"Where have you gone my boy!" The hoarse voice of Mr. Antonio Pitti, which held a great sense of worry and panic, rang out from within the shop.
Zefir and Evelyn hurriedly entered the shop. "Mr. Antonio, what happened?" Evelyn asked in concern, her gaze scanning the room. Mr. Antonio, who had two lines of thin mustache below his nose, wearing a plain shirt and pants with a white apron on top, was sitting down on the floor, with tears flowing down his eyes. By his side, there was a girl with dark brown hair wearing a plain dress, comforting him.
Zefir also entered the room right behind Evelyn. He looked at the brown-haired girl before looking at Mr. Antonio, and his expression immediately turned weird. No matter how many times I see him, I can't get used to that.. What even is its point? Mr. Antonio was wearing a hairnet like any butcher, but under his hairnet, there was only a bright, reflecting shine.
"Evelyn… Zefir.." Mr. Antonio turned his shiny head towards his neighbors, at the same time as his daughter, who was comforting him. With a sniffle, he stood up and pointed towards the back of his shop. The mother and son followed him to the back of his house, where they saw an open poultry farm with lots of chicken.
Antonio pointed at the chickens as he said with shaking voice, "One of my chickens went missing today.." He sniffled while his daughter pat his back.
Zefir's face hardened instantly as he heard that. Evelyn noticed this, but gave it no mind. With a sigh, she shook her head, "Again? It's the fourth one this month.." She let out a soft chuckle, "But why are you crying this time? Four chickens is enough to bring you at a loss?"
"No…" Antonio shook his head. "Mr. Tony was special, he was not for meat. He was my friend…"
"Friend?" Evelyn blurted out and glanced at Zefir. She wanted to share the humorous moment with her son, but all she saw was his mouth hang open for a second before it returned to normal.
"Yes.." Antonio nodded. "He usually strolls around here, but he always finds his way back home."
"Oh? Is it that chicken that jumps on everyone?" Evelyn realized.
He looked at Evelyn and Zefir with a nod.. "Yes, that's him.. He went for a stroll today as well… But later, I couldn't find him anywhere in the area he usually goes to. I even asked around, but nobody has seen him…" His tears started flowing. Suddenly, he turned towards Zefir, and blurted out, "Zefir!"
Hearing his name, Zefir was startled. Quickly regaining his composure, he responded, "Y-Yes?.."
"You went to the forest today right? Did you see Mr. Tony? Uh.." he paused, "He has light brown feathers and is quite fat…" He asked with some hope.
Yes… he was quite fat and juicy… He didn't introduce himself as your friend when he jumped on my arms in the morning. Thankfully no one saw me stuffing him in my bag.. Zefir shook his head, "No, I didn't see any chickens like that.." He answered flatly. He turned towards Evelyn, who was squinting at him in suspicion, and then towards the brown haired girl, who was also looking at him.
With his cheeks flushing, he quickly blurted out, "Oh! Mr. Antonio, We've been hearing some foxes at night lately. I think your chickens were taken by those darn foxes!" He said with some exaggeration.
"Foxes…" Antonio repeated with a clenched teeth. "Yes, foxes…" He mumbled, like he realized something. Then, wiping his tears, he returned back to normal. "Uh, sorry about all this. How can I help you two?" He gestured back at the shop, and everyone returned there.
"I want half a kilo of chicken.." Evelyn nodded, returning at the front of the counter. Zefir stood right beside her. "Uh, and also a tub of lard."
"220 Crests and 250 Crests" Antonio moved, taking out chicken meat from the storage, while his daughter took out a tub of lard from the shelf. Antonio weighed the chicken meat, and cut it to pieces before stuffing it in a paper bag and handing them to Zefir.
Evelyn fished out a crisp note of 500 Crests and handed it to Antonio's daughter. She took the blue colored note which had a picture of an old man with white mustache, wearing a crown embedded with jewels. Stuffing the note in the drawer behind the counter, she took out the remaining change, a note of 20 and a note of ten, before handing it back to Evelyn.
