The sun peaked through the window and began to fill the room with light. The strong and bright sunlight shone into the eyes of the sleeping Exorcist, which caused him to stir in the chair until he woke up. It was very unlike him to still be asleep at this time, but with everything that happened the night before it was not a surprise. He stood up and rolled his shoulders, trying to get the harsh kinks out of them. That was not the most uncomfortable place he has slept, but he did not want to do it again. He looked over to the girl, to see she was still unconscious in the bed. This worried him because with the amount of magic he used on her, she should have woken up by now. The only thing he could think of is that her natural healing process was much more active than he thought and it used up much more of her energy. He stood over her thinking again, when his mind began to drift. He began thinking about the way the moonlight illuminated her beautiful long hair last night, and how she seemed to just be peacefully sleeping. He caught himself getting distracted, and shook his head as if he were trying to get the thoughts of her out. He turned and grabbed his coat off of the rack and made his way towards the door. On instinct he almost turned his head to look at her again, but he could not let himself get distracted. He left the room with his coat in hand and locked the door behind him, making his way down to the tavern where he saw a few people sitting and eating. He saw Avus at the counter talking to a man, and a Maoanese woman running around helping the people at the tables. The old Ursus glanced over towards Ryan and gave him a slight nod. Ryan reciprocated by giving him a nod back, then making his way out of the tavern. He made his way towards where he remembered the well to be. The village was much more vibrant during the day than at night. He could see the flowers that lined the paths, made up of a multitude of colors. He admired the care taken in decorating their houses and stores, with simple yet beautiful carvings along the wooden beams. Some of the people he passed did not recognize him and paid him no mind, but the few who did stopped to greet and thank him, to which he would always politely accept the thanks but quickly move on. Ryan knew that when he would become the Grand Exorcist he would have to have a more of a public presence than before, which was not his favorite. When he was just a normal Exorcist, he would simply nod when thanks were given and go on his way, but now he needed to be more friendly and talkative to those he saved since he was the face of the Exorcist now. He knew there would be hundreds of Exorcists that would kill for the attention he had, and if he could he would gladly trade it away. Ryan was not in it for the praise or for glory, he was in it for justice and because of a promise made many years ago. He finally made his way to the well, and to his pleasure, no one was currently there. The well had a small wooden roof above it with a simple pulley system for the bucket. Ryan tapped his foot gently onto the ground, making a thin stone pillar to rise up to shoulder height. Suddenly two more pillars shot out horizontally from each side, forming the shape of a cross. He hung his coat on it up, and began his process of cleaning the blood off. He was unaware how much the woman actually bled onto him. The front of the coat from the waist down was covered with dried blood, making it look like it had been through a massacre. He could see the bloody streaks from where he had wiped his arms the night before. He shook his head while looking at all this, knowing if his brother were here he would mock him for how bad it had gotten. Ryan turned to the well, and instead of using the bucket he put a hand over the opening and began to use his magic. As he lifted his hand out and away from the well, a glistening ball of water came out and floated in the air in front of him and the coat. He turned his attention to the coat and waved his hand over towards it, and the water gently floated onto his coat and surrounded the areas covered in blood. Ryan snapped his fingers and the water began to bubble rapidly, and as bubbles floated to the top steam began to be released. The hot water began to turn a murky dark red color as the dried blood began to be released from the fabric it clung to. The air began to smell of old hot blood as the process continued, though it did not bother Ryan. It was a stench that he was too familiar with, though he was not fond of it. He lifted up his other hand and began to make a pulling motion with it, and as he did the murky blood began to separate itself from the boiling water and float towards his hand. The blood formed into a perfectly round orb the size of an apple, that gently floated above his open hand. Ryan then made a pulling motion with his other hand, and the boiling water began to float towards it. The water released itself from his coat, leaving no evidence it was even there, leaving the coat to be completely dry and clean. Not wanting to put the water he just used to clean blood back into the well, Ryan used it to water a nearby rose bush by hovering the water above the bush and letting it fall gently like rain onto the petals. He then walked over to the bush and knelt down, gently placing the orb of blood underneath it. With a single wave of his hand, the orbs form broke and the blood began to spread along the ground and seeped deep into the dirt. He stood back up looking down on the rose bush, lost in thought once again, thinking about this mysterious woman. He didn't know her name, or even where she was from, yet his thoughts kept drifting toward her. This bothered Ryan greatly because no one has ever distracted him this much, let alone someone he stumbled less than a day ago, but he could not get the sight of the moon illuminating her hair out of his head. The more he thought about her the more his mind began to drift, until he caught himself with a red face. The Grand Exorcist centered himself and forced himself to focus on his duty instead of daydreaming like a child. He turned around to get his coat off of the makeshift stone stand, and as soon as he did the stone pillars plunged back into the ground. He donned his heavy green coat and began to make his way back to the tavern when a familiar face rounded the corner and made eye contact with him. It was a human man whose dark brown eyes widened at the sight of Ryan. A wide smile spread across the man's face as he made his way over to him, obviously limping on his right leg as he did.
