Part 2. - Chapter III. New year

It was December 31. Jeremiah woke up early in the morning, but his family was up even earlier. Everyone was preparing for the New year, but Jeremiah continued to plan his revenge. He was a strange fellow, even for his family. The boy always tried to do something nasty to his older brother, whom he hated with a fierce hatred when he learned his secret. In fact, the locust-boy has long hated his family, since he found out that all the family members know about his brother's secret, except for him. And yet, he hated his family, for the constant lack of money. He always had to wear someone's rags. The boy was built so out of proportion that any item that he was wearing for someone was immediately noticeable because it was not the right size.

Jeremiah had long noticed the strangeness of his family, and once overheard, found out the truth. The Milovan family is the oldest family in the village. They hid from everyone that they were the Guardians of the worlds. This is a feature, a gift that has been passed down from generation to generation to the eldest of the sons. The gift only appeared in men. His grandfather Levent was a Guardian, and his son Ozdemir was also a Guardian, His grandfather Levent was a Sentinel, and his son Ozdemir was also a Sentinel, and from his father this gift was passed on to Cabris, Jeremiah's older brother. That was why Jeremiah hated his brother. Cabris was a superhero, and Jeremiah was a laughing stock. When the family gathered at the table, Cabris was served first. His mother saved the best pieces for him, and his grandfather constantly admired his eldest grandson and set him as an example. His father is missing and declared dead. Jeremiah did not know him, only the photographs told him that he had a father. When the boy looked at the photo of his father, he saw how much Cabris looked like Him and how much Jeremiah did not look like him. In the family album, there is only one photo of my father and his family, and there is no Jeremiah on it. There's mom and dad, there's mom, dad and Cabris, and there's a picture of dad hugging Cabris. But there are no photos of Jeremiah and his father. This, too, made him envious of Cabris. Big brother, favorite son, first in everything, brave and honest. He helped everyone in the village, and for this Cabris was loved and respected, but no one took Jeremiah seriously. The village children always laughed at him, and their parents called him nothing but" the brother of our Cabris, "as if he were not a separate person, but an annoying Annex to the"Ideal Cabris."

Of course, the entire family hid from Jeremiah, the true history of the family and their ancestral purpose, but the boy was so adept at spying and eavesdropping that very quickly learned the family secret. Oh, how angry he had been! Cabris got it all again! But never mind, the day will come when they will all answer for their neglect of him. Yesterday, his black list was supplemented by another estate – his former friend Costa. And he, too, will answer for the fact that, like everyone else, he preferred another friend to him. They will all answer!

Jeremiah already knew that the Guardians could move freely between worlds. They cannot influence the events of this world or the other. They are just Guards who catch evil spirits that fall into the Other world by accident, or save people who have fallen through the Veil not by their own will. Jeremiah knew that there was even a code of Guardians, but he had never seen it and did not know what it was about. Jeremiah understood that this Code contained all the rules and prohibitions of the Guards. In addition, Jeremiah learned how the brother gets to the other side: with the help of various minerals. A couple of months ago, Jeremiah stole a piece of malachite from his older brother, which was needed for the transition. He also followed his older brother to see how he did it. After learning all the details of the transition, Jeremiah tried to repeat the ritual, but it did not work out – he was an ordinary person and could not launch the portal. Cabris had the power because He was a Guardian, and Nea probably had the power because She was from there. Nea and Costa thought that no one knew their secret, but Jeremiah was a perfect eavesdropper. He found out for himself, easily. And now he decided to use this knowledge to get rid of Nea once and for all. Nea would open the portal, enter it, and Jeremiah would sabotage it, leaving Nea either between worlds or in the wrong place, which would probably make it impossible for her to go back. Jeremiah actually smiled at the thought, rubbed his hands together impatiently, and clenched his fists in a sudden sense of triumph. This day will be the first day when he will take revenge on them ALL!

