Chapter 5

The next time I woke up, it was like the fatigue had disappeared completely. It was as if it was never there in the first place. I was energised and ready to face whatever was thrown at me. There was also a beautiful smell in the air; it smelt sweet, and fruity somehow. With my now energised limbs I decided to figure out what the smell was. It only got stronger once I stepped outside the old fashioned room. After smelling it and deciding it came from the left I walked that way, and accidentally walked into someone. I looked up, meeting Zath's eyes along the way. 

"Well, I was just sent to wake you up," he smiled at me. "You feel any better?"

"A lot better," I replied. "How long was I asleep?"

"The whole night," he replied. "We weren't asleep long after you,"

"You guys were tired too?" I asked. 

"We had to transport you and Alys here," he replied. "Alys could only get us about a mile away from here, and the idiot was too tired to walk,"

"Well, at least we got him out!" I said, noticing Zath's face fall slightly. It picked up after I talked. 

"Anyway, Circe said she's making some food for us, and I take it you're hungry," he smiled. "I know I am,"

"I think we all are," I replied, smiling too. His smile seemed to be contagious. 

He began walking down the hallway, looking at the paintings hanging up on the wall. They were encased in beautiful golden frames, and look extremely old and worn out. I looked over the people in them; a few looked to be human with different bird wings, there were a few elves in a couple, and a few had humans with white eyes and white horns in them. Zath stopped in front of one of them. 

"Wow. I didn't know they had a painting of Shyael and his family," he pointed to one of the paintings. 

In the painting were three elves. One was a female, her wrinkles painted in excruciating detail and her hair too. It must've taken a long time to have done it. Next to her was an older male elf, with extremely long hair. It pooled on the floor around the two. Sat in front of them were Elaria and another elf, one that I assumed was Shyael. He was smiling, a lovestruck smile as they held each other's hands. He also had long hair, except his didn't reach the floor. It looked so realistic. 

"I bet she misses him," Zath mumbled. 

"She does," I nodded. "I know I would if I was in her situation,"

"Same," he turned to me. "This mustn't be too old. Maybe six years at least? Maybe even seven since Gael was born at the time it was painted,"

"If you don't mind me asking, how old is Gael?" I asked, curious. 

"Well, he's about six now," he replied. 

"If you don't mind me asking," I put my finger up again like I was asking a question. "Why not have two children at the same time?"

"Shyael was adopted into the family," he replied. "Back when the Altiorem was actually generous he found a child left on his doorstep. At the time the Altioreum couldn't have a child, so they were over the moon about it. Nobody really cared since it was an heir. Then, about seventeen-eighteen years later she had a child. They found out how she could do it I think, nobody really told me,"

"Ah, I see," I nodded. "It sounds interesting,"

"You'll have to ask Elaria about it more, I only know a limited amount," he wiped some dust off the painting, rubbing it between his fingers. 

"I'll have to," I nodded. "Elves are much different to humans,"

"Maybe sometime in the future we'll be able to compare," he smiled at me, a corner of the lips smile. "Obviously when we aren't being hunted by a witch who wants to murder us,"

I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, let's hope it happens soon,"

Zath's smile grew at my laugh. He turned, gesturing for me to follow as we both looked at the paintings along the walls. Sometimes he'd stop, and talk about the people in the picture, and talk about history as I listened. I was intrigued by it all, I was always a history geek. Then, at the end was one with a human in it. A real human. We both paused at it, standing in silence and staring at the two people. In the painting was a tall human, blonde hair and light skin, smiling as he held a pregnant elf close. We were both awestruck at the fact that a human was in a painting with an elf. It must've been old.  

"Admiring the paintings?" A voice scared the both of us. We turned around, and were greeted by an old man with greying hair. He was covered in wrinkles, and had large owl wings which looked matted and old. 

"Silvano," Zath breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing from his tense position. "Please don't do that again,"

He laughed, a hearty one. "And you must be Oliver. It's nice to finally meet you,"

"Nice to meet you too, Silvano," I nodded, looking back to the painting. 

"You want to know more?" He moved closer, also looking. 

"If you don't mind," I replied, messing with my blond hair. 

"This was painted a long time ago," he told me. "Just before the big war. She was quite high up for an elf, and fell in love with a human. Unfortunately after it was painted, a war broke out, and humans were placed on the island you live on. The baby went with him since it carried human blood,"

"That's terrible," I replied, looking at the smiling faces preserved in paints. 

