Several days had passed

Milo was still laid up. He had passed out from the pain of his leg not long after Andromeda healed him. His leg was in perfect condition from the outside. He didn’t seem to squirm in his sleep like those in pain often do. By all appearances he was alright. Just sore. The only reason he wasn’t already up and about was because everyone was concerned for him.

Andromeda was not so lucky.

Neither Catherine nor Argo knew what happened. From their perspective nothing was happening, then all of a sudden she started breaking out in a sweat and Milo’s leg literally started pulling itself together.

She stayed like that until the leg was fully healed, then she slumped over and started convulsing. Once they got her laid down on her bed she stayed like that for several hours, then the convulsing stopped and she rolled over in rough shape. To their horror she seemed to reverted to her empty state for most of the night, but not long after she seemed to wake up properly.

Now she was laid in bed, it hurt to move, her mind was filled with fog, everything inside her was at least sore. She wasn’t bothered so much by that, pain would fade eventually. Milo dealt with more pain in a few minutes than she was probably going to feel in days. So it was a fair trade in her eyes.

What did bother her were the after effects.

There were bruises up and down her arms, dark lines radiated from her chest to the rest of her body. It looked like she had been struck by lightning. Even worse, her fingertips seemed to be bleached white. The skin was as bright as freshly driven snow and looked almost ghostly, if you looked closely you could see the veins in her hands pulsing with blood.

It didn’t even look natural, like she dipped her fingers in paint that stained deep. Even as the bruises on her arms and the dark lines on her chest disappeared, her fingers stayed the same.

Nothing in particular hurt beyond the general soreness, but it was strange and distressing to see herself in this state.

She got some idea of what might have happened. Argo and Catherine explained to her that mages couldn’t use heal people. It just wasn’t something that was possible, only the Medea could do that. Despite that, she managed to heal Milo. No one had any answers about what happened.

She had somehow figured it out by accident when nobody in history had managed it on purpose. The downsides she experienced were likely the repercussions of crossing that line.

Unfortunately, time stopped for no one, especially not the sick or dying. The days passed quickly and without Andromeda’s extra help, they felt longer too. Argo spent longer outside each day trying to get everything in order for the crops to be delivered. Catherine as well now had to take care of two bed ridden people as well as her normal responsibilities, and all of that on top of keeping Argo healthy.

In no time, two days shy of two weeks had passed. They needed to make the final decision on what Andromeda should do. If she didn’t go then the whole family might be punished, if she did go the they she risked spending the next several years fighting in a war.

It wasn’t even a choice in her mind at this point. She had an opportunity to save these people who cared for her a trouble and she was going to take it. What was five years anyway? She was in her room preparing her stuff to leave. Argo was kind enough to give her a travel bag for her trip, but given that she only had the clothes Catherine had given her, and some books, she was packing light.

Then there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.” Andromeda said. Argo walked in with a faded blue hood in his hand, it was almost white. He walked over and sat it down on the bed.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“This was my brother’s old hood when he was younger. Our da got him it when we found out he was mystical.” Argo said.

“You kept it all this time?” Andromeda said. She picked it up and looked at it front to back. It was old and faded, but it was mostly still intact. Just a few stray hems here and there.

“If I’m being honest. The only reason I still have it was because I wanted to give it to Reine before she left.” Argo said. Andromeda’s heart sank. She looked at Argo, there was pain in his eyes, but he was serious as well.

“Argo, I can’t take this.” She said.

“Then let’s call it a favor.” Argo said.

“What kind of favor?” Andromeda said.

“This was going to be Reine’s, I told you that right? Well, this is the hood she was wearing in the painting Catherine did.” Argo said.

“I don’t understand, what does that have to do with a favor?” She asked.

“Because in a small way, this is one of the last pieces I have of my daughter I have left. She never got to see much of the world beyond this farm.” Argo said.

“But-” Andromeda started.

“If it goes with you, a small part of her will get to see the world she never got to. That’s the favor I’m asking.” He said.

“But I-” She tried to say again.

