The School of Bermuda - Volume 1 - The hunter's daughter

-20-

The Christmas Eve was filled with joy at the Tant's. Lili had often spent Christmas alone as her father traveled a lot for work... maybe he was hunting witches during his trips? She pushed away those dark thoughts and observed the Tant family; she was truly happy to spend the holidays with her adoptive family. Donatello and Anémone emphasized that Lili was a part of their family.

When opening Izãdo's gift, the two girls were astonished to find beautiful gemstones. Lili's gemstone was cut in the shape of a drop, held by a small gold chain so she could wear it as a necklace, while Ree had inherited two magnificent earrings, discreet yet wonderfully brilliant.

"Look," remarked Donatello, "these are kaster stones."

"What are they?" Lili asked.

"Ask your encyclopedia, it will tell you," Donatello replied.

The little girl ran to her room to fetch the magical book, placing it on the table for Anémone, Ree, and Donatello to see.

"Magical book," Lili asked, "please explain to us what kasters are."

Immediately, watercolor images began to scroll across the circle on the book cover, showing what seemed to be men, all blond and completely naked, with their bodies embedded with gemstones.

"The kasters," explained the voice from the book, "appear as young men, always naked, with their bodies embedded with precious gems. They can be found on sunny days, sleeping in fields and meadows. During those moments, it is possible to take a few stones from them. But be careful not to be too greedy or get too close. If even a single hair touches them or if you take one stone too many, the kaster wakes up and takes you into an underground labyrinth from which no one ever escapes. No one knows the defined limit of how many gems can be taken from them, and sometimes kasters reproduce with humans, but they never live with them for long."

All the images disappeared after this detailed explanation.

"But then," Ree hesitated, "did Izãdo take these stones from a kaster for us? Can you imagine if his hair had touched it?"

Lili shuddered at the thought. They would never have seen the prince again. The little girl looked at the jewel, smiling, and put it on, admiring herself in a mirror in the house. She then helped Ree put on her earrings, which looked marvelous on her. They mustn't forget to thank him.

The holidays passed, and the girls returned to school with Donatello after the New Year. The Christmas decorations were still up, and the snow continued to fall, indifferent to the rest of the world. It was in the great hall that Ree and Lili found their friends. The prince was playing checkers with Lulis, a gift sent by his father.

The two girls exchanged a knowing look before pouncing on Izãdo together, each giving him a kiss on the cheek. Surprised and bewildered, the prince fell backward with them. He looked at his two friends, noticing the jewelry.

"It seems like you like my gifts," he said with a smile.

"Did you take them from a kaster?" Ree immediately asked.

"Yeah, there was one in the fields just before Halloween, you know, the day we had great sunshine. I took three stones from him. One for each of you. I cut yours in half, Ree, so the earrings wouldn't be too big, and I sent one to my sister."

"That's so kind!"

Ree gave Izãdo another kiss, which he pushed away grumbling.

Classes resumed the next day, and almost all the students diligently immersed themselves in their studies, to the point that no one really noticed the arrival of spring.

Lili sat in the courtyard, listening to her book talk about the Bubaks. They were terrible creatures with the appearance of men. It wasn't possible to give a detailed description because each Bubak was different. These solitary creatures didn't live in groups and each had their own territory. They always walked with a large bag to kidnap anyone who crossed their path to make them their meal. However, it was said that if one were to encounter them at night, they would be friendly and offer clothes that they made to passersby. She was pulled out of her documentary by Charity.

"Come quickly!" she exclaimed excitedly. "My mother is here, I promised to introduce you!"

The hunter's daughter stood up and followed the half-mermaid into the courtyard, towards the pontoon that led to the boat.

A beautiful young woman emerged from the water. Her hair was pink, and her eyes yellow, with seashells and pearls serving as her jewelry.

"Hello, Mom," Charity greeted with a smile.

"Hello, my dear."

"Lili, I'd like you to meet my mother, Ondine."

"You're very beautiful," managed to articulate the hunter's daughter.

"Thank you."

Burning with curiosity, Lili questioned the mermaid about her species and what she was doing near the school. She learned that the mermaids were doing their best to keep a huge monster at bay, swimming not far from the coast.

The sea adult then took Lili's hands, smiling at her.

"You are an amazing person," she guessed. "I sense nothing but kindness and a lot of courage in you. Lili, you will accomplish great things. I prefer not to see the details of your future, as I might want to change it if I see too much misfortune, but I know it will be magnificent."

"Thank you, anyway, I don't want to know. The future is meant to be revealed bit by bit through the present."

Ondine gave her an approving smile before suddenly focusing on a point behind the two young girls.

"Tell me, who is that man over there?"

"Him?" Charity replied, glancing in the same direction. "That's Amos Butter, our potions teacher. Why?"

"...What is he like in class?"

"Very amusing. I think he's one of my favorite teachers. Why?"

"Oh, nothing... a strange premonition. I have to go back to the others, my dear. Take care of yourself... and you too, Lili."

The two girls promised her before watching her dive. Lili was happy to have met a real mermaid. As a child, she had always dreamed of it.

Smiling, she joined Ree, Lulis, and Izãdo to head towards the history class. Due to health reasons, Professor Vector had to move his class to the end of the day.

But as they walked, Lili found a small notebook on the ground with Professor Butter's name on it.

"He must have lost it," Lulis remarked.

"We have a class now," Izãdo continued, "you can return it to him later."

Lili nodded and put the notebook in her bag before entering the classroom.

They left the class a bit late, and Lili headed towards the potions class. She knew that the teachers' offices were located at the back of their classrooms.

She approached the slightly open door at the back of the room and raised her fist to knock before stopping: she heard voices arguing inside.