Orchestrate to Fytó

Chapter 6

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present."

—Bill Kean

~~

The sun rays peaked through the thick piles of branches and leaves of trees, the grass rustled and dried fragile twigs crunch beneath Catherin's foot as she skipped her way home. She was once again her jolly self at the thoughts of having her new first friend. They parted the path to Catherine's home halfway as Ezio headed the other way. When she's finally out of the trees, the sun rays hit her pale skin. It's not as hit as the rays by the time of lunch because of the temperature drops in the evening duration. Catherine can see her father standing in front of their home's door, glancing at the other side of the forest's thick trees. He must be looking for her.

"Papa!" she called out, then Bastian turned to her direction. He heaved a sigh of relief before greeting her back.

"Catherine, I'm so glad you're fine." He crouched down and hugged her. You can see the worry painted on his face. "Lucas... is not here anymore to guard you. You should be careful."

"I know. But the flowers can always guide me home." She beamed a smile at him. The sight of her lessen his worry slightly, and he knows that she's speaking the truth since he has already observed the magic she unconsciously had from the frames of their windows. He smiled back before standing up, holding her right hand on his left.

"Now, how about we go inside." He pushed the door using his right hand while he guides her inside by the hand. Catherine walked inside, entirely unaware of the surprise her father has prepared. When they reached the kitchen, a smile has spread on Catherine's face when she saw her favourite foods lined up on the table. They sat and enjoyed the meal, laughed at storied while celebrating her 10th birthday. The time has passed by unnoticed, and they took their nap with their bellies full. There are more leftovers, so Bastian decided to separate some for friends, and the unwanted ones go to their compost.

~~

Their next day, Catherine is travelling once again to the nearest village, but this time, with her father. They're walking hand in hand in the streets of the market to buy more fertilizers for their plants. Bastian is wearing his backpack behind his back, where the dish he will give his friend is.

The streets crowded with people, and there is a chance for his little one to get lost, so he decided to leave his daughter in the library 'till he gets the things he needed. Catherine was standing in front of the library door when she saw her father off. When he is already out of sight, she turned around to face the door which carved in beautiful old patterns. This Library is said one of the oldest ones in the Land of Day.

She turned the door's knob with a click. The door creaked as she pushed it open, and Catherine welcomed by the smell of the old pages of the books. The stern-looking former librarian just took an uninterested glance at her before turning back at the sheets she's reading. Catherine stepped inside, and the extreme silence of the place is giving her unease. The crowd's noise outside has died due to the Library wall's soundproof. Her shoes clack loudly at every step, and it made her consciously make her pace more light as she heads towards the bookshelves. Any random book would entertain her, so she just grabbed a random one then head towards an empty table. She sat there and put down the volume on the table.

σε διασταση the title page says, engraved in golden fonts. It shines in the Library lights, and its beauty took Catherine's breath away. As if she's drawn to it, she traced its letters with her little fingers, then glides her fingers between the sheets and opened the book. She then reads.

This world isn't what it was before. It's turmoil and mess mixed, a portrait of failure and dreadful spectacle. It was then the creator made three Deities for these predicaments. And, that story was told by the gods, taled by who heard and passed down to generations.

εσείς που έχετε την ικανότητα, προχωράτε

Her eyes narrowed as she saw those foreign letters. The texts next to it were also the same, so she can no longer read the book. Her shoulders dropped then disappointedly sigh. Just when she was about to close the book, she heard a voice from behind. She turned her head slightly and glanced from her side. It was an older adult. She's whispering to herself, and people who see her might think of her as crazy. The old lady has this messy curly hair with strands of it going everywhere. She has her back on Catherine, so it's hard to get a glimpse of her face. The old lady's hand was all wrinkly, and veins are visible on it. Her harsh flips of pages were loud in the hushed library, and other more old books scattered around her desk.

"Shall not be devoured by greed, even if you're in the midst of death. You shall not eat the seed, or your soul must be bid. Because they'll rise from beneath— the Deities will be freed," the old lady was muttering to herself. She was disturbed about something, and Catherine's getting more confused. "Ohh... Their souls must be near; it seems." The old lady glanced around. Catherine can see she's taking hasty deep breaths from her shoulders rising and going low. "Run, they'll hunt you for your sins!" You can hear from her voice that she's terrified but from somewhat unknown.

"Deities...?" Catherine asked to herself. Making sure that her voice was low that only she could hear.

"I remember! There's a book that nature has written herself. About histories and secrets, to seal them back might help." The old lady started to rummage through the books she collected once again. Catherine shuddered when she heard about sealing. For some reason, the old lady is giving her chills.

Though the old lady's words caught Catherine's interest like a child hungry for information, a child curious for knowledge, Catherine's still glancing sideways at the lady when she heard a gentle tap of someone on the book on her table. She turned back on her table and saw a lad who looks slightly older than her. His straight hair was neatly combed back, with some of it falling down his forehead. He has tanned skin that compliments the colour of his blood-red eyes, which now stares at her nature green and hazel. He has his index finger in the book by the fonts of the unknown letters engraved on the pages.

"Eseís pou échete tin ikanótita, prochoráte." He traced the letters as he reads them. Catherine hasn't met him yet somewhere before, but somehow, he looks familiar. "Thou who hast aptitude, hereby proceed," he stated. The boy took a glance at the old lady before sitting in front of the young girl. "Don't mind her. There are lots of rumours about her. She's crazy." He even moved his index finger around in the air beside his head.

"Like?" a question unintentionally slips from her head through her lips out of curiosity.

"She's a sorceress from since the Deities were living. Though she has lost herself from hundreds of years ago after the Deities died," he explained, but Catherine frowned at him. His words were too fictional to believe. The lad noticed her reaction, so he just shrugged at her with a chuckle.

"Who are you, anyway?" Catherine questioned. The lad carefreely leaned forward and sat his left elbow on the table, then put his chin on the back of his hand. There was silence before he spoke, and you can still hear the whispers of the said old sorceress from the background. He smiled, then introduced himself.

"My name is Solaris Villin. Nice to meet you, Catherine Asher."