“I know its selfish, all you need to say is no. I’ll put it back on the shelf and we’ll pretend we never spoke about this. It would just mean the world to me if my baby girl could experience life in some small way.” He continued. It was clear that he was thinking more than he was saying, but from the growing pain in his eyes she could tell that he was afraid of what might come out..

Andromeda sighed. She held a hood in her hand that couldn’t have been any less than 30 years old. A part of a family longer than she had been alive. Now the man who owned it was asking her to take this piece of their family. It didn’t feel right.

“Argo, this belonged to your brother, and then your daughter. Are you sure that giving it to a stranger forever is a good idea? We may never see each other again.” She said.

“No, you’re right. I couldn’t be sure a stranger would take good care of it…” He said.

“Exac-” She started again, only to be interrupted again.

“That’s why I’m not giving it to a stranger. I’m giving it to you.” Argo said. He reached for Andromeda’s hand and held it up to her eyes. She could clearly see her icy white fingers.

“A stranger doesn’t risk their lives for another, they don’t scar themselves for another, that isn’t what strangers do.” He said. The pain in his eyes faded away and was replaced with a weary happiness. She wanted to say something, didn’t have the heart to speak again.

“You saved my son’s life. To me that is more important than in this whole world. I don’t know what kind of life you had before I found you. I don’t know if you had family and friends where you came from. I don’t know how you have felt being here all this time. There are a lot of things I don’t know.” He continued. He reached out toward the hood, he felt the fabric in his hand and closed it in his fist tightly. Then let it go again.

“I know that I trust you more than anyone else to take care of it. I know that I want you to have it.” He said.

Andromeda didn’t say anything. There was nothing that needed to be said.

She knew what he meant, she knew how hard it was for him. She understood that it was painful. There was nothing else she could say.

“I’ll do it.” She said.

-----

The last two days passed. It was still morning when she left, about an hour before noon. So she knew that if she was quick she would make it before it got dark.

Andromeda was ready, hood over head. She was still sore and her fingers were still white. But she was as ready as she was going to be.

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She had acquired a few more items before she left as a kind of farewell gift. In her bag was a few changes of clothes from Catherine, A canteen full of water from Argo, a few select books she had permission to take with her, a wooden toy horse from Milo, and her original clothes. She said her fair wells to the family that had taken care of her for the last month and went on her way to Salsi. Argo filled her in on the local area before she left so that she wouldn’t get lost.

First, the area that they were currently in was called King’s Grove. She already knew that from context clues but he confirmed it for her then.

When you’re out of town you would call the whole area “King’s Grove”. But when inside you would either say “The Farms” when talking about the farms, or “King’s Grove Proper” when talking about the town built around the King’s Estate.

King’s Grove only really had the one major town, that being King’s Grove Proper, but there were several villages spread throughout the area. Argo wasn’t familiar with them all, but he knew of at least 4, with another half a dozen he was vaguely aware of.

The closest one, and coincidentally the one closest to the edge of Greater King’s Grove, was Salsi. It was the primary trade hub of the region and was where most of the crops flowed into the rest of the country. If there was ever going to be a town that rivaled King’s Grove Proper, it would be that one.

It was a few hours walk down the road which would usually be an issue as of late. But the unseasonable heatwave had passed and it was a cool, breezy day. Perfect for a long trek.

While she walked, Andromeda realized that this was the first time in a long while that she was alone with just her thoughts. Sure she had spent a lot of time alone in the study, but there was always someone nearby to talk to or help. Now she was just marching along the dirt road by herself.

There was something serene and calming about the wide openness around her. The sky stretched for as far as she could see, the farms were still barely ready to be seeded so the land stretched into the horizon. There were no mountains anywhere near and what few trees in the area were sparse and spread out.

She could probably yell and no one would hear her for miles. Not that she wanted to do that, it was just an intrusive thought.

Eventually she stopped thinking. With nothing left she just focused on keeping her feet moving, keeping her breathing steady, and keeping her eyes facing forward. She entered a kind of trance. Tranquilly walking on and on as the path stretched on in front of her.

That is why it was incredibly startling when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“AHHHH!” She screamed. Shaken from he trance. She spun around and saw a man about her age standing behind her, also startled beyond belief.

“S-sorry…” He said as he gripped his chest.

