A brutal hug knocked the breath out of Nessa.
Trying to maintain a deadpan face, Nessa spoke with a small wince, "Stop it Elara, you will kill the guy behind me." Elara stopped herself as she tilted her head.
"Waahhh!" a cry came from behind.
Aric faked cried with wide eyes.
'I thought Nessa was bad… This girl is a threat to my life!'
Elara looked back with wide eyes as she immediately positioned herself in front of Aric.
Aric cried louder. 'Don't come near me!'
Elara continued to look at Aric with a curious expression as Aric began to grow anxious.
"Oh Nessa! Dear, welcome." An old lady seated in the fireplace waved warmly at Nessa. "Lady Maiw! Thanks for allowing me to clean this house again." Nessa said as she bowed, breaking Elara's stare. "No problem dear, you know how much Elian and Elara love to play with you." The old lady said.
Aric, meanwhile, stared at the creature on the lady's thighs. Aric finally got a good look at it as the lady got up. It was a cat with fluffy grey fur and long limbs, clutching onto the old lady's hand like a koala. It was the size of a water bottle.
'Interesting'
"Nessa." A boy with black hair and black eyes, identical to Elara came down the stairs. "Elian!" Nessa greeted Elian, much more enthusiastically than Elara, making her pout.
"So who is this baby?" She asked as Nessa sighed and explained once again. The old lady grew silent, as the siblings looked shocked. The discomfort was short-lived as Elara picked up Aric and rushed upstairs. "Granny! I am going to show Nessa's brother to Gramps!"
The old lady flinched out of whatever she seemed to be thinking, as she nodded, "Go slowly now, he is still a child." Elara nodded as she kidnapped Aric and rushed upstairs.
Aric gritted his teeth as he showed the middle finger to Nessa.
Sadly, she didn't seem to know what it meant.
'That girl had been planning this from the start.' He narrowed his eyes as he saw Nessa giggle. "Good thing I brought him here." she said aloud as Elian beside her spoke. "Did you say something?" Nessa blushed a bit as she spaced herself a bit away from Elian as she said,
"Nothing!"
Aric watched the scene in silence as he was taken upwards.
**
"Grandpa look! Nessa has a brother now!" Elara barged into a room as the curtain fluttered. There was a silhouette of an old man behind the translucent curtains. He was seated in a rocking chair as the curtains draped. "Oh? Little Nessa's brother?"
Aric saw a man aged in his 60s with a loose grey robe and short grey hair. He held a book in his hand and he looked at Aric with a monocle in his right eye. Aric looked at the man before looking at the room around him. He felt a pang of excitement in his heart. The room… was a library.
And the library meant knowledge. "Euah!" He began to flail to break free of the demon holding him.
Elara struggled to hold Aric as she put him down. Aric didn't immediately run away as he turned back to her and pointed his fingers, "Don't ever touch me again beast!" The old man raised a brow as the child began to crawl away.
The old man laughed, "Seems like the kid is smart enough to already point fingers." Elara looked at Aric as she had tears welling up in her eyes. "It's fine… It's not like I want to play with him anyway." She tried to pout and tears began to stream down. The old man sighed as Aric glanced at her, still turning his head the other way.
Mr. Maiw got up from his seat as he picked Aric up before patting Elara's head. "You know, kids don't like it when one is touching them too much or being aggressive with them. Try to go play with Elian and Nessa for now, I'll hold onto this child till Nessa completes cleaning the house."
Elara sniffled, nodding slightly and walked down. The old man and Aric looked at each other as the old man laughed.
"Don't be too mean to her, she doesn't mean harm." Aric continued to look at him. Mr. Maiw sighed, "My name is Elvis Maiw, what's yours Child." Elvis pointed at himself before gesturing to Aric to tell him. Aric tilted his head as he pointed at himself, "Aric" he said.
Elvis' eyes widened. "Do you understand what I am saying?"Aric tilted his head. Elvis sighed in relief, "seems like you don't fully get it yet…" He looked at Aric again. "Well, you are pretty smart for your age though…"
He looked at Aric with curiosity filling his eyes. He placed Aric on a chair as he perused through the library. Eventually he had a book in his hand, looking at Aric as he pointed to it. "Do you want to read?"
The baby energetically nodded, bringing a smile to Elvis' face. "I see…"
He put Aric on top of his lap and opened the book. "Let's see how fast you can learn Hsil."
Aric grinned, "Exactly what I need."