Red Moon City, 6:00 am
"Arrrrrrrrrgh."
Eira screamed as a screeching sound pierced into her eardrums—her fvcking alarm was on a mission to kill her. She tossed the clock away from the bed and watched with drowsy eyes as it fell to the floor.
It was another day of hardwork—She had to prepare food and clean the house. Her phone chimed and she gave it a sour look.
The school's group chat was active and people were discussing whatever was happening in school.
...Guess who slept with three hotties at the baseball game last night?
....Cora did! She fvcked three boys from our rival school!
....Miss goody two shoes did what?????????????
She scoffed and dragged her feet into the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face.
"Eira! Wakey wakey! It's past 6." A sing-song voice pierced into her ears and she trembled slightly.
"Damn! Auntie Lyra is calling for me!" She mused.
She dumped her phone on the counter and grabbed her toothbrush, dumping toothpaste on it.
"Coming through Auntie Lyra, I'm taking a shower."
She could hear the footsteps retreating and she reclined on the wall, brushing my teeth.
Eira!
A voice whispered in her head and she blinked repeatedly.
"Sweet Auntie Lyra, I need to shower. Breakfast will be ready by 7 as usual." Eira yelled, stripping off completely.
Why can't Auntie Lyra wait? Why's she entering my head? Aish! The cons of living with a Sorceress.
Auntie Lyra was the only family member Eira has known since she lost her mom nine years ago.
She might be a Sorceress, but she was the best woman she has ever known. Lyra sent her to school, gave her shelter and taught her magic.
In fact, she was her lifesaver!
Eira splashed water over her body hurriedly and jumped out of the bathroom. She grabbed a few clothes, threw them on me and dashed out of the room.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Lyra's voice called and Eira topped in her tracks, turning back to look at her.
Auntie Lyra wants to cook?
Eira's eyeballs widened, "You wanna cook for us?"
"You know I can't cook to save my life." she chuckled, "I was only asking because I wanted us to eat the same thing."
"Oh." Eira mouthed.
Eira thought as much, because in her nine years of living with her, she has never lifted a finger to touch a pot.
Her mom's food was probably the only thing she missed of her, because she had no single memory of her. Not a tiny fragment came crawling back to her. The only thing she could vividly remember was the day her mother died in her arms, asking her to run and never look back.
She died when Eira was ten—to protect her of something she had no knowledge of.
"Earth to Eira. What are you thinking of?"
Eira glanced at Auntie Lyra with a rueful smile, "Bleak memories." She muttered.
She pulled her into a bear hug and stroke her hair softly, "I rescued a ten year old girl from the throes of death, took her as my child and raised her for nine years because of something. I don't want you thinking about the past anymore. You're my child now. My own baby."
Tears gushed out of Eira's eyes and she sniffled.
Did I save a god in my past life to deserve this love?
"You didn't save a god, sweetheart."
"Aish, stop reading into my head." Eira snapped.
"Oh please!" Lyra rolled her eyes, "You let me in willingly."
She chuckled and disengaged from the hug.
"Aish, I'm so hungry."
"Yeah, cook something to eat if you wanna last till tomorrow."
A hearty laughter boomed out of her vocal cords and filled the room.
"I'll come call you in the study when I'm done cooking."
"Please do."
-----
Eira grinned as she set the table and rushed to the study.
"Auntie Lyra?" she called, peeking into the room.
No reply.
She walked into the study and glimpsed around. The study was eeriely quiet and she suddenly had a bad feeling about it. Her fingers brushed on the rims of books and her eyes caught a book.
ETERNAL YOUTHFULNESS AND GLORY.
"Who uses that as a title? It sounds appealing and enchanting though." Eira muttered, chuckling.
She opened the pages, but found nothing—the pages were blank. There's nothing here!
She got to the middle page which was bounded by magic.
Why would Auntie bind a single page by magic? She mused.
"Ferde, songrim, Maseu, gardin." She muttered a spell Lyra taught her and the book opened.
Her eyes flickered and she started skimming through the lines. Her eyes paled and her fingers clenched the book.
To achieve eternal youthfulness and glory, one needs to sacrifice a girl—one with the appearance of a beautiful damsel, and an innocent child at heart.
The sacrifice must be done willingly. The donor of youthfulness must donate blood willingly to the recipient. Once blood is donated using the ancient spells and curses, the donor loses vibrancy and shrivels. The recipient, blooms as a midnight flower.
"The fuck?"
Eira was dumbfounded. She was the key to her achieving eternal youthfulness and glory?
Almost immediately, Lyra entered and their eyes met. She raised the book to her,
"Did you really want to use me for your selfish interests, huh?"
"It's for the greater good, kiddo." Lyra murmured nonchalantly.
Eira stared at her in shock—the auntie Lyra she knew would never give her a bored look.
"I trusted you and you decided to repay me with this?"
"Repay?" she let out an evil laughter, "I should be the one asking for repayment here. I fed and clothed you for nine years, sent you to school—middle school, high school and even enrolled you into university this year. Shouldn't you be willing to do that for me?"
"You're really evil." Eira seethed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Good thing you know now. By the way, you can't do a thing kiddo. Just succumb. Since you're aware, let's start the spell now."
"I'd rather die than let you do that."
She began chanting a protection spell.
"Ignaeum rodeum
Taeris Manis
Ignaeum Manis
Taeris rodeum
Ignae—"
"Don't bother wasting your time. That spell won't work on me. You're a weakling who can't do a shit to me. I'll kill you because you now know of my plans." Lyra smirked.
She felt a choking force on her neck. Her legs left the ground and she found herself levitating in the air.
Eira saw her life flash before her eyes, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. Blood was streaming out of her nostrils and the corner of her mouth. Suddenly, like a shout of eureka, she felt a surge of energy in her.
"No you won't, ferde." she whispered a one-word spell and instantly vanished from the house.