Minutes passed since the dead of night. The Chronis manor has returned to its peaceful state as all of its visitors have left. Nireus stood at the back of their residence, looking at the full moon that was staring back at him, while he held a cup of tea in his hands. Then, from the shadows made by the walls surrounding his manor, emerged a man covered in a black cloak with a hood. A stream of darkness surrounded the mysterious man.
Nireus stared at the person that had just appeared, though his demeanor remained calm and unthreatened, his voice sounded cold as he spoke, "Why have you come here?"
The mysterious man removed his hood to reveal the bottom half of his face covered with a mask made of leather. His eyes were piercing as he stared at Nireus. And at his forehead was an uncanny mark, a Zeal that doesn't belong to any of the twelve Zodiac Gods. From between his eyebrows rose a vertical line. The line splits into three at the center, forming a symbol that looks like the mark of a bird's feet.
Still with a cold voice, "Stop glaring at me before I pluck out your eyes, crow," Nireus said.
The man blinked multiple times, "M—my eyes have been just like this since I was born, lord Nireus. I do not mean any disrespect towards you… my lord," he said. His nervous voice was apparent.
Nireus scanned him. He realized that it was a different person from the one that visited him last time, "Now, tell me your reason for appearing at my residence. Make sure it's a valid one before you speak, or you might not be able to leave here."
With his frantic hands, the mysterious man pulled out something from his pocket, "Lady Thalia asked me to deliver her gift to her daughter," he said.
Hearing the name Thalia made Nireus's heart skip a beat. But his demeanor remained calm and apathetic, "Didn't I make it clear that she no longer belongs here the moment she joined your group?"
"I—I am but a messenger, lord Nireus," the man said, standing there holding a pouch in his hands.
Nireus stared at him. He took a sip from his cup and didn't say anything.
"S—should I just leave it here and go, my lord?"
Without a word, Nireus proceeded to stare at the man who felt like being crushed and the immense pressure strengthened every second that passed. He looked back and forth to Nireus, waiting for his reply. And after a while, Nireus nodded.
The man in the cloak placed the pouch on the ground, he bowed at Nireus in the Panteran way before the mark on his forehead showed a feint grayish glow and he started to submerge in the shadows.
"Wait," Nireus said.
Only the upper half of the man's body was above ground when he stopped and looked at Nireus with his natural unintended glare. But, behind it was great nervousness, thinking that the guardian of Arsida had decided to not let him get away.
"W—what is it, my lord?"
"Tell her that this is the last time I'd allow this. The next time any of her subordinates appear in my residence, they're dead."
The man nodded in a quick successive manner, then hid in the shadows in a blink of an eye.
After finishing his tea, Nireus walked to the pouch and took it. He looked inside to see a rolled letter and a necklace. Without second thoughts, Nireus unrolled the letter and read it.
"To my beloved daughter, Tiri,
First, I apologize for not being there on your 13th birthday. It is something I've been thinking about and imagining for months, fate made it so I couldn't be there. My beliefs about our world prohibit me from seeing you, even though it's the one thing I've been dreaming about. You must've turned into a fine lady, like your sister. How I wish I could see and hug my lovely daughters.
The neverwither that came with this letter is the gift I've been keeping and always wanted to give to you for a long time. It is the symbol of my unending love. Know that you and your sister will always remain in my heart and mind.
Your loving mother,
Thalia"
Nireus sighed after reading the letter. He rolled and hid it in the pocket of his pants, "Oh, Thalia," he muttered. His eyes were glossy as he stared at the full moon he felt staring back at him.
***
In the early morning of the next day, Tiriara visited the Caspius manor. As always, Konon accompanied her. With an enthusiastic smile, she greeted Arsen, Crisa, and the others who were preparing their meal for breakfast. Since Aeneas wasn't awake yet, the girl went to his room to wake him up herself.
Tiriara ran towards his room. She opened the door without knocking and was even trying to make a loud noise in an attempt to wake Aeneas 'accidentally'.
The girl saw the black egg resting at the reading table beside the huge window. She walked towards it and whispered, "Good morning. When will you hatch?"
She then looked at Aeneas who was still asleep, grinned, and ran to him yelling, "The egg has hatched!" Then the girl shook his body still repeating the same words.
Aeneas almost jumped from his bed the moment he opened his eyes, saw Tiriara's face, and heard her words. He ran to the table with a confused smile, his thoughts only contained the girl's words.
He was more befuddled as he stood near the egg and saw it in the same state as before. His eyebrows furrowed, and while his eyes kept on blinking, Aeneas turned to Tiriara.
