Ancana
A common baby disease for humans. It's usually caused by the blood going to the hair follicles to stop temporarily, making the body divert some of the essence towards the hair follicles causing a change in hair color.
Part 11
The world was blurry.
"Yes that's right, she was unconscious when..."
"Geez, such a headache. Did you guys try..."
"Easy now, let me just..."
Cyeen opened her eye with a gasp followed by a scream. She started clawing at the left crater of an eye she had. Her hands were not touching her skin but instead something softer. After her panic died down she realized a cloth was wrapped around her eye. She observed her surroundings. It took a bit as her eye adjusted to her dark surroundings. Is this... a ship? It in fact was a ship. Rather, it was the hold of a ship. How the hell did I end up here?
Cough cough.
There was a person standing in front of her and it looked like they have been there for a while. She looked up at the figure. It was a tall woman with short gray hair that was slicked back at the top along with white eyes. Her pupils were horizontal unlike a human's. Most importantly, she had two horns on her head and sharp looking teeth.
"Ey, u awake? Mind tellin' me what you were doin' on me ship?"
She was speaking in a really sarcastic tone and with an accent not common in Setina. Well, she was not common in Setina. Upon further inspection she had came to the conclusion that the woman was a demon. Cyeen lifted her head up.
"Uh... I don't know?"
"The hell you mean you donno? You takin' me for a dunce one eye?"
Cyeen touched the bandages on her eye wondering who patched her up.
"It's Cyeen Flameberg. And I can swear on my family's name I don't remember stepping foot into your ship."
The woman was tapping her foot now. It was clear she was frustrated with Cyeen. Who the hell was she to infiltrate her ship? She sighed. I'm too tired for this, she thought.
"Fine, just come with me then."
Cyeen didn't have any objections to that therefore decided on doing what she was told. While walking behind her, Cyeen's attention diverted towards the demon woman's clothes. They weren't that luxurious though she couldn't deny they didn't look expensive. She had a long sleeved white tunic under a brown sleeveless shirt with its collar turned upside down. Nice taste. She looked to be a wealthy person.
After a while, they walked up some stairs and finally reached the main deck where they were greeted by a handsome guy who was idling around the poop deck. The woman instructed Cyeen to come with her as they approached him. He lifted his thumb, index and middle finger briefly before speaking.
"Hey Jess, I'm guessing that's the person we found in our ship?"
Jess mimicked his hand sign.
"Yo're only guessin? Was it not you who patched er up?"
Cyeen looked at the woman. Yeah I just can't do it with that accent. The guy turned towards Cyeen.
"You're Cyeen Flameberg I assume, I heard your little argument down there. I'm Zoen and the woman next to you is our captain, Jess. And I'm just as curious as her. So do tell us, why are you here my lady?"
Jess look dumbfounded as she turned towards Cyeen. Did he just say "my lady"? Cyeen had a smug look on her face knowing Jess was staring at her.
"Finally, someone who knows me. As to answer your question dear Zoen, I genuinely don't have a single idea why I was there. I would like to give you my regards for patching me up also."
"Memory loss I suppose? You looked like you lost a ton of blood."
"Perhaps."
Cyeen looked around her to see about two dozen people on the ship. None of them looked like distinguished people unlike this guy she was speaking with. She turned towards Zoen.
"May I ask where I am?"
"Of course you may. We are currently in Taryio, a port city located towards Setina's west. Any reason you asked that question?"
Cyeen frowned, What the actual hell? How come I'm so far away from Enidia? She relaxed her face before talking again.
"Ah, well I got lost a while ago and now I'm trying to make my way back home. Could you help me if you don't have many tasks at hand, I'll make sure you be compensated generously for this."
Jess and Zoen looked at each other. Jess closed her eyes and shrugged before looking back at Cyeen. Zoen spoke up once again.
"Well I guess we could, though after we are done resupplying our ship. In the meantime I'm offering you my sister to keep you company."
Jess yelled at Zoen in surprise.
"Me!? Na no way in seven hells! I donot want to interact with this 'lady'!"
Cyeen was as surprised as Jess was.
"Siblings? How is that even possible?"
The situation had gotten pretty tangled up. Zoen was trying his best to shoo them both away as Jess was yelling at him meanwhile Cyeen was trying to figure out how they could be related. At the end, the three were all walking towards the city. Jess was huffing along the way while Cyeen was bragging about the things she had done to Zoen. It didn't take them long to arrive at the city's shopping district. Zoen poked Jess and pointed towards Cyeen before handing her twenty silvers. Jess looked at the money then at Cyeen. God damn it.
