Sitting atop a branch, Councilor Spyro with a hand raised, waved his fingers and said."Invite me in for a cup of tea, won't you?" His face twisted into a smile.
At that moment a voice resounded in Memor's head.
'Go home Memor.'
He doesn't want me interrupting their conversation? Or listen in on it? Memor lowered his jian, at the same time it seemed to dissolve before disappearing.
'Both.'
Uncle Ceres stared at Spyro with his usual unbothered expression, then turned around to walk into his cabin before asking."Berry or Ivan?"
"I'll have a berry-based tea. I can't understand you fools that love your bitter water." Spyro said, then he dropped down from the tree branch, landing softly on the twig filled ground.
I should go. Memor turned around and walked into the woods, but before he could take one step, in an instant, Spyro appeared in front of him in his white robes.
He looked down at Memor's pale skin and small stature compared to his and smiled then he said."Child, it would be torturous for me to have tea with that man." He lowered himself a tidbit to Memor's level then continued,"Join us for some tea."
"I-" Memor said, but was cut off.
In the next moment he was inside the cabin seated on a chair with Spyro on his right, cross-legged leisurely seated on a chair. He had this disturbing smile on his face.
Memor looked to his left, his uncle was preparing some tea in the kitchen at the far end of the room.
I can't leave now. From the look on his face he probably is going to do something violent if I stand up now. Memor sighed internally.
With his back facing the two, Uncle Ceres asked tersely."What tea?"
"Um, berry as well." Memor answered, gaining a look of approval from Councilor Spyro who still had that twisted smile on his face.
Memor didn't budge, his expression was even, despite the glances from Spyro.
Soon Uncle Ceres was done brewing the teas,he brought a tray, on it were two cups and two pots. He placed the tray down and started pouring one cup from each pot, then on the tray a small part of it rippled as if underwater and another cup appeared. Ceres poured berry-tea into it and offered it to Councilor Spyro.
After everyone had taken their cups, Uncle Ceres bent down as if to sit, but there was no chair behind him. In the next moment, space wavered under him and a chair no different from the ones Memor and Spyro sat on appeared.
They drank their teas in silence, only the chirping of birds blew in from the cracks in the wooden walls.
Councilor Spyro after taking a couple sips placed his cup down. Reaching into the sleeve of his robes, he took out a black wooden box from a hidden pocket and said smiling."Here, a gift."
Uncle Ceres stopped drinking and looked at Spyro, then asked in his even tone,"what for?"
"Oh, it's a long story." Spyro said, somehow his smile widening even more.
Uncle Ceres nodded and went back to drinking his tea, unbothered by Spyro's gift or reasoning.
"Well you see," Spyro spoke, seeing that Ceres was not going to ask." There was this pup, he went from park to park looking for friends, but they all rejected him…"
He really is persistent huh? Memor drank his tea in silence.
"He searched far and wide, then finally, far far away, he found a park of pups that would accept him, they played with him, showered him, and gave him toys to play with…"
Spyro paused, his voice turning a bit angered and his smile twitched."But the pup wanted more, so he went to the Toy Maker of the park asking for more toys. And, he got it… With the toy, he stole from his pup friends and ran away."
Spyro picked up his cup and took a sip, his face now expressionless."As for what they did to the runaway pup…"
He placed his cup down and stared straight at Ceres then said.
"We ate him alive."
We, huh? So the Toy Maker he spoke of is… Memor didn't make any expression, having heard Spyro's words, his only focus was his tea.
Spyro uncrossed his legs then leaned forward to the table, placing both his arms on top."So Ceres, what shall we do with the Toy Maker? I say we kick him out the park. Or… burn him and his pupil alive."
So aggressive. So, different from how he speaks to the village. I guess he is just a madman for wanting to burn us for a slight mistake. Memor listened, only raising an eyebrow at his suggestion.
'Not a madman, he just wants a reason.' Ceres's voice echoed in his mind.
"I say you shouldn't kick him out, y-"
"So we should burn them? I like that." he smirked.
Spyro reached for his cup wanting to sip his tea, in that moment his cup wavered for a second and disappeared, the tea spilled onto the table.
Before it could drench Spyro's sleeve, the spilled tea disappeared, reforming above Ceres's head.
The area around Ceres's head rippled, in the next moment a large wooden bowl supported by shafts of wood like a hat formed on his head. It caught the falling tea.
