Chapter Four |

[Third person's pov]

"Dieter, could you please pluck me some Marinus in the backyard?" Finnigan requested Dieter whose doodling with Lewis.

"I wonder what potion's his making this time, " Dieter questions picking Marinus herb from Finnigan's garden, he skips back, entering his guardian's workplace, Dieter looks around to find that Finnigan has been working on a lot of potions. Finnigan's workspace is made of wood, some parts are stocked with stones, the wooden walls hanged Dieter's artworks, mostly are weapons of different kinds.

"Thanks, lad, now don't touch anything." The critter instructed.

"Hey, Fin, what potion are you gonna make?" the curious lad asks his guardian as he tiptoes to take a good look at the potions.

"Probably potion of invisibility, "

"Can I try!-"

"-Obviously, not Dieter, " his guardian insisted, "It can be deathly, I have not tested it yet." Finnigan lectures, while Dieter scowls at Finnigan, "Stop that Dieter, and please hand me the condiments, -"

"Can I at least have a tiny amount of it after you're done?" Dieter implored.

Finnigan let out a breath, "Alright, just right after I'm sure it's safe." The critter assured the lad, Dieter jumps enthusiastically.

Training hard with sticks eminently hook Dieter, he couldn't anticipate the thoughts, hold a real sword and whack it on a tree, fight other people, other than his mentor, and possibly win a battle, Dieter's imagination got intense, abruptly Jylrus interrupts Dieter with a whack on his head, "Focus kid, you're still far from good." Jylrus grips onto Dieter as a couple of strong blows from Dieter and their training is done.

"Alright! That's it for today, make sure you practice if you had a chance." Jylrus said patting Dieter's back. While his mentor heads back to his spot and plop constantly, on the dirt, unmoved, 'and there he goes again sleeping like a rock,' Dieter thought, as Lewis tag onto his shirt.

"Can we grab some stones down the creak?-" Lewis begs.

"-Alright bud, " Dieter replied, the boys then waddle into the woods.

-

Later that nightfall, Dieter and Lewis were up the treehouse, their shanks dangling on which they were seated at the edge, with their collection of rocks they got from the creek earlier, the both were aiming the ground below them, giggling as they compete, "I dare you!" Dieter challenged Lewis who was aiming at the very spot Dieter he was gonna hit but failed to.

"You dare me what?-" Lewis taunts.

"I dare you to aim at Jylrus's dug up holes!" Dieter exclaimed, crossing his arms.

"Challenge accepted! On the contrary, you must toss at that rubbish bin next to Finnigan's workspace, below us!" Lewis dared.

Dieter's face warms up at the sensation as his pal thought of daring him too, which is in fact for Dieter, he adores, he never had friends.

The two chuckles as they continue, by the kitchen, the critter prepares their dinner for the evening, meanwhile Jylrus polish steels and daggers.

Jylrus looks up as Finnigan approaches his direction, "Hey Fin, was she worth the horn?" Jylrus ask referring to Finnigan's horn. The atmosphere diverted rapidly that Jylrus didn't catch the emotions, that moment he realized he doesn't know his friend's critter.

"Maybe I just want my horns to be aligned, can we stop dwelling into the past?" Finnigan blurts out, alarming Jylrus.

He holds his hands up as if he was surrendering to the critter, "Alright buddy, calm down, shall I call the boys for dinner?" Finnigan nods and sighs.

Later that evening, as the four of them finished dining, Finnigan called out for Jylrus, "Hey bud, I just- It's just so sudden for you to ask those things, -"

"-Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm sorry, I should not have." They both agree to never talk about the past again. "Right, anyway I'll start teaching Dieter about the knives and swords tomorrow, so he'll have the awareness of such weapons," Jylrus assured as his feet take turns to the most awkward position.

His friend critter nods, grinning and then takes off. 'Nice one Jylrus! You just made it awkward for both of you' Jylrus facepalmed himself.

As the mentor made his way to his spot, he couldn't think why Finnigan was so sensitive about that topic, 'I mean, everyone did love somebody and got their heartbroken! What's the big deal?' Jylrus take a breath as he gazes at the stars. "Makes me wonder about my past, " he said as he dozes off.