"Ey Cyeen Flame, I have twenty silvs, get yourself sum clothes. Everyone is lookin' at us."
She was right, everyone was indeed looking at them. A violet haired girl with clothes covered in dry blood next to a tall demon was not a common sight around there. Cyeen had also noticed the state of her clothes by now. Miraculously her hair was not stained by her blood. She just nodded in response to the demon woman.
A pair of horns entered his shop. It was supposed to be a calm day as usual, just waiting for new cloth to arrive. That was before this pair showed up, they couldn't be up to any good.
"Shopkeep! Get this ne-" she took a second to remember the word "noblee sum clothes. Twenty grays is all I can give you."
The old man was startled by the sudden shouting of the demon. Why was she even shouting for? Whatever it was, he didn't want to learn.
He turned towards Cyeen.
"A-anything in particular my lady?"
Cyeen thought for a while.
"Do you have a white tunic that looks like her's? And a pair of pants fitting me would be nice."
The man signaled her to wait as he went into the storage room of the shop. He searched through piles of clothes to see if there was a clothing that wasn't picked up by it's commissioner.
"So Jess, how old were you?"
Jess looked at the girl with judging eyes.
"Tweny, ain't it obvious, why the question?"
Cyeen tilted her head.
"Twenty? So is your gray hair because of your essence color?"
Jess looked at the lady for a second to understand if she was joking. After seeing the serious look from her she burst out laughing. She looked like she'd stop for a second but started laughing once again as she saw Cyeen's face.
"Haaa, ya think I'm a human or sum? HAHAHAA! Have ya not gotten educated? This color is nurmal for my race."
Cyeen's eyebrow twitched.
"Seriously what's with that accent? It makes you sound really stupid. Can't you fix your mouth or sum?"
Jess cut her laugh in half as she was angered by her statement and poor attempt at mimicking her accent.
"What's wron with my acent huh?! Ya tryna fight me? If a brawl is whât yu want, cóm at me then!"
Cyeen looked sure of herself.
"What if I do want a brawl? I can definitely win against someone like you even with a single eye."
The shopkeeper emerged from the storage room in panic with a long sleeved white tunic and brown pants in his hands.
"P-please do not fight in here! Here, I brought what you requested!"
Cyeen turned towards the man and snatched the clothes from his hand. She aggressively signaled towards the man with her head several times while looking at the demon woman. Jess slammed the twenty silvers onto the counter with her eyes locked onto Cyeen.
"But miss, Twenty is not enou-"
Jess exploded at the man.
"WHAAAAA? I canot hear you through yor accint, speak up!"
The shopkeeper looked like he shrunk in size.
"Pleasure making business with you." He said in a frightened tone.
The duo went out the door pushing each other. Finally he could relax. Though he sold the clothes with a net loss he at least didn't lose his life in there.
While outside Cyeen and Jess were staring at each other. They had already walked away from the store by a lot before they stopped. Cyeen opened her mouth.
"Calm down you demon, it was just a trick."
The woman elbowed her as she walked by Cyeen.
"Do not. Make fun o me."
Though angry, Jess had gotten amazed by the way Cyeen used her as an haggling material. Cyeen started walking after her soon.
"Where'd dis idea come from?"
"Us nobles always do this. We'd start a small argument, of course without yelling, and the designers would give us small discounts to soften the air. It was just that they never gave this much that caught me off guard."
Jess looked at her ship.
"Jeez, noblees are scary."
"It's pronounced as nobles."
"Fuck off."
Cyeen and Jess walked the gangplank before going towards the helm. Cyeen split up from Jess and went back into the holds to change clothes. She came back up a while later with the new set of clothes on her. This wasn't exactly the same kind of clothing Jess had on her but still, the design sufficed her taste. They were of course a little oversized for her making her look funny. She also hadn't forgotten to stuff Súko's note in her new pocket. The noble lady made her way near Jess and Zoen. She watched the whole process of setting sail into the ocean while leaning onto the gunwales. After getting pretty tired she went up to Zoen.
"Is there anywhere I can sleep in? I feel like I'll fall asleep on the wooden floors."
Zoen pointed towards the cabins and told her to use Jess's one. Jess was not going to sleep for a while as she couldn't use the helm from her own room. Cyeen thanked him for all his help again before going towards where he pointed. After making sure they were alone, Zoen spoke to Jess.
"Hey, do you think they'd pay more if we instead ask for ransom?"