Myrr: Reincarnated Timemage Assassin

Chapter 65: Tears Of The Weeping Rose

*Klang*

*Whump*

"Ow..." Mumbling with my face pressed to the ground, I spit out a wad of dirt. Above me, Elina awaits, her black-gloved hands showing me no mercy. The possum mask is actually a fearsome sight. It's long snout and sharp teeth give her a savage appearance as she watches me. Her method of training is much the same as Romy's...namely beating the crap out of me. "You and the Secthead really must get along."

"Mmm?" She stiffens but it's half-hearted. She seems distracted. "Did Romy train you like this? Heh, I'm not surprised. However...it doesn't make any sense..."

"What doesn't make any sense?" I ask. Not being able to see her facial expressions is really becoming a pain. I hate being in the dark to her true intentions. At this, she shifts her head up a little. The possum snout tilts to the sky.

"You...don't make sense."

"What?" I ask, nonplussed. At first, I think she's referring to my Foresight. I thought I was keeping my usage to a minimum so it shouldn't have been that strange?

"You're too weak." Elina says. Ok...didn't expect that. She holds up her hands. "I'm not insulting you. I'm not the Secthead. But seriously, if Romy really has been training you for as long as you say, and you are who you are...then this doesn't make any sense. There's no way your talent for Qi usage can be this low!"

"Huh?" I scratch my head. "Sorry...it's just how I am. Am I really that weak?"

"Well, your magic isn't. If anything, that's freakishly strong. But physically, you're barely above average by Rainstopper standards...I don't get it...how can this be?" Pacing in circles with her weird, irregular gait, Elina looks a bit like a spider. Outside her hut, we've been sparring, or as she calls it, learning the path of killing, but it's been going poorly. After a long minute though, she unexpectedly stops. "Wait! Come here, Myrr!"

"Okay...?" I go to her hands. To my surprise, she claps both of them to my temples on either side of my head. Behind the mask, her eyes close. It's disconcerting having the long, saw-like snout of the possum mask in my face, but I don't complain. I can sense...something happening. This tingling sensation, a small warmth blossoming from her gloved fingertips into my brain. Normally, I'd back away, but I trust her, to an extent. What's she looking for?

"I...don't believe it. I was right!" Her sudden exclamation causes me to yelp and break way from her hands. However, Elina does not mind. She's lost in revelation. "Meirkeep...that's it. The only explanation. But how did it get so deep without killing you...unless...a flesh wound?"

"Did you find something?" I ask. Elina nods seriously, locking eyes with me. "What is it?"

"You've been...poisoned, Myrr." She says. Seeing my sudden unease, she quickly grabs my shoulders. "Relax, it's not fatal. If anything...it's been with you for a very...very long time. That's the only way. Tell me, were you ever wounded when you were a baby? Particularly...by an assassin's blade! I know it's hard to remember, but this is important. Try to remember!"

"I...wounded?" Searching my old memories, which I have an unusually good record of, considering I was conscious since birth, I try to think of it. "Perhaps when Jarrold Westblade...no...I don't think he hit me..."

"Jarrold Westblade doesn't use poison." Elina interrupts when she hears me. Oh, I forgot, even though she's a healer, she's also a Rainstopper. Everyone seem to know about him. "No...it wouldn't be him. He'd just kill you and be done with it. No, keep thinking. It would have to have been when you were very young. A wound that wasn't very big, tiny even. Else you'd be dead."