Jeremiah put on old jeans and a torn t-shirt. He left the room and went to the washstand in the corridor. There was no running water or sewage in his house, and buckets of slops had to be pulled out all the time. Jeremiah hated to do this, he would rather go 20 times with a canteen for water than take out the slops. His family was already awake, his mother was scurrying around the kitchen and cooking vegetables for new year's salads, Cabris was cleaning the snow in the fence, and his grandfather Levent was marinating meat for kebabs. They always grilled shish kebabs on New year's eve. The Milovan family met the New year itself not at home in front of the TV, but in the courtyard with champagne and a barbecue. Exactly at 12 am, they started firecrackers, adults drank champagne, and children drank fizzy drink "Pinocchio", they held skewers with hot fresh shish kebab and congratulated each other on the holiday.

"You're finally awake," mom said when he came out into the kitchen. - Have Breakfast, then you need to take out the slops and go to the pump for water.

Jeremiah pursed his lips. Again the slop. He sat down at the table, frowning, and his mother poured him tea with sugar and put eggs and salted bacon in front of him. Jeremiah seasoned his eggs with ketchup and broke off a piece of bread, chewing hard. Then he patiently took out the slops and went for water, brought coal and firewood, and then went to his room.

Nea, meanwhile, was also eating a delicious Breakfast. She finished last night's salmon roll, then began to enjoy the prune pie, washing it down with delicious tea and lemon. Grandmother Pava has already cleaned up and prepared recipes with traditional new year dishes of Avernas. Nea was happy to help her mother in the kitchen, she loved making salads.

The traditional new year's drink of Avernas (in addition to sledinka beer) was a currant non-alcoholic tincture with the addition of a sweet Pysanka stalk. Pysanka is a plant from which sugar was made in Avernas. However, it was the unprocessed Pysanka stalk, which was infused with currants for 6 months, that gave the drink an amazing taste. Once upon a time, Grandmother Pava brought with her a set of seeds, Pysanka grew in her greenhouse, this world was quite suitable for her.

Also, the inhabitants of the Midlands competed tirelessly in culinary delights. Therefore, the main new year's dish was a completely new, invented dish that no one had ever cooked before. Not only did the competition take place between neighbors, but women in the same family also competed, so often the new year's table of avernassians was absolutely unpredictable and unique. Therefore, following the tradition, we decided that Neya will come up with a completely new salad, Oksana will come up with a hot dish, and grandmother Pavlina will prepare a completely unusual cake.

"grandmother Pava," - Nea said. - Once my grandfather told me a legend about 4 brothers. He said that Edigar, Ibralim, Damir and Kamar came in the Middle of the earth to found their state. Each of the brothers was special. Edigar is a white-skinned dark-haired man with black eyes. All its descendants have the same set of physical data. They call themselves Edygarian. Damir was a man with very white skin, snow-white hair, and bright blue eyes. I, mom, you and grandpa are the descendants of Damir, that is, Damirian. Kamar was brown-haired with muddy swamp-green eyes, and Ibralim was red-haired, with bright green eyes, with the addition of Golden sparks and his descendants are called Ibralimian.

"Yes, that's right," said Pavlina Savvovna. - Legend has it that Edigar came in the Middle of the earth, founded the Kingdom of Igirmah. Here he merged with the local people and even took to wife the daughter of a local chieftain – Azinat. The king and Queen had many children. The youngest brother, Damir, remained in the center of the Midlands. Here he founded a Middle Kingdom with a capital called Avernas. And the average twins kamar and Ibralim who fought constantly dispersed in different directions, also founded their own States. To the West, beyond the Silver mountains, is the state of Kamar, and to the East is the state of Ibralim, which is called the Kingdom of the Birches.

