35 Reminiscence (1)

In the last few days before Savyrran and Ovandarrak left Coast Town, the two packed up all their belongings into their space rings. While Savyrran did not have much to pack, since majority of her belongings were already in her space rings, Ovandarrak on the other hand had a great deal of things to pack.

With Fani's help, Ovandarrak relocated all his books from his library into his space ring. Then he packed up all his medical equipment, herbs and pills. He had prepared most of these pills himself using the furnace Doctor Avor bought for him when he was eight years old.

Running his hands along the quality gray metal of the furnace, a small smile hang at Ovandarrak's lips as he fondly thought of the day Doctor Avor bought him the furnace. Since the day he manifested his essence, the old doctor took him in as his new apprentice to teach him everything about medicine. By the time Ovandarrak was twelve years old, he could prepare pills using rare medicinal herbs, cure various sicknesses and perform very complex surgical procedures.

Though Ovandarrak's true aim was to be a soul recovery doctor, he soon learned that he also enjoyed being a normal doctor. Adding the practice of soul recovery would make him highly sought after as a doctor.

The night before leaving, Wikka called in her two children and presented them with clothes she had been making for them in the last few weeks. The clothes were all carefully made from normal everyday wear to attires for grand occasions.

Savyrran's eyes beamed when she saw how beautiful her clothes were. Her mother knew her taste and had skillfully crafted her clothes to suit her liking.

"Thank you, Ma. These are so beautiful." Savyrran hugged her mother warmly. She had no idea Wikka was even making all those clothes for them. This was such a nice surprise.

Wikka patted Savyrran on her back gently as she held on to the girl she had come to love as her own child. Fani suddenly entered the room with Ovandarrak, but the two stopped in their tracks to briefly watch the heartfelt mother and daughter moment. Wikka's eyes slowly met up to her husband's.

She smiled at Fani, however her smile was more of sadness than happiness. Fani knew it was not simply because the children were leaving for the royal capital. Wikka's sadness had to do with the conversation she had with Fani last night. Slowly, Wikka broke their embrace then kissed her daughter on her forehead.

"I'm glad you like them." Wikka said.

"Pa, Ovan." Savyrran said when she finally noticed the presence of her father and brother. "Are you two done packing everything?"

Ovandarrak nodded in the affirmative.

"Savy, there is something your mother and I need to tell you." Fani spoke up.

Gauging her father's body language, Savyrran suspected that this was going to be something serious. She just could not think of anything yet. She had never seen her father look so anxious about anything before.

"Is everything alright, Pa?"

But before Fani could answer her daughter, Wikka gently grabbed on to Savyrran's hand and then led her to the couch in the room.

"You need to sit for this." Wikka said. "You too, Ovan."

Soon, the entire family had settled down in their chairs, a heavy atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty clouding the room.

"What's going on? Did something happen?" Savyrran could not help but ask.

She had never seen her parents this distressed before. Did this have to do with them leaving home on their own? Well, her parents had nothing to worry about since Savyrran believed she and Ovan could take care of themselves. But she also knew her parents already knew that. This had to be about something else. Whatever it was, she hoped it would not pose any danger to her family. Anything that tried to harm her family would suffer her wrath.

Fani smiled weakly at Savyrran. "No. There's nothing wrong. It's just… your mother and I need to tell you something. It's about where you come from."

For the first time, Savyrran realised that she had been holding her breath. Upon hearing that it was nothing serious, she sighed in relieve. Ah, she thought someone had died or something. Why were her parents behaving like the world had suddenly come to an end? Besides, why would they want to tell her about Coast Town?

"Where I come from? Don't we come from Coast Town?"

"Well, we do. At least your mother, brother and I come from Coast Town."

"What do you mean? I don't understand. If you all, including my twin brother, come from this town, then shouldn't that apply to me too?"

"Savyrran… Ovan… Ovandarrak is not your twin brother." Fani slowly blurted out. These very words he had been afraid to speak out for fifteen years suddenly flooded out of his system like a burst dam. Ever since that day he found baby Savyrran in his workshop, he knew a day would come when he would have to tell the child about it. He had not anticipated that revealing that secret would be so hard. He feared that Savyrran would no longer see them as her family. However, with Wikka's persuasion, he finally agreed to tell Savyrran the truth about herself.

Fani and Wikka held their breath, as they waited for Savyrran's reaction. But the girl only stared at them with her deep soulful eyes like she had not heard a thing. Why was she being so calm about this? Fani thought.

Taking her silence as a call for more explanation, Fani went ahead to tell Savyrran about that fateful night fifteen years ago. He told her about how he met Savyrran's real mother in his workshop and how her mother had pleaded with him to protect her baby.

"Your mother left this with you." With that, Fani rubbed the space ring on his finger to cast his consciousness into it. A few moments later, his consciousness was back, and in his hand, he held a beautiful black ring with the insignia of a winged creature skillfully crafted on it. "Here."