• Tales of Xalthia

    Chapter 3: Moonlight Flower


    It was early in the morning when Tsuki had walked out of the inn. Everyone was still asleep or were just getting ready to begin their daily activities. It was also time for Tsuki to continue on his mission to Basilwell. As promised, he finished discussing things with the mayor and sorted out any last minute business he needed to clear up. He had ben waiting at the village gates for about fifteen minutes, waiting for Lynette to show up. She told him that she wanted to send him off in style and see him off the night before. From what he's been told by the mayor and the villagers, she's never late for anything. Eventually, he saw someone walk up to the gates; it was Lynette. However, something appeared to be very wrong with her. Tsuki could tell right away when he noticed her stumble a bit as she approached him.

    Lynette felt incredibly weak. It was almost as if she had no strength in her muscles. She could barely walk in a straight line. At first glance, he would appear that she is drunk but that wasn't the case. She stumbled over to Tsuki and used one of the fences by the gates to hold herself up. "H-hey...sorry that...I'm la...late..." she said very weakly.

    Tsuki ran up to her, knowing there was something wrong with her. She wasn't feeling well and it was very obvious. "Lyn, you look awful! You should be in bed if you have a fever!" he sad in a concerning tone. He didn't understand it. She was so healthy and cheerful the day before. Now, she looks like she's been sick in bed for a week. What kind of flu changes one's health so drastically in such a short period of time?

    Lynette slowly shook her head. She could feel her remaining strength fading away quickly. "I can't...just stay in bed. I have a promise...to keep..." she struggled to say. She was so weak that she could barely speak now. Eventually, her strength gave out on her completely and caused her to collapse. She had blacked out from lack of strength.

    Tsuki grabbed onto her before she hit the ground. There was something very wrong here. It didn't appear to be a simple fever. "Hey! Lyn!" he shouted. She was out cold and unable to respond. He brushed the hair out of her face and placed his forehead against hers to see how bad of a fever she has. She was burning up badly probably because she forced herself out of bed to see him off. "Damn, this isn't good!" he said. He then picked her up in a princess cradle and rushed to the mayor's house. Just like that, he was derailed from his mission. The reason why he was derailed because even though his mission is very important to him, helping those who are in need of desperate help. He rushed over to the mayor's house since that was the only place he had in mind to go to. Once he was there, he bursted through the door in a sense of panic. "Mayor, we got a problem!" he shouted.

    The mayor jumped, spilling the tea she was pouring when Tsuki had suddenly busted through her front door. "Oh geez! You startled me! What's going on? I thought you were headed to Basilwell" she said as she turned around to face him. When she turned around, she saw that Lynette was out cold in his arms. "Oh no! Lyn, what happened!?" she shouted in a worried tone.

    Tsuki shook his head, not knowing what to say. He wasn't sure why she had passed out suddenly nor the reason on why she appeared to be so sick. "I'm not sure. She suddenly collapsed at the gate. I think she has some kind of fever" he told her. He walked over to one of the mayor's spare rooms and set her down in one of the beds.

    The mayor handed him two washcloths, one dry and one wet, and headed to the door. "Clean her up and make sure she appears comfortable. I trust you know how to handle a cold. I'll go get the doctor!" she instructed him. She then left through the front door and headed into the village.

    Tsuki nodded as the mayor left in a hurry. He then used the dry washcloth to wipe the sweat off her face then placed the wet washcloth on her forehead. He then lifted her up a bit so he could pull the bed sheet over her. He appeared to be very worried about her. "You're going to be okay. We'll fix this, don't worry" he whispered to her. She seemed to be in pain but that's expected given her current condition. All he could do now was wait for the doctor. After several minutes of silence, he heard the front door open.

    The mayor had brought back an older woman who was in a doctor's robe. The doctor walked into the room Tsuki and Lynette were in. She then approached Lynette and did a thorough check-up on her. After several minutes of silence, she finished the check-up and sighed heavily. She had a strange look on her face. "It's as I thought. It's the Winchester Disease" she diagnosed.

    Tsuki tilted his head in a sense of confusion. He wasn't an expert in modern medicine or illnesses so he had no idea what she was talking about. "Winchester Disease? What's that?" he asked her.

    The doctor nodded at him. "Yes. It's a rare disease that plagues these plains. We're not sure where it originates from or how it spreads but it is highly contagious. It's more commonly found in deep caverns or the mountains. If I had to guess, she must of gotten it from those thugs the other day. It's effects aren't made apparent until 12 hours have passed since it's first contracted" she explained. She feared that it was the Winchester Disease.

    Tsuki folded his arms in thought. "What are the effects? Surely, if it's labeled as a disease, there must be some effects that occur to the person afflicted by it" he said. It's no wonder he hasn't heard of it. From what she said, it's mostly common in this area since there are no caverns or mountains near Eresseas.

