Chapter 3| Welcome Crappy Home

❝𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖞𝖉 𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖕𝖊𝖔𝖕𝖑𝖊 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖋𝖊𝖊𝖑 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝖘𝖚𝖓𝖑𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙.❞

We went up the tall building's rooftop. I walked until the edge and looked at Morris. She gave me a smile and took her jade necklace off, then put it inside her jade bracelet, where she had also put the corpses.

I wonder how many dead bodies were in there?

The cold night breeze brushed against my skin, playing a little with my tightly tied black hair in a high ponytail. I took off my bag and my emerald earring, then I felt my my wings emerged from where they were supposed to be. I flapped my wings, and put the earring in my bag and held tightly on its strap since I couldn't wear it with my wings out.

Then, Morris asked me, "You ready, Cyan?" But before I could even utter a word, she jumped off the edge, and a moment later, she came zooming up into the night sky. Morris circled around, a few meters above me. "What are you waiting for? Jump!" She exclaimed like she had no care about the fact that people might see her.

Yeah, we'll be famous, I thought as I rolled my eyes, clutching tightly at my bag, and I jumped off the building. The air whistled in my ears as I let myself fall, until I spreaded my wings wide. Wind gathered around me and I slowed down before I beat my wings hard. I quickly went up and met Morris on the sky.

However, she immediately flew away from me that made my eyes follow her with disbelieving look, then she yelled, "Quick! Follow me!"

I let out a groan, but quickly picked up on her pace and flew beside her with a scowl. "Are you planing to leave me behind?!" I exclaimed.

"Of course, not! I know you can catch up with me in no time!" The lady with shoulder-lenght hair told me, spinning in the middle of the air, before she sped up away from me again. I felt a twitch on my eyebrows as I caught up with her again. The moment she saw my expression, she let out a laugh. Once we slightly slowed down, Morris raised her brows at me. "So, any questions?"

I thought for a moment, before deciding to ask that thing I wanted to clarify first. "What are we called?"

"We are the Feralis. The descendants of The Four Godly Beasts," she answered almost immediately.

We soared up higher into the night sky, which made me glance at the crescent moon that seemed so close, yet so far. When I turned my eyes ahead, I ran into a cloud which made Morris laugh.

"By The Four Godly Beasts, do you mean the vermilion bird, blue dragon, white tiger and black tortoise?" I wondered and shook off the dew I got onto my wings by accidentally going through a cloud.

Okay, that honestly felt good, I acknowledged in my mind and smiled faintly.

"Where'd you learn that?" Morris shot me a look that I didn't know the meaning of. "Human school and books?"

I averted my eyes to the city below me. Up here in the sky, the city lights looked like stars, then brought my gazes back in front of me. "No, and yes. I was homeschooled," I answered in an almost monotonous voice.

Silence took over for a moment before Morris spoke, "Don't worry about being homeschooled. Some Feralis children are also being homeschooled until they hit the right age to get accepted in the school. But that topic is for later." She paused for a second, as if preparing for a very long explanation. "The Feralis Four Godly Beasts are Faenice The Phoenix, Levio The Lion, Sierpenti The Dragon, and Lupos The Wolf. It is told that the Gods took forms like humans, but still, they have their certain features. Such as these." Morris gestured at her wings.

"Then, what God did we descend from?" I questioned.

"Faenice The Phoenix."

That makes sense, since we have bird-like wings.

"However, we are not that great in number anymore. Our race are often sent out to wars against our enemies." Her gazes went down and gazed at the skyscrapers we passed by, her expression was dark. "We may tend to have stronger magic and physical ability than the most, we are still not invincible."

I narrowed my eyes, putting my fingers on my chin and I started, "I thought when you said there are Four Beasts which we supposed to came from," I paused and met her gaze. "But there are more than just four kinds of beasts other Feralis came from, am I correct?"

"Great question." Morris clapped her hands, then began explaining, "You see, the Four Godly Beasts are referred as the Gods of Beasts because they are the strongest among the rest, but that doesn't mean they are the only beasts all of the Feralis came from. Thousands of years ago, the descendants of the four beasts ruled over our world, they still are right now, but back at the past, they were ruthless and they were discriminating the descendants of the other beasts. Over hundreds of years had passed, a rebellion broke out against the children of the four."

Morris quieted for a second before resuming the story, "Bloodshed here and there. Millions of Feralis died. There were some of the other beasts' children that sided with the four's. They maybe stronger than them, but they were outnumbered, five to three. The war only stopped after Young Master's ancestor killed the Leader of the rebellion, but also killed himself after that. No one knew what was the reason why he killed himself and that still remained unanswered up to this age."

That still remained unanswered. I repeated in my head, then realized a couple of the words Morris had said. "Young Master?"

The lady looked at me, turning to her side a little, then replied, "The one I'm working under. Kieran Gregory, the next king of the descendants of Faenice, and the one of the ones who sent me after you," she told me and gave a small smile.

I knitted my brows at her. The next what? Who sent her to me? What?