In fact, there are many legends about each brother. Their love stories were legendary and beautiful. A whole book has been written on the history of our kingdoms, a very large one. However, this is not the whole story. The book is a history only of Edygarian, Ibralimian and Damirian. But it doesn't tell the story of Kamar and his descendants. Although Kamar is mentioned in every Chapter and almost every page. But we don't really know anything about his Kingdom, about him, or about his family. All our knowledge is sketchy, and it doesn't explain much.

"Yes, I know that, but gran'ma Pava, how did the brothers quarrel? How did Kamar become an enemy for centuries?" - Nea asked.

"Oh, it's a very sad and terrible story. And yet it's all true. It all started with Edigar's older brother. Once Queen Asinat, wife of Edigar disappeared. Wise trackers from the Damirian tribe found traces of kidnappers who led to the Kingdom of Kamar's younger brother. Kamar began to actively search for his brother's wife, gave him all possible help, but all was in vain, the pathfinders of both kingdoms lost track.

A couple of years later, Damir's beloved daughter disappeared, and the trail of her captors also ended in the Kingdom of Kamar. As before, Kamar helped search for his niece, but he never found her. And only Ibralim not believe the kindness Kamar. After the disappearance of his brother's wife, he suspected Kamar, and after the theft of his niece, Ibralim was sure that Kamar was to blame. He told his brothers, but they didn't believe him. Ibralim insisted and even became a spy in the Kingdom of the Kamar. He found out everything and hurried to his brothers to tell them the truth. He was killed in an ambush. But Edigar's son saw it all. Ibralim mental image conveyed all the knowledge in the consciousness of the son of Edigar. He saw the dungeons and the niece and mother imprisoned there. He was able to go back to his father and tell them everything. The brothers gathered a large army and defeated the army of Kamar. However, they did not, Asinat was dead, her body had numerous signs of torture and magical experimentation. Damir's daughter was in a terrible state. Kamar forced her into marriage, and she was half-changed because she refused to accept the essence of Kamar. It, too, showed signs of torture and magical experimentation. In the end, she also died. That's why Kamar and Kamarian hate. Ibralimian hasn't forgiven him for the murder of his brother twin, Edigar not forgive his wife's death, and Damir did not forgive the kidnapping and death of his daughter. Since then, our peoples have separated, and time has only multiplied resentments, losses, revenge and betrayal. I think that when Kamar killed his brother, he cursed himself forever.

Of course, the story doesn't end there, but it's time for us to start preparing our dishes for the New year. I think we should definitely go to your friend Costa's house and wish his family a happy New year.

"Why?" - Nea whined. - "We are no longer friends!"

"And whose fault is that?" - mother asked sternly. – "I'm sure you bullied the guy, and when you decided to cut him some slack, he turned you down."

"What? How do you...?" - the daughter was surprised. – "Were you listening?"

"Oh, Nea, I know you, - mother said. – You always take things to extremes, I guess it's in your blood."

"Did you do that too?" - Nea prompted.

"No," - Oksana answered slowly. – Not me...

Nea frowned and looked at her mother, and with some sixth sense, she knew who she was talking about.

- Dad?..

- Oh, I need to come up with an amazing hot dish, and you still have a salad recipe, - Oksana hastily changed the subject and left the kitchen, not allowing her daughter to follow her.

Nea pressed her lips together, suddenly craving to know more about her father, but her mother, as always, ran away from this conversation. The girl opened a tin of cod liver and put the eggs on the hot Russian oven to cook. Nea marinated the onions, grated the cheese, and when the eggs were cooked, she just mixed all the ingredients. After the conversation with my mother, Nea no longer wanted to invent a salad, she did not have a new year's mood, so she fed the Shorty valuable pieces of boiled chicken under the table. She would have gone to Jeremiah right now, but curiosity held her back. It was interesting for her to celebrate the New year as it is celebrated in Avernas.

