Ceres

42

A young Ceres and Cerbous were standing in front of the graves of their parents. The former was shaking and she was holding onto the arm of her brother.

"Fa... Ther...?"

Cerbous felt the hands of his little sister trembling. He knew that she was also forcing herself not to cry.

At such a young age, Cerbous knew that his little sister was different. She can easily understand things and at this point, she knew that their father already died.

Their mother died when Ceres was just born and their father, when Ceres was only three years old. At that time, Cerbous was only eight years old and he long ago scouted by the Soaring Dragon because of his talent.

He will soon leave Ceres, too.

"It's only us now, Ceres."

Ceres nodded and wipe her eyes which are becoming watery.

"I... I want to promise not to leave you but, I have to go soon."

Ceres didn't say anything. She continued staring at their parents' grave.

Cerbous glanced at his sister. His heart was aching. To leave such a young girl with no one beside her, this pains his heart. He was only eight years old but he already knew that there are struggles within the family and that his sister might not be able to take it.

He half-kneeled in front of Ceres and held her shoulders. Both of them were staring at each other. One with watery eyes and the other with sad ones.

"I'm sorry. Will you forgive big brother for wanting to leave you?"

He bit his lip. For still wanting to leave the household and his sister alone, it was the biggest sin that he could think of. But, how can he protect Ceres if he wasn't strong enough?

Ceres once again wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. She smiled at Cerbous and even though she was smiling, Cerbous can see that she was only trying to stay strong.

"I know that big brother will not leave me. You will return and protect me."

Cerbous hugged Ceres and his eyes became much more determined. Ceres, on the other hand, continued smiling but no one knew what was really going on in her young mind.

---

He did not return on time. He wasn't able to protect his sister. What will he do once he knew that the Ceres he dedicated his life to is already dead?

Ceres did not have a blank expression like she usually has. Her sight became hazy. The memories she just saw made her feel that something stung her heart. In her past life, she also wanted to protect someone and thus, she knew what it feels like to strive hard and become strong... Strong enough to be able to be with that person. But, why would she get this affected just because of Ceres' memories?

And, why did those memories suddenly show up as soon as she saw Ceres' brother?

"Big... Brother..."

Even though she almost whispered those words to the wind, Cerbous' hearing was too keen. He slowly lifted his head. He knew that this would be disrespectful to the ancestor but, how can he not look at the person who said those words?

He was very familiar with that voice.

Ryujin kept on kneeling with his head down but when he felt Cerbous behind him stand up, he also looked at the person sitting with the ancestor. He wanted to reprimand Cerbous for being disrespectful but Black Dragon told him through telepathy that he may also stand up and not bother with his disciple.

Ryujin was familiar with Old Na as the Time Mage but the young girl beside them was new to him. However, as soon as he heard those words from her, he deduced that the young girl must be the trash of the Ellion family. She was Cerbous' sister.

"Wha—what are you doing here?"

Cerbous slowly walked towards Ceres. He was familiar with that voice but he still can't believe that his sister would be in front of him.

Ceres looked at Old Na and Black Dragon. The old men knew that she wanted to talk to her brother alone. Old Na spoke so that Black Dragon wouldn't be able to complain.

Old Na coughed before saying,

"You may go outside and talk. Black Dragon and I will have to discuss some matters."

Black Dragon, on the other hand, was talking to Ryujin through telepathy. He told the latter that nothing should be spread about what happened here. Black Dragon also told Ryujin that he would explain everything later and thus, requesting Ryujin to leave the place immediately.

---

When only Old Na and Black Dragon were left inside the room, they were able to talk some more about Ceres.

"Someone is tracking her, right?"

Black Dragon immediately spoke.

"If someone is really tracking her, would I be able to bring her here? You know that I don't want to cause trouble to anyone."

Black Dragon clicked his tongue.

"Then, why can't you openly say things in front of that girl?"

"Because her identity isn't as simple as you think it is."

"Huh? Doesn't she know that?"

Black Dragon was confused as to what kind of identity Ceres has. He knew that being part of a military-kind of family, it wasn't that difficult and complicated compared to other kinds of families out there.

"To be honest, I don't know if she knows about it."

Old Na drank his tea and recalled the moment he met the mysterious person.

"That girl is special and someone is backing her. It's someone that all of us can't offend."

"Sh*t! Why the hell did you bring that girl to us?!"

"Don't worry about that person. He wouldn't destroy your school anyway."

"Don't tell me that you took that girl because you're afraid of that person behind her?"

Black Dragon placed his arms across his chest. Old Na, however, stared at his tea cup. His eyes were staring at the tea cup but his mind was drifting somewhere else.

"Of course not. There are just some things that you can't change."

Black Dragon could only sigh. He also started pouring the tea that Old Na brought over to his cup and said,

"The hell with your principles and all."

He drank the tea in one go.

"You can't save everyone all the time."

Black Dragon slammed the tea cup on the table when he finished the tea.

"Man...This is why I love alcohol."-tbc

---

A/N: I usually add notes only when I post chapters online but this time, I wrote this note on the file itself. I felt that I had to.

I was supposed to put here how I'm teary while writing Ceres' flashback because I have only watched 'Finding Dory' on this day but... Sh*t. A cockroach kept on crawling around the room and I'm afraid that anytime soon, it will start flying around instead. ;A; And so, to prevent myself from throwing my computer due to that 'cockroach-that-feels-it-is-a-butterfly', I just had to stop writing and go to sleep downstairs instead.

*I'm currently downstairs and I just want to share that that cockroach is super smart! When I was trying to kill it, it hides right away! I saw that it appeared from under the bed and when I tried to approach it with a slipper, it immediately went under the bed!!!*