Ruin

They were led to a small table in the kitchen.

Parts of the house were old and worn out, but it was cozy and lived in.

"You really should've sent me a letter; I don't even have anything ready to feed you." Grumbled Polly

"Sorry, this trip was a bit sudden. Let me help you." Myra apologized and got up, ready to help.

"Are you sure? You don't want to poison your 'friend' here, do you?" Polly said with a sly smile.

The corner of Myra's lips twitched, and her expression changed. "Hoo, let me show you my progress then," she said with a determined voice.

Polly's face showed surprise and then anticipation as she let Myra help her with the cooking.

Myra's movements appeared experienced in the kitchen, at least to Cyril's untrained eyes.

At one point she stopped Polly from lighting a fire with a smug expression. "Allow me," and effortlessly lit it with magic.

"Not bad, not bad," enthusiastically replied Polly.

Looking at the two of them bustling about in the kitchen, Cyril got an awkward feeling he couldn't quite explain. His mood soured for some reason.

Eventually the food was ready. In the middle of the table were placed several dishes, all containing fish.

"Try it then." Myra sat with her head held high and pushed a plate closer to Polly. There really was a kind of fire in her eyes.

But Polly looked at her with complaint in her eyes.

Seeing Myra making a confused expression and nothing else, Polly sighed, "What about your friend? Are you not going to offer him some of your cooking?" She said with accusation.

"Ah!" Myra exclaimed in realization, then sheepishly turned towards Cyril. "Haha, do you want to try it? The city doesn't really have anything like this," she said while avoiding his sight.

"Thank you," Cyril calmly said, and he tried some of the offered fish. He was a bit hungry.

It was surprisingly good. Cyril went to plenty of fancy restaurants in his life, and while this wasn't quite as tasteful, it had a certain homely quality to it.

"Not terrible, I guess" said Rhamn with a reluctant expression.

"Could it be that it's actually good?" Somehow gleaning from his face that he liked it, Polly said with exaggerated skepticism.

She personally tried the dish Myra offered her previously.

After chewing it for a good while, she swallowed it and went silent for a few seconds.

"It's not as flavorful as it could be... I would say it's also a tiny bit overcooked..." Polly said in a grim voice.

"But it's good!" She suddenly smiled from ear to ear. "My Myra actually learned how to cook..."

Myra confidently sat with her arms crossed, nodding a few times in satisfaction.

Morpho flapped her wings on Cyril's shoulders, asking to taste it as well. So he brought a piece close to her, and she ate it.

Polly was greatly surprised at this, and it took some explaining from Myra to calm her down.

Like this, Cyril participated in a cozy family dinner while listening to plenty of stories from Myra's childhood.

Apparently she was quite the troublemaker in the past and terrorized the kids population as a little gang boss.

Finding it amusing, Cyril listened to it with interest, sometimes asking something himself.

Myra sat there with a slightly reddened face, trying to keep her cool.

Seeing her like this, Polly slyly smiled and started another story. "You know, one day she ventured into the woods after one of the kids dared she wouldn't..."

Before she could continue, Myra suddenly got up. "Alright! It's this late already; we still need to prepare a bit. Let's go, Cyril." She couldn't handle it anymore.

The food was already eaten, and they indeed needed to handle a few things before ending the day. He got up as well.

After Polly finished laughing with glee, she also got up. "Alright, I am sorry; don't get so upset. Why don't you go for a walk while I prepare a room for both of you?"

This time Myra didn't insist on helping and walked out of the house.

"Thank you for the food," Cyril politely said, and he went after her.

The moon was high in the sky already, illuminating the tranquil sea.

Polly's house was closer to the pier than most. The view was peaceful.

Myra was waiting for him not too far away, still looking a little upset.

"Parents can get a bit embarrassing sometimes, right? Haha. Myra coughed a bit and tried to smooth things out.

"Right" Cyril dryly replied and continued, "You have a good relationship."

"Yeah... I am grateful to her; she took care of me after my parents died." She said while looking at the sea.

"She always told me to defend myself when necessary, so it's kind of her fault I became the 'gang boss' when I was little," Myra reminisced with a smile.

"Anyways, I wanted to give you this." Myra took out a parcel with a familiar shape to Cyril.

When Cyril grabbed it, he immediately understood what it was—the Black Tulip.

"I forgot to give it to you earlier... How was the effect of using it?" Myra said with curiosity.

"Pretty substantial. It's truly powerful," replied Cyril, a bit guilty.

He wasn't sure if by the time he was done with it, anything would be left for others. He needed to think this through before consuming it.

They've decided to listen to Polly's advice and take a walk.

