The cold morning air did little to ease the pain in my shoulder. Walking helped me feel more grounded. Beside me Maine walked with a gait the reinforced box of thirty vials held tight against his chest like it was something precious.
"The dress Maine. It's actually cute isn't it? Better than the silk that would have just gotten bloody anyway"
I said, looking down at the fabric the maid sisters had made me wear.
"It suits you, Roxy. It makes you look like someone who belongs in the world, not in the manor." Maine gave me a tired smile.
We reached the Eastern District gates and the iron bars loomed over us like a cage. A figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Carlos. He had been a face at these gates for years but when he saw me his face went blank. His eyes dropped to my side and he stared at the bandages and the empty space where my arm used to be.
"Roxy? What happened to you? Who did this to you?" Carlos said, his voice shaking.
"The price of saving the city Carlos. Don't stare. It's ugly, not sad. Just keep the gate open." I kept walking.
We left him standing and walked into the central plaza of Town Allure. The Bureau building stood ahead, its fancy architecture looking mocking compared to the misery on the streets.
Walking to the Bureau was like running a gauntlet. Everyone who looked at me. At the space where my arm used to be at the bloodstains on my dress. It felt like a physical weight.
When we entered the lobby, people. Stared. Whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire. "Is that the lady from the water supply?" I didn't acknowledge them; their thanks felt like a weight I didn't want to carry.
I ignored the whispers. I could feel the guilt of the crowd. People who had been talking about me days ago now looked away with their faces filled with regret. They saw what I had become. They realized: This is what it cost to save you.
When we reached the reception desk, the woman there. Broke down. She looked at my shoulder and then at my face. My eyes, cold and empty.
"Miss... Roxy. We saw the reports. We knew the water was poisoned. We didn't know... We didn't think it would be you." The receptionist sobbed
I turned around, seeing the disgust and horror of the receptionist's face. The once mean lady with a gaudy and attractiveless makeup felt guilty over me, I replied
"If it hadn't been me? Would you be crying for someone or would you just be relieved that it wasn't you?"
She flinched, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I didn't mean."
"Save your guilt Ma'am, It doesn't help. It doesn't fix anything. Just give me what I want." I snapped.
Maine walking beside me didn't say a word.. As the receptionist collapsed into a chair he slowed down and reached out to touch my arm. He didn't say anything; he just squeezed my shoulder, his grip firm.
He didn't touch the bandages. He didn't say anything about what I had done. He just offered steady pressure.
When we reached Lord Phillips' office he stood up, his chair screeching against the floor. His eyes went from my face to the bandages and again.
"Roxy? You were here... How are you standing?. What's with the dress?" he stammered.
Maine stepped forward placing the box on the desk.
"The cure, Lord Phillip. It's done."
I stood behind him, my expression blank.
"It's not a cure. It's a refinement of the pathogen. It won't just treat the symptoms; it will get rid of the disease completely."
Phillip looked at the vials with suspicion.
"I have heard promises of 'cures this week Roxy.. Most have been lies."
He gestured to his apprentice. It was a young tall man with a handsome appearance, a slender build and wearing a nobleman's attire. Then, he calmly introduced himself.
"Greeting Roxy, I am Constantine Calico, the second son of Roman Calico."
When Phillip's apprentice introduces himself, I can tell that he is the sibling of both Calix and Cassius at the same time. He is the second son after all, the royal blood of the Calico Family stood beside me.
"Examine it. If theres a trace of instability have them removed." Lord Philips asks Constantine to examine the cure.
"Lord Phillip, this your apprentice, am I right?"
"Indeed, Roxy. He's a former alchemist and the bearer of the inspect skill."
"Inspect?!"
Then Constantine tilted his head over me, then proved himself that he has indeed holds an appraisal skill
"I possess an appraisal skill, Roxy. I can clearly see your stats very well. They were huge. Indeed, this is the first person I've met with an astonishing six human skills. I doubt you're gold-ranked."
"Thanks, Constantine."
Constantine stepped forward, his eyes glowing with a light. He hovered over the vials, his brow sweating as he read the data. Silence stretched until he finally backed away looking at me with a mixture of terror and reverence.
Lord Phillip's apprentice, a young man whose eyes were usually clouded with the smug certainty of someone who believed they knew the limits of alchemy, stepped forward to examine the vials. He held one up, his hand steady as he activated his inspect skill.
The office was really quiet. At first the boy just looked bored. Then his face changed. His eyebrows scrunched up. His eyes got big. He took a step back. The little bottle in his hand shook like it had a big storm inside.
"This is not possible. The magic in this liquid is not just gone. It has been completely taken apart.. There are things in here that look like they came from a person. How can this be? This liquid is not medicine. It is like a living thing that can fight off sickness." the boy said, his voice shaking. He looked at me. His face turned white.
Lord Phillip leaned forward his hands gripping the arms of his chair.
"What is it boy? Tell me clearly!"
"It is not something we made in a lab my Lord. It is like a copy of a persons defense system. It is like someones life force was put into this bottle."
I took a step forward my boots making a noise on the floor. I did not care that they were shocked. I wanted them to understand what was in those bottles.
"Do you want to know how it was made? It was not made in a lab. It was made in the place it could have been made." I asked, my voice cold and sharp.
I held up my arm, the one that was hurt really badly. The boy looked at it. His breath caught in his throat.
"I swallowed the stuff that makes people sick. I had to make my body stop fighting it so I could see how it worked. I had to feel it hurting me. Then I had to make my blood fight back. I did this time so I could make the cure." I said, my voice clear
I looked at Lord Phillip, my heterochromic eyes were seen of his vision.
"I did not just mix things together. I hurt myself over and over. I made myself sick so I could make the cure. I did this thirty times until my body was almost broken."
Constantine looked like he might get sick looking at the bottles and my hurt arm. He understood now. This was not about science, it was about what I had to go through to make the cure.
"You are not looking at a potion, Phillip. You are looking at pieces of me. I made myself into a filter to clean up the things in this world. That is how I made the cure. It was not about chemistry, it was about what I was willing to give up."
Maine, who was standing next to me took a breath his hand on my shoulder. The boy sat down in a chair covering his face. He could not believe what I had done to make the cure.
Lord Phillip did not say anything. He just looked at the box. Then, at me. He finally understood that I was not a hero I was a person who had given up a lot to save the city.
Lord Phillip sat back in his chair looking shocked.
"You have done what no one else could. You have saved this town. You will be remembered as a hero."
I did not smile. I did not feel like a hero. I felt used.
"Names do not matter, Just give the cure to the people who need it. I do not want to be remembered, I just want to be done."