Tale Of The Half-Blood Wizard

"No matter how often we take it back, it will always cross to find what it is looking for. I am thinking about helping it find what it is looking for so that Aras will go home sooner," azalea looked satisfied with my explanation, and I just smiled in response to it.

Winnter asked me to sit down and she patted my shoulder and smiled. "Good job, kid" she praised me. 'Does she forget I am older than her?' My heart protested, but I thanked her instead of protesting her. 

"Mr. Oka," the owner of the name looked at me. "Is Zie okay?" He looked confused about my question. "That night when we met Aras the second time, Zie came to help. Winnter was almost attacked by that animal. "I want to know his real condition." 

"Tha, can we talk about it outside this meeting?" Azalea cut me, I just nodded to agree with. 

I didn't tell Azalea what the Manjis had told me. It was not that I was afraid that the woman would not believe me, but there was something in me that prevented me from telling her at the moment. Someone who looked so upset when I told the teams about Aras bothered me a bit.

Winnter suggested to azalea to cut down the number of teams, one reason was that some teams had lost the members, another was she wanted to get some backs up for our team to catch Aras. "That animal seems to avoid us." She was irritated. 

"To the whole, I have met that animal ten times myself, but it always found ways to avoid us and run. It didn't attack us when we approached it, but when we asked it to go home with even the finest language, it became a bit aggressive, wanted to attack us, and then ran away." She said in excitement and enthusiasm.

"I don't have any other plans to take it home. But I agree with Tha's plan to help Aras finish its issues and then take it home. I also feel that it is looking for something in humans' world." Again Winnter's explanation invited buzzes of whispers among the other teams in the meeting. None dared to speak out what they had in their mind.

Yuurei was the only member remaining from the second team that would join us. He was not a human-like me, or a half wizard-like Winnter, but he was a spirit or a group of energy from a human's spirit, like Hana. Azalea asked him to join us because he has speed like Aras and had the ability to communicate much better than the three of us

"Yuurei will help you interpret Aras language so that you can help that animal to sort out its problems. If you have done it, you can communicate with other teams to arrange a solution. The rest, all the teams will be united into one to take Aras home." Azalea dismissed the meeting. Everyone left but I didn't. 

…

"Tha, I want to talk with you for a minute!" right after saying so, Mr Oka came to me and I knew what would be discussed later. 

"Is it about Zie?" I made a guess. 

Before Azalea or Mr Oka said any words, Suddenly Winnter walked through the door and sat beside me. "I am part of Tha from now on and that marionette had helped me, too. I will not allow myself to know anything and my friend has to face the problem alone to solve it." She was determined. 

Azalea chose to say nothing, so did Mr Oka.  Finally, the keeper of Between world spoke up. "Tha, when the Manjis killed Antonie, it caused the seal to weaken faster than it was supposed to. At first, I thought that spirit would go to the spirit realm where Kerberos had been waiting, right?" I just nodded to reply. 

"That marionette had been lying motionlessly for several days. I thought that the time was about to come. But two days ago he suddenly left, walking out like the first time you took him. I could not stop him. I wonder what energy he has," said Mr Oka. 

Perhaps Zie knew that I was in danger so he came. That was what I thought. Or he just woke up suddenly because of something. "After helping us out of the trouble, he lay down motionlessly," I said. 

"The creature in that marionette will go to the spirit realm eventually. He is quiet because the spirit can't hold himself in that doll," Winnter glanced at me. "It is hard for him to go home because you don't allow him to go." She said curtly. 

I could not deny that I still hoped Zie was around. "Sorry" that was all I could say. I wanted to let him go but the hope that he could be with me was still lingering in my heart. 

"Tha, you simply have to let go of him or he will be roaming around between the world and the spirit realm without any place to go. Don't be selfish! You are not at Mirai's age right now!" Winnter words sounded so fierce and sharp, but she was right, though. 

"I absolutely agree with this kid," Mr Oka replied. "That is exactly what I wanted to say to you, Tha. The person who can help him is you. To be honest, I feel sorry for that marionette, sometimes he suddenly gets up, walks here and there stiffly. Let him go with the whole of your heart." He advised me, hopeful. 

I just kept quiet to hear them talking until Mr Oka stood up from his chair and took out a watch from his pocket. "It is time for me to go back home." He said. "Tha, please, I beg you. Let him go to where he belongs." After some more words of advice, he left the room. 

"Tha, you know something." It sounded like a statement, not a question. Azalea sat closer to me, while I was still unmoving from my place. "Tell me! No one here but the three of us, right?" She was staring at me, looking for the truth. 

Perhaps it was time to tell what Manjis had told me, so I said, "The Manjis told me that someone has killed the master of Aras, but I really don't get it. They said it was the reason that animal crossing, it was for that man". 

"The Manjis? You know them?!" Winnter looked so shocked when I mentioned Manjis. 

"Tha is the owner of The Manjis' eyes," Azalea explained shortly, "Go on." She commanded me to continue my side of the story.

Winnter was still looking at me in disbelief. "You never told me about this. You have kept such a big secret from me? How could you, Tha?" She sounded so disappointed, and I felt guilty for that. 

"I'm sorry." I was so sorry for that. 

"Tell To Miss Azalea all you need to tell her." Said Winnter with an irritated expression. 

"That is why in that meeting I didn't say about catching Aras, but to help that animal looking for what it is looking for. I believe after we help it find what he is looking for, it will come home voluntarily. Aras is not bad as long as we don't do bad things to them." I spoke seriously to Azalea and Winnter. 

They didn't argue so I went on further, "If they were bad, I believe we would have been killed the first time we met that creature. Besides, in the second meeting, it left so hurriedly."  That is what I could assume from the moment that creature suddenly ran in a certain direction, I didn't know where that was. 

Before going home, Winnter took us to visit her house located not far from the valley of Heron. It was actually not the house where her parents lived but it was kind of a halfway house for her father. 

We went into the forest walking along footpaths which slightly went up. After walking for about two hours we saw a settlement. Houses were scattered pretty far from one house to another one. The walls were constructed from bricks piled up and the roofs were from red clay tiles. The mountain was standing tall on the right side of the village, while the Heron valley was on the left side bordered by a forest. 

Unfortunately when we arrived, the light in the sky was almost gone. So that it presented quietness. Winnter pointed to a house, the biggest one among others. "It is my father's halfway house," She said.

She said that during staying in the humans' world, her father who was a wizard would stay in that house. Winnter went through discipline time there for a year. Her father said that she was too indisciplined so she had to undergo it before she was finally sent to prison.

Someone opened the door for us. He might be the housekeeper of that house and he was very friendly. "He is the housekeeper of this house," Winnter told us. "If you want anything, just tell him." She said.. We directly bowed for a greeting to him.