    The doctor looked at him then at Lynette, who appeared to be sweating more and breathing heavily. "There are three stages to this disease. The first stage gives flu-like symptoms like coughing and wheezing. The second stage, which begins about twelve hours after the first stage, causes kidneys to start failing. The final stage, which is another twelve hours after the second stage, is death. Its a slow killing disease but it is treatable" she said with a sign of hope.

    Tsuki walked up closer to the doctor, appearing very anxious. "How do you treat it then? There's got to be a cure or something out there"he said. He had to know he cant leave the village while knowing that Lynette's life is now in danger.

    The doctor reached into her bag and took out a book. She opened it to a specific page and handed it to him. The page had a picture of a light blue flower that appeared to be sparkling. "We need a rare flower called the Moonlight Flower. It's a special flower that once bathed in the moonlight of a full moon, it has advanced healing abilities that can cure some of the life-threatening diseases. The flower can be found only on the cliffs of Celestial Hills. Normally, we'd have the cure ready to use now but since those Dark Wing thugs came, they took all our medicine" she explained further.

    Then, the mayor decided to chime in on the conversation. "Luckily, tonight is going to be a full moon. All we need to do is retrieve the flower and we can save her. I'll get a team together and send them to retrieve it" she said.

    Tsuki shook his head. "No. I'll go retrieve the flower. From what I've gathered from my stay here, this village is mainly farmers. They;ll be going in a monster-infested area and I'm sure they don't have any battle experience. I'll find that flower for you" he said. He didn't want civilians to go out to their deaths. They would be lucky to return alive if they went.

    The mayor looked over to Tsuki. She wasn't surprised that he offered to help. He was a knight, after all. It was his duty to protect the innocent. "Are you sure? Celestial Hills is, as you say, monster-infested. You could get hurt or killed in the process" she said. Honestly, she wasn't worried about him one bit. From the way he handled the thugs, he wouldn't be taken down by monsters easily.

    Tsuki nodded. He wasn't going to let monsters stand in his way. He has to save Lynette, no matter what the cost is. "I know my way around a fight. That little display with those thugs should of shown it. I'll be fine. After all, it is my duty to help those in need" he said.

    The doctor started to set up her medical supplies to produce the medicine for the disease when Tsuki returns to the village. "You better get a move on then. Right now, she's only in the first stage of the disease which is flu-like symptoms. It's only going to get a lot worse from here. You can't waste anymore time. You have approximately twenty-four hours to return with that flower. Celestial Hills lie east of the village. Just follow the dirt road" she instructed him. If only she could make some type of medicine to at least slow down it's effects. Twenty-four hours may seem like more than enough time but Celestial Hills is quite a distance away from the village. Not only that, he would need to traverse all the way to the cliffs on the other side of Celestial Hills then make the trip back through the forest and back to the village. He is going to be cutting it close, no matter how one looks at it.

    Tsuki nodded and rushed out of the mayor's house. He wasted no time; he left the village in a hurry and headed east. It took him several hours to reach Celestial Hills; about six hours in total. He had another eighteen hours left before the disease kills Lynette. He now needed to fight and traverse his way through Celestial Hills, reach the cliffs, wait till nightfall for the full moon to come out to give the flower moonlight then make the same, long trip back to Crescentia.

    Tsuki stopped at the entrance of Celestial Hills and took a minute to catch his breath. Once he was ready, he decided to go in. "Hang on, Lyn. I'll find that flower for you" he told himself. He then rushed into the monster nest of Celestial Hills. He couldn't afford to take a break, even a small one.

    He fought off quite a number of monsters that ranged from Mandragora, which are human-like plant monsters to mutated bears known as Eggbears. By the time he reached the cliffs, three more hours had passed. It was still sunny outside so now he had to wait for nightfall. After all, it was only about four in the afternoon. He knows that being in a monster nest at night is dangerous even for seasoned fighters. The strongest monsters come out at night. He had to stand his ground on the cliffs until he got the Moonlight Flower, however.

    After a wait that seemed to last forever, four hours had slowly passed. It was finally dark out. The full moon was out as expected but was blocked by the clouds. He would have to wait until the clouds unblock the moon so the flower could absorb the moonlight. By now, thirteen hours had passed since he left Crescentia so he only had eleven hours to go. He would be cutting his return close but he was going to make it if nothing else happens. As he waited for the clouds to move, some of the more vicious monsters came out of hiding. He could hear them coming from the tree lines. It appears that they didn't come out into the opening however. He thought he was in the clear until a Rhino-like monster appeared out of the tree line. It appeared to be stronger than the normal monsters around the area so it must be the boss of the other monsters.