"It is, it is," he nodded. "All who carried human blood were sent to the island, save for a select few who had more limbs or additions,"

"So some of us humans carry other blood?" 

"Yeah, some do," he nodded. "Maybe even all now,"

"I didn't know they did that, I thought it was just humans alone," Zath added.  

"No, all humans," he shook his head. "Anyway, you two look hungry, Circe is making a bunch of food for you,"

"Great," Zath smiled, patting his stomach. "I'm so ready for food,"

I let out a small giggle, and Zath turned to me. He sees brighter, gesturing for me to follow him down the stairs at the end of the hallway. The whole house reminded me of the, where everything was old and quite regal. My Father was friends with the Queen, and we'd visit often as outside ears. It had half wood half wallpaper on each wall, the wood being dark and the wallpaper an almost mustard colour, except it was quite light and worn. I assumed it had been there for a long time, the whole place looked old. I assumed the outside did too. 

The kitchen was even older than the rest of the place. The walls were cream, the cabinets white and utensils silver. The cooker was large, larger than any I'd seen, and was silver too. A woman was cooking at it, white hair in a bun and showing off her white horns. . In the middle was a large table with a white tablecloth, and I could see a recurring theme. Sat at the table was Alys, Elaria, Alix and Alizon, all eating what looked to be pancakes. Upon seeing the both of us, Alizon patted two open seats. 

"C'mon, sit down, else I'll eat your share," she beamed at us. 

"Don't you dare!" Zath quickly pushed his butt into one of the spare seats, almost falling out of it. 

"Calm down Zath, she's joking," Alys lifted his head from the table. 

"Geez, you look like Lady Death herself," Zath adjusted himself as I sat down. "Did you sleep much?"

"No," he placed his head back down on his arms. 

"His Puella kept him up," the woman turned around. I noticed she also had the cloudy white eyes. 

"Didn't we have any sleeping potions?" Alizon asked, pushing her empty plate in front of her. 

"No, we had none left," the woman let out a long sigh. "You can get the ingredients when you go to Silva Terram,"

Alizon nodded, sitting back. "I'm stuffed,"

"Well, I wasn't expecting anything less," Alix complained. "You've had about three plates already,"

"I'm hungry," she replied. 

"Not anymore,"

"What about you two?" The woman interrupted Alizon, who was about to reply. 

"Hungry," Zath told her.

"Same," I nodded, feeling a little awkward. 

"You're in luck," she smiled. "Alizon hasn't eaten us out of them yet,"

"Yet," she put her finger up proudly. 

"Save some for us," Zath pouted. I smiled. 

"Alright, alright," she waved her hand in the air. 

"Why don't you go upstairs? A bed is much more comfier than the table," she turned to Alys. He didn't respond. "Well, that's surprising. He actually fell asleep,"

"He didn't sleep all night, I'm not surprised," Silvano walked through the door, pulling a chair from the corner and pushing Alix and Alizon to the side to fit him in-between. 

"How do you know? Stay up with him?" Alizon crossed her arms at being moved, sulking. 

"No, we took turns," he pointed to the woman. "Didn't we Circe?" 

"Right you are, Silvano," she pulled a plate from a nearby cupboard. 

"If you don't mind me asking, why was he awake all night?" I put my finger up timidly. 

"His Puella, the witch, decided to give him a load of pain in different places," Circe said. "It switched from his head to his stomach to his arms to his legs to anywhere that could hurt," she turned around, setting a plate of what looked to be chocolate chip pancakes, except seemingly fluffier, in front of Zath. He licked his lips, taking the cutlery from Alizon and immediately digging in. 

"I didn't know it could be done so far away," Elaria commented. 

"It can, it can," she nodded solemnly. "Only the strong ones can,"

"So she's one of the strong ones then," she mumbled. After about a second, her calm face flicked to one of distress. "The one who took Shyael was a strong one. It couldn't possibly… no, that's…"

"What is it?" Alizon asked. 

"Shyael was kidnapped by a strong witch. We never saw her face," Elaria's shoulders sank. 

"So you're thinking she was the one who took him?" Alix asked. 

"I don't know, I hope not," she shook her head. "I didn't see him, so I really hope it wasn't her,"

"There are plenty more strong dark witches Elaria, I'm sure one of them has him," Silvano told her. 

"Goddess, I hope so," she nodded, her face perking up a little bit. 