"Hey Exorcist!" The man shouted as he hobbled forward. "You didn't let me thank you for saving me!" Ryan sighed with a smile and he made his way towards the man.
"I apologize, I just had to hit the road back then." He told the man. The man simply stared at him for a minute then let out a loud laugh.
"You Exorcist, always on the move huh." He bellowed loudly as he stuck his hand out toward Ryan. "Well I'm glad you're here so I can finally thank you!"
"You don't need to do that," Ryan said with a sigh as he reciprocated by sticking his hand out as well, "I couldn't heal your leg." The man stopped and blankly stared at the Exorcist. Then out of nowhere he let out a loud hearty laugh before grabbing Ryan's arm and hand and firmly shaking it.
"Son, I get to live another day because you showed up!" The man exclaimed loudly while tears formed in his eyes. "Sure I've got a bum leg, but I get to watch my kids grow up!" Ryan stopped for a moment, and a small smile spread on his face. "I can't go hunting any more but I get to teach my son how to shoot a bow." The man continued on with joy on his face and tears in his eyes. "You know it's only been half a year since he started and he's already as good a shot as me! I've never been so proud of him in my life, though he has had a great teacher! And that is all thanks to you for saving me that day. So once again sir I say thank you." The man held eye contact with Ryan as he held back tears, then suddenly he pulled the much larger Exorcist in for a hug. "Thank you." Ryan was not sure how to respond to this. Sure he had been thanked by many people for saving them and their loved ones, but not very often had he been thanked a year later with such gusto. The man let go of him and collected himself before looking Ryan in the eyes again.
"It was my pleasure." Is all that Ryan could muster, for he had no other words to say. The man let out another laugh as he wiped a tear from his eye.
"Your pleasure huh, how about that." He said. "If your pattern is consistent, I'm sure you'll be gone from Leheath before nightfall, but next time you're in town, you can stay at my place. Let me and my wife treat you to dinner, and I'm sure the kids would love to hear your tales of adventure." Ryan gave him a reassuring nod.
"Of course, you'll be the first one I visit next time I'm in the village." He told the man with a smile. They said their goodbyes and Ryan watched as the man happily hobbled off. He knew he was not an Exorcist because he wanted thanks and praise, but for once, he was happy he received it. Not because it was praise, but because he heard about the lives he helped preserve. He made his way back to the Drunken Bear with a smile upon his face. Once he got there he went to the back of the building where there was a small bench looking into the woods. Ryan sat down on the bench, which creaked under his size, and he pulled out a simple wooden pipe with a long stem along with a small and worn leather tobacco pouch from a pocket within his coat. The bow of the pipe was made of a dark red wood that had faded from years of use. There were distinctive marks on each side of the bowl from where it was worn down from being held. On the front of the bowl was a simple carving into the wood depicting the exorcist crest. Underneath the crest were the initials, JM. The small leather pouch also had the crest and the same initials burned into the leather. Ryan opened the small bag and took out three pinches of the tobacco from inside and stuffed them into the bowl of his pipe. He then snapped his fingers and a slow and steady flame appeared at the tip of his finger, which he used to light the pipe. He began gently puffing on his pipe to get the leaves to burn evenly, and once they did the fire on his finger extinguished. He leaned back and began taking in his surroundings while gradually taking a puff from his pipe. This is something he would do whenever he would stop and take a break, though it was not out of pleasure. Ryan was not a fan of the tobacco he smoked, for it was a harsher taste than he desired that reminded him of the hustle and bustle of the bigger cities, and it left a sticky residue in the pipe that seemed to be impossible to clean out. He preferred the nice gentle blends that reminded him of the simple and humble lives of small villages. He enjoyed the blends that did not stain his mouth with its taste, nor the inside of his pipe with residue. Ryan smoked this blend because his older brother would go on and on about how all of the greatest Grand Exorcists would smoke this blend and how he would be the one smoking it some day, though he never found mention of this after going through multiple journals of the old Exorcist. So the day after Ryan's coronation as Grand Exorcist, his brother took him to the store where it was sold and bought them both a pouch of Brennan's Wild Fire. Ryan chuckled to himself while thinking back on that day, remembering how much his brother loved the blend, but how repulsed he was by it at first. Now he was used to it, how it bit the roof of his mouth and stung his throat and nose, though he was still not used to how hard it was to clean. Every puff was a reminder of the memories he had with his brother, and all the years they spent training, both of them preparing for the journey to become the Grand Exorcist. It was a position both he and his brother dreamed about for as long as he could remember. His brother talked about how noble the Exorcist were and how he wanted to be one to protect the people of the world, and Ryan adored his brother for his determination so much that he joined in on his goal. These memories were bittersweet, for if Ryan had not joined his brother in his journey, he would have become the Grand Exorcist instead. Ryan took one last puff only to realize he had burned through everything in it. He dumped the ash onto the ground and used his boot to bury it in the dirt while beginning to clean out the bowl with a small metal tool. After some great effort, he got most of the ash and residue out and put everything back into his coat pocket. He sat there a bit longer, reminiscing on good and simple times. He began to think about his sister, and how she was fairing in her new position of power. Even when they were little she had issues making decisions on the fly, but he was confident that she would excel. Maybe he should take his journey to Electra to visit and check in with her, since they have not spoken for a few years since the incident. Ryan let out a soft sigh as he stood back up and looked up at the sun. It was almost halfway into the sky by now, which meant he needed to leave now if he did not want to stay another night here. He made his way back around the building and entered. There were only a few people in there now, mostly humans who were drinking and one in the corner counting their coins. Avus was washing a glass at the bar and looked up to see Ryan and gave him a nod. He made his way over to Avus and leaned on the bar.
