5 Lost Treasure

If what Reshep witnessed is true, then his eyes have deceived him. He is a blunt knife who could not but understand how to pierce through the thought inside,

"Well done", cold claps ran the room. A raged Hazel and Reshep turned beside the dragon to witness an old man with average height and wrinkled eyes with soggy skin. The ash black cat stood beside his legs staring them with an unreadable face,

"Quite fun, Tengo", he said to the Dragon which pulled back it's firm tail and to the surprise began to shrink, until he was the size of a cat. Reshep ran to Hazel and whispered in her ear secretly, "Time to flee"

Hazel looked at the old man desperately, "I might be calling the authorities to send you to prison for trespassing the library" he told them with wrinkled with dried lips.

"No! We are just....", Reshep stammered and pulled Hazel's wrist to get her moving but she won't budge a bit. He glanced at her determined face where tension lines and confusion flares.

"You were spying on us through the cat", she boldly stated, something going inside her brain. The old man grinned heartily after his little trick was caught,

"But you cannot get me jailed for that, would you?", he asked merrily.

"We can't, now we better get going... we were just returning the book!", Reshep came up with ideas but he could not understand why Hazel doesn't flee before getting caught by the royal soldiers. Does she want her head along with the pigs on the dinner table? And besides, it's just an old man, what could he do physically to them without the aid of guards.

"But", the old man proposed, "If you explain me with a rather strong base of your presence here at this hour, I might do you good"

Hazel finally changed her adamantine expression by pulling lips back and nodded sheepishly. Reshep, on the other hand, waited desperately for her to give a sign so they can flee through the blissful window. His father is not a rich man to get him out of the jail if he is stuck in the matter and so goes for Hazel.

"Very well, you may join me in my office", he told them and began to move his noddle feet. The cat gave Hazel a glance as she passed by her and the chibi dragon gritted its fangs at her. Unforeseen to them was the healing of all the destruction since their advent. Pieces of wood soared up and clung to one another and the broken tiles were back to shape as fresh daisy. Hazel slid the book close to her chest and Reshep picked up his dagger,

"Let's run while he faces us his back", Reshep advised.

"I don't think so, I am doubtful of his abilities. He might find us anywhere on the earth", she whispered back to him and they went downstairs following the man to out of the library. They reached a narrow wooden corridor where a single door was in place. The old man explained as he slid the door open,

"Thank god I am nocturnal that I was up. Poor Tengo has ruined it's night schedule now", they followed after him into a room with a glass desk filled with objects of plenty and chairs around. As the old man sat on his chair with a relaxed groaned coming from soothing of knee caps when they soften from a walk. He motioned the two of them to have respective seats.

"Now, may I know the cause?", he asked, placing his chin on his entangled fist-ball like listening to an interesting tale of ghost and gods. Hazel pulled back her lips to utter but Reshep jumped to rescue, "It was my fault!" his desperate words proved in white liar.

"I see...", the old man gazed on his messy table.

"No, it was my wish", boldly said Hazel and looked deeply to the old man. There on his table, they read his name, "PROFESSOR MESSI"

"Only the one who is in fault shall be allowed to stay here, the other one should leave", the man ordered, nothing about him is arrogant.

The two of them glanced at each other and Hazel said lightly, "Believe in me"

"I can't!", he hissed back in a whisper.

"Just go or stay here to make matters worse", she hissed back with dragon eyes.

Shrugging off knowing his intellectual and stones won't work on her. He gave a fatigued sigh and dragged back his chair. Then he went outside the room tiredly. When the door shut, the room was ghost-quiet until Hazel broke the silence,

"I was here for this book", she displaced the book from her thighs and placed it on the table.

"Stealing it?"

She shook her head, "I just wanted to see..."

"Could have waited upon the morning sun"

She nodded, "I wanted to but something pulled me to the book"

"And what is that something?", he inquired with deep interest.

"A dream or a nightmare... It pulled me...", she was reluctant to speak furthermore but the old man wanted to hear her eagerly.

"A... What you saw in that dream?"

"The wrath goddess slaying a dragon with her sword soaring in the garnet sky above blood-bathed earth", she truthfully spoke her heart and pearl-tears were paused in her eyes, daring not to rain.

The old man's sunken eyes bulged out suddenly with the disbelief of what he heard just now might be a coincidence, "Might be just a dream. How can you be so irresponsible?"

She nodded in disappointment ready to face whatever he charges on her. After a deep dive in silence, the old man pushed the book a little to her side, "Come to the training sharp at EIGHT" he told her and she elevated her hung down head, confusion filling it. She did not expect those words.

"What...?", she enquired quietly.

"I said what I said. Now go to your house and rest," he looked at the bizarre clock on the sidewall, "You'll only have five-hour sleep" he told her, although it was impossible for a human to read than kind of fancy clock with seldom alphabets and colour from every culture.

Hazel sat there a little more for the old man to explain further but he was not simply in the mood to, "Now lady leave or I'll change my mind and won't let you claim this book, FOREVER", he breathily emphasised on his last words. Upon once hearing that he'd let her have the book, she picked it up or more like snatched from the table and nodded sheepishly and walked out, shutting the door close. After her leaving the old man in silence, his cat jumped on his thighs and he patted it gracefully to make the animal purr loudly to soothe the ear of listener. The chibi dragon had long but fallen asleep in its cosy little bed.

"Time has come. For my duty is completed, father... Oh, our ancestors would be so proud of me", he almost shed a tear but quickly wiped it. There was a joy washing his wrinkled eyes like he has found a lost treasure.