The father and daughter duo arrived home earlier than usual today. Little Sasha, who wanted to play some more, did not voice her disapproval and obediently walked with her father. She had seen his pale face today and knew he needed some rest. She walked back towards their house once the car was parked and ran inside to get her father a change of clothes.
When Eder reached the main door, little Sasha is already standing next to it with a bundle of clothes and a pair of adult slippers on her arms. She lifted the bundle and gave them to her father then ran inside. Eder felt satisfied inside.
"Nana, we're home!" She announced. Tala walked out of their room and ruffled little Sasha's hair as she walked towards the kitchen.
"Why are you here?" She asked, one of her eyebrows raised.
"Where's Nana?" Sasha replied with another question. Tala chuckled and gulped down some water as she pointed towards the door with her lips. Sasha followed her direction and saw Latini taking Eder's stuff from him and helping him off his outer garments so he can change.
"Nana!" Sasha disregarded her eldest sister and went to hug their mother. Latini opened her other arm to welcome her embrace and she planted a soft kiss on her cheeks.
"Have you been good today?" She asked. Little Sasha nodded her head.
"We went to apologize and then came back home. Teacher said Baba is sick." She replied.
"Oh, Baba probably needs some rest then he'll be okay again." She assured her daughter.
"Okay." Was Sasha's response.
Since it's almost lunch time, Tala slipped away from the conversation to prepare their meal. They had a hearty lunch and while Sasha wondered where her big brothers went, they just brushed it off as the two being late for the meal. Eder gained some color on his face which made little Sasha glad and forget about her missing brothers. When lunch was over, Latini tucked her to bed to take a nap. Eder and Tala are waiting for her in the living room when she got out. Latini looked at their eyes and answered the inquiry from their thoughts.
'Did Sasha immediately fall asleep?'
"No, I plan to knock her out with the orange juice."
'Would that be dangerous to her body?'
"I'm just planning on it. Otherwise, I'll have to get inside her mind."
'No! That's more dangerous. Just drug her.'
Latini shrugged and went back to check on little Sasha again.
"Go check on the boys." Eder and Tala stood up and walked towards the wooden wall.
Once inside, Tala saw her frozen siblings and she tried to hide her shock as she made a small talk with her father.
"Baba, did you have a hard time during my time?" She was curious how her father managed to take care of them in their muddled state.
"Your case was easier. Since you're naturally cold, it helped to slow down your rising temper. It also helped that you mainly focus on strengthening your spirit so your Nana just had to put you into a little illusion." He further explained.
"Then what about Sasha? Why is she not transforming?" She asked, unable to hide the worry in her voice. Eder fell silent.
"I'm not sure either. However it may be possible that the meager amount of resources available here is not enough to make her transform. Tala, you need not worry about this. Your sister is strong enough to protect herself. When the time comes, she will definitely transform." Tala nodded her head but somewhere within her, something tells her there is something wrong, something her parents have been hiding from her.
Eder's stern voice woke her from her trance.
"Get your Nana here, your brothers are about to wake up." He said. Tala turned her head and saw something bright coming out of the frozen bodies of her brothers. As the light escapes through it, cracks as formed from their frozen bodies and a threatening growl.and screech are heard. She ran out of the room and went to their room.
Latini just finished putting little Sasha to sleep when Tala rushed in, panting. She did not need to listen to her thoughts anymore and just asked.
"Are they waking up?" Tala nodded and after one gentle glance at Sasha, her sitting image flickered and she disappeared from the room. Tala sat down beside the bed and looked at her youngest sister.
The stretched her hand to fix some of the hair that covered her face. As she did so, she also looked at the golden to yellow scales on her arms that appear from time to time. After a while, she stepped out of the house wearing a dark suit and a mask. She walked towards their gate and placed some colorful stones on it. The stones lit up and disappeared from the gate. Tala walked back in afterwards and closed their house. Once she got inside, the dark suit disappeared from her body and left only the golden scales covering her body. She arched her back and transformed into a big golden snake. She opened her eyes and two slits are seen staring at the disappearing moon outside.
On the hidden room, an ear-piercing screech is heard from one of the frozen bodies. Light kept on escaping from its body and the screech just kept getting louder. Eder shot out a little light from his fingers and it covered the frozen body with more ice. The screeching toned down until it eventually disappeared.
Eder then focused on the increasing sound of growl from the other cage. The ice covering the wolf's body started to break and peel off from his body as a healthy black wolf lowered down its body to attack. Eder opened the cage just before all the ice fell of the wolf's body and dove inside.
He landed on all fours and opened his mouth.
'Roar!'
The thunderous roar of a tiger rumbled in the room. The wolf shook in fear and stepped back warily as the enormous body of a white tiger moved forward. Then the deep, booming voice of Eder is heard.
"Zari, get out of there!" His words seemed to have an effect and the wolf contorted its body. It shrunk until the naked and well formed body of Zari showed. He breathed heavily and each time he exhaled, a dark air is released from his body.
Zari's eyes are closed but he grinded his teeth furiously that it made a shrill sound. The tiger looked at him seriously then moved its legs towards young man. Zari heard the tiger walk and raise his head. He opened his eyes and showed a dazed pair of red eyes, the veins clearly seen and bulging on each eye.
'Ruff'
'Ruff'