"You really want us to drink this shit!!" Nathan almost screamed in disgust. Well, to be honest, I myself couldn't agree with him any more. This thing bubbling in the cup I was holding in my hands, smelled like a strong bitter gourd juice with rotten eggs and stale meat in it and I am pretty sure it wouldn't taste any better. I looked up at Millia to show my agreement with Nathan's remark.
"Well, you guys do have another option." She said.
"What?" Nathan asked almost instinctively.
"To wait here for some sorcerer or beast to come and devour you." She added stimulating a current of fear through my spine. I frowned.
"Isn't there any other way?" I asked in a plee.
"Like I said you can either drink this and come with us or wait here, to be killed." She said flatly.
"This old Granny literally has no empathy..." Nathan muttered to himself. Probably Millia didn't hear it or maybe she just chose to ignore it and walked away. I looked at Nathan who was staring at the cup with displeasure.
I glanced back at my cup. The liquid was some greenish-black in colour, bubbling with orange fumes. I didn't even like bitter medicine. This thing was surely the worst nightmare of my life. But I needed to do this. We need to return home, happy and safe as I promised. I closed my eyes and drank the whole liquid in a single sip. As I expected, the taste wasn't any better. Maybe it was even worse. But apart from the complaints I did drink it.
"You drank it all!!" I heard Nathan's voice. His face was plastered with disbelief.
"I guess..." I replied, my mouth still twitching with the foul taste of that liquid. Nathan looked back at his cup and seconds later I saw him filling in himself. He almost vomited after drinking it. Or maybe he was just exaggerating like he always does. He looked back at me, his eyes widened.
"Hey! What happened to you?" He yelled.
"What?" I said, panicked, touching my face for the reason of Nathan's surprise. But soon I witnessed it myself when I saw the change in Nathan.
"What the hell did you give us, you damn witch!!" Nathan asked Millia in anger.
"Don't these ears look cute on you little elf...." Millia said a mask of amusement struck her face.
I was just staring at Nathan. He seemed a bit taller than before but the most stunning part was his ears. They had grown pointy with a ting of pink at the top, the way Zeo and Millia had them. Nathan looked extremely hilarious in that condition. But whenever I wanted to laugh at him his face just reminded me that I wasn't looking any better than he was.
"Just tell us what did you do??" Nathan demanded.
"Are we Elves now, like you and Zeo??" I asked. She just laughed and it surely fueled the frustration in both Nathan and me.
"Of course not. I just modified your bodies so that you guys look a little like Elves. And as it seems I did succeed." She explained.
"Will we be like this forever?" I asked again.
"Oh, I am sorry I think I should have told you before. Now you guys can't turn back to normal humans." She added.
"You fucking witch!!! I am going to kill you." Nathan yelled. And Millia ran away teasing. Nathan was taller now, just a little short from Millia so he could catch up to her. Nathan ran after Millia but I cannot say if had real intentions of killing her or not. I was left dumbfounded here. I was not going to turn back into a human..How is that supposed to work??
What will people think about us when we return with these ears?? What will I tell my mom??
"I'm sorry. I was just kidding. You guys will eventually turn back to normal. It is not permanent." I heard Millia scream while running away from Nathan. That fact got me relieved. Nathan was still running after Millia with no intention of stopping.
"Nathan, if you get any closer. I am going to call dad." She shouted.
"You think I give a damn about your dad." Nathan shouted back as they continued their game of Tom & Jerry.
"Hey!! Children come over, it is time to leave..." I heard a voice say. It was from uncle Ross. Yes, he was my uncle now. I had asked him what pronoun I should use with his name when he had deprived me from using 'Sir' or 'Mr.' . He just wanted me to call him Ross but I couldn't agree on that so we came to a treaty of calling him - uncle.
This call halted Millia and Nathan, for the time being I guess.
"We are coming dad." Millia shouted back when Nathan finally hit her head from the back.
"Mission accomplished." Nathan announced and walked back towards me. Millia just sighed in relief and followed him.
"This is it, then..."He said to me.
"I guess so..." I said, not quite sure what it meant. I followed Nathan and Millia to the carriage.
The carriage had four white horses pulling it and it was decorated with royal colours and essence. As it seemed, The Man from the Winds had returned now and he was the driver here. I got inside the carriage. To be honest, I didn't expect the carriage to be this large from inside when it seemed like a box from the outside. It even had a table inside it. Well, this was a magical world so surprise was kind of usual for me now. Zeo sat in the corner of the carriage looking out of the window. He didn't spare me a glance. This was getting worse everyday. Millia sat beside him while Nathan sat on the seat opposite to that of Millia and Zeo. I sat beside Nathan.
After about two minutes, uncle Ross entered the carriage. The whole carriage almost tilted to his side when he entered. For a second I felt that this carriage will turn over but thankfully it didn't. He sat beside Millia. And ordered Obrion to ride on.
"Oh my, oh my!!" He exclaimed as his eyes locked on Nathan and me.
"You guys are really hard to distinguish now. I am really sure that the Flora Clan shall not be able to consider you anything less than a faithful Elf." Uncle Ross said. I smiled slightly at him.
"Don't forget dad, it was my brilliant idea." Millia added.
"Of course, my little princess." He said while moving his hand lightly over her hair.
"Sure the idea was brilliant-- coming out from a witch like you." Nathan muttered.
Millia rolled her eyes. Uncle Ross gave a loud laugh and after this silence fell in the room.
Everyone was lost in their own thoughts and so was I . I was stealing glances over Zeo who was still looking outside the window of the carriage. Now that I look closely, Zeo's face seemed more handsome and manly than before. He looked serious and stern. I was not used to this look of Zeo but it sure still suited him. Yet deep down, I was missing that caring face, the depth of those moon eyes and the warmth of his touch. Even the sound of his voice was fading away from my memories.
After that drunk incident, my talks with Zeo had been almost null and void. Forget about talks. Our eyes rarely met each other. He sure was angry with me or maybe he just hated me. In any case I was surely hurting. The pain was rising with every day. I wanted to tell him that I was sorry. That it was all just a mistake and I will not repeat that again but I was too afraid to tell him anything. I just want us to be ....friends if not anything more.
Suddenly, I heard a loud explosion sound and the whole carriage shook with it. I was startled and as it seemed everyone else was too. My eyes travelled every face in search of an explanation but all I got was more questions.
"What happened, Obrion??" Uncle Ross asked, his voice showed a bit of worry in it.
"I-I..t-thin-k we...h-hav-e been att-acked Master..." I heard Obrion's shivering voice utter.
"Attacked??" Uncle Ross questioned more to himself than to Obrion.
I hurriedly looked out of the window to search for the attacker. My eyes caught four figures dressed in black robes while their faces were masked. Each of them had a different mask. I recognised one of them.
"That one..." I pointed and everyone seemed to follow my hand.
"He was the one who attacked Zeo.." I declared.