-

The wind tore to the leaves with fury as it started to shower raindrops, the skies were dark, thin mud slips through Finnigan's workspace while Dieter and Jylrus were up the treehouse. "Which one's the Dagger of Striking?" Jylrus asks his student, Dieter then points at the Skullface dagger, "No, no no, we've gone through this Dieter." Jylrus rubs his temples as he was teaching Dieter for about one hour and he still couldn't take the hint of the difference between both daggers.

"They're both the same! Look, they look the same!" Dieter argues hoisting both daggers aligning to Jylrus face.

"Yes, I get it, they look the same, but look closely, there's something different about them, come on wield the daggers as I taught you," Jylrus instructed.

Dieter then grabs the daggers one on each hand and wields it as Jylrus told him so, "Well? Did you see the difference?-"

"-There's nothing really, " Jylrus grumbles.

"Alright, we'll get back to the daggers later, now, the swords." Instructed, Jylrus.

While Jylrus lectures Dieter, Lewis watches Finnigan fuse potions, the glowing critter hovers up the table to get a better look, "Easy kid, " Finnigan warns. Lewis lifts a petal and started chewing on it, "What are you doing?" Finnigan asks as soon as he hears chewing, "Hey, don't eat that!" Finnigan screeches, he reaches Lewis' mouth, to open it, "Open up, you weren't supposed to eat that!" Finnigan grumbles.

As the afternoon sets, Finnigan's more Argus-eyed than usual. As he watches the kid with one eye, while the other on the potions. It's been a week since Jylrus and the critter Lewis are living with Finnigan and Dieter.

Lewis flips a page from a book, "Fin, is it hard keeping these formulas in your head?" The lad heaves the book from Finnigan's desk, while in awe, the critter speaks, "These are amazing Fin, did you drew some of this?-"

"Uh-huh, you like it?-"

"Yeah! The colors are almost as magical as your potions, -"

"-so nicely done" Lewis mumbles as he caresses page by page.

"After seeing your works, I suddenly wanna learn about potions and their formulae, " the critter continued flipping page, after page, "How long were you making potions Fin, ?" Lewis flips to the last colored page.

"83 years and counting, " The guardian countered while fusing both potions into one container, a puff of luminescence blue vapors into the air. Both critters cough at the thick cloud growing further. "This is not good," Finnigan said in an anxious voice. "Get out! Now!" Finnigan shouted as both Lewis and Finnigan runs out of the workplace, "Cover your eyes!" The guardian instructed wrapping Lewis's with his wings as Finnigan's workspace blast a blindingly gleam.

On the treetop, Jylrus curious, "What was that?" Dieter and the mentor peek below, both the critters covered with blue luminous powder. "What happened?" The kid asks it's the first time Finnigan experience such magic.

"Let's not do that ever, " Finnigan drape with blue powder mumbled.

"That was fun!" Lewis exclaimed as the critter leaps from the ground.

Jylrus and Dieter came down to step on a powder-covered yard. "Well, this is unusual, don't you think Fin?" Dieter implores, gazes at his guardian.

"Unusual or not, that's gonna smear on the wood." Said Jylrus who was pointing at the powder-covered tree trunk. The method claps his hand getting everyone's attention,

"Alright, Let's camp away from these blue thingies, build a fire Dieter, " the man instructed as he takes off to get some blankets and cushions.

Dieter takes a handful of log inside Finnigan's workplace, using flint and stone to lit the wood, shortly, the wood fumes with fire, it trashes through the wind while Dieter struggles to control it.

Soon Jylrus got back downstairs, shock at what he's witnessing."Small fire!"

"I said to set a small fire!"

"This is not small!" Jylrus points at the gigantic fire Dieter unintentionally created.

"It was the wind!" The kid asserted. The two argued, on the other hand, Finnigan moves to his area, gazing at the night sky, with Lewis nearby.

"Was it a fail Fin?-" the boy queried.

Finnigan breathes in, "-No, it wasn't, "

"What was it then?-"

"-something I've never encountered before, broadly powerful than the ones I formulated," Finnigan whispered.

"What will you call it Fin?" Lewis raises a question as he turns to the guardian.

"Let's name it tomorrow, kid, go to sleep." The guardian motioned for Lewis to sleep.

