Luna and Theia stood under the shade of the tree as Mytri laid by the roots, watching her. "Then please show me what you learnt through the month," he said.
Luna gripped the wooden sword, a blush on her cheeks and a proud look toward Mytri. "Yes!"
Immediately, she raised the sword over her head and, taking a deep breath, sliced through the air effortlessly, stopping just inches from the grass. She hugged the sword and gazed at her Master. "How did I do?"
After a delay, Mytri smiled warmly. Chuckling, he said, "I am impressed, Luna…" He stood and walked up to her. His gaze lingered as Luna fidgeted with her fingers, and he patted her on top of her head. "You did a good job."
Luna blushed at the praise, stuttering, "I-I… Thank you."
Theia watched Luna from the side, muttering, "You did a… great job."
Luna chuckled after a while and turned toward Theia. "Thank you, too."
It made Theia blush.
"Good," Mytri said. "Later I will show you the next thing you'll practice for another month. After that, I'll teach you to apply what you learn into practice."
Luna nodded, contemplating a few words. Unable to keep it to herself, she asked, "Will I do the task each month like this? If I master it sooner, shouldn't it stop sooner and move to another thing to make the training go faster?"
Mytri listened carefully and chuckled. "I know it might look strange from your perspective, but as I watched you do the garden work, I realized that you grasp things very easily. To you, it might seem as if you mastered it in just a few days, but in truth, that is just an illusion cast by your mind.
"It takes grueling weeks to seep it into muscle memory. I watched you swing your sword vertically each week, but I only saw you truly 'master' it after two weeks of such practice, from dawn to sunset."
Luna nodded. "I see. Thank you. So…" She pondered as she looked at him slowly. "...What will be for dinner?"
Mytri laughed and started walking toward the house. "Scrambled eggs!"
Luna lit up, and a smile grew on her face. She ran after Mytri, but Theia stayed under the tree. Luna turned to her, asking, "Are you coming, Theia?"
Theia looked at Luna shyly. "I'll stay…"
"Okay. Have fun here. I'll prepare an extra big portion just for you!" Luna said, chuckling to herself, and she ran after Mytri to the house.
Theia smiled warmly as she lay on the grass, looking at the sun. She chuckled, saying, "My beloved sister."
***
Luna stabbed the scrambled eggs with her fork and placed them into her mouth, melting as the taste reached her taste buds.
These scrambled eggs that Master made are amazing! Every time, I can't understand how he does that… Every time I follow his recipe, I fail to recreate it… or am I just bad at cooking… sigh, Luna thought.
"You are an amazing cook, it's just your taste buds are lying to you!" an unknown voice in Luna's head spoke. "Theia ate it and she was amazed, she loved it."
For the second time I can agree with the voices in my head, they speak the truth! Maybe they aren't that bad after all?
…No, I think they are…
Luna kept eating the scrambled eggs as she was delighted by the taste. She looked up as she noticed movement, and there a spider slowly slid on its web.
A spider? Oh right, it reminds me of El, when we were in her garden, she had a ton of interesting spiders!
Last week we had fun… I need to go to her again soon! Theia had fun too, we had fun… Luna smiled as the thought came across her mind. She looked at her Master, Mytri, as he ate his food, fully engulfed in his own world of thoughts.
Honestly, when Dad said Master was a perfectionist, it's hard to believe… he is trying to teach me to do it perfectly, but… he is mostly lazy… yeah, but that's his charm. I like Master, he is fun to be around, he cooks well, he treats us as if we were his children.
And he said too that if I train hard enough, I can retain the vitality as he did. Maybe it will make me die later… I hope so. Even if it doesn't happen, I don't mind, he didn't know…
And a thought of Theia came across Luna's mind as she looked out the window. She saw her already sleeping outside on the grass in the rays of the sun.
Ah right, the portal gem… I'll visit that place tonight, but now… Let's finish these scrambled eggs!
***
Mytri sat in his brown leather sofa, bathed in the moonlight that shone through the window beside him. In his hand was a half-full bottle of old alcohol, with two empty ones by his legs. He gripped the bottle, watching the moon with empty-looking eyes, and began to drink from it.
He did not stop until there was nothing left.
He let go, and the bottle fell to the ground, clinking against the others. He muttered aloud, "I regret this… Lue…"