"I'm sure he's somewhere," Zath said, pushing his empty plate forwards. 

"You could give Alizon a run for her money at that speed," Alix looked the plate over while Alizon glared at him. 

"I suppose I could," he winked at her. "Care to challenge me?"

"Not now you two, I only have a limited amount," Circe placed a plate in front of me. "Maybe next time,"

Alizon pouted at Circe. She simply shook her head, turning away with a smile. I looked down at the three perfect fluffy chocolate chip pancakes, hoping they weren't raisins in disguise. Alizon passed me some cutlery, and I dug in immediately. I was lucky, they were chocolate chips, and the pancakes were so fluffy. I'd never had pancakes as fluffy and light as these ones. They were soon gone. 

"Well, Oliver here could give you a run for your money too," Alix smirked, watching me push the plate forwards. 

The two looked at me in disbelief. I looked back blankly, wondering why. 

"For someone so small you sure do eat quickly," Zath commented. 

"I am not small!" I complained, pouting and crossing my arms. 

"You are a little," Elaria added. 

"No he's not," Alix complained. "If he's small, what am I?"

"Pumilio," Alizon mumbled, snickering to herself.  

"I am not," he crossed his arms, pouting too. We just laughed. 

"You are a little," Silvano said, smirking. 

"Oh shut up," he looked away. 

"Where's your boyfriend anyway?" Alizon teased. Zath's ears fidgeted at the mention of the word 'boyfriend'. 

"Asleep, again," he leaned back, rolling his eyes. 

"He takes after his Pur for that," Circe dragged a chair up, and we all made room for her. 

"I don't sleep that much," Silvano defended. 

"Lies," she mumbled to Elaria. She laughed. 

"You have a boyfriend?" Zath asked. 

"What about it?" Alix seemed to be more defensive at the mention of it. 

"Nothing," he turned away, staring blankly at the wall. 

"Don't tell me you're one of those," he mumbled. 

"Don't compare me to them," he mumbled. 

"Them?" Elaria asked. 

"Forget I said anything," he waved his hand in the air. 

"No, why did you ask?" Alix questioned. 

"I said forget it,"

"Why?"

"I said forget it!" He yelled. After about a second he turned slightly red and slouched in his chair. "Just leave it,"

"I'm sorry for what happened," Elaria mumbled. 

"Don't be," he shook his head. 

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Alizon asked softly. 

"They kicked me out," Zath mumbled. "He didn't love me like I loved him, ratted me out and got me kicked out. I'm homeless now we've escaped,"

"I'm so sorry," I mumbled. "I know what it feels like to be kicked out, it's not pleasant,"

"What happened to you?" He turned to me. 

"My sister got kicked out for having a girlfriend, and I did for supporting her," I shrugged. "I'm glad it happened, we're in a better position now,"

"I see," he nodded. 

"I'm sure after this has all blown over my new dad will let you stay with us," I smiled. "He's known for adopting and helping a lot of people who can't help themselves,"

"It sounds nice," his lips curled into a small smile. 

"It is," I couldn't help my smile. "It's a big mansion he lives in, with everything you could ever want, and a couple maids to help you out with things and clean up so you don't have to worry about anything, and he has quite a bit of money that he uses way too much to spoil everyone he knows, and he does a lot of charity work to help others, and is just generally really kind. He's been nicknamed 'Dad' or 'Father' in the papers since he adopts so many people,"

"He sounds really nice," Elaria smiled.

"He is," I nodded. 

"Well, let's hope we can get to Domun fast then?" She smiled at Zath, who was smiling now. 

"Me and Alys'll meet you up there," Alizon said. "I have two teleportation potions to get us there. I would give them to you two, but I don't have any disguises for Oliver, so it'll be better for us two to meet you there," she pointed to the both of them. "It'll only take two days, and I know someone who owns a tavern on the way there anyway, so you don't have to worry about a place to sleep,"

"That's good," Elaria sank down on her chair. 

"You guys can set off later if you want, she's only about four hours away," Alizon told us. "And I'm sure Puella wouldn't mind cooking some food for you on the way,"

"I wouldn't," she smiled, picking up the plates. "And my children will help you pack,"

Alix pushed Silvano back, punching Alizon in the arm. She just laughed.

"Go on, pack. We'll look after Alys, make sure he gets enough sleep," she patted him lightly on the head. He fidgeted slightly in return.