Hal was to continue his training with Joset, this time learning how to break off only the pieces of his mind that he needed, other than just shattering the whole thing.
And in the evening, he was to continue his training with Tai, which, as usual, ended with him in the care of Nanny Leya.
He was also restricted from using his ability until he had fully grasped the aspect of shattering only a piece of his mind. Of course, he tried to go against it, but he would always feel one of Joset's strings tug at his soul.
That was all at the back of Hal's mind today, it had been a week since his last visit, which meant that today was the day he had been planning for since the day he discovered it was that it was Joset's birthday.
He had snuck into the room with the help of the teddy bears each day since then to work on the present he had planned to give to her.
He had earned more visits to Nanny Leya because of it, but it was worth it. She was rough, but she had been there; hence, she deserved at least this much from him.
A loud squeak resounded from the door signalling Joset's arrival, but this time none of the teddy bears hid; instead, they ran and closed the curtains to the room, setting the mood for the place.
Joset entered the room soon after, only to be welcomed by a dark, silent room. She looked around with a suspicious look on her face and called out.
"Jolly, Tina, Lily, where are you guys? Hal looked at the teddy bears hiding next to them as if betrayed by the inability to inform him that they had names.
The teddy bears simply shrugged as if telling him We didn't tell you because you didn't ask. Hal let out a sigh and signalled the teddy bears to jump out and make the surprise.
He used his fingers to count down from five before the entire group, whether they could talk or squeak, jumped out shouting "Surprise!!"
Hal felt his entire body become wrapped up as if he was tangled in a spider web, and when the lights returned, he and his entire group were strung up by Joset's strings.
She wore an indescribable look on her face as Hal forced a weird laugh to escape from his lips before saying in an even weirder voice, "Happy Birthday"
Joset sighed before letting the entire group fall to the floor. She walked over to Hal and stared down at him with that cold gaze of hers, only to squat down next to him and smile.
"Let me guess, Jolly and the rest told you" Hal nodded awkwardly before Joset let out a giggle. Hal could not remember the last time he saw her smile with actual joy in her eyes, but the scene was a pleasant surprise.
She held out her hand to him and helped the poor boy to get off the teddy bear with a bow on its head "There you are, Jolly. If you were planning to through me another birthday next time, then please don't make it a surprise"
The teddy bear gave her a weak nod before struggling to get up as it stumbled around until it shook the dizziness out of itself.
Joset picked up the teddy bear and then turned her attention to Hal "So what do you have planned for me?" Hal didn't expect her to be in such a mood, but he was glad that she didn't look so emotionless even on her birthday"
The party kicked off with the teddy bears presenting Joset with a birthday cake that had the number twenty drawn on it with icing.
If there was something that Hal was proud of was how perfectly he had made everything. He learnt how to bake from Nanny Leya and got help from Velto to shop for the drinks and snacks they were going to have
Though for some reason the others seemed caught up by their own events, he really couldn't fathom why someone would miss their own company member's birthday.
Even Tai and Lyrrah could not make it, the time to exchange gifts soon arrived the teddy bears gave Joset a pink dress similar to the ones she always wore
Her face glowed at the sight of it, as Hal only felt the relief of finding out where she got all those dresses from
Hal was not good at giving out gifts, but he thought it wise to get her this gift instead. He approached the girl as the other teddy bears parted for him to pass.
Joset turned her gaze to him as he handed over a wrapped present to her. Joset quickly unwrapped it and extracted a white teddy bear with a blue bow on it.
Joset paused for a while before smiling widely and embracing the teddy bear "How did you know that this is what I wanted?"
She placed her finger on it and unravelled the teddy bear before reassembling it later. She held the bear close before it suddenly moved and then spoke, and this time Hal could hear it.
"So, the curse still lingers, huh?" Joset still smiled, but her smile now bore sadness as Joset added, "No need to worry, I have to terms with my fate, but for now I'll name you Hally from Hal"
Hal remained confused as he asked, "What's going on?" Joset looked at the teddy bears surrounding her and said, "Thank you for letting me be the one to tell him"
Joset placed Hally back on the floor and said, "I'm sick. I have an illness that only affects the gifted like you and me. With every birthday that passes, I lose a piece of my mind today, I lost the twentieth"
Hal felt a fear grab his heart and asked with a shaky voice, "So what does that mean for you?" Joset let out a quiet sigh and then said
"It means that one day on my birthday, I will disappear and only these little ones will remain, though their lives will only short short-lived until they too join their master in death. It's why I don't let anybody attend my Birthday, it's always a reminder that I walk with death"
Hal was left unable to process the word that had left Joset's mouth. He reached out for her hands and held them between his
"I promise you that I will attend all your birthdays from today onwards. In fact, I will save you from this fate and find a way to cure you. I won't let you die"
Joset removed one of her hands from Hal's hands and placed it on his head "You remind me of my younger brother, that same spark in your eyes, maybe that's why the teddy bears like you so much"
Hal felt lost. The birthday that was meant to be the best day of her life was actually an omen to her eventual demise, but there had to be something he could do. There had to be
He felt Joset pull him in for a warm embrace as her voice filled his ears, though this time it was not cold like it usually was; in fact, it held a kind of sisterly love that made Hal unable to pull back.
"Thanks for the birthday party, and I will be looking forward to the next one"
Hal came back to his room, filling broken Joset had gone on to enjoy the rest of her party, but Hal could not bring himself to ignore what he had just learnt.
He fell on his bed and relaxed his mind as he thought of how to help his teacher. He closed his eyes for a while before opening them again, only to see the Mysteries of Higher beings books sitting on the table.
He had already read it, so he saw no use in actually paying it any mind, but just the the book began to glow dimly at quick intervals, Hal got off his bed and proceeded to reach out for the book that was lying at the table
The book stopped glowing apart from one page that continued to illuminate his room. He flicked the pages until he finally reached the page, which was the last page that talked about concepts.
He stayed at it for a while before he saw the light began to write new sentences on the page, with the first one being.
"Hello, if you can see this, you must be a scholar of Fernis, but not any scholar. You have actually got a glimpse of the tree of knowledge, which means you can handle all I'm about to tell you"