Nea went to her room to come up with a riddle for a gift she bought in Novosibirsk. Baba Pava liked indoor flowers very much. She had a flower in every room, so Nea bought her a potted flower that she didn't have yet – an ordinary geranium. All flower lovers have geraniums, and granny Pava didn't have one. This gift was advised by my mother to buy, which is much better understood the tastes and desires of granny. But the unexpected mention of her father never left her mind. She'd always wanted to know something about him. And now Nea found out that she resembled her father with a donkey's stubbornness. And Nea knew so little about her parent! The only thing my mother said about him was that he was a terrible person who had committed a crime. If you consider that mom lied to her about everything, then maybe she lied about dad, too...

Nea reluctantly left the room and saw that granny Pava and Mama had prepared a lot of Goodies in addition to the main dishes: herring under a fur coat, "Caesar", a salad with a recipe from Avernas, and Nea's salad from cod liver was placed in the center of the table. My mother cooked chicken and potatoes, which she seasoned with a special seasoning from Avernas. The smell was amazing, and grandmother Pava's cake was safely hidden from view in the cold hall. In addition to salads and hot dishes, the women made appetizers for an army: rolls of pita bread, hot pork, lobio with nuts, aspic with chicken and vegetables, squid with hot sauce, and Pava got her canned tomatoes in three-liter cans.

When 8 p.m. struck, three beautiful women of different generations, but very, very similar to each other, entered the new year's hall. Pavlina seemed younger by 20 years. Bright blue eyes. A lush, high hairstyle of silver-white hair, and a stunning snow-white dress made of satin and guipure, with hand embroidery of unearthly colors. Pavla was ready for the New year.

Oksana carefully arranged her hair, wove silver bells and black roses into it. She was wearing a full ball gown with a corset. The dress was two-layer, the main color – beige, and on top of a transparent chiffon fabric in black. The dress was sewn with voluminous black roses made of satin and guipure. She wore stunning earrings made of black stone, which is mined on the other side of the Veil. It's part of the Royal jewelry of Damirian's, which are made from pure gold and magite. Oksana Kupeena was ready for the New year.

"Oh, honey, you're wearing magite earrings! It's been a long time since I've seen the king's treasure!" – heard the cry of the Nea.

Nea immediately remembered her grandfather's story that each Royal family had its own ancestral jewel. Damirian it was magite – black stone with streaks of gold and mirror-like Shine.

Nea looked at herself in the mirror. Her beautiful hair was flowing in curls that had silver bells in them. Nea appreciated the stunning carrot-colored chiffon dress her mother had made for her. She looked like a Princess in an orange ball gown with ruffled sleeves and an embroidered collar. Nea Kupeena was ready for the New year.

"Nea, you are magnificent. The collar was embroidered by grandmother Pava in the traditional manner of Avernus.

"How's that?" - Nea asked.

- Traditional Avernus embroidery is a pink and blue floral pattern embroidery. Usually in this style, belts, cuffs and collars are embroidered. Sometimes even bags and tablecloths.

The mother hugged her daughter and they went to the table together. First, the three of them took a selfie, and then sat down at the festive table. Surprisingly, at the table under the new year's Apple tree, everyone was in a new year's mood. They watched TV, laughed, and often thought of their grandfather. Neya missed him very, very much again. But midnight was already approaching, and Oksana took out the fireworks she had brought with her from Novosibirsk. At five minutes to five, the three of them went outside and prepared the rocket launchers for launch. At exactly midnight, they set off fireworks that soared up and lit up the entire village, dozens of bunches of fireworks bloomed in the sky one after the other, and grandmother Pava and Oksana began to sing the folk new year song of Avernas:

When the clock strikes 12

The New year will come knocking,

And looking at the festive table

He will give it next year.

It will give us a year of fun

Save our family

And chase away the doubts

New year, after all, is on the nose

The new year weaves a scythe.

Chorus:

Clouds in the sky are decorated with fireworks,

Stars mingled with colored lights

And the magic of the New year will grant everyone

Every inhabitant of the Midlands.

Silver color of winter,

Bells are ringing

Blue flowers

on Windows already stand.