She must have noticed how confused I was that she made a face that I couldn't decipher and questioned, "Is it that shocking to have a prince want you?"

I made a look that I didn't even know what look it was myself. I mean, duh, I'm just trying to live a normal life like a freaking few hours ago. Then, I encountered you and almost get my ass killed by your enemies, who were also after me and destroyed my freaking house. Now, you tell me a prince wants to see me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. How common. No shit, Sherlock.

I let out a screech in my head and pulled on my hair, then heard Morris laugh. I scowled at her. "What's so funny?"

"Well, you were just all calm and collected a moment ago, then—" She wheezed. "Then when I said you're going to meet His Highness, you began—pffft." She couldn't even finish her sentence before she went back wheezing again.

Yeah, struggle to breathe. In that way, my hands won't get dirty. I groaned, wanting to really hit her with my wings right now or strangle her. Any ways to make her shut up.

After a series of her laugh that sounded like a breaking down vehicle, the lady spoke, "Don't worry. He won't eat you. Besides, I bet you'll be interacting with him more after you meet him."

"Why's that?" I inquired. I felt my wings started to get sore. We had been flying for a while now at an incredible pace that we had already reached the forest far from the city, which led to the sea.

"He knows more of your father than I do," she responded in a serious tone that quickly faded away. "Anyways, back to the topic. There are four Royal Families. The strongest descendants of the four." She stared onto me with her apple green ones. "And you know what makes them more special?"

I hesitated for a second, but curiosity got the best of me, and I shook my head.

"Feralis eyes glow only when we are using our magic and powers, but Feralis Royals' eyes never stop glowing," Morris said cheerily. "That, of course, until they die!" She cackled.

I ignored her comment and thought that it was amazing that Feralis Royals' have eyes like that. However, that wasn't what got me into stopping, only I flapped my wings to stay up in the air. I felt uneasiness build up inside me and I furrowed my brows.

Mom never once mentioned that my eyes glowed. I am a half. Could it be that my eyes won't glow because of that, or is that I never used magic?

I heard Morris called my name from a distance and she went back to me with a worried look. "Are you okay, Cyan?"

She waited for an answer that she didn't get until a minute have passed because I had trouble spitting out the question. I didn't want to get my hopes up. "Morris . . . you said Feralis eyes glow only when using magic." She nodded and I continued, "My eyes never glowed. Is it because I never used magic or because I'm a half?"

Morris's worried look faded away in an instant after I finished talking. She grinned at me and flicked my forehead. "Silly! Of course you'll never know if you never used magic. Besides, you lived with your human mom, until now. There's no way she know anything like that or she would have told you."

I rubbed my forehead with a hiss.

Morris looked down at the forest below us, before bringing her eyes up to me. "Let's go down and rest for a bit," she told me then dropped like a stone.

I quickly folded my wings on my back and followed down. When the tall trees were closing in, we abruptly opened our wings, catching most of the air as we glided down and landed on separate tree branches that looked thick and sturdy enough for us to rest.

My eyes widened when I turned to look at Morris and found her eyes glimmering. I mean, I could get used to seeing that now more often, but it reminded me of the glowing eyes in horror movies, which I loved and hated at the same time.

The crescent moon, not so bright, but enough for me to see her smile, as its dim light passed through the rustling leaves of the trees.

I tilted my head and she whispered, "Watch me." Morris put her hand up and soft, apple green light emitted from her hand. Not a moment later, the earth shook, and spikes came from the ground. My jaws slacked, she put her hand down and it stopped glowing just like her eyes. The spikes made out of dirt had vanished like they weren't there in the first place.

"Strong magic comes with strong imagination. Strong imagination comes with strong mentality. If you are easy to panic or your mind is clouded, you are—" Morris acted liked she got her throat slashed, and it wouldn't take a smartass to understand that. "Sometimes, emotions can also triggers our powers but it usually ends up a disaster. Only strong persons would be able to handle their powers if it suddenly explode by uncontrolled feelings. Anyways, you try it. Maybe try what I did or something similar to that."

I was about to decline, but on the second thought, l felt actually excited to use magic for the first time. But when I had actually thought about it, there were times I would knock things down without touching them whenever I was angry as a child and strong wind would always blow and earth would always shake. Ah, I had actually used magic before without even knowing it. Morris must have seen my determined expression because she gave a thumbs-up at me and gestured to the ground. I answered her with a nod.

I took in a deep breath and looked at the ground below, then spotted a single wild flower bud, before I closed my eyes to concentrate. Strong magic comes with strong mind. How much do I have to pay for you to bloom?

"This is amazing . . ." I heard Morris stated in awe a moment later. I opened my eyes and sent her a quizzical look, but her eyes weren't on me.

When I followed her gazes with a raised brow, I couldn't stop myself from opening my mouth in shock. Instead of one flower, there were different kind of flowers in full bloom, but the one I had my eye on earlier was standing more beautiful than the others. Not only that, the field of flowers spread for a good seven meters from under me that weren't supposed to be there.