    Tsuki turned around and saw the monster come out of the trees and get in a charging position. He was going to have to fight it. He then drew his sword and got into an attack stance. "Well, look who came out to play. Let's get this over with" he said. He took a look over at the flower, which was on the very edge of the cliff. He could see the light from the moon start to have an effect on the flower as the clouds that were blocking it had moved. "Just a little longer. I guess I'll play with this monster in the meantime" he said. He then put his attention back onto the monster, who was already charging at him.

    The monster used it's piercing horn that looked like it could pierce a tree as it's first attack. Tsuki dodged the attack then swung his sword at the monster, cutting off it's horn so he wouldn't have to worry about getting pierced by it. The monster howled in pain as it backed up a bit. It shook it's head, appearing to grow more agitated than it already was. It then suddenly charged again at him but with a faster pace. He could feel some type of aura coming off the monster. When it was several meters away from him, the monster then rolled into a ball and continued rolling towards him. The direction the monster was rolling in was towards him and the flower so he had to change it's path so the monster wouldn't crush the flower. He then charged at him and jumped high up into the air. Before he had jumped, there was a slight spark beneath his feet. It appeared that he was using some type of magic of some sort to help him jump high. He then dived down at the monster, spun his body around then brought the heel of his right foot down on monster, putting a stop to it's rolling. The monster appeared to be disoriented. Once he was back on the ground, he took his sword and charged at it once more and delivered one final strike. He struck the monster in it's chest and then watched it fall to the ground. The fight only took several minutes so it was no big for him. It was a good workout for him though.

    After the fight, Tsuki noticed that he had a few scratches from the monster but there wasn't anything too damaging to his body. He swung his sword to get the blood off the blade then sheathed it back onto his waist. He took a moment to catch his breath since he was already tired from his long trip before. He had to make sure there were no more surprises that would pop out at him. Once he was sure that nothing else would jump out, he turned around and walked over to the Moonlight Flower that appeared to be sparkling. He took out the small container given to him by the doctor. He carefully picked the flower and placed it into the container and sealed it so the absorbed energy wouldn't escape. He placed it back in his bag then made his way back to the entrance. Since he knew the way back, it saved him the headache of getting lost again like before but it still took him three hours to return to the entrance. As he found the entrance and was about to leave Celestial Hills, he was interrupted by someone who wasn't there before.

    A middle-aged man was sitting in a tree as Tsuki walked under it as he walked out of the thick woods of Celestial Hills. He then start clapping slowly. "Well, that was some performance at the cliffs. It's just like I would expect from one of the Eight elite guards of the royal family" he said in a calm but deep tone.

    Tsuki stopped and looked around to see where the voice came from. Since it was dark out, he could barely see. He then looked up in one of the trees and saw the man sitting above him. He gave him a long glare. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked the man, gripping the hilt of his sword.

    The man was wearing a black cloak with leather armor. He had a strange-looking bow attached to his back with a quiver of arrows. He appeared to be a hunter at first glance. When he noticed Tsuki reaching for his sword, he held both his hands up. "Now now, no need to jump the gun and attack an innocent hunter. I could ask you the same question, boy" the man said.

    Tsuki kept his eye on the man. He wasn't sure if the man was indeed just an innocent hunter or someone pretending to be a hunter for a reason. Either way, he didn't like it. "Surely, as a hunter, you know how dangerous it is to be out where monsters roam at night, right?" he asked the man.

    The man shrugged. "Oh, I know. Hunting is at it's prime during the night. After all, that's when all the more valuable monsters come out to play. The more vicious the monster is, the more benefits I can get from it. Again, I could ask you the same question. What brings a royal knight of your caliber all the way out here to Celestial Hills at night? Surely, it wasn't for the cliffside view" he questioned him.

    Tsuki still couldn't tell if he really who he say he was. His tone of voice suggests he was just out hunting but there was something about him that felt odd. He couldn't place his finger on it. "I'm here to retrieve the Moonlight Flower for someone who fell ill in a village nearby" he told him.

    The man stroked his beard. "Ah, I see. That nearby village would be Crescentia, I assume. Let me guess, the Winchester Disease?" he asked him. There would be no other reason why someone would need the Moonlight Flower in this area. The Winchester Disease is the only known disease to be in this area of Cayhill.

    Tsuki was a bit surprised that he had guessed right. Then again, he wasn't sure how well-known the disease was in this area so he wasn't too surprised about it. Maybe everyone knew about it and this was something that happens more often than people think. "That's right...a friend caught the disease when some thugs came into the village" he said.

