Mihe was trying to rip out their eyeballs now.
"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!" They howled while clawing at their eyes, the pain grew too great for him to tolerate.
Aorin immediately swung the door to the bathroom only to see them trying to plunge their fingers into their eyes in an attempt to remove them. Not only that, their eyes were looking as if they were melting off and were currently being lit with a dark, almost black-colored flame.
She was surprised, not at the Renewal Event that they were going through, but rather that Mihe was going through one to begin with.
"Close your eyes immediately! I'll go and get a blindfold and some medicine! Whatever you do, do not open your eyes!" The Shirah mother yelled while dashing towards the trapdoor.
Mihe nodded while they clenched their eyes shut as tightly as they could and tried their best to control their breathing and focus on anything besides the urge to rip off their eyes. At least now, that urge has decreased somewhat but they can feel it growing stronger by the second.
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Aorin descended with a definite thud as she hadn't even used the ladder. She sprinted to the pantry and began ravaging through it for a blindfold she had brought in case Kentei went through a renewal event.
Kentei himself had woken up from the combination of hearing a scream, his mother jumping down a floor, and now her searching through the pantry while throwing out various foods and while he could notice something was wrong he didn't know what.
"Momma? Is something wrong?" He lazily asked, rubbing the boogers from his eyes.
She peaked out of the pantry before stating in as comforting a tone she could provide "No honey! Everything is fine! Just make sure you don't go back to sleep because Mommy will need you in a minute okay?"
Her tone did have a bit of an inflection behind it that Kentei picked up. It was clear that his mother was at least somewhat scared of something and that had rubbed on him just a bit.
Kentei nodded while Aorin continued searching through the pantry for something, anything now that could be used as a blindfold. By this point, she had already hastily managed to go through half of the pantry, and no sign of anything yet though.
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Upstairs, Mihe was trying their best to keep their eyes closed while they had paced around the bathroom with great speed in a futile attempt to distract themself from the pain.
There was this feeling, something from the very deepest pits of their instincts that was screaming something was wrong. That their eyes were tainted, harmful, evil, they couldn't describe what the word was, but that feeling was there and it was strong, it grew more and more.
Eventually, their thoughts began to change. From the feeling that their eyes were wrong to a new feeling, an urge.
They felt like their eyes needed to be removed. Not from the pain like before, but from something deep in them yelling at them instead.
After a while of this pacing, they got too disorientated and bumped into something, forcing them to start falling.
Although they didn't intend to, they opened their eyes to catch themself before falling into the bathtub. While they did succeed in catching themself, by the time they had noticed their eyes had opened, the pain shot up tremendously as they shrieked in pain.
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Downstairs, Aorin was about 75% of the way through the pantry and still hadn't found any signs of a blindfold until she suddenly heard a blood-curdling shriek from upstairs.
They opened their eyes, didn't they! She panicked and began to sprint back to the main room, spotting a cowering Kentei wrapping himself tightly in a vortex of towels.
"M-m-m-mommy what w-w-was that? Why w-w-as there-""
She didn't even bother to pretend to hear what he was saying, by the time he had started asking his question, she had was climbing up the ladder upstairs.
While she was climbing the ladder with great speed, she had started to rip out the sleeve from her top left arm. Although it wasn't the proper blindfold Mihe needed, it would work just fine as a temporary solution to get them situated before searching for a more permanent measure.
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When she had climbed upstairs, she had seen them bent over the bathtub and would run over to them, grabbing them by their collar only to see them subconsciously trying to peel their eyes away as blood leaked from them. It seemed like they did open their eyes.
She tried to wrap their eyes with the 'blindfold,' but they were squirming too much to handle right now. Luckily, Mihe wasn't nearly strong enough to fully resist Aorin's grip. Utilizing this, she used her lower two arms to keep Mihe's arms away from themselves while her upper two arms wrapped around their head.
While wrapping the sleeve around their face, she called: "Honey! Are you down there, still!? Come upstairs! Mommy needs you!"
They were still squirming around as she barked a command at them.
"Listen to me Mihe! You are going through something called a Renewal Event! Whatever you do, do not ever, ever remove that blindfold! Do you understand!?"
They didn't listen at all. The pain of the Renewal Event was too much for them to even comprehend speech, and their thoughts were nothing but the removal of their eyes.
She sighed before lifting them by the arms and slapping them across the face before dropping them, hoping to break them out of their trance.
This did let them refocus as Aorin restated what she previously said.
"Do not ever take off that blindfold! If you do, then your eyes will melt away, and you could even end up dying! Do you understand now!?"
They nodded, even more panicked. But before they could do anything, Kentei finally managed to climb up the ladder and shakily got up to see the situation in the bathroom.
"Mommy? What's wrong with Pinkie?"