"What is it Exorcist? Isn't it a little early for a holy man to drink?" Avus mocked while setting the glass down.
"No, I'm just coming to let you know I'll be leaving and anything that girl needs can go on my tab when she wakes up." Ryan told him while waving off the grumpy Ursus' comment.
"No can do Exorcist." He said with a stern look upon his already harsh face.
"Why not?" Ryan questioned with obvious annoyance in his voice. "You have all of my information and she is due to wake up soon. I'm sure she's going to want a meal and a drink then be on her way."
"Then you'll be here when she does wake up." Avus stated while crossing his arms. "I'm not here to babysit strangers, waiting for them to wake up. If you truly are a man, you'll wait till she wakes up."
"I have a duty as an Exorcist to keep people safe, I can't just waste my time sitting here." He shot back with a raised voice.
"You're damn right, and this girl is gonna feel real unsafe when she wakes up, so you've got to be here to help her." Avus demanded while getting louder, drawing the attention of the other people in the tavern. Ryan stopped leaning on the bar and stood up straight. He could tell he was getting nowhere with Avus. If he had to he would just take the girl to the healer, hopefully he would be more charitable. Ryan turned to walk away but Avus stopped him. "Listen, I know the real reason you want to leave, you're trying to run away from something. You're scared of staying in one place for too long or getting just a little too close to someone, so here you are, abandoning a girl because of that. Man up, if you can't even do something simple like stay here an extra night for this girl, then how can you even call yourself an Exorcist." Ryan was taken aback by this accusation, but he knew the old Ursus was right. He did not want to stay here and form bonds with people he would never see again. The last bond he formed was torn away from him, and he told himself he would never experience that again. He clenched his fist in anger thinking about it. He was a fool, was he really about to leave this girl here alone in a village she was more than likely unfamiliar with? His brother would stay with no second thoughts if he were in Ryan's shoes, so why can't he? He unclenched his hands and let out a heavy sigh, dropping his shoulders with it.
"I'm sorry, you're right." Ryan said through clenched teeth.
"I know I'm right." Avus' words came out smugly through a chuckle as he picked the glass back up to begin cleaning it again. "I was in your shoes once, don't make the same mistakes I've made. Now I'm just a cranky old man without any friends." Ryan nodded and made his way back to his room with haste, not wishing to continue making a scene in the tavern. As he did he thought back to instances of when he was out with his brother and how he would handle these situations. He was always charismatic and would prioritize taking care of the person after saving them, and Ryan always found it a bit tedious. But they would never leave until his brother was certain that they were no longer needed there, even if the demon had already been exorcised. Thinking back on his brother lightened his mood a bit. Maybe he could try following his brother's example this time and see this through. At least until he knew she no longer needed his assistance, it was the least he could do. Ryan stood in front of the door, holding the key next to the lock. He collected his mind once more, readying himself for when this woman woke up, thinking of what he can do to help her out. He put the key in the lock and took a deep breath, pushing open the door with a new found conviction. To his utter surprise and bewilderment, he did not find the woman laying in the bed, but instead standing up in the room, naked and holding up her torn kimono to investigate it. He made contact with her icy blue eyes as she stared into the jade green of his. Both of their faces turned a bright red as they processed the situation they were in. She quickly used the ragged kimono to cover her body, ready to scream, as Ryan quickly shut the door.