Tale Of The Half-Blood Wizard

The boat took me away slowly. I saw Zie kept waving even though we were quite far away. Charon sang a happy song although I did not really understand the lyrics at all. I felt so happy to hear it. Slowly a thin mist began to cover the scene around me and Zie was gone behind the mist. 

"Charon," I called him, "What happens if you take me down the river the other way around?" I asked curiously. The direction we were heading was the opposite of the direction of the boat he guided the previous night. 

"You would go to meet Kerberos and you would not go back unless you were reborn or reincarnated," He replied, "Kerberos take good care of that place. He doesn't allow the number of spirits in that place to change." He added further. 

I did not answer when faintly I heard Mickey's voice. I sharpened my eyes to see if he was nearby. White. Everything around me slowly disappeared and the voice became clearer and louder. 

The tubby furry cat meowing beside me was the first thing I saw. When I looked around, I found that I was in my room. Some of Azalea's people were around too, including the maids. 

I lay still to bring all my senses back and also when I tried to sit up, "You are finally awake," His voice hit my eardrums, "Why did you sleep so long? You made me worried, Tha," He moved closer to me and rubbed his furry head to me, so adorable. 

Even though my hearing and my sight were not yet functioning normally, I could see some people running out of my room, probably to summon Azalea. I tried to sit on my bed and leaned my back against the headboard. Suddenly I felt so thirsty and hungry. I grabbed a bottle on the bedside table. "I'm so hungry." I said quietly after I had some water. 

Mickey rummaged through my bag, then he took a packet of bread he could find in there. While one of the maids asked permission to get some food for me. "Thank you, chubby," Mickey's expression suddenly changed when I called him that. But I just smiled innocently, then went back to eat my bread. 

"It seems like I slept for so long. It makes me so hungry." I swallowed some big chunks of bread to block my hunger. I was wondering why I suddenly felt so hungry and thirsty. 

When I was about to have another bite of the bread, suddenly a memory knocked my head, "Naar!" I exclaimed. Hurriedly I stood up, got a bit limb as if my feet were dysfunctioned for some time. After I got my balance a bit steady, on barefoot I ran towards the treatment room where Naar was being treated. 

But before I could run further, I saw Azalea was with the man I wanted to see walking along the hallway to my room. I was surprised and confused to see him well and sound like usual. "Are you safe?" I fell on the floor powerlessly. "Are you really still alive?" I asked again to confirm. 

Naar nodded and smiled widely, then he helped me to stand up while my eyes fixed on his face. "I was so afraid that you were gone, to," My eyes returned hot, clear water was about to roll down. "There was no reason if everyone was gone." I said in between my cry. "You were sleeping for so long and the fire was getting faded. I would be so afraid if you were suddenly gone." I cried. Such mixed emotions, relieved, sad and happy, suddenly overwhelmed me. 

Behind them were the Manjis. They were looking at us. Hurriedly I ran to them and hugged both of them. "You are the best I have in life." My voice was hoarse. They hugged me back. I did not care if they cheated me or what, as long as Naar was alright I was grateful to them. 

…

Azalea asked me to go back to my room, to rest. She also asked her people to check my health. Although I told her many times that I was fine, that I just needed food and drinks due to being so hungry and thirsty, she just did not hear me. She insisted on checking my health conditions. 

Azalea said that I had slept for three days. She told me that when she was able to go into the treatment room, she found me already laying asleep next to Naar with black sand surrounding me. 

Two days I did not show any signs of waking up, but Naar was awakened first. That was why they were very worried when I was still lying unconsciously. 

"Why did you make that pact with the Manjis?" I turned my head in another direction pretending not to hear Azalea's nags. I saw the Manjis were waiting in front of the room door. It seemed like they were talking about something, but I was not sure what they were talking about because I could not hear them.  Suddenly I remembered the black box the Charon gave me that I could only open when I was in my own world. 

I got up and searched for the box that might have been dropped somewhere. "Did you see me carrying a black box when I woke up?" I panicked when no one saw it and could not find it. "It is a black wooden box as big as this," my hands described the size of that box. 

"You did not bring anything when you woke up," Mickey's statement made me sigh in disappointment. 

I saw the Manjis walk toward me and hand me a black wooden box. "Two hundred years ago Charon gave this wooden box to us." They said almost at the same time. 

Everyone was looking at us in surprise, but I was looking at the Manjis in silence. "When we were freed from our duty in the underworld, Charon gave this thing as a keepsake. He said that we had to give this box to a human who has two eyes of ours," one of them confessed, then she handed me that box and to be honest, I was a bit afraid when I received it. 

"Charon the spirit carrier?" Azalea asked in shock. "Did you meet him? how come?" She bombarded me with some questions. 

I replied with a smile and flashed my teeth. There were things I did not need to tell anyone.

…

After packing my things, I went to meet Azalea and planned to leave the place where I belonged. I thought that I had completed my duty. I knocked at the door of her room several times but no response. 

"Do you want to see Azalea?" Naar asked me. 

"I want to say goodbye and ask her permission to go home," My duty here was to bring Antonie's memory back, it all ended up like this. It meant that I had no reason to stay here, in this place. "My duty has been completed. I must go back to my place," I explained to him. 

Naar looked sad, "Why not? You are a Youenha family member, and all the things you have done, you had better stay here." He begged, "You can ask Azalea to make you stay here longer, can't you?" 

I thought for a while, "I could be," I said, "But I want to do other things, such as working in a florist, saving for buying my own house that has a big garden and comfortable, visiting the oldest libraries, and other places I have never visited. I also like photography, and also…I knew Naar did not understand all that I told him. We belonged to a totally different world, I belonged to the day, he belonged to the night. I just wanted to work and continue my study, it was the only thing that made me able to distract my sadness from Zie. 

"Wow! Tha, you are cool. I really admire you." His eyes were sparkling happily, although it was only to cover his sadness.

I wanted to tell him that I would always be here and stay with him, but I did not say it to him. There were dreams I needed to pursue, the place I really wanted to visit, and all the things that were waiting to be put into reality. 

"Why don't we go to the city square tonight? I want to hear the spells of calling the dragon." I invited him. 

Naar  smiled and moved a step backward, "I don't think I can do that" 

To be honest, I was disappointed to hear his answer but I thought it might be better.  "Alright. Take this as a keepsake from me," I handed him the box from the Manjis. 

"It is a flute," I explained, Naar was just looking at the box and looked bewildered. "You can play it to call the Manjis. I have made an agreement with them that they will always take care of you. So, you are now safe in their care.." He was silent, looking at me with an expression I could not understand.