Now that she had thought about it, she never suffered any injuries before when she was in her original world. Such thoughts flitted through Qing Anna's mind as she laid on her back on a futon at Madame Ting's place; a small room in the back of a tavern.
The incense she lit made Qing Anna drowsy.
"Just relax and fall asleep..." She heard Madame Ting say as she poked needles into her injured arm.
Qing Anna still didn't trust this woman, but she closed her eyes and let herself succumb to it.
Madame Ting glanced at the sleeping child and slowly smiled. She took a sharp needle a maleovelent aura radiated off her being as she suddenly stabbed the needle but before it could break skin, transparent spikes erupted from the child's body, luckily Madame Ting had anticipated this in time and retreated towards the doorway.
The spikes retracted, the child sat up but this time her eyes glowed an Egyptian blue color.
"Who dares?!-
She blinked and furrowed her eyebrows at Madame Ting before looking around the room before finally scanning herself.
"Did I die again?" She muttered.
"You didn't die." The woman across from her spoke, her eyes sparkled and for some reason the child found it off putting.
"Who are you?"
"Who am I? Don't you mean who are you?" The woman asked.
"Why don't you take a guess? Because of you, this child suffered a terrible injury in her sleep, yet for some reason she refused treatment."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"What does it have to do with you? Who do you think it was that protected you so that the only thing you loss was just one limb?" Madame Ting didn't know much about the other person's injury, she could only take a wild guess base off what she knew.
It was a guess but it still worked. The child blinked, and looked over her limbs once more.
"So it was you...What is this child's name?"
"Hmm... you're a Song aren't you? Shouldn't you already know the answer to that?" Madame Ting asked with folded arms.
The child's eye twitched. The way this woman spoke was slightly aggravating.
"Why should I know the answer?"
"Because you're a Song."
"How do you know that?!"
"Don't tell me..." Madame Ting sucked in her cheeks and tapped her cheekbone with a red-nailed finger. "It seems like... the younger one is the only one that's courteous enough to pay attention."
"What are you talking about?!"
"How disappointing, since you're the older one I thought you'd be more quick on the uptake."
A transparent spike protruded out of the child's hand towards Madame Ting's neck.
"I... really can't stand people that beat around the bush!"
Madame Ting sighed, completely unfazed by the spike that drew a bit of blood as she did.
"Your younger sister."
The child raised a brow.
"Who else would go out of their way to help you? Could it be... were the two of you separated at birth, do you not know of her existence? Or perhaps... the two of you don't get along so she's dead to you?"
The child looked as if she had just been splashed in the face with water.
"...An-na?"
"So you do know her. Good. Now, I was asked to heal Anna's arm, because of you, she was injured in her sleep, to heal her arm, I need your cooperation. First I need to know, what happened to yours?"
"It's..." The child glanced at her body's injured arm.
"Terribly injured. I was thinking of maiming it."
Madame Ting's face became stern.
"Did you-
"No. I haven't yet."
Madame Ting clutched her chest.
"Thank the heavens, if you did, my services would be unneeded then."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you not know the stories about the Song sisters?"
The child stared back blankly.
Madame Ting frowned.
"Your younger sister said her Grandmother told you about it, don't you think when elders are sharing their wisdom you need to pay attention?" Madame Ting felt annoyed.
"I didn't have the luxury of sitting down and listening to Grandma's gibberish." the child sighed.
"Oho? But what if it wasn't gibberish? Listen up. You Song sisters are connected. If you don't look after yourself, your sister will also suffer you here?"
"That never happened before, I've suffered many injuries more grave than this." the child didn't seem convinced and she scoffed.
"Really?" Madame Ting held her chin. "How unexpected, how can this be?"
"Oh!" A scene flickered back in the child's mind. One of a muddied hand reaching out for a depressed Song Lina soaked by the rain.
"... It's because she lives in this world now." the child herself realized.
"Hmm?" Madame Ting looked up.
The child blinked and looked up at the woman with a firm resolve in her eyes.
"What... do I need to do?"
"I need the both of you to drink this, its very expensive, feel lucky that I'm using it on you. " Madame Ting walked over to a coal stove where a teapot sat and poured the liquid into a tea cup.
Her hands became frosty, and the steam decreased at once, she placed it on a tray and brought it over to the child who blinked blankly.
"What is this?"
"Just drink it."
"I'd like to know what it is first."
"It's made from a very ancient plant, probably the last of its kind in the whole world."
"And you're using something so precious on a child?"
"It's only fit to be consumed by those with specific predispositions."
The child hesitated.
"Are you not concerned for your sister?"
"..." The child took the cup and blew on it before downing it in one shot.
"It's tea! Tea! Not alcohol!"
As the child jerked from her burned mouth and throat, her body glowed with light. The blue glow in her eyes vanished and returned to its natural xanadu hue. The child clutched her throat and blinked.
"My mouth, and throat...ugh." Qing Anna furrowed her brows.
Madame Ting watched on feeling her second-hand discomfort.
"I'll...go get you something to help."
"Wait! what happened?!" Qing Anna had complaints but the woman vanished before she could voice them.
She humphed and quickly noticed her discolored arm seemed less discolored than before. Was she imagining it? Maybe that person wasn't a quack? But what did she do to her that her throat and mouth became like this?!
As she questioned herself a foreign voice inside her head answered.
[That was my fault. Sorry.]