Ta-hawa stared blankly at her journal, the tips of her index and thumb pressing against the pen. There were a trillion things she wanted to write, however, her right hand refused to move.
After Heru, her guardian had left for a space mission. He and his team of Astro-specialists travelled on a rescue mission to Necromantium, a planet two thousand and seven hundred light-years away. Ta-hawa felt bored of mourning in a manor with only servants. With the allowance Heru had given her, she travelled back to the outskirts of the Ntoma Kingdom, at her favourite spot and built a cottage on the bank of the Nzai River.
It took her at least a month to complete the work, mostly because she refused help, and would not use sorcery. She always wanted to build a cottage on the bank of Nzai. It was one of the many conversations she had with Juda, this, caused her to drift in thought, at that very moment;
"How about you, miss home?", Juda asked her. "Huh...", she sighed. "There's this enchanted place, the Valley Nzai. The mountains on either side appear as if it was sculptured by God. No jagged edges, flat as ceramic. In between there's a river; the River of Nzai that entwines with the Atlantic Ocean. It perfectly mirrors the sky. On a quiescent day, it becomes difficult to distinguish the River from the sky it emulates", she recalled, partially dazed in thought.
"There's a huge boulder that is situated in the centre of the river, it's my home, it's where I feel at peace, and it's the perfect spot to be especially when the Moon and stars adorn the evening sky", she continued. "I doubt I will be fully accepted in my father's society. That's alright, I'll probably build a cottage on the beach of the River Nzai.", she sighed.
Ta-hawa wistfully smiled at the thought, a bittersweet memory. She had hoped for some sort of satisfaction after building the cottage, nevertheless, it just added to her melancholy. "This is ridiculous", she said as she threw her pen out the window.
Just as she laid her back on the bed, a knock on the door, "what!?", she bewildered. That was the first time anyone has knocked on her door. Only three people knew of the place. One of the two was two thousand and seven hundred light-years away, the other was falsely convicted and… she smiled. Ta-hawa rushed to the door, however, her excitement died as she opened the door, it revealed her mother, her smile turned into an irritated frown.
"The least you can do is pretend that you are happy to see me", her mother said dismayingly. "Hi, mother", Ta-hawa honeyed. "My own daughter…", Alana sighed as she pushed her way into the house. "Jacob, why did you bring her here?", she frowned. Jacob smiled, "she's your mother. You cannot change that", he embraced her. "what took you so long", she sighed as she squeezed herself against him. Jacob proceeded by placing a kiss on her temple, "I found my wife and daughter ", he smiled. "why didn't you tell me!", Ta-hawa punched him on the chest. "ouch!", he chuckled.
"where are they?", she asked excitedly as she looked outside to see where Jacob hid them. "she's happier to see family she has never met than to see the woman who gave birth to her", Alana scold. "later", he said. "well this house is a mess. I thought I taught you better", Alana began to reprimand Ta-hawa. "you never taught me anything, that was Jacob and the… the Maditau. Remember?", she retorted.
"ladies…", refereed Jacob. "Al, we came to see how Ta-hawa is doing, remember?", he turned to his niece, "remember our conversation?", he asked her. How could she forget?
Jacob and Alana spent most of the evening recounting their search, their adventure to find his family. Ta-hawa was happy for her uncle but, equally sad because she couldn't feel as blissful as they were. "we should be leaving", he said flatly, "no, it is already late, please stay", Ta-hawa didn't want to spend the night alone. Jacob smiled and returned to his seat. "I doubt, I'd be this lucky if it was just me", complained her mother. "yeah, you can still leave", Ta-hawa made a face, "I'll get more tea", she said whilst leaving for the kitchen.
Ta-hawa, her uncle and mother sat on logs around a fire. It was a cold Saturday evening, and they had just finished the fourth round of herbal green tea with six pinches of ginger. "tell me again about this cave, in Tangier, is it?", asked Ta-hawa. "Ailith, why are you so interested in the Caves of Hercules", Alana asked her after a sip of tea. "my name is Ta-hawa. Jacob, I want to know about this cave", she ignored her mother's question.
Jacob stared at her for a moment, perhaps reading her. Something he had always done in the past. Jacob was not the type to shield her niece from the hardships of the world, he was the type of uncle who would let his niece make her own mistakes. He knew better than anyone else that lessons are learnt from mistakes and not successes. Jacob knew why she was asking.
"it's fourteen kilometres west of Tangier, the journey is not as tiring as the wait", sighed Jacob. "we were running out of options. It was a night that we spent with the Red People that we learnt of the legend of the Cave of, supposedly; Hercules", Jacob disliked it when foreign names were attributed to Alkebulan structures and places. He also didn't like Hercules that much.
"Okay, get to the part when you were in the cave, the crystal, is it real?", "yes…", her mother muttered. "does it grant wishes", Ta-hawa asked, "that is more of a fictional way to put it. It's more of a deal", "how so?", she asked, her hand now pressing against her cup. "there's a Keeper in the cave. After a toiling forty-eight hours in its absolute dim. Sometimes it can take forever", Alana added, "how so?", Ta-hawa asked. "you have to prove yourself worthy. Only then, will you see the Keeper, only then do you see the crystal", Jacob's voice was fruity.