PRINCIPAL TWILLER adjusted his half-moon glasses, his blue eyes glinting with a mixture of mischief and uncertainty as they bored into Ahara's.
"You and the boy must move to the human world and live there until he's old enough to come back home."
At once, Ahara's mouth dried up, dropping to the ground and revealing her pearly white fangs. "The—the human world? Wouldn't that make me a Rogue?"
"Not if you don't kill any humans or drink their blood," the old man said matter-of-factly.
"The government forbids us Gibbits from living amongst humans!" Ahara shrieked.
Gibbits were the inhabitants of Gibbous, and from vampires to dragons, from magicians to shifters and beasts, none of the Gibbits were allowed to stay in the human world unless it was for mission purposes.
Professor Twiller smugly smiled at the young lady, "When you have a vampire and wizard Gibbit who's stronger than the entire ministry combined backing you up, every no becomes a yes my dear."
"Isn't that corruption?" Ahara knocked off his smile with her level-headed question. Her Uncle had taught her from a young age just how much even a small act of corruption could affect the world negatively.
"It is," the old man shrugged, "but if you want to live with your brother peacefully, a bit of corruption has to happen."
Ahara leaned back on the wall, staring at the starry night. She wanted to listen to her Uncle's advice and stop fancying the idea of going against the law, but if she wanted to keep Damien safe whilst living with him, this was a risk she was supposed to take.
Besides, it was the most honorable person in all of Gibbous who suggested the idea.
Professor Twiller never proposed ideas without going through them in his head. He must have thought about this all day for him to finally propose the idea to her.
"When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow," the old man replied instantly. "I'll handle all the paperwork here and in the human world."
"What about work? I need to be able to fend for myself and Damien."
Hmm, alreadyparentingarewe? Principal Twiller thought, smiling as the realization that he was conversing with an adult hit him.
"You will still hunt for Rogues in the human world. And to avoid suspicion amongst the humans, I'll enroll you as a firefighter in the city you chose to live in."
"A city I chose..."
Ahara pondered over the statement a little too long for someone who didn't know the human world that much. Especially when her heart kept telling her to go there...
"Can we stay in Avondale?" She asked the principal.
The people there looked a lot like her and Damien. Both in their dark skin color and physic. If she dyed her hair black, she was sure they'd fit in just right.
"Why of course. The city has been repaired by our wizard architects to what it was like before, and the medics have wiped the necessary parts of the human's memory, leaving that of loved ones."
"What if their loved ones died?" Ahara questioned bitterly as if contemplating to get her memories removed also.
"They replaced their gruesome deaths with something less...traumatizing."
"Good for the humans," the young woman looked at the sky. "I wish I could have my memory wiped like that, but I can't."
"Why not?" Principal Twiller arched a perfect brow at her.
She tightened her jaw, looking up to stop her tears from coming out again. "I have to remember, for Damien's sake. When he asks me later in the future what happened to his parents, I want to be there to tell him and to console him."
Twiller's brows rose slightly. He was indeed in the presence of an adult now. Not the young woman who used to beat around bullies and boys in school, no, this was a grown woman.
A woman ready to shoulder the responsibility that had been piled on her not too long ago.
"You're right. But you won't be alone when that time comes. I'll be there to help you explain."
Tilting her head to look at him, Ahara let out a shaky breath. "Whatever I'd have done without your help, sir? Thank you so much."
"Consider this my tribute to our Numen," he replied in a soothing voice, smiling gently at her.
Ahara mirrored his smile, which dropped the moment she saw the glowing pendant in his hands. "And what are you going to do with that? Shouldn't I take it with me?"
"No!" The Principal remarked, a serious expression masking his previous gentle face. "This is the last gem of momentos, a life and death bringer. It'll have to stay in the most guarded museum in Gibbous."
Ahara backed away, shocked by his sudden change in demeanor. He was usually a composed guy, someone who didn't let his emotions get the best of him even when angry, and yet, he couldn't keep himself in check over a pendant.
Well, itdidkillthreeofthemostpowerfulbeingsinGibbous, she pondered.