Aorin would keep their focus on Mihe.
"Kentei dear, if you could please take these coins," She reached into her pocket and pulled out three dull, large, pink coins and reached out to him as he began to walk towards her with fear, "And head over to a pharmacist and tell them that your mother is going through a Renewal Event. If you can't find one, then a guard should lead you to one."
Kentei nodded as he began to run out of the restaurant, locking the door behind him, double-checking if the door was indeed locked, and then finally sprinted out to the streets.
"So what the hell is going to happen to me!? Am I just going to have to have my eyes melt out!? How do I make the pain stop!" Mihe begged while reaching all around themself, trying to grab onto something.
"You'll be fine soon! My son heading out for a bit to find a pharmacist. Hopefully, he'll return with some ointments and painkillers to stop the pain." She started before noticing their odd behavior.
"What's the matter?! Is something wrong!?" She asked in an alarmed tone.
"I just need a place to sit down! I don't want to be standing up this entire time! Just let me rest my legs!" they yelled out.
Aorin sighed before picking them up bridal style once more and carrying them downstairs. Plopping them on Kentei's bed while the two waited for him to return with medicine.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
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Altain Street, New Raastia
It was a peculiar sight, seeing a young Shirah boy run around the street in a heavily alarmed state.
Kentei was searching for anything titled "Pharmacy," "Medicine," “Apothecary,” it didn’t matter. Anything that indicated a place that housed medicine worked for the boy on a quest.
All around him, the humanoids were gossiping about the sight they were seeing. After all, a Shirah, especially a young child like himself, was never seen around here.
With Raasti-Dreti being on a Western continent, there's no technology, physical or magical, connecting it with Karinomaki besides boats, which combined with the lack of formal relations between Karinomaki and the Dual Crowns meant there shouldn't be any reason to see a Shirah over here.
After running about for a few minutes, some kindhearted humans would try to find a guard and point them toward the running Shirah. Initially, all of the guards didn't believe these claims but at some point, a lioness guard with brown hair would respond and search for Kentei.
It wasn't difficult to find him, in fact, he stood out like a sore thumb with the people of New Raastia parting to make way for him and his panicked state. It surprised her that no other guards took on this case as she began to run up to the child from behind.
"Sir! Please stop! Why are you run-"
Kentei turned around and saw the lioness guard panting after trying to keep up with a Shirah.
"Pleasehelpmymotherisgoingthrougharenewaleventandneedsmedicine!" He exclaimed in a terrified tone, on the verge of tears with legs shaking in fear.
The lioness guard would jump back at the speed he was stating the situation to her.
"I'm sorry young Sir, could you please repeat that?" She asked in a relatively soothing tone while crouching to his eye level.
Kentei tried to relax by exhaling and began explaining the situation.
"Mama said that she was going through a Renewal Event and was acting scary! She said I should talk to a guard or look for a medicine place, and I can't find anything!"
"Okay! I'll take you to the best pharmacy there is! Is that fine enough for you young man!" She exclaimed while standing up.
Kentei nodded as the lioness would lend her hand. He would take that hand, and she began guiding him towards the outskirts of the city.
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Outskirts of New Raastia
There was quite the contrast between the dim, muted greys and greens of Quetztal's Pharmacy and the beautiful woman wearing a magnificent, bright blue and white dress with gold embroidery in the center of said pharmacy, examining the various plants and medicines available for one to purchase. The woman's eyes were light blue with nothing remarkable about them.
The hut was organized like a circle with a central island carrying a variety of herbs, plants, and tanks filled with bugs. The walls on the other hand were filled with premade medicines. In the back, was a desk where a stranger stood.
The stranger was of a fairly average build with a multitude of scars across their body. Likewise, their magical tier was average for a person above 22 years old, indicated by their turquoise-colored eyes. They were wearing a simple brown tunic with a long-sleeved, grey shirt underneath it. However, its right sleeve was ripped out, revealing an arm that had appeared to be flayed in such a way that there were multiple 'pages,' flipping around the bone of the arm in a circle. Inscribed into the pages was text in an odd language that the woman didn't understand.
"Are you looking for something in particular, Ma'am?" The stranger asked.
"Not especially. I just wanted to look around this shop for a moment." The woman responded in an oddly deep, but still feminine voice.
It wasn't a good answer for the stranger. They were hoping for something more indicative that the woman wanted to purchase something. After all, most people who came just 'looking around' never purchased anything from the shop and just wasted their time.
The woman finally turned back to the pharmacist.
"Say, are you maybe a Grimoire? Sorry for the assumption, it's just that your arm made me think you were one."
The pharmacist nodded.