'I finally did it, after 83 years of failed attempts!' Finnigan grinned to himself as he shuts his eyes.

-

A distressingly blue light burst somewhere in the woods, the black-eyed man bolts from left to right, 'it's been a long time since I've seen such a thing,' the man with a blinding scar thought to himself. He had a thick raven mop, a scar on his face, which flowers sprouts in it as if he's rotting, he almost looks like those men that fought in the war brutally, he has a build of a strong man, a marine green cloak, and a happy look on his face, which kind of spine-chilling.

The man treads through a dozen creaks, his stride startles the bushes and the critters.

The forest is enormous, it would take a year to skim every part of the wilderness, but the black-eyed warrior is not someone who gives up after decades of waiting for something peculiar. Once he gets ahold of it, he will have the power to resuscitate. The man goes on with searching and soon decided to rest for the night.

"I had to get that potion, I had to, for his sake, for my brother's sake." He asserted, laying on the mossy ground, few falling brown leaves layers below the man. The owl hoots at the nightly atmosphere.

-

The trees dance through the gust, sunlight pierces between layers of leaves, The young red-eyed hunter lies on the grass, the fresh scent of the newly grown field cut through Dieter's nostrils while Lewis alongside the Dieter doing the same thing, their arms support their head, whilst their legs crossed,

"Lewis, do you ever wonder why the sky is blue?" Said the boy reaching out for the sky.

"I sometimes do, but what makes me think a lot is why you call yourself red dendro when you're not red, you're crimson, a red mixed of something," Lewis declared, the critter then shift his potion.

"Ha! I never thought of that, I believe one of my parents is a black dendro, "

"Can you support that argument?" Lewis raised an eyebrow.

Dieter snickers at his friend's remark. "I know for a fact that I inherited this çelare necklace from my parents, proves that one's a black çelare," Dieter told Lewis, blood rushed to Dieter's cheeks.

"Well, that's plausible," Lewis said they both giggle.

At the far end, Jylrus sat on the wooden chair chilling under the sun, he peeks at the giggling boys and calls out, "You both sound like retarded critters!"

"Did I told you about the name-calling?" Finnigan blurts out, pointing a spatula at Jylrus.

That day could not get any better, although time passes like a light, swift and unpredictable.

Sundown came, they all gathered outside, with their backs on the ground, while facing the dark unknown, Jylrus and Finnigan have already fallen asleep, while the two boys, keep on chatting, Dieter points at one of the diamonds in the sky.

"What do you think are those, Lewis?" Dieter asks, fingers spreading while pretending to touch the sky.

"I think they're çelares thrown by the stronger dendroçelare." Said the critter as his eyes sparkle under the darkness.

"That makes sense, well, I believe that they're our ancestors, watching over us."

"That's lame! it does not even make sense," Lewis argued.

"Fine!" Dieter blurted, pouting, hands on both sides.

They stayed there for a while, Lewis soon yawns, tears at the edge of his eyes.

"Hey, bud, " the red-eyed boy calls quietly,

Both had their eyes gaze at the darkness, Lewis shifts his limb as it started to numb.

Lewis breaths out, "Yeah?"

"What happens when time stops?" Dieter raises a question, Lewis murmured, 'Oh come on man!'

"You ask a lot of questions, I'm no genius." Lewis chuckles, as he moves to his side to look at Dieter's profile.

"Just answer." Dieter grins, making Lewis smile, playfully punching Dieter's arm. "Pretty please, " The boy taunts, they both laugh, and soon the critter gave up. With his limbs spread out the dirt like something big stepped on him, Dieter does the same, "Actually, this is pretty relaxing" the boy admitted. "So?" Lewis's is one year older than Dieter and pretty much, Dieter rules! (Inaudible Viking screams)

"Well, I'm no expert, but I know, time stops for those who die" Lewis grins.

"That's a grim bud, I hope it never stops for me when the time comes," Dieter let out, and soon yawns, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, I too buddy, " Lewis mumbles, shitting his eyes as they both dive into a deep sleep. Well, that's deep, how could a twelve-year-old kid knew something like that! Crazy right?

It was believed that time never stops for the living and the dead, it's like we're part of these series of events, the birth and the death is part of the series, it never repeats itself.