"Right, Belle. You're growing more beautiful by the day." Evelyn remarked with a smile as she accepted the change and put it in her purse.
"T-Thank you.." Belle Pitti replied in embarrassment as she glanced at Zefir, who was weighing the chicken and lard with his hands.
"Say, Zefir brought some red mud today, and I'll be making it into skin cream this week. Do you want it? You have to take care of your skin from your youth!"
"Y-Yes!" Belle nodded heavily with a spark in her eyes.
"Great! Then I'll reserve some for you." Evelyn nodded with a smile before turning around. "See you soon!" She and Zefir walked towards their house.
On the way, Evelyn glanced at Zefir, who was walking in silence. "Fir, did you really not see Mr. Tony?" She probed.
"I…" Zefir hesitated, before sighing in resignation. "I ate him for lunch.." He admitted in a low voice. He didn't dare look at his mother and only looked at the stone paved path which was illuminated by the moon, and some street lamps.
"Haah.." Evelyn sighed and shook her head. "Don't do things like that from now on." She said sternly.
"Alright.." Zefir mumbled with a soft nod.
After reaching their home, Evelyn went right to cooking while Zefir helped her cut the vegetables. Evelyn fried the onions, carrots, celery in the lard first, before adding the chicken. Then she added the tomatoes, some herbs and salt.
Pairing the dish with rice, they savored their dinner. After cleaning the dishes, they bade each other good night and returned to their own rooms.
Finally.. Zefir sighed in relief and sat down on the table. He put his hand inside his pocket and brought the medallion out. Even when going to the market, he had continuously checked his pocket for the medallion.
Lighting a lantern, he began seriously observing the medallion. I didn't think of it before, but how would I even know if this is silver? I got too excited before.. He sighed. Ehh, I'll take it to Old Man Khom tomorrow and check it. Even if it is not silver, it may be a valuable relic from ancient times…
He flipped the medallion and observed the flowers and vines on the other side. Hmm.. a snake and a butterfly, but they're in harmony.. A flower and vines… I wonder what this symbolizes.. Just as he scrutinized, he felt a prick on his fingers.
"Ouch!" He threw the medallion on the table to check his hand. There was a small wound at the tip of his index finger, and blood was flowing out. "What the…" He glanced at the medallion before picking it up. Turning it over, he observed the side with the snake and the butterfly, only for his eyes to widen in shock.
"This…"
The imagery in the medallion had changed. The butterfly was still on the nose of the snake, but the snake itself had changed. It's mouth was now open, with it's forked tongue sticking out. It's thorny scales were now no longer flat, but they were rising like actual thorns.
Still in shock, Zefir tried to poke the medallion with his index finger, which was still flowing with blood. As soon as his blood touched the snake, the flowing blood changed its direction, and began flowing towards the medallion!
Scared out of his mind, Zefir immediately threw the medallion on the table. But whatever the medallion did, was already done. Zefir's finger, which was red with blood, was now clean and pale. It didn't take the medallion even a second to absorb all the flowing blood, and then some more from inside his finger.
In horror, he looked at the medallion, only to be even more shocked. The medallion was going through a change. It was no longer pure silver, but had a dark reddish hue to it.
What just happened! This… is this some sort of magical artifact!? Zefir gathered his thoughts after some time. Like some of the evil cursed objects in those cautionary tales they tell at the temple? His face fell.
Although his mother and him were not believers of the God of Nature, Viridis, who was worshipped in the town, his only thought right now was to run to his temple and get exorcised by the priests. The more he glanced between his pale finger and the medallion, the more he thought it was a good idea.
I.. I need to go right now! He was already feeling light-headed as he stood up from his chair. He tried to move towards the door, but each step he took felt heavier than the last. What's…. happening…
Thud
He fell down on the floor, his consciousness slowly fading away. Mom… help…