"Sis, you came?" A lady came running towards Amelia. She pounced towards her and hugged her with so intensity that Amelia had to move a few steps back.
"Darcy, you are still the same." Amelia messed her sister's hair as said with profound fondness in her voice. She beaconed her mother towards her and said, "Mom, let's hug." They hugged each other for a while standing over the gravel pathway in the garden.
"Sis, what brings you here?" Darcy asked linking her hands into her sister's hands. Amelia hit her sister's head playfully with her hands, and pretended to be angry as she said, "Why? Can't I come to see my mother?"
"But, Mom said you came here for some reason." Darcy replied innocently while stroking her own head.
"Yes, let's go inside before we chat." Amelia stroked her sister Darcy's hair as they went inside hand-in-hand. The old woman gathered her shawl around her as she followed her after adjusting her spectacles on her nose. She looked a lot more serious than before.
As soon as they entered the hallway, the old lady sat on the main throne, and her daughters sat down opposite her. She looked at the portrait still lying in the hallway and said, "Actually, I wanted to get it polished to show you today. Well, the rest is, History!" She finished her sentence and sighed.
Amelia looked at her mother and said, "Mom, can you tell me from the beginning?"
"Yes, my child."
"Mom, what is all of this about? Is this the reason you called me urgently?" Darcy asked.
"Hmm."
"Thousands of years ago, the ancestor of the ice-dragon clan was saved by our family's ancestor and he stayed here for a while with his wife, the queen of the phoenix clan and their three-months old daughter." She was going to continue, when Darcy cut her off, "Mom, how do you know of all these stories? And what has this got to do with the urgent thing you called me for?"
"Darcy, you need to be a bit more patient. Patience is a great virtue." The old lady laughed, despite the serious atmosphere of the room.
"Bella, why are you sitting in the hallway today?"
"Mom, you are here too. That's great. I was telling my daughters about our ancestors." Isabella answered her mother-in-law.
"Is that so?" Chelsea asked, as she sat beside her daughter-in-law. She looked at her granddaughters and said, "They lived here for a few years when he was injured, and then they went southwest. But before leaving, he left something, which his daughter will be able to obtain or her contracted master. Sigh…" She sighed and continued, "Where will we find that eternal being? But we are tasked to guard that thing forever. We are doing that generations after generations. Now, that both of you are the daughters of this family. You will have to continue taking care of it. You have to pledge that you will take proper care of it."
"But, Grandma, what has this got to do with Brad?" Amelia asked confusedly.
"It has everything to do with Brad." She said and then went towards the attic. Everything was deathly silent. Only the pitter-patter of the drops of water falling from the tap in the kitchen sink onto the plates could be heard. Amelia was dazed, Darcy was confused and Isabella sat there as if nothing happened, until she heard a loud scream.