Christmas flowers

Bloomed in the forest

Fragrant forest of the soul

New year will give in full.

Everyone will get a gift

Everyone will be gifted.

Nea recognized the song and picked it up on the second verse, as did Shorty, who began to howl and bark and dance on his hind legs. When they finished singing the song, they congratulated each other on The New year. Nea and her family went into the house to give each other gifts under the Apple tree. Granny Pava opened the secretaire, where Nea noticed a green stone and many, many bottles of lighter fluid. Nea wondered why Pavlina needed to store the liquid for lighting in a secretaire. But the girl immediately forgot about it, because she had to make 2 riddles and guess 2.

Granny Pava was delighted with the gift, she had lived in the village for so many years, but she did not even know about the existence of such a flower as a geranium. Nea gave her mother a special gift, a framed photo of their family that The girl made with her own hands. It was decorated with beautiful shiny stones and sequins. The photo showed her, her mother and grandfather on a bench in the Larch alley of the Novosibirsk Arboretum. 2 years ago, they went to the Arboretum together in the fall and took a lot of family photos. It was a great time when the family was together and happy. Mom quickly guessed the riddle about the family, and she took Nea's hint, but she didn't say anything. Nea also received 2 amazing gifts: her mother bought her a very expensive smartphone "Alc-el", and Granny Pava completely surprised Her – she gave her a night vision monocular with a mask! Nea was so happy, she set up her new phone right away. I pumped up a lot of programs and add-ons, took photos of my mother and granny Pava, and took a bunch of selfies. All the gifts she put in the inside pocket of her fur coat, which she had brought with her. Pavlina and Oksana were going to visit their neighbors, Costa's grandparents. Nea begged to run to Jeremiah, she lied that he lived on the island.

After 15 minutes, Nea ran along the dam, and Oksana and Pavlina went to the Petukhovs. Oksana and Granny Pava went to the neighbors, they were called to the common table.

"Nea's coming. She went after your mutual friend Jeremiah," - Oksana told Costa.

"What?" - Costya was surprised. - "Nea went to see Jeremiah?"

- Yes... Is something wrong? - Oksana frowned.

"No. Simply... Everything is normal," - Costa said, but nothing was normal. The boy felt a terrible fear, his stomach literally clenched. He felt sick, and Costa got up from the table.

"Where are you going, son?" – asked the mother.

"Oh, I've had too much. You and your grandmother have prepared so much! Your winter salad is just delicious!" – Costa said with a smile. – I'm going to lie on the couch and watch a new year's musical on channel One."

"Oh, yeah. This year, she got a little Red riding hood, it turned out terrible," - grandma Costa shook her head. – "They should have settled on the first Cinderella."

Costa smiled and moved to the sofa, where he pretended to watch channel One. In fact, he was very worried that Nea had gone to Jeremiah. The boy didn't know if it was jealousy, but he did know that Jeremiah hated Her. They just can't be friends. Most likely, Jeremiah deceived Nea, because she is possessed, will return to the Veil. Costa was worried, but afraid to do anything. He had decided not to interfere any more. So he sat on the couch with his arms crossed and watched TV. Besides, maybe he's exaggerating the danger.

Nea texted Jeremiah from her new smartphone, via a free chat. Jeremiah, impatient, called Nea back and told her to wait for her outside. He had taken care of everything long ago. He lied to his family that he was going to visit Сosta, no one suspected anything, because he did this every year. Jeremiah came out to Nea, and she almost laughed. He was wearing a hat with earflaps tied under his chin, a short black fur coat, a terrible Soviet scarf in red and yellow checks, blue leggings and felt boots. The boy's clothes looked worn and out of size. He looked like a shot locust. But unfortunately, Nea needed it, so she could barely contain a smile.

Jeremiah understood as soon as he glanced at Nea. Her first outburst had been noticed and triggered a wave of anger in him, but he had learned to hide his emotions much better than Nea.