    The man jumped off the tree branch and landed a few feet away from Tsuki. He then looked over at him. "I should of known. These hills get visitors from that village often for the same thing. Not many use the old traditional methods of healing anymore these days though. People mainly use their highly developed skills in medical Artes or Blastia to cure diseases now" the man said. He then paced back and forth for a bit before approaching him. "I'm quite curious as to why a knight such as yourself is using such old traditions when you could use a military-grade Booster or Blastia to cure the disease though" the man said.

    Boosters and Blastia were common use for medicinal qualities as well as combat. When the hunter brought up Boosters and Blastia, Tsuki shook his head. "I don't carry such things on me. The Eight don't rely on such crude methods of medicine and combat" he told him. He never agreed to the use of Blastia or Boosters. Even though Blastia is supposedly safer to use than Boosters, there were still negative effects that occur.

    The man crossed his arms and held his hand to his chin. It was interesting to hear something like that from a knight. "I see...by the way, the name is Setzu Tsubaki. As I said, I'm just a random hunter out for some extra money" the man said as he finally introduced himself.

    Tsuki listened to him as he introduced himself. "You already know what my occupation is. My name is Tsuki Himura. Nice to meet you" he said. He no longer felt the need to be wary of the man. He seemed to be normal. He was running out of time though. He needed to get a move on back to Crescentia otherwise he wasn't going to make it. "Listen, I hate to be rude but I need to go. As you know, I'm kind of in a hurry" he said.

    Setzu raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? I'll tag along with you then. The roads can be quite dangerous at night, even for someone such as yourself" he said. He wanted to learn a little bit more about him. He was interested in him and his fighting style back at the cliffs made him more interesting to know about.

    Tsuki sensed a bit of alarm. Why would a hunter, who knew very well that he could handle himself in a fight, want to accompany him to Crescentia? He even said that he was here at Celestial Hills to hunt for some vicious monsters. Setzu was hard to figure out. He didn't know if he was being sincere or had ulterior motives behind his offer. After a few moments, he agreed to his offer. "Alright. Thanks for the help" he said. If he was plotting something, he wanted to be sure that he didn't seem to be suspicious about him.

    Setzu appeared to be grateful for accepting his offer. "Why, you're welcome. Shall we get a move on then? I'm sure you don't want to waste anymore time than what is necessary" he said. He could tell that he was restless. Spending anymore time chatting at Celestial Hills wasn't going to do him any good.

    Tsuki nodded. "Yes. We need to hurry. If we don't get anymore interruptions, we should make it back to Crescentia with two hours to spare" he told him. Any more time wasted would put him in tight situation.

    Setzu looked into the direction Crescentia was in. After a few moments, he looked back at him. "Well, let's get going then. We better not keep the person waiting any longer" he said. He then started to head up the dirt road towards Crescentia. Since he was a hunter, he was familiar with this area so he knows where all the towns and prime hunting spots were.

    Tsuki watched as the man took off down the road and soon followed after him. just like his trip to Celestial Hills, the return trip took six hours. When they got back, they saw that the villagers were crowding the mayor's house. They could hear shouts asking about Lynette's condition. It would appear that everyone in town has heard what has happened. Then again, it's a small village so word travels fast. From the responses the doctor was giving, it seems that her condition hasn't improved which means that she's still breathing.

    Tsuki left Setzu standing at the gates and ran up to the crowd of people. Once he pushed through the crowd, he took out the preserved flower that was in the container. "Doctor, I brought the flower!" he shouted. He stopped in front of her and handed the doctor the flower.

    The doctor looked through the crowd and saw Tsuki. Her attention then went to the flower that he took out of his bag. She took a moment to examine to make sure he brought the right one back. "This is it! I'll administer the medicine immediately!" she said. She took the flower from him then walked back into the mayor's house. She was gone for quite some time. The crowd was silent the whole time she was gone. Everyone was waiting in anticipation. After thirty minutes had passed, she eventually came back out with a relieved look on her face. "The medicine worked. She's passed the critical stage and is now in stable condition. All she needs now is rest and she'll make a full recovery" she said. She felt as if she could breathe again. She had been waiting anxiously for Tsuki to return with the Moonlight Flower.

    The crowd cheered with relief from the good news. Lynette was very important to the villagers. Like every small village like this, everyone in it is like a close family. They all look out for each other and support one another in the toughest of circumstances. They gave the doctor and Tsuki their gratitude for all their hard work. This was the second time Tsuki has saved the day. He saved the mayor from the Dark Wings and then saved Lynette from the Winchester Disease. After a while, the crowd eventually started to split off. With Lynette safely out of danger, Tsuki could finally relax. He looked back at the entrance where he had left Setzu but he was gone. He looked around to see if he was in the village but he couldn't find him. Just like that, he was gone. In the end, Tsuki never found out what his real intentions were. All he knew was that there was a reason Setzu had approached him and offered to take him back to Crescentia. What that reason was is still a mystery.

    To be continued...