"Then, there could be something I'd like to purchase from you. See: I have a family member who is deathly sick, but they always wanted to learn a spell. They sadly can never leave the house due to their illness, and we couldn't find a Grimoire that c-"
He cut off the woman. "Sorry Ma'am, I don't offer Grimoire services anymore. I know you might be a noblewoman, but I reserve my rights as a free serf to deny any customers for any reason."
She clicked her tongue in frustration at his response under her breath.
By this point, Yakti was exhausted. The dress was heavy, and needing to clean it after walking all the way to the outskirts would be a nightmare. Joined with the exhaustion of needing to get the guards off his trail (one of the Grimoires he had requested services from had reported him for harassment), casting a reconfiguration as a result, which lead to his current form where he need to walk around in high heels. Finally, despite having went to what must've been a dozen Grimoires around the city, not a single one could offer services that he could use to teach Mihe magic. All around, this trip had seemed to have netted nothing but negatives for him.
However, he could always try again. Thus, he began to turn away and leave the hut, but before he could, the door slammed open while the female guard with Kentei walked in.
"Quetztal! This young boy's mother needs medicine for a renewal event as soon as possible! Get him some ointments now!" The lioness guard cried.
By this point, the guard had noticed they bumped into a noble lady while slamming the door and was deeply embarrassed.
"O-o-oh my! I'm so sorry, madam, for the rude sight! You see this-" She began to explain before being cut off by Yakti.
"Kentei!? What are you doing here! Why are you not with your mother!?" He exclaimed before realizing what he said.
Shit! Shitshitshitshitshit! That guard is here! Why did I do that! She's going to suspect something now! He thought as the Shirah boy made eye contact with Yakti and tilted his head.
While he didn't recognize this woman, but he did know that voice. Upon further thought, the combination of the eyes, knowing his name, and there being one person outside of the basement who would know his name pointed to only one answer: this was Yakti.
"Oh! Uncle Yakti! Why are you here? Momma was taking Pinkie after their eyes began to bleed and she said that she was going through a renewal event and that she needed medicine!" He said in an oddly cheery tone.
Now he had the urge to kill this child. He already knew he blundered by calling Kentei out by his name, but being referred to as 'Uncle Yakti' was something he should not have done! Did this child not remember his instructions!?
"Uncle???" The guard was confused. Why did this child refer to this woman as an uncle? Although the name wasn't familiar, the issue was the question of why would a human, a noblewoman much less, know a Shirah on a first-name basis. It doesn't make any sense.
His mind went as fast as possible to come up with a reasonable answer, but in his panicked state, he said what came first to his mind.
"Kentei calls me uncle because of my deep voice," He shook his head despairingly. "He's quite the cruel child, isn't he?"
Kentei pouted at him before roaming the shop, examining the various plants and medicines.
The guard was still suspicious of this 'woman.’ She still didn't know why this woman had a relation with a Shirah child. Why were they so close that he called her by a nickname? Why did Kentei say that his mother was going through a Renewal Event when he implied that some 'guest' was going through it instead of his mother?
None of this makes sense. She needs to keep these two under her supervision until she gets a better image of the situation.
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Basement of Yakti's Bakery
"It still hurts!"
Mihe writhed in pain once again. Urges to remove their eyes had all but filled their mind. They had tried to rip off their eyes so many times that Aorin had to rip off another one of her sleeves to tie their arms behind them to force them to stop it.
"Just breathe, Mihe! Kentei is going out to get your medicine. Once he does, you'll be fine! Just wait a li-" They cut her off.
"I already know that! You've been trying to tell me he'll be back at least 5 times in the past minute! At this point, just shut up!"
She sighed before finally opting to start explaining what Mihe was going through.
"Look, you're going through something called a Renewal Event. It doesn't happen very often past 22, but before it, it happens very often. Your soul will grow more and more until it has grown so large that it needs to remove your eyes and replace them with something else. The clearer your eyes are to your soul, the more space it has.
"What I'm getting at is that this is for your benefit! If you interrupt the soul, the process can't finish and you'll at least never recover your eyes, but you could potentially even die!"
They were struggling to understand what she was talking about. It was too much info, all at once, for them to handle as the thoughts to remove their eyes continued filling their head. Aorin realized this too late as she grabbed Mihe by the shoulder and lifted them closer to her so her voice could hopefully populate their mind more easily.
"This is to your benefit! If you remove that sleeve wrapping your eyes, you could die! Once you recover from this, you'll be stronger! It'll take 3 to 7 days to recover!"
That much they managed to understand, but it took too much effort for them to do so as they continued to worm and wriggle around in an attempt to break out of their 'handcuffs,' and their wriggling was to the point that they could start injuring themselves and breaking the bed.
Aorin would sigh before she took the initiative to knock Mihe out, at least long enough for Kentei to hopefully return with more medicine.