After all, Cyril was interested in having a look around, not to mention Morpho.

While walking, he listened to more stories from Myra's childhood.

Under the pretense of not remembering much, she only told some small bits and pieces, but it was still interesting to listen to.

They didn't meet anyone else while on this walk; everyone was sleeping, it seems.

After making one circle around the village, they've returned home, where there was already a place ready for them.

Thankfully there were enough rooms for all of them.

Before falling asleep Cyril absorbed the Black Tulip again until he was full. It didn't look like it would lose it's qualities for now.

"Good night, Cyril." Rhamn didn't speak much for the whole evening.

...

The next day's breakfast consisted of fish again, but it was still tasty.

Cyril and Myra prepared to head out afterward.

With Polly's blessings, they left the house but were immediately greeted by curious villagers.

Looks like word spreads here fast. A bunch of people who knew Myra from childhood showed up to greet her and catch up a little.

She sure is popular. Cyril had to endure more jokes about Myra bringing home a man and other pleasant things.

With much difficulty, they managed to leave the place and finally set out to find the ruins.

"It's good to see everyone like this." Myra said with a smile "But there is still some people I haven't met yet. I'll ask later where they are" They had something to do first.

According to Myra, the ruins weren't too far; one could easily reach them on foot in an hour or two.

Morpho volunteered to be their scout for this trip. She happily flew in the air, investigating the unusual green lands.

At one moment a bird suddenly swooped in and grabbed Morpho with its beak, giving Cyril and Rhamn quite the scare.

Thankfully, before they managed to do anything, Morpho, through sheer force, opened the bird's beak with her wings and cast a spell.

Cyril felt a slight drain on his mana, and a flash appeared in the air, blinding the bird.

Before hitting the ground, the bird recovered and escaped in fear.

Morpho flew to Cyril and landed on his shoulder, flapping her wings in triumph. She would roar if she could.

"Thank goodness!" They breathed a collective sigh of relief.

She can already cast it effectively; not bad, Cyril was satisfied with her progress. "That's our Morpho!"

"Your butterfly can cast spells!?" Myra said in surprise.

She knew this was a magic creature before, of course, but being able to cast spells as humans do is something else entirely.

"Yes. I taught her, Is there a problem?" Cyril could only pretend nothing is wrong.

There are so many creatures in the world; how can she claim there is no butterfly that can do that?

Myra's face became dumbfounded. She stood there with an open mouth for some time.

"No... It's just very rare is all," Myra said, half-apologetic.

She dropped the topic for now and continued walking towards the ruins.

With this small incident out of the way, they soon reached their target.

It was a circular stone structure completely covered in grass.

It blended in quite nicely with the scenery around it; if not for Myra guiding him, he would never have found it by himself.

"I half-expected these ruins to not exist at all," Rhamn said while admiring the old stone.

"What ruins are these? Was this some kind of tower in the past?" Cyril voiced his first impressions.

"Very likely. I think it was explained that these are the remnants of the civilization before the Empire. You can find similar ruins all over the world; some are even in the city," Myra said while climbing on the stone.

Cyril took a good look around to maybe find anything unusual.

There were signs of people using this place as a hangout spot; empty bottles and random paper were lying on the ground.

Myra did mention to him how this was a known place among the people here.

On the walls of this structure was written some kind of text, but it was wiped out by the passage of time; nothing could be gleaned.

"Where did you find that stone?" Cyril asked.

Myra deliberated for a few seconds before pointing to the ground in the middle of the ruin. "It was here."

"It was just lying on the ground?" He asked further.

Myra's face turned awkward for a second before she replied, "Yes. It was pure luck I found it."

Cyril stared her in the eyes for a few seconds, then sat down on a random rock.

Can Morpho feel something unusual here? He decided to enlist some help.

"No, it's just an old ruin. Nothing special" Rhamn quickly replied.

Myra didn't say anything either; she only sat on another rock nearby.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" Cyril thought it was a good time to have this conversation.

"Some things," Awkwardly admitted Myra, "But there is a good reason for it, really! I am sorry, I just can't tell you a few things." Myra said in a quiet voice.

"I see..." His voice was calm "What happened back at the Tower? Why were you so shaken?" Cyril asked another question.

"Because the future changed." She suddenly raised her voice.

"I don't get it either! No archdemon was supposed to attack the city in at least 6 years." Myra's voice was frustrated and a bit afraid.

"How are you so sure your visions are going to be completely accurate?" Cyril said probingly.

Hearing his words, Myra went silent for a moment before exclaiming.

"They must be! Otherwise, how can I hope to stop what's coming..." Her voice was starting to become weaker again.