I craned my neck at Morris. "Did I . . . ?" I pointed my finger down.

Morris slowly looked at me without saying any words, then she suddenly screamed, "Yes, you did! Great first try! By the way, your eyes are still glowing!" She smiled proudly at me, despite the animals cursing at her from below.

"It is?!" I exclaimed, putting my hand on the spot below my right eye, then heard some animals threw bunch of nonsensical words at me.

She nodded furiously. "It is. So, anyways, descendants of the Phoenix, like us, tend to have varieties of elements we can control. Though, mostly our elements come from nature. Such as air and earth. Anything similar to that," she explained and pointed at me. "Your eyes stopped glowing."

I let out a silent 'oh' and watched the field of flowers below us, before I faced back at her. "Let's get going, and explain more thing to me," I insisted.

Morris smiled at me and we immediately took off from the trees. The beating of our wings and the strong wind we made startled the animals and I heard them rant at us.

(✷‿✷)

More of the things I learned about Feralis, they have this school called Kozen Akademis. That school, was where they hone their skills and magic when they hit the right age to go the the academy. Basically, that was where they train and teach knights for battles, even if they were from noble families or royals.

It meant that I would also study there.

Great. I'll learn how to be a murderer. I cackled in my mind.

Also, in respect for the Four Godly Beasts, there were four dorms named after them.

"That sounded like Hogwarts just now," I commented as we I finally reached the end of the forest and flew over the sea. The cold sea breeze brushed against our skin, also smelling slight saltiness from it. Morris sent me a weird look and I shook my head. "Don't mind me."

"I did tell you that royals also study at the Kozen Akademis, right?" She questioned as she lowered herself down, a feet above the surface of the water.

"You did," I replied and watched her dipped her hand onto the water.

"Three princes are currently studying there, including my Young Master. Though, it'll become five soon."

"Five?" I shouted and she let out a meaningful laugh.

I gazed upon the crescent moon and sighed. Hello, Moon. My only friend. Please don't let me meet more princes. How do you even greet royalty properly?

"Why are you so against meeting royals?" I heard Morris inquired, so I brought my eyes down at her and found her dipping the tip of her wing to the sea.

"I am not against it. I just don't know how should I interact with other people and aristocrats," I claimed and glided down beside her, but dared not to touch the water.

"But you're talking really good with me," she said and switched the tip of her wings to dip.

I made a face. "That's not it. You're like the only one with me right now, so how can I not talk? Also, you're so talkative and you act like a friend I never had!" I threw my hands upward and accidentally let go of the bag. I cursed and was glad that I caught it in time before it fall into the sea.

Morris snickered. "With your personality, you won't even have to put on an act in front of Young Master. He usually don't like it when people tense up in front of him because he thinks that they're afraid of him. He likes honest people. That also goes the same with the other princes."

Bruh, good thing she didn't realized what I just said.

"Wait—" Her eyes widened at me. "Did you just said that I'm like a friend you never had?"

And, there it goes. Yep. I just jinxed it.

I averted my eyes, but I felt her burning gazes, so I had no choice but to answer, ". . . Yes?"

Morris screamed that shocked me and I almost let go of the bag again. "You're officially my friend and younger sister from now on!"

"No, thanks," I answered immediately.

"I won't take 'No' as an answer!"

"No."

"I just said you can't answer no!"

". . . Fine."

"That said, I'm the one bringing you home. So, technically, I am your guardian," she chimed.

Hearing about that, I couldn't help but question, "How old are you, by the way?"

"I'm three years older than you," she responded then dipped both of her hands to the water that got me frowning.

She's still not finished with that? What if there's a shark? I thought, then shook my head aggressively. She can probably kill it in no time if there is.

The next second, a question hit my mind, something more important than sharks. "Morris, I don't know how long we've been flying now, but are we there yet?" I queried.

The lady turned at me and her lips shifted up into a crescent. "About time you ask."

I raised my brow at her.

"Look ahead. That is the boundary, portal, or gate between human world and ours. Only Feralis can see or go through it."

Probably a hundred of meters from us, the sea was covered with thick fog. I let out a 'woah' that I couldn't hold and when I turned my head at the lady, I found her grinning widely at me.

I brought my gazes back to fog and saw Morris took lead, flying a few feet ahead of me. I stayed behind her, still keeping our fast pace. Soon, we were enveloped by the thick fog. One moment later, the blinding sun greeted us, instead of the soft light of the moon.

I stopped short, almost forgetting how to fly as I watched the marvelous scenery before my eyes.

"Welcome home, Cyan," Morris said beside me and I felt the corner of my lips shifted up. "Welcome to Luminozenko."

"That's a crappy name but, alright."

❝𝕴'𝖑𝖑 𝖇𝖊 𝖆 𝖌𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖇𝖎𝖌 𝖘𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖔 𝖍𝖊𝖗.❞

—𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖘 𝕭𝖗𝖆𝖞𝖈𝖊