What even is that? Memor made a confused face.
I'm going to be honest Uncle Ceres, you lost this one. Memor focused down at his tea as if the two powerhouses weren't about to fight.
Ceres's voice said in his head, his voice tinged with confusion.'Really?'
Just then, the space above Memor head rippled, at the same time Ceres's pine green glove's golden decorations flickered, and a second later the tea from the bowl on top of Ceres's head had transported itself above Memor.
Splash.
Memor was drenched in berry-tea, his ivory tunic tainted in soft cherry red. He stared at his uncle, raising his eyebrows. Granted he deserved it for having such a thought, at least that was what Uncle Ceres had concluded.
Sitting opposite Ceres, Spyro bursted into laughter, not from Memor, but that thing on Ceres's head."Hahaha, what even is that?"
"Protection." Ceres said tilting his head.
Spyro spent a couple moments calming himself down, then he stood up and said."Good luck protecting yourself, you'll need it..."
Spyro circled behind Memor, pulling the black wooden box in front of him. With both his arms now almost wrapped around Memor's neck, he continued,"Because no one is going to save you now."
Click.
He opened the box. Memor was met with a sight, he would have been disgusted if he felt much then, but now looking into the box, everything clicked. It was the pup's hand.
A pale severed hand still dripped in dark blood, its middle finger was cut from its stump, almost convincing Memor that it was actually eaten. On it pinky, a silver signet ring with two hawks dancing with one another on it.
Retracting his hands, Councilor Spyro placed them behind his back and walked to the door, turning his head a bit at Ceres, he said with a wide smile."I enjoyed the tea…Our last tea together."
The man rippled for an instant then disappeared, leaving nothing except the black box and the severed hand.
Memor stared at the spot where Councilor Spyro was, his expression even. The man was gone, now only Memor and Ceres rested at the table.
'Time to train.'
Memor heard Ceres's voice in his head, at the same time the golden accents on Ceres's glove flickered, and so did the black box ripple then disappear a moment later.
In the next few hours outside the cabin, Memor sparred against Uncle Ceres, not light sparring with wooden swords, but real ones. After every bout Memor would be marred with scars, tainted in blood, his mind would be on the brink of losing consciousness, but in the last moment, Uncle Ceres would touch Memor's head with a single finger like he was touching trash, then reform all his injuries. The fatigue stayed upon each reforming as they sparred till the end of noon, the sun had just fallen from the horizon and Memor made his way home.
He has not bathed after his train, his tunic sticking on his skin just to be blown off by the strong gales of night even when he was between the trees. He walked through the taiga, looking up into the starry sky which hid behind the leaves of stems. The path from the village to Uncle Ceres cabin was relatively smooth, even in the woods. There might be an uphill or two, but it was quite straight forward.
After a couple minutes, he reached the edge of the forest, unblocked by trees, the sky revealed itself in full glory.
It was a black canvas sprinkled with salt, myriads of shades grazed the canvas. At the edge of his vision, a glow streamed to his eyes. Turning left he saw a moon, no, from what he remembered it was not just called moon anymore, it was called eclipsed moon.
What was supposed to be a moon was as large as the sun, no part of its center was visible, covered in a darkness deeper than the sky. Only a rim of light escaped the dark blockade.
I should get home quickly, I haven't eaten since the morning. Memor sighed internally, then made his way home.
In his neighborhood, warm light streamed out from the windows, families had dinners bustling in their homes with laughter and joy, but from the outside, it sounded like muffled voices when Memor walked by.
He went around his dark home, at the back there was a fence containing what looked like a kitchen. It would be a stretch to call it that, there were some pots, an axe and chopping block, stacks of fire wood crammed in a corner, opposite it was a hanging rake where dried meat swung in the breeze near Memor's house walls.
In the center of the backyard, a fire pit was used for cooking. In the adjacent corner to the rake, was a cabinet containing all sorts of wooden utensils, vegetables and small amounts of seasonings.
Memor cut up a couple potatoes and then threw them in a pot. He went inside his house from the front to fetch a bucket to get water from the well, but when he got in he saw that his lantern was burning. A man sat at his table, seeming to enjoy one of the novels he had on his desk.
"Child, do you really enjoy these silly stories?"The man turned his head to face Memor. It was Spyro with his disturbing smile.