- Happy New year, Nea!

"Happy New year, Jeremiah!"

"Come on."

"Where to?"

"Nearby," - Jeremiah smiled. – "This is a monument to those who died during the great Patriotic War. It is called a stele. This stele is not simple. The fatal fog sometimes comes from here. I believe this is also the entrance."

- "Entrance?" - Nea asked. – "Direct entrance, in the sense of permanent entrance?"

"I don't know. Possible."

"How do you know that?"

"I Am Milovan. My family knows the secrets of the Fatal fog. I saw my brother send animals that got here that were very strange in appearance. He walked around the back of the stele and placed the rune-embossed malachite on the ledge. I couldn't see everything that happened, but then immediately there was a fog and a passage opened up. I tried to open it myself, but it didn't work, and you might not be able to."

Jeremiah took out the malachite, which actually had a rune with a triangle and a cross on it. Nea thought she recognized the rune. It looked like the one my grandfather had called Tashtom. He told Nea that this rune leads home. Nea didn't see the extra line that completely changed the rune's wash. The girl, looking at the malachite, understood why Jeremiah did not succeed with the transition. This malachite was similar to the one that lay at granny Pavlina ... along with the ignition fluid.

"Jeremiah, I know what to do. You took the stone from among the bottles of lighter fluid, didn't you?"

"Yes," - Jeremiah said, taken aback.

"Bring me this lighter fluid."

"Well."

Jeremiah entered the house, crept quietly into the storeroom, and saw dozens of rows of these bottles. He took one and put it in his shirt. Then his relatives went out for the remains of the barbecue in the grill.

"Mom, I wanted to take a skewer and treat my friend to a barbecue. Can I?"

"A friend?" - his mother chuckled. - "You've never had any friends besides Costa, much less girlfriends."

" I told you that Costa and I made friends with a new girl from Novosibirsk this summer. She's at the gate."

"Well, well," - said the mother incredulously. - "Go and give her the skewer, but come back at once. Your grandfather is not well, your brother is going to Spirino to get a doctor, and you will take care of him. I'll make him a broth and a medicinal broth."

"All right," - Jeremiah said calmly. His grandfather didn't get well every 2 days. And he was tired of constant tutelage: then bring water, then put a duck under the grandfather...

Jeremiah under the watchful gaze of his mother, he went out of the gate of the fence and approached Her, who was standing on the road between Stella and his house. He surreptitiously put the lighter in her pocket and openly handed her the skewer with the barbecue. Nea was surprised, but when she looked over Jeremiah's shoulder, she saw the boy's mother frowning. The woman cast a quick glance at her, and her eyes darkened. The woman looked at her younger son and the blond girl, and it seemed that she understood who Nea really was. She was so worried that she called angrily to Jeremiah. The boy was very annoyed, because he will not be able to see the diversion, will not be able to make sure that everything worked out. He was so angry with his mother right now, but he had to suppress all his emotions. Nea did not notice anything, the girl was preoccupied with malachite and the chance to return to Avernas.

"I have to go, and don't worry if it doesn't work out," - he said, and went home.

"Thank you, Jeremiah," - Nea said heartily. Without thinking about the consequences, she returned to the stele and did everything as described by Jeremiah. Nea put the stone on the ledge of the stele, doused it with lighter fluid, the lighter remained in her pocket after starting new year's firecrackers. Nea set fire to the malachite and waited. The stone suddenly began to spread smoke, first it covered the stele, and then from it fell such a fog that the neighbor's dogs howled, and in one moment the fog covered the entire street. The electric light went out and all sounds disappeared from the world. A yellow square of light suddenly appeared in front of Nea, growing brighter and brighter, and soon the light enveloped her and gently drew her inside the stone. Along with Nea's disappearance, the fog began to draw in through the open doorway and soon disappeared as if it had never existed. Stella returned to her former state, the electricity turned on, and the malachite disappeared.