans.

. . .

"Are you liking it?"

I snapped out of my reading, slamming the book shut and looking up to the man, who was still sitting in front of me and seemed to be observing me. I swallowed hard and looked down to the book. "Yes. I think I'll check it out and read it more when I get back home."

"You live here then?"

"Y-No, just here for a bit. I- thank you, for the help." I said, flashing the man a weak smile.

"May I ask you a question, (y/n)?"

I began to stand up, but froze, looking up to the man. "How do you know my name?"

He looked at me blankly for a moment before giving me a comfortable smile. "Why, you told me. Now about that question?"

I cleared my throat. "Yes, of course, what is it?"

"That chain. Around your neck. It's lovely. Would you mind telling me where you got it?" He asked, eyeing Kurapika's chain that sat on my neck, the same neck that was adorned with hickies and love bites from my hunter.

"It was a gift, I'm not sure quite where it came from." I answered distractedly, pushing in my chair and grabbing the book. "If you'd excuse me, I'm in a bit of a hurry." I professed, rushing away from him and to the entrance.

Damnit Leorio, where'd you go?

I didn't assume he would wait for me at the entrance, but for some reason I felt on edge and wanted to leave that library as soon as possible, not to mention my brain was having trouble processing the information I had just read.

Think (y/n), think. What kind of books would Leorio look at?

Action. Or medical books.

I ran up some stairs, occasionally apologizing to people if I bumped into them, until I reached the third floor. The action area was closest, so I decided to check there first, manoeuvring through bookshelves and trying to find Leorio. I bumped into someone rather hard and staggered back a bit, my book still clutched to my chest. "I'm so sorry!" I said, looking up to the girl who seemed rather unfazed.

She pushed her circular glasses up and blinked at me, as if she were observing something completely mediocre. "It's fine." She responded after a moment, turning back to the bookshelf until all I could see was her short black hair.

I walked behind her and to the next staircase, getting more nervous by the moment that I couldn't find the tall man. I reached the final floor and hurried past the college encyclopedias, gasping in relief when I saw Leorio examining a book. "Leorio!" I breathed, rushing to the man. "Leorio we have to go I found something it's- it's bad but I- I don't know what's happening-"

"Hey hey, breath, okay? It'll be alright." He said, his concerned and confused eyes tracing over me as he placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Leorio, I think I'm part of the head family that isn't exactly the head family I thought I was a part of."

Authors note: I KNOW.