As soon as Tiriara saw Aeneas's expression, she burst out laughing and lay on the bed kicking her feet on it. Aeneas wiped his eyes. He realized that the girl had made a fool out of him. He thought of asking his brother to let him lock the door of his room starting this day even though he knew that Arsen wouldn't agree since there was a time when the pain in his right eye happened in his room.
"You should've seen your face!" Tiriara blurted out. She was laughing and slapping the bed with her hand.
Aeneas glared at Tiriara and thought how annoying it was to be woken up in such a way.
Seeing his expression, Tiriara tucked her lips and forced herself not to laugh. But, bursts of air escaped from her mouth and an occasional snort happened as she tried.
Aeneas sighed, "Why are you here so early?" he said.
Giggly, "I want to show you something," she said.
"Do you need to show it to me at this hour? Couldn't you wait before training?"
Tiriara shook her head, "I couldn't," she replied.
Aeneas stretched his arms and let out a wide-mouth yawn, "Well, what is it?"
Tiriara stood. She grinned and stared at Aeneas, "Can't you spot something different in me?" she asked.
"What? Your hair?" the boy said, after doing a quick scan of Tiriara.
"Are you sure you're smart?"
Her response woke Aeneas up, "Well, compared to you, I am," he said. After a brief pause, "And, I'm right that your hair wasn't tied in a ponytail yesterday, wasn't it?"
"But that's not what I'm trying to show you."
Aeneas tapped his lips, "Is it your new clothes?"
It was Tiriara's turn to furrow her brows, "No," she replied.
"So, pants?"
The girl shook her head and began swaying her body, trying to move around the pendant that was dangling from her neck.
"It's my necklace, stupid," she said.
"Ah, that. Right, I've seen it since earlier."
"Then why didn't you guess it from the start?"
Aeneas smiled, "It's vengeance for your stupid trick, stupid," he said.
Tiriara began nodding, "Ah," she muttered. Then, she chuckled and walked closer to Aeneas while removing her necklace.
"Here, you want to see it?" she asked.
The necklace was made of a thin chain of gold, while the pendant was an oblong-shaped object that had vertical lines around it.
Aeneas took the necklace and lifted the pendant close to his eyes. He glanced at Tiriara who was staring at him with a wide smile.
"What is it?"
Tiriara shrugged, "Father told me that it's a neverwither which Mother gifted me, but I don't know what it is used for. I thought you might know."
"Neverwither…" Aeneas muttered. He felt like the word was familiar, and that he might've encountered it in one of the books he's read. Aside from that, he also felt a bit saddened since he thought that it was Nireus's ploy to trick the girl into believing that the gift was from her deceased mother.
A minute passed and Aeneas was unable to remember it, so he decided to go to his shelves of books to look for a Nusterran dictionary. Tiriara followed him and peaked at the book while he browsed it.
Lyra knocked behind the door. She was there to tell the kids that breakfast was set. When she entered the room, Lyra saw Aeneas and Tiriara sitting beside each other in the same chair, as the two looked at a couple of books at the table.
With a smile, "What are you two doing?" Lyra asked.
The two glanced at Lyra with a smile.
"We were looking for the word neverwither," Aeneas said.
Lyra asked them why they were doing such a thing so early in the morning. It was Tiriara who explained about her mother's gift. She also said that they couldn't find it in the dictionary and were looking at other books.
"I know about it."
Both Aeneas and Tiriara stopped and then stared at Lyra.
Tiriara's face lit up, "Really, Aunt Lyra? What is it?" She stood and went to Lyra, bringing the necklace to her.
Aeneas also stared at her with an expression belonging to someone whose curiosity was at its peak. To which his mother shares at the moment.
Lyra examined the pendant, her eyes sparkled with a researcher's passion, "It's a very rare flower."
Tiriara's eyes and mouth widened. Then, she stared at the pendant and paused, "But, it doesn't look like one," she said. Aeneas, who was sitting beside her, nodded in agreement.
"A neverwither is a flower that closes up and hardens when plucked."
"So that's why it looks like that," Aeneas muttered. He turned his gaze towards Lyra and asked, "Does it remain like that or could it bloom again?"
Lyra smiled before she shrugged. She explained that since it was a unique flower little is known about it. As a researcher, she also wanted to take a look at the flower and study it. But, looking at the joyous expression of Tiriara, she held back her curiosity and handed the necklace back to the girl.
"Now then, let's eat."