“What is with me and random people gathering around me?” Andromeda whispered her breath.

“I can leave you alone if you want.” The man said.

“What? Oh no, sorry. I’m was just… distracted…” She said. That answer didn’t seem to satisfy him, so she stuck her hand out for a hand shake.

“Let’s start over, my name’s Andromeda.” She said.

“Elias, friends call me Eli.” He said.

As they shook he looked down and saw her fingers. Reflexively he pulled his hand away, but then immediately felt bad about it.

“What now?” Andromeda asked. Wondering if her sheer presence was that much of a spook.

“Sorry, its… I just…” He stuttered, this meeting went so poorly that he wanted to turn around and head back home.

“Your hand, I saw it and jumped.” He said. She knew what he meant, it did look weird. Though she hadn’t thought about it. She was probably going to keep hearing that.

“I should buy some gloves.” She said. Eli grabbed the bridge of his nose and cursed himself for his lack of social skills. He just met this person and he was already insulting their looks.

“Anyway… Where are you headed?” Eli asked.

“Salsi, a man said everyone between 16 and 25 had to be there for drafting.” She said.

“You’re heading that way too? Small world.” Eli asked.

“Unfortunately yeah, I’m not from around here and didn’t want to be a bother for the family I was staying with. So I decided to just head out and see what it was like.” Andromeda said.

“About the same for me, my pa said the farm wasn’t the place for me. Arms a bit too steady he says.” Eli said.

They continued on their walk, commiserating with each other over the bad situation. While the tranquil walk Andromeda enjoyed earlier was nice, having anyone to talk to on the trek made the time fly by. It was an hour later before the conversation came back around to Andromeda.

“Hey… I don’t mean to pry. But can I ask about your hands?” Eli asked.

“What about them?” Andromeda asked in return.

“Why, uh, why are they… like… that?” He stammered.

Andromeda learned earlier that whatever she did wasn’t normal, and explaining it to a stranger likely wasn’t going to end well. If Argo and Catherine were to be believed, no mage in the history of the world had ever healed before. So she had to lie to prevent that from becoming common knowledge. No doubt that would lead to endless issues.

“Born that way. No idea why.” She said.

“Does it… Hurt?” He asked.

“Not really, they just look strange.” She said.

“Another question, you wouldn’t happen to be a mage, would ya?” Eli asked. That question caught her off guard. It was true, at least she thought it was. She never actually stopped to ask if just being able to do magic meant you were a mage. But saying no seemed equally untruthful.

“I am… Why do you ask?” She said.

“So it was you that I’ve been hearing about.” Eli said. Damn, did this guy not have a filter or what?

“What have you been hearing?” She asked trying to see how much she accidentally got around.

“Small things, mostly just that a red headed girl has been going around fixing every broken thing she can get her hands on. Every day. For weeks.” Eli said.

“Oh…” Andromeda said. She had gotten so excited about being able to mend that she wasn’t being subtle about it. She wanted to crawl in a hole and die from embarrassment. Everyone within a hundred miles probably knew about her.

“Was it that obvious?” She said.

“If it weren’t for the mage hood, I’d probably have not noticed.” He said. Andromeda put her hand to the hood and winced. It was a favor to Argo, but she wasn’t going to get to be stealthy if any random person could pick her out of a crowd. She pulled the hood down and let her hair out.

“Any better?” She said. Eli stared at her. Her eyes were glowing. He thought it was a trick of the light until now but they really were.

“Uh, yeah, a bit.” He said. Andromeda suspected his gaze was less than innocent.

“I guess I’ll just stick to the hood.” She said.

There was a bit of a communication failure. But he had already pressed enough for a stranger and didn’t want to pry any farther. He had no idea what was normal for a mage, everything he might have thought strange might be how they were. Andromeda was merciful enough to change the subject and save them both despite her suspicions.

“Do you have any idea how far until get there?” She asked. Eli perked up at the question.

“Actually yeah, we passed ol’ Dander’s farm not long ago. Salsi should be coming into view soon.” He said. Just as he did, they crested a small hill.

The town came into view, more striking than that was the massive hole in its wall.