Nodding profusely, she turned her eyes away from the glowing gem. "That's settled then. I'll go and see that I've packed mine and Damiens clothes for tomorrow's departure."
"Ahara wait." The young woman froze.
"Yes?"
Glancing behind him, Twiller gestured for her to scoot closer. Once Ahara was within earshot, he brought his lips to her ears.
"You can't tell anyone about this, ever. If you want no one to track you and your little brother that is," he whispered in her ear.
Ahara could feel the strength in her body drain at the thought. "Not even those close to me?"
"Not even your friends, my child. Any slip of the tongue from you could end in you and Damien getting tracked. Remember, the ministry can tell when a person leaves or enters Gibbous."
"Doesn't that mean I'm busted before we even leave?" Ahara questioned, whispering at the old man just as he was doing to her.
"Not when I leave with you. A mark I leave when exiting Gibbous is far much greater than yours for them to even realize you're gone."
Ahara sighed, slumping on the wall. Her eyes trudged on the golden steel curve that led to the bedroom door facing the balcony—to Damien's room.
There he was, sleeping comfortably in his tiny bed, white sheets covering his small body so the cold wouldn't attack him. His neck had been covered in bandages—probably old man Twiller's work.
Ahara knew she could just let him go to the orphanage with the principal, that she could be free if she just canceled the voice in her head telling her to stay strong for his sake and follow her heart which was crying out for freedom.
But one look at Damien was all it took to nullify her bleeding heart.
Her Uncle and Aunt had taken her in at her lowest when she was a kid, now it was time to return the favor—even if it meant leaving everything she's ever loved aside.
"What about Kingston? Should I not tell him too?"
"That is up to you to decide," Principal Twiller stroked his long white beard.
"But remember, people's hearts are malleable. They can be the strongest shield that'll sustain you in emotional battles or the worst weapon that you'll ever fight. Depending on the bearer, each of those options could be a possibility."
Ahara drew her knees close to her chest until her chin was resting on them. Sighing, she gazed aimlessly at the lone lantern flying high up in the mountain.
"How do I make Kingston's heart my shield then?"
Professor Twiller shrugged. "You know him more than I do, but here's my advice to you. Consider what and how you're going to tell him, forging it in a way that'll leave his heart at peace. Depending on his morality, he will be the one to forge his heart into a weapon or a shield. After all, we can't control how people perceive their emotions."
A swift cold breeze whooshed inside the balcony, undoing Ahara's loose hair bun. Her hair dropped behind her, thick in its majestic whiteness as it softly landed on her back. "Should I go talk to him now?"
"It depends. Are you ready to talk with him?"
Ahara pondered over it a second before forcing herself to stand. "Letting myself burn over what to tell him won't settle my heart either. I'm going now."
"Good call."
And so, Ahara limped her way inside the house, leaving the professor outside with his tray full of the now cold bean soup and bread. He pulled the steel to him, standing and glancing down at the lively city below the mountain.
The Gibbits had a reason for celebrating all night till the next morning like this. After twelve years of fighting, the war was over. The Corvus were no longer going to raid villages and exploit portals, nor were they going to haunt humans and kill them for fun.
Their king had died. Or to be more precise, he had vanished in thin air.
Professor Twiller wanted to believe it was the Numen who had attacked him with the pendant, but his conscience just couldn't accept that fact. The pendant's magic was indeed strong, and so was the Numen, but to kill three grown people and spare a young child?
That didn't settle well with him.
"There has to be something I'm missing," he mumbled to himself as the grass filling the mountain danced per the wind direction. For some reason, its velocity seemed to increase at that moment, but the air surrounding it wasn't carrying any bloodlust in particular.
Squinting his eyes, Professor Twiller adjusted his glasses as he stared in the distance, glaring at what was causing all the commotion. Right in the middle of the village's market square was a flying blue dragon forming a whirlwind as the villagers gathered around it, holding lanterns in their hands.
"Mhmm, is it time already?" Professor Twiller's said rummaging the pockets of his black robe and producing a gold locket.
Flipping it around, small circles the size of a pin popped out, floating around the curios lines drawn inside the locket as they arranged themselves into a line.
"Oh. It is time," he lamented, prostrating himself as he placed the tray on the ground next to him. In one swift move, he grabbed his wand, lighting a little flame at its tip and pointing in the direction of the dragon.
The wind howled, drawing in every source of light it could find outside, even Professor Twiller's little flame was sucked by it, floating in the air without dying.
"Farewell Henry. Farewell Cora. You have brought peace to this world and ended this bloody war, and for that, your names will go down in history as our saviors," came the old man's soothing voice as he bid his goodbyes to the Numen and his wife.
When the last bit of light was finally surrounding it, the dragon roared, shooting up the skies and carrying with it all the lanterns the villagers had released from their houses. Once up there, it danced in the air, fire blazing all around as the wind blew hard on it.
The villagers stared in awe at the ritual, loud remarks of surprise and joy escaping their mouths as they pointed at the dragon. He swerved his glistening body, curving up and down his tail and roaring every time he completed a swing.
Principal Twiller could tell it was Song Kim by the way his practiced movements were both symmetrical and majestic.
When he was finally done with the swing, a loud blast of fire burst around him, covering his entire slithery form as the Gibbits screamed in joy and pointed. Then as if it was all an illusion, the fire disappeared, and the dragon had changed from blue to red, making every one of the villagers cry in awe at the magic happening before them.
Principal Twiller laughed to himself. He had noticed the blue dragon opening a portal and exchanging his position with the fire-breathing lord. It was such a simple trick and yet, the villagers never seemed to get the gist of it all.
Such simpletons they were.
As if on cue, Damien began crying in his crib, drawing the old man's attention. He stood from the balcony, rushing over to the crying baby who had just woken up.
The bandages around his neck were now brownish, so naturally, the principal removed them. His eyes grew wide when he noticed that the scar which had been red a while ago, was now but a ragged scratch by the boy's neck.
Smiling happily to himself he wrapped the dirty bandage in his hands, deciding to throw it away later. "You're one strong boy aren't you?" He asked, examining the scar.
Unlike he had predicted, there didn't seem to be any forbidden magic that had been performed by Thanatos on the small boy's neck, but the scar still looked eerie nonetheless.
"Make sure to stay safe okay? Your sister is sacrificing her entire youth just so she can be with you."
Damien only blinked at him, his small mind unable to comprehend what the old man was saying to him, which made the principal laugh for no reason.
When he glanced back at the lively village, his heart clenched once again, for inside those happy streets was a deadly rumor going around about the Numen's death.
"His son killed him," they said.
This was supposed to be the nation's moment of unity, but for the Numen's kid, it might as well have been an execution.
The large black oakwood doors that led to Damien's room burst open, making the Professor flinch, his hand already reaching for the wand inside his pockets. Kingston forced his way into the room, hand in hand with Ahara whose face was red for some reason. His gaze fell on the baby in Principal Twiller's hand, scrunching his nose when Damien smiled at him.
Kingston's gaze held an untold bitterness as he stared at the baby, but he shook his head, gaining his composure real quick and turning to the principal. "If we want to value their safety, they need to leave now," he exclaimed, his voice composed and rational, like a warrior.
"You have a point, but they'll need time to pack their bags, " Principal Twiller replied stroking Damien's head.
"Don't worry about that, I'll send them to her tomorrow."
Sensing the young man's sincerity, Principal Twiller rose from the ground, carrying the baby in his hand and smiling. "Then what are we waiting for?"
Extending his hand, the old man gazed intensely at the wall in front of him and winked at it. It took that mere action for the wall to separate, making a clean door-shaped portal that made no sound at all.
"Follow me you two," he urged, covering Damien's face and entering the dim space created by the portal.
And so on that night, two souls left Gibbous amidst the celebration and grief. They left the only family ties they had—or they used to have at least. They left their home and took off to another world to survive. To have a fresh start in life again, away from prying eyes and harmful gossip.
At least until Damien was finally grown up and ready to come back home again.