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“I do not know,” replied Xiu truthfully. “Hazeline says that umm…the soul I possess; a Pi Yao, used to have long fangs but…we are not sure if…these fangs are because of that influence or because…recently I am capable of drinking blood…,” admitted Xiu truthfully with a slightly embarrassed look regarding his diet. “And…no, they do not hurt. Not me at least…,”

At the mention of Zave’s scar, Xiu gave the other a thoughtful glance. He had been pondering about that mark Zave had but did not know how to bring the subject up for fear of offending the other. But now that Zave himself had talked about it, Xiu guessed it was alright for him to do so as well. Carefully, of course.

“You were born with that scar, Zave?” enquired Xiu curiously. “That’s odd…do you know…why?”

“And no, I did not see anything weird in the office, Zave,” said Xiu looking puzzled, “Was I supposed to? To tell the truth, I was kept rather busy by Doctor Kyou during my stay here,”


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Hazeline listened to what Tsu had to say regarding their options and was a little disappointed. Well, she should have known better than to get her hopes up with stuff from fiction. In real life, there were always consequences. The guardian folded her arms across her chest as though deep in thought. “Yes, but Xiu; he does not get bloodlust if he drinks blood before he starves himself, Doctor. But that’s where the problem lies as well. He’s a good raevan and drinking blood simple tears him apart. He does not want to drink blood and in doing so, he starves and bloodlust sets in,” said Hazeline with a frown at her frei’s predicament.

“Instead of trying to suppress his bloodlust, isn’t there a way to substitute the blood, Doctor?” asked Hazeline hopefully. “Something that Xiu could take in place of blood should the time come for him to begin feeding in that manner again?”

‘The fangs but…the diet followed soon after,” said Xiu quietly, recalling the incident vividly. “I was shocked, Zave. I had not expected such a thing to occur and well, let’s just say that it was good that Rivever found me when he did. You do know Rivener, the Sigel right?”

“And…do you really think so?” said Xiu softly after he had heard Zave’s words. “Thank you, Zave. Thank you,” said Xiu gratefully. The incident had certainly damaged the frei’s self esteem a little; what with being called a demon by the housekeeper when she realized that the white frei will be drinking blood for the duration of the Hungry Ghost Month. Apart for that, Xiu had also attacked Dr. Kyou on instinct during the Fel Outbreak incident…

But before the white frei had much time to dwell upon past recollections, Zave had spoken about his scar. Xiu waved his own thoughts away and listened attentively as the other spoke and nodded at Zave’s reasoning. It made sense in a way. Xiu recalled hearing the elderly complain of aching joints whenever the weather changes. However, Xiu found it odd that Zave was born with a scar but chose to not comment on it.
“A Pi Yao? Well err…they are luck bringing guardian creatures for the most part I guess,” said Xiu looking sheepish. Despite knowing the origins of his soul, the white frei had yet to do much research on it save from what he heard from Hazeline and what could be found with a few simple clicks on the internet. “Hazeline came across the Pi Yao (it felt odd talking about his soul in this manner) in a temple just before it was torn down. Apparently she got the Pi Yao’s soul with minimal effort,” said Xiu with a slight shake of his head, indicating his own disbelief. “Naturally I am…a little puzzled myself but I guess I guess the err…Pi Yao must have had his reasons…,” said the white frei with a small shrug.

“So umm…what do I for the X-Ray?”


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Hazeline nodded. She understood the Doctor’s predicament. Dr. Tsu would be trying his best to solve this problem but Hazeline was aware the Doctor was no miracle worker as well. “Xiu usually feeds of innocence, as he is doing now. You can tell by the colour of his eyes and rune. They turn red when he consumes blood,” said Hazeline as she touched the side of her eyes with her hands. “But with regards to the innocence, he sorts of …I don’t know, I guess his rune absorbs it when a person comes within its range. At least, that’s what I am led to believe,” said Hazeline to the Doctor.

Xiu flared his wings a little as the vest was placed onto him. It felt odd; having another piece of clothing added onto him like that. And the vest was rather heavy too. Xiu fingered the vest tentatively before placing himself before the X-ray machine as indicated by Zave. The other raevan had then left the room but not before assuring the white frei that the process would be quick and harmless.

There was a slight humming as the machine came to life and Xiu floated motionlessly as the machine made a scan of his head; the scanning process completed when a click was heard. Letting out his breath (Xiu hadn’t realized he was holding it in), Xiu smiled as Zave entered the room once more. “No, it wasn’t hard at all. I hardly did a thing,” said the white frei with a soft chuckle.

There was then a moment of silence as Xiu was left to his own musings. Zave however, must have found it uncomfortable as he soon broke the silence by asking Xiu what his hobbies were.

“I like reading,” said Xiu with a slight nod of affirmation. “Any books are fine although I find fictional ones more appealing than others. However, there is much that I’ve yet to read. Romance novels for a start; Hazeline has forbade me to read them until I am older,” said Xiu with a slight frown as though disagreeing with his guardian’s logic. “But that aside, what do you like to do, Zave?”

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Hazeline pondered Dr.Tsu’s question, tilting her head slightly as she thought about it. “Well, it’s a rather odd story, that. Apparently, during the Hungy Ghost month, there’s a change in…well, let’s just say the environment and a human’s innocence tend to form a sort of spherical shield around them, guarding them against ghostly attacks or so I am told. Apparently if Xiu feeds off the humans during this time of the year, they’d be more open to attacks. That’s what led him to starve himself in the first place and made him switch to blood drinking mode. I must say it was a…shocking event for everyone involved,” said Hazeline with a sigh.

The Doctor’s next set of advice made the guardian smile wryly. It was easier said than done. Despite her assuring people that Xiu was harmless (at least when he isn’t in blood lust mode), people (read: housekeeper) tended to treat Xiu as one might a particularly dangerous animal once they knew of his diet. Keeping Xiu’s spirit up was nothing less than a feat in some ways. Suffice to say, Hazeline was glad that the event was no longer than a month.

“I shall certainly heed that advice, Doctor,” said Hazeline as she folded her arms across her chest. “Thank you,”

Then, as though realizing how long they’d been in here, Hazeline looked at Dr. Tsu “Would there be anything else or…is this check up over, Doctor?”

“I-I see…,” said Xiu trying not to look too guilty. Freedom was something he had acquired at a young age. What with her career in mind and all, Hazeline had been quite lax in her guardianship and had deemed Xiu old enough to head out on his own when she knew that he was able to detect a person’s malicious thoughts. Xiu had really never given this freedom much thought until he had met Rivener. Apparently it was not normal for guardians to let their freis run loose; even to feed. Dr. Tsu seemed to think so too; judging by how happy Zave looked when stating that he could finally go out on his own provided that he kept in touch.

Which was amusing, really…

Hazeline had told Xiu that he should only call her if something terrible happened. She was a firm believer in “No news is good news.” Xiu decided to not let Zave in on this. There was no point in mindless bragging and it might prove to be counter productive; ending with Dr. Tsu giving Hazeline a lecture on responsibility or something. Instead, Xiu turned his attention to the next part of Zave’s speech; which, all in all, was rather deep. Impressed, the frei listened attentively as Zave gave his opinion on morals and what was probably the definition of ‘good’, ending his speech with acknowledging Xiu as a ‘good raevan’. The white frei could feel his cheeks reddening slightly. Apparently Zave felt the same way as the blue eyed frei was keeping his eyes firmly locked onto the floor.

The sudden rapping of the door was a welcomed one and Xiu couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as the Doctor and Hazeline filed in.


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Hazeline nodded. That sounded reasonable. Inwardly, the guardian was rather about what the results of the X-ray might yield. Falling into step behind the Doctor as he led the way to the X-ray room, Hazeline mused over what had taken place in the office.

When Dr. Tsu opened the door after giving it two sharp raps, the silence between Zave and Xiu were lost to Hazeline as Dr. Tsu repeated to Xiu what he had told Hazeline; that the film would be ready in a couple of days time and the results would then be mailed to them. Then as if on cue, Hazeline nodded and stepped forward. “Thank you, Doctor. I shall certainly follow your advice and it was nice meeting you,” said Hazeline looking at Xiu with a ‘We are going home now’ look.

Xiu nodded. “Thank you Doctor Tsu, Zave,”

Then turning to Zave, Xiu gave the stormy raevan a smile. “I really enjoyed our talk, Zave. Perhaps we could meet again someday? Without the hassle of the check up of course,” said Xiu with a soft chuckle. “ I’ve yet to know what kind of books you like after all,”

“I’ll be glad to drop you off at the lab whenever you err…boys would like to meet up,” said Hazeline with a smile. “But for now, Xiu, we have really got to go,”

“Right,” said Xiu as he floated towards his guardian